News Story not available This story has been published on: 2021-11-12. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. editorial@tribune.com Dipender Manta Tribune News Service Mandi, September 27 The Indian Air Force and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) have been relentlessly working to evacuate people from Lahaul-Spiti. On Thursday, as many as 424 persons were evacuated from Lahaul-Spiti and taken to Kullu, while 350 were evacuated via the Rohtang tunnel and 74 people airlifted. As many as 74 persons, including three German nationals, were airlifted from the Baralacha Pass, Sarchu, Satingri, Chhota Dara and Kunzum Pass. Seven were rescued from the Rohtang Pass by BRO personnel. They were admitted to the Manali hospital. Ten women and three children, spotted in a remote shelter near Chhota Dara, were airlifted. A few men were provided food packets, relief material and medicines. The rescued women and children were brought to Kullu. Some tourists have fallen sick and are undergoing treatment. The clear weather is helping rescuers. As many as 110 persons have been airlifted from Lahaul to Kullu in three days. Among them 24 were foreigners and 86 Indians. Sources said a few Israel nationals were also stuck in the region and the district administration was trying to establish contact with them. The BRO is trying to connect Kaza via the Kunzum Pass and Sarchu via the Baralacha Pass. BRO Commander Col AK Awasthi said despite many challenges, the BRO team was moving ahead to clear the road towards Leh and Kaza. Our priority is to evacuate those stranded. The road will be connected with Kaza and Leh soon and all of them will be taken to Manali. On Wednesday evening, the BRO team had moved towards the Rohtang Pass on foot and rescued seven persons by carrying them on their back up to Manali. They were admitted to a local hospital, he said. Kullu Deputy Commissioner Yunus Khan said: A majority of the people have been evacuated. There is no need to panic and all people are safe. On Thursday, 74 persons were evacuated from different locations and on Friday morning, we will resume the rescue operation to evacuate the remaining people. Five choppers of the Indian Air Force have been deployed for the operation. editorial@tribune.com Amir Karim Tantray Tribune News Service Poonch, September 27 Two years after Army commandos carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the morale of the forces guarding this volatile zone continues to be high. Committed to keeping the enemy at bay and not letting it push in armed militants, soldiers of the Army unit (name withheld) manning the Poonch sector are putting their lives at risk to guard the LoC amid all odds. From a forward post on an undisclosed location on the LoC in the Poonch sector, the surgical strikes were carried out inside the PoK on September 28-29, 2016. Initially, when we came here as a frontline battalion, we adopted a tit-for-tat policy. Now, the emphasis is more on punitive action. The commanding officers have more freedom to take action and that is translating into success, Col Bhupinder Singh, Commanding Officer of the unit, told The Tribune. The commanders on the ground are free to initiate any action if any misadventure is undertaken by the enemy, he said. Besides ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army, the biggest challenge on the LoC remains infiltration, as terror launch pads are still active there. To meet this challenge, the Army is using surveillance devices with advance technology and carries out drills and ambush operations to ensure the area remains safe. Also, patrolling is done to clear the area of all threats, including mines. Infiltration has to be stopped at any cost. Our boys keep a high morale even in the face of harsh weather conditions and tough terrain, the Colonel added. rchopra@tribunemail.com Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, September 27 Two civilians, a soldier and three militants, including an SPO-turned-militant, were killed in Kashmir on Thursday. Three encounters broke out in Anantnag, Srinagar and Budgam districts when security forces launched three separate operations in the wee hours of Thursday. A civilian was killed at Noorbagh locality in Srinagar city, during a cordon and search operation which was launched following an input about the presence of militants. The slain civilian was identified as Mohammad Saleem Malik. Security sources said they had an input about the presence of two militants in the area when the operation was launched. Intense clashes erupted in the area and authorities suspended mobile internet in Srinagar to maintain law and order. J&K Police blamed militants for the death of Malik. ...The hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately resulting in death of Saleem Malik, a police spokesman said. The operation was later called off. In a separate gunfight, a soldier and a local militant were killed in south Kashmirs Anantnag district that broke out on Thursday morning. The gunfight broke at Gaksigund Dooru when the forces were carrying out a search operation in the area. In the gunfight, a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant commander and a soldier were killed, police said. Police identified the slain militant as Asif Malik. He was involved in several attacks on security forces including the killing of CRPF men at Achabal this year and in many other cases of civilian atrocities, a police spokesman said. The slain jawan was identified as 25-year-old Happy Singh of 19 Rashtriya Rifles and a resident of Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda. Two local militants were killed and two soldiers were injured in another gunfight in Budgam district. The two local militants were trapped in Panzan mosque during a cordon and a search operation. Special forces were deployed to flush out the militants. Security forces also appealed to the terrorists to come out. However, the terrorists turned down the offer and consequently the operation had to be carried out in a deliberate manner keeping intact the sanctity of the mosque. In this operation, two terrorists were killed, the spokesman said. The two militants were identified as Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat of Kralwari Chadoora and Irfan Ahmad Dar of Kakapora Pulwama and the two were affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen. Irfan Ahmad Dar was working as an SPO and had deserted a couple of months ago, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, an unidentified man was killed in alleged Army firing in Kupwara district. Police said the Army at around 2 am had laid an ambush at Rangward area of Kralpora when they noticed a man moving in the area who was challenged. He ran away and the Army fired at him. The man was injured and taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning, he said. The identity of the slain youth could not be established. However, he does not appear to be a local. A Srinagar-based defence spokesman said they were ascertaining the facts about the incident. editorial@tribune.com M Aamir Khan Tribune News Service Srinagar, September 27 Despite militant threats, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav on Thursday said he was glad to see the enthusiasm among the party cadre ahead of the urban local bodies (ULB) elections. He also mocked the National Conference (NC) and the PDP for fielding proxy candidates after calling for the boycott of the municipal polls. Our party candidates are contesting from all municipal bodies of the Valley. I came here to take stock of the situation and encourage our candidates. Even in difficult (militancy affected) areas like south Kashmir, the party has been able to put up good number of candidates. I realise that as we are coming nearer, there is sudden enthusiasm in filing the nominations.It is quite visibleIt is a good sign, Madhav told mediapersons after chairing a meeting here to review the preparations for the municipal elections starting October 8. He said the boycott call by the two main parties of the state NC and PDP was very unfortunate, while maintaining that he had come to know that their candidates were filing nominations as proxies. Madhav, who had played a key role in the formation of the previous PDP-BJP coalition government in the state, also reiterated that the NC and PDP should reconsider their boycott call. Taking a dig at the two parties, he said fielding candidates as Independents was nevertheless a good sign and that the democracy should flourish. On charges that the BJP was fielding migrant Kashmiri Pandit candidates from south Kashmir due to militant threats, Madhav said, Only from few pocketsthree/ four places, we have fielded migrant candidates, but elsewhere local Kashmiris have come forward. He said they had been assured adequate security arrangements by the state authorities during the electoral process. At the meeting, Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, BJP media in charge, said Madhav took feedback from the workers. He interacted with the workers and took feedback. He appreciated the candidates for coming forward to contest the polls despite the overall situation, he said. shalender@tribune.com Tribune News Service Srinagar/Anantnag, September 27 Six persons two civilians, a soldier and three militants were killed in election-bound Kashmir on Thursday even as a gunfight inside a mosque in central Kashmirs Budgam triggered protests and clashes in several parts of the Valley. Two local militants, one of them a former Special Police Officer (SPO), were killed in a seven-hour-long encounter at Panzan Chadoora, 25 km from Srinagar. They reportedly opened fire at the security personnel laying a cordon around the village in the wee hours and later took refuge in a local mosque. The local Auqaf Committee was engaged to convince the terrorists to lay down arms, but they refused, said an officer. Subsequently, the Armys special forces launched an operation to force them out of the two-storeyed mosque. After room-to-room clearing operations, the troops were able to zero in on the militants inside a minaret. In the ensuing gunfight, the two militants were killed and two soldiers injured, the officer said. The slain militants, who owed allegiance to the Hizbul Mujahideen, were identified as Sheeraz Bhat of Chadoora and Irfan Dar of Kakapora, Pulwama. The latter had deserted the police some months ago. Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said the troops showed maximum restraint and risked their life to ensure no damage was caused to the structure. Nonetheless, violent protests erupted immediately after the gunfight with the locals claiming the mosque had been damaged. In another encounter, soldier Happy Singh (25) of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, a resident of Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda district, and Lashkar militant Asif Malik were killed in south Kashmirs Anantnag district. Malik belonged to Verinag in Anantnag. The gunfight broke out in Qazigund Dooru at about 6 am during a search operation. Malik, with a BTech degree, was involved in several attacks on security personnel. In the third incident, a civilian, identified as Mohammad Saleem Malik (21), was killed in Srinagars Noorbagh locality during a search operation. But the youths family and local residents claimed he was feeding his sheep when he was shot. Another man was killed in alleged Army firing in Kupwara district. Sources said the troops, while laying an ambush in Rangward area of Kralpora, saw a man and asked him to halt. But he ran away and was shot. editorial@tribune.com Srinagar, September 27 The National Conference has reiterated its stand of not participating in the municipal and panchayat elections until the Central government clears its stand and protects Article 35A in and outside the courts. This, according to a party spokesman, was said by National Conference general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar while addressing a meeting of party leaders and office-bearers of Srinagar district at the party headquarters here on Thursday. Describing the elections as ill-timed, Sagar said people were under duress and had gone through the worst of times in the history of Kashmir. There is no history of such bloodshed, rampant curfews, crackdowns and blinding as seen during the PDP-led government, he said. Speaking on the occasion, provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani said the party rank and file would abide by the decision of not participating in the upcoming polls in letter and spirit. TNS vinaymishra188@gmail.com Gurnaaz Kaur Catch them when they are young and the chance of change is greater. It is what long-time peace activist Bernie Meyer, also called American Gandhi, believes in. This brand ambassador of Global Youth Peace Fest has held on to this idea and year after year he comes to Chandigarh to promote the principles of Mahatma Gandhi among the youth. While his journey as a peace activist began during the Vietnam War, he thinks the scenario today is much worse. The world is in a crucial situation. I have been trying to alert people about what is going on. Nuclear weapons, climate issues, industrialisation- these are the real things that youngsters should focus on and come together to demand a better future for themselves and the generations to come, says Bernie. He continues, Now, more than ever, Gandhis message of peace and non-violence is needed. With the amount of violence and destruction that this world is witnessing today, if the young energy is not channelised, the future seems dark. Meyer, who has been studying and propagating Gandhian way of life, feels educating youth about his teachings and helping them try to be good human beings adds meaning to his own life. Gandhi believed in dutiful life, he preached love thy neighbour and after researching on him for so many years, I feel if I can kindle that energy in youngsters of their duty towards themselves and the society, Ive made the best use of my life. He also thinks that spirituality and values, which are integral to this part of the world, are losing their importance and the materialistic way of the West is taking over. I want to bring together the wisdom of the East and the science of the West with the hope that we will create sustaining, peaceful communities. Gandhi shows us the way. We can be the change we want. Lucky 13 This year marks the 13th edition of the GYPF and over 250 young people from 30 countries, including Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kenya, Indonesia, Nigeria, Nepal, Malaysia, Mauritius, The Netherland, Philippines, Syria, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, USA, etc will be participating. We will focus to discuss and deliberate four major themes- celebrating woman rights, living in harmony with man and nature, peace building and youth activism and the role of youth in achieving sustainable development goals, explains Pramod Sharma, founder-coordinator of Yuvsatta, the NGO that has been organising the fest since 2006. During the three-day event from September 20- October 2, many international personalities will meet school and college students in and around the city. Gurnaaz@tribunemail.com monicakchauhan@gmail.com Mumbai, September 27 Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan on Thursday evaded a direct reply when asked about actor Tanushree Dutta's claim that Nana Patekar harassed her on the sets of a film in 2008, an allegation that is being seen as Bollywood's #MeToo moment. "My name is not Tanushree and my name is not Nana Patekar," Bachchan said when asked to react to Dutta's recent TV interview. Khan said it would not be right for him to comment but "whenever something like this does happens it is really a sad thing". The two stars were present at the trailer launch of their upcoming film "Thugs of Hindostan". Khan said it would be unfair on his part to comment on the controversy without knowing the "veracity" or the "details" of the matter. "I don't think I can comment on it... But whenever something like this does happens it is really a sad thing. Now whether such thing has happened it is for people to investigate it," he said. In a recent TV interview, Dutta said Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of "Horn Ok Pleasss" 10 years ago. The actor, a former Miss India-Universe who is now based in the US, also alleged that Patekar had the tacit support of the film's makers. Patekar, who had denied the claims at a press conference when Dutta raised the issue in 2008, remained unreachable despite several attempts to contact him for his version of what had happened. Dutta's allegations have opened a furious debate on sexual harassment in the Hindi film industry with many supporting her but others questioning her motives for raising the issue so many years later. The actor, who has featured in films such as "Aashiq Banaya Aapne" and "Chocolate", said she spoke about the issue earlier and no one had the right to say anything to her. "They called me a slut, an unprofessional.. when I spoke about it eight to 10 years back. Nobody has right to say anything to me," Dutta told PTI. Dutta said there is social stigma and character assassination that a woman goes through when she talks or tries to talk about such incidents. Recounting the incident and its aftermath, she claimed she tried to escape but the situation went from being a "harassment situation to a mob lynching situation". "When I tried to escape they called the media, they called some people to mob lynch and attack my car. My parents were there inside and even I was inside, it was horrific. So from harassment situation to a mob lynching situation..." "They made sure that we did not escape from the studio, they locked the gates and then the cops came and they got us out... So when we filed the police report, they filed a counter complaint and because of the counter FIR, my dad, hair dresser and spot boy had to go through so much harassment over the next couple of years," she said. PTI vinaymishra188@gmail.com Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 Two years after the surgical strikes, firing from across the LoC in Pakistan has risen four times while infiltration by terrorists continues unabated. A positive development is that the number of ultras getting killed at the LoC has risen. On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army hit at multiple terror camps inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and destroyed terror launch pads. To mark two years of the surgical strikes, the government has planned Parakram Parv celebrations at 53 locations across 51 cities. Since the surgical strikes, the LoC and the IB that divide Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan have been peaceful and quiet only in sporadic bursts. Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat today said the strikes were a message that we will not hesitate to cross (the LoC). Despite that (strikes), infiltration continues and violence is being fanned in the Valley. Immediately after the strikes, India-Pakistan ties, expectedly, were on a downward spiral marked with frequent exchanges of fire, prompting assessments of it being the most tense period since the November 2003 ceasefire along the border. However, counting the number of ceasefire violations cannot be a benchmark to assess the level or intensity of firing from across. Even one bullet fired is a violation and a mortar, that travels up to 10 km, is also counted as same. A senior officer said modern surveillance gadgets such as night vision and thermal imagers made it difficult to physically reach an enemy post and firing, therefore, remained the most viable military reply. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of the Aadhaar scheme but struck down or read down as many as six provisions, including those on linking of bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions, to the unique identification number. By a 4:1 verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, however, ruled that Aadhaar would remain mandatory for filing of income-tax returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN). In a relief to the Government, it upheld the constitutional validity of 12 other provisions, including Section 59 of the Aadhaar Act which extended validity to the data collected during 2009 to 2016 when the law was not there. The Bench ruled that banks and telecom companies cannot insist on Aadhaar for opening of accounts or giving mobile connections. Similarly, schools, Central Board of Secondary Examination, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and University Grants Commission cant ask for Aadhaar, it said. The verdict is likely to adversely affect the Governments push to link Aadhaar with mobile connections and bank accounts as the top court held that mandatory linking of Aadhaar with mobile connections and bank accounts cannot be made. It struck down the amendment brought in Prevention of Money Laundering Rules, which mandated linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts. Noting that Aadhaar was aimed at extending benefits of welfare schemes to marginalised sections of society and to serve larger public interest, the Bench upheld the law taking into account the dignity of people not only from personal but from the community point of view. It is better to be unique than the best. Because, being the best makes you the number one, but being unique makes you the only one, Justice Sikri, who wrote the majority verdict for himself, CJI Dipak Misra and Justice AM Khanwilkar said at the very beginning. There was nothing in the Aadhaar Act that violated the right to privacy of an individual, the majority ruled. There were two other verdicts one each by Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan. While Justice Bhushan concurred with the other three judges, Justice Chandrachud dissented and declared the Aadhaar Act unconstitutional. Project benefits the marginalised "Aadhaar gives dignity to the marginalised. Dignity to marginalised outweighs privacy... one cant throw the baby out with the bathwater... remedy is to plug loopholes rather than axe a project aimed for welfare" Justice AK Sikri Tech cant dictate constitutional rights "If a Constitution has to survive political aggrandisement, notions of power, authority must give compliance to rule of law constitutional guarantees cant be compromised by vicissitudes of technology" Justice DY Chandrachud What needs to be linked, what does not vinaymishra188@gmail.com Washington, September 26 The US Congress has passed a crucial bipartisan Bill that seeks to impose a visa ban on Chinese officials who deny American citizens, government officials and journalists access to Tibet, Chinas sensitive Himalayan region. The US has expressed concern in the past about the lack of access to the Tibetan Autonomous Region for American journalists, diplomats, academics and others to report on alleged religious persecution in the former home of the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. The Bill comes amid the Trump administration imposing trade import duties on China that has started impacting the Chinese economy. The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which seeks to ensure that Americans are given the same access to Tibet that Chinese citizens have to the US, was passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The Act is about fairness, human rights and US diplomacy at its core. China restricted access to Tibet, preventing journalists from observing rights abuses in Tibet and preventing Tibetan Americans from visiting their country. This Bill seeks to reset that table, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said. PTI monicakchauhan@gmail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 27 In a historic verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday declared unconstitutional Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code which punished only men for having sexual relationship with a married woman. In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the archaic Victorian era law violated a womans right to equality and right to non-discrimination guaranteed under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution as it treated women as chattels. The court said the law on adultery violated a womans sexual autonomy and deprived her of dignity. But the Bench, however, said adultery could be used as a ground for divorce by a husband or a wife in matrimonial proceedings. While declaring the penal provision on adultery unconstitutional, CJI Misra cautioned that the verdict should not be taken as a licence to indulge in such acts. The top court rejected the Centres demand to make adultery gender-neutral and keep it on the statute book in order to protect sanctity of the institution of marriage. In all there were four concurring verdicts. The first one by the CJI for himself and Justice AM Khanwikkar and then one each--separate but concurring verdicts by Justice RF Nariman, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra--who all declared Section 497 of the IPC unconstitutional. According to Section 497, whosoever has sexual intercourse with the wife of another man is guilty of adultery, which is punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. It says the woman in question cant be punished as an abettor. An Italy-based NRI--Joseph Shinehas challenged the provision which prescribes a jail term of up to five years or fine or both, terming it unjust, illegal and arbitrary and violative of citizens fundamental rights. He questioned the gender bias in the provision drafted by Lord Macaulay in 1860. He also challenged Section 198(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code which allows a husband to bring charges against the man with whom his wife committed adultery. While reserving its verdict, the top court had on August 8 rejected the Centres argument to make gender-neutral Section 497which penalizes only men for adultery, saying it would amount to amending the criminal law which it could not do. Reading down means restricting a provisionIf we make it gender-neutral we will be expanding the scope and ambit of the law to include womenIt would amount to amending the lawWe cant do it, the Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had told Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand. The Centre had defended the British-era provision, saying it was needed to protect the sanctity of institution of marriage and the court should make it gender-neutral by replacing the husband with spouse. She cited a recent Supreme Court verdict in which it declared sex with minor wife as rape despite the law treating it as an exception to rape law. But the Bench had said that was a case of interpretation and not re-writing the criminal law. It had refused to buy the Centres submission that the Law Commission of India was actively considering the issue since December 2014. The Centre had maintained that striking down Section 497 of the IPC and Section 198(2) of the CrPC would prove to be detrimental to intrinsic Indian ethos which gave paramount importance to the institution and sanctity of marriage. In an affidavit filed in the court, the NDA Government had earlier said, Decriminalisation of adultery will result in weakening the sanctity of marital bond. It said the provisions of law under challenge had been specifically created by the legislature in its wisdom to protect and safeguard the sanctity of marriage, keeping in mind the unique structure and culture of Indian society. However, terming Section 497 of the IPC as manifestly arbitrary, the Bench said it went against principle sexual autonomy. Interestingly, Justice DY Chandrachuds father had earlier upheld the validity of Section 497 of the IPC. Justice DY Chandrachud said a woman had sexual autonomy within marriage and marriage did not mean ceding this autonomy. He said ability to make sexual choices is essential to human liberty and even within private zones, an individual should be allowed to make her choice, said Justice Chandrachud. shalender@tribune.com New Delhi, September 27 The Supreme Court verdict on Thursday declaring that adultery is not a crime was welcomed by several people who said it was a good riddance to an antiquated law, though some experts raised concerns over the judgment. BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli said every judgment of the SC has to be welcomed because it becomes the law which we all have to subscribe to. We have to look at judgments of the SC with regards to fundamental rights, whether it is equality of either men or women or everyone before the law or it is about right to privacy or it is about freedom of speech and expression, he said. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi raked up the issue of triple talaq, saying the Supreme Court decriminalised sections 377 and 497, but it had just set aside the practice of instant divorce among Muslims, and the government made it a penal offence through an ordinance. The Supreme Court didnt say triple talaaq is unconstitutional but set it aside but apex court has said 377 & 497 is unconstitutional will Modi government learn from these judgments and take back their unconstitutional ordinance on triple talaaq (sic), he tweeted. Social activist Brinda Adige asked if the judgment allowed polygamy too? Because we know that men very often marry two-three times and there is so much of problem when the first, second or third wife are abandoned. If adultery is not a crime, how are women even going to file a case against the husband who might abandon her? Its a concern, she said. Other activists and lawyers hailed the judgment. Excellent decision to de-criminalise adultery. Also a law that does not give women the right to sue her adulterer husband & cant be herself sued if she is in adultery is unequal treatment, Congress MP Sushmita Dev tweeted. PTI Case timeline October 10, 2017 Plea in SC challenges the constitutional validity of Sec 497 of IPC January 5, 2018 Top court refers the petition to a five-judge Constitution Bench July 11 Centre tells SC that striking down Sec 497 will destroy the institution of marriage August 2 SC says penal provision on adultery apparently violative of the right to equality August 8 Centre favours the retention of penal law on adultery, says it is a public wrong September 27 SC holds Sec 497 as unconstitutional and strikes down the penal provision its crime here Afghanistan Bangladesh Indonesia Iran Maldives Nepal Pakistan Philippines UAE US (some states) Algeria DR Congo Egypt Morocco Nigeria (some parts) No crime here China Japan Brazil New Zealand Australia Scotland Netherlands Denmark France Germany Austria Barbados Bermuda Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago Seychelles South Korea Guatemala Ireland Verdict anti-women The judgment is anti-women. In a way, you have given an open license to the people of this country to be in marriages but at the same time have illegitimate relationships Swati Maliwal, DCW Chief Hell in the making now the men will just abandon us or not give us talaq. They will have polygamy or nikah hallala which creates hell for us as women. I do not see how it helps give us clarity Renuka Choudhary, Congress Leader Fine judgment Another fine judgment by the SC striking down the antiquated law in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands and criminalises adultery Prashant Bhushan, Senior SC lawyer Law had no place It was a 150-year-old law which does not have a place in new India its is a very fair judgment keeping in mind the country we live in and the century we are living in Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress leader vinaymishra188@gmail.com New Delhi, September 26 Taking credit while slamming the Congress, the BJP described the Supreme Court judgment on Aadhaar as a big victory for the Narendra Modi government and a defeat for the Opposition party. Party leaders said the apex court had upheld its Constitutional validity and that it does not violate privacy. BJP chief Amit Shah called the judgment a strong validation of Aadhaar as an instrument of service delivery. It gives further impetus to empowering the poor by ensuring that they get their rights, he said. Aadhaar under UPA government was niradhar and had no purpose. UPA spent thousands of crores to enroll people without any law or scrutiny. The Modi government gave it strong legal backing and integrated it in service delivery. This ensured savings of Rs 90,000 crore and benefited the poor. The Congress tried to fight and defeat Aadhaar. They tried to mislead people on various grounds, including scare-mongering on privacy. Today they stand exposed and defeated, Shah tweeted. TNS shalender@tribune.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 27 Moments after the apex court ruled that hearing in the Ayodhya title suit will start from October 29, Congress struck a note of caution on Thursday, saying all sides should abide by the decision of the court, even as it braced for political impact of the development. The party certainly does not want to be seen standing in the way of the verdict having paid a political price last December after its Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal sought adjournment of the matter until after 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sibals demand on the eve of the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections was a matter of huge controversy with the BJP attacking the Congress. The BJP eventually won Gujarat. Today, the Congress lost no time in backing the SC order and chose to attack the BJP for its intent on the temple issue. The BJP has always conspired to mislead people on the Ram temple issue. When it is out of power it uses Lord Rama to garner votes and when it is in power it sends the Lord to exile, Congress leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said, adding that the BJP had problems with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi visiting Hindu shrines, most recently the Kailash Mansarovar. The Congress has always said whatever the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of Ram temple-Babri masjid, all sides should abide by it and the government should implement it. Unfortunately, for the last 30 years after 1992, the BJP has been conspiring to mislead and befool people on the Ram temple issue, Chaturvedi said. The official stand apart, Congress realises it would be advantage BJP should hearing in the Ayodhya title suit begin from October 29. vinaymishra188@gmail.com New Delhi, September 26 Justice DY Chandrachud, who delivered a dissenting verdict on petitions challenging validity of the Aadhaar Act, found fault with the entire apparatus of the unique identification number, saying it could even affect the outcome of an election. Alluding to the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica incident, Justice Chandrachud said profiling of individual preferences could also be used to influence the decision-making of the electorate in choosing candidates for electoral offices. In the 481 pages penned down by him as part of the total 1,448-page verdict, the judge also held that the Aadhaar Act should not have been passed as money Bill as it amounts to a fraud on the Constitution and is liable to be struck down. However, the majority verdict rejected Congress leader Jairam Rameshs petition challenging passage of the Aadhaar Bill as a money Bill by the Lok Sabha. While upholding the Aadhaar law, the majority also declared unconstitutional some of its provisions, including the one relating to national security exception. The majority verdict struck down Section 57 of the Act which permitted private entities like telecom companies or other corporates to avail of Aadhaar data. It also ruled that Aadhaar authentication data (metadata) cannot be stored for more than six months as against five years provided in the Act. The top court directed the government to ensure that Aadhaar numbers were not issued to illegal immigrants. While rejecting allegations of a surveillance state, it asked the government to put in place a robust data protection regime. Satya Prakash Cong cuts sorry figure, says Jaitley "India cant afford to be a tech laggard. Everyone criticising Aadhaar should understand that they cannot defy technology. Congress cuts a very sorry figure here. They introduced the idea but they did not know what to do with it." Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister Well move court if no amendment "The Congress will certainly move court if amendments to the Aadhaar Act brought after this verdict are not brought in Rajya Sabha for discussion" Kapil Sibal, Congress leader shalender@tribune.com New York, September 27 It is incumbent to dismantle the support infrastructure of terrorist organisations as their access to funds, finances and technology enables them to carry out attacks with impunity, India has said as it called for making the UN counter-terrorism mechanism efficient in listing terrorists and their outfits. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs remarks came at the 9th IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Trilateral Ministerial Commission meeting held on Thursday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Terrorism, non-state actors, and illicit financial flows undermine the very cause of development and prosperity. Terrorist organisations use sophisticated equipment, weapons, and ammunitions that are financed through illicit and illegitimate sources, she said. Allowing them access to funds, finances, information, weapons, and technology enables them to carry out attacks with impunity. It is incumbent therefore to dismantle their support infrastructure, she said. The IBSA meeting was convened by Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Aloysio Nunes Ferreira Filho and attended by South Africas Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu. Swaraj said Indias proposal on Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism will fill in the significant vacuum to combat the scourge of terrorism. UNs counter-terrorism mechanism should be made efficient in listing terrorists and their outfits. Implementation of FATF (Financial Action Task Force) standards will strengthen international efforts in addressing terrorism, she said. Referring to PM Narendra Modis emphasis on reforming global institutions and his call for "reformed multilateralism", Swaraj said IBSA countries have been at the forefront on initiating reform of global institutions. PTI shalender@tribune.com Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 27 Hindu groups welcomed the Supreme Court decision refusing to refer to a larger Bench its 1994 verdict that said mosque is not integral to Islam, thereby weakening the Sunni Wakf Boards claim over the disputed land. The BJPs ideological fountainhead RSS and its affiliate Vishwa Hindu Parishad expressed satisfaction while hoping for an early decision on the matter. Stating that all sorts of impediments to delay the matter (construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya) have now been removed, VHP president Alok Kumar said the next course of action would be decided at a high-powered committee of saints on October 5. I am satisfied that this impediment has been removed and the way is now clear for hearing of appeals in the title suits on Ram janmabhoomi. We feel all sorts of impediments were being put up to delay the main matter (construction of Ram temple), including pleas that the matter be heard after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. We understand that the next hearing on the case has been fixed for October 29. The matter has been pending in the Supreme Court for long. We hope and expect that the SC will expeditiously hear the pleas, he said. On whether the construction of the temple would begin before the 2019 elections, he said the two issues were not related. A high-powered committee comprising saints associated with the Ram janmabhoomi issue will gather on October 5 and take a call on the next course of action, he said. RSS office-bearers are expected to be present at the meeting to decide whether the matter should be left to the SC, Parliament or required fresh impetus. Notably, the issue related to the 1994 ruling has delayed the hearing in the title case. Now that the hearing will start on October 29, the most important implication of Thursdays order could be speeding up of the title case. With less than a year to go for the polls, political observers see it as a favourable situation for the BJP, which had promised a grand Ram temple in its manifesto. Recently, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, while speaking at a Sangh conclave Bhavishya Ka Bharat An RSS Perspective, was also clear that a grand Ram temple should be constructed at Ayodhya as soon as possible. Rather, it should have been built by now, he had said. It (Ram temple) is the question of faith of crores of Hindus, it should have happened by now. It is only right that a grand Ram mandir is built at the place Bhagwan Ram was born. The building of the temple will end a major issue of friction between Hindus and Muslims. And if it is done amicably, it will automatically silence those who point fingers at the Muslim community, Bhagwat had said. Looking back at BABRI dispute 1528 Babri Masjid built by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur 1885 Mahant Raghubir Das files plea in Faizabad court seeking permission to build a canopy outside Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure; court rejects plea 1949 Idols of Ram Lalla placed outside disputed structure 1959 Nirmohi Akhara files suit seeking possession of site Dec 6, 1992 Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure demolished March 13, 2003 SC bans religious activity at the acquired land Sept 30, 2010 HC rules three-way division of disputed area between Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara, Ram Lalla March 21, 2017 CJI JS Khehar suggests out-of-court settlement April 6, 2018 Rajeev Dhavan moves SC to refer reconsideration of observations to a larger Bench Sept 27 SC refuses to refer case to a five-judge Bench; case to be heard on October 29 Resolve issue soon The majority of this nation wants a solution to this (Ayodhya issue) at the earliest We appeal that this matter is resolved as soon as possible Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister SC will create history Like in the case of triple talaq, the world is congratulating the judges for liberating 8.5 crore Muslim women, they will solve this problem and create history in 2018. Indresh Kumar, RSS leader Right to pray prevails After todays verdict, my appeal for fundamental right to pray at Lord Rams birthplace will prevail, paving the way for construction of the temple. Subramanian Swamy, BJP leader amansharma@tribunemail.com Smita Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 27 Days after cancellation of proposed talks between Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan by New Delhi followed by heated exchanges on both sides, Sushma Swaraj and Shah Mehmood Qureshi would be attending a SAARC meeting on Thursday. The two leaders are representing their respective countries at the 73rd UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) and will be participating in the SAARC council of foreign ministers meet that is held in New York along the sidelines each year. The two hour long meeting scheduled to begin at 1 pm local time (10.30 pm IST) will take stock of the activities of the south Asian grouping. The only impediment to Peace in the subcontinent is Indias refusal to come to the table.Dialogue is the only way forward. The UN report on Human Rights violations has validated our claims of atrocities in occupied Kashmir; they will continue unabated until we reach a resolution. Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) September 27, 2018 The new Imran Khan government is keen to host the summit meeting in Islamabad which was derailed because of an India-led boycott in 2016 in wake of the Uri terror strikes. Countries like Nepal which is the SAARC chair, as well as Sri Lanka have expressed interest for revival of the summit meeting which requires consensus of all eight member nations and the need for Heads of States/Governments to attend. Earlier on Tuesday, Qureshi held talks with Nepalese Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. "Foreign Minister Qureshi reiterated importance of Pakistan's bilateral relations with Nepal and appreciated commendable interest of Nepal in reviving SAARC, which remains an important platform for forging regional consensus on all issue of concerns to the South Asian Community of Nations," said a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement. However, the Narendra Modi government continues to maintain that in view of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil against neighbours, including India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the atmosphere in the region is not conducive for such summit talks. Swaraj-Qureshi face off at UNGA on Saturday Swaraj and Qureshi will address the General Assembly on September 29 where India is expected to strongly raise the issue of cross-border terrorism. While Pakistan is likely to harp on the Kashmir issue and flag a recent Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report. Earlier, K-bogey was raised at the OIC (Organisation Of Islamic Countries) meeting held along UNGA sidelines on Tuesday. Along with Qureshi, Sardar Masood Khan, President of Pak-Occupied Kashmir, was also present at the meeting. According to the Pakistan government statement, "The Contact Group called for impartial plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions." Asked about India-Pakistan ties and possibility of any pull aside with Swaraj during the SAARC meet, Qureshi earlier told reporters, "I don't want to vitiate the atmosphere. We want peace and better relations. Else only two phrases are enough to spoil something. We don't want to spoil." vinaymishra188@gmail.com New Delhi, September 26 The government on Wednesday lauded the Supreme Court judgment on the constitutionality of Aadhaar law, as it said the concept of unique ID number has been accepted in judicial review by the apex court. Calling the apex courts verdict historic, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said though he had not read the finer-print of the judgment, the 4:1 majority verdict did uphold the constitutional validity of the law. A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra upheld Aadhaar but struck down some of its provisions, including its linkages with bank accounts, mobile phone connections and school admissions. But it kept the provision of Aadhaar mandatory for filing of IT returns and allotment of Permanent Account Number. Noting that Aadhaar has helped the government save Rs 90,000 crore every year with targeted delivery of public welfare schemes, Jaitley said: It is a historic judgment and the concept of unique identity number that has been accepted after judicial review is a welcome decision. TNS amansharma@tribunemail.com Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 27 Thirteen months after overruling Justice YV Chandrachud's infamous ADM Jabalpur case delivered during Emergency, Justice DY Chandrachud has overruled his father's verdict again. While striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code that penalised only men for adultery and treated women as chattels, Justice DY Chandrachud overruled his father's judgment in Sowmithri Vishnu versus Union of India that had upheld the constitutional validity of the British era provision. In a separate but concurring verdict in Joseph Shine vs Union of India, Justice DY Chandrachud declared Section 497 of IPC unconstitutional, saying it conferred upon the husband the right to prosecute the adulterer but did not confer any such right upon the wife to prosecute the woman with whom her husband has committed adultery. He said it did not confer any right on the wife to prosecute the husband who has committed adultery with another woman and did not take into account the cases where the husband has sexual relations with an unmarried woman. Noting that husbands had a free licence under the law to have extra-marital relationship with unmarried women, he termed it a kind of 'Romantic Paternalism', which stemmed from the assumption that women, like chattels, were the property of men. The verdict was in sharp contrast of the one delivered by his father in the 1985 case which upheld the validity of Section 497, IPC. His father had dismissed these arguments in the 1985 case saying they had a strong emotive appeal but had no valid legal basis to rest upon. A penal provision cannot be held unconstitutional merely because it punishes man alone, Justice DY Chandrachud had said. "It is commonly accepted that it is the man who is the seducer and not the woman", he had said. Earlier, as a part of a nine-judge Bench which declared right to privacy a fundamental right on August 24, 2017, Justice DY Chandrachud had overruled his father's verdict in ADM Jabalpur case. Justice YV Chandrachud, who was part of a five-judge Constitution Bench had ruled by 4:1 majority on April 28, 1976, that all fundamental rights get suspended during Emergency and individuals did not have a right to approach constitutional courts for protection. Forty-one years on, his son Justice DY Chandrachud overruled the verdict, saying, "The judgments rendered by all the four judges constituting the majority in ADM Jabalpur are seriously flawed." Justice Chandrachud was supported by two other Judges - Justice RF Nariman and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul - who also over-ruled ADM Jabalpur verdict. Much of the problems created by the ADM Jabalpur verdict was corrected by the 44th Constitutional Amendment but the formal over-ruling can be seen as an attempt by the Judiciary to counter criticism for its failure to protect citizens' fundamental rights during the Emergency. Justice DY Chandrachud had Justified the minority verdict delivered by Justice Khanna in the ADM Jabalpur case, saying, "The view taken by Justice Khanna must be accepted, and accepted in reverence for the strength of its thoughts and the courage of its convictions." rchopra@tribunemail.com United Nations, September 27 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have been jointly awarded with the UNs highest environmental honour for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of cooperation on environmental action. Modi and Macron are among the six of the worlds most outstanding environmental change makers recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award. This years laureates are recognised for a combination of bold, innovative and tireless efforts to tackle some of the most urgent environmental issues of our times, the UN Environment Programme said. Modi and Macron have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including the French Presidents work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modis unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an Indian initiative jointly launched by Modi and the French President in November 2015 in Paris on the sidelines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference. The ISA is a treaty-based international body for promotion of solar energy in alliance with solar-rich countries located fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Cochin International Airport has also been honoured this year with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. Cochin is showing the world that our ever-expanding network of global movement doesnt have to harm the environment. As the pace of society continues to increase, the worlds first fully solar-powered airport is proof positive that green business is good business, UNEP said. The other winners of the 2018 Champions of the Earth Awards are Joan Carling, recognised with the lifetime achievement award for her work as one of the worlds most prominent defenders of environmental and indigenous rights. Carling has been at the forefront of the conflict for land and the environment for more than 20 years. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are jointly recognised in the Science and Innovation category, for their revolutionary development of a popular, plant-based alternative to beef, and for their efforts to educate consumers about environmentally conscious alternatives. PTI vinaymishra188@gmail.com Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 Although the Congress on Wednesday lost the case that Aadhaar Bill is not a money Bill, its leaders said the Supreme Court majority judgment was no setback for the party as it never wanted the entire Bill struck down. This is no setback. We never wanted the entire Bill struck down as it protects the rights of the marginalised. For the first time, the SC Constitution Bench has ruled that the decision of the Lok Sabha Speaker is justifiable. This is big," Congress leader Kapil Sibal said today as party's top brass claimed SC judgment to be an endorsement of Congress' stand that Aadhaar should be voluntary and not mandatory. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hailed the order, saying For Congress, Aadhaar was an instrument of empowerment. For the BJP, Aadhaar is a tool of oppression and surveillance. Thank you, Supreme Court, for supporting the Congress vision and protecting it. He, however, steered clear of reference to the SC upholding Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajans decision to convert the Aadhaar Bill into money Bill. Congress MP and ex-minister Jairam Ramesh had in April 2016 moved the SC challenging the Speaker's orders and arguing that the government was setting an unhealthy trend by converting routine Bills into money Bills to bypass the scrutiny of Rajya Sabha. RS has powers to discuss money Bills but not lock them. Citing SC's minority judgment on "Aadhaar as money Bill" today, the Congress said it would hope the government would bring the Aadhaar Bill for amendments to the House. "If they don't, we will seek a review of the top court order," Sibal said. "We welcome the judgment to the extent that it upholds the rights of marginalized to get government benefits. SC has also ruled that in case of apprehensions over Aadhaar, a private individual can move court. This right was hitherto reserved for UIDAI," Sibal said adding that the Congress would fight for the rights of manual labourers who don't have biometrics due to the nature of their work. Congress further questioned the government on what would happen to the mine of biometric data that has reached private hands. "The SC has said the data cannot be stored beyond six months. We hope the government will create mechanisms to destroy the data that is already in private hands," Sibal added. rchopra@tribunemail.com New Delhi, September 27 The Supreme Court verdict declaring that adultery is not a crime was widely welcomed on Thursday with several lawyers and activists saying it was an antiquated colonial era law that treated women as properties of their husbands. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan termed the verdict a fine judgment that did away with an antiquated law. Another fine judgment by the SC striking down the antiquated law in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery (only of man who sleeps with someones wife). Adultery can be ground for divorce but not criminal, Bhushan said on Twitter. Congress MP and president of womens wing of the party Sushmita Dev agreed with him. Excellent decision to de-criminalise adultery. Also a law that does not give women the right to sue her adulterer husband & cant be herself sued if she is in adultery is unequal treatment & militates against her status as an individual separate entity, she tweeted. The National Commission of Women chief Rekha Sharma, too, welcomed the judgment saying it should have been removed a long time ago. This is a law from the British era, although the British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it, she said. According to social activist Ranjana Kumari, patriarchal control over women was unacceptable. We welcome the judgment by the SC striking down the 158 yr old law based on Victorian values, in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery. Patriarchal control over womens body unacceptable, she tweeted. While adultery should not be a criminal offence, the bench held that adultery should continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be grounds for dissolution of marriage or divorce. There cant be any social licence which destroys a home, Justice Misra said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery. The offence of adultery entailed a maximum punishment of five years, or with fine, or both. PTI vinaymishra188@gmail.com New Delhi, September 26 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday busted Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) terror-funding module as it carried out searches at multiple places in Daryaganj, Nizamuddin and Kucha Ghasiram areas in Delhi. As per the FIR, some Delhi-based individuals were receiving funds from FIF operatives based abroad to further the terror activities. Following the seizure of incriminating material during searches, NIA arrested FIF operative Mohd Salman (52), Hawala Conduit Mohd Salim (62) and Hawala courier Sajjad Abdul Wani (34) a resident of Srinagar. During investigation, it emerged that Salman, was in regular touch with a Dubai-based Pakistan national, who was connected with the Deputy Chief of FIF, a front-end organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Salman had been receiving funds from persons in various countries, including Pakistan and the UAE through Hawala to carry out terror activities in the country. During the searches on the premises of the accused, the NIA seized Rs 1.56 crore, Rs 43,000 in Nepali currency, 14 mobiles phones, five pen drives and several incriminating documents. Investigation is continuing to unearth the larger conspiracy and arrest the other accused persons. FIF is a Lahore-based organisation established by Jamat-ud-Dawa. It was founded in 1990 by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who is designated as global terrorist by the US. FIF is placed on the list of terrorist organisations here and it was also designated as a terrorist entity by the US in 2010. PTI Army agrees to permanent commission for eligible women officers after Supreme Court rap 11 who had moved court to get it in 10 days, others in 3 wee... pardeepdhull@gmail.com United Nations, September 26 French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the Rafale deal was a government-to-government discussion and he was not in power when the multi-billion-dollar agreement for 36 fighter jets was signed between India and France. Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Macron was asked if the Indian government had at any point told France or Dassault the French aerospace major that they had to accept Reliance as the Indian partner for the Rafale deal. India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one-and-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the proposal during a visit to Paris. The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September, 2019. I will be very clear. It was a government-to-government discussion and I just want to refer to what Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi very clearly said a few days ago, Macron told reporters here Tuesday without elaborating. I dont have any other comment. I was not in charge at that time and I know that we have very clear rules, he said in his first comment on the issue. Macron, who assumed the presidency in May last year, emphasised that this is a government-to-government discussion and this contract is part of a broader framework which is military and defence coalition between India and France. This one is very important to me because this is a strategic coalition and not just an industrial relation. That is my point. I just want to refer to what PM Modi said on this situation, he said. A huge controversy over the Rafale deal has erupted in India after a report in the French media quoted former president Francois Hollande as saying that the selection of the Indian company in the Rafale deal was done at the behest of New Delhi. Hollande said that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as partner for the French aerospace giant in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale deal and France did not have a choice. His comments to Mediapart, a French language publication, triggered sharp reactions from the Opposition parties which have been accusing the government of massive irregularities in the deal and benefiting Reliance Defence Limited despite not having any experience in the aerospace sector. The Congress party recently raised several questions about the deal, including the rates, and accused the government of compromising national interest and security while promoting crony capitalism and causing a loss to the public exchequer. The report quoted Hollande as saying, It was the Indian government that proposed this service group, and Dassault which negotiated with Ambani. We had no choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us. Prime Minister Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after holding talks with then French president Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris. The final deal was sealed on September 23, 2016. The French government has said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners. In its statement, Dassault Aviation said the contract for supply of 36 Rafale jets is a government-to-government agreement, adding It provides for a separate contract in which Dassault Aviation commits to make compensation investments (offsets) in India worth 50 per cent of the value of the purchase. The company also said its partnership with Reliance has led to the creation of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) joint-venture in February 2017. PTI editorial@tribune.com Our Correspondent Phagwara, September 27 Jalandhar (Rural) SSP Navjot Singh Mahal today suspended ASI Kamaljit Singh and Daljit Singh of the Apra police post for alleged negligence that led to the murder of BSP worker Saroop Lal on September 25. Muthada Kalan village sarpanch Kanti Mohan told the SSP that Saroop had submitted a written complaint against the accused 18 months ago, fearing a threat to his life, but no action was initiated by the police despite repeated reminders. He urged the SSP to procure call details of the mobile phone of the main accused, Sarabjit alias Badonga, and make the information public to expose the police-politician-gangster nexus. The SSP visited the village and met family members of the deceased. He said police parties had been despatched to nab the killers. A probe has been ordered to find out whether Goraya SHO Parminder Singh had also been negligent on duty. Meanwhile, BSP leaders MP Singh Goraya, Amrit Bhonsle, Harmesh Gherra and Sat Paul Virk have threatened to intensify their agitation if the killers, including Badonga, Pardeep Singh and Harpreet, are not arrested soon. The protesters lifted their dharna late last night after the SP(D) assured them of justice. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Barnala, September 26 In a setback for the state governments efforts to contain stubble-burning, seven farmer organisations on Wednesday decided to oppose legal action taken against erring farmers. The unions alleged that the government had failed to give a viable alternative to dispose of stubble. Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary, BKU Ugrahan, said: The government is blaming farmers for burning stubble without any valid reason. In fact it is the failure of the government to provide an alternative to the farmers to make them switch to it. Besides BKU Ugrahan, other six farmer bodies, which attended a convention here, are BKU Dakaunda, BKU Krantikari, Kirti Kisan Union, Kisan Sangharash Committee (Kanwalpreet Pannu), Azad Kisan Sangharash Committee and Krantikari Kisan Union, Punjab. Union leaders claimed that stubble buried under soil releases gases, which were more dangerous than the smoke it caused. The government is propagating the use of costly machinery and harvester combines. Indebted farmers of the state cannot afford it, said Jagmohan Singh of BKU Dakaunda. gspannu7@gmail.com PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 26 A woman, Jaswinder Kaur, of Shehzada village sustained injuries after she fell off the roof of a police jeep here on Tuesday. The matter came to light after the footage of a CCTV captured the incident. The woman was seen falling in one of the videos as the vehicle took a sharp turn. Some passersby took the woman to a hospital nearby. She sustained injuries on her head and hand. Jaswinder alleged that she was thrown on to the bonnet of the jeep by cops as a punishment after she objected to her husband Gurwinder Singhs arrest. Contradicting her claim, Inspector Palwinder Singh said the police team had raided the house to arrest Balwant Singh (the womans father-in-law) in connection with a property dispute case. However, the woman obstructed them. Jaswinder Kaur climbed onto the roof of our jeep and created ruckus. We had to speed away from the spot after the family members attacked us. An ASI had a narrow escape, he added. Jaswinder, however, alleged that the police were taking away her husband without any reason. She threatened to end her life in case the government failed to take action against the cops. Gurwinder Singh said his father had gone to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday to seek relief as cops had been harassing them. He alleged that the police had implicated his father in a false case. Following the incident, the police registered a case of attempt to murder, obstructing government servant from discharging their duties and damaging public property against them. Besides Gurwinder, those booked included Kulwant Singh, his son Jagdish Singh, Pargat Singh, Sonu, Sandeep Kaur and Jaswinder Singh, all residents of Shehzada village, along with 10 others. Amritsar rural SSP Parampal Singh said a case had been registered against unidentified cops under Section 323 of the IPC on the womans statement. Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, IG, Crime Branch, said an inquiry would be conducted and action would be initiated against the guilty cops. editorial@tribune.com Phagwara, September 26 Hundreds of BSP activists, along with family members of slain party worker Saroop Lal, on Wednesday continued their dharna in front of the office of Phillaur DSP Amrik Singh Chahal. The protesters demanded immediate arrest of the killers of Saroop Lal, who was murdered at Apra village on Tuesday. They alleged that Saroop Lal was murdered by gangsters with the connivance of a few ruling party politicians and policemen. BSP leader MP Singh Goraya alleged the police was playing into the hands of Congress leaders. He threatened to intensify the stir if the accused were not arrested soon. The protesters refused to receive the body for cremation till the assailants were arrested. DSP Chahal said the police were working in an impartial manner and efforts were on to arrest the accused. FB post claims revenge A few messages claiming revenge from the slain BSP worker were posted on Facebook on Wednesday. DSP Amrik Singh Chahal said the police would verify the post. Two photos of the accused and a message were posted on Facebook. The message read, Aaj Baddong da badla poora ho gya. He said they were searching for the person who posted the message. OC editorial@tribune.com Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 26 In a diktat for girl students of Government Medical College here, the authorities have barred them from wearing jeans, capris and skirts to college from October 1. The order, issued by Dr Sujata Sharma, Principal, states that students would only wear salwar kameez or formal trousers supported by a white apron. The order issued on Tuesday read: It has been seen that female students of the college come to classes wearing jeans, capris and skirts, which looks very indecent. The dress code is binding for interns, MBBS, BSc and diploma students only. It does not mention anything about postgraduate students, senior residents or faculty members. The male students have also been directed to wear formal trousers and shirts only. The principal has also directed the faculty members to report the details of students violating the order. Though the students have not come out vocally against the order, they said they were already wearing decent clothes to the college and there was no point in issuing such an order. When contacted, Dr Sujata Sharma said she was busy in a meeting and would be able to talk later. A girl student of the college said: If the authorities feel that some students are wearing indecent clothes, they should point it out to those students only. Wearing jeans and T-shirts is common and convenient for us. An alumnus of the college and former president of resident doctors association, Dr Gagandeep Shergill, said: Mostly meritorious students make it to government medical colleges. The dress code order is uncalled for. Such diktats show regressive mindset. The authorities should instead focus on improving the quality of education. editorial@tribune.com Ravi S Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 26 Clearing the decks for the implementation of projects for the relining of Sirhind and Rajasthan feeder canal projects, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved financial assistance to the tune of Rs 826 crore. The assistance is of about Rs 620 crore and Rs 206 crore, respectively, for Rajasthan and Sirhind canals. The estimated total cost for the projects is about Rs 1,977 crore. The Centre has already released Rs 156 crore. The approved cost of Sirhind canal project is about Rs 671 crore and that of Rajasthan canal is about Rs 1,305 crore. The projects are to be funded both by the Centre, and the two states. The Central funding will be made through NABARD. While Rajasthan will contribute full amount of states share regarding Rajasthan canal, its share in the Sirhind canal will be in the ratio of about 35 per cent. The Punjab government will pitch in with the balance amount. Consequent to damages in the lining of both canals, there are considerable seepages causing waterlogging in large tracts of agricultural land in the adjacent areas. Also, the seepage reduces the flow in them. Gadkari said, The relining of Sirhind canal will save 256 cusecs of water which will stablise and improve irrigation in 48,356 hectares in Punjab. Gadkari all praise for Badal New Delhi: Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari acknowledged SADs perseverance for projects for the relining of Sirhind and Rajasthan feeder canals. He lauded former CM Parkash Singh Badal for his persuasive role in getting the projects cleared from the Centre. Badal sahib had talked to me twice on the matter, Gadkar said, and appreciated Sukhbir and Harsimrat for following up the issue with him. TNS editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 27 Local Bodies Minister Navjot Sidhu on Thursday pointed out glaring discrepancies worth Rs 500 crore in the accounts of Jalandhar and Amritsar civic bodies (the audit is still underway). He was, however, relatively soft on officials this time unlike his previous surprise visit to the city. During his visit to Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) office this morning, he called local Congress MLAs, Mayor and MC officials for a meeting, but he reportedly did not use any harsh words against any official. He only named one employee, who is already behind bars. Sidhu said: We are not taking any on-the-spot decision this time. We will discuss the matter with department officials first and then issue show-cause notices to the erring employees before chargesheeting some of them. Congress MLA Sushil Rinku did not attend the meeting. Sidhu said: We had informed everyone. It is his choice. Sidhu pointed out various discrepancies such as missing cash books and account entries, duplicate pages, no count of cheque bounce cases, missing lease deeds, works approved on single tenders and pledging more properties against loans not being repaid. Sidhu said: An amount of Rs 78 crore was kept in current account in Amritsar for 10 years for earning commission. There is a chunk of 1.75 acres at Model Town, Jalandhar, which was not vacated from slum dwellers. This property has a market value of Rs 100 crore. Almost Rs 10 crore of property tax was levied in Amritsar, but never deposited. Likewise, the Ludhiana MC has listed 90,000 houses for collection of property tax, whereas there are 4.20 lakh properties as per the satellite survey. He said: The officials are not producing requisite files. We have directed them in writing and hope they fall in line within a week or else they will be suspended. We have not got 40-50 per cent documents required to make a case. They are making vague excuses of files being damaged in fire or eaten up by termites. Regarding a huge financial liability of Rs 577 crore on JIT, the minister said: It is a burden because of our predecessors. Funds will certainly be arranged in due course of time, but the plan is to be approved by the CM. BJP workers protest As Sidhu was about to leave Jalandhar Improvement Trust office, about 15-20 BJP leaders and activists wearing black bands on their heads raised slogans against him over his recent Pakistan visit and hug with General Qamar Javed Bajwa. He tried to listen to them first, but then quickly left the place. Anomalies galore No auditing of Local Bodies Department accounts done since 2003 Irregularities worth Rs 225 cr in Amritsar, Rs 250 cr in Jalandhar unearthed No proper entries in cash books, which have duplicate pages Rs 78 cr kept in current account in Amritsar against rules Old system of single entry system followed Water bills worth Rs 75 crore not realised Additional properties pledged against loans not repaid Rs 10 crore property tax collected by officer, but not deposited with exchequer in Amritsar 90,000 properties shown in Ludhiana for levy of property tax against 4.2 lakh Promises made vinaymishra188@gmail.com Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Sultanpur Lodhi, September 26 Amidst complaints by farmers that they were yet to receive compensation for the crop loss assessed by the state government last year, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today conducted a survey of the same flood-affected villages along the Beas. The villagers of Qadir Baksh, Bhaini Bahadur, Rampur Gora, Mohamadabad and Middewal gave a written representation to the CM that they were yet to receive any compensation for the crop losses incurred around this time in 2017. Interacting with them at Pasan Kadim village, the CM assured, The funds have already arrived. These will be distributed soon. Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Navtej Cheema, who accompanied the CM, tried to clarify: The problem of no-ownership rights was a hindrance, but will be resolved soon. The CM asked the Deputy Commissioners to prepare girdawari reports to compensate the farmers for paddy loss within three days. He announced compensation would also be given to people whose houses had been damaged in rains or floods. The Chief Minister said there had been reports of some serious lodging of paddy in Sultanpur Lodhi, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur. He visited the houses of some farmers at Sherpur Dogra village and gave them an assurance for timely girdawari. Allaying fears that the Food Corporation of India will not procure their produce due to higher moisture content, the Chief Minister said he had already taken up the matter. At the site, the Beas water had not even crossed the advance bandh with largely fields in Mand area getting affected. Kulwant Singh of Qadir Baksh village and Amrik Singh of Baupur rued, About 7,000 acres of cultivated land in 16 villages has been completely affected. We have come crossing knee-feet deep water from our fields. Sarwan Singh of Baupur village demanded, Our families are living in very difficult conditions. Our girls cannot go to schools. This is our annual problem at this point of time. This excess water must be channelled by means of spurs on either side and given to the farmers for irrigation. The Chief Minister said that the Deputy Commissioner has already been asked to seek funds for spur repair so that it becomes effective before next monsoon. The villagers even pressed for desilting of river bed as a more effective way to check floods. Subedar Major Satnam Singh, who told the Chief Minister that he helped him play polo in 1985, raised the demand for a permanent bridge to connect Majha and Doaba near the site. To this, the Chief Minister said, I have planned a meeting with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and will take up the matter with him. I will also discuss the new national highways and bridges that caved in during the recent rains. PM dials Capt, Jairam New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi spoke to Punjab and Himachal CMs Capt Amarinder Singh and Jairam Thakur and assured them of all help to tackle the flood situation. Briefing Modi, Amarinder said he toured Kapurthala and Tarn Taran districts that had seen significant damage to crops in areas around the Beas. TNS editorial@tribune.com Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 27 A section of Congress MLAs on Thursday expressed reservations over the partys October 7 Maha Rally at Lambi. The rally has been announced at a time when Sikh hardliners have decided to turn the heat on the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government, accusing it of a tactical understanding with the Akalis on sacrilege. At a party meeting here to mobilise 2,500 buses to ferry 1.5 lakh people to the rally venue, one of the MLAs remarked: Having taken no concrete action against the Akali leadership over the desecration incidents, the party leaders cant be expected to say much at the rally. It will be the usual anti-Akali rhetoric. The Chief Minister needs to work out an action plan against the Akalis. Veteran Congress leaders point out that the coming month will be crucial as October 14 marks the third anniversary of the Kotkapura police firing. Defending the rally, PPCC chief Sunil Jakhar says the aim is to make the people of Malwa, especially Lambi, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badals constituency, aware of the complicity of the Badals in the incidents of sacrilege. This will be the first big rally by the Congress to expose the Akalis. We expect a gathering of 1.5 lakh- 2 lakh people. Congress leaders from Malwa do not want the leadership to train its guns on Dera Sacha Sauda. They fear they may lose votes, considering the dera has a sizeable following in the Malwa belt. Cabinet Ministers from Majha Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Sukhjinder Randhawa and Navjot Singh Sidhu have been repeatedly attacking the dera, hinting at its collusion with the Akalis. rchopra@tribunemail.com Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 27 Local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday said the audit conducted by the department has detected discrepancies worth Rs 500 crore in civic bodies at Amritsar and Jalandhar during the last 10 years. Interacting with mediapersons here at the local Circuit House after surprise visit at the Jalandhar Improvement Trust, the minister said while irregularities worth Rs 225 crore has been detected in audit of Amritsar, discrepancies more than Rs 250 crore have been unearthed in Jalandhar, which include 120 files of the Locally Displaced Persons (LDPs). He said during the last 10 years of rule of the SAD-BJP alliance these civic bodies, including the Municipal Corporations and Improvement Trusts, were transformed into den of corruption where irregularities and scams were the order of the day. The Minister claimed that the civic bodies were still following 500-year-old single-entry system, which was abandoned by the western countries around 450 years ago, as it was a way to facilitate theft. Likewise, he said in complete violation of the norms no daily, weekly and monthly cash books were maintained by the civic bodies. Sidhu said prime properties in these cities were either allowed to be encroached or were given on lease to benefit few people at throwaway prices without any proper agreement. The Minister added that the biggest fraud was misinterpretation of demarcation made by the state government to benefit affluent people. He said not only incorrect rates were applied but even allotment of plot more than area to made to few people. Making a startling revelation, Sidhu also said even the officers also signed blank stamp papers and submitted them in banks to benefit some people. Sidhu said this was just tip of the iceberg as Rs 500 crore discrepancies pertain to only 40-50% record which was available for the audit whereas the remaining record has not been provided to the audit company, which was undertaking this work. He warned the officers who were not submitting the record that stern action would be taken against them if they do not submit the record in coming days. Sidhu categorically said no one guilty for these discrepancies would be spared at any cost and strict action would be taken against them. Listing the measures to be initiated by the state government in checking such discrepancies in future, the Minister said e-governance was the ultimate solution for this. He said complete satellite mapping of all the buildings in state was on cards adding that all government properties would be computerised very soon. Sidhu added the state government has already started online approval for maps and buildings plans, adding that 450 architects from across the state have been registered for this purpose. The Minister said the department intends to ensure that 60 services were made online by the coming March so that a transparent and efficient mechanism could be evolved. Likewise, he said audit would be held of all the civic bodies of the state in the coming days. Sidhu said that due focus was being laid on setting the house in order so that the tax payers money was aptly utilised for development of the cities and towns. editorial@tribune.com GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 26 A 53-year-old farmer from a border village in the district died after he fell into the Ravi on Tuesday and swept away towards Pakistan. Hailing from Ghonewal village in Ajnala, Balwinder Singh had apparently gone to take a round of his fields but accidentally fell into the river. The BSF instantly shared information with their counterparts across the border. In the afternoon, the Satluj Rangers said an identical body had been recovered and asked for a close relative to identify it. It was mutually agreed upon by the security forces of both sides to hand over the body tomorrow through the Attari-Wagah checkpoint. The spot where the incident occurred is around 3-km upstream where the river enters Pakistan. Some eyewitnesses later told the police that they had seen Balwinder Singh being swept away in the river towards the Pakistan side. Rajesh Sharma, DIG, BSF, Gurdaspur, said the victim went to his fields and saw that some of his equipment had fallen into the stream. To pull it out, he entered the water without realising that the river was in full spate and the water level had increased. He was swept away and his body was recovered by the Satluj Rangers, the DIG said. Local MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said, The BSF received information from Sutluj Rangers that a body resembling Balwinder Singh was recovered. I, along with the victims son, reached the Basantar post for identification. After his son confirmed, a flag meeting was called by the Sutluj Rangers. They decided to hand over the body to the family tomorrow after completing the formalities. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, September 26 Two persons, including the owner of a courier agency, were injured after a low-intensity parcel bomb exploded in the firms office here around 2 pm on Wednesday. Preliminary investigations suggested the parcel was meant for delivery to Bhupesh Rajyana, Rajyana House, Patiala Gate, Sangrur. The man who came with the parcel mentioned his address as Buta Karyana Store, Malsian village, Shahkot, Jalandhar district and told the agency the carton contained clothes. Suspecting that clothes couldnt have weighed so heavy, the agency owner, Vikas Sood, inquired what it actually contained. The man reportedly panicked and rushed out of the shop. The explosion occurred within seconds, leaving Vikas and a customer, Rakesh Tayal, injured. An official said small iron pellets and nails were used in the bomb, though presence of ammonium nitrate as explosive could be confirmed only after a forensic examination. Vikas, who suffered eye injuries, was rushed to the Moga District Hospital from where he was referred to DMCH, Ludhiana, Rakesh was taken to a private facility and discharged after necessary aid. Inspector General of Police Mukhwinder Singh Cheena, who visited the spot, said forensic experts had been called in to ascertain the exact nature of the explosion. Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Toor said while Bhupesh, owner of a spare parts shop in Sangrur, had been picked up for questioning, the Buta Karyana Store address appeared to be fake. We are investigating Bhupeshs past credentials and trying to find out suspects, if any, from his known circles, he said. Toor said they had secured CCTV footage from nearby cameras, but it appeared to be of little use. A senior police official said they were looking into various aspects and could not rule out ISI involvement. A case has been registered under Sections 3, 4 of The Explosives Act, 1984, and Sections 307, 427 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 27 Reacting to The Tribune report (Compensation for 2017 still due, fresh girdawari ordered, September 27), Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today directed all Deputy Commissioners to immediately release pending relief to farmers who had suffered losses during last years floods, an official press release said here. The CM directed the Financial Commissioner (Revenue) to seek an explanation from DCs for the delay in the disbursal of compensation for the 2017 floods. The CM, who was chairing a meeting to finalise the modalities for the early release of compensation to the people affected by the recent rains, ordered that ex gratia payment of Rs 4 l lakh each should be immediately released to the five families whose members had died. He was informed that two rain-related deaths had taken place in Tarn Taran and one each in Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Moga. The CM said compensation for total loss of crop, which was earlier fixed at Rs 8,000 per acre, should be paid at the enhanced rate of Rs 12,000. As per rules, compensation of Rs 12,000 per acre would be paid for crop loss ranging between 76 and 100 per cent; and Rs 5,400 for loss between 33 and 75 per cent. Compensation of Rs 95,100 will be paid for fully/severely damaged houses and Rs 5,200 for partially damaged ones. Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry asked Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to complete distribution of agricultural implements among farmers within 10 days so as to tackle stubble burning. editorial@tribune.com London, September 26 A British Sikh woman was handed down a two-year suspended jail term by a UK court for launching a campaign of racist abuse and harassment against her Hindu ex-boyfriend and his family over a period of five years, including posting beef through their door as an attack on their faith. Amandeep Mudhar had pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment and was handed down a two-year sentence at Swindon Crown Court in south-west England on Tuesday. The court was told of Mudhar orchestrating a series of attacks on the unnamed family of her former boyfriend, including abusive and threatening phone calls and attacks on social media. The court was told that the 26-year-old had a brief relationship with the man, which was never fully intimate, over a few weeks in 2012. But after he ended the affair citing cultural differences, Mudhar and her family launched attacks, which included threats of rape against his sisters and mother and also to blow up their home and cars, local daily Swindon Advertiser reported. Mudhar also faces a six-month curfew, during which her movements will be curtailed. She has also been directed to complete 100 hours of unpaid community service. PTI editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 27 Lok Insaaf Party MLA Simarjit Singh Bains said today that he would stage a dharna outside the CMs residence if the police failed to take action against an AIG accused of sexually harassing a married woman from Hoshiarpur. Bains presented the victim before the media. Speaking to mediapersons, the woman said she first met the AIG in 2017 through her mother, a social worker (who knew him since 2001). She said the AIG helped to resolve her attendance shortage at Law College, Amritsar. She alleged that she was molested by the officer in July in Chandigarh and Amritsar after he told her to meet him. She made a complaint at the Sadar police station in Amritsar on September 17, followed by a complaint to IG (Crime and Women) Vibhu Raj on September 24. Vibhu Raj said, Based on the evidence submitted by the woman, I have submitted a report to my superiors. Requisite action has been recommended. traineesubeditor@tribuneindia.com HOUSTON: Scientists say they have created an inexpensive system, using a smartphone and a lens made with an inkjet printer, that can detect lead in tap water at levels commonly accepted as dangerous. The system, described in the journal Analytical Chemistry, combines nano-colorimetry with dark-field microscopy, integrated into the smartphone microscope platform to detect levels of lead below the safety threshold set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "Smartphone nano-colorimetry is rapid, low-cost, and has the potential to enable individual citizens to examine (lead) content in drinking water on-demand in virtually any environmental setting," said Wei-Chuan Shih, an associate professor at the University of Houston in the US. Even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems, with young children especially vulnerable to neurological damage. EPA standards require lead levels in drinking water to be below 15 parts per billion, and Shih said currently available consumer test kits are not sensitive enough to accurately detect lead at that level. The latest application incorporates colour analysis to detect nanoscale lead particles. The researchers built a self-contained smartphone microscope that can operate in both fluorescence and dark-field imaging modes and paired it with an inexpensive smartphone with an 8-megapixel camera. They spiked tap water with varying amounts of lead, ranging from 1.37 parts per billion to 175 parts per billion. They then added chromate ions, which react with the lead to form lead chromate nanoparticles; the nanoparticles can be detected by combining colorimetric analysis and microscopy. The analysis measured both the intensity detected from the nanoparticles, correlating that to the lead concentration, and verified that the reaction was spurred by the presence of lead. The mixture was transferred to a polydimethylsiloxane slab attached to a glass slide; after it dried, deionised water was used to rinse off the chromate compound and the remaining sediment was imaged for analysis. The microscopy imaging capability proved essential, Shih said, because the quantity of sediment was too small to be imaged with an unassisted smartphone camera, making it impossible to detect relatively low levels of lead. Building upon the smartphone microscope platform to create a useful consumer product was key, Shih said. "We wanted to be sure we could do something that would be useful from the standpoint of detecting lead at the EPA standard," he said. PTI. laxmi@tribune.com New York, September 27 India has raised objections over Pakistan raking up the Kashmir issue at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, saying it is completely unwarranted for the grouping as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to Indias internal affairs in any multilateral set up. Pakistan raked up the Kashmir issue at the OIC Contact Group meeting held Wednesday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. We always note with regret that the matter which is very internal to Indian affairs was again discussed at the OIC, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters here when asked about Pakistan raising the issue at the OIC meeting. He said India rejects such references to a matter which is very internal to it. We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on Indias internal affairs and it is completely unwarranted for OIC as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to Indias internal affairs in any multi-organisation set up. When asked about Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also raising the Kashmir issue in his bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kumar said Islamabad has been doing this for a long time. It is not the first time they are raising the issue in their bilateral meetings. You would note that what they come up with is their side of the story. What they share and what they say has no acceptance anywhere in the international community, he said. He said Pakistan has realised its falsehood and what it has been projecting had already been rejected by the global community. PTI ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM United Nations, September 26 US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he wanted a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the clearest expression yet of his administrations support for such an outcome. The Trump administration has in the past said it would support a two-state solution if both sides agreed to it. Trump, at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations, also said he wanted to unveil a peace plan in the next two to three months. I like a two-state solution. Thats what I think works best ... Thats my feeling, said Trump, who is attending the annual UN gathering of world leaders. Netanyahu has said that any future Palestinian state must be demilitarised and must recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people, conditions that Palestinians say show he is not sincere about peacemaking. The Arab allies of the US are strong proponents of a two-state solution. I really believe something will happen. They say its the toughest of all deals, Trump said. He added that Israel will have to do something good for the other side without elaborating. Doubts have mounted over whether Trumps administration can secure what he has called the ultimate deal since December, when the US President recognised Jerusalem as Israels capital and then moved the US Embassy there. Jerusalem is one of the major issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both sides claim it as a capital. Reuters In 2016 Akilah Kafi Sharpe enrolled in the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute (Hotel School) to follow her dream of pursuing an Associate degree in Culinary Management. Unfortunately, while, in her last semester, she was unable to complete her degree due to the restriction of GATE funding. The Ministry of Health is negotiating with the manufacturers/suppliers of the new Covid-19 potentially life-saving Covid treatment antiviral drugs with a view to procuring them in the fight against the pandemic, if and when they are approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This was disclosed by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday who indicated Government was in talks with both manufacturersMerck and Pfizer International (who make molnupiravir and paxlovid, respectively). We hardly ever went to the seaside as children. Family outings were rare, and I loved them in a conflicted way. The idea of going to the beach meant it was a special day, and I always ruined it. Inevitably, I would be car sick en route. I dont recall being given any motion sickness medications beforehand; maybe they were an unknown entity then, but a plastic bag and a lime would be standard gear. Hi everyone! Me and my girlfriend are in the planning stages of an epic adventure in WA and we have a few questions. First off we are planning on 30 days once we land in Perth. 1) We are debating flying Qantas premium economy then regular economy from Sydney/Melbourne to Perth....but would it be better to spend another $800 and fly premium economy with Singapore which allows us to fly that class all the way to Perth instead of riding cattle class across the continent for 4-5 hours? If so I found the baggage allowance is significantly different...Qantas=40kg and Singapore=23kg. 2) We are an adventurous sort and are thinking of hiring a 4WD one way all the way to Darwin. My girlfriend wants the option to go off the beaten path if we feel like it anywhere between Perth and Broome, so are there good spots we should get off the pavement before Broome? We are NOT planning on going to Monkey Mia or Karajini (due to the time commitments and added expenses though Karajini does look stunning!) 3) I have no rough itinerary yet, but here are the things we MUST do while there: -Margaret River/Karri Forest -Ningaloo Reef and whale shark diving -Gibb River Road Planning this and the other stops in between is quite daunting! I've read up on most of the places- geraldton, cervantes, carnarvon, exmouth, broome. We can be very ambitious drivers but still the stretch from exmouth to port hedland and then to broome seems rather bleak. What are your recommendations for breaking this stretch up? And how many days should we spend in Perth, Margaret River, Exmouth, Broome and Darwin? Thanks for any advice and feel to ask me for any more details! Sol Y Mar looks very nice! As to tips, since you'll be in a nice big place on the beach, I would go shopping as one of the first activities. There are supermarkets in Playa Hermosa, but I would go over to Playas del Coco and take a look around there and do some grocery shopping at the Auto Mercado. The reason is, you might want to go back later in your stay, and it's a just a short taxi ride away (I think about $12-15). Here's a good video on grocery shopping which was done at the Super Luperon in Playas del Coco: Trying out the locals flavors can be a memorable part of your experience, and you can take advantage of your space at Sol y Mar to buy as much food as you want. I suggest going to the Auto Mercado, as I know the one in Tamarindo is very good, and I've read the same about the one in Playas del Coco. It's on Avenue Central. Super Luperon is right across the street. You might want to get dropped off at the beach end of Avenue Central, and take a look at the beach scene there for a while. Then you could walk or take another taxi back to the Auto Mercado and do your grocery shopping. According to Google, the Auto Mercado is open until 8pm, except Friday and Saturday until 9pm. Here's a video showing Ave. Central in Playas del Coco. At the 2:35 mark, you will see the Auto Mercado on the right side. Here's another good shopping video: Hi respected forum members ! My wife an I are planning a trip to Costa Rica for the coming April of 2019. We are 30 years young, and in good shape fitness wise. We dont really know where to begin, we were looking for day trips / hikes to beautiful places. Are there particular areas of Costa Rica to be touring ? Where can we find information about recommended day trips ? How should we begin planning this trip ? Thank you all very much ! Eyal. "Am I able to leave Vietnam, apply for an e-visa and then re enter without needing to wait 30 days?" Yes, the 30 day out of the country thing only applies between visa exempt visits. You can either get an e-visa; and you can probably apply for it before you exit Vietnam; or you can get a visa from an agent in Cambodia. Scott Best way to go to HaLong Bay, Hanoi and Sapa from Ninh Binh? Best way to go to HaLong Bay, Hanoi and Sapa from Ninh Binh? Hi, I'm planning a trip for November/December in Cambodia and Vietnam. I will be making my way north from Ninh Binh around the 7th December and I'd like to go to -Cat Ba/Ha Long Bay and Sapa before heading to Hanoi where I will be departing to go home on the 20th. Is there an easy way to do this? I am considering going on a cruise (5 nights 6 days) and spending up the bum just to not worry about travel (and make friends and get blind drunk of course) This will give about about 5 days in Hanoi at the end. This is the cruise I am considering: Here's the rest of my itinerary if you think I need to change anything: Siam Reap (9-14 Nov) Phnom Penh (14-17 Nov) Ho Chi Minh City (17-22 Nov) Da Lat (22-25 Nov) Nha Trang (25-28 Nov) Hoi An (28 Nov-1 Dec) Hue (1-4 Dec) Ninh Binh (4-7 Dec) Ha Long Bay (7-9) Sapa (9-12) Hanoi until 20th Travel time may push some of this out a little. I'm planning on a few overnight trains and buses. Is this too ambitious? You don't have to be using an agent for other services to buy a pass through them; I see some in Brisbane: Here is a recommendation for Sachitours, a reputable company with an on-line (and physical site) in Australia: And other recommendations: (JTB has roots, as Japan Travel Bureau, going back a century or more). Hello everyone, I am planning to visit Japan next month, and I have booked the 7-day JR Pass for the traffic. And I have several questions about this. 1. I know that I could use this Pass to make the reservation from Tokyo to Kyoto, but could I use this for the Tokyo urban JR like Yamanote Line? If I could, what should I do? The journey seems to be short so maybe it's unnecessary to book seats.. 2. I'd like to pay a visit from Osaka to Tottori, and the official website of JR Pass told me that I have to pay the EXTRA FEE if I take the Super Hakuto, I want to know how to pay(cash or credit card) and do I need offer some other things? 3. Can I make the reservation before the day I take the trip? And if I miss the train, could I change my reservation or have some other methods? Thanks for your help! Following is the rough plan for my Japan trip this coming end year, basically it is from 26 Dec to 6 Jan: 26 Dec: Land at NRT and exploring Tokyo and rest for the night 27 Dec: Head down to HND and fly to CTS Sapporo 28 Dec: Explore Sapporo 29 Dec: Ski day (and other random stuffs if sufficient time) :D 30 Dec: JR pass all the way to Kyoto and explore there for the rest of the day 31 Dec to 2 Jan: Explore Kyoto and head to Tokyo on the last day 2 Jan to 6 Jan: Explore Tokyo and head to NRT on the last day Understand that I have a day wasted due to travelling from Sapporo to Kyoto, I am actually considering to have: 28 Dec: Ski day :D 29 Dec: Head to Hakodate 30 Dec: Head to Kyoto As I separate my travel time into 2 days without having wasted too much time. For visiting in Hokkaido, I understand that it is very short thus I won't have much to visit, so we are just planning to just visit only the places that we really like. Heard New Year will be a good time to spend in Kyoto, but we also don't want to miss Tokyo thus the itinerary is planned this way. Hoping to get a different perspective of this particular itinerary haha! -:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:- Tripadvisor staff removed this post because it did not meet Tripadvisor's forum posting guidelines with prohibiting self-promotional advertising or solicitation. We ask all of our members to keep their forum messages free of self-promoting advertisements or solicitation of any kind - members affiliated with any tourism-related business should not include commercial contact information or URLs in their forum messages. To review the Tripadvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. Native New Yorker here. 1) Go to the Metropolitan Opera 2) Find a concert of a band you like (or may want to see) 3) See "The Play that Goes Wrong" in the Theater District 4) Take the NYC ferry from East 35th Street over to LIC or Wall Street (fantastic photo ops) or both. 5) Walk through Central Park (get away from the area around 59th street and all the tourists) 6) Walk around Union Square on the weekends (farmer's markets) 7) Walk along the High Line on the west side of Manhattan 8) Go to the East Village for brunch (lots of small places, no need for reservations) 9) Walk around Tribeca, the waterfront is really pretty 10) Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge 11) Take the NYC ferry to LIC and have a drink at Blend on the Water 12) Rent bikes or Citibike and ride on the West Side Hudson River path 13) Go visit the Cloisters 14) Go to the Whitney Museum 15) Bronx Botanical Gardens or the Bronx Zoo (take the Metro North to the Gardens) 16) Take the ferry from Wall Street over to DUMBO and walk around 17) Avoid Times Square and the area around Radio City unless you like being jammed in with other tourists. Go once to Rockefeller Center for an hour and then head downtown or uptown. 18) SoHo, West Village and East Village have the best restaurants in Manhattan. Avoid eating anywhere near Times Square 19) Walk around Lincoln Center. 20) See a game (Knicks, Rangers) 21) Take the ferry from Wall Street to Governor's Island and walk around. 22) Midtown East in the 50s on 2nd Avenue also has some fun restaurants and bars 23) Stroll around Beekman where diplomats live by the UN. 24) LIC flea market 25) LIC Cliffs for rock climbing 26) Try out Citibikes 27) Keat's or Baby Grand on some nights for karaoke 28) Koreatown for Karaoke and Korean food (30s) 29) Day spas on Groupon 30) Bryant Park has movies and yoga classes in the summer, and Christmas market in the winter. 31) Skate at Wolman Rink. 32) Walk downtown from Union Square. 33) Get Time Out NY and see what galleries and show are new, and what concerts are in town. 34) Sometimes art galleries have free wine. Are you expectant and still working? Well, congratulations and good luck as you wait to bring forth the bundle of joy. Are you wondering how you will manage to balance between work and taking care of your new born? There is no cause for alarm because maternity leave will take care of that. However, before you begin your maternity leave in Kenya, there is a procedure to follow. This article shares all you need to know about maternity leave in Kenya. For you to get the best results out of your maternity leave, you need to know more about how calculations for maternity leaves in Kenya are done. It is also important to know what the law states about maternity leave and how to get maximum days out of your leave days. Isnt that awesome? Every mother would want to spend the longest time possible with her infant before getting back to work. Spending a longer period with a newborn is every mothers dream. It also gives a mother enough time to bond with the child. Spending quality time with ones child makes a mother feel more confident to leave the baby with a nanny when the time comes to resume work. This article answers the big question many ask in terms of leave calculations. It is worth knowing that maternity leave in Kenya is calculated as 90 calendar days and not 90 working days. This simply means that a parent has exactly 3 months to stay at home with their newborn. A lot of expectant mothers have argued with their employers with regard to maternity leave, and some ended up taking lesser days because they did not know what the law states. When does maternity leave start in Kenya? If this is the question you are asking yourself, then the information provided here is enough to guide all expectant employees. Every expectant employee who desires to start her maternity leave is at liberty to choose the day to begin. Every freedom comes with responsibility and so does the freedom to acquire maternity leave. In order to enjoy your maternity leave, it becomes your responsibility to inform your employer seven days before you begin your leave. The notice must be in written form. One thing that is for sure is that every employed expectant mother is eligible for maternity leave at some point. To be on the safe side, its better to be aware of the exact number of days you will be granted to be with your baby, any maternity allowance you can expect, maternity rights and whether your maternity leave is paid. READ ALSO: Maternity Leave in the Philippines, explained The correct maternity leave calculator So, how is maternity leave calculated in Kenya? It is very simple. Maternity leave period in Kenya is actually three calendar months. You are also eligible for a full pay and other benefits you may be entitled to at your workplace. The salary and benefits should be delivered on a regular basis just as the case is when the employee is at work. This applies to both paternity leave and maternity leave for civil servants in Kenya. The fact that you have taken your maternity leave does not mean that you are no longer eligible to your annual leave. This is according to the current Kenya employment act. To be safe, most expectant employees combine the two just to prolong the days they spend with their newborns. So, if you were wondering how many days in maternity leave for you or your wife, its now clear that maternity leave days in Kenya are exactly ninety calendar days and no more nor no less. What does the maternity leave law in Kenya State? The law on maternity leave in Kenya states that before you are allowed to proceed to your maternity leave, a number of things should be observed. Section 29 of Employment Act, 2007 states that a female employee shall be entitled to maternity leave on full pay if she gives a written notice to her employer. The written notice should be given seven days before the intended date of the beginning of the leave. In some circumstances, the notice can be given within less than seven days to the day of the leave as long as there are valid reasons. A female employee who seeks to exercise her right to maternity leave shall, if required by the employer, produce a certificate as to her medical condition from a qualified medical practitioner or midwife. Maternity leave policy in Kenya does not have any limits as to how many times a woman can take a maternity leave. This means a woman is eligible for paid maternity leave in Kenya every time she is pregnant. It is also important to note that in case you have a genuine reason to stay longer before going back to work after your maternity leave, you can still acquire more days through annual leave, sick leave, and compassionate leave among other leave entitlement but only with your employers consent. When to apply for maternity leave in Kenya is not specified by law. This decision mostly lies with the individual. However, many expectant employees are guided to make this decision by their expected date of delivery commonly referred to as EDD. How does the law protect a working expectant mother? The employer has no right to terminate an employees contract on grounds that she is pregnant, on maternity leave or immediately after reporting back to work after maternity leave. According to section 5 (3) (a), it specifies that no employer shall discriminate directly or indirectly against an employee or prospective employee or harass an employee or prospective employee on grounds of pregnancy. The law has not specified whether an expected mother is allowed to do overtime work or not, but the employer has the responsibility to ensure health, safety, and welfare of all employees are fully observed including that of expectant employees under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2007. There is no law in Kenya for protecting expectant employees from hazardous working conditions such as pollution, but the employer has a general duty to protect the employees from anything that can affect their safety. Handing over before going for maternity leave The handing over process is important to both the employer and the employee. This will ensure a smooth running of the business even in your absence and reduction of unnecessary inconveniences among your colleagues in your absence. It will also protect you from receiving emails and calls from the office during your leave. This is also a show of commitment in your career. It is good to plan long before your leave begins so as to create room for medical emergencies such as the baby coming earlier than expected or any other medical emergencies related to pregnancy. All expectant mothers have a right to stay at home with their babies until the completion of the 3 months of maternity leave. You should not be lured to go back to work before the end of your maternity leave simply because there is a crisis. READ ALSO: Tanzanian Catholic Church wants pregnant girls arrested to fight teenage pregnancies Pregnant Lillian Muli treats herself to fancy babymoon and TUKO.co.ke has the photos Is Kanze Dena pregnant? Source: Tuko The International Labour Organization oversees employment issues in its member states and deals with problems such as social protection, equal employment opportunities, and international labour standards. In individual countries, rules and regulations are put in place to govern the working relationship and protect the rights of employers and workers by clearly stipulating the obligations and responsibilities of each party to the employment. This is what labour laws in Kenya do, and they are enforced by the Kenyan government agencies to ensure that there is harmony in the workplace. READ ALSO: Employee turnover - reasons, calculation and reduction strategies Did you know that the employer-employee relationship is governed by the labour laws of the country? It does not matter whether one works in an office or is a domestic worker, the labour laws are set to protect both the employer and employee and include things such as the minimum wage and working conditions. Trade unions have been established to protect workers' rights and ensure that disputes between the employer and employee are resolved according to the law. Read on to know more about the Kenya labour laws. Categories of labour laws Labour laws are divided into collective labour laws which involve the relationship between the union, the employer, and the employee, and the individual labour laws that deal with the relationship between the employer and employee, without the involvement of trade unions. The labour laws in Kenya of 2007 are broken down into five Acts as enacted by the Parliament. These are: The Employment Act Labour Institutions Act Labour Relations Act Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA) The employment relations in Kenya are regulated by: Constitutional rights. Statutory rights stipulated in statutes and regulations. Rights dictated by collective agreements as well as extension orders of collective agreements. Individual labour contracts These legal sources are interpreted by the industrial court and in some instances by the normal courts. 1. Kenya labour laws termination of employment Employment termination is when the employee-employer relationship comes to an end. According to the law, the employer can lawfully terminate the employment based on the following grounds: Employee's misconduct Worker's poor performance Physical incapacity of the worker confirmed after a medical examination Employers operational requirements such as retrenchment Employee's participation in an illegal strike The termination notice should be done in writing or orally in case the employee cannot read. Note that the employer can terminate the employment contract at any moment, but the employee must be given a notice which ranges from one day for those who are paid daily to one month for monthly pay agreements. The same applies when the employee wants to terminate the employment for various reasons. If either party does not give a termination notice, he/she must make payment of salary in lieu of notice. Unfair termination occurs when reasons for termination are not provided. 2. Kenya labour laws on resignation Resignation is a notice that you are quitting your job. Labour laws in Kenya on resignation are Under the Employment Act, sections 14(5) and 16. The conditions for terminating the contract by the employee apply here. These are: Employees who receive monthly payments must inform the employer one month before they stop working. If an employee does not give the employer the notice, he/she should pay the employer the equivalent of wages for that period. If the resignation of the employee violates a contractual obligation to work, they may be liable to damages. 3. Kenya labour laws on leave days Under section 28 of the Employment Act, the annual leave is the twenty-one working days during which the employee is entitled to full pay, without working and it is exclusive of public holidays. When the employee has worked with the employer for 12 consecutive months, they are entitled to annual leave. An employee can accumulate leave but they must be taken within 18 months. Not doing so will force the employee to forfeit the accumulated leave. 4. Kenya labour laws on working hours Under the regulation of ages order, subsidiary to the regulations of the Regulations of Wages and Conditions of Employment Act, the total working hours are 52 per week. Normal working hours every week 45. A person employed at night may not work for more than 60 hours a week. Employees below sixteen years of age cannot work for more than 36 hours a week. If a worker works more than the normal hours weekly, the extra hours are treated as overtime. Overtime shall be paid at the rates of one and one half hourly rate on weekdays and at the rate of twice the basic hourly rate on Sundays and public holidays. The employers can schedule overtime for their employees. An employee is entitled to a weekly rest day after working for six consecutive days. 5. Kenya labour laws on retrenchment The Kenyan Employment Act 2007 defines retrenchment as the loss of a job or occupation through no fault of the employee. Retrenchments happen mostly where the services of the employee are no longer needed. Selecting employees to be retrenched should be based on the seniority at the time, skills, abilities, and dependability of each employee in the selected group of employees to be laid off. Labour laws in Kenya on registration of an employee into a trade union fall under the Labour Relations Act of 2007. One of the labour laws on registration into a trade union is that individuals above 16 years can become members of trade unions. If an employee is a member of a trade union, the employer should inform the trade union official representing the area by issuing a notice of fewer than thirty days before retrenchment. If the worker is not in a trade union, the employer should personally inform them about the termination in writing. Severance pay is the only payment for redundancy. In Kenya, this pay is equivalent to 15 days of basic wages for each completed year of employment. An employee is not entitled to service pay if he or she is a member of a registered pension fund, gratuity or service pay scheme established under a collective agreement, or any other scheme provided by the employer whose terms are favourable. 6. Kenya labor laws on maternity leave According to the Employment Act 2007, female workers are entitled to three months (91 calendar days) of fully paid maternity leave on the birth of a child. The worker must give a written notice of at least 7 days prior to proceeding on maternity leave on a specific date and return to work after the completion of 3 months. When on maternity leave, the female employee will receive her salary in full. The maternity leave can be extended with the consent of the employer or a worker may proceed to sick leave or any other kind of leave with the employers approval. A female employee who takes maternity leave shall not incur any loss of privileges. An employer is not allowed to dismiss a woman worker because of absence from work due to pregnancy. Importance of labour laws in Kenya Reduces industrial unrest and promotes harmony within the organization. Protects workers from exploitation by employers. Enhances industrial relationships. Guarantees job security for employees. Assists employees to get fair wages equivalent to their contribution. READ ALSO: Here's the new way to make a little money into wealth Use the above labour laws in Kenya with regards to working hours, contracts, and employee rights to protect yourself from unfair dismissal among other issues. READ ALSO: Current minimum wage in Kenya 2018 List of team building companies in Kenya Win For Workers In Minimum Pay Increase Government jobs in Kenya 2018 High Food, Fuel Prices Increase Cost Of Living In Kenya Source: Tuko.co.ke PZ Cussons is an interstate mega business dealing with the production and distribution of consumer goods. The firm enjoys robust establishment in Kenya and other leading economic zones across the world with some of its most everyday household brands such as Imperial leather, St. Tropez, Morning Fresh, and Cussons baby. PZ Cussons Kenya contacts come in handy when you want to reach the company for inquiries and complaints among other concerns. PZ Cussons specializes its operations in the following categories; Food & Nutrition, Personal Care & Beauty, Electricals, and Home Care. The success of PZ Cussons stretches beyond its strong employee base of 5,000 to effective management, and it remains a competitive employer in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Investors, prospective partners, clients, and other stakeholders can now contact PZ Cussons Kenya and receive prompt feedback. Various contacts shared later in this article are useful when you want to connect with the company for inquiries and giving feedback among other concerns. Continue reading to find out PZ Cussons Kenya contacts and more information about the company. READ ALSO: Jubilee Insurance Kenya contacts Contacts for PZ Cussons Kenya PZ Cussons regional offices PZ Cussons East Africa Limited, Baba Dogo Road, Ruaraka, Nairobi Kenya Phone 1: +254 709 866 000 Phone 2: +254 208 563 132 Phone 3: +254 208 563 139 Email: Jobs.Kenya@pzcussons.com P. O. Box 48597 -00100 Nairobi Website: www.pzcussons.co.ke Direct contact: cussons baby PZ Cussons recommends that you contact them through email only when your inquiry is not urgent. PZ Cussons Kenya phone numbers Cussons Baby phone numbers are as follows; Phone 1: +254 722 207204 Phone 2: +254 722 207205 Phone 3: +254 734 652030 Phone 4: +254 734 652031 You can also contact them by filling the form on the website and the company's agents will respond as soon as possible. If interested in career opportunities offered by this reputable company, go to their website and click on job opportunities. If you find an opportunity that you qualify for, apply using the provided procedure. Are you interested in non-Kenyan international contacts for PZ Cussons limited? Contact PZ Cussons via the online portal. You will also find contacts to different divisions and worldwide offices of the firm. About the company Visiting PZ Cussons Kenya office location leaves one with an awesome experience. Located at Ruaraka along Baba Dogo Road, PZ Cussons is a vibrant company known for quality and class. Consider some of the bestselling and large brands such as Imperial Leather and Morning Fresh to learn much about the firm. PZ Cussons prides in its unique approach to enrich consumer lives with innovative products and services. Below is an informative list of familiar brands at PZ Cussons Kenya. 1. Personal care Personal care category is one of the most successful brand sellers in the company Carex Flamingo Cussons Baby Robb Imperial Leather Roberts 2. Beauty category PZ Cussons offers exciting beauty products and services with market-oriented flavor. Joy Venus 3. Home care PZ Cussons leads in keeping homes fresh and clean. Below are some of the favorite East African brands under this category. Morning Fresh Ushindi READ ALSO: Bank of Africa Kenya contacts and branches PZ Cussons was first established as a small scale venture in 1884 trading goods between Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. Over the years, the company has transformed into a multi-billion company. Visionary pioneers at the firm; George Zochonis and George Paterson, opened the first branch office in 1988. This Nigerian based branch opened up more opportunities not only for the company but also the locals. The company is now widespread in other parts of the world including North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, and you can use the PZ Cussons Kenya contacts above to make inquiries and place orders. READ ALSO Kilimall Kenya contacts Tala contacts: customer care phone number & email address Kenya Ports Authority contacts and offices Multichoice DStv Kenya contacts & office locations Lotto Kenya contacts Source: Tuko Breaking News - The deal will boost the president's Big Four Agenda which includes affordable housing - Uhuru signed the deal with a United Nations agency while in the United States - He said construction of each housing unit will provide three to five direct jobs to Kenyans - The government plans to raise money for the National Housing Development Fund - Each employee will be required to contribute up to a maximum of KSh 5,000 per month - Employers will be required to match employee contributions with up to a maximum of KSh 5,000 One of President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four Agenda has received a major boost after he signed a deal with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOP). Uhuru signed an agreement with UNOP to help the government in financing 100,000 affordable housing units. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Makachero wanaochunguza mauaji ya Monica Kimani wakagua gari la Jacque Maribe (picha) President Uhuru signs deal with UNOP to finance 100k housing units. Photo: Twitter / Uhuru Kenyatta Source: UGC READ ALSO: Uhuru signs the Finance Bill 2018 into law hours after chaotic debate in Parliament "I'm confident my administration will be able to deliver on our housing commitment without putting undue pressure on the exchequer" said the president in his Twitter post. Uhuru said his government was focusing on building financing and investment frameworks that would help unlock the private sector to fund the housing program. "We believe that we will be able to utilise our labour and create three to five direct jobs and up to eight indirect jobs per unit we build," he added. READ ALSO: Banks start charging 20% excise duty on all transaction fees The government through the Finance Act 2018, plans to raise up to KSh 5,000 from each worker on a monthly basis to contribute to the National Housing Development Fund. In the plan, employers will also be required to match employees contribution to the fund, up to a maximum of KSh 5,000 each. The Treasury had set the monthly deduction for each employee at 0.5 % of the gross pay provided the contributions do not exceed KSh 5,000. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news Latest Kenya News: Kenyans React to Rafiki, First Ever Lesbian Movie Produced in Kenya | Tuko TV Source: Tuko - Size of land where maize was being cultivated increased by 11.8% and production by 20% - Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri said Finance Act 2018 did not affect millers in any way - He called for total compliance to the new price or stern action be take against those violating the directive The government on Wednesday, September 26, announced the price of a 2 kilogram packet of maize flour should be KSh 75. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mwangi Kiunjuri said the move was as a result of a bumper harvest of maize in the country. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens. READ ALSO: Makachero wanaochunguza mauaji ya Monica Kimani wakagua gari la Jacque Maribe (picha) Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri said Finance Act 2018 did not affect millers in any way. Photo: CS Kiunjuri Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Outrage after scarce subsidized Unga is spotted in Canada (Photo) While announcing the price reduction, the CS warned that stern action would be taken against retailers who sold the product at inflated prices. "It's disappointing, surprising and unfortunate that we have millers who have reduced the price of unga but this benefits are not being passed on to consumers," stated Kiunjuri. READ ALSO: Impending high cost of living renders KSh 3 trillion budget useless - Consumer Federation of Kenya A bale of the product, the CS said, was supposed to be retailing at between KSh 700 and KSh 800. This, he said, came to the fore during a consultative meeting he recently had with Cereal Miller's Association (CMA) and United Grain Millers Association (UGMA). "It is worthy noting that last week, l held consultation with CMA and today, I have held a meeting with United Grain Miller's Association and the indications are clear that they are selling a bale of unga at between KSh 700 and KSh 800. This translates to an average wholesale price of KSh 65 per 2kg packet," said Kiunjuri. Size of land where maize was being cultivated had increased by 11.8% and production by 20%. Photo: UGC Source: UGC The country, the CS said, projected harvesting 40.9 million bags of maize in 2018 which is a surge from 34 million bags yielded in 2017. He attributed the projected huge harvest to increase in size of area under which maize was being cultivated on. READ ALSO: Relief for Kenyans as millers promise not to increase price of unga A 90kg bag of the cereal, he said, would now retail at KSh 1,600. "Any trader selling at a higher price than KSh 75 is not only exploiting Kenyans but also taking advantage of consumers and the government will not allow traders to exploit consumers and necessary actions will be taken much as we appreciate it is a free market," he said. The announcement came amid uproar by maize farmers in Uasin Gishu County who are accused the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) of maltreatment. They on Wednesday, September 26, protested before visiting Senators, where they decried poor uptake of maize by NCPB. The announcement comes amid uproar by maize farmers in Uasin Gishu County, who are accusing the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB)of maltreatment. Photo: UGC Source: UGC READ ALSO: The TOUGH punishment govt has handed man who hiked prices of subsidised maize flour Another grievance they raised was unexplained withholding of millions of shillings owed to them after supplying the cereal board with maize. The last time the government lowered maize flour prices, the country had been hit with an acute maize shortage. The crisis saw controversial consignments of maize imported in the country from Mexico in a move to sustain the subsidised program when a 2kg packet of maize flour retailed at KSh 90. Story by Enock Ndayala, TUKO Correspondent. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. The Sad State of Pumwani Hospital | Tuko TV. Source: Tuko Newspaper - Samuel Wambugu reportedly abandoned home in 1974 - Everyone in his family came to believe he was no more after many years without a trace - But the prodigal son decided to go back home to reunite with his family again - The relatives could not immediately recognise him and those who did mistook him for a ghost - The reason why he ran away from his father's hacienda also remained a secret until his return - In a related incident, another man returned to his ancestral home after a whopping 50 years East or West, home is the best. That was precisely the case with one Samuel Wambugu, a 73-year-old man who abandoned home 45 years ago thinking he could find another place to call home. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: 83-year-old Muranga man stranded after returning home 50 years later to find no family Samuel Wambugu left his village home in Nyeri in 1974 when he was just 29 years old. He returned when he was 73 years old. His living relatives could not immediately recognize him. Photo: Nation Source: UGC READ ALSO: Kenyans replace the popular KDF mandazis with Obado and it is absolutely hilarious TUKO.co.ke gathered the old man unceremoniously exited his Gatundu village in Nyeri when he was a young and energetic man at only 29. Wambugu, Nation reported, resurfaced on Monday, September 24, from the blues and not even his relatives could immediately recognise his face because they all believed he died a long time ago. READ ALSO: KDF soldiers raid al-Shabaab base in Lamu, kill 10 militants Since both of Wambugu's biological parents had passed on, it took the intervention of the area assistant chief and an equally aging cousin to identify the prodigal son. Wambugu's reason for leaving home had also remained a secret until his surprise return. It emerged he was angered by his father's decision to marry another wife. He was also not happy with the way the deceased old man was treating his mother. READ ALSO: West Pokot governor, guests criticised for eating proper as students salivate but here is the truth Simply put, the then youthful Wambugu could not stand his father, so he grabbed a few clothes and left, never to be seen or heard from again, until four decades later. For the better part of the time he was away, he was reportedly dwelling in Elgeyo Marakwet, a foreign land with total strangers, where he survived by looking after people's cattle, just like the Biblical Prodigal Son. That way, he was able to get something to eat and a place to sleep. READ ALSO: Absent West Pokot deputy governor to work from US without salary In a related incident, an 83-year-old man who left his home in Kangema, Murang'a, 50 years ago as a youth also made a surprise return home only to find his family had migrated from the area. Norman Wakarwe was brought by an unknown man from Dagoretti market in Nairobi where he initially worked as a cook and later as a watchman in his sunset days. The man who can barely stand is depending on food rations from well wishers who have also given him a mattress and a blanket that he sleeps on at the the bodaboda shed located beside the Muranga- Iyego- Kangema tarmac road. Wakarwe gave conflicting reports of his exact place of origin saying he hails from Kangema town near General Kago Stadium, but added his family had roots at Kimara and Gikui villages within the locality where he was left. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Kenyans React to Rafiki, First Ever Lesbian Movie Produced in Kenya - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko Breaking News - The supporters insisted their governor was innocent and should be left alone - They accused Raila of betraying them by not saying anything about Obado's troubles - The followers vowed to teach the ODM party boss a lesson when the right time comes - Obado was arrested in connection with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Sharon Otieno - He pleaded not guilty to the murder crime and applied to be freed on bail - Determination of the governor's bail application was slated for Thursday, September 27 Staunch supporters of besieged Migori governor, Zachary Okoth Obado, have now turned the heat on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader, Raila Odinga, demanding that he says something about the county leader's woes. The loyal followers travelled all the way from Migori to Nairobi and pitched tent outside Milimani Law Courts armed with placards to demand for their governor's unconditional freedom following his arrest and arraignment over Sharon Otieno's murder. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Makachero wanaochunguza mauaji ya Monica Kimani wakagua gari la Jacque Maribe (picha) The entourage, according to sources, was galvanised over the weekend and over 500 had been contracted for the undertaking outside the Milimani Law Courts. Photo: UGC. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Governor Okoth Obado arrested, grilled for a second time over Sharon's murder TUKO.co.ke observed the seemingly agitated but determined supporters, some of who claimed they were paid to protest, redirected their rage at the ODM party boss, Raila, accusing him of ditching their governor at the hour of need. He (Raila) betrayed us. Why is he not speaking about our governor? We will deal with him when he comes to hunt for votes," the supporters could be heard lamenting, chanting and dancing as they waved their placards. READ ALSO: Governor Obados woes continue, set to spend 2 more nights in prison over murder of lover They also attacked and badly insulted the deceased Rongo University student and her family members, claiming they were also responsible for Obado's predicaments. One of the protesters who anonymously spoke to TUKO.co.ke earlier claimed about 500 people were hired to hold the demos which did not go as per their expectations. "It's so bad that we were supposed to be over 500 protesters yet we're less than 100," the disgruntled supporter alleged. READ ALSO: Blow by blow account of how pregnant Rongo University student met her death The low turnout, the supporter said, had dealt a blow to the strong message they wanted to send concerning what they described as maltreatment of their governor. "Should we have turned out all, our governor could not have been sent to Industrial Area prison," said the protesters. Having failed to secure Obado's freedom, the supporters decided to direct their message to Raila, considering the governor is a member of ODM. The ODM leader has indeed remained mute since the Migori governor was arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of his pregnant ex-lover. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Obado to Spend More Days Behind Bars - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko - Judge Jessie Lessit ruled the governor be sent back to remand until October 8 - The judge directed the accused be returned to court with all the witness statements - The governor had pleaded not guilty to the murder of his ex-girlfriend Sharon Otieno - He has been in police custody since his arrest on September 24 in connection with the murder The High Court on Thursday, September 27, ruled Migori governor Zachary Okoth Obado be locked up in remand until October 8, 2018, making him the first governor ever to be denied bail. The court directed the defendant be returned to the Industrial Area Remand Prison, Nairobi, where he was previously being held. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Migori governor Obado denies killing ex-lover, to spend another night in police custody Migori Governor Zachary Okoth Obado has been in remand since his arrest on Friday, September 24, in connection with murder of Rongo University student Sharon Otieno. Photo: Robin Njogu. Source: Facebook Sitting at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, Judge Jessie Lessit ruled Obado's bail application could not be determined and was therefore disallowed. READ ALSO: Waliomuua mpenzi wa gavana Obado walikuwa wauawe pia Polisi According to the judge, the court would only be able to determine the governor's bail application once all the witness statements and evidence are availed. READ ALSO: Father to lady allegedly killed by TV girl's lover in Nairobi forgives killers The prosecution was pushing for the governor to be denied bail arguing he was likely to interfere with witnesses, owing to his powerful position and influence in Migori County. "Everybody knows that any accused person is innocent until proven guilty, but presumption of innocence does not mean one cannot commit an offense at will. Article 49 does not state that the right to bond or bail is an absolute right," the prosecutor argued. READ ALSO: Okoth Obado suspected slain university girl was cheating on him with his son - Journalist claims The governor's lawyer, Cliff Ombeta, on his part argued Obado was capable of attending his trial and therefore there was no need to continue holding him against his rights. "Article 50 of the Constitution is very clear. The presumption of innocence also helps us to prepare for the case and for my client to prepare for his trial with free mind and be able to consult his lawyers," Ombeta argued. The judge, however, pointed out the arguments from both the prosecutor and the defendant were not sufficient to determine whether to grant or deny the accused bail. READ ALSO: Details indicate Rongo University student was stabbed, fingers cut, right thigh burnt Obado has been in remand since his arrest on Friday, September 24. He had already spent three nights at Gigiri Police Station and another three nights at the Industrial Area Remand Prison as he awaited determination of his bail application. The governor was accused of aiding and abetting commission of Sharon's murder between September 3 and September 4, 2018, jointly with other suspects who were not before court. He denied the charges. READ ALSO: DNA test confirms Migori Governor Okoth Obado sired late Sharon Otieno's baby Obado was considered one of the prime suspects in the brutal murder of his 26-year-old ex-lover who was seven-month pregnant with his baby at the time of her death. One of the suspects, Caspal Obiero, appeared in court on Thursday alongside the governor and was also sent back to remand pending determination of his bail application also in October 8. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Obado to Spend More Days Behind Bars - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko - 79% of Kenyans said Obado should have resigned immediately he was adversely mentioned in murder of Sharon Otieno - They argued the governor's reputation had been soiled by the incident and he had no moral authority to continue holding public office - Those who defended Obado said Uhuru and his deputy Ruto vied for top political seats in the country with pending criminal charges in ICC Even as a section of supporters of Migori Governor Okoth Obado protested against his detention pending a court ruling on his bail application, majority of Kenyans want him to resign. Since he was charged with the murder of his former lover and Rongo University student Sharon Otieno, Obado's hold to the precious county top seat seem to gradually loosen in light of Kenya's Constitution stipulation on integrity. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Governor Okoth Obado will buy his freedom soon - MP Ndindi Nyoro Majority of Kenyans want Migori Governor Okoth Obado to resign owing to his alleged involvement in the murder of Rongo University student Sharon Otieno. Photo: Zachary Obado/Facebook. Source: Facebook READ ALSO:Jacque Maribe fell in love with a guy who connected with her whole being - Rumored ex-lover Itumbi According to a Facebook poll by TUKO.co.ke held between Tuesday, September 25, and Wednesday, September 15, comprising 815 respondents, 79% of Kenyans wanted Obado to resign with the remaining 21% holding to the premise that he remained innocent until proven otherwise. Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior earlier hinted there were sufficient grounds to impeach Obado after he was charged with the criminal offences, explaining there was a thin line between questioning the governor's integrity and availing him an opportunity to prove his innocence. The minority who opposed Obado's resignation argued President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto successfully contest for public offices in 2013 despite having pending criminal charges at the International Criminal Court. READ ALSO: 42% of Kenyans believe justice in Kenya is for the rich - Survey shows The majority were however adamant that Obado needed to resign as a matter of interest and respect to the Constitution but cast doubt if he would make such a tough decision. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko Newspaper - Monica Kimani was mysteriously murdered inside her house in Kilimani, Nairobi - TV girl Jackie Maribe's lover was arrested as a key suspect in the crime - She is also a person of interest since her car was used by the key suspect - The suspect, Joseph Irungu's, phone was traced to the scene of crime and also positively identified by neighbours - The deceased's father has since forgiven his daughter's killers even as investigators try to unravel the murder It was a tense atmosphere at the Mt Kenya University grounds in Thika where family and friends converged on Thursday, September 27, for the requiem mass for Monica Nyawira Kimani, a Nairobi woman whose life was mysteriously cut short. Speaker after the other evidently struggled to control tears flowing freely as the victim who many described as a humble hardworking woman, lay in her white casket as though she was sleeping. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Jacque Maribe fell in love with a guy who connected with her whole being - rumored ex-lover Itumbi READ ALSO: Prosecution gets permission to hold TV girl Jackie Maribes lover for 10 days over murder Just about two or so metres away from the casket and inside the tent stood a roll-up poster with seven pictures of Monica and family with a huge banner reading, Justice for Monica Kimani. It sight welcomed the mourning guest to the main dais. On the lower part of the poster was a powerful Bible quote from John 3:36, it read. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life but whoever rejects the Son will not see life for the God's wrath abides on him," it read, consoling the family their only daughter was resting with the Lord. The 28-year-old woman was found dead in her posh house on Thursday, September 20, in Kilimani, Nairobi, a day after jetting in from South Sudan. Her throat was cut and her body left in a bathtub with the water running. Among those in attendance was Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu who joined the family in calling for justice for the young promising woman. So far, police are holding Joseph Kuria Irungu, Citizen TV's Jacque Maribe's fiance in connection with the Thursday, September 20 murder. The TV siren has also recorded a statement over the matter as police corroborate the duo's possible involvement. Besides Maribe's questioning, the deceased's neighbour who was probed told police he saw a man clad in a white robe leave Kimani's house the night she died and the man was later identified as Irungu. On Wednesday, September 26, a Kiambu court grated the prosecuting lawyers 10 more days to continue holding the suspect to conclude the probe. The slain woman's burial is set for September 28. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko Breaking News A Nairobi woman was found hanging from the balcony of her house in Kayole estate, Nairobi a day after threatening to take her own life. The young lady took to social media on Wednesday, September 26, to say she was tired of living and wanted to end all the pain. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: The controversial lifestyle of TV girl Jackie Maribes lover and how women finance him READ ALSO: Okoth Obado's supporters now blame Raila for governor's woes In the Facebook posts seen by TUKO.co.ke on Thursday, September 27, the deceased stated she felt frustrated and went further to apologised to anyone she may have wronged while she was alive. Feeling suicidal, I am frustrated. Whoever I wronged I am sorry. I will shine on your way, bye, she wrote. READ ALSO: TV girl Jackie Maribes lover arrested over murder of woman in Kilimani, Nairobi The next day, she stated she tried to share her frustrations with her followers but no one paid attention. "At least I tried to share my mind and worries. Do not type RIP on my timeline, I am gone for good," the lady signed off. A haunting photo of her lifeless body hanging from her apartment balcony sent a somber mood across the internet as numerous Kenyans urged each other to always check in on their friends. Unconfirmed reports indicated the beauty learned of her lovers infidelity with some people suggesting the unidentified man was kicking it up with their neighbor. A large crowd stood outside the womans house perplexed as they all scampered to catch a glimpse of the lady who cried for help and ended up taking her own life. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Kenya News Today: Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado | Tuko TV Source: Tuko - Maribe presented herself at the Kilimani police station in the company of her relatives - She was summoned by detectives to record her statement over a number of things that had emerged during their probe on murder of Monica Kimani - It was also reported her finger prints were taken while at the police station - This, after her car was detained and dusted by police for any evidence that would help with their investigations - Maribe's fiance was arrested and charged with the murder of Monica in Kilimani Hours after being summoned by detectives, Citizen TV anchor Jacque Maribe presented herself to police to record a statement after her fiance was charged with the murder of South Sudan based business woman, Monica Nyawira Kimani. Maribe was being sort after by detectives for questioning over a number of issues that had emerged in their investigations into the murder of 29-year-old Kimani allegedly committed by the TV reporter's lover, Joseph 'Jowi' Irungu. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Woman allegedly killed by Jackie Maribe's lover in Nairobi set to be buried on September 28 Jacque Maribe presents herself to police after her fiance is charged with murder Source: Twitter READ ALSO: Four leads detectives want from TV girl Jackie Maribes car in murder probe involving her lover The Citizen TV journalist presented herself at the Kilimani police station on Thursday, September 27, where she was questioned by detectives and recorded her statement. TUKO.co.ke understands her fingerprints were also taken. She was driven to the police station by her relatives after police detained and dusted her car for evidence while treating it as a crime scene. READ ALSO: TV girl Jackie Maribe questioned after lover allegedly kills woman in Nairobi Jacque Maribe presents herself to police after her fiance is charged with murder Source: Twitter The car, a Toyota Allion, registered in Maribe's name, is believed to have been driven by her fiance on the same Friday, September 21, night when the brutal murder of Monica occurred. The journalist had admitted to having driven Irungu using the same car to Nairobi West Hospital with a gunshot wound claiming he had been shot by armed robbers on a motorbike outside their home. Police dusted the car on the better part of Thursday, September 27, in search of clues including; fingerprints, footprints, dust and DNA which they believed would help in the investigations. READ ALSO: Jacque Maribes lover wanted a relationship with woman he is suspected to have killed - Family Both Maribe and Irungu had initially said the attack occurred in the house but later said it was outside, according to police. The officers said preliminary findings show no shooting incident was reported at the scene. Neighbours and guards told police they did not hear any gunshots. Police are also waiting for a medical report to establish if Irungus chest injury was indeed caused by a bullet. It is these contradictions which made the police summon Maribe. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Migori Residents Demand The Release of Okoth Obado - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko Kenya - The government subsidised exports of gold far beyond standard arrangements through Goldenberg - Taxpayers lost KSh 158.3 billion to 487 companies and individuals who are yet to be prosecuted - A Commission of Inquiry recommended prosecution of the then finance minister Saitoti Kenya's biggest scam Goldenberg Scandal where the Kenyan government have subsidised exports of gold far beyond standard arrangements in early 90s is finding its way into Kenya's political landscape. This after National Assembly Majority pointed accusing fingers at ANC boss Musalia Mudavadi who was the finance minister at a time taxpayers lost KSh 158.3 billion to 487 companies and individuals. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Waliomuua mpenzi wa gavana Obado walikuwa wauawe pia Polisi READ ALSO: MP's husband found guilty of misconduct in Pattni case The Garissa Town MP who had accompanied Deputy President William Ruto to Tana River county on Thursday, September 27, said it was laughable that Musalia who allegedly presided over plunder of public money was feigning innocence on matters corruption. "I saw Musalia condemn CS Henry Rotich. When his tenure as finance minister, Pattni defrauded the government billions of shillings ever witnessed in Kenya. "No any other finance minister has ever presided over loss of huge money like Musalia. He is the biggest thief to be appointed finance minister," he said. READ ALSO: Kenyas big fish living in fear as war on corruption, arrests intensify The ex-vice president had on Tuesday, September 18, faulted Finance Cabinet Secretary over increased fuel tax which became law following presidential assent. Goldenberg scam presented a tough financial time for ex-president Daniel Moi's government as many of his cabinet ministers were suspected to have colluded with chief architect behind the scheme Kamlesh Pattni, then 25-year-old when he pulled off the biggest theft. The opposition politician has in the past said he closed the banks which were involved in the irregular transactions when he joined the cabinet in 1993. READ ALSO: Corruption has penetrated every sector from government to family - Uhuru Fast forward in 2006, Commission of Inquiry into Goldenberg under chairmanship of Samuel Bosire recommended former vice president George Saitoti should face criminal charges for his actions and former Daniel Moi be further investigated. Saitoti was the finance minister 1990 when the Goldenberg emerged. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: TUKO News Kenyans Angry Over High Fuel Prices - On Tuko TV Source: Tuko - Cecilia has been toothless for over 15 years and this had affected her nutrition and looks - She could not hide her joy when she was given a new set of teeth that will now see her chew - The corrective procedure was carried out by Dr Muriuki who practices at Mama Lucy Hospital - Cecelia got help after TUKO.co.ke highlighted her story where she fixes car stereos despite her advanced age - It involved at least seven complex procedures of molding a denture that would fit in her gums - The medic does a pro bono dental service once a very year on needy patients The story of Cecilia Mwangi became an inspiration and a blessing to many immediately TUKO.co.ke highlighted it in July 2018. However, Cecilia, who is the proprietor of Shosh Sound System, never imagined she could be a beneficiary of her own inspiration and blessings. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens. READ ALSO: 78-year-old grandma fixing car sound systems in Nairobi wows Kenyans Mwangi, who is the proprietor of Shosh Sound System, never imagined she could be a beneficiary of her own inspiration and blessings. Photo: TUKO.co.ke Source: Original READ ALSO: Meet Nairobi woman who rose from housemaid to mechanic Meet Nairobi woman who rose from housemaid to mechanic The 78-years-old grandma has for over a decade lived without the ability to chew after she lost her teeth. Her story caught the eye of a Family Dentist, P. J. Muriuki, who volunteered to conduct a free corrective procedure with the aim of restoring her ability to chew. Shosh's new look left her looking younger and her protruding jaws are for sure a thing of the past. Photo: TUKO.co.ke Source: Original Muriuki, who practices at Nairobi's Mama Lucy Hospital, examined Cecilia and promised to give her a new set of teeth. "When I watched her, I was fascinated with what she was doing. I, however, realised that she was really struggling with her speech. I also saw her facial aesthetics and you could clearly see the her nutrition was also affected," stated the dentist. Dr. Muriuki learnt of Mwangi's plight from TUKO.co.ke and he pledged to ensure the 78-years-old grandma gets her chewing ability restored. Photo: Edwin Ochieng Source: UGC READ ALSO: The struggle of bearded women as told by a Nairobi female tout with beards The struggle of bearded women as told by a Nairobi female tout with beards The dental surgeon said he carried out seven complex procedures on the granny. "During the first procedure, we checked her ridges , we took x-ray pictures just to make sure her jaws were healthy and that there were no teeth retained in her gums," he added. Dr. Muriuki (l), who practices at Nairobi's Mama Lucy Hospital examined Mwangi and pledged to give her a new set of teeth. Photo: Edwin Ochieng Source: UGC Other medical procedures Muriuki said he conducted were primary impression, secondary impression, jaw registration, trying in and dental fixing which was the last one. The procedure, which lasted at least three weeks before Cecilia could wear her denture, ultimately gave her a fresh and young look. " She came in when she had no teeth. But within a period of three weeks, she has been provided with the dentures free of charge and courtesy of the hospital," "We are very happy as a hospital and the message here is that we are determined to go extra miles to achieve desires of our patients," said Musa Mohammed, Medical Superintendent at Mama Lucy Hospital. Mwangi (r) prays for Dr. Muriuki (l) after he fixed on her a new set of teeth. Photo: TUKO.co.ke Source: Original Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. Shosh Cecilia Story Continues: Shosh Cecilia Gets New Teeth | Tuko TV. Source: Tuko.co.ke - Ruto asked leaders to ignore calls for a plebiscite and focus on developing the nation - Aden Duale also said constitutional change was not part of the Building Bridges Initiative - Raila Odinga recently told Kenyans to prepare for a referendum before 2022 - He said the Building Bridges Initiative was collecting public views on constitutional change - Already, Busia and Mombasa governors have backed the referendum calls by Raila - They said it would help increase budget allocation for counties for better development - The referendum shall be a major political showdown ahead of the 2022 elections Deputy President William Ruto has dismissed calls for a referendum by the ODM party leader Raila Odinga and instead asked leaders to focus on development. The DP said the Building Bridges Initiative that was started by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila was focusing on uniting Kenyans for better development of the State. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: IEBC outlines requirements for referendum as talk of constitutional change gathers pace William Ruto during a fundraising at Hola in Tana River he dismissed Raila Odinga's calls for a referendum. Photo: Twitter / William Ruto Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Huyu ndiye jamaa ambaye huenda akawa gavana wa Migori Obado aking'olewa Speaking at Hola in Tana River County during a church fundraising on Thursday, September 27, Ruto said the focus of his government was on building Kenya and not engaging in referendum politics. "I want to ask all leaders in Kenya to stop disturbing Kenyans on unnecessary referendum debates and instead they should focus on development," said Ruto. Oh his part, National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale also dismissed calls for a plebiscite adding if Raila insisted on one, then he would be allowed to run it alone. "The terms of reference for the Task Force of Building Bridges Initiative does not include a constitutional amendment but if you start looking for a referendum, we will let you go alone," said Duale. READ ALSO: Kenyans should be ready for a referendum before 2022 - Raila Odinga The calls for a referendum have picked momentum after Raila said the constitutional amendment was the only option to end perennial electoral, judicial and governance crisis in the country. The former premier said the calls for a plebiscite could kick off once the Task Force on the Building Bridges Initiative completes collecting public views, adding the final say remained with the electorate. Raila Odinga said a referendum could be conducted after the Building Bridges Initiative collects public views. Photo: UGC Source: UGC READ ALSO: Second ODM-elected governor backs calls for referendum days after Raila Odinga Already, two governors including Mombasa's Hassan Joho and his Busia counterpart Sospeter Ojaamong have backed the calls for a constitutional change. Ojaamong said a referendum could give counties a combined 45% of the national budget to make devolution stronger for the transformation of the devolved units. According to Joho, governors have been unfairly targeted by the public on the question of county funds whilst Treasury was holding cash meant for counties. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news Kenya News Today: Ken Okoth Is Fighting For Marijuana Legalization | Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke - President Uhuru dismissed claims by Western countries that China was exploiting Africa - He said China was successfully and mutually developing Africa through taking advantage of valuable opportunities ignored by European countries - He said China had seen value in African sectors and the local States were also benefiting from bilateral ties - Kenya engaged China to build the multi-billion Standard Gauge Railway - 72% of Kenya's foreign and bilateral debts amounting to KSh 5 trillion are owed to China Despite massive outcry by Kenyans over domination of key sectors by the Chinese citizens, President Uhuru Kenyatta has defended the relationship between the Asian giant and Africa saying it is beneficial for both parties. Uhuru's two tenures have seen intensified ties between Beijing and Nairobi through multi-billion projects like Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line construction and foreign borrowing which has contributed to an influx of Chinese citizens in the country. Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens READ ALSO: Huyu ndiye jamaa ambaye huenda akawa gavana wa Migori Obado aking'olewa President Uhuru Kenyatta and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma during the UN General Assembly in New York, USA. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Facebook. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: William Ruto dismisses Raila's referendum calls, claims was never part of handshake deal with Uhuru Speaking during the UN General Assembly in New York USA on Thursday, September 27, Uhuru dismissed claims that China was exploiting Africa, saying the Asian giant was merely putting to good use investment opportunities in the continent. He instead argued that Beijing had taken advantage of existing valuable opportunities which the West ignored when it dominated as Africa's traditional development partners. "Africa is not just opening its doors to China. China has seen opportunities in Africa. They have seen returns from various sectors. This is what we have been telling our traditional friends, said Uhuru. President Uhuru Kenyatta said China was not exploting Africa but utilising development opportunities ignored by the West. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta/Facebook. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Uhurus secret as he sets out to meet three powerful world leaders in a week The president who flew to Asia and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jingping between Saturday, September 1 and Wednesday, September 5, said ties between China and Africa went deeper than financial engagements. As at March 2018, Kenya's public debt exceeded the KSh 5 trillion mark with 72% of the amount being owed to China. Kenyans have in the recent past raised concern of a high number of Chinese in numerous economic sectors taking over their jobs and mistreating them as labourers in the construction of the SGR line. The government was forced to deport one racist Chinese national who arrogantly called Uhuru and all Kenyans monkeys and arrested others who were engaging in prostitution in a brothel in South B, Nairobi. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news Kenya News Today: Ken Okoth Is Fighting For Marijuana Legalization | Tuko TV Source: Tuko.co.ke In less than three weeks the State of Emergency will be over and citizens will be able to enjoy unrestricted movement across the country. While the SoE may have helped the Port of Spain Division of the Police Service in reporting a year-to-date dip in crime, those at the helm are prepared for the curfew's expiration. The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department announced that Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger has won the Tennessee Public Health Associations (TPHA) Partners and Leadership Individual Award. This award is presented to a non-public health professional that has made a significant contribution on behalf of public health that is extraordinary and would set an example for others. The Health Department is grateful for the interest that Mayor Coppinger takes in the health of residents and support he has for public health programs. One of Mayor Coppingers chief contributions has been his support in protecting children and non-smokers from the harmful effects of second- and third-hand smoke. Through his leadership, all 11 Hamilton County Mayors came together to create the Mayors Smokefree Community Initiative. This initiative, funded solely through the Tobacco Settlement Fund, asks people to not smoke or vape in public places around non-smokers, especially children. Funds purchased 203 signs and 40 park benches that have carried the initiatives message in parks, childcare, healthcare, and other public places around the county. Tobacco use and exposure are the leading cause of preventable death in Tennessee. Mayor Coppinger has also been supportive of creating tobacco free campus policies to protect student health. He was supportive of the TNSTRONG student-led effort to create a tobacco free policy for all Hamilton County school campuses. Additionally, he attended and spoke at the Bright Spot Award for the Head Start Tobacco Exposure Initiative that resulted in tobacco free campuses for Chattanooga Head Start. He was also on hand to support Chattanooga State Community College for their announcement of a smokefree campus. "We just feel strongly that if we can help turn some of our young people away from smoking to educate them we can save lives," Mayor Coppinger said. Beyond his tobacco prevention efforts, Mayor Coppinger has also been supportive of National Recovery Month, endorsing a proclamation to show his support locally for those in recovery from addiction and providing hope to those who are looking for help. Mayor Coppinger delivered the introduction and welcome to Chattanooga at the Tennessee Breastfeeding Symposium in Chattanooga on June 15. He was a huge hit among attendees. Everyone was impressed with his knowledge and support of breastfeeding in Hamilton County. Mayor Coppinger is widely known for his efforts to attract business to the county and for his sound approach to county finances, yet he is equally as concerned about the health of Hamilton County residents and visitors. Whenever the Mayor is out speaking to groups, he talks about Health Department initiatives, said Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes, He gives his personal stories and endorsement, which I think is the most important part. He genuinely cares. The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department congratulates Mayor Coppinger on receiving the TPHA Partners and Leadership Award. TPHA is the official professional organization for those engaged or interested in public health services and is endorsed by the Administration of the Tennessee Department of Health. The House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress has approved the Pentagon's draft defense budget for 2019, which foresees an increase in security assistance to Ukraine to $250 million, Ukraine's Embassy in the United States has reported. "The House of Representatives has approved the draft National Defense Authorization Act for 2019, previously agreed with the Senate, which foresees $250 million for security assistance to Ukraine. This budget exceeds by $50 million the 2018 budget for respective programs on support for our state," the report says. According to the bill, the funds are allocated for military exercises, the provision of military equipment, lethal weapons and logistics support, replacement of weapons or military goods supplied earlier. The list of types of assistance also includes intelligence support for Ukraine's armed and security forces. To come into force, the National Defense Authorization Act for 2019 must be signed by the U.S. president, the embassy added. The United States Senate approved the Pentagon's draft defense budget for 2019 on September 19. op About 18,000 people are to be drafted into the Ukrainian army as part of the autumn conscription campaign in October-December 2018. The head of the manning and conscription department, deputy chief of the department of conscription and manning at the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel Valeriy Dendebera, said this at a briefing on Thursday. "According to a presidential decree and a government ordinance, measures will be taken in October-December on the conscription of citizens for fixed-term military service. It is planned to draft and send 17,960 people to the troops, including 9,010 to the Armed Forces, 6,500 to the National Guard, 1,550 to the State Border Guard Service, and 900 people to the State Special Transport Service," he said. Dendebera said that compared with the autumn campaign last year, the number of conscripts had grown by 3,000 due to an increase in the number of young people to be drafted to the State Border Guard Service and the National Guard. op Statement by the President of Ukraine during the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly Distinguished Madam President, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of Ukraine, I congratulate Madam President on the election as President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. We support outlined priorities and are ready to do our share in translating them into reality. Our deliberations are taking place at a defining moment for the Organization. Despite the universal appeal for peace and declared commitment to uphold it, wars and armed conflicts remain our reality. Conflicts are the main reason for the rise in refugees and displaced persons worldwide to the unprecedented figure of 65.5 million. Since no peace means no development, hundreds of millions are doomed to misery. The international security environment seemed rock-solid less than two decades ago. Now it has descended into a volatile and increasingly disturbing state where both traditional and hybrid threats are challenging stability of our societies. Too often lofty rhetoric on peace, respect for international law, and commitment to human rights remains just that rhetoric, nice sounding words, politically correct messages, which, however, are not backed by concrete actions. We may become tempted to talk about achievements or grand plans for the future. However, from our perspective, addressing fundamental problems that the UN and the international community as a whole face is much more important. We shall never forget that the raison detre of this Organization is to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Madam President, Unfortunately, my fellow citizens have become a part of that one-fifth of the world population who is experiencing the horrors of war. As I deliver my speech, reports have brought a sad news about another human life just lost on the frontlines of the war inflicted upon my country by the permanent member of the UN Security Council. Yesterday, and the day before, several families, again, were struck by grief, as their loved ones perished under Russias hostile attacks. Moscow turns Ukrainian to orphans. It tortures our patriots in its prisons. Over 1.5 million people became internally displaced persons. They still cant return to their homes. Russia continuously multiplies the human tragedy, which lately received a new dimension: ecological. It poisons the Ukrainian soil and causes an environmental disaster not only in the occupied Crimea, but in Donbas as well. This has been a daily reality for Ukrainians for four years now. Thousands of deaths, destruction, displacement and human suffering. For my fellow citizens, these years have become a tremendous challenge a test for their determination and solidarity, resilience and faith. Let us not forget what this war is about. Ukraine made a sovereign decision to live its way and promote the Free World based on democratic values and rules. Russia punishes Ukraine for this decision. It kills. It ruins homes. It lies on industrial scale. It pretends that Ukraine, as well as Georgia attacked themselves. Do we know which neighbor of Russia will attack itself next? Or will the world be comfortably numb in a hope that the next one wont be me? As we defend Ukraines land and our free choice, as we counter the resurging neo-imperialist power willing to divide the world anew we defend the Free World. The UN shall not be silent, when the values and principles rooted in its Charter and the entire body of international law are being violated by a veto country. This is not just a challenge, but our chance to make the United Nations relevant and to make the motto of this Assembly session work. Madam President, How did such a deterioration in the world affairs happen? Many assumed that the respect for peace and international law is a constant given. Developments on international stage over the last decade have seriously undermined this confidence. Appeasement and quick fixes to difficult problems have proven to be a false option. It has proven that staying comfortably silent when international norms are breached does not stop but encourages the offender to continue its destructive policies. Your silence is exactly what the Kremlin weaponizes against Ukraine and, ultimately, against all of us! Its naive to believe that safe shores will always be around. There will be no safe shores, shall we allow someone to feel that HE is not bound by any norms or restrictions. That HE has a right to reshape the international system to his liking. That HIS interests are more legitimate than ours. In the absence of a strong and united reaction, such extremely irresponsible and selfish actor resorts to the tactic of further escalation, creating new crises, raising the stakes, blackmailing other countries and even entire international organizations. All in an effort to get away with murder. We shall not allow this to happen. We shall bring the world back on track. What is the cure? This is just one word: responsibility. The international communitys ability to ensure systemic and inevitable responsibility for each and every violation of international laws these are first and foremost norms and principles of the UN Charter - is the benchmark indicating how successful we, as the family of nations, can be in achieving common goals. Ensuring responsibility is never an easy feat. Let me be absolutely clear on this point: Nothing will stop Moscow from continuing its aggressive expansionist policies if it does not face a united stand of the international community, if punishment for its actions does not become inevitable. It is due to the lack of relevant punishment that after Georgia came Ukraine, that after Litvinenko came Skripals, that after Aleppo came Idlib Kremlin has no intention to stop. After occupation of Crimea, it aims now at occupation of the Sea of Azov between Ukraine and Russia. Having illegally constructed a bridge across the Kerch Strait, Russia launched a systematic disruption of freedom of international navigation through the Kerch Strait for Ukrainian and foreign ships. Such brutal actions must be rejected as illegal, including under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They require a strong response, including an enhanced sanctions policy and other targeted measures. Efficiency of international actions often falls short of expectations and the relevance of the United Nations itself is questioned. We must admit that the responsibility for fixing the current state of affairs rests with all of us collectively and each of us individually. If we are committed to building peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies, we protect the UN Charter, uphold its norms and principles, take resolute action to restore justice. Let me say it more precisely the beautiful language of the Charter worth nothing if it is not enforced. No more words, time for deeds! The United Nations must gain momentum as there are continued attempts to ruin the rules-based international order and revise internationally recognized state borders by force. This dangerous slide towards the world with no civilized rules has to be stopped. In this regard, there is a need to revitalize and strengthen the role of the General Assembly in the sphere of international peace and security. With conflicts spreading, we have to ensure maximum flexibility and comprehensiveness of the agenda of the General Assembly, which is the only inclusive and chief policy-making forum. That is why Ukraine introduced the item The situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in the agenda of the current session of the General Assembly. Member States should be provided with every possibility for in-depth considerations of all urgent situations that require attention of the international community. As outlined by the General Assembly President, we have to facilitate quick and effective responses of the General Assembly to emergency situations. Ukraine, as one of Vice-Presidents of the 73rd session, stands ready to contribute to that. As Member States, we conferred on the Security Council the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and national security. What shall we do if a veto holding member of the Security Council uses this right not to help international peace and stability, but to help itself escape from responsibility? It is time to say that the abuse of veto right is a brake that often does not allow our Organization to really act. We believe that the progress on the Security Council reform will be an important contribution to the ongoing UN-wide change. We support launching text-based talks within the Intergovernmental Negotiations and are ready to engage constructively in this process. We also expect that the ongoing reform of the peace and security pillar envisaged by the Secretary-General, with the support of the General Assembly, would contribute to the speed and abilities of the Organization to react to the emerging threats to international peace and security. Ukraine fully shares the approach of the Secretary-General on the peacekeeping activity of the Organization within his concept of the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P). It is a timely opportunity for Member States and the UN leadership to consider measures leading to effecting real changes in the UN peacekeeping. The very same peacekeeping that Ukraine has been asking the UN to deploy on its territory since April 2015, when I addressed my request, supported by the Parliament of Ukraine, to the President of the Security Council, to the President of the General Assembly and to the UN Secretary-General. After the failure of the UN to prevent aggression against Ukraine, we still hoped that the UN would help settling the conflict by deploying an UN-mandated multinational peacekeeping force in the occupied Donbas. A mission, with a strong mandate and broad responsibilities to help bring peace back to Ukrainian soil. Rather than to freeze the conflict or cement the presence of the aggressor and its proxies in Donbas. We firmly count on further progress on this important issue. After all, and perfectly in line with the topic of this General Debate Making the United Nations relevant to all people it is through such a UN Security Council-mandated PKO that the UN would save countless lives and prevent further sufferings. Madam President, We remain as determined as ever to keep defending every inch of our territory against the aggression. At the same time, we will continue exploring all available means to end the conflict peacefully and restore the territorial integrity of my country. Let me stress Ukraine has always put legal and diplomatic means of conflict resolution first. We have prioritized multilateralism, by turning for support of the United Nations, OSCE, the Council of Europe and other international organizations, fora and mechanisms. And we will continue along that path. Moscow shall feel the strength of the rule of international law. We initiated several legal cases against the Russian side in international courts. On some of them we have already achieved important results. In particular, in the beginning of 2017 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Russia to lift the ban on activities on Mejlis representative body of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea. However, Russia continues to ignore the ruling demonstrating its disregard not only to its international obligations but to the Court as well. Another important element of our case in the ICJ it is the downing of MH17 in 2014 and the role of the Russian Federation in this disastrous tragedy. It is important that Australia and the Netherlands recently joined Ukraine in its efforts to bring Russia to account. The international community repeatedly calls Russia to acknowledge its responsibility and change its destructive behaviour in Ukraine and elsewhere. We know that following the legal path is a lengthy process, but we are confident that at the end it will allow us to achieve justice. Ladies and Gentlemen, It has been almost four years since Russia's attempted annexation and illegal occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol. Under Russian occupation, Crimea has turned into a military stronghold threatening security and stability in the entire wider Black Sea region. We believe that increasing militarization of Crimea deserves the General Assembly's close attention and prompt reaction. Russias aggressive policies as well as its arrogance in using lethal weapons multiply the threat. In this regard, Ukraine counts on your active support for the relevant resolution during this session. Since the first day of the illegal occupation of Crimea, Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians have faced repressions and discrimination. There are many cases of murders, tortures, harassment and arrests under fabricated charges. The list of hostages and victims of the Russian occupation regime in Crimea is getting longer almost every day. The Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar identities seem to be a criminal offence in todays reality of the occupied peninsula. Crimean farmer Volodymyr Balukh was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison for raising a Ukrainian flag upon his private residence. Crimean film director Oleg Sentsov remains behind the bars in a remote penal colony in northern Russia serving a 20-years prison term on fabricated charges. Both Oleg and Volodymyr are balancing between life and death as they remain on a hunger strike. I highly appreciate a remarkable manifestation of support and unity throughout the world to seek freedom for these brave persons. Unfortunately, Kremlin remains blind and deaf to these appeals of the international community and many of Russias intellectuals. I call upon UN Member States to strengthen their efforts in demanding respect for human rights in the temporarily occupied Crimea through the adoption of the respective UNGA resolution. There are also dozens of Ukrainians held by the occupants in Donbas since the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014. Ukrainian soldier Serhii Glondar has never seen his youngest daughter, as he has been held captive for three and a half years. All Ukrainian proposals to exchange the Russian citizens convicted for crimes against our sovereignty and territorial integrity for the Ukrainian citizens held as political prisoners by Kremlin remained unanswered. Its just another side of Russias recklessness: first sending and inciting own citizens to this war and simply abandoning them afterwards. This is the thing about todays Russia: they absolutely dont care. They dont care about suffering. They dont care about truth. They dont care about law. They think that their military might and status in the UN give them this right. Its up to us to prove them wrong. Its up to us to MAKE THEM CARE. Otherwise whats the idea of us being here? Otherwise whats the difference between the era before the UN and with the UN? In a broader context, Ukraine has always considered protection of human rights as one of the cornerstones of the UN activities. Sustainable peace and security cannot be achieved in isolation from human rights. We therefore support the efforts to bring back human rights issues to the UN Security Council and to promote close cooperation among all relevant UN bodies in this area. Ladies and Gentlemen, My country is delivering on its commitments under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. Ukraines economy grew in the second quarter of 2018 at a 3.8% annual rate. This marks the tenth straight quarter of growth that is a clearly sustainable trend. The GDP increase was helped by macroeconomic stabilization, improved investment climate and clean-up of the banking sector. Ukraine is demonstrating the best dynamics in growth among the emerging markets. Despite heavy security and defense expenses totaling more than 6% of its GDP, Ukraine is undergoing fundamental transformations on social, economic and political tracks. We have consistently implemented progressive reforms ranging from judicial, education, healthcare, public administration reforms to carrying out decentralization and fighting corruption. In 2019-2021, Ukraine will take over an important responsibility as member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Based on its extensive recent experience, my country looks forward to using its membership to strengthen the role of the Council in following-up and reviewing 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, particularly when it comes to conflict and post-conflict settings. Among 17 Sustainable Development Goals Ukraine particularly welcomes the UN initiatives aimed at reducing global hunger. Today, when more than 850 million people in the world are starving, my country cannot stand idle and is ready to offer the world its help in addressing the issue of food security. Ukraine, like nobody, knows the price of this tragedy. This November we will mark 85th Anniversary of one of the deadliest crimes of the 20th century the crime of Holodomor, mass starvation in Ukraine artificially organized by the Stalinist regime. It took lives of several millions of Ukrainians. In this regard, I would like to renew my appeal to the Assembly to mark one of the biggest tragedies in human history by adopting a dedicated declaration. Madam President, Our Organization is only as strong as we want and allow it to be. Therefore, our full support and strong political will are required to ensure that the United Nations remains relevant in todays uncertain and turbulent times. Relevant, as you rightly put it in the theme of this debate, to all people. It is our mission and shared responsibility to empower the United Nations to do what is expected of the Organization. To do it through our global leadership based on shared values freedom, the rule of law and tolerance. Thank you for your attention. Ukraine and its international partners, in particular the United States, France and Germany, are preparing to submit to the UN Security Council a draft resolution on the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force to Donbas. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said this on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "We have agreement with our friends - the United States, Germany, and France. Yesterday, I once again spoke with [German Foreign Minister] Heiko Maas, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. We will submit a joint resolution," Klimkin said. He specified that a joint draft document would be submitted. "For this purpose, it is necessary to continue pressuring Russia, because it tries to beat off any genuine peacekeeping operation," the minister said. In this regard, he drew attention to the importance of not only having the military component of the UN mission in Donbas but also introducing an international administration and a police component. "Otherwise, Russia will continue to strive to manage the occupied territories, and the whole idea of the Russian so-called 'peacekeeping operation' is to begin the process of regionalization and federalization of Ukraine," Klimkin said. Klimkin stressed that he constantly explains that to international partners: "Russia's goal is not Donbas. Russia's goal is Ukraine." He also stressed that real positive changes for Ukrainian citizens in Donbas could be made only after actual de-occupation under international control. The minister noted that he had discussed with his foreign colleagues not only the armed aggression of Russia but also all hybrid threats. "It concerns both cyber threats and energy threats. We discussed in detail what we will do with Nord Stream," he said. According to him, in these talks "there really was a unity of thought on all issues where I felt the support, especially support not only in terms of statements but also in terms of actions that will be done by allies together with us." op Ukraine has signed an agreement on visa-free regime with Uruguay. The press secretary of the Ukrainian president, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, wrote this on Facebook. "Uruguay became another country with which Ukraine concluded a visa-free agreement. The deal was signed at the UN General Assembly building," Tsegolko said. As Ukrinform reported, the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly with the participation of the heads of state and government was solemnly opened in New York on September 25. The Ukrainian delegation was headed by President Petro Poroshenko. ish The international community must defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg said this during a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26. "On my own continent, Europe, fundamental rules and principles of international law are now in jeopardy. Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders must be restored," Solberg said. Norway believes that those responsible for grave violations of international humanitarian law must be held accountable, the prime minister stated. "The consequences of instability affect us all. And global security threats require global responses. The Security Council must be able to act, and so must we as nations and as regional organizations. Areas of conflict and instability are breeding grounds for violent extremism and international terrorism," the head of the Norwegian government said. Solberg also promised to work on reforming the UN Security Council to make the organization more transparent, effective and representative. ish Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, in partnership with the Bessie Smith Cultoural Center, invites the public to attend a free, 45-minute program n Tuesday, Oct. 16 at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 East Martin Luther King Blvd in Chattanooga. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the formal presentation begins at 5:45 p.m., focusing on the experiences of soldiers in the 44th United State Colored Infantry who were captured and re-enslaved. In 1864, thousands of African Americans joined the Union Army in Chattanooga, with many enlisting in the 44th United States Colored Infantry, one of several regiments being organized in the city that year. However, a large portion of the regiment was captured by Confederates near Dalton that fall. Despite being enlisted soldiers, the Confederates re-enslaved many of these prisoners of war. Using pension affidavits, Caroline Newhall, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has been documenting the captivity experiences of Chattanoogas most famous black regiment and will be sharing some of her research during this presentation. This program is made possible through the support of the parks cooperating association, Eastern National, and the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. For more information about upcoming programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Lookout Mountain Visitor Center at 423- 821-7786 or the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706-866-9241. Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin held a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Mr. Pham Binh Minh. The ministers met on the margins of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26, 2018, the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reported. The Ukrainian minister expressed condolences on the passing of President of Vietnam Mr. Tran Dai Quang on September 21, 2018. The parties discussed bilateral interaction in the framework of international organizations, as well as the ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest. ish Ukrainian communities in many Canadian cities joined the international action Light a candle of remembrance dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-33 in Ukraine. "On September 21-24, 2018, Canada joined the international action Light a candle of remembrance. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress and Ukrainian centers held the commemorative events in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, St. Catharines, Toronto, Saskatoon, Montreal, Oakville and Winnipeg," the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reports. Ukrainian community in Calgary Ukrainian community in Niagara Falls, Ontario Province Ukrainian community in Winnipeg The Ukrainian communities in Canada organized memorial services for the dead, arranged thematic exhibitions and carried out special educational events. On September 1, 85 days before the Holodomor remembrance day, Ukraine and the world began to honor the victims who died during the genocide of 1932-1933. ol The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has approved and recommended for approval by the upper chamber of the U.S. Congress a resolution in which the 1932-1933 Holodomor is recognized as genocide of the Ukrainian people, Ukraine's Embassy in the United States has said on its Facebook page. "The draft resolution condemns the systematic violations of human rights, including the right to self-determination and freedom of speech, committed by the Soviet government against the Ukrainian people. The deepest condolences are expressed to victims, survivors of the Holodomor and their families, and there is a call for the dissemination of information to raise awareness in the world about the artificial nature of this tragedy," the report said. The embassy also says that the resolution, co-authored by more than two dozen senators, was presented on March 14 by a group of senators from the Republican and Democratic parties, led by co-chairs of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, Robert Portman and Richard Durbin. As was reported earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko praised the efforts of the Ukrainian community in the United States in recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people. At the same time, he said that Ukraine was waiting for the decision of the U.S. Congress to recognize the Holodomor as genocide at the Congressional Committee level. op Russia systematically disrupts international navigation through the Kerch Strait. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on the international community to step up sanctions against the Russian Federation due to the blocking of shipping by Russia in the Sea of Azov. "It is due to the lack of relevant punishment that after Georgia came Ukraine, that after [Alexander] Litvinenko came the Skripals, that after Aleppo came Idlib," Poroshenko said in a statement during the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly late on Wednesday, September 26. Read alsoTwo Ukrainian ships safely arrive in Ukraine's Mariupol across Russian-controlled Kerch Strait "Kremlin has no intention to stop. Having occupied Crimea, it now aims at occupying the Sea of Azov between Ukraine and Russia. Having illegally constructed a bridge across the Kerch Strait, Russia launched a systematic disruption of freedom of international navigation through the Kerch Strait for Ukrainian and foreign ships," he said. "Such brutal actions must be rejected as illegal, including under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They require a strong response, including an enhanced sanctions policy and other targeted measures," he said. As earlier reported, Russian border guards in the second half of April began stopping and inspecting foreign vessels navigating to/from Ukrainian ports. The State Border Service notes that Ukraine has been a hostage to the situation since 2004, namely, under the Agreement on Cooperation between Ukraine and the Russian Federation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, which defines the Azov Sea as a sea of internal use by the two states. Thus, both Russian and Ukrainian border guards are entitled to inspect vessels, which, in their opinion, cause suspicion. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov stated that the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation regards the Azov-Black Sea region as an important springboard for further expansion. Russia annexed Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol in March 2014. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on the United Nations General Assembly to promptly address the increasing militarization of Russian-occupied Crimea. "It has been almost four years since Russia's attempted annexation and illegal occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol. Under Russian occupation, Crimea has turned into a military stronghold threatening security and stability in the entire wider Black Sea region. We believe that the increasing militarization of Crimea deserves the General Assembly's close attention and prompt reaction," he said in a statement during the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly late on Wednesday, September 26. Read alsoPoroshenko calls on tougher sanctions against Russia over blocking of shipping in Sea of Azov According to the Ukrainian president, Russia's aggressive policies as well as its arrogance in using lethal weapons multiply the threat. "In this regard, Ukraine counts on your active support for the relevant resolution during this session," he said at the UNGA. As UNIAN reported, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing a new draft resolution on Crimea for consideration at the UN General Assembly late this year. The new draft resolution on Russian-occupied Crimea, which will be submitted to the UN General Assembly by the end of the year, will include, among other things, the issue of Ukrainian political prisoners. Russia in March 2014 annexed Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which was used as the base of the Russian Black Sea fleet after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine's foreign minister says an international administration and police should also be deployed with the UN peacekeeping mission. Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin says that Ukraine, the United States, Germany, and France long ago prepared a joint resolution draft for the United Nations Security Council on the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission to Russian-occupied Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "The resolution was prepared long time ago. We've got agreement with our friends the United States, Germany and France," Klimkin told reporters on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, the United States, after a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto on September 26. Read alsoPoroshenko at UNGA: Peacekeepers in Russian-occupied Donbas may end sufferings of Ukrainians Klimkin said that on September 25 he again discussed the subject during talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "We will submit the joint resolution. When are we going to do this? This will be a resolution on behalf of all of us. To make this, we need to continue to put pressure on Russia, because it is now trying to block any real peacekeeping operation in every way possible," Klimkin said. In his words, at his meetings in NYC he explained that not only a military component is important, but an international administration and police should also be deployed. "Otherwise, Russia will continue to try to control the occupied areas, as the whole idea of the so-called Russian-style 'peacekeeping operation,' this fake peacekeeping mission, is to launch regionalization and federalization of Ukraine," Klimkin said. The bill shall be enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump's signature. The U.S. House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress, has approved the Pentagon's draft budget for 2019, which provides for an increase in assistance for Ukraine's security needs to $250 million. Read alsoU.S. Senate approves $250 mln for Ukraine's security needs "The House of Representatives has approved the bill on the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019, previously agreed with the U.S. Senate, which provides for $250 million in security assistance to Ukraine. This sum is $50 million higher than the allocations of the 2018 budget for relevant financial aid programs for our state," the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States wrote on Facebook on September 27. "According to the bill, $250 million is to be allocated, among other things, for military exercises, the provision of military equipment, lethal weapons and logistics support, and the replacement of previously provided weapons or military goods. The list also includes reconnaissance support of Ukraine's armed security forces," the embassy added. It is also noted that the bill shall be enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump's signature. Latvia has been taking part in the mission's work since its deployment in 2014. On September 25, 2018, the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers approved the posting of civilian Olegs Lagutins to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. As soon as he joins the team, there will be eight Latvian civilian monitors on the OSCE SMM to Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported, LSM.lv wrote. Read alsoOSCE participating States condemn Russia for Crimea occupation Chubarov Latvia has been taking part in the mission's work since its deployment in 2014. The main objective of the mission is to observe and report in an impartial and objective way on the situation in Ukraine. There is no progress in the fulfilment of the Minsk agreements, and the security situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remains unstable. The presence of the OCSE mission is essential for monitoring the fulfilment of the Minsk agreements. Latvia supports the efforts of reform and stabilization in Ukraine, including by providing its civilian experts for the European Union Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. Latvia has also made voluntary contributions of EUR 97,000 to the OSCE SMM Ukraine. The parliamentarian from Slovakia added that if awarded the Sakharov Prize, the filmmaker would be the first European laureate since Russia's Memorial Human Rights Center in 2009 and the first ever laureate from Ukraine. European lawmakers have praised Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike in a Russian prison for more than four months, as a defender of "the supremacy of law and values over brute force and deception." The center-right European People's Party (EPP), the biggest political group in the European Parliament, nominated Sentsov for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, RFE/RL reports. Presenting the nominee to the parliament's committees on foreign affairs and development, parliamentarian Eduard Kukan on September 27 said Sentsov was a prisoner of conscience who decided to go on hunger strike "in hope that his voice is heard and the world understands the values of honor, truth, freedom, and democracy." Read alsoJailed Ukrainian filmmaker Sentsov nominated for Sakharov Prize media Sentsov, a Crimean native who opposed Russia's 2014 takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula, is serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted of terrorism in a trial that he, human rights groups, and Western governments contend was politically motivated. Imprisoned in Russia's Far North Yamalo-Nenets region, Sentsov started a hunger strike on May 14, demanding that Russia release 64 fellow Ukrainians he considers political prisoners. "By supporting Oleh Sentsov, we stay true to our own convictions of universal principles of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and freedom of thought," Kukan said. The parliamentarian from Slovakia added that if awarded the Sakharov Prize, the filmmaker would be the first European laureate since Russia's Memorial Human Rights Center in 2009 and the first ever laureate from Ukraine. The parliament's committees on foreign affairs and development will now shortlist three of the chamber's eight nominees, who also include Syrian photographer Caesar and Seyran Ates, a German lawyer of Turkish origin who is fighting against extremism. The laureate is to be announced on October 25 and the prize will be presented to the winner at a ceremony on December 12. The annual Sakharov Prize was established in 1988 by the EU's parliament to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. The prize, named in honor of the Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, is worth 50,000 euros ($58,000). Previous laureates include South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai, a girl who has championed the rights of Pakistani girls to receive schooling. The seventh annual Wings Over North Georgia Air Show is guaranteed to have something for everyone. Air show performances will include 70-year old warbirds, a fifth-generation fighter jet, skydivers, jet cars, world-renowned aerobatic performers, and a 45-minute reenactment of the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The air show will be Oct. 13-14, in Rome, Ga. On the ground, there is even more to enjoy. One of the favorite activities each year is the static display area. Kids of all ages will have the opportunity to view, tour, and learn more about military and personal aircraft. Spectators will be able to walk through and around multiple aircraft large enough to transport a school bus or even multiple buses. The static aircraft display area will serve as a temporary museum showcasing more than 50 aircraft on the hot ramp and fan areas. The oldest aircraft date back to WWII and will be joined by a few behemoth current military transporters. There is a sense of amazement when standing inside a 450,000 lb. Lockheed C-5 Galaxy transporter. Specializing in transporting oversized loads, the C-5 is the largest military aircraft in the world and is rarely on display outside of military base events. Air show fans cant help but be overwhelmed as they enter the bay door at the tail of the aircraft and walk almost 250 feet to reach the exit at the nose of the plane. Also manufactured by Lockheed, the slightly older and much leaner C-130 Hercules will be available for tours. Weighing in at a mere 115,000 pounds (operational weight) the 97-foot-long aircraft is one of the most versatile workhorses. It is used as a military gunship, for aerial refueling, search and rescue missions, and aerial firefighting. Not to be outdone by Lockheed, Boeing enters the mix of giant aircraft on display with the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. One of the more recently designed tactical airlifters , the C-17 commonly performs tactical and strategic airlift missions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world, medical evacuations, and airdrop duties. The aircraft is nearly as wide (169.8 ft wingspan) as it is long (174 ft), yet cruises along at speeds exceeding 500 mph. The newest and most powerful participant in the display area wont arrive from the air as it is a land-bound powerhouse TUG ALPHA 4. The state-of-the-art tractor will be a critical element in pushing and towing the giant military aircraft to construct the display area. The ALPHA 4 was designed to move large aircraft including the Airbus A340 and Boeing 747. The design focuses on serviceability and safety while simplifying operations. The elevating front cab includes windows on all sides and above the swiveling drivers seat a to offer full range visibility. In addition to touring the display area, daily armbands are available for youngsters wishing to spend time in the Kids Zone. For a low flat-rate cost, kids can enjoy endless bouncing, climbing and riding activities in the aviation-themed play area. For those who enjoy shopping, a number of vendors and sponsors will be onsite during the show. The highlight for the show is JLC AirShow Managements signature event, the Veterans Parade of Honor. Veterans and active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces will be honored in a military tribute parade on Saturday and Sunday just prior to the demonstrations for the F-22 Raptor, A-10 Warthog, and re-enactment of the Pearl Harbor attack by Tora! Tora! Tora!. Officials said, We hosted our first Veterans Tribute Parade in 2014. Weve been amazed at how much this event has grown over the years. More than 500 former and active-duty members across all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces marched in front of more than 80,000 cheering spectators during the 2017 air show. We make a special effort to honor and show our appreciation for those who sacrifice so much for our country and for our freedom. Yesterday in New York, the President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine Boris Lozhkin and the CEO of the American Jewish Committee David Harris signed the Agreement of Association between the two organizations, the Confederation reported. We enter into the association in furtherance of our respective institutional goals and a spirit of mutual respect, appreciating the considerable experience, capability and dedication of each party, and the natural synergy of our organizations, interests and activities, states the Agreement. The Jewish Confederation of Ukraine was founded in 1999. The Confederation unites independent public, charitable, religious Jewish organizations. The President of the Confederation is Boris Lozhkin. The American Jewish Committee is one of the oldest and most active Jewish human rights organizations established in 1906 to combat anti-Semitism and protect the rights of the Jewish population of the United States. The President of the Committee is John Shapiro. In 1991, AJC was the first international Jewish organization that called on the President George H. W. Bush to recognize Ukraine's independence. The committee has supported free and democratic Ukraine since then. The signed Agreement foresees preservation of autonomy and independence of each party with routine exchange of research, analysis, publications, archival data and other material. On all matters of common interest, each organization will endeavor to collaborate on an ongoing basis, which may include joint sponsorship of research and publications, conferences and exchange programs. Both organizations seek to strengthen Jewish communal life; advocate for Jewish concerns around the world; enhance security and strengthen Israels diplomatic relations; combat anti-Semitic and other hate groups in their societies, strengthen the forces of democratic pluralism; promote memory of the Holocaust; counter the influence of Islamic extremism and other movements, inimical to the security and welfare of the Jewish people; encourage greater dialogue and understanding within the Diaspora and between Israelis and Jews in other lands. Harris called the signing of the agreement as a logical continuation of the long-term cooperation. Lozhkin noted that the first joint projects of the organization are expected to be presented next year. Three citizens of Georgia, one of whom was taken from the hospital to the courtroom, have been transferred to the detention center. Odesa's Kyiv regional court on Thursday ruled that three suspects in the attempt on a public activist, leader of the city organization of the Syla Lyudey (Power of People) party, Oleh Mykhailyk, who received a gunshot wound on September 22, be remanded in custody for 60 days without bail. Read alsoAttack on activist Mykhailyk: People protesting in Odesa (Photo, video) Three citizens of Georgia, one of whom was taken from the hospital to the courtroom, have been transferred to the detention center, an UNIAN correspondent reports. As UNIAN reported earlier, a perpetrator shot at Mykhailyk on Osipov Street in Odesa in the evening of September 22. He was rushed to hospital in grave condition. The police chief said the investigators consider several possible versions of this crime, including those related to Mykhailyk's public and journalistic activities. On September 25, three suspects were detained in Odesa. No Ukrainian army casualties have been reported. Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, resorting to infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs); proscribed weapons were used twice in the past day. "The Russian occupation forces mounted 15 attacks on our troops' positions. The enemy twice used the weapons banned by the Minsk agreements," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said on Facebook on September 27 in its morning update for September 26. The enemy opened aimed fire from 120mm mortars, cannons of infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms, it said. Read alsoU.S. Embassy: Ceasefire in Donbas depends on Russia's decision Under attacks were Ukrainian positions near the towns of Svitlodarsk and Krasnohorivka, as well as the villages of Krymske, Vilny, Chermalyk, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Vodiane, Lebedynske, and Shyrokyne. Russian-led forces resorted to 120mm mortars to shell JFO positions near Krymske in the Luhansk sector and Hnutove in the Azov Sea area. Ukrainian defenders of Hnutove and Lebedynske were attacked by IFVs. No Ukrainian army casualties were reported. According to Ukrainian intelligence reports, two enemy troops were eliminated and another two were wounded. Since Thursday midnight, the occupation forces have already mounted seven attacks on Ukrainian positions. They used large-caliber machine guns and small arms near the villages of Novotoshkivske, Vilny, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Vodiane, Lebedynske, and Shyrokyne. What is more, enemy troops used a ZU-23-2 towed 23mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon to shell Ukrainian soldiers deployed near Novotoshkivske in the Luhansk sector. Local residents either use water from wells or buy bottled water. A new disaster has hit local residents in the Russian occupation zone, as the number of victims poisoned by toxic tap water in the town of Makiyivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine, has grown to 43 people. "This morning I've been told about four new cases of adult hospitalization [in addition to 39 cases reported earlier]," representative of the Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner in Luhansk and Donetsk regions Pavlo Lysiansky said, TV Channel 112 Ukraine reported. "The spread of any information is being blocked again they do not let us know anything, hiding the scale of the disaster. I think in reality is much more serious. Doctors in occupied Makiyivka are in a very difficult situation they do not have enough medicines." Lysiansky says that doctors consider drinking toxic water to be the most dangerous way of poisoning. "People use water from wells, they buy water in stores. The situation is serious. I think we need to react quickly, supply water, help locals. But the occupying authorities avoid addressing the situation," he said. In his words, de-facto authorities in the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" do not control the situation. Read alsoCrimea residents still suffer from chemical leaks, report death of animals Cases of mass poisoning by drinking water have recently been reported in Makiyivka, Donetsk region. According to reports, the disaster has been caused by either the failure or malfunction of the town's water disinfection system. As UNIAN reported earlier, acid leaks were the cause behind an environmental disaster in the north of Russian-occupied Crimea late in August 2018. Local children were evacuated for two weeks. The acid contamination also affected neighboring areas in Kherson region on mainland Ukraine. According to the statement of the Russian Federation officials, this convoy is considered to be the eighty-first Russian convoy which was sent to Ukraine. On September 27 at 06:33 (Moscow time), the seventy-ninth Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 16 vehicles were checked by Russian Federation border guards and customs officers prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 16 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 14:01 on September 27. "On September 27 at 06:33, the Observer Mission observed the arrival of a Russian convoy at the gate of the Donetsk BCP. A Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) team co-ordinated and led the movements of the convoy. The convoy consisted of ten cargo trucks and six support vehicles, including one ambulance. Five out of ten cargo trucks bore the inscription 'Humanitarian help from the Russian Federation' (in Russian). The ambulance bore the inscription 'Don Rescue Centre' (in Russian)," the OSCE Observer Mission, which is based at Russia's Gukovo and Donetsk Border Crossing Points, said in a spot report on September 27. Read alsoMilitary convoy crosses into occupied Donbas from Russia volunteer "At 06:33 the vehicles entered the customs control area and queued in three lines. Once the convoy arrived, the vehicles were visually checked from the outside by Russian Federation border guards and customs officers. The Russian MES staff rolled up/opened the tarpaulins of the trucks and the border guards and customs officials performed a visual observation from the outside," reads the report. It is reported three Ukrainian border guards and one customs officer were observed accompanying their Russian counterparts; they also performed a visual observation of the vehicles from the outside (without entering the trucks' cargo space). They had clipboards in their hands and were taking notes. One service dog was present during the procedure. By 06:47 all of the vehicles had left the BCP towards Ukraine. "At 13:49 the convoy returned and queued in the customs area. The tarpaulins of the trucks were opened and Russian Federation border guards and customs officers visually checked the returning convoy from the outside. Ukrainian representatives three border guards and two customs officers were present during this check. The Ukrainian officials also performed visual checks of the opened trucks from the outside. By 14:01 all 16 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation." "According to the statement of the Russian Federation officials, this convoy is considered to be the eighty-first Russian convoy which was sent to Ukraine. As two of these convoys did not cross through the 'Donetsk' or 'Gukovo' BCPs, the Observer Mission did not record them. Hence, based on the Observer Mission's counting, this convoy is considered the seventy-ninth convoy that has crossed into Ukraine," the OSCE said. September 27 2018 The Highland community of Strontian has taken possession of a 900k primary school built after parents joined forces to reject proposals to refurbish and extend an existing 1970s building. The radical step was taken to pursue a new build solution in order to provide modern accommodation for around 30 pupils by forming a community-led company to carry out the work, all of which was funded through a shares issue and grants. Built on land owned by the Highland Small Communities Housing Trust the unique design has the distinction of being readily remodeled as four separate homes should future education requirements change. Outlining the unconventional approach one parent, Jamie McIntyre, told the BBC: Quite casually, we said 'how much to build a new school here? "To their credit they went off and costed the plan and put it to the council and proposed the model we have here, which is that we finance, design and build the school and we lease it to the council for use as long they need it for a school. The school is currently being leased to Highland Council but should pupils ultimately relocate to a nearby secondary school conversion work can be carried out relatively quickly and easily. Pupils and staff are set to move in on 30 October at which point the development loan will be converted to a mortgage. (@FahadShabbir) OPEC, the powerful Vienna-based oil producing cartel, stands accused by US President Donald Trump of inflating crude prices and hurting consumers. London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :OPEC, the powerful Vienna-based oil producing cartel, stands accused by US President Donald Trump of inflating crude prices and hurting consumers. Benchmark Brent oil soared this week to a four-year peak above $82 per barrel, prompting Trump to urge OPEC to stop "ripping off" the world with high fuel prices. Despite the bump higher, oil remains far below record peaks of above $147 struck in 2008, before the global economic downturn sparked a collapse in demand. The oil price has, however, almost tripled since early 2016. So what is the role of this influential institution which wields so much power over a commodity that greases the wheels of the world economy? What is OPEC? The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries -- which comprises 15 member nations from Africa, the middle East and Latin America -- pumps about 40 percent of global oil supplies. The grouping was originally formed in 1960 with five members: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The cartel currently also comprises Qatar, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo. The institution's objective, according to its website, is "to coordinate and unify petroleum policies among member countries in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers". OPEC, which has been based in Vienna since 1965, rose to prominence in 1973 when Arab members organised an oil embargo against Israel-supporting Western nations. The institution convenes for regular meetings to assess the state of supply and demand in the marketplace, and its pronouncements still have the ability to spark major swings. Prices rebounded this week after OPEC and non-OPEC members meeting in Algiers expressed satisfaction over a "healthy balance between supply and demand". Has OPEC weakened its grip? Over the last ten years or so, experts say that OPEC's grip on the market has nevertheless weakened due to booming US shale production, strong Russian output, and the rise of renewable energy. "There is no question that OPEC's share of world oil production -- and therefore its power -- has gone down over the past decade," Riccardo Fabiani, analyst for consultancy Energy Aspects, told AFP. OPEC has acted repeatedly to influence the price of crude oil via collective production targets, in order to protect the precious revenues of its membership. Most recently, the cartel joined forces with ten non-OPEC producers including Russia to curb their collective output in late 2016. The move was largely to counter surging shale energy production in the United States, a key factor which had helped push Brent oil under $30 per barrel earlier that year. "Prior to the 2016 output pact, OPEC found itself playing second fiddle to the US shale boom," noted PVM analyst Stephen Brennock. Did OPEC's strategy work? The so-called OPEC+ group agreed a milestone deal to trim production from January 2017 by 1.8 million barrels a day to clear a global oil glut. The strategy has worked to some extent, with Brent prices jumping from below $50 a barrel in late 2016 to the current level of about $80. "Saudi Arabia, the group's kingpin, has been unofficially targeting an oil price between $70-$80 per barrel and this is where we find the current state of play," noted Brennock. OPEC pledged in June to boost oil production to meet growing global demand, despite the prospect of fresh US sanctions on Iran's crude exports. Does OPEC face constraints? OPEC is constrained by the very low amount of spare capacity to increase output in a tight market -- which already faces threats from unplanned outages, low investment levels and unpredictable geopolitical unrest. "Everyone is waking up to the reality that its ability to bring additional volumes when needed is severely curtailed by outages, a lack of investment and political instability affecting operations in several producing countries," noted Fabiani. He argued that OPEC remained a established "fact of life" that would always hold sway over prices. "OPEC has been around for so long that the debate on its merits and faults has now become irrelevant," Fabiani said. "It's a fact of life that most market actors have learned to live with." (@ChaudhryMAli88) WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Morocco's Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development has received a US grant for a feasibility study of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal and regasification facility that would link to a Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline (MEG), the US Trade and Development Agency said in a press release. "The US firm Lixia Capsia Gestionis LLC, will carry out the study, which involves assessing potential sites for the development of: an LNG import terminal; a regasification facility to supply up to 5. 3 BCM [billion cubic meters] of natural gas per year; and a pipeline connecting the LNG import terminal to the MEG," the release said on Wednesday. The United States is expected to become the world's third largest LNG exporter by 2020, behind Qatar and Australia, according to published reports. The US Trade and Development Agency promotes US exports by financing development projects in emerging markets, such as Morocco. (@ChaudhryMAli88) H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Ivica Dacic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, held a meeting on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Sep, 2018) H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Ivica Dacic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, held a meeting on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the meeting, both parties committed to initiate work on a Strategic Partnership Agreement in the near future to further bolster the deepening ties between the UAE and Serbia. "This strategic agreement will strengthen the UAE and Serbias bilateral relationship in a significant way," Sheikh Abdullah said, adding, "We are delighted to make this announcement which will expand cooperation between our two countries, and allow us to work together to address issues of mutual interests. " The Serbian Foreign Minister stressed the importance of furthering bilateral cooperation and improving friendly relations between Serbia and UAE. He expressed readiness to begin a process of establishing strategic partnership as acknowledgement of overall and comprehensive cooperation. The agreement is expected to be signed at an upcoming high-level state visit between the two countries. Marking the centenary of the birth of the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, DCT Abu Dhabi, has released "Words of a leader - Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan", a book featuring selected quotes by the Founding Father. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Sep, 2018) Marking the centenary of the birth of the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, DCT Abu Dhabi, has released "Words of a leader - Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan", a book featuring selected quotes by the Founding Father. Translated from Arabic, the book is now available in four languages: English, French, German and Spanish, with Chinese, Indian and Russian translations expected soon. Coinciding with the "Year of Zayed 2018", the publishing of this special title in four languages comes in conjunction with the 10th edition of Al Ain Book Fair, which has been organised by DCT Abu Dhabi at the Al Ain Convention Centre between 23rd September and 2nd October. The book comprises many speeches and statements made by Sheikh Zayed, focussing on the foundations of sound governance, and on the secret behind a countrys success, which is to serve the people and further their aspirations. "Officials live to serve the people" is one of the values that underline his thinking. He often painted the image of the good employee or the virtuous official, calling for the productive employment of the countrys riches and openness to modern science. Commenting on the release, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said, "Throughout his life, the late Sheikh Zayed instilled in us deep values of nation-building, welfare, development, social harmony, charity, dialogue, international cooperation and much else from the beliefs that he employed in building the UAE. Driven by these values, the UAE quickly became a developed country and a model for both young and strong countries. "The Founding Father put this vision into words on various occasions, uttering wisdom worthy of being memorialised. " Al Mubarak noted, "Publishing this selection of quotes by the Founding Father in Arabic and four other languages in this the Year of Zayed, celebrates his exemplary lifetime of priceless ideals. Drawing on his teachings, we present this book to future generations so that they may learn from his sound and moderate ways. We also present this book to the world offering them the chance to explore the mind of a distinguished leader who managed to harness the simplest resources to build a strong and influential country." The selected quotes reveal the depth of Sheikh Zayed's intellect and comprehensive forward-looking mindset. He inspired young people, offering deep insights into his view of the future and the keys behind success while urging them to take action and work tirelessly. He also spoke of and worked towards achieving equality for women in all aspects of life, from leadership to science, leading the UAE to become even greater, socially and intellectually. His political statements were built on a profound passion for justice, which he kept framed in his belief in coexistence, and accordingly continued to speak against war, advocate intercultural dialogue, and defend the rights of nations suffering injustice. The Founding Father saw in the prosperity of the UAE and its GGC sister-countries an entwined fate that would later engulf the Arab world and other neighbouring countries. He always preached cooperation, and solidarity among all nations towards transcending all differences. He advocated openness and modernity based on authenticity and heritage, which he thought distinguished each country. Most importantly, he shed a light on islam and its original message of peace, away from hateful and terrorist tendencies that some attach to it, whether driven by ignorance or bad intentions. The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, is continuing to provide food aid to underprivileged people in Hadramaut Governorate, as part of the UAE's keenness to restore the governorates normal living conditions, coinciding with the Year of Zayed. HADRAMAUT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Sep, 2018) The Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, is continuing to provide food aid to underprivileged people in Hadramaut Governorate, as part of the UAE's keenness to restore the governorates normal living conditions, coinciding with the Year of Zayed. The ERC today distributed 250 food baskets in Harheer, Shahar District, and Ba'alal, Tarim District, which targeted 1,250 beneficiaries, who praised the UAE's leadership, government and people for providing humanitarian aid, through its humanitarian arm, the ERC, to ease the suffering of the Yemeni people, who are witnessing dire economic conditions, due to the war started by the Iranian-backed Houthi militias. In his remarks after distributing the food baskets, Mohammed Obaid Al Shamsi, ERC Representative, said that the UAE is implementing a series of projects to ease the suffering of Yemenis, including construction projects that aim to improve infrastructure or government facilities, as well as by providing humanitarian support. Local officials from the two districts said that ERCs teams have proven their steadfastness while distributing humanitarian aid under difficult conditions. They added that the ERCs efforts will be always remembered in the hearts of the people of Hadramaut. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Etihad Airways Engineering has welcomed Navdeep Suri, Ambassador of India to the UAE, and Rajamurugan, Counsellor, Indian Embassy, to its Abu Dhabi base. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Sep, 2018) Etihad Airways Engineering has welcomed Navdeep Suri, Ambassador of India to the UAE, and Rajamurugan, Counsellor, Indian Embassy, to its Abu Dhabi base. The Ambassador was received by Abdul Khaliq Saeed, Chief Executive Officer and senior executives from Etihad Airways Engineering and given a presentation showcasing the capabilities and achievements of the organisation. The group enjoyed an extensive tour of Etihad Airways Engineerings state-of-the-art facility which is located adjacent to Abu Dhabi International Airport. The tour encompassed aircraft hangars at the facility which cover approximately 42,000 sq metres, including 10,000 sq metres of aircraft painting facilities and a custom-designed hangar that can accommodate up to three Airbus A380 aircraft simultaneously. The company has successfully completed maintenance projects for leading airlines around the world. Shoppers also may see more sales tax charges on sites like eBay, Etsy and Amazon if theyre buying from out-of-state merchants that do enough business in Illinois to meet the states threshold for collection. Amazon, for instance, has collected sales tax on items it sells directly to Illinois shoppers since 2015. But Illinoisans havent had to pay sales tax at checkout when buying from out-of-state merchants who use Amazon to sell their products. As of Monday, that will change, though it will be up to the third-party sellers to determine whether they are obligated to collect. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Dental Association of Thailand has officially joined the Global Scientific Dental Alliance Meeting, GSDA, and proudly confirmed its participation in the 23rd edition of the UAE International Dental Conference and Arab Dental Exhibition, AEEDC, Dubai, that will be held from the 5th to 7th February, 2019, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 26th Sep, 2018) The Dental Association of Thailand has officially joined the Global Scientific Dental Alliance Meeting, GSDA, and proudly confirmed its participation in the 23rd edition of the UAE International Dental Conference and Arab Dental Exhibition, AEEDC, Dubai, that will be held from the 5th to 7th February, 2019, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. This valuable addition to the alliance was announced in the meeting of the organising committee of AEEDC that was chaired by Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Executive Chairman of AEEDC Dubai and GSDA, with the President of The Dental Association of Thailand, Dr. Adirek Sriwatanawongsa; President of Thai Association of Orthodontists, Dr. Tanan Jaruprakorn, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Asst. Prof. Sirivimol Srisawasdi, in the presence of Eng. Aiman Al Madani, CEO - Finance and Administration - INDEX Holding, and a number of leading dignitaries from the field. During the meeting, Dr. Sriwatanawongsa, said that The Dental Association of Thailand is proud to join the Global Scientific Dental Alliance Meeting as it would be a great step forward for the medical organizations and companies in Thailand. Dr. Abdul Salam Al Madani, Executive Chairman of AEEDC Dubai and GSDA, said, "We are truly delighted for the joinder of the Kingdom of Thailand as the Member No. 135 to GSDA and AEEDC as this will open the door for the Thai companies and for more than 16,000 members in The Dental Association of Thailand to be part of the GSDA meetings that are held annually and to gain more experiences and knowledge through the latest technologies and techniques used in the field through their participation in AEEDC Dubai 2019. " "In AEEDC Dubai, we always seek to bring up the latest medical research and technology in the dental industry every year as well as provide the experts, doctors, and specialists the ideal platform to share their ideas and showcase their latest advancements in the field to make the UAE in general and Dubai in particular a world-class scientific destination for all doctors and practitioners from all over the world," he added. AEEDC Dubai is considered the largest dental event in the MENA region and the second largest in the world. Each year, this conference and exhibition host the annual meeting of the Global Scientific Dental Alliance Meeting with the participation of various members of dental associations from the region and the world, in the presence of dignitaries, heads of associations, deans of colleges, specialists, experts and professionals in the field of dentistry. The conference also showcases the latest developments and provide scientific recommendations for improving the field. AEEDC Dubai is organised annually by INDEX conferences and exhibitions member of INDEX Holding with the support of Dubai Health Authority, Global Scientific Dental Alliance, Arab Dental Federation, Executive board of the Health Ministers Council for Gulf Cooperation Council States, GCC Oral Health Committee, Riyadh Colleges of Dentistry and Pharmacy, Arab academy for Continuing Dental education, International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and UAE India business Council. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the United Nations, UN, and Other International Organisations in Geneva, affirmed the UAEs full support for the implementation of the UNs plan in Libya, adding that the UAE considers the plan as the best applicable framework to solve Libyas political crisis. GENEVA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Sep, 2018) Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the United Nations, UN, and Other International Organisations in Geneva, affirmed the UAEs full support for the implementation of the UNs plan in Libya, adding that the UAE considers the plan as the best applicable framework to solve Libyas political crisis. Al Zaabi also expressed the UAEs satisfaction at the current progress in Libya, as well as its hope that an agreed election involving all Libyan parties will be held before the end of the year. The UAE also hopes that all parties will intensify their efforts to overcome the current obstacles facing the elections, he added while highlighting the importance of preparing the appropriate conditions and creating a safe and open environment, to guarantee a transparent and honest election, whose results can be accepted by all parties. Al Zaabi made this statement while giving the UAEs speech at an interactive dialogue on the oral statement of Michelle Bachelet, Human Rights High Commissioner, regarding Libya, during the 39th session of the Human Rights Council. At the start of his speech, Al Zaabi announced the UAEs joint statement with the Arab Group and the other relevant political groups and thanked Bachelet for her oral update regarding the human rights situation in Libya. At the end of his speech, Al Zaabi stressed that the UAE, as a member of the "P3+3 Group," supports the political process and is working with the international community to reach a solution to the Libyan crisis, which will return security and stability, not just to the Libyan people but to the entire region. AMMAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Sep, 2018) Faisal Ahmed Al Malik, Acting Director of the Cultural Office at the UAE Embassy in Amman, has visited the participating Emirati pavilions at the 18th Edition of the Amman International Book Fair which is being held under the main theme, "Jerusalem: Palestine's Capital." The event, opened on Wednesday by Jordanian Minister of Culture Basma Al-Nsour, will continue until 6th October. The participating Emirati institutions include the Sharjah Book Authority, The Muslim Council of Elders, and Almuwatta Centre. The Director of the Cultural Office emphasised the directives of Mattar Saif Sulaiman Al Shami, UAE Ambassador to Jordan, to provide all necessary help to contribute to the success of the UAE participation, which reflects the country's effective role in such events. The cultural event brings together 300 local and Arab publishing houses. The UAE yesterday took part in a high-level meeting on Mali and the Sahel on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York. NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Sep, 2018) The UAE yesterday took part in a high-level meeting on Mali and the Sahel on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York. In a statement Major General Pilot Abdullah Al Hashemi, Assistant Under-Secretary for Support Services praised the initiatives taken by the UN and regional and international partners to support the Sahel, including the formation of a joint force and the adoption of Resolution 2391 by the UN Security Council. Al Hashemi expressed the UAE's belief in the need of combating extremism and terrorism wherever it is, while stressing the importance of tackling the international cross-border challenges and the need to develop an international response that takes into account the specific positions of each country or region. "It is necessary to develop an overall and integrated approach to combat extremism and terrorism," he said adding that military solution alone is not enough to address this phenomenon in the long term. He stressed the need to develop strategies and programmes to address the root causes of radicalism and extremism, and also to promote the rule of law and the provision of economic and development opportunities. He underlined the UAE's commitment to work and cooperate with the international community to intensify efforts to counter extremism and terrorism and to promote regional and international security and stability. The UAE has provided more than US$ 200 million in humanitarian and development assistance to five Sahel countries over the past four years. (@FahadShabbir) UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the first-ever High-Level Tuberculosis (TB) Meeting on Wednesday at the UN that Pakistan remained fully committed to rooting out the endemic by 2030. The event was held on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly being held in New York. Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister Qureshi appreciated the efforts and progress made by the World Health Organization. He stressed the importance of fighting the epidemic of Tuberculosis, which still accounts for over four and a half thousand deaths worldwide every day. He said that this epidemic was pervasive in lower income and middle-income countries. "Mostly affecting adults in their most productive years, this disease not only brings personal tragedy to the families but also places a heavy burden on the world's most poor and vulnerable," he added. Pakistan, he said, was among the seven countries most affected by TB. By implementing Multiple Drug Resistant TB strategy, positive results have been achieved with a success rate of 65 percent, which is higher than average global success rate. Qureshi expressed Pakistan's commitment to earnestly work with members of the international community to prevent unnecessary deaths, lift people out of poverty, and make progress towards achieving other sustainable development goals. The High-Level Meeting has been described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an unprecedented step forward by governments and all partners engaged in the fight against TB. It comes one year on from a Ministerial Conference on Ending TB held in Moscow last November, which resulted in high-level commitments from ministers and other leaders from 120 countries to accelerate progress to end the disease. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed described TB as a 'vicious epidemic,' which infects some 10. 4 million people across the world, and is fuelled by poverty, inequality, migration and conflict. The disease, she added, exists in a 'vicious cycle that will require an all-systems approach that accounts for the social drivers that perpetuate its spread.' Better health and social welfare systems, and more investment, are needed to stop this global health crisis, and better tools are needed to overcome anti-microbial resistance: some 60,000 drug-resistant cases of TB are reported every year. The Deputy Secretary-General called for an approach to ending TB that takes a system-wide approach, promoting the broader health and well-being of entire communities and breaking out of 'disease-specific silos and single goals.' Whilst TB affects all countries and continents, more than half of all new cases occur in just five countries: in some countries including Mozambique, the Philiippines and South Africa there are 500 cases per 100,000 people, whilst in high-income countries there are fewer than 10 per 100,000. Amina Mohammed said that much more progress is needed if the UN is to follow through on its promise to leave no one behind. However, progress, she added, is possible if efforts to end the epidemic are based on the best data and science, informed decisions, empowered communities, and strategic and well-financed action. Amina Mohammed said that WHO will lead cross-UN efforts to support governments, working together with civil society and all partners to drive a faster response to TB. Just one week ago, on 18 September, the WHO released its latest Global Tuberculosis Report, which showed that countries are not doing enough to end TB, and that funding is the most urgent stumbling block. The meeting concluded with the adoption of an ambitious Political Declaration on TB, endorsed by Heads of State, which is intended to strengthen action and investments for ending of TB, and save millions of lives. (@ChaudhryMAli88) UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Foreign Ministers of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia Wednesday expressed satisfaction at the expanding relations between the two countries. Foreign Minister Shah Memood Qureshi and his Saudi counterpart Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir met on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York. Recalling the Prime Minister's "highly successful" visit to Saudi Arabia last week, they took note of the complete convergence of views between the leadership of the two countries on regional and global issues, and agreed to maintain the momentum generated by the visit to achieve tangible results on mutually agreed areas of cooperation, according to an official statement. The Pakistani Foreign Minister expressed deep appreciation for the "gracious invitation and warm hospitality", extended by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, to the prime minister and his entourage. The two foreign ministers agreed to remain closely engaged to chart out a roadmap for enhancing bilateral trade, business and investment relations. They also agreed to convene the next round of Bilateral Political Consultation between the two foreign ministries at an early date,to take their discussions forward. Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry president, senior and vice presidents were elected unopposed for 2018-19. MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry president, senior and vice presidents were elected unopposed for 2018-19. According to the sources, no candidate submitted nomination papers against them on September 26, the last date for submission of papers. Muhammad Sarfaraz elected as president, Khawaja Badr Munir as Senior Vice President (SVP) and Sheikh Amjad as Vice President (VP). All three businessmen belonged to Multan Chamber Ittehad Group which secured the highest number of seats of executive body in a election held on September 17. A spokesperson for Multan Chamber Ittehad group told APP that annual general meeting (AGM) of MCCI would be held on Sept 29 wherein the newly elected body would assume the charge. (@FahadShabbir) Speakers at a reference here Wednesday eulogized the valiant political figure late Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan, particularly his struggle for restoration of democratic process in the country by bringing opposition parties at one platform. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Sep, 2018 ) :Speakers at a reference here Wednesday eulogized the valiant political figure late Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan, particularly his struggle for restoration of democratic process in the country by bringing opposition parties at one platform. They were of the view that the services of Pakistan's 'father of democracy' should be made part of educational curriculum to acquaint the future generations with his work for betterment of the country. They expressed these views at a seminar titled 'National Memorial Reference' that was organized by the son of Nawabzada in connection with latter's 15th death anniversary. Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who was the chief guest, said he felt proud to say that Nawabzada Iftikhar Khan, who was the son of national hero, was elected for the National Assembly seat on the PPP ticket. "Nawabzada had a quality to create consensus among the different political parties," he added. "The presence of various political parties' leaders under one roof tells us that he is still alive," he remarked. Nawabzada, Bilawal said, was the only political figure who always played a role of opposition in all government tenures except the second term of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. His services for democracy was a lesson for the upcoming generations. Urging the all political parties for doing the politics on civic issues, he said, an independent democracy demanded the empowerment of democratic institutions. Bilawal emphasized the provision of cheap and speedy justice to a layman. President of Pakistan National Party Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo termed Nawabzada a multi-faceted personality and a nightmare for anti-democratic elements of the country. He said Nawabzada played a crucial role in the formation of Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) during suspension of democratic process in the country. He stressed for rejuvenating the spirit of Nawabzada in the youth. Azad jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider recalled the services of Nawabzada for the Kashmir cause and said he was the first person who had taken out a procession for Kashmir in 1935. He asked the youngsters to follow the legacy of Nawabzada for the continuity of democratic process. Farooq also recited a poem 'Aaj ki Raat' (today's night), which Nawabzada had written for Kashmiris. Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Rana Tanvir said Nawabzada had earned the title of 'Baba-e-Jamhuriyat' due to his struggle for democracy throughout his life. He even today was a guiding force for l political leaders. "We should work for strengthening the state institutions by following his footsteps," he added. Asad Mahmood, who is son of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-F President Maulana Fazalur Rahman, said Nawabzada was not only a political person but also a social worker who had always supported his friends in difficult times. Despite spending 12 years in prison, he left no stone unturned for reviving the democratic process in country, he added. Senior journalist Hamid Mir said Nawabzada had always manged to gather all political parties on the only agenda of democracy. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Director of SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC) Sri Lanka, D K R Ekanayake Thursday paid a courtesy call on High Commissioner of Pakistan in Sri Lanka, Dr Shahid Ahmad Hashmat in Colombo. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Director of SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC) Sri Lanka, D K R Ekanayake Thursday paid a courtesy call on High Commissioner of Pakistan in Sri Lanka, Dr Shahid Ahmad Hashmat in Colombo. The high commissioner and director SAAC Cultural Centre had a comprehensive discussions on a number of matters related to cultural centre and future activities, a message received here from Colombo said. The high commissioner congratulated Ekanayake on her appointment as the new director of SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC). He underlined the importance of strengthening the SAARC mechanism and ensured Pakistan's support to the endeavors of the SCC for promotion of regional unity through cultural integration. He lauded the centre's efforts towards preservation, conservation and protection of South Asia's cultural heritage within the framework of the SAARC Agenda for Culture. Ekanayake briefed the high commissioner on the overall activities of SAARC Cultural Centre and assured that it will continue to develop and promote cultural activities within the region through innovative concepts keeping in view the values of SAARC region. Mementos were also exchanged during the meeting. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said on Thursday that there was a positive trend in trade between Moscow and Baku and noted that Russia held the leading positions in importing Azerbaijani goods. BAKU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said on Thursday that there was a positive trend in trade between Moscow and Baku and noted that Russia held the leading positions in importing Azerbaijani goods. Earlier in the day, the ninth Azerbaijani-Russian transregional forum started in the capital city of Baku. "Trade relations are one of the important vectors of Azerbaijani-Russian cooperation. There has been a positive trend in the development of bilateral trade. Russia is the main partner in import and leader in the export of our products," Mustafayev said at the meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijani business council. Mustafayev also said that Azerbaijan was working on opening its trade, wine and tea houses in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Astrakhan. Also on Thursday, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said that Moscow and Baku were considering new formats of cooperation in agriculture. "We are discussing the development of projects [in agriculture], which range from supplying agricultural machinery and fertilizers, to supplying goods produced in Azerbaijan to Russian commercial chains. We will try to unite the whole chain, starting from the components and up to the production and logistics," Oreshkin said. He also said that Russia would complete the construction of infrastructure that was necessary to develop trade between the two countries by the end of 2019. "After the visit of [Azerbaijani President] Ilham ... Aliyev to Russia, our president gave us direct instructions to complete the construction of all infrastructure, not only physical but also regarding the work of customs authorities, by the end of next year. So we have 12 months to bring all infrastructure in line with those needs, those plans that we have regarding trade," the minister added. According to Oreshkin, developments in the areas of transport, logistics and finance are required in order to boost bilateral trade. According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, trade between the two countries totaled $1.4 billion between January and July, while in 2017, the figures amounted to $1.5 billion for the same period. A total of $444 million worth of Azerbaijani goods were imported in Russia in the first six months of this year, a $34 million increase compared to 2017. Over 30,000 migrants have been freed from Libya detention centers, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. NEW YORK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Over 30,000 migrants have been freed from Libya detention centers, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. ''This was made possible thanks to cooperation and multilateralism between the UN, the EU, and the African Union," she added. (@FahadShabbir) Nearly 500 US Army close combat tactical simulators will be modernized under a $356 million contract, defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced in a press release on Thursday. WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Nearly 500 US Army close combat tactical simulators will be modernized under a $356 million contract, defense contractor Lockheed Martin announced in a press release on Thursday. "The Close Combat Tactical Training (CCTT) Manned Module Modernization (M3) contract, worth up to $356 million, modernizes training while increasing sustainability in support of emerging Army training requirements and systems," the release said. The CCTT system is designed to immerse soldiers, who operate equipment such as Abrams tanks and Bradley troop transport vehicles, in real-world battle scenarios through computer-based simulations, the release explained. Since 1992, Lockheed Martin has developed and delivered nearly 500 CCTT systems, the release noted. Former WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson has been named as the organization's new editor-in-chief to replace Julian Assange, who has not been able to communicate with anyone except for his lawyers for the past six months, the organization said, adding that Assange would remain the site's publisher. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Former WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson has been named as the organization's new editor-in-chief to replace Julian Assange, who has not been able to communicate with anyone except for his lawyers for the past six months, the organization said, adding that Assange would remain the site's publisher. "Due to the extraordinary circumstances where Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been held incommunicado (except for visits by his lawyers) for six months while arbitrarily detained in the Ecuadorian embassy, Mr. Assange has appointed Kristinn Hrafnsson Editor in Chief of WikiLeaks. Mr Assange will continue to be the publisher of WikiLeaks," the organization said in a statement on Wednesday. Hrafnsson served as WikiLeaks spokesman between 2010 and 2016 and has been charged with the organization's legal projects until now, the statement added. Assange has been residing in the Ecuadorian Embassy since 2012 after the United Kingdom granted his extradition to Sweden, where he was accused of sexual offenses. The charges have since been dropped, but Assange is still wary of being extradited to the United States, where he is wanted for leaking classified documents. (@FahadShabbir) Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz will visit St. Petersburg next week and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said Tuesday. VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz will visit St. Petersburg next week and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said Tuesday. "The Federal chancellor will visit St. Petersburg next week. This will be the fourth meeting between Putin and Kurtz this year alone, which shows not only the special nature of our bilateral relations, but also their positive dynamics," Lyubinsky said at an event in Vienna. According to the ambassador, intensive work is under way to consistently implement the agreements reached in Vienna at the highest level, primarily in the economic sphere, including energy, infrastructure projects, other areas, but also in the cultural and humanitarian areas. "I have no doubt that this entire range of issues will be a priority topic of discussion between the Russian president and Austria's federal chancellor next week," Lyubinsky added. Belarus and Israel are studying opportunities for joint investment projects in tourism. The matter was discussed at a meeting of Belarus' Ambassador to Israel Vladimir Skvortsov with representatives of the Israel-Belarus Chamber of Commerce, the community of Slonim hasids in Israel, the American Commemoration Fund of Slonim Jews and Jewish Places in Belarus, BelTA learned from the Belarusian embassy. MINSK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :'Belarus and Israel are studying opportunities for joint investment projects in tourism. The matter was discussed at a meeting of Belarus' Ambassador to Israel Vladimir Skvortsov with representatives of the Israel-Belarus Chamber of Commerce, the community of Slonim hasids in Israel, the American Commemoration Fund of Slonim Jews and Jewish Places in Belarus, BelTA learned from the Belarusian embassy. "The parties discussed aspects related to the implementation of the agreements reached during the sixth meeting of the Belarusian-Israeli Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Jerusalem on 22 May. The focus was on the prospects of attracting Israeli tourists to Belarus to visit places of memory and also opportunities for Israeli business to participate in joint investment projects in tourism," the diplomatic mission said. The possibility of organizing visits of Israeli businessmen to Belarus in the coming months was discussed with Director of the Chamber of Commerce Gedalia Koltanyuk. Vladimir Skvortsov also spoke about Belarus-Israel relations in various areas of cooperation. In particular, the parties talked over the results of the fourth meeting of the Advisory Council on the Affairs of Belarusians Abroad, held at the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 20 September. The parties also discussed Remembrance Days scheduled to take place in the Belarusian capital on 22-23 October to mark the 75th anniversary of the destruction of the Minsk ghetto. An Israeli delegation including representatives of legislative and executive authorities has been invited to attend the event. The sides hailed cooperation between the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee and the Israeli investor Housing in the construction of a hotel complex in the town of Radun. The facility will be located on the site of pilgrimage for religious Jews. Renowned rabbi and philosopher Chofetz Chaim was buried in Radun. The parties discussed issues related to the restoration of the grave of prophet Abraham Weinberg at the ancient Jewish cemetery in Slonim. According to President of the Foundation Shimon Levinger, the place is under renovation with the support of stakeholders, local authorities and the Jewish Communities of America."Once restored, the place will welcome numerous hasids from all over the world," the embassy noted. Eight soldiers were killed by a blast in northern Burkina Faso on Wednesday, in the latest blow to the poor Sahel country grappling with jihadism. Ouagadougou, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Eight soldiers were killed by a blast in northern Burkina Faso on Wednesday, in the latest blow to the poor Sahel country grappling with jihadism. "I have just learned that eight Burkinabe soldiers died after their vehicle drove over a home-made mine planted by the enemies of our people," President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a statement. The convoy had been heading from Baraboule in Soum province to the town of Djibo. "The lead vehicle in the convoy hit the mine" as it was coming off a bridge, a security source told AFP. Kabore expressed his "deepest condolences to the defence and security forces, to the families and relatives of the victims". "These horrible and cowardly attacks will never sap our common resolve to defend our national territorial integrity, to restore peace and security for the happiness and prosperity of the Burkinabe people." - Mounting attacks - In 2015, Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries, joined a string of countries in the Sahel region to come under pressure from jihadists. Rebels began staging cross-border raids in the north of the country from neighbouring Mali. Using classic guerrilla tactics, the rebels aim at police and the military with gun attacks and roadside bombs, target buildings and personnel perceived to represent the state, and abduct individuals. A toll released in April found that 133 people had died in the north in 80 attacks in three years, many of them state officials. Hundreds of schools and town halls have been closed. On Sunday, three miners -- a Burkinabe national, an Indian and a South African -- were seized by armed men between Djibo and a local gold mine. Hours later, three police officers deployed to help search for the trio were killed in a clash with armed men at Tongomael, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) away. In August, 13 people in the north were killed by two improvised bombs, and a customs officer was killed in a raid. The jihadists' strategy in the north has now been adopted in the east of the country. In the centre, the capital Ouagadougou has suffered three terror attacks in two years, leaving 60 dead. The minister of mines and energy of Burundi, Come Manirakiza, will likely attend the Russian Energy Week forum, the ambassador of the Republic of Burundi to Russia, Edward Bizimana, told Sputnik on Thursday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) The minister of mines and energy of Burundi, Come Manirakiza, will likely attend the Russian Energy Week forum, the ambassador of the Republic of Burundi to Russia, Edward Bizimana, told Sputnik on Thursday. The Russian Energy Week is set to take place on October 3-6 at Moscow's Central Exhibition Hall Manege. "We sent invitations [that we received from the Russian side] to Burundi, and we hope that the minister of mines and energy will attend. It is not yet confirmed, but I think he will attend," Bizimana said, in reference to a question about which Burundi representative would attend the Russian Energy Week. Bizimana added that if the minister of mines and energy was unable to attend the forum, then the interests of Burundi would be represented by the embassy. The Russian Energy Week was first held in 2017 and serves as a platform for demonstrating the prospects of Russia's fuel and energy industry and exploring the potential of international cooperation in the field. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The European Union (EU) remains relevant as a grouping even with Brexit looming in the shadows due to its ability to maintain peace in the region, despite the countries' differences in interests and geopolitics, says Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador to Malaysia, Emir Hadzikadunic. KUALA LUMPUR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :The European Union (EU) remains relevant as a grouping even with Brexit looming in the shadows due to its ability to maintain peace in the region, despite the countries' differences in interests and geopolitics, says Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador to Malaysia, Emir Hadzikadunic. He believed the people currently, had forgotten the true value of the EU when it was first established after the Second World War. "The EU is not only about politics, it's not only about economics. More than anything else, it is about peace, but people take this for granted. In the EU, we decide as one, and it means more stability, more prosperity, more investment opportunities," he told Bernama here recently. Hadzikadunic said these factors were some of the attractions of joining the EU, especially for a small country like Bosnia and Herzegovina which had gone through the devastating effects of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. The envoy added Bosnia and Herzegovina was still very much committed to join the 28-member union, and a public survey showed that 80 per cent of the public supported joining the EU. The country formally applied for membership in February 2016, and is now being assessed by the EU. "Not just Bosnia, but the whole of ex-Yugoslavia. We broke up, but will meet again in the EU. We will be sharing common market again. We already know each other, so it's easier to be in the EU than outside," he said. After a series of conflicts, Yugoslavia broke up into six countries in the 1990s Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. Of that, Slovenia and Croatia were already part of the EU, while the others have applied to join. The EU, formally founded on Nov 1, 1993, traced its existence to 1951, when the European Coal and Steel Community began to unite European countries economically and politically in order to secure lasting peace after World War II. "Now, people freely travel within 28 countries with just an ID, with no borders. So, it's great. Of course, you have the right and extreme right who are not happy with these kinds of policies and they like to be more nationalists...but this kind of alternative is not a good one," noted Hadzikadunic. On the migrant issue in Europe, he said Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its own experience in the matter, was very much sympathetic with the people who left their country of birth due to war and economic difficulties. The envoy said the government and people of Bosnia and Herzegovina did their best to help facilitate these migrants who passed through the country to reach EU countries, but noted that the number was not as many as those who passed through Greece, two to three years ago. "They are suffering and they need help. We are trying, and it's not easy. This issue needs to be addressed," he said, adding that the majority of a small Bosnian refugee community that was in Malaysia at the peak of the Bosnian War had returned home. According to recent reports, as borders have closed elsewhere, Bosnia has become a new transit route for migrants and asylum seekers. (@FahadShabbir) Israel is ready to open the Quneitra checkpoint - the only official border crossing point with Syria, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday. TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Israel is ready to open the Quneitra checkpoint - the only official border crossing point with Syria, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday. "We see Syrian police and customs officers on the opposite side of the border, work is underway, patrols of the Russian military police are passing. .. We are ready to bring life back to normal," Lieberman said after visiting the Israeli section of the crossing. "We are ready to open the border crossing point, as it was before, and now the ball is in the Syrian court," he said. (@rukhshanmir) Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Thursday discussed with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevedo preparations for the next WTO Ministerial Conference, Nazarbayev's press office said. ALMATY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Thursday discussed with World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevedo preparations for the next WTO Ministerial Conference, Nazarbayev's press office said. "During the meeting the sides exchanged views about the development of economic cooperation in the given international situation as well as preparations for the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference that will be held in Astana in 2020," the press service said. In July, WTO members accepted the invitation of Kazakhstan to host the conference. It will be the organization's first ministerial conference to be held in Central Asia. Kazakhstan joined the WTO in 2015. (@FahadShabbir) Libya's internationally recognised government Wednesday announced a ceasefire deal between rival militias after a month of clashes that have left more than 100 dead south of Tripoli, the focus of armed groups vying for power since the 2011 fall of Moamer Kadhafi. Tripoli, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Libya's internationally recognised government Wednesday announced a ceasefire deal between rival militias after a month of clashes that have left more than 100 dead south of Tripoli, the focus of armed groups vying for power since the 2011 fall of Moamer Kadhafi. The Government of National Accord (GNA) welcomed "the return of calm" after the battle which left at least 117 dead and more than 400 injured since it broke out in the capital's southern suburbs on August 27, according to official figures, and displaced over 25,000 people. The ceasefire, which already came into effect on Tuesday, allowed the reopening of the capital's only working airport, at a former military base in Mitiga on the capital's eastern outskirts, that had closed several times because of the clashes. It also allowed many families to return to their homes, although others were delayed by heavy rains on Wednesday that closed off several roads. The agreement was signed by representatives of the capital and the town of Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli, the interior ministry said. The deal ratified by interior minister Abdessalem Ashour calls for the rivals to implement a UN-brokered accord, signed on September 4, to form a joint security force of police from Tripoli and Tarhuna to patrol the capital's southern suburbs. That accord held for only a few days and political analysts said the new deal could suffer the same fate. "The problem with the notion of a ceasefire is that, in and of itself, it implies it's only a temporary solution," said Libyan researcher Emadi Badi. He said the GNA had no real authority over armed groups. "A successful negotiation would involve terms viewed as win-win where some parties compromise. It does not appear to be the case this time," said Badi. The capital has been at the centre of a battle for influence between armed groups ever since dictator Kadhafi was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising seven years ago. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) announced on Wednesday the conclusion of a new ceasefire agreement between rival factions in the vicinity of Tripoli. CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) announced on Wednesday the conclusion of a new ceasefire agreement between rival factions in the vicinity of Tripoli. The Libyan capital of Tripoli has been hit by multiple clashes between rival militant groups since late August, when the Seventh Brigade armed group launched an attack against other militias. Earlier in September, the rival militant groups reached a ceasefire agreement to put an end to hostilities under the UN auspices. However, the hostilities have lately intensified, with reported daily violations of the truce. "The Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Accord welcomes the agreements reached on the ceasefire in the vicinity of Tripoli and highly appreciates the patriotic, honest positions of all sides that responded to the call for a ceasefire," the GNA's statement said. Starting from August 26, the southern suburbs of the capital saw multiple clashes between the so-called Seventh Brigade from Tarhouna, also known as Kaniyat, and the Tripoli Revolutionaries Battalion (TRB), nominally affiliated with Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA) Interior Ministry. Residential areas of Tripoli were subject to massive shelling during the clashes. According to the latest data, over 100 people were killed in the clashes. According to the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF), local residents and another 8,000 refugees and migrants were trapped in the conflict area. Libya has been torn apart by conflict since the long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. The eastern part of the country is governed by the parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army (LNA) and located in Tobruk. The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country's west and is headquartered in Tripoli. Due to the lack of centralized power and a unified army, Libya has become a smuggling center, as well as a transit point for illegal migrants from Africa to Europe. (@ChaudhryMAli88) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) A meeting between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has just kicked off on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Sputnik. "The meeting began minutes ago," the ministry's press service said. On Monday, the ministry told Sputnik that Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanian would hold a meeting on the settlement of conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region with the mediation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh region proclaimed its independence in 1991, triggering a military conflict that led to Baku's loss of control over the region. The violence between the Azerbaijani and Nagorno-Karabakh forces escalated on April 2, 2016, leading to multiple casualties. The sides agreed to a ceasefire on April 5 of the same year but sporadic clashes have continued. The negotiations on the status of the breakaway region have been underway with the mediation from the OSCE since 1992. (@FahadShabbir) The memorandum of understanding on Idlib must be fully implemented in order to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Syrian province, European Council President Donald Tusk said during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday. UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) The memorandum of understanding on Idlib must be fully implemented in order to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Syrian province, European Council President Donald Tusk said during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday. "The memorandum of understanding on Idlib needs to be fully implemented to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe," Tusk said. All parties in the Syrian conflict must respect international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of civilians and allow aid to reach those in need, Tusk added. A meaningful political process under the United Nations auspicious is especially needed to resolve the Syrian conflict, Tusk said. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in the Syrian province of Idlib by October 15. Mongolia and Russia will enhance cooperation in the mining sector, especially on the exploration of a coal mine in southern Mongolia, a statement from the Mongolian Mining and Heavy Industry Ministry said Thursday. ULAN BATOR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :Mongolia and Russia will enhance cooperation in the mining sector, especially on the exploration of a coal mine in southern Mongolia, a statement from the Mongolian Mining and Heavy Industry Ministry said Thursday. A Mongolian delegation led by Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry Dolgorsuren Sumiyabazar visited Russia on Sept. 23-25. "During the visit, the delegation inspected a project of dry bulk terminal at the Russian seaport Taman. The delegation and relevant Russian officials, including Presidential Aide Igor Levitin, agreed to cooperate to export coal of Tavan Tolgoi to third-party markets via the port of Taman," said the statement. With a total estimated reserve of 6.4 billion tons, Tavan Tolgoi, located in Omnogovi Province, southern Mongolia, is one of the world's largest untapped coking and thermal coal deposits. More Germans with immigrant background back Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative alliance, a poll out this month showed. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) More Germans with immigrant background back Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative alliance, a poll out this month showed. The 2018 Integration Barometer survey by the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration found that former migrants' affiliation had shifted away from leftist parties over the past two years. This year's data shows that Merkel's Christian Democrats and Christian Socialists of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer now have the backing of 43.2 percent of people of migrant origin. Merkel's coalition partners from the Social Democratic Party saw their support dwindle by 15 percent to 25 percent, while the Green and the Left parties got 10 percent each. The migrant-skeptic Alternative for Germany gained 3 percentage points and now stands at 4.8 percent. The biggest shift was among Turkish-born Germans whose support for Socialists more than halved since 2016. Germany saw a rift open in July between the two governing sister parties after Merkel rejected Seehofer's tough plan on how to tackle migration. A split was averted after the partners struck common ground on the contentious policy. (@rukhshanmir) The Dutch government is planning to introduce amendments to the country's legislation, which would make it obligatory for those planning to obtain a firearms license to provide information about their religion, ethnic background and political views, local media reported on Thursday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) The Dutch government is planning to introduce amendments to the country's legislation, which would make it obligatory for those planning to obtain a firearms license to provide information about their religion, ethnic background and political views, local media reported on Thursday. The Volkskrant newspaper reported that the proposal is linked to the amendments to the European Union's Firearms Directive, that were made following the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. The outlet added that the proposed changes would be introduced in October. The proponents of the initiative believe that this information is necessary to estimate the risk factors when granting a gun license. However, certain Dutch lawmakers have expressed their concern over the amendments, arguing that they will violate the right to a private life and are not required by the EU directive, the news outlet added. "According to the minimum requirements of the European directive, it is not necessary. We are not contributing to discrimination and ethnic profiling," Dutch lawmaker Monica den Boer was quoted as saying by the newspaper. In 2015, the European Commission made a series of proposals to reform the existing directive. The main changes included a ban on semi-automatic arms, the designation of private collectors and museums as firearms owners and stricter control over online purchase of firearms, among others. (@rukhshanmir) DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) A new building of the center of the Russian language, which is gaining popularity in Syria, was opened in the University of Damascus. A center was created within the university around a year ago. "Our university is more than 100 years old. There are 16 language centers in it, where around 100,000 students are taking classes. The Russian language department is the largest one, we have even built a separate building for it due to the increasing popularity [of Russian]. It is one of the three centers, alongside the Persian and the Spanish language departments, where there are no extramural forms of studies," Fatima Shaal, the dean of the university's humanities department, told reporters on Thursday. All the three languages are difficult to learn and the studies should be accompanied by communication with native speakers, that is why the university invites professors from Russia to join its faculty, according to Shaal. Shaal recalled that the university continued its operation despite the war. However, some of the students, mainly men, quit studies as they joined the army. Others left the country together with their families as refugees. Moreover, the people living on the territories under the terrorists' control had also been unable to attend classes, Shaal pointed out. However, after these areas were liberated from the terrorists, the former students expressed their willingness to resume their studies, so the university has to help them, the dean pointed out. Shaal noted that the university had opened a psychological support service to help students who have suffered during the war. Moreover, the university opened a center to process applications for those willing to enroll in the studies, the center's director Ruba Khalaf told reporters. Syria has been devastated by years of violent civil war which claimed lives of thousands of people and displaced millions of others. The Syrian authorities, supported by Russia, have recently been engaged in efforts to rebuild the war-torn country. A total of 630 Syrian refugees have returned to the places of their permanent residence over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Refugee Reception, Distribution and Settlement said Thursday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) A total of 630 Syrian refugees have returned to the places of their permanent residence over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Refugee Reception, Distribution and Settlement said Thursday. "It is reported that 630 Syrians returned back to [Deir ez-Zor, Damascus, Aleppo and Homs provinces]," the ministry said in its daily bulletin. The ministry added that since September 2015, over 240,000 Syrians had returned to their homes from abroad, with over 1.7 million more Syrian refugees expressing desire to repatriate. As the Syrian government has regained control over most of the country's territories from under the terrorist control, it is now focused on creating favorable conditions for the refugees' repatriation. Moscow assists Damascus in bringing home those Syrians who wish to do so, provides humanitarian aid to civilians and serves as a guarantor of the ceasefire. The authorities of Paraguay regret the decision of Israel to cancel bilateral cooperation projects following Asuncion's decision to stop relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Paraguay's Foreign Ministry said. MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) The authorities of Paraguay regret the decision of Israel to cancel bilateral cooperation projects following Asuncion's decision to stop relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Paraguay's Foreign Ministry said. "The government of Paraguay regrets that the foreign policy decision taken in a sovereign form corresponding to international law [the decision to cancel embassy relocation] will damage bilateral cooperation, which is a genuine expression of friendship among the two peoples and which remains unchanged from Paraguay's side," the statement said. At the same time, the ministry noted that the Israeli embassy in Asuncion yesterday made a statement about the suspension of joint projects. "None of these projects are currently under implementation, and therefore it is wrong to talk about their cancellation or suspension," the ministry added. Paraguay also reaffirms its commitment to the peaceful resolution of the situation in the middle East and supports the efforts of the international community to ensure full-fledged peace in the region, the ministry said. On September 5, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is closing its embassy in Paraguay in response to Paraguay reversing its decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move came in response to Paraguayan Foreign Minister Luis Alberto Castiglioni's statement that Paraguay stopped the process of moving the diplomatic mission to Jerusalem, which was launched in May under the decision of the country's former President Horacio Cartes. Paraguay was the third country to announce the relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, after the United States and Guatemala. A bomb blast hit a passing motorcade of Malian armed forces in the country's center, killing seven soldiers and a civilian, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) A bomb blast hit a passing motorcade of Malian armed forces in the country's center, killing seven soldiers and a civilian, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday. Two military vehicles were damaged by several explosive devices on Wednesday afternoon on a road between the town of Douentza and the village of Bambara Maoude, the ministry said in a communique. "Seven soldiers and a civilian driver lost their lives as a result of this cowardly attack. In these tragic circumstances, the ministry offers its condolences to the families of the deceased," it said. The attack took place on the border between the restive provinces of Mopti and Tombouctou where the French-backed Malian army has been mired in a five-year struggle against Islamist militants. This happened as Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita took the podium at the UN General Assembly to thank the organization for its support in the battle against insurgents in the center and the north of the country. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Agerpres:Defence Minister Mihai Fifor discussed with members of the American Congress on the military cooperation between Romania and the United States, informs a press release issued on Wednesday by the Ministry of National Defence (MApN). Bucharest, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) Agerpres:Defence Minister Mihai Fifor discussed with members of the American Congress on the military cooperation between Romania and the United States, informs a press release issued on Wednesday by the Ministry of National Defence (MApN). According to the quoted source, the Romanian official, who is on an official US visit, had a number of meetings with US Senators Lindsey Graham - member of the Budget Committee and Armed Services Committee, Joni Ernst - Chairman of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, and with James Inhofe - Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. 'On the agenda of discussions with US officials there were subjects of common interest, such as the projects within the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI), the defense-related bilateral cooperation between Romania and the US, defense planning and procurement, resources allocated to the defense sector; the major programs of endowment carried out with the American partner and the status of 'dependable undertaking. ' During the discussions, the dynamic pace of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US was highlighted, as well as the constant support provided by the US to Romania, especially in terms of strengthening the security on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance,' the MApN release reads. Minister Mihai Fifor also invited the US senators to visit Romania in the immediate future to continue the meetings with Romanian officials and to see firsthand concrete aspects of the practical cooperation between Romania and the United States in the joint projects in the military bases of Mihail Kogalniceanu, Campia Turzii or Deveselu. In this context, Senator Lindsey Graham has already informed that a number of visits to Europe are scheduled in October, including to Romania. (@FahadShabbir) Russia insists on an international investigation into the murder of the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, with the participation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russian Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday. VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Russia insists on an international investigation into the murder of the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, with the participation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russian Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday. "We consider the murder of the signatory of the Minsk complex of measures Alexander Zakharchenko as a terrorist act aimed at undermining the entire settlement process. We insist on conducting an international investigation with OSCE participation under the supervision of the contact group," Lukashevich said at the OSCE meeting. Earlier in September, Lukashevich said Russia regrets that the OSCE leadership had not reacted to Zakharchenko's assassination, and urged the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to intensify monitoring on the disengagement line in Donbas. On August 31, Alexander Zakharchenko, the DPR leader, was killed in a blast at a cafe in central Donetsk. Eleven other people were injured. The DPR authorities declared the incident a terrorist attack. (@FahadShabbir) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has held a meeting with Sudanese Ambassador to Russia Nadir Babiker and Tunisian Ambassador to Russia Mohamed Ali Chihi, during which they discussed the issues of Moscow's cooperation with Tunis and Khartoum, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has held a meeting with Sudanese Ambassador to Russia Nadir Babiker and Tunisian Ambassador to Russia Mohamed Ali Chihi, during which they discussed the issues of Moscow's cooperation with Tunis and Khartoum, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. According to the statement, Bogdanov and Chihi discussed the prospects for further enhancement of bilateral friendly ties. "Mutual commitment to the deepening of the trust-based political dialogue and to the enhancement of mutually beneficial cooperation in trade and economic field, culture, humanitarian and other areas, has been confirmed," the statement read. The ministry added that Bogdanov and Babiker had exchanged views on the pressing issues of the regional agenda, focusing on South Sudan, Yemen and Syria. They also confirmed Moscow's and Khartoum's commitment to further development of the multifaceted Russian-Sudanese ties. In particular, the two sides expressed their willingness to strengthen coordination of their foreign policies and to diversify bilateral trade and economic cooperation. (@FahadShabbir) Russian President Vladimir Putin praised on Thursday the level of Russian-Tajik relations, saying they can be characterized as an alliance and a strategic partnership. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin praised on Thursday the level of Russian-Tajik relations, saying they can be characterized as an alliance and a strategic partnership. "Over the past 25 years, relations between Moscow and Dushanbe have reached the level of alliance and strategic partnership. Meaningful bilateral political dialogue has been established, productive trade and economic, investment, scientific as well as military cooperation is being developed. [The countries] are also developing inter-regional contacts as well as scientific, cultural, education and awareness exchanges," Putin said in a letter to organizers and participants of the Russian-Tajik history exhibition. The Russian president welcomed participants of the exhibition, which is commemorating the 25th anniversary of signing the Russian-Tajik Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. Putin thanked all the organizers of the exhibition and wished for all the visitors to leave with a positive impression. Tajikistan gained independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Libyan Government of National Accord Economy and Industry Minister Nasir Shaglan have discussed the prospects of the recovery of bilateral trade and economic ties, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Libyan Government of National Accord Economy and Industry Minister Nasir Shaglan have discussed the prospects of the recovery of bilateral trade and economic ties, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. "Primary focus [during the talks] was put on the prospects of recovery and development of the Russian-Libyan trade and economic ties as the domestic political situation in Libya stabilizes. Within this context, the Russian side has confirmed its permanent commitment to the independence and territorial integrity of Libya, as well as its readiness to continue promoting the political process in the country under UN auspices and in contact with the representatives of all the interested Libyan parties," the statement read. Libya has been engulfed in a civil war since 2011 when its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in an armed conflict. There are two major opposing forces in Libya, each fighting for control over the country while the Libyan Government of National Accord, backed by the United Nations and the European Union, governs the country's western regions, its eastern part is governed by the Libyan National Army. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in late August that Russia was committed to contributing to the settlement of the crisis in Libya as well as in other middle Eastern countries. (@rukhshanmir) Humanitarian corridors into the militant-infested Syrian province of Idlib should be opened as soon as possible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Thursday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Humanitarian corridors into the militant-infested Syrian province of Idlib should be opened as soon as possible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Thursday. The region is the last holdout of radical Islamists in war-torn Syria. Ending their grip on the land was discussed at a summit earlier in September by Russia, Turkey and Iran, the guarantor states of Syrian ceasefire. "We are in contact with each other. Our ministers [ministers] of the three guarantor states have met in New York City. .. I think it will be done when everyone is ready, including our Turkish partners... In my opinion, the sooner it is done the better," Bogdanov told reporters, when asked when humanitarian corridors into Idlib would be opened. The Russian and Turkish presidents announced last week the creation of a buffer zone between armed opposition and Syrian government troops in Idlib by mid-October. Radicals are expected to give up heavy weapons by October 10 and leave the area within the next five days. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Sino-Philippine relations are moving along the fast track and gearing up for faster and stronger development under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said on Thursday. MANILA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Sep, 2018 ) :The Sino-Philippine relations are moving along the fast track and gearing up for faster and stronger development under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said on Thursday. Zhao made these remarks here at a reception held to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China which falls on October 1. There have been frequent high-level exchanges between China and the Philippines over the past two years, Zhao said, adding that a series of dialogue and consultation mechanisms have been revived in areas such as foreign affairs, defense, energy, economy and trade, agriculture, fisheries, science and technology. There have been also increasing interactions and exchanges between local governments, media agencies, universities, think tanks and cultural institutions, he added. In the meantime, China and the Philippines have maintained good communication on international affairs, the Chinese ambassador said, adding that the sound ties being enjoyed by China and the Philippines have contributed to regional stability. Philippine presidential spokesperson Harry Roque lauded China for being a model and an example of the developing world to successfully bring prosperity to the people. "I want to express our congratulations to you on the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China," Roque told Xinhua at the reception. Roque added that the Philippines values its friendship with China. "We hope a closer partnership between the Philippines and China," which will bring more benefits to the two peoples, Roque said. (@rukhshanmir) Russia and Azerbaijan regard each other as good neighbors who always keep each other's interests in mind, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. BAKU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Russia and Azerbaijan regard each other as good neighbors who always keep each other's interests in mind, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. "The relationship between our countries is, no doubt, based on the good neighbor principle and mutual respect. We always look for balance of interests - and find it," he said during his trip to the Azeri capital. Speaking at a regional forum in Baku, the Russian president praised strong business ties between the two nations, including in infrastructure construction. Russian business has a stake in nearly 700 companies in Azerbaijan. In agriculture, Russia imported roughly $500 million of Azeri goods last year, up by 12 percent from the year before. The two countries have been cooperating on the North-South transport corridor, a multi-mode network they are building together with Iran to connect European and Asian markets. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) opened a criminal case over the mass granting of Hungarian passports in the city of Berehove located in the western region of Zakarpattia bordering Hungary, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said on Thursday. KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) opened a criminal case over the mass granting of Hungarian passports in the city of Berehove located in the western region of Zakarpattia bordering Hungary, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said on Thursday. Last week, the Ukrinform news agency reported that the Hungarian consulate located in the border city of Berehove granted citizenship to Ukrainian nationals instructing them not to notify the Ukrainian authorities of that. Hungary has issued over 100,000 passports to residents of the Zakarpattia region, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. The Ukrainian legislation bans dual citizenship while Budapest maintains that it has the right to issue passports to Ukrainians of Hungarian origin. "The relevant case was opened. The Ukrainian Security Service is conducting an investigation ... Acquisition of dual citizenship is categorically banned by the Ukrainian constitution. If [facts of] dual citizenship are confirmed, that should be punished," Lutsenko told the Pryamoy broadcaster. The situation around granting Hungarian passports in Zakarpattia resulted in the escalation of tensions between Kiev and Budapest. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin stated that Kiev intended to expel the consul from the country. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto called the move unfriendly and threatened to hamper Kiev's integration with the European Union. In Lakeview, LaVines new house was built by JDL Construction in 2006 and sits on a double lot on a cul-de-sac street. The house has five baths, a family room with a walnut coffered ceiling and a stone fireplace, a kitchen with a Lacanche range, a Traulsen refrigerator and freezer, custom cabinetry and a built-in breakfast area. The master suite has dual vanities and a soaking tub in the master bath, along with a walk-through master closet with an island and solid wood built-ins. Other features include an indoor atrium with a glass ceiling, limestone floors and stone walls, an attached and heated, three-car garage, a heated driveway, an oversized mudroom, and a lower level that has a guest suite, a theater and rec room, a gym and a wine room. Libya is now at an important crossroads, Libyan presidential candidate Aref Ali Nayed said on Thursday, stressing that the United Nations should adopt a clearer position with respect to the ongoing conflict in the North African country. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Libya is now at an important crossroads, Libyan presidential candidate Aref Ali Nayed said on Thursday, stressing that the United Nations should adopt a clearer position with respect to the ongoing conflict in the North African country. "The political process in Libya is at an important crossroads. The United Nations and the UN Security Council should take a clearer position with regard to the conflict in Libya. We are now witnessing an intense conflict in Tripoli," Nayed said at a briefing in Moscow. Libya needs national reconciliation, and Russia could be one of the platforms for intra-Libyan talks, Nayed added. The politician stressed that he had come to Russia to "ask for assistance in promoting the political process in Libya and helping to ensure that none of the political forces took a dominant position in the country." During his visit to Moscow, Nayed met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, leader of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky as well as officials from the upper and lower houses of the Russian parliament. Nayed's statement came after the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) announced on Wednesday the conclusion of a new ceasefire agreement between the rival factions after deadly clashes in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Fighting in Tripoli first erupted on August 26, when the 7th Brigade from Tarhouna, a town 65 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of the Libyan capital, attacked other militias near the city. The sides reached a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement, but clashes broke out again last week. Libya has been torn apart by conflict since its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. The eastern part of the country is governed by the parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army (LNA) and located in Tobruk. The UN-backed GNA, headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country's west and is headquartered in Tripoli. Libya is now at an important crossroads, Libyan presidential candidate Aref Ali Nayed said on Thursday, stressing that the United Nations should adopt a clearer position with respect to the ongoing conflict in the North African country. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) Libya is now at an important crossroads, Libyan presidential candidate Aref Ali Nayed said on Thursday, stressing that the United Nations should adopt a clearer position with respect to the ongoing conflict in the North African country. "The political process in Libya is at an important crossroads. The United Nations and the UN Security Council should take a clearer position with regard to the conflict in Libya. We are now witnessing an intense conflict in Tripoli," Nayed said at a briefing in Moscow. Libya needs national reconciliation, and Russia could be one of the platforms for intra-Libyan talks, Nayed added. The politician stressed that he had come to Russia to "ask for assistance in promoting the political process in Libya and helping to ensure that none of the political forces took a dominant position in the country." "Libya does not need foreign troops as it has already proven that it can defeat terrorism, and our young people are brave enough to fight against terrorists. However, the Libyan soldiers need to be supplied with arms and military uniforms," Nayed noted. Nayed also promised to pursue a balanced foreign policy if elected president in the December election. "If I become president, the foreign policy of Libya will be based upon mutual respect and mutual understanding with all countries and will be balanced not only with respect to our neighbors but also with regional organizations such as the Arab League and the African Union," the politician underlined. During his visit to Moscow, Nayed met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, leader of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky as well as officials from the upper and lower houses of the Russian parliament. Nayed's statement came after the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) announced on Wednesday the conclusion of a new ceasefire agreement between the rival factions after deadly clashes in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Fighting in Tripoli first erupted on August 26, when the 7th Brigade from Tarhouna, a town 65 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of the Libyan capital, attacked other militias near the city. The sides reached a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement, but clashes broke out again last week. Libya has been torn apart by conflict since its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. The eastern part of the country is governed by the parliament, backed by the Libyan National Army (LNA) and located in Tobruk. The UN-backed GNA, headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, operates in the country's west and is headquartered in Tripoli. (@FahadShabbir) WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2018) The United States and Chile have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote cooperation on energy and infrastructure investment, the US Department of the Treasury said in a press release. "The US Department of the Treasury today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Chile to foster cooperation on energy and infrastructure investment," the release said on Thursday. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass said in the release that the framework will expand energy security and facilitate economic growth for both countries. Malpass also said that the framework will help encourage private sector capital for investments in the energy sector. The framework will help the United States and Chile cooperate to further diversify Chile's sources of energy to power its economic growth, increase its access to the electricity grid, and accelerate its adoption of innovative power technologies, the release added. This agreement marks the second energy instrument concluded under the US initiative called America Crece, or the Americas Grow, the release said. The Yemeni cabinet on Thursday announced the end of the mandate in the country of the UN human rights agency's group of experts over its criticism of violence by its allies, media reported. DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2018) The Yemeni cabinet on Thursday announced the end of the mandate in the country of the UN human rights agency's group of experts over its criticism of violence by its allies, media reported. "The mandate of the UN Human Rights Council's group of experts will be discontinued," the cabinet said in a statement, cited by Al Jazeera news channel. Yemen's internationally-recognized government accused the experts of pro-rebel bias and attempts to politicize humanitarian crisis in the country, hit by five years of civil war. The monitoring group published a 41-page report in August, accusing the government's Gulf allies of being behind most civilian casualties. It said the Saudi coalition made little effort to minimize civilian deaths, launching airstrikes at residential areas, weddings, and clinics. Representatives from the government of Yemen will meet with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths in the coming days to discuss the future of Yemeni peace talks between the government and Houthi rebels, Hamzah Alkamaly, Yemen's deputy minister of youth and sport who was a member of the government delegation to collapsed UN consultations in Geneva, told Sputnik on Wednesday. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) Representatives from the government of Yemen will meet with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths in the coming days to discuss the future of Yemeni peace talks between the government and Houthi rebels, Hamzah Alkamaly, Yemen's deputy minister of youth and sport who was a member of the government delegation to collapsed UN consultations in Geneva, told Sputnik on Wednesday. On September 6, UN-mediated peace talks on Yemen were supposed to start in Geneva, but the Houthi delegation failed to arrive, accusing the Saudi-led coalition, which controls Yemeni air space, of blocking them from traveling. Griffiths later announced that new dates for peace talks would be set. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on his official Twitter blog on Tuesday, after a meeting with Griffiths, that the United Arab Emirates would fully support UN proposals for new peace talks on Yemen. "Griffiths will have a meeting with the government of [Yemeni] President [Abd Rabbuh Mansour] Hadi soon; they will have a meeting in the next few days and they will talk about new proposals," Alkamaly said, in reference to new proposals on peace talks. Alkamaly noted that peace talks were unlikely to happen soon, but that the Yemeni government supported any initiative by Griffiths in this regard. "I think that the Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE with the Yemeni government for the peace talks support all proposals by the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, but I don't think that there will be any peace talks soon," Alkamaly said. Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces led by Hadi and the Houthi rebels for several years. The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request since March 2015. Next month, UR Medicine will begin operation of a Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU), a high-tech emergency room on wheels that is designed to provide life-saving care to stroke victims. The $1 million unit will be operated in partnership with AMR as a community resource and represents a significant step forward for stroke care in the Rochester region. While the MSU resembles an ambulance on the outside, inside it contains highly specialized staff, equipment, and medications used to diagnose and treat strokes. The unit is equipped with a portable CT scanner that is capable of imaging the patients brain to detect the type of stroke they are experiencing. The scans and results from a mobile lab on the unit are wirelessly transmitted to UR Medicine stroke specialists at Strong Memorial Hospital, who will consult with the on board EMS staff via telemedicine and decide if they can begin treatment immediately on scene. If it is determined that the patient is experiencing an ischemic stroke which account for approximately 90 percent of all strokes the MSU team can administer the drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to attempt to break up the clot in the patients brain. While en route to the hospital, UR Medicine specialists will continue to remotely monitor and assess the patients symptoms. The UR Medicine Mobile Stroke Unit essentially brings the hospital to the patient, said Tarun Bhalla, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Surgery the UR Medicine Comprehensive Stroke Center. This unit will improve care and outcomes by shortening the gap between diagnosis and treatment and enable us to initiate care before the patient reaches the hospital. It is estimated that 3,000 people in Monroe County suffer from a stroke every year. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and the number one cause of long-term disability in the U.S. However, if caught early, many stroke victims can make a full recovery. Ten years ago we realized there was an epidemic of stroke in our community which resulted in tremendous human suffering and health care costs, said Web Pilcher, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the UR Medicine Department of Neurosurgery. We decided to embark on a long-term plan to provide the best stroke care in upstate New York. The Mobile Stroke Unit represents the next evolution in that effort and places Rochester among an elite list of communities with this cutting-edge technology. The current best treatment for stroke is tPA. But in order to work properly, the drug must be given within four and half hours of the first stroke symptoms. Depending upon the circumstances, doctors may also elect to perform a minimally invasive endovascular surgical procedure that involves threading a catheter through the blood vessels and physically removing the obstruction in the brain. The capabilities provided by the MSU to diagnose, start treatment, and prepare hospital staff to receive the patient before they arrive at the emergency department will save lives and improve chances of recovery. In stroke care, time equals brain, said Curtis Benesch, M.D., M.P.H., Chief of Stroke and Medical Director of the UR Medicine Comprehensive Stroke Center. The approximately 30 minutes that could be saved by the Mobile Stroke Unit by starting treatment before a stroke patient reaches the hospital could mean the difference between the recovery of function or a lifetime of impairment. Patients who receive tPA sooner are more likely to go home and retain the ability to walk and care for themselves, said Bob Holloway, M.D., M.P.H., chair of the UR Medicine Department of Neurology. The Mobile Stroke Unit will improve outcomes for stroke victims in our community and, because people with less disability use fewer health care resources, lower costs in the long term. The unit is owned by UR Medicine and will be operated by AMR. The MSU will be staffed by a UR Medicine nurse trained in stroke care and a CT technologist, an AMR paramedic and emergency medical technician, and remotely by a stroke specialist at UR Medicine. The construction and operating costs of the unit, which was custom built by Frazer Ltd. in Houston, are being funded by UR Medicine and philanthropy, including a lead gift from Elena Prokupets and support from the Del Monte family and other donors in the Rochester community. We are extremely grateful to Elena for her gift to the School of Medicine and Dentistry, which has made it possible to bring this life saving technology to Rochester, said Mark Taubman, M.D., CEO of the University of Rochester Medical Center. Her generosity, along with the support of many others, has provided us the resources to invest in the infrastructure, technology, and clinical talent necessary to provide the most advanced stroke care to our community. The MSU is part of a broader UR Medicine initiative to bring state-of-the-art stroke care to the region. This includes Strong Memorial Hospitals designation as the regions only Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Joint Commission, a certification that indicates that the hospital either meets or exceeds the highest standards of care required to provide timely, advanced, and coordinated care to patients with cerebrovascular disease, and the Neuromedicine Intensive Care Unit, a 12-bed ICU that provides care to critically ill patients with complex neurological life threating illnesses such as stroke. UR Medicine stroke specialists also provide 24/7 consultation services for emergency department personnel in several hospitals in the region via telemedicine. Eight years ago, UR Medicine, in partnership with the Greater Rochester Health Foundation, created the Stroke Treatment Alliance of Rochester/New York (STAR-NY), to educate medical professionals and the broader community about stroke recognition and prevention. The unit will be dispatched by the City of Rochester and Monroe County Emergency Communications Departments. For the first three months, the MSU will operate exclusively in the City of Rochester. After this initial pilot period, the service will expand to the rest of the Monroe and Livingston County EMS region and UR Medicine and AMR are exploring ways to extend the availability of the service to neighboring counties over time. Patients being treated by the MSU will be taken to the nearest hospital with the appropriate level of care to treat their stroke or the hospital requested by the patient. "The Mobile Stroke Unit is an amazing new tool for our 911 operators to use when a call comes in for a possible stroke," said Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren. "The precious seconds saved between diagnosis and treatment will translate into lives being saved and families remaining whole. I would like to than thank the University of Rochester, AMR, our team at 911, and all of the generous donors for their partnership and continued investment in our community." Stroke places a tremendous burden on our health care system and can have a devastating, lifelong impact on patients and their families, said Michael Mendoza, M.D., M.P.H., the Commissioner of Health for Monroe County. Based on the experience of other communities with this technology, we know that the Mobile Stroke Unit will enhance our regions emergency response capabilities and help address a critical public health need by improving outcomes for stroke victims. The UR Medicine MSU is the only unit of its kind in upstate New York. The first MSU was launched in the U.S. in Houston in 2014. Since then, units have been deployed in several other cities, the closest being Cleveland and New York City. For more information, visit: www.mobilestroke.urmc.edu Just take a look at the direction this board has went. Theres been more negative voting on some of the positive things that we wanted to do for the village than there has been positive voting. And I think its directly an attack on me, he said. (The board is) hurting the residents. And the residents constantly come to these board meetings and voice their opinion and its not even considered by this board. A Congolese child at an orphanage in Beni (AFP or licensors) Rebel attacks in north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and a spreading ebola epidemic are creating increasingly dangerous living conditions for civilians. By Linda Bordoni The Bishop of the Diocese of Butembo-Beni in the north east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has issued an appeal to UN Stabilization Forces to review their strategy and protect civilians in the area. Bishop Sikuli Paluku Melchisedechs appeal came after at least 14 civilians and 4 Congolese soldiers were killed last week in the city of Beni during an attack allegedly perpetrated by Ugandan rebels. Hundreds more were injured. Witnesses said Allied Democratic Forces rebels infiltrated the town which is close to the border with Uganda on the night of Saturday 22, September. In a statement sent to Fides news agency, Archbishop Sikuli called on government authorities "to better fulfill their responsibilities to protect the population, defend the territory and safeguard national sovereignty". It is estimated that, since 2014, the group is responsible for the death of over one and a half thousand people and has abducted over 800 others. AFD rebels have been sowing terror in the mostly Christian region where the Missionaries of Africa have been working for years. Beni is also at the center of the current Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo where the World Health Organization has confirmed 120 cases including 70 deaths, and hundreds of orphaned children. The respect-paying ceremony for President Tran Dai Quang at the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia (Source: VNA) The same day, the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia and its Consulates General in Sydney and Perth opened the funeral books and held respect-paying ceremonies for President Quang. All the staff of the embassy in Canberra held a minutes silence to remember President Quang. Ambassador Ngo Huong Nam, is his writing in the funeral book, wrote that he was shocked by the departure of President Quang, adding that all the staff of the embassy would like to offer deepest condolences to the Presidents family. Coming to pay tribute to the Vietnamese President and write in the funeral book, Lynda Worthaisong from Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade expressed her deep grief over the passing of President Quang. She sent her condolences to his family as well as the Vietnamese Party, State and people. Representatives from diplomatic missions, embassies of countries in Australia, and Vietnamese expats living in the country also attended the respect-paying ceremony. The same days morning, representatives from the Consulates General of Turkey, Brazil and Thailand visited and paid tribute to President Quang at the respect-paying ceremony held in the Vietnamese Consulate General in Sydney Qatar Airways is expected to announce large losses because of the longer routes forced on it by the blockade AFP/PASCAL PAVANI "We are aware of the very sad news that a young child passed away at Hyderabad International Airport this morning," the airline said in a statement. "Our heartfelt sympathy and thoughts are with the affected family," it added. A spokesperson for Qatar Airways told AFP that the baby was an 11-month-old boy who had been on the flight with his parents in the early hours of Wednesday. The parents became aware that their child was having breathing problems after the plane had landed as they made their way to the immigration counter, the spokesperson said. He was taken to the city's Apollo hospital. A spokeswoman for Hyderabad airport denied that the baby had died at the airport. "We're waiting for investigations to conclude and for official reports from both Qatar Airways and Apollo hospitals on the baby's death," Sangeetha C R said. The hospital was not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP. Foreign investors remain interested in Vietnam According to statistics published by the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, generally, in the first three quarters of 2018, foreign investors spent a total of $25.37 billion to register new and added capital as well as to contribute capital and purchase shares, which is a 99.6 per cent increase over the corresponding period of 2017. Notably, as of September 20, 2018, the country granted investment certificates to 2,182 new projects, with $14.1 billion of newly registered capital, down 3 per cent on-year, and 841 capital adjustments with $5.5 billion, 82.1 per cent of the figure from last year. Meanwhile, overseas players spent $5.7 billion on acquiring shares in Vietnamese companies with 5,275 deals, shooting up 36.8 per cent on-year. Manufacturing and processing continues to be the most appealing sector by attracting $11.3 billion from January to September, accounting for 44.6 per cent of the total investment inflows. It was followed by real estate trading with $5.8 billion (23 per cent) and retail and wholesale with $2.1 billion (8.3 per cent). Japan remained the leading foreign investor by pouring $7 billion into Vietnam during the period, making up nearly 28 per cent of the total FDI registered in the country. South Korea ranked second with $5.6 billion (22.4 per cent), while Singapore came next with $3.6 billion (14.4 per cent). According to the FIA, foreign investors were present in 59 cities and provinces. The capitol lured in the largest share with $5.8 billion, accounting for 22.9 per cent. The southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau were the runners-up with $4.2 billion (16.6 per cent) and $2.1 billion (8.5 per cent). The Meridian Gate, the main gate to the Hue Imperial City, at night. The trip, organised by the provincial Department of Tourism and the APEX Vietnam Travel Corporation, took them to the Complex of Hue Monuments, the Phan Boi Chau Memorial House, the Thanh Tien paper flower craft village, the Bao La bamboo weaving village, and Laguna Lang Co Resort. The Japanese tour operators also experienced Hues distinctive cuisine and enjoyed an ao dai (Vietnamese traditional gown) fashion show. They had a working session with the provincial Department of Tourism to learn firsthand about investment in the province and how to connect and develop tourism products with local travel agencies in order to provide services to Japanese travellers as the city of Hue has seen an increase in the arrival of Japanese visitors in recent years. Thua Thien-Hue has made multiple efforts to develop and improve tourism products and services to lure more visitors from key markets, including Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, and Canada. The province has ramped up the promotion of its popular destinations at travel fairs, particularly those overseas, to try and seek foreign partnerships. It has partnered with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to launch the exclusive website www.vietnamhuekanko.com, providing Japanese travellers with all they need to know about Hue, such as popular attractions, cuisine, culture, and lodging. The province has also focused on developing transport infrastructure connecting tourist spots and building ports at lagoons to better serve holidaymakers while the main streets and attractions have been lit up at night during the weekends and holidays. Japanese tourists now rank eighth amongst the top foreign visitors to Thua Thien-Hue. Hue city was the imperial capital of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty for over a century from 1802 to 1945. It is home to five UNESCO-recognised aspects of heritage, namely the Complex of Hue Monuments (World Heritage Site); Nha nhac, or Vietnamese court music (Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity); the woodblocks of the Nguyen Dynasty (part of the Memory of the World Programme); the imperial archives of the Nguyen Dynasty (part of the Memory of the World Programme); and the Literature on Hue Royal Architecture (part of Documentary Heritage in the Memory of the World Programme). It is also famous for its elegant royal cuisine, which was served to the kings of Nguyen Dynasty. Some Hue dishes have been listed as the countrys best foods by Vietnams Record Book such as bun bo (beef noodles), com hen (rice with mussels), banh beo (rice cake with grilled shrimp), banh bot loc (dumplings with shrimp), banh khoai (fried rice crepes), che hat sen (sweet lotus seed pudding), and tom chua (pickled shrimp) In the first nine months of 2018, Thua Thien-Hue welcomed nearly 3.5 million visitors, including 1.42 million foreigners. It earned roughly 3.38 trillion VND (144.8 million USD) in revenue from tourism, up 30.5 percent from the same period last year. The province aims to lure between 4 and 4.2 million visitors this year, up 10 12 percent from 2017, with around 40 45 percent being foreigners. KOTRA and REMANn's IT training course This course is one of the CSR activities of KOTRA in collaboration with South Korean firms in Vietnam to promote sustainable development in order to create a sustainable business eco-system between South Korea and emerging countries. Of these, KOTRA concentrates on activities in human resources via training and improving the knowledge and skills of local employees and transferring technology. Agreed with this goal, REMANn, a supplier of used and refurbished digital devices like computers and mobile phones, has co-operated with KOTRA to organise practical CSR activities. The course of improving IT knowledge will be held during five or eight weeks to provide basic knowledge through supporting local training facilities' technology and professional operation. REMANn also donates "refurbished computers" made by the company's engineers to the facilities. Hundreds of IT students participating the course At the event, REMANns representative said: "We are interested in technical development and promoting digitalisation in Vietnam. We hope that this course will help students identify their careers or establish their own business." Used computers contain important information on corporate and clients, and heavy metal like cadmium in the computers could also pollute the environment. Realising the importance of treating these devices, REMANn has proactively resolved all issues related to corporate information, providing database management for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and mitigating the environmental risks from electronic waste. REMANn received a social business certificate from South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labour in 2008. The company is also the official partner of Microsoft in South Korea with the largest personal computer production line. The company has been selling products to local and foreign customers. Since establishing the branch in Vietnam last year, REMANn has carried out several official development assistance (ODA) projects along with Korea International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) to boost digitalisation in Vietnam, as well as deployed the campaign of donating personal computers. Many foreign investors want to invest in SOEs to be equitised, but find hard to pour their money into these enterprises, Photo: Le Toan These days, US-backed investment consultant BowerGroupAsia Inc.s Vietnam office in Hanoi is actively seeking information about the upcoming equitisation of Vietnamese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to serve its clients, which are US investors wishing to purchase stakes in big SOEs. However, the process proves very difficult, because the SOEs the government wants to divest capital from do not reveal any information, the offices managing director Nguyen Viet Ha told VIR. Over the past few months, Indonesian businesses have also sought to buy stakes in big Vietnamese SOEs operating in the sectors of railway, oil and gas, electricity, and agriculture. They have worked with state-run Vietnam Railways on opportunities to provide training, equipment, and consultancy, including buying stakes from this SOE. However, no results have been achieved, even though Vietnam Railways plans to divest its two subsidiaries. Almost no information about the equitisation of these SOEs has been revealed, though we continuously hear that the government wants to divest from them, an Indonesian Embassy representative told VIR. Just over a week ago, the Ministry of Finance reported that in the first eight months of the year, the pace of SOE equitisation was slow. Only 10 SOEs saw their equitisation plans approved, with a total value of VND29.52 trillion ($1.3 billion), including VND15.27 trillion ($675.7 million) worth of state capital. Meanwhile, the total number of SOEs needing to be completely equitised this year is 85. Lack of transparency Recently, the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in Vietnam saw a successful deal, with Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) purchasing 53.59 per cent of equity in Vietnams leading brewer Sabeco for a record $5 billion. This deal reflects the fact that foreign investors are committed to the growing Vietnamese market for the long term, and that the Vietnamese government is making efforts to divest capital in non-core industries, said Ha, who is also a senior expert on corporate equitisation. However, she said, there is a general lack of transparency, making the process hard for investors. According to her, in almost all cases where SOEs are about to begin equitisation, investors cannot access information about these companies not even material on how the companies have been operating is provided to investors, and investors are not allowed to visit the factories either. For example, why did the Sabeco deal involve only ThaiBev? It is largely because no information from Sabeco was made public. Previously, many major investors from the US, Europe, and Japan wanted to buy stakes in Sabeco, but failed due to a lack of information, even though they sent professional experts to Vietnam to learn how Sabeco was operating, Ha said. The poor performance of many SOEs is also responsible for this lack of transparency. In May, the National Assembly (NA) saw heated debate, as never before, a specific report by the National Assembly Supervisory Delegation on Vietnamese SOEs compliance with regulations on managing and using state capital during 2011-2016 was reported to all NA members. According to the report, information transparency at SOEs is almost non-existent. Many SOEs have been found to have seriously violated their obligations on managing and using state capital, as well as investment procedures, leading to great losses of state capital. For example, PetroVietnam lost VND800 billion ($35.4 million) due to its illegal investment in OceanBank. Vinacomin may suffer from a loss of VND363.3 billion ($16 million) due to its ineffective overseas investment. In another case, Vinachem invested VND6.84 trillion ($302.6 million), or 53.8 per cent of the companys financial investment capital, in five companies for the long term, and this investment may be difficult to recoup. Some SOEs also face a high debt-to-equity ratio, including Ca Mau Shipping Industries One-member Co., Ltd. (153.92 times) and Nam Can Port One-member Co., Ltd. (17.69 times). Meanwhile, some have provided their subsidiaries with loans which could not be paid back, including Vinalines (VND457 billion or $20.2 million), Vinataba (VND60 billion or $2.65 million), and Rubber Industry Group (VND102 billion or $4.5 million). State control remains Tran Ngoc An, Vietnams Ambassador to the UK, told VIR that over the past few years, UK investors have come to Vietnam several times to seek investment opportunities. They are particularly interested in buying stakes in Vietnamese SOEs in the sectors of service, finance, insurance, IT, and high-tech consultancy. However, no deal between these UK investors and Vietnamese SOEs has been reported so far. Experts said that besides a lack of SOE transparency, one of the key reasons is that while the government wants to equitise SOEs, it also wants to retain control over a majority stake. According to the report, SOEs only offer a negligible rate of 1-2 per cent of total stake to private investors. This has made it hard to lure in private capital. As of late 2016, there were 583 SOEs in which 100 per cent of charter capital was held by the state. During 2011-2016, 426 enterprises completed their initial public offerings (IPOs). After the IPOs, the total charter capital of these companies was VND184.254 trillion ($8.15 billion), 81.1 per cent of which was still held by the state. Other stake holders include strategic investors (7.3 per cent), employees (1.6 per cent), trade unions (0.6 per cent), and other types of investors (9.4 per cent). To break down the figures of SOEs in which 81.1 per cent of the stake was held by the state, 70 enterprises had the state occupy over 90 per cent of charter capital, including 15 groups and corporations such as Petrolimex (95 per cent), VnSteel (93.6 per cent), Vietnam Airlines (95.5 per cent), Airports Corporation of Vietnam (92.5 per cent), Lilama (98 per cent), and Viglacera (93 per cent). In addition, 82 enterprises had over 65 per cent of their stake held by the state, including Ha Tinh Trade and Mineral Corporation (83 per cent), Binh Dinh Export-Import Service, Investment, Production Corporation and Investment (86.8 per cent), Cienco 8 (78.4 per cent), and Vietnam Livestock Corporation (78 per cent). All of this information means that if the government continues holding the majority of the stakes in SOEs, it would never succeed in SOE equitisation and no private investors want to engage in this equitisation, Ha of BowerGroupAsia told VIR. Currently, about nine deals between large SOEs and foreign strategic investors have been completed. The largest one is the Sabeco deal, followed by the 2013 deal involving Japans Bank of Tokyo-Misubishi UFJ acquiring 20 per cent of VietinBanks stake for $743 million. The remaining deals have had only small stakes sold to foreign investors, such as Carlsbergs 17.08-per-cent stake ($115 million) in Habeco, Mizuhos 15-per-cent stake ($550 million) in Vietcombank, ANAs 8.77-per-cent stake ($109 million) in Vietnam Airlines, HSBCs 18-per-cent stake ($350 million) in Bao Viet Insurance, JX Nippon and Energys 8-per-cent stake ($117 million) in Petrolimex, and Itochus 5-per-cent stake in Vinatex. Tony Foster, managing partner of Freshfields Vietnam, said that foreign investors could pour billions of dollars into purchasing stakes from many SOEs, but they do not know how to do it in Vietnam. It is because everything remains unclear. Why are large SOEs strategic sales still stuck? Foreign investors are facing many difficulties in participating in SOE equitisation. The biggest ones include pricing, the lack of transparency, the small percentage of stakes for sale, and unclear assets/rights, Foster said. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc this week will meet with SOEs at a conference in Hanoi to solve SOE-related issues, including equitisation. Ha hoped the prime minister would find a way out for Vietnams slow pace of SOE equitisation. Many professional investors are eagerly awaiting opportunities for them to join in the equitisation, she stressed. The Ministry of Finance reported that Vietnam currently has over 500 SOEs including seven groups, 57 corporations, and 441 other enterprises managed by ministries and localities. It is expected that by 2020, there will be about 150 SOEs, including lottery and utility firms, and three groups, namely PetroVietnam, EVN, and Viettel. About 571 SOEs were equitised in the 2011-2016 period. The most recent figures were 63 equitisations in 2016 and 69 in 2017. On Wabash Avenue just south of Roosevelt Road in a revitalized part of Chicago sits Gioco. From the outside, the entrance seems unassuming. If you drive by too fast, you just might miss it. Inside, quaintness abounds, with subdued lighting, plenty of exposed historical brick, an inviting bar and a collection of well-arranged photos. An open kitchen with flames leaping from the grill infuses the room with a sense of action and excitement. The prosciutto slicer, placed prominently in the dining room, reminds patrons that this is an Italian restaurant even before a look at the menu confirms it. Sitting across from me at one of the small tables aligned along the wall is Chef Gaetano Ascione, whose accent and love of life are unmistakably Italian. His decades of professional experience are evident in his cooking as well as the confidence with which he directs his staff just moments before opening the doors for another night of service. As the first customers arrived and before things got busy, we had a chance to chat. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation. Advertisement Q: Chef, you have quite a stunning bio. Fill me in a bit more about you and what makes you tick. A: I was not born with spoon in hand, as they say, since my mom was not a good cook. I went to school in Italy, not because it was some burning passion of mine but because it could give me the best job out of school. The first year out of school, outside of Naples, was awful. With time, things got better, and I wound up doing lots of things teaching, owning restaurants, running hotels all in four continents: Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. For me, my philosophy of food, and especially Italian food, is three words: simple, rustic and brutal. What I mean by brutal is that you see what you get. There is no behind-the-scenes hidden stuff. Advertisement Q: After so many experiences around the world, now you are the chef of Gioco. Tell me about that. A: I really love Chicago. People here like to eat. They don't go out to look around to see who else is there. Being the chef at Gioco is amazing. There is just something about this place. Just look around. Look at the bricks. Look at the different rooms. This place used to be a speak-easy, for real. It even had tunnels for bootlegging. The food we do here reflects my philosophy, as I said, and obviously Italian. Q: Where are some of your favorite restaurants around the city? Any Italian favorites? A: Eating out, for me, has two purposes. It is a time to relax with family and time to go outside your restaurant to learn something more about food. I can't go out for Italian food, as I spend the entire night analyzing the food or complaining about it. My wife, Lia, and my three kids tell me that it is not a pleasure to go to an Italian restaurant with me, but rather they have to suffer through it. So, now, I don't eat in Italian restaurants. Real close to here (Gioco) is the Eleven City Diner on South Wabash. It's a great Jewish deli with healthy portions but not humongous ones. The quality is perfect. Great matzo ball soup and a Reuben sandwich that is so tall it touches your chin and nose when you try to bite it. I am also a fan of Lao Sze Chuan (near) South Archer and Cermak in Chinatown. I lived for 18 years in Asia and came to love this kind of food, although I never learned to cook it. If I did learn to cook it, going to the restaurant would no longer be just a joy but work. I like to order a lot of food there and basically make a buffet on my table. It's earthy food that is great for cold weather, not expensive or froufrou like some other Chinese restaurants. Q: Where do you like to take your wife out for something special? A: I take Lia to Japonais. The food is terrific. And the location and ambience is really perfect. It's also not Italian, as I don't want to get kicked out of the place. The specials are always great, and I love the sashimi and sushi. It's at a level of freshness you don't always get in Chicago. And the waitstaff is really great too! Q: What about your favorite fast-food nosh? A: It's a pizza place called Spacca Napoli. I'm Neapolitan, and we invented pizza. Their pizza is really great. I am a purist. I get either the marinara or margherita pizza every time. Advertisement Q: But that is Italian food. A: (Shaking his finger) No, it's pizza. You asked me about fast food. Christopher Koetke is the vice president of the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College. He also hosts the cooking show "Let's Dish" on the Live Well Network. ctc-dining@tribune.com The National Assemblys delegation led by NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan pays tribute to late President Tran Dai Quang. - VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang The State funeral for Tran Dai Quang, Politburo member and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is being held by the Party Central Committee, National Assembly, State President Office, Government and Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee. President Tran Dai Quang is laid in state at the National Funeral Hall, No 5 Tran Thanh Tong, Hanoi. The country is observing a two-day period of national mourning starting from yesterday. The respect-paying ceremony started at 7am yesterday and ended at 7am today (Thursday), followed by a memorial service at 7:30am. The burial ceremony will take place starting at 3:30pm on the same day at Hamlet 13, Quang Thien Commune, Kim Son District, Ninh Binh Province. Since early yesterday, delegations from the Party, State, National Assembly, Government, Vietnam Fatherland Front, the armed forces, and crowds of officials, Party members and people of all strata from the capital city and many other cities and provinces nationwide gathered at the National Funeral Hall to pay tribute to the President, who devoted his entire life to the revolutionary cause of the Party and nation. Family members of President Tran Dai Quang, led by his wife Nguyen Thi Hien, were the first to offer incense and flowers to their beloved. Then, the delegation from the Party Central Committee led by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid homage to the President. Writing in the funeral guest book, the Party leader noted that President Tran Dai Quang has made great contributions to the glorious revolutionary cause of the Vietnamese Party, State and people, especially the peoples police force, as well as to national construction and defence. His passing is a great loss to the Party, State and people of Vietnam, he wrote. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who led the Government delegation, wrote in the funeral guest book that during the more than 40 years of his career, President Tran Dai Quang was always a wholehearted and responsible official who made every effort to overcome difficulties and hardships to excellently fulfill all tasks entrusted to him by the Party, State and people. He made great contributions to the national renewal, construction and defence, he stressed. Meanwhile, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, who led the delegation of the NA, wrote that President Tran Dai Quangs devotion to the building and safeguarding of the country, Party and State and his the orientation of heart toward the people will be forever remembered by his comrades and people nationwide. The respect-paying ceremony continued with the State President Office delegation led by Acting President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh and delegations from the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Ministries of Defence and Public Security. Former Party, State, Government and NA leaders also came to pay respect to President Tran Dai Quang, as did delegations from ministries, central agencies, cities and provinces nationwide. Leading a delegation from Ninh Binh Province, the homeland of President Quang, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Thi Thanh expressed her deep grief at the passing of the exemplary figure of the province. The Party organisation, authorities and people of Ninh Binh have always been proud of President Tran Dai Quang, she wrote in the funeral book. The delegation led by acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh pays tribute to late President Tran Dai Quang. - VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang The Vietnam Government delegation led by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc pays tribute to late President Tran Dai Quang. - VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sang Vietnam Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong (middle) and other party leaders offer condolences to the family of late President Tran Dai Quang. - VNA/VNS Photo Foreign delegations Many delegations from foreign parties, States and Governments as well as ambassadors and charges daffaires, and representatives from international organisations in Vietnam paid tribute to President Quang. Lao Vice President Phankham Viphavanh, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hunsen, Vice President of Cubas Council of State and Council of Ministers Roberto Morales Ojeda, and Deputy Chairwoman of the State Duma of Russia Epifanova Olga Nikolaevna led the delegations to the ceremony. A delegation from Japan was led by Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan Toshihiro Nika. Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko also sent a wreath to the funeral. Prime Minister Lee Nak Yeon led a delegation from the Republic of Korea, while Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean headed a delegation from Singapore. Foreign delegations also included those from China led by Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China Zhao Leji, Malaysia led by Deputy PM Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Thailand led by Deputy PM Chatchai Sarikulya, and Indonesia led by President Joko Widodos special envoy. Joining the line of delegations were delegates from the World Federation of Trade Unions led by General Secretary George Mavrikos, and from Mozambique led by former President Armando Emilio Guebuza. Archbishop Marek Zalewski, Non-residential Pontifical Representative to Vietnam, and Cardinal Nguyen Van Nhon also led delegations of the Vatican and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Vietnam, respectively, to pay homage to President Quang. Leaders from other countries also sent letters of condolences on the passing of President Quang, including Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Polish President Adrzej Duda, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Moldovan President Igor Dodon. The ASEAN Secretariat also had its flag hoisted at half mast from September 25-27 during President Quangs mourning time. Funeral books open Large numbers of overseas Vietnamese, ambassadors and representatives from delegations to the UN, international organisations in New York and local officials came to the missions headquarters to pay respects to the Vietnamese President. The heads of State and Government along with senior officials of many countries, who are in New York for the high-level meeting of the 73rd UN General Assembly, also paid tribute to President Tran Dai Quang. Vietnams permanent mission to the United Nations held a ceremony to pay tribute to President Tran Dai Quang and opened a funeral book from Monday through Tuesday (New York time). Vietnamese embassies in numerous countries worldwide, including Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, Indonesia, Myanmar and Japan yesterday held respect-paying ceremonies and opened condolence books for the late President. Vietnam now has only operating oil refinery - Dung Quat in the central province of Quang Ngai At a recent working session with government agencies, Pham Van Thanh, chairman of Petrolimex, proposed to withdraw from the South Van Phong oil refinery project so that the group can focus on developing other projects. Located in South Van Phong Economic Zone in Khanh Hoa, the refinery is on the list of 127 large-scale projects calling for foreign investment through 2020. When the project was approved by the government in 2008, it had an expected investment value of $4.4-4.8 billion with a capacity of 10 million tonnes a year. It was supposed to start construction in 2011 and become operational by 2013. Petrolimex also called on foreign investors to join under the joint venture model. If no investors pay attention to the Nam Van Phong project, its will end up like the $3.2 billion Vung Ro oil refinery project. After it received the licence, Petrolimex was instructed by the government to conduct an investment plan and a feasibility study for the project. The government also suggested the investor to conduct an environmental impact assessment, implement appropriate technologies, design a careful capital structure, and find appropriate partners who could supply crude oil over the long-term. Near the end of 2011, it was reported that Koreas Daelim Industrial Corporation had negotiated with Petrolimex to invest in the Nam Van Phong project. The two sides also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the investment. In addition, in December 2014, Petrolimex and JX Nippon Oil & Energy (JX NOE) signed a MoU on bilateral strategic cooperation. However, since then no further information has been released about co-operation between Petrolimex and foreign partners. If no investors pay attention to the South Van Phong project, its will end up like the $3.2 billion Vung Ro oil refinery project. Accordingly, the Phu Yen Peoples Committee asked the Phu Yen Economic Zones Management Board and the Phu Yen Department of Planning and Investment to consider revoking Vung Ro Petroleum Co., Ltd. (VRP)s project. The movement started from the investors decision to return the investment certificate to the authorities 10 years after receiving it. VRP received the investment certificate in 2007 for the refinery and petrochemical complex with the initial capital of $1.7 billion. After numerous adjustments to the investment plan, the investment capital increased to $3.2 billion with the annual capacity of eight million tonnes of crude oil, double the initial capacity. In 2014, VRP held the ground-breaking ceremony for the refinery. At the time, the investor promised to take the first phase of the project into operation in 2016. However, during the past ten years, the construction remained immobile. US President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (unseen) in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP) Holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, Trump said it was a "dream" of his to bring about a peaceful solution to a conflict that has eluded several of his predecessors. While Trump said he expected Israel to make concessions in any final settlement of the decades-old conflict, the Palestinians said his administration's policies in the Middle East were destroying hopes of peace. Jared Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law as well as a senior advisor in the White House, has been working on a peace plan for more than a year but there have been few clues to date of what he is expected to propose. "I would say over the next two to three to four months," Trump said, referring to his prospective timetable for presenting a plan. Trump, who met with Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said explicitly for the first time that he backed a two-state solution, saying: "That's what I think works best, that's my feeling." "I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term," added Trump, who was elected to serve four years through January 2021. "Jared, who's so involved, he loves Israel but he's also going to be very fair with the Palestinians," the US president later told a news conference. ISRAEL 'WILL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING' "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians for the Middle East is a very important thing and we're trying very hard to get it," he added. "I think probably two-state is more likely but if they do a single, if they do a double, I'm okay with it if they're both happy. If they're both happy, I'm okay with either. I think the two-state is more likely," he said. Middle East peace efforts effectively stalled when the Palestinians broke off contacts with the Trump administration last year in protest at Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. The US president ordered the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Palestinians also want Jerusalem to be their capital and have long argued that the status of the holy city should only be settled as part of a larger peace agreement. Relations between the Palestinian Authority and the United States plunged even lower in recent weeks after Washington cut off funding, including to a UN agency that helps millions of Palestinian refugees. Trump said, however, that he was in no doubt that the Palestinians would soon return to the negotiating table. "Absolutely, 100 per cent," he said. "Lots of good things are happening," said Trump, before adding: "Israel will have to do something that will be good for the other side." Initial reactions, however, underlined the uphill struggle Trump will face in convincing the Palestinians that he is a neutral broker and then convincing the Israelis to make any concessions on security. 'SECURITY CONTROL' "Their words go against their actions and their action is absolutely clear (and) is destroying the possibility of the two-state solution," Husam Zomlot, head of the recently closed Palestinian mission in Washington, told AFP. He said that Trump's comments alone were not enough to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Israeli media quoted Netanyahu as saying that Israel must retain security control in any peace deal with the Palestinians, west of Jordan to the Mediterranean - which includes the occupied West Bank. "Israel will not relinquish security control west of Jordan. This will not happen so long as I am prime minister and I think the Americans understand that," he reportedly said. Several of Trump's predecessors have played leading roles in trying to bring an end to the conflict, including Jimmy Carter who brokered the 1978 Camp David agreement which saw Egypt and Jordan formally recognise Israel. Bill Clinton oversaw the Oslo peace accords a quarter of a century ago which spelled out the aim of a two-state solution and allowed for the creation of the Palestinian Authority which is meant to rule over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But it left issues such as the exact borders and the status of Jerusalem unresolved. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab nations that formally recognise Israel. Vietnamese agriculture 4.0 harbours great potential, source: shutterstock What potential do you see in Vietnams agricultural sector compared to others in the ASEAN region? We are very excited by the potential of high-value products in Vietnam. Vietnam has many types of fruit such as durian, dragon fruit, and niche cocoas. These crops can provide much higher returns to farmers and Vietnam is well positioned to enhance these opportunities. What opportunities do you see for foreign investors in conducting business and investment in Vietnams agricultural sector? Well, we will build on the production foundations that Vietnam has already created. In particular, we will focus on value addition of existing aquaculture, animal, and crop products. In addition, we will move towards premium products and away from basic agricultural commodities. Industry 4.0 is changing all sectors in all economies in the world, including in Vietnam. What challenges do you see Vietnams agriculture facing due to this development? As labourers increasingly move off farms, technology will be needed to farm more efficiently. Some of these people will move to cities, but there is also a lot of potential in the agri-business sector. I expect to see many new jobs emerge in the broader agricultural supply chains, for example in the provision of contract services (such as ploughing, mechanised harvesting, and agrochemical application), input supply, and especially agricultural processing and value addition. This should be encouraged, both to support farmers and to ensure rural areas remain strong. Additionally, we would expect to see the emergence, in Vietnam, of a cadre of better, younger and more professional farmers, able to utilise the new technologies, and produce for the expanding and more discerning food markets regionally and globally. Grow Asia is a multi-stakeholder partnership platform that enables collaboration and catalyses action in support of national and regional agriculture development priorities within the ASEAN. What has it done and will it do to support Vietnams agricultural sector? Our value in Vietnam is bringing different actors together. From my experience in Grow Asia and across my career, I see that countries which perform especially well in agriculture have a forum where the public, private, and producers sectors can share knowledge, tackle problems, and agree on policy solutions together. For example, the Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture in Vietnam (PSAV) was formed in May 2010. The partnership is comprised of over 60 partners from global and local companies, provincial governments, the national research institute, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Our aim is to see NGOs, farmer organisations, government, and business in Vietnam pulling in the same direction. After all, in many cases, they each want the same outcome. [Editors note: Thida Kheang is a teacher in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Western Australia. He is also an independent research and education consultant, with the majority of his research focusing on education in Cambodia. Kheang worked with UNESCO, particularly on teacher education and technical and vocational education and training. He is a co-author of the book Primary School Leadership in Cambodia.] Q: You just released your book in April 2018, titled Primary School Leadership in Cambodia. What are the key issues that you wrote about? Thida: In my book, I focus on three points. First, I look at the history of education in Cambodia, from the colonial period until 1998. Second, I look at the current education development at the primary school level, especially on the schools leadership. Lastly, it is the most important point. I discuss some key challenges faced by school rectors in Cambodia and how they address those challenges. Q: What motivated you to write this book? Thida: I aim to understand the leadership at the primary school level. I engaged in the policy-making process in Cambodia. Most of the time, the policy-making process is centralized which doesnt engage sub-national levels. This means the perspective of policy implementers at the sub-national levels are not involved in the policy-making process. I think that my study would contribute to give voice to those implementers concerns. Q: What is the current situation of the education system in Cambodia? Thida: The current education system is getting better, but there are many challenges which require greater efforts from the government. First, it is an issue of teachers capacity. Teachers have been trained in pedagogy, yet they don't have opportunities to strengthen their skills. Second, it is about the primary schools rectors. Most primary school reactors have not gone through formal training, especially in leadership and management. Mostly they are selected to do the job. Lastly, it is about the school's material. There is a lack of school material, especially in the rural schools. Q: Are you concerned about the current state of education in Cambodia? Thida: I am concerned about the quality of education in Cambodia. The ministry is struggling to improve the quality of education in Cambodia, but the gaps in the quality of education in Cambodia is increasingly becoming wider. I observe that the performance of students in urban areas is better than rural students. The rate of dropouts in rural areas is greater than in urban areas. For instance, in Oddar Meanchey, students quit their school at the 3rd or 4th grade. They work at hotels, and some follow their parents to work in Thailand or other areas. Q: Has the Cambodian government properly addressed these issues? Thida: I mentioned earlier that the ministry has struggled to address the issues. But, the solutions are not effective because there are still many issues. I interviewed the primary education department of the ministry of education. They told me that the ministry is working to improve the situation, yet they need more time to address the problem. I think to address the issues, the government needs more time, needs to employ participatory approaches, and needs a strong political will. The issues wont be addressed without the engagement of the sub-national levels. Q: You wrote about the political influence on education in Cambodia. Could you please tell me what your argument is? Thida: I want to talk about the influence of politics at the school level. First, the schools rector appointment is done through nepotism. I found out in my research that some rectors get their position because they know others, even though they arent qualified based on the condition of the ministry of education. Second, I want to talk about the financial contribution to political parties. Some teachers are happy with that, and some are not. Third, I want to talk about party meetings. When the rectors join a political party meeting, they play two roles: leading the school and playing a political role in the school. These lead the discrimination in the schools when the rectors and teachers are coming from different political parties. Q: You also wrote about the trauma issue after the civil war. How does this issue affect the education system in Cambodia? Thida: First, when they [rectors] have trauma, they might not manage their schools well. Second, trauma also affects how they think, which eventually affects their work. Q: What do you think about integrating foreign languages into the education curriculum in Cambodia? Thida: What I know is that teachers said they dont have enough capacity to teach English. So, the education program designed by the ministry doesnt work. I visited some urban and rural areas. There is no teacher who can teach English there. Q: What are your recommendations to strengthen the primary education system in Cambodia? Thida: I have three points. First, it is about the policy-making process and policy implementation. The policy-making process in Cambodia is centralized which doesnt engage the sub-national and local levels. The ministry of education has to integrate those [sub-national and local levels] in the policy-making process. If the ministry isn't able to include them in the process of has not included them in the process, the ministry needs to create a conducive environment to make sure that their voice will be represented in policy. Second, the sub-national and local levels are the policy implementers. The ministry needs to ensure that they are informed about the policy or any updated policies. The sub-national and local levels told me that they are not well informed about a policy that is designed by the ministry. Some sub-national and local levels are trained by the ministry, yet the training is too short and unclear. So, it is hard for them to implement the policy and share with their peers. Note: This interview was edited for length and clarity. It's an obvious metaphor for a culture of subjugation too obvious, perhaps, at times and the young Maggie Mulubwa, in the largely wordless role of Shula, conveys a sense of deeply affecting bewilderment and resignation at her fate. For her part, Nyoni works hard to subvert the audience's expectations of where this story is going: When Shula seems to demonstrate surprising gifts, the girl ends up being taken in by Mr. Banda (Henry B.J. Phiri), a government official from something called the Ministry of Tourism and Traditional Beliefs. Banda's wife, as it turns out, is herself a former witch, and has been given or has simply taken on a surprising degree of autonomy. Ny Chakrya, former chief of the investigation unit of local rights group Adhoc, appeared at the Supreme Court Wednesday to demand the court drop all charges against him in an ongoing defamation case. Chakrya, who served as the deputy secretary general of the National Election Committee (NEC), was sued by two judicial officials, Sok Keo Bandith, the deputy prosecutor, and Ky Rithy, the provincial court judge, and charged with defamation. He was recently given a six month suspended sentence and his advocacy of the rights of two villagers involved in a land dispute in Siem Reap province. What I was doing was not about accusing those two judicial officials of committing any criminal offense, meaning that I want the Supreme Court to examine whether the arrest procedure was conducted wrongly or not. If it was wrong, they should intervene to help the victims, Chakrya told reporters outside the Supreme Court. Sam Sokong, Chakryas lawyer, said his clients allegations of improper conduct by the judicial officials were backed up by evidence and therefore could not be considered defamatory. What my client was saying about the illegal arrest was the truth because there is evidence to prove it, he told the court. A ruling in the case is due on Sunday. Am Sam Ath, head of investigations at rights group Lichado, said no offense was evident in a recording of the press conference where Chakrya allegedly made the defamatory comments about the two officials. I only hope that the Supreme Court will decide to drop the charges, he said. Licadho also issued a statement, saying that the civil parties and their lawyers were not present at the Supreme Court trial, denying the defendant the right to confront his accusers directly, as was the case at the Municipal Court. Ny Chakryas right to prepare and conduct his defense for the initial court hearing and at the Appeals Court was also undermined as he was held in pretrial detention at the time on charges of acting as an accomplice to bribery in a separate politically motivated case, added the statement. On Wednesday, Chakrya was sentenced in a separate case, along with four other human rights defenders, with corruption over his alleged involvement in the bribery of a witness in a case against Cambodias former opposition leader, Kem Sokha. VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren testified Wednesday before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on her experience reporting on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. "These people are forgotten. They're stateless, they're homeless, they're nameless," Van Susteren said of the Rohingya refugees who have sought shelter in neighboring Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar. "In Myanmar, the government has rejected the use of the term 'Rohingya.' The Rohingya are non-people to them. They have been dehumanized." A Rohingya militant attack on Myanmar police in August 2017 sparked a series of reprisals by government security forces, creating a mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state and into Bangladesh, mainly Cox's Bazar. More than half of the refugees have been children. Myanmar's military-dominated government denies oppressing the Rohingya. Van Susteren said she had made four trips to Myanmar and the surrounding region, and that her first trip to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh occurred last December, in her own capacity. WATCH: US Congressional Panel Considers Ways to Respond to Rohingya Crisis 'Horrific' persecution At the hearing, representatives expressed their anger and horror at the crimes Myanmar authorities are accused of committing. "Last year, this persecution reached a new low, horrific levels, as the Burmese military drove 700,000 Rohingya from their homes, burning villages, killing scores, doing so-called 'terrorist clearance operations' that's what the military there calls it as they drive people to their death," said Rep. Ed Royce, a California Republican. 'Extreme brutality' The U.S. State Department released a report Monday accusing Myanmar's military of targeting Rohingya civilians indiscriminately and often with "extreme brutality'' in a campaign to drive the mainly Muslim minority out of the majority Buddhist country. Extensive media reporting has documented atrocities such as the burning of villages, rape, torture and killings dating to last year. The Rohingya are considered to be economic migrants from Bangladesh and are denied citizenship, even though most can show that their families have been in Myanmar for generations. They are discriminated against and are not allowed to move freely. They lack access to education and health care. Earlier this month, a U.N. fact-finding commission called for members of Myanmar's top military command to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya. In a report, the mission said a yearlong investigation uncovered credible evidence that the Myanmar military has committed the most serious crimes under international law. The State Department report stopped short of using the term "genocide." Findings dismissed Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Kyaw Moe Tun, scorned the investigators. He said their findings were one-sided, lacked impartiality and were detrimental to his government's efforts to find long-term solutions to the situation in Rakhine state. Separately, Burmese army chief Min Aung Hlaing has lashed out at the U.N. and all outside criticism of Myanmar, saying no one has "the right to interfere in and make decisions over sovereignty of a country." Van Susteren expressed her gratitude for the committee meeting to discuss the Rohingya situation. "Even hearing that the United States has a congressional hearing gives them a bit of hope, even halfway around the world," she said. In this episode of "Shaka: Extra Time" Jackson M'vunganyi, host of VOA's Upfront fills in for Shaka and together with Paul Ndiho discuss the United Nations General Assembly and African leaders. They also talk about corruption in Liberia, visas and inequality in South Africa, land reform and a lot more. Thursday promises to be a day of high political drama in Washington. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee along with Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault. At least four other women have also come forward with complaints about Kavanaugh, and he has denied all the allegations. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has a preview of Thursdays hearing from Washington. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. South Sudan government officials summon the U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan; the South Sudan Army commits to the implementation of a permanent ceasefire stipulated in the newly signed peace agreement; and in Bor, the municipal council issues a ban on the sale of locally brewed alcohol. Accuser No. 1 Christine Blasey Ford, a college professor in California, accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of forcing her onto a bed, groping her and trying to remove her clothes at a house party when they were high school students in 1982. Kavanaugh's response In written testimony released Wednesday, Kavanaugh said, "I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by Dr. Ford. I never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind with Dr. Ford. I am not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time. But I have never done that to her or to anyone. I am innocent of this charge." Trump's response On Twitter, President Donald Trump posted: "I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!" Accuser No. 2 Deborah Ramirez alleged in a report published Sunday by The New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party and shoved his penis in her face, forcing her to touch it while pushing him away. Ramirez alleged the assault occurred during the 1983-84 school year at Yale University, where they both were students. Kavanaugh's response Kavanaugh said in a statement, "This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building against these last-minute allegations." Trump's response After a speech Tuesday at the United Nations, Trump described the accusation as a "con game" engineered by Democrats to derail his Supreme Court choice. Trump also rejected Ramirez's allegation because "she was totally inebriated and all messed up." Accuser No. 3 Julie Swetnick of Washington alleged in sworn testimony Wednesday that Kavanaugh was present at an early 1980s house party at which she was a gang rape victim. In the testimony submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee by attorney Michael Avenatti, Swetnick said she "became aware" of efforts by Kavanaugh and others to taint punch at house parties with "drugs and/or grain alcohol" in order to "cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say 'no.' " Kavanaugh's response Kavanaugh strongly denied the allegations, calling them "ridiculous and from The Twilight Zone." Trump's response In a tweet Wednesday, Trump referred to Swetnick attorney Avenatti as "a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations." Istanbul is seeing an explosion of creative graffiti, with women artists largely behind the blast of color that is sweeping Turkeys main city in the face of what critics say have been mounting restrictions on expression. More and more, the new generation are very into painting on the streets, but for me it is still very much at the beginning, said Gamze Yalcin, who has been putting her art on the citys public places. As we are having more and more limits for our street life from what we used to have, she said, people want to see colors, they want to see art. Whatever you do on the street is a gift for everyone. Yalcin speaks to VOA as she applies the finishing touches to her latest work, on the wall of a derelict building in Istanbuls trendy Tophane district. The latest work spanning 10 meters is a myriad of images and symbols in pastel colors with an abstract depiction of a woman at the center, encompassing a range of themes found throughout Yalcins work. We have very limited parks, so green areas is always a subject I like to include with symbols of plants and greens, she said explaining her work, a myriad of surreal colors. For Yalcin, featuring women as a central theme represents female empowerment, she says, and a symbol, for all the women, that they could do whatever they want. They can do their dreams, they can make it true. Painting Istanbuls walls for the past six years, Yalcin - a classically trained artist - is a veteran of Istanbuls fledgling graffiti world. She is also one of a growing number of women graffiti artists, a trend she is busy building on. I organize workshops, [which] women, girls are very much into, and they always come and attend to learn, she said. I feel very lucky that as a female artist painting on the street wherever I go, that brings so much power and so much inspiration, she adds. "Whatever you do on the street is a gift for everyone, so they [people] are really taking as a gift, and they feel connected. While graffiti in many parts of the world is generally seen as vandalism and a nuisance, here, for this genre of it, there is appreciation. People regularly stop, to offer Yalcin encouragement as she paints, while others take photos of her work. These are not ordinary doodling, but something that makes the places more beautiful, said Ulas a local restaurant manager, coloring the walls and shop fronts is beautiful rather than having shutters down or derelict walls bare. This is much more colorful. When you wake up in the morning streets, look much different. I think this is super. Despite a heavy police presence in central Istanbul as part of an ongoing crackdown on political dissent, the graffiti wave sweeping parts of the city has met little resistance from authorities. I didnt have trouble yet, and I hope it goes like this, Yalcin said. Sometimes they [police] see me, they say actually it is forbidden, but that is fine. And they say thank you, thank you for creating art for our places, she adds, laughing. Observers say such police tolerance can in part be explained by the fact that most graffiti artists stay away from overt political themes. Although the recent jailing of Ezel, a Turkish rap star, on charges of encouraging drug use, saw some graffiti artists pushing back with images of support. On the Asian side of Istanbul, the Kadikoy municipality invites local and international graffiti artists to decorate neighborhood. Walking around Kadikoy, a traditional center of opposition to the government, one is regularly struck by huge murals adorning the sides of the buildings. The images range from psychedelic colored tigers or huge robots to abstract pictures of utopian worlds. Graffiti art is becoming an integral part of the citys popular culture. At an art and cartoon festival in Istanbul this month, the graffiti section made up of women artists is among the most popular. Graffiti artist Fulya Fu creates a surreal image of a woman whose hair is decorated with eyes; many watching Fu are young teenagers. [A] majority [of graffiti artists] are youngsters who started at a very early age, around 12-13, said Fu, and they start from the street, inside the street culture, perhaps going out at night. They start from scratch and pursue graffiti. Also, there are also lots of people coming from the art scene, fine arts. Many artists try this once in a while, she said. Fu is among a growing number of artists making a living from graffiti. Decorating cafes and doing corporate work for companies seeking to catch the halo effect of the coolness of street art, is becoming increasingly lucrative. None of the artists interviewed was willing to say how much each of their works fetches. Despite the commercialization of graffiti it still retains a cutting edge as one of few remaining outlets for public expression. The art is constantly evolving with what we are experiencing, said Fu. Since the space of freedom we experienced 10 years ago has become more restricted, she continued, and graffiti is already seen as an illegal, so what people express, tell, even scream with their work will likely be a reaction and reflection of these changes. In the past, we perhaps saw more simple writings ideas, but now it's evolving. People are trying to form new sentences, new ideas, to express more, she said. Even the toughest critics of Angolas government say that in just more than a year, President Joao Lourenco has accomplished more to stop corruption than any previous Angolan administration. Lourenco took power last September after the retirement of longtime president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, whose cronies and family members are alleged to have controlled every important company and source of wealth in the country. But in the year since the transition, Lourenco has swept away an impressive number of allegedly corrupt top officials who, under dos Santos, were considered untouchable. Most notably, the ex-presidents son Filomeno, who ran the nations sovereign wealth fund, was arrested this week on allegations of money-laundering, embezzlement, and fraud. Journalist and human rights activist Rafael Marques, who was arrested and put on trial for his corruption exposes during the dos Santos era, says the new president deserves praise. I would give Lourenco an eight out of 10, simply because he inherited a country where corruption was so ingrained, so institutionalized, that it became the institution itself, he told VOA. The government itself was corruption. I think hes done that with - and deserves great credit for - what hes done in terms of also letting the judiciary have the power to indict and arrest some of these most notorious, corrupt officials. And the purge has been rewarded, says Alex Vines, who heads the Africa Program for research group Chatham House. The nations biggest investors, international oil and gas companies, have decided not to pull out of the resource-rich nation. But, he says, more needs to be done to rebuild the country. This is a transition process still, it will progress in fits and starts, but I think we are beginning to see that these reform efforts arent just about the consolidation of power from dos Santos to Lourenco, but is beginning to become a bit more equitable, he said. Lourenco, he notes, is a shrewd politician, having risen to prominence within the ruling Peoples Movement for the Liberation of Angola in 1984. He now has to gird his party for its next challenge, Vines says. Mr. Lourenco, I think, has bought himself a couple of years of credit with the reforms that are going on, he said. The honeymoon period is over. But he will be severely tested, I think, in 2020, with the local elections, the first eve in Angolas history, and the MPLA is worried that in certain districts in Angola, it might do poorly. And so, these reforms are really all about the MPLA and about renewal. And that is really what this is all about, I think. But Marques says for the party to pull ahead, it needs to improve the economy and ensure millions of unemployed Angolans can find jobs. He continues to have a very, an extremely, incompetent economic team, Marques said. And these measures will not yield great results in terms of changes in the public life if his government is not competent enough to turn around the economic situation, create jobs for the economy and economic growth. Petroleo Brasileiro SA will pay an $853.2 million fine to settle charges that former executives and directors of the state-run Brazilian oil company broke U.S. anti-corruption laws by bribing politicians and then seeking to conceal the payments, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday. Shares in Petrobras, as the company is known, were up 6.3 percent in afternoon trading, helped by the latest milestone in turning the page on the "Car Wash" investigation, which ensnared senior executives and high-ranking politicians in Latin America's largest economy. The state oil company was the initial epicenter of that probe, which found evidence that political appointees on its board and elsewhere handed overpriced contracts to engineering firms in return for illicit party funding and bribes. "Executives at the highest levels of Petrobras including members of its executive board and board of directors facilitated the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Brazilian politicians and political parties and then cooked the books to conceal the bribe payments from investors and regulators," U.S. Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement. Because Petrobras securities trade on U.S. markets, regulators and prosecutors in the United States joined the investigation, alleging that related accounting fraud at Petrobras violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that Petrobras had inflated its assets by about $2.5 billion. "Petrobras fraudulently raised billions of dollars from U.S. investors while its senior executives operated a massive, undisclosed bribery and corruption scheme," said Steven Peikin, co-director of the SEC Enforcement Division. "If an international company sells securities in the United States, it must provide truthful information about its business." Petrobras said in a statement that it had acknowledged responsibility for "violations of books and records and internal controls provisions." The executives at fault have already left Petrobras, the company said, noting that the company did not admit wrongdoing to the bribery allegation. Under the agreement, which settles the FCPA case, Petrobras will deposit $682.6 million, or 80 percent of the penalties, in a special fund in Brazil, with the rest of the fine being split between the DOJ and the SEC. Brazilian federal prosecutors will determine how Petrobras should allocate the funds in Brazil between social and educational programs in a future agreement. Petrobras said in a statement that the deal "puts an end to the uncertainties, risks, burdens and costs of potential prosecution and protracted litigation in the United States." The oil company will book a charge of 3.6 billion reais in the third quarter the local currency equivalent of the penalty in the latest in a series of Car Wash-related payouts, which also included a $2.95 billion payment to settle a U.S. class action corruption lawsuit earlier this year. One chapter ends Although Petrobras had not already provisioned for the U.S. settlement, XP Investimentos analyst Gabriel Francisco said the penalties will not seriously hurt the company. "The fines will not hinder Petrobras' plans of reaching a net debt of $69 billion by year end, as it has a comfortable cash position," said the analyst. "The deal means the end of a chapter." Despite the settlements with U.S. authorities and shareholders, Petrobras still faces other demands for compensation related to the corruption scandal. Earlier this month, a Dutch court ruled that Petrobras shareholders will have their complaints heard. Argentine investors also initiated this month an arbitration proceeding against the firm for losses related to the corruption probe. Rafael Mendes Gomes, executive director of governance at Petrobras, said in an interview that admissions made by the oil giant as part of the settlement would not necessarily be used against it in the outstanding class action suits. Canada on Thursday shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism that talks to modernize NAFTA were moving too slowly and made clear it had to keep negotiating as long as there was a chance of success. The prospects for a quick deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement appeared to dim on Wednesday after Trump blasted Canada's stance and threatened to impose tariffs on cars imported from Canada. "The Americans are finding that the negotiations are tough because Canadians are tough negotiators, as we should be," Canadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau told reporters on the way into a regular weekly cabinet meeting in Ottawa. "But a good fair deal is still very possible. We won't sign a bad deal for Canadians," he added, saying his office had not requested a private meeting with Trump. He declined to answer when asked whether Trump had lied. The United States has imposed a Sept. 30 deadline for Canada to agree to the text of a new NAFTA. The 1994 deal underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Canada, which sends 75 percent of its goods exports to the United States, is vulnerable. The Canadian dollar weakened to its lowest in more than two weeks against the U.S. greenback early on Thursday before recovering slightly. But insiders who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation say there is no alternative for Canada but to keep trying to settle the differences between the two nations and ignore mounting pressure from the U.S. administration. "Plan A, B, C and D is NAFTA. If the government listened to everything the Trump team said about the negotiations we'd never get anything done," said one source with direct knowledge of Ottawa's stance. Washington has already wrapped up a deal with Mexico, the third NAFTA member, and is due to publish the text on Friday. Although U.S. lawmakers said they expected that text to completely exclude Canada, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has made clear Ottawa could sign on later. Canadian officials say there is no enormous rush to get an agreement since any move to recast NAFTA as a bilateral deal would have to be approved by the U.S. Congress. Some U.S. legislators echoing comments by business leaders say the agreement must stay a three-nation affair. Rep Brian Higgins, a Democrat whose district borders Canada in upstate New York, attended a briefing by Lighthizer and afterwards attacked the plan to proceed with Mexico. "(Lighthizer) indicated there was no deal with Canada, but the hope is that Canada will come in later on, which I think is totally unacceptable. This is an abject failure," Higgins told reporters. One Canadian government source said there was a significant chance that Congress would balk at any move to turn NAFTA into a bilateral pact. "Think of the disruption that changing NAFTA would cause. Is Congress really going to back that?" said a second Canadian government source, citing a study showing many hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs could be at stake. Yet people close to Trudeau acknowledge that it is quite possible Trump might slap tariffs on Canadian autos, which would have major consequences. That said, insiders have consistently played down the idea that U.S. pressure could be politically damaging for Trudeau's ruling Liberals, in the short term at least, predicting opposition politicians would be forced to back the government at a time of crisis. Trump also appeared to attack Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Wednesday, saying the U.S. team did not like Canada's representative at the talks. Canadian government ministers lined up to praise Freeland before the cabinet meeting on Thursday. "Minister Freeland is doing an outstanding job at a very difficult task on behalf of all Canadians," said Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott. Allen is one of the names on a rather short list of notable showbiz conservatives, and "Last Man Standing" - about a man named Mike Baxter (Allen), who works in the corporate offices of an outdoor-sports retail chain and lives in a home of females (his wife and daughters) - seemed to me an unimaginative and needlessly regressive exercise in the flattest form of sitcom-making. And yes, I'm the same guy who gave a good review to Thursday's return of "Murphy Brown." There no conspiracy here - "Murphy Brown" is just better written, more inventive and infused with purpose. China has rejected accusations from President Donald Trump that Beijing is meddling in the upcoming U.S. elections, with some Chinese media calling the suggestion crazy talk and others noting the remarks were just campaign strategy. Trump made the rare and very public accusations Wednesday during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. After which, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave a swift rebuttal, denying that China interferes in the internal affairs of any country. During a regular briefing in Beijing with reporters on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang echoed those remarks. He also said the international community knows which country interferes the most in other countries affairs. "We advise the United States to stop this unceasing criticism and slander of China," Geng said. "Stop these wrong words and deeds that damage bilateral relations and the basic interests of both countries' peoples. In his remarks, Trump said China is targeting his supporters because "they do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade. A loud rebuttal in the communist party backed Global Times on Thursday argued that the White House and Trump has only itself to blame, calling the accusations a creative campaign strategy. Using China In an article entitled Trumps blame China midterm strategy wont secure GOP victory, the Global Times said: The White House needs to be up front with its own party and explain that the more intense the trade war becomes, the more Republicans will find themselves the targets of Chinas retaliation. The editorial went on to say that his position on trade with China is something that could hurt the presidents party in the upcoming mid-term elections and his aspirations for re-election in 2020. On Twitter, which is blocked in China, the newspapers editor, Hu Xijin, wrote: @realDonaldTrump, you are using China issue to assist your campaign. Previous presidents all wanted China to buy more from states that supported them to help them reelected. Did that constitute China interfering in US elections? During a briefing to White House reporters Wednesday afternoon, a senior administration official said Beijing has been using "political, economic, commercial, military and informational tools to benefit the interest of the Chinese Communist Party" in ways that go beyond how countries normally engage with each other. On Wednesday, Trump also said in a posting online: "China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news." In China, some headlines in official media contrasted what they called Trumps crazy talk and accusations with the indifference of Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Commentaries for that story, however, did not all follow in lockstep. Some noted their surprise and disagreement with a decision by the China Daily to place advertisements in newspapers in the Des Moines Register and other papers. China placing ads in American newspapers, can the U.S. do the same in China? one user asked. Trade standoff The United States launched a second wave of tariffs on Chinese imports Monday, putting a levy on some $200 billion in products from China. In response, Beijing targeted $60 billion products of its own. The likelihood of the two holding talks to negotiate their way out of the current trade standoff seems increasingly unlikely. Earlier this week, China said it was impossible to hold talks with the United States while Washington is imposing tariffs that are like holding a knife to someones throat. Beijing has rarely discussed its contribution to the current stalemate, placing most of the blame on Washington. Its offers to remedy the trade frictions so far have focused largely on the purchase of American goods and less on policy issues such as government subsidies and forced technology transfers in joint ventures. China denies it is forcing companies to hand over technology in exchange for access. On Wednesday, China announced that it would be lowering tariffs on another 1,500 goods from 9 percent to around 7.8 percent. President Trump has already warned that an additional $267 billion in tariffs could follow if China retaliates against farmers or other industries. It was not immediately clear whether Trumps accusations at the U.N. meant that further tariffs which would effectively cover all goods imported from China - would soon follow. What is clear, some analysts note, is that both sides are increasingly unlikely to budge. "The US has had a maximum pressure policy on North Korea, Iran and now it is doing the same with China," said Hu Xingdou, a Beijing-based economist. "China will and is pushing forward reforms but on its own terms and at its own pace and that will never be enough (for the United States)." Tuberculosis is a vicious epidemic that is drastically underfunded. That was the takeaway message from the first high-level meeting focused on the infectious disease at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Amina Mohammad, U.N. deputy secretary-general, said the disease is fueled by poverty, inequality, migration and conflict, and that an additional $13 billion per year is needed to get the disease under control. Last year, tuberculosis killed more people than any other communicable disease -- more than 1.3 million men, women and children. The World Health Organization estimates that the 10 million people who become newly infected each year live mostly in poor countries with limited access to health care. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, told the assembly that partnership is vital to end the disease. He said the WHO is committed to working with every country, partner and community to get the job done. The WHO plans to lead U.N. efforts to support governments and other partners in order to drive a faster response to TB. Most people can be cured with a six-month treatment program. But as world leaders told the assembly, medication is expensive, and the stigma associated with TB interferes with getting people screened and treated. Nandita Venkatesan, a young woman from India, told the assembly about the toll the disease has taken on her life. She got TB more than once, including a drug-resistant variety. She said it robbed her of eight years of her life while she was being treated. One of the medications she took to help cure TB robbed her of her hearing. Venkatesan said getting cured involved hospital stays, six surgeries and negative reactions to at least one drug used to cure her. Just days before the high-level meeting, the WHO released its annual TB report. It found cases in all countries and among all age groups. It also found that two-thirds of the cases were in eight countries -- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa and Nigeria. The meeting ended with the adoption of a declaration intended to strengthen action and investments for ending TB and saving millions of lives. Dutch police said Thursday that they had arrested seven men suspected of plotting a "major terror attack in the Netherlands." National prosecutors said they believed the alleged plot has been foiled. The national prosecutor's office said in a statement that the suspects were arrested in the towns of Arnhem and Weert. The statement said the arrests were the result of a months-long investigation based on intelligence suggesting a 34-year-old man of Iraqi descent was planning an attack on a large event that could cause major casualties. The suspects allegedly had planned to use bomb vests and assault rifles to attack one site, and a car bomb to attack another. Authorities say they are still investigating potential targets. The National Gallery of Indonesia is usually associated with such artists as Raden Saleh, Affandi and other icons of the nations artistic history. This month it plays host to the works of asylum seekers and refugees in an exhibition entitled Berdiam/Bertandang, which means Stay/Visit. With about 13,800 people identified as persons of concern by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) residing in Indonesia, the exhibit aims to raise awareness of their plight while they wait in an uncertain and increasingly prolonged transit. The exhibition is partly the culmination of a program called Art for Refuge, established by 16-year-old Indonesian high school student Katrina Wardhana, to teach art to children and young people at the Jakarta-based Roshan Learning Center for refugees. I felt art was like a really powerful tool where refugees in Indonesia can share their stories, she told VOA. Many from Afghanistan About half of the refugees in Indonesia are from Afghanistan. Mumtaz Khan Chopan, a professional artist who arrived in Indonesia in 2013 and whose paintings were part of Berdiam/Bertandang, said being an artist in Afghanistan holds extreme risks. There are few art institutions, he said, restricting opportunities to go and practice and talk to likeminded people, artists. Most of the people in Afghanistan believe that art is not a valuable thing, he added. Not only valuable, its not even allowed but this does not mean that Afghanistan doesnt have art. Binam, a 17-year-old from Afghanistan whose name has been changed to protect his identity, came to Indonesia three years ago as an unaccompanied minor and lives in a shelter provided by the UNHCR. He learned photography as part of Art for Refuge and his work appeared in Berdiam/Bertandang. Its my first work, exhibition and its a big exhibition, he said. I feel proud. Stuck in Indonesia Indonesia has historically been a transit country for refugees seeking asylum in third countries, particularly Australia. While Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it also does not deport asylum seekers and refugees back to potential danger. Jakartas historical approach to refugees has been described by anthropologist Antje Missbach as a form of benign neglect. President Joko Jokowi Widodo in January 2017 signed a presidential decree that for the first time acknowledged the presence of a refugee community in Indonesia as distinct from illegal immigrants and gave directives to various government institutions regarding their respective responsibilities in managing humanitarian aid. They continue to be denied the right to work, however, and opportunities for formal education are limited. Moreover, resettlement in third countries such as Australia, the United States and Canada are increasingly unavailable to refugees residing in Indonesia. As of late 2017, the UNHCR reportedly began telling the refugee community there that resettlement elsewhere was highly unlikely for at least 10 to 15 years, if ever. We have to live in shelter[s] because in here we cant work, Binam said. And now there is no resettlement for the refugee from other countries. According to UNHCR data, 269 out of almost 4,000 refugee children in Indonesia are enrolled in accredited national schools. The work of the Roshan Learning Center and other community-led education initiatives are therefore vital. Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokesperson for UNHCR Jakarta, told VOA that by doing such activities, its good because it keeps their hopes alive. Whats more important is that friendship between Indonesians and the refugees are getting tighter with initiatives like this. Building relationships The main goal of Art for Refuge is boosting understanding about refugees in the broader community, said Wardhana, its founder. Having just found out about refugees only quite recently after my involvement at Roshan, I realized how unaware and un-talked-about the issue is here in Indonesia, she said. Chris Bunjuman, a photographer who taught teenagers through the program, encouraged his students to attend a public festival in Jakarta and take photos of 40 people with mustaches as an assignment. Most of the time they always stay in the same community they dont really interact with people around them because of the language barrier, he said. Those assignments really pushed them, with their thinking eventually they got out of their comfort zone. Alia Swastika, the curator of Berdiam/Bertandang, said that the problem in Indonesia is that when we discuss about refugees they always think, Oh, we have many other different problems that need to be solved and these are more related to Indonesian people themselves. People in Indonesia they are educated, of course they are very nice, but there is one thing they dont know much about refugee[s] what they are doing here, said Chopan, the Afghan artist, who says he has found empowerment through the creative scene in Indonesia. If I introduce myself to a person that I am a refugee, I get different reaction to if I say I am an artist. The first woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades ago provided detailed and emotional testimony Thursday before a Senate panel, saying she is 100 percent certain of her attackers identity and that she feared Kavanaugh was "going to accidentally kill" her during the alleged ordeal. WATCH: Christine Blasey Ford Congressional Testimony The alleged attack Christine Blasey Ford recalled a 1982 house party that she attended along with Kavanaugh, his friend Mark Judge and others. She alleged that Kavanaugh and Judge locked her in a bedroom and that Kavanaugh forced himself on top of her. "He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. I yelled, hoping that someone downstairs might hear me and I tried to get away from him but his weight was heavy," she told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford said Kavanaugh tried to unclothe her but "had a hard time because he was very inebriated" and because she was wearing a bathing suit under her clothes. "I tried to yell for help," Ford testified. "When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what has terrified me the most," she said. She alleged Kavanaugh and Judge were "drunkenly laughing during the attack," which she maintained "has drastically altered" her life. Kavanaugh has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and was expected to testify after Ford. A prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, is asking questions at the hearing on behalf of Senate Republicans, asking Ford about timelines and peripheral issues but not challenging her basic account of sexual assault. Opening remarks Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley opened the hearing by defending the Supreme Court nominee and blaming Democrats for not disclosing the accusations earlier. "As part of Judge Kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court, the FBI conducted its sixth full field background investigation if Judge Kavanaugh since 1993 25 years ago. Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports ... was there a whiff of any issue, any issue at all related to anyway inappropriate sexual behavior." Grassley also blamed the committee's ranking Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, for not revealing accusations she received from Christine Blasey Ford in July. Feinstein defended her handling of what was originally an anonymous allegation by Ford, and said the FBI should have investigated the matter. Kavanaugh denies accusation In an advanced text of his opening statement, Kavanaugh vehemently denied Fords account as well as accusations by others, characterizing them as last-minute smears. He said such character assassinations if allowed to succeed will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving the nation, and added that he would not be intimidated into withdrawing from the judicial selection process. President Donald Trump selected Judge Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on the Supreme Court and sometimes sided with liberal justices on key cases. Kavanaughs confirmation could solidify a conservative majority on the court for a generation. On Wednesday, President Trump accused Democrats of drumming up sexual-misconduct charges against Kavanaugh. They are actually con artists because they know how quality this man is and they have destroyed a mans reputation and they want to destroy it even more, and I think people are going to see that in the midterms, what they have done to this family, what they have done to these children, these beautiful children of his and what they have done to his wife. They know it is a big fat con job, Trump said. Other accusers Other women have come forward in the past few days with detailed complaints about Kavanaugh. He has denied all the allegations. Trump said he would watch Thursdays potentially explosive Senate hearing and that he could still change his mind about his nominee once he hears what Ford has to say. The first woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades ago provided detailed and emotional testimony Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying she thought Kavanaugh was "going to accidently kill me" during the alleged ordeal. Accuser Christine Blasey Ford recalled a 1982 house party that she attended along with Kavanaugh, his friend Mark Judge and others. She alleged that Kavanaugh and Judge locked her in a bedroom and that Kavanaugh forced himself on top of her. "He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. I yelled, hoping that someone downstairs might hear me and I tried to get away from him but his weight was heavy," she said. WATCH: Christine Blasey Ford Testimony LIVE The alleged assault Ford said Kavanaugh tried to unclothe her but "had a hard time because he was very inebriated" and because she was wearing a bathing suit under her clothes. "I tried to yell for help," Ford testified. "When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what has terrified me the most," she said. She alleged Kavanaugh and Judge were "drunkenly laughing during the attack," which she maintained "has drastically altered" her life. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. Opening statements Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley opened the high stakes hearing by defending the Supreme Court nominee and blaming Democrats for not disclosing the accusations earlier. "As part of Judge Kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court, the FBI conducted its sixth full field background investigation if Judge Kavanaugh since 1993 25 years ago. Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports ... was there a whiff of any issue, any issue at all related to anyway inappropriate sexual behavior." Grassley also blamed the committee's ranking Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, for not revealing accusations she recieved from from Christine Blasey Ford in July. Feinstein said says the FBI should have investigated Ford's allegations. Kavanaugh to appear separately Kavanaugh, who will appear separately before the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released an advanced text of his opening statement. He strongly denied the alleged assault on Ford, and accusations by others, characterizing them as last-minute smears. He said such character assassinations if allowed to succeed will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving the nation, and added that he would not be intimidated into withdrawing from the judicial selection process. President Donald Trump selected Judge Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on the Supreme Court and often sided with liberal justices on key cases. Kavanaughs confirmation could solidify a conservative majority on the court for a generation. On Wednesday, President Trump claimed a concerted effort by Democrats to drum up sexual-misconduct charges against Kavanaugh. They are actually con artists because they know how quality this man is and they have destroyed a mans reputation and they want to destroy it even more, and I think people are going to see that in the midterms, what they have done to this family, what they have done to these children, these beautiful children of his and what they have done to his wife. They know it is a big fat con job, Trump said. 4 other accusers Four other women have come forward in the past few days with detailed complaints about Kavanaugh. He has denied all the allegations. Trump said he would watch Thursdays potentially explosive Senate hearing and that he could still change his mind about his nominee once he hears what Ford has to say. Its possible Ill hear that and Ill say, Hey, Ill change my mind, Trump said. I cant tell you. I have to watch tomorrow. Asked whether his own history, with numerous women accusing him of sexual assault, has shaped how he views accusations against Kavanaugh, the president said he knows what its like to be falsely accused and suggested Kavanaugh was being presumed guilty until proven innocent. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday vehemently denied Christine Blasey Ford's accusation that he sexually assaulted her at a high school party in 1982, when both were teenagers. "I have never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever," Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I have never done this to her or to anyone." Hours earlier, Ford told the panel she was "100 percent" certain that an inebriated Kavanaugh and a friend of his, Mark Judge, locked her in a bedroom and that Kavanaugh forced himself on top of her, groped her and covered her mouth when she screamed for help. Kavanaugh, who is now a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, told senators he attended no such party. He accused Democrats of mounting a calculated attack for political gain and engaging in grotesque character assassination. The judge vowed he would not be intimidated into withdrawing. Ford's testimony Earlier in the day, Ford testified that she feared that Kavanaugh was "going to accidentally kill" her during the alleged incident in 1982. She said what she remembered most was Kavanaugh's and Judge's "uproarious laughter" during the incident and their "having fun at my expense." Democratic senators repeatedly praised Ford for her courage in coming forward. Later, they challenged Kavanaugh about his drinking habits and suggested that he join them in requesting an FBI investigation of the accusations against him. A prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, asked questions on behalf of Senate Republicans on the committee for most of the hearing. She pressed Ford about timelines and peripheral issues but did not challenge her basic account of sexual assault. Mitchell asked Kavanaugh a series of direct questions about possible sexual misconduct, all of which he denied. Senators react Kavanaugh's testimony elicited sympathy from a visibly angry Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, who said the nominee had been subjected to a politically motivated sham. "You're looking for a fair [confirmation] process?" Graham asked Kavanaugh. "You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend." Earlier, California Democrat Kamala Harris sided with Ford, saying, "I believe you and I think many Americans believe you." President Donald Trump selected Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a "swing" vote on the Supreme Court and sometimes sided with liberal justices on key cases. Kavanaugh's confirmation could solidify a conservative majority on the court for a generation. VOA's Jim Malone, Wayne Lee and Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report. U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seeking help from the international community to deal with more than 2,000 Islamic State foreign fighters and their families who are being held in Syria. A Kurdish official from the SDF told VOA that captured IS foreign fighters are a burden on them because the countries of origin for these fighters still refrain from dealing with citizens who joined the terror group in Iraq and Syria in 2014 and beyond. This is an international case that needs the collaboration of international actors, and in order to solve this matter, we need to work together to resolve it, Abdul Karim Omar, co-chairman of the SDF Foreign Relations Committee, told VOA. Omar added that running away from the issue or delaying it is not the best course of action, given that some of these fighters are dangerous individuals. The call by the Kurdish officials comes after SDF announced plans earlier this month to launch its final military operation against the last pockets of IS in Syria's eastern Deir el-Zour province. The operation is aimed at clearing IS militants from the province. Watch: What to Do with Captured Fighters Captured fighters Efforts to deal with the issue of captured IS foreign fighters are proving difficult because of legal issues and also because of the issue of verifying their identities. IS has reportedly urged its foreign members to destroy their identification cards and passports from their respective countries. Among those in SDF captivity are also the wives and children of these fighters. SDF officials are calling for their repatriation to their countries of origin. Casandra Bodar, 23, a Belgian national, told VOA she traveled with her husband to Syria to live in the so-called Islamic State. After the death of her husband last year during the battle of Raqqa, she surrendered to the SDF. They questioned me many times, and every time the investigators asked me what do I want. I tell them that I want to be tried in my own country [Belgium], Bodar said. SDF officials told VOA they continue their discussions with a number of Western officials to find a solution to the issue. Recently, a Belgian official visited Qamishli town in north Syria in the Kurdish-controlled areas to discuss Belgium fighters in SDF captivity. SDF officials say that countries whose citizens are in custody should either repatriate them or help SDF put them on trial. All governments should repatriate their citizens or help us set up an international tribunal. So far, we did not receive any help, Omar told VOA. SDF says it has 2,225 foreign nationals in custody, including 516 men, 534 women and 1,175 children from 44 different countries. Dilemma The fate of foreign IS fighters captured in Syria and Iraq remains a dilemma for their countries of origin, as Western countries continue to differ on how to deal with them. In February, U.S. officials reportedly held a closed meeting in Rome with a number of European countries to discuss the repatriation of IS foreign fighters detained by the SDF. The meeting did not produce any tangible solution. Also in February, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said it was imperative to address the issue as an international problem. The most important thing is we figure out how we are going to deal with this, that we can deal with it. We dont paralyze ourselves and just say there is nothing we can do, Mattis said. An estimated 40,000 fighters from more than 120 countries are believed to have joined the fighting in Iraq and Syria over the years. While thousands of them have died, some Western officials say thousands more have escaped or have been captured. Macedonias President Gjorge Ivanov on Thursday called a national referendum on changing his country's name historical suicide and is urging Macedonians to boycott to vote. Macedonians are being asked to change the name of their country to North Macedonia to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece and pave the way for the country's admission into the European Union and NATO. Ivanov's comments came in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly in New York just days before the end of campaigning for Sunday's vote. "It is a censorship of the world and an auto-censorship of the collective conscience of Macedonian people. It is violence against our historical memory. There are hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and testimonies in the U.N. archives, detailing what the Greek state used to do to Macedonians in Greece. Now the Greek state wants to do the same to the Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia." Ivanov, who heads Macedonia's nationalist opposition party, has steadfastly refused to back a deal reached between Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras that puts the name change to a vote, which many observers view as a proxy battle between the West and Russia over the small Balkan nation's Euro-Atlantic aspirations. "The Republic of Macedonia is now asked to commit a legal and historical suicide so that the legal abolishment of Macedonian people can then be interpreted as its own will," said Ivanov, who equated the deal with Athens to a "flagrant violation of sovereignty.'' Walk-out During Ivanovs speech, Macedonia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrej Zernovski, who is aligned with Zaev's ruling party, exited the U.N. General Assembly in protest, along with colleagues who also support Macedonia's prospective EU and NATO integration. "We left because we didn't want to give legitimacy to [Ivanov's] scandalous speech," Zernovski told VOA's Macedonian Service outside of United Nations headquarters. "It was filled with manipulation and prompts the spreading of hatred and making enemies instead of allies," he added. Zernovski said that Ivanov spoke of preserving Macedonia's identity, and argued that that is precisely what the countrys agreement with Greece to put the name change to a vote has accomplished. Greece and Macedonia have been feuding over the right to use the name Macedonia since the 1991 break-up of Yugoslavia, of which Macedonia was part. Many Greeks say allowing the neighboring country to use the name Macedonia is an insult to Greek history and constitutes a claim on a Greek territory of the same name and a key province in Alexander the Great's ancient empire. The standoff has caused Greece to block Macedonias efforts to join the EU and NATO. Despite recognition by 137 countries, Macedonia is officially known at the United Nations as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM. This story originated in VOA's Macedonian Service. Elsie Boudreau was 10 years old that afternoon in 1978 when Father James Poole called her and two playmates into the office of a small radio station he had founded in Nome, Alaska. "He had us line up against the wall and began asking us questions," said Boudreau, who grew up in St. Marys, a tiny Yupik village in northwest Alaska where Poole had earlier served as pastor. "Then, he told the two other girls that they could leave, but that I should stay. He said it was because I was so much more mature than the other girls." The abuse began with hours of French kissing and later escalated, lasting nine years. "I have a memory of him being on top of me in a super high bed," Boudreau said. "I must have had an out-of-body experience, because when I look back, Im actually hiding behind a door, peeking out, seeing myself in bed with him, a little girl with long hair in braids." In 2003, Boudreau took action and wrote to the bishop of Alaska at the Fairbanks diocese. Unhappy with his response, she sued the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus. She reached a $1 million settlement in 2005. At the time of publication, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had not responded to VOAs request for comment. Legal barriers For Barbara Charbonneau-Dahlen, justice remains elusive. At the age of 5, Charbonneau-Dahlen, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota, was sent to the St. Paul's Indian Mission School, a boarding school on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in Marty, South Dakota, where she said she and her nine sisters suffered horrific abuse. "Father Francis took me to the church basement where they stored coffins when somebody died," she said. "He would lift me up and tell me that if I didnt do what he told me to, he would put me in a coffin." She said he forced her to perform oral sex on him and knows of other girls who became pregnant. "They aborted the babies right there at the school," she said, "and burned the fetuses in the incinerator. I worked in the incinerator room, and anything Sister brought down in that bucket, I just had to put it in the incinerator." She added, weeping openly: "When I look back, I wonder if I had to burn any fetuses." Charbonneau-Dahlen and her sisters were among dozens who filed lawsuits in the early 2000s against two Catholic dioceses and several religious orders for abuse that occurred at two Indian schools over four decades. The South Dakota Supreme Court dismissed their claims, ruling that the statute of limitations had long run out. The state has one of the toughest statutes of limitations in the U.S.: No one under age 40 can sue -- and they may only sue the actual abuser, not religious institutions. Today, Barbara Charbonneau-Dahlen and her sisters range in age from their 60s to 80s. Their lawyer, Michelle Dauphinais Echols, has authored legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations in certain child sex abuse cases. But in February, South Dakota senators turned it down. Echols said she plans to reintroduce the bill in early 2019. Charbonneau-Dahlen said she isnt holding out hope. "Were just forgotten. Theyll drag it out till were all old and dead." Untold numbers BishopAccountability.org, a massive online database of clergy abuse cases, details hundreds of cases in which the church covered up accusations of abuse by sending problem priests elsewhere. "The church would send known offenders to Native American communities because they knew that people would not speak up," said Patrick J. Wall, a former Benedictine priest who once helped the Church "fix" cases of priest abuse. He was a consultant to Boudreaus lawyer in the Alaska case. "The Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, knew about the problems with Father James Poole as early as 1960. They never called the police. All they did is move him down to the Lower 48 [states] for a year or two, and then they allowed him to come back to Alaska and continue abusing for another 25 years." There is no way to know how many Native American-Alaska Native children have been victimized, said Vito de la Cruz, a Yaqui-Chicano attorney in Washington state who represents Native American abuse survivors. "Just to give you an idea, in Montana, we sued both the Helena and Great Falls-Billings dioceses. At the end of the day, the number of survivors who came forward to be part of those lawsuits exceeded 450 to 500 people," de la Cruz said. The emotional impact on survivors is devastating. "On the reservation, you have cross-generational trauma as a result of a systematic effort to either eliminate Native communities or diminish them by stripping them of land, rights and sovereignty," he said. "We are conquered people, and when you add this layer of abuse on top of it, you add a layer of cross-generational emotional and psychological trauma." That trauma, research shows, is to blame for high rates of alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide in Native American communities. As part of the U.S. federal governments policy of assimilation of Native Americans, thousands of children were forced to attend boarding schools, many of them run by the Catholic Church. Today, all of the Catholic boarding schools have closed or are owned and operated by tribes or the U.S. government. "The first problem is that the sketch centers the men, and not the woman. You could imagine so many ways that this sketch could have been done well and been fun, sort of centering Hill and hearing what she had to say, but she leaves the screen in seconds," Yarrow said. And then, "they spend the whole sketch mocking sexual harassment, and conflating it with failed dating." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran on Thursday of maintaining a secret nuclear weapons storage facility in Tehran. "Iran has not abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons," Netanyahu told the U.N. General Assembly as he held up maps and photos of a building in Tehran's Turquzabad district. Netanyahu said Iran uses the building to store "massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran's secret weapons program." He said he'd informed the International Atomic Energy Agency and some intelligence agencies about the facility and had demanded that the IAEA immediately inspect it. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected Netanyahu's presentation as an "arts and crafts show." Iran has routinely denied it has a nuclear weapons development program. "The only purpose of this is to undercut the reality that Israel is the biggest threat to the region,'' Zarif said. Speaking to reporters at the assembly Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump defended his decision to withdraw from the 2015 six-nation agreement for Tehran to give up its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling economic sanctions. Trump said "Iran has to come back and they have to talk" if it wants to avoid a new round of economic sanctions. Soldiers from Chad and Niger have retaken the northeastern Nigerian town of Damasak from Boko Haram militants. The capture of the town on the Niger-Nigeria border is the first reported success from a joint offensive against the militants that Chad and Niger launched in Nigeria's Borno state in recent days. A senior Nigerian military official said Monday that the joint military offensive targeting Boko Haram militants is "consistent with the understanding that there should be no hiding place for terrorists." Speaking to VOA on Monday, military spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade indicated the cross-border offensive has Nigeria's support. "We believe that whatever is going on out there is complementary and in concert with what we are doing here to flush out the terrorists," Olukolade said. Casualties Chadian sources said Monday about 10 Chadian soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in fighting to free the town. Various sources said at least 200 Boko Haram fighters were killed, but there was no independent confirmation of the toll. Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin have recently mobilized forces to help Nigeria defeat the Islamist group after it seized territory and began mounting cross-border attacks. Much of the military focus has been on Chad's well-trained army, which has experience fighting al-Qaida-linked extremists in Mali alongside French forces. The new push began a day after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared allegiance to the Islamic State group, another group that follows a strict interpretation of the Quran. Olukolade said that development will not affect the Nigerian military's efforts to counter Boko Haram. "That will have no direct meaning for us," he said. "Our operation to force them out of Nigeria will continue." Election March 28 The military is trying to secure Boko Haram-controlled areas in order to allow the government to hold presidential and parliamentary elections, which were originally scheduled for last month but postponed until March 28. On Saturday, more than 50 people were killed and at least 140 others wounded by four explosions in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri. There has been no claim of responsibility, but suspicion fell on Boko Haram, which has carried out dozens of similar bombings across northeastern Nigeria. Tens of thousands of Nigerians have taken refuge in Cameroon, among 1.6 million people driven from their homes by the insurgency. International concern has increased along with the casualties. About 10,000 people were killed in Boko Haram's uprising last year, compared to about 2,000 in the four previous years, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. Some material for this report came from Reuters, AP and AFP. The presiding judge in the appeal by Radovan Karadzic against his genocide and war crimes convictions removed himself from the case Thursday, following a request by the former Bosnian Serb leader's lawyer. The decision by American Judge Theodor Meron could delay a ruling in the appeal that had been expected before the end of the year at the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. The mechanism is a court set up to deal with appeals and other residual issues from now-closed temporary tribunals for the Balkan wars and Rwandan genocide. Meron's decision follows a ruling removing him and two other judges from the appeal of Karadzic's former military chief, Gen. Ratko Mladic, for appearance of bias because they had previously convicted lower-ranking Bosnian Serb officers. In his written decision, Meron stressed that, had he remained on the five-judge appeals bench, I would continue to adjudicate the Karadzic Case with an impartial mind.'' He also criticized the decision to remove him from Mladic's appeal, saying that it clearly contradicts established jurisprudence and, in my view, harms the interests of the Mechanism. Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment after being convicted in March 2016 on 10 counts including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as the political mastermind behind Serb crimes in the 1992-95 Bosnian war. He was acquitted of one genocide charge. Prosecutors appealed the acquittal and urged judges to increase Karadzic's prison term to life behind bars. Mladic was convicted last year of largely the same crimes following a separate trial. He was given a life sentence. Meron appointed Portuguese judge Ivo Nelson de Caires Batista Rosa to replace him on the Karadzic appeal. Four days after a bloody attack on a military parade in Iran's mostly Arab "Ahvaz" region, also known as Khuzestan, and conflicting claims of responsibility, questions remain over who was actually behind the attack. More questions were raised than were answered Tuesday after Iranian media showed video of a group of over 20 people arrested for alleged involvement in Saturday's attack. The Fars news agency named five alleged perpetrators, several of whom were killed, claiming that three of the men were brothers. The country's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alawi vowed a stern response to the attack and insisted that all of the country's security forces were trying to uncover information on the attack. Alawvi said the military and security forces, along with the Revolutionary Guard and police, will work until they identify all the culprits behind the attack and then punish them, delivering a message to the world that it will react in the face of what he called crimes against humanity. The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several Revolutionary Guard commanders, accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with the United States. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the allegations "ludicrous," while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied the U.S. had any role in the attack. Pompeo told Fox News that it is an "enormous mistake" to "blame others when you have a security incident at home." Former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani Sadr tells VOA that terrorism is increasingly an international phenomenon, so while it is unclear who was behind the Ahvaz attack, he doubts it could have happened without outside help. Bani Sadr said that unless nation states or foreign powers support acts of violence, no independent organization, whatever it be called, can use violence for a long period of time." Bani Sadr goes on to say that "everything has become internationalized, today." It has become very easy to send people to commit acts of terrorism anywhere in the world, including Iran or the U.S. He thinks that some international group "seeks to create instability" in order to "prevent any possible rapprochement between Iran and the West." Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science at the University of Paris, calls the Ahvaz attack an "enigma," arguing that both internal or external forces could have been behind it. He said that it is possible that a new separatist group is on the rise inside Iran and could be responsible for the attack, and that accusations against the UAE and Saudi Arabia are not new. "The Iranian regime," he said, "is currently facing serious problems, given U.S. (economic sanctions), so it is not unlikely that [Supreme Leader] Ayatollah Khamenei would try to divert attention by making accusations against the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the UAE." "Iran," Diab said, "is in a position now, where it needs to look like a victim." Bani Sadr, however, thinks that the "Iranian people have reacted to the attack by rejecting violence. "All Iranian political factions," he argues, "are opposed to any kind of violence, including any 'retaliation' by [Ayatollah] Khamenei." A new report warns that wetlands are disappearing three times faster than the worlds forests, with serious consequences for all life on earth. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is a global treaty ratified in 1971 by 170 countries to protect wetlands, which are ecosystems inundated by water, such as swamps, bogs and floodplains. Unfortunately, the goal of this treaty is under threat. Ramsar Convention officials report about 35 percent of the worlds wetlands have been lost between 1970 and 2015. State of crisis Unless this situation is urgently reversed, Ramsar Convention Secretary-General Martha Roja Urrego warns the world will be in a state of crisis because wetlands are critical for all aspects of life. All the water that we use for consumption, irrigation and for hydro-electricity comes directly or indirectly from wetlands, Urrego said. Secondly, wetlands also have a main function in filtering waste and pollutants, so they act as the kidneys of the world. They filter the waste. Urrego says wetlands also are essential in regulating the global climate as peatlands store twice as much carbon as the worlds forests. Several factors The report finds wetland loss is driven mainly by such factors as climate change, population increase, changing consumption patterns and urbanization, particularly in coastal zones and river deltas. Authors of the report say biodiversity also is in a state of crisis. They say more than 25 percent of all wetlands plants and animals are at risk of extinction. Scientists say without biodiversity, there is no future for humanity, because the air people breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat ultimately rely on biodiversity in its many forms. Russia and China called Thursday for international sanctions to be eased on North Korea as an incentive for it to denuclearize. The call is seen by the West as jeopardizing the international consensus on pressuring Pyongyang. "China firmly believes that pressure is not the end," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a high-level meeting of the U.N. Security Council on North Korea. "Both implementing sanctions and promoting political settlement are equally important under Security Council resolutions." Wang urged the 15-member council to consider using a provision in its resolutions that allows for modifying sanctions. "Given the positive developments in inter-Korean and the DPRK-U.S. relations and the DPRK's important pledges and actions on denuclearization, China believes that the Security Council needs to consider invoking, in due course, this provision to encourage the DPRK and other relevant parties to move denuclearization further ahead," Wang said. DPRK is the abbreviation for North Korea's formal name. Russia's foreign minister seconded the Chinese proposal. "Steps by the DPRK toward gradual disarmament should be followed by easing of sanctions," Sergey Lavrov told council members. He said Western calls for maintaining pressure on North Korea seemed "inappropriate and untimely" given that Pyongyang had taken "important steps toward denuclearization." Lavrov said the Security Council should send a "positive signal" to the North and asked why some council members "stubbornly" refused to do so. He said Russia is ready to draft a council resolution supporting the positive momentum around the Korean Peninsula. US response Their position is opposite of the United States and most Western countries, which seek to maintain a policy of maximum pressure on Pyongyang until it fully denuclearizes. "We must not forget what brought us this far: the historic international pressure campaign that this council has made possible through the sanctions that it imposed," said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who chaired the council meeting. The United States holds the council's rotating presidency this month. "Until the final denuclearization of the DPRK is achieved and fully verified, it is our solemn collective responsibility to fully implement all U.N. Security Council resolutions pertaining to North Korea," Pompeo said. Since North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, the U.N. Security Council has imposed several rounds of increasingly tough targeted sanctions to choke off funding to Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Until now, the council has been united in its approach, but the call to ease sanctions by Beijing and Moscow could signal an end to the council's unity and ability to pressure North Korea going forward. Pompeo said he met Wednesday with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho to discuss how to move forward on commitments made at the June Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un. He said they also discussed a second summit between the two leaders. Pompeo said he plans to go to Pyongyang next month for more discussions. WATCH: Russia, China Clash With US Over North Korea Sanctions Illegal transfers The United States has accused Russia of "consistent and wide-ranging" violations of the sanctions imposed on North Korea. Specifically, Washington says it has evidence of illicit ship-to-ship transfers of banned items, mainly oil, but increasingly coal and other goods. Washington said last week it has tracked at least 148 instances this year of oil tankers conducting such illegal transfers of refined petroleum products, netting North Korea more than 800,000 barrels of refined petroleum products. Pyongyang is allowed 500,000 barrels a year under the sanctions. Also present at the session were the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan, who both urged international pressure to continue. North Korea did not speak at the meeting, but had diplomats in the room. Thursday's meeting was held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of world leaders, who are gathered this week at the General Assembly. Moscow has responded derisively to a report by a Britiain-based investigative group claiming one of the two men suspected of poisoning ex-spy Sergei Skripal is a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. A report by Bellingcat asserted Wednesday that the man identifying himself as Ruslan Boshirov is really Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel awarded the Hero of Russia, the countrys highest honor. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova characterized the report as a stunt timed to coincide with British Prime Minister Theresa Mays address to the U.N. General Assembly. "There is no proof, so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook Wednesday, referring to the British town where the poisoning occurred. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the presidents administration had seen the Bellingcat report but dismissed it. "Lots of people look like one another," he said when questioned about the physical similarities between Boshirov and the photo of Chepiga published in the report. Putin has denied that the men in question are spies, repeatedly identifying them as civilians. His government has been accused of being behind the March poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent developed in the Soviet era. The report said the man identified as Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy, one of the country's top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He is said to have fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine, receiving the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for "conducting a peace-keeping mission," probably a reference to the Ukraine conflict. The report said it was "highly likely" that Putin knew Chepiga as he personally hands out the Hero of Russia awards. Slovak police have detained one or more persons suspected of the murder of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, several Slovak media outlets reported on Thursday, citing police sources. The police said on its Facebook page it had detained persons suspected of violent crime and was carrying out home searches but did not say in which case. The police declined to comment further. Media, including the websites of SME daily and Aktuality.sk, where Kuciak had worked, reported police were carrying out searches in the south of the country. Kuciak, who had written about political corruption in Slovakia, was found shot dead along with his fiancee Martina Kusnirova at their home outside Bratislava in February. They were both 27. The murder shocked the nation and stoked public anger over corruption, leading to the biggest street protests in the country since Communist rule ended in 1989. The pressure forced the departure of long-serving prime minister Robert Fico and his interior minister Robert Kalinak as well as previous police chief Tibor Gaspar. Kuciak had, among other things, investigated fraud cases involving businessmen with Slovak political ties. He had also looked into suspected mafia links of Italians with businesses in Slovakia. South Sudanese women leaders are calling on the president to give 35 percent of executive appointments to women, as agreed to in the recently revitalized peace deal. On Tuesday, President Salva Kiir appointed 10 people to a committee tasked with starting the process to create South Sudan's envisioned transitional government. Only one of the 10 are women. Mary Ayen Majok, a member of the transition legislative assembly, told VOA Wednesday that she is unhappy the women's quota wasn't met. "The 35 [percent] affirmative action is not implemented," Majok said. For us, honestly we feel bad about it because it means that the parties are not faithful to what they agreed upon. Regina Joseph Kaba represents a faction of the Former Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement Political Detainees (FDS), one of the parties that signed the peace deal in Addis Ababa. She says gender balance is a continuous battle and added that the composition the NPTC committee has not followed the terms of the Addis deal. They violated the women percentage. We are supposed to have at least two women on the [NPTC] committee, Kaba said. The deal in Addis not only set aside 35 percent of executive appointments for women, it also includes a broad commitment by parties to give due consideration to ethnic diversity, gender and regional representation. Emily Koiti represented the young South Sudanese at the just concluded peace negotiations. She said the parties to the deal can address the root cause of the conflict in South Sudan if they are honest in its implementation. We want to ensure that there are regional, ethnic and generational representation in all the bodies that will be established [to implement the deal]. Koiti stressed. Cease-fire violations Chris Trott, Britain's special representative for Sudan and South Sudan told VOA last week that the parties involved in the conflict in South Sudan have a chance to show their commitment to peace by implementing the revitalized agreement signed on September 12. Just days after the signing of the agreement, reports of fighting have surfaced in several parts of South Sudan, according to Jean-Pierre Lacroix, U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations. Angelina Teny, a senior member of the rebels of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), blamed government forces to allegedly attacking rebel strongholds in Central Equatoria and the former Unity state. We have have raised this with the guarantors [of the peace deal]... we have raised it with the president. said Teny. She said the government is fighting to install county commissioners in areas that are under rebel control. Lam Tungwar, state minister of information in Liech state, formerly part of Unity State, said fighters belonging to the main rebel SPLM-IO force loyal to former vice president Riek Machar had attacked government positions in a small village in Koch County this week. The Cease-Fire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM), a body monitoring cease-fire violations told VOA in an email message that it is "currently investigating alleged breaches of the ceasefire in the Yei area. As this investigation is ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers are testifying Thursday at a Senate hearing that could determine the balance of the nations highest judicial body. Christine Blasey Ford is giving her account of the alleged incident, in which she says Kavanaugh assaulted her during a party when both of them where in high school. In prepared opening remarks that were released late Wednesday, Ford detailed the incident in the summer of 1982, during which she claimed a visibly intoxicated Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, pushed her into a room, locked the door behind them and assaulted her. In the statement, she said she was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone, and didnt reveal details of the incident until years later, to her husband and in therapy sessions. Kavanaugh, who will appear separately before the Senate Judiciary Committee, also released an advanced text of his opening statement. He strongly denied the alleged assault on Ford, and accusations by others, characterizing them as last-minute smears. He said such character assassinations if allowed to succeed will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving the nation, and added that he would not be intimidated into withdrawing from the judicial selection process. Shifting the balance of the Supreme Court The controversy surrounding the Kavanaugh nomination process comes just weeks ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, in which Democrats are seeking to take control of Congress. President Donald Trump selected Judge Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was a swing vote on the Supreme Court and often sided with liberal justices on key cases. Kavanaughs confirmation could solidify a conservative majority on the court for a generation. On Wednesday, President Trump claimed a concerted effort by Democrats to drum up sexual-misconduct charges against Kavanaugh. They are actually con artists because they know how quality this man is and they have destroyed a mans reputation and they want to destroy it even more, and I think people are going to see that in the midterms, what they have done to this family, what they have done to these children, these beautiful children of his and what they have done to his wife. They know it is a big fat con job, Trump said. The president made the comments in a nearly 90-minute, often rambling press conference following his meetings with world leaders at the United Nations in New York. Five women Four other women have come forward in the past few days with detailed complaints about Kavanaugh. He has denied all the allegations. On Wednesday evening, NBC News reported that an anonymous complaint was sent to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado. According to the complaint, the sender said in 1998, she and her daughter were out with Kavanaugh and several friends, when an inebriated Kavanaugh shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually. According to media reports, Kavanaugh was also questioned Tuesday during a phone call with Judiciary Committee staff about an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman in Rhode Island in the mid-1980s. The office of Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode received a phone call Tuesday morning making allegations concerning a rape on a boat in August of 1985, according to transcripts of a call between committee staff and Kavanaugh released Wednesday to the media. Kavanaugh denies the allegations. Trump could change his mind Trump said he would watch Thursdays potentially explosive Senate hearing and that he could still change his mind about his nominee once he hears what Ford has to say. Its possible Ill hear that and Ill say, Hey, Ill change my mind, Trump said. I cant tell you. I have to watch tomorrow. Asked whether his own history, with numerous women accusing him of sexual assault, has shaped how he views accusations against Kavanaugh, the president said he knows what its like to be falsely accused and suggested Kavanaugh was being presumed guilty until proven innocent. This is beyond Supreme Court. This has everything to do with our country, Trump said. When you are guilty until proven innocent, it is just not supposed to be that way. ... In this case, you are guilty until proven innocent. I think that is a very, very dangerous standard for our country. Smear campaign or full investigation? In a CNN Poll conducted in August, most women across the country said they dont want Kavanaugh to become the next Supreme Court justice. Only 28 percent of women polled were in favor of his appointment. Trumps pick also had the lowest approval rating overall of any Supreme Court nomination in the past 30 years. Democrats, including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, continue to press for a full investigation of all the allegations. They should all be heard in a timely fashion and this notion that we are going to rush through simply Dr. Ford and then immediately have the committee move to a vote that is not a fair process, Warner said. Republicans, such as South Dakota Sen. John Thune, have accused Democrats of waging a smear campaign against Kavanaugh. I think the Democrats in the Senate have had one goal since the beginning of this process and that is to sink Judge Kavanaughs nomination, and we are finding that they will go to any lengths to do that, Thune said. McConnell: Moving forward A committee vote on Kavanaughs nomination is set for Friday, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said. We are going to be moving forward. Im confident we are going to win. Im confident that he will be confirmed in the very near future, he added. Democrats, including Washington state Sen. Patty Murray, are warning of a political backlash if Republicans ram Kavanaughs nomination through the Senate. This is not just a box to check. Women and their experiences are not just things to be plowed through. Women and all survivors should be heard and they should be respected, she said. Anti-Kavanaugh protesters have taken to the halls of Congress to pressure undecided Republicans, chanting, Vote no or we will fund your opponent and defeat you. Among the undecided on Capitol Hill is Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Do I feel pressure? Sure. But I dont feel pressured to make a decision until Im ready, she said. Chicago is funny about whom it claims as its own: Stephen Colbert may have spent a handful of years here, but hes quicker to make a pantheon of local greats than, say, an Oldenburg, who lived here nearly as long, or a Kanye West, who grew up here. The work has to show commitment to Chicago or excommunication. So, Chicago: Embrace Dawoud Bey, who proved himself a genius photographer long before the MacArthur Foundation made it official. His career began with a portfolio of life in Harlem, and generally focuses on portraits of non-Chicagoans, but he has taught at Columbia College for years, and the work is as bighearted and unpretentious as Midwesterners like to imagine themselves. Until he gets his inevitable museum retrospective, Seeing Deeply will do nicely. His Harlem series, his portraits of high school students, his Birmingham Project exploring a 1963 church bombing that killed four girls all here, in big, simple presentations offset by essays (from writers including Hilton Als). Its a joy. But then, who doesnt like looking at people? U.S. President Donald Trump has postponed a highly anticipated meeting to discuss the tenure of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The president, who is reportedly considering firing the man who oversees the special investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, will meet with him next week. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement the two men spoke Thursday and agreed to delay so as not to distract from a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, in which testimony was heard Thursday from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexual misconduct. The president has complained about the Justice Department's handling of the Russia probe for months, but tensions between Trump and Rosenstein appeared to increase last week, when The New York Times reported Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Trump to obtain evidence intended to demonstrate the president is unfit to govern. Rosenstein has issued two statements flatly denying the allegations. Earlier Thursday, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway said on Fox & Friends that Trump and Rosenstein are "both committed to speaking with each other and resolving this once and for all." Republicans calling for testimony The president's Republican allies are calling for Rosenstein to testify before Congress about his alleged suggestion to secretly record Trump and about Rosenstein's comments on the 25th Amendment, a constitutional provision that lays out a process for removing a sitting president from office. Congressman Mark Meadows, chair of the Freedom Caucus, said via Twitter that the failure to question the deputy attorney general over the issue would amount to a "dereliction of duty." House Republicans on Wednesday began the process to subpoena Justice Department memos that allegedly contain information about Rosenstein's comments. The Trump-aligned Freedom Caucus has issued a formal call demanding Rosenstein to testify. Rosenstein and the Mueller probe Rosenstein oversees the independent investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. 2016 election led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Although several high-ranking officials of Trump's campaign have pleaded guilty to various charges in connection with Mueller's investigation, the president maintains the entire investigation is a "witch hunt" without merit. Democrats and some Republicans in Congress are worried the president will fire Rosenstein in a bid to shut down the special counsel's investigation. Earlier this week, Democratic lawmakers renewed their calls for Republicans to pass legislation to protect Mueller's probe. The bill, introduced by two Republican and two Democrat senators, has passed out of committee with Republican support, but it's stalled on its way to the floor. Trump told reporters Wednesday in New York that he prefers to leave Rosenstein in his post "and let him finish up." U.S. President Donald Trump strode up to the lectern and took stock of the worlds press in a five-star New York hotel. This is quite a gathering. Wow! he crowed. And so began 1 hour and 22 minutes with the worlds most powerful man, pumped by days of U.N. diplomacy and seething over Democratic opposition to his Supreme Court nominee, now fighting multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior while a student. Standing before a large row of American flags, the 45th president of the United States dealt with everything from China, Iran and the Kurds, to socialism, Justin Trudeau, women, the Supreme Court and Middle East peace. Without notes and clearly relishing the occasion, he dished out compliments and made digs where he saw fit. WATCH: Trump Accuses China of Meddling in US Elections at Press Conference You do a very good job, he told a Fox reporter who asked about NAFTA. Say thank you, Mr. Trump, he mocked when a New York Times journalist said the newspaper was thriving rather than failing, with circulation figures up under the Trump presidency. From the Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue, a brisk seven-minute walk from his old penthouse home and real-estate company headquarters at Trump Tower, the 72-year-old president appeared ready to go on all night. Here is a sampling: On Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh: If we brought George Washington here, said an exasperated Trump of Americas first president and founding father, the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand, and he may have had a bad past, who knows. On sexual assault: Ive had a lot of false charges made against me. Really false charges! he said as journalists pointed out that he had been the accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in the past. So when you say does it affect me in terms of my thinking with respect to Judge Kavanaugh? Absolutely. Because Ive had it many times. On women: Ive always said, women are smarter than men. On the Kurds: Theyre great people, theyre great fighters, I like them a lot, he said, later calling on a journalist as Yes please, Mr. Kurd. On U.N. laughter: They werent laughing at me, they were laughing with me, he insisted of the laughter that broke out in the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday after Trump boasted that his administration had done more than any other in U.S. history. On Xi Jinping: I will, tomorrow, make a call to him and say Hey, how are you doing? Trump said with a smile after admitting that Xi may not be a friend of mine anymore. They are doing studies on Donald Trump, they are trying to figure it all out, he said in reference to apparent Chinese interest in an American president so different to his predecessors. Ending on a high: Elton John said when you hit that last tune and its good, dont go back, he said, taking the last question and pondering on what happens when a performer doesnt deliver a good encore after a rousing concert. They dont hit it and ... everyone leaves and they say that wasnt a very good concert, was it? U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted Canada over the slow pace of talks over NAFTA, saying he was so unhappy that he had rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's request for a one-on-one meeting. The remarks by Trump, who repeated a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian autos, knocked the Canadian dollar down to a one-week low against the U.S. greenback. The comments also mark a new low in relations between the two leaders. Trudeau spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said: "No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that." The attack cast further doubt on the future of the three-nation North American Free Trade Agreement, which underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Markets and business groups are openly fretting about the damage that a collapse could provoke. Trump, who wants major changes to the 1994 treaty, has already concluded a text with Mexico and is threatening to leave out Canada unless it signs up by this Sunday. Trump told reporters he had rebuffed a Trudeau request for a meeting "because his tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move and I told him 'forget about it. And frankly we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada." Earlier on Wednesday, Trudeau shrugged off U.S. pressure to quickly agree to a deal and indicated it was possible the three member nations might fail to conclude a new pact. The two sides are still far apart on major issues such as how to settle disputes and U.S. demands for more access to Canada's protected dairy market. "We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," Trump said in an apparent reference to Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. Relations between the Canadian and U.S. leaders have been chilly since June, when Trump left a Group of Seven summit in Canada and then accused Trudeau of being dishonest and weak. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer Freeland's counterpart at the talks on Tuesday had complained Canada was not making enough concessions and said time was running out. Canadian officials said they do not believe Trump can rework NAFTA into a bilateral deal without the approval of Congress. "We will keep working as long as it takes to get to the right deal for Canada," Trudeau earlier told reporters at the United Nations. He has repeatedly said he is ready to walk away from the talks rather than sign a document he thinks is bad. Asked about the challenge that autos tariffs would pose, Trudeau said Canada would need to feel confident "about the path forward as we move forward if we do on a NAFTA 2.0." The three nations' auto industries are highly integrated and tariffs on Canadian cars would be hugely disruptive. Speaking separately, Canada's ambassador to Washington said that on a scale of 1 to 10, the chances of an agreement by the Sept. 30 deadline were 5. "If it doesn't happen by the end of the week, we'll just keep working away and trying to get the best deal for Canada," David MacNaughton told a Toronto event arranged by Politico Canada. A Trump administration official said the text of the agreement with Mexico was set to be published on Friday. The official declined to be named because the matter has not yet been made public. A spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's Office declined to comment. Trudeau said existing U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in late May would have to be scrapped before Canada felt comfortable signing a new NAFTA. The Trump administration has said the text of an agreement between the three nations is needed by Sunday to allow the current Mexican government to sign it before it leaves office at the end of November. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began a three-day state visit to Germany on Thursday, the latest step in rapprochement efforts after more than a year of acrimony that pushed bilateral ties to the breaking point. In in op-ed in the Thursday edition of Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Erdogan called for bilateral ties to "turn over a new page." The arrest of German citizens in Turkey has been a point of contention between the two NATO allies, and Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to press for their release. They include five Germans who Berlin says are being held for political reasons. Turkey's human rights record is also seen as a key obstacle in Erdogan's talks with German leaders. Berlin is a strong critic of an ongoing crackdown following a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, which led to the arrests of tens of thousands of people and the purging of just as many from their jobs. Erdogan last year accused Merkel of using Nazi tactics after Germany accepted thousands of political refugees in the wake of the failed coup against him. Erdogan regularly dismisses international human rights criticism, saying the judiciary is functioning normally and merely defending democracy. Some analysts, however, say the human rights issue could sour hopes of a new Turkish-German relationship. They also say the Turkish president will be under pressure to accommodate some of Berlin's demands. Others predict that both sides may be keen to prevent human rights from scuppering reconciliation efforts. Berlin's granting of a full state visit already is seen as a diplomatic victory for Erdogan. 'Togetherness of necessity' The Turkish leader now appears to be looking to the future, rather than dwelling on the past, according to analysts. "It's a marriage of logic, a togetherness of necessity they may not love each other, but they have to come together because the strategic and geopolitical imperatives forced both sides together and there is no way out," said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara's Middle East Technical University. "He [Erdogan] has seen in particular that without the German leader, you cannot do anything on the European continent." Erdogan is scheduled to hold several talks with Merkel during his three-day visit, as well as to attend a state banquet Friday in his honor, hosted by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Erdogan's visit comes as the Turkish economy is facing a crisis, with the currency falling in value by more than 40 percent this year. Analysts predict the Turkish economy is likely to need considerable financial support, given that Turkey owes upward of $140 billion in foreign-denominated loans, much of which is due to be repaid over the next 12 months. Ankara has repeatedly ruled out turning to the International Monetary Fund for help. Such a move, analysts say, would be politically toxic for Erdogan since he regularly touts freeing Turkey from dependence on IMF support as one of his most significant achievements. Berlin, along with the wider European Union, is promoted in Turkey as an alternative to the IMF. German and Turkish finance ministers met earlier in September in Berlin for talks that reportedly included possible German financial support. Johannes Hahn, EU enlargement commissioner, appeared, however, to rule out any wider EU support. "Turkey's current economic problems are essentially homemade. The situation cannot be solved by the EU or single member states giving out aid packages or credit to Ankara," he told the German Die Welt newspaper this week. Separately, Christian Lindner, the leader of Germany's pro-business Free Democrats, criticized the granting of the state visit, calling it a "propaganda victory" for Erdogan. Ankara has significant leverage over Berlin in its role as gatekeeper for refugees and migrants entering the European Union. An EU deal with Ankara two years ago resulted in a dramatic drop in migrant numbers leaving Turkey for the EU. Erdogan frequently has warned of ending the agreement. Opposition to Trump's moves U.S. President Donald Trump also is providing major impetus for improving relations between Erdogan and Merkel. The two leaders share opposition to Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the reimposition of sanctions. With key trading partner Iran providing oil for Turkey, Erdogan has ruled out imposing U.S. sanctions, putting Ankara on a collision course with Washington. Trump warned Wednesday that anyone who did not comply with U.S. sanctions would "face severe consequences." U.S.-Turkish relations continue to be profoundly strained for myriad reasons, and in August, U.S. tariffs imposed on Turkish goods triggered a collapse in Turkey's currency. Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat, underscores that Berlin is key for Ankara in resisting U.S.-Iranian sanctions. "The biggest ally for Turkey will be the EU, and among the EU countries it obviously will be Germany, and that is why we must watch very carefully when Erdogan is in Berlin," said Selcen. Erdogan is likely to be buoyed by EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini's Wednesday announcement of an initiative to create an alternative payment system to dollars in an effort to avoid U.S. sanctions in trading with Iran. The Turkish president is likely to be offered the lure of long-term business contracts with German companies. German media reported manufacturing company Siemens is on the verge of a $35 billion deal to modernize Turkish railways. Analysts point out Ankara will be aware that such mammoth contracts provide an essential incentive to Berlin to support the Turkish economy. The ride-hailing service Uber has agreed to pay $148 million to settle claims that it concealed a massive data breach that exposed personal information of drivers and customers. In November 2016, Uber learned that hackers had accessed personal data of about 600,000 Uber drivers, including their driver's license numbers. Hackers also had stolen email addresses and cellphone numbers of 57 million riders worldwide. The claims, filed in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia, said rather than inform the drivers involved, Uber hid the breach for more than a year and paid ransom to ensure the data wouldn't be misused. "This is one of the most egregious cases we've ever seen in terms of notification; a yearlong delay is just inexcusable,'' Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told The Associated Press. Uber's chief legal officer, Tony West, said the decision to come clean about the hack was made after major management changes at the company. "It embodies the principles by which we are running our business today: transparency, integrity and accountability,'' West said. Each state will receive a part of the settlement based on how many drivers they have. Most states estimate each affected Uber driver will receive about $100. A United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees received contributions of $118 million on Thursday, narrowing a budget gap for this year to $68 million as it aims to fill a shortfall left by a cut in U.S. funding. Pierre Krahenbuhl, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said the pledges were made at a meeting on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York. He said the largest funding pledges on Thursday were made by Germany, the European Union, Kuwait, Ireland and Norway. "Five million Palestinian refugees were following these events very, very closely indeed. It was year of tremendous existential concerns, of great anxiety ... I think it is a very big step that has been achieved today," Krahenbuhl said. The United States last month announced a halt in its aid to UNRWA, calling it an "irredeemably flawed operation," a decision that further heightened tensions between the Palestinian leadership and the Trump administration. UNRWA provides services to about 5 million Palestinian refugees across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank and Gaza. Most are descendants of some 700,000 Palestinians who were driven out of their homes or fled fighting in the 1948 war that led to Israel's creation. The growing refugee count was cited by Washington, UNRWA's biggest donor, in its decision to withhold funding. "We're sending a message that the world does still care about the plight of Palestinian refugees," Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters. "The challenge is to sustain this effort and part of what we discussed today is a way in which we could have a long term financial planning so not every year in August, Palestinian kids will be wondering if they have a school to go to," he said. The United States and Japan have agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement, reducing the prospect that Washington might impose tariffs against another trading partner. Weve agreed today to start trade negotiations between the United States and Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump said at a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. This was something that for various reasons over the years Japan was unwilling to do and now they are willing to do. So were very happy about that, and Im sure that we will come to a satisfactory conclusion, and if we dont, ohhhhhh, Trump added. Fast-track authority The White House released a statement after the meeting, stating the two countries would enter into talks after completing necessary domestic procedures for a bilateral trade agreement on goods and other key areas, including services. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer called it a very important step in expanding U.S.-Japan relations. He told reporters that the U.S. and Japan were aiming to approve a full free-trade agreement soon. Lighthizer said he would talk to Congress on Thursday about seeking authority for the president to negotiate the agreement, under the fast track trade authority law. Lighthizer said he expected the negotiations to include the goal of reaching an early harvest on reducing tariffs and other trade barriers. Tokyos reticence Tokyo had been reluctant to commit to a bilateral free-trade pact and had hoped that Washington would consider returning to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a broader regional trade agreement championed by the Obama administration that Trump pulled out of in January 2017. Trump has complained about Japans $69 billion trade surplus with the U.S. and has been pressuring Abe to agree to a two-way agreement to address it, including during Abes visit to Trumps Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, in April. Japanese officials have expressed concern Trump might pressure Tokyo to open up its politically sensitive farm market. They also are wary Trump might demand a reduction in Japanese auto imports or impose high tariffs on autos and auto parts, which would be detrimental to Japans export-reliant economy. Trump is expressing confidence the two sides will reach an agreement. Were going to have a really great relationship, better than ever before on trade, he said. It can only be better for the United States because it couldnt get any worse because of whats happened over the years. U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday his administration is planning a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and will announce details soon. "I'll be meeting with Chairman Kim in the very near future," Trump told reporters at the United Nation's General Assembly in New York. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is planning the summit and that it may take place after October. Pompeo will brief U.N. Security Council ministers Thursday on efforts to denuclearize North Korea. "We're working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit. But we hope it will be soon," Pompeo told CBS This Morning. "It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that." At a news conference in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly meetings, President Trump refused to get pinned down on a timeline for North Korea's denuclearization. "We are not playing the time game," Trump said. "If it takes two years, three years or five months it doesn't matter, there's no nuclear testing and there's no testing of rockets.'' Trump also dismissed critics who have said he gave up leverage by meeting with Kim before getting any guarantees. "I gave nothing, what have I given, other than some time? Yes, I flew to Singapore, we had a meeting," the president said. "Giving would be if I took the sanctions off." He also defended his decision to suspend last August's scheduled joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, saying he had saved U.S. taxpayers "a fortune." North Korea says the drills are a hostile provocation. President Trump also asserted, without any evidence, that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was "ready to go to war" over the North Korean nuclear problem. "If I wasn't elected you would have had a war," Trump claimed. "President Obama thought you had to go to war. Do you know how close he was to pressing the trigger for war?" Trump also said he had received two "magnificent" letters from Kim Jong Un about his commitment to denuclearization. Earlier Wednesday, President Trump chaired a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, as the U.S. currently holds the rotating presidency. The topic was non-proliferation and he spoke about progress on the North Korean issue. "I think we will make a deal," he told a table of presidents and prime ministers. "But unfortunately to ensure this progress continues, we must enforce existing U.N. Security Council resolutions until the denuclearization occurs." He said many things are happening "behind the scenes" in a "very positive way." He thanked the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea for the role they have played in the process. Of the North Korean leader, he said he is a man that he has "gotten to know and like" who wants peace and prosperity for his country. The two leaders' meeting in Singapore in June produced a broad commitment from Kim to "work toward" denuclearization of the peninsula. Despite Trump's praise of Kim, the Trump administration has said Pyongyang is stalling in meeting the goals set in Singapore. Washington has demanded that North Korea produce an inventory of its weapons programs and that it takes irreversible steps to relinquish a nuclear arsenal that poses a potential threat to the United States. President Emmerson Mnangagwa says his government regrets the killing of six Zimbabweans this year by security forces, two days after the country held what he calls free, peaceful and transparent general elections. In his maiden speech Wednesday at the United Nations General Assembly after ousting former President Robert Mugabe in a bloodless military intervention last November and the subsequent holding of harmonized elections two months ago, Mnangagwa said the matter is being probed by a Commission of Inquiry. The isolated and unfortunate incident of the post election violence that occurred on 1st August, 2018 is regrettable and most unacceptable. The Commission of Inquiry, comprising eminent persons of national, regional and international repute, has now begun its work in earnest. Their ultimate report and recommendations will help us bring closure to the matter and assist in the improvement of our institutional governance. Various nations have condemned the killings and urged the government to take the matter seriously if Zimbabwe wants to be part of the global community. Mnangagwa said Zimbabwes recent general elections are an indication that the country wants to create democratic space for all citizens. In view of the fact that elections are an integral element of democracy, my country held the much anticipated harmonized, general elections on the 30th of July, 2018. Following my deliberate and conscious decision to open up the democratic space and emphatic call for peace, unity and tolerance of divergent views among our people, political contestations, electoral campaigning, voting and counting processes were conducted freely, peacefully and transparently. Mnangagwa further reiterated his call for the removal of targeted restrictive measures imposed by the West on him and top Zanu PF officials a couple of years ago following claims of alleged human rights abuses and election rigging. He said his government is making some strides in creating a conducive atmosphere for reviving the economy even if the sanctions were impeding some of the growth initiatives. We call for their (sanctions) immediate and unconditional removal, he said, adding that the measures are no longer necessary in the new political dispensation in the country. Mnangagwa also noted that Zimbabwes land reform program, which resulted in the displacement of white commercial farmers much to the chagrin of the West, is irreversible. The land reform program is irreversibly behind us. He told other world leaders that Zimbabwe is planning to become a middle class economy by 2030. Emboldened by the dreams, hopes and aspirations of our people, and in tandem with the United Nations Agenda 2030 and African Union Agenda 2063, we have outlined our vision to become a middle income economy with a per capita income of about $3,500. This will bring on board, increased investment, decent jobs, broadbased empowerment and a society free of poverty and corruption by 2030. Zimbabwe is open for business. Like his predecessor, Mnangagwa called for broad reforms of the United Nations. The United Nations and its organs require to be democratized. We join the call for Africa to be represented in the permanent category and to have increased representation in the non permanent category. This position is indeed justified in view of the need to correct historical injustice which has left Africa on the periphery of all major global decision making processes. Above all, he invited the international community to invest in his nation with an estimated unemployment rate of over 90 percent exacerbated by lack of foreign direct investment and lack of capital to boost internal growth. Zimbabwe is open for business and we are presently undertaking a raft of economic and political reforms to ensure an environment that facilitates inclusive and sustained economic growth. He noted that Zimbabwe is currently implanting some of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations. I am pleased to report that Zimbabwe has made substantial progress in the implementation of some of the sustainable development goals in particular, with regards to ensuring food security. Through our polices and planned programs, complimented by private and sector finance, and investments, farmers receive equipment, and technical support. In a bid to improve nutrition and broaden income opportunities, we have also extended support to grow the livestock, fisheries and wildlife sectors. Mnangagwa is expected to return home soon. It is my honour and pleasure to deliver my maiden statement in this august Assembly. Those were the first remarks from Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa in New York Wednesday at the United Nations Head Headquarters. Zimbabwe had waited for nearly four decades to have someone other than former ruler Robert Mugabe take to the podium at the United Nations General Assembly to represent the nation. But analysts say in terms of content, Mnangagwa stuck to the same old script with cosmetic changes when he delivered his maiden speech, minus Mr. Mugabes trademark attacks on the West. Analysts say under Mr. Mnangagwa, Zimbabwes foreign policy has not changed. He talked about sanctions, land reform, United Nations Reforms and climate change. But unlike his predecessor, he invited developed nations to come and invest in his country, whose foreign direct investment has been in decline since 2014. Mr. Mnangagwa said despite challenges posed by targeted sanctions imposed on Harare by Washington and the European Union, he had managed to stabilize the food situation. I am pleased to report that Zimbabwe has made substantial progress in the implementation of some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular with regards to ensuring food security. He added that through our people-centered policies and planned programmes, complemented by private sector financing and investments; farmers receive inputs, equipment and technical support. In a bid to improve nutrition and broaden income opportunities, we have also extended support to grow the livestock, fisheries and wildlife sectors. We are confident that these multi-pronged programmes will accelerate Zimbabwes re-entry into the global economy and associated value chains. This is one example of innovation, creativity and home grown solutions in addressing key developmental and economic challenges in spite of the continued illegal sanctions imposed on our country. We call for their immediate and unconditional removal. In 2001, the United States began imposing restrictions on U.S. support for multilateral financing, followed by financial sanctions against selected Zimbabwean individuals and entities, travel sanctions against selected individuals, a ban on transfers of defense items and services, and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance. Despite strained political relations, the United States is the largest provider of development and humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. Mr. Mnangagwa though took a dig at developed nations for allegedly using force in resolving world problems. Now more than ever before, the United Nations must stamp its authority and work harder for peace in a world where might is increasingly being regarded as right. President Mnangagwa also reiterated that his countrys land reform programme was irrevocable. The land reform programme is behind us and is irreversible. The Zimbabwean leader told the international community that the election held two months ago was a success because of his call for peace. In view of the fact that elections as an integral element of democracy, my country held the much anticipated harmonised general elections on the 30th July 2018. The President further said, Following my deliberate and conscious decision to open up the democratic space and emphatic call for peace, unity and tolerance of divergent views amongst our people; political contestations, election campaigning, voting and counting processes were conducted freely, peacefully and transparently. In the spirit of transparency and openness, a broader spectrum of international observers and global media houses were accredited to observe our elections. The exceptionally peaceful pre and post electoral environment represented the maturing and entrenchment of democracy in Zimbabwe. We are grateful to the UN and other Member States for sending Election Observer Missions and for the Technical Assistance received by our Election Management Body. The recommendations will be taken into account as we deepen our democratic and electoral processes. We shall continue to entrench constitutionalism democratic traditions and norms, peace unity and harmony; for it is indeed under such conditions that sustainable development, inclusive economic growth and prosperity can occur. Mr. Mnangagwa also promised to investigate post-election violence that saw the military gunning down six people in central Harare. The isolated and unfortunate incident of the post-election violence that occurred on 1 August 2018 is regrettable and most unacceptable, he said, adding that the Commission of Inquiry comprising eminent persons of national, regional and international repute has now begun its work in earnest. Their ultimate report and recommendations shall help us bring closure to the matter and assist in the improvement of our institutional governance. Mr. Mnangagwa like many African, Middle East, Asian and Latin American countries called for the reform of the United Nations. The United Nations and its organs require to be democratized. We join the call for Africa to be represented in the permanent category and to have increased representation in the non-permanent category. This position is indeed justified, in view of the need to correct the historical injustice which has left the African continent on the periphery of all major global decision making processes. The president also declared that Zimbabwe is open for business and has an ambitious plan of turning around the economy. Emboldened by the dreams, hopes and aspirations of our people, and in tandem with the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the African Union Agenda 2063, we have outlined our vision to become a middle income economy with a per capita income of about USD3 500. This will bring on board increased investment, decent jobs, broad based empowerment and a society free from poverty and corruption by 2030. Zimbabwe is open for business and we are presently undertaking a raft of economic and political reforms to ensure an environment that facilitates inclusive and sustained economic growth. We have put in place institutions and instruments that maximize land utilization and increase agriculture productivity. Equally, strategies are in place in the various sectors of our economy, to enable my country to enter the global value chains. The development and modernization of our roads, railways, airports, energy and ICT infrastructure is being accelerated in line with our regional and continental quest for enhanced connectivity and integrated infrastructure. Mr. Mnangagwa stuck to Zimbabwes foreign policy of supporting Palestine and the Western Saharawi. ZIMBABWEANS REACT TO ED MAIDEN SPEECH Reacting to Mnangagwas UN General Assembly speech, the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, Dumisani Muleya, said, Mnangagwas speech exuded a positive narrative and it was very refreshing, well, especially compared to Mugabes routinely stale and belligerent speeches which the UN has to endure for years during his reign in Zimbabwe. Muleya though added, However, beyond that it had no groundbreaking substance and was rather pedestrian. Nothing innovative or interesting, run-of-the-mill issues made all the more tedious by an uncreative and poor delivery. Political analyst, Farai Maguwu, said nothing much has changed from the Mugabe foreign policy. I think he repeated almost everything Mugabe would have said, but in a different tone. Where Mugabe would take no prisoners in his direct attacks on western leaders, ED (Emmerson Mnangagwa) spoke diplomatically and gently and spent much of his time on progressive ideas such as peace, unity and development. I would say he only mentioned in passing controversial issues such as land and sanctions, reminding the UN that there is continuity on government views on these issues, but he didnt want these to override his overall goal - an appeal for acceptance by world leaders and attracting investments. US based political analyst, Doctor Chipo Dendere, took issue with Mr. Mnangagwas claim of food security. The speech was what one would have expected He used key words like open for business and free and fair election. However, telling the world that Zimbabwe has food security when just last month we saw a report on food insecurity was a stretch. Of all the SDGs why go with that one which is completely untrue? He could have said we are working towards universal education and no one would question that. But food security? Actually sets them up for failure because we will need food inputs soon. A recent report from Famine Early Warning System (FEWSNET), a leading provider of early warning and analysis on food insecurity, noted recently that in Zimbabwe an increasing number of poor households in deficit-producing areas in the south, west, and extreme north have depleted their food stocks in August and are in Crisis. The World Food Programme has projected that more than 2.4 million rural Zimbabweans will likely face critical hunger and be food insecure during the lean season from January through March due to an expected El Nino. Czech University of Life Sciences political analyst, Welcome Zimuto, was unhappy with the presidents Commission into the fatal shooting of civilians by the army. Its worrying though that he does not mention that there will be action rather he says we will have recommendations then maybe. Zimuto also said, The belief that elections are behind and Zimbabweans should focus on development while most if not all a western powerhouses have reiterated the need for a democratic electoral process as the bedrock of engagement - no difference with Mugabe regime. Zimuto criticized Mnangagwas remarks on targeted sanctions. In fact he echoes Mugabes yesteryear call for removal of sanctions without mentioning or outlining steps to be taken by his government to make sure human rights, property rights and protection of fundamental rights. In short there is no political will to change the governance culture, its just a smokescreen speech trying to put a new face when in actual fact they are the real Mugabes in government. That rage, both authors argue, is not only healthy but rational and productive. "We envision our emotions battling our reason because, after all, that's what we are usually taught," Chemaly writes. "The entire setup makes it easier for what you say to be portrayed as unreasonable." One of Traister's heroes is the late Florynce Kennedy, the lawyer, civil rights advocate and second-wave feminist who laced her activism with anger ("The next son of a bitch that touches a woman is gonna get kicked in the balls," she warned male journalists at the 1972 Democratic National Convention) as well as biting humor ("Are you my alternative?" she would retort when men asked if she was a lesbian). Traister sees echoes of that attitude in today's uprising, in her view a welcome evolution from the glossy, nonconfrontational, celebrity-driven, cool-girl feminism of the early 21st century, one in which Traister acknowledges her own stylistic complicity. "I'd absorbed the message that open anger was needlessly overdramatic and unattractive - that it would be too much, really - and I had worked to accommodate these assumptions, tempering my fury in my writing," she writes. "So I was funny! And playful, cheeky, ironic, knowing!" The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the first time following the ouster of former President Robert Mugabe last November. STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY EMMERSON DAMBUDZO MNANGAGWA, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE, AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 73rd SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NEW YORK, USA: 26 SEPTEMBER 2018 Your Excellency, Ms Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the 73rd Session of the General Assembly, Your Majesties, Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Your Excellency, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my honour and pleasure to deliver my maiden statement in this august Assembly. Allow me to congratulate you. Madam President, on your election to preside over this 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. As only the fourth woman to hold this important position in the history of the United Nations; your election is indeed most appropriate in ter s of addressing gender equality in our organization. UNGA 2018 Theme: The theme which you have chosen, Making the UN relevant to all people: Global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies resonates well with the mantra of Agenda 2030 namely to leave no one behind. The theme is a timely reminder for us to keep the momentum going three years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Madam President, also at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a promise to end all forms of poverty. This shared vision and common destiny requires us to put all our hands on deck in order to meet the ambitious targets and create a better world. For us, in the developing world, the eradication of poverty is at the top of our agenda priorities. Development must equally be placed at the centre of the work of the United Nations, as it plays an important role in preventing hunger, deprivation, food insecurity, disease and ultimately conflict. The inclusion of the interests and views of women, the youth, children and vulnerable members of our societies should be integral and essential components in all our programs. Madam President, Distinguished Guests, I am pleased to report that Zimbabwe has made substantial progress in the implementation of some of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular with regards to ensuring food security. Through our people centered policies and planned programs, complemented by private sector financing and investments; farmers receive inputs, equipment and technical support. In a bid to improve nutrition and broaden income opportunities, we have also extended support to grow the livestock, fisheries and wildlife sectors. Removal of Sanctions: We are confident that these multi-pronged programs will accelerate Zimbabwe's re-entry into the global economy and associated value chains. This is one example of innovation, creativity and home grown solutions in addressing key developmental and economic challenges in spite of the continued illegal sanctions imposed on our country. We call for their immediate and unconditional removal. Meanwhile, we look forward to the first overall review of implementation of the SDGs to be held under the auspices of the General Assembly in 2019. 30th July 2018 Elections: Madam President, Peace, security, stability, democracy and good governance are essential ingredients for sustainable development. In view of the fact that elections as an integral element of democracy, my country held the much anticipated harmonised General Elections on the 30th July 2018. Following my deliberate and conscious decision to open up the democratic space and emphatic call for peace, unity and tolerance of divergent views amongst our people; political contestations, election campaigning, voting and counting processes were conducted freely, peacefully and transparently. In the spirit of transparency and openness, a broader spectrum of international observers and global media houses were accredited to observe our elections. The exceptionally peaceful pre and post electoral environment represented the maturing and entrenchment of democracy in Zimbabwe. We are grateful to the UN and other Member States for sending Election Observer Missions and for the Technical Assistance received by our Election Management Body. The recommendations will be taken into account as we deepen our democratic and electoral processes. We shall continue to entrench constitutionalism, democratic traditions and norms, peace unity and harmony; for it is indeed under such conditions that sustainable development, inclusive economic growth and prosperity can occur. Post-Election Violence/Commission of Inquiry: The isolated and unfortunate incident of the post election violence that occurred on 1 August 2018 is regrettable and most unacceptable. The Commission of Inquiry comprising eminent persons of national, regional and international repute has now begun its work in earnest. Their ultimate report and recommendations shall help us bring closure to the matter and assist in the improvement of our institutional governance. Economic Development/Land Reform: Madam Preside t, Distinguished Guests, now that the elections are behind us, my country is now focusing on economic development as we seek to leapfrog the modernization and industrialization of our country. The Land Reform Program is behind us and is irreversible. Emboldened by the dreams, hopes and aspirations of our people, and in tandem with the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the African Union Agenda 2063, we have outlined our vision to become a middle income economy with a per capita income of about US$3 500. This will bring on board increased investment, decent jobs, broad based empowerment and a society free from poverty and corruption by 2030. Zimbabwe is Open for Business: Zimbabwe is open for business and we are presently undertaking a raft of economic and political reforms to ensure an environment that facilitates inclusive and sustained economic growth. We have put in place institutions and instruments that maximize land utilization and increase agriculture productivity. Equally, strategies are in place in the various sectors of our economy, to enable my country to enter the global value chains. The development and modernization of our roads, railways, airports, energy and ICT infrastructure is being accelerated in line with our regional and continental quest for enhanced connectivity and integrated infrastructure. Madam President, Zimbabwe looks forward to playing a positive and constructive role as a free, democratic, transparent, prosperous and responsible member of the family of nations. We are committed to strengthen dialogue, cooperation and partnerships, underpinned by mutual respect, common values and shared principles. The prevention of conflict must be a frontline strategy. My country remains committed to strengthening multilateralism and peaceful resolution of differences. In this regard, we should address the root causes of conflict which includes poverty, inequality, deprivation, disputes over land and resources, as well as struggles for self determination. Peacemaking and peacekeeping must be complimented by peace building efforts to prevent recurrence and relapse into conflict. Zimbabwe continues to make its modest contributions through the deployment of its personnel to various United Nations peacekeeping and peace building missions. Reform of UN Security Council: Madam President, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, The United Nations and its organs require to be democratized. We join the call for Africa to be represented in the permanent category and to have increased representation in the non-permanent category. This position is indeed justified, in view of the need to correct the historical injustice which has left the African continent on the periphery of all major global decision making processes. International Financial Institutions Reform: We emphatically call for the review and reform of the Bretton Woods institutions and other International Financial Institutions. Trade is an engine for development if conducted fairly and in accordance with agreed rules. We therefore call for negotiations under the World Trade Organization which foster inclusive and shared economic growth; and further advances the global development agenda. Fight for Sovereignty: Palestine, Western Sahara Madam President, In the spirit of leaving no one behind, our efforts to promote global partnership for peace and development would never be complete unless we address the plight of people living under occupation. It is most saddening that some of us continue to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the people of Palestine. It is high time the Security Council fulfilled its Charter obligations and duties by implementing all its Resolutions; including Resolution 181, 242, 338 and 2334. On the African continent, it is equally disheartening that the people of Western Sahara are yet to exercise their inalienable right to self determination. We call on the Security Council to insist on the holding of an independent referendum for the Sahrawi people without delay, in compliance to the relevant decisions of the African Union and the resolutions of the United Nations. Furthermore, it is imperative and urgent for the Council to work tirelessly to strengthen its cooperation with the African Union Peace and Security Council in the search for a just and fair solution to the issue of Western Sahara. Climate Change: Madam President, Climate change presents a threat to all of humanity and its impact respects no borders. We therefore call for collective action and responsibility on the matter. As a developing country, we seek support in the areas of adaptation, mitigation, technology, finance and capacity building as envisaged in the Paris Agreement. United Nations Charter: In conclusion, I wish to reaffirm Zimbabwe s commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and pledge to continue to work with other nations in promoting and strengthening multilateralism for the good of humanity. Now more than ever before, the United Nations must stamp its authority and work harder for peace in a world where might is increasingly being regarded as right. Let us work together in harmony to ensure that the United Nations and all its organs, truly serve the collective interests of all Member States. As global leaders, we have a shared and onerous obligation to transform our societies and create a more peaceful and inclusive world, for present and future generations. I thank you! The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for an end to "illegal" sanctions targeted against him and his close associates, and also called for reform of the UN Security Council. Mnangagwa reiterated his commitment to democracy and accountability. 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. Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. Later, she realized how the assault had affected relationships with family members and friends. Some were not sure how to be supportive, and she ended up backing away from them. She said she realizes now that many survivors need support from those around them, but many people dont know how to provide that, which is why education on this issue is important. Kish is now able to reflect on those relationships and work on repairing some. Its also given her a good understanding of the type of empathetic, understanding people she wants in her life. The 32-room DogHouse opened in late August, inviting guests into its playful, barlike lobby and industrial-chic spaces filled with neon signs and beer quotes. But this is no smelly beer hangout for foggy-brained fraternity bros, that is, unless they have pretty deep pockets. My suite on opening day, a Monday night, cost $284. On the Tuesday when I saw the guy with the breakfast beer flight, it seemed that most of the people staying at the hotel were some kind of beer nerds: industry people in town for the opening, brewers from neighboring states, home brewers or locals who are big beer fans. It is easy to draw parallels between the actions of Cosby and Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Both are accused of being serial sexual predators. But only one has been convicted and is going to prison. The FBI probably will not even investigate the other before he is confirmed to the high court. Any attempt to do so is a naked exercise in bad faith, and represents another nail in the coffin of civil discourse and the ability to reasonably disagree over questions of law and policy, he said. The need to dig up statements I wrote as a 25 year old shows that in the eyes of my critics I am not guilty of a legal infraction or neglect of my duties, but rather just governing while conservative. We cant help but vicariously feel someones emotional distress. Its one thing to read about what Ford had to say; it was quite another to watch her speak, watch her obvious discomfort in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The distress of others disturbs us. I could hardly breathe watching her struggle with her breathing, at times taking a gulp, swallowing hard or licking her lips. In that cramped, crowded room, closed in by a semicircle of representatives and staffers, she was entirely ill at ease. OCT. 1, 2017 On this day, Stephen Paddock, 64, smashed holes in two windows of his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas and opened fire on a country music festival across the street. Twenty-two thousand music fans absorbed the sounds of terror and searched for alternative explanations. Then, as the shots kept on coming, they saw the truth. They saw the blood. They saw people fall. ... They saw what they had to do. They ran, Michael Lyle, Heather Long and Marc Fisher wrote in The Washington Post on Oct. 3. In 11 minutes, Paddock fired more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, killing 58 people and wounding more than 800. Police later found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In the past year, investigators have learned that he meticulously planned the attack, checking in six days earlier and making multiple trips from his home to his suite, carting suitcases filled with guns and ammunition. President Trump called the attack pure evil. In August, authorities closed their investigation without an explanation for what motivated Paddock. I am here today not because I want to be, said Ford, now a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University who said she had never been questioned by a prosecutor before. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. The girl who filed the lawsuit promptly reported the alleged attack, in which, she said, a male student pulled her into a bathroom, forced her into a stall and began kissing her and trying to put his hand up her dress. She said that she escaped but that he left a hickey on her neck, which she cites as evidence of the incident in the recording of her meeting with Roosevelt officials. Ninety-two percent of schools received full accreditation from the Virginia Department of Education for the 2018-2019 school year. That was true even though more than 40 percent of schools fell short of satisfying the states expectations for narrowing achievement gaps in math and English. The women who are ending their long silences finally have the time and the wisdom to consider what happened to them. They were assaulted in an era when it was seen as their fault. They were wearing lipstick, or theyd gotten in a car with a guy. Or it was a man everyone loved. Uncle Jimmy? Hed never. So they kept quiet. I think Rahm Emanuel should have been charged with obstruction of justice, Calloway aid. He covered up Laquan McDonalds video. Even Garry McCarthy said he notified Rahm. I think it was a collusion between Rahm and McCarthy and former Corporation Counsel Steve Patton. They all colluded to cover up and keep this video from the public for the purposes of the election. The dockless bicycles and scooters that have popped up like mushrooms in the District over the past year will be allowed in Arlington County under a nine-month trial, with a handful of limits on the size of the fleets and where the vehicles are allowed. Police said that he refused to come to his door and that officers waited him out. Authorities said there was no indication that anyone inside was held against their will. Arlington police said that during the barricade, the suspect made threats and was seen with a knife. He was arrested without incident. Kasich called a delay in the best interest of the country and said in a statement that without an investigation, and with so many serious issues involved, I cant support this nomination if they choose to move forward, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy All the charges in Tranthams case were dropped because the judge determined that the officer who pulled Trantham over that night should have pulled him over immediately after the alleged traffic violation instead of later at a traffic light, Erzen said. The stop at the traffic light was not valid because the officer needed a different reason to pull him over at that point, Erzen said of the judges decision. We know the recovery is many, many months, probably more than a year, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said this week. She added, So we have to be very focused on following the seniors some well into their 80s, very senior people who this is a type of tragedy thats even more difficult for them to recover from. The Allen County Sheriffs Department requested the Amber Alert after the child, Mary Kryder, went missing Wednesday evening. She was last seen around 6 p.m. in Fort Wayne, about 215 miles southeast of Chicago. In one case, police said Lopez saw one teenager a 16-year-old boy who has autism walk away from the school in the morning around 9:52 a.m. but did not notify school staff members. Around 12:40 p.m., police said, Lopez told administrative personnel that the boy had left after a relative called about picking him up. At that point, the student was reported missing to law enforcement. It would require all landlords renting property built before 1978, the year lead paint was effectively banned, to provide a clearance report to new tenants showing that inspectors have done lead-dust testing and the property is safe. It would also strengthen steps for remediation, which may include asking landlords to remove baseboards in units where lead has been found to keep potential contaminants out of a childs reach. The law would also establish a fund to offset landlord expenses when making repairs so the supply of affordable housing is not affected. Stewart told the group that his staff questioned his decision to attend. My advisers were like, Never go into a forum unless its a friendly forum, unless youre absolutely certain people are going to be with you, he said. And I think that thats the problem in America. I think its the problem in Washington. I think that we have two sides that arent talking to one another. The company has been hosting current events talks for more than two years regarding events such as President Donald Trumps election and the Charlottesville, Va., rally that sparked racial tensions. The talks are a safe space for employees to express themselves, though they are encouraged to keep their conversations work-appropriate, Armsey said. The real identity of one of the men wanted by Britain for the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter is Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, according to media reports on Wednesday that said he was a decorated Russian colonel. As for spectrum, the FCC has been aggressively making more radio waves available for Americans to use. Last year, we concluded the worlds first incentive auction, in which spectrum once used by TV broadcasters was sold to wireless companies to expand bandwidth and coverage for consumers. Weve scheduled the United States first two high-band 5G spectrum auctions, which will begin later this year, and we are on track to auction off three more bands next year. Were also exploring how to repurpose mid-band spectrum for new wireless applications, from rural broadband coverage to the next generation of WiFi. And were working with other federal agencies to free up spectrum held by the federal government (which has held a majority of the airwaves for some time). These auctions not only provide more wireless capabilities to more consumers, but they also raise billions of dollars in non-tax revenue for our nation. Attorneys did not ask Patterson what happened after police arrived. But she told the Tribune earlier this month that officers had McDonald apologize to her. She said police told her they were taking McDonald who admitted to being high to Mount Sinai Hospital for observation, but the defense team previously said in court that police let the teen go after Patterson declined to sign a complaint. No federal legislation toughening gun laws has been passed since 1994, largely because the GOP has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the gun lobby. Democrats, for their part, have varied in their enthusiasm for gun control; their support waned after the passage of the assault-weapons ban was blamed for costing them control of Congress in 1994. The Republican Party orthodoxy has become that anyone no matter how demented or dangerous who wants a military-grade weapon should be entitled to one. (The only real difference between an AR-15 and a military-issued M-4 or M-16 is that the latter can fire in burst mode, i.e., three shots per trigger pull, but in practice soldiers are taught to use semiautomatic mode, i.e., one shot per trigger pull.) The Djiboutian government is expected to hand over operations of the port to Chinese state-connected firms and in July announced a partnership with one of them to establish a massive free trade zone in the country. Situated along one of the busiest commercial sea lanes in the world, Chinese economic interests are clear. Djibouti stands to be a key node in Chinas string of pearls strategy, which links key ports to their greater One Belt, One Road initiative. But whats to stop other countries from declaring that they, too, will not be taken advantage of any longer and slapping tariffs or trade barriers on U.S. energy? And if everyone agrees that globalism and global governance are outdated ideologies, then why should anyone feel compelled to cooperate in areas of interest to the United States? In truth, Trump and the Trumpists are in an unfortunate position: Every problem they claim to care about the most requires, at least in part, an international solution. Terrorism cannot be stopped without organized efforts in Europe and the Middle East. Blue-collar factory jobs often depend on the export of American goods abroad, or the import of foreign parts. A sanctions regime imposed by the United States alone, on anyone, is meaningless. International cooperation of some kind is even required to control immigration, if only because foreign countries issue the passports needed to police the border. But as a result, Mitchells questions ended up focusing on trivial potential inconsistencies in Fords account of peripheral details, such as the distance from her house to the country club she referenced in her allegation or on irrelevant areas such as the location of her polygraph examination (which concluded that she was being truthful). Mitchell asked a few questions about when Ford contacted Congress and who helped her find a lawyer, perhaps trying to imply, however implausibly, that Ford was part of some political conspiracy to take down Kavanaugh. But Mitchell completely failed to shake the heart of Fords testimony about the assault in fact, she didnt go anywhere near it. Both parties have made electoral politics secondary because they know that history will weigh heavily in the coming days. In Republican Ascendancy, his classic book about the 1920s and early 1930s, the historian John D. Hicks noted that President Warren G. Harding got to make four Supreme Court appointments in his 2 years in office. He named conservative former president William Howard Taft as chief justice, while Hardings other three appointments fell also to men of ability, albeit in each case to an extreme conservative. Democrats now believe they can weaponize the Republicans dependence on corporate donors for control of the House. More than two dozen Democratic challengers in top races have made ads against corporate lobbyists, dark money and billionaire donors while touting their own refusal to take PAC money. End Citizens United reports that 32 candidates who have pledged not to take corporate PAC money have outraised their incumbent opponents. At least 14 of them still managed to bring in $1 million during the second quarter. (Fundraising for the third quarter, which ends this week, will be reported by Oct. 15.) 4. Van Dyke was trained at the police academy to shoot until the threat was eliminated -- but also that deadly force was a last resort. The defense called retired Chicago police firearms instructor Nicholas Pappas to reinforce the idea that Van Dyke followed his training when he fired 16 rounds into McDonald as the teen walked down Pulaski Road with a knife. Pappas said recruits are taught that knives are deadly weapons that can pierce their bulletproof vests and that someone with a knife can close a distance of 21 feet in less than two seconds. But prosecutors were able to point out on cross-examination that Van Dyke may have ignored other aspects of his training that night including his decision to step toward McDonald instead of taking cover behind his squad car and failing to reassess the threat after McDonald crumpled to the street. A: There is a lot of speculation whether Tareck El Aissami, one of the closest members of Maduros regime, is connected to those cartels. . . . Something has to be done. When I came to office, I realized that in the last five years, we jumped from having 50,000 hectares of coca crops to more than 200,000. So since Day One of my administration, I have begun finding those illegal crops and dismantling cartels, and bringing people to jail and prosecuting them. We have seized and frozen assets and narcotics, and captured more than 300 members of illegal armed groups. I have extradited to the United States more than 40 people. I am very strong in the fight against narco-trafficking. . . . But at the same time, we all need to cut down consumption. Hes basically done a lot of things he wanted to do pull out of the [Iran nuclear deal] and reach out to North Korea, said Thomas Wright, a foreign affairs analyst at Brookings Institution. He sort of declared victory without doing much on them. He ticked through everything and hes out of ideas. Its an interesting question of what hes going to do next, because in his mind all these problems are basically solved. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Prices use of costly charter jets for official travel cost him his job last fall, and former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin was widely criticized for a trip to Europe that mixed official and personal travel at taxpayer expense. Scott Pruitt, the former Environmental Protection Agency chief, also came under scrutiny for charging the government for first-class plane tickets, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was investigated for trips mixing official business with political appearances, some taken on private charter flights. If this is someone who has spent years as a prosecutor for sex crimes, that could mean one of two things, Coons said. Either this is someone who deeply understands, respects and fights for victims and is able to conduct questioning of Dr. Ford that is respectful, or this is someone who knows how to be aggressive and focused and take a prosecutorial tone, and I think that will not turn out well for the majority. The focal point of the large room was a long table draped in a bright green cloth. . . . Immediately to my right and left were throngs of photographers; behind me were my advisers, more journalists, staffers, and other nameless observers. In front of me, facing me and the bank of journalists, was the Senate Judiciary Committee fourteen white men dressed in dark gray suits. Throughout that entire time, throughout my 53 years and seven months on this Earth, until last week, no one ever accused me of any kind of sexual misconduct, he said. No one, ever . . . A lifetime of high-profile public service at the highest levels of American government and never a hint of anything of this kind, and thats because nothing of this kind ever happened. Either outcome in the Kavanaugh fight is likely to have far-reaching impact on both the upcoming elections and the next two years of the Trump presidency, according to strategists in both parties. Kavanaughs confirmation could help inspire more Republicans to turn out to vote in November, but it could also motivate Democrats and alienate some female voters from the GOP for years to come. A failed nomination, meanwhile, could deeply divide the Republican coalition and suppress voter turnout. Paramedics took him to the University of Chicago Medical Center. A doctor there told police that, about an hour before the boy arrived, the hospital had gotten a call from the Gift of Hope, an organ and tissue donor organization, asking if the boy was there yet, police said. The caller would not say who told them the boy was going to be there, police said. But what was perhaps most remarkable was just how transparent and revealing Trump continues to be, the 45th president of the United States offering glimpses deep into the recesses of his mind as he gleefully took the nation on a tour de force of everything from the fate of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh (uncertain, but to be determined Thursday) to the job security of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein (uncertain, but probably fine for now) to his relationship with the New York Times (uncertain, but definitely tortured). The Maricopa County prosecutor never laid out a broad theory in her questions to Ford. Instead, she asked Ford to mark her home on a map of the Chevy Chase area. She asked her to review each of her past statements about the attack and explore whether her account has been consistent over time. She inquired whether Ford was on medication the night she remembered that Kavanaugh and friend Mark Judge locked her in a bedroom and attacked her. (Not at all, Ford recalled.) In my freshman and sophomore school years, when I was 14 and 15 years old, my group of friends intersected with Brett and his friends for a short period of time. I had been friendly with a classmate of Bretts for a short time during my freshman year, and it was through that connection that I attended a number of parties that Brett also attended. We did not know each other well, but I knew him and he knew me. Collins, in brief comments to reporters, also declined to comment on the latest accusations Wednesday. Swetnick, who is from the Washington suburbs, said in a sworn affidavit that Kavanaugh was physically abusive toward girls in high school and present at a house party in 1982 where she says she was the victim of a gang rape. As he has with other allegations, Kavanaugh has vehemently denied it, calling the accusation ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. The pages in the Des Moines Register were laid out newspaper-style, with a small note at the top labeling them as a China Daily supplement. The lead headline declared, Duel undermines the benefits of trade exactly the same message that has been plastered across Chinas state-owned newspapers these past few weeks as the government tries to hammer home the message that the trade war is bad for Americans. If you ask me, does anti-white racism exist? I can say yes, and this is a very good example of it. However, if you ask me is there anti-white discrimination in France? The answer is no, said Louis-Georges Tin, a representative of black organizations in France. I dont think there is anyone in France who didnt find a job or an apartment because he or she is white. I happen to think that in Washington, D.C., that the Judiciary Committee in the Senate should be handing over to the FBI the investigation of the allegations that have been made about Kavanaugh, Pritzker said. Thats the way to do it. Im not sure that here in Illinois that things have been handled the way they should have, but under our administration, they will be. Rosensteins job security has been a subject of near-constant speculation almost since the moment he got it in early 2017. But it seemed never more at risk than after a New York Times story last week said the No. 2 official at the Justice Department had once suggested secretly recording the president and mustering support to use the 25th Amendment of the constitution to remove him from office. It could be an indication not only of Rauners repetitive push for term limits, but also his massive spending to attack Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. Rauner has used Madigan as a poster child for term limits. Madigan has been in the legislature since 1971 and has been speaker for all but two years since 1983. Instead, Rosenstein went to the White House on Monday expecting he would be fired, then stayed in his job. Some advisers urged the president not to remove him wary of inspiring Democrats with the midterm elections just a few months away. On Wednesday, Trump declared at a news conference, My preference would be to keep him and to let him finish up. Rodriguez is one of at least 25 women who have been incarcerated many facing decades-long sentences since El Salvador made abortion illegal under all circumstances in 1998. Most of these women claim to have had late-term obstetric emergencies or stillbirths. Many have been separated from their children while in prison. BEIJING China is flatly denying President Donald Trump's accusation that it is interfering in November's midterm elections, implying that it is the United States that has a track record of meddling in other countries' business. With an acrimonious trade dispute rumbling on and amid an increasingly fractious security environment, the latest tit-for-tat could worsen the relationship between the world's two largest economies. "I believe the international community knows very well who is most used to meddling in the internal affairs of others," Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters Thursday. He did not name the United States directly but was responding to a question about Trump's assertion Wednesday at the United Nations that Beijing was attempting to influence the midterms. "They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president to ever challenge China on trade," Trump said at a U.N. Security Council meeting, "and we are winning on trade - we are winning on every level." But the president and his top aides offered no evidence or even anecdotes to support the contention that China was meddling. Trump's ire appeared sparked by a four-page supplement that the China Daily, an English-language publication owned by the Chinese government, bought in the Des Moines Register on Sunday. Asked about the newspaper ads, Geng said the idea that they amounted to election interference was "totally far-fetched and fictional." "We advise the U.S. side to stop its unwarranted accusations and slander against China and refrain from wrong words and deeds that might hurt our bilateral relations and fundamental interests," he said. The pages in the Des Moines Register were laid out newspaper-style, with a small note at the top labeling them as a China Daily supplement. The lead headline declared, "Duel undermines the benefits of trade" - exactly the same message that has been plastered across China's state-owned newspapers these last few weeks as the government tries to hammer home the message that the trade war is bad for Americans. Another headline read, "Dispute: Fruit of a president's folly," although there was lighter content, too - about robotics and a fashion entrepreneur and President Xi Jinping's "fun days in Iowa." China, among other countries, has a long history of using ads in newspapers, including in The Washington Post, to get across messages that it would have trouble persuading professional journalists to print. Iowa was the perfect target for China for a number of reasons. For one, its status as the first state to vote during presidential primary season gives it outsize influence over the U.S. electoral process. Second, it has a special status in the bilateral relationship. Long before he became China's president, Xi traveled to Muscatine, Iowa, to learn about agriculture. There, in 1985, he met Terry Branstad, a first-term governor. Thirty-two years later, with Xi now president of China, Trump sent Branstad to Beijing as American ambassador to capitalize on their long, Iowa-born relationship. Third, Iowa, a major grower of soy beans and producer of pork, stands to suffer greatly from an extended trade war. China has slapped a 25 percent tariff on soybean imports, and there are already signs that Chinese buyers, who account for about 60 percent of the global soybean market, are looking to other producers, such as those in South America. Iowa farmers are projected to lose up to $2.2 billion from U.S. trade wars, according to a new Iowa State University study cited by the Register this week. The ripple effect would hit state tax receipts and could affect manufacturing and other jobs, too. The Iowa governor's race is shaping up to be very close. The latest polls suggest that Fred Hubbell, the Democratic candidate who vows to increase the state's exports, has an edge over the incumbent Republican, Kim Reynolds. "Anyone who knows anything about China could have told Donald Trump that China would look for ways to retaliate," said Paul Haenle, a former China adviser to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. "And now Trump is worried about being blamed if there is a GOP loss in Iowa, so he's trying to get ahead of that," said Haenle, now director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing. Chinese analysts were perplexed that Trump would label this kind of newspaper advertising interference when it was much more transparent than what Russia is accused of doing in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. Russian operatives stand accused of stealing emails from the Democratic National Committee and using social media to sow misinformation and heighten political tension ahead of the vote. Twenty-five Russians and three companies have been indicted on charges of involvement in this effort as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the election. In an address in South Carolina on Wednesday, Daniel Coats, Trump's director of national intelligence, said that China was "more methodical" than Russia. "In contrast to Russia, China often executes its strategy in a more deliberate and subtle manner that tends to generate less media and public attention," Coats said. Chinese authorities use "all of the capabilities at their disposal to influence U.S. policies, spread propaganda [and] manipulate the media." The accusations against China are "not helpful" at this tense time in the bilateral relationship, said Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai. "How can the Chinese government present evidence that it hasn't done something? The U.S. needs to present the evidence," he said. "By making these accusations without presenting evidence, Trump is degrading America's credibility." The Global Times, a nationalist tabloid that often reflects the government's thinking, said Trump's accusations are part of his "creative campaign strategy" to malign China and try to attract more votes for Republicans in the midterms. The paper did not mince words about the American president's recent rhetoric. "Trump routinely applauds himself for his achievements and has already declared victory over the trade war against China," it said in an editorial. "However, if all of it were true, then Trump wouldn't have worry about China's alleged meddling in U.S. elections." The trade dispute shows no sign of ending anytime soon. But China is always open to negotiations, Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said Thursday. "Whether it is possible to restart consultations and negotiate depends entirely on the U.S. side," he said. In any case, he added, "China's determination to safeguard its interests and its rights to develop will not change." Shen of Fudan University said it was too early to say how far the dispute would spread. But, if Trump's allegations were true, then interference could be good for a majority of Americans, he said. "Every coin has two sides," Shen said. "If China has interfered in the elections, probably most Americans would be happy because they want to bring Trump down too." The Washington Post's Yang Liu contributed to this report. It all started when the gym was run by the then blue-branded Fitness First. I joined up, frequented it three times a week for about six months, then got existentially depressed by the cardio room and cancelled my membership. Id tried phoning my cancellation in but was told I had to go to the website. I went to the website, navigated their "see if you can find the cancellation button" labyrinth game and clicked. I considered myself cancelled. A week later, I saw the payment was still coming out of my account and so I called to cancel again. Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the second day of his U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on September 5, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT In the nursing home she was independent, cared for and saw the doctor regularly. Then she moved in with her son and his family and the caring gave way to squalor and neglect. Doctor visits became irregular, the medicine stopped coming. Then came the bed sores and soiled nappies. By the time she died from bronchial pneumonia, in October 2013 at age 83, she had not seen a doctor or taken prescribed medicine for 16 months, had been unable to speak or swallow for a week and was lying in a filthy bed in a putrid room, all while her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren lived under the same Melbourne roof. Throughout this, carer payments kept coming to her daughter-in-law, who had been approved as the elderly woman's carer years earlier despite her own struggles trying to run the household. The government has backflipped on a promise to change a law that can condemn any threatened West Australian species to extinction with a single signature. In 2016 the former Coalition government drafted and passed a new Biodiversity Conservation Act. The black-flanked rock-wallaby is one of 672 species now listed as threatened in WA. Credit:Sarah Matheson This was eagerly awaited as the old laws were hopelessly outdated, but was finally greeted with horror by scientists, environmental groups, the Greens and Labor because it contained a so-called 'God clause' enabling the minister of the day to sign off on extinction of a listed threatened species if they saw fit for example, to make way for a development or mining approval. Labor stridently opposed the bill in opposition, calling it "a mechanism for sending species to extinction", saying it failed on critical aspects and gave the minister unfettered discretion without transparency, and "we can't let this be part of our Act." Justin Milne ran one of Australia's first internet service providers, OzEmail. How the ABC chairman could be so careless in an email, a basic technology the internet enabled, will remain one of the great mysteries of this week's stunning events. But while Milne has been the focus of much anger, the ABC board's handling of the crisis gripping the public broadcaster deserves serious scrutiny. ABC chairman Justin Milne Credit:Alex Ellinghausen We now know the board had in its possession written evidence that Milne had interfered with the ABC's editorial operations - and detailed claims he had done so on more than one occasion. As Fairfax Media reported earlier this week, the ABC chairman used an email to tell his managing director to sack high-profile presenter Emma Alberici following a complaint from Malcolm Turnbull, the recently deposed prime minister who is also Milne's close friend and one-time chairman at OzEmail. "I want to thank you for your courage. And I want to tell you I believe you. And I believe many Americans across the country believe you," Democratic Senator Kamala Harris said. Loading While some Republicans and Trump have called the allegations by Ford and two other women part of a "smear campaign" and a "con job", Ford told the committee: "I am an independent person and I am no pawn." Ford and Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge picked by Trump in July for a lifetime job on the high court, were the only two witnesses scheduled. "I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school," Ford said, reading from her prepared testimony. Ford was seated at a table in the packed hearing room flanked by her lawyers, facing a bank of senators. Cameras from news photographers clicked as she entered the room and took her seat, smiling nervously. Dr Ford is sworn before giving testimony before Republican and Democrat senators. Credit:AP "Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was very inebriated and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothing. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help," Ford said, adding that Kavanaugh and a friend of his, Mark Judge, were "drunkenly laughing during the attack". She said Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming, adding, "This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me." Under questioning from Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, Ford said she has suffered from claustrophobia and anxiety as a result of her experience and initially struggled while at college. She said that she first disclosed the assault to her husband in 2012 during a couple's therapy session that arose out of their house being renovated. She had wanted an extra front door put on the house due to the claustrophobia and anxiety she suffered a result of her experience. Their house now has two front doors. President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of misconduct by three women. Credit:AP Ford said in a response to Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy that her strongest memory of the incident was the "uproarious laughter between the two [Kavanaugh and Judge] and their having fun at my expense". Rachel Mitchell, the sex crimes prosecutor hired by Republicans to query Ford, opened her questioning by sympathising with Ford. "The first thing that struck me from your statement this morning was that you are terrified. And I just wanted to let you know, I'm very sorry. That's not right," Mitchell said. While Mitchell sought to probe Ford's account including any gaps in her story, her questioning seemed disjointed and most observers said she appeared ineffective. She took turns with the Democratic senators to ask questions in five minute segments, disrupting her flow. Phoenix prosecutor Rachel Mitchell listens to Christine Blasey Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Credit:AP Supreme Court appointments must be confirmed by the Senate, and Trump's fellow Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 51-49 margin. That means that a handful of moderate Republican senators who have not announced whether or not they support Kavanaugh could determine his fate. The committee could vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Friday, with a final Senate vote early next week. Some Democrats have called on Kavanaugh to withdraw in light of the allegations. Protesters gather inside the senate hearing featuring Christine Blasey Ford. Credit:AP The controversy has unfolded just weeks ahead of the November 6 congressional elections in which Democrats are trying to seize control of Congress from Trump's fellow Republicans. Kavanaugh's confirmation would cement conservative control of the high court as Trump moves to shift it and the broader federal judiciary to the right. Republican Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the committee, said at the opening of the hearing that he wanted it to be "safe comfortable and dignified for both of our witnesses". He decried the "media circus" around the allegations against Kavanaugh and said the nominee and Ford had been through a terrible couple of weeks since Ford levelled her accusation. "What they have endured ought to be considered by all of us as unacceptable and a poor reflection on the state of civility in our democracy," Grassley said. "So I want to apologise to you both for the way you've been treated." Loading Grassley said it was up to the Senate to assess the credibility of Kavanaugh and Ford. Feinstein said Ford should be treated with more respect than Anita Hill, who in 1991 accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Thomas was ultimately confirmed by the Senate and still sits on the court. Unequivocal denial In his prepared testimony, Kavanaugh "unequivocally and categorically" denied her allegation of sexual assault, as well as "other false and uncorroborated accusations" by his other accusers. "Sexual assault is horrific. It is morally wrong. It is illegal. It is contrary to my religious faith. And it contradicts the core promise of this nation that all people are created equal and entitled to be treated with dignity and respect," Kavanaugh said. Loading Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in the 1980s. In Illinois, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said earlier this month that there should be an investigation and the allegations, if true, should disqualify Kavanaugh. He did not specify whether he thought the Senate inquiry was sufficient or whether the FBI should investigate, as Democrats have asked. "I would much prefer keeping Rod Rosenstein," Trump said at a news conference in New York. "He said he did not say it. He said he does not believe that. He said he has a lot of respect for me, and he was very nice and we'll see." News stories about the speech, including in The Washington Post, noted that the laughter came after Trump had opened his remarks by saying his administration had accomplished more than "almost any other administration" in U.S. history. That doesnt mean its the obligation of the United States to crush these customs at gunpoint. But we are obliged to at least bear witness to evil and to do what we can not to lend aid and comfort to such things, even rhetorically. Nor, as the leader of the free world, should we pretend that just because every nation-state is sovereign as a matter of international law that the people of every unfree nation chose to live under despots and dictatorships. On Friday, Sept. 21, at approximately 2:36 p.m. a call came into the Kimball County Sheriffs Office from Wyoming Highway Patrol about a stolen vehicle and subsequent high speed pursuit that was heading east into Kimball County on Interstate 80, according to Kimball County Sheriff Harry Gillway. Gillway said the pursuit exited the interstate at Bushnell and continued east on Highway 30. A woman passenger jumped from the moving vehicle and was then brought to the Kimball County Sheriffs Office, by a passerby, where she was then interviewed, he added. Nebraska State Patrol along with deputies of the KCSO assisted the Laramie County Sheriffs Office out of Laramie County, Wyoming and the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Law enforcement lost sight of the stolen vehicle in Kimball County, south of Bushnell. KCSO deputies searched farm houses in the area and alerted Kimball County residents, sharing the description of a hispanic male wearing a ball cap and yellow shirt. Deputy Jason Hottell found the vehicle near county road 25 and 10. According to Gillway information was later given that approximately four miles from where the vehicle was found, a man approached a farmer about his truck breaking down and asked the farmer to give him a ride to Cheyenne at approximately 8:22 p.m. Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Laramie County Sheriffs Department are continuing their investigation. BRIDGEPORT A juvenile who escaped Wednesday from the Bridgeport Juvenile Detention Center has not yet been located, officials said on Thursday. The incident is the subject of an internal investigation to determine whether policies and procedures were followed, said Rhonda Herbert, a judicial branch spokeswoman, on Thursday. She said she could not disclose the juveniles age or identity. Bridgeport police assisted state police in the search for the juvenile Wednesday night. It was unclear if any active searches for the minor were done Thursday. Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez confirmed to Hearst Connecticut Media at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday that a juvenile did escape from the detention center at 60 Housatonic Avenue. Dispatch reports indicated the juvenile escaped from the facility around 8:30 p.m. The local union, AFSCME Local 749, representing juvenile detention officers and other employees in the state judicial branch, released a statement Thursday about the incident. For two years we have been sounding the warning that the states two juvenile detention centers are seriously under-staffed, said a prepared statement from local union President Charles DellaRocco. There are simply not enough detention officers, leading to staff injuries and an absurd amount of mandated overtime. Neither the police department nor the judicial branch spokeswoman alluded to why or how the juvenile escaped from custody. No description of the minor was given by either agency. DellaRocco painted a picture of what goes on inside the detention centers, saying, Conditions at the facility have become increasingly volatile, both for the detention officers we represent and for the client population we are supposed to serve. In a recent interview, Bridgeport Police Sgt. Jason Amato said the facility can hold between 10 to 12 juveniles at a time. But keeping a minor locked up isnt an easy task in Connecticut. During the recent interview, Amato said police have to get a signed court order to hold a juvenile at a detention center, adding that police have to prove the juvenile could be considered a threat to the community or to themselves. Mostly, he said, police get approved to hold juveniles wanted for heinous crimes. No information about what the juvenile was wanted for was released by police or the judicial branch. Were doing our best to provide a safe and constructive environment for juvenile residents, said local union Vice President Ron Nelson, a juvenile detention officer at Bridgeport. But lack of staffing and work-related injuries are taking a toll on our morale and harming the mission of juvenile detention. The state only has two juvenile detention centers, one in Bridgeport and the other in Hartford. While searching Wednesday night, police checked the train station, including at least one Metro-North Railroad train stopped on the tracks. The juvenile, according to dispatch reports, is a New Haven resident. The police search prompted delays to Metro-North Railroad trains on the New Haven Line up to 25 minutes around 9:25 p.m. By 9:45 p.m., service was back to normal. STAMFORD A 2-year-old boy sustained life-threatening injuries after a television set fell on top of his head Thursday morning, police said. Sgt. Joseph Kennedy said he could not describe the boys injuries, but said the child needed to be immediately flown to Yale New Haven Childrens Hospital. Kennedy said first responders found the child in his mothers arms around 8:45 a.m. Thursday. Initial police radio dispatch reports indicated the child was not breathing, but regained respiration. The boy was also reportedly bleeding from his nose and ears. Kennedy declined to describe exactly how the accident happened, but said the injury involved an older and heavier, tube-style television. We are working with the department of Children and Families and this is an open investigation, he said. We dont have any conclusions on whether it is an accident or not. It is too early to tell. We will look at it again once we gather all the evidence. Kennedy said he felt police would receive full cooperation from the childs family. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com WESTPORT Accusations of foul play are flying from both sides in the race for the 26th Senate District pitting a 22-year-old Democrat versus a Republican 21-year veteran of Hartford politics. It seems to be one of the races where theres an unusual amount of interest this year, Gary Rose, a professor of government at Sacred Heart University, said of the race for the 26th District, which includes parts of Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton. Incumbent Sen. Toni Boucher has accused Haskell of being a privileged Westport kid and his supporters of taking down campaign signs and conducting push polls, which propose leading and often negative questions to discredit a candidate. Bouchers challenger, Will Haskell, says Boucher is levying false claims about his familys finances and personal life. The testiness and antagonism now showing up in the race for the 26th could be filtering down from the state gubernatorial race, which has gotten heated with personal attacks, Rose said. Democratic enthusiasm in the state, coupled with antipathy to President Donald Trump, could buoy Haskells chances of winning the race, but Boucher has won her last two elections with more than 60 percent of the vote in a district that has 30.8 percent registered Democrats and 30.4 percent registered Republicans. It would be an upset of major proportions, Rose said of the possibility that Haskell defeats Boucher. In a Sept. 19 Facebook post on her personal page, Boucher, who has represented the 26th Senate District since 2009 and previously represented the 143rd House District, which includes Wilton, her hometown, and Norwalk for the previous 12 years, said her opponent has engaged in unfair campaign practices. First pulling up signs and now push polls. So sad to start a new political journey by using the worst of campaign tactics. And, not a good way to establish a positive reputation when newly entering the political arena, Boucher, 68, wrote, noting she heard about the alleged push polls from several of her supporters, including Weston resident Michele Tivey, who said she received a call that painted Sen. Boucher in a negative light and repeatedly lied about her record on education funding, tax reform and LGBTQ rights. Tivey did not return a call seeking comment. All the other side is interested in doing is levying accusations that just arent true, Haskell said, adding, Push polls are not something my campaign could afford or something were interested in doing. A search of Haskells campaign on the State Elections Commission website does not show any expenditures for polling. Boucher claimed, without evidence, that his campaign removed several Boucher lawn signs from private property in Weston in a Facebook post on Sept. 15 and a week prior told a group of Republicans at the opening of the Ridgefield Republican Town Committee that his parents are major donors to U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and Sen. Chris Murphy, (both D-Conn.), Haskell said. Im not aware of any political sign theft complaints that weve received, Norwalk police Lt. Terry Blake said. It certainly has to be those that are advancing that campaign, otherwise I dont know why they would spend the money and time to do it, Boucher said of the woman that removed her sign. Haskell denies his campaign was responsible for the removal of Bouchers signs in Norwalk. In a recording obtained by the Westport News, Boucher levied several personal criticisms of Haskell in speaking to a group at the opening of the Ridgefield Republican Town Committee headquarters. He has nothing else to do. People get the sense that he is that really privileged, wealthy kid from a wealthy family in Westport and he cant wait to get to law school, Boucher is heard on the recording. His parents gave so much money to the Democrats, he gets every opportunity to work for Himes, or Chris Murphy, or Blumenthal, and so on. So, trust me, he has his minions and he had them there tonight that are his college buddies that graduated, and of course apparently, his parents are paying for his lifestyle. Haskell, who graduated from Georgetown University in May and interned in the Washington offices of Himes and Murphy, said he is supporting himself with money he saved from working as a researcher and at a convenience store throughout college. His parents are not financially supporting him at this time, he said. Haskell, who grew up in Westport, lives in an apartment in New Canaan, he said. A search of Haskells parents on the Federal Election Commission database shows neither of Haskells parents has donated to the campaigns of Murphy or Himes. What weve seen repeatedly from the other side is an interest in talking about anything other than Sen. Bouchers record and the issues. The distraction is so frustrating because when I go door-to-door, no voters want to talk about push polls or signs. They want to talk about the cost of prescription drugs and common-sense gun regulation, Haskell said. In response to why she made false claims about Haskells parents campaign donations, Boucher blamed the Haskell campaign for sending trackers to follow her. Theres apparently some person tracking and running around trying to get I gotcha kind of tapes, Boucher said, adding, This is all part of the devolution of the process. We do not send trackers or people to spy on the other person in their private gatherings. Our campaign desperately needs all the help we can get and we simply dont have an indefinite number of resources to send people to her events and its not something were going to do, Haskell said, denying the use of trackers. svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1 WESTPORT Two weeks ago, following a different storm than the one that struck Westport this week, a Weston residents boat broke free from its mooring and washed up on the Saugatuck Shores. The boat is still there. Even before the incident, the boats owner, Ed Train, received criticism from Westport residents who called his boat disheveled. Train, who has maintained permits to dock his two boats at the Westport shore for the past 20 years, himself admitted his boat could use some TLC. Both of Trains boats became unmoored on the Sept. 10 storm, though his other boat, which washed up near the bridges on Harbor Road, has received less criticism than his boat stuck on the Saugatuck. Theyre both still there, Westport Harbor Master Robert Giunta said of Trains unmoored boats, adding, This takes time to get arrangements made. It takes time. This is his boat and he wants to save it. Its up to him. Giunta said Westport Deputy Police Chief Samuel Arciola is helping to handle the removal of Trains boats, but Arciola was not available for comment. The owner was in contact with the Coast Guard and two salvage companies and were still in the process of removal, Lt. Jillian Cabana with Westport police said. Train did not respond to repeated calls about the status of his unmoored boats. At the time Trains boat washed up on the Saugatuck, onlookers reported an oily smell and expressed concern contaminants may have leaked from the boat. Im working with the Coast Guard right now to meet all of their requirements to ensure theres no further contamination, Train said in the days following his boats unmooring, adding he wants to save his boat and is making preparations to do so. This is a legal, seaworthy vessel, although it may be cosmetically challenged, Train said. svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1 Jim was a hard-working man who always had a smile for everyone The idea that any means necessary were justified by the noble ends of destroying Trump explains everything from the anonymous op-ed in The New York Times detailing formal White House resistance to Trump's governance, to Bob Woodward's latest expose of purported Trump chaos, to Robert Mueller's investigation that was mandated to find Russian collusion and has ended up desperate to find any crimes that might prove Trump guilty of something. But by the same token, Democrats should stop calling for Kavanaugh's nomination to be withdrawn, as if that could possibly put this scandal to rest. Two days ago, yes, but now the nation cannot afford to punt. Regardless of what it might do to Republican chances of putting a conservative in the seat, or to Democratic chances of retaking the Senate, once Thursday's hearing concludes, the president must reopen the FBI background checks to try to establish the truth of the allegations, from Swetnick and Ford and Ramirez. If the FBI substantiates them, any criminality should be referred to local prosecutors for possible prosecution. If the FBI is unable to substantiate any of them, then despite the lingering questions, Democrats should join Republicans and unanimously confirming Kavanaugh, to signal that some things both #MeToo and the integrity of the nomination process are above politics. After the primary, Gov. Bruce Rauner moved a Republican whos already on the board because of a previous appointment, David Walsh, into the vacant Bradford seat. Rauners appointment as written would leave Walsh in Bradfords seat through the 2020 general election. Thats evidently an executive branch error; it is at odds with the legal opinion of Foxxs office that voters get to elect Bradfords replacement in 2018. And nobody went to court before the March primary to allege that Foxxs office is wrong. Lillian Rose (Janysek) Bujnoch Audio Article It is with profound sadness that the family of Lillian Rose (Janysek) Bujnoch announce her passing. Lillian passed peacefully, surrounded... James John Kruse Audio Article James John Kruse of Black Hill, Texas, passed away on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021, at the age of 81. James... Margaret Vega Cresap Audio Article Margaret Vega Cresap passed away in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021, at the age of 76. She... To the editor: I grew up in Willowbrook from 1990 to 2009. My mother was diagnosed with leukemia when I was in the eighth grade, and she passed away in 2010 when I was 23. For most of my life, I lived with the understanding that her fate had been random. Last month, I read with concern the Tribunes initial report of a high cancer risk in my hometown linked to ethylene oxide emissions from Sterigenics, a firm associated with the current governor. My body ran cold as I realized my mothers death may not have been random at all that the very air she breathed for years may have in fact poisoned her. Paul McCartneys coming to town, and that means Maggie Svaling and her teddy bears cant be far away. This article was published 26/9/2018 (1143 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Paul McCartneys coming to town, and that means Maggie Svaling and her teddy bears cant be far away. Shes seen McCartneys concerts 18 times, going back to a 1990 show at Chicagos Soldier Field. No. 19 will be Friday night, when McCartney and his band take the stage at Bell MTS Place. SUPPLIED Maggie Svaling, who is attending her 19th Paul McCartney concert, has a Let it Be tattoo, which she wants signed by McCartney. Svaling began her teddy bear tradition in 1993 when McCartney played Winnipeg Stadium. Her goal then was to somehow get one of her teddy bears into the former Beatles hands (or as close to him as possible). "In 93, when he came to Winnipeg... I bought a little teddy bear I was going to throw on the stage. I went to the soundcheck the day before and thought, Im going to bring this bear with me. We were trying to peek in the nooks and crannies of the old stadium, hoping to see him. I waited by the entranceway and this limo came out and there he was he was right in front of me. "Some Winnipeg Enterprises guy was probably going to grab me, but Im going to try to give (the bear) to him. I jumped out into the street and went, Paul! and I handed it to him through the limo window. He grabbed it, and my hand, and said, Oh, thank you. "Supposedly he waved it out the limo window as it drove away, but I was hysterical," Svaling says. "Ive been throwing teddy bears at him at the next 13 concerts (Ive attended)." Svaling, who drives a Volkswagen Beetle with "ABBEYRD" as her licence plate, also has the words Let it Be after the Beatles famous 1970 anthem tattooed on her back as a permanent reminder of their meeting. "So, my goal is to get there onstage with the bear and give it to him and have him sign my tattoo," says Svaling, who would then have the signature inked permanently. "Thats what Ive been trying to do, but I havent been successful." WENDELL PHILLIPS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Paul McCartney waves to fans outside the Sheraton Hotel prior to his 1993 show in Winnipeg. She had no luck on the autograph front when she went to Quebec City on Sept. 17 to see McCartney at the beginning of his latest tour. But the concert was a pretty good consolation prize. Her review? "Awesome, like they all are." While Svaling has likely memorized the setlist for Fridays concert, for Winnipegger Jean-Paul Vanderkooy, seeing one of the Beatles has been a longtime dream. He never got a chance to see the Beatles live, nor a concert by any of the Fab Fours members McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr during their solo careers. He figures seeing the 76-year-old McCartney on Friday night might be his last shot. Hes got a ticket on the floor and is excited as a 62-year-old retired railroad worker can get. "You know what, I am (excited), but because Im old enough, not like a teenager... Controlled anxiety, hows that?" says Vanderkooy, who says the first record he bought was the Beatles 45 with Love Me Do one side and P.S. I Love You on the other. "Im not going to be disappointed, no matter what," he says. "Ill be there and be listening to one of the original Beatles. That band is iconic, and still strong in todays music world, given its history. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES In this Feb. 9, 1964 photo, the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York. "Once these guys are gone... theres nobody down the road to replace these bands. Theres a lot of groups coming up, but theyre one-hit wonders and one-album wonders the Beatles have longevity." Vanderkooy remembers watching the Beatles make their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 on his familys black-and-white TV in New Brunswick. It remains one of the biggest moments in television history, he says. Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "Youre a kid, youre so impressionable. You knew they had a magical quality about them, and they were very captivating and were young and innocent," he remembered. "They were just themselves, and so talented. They were like nothing Id ever heard before. "To me, seeing that was a better memory than the moon landing, and I saw that too." How much does Vanderkooy love the Beatles? In 1980, his wife bought him a gift: John Lennons new album Double Fantasy. He said hed save the record for the right moment when the couple could listen to it together. When Lennon was murdered on Dec. 8, 1980, however, Vanderkooy decided to leave the album sealed in its plastic wrapping and have it framed. His marriage has since ended, but he has hung onto the record as his railroad career has taken him to Gillam, Sioux Lookout, Ont., Regina and Winnipeg, where he lives today. While hes heard Double Fantasys hits on the radio songs such as (Just Like) Starting Over and Watching the Wheels hes never broken down and pulled the record from the wall and given it a spin. "You know what?" he says. "Im going to keep it as a souvenir and as a remembrance to him." alan.small@freepress.mb.ca Twitter:@AlanDSmall President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Broadcasting giant CBS Corp. has named veteran media executive Richard Parsons interim chairman of its board, as part of a broader shakeup following the resignation of chief executive Leslie Moonves. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Broadcasting giant CBS Corp. has named veteran media executive Richard Parsons interim chairman of its board, as part of a broader shakeup following the resignation of chief executive Leslie Moonves. The appointment, announced Tuesday night, comes roughly two weeks after Moonves agreed to step down as the New York television companys chairman and chief executive. He resigned Sept. 9 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct in articles published by the New Yorker. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. CBS also said that two of its long-serving board members, Bruce Gordon and William Cohen, had decided to step down. They both have been on the board since 2006, when CBS became a stand-alone company after its split with Viacom Inc. As chief executive of Time Warner, Parsons helped the media company recover from its ill-fated union with internet pioneer AOL. He left Time Warner in 2007. He is co-founder and partner of Imagination Capital, a venture capital firm that launched in November. He also was interim chief executive of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team for a few months in 2014. "Dick Parsons has a combination of deep industry knowledge and unmatched corporate and board experience," said Candace Beinecke, chairwoman of CBS Nominating and Governance Committee. "We are fortunate to have Dick in this leadership role." CBSs board unanimously approved Parsons appointment, the company said. Los Angeles Times Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion If this is true democracy, then it's pretty messy. On Wednesday night at the Forks Market, StorefrontMB an activist coalition of architects, planners and designers held a mayoral forum focused on the future of Winnipeg from a design and planning point of view. StorefrontMB, unabashedly progressive and urbanist in its outlook, wanted all eight registered candidates to talk about issues like densification, walkability, progressive planning and design, active transportation and alternative ways to use precious tax dollars to make the city look and work better in a people-friendly sort of way. Yes, eight candidates. And anytime you try to manage an event around eight wildly different politicians of dramatically different perspective and experience, you're going to see some messiness. To be completely accurate, only seven candidates participated in this forum. Filmmaker Ed Ackerman did not respond to StorefrontMB's invitation but showed up unannounced anyway, and organizers decided to deny him a spot. He stood just off to the side, occasionally writing messages for the audience on letter-sized paper. Messages which included his request to renegotiate Treaty One. "It's a bad deal," his sign read. Ackerman's exclusion may be decried by some, but in an objective sense, he hasn't really done much to earn a spot at the microphone. Since announcing his candidacy in August, he hasn't campaigned, does not have a website and has not published anything that would resemble a platform. In fact, his major accomplishment since registering has been getting his name in news stories as one of the eight candidates. Did Ackerman deserve to be included in a forum where actual voters come to get information to inform their voting decisions? Therein lies the story within the story of this and many other elections. Mayoral elections always prompt discussions about whether all candidates deserve to participate in forums or whether only so-called "legitimate" candidates should be invited. In the past, this question rested mostly with event hosts, but this time around incumbent Mayor Brian Bowman indicated he would not participate in any event unless all candidates were invited. That caused immediate ripples. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, which hosts one of the more well-attended forums, decided to cancel its event rather than be forced into hosting all eight candidates. Perhaps the chamber feared that its event would turn out like the StorefrontMB event. So, how did that event go? Candidates were asked a series of eight questions which were not provided in advance; each candidate was given ninety seconds to respond to each question. In general, there were no rebuttals, unless a candidate directly called out another candidate, in which responses would be allowed at the moderator's discretion. (Full disclosure: I was the moderator.) Here's the short-form description of what unfolded. Most of the candidates demonstrated a clear inability to embrace the lofty ideals and principles which underpinned the questions. StorefrontMB wanted to drive a discussion around how to transform the city into a place where cars do not rule, where neighbourhoods, including downtown, are given over to pedestrians and bicycles, where infill housing was encouraged to increase density and where the majority of the city's infrastructure budget was not invested in underpasses, overpasses and freeway expansions. In general, that is not what the candidates wanted to talk about. Don Woodstock, a west-end community activist, was a constant source of passion and conviction all night as he talked about ending homelessness and income inequality. So too was Umar Hayat, whose enthusiasm often forced him to his feet while responding. Unfortunately, neither man connected effectively to the questions being asked. Venkat Machiraju was more subdued, with a laser-like focus on two main pledges: cutting taxes and building an inner-ring road freeway. So focused, in fact, that he more or less referenced those two issues in every answer to every question. Winnipeg cop Tim Diack was articulate and remarkably worldly in his perspectives, even if he was a bit vague on specific ideas. Former Morden Mayor Doug Wilson was passionate and eloquent but extremely unfocused to the point of being nonsensical. That left Bowman and prime challenger Jenny Motkaluk, a business consultant. This forum confirmed that there are some good reasons why they have been identified as frontrunners. Both Bowman and Motkaluk were clear and concise in their answers, and did the best job overall of actually answering the questions being asked. A self-described urbanist, Bowman talked about his priorities for increasing density and walkability, the importance of charging development fees on suburban sprawl and his commitment to rapid transit as a major tool to help the city on its path to one million residents. Motkaluk was very effective in stressing that in all aspects of design and planning, city hall must be more deferential to business owners. Without people investing money and creating jobs, then the city won't have tax revenue for any big-idea projects. Despite a crowded podium, it seemed as if voters in attendance got a clear picture of the differences between the two candidates, and the reasons why they are considered frontrunners. Which brings us back to the decisions of some organizations to cancel debates because they were denied an opportunity to pick and choose candidates. Dan Lett | Not for Attribution A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world that is sent every Tuesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Including all the candidates does take time away from the to-and-fro that might expose the frontrunners. But even with five other candidates in attendance, the contrast between Bowman and Motkaluk was clear. There is no good reason to deny the full participation of all candidates, except perhaps an inflated sense of self-importance in some forum hosts. The StorefrontMB debate, like others that have and will take place this campaign, was exactly what it was: a gloriously messy, occasionally unfocused and thoroughly enjoyable affair. Which is just the way we should expect it to be in a true democracy. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca The Winnipeg Free Press, along with WinnipegREALTORS, is sponsoring a mayoral forum for all candidates at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain on Oct. 4. It's shaping up to be an epic battle between the "back to the future" campaign of a feisty challenger and the "lofty ideals" campaign of the incumbent mayor. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 25/9/2018 (1144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It's shaping up to be an epic battle between the "back to the future" campaign of a feisty challenger and the "lofty ideals" campaign of the incumbent mayor. With less than a month to go before Winnipeggers go to the polls, the race for the mayor's office has become a high-contrast affair, with eight candidates eligible to have their names on the ballot. The race, so far, has resulted in viable campaigns offered by some long-shot candidates, including stoic efforts by the irrepressible Don Woodstock (whose intensity of campaigning matches anyone on the ballot) and Umar Hayat, who continues to maintain a significant social-media presence to publicize his campaign. Jenny Motkaluk has taken a traditional approach, focusing on core civic issues and a rejection of anything that smacks of boutique, progressive urbanist philosophy. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press) However, to date, the clear front-runners have been established as Brian Bowman, the incumbent mayor, and challenger Jenny Motkaluk. They are offering voters radically different campaign messages. For Motkaluk, the focus has been on core civic issues and a rejection of anything that smacks of boutique, progressive urbanist philosophy, which is Bowman's calling card. It's a decidedly traditional approach, with a healthy dash of animus to keep things interesting. At a modest rally at a Polo Park-area hotel Monday night, Motkaluk put her back-to-the-future approach of politics on full display. The topic on this evening was crime, and Motkaluk lustily attacked what she described as Bowman's failure to keep Winnipeggers safe in their own city. "There are people in this room tonight, myself included, who grew up in a Winnipeg where we didn't lock our doors at night... Where leaving your belongings in your car outside your house wasn't an open invitation to vandalism and violence," Motkaluk told 150 supporters. Brian Bowman has borrowed heavily from his 2014 campaign with a focus on accountability, transparency, diversity, independence and integrity. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press) She acknowledged Bowman wasn't to blame for all the recent reports on increased crime right before she blamed the current mayor for the recent spike in crime. She then pulled out a tagline that might make for a great T-shirt one day: "We're done putting Band-Aids on bullet wounds." Motkaluk is certainly not the first politician at the civic level to seek support by portraying the city as a crime-infested swamp. Former mayor Sam Katz turned this narrative into an art form, despite the fact almost no one would credit him with any measure that directly affected crime levels. While Motkaluk beats a traditional campaign drum, Bowman has attempted to soar high above the fray, paying little or no attention to his challengers while hammering away at some lofty, almost ethereal, campaign issues. Bowman's focus has focused on accountability, transparency, diversity, independence and integrity. He has preached the benefits of a modern, progressive urbanist philosophy, which emphasizes things such as walkability and rapid transit, and de-emphasizes things such as building or expanding freeways. Don Woodstock has run an intense campaign so far. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press files) He has borrowed heavily from his 2014 campaign, where he became the most-effective foil for the Katz era of civic politics. Even though Katz retired from politics before the 2014 election, he was omnipresent in the campaign, as all candidates scrambled to convince voters that, although they may have been many things, they weren't Sam. In the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it tradition of electoral politics, Bowman is reminding voters he owes no favours to any individual, organization or special interest. He has, however, warned those individuals, organziations and special interests who had their tentacles deeply imbedded in city hall are trying to make a comeback. Motkaluk clearly believes Bowman is talking about her. Although she has received public and private support from some sources that would have been associated with Katz, she has been rigorous to deny even the most subtle of allegations she is a shill for any one particular special interest, industry or organization. Umar Hayat has been busy utilizing social media to publicize his campaign. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files) In attempting to occupy rarefied ground, however, Bowman's campaign has been extremely light on firm promises. Motkaluk has been concrete (leave the Portage Avenue and Main Street intersection closed to pedestrians, kill bus rapid transit, put more police in schools); Bowman has been high on concept and low on specific measures. There's lots of contrast, but is there any substance in the two contrasting visions for the city? To date, not really. Dan Lett | Not for Attribution A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world that is sent every Tuesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Motkaluk has been careful not to over-promise, offering ideas that claim to be doable within existing resources. However, as was the case with her attack on Bowman for being soft on crime, there is more political posture than substance. Crime is a macro-sized problem, while mayors have only micro-sized tools with which to fight it. Any suggestion by any candidate he or she has an antidote for crime, or they alone can return Winnipeg to a mythical past state of public safety, is misleading at best and disingenuous at worst. When politicians say they are tough on crime, they mostly mean they talk tough on crime. The same could be said for Bowman's constant pledge to make the city more inclusive and diverse. Those are big, high-ideal goals that largely exist outside the grasp of a municipal leader. It's one thing to promote the principles of inclusion and diversity, and another to promise they are achievable goals within the context of the powers of municipal office. Winnipeggers can see the contrast between Motkaluk and Bowman, and that's a good thing. We're all still waiting to see if either have the substance that would make them truly worthy of voter support. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca The largest union at city hall is throwing its support to Brian Bowman. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/9/2018 (1143 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. The largest union at city hall is throwing its support to Brian Bowman. Gord Delbridge, president of CUPE 500, said the executive of the union local, which represents about 4,600 civic employees across all departments, decided Bowman would be the best candidate for mayor. "When it comes down to it, its really just a race between Brian Bowman and Jenny Motkaluk," Delbridge said. "As much as we often dont agree, Ive always been able to call (Bowman). He talks to us and hes done some progressive things." Delbridge said he and his union local have not been impressed with Motkaluk. "She comes across as being ill-informed. I dont think she favours the public service. Shes very right wing." This is the first labour endorsement for Bowman. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Judy Wasylycia-Leis had been endorsed by the Winnipeg Labour Council in 2014. While the Labour Council has endorsed 8 candidates in ward races in this election, it decided against endorsing any one for mayor. Bowman has repeatedly said he would not be seeking endorsements from any political party or labour and Delbridge said Bowman had not approached him. Kelly McCrae, Bowman's campaign manager, did not acknowledge the nod from CUPE 500 and said Bowman would not be accepting endorsements from any union, political party or business association. Delbridge said that since the labour council isnt endorsing any candidate for mayor, he felt CUPE 500 should let its members know who it thinks would be the better candidate. "After speaking with the (union local) executive and many of our members, Bowman emerged as the one we should be supporting," Delbridge said. "Its not an official endorsement, of course. We just think hes the best candidate for mayor." aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca It always pays to have friends in high places. In politics, it also helps if those friends have had a front-row seat to one of the most remarkable political stories of the year. Mayoral hopeful Jenny Motkaluk is a well-connected candidate, as she has demonstrated with an extensive roster of endorsements and supporters that includes current and former city councillors, former MLAs and MPs, and high-powered business leaders. Free Press columnist Dan Lett pens today's Election Extra. She also includes among her friends and advisers a fellow named Michael Diamond. Diamond is a former Winnipegger who is a partner at Upstream Strategy Group, a political strategy and communications firm in Toronto. His client list includes current Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Diamond was campaign manager for Ford's remarkable leadership campaign earlier this year, a bid that defied the odds and predictions of political opponents and commentators. Diamond also served as a director for Ford's Progressive Conservatives during the recent provincial election. Diamond said in an email exchange that he is not officially advising Motkaluk's campaign, but has known her for a very long time and considers her a close friend. He also noted that he continues to own property in Winnipeg, which makes him more than a bystander to the current mayoral race. Diamond was in Winnipeg last month for a family visit, during which he was a visible social-media presence in the pro-Motkaluk camp, praising her policies and slamming incumbent mayor Brian Bowman at every opportunity. "Jenny's husband is a very good friend and mentor, and Jenny has become a friend over the decade I have known her," Diamond wrote. "On most of my trips to Winnipeg Jenny makes me dinner, she didn't do that this time since she is busy. "I have no role with her team... That said, I own property in Winnipeg, so am a taxpayer and hope she wins. Friends and family who have or will ask who I suggest they vote for will get one answer. I think she'd be a fantastic mayor and find the incumbent to be disappointing." Dan Lett Winnipeg Free Press columnist SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO The widow of slain Canadian businessman Adam Anhang gave her account Wednesday of the night he was killed 13 years ago, insisting she didnt know the killer and was not part of a conspiracy to end his life. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO The widow of slain Canadian businessman Adam Anhang gave her account Wednesday of the night he was killed 13 years ago, insisting she didnt know the killer and was not part of a conspiracy to end his life. "He was a marvellous man, a very good man," Aurea Vazquez-Rijos told a packed San Juan courtroom. "I loved him very much." Family file photo Adam Anhang, 32, the son of prominent Winnipeg lawyer Abraham Anhang, was stabbed and beaten on a street in Old San Juan after he and his wife dined together and discussed the terms of their divorce in 2005. She is accused of a murder-for-hire plot along with her sister Marcia and her sisters boyfriend, Jose Ferrer Sosa that targeted the 32-year-old Winnipeg native in September 2005. The hit man they are accused of hiring has told police that the day before the murder, the trio offered him $3 million to kill Anhang, because he was about to divorce Vazquez-Rijos and she would no longer have access to his $24-million fortune. "Ive been trying to forget this for so many years," she testified, her voice breaking as she talked about the midnight attack on a dimly lit street in Old San Juan, a site popular with tourists. "The last thing I remember was Adam fighting (with his attacker). He was telling me to run. He said to me, Run baby, run." Earlier that evening, she said, the couple had dinner at a restaurant called the Dragonfly. They left shortly before midnight and were walking hand-in-hand when two men approached them from out of the shadows. One of them went up to Adam and said, "This is a holdup." "I yelled trying to get help. It was horrible. It was so quick. Adam was fighting with this person and I was struck a blow (on the head). I had blood on my hands, and after that, I dont remember." An eyewitness has testified that the only one shouting for help was Anhang, and Vazquez-Rijos seemed to be composed. Javier Lizon / The Associated Press files Aurea Vazquez-Rijos in court in Madrid in December 2013. Vazquez-Rijos said the attack left her wounded and traumatized for months. The attacker was Alex "El Loco" Pabon, a drug dealer and well-known criminal on the streets of the Puerto Rico capital. He was arrested in 2008, and along with his confession, he named Vazquez-Rijos and the two other accused as being the plotters. He said never collected his fee. Vazquez-Rijos decision to testify in her own defence came near the conclusion of the trial, and surprised most observers. Federal Court Judge Daniel Dominguez told her to consider her decision carefully, because she would face cross-examination by prosecutors and she was opening a "huge door, as high and fat as an elephant (because) the cross-examination could be enormous." He gave her five minutes to think about it, but she was adamant that she wanted to testify. There was yet another delay, because Vazquez-Rijos mother Carmen appeared in court with the accuseds three-year-old daughter Dana, born while Vazquez-Rios was in a Spanish prison. The girl started crying and the judge ordered a marshal to escort her and Carmen out of the courtroom. He said he didnt want a noisy child distracting the jury. The same thing happened more than three weeks ago during jury selection. Vazquez-Rijos testified Wednesday that she and Anhang started dating after they met in an Old San Juan restaurant in 2002. Defence lawyer Lydia Lizarribar produced photographs of their wedding in March 2005 in which only her friends and family were present. Anhangs parents, who were not invited, learned about the marriage much later. Also absent at the wedding was Anhangs business partner, real estate developer Roberto Cacho. "He was my husbands partner," Vazquez-Rijos testified, "but he detested me." They agreed not to invite him. Cacho, she said, was upset by the terms of the couples pre-nuptial agreement. He felt it had conditions that would compromise the viability of the business. "As soon as we got married, when Cacho found out, he started approaching Adam, constantly harassing him (about the terms of the pre-nup)." A month after the marriage, Anhang loaned her the money to start a restaurant/lounge which she called the Pink Skirt. She said she promised to repay the money from the restaurants revenue, which she said was substantial. However, the constant pressure from Cacho, she said, began to affect their marriage. At one point she come across an email in which Anhang told Cacho he was "willing to do whatever it would take to protect our interest." Soon after, Anhang started thinking about a divorce. The marriage was dissolving after only weeks and things were turning ugly. Two other witnesses have testified that Vazquez-Rijos asked them if they knew a hit man she could hire. In her testimony Wednesday, the widow denied it vigorously. She was also asked about a meeting with the couples therapist the day before Anhangs slaying in which he told her that he was filing for a divorce, and she replied: "Just try. Im not going to let you go that easy." Vazquez-Rijos explained that she was referring to the strong physical bond she had with her husband. "We had an active sexual life and it was a bond that was very difficult to break We were being intimate almost every day." In fact, she added, they made love the night before Anhang was killed. Despite the couples therapy session, she said, she felt positive about the relationship. "I felt that nothing had changed, that we would continue our lives as before." On the night of the killing, she said, they had dinner to discuss her legal trouble. She was scheduled to appear in court the next day because she had struck somebody with her car. She testified that Anhang was helping her find a lawyer. After dinner, they headed for the parking lot where they had left their car. Anhang stopped in a pub along the way to buy cigarettes. Minutes later, he was dead. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Also on Wednesday, a Puerto Rico doctor testified that when she saw Vazquez-Rijos three weeks after Anhangs slaying, the widow still had discolouration from a blow to her head, and had trouble walking. Dr. Beatriz del Valle said she prescribed pain medication, prepared a program of physical therapy and referred her to two specialists, including a psychiatrist. The doctor also recommended a walker. The defence is attempting to prove that Vazquez-Rijos is a victim, and not a co-conspirator in Anhangs slaying. The prosecutions cross-examination is set for Thursday. OTTAWA The federal Liberals have rejected the Pallister governments request that Ottawa pay Greyhound to keep operating in Western Canada beyond the firms planned pullout in five weeks. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/9/2018 (1143 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA The federal Liberals have rejected the Pallister governments request that Ottawa pay Greyhound to keep operating in Western Canada beyond the firms planned pullout in five weeks. "Greyhound is leaving the scene on Oct. 31," Transport Minister Marc Garneau told the Free Press on Wednesday. "There will be gaps and so we are addressing those and looking at them, and working with the provinces." Greyhound announced in early July its intention to end bus service between British Columbia and northern Ontario on Halloween, except for the Vancouver-Seattle route. A week later, Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler proposed Ottawa ask Greyhound to extend service by at least 60 days, to allow other businesses to fill the cancelled routes. He said Ottawa should foot the bill for that extension, if greyhound demanded one. Schuler said his counterparts in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario agreed with that idea, and Premier Brian Pallister raised the idea at the premiers meeting last summer. Garneau said Wednesday that option is now off the table. "We looked at this extensively, and I will say that we havent left any stones unturned." Schuler wrote in an email that Ottawa should do more to address the situation. "It is unfortunate that Greyhound is pulling out of our province, and it is disappointing that the federal government is not taking more action to slow down this process," he said, He added that he's "encouraged" the private sector is mobilizing to fill gaps. BEN NELMS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau: 'We looked at this extensively, and I will say that we havent left any stones unturned' Provincial regulations gave Greyhound a monopoly on the busiest routes, which was contingent on the firm serving some of the least populated ones. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and public health advocates have expressed alarm about routes that the private sector wont take up, cutting off those who need affordable transportation for health services. Officials with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls has also asked Ottawa to intervene. Conservative MP James Bezan said he hasnt received a lot of correspondence about the issue from his Interlake constituents, but said the Liberals have "probably the worst timing" in leaving Manitobans with no sense of what direction Ottawa will take five weeks before service ends. "You cannot leave these things until last minute; you have to have the opportunity for people who are being impacted, as well as the businesses, a chance to transition," he said. Tory MP Larry Maguire said hes confident business can step up in the province, but hed "expect more information at this point." Garneau said hell go public once Ottawa and the provinces agree on a plan. "As soon as we come to land on a plan, we will be making that public but were very conscious of Oct. 31," he said. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca NORTH Point Douglas residents hosted a meth info session Wednesday for residents, business and agencies looking for ways to respond to Winnipegs meth crisis. The rise in property and violent crime stoked by the drug has taken over mayoral debates and news headlines in a city thats feeling overwhelmed. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. NORTH Point Douglas residents hosted a "meth info session" Wednesday for residents, business and agencies looking for ways to respond to Winnipegs meth crisis. The rise in property and violent crime stoked by the drug has taken over mayoral debates and news headlines in a city thats feeling overwhelmed. Police Chief Danny Smyth told close to 100 people gathered at Gonzaga School that when he became chief nearly two years ago, he was asked what kept him awake at night. "I answered meth. And, frankly, it still does," he said. "We are a city in crisis. If you look around, you see evidence of meth and meth use all around us and in all corners of the city, not just this neighbourhood." The drug is just $10 a hit, said Smyth, and more people are trying it and getting hooked. Gangs are selling it and fighting for control of the market, resulting in violence, said Smyth, who figures eight of 35 homicides last year were meth or gang-related. Liquor stolen from stores is being sold to pay for meth. Home invasions are happening to pay for meth. Discarded needles are a safety hazard. "Its a community problem," Smyth told the crowd. "Its not a problem the police can solve on its own or that the community can solve on its own," the chief said. "We need the Department of Education to really get involved," said Smyth, who wants to see age-appropriate information in the Manitoba curriculum to educate students on the perils of experimenting with the highly addictive substance. Once a person gets hooked, addiction should be seen and treated as a health issue, he said. "We need more treatment facilities." Smyth said. Not treating people comes with a price: a 78 per cent spike in property crimes in Winnipeg in the first six months of this year is mainly the result of meth addicts looking for something to steal and sell to feed their habit, he said. "The last thing I want to see is people getting caught up in the criminal justice system. We want to help them beat their addiction." So does Aboriginal Youth Opportunities (AYO), the organization that runs Meet Me at the Bell Tower Friday evenings on Selkirk Avenue in a neighbourhood thats seen an 18 per cent decrease in violent crime since the gatherings began nearly a decade ago. "Young people are banding together and helping our peers get off crystal meth," said AYO organizer Jenna Licious Wirch. The idea is to form a positive, healthy gang for young people who often feel isolated and rejected and even more so if theyre battling addictions. Wirch, who is in recovery, has helped set up a 13 Moons program that she described as an "Indigenized" version of a 12-step recovery program. And, starting Saturday night at The Merch the former Merchants Hotel thats been transformed into classrooms and housing AYO will host monthly gatherings for older youth with culture and music. "There is hope," she said. "Thats what we bring to the table," said Wirch. Shes conducting a survey in the community to find out if people feel a safe injection site is needed. More meth users are injecting the drug and used needles are turning up in neighbourhoods, said Tara Zajac, who helped organize Wednesdays meeting. "Weve gone out to rooming houses with proper equipment for picking up needles and weve supplied sharps containers to other community groups. Zajac, the executive director of the North Point Douglas Womens Centre and a North End resident, said someone high on meth and threatening staff with a used needle forced the centre to go into lockdown the other days. "We had to get people out the back door," she said. "For the first time at work, I was scared and worried," said Zajac who has worked there for seven years. Shes seeing more people getting addicted to meth, more people becoming homeless and more parents losing their kids to Child and Family Services. "People are lost, and meth has a hold on them," she said. "Its going to take all of us working together and its affecting everybody all across Winnipeg," she said. "Things do need to change. Hopefully, the province, the city and the federal government will come together to make more treatment centres," said Zajac. Whats lacking is organizations and groups working with residents to deal with the problem, said Sel Burrows with the North Point Douglas Residents Committee. In Point Douglas, theyve had some success, he said. "There were three bike chop shops that were described as meth rec centres," said Burrows. Stolen bicycles were taken to the locations in the neigbourhood in exchange for meth. "You bring in two bikes, you get two hits of meth." With the help of police, neighbours and landlords, they were able to shut down the chop shops, said Burrows. He blames the province and the city for not developing a strategy to address the meth crisis and its underlying causes. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "I see the damage its doing to people and it makes me sick," Burrows said. "Please dont give up hope," said Tahl East, with the Main Street Project that just announced it has bought the former Mitchell Fabrics building nearby. "We need to inspire that hope," said East. "Nobody chooses addiction," she told the gathering, noting that 70 to 80 per cent of the women in detox are meth addicts and 50 per cent of men say meth is their drug of choice. People from all backgrounds and income levels are getting hooked. "It looks like a blond girl, a person from Africa, a person from China. The pain that it causes is the same across the board." carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Grey skies, cool temperatures and a steady drizzle weren't enough to dampen the mood Thursday at the official opening of the True North Square public plaza, even though the celebration had to be moved inside. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Grey skies, cool temperatures and a steady drizzle weren't enough to dampen the mood Thursday at the official opening of the True North Square public plaza, even though the celebration had to be moved inside. After some last-minute scrambling due to the rain, the podium for the ceremony was dragged into the lobby of one of the True North Square towers, where both Premier Brian Pallister and Mayor Brian Bowman heralded the development as a milestone for the city and province. "This is a great day for Manitoba. This is a great day for Winnipeg. This is where Canada's heart beats, Manitoba. Winnipeg is where Manitoba's heart beats, and downtown Winnipeg is where Winnipeg's heart beats," Pallister told the crowd of about 200. "Today we celebrate an investment in the future of this heart. Today our hearts beat more loudly and with more pride, perhaps, than they did yesterday." MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mayor Brian Bowman speaks to the press at the official opening of True North Square plaza. Through the glass windows of the lobby, planted prairie grass, seating areas and a 56-jet water installation could been seen in the centre of the plaza, which is tucked between the first two towers of the highly-anticipated $550-million, four-building complex. The ceremony began with an acknowledgement that the development is located on traditional treaty territory. Shortly after the event got underway, the sound of a beating drum and singing filled the air as an Indigenous honour song was performed. Alongside Pallister and Bowman, True North Real Estate Development president Jim Ludlow and James Richardson & Sons Limited president and CEO Hartley Richardson were present, among other dignitaries. Ludlow pointed out that just 32 months earlier, the space where the plaza and towers now stand was nothing more than a paved parking lot. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left: True North Real Estate Development president Jim Ludlow, James Richardson & Sons president and CEO Hartley Richardson and Mayor Brian Bowman. "I think (this development) suggests that this is a very productive, progressive and dynamic-thinking city. You like to try to float all boats. I think developments like this are reflective of some level of dynamism, and the opposite is true if this remains a surface parking lot," he said. "It would be nice to have a nice fall day today, but I think in the end (we had) a nice event inside the building and we can all still get a look at True North Square." Plans for the plaza were first made public in 2016. When asked if he thought True North Square, once completed, would attract further investment into downtown Winnipeg, Bowman said he was certain that it would and already has. "People who are deciding where they want to invest, which community they want to invest in to grow their career and build a family, this sends a very powerful message that Winnipeg is growing and Winnipeg is becoming a much more modern city," he said. "It's already being discussed in cities across Canada. Conversations that I'm having with business leaders and elected officials, they're watching what's happening in Winnipeg right now, and with this investment in particular." MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister In total, taxpayer support on the total project has risen to roughly $45 million, much higher than what was initially anticipated and announced. The ballooning of public funding is largely due to last-minute deals that saw the province and the city agree to support the development with tax-increment financing. Both Bowman and Pallister have defended the use of TIF on the project, which comes at the same time the the province has written off the majority of the loan for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Investors Group Field a major project that also received municipal and provincial funding through TIF agreements. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The city also agreed to waive a requirement for the True North Square developers to set aside a portion of the project's residential units as affordable housing in order to receive TIF funding. Instead, the developers agreed to redirect about $200,000 in municipal property tax refunds to support affordable housing elsewhere. The project is a partnership between the True North Real Estate Development and Vancouver-based Northland Properties. True North is building the towers and the square on the east side of Carlton Street, while Northland is constructing a hotel and another residential tower on the west side. Construction on the final two towers is scheduled to be completed in 2021. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe Delegates from human rights museums around the world are gathering this week at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Delegates from human rights museums around the world are gathering this week at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Theyre here for a conference of the Federation of International Human Rights Museums, the first time this annual event has been held in North America. The conference, which continues until Friday, explores the active role museums play by leveraging their "soft power" to promote human rights and democracy, a news release from organizers said. Some of the topics under discussion are virtual visits and collections, repatriating cultural items to Indigenous peoples, the debate over public memorials, presenting childrens perspectives, and new approaches to subjects such as global migration, anti-slavery and the Holocaust. Speakers from museums in Norway, Canada, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Germany, Sweden, Nigeria, South Korea, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, the U.S., Mexico, Taiwan and Argentina are taking part in the conference. Delegates from 20 countries and museums such as the Smithsonians National Museum of the American Indian, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, the Osaka Human Rights Museum and the National Museum of Scotland are at the conference. PHOTOS 20 everyday items in your home that could be worth money People around the world are captivated by happy stories of people finding hidden treasure, especially hiding right under their noses. Shows like Antiques Roadshow spotlight the shockingly valuable items everyday people find in their basements or childhood bedrooms. But it can be extremely difficult for the average person to know what to look for, let alone determine whether items are valuable or phony. Even if you dont want to sell it, knowing the value of household items can be used for insurance purposes or when settling an estate. There are professional, accredited appraisers for many antiques and collectibles, including those who specialize in these popular categories. (Kaitlin Miller, The Active Times) OTTAWA A Tory MP has joined his NDP colleagues call that Ottawa restore pensions for workers at the Whiteshell nuclear facility. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA A Tory MP has joined his NDP colleagues call that Ottawa restore pensions for workers at the Whiteshell nuclear facility. James Bezans riding includes the Whiteshell Laboratories research facility in Pinawa, 115 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. The plant, whose decommissioning is set to conclude in 2024, is one of two nuclear sites the former Conservative government privatized, making their staff no longer public servants. Under federal law, those who work at an agency that gets privatized can continue to be a part of the civil service pension plan for only three years, before rolling onto a private plan. The deadline was Sept. 12, and roughly 3,300 workers and retirees have a plan that is less generous than when they were civil servants. Bezan, who was an MP in the former Harper government, said the Tories never intended for their reforms to leave current and former workers short on benefits. "That to me is disconcerting, because that's not what they signed up for," Bezan told the Free Press. "There needs to be more time allowed for the transition." On Wednesday, NDP MP Daniel Blaikie introduced a bill that would extend the workers eligibility for the public service plan by 12 months, giving the government time to find a way to ensure legacy employees have a comparable plan. "These workers need a fair and lasting solution," Blaikie told reporters, while flanked by union officials. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Conservative MP James Bezan. Hes been pushing the issue since shortly after taking office in fall 2015. Blaikie has met with federal officials a few times, but he claims the government broke off communication last spring. "It just hasn't been a two-way street, and that's why it's hard not to conclude that their discussions over the past two years have not been (in) good faith." Bezan said hell reach out to Blaikie to see how the two can lobby Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi to rectify the pension issue. However, Bezan chided his NDP colleague for seeking unanimous consent in the Commons without first seeking support across the aisle. "Daniel should have done the footwork behind the scenes to ensure that we had support for this, from all parties." Blaikie said he didnt reach out to Bezan beforehand. "I didn't expect a particularly warm reception on the issue; perhaps I should have given him more credit." Bezan also said Winnipeg South Centre Liberal MP Jim Carr "has an obligation" to intervene, as the only Manitoban in cabinet. Until last summer, Carr was minister for Natural Resources Canada, which oversees the Pinawa plant. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Blaikie had filed a formal request in Parliament, asking the Liberals how much it would cost to keep employees on the plan, but they responded by explaining federal pension rules. A union-commissioned actuary estimated it would cost $3 million in the first year, and decline over time. Bezan said he was troubled by the Liberals withholding information from the NDP. "Everything seems to be in the dark." Last spring, Blaikie said some of the Pinawa plants current 350 employees plan to quit as a result of the pension plan changes. He warned that could degrade the institutional memory needed to safely decommission the plant. Debi Daviau, head of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, a union that represents some nuclear workers, raised a similar concern Wednesday, saying underpaid experts will seek work elsewhere. However, federal officials and the plant manager said their detailed plans ensure a safe decommissioning, regardless of who does the work. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca I am a residential school survivor, and yet I am white. So, when I heard that the Frontier Centre for Public Policy was asking whether Canadians were being told the whole truth about residential schools, my ears pricked up. Because many are unaware that some residential schools also had students who were non-Indigenous. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Opinion I am a residential school survivor, and yet I am white. So, when I heard that the Frontier Centre for Public Policy was asking whether Canadians were being told the whole truth about residential schools, my ears pricked up. Because many are unaware that some residential schools also had students who were non-Indigenous. Recently, the Frontier Centre ran a two-minute radio spot telling people that they havent been given the truth about residential schools. The Winnipeg organizations ad disputes the harm done to Indigenous kids by residential schools, harm that has been passed down through generations. Needless to say, the paid spot and its message sparked outrage, and thankfully, the corporate owner of the radio stations that ran the ads has since apologized. As someone who has survived the residential school system, with all my white privilege, I still bear enormous scars. And yet, I consider myself lucky. The school system wasnt attempting to eradicate my culture, my spirituality, my language which leads me to ask the question: if I have difficulty getting over this trauma, how can we expect Indigenous Peoples who spent time in the system (whether five years or five minutes) to grapple with the hurt? The government of Canada doesnt really have a number for how many non-Indigenous students attended residential schools, but they are just as much a part of this countrys racist past. They are witnesses, too. In some cases, residential schools were the only schools available in the area for non-Indigenous kids to attend. Or those kids may have attended the schools because their parents were principals or teachers, or government employees working in the area. In my case, my brother and I were in the Northwest Territories because my father was employed with what was then called the department of transport, working on the airport serving Snag, then Beaton River, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson. It was at Fort Simpson that I began my journey into a federal day school, which housed two residential hostels for Indigenous kids: the Bompas Hall, run by the Anglican Church; and Lapointe Hall, operated by the Roman Catholics. This was the residential school system in Fort Simpson. Because the airport and our housing were located some distance away from Fort Simpson, when the river was breaking up in the spring, our causeway would become impassable because of ice. My brother and I would be forced to live in the hostel until the road was driveable again. We would then stay amongst the other little boys and girls, who were also separated from their moms and dads. My brother and I knew that we got to go home again just as soon as the ice cleared. Ry Moran, the director of the National Centre of Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba, said for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, residential schools were a frightening experience. In one case, a white student, who was the son of a school principal, had such a difficult time that "even until his mom was well into her 80s, she still could not talk about it. It was so difficult on the familys lives." But Moran points out that, because I was white, I was not viewed through highly racist and demeaning eyes by some of the teachers and staff. Unfortunately, Moran said, thats how Indigenous kids were seen by some of those in charge, "which made things like the brutal abuse become easier for the twisted minds of the pedophile rapist. They did not view them as human, and so, they could completely disassociate themselves from what they were doing to these children." For my brother and I, much of the violence we experienced was at the hands of the older boys in the school, something Moran said was not unusual in the residential school system, in which 40 per cent of the cases related to student-on-student abuse. Moran said in some residential schools, different nations were pitted against each other and Indigenous groups from different backgrounds and cultures were forced to live together. And, of course, violence begets violence. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The research is clear: childhood trauma, including exposure to violence, causes long-term neurobiological changes. Research has demonstrated over and over that taking children away from their parents breaks an important emotional bond and creates profound physical, social and emotional trauma. Studies point to heightened drug use, alcohol abuse, diminished cognitive abilities, an inability to set boundaries and difficulties in establishing healthy interpersonal relationships. As a white kid, I got to go home to my mom and dad, who could tuck me into bed and tell me bedtime stories and reassure me that I was going to be OK. I had lots of food to eat, clean clothes to wear and long hair that no one tried to cut. Even with all of that, as non-Indigenous individuals who spent just a small time in a residential school environment, both my brother and I suffer from the effects of violence and the trauma we experienced in the North. Its not something either of us will ever "just get over." Can we at least try to understand why this is not an issue that is going to go away just because we wish it would, no matter how many times people with specific agendas try to deny it happened? Shannon Sampert is the director of the media centre for public policy and knowledge mobilization at the University of Winnipeg. Native American Women Have to Work 9 Months into 2018 to be Paid the Same as White Men in 2017 This Thursday, September 27, is Native American Womens Equal Pay Day, which marks how long a Native American woman has to work into 2018 to bring her 2017-18 earnings to the same amount a White man made in 2017. The Human Rights Campaign, the nations largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, announced its endorsement of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers for governor of Wisconsin. In November, Evers will face incumbent Gov. Scott Walker, who has made anti-LGBTQ activism a cornerstone of his political career. HRC is proud to endorse Tony Evers for governor of Wisconsin, said HRC Wisconsin state director Wendy Strout. After seven years of Scott Walkers attacks on our community, its more important than ever we elect a pro-equality governor who will fight day in and day out to uphold the Wisconsin values of fairness, justice and equality. Superintendent Evers has been a tireless ally for LGBTQ Wisconsinites, and he will be a vital voice for the community and all Wisconsinites in the governors mansion. We look forward to mobilizing Wisconsins 560,000 equality voters this November and working with him to move equality forward across the Badger State." As a longtime champion of LGBTQ equality, I am proud to accept the endorsement of the Human Rights Campaign, said Evers. Here in Wisconsin, we've watched the LGBTQ community come under attack for the last seven years, and seen all the progress we've made toward equality threatened. I promise to continue to be a strong ally and advocate for LGBTQ rights as governor, and will make sure that we protect the gains we've made for the LGBTQ community in Wisconsin and push to secure full equality for everyone in our state. Evers, said HRC, has a long career championing public education as a teacher, principal, district administrator and now state superintendent. HRC said Evers is committed to rebuilding the states economy, reinvesting in childrens education and supporting Wisconsins working families. During his three terms as superintendent, Evers has proven to be a powerful ally to LGBTQ Wisconsinites. He has fought attempts to preempt local non-discrimination ordinances; supported legislation protecting LGBTQ youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of so-called conversion therapy; and supported expanding state non-discrimination law to include gender identity and expression. HRC has also endorsed Mandela Barnes for lieutenant governor. In the general election, Evers will face anti-LGBTQ extremist Walker, who is seeking a third term. Walkers record includes supporting Wisconsin's constitutional amendment banning marriage equality, vetoing a bill to provide domestic partner benefits to workers and attempting to kill a domestic partner registry. He also supports banning qualified transgender people from serving in the military, saying he wouldnt change the Trump-Pence administrations unconstitutional policy. Walkers running mate, Rebecca Kleefisch, also has a long history of peddling extremist, anti-LGBTQ ideologies. HRC has identified more than half a million Wisconsinites as likely equality voters voters who support LGBTQ-inclusive policies. HRC has prioritized investments and organizing in Wisconsin in the 2018 cycle, and has staff and resources on the ground in the state as part of the largest grassroots expansion in the organizations 38-year history. Campaign 2018 - Constitutional Offices Campaign finance summaries and contributor lists updated through August 31, 2018 for all 2018 November ballot candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and state treasurer. 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. Agilent Technologies, Inc. engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets; Diagnostics and Genomics; and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that enable to identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level. The Diagnostics and Genomics segment consists of activity providing active pharmaceutical ingredients for oligo-based therapeutics, as well as solutions that include reagents, instruments, software and consumables. The Agilent CrossLab segment includes startup, operational, training and compliance support, software as a service, and asset management and consultative services. The company was founded in May 1999 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA. Read More SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Read More CARBO Ceramics Inc., a technology company, provides products and services to the oil and gas, industrial, and environmental markets worldwide. It operates through two segments, Oilfield and Industrial Technologies and Services, and Environmental Technologies and Services. The Oilfield and Industrial Technologies and Services segment manufactures and sells oilfield ceramic technology products, base ceramic proppants, and frac sand proppants to pressure pumping companies, and oil and gas operators for use in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas and oil wells. It also provides technology to design, build, and optimize the Frac; sells fracture stimulation software under the FracPro brand; and offers fracture design and consulting services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies under the StrataGen brand name. The Environmental Technologies and Services segment provides spill prevention, containment, and countermeasure systems for the oil and gas industry. CARBO Ceramics Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More The Williams Cos., Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company, which explores, produces, transports, sells and processes natural gas and petroleum products. It operates through the following segments: Transmission and Gulf of Mexico; Northeast G&P; and West. The Transmission and Gulf of Mexico segment comprises of interstate natural gas pipelines, Transco and Northwest Pipeline, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region. The Northeast G&P segment includes midstream gathering, processing, and fractionation businesses in the Marcellus Shale region primarily in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio. The West segment consists of gas gathering, processing, and treating operations in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming, the Barnett Shale region of north-central Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas, the Haynesville Shale region of northwest Louisiana, and the Mid-Continent region which includes the Anadarko, Arkoma, and Permian basins. The company was founded by David Williams and Miller Williams in 1908 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Read More Deutsche BArse AG operates as an exchange organization in Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates through seven segments: Eurex (Financial Derivatives), EEX (Commodities), 360T (Foreign Exchange), Xetra (Cash Equities), Clearstream (Post-Trading), IFS (Investment Fund Services), and Qontigo (index and analytics business). The company engages in the electronic trading of derivatives, electricity and gas products, emission rights, and foreign exchange; operating of Eurex Repo over the counter (OTC) trading platform and electronic clearing architecture; and operating as a central counterparty for on-and-off exchange derivatives, repo transactions, and OTC and exchange-traded derivatives. It also operates in the cash market through Xetra, BArse Frankfurt, and Tradegate trading venues; operates as a central counterparty for equities and bonds; and provides listing services. In addition, the company offers custody and settlement services for securities; investment fund services; global securities financing services; and global securities finance and collateral management, as well as secured money, market transaction, and repos and securities lending transaction services. Further, it develops and markets indices, as well as portfolio management and risk analysis software; markets licenses for trading and market signals; provides technology and reporting solutions for external customers; and offers link-up of trading participants. Deutsche BArse AG was founded in 1585 and is headquartered in Eschborn, Germany. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO ENERGY, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC. There is not enough analysis data for HighPoint Resources. 4.1 Community Rank Outperform Votes HighPoint Resources has received 160 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes HighPoint Resources has received 102 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment HighPoint Resources has received 61.07% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about HighPoint Resources and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe HPR will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe HPR will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next Imperial Brands PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, imports, markets, and sells tobacco and tobacco-related products. It offers a range of cigarettes, fine cut and smokeless tobacco, papers, and cigars; and next generation product (NGP) portfolio, such as e-vapour products, as well as oral nicotine and heated tobacco products. The company sells its products under various brands, including Davidoff, Gauloises, JPS, West, L&B, Bastos, Fine, Winston, News, Parker & Simpson, blu, Kool, Horizon, Jade, Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo Y Julieta, Backwoods, Skruf, Golden Virginia, Rizla, and Knox in approximately 160 countries worldwide. It also provides logistics services that include the distribution of tobacco and NGP products for tobacco and NGP product manufacturers; and various non-tobacco and NGP products and services. In addition, the company is involved in the management of a golf course; marketing of papers; restaurant business; distribution of pharmaceuticals, POS software, and published materials and other products; printing and publishing activities; and provision of long haul transportation, industrial parcel and express delivery, advertising, and support management services. Further, it owns the trademarks; and retails its products. The company was formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and changed its name to Imperial Brands PLC in February 2016. Imperial Brands PLC was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Bristol, the United Kingdom. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA. Tate & Lyle PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage, and other industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, other European countries, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Food & Beverage Solutions, Sucralose, and Primary Products. The company offers texturants; nutritive sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup and dextrose; health and wellness ingredients; and stabilizers. It also provides industrial starches for paper, packaging, and industrial adhesives; acidulants, such as citric acid; and commodities comprising corn gluten feed and meal for animal nutrition, as well as corn oil and ethanol. In addition, the company engages in the treasury and insurance businesses; and provision of research and development services. Tate & Lyle PLC was incorporated in 1903 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Mohawk Industries: A&S Energie NV, A&U Energie NV, Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation, Aladdin Manufacturing Of New York LLC, Aladdin Manufacturing of Alabama LLC, Alsace Logistique S.A., Avelgem Green Power CVBA, Avon Pacific Holdings Ltd, B&M NV, BGE Mexico S. de R. L. de C.V., Berghoef GmbH, Berghoef-Hout B.V., Bienes Raices y Materiales del Centro S. de R.L. de C.V., C.F. Marazzi S.A., Canterbury Spinners Ltd, Carpet Foundation Ltd, Cevotrans BV, Ceramus Bahia S/A Produtos Ceramicos, DT Mex Holdings LLC, DTM/CM Holdings LLC, Dal Italia LLC, Dal-Elit LLC, Dal-Tile Chile Comercial Limitada, Dal-Tile Colombia S.A.S., Dal-Tile Distribution Inc., Dal-Tile Group Inc., Dal-Tile I LLC, Dal-Tile Industrias S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile International Inc., Dal-Tile Mexico Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Operaciones Mexico S. De R.L. De C.V., Dal-Tile Peru SRL, Dal-Tile Puerto Rico Inc., Dal-Tile Services Inc., Dal-Tile Shared Services Inc., Dal-Tile Tennessee LLC, Dal-Tile of Canada ULC, Daltile, Daltile, Dekaply NV, Durkan, Dynea NV, Eliane Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Eliane S/A - Revestimentos Ceramicos, Emilceramica India Pvt Ltd., Emilceramica S.r.l, Emilgermany GmbH, Emilgroup Asia Ltd, Explorer S.r.l., F.I.L.S. Investments Unlimited Company, Feltex Carpets Ltd, Feltex Carpets Pty Ltd, Feltex New Zealand Ltd, Fibremakers Australia Pty Ltd, Flooring Foundation Ltd, Flooring Industries Limited S.a r.l., Flooring XL B.V., Floorscape Limited, Godfrey Hirst & Co Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Group, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Limited, IVC BVBA, IVC Far-East Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., IVC France S.a r.l., IVC GROUP LIMITED, IVC Green Power NV, IVC Group, IVC Group GmbH, IVC Luxembourg S.a r.l., IVC Rus OOO, IVC US Inc., International Flooring Systems S.a r.l., International Vinyl Company - Vostok OOO, KAI Group, KAI Keramica Ltd, KAI Mining EOOD, KERAMA CENTER OOO, Kerama Baltics OOO, Kerama Export OOO, Kerama Marazzi OOO, Kerampromservis (LLC), Khan Asparuh - Transport EOOD, Khan Asparuh AD, Khan Omurtag AD, Koninklijke Peitsman B.V., Kraj Kerama OOO, MG China Trading Ltd., MI Finance SRL, MUD (Holding) Brazil Ltda., Management Co EAD, Marazzi Acquisition S.r.l., Marazzi Deutschland G.m.b.H., Marazzi France Trading S.A.S., Marazzi Group, Marazzi Group F.Z.E., Marazzi Group S.r.l., Marazzi Group Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marazzi Iberia S.L.U., Marazzi Japan Co. Ltd., Marazzi Middle East FZ LLC, Marazzi Schweiz S.A.G.L., Marazzi UK Ltd., Mohawk Assurance Services Inc., Mohawk Australia Pty Ltd, Mohawk Canada Corporation, Mohawk Capital Finance S.A., Mohawk Capital Luxembourg SA, Mohawk Carpet Distribution Inc., Mohawk Carpet Foundation Inc., Mohawk Carpet LLC, Mohawk Carpet Transportation Of Georgia LLC, Mohawk Commercial Inc., Mohawk ESV Inc., Mohawk Europe BVBA, Mohawk Factoring II Inc., Mohawk Factoring LLC, Mohawk Finance S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Acquisitions S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Funding S.a.r.l, Mohawk Foreign Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Investments Inc., Mohawk Global Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Holdings International B.V., Mohawk Industries Inc., Mohawk International (Europe) S.a r.l., Mohawk International (Hong Kong) Limited, Mohawk International Capital N.V., Mohawk International Financing S.a.r.l, Mohawk International Holdings (DE) LLC, Mohawk International Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk International Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk International Netherlands B.V., Mohawk International Services BVBA, Mohawk KAI Luxembourg Holding S.a r.l., Mohawk KAI Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Capital S.A., Mohawk Luxembourg Financing S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Pacific S.a r.l., Mohawk Marazzi International BV, Mohawk Marazzi Russia BV, Mohawk New Zealand Limited, Mohawk Operaciones Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Mohawk Operations Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Pacific Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Resources LLC, Mohawk Servicing LLC, Mohawk Singapore Private Limited, Mohawk Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mohawk Unilin Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk United Finance B.V., Mohawk United International B.V., Mohawk Vinyl Financing S.a r.l., Molber Beheer B.V., Monarch Ceramic Tile Inc., P.F. Onroerend Goed B.V., PF Beheer B.V., Pergo, Pergo (Europe) AB, Pergo Holding BV, Pergo India Pvt Ltd, Polcolorit S.A., Premium Floors Australia Pty Limited, RR Apex LLC, Rata International Pty Ltd, Recubrimientos Interceramica S. de R.L. de C.V., Riverside Textiles Pty Ltd, S.C. KAI Ceramics SRL, Sibir Kerama OOO, SimpleSolutions USA LLC, Soft Step (Australia) Pty Ltd, Spano Group, Spano Invest BVBA, Spano NV, Stroyagromekhzapchast ChaO, Stroytrans OAO Orelstroy, Summit Wool Spinners Ltd, The Flooring Federation Ltd, Tiles Co OOD, Unilin (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Unilin ApS, Unilin Arauco Pisos Ltda., Unilin BVBA, Unilin Beheer BV, Unilin Distribution Ltd., Unilin Distribution Ukraine LLC, Unilin Finland OY, Unilin Flooring India Private Limited, Unilin Flooring SAS, Unilin GmbH, Unilin Holding BVBA, Unilin Insulation BV, Unilin Insulation SAS, Unilin Insulation Sury SAS, Unilin Italia S.R.L., Unilin North America LLC, Unilin Norway AS, Unilin OOO, Unilin Panels SAS, Unilin Poland Sp.Z.o.o., Unilin SAS, Unilin Spain SL, Unilin Swiss GmbH, Unilin s.r.o., World International Inc., Xtratherm, Xtratherm Limited, Xtratherm S.A., and Xtratherm UK Limited. Navistar International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells commercial trucks, diesel engines, school and commercial buses, and service parts for trucks and diesel engines worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Truck, Parts, Global Operations, and Financial Services. It manufactures and distributes Class 4 through 8 trucks and buses in the common carrier, private carrier, government, leasing, construction, energy/petroleum, and student and commercial transportation markets under the International and IC brands; and designs, engineers, and produces sheet metal components, including truck cabs and engines. The company also provides customers with proprietary products needed to support the International commercial truck, IC bus, and engine lines, as well as other product lines; and a selection of other standard truck, trailer, and engine aftermarket parts. In addition, it manufactures and distributes mid-range diesel engines, as well as provides customers with additional engine offerings in the agriculture, marine, genset, and light truck markets; sells engines to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for various on-and-off-road applications; and offers contract manufacturing services under the MWM brand to OEMs for the assembly of their engines. Further, the company provides retail, wholesale, and lease financing of products of its trucks and parts, as well as financing for wholesale and retail accounts receivable. Additionally, it exports trucks, buses, and engines. The company markets its commercial products through an independent dealer network, as well as through retail outlets; and its reconditioned used trucks to owner-operators and fleet buyers through its network of used truck dealers. It operates approximately 1,052 outlets in the United States and Canada, and 89 outlets in Mexico. Navistar International Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois. Read More iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF's stock was trading at $92.55 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, IWN shares have increased by 89.1% and is now trading at $174.97. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. Raymond James Financial, Inc., a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments. The Private Client Group segment provides securities brokerage services, including the sale of equities, mutual funds, fixed income products, and insurance products to their individual clients; and borrowing and lending of securities to and from other broker-dealers, financial institutions, and other counterparties. The Capital Markets segment offers securities brokerage, trading, and research services to institutions with a focus on sale of the United States and Canadian equities and fixed income products; and manages and participates in underwritings, merger and acquisition services, and public finance activities. The Asset Management segment engages in the operations of Eagle, the Eagle Family of Funds, Cougar, the asset management operations of Raymond James & Associates, trust services of Raymond James Trust, and other fee-based asset management programs. The RJ Bank segment provides corporate loans, SBL, tax-exempt loans, and residential loans. The Other segment engages in private equity activities, including various direct and third party private equity investments; and private equity funds. Raymond James Financial, Inc. was founded in 1962 and is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Read More TC Energy Corporation operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. It operates through Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines, U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines, Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines, and Power and Storage segments. The company builds and operates 93,400 km network of natural gas pipelines, which transports natural gas from supply basins to local distribution companies, power generation plants, industrial facilities, interconnecting pipelines, LNG export terminals, and other businesses. It also has regulated natural gas storage facilities with a total working gas capacity of 535 billion cubic feet. In addition, it has approximately 4,900 km liquids pipeline system that connects Alberta crude oil supplies to refining markets in Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Further, the company owns or has interests in seven power generation facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 4,200 megawatts that are powered by natural gas and nuclear fuel sources located in Alberta, Ontario, QuAbec, and New Brunswick; and owns and operates approximately 118 billion cubic feet of non-regulated natural gas storage capacity in Alberta. The company was formerly known as TransCanada Corporation and changed its name to TC Energy Corporation in May 2019. TC Energy Corporation was incorporated in 1951 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Read More Tenaris SA manufactures and supplies steel pipe products. The firm operates through the following business segments: Tubes and Other. The Tubes segment includes the production and sale of both seamless and welded steel tubular products and related services mainly for the oil and gas industry, particularly oil country tubular goods used in drilling operations, and for other industrial applications with production processes that consist in the transformation of steel into tubular products. The Other segment includes all other business activities and operating segments, including the production and selling of sucker rods, industrial equipment, coiled tubing, heat exchangers, and utility conduits for buildings and the sale of energy and raw materials that exceed internal requirements. Its principal finished products are seamless and welded steel casing and tubing, line pipe and other mechanical and structural steel pipes for different uses. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Luxembourg. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Tyson Foods: APF Legacy Subs LLC, Advance Food Company LLC, AdvancePierre Foods, AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc., AdvancePierre Foods Inc., Aidells Sausage Company Inc., Allied Specialty Foods Inc., American Proteins Inc, Artisan Bread Co. LLC, Australian Food Corporation Pty Limited, Australian Food Corporation Trust, BRF, Barber Foods LLC, Bosco's Pizza Co., Bryan Foods Inc., C.S. Grain LLC, C.V. Holdings Inc., CBFA Management Corp., Central Industries Inc., Chefs Pantry LLC, Clovervale Farms LLC, Cobb (Hubei) Breeding Co. Ltd., Cobb (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Cobb Ana Damizlik Tavukculuk Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Cobb Columbia S.A.S., Cobb Europe B.V., Cobb Europe Limited, Cobb Peru (Andina) S.A.C., Cobb-Heritage LLC, Cobb-Vantress Brasil Ltda, Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cobb-Vantress New Zealand Limited, Cobb-Vantress Philippines Inc., Coominya AFC Pty Limited, Coominya AFC Trust, DFG Foods Inc., DFG Foods L.L.C., Don Julio, Egbert LLC, Equity Group - Georgia Division LLC, Equity Group - Kentucky Division LLC, Equity Group Eufaula Division LLC, Equity Meat Corp., Flavor Corp., Flavor Holdings Inc., Foodbrands America Inc., Foodbrands Supply Chain Services Inc., Gallo Salame Inc., Global Employment Services Inc., Grow-Out Credit LLC, Grow-Out Holdings LLC, Haimen Tyson Poultry Development Co. Ltd, Hudson Foods Company, Hudson Midwest Foods Inc., Hybro Genetics Brasil Ltda, IBP Caribbean Inc., IBP Foodservice L.L.C., IBP Inc., International Affiliates & Investment LLC, Jiangsu Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Keydutch Finance B.V., Keydutch Holdings I LLC, Keydutch Holdings II LLC, Keydutch Investments B.V., Keystone CLJV Holdings Limited, Keystone County House Road LLC, Keystone Foods, Keystone Foods (AP) Limited, Keystone Foods Holdco LLC, Keystone Foods Intermediate LLC, Keystone Foods LLC, Keystone Foods Pty Limited, Keystone Management Inc., Keystone Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited, LD Foods LLC, M & M Express LLC, M&M Restaurant Supply (MI/OH) LLC, MFG (USA) Holdings Inc., Mac Food Services (Malaysia) SDN. BHD., Madison Foods Inc., McKey Food Services (Hong Kong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Shandong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Thailand) Limited, McKey Food Services Limited, McKey Luxembourg Holdings APMEA S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg S.a.r.l., McKey VI Holdings Limited, Myung Seung Food Company Ltd., National Comp Care Inc., New Canada Holdings Inc., Oaklawn Capital Corporation, Oaklawn IT Solution Private Limited, Original Philly Holdings Inc., PBX inc., Pierre Holdco Inc., River Valley Ingredients LLC, Rizhao Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Rizhao Tyson Poultry Co. Ltd, Rural Energy Systems Inc., Sara Lee - Kiwi Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Diversified LLC, Sara Lee Foods LLC, Sara Lee Household & Body Care Malawi Ltd., Sara Lee International LLC, Sara Lee International TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Mexicana Holdings Investment L.L.C., Sara Lee TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Trademark Holdings Australasia LLC, Saramar L.L.C., Shandong Tyson-Da Long Food Company Limited, Smart Chicken, Southern Family Foods L.L.C., Southwest Products LLC, TF 20 B.V., TF 5201 B.V., TFA Leasing LLC, TFA Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, TFI of California Inc., Tecumseh Poultry LLC, Texas Transfer Inc., The Bruss Company, The Hillshire Brands Company, The IBP Foods Co., The Pork Group Inc., TyNet Corporation, Tyson (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Tyson Americas Holding Sarl, Tyson Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Tyson Breeders Inc., Tyson Chicken Inc., Tyson China Holding 2 Limited, Tyson China Holding 3 Limited, Tyson China Holding Limited, Tyson Deli Inc., Tyson Europe Holding Company, Tyson Farms Inc., Tyson Farms QOZB LLC, Tyson Foods Brasil Investimentos Ltda., Tyson Foods Canada Inc., Tyson Foods Europe (Netherlands) B.V., Tyson Foods Europe GmbH, Tyson Foods France S.A.R.L., Tyson Foods Germany GmbH, Tyson Foods Group Limited, Tyson Foods Holland B.V., Tyson Foods Huadong Development Co. Ltd, Tyson Foods Iberia Alimentos S.L.U., Tyson Foods Italia S.p.A., Tyson Foods Korea, Tyson Foods Netherlands B.V., Tyson Foods Products Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Europe Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Sales (Europe) Limited, Tyson Foods UK Limited, Tyson Foods Wrexham Limited, Tyson Foods oosterwolde B.V., Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., Tyson Fresh Meats Sales and Distribution LLC, Tyson Global Holding Sarl, Tyson Hog Markets Inc., Tyson India Holdings Ltd., Tyson International APAC Ltd., Tyson International Company Ltd., Tyson International Holding Company, Tyson International Holding Sarl, Tyson International Service Center Inc., Tyson International Service Center Inc. Asia, Tyson International Service Center Inc. Europe, Tyson Mexican Original Inc., Tyson Mexico Trading Company S. de R.L. de CV., Tyson New Ventures LLC, Tyson Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, Tyson Pet Products Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Prepared Foods Inc., Tyson Processing Services Inc., Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats Inc., Tyson Sales and Distribution Inc., Tyson Service Center Corp., Tyson Shared Services Inc., Tyson Storm Lake Holdings LLC, Tyson Warehousing Services LLC, Tyson of Wisconsin LLC, Uninex SA, Universal Meats (UK) Limited, WBA Analytical Laboratories Inc., Wilton Foods Inc., Xamol Consultores e Servicos, and Zemco Industries Inc.. Wells Fargo & Co. is a diversified, community-based financial services company. It is engaged in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance. It firm operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Wholesale Banking, Wealth & Investment Management, and Other. The Community Banking segment offers complete line of diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses including checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and automobile, student, and small business lending. The Wholesale Banking segment provides financial solutions to businesses across the United States and globally. The Wealth and Investment Management segment includes personalized wealth management, investment and retirement products and services to clients across U.S. based businesses. The Other segment refers to the products of WIM customers served through community banking distribution channels. The company was founded by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo on March 18, 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Read More Concord Medical Services Holding Ltd. engages in the operation of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers. It provides radiotherapy and diagnostic equipment leasing services to hospitals; and sale of medical equipment and the provision of radiotherapy and diagnostic equipment leasing and management services to hospitals, It operates through Network Business and Hospital Business segments. The company was founded on November 27, 2007 and is headquartered in Beijing, China. 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. Diverse cast brings 'The Childrens Hour' into modern era School days: Anna Boustany 21 (left) playing student Mary Tilford and Divinity Summers 20 as headmistress Karen Wright rehearse "The Children's Hour." Photo by Olivia Gunter Photo - of - Hide Caption A ripple effect of consequences stemming from a lie is a story that could happen at any time, and in many different instances. The reasons for spreading a falsehood and its repercussions are the complications explored in the plot of The Childrens Hour by Lillian Hellman, which William & Mary theatre will stage Oct. 4-7 at the Kimball Theatre. Because it contains mature subject matter, its recommended for audiences ages 13 and older. First staged in 1934 and based on a true story, The Childrens Hour tells of two women running a progressive, all-girls boarding school who find their lives turned upside down when a student tells an untruth about them. The play was chosen to honor W&Ms yearlong celebration of 100 years of co-education and the fall semester COLL 300 curriculum theme Bodies that Matter. {{youtube:medium:right|Yf7Ovluotxc, "The Children's Hour"}} With attention to both the 1934 and 1952 versions of the play, as well as the true account upon which Hellmans work was based, I wish to build an inclusive ensemble with intentional regard for challenging perceptions around ability, color, gender expression, physical type and sexual orientation, said Director Artisia Green, associate professor of theatre and Sharpe Associate Professor of Civic Renewal & Entrepreneurship. Further, I seek to explore how the consideration of these signifiers in casting work together to create a nuanced, three-dimensional production and inform public understanding of this classic text." Womens iss ues are emphasized in the production, focusing on relationships between women and themes of lesbianism set in an era when such an accusation was very serious. But its the diversity of casting for the show, still set in 1934 in a rural New England farmhouse, that Green will use to bring it up to date. I was much more interested in creating the kind of environment that you might be more likely to encounter in a classroom here at William & Mary, she said. And so Im also aware of the fact that each of us as an actor, we carry certain histories and socializations in our bodies. And I dont want actors to lose sight of who they are and what they carry with them as they learn to pick up the truths and the history of the characters in Lillian Hellmans work. So it was important to me to make sure that there was as much inclusive representation as possible, so that Im holding space for multiple stories. The mostly female cast includes students who self-identify as queer; some lead roles are played by African-American women, and the main student character is played by a multiracial actress, which Green said was the case with the character in some scholarship she encountered. That character, Mary Tilford, is ostracized by other students. She eventually runs away, telling her grandmother that the two headmistresses are having an affair so that she wont be sent back to school. Eschewing previous readings that demonize Mary, Green said shes more interested in exploring the trauma that Mary carries that would lead her to such behavior. I believe the theatre to be the place where we can explore and make sense of the motivations of our behavior, Green said. Its important to me that my cast gets to the root of Marys behavior. Interpretations of The Childrens Hour, and Mary Tilfords character specifically, that fall short of teasing out the nuances of her troublesome behavior will fall flat quickly. Student cast members are excited to put a modern spin on a play first staged in a distant time period and based on a true story from 1810 Scotland. I wanted to be in this play because it deals with ideas from the 1930s that are still very much controversial today, said Divinity Summers 20, who plays headmistress Karen Wright. I wanted to see how the play would be changed to fit modern views, but still keep to the script. What's different about this play is that we have such a diverse cast that paints The Children's Hour in a whole new light. I can't wait until we actually get to present the play and see how people react. Anna Boustany 21 portrays vengeful student Mary Tilford. I am thrille d to be exploring this classic play by Lillian Hellman, Boustany said. I think The Childrens Hour raises a lot of questions about the power of rumors and of hatred that many people would prefer to believe are safely in the past. Though the play is from the 1930s, it is an important piece to perform today as its themes are still relevant. Everyone should be able to relate to some part of this very universal story, according to Green. We all have struggled with feelings of isolation and social constraint at one time or another, Green said. The true tragedy of The Childrens Hour is the communitys failure to honor Marthas authenticity. Marys lie with an ounce of truth is the inception of a series of troublesome events. However, it is the communitys condemnation of Martha, which leads to the tragic ending. The world loses a body that should matter to the collective. Karen loses a friend that she loves. The community is bereft of the gift of a progressive school for young women. Yet despite these deep ruptures, I want to suggest, through my staging, that there is always an opportunity for healing and redemption. All we need to do is be willing. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. After years of tax-break negotiation and construction, a new Amazon fulfillment center will soon be running at full speed in Troutdale, Oregon, a town 15 miles east of Portland. Amazon anticipates the opening of 1,500 full-time positions at the fulfillment center, which would immediately double the number of Oregon employees working for the Seattle-based internet retail and logistics giant. Residents in the area have been inundated with radio advertisements and news articles about the new facility, which present Amazon as a benevolent provider of competitive wages, benefits, stocks, and a pre-paid tuition program. Presenting the $14 an hour that will be paid at the fulfillment center as generous is a cruel joke, especially given the staggeringly high rental and living costs in the greater Portland area. The massive 855,000-square foot facility is the first of its scale in Oregon, and cost $180 million to build. Operating with Amazons notorious logistics model, based on fast-paced labor and automated machines, the fulfillment center will specialize in large-sized products, such as exercise equipment and furniture. There will also be massive fulfillment centers opening in Salem, Oregon this year, and in North Portland next year. Local and state officials offered a total of $213.1 million in tax breaks to provide Amazon free rein to expand its exploitation of the working class in Oregon, specifically in rural and suburban resource-poor areas of the state. Amazon has acquired $1.12 billion in tax cuts across the United States since 2000, but Oregon achieved the highest amount promised to the corporation of all fifty states. Of this giant amount, $176 million would come through Oregons Strategic Investment Program, for a proposed data center in the city of Hermiston. Corporations in Oregon pay below 8 percent in excise taxes, and account for only 38 percent of all state taxes, the 4th lowest percentage of the 50 states and Washington D.C. These tax cuts will be paid for by working and middle-class people in the state through the form of more cuts in essential public services. Oregon already trailed West Virginia and Louisiana in per pupil school funding, according to the 2016 Annual Survey of School System Finances, U.S. Census Bureau. Several school districts, including Portland, have carried out budget cuts and layoffs. In the summer of 2017, the government bodies of Port of Portland and Troutdale handed the trillion-dollar corporation $9.6 million in tax breaks for the construction of the Troutdale super-hub. In an effort to justify this tax giveaway, politicians in Troutdale said Amazon would pay workers at least $15 an hour in total compensation, including all benefits. The approval of tax breaks for the construction of the Troutdale and North Portland hubs went through unanimous votes by Port of Portland commissioners. The commission is a nine-member body, appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate, that oversees economic development of airports, marine terminals and business parks in the area. Most of these commissioners are trusted members of the corporate and political elite and their flunkeys in the union bureaucracy. They include Vice President of Nike, Inc., and former Obama aide Sean OHollaren, President of Oregon AFL-CIO Tom Chamberlain, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 Gary Young; and Intel Corporation Vice President Pat McDonald. Democratic Governor Kate Brown, who has appointed at least two commissioners since she was elected in 2014, praised the opening of the Amazon center. At a press conference about the approval of the fulfillment center in June of last year, she told the crowd of commissioners and business elites, Today is a celebrationthat this community created together. She continued by praising the local governments vision and leadership that paved the way for this investment and thanking Amazon for seeing Troutdale and Oregon as a promising part of your future. Kate Brown speaks as a representative of the entire political establishment at local and state levels, which is dominated by the Democratic Party in Portland and the Republican Party in the southern and eastern parts of the state. Port of Portland commissioners, in conjunction with Troutdale leaders, used Amazons contract to launch the construction of a 344,000-square foot facility at the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park, to host Amazon, FedEx, and other corporate industrial centers. Like many other locations chosen by Amazon, the industrial park is the site of a former manufacturing plant, where workers once had relatively secure and good paying jobs. The Reynolds aluminum manufacturing plant operated for 60 years and was one of the biggest employers in the Portland area, with 800 workers at its peak, before it was closed by Alcoa in 2000. Between the Portland metro-area cities of Troutdale, nearby Gresham and Wood Village, there exists a working-class area of just under 170,000 residents. While official unemployment rates in the area remain close to the national average of 5 percent, 18.8 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty line, mostly between the ages of 18 and 40 years old, according to Data USA. Many workers are employed in warehousing, retail, food and health services, where they have all seen wages stagnate alongside soaring costs of living. According to a 2017 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Portland area is $1,242. The coalition says a minimum wage of $23.88 an hour at forty hours per week would be required to afford rental costs. The average renter, however, earns under $15 an hour. In order to afford housing, on top of food, healthcare, clothing and other basic necessities, workers often have to live in precarious conditions or take on multiple jobs to make ends meet. Such is the situation of hundreds of thousands of Amazon workers internationally. Many are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and still others must rely on dwindling social assistance in addition to their income from Amazon in order to survive. Around the country, Amazon workers are being driven to exhaustion and physical deterioration, broken down with injuries, then cast aside and ignored by management. These poverty conditions stand in stark contrast to the $1 trillion value of the Amazon corporation, along with the $160 billion personal wealth of CEO Jeff Bezos, who makes $3,000 per second off the backs of the companys highly exploited workers. Amazon workers are in a powerful position, however, to launch their own offensive to improve their conditions and living standards. Connected to millions of other workers through an interconnected logistics and technology chain in the US and global economy, a collective struggle by Amazon workers would quickly impact virtually every sector of the economy. The International Amazon Workers Voice urges Amazon workers to form rank-and-file factory committees to unify workers to defend their collective interests and fight speed up, unsafe conditions and the corporate dictatorship in the fulfillment centers. These committees, elected by and democratically run by rank-and-file workers, should link up with freight and distribution workers at United Parcel Services (UPS), United States Postal Service (USPS) and FedEx and wage a common struggle to defend the social rights of all logistics workers. The fight for fair wages, safe work conditions, full-time jobs and benefits, will pit Amazon workers and every other section of the working class into a direct political conflict with both corporate-controlled parties, the Democrats and Republicans, and the trade unions, which function as tools of big business. The French government refused to let the migrant vessel ship Aquarius dock in French ports on Tuesday, as it carried 58 desperate refugees fleeing war-torn Libya. This came as the European Union (EU) sought to block all rescue operations for refugees in the Mediterranean, where thousands have drowned, and Rome successfully put pressure on Panama to de-register the Aquarius, which was flying a Panamanian flag. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that Paris would refuse the Aquarius permission to dock in the port of Marseille. For the moment its no, Le Maire told BFM-TV, claiming that EU rules mandate rescue vessels must dock at the nearest European port. On matters of migration, the issue must be handled firmly and clearly, and European rules respected. Speaking to AFP, a source at the Elysee presidential palace also denied permission to the Aquarius to dock: We are clear on the fact that it shouldnt spend four to five days at sea going towards France or Spain or anywhere. It needs to dock soon and it is close to Malta at the moment. The passengers of the Aquarius were reportedly mostly better-off Libyans, trying to flee the city of Tripoli amidst escalating clashes between tribal or Islamist militias and abductions for ransom in the city, conditions that are the product of the civil war, which followed the 2011 NATO war that destroyed Colonel Muammar Gaddafis government. A recent surge in fighting in Tripoli since August, which has killed at least 100 people, is driving people to flee in ever larger numbers. One passenger on board the Aquarius, Malak, reported that her husband was kidnapped a month ago in Tripoli. He was working in food sales and so he had money. She took the decision to flee at that point with her children, but as it was impossible to obtain a passport with a visa, she decided to risk crossing the Mediterranean by boat. Ibtissem said that her family initially fled Tripoli to Zawiya for safety, but decided they had to move after their son was abducted by kidnappers armed with Kalashnikovs at a roadblock. They had to sell their two cars to raise the 8,750 ransom the kidnappers demanded to release their son, who had to spend two days in the hospital after the kidnappers beat him. In Libya, we are dead people who are still breathing, Ibtissem said. We had to leave, there was no other solution. Yesterday, France, Germany, Spain and Portugal reached an agreement to divide up the refugees aboard the Aquarius. The Aquarius, they insisted, would not be allowed to dock. However, they decided that each country would take in 18, 15, 15 and 10 refugees, respectively. Maltese authorities indicated that they would not allow the vessel to dock in their ports either, and that the refugees would be transferred to Maltese ships in international waters, at which point the Maltese ships would transport them ashore. The EU powers are illegally trampling upon the fundamental right to asylum, moving aggressively to block the flow of refugees from North Africa across the Mediterranean to Europe. Only 38,140 people have attempted the Mediterranean crossing to Europe so far this year, compared to 121,000 last year, but already at least 1,260 have died. Under these conditions, the EU is stepping up attempts to end all rescue efforts for refugees in distress in the Mediterranean, financing the Libyan coast guard so they will forcibly return refugees to Libya, even though the country is in a state of civil war. It has been widely reported that Libyan coast guard vessels regularly return refugees to EU-funded concentration camps in Libya, where they are subjected to horrific treatment. UN and Amnesty International officials have reported that inmates in these camps are subjected to assault, sexual assault, being sold into slavery, and even murder. Last week, the Aquariusthe last remaining private rescue ship in the Mediterraneanwas caught in a bitter conflict with Libyan coast guard vessels. The crew of the Aquarius told Le Monde that the commanders of a Libyan ship had threatened to take them all prisoner: Do you know Tripoli? Do you want to go for a little visit? Youre not following our instructions! We told you not to intervene and not to get too close to the refugees. Now you will have major problems. You are encouraging migrants to come to Europe. Now we will approach and tell you what to do. The bullying and intimidation of the Aquarius is the product of the neo-fascistic turn and the contempt for the right to asylum shared by European bourgeois politicians of all stripes. Over a quarter century of NATO imperialist wars in Libya, Syria, Iraq and beyond, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, have forced 60 million refugees to flee their homes. Yet now, with more refugees than at any time since World War II, the EU powers are vindictively seeking to deny the right to asylum. On the one hand, they are rapidly building a vast network of EU concentration camps, not only in Libya, but also in EU states such as Greece and beyond. For now, at least, they are being used to house tens of thousands of refugees under horrific conditions. Under pressure from the far-right Italian government, this apparatus of police terror directed against refugees and the entire working population is soon to massively escalate its activities. The stage is being set for police raids and ethnic cleansing on a scale not seen in Europe since World War II and fascist rule. On Monday, the Italian council of ministers adopted a decree, dubbed the Salvini decree after Italys neo-fascist interior minister who drafted it, blocking Italian authorities from issuing or re-issuing humanitarian visas to refugees in Italy. The impact of the Salvini decree would be to create large numbers of undocumented migrants and then prepare large-scale police raids in order to deport them all. The number of refugees deported each year from Italy could surge from 5,000-7,000 to as many as 50,000. At the same time, Salvini has said that he is in talks with municipal authorities in cities across Italy to prepare the destruction of Roma camps and mass expulsions of Roma people. Christopher Hein, a professor of law and immigration policies at Luiss University in Rome, told the Guardian: The ultimate aim is to have no refugees at all in Italy through a combination of efforts: closure of seaports, criminalising migrant rescue NGOs, enhancing collaboration with the coastguard and now, with this decree, they target those who are already here, or who may come in future and not get any kind of protectionit is a deterrent measure. At the same time, EU and allied authorities are continuing to attack and terrorize ships in the Mediterranean who obey maritime law and seek to rescue refugees in distress that they encounter on the high seas. Yesterday, after close coordination of EU and Moroccan anti-migrant operations, a Moroccan warship fired on a refugee vessel, killing a 22-year-old woman and wounding three other refugees. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is to move around 1,000 workers at its Castle Bromwich plant in Birminghamalmost halfonto a three-day week from October until Christmas due to uncertainties over Brexit. JLR, which is owned by India Tata and employs 40,000 workers in the UK, is considered the principal force behind what is described as a resurgent British auto industry. In 2016, car production in the UK was at its highest this century and JLR its biggest manufacturer, turning out one-third of the 1.7 million vehicles produced in total. JLRs decision speaks to the acute concerns of the majority faction of the UK bourgeoisie, which is opposed to a hard Brexit and loss of access to the European Union (EU) Single Market and Customs Union in a situation of burgeoning international trade war. The UK car industry faces massive disruption if the government fails to agree unfettered access to the EU. Over half of UK car exports are destined for the EU and two-thirds of car imports come from the EU. Speaking recently at the Conservative governments electric vehicle summit in Birmingham, JLR boss Ralph Speth warned Prime Minister Theresa May that tens of thousands of jobs are under threat and that a no deal Brexit undermines the interests of the auto industry. Like many British companies our supply chains reach deep into Europe, he said, adding, [W]e will not be able to build cars, if the motorway to and from Dover becomes a car park, where the vehicle carrying partsvital to our processesis stationary. Speth said that unfettered access to the European Unions single market is as important a part to our business, as wheels are to our cars. Without access, he threatened that JLR would reconsider its proposed 80 billion investment and pull out of the UK. He warned that other companies would also take measures that cannot be reversed. Before the summit, JLR had already announced that the Land Rover Discovery sport utility vehicle would be totally produced at its new plant in Slovakia, rather than in both the UK and Slovakia as previously planned. Speth has warned elsewhere about the impact of a hard Brexit in apocalyptic tones. The 1,000 JLR jobs already lost due to falling sales of diesel vehicles in the UK, he has previously said, will be counted in the tens of thousands if we do not get the right Brexit deal. Production could be halted entirely on March 30, 2019. Brexit is due to happen on the 29th of March next year. Currently, I do not even know, if any of our manufacturing facilities in the UK will be able to function on the 30th, said Speth. On behalf of the pro-Brexit faction, Conservative MP Bernard Jenkins accused Speth of hyperbole, saying he was scaremongering and making it up. However, JLRs moves are not simply propaganda. They are borne of major concerns that Brexit will decimate the car industry, with untold consequences for the profitability or even continued existence for many firms that rely on unfettered access to the single market. German carmaker BMW, which employs 8,000 workers at four plants in the UK, is also taking aggressive action. It announced just days after JLRs decision, As a responsible organisation, we have scheduled next years annual maintenance period at Mini Plant Oxford to start on April 1, when the UK exits the EU, to minimise the risk of any possible short-term parts-supply disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit. BMW previously warned that it would not be able to function without the free movement of car components from the continent. With the globalisation and international integration of production, components may cross national borders several times before final assembly. Honda UK Manufacturing, which employs 8,000, has also said that the import of components could be delayed for up to nine days if the UK leaves the customs union, while Aston Martin fears the delays could stop its assembly lines. The UK auto industry employs 186,000 with 856,000 linked jobs and its business executives and directors were among the most prominent advocates of the Remain camp in the 2016 referendum on leaving the EU. Japanese multinational Nissan urged its workforce to vote to stay. Following the JLR decision, Labour MP Jack Dromey, whose constituency includes the Castle Bromwich JLR plant, declared that, Brexit now threatens the jewel in the crown of British manufacturing excellence. Ministers must get it right or the future is bleak. Dromey, married to leading Blairite and ex-Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, was a former top trade union bureaucrat in the Transport and General Workers Union trade unionthe forerunner of Unite. The Unite union echoed Dromeys condemnation of Mays handling of the Brexit negotiations and the way it was creating uncertainty for big business and our automotive industry. Assistant general secretary Tony Burke declared, This is the continuing effect of the chaotic mismanagement of the Brexit negotiations by the government, which has created uncertainty across the UKs automotive industry and the manufacturing sector generally. He added, It is also the result of the mishandling of how the UK makes a just transition from diesel and combustion engines to electric vehicles. Both issues have damaged the jewel in the crown of UK manufacturingour automotive industry. The Blairite wing of the Labour Party and the trade unions represent the concerns of these corporations and are working to reverse Brexit or for a deal that continues to guarantee access to the customs union. Both are committed to making the corporations competitive in the global market, which can only mean greater exploitation of the working class. The wrangling between the UK government and EU over exit terms takes place within the context of burgeoning trade war internationally. During a joint press conference on September 18 with Polands President Andrzej Duda, US President Donald Trump threatened the worlds nations with more tariff barriers than the onerous ones placed on China. Weve been ripped off by China, he said, Weve been ripped off by the European Union and weve been ripped off by everybody. Were not being ripped off anymore. Trump has already threatened EU automobile exports to America. In a sign of how the developing global trade war has exacerbated the Brexit crisis, last year marked the first decrease in vehicle production in the UK for eight years. Investment fell by half in the first six months of 2018 compared to last year. Car production fell 11 per cent in July and the number of vehicles built for the UK market dropped by more than a third year on year. The auto conglomerates now raising concerns over jobs are not concerned about the livelihoods of workers but only their own profitability. These same corporations have slashed hundreds of thousands throughout the industry in prior decades in the name of competitiveness. The unions have entirely collaborated in the job cutting and concessions. Earlier this year Nissan announced hundreds of job losses at its Sunderland plant. As is standard, the unions have not lifted a finger to oppose this. Last week, Nissan announced hundreds more job losses at its plants in Europe, including at its Sunderland operation, saying, These plans are designed to drive future growth and competitiveness for Nissan. The working class must oppose all factions of the ruling elite and reject their nationalist programmes. What is needed is a unified struggle by car workers internationally to defend jobs, wages and conditions. The World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter calls on workers to build rank-and-file committees, independent of the trade unions, to link their struggles against the global corporations. The US announced on Monday that it has approved another large arms sale to Taiwan in a move that will further inflame tensions between Washington and Beijing. The arms sale worth $330 million comes as the Trump administration is intensifying the US confrontation with China on all frontsdiplomatic and military, as well as a battery of trade war measures. The proposed arms deal, which is yet to be finalised, covers parts for Taiwans F-16, C-130, F-5, Indigenous Defence Fighter and other military aircraft. A Pentagon statement declared that the sale would contribute to US national security by boosting Taiwans military capacities. It hailed Taiwan as an important force for political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region. In fact, the reverse is the case. Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, has always been one of the worlds most volatile flashpoints. The Trump administration is provocatively strengthening diplomatic and military ties with Taiwan as part of its broader efforts to undermine and encircle China and prepare for war. The arms deal is the second since Trump took office last year. In June 2017, the US agreed to the sale of $1.4 billion worth of arms, including MK-48 torpedoes, high-speed anti-radiation missiles and early-warning radar surveillance technical support, which will significantly enhance Taiwans military. The US is also providing assistance to Taiwan as it seeks to develop its own diesel-powered submarines. In April, the US granted military contractors licences to sell submarine technology to Taiwan, including a submarine combat management system. A separate technical assistance agreement provides for the sale of sonar, modern periscopes, and weapon systems. As he assumed office last year, Trump threatened to abrogate the so-called One China policy that has formed the basis of US diplomatic relations with China for three decades. Under the arrangement, Washington effectively recognises Beijing as the government of all China including Taiwan, while opposing any attempt by China to forcibly take control of the island. The US has also boosted ties with Taiwan through the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act in March that authorises visits and contact between top level Taiwanese and US diplomatic and military officials. It also opened a new building and compound this year for the American Institute in Taiwan, which functions as a de-facto embassy in Taipei. On Monday, Taiwan backed away from a suggestion that it would send its defence minister to attend the annual US-Taiwan Defence Industry Conference in Maryland, amid concerns that upgrading its presence at the meeting could further raise tensions with China. China criticised the latest arms sale, declaring that it undermined Chinese sovereignty and security. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang urged the US to immediately withdraw the arms sales plan and stop military to military relations between the United States and Taiwan so as to avoid further damage to Chinese-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The Trump administration, however, has no intention of backing off. Trump used his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to denounce China and to hail the tariffs imposed by his administration on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Washington has already foreshadowed a further escalation of the economic war on China with threats to not only raise existing tariffs but extend them to the remaining $267 billion of Chinese exports. Yesterday Trump against lashed out at China, accusing it of interfering in the US mid-term elections in November. The outburst was all the more remarkable as it was while he was chairing a session of the UN Security Council that was meant to be addressing weapons proliferation. Referring to China, Trump declared: They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, we are winning at every level. We dont want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election. Trump has been under siege himself from the Democrats and sections of the US military/intelligence apparatus over unsubstantiated allegation of collusion with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election campaign. Yet he had no qualms about using the same deceitful methods, providing no evidence for any of the allegations in his 10-minute address. Later Trump tweeted: China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. China, however, is far from being the only government that buys advertisements in the media in the US and other countries in order to promote their wares. Like the allegations of Russian meddling, the evidence of Chinese interference is threadbare. Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi told the UN Security Council: We did not and will not interfere in any countrys domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China. Nevertheless, Trumps remarks are no accident, but rather signal the start of a propaganda offensive to poison relations with China as the US instigates trade war and prepares for military conflict. A senior Trump official told the media that Vice President Mike Pence plans to make a speech next week detailing allegations that China uses political, economic, military and other means to influence US public opinion. At the same time, the US is ramping up its military provocations against China in the South China Sea. According to the Business Insider, the Pentagon flew four nuclear-capable B-52 strategic bombers across the contested waters on Monday. The United States military will continue to fly sail and operate wherever international law allows at a times and places of our choosing, Pentagon spokesman Dave Eastburn declared. While the US military claims that such operations are routine, the presence of US warplanes and warships close to the Chinese mainland is part of the US military build-up in the Indo-Pacific region, begun under the Obama administration and continued under Trump. Separately Pentagon spokesman Eastman told the media that US B-52s had also flown over the East China Sea on Tuesday as part of a regularly scheduled, combined operation. Japan and China have a longstanding and tense territorial dispute over uninhabited rocky outcrops in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Amid rising tensions with the US, China recently denied a request for a US warship to visit Hong Kong. China also summoned the US ambassador to Beijing last weekend to protest a US decision to sanction a Chinese military agency for its purchase of Russian fighters and surface-to-air missiles. The US decision to authorise another arms sale to Taiwan can only further fuel a dangerous confrontation with China that has the potential to escalate from trade war to war. Several hundred people rallied in central Melbourne yesterday to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the murder of 19-year-old Liep Gony, after a brutal, racially motivated assault. The commemoration marked the first time that Lieps mother, Martha Ojulo, has publicly spoken about her sons death. She is clearly alarmed at the renewed government-media campaign scapegoating youth of African origin, in the guise of combating so-called African gangs. Participants in the commemoration marching to Victorian state parliament Eleven years ago, her son was killed amid a similar vendetta, launched against black youth in the final weeks of the John Howard Liberal-National Coalition government. A Murdoch media led campaign beginning in mid-2007 sought to link crime in Melbournes outer suburbs to youth of Sudanese origin. This featured openly racist rhetoric about violent tribal societies, African-American gang culture, and a supposed refusal to integrate into mainstream Australia. On the evening of September 26, Liep Gony went out to purchase supplies for a family wedding. Outside a train station in the working class south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Noble Park, Liep died after being repeatedly struck in the head and torso with metal bars. Immediately after the murder, media reports linked the incident to a gang-related attack. In response, Howards immigration minister, Kevin Andrews, declared he was concerned that some groups dont seem to be settling and adjusting into the Australian way of life as quickly as we would hope and that the government would slow down the rate of intake from countries such as Sudan. The government capped the proportion of refugees it accepted from Africa at 30 percent, down from 70 percent two years earlier. Just hours after this provocative announcement, police revealed they had arrested two men, 22-year-old Clinton Rintoull and 19-year-old Dylan Sabatino, for the assault on Liep. The young men had earlier spray painted fuck da ni***s on their rental propertys walls before going out and attacking Liep when they crossed paths. A neighbour earlier heard one of them say: These blacks are turning the town into the Bronx. I am going to take my town back. Im looking to kill the blacks. It later emerged that the local newspaper had headlined an article on alleged refugee-immigrant youth crime, Bronx Fear, underscoring the role of the media in inciting the most backward and disoriented layers with divisive racialist politics. Clinton Rintoull, who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for murder, had reportedly experienced family violence, homelessness, substance abuse, and mental health problems. Martha Ojulo Speaking through a translator outside the Victorian state parliament yesterday, Martha Ojulo explained that she had fled South Sudan with her six children after her husband was arrested and family harassed. In a refugee camp, she continued, a fire killed one of her children and badly injured another. After this tragedy, she was accepted as a refugee into Australia. Martha told the rally that Liep had helped her adjust to her new country, including translating at the local child care centre when his younger sister began to attend. Liep planned to study graphic design, and hoped, Martha explained, to buy a home for the family. It has been a very, very tough eleven years, she said. Because of Lieps killing, my life has been destroyed. I would like a death like this to never happen again. Supporters and family members of Martha Ojulo Martha explained her reaction to the government and media initially connecting her sons death to African gang crime. I was shocked because I expected an opposite reaction, she said. My son was not killed because he fought someone, my son was not killed because he did something wrong, my son was killed because of the colour of his skin. So, I expected a different reaction to how Liep was treated. I thought that the government would stand with me because of the manner in which my son was killed. She continued: I hope what happened to Liep never happens to a young man ever again. But I feel that for that change to happen it will require even members of parliament to change the way they talk. I also know that this [issue of youth crime] is much more complicated than what we see in the media. Some of the solutions that should be suggested are not the kind of rhetoric that we have Support our community to provide more education facilities for our young people. Nyawech addressing the rally Other family members and friends spoke at the rally, including Lieps cousin, 22-year-old Nyawech Fouche. I want all of you guys to understand, my cousin was murdered because of racism, she said. I dont want to beat around the bush any more, and I dont want to have to prove to people that I deserve life, or any other black person deserves to live. We do not want to prove that anymore, and I am tired and sick of the racism going on in this country. I am tired of the South Sudanese community being targeted. I am tired of all the minorities being bullied, being targeted by the media. Nyawech then broke down and was unable to continue. She later explained that she had suffered a panic attack, and spoke about the trauma that is still felt by the entire family. Before the rally commenced, Nyawech told the WSWS: The media makes it seem like crime belongs to only one groupwhich is the South Sudanese. But crime is in every race. There is good and bad in every race. And to generalise one group and call it a Sudanese gang or an African gangyoure generalising a whole continent by calling it an African gang. Youre saying that Africans are all criminals. It is affecting our lives, and our studies, and our employment opportunities. I think youth have been targeted for many yearsin every race, or every ethnicity. It is nothing new. Chudier, Nyawech and Nyugak Nyawech explained that she was now organising people of Sudanese origin to enrol to vote. Often, our parents are not educated in English, so they dont understand politics and the way it works, or the way the media works, she said. Thats why a lot of them stay at home and pray for their kids. But praying doesnt do anythingwe need action. We need to actually go and demand justice, demand equality. Thats the only way that we will get what we want because I believe that we, as people, can overthrow the government. It doesnt matter how many white supremacist groups there are, because there are people with good hearts that can fight for the rights of other people. I think poverty is man-made. Chudier, a textile student, said, What has happened has happenedit is sad. Were just here to saylet this not happen again, to anyone, not just our community. It is not just within our community, they have done it to other communities as well. A while back it was the Lebanese, now it is the Sudanese. Rouza Liep Gonys sister, Rouza, was just six-years-old when her brother was murdered and is now in high school. She told the WSWS: Were just trying to show people that theres more to us than African gangs, and more to us than our skin colour. My brother wasnt part of any gang Since his death our family is not the same, things are not the same. Nothings the same. The killing of Liep was a stark warning of the consequences of the incessant promotion of anti-immigrant racism and xenophobia by the entire political establishment including Labor, the Liberal-Nationals and the corporate press. As in 2007, the renewed campaign over African gangs is aimed at dividing the workers along racial and ethnic lines, diverting anger over a deepening social crisis into the most reactionary channels and cultivating an extreme right-wing constituency that can be mobilised against the working class. The alternative to this nationalist poison is the fight for the unity of the working class in a common struggle against social inequality, war, authoritarianism, and their sources, the capitalist system. The authors recommend: Australian PM promotes racist campaign over African gangs [19 July 2018] SEP forum rallies opposition against racist African gangs campaign in Australia [26 January 2018] Visit niles2018.com today to get involved in the campaign and donate! On Tuesday, Niles Niemuth, the Socialist Equality Partys candidate for Michigans 12th congressional district, spoke to a well-attended public meeting in downtown Wyandotte, a suburb in the Downriver area of metropolitan Detroit. Niles examined the social and political crisis in the United States and elaborated an independent, socialist strategy for the working class. The audience included workers and retirees from the area, SEP supporters, and a contingent of students from the Wayne State University chapter of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, which hosted Niles at a meeting last week. Campaign teams for Niles campaigned over the previous week, going door-to-door, putting up posters, and advertising for the meeting outside of grocery stores, auto plants and other locations. Campaigners also spoke to residents outside of a local screening of Michael Moores documentary on Trump, Fahrenheit 11/9. A central focus of Niles' opening remarks and the subsequent discussion was the conditions facing the working class and how workers can organize to oppose exploitation and inequality. The largely working-class Downriver area has been hit particularly hard over the past several decades by plant closures and layoffs, especially in the steel industry. Niles addressing the meeting in Wyandotte Between 1979 and 1983 major plant closures and downsizings in Downriver resulted in the loss of 14,750 jobs, a 40 percent decline in the areas workforce in just four years, Niles explained. The unions and the companies enforced one concessionary contract after another, he added, while claiming that this would prevent layoffs. However, this did not save a single job, and one steel mill after another closed. At facilities such as the massive McLouth Steel works, the unions promoted as a supposed solution to this hemorrhaging of jobs the creation of Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or ESOPs. This is falsely presented as workers control over production or even socialized ownership by pseudo-left groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America, and in a recent comment appearing in the Detroit Free Press. Niles said, This turned out to be massive scam which defrauded thousands of workers out of their livelihoods ESOPs have nothing to do with real ownership and control by the working class of the means of production. There can be no democracy or equality between capitalists and workers, that is, between exploiters and their wage-slaves. The McLouth works, he added, was ultimately closed in 1996. At its height as many as 6,000 people worked at the facility, now it sits a rusting polluted testament to the failure of the capitalist system. Jerry White, US labor editor of the World Socialist Web Site and former SEP presidential candidate, reviewed the role of the United Steelworkers (USW) union and the late District 2 director Harry Lester in demobilizing and suppressing workers opposition through dead-ends such as ESOP. When Lester died in 2015, he was eulogized by Debbie Dingell, the Democratic incumbent in the 12th district and auto heiress. The multi-million-dollar UAW-Chrysler bribery scandal has provided conclusive evidence of what many workers have long suspected: that they are up against a criminal conspiracy between the companies and the unions, which falsely claim to represent their interests, Niles stated. Niles answers a question Niles also raised the still unexplained death of Jacoby Hennings, a young part-time autoworker, in the union office in Fords nearby Woodhaven Stamping plant last year. My campaign has raised the call for a public inquiry into Hennings death. Ford, the UAW, the Democrats and the Republicans have ignored this case, accepting the narrative that Hennings was simply another disgruntled employee. Hennings loved ones and all of his co-workers deserve a full accounting of what happened to him. Moreover, The anger of autoworkers over routine injuries and deaths finds no outlet in official politics. None of the capitalist politicians, be they in the mold of Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump or Debbie Dingell speak for the interests of the working class. The skyrocketing levels of social inequality are incompatible with democratic forms of rule, Niles explained. The American state and its institutions are democratic only in the most formal sense. In reality, they are instruments of corporate domination created by capitalism, in which the Democratic and Republican parties, the twin parties of the ruling class, exercise a monopoly. Niles also pointed to the $1.5 trillion committed to US military spending over the next two years, and Trumps fascistic rant at the United Nations earlier that day, as signs that the American ruling class is preparing new and more dangerous wars to offset the historic decline of American capitalism. Campaign material and Marxist literature at the meeting Niles remarks were followed by a wide-ranging and lively discussion on topics such as the SEPs proposal for the formation of rank-and-file committees, the right-wing proposal for changes to the history curriculum in Michigan public schools, the SEPs position on the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and the failure of the US military to reach its recruitment quota and what it says about the growth of antiwar sentiment in the American population. One audience member asked about the pollution of drinking water in Flint and Detroit. Niles responded that a multi-trillion-dollar public works program is necessary to improve the conditions, not only of the countrys drinking water, but infrastructure in general, which has been allowed to fall into serious disrepair. The discussion was underscored by the fact that torrential downpours during the meeting flooded out streets all over the Downriver area. The WSWS spoke to attendees after the meeting. Doug Doug is a former lab technician at a company that manufactures frac sand for the oil and gas industry. He decided to leave his job over health and safety concerns and currently supports himself by renting out property on Airbnb. I think everyones tired of that last name [Dingell] around here, Doug said, referring to the fact that, including Debbie Dingells husband John and his father before him, the family has been in Congress for nearly a century. But I met [Republican candidate] Jeff Jones while I was volunteering, and I felt I got to know him pretty well, and I thought, This guy is a total idiot. So when I met you guys on campaign, I thought I had to come and hear from a third party candidate. Speaking about the pollution of the areas rivers, Doug said, Theyve put up signs all up and down the Huron River saying do not fish. Im probably going to have to get myself tested, Ive been swimming in that water all summer. Im interested in the idea of socialism, he said. When it comes down to it, were all the same. Doug discussed the levels of inequality in the United States with SEP campaigners, who pointed out the fact that Jeff Bezos is worth $160 billion while Amazon warehouse workers make $12 an hour. Doug added that Amazon, which has opened up multiple fulfillment centers in the Detroit area recently, is sending out mass texts encouraging people to apply for positions. Ashley is a student at Wayne State University who recently came around the International Youth and Students for Social Equality. I joined the IYSSE and Im trying to learn as much as I can about leftist politics. I wanted to come to the campaign meeting for Niles, specifically because I want to know who Im voting for and expand my knowledge of whats going on in the world, because a lot of this is news to me. I havent been keeping up with the news, and a lot of whats in the news is not really whats going on in the world. Its good to be informed. Niles2018 campaign merchandise I think the difference between Niles and other politicians and groups like the DSA and the Democratic Party is that Niles is actually fighting for the working class, Ashley said. Its not lobbyists, its an actual leftist party. When you actually dig deeper you find that its not Democrats: left wing, Republicans: right wingtheyre both right-wing parties, and the DSA is still a right-wing party. They dont actually care for working class people, and theyre upholding capitalism, which is the main root of a lot of the issues in society. Lately, I have been thinking of this metaphor of a dragon, hoarding wealth. And the village needs to rise up and slay the dragon. And we have the power to slay the dragon. We can take matters into our own hands, we dont need anyone else, we just need each other. And thats why being educated is so important, we have to develop our knowledge. Visit niles2018.com today to get involved in the campaign and donate! The following statement was distributed by members of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality to the Historians Conference currently underway in the city of Munster. The annual conference is the most prestigious gathering of its kind in Germany, bringing together historians from all over the world. It meets this year under the title Divided Society. The 52nd Historikertag (Historians Conference) in Munster takes place under conditions where historical questions have assumed immense significance. Eighty-five years after the Nazis came to power, several thousand far-right demonstrators marched through the streets of Chemnitz, hunting down refugees, besieging a Jewish restaurant and attacking a local office of the Left Party. Sometime later, in Dortmund, a few hundred neo-Nazis chanted anti-Semitic slogans and committed crimes. These forces have been actively encouraged by leading representatives of the government and the state. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer lined up behind the far-right demonstrators and even stated that he would have marched alongside them in Chemnitz if he were not a minister. The president of the German domestic intelligence service, the BfV, Hans-Georg Maassen, denied that there had been any persecution of refugees in Chemnitz and accused journalists and victims of the fascist mob of lying. Previously, he had met confidentially with leading members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The fact that the grand coalition in Berlin has refused to dismiss Maassen sends a clear signal to the AfD, its sympathisers and its members in the state apparatus that they have the backing of the government (a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union, Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party). Although the AfD is despised by the vast majority of the population, it has become the most influential political force in Germany. It heads key Bundestag committees, and the grand coalition has adopted and is implementing its racist policies. These policies include the setting up of a comprehensive system of camps where refugees are incarcerated, harassed and then deported. They also include the build-up of the state apparatus and an aggressive foreign policy, as agreed in the coalition agreement. This fundamental change in German politics has shocked many, but it did not appear out of the blue. It was prepared ideologically. For years, an intellectual climate has been cultivated in which the far-right could thrive. Already at the time of the reunification of Germany, nearly 30 years ago, tendencies emerged in historical circles seeking to rehabilitate old Nazi myths while downplaying the crimes committed by German imperialism. Then, in January 2014, the German government announced the end of Germanys military restraint, and such forms of historical falsification assumed a new quality. It is difficult to conduct a responsible policy in Europe with the notion that we are to blame for everything. With relation to 1914 this is a legend, Herfried Munkler declared on January 4, 2014, in an interview with the Suddeutsche Zeitung, thereby sparking a new wave of historical falsification. On the same day, the right-wing military historian Sonke Neitzel, Professor Dominik Geppert (Bonn University), the New Right author Cora Stephan and Professor Thomas Weber published an article in Die Welt denying that Germany pursued aggressive goals in World War I. Germany, they argued, was far removed from any pursuit of world power driven by pride and megalomania. The professor of Eastern European history at Humboldt University, Jorg Baberowski, went even further and sought to whitewash the crimes of National Socialism (Nazism). In an article in Der Spiegel in February 2014, he lined up behind the historian Ernst Nolte, who had unleashed the Historians Debate in 1986. Nolte had claimed that the Holocaust was an understandable response to the violence of the Soviet Union. Noltes thesis led to a storm of protest at the time and was quite correctly refuted by dozens of historians. Soon after, Nolte appeared solely on the platform of far-right organisations. Baberowski, however, is intent on rehabilitating the Nazi apologist: Nolte was done an injustice, the Humboldt professor told Der Spiegel. Historically speaking he was right. Baberowski continued, Hitler was no psychopath, and he wasnt vicious. He didnt want people to talk about the extermination of the Jews at his table. Baberowski drew a parallel between the Holocaust and alleged executions during the Russian Civil War, claiming: It was essentially the same thing: killing on an industrial scale. Baberowski combines his trivialisation of the crimes of the Nazis with a malicious campaign against refugees, which, in content and tone, echoes the AfD. In May 2017, he complained to the NZZ that since 1968, the resistance to a dead dictator [Adolf Hitler] is legitimacy enough to rise morally above other people. Anyone who reaches conclusions about racism, colonialism, war and peace or gender relations that depart from what the hegemonic discourse allows is morally discredited, he continued. In 2015, on the TV programme Kulturzeit, he described the growing number of attacks on refugees as rather harmless weighed against the problems that he alleged were associated with refugees. Baberowskis comments in 2014 were not the first time he sought to exonerate the Nazis and their leader. Already in a text from 2007 he denied that the war of annihilation in eastern Europe was the result of systematic planning and Nazi ideology. Instead, he blamed the Red Army: Stalin and his generals forced on the Wehrmacht a new kind of war that no longer spared the civilian population, he wrote. Similar theses can be found in his book Scorched Earth from 2012. In 1986, positions such as those defended by Baberowski met with a torrent of criticism. In 2014, they were greeted mainly with silence. For the next three years, not a single historian or professor objected to the fact that the Holocaust had been played down and the viciousness of Hitler called into question in Germanys biggest-circulation news magazine. Instead, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), the youth organisation of the Socialist Equality Party (SGP), was roundly attacked by numerous media outlets, university officials and historians for criticising Baberowski in its pamphlets and meetings. Even after the Cologne Higher Regional Court ruled that Baberowski had been correctly quoted by his critics and that it was perfectly legitimate to describe him as a right-wing extremist, racist and glorifier of violence, the presidium of Humboldt University in Berlin and a number of professors, including Michael Wildt and Hannes Grandits, praised Baberowski as an outstanding scientist whose integrity is beyond doubt. His scientific statements were not right-wing radical, they declared. The IYSSE and other critical students were branded as being linked to violence and extremism, without any evidence being offered, while media attacks on Baberowski were declared to be unacceptable. The current BfV report, produced under Maassens leadership, lists the Socialist Equality Party, for the first time, as a left-wing extremist party and object for surveillance. This is evidently the response to the SGPs campaign against the right-wing ideological offensive. The report does not accuse the SGP of any type of violence or improper activity. Instead, the party is condemned because it is against alleged nationalism, imperialism and militarism. According to the BfV, anyone who protests against, or gathers information on, right-wing extremists is a left-wing extremist. The report fails to make any critical mention of the AfD or other leading figures and movements associated with the far right (Pegida, Bernd Hocke, Gotz Kubitschek, etc.). Much of the report bears the signature of the AfD, which Maassen consulted on a number of occasions prior to its publication. Anyone familiar with German history is aware of the significance of the recent neo-Nazi offensive. In 1933, Hitler was elevated to power by the German elites (Ian Kershaw), because they needed him to smash the workers movement and prepare World War II. Today, the rise of the right-wing extremists coincides once again with a critical turning point in German history: faced with trade war, international conflicts and growing social tensions, the ruling elites are pressing ahead with the revival of German militarism and strengthening the state apparatus. Unlike 1933, the far-right extremists are not yet a mass party. They draw their strength from the support of the state and government and from the right-wing ideological climate cultivated at Germanys universities. The whitewashing of Nazi crimes by Baberowski, his defence by leading press organs and professors, and the cowardly silence of many others have created an ideological climate that encourages this development. It is time to break the silence and oppose the historical revisionism that is the breeding ground for right-wing extremists. * Stop the surveillance of the SGP and other left-wing organisations by the BfV! * Condemn the statement of the Humboldt University presidium against the IYSSE and critical students! * Publicly protest against Baberowskis attempts to relativise the crimes of the Nazis! 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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 Judge Robert Skar to retire Friday WORLAND After 40 years of practicing law and serving as a county, circuit and district judge, Judge Robert Skar is retiring this week, to spend time on his hobbies and travel the United States. A graduate of the University of Wyoming and having grown up in Cody after moving from Detroit as a teenager, Skar started practicing law in Casper, before being appointed Big Horn County Judge in 199... Devil May Cry 5 Comparison - Xbox One vs. Xbox One S vs. Xbox One X vs. PS4 vs. PS4 Pro Christine Blasey Ford painfully recounts alleged attack by Kavanaugh: 'I believed he was going to rape me' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Christine Blasey Ford's voice was quivering at points during her opening statement as part of the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearing Thursday morning. Ford emotionally detailed her allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both in high school, saying how she feared for her life and has never been able to forget the incident which she says happened in 1982. The room was silent except for Ford, who directly addressed the senators for 20 minutes. Senators were riveted, listening very intently to Ford, with several visibly pitched forward in their seats. Her prepared testimony was released as a letter on Wednesday and she deviated very little from it. (MORE: 'I am terrified': Emotional Christine Blasey Ford speaks out at Kavanaugh hearing: Live updates) She provided a brief moment of levity when she ended her remarks by saying she "would request some caffeine" and said a Coke "sounds good." Here are her full introductory remarks: "Thank you, Chairman Grassley and ranking member Feinstein, members of the committee. My name is Christine Blasey Ford. I'm a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. I have described the events publicly before. I summarized them in my letter to ranking member Feinstein, and again in a letter to chairman grassley. I understand and appreciate the importance of your hearing for me directly about what happened to me and the impact it has had on my life and on my family. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. I attended the Holton arms school in bethesda, Maryland, from 1978 to 1984. Holton arms is an all girls school that opened in 1901. Story continues During my time at the school, girls at Holton arms frequently met and became friendly with boys from all boys schools in the area, including the Landon school, Georgetown prep, Gonzaga high school, as well as our country clubs and other places where kids and families socialized. This is how I met Brett Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me. "This is how I met Brett Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me," Dr. Christine Blasey Ford recounts during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. https://t.co/v6alUKkcIE #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/1JD9drres4 ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 27, 2018 During my freshman and sophomore school years, when I was 14 and 15 years old, my group of friends intersected with Brett and his friends for a short period of time. I had been friendly with a classmate of Brett's for a short time during my freshman and sophomore year. And it was through that connection that I attended a number of parties that Brett also attended. We did not know each other well, but I knew him and he knew me. In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent most every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, swimming and practicing diving. One evening that summer, after a day of diving at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Bethesda area. There were four boys I remember specifically being at the house. Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, a boy named P.J., and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. I also remember my friend Leyland attending. I do not remember all of the details of how that gathering came together, but like many that summer, it was almost surely a spur of the moment I truly wish I could be more helpful with more detailed answers to all of the questions that have and will be asked about how I got to the party and where it took place and so forth. I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are the ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult. When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room/family room type area on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer. Brett and Mark were visibly early in the evening, I went up a very narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the restroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom across from the bathroom. I couldn't see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. I yelled, hoping that someone downstairs might hear me. And I tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was very inebriated and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit underneath my clothing. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what terrified me the most and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They seemed to be having a very good time. Mark seemed ambivalent, at times urging Brett on. At times telling him to stop. A couple of times, I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me. But he did not. During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. And the last time he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room, directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. I ran inside the bathroom and locked the door. I waited until I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom, laughing and loudly walked down the narrow stairway, pinballing off the walls on the way down. Christine Blasey Ford says she believed Brett Kavanaugh "was going to rape me." "I was pushed on to the bed and Brett got on top of me ... Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes," she says in her opening statement https://t.co/tO4JWC4Z5X #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/nw5cbHVNVx ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 27, 2018 I waited, and when I did not hear them come back up the stairs, I left the bathroom, went down the same stairwell, through the living room, and left the house. I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I escaped that house and that Brett and Mark were not coming outside after me. Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life for a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone these details. I did not want to tell my parents that I at age 15 was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys .I convinced myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should just move on and just pretend that it didn't happen. Over the years, I told very, very few friends that I had this traumatic experience. I told my husband before we were married that I had experienced a sexual assault. I had never told the details to anyone, the specific details, until May 2012 during a Couples Counseling session. The reason this came up in counseling is that my husband and I had completed a very extensive, very long remodel of our home, and I insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand. In explaining why I wanted a second front door, I began to describe the assault in detail. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke a bit about his background at an elitist all-boys school in Bethesda, Maryland. My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh. After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to ignore the memories of the assault because recounting them caused me to relive the experience and caused panic and anxiety. Occasionally, I would discuss the assault in an individual therapy session but talking about it caused more reliving of the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it. Christine Blasey Ford: "My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh" https://t.co/u9mb6Bl6lO #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/o42LSzhvue ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 27, 2018 But over the years, I went through periods where I thought about the attack. I had confided in some close friends that I had had experience with sexual assault. Occasionally, I stated that my assailant was a prominent lawyer or judge but I did not use his name. I do not recall each person I spoke to about Brett's assault, and some friends have reminded me of these conversations since the publication of "The Washington Post" story on September 16th, 2018. But until July 2018, I had never named Mr. Kavanaugh as my attacker outside of therapy. This changed in early July 2018. I saw press reports stating that Brett Kavanaugh was on the short list of a list of very well qualified Supreme Court nominees. I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr. Kavanaugh's conduct so that those considering his nomination would know about this assault. On July 6th, I had a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and the President as soon as possible before a nominee was selected. I did not know how specifically to do this. I called my Congressional representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the President's short list had attacked me. I also sent a message to the encrypted "Washington Post" confidential tip line. I did not use my name, but I provided the names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. I stated that Mr. Kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland. This was an extremely hard thing for me to do. But I felt that I couldn't not do it. Over the next two days, I told a couple of close friends on the beach in Aptos, California that Mr. Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted me. I was very conflicted as to whether to speak out. On July 9th, I received a return phone call from the office of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo after Mr. Kavanaugh had become the nominee. I met with her staff on July 18th, and with her on July 20th, describing the assault and discussing my fears about coming forward. Later, we discussed the possibility of sending a letter to ranking member Feinstein, who is one of my state senators, describing what occurred. My understanding is that Representative Eshoo's office delivered a copy my letter to Mrs. Feinstein's office. The letter included my name and also a request that it remain confidential. My hope was providing the information confidentially would be sufficient to allow the senate to consider Mr. Kavanaugh's serious misconduct without having to make myself, my family, or anyone's family vulnerable to the personal attacks and invasions of privacy that we have faced since my name became public. In a letter dated August 31st, senator Feinstein wrote that she would not share the letter without my explicit consent. And I appreciated this sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves when and whether their private experience is made public. As the hearing date got closer, I struggled with a terrible choice. Do I share the facts with the Senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight or do I preserve our privacy and allow the senate to make its decision without knowing the full truth of his past behaviors? I agonized daily with this decision throughout August and September of 2018. The sense of duty that originally motivated me to reach out confidentially to "The Washington Post" and to Anna Eshoo's office when there was still a list of extremely qualified candidates and to Senator Feinstein was always there, but my fears of the consequences of speaking out started to exponentially increase. During August 2018, the press reported that Mr. Kavanaugh's confirmation was virtually certain. Persons painted him as a champion of women's rights and empowerment. And I believed if I came forward, my single voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. By the time of the confirmation hearings, I had resigned myself to remaining quiet. And letting the committee and the senate make their decision without knowing what Mr. Kavanaugh had done to me. Once the press started reporting on the existence of the letter I had sent to Senator Feinstein, I faced mounting pressure. Reporters appeared at my home and at my workplace, demanding information about the letter in the presence of my graduate students. They called my bosses and coworkers and left me many messages, making it clear that my name would inevitably be released to the media. I decided to speak out publicly to a journalist who had originally responded to the tip I had sent to "The Washington Post" and who had gained my trust. It was important for me to describe the details of the assault in my own words. Since September 16th, the date of "The Washington Post" story, I have experienced an outpouring of support from people in every state of this country. Thousands and thousands of people who have had their lives dramatically altered by sexual violence have reached out to share their experience and have thanked me for coming forward. We have received tremendous support from our friends and our at the same time, my greatest fears have been realized and the reality has been far worse than what I expected. My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. And I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable. These messages while far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying and have rocked me to my core. People have posted my personal information and that of my parents online on the internet. This has resulted in anal e-mails, calls, and threats. My family and I were forced to move out of our home. Since September 16th, my family and I have been visiting in various secure locales, at times separated and at times together, with the help of security guards. This past Tuesday evening, my work e-mail was hacked and messages were sent out trying to recant my description of the sexual assault. Apart from the assault itself, these past couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. I have had to relive this trauma in front of the world. And I have seen my life picked apart by people on television, on Twitter, on other social media, other media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me. I am an independent person, and I am no one's pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to be helpful and to provide facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life so that you could take into a serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell you the truth. I understand that a professional prosecutor has been hired to ask me questions, and I'm committed to doing my very best to answer them. I have never been questioned by a prosecutor and I'll do my best. At the same time, because the committee members will be judging my credibility, I do hope to be able to engage directly with each of you, and at this point, I will do my best to answer your questions. And would request some caffeine." Read her prepared opening statement here: Dr. Ford written testimony by on Scribd Yahoo Life Videos Country music icon Trisha Yearwood is big on keeping family traditions alive around the holidays. Yearwood, who hosts Trisha's Southern Kitchen on the Food Network, says food traditions are especially important to her. "The reason that I cook is because I grew up on with a great cook," she explains, noting that both her parents were "fantastic" in the kitchen. Yearwood loves to host a "misfit Thanksgiving," where they invite people who don't have a place to go for the holiday to their home. "We didn't get to do that last year because of the pandemic," she says. "So we're really excited about that this year." Yearwood, who is married to fellow country music star Garth Brooks, says that Thanksgiving "is probably a bigger holiday at my house than Christmas" because her family loves the traditional meal. Yearwood says that Brooks loves to tell stories about how his mother used to stay up all night to baste the turkey before Thanksgiving. But she's discovered a hack to get a moist bird without all the hassle: She leaves it covered in a pan of water in the oven overnight. Twenty-seven years ago, 1,600 black women signed a full-page advertisement in The New York Times in support of Anita Hill, the professor who testified that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. Today, 1,600 men signed a full-page ad in The New York Times in support of Hill and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the Palo Alto University professor who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in 1982 at a high school party. We believe Anita Hill. We also believe Christine Blasey Ford, the statement says, splashed across the full page. The new ad was crowdfunded online with the support of organizations such as the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign and Futures Without Violence. The campaign, which was created over the weekend, has exceeded its fundraising goal of $100,000, receiving $137,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. We are 1,600 men who now stand behind both Professor Anita Hill, as well as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, because we believe them, the main statement in the ad reads. We believe survivors, and we call on all men of good will to stand with us to ensure that Dr. Blasey Fords story is carefully and fully examined without bias or prejudice, the ad continues. It is imperative that the politics of this moment not discolor the facts. Justice demands that both Dr. Blasey Ford and her story be treated fairly, impartially, and with respect. Story continues below. The ad ran in Wednesday's edition of the New York Times. (Scroll all the way down to read the full transcript of the ad.) (Photo: Phenomenal Woman) The ad cost $100,000 and, according to the crowdfunding page, the remaining money will go to Futures Without Violence for violence prevention programming. For decades, a culture of misogyny has allowed men to act with impunity and without consequence, the ad reads. We demand an end to that culture, and we pledge to do our part in dismantling it. Thats why we are speaking out today in favor of a just process, and for the rights of women like Dr. Blasey Ford to be heard fully, fairly, and with respect. In the words of Anita Hill, There is no way to redo 1991, but there are ways to do better, the powerful statement concludes. Story continues The 1991 ad was fashioned in a similar vein and published in support of Hill after lawmakers and the media attacked her for accusing Thomas of sexual harassment. The larger banner at the top of the ad reads: African American Women In Defense of Ourselves. 27 years ago, 1600 black women took out a full page ad in the NYT to show support for Anita Hill. I was 20 years old. I put $25 toward the price of the ad and signed my name. pic.twitter.com/I9AvWsoeGm Tayari Jones (@tayari) September 19, 2018 Three women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct as of Wednesday afternoon. Earlier this month, professor Blasey was the first woman to accuse him of sexual assault. On Sunday, Deborah Ramirez claimed that the judge exposed himself to her and thrust his penis in her face during a party when they were students at Yale University during the 1983-84 school year. On Wednesday, Julie Swetnick alleged that Kavanaugh was present during a gang rape. Blasey is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in a public hearing on Thursday. A committee vote on Kavanaughs nomination is set for Friday. Read the statement in the New York Times ad in full below: We believe Anita Hill. We also believe Christine Blasey Ford. 27 years ago, on November 17, 1991, 1,600 black women joined together and placed a full-page ad in the New York Times to support Professor Anita Hill when she faced backlash for accusing Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. They called it, African American Women in Defense of Ourselves. Today we follow in the footsteps of those courageous women. We are 1,600 men who now stand behind both Professor Anita Hill, as well as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, because we believe them. As men who are allies in the fight to end violence and harassment against women and girls, we write to express our strong support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for her willingness to speak out publicly and testify before the Senate about the sexual assault that she says was perpetrated against her by Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh. We believe survivors, and we call on all men of good will to stand with us to ensure that Dr. Blasey Fords story is carefully and fully examined without bias or prejudice. It is imperative that the politics of this moment not discolor the facts. Justice demands that both Dr. Blasey Ford and her story be treated fairly, impartially, and with respect. Too frequently, survivors of sexual assault are forced to suffer in silence. Those that choose to speak out often face backlash, skepticism, and ridicule. As weve seen once again the last few weeks, that kind of virulent backlash is most acutely on display whenever those accused of misdeeds are powerful men. If appointed to the Supreme Court, few men would be more powerful than Judge Kavanaugh. We are a group of men with varying political and legal views. But we each believe women should no longer have to carry these burdens alone. For decades, a culture of misogyny has allowed men to act with impunity and without consequence. We demand an end to that culture, and we pledge to do our part in dismantling it. Thats why we are speaking out today in favor of a just process, and for the rights of women like Dr. Blasey Ford to be heard fully, fairly, and with respect. In the words of Anita Hill, There is no way to redo 1991, but there are ways to do better. Related... Being 'Young And Stupid' Has Nothing To Do With The Brett Kavanaugh Assault Accusations Anita Hill: Kavanaugh Hearing On Sexual Assault Accusations 'Cannot Be Fair' Christine Blasey Ford Polygraph Regarding Kavanaugh Assault Allegation Released Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Variety Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader will face off once again in the Disney Plus series Obi-Wan Kenobi at least, that is the strong implication in a sneak peak of the Lucasfilm production released on the streamer on Nov. 12. While the preview did not include any footage from the series, concept art appears to [] Mrs Merkel admitted there was 'nothing to gloss over' as she received another body blow after a bruising summer of coalition run-ins - AFP Germans were speculating over the beginning of the end of the Merkel era on Tuesday night after the chancellor suffered a shock defeat in a key vote of her partys MPs. For the first time since Angela Merkel took power almost 13 years ago, MPs from her Christian Democrat party (CDU) rejected her chosen candidate as their leader in parliament and voted instead for a challenger who had promised to be more independent. The defeat was a body blow to Mrs Merkels authority and left her facing the prospect of backbench rebellion as she tries to get her coalitions legislative programme through parliament. This is an uprising against Merkel, Thomas Oppermann, a senior MP from her coalition partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), wrote on Twitter. This is an hour of democracy, and it has its defeats, Mrs Merkel told her MPs as she conceded that her nominee had lost. There is nothing to gloss over. Ralph Brinkhaus delivered a surprise victory that is likely to have dire consequences for Merkel It was the first time since 1973 a challenger had even dared to stand against an incumbent chancellors candidate for the leadership of the CDUs group in parliament. There is no direct equivalent of the German role in the UK: a leader of the partys backbenchers who traditionally acts as a sort of elected Chief Whip. Mrs Merkel nominated Volker Kauder, an arch-loyalist who has served her as parliamentary leader for 13 years for re-election, and her choice was endorsed by the rest of the party leadership. But the 69-year-old Mr Kauder was defeated by Ralph Brinkhaus, a relative unknown who said he was standing as the candidate of change, to renew the party. Mrs Merkels MPs sit in parliament with their more conservative Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the two parties elect a single backbench leader. After a bruising summer of power struggles between Mrs Merkel and the CSU leader, Horst Seehofer, some MPs were expected to rebel in a protest vote against Mr Kauder. But most forecasts predicted the challenger could hope for 30 per cent at most, and until the votes were counted defeat for Mrs Merkels candidate was considered unthinkable. Story continues In the event, Mr Brinkhaus won by a knife edge, with 125 votes to Mr Kauders 112. Two MPs abstained. The result casts doubt on Mrs Merkel's government's ability to get legislation through parliament. Her coalition has a majority of just 45, meaning a similar rebellion within her own party could defeat the government. While most backbench CDU and CSU MPs will not want to risk a confidence vote that could plunge them into a new election in which many would lose their seats according to the current polls, they may well relish the chance to wield their new power and demand a greater say in government. Although the result was a clear rebellion against Mrs Merkel, it has come from an unexpected quarter. Mr Brinkhaus was at pains before the election to stress that he was not the anti-Merkel candidate. I stand for new momentum in the party, not against the chancellor, he said. He does not belong to the conservative wing of the CDU which has made no secret of its desire to turn the party back from her more centrist path, and unlike her critics, he has not been outspoken against her refugee policy. But he has pledged to make the partys MPs more independent of the leadership, and made it clear he wants change. Stability and calm are not enough, he told MPs ahead of the vote. What we need now is action, a sign of change, to the outside and to the party base. Courage, trust, confidence: that's what the country is missing now. The loss of the arch-loyalist Mr Kauder will be a blow for Mrs Merkel. It was Mr Kauder who whipped restive CDU MPs into backing her when times were tough, during the Euro crisis and over her migrant policy. It was also Mr Kauder who got the party to stand behind her at the decisive moment of her power struggle with Mr Seehofer earlier this year. While Mrs Merkel is not expected to be toppled in the immediate future, the defeat was a clear sign her authority in her party is waning, and it was seized on by opposition parties as a sign her time in power is coming to an end. The defeat of Volker Kauder makes Angela Merkels loss of power in the CDU clear. The twilight of Merkel has finally begun, Alice Weidel of the nationalist Alternative for Germany party said. This is the beginning of the end for Merkel. Her authority is massively damaged, said Niema Movassat of The Left Party. By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's immunotherapy drug Imfinzi cut the risk of death in patients with mid-stage lung cancer by nearly a third in a closely watched clinical study, reinforcing the case for using the drug in earlier disease. The encouraging overall survival data boosts prospects for a medicine that was approved this week in Europe and has already had a promising U.S. commercial launch, based on its ability to slow disease progression. As the leading cause of cancer deaths, lung cancer represents the biggest opportunity for companies seeking to exploit the power of modern cancer immunotherapies. Deutsche Bank analysts said the "impressive" results would cement Imfinzi as the standard of care for lung cancer patients whose disease has not yet spread widely. Until now, the five-year survival rate for such patients has been around 15 percent. AstraZeneca shares rose more than 2 percent and oncology business head David Fredrickson told Reuters the data would be important in driving uptake of the medicine, which he expects to be launched in 40 markets by the end of the year. Although AstraZeneca announced in May that Imfinzi had successfully extended lives, the scale of the benefit seen in the clinical trial known as Pacific was only disclosed on Tuesday at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto. The data was also published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. Results showed Imfinzi delivered a 32 percent survival benefit after two years, compared with placebo, in patients with inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer - where cancer has advanced locally but not spread widely around the body. Previous data from the same study found patients on Imfinzi lived 11 months longer without their disease worsening - so-called median progression-free survival - leading to the drug's U.S. approval for lung cancer in February. No comparative figures for median overall survival are yet available because more than half of Imfinzi patients are still alive. Imfinzi is the first immunotherapy to be approved in the stage III lung cancer setting, giving AstraZeneca an opportunity to intervene relatively early when there is still a chance of a cure. That distinguishes it from rivals Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche, which beat the British drugmaker in winning approval for similar immunotherapies in advanced or metastatic disease. Fredrickson believes using Imfinzi in stage III lung cancer opens a major sales opportunity and also puts AstraZeneca in a strong position as doctors explore the use of immune system-boosting drugs earlier in cancer. "This is a really important set of data for our commercial uptake," he said. "We've already seen in the United States that the early adopters and even the next wave of physicians have brought Imfinzi into regular practice. But there are always later adopters who are more cautious and want to await overall survival data." So far, Imfinzi's growth has been driven by the big U.S. market, with launches elsewhere further behind. Being able to prove that the drug helps patients live longer will be important in securing a good price in Europe and Japan, Fredrickson said. Imfinzi sales totaled $122 million in the second quarter of this year and analysts expect them to reach close to $4 billion by 2023. (Editing by Alexander Smith and Jane Merriman) Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been questioned over allegations he raped a woman aboard a boat and assaulted a girlfriend in a bar. The new claims which add to the complaints already already made by Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick - were revealed as the judge prepared to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge Kavanaugh described the claims as outrageous when he was interviewed by investigators in a conference call released by the committee. Its trying to take me down, trying to take down my family, said the 53-year-old who currently serves as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He added: Its bad its doing damage to the Supreme Court, its doing damage to the country. Its doing damage to this process. Its become a total feeding frenzy, you know? Every... just unbelievable. Dr Ford, a university professor, has described how Mr Kavanaugh tried to force himself on her at a party while they were both high school students in Maryland in 1982. Two men have since come forward independently to say that they were responsible for the encounter and not Mr Kavanaugh, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee. One described his recollection of their interaction in some detail in two interviews and written statements, while the second made his claim over the phone to committee staff. Whoa. Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans say they have spoken to two men who think they, not Kavanaugh, had the 1982 encounter that formed the basis for her sexual abuse claim. (These tables are from a timeline the committee majority published 15 minutes ago.) pic.twitter.com/tjz3CSQUUL David Martosko (@dmartosko) September 27, 2018 Ms Ramirez claims that Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken dormitory party at Yale University while third accuser Julie Swetnick says the judge was present during a gang rape at a party in 1982. Story continues In the conference call with Senate investigators, the judge said he had been friendly with Ms Ramirez but denied any sexual or romantic encounters. This specific incident alleged did not happen, and I dont recall the general party that shes describing in particular," he said. Mr Kavanaugh also denied any involvement in gang rapes as described by Ms Swetnick. This didnt happen. Ive never done anything like that," he said. "This is an outrage for this kind of thin, uncorroborated, 35-year-old accusation to be leveled in this fashion at this time.... Ive never had a threesome or more than a threesome. The allegation about the rape on the boat in August 1985 was made by an unidentified man from Rhode Island in a phone call to Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse on 24 September. He claimed that a close acquaintance told him she had been sexually assaulted by two drunken men she referred to as Brett and Mark after meeting them at a local bar. The man said that he and a friend went to the harbour at Newport and physically confronted the two men, leaving them with significant injuries. He reported it after seeing Mr Kavanaughs high school yearbook photo on TV. Asked about the claims, Mr Kavanaugh said: I was not in Newport, havent been on a boat in Newport. This is just completely made up, or at least not me. According to the transcript of the conference call, the man who made the complaint has tweeted criticism of Donald Trump as the parasite that occupies the White House and the domestic terrorist in the Oval Office. The claim that Mr Kavanaugh assaulted a woman he was dating in 1998 while working for the independent counsel Ken Starr was made in an anonymous letter to Republican senator Cory Gardner. It read: My daughter occasionally socialized with Brett Kavanaugh. Her friend was dating him. When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually. Her friend (still traumatized) called by daughter ... wondering what to do about it. Mr Kavanaugh said: Were dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend. Its ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no, Ive never done anything like that. The Supreme Court nominee has strongly denied accusations of sexual misconduct: Win McNamee/Getty Images A newspaper has apologised amid public condemnation over a cartoon of Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. The Indianapolis Star published the drawing in its print editions featuring Mr Ford with her back to the reader, sitting in front of Mr Kavanaugh with the words: Here are my demands - No questions from lawyers, dim the lights, I want roses, sparkling water, a bowl of green M&Ms." Critics felt the image mocked Dr Ford, who claimed the nominee assaulted her while the pair were in high school in the 1980s. Through her lawyers, Dr Ford had engaged in negotiations with the Senate Judiciary Committee set to vote on Mr Kavanaughs appointment and had asked them to agree to certain terms before she would testify. The terms were, in her lawyers estimation, measures meant to protect the Palo Alto University professors family, since they had to vacate their home after receiving death threats in the wake of Ms Ford coming forward about the allegations. The Washington Post reported: The comic was drawn by Gary Varvel, an Indy Star cartoonist whose stringently conservative comics have turned heads for years. Even the executive editor of the paper, Ronnie Ramos, said in a published note Mr Varvels work ran next to another syndicated cartoon that presented an opposing view in the editorial pages of the newspaper. But, he wrote: The Indy Star also has a responsibility to promote a civil discourse and to present diverse viewpoints in a way that does not demean or appear to belittle anyone who says they are the victim of a sexual assault. This is a disgrace. Ive come to expect the worst from Gary Varvel, but never making light of sexual assault. @indystar should have never printed this and should condemn it now. This discredits and disrespects the great journalists that work there, let alone victims of assault pic.twitter.com/46MIcLVXfT Adam Burtner (@Adam_Burtner) September 24, 2018 Our readers deserved better in this case, he wrote, adding the cartoon did not meet our high standards. Story continues Mr Varvel also issued a statement. He noted his depiction did not determine whether Dr Ford was telling the truth but he admitted he should have made clearer in my cartoon. As a husband and father of a daughter and granddaughters, I take sexual harassment very seriously. Mr Varvel is no stranger to controversy. The newspaper has had to apologise for his depictions of Latin American immigrants and cartoon of a donkey, representing Democrats, being hit by a freight train with Mr Trump's name on it. Mr Trump had tweeted a version of that, which had replaced the donkey with the logo of CNN, a target of much of the president's "fake news" ire. Dr Blasey Ford is set to testify on 27 September. Theresa May spoke of her hopes for a big and ambitious free trade deal with the US after she rejected the notion that Brexit meant the UK was turning its back on the world. The Prime Minister held talks with Donald Trump in New York and the pair spoke on friendly terms as they discussed hopes for a deal. Mrs May also gave a speech at the United Nations where she tried to reassure those who fear that Britain will become more isolationist after Brexit. She said: The vote by the people to leave the EU was not a rejection of multilateralism or international co-operation. Theresa May discussed hopes for a trade deal after the PM rejected the notion that Britain was rejecting the world over Brexit (AP) It was a clear demand for decisions and accountability to lie closer to home. I believe the role of leadership in these circumstances is clear it is delivering on the democratic wishes of our people and international co-operation, working with allies and partners in pursuit of our shared values. Praising the Prime Ministers handling of Brexit, President Trump told reporters: Shes working very hard, like all us, and doing a very, very good job READ MORE ON YAHOO NEWS UK This is how much Apples new 1,249 iPhone actually costs to make The shocking stat about cheating university students amid calls for ban on essay-writing firms Drivers miracle escape after giant concrete post impales his car Womans warning after sex predator, 41, posed as Uber driver then groped her Ill call a general election: Corbyn brands a no-deal Brexit a national disaster Scotland Yard applies for MORE cash in hunt for missing Madeleine McCann I will say that we are talking about a lot of different things today, trade, military, security, protection all sorts of things. We have a myriad of things to talk about. The PM and President began their meeting by discussing their mutual desire to form a wide-ranging trade deal, a No 10 spokesman said. The Prime Minister tried to reassure those worried about Brexit during her speech to the UN (Getty) They agreed that Brexit provides a wonderful opportunity to strike a big and ambitious UK-US Free Trade Agreement. Ahead of the meeting, Mrs May was asked how she could persuade a sceptical British audience to trust the President and pointed to his action on the Salisbury spy poisoning and his change of heart on the Nato alliance. Story continues She added: In relation to a trade deal in the future I would say President Trump and America want to do a good trade deal with us. Mrs May said Brexit was not a rejection of multilateralism or international co-operation (Getty) Its in both our interests to do that good trade deal. Despite the positive tone of the meeting with Trump, business leaders in New York laid bare their fears over Brexit to Mrs May, and said they believe it could lead to the fall of her government. During a question and answer session after her speech to the UN, Steve Schwarzman, chief executive officer at investment firm Blackstone, said the UKs exit from the EU was daunting. Business leaders in New York laid bare their fears over Brexit to Mrs May (PA) He told the PM things could really go off with a bad Brexit and called for reassurances for the business community. Mrs May acknowledged there was uncertainty about Brexit and admitted we dont know when the negotiations will end. But she added that she believed the UK would secure a good deal in the negotiations with the European Union. About the owners: We were living in Las Vegas. Justin was in the construction industry. By way of economic changes in 2008-09 his job went away. Because wed been avid home brewers and both had business management backgrounds, we decided to open a brewery, said Gentry, who previously worked in financial risk management. His family was in Chesterton so it gave us local family resources. Were the definition of a true small business. Were owner-operators. We work in the business every day. Were also self-funded. Reisetter, a Chesterton native, graduated from Chesterton High School and went to Purdue University in West Lafayette. Brussels (AFP) - The leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, will meet senior EU officials on Thursday after warning he may oppose any Brexit deal negotiated by the London government. Corbyn, who told his party conference Wednesday that a no-deal Brexit would be a "national disaster", has nevertheless said his party will vote against any accord based on Prime Minister Theresa May's plan. European officials and many EU member state leaders also oppose parts of May's "Chequers" blueprint, but worry Britain could crash out of the bloc if an eventual deal is refused by British MPs. Corbyn's answer is that May should call a general election, in the hope that Labour wins power and then negotiates an exit deal that he said would better protect jobs, trade and workers' rights. There is barely any time for such an arrangement to bear fruit, however -- under the terms of Article 50 of the EU Treaty, Britain will leave the Union on March 29 next year, with or without a divorce deal. Labour's Brexit pointman Keir Starmer said on Twitter that he and Corbyn would be in Brussels to attend a ceremony to name a square after murdered fellow Labour MP Jo Cox, before their meetings. An official in EU negotiator Michel Barnier's office confirmed that Corbyn was expected at a meeting after the ceremony. Christine Blasey Fords emotional testimony alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her resurfaced painful memories for many women on Thursday, including at least three C-SPAN callers. One caller identified as Brenda from Valley Park, Missouri phoned into C-SPAN during a 15-minute recess amid Thursdays highly anticipated hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Im a 76-year-old woman who was sexually molested in the second grade, said Brenda, before becoming audibly emotional. This brings back so much pain. I thought I was over it. But its not. You will never forget it. You get confused and you dont understand it but you never forget what happened to you. Without my family, I would never have been able to go through this, she added. And now Im 76 years old, and I thought I was over it until I heard it happened to somebody else, and it is such a shame. C-SPAN host Steve Scully then asked Brenda how old she was when she was sexually assaulted, prompting her to respond: I was in the second grade, and it was a seventh grader at my school, and you know on rainy days they have you march around the school back then because they couldnt let you out. And I would see him, and I would get so upset. Ive had a weight problem my whole life because I was so afraid that someone was going to hurt me. And Im married, I have a wonderful family; I have a wonderful husband, and a child and great-grandchildren and grandchildren, and I thought I was over this. I have not brought this up for years until I heard this testimony, and its just breaking my heart. Listen to Brendas story around the 59:30 mark below: Thursdays hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee allowed Blasey and Kavanaugh to testify about her accusations. She alleges the judge pinned her down, groped her and tried to remove her clothes during a small gathering at a house in suburban Maryland while they were both in high school in the early 1980s. Story continues Two other women have come forward this week and accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Deborah Ramirez alleges Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face at a dormitory party when they were both freshmen at Yale University. Julie Swetnick alleges she witnessed Kavanaugh and one of his friends at several high school parties getting drunk and being overly aggressive with girls. Kavanaugh, now a federal appeals court judge, has vehemently denied the allegations. Prior to airing Brendas powerful story on Thursday, C-SPAN took calls from two men both of whom accused Blasey of lying during her testimony. She is lying like a dog, said a caller identified as James from Princeton, Indiana. Listen, she said so much inconsistent in her statements that you could drive a Mack truck through it. When asked for specific examples of inconsistencies, James stumbled but said the prosecutor should take Blasey to the woodshed. She cant remember this. She cant remember that, James said. I wish that dang prosecutor would say, Listen, I need more than five minutes, and I could take her to the woodshed. The next caller, identified as Tracy from Riverton, Wyoming, echoed James aggressive rhetoric toward Blasey. I just feel that she is very scripted, said Tracy, who also failed to cite any specific examples like his fellow male caller. Shes really putting on an act. All her inconsistencies and what not. You can just tell shes lying. Later Thursday, during a longer recess from the hearing, several more women called into C-SPAN to discuss Blaseys testimony and their personal experiences with sexual abuse. (Those womens calls start around 1:27 in the C-SPAN video above.) A called identified as Jessica from Chicago said she found Blasey was credible because of how familiar her experience is. I was sexually assaulted when I was 19 in college, said Jessica, now 26, before being overcome with emotion. Id prefer not to go into too much more detail than that Im sorry. Its very important to victims of sexual assault that we take these accusations seriously, she added. And Im disappointed that there hasnt been an FBI investigation because its 2018, the Me Too movement has happened, and I think that we need to come from a perspective of believing women when they come forward with these stories because its not an easy thing to do and I dont think its something that anyone would undertake lightly. Scully then took a call from Michelle, a 53-year-old mother from Fort Pierce, Florida. She said both she and her daughter had been victims of sexual assault. I am a survivor myself, Michelle said. When I was 12 ... sleeping over at [my best friends] house, around 4 in the morning, in the dim light of the night light, her 17-year-old brother was hovered over her and on to me on the other side of the full-size bed with his hands in my underwear and fondling me. I remember being so frightened and not wanting anyone to be upset with me because I loved this family a lot, she continued. I shook to pretend I was waking up and hed back off. He came back about two more times until my girlfriend started to stir a little bit and then he left and that was the end. The only person I ever told that to was my husband when I first married him a few years later and a girlfriend since then. That being said, Im still friends with that person and I would never ever want to cause her harm. Michelle said she felt Blasey came across as a credible person herself that has been through the trauma, but said she also felt Kavanaughs public denials have been just as compelling. President Donald Trump and several Republican senators have publicly questioned Blaseys accusations and attacked the credibility of Ramirez and Swetnick. Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left-wing politicians who dont want to know the answers; they just want to destroy and delay, Trump tweeted earlier this month. I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents, the president added. Trumps tweets highlighted a common and misguided belief that all survivors of sexual assault report the incidents to law enforcement officials. Nearly two-thirds of people who are raped or sexually assaulted dont go to police at all, according to Justice Department estimates. This article has been updated with information from callers during the second recess. Need help? Visit RAINNs National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Centers website. Related Content Anita Hill: The Public's Attitude On Sexual Harassment Has Definitely Changed Here's What Yale Was Like For Women When Brett Kavanaugh Was There Dr. Christine Blasey Fords Entire Opening Statement Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Jonathan Kobes, nominee to be a judge for the Eighth Circuit, is sworn in at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Aug. 22. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images) As the country follows the Brett Kavanaugh nomination and ensuing controversy, President Trumps other judicial nominations are whizzing by largely unnoticed by the American public. So far, the Republican-controlled Senate has confirmed 26 of the White Houses picks for the U.S. Court of Appeals. Trump has successfully appointed more appellate judges than any other president in recent memory at this point in his first term leaving a markedly conservative imprint on the nations judiciary. On June 7, Trump nominated Jonathan Allen Kobes, general counsel to Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., to fill outgoing Judge Roger Wollmans seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over districts in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote on Kobess nomination, along with eight district court judges, for Friday morning, the same time as their expected vote on Kavanaugh. But that schedule may be in doubt after Thursdays hearing. But bar associations and law student organizations are urging the committee to oppose his nomination arguing that his relative inexperience and questionable political commentary make him ill-suited to preside over the Eighth Circuit. The American Bar Association (ABA), which sets standards for law schools and ethical codes, officially rated Kobes not qualified because he has neither the requisite experience nor the evidence that he can produce the scholarly writing needed of a circuit court judge. The Standing Committee had difficulty analyzing Mr. Kobes professional competence because he was unable to provide sufficient writing samples of the caliber required to satisfy Committee members that he was capable of doing the work of a United States Circuit Court judge, Paul T. Moxley, the chair of the ABAs standing committee on the federal judiciary, wrote in a letter to Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Story continues Kobes is the second of Trumps choices for the Eighth Circuit whom the ABA deemed not qualified. The first, Steve Grasz, was confirmed in December 2017 by a 50 to 48 vote. The Alliance for Justice (AFJ), a liberal judicial advocacy group, is also sounding the alarm bells on Kobess nomination. The AFJ argued that his nomination is based far more on his conservative political bona fides than his professional record. Dan Goldberg, the AFJ legal director, said Kobes has little trial or appellate experience and no academic accomplishments. He said the most noteworthy aspect of his record are his political ties and closeness with Rounds. His little experience and commentary suggests he would come to the court with a strong ideologically driven mission, Goldberg told Yahoo News. For instance, Goldberg said, Kobes represented a group of fake womens health centers pro bono that wanted to uphold a South Dakota law requiring physicians to read a predetermined script to women seeking an abortion telling them that abortion ends the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being and increases the risk of suicide. AFJ highlighted several statements about immigration that Kobes made during a June 2017 interview with journalist W.B. Kranendonk for the Dutch newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad. During a discussion about the disconnect between the capital and the Midwest and political polarization, Kobes was asked if and why immigration was a huge issue motivating support for Trump. (You can listen to the complete conversation in context here.) In the interview, Kobes said most Democrats and big-business Republicans are pro-immigration because its cheap labor for business and that the U.S. government has not been enforcing immigration laws and making a good faith effort toward reform. I think immigration was a huge issue, and it was not necessarily just Republican and Democrat but largely an anti-establishment, anti-Washington, anti-political power because in some of these areas immigrants are taking jobs from low-paid Democrats. In many cases minority races are competing with immigrants for labor. And they tend to be Democrats. And then youve got the Republicans who ideologically oppose some of the immigration because it waters down the culture, it changes the culture, things like that. Anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States, Kobes said, stems in part from fear of the unknown but there are also winners and losers when immigrants come. He said people who own businesses like dairy farms and construction companies love immigration because it results in labor that you cant hire around here but that it does impact another group of people. And there are cultural changes. I mean, that little town you were saying, Sioux Center, was largely Protestant, was largely white, mostly Dutch, very conservative, and then you have an influx of 15-20 percent of largely Hispanic, some African, largely Roman Catholic and not Northern European at all. So I mean it, it causes a, you know, it does. We have a Hispanic community here in Sioux Falls, but we also have a growing African community, and there are social issues associated with that. Some of it I think is unfair fear. But some of it [is] just legitimate. Kobes said the dishonesty of the government is a huge factor in the immigration debate and that many Americans want existing laws to be enforced. If you want to change it, change the law. Dont just look the other way, Kobes said of undocumented workers. Roundss office did not respond to a request for either Rounds or Kobes to comment, but Senate Democrats have asked him to clarify these statements. During his confirmation hearing on Aug. 22, Kobes told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he was attempting to analyze why some Republicans voted for Trump based on immigration not that he personally held those views. He said there are legitimate conversations to be had about pros and cons of immigration but that the alleged watering down of culture is not one of them. He was asked to elaborate in an on-the-record questionnaire compiled by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Aug. 29. He said it would be inappropriate for him to offer political commentary as a judicial nominee but that he could clarify several points from the interview that was conducted prior to his nomination. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., asked him to explain what he thinks happens when a largely Protestant, largely white population receives an influx of 15-20 percent largely Hispanic, some African, largely Roman Catholic and not European new residents. Kobes responded, Within that context, I was suggesting that communities, including my hometown, face a variety of changes and challenges associated with immigration. These include providing social and religious services, educational opportunities, employment opportunities, and many others. It seemed to me beyond dispute that immigration changes a community. With respect to my hometown, it was my view that the community was stronger, more vibrant, more diverse, and more successful in 2017 than it was in the 1980s when I was growing up. So, with respect to that community, good things have happened. Referencing Kobess comment that there are winners and losers when immigrants move in, Harris asked the judicial nominee to explain how some people become winners and others become losers as a result of immigration. Within that context, it seemed to me at the time that the immigrants themselves are generally winners, as is the community as a whole, the economy as a whole and, in particular, owners of certain industries that require labor that cannot be supplied by the current population. In South Dakota, for example, the tourism industry and the dairy industry, among others, are in need of additional workers. There is also research, however, indicating that immigrants negatively impact the wages of some American workers. To the best of my knowledge there is no overall agreement on this issue, but it is certainly the case that many in the political and academic worlds contend that immigration can lower wages for certain groups of workers already in the United States. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked him what he meant by saying that there are some Republicans who ideologically oppose some of the immigration because it waters down the culture. She asked how immigration waters down culture. He answered by saying that he doesnt think it does but was simply explaining one facet of the immigration debate. I consider such arguments to be the sort of opposition to immigration that I referred to using such terms as unfair and fear, Kobes said. When asked about the social issues associated with the growing Hispanic and African community in Sioux Falls, Kobes said: I was referring to a variety of issues related to the arrival of immigrant communities, including but not limited to: obtaining employment, access to a variety of social services, access to health care, access to educational and childcare opportunities, and access to financial services. In addition, local police, law enforcement and city and state government work hard to establish trust relationships with newly arrived residents. Local religious and nonprofit agencies are also actively involved in supporting newly arrived communities. Language and cultural differences can be challenges in all of these areas. Goldberg does not buy Kobess explanations and described the downplaying of his insensitive remarks on immigration as an instance of confirmation conversion. Someone who is welcoming to immigrants, who believes our society, our country is better off because of the people we have welcomed to our shores for decades and centuries does not use language like waters down the culture, does not use language that says there are social issues associated with an increased Hispanic community in Sioux Falls, Goldberg said. Our concern is that as a judge he might not fairly apply laws, including laws he might disagree with. That hell use his job as a lifetime appointee to undermine critical constitutional rights and legal protections, Goldberg said. Kobes received his bachelors degree from Dordt College in Iowa and his JD from Harvard Law School. He has worked in all three branches of the federal government. His previous titles include director of corporate compliance at Raven Industries, senior regulatory counsel for DuPont Pioneer, litigation associate for Murphy, Goldammer & Prendergast and honors attorney in the CIAs litigation division. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's federal court declined Thursday to review a decision to take away the citizenship of a Ukrainian immigrant for alleged ties to a Nazi killing squad in World War II. In a statement, the court said the government's finding that Helmut Oberlander had lied about his wartime activities when he arrived in Canada in 1954 was "justifiable," opening the door to his deportation. However, he may yet appeal this latest ruling in a long legal saga. "Canada should never be a safe haven for war criminals and people who've committed crimes against humanity, and we're very pleased with the (court) decision," Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussein said. Oberlander had been stripped of his citizenship four times over the past 23 years for misrepresenting his past. When he landed in Canada, Oberlander made no mention of his membership in the Einsatzkommando, a Nazi mobile killing squad that systematically executed thousands of people in the former Soviet Union after the German invasion. But each of the government's previous attempts to revoke his citizenship were reversed on appeal, based on claims that he joined the Nazi unit under duress. Oberlander, who became a Canadian citizen in 1960, consistently maintained that he was forced to join the unit because he spoke both Russian and German, and that he only acted as an interpreter. The federal court in its decision upheld the government's conclusion that Oberlander "voluntarily made a knowing and significant contribution to the crimes and criminal purpose of this SS killing squad." Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's parliament voted unanimously on Thursday to effectively strip Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship over the Rohingya crisis. Ottawa had given the long-detained democracy advocate and Nobel laureate the rare honor in 2007. But her international reputation has become tarnished by her refusal to call out the atrocities by her nation's military against the Rohingya Muslims minority, which Ottawa last week declared a genocide. "In 2007, the House of Commons granted Aung San Suu Kyi the status of honorary Canadian citizen. Today, the House unanimously passed a motion to remove this status," said Adam Austen, spokesman for Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. A brutal military campaign that started last year drove more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh, where they now live in cramped refugee camps -- fearful of returning to mainly Buddhist Myanmar despite a repatriation deal. Many have given accounts of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and arson. The military has denied nearly all wrongdoing, justifying its crackdown as a legitimate means of rooting out Rohingya militants. But after a fact-finding mission, the United Nations on Thursday set up a panel to prepare indictments against Myanmar's army chief and five other top military commanders for crimes against humanity. Suu Kyi's democratically-elected government remains in a delicate power balance with the generals, whose presence in parliament gives them an effective veto on constitutional changes. Austen cited Suu Kyi's "persistent refusal to denounce the Rohingya genocide" for the withdrawal of the Canadian honor, which is symbolic and comes with no special privileges. "We will continue to support the Rohingyas by providing humanitarian assistance, imposing sanctions against Myanmar's generals and demanding that those responsible be held accountable before a competent international body," he added. Honorary Canadian citizenship has only been granted to five others including the Dalai Lama, girls education advocate Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela. Chloe Ayling (Credit: Channel 5) Celebrity Big Brothers Chloe Ayling has jumped to the defence of her fellow contestant Roxanne Pallett, in the wake of the shows controversial punching row. Model Chloe says that she is a sweet girl, after Pallett called herself the most hated girl in Britain. Former Emmerdale actress Pallett hit headlines and drew over 25,000 complaints to Ofcom after she accused her fellow housemate, actor Ryan Thomas, of assaulting her during a play fight. He was given an official warning by producers, but housemates and viewers overwhelmingly sided with Thomas. Roxanne Pallett (Credit: Channel 5) Pallett late admitted that she had made a mistake in accusing Thomas, and apologised to him and his family for the upset the incident caused. I do hope shes doing okay, Ayling told Daily Star. I think everyone should stop targeting her because shes a really sweet girl. She made a big mistake and she doesnt really deserve the death threats. Its horrible and I know what it feels like. I really liked her in the house, she was one of my closest friends. Whenever I was upset, she supported me. She was one of my closest friends. Glamour model Ayling became famous after she was lured to a modelling job in Italy, and then kidnapped by a sex trafficking ring. Her 30-year-old kidnapper was later jailed for more than 16 years. Read more Channel 4 unveils rebrand Ex-Home Secretary offered cameo in Bodyguard 2 Corrie fans in shock as Steve cheats on Tracy Australia's much-loved public broadcaster scrambled to safeguard its hard-won reputation for impartiality Thursday, forcing out a chairman accused of intervening in news coverage to please the government. Top executive Justin Milne told the ABC he would step down, after the institution's board held crisis talks in Sydney and the government announced an inquiry into his actions. According to leaked emails, Milne unsuccessfully pressed for the sacking of two senior reporters over coverage that did not please his friend, Malcolm Turnbull, then the prime minister of the current centre-right government. Milne on Thursday told the ABC the crisis had been a "firestorm" and said he "wanted to provide a release valve". The almost century-old Australian Broadcasting Corporation is incredibly popular Down Under, with polls showing it is not just the most trusted news organisation in the country, but also seen as a national treasure. ABC journalists demanded Milne go on when the revelations became public on Wednesday. Initially the Liberal Party-led government stopped short of publicly forcing that move, announcing that its Department of Communications would conduct an inquiry "to establish the facts in these matters". After appearing to be on the fence, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the ABC and Milne had "made the right call" in changing leadership. "Time for the ABC to resume normal transmission, both independently and without bias. That is what Australias taxpayers pay for and deserve," he said. Acting centre-left opposition leader Tanya Plibersek demanded an independent investigation into what happened. "The ABC is not the propaganda arm of the Liberal party of Australia. It is our national broadcaster. Australians love their ABC. They are, rightly, very protective of its integrity and independence." Milne did not directly address the allegations in a written statement, but insisted the board had worked to ensure the independence, interests and continued funding of the organisation. Story continues Around 70 percent of Australians want a strong ABC, despite government spending cuts and daily withering criticism from its commercial rivals -- who baulk at what they see as unfair competition from the taxpayer-funded behemoth. The current crisis began with the unceremonious ouster earlier this week of ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, reportedly pushed out by Milne due to her poor relations with Canberra and a range of internal managerial missteps. But her departure was followed by a wave of alarming leaks about Milne's conduct and his closeness with the Liberal government. The tumult has prompted handwringing about the future of the public broadcaster and raised questions about whether the board should be replaced wholesale. It has also prompted questions about the ramifications of Australia's bareknuckle politics, with its frequent backstabbing. "It's about a civic culture that is slowly falling apart: a political class with fewer civic boundaries, less concerned with the independence of institutions, and a muscular intolerance of dissent," politics lecturer Waleed Aly wrote. WASHINGTON Christine Blasey Ford provided a potentially crucial new detail Thursday about the alleged 1982 assault she says she experienced at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Six to eight weeks after Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her, Blasey went with her mother to a local Safeway market in Potomac, Maryland, and saw Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaughs who was in the room with them during the alleged incident, she told the Senate Judiciary Committee during her Thursday morning testimony. Judge was working there at the time, arranging shopping carts, according to Blasey. She said she said hello, noting that the two had been previously friendly for some time. Judge looked a little ill and his face went pale, Blasey said. Earlier, she had said Judge was present in the room when Kavanaugh jumped on top of her, ran his hands over her body and placed a hand on her mouth to drown out her yells. She made eye contact with him twice, she told the Senate, and his laughter along with Kavanaugh was the strongest part of her recollection. The revelation matters because it would help pin Blaseys claims to a specific point in time. She repeatedly referenced it in further responses during her testimony. When pressed by a prosecutor representing the all-male GOP membership of the committee about the specific date of the alleged assault, Blasey responded by saying, If I knew when Mark Judge worked at the Potomac Safeway, I could be more helpful in that way. GOP leadership in the Senate resisted calls to ask Judge to testify at the Thursday hearing along with Blasey and Kavanaugh. Blaseys comment underscored why such a testimony might be key and Judges own personal statements hint at it as well. He wrote about working at a local supermarket in his book about his youthful drinking, New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer noted on Twitter. (Mayer is a co-author of a piece detailing the second set of allegations against Kavanaugh by Deborah Ramirez, one of three women who have accused him of sexual misconduct). Story continues Judge left the D.C. area last week after he came under public scrutiny. On Monday, the Washington Post found him staying at a beach house in Delaware. I have no comment at this time, a customer service representative at the Potomac Safeway told HuffPost when asked for comment. The representative declined to share if Safeway had the relevant records. Related Content If Republicans Wanted The Truth About Kavanaugh, They Would Subpoena Mark Judge How To Watch The Brett Kavanaugh-Christine Blasey Ford Senate Hearing Christine Blasey Ford Recalls 'Uproarious Laughter' During Alleged Sexual Assault Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Details Sexual Assault Claim Against Brett Kavanaugh Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. (WASHINGTON) Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford have provided the Senate Judiciary Committee with the results of a polygraph test on her accusation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens. The documents indicate the Ford took the test on Aug. 7 at a Hilton Hotel in Maryland. Ford has told The Washington Post she hired a former FBI agent to conduct the test as she considered whether to come forward with her accusation, and shes said she passed it. The newly released documents seem to support her claim, but theres no independent expert verification. She says Kavanaugh held her down, tried to remove her clothes and covered her mouth at a drunken high school party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh denies the allegation and says hes never assaulted anyone. In addition to the polygraph, Fords lawyers have given the Senate committee four affidavits from people who say Ford told them about the assault. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh forcefully defended himself from sexual assault allegations Thursday, arguing that they were part of a mission to destroy his reputation and torpedo his nomination. Speaking before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Kavanaugh argued that the Senate was mishandling allegations that as a teenager he held down Christine Blasey Ford, put her hand over her mouth and attempted to remove her clothes. This confirmation process has become a national disgrace, he said. The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process. But you have replaced advice and consent with search and destroy. Holding back tears, he talked about his 10-year-old daughter suggesting that they pray for Ford during their nightly prayers. This onslaught of last-minute allegations does not ring true, he said. Im not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time. But I have never done this to her or to anyone. It is not who I am. It is not who I was. I am innocent of this charge. Speaking separately earlier in the day, Ford, now a California psychology professor, said that she was 100 percent positive that it was Kavanaugh who sexually assaulted her. During testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning, she fought back tears as she recounted what she says happened at a house party in the 1980s. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me, she said. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me. I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes, she continued. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Story continues Ford relayed her most vivid memory of the alleged incident, while also relying on her advanced education in psychology. Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two, and their having fun at my expense, she said. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley opened the hearing on sexual assault allegations by apologizing to Brett Kavanaugh and Ford for threats against their families and complaining about the process to date. As Ford sat quietly at a table, Grassley argued that the allegations should not have surfaced toward the end of the confirmation process, especially after she had sent a confidential letter. This is a shameful way to treat our witness who insisted on confidentiality and of course Judge Kavanaugh, who has had to address these allegations in the midst of a media circus, he said. The Thursday morning hearing was the first time that the American public would hear directly from Ford, who alleges that as a teenager Kavanaugh held her down, put his hand over her mouth and attempted to remove her clothes at a house party in Maryland. With Kavanaughs hand over my mouth, I feared he may inadvertently kill me, Ford wrote in a letter she sent to ranking committee member Sen. Dianne Feinstein after President Donald Trump announced Kavanaugh as his nominee. Absent from the hearing will Mark Judge, who Ford said was also in the room participating in the alleged assault, or other witnesses. Grassley said that the committee had made multiple requests for additional evidence or information from attorneys for Deborah Ramirez, who claimed that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a party at Yale University, and Julie Swetnick, who claimed that she was gang-raped at a party attended by Kavanaugh and Judge. My staff made eight requests, yes eight requests, for evidence from attorneys for Ms. Ramirez and six for Ms. Swetnick, he said. In her opening remarks, Feinstein began by reading off the professional accomplishments of Ford, which include two masters degrees and a doctorate, prompting Grassley to interrupt and note that he intended to introduce her himself. Comparing the hearing to the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991, Feinstein said that this time as well our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have made it clear that no matter what happens today, the Senate will plow right through and elevate Kavanaugh. This is not a trial for Dr. Ford, she added. Its a job interview for Judge Kavanaugh Is he the best we can do? President Trump watched part of Blasey Fords testimony on board Air Force One during his flight back to Washington from his meetings at the United Nations in New York. The President was watching a recording of the hearing on a delay, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on board the flight. As Trump walked into the White House shortly after noon, he didnt respond to a shouted questions about whether he thought Blasey Ford was credible or if he still supported Kavanaugh. Many members of the judiciary committee on both sides of the aisle declined to comment midway through the hearings when they broke for votes. Republicans on the committee who did weigh in, however, seemed to be unconvinced that this would derail Kavanaughs nomination because there was no concrete, eye-witness evidence to back up her claim. All the witnesses shes identified said it didnt happen. theres no corroboration. Without corroboration I dont think she can meet the burden of proof establishing what she alleges happened happened, said Sen. John Cornyn. When asked if the committee would now subpoena Mark Judge, the other person Ford alleges was in the room when Kavanaugh assaulted her, Cornyn said that his letter denying it ever happened that he provided to the committee was sufficient. He testified under penalty of perjury, he said. Sen. Lindsey Graham had similar sentiments. Its about is the allegation against Brett Kavnaaugh corroborated in a significant detail? he said. Throughout the morning, protesters were scattered across the Capitol, including supporters of both Kavanaugh and Ford. I felt so enraged, said Carola Lewis, a Kavanaugh supporter from Rockville, Maryland, who came to a rally on the Capitol in support of Kavanaugh an hour and a half before the hearing was slated to start. Just from what I have seen of Judge Kavanaugh I cant reconcile [the allegations] with the person Ive seen and heard. Its hard for me to hear. The supporters of Ford were frequently outfitted in black shirts and pins that read I believe Christine Blasey Ford. Some put tape over their mouth, in order to show, as one supporter put it, how they are trying to silence us. Capitol Police were not letting protesters on to the floor of the actual hearing. When TIME rode the elevator with a group of them and began asking questions, a male and female protester both began talking. The female protester, who identified herself as Tae Phoenix from Seattle, interrupted the male. Youre a dude. Im a survivor. Let me talk, she said. In his appeal, Buncich raised two primary issues: whether there was sufficient evidence at trial to convict him of five of his counts, and whether evidence of criminal activity involving his personal bank account should have been presented to the jury. Democratic nominee for Connecticuts Fifth Congressional District, Jahana Hayes. (Photo: Michelle McLoughlin for Yahoo News) MERIDEN, Conn. Jahana Hayes, the 2016 National Teacher of the Year turned congressional candidate, struggled with the publicity around her personal life story growing up in a housing project and giving birth to a child at 17 before she even decided to run for her districts seat. Even as Teacher of the Year, Id lead with my story not because I wanted people to feel sorry for me, but because I knew that there were some people who would make a story out of that and I did not want to give them power over my narrative, Hayes told Yahoo News. I didnt want someone else spinning my story or telling it in a way that was demeaning or devaluing to me or to the people who might now be in that situation and be reading it as a negative. Hayes is part of a class of progressive Democratic women, people of color and teachers who won their primaries, in many cases running against the party establishment. If victorious in November, she is poised to be the first black woman and first black Democrat to represent Connecticut in Congress. Hayes grew up surrounded by abject poverty, drugs and violence in the Berkeley Heights housing projects of Waterbury, Conn. Before becoming a teacher, she was a single mother at age 17 who considered dropping out of school. But instead of quitting, Hayes entered a teen parent program and went on to earn a bachelors and masters degree. What comes out of destructive neighborhoods where multiple generations of the same family live in poverty succumb to addiction and are surrounded by persistent violence? Hayes asked a group of 7,500 National Education Association members months after receiving the honor from former President Barack Obama. What comes out of the cycle of teenage pregnancy where a grandmother, mother, and a daughter are all parents before the age of 18? A National Teacher of the Year, she answered. 2016 National Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes with President Barack Obama (R) and her fellow State Teachers of the Year during a ceremony at the White House, May 3, 2016. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Hayes, who is 45, taught history and social studies for 14 years in Waterbury and New Haven. Her work inspiring students to get involved in community service earned her the distinction as one of the countrys top educators. Story continues While shes no longer in the classroom, Hayes trains teachers as a talent and professional development supervisor for Waterbury Public Schools. She campaigns during lunch and after work. I couldnt afford to quit my job, said Hayes. But every time I feel fatigued, I run into someone who says, Thank you for doing this. Or even better, You inspire me. Im a single mom, but you reminded me that I still have fight in me. Now, with the encouragement of Connecticuts Sen. Chris Murphy, who previously represented the district, Hayes has added congressional candidate to her resume. Reflecting on her background, which doesnt include holding public office, Hayes told Yahoo News she had to expand the definition of experience, [rather than] conceding to the fact that I didnt have experience. For the people that said I didnt have the experience, I had to push back and challenge them, said Hayes. There are different types of experience. Life gives you a whole lot of experience. Doing things in a non-elected capacity gives you valuable experience. We need to redefine what experience is because this idea that the only type of experience thats valid is political experience is completely flawed. Hayes was not her partys first pick before the primaries. The Democratic nominating convention endorsed her opponent, Mary Glassman, a former local elected official. It didnt help that Hayes, a political newcomer, joined the race less than two weeks before the convention. Glassman had been running since April, when the incumbent, Elizabeth Esty, said she would step down after this term, following a sexual harassment scandal in her office. Originally, when Jahana Hayes got in the race, there were rumblings from some of the establishment that shes just a teacher, said Kenny Curran, chairman of the Waterbury Democratic Town Committee. Well, a teacher is someone who we have to be listening to. They should be in the room because their voice is important. And so is a firefighter or a custodian or an accountant. While Hayes did not have her partys endorsement, she gained wide support from the Working Families Party and the AFL-CIO. And on August 14, she beat Glassman with 62 percent of the vote. Hayes with supporters at a campaign rally in Meriden, Conn., Sept. 22, 2018. (Photo: Michelle McLoughlin for Yahoo News) Hayes attributes her primary victory to a strategy of reaching out to independents. We didnt just target traditional Democratic primary voters, she said, [but also] every single person who I could register, who I could move from unaffiliated to Democrat. And itll be the same strategy moving forward. Manny Santos, Hayess Republican challenger, also set his sights on unaffiliated voters. They, and frankly also Democrat and Republican voters in general, need to be given clear choices, said Santos. And this year they have a clear choice. Santos, the former mayor of Meriden, said the clear distinction between himself and Hayes is having somebody to represent the fifth district in Washington, D.C., that can work with this president, this administration. Hayes, who most recently received a nod from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, holds progressive views on immigration, minimum wage, gun control, free education and Medicare for all. She said she is running for the soul of the country on basic democratic values. We take care of our neighbors, said Hayes. We make sure that government is about people, appealing to peoples moral center to say we are a country that educates our children, that takes care of our elderly, that supports people in crisis. GOP congressional candidate Manny Santos. (Photo: Santos for Congress) Santos, a veteran and an immigrant he came with his family as a child from Portugal says the Trump administration has improved the countrys mood. Theres a substantive hope. People are finding work. Companies are hiring. We see economic prosperity, finally, after too many years of a stagnant economy. In general, Americans are again proud of their country because we have a president that speaks highly of veterans, of the American potential and in what makes America great. Santos considers himself the success story that so many from abroad want to experience but only if, he says, they enter the country the legal way. He advocates for low taxes, a border wall, Second Amendment rights and repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Santos claims that Hayes doesnt run on issues. She runs on emotions and identity politics. I use my background and so-called identity politics for my campaign to bolster my policy stance and my qualifications. Hayes uses it in front of all of that because thats what shes known for. According to Santos, for Republicans, there is a better chance of winning in the fifth district because it leans more conservative than other parts of the state. Winning over unaffiliated voters is a key strategy in what has been called an unpredictable district, where over 40 percent of the electorate is unaffiliated. The fifth district is a very independently-minded district, said Curran, of the Waterbury Democratic Town Committee. [Voters] dont necessarily follow national trends. While Democrats have vowed a blue wave, especially in the House of Representatives, the fifth district stands to be one of most competitive races this midterm election. Before 2006, the district, which covers the hill towns, farms, and suburbs of the states northwest corner, was traditionally represented by Republicans until Chris Murphy beat GOP moderate Nancy Johnson. And in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton carried the district by a narrow margin of 4.1 points. Photo: Michelle McLoughlin for Yahoo News This district covers the full spectrum, said Hayes. Its like a microcosm of the entire country. You cant take anything for granted in this district because it could go either way. Curran refers to the 2010 midterm elections as an example of fifth district unpredictability. In 2010, the big tea party year, Democrats lost a lot of seats across the country, and on paper, the fifth district should have been one of those seats. [Instead] they reelected Chris Murphy that year. They dont call it the fighting fifth for no reason, added Curran. The House seat was originally targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Democrats have never nominated a person of color in the Fifth Congressional District, whose population is 79 percent white. Republican Gary Franks was elected to the seat in 1990, becoming Connecticuts first African-American congressman. If Hayes wins she would most likely join Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts (who is running unopposed) as the first black women in Congress from New England states. There is a connection happening that is beyond race, beyond any kind of claim of identity politics, said Curran. She just happens to be a qualified person running for Congress who is African-American. Shes not qualified because she is African-American. Leslie Blatteau, a New Haven teacher and mother who drove to Meriden last weekend to attend a Hayes campaign rally, agreed but saw the importance of Hayess identity in this election. Were past the point of needing more people of color and women of color at the federal level, said Blatteau. Theres a sense of hope when youre seeing people like Jahana and Ayana [Pressley] running and winning. Leslie Blatteau, a high school teacher, with Hayes. (Photo: Michelle McLoughlin for Yahoo News) Im a history teacher, Hayes said at her campaign rally in Meriden. And what history has taught me is that it is moments like this, where people feel empty, where everyday people step up and were so much better on the other side. I am so excited about the possibility of who we are about to be. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives at the European Commission for a meeting with Michel Barnier (Getty) Jeremy Corbyn has told the EU what conditions must be met in order for him to back a Brexit deal, a day after he confirmed Labour would block the Chequers plan. The Labour leader set out his partys six tests for a deal during what he described as a useful discussion with EU Brexit chief Michel Barnier in Brussels. Were obviously not negotiating were not in government but he was interested to know what our views are and the six tests with which we will hold our government to account in future, Corbyn told reporters after the meeting. Corbyn said he wants to maintain a customs union with the EU in order to protect jobs and prevent a hard border in Ireland. He also said he was utterly determined to protect the rights of EU national living in the UK after Brexit. The meeting comes amid concern in Brussels that Labour could bring down any Brexit deal achieved by the government in order to spark a general election. MORE: Keep calm and negotiate: EU hits back at horror stories over no-deal Brexit In his speech to Labour conference on Wednesday, he told the prime minister: If you cant negotiate that deal then you need to make way for a party that can. Corbyn said Labour would vote against the Chequers plan as it stands but did offer to put aside parliamentary posturing to deliver a deal if it met certain conditions. If you deliver a deal that includes a customs union and no hard border in Ireland, if you protect jobs, peoples rights at work and environmental and consumer standards then we will support that sensible deal, he said in a direct appeal to Theresa May. Ashley Fox MEP, the leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, hit back on Thursday, saying: Corbyns determination to oppose any deal the Prime Minister secures in Brussels, simply to try and force a General Election, threatens the livelihoods of people not only in Britain but across the Europe. The EU knows this and regards him as a threat to the negotiations. Story continues Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking to reporters outside the European Commission in Brussels (Getty) Asked after his meeting with Barnier whether Labour would delay Article 50 in order to negotiate a better deal if they won a snap election, Corbyn said: Obviously it depends when the election is as to what the scenario would be. Corbyn made the trip to Brussels in order to attend a ceremony to mark the renaming of a city square in honour of the late Labour MP, Jo Cox, who was murdered by a far-right terrorist. The square is next to the Ancienne Belgique concert venue where Cox was a regular during her six years working in Brussels for Oxfam and as an assistant to a Labour MEP. The Labour leader said his meeting with Barnier was part of an informal agreement to meet whenever he was in Brussels. Corbyn held a second meeting in his four hours at the commission with its general secretary, Martin Selmayr, who is overseeing the blocs preparations for a no-deal Brexit. MORE: Accepting Mays Brexit plan would be suicidal for EU, says French minister There was confusion over whether the meeting was going ahead right up until Corbyns arrival. It was briefed in advance that Corbyn would be meeting Selmayr, a controversial figure nicknamed the monster whose recent double promotion sparked a cronyism scandal. But the European Commission chief spokesperson Margaritis Schinas said he was not aware of such a meeting despite calling Selmayr a friend for many years. I only operate on the basis of what I know, he told reporters. There is no such meeting as far as I know. Just hours later, the commissions deputy chief spokesperson Mina Andreeva confirmed the meeting was taking place. MORE: Conservative MEP under fire for displaying ignore the Irish poster amid Brexit tension By Joseph Ax (Reuters) - Bill Cosby's appeal of his conviction for sexual assault is expected to focus on a Pennsylvania judge's decision to allow several accusers to testify against him, but his challenge faces significant hurdles, according to legal experts. The disgraced comedian's first trial hinged largely on the credibility of a single woman, his one-time friend Andrea Constand, who said he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2004, and ended in a hung jury. At his second trial in April, Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill allowed the jury to hear five other women with strikingly similar stories of sexual abuse. Cosby was found guilty and on Tuesday was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Cosby's lawyers face a difficult burden in convincing an appellate court to second-guess O'Neill's decision, experts told Reuters. "I don't think that they have any significant likelihood of winning this appeal," said Michelle Dempsey, a law professor at Villanova University in Philadelphia. "The evidence was solid, and the standard in Pennsylvania is clear." Other potential appeals grounds include the decade-plus gap between the crime and Cosby's arrest, claims of bias against the trial judge and an alleged promise by a former district attorney not to prosecute Cosby for the Constand incident. Cosby, once known as "America's Dad" for his role as the beloved patriarch of the Huxtable family on the 1980s television comedy "The Cosby Show," has been accused by more than 50 women of sexual abuse dating back decades. Only Constand's allegations were recent enough to lead to criminal prosecution. He was given a minimum of three years in prison on Tuesday and immediately taken in handcuffs to the county jail. His lawyers are expected to ask an appellate court to free him on bail while his appeal is pending. A lawyer and a spokesman for Cosby did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. CHALLENGING OTHER ACCUSERS Typically, testimony about "prior bad acts" is barred from trial, under the theory that jurors may end up convicting the defendant for misconduct unrelated to the crime in question. But many states, including Pennsylvania, permit such witnesses if they are called to show a specific pattern of behavior. In Cosby's case, virtually all of his accusers have described a similar modus operandi. He offered some form of mentorship before plying them with drugs or alcohol in a place he controlled, such as a hotel room or his own home, to facilitate sexual assault. At Cosby's first trial, prosecutors sought to call more than a dozen other accusers, but O'Neill limited them to just one: Kelly Johnson, who said Cosby drugged and assaulted her in 1996. Ahead of the second trial, however, O'Neill gave prosecutors permission to call five women as witnesses. He did not offer his legal reasoning, but under Pennsylvania law, he will be required to do so in writing if Cosby's lawyers raise the issue on appeal. In between the two trials, the #MeToo movement, the national reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful men, was born following allegations against the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Wesley Oliver, director of the criminal justice program at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, said the defense would likely question why O'Neill changed his mind. "If the judge found one to be the appropriate number the first time around, how do you explain five the second time around?" he said in an interview after Cosby's conviction in April. "The law didn't change between these two cases; society changed a lot. If you're the appellate court, what do you do with that?" The legal standard to reverse O'Neill's decision is whether he abused his discretion, a high bar to clear, according to experts. Nevertheless, appellate courts tend to look closely at prior bad act witnesses because the potential for prejudice against the defendant is also high, said Dennis McAndrews, a former Pennsylvania prosecutor. Cosby's lawyers are also likely to renew their argument that former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor promised Cosby in 2005 he would not be prosecuted if he agreed to sit for a deposition in Constand's civil case against him. The deposition, in which Cosby acknowledged giving sedatives to young women, was unsealed a decade later, and prosecutors cited it as a crucial piece of evidence when they brought criminal charges. Even so, legal experts said the lack of a written deal with Castor, as well as the fact that Cosby had his own lawyers at the time, would make it hard for Cosby to argue that he had an ironclad agreement. In the meantime, his family and aides are pressing his case in the court of public opinion. Cosby was the subject of "the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States," his publicist, Andrew Wyatt, told reporters just minutes after he was led out of the courthouse in shackles on Tuesday. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Frank McGurty and Tom Brown) Ivanka Trump is getting slammed for not speaking up about her father's recent comments about women. At a press conference on Wednesday, President Trump dismissed the accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The comments have sparked outrage, and many are now looking to the presidents elder daughter, Ivanka, to advance her pro-women platform by speaking up. NEW YORK (AP) Several political campaigns in New York have come under criticism in recent weeks over campaign messaging that some say was designed to exploit voters' racial biases or xenophobia. In the latest skirmish, a Democratic congressman in California assailed a Republican colleague in New York this week over a campaign attack ad that showed his opponent speaking Korean, over a backdrop of ominous music, a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and captions falsely implying he was talking about sending American jobs to Asia. "Take your racist ad and shove it. You are an embarrassment to the House of Representatives," U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu of California wrote on Twitter, addressing U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, of western New York. A spokeswoman for Collins, who is campaigning for re-election in New York's 27th Congressional District while under indictment on insider trading charges, said the ad was a comment on the economic policies of Democratic opponent Nate McMurray, and that race had nothing to do with it. "Another day, another tired and false attack from anti-Trump, liberal Democrats," spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre said in a statement. Earlier this month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was roundly criticized over a flyer the state Democratic Party sent to predominantly Jewish households accusing his Democratic primary opponent, Cynthia Nixon, of not caring about anti-Semitism. Nixon, who is raising her children as Jewish, was outraged. Cuomo, who won the primary, agreed the flyer was "inappropriate" but denied any involvement in its creation. In New York's 19th Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. John Faso was accused of "race baiting" by The New York Times editorial board after the National Republican Campaign Committee put out an ad showing his Democratic challenger, Antonio Delgado, performing in a rap video. Faso is white, as is 90 percent of his district north of New York City. Delgado, a Harvard Law School graduate and Rhodes Scholar, is black. Story continues The ad featured clips from a 2007 video Delgado recorded under stage name "AD the Voice" in which he uses profanity, quips that he's "gotcha sweatin' this like ya having sex to a porno flick," and says "God bless Iraq," in a song opposing the Iraq war. It concludes with a picture of Delgado wearing a hooded sweat shirt. Faso said his campaign had no control over the ad, but defended it as a valid criticism of lyrics he considered offensive. And in the 22nd Congressional District, in upstate New York, Republican U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney was criticized after her campaign sent a memo warning staffers to be mindful of their safety because the family of her Italian-American opponent, Anthony Brindisi, had "used their political connections to get away with violence, intimidation and thuggish behavior." Brindisi's father, Louis, was a lawyer who formerly represented people connected to organized crime and once pleaded guilty to drug possession, but insisted he was not a mobster. Brindisi's campaign accused Tenney of "blatant and false attacks on Italians." Stephen Maynard Caliendo, a dean and professor at North Central College in Napierville, Illinois, who has researched the role of race in political communication, said it isn't unusual for political ads to use coded language to appeal to voters who might have ethnic prejudices. "You wink, you nod, you hint," he said. Vincent Hutchings, professor of political science at the University of Michigan, said the question isn't whether or not it's fair game to bring up an opponent's work history, raise questions about policy stances, or question past activities in a political campaign. "The question is, 'Is this inflaming racial passions or isn't it?" he said. "If a candidate wants to raise issues without inflaming racial passions, there are ways to do that." Caliendo, after viewing the Collins ad targeting McMurray, said "the suggestion is, we can't trust him to represent. He's not like us, he speaks Korean," Caliendo said. The ad is based on a video of McMurray, the town supervisor in Grand Island, New York, talking, in Korean, about relations between North Korea and South Korea. McMurray, who is white, has studied in South Korea, taught law there and is married to a woman from South Korea who is now an American citizen. "I watched that ugly attack ad with my son. His mom is Korean. My son speaks Korean. He looked at me with a grave sadness on his face," McMurray said. Collins pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges in August and had said he would leave the race, but reversed course over the difficulty in removing his name from the ballot in the district, which represents an area between Buffalo and Rochester. He was an early and strong supporter of President Donald Trump. ___ Deepti Hajela covers issues of race, ethnicity and immigration for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dhajela. For more of her work, search for her name at https://apnews.com. COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Danish inventor must serve his life sentence for murdering and dismembering a Swedish journalist on board his home-made submarine, the Eastern High Court ruled on Wednesday. Peter Madsen was found guilty in April of murdering and mutilating 30-year-old Kim Wall on the craft in Copenhagen harbor in 2017. He had not appealed against the conviction, therefore the Eastern High Court only ruled on the decision to give him a life sentence - which typically lasts for around 15 years in Denmark. Wall was interviewing Madsen for the U.S. magazine Wired on the inventor's race against another Danish group to be the first to send a person into space in a home-made rocket, her boyfriend said during the April trial. (Reporting by Emil Gjerding Nielson; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will be hearing from Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) WASHINGTON No one knows what to expect at Thursdays highly anticipated Senate hearing into a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Although Republicans on the judiciary committee hired an outside counsel to do their questioning, the senators are now saying they may jump in and participate as well. Democrats have no idea how it will work when they have only five minutes each to try to get to the bottom of what Kavanaugh did or didnt do. And its not clear whether the hearing will reveal everything or nothing at all. Some Republicans said this week that their vote hinges entirely on how the hearing goes. Others have refused to comment on the allegation until they hear from the accuser herself. I hope that tomorrows hearing gives us some guidance on how we vote, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a key swing vote, said on the Senate floor Wednesday. But those of us on the committee have to be prepared for the possibility, indeed the likelihood, that there will be no definitive answers to the very large questions before us. Heres what is slated to happen: Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee chairman, will give an opening statement with no time limit. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking member, will then do the same. Christine Blasey Ford, a California research psychologist, will testify about her claims that, when they were teenagers, Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her by locking her in a room, pinning her down on a bed and groping her. Democratic senators will have five minutes each to question her. Republican senators will have the same amount of time, but they hired a sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, Rachel Mitchell, to do the job for them. Kavanaugh will then testify, and the same round of questioning will occur. Written testimony from both Kavanaugh and Blasey has already been made public. Beyond that, its anyones guess how it will go. Capitol Hill staffers had trouble answering questions Wednesday about what they were expecting because, they said, everything was still in flux and unpredictable. Story continues GOP senators are expected to give their questioning time to Mitchell. That means that she will pursue a single line of questioning, if she chooses, and dig in deeper where she sees issues. But senators may not be able to help themselves and are leaving open the possibility that they will ask questions, too. Im going to wait and see how the staff lawyer does, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. I think a lot of the questions we would ask are pretty obvious. And if she takes care of everything I would ask a question about, I wont, but I reserve the right to ask questions. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.), who also sit on the judiciary committee, said they, too, reserved the right to ask questions. In her prepared testimony, Blasey said she hopes Republicans do jump in. Because the committee members will be judging my credibility, I hope to be able to engage directly with each of you, she said. GOP strategists, however, are desperately hoping that the senators stay quiet. One told HuffPost that the last thing the party needs is 11 old white guys questioning a woman about teenage sex. On the other side, there are real concerns that Democrats will be at a disadvantage by the setup. Five minutes isnt long to pursue a line of questioning. In fact, it could lead to just one question and one answer if Kavanaugh filibusters in his response. Or senators may decide to make a point and just talk themselves for most of the time. But whatever the outcome, it could lead to a disjointed process on the Democratic side. So far, no senator has indicated that they will cede their time to another member to do more questioning, although theres been a bit of a push to let Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who have extensive prosecutorial experience, take the lead. Its outrageous that Democrats will have only five minutes each to question Kavanaugh, especially given how evasive and dishonest he has been in previous hearings, said Chris Kang chief counsel for the anti-Kavanaugh group Demand Justice. Clearly, Republicans know that every time Kavanaugh speaks, hes losing, and they want to limit the damage as much as possible. Democrats also said they have had no coordination with Blasey and her team, while Kavanaughs confirmation is being handled by the White House, which is in close touch with Republicans on Capitol Hill. Democrats said Wednesday that, in light of new sexual assault accusations, Kavanaugh should withdraw his nomination. They continued to insist that Senate Republicans should get the FBI to conduct an investigation into the allegations, and they still want Mark Judge the booze-loving friend of Kavanaughs who allegedly witnessed Blaseys assault to testify. This hearing is being run like a kangaroo court, said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Womens Law Center. Its been set up without the benefit of a neutral investigation, without experts, and without witnesses (including Mark Judge and the other women who have come forward). There is no judge, only a highly partisan process that includes members of the Senate who have spent the last week rallying around Kavanaugh and discounting Blasey Ford. She added that she was grateful that Blasey was still going to attend the hearing, and she hopes that this process doesnt further the trauma she has experienced. In a Senate floor speech, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Republicans were wrong to hold a single hearing before voting on the nominee in committee and on the floor as soon as next week. In the past week, two additional people have accused Kavanaugh of past sexually aggressive behavior, including one woman who came forward Wednesday. That is not right. There is no need for such a rush, Schumer said. These women deserve to be heard, in a fair way, and their claims must be properly investigated. But even if the committee approves Kavanaugh on Friday, its investigation would continue, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told HuffPost. The committee will keep investigating, Hatch said. Keep in mind when we put this man out of committee, that doesnt mean this is all over. Jen Bendery and Igor Bobic contributed reporting. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. New York (AFP) - The widow of Nobel Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo on Wednesday made her first public appearance since leaving China more than two months ago, discreetly attending a panel discussion in New York. To applause the poet Liu Xia arrived at the premises of Manhattan's Vaclav Havel Library Foundation in jeans and sneakers to accept the 2018 Award for a Courageous Writer at Risk. She had arrived in Germany in July after being released from years of de facto house arrest in China. Despite facing no charges, she had endured heavy restrictions on her movements since 2010, when her husband won the Nobel Peace Prize -- an award that infuriated Beijing. Liu Xiaobo, a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, died last year of liver cancer while serving an 11-year sentence for "subversion." "I just want to use the opportunity to thank the Vaclav Havel foundation for inviting me and thanking his supporters for working so hard," Liu said through an interpreter. She gave no details of her journey, which followed brief stays in Prague and the Netherlands. A spokeswoman for the foundation, Jacquelyn de Villiers, said the trip slated to go through October 5 was confirmed last minute, citing visa reasons. Christine Blasey Ford and Phoenix prosecutor Rachel Mitchell (Yahoo News photo Illustration; photos: Michael Reynolds/AP, Andrew Harnik/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON Above all, she remembers the laughter. In powerful, gripping testimony, Christine Blasey Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee about the night, 36 years ago, when she alleges Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a house party in suburban Washington, D.C. Her voice at times faltering, Ford said she was 100 percent certain that her assailants were Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge. Asked what she most remembered from that night, Ford answered: The laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two, and them having fun at my expense. The account of laughter is one of the more poignant moments in Fords testimony, which lasted some three hours and would be followed by that of Kavanaugh, who has categorically denied having assaulted Ford or any of the other women whove come forward with similar allegations against him. Ford did not offer new details about the summer night in the early 1980s in question. But she offered herself as a poignant and credible testament to the trauma of sexual assault. In his questioning of Ford, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called it a teaching moment for the country, which has grappled with the implications of the #MeToo movement. Taking great pains to avoid the spectacle of 11 mostly older white men questioning a lone woman about her sexual history, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee hired Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Ford. Fords lawyers had objected to this apparent face-saving tactic, but it appeared to ultimately backfire on the GOP. Many of her questions focused on Fords exchanges with the Washington Post, which revealed her identity. Mitchell established that Ford did not like to fly, but sometimes flew anyway. Some conservatives on Twitter seized on this as evidence of some greater deception. But no such deception emerged in the three hours during which Ford faced the Judiciary Committee and a captive nation, including President Trump, who according to reports was watching the hearing. As Fords time as a witness was coming to a close, Mitchell quipped about how questioning in five-minute increments had not proved especially enlightening. Story continues Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) Fords memory of the night in question remains incomplete. But her assertion that the alleged assault was indelible in the hippocampus could prove convincing on its own. She described how, during a somewhat recent renovation of her Northern California home, she insisted on a second front door. Asked by Mitchell if there could be any other event that could have contributed to her trauma, Ford answered in the negative. That suggested how large the assault she claims was perpetrated by Kavanaugh looms in her memory. Democrats mostly sought to bolster Ford, whose confidence seemed to grow with the morning. You are not alone, said Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. You are not on trial, reminded Sen. Kamala Harris of California. Unable to secure an FBI investigation of Fords claims, Democrats nevertheless had to be pleased with her testimony. Thank you, Dr. Ford, someone shouted, in a break from the decorum that usually marks a Senate hearing. Bravo, Dr. Ford, cried out someone else. Outside the hearing room, Sen. Lindsey Graham reacted angrily, calling Ford a nice lady who has come forward to tell a hard story thats uncorroborated. But since he was always expected to cast a vote for Kavanaugh, that was of little surprise. Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona is seen as one of the potential votes against Kavanaugh. He listened attentively during the hearing, and seemed pained at times. Asked after Fords testimony by Yahoo News of his impressions from the morning, Flake shook his head. Still listening, he said. Sen. Jeff Flake listens to Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday. (Photo: Win McNamee/Reuters) _____ More Yahoo News stories on the Supreme Court: JA has ready-made projects that include all materials and training, Koch said. Many schools want JA to come to their building but unfortunately, they dont have the number of volunteers to be able to do that. Classes such as this lend themselves naturally since students have to put in a required 20 hours of service learning. We are benefiting both the community and our Ivy Tech students through this partnership. Christine Blasey Fords testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee evoked a wide range of reactions Thursday afternoon: doubt, support, anger and women telling their own stories of abuse. On the right, skeptics of Ford focused on what they considered to be gaps in her memory and cast doubt on her claims that her trauma at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh left her with a lifelong fear of airplanes. Ford Admits She Flies Often after Citing Fear of Flying to Delay Hearing, read a headline in the conservative National Review. Donald Trump Jr. spent the morning and early afternoon retweeting those critical of Fords testimony: The Presidents son @DonaldJTrumpJr has spent the day on twitter showing people that Mitchells questioning of Ford is all about seeding collateral partisan attacks. pic.twitter.com/G1oH9kxNJa southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 27, 2018 Trump Jr. also wrote, Im no psychology professor but it does seem weird to me that someone could have a selective fear of flying. Cant do it to testify but for vacation, well its not a problem at all. Ford actually is a psychology professor. Many others pointed out that they and friends they know have fears of flying but still fly places. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., called the questions about flights a distraction. Even the presidents favorite channel admitted things did not seem to be going well. This was extremely emotional, extremely raw and extremely credible, said Fox News host Chris Wallace. Nobody could listen to her deliver those words and talk about the assault and the impact it had had on her life and not have your heart go out to her. She obviously was traumatized by an event. This is a disaster for the Republicans. Story continues Fox News panel of analysts also criticized the format of the hearing, with quick five-minute rounds for each senator and all 11 male Republicans ceding their time to a female outside counsel to question Ford. Frequent Fox News guest and Trump supporter Alan Dershowitz also thought Ford was credible and doubted Kavanaughs chances at confirmation. Ford will win the credibility determination, said Dershowitz in a statement to the Washington Post. If Rs were smart, theyd call Avenattis witness who would fall apart on cross examination. if I had to bet at this point, Id say that we will not see Justice Kavanaugh at the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, attorney Michael Avenatti released an affidavit from a client, Julie Swetnick, who said she had been gang-raped at a Maryland house party where Kavanaugh was present, and that she had seen Kavanaugh in a line of boys whom she understood to be waiting their turns to assault a woman. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., whos been outspoken in his belief that Kavanaugh will still be confirmed, spoke with reporters during a break and used Swetnicks sensational and uncorroborated accusations to indirectly discredit Ford. What happened to [Ford]? said Graham. I dont know. Why dont you believe him? What is it about him you dont want to believe? I know why [Democrats] dont want to believe him. They were gonna vote [no] no matter what. They tried to destroy this guys life with one accusation after another. That hes a serial rapist. That some woman said, I went to 10 parties where they were drugging and raping people. I dont believe that one bit. Graham also criticized the absence of outside witnesses, although it was the choice of Republicans on the committee not to call anyone else to testify notably Mark Judge, a high school friend of Kavanaughs, who Ford said was in the room when she was groped and assaulted. The Washington Post has reported that Judge, who said via his lawyer he had no memory of the assault, is currently hiding out at a beach house in Delaware. Graham also warned Democrats, If this is the new norm, you better watch out for your nominees. (Former Sen. Al Franken, the Democrat from Minnesota who resigned earlier this year after accusations of sexual harassment, used to sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee.) Graham was absent from the hearing when testimony resumed after a lunch break. Democratic Senators were effusive in their praise for Fords testimony. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, you are a hero, wrote Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York on Twitter. Dr. Ford is not on trial, wrote Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who is on the Judiciary Committee. She is sitting here because she has the courage to come forward and because it was her civic duty. I believe her. On C-SPAN, many callers contacted the network to describe their own accounts of sexual assault. Im a 76-year-old woman who was sexually molested in second grade, said one caller named Brenda. This brings back so much pain. Thought I was over it, but [Im] not. You will never forget it. You get confused and you dont understand it, but you never forget what happened to you. At the conclusion of Fords testimony, multiple people in the room shouted, Thank you, Dr. Ford. _____ More Yahoo News stories on the Supreme Court: Mamoudzou (AFP) - They had scattered before the border police even got there, fleeing their corrugated shacks in a densely-populated slum in Petite-Terre, part of France's Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte. A dozen police ran through dirt-track paths strewn with rubbish and furrowed by the rain, watched by a visiting French parliamentary delegation. On a normal day, these officers round up between 20 and 35 migrants, most of them Comorans. But today was different. Alerted by the presence of the VIPs from Paris, men without papers did not wait around. They fled their flimsy encampments in this neighbourhood of 9,000 people and left their wives and children to fend for themselves. Situated between Madagascar and Mozambique, the Mayotte archipelago is prosperous relative to neighbouring Comoros, an impoverished and unstable island nation which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Mayotte was part of the Comoros until they split after a referendum on independence from France in 1974. Mayotte, comprising two islands, Petite-Terre and Grande-Terre, voted strongly to remain part of France while the rest of the Comoros opted for self-rule. Defying Comoros' continuing claims over Mayotte, the territory today has the administrative status of a French "department," roughly equivalent to a county. This entitles it to support for infrastructure, medical care, and education just as in mainland France. Its citizens, living in the farthest region of the European Union, have unfettered rights to travel, work and live in the EU. But one outcome has been a growing migrant crisis. Thousands of Comorans have been making the 70-kilometre (43-mile) crossing to Mayotte in search of a better future. The influx prompted a six-week-long wave of strikes and protests this year. Many on Mayotte, home to 250,000 people, blame uncontrolled migration for spiralling crime and increasing demands on public health services. According to the chief of police, foreigners account for nearly 42 percent of Mayotte's total population and more than half of them are illegal. Story continues - Some help, others hinder - As the police pushed their way through scrap metal doors into the tiny homes of the island's poorest, one resident pointed them towards an area where she thought some migrants might be hiding. "There are a lot of people who rat on them," confided a member of the border police operations support group, a 44-person unit. "Sometimes, when we turn up in a car, people come out to find us." Others, though, help the migrants flee, like the children who act as spotters and start yelling "moro, moro" -- the equivalent of "fire, fire!" -- to warn that the police are on their way, another officer said. "These areas are difficult to reach... it's quite dangerous" for the officers, said Julien Kerdoncuf, the deputy prefect in charge of illegal migration. A policeman agreed. "People often resist (arrest)," he told AFP, saying a colleague had been injured the day before. - 'Kwassa' crossing - Police and gendarmes pick up between 50 and 60 migrants every day, roughly half the number that are turned away daily at the border. With two-thirds detained on land, the others are caught at sea, usually aboard makeshift boats called kwassas. "There are three types of kwassas," explained Kerdoncuf. There is the VIP version for two or three passengers, which are "fast and more expensive", low-cost kwassas which can carry 30-40 passengers, and then there are "medical" vessels filled with sick Comorans hoping to get treatment in Mayotte. To fight illegal immigration at sea, the island has two speedboats and four interceptor vessels. Two more are due to join the fleet in November. Since mid-March, the authorities have stepped up checks, issuing more than 13,000 expulsion orders, he said. On Monday, the foreign ministers of France and Comoros met again in a bid to resolve a diplomatic spat. In March, the Comoros refused to take back nationals expelled from Mayotte; Paris in turn stopped issuing visas to Comorans wishing to travel to France. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said in early September that the Comoran authorities had started taking in some of those turned away from Mayotte "but only in relatively small numbers." Did Galileo Galilei really say all those terrible things that the Vatican said he did in his famous 1613 letter about a sun-centered solar system and in saying so, violate church doctrine? Or did the Catholic Church alter his words to make him look bad, so they could more easily declare him a heretic? A long-lost letter that recently emerged from a library archive in the United Kingdom may finally put this question to rest. The discovery sheds light on claims that Galileo made when he came under fire for suggesting that the church stick to religion and stay out of science, the journal Nature recently reported. According to Galileo, when Inquisition officials presented a copy of his letter as evidence of heresy, the words had been changed to make them seem more inflammatory. Galileo even produced another copy of the letter with much less incendiary language, to prove that he was being railroaded. [Science and the Catholic Church: A Turbulent History] But the newly discovered document tells a different story. Discovered in the Royal Society library by a visiting historian from Italy in August, the newfound letter had languished for centuries after being filed under the wrong date, according to Nature. It appears to be an original draft of the letter, which Galileo originally sent to his friend Benedetto Castelli in 1613, and it's signed with "G.G." Galileo's initials. In the letter, Galileo condemned the Catholic Church's interpretations of astronomy; those arguments were used against him when the Inquisition brought him to trial and convicted him in 1633. The second page of the 1613 Galileo letter. Copyright the Royal Society The new document contains numerous corrections in an attempt to take the edge off language that might be considered heretical, Nature reported. Words that Galileo first put to paper that were harshly critical of the church were later crossed out and corrected, suggesting that he self-edited to make his pronouncements less offensive to the church's eyes, according to Nature. Story continues For example, one passage referred to certain biblical claims as "false"; the description was later crossed out and amended to read "look different from the truth." If the document is what it appears to be, Galileo's original word choices were far more objectionable than the version that was sent to the Vatican. Nevertheless, Galileo asserted that the letter used by the Inquisition only sounded as critical as it did because church officials changed his words; he claimed that their document was a "fraud" circulated "under the cloak of zeal and charity," in a 1615 letter to a friend and cleric named Piero Dini. A description and interpretation of the letter will be published in the Royal Society journal Notes and Records, Nature reported. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations New York (AFP) - US President Donald Trump strode up to the lectern and took stock of the world's press in a five-star New York hotel. "This is quite a gathering. Wow!" he crowed. And so began an hour and 22 minutes with the world's most powerful man, pumped up by days of UN diplomacy and seething over Democratic opposition to his Supreme Court nominee, now fighting multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior while a student. The Republican commander-in-chief boasted, seethed and dished out the sarcasm, fielding questions with a dizzying tumble of words and counter punch. Standing before a large row of American flags, the 45th president of the United States dealt with everything from China, Iran and the Kurds, to socialism, Justin Trudeau, women, the Supreme Court and Middle East peace. Without notes and clearly relishing the occasion, he dished out compliments and made digs where he saw fit. "You do a very good job," he told a Fox reporter who asked about NAFTA. "Say 'thank you Mr Trump,'" he mocked when a New York Times journalist said the newspaper was thriving rather than failing, with circulation figures up under the Trump presidency. From the Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue, a brisk seven-minute walk from his old penthouse home and real-estate company headquarters at Trump Tower, the 72-year-old president appeared ready to go on all night. - On Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh - "If we brought George Washington here," ruminated an exasperated Trump of America's hallowed first president and founding father, "the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand, and he may have had a bad past, who knows." - On sexual assault - "I've had a lot of false charges made against me. Really false charges!" he said as journalists pointed out that he too had been the accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in the past. "So when you say 'does it affect me in terms of my thinking with respect to Judge Kavanaugh?' Absolutely. Because I've had it many times." Story continues - On women - "I've always said, women are smarter than men." - On the Kurds - "They're great people, they're great fighters, I like them a lot," he said, later calling on a journalist as "Yes please, Mr Kurd." - UN laughter - "They weren't laughing at me, they were laughing with me," he insisted over the laughter broke out in the UN General Assembly on Tuesday after Trump boasted that his administration had done more than any other in US history. - On Xi Jinping - "I will, tomorrow, make a call to him and say 'Hey, how are you doing?' Trump said with a smile after admitting that Xi "may not be a friend of mine anymore." "They are doing studies on Donald Trump, they are trying to figure it all out," he said in reference to apparent Chinese interest in an American president so different to his predecessors. - Ending on a high - "Elton john said when you hit that last tune and it's good, don't go back," he said, taking the last question and pondering on what happens when a performer doesn't deliver a good encore after a rousing concert. "They don't hit it and... everyone leaves and they say 'that wasn't a very good concert, was it?'" TEHRAN, Iran (AP) A senior Iranian security official on Thursday threatened Israel with harsh "reactions" if the Jewish state "continues to attack" Iranian and government forces in Syria. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Ali Shamkhani of Iran's Supreme National Security Council as saying that in case of further airstrikes, Israel "will face reactions that would cause sorrow and penitence." His remarks came during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev. Earlier this month, Israel attacked the airport in the Syrian capital Damascus with missiles believed to have targeted arms depots of Iranian forces and the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group both allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad's troops in the civil war. Israel has claimed that it has struck more than 200 Iranian targets in Syria over the past 18 months. Iran has maintained that its forces in Syria are in an advisory role to the Syrian army in its war on Islamic State group militants and armed opposition groups. Iran does not recognize Israel and supports militant groups opposed to Israel including Hamas and Hezbollah. By Jeffrey Heller and Amina Ismail JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for a resumption of Israel-Palestinian peace talks when he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sisi's office said on Thursday. Netanyahu, writing on Twitter, said his talks with Sisi late on Wednesday focused on "regional developments". He did not elaborate. At the meeting at his hotel in New York, Sisi "stressed the importance of resuming the negotiations between the two sides, the Palestinians and the Israelis, to reach a just and a comprehensive solution based on a two-state solution and in accordance with the international treaties," according to a presidential statement. Egypt has also been working to broker a long-term ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip's dominant Hamas Islamist movement amid frequent violence along the Israel-Gaza border, where Palestinians have been holding weekly protests. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been suspended since 2014 and efforts to revive them have not been successful. Netanyahu and Sisi convened for their previously announced talks several hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in what had appeared to be the clearest expression yet of his administration's support for such an outcome. But later on Wednesday Trump told a news conference he would be open to a one-state solution if that was the preference of the parties themselves, a position he had previously stated. Netanyahu, a right-wing politician who rarely utters publicly the words "Palestinian state" - a concept he conditionally endorsed in 2009 but which far-right coalition partners oppose - said he was not taken by surprise by Trump's initial remarks. In a statement, Netanyahu said he was confident a promised U.S. peace plan would back Israel's demand to maintain security control of the West Bank, territory it occupied in a 1967 war and which Palestinians seek as part of a future state. Palestinians are boycotting Washington's peace efforts after Trump broke with long-standing U.S. policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the American Embassy to the contested city. Palestinian leaders say that a state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, must be based on the pre-1967 war borders and see any future Israeli military presence as a violation of sovereignty. Netanyahu and Sisi met in public for the first time in 2017. Israeli media reports last month said they had held a secret summit in Egypt in May to discuss a truce in neighboring Gaza, which is under tight Israeli and Egyptian border restrictions. Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognize Israel under a 1979 peace treaty and the two countries maintain close co-ordination on security as well as energy ties. On Thursday Israeli and Egyptian companies announced that they would buy into a pipeline that would enable a landmark $15 billion natural gas export deal to begin next year. (Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Steve Holland and Yara Bayoumy in New York; Editing by David Goodman, Richard Balmforth) Tunis (AFP) - Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday called for all Tunisians who are in his country illegally to be repatriated and for illicit migration to be "blocked", during a visit to Tunis. The hardline Italian minister spoke following a meeting with Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi, and several days after Italy's government adopted a series of measures promising to limit clandestine immigration. "The priority was to block the hundreds of thousands of uncontrolled arrivals that we have received these last years," Salvini said during a joint press conference with his Tunisian counterpart Hichem Fourati. "We are working with the Tunisian authorities to...escort to Tunisia those who come from Tunisia", the Italian minister said. Fourati said that if the migrants "prove that they are Tunisian and their fingerprints are processed by the Tunisian authorities, they will be repatriated". Tunisian NGOs oppose increasing a quota of 80 migrant expulsions per week by Italy to the North African country. Italian authorities say this quota is rarely reached. "We have discussed mechanisms for tackling networks implicated in human trafficking, which don't hesitate to trade in the blood of our young people", Fourati added. Italy's interior ministry says 4,487 Tunisians have arrived clandestinely in Italy since the start of the year, compared to 6,092 in the whole of 2017. Tunisia says it arrested more than 8,400 migrants between the start of the year and September 20, including 700 suspected of organising or facilitating perilous Mediterranean crossings. Julie Swetnick, who on Wednesday released a declaration that accuses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, stands behind her story 100 percent and is willing to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said her lawyer, Michael Avenatti. The details in this declaration are specific, Avenatti said in a phone call to The View. They are shocking, but above all else, they are true. He added: And my client stands behind them 100 percent. And shes looking forward to having an opportunity to meet with one or more FBI agents, hopefully, and describe what happened. Shes also prepared to testify, if shes permitted to do so, to the U.S. Senate. Swetnick is the third woman to come forward with claims against Kavanaugh from when he was in high school or college. She said in a signed declaration released by Avenatti that Kavanaugh was present at a 1982 party where she was gang raped, but didnt identify Kavanaugh as an assailant. Swetnick understands the magnitude of her allegation and she does not make them lightly, said Avenatti, who also represents former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who has claimed to have had an extramarital affair with Donald Trump. Here is a picture of my client Julie Swetnick. She is courageous, brave and honest. We ask that her privacy and that of her family be respected. pic.twitter.com/auuSeHm5s0 Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 26, 2018 Swetnick believes that the truth should be known and that this process is a search for the truth, Avenatti told The View co-host Abby Huntsman, explaining why Swetnick is coming forward now. She wants the American public to know the truth about Brett Kavanaugh and about his conduct, Avenatti added. Co-host Sunny Hostin pressed Avenatti on whether Swetnicks story includes Kavanaugh doing anything specifically to her, but the lawyer offered no examples. Story continues I want my client to have an opportunity to be heard, he said. I want Dr. Ford to have an opportunity to be heard. And I want the corroborating witnesses to have the opportunity to be heard. Swetnicks declaration says Kavanaugh was present at the party with his high school friend, Mark Judge. Judge also was identified by Christine Blasey Ford as being present when she says Kavanaugh groped her, tried to undress her and put his hand over her mouth. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Blaseys testimony on Thursday and vote on Kavanaughs confirmation on Friday. The GOP-led panel hasnt arranged to hear from other Kavanaugh accusers or others who might corroborate their stories. .@MichaelAvenatti makes his first stop today on @TheView after new allegations against Brett Kavanaugh from Julie Swetnick FULL INTERVIEW "She wants to come forward because she believes the truth should be know" pic.twitter.com/ZpDUpywkYk Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) September 26, 2018 Co-host Joy Behar asked what Avenatti will do if the Judiciary Committee goes ahead with Fridays vote. We have planned for that, the lawyer said. He added that it would be absolutely outrageous for senators to vote under the circumstances. There should be no rush to confirm this man to the U.S. Supreme Court, Avenatti said. Delaying this matter a week or a month, or slightly more than a month, would be of no consequence. We need to make sure that we get this right, 100-percent right. The testimony of Judge, for example, would help shed light on the accusations, he said. Judge has said he doesnt recall the incident Blasey described. There is no excuse, no excuse for the committee or for Brett Kavanaugh not calling Mark Judge to testify for the committee, Avenatti said. This is a man that is one of the closest friends of Brett Kavanaugh at the time period of this issue. He added: All you have to know is that they are hiding Mark Judge from the American people. And I can assure you if he had positive things to say about this time period, and positive things to say about Brett Kavanaughs conduct, we would have already heard from him. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Washington (AFP) - US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh condemned as "ridiculous" Wednesday the latest allegation that he was involved in sexual abuse as a teen, saying he did not know the accuser. "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is and this never happened," he said in a statement issued by the White House. The statement came after Julie Swetnick released a sworn statement saying she witnessed abusive behavior by Kavanaugh at parties in the early 1980s. She also said she had been gang-raped at a party around 1982 that Kavanaugh attended. In a separate statement prepared for a crunch Senate Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Thursday, Kavanaugh again denied a previous allegation by California professor Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. "Over the past few days, other false and uncorroborated accusations have been aired," he said. "These are last minute smears, pure and simple." Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale classmate, has also accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her during a party in the 1980s. The three accusations raised fresh doubts over whether Kavanaugh's nomination to the high court will survive. The Washington federal appeals court judge, 53, had been expected to easily win confirmation until 10 days ago when Blasey Ford went public with her story. Blasey Ford was expected to testify on her allegations at Thursday's hearing, which will be televised live. Neither of the other two women have been invited to testify, leading to Democratic calls for a halt to the hearing while the women's accusations are thoroughly investigated. "Republicans need to immediately suspend the proceedings related to Judge Kavanaugh's nomination," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday after Swetnick's declaration was released. "I strongly believe Judge Kavanaugh should withdraw from consideration. If he will not, at the very least, the hearing and vote should be postponed while the FBI investigates all of these allegations." Story continues In his prepared statement, Kavanaugh admitted he drank alcohol as an under-age student, but never did anything like what he is accused of. "I was not perfect in those days, just as I am not perfect today. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now," he said. However, he added, "What I've been accused of is far more serious than juvenile misbehavior. I never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes." "The record of my life, from my days in grade school through the present day, shows that I have always promoted the equality and dignity of women." Williams said at a previous meeting that he makes a Belgian blond ale and Belgian dubel, as well as a Mexican cerveza, all of which will be served in the tasting room. By Dave Graham UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A group of Latin American countries and Canada said on Wednesday they had asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Venezuela's government over allegations of crimes against humanity in using force to repress political opponents. It is the first time that member nations of the court have referred a fellow member state to prosecutors and it adds pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government, which is mired in an economic and political crisis. The presidents of Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday signed a letter and sent it to the court based in The Hague on Wednesday, Peruvian foreign minister Nestor Popolizio said. The seven-page letter cited evidence gathered by a range of international experts and organizations, and asked for investigation of crimes said to have been committed after Feb. 12, 2014. Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Foreign ministers from the countries said the experts had found that the Venezuelan government bore responsibility for crimes ranging from torture, murder and rape to forced disappearances and violations of due process. "There is a large and growing body of evidence that the Maduro regime has committed gross human rights violations against its own people," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told a news conference with her counterparts during the annual United Nations General Assembly. The letter was addressed to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who in February began preliminary research into the situation in Venezuela, a member of OPEC. However, she has yet to ask judges for permission to open a formal investigation. Bensouda said she was looking at allegations Venezuelan state police "used excessive force to disperse and put down demonstrations, and arrested and detained thousands of actual or perceived members of the opposition, a number of whom would have been allegedly subjected to serious abuse and ill-treatment in detention." Earlier on Wednesday, Canada's Trudeau said the complaint by the six countries would send the message that the situation in Venezuela is catastrophic and they needed to help Venezuelans out of the humanitarian crisis. "The failure of leadership in Venezuela is of concern not just to us, but to leaders in the region, friends to Venezuela and of concern to the world," Trudeau said. Human Rights Watch called the unprecedented step a reflection of "the growing alarm among other countries about the human rights catastrophe that has overtaken Venezuela." The human rights group found that in two crackdowns, in 2014 and 2017, Venezuelan security forces committed systematic abuses against critics, including torture, and detained more than 5,400 people between April and July 2017. (Reporting by Dave Graham, Dave Lawder; Additional reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool) Skopje (AFP) - He took down a strongman, survived a bloody mob attack and won global plaudits for signing a historic accord with Greece. But Friday's parliamentary vote approving changing the country's name is the real triumph for Macedonia premier Zoran Zaev's, and seals his reputation as a deal-maker -- and a rare optimist -- in a region of frozen conflicts. The 44-year-old Zaev has become a darling of the West for pushing through a painful compromise with Greece in June to change his country's name to "Republic of North Macedonia." Athens, which has snubbed its Balkan neighbour for 27 years because it has its own province called Macedonia, has promised to stop blocking Skopje's path to NATO and the EU if the new name is accepted. "Without the accord with Greece, there will be neither NATO nor EU" membership, Zaev had said ahead the vote, uncertain until the very last moment if he will have two-thirds majority required for the name change. On Friday that majority was achieved when 81 of the 120 deputies supported the name change. Zaev also showed his pragmatic side, offering amnesties to deputies involved in violence in parliament in April 2017. Several of them then defied their party orders and backed the name change . The former businessman, whose unlikely rise to power has fuelled his unrelenting optimism, had said he would resign if the deal crumbled. For months Zaev, a devout Orthodox Christian, has warned that anything short of an agreement on changing the country's name would crush Macedonia's dreams of a Euro-Atlantic future. - Pepper relish and politics - Zaev was born in 1974 in the eastern city of Strumica, making him an outlier in a party whose powerbrokers normally hail from the capital. "I personally never imagined that he would succeed, although I always thought (the party) were unfair to him and other non-Skopje residents," said a member of the Social Democrats' executive committee who requested anonymity. Story continues Zaev began his career by working for a family-run business selling jars of ajvar -- a pepper relish beloved in the Balkans. He switched to politics in 2003, eventually becoming a three-term mayor of his hometown and then leader of the Social Democrats in 2013. But Zaev didn't hit international headlines until 2015, when he started releasing tapes that appeared to show widespread official wiretapping under premier Nikola Gruevski, the Macedonian strongman who had dug in for a decade. The scandal led to Gruevksi's undoing and plunged Macedonia into a political crisis. That crisis came to a head in April 2017 when a nationalist mob stormed parliament to protest Zaev's coalition deal with ethnic Albanian parties. The intruders injured scores, including Zaev, who was photographed with blood splattered across his face and collared shirt. "Bloody Thursday" was a turning point for the country and for Zaev, eventually leading to him securing his post as premier. Since then he has tried to bring his business acumen to politics, striking deals with neighbours and clearing Macedonia's path to the EU. "He's a workaholic," said David Stephenson, a political consultant in Macedonia and former US diplomat, describing how Zaev slept in the party's Skopje headquarters for several years before becoming Prime Minister. "He's not someone who most people would consider intellectual or book smart, but I think he's very savvy and shrewd, and I think he reads people well." - Making a name - In August 2017 Zaev inked a friendship treaty with Bulgaria, another neighbour that has sparred with Macedonia over identity, history and language. Next came the big prize -- the name row with Greece, one of several major unresolved conflicts hampering progress in Western Balkans, a region scarred by the calamitous break-up of Yugoslavia. Zaev began with a series of goodwill gestures, including removing the name "Alexander the Great" -- a hero claimed by both countries -- from an airport and highway. Meetings and phone calls with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras ensued, culminating in the June signing of an accord on the shores of Lake Prespa, which straddles their borders. "I truly enjoyed signing the deal in beautiful Prespa, opening the champagne...This will be an unforgettable memory," Zaev, not shy to show emotion, told AFP. While the deal has been pilloried by Macedonian nationalists as an embarrassing concession to Athens, supporters have applauded Zaev's willingness to take the high road. However, some would like him to move faster on a promise to tackle widespread corruption. Zaev himself was accused -- but acquitted in May -- of a graft charge dating back to his time as mayor. For now, the name issue is taking centre stage. Last month, Zaev and his Tsipras were nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Colombo (AFP) - The Maldivian opposition appealed to the international community Thursday to help ensure a peaceful transition of power amid fears that strongman Abdulla Yameen may cling onto power despite his shock election defeat. The joint opposition, which includes four political parties that successfully put forward the little-known Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at Sunday's vote, called for external help to re-establish democracy in the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago. "In this regard, we look towards our friends and partners in the international community to assist us, as we move forward in trying to create a Maldives in which all citizens can enjoy peace, prosperity and justice," the opposition said in a statement. It did not say what form of assistance was requested, but opposition sources said they were looking for strong foreign warnings to Yameen to go quietly. The statement came hours after the country's military chief and the head of police issued veiled warnings on television against Yameen trying to cling onto power. Yameen decisively lost Sunday's election, despite all his main rivals being in prison or in exile, sparse media coverage of the opposition, and monitors and the opposition predicting vote-rigging. Formal results will be announced by the election commission on Sunday and Yameen -- who on Monday conceded defeat -- must hand over power to successor Solih on November 17 at the end of his five-year term. But rumours have abounded on social media and elsewhere that Yameen could file an election petition seeking the delay of the announcement. This prompted military chief Major General Ahmed Shiyam to appear on a private TV channel on Wednesday night promising the results would be honoured. "The people have spoken," Shiyam said. "I want to assure the Maldivian people that the military will protect the will of the people." Election commission chief Ahmed Shareef confirmed that Yameen's party has lodged several complaints of suspected voting irregularities. Story continues "We will look into these concerns," Shareef said. But he added that there were no grounds for him to delay the announcement of the formal results. On Wednesday, the opposition accused Yameen of delaying the release of high-profile political prisoners despite calls by Solih for their release. Shortly after his shock defeat, Yameen freed five prisoners. But scores of others -- including Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his estranged half-brother and former president -- remain incarcerated. There was no immediate comment from the government. Yameen jailed or exiled most of his rivals during his turbulent five-year term. Suspecting a plot to impeach him, in February Yameen declared a state of emergency and arrested top judges as well as political opponents. Yameen's rule dented its image as a honeymoon paradise and attracted alarm abroad -- both the US and the EU had threatened financial sanctions unless the democratic situation improved. Manchester Citys Vincent Kompany is making a generous donation to charity Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is set to make a huge donation to a homeless charity. Kompany, 32, has been at the Premier League champions since 2008 and to celebrate a decade at the club, will have a testimonial match. That game is set to be played at the end of the 2018/19 season, while the Belgium international has revealed all proceeds from the match will go to the Homelessness Fund set up by Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. Kompany, who joined the club from Hamburg, said: Ive received much from Manchester. READ MORE: Gossip: Ramsey to leave on a free, Moyes lines up next job Over the past decade Ive been lucky to have witnessed and played a part in Manchester Citys rise as a club and a brand. This has also run parallel alongside the rise of a whole region. However, with this spectacular rise, comes a very visible downside: more and more people are left out of and have no access to the benefits of the rapid development, often leaving them no choice but to end up on the streets. What inspired me so much about this region, about this city, is the positivity of the people that live in it. As this city is so powerful compared to so many other cities I have visited in the past, I think we have a responsibility to take everyone along with us on that journey. He has also linked up with Burnham to help creating the Tackle4MCR scheme which is aiming to end homelessness by 2020, which will be boosted by the generous pledge by Kompany. The ambitious scheme also seeks to ensure every rough sleeper has a bed for the upcoming winter. Burnham, who donates 15% of his salary to the Homelessness Fund, added: In his famous poem, Tony Walsh told us that some are born here, some drawn here, but all call it home. Those words are personified by Vincent Kompany and his desire, through Tackle4MCR, to give back to this city that he now calls home. Episode 8 of The Royal Box is available to stream here from Friday 28 September. Last week, the Duchess of Sussex gave her first speech as a member of the royal family, as she launched the charity cookbook shes supporting. She spoke passionately for three minutes, without any notes, praising the women of the Hubb Community Kitchen, whose lives have been affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. Meghan had support from her husband Prince Harry and mother Doria Ragland, who joined her at the luncheon at Kensington Palace. The Duchess of Sussex during her speech (PA) Given her background as an actress, PR and brand consultant Nick Ede feels that public speaking is where Meghans strengths lie. Speaking to Kate Thornton on episode 8 of Yahoo UKs show The Royal Box, he said: I think she likes to be front and centre. She knows exactly whats she doing, shes very strong and shes a great speaker. Ede added: This is all about branding, the royal family is a brand, its a brand for a Britain, its a brand for the Commonwealth, a brand for the world. Shes [Meghan] very clever, she had her own website The Tig, which was a big brand in itself and she understands all those touch points, which will be great for the royal family, great for her appeal and great for her mother too. The Duchess also showed no nerves as she carried out her first solo engagement on Tuesday, attending the opening of the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK. Read more from Yahoo Style UK: Prince Harry and Meghan Markles royal tour: More details released about Australia and New Zealand visit Princess Eugenies wedding will be bigger than Prince Harry and Meghan Markles nuptials What the royal tour may tell us about Prince Harry and Meghan Markles baby plans She's just launched Be Best, so what's Melania Trump going to do next? She's going to Ghana! And Malawi, Kenya and Egypt. The First Lady finally announced her itinerary for her highly anticipated first solo international trip to Africa, which she first spoke about earlier this summer. Ironically her decision to visit the continent came just months after the president referred to the continent's "sh hole countries" during a closed-door meeting about immigration. Just recently, Donald and Melania hosted the President and First Lady of Kenya at the White House, so at least things seem to have been smoothed over there. RELATED: Why People Think Melania Trump's Latest Look Is Another Dig at Her Husband Though she's traveled internationally with her husband across the globe, this is Melania's first time flying solo on official FLOTUS duty (per CNN, she did visit Toronto, Canada for a brief one day trip earlier this year, but this is the one that counts). She's not unique in choosing to visit Africa. First Ladies before her, including Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton also visited the continent on solo trips. In a statement last month, Melania said she is "excited to educate myself on the issues facing children throughout the continent, while also learning about (Africa's) rich culture and history." She made the itinerary announcement in front of a room full of the spouses of U.N. leaders who are currently meeting at the General Assembly in New York this week. The Trumps visiting their old stomping grounds didn't get the warmest of welcomes from New Yorkers or U.N. leaders for that matter. While addressing the room on Tuesday, Trump was laughed at during his speech, while Twitter users theorized that Melania's all-black outfit was not a sign of her New York pride (we like the color black, sue us) but a dig at her husband, meant as a show of support for the women who have accused her husband's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual assault. Melania has not publicly spoken about the allegations against Kavanaugh. Story continues Melania took the podium on Wednesday in a blush pink high-collar dress by Scanlan Theodore ($600), sporting a slightly updated hairstyle notice the deeper side part and more subdued waves. A new 'do would make sense, considering her hairstylist is based in New York. The look is quite the 180 from last year's address, where she spoke to the spouses of U.N. leaders about the harmful effects of cyberbullying. (If you're thinking, 'Oh, the irony!' with regards to the President's Twitter account, then you're not the only one.) For that occasion, Melania wore a hot pink Delpozo coat dress with voluminous, puffy sleeves and matching Barbie-pink stilettos. Some Twitter users unfamiliar with the genius of Delpozo's outgoing creative director, Josep Font, ripped apart the capital F fashion look, and FLOTUS's camp was quick to call them out for, well, cyberbullying. By comparison, her look this time around is much more subdued. Her message, however, is the same. FLOTUS continues to champion her Be Best campaign, which she unveiled to the public earlier this year during a press conference on the White House lawn, where she was outfitted in buttery leather Ralph Lauren leather jacket. While this is the first time in a while we've seen FLOTUS in something other than belted coat or shirt dress, it's far from the first time that she's opted for the pale pink hue, which we've gone as far as dubbing "passenger seat pink." While hosting the King and Queen of Jordan at the White House, she opted for a leather Proenza Schouler number, and she also wore a similar silhouette by Roland Mouret in the same hue for a wedding last year. We have a feeling she'll opt for something a bit more practical when she heads to Africa, but fingers crossed she leaves that parka at home. By Thorsten Severin and Maria Sheahan BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered an unexpected blow to her authority on Tuesday when her conservatives cast out long-standing ally Volker Kauder as head of the parliamentary party, reflecting rising discontent with her 13-year-old leadership. The upset, described variously as a "political thunderbolt" and "the beginning of the end of the Merkel era" by opposition leaders, was widely taken as a sign that lawmakers want more say in shaping the policies of her fourth and final government. The victory of Ralph Brinkhaus, a deputy leader of the conservative group in the Bundestag (lower house), marks a turning point since Kauder had accompanied Merkel, serving in effect as her parliamentary right hand, throughout her 13 years in office. "You could call it Merkel-Daemmerung (Twilight)," said Alexander Gauland, leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which entered the Bundestag for the first time after last year's election and now ranks second in polls. "It's a further step towards the end of the Merkel government, which I believe will end far sooner than we can imagine today." Merkel, whose stewardship of Europe's largest economy shaped the 2008 euro zone crisis, the 2015 refugee crisis and the continent's reaction to the United States' unilateral turn under Donald Trump, congratulated Brinkhaus in a terse statement. "I hoped Kauder could remain group leader because I worked well with him. But Brinkhaus got the most votes. I congratulated him and offered him good cooperation," she told reporters. Though Brinkhaus, 50, scored a relatively narrow 125-112 victory over Kauder, 69, in the conservative group - comprising Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), the upset was a clear sign of lawmakers' growing disenchantment with Merkel's ruling style. While Merkel has said this will be her last term, newspapers were unanimous in seeing the upset as marking the end of the era. "Lame duck" was the headline over the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine's front-page leader. And while many conservatives insisted the move should not be seen as being directed against Merkel, Armin Schuster, a conservative lawmaker, was less circumspect, saying she should start planning for a handover. "I expect the chancellor to tell us she envisages a transition" to a fresh conservative chancellor candidate at the 2020 elections, he told the Stuttgarter Nachrichten daily. "MUCH WORK TO DO" An instinctive centrist, Merkel has often seemed most comfortable working with parties well to her left, including the Social Democrats (SPD), with whom she currently governs, or the Greens. That has often run against the instincts of her own Bundestag deputies, and it was Kauder's job, as a link between party leadership and increasingly restive lawmakers, to soothe and cajole them into backing the chancellor. "I am very pleased by the result of the vote, we have a lot of work to do," said Brinkhaus, adding he had great respect for Kauder's achievements. Kauder's toppling comes after a turbulent few weeks during which coalition partners rowed over the fate of the head of Germany's security service, who had questioned reports of far-right attacks on migrants. Merkel's decision to let over a million refugees into Germany at the height of the 2015 migrant crisis was applauded by many to her left, but many of her fellow conservatives were uneasy, fearing a backlash that would boost the far right. Brinkhaus announced his candidacy a few weeks ago, surprising many commentators who viewed the move as something of a challenge to one of Merkel's closest allies, but he was widely expected to lose. "It's a political thunderbolt for Berlin," said Christian Lindner, leader of the pro-business Free Democrats, who interpreted the vote as a sign that lawmakers were no longer content with Merkel policies that were "interchangeable with those of the Greens'. "We greet this emancipation," he added. (Reporting by Thorsten Severin, Tassilo Hummel, Matthias Sobolewski; Writing by Madeline Chambers and Thomas Escritt; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Mark Heinrich) New York (AFP) - Mexico is prepared to advance a bilateral trade agreement with the United States that Canada could join within the next few weeks, a top Mexican negotiator for the North American Free Trade Agreement said Wednesday. Kenneth Smith Ramos said there had been "progress" on some key issues between the United States and Canada and that "we're simply hopeful that whatever gaps can be resolved in the next days, if not weeks." Ramos told AFP that Mexico was prepared to release the text of the agreement with the United States on Friday, the next step in advancing the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. "We don't know if there could be some last minute announcement this week between the US and Canada, but we are in any event preparing for the situation where we release the text bilaterally and that Canada may join over the next few weeks," he said. Mexico and the US announced a bilateral agreement on August 27, leaving Canada out of the rewrite of the 24-year-old deal that set up a regional trading zone. Mexico has consistently said it wishes for a trilateral agreement, an outcome that Ramos suggested was still likely. However, the country also aims to have the new deal signed by November 30 before Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office the following day. "It could take a little more time. We are hearing that there is progress on some of these key issues," he told AFP. "They're still working on some of these key core issues and some of these issues take time." Ottawa and Washington remain at odds over a handful of issues, including Canada's managed dairy sector, and the dispute resolution provisions in NAFTA. Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 27, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo: Michael Reynolds/Pool Image via AP) Among the millions of people watching the Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh testimonies play out on Thursday were, of course, countless parents many of whom say their approach to rearing their kids, whether teens or toddlers, was indelibly influenced by the courtroom drama and sordid tales of high school parties. On social media, some moms and dads lamented having to tell their younger kids of the reality of date rape, sexual harassment, and assault including writer and professor Fernanda Santos, who noted that she was watching the hearing with her 9-year-old daughter. I told her that no boy no one! has a right to touch her body and that Ill always, always believe her, she tweeted. I also told my 9yo daughter to look beyond the woman who is questioning Dr. Ford, to look at the people behind her. What do you see? I asked. Theyre all men. This is also what Dr. Ford sees. #KanavaughHearings #BelieveSurviors Fernanda Santos (@ByFernandaS) September 27, 2018 Others have been responding with outrage to the comments of a Bozeman, Mont., mother of two girls, who stood beside her daughters the day before the hearing as she told MSNBC that guys groping a woman is no big deal. She added that even if the allegations against Kavanaugh turned out to be true, it doesnt take away from his character and his job to do what he needs to do as a Supreme Court nominee. Tweets pointed out that her blase attitude toward assault was sad and a lost cause. "My mom went on television and said it was no big deal," is a future #whyididntreport moment. I'm not making light of it that's really what it is. So sad to see. The message they are being taught. Traveler Grad (@TravelerGrad) September 26, 2018 I dont know which is sadder, this woman thinking that its ok for a man to grope a woman who doesnt want to be groped or her children nodding in agreement. Im horrified. I have 3 daughters and Ill be damned if I would allow that. Jesus. What the hell is wrong with people. Ava (@avakrutko) September 26, 2018 Its just one of the many ways that the Kavanaugh issue has been playing out in the world of parenting. And Thursdays testimony from Ford provided, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) noted during the hearing, an amazing teaching moment. Story continues Adds Connecticut-based psychologist Barbara Greenberg, who has a focus of working with teens, I think Dr. Ford is providing a wonderful teaching opportunity for parents. Most parents do not talk to their kids about what could happen at a party. They mainly just tell girls, Dont drink so much. She tells Yahoo Lifestyle, Teens dont have templates of what could go wrong. I know I was just told, Dont do drugs, and its the same with the kids who come into my office even those who have been raped at high school or college. They were just told, Dont drink too much. The message should be Look for possible scenarios. Greenberg adds, Parents think if they dont talk about something, then it wont happen, although thats not the case. Yahoo Lifestyle had conversations with parents of children of all ages on Thursday and found that most had felt strongly influenced by the Kavanaugh accusations and hearing when it came to how they advised their sons and daughters. I literally had a conversation about consent with my 2-year-old the other day after daycare sent me a video of him kissing a little girl, Lindsay Powers, a Brooklyn mother of two boys and author of the forthcoming book You Cant F*ck Up Your Kids, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. At first, I was like, That is so cute! And then I was like, Lets talk about consent. In conversations with my 4- and 2-year-olds, we talk a lot about how thats your body and you are in charge of who touches your body. My kids are obviously very young, but I figure it doesnt hurt to start early. New York City father Howie Abrams tells Yahoo Lifestyle, The Kavanaugh situation, similar to that of Bill Cosby, simply reminds me to educate my 10-year-old daughter that anyone, regardless of what office they hold, what job they have, what position they are in, or whom they are in relation to her, can commit a criminal or inappropriate act, and that there are people she can trust if she is ever victimized or put in such a position. In addition, she should always do her best to be available to anyone needing a safe and sympathetic ear who may need to share something with her. On Long Island, Kim, mom to three teenage boys, says, [My son] left for college last month, and I told him that he should get a signed affidavit from any girl he wants to have sex with. I was only half kidding. But she adds that observing the hearing as well as the many stories of the #MeToo movement has helped her understand that incidents shed brushed off as a teen and young adult being date-raped by a boyfriend and being inappropriately examined by a doctor were actually major transgressions. It was not until the #MeToo movement started that I really understood that I had been seriously violated, she says. Mara Kanter of Rockville, Md., mom of two boys, 11 and 15, and a girl, 13, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she and her husband have always stressed to their kids that if theyre touched inappropriately or in a way that makes them uncomfortable, that they need to tell us, or someone. But, she says, I might speak more graphically with my kids now. Wed discuss what could or would be considered inappropriate. Kids say stupid things, and my daughter, in particular, might dismiss something that really isnt OK. I would stress now, in light of the Kavanaugh hearing, what it means to say no. I would tell all three of them to speak up for themselves and how to contact us if they are someplace where they feel uncomfortable. New York Citys Aly Palmer, mom to a 15-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, says that #MeToo and the issue of politics and sexual misconduct has been influencing how she parents for a while now. As soon as P***ygate began, the communication between both my daughter and younger son changed. They try and cover their ears and run as soon as I say, Kids you know whats messed up? But I chase them down and tell them things my parents never discussed, she says. The last thing on earth they want is for me to talk about any of this. Lately, Ive been happy to tell them both, Kids you know what? Consent is sexy. Another mom of a teenage girl laments that its often been a challenge to get that message to sink in, even though her daughter is a confident, feminist New Yorker. Weve talked a lot these past few weeks about Kavanaugh and the accusations and how being a dumb teen isnt an excuse for what he did, Raven Snook tells Yahoo Lifestyle. I just hope if shes ever in a situation like [those that have been alleged against the nominee], that she tells me ASAP. There have been multiple instances of what I consider sexual harassment in her school, but she doesnt tell because theyre just kidding. Its so hard to get even my self-declared feminist daughter to speak up because she doesnt want to be labeled humorless / a prude / a bitch. Greenberg stresses that its important to just keep having these conversations with your kids, especially teens, and suggests that parents also encourage their kids to listen to their own instincts. Our children need to learn to trust their gut and intuition, because the body talks to you, she says. If you get the sense that something is wrong, it probably is. Finally, she stresses that parents should encourage their kids to stay with their friends when heading to parties and other potentially risky situations. Because friends are supposed to look out for each other, Greenberg says. You can even talk directly to the friends. I used to tell my [now grown] daughters friends, Look out for each other. So Dr. Ford provided us with wonderful teaching moments about templates and scenarios, and about the importance of friend checks. I wish someone had come to look for her. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. The Lake County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program will conduct the second volunteer child advocate training of the year from 6:15-8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday evenings Oct. 9 through Nov. 8 at the Lake County Juvenile Justice Complex, 3000 93rd Ave., Crown Point. Community volunteers are trained to represent the best interest of abused and neglected children in court. CASA volunteers must be at least 21 years of age, must clear a criminal background check, must not be an active foster parent, must not work for a child welfare service provider, and must successfully complete 30 hours of training. Registration for the free training class is open through Wednesday. More information is with Liz Theodoros at 219-660-6978 or lakecountycasa@gmail.com. For reasons I have yet to fully comprehend, I have found myself in the middle of some of the most tumultuous confrontations between politics, sex and power over the last 20 or so years. Early in my career, Monica Lewinsky was my intern in the Clinton White House. I testified in front of independent counsel Ken Starrs grand jury and fought against Clintons impeachment as a deputy press secretary for the White House. I also worked for former presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth, and helped them both manage the press around his extramarital affair. Most recently, I was Hillary Clintons communications director in the 2016 presidential campaign. Between Donald Trumps bragging that he assaulted women on the Access Hollywood tape from 2005, the accusations from more than a dozen women that Trump had sexually harassed or assaulted them and Trumps own false attacks of Clinton as a mean enabler of her husbands misconduct, the campaign often felt more like a primal battle between the sexes than a political contest. And the womens side lost. Judging from the Trump White Houses and Congressional Republicans efforts to intimidate the women who have accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, it feels like the women are losing again. In their refusal to have the FBI investigate the charge that Kavanaugh assaulted Dr. Christine Blasey Ford in high school (which Kavanaugh denies), Republicans are treating Dr. Ford with even less deference than they did with Anita Hill 27 years ago. Their reaction to the new sworn declaration by Julie Swetnick, and the demand from her lawyer for an FBI investigation, will be similarly revealing. For those of us concerned that Kavanaugh could be the vote that undoes Roe v. Wade, the Republicans actions are particularly galling: Railroading a woman for the purposes of putting a man on the Supreme Court to control her body. Its easy for women to believe that the picture looks bleak; the patriarchy, strong. Story continues But viewing todays turmoil through the lens of my own complicated experiences, I see a slightly brighter picture coming into focus. I dont think I could have articulated it this clearly at the time, but with the benefit of 20 years of reflection, I see that Monica Lewinsky was treated as collateral damage in a fight that was all about men and power. Three years after welcoming her as my intern, I watched her become the most famous and ridiculed woman in America. She and her family endured appalling treatment by the federal investigators and prosecutors working for Starr scooping Lewinsky up in a sting operation and interrogating her for hours without a lawyer and subjecting her mother to similar treatment all in an effort to hurt President Clinton. I struggled to make sense of what I saw happen to her. I knew the relationship President Clinton pursued with her was not just inappropriate because he was married, but represented an abuse of the power dynamic. He was President of the United States, and she was a young intern. But while I didnt then, and do not now, think President Clinton should have been impeached, the Republican men who pursued his removal from office clearly didnt care about Monica. She was merely a means of taking down their opponent, no matter the costs to any of the lives involved. Her life has never fully recovered. That dynamic has been played time and again, as political opponents use sex scandals to wound men: The controversies are all about how the mans behavior reflects on him, not whether the woman involved is hurt. In the #MeToo era, though, thats changed. In the cases of Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, former Trump staffer Rob Porter, former Democratic Senator Al Franken and other members of Congress forced to resign in the last year, the charges were brought forward not by competing male politicos, but instead attested to by the women who had been harmed. This is a significant difference. Dr. Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Swetnick are courageously asserting their power and demanding they be heard. I see progress since the days of Bill Clintons impeachment. In the 1990s, Republican men used women as pawns in political fights for power with other men. Today, these men are reduced to using intimidation and shame as a last-ditch method of retaining their power over women to banking that the woman they seek to control will have the shame they lack and will simply go away. It will not work. Some have speculated that Republicans treatment of Dr. Ford proved they learned nothing from their poor treatment of Anita Hill. But I think their behavior shows they gained an important lesson: When a woman confronts a mans attempts to intimidate her, she reclaims the power he is attempting to steal. The Republicans may have gotten the confirmation they sought in 1991. Clarence Thomas made it to the Supreme Court. But the image of Hill, dignified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in the face of questions meant to humiliate her, haunts the Senators who interrogated her to this day and helped ignite a wave of enthusiasm that brought a new class of women Senators to Congress. It is not a result they would relish repeating. And yet despite the Republicans refusal to have the FBI investigate the alleged assault, the Presidents intimidating tweets and death threats to her and her family, it appears Dr. Ford, and now perhaps Ramirez and Swetnick, will testify. While I know it would be a difficult time for those women, I hope they leave knowing they stared down those who sought to bully and silence them and see it as the victory it is for all women, whether or not Kavanaugh is confirmed. I admit to having felt shame and confusion in my own career in being expected to answer for the behavior of men for whom I worked, wondering if it was possible to feel sympathy for all Monica endured without being disloyal to President Clinton and his family, who I thought were also treated unfairly and endured tremendous pain. Twenty years ago, this confusion and shame manifested itself in a dream I would have where I ran into Monica and not know what to say to her. I would try to speak, and no words would come out. Last year, that dream came to life when, by chance, I ran into her at an event. I was relieved that 20 years on, I knew what to say to her. I told her that I was sorry. Sorry that she had endured so much trauma. Sorry that simply because she was associated with President Clinton his political enemies allowed her life to become collateral damage in a fight against him. A path forward for women is clearer to me now than it was decades ago: Refuse to be shamed or held accountable for actions taken by men. Shame is one of the last weapons of the fading patriarchy. But unlike the other means that have been used to keep women down, this one is entirely within our control to defeat. Rome (AFP) - Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday launched an appeal to world governments to give migrant rescue boat Aquarius a flag after Panama removed it from its register, preventing it working legally. "We appeal to all governments, not just European, to governments who care about people's lives so that we get a flag," Claudia Lodesani, the head of MSF Italy, told journalists. "We want to continue to work in the Mediterranean, the most dangerous sea in the world today, in a transparent and legal way, as we have always done," she said. The Aquarius, chartered by MSF and SOS Mediterranee, is the only civilian ship still trying to rescue migrants making the perilous journey from North Africa to Europe. It is currently carrying 58 migrants rescued in the southern Mediterranean but cannot dock after Panama on Saturday revoked its flag owing to "non-respect" of "international legal procedures". Malta has said it will transfer the 58 migrants to one of its boats in international waters and bring them to Malta. They will then be taken to four European countries that have agreed to take them in. "People are still dying at sea, it isn't true that there are no more deaths, just that we see them less because there are no more witnesses, we are the last boat," Lodesani said. Asked whether the Vatican might give the Aquarius a flag, SOS Mediterranee operations chief Frederic Penard said such an offer would be welcome. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke declined to comment when asked about the possibility. Three Swiss lawmakers have meanwhile urged their country to allow the Aquarius to fly the Swiss flag. The trio -- Ada Marra, Kurt Fluri and Guillaume Barazzone, who all belong to different parties -- made the demand Wednesday in parliament, citing Switzerland's "long humanitarian tradition" including migrant protection. Marra, Fluri and Barazzone asked the government to make use of a clause in maritime law exceptionally permitting such a move and the foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that it was "competent" to do so. "We cannot remain unmoved by the situation of all these migrants who are in danger and in distress in international waters in the Mediterranean. This concerns us all as human beings on this planet," Barazzone told RTS radio. Naomi Campbell's not exactly known for biting her tongue which might just have made her the perfect guest for "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen." The supermodel joined fellow guest Cuba Gooding, Jr. for Wednesdays show, and her candour is now all anyone can talk about. Naomi Campbell is not exactly known for biting her tongue which might just have made her the perfect guest for Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. The supermodel joined fellow guest Cuba Gooding Jr. for Wednesdays show, and her frankness is now all anyone can talk about. While Gooding had his own tea to spill he named cranky One in the Chamber co-star Dolph Lundgren as his least favorite person to work with it was Campbells remarks about Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, and Kendall Jenner that are raising eyebrows. In the British models defense, she demurred when asked for her thoughts on Jenners recent comments about being super-selective about her modeling jobs and not understanding models who work dozens of shows. Jenner later said her remarks were misrepresented following backlash from her fashion industry peers. Naomi Campbells Watch What Happens Live comments have people talking. (Photo: Courtesy NBC Universal) Next question was Campbells tightlipped response to the Jenner drama. But she was more forthcoming about the Harpers Bazaar Icons party during New York Fashion Week It was called the Icons party, but there were no icons there, she snapped and the shoe-throwing fight that went down between attendees Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. I was disappointed, she said of the rappers headline-making clash. I dont want to see women of color fight. I dont want to see women fight, period. I felt very disappointed. It was an honest and fairly diplomatic response, but Minajs loyal fans known as the Barbz arent handling the criticism well. No icons there??? one Minaj supporter wrote underneath Campbells most recent Instagram post. You said it like Nicki isnt the most influential female rapper of all time smh. YOURE CANCELED!! HOW DARE YOU SHADE NICKI?!?!? BETTER GET YO PINCHED FACE A** ON, read another fiery comment. Nicki always shows you love, a commenter admonished. WTF. You shady old bitch, added a Minaj fan. Others mocked the backlash and told the Barbz to lighten up. The best way to show you care about a person is being real with them, one commenter said in Campbells defense. You gave the best response; it shows your maturity to let people know theyre going out of line even if theyre your friends. All these Nikki fans complaining aint real & matured. Story continues Meanwhile, nobody seems overly pressed over the perceived jab at Jenner. The Kendall Jenner shade was better ugh I will always love Naomi GTFO (@MeIAmGeorge) September 27, 2018 What Kendall said was absolutely stupid and disrespectful to a real model like Naomi and others girls who come from nothing not a rich girl who her mother give a "career" pic.twitter.com/rhV6E6XBYl ERIKA (@ErikaStinkyP) September 27, 2018 I LIVE for Naomi Campbell. She's so stunning and honest. I love how she shaded Kendall Jenner too #WWHL @NaomiCampbell Highly Favored (@tokingblackgirl) September 27, 2018 Bahahahah @ Naomi Campbell s reaction to that Kendall question GABRIEYONCE (@_mylifeasgabbi) September 27, 2018 Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Israels prime minister called for new sanctions against Iran, saying warehouse is storage for nuclear weapons programme Benjamin Netanyahu at UN headquarters Thursday in New York, New York. Photograph: Jason DeCrow/AP Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Israel had identified a secret atomic warehouse in Tehran, containing nuclear equipment and radioactive material. Israels prime minister called for new sanctions against Iran and accused European leaders of appeasement for opposing them. In a speech to the UN general assembly on Thursday, Netanyahu said he was revealing the existence of the atomic warehouse for the first time in public. As he has in past presentations, Netanyahu brought visual aids to illustrate his claims. He held up a satellite image which he said showed where the warehouse was located in Tehran, and a photograph of a nondescript wall and metal gate, which he said showed of the exterior of warehouse. Netanyahu described the facility as a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Irans secret nuclear weapons programme, but gave no further details, other than to allege that government officials had spread 15kg of the radioactive material around the streets of Tehran in an attempt to dispose of it. He said a nearby rug cleaning business should check its wares for radioactivity. Tehran is party to a 2015 agreement curbing its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief. As part of the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA) it dismantled uranium-enriching centrifuges and a reactor and exported most of its stockpile of enriched uranium. It is not clear, even if some surplus equipment was stored in a Tehran warehouse, whether it would represent a violation of the JCPOA. Dismantled centrifuges were to be stored in specified locations under international monitoring, but there not specific stipulations on the storing of other ancillary pieces of hardware. Since 2015, the nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly certified that Iran is abiding by the terms of the JCPOA. But Netanyahu urged the IAEA director general, Yukiya Amano, to investigate the warehouse Israeli intelligence had identified. Story continues Do the right thing. Go and inspect this atomic warehouse immediately, Netanyahu said. Donald Trump broke ranks with his European allies in May by withdrawing the US from the agreement and calling for the sanctions to be reimposed on Iran. An effort by Trump to win support for his Iran policy on Wednesday however left him isolated as other council members voiced their support for the JCPOA as long as Iran continued to abide by the agreement. Netanyahu lauded Trump and condemned European states, accusing them of appeasing Iran, and making clear he was deliberately drawing parallels with the Nazi era and the initial failure of the UK and France to stand up to Hitlers Germany. I just used a strong word: appeasement, Netanyahu said. I use it reluctantly but unfortunately that is exactly what we are seeing again in Europe. Im a historians son, the Israeli prime minister went on. I have to ask: have whether these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up? In a similarly dramatic presentation in April, Netanyahu unveiled what Israel claimed was a nuclear archive that the countrys intelligence services claim they had seized and smuggled out of Tehran. Documents purported to have been part of the archive appear to have previously been seen by the IAEA, as early as 2005 and made public by the agency in 2011. Asked about the possible significance of the atomic warehouse Jarrett Blanc, a former senior state department responsible for implementing the IAEA, said: Im sceptical just because this would be a strange and ineffective way to release this information. But if the Iranians are found to be in violation, it would be a different story. For the Iranian government Netanyahus speech is merely pageantry, said Holly Dagres, nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council and editor of the councils IranSource blog. Unfortunately for Netanyahu, his annual general assembly speech fell flat in the United States, his primary audience after Israel, since the speech took place during the Kavanaugh hearing. Tehran will likely see this as somewhat of a blessing. Marc Bergevin is betting big on Max Domi. (Getty) Finishing the 2017-18 season with the fourth-worst record in the NHL, the Montreal Canadiens shook things up this summer. The most notable move the Habs made saw Max Pacioretty leave La Belle Province after 10 seasons of service. With the long-time captain now gone, opportunity beckons for others in red, white and blue. [Yahoo Fantasy Hockey leagues are open: Sign up now for free] The post-hype prospect: Max Domi The name doesnt carry as much excitement as it did a few seasons ago, but that doesnt mean Max Domi cant live up to the buzz which initially surrounded him. Acquired from the Arizona Coyotes for Alex Galchenyuk before the draft, Domi remains early on in his development at just 23. Pegged as Montreals top centre, he has an excellent opportunity to accelerate toward his lottery-selection potential. One trait Domi did flash some signs of early in his career was the ability to put the puck in the net. Prior to his hand injury during the 2016-17 season, the fiery forward had 23 goals through his first 107 games. Since, hes been reduced to 13 goals across 115 games. The Canadiens need to see more of his finishing ability or risk being unseated by preseason standout and top selection from this summer, Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The boom or bust veteran: Tomas Tatar Sure, Tatar has reached the 20-goal plateau in each of his past four seasons, but things have been trending downward of late for the veteran forward packaged in the Pacioretty deal. Last season marked a career-worst -19 mark for the shifty forward. Of course, you might be thinking well, the Red Wings were pretty brutal last year. And you are right, they were but Tatar was only a minus-eight in Detroit. During his 20-game regular season stint with the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the top performing teams in the NHL, he somehow managed to post a mark of -11. One thing Montreal will hope to see is Tatars shooting percentage increase from last season. While down only a few points, a return to his career average and more ice time could see him fly past the 20-goal threshold. Story continues The jack of all trades: Joel Armia Joel Armia hasnt displayed the offensive upside that earned him a first-round designation since breaking into the NHL, but his all-around game is something that should excite Canadiens fans. With Winnipeg, Armia played most of his minutes on the teams bottom six; in Montreal he could plausibly feature on the top line. He should build on his career-best numbers from a season ago in an expanded role. The 25-year old is also an adept penalty killer. Armia generated the most shots among Jets forwards despite five others logging more minutes. Expect him to help a Habs team which finished with the second worst PK last year. More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports: Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigerian troops have repelled an attack on a military base by Boko Haram jihadists in the country's northeast, the army and security sources said on Thursday. The attack, in the town of Gashigar, in the Mobbar district of Borno state, is believed to have been carried out by a Boko Haram faction backed by the Islamic State group. It was the latest in a series of strikes against military bases that have raised questions about the group's strength, despite repeated official claims they were on the verge of defeat. The Nigerian army confirmed the attack in a post on its Twitter account late on Wednesday. "BHT (Boko Haram terrorists) met their Waterloo this evening when they attempted to infiltrate 145 (Battalion) location at Gashigar," it said. "They were completely routed by the troops and they fled in disarray due to superior firepower by the gallant troops of 145 Bn." There were no indications of casualties on either side. A senior military source in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, told AFP the jihadists arrived on nine pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns and tried to get into the base. "Troops engaged them in a fierce battle and prevented them from getting into the base," he said, adding that the jihadists withdrew after air support was called in. The attack follows a pattern that has seen at least nine military bases attacked since July, mostly in the northern part of Borno state, near the shores of Lake Chad. The military has strongly denied reports of heavy troop casualties. More than 27,000 people are thought to have been killed in the nine-year Islamist insurgency that has triggered a humanitarian crisis and left 1.8 million people still without homes. In a separate incident on Wednesday, jihadists ambushed a civilian convoy under military escort heading to the town of Dikwa, 90 kilometres (55 miles) from Maiduguri. The convoy came under fire near Kaltaram village, 15 kilometres from Dikwa, at about 1:00 pm (1200 GMT), resulting in a shootout with the military escorts before the militants withdrew. "Eight people were injured the ambush, one of them seriously, but there were no deaths," said civilian militia member Umar Ari. Humans are responsible for some of the wobble in Earth's spin. Since 1899, the Earth's axis of spin has shifted about 34 feet (10.5 meters). Now, research quantifies the reasons why and finds that a third is due to melting ice and rising sea levels, particularly in Greenland placing the blame on the doorstep of anthropogenic climate change. Another third of the wobble is due to land masses expanding upward as the glaciers retreat and lighten their load. The final portion is the fault of the slow churn of the mantle, the viscous middle layer of the planet. "We have provided evidence for more than one single process that is the key driver" for altering the Earth's axis, said Surendra Adhikari, an Earth system scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and a lead researcher on the new study. [Why Does the Earth Rotate?] Wobbly Earth Scientists have long known that the distribution of mass around the Earth determines its spin, much like how the shape and weight distribution of a spinning top determines how it moves. Also, Earth's spin isn't perfectly even, as scientists know thanks to slight wiggles in the movements of the stars across the night sky that have been recorded for thousands of years, said Erik Ivins, a study co-author and a senior research scientist at JPL. Since the 1990s, space-based measurements have also confirmed that the Earth's axis of rotation drifts by a few centimeters a year, generally toward Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada. Researchers knew that a proportion of this wobble was caused by glacial isostatic adjustment, an ongoing process since the end of the last ice age 16,000 years ago. As the glaciers retreat, they relieve the land underneath of their mass. Gradually, over thousands of years, the land responds to this relief by rising like bread dough. (In some places on the edges of the ancient ice sheets, the land might also collapse because the ice had forced it to bulge upward.) Story continues Three factors are causing Earth's spin to wobble: Greenland ice loss (blue dotted line), rebound as glaciers melt (orange-yellow dotted line), and convection in the mantle layer (red dotted line). NASA/ JPL-Caltech But in the new research, published in the November issue of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Adhikari and his colleagues found that glacial isostatic adjustment was only responsible for about 1.3 inches (3.5 centimeters) of axis wobble per year. That was only about a third of the wobble 4 inches (10.5 cm) observed each year over the 20th century. To fill in the gap, the research team built a computer model of the physics of Earth's spin, feeding in data about changes in the balance of land-based ice and ocean waters over the 20th century. The researchers also accounted for other shifts in land and water, such as groundwater depletion and the building of artificial reservoirs, all part of humanity's terraforming of the planet. [What in the World Would Happen If Earth Were to Spin Backward?] The results revealed that these environmental processes cause another 1.7 inches (4.3 cm) of wobble each year. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet was a particularly important contributor, the researchers found. That's because Greenland has released a large amount of water that was once locked up on land into the oceans, where its mass has been redistributed, Ivins told Live Science. Mountain glaciers and small ice caps elsewhere have also contributed to sea-level rise, he said; but they aren't as concentrated, and their effects on the Earth's rotation often cancel each other out. Core considerations The glaciers and the ice melt still left a third of the wobble unaccounted for, so Adhikari and his team looked inward. The Earth's mantle is not static, he said, but moves by the process of convection: Hotter material from closer to the core rises and cooler material sinks in a cycle of vertical motion. By including convection in the model of Earth's wobble, the researchers had accounted for the last third of the changes in the spin over the 20th century. It's important to realize that this wobble isn't the prelude to any sort of environmental calamity, Ivins and Adhikari said. It doesn't affect agriculture or climate in and of itself, and any small impact on navigational equipment is easy to correct for. "The amount [of drift] is not a huge amount," Adhikari said. But it does give scientists a way to figure out where Earth's mass is and where it's going. For example, Adhikari said, Greenland's melt has become an increasingly large contributor to changing the axis location in the past 15 years, which is pushing the drift eastward. "That fact is important for climate scientists," Ivins said, "because they can understand, in a global sense, which are the most important mass transports that are going on today." The JPL website hosts a simulation of the polar wobble and its contributing factors. Original article on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations The fiery speeches against Iran by President Donald Trump and his top advisers at the U.N. General Assembly have intended to demonstrate Tehrans growing isolation from the world community. Instead, the opposite has proven true as divisions have been exposed between the U.S. and its closest allies. The latest broadside against Iran came Wednesday while Trump hosted a U.N. Security Council meeting where he launched into a diatribe that repeated many of criticisms against the 2015 nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. This horrible, one-sided deal allowed Iran to continue its path towards a bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most, Trump said. They were in big, big trouble. They needed cash. We gave it to them. The JCPOA brought Irans nuclear program under tight international controls, but freed it from heavy sanctions. Tehran has stayed in accordance with the agreement, despite the U.S. pullout, while also trying to salvage a deal with the remaining stakeholders: Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France. The Trump Administration announced implementing new economy-crippling sanctions against Iran in May with more severe measures to follow in November targeting oil sales. Trump promised these actions would be tougher than ever before. However, once Trump finished speaking, French President Emmanuel Macron took the floor to say the U.S. approach was inadequate. It cant boil down to just sanctions and containment, we need to have the space for new negotiations, he said. The serious crisis of confidence was opened by the imposition of extraterritorial sanctions by the United States, but Tehran keeps abiding by its nuclear obligation, Macron said. Then British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed, as did Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and others attending the meeting. It was the Trump Administrations latest failed attempt at swaying the international communitys commitment to the multilateral nuclear deal. With few exceptions, foreign nations have opted to defend the agreement rather than join Americas outbursts against it. Story continues Iran has emerged as the Administrations bogeyman repeatedly this week as the U.N. assembly took place in New York. On Tuesday, Trump said Irans leaders sow chaos, death and destruction, so other nations should join his economic pressure campaign. Later, his national security adviser John Bolton warned Iran there would be hell to pay if it harms American citizens. He added the murderous regime and its supporters will face significant consequences if they do not change their behavior. Then, the State Department tried to rally support against Tehran by publishing a 48-page report called Outlaw Regime: A Chronicle of Irans Destructive Activities which examines its support for terror groups, missile program, illicit financial activities and other issues. The U.S. also recently unveiled plans to create an around-the-clock Farsi channel that promotes Western propaganda on television, radio, and social media. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the U.N. General Assembly that all of these initiatives have led him to believe the Trump Administration is pursuing a strategy of regime change in his country. It is ironic that the U.S. government does not even conceal its plan for overthrowing the same government it invites to talks, he said Tuesday. The Trump Administrations central issue with Iran is its pursuit of ballistic missile technology and support of proxy militias in war-torn places such as Yemen and Syria. Both of those actions, which other nations agree is deeply destabilizing, are not covered under the JCPOA. To ensure that the country is in compliance to its commitments in the agreements, the International Atomic Energy Agency routinely checks Iranian nuclear facilities. It has so far passed those examinations. That is why Russia, China, Germany, Britain, and France signed a deal this week on the U.N. sidelines to set up legal entity to circumvent U.S. sanctions yet another sign Trumps efforts may have backfired. Still the U.S. wields great power even on its own. Even though European governments are sticking with Iran, many of their companies are not. French energy giant Total, Dutch shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk, and French carmaker Peugeot, are among the growing number of companies to flee under the threat of U.S. sanctions. No one expects a full return to the level of international sanctions that were in place prior to the 2015 nuclear deal a prodigious, nearly global and ultimately successful effort aimed at forcing Iran to the negotiating table. European nations were far more willing to participate in Washingtons no-holds-barred approach toward Iran during the Obama Administration when Tehran was widely perceived to be racing toward a nuclear bomb. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has maintained that U.S. policy is not to overthrow the government in Tehran. Rather, the goal is is to rein it in. But, in order to do that, the U.S. needs allies help. I was disturbed and, indeed, deeply disappointed to hear the remaining parties in the deal announce theyre setting up a special payment system to bypass U.S. sanctions, Pompeo said Tuesday in New York. This is one of the most counterproductive measures imaginable for regional and global peace and security. By sustaining revenues to the regime, you are solidifying Irans ranking as the number one state sponsor of terror. While Snyder suffered some prejudice in that the disorganized financial data may have been more difficult for the government to analyze, Kirsch had made some of this information to the government, the order states. This information is factual in nature and does not reflect Kirschs legal opinions or strategies, according to the order. (UNITED NATIONS) President Donald Trump waded into thorny Middle East politics while at the United Nations on Wednesday, endorsing the two-state solution to bring an end the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians while poised to denounce the dangers posed by Iran. Trump, a day after being greeted with laughter by world leaders still uncertain how to manage his America First ideology, explicitly backed Israel, leaned in on the importance of moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and suggested that he saw progress on the horizon for long-delayed hopes for Middle East peace. I like two-state solution, Trump said in his most clear endorsement of the plan. Thats what I think works best. Meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump indicated that moving the embassy was a big chip the U.S. delivered to the Israelis. I took probably the biggest chip off the table. And so obviously they have to start you know we have to make a fair deal. We have to do something. Deals have to be good for both parties. Trump said he believed that the embassy was always the primary ingredient as to why deals couldnt get done. Now thats off the table, Trump said. Now that will also mean that Israel will have to do something that is good for the other side. The two-state solution is mostly aspirational. Ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians over the division of territory, borders and governance has spawned violence going back years and long stymied Mideast peace efforts. Moving the embassy from Tel Aviv triggered considerable protest from the Palestinians and expressions of condemnation from many American allies who worried about further violence that could destabilize the fragile region. Trump said that his administrations peace plan, in part helmed by his son-in-law senior adviser Jared Kushner, would be released in the coming months. Trumps meeting with Netanyahu came, symbolically, just ahead of his chairing a meeting of the U.N. Security Council about nuclear proliferation. The president had suggested, in a recent tweet, that Iran could be his focus, and he unloaded harsh rhetoric the day before on the nuclear-aspirant nation as a persistent malign influence across the Middle East. Story continues We ask all nations to isolate Irans regime as long as its aggression continues, said Trump on Tuesday. The president has removed the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, citing the countrys destabilizing actions throughout the region and support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah, and he accused its leaders on Tuesday of sowing chaos, death and destruction. His national security adviser, John Bolton, went even further in a speech Tuesday, issuing a dire warning to Iran: If you cross us, our allies or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat and deceive, yes, there will indeed be hell to pay, Bolton said. But despite his tough talk, Trump said he could envision relations with Iran moving along a similar trajectory as ones with North Korea. A year ago from the U.N., Trump belittled its leader Kim Jong Un as Rocket Man and threatened to annihilate the country but on Wednesday he touted the the wonderful relationship with Kim and teased that details of a second summit between the two men could be released soon. The high-profile Security Council meeting came a day after Trump poured scorn on the ideology of globalism and heaped praise on his own administrations achievements in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly that drew head shakes and even mocking laughter from his audience of fellow world leaders. The U.S. will not tell you how to live and work or worship, Trump said as he unapologetically promoted his America First agenda. We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return. Speaking in triumphal terms, Trump approached his address to the world body as something of an annual report to the world on his countrys progress since his inauguration. He showcased strong economic numbers, declared that the U.S. military is more powerful than it has ever been before and crowed that in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. Just sentences into the presidents remarks, the audience began to chuckle and some leaders broke into outright laughter, suggesting the one-time reality television stars puffery is as familiar abroad as it is at home. Trump appeared briefly flustered, then smiled and said it was not the reaction he expected but thats all right. Later he brushed off the episode, telling reporters, Oh it was great. Well, that was meant to get some laughter so it was great. The leaders spontaneous response to Trumps address only reinforced the American presidents isolation among allies and foes alike, as his nationalistic policies have created rifts with erstwhile partners and cast doubt in some circles about the reliability of American commitments around the world. The laughter evoked a campaign line Trump frequently deployed against his predecessor Barack Obama who embraced international engagement suggesting that due to weak American leadership, the world is laughing at us. In 2014, Trump tweeted, We need a President who isnt a laughingstock to the entire World. We need a truly great leader, a genius at strategy and winning. Respect! The General Assembly is four days of choreographed foreign affairs were designed to stand in contrast to a presidency sometimes defined by disorder, but they were quickly overshadowed by domestic political crises. The fate of his second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, was in fresh doubt after a second allegation of sexual misconduct, which Kavanaugh denies. Kavanaugh and his first accuser testify to Congress on Thursday. Drama also swirls around the job security of Trumps deputy attorney general. Rod Rosenstein was reported last week to have floated the idea of secretly recording the president last year and to have raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. He will meet with Trump at the White House, also on Thursday. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have hired Rachel Mitchell, a prosecutor from Arizona, to handle questioning in todays hearing about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Two other women have also come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh since Christine Blasey Ford first claimed the judge pinned her to a bed, covered her mouth and tried to remove her clothes when they were both in high school in the 1980s. Deborah Ramirez, the second woman to speak out against Kavanaugh publicly, claims he exposed himself to her at a party during college. The third woman, Julie Swetnick, said in a sworn affidavit released Wednesday that Kavanaugh was present at a party in 1982 where she said she was gang raped. Kavanaugh has denied the claims from all three women. On Wednesday, Kavanaugh released a statement denying Swetnicks claims, calling them ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. Heres what to know about Mitchell, a Republican, whom chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley said has decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes, in a statement announcing her hiring. Who is prosecutor Rachel Mitchell? Mitchell has worked as a prosecutor since 1993, according to Grassleys statement. She is the deputy county attorney for the Maricopa County Attorneys Office and chief of the Special Victims Division, two positions from which she is currently on leave, Grassley said. Prior to heading the Special Victims Division, Mitchell ran the Maricopa County Attorneys Office sex-crimes bureau, which is responsible for prosecuting sex-related felonies, such as adult sexual assault, child molestation and child prostitution offenses. Mitchell supervised the bureau for 12 years, according to Grassley. She is a widely recognized expert on the investigation and prosecution of sex crimes, and has frequently served as a speaker and instructor on the subject, Grassley said. Maricopa County attorney Bill Montgomery told the Arizona Republic that Judiciary Committee staffers contacted him about Mitchell over the weekend and commended his deputy, referring to her as a professional, fair, objective prosecutor. Story continues The people of America are well served with her involvement in this process, he said. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh holds up a small copy of the U.S. Constitution while answering questions before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the second day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill September 5, 2018 in Washington, D.C. What will Rachel Mitchells role be in the Kavanaugh hearing? Mitchell is expected to question both Kavanaugh and Ford, who are both set to testify in the hearing on Thursday. Fords accusations and the Thursday hearing have promoted some to question the optics of the all-male GOP contingent on the Judiciary Committee asking Ford about her claims against Kavanaugh. Im very appreciative that Rachel Mitchell has stepped forward to serve in this important and serious role, Grassley said. Ms. Mitchell has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity. What cases has Rachel Mitchell prosecuted? One high-profile case Mitchell prosecuted is the sentencing of Paul LeBrun, a former Catholic priest who was accused of molesting six boys in the 1980s and 1990s, to 111 years in prison, according to the Washington Post. The Associated Press reports that Mitchell in 2014 prosecuted the case of a former church volunteer in Scottsdale, Ariz. who molested children he supervised as a church babysitter and camp counselor over a period of seven years. He received a 30-year prison sentence with lifetime probation. In a 2012 interview with FrontLine magazine, which is associated with the church group Foundations Baptist Fellowship International, Mitchell said she did not initially plan to go into prosecuting sex crimes but was inspired after working with an attorney who prosecuted a youth choir director. It struck me how innocent and vulnerable the victims of these cases really were, she said. Is Rachel Mitchell a Republican? Mitchell is a registered Republican, according to the Washington Post. The Post reports Mitchell previously donated to the campaign of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who is a Republican. Massachusetts GOP Gov. Charlie Baker, one of the most popular governors in the country, called for Senate Republicans to delay a vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. (Photo: Boston Globe via Getty Images) Three Republican governors have called for the GOP-controlled Senate to slow down Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court, and a fourth has called the accusations against him disturbing. Three women have now come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual abuse and misconduct while he was in high school and college. The first of those women Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor who says Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were both high school students in suburban Maryland is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. A fourth anonymous accusation was sent to Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner. The Senate Judiciary Committee has tentatively scheduled a vote on Friday, meaning the full Senate could confirm Kavanugh early next week. Three GOP governors John Kasich of Ohio, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Phil Scott of Vermont said that vote should be delayed until all of the victims claims can be throughly investigated. Baker and Kasich both weighed in on Twitter. Baker described the allegations as sickening and said there should be no Senate vote until an independent investigation is complete. The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation. There should be no vote in the Senate. Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) September 27, 2018 Kasich, who is in his final year as governor and is widely seen as a potential long-shot primary challenger to President Donald Trump in 2020, went further in his own statement, saying he would not support Kavanaughs confirmation in the absence of a complete and thorough investigation. My statement on Judge #Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court: pic.twitter.com/zw53NY9yeL John Kasich (@JohnKasich) September 26, 2018 Scott made similar remarks to the Burlington Free Press. Story continues This is a lifetime appointment, he said. And Im not taking a position on Judge Kavanaugh himself, but we owe it to Americans to make sure that they get it right. Because this doesnt happen every day. And its their obligation to do so. So take your time. Investigate. Another GOP governor called for the Republicans to slow down the nomination process to allow for more investigations without explicitly calling for a delay. Marylands Larry Hogan told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday the accusations were disturbing and gave him great pause. There are credible charges and big concerns. They need to be heard, he said after an event in Montgomery County. They ought to take whatever time it takes to make sure these accusers are heard and he has a chance to respond to them. Hogan, Scott and Baker, who all represent blue states and are up for re-election in 2018, are among the nations most popular governors, with approval ratings regularly topping 60 percent. Baker is considered a near-lock for re-election a poll released this week showed him with a 40 percentage point lead over his Democratic opponent and Hogan and Scott are considered heavy favorites over their Democratic opponents, Ben Jealous in Maryland and Christine Hallquist in Vermont. In a statement, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews said Hogan should join his fellow GOP governors in calling for Senate Republicans to delay the vote. Dr. Blasey Fords accusations against Brett Kavanaugh are credible and extremely disturbing, and Governor Hogan should display the courage of fellow Republicans like John Kasich and Charlie Baker, who are calling on Senate Republicans to delay a vote on his nomination, she said. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga - aka Ruslan Boshirov - is believed to be pictured back row, far right with a group of fellow military graduates in Chechnya The special forces brigade in which Anatoliy Chepiga served carried out secret missions in Ukraine for which it is believed he was awarded Russias highest honour. Colonel Chepiga - the Salisbury nerve agent assassin travelling under the false identity Ruslan Boshirov - had graduated in 2001 from his military academy in far eastern Russia on the Chinese border, 5,000 miles and a five-day train journey from Moscow. Passing out with honours, he was assigned to the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, stationed in Khabarovsk, again in the far east of Russia and 20 miles from the Chinese border. From there, Col Chepiga served three tours in Chechnya in the brutal second Chechen war. Russias Spetsnaz special forces brigades are run by the GRU, Russias military intelligence unit of which Sergei Skripal, the target in Salisbury, was also a colonel. Colonel Sergei Skripal also served in Russias military intelligence unit Spetsnaz units have a reputation for ruthlessness and are highly regarded by their British equivalents - the SBS and the SAS. The units are highly trained and well-equipped. Its bat-and-globe symbol embodies an ethos for shadowy operations that are not confined to Russian soil. Two Spetsnaz units were based in Chechnya during the second war until they were disbanded in 2008. Salisbury suspects named by British authorities as Ruslan Boshirov (left) and Alexander Petrov Credit: AFP/Getty It is not known what role Col Chepiga played in Chechnya, but he will have emerged battle-hardened amid reports he has received more than 20 separate military awards for his service. A year later in 2009, with the war in Chechnya largely over, Col Chepiga was withdrawn to Moscow. It is there he was given his fake identity, Ruslan Boshirov, by his GRU paymasters. Each Spetsnaz brigade consists of about 1,000 special forces troops. Brigades were deployed in Ukraine in 2014 as Russia began military incursions that led to the annexation of the Crimea and an ongoing war with Ukraine in the east. A report on Russian troop movements claimed that the 14th Brigade had been secretly deployed on the eastern border with Ukraine in late 2014, a couple of months before Col Chepiga was given his Hero of the Russian Federation medal. Story continues Units of 14th brigade were transferred to southern Russia in August and then moved to Millerovo airport in the Rostov region, close to Ukraine by the autumn. The 14th brigade was established in 1963 and fought in the war in Afghanistan in the decade from 1979. Col Skripal served with an airborne regiment in Afghanistan before being recruited by the GRU. The brigade fought in both Chechen wars. Donald Trump built his international stardom with a simple tag line: "You're fired!" On Thursday, the president may just use his favourite phrase once again to oust the man overseeing a federal investigation into his 2016 presidential campaign. Rod Rosenstein's fate as the deputy attorney general within the Justice Department remains in question after explosive reports on Friday alleged he questioned Mr Trumps fitness to serve in the Oval Office in multiple private conversations with federal officials. Those discussions were reportedly drafted into memos that were subsequently disseminated among top officials at the federal agency. As Mr Trump and Mr Rosenstein prepare for their highly-anticipated meeting, here's background on how the deputy attorney general found himself on the presidents bad side and what could potentially come next. Who is Rod Rosenstein? Mr Rosenstein is the top official in the Justice Department currently overseeing the Special Counsel investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election. Jeff Sessions recused himself after Mr Trump appointed him to spearhead the federal agency due to his involvement in the presidents campaign. The position of deputy attorney general is ordinarily a relatively low-visibility one in Washington, but Mr Rosenstein has assumed outsized significance given his appointment of Robert Mueller to investigate potential ties between Russia and Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. Why is Mr Rosensteins job in jeopardy? Tensions began brewing between Mr Rosenstein and Mr Trump again last week after an explosive New York Times report alleged the deputy attorney general discussed wearing a wire and secretly recording the president while attempting to recruit his Cabinet member to invoke the 25th Amendment. By Monday, the president reportedly had not decided whether to fire Mr Rosenstein for supposedly questioning his fitness to serve in the Oval Office. Story continues Mr Trump told Fox News in an interview that he was looking into Mr Rosensteins reported actions and what to do about them following the newspaper report, noting the deputy attorney general was hired by Jeff Sessions. "We will make a determination," he said at the time. "Its certainly a very sad story." Mr Rosenstein vehemently denied any wrongdoing, claiming the Times report was inaccurate. The Associated Press then confirmed he was heading to the White House with the expectation that he would be fired. White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump and Mr Rosenstein had an extended conversation Monday to discuss the recent news stories at the deputy attorney generals request. What happens if Mr Rosenstein is fired? Any firing or resignation of Mr Rosenstein spells immediate uncertainty for an investigation that he oversees and would place that responsibility in the hands of a replacement who Democrats fear would be less respectful of Mr Muellers independence and mandate. Even some congressional Republicans and White House aides have warned for months against firing Mr Rosenstein for fear that it could lead to impeachment. The commotion about Mr Rosensteins future has added to the turmoil roiling the administration, just six weeks before midterm elections with control of Congress at stake. In addition to dealing with the Mueller investigation, the White House has also struggled to win confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations. Mr Rosenstein could be replaced by Noel Francisco, a conservative appointee of Mr Trump who has fought for expansive executive powers and is currently tasked with arguing in support of the administrations agenda to the Supreme Court. When will we find out the fate of Mr Rosenstein? The Trump-Rosenstein meeting will be on the same day as an extraordinary Senate committee hearing featuring Brett Kavanaugh and a woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. Mr Trump, who on Friday said that he would remove a lingering stench from the Justice Department, did not publicly reveal any plans over the weekend. On Monday, he said he hoped Thursdays meeting would help him figure out "whats going on." Over the weekend, he appeared undecided on Mr Rosensteins fate, reportedly asking confidants, both inside and outside the White House, how to respond to the situation. Some urged him to fire Mr Rosenstein, the Associated Press reported, while others suggested restraint while checking whether the report was correct or if it was planted by an adversary. The Associated Press contributed to this report WASHINGTON (AP) Attorneys for Deborah Ramirez are arguing with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee over how to bring forward her allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party when they were Yale students. Ramirez lawyer John Clune said Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that Republican staff members were a no-show on a scheduled conference call Tuesday night to discuss her allegations. He said the "only way to get at the truth of what happened" is for them to interview his client. Clune said Ramirez would be willing to testify before the committee if asked, but that he was unsure whether she would do it without an FBI investigation first. Republicans for the committee led by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said they have repeatedly sought evidence from Ramirez to back up her claims and none was provided. "I have not refused to speak with anyone," wrote Mike Davis, the committee's top GOP counsel, in an email to Ramirez's attorneys late Tuesday night obtained by The Associated Press. "I am simply requesting for the 7th time now over the last 48 hours that Ms. Ramirez's attorneys provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with any evidence that they have before we move to the next steps." The two sides have been engaged in an escalating war of letters ever since The New Yorker first made public the allegations from Ramirez, 53, who lives in Colorado. Ramirez told the magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while they were both students at Yale. She has acknowledged consuming alcohol at the time, which clouded some of her memories. The committee was scheduled to hear from Kavanaugh's first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, on Thursday. She says he assaulted her at a party in high school in the 1980s. Kavanaugh denies both allegations. On Sunday night, after the magazine story came out, Davis reached out to Ramirez's attorneys seeking more information about the account. Story continues "Please let us know when Ms. Ramirez is available for an interview," Davis wrote attorney Stan Garnett late Sunday. "We are determined to take Ms. Ramirez's statement and investigate further as necessary as quickly as possible." Garnett responded and another lawyer from Ramirez's team, John Clune, suggested a call. Clune told Davis that Ramirez wants an FBI investigation and would agree to be interviewed by the committee "on appropriate terms." Davis, the Republican aide, in response reiterated that he needed more evidence from her. On Tuesday night, Clune told CNN that Republicans kept changing conditions of the call. "There's a lot of game playing that's going on with the majority party," he said. Late Tuesday, Grassley told the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, that he saw no reason to delay Thursday's hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford amid the new allegations. Grassley said in the letter to Feinstein that if Ramirez "submits testimony and evidence to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Committee investigators have requested, we can decide how to proceed." ___ Associated Press writers Colleen Long in Washington and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that Ramirez is 53, not 63. Robert Wilson reportedly had more than $378,000 in unreported income between 2008 to 2010 that resulted in more than $101,000 in taxes owed, according to the indictment. Between 2009 and 2011, Shelly Wilson reportedly had more than $778,000 in unreported income resulting in more than $159,000 in taxes owed, the indictment states. An unknown individual left a note for Christine Blasey Ford Thursday ahead of her testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The note, which was placed on a witness table and written on Senate stationary, reads, "Good luck, Dr. Ford." It's a kind gesture, probably, but it's also a little foreboding. SEE ALSO: #DearProfessorFord: Actresses support Brett Kavanaugh's accuser ahead of hearings Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford are testifying before the Judiciary Committee regarding Ford's accusation that Kavanaugh who is up for a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court sexually assaulted her at a high school party in 1982. Since Ford made her accusations in a letter written to Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, which was subsequently leaked to the press, multiple other accusers have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh has vociferously denied the allegations, including during a televised interview with where else Fox News. Additional reporting by Marcus Gilmer By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels said on Thursday they have growing confidence that their jihadist rivals will comply with a requirement to leave a demilitarized buffer zone set up by Turkey and Russia to avert a Russian-backed Syrian army offensive. Last week Turkey and Russia agreed to enforce a new demilitarized zone in Idlib province from which "radical" rebels will be required to withdraw by the middle of next month. The position of the biggest jihadist group, Tahrir al-Sham, spearheaded by al Qaeda's former Syrian offshoot, will be crucial to the deal's success, but it has so far said nothing. Several rebel sources said neither jihadist nor mainstream rebels had started to pull back yet. However, a senior Syrian opposition official said Tahrir al-Sham had sent secret feelers to the Turkish army though third parties in recent days signaling it would comply. "Matters are moving well and Tahrir al-Sham has pledged it is going to implement but without announcing its agreement," said the opposition official, who was briefed by Turkish officials and requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The demilitarized zone will be 15 to 20 km (10 to 12 miles) deep, run along the contact line between rebel and government fighters, and will be patrolled by Turkish and Russian forces. The agreement could unravel quickly if they cannot impose their plan on the jihadists. Another senior opposition figure said he expected Tahrir al-Sham to implement the deal and dismissed risks of a showdown because the agreement did not seek to force jihadist fighters to hand over their weapons. "I foresee it will be implemented within the time set," said Ahmed Toma, a prominent opposition figure who headed the Syrian rebel delegation in Russian-sponsored talks in the Kazakh capital. Turkey sought to avert the Syrian army's Idlib offensive, fearing a new exodus of refugees as the U.N. warned of a humanitarian catastrophe. Ankara pledged to Moscow it would handle the jihadist threat. A regional intelligence source said the jihadists were softening their stance to avoid internecine fighting with mainstream rebels that could wreck the deal and allow the stalled offensive to resume. "I don't expect any hurdles in implementation from all the revolutionary forces at all," said Abdul Salam Abdul Razzak, a leading figure in the National Front for Liberation, the alliance of Turkey-allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel groups. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday that the withdrawal of "radical groups" had already started. Another senior rebel source said months of covert Turkish intelligence efforts were focusing on separating a minority of foreign jihadists within Tahrir al-Sham from a majority of its Syrian followers, who could eventually be rehabilitated. Precision strikes would help to handle foreign jihadists, whose presence has often been cited by the Syrian army and Russia as the reason for an assault on Idlib as a "terrorist nest", the source said. The National Front for Liberation, which had declared its "complete cooperation" with the Turkish effort, said it foresaw a smooth operation once logistical preparations with Turkey were concluded. "Pulling heavy arms from the frontline is not a difficult matter as most of these weapons are deployed away from the frontline," Abdul Razzak said, adding the group's only concern was whether the Syrian army and its allies would abide by the deal. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Paris (AFP) - Only one in 20 kids in the United States meets guidelines on sleep, exercise and screen time, and nearly a third are outside recommendations for all three, according to a study published Thursday. On average, children aged eight to 11 spent 3.6 hours per day glued to a TV, mobile phone, tablet or computer screen, nearly double the suggested limit of two hours, researchers found. Too little sleep and excess screen time were clearly linked to a drop off in cognitive skills, such as language ability, memory, and task completion, they reported in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. "We found that more than two hours of recreational screen time in children was associated with poorer cognitive development," said lead author Jeremy Walsh, a researcher at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute. "Based on our findings, paediatricians, parents, educators and policymakers should promote limiting recreation screen time and prioritising healthy sleep routines during childhood and adolescence." Walsh and his team looked at data -- based on detailed questionnaires -- for 4,520 children spread across 20 locations in the United States. They also tested the kids for six kinds of cognitive skills, adjusting the results for household income, puberty development and other factors that might affect performance. The results were measured against the Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for children. For sleep and exercise, the recommendations align with those of the World Health Organization, but Canada is the first country to propose limits for time spent in front of a back-lit screen. - Distraction in the classroom - Nearly 30 percent of children failed to meet any of the recommendations, more than 40 percent met only one, a quarter met two, and only five percent conformed to all three. Half the kids were getting enough sleep, 37 percent remained within the screen-time limits, and only 18 percent met the physical activity recommendation. Story continues "The more individual recommendations the child met, the better their cognition," the study concluded, noting that screen time was the most important factor. In contrast to earlier research, lack of exercise did not correlate with poorer performance on the cognition tests. The strong link between time spent staring at a screen and brain function "potentially reflect the interruption of the stress-recovery cycle needed for growth in children," commented Eduardo Esteban Bustamante, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois' College of Applied Health Sciences who did not take part in the study. "Each minute spent on screens necessarily displaces a minute from sleep." Scientists and educators have grown increasingly concerned that constant use of mobile phones from an early age may lead to problems ranging from addiction to attention deficit disorder. The vast majority of teachers in a recent survey said that smartphones had become a distraction in the classroom, eroding the ability of students to focus. France urges parents not to allow children under three to watch TV, and American paediatricians also favour a total ban on screen time until at least 18 months. WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) Dozens of passengers and crew have survived a plane's crash-landing in a Pacific lagoon. The Air Niugini plane hit the water short of the runway Friday morning while trying to land at Chuuk Island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The airline said in a brief statement everybody aboard the Boeing 737 plane was able to safely evacuate, and the airline was making all efforts to ensure the ongoing safety of the passengers and meet their immediate needs. The airline did not immediately say how many people were aboard the plane, where it was traveling from, or what caused the crash. UNITED NATIONS (AP) On the map, their homes are tiny specks in a vast sea of blue, rarely in the headlines and far removed from the centers of power. But for a few days each year, the leaders of small island nations share a podium with presidents and prime ministers from the world's most powerful nations, and their message is clear: Global warming is already changing our lives, and it will change yours too. Speaking shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump whose fiery speech made no mention of climate change Danny Faure told the U.N. General Assembly this week that for his country, the Seychelles, it's already a daily reality. GENEVA (AP) The U.N.'s top human rights body agreed Thursday to set up a team to collect evidence of alleged crimes committed in Myanmar against Rohingya Muslims and others since 2011, information that one day could be used to prosecute suspected perpetrators. The 47-member Human Rights Council voted 35-3 to create an "independent mechanism" in essence, an accountability body to complement a fact-finding mission the council previously authorized to help document alleged rights violations in Myanmar. Unlike the fact-finding mission, the mechanism has securing evidence that could be used in pursuing criminal indictments as its main purpose. The resolution establishing the new team was presented jointly by the European Union, led by Austria, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, led by Pakistan. Story continues NEW YORK (AP) For a few seconds Thursday, Mahathir Mohamad looked his age. The 93-year-old once and current prime minister of Malaysia wobbled a bit as he clasped the railing, cautiously mounted the four stairs leading to the stage in the bowels of the Asia Society and shuffled over to the podium. Then Mahathir, called a strongman by his critics so often that he has a joke ready about it, faced the packed auditorium. He smiled broadly and began talking. And the years, maybe even a decade or two, seemed to melt away. First came the speech: 20 minutes without a single note, relying on the wealth of experience that led one audience member to address him as "the elder statesman of Asia actually, the elder statesman of the planet." When Mahathir was done, the moderator, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, seemed stunned. TOKYO (AP) A senior Japanese whaling negotiator said Thursday that Tokyo will continue to push for a resumption of commercial whaling despite the recent defeat of its proposal by the International Whaling Commission. Fisheries negotiator Hideki Moronuki said the IWC should represent both conservation interests and backers of sustainable use of resources, and not act as if it were an anti-whaling group. IWC imposed a ban on commercial whaling in the 1980s because of dwindling stocks. Japan has instead conducted what it calls research whaling, and says stocks have recovered enough that commercial hunts should resume. Its proposal to do so was defeated at an IWC meeting in Brazil on Sept. TOKYO (AP) His film roles range from police officer to serial killer, dashing characters to self-destructive losers, a samurai warrior to an ordinary "salaryman," as Japanese office workers are called. But through all his work in Japan and Hollywood, Koji Yakusho has found what he must do as an actor remains surprisingly the same. "It's lonely," he said recently. "You're before a camera, and you have to do something, and you can't make mistakes. "You can't ever totally become a character, but you must get as close to that person as possible, and that moment you feel you are him you make sure you don't lose that moment." Yakusho, who is being honored at the Tokyo International Film Festival next month, has worked with the legends of Japanese film and starred in Shohei Imamura's "The Eel," which won the 1997 Palme d'Or at Cannes. BEIJING (AP) The Vatican's breakthrough agreement to give China some say over bishop appointments has critics accusing the church of caving in to the ruling Communist Party just as it is waging a sweeping crackdown on religion. Others say it's an imperfect but much-needed step toward uniting Catholics in the world's most populous country. The agreement is a step toward addressing the long-cherished hope of bringing together China's 12 million Catholics who are divided between those worshipping in state-sanctioned churches and the underground priests and parishioners loyal to the pope, who are frequently detained and harassed. The specifics of the deal announced over the weekend are unknown. NEW DELHI (AP) The chief justice of India's Supreme Court has presided over a string of recent rulings that grant more rights to women, gay couples and religious minorities, challenging deeply conservative Indian society before he retires next month. In the latest decision Thursday, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the rest of the five-member court struck down a 158-year-old law that treated adultery in certain cases as a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison. The court called the law, which did not allow wives to prosecute adulterous husbands, unconstitutional and noted that a "husband is not the master of woman." Adultery can still be grounds for divorce in India, the verdict said, but a criminal penalty violated women's protection to equal rights under the law. SRINAGAR, India (AP) Anti-India protests and clashes erupted in several places in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after Indian troops killed a young shepherd who was tending his sheep, officials and residents said, and an Indian soldier and three rebels were killed in two separate gunbattles. Residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir's main city, Srinagar, said government forces shot the young man during a raid early Thursday. The man was caring for his sheep when troops fired at him, they said. Police have yet to make a statement. The killing triggered protests and clashes as hundreds of people poured into the streets in several places in downtown Srinagar calling for the end of Indian rule. CANBERRA, Australia (AP) The chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corp. resigned on Thursday over allegations that he pressured the independent national broadcaster to fire two political journalists because the ruling conservative government disliked them. The scandal has damaged the credibility of both the governing coalition and the ABC, which is government-funded but is required by law to operate independently of party politics. The ABC is many Australians' most trusted news source. ABC chairman Justin Milne announced on Monday that ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, who is also the broadcaster's editor-in-chief, had been fired halfway through her five-year contract because the board did not like her leadership style. United Nations (United States) (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday agreed to return to North Korea next month to push forward denuclearization talks as President Donald Trump predicted breakthroughs soon. Pompeo met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, to discuss plans for his fourth trip to the longtime US arch-enemy. Pompeo accepted an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to return to Pyongyang in October to move ahead on efforts for "the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK," the State Department said, referring to the North by its official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Pompeo will also try to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim, whose meeting in June in Singapore was the first ever between sitting leaders of the two states. Trump has hailed his initiative with North Korea as a signature foreign policy success and heaped praise on Kim. His praise comes just one year after he mocked Kim as a "rocket man" at the United Nations and threatened a forceful military response. Critics question how much North Korea has actually changed. The regime, considered by human rights groups to be among the world's most repressive, has carried out six nuclear tests and says it has missiles that can hit the United States, although many analysts doubt its boasts. - Making a deal - Trump announced Wednesday that Kim sent him a new, "extraordinary" letter and said he expected the second summit to take place "fairly quickly." "We have a very good relationship. He likes me, I like him," he later told a press conference in New York. "I really believe he wants to get it done. He wants to make a deal, I want to make a deal." Trump said that the United States would have been drawn into a war with North Korea if he had not been elected. "If I wasn't elected, you would have had a war," Trump said before adding that "nobody is talking about that" anymore. Story continues Speaking earlier as he chaired a special session of the UN Security Council on non-proliferation, Trump said: "Kim Jong Un, a man I have gotten to know and like, wants peace and prosperity for North Korea." But Trump also called for the enforcement of sanctions, which the United States has spent years building through the Security Council in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests. He said the United States accused "some nations" of violating sanctions, including through illegal ship-to-ship transfer of oil to North Korean tankers at sea. - South Korea urges movement - Pushing hard for reconciliation is South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a dove who traveled this month to Pyongyang for the second inter-Korean summit this year. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Moon said that North Korea "moved out of longstanding isolation on its own initiative and stands before the international community once again." "Now it is the international community's turn to respond positively to North Korea's new choices and efforts," he said. In contrast with Trump's call for sustained sanctions, Moon has called for a step-by-step approach to nudge Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in exchange for sanctions relief. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who rose to political prominence as a hardliner on North Korea, has also rejected a quick easing of sanctions, but at the United Nations on Tuesday said that he too was willing to meet Kim. Nevertheless Abe said the focus of any summit would be to resolve the fate of Japanese civilians kidnapped by Pyongyang's spies in the 1970s and 1980s. Pompeo, in an interview broadcast Wednesday with CBS News, said he believed that North Korea would allow international inspectors to verify any commitments. "We're not going to buy a pig in a poke," he said. "We're going to get this right, we're going to deliver on this commitment that Chairman Kim has made to the world, and then there's going to be a brighter future for the North Korean people, and there'll be a more peaceful world." President Donald Trump definitely meant to make a room of international delegates at the United Nations General Assembly laugh at him, or so he says. Mr Trump made the claim on Tuesday afternoon between events at the yearly meeting, telling reporters that his claim in less than two years, my administration has accomplished almost more than any other administration in the history of our country was meant to get laughs, which it did. Oh it was great. Well that was meant to get some laughter, but it was great, Mr Trump said of the laughter. Mr Trump, when he made the comment in his speech, first reacted in surprise after he received a spurt of laughter from his audience. Didnt expect that reaction, but thats okay, Mr Trump said, smiling. A louder laugh was then heard in the room. Mr Trump is a particularly divisive American leader when it comes to the UN, and has espoused an America First doctrine that appears to run counter to the UNs goal of multilateral international cooperation. During his speech to the general assembly on Tuesday, Mr Trump suggested that the rest of the world should respect US sovereignty, and work to ensure their own sovereign independence. We are standing up for America and the American people and we are also standing up for the world. This is great news for our citizens and for peace-loving people everywhere, he said. He continued, saying that every country has its sovereign right to make its own decisions. We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism, Mr Trump said. The spectacle of a room full of foreign dignitaries appearing to laugh at Mr Trump encouraged people online to recall some of the presidents past remarks on the topic. So, they retweeted some years-old tweets from Mr Trump that he posted up to attack his predecessor, former President Barack Obama. We need a President who isnt a laughing stock to the entire World, one tweet from 2014 read. We need a truly great leader, a genius at strategy and winning. Respect! Donald Trump has praised Poland for standing up for their independence, a day after the European Union (EU) referred the country to court for firing judges in sweeping reforms. he US president also attacked Germany, which he suggested would become totally dependent on Russian energy following the completion of a joint gas pipeline, during a speech at the United Nations general assembly. Reliance on a single foreign supplier can leave nations vulnerable to extortion and intimidation and that is why we congratulate European states such as Poland for leading construction of a Baltic pipeline so that nations are not dependent on Russia to meet their energy needs, Mr Trump told world leaders in New York. Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course." Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom is developing an 800-mile pipeline, Nord Stream 2, designed to double natural gas volumes pumped from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, avoiding traditional transit route of Ukraine. Eastern European countries, including Poland and Ukraine, fear Russia will exploit the gas route for political reasons. They argue the pipeline could ultimately limit supply to and the energy security of the EU. Poland, which currently buys most of its gas from Gazprom, is working on its own Baltic Sea pipeline connected to Norwegian gas deposits via Denmark. The 2.1 billion (1.88 billion) project is aimed at reducing the countrys reliance on Russian energy. Mr Trump returned to Poland later in the speech with further praise, which some have read as a pointed dig at the EU. In Poland, a great people are standing up for their independence, their security, and their sovereignty, he said. Hours earlier, the European Commission referred Poland to the European Court of Justice over violations of judicial independence. In April, the Polish government introduced controversial law reforms which lowered the retirement age of the countrys Supreme Court judges and forced many, including courts president, out of their positions. Story continues The move was the latest sign of the countrys shift towards autocracy under the right-wing, populist Law and Justice party, which holds a slim parliamentary majority. After winning power, the party replaced judges in its highest constitutional court. It took control of the state broadcaster, fired presenters and began broadcasting propaganda. Last week Mr Trump said the US was considering Polands request to host a permanent American military base, which Polish president Andrzej Duda suggested could be named Fort Trump. But in his UN speech, the US president also praised Saudi Arabias autocratic rulers King Salman and his son Mohammed Bin Salman, who he said had been pursuing bold new reforms. Many countries are pursuing their own unique visions, building their own hopeful futures, and chasing their own wonderful dreams of destiny, of legacy, and of a home, he said. He also spoke of his highly productive conversations and meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Mr Trumps praise of authoritarian world leaders was coupled with regular reminders of his own America first world view. Each of us here today is the emissary of a distinct culture, a rich history, and a people bound together by ties of memory, tradition, and the values that make our homelands like nowhere else on Earth, he said. That is why America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, control, and domination. President Donald Trump has vowed to deliver a fair Middle East peace plan within the next four months, after publicly endorsing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the first time. Mr Trump said it was his dream to see a peaceful end to the 70-year conflict, and pledged to present a deal within two to four months. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been suspended since 2014 and efforts to revive them have proved unsuccessful with successive US administrations failing to broker any definitive long-term treaty. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr Trump appeared unperturbed, and claimed a lot of progress had been made. The US leader, who held recent meetings with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, added he backed a two-state solution, marking the first time he has publicly mentioned it. I would say, over the next two to three to four months, Mr Trump said on Wednesday, referring to his prospective timetable for presenting a plan. I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term [in 2021], he added. The president later confirmed his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is tasked with brokering a permanent settlement, was going to be very fair with the Palestinians. I think the two-state is more likely, he added. Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted any future Palestinian nation must be demilitarised and must recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people, conditions Palestinians say prove he is not sincere about peacemaking. On Wednesday, the right-wing Israeli leader thanked Mr Trump for his extraordinary support, but said his country must retain security control of land west of Jordan which includes the occupied West Bank. It is important to set what is inadmissible to us: Israel will not relinquish security control west of Jordan. This will not happen so long as I am prime minister and I think the Americans understand that, said Netanyahu, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Story continues Mr Trumps comments did little to reassure the Palestinian leadership, which has broken contact with Washington ever since the US recognised the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israels capital in December, and then relocated the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Mr Trump further worsened ties when he cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid, including slashing all funding to the United Nations Palestinian refugee programme. Palestinian foreign affairs minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said Mr Trumps comments were too vague to represent any real progress. He said the American president needed to state clearly a two-state solution would include a return to borders that preceded the 1967 Six-Day War, and that east Jerusalem which the Palestinians claim as their capital is occupied, rather than constituting a part of Israel. These are important statements that President Trump has to say in order just to convince anyone that he is committed to real peace in our region, Mr Maliki added. Palestinian protesters rest behind concrete blocks as others hurl stones at Israeli soldiers during a protest at the entrance of the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, 26 September (AP) Tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians reached a fresh breaking point in the summer over months of protests by Gaza residents along its border fence. Nearly 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the marches erupted, on 30 March. One Israeli soldier has been killed during that time. Israel has defended its use of force, saying the rallies were not peaceful and protesters repeatedly attacked the border fence, including flying incendiary balloons and kites into Israel. Egypt has stepped in to broker several ceasefires after multiple instances of cross border fire, but none have properly held. There will not be a Palestinian state, which would be a disaster for Israel Naftali Bennett, Israeli education minister and leader of the Jewish Home party Mr Netanyahu also held rare face-to face meetings with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the UN assmebly. Mr Sisis office said they reviewed ways of revising the peace process, with the ultimate goal being a two-state solution. But Mr Netanyahu is facing mounting pressure back home. Naftali Bennett, the prime ministers rival and the countrys powerful education minister, said a Palestinian state was out of the question. The president of the US is a true friend of Israel. However, it must be emphasised that there will not be a Palestinian state. That would be a disaster for Israel, he said. He immediately realized the alert was him and wanted to identify himself to the police, Grennes said. Police met with the man and learned he was at a nearby business and observed the long line of vehicles picking up students and said he was curious about the procedure. In a rare solo news conference with reporters after a third woman came out on Wednesday to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, President Donald Trump repeated the lie that the women who accused the president himself of misconduct were paid to do so. In an erratic, angry rant to reporters Wednesday afternoon, Trump fought back against questions asking why he doesnt seem to believe the three women who have said Judge Kavanaugh engaged in sexual misconduct. Trump claims he was accused of assault by "4 or 5 women" (it was actually 15), then advises a reporter that she should check with Sean Hannity, because he's the expert about the topic. #wut The president goes on to smear his accusers as money-seekers. pic.twitter.com/KFunnofXnf Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 26, 2018 Ive been accused, Ive been accused. I believe it was four women, you can check with Sean Hannity, you can check with Fox, because they covered it very strongly, he said. I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me. We caught them and the mainstream media refused to put it on television. They refused to even write about it. There were four women, and maybe more. Nearly two dozen women have credibly accused the president of sexual misconduct. I think the numbers four or five, but one had a mortgage paid off her house, maybe $52,000 dollars, he added. Trump was likely referring to womens rights attorney Lisa Bloom, who set up a GoFundMe for client Jill Harth, who said in a 1997 lawsuit that Trump forced her into a bedroom at Mar-a-Lago and attempted to rape her. As Snopes points out, Harth never even wished to go public with the accusation to begin with she was outed by reporters in 2016. And her GoFundMe raised only $2,317. Story continues And the one that reported it, I believe was offered $750,000 to say bad things about me, and shes the one that reported it, Trump continued. This woman is incredible. She reported it instead of taking the money. So Ive had numerous accusations about me. I mean they made false statements about me knowing they were false. I never met them. I never met these people. And what did they do? What did they do? They took money in order to say bad things. Trump also suggested if George Washington were a current Supreme Court nominee, Democratic lawmakers would vote him down. George Washington "may have had a bad past... didn't he have a couple of things in his past?" - Donald Trump questions record of America's first president and says Democrats would not vote for founding fatherhttps://t.co/Ho7fsxxD6i pic.twitter.com/U2eWmXahVN BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 26, 2018 George Washington, the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand, he said. And he may have had a bad past, who knows? Didnt he have a couple of things in his past? George Washington would be voted against one hundred percent by [Sen. Chuck] Schumer and the con artists. One hundred percent, one hundred percent. Earlier this year, the president took to Twitter to say the women making accusations about him were taking money to make up stories. A woman I dont know and, to the best of my knowledge, never met, is on the FRONT PAGE of the Fake News Washington Post saying I kissed her (for two minutes yet) in the lobby of Trump Tower 12 years ago. Never happened! Who would do this in a public space with live security...... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018 ....cameras running. Another False Accusation. Why doesnt @washingtonpost report the story of the women taking money to make up stories about me? One had her home mortgage paid off. Only @FoxNews so reported...doesnt fit the Mainstream Media narrative. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2018 During Wednesdays address, the president then said that the sexual abuse he has been accused of absolutely impacts how he views the claims waged against Brett Kavanaugh, who is accused of forcibly holding down a girl at a high school party, covering her mouth and attempting to take off her clothes. Two other women have also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Professor Christine Blasey Ford is set to give testimony about her experience on Thursday. Im a very famous person, the president reminded the country. People want fame. They want money ... Its happened to me many times. Ive had many false charges. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. President Donald Trump attacked lawyer Michael Avenatti on Twitter Wednesday hours after Avenattis client Julie Swetnick came forward with an accusation of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Trump tweeted. He is just looking for attention and doesnt want people to look at his past record and relationships a total low-life! Avenatti also represents Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress currently suing Trump over a nondisclosure agreement over their alleged affair. Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesnt want people to look at his past record and relationships - a total low-life! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018 Avenatti shot back, calling Trump a habitual liar and complete narcissist who also is a disgrace as a president and an embarrassment to our nation. False accusations? Like those crimes your fixer Cohen pled to? You are an habitual liar and complete narcissist who also is a disgrace as a president and an embarrassment to our nation. You are so inept that your best and brightest are Cohen and Giuliani. Lets go. Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 26, 2018 Washington, D.C., resident Swetnick alleged in a sworn declaration that she was a victim of one of these gang or train rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present at a party in approximately 1982. This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone, Kavanaugh said in a statement responding to the new allegation. I dont know who this is and this never happened. He has denied all of the allegations against him. Story continues The new claim comes less than a week after Deborah Ramirez told The New Yorker Kavanaugh exposed himself to her and thrusted his penis in her face at a party. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of pinning her down and groping her at a party in the early 1980s, was the first woman to allege the nominee had sexually assaulted her. Other Republican lawmakers have come to Kavanaughs defense in the wake of Swetnicks latest accusation. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement, If Republicans bail out on this good man because of the smears and character assassination perpetrated by Michael Avenatti, we deserve our fate. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told HuffPost that he has great suspicions about people who suddenly at the last minute are trying to delay this or stop this, and I dont think we should play that game. And Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said it seemed to him that Avenatti wants to protect people who are involved in pornography and that hes running for president. Grassley says he doesnt know much about Avenatti and that whats important is the person who claims shes been harmed. Seems to me he wants to protect people who are involved pornography and that hes running for president, he says of Avenatti Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) September 26, 2018 Blasey is set to give testimony on Thursday to the Senate Judiciary Committee about her alleged assault. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The U.N. Security Council tends to proceed in a scripted, measured way. U.S. President Donald Trump does not. But Trump is set to preside Wednesday over the U.N.'s most powerful body, one that incarnates the very concept of global governing that he swatted aside in a speech Tuesday. The meeting in the sanctum of shared decision-making will put the "America First" president around a table with representatives from countries with fraught relationships with the United States, including Russia and China. The topic alone has been a matter of dispute. In the words of Washington's U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley: "That is going to be the most watched Security Council meeting ever." Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, chaired Security Council meetings in 2009 and 2014. But Wednesday will be Trump's first time in the Security Council, where the U.S. holds the rotating presidency this month. "It tends to be a lot of diplomatic formalities and protocol ... and, obviously, the president is not known for sticking to the script," says Stewart Patrick, a Council of Foreign Relations fellow with expertise in U.S. policy toward the U.N. "You could get a lot of undiplomatic language in a place that is usually associated with tact." Trump has spoken at the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting of presidents and other world leaders, including a speech Tuesday that trumpeted the United States' might, declared its independence from "global bureaucracy" and espoused a "doctrine of patriotism." Chairing the Security Council is a somewhat more interactive role. The 15 members convene around a horseshoe-shaped table to address threats to international peace and safety, with the president generally formally calling on U.N. officials and some other council members before making his or her own statement. The group's work tends toward calibrated language, careful maneuvering and meticulously curated consensus, though meetings have become more acrimonious in recent years. Story continues It's a setting where a reference to "appropriate measures" is often code for sanctions, and it can be an important signal if a post-meeting rundown comes in the form of a "press statement" as opposed to a "presidential statement." (Essentially, a "presidential statement" reflects a more formal agreement among council members on what to say and archive than a "press statement" does, though neither has the force of a resolution.) Certainly, the council isn't always harmonious. There can be stinging remarks and symbolic walkouts, not to mention vetoes (the U.S. and Russia have both exercised theirs this year). But disagreement is generally done with a certain decorum. There's good reason why Security Council diplomats are, well, diplomatic, says Ian Johnstone, a former U.N. official who is now the interim dean of Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. "If it ends up being just an opportunity for scoring political points against your adversaries, it means that scores are going to be settled" and thwart agreement and action down the road, he says. "You don't want to spoil the sort of diplomatic atmosphere by interrupting or condemning and walking out every time you open your mouth because it means you're really not going to get anything done," Johnstone says. Trump left a lasting impression on the international community when he used his General Assembly speech last year to deride North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man" and threatened to "totally destroy" his country. This time, Trump praised Kim's "courage" in their countries' ongoing nuclear negotiations. Instead, Trump singled out Iran as a "corrupt dictatorship" that instigates "chaos, death and destruction." Hours later, Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, warned in a speech in New York that there would be "hell to pay" if Iran crossed the U.S. or its allies. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had strong words of his own at the General Assembly, accusing Washington of trying to overthrow his government and conducting an "economic war" against it. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the multinational 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, and Washington has since reinstated sanctions that were eased under the pact. And Wednesday's Security Council meeting happens to be about ... Iran. At least partially. Haley initially said the topic was "violations of international law and general instability Iran sows" in the Middle East. That brought complaints from Iran, and council member Russia said the spotlight should be on the nuclear deal and the U.S. withdrawal. The U.S. then broadened the subject to include the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in general. Under the council's complicated rules, the change also leaves less room for members to raise the Israeli-Palestinian issue and potentially criticize Washington's policies, including moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. But then Trump tweeted last week that he would "chair the United Nations Security Council meeting on Iran next week!" The exclamation point was his. Rouhani on Tuesday called the planned meeting "preposterous and abnormal." It wasn't clear whether any country beyond the 15 council nations would be given the floor. Iran isn't a council member and is very unlikely to speak. But even if it did, Trump wouldn't necessarily have to listen. In fact, he could step away at any time. Another U.S. official can take his seat at any point. And at that point, something like regular programming would resume. Jerusalem (AFP) - US President Donald Trump has for the first time endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, long a goal of international peace efforts. Here is a description of the two-state solution as well as alternatives to it: - Two-state solution - The two-state solution envisions independent Israeli and Palestinian states coexisting side by side peacefully. This means creating a Palestinian state on the rough basis of the situation before 1967, when Israel occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank in a war with its Arab neighbours. Land swaps have been envisioned to achieve it. A UN partition plan from 1947 also proposed two states, one Arab and one Jewish, with Jerusalem placed under separate international control. The Jewish leaders accepted it but Arab leaders did not. Many hoped the 1990s Oslo accords would finally achieve the two-state vision, but the peace process that the agreements set out has broken down. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas continues to call for a two-state solution based on pre-1967 lines. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more circumspect, saying he wants the Palestinians to govern themselves without specifying if that means full statehood or some lesser form of autonomy. Netanyahu also says Israel must retain security control under any deal. - Single unitary state - Creating a single, unitary state would likely involve Israel formally annexing Palestinian land in the West Bank and possibly the Gaza Strip. Parts of Israel's right-wing support annexing much of the West Bank, claiming a historic and religious connection to the land, but what rights the Palestinians living there would be given is the key. If it included Gaza and the West Bank, such a state would mix about 6.6 million Jews with a roughly similar number of Arabs. Israeli opponents fear such an entity would no longer be a Jewish state unless it abandons democracy and limits Arab political rights -- what the Palestinians and other say would amount to "apartheid." Story continues - Israel-Palestinian confederation - Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has floated the idea of an Israeli-Palestinian confederation with defined borders, two parliaments and two constitutions but with only Israel having an army. Such a concept is likely to be a non-starter with the Palestinian moderate leadership, who have for years been demanding full sovereignty of their own independent state. Separately, the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, wants a state governed by Islamic law on all of historic Palestine. It refuses to recognise Israel and supports armed "resistance." - Palestinian-Jordanian confederation - Israeli right-wingers have long promoted a union of a Palestinian state with the kingdom of Jordan, which would conveniently take the issue off Israel's hands. But Jordan, which ruled the West Bank from 1948 until Israel captured it in the 1967 Six-Day war, revoked all claims to the territory in 1988, following the outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada. Earlier this month, Abbas said US officials working on Trump's peace plan had asked him about forming a confederation with Jordan, according to activists who met with him. Abbas was said to have told the US officials he would only be interested if Israel was also part of such a confederation. His response was seen as a way of torpedoing the proposal since Israel would likely never agree to join such an arrangement. - Doing nothing - The status quo is thought to be Netanyahu's most comfortable option for now. Currently, Israel controls all movement in and out of the West Bank and maintains security and civil control over some 60 percent of the territory. It also blockades the Gaza Strip, having fought three wars with Palestinian militants there since 2008. The international community, however, insists maintaining the status quo is not sustainable. Diplomats warn Israeli settlement building in the West Bank is gradually eating away at remaining chances of a two-state solution, while humanitarian conditions are badly deteriorating in the Gaza Strip. Lisbon (AFP) - Twelve people including three commanders of Portugal's civil protection agency will stand trial over the country's worst ever wildfires which claimed 64 lives in June 2017, prosecutors said Thursday. The accused, who face charges of negligent homicide, also include three local officials and three employees of a company in charge of the maintenance of a road where some 50 people died in the blaze in the central Leiria region, the local prosecutor's office said. "It seems to me that this is the first time that public bodies are targeted by charges of this kind," Domingos Xavier Viegas, coordinator of an inquiry commissioned by the parliament, told AFP. "I think it is important to determine responsibility... this case should serve as an example and a starting point," Viegas added. The fires burned for five days, breaking out at the height of a summer heatwave. Many of the victims died trapped in their cars while trying to escape the flames. - Serious failings - Violent winds fanned the fires, ravaging some 460 square kilometres (180 square miles) of hillsides covered with pine and eucalyptus trees. According to local media, the prosecutors' investigation largely mirrored the findings of an earlier inquiry by a special parliamentary commission, which found serious failings in officials' handling of the fires. The parliamentary report said electrical surges from the power distribution network had caused the blaze. Two civil protection agency officials and the commander of a volunteer fire regiment have been accused by the prosecutors office of not calling in water bombers fast enough to try to control the fires. They are also accused of not requesting weather forecast updates that theoretically could have helped officials anticipate the path of the flames. A mayor, a former mayor and a deputy mayor also face charges of failing to implement fire prevention measures, in particular forest cleaning, which may have helped slow the spread of the flames. Story continues - Government criticism - Months after the disaster, a new series of deadly wildfires broke out in the centre and north of the country in October, killing another 45 people. Interior minister Constanca Urbano de Sousa resigned that month amid criticism over the Socialist government's handling of the fires. "Nothing can remain as before," Prime Minister Antonio Costa said at the time. The government has since implemented a series of safety measures to avoid another tragedy and launched an ambitious reforestation project. The measures include improving coordination between the military and firefighters in the use of water bombers, burying communication lines to prevent them being cut off by fires and boosting funding for professional firefighters -- currently most are volunteers. The number of fires in Portugal has significantly reduced this summer, with burned areas down 60 percent compared to the average of the last ten years, according the Institute of Conservation Nature and Forests. Bamako (AFP) - Twenty-seven people were killed in clashes between members of the same Tuareg tribe in Mali's troubled northeast earlier this week, the West African state's security ministry said Thursday. Previous reports said 12 people had died in the violence on Tuesday, which took place in a region near the Niger border affected by chronic unrest between local tribes and jihadist militants. "Clashes occurred in the area of Inekar, 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of the town of Menaka, between members of the Idourfane community," a Tuareg tribe, the ministry said in a statement. "This unfortunate event has unfortunately cost the lives of 27 people, and injured one." Army troops supported by police have been deployed to the region to stabilise the situation and "find out the motive for such a violent outburst within a single community". A local official earlier said that "armed men on motorcycles killed at least 12 civilians," citing a resident of the town who claimed to have seen the bodies. The official, who asked not to be named, added that "for now we do not know exactly who did it. I don't know if it was the result of a dispute between tribes or a terrorist act." About 200 people, many of them civilians from the Fulani and Tuareg tribes, have been killed in the area this year. It has been a violent week for Mali, one of Africa's poorest states, after seven soldiers and a civilian driver were killed in the centre of the country on Wednesday when their vehicle hit explosives. Mali's unrest stems from a 2012 Tuareg separatist uprising which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key cities in the north. The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013. But despite a 2015 peace agreement between the government and the Tuareg rebels, large stretches of the country remain out of the control of Malian, French and UN forces, which are frequent targets of attacks. Story continues Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south and spilled into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often exacerbating communal conflicts. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected in August after vowing to restore peace to the restive north of the Saharan country. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Keita admitted the regional G5 Sahel armed force had struggled to become "operational" and called on financial contributors to "honour their commitments". On Thursday, France sent 120 paratroopers to the Menaka region. By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a Louisiana provision that requires doctors who perform abortions in the state to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. In a 2-1 ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the judges said the Louisiana provision was different than one in Texas that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 because it would not put an undue burden on women. "There is no evidence that any of the clinics will close as a result of the Act," the appeals court said in its ruling. The Texas law, whose language is similar to the Louisiana law, led to the closure of the majority of the state's abortion clinics and the number of women forced to drive over 150 miles to seek abortions increased by 350 percent, the appeals court said. The plaintiffs in the Louisiana suit, which included abortion provider Hope Medical Group for Women, were not immediately available for comment. The defendant, the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, was also not available for comment. Abortion has been a central issue in the U.S. Senate confirmation process for President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Abortion rights advocates worry that Kavanaugh, whose judicial record on abortion cases is thin, could change the balance on the court in favor of more restrictions, or even help overturn the court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Some states are passing restrictive abortion laws, which they expect could be challenged in court but hope might ultimately win favor from a conservative Supreme Court. DISSENT OVER UNDUE BURDEN TEST The admitting privileges act in Louisiana has the same language as the one in Texas, which requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (50 km) of their clinic. Supporters say the provision helps protect women by providing continuity of care. Medical groups and abortion providers contend the requirement is unnecessary because complications from abortions are rare, and when they do occur, emergency room medical staff are well equipped to provide care. They also said the provision is designed to shutter clinics, which is what happened in Texas. In Texas, before the state's 2013 law went into effect, there were about 40 licensed abortion facilities in the state, which has a population of about 27 million. After it went into effect, that number dropped to eight, the appeals court said. The two judges who upheld the provision, both appointed by Republican presidents, ruled that the Louisiana law, "does not impose a substantial burden on a large fraction of women." They said that only 30 percent of women seeking an abortion would face a potential burden of increased wait times. In his dissent, Judge Patrick Higginbotham, also a Republican appointee, said the panel failed to meaningfully apply the undue burden test as articulated by the Supreme Court. In a 5-3 decision written by Justice Stephen Breyer in 2016, the Supreme Court concluded the Texas law violated a woman's right to an abortion and did not offer medical benefits sufficient to justify its existence. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler) (WASHINGTON) The State Department says the death of an American diplomat in Madagascar is being investigated by U.S. and local authorities. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says the foreign service officer was found dead inside the officers residence in the capital of the Indian Ocean nation off the East Coast of Africa. Nauert says the department expressed its deepest sympathies to the family of the diplomat but release no details Monday on the officers identity or circumstances of the death. The State Department says the person was found in the overnight hours Friday and that diplomatic security and Malagasy authorities are collaborating on an investigation. By Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military flew B-52 bombers in the vicinity of the South China Sea this week, U.S. officials told Reuters, a move that is likely to cause anger in Beijing amid heightened tensions between the two countries. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, said that B-52 bombers transited over the South China Sea as part of "regularly scheduled operations designed to enhance our interoperability with our partners and allies in the region." Such flights are common, but usually upset Beijing. In June, China's foreign ministry said no military ship or aircraft could scare China away from its resolve to protect its territory after U.S. B-52 bombers flew near disputed islands in the South China Sea. The United States and China have frequently sparred about the militarization of the South China Sea, where China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines all have competing claims. "If that was 20 years ago and (China) had not militarized those features there, it would have just been another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or whatever," U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters. Eastburn said separately the United States also flew B-52 bombers over the East China Sea on Tuesday as part of a "regularly scheduled, combined operation." China recently denied a request for a U.S. warship to visit Hong Kong amid rising tension between Beijing and Washington. China summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing and postponed joint military talks in protest against a U.S. decision to sanction a Chinese military agency and its director for buying Russian fighter jets and a surface-to-air missile system. Mattis said he did not think there was a fundamental shift in relations between China and the United States. "We certainly maintain the military-to-military relationship and the level of participation and collaboration may go up and down at times, but there is a strategic relationship there that I think both sides recognize the need for," Mattis said. The United States and China are embroiled in a trade war, sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's accusations that China has long sought to steal U.S. intellectual property, limit access to its own market and unfairly subsidize state-owned companies. Trump accused China of seeking to meddle in the Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections on Wednesday, saying Beijing did not want his Republican Party to do well because of his pugnacious stance on trade. (Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Alistair Bell) Lynch said his client did not bring the gun to the party and that multiple people were handling it before the accident occurred. There was no fight or confrontation involved in the incident, he said. By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is close to working with Saudi Arabia on building nuclear power reactors, but talks on tough non-proliferation standards with the kingdom remain a challenge, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Wednesday. Perry has held talks with several Saudi leaders this year, including King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on the kingdom's ambition of initially building two nuclear power stations. Saudi Arabia wants to ultimately construct 16 reactors in coming decades at a cost of about $80 billion. Discussions had been held up on Saudi Arabia's desire to relax nonproliferation standards and potentially allow the country to enrich uranium and reprocess plutonium, technologies that non-proliferation advocates worry could one day be covertly altered to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. Perry said progress on non-proliferation standards had been made, but that talks were not going as quickly as either side would have hoped. Perry has shared with Saudi leaders that being "perceived as very, very strong on non-proliferation was a most important message, globally," he told reporters at the Energy Department headquarters. Perry said part of the talks center on making sure any nuclear inspections would not be intrusive for sensitive areas in the kingdom. In July, South Korea said its state-run utility KEPCO along with the United States, France, China and Russia had been shortlisted to bid for a nuclear power project in Saudi Arabia and that the winner would likely be selected in 2019. Washington hopes Saudi Arabia will buy nuclear power technology from U.S. companies, including Westinghouse, which recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and abandoned plans to build two advanced AP1000 reactors in the United States. If Saudi Arabia signs a deal that relaxes the safeguards, the United Arab Emirates could be free to break a deal it signed with Washington years ago and enrich uranium. The UAE deal contained the "gold standard" in such 123 nuclear agreements, because it contained safeguards against enriching and preprocessing. Westinghouse said it would defer to the customer, Saudi Arabia, for comment. The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Joseph Radford) By David Lawder NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's top trade official said on Tuesday that changing China's economic policies to become more market-oriented "is not going to be easy" even with tariffs now in place on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in rare public remarks at the Concordia Summit, said "endless dialogues" with the Chinese government over decades had "failed miserably" in changing Beijing's policies, so the Trump administration decided to try direct pressure with tariffs based on its study of China's intellectual property and technology transfer policies. After China retaliated against what he called "modest" U.S. tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese technology-focused imports, the Trump administration on Monday slapped 10 percent duties on another $200 billion of Chinese goods, including many consumer products. "We enter into that soberly with an enormous amount of study, but the fact is that what we were doing demonstrably failed," Lighthizer said. "It's not going to be easy," Lighthizer said when asked what would result in concessions from Beijing. "Change is never easy, particularly where we have change, where there are U.S. companies that are benefiting from the improper Chinese policy," he said. Lighthizer repeated his views that China's intellectual property practices and non-market industrial subsidies that have resulted in excess production capacity would put the future of the U.S. economy and its high-technology industries at risk. "We changed the paradigm, we have tariffs in place, and the president is not going let this go long, where you take intellectual property where you have a forced transfer of intellectual property, where you treat American companies and farmers and ranchers poorly," he added. The U.S. trade chief was meeting on Tuesday with his counterparts from Japan and the European Union as part of regular talks to deal with China's non-market policies and to craft reforms to World Trade Organization rules. Lighthizer, who has long criticized the WTO as unable to rein in excess Chinese capacity, said the body's rules were designed for market-driven economies, not ones dominated by state-owned enterprises like China. Because all WTO members must agree on rule changes, getting China to agree to new rules that would force changes to its policies is "kind of a conundrum," he said, adding that he believed in the WTO which remained "an important body." "I've said this before, if we didn't have it, we'd have to invent it," he added. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by David Gregorio) Geneva (AFP) - A UN expert on the rights situation in Cambodia decried Thursday that laws were being used to rein in dissent and were creating a "climate of fear" in the country. UN Special Rapporteur for Cambodia Rhona Smith voiced alarm over a significant deterioration in the country's political situation over the past year and urged the government to change course. In the run-up to controversial July elections, premier Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party backed a crackdown on perceived threats, including the shuttering of media outlets and jailing of political opponents and journalists. The main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved, clearing the way for the CPP to take all 125 parliamentary seats in the vote. This effectively rendered Cambodia a one-party state, which the international community has decried as a death knell to democracy. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Smith lamented the crackdown on political opposition, civil society and the media in Cambodia. "Laws are increasingly being used in Cambodia to oppress the opposition and silence dissent and create a climate of fear," she said. In a report on the vote submitted to the UN Human Rights Council, she also said the decision to dissolve the CNRP and ban a large number of senior members of the former opposition from all political activity "seriously calls into question the genuineness of these elections". - 'Very worrying' - The elections, she said, had "consigned multiparty liberal democracy to history for the next five years". She stressed that prior to the July vote, elections in Cambodia had been steadily improving in terms of compliance with international human rights standards and Cambodian laws. And she said it was "encouraging" that a number of those detained in the run-up to the vote had been released and some pardoned after the results were confirmed. Story continues But she stressed that many of those freed remained under judicial supervision, meaning the charges against them had not been dropped, and they remain at risk of being detained again at any time while awaiting trial. Cambodia's opposition leader Kem Sokha was released from jail earlier this month. He had been arrested on September 3, 2017 on charges of treason, just two months before his CNRP party was dissolved. And 69-year-old Australian filmmaker James Ricketson was freed from jail last Sunday after receiving a royal pardon. He had been sentenced to six years' imprisonment last month after being convicted of espionage. He had been in detention since June last year after he flew a drone over a rally of the now-defunct CNRP. "Other journalists who are Cambodian are not so lucky," Smith said, adding that Ricketson's position as an Australian with an international profile had likely helped ensure his release. "The situation is very worrying. It is not an easy place to be a journalist or a particularly safe place to be a journalist," she said. Washington (AFP) - American F-35 stealth fighters have been used in a combat operation for the first time, a defense official said, marking a major milestone for the most expensive plane in history. Thursday's mission took place against Taliban targets in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, when more than one F-35 flew from the USS Essex amphibious assault ship. "It was a successful strike," the official told AFP. The planes deployed were the F-35B variant, used by the Marine Corps and capable of taking off from a short runway and landing vertically. The Israeli military said in May that it had used its newly acquired F-35s in combat operations, becoming the first country to do so. Launched in the early 1990s, the F-35 is considered the most expensive weapons system in US history, with an estimated cost of some $400 billion and a goal to produce 2,500 aircraft in the coming years. Once servicing and maintenance costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft's lifespan through 2070, overall program costs are expected to rise to $1.5 trillion. Proponents tout the F-35's radar-dodging stealth technology, supersonic speeds, close air support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information. But the program has faced numerous delays, cost overruns and setbacks, including a mysterious engine fire in 2014 that led commanders to temporarily ground the planes. Video: US Air Force Wants to Increase Personnel Numbers 24% For more news videos visit Yahoo View. Washington (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he was confident Congress would approve a new trade deal with Mexico, even if it left out Canada. However, he said he hoped Washington and Ottawa would be able to reach an agreement. "I hope so. We have an important trading relationship with Canada," Mnuchin said at a forum, although he declined to speculate on a timetable. President Donald Trump's trade team last month reached an agreement with Mexico but has yet to overcome the remaining differences with Canada on a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The White House has said it intends to sign the deal with Mexico by December 1, when a new government takes office in Mexico City. That means the administration must submit the text of the agreement to Congress by Friday. However, some US legislators say the White House cannot substitute a three-nation trade pact for one with Mexico alone. But Mnuchin said, in the event there is no deal with Canada, "I am confident Congress will pass" the "great agreement" with Mexico. Trump on Wednesday once again criticized Ottawa, saying "Canada has treated us very badly" and threatened to impose tariffs on imported autos. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said negotiators are "running out of time" to add Canada to the deal, although it could join later. And he said there was still "a fair amount of distance" between the sides. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has addressed the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary as part of an investigation into sexual assault accusations, which you can watch live here. His accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, told senators earlier Thursday that Donald Trump's pick for the US Supreme Court drunkenly tried to remove her clothing, pinned her to a bed and groped her at a party in the summer of 1982, when she was 15 and he was 17. "I am here today not because I want to be," She said. "I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school." I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me, Dr Ford continued. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. By Thursday afternoon, Mr Kavanaugh approached the Judiciary Committee and vehemently denied any wrongdoing, while acknowledging his appreciation for beer and admitting he may have drank excessively on several occasions throughout his life. He said he could not recall the incident, while some members of the Republican Party have dismissed them as part of a smear campaign and a Democratic plot to sink Judge Kavanaugh's nomination. Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from North Carolina, repeatedly lambasted Democrats on Thursday afternoon, saying, "Im really upset that they knew about this in August and never told anybody. All I can say is that were 40 days away from the election, and their goal not Ms. Fords goal is to lay this past the midterms so they can win the Senate and never allow Trump to fill this seatI dont know who paid for her polygraph but somebody did. I feel ambushed". Story continues "When it comes to where it happened, I still dont know. I dont know when it happened. She said shes 100 percent certain it did happen," he continued. "I bet you Judge Kavanaugh will say 'Im 100 percent sure I didn't do it.' She cant tell us how she got home and how she got there. Thats the facts Im left with. A nice lady who has come forward to tell a hard story if this is enough, God help anybody else that gets nominated." Mr Trump, who nominated judge Kavanaugh and fiercely defends him, said he was open to changing my mind" in a press conference last night. The Senate Judiciary Committee - 11 Republicans, all men, and 10 Democrats - will consider all sides over the hearing, which could go on into next week. Exeter Chiefs team spirit and unity can be enough for them to wrestle back the Gallagher Premiership title from Saracens, according to Wales winger Shane Williams. The Chiefs won the title in 2017 and despite topping the table at the end of last season, they lost to Saracens in the final at Twickenham in May. But with the Chiefs sitting just one point behind Saracens in second after four games, Williams sees no reason why they wont be able to reclaim the crown at the end of this season. He said: Im a big fan of Jack Nowell and I think [Henry] Slade is a hugely talented players, but the best thing about Exeter for me is that they play as a unit. It doesnt have to be pretty, they can be forward orientated if they want to be, but Ive watched them a lot and there is a good camaraderie there. They have been together for a long time and they play for each other. Theyve gone from a club that have been promoted and people didnt really think they were capable of much. They have proved people wrong and they are just a team that enjoy playing for each other. Sometimes that is the difference. I think they are more than capable of wrestling the title back, but Saracens have been one of the form sides in Europe for some time now. Its always going to be difficult and Exeter are always going to be the underdogs against Saracens, as are most of the teams out there. The pressure is off Exeter in that respect but we know they are more than capable of beating Saracens, they have done it before, and you wouldnt put it past them doing it again. Williams was speaking as he prepares to take on his toughest challenge yet for childrens charity Wooden Spoon scaling Mount Everest to break two Guinness World Records. He will lead one of four teams, alongside fellow rugby stars Ollie Phillips, Andy Gomarsall and Tamara Taylor, up the mountain in order to play the highest game of full contact rugby and the highest game of touch rugby. It is hoped the challenge will raise 200,000 for Wooden Spoon to help fund projects that support disadvantaged children and young people with disabilities across the UK and Ireland. Story continues It is quite a daunting challenge but the more I heard about it the more intrigued I was, he said. It doesnt get much more challenging than getting up to the base camp of Everest. Were also at the same time going to raise lots of money for Wooden Spoon and also hopefully going to break two Guinness World Records, so whats not to like about it? Everest has always been on my bucket list and if you look at the people who have attempted it, tried it and done it, Im one of these people who enjoys testing himself. When I was asked whether it was something I would consider doing it didnt take much for me to say, because it doesnt get much more challenging than that really. Support us in the LMAX Exchange Everest Rugby Challenge to help change the lives of children and young people with disabilities and facing disadvantage across the UK and Ireland visit woodenspoon.org.uk/Everest #everestrugby By Rozanna Latiff KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian anti-graft investigators questioned Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, for nearly 13 hours on Wednesday over a corruption investigation at state fund 1MDB. Najib has been charged with money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in the investigation into how billions of dollars went missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges and consistently denied wrongdoing, lost a national election in May. Last week, Azam Baki, the deputy commissioner of operations at Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), said he could not rule out charges being filed against Rosmah. Rosmah, who was questioned for three hours in June, arrived at MACC headquarters at around 0200 GMT and left at 1445 GMT. Her lawyer, K.Kumaraendran, told reporters she had completed giving her statement to the MACC. He declined to comment further. As she left, she said only: "I'm OK." Malaysian authorities have barred Najib and Rosmah from leaving the country. Their home and other properties linked to them have been searched by police as part of the 1MDB investigations. The U.S. Department of Justice has alleged more than $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB and that about $680 million ended up in Najib's personal bank account. The couple's world has been turned upside down since Najib's shock election defeat on May 9 to his one-time mentor Mahathir Mohamad, who swiftly reopened a probe into 1MDB. Authorities have seized luxury goods to an estimated value of up to $275 million from their homes, including 567 handbags, 423 watches and - among 12,000 pieces of jewelry - 1,400 necklaces, 2,200 rings, 2,800 pairs of earrings and 14 tiaras. Najib has said most of the items seized were gifts to his wife and daughter and had nothing to do with 1MDB. (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and John Stonestreet) Geneva (AFP) - A Yemeni activist who was held and allegedly tortured for months by Huthi rebels this week criticised the UN-backed peace process for his country as "naive", warning against "humanising" his captors. Hisham Al-Omeisy, an outspoken activist, journalist and political commentator, was arrested in August 2017 after speaking out against restrictions and corruption in rebel-held areas of the war-ravaged country. Omeisy, who has also harshly criticised the actions of the Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the rebels since 2015, says the Huthis accused him of being an American and Saudi spy. "I was tortured in prison... They employed barbaric measures," he told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. He warned that UN officials trying to bring both sides to the table to hammer out a peace deal were being "played by the Huthis". Omeisy was finally released in January after an international campaign to secure his freedom. He lives in Cairo but says he still follows the situation at home. Yemen's war pits forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014. Some 10,000 people have died since the conflict escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition entered the fighting to support the government. - 'Overly simplistic' - UN mediator Martin Griffiths tried earlier this month to organise the first negotiations between Yemen's warring sides in two years, but the Huthis failed to show up in Geneva. Omeisy said the rebels refusal to come should not have been a surprise, and questioned whether those trying to broker peace sufficiently understand the complexities of the conflict. "The process came off as very naive and overly simplistic," he said. A major mistake, he said, was trying to "humanise" the Huthis. Omeisy said he knew from his time in Huthi custody how brutal they were. Story continues "They would hang me from the wall, beat me up. I had cuts and bruises all over my body," he said, displaying scars on his wrists from metal cuffs and a stab-wound on the back of one hand. He also had pictures of big, red scars on his back and thigh. His interrogators demanded that he confess on video to being a spy, but Omeisy said he refused, pointing out that if he had given in, "I know I would have been executed". He said he was held alone in a tiny concrete cell with no light and no toilet, and was often denied food and water. "They dehumanise you," he said, adding that he knew of at least 16 journalists who were held in his block. He says he is haunted by their screams. - 'Syria on steroids' - The UN insists there is no military solution to Yemen's conflict, but Omeisy insisted it would be preferable to go in quickly to retake the areas under Huthi control, instead of allowing the conflict to drag on. The impression on the ground, he said, is that "the international community, and especially the Saudis, are willing to fight this war to the last Yemeni". He described the Yemen conflict as Syria "on steroids". While Syria's war has been raging for more than seven years, he warned that Yemen's conflict could "drag on for 70". The UN process was "flawed", he said. "You need something beyond just good intentions. You need a solid strategy, and you need a solid implementation." Omeisy meanwhile said he strongly supported the work of a group of investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council a year ago to probe violations in Yemen. In a report presented to the council Wednesday, the investigators said there was reason to believe that all sides in Yemen's conflict had committed "war crimes". The council is due to determine this week if the probe can continue for another year, but Saudi Arabia and others are opposed to extending its mandate. The investigators "are independent" and enjoy "enormous credibility on the ground", Omeisy said, adding that it was "extraordinarily important that it continues its work". A: I am retired and went to (the village) to volunteer. I was going to do (Meals on Wheels) but this is where they sent me. I wanted to help the community and this is a good thing to do. 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. Syrian mainstream rebel groups said on Thursday they have growing confidence that their jihadist rivals will comply with a requirement to leave a demilitarized buffer zone set up by Turkey and Russia under a deal that averted a Russian-backed Syrian army offensive. Earlier this month, Turkey and Russia reached an agreement to enforce a new demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib region from which according to the rebels will be required to withdraw by the middle of next month. A senior Syrian opposition official said the most powerful jihadist group in the Northwest, Tahrir al-Sham, spearheaded by al Qaeda's former Syrian offshoot, had sent secret feelers to the Turkish army though third parties in the last few days signaling they would comply. US President Donald Trump told journalists on Wednesday that he liked the idea of a two-state or one-state solution as long as the Palestinians and Israelis could agree, reverting back to the ambiguity surrounding the US peace initiative less than a day after he announced for the first time that he thinks the two-state solution "works best." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter "I like a two state solution. That's what I think works best ... That's my feeling," Trump said during a joint press conference held earlier in New York with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting. US President Donald Trump talking to reporters (Photo: AFP) Trump explained what he meant regarding a two-state solution: One of the reporters who was screaming asked me about the one state, two-state, and I said I think the two states will happen. I think its in one way more difficult because its a real estate deal But in another way it works better because you have people governing themselves. Trump expressed optimism for a two-state solution saying that most Israelis want a two-state solution. I said it and its a great thing. The bottom line is that if the Israelis and Palestinians want two states Im okay with that, if they want one state Im okay with that; I'm the broker. President Donald Trump says he thinks a two-state solution "will happen" between Israel and the Palestinians. "Jared (Kushner), who's so involved, he loves Israel ... but he's also going to be very fair with the Palestinians" https://t.co/dWHCcAp611 pic.twitter.com/NhaNHjS9cP This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 26, 2018 "I really believe something will happen. They say it's the toughest of all deals," Trump said with at the press conference with Netanyahu. The president mentioned his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his envoy to the Middle East, saying: "Jared who's so involved, he loves Israel ... but he's also going to be very fair with the Palestinians ... Everybodys got to be happy." (Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO) I was told that it is impossible to achieve peace in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Trump added. I heard it from the Saudi king Salman, who is a great man ... Some 12 world leaders told me that. I understood that peace in the Middle East is a great thing we are trying hard to reach a deal In my opinion two states is more logical. But I have no problem. Credit to Iran The US president also said that he succeeded in preventing a civilian massacre in Idlib, Syria, the last rebel stronghold. Trump went on to explain that he had just learned about the situation in Idlib after a woman in the crowd at a rally brought it up. "I was at a meeting with lots of supporters and a woman stood up and she said there is a province in Syria with 3 million people right now. The Iranians, Russians and Syrians are surrounding that province and they are going to kill my sister and kill millions of people in order to get rid of 25,000 or 30,000 terrorists. "I said that's not going to happen. I didn't hear of Idlib province. I came back and picked up the Failing New York Times and opened it up ... not the front page, but there was a very big story and I said wow that's the same story the woman told me and I found hard to believe and I said how, why would anyone do that? "That doesn't mean they can't be selective, but don't kill millions of people, and it stopped. Nobody is going to give me credit but that's OK because the people know, but I've had more Syrians thank me for that ... This was about four weeks ago I put that out," Trump said. Regarding the Russian announcement that a de-militarized zone was set up in Idlib Trump said that I gave credit to Iran, Russia and Syria that they didnt go ahead. He thanked Turkey as well for helping with the situation. Trump also further attacked the 2015 Iran nuclear deal calling it stupid. He was confident that Iran would return to the negotiating table because companies are leaving them left and right. They do not want to be in Iran because they have a choice either Iran or us. Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Trump's broad commitment to a two-state solution was not enough. "He has to spell it clearly... the two states (based on 67 borders), that East Jerusalem is an occupied territory. These (issues) are very important for us in order us to really move forward," Maliki said in New York after meeting representatives of dozens of countries on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders. US officials did not attend that meeting. Asked if he would engage with the United States when it released its peace plan, Maliki said: "Not at all." "As long as he is sticking to his decisions about Jerusalem, about settlements and about moving the embassy, there is no way," he said. Trump, asked what Israel might have to give up in return for the embassy's move to Jerusalem, replied: "I took probably the biggest chip off the table. And so obviously we have to make a fair deal, we have to do something. Deals have to be good for both parties ... Israel got the first chip and it's a big one." US President Donald Trump issued a strong warning to Iran on Wednesday saying that the US administration will impose "tougher than ever" sanctions against the nuclear-aspirant country. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter A day after he accused leaders in Tehran of sowing "chaos, death and destruction" , the US president continued his tirade against the Islamic Republic while chairing a United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting on nuclear proliferation. US President Donald Trump chairing a United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting (Photo: EPA) At the start of the meeting, Trump justified his decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran in light of its "malign conduct." The US president used the opportunity to issue a strong warning to nuclear-aspirant Iran, which he deemed the "world's leading sponsor of terror" fueling "conflict around the region and far beyond." Trump promised that the United States would ensure that Iran could never obtain nuclear weapons. "I ask all members of the Security Council to work with the United States to ensure the Iranian regime changes its behavior and never acquires a nuclear bomb," he said. "The United States will pursue additional sanctions tougher than ever before to counter the full range of Irans malign conduct, Trump told the council, adding that countries who fails to comply with the sanctions against Iran will face severe consequences." The US and the European powers disagree on the sanctions against Iran, since Britain, France and Germany still uphold the Iran nuclear deal. These countries oppose the imposition of sanctions against Iran since they believe Iran is in compliance with the terms of the long-term 2015 nuclear deal. On Monday, five world powers and Iran agreed to establish a financial facility in the European Union (EU) to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports including oil, a key move sought by Tehran following the US pullout from the nuclear deal and its re-imposition of sanctions. French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and British Prime Minister Theresa May (center) (Photo: AFP) "We need to build a long-term strategy to manage the Iran issue, not just sanctions and containment," French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday, adding that sanctions are not enough. In addition, British Prime Minister Theresa May said the nuclear deal remained the best means of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. In his speech, the US president also addressed the situation in Syria. Trump said that the Syrian president's slaughter of his country was made possible by his allies, Russia and Iran. However, he thanked Syria's allies for to postponing their attack on Idlib, the last stronghold of rebels in Syria. With all of this said, I want to thank Iran, Russia, and Syria for, at my very strong urging and request, substantially slowing down their attack on Idlib province and the 3 million people who live there, in order to get 35,000 targeted terrorists Get the terrorists, but I hope the restraint continues. The world is watching," Trump concluded. Trump also criticized Iran on Tuesday during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly. UN General Assembly (Photo: AFP) According to the US president, the leaders in Tehran are sowing "chaos, death and destruction", and the country's "corrupt dictatorship" is plundering the Iranian people to pay for aggression abroad. Some delegates at the General Assembly laughed and muttered when Trump praised the extraordinary achievements of his administration. You saw and heard their laughter. The message of this ridicule was the crumbling of your facade and the increased isolation of America, and this was a big political disgrace," said Mohammad Ali Jafari, Major General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). You can be sure that the people of Iran and the region are laughing at your completely false and ridiculous claims, but you cant hear their laughter from far away," Jafari added. Regardless of Iran, Trump's speech Tuesday was unusual. The American president lashed out at The Hague Court, the Human Rights Council, the immigration agreements, and globalization. Trump speaking the United Nations General Assembly (Photo: Reuters) Trump called upon the countries of the world to reject others countries' attempts to determine their fate, and promote patriotism instead. America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism and accept the ideology of patriotism, Trump told the audience. Trump's critics said Trump's speech undermines the concept of international cooperation, the same idea that led to the establishment of the UN following the horrors of World War II. On the other hand, Trump's supporters claim that the American president showed courage by forcing world leaders to see reality as it is. Before chairing the Security Council meeting, Trump met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Contrary to what he said in the past, the American president said that he "likes a two-state solution." "That's what I think works best. That's my feeling. Now, you may have a different feeling. I don't think so. But I think two-state solution works best," Trump said as he posed for photographs with Netanyahu. Trump gave his endorsement of the two-state solution moments after Netanyahu praised the American-Israeli alliance as never being stronger under (his) leadership. Later, Trump told a news conference that reaching a two-state solution is "more difficult since it's a real estate deal." Netanyahu-Trump meeting (Photo: Reuters) According to Trump, he would still support Israel and the Palestinians should they opt for a one-state solution, though he believed that was less likely. "Bottom line: If the Israelis and Palestinians want one-state, that's OK with me. If they want two states, that's OK with me. I'm happy if they're happy." The US president then revealed his plan to present a peace plan in the next two to three months. "It is a dream of mine to get that done prior to the end of my first term. I don't want to do it in my second term. We'll do other things in my second term. I think a lot of progress has been made. I think that Israel wants to do something and I think that the Palestinians actually want to do something," Trump disclosed. Asked what Israel might have to give up in return for the embassy's move to Jerusalem, Trump replied: "I took probably the biggest chip off the table and so obviously we have to make a fair deal, we have to do something. Deals have to be good for both parties ... Israel got the first chip and it's a big one." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The two leaders met amid continued efforts of Egyptian intelligence to mediate a possible long-term ceasefire arrangement between Israel and Hamas. (Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO) Netanyahu's talks with Sisi late on Wednesday focused on "regional developments", the Israeli Prime Minister wrote on Twitter without elaborating. A spokesman for the Egyptian president issued a statement saying that the two leaders "discussed the peace process, and stressed the importance of renewing negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis in order to form a comprehensive and just solution to the Palestinian problem." He added that resolving the problem would create a new reality in the Middle East, one "in which all peoples enjoy stability." According to the spokesman, Netanyahu thanked al-Sisi for his efforts in fighting terrorism. Netanyahu and al-Sisi met publicly for the first time in September of last year, also in New York. Last month, Ynet learned that the prime minister held a secret meeting with al-Sisi. The information came from a foreign diplomatic source, but the Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the matter. According to Channel 10 News, the meeting took place on May 22 when Netanyahu flew with a small delegation of advisors and security guards. He stayed in Egypt for a few hours and participated in the breaking of the Ramadan fast before returning to Israel late at night. Egypt plays an important role in a cease-fire talk between Israel and Hamas. (: , ") delegation of senior Egyptian intelligence officials arrived in the Gaza Strip for a brief visit as part of Egypt's effort to renew the internal reconciliation talks in Gaza as well as ceasefire negotiations with Israel. The Egyptian intelligence officials who entered Gaza through the Erez Crossing met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for a "significant and crucial" meeting, Palestinian sources said. "Egypt's main interest is to reach an intra-Palestinian reconciliation in accordance with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas's demand that he is the only legitimate representative of the Palestinians with whom any understandings can be reached. "Hamas, however, is interested in promoting a ceasefire agreement with Israel before an intra-Palestinian reconciliation is achieved, in order to take credit for easing the Israeli blockade over Gaza," the Palestinian sources elaborated. "Egypt views the dead end (in ceasefire talks with Israel) as pushing Gaza towards a dangerous military escalation on the border fence. Nevertheless, Egypt is not willing to promote calm only to please Hamas since it has bigger international and intra-Arab interests. Egypt will need to decide how to overcome this obstacle" the sources explained. Egypt has been working to broker a long-term ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip's dominant Hamas Islamist movement amid frequent violence along the Israel-Gaza border. Since March, thousands swarmed the security fence as part of "The Great March of Return," weekly protests. Egypt and the United Nations have been working to mediate in order to avoid another large-scale round of violence. Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognize Israel under a 1979 peace treaty and the two countries maintain close co-ordination on security as well as energy ties. On Thursday Israeli and Egyptian companies announced that they would buy into a pipeline that would enable a landmark $15 billion natural gas export deal to begin next year. Netanyahu and Sisi convened for their previously announced talks several hours after US President Donald Trump said he wanted a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in what had appeared to be the clearest expression yet of his administration's support for such an outcome. But later on Wednesday Trump told a news conference that he would be open to a one-state solution if that was the preference of the parties themselves, a position he had previously stated. Following Trump's remarks at his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday he is not interested in a Palestinian state, since he is more concerned with the weekly riots on the Gaza border fence. "I do not care about a Palestinian state. I am interested in a secure Jewish state. There are 20 percent Arab citizens who demonstrate on every occasion holding Palestinian flags. This is the problem that needs to be solved," Lieberman said. Regarding the Syrians and the Quneitra Crossing, the defense minister said that "Israel is ready to open the crossing as it did in the past. The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has returned to the crossing and they are prepared as well. The ball is now in the Syrian court." His work at New Mexico Tech, tracking Near Earth Asteroid 2002 UX in the 2018 Summer Science Program with two other scholars, resulted in an 18-page paper, some data from which was submitted to the NASA-sponsored Minor Planet Center for publication in its circular. The center tracks the nature and trajectory of asteroids, comets and other minor celestial bodies. The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council has said Thursday that Israel will be sorry if it continues to attack Syria's army and its allies. According to Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, "The Zionist regime has been trying to establish a crisis in Syria and has taken steps to directly support terrorist groups and target the Syrian army and forces who are confronting terrorism," semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. The same day that Russian diplomats struck a deal with Turkey over a demilitarized zone in Syria's last rebel-run region, dozens of Russian businessmen were flying home from Damascus, contracts in hand for trade with a postwar Syria. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Whatever happens to the rebels in Idlib province, Russia is determined to keep Syria solidly anchored in its sphere of influence over the long termboth as a foothold in the Middle East and as a warning to the US and its allies against future interference. "Russia wants ... a new Mideast security order," said Emile Hokayem, Middle East security expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Syrian rebels (Photo: MCT) While Russia is blamed for widespread death and destruction as it supports Syrian President Bashar Assad, its forces have proven decisive in the international struggle against the Islamic State group, giving Moscow a credibility that Western powers lack. "Their intervention yielded much better returns than anyone expected," Hokayem said. Now the central challenge facing US and other Western diplomats huddling about Syria this week at the United Nations is how to stay relevant. US President Donald Trump claimed credit Wednesday for saving Idlib from a Russian-backed offensive yet nearly everyone else says the credit goes to the presidents of Russia and Turkey for the accord they reached last week staving off a big battle. One by one, diplomats at UN meetings on Syria hailed the agreement, and expressed hope it holds despite persistent uncertainty over Idlib's fate. Russia basked in the praise. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dashed from one meeting to the next in the UN headquarters, stressing Russia's concerns about Syria with the top diplomats of Iran and Turkey, and with UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura. The EU hosted its own Syria gathering at the UN, and France is hosting a meeting Thursday of the "Small Group" that's trying to weigh in on Syria's future, despite years of failed efforts to back the Syrian opposition. Even as Russia flaunts its diplomatic success, it's also securing a military future with Syria. Russia announced Monday it's selling S-300 missile systems to Syria. A longtime client of Russian weapons manufacturers since well before the war, Syria also was a reliable trading partner. Moscow is furthering that relationship by rebuilding roads, pipes and skyscrapers wiped out by seven years of war including destruction wrought by Russia's own weapons. A group of 38 Russian companies took part in the Damascus International Fair earlier this month. It was at least the fourth event in the past year aimed at reviving Russian trade with Syria and Russian companies are heading back to Syria in early October for a conference on rebuilding the country. Syria's neighbors are similarly active, notably close ally Iran. But in Russia's case, analysts say, the economic activity is closely linked to its influence strategy. Russia, for example, wants to rebuild Syria's train network. "Russia built it in the first place, and wants to rebuild this and strategic economic ties," said independent Russian analyst Vyacheslav Matuzov. Rubble in Idlib (Photo: MCT) Russian companies are seeking a diverse trade base, with food, farming and energy deals, according to the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Among the most vocal proponents of renewed trade with Syria is Georgy Muradov of Crimea. Chamber Vice President Vladimir Padalko described "the firm intention of Russian business not just to restore past trade cooperation between our countries, but also actively move forward." But Russia doesn't want to foot the bill for the huge cost of reconstruction, so it is seeking Western help, notably in Lavrov's meetings at the UN. "Russia wants to rebuild Syria not just for egotistical reasons, but sees it as the responsibility of the international community," Matuzov said. Hokayem said prospects of that are low, but Russia is still "in the driver's seat" in Syria. "Russia is always a step ahead, and has a higher tolerance level" for ups and downs in the Syria war because Putin doesn't face serious domestic opposition. Russia's so-called Astana peace processdeal struck last year with Turkey and Iran to reduce fighting between insurgents and the Syrian government in de-escalation zoneshas been so much more successful than previous UN or Western-led efforts, Hokayem said, that "the UN envoy has adopted (it) as his own." The next few weeks will be critical for Syriaand for Russia's footprint. UN envoy de Mistura told The Associated Press that October is going to be "a very important month" both for Idlib and for his efforts to move toward peace. The secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council has said Israel will be sorry if it continues to attack Syria's army and its allies. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter Iran and Russia have both backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a seven-year war against rebels. Iranian President Rouhani (Photo: AP) But Israel, increasingly concerned that its enemy Iran may establish a long-term military presence in its neighbor, says it has carried out more than 200 attacks against Iranian targets in Syria in the last two years. "The Zionist regime has been trying to establish a crisis in Syria and has taken steps to directly support terrorist groups and target the Syrian army and forces who are confronting terrorism," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, said on Thursday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. "And if it continues, it will face reactions that will cause regret." He did not specify what this might mean. The Supreme National Security Council, chaired by President Hassan Rouhani, decides on Iran's foreign and security policy together with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Shamkhani made the comments during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, in Tehran. Russia said on Monday it would supply Syria with an S-300 surface-to-air missile system despite strong Israeli objections, a week after Moscow accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet by Syria air defenses. Russia blames Israel for Ilyushin downing (: RT) X On Wednesday, Syrias Dep. Defense Minister Faisal Mekdad said : Israel is used to carrying out many attacks using all sorts of excuses, now Israel will think twice before attacking. The S-300 missiles that Russia intends to supply us with in the next two weeks will be used for defense only. Syria will continue to defend itself as it has done thus far. Faisal Mekdad (Photo: AP) In a phone call with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that positioning the S-300 missile system in Syria will increase regional tensions. Putin told Netanyahu that the missiles are only meant to defend the Russian military. Netanyahu reportedly told Putin that Israel will continue to defend itself and its interests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday with Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurtz , on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The two leaders discussed the need to curb Iranian aggression, and the challenges faced in the region. In addition, Kurtz reviewed the steps his government's has taken to combat anti-Semitism, including the closure of Die Aula, a far-right Austrian magazine affiliated with the Austrian Freedom Party. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday that he is not interested in a Palestinian state, a day after US President Donald Trump said for the first time since entering the White House that he supports the concept of a two-state solution. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter "A Palestinian state does not interest me. I am interested in a secure Jewish state," Lieberman said during a tour of the Quneitra border crossing in the Golan Heights. "We are facing acute problems here, not just slogans. The fact that 20 percent of the Arab population in Israel participate time after time in riots and demonstrations carrying Palestinian flags this is the main problem. We have to take care of the Jewish state. The rest is less interesting," the minister stated. Speaking in a joint press conference on Wednesday in New York with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting, Trump said "I like a two state solution. That's what I think works best ... That's my feeling." Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: Effi Sharir) On a visit to the Israeli-held side of the Quneitra crossingattended by the head of Home Front Command, Maj. Gen. Yoel Strik Lieberman announced that Israel is ready to reopen the crossing point into the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights now that Syrian government forces have regained control from rebels. "We are ready to open the Quneitra crossing as we did in the past. The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has returned to the crossing and they are prepared as well. The ball is now in the Syrian court," Lieberman said. Military police from Russia, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, have been patrolling on the Syrian side of Quneitra, where Lieberman said Syrian police and customs officials were also present. With Israel committed to its non-intervention policy in Syria, Lieberman said the reopening merely means that security considerations now allow the crossing to operate. The crossing is primarily used by UN personnel stationed there and for the occasional transfer of agricultural products. In the past, Lieberman elaborated, traffic through Quneitra mainly comprised shipments into Syria of apples grown by Druze farmers on the Golan, and the entry of brides for partners on both sides of the armistice line. The Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing was captured four years ago by the rebels in Syria, forcing UN personnel to flee the area. After the crossing was captured, it changed hands many times over the years, until the Assad regime finally took control of it. The minister received a security briefing on IDF's preparations for the opening of the crossing, and met with members of the IDF Liaison Unit which maintains continuous contact with UNDOF. "We said from the outset that we have no interest in meddling in the civil war inside Syria, what interests us is us to ensuring the safety of the citizens of Israel," Lieberman said. "The fact that we have come here, to Alpha Gateand as far as we are concerned UNDOF forces have also begun to operate and patrol the area with IDF's assistancemeans that we are ready to open the crossing," he added. "In terms of the ability to operate the crossing, both from a security and administrative point of view, everything is ready and closed. We will ensure compliance with each and every section of the same separation agreement from 1974. We check ourselves every day, we are in daily contact with the soldiers of the UNDOF who are here on our right," Lieberman told reporters. When asked whether resuming routine in the crossing is, in fact, a recognition of Assad's regime, who committed war crimes in Syria, the minister replied: "We have never changed our position, we said that we are not interfering, that is the Syrians' business. Assad is not our friend. "As far as I am concerned, he is a war criminal and all those international bodies that are so concerned about human rightsI do not see them operating in the Syrian side, nor ask the regime for clarifications. We are concerned only about the security of Israeli citizens," Lieberman asserted. Referring to relations with Russia after Assad's forces accidentally shot down the Russian intelligence plane while trying to repel an IAF attack, the minister reiterated his regret for the deaths of 15 Russian aircrew members. Russian press conference on the downing of the spy plane (Photo: RT) Despite the diplomatic spar that ensued with Russian, the minister noted that the security coordination has continued. "The security coordination between the Russian army and the IDF is very important. We have no interest in conducting dialogue with Russia through the media As far as we are concerned, responsibility for the downing of the Russian plane lies with the Syrian army. All the rest will be discussed with the Russians behind closed doors," Lieberman added. Israel's defense minister says the country's border crossing with Syria is reopening for UN personnel and will resume operating as before the civil war erupted next door. Avigdor Lieberman visited the Quneitra crossing on Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined an invitation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to participate in a conference on anti-Semitism at the United Nations on September 26 2018. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter "While I commend all efforts to combat anti-Semitism, I have decided not to participate in this weeks UNESCO conference on anti-Semitism due to the organizations persistent and egregious bias against Israel, Netanyahu said in a press statement. Since 2009, UNESCO has passed 71 resolutions condemning Israel and only 2 resolutions condemning all other countries combined. This is simply outrageous, he continued. The mark of anti-Semitism was once singling out the Jewish people for slander and condemnation. The mark of antisemitism today is singling out the Jewish state for slander and condemnation, the prime minister stated. PM Netanyahu (Photo: Flash90) According to Netanyahu, UNESCO could only redeem itself and remove this mark of shame by doing more than host a conference on anti-Semitism. It must stop practicing anti-Semitism. Netanyahu also called on the organization to stop passing resolutions denying the connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, between the Jewish people and our eternal capital Jerusalem. No matter what UNESCO says, the Western Wall is not occupied Palestinian territory and the Cave of the Patriarchsthe burial site of Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, and Leahis not a Palestinian Heritage Site, Netanyahu said The Heritage Committee of UNESCO adopted in July 2017 a Palestinian request to declare Hebron's Old Cityand with it the Cave of the Patriarchsas a Palestinian World Heritage Site, raising ire in Israel In 2016, UNESCO's executive board formally adopted a controversial resolution which Israel said denies the deep historic Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem. Israel withdrew from UNESCO in 2017 , together with the US. Israel said that it had grown tired of "anti-Israel bias." UNESCO's General Conference (Photo: AP) Israel and the United States made a clear moral statement that UNESCOs anti-Semitism will no longer be tolerated, Netanyahus statement said. If and when UNESCO ends its bias against Israel, stops denying history and starts standing up for the truth, Israel will be honored to rejoin. Until then, Israel will fight anti-Semitism at UNESCO and everywhere else," he concluded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed before the UN General Assembly on Thursday another secret atomic facility in Iran, some four months after he presented what he said was conclusive proof of a secret project underway in Iran for the development of nuclear weapons. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter What Im about to say has not been shown publicly before ... Today Im revealing the site of a second facility, Irans secret atomic warehouse, he said after a brief introduction praising his country under his leadership for opposing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in May, making way for the reimposition of crippling sanctions that have devastated Irans currency and which threaten to ravage its economy. The new site Netanyahu identified sits a short distance from Shourabad where the Mossad pinched a trove of documents and evidence showing that Iran had archived its nuclear materials despite the nuclear deal. PM Netanyahu addresses UN General Assembly (: UN Web TV) X When I spoke here 3 years ago Israel stood alone among the nations. Of the nearly 200 countries that sit in this hall, only Israel openly opposed the nuclear deal with Iran. We oppose it because it threatens our future, even our very survival, the prime minister said. We opposed it because the deal paved Irans path to a nuclear arsenal and the lifting of the sanction has fueled Irans campaign of carnage and conquest throughout the Middle East. We opposed it because the deal was based on a fundamental lie Israel exposed that lie. Continuing what has become a traditional characteristic of presenting visuals during his UN speeches, Netanyahu said Let me show you exactly what the secret atomic warehouse looks like. Here it is, while holding up a picture of satellite and up-close images. According to Netanyahu, the second secret site was right near a rug-cleaning store, which he quipped may now be radioactive. There was no immediate official response from Tehran. Iran's mission to the UN did not respond to a request for comment. Iran's state-run, English-language Press TV channel carried Netanyahu's remarks live, but cut away after he made the allegation about the nuclear warehouse. PM Netanyahu shows satellite images of 'another atomic facility in Iran' (Photo: AFP) "Since we raided the atomic archive, theyve been busy cleaning out the atomic warehouse. Just last month they cleared out 15kg of radioactive material They took it out and they spread it around Tehran in order to hide the evidence," he claimed. He also said Israel shared the information with the UN atomic watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "The IAEA has not demanded to inspect a single site discovered in that secret archive. So given this inaction, I decided to reveal today something else that we have shared with the IAEA and a few intelligence agencies," he explained. Listing a legion of threats posed by Iran and its Lebanon-based terror proxy group Hezbollah, which he said was acquiring the technical know-how from Tehran to convert non-precision missiles into precision missiles to hit Israeli cities, Netanyahu said that he had a message for the tyrants of Tehran. Israel knows what you're doing and Israel knows where you are doing it, he declared. "What Iran hides, Israel will find. Netanyahu said that over the last year, Hezbollah has attempted to build an infrastructure for the conversion of surface-to-surface missiles into precision missiles near an airport in Beirut. In a similar vein to his message to Iran, Netanyahu issued a warning to Hezbollah. "I have a message for Hezbollah today: Israel also knows what youre doing. Israel knows where you are doing it and Israel will not let you get away with it." PM shows satellite images of precision missiles facility (Photo: AFP) The prime ministers speech comes on the heels of a diplomatic spat with Russia after Syria accidentally shot down a Russian spy plane while attempting to repel an IAF strike in Latakia. Since the incident last week, Israel has said that it will not be inhibited by the adverse political fallout from continuing to attack targets to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in Syria or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollaha message that Netanyahu used the podium to reiterate. Israel will do whatever it must do to defend itself against Irans aggression. We will continue to act against you in Syria, we will act against you in Lebanon and we will continue to act against you in Iraq ... wherever, whenever, to defend our state and to defend out people, he vowed. Accusing Iran of using money that poured into its coffers following the lifting of economic sanctions in the wake of the nuclear deal, Netanyahu said that Tehran used the money to fuel its vast war machine. PM Netanyahu at UNGA (Photo: AFP) But Irans aggression, the prime minister said, was not confined to the Middle East, asserting that it had spread both into New York and Europe. Despite the threats posed by Iran to the European continent, Netanyahu said that its nations were still appeasing and "coddling" the Islamic republic by seeking to mitigate the financial impact of US sanctions. "Im an historians son, I have to ask. I ask not merely as an historians son, I ask it as a Jew, as a citizen of the world, as someone whos lived through the 20th century: Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?" he asked. Well, in Israel, we dont need a wakeup call because Iran threatens us every day. Because despite the best of hope, and there were many hopes around the nuclear deal, this deal did not push war further away. It brought war ever closer to our borders, Netanyahu said. But Netanyahu did say that the Iran nuclear deal had made one significant, positive contribution to the MIddle East. I have an important confession to make. This may surprise you. But I have to admit that the Iran deal has had one positive consequence By empowering Iran, it brought Israel and many Arab states closer together than ever before, in an intimacy and friendship that Ive not seen in my lifetime and that would have been unimaginable years ago, he said while pounding the rostrum. Netanyahu also used the end of his speech to criticize the people who have objected to Israels recent passage of the Nation-State Law, which Abbas said would lead to an official apartheid system. "Israel is called racist for making Hebrew the official language? When Israel is declared an apartheid state for declaring itself the nation-state of the Jewish people, it is downright preposterous," he shouted. "There are more than 50 countries here that have crosses or crescents on their flags, he pointed out, stressing that those countries are inhabited by people from many faiths. Only Israel is denigrated, he said, for celebrating its national heritage. Here at the UN, Israel is absurdly accused of racism Here at the UN, Israel is shamefully accused of apartheid. Here at the UN, Israel is outrageously accused of ethnic cleansing. Its the same old anti-Semitism with a brand new face, he said, prompting a round of applause from supporters. The Israeli leader slammed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for lambasting Israel on the podium just moments earlier, citing examples of hypocrisy in Abbass accusations of racism against Israel. President Abbas, you should know better. You write a dissertation denying the Holocaust. Your PA imposes death sentences on Palestinians for selling land to Jews, he said. He also highlighted the PAs policy of paying Palestinian terrorists for killing Jews in Israel. President Abbas, you proudly pay Palestinian terrorists who murder Jews. In fact the more they slay, the more you pay. Thats in their law too, and you condemn Israels morality? You call Israel racist? This is not the way to peace, he vented. Netanyahus remarks to the UN came a day after Trump made his first public endorsement of a two-state solution to resolve the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking before the prime minister, President Abbas told the UN General Assembly that Jerusalem "is not for sale" while urging President Trump to rescind his decisions recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and cutting aid to the Palestinians, which he said had undermined the two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. "I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements." Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday during UN General Assembly that President Trump should "rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and Jewish settlements." Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that Jerusalem "is not for sale" while urging US President Donald Trump to rescind his decisions recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and cutting aid to the Palestinians, which he said had undermined the two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook STRONG> and Twitter The aging Palestinian leader did not hold back on the expected broadside against Israel, which he accused of continuing a colonial occupation continues to suffocate us." He also said that Israel's recent passage of the Nation-State Law will lead to an apartheid state, adding that it discriminates against the countrys non-Jewish population Abbas said Palestinians would never reject negotiation, but that "it's really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they talk call the 'deal of the century.'" Abbas speaks during UNGA (: UN Web TV) X "What is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people?" he asked. "What is left as a political solution? "We are not redundant. Why are we treated as redundant people who should be gotten rid of?" Abbas asked. Abbas said the United States could no longer be the sole mediator. "The US acts as a mediator; however now we view the US with new eyes. The US cannot be a mediator single-handedly," Abbas said. Trump's Jerusalem decision and cutting of aid to the UN's main Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, he said, shows that his adminsitration has "reneged on all previous US commitments, and has undermined the two-state solution." "I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements," he said. PA President Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: AP) Abbas also called upon the world to recognize a state of Palestine. "I call upon the countries of the world that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine to do so immediately. There is no escape from the eventual recognition. It will not prevent us from returning to the negotiating table, it will only encourage us to do so," he said. Turning to the crumbled reconciliation agreement between his Fatah faction and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group, Abbas said that the PA would not take responsibility for the coastal enclave, which has engaged in Israel in almost daily violent border skirmishes in recent months. Abbas said he would relinquish all responsibility for the strip "if Hamas does not accept the implementation of the reconciliation agreement with Fatah." Despite his criticism of the US administration, Trump said on Wednesday that he believes that the two-state solution works best, in what was a first public endorsement of the idea since entering the White House. PA President Abbas (Photo: AFP) The remarks, which were made during a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, shed light on the possible basis of a long-awaited peace initiative to be launched by the US administration between Israel and the Palestinians. However, shortly after Trump appeared to backtrack on his remarks once again, telling journalists in a seapate press conference that he liked the idea of a two-state or one-state solution as long as the Palestinians and Israelis could agree. Abbas also rebuffed claims by Israeli leaders that he has repeatedly refused to renew peace negotiations, saying that he is sticking to peace and the two-state solution." We are not against negotiations. Not once did I refuse offer to return to the negotiating table. I have agreed to every request to sit with Prime Minister Netanyahu for talks," he said. According to Abbas, it was Netanyahu who declined an invitation by Russia to enter into negotiations. But they also got questions about registration, she said. People asked how to find out if family members were registered, or how to get absentee ballots for the November elections. They were able to hand out plenty of information, she said. Mahmoud Abbas threatened during his speech at the UN on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority will not be responsible for the Gaza Strip, "if Hamas does not accept the implementation of the reconciliation agreement with Fatah." Mahmoud Abbas called on world leaders Thursday during the UN General Assembly to recognize the state of Palestine. "I call upon the countries of the world that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine to do so immediately. There is no escape from the eventual recognition. It will not prevent us from returning to the negotiating table, it will only encourage us to do so," he stressed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed during the UN General Assembly on Thursday the Iranian nuclear deal. What Im about to say has not been shown publicly before Iran has another secret facility a secret atomic warehouse. "Today Im revealing the site of a second facility, Irans secret atomic warehouse," he stressed. Prime Minister Netanyahu accused Europe of appeasing Iran in light of the nuclear threat. Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up? We in Israel, we dont need a wakeup call because Iran threatens us every day, he exclaimed. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman addressed Thursday the speech made by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during the UN General Assembly. Mahmoud Abbass speech was an inventory of all the insults and disappointments from the day he was born until now," the defense minister wrote on his official Twitter account. "Instead of taking the outstretched hand of the agreement proposed by Israel and the US, all that Abbas is interested in is keeping score and bringing the region into a conflict," he added. We will stand determined against any attempt to harm the lives of our citizens and we will exact the price from those responsible for it," Lieberman stressed. Ed Rossi, of Neenah, Wis., performs a jump on his motorcycle in front of area school kids on a blocked off Aurora Street in downtown Ironwood Wednesday afternoon. It was part of a show at the Ironwood Theatre put on by the COLE's Foundation. By LARRY HOLCOMBE [email protected] IRONWOOD - Downtown Ironwood was jumping with activity during the middle of the day Wednesday as 1,400 area school kids arrived in school buses to take in a show inside and out of the Ironwood Theatre. COLE's Foundation is marking its 10th anniversary and invited area schools to attend the show dedicated to the message "giving back." There were two shows - one in late morning, the other early afternoon - filling the theater with 700 kids twice. Before entering the theater, students lined both sides of blocked-off Aurora Street in front of the t... The Perth market showed slight signs of weakening during the week of September 23, as sales activity and properties for rent declined, while the stock of homes for sale increased. The Real Estate Institute of Western Australias (REIWA) Perth Market Snapshot revealed that sales were down by 1% last week overall, although this was primarily linked to a 44% drop in vacant land sales, as house sales and unit sales saw increases of 4% and 3%, respectively. Digging deeper, the slowing rise in population in Western Australia may also have influenced the sales volume. As the Australian Bureau of Statistics recently disclosed, the states population growth is presently at .8% a change brought about by lower levels of net migration, which has an impact on housing demand. There were 13,853 properties for sale in Perth this week, which is a 1% increase compared to last week. Month-over-month, the weeks overall listing figure is 2% higher, while year-over-year, the recorded number is up by 4%. Finally, REIWA members reported that there were 7,268 properties for rent in Perth this week, down by 2% when compared to the past week. The week's rental listings figure is 7% lower than levels seen about a month ago and 27% lower than the same time in 2017. News Washington, DC - "The United States of America has been among the greatest forces for good in the history of the world, and the greatest defenders of sovereignty, security, and prosperity for all." ~ President Donald J. Trump ADDRESSING THE UNITED NATIONS: President Donald J. Trump is delivering his second major remarks before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). President Trump is attending the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he will deliver remarks to the full Assembly and attend a series of bilateral meetings. This is the second major speech by President Trump before the UNGA, having delivered remarks to the Assembly in September 2017. SHARING A VISION FOR COOPERATION: In his remarks, President Trump lays out a positive vision for cooperation among strong, sovereign partners. President Trump is sharing a positive vision for cooperation among nations based on mutual respect and sovereignty. The United States seeks strong, sovereign partners who control their own destinies. President Trump applauds nations that are taking more responsibility for solving problems in their regions, such as in the Middle East where countries have stepped up to combat terror. ACHIEVING PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH: The Trump Administration has achieved historic foreign policy success in the year since President Trumps 2017 remarks to the UNGA. Mayor creates order for all new city employees to be vaccinated The order requires prospective employees for the City of Pueblo and Pueblo Transit to either be fully vaccinated or have a qualifying exemption. News New York - Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan met with Angolan Minister of External Relations Manuel Augusto on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. The Deputy Secretary applauded the Lourenco Administrations bold steps to fight corruption, strengthen democratic institutions, and improve the business climate in Angola. He pledged U.S. support for Angolas efforts to recover stolen assets and promote transparency and accountability. Finally, Deputy Secretary Sullivan thanked Minister Augusto for Angolas regional leadership in supporting credible and non-violent elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and encouraged Angola to keep the pressure on North Korea to work towards a de-nuclearized Korean peninsula. Latest News New York - Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump and President Ivan Duque Marquez of Colombia discussed the strong United StatesColombia partnership and our cooperation in the areas of counter-narcotics, organized crime, and energy security. 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Ltd., Wide Wealth Group Holding Limited, Xinjiang Jinko Solar Co. Ltd., Yuhuan Jinko Solar Co. Ltd., Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co. Ltd., and Zhejiang Jinko Trading Co. Ltd.. A Ghanaian DJ in the UK, Elyon Poku, known professionally as Nana Banger, has reportedly been stabbed to death over the weekend. Nana, 20 years of age, was at a house party in Stamford Hill, North London, when an argument erupted at a party he was attending. According to a report YEN.com.gh sighted on GhanaCelebrities.com, Nana and some friends were at an 18th birthday party when pandemonium broke out around 1am. Some people suffered stab wounds, including a 17 year old boy and Nana Banger but the Ghanaian died later despite both being rushed to hospital. READ ALSO: Photos of beautiful nurse who safely delivered a woman in labour on a moving bus go viral The report stated that the police have arrested three suspects on suspicion of murder a 16-year-old boy and two men, aged 28 and 29 whilst another suspect is being held for affray. Police have also indicated they plan to speak to more than 200 witnesses from the party. Narrating what happened, Jordan Henry, a friend of the birthday boy, told the Metro: It was an 18th birthday party of one of my friends and the invitation just went round to too many people and over 100 people showed up. he said. READ ALSO: Princess Shyngle puts her hot body on display in latest wild bikini photos and video It was posted on social media and everyone showed up. The neighbours said they saw two boys fighting outside and then one of them who was stabbed ran back inside. Once everyone knew what it was they started running and screaming down the street, it was like a riot. It was crazy," he added. Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah, currently on loan at Fulham, was a friend of Nana Banger and mourned him after news of his passing came out. RIP to you my brotherlove U may god bless U @nanabanger. Fosu-Mensah, who also has Ghanaian roots, wrote on social media. READ ALSO: Kumawood's Lil Win builds plush school 1 month after being made a chief (Photo+Video) Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh: Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook/Instagram pages with your stories, photos Source: Yen Ghana - Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has joined calls for the dismissal of the Upper West regional coordinator of NADMO over expired food gaffe - Vice President and NADMO have come under massive public backlash after he distributed food items including expired ones to flood victims Gabby Otchere-Darko is suggesting the Upper West Regional Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) must be dismissed for the gaffe which many believed embarrassed the vice president. According the founder of the Danquah Institute (DI), anyone who serves expired food to flood victims and embarrasses the vice president in the process must also be shown the door. He opined that for the NADMO boss in the Upper West Region to supervise the distribution of expired relief goods to flood victims, he must also go. READ ALSO: We can't pay dividends due to SECs action - Menzgold When you serve flood victims expired goods, your job also deserves to expire. You dont treat victims and the Veep this way. The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and NADMO have come under massive public backlash after he distributed food items including expired ones to flood victims in Wa in the Upper West region last weekend. The donation came after weeks of intense media reports of a seeming government neglect of the victims, scores of whom, had been displaced by the flood as a result of the spillage of the Bagre Dam. The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Upper West Region was the first to raise the alarm about the expired food items that were distributed following devastating floods. READ ALSO: Ghana-U.S. reach diplomatic agreement to deport 7000 persons Meanwhile, NADMO, in a statement, took full responsibility for distributing the expired goods saying it was a mistake and assured the general public that no such incident will recur in the future. Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: Mother of 5 children goes back to JHS after childbirth Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos Source: Yen Ghana - The Office of former president JJ Rawlings has debunked reports he is being prepared for medical treatment abroad - A statement from his office allayed fears the former military leader is under severe medical condition at the Cardiothoracic Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital The office of former president Jerry John Rawlings has denied reports that he is currently on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. A statement signed by Communication Director, Kobina Andoh Amoako, said Rawlings is in his usual state of good health. The statement also denied reports that Rawlings is sick, explaining that the ex-president is able to meet the demands of his daily routine activities. Jerry John Rawlings Source: UGC READ ALSO: Ghana-U.S. reach diplomatic agreement to deport 7000 persons Reports circulating in the media on Wednesday suggested Rawlings was rushed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital after falling ill. The report got many concerned, especially after Rawlings official Facebook page confirmed that he had indeed been admitted to the KBTH. However, the statement said such a publication was erroneous, pointing out that the former presidents admission at the hospital was just a precautionary measure. Rawlings was reportedly admitted to the Cardiothoracic Unit of the KBTH a week ago as a precautionary measure to manage a low blood count condition. The former presidents office, however, assured the public that the primary cause has since been detected and managed. The statement added that Rawlings has no immediate plans of seeking medical treatment outside the country, after initial diagnosis from doctors. Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: Gabby calls for head of NADMO boss over expired food saga Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos. Source: Yen News Former president, John Dramani Mahama, has said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will teach the current government what better governance is when it returns to power. Mahama said the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, led by President Akufo-Addo, has hugely disappointed Ghanaians. He accused the government of making so many campaign promises which it has so far failed to honour. Former president John Mahama. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Rawlings in good health Mahama is currently in the Agona East Constituency as part of his four-day tour of the Central Region to canvass votes ahead of the NDCs flagbearer primaries. The former president said the NPP has disappointed Ghanaians and that the NDC will teach them what better governance means upon its return to power. According to him, the government has abandoned many of the projects he began, pointing to the Community Day Senior High Schools as a case in point. The NPP will see the difference in governance when we return to power, Mahama boldly remarked. We began with development projects, social and economic infrastructure leads to development. For every nation to prosper, you need roads, hospitals and schools, we began these. We began constructing Community Day SHS to support the progressive free SHS but those schools have been abandoned by this government. READ ALSO: Gabby calls for head of NADMO boss over expired food saga Mahama will face competition from at least 10 other candidates in the race to become the NDCs flagbearer for the 2020 elections. Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: Ghana-U.S. reach diplomatic agreement to deport 7000 persons Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos. Source: Yen - USA's First Lady, Melania Trump, will be visiting Ghana and three other Africa countries from October 1, 2018 - While in Africa, she will be promoting her Be Best child welfare initiative - Specific details of her trip to Africa are yet to be revealed The First Lady of the United States of America (USA), Melania Trump, will visit Ghana and three other African countries in October 2018. Information available to YEN.com.gh shows that this is her first extended solo international visit. She will be in Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt, in a bid to promote her Be Best child welfare initiative throughout Africa. First Lady of the USA, Melania Trump Source: www.independent.co.uk Source: UGC READ ALSO: Photo of a mother of 5 children who goes back to JHS leaks online She made this known on Wednesday, September 26, 2018, at a reception for the spouses of foreign leaders and others participating in the annual United Nations (UN) General Assembly. "October 1 will mark the first day of my solo visit to four beautiful and very different countries in Africa," the Associated Press (AP) reported Melania Trump as saying. This was during brief remarks to several dozen guests in a reception room in a building near UN headquarters. The Be Best initiative was launched earlier this year to focus on overall child well-being, with an emphasis on opioid addiction and online behaviour. The countries on her itinerary have worked closely with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is helping organize the trip. "Whether it is education, drug addiction, hunger, online safety or bullying, poverty or disease, it is too often children who are hit first, and hardest, across the globe," she explained. She went on to say that "each of us hails from a country with its own unique challenges, but I know in my heart we are united by our commitment to raising the next generation to be happy, healthy and morally responsible adults." The First Lady offered no details with regard to her activities in each country, and did not say when she would be returning to the USA. READ ALSO: Rawlings discharged from the Cardio Unit - Office Top 3 Ghana Richest Women: Who Are They? | Yen.com.gh Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos Source: Yen.com.gh Some seven persons who perished when their car run into a land cruiser allegedly owned by NDC Member of Parliament for Asutifi South, Collins Dauda, have been laid to rest. According to a report YEN.com.gh sighted on Citinewsroom. burial service was held for them on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, at Atuahenekrom in the Brong Ahafo Region, before they were buried at Asamang in the Ashanti Region. The crash occurred at a sharp curve between Wamahinso and Atuahenekrom in the Asutifi North district of the Brong Ahafo Region, when they were returning from Kumasi after attending a one-week funeral ceremony of a deceased family member. Collins Dauda Source: UGC The incident left all seven on-board a taxicab dead, with the 3 occupants of the Land cruiser sustaining injuries. The injured are responding to treatment at the Goaso Government Hospital. READ ALSO: Abigail Aborgah breaks record; becomes UCC best graduating student The victims, Joshua Kofi Acheampong, 30 was the Assistant Budget Analyst of the Asutifi North District Assembly, Prince Kankam, 31, a level 300 student of University of Education-Winneba, Kumasi campus, Kwaku Isaac, 27, a taxi driver, Acheampong Albert, 24, a student, Yeboah Gifty, 35, Afia Owusuwaa, 62, and a 5 year old boy, Yeboah Joseph. Funeral poster of the victims (Photo source: Citinewsroom.com) Source: UGC Residents and sympathizers clad in red and black, wailed and sang hymns at the funeral grounds to bid farewell to their loved ones. READ ALSO: First photo and video of beautiful school built by Lil Win for his community The Goaso District Pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA), Pastor Joseph Agyemang, basing his sermon on Romans 5:8 said Gods love for mankind was supreme in spite of challenges that one may encounter. The coffin's of the victims (Photo source: Citinewsroom.com) Source: UGC He therefore encouraged Ghanaians to love each other by sharing the blessings that God has bestowed on mankind. READ ALSO: Young Ghanaian midwife delivers pregnant woman of her baby on a moving bus (Photos) He said the incident was a huge blow to the church and tasked members to pray for forgiveness. The Asutifi North District Assembly in a tribute read by the Coordinating Director, George Padmore Mensah to their Assistant Budget Analyst, Joshua Acheampong, described him as very competent in his work. Another view of the victim's coffins (Photo source: Citinewsroom.com) Source: UGC Mr. Joshua Acheampong was posted to the assembly on 20th March, 2017, as the Assistant Budget Analyst. He was the secretary to the finance and administration sub-committee and the budget committee. For about one and half years, Joshua worked with the assembly, he showed consistency in his duties and proved himself to be diligent, sincere and an honest person. He possessed a high sense of responsibility, initiative and enormous energy in his professional conduct, he observed. The Assembly member of the Atuahenekrom Electoral and Family Head, Hon. Ebenezer Oteng, in a Citi News interview, described the situation as devastating and a big blow to the family. Police in the area say the accident is still being investigated, assuring that the culprits will be dealt with appropriately. Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported the death of a young Ghanaian man in London. READ ALSO: Photo of a mother of 5 children who goes back to JHS after childbirth leaks online The deceased, Elyon Poku, a DJ known professionally as Nana Banger, was reportedly stabbed to death over the weekend. Nana, 20 years of age, was at a house in Stamford Hill, North London, when an argument erupted at a party he was attending. Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh: Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook/Instagram pages with your stories, photos Source: Yen Newspaper - Former President Mahama has referred to the Akufo-Addo-led administration as a failure - According to him, it is the reason why there is so much hardship in Ghana - John Mahama is expected to visit all 23 constituencies in the Central Region to campaign Former President John Mahama has referred to President Akufo-Addos government as a failure. Speaking to National Democratic Congress (NDC) supporters in Awutu Senya East in the Central Region, he stated that the NDC must be proud of what we did in government for 8 years. According to him, Ghanaians are facing hardship because the current government is led by a failure. READ ALSO: Rawlings discharged from the Cardio Unit - Office His comment allegedly sparked wild reactions from the crowd, who had gathered to welcome him. YEN.com.gh understands that the NDC flagbearer hopeful is expected to harshly criticize the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and those in government. The former president will be in the Central Region for four days and will campaign in all 23 constituencies. John Mahama, after declaring his interest in leading the NDC in the 2020 elections, has hit the ground running. He is however expected to fend of competition from other party stalwarts who have all declared their interest in leading the party. The NDC is expected to go to the polls in December 2018 to elect its flagbearer for the 2020 elections. READ ALSO: Abigail Aborgah is UCC's best graduating student Ghana Funny Tricky Questions: 6X9? | #Yencomgh Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on Facebook or Instagram now! Source: Yen.com.gh - The General Secretary of the NDC, John Asiedu Nketiah, suspects the IGP has a feud with Collins Dauda over a woman - Collins Dauda was on the dawn of Tuesday arrested on the orders of the IGP in his home The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has spoken on the arrest of a lawmaker from his party and intimates that perhaps, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) is feuding with the lawmaker over a woman. The lawmaker in question is Collins Dauda of Asutifi South. According to multiple sources, the issue of the Member of Parliament involves a vehicle belonging to him that was involved in a fatal accident. Nketiah quoted as saying: I dont know if Asante-Apeatu [IGP] and Collins Dauda have been fighting over one woman. Because whenever the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in power, he arrests Collins Dauda." It is not too clear if Asiedu Nketiah intended his comments as a joke. He has been known to make similar controversial statements in the past. READ ALSO: DJ Switch meets French President Emmanuel Macron Collins Dauda is the Member of Parliament for Asutifi South. Source: UGC Some eight armed police officers raided the home of Asutifi South Member of Parliament, Collins Dauda, at dawn in a bid to arrest him, YEN.com.gh learnt. According to a report on Classfmonline.com, Member of Parliament for Asawase and Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, confirmed the incident. READ ALSO: Ayisha from St. Louis and the naughty video moves on with her life (VIDEO) The officers reportedly stormed the Minority lawmakers home in his constituency at around 4 am on Tuesday, 25 September to effect the arrest. Ghana News Today: Duncan Williams - The Shocking Truth About His Divorce | Yen.com.gh Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has hinted that some appointees of President Nana Akufo-Addo are refusing to collaborate with him. According to Mr. Amidu, his outfit will not be successful in delivery of his mandate if the friction between his office and heads of critical government institutions is not eliminated. The Special Prosecutor said this while speaking at the National Audit Forum organised by the Ghana Audit Service. READ ALSO: Rawlings in good health The former Attorney General also indicated that individuals heading government agencies have simply not been supportive. The success of the experiment would depend on the extent to which Ministries, Departments and Agencies in government with the responsibility to cooperate with the office to achieve the vision of the president who championed the setting up of the office. The present situation where critical ministries and agencies have failed even with our limited constraints or refused to produce public records on demand to aid the office in critical investigations, offences running into millions of cedis, clearly demonstrates that there is divergence between the presidents vision and that of some of his appointees, he noted. The SP, who was speaking bluntly for the first time about the challenges confronting his office, indicated that his track record alone cannot eradicate this canker that continues to bedevil the country. READ ALSO: 5 reasons why Florence fell for 'Angel' Obinim You ask for information you cant get it, you ask for docket, the docket cannot be produced. You ask a minister for a record; the record cannot be produced. How do you fight corruption when those appointed by the president who has a vision are not coordinating with the office of the special prosecutor to achieve his mandate? That is the challenge we have to face, he stressed. The office of the special prosecutor was set up in February 2018 but it is yet to be fully effective after the noise that greeted the appointment of the man affectionately called Citizen Vigilante, for his anti-corruption campaigns. Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: Seven persons killed in accident involving Collins Daudas car buried Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook/Instagram pages with your stories, photos. Source: Yen Co-directed by Huang Jiakang and Zhao Ji, the animated film White Snake-a Sino-US coproduction-is set for release on Dec. 21. White Snake is based on a popular Chinese folk tale, in which a white snake longing for a human existence turns into a woman and marries a scholar named Xu Xian. According to Zhao, the story in the new animation takes place before the white snake meets Xu at the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. "We created a love story for the white snake, as we wanted to see what she had to go through when she was young," says Zhao. "We have never seen an animated version of the tale on the big screen-the fantasy is actually more suited to being an animation," Zhao says. Huang thinks the story is ideal for young people as it tells a story that discusses love and relationships. "It's a story that approaches the insecurities that many young lovers feel, like 'what if I'm not like who you imagine me to be, will you still love me?' It's very relatable," explains Huang. Ghanaians, like perhaps anyone else in any part of the world, travel the world over for reasons of pleasure, work or just for the sake of living in another country. The process involved in trying to get into some countries can be very arduous. However, only recently, the Government of South Africa announced that Ghana is among a list of countries whose citizens do not need a visa to go there. This was well-received in Ghana. South Africa joins a list other countries that were already had visa-free access to Ghanaians. YEN.com.gh compiles a list of these countries: READ ALSO: Ayisha from St. Louis and the naughty video moves on with her life (VIDEO) 1. South Africa Of the countries that are accessible to Ghanaians visa-free, South Africa is apparently the best economy. A country of over 50 million people, this African giant has proven to be a success story despite historical challenges. Ghanaians can now visit the land Nelson Mandela and not requiring a visa to do so. 2. Indonesia Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Muslim population. It is also one of the largest countries in Asia per population. By sheer virtue of numbers, Indonesia has a very productive economy that offers opportunities to Ghanaians who might want to go there. 3. Phillipines Philippines is a Spanish-speaking country in Asia. It might have been in the international news a lot more these days because its controversial president, Rodrigo Duterte. But Philippines is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Tourism is one of the countries biggest foreign exchange earners. 4. Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago is a small Caribbean country. It is the home country of superstar musician, Nicki Minaj. Tourism is T and T's biggest foreign exchange earner. Ghanaians might therefore like to go there for pleasure. 5. Senegal Senegal has been voted one of Africa's cleanest countries. It is also one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. Senegal is not far from Ghana as both countries are in West Africa. This should make for shorter flights for Ghanaians who want to go there. 6. Cape Verde Another of the West African countries, Cape Verde, is a collection of smaller islands on the west-coast of Africa. It is a tourist destination for s lot of Europeans and there is no reason it should not be Ghanaians too. READ ALSO: Nana Addos government has been a failure - Mahama 7. Kenya Apart from South Africa, Kenya is Africa's biggest tourism destination for non-Africans. The wildlife and exotic resorts Kenya has to offer makes it right got-to country. Ghanaians now have the chance to visit this internationally-adored country visa-free. Ghana News Today: Duncan Williams - The Shocking Truth About His Divorce | Yen.com.gh Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh - A presidential aspirant, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has mocked Former President John Mahama, with regard to the 2016 elections. - His comment was in reaction to a statement of Mahama's to the effect that God allowed the NDC to lose the election for a reason - Mahama explained that the loss was to give Ghanaians the opportunity to compare the NDC to the NPP An aspiring flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has thrown a jab at Former President John Mahama. Speaking on Thursday, September 27, 2018, he said that Mahamas version of NDCs defeat in the 2016 elections differs from that which he received from God. He argued that God did not cause the partys defeat in the year 2016; instead it was as a result of the poor electioneering campaign strategy adopted by the party. READ ALSO: 5 reasons why Florence fell for 'Angel' Obinim He cited how the NDC, till date, has not been able to collate the 2016 election results even though it had a campaign team. His comment followed remarks by Mahama to the effect that God wanted to give Ghanaians the opportunity to compare the NDC to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The flagbearer aspirant said because God speaks to people in different ways, John Mahama cannot be faulted for saying what God may have revealed to him. God speaks to people in different ways; even prophets of God see different things but God has not told me he caused our defeat, he added. The defeat suffered by the NDC in the 2016 elections, YEN.com.gh understands, is the heaviest for a sitting president since Ghana returned to democratic rule in 1992. Nana Akufo-Addo, then the opposition leader, secured a one-touch victory by polling 53.85% of total valid votes cast against incumbent John Dramani Mahama who managed 44.40%. According to Dr Spio-Garbrah, the only way the NDC can win the 2020 elections is for the party to present a new candidate. READ ALSO: Rawlings discharged from Cardio Unit - Office Ghana Funny Tricky Questions: 6X9? | #Yencomgh Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos Source: Yen.com.gh - The meeting between GIBA and Parliaments Communications Committee ended abruptly following a near scuffle between two members - Chairman of the committee Kennedy Agyapong and a committee member Sam George engaged in nasty exchanges forcing the suspension of the meeting There was a near-brawl between the chairman of the parliamentary select committee on communication Kennedy Agyapong and a member on the minority side, Samuel Nartey George during a meeting on the controversial StarTimes deal. The two MPs disagree over the termination of local firm K-NETs contract by the government, in connection with the setting up of the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Network Platform. K-NET has done about 90% of the job, according to Communication Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, but the firm is currently cash-strapped, thus, the need for StarTimes, a Chinese firm, to come into the picture. Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin Central Source: Original READ ALSO: 2bn dollars Sinohydro deal not loan agreement IMF While Mr Agyapong is in favour of the termination of the K-NET deal due to, according to him, the shabby manner in which the local company treated his (Mr Agyapongs) NET2 TV station in the past, Mr Nartey George believes the StarTimes deal is detrimental to local players in the industry. Speaking to journalists in parliament, committee member Ras Mubarak said: There was an issue that should not have happened in the first place, especially as there were visitors attending upon the committee. It was an embarrassing spectacle but we will try and resolve it internally. He further opined that what transpired was a dent on the credibility of Parliament. I will not want to be a member of a committee that cant conduct itself well in the presence of guests, he said. Mr. Mubarak however, asked parliament to swiftly reconstitute the Communications Committee. Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: 5 reasons why Florence fell for 'Angel' Obinim Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page. Source: Yen YEN.com.gh earlier reported of a trip of the first lady of the United States of America (USA), Melania Trump, to Africa. The visit is unique in many aspects, and as expected, the euphoria surrounding it is quickly growing. YEN.com.gh brings to you 5 interesting fact about the visit of Americas first lady to Africa: First lady of the USA, Melania Trump Source: dailyguideafrica.com Source: UGC READ ALSO: 5 reasons why Florence fell for 'Angel' Obinim 1. She will be visiting 4 African countries: Melania Trump will be visiting four African countries, namely Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Kenya and Malawi. 2. She will be promoting her Be Best child welfare initiative. While in Africa, USA's first lady will promote her "Be Best child welfare initiative, which will focus on opioid addiction and online behaviour. 3. This is her first extended solo international visit. Her visit to the African countries will go on record as the first time she has paid an international visit without her husband, President Donald Trump. 4. She revealed this on the sidelines of the annual United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Melania Trump dropped hints about the trip during the annual United Nations (UN) General Assembly. 5. There are no details about her activities in each country Even though the trip has been announced, specific details about her activities in each country are yet to be revealed. READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong and Sam George 'fight' in Parliament over the StarTimes deal Top 3 Ghana Richest Women: Who Are They? | Yen.com.gh Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish on YEN.com.gh? Please contact us on or Instagram now! Source: Yen.com.gh - Menzgold Ghana Limited has sued Bank of Ghana and Securities and Exchange Commission - The gold outfit is asking the court to get both parties grant them a retraction and apology - Menzgold and SEC have been involved in a banter over the former's operations Embattled gold dealership company, Menzgold Ghana Limited, has sued the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the central bank. According to a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on Citinewsroom.com, the company in its suit is seeking from the court an order directing the two institutions to stop interfering in its business. Menzgold also asked the court to stop the Bank of Ghana and the SEC from publishing what it described as derogatory notices against its business. Menzgold building. Credit: Graphic.com.gh Source: UGC READ ALSO: Student stabbed to death in Efiduase Senior High School An order of perpetual injunction to restrain the Bank of Ghana and Securities and Exchange Commission, its officers, servants and agents from interfering with Menzgolds business activities or further acts of disobedience and non-compliance with law by publishing any derogatory notices. Menzgold also wants the two institutions to publish an unqualified retraction and apology for the notices they published against the gold dealership company. It also wants the court to tell both the central bank and SEC that its gold dealership business does not fall under any of their laws. A declaration that the plaintiffs business does not fall within the present legislated scope of the Banks and Specialised Deposit Taking institutions Act 2016 (Act 930). A declaration that the plaintiffs business does not fall within the present legislated scope of the Security Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929), the company stated in its writ filed by lawyer Kwame Boafo Akuffo from the Kwame Akuffo & Co. Unlimited law firm. READ ALSO: Seven persons killed in accident involving Collins Daudas car buried Menzgold says it has decided to litigate the matter at the court because the regulatory bodies have threatened to continue with their action against it unless restrained by an order of this court. Menzgold Ghana Limited was asked to suspend its gold trading operations with the public by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The gold outfit suspended its dividend payment and gold vault operations with hopes of returning to business on September 19. However, inconclusive meetings between the two entities led to the suspension of Menzgold's activities being extended to September 28. READ ALSO: Menzgold customer threatens to sue company Watch: Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: Yen.com.gh Former president John Mahama has named a former ambassador to the US Daniel Ohene Agyekum as his campaign manager as he starts his bid to return to power in 2020. Ambassador Agyekum has held various ministerial positions, including former Ashanti Regional Minister, Minister for Chieftaincy Affairs and other senior-level public appointments. He is the immediate past Chairman of COCOBOD. Previously, he served as Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region. Mr Ohene Agyekum will be assisted by a former Deputy Regional Minister for the Greater Accra Region; Nii Vandepuye Djangmah is. John Mahama announces flagbearership campaign team Source: UGC READ ALSO: GIBA meeting suspended over Kennedy Agyapong, Sam George brawl According to the statement, Mr Djangmah has strong expertise in leadership training and grassroots mobilization. The other deputy campaign manager is Godfred Seidu Jasaw. He was a member of the National Development Planning Commission. He is a key strategist and policy formulator. Dr Jasaw holds a PhD in Sustainability Science from the United Nations University, Tokyo and has a Masters in Social Policy Planning in Developing Countries from the London School of Economics. The NDC Presidential primaries is scheduled for December 7, 2018. READ ALSO: 5 reasons why Florence fell for 'Angel' Obinim Below is a rest of the members of the campaign team and their roles Deputy Spokesperson (I) - Elsie Esenam Appau Klu is a lawyer, Human Resource practitioner, Policy Analyst and Water Governance Specialist. She has over 14 years work experience as a Policy Analyst, project management expert and social development specialist with particular expertise in water governance, gender and public management issues. Deputy Spokesperson (II) - Adwoa Serwaa Bondzie Adwoa Serwaa Bondzie holds an MBA in international Business Strategy from Henley Business School in the UK and a Bachelors in Information Technlogy. She has experience in oil and gas, and media management. Administrative and operations coordinator - Dr Callistus Mahama Dr Callistus Mahama holds a PhD in Land Law and an MPhil in Land Economy both from the University of Cambridge, England, the United Kingdom. He originally graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) with a BSc in Land Economy. Stakeholder coordinators - Alexander Kofi Mensah Mould holds BSc in Chemical Engineering from KNUST, Kumasi, and an MBA in Finance, Accounting and Decision Science from J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois, USA. Amb. Kwesi Ahwoi is a former Ambassador to South Africa with concurrent accreditation to Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros, Swaziland and Lesotho. He was Minister for the Interior, and Food and Agriculture. He was also an Assembly Member for Sefwi Wiawso District Assembly. READ ALSO: Seven persons killed in accident involving Collins Daudas car buried Priscilla Arhin She holds a masters degree in Educational Administration from the University of Cape Coast. She is a former Metropolitan Chief Executive for Cape Coast Metropolis and a former executive member of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG). Madam Sherry Ayitey is a former Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development. She was previously the Minister for Health and before that Minister for Environment, Science and Technology. She is a former National Vice Chairperson of the National Democratic Congress. Alfred Abayateye is a former Member of Parliament for Sege Constituency. Prior to that, he worked at the Bank of Ghana for over 27 years. Ghana News Today: Drivers angry over hike in Fuel price | Yen.com.gh READ ALSO: Nana Addos appointees frustrating my work Amidu Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook/Instagram pages with your stories, photos. Source: Yen.com.gh China will boost the development of the digital economy as part of efforts to stabilize employment, according to a guideline issued by the nation's top economic regulator. The central government will promote the digital transformation of traditional sectors, with more workers switching their jobs to emerging sectors, according to the National Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday. The authorities will step up financial support to boost the development of the digital economy, such as big data and artificial intelligence, and give more policy support to encourage private equity and venture capital funds to make investment in related industries, according to the guideline. Earlier this month, the commission and China Development Bank unveiled plans to drive 100 billion yuan ($14.55 billion) of investment in the next five years into big data, the internet of things and cloud computing, with priority given to the incubation and support of a series of key projects. The government's great emphasis on stabilizing employment through developing the digital economy comes at the time amid concerns over the economic outlook and job market as intensified tariff threats from the United States may lead to job losses at companies that rely highly on exports, especially in sectors with the most immediate exposure to the latest round of US tariffs. The US government announced an additional tariff to Chinese imports valued at $200 billion on Monday, and China retaliated by imposing penalties on $60 billion worth of US imports. The Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday that China's economy is expected to grow by 6.6 percent this year and then slow to 6.3 percent in 2019. "There should be more efforts to create new jobs through industrial transformation to tackle challenges brought by trade conflicts," said Wang Yang, an economist with the NDRC's research institute. "More targeted measures are needed to help the laid-off find new jobs through providing professional training and helping them find new jobs in other sectors." NDRC official Ha Zengyou said at a news conference earlier this year that the government would definitely not allow large-scale job losses to occur. The overall scale of China's digital economy reached 27.2 trillion yuan by the end of 2017, accounting for 32.9 percent of total GDP. Total employment in the digital economy reached 171 million by the end of last year, accounting for 22.1 percent of overall employment during the period, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. More than 20 percent of Chinese parents frequently misbehave in front of their children, including being dishonest, impolite or disobeying rules in public, according to a new report. The report, which was released on Wednesday, was based on a survey of more than 112,000 fourth-grade students and more than 74,000 eighth-grade students in 2017 by Beijing Normal University. Questionnaires were also sent to more than 31,000 teachers. More than 40 percent of fourth-grade students surveyed said their parents have broken promises; the percentage was even higher for eighth-grade students, at 63.7 percent. A smaller number of fourth-graders (13.7 percent) and eighth-graders (18.4 percent) said their parents break promises often. Twenty-eight percent of fourth-grade students said their parents have cursed in front of them and 31.5 percent said they have seen their parents quarrel with others. For eighth-graders, it was 44.4 percent for cursing and 33.3 percent for quarreling. The survey found that 24 percent of fourth-grade students had seen their parents litter in public. Of eighth-grade students, 42.3 percent have seen their parents spit in public. Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said that as a child's first teachers, the parents have a major influence on how children will behave. Children usually learn by imitating the behavior of the people around them, especially parents, without knowing if the behavior is good or bad, he said. "Children who are lied to by their parents are more likely to behave dishonestly themselves," he said. "Parents may lie to their kids to make their kids behave or to protect their feelings. However, they can unintentionally teach their kids that lying is a normal thing to do if they keep doing it. Even white lies - innocent, harmless lies - can set an example that lies are all right." Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said children are very impressionable when it comes to curse words even if they do not know the meaning. They might think it is a cool word, or try to get your attention by using it. Habitual cursing by parents can definitely affect children and normalize their use of curse words, he said. "As parents, we are often blind to our own bad habits, yet bad habits, harmful lifestyle choices or mental health issues can negatively affect our children, and that's why parents need to hold themselves to a high standard around their children," he said. A recent case in which a father stabbed a 10-year-old boy to death at school in Zhejiang province has stirred heated debate about administrators' roles in the prevention of bullying on campus. The father, 36-year-old Lin, stabbed the boy, surnamed Ye, who is a classmate of Lin's daughter, with a knife at Longshan Experimental Primary School in Ruian, Wenzhou, on Friday. The boy was rushed to the hospital but died from his wounds, according to the local police. Police said the assailant, Lin, was detained and admitted seeking to retaliate against the boy, who he said had struck his daughter in the eyes during an English class two days earlier. The girl was in pain but did not see a doctor because the injury seemed minor. The local newspaper, Ruian Daily, reported that the teacher rebuked the boy in class, but for unknown reasons the boy didn't make a public apology to the girl as her parents had demanded. The teacher said the girl was not struck deliberately. The Ruian Education Bureau convened an emergency meeting on Sunday, calling on all primary schools and kindergartens in the city to enhance security and safety measures by conducting regular patrols of their campuses. It also arranged counseling services for the students in the class, as well as for the relatives of the dead boy. Prosecutors in Ruian are investigating the case. "I think the school should bear responsibility for negligence in campus safety supervision, and the teacher in the class should provide appropriate solutions to play down such a minor collision before it escalates into a tragedy," said Zheng Jianjuan, the mother of a 10-year-old boy in Zhejiang's capital, Hangzhou. However, Gong Yaodong, the father of a student at a foreign language school in the province, said the teacher handled the issue and tried to solve the classroom conflict in a proper way. "It is Lin's psychological distortion that caused the tragedy - taking extreme action against the 10-year-old boy," he said. Online rumors related to the case have surfaced. A 29-year-old blogger from Ruian, surnamed Wang, was given five days of administrative detention for disturbing social order after spreading rumors on WeChat, news portal zjol.com.cn reported. According to local police, Wang fabricated rumors claiming that Lin, the suspect, had killed a person before but was later released for psychiatric reasons. A new round of food safety reviews has been ordered in Wuhu, Anhui province, after a third kindergarten in the city was found on Tuesday to have used expired seaweed and soy sauce. The Wuhu Commission for Discipline Inspection announced on Wednesday that it had launched an investigation. Eight officials are being probed, including the directors of two district market regulation bureaus. The head of the Mingzhu Kindergarten has been suspended and a team comprising food and drug inspectors, police and education authorities has been formed, the local government said on Wednesday. All food products in the storage and cooking units at the school have been sealed and cataloged, and are being examined. The food safety authority said on Friday after a "sweeping review" covering all 55 schools in the district, that no food safety hazards or rule violations had been found. That review was undertaken after expired food was found at two other kindergartens. Wuhu police detained a second suspect in the earlier incident, after detaining the principal, who heads both schools, on Saturday. Two other principals have been appointed to take charge. The second suspect, surnamed Wang, 49, was "directly involved in the production and sale of substandard food products" found in Tongxin Kindergarten, Wuhu Daily reported. Parents of children at Tongxin Kindergarten and Dedebei Kindergarten complained last week about spoiled food and expired ingredients in meals prepared by the schools. Their concerns prompted authorities to conduct on-site inspections, which led to the discovery of moldy rice, expired white vinegar and spoiled sausage. Food units on the campuses were shut down. Both kindergartens are now operating normally, and school meals are being prepared and delivered by different vendors, under the direct supervision of local market regulators, according to the city government. The canteen on the campus of Tongxin Kindergarten will be reopened. "We will monitor the whole process from purchasing ingredients to cooking," Dong Jiazhong, a member of the parents association at Tongxin, was quoted as saying. Results of the examinations of food residue and tableware are expected by Friday. Customs officers in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, have seized 7.26 metric tons of pangolin scales after cracking down on a series of smuggling cases involving endangered animals and their products in July and August. Zheng Jun, deputy director of Guangzhou Customs' anti-smuggling bureau, said it is the largest amount of pangolin scales seized by Guangzhou Customs this year. "The crackdown has dealt a heavy blow to the smuggling that involves endangered animals and their products in Guangdong province, known as the southern gate of the country," Zheng said at a news conference on Wednesday. "The large amount of pangolin scales smuggled from Africa indicated between 12,000 and 18,000 pangolins had been slaughtered, as a pangolin usually has from 0.4 to 0.6 kilograms of scales," he said. A special task force was established to focus on investigating the case when customs officers seized a total of 2,260 kilograms of pangolin scales at a customs checkpoint in Yunfu, Guangdong, on July 11. The smuggled pangolin scales, in 113 white woven bags, were found in a container that was declared at customs to be granite. After weeks of investigation, customs officers seized another 2.6 tons and 2.3 tons of pangolin scales in two special operations in Guangzhou in August. All the smuggled pangolin scales were declared at customs to be granite. According to Liang Jinkun, a senior officer at Zhaoqing Customs, which is administered by Guangzhou Customs, four suspects - surnamed Liang, Liu, Wu and Du - have been detained for further investigation. The suspects, who come from the Guangdong cities of Yunfu, Foshan and Shantou, are in their 30s and 40s. "Last year, Liu asked Liang, who once worked in Africa, to purchase pangolin scales there and smuggle them back to the mainland for a big profit," Liang Jinkun, the officer, said. The price of pangolin scales was about 340 yuan ($50) a kilogram in Africa while they could be sold for about 5,600 yuan a kilogram in the black market in Guangdong, he added. Pangolin meat is regarded as highly nutritious, while its scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine to help cure rheumatism, carbuncles and mastitis - as well as for detoxification. "All the smuggled pangolin scales will be destroyed. Any trading of pangolin scales or other products of endangered animals is banned on the Chinese mainland," Liang Jinkun said. Pangolins are now under strict State protection, he said. Official statistics from Guangzhou Customs list nine smuggling cases involving endangered animals and their parts and products that were busted since the beginning of the year. In addition to the large amount of pangolin scales, customs officers seized 67.5 kilograms of boa skins, a large number of ivory products, seven live lizards and a live tortoise. President Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly in a way that was forceful but also comical at times, inviting laughter and backlash as well, summed up by his statement that, "The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship, we only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return." The overriding impression was of a return to sovereign nationalism as the defining factor in global great power politics. These statements mark what Trump calls his doctrine of "Principled Realism," a version of hegemonic realism that, arguably, doesn't distinguish between friends and foes, but only understands interests and allies who are equal. The speech started in a way different from every other American president in over 50 years, as Trump declared that when nations respect the rights of neighbors and defend interests of the people, they can better work together in peace and prosperity; a pointed hint at great powers who America considers expansionist, as well as American neighbors who are the prime source of migration to the U.S. America, according to Trump, will always choose independence and cooperation, over global governance and domination, respecting every nation state's right to follow its own customs and beliefs. The implication seems to be that America would prefer bilateral deals over multilateral and institutional cooperation, with humanitarian nation-building and the business of intervention becoming limited and obviously on a decline. One can lead any type of government one wishes, America won't play the global policeman, nor will the U.S. try and change societies and form and shape them in its own image (system). In a startling announcement, Trump undermined the International Criminal Court, formed in 2002, saying it has no jurisdiction and legitimacy and authority over America as a nation or citizens, and actually violates all principles of due process. "We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy. America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism," he said a clarion call to defend national sovereignty essentially sounding the death knell for any institution seeking to control any other great powers. If the U.S. can ignore institutions, so can China, India and Russia. Multilateralism and institutionalism, therefore, is dead. "Around the world, responsible nations must defend against threats to [their] sovereignty not just from global governance, but also from new forms of coercion and domination." Presumably this is economic domination, a hint to European Union in regard to leveraging trade power. Invoking the 19th Century Monroe Doctrine, Trump warned other powers not to interfere in America's backyard, and stay away from Latin America. "It has been the formal policy of our country since President Monroe that we reject the interference of foreign nations in this hemisphere and in our own affairs." On the personal front, Trump thanked President Moon of South Korea, Prime Minister Abe of Japan, and President Xi of China, for the successful Korea summit and breakthrough towards peace on the Korean peninsula, signaling willingness to take the relationship forward. This was a remarkable appreciation from a man who is essentially waging a three-front trade war in North America, Europe and Asia. With regards to the Middle East, however, Trump's approach is quite simply belligerent towards Iran. He thanked the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar for pledging billions of dollars to aid the people of Syria and Yemen, two places where the Saudis are engaged in a proxy war with Iranian forces. On Iran, Trump was at his harshest. "We are working with countries that import Iranian crude oil to cut their purchases substantially. We cannot allow the world's leading sponsor of terrorism to possess the planet's most dangerous weapons." Is Trump a Realist? Doubtful, as he seems to have isolated all his allies and is determined to go to war with Iran, two ideas that any Realist would oppose. However, there's no doubt that this speech marks a milestone in American foreign policy and heralds a return to great power politics, spheres of influence, military buildups, and relative gains based on bilateral trade. America is alone, and is embarking on a crucial journey of military buildup, and trade wars. Whether other powers want to follow is irrelevant. They won't have a choice. Sumantra Maitra is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SumantraMaitra.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. You are here: World Flash At least 14 militants of Islamic State (IS) outfit have been killed following airstrikes in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, the country's Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Afghan Air Force launched the strikes on IS hideouts in Chawkay and Dara-e-Pech districts within the past 24 hours, killing 14 IS militants, the ministry said in a statement. The mountainous province, 180 km east of Kabul, has been the scene of clashes between security forces and IS militants from time to time. The IS group, which emerged in neighboring Nangarhar province in early 2015, has yet to make comments on the report. Flash Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said China is willing to work together with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to deepen their all-around cooperation and put forward a four-point proposal for the aim. Wang made the remarks while meeting with foreign ministers from the CELAC "Quartet." The Quartet comprises the current, previous and next rotating chairs of the CELAC, as well as the current rotating chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In the past five years, Chinese President Xi Jinping have paid three visits to Latin America and met with leaders of almost all countries having diplomatic relations with China in the area, said Wang, noting that the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two sides has stepped into a new stage. After more than three years' development, the China-CELAC Forum has become a major platform for both sides to carry out comprehensive cooperation and is serving as a strong support for the building of a community of shared future for China and the CELAC, said Wang. Specifically, the Chinese foreign minister put forward a four-point proposal for deepening the all-around cooperation between the two sides. First, the two sides should lead their cooperation with political consensus, promote mutual understanding and firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, Wang said, calling for a firmer position against unilateralism and trade protectionism and support for multilateralism and free trade system. Second, concrete actions must be taken to optimize their cooperation. Both sides should accelerate the alignment of their development strategies, deepen their pragmatic cooperation in various fields and push forward the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the area, Wang said. Third, Wang called on the two sides to strengthen people-to-people bond by strengthening cooperation in fields like education, technology, culture, teenagers, tourism, media and hygiene. Fourth, the two sides should perfect the mechanism within the framework of the China-CELAC Forum to safeguard their cooperation, said Wang. Next year marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of China-CELAC Forum. China hopes that both sides take the anniversary as an opportunity to improve the forum, so as to contribute to the higher-quality development of China-CELAC relations. The Quartet foreign ministers expressed the CELAC's willingness to work together with China to implement the results of the second ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum and broaden their cooperation in fields of trade, investment, poverty reduction, innovation and infrastructure construction. The CELAC appreciates the China-proposed BRI. Incorporating the CELAC into the construction of the initiative will bring about tangible benefits to the two sides, according to the Quartet foreign ministers. Representing English-speaking Caribbean countries, Jamaica, the current rotating chair of CARICOM, reiterated their adherence to the one-China policy. Flash Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that as long as the Iran nuke deal meets with Iran's interests, his country will remain in the deal. Speaking at a press conference in New York, Rouhani said that "as long as the deal serves our interests we will remain in the pact." "Remaining members of the deal have taken very good steps forward but Iran has higher expectations," he said. "We do hope with all the law-abiding and multilateral-oriented countries that we can ultimately put this behind us in an easier fashion than it was earlier anticipated." "Should the situation change, we have other paths and other solutions that we can embark upon," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, leaders of France and Britain, while speaking at the UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on non-proliferation, vowed to defend the Iran nuke deal. Earlier on Monday, European Union (EU)'s foreign and security policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and the re-imposition of sanctions. All these showed that Washington, by exiting the deal and sanctioning Iran, has put itself in isolation, Rouhani said. "The United States of America one day, sooner or later, will come back. This cannot be continued," Rouhani said. "We are not isolated; America is isolated." U.S. President Donald Trump said in the same Security Council meeting earlier on Wednesday that the United States will impose "tougher than ever" sanctions on Iran after the punitive actions against the country slated in November this year. Rouhani said that the expected U.S. sanctions in November on Iran were illegal and "nothing new." Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted later that "once again, the U.S. abused the UNSC only to find itself further isolated in its violation of #JCPOA and SC resolution 2231. When will it learn its lesson?" Rouhani, however, added at the press conference that Tehran had no intension to go to war with U.S. forces in the Middle East. The Iran nuclear deal was reached in Vienna in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - China, France, Russia, Britain, the United States - plus Germany). In May, Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iranian nuclear deal. Since then, the Trump administration has slapped a number of sanctions on Iran while vowing to apply more in November. Flash Attorneys for Brendt Christensen, accused kidnapper and murderer of Chinese visiting scholar Zhang Yingying, have requested more time to decide if they'll present a mental health defense in court, according to U.S. media. If granted, the trial scheduled to begin on April 3 may be postponed. According to the report, the suspect's defense team submitted a 30-page motion on Sept. 21, asking Judge James Shadid for a hearing on their request. It was reported the defense team hopes to have three mental health experts from different fields evaluate Christensen. Based on what they learned, they have hired two of the three, but neither has seen Christensen yet. One is scheduled to see him in October and the other in October or November. The lawyers said they hope to know by December when those two will be able to give their opinions. By December, they added, the third expert will have been hired and should be able to give them a timetable for getting Christensen evaluated and offering an opinion. Christensen, 29, who has a master's degree in physics from the University of Illinois, was arrested on charges of kidnapping Zhang on June 30, 2017. The 26-year-old woman from China was last seen June 9, 2017, at a campus bus stop. Her body has never been found. Authorities declared her dead in absentia. Thirteen weeks later, a federal grand jury indicted Christensen on additional charges of kidnapping resulting in death and lying to the FBI. According to reports, defense lawyers questioned the reliability of DNA evidence found in Christensen's Urbana-Champaign apartment and the training of the dog used to sniff-search the apartment. Just before the deadline on Aug. 24, defense lawyers filed more than 500 pages of motions. Flash China's cooperation with African countries, including Burundi, is based on the principles of sincere friendship, mutual benefits and win-win results, said Evariste Ndayishimiye, secretary general of the CNDD-FDD of Burundi, the country's ruling party, during an interview with Chinese media on the sidelines of an international think tank forum recently held in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu province. Ndayishimiye denounced accusations in some foreign media of China practicing neo-colonialism in Africa, retorting that China is sincere in helping African countries and has offered them various support for social and economic development. The Western allegations are false and cannot hold water, Ndayishimiye said, stressing that in contrast to Western countries, China supports Africa's economic development without any political strings attached. China and African countries have set a model for equal exchanges, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation among big and small countries, Ndayishimiye continued. Moreover, Ndayishimiye is full of confidence about the future prospects of China-Africa cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of enhancing connectivity in policy, facilities, trade, finance and people-to-people bonds among countries in Asia, Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes. Ndayishimiye noted that China has greatly helped Burundi, a landlocked country, in its infrastructure development, and carried out pragmatic cooperation with Burundi in many areas, including agriculture, information technology, medical and healthcare, and education. In the future, the two countries could conduct cooperation in more areas, such as environmental protection, new energy and mineral resources, Ndayishimiye suggested. Yet he finds that China-Africa cooperation under the BRI's framework is faced with two major challenges. The first challenge stems from certain disturbances and interference from Western countries, which are trying to disrupt the cooperation between China and Africa through various measures, including creating public opinion pressure, or imposing sanctions on some African countries. The second challenge is where some African countries are unable to make good use of foreign capital as they have a weak foundation in many aspects. To tackle this challenge, China can implement some concrete plans, carry out assessment on specific projects to determine whether such projects are worth the investment, and help African countries strengthen their production capacity, so that African countries could better use China's financial support for development, Ndayishimiye elaborated. The Belt and Road Forum for International Think Tank Cooperation was held between Sept. 18 and 20, with approximately 150 delegates, including political party leaders, government officials, think tank experts and entrepreneurs from 32 countries sharing their wisdom and insights on the prospects of strengthening economic and trade cooperation, and people-to-people ties. Flash Despite growing trade tensions between China and the United States, China's manufacturing capability, broad market and more open business environment appeal to U.S. technology firms. Together with 30 Chinese entrepreneurs, Wang Yuquan, co-founder of Haiyin Capital, will make his third trip to the United States in October, looking for opportunities to cooperate with American high-tech companies. Haiyin Capital, a Chinese venture capital firm that invests in global high-tech companies, has introduced the U.S. high-tech firm Wicab, with its BrainPort technology helping the blind "see with the tongue," to China. "The growing trade tensions do not appear to have affected U.S. tech firms' determination to invest in China," said He Zhigang, CEO of Innovationmap, a startup company founded by Haiyin Capital, which is devoted to connecting Chinese enterprises with global innovation firms. Wicab, for example, with a factory in China, could get closer to its potential customers as there are over 5 million blind people in China. Noting that the high-tech industry requires a lot of investment, research and hard work, He said small companies like Wicab could benefit from scale effects and productivity gains from China's technologically advanced manufacturing. During his last visit to Georgia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. in May, He found that despite the U.S. administration's rising protectionism against Chinese investment, local officials and business communities showed a strong willingness to cooperate with Chinese partners and were ready to offer preferential measures to bring in Chinese investors. International tech giants including Microsoft and Amazon will establish AI-related innovation centers and research institutes in Shanghai, which was announced at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2018 earlier this month. China is willing to share the development opportunities in the digital economy with other countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a letter of congratulations to the opening of the conference. A web of interconnected universities, researchers, supply chains, and capital flows is now emerging in the global technology industry, and cooperation across a wide range of industries in different countries is needed for R&D and technology application, said He. In the short term, the ongoing China-U.S. trade frictions might lead to inefficiency, higher costs, and less innovation among U.S. firms, dampening their willingness to invest in China, said He. However, He noted, China still has long-term appeal as it is working harder to improve the business environment and strengthen intellectual property right (IPR) protection, for both Chinese and foreign enterprises. "We have been increasing our investment in China. Every year we bring in more capital expenditures because the market is still growing and the environment is becoming friendlier," an unnamed director of government relations in a U.S. chemical company was quoted as saying in the 2018 China Business Climate Survey Report released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China. In the first eight months of the year, the number of new overseas-funded companies established in China more than doubled from a year earlier to 41,331, Ministry of Commerce data showed. During the period, foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland in dollar terms grew 6.1 percent year on year to 86.5 billion U.S. dollars, with investment from the United States in China up 23.6 percent. Credit: Jimmy FontaineCoheed and Cambria has released a new song called "Old Flames," which will appear on the prog band's upcoming album, The Unheavenly Creatures. You can download the track now via digital platforms. "Old Flames" follows the previously released Unheavenly Creatures songs "The Dark Sentencer," "The Gutter," and the title track. The complete album arrives October 5. The celebrate the album's release, Coheed will play an intimate show at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City's Times Square October 5 in conjunction with this year's New York Comic Con. The band will also be doing autographs at the convention. Coheed will launch a U.S. tour in support of The Unheavenly Creatures November 3 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Scarborough Leader The Oak Hill Players are performing the musical 'Honk!', their first live performance since the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Termen Extins: Terre des hommes Moldova este in cautarea unui /unei consultant/e sau a unei echipe de consultanti, care va elabora un program de instruire pentru adolescenti (14 - 18 ani) in domeniul dezvoltarii competentei digitale Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global digital pathology market is projected to reach a significant valuation and grow at a steady pace over the forecast period of 2013-2022, as per a research report published by Market Research Future (MRFR). The digital pathology market has been observing continued growth on account of the prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer. Rising incidences of cancer require timely diagnosis and treatment, and digital pathology has the potential to improve accuracy and timeliness of cancer diagnosis and hence is extensively used which induces demand for digital pathology. Advancements in digital pathology technology such as digital imaging, robotic light microscopy, and multiple fiber optic communications are expected to up the level of efficiency of diagnosis and uplift the growth of the market. Additionally, the lack of skilled pathologists who can handle the growing complexities of diagnostics has surged the demand for digital pathology. To Explore More, Get PDF Sample Copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1955 Digital pathology finds its application in various fields such as education, tissue-based research and drug development which further drives the growth of the market. The rise in a number of clinical and pre-clinical trials have propelled the growth of the market. Digital pathology is setting new standards of practice in clinical trials with the introduction of new technologies such as virtual microscopy, and digital imaging which helps improve the outcomes of clinical trials. Increasing adoption of advanced technologies to improve workflow and facilitate faster diagnostics is augmenting the market growth. Additionally, government initiative and support in various economies to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure in the form of funds and subsidies foster the growth of the market. Other market drivers include a rise in automation and improvements in healthcare infrastructure across the globe. However, the market growth might be hindered by lack of standardization in digital pathology and substantial initial cost of setup Key Players for Global Digital Pathology Market Some of the key players in this market are: microDimensions GmbH, Mikroscan Technologies, Inc., Q2 Solutions, Omnyx, LLC, GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Huron Digital Pathology Inc, ViewsIQ Inc., 3DHISTECH Ltd, Apollo Enterprise Imaging Corp., Xifin, Inc., Definiens and others. Global Digital Pathology Market - Competitive Analysis The global digital pathology market is fragmented and highly competitive with the presence of a multitude of well-established and small players. Owing to the lucrative growth opportunities offered by the market, there has been an influx of new players which further intensifies the competition. The notable players of the global digital pathology market include microDimensions GmbH, Q2 Solutions, LLC, Philips Healthcare, ViewsIQ Inc., Apollo Enterprise Imaging Corp., Definiens, Mikroscan Technologies, Inc., Omnyx, GE Healthcare, Huron Digital Pathology Inc, 3DHISTECH Ltd, Xifin, Inc., and others. Get Complete Access of Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/digital-pathology-market-1955 Global Digital Pathology Industry Updates In July 2018, Enzyvant, a biopharmaceutical company, announced a partnership with Visikol, a contract research organization dealing with digital pathology and drug discovery. The partnership aims to develop a novel digital pathology approach to enable the development of a medicine for the treatment of DiGeorge Anomaly. In July 2018, Royal Philips, a leading health technology company and Oxford University Hospitals joined forces to create a digital pathology network which will enable better diagnosis of diseases. Oxford University Hospitals have planned to install the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Global Digital Pathology Market - Segmentation The global digital pathology market has been segmented based on types, products, application, and end-user. By types, the market has been segmented into human pathology and animal pathology. By products, the market has been segmented into scanners, storage server systems, software and others. By application, the market has been segmented into mHealth, telemedicine, disease diagnosis, drug discovery and others. By end users, the market has been segmented into pharmaceutical companies, hospital/clinics, reference laboratories, research institutes and others. Global Digital Pathology Market - Regional Analysis The key markets of the global digital pathology market include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. The global digital pathology market is dominated by North America owing to the prevalence of chronic diseases and technologically advanced healthcare sector in the region. Europe is the second largest market for digital pathology due to the presence of a robust healthcare sector and increased expenditure on healthcare facilities. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market on account of improvements in the healthcare sector, rising healthcare expenditure, and growing awareness. The Middle East & Africa market is projected to exhibit steady growth over the forecast period. Do You Have Specific Requirement? Ask To Our Experts @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/1955 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Us: Market Research Future Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. People rely on clothing, three points appearance, seven points grooming, it can be seen that clothing to a person's importance. There are no ugly women, only lazy women, as an elegant beauty, always pay attention to dressing up, not to mention taking wedding photos of such an important moment. So, how do wedding photos go with clothes? First, choose the style of clothes according to the shooting style. Nowadays, the most popular wedding photography style has the aesthetic Korean style, the atmosphere western style, the outdoor small fresh and classic retro style, and so on, want to take the ideal Korean wedding gauze photo, the clothes should choose the color quietly elegant, the style is simple; Want to photograph western style, suit to choose beautiful long procrastinate more; Outdoor small fresh style is more suitable for bright color, simple and light style; Retro wedding gauze photo is more suitable for qipao + zhongshan suit, or phoenix coronet frame, a little bit older. Secondly, the style of clothes should enhance the advantages and avoid the disadvantages. If you want to bloom perfectly, you must choose a dress that suits you. How to judge whether your dress is suitable should be measured in terms of skin color, temperament, body shape, shooting place and so on. A bride with a fair complexion can opt for a dress of any color, while a woman with a yellow complexion should steer clear of darker colors, such as cinnamon and pinkish purple, while a woman with a dark complexion can try more vibrant colors like yellow and green. The United States eyebrow of the body tall pick is well-proportioned can try any style, petite suit short style or tall waist dress design, plump suit fabrics thick solid, design is contracted. Third, match your partner perfectly. Wedding gauze photograph is the film of two people, it is not a person's monologue, must accomplish harmonious and unified on the dress collocation so, style respect wants unified, design respect also wants to accomplish echo as far as possible, it is to want to let everybody detect couple outfit easily namely. You need to know, the couple dress is the lover's exclusive, do not need too much words, just two simple clothes can show the deep affection honey meaning. How do wedding photos go with clothes? The above three points hope to be helpful to everyone, and finally wish everyone who loves each other can take the most beautiful wedding photos, so that happiness can be cherished forever. Read more at:purple bridesmaid dresses | black bridesmaid dresses Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Research Future recently announced the addition of a new research study to its comprehensive collection of research reports. The report Global Infection Control Market 2018 offers vital insights on every market segment in terms of market size analysis for Infection Control across the different regions. Market Highlights: Many microorganisms such as virus, fungi, and bacteria are the causative agents for infections. These infections can be categorized into several types including stomach and intestinal infections, Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs), eye infections, common childhood infections, ear infections, skin infections, lung and respiratory infections, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STDs). There are numerous steps for the controlling and prevention of such infections. For example, the most effective way to prevent the spread of HAIs in hospitals is a proper hand wash. Few other steps include immunizations, using protective clothing such as masks and gloves, covering while coughing and sneezing, and others. Many companies are undergoing collaborations for developing and novel product launches. For instance, in March 2017, Kimberly-Clark Health Care and 3M Healthcare Company signed an alliance for co-developing and delivering surgical and infection prevention solutions utilizing their respective expertise. This deal was expected to be implemented by the end of 2017. The increasing government initiatives for ensuring prevention of infections is supposed to be a significant driver of the market. Moreover, many guidelines are issued by government organizations to promote awareness related to effective prevention measures, globally. All these factors are expected to contribute to the market growth throughout the forecast period. The global market for infection control is expected to have a CAGR of approximately 7.5% during 2017 to 2023. Request Sample with Latest Market Trends @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5901 Global Infection Control Market Key Players STERIS Corporation (U.K.) Getinge Group (Sweden) Cantel Medical Corporation (U.S.) Ecolab (U.S.) 3M Healthcare Company (U.S.) Sotera Health (U.S.) Advanced Sterilization Products (U.S.) MMM Group (Germany) Matachana (Spain) Belimed AG (Switzerland) Halyard Health (U.S.) Metrex Research (U.S.) Reckitt Benckiser (U.K.) Pal Internation (U.K.) Nordion, Inc. (U.S.) Ahlstrom Corporation (Finland) Honeywell International, Inc. (U.S.) and others. Intended Audience Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies Contract Research Organizations (CROs) Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs) Contract sterilization service providers Sterilization and disinfection service providers Clinical and Diagnostic Labs Regulatory bodies Medical device companies Food and beverage companies Healthcare providers Research and consulting firms Venture capitalists and investors Global Infection Control Market Segmentation The global infection control market has been segmented on the basis of type and end-U.S.er. On the basis of type, the global infection control market can be segmented into disinfection products, sterilization products and services, and others. The disinfection product is categorized into disinfectants, medical nonwovens, disinfectors, and endoscope reprocessors. Disinfectants are further categorized by type, by formulation, and by EPA classification. Disinfectants, by type, are classified into hand disinfectants, skin disinfectants, instrument disinfectants, and surface disinfectants. The disinfectant by formulation is categorized into disinfectant wipes, disinfectant liquids, and disinfectant sprays. EPA classification is categorized into low-level disinfectants, intermediate-level disinfectants, and high-level disinfectants. Medical nonwovens are classified into surgical drapes, surgical gowns, sterilization wraps, and face masks. Disinfectors are classified into washer disinfectors, flusher disinfectors, and UV ray disinfectors. Endoscope reprocessors are classified into automated endoscope reprocessors, endoscope tracking systems, and other endoscopic reprocessing products. Sterilization products and services are classified into sterilization equipment, contract sterilization services, by type, and consumables and accessories. Sterilization equipment are segmented into heat sterilization equipment, low-temperature sterilization, filtration sterilization, and radiation sterilization. Heat sterilization equipment are categorized into moist heat sterilizers and dry heat sterilizers. The low-temperature sterilization is categorized into Ethylene Oxide Sterilizers (EtO), hydrogen peroxide sterilizers, ozone sterilizers, formaldehyde sterilizers, and other low-temperature sterilization. Contract sterilization services, by type is segmented into Ethylene Oxide Sterilization (EtO) services, gamma sterilization services, e-beam sterilization services, steam sterilization services, and other contract sterilization services. The consumables and accessories are segmented into sterilization indicators, sterilant cassettes, and other consumables and accessories. On the basis of end-U.S.er, the global infection control market is segmented into hospitals and clinics, life sciences industry, medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies, food industry, and others. Get Instant Discount on Customize Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/5901 Global Infection Control Market Regional Analysis The global infection control market consists of four regions, namely, the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. The Americas region accounted for the largest market share of the global infection control market owing to the increasing awareness about chronic infections along with the growing number of service providers. These factors are driving the market growth in the region. Moreover, the U.S. contributes to a significant market share for the infection control industry. The European infection control market is the second largest market followed by Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific region is expected to exhibit the fastest growth throughout the forecast period owing to the growing healthcare expenditure, exceptional healthcare standards and infrastructure, and growing presence of outsourcing organizations across this region. For instance, a voluntary organization namely the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control (APSIC) is working in collaborations and partnerships to facilitate the quality improvement and conducts infection control research for promoting cost-efficient practices throughout the Asia Pacific region. Moreover, the presence of various government organizations dedicated to improving the standards for infection control is among the significant factors contributing toward the growth of the Asia Pacific region. The Middle Eastern region is expected to grow at a steady pace owing to factors such as the extensive development of the healthcare infrastructure and increasing R&D activities in the healthcare sector. Major Table of Content Chapter 1. Report Prologue Chapter 2. Market Introduction 2.1 Definition 2.2 Scope of the Study 2.2.1 Research Objective 2.2.2 Assumptions 2.2.3 Limitations Chapter 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Primary Research 3.3 Secondary Research 3.4 Market Size Estimation Chapter 4. Market Dynamics TOC Continued. To Know More Enquire @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/5901 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members. Contact: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.com Mark SurridgeEd Sheeran has earned his third consecutive nomination for Song of the Year at this years BMI London Awards, according to Sky News. Eds global smash Shape of You is up against The Weeknd and Daft Punk' s I Feel It Coming, James Arthurs Say You Wont Let Go, Kygo and Selena Gomezs It Aint Me and Zedd and Alessia Caras Stay for the honor. If he wins, itll also be the third time in a row hes taken home the prize. He won last year for Love Yourself and the year before that for Thinking Out Loud. The BMI London award recognizes British and European writers with the most-played song of 2017 on radio and TV in the U.S. The winner will be announced at the Dorchester Hotel in London on October 1. Meanwhile, before Ed's recent concerts at New Jerseys MetLife Stadium, he received a plaque celebrating the 4x-platinum certification of his album Divide and multi-platinum certifications of Shape Of You, Perfect, and Castle On The Hill. Three other album tracks -- Happier, Galway Girl, and Dive -- have also now been platinum-certified. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. President Maithripala Sirisena underscored the efforts taken by Sri Lanka to restore democracy when he spoke at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, on September 25. President Sirisena probably had a spring in his step when walking to the podium to make the speech because he knows that, unlike in the past, Sri Lanka is slowly earning the respect of the international community where peace and reconciliation in the island are concerned. This is why he quite rightly said that the international community should view Sri Lanka from a fresh perspective. His well-thought out speech also included the statement that Sri Lanka was making efforts to consolidate peace and forging ahead in development and such efforts needed the support and the understanding of the international community. The past regime staunchly defended the actions of the security forces, but there have been times when the present Yahapalana Government was found wanting in speaking for the efforts taken by Government troops, in quelling a terrorist rebellion, in the midst of criticism from the international community and several rights organisations. The presidents statement that Sri Lanka wouldnt accept interference by foreign nations in resolving its internal problems speaks well of a stance taken by a patriotic leader. Sirisena also spoke at the Nelson Mandela International Peace Seminar which was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. He said that he wished world leaders would emulate Mandela, adding that, Mandela was a world leader who showed how to use power for the benefit of the people and give it up without greed. However, Back in Sri Lanka, there is some criticism that president Sirisena still enjoys unlimited powers as the Executive and backtracked on an election promise to pass more of his powers to Parliament. Be that as it may, what must be taken note of is that Sirisena accepted an invitation to speak at this peace seminar, largely because this year marks the centenary birth anniversary of Mandela. For the record, just before he was imprisoned, Mandela had said that he was even ready to die if that was needed to achieve democracy. But what was most notable in his struggle for the freedom of the black community was that Mendela forgave his detractors the moment he was released from prison. The ability to forgive is so essential when any nation takes the road to reconciliation. The Yahapalana regime talks at length about its reconciliation programmes. The president himself told the world out there, in New York, of how his chargers are taking efforts to consolidate media freedom, good governance and the independence of the judiciary. But like Mandela, if both parties in the Sri Lankan conflict- who tore peace in the island to shreds, took away the lives of thousands and denied wives their husbands and the children their fathers and mothers and most importantly education to students in the north and the east-dont shelf their pride and say sorry to each other for the turmoil they caused, Sri Lankas reconciliation efforts would resemble a wound that has healed on top, but festers beneath. This is why the president said in his speech in New York that Sri Lanka has drawn much from the 30-year conflict and is making efforts to prevent such a thing from recuring. It must be noted that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had spoken of a chaotic world order. Guterres had said, Trust on the rule-based global order and among states was at breaking point. Democratic principles are under siege. As much as Sri Lanka needs the support and understanding of the international community, it doesnt need any nation putting a spanner in the works towards the efforts taken to ensure peace and reconciliation. This is why it was vital for the president to state that Sri Lanka has no enemies and is friends with all countries. ETI Finance Limited (ETI) depositors today surrounded the Colombo Municipal Council urging the MC Councillor Anjalee Deepa Edirisinghe, who is also a Director of ETI Finance Company to return their deposits. Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana A group of external graduates today staged a protest outside the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka urging the authorities to solve the issue of unemployment. Pix by Nisal Baduge At the Daily Mirror, we believe that climate change is one of the greatest threats that we, as Sri Lankans, will face in the future. Therefore, we intend to provide our readers with local and international content with the objective to educate and inspire. We would also like to learn from our valued readers about any ongoing initiatives in making Sri Lanka a more sustainable nation. We aim to explore sustainable ways of living that have the most positive impact on not just our natural environment, but also for humans and animals. While topics such as global warming, pollution, and inequality are confronting, we believe it's time the media stopped shying away from these issues and became an active participant in finding solutions - and we hope you will join us. As we move towards sustainable approaches to keep the country clean, many individuals have volunteered to make this an achievable task. With the ever-increasing usage of plastics and polythene, it has become a daily challenge to minimize the use of these non-biodegradable materials. The damage caused is irreversible and we humans are directly affected by these careless practices. It is in such a backdrop that one young lady decided to initiate Green Choice Lanka an environmental advocacy organisation to unify and protect Sri Lanka. Green Choice Lanka is the brainchild of Upekshi Perera, who describes herself as a marketer by profession but also an ardent nature and wildlife wanderess by choice. As such I take any opportunity to explore the magic of Lanka, whether it is camping or roaming in a jungle, hiking the mountains or waterfalls, scuba diving, relaxing on the beach or a take simple walk in the night. Sri Lanka isnt just my birthplace, she said in an interview with Mirror for Hope.It is everything to me and it breaks my heart when I see people engaging in careless practices. A major concern is in terms of waste management. I always wanted to start a project of this nature but I had to postpone it from time to time. For more details on upcoming projects visit the Green Choice Lanka FB page Her passion to see a greener Sri Lanka encouraged her to establish Green Choice Lanka on September 1 as an Environmental Advocacy Organisation, with the intention of unifying and protecting the island, with all of Sri Lanka, for Sri Lanka. Whilst we are all aware of the massive waste disposal issues which have significantly polluted and impacted our environment, to date there is no contribution towards planning a mitigation process, she continued. Our main focus through Green Choice is to strategically reduce the disposal of plastics and polythene through spreading awareness among the general public on topics such as the toxicity of plastic. In addition to that we also help them to understand that simplified lifestyle changes can make a massive difference resulting in ecological restoration. This is mainly aimed at an educational programme for the youth since they are our future. Several activities done by Green Choice Lanka includes engaging in beach and city-wise cleanups to socially portray the importance of keeping the community clean and approaching certain manufacturing companies to restrict their packing while suggesting alternative eco-conscious and compostable products to reduce the carbon footprint such as Areca leaf (Kolapath) plates. Upekshi also shares photos of beautiful sceneries in Sri Lanka, highlighting on why they shouldnt be polluted in turn promoting sustainable tourism. We also encourage the use of Bamboo toothbrushes, bamboo and paper straws, reusable bags, bottles, mugs, wooded cutlery and looking at expanding the product portfolio to have alternative eco-conscious products to help customers in their everyday lifestyles.The organization is a one woman show but we have been reaching out to other voluntary organizations and individuals since unifying Sri Lanka is my main objective. We recently partnered with the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) for the International Cleanup Day project recently organized by Sri Lanka, which is an ideal example which had over 200 participants present from all walks of life. At Green Choice Lanka they advocate in bringing about a change.Its about developing a habit and remembering to carry your reusable bag to the supermarket or pola, to regain the practice of carrying a reusable bottle as we all did when in school, refuse the plastic straw, sit in and take away shops should focus on compostable lunch sheets. Our main focus through Green Choice is to strategically reduce the disposal of plastics and polythene through spreading awareness among the general public on topics such as the toxicity of plastic Time and negotiating with suppliers was the most challenging, Upekshi continued. Time as it was many sleepless nights similar to those of assignments and business proposals you have to do on top of a full time job, especially because it started with a simple idea and concept, which then grew into bigger ideas and a wider mission and vision. Negotiation, as this sustainability initiative to me is not about making it a profit centre, but about making it affordable and reachable, thus negotiating best prices with certain suppliers was a crucial task. When I look back at the day it was launched I wonder whether I was even ready but it is always good to take a risk and see it work in the end. Upekshi is currently working on an awareness walk and focusing on conducting educational programmes for the youth. In addition to that, a canal project is also in the lineup of upcoming events. In her concluding remarks, Upekshi asks all fellow Sri Lankans to look around and admire the beautiful surroundings. This is our home. If we dont protect mother Lanka, who will? Sri Lanka is a little bit of everything, as Sir. Arthur C. Clarke quoted. We have the worlds largest blue whale, which has ever lived, the highest density of leopards in the world, world heritage citadels, mythical jungles, magical waterfalls, mighty mountains, ancient cities, historical harbours and forts to list. But do you want your next whale and dolphin excursion to be in an ocean full of plastic? Do you want your loved ones to constantly fall through the polluted air we breathe?If you say no, then change also begins with you. So take a minute to join in this journey to create a disposable plastic Free Sri Lanka. The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) is dismayed at the Sri Lankan Governments initiatives to abandon its repeated commitments to address accountability issues related to war crimes. President Sirisenas recent public statement that he will make a special request to the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to drop war crimes charges against his troops to settle the issue of accountability is outrageous and must be censured. It is also feared that President Sirisenas calculated plan is to link the release of the long-held Tamil political prisoners to a general amnesty for all including those from the military responsible for serious brutality and war crimes. GTF condemns such approach to accountability in the strongest possible terms and turn to the international community to thwart any such misplaced and short-sighted attempt at its infancy. The national conflict in Sri Lanka is replete with instances of Sri Lankan governments making commitments to address minority communities concerns, and then abandoning them at the slightest of opposition from the hard-line elements of the majority community. The difference this time being the commitments were made to the international community to administer justice, but its untrustworthiness is receiving world-wide publicity. Concerns about trust were raised when Sri Lanka co-sponsored the 2015 UNHRC resolution, but this was famously countered by the then Foreign Minister saying, Dont judge us by the broken promises, experiences and U-turns of the past. Alas, the country appears to have not moved away from its past, irrespective of all the promises made by the new coalition government that came to power the same year. Despite Sri Lankas attempt to conduct the last stages of the war without witnesses, including by ordering the withdrawal of the UN and other international aid agencies in war zones, evidence of brutality came to light in the form of videos and photographs and victim statements after the conclusion of the war.The systematic violence sexual abuse and cold-blooded execution of war surrendees, indiscriminate shelling of hospitals and safe zones, and denial of desperately needed humanitarian assistance pricked the conscience of the world, and made to realise its failure to prevent tens of thousands of deaths, mostly Tamil citizens, in the hands of the countrys security forces. Sri Lankas continual denial, intransigence, as well as its refusal to honour the agreement with the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to address war time accountability issues, triggered a series of international and UN initiatives. "Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid, consistently argued for the establishment of such a specialized court supported by international practitioners. Firmly convinced that progress has virtually stalled, in 2017 he called on the member states to explore other avenues, including the application of universal jurisdiction, to press for accountability" The UN Secretary General appointed a Panel of Experts (2011) to address accountability issues related to alleged war time abuses, and an Internal Review Panel (2012) to prevent the repetition of the Sri Lanka-type failure. Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillai, was instrumental in setting up the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), in 2014, under the guidance of eminent international jurists. The conclusions of these investigations were unambiguous . there is credible evidence that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by all parties to the armed conflict that need to be tried by an internationalised special court. A core group of countries consisting of US, UK, Macedonia and Montenegro provided leadership at the UNHRC to help Sri Lanka deal with its painful past. The UNHRC resolutions of 2013 and 2014 urging the government to take steps to promote accountability and reconciliation were passed without Sri Lankas consent. However, with the formation of the new government in 2015 mandated for Good Governance Sri Lanka adopted a different approach by co-sponsoring UNHRC resolutions (2015 and 2017) and extending cooperation, albeit slowly. These resolutions (30/1 and 34/1) on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights were in fact compromised outcomes, with the adoption of establishing a Sri Lanka based judicial mechanism including participation of foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators. Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid, consistently argued for the establishment of such a specialized court supported by international practitioners. Firmly convinced that progress has virtually stalled, in 2017 he called on the member states to explore other avenues, including the application of universal jurisdiction, to press for accountability. Despite the veneer of civility, the commitment and conviction of the Sri Lankan government to implement the UNHRC resolutions have been lacking. Every notable step, such as operationalising the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP), was taken after years of delay but invariably days before the commencement of a UNHRC session, aiming mainly at managing international expectations for the moment.With regards to the crucial aspect of asserting criminal culpability, three years after sponsoring the 2015 resolution, no court has been set-up, not a single indictment served, and no one brought to justice. Even in the emblematic cases the killings of 5 students in Trincomalee; the massacre of 17 aid workers of the French charity Action Against Hunger in Muttur (both in 2006); and the execution-style murder of the high-profile journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge (2009) the progress is almost zero and in essence for show. Those responsible for these dastardly crimes remain free; some with credible accusations of involvement continue to occupy high government positions and some with ambitions for higher offices. It is in this context that President Sirisena is making attempts to drop war crimes charges against Sri Lankan armed forces, apparently as a concession for the progress his government has made! In dealing with international crimes the world has made leaps of progress during the last seven decades International Military Tribunal, International Criminal Court, ad hoc International Criminal Tribunals and Hybrid Special Courts. For serious international crimes, such as crimes against humanity and genocide, states can no longer use sovereignty as a defence and individuals cant hide behind state responsibility. It is precisely crimes of this nature that were committed in Sri Lanka and the country appears to have wasted an opportunity to address the problem on its own or with international support and participation. "Those responsible for these dastardly crimes remain free; some with credible accusations of involvement continue to occupy high government positions and some with ambitions for higher offices. It is in this context that President Sirisena is making attempts to drop war crimes charges against Sri Lankan armed forces, apparently as a concession for the progress his government has made! " Even the thought of President Sirisena receiving UN consent to abandon Sri Lankas international commitments is unthinkable and can lead to irreparable damage to peace and justice in the country, with unforeseen outcomes for the world at large. No doubt it will lead to the alienation of the Tamil community and its political leaders, effectively extinguishing the prospect of reconciliation. International efforts will intensify to apply universal jurisdiction and economically isolate Sri Lanka. Its rehabilitation into respectability that began after 2015 will start to recede, with long-term damage to peace and prosperity. More importantly, this will convey a clear message to other budding dictators and military regimes with despicable human rights record that they can live out international focus and resolutions without serious consequences. In other words, despite the progress in universalising human rights and rule of law, enough holes exist for bad behaviour and inhumanity a dangerous precedent indeed. Outright rejection of President Sirisenas ill-conceived initiative will indeed be a victory for decency, justice and humanity of the world, in particular for the citizens of Sri Lanka. Attorney-at-law Priyalal Sirisena (Left), Herman Kumara (Centre) and Hans Fridlund, Programme Manager at UPR Info UPR Info Country Coordinator brief the media about improving the human rights situationin the country (Pics by Waruna Wanniarachchi) As a country that is in the process of recovering from a 30-year ethnic conflict, many people affected by the war are yet to enjoy their basic rights such as safety, ownership of lands and settling down in permanent shelters. In a war-torn backdrop, a country has to start its forward march from scratch. The struggle to establish a framework to deliver justice to affected victims- including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and their families, victims of torture and abuse among others- was experienced by successive governments. However, under the Yahapalana regime, Sri Lanka recently expanded its commitment to Human Rights by ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Implementing the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and several other mechanisms were quite challenging and the contribution by civil society groups is commendable. Yet, Sri Lanka as a country has a long way to go in terms of achieving these objectives. However civil society groups and human rights activists believe that the freshly drafted National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) needs to be executed with immediate effect. 167 Recommendations were based on ideas by civil society groups Speaking at a recently held press conference, UPR Info Country Coordinator Herman Kumara said that its important that the civil society groups get involved in implementing the human rights framework. Back in 2012 we carried out the UPR process, but the Government of Sri Lanka didnt get involved with the civil societies. However, we now observe that the Government has been involved in some way or the other. Sri Lanka received 230 recommendations in relation to human rights and 167 of these recommendations were based on the proposals and ideas presented by the civil society groups. But we need to check how they will be implemented in future. There are various issues in relation to human rights that havent been solved to date, said Kumara. "The struggle to establish a framework to deliver justice to affected victims- including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and their families, victims of torture and abuse among others- was experienced by successive governments" He further said that the civil society collective immensely contributed to the drafting of the NHRAP, but this contribution isnt satisfactory in terms of executing this plan. Another concern is that there are several issues with regard to the constitutional amendment process. We also raised concerns with regards to lands and people who were affected by the war. Here we noticed that the Government is ready to provide solutions for these issues with the necessary infrastructure and resources. But we also observed that these plans arent being implemented at the grassroots level. This is because most displaced or affected families live without basic needs. They are insecure in terms of safety, ownership of lands etc. but it was mentioned that almost 88% of lands have been released to the owners, he added. According to Kumara, the Office of Missing Persons needs to commence operations with immediate effect. In terms of torture and abuse we dont see a shift in the attitudes of Government officials. But we appreciate the fact that the attitudes of certain officials have changed in a positive way, he said. State bears the primary responsibility of implementing the Review UPR Info is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that aims to raise awareness on the Universal Periodic Review and to provide capacity building tools to all stakeholders such as UN Member states, parliamentarians, civil society groups, media and academics. In his comments, Hans Fridlund, Programme Manager at UPR Info, said that a defining feature of our engagement with partners is that we dont seek to impose any pre-set agenda on national voices. We are simply a facilitator and a partner, ready to support national efforts with technical expertise on the UPR. In order to achieve this endeavor, we support national UPR stakeholders both before and after the review, Fridlund continued.Before the review we extend support to Governments in the consultation process and drafting of the National Report. After the review, we collaborate with actors to kick-start the implementation process at the domestic level through discussions between Government officials and civil society representatives and to report back to the Human Rights Council halfway between reviews. Speaking on the Recommendations Hans said that one of the strengths of the Universal Periodic Review is that it covers the full set of human rights including economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights and group rights. Implementation of UPR recommendations must be coupled with addressing recommendations coming from other United Nations Human Rights mechanisms such as the treaty body system and the Special Procedures. Recommendations from national processes and the National Human Rights Commission should also be taken into consideration as well as the states obligations towards the Sustainable Development Goals. In this vein, it was encouraging to see a recommendation calling for the incorporation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women into Sri Lankas domestic system, and that Recommending states seized the opportunity to make recommendations calling for the full implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, he added. When asked about how the 167 recommendations should be implemented by the State, Hans said that the Universal Periodic Review is a state-led peer-review mechanism and as such the state bears the primary responsibility for their implementation. However civil society is a recognized actor in the follow-up process and should thus be involved in the realization of recommendations, said Hans. According to Hans, in the absence of an official follow-up mechanism, voluntary mid-term reporting is a good practice to take stock of the implementation levels of all recommendations, noted and supported, halfway between reviews. Slow progress in terms of implementation is a question Airing his views on this review, attorney-at-law Priyalal Sirisena said that the National Human Right Action plan contains a specific chapter on Internally Displaced Persons and Returning Refugees. It speaks of creating a policy and framework to address displacements, provision of interim facilities, release of occupied lands, compensation for IDPs and returnees, supporting their livelihood and establishment of Office for Reparations. These action plans are welcomed by the civil society. However, the implementation of these proposals requires a proactive and cooperative approach by the relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Resettlement, Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Lands etc. Resettlement is not going to be meaningful unless proper preparations and restoration of livelihood are taken care of. The NHRAP seems to describe what needs to be done, yet the slow progress in terms of implementation is a question, said Sirisena. "Civil society is a recognised actor in the follow-up process" Although the war ended in 2009, issues relating to IDPs, war victims and victims of abuse were neglected by successive Governments. These are matters falling under transitional justice which are happening very slowly, Sirisena continued. The resettlement of IDPs is a crucial issue, yet getting delayed due to political and other reasons. The government-declared 80% of the lands acquired by the military in war-time have been released to civilians, but civil society activists have pointed out that the figures were not correct. he added. "Resettlement of IDPs a crucial issue" In terms of interventions which could be carried out by the Government, Sirisena believes that fast resettlement and restoring livelihoods of the affected population is an urgent necessity. Yet the process seems very slow, he added. Sri Lanka has reaffirmed its firm commitment to United Nations resolution 30/1 at the Universal Periodic Review last November. This resolution prescribes four transitional justice mechanisms to be established, of which OMP and Office of Reparations are two mechanisms. A Truth Commission and Accountability mechanism are yet to be established. In achieving justice for the affected people, accountability mechanism is a must, but it has already become a matter of much controversy. It should be noted that the Government made a voluntary pledge at the UPR session at Geneva to establish these four mechanisms including a judicial mechanism. For any transitional justice process with an ethno-political aspect, openness and bold steps by the Government are necessary to make things move forward, despite criticisms, he concluded. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday denounced Minister Mangala Samaraweeras response to Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and asked whether the response was the governments opinion. He expressed these views to media after a group of Catholic MPs and Provincial Councillors met him to express their displeasure over Minister Samaraweeras response. We want to know whether this is the opinion of the government or its policy. We condemn Minister Samaraweeras statement. Even many Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Catholics spoke to me and said they are against this. The Cardinal has simply made a statement inside a church during a service. Criticizing it in this manner is wrong, he said. Mr Rajapaksa said the Prime Minister should make a statement over the issue.We see this as a bad precedent. If statements of religious leaders were continued to be defamed like this, there will be no end to it, he said. In response to Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjiths remarks that human rights had become the religion among the Western nations, Finance Minister Samaraweera said the Cardinal seems to got things wrong in trying to be a populist. In a tweet, the Minister said, The need for Human Rights was an outcome of the marauding religious zealots of the Inquisition and the Crusades, where non-believers were massacred "En-Bloc". Pity, the Cardinal always seems to get things wrong in trying to be a populist, Meanwhile, the Cardinal sent a clarification and said, "What I basically intended to say on this matter was that if religion is truly practised it could take us to achieve levels of justice, going even beyond the expectations of human rights and thus need not be such an issue for our Catholic community and so encouraged the flock gathered at that particular religious ceremony to, therefore, practice their faith truthfully avoiding turning religious values into something that is ephemeral. But I do accept that with regard to the essentially non-religious nature of the State, human rights as a common platform has its own role to play. Replacing religion with human rights is not what is to be done but human rights should be further strengthened through the good practice of faith,' (Lahiru Pothmulla) NEW YORK (Reuters) , sep 26 2018 -Bangladeshs leader accused neighbouring Myanmar of finding new excuses to delay the return of more than 700,000 Rohingya who were forced across the border over the past year, and said in an interview late Tuesday that under no circumstance would the refugees remain permanently in her already crowded country. I already have 160 million people in my country, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, when asked whether Bangladesh would be willing to walk back its policy against permanent integration. I cant take any other burden. I cant take it. My country cannot bear. Hasina was speaking to Reuters in New York, where she is attending the annual United Nations meeting of world leaders. The prime minister, who faces a national election in December, said she does not want to pick a fight with Myanmar over the refugees. But she suggested patience is growing thin with Myanmars leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and its military that she said wields the main power there. Hasina has previously called on the international community to pressure Myanmar to implement the deal. Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, lent its support to the Oman Ministry of Tourism as it hosted a special Omani themed workshop aimed at promoting the Sultanates tourism stakeholders, to celebrate the upcoming Moscow service in October. The event provided a perfect opportunity to introduce Oman Air to the Russian market as well as showcase the unique hospitality and culture of Oman. The event which was held last week in Moscow saw important personnel from Oman in attendance. Over 200 highly regarded tour operators attended the event, with delegates from Oman Air. In addition to Oman Air, Oman Ministry of Tourism was joined by key hotel partners including Anantara, Kempinski, Shangri-La, and Crowne Plaza Muscat. This evening follows the invaluable trade event which took place with key stake holders earlier this month. This event was a great success for Oman Air, as it was the perfect opportunity for trade partners and sales agents to interact with the new Oman Air team in Moscow ahead of the direct route. Both Moscow events showcase Oman Airs huge commitment to offering only the very best product and service to the Russian market. With the launch of the new Moscow service, Oman Air is pleased that travellers from Russia will now be able to take advantage of convenient and seamless global travel to destinations within the extensive network. The new daily service to Moscow Domodedovo Airport will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with an estimated flight time of 5 hours and 55 minutes, offering 12 seats in Business Class and 150 in Economy. Flight WY181 will depart Muscat daily at 14.55, arriving to Moscow at 19.55 local time. And the return flight WY182 will depart Moscow at 00.20, arriving into the award-winning new passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport, at 06.55. Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith yesterday said that people who had been shaped by Buddhist civilization do not violate human rights and added a society which attempts to make human rights a religion, could safeguard human rights effectively through Buddhist teaching. Cardinal Ranjith expressed these views at the prize giving of Kanduboda Shri Saranankara Daham Pasala in Delgoda organized by the Ven. Parakaduwe Sri Saranankara Thera recently. Chancellor of the Kelaniya University Ven. Dr. Walamitiyawe Kusaladhamma Thera presided over the event. He said there were threats posed on religions at present and added that Buddhism was the backbone of this country and it was a religion which had been followed by the people in this land for a long time. Rights of all people in this country are safeguarded when Buddhist culture is safeguarded. Anti religious ideologies are being filtered into the society today. We have to put them aside and safeguard religions, he said. Since we have inherited a great culture over the years, there is no need to think about human rights in a special way. Religions are not followed in some countries. Human rights are safeguard in our country much more than what is prescribed by the UN in Sri Lanka because of the Buddhist environment, he added. He also said the efforts made by the Buddhist clergy to bring up children according to Buddhist principals were commendable. (Sudath Pubudu Keerthi) The rupee depreciated by Rs.29 from 2005 to 2014 and the average year-on-year (YoY) depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee was 2.8 percent per year. The official foreign reserves increased from US $ 2.7 billion to US $ 8.2 billion over the same period. In stark contrast, the average YoY depreciation of the rupee from 01.01.2015 to 21.09.2018 was 9.2 percent per year. The official foreign reserves have been almost flat at around US $ 8.4 billion when compared to the level at end-2014. Further, the reserves are expected to decline rapidly from now onwards with the Central Bank (reportedly) having supplied a staggering US $ 60 million (Rs.10,200 million) to the forex market just yesterday, to artificially prop up the crashing rupee. The government has claimed that the reason for the rapid depreciation of the rupee is the strengthening of the US economy and with that, the US dollar. Many government MPs rush to explain that all currencies have depreciated against the US dollar. To support that contention, the Central Bank has carefully selected certain currencies as examples, while neglecting to mention that several have depreciated much less against the US dollar than the Sri Lankan rupee. Knowledgeable analysts know that such contentions are highly amateurish and not tenable, particularly in the context of the Sri Lankan rupee even depreciating against the Bangladesh, Zimbabwean and Ethiopian currencies. In any event, all analysts have been fully aware from about an year ago that the US economy has been gradually strengthening and that the US dollar would be stronger from about mid-2018 onwards. That outcome should have been anticipated by the Sri Lankan government and the Central Bank as well and the necessary policy measures should have been implemented well in advance to build up spaces in the Sri Lankan economy in general and the Central Banks forex reserves in particular. If the government and Central Bank did not prepare for those challenges and were caught napping as they now seem to be indirectly admitting, they have only themselves to blame. To side-step the present turmoil and shift blame in his characteristic style, the prime minister recently claimed that the rupee has suffered a depreciation of 12 percent in 2012, even after the Central Bank incurred a large loss of its reserves. In that regard, the prime minister needs to be appraised that central banks all over the world carry out such forex interventions in the interest of economic and price stability and that Sri Lanka is no different. At the same time, it must also be pointed out to him that the Central Bank reserves actually increased by US $ 356 million, from US $ 6,749 million, as at end-2011, to US $ 7,105 as at end-2012 and that therefore, contrary to his claim, there was no loss of reserves in that year even after the forex intervention. Overall, the Central Bank reserves increased from a significantly low level of US $ 2,735 million as at end-2005 to a comfortable level of US $ 8,208 million by end-2014, under the previous Rajapaksa administration. (Please see Table 1). The Table also reveals that, under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the reserves have decreased considerably from the level of US $ 8,208 million by end-2014, first to US $ 7,303 million by end-2015, then to US $ 6,019 million by end-2016 and thereafter to US $ 7,958 million by end-2017. Such massive reductions in forex reserves were obviously due to significant interventions by the Central Bank to maintain the value of the rupee. However, it will be noted that even with a net dissipation of US $ 905 million of reserves in 2015, the rupee depreciated by a substantial Rs.13.01 per US dollar (9.9 percent), while in 2016, with a net dissipation of a staggering US $ 1,284 million, the rupee had depreciated by Rs.5.74 (4.0 percent) per US dollar. Table 1 also shows the level of reserves as well as the depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee at various time intervals since the liberalisation of the economy in 1977. From that Table it would be seen that the Sri Lankan rupee suffered an average YoY depreciation of a devastating 12.4 percent per year for 10 years from 1977 to 1986, an average YoY depreciation of a highly detrimental 9.9 percent per year for 10 years from 1987 to 1996 and an average YoY depreciation of an equally damaging 6.0 percent per year for nine years from 1997 to 2005. Thereafter, the Table shows that in the nine years from 2006 to 2014, the rupee has enjoyed its most stable era in recent history, with the average YoY depreciation recording a manageable 2.9 percent; with the depreciation of the rupee in the two years 2013 and 2014 (just before the management of the economy passed to the UNP/SLFP combine) being 2.8 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Since 2015 however, reckless policies adopted by the present authorities had seriously jeopardized the stable trend followed by the rupee from 2006 to 2014. Consequently, the currency had assumed an unstable nature, recording frequent patches of volatility, culminating in the current out-of-control phase, which is now spelling disaster for the entire economy. This de-stability has been compounded by the fact that confusing signals have been emanating from those in authority, almost daily. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe claims the depreciation problem will be fixed in one month but warns that the government may have to curtail imports; Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera says the Central Bank will not intervene as the reserves have to be safeguarded to settle future debt. Economic guru and State Minister Harsha Silva announces that the depreciation of the rupee is beneficial to the economy but requests high income people to postpone buying luxury cars and to delay trips to Alaska. Finance State Minister Eran Wickremaratne proudly asserts the Sri Lankan rupee is the strongest currency in Asia. Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy proclaims the Central Bank is ready to prevent excessive volatility. Senior Deputy Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe insists the Central Bank will intervene aggressively. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund cautions the Central Bank needs to build up further reserves instead of intervening, while currency dealers refuse to speak, citing instructions from the Central Bank. Through all this, President Sirisena keeps silent, perhaps because he has still not seen the newspaper reports about the rupees freefall! All in all, it is clear that this inept government has dragged the Sri Lankan economy to the brink of disaster and that a massive hotch-potch of policy contradictions has led to the serious undermining of the Sri Lankan rupee. In that pathetic background, this government must be firmly told to stop trotting out lame excuses and blaming the previous government and/or other foreign governments for everything they cannot get right. The government has also shown in no uncertain terms that they are totally incapable of dealing with the complex problems of the economy and that they are only good at worsening the crisis by their confusing statements and reckless policies. Therefore, the only sensible option now open to the country is to allow the people to forthwith elect a new government that the people believe would be able to save Sri Lanka from the impending economic disaster that is now very close at hand. (Ajith Nivard Cabraal is former Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka) Sri Lanka would not have been affected by the current global economic crisis if the country did not get into a debt trap like the one it has got into, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday. Mr Wickremesinghe expressed this sentiment at the prize giving of Maliyadeva Balika Maha Vidyalaya in Kurunegala in the morning. Sri Lanka is largely affected by the devaluation rupee because of the debt trap it has got into. We would not have been affected by the devaluation issue if we did not get into a debt trap. We have to pay $ 3,000 million this year to settle debts while a sum of $ 4000 million has to be paid next year. Therefore one could see that what we inherited are past sins. What we have to do now is to overcome this situation, the Prime Minister said. Anyhow the current global crisis affects both the household economy and the national economy. We are fully aware of it. Some countries such as Thailand and Vietnam are not severely affected by the global economic crisis as they fully depend on exports, the Prime Minister added while stressing that Sri Lanka too should go for an export-driven economy in order to get out of the present crisis. The Prime Minister said Sri Lanka has failed to focus on building up an export-driven economy for the last ten years. It will take at least three years to build such an economy. Attracting investors and establishing export zones is a time-consuming job. However, we have already embarked on such a program. Kurunegala, Kandy and South have been identified as locations where export zones would be opened. The Central highway which is being constructed now will be helpful to the export zone which will come in the North-Western Region. An 800-acre export zone will be built in Bingiriya. Such zones will come in Kurunegala as well. There will be a 10,000-acre zone in Hambantota. There will also be one in Kalutara, he also said. Further, the Prime Minister said Sri Lanka will need skilled and knowledgeable people when various kinds of industries come up in Sri Lanka and added that such persons will be produced through a modernized education system. (Yohan Perera) As the national body for marketing, the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) organises six national level events annually, which focus on various aspects of marketing and a range of market segments, with the ultimate aim of positioning the field of marketing as a prominent driver of economic growth. These events include the Peoples Awards, which provide a platform for the voices of the general public, Brand Excellence, which recognizes exceptional brands and the marketers behind them, NASCO, which rewards the best of the best sales professionals, the Effie Awards, which promote effectiveness in marketing communication, Marketing Roks, which popularises marketing in schools and Gamata Marketing, which empowers SMEs and entrepreneurs. Launched in 2006 by SLIM in collaboration with Nielsen,the SLIM Nielsen Peoples Awards offer thegeneral public the opportunity to pickthe countrys most popular and trusted brands, organisations and personalitiesthemselves.This is made possible through a comprehensive nationwide survey carried out by NielsenSri Lanka, the local branch of the largest market research company in the world, which also allows the brands, organisations and personalities to assess where they stand in peoples hearts and minds. For 17 years, SLIM Brand Excellence Awards have rewardedSri Lankas most prominentand successfulproducts as well asthe outstanding marketersbehind those names at an eagerly awaited, glitzy awards show attended by the cream of the corporate sector.With the entries reviewed by an eminent panel of judges composed of the countrys most respected professionals, the event has helped establish and maintain best practices in branding and to raise local brands to global standards. As the ultimate objective of marketing is to increase sales, in 2002 SLIM launched an annual event where outstanding sales professionals were provided training by veterans in the field,before being awarded a certificate for participation. In 2010, the event was converted in to a competitive awards show to recognise the best sales professionals in the country and to add a touch of glamour to the profession. Since 2008, SLIM has been the franchisee of the world renowned Effie Awards in Sri Lanka, which is the pre-eminent honour in the global advertising industry. The main aim ofEffies Sri Lanka has been to build a culture ofaccountabilityin advertising through the production of effective marketing communication. This is achieved by recognising advertising that goes beyond mere creativity to helpingclients build brand equity and boost revenue. Marketing Roks is a nationallevel CSR project conducted as a game show for Advanced Level studentsby SLIM. Launched in 2011, the show has been designed to unleash the hiddenmarketing talents of students using real business case studies, and serves as both a CSR project and an investment forcreating future corporate leaders. Gamata Marketing is a programme launchedby SLIM in 2012, which travels around the island educating SMEs, rural enterprises and upcoming entrepreneurs on marketing principles and their applications by focusing on specific regional industries. This is undoubtedly a worthwhile initiative as SMEs generate a major portion of national GDP and their contribution is vital to the marketing fraternity. Commenting on the SLIM events portfolio, General Manager Marketing of Derana/Power House Ltd.Mr. Roshan Fernando touched on the role played by SLIM in elevating marketing to the position ofan economic contributor. As the national body for marketing, SLIM has constantly been at the forefront of developing the marketing field, and its series of national events have been instrumental in this endeavour. Each of theseeventsadds a different dimension to the marketing field, be it by strengthening branding and improving advertising effectiveness or by empowering regional SMEs and grooming the next generation of leaders.SLIM has also taken giant strides over the years to establish marketing as one ofthe primary forces that enhance business and national value,and contributes significantly to the economy.Thereby, SLIM now stands tall as a body that promotes the development of the nation. In its pursuit of constant improvement, SLIM will further expand its portfolio of national level events this year with the introduction of SLIM DIGIs 2018/19, a unique Digital Awards ceremony aimed at recognizing outstanding campaigns andthe exceptional talent ofdigital agencies and companies in the local digital sphere.As Sri Lankas digital industry continues to grow and make its mark on the world stage, this awards competition will be judged according to international standards by the industrys most respected professionals. Development Strategies and International Trade State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe is reported to have questioned at the UNP electoral organizers meeting, as to how the Presidents Office referred a complaint against his Ministry and the Board of Investment (BoI) to the Bribery Commission for investigation. The United National Party had a meeting for its electoral organizers on Tuesday to discuss the organization of the party in view of the future elections. Parliamentarian Senasinghe had said that a certain party had lodged a complaint with the President implicating the Minister, the State Minister and the BoI that they tried to seek bribe for the approval of a project. He asked how such a baseless complaint could be referred to the Bribery Commission for investigation by the Presidents Office. He said the complainant party had not fulfilled requirements to secure any project to the country. He told the meeting that the project proposal had transpired through the Single Window Committee after being referred to the BoI. Also, he questioned as to how the Presidents Office leaked information to a certain media organization. (Kelum Bandara) President Donald Trump has lashed out at Iran, with national security adviser John Bolton also warning there would be hell to pay if Tehran crossed the US. Speeches by the president before the UN General Assembly and by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mr Bolton at a New York City hotel marked an escalation of rhetoric. Mr Trump blasted what he called Irans corrupt dictatorship and accused its leaders of enriching themselves through embezzlement and raiding state coffers to spread mayhem. Mr Trump also vowed to continue to isolate Iran through US sanctions that are being re-instated following his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. The next round of sanctions will take effect in early November. He later predicted that the pressure from renewed sanctions would force Iran back to the table to negotiate. Irans leaders sow chaos, death and destruction, the president told the UN General Assembly in a 34-minute speech that was more critical of Iran than any other country. They do not respect their neighbours or borders or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead Irans leaders plunder the nations resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond. In an even more fiery to a group opposed to the Iran deal, Mr Bolton went further. If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat and deceive, yes, there will indeed be hell to pay, he said. The murderous regime and its supporters will face significant consequences if they do not change their behaviour. Let my message today be clear: We are watching, and we will come after you. Daily Mail, 26 September 2018 KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters), SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 - Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, arrived on Wednesday at the countrys anti-graft agency for a second round of questioning over a corruption probe at state fund 1MDB. Her questioning comes amid indications that more charges could be filed in the investigation into how billions of dollars went missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib, who was ousted in a general election in May, has already been charged with money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has consistently denied wrongdoing. Rosmah arrived at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters flanked by her lawyers and looking solemn. Her first round of questioning in June lasted three hours. Last week, an MACC official said more charges could be brought against individuals over 1MDB. When asked if Rosmah could face charges, the official said: Im not denying that. During today's Magisterial inquiry conducted into the controversial bond scam, serious allegations had been levelled against the Attorney General's Department and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) by the defense counsel, over the alleged recording of statements from three individuals of W.M. Mendis & Company by force. In these recorded statements, the three individuals had stated that they were asked to give false statements to the CID by their lawyer. The allegation against two senior officers of the AGs Department was that they had summoned this particular lawyer and asked to provide some documents of WM Mendis & Company to prevent taking action against him, based on those statements in which he was accused of instructing his client to give false evidence to the CID. At the onset of the inquiry, it was explained in court about several incidents alleged to have taken place during the last few weeks. According to the defense counsel, there were three employees of WM Mendis & Company who had initially given statements to the CID. These three employees had been called again to the CID to record further statements during last August. In these statements, in a confessional manner, the employees had said that they were instructed to give false statements to the CID by their lawyer (Mr. Chandana Perera). However, President's Counsel Upul Jayasuriya who appeared today on behalf of these three employees informed the court that his clients were intimidated by the CID from time to time, threatening to remand them if they did not give statements favouring the prosecution. Jayasuriya PC also levelled allegations against the CID regarding the manner in which some officers had forcibly recorded statements from his clients, which is illegal. He informed the court that his clients are no longer willing to give statements to the CID at the department, but would be ready to do it in the court premises. President's Counsel Wasantha Navaratne Bandara appeared on behalf of Mr. Chandana Perera (Attorney-at-law of three WM Mendis & Company employees). Bandara PC said following the alleged forcible recording of statements from those three employees by the CID, their lawyer Chandana Perera had been summoned to the Attorney General's Department by two senior officials of the AG's department, where they informed him of his clients' recent statements, accusing him of instructing to give false evidence. . Bandara PC also informed Court that Chandana Bandara was then allegedly threatened by the two officials of the AG's Department that his cloak can be removed if the CID files action against him over the incident that he instructed his clients to give false statements. Bandara PC also said that in compromise to that and to prevent taking legal action against him, the two AG'S Department officials had asked Chandana Perera to bring the relevant cheques relating to WM Mendis & Company (as evidence) to the prosecution and to accept that they knew about the abbreviations of Ravi K, RW and NR. PC was of the view that the Attorney General can only exercise powers vested on him by law, hence, such a demand would be an unlawful effort by the prosecution. It was said that the counsel had already lodged complaints regarding this matter and sent copies and the affidavits to the Attorney General as well. However, Senior Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda completely rejected the allegations put forward against the Attorney General's Department and sought copies of the complaints and the affidavits of the individuals who are complaining in this regard, to peruse and respond to the allegations at the next court hearing. Meanwhile, Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. owner Arjun Aloysius and its CEO Kasun Palisena were also ordered to be re-remanded till October 11 by the magistrate over the magisterial inquiry in which they were accused of abetting and conspiring with Arjuna Mahendran to misappropriate public funds worth Rs. 688 million during the Bond auction held on February 27, 2015. Aloysius and Palisena were also re-remanded by the Fort Magistrate till October 11 over the parallel magisterial inquiry conducted relating to the Bond scam on deleting phone call data from Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. voice recording system and fabricating evidence to the Bond Commission. (Shehan Chamika Silva) More buildings set their sights on net zero The cost of small-scale solar power systems has declined more than 70 percent in the last 20 years. By CHRIS FLINT CHATTO ZGF Architects Chatto In June, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution calling for incremental steps in building energy efficiency towards net-zero energy. While their net-zero target year is still decades away, this organization of major American cities joins the state of California, the fifth-largest economy in the world, that has much more ambitious goals: all new homes will be net-zero energy by 2020; and all new commercial construction will be net-zero energy by 2030, with half of existing commercial buildings retrofitted to net-zero energy by 2030. The growth of net-zero energy buildings is not just in policy, either. New Buildings Institute has tracked buildings that are targeting or achieved this benchmark from a mere handful in the year 2000 to nearly 500 projects across the U.S. and Canada this year. Its clear that net-zero energy buildings, an idea born of experimental and remote cabins, have arrived for good reason: Net-zero energy is effective, economic and a compelling societal goal. Images from ZGF Architects [enlarge] The Rocky Mountain Institutes Innovation Center, designed by ZGF, achieved net-zero energy in its first year of operation. A net-zero energy building, at its simplest, generates as much renewably sourced energy as it uses over the course of a year, typically from on-site or rooftop photovoltaics (PVs) used to balance an extremely efficient energy demand. Given that buildings consume nearly half the energy used in the U.S., and account for a proportional share of our carbon footprint, net-zero energy addresses the single policy action to put our economy on path to carbon neutrality. Net-zero energy has additional benefits, in that it bridges the divide between design, construction and operation of buildings. It is not enough that architects and engineers plan for energy-efficient envelopes and mechanical systems; the building must be constructed well, with an attention to detail and a tight envelope that minimizes outside infiltration of air, and commissioned to ensure its systems operate as designed. And, importantly, occupants must do their part. Not only to help manage the heating and cooling of the space, whether by mechanical or passive means, but to be cognizant in how they use energy for various tasks. Most successful net-zero energy buildings in operation meet their energy targets by keeping occupants informed of energy use, and studies have found occupants to be much more responsible in energy usage with real-time feedback. A cheaper green Perhaps the most exciting development in renewable energy is the general downward trend in PV costs, making net-zero energy much more cost effective. Costs for small-scale installed systems have declined by over 70 percent in the last 20 years, so that the old green building mantra of energy efficiency first is not always true. With paybacks under 15 years, PVs are starting to not only rival some building efficiency strategies, but they pay for themselves within the lifespan of the panels and the building. To be sure, there are conditions which can make net zero uneconomical, such as heavily shaded sites, tall buildings with limited roof area, and/or energy-intensive programs. But regulations can make exemptions or, even better, provide alternatives. [enlarge] This ZGF-designed office building in Sacramento will be one of the most energy efficient in the country. The 11-story downtown Sacramento office building we are designing for the state of California is predicted to be in the top 1 percent of office building energy efficiency, but because of its small footprint and local height regulations, can only generate about 7 percent of its annual energy through rooftop solar. The remainder of the buildings renewable energy will be sourced from a dedicated array contracted through the local utility. One of the most compelling aspects about net-zero energy is that the target is not only clear and understandable but motivating. An energy use of zero (or less than zero) is immediately understandable to the layperson, much more so than a building that achieves a percentage reduction against an energy code standard that is both complex and ever-changing. Zero energy is a target that people can get excited about and motivated toward. Of course, net-zero energy only reflects one aspect of a buildings environmental impacts operating energy and does not address water use, land use, or even the enormous amount of energy it takes to construct the building itself. But continued conversations in the building industry about net-zero energy have broadened to the related topic of embodied energy (or carbon) and life-cycle analysis the inputs and impacts associated with the development, maintenance and eventual deconstruction of the physical infrastructure of a building over its lifetime. The net-zero ethic has informed the Living Building Challenge, a comprehensive building sustainability metric developed by Seattle-based International Living Future Institute that recognizes truly sustainable buildings that are not only net-zero energy, but also net-zero water, net-zero carbon and eliminate their toxic materials. Comfortable too In aspiring towards net-zero buildings, it is important that we do not lose sight of the reasons we have buildings and communities: to provide a safe, comfortable environment to live, work and play. Net-zero buildings that sacrifice occupant comfort or productivity will be counter-productive to their widespread adoption. The Rocky Mountain Institutes Innovation Center, designed by ZGF, achieved net-zero energy in its first year of operation; but just as important as its exemplary energy usage is its success as a workplace. The building is rated in the top 1 percent for thermal and visual comfort in the Center for the Built Environments industry database for occupant satisfaction. Extensive daylighting and natural ventilation do not just reduce energy usage and contribute to net-zero energy, they make it a more comfortable and productive place to work; and contribute to the estimated four-year payback. Ultimately, net zero, or zero impact, may not be enough. Net positive energy generating more renewable energy than used annually can allow one building to contribute something back to our society and environment, after centuries of environmental degradation. Perhaps the biggest reason to focus on net positive is psychological: zero isnt always seen as an inspiring goal in the West, particularly in America, where we tend to associate success with abundance, and efficiency with austerity. It may be more inspiring for people to talk about net positive rather than net zero buildings so that the goal is buildings that contribute more to the local, regional and global ecosystems than they take. Someday soon our buildings and cities and those of our children, and their children will truly be sustainable. Chris Flint Chatto, principal and integrated designer at ZGF Architects, has completed several net-zero energy projects, including the Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center and the administration center at Stanford Universitys Central Energy Facility. Other Stories: Survey: Landau Associates Photo from Landau Associates Scientists monitor stormwater at a Seattle aerospace facility, where Landau designed one of the largest industrial stormwater treatment systems in the state. Specialty: Environmental remediation and engineering, geotechnical engineering, permitting and compliance services Management: Jerry Ninteman, principal, remediation services director; Chip Halbert, principal, environmental permitting director; Calvin McCaughan, principal, geotechnical services director Founded: 1982 Headquarters: Edmonds with offices in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Spokane, Portland 2017 revenues: $16 million Projected 2018 revenues: $17 million Current projects: Geotechnical and industrial wastewater system design, air quality permitting and construction management for a central Washington data center campus; environmental investigation for cleanup and redevelopment of an airport property owned by Snohomish County; design and monitoring of a stormwater system at a Seattle aerospace facility Jay Bower, principal and CEO of Landau Associates, answered questions from the DJC about his company and the industry. Answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q: What is the biggest environmental issue in real estate? A: Uncertainty. Real estate purchase and development is largely a strategic and financial decision. Potential environmental issues that may introduce uncertainty to a real estate project include unidentified or poorly characterized contamination, the presence of hazardous building materials in existing structures, lack of a clear process and timeline for regulatory agency interactions, and/or not having clearly allocated environmental liabilities. We apply our experience and agency relationships to help clients accurately define potential liabilities, which minimizes uncertainty and helps them to make informed decisions. Q: Your website says Landau is interested in teaming with WMBE firms. Why? A: We have completed more than 300 projects since 2007 that involved a directly contracted WMBE teaming partner. Some clients specify goals or requirements for participation of women- and minority-owned businesses to qualify for work so we need to have a grasp of the WMBE expertise available to build a winning team. Many WMBEs are not that known in the business community because they get plenty of work from just a few key clients. So we encourage them to contact us. We want to develop relationships in advance of building project teams; the better we know each other, the more effective well be. As importantly, people with the initiative to start small businesses, including WMBEs, frequently make great partners and mesh well with our collaborative, team-based approach to projects. Q: What are trends in your industry locally and with your company? A: The availability of talent to meet the demand for environmental services in this vibrant economy is an increasing constraint on growth Im unaware of any firm that isnt hiring. Retention of talented staff is critical and competition for seasoned professionals is fierce. As a 100 percent employee-owned firm, we focus on creating an environment where our staff can excel professionally and be rewarded financially as co-owners, with the result that we enjoy longer-than-average tenures. But we do not assume todays employees want the same workplace experience as those in the past. The focus on employee experience is increasingly critical to the success of environmental firms. Q: Which services are most in demand and where do you see growth in the next five years? A: Demand continues for services related to legacy environmental issues at brownfield and operating sites associated with re-use of underused land or expansion at existing facilities, but demand for services related to management and protection of land, water and air resources is growing more rapidly. The regulatory environment for these projects is increasingly complex, and in some cases restrictive, and tends to create uncertainty from the owners perspective. Uncertainty can kill a project if there is too much perceived risk or a lack of confidence in the development schedule. However, the ability to mitigate for uncertainty through expertise and relationships with regulators and other stakeholders can create a competitive advantage for our clients. Given the long-term trend in regulatory development and stakeholder interest, we expect to see continued growth. Q: Is the rise of infill development in the Seattle area affecting what your firm does? A: Most of our clients operations and development activities are outside of Seattle. There is likely some shift in the competitive environment related to the intensity of development in Seattle, but the overall economy has a much larger influence on our firm. From our perspective, the vibrant economy has provided a wealth of work for everyone and it engages all our services, from managing legacy environmental issues to geotechnical engineering and permitting for new construction. Other Stories: Survey: Paladino & Co. Photo from DBIA HAPOs Mill Plain branch in Vancouver is the first credit union to pursue Well Certification. Specialty: Sustainability and green building consulting firm that aligns sustainability strategies to measurable business value Management: Tom Paladino, founder and CEO Founded: 1994 Headquarters: Seattle 2017 revenues: N/A Projected 2018 revenues: N/A Projects: Pursuing Well Certification for HAPO Credit Union in Vancouver; sustainability consulting for Forza Tower in Columbia The DJC asked Deborah Hanamura, executive director of sales and marketing at Paladino, about trends and issues in the industry. Answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q: What types of projects has Paladino focused on recently? A: The past year has shown an exciting diversity in rating systems and third-party back-checks. Highlights include the LEED EB O+M project for Camden Yards, the Well Certification effort to help HAPO Credit Union become the healthiest credit union in the world, being selected to provide sustainability consulting for Forza Tower, which will be the tallest building in Latin America. These projects demonstrate that sustainability, wellness, and resilience reach across geographies, business types and budgets. We love the diversity of work and the challenges it brings. Q: Has Paladino changed any services in the last year? A: The biggest addition to our services has been a rapid escalation in our work with wellness, including Fitwel and Well Certification work. We are also seeing increased interest in sustainabilitys link to climate resilience. Q: You service architects, developers, corporations and the public sector are you focusing more on any of these? A: We work in partnership with architects to deliver a high-value asset to the project owner or developer. How that value is measured is based on the business circumstances of each owner and how they evaluate their pro forma. Our increased focus is on the link between sustainability and business value, with the certification functioning as a back-check on the decisions made. Q: What regions where Paladino operates have picked up? A: There is a general spike in secondary markets around the U.S., and we are seeing that in our business. We are particularly busy in Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Boston. Q: Are you staffing up or down in response to changes in your business? A: We are growing. Our firm is a boutique, and our aim is to carefully manage our growth. We are actively adding key positions in both Seattle and D.C. Q: As sustainability evolves, are clients still receptive to new tech? A: Absolutely. There is always a curiosity about new technologies combined with a healthy skepticism about being the first to deploy it. If you can bring the data, market proof and business case for a technical approach, a client will typically consider it. In terms of climate resilience, we are also seeing innovative solutions that come from passive strategies using less technology with smart design can also be the right answer. Other Stories: Survey: OBrien & Co. Image by Runberg Architecture Group/Neoscape OBrien & Co. is providing technical assistance and verification services for Vulcans Sitka apartment complex in South Lake Union. Specialty: Consulting to create a sustainable built environment; policy, planning, programs, projects and education Management: Principals Elizabeth A.D. Powers, Alistair Jackson, Donna Trost Founded: 1991 Headquarters: Seattle 2017 revenues: N/A Projected 2018 revenues: 10 percent growth Projects: Sitka in South Lake Union, developed by Vulcan; Red Cedar in the Yesler Terrace redevelopment by Seattle Housing Authority The DJC asked OBrien & Co. principal Elizabeth Powers about trends and issues in the industry. Answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q: What recent projects are you most proud of? A: OBrien & Co. is providing technical assistance and verification services on two exemplary multifamily projects: Sitka in South Lake Union, developed by Vulcan; and Red Cedar, a Yesler Terrace redevelopment project by Seattle Housing Authority. We are also providing LEED certification support to the University of Washington, which has several outstanding projects: North Campus Housing; Population Health Facility, which is the first LEED version 4 project on campus; and West Campus Utility Plant, which earned gold certification under Envision, a rating system for sustainable infrastructure. Q: How have you diversified your business in response to increasing workload? A: The field of sustainable building is expanding its focus on how the built environment influences public and individual health and OBrien & Co. is actively working with many clients on this topic. In terms of sectors, we are more engaged in existing buildings than ever before. As the largest portion of the building stock by far, existing buildings represent the best opportunity to create change. Q: Are clients requesting more technological advances as the sustainability industry matures and evolves? A: Our field is continuously raising the bar because we still have a way to go before the built environment is creating a positive impact by which to offset previous negative impact. Technologically, a lot of the solutions already exist. It is more about applying them consistently at scale. Q: Can you cite improvements in sustainability technology used in your recent projects? A: Some examples are electric vehicles, on-site renewable energy production (which is getting very cost effective with the drop in the cost of solar systems), and approaches to energy-efficient buildings such as passive house and heat pumps combined with direct outdoor air supply and heat recovery. Q: Are your clients still focused on the bottom line when considering sustainable design practices and standards? A: Clients pursue sustainable building for many different reasons, but all the reasons related to a value they ascribe to sustainability. Mission-based companies and public agencies need to walk-the-talk and often want to lead or set an example. Many organizations find a commitment to sustainability necessary for recruitment and retention, from colleges and universities trying to attract students to tech companies seeking the best talent. Some projects are motivated primarily by incentives such as additional funding or FAR. These projects are primarily focused on lowest first cost sustainability features, whereas others are interested in overall life-cycle cost reduction because they will maintain and operate the building. Another value that could relate directly to the bottom line soon is carbon reduction. Organizations that made commitments to address climate change are finding that they need to set specific standards for their buildings to meet the greenhouse gas reduction targets they set. Meanwhile, both the public and the state government are pushing for some sort of regulation on carbon emissions which could impact almost every business bottom line. Other Stories: Subscriber content preview As the DJC first reported, the old Ballard Transfer Co. site sold in January for $11.8 million to Carmel Partners of San Francisco. In May, we reported that 171 units and retail were planned for the midblock site, which is outside the Ballard Avenue Historic District. This month, two new plans have been filed by separate developers that will likely remake the entire 1.8-acre block. It's bounded by Market, Northwest 54th Street, 26th Avenue Northwest and 24th Avenue Northwest. (The latter bleeds into Shilshole Avenue Northwest; and the two names are often used interchangeably.) . . . Remember When With Americas Veterans Day on Nov. 11, (Remembrance Day in other countries) we need to remember our U.S. military is... Genesee County in the 1970s Hi, read your article and it was great, but maybe I could add more. I am 62, was born in... Blacked RecordingsPaul Curcio, who produced Metallica's 1983 debut album Kill 'Em All, has died at age 74. His daughter Brainne Curcio-Smith confirmed to Billboard that her father passed away September 10 from heart failure. Metallica recorded Kill 'Em All in Curcio's Music America studio in the producer's hometown of Rochester, New York. The album, which has been certified three-times platinum, is considered a groundbreaking release for the burgeoning thrash metal scene. Prior to his work with the Metallica, Curcio was a fixture in the late '60s Bay Area music scene thanks to his Pacific Recording studio, where artists including The Grateful Dead and Santana recorded albums. Curcio was living in St. Petersburg, Florida at the time of his death. According to Billboard, a service will be held in his memory on Lake Seminole this Saturday, September 29. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The following essay was written by my friend Danielle Atkinson. Danielle is Chair of MI Time to Care and the Founding Director of Mothering Justice, a statewide organization working to improve the lives of Michigan families by equipping the next generation of mother activists. Enjoy. Six years ago, I founded Mothering Justice to fill a void for mothers across the state: To create an organization by mothers, for mothers and the issues that impact our families on a daily basis. One of the biggest issues that we face: Not being able to earn paid sick days at our jobs. Before I started the organization, I had a job like that where I couldnt earn paid sick days. If I got sick, I had to take a day off work without pay. And once I had children, the problem became even more pronounced. Check-ups with the pediatrician, a bout of the flu, even nothing serious, added up and meant a much smaller paycheck that week. Like a lot of Michiganders, Im part of the sandwich generation, taking care of my kids and parents at the same time. While my mom battled breast cancer, she cobbled together days off for her treatment, and I shuttled between being by her bedside and taking care of my dad who was also sick. I couldnt catch my breath, let alone think about how my bills were piling up every time I had to take a day off to take care of someone and didnt get paid. I knew that if I was struggling a family with two working parents then there were millions of women like me, or in more difficult positions, who needed a voice, and needed policies that reflect their day-to-day lives. Through the years, I have heard so many stories like my own from members who have battled illness personally or at their childrens or parents bedside. They know what its like to be short at the end of the month because they did what they had to for their family and took time off. It was six years ago when Mothering Justice was just getting started that we realized earned paid sick days was an issue we had to take to the legislature. We carefully crafted the proposed policy with input from working moms (and dads) and members of communities all across the state. For years, we found legislators who supported earned paid sick days and introduced legislation. Every year, we brought this proposal to the legislature, and every year, they failed to act. This year, we gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures and received overwhelming support from Marquette to Muskegon. Because of our actions and the popularity of the issue, the legislature passed the first earned paid sick time law in the Midwest. Beginning next spring, people in Michigan will be able to earn up to 72 hours of earned paid sick time. For many, it means they will be able to take a day off when they are sick, stay home with a sick child or care for a sick parent without fear of losing a days pay for the first time in their working life. Lawmakers beholden to corporate special interests have been openly discussing their post-election plans to gut the earned paid sick days law they just passed. These well-funded special interest groups are pressuring the legislature to use their lame duck session at the end of November to undermine the new law and make changes that would that would effectively make the policy worthless for working families. Legislators know this is their one chance to weaken an extremely popular measure that was likely to pass overwhelmingly on Election Day if it had gone to a vote to the people. So, the push for paid sick days for every Michigan family is not over. We will not stand for any attempt by the legislature to take away the rights and protections enshrined in this popular and commonsense law before Michiganders have a chance to benefit from it. We began this campaign with the goal of giving nearly two million Michiganders the right to earn paid sick days. And we wont stop until we all have the right to earn paid sick days. [CC photo credit: Kyle J. Schultz | Flickr] EIB aligning all its activities with the Paris Agreement Bridging urban financing gap with Global Urbis Launching the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund Expanding solar energy through the International Solar Alliance Attending the second One Planet Summit in New York City, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU Bank, is announcing progress on initiatives hailed as transformative that will deliver on the ambitious Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. Global Urbis is a groundbreaking partnership to enhance climate action in cities around the world. The Land Degradation Neutrality Fund is a unique way to finance climate adaptation and land restoration measures through projects that will benefit some of the most vulnerable communities. In addition, the EIB President underlined how the EU Bank is actively engaged with 29 other public development banks to align with the Paris Agreement in a coordinated approach. He also pointed to the EU banks commitment to backing the International Solar Alliance to support solar energy and the exchange of technology. Finally, he highlighted the first Sustainability Awareness Bonds recently launched by the EIB to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Speaking from New York, EIB President Werner Hoyer said: Multilateral cooperation is the only way to achieve success in tackling climate change and sustainable development. We are here to demonstrate that multilateralism works and that we will do all we can to defend it. International cooperation has assured peace and brought prosperity wherever it has been allowed to flourish. We must cherish it and protect it vigorously, and we will. Multilateral financial institutions like the EIB have a vital role to play to help channel private capital towards the energy transition and sustainability objectives that are needed to reach the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Crucially all the initiatives that the EIB is reporting on at the One Planet Summit have been developed and implemented with partners, because no one can tackle the climate challenge alone. This is the case for the Global Urbis, the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund and the International Solar Alliance. As the EU Bank, together with our public development bank partners, we also committed to report on our alignment with the Paris Agreement and I am confident that for our part all the EIBs activities will be fully aligned by 2020, President Hoyer said. He added: Investing in innovation is also crucial to accelerate progress in tackling climate change. For example, the price of renewable energy has fallen considerably in recent years but not enough. More resources and efforts must go into research and development work around renewables, to ensure that their cost drops even more and that they become the source of energy of choice for the development and industrial growth of every country. Global Urbis Together with the European Commission, other financial institutions such as EBRD, and the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM), the EIB launched Global Urbis, a set of breakthrough partnerships to bridge the urban financing gap. The partners committed to develop advisory services, financing instruments and broader initiatives to foster climate action investment in cities and local authorities with the scale and speed needed to deliver on the Paris Agreement. During the recent Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, as part of the new partnership under the umbrella of Global Urbis, the EIB and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) launched the Global Climate City Challenge. The initiative aims to help prepare and finance urban climate action projects to build greener, low carbon and more climate resilient cities for future generations. The EIB and GCoM are looking for bold and ambitious projects that will make a substantial difference for citizens as well as for the planet itself. FELICITY, a technical assistance programme for low-carbon infrastructure projects in cities jointly led with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) will also contribute to the Challenge. The German Federal Ministry of the Environment (BMU) envisages expanding FELICITY, which will contribute to Global Urbis and the respective partnership between GCoM and the EIB. During the last 7 years (2011-2017), the EIB has lent about EUR 150 billion for urban development, defined in terms of the priorities of the EU urban agenda, lending to well over 1000 cities and towns worldwide. Out of the total investment in urban development, over EUR 44 billion were invested in climate action. Land Degradation Neutrality Fund ready to take off The EIB participates in the first-of-its-kind Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDNF), launched last year at the One Planet Summit as a transformative contribution to the Global fight against climate change. The EIB has committed to provide USD 50 million to the fund, which aims to reach USD 300 million investment in land management and land restoration projects worldwide to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals land degradation neutrality by 2030. The Fund is sponsored by the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and managed by the firm Mirova (Natixis). Nine months after its launch, the initiative is ready to be implemented and the Fund is now in a position to close and become operational in the coming weeks. This was made possible through innovate risk mitigation feature to catalyse private finance for investments in land restoration projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes funding from the Luxembourg-EIB Climate Finance platform, Agence Francaise de Developpement, Natixis and the Total Foundation, as well as guarantee from IDB Invest. In addition to the European Investment Bank and Agence Francaise de Developpement acting as anchor investors, other public and private investors have confirmed their investments: Fondaction, BNP Paribas Cardif, Garance, Fondation de France, and Natixis. Corresponding commitments amount to up to USD 100 million. The cost and number of climate related disasters are rising and accelerating land degradation, putting pressure on affected communities. With more than 1.3 billion people living on degraded land, the potential for forced mass migration and internal displacement is high. No single government has sufficient resources to finance climate adaptation and land recovery actions. Therefore, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals target of a land degradation neutral world by 2030, large amounts of financial resources must be mobilised. For this reason, the EIB is supporting the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDNF) to invest in projects that will speed up active involvement and concrete actions to reach land degradation neutrality. I am pleased to say that less than one year after its launch, the LDNF managed to mobilise private and institutional investors and to establish a pipeline of concrete projects that will make a change in the years to come., said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. Paris Alignment The 2015 Paris Agreement is about aligning country strategies and financial flows with ambitious climate action goals. Following up on their joint statement released at the 2017 One Planet Summit, the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) are working towards aligning their activities. EIBs Climate Strategy and Action Plans the strategic framework of our climate action are in line with the principles of the Paris Agreement. By 2020, when the implementation of our Climate Strategy is completed, EIB activities will be Paris-aligned. International Solar Alliance The EIB is partnering with the International Solar Alliance, bringing its expertise and financing to support the expansion of solar energy in India and other regions where solar power is one of the most abundant renewable energy sources but where technologies, funding and expertise are often lacking. The goal of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) is to raise USD 1 trillion by 2030 from public and private investors to invest in such solar projects. In 2017, EIB provided EUR 1.05 billion of new financing for solar energy projects around the world, representing the largest ever annual support by the EIB to the solar sector, and is currently finalising a new EUR 200 million credit line to provide additional financing for renewable energy projects across India. Over the last 5 years, the EU Bank provided more than EUR 21 billion for renewable energy investment worldwide, including EUR 2.5 billion in photovoltaic and concentrated solar power projects. EIB Sustainability Awareness Bond Earlier this month, the EIB issued its first Sustainability Awareness Bond. The EUR 500 million transaction represents the first EIB funding intended to directly support sustainable finance beyond climate and builds on the EIBs pioneering role unlocking investment through green bonds. With this new product, the Bank extends its established allocation and reporting practice to enhance capital market transparency and accountability in further areas of environmental and social sustainability. It will contribute to strengthen investor support for transformational sustainable investment, essential to achieving Sustainable Development Goals and improving peoples daily lives. Initially, the Sustainability Awareness Bonds will focus on investment in water supply, sanitation and flood protection and are expected to expand to other sectors such as health and education once detailed reporting frameworks are in place. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. President Erdogan arrives in Berlin Turkish- German relations opens a new fresh page. In this context Turkish President Erdogan will meet Steinmeier and Chancellor Merkel. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Berlin on Thursday for his first state visit to Germany as president. Senior German officials welcomed the president and the first lady Emine Erdogan at the military section of Berlin's Tegel Airport. ERDOGAN WAS WELCOMED BY AN HONOR GUARD AND 21 GUN SALUTE Turkish president is accompanied by key ministers during the visit, including economy, finance, trade and industry ministers. Germanys news channels broadcasted the welcoming ceremony live at the airport, where Erdogan was welcomed by an honor guard, and 21 gun salute. Ahead of his official talks in Berlin, Erdogan called for opening a fresh page in Turkish-German relations, in an article published in German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The dramatic developments in the world make it indispensable for both Germany and Turkey to open a new page in bilateral relations, to leave aside their differences and focus on their common interests, he stressed. PRESIDENT ERDOGAN AND MERKEL WILL MEET On Friday, Erdogan will meet his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier and will hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel will host a lunch for Erdogan at the Chancellory, and the two leaders will meet again on Saturday morning for a working breakfast to discuss bilateral and international issues. Relations between Ankara and Berlin suffered several setbacks in past years, but both sides have taken steps in recent months towards improving ties. SECURITY TIGHTENED IN BERLIN German authorities have raised security measures to the highest level, 1+, in Berlins city center ahead of Erdogans visit. Berlin police announced Thursday that around 4,200 police officers would be deployed in Berlin to ensure the security during the visit. Main streets in government district were closed as part of the security arrangements. Following his official meetings in Berlin, Erdogan will travel on Saturday to the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which has a large Turkish immigrant population. In Cologne, Erdogan will attend the inauguration ceremony of Cologne Central Mosque, run by Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs. Trump admits Turkey's help over Idlib assault US President Donald Trump praised Turkey Wednesday for its "big help" in preventing a military conflict in Syrias Idlib province. Speaking at a press conference at UN headquarters in New York, Trump credited himself with averting a bloodbath in Idlib but also commended Turkeys efforts in preventing further escalations in the region. "TURKEY HELPED US" "Turkey has been a big help. Turkey has been great. Turkey has helped us very much with that whole situation, Trump told reporters. In his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey prevented the Bashar al-Assad regime from carrying out "bloody assaults" against the de-escalation area in Idlib with the Sochi agreement signed with Russia. The agreement stipulated the establishment of a 15 to 20-kilometer (9.3-12.4 mile) disarmament zone in Idlib, Syrias last opposition stronghold. Trump also noted during his press conference that he would present his peace plan for the Middle East before the end of the year and that he backs a two-state solution. "I think the two-state [resolution] will happen, he said. I think in one way, its more difficult because its a real estate deal. Its a little tougher deal. But in another way, it works better because you have people governing themselves. Trump also used the same rhetoric early Wednesday when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings. "I like a two-state solution. Yeah. Thats thats what I think -- thats what I think works best," Trump said. LYON, France, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Merieux Equity Partners, a management company created by Merieux Developpement, announces the first closing of its third generation fund, Merieux Participations 3, focusing on growth capital within the healthcare and nutrition sectors. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750636/Merieux_Equity_Partn... ) Dedicated to partnering with fast-growing companies in the health and nutrition sectors, Merieux Participations 3 was launched in July 2018 with a fundraising goal of more than 300 million euros. Only two months after the commercial authorization by the French Market Authorities (AMF), a first closing has been completed with an initial amount of 200 million euros (or 235 million USD). In addition to the Merieux family holding, this 3rd generation fund is backed by renown investors, such as the Dassault Holding (GIMD), Credit Agricole Centre-Est, Credit Agricole Assurances and Compagnie Financiere La Luxembourgeoise, representing more than 60% of the commitments to-date. Merieux Participations 3 will focus on growth equity investments, in support of small- to mid-cap companies operating within the healthcare and nutrition sectors and located in Western Europe or North America. With a typical ticket size ranging from 20 to 40 million euros per company, this new fund will operate MBO / LBO transactions as well as traditional growth equity deals, targeting fast growing companies with a clear potential to become market leaders at a global level. Merieux Equity Partners has already completed its first majority investment into STIplastics Healthcaring. The investment will allow this fast-growing company, located near Grenoble (France) and specialized in the development and manufacturing of plastic solutions for laboratories within the pharmacy and nutrition sectors, to strengthen its industrial platform and broaden its product offering over the coming years. Through Merieux Participations 3, Merieux Equity Partners also intends to broaden its scope of activity into the nutrition sector. The firm recently took a minority equity position in Biobest, a Belgian company commercializing a range of integrated biological control solutions for the pollination and natural crop protection market. Merieux Equity Partners will help Biobest become the global leader in this rapidly growing market segment. "We are confident about the success of our investment platform, in response of the growing demand from entrepreneurs for stronger and more specialized investors, offering tailor-made financing solutions." said Francois Valencony, CEO of Merieux Equity Partners. "The commitment of prestigious investors to Merieux Participations 3, alongside the Merieux family, reflects the growing interest in our value proposition, both entrepreneurial and sector-specific, supported by a unique team." "Investing in tomorrow's medicine and supporting emerging market leaders internationally, are priorities for Institut Merieux and a genuine component of the entrepreneurial approach of our family". said Alexandre Merieux, President of Merieux Developpement. Alongside the creation of Merieux Equity Partners and with the support of family holdings that share our long-term vision, we intend to strengthen our action in areas with major public health challenges." About Merieux Equity Partners - http://www.merieux-partners.com About Merieux Developpement - http://www.merieux-developpement.com Contact communication - Merieux Equity Partners S.A.S. EUROPE: Aurelie BOULLERAY - communication@merieux-partners.com NORTH AMERICA: Alix SIPAHI - communication@merieux-partners.com Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750636/Merieux_Equity_Partn... CONTACT: Europe tel: +33-478-873-700, North America tel: +1-617-679-8000 This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? A wide range of speakers took to the podium to explain how they, as rural women, manage to be successful in their day to day life. the seminar included Meckering farmer Ty Fulwood, Rabobank agricultural analyst Wesley Lefroy and Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development research sharing insights into WA agriculture, including mobile applications for farm management, the current global consumer trends in food and innovative technology to streamline sheep management. Female speakers included Agristarts Dr Natasha Ayers, Grubs Up entrepreneur Paula Pownall, Rustic Rural Life creator Nicky Brennan, caterer Sonya Ralph, Manavifarm Pastured Eggs farmer Robyn Cousins, Groan N Tone trainer Louise ONeil, car dealership principal Leonie Knipe, grain marketer Mae Connelly, Planfarm Consultant agronomist Hilary Wittwer and Meat and Livestock project manager for genetics Caris Jones. Guest speaker, winter paralympian and shark attack survivor Sean Pollard, shared his story of resilience, optimism and courage after his dramatic experience in 2014. Mr Pollard, a double-hand amputee, delivered an inspiring presentation that captured what has allowed him to turn an incredible challenge into a positive outcome. Surfing his whole life, Mr Pollard turned his misfortune into a positive, finishing seventh position in snow boarding at the 2018 Paralympics in South Korea earlier this year. If anyone was to bring a room full of women to tears it was Mr Pollard, as he detailed the tragic events that lead to his life today. Dowerin WIFE president Kezia Metcalf, also a speaker on the day, thanked branch members who put in a lot of effort to make the event happen. We started talking about the ideas for this on our trip home from Ongerup WIFE seminar last year and all of our meetings have been taken up with the organisation of the event, Ms Metcalf said. Thank you to those who travelled a great distance to get to this seminar, with people as far as Ongerup, Burracoppin, Wubin, Wagin, Tenterden just to name a few. Ms Metcalf said the day was a great success and she was looking forward to the 2019 Lake Grace event. InterGrain wheat breeder Dan Mullan has delivered early-mid maturing Devil as an alternative AH/APWN wheat for WA growers. WHEN choosing a wheat variety for his 9600-hectare annual cereal program, Coorow grain grower Alastair Falconer is looking for a high-yielding, mid-maturing option that will tolerate late season heat stress conditions that often occur in his area and can significantly reduce yields. To help meet these challenges and reduce the risks associated with cropping in increasingly variable seasonal conditions, he sees a great fit for the new Australian Hard (AH) and Australian Premium White Noodle (APWN) variety, Devil. The variety is exceptionally high yielding, with results similar to Scepter. Devil was officially released by InterGrain wheat breeder, Dan Mullan at the West Midlands Group spring field last week. Mr Falconer was keen to trial Devil as part of his wheat program this season and sowed a 16ha trial in late May. He said it was looking fantastic so far, compared to nearby Westonia and Scepter crops, despite being sown at less than half the seeding rate of 65 kilograms per hectare used for those varieties. It has established very well, showing a strong tillering capacity, good early vigour and is proving very competitive, Mr Falconer said. While harvest is a long way off, we anticipate Devil will become a big part of our cropping program if it ticks all the agronomic boxes. Mr Falconer, who crops a total area of 16,000ha with his father David, uncle Ray and cousin Ian, said Devil was showing great potential for mid-sowing opportunities and was likely to replace some plantings of Westonia, Ninja and Scepter in coming years. With the scale of the Falconers broadacre program, harvest logistics are very important. If APWN segregations are available this may be very useful in increasing delivery options. He said there was definitely value in the varietys dual classification, as hard wheat had been difficult to produce in the past due to the higher protein specification and if he can deliver APWN and receive a small potential premium compared to APW1, then this will improve profitability. The Falconers also grow Ninja wheat for the udon Noodle market and enjoy the premiums ANW often provides, for this reason he is keen to grow a new APWN variety to support the udon Noodle market through delivery of the right noodle blends to Japanese and Korean markets. Devil will also provide us with an alternative cereal option to help manage yellow spot and stripe rust in seasons where conditions are conducive to these diseases. Dr Mullan said Devil was a very stable, early-mid maturing wheat, with exceptional yield potential, yielding similarly to Scepter based on the WA 2013-17 Long-term National Variety Trials (NVT) MET results. He said Devil had been extensively trialled for both yield and quality within the InterGrain program during the past four years and its broad adaptation and early-mid maturity provides growers with flexibility when sowing their wheat programs. Having both an AH and APWN classification is highly advantageous in noodle growing areas if segregation and potential price premiums are available, Dr Mullan said. On the grain quality side, Devil has a great fit as it has an excellent grain size, lowering its tendency to produce screenings, he said. Mr Falconer said it was pleasing to see InterGrain making continual breeding improvements in AH and APWN wheat varieties developed specifically for WAs seasonal and environmental conditions. Screenings at harvest can also be an issue in seasons with a dry finish, so this is one area that were keen to see how Devil performs, he said. Devil is available for planting in 2019 and seed is available from local Seedclub members and/or resellers. THERE is a few dollars worth of quality WA grown wool sitting in the wool display at the IGA Perth Royal Show right now. Wool judging at the show encourages entries from stud and commercial producers each year, but this year entries were up with 185 fleeces from 25 exhibitors in with a chance to win big. Once again, the display cabinets in the sheep pavilion were filled with plenty of bright, crimpy wools from across the State for showgoers to check out, with judges saying they continued to be impressed by the standard of wool entered into the competition each year. Judges Tim Burgess and Tony Alosi, Elders, Cameron Henry and Matt Chambers, Landmark and Graeme Luff, Primaries, joined chief judge Tim Chapman, Primaries, to examine all entries for the various awards which were handed out at the show, and this year a fleece off the back of a truly royal ram from the King familys Rangeview stud, Darkan, was awarded the supreme champion fleece award. The big win was a surprise for the King family, who has come close to the top award a few times over the years. Rangeview stud co-principal Jeremy King passed on the credit to his wife Melinda for encouraging him to get some fleeces into this years competition. Ms King said enthusiasm in the current wool market was a main factor in the decision to enter some fleeces this year. We thought with wool prices where they are, it would be important to enter this years competition, Ms King said. And its fantastic to come away with a couple of the major awards. The supreme sash was laid over a fleece from a Poll Merino Rangeview stud ram with Avington bloodlines set to be offered at the studs on-property sale at Darkan in the coming weeks, after winning the broad ribbons for champion superfine fleece, champion open Merino ram fleece and grand champion ram fleece. The ram the fleece came from, was also judged the reserve champion superfine ram at the 2018 Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Sale at Katanning in August and had wool test results including 17.4 micron, 15.9 spinning fineness, 99.9 per cent comfort factor (CF), 111mm staple length and 50N/kt staple strength. It was also awarded perfect scores by the judges for soundness, evenness of fibre diameter, handle and colour, resulting in a winning final score of 96 points from a possible 100. Of the supreme Rangeview fleece, chief judge Tim Chapman said it had outstanding evenness of style, handle and brightness. It was second to none, Mr Chapman said. This award for Rangeview goes to show how far the development of quality in breeding has come over the years at the stud. A well-deserved congratulations to the King family on their win. Taking out the purple sash for grand champion ewe or wether fleece was the Edward family, Belmont Park stud, Wagin, with a beautifully soft ewe fleece from the grand champion Poll Merino ewe at this years Australian Sheep and Wool show in Bendigo, Victoria. Belmont Park stud co-principal Malcolm Edward said the family was delighted that the Belmont Park bred ewe did so well in Bendigo and delighted again to see her fleece earn a major award in Perth. Shes going into our embryo program and will be mated to some of our best rams so we have a lot of faith in her, Mr Edward said. When she was shorn, she cut about 10 kilos, so shes a good wool producer. The ewe fleece had wool test results including 18.5 micron, 17.1 spinning fineness, 99.8pc CF, 119mm staple length and 65N/kt staple strength. Subjective points awarded from the judges included perfect scores for soundness, length, evenness of fibre diameter and handle, finishing with a final score of 95 from 100, just one point off the score which saw the supreme ribbon go to the Rangeview stud. The reserve champion ram fleece, reserve champion open Merino ram fleece and champion fine fleece ribbons were awarded to the Mallibee stud, Wannamal, representing the first major awards in wool judging for the stud. Stud consultant Bruce Cameron said the ram was by Roseville Park 43 and was a good performer for the stud with wool test results including 19.8 micron, 18.1 spinning fineness, 99.7pc CF, 138mm staple length and 39N/kt staple strength. It was awarded a final tally of 94 from 100 points by the judges, including perfect scores for colour, handle, evenness of fibre diameter and length. Another Wannamal-based stud took out the reserve champion ewe or wether fleece with a ewe fleece from Boorabbin gaining a total of 91 points from 100, including perfect scores for length, evenness of fibre diameter and handle. The Boorabbin bred ewe was by Rhamily Benny and was described by the Boorabbin team as a productive ewe with nice, stylish wool. It had wool test results including 19.9 micron, 18.4 spinning fineness, 99.6pc CF, 142mm staple length and 47N/kt staple strength. The award for the grand champion pair of fleeces went to supreme winner Rangeview stud, Darkan, for a pair of fleeces from two outstanding ewes, including the reigning champion fine wool ewe from this years Make Smoking History Wagin Woolorama. Grand champion commercial fleece went to the Rintoul family, Dongiemon and Tilba Tilba studs, Williams, for a Tilba Tilba ewe fleece out of the Dark Blue family at the stud. The Rintoul family is no stranger to broad ribbons in wool judging but said this commercial value win was their first and they were delighted to see their focus on breeding highly productive fine wool sheep paying off. In the farmers fleece category, Charlesville Brahman stud, Southern Cross, was the standout, taking home the ribbons for grand champion farmers fleece, reserve grand champion farmers fleece, champion farmers ram fleece, champion farmers ewe or wether fleece and most successful exhibitor in zone two. The grand champion fleece was from a superfine wool ram and awarded a total of 87 points from 100, including perfect scores for evenness of fibre diameter and handle. It also had wool test results including 17.1 micron, 15.8 spinning fineness, 99.8pc CF, 100mm staple length and 48N/kt staple strength. Grand champion Corriedale fleece was awarded back-to-back to the WA College of Agriculture, Denmark, for a ram fleece with 81 points out of 100, including high scores for length, evenness of fibre diameter, character and handle. The remaining champion ribbons were awarded to ram fleeces from Coromandel stud, Gairdner, and Eastville Park stud, Wickepin, for wins in the medium and ultrafine fleece categories respectively. The medium wool fleece from Coromandel had wool test results including 21.7 micron, 20.1 spinning fineness, 99.3pc CF, 128mm staple length and 47N/kt staple strength as well as perfect subjective scores for evenness of fibre diameter, handle and colour, while the Eastville Park ultrafine wool fleece from the ram featured on the cover of Farm Weeklys WA Merino Magazine this year, was awarded perfect scores from the judges for handle and length, along with wool test results including 16.2 micron, 15.1 spinning fineness, 99.8pc CF, 125mm staple length and 42N/kt staple strength. The most successful exhibitor in zone three this year was the Rintoul family, Auburn Valley stud, Williams, while Peter Horne, Woodanilling, was once again the most successful exhibitor from zone four. Mr Chapman said all fleeces that were awarded major awards this year showed magnificent style, bolstered by excellent objective measurements. The standard of competition was very high this year, especially in the higher end of the judging, Mr Chapman said. Congratulations to all exhibitors on another very good presentation of wool overall this year. Mr Chapman also said it was great to see so many farmers fleeces entered this year. The farmer fleeces made up quite a large percentage of the total lots entered this year which was great, he said. And the quality, style, handle and colour of those fleeces was impressive. The DOJ and SEC assessed penalties and disgorgement of $1.78 billion Thursday against Brazils state energy company to resolve FCPA violations involving massive bribes to politicians and political parties in Brazil. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras also reached a settlement in Brazil and under the DOJ resolution will pay most of the criminal penalties there. The SEC allowed Petrobras to credit against the disgorgement the money it had already paid into a settlement fund for U.S. shareholder litigation. Petrobras entered into a non-prosecution agreement (pdf) with the DOJ that included a criminal penalty of $853.2 million. Under the NPA, Petrobras will pay 10 percent or $85.3 million of the criminal penalty to the DOJ and another 10 percent to the SEC. Petrobras will pay the remaining 80 percent or $682.5 million to the Ministerio Publico Federal in Brazil. The DOJ said its settlement recognized that Petrobras is a Brazilian-owned company that entered into a resolution with Brazilian authorities and is subject to oversight by Brazilian authorities. The SEC settled the case through an internal administrative order (pdf) and didnt go to court. The agency ordered Petrobras to disgorge $933.5 million (disgorgement of $711 million and $222.5 million in prejudgment interest). The administrative order said, The amount of this [disgorgement] obligation shall be reduced and deemed satisfied by the amount of any payment by [Petrobras] to the class action Settlement Fund in the matter of In re Petrobras Securities Litigation, No. 14-cv-9662 (S.D.N.Y.), up to and including the entire amount of this obligation. Petrobras said in a securities filing Thursday the disgorgement will be credited to satisfy the payment of $933.4 million that Petrobras already made under its previously announced settlement of a securities class action lawsuit in the United States. As a result, Petrobras will not make any additional payment to the SEC beyond the $85.3 million in penalties assessed by the DOJ and payable to the SEC, the company said. That means Petrobras will pay the DOJ and SEC a combined total of $170.6 million. The SEC said Petrobras made materially false and misleading statements to U.S. investors in a $10 billion stock offering completed in 2010. The company misrepresented its assets, infrastructure projects, the integrity of its management, and the nature of its relationships with its majority shareholder, the Brazilian government, according to the SEC. The SECs order said the $85.3 million the agency is collecting will go into a Fair Fund for harmed Petrobras investors. In the non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ, Petrobras agreed to continue cooperating in ongoing investigations and prosecutions of companies and individuals, and to enhance its compliance program. The DOJ said it reduced the criminal penalty by 25 percent for the companys full cooperation and remediation. Based on $1.78 billion in total penalties and disgorgement assessed against Petrobras in the DOJs NPA and the SECs administrative order, this is the biggest FCPA enforcement action. Although the SEC didnt require Petrobras to make any new payment to satisfy the $933.5 million disgorgement order, the order itself is also the biggest in an FCPA case. The DOJs Brian Benczkowski said in a release Thursday, Executives at the highest levels of Petrobras including members of its executive board and board of directors facilitated the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to Brazilian politicians and political parties and then cooked the books to conceal the bribe payments from investors and regulators. Petrobras has ADRs registered with the SEC and traded on the NYSE under the symbol PBR. The oil giant admitted that it failed to account for the bribes in its books and records and that some executives signed false Sarbanes-Oxley 302 certifications. Petrobras also admitted that certain executives failed to implement internal financial and accounting controls in order to continue to facilitate bribe payments to Brazilian politicians and Brazilian political parties. The bribery included payments to stop a parliamentary inquiry into Petrobras contracts and millions of dollars to the campaign of a Brazilian politician who had oversight over the location where one of Petrobrass refineries was being built. The SECs Steven Peikin said, Petrobras fraudulently raised billions of dollars from U.S. investors while its senior executives operated a massive, undisclosed bribery and corruption scheme. Although Petrobras didnt voluntarily disclose the FCPA violations, it fully cooperated in the investigation and fully remediated, the DOJ said. The companys cooperation included sharing in real time facts discovered during the internal investigation. Petrobras also replaced its board of directors and executive board, disciplined employees, and ended relationships with anyone known to the company to be implicated in the conduct at issue in the case. The company Thursday described its resolution in Brazil as a consent agreement to be signed with the MPF [Ministerio Publico Federal] without attribution of liability to the company under Brazilian law. Petrobras said the $682.6 million it is paying to the MPF will be deposited by Petrobras into a special fund in Brazil to be used in strict accordance with the terms and conditions of the consent agreement, including for various social and educational programs to promote transparency, citizenship and compliance in the public sector. In the U.S. class action shareholder litigation, Petrobras has agreed to pay $2.95 billion for a settlement. On Thursday, Petrobras said: The resolution [with the DOJ and SEC] is in Petrobrass best interest and that of its shareholders. It puts an end to the uncertainties, risks, burdens and costs of potential prosecution and protracted litigation in the United States. ____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Crown Prince Mohammed bin SalmanSaudi Arabia changed its law this week to remove the statute of limitations for anti-corruption investigations into current and former ministers of the worlds largest petroleum exporter. The amendment disposes of the sixty-day statute of limitations that previously governed investigations into alleged corrupt activity. The chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Commission Khalid bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Muhaisen said the change will enable the Commission and competent authorities to carry out their tasks effectively and efficiently to protect public money, the states interests and the national economy from corruption. This amendment isnt the first change the Kingdom has made to fight corruption. Last year in a widespread anti-corruption crackdown, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered some of the countrys top businessmen detained at Riyadhs Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The Saudi government seized more than $100 billion through settlement deals with the detainees, according to a Reuters report. Saudi Arabia sits on oil reserves valued at $34 trillion. Last December, a former sales executive of jet maker Embraer S.A. pleaded guilty to paying a Saudi official $1.5 million in exchange for help selling jets to Saudi Aramco, the national oil company. Embraer paid $205 million to the DOJ and SEC in October 2016 to settle FCPA violations stemming from the same bribes. ____ Harry Cassin is the managing editor of the FCPA Blog. ACT Genomics Holdings Company Limited, an Asian DNA sequencing-based cancer solution provider, closed an equity financing of undisclosed amount. A group of international investors co-led by CLSA Capital Partners participated in the round. Founded in 2014 and Led by Dr. Hua Chien Chen, CEO, ACTG aims to provide every cancer patient with personalized genomic information-based treatment plans through a Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platform, Asian genome database, professional bioinformatics and biomedical team in Asia, medical report, and integrated services. Its flagship NGS panel, ACTOnco+, investigates 440 cancer-related genes by incorporating a signaling pathway design. ACTOnco+ provides optimal treatment suggestion to clinicians, including targeted therapies, hormonal therapies, chemotherapies, and immunotherapies, for all solid tumor types. The company intends to use the funds to strengthen its presence and capabilities across the Pan-Asia region. Currently, ACT Genomics has operations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan and has established a joint venture with Canon Medical System Corporation in Japan to operate cancer genomic profiling service and sequencing data analysis covering Japan. FinSMEs 27/09/2018 Energize Ventures, a Chicago, IL-based venture capital fund investing in digital solutions for energy and industrials, closed its first fund, at $150m. Limited partners (LPs) included industrial companies such as Invenergy, General Electric Renewable Energy and General Electric Power, Schneider Electric, WEC Energy Group, and institutional investors, individuals and family offices. Many of these LPs provide the fund with access to market intelligence and potential commercial relationships for its portfolio companies. Led by Amy Francetic, Managing Director, the firm invests in companies that provide digital solutions that drive affordability, reliability and security for energy and industry. Energize focuses on pre-growth stage investments where its team of experts can use its investment, operating and industry experience to accelerate entrepreneurial success. Energize Ventures has a portfolio of five companies spanning data analytics, cyber security, mobility, and distributed energy resources. These include: DroneDeploy, Nozomi Networks, Volta Charging, Spark Cognition, and Aquilon Energy. FinSMEs 27/09/2018 FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIA . , , , , , . ... Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me thrice? For the third time over the past year thieves have stolen a batch of brand new Fiat Chrysler cars awaiting shipment near its Jefferson North factory in Detroit. On early Wednesday morning, a vehicle rammed through the security fence of a separately managed shipping company yard across the street from the plant and dropped off several crooks, who grabbed three Dodge Challenger Hellcat muscle cars and a Jeep Cherokee and took off, the Detroit News reported. The same facility was hit in a similar fashion in July when seven vehicles were stolen, most of which were eventually recovered. Last November, six Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawks worth $86,000 each were also lifted from the near the facility. Along with the crimes at the Jefferson North location, eight Ram pickups were simultaneously stolen from the automakers Warren Truck Assembly plant in Warren, Mich., in May. Regarding the latest theft, a Fiat Chrysler spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press that the company is working with authorities but is not commenting further on the incident." No arrests have yet been reported in conjunction with any of the crimes. Disney star David Henrie has officially been charged after getting arrested at LAX airport for carrying a loaded gun. The office of the Los Angeles City Attorney confirmed to Page Six that the Wizards of Waverly Place star, 29, faces three charges carrying a loaded firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and possessing a weapon in a sterile area of the airport. The charges were filed on Sept. 21, 2018. Henries arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 1. If convicted, Henrie, who co-starred with Selena Gomez on the hit Disney series, faces up to one year in jail. After his arrest, Henrie said was embarrassed by the incident. I take responsibility for the situation at LAX today, he shared in an Instagram post. I unintentionally brought my legally owned gun which is registered in my name to the airport. I am sorry for any trouble it caused, but I am appreciative of TSAs efforts in implementing the safety laws that are in place to protect our beautiful country. Henries arrest came only a few days after he and his wife, former Miss Delaware Maria Cahill Henrie, announced they are expecting their first child, a baby girl. This article originally appeared on Page Six. Following Bill Cosby's Tuesday sentencing to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, the disgraced comedian is now at SCI Phoenix in Collegeville, Pa. Amy Worden, press secretary for the state's Department of Corrections, explained to Fox News the nature of Cosbys arrangements at the new maximum security state prison, located about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Cosbys single-occupant cell is 7 feet by 13 feet and the ceiling is 10 feet tall, Worden told Fox News on Wednesday. She continued: Although SCI Phoenix is a maximum security prison, the amount of time that inmates are allowed out of their cell is contingent on the area of the prison facility where they are being housed." BILL COSBY ACCUSER JANICE DICKINSON SPEAKS OUT AFTER HIS SENTENCING According to Worden, Cosby, now known as Inmate No. NN7687, will have "access to a game room and exercise room." In addition, he "will be able to purchase his own television, radio and tablet so that he will be able to receive email, music and books," Worden said. "These are possessions that inmates are allowed to have. Currently, Cosby is in a cell near the infirmary, however, and according to Worden he "will likely be moved to general population at some point." He is a bit of an unusual circumstance because he is a high-profile inmate and hes being kept in a certain part of the facility," she explained. Worden also noted that the facility "already houses a number of inmates with blindness or deteriorating eyesight." Cosby is legally blind and uses a cane. "They certainly make accommodations for inmates with numerous disabilities," she added. Worden went on to explain that as of right now Cosby is "labeled as an unclassified inmate" and "for the first 10 days can only receive visitation from his lawyers and any religious advisors." However, eventually he can have up to 50 people visit him. "When inmates are brought into the facility, they go through a battery of tests for programming needs, mental health, etc. and that can take several weeks, she explains. During this classification an inmates access to certain things are different." BILL COSBY FOUND GUILTY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: A LOOK AT THE CASE Worden also spoke to the perception many people have of prison which can be inaccurate based on what is often depicted on television. She noted that since SCI Phoenix is a newer facility, inmates are given access to much more resources that can aid in their rehabilitation programs. Of course, Mr. Cosby will be able to receive commissary as well for snacks and things of that sort, she said. BILL COSBY'S PRISON SENTENCE: SOCIAL MEDIA USERS REACT And yes, inmates are allowed to have a television though at this point in the classification, Mr. Cosby wont be able to buy his own TV yet," Worden explained. "Once hes been classified hell be able to buy a television and snacks. The former television star, who traded on a squeaky clean, fatherly image, was sentenced after being found guilty of three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault in April in one of the most widely publicized trials in modern history. Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom are red carpet-official. The pop star, 33, and Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 41, made their debut as a couple at the Monte-Carlo Gala for the Global Ocean in Monaco on Wednesday. Bloom wore a black suit and white shirt for the formal affair, while Perry opted for an opulent blush-toned sequined gown by Tom Ford. The finale look from the designers spring 2018 collection, her dramatic dress retails for $9,590. Perry accessorized with an enormous diamond ring albeit on her right-hand pointer finger. The two stars, who were first linked after being spotted together at a 2016 Golden Globes afterparty, have been dating on and off ever since. While they called it quits at the beginning of 2017, their relationship was back on by early 2018. This article originally appeared on Page Six. Alyssa Milano attended Thursdays hearing in Capitol Hill, where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The 45-year-old actress told reporters on Capitol Hill she was attending the hearing as a guest of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. She traveled from her California home to Washington, D.C. to support Dr. Ford, who has accused the judge of sexually assaulting her in the early 1980s. "I'm here because I feel any man's misogyny shouldn't supersede humanity," the "Charmed" actress said. ...I felt like I needed to be here to show solidarity and my support to Ford for this day that surely will be incredibly difficult for her." Milano also explained to reporters why it was "important" for her to be at the hearing. "It took me a very long time as a survivor to come to terms with and be public with my own abuse and assault," she shared. "And I know how hard it is. And I know what shes had to go through to be here and present and answer those questions." She continued: "And I think a lot of women throughout the country and the world understand the idea of not wanting to talk about it, wanting to make it go away, not wanting to deal with it, and putting it out of our heads and minds, so it was important for me to support her and to support survivors everywhere." KAVANAUGH, FORD HEARING LIVE BLOG: SUPREME COURT NOMINEE AND PROFESSOR TESTIFY ON SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS Milano, a prominent activist for the #MeToo movement, said the 1991 confirmation hearings for now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas built her a foundation for understanding sexual harassment. Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by professor Anita Hill, who also testified before a Senate committee back then. I remember that was a horrible situationit was so much a part of our daily discussion, Milano said. Milano believes Thursdays hearing could have more impact than the 1991 hearing with Hill. I think were in a different time. I think women are standing together in solidarity, more so than we were in 91 and I think women throughout the country are not going to let it be what it was, she said. Dr. Ford, 51, claims that while they were teenagers, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, attempted to forcibly remove her clothes and held his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. In her opening statement on Thursday, Ford said the alleged incident has had the most lasting impact on my life. KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION DERAILED BY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS: A LIST OF HIS ACCUSERS Milano, along with other celebrities, have been vocal about their support for Ford. Milano criticized President Trump when he questioned why Ford never filed a police report after the alleged sexual assault. I was sexually assaulted twice. Once when I was a teenager. I never filed a police report and it took me 30 years to tell my parents, the actress tweeted last Friday. If any survivor of sexual assault would like to add to this please do so in the replies. #MeToo Milano said Thursday she has reached out to Fords counsel through email to see if the professor wanted to speak or have coffee. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations and has said he wanted to testify to clear his name ever since the accusation came to light. He told Fox News' Martha MacCallum that he wants a fair process" where he can defend his integrity. Fox News' Chad Pergram and Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report. Busy Philipps got personal with her fans Thursday, revealing she was raped when she was just 14 years old. The 39-year-old actress detailed the horrifying ordeal in an Instagram post, which featured a school yearbook photo. This is me at 14. The age I was raped. It's taken me 25 years to say those words. I wrote about it in my book. I finally told my parents and sister about it 4 months ago. Today is the day we are silent no more. All of us. I'm scared to post this, the actress wrote, referencing her upcoming memoir titled This Will Only Hurt a Little. Philipps made the post in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were both teenagers. Ford and Kavanaugh are testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday to discuss the allegations. I can't imagine what Dr. Ford is feeling right now, Philipps said. ALYSSA MILANO ATTENDS KAVANAUGH, FORD HEARING Philipps is one of several celebrities who have publicly spoken out in support of Ford by revealing their past sexual assault incidents. Padma Lakshmi, Lili Reinhart and Alyssa Milano are among the stars who have shared their sexual assault stories. Milano also attended Thursdays hearing as a guest of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Milano told reporters she was there to support Ford and believes the hearing could be different than the 1991 hearings, when now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by professor Anita Hill. I remember that was a horrible situationit was so much a part of our daily discussion, Milano said. I think were in a different time. I think women are standing together in solidarity, more so than we were in 91 and I think women throughout the country are not going to let it be what it was. Jane Fonda is known for being critical of President Trump. However, in a new interview she cautioned the American people against letting a distaste for ones politics lead them to outright hatred. Fonda, 80, recently appeared on Politicos Women Rule podcast, where she was asked about how she would have reacted to someone like Trump back in the days when she was protesting Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War. It makes me terrified, she said. Heres something, though, that I think is really important. I hate what he stands for, what he does, what he says. I dont hate him. The star went on to note that, although shes against the policies from the Trump administration, she admits that she has a vague understanding of where it comes from. I feel that I understand a little bit. This is a man who was traumatized as a child by his father, who had a mother that didnt protect him, and the behavior is the language of the wounded, she said. So, you have to have empathy for him as a human being, while you hate what he does. The Book Club star extended that call for empathy to those who support the president as well. I think that also has to transfer to the people who voted for him. Some of them you can't possibly persuade otherwise, because theyre white supremacists or they're so far off the spectrum for their own traumatic reasons probably, Fonda continued. But theres a whole bunch of Trump voters who we have to open our hearts to and have to understand why they voted the way they did and try to reach them. Because, part of the problem is that people on our side havent been talking to them and expressing empathy. Fonda, however, continues to champion political causes that run counter to Trumps agenda. For example, she noted on the podcast that shell be fighting for pay equality and raising the federal minimum wages. Shell also be helping in Michigan, where shell support a ballot measure that would raise the states minimum wage to $12. When the wines so good you take a to-go glass! Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid proved theyve embraced the Parisian lifestyle on Wednesday night while leaving the George V Hotel in Paris, France on their way to the American Embassy. As they exited the hotel, the two models were both clutching glasses of what appeared to be white wine. Jenner, 22, stunned in a sparkly tangerine orange one-shoulder dress, which showed off her slender frame, pairing the look with clear heels. Kendall Jenner Steps Out in Head-to-Toe Yellow and Looks Ridiculously Chic Hadid, 21, matched her pal in an orange-red collared dress and open-toed heels. But the longtime friends best accessories, of course, were their beverages. The pair attended a YouTube cocktail party with pals Derek Blasberg and designer Virgil Abloh, documenting the evening out on their Instagram Stories. Naomi Campbell Shades Kendall Jenner, Says Cardi B and Nicki Minaj Fight Disappointed Her Its been a busy few weeks for the models, who have participated in shows for New York, London, and Milan Fashion Weeks. Earlier in the day, Jenner stepped out in Paris in a head-to-toe canary yellow suit look. Kendall Jenner Returns to the Runway Alongside the Hadid Sisters and Kaia Gerber Meghan Markle sent social media into overdrive when she was spotted shock horror closing her own car door during her first solo event this week. Now it appears her down-to-earth (ahem, normal) approach to life is rubbing off on husband Prince Harry, with the couple spotted catching the train from an event at Loughborough University on Monday. One starstruck commuter uploaded a video of the Duke of Duchess of Sussex departing a train from Loughborough station. Bizarrely sharing my train with Harry & Meghan today, Twitter user Jonny Norton captioned the video. The royal newlyweds can be seen walking through the station hand in hand while surrounded by minders and security. Its not the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have traveled by public transport to an event, the couple also caught a train to their first official visit in Cardiff which ended up being delayed. Most of you have freezing cold hands! Were very sorry were late. Blame the trains! Harry apologized when they turned up an hour late. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have also been spotted getting the train on a handful of occasions, while Meghan was lucky enough to score a ride on Queen Elizabeths luxurious private train. The Duchess of Sussex traveled overnight with the 92-year-old monarch to their first joint engagement together in Cheshire in June. This story originally appeared in news.com.au. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are heading to Sussex! The royal couple -- who took the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they tied the knot back in May -- will visit the county in southeast England on Oct. 3, Kensington Palace revealed in a tweet on Thursday. Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, will see the historic Sussex Declaration and open Tech Park at The University of Chichester in West Sussex. The couple will also visit East Sussex, where they'll stop by the Royal Pavilion. While there, they'll also visit a rape crisis center called Survivors' Network as well as Peacehaven Youth Centre. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Cuddle Up at Coach Core Awards Ahead of Royal Tour The visit to Sussex comes just days before Harry and Meghan depart on their first royal tour since their May nuptials. Beginning on Oct. 16, the couple is set to visit Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. Their tour will run the final two weeks of October, before concluding in Rotorua, New Zealand on Oct. 31. Earlier this month, a source told ET that Meghan is "busily preparing" for the upcoming tour and "doesn't want to make a wrong step." Meghan Markle Reveals Her 'Something Blue' From Royal Wedding With Prince Harry "[Meghan and Harry] wanted to hit the ground running after their marriage to focus on their charitable interests and Meghan is really looking forward to representing Her Majesty on her first major Commonwealth tour to Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand," the source said. Prince Harry Proves He's Still the Cheekiest Royal When Caught Sneaking Food at Meghan Markle's Cookbook Event "...She really is taking the new job part of her role seriously having meetings with palace staff and learning about the Commonwealth so she can support Harry in his new role as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador." Prince William, who is currently on a solo tour in Africa, revealed that his wife, Kate Middleton, is somewhat "jealous" of his trip. While attending a reception in Windhoek, Namibia on Tuesday night, The Duke of Cambridge joked in a formal address that he was "delighted to be visiting Namibia for the first time" and was looking forward to getting a "few good uninterrupted nights" of sleep while away from his wife and three children. Joking aside, the prince said to reception guests, "I am only sorry that my wife Catherine is not able to join me" and added that his wife was "immensely jealous" that she wasn't with him. While the duchess remains in England with her children, William has embarked on his own solo tour of Africa featuring stops also in Tanzania and later Kenya, where he proposed to his wife of seven years. Kensington Palace announced that the future King of England is visiting the African countries as president of the United for Wildlife organization. William and his brother, Prince Harry, are strong advocates against the killing of African wildlife such as elephants and rhinos and have seen Africa as a special place since they were children. "My visit to Namibia this week is focused on conservation, William said while at the residence of the British High Commissioner to Namibia. "This is an issue very close to my heart, and I know is a matter of deep pride to you all as well. Your country is famous for its beautiful environment and wildlife. This is the reason why so many tourists, including tens of thousands of Brits, visit every year." He continued, "Tourism continues to grow year on year and in 2017 accounted for 100,000 jobs with the potential to add many more. Protecting Namibia's wildlife is crucial to realizing this potential. I have been very lucky to see firsthand today in the Kunene region some outstanding conservation work." And while William enjoyed his royal trip without the duchess, his sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, also stepped out without her husband and attended her first solo outing since becoming the Duchess of Sussex. The new royal caused a stir at the Royal Academy of Art in London on Tuesday when she was seen closing the car door on her own. But, despite the hoopla, the newly minted royal has closed her own door before. Last week, at an event to launch a cookbook aimed at raising money for the victims of Londons Grenfell Tower fire, Markle was seen closing a vehicle door behind her. A Florida Taco Bell is being investigated after a Lee County sheriffs deputy claimed he was served burritos that smelled and tasted like bleach. TACO BELL PATRONS THROW FOOD AT EMPLOYEES WHO FORGOT HOT SAUCE, CAUSE DISTURBANCE, POLICE SAY The officer, identified as Deputy Brown, ordered four burritos from the Taco Bell drive-thru on Sunday, WXYZ reports. Brown said he ate two of the burritos on his way to a call and noticed something was off. Brown said he inspected the remaining two burritos, and claimed the exterior paper wrapped around the food smelled like bleach. MAN CLAIMS HE WENT TO TACO BELL TO GET A JOB, GOT ARRESTED INSTEAD Soon after eating the burritos, Brown said his tongue started to feel numb and tingly, WXYZ reports. The officer said he is now concerned for his health after consuming what he feels were tainted burritos. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Taco Bell said in a statement to Fox News that the fast-food chain is investigating the incident. We take food safety very seriously and are deeply appreciative of the men and women who serve and protect our communities and our country. The franchisee that owns and operates this Lehigh Acres restaurant is cooperating with local authorities and investigating this matter. A Georgia man and former city employee was arrested after allegedly impersonating a police officer and threatening to shoot two Subway employees over his lunch order. According to police, Eric McMillian, who previously worked for the city of Kennesaw, got upset when the restaurant employees charged him for extra cheese on his sandwich, WSB-TV reports. DC LAWYER SUES EX-FIANCEE FOR RETURN OF $100G ENGAGEMENT RING, CALLS IT 'CONDITIONAL GIFT' McMillian also reportedly threatened to arrest the two workers at the chain. He has since been fired after just six months on the job as a business license specialist. Kennesaw Mayor Derek Easterling was surprised by his former employees behavior. "He misrepresented his position. He misrepresented who he was as a person. That bothers me at a different level, not just as mayor, but as a citizen," Easterling told WSB-TV. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS "He was a great employee, worked hard. He didn't seem to have any problems," he said. A spokesperson for Subway did not respond to Fox News request for comment. Approximately 110,000 Boy Scouts neckerchief sliders have been recalled over lead content, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said Wednesday. The colored enamel on the neckerchief slides contains levels of lead that exceed the federal lead content ban, the agency said in a release. Blue Webelos, green bear, orange lion and red wolf neckerchiefs are impacted by the recall, according to the CPSC, which noted there have been no reported injuries. The agency also gave information about customers should look for on their products. IS YOUR HOSPITAL BILL ACCURATE? Made in China and P.O. number 200228276, 20023175, 200233281 or 200236630 are printed on a white label attached to the back of the neckerchief slide, the group explained. The items were sold at several places, including places Boy Scouts of America stores and its online shop. The UPSC said customers can return the items for new ones at no cost. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER SIDELINED AS HE WAITS FOR KIDNEY Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled neckerchief slides, take them away from children and return them to any Boy Scouts of America retail store or distributor for a free replacement neckerchief slide, including shipping, the agency warned. The Boy Scouts of America told Fox News they investigated the production process in coordination with the manufacturer. "We have identified an isolated, one-time production error which we believe caused this problem. That error has been corrected. We are reviewing the quality controls we use to ensure the quality and safety of our products," the Boy Scouts of America said. n November, J.R. Durens wife gave birth to their son. Concerned about a possible infection, doctors monitored the newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit. After four hours, he was declared well enough to return to a regular hospital room, where new baby and mother stayed two more nights. Yet when Duren received the bill, he was shocked. Not only had the hospital charged $55 for saline spray that his wife never received, but his son had been billed nearly $3,500 for one night in NICU and an additional $2,226 for another nights stay in a regular hospital room. Duren pointed out the two errors to the hospital billing office. An employee promised to look into the mistake. What they ended up doing was auditing both my wifes and my sons accounts, and our charges actually went up around $1,000, said Duren. What should have been a happy time to celebrate the birth of their child turned into a back-and-forth battle that lasted months, even though, as Duren said, the hospital was clearly in the wrong. Durens experience isnt unique. Whether intentional or due to careless mistakes, surprise hospital charges are common. Similar stories have also recently grabbed headlines, including a family who was charged $18,000 for a nap and a bottle of baby formula after taking their 8-month-old son the emergency room when he hit his head, and a woman who was charged nearly $6,000 for an ice pack and bandage when she ending up in the ER after she fainted and cut her ear during the fall. Nearly one-third of insured Americans learn after the fact that their health plan doesnt pay as much for a hospital visit as expected. In fact, past-due medical bills are the reason 59 percent of Americans are contacted by a debt collector and 16 percent of Americans credit reports include medical debt about $81 billion total. Hospitals and doctors keep sending patients surprise bills because they make money by doing so, said Charles Silver, endowed chair of civil procedure at University of Texas at Austin School of Law and co-author of Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care. They face little risk of losing customers. Hidden costs of care In July, a video of a woman whose leg became trapped between a Boston subway train and platform went viral not just because of the high drama or how fellow passengers worked to pull her free. What resonated on the internet was the womans panicked reaction when someone tried to call an ambulance. Its $3,000, she reportedly pleaded. I cant afford it. Why is getting medical care from a hospital, even when youre severely injured, and even when youre privately insured, so prohibitively expensive? There are several reasons. A complicated system Hospitals contract with insurers, offering their members a discounted price for services. Different contracts result in different prices. And having no contract at all results in out-of-network prices that can be sky-high. But even if the hospital you visit is in network, the doctor who sees you might not be. When Yale researchers reviewed more than 8.9 million ER bills, they discovered that 22 percent of privately insured patients were treated by out-of-network doctors. More than 60 percent of hospitals outsource their ER doctors, and the firms they hire have an incentive to keep physicians out-of-network so they can charge higher prices. The Yale study noted that each time a physician staffing firm called EmCare was hired by a hospital, the patients were more likely to have imaging tests done, be admitted, and were billed under the highest (most expensive) procedure codes. People have gotten better at gaming the system and now, there are many more of them, said Silver. Opaque prices Lets say an ER doctor wants you to have a comprehensive blood test called a full metabolic panel. Your explanation of benefits might list the cost as $1,000. But because your insurer has a contract with the hospital, it might deduct $900 from that cost. And if you have a deductible, you may end up paying as little as $5. That may sound like a great deal, but list prices what a hospital charges for a typical procedure are nonsense, according to Akshay Gupta, co-founder of CoPatient, a medical bill advocacy service. The prices are completely egregious and have no connection to reality, Gupta said. A study compared 2012 data on the treatment for severe pneumonia at hospitals across the country. The lowest was $59,134 at an Anaheim, California, medical center. The highest? Over $99,000 at a Tampa, Florida hospital a $40,000 difference. According to a study published last year in Health Affairs, these list prices (also called chargemasters) are typically three times higher than what a hospital is paid for providing care and gives them leverage when negotiating with an insurer. Yet paying more for a hospital procedure doesnt mean youre paying for higher quality of care, or that doctors are aware the procedures theyre ordering may push patients into crippling debt. Silver once asked a liver transplant surgeon what her procedure cost. She had no idea. Most doctors dont think about cost and are just doing their job, said Silver. And the people who do know like administrators are just doing what comes naturally, maximizing profit. Billing mistakes As many as 80 percent of hospital bills contain errors. And no wonder, since there are nearly 70,000 diagnosis codes and over 71,000 procedure codes to sift through. To make sense of [a bill] and figure out whats right and whats wrong its not easy, said Gupta. Yet the wrong code can lead to an overcharge of hundreds or thousands of dollars. A National Academy of Medicine report estimates about $210 billion is spent on unneeded or overpriced treatments. A bumpy ride ahead Simon Haeders wife barely made it to the hospital before she delivered their son. At least they cant charge us for delivery, Haeder joked at the time. Yet the hospital did and other charges piled up, too. $7,000 for a delivery room. Over $4,000 for the doctor who hadnt even been at the birth. $25 for two Tylenol, and more. We had a bill for our baby before he even got a Social Security number, Haeder said. Frustrated, Haeder wrote about the experience for The Conversation, detailing the extravagant charges as well as the stress of dealing with new bills arriving each day. I was tired of not saying anything because [similar experiences] are happening to a lot of people, said Haeder. His friend, for instance, was charged twice for an imaging test because the technician scanned the incorrect body part the first time. Haeder, who is a professor of political science specializing in healthcare policy at West Virginia University, thinks a tipping point is near. People are paying larger premiums, but wages arent getting larger, Haeder pointed out. People on Medicaid are insulated from the costs, but more and more of the cost goes to the middle class. Between 2010 and 2013, Americans households lost $2,300 in median income, yet healthcare prices rose over $1,800. Only 23 percent of Americans are able to afford an unexpected medical bill thats more than $2,000, yet out-of-pocket medical costs keep rising. What you can do After three months of battling with his hospital and insurer (and calling them both out on Twitter), Duren received a surprise call from the CEO of the hospital billing company. Not only was the extra NICU charge removed, but the hospital forgave Duren the $2,800 still owed for his sons account. It was an incredible moment, said Duren. I got goosebumps. To fight or prevent your own surprise charges: A hero firefighter left his own wedding to go and fight a blaze and returned three hours later, just in time for his first dance. Dad-of-two Jeremy Bourasa, 39, had just tied the knot to bride Krista Boland, 32, when the call came in that a house was burning down. The volunteer fireman, who was posing for official photos with his new wife at the time, dropped everything and changed into his uniform. He then ran outside of the venue, which was, conveniently, the fire station where he is based, and jumped into the same fire truck his new wife had arrived in a few hours earlier. Bourasa battled the fire alongside other rescuers from St. Paul Park Volunteer Fire Department in Minnesota, and fortunately no lives were lost. The newlywed returned to his wedding three hours later and was on cloud nine as their 120 guests greeted him with a standing ovation. The couple, of Cottage Grove, then enjoyed their first dance to "Stay With You" by John Legend, as sung by Bourasa's brother-in-law, Ira Weatherspoon, 32. DUNKIN DONUTS, IHOP AND OTHER POPULAR CHAINS THAT MADE SURPRISING NAME CHANGES Boland, a school nurse, said: The fire was really bad, and I could hear the crew saying that they needed more guys. I looked over at Jeremy, and I could tell what he was thinking. He looked so torn. I said just go. Its about knowing when to put someone else before yourself. I would hope that anyone would do the same in my position. Someones home was in flames, so in that moment, they needed him more than I did. I felt so proud. Bourasa added: At first, getting on the truck, I was thinking about leaving my new wife on our wedding day. But on the way there I realized that I was going into a burning house so I wanted to be focused on that. Your gut instinct kicks into gear and you do what you gotta do. After the stations bell rang at 4.30 p.m, Bourasa and a team of other rescuers from St. Paul Volunteer Fire Department rushed to the scene of the fire. They managed to get the blaze under control and fortunately no lives were lost, but the home was tragically destroyed. Once it was all over and I was sitting there with my jacket off and a wet towel on my head drinking water, I was like, dang, I just got married!" Bourasa said. I got quite a few high fives from the other guys. It shows respect. It proves that you're not just there because you want to be a cool fire man - this dude just left his own wedding to come help us. NORTH DAKOTA WOMAN'S HALLOWEEN DECORATION FREAKS OUT NEIGHBORS, PROMPTS POLICE RESPONSE When I walked into the reception everyone just stopped what they were doing and stood up and started clapping. It was almost a standing ovation. I was on cloud nine. Boland added: I cried when I saw him. I was so proud of him. He would give you the shirt off his back, his last dollar. He has the kindest heart. Our boys were so proud of him too. They both want to be a firefighter like their dad when they grow up. Boland and Bourasa were introduced by Bourasa's sister-in-law 11 years ago and got engaged in July 2013. The pair, who have two sons, Kaden, eight, and Knox, two, originally planned to wed straight away but delayed it until after Boland had finished nursing school. That same year, Bourasa fulfilled his lifelong dream to become a volunteer firefighter. Seeing him in action gave his fiancee inspiration for a wedding venue. Boland said: He clearly loved being a firefighter. Its really important to him. We were trying to figure out where to have the wedding, and then I said why dont you see if we could have it at the fire station? Bourasa added: I was kind of skeptical about having it there at first because it seemed kind of cheesy. Now that I look back on it, I wouldnt want it any other way. It was a super cool experience. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS I'm not a really emotional guy, but when I saw her come down the aisle, I cried. The newlyweds added that the fact Bourasa was able to help out with the emergency made their wedding a day theyll remember forever. It's a day that Ill remember the rest of my life. I cant wait to tell my grandkids down the line," Bourasa said. Just to be able to give a helping hand is so rewarding. Boland added: It was the perfect day for us. It ended up being so beautiful, I wouldnt change a thing. Becky Muhs gave her neighborhood a big scare after putting up the first of this years Halloween decorations, but probably not in the way she intended. Muhs, of West Fargo, N.D., hung a decoration in her window that made it appear as if someone had scrawled the words Help Me in blood from inside the house, prompting her neighbors to frantically attempt to reach her, and even call the police, WDAY reports. Unfortunately, Muhs wasnt home to allay anyones fears, as she and her husband whose anniversary falls on Halloween, too were out celebrating an early birthday dinner. PASSENGER BOARDS FLIGHT, DISCOVERS ASSIGNED SEAT DOESN'T EXIST "I look across the street and I see in my neighbor's window, the sign that says Help Me," said WDAY radio host Jay Thomas, who just happens to live nearby. "That window has always had the curtains drawn. So I'm like, 'What's going on in here?'" Thomas, spotting a police car, then ran down the street to alert the officer, but ended up calling 911 after he was waved away. "To my defense, there were no other Halloween decorations out there," he said. He also tried contacting Muhs, who eventually responded 15 minutes later to confirm she was safe. Police also got in touch with Muhs and her husband, but told them this kind of thing isnt completely out of the ordinary. SUPERMARKET SAYS CUSTOMERS ARE JUST STEALING BASKETS AFTER PLASTIC BAG BAN Muhs and Thomas, meanwhile, have come around to seeing the humor in the incident. It's any Halloween lovers dream come true to get that kind of reaction to decorations, she tells Fox News. And honestly it's very reassuring to know the we have such good neighbors looking out for us even if it might have made him look a little silly, it was all in good fun. We are still giggling here, she added. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS News of Muhs concerning decoration follows a similar incident from 2017, during which residents of a Tennessee county repeatedly called the police to report what appeared to be a grisly accident specifically, a man being decapitated by his garage door only to be told it was a just a Halloween decoration. Do NOT call 911 reporting a dead body," police told neighbors. "Instead, congratulate the homeowner on a great display." NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Until two weeks ago, President Donald Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court seemed a sure thing. He ably handled more than 1,200 questions put to him by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He demonstrated even to his adversaries a masterful command of constitutional jurisprudence. The FBI had completed six background investigations of Kavanaugh throughout his career in government, and it found no blemishes. Trump promised that he would appoint federal judges and justices who generally share his views on life, guns and administrative regulations and who have a minimalistic view of federal power. When he announced the Kavanaugh nomination, it appeared he had found his man. The nomination requires Senate confirmation by a majority vote. The Senate currently has 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats. A few Republican senators do not share the president's stated views on the judiciary, and a few Democrats do. The inside consensus was that enough Democratic senators running for re-election in states that Trump carried in 2016 would vote to confirm Kavanaugh and those Democrats would handily offset the few Republicans who might oppose him. During his confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh dutifully followed the pattern of all current sitting justices at their confirmation hearings by declining to answer hypothetical questions which sought answers as to how he might vote on certain issues likely to come before the court. He survived the grueling cross-examination by Committee Democrats and even won begrudging praise from a few. Then, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, dropped a bombshell. She revealed that a constituent who wished to remain anonymous had written a letter to a member of the House of Representatives, who had turned the letter over to Feinstein. The letter contained allegations by the writer, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, that Kavanaugh had drunkenly attempted sexual assault against her 36 years ago. Feinstein had the letter for two months before she revealed its existence a week after the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings had ended. This is reminiscent of allegations leveled by Professor Anita Hill against then-Judge Clarence Thomas, though those allegations were of inappropriate words in the workplace and the Ford allegations are of force and violence in a bedroom. When Hills allegations were published, President George H.W. Bush dispatched the FBI to resume its background investigation of Thomas, and it did so. Trump has declined to dispatch the FBI to investigate Fords allegations, and other allegations that have now followed hers, because he and Senate Republicans are determined to seat Kavanaugh by next week. In the absence of an FBI investigation, Ford gave an interview to The Washington Post in which she aired her complaints in graphic detail, despite missing facts and fuzzy recollections. Democrats demanded that the Judiciary Committee hear from her and again from Kavanaugh. They appear to be assuming that Kavanaugh should not enjoy the American presumption of innocence and without hearing a word from Ford or seeing any corroborating evidence have concluded that Kavanaugh must be guilty of this alleged offense and thus cannot be confirmed. Then the folks in the White House who are managing the Kavanaugh nomination advised him to violate Criminal Procedure 101: Don't deny publicly an allegation before it has credibly and publicly been made. So, Kavanaugh was interviewed by my Fox News colleague Martha MacCallum. Her questions were far better than his answers. His answers to the allegations contained in a newspaper story were three-fold he didn't do it, he wants a fair process and unthinkably he was a virgin during his high school and college years. I say "unthinkably" not because virginity is beyond belief but because this claim was not in response to any of MacCallum's questions and it bore so deeply into Kavanaughs personhood as to be none of the public's business. And it is not a defense to the Ford allegations. What's going on here? What's going on is crisis and panic. The pro-choice Democrats are in crisis: They are so fearful of a decisive vote to limit the Supreme Court's abortion jurisprudence that they are willing to destroy a qualified judge's career to block his advancement. And Kavanaugh's handlers, who, at this writing, probably lack the votes for confirmation, have recklessly put him on the offensive, even if it is debasing and invasive. Now we await a potentially tragic confrontation on national television between Ford and Kavanaugh, which will come down to perception rather than reality. The issue is not whether he did it. Rather, it is whether his denials are more believable than her allegations. At the end of their Judiciary Committee confrontation, will the general public perception be that Ford was more credible or that Kavanaugh was more credible? There are no rules here. Ford has no legal obligation to prove her allegations, and Kavanaugh has no legal obligation to disprove them. A tie the public perception that Ford and Kavanaugh are equally credible will be very troublesome for Kavanaugh. No woman would go through what Ford is going through if she lacked a personal commitment to the truth. So Kavanaugh can only win if Dr. Christine Ford is generally disbelieved. The Kavanaugh nomination was supposed to be Trump's gift to his pro-life, conservative, evangelical base. It has become anything but that. If Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, will he ever lose the taint of these allegations? If he is not confirmed, can he return to the second-highest court in the land, on which he now sits? Is this how the framers expected the selection process for the Supreme Court to play out? In a word: No. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The testimony of Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday on Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was a plus for Democrats who want to derail the nomination, because Republicans were walking on eggshells. The 11 Republican senators on the committee all men clearly did not want to appear to be bullying Ford or to look like they were being accusatory or insensitive toward a woman who claims she was a victim of sexual assault committed by Kavanaugh when the two were in high school. Ford came across as earnest, likeable through her nervousness, and seemed to do her best to answer questions from both sides during her testimony. But its a fact that there is no corroboration of her version of the sexual assault she says happened about 36 years ago (she said she is not sure of the exact year). And when you take a step back, aspects of her account do not make sense under any objective examination. At the end of the testimony, Mitchell laughed with Ford, commiserating with her about how bad the hearing format was. All of this strengthened Ford's standing and made her a more sympathetic figure. For example, Ford (about 15 at the time) obviously needed a ride home right after the alleged assault. But she could not or would not say who took her home or what she said to that person in the immediate aftermath of what she said was a sexual assault. Republicans faced a two-fold problem at the hearing. First, Rachel Mitchell, the experienced prosecutor to whom Republicans ceded their five-minute questioning rounds, treated the proceeding as if she was taking a deposition from Ford. Attorneys routinely take depositions statements under oath to be presented as evidence during trials or hearings. However, Ford was not being questioned to prepare for a future trial or hearing. She was speaking at a hearing a proceeding more like an adversarial trial. There is a different way an experienced attorney, particularly a prosecutor, questions a witness for a deposition versus in a hearing. In the former, the objective is to gather information, so counsel asks open-ended questions and the answers can be rambling and discursive. In a hearing, by contrast, counsel is trying to make points that will influence the factfinder (whether its a jury, a judge, a congressional, committee, or the like). The litigator goes into cross-examination mode, poses leading questions and quickly moves through the points that must be made. In other words, an attorney at a trial or hearing seeks to elicit testimony to prove a point not to act as a neutral fact-finder. More pointed questions to Ford appropriate for a hearing would be: Isnt it a fact that someone had to drive you home after you were allegedly sexually assaulted? Isnt it a fact that you cant or wont tell us who that was? Isnt it a fact that you cant or wont tell us what you said to the first friendly person you saw after you say you were assaulted? But you know you didnt mention Brett Kavanaughs name, right? And you didnt mention it 30 years later when you spoke to a therapist, right? Dont get me wrong: Ford may have good answers to these questions. The point is that you dont find that out unless you confront the witness in a very direct way, not using the roundabout deposition approach. Perhaps Mitchell was under strict instructions to be friendly, respectful and solicitous, but her manner was not what was most important. This hearing was her opportunity to challenge Fords account. She did not appear to be trying to do that. She appeared to be trying to collect all the facts, as if she would get a chance to question Ford again at a hearing somewhere down the road. Of course, this hearing was the end of the road, at least when it comes to Ford. Democrats clearly knew that and acted accordingly. Which brings us to the second problem: The deposition approach requires a lot of time to develop information. It cannot be done effectively in five-minute increments. Yet, that is what the Judiciary Committee hearing structure demands. Indeed, at one early point, Mitchell asked Ford a question that called for a three-part answer. As Ford began to outline the second part, Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, interrupted her because the five minutes were up, so she didnt finish her answer. The questioning shifted to a Democrat, who had a plan for using the five minutes effectively. It then shifted back to Mitchell, who had to waste part of her precious time trying to pick up where shed left off. Democrats understood they were in a hearing, not taking a deposition. Each of them was prepared to make two or three points in their five-minute rounds, and they led the witness right where they want her to go. By the time they finished, the Democrats gave Ford the opportunity to say: she is certain Kavanaugh attacked her; she knew Kavanaugh beforehand and was not confused about the identity of her attacker; and Mark Judge who was allegedly in the room, drunk and egging Kavanaugh on during the claimed attack was too ashamed to look Ford in the eye when they had a chance encounter about six weeks later. Several Democrats also shrewdly ended their round by making some attack on the process, notwithstanding that they have abused the process (by, for example, withholding Fords allegation, then dropping it like a bomb when the committee seemed poised to vote). When Democrats attacked the process, Grassley and Republicans were provoked into defending the process. That meant more time not confronting Ford. And thus it went: Democrats made their points; then the questioning went back to Republicans, whereupon we started hearing about the topography of Montgomery County, Maryland (scene of the alleged sexual assault) and how the etiology of PTSD is multi-factorial. How riveting! Democratic senators were pointed in their questions and speechifying. Republicans were ostentatiously deferential to Ford, while the hearing format guaranteed that their approach lacked continuity and focused questioning. In fact, at the end of the testimony, Mitchell laughed with Ford, commiserating with her about how bad the hearing format was. All of this strengthened Ford's standing and made her a more sympathetic figure. As Ford exited the hearing at the end of her testimony it was clear that she had come off very well. If his objective is to shake her story in a way Republicans did not, Kavanaugh has a steep mountain to climb. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Those trying to keep Judge Brett Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court would have you believe that the women who support his confirmation by the Senate despite unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct over three decades old are conservative activists bent on overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. They're wrong about me. I support Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation for unrelated reasons, such as his jurisprudence on deference to administrative agencies. I would love to focus on that and the other important constitutional issues that underpin my belief that he would make a great Supreme Court justice. Unfortunately, at the moment, Kavanaughs supporters especially the women among them are not afforded the luxury of discussing substantive issues. So here I am, explaining why, as a woman, the weak allegations against Kavanaugh have not even slightly weakened my support. Let me be clear: women such as Christine Blasey Ford deserve the right to be heard. They also deserve the right to be heard as soon as possible and in the proper forum. That would have been possible in this case had Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., not circumvented the normal Senate Judiciary Committee process entirely and sat on Ford's allegation for nearly two months. Instead, Feinstein revealed Ford's letter at the 11th hour, after Kavanaughs confirmation hearing the proper forum for airing accusations about him and after a subsequent round of answers Kavanaugh provided to senators' written questions had ended. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, could not even get an unredacted copy of the letter until several days ago. Ford alleges that when she and Kavanaugh were in high school he forced her onto a bed at a party at a home the location of which she does not remember, on a date she does not remember got on top of her, groped her and tried unsuccessfully to take off her clothes while he was drunk. Kavanaugh has said he did not sexually assault Ford or anyone else and was not any the party she described. Other teens who Ford said were at the party have said they do not recall such a gathering, including a boy Ford said witnessed the alleged attack on her. Ford has said she told no one about the attack until 2012 some 30 years later. Some of the obstacles to Ford's last-minute testimony raised by her attorneys, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, lead many to believe that their goal is delay. They claimed that Ford is afraid of flying, until it was revealed that Ford flew to the East Coast this summer. They also claimed that Ford was being subjected to too much pressure and even bullied, despite the fact that Grassley bent over backwards to offer an unprecedented number of options for her testimony. It is still not clear how in August Ford came to be represented by Katz, an anti-Trump activist and feared attorney of the #MeToo movement located on the opposite side of the country. It is suspected but not proven that Feinstein or another Democratic senator arranged for the representation. But in any case, if the judicial confirmation process is being driven off a cliff, activist attorneys are at the wheel. In the case of a more recent allegation, accuser Deborah Ramirez was initially unsure whether the student who allegedly exposed himself to her at a party 35 years ago was Kavanaugh. But after six days of talking to Stan Barnett a Colorado Democratic attorney who was located with the help of Sen. Michael Bennet D-Colo. her memory was suddenly clear. Kavanaugh vehemently denied Ramirezs claim about his behavior. Despite initial rejections by multiple news outlets including The New York Times, which could find no corroborating evidence after interviewing more than a dozen possible witnesses the attorney shopped Ramirezs story around until The New Yorker bit. The magazine reported that Ramirez said the alleged incident occurred while she was playing a drinking game with a small group of other students and she was chosen repeatedly to drink and quickly became inebriated. Later, she said, she was on the floor, foggy and slurring her words when a male student allegedly exposed himself to her. The New York Times reported on the story, along with many other news organizations, after The New Yorker story was published. We are supposed to always believe women's stories of sexual misconduct, so Ramirez's story was immediately dubbed credible by many. However, those who care about the future of the womens movement need to realize that if everything is credible, then nothing will be credible. Jumping the shark on uncorroborated but politically convenient accusations severely undermines the credibility of future sexual assault victims. And in the latest charge, attorney Michael Avenatti who gained instant fame for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had an extramarital affair with Donald Trump in 2006 said Wednesday that a new client named Julie Swetnick alleges that Kavanaugh was present when she was raped in 1982, but did not explicitly accuse Kavanaugh of assaulting her. In a statement of the Swetnick charges, Kavanaugh said: This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I dont know who this is and this never happened. Avenatti is a strong Democratic partisan and has said he is considering seeking the partys nomination for president in 2020. Quietly, many women fear that what is happening to Brett Kavanaugh could happen to their sons, husbands, fathers or brothers. At the same time, they know it is considered nothing short of heretical to draw ones own conclusions about the Kavanaugh allegations. So, for the most part, these women stay silent. For me, it is difficult to ignore the hypocrisy in the #MeToo movement's claim to be giving a voice to women while trying to demean or even silence the voices of women who disagree with the movement's opposition to Kavanaugh. Whatever its initial intentions, the movement is now waging war on the ability of women to think critically. A final tragedy in the attempt to bring down Kavanaugh and the larger weaponization of the #MeToo movement is the manipulation of women's compassion, fears and painful memories for political gain in this case, blocking President Trump from putting a conservative on the high court. If Kavanaugh drops out, were halfway there," said Brian Fallon, head of a leading activist group opposing Kavanaugh and a 2016 campaign adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In service of the goal to keeping Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court, women's emotions have been toyed with and funneled into a feeding frenzy of opposition to his confirmation. Women have a right to be heard. But they should be heard without inviting the circus into town. Recent events have not strengthened the #MeToo movement; they have put it on life support. The women of America deserve better. Volusia County Sheriff's Office(DELAND, Fla.) -- A would-be burglar who recently tried to rob a Florida convenience store got stuck on the roof instead, according to authorities. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office released body camera footage of the incident, which shows the shirtless man stranded on the roof of the store. The incident happened Saturday morning at the Woodland Food Mart in DeLand, Florida, about 45 miles north of Orlando, authorities said. As the video begins, the store owner points toward the roof of the building, telling a deputy that he saw a man's head pop over the ledge of the roof, saying, "I'm dying. I need help." The deputy then calls for backup and emergency assistance, saying, "I don't know how long this guy's been up here." When the deputy calls up to the man, asking how he got on the roof, the man says he climbed up the back wall. "The only way in which someone could get on the roof appeared to be a tree near a small bed," the arrest report states. As firefighters arrive with a ladder long enough to reach the roof, the man swings his legs over the ledge, in an apparent attempt to jump. Multiple deputies instruct him to "go back" and that they're "coming." Deputies decided to climb to the roof because 31-year-old New Smyrna resident Michael Monacelli, refused to come to the ledge to speak to them, according to an arrest report. A deputy then climbs the ladder, finding the shirtless suspect sitting on the ledge, looking onto the activity below him. Deputies then investigate the roof before asking the man why he was up there. "I needed water," the man replied. Monacelli made a "spontaneous utterance" to deputies, saying he "tried to break a window to the business and enter to get something to drink," the arrest report states. Monacelli then said he climbed onto the roof when he couldn't get into the business, according to the report. Once back on the ground, an EMT hands the man a bottle of water, and he is handcuffed after taking a few sips, the video shows. The officers then accuse him of "trying to break into a business" while it was closed. "I didn't know what was going on," the man says. "I couldn't breathe." But, the deputies weren't buying it. "You've had that water for almost 30 minutes, and you've only had two sips of it," one deputy says. Monacelli indicated to deputies that he'd been on a the roof for about an hour and a half, according to the report. He received medical treatment at a local hospital before he was taken to the Volusia County Jail. He was charged with criminal mischief and attempted burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, jail records show. The store owner has asked that Monacelli be barred from the business, authorities said. The sheriff's office also thanked the Volusia County Professional Firefighters Association for bringing a ladder. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Some staffers working in the office of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley have been on the receiving end of a series of nasty phone calls, Fox News learned Wednesday. The calls come ahead of the highly anticipated hearing Thursday with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, whos alleged that he sexually assaulted her when they were at a party in the early 1980s. WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE Youre a disgusting excuse for a human being, and I dont know how you can live with yourself, one caller said to a member of Grassleys staff who was answering calls. I hope you never have children because theyll be just as worthless as you are. KAVANAUGH AND FORD TO TESTIFY IN SENATE HEARING: KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH Senator Grassley doesnt have a spine and neither do you b----, another said. Others who apparently phoned in to the lawmakers office issued threatening messages. I just wanted to call and tell you that you are a piece of s--- and Senator Grassley is a f------ piece of s--- and he cant die from a heart attack soon enough, one caller said. I hope you get raped so you can understand what that woman is going through, another scathing message said. And another person who spoke to a staff member said they felt really sorry for women like you outside of your office youre probably disturbed by this but apparently you have a job to do. REPUBLICANS STAND BY KAVANAUGH, FIRE BACK AT AVENATTI AS NEW ALLEGATIONS JOLT COURT BID Three women have come forward and leveled separate accusations against Kavanaugh, who has adamantly denied all of them. In addition to Fords allegations, Deborah Ramirez told The New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while at a Yale University party during the 1983-1984 academic year. She claimed she was also made to inadvertently touch his penis during the alleged interaction. And on Wednesday, attorney Michael Avenatti released a sworn statement from his client, Julie Swetnick, who alleged Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge would spike drinks at parties and participate in gang rapes of inebriated women. She also alleged that Kavanaugh and Judge would drink excessively and would become overly aggressive with girls not taking No for an answer. Fox News Mike Emanuel, Kaitlyn Schallhorn and Alex Pappas contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Judge Brett Kavanaugh, speaking with Fox News's Martha MacCallum on Monday, vowed: "I'm not going anywhere." It meant he will neither withdraw nor surrender, but will fight through the nomination process even as Democrats release, one by one, thinly sourced, tightly held allegations of what they say is Kavanaugh's pattern of extreme drunkenness and sexual assault when he was younger. It is all a part of an apparent strategy by Senate Democrats, bolstered by the momentum of the #MeToo movement, to take down Kavanaugh, win back control of the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, and then block the entire Trump lineup of potential Supreme Court picks. "All we have to do is unite our 49 Democrats and get one, one Republican, to agree to vote no," former Hillary Clinton Campaign Manager Brian Fallon recently said. There are 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. They are unanimously opposed to Kavanaugh. With only 11 Republicans on the committee, all eyes were on undecided Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., as he took to the Senate floor Thursday, on the eve of what could likely be riveting testimony of accuser and accused. "I do not believe the claim of sexual assault is invalid because a 15-year-old girl did not promptly report the assault to authorities as the president of the United States said two days ago," Flake said. But, he added, "Nor is one of them a proven sex criminal as has been circulating on the left side of the internet. These are human beings with families and children, each is suffering through an ugly process that we have created." If Kavanaugh is defeated, sources tell Fox News the White House is prepared with a plan B, assuming Republicans maintain control of the Senate. It includes five U.S. Appellate Court justices, each of whom has met personally with President Trump as part of the interview process for the present high court vacancy. Among them: 46-year-old Amy Coney Barrett. As a devout Roman Catholic, she is seen as toxic to some Democrats. In a confirmation hearing for her appointment to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said of her Catholicism, "The dogma lives loudly within you, and that's of concern." Barrett's response was measured. "If you're asking whether I take my Catholic faith seriously, I do, though I would stress that my personal church affiliation or my religious belief would not bear on the discharge of my duties as a judge," she said. Raymond Kethledge, 51, has a solidly conservative record. He ruled to restrict the collection of dues from public sector unions, and ruled the IRS was politically biased against the Tea Party. Democrats have said 49-year-old Judge Joan Larsen poses another threat to Roe v. Wade. She wrote, quote: "In the case of abortion, the constitutional right was first formally articulated by the Supreme Court itself, not by the citizenry." Amul Thapar, 49, would be the first Asian or Indian-American judge to sit on the Supreme Court. He once sentenced a nun, who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee protesting nuclear power, to three years in jail, later overturned on appeal. And, Judge Thomas Hardiman has vigorously embraced judicial restraint, once writing that his place is "not to upset the will of the people as expressed through their elected representatives." If any of them is willing to come before the committee, that judge likely will face a different but still-punishing gauntlet that Kavanaugh has run. That in turn may lead angry Republicans to consider another option: dropping the hearings. They are not constitutionally required in the Senate's role of advice and consent. It was only when Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Supreme Court justice, was nominated in 1916, that the Senate Judiciary Committee started asking the nominee questions. It was the first shot in what has become all-out war on Capitol Hill. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! In an interview with Senate Judiciary Committee investigators on Tuesday, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lit into the mounting sexual misconduct allegations against him, calling the litany of uncorroborated claims a "disgrace" that is "doing damage to the country." Transcripts documenting Kavanaugh's sometimes-exasperated responses were released by the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday night. Democrats on the committee attended the interview but did not participate. Kavanaugh was asked specifically about a new claim in a letter received by Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., from an anonymous individual apparently in Denver, alleging that Kavanaugh "shoved" someone up against a wall "very aggressively and sexually" during an outing in front of four witnesses. Gardner's office received the letter on Sept. 22. "We're dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend," Kavanaugh said. "It's ridiculous. Total Twilight Zone. And no, I've never done anything like that." "It's doing damage to the country. It's doing damage to this process." Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh He goes on to expressly deny recalling socializing with anyone from Colorado in 1998, when he was a key lawyer working for Independent Counsel Ken Starr. He added: "I think this is -- this is crazy town. It's a smear campaign. ... It's just outrageous. It's trying to take me down, trying to take down my family. "It's bad -- it's doing damage to the Supreme Court," he continued. "It's doing damage to the country. It's doing damage to this process. It's become a total feeding frenzy, you know? Every -- just unbelievable." Kavanaugh, at length, described to investigators his 12 years of service on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, his six FBI background investigations, tenure in the White House Counsel's office and appearances at multiple Yale reunions and panels over the past several decades. "In all that time, not a word," Kavanaugh said. "And then 4 days, you know, when just right before a vote for the Supreme Court, after the nomination itself has been pending for months, and I've been through the hearings and 65 Senate meetings and all the written questions, and then -- and then, after all these years, with all this time, and all these descriptions with no corroboration and with her best friend saying she never heard about it, you know, I'm -- I'm really just, you know, stunned. And outraged." The committee also released a copy of the unsigned letter. In a statement, committee spokesperson Taylor Foy told Fox News, "We have no reason to assign the letter credibility, and even if we did, wed have no way to investigate the allegation as it was made anonymously and cannot be corroborated. "To make sure no stone was left unturned, the committee asked Judge Kavanaugh yesterday about this anonymous letter," Foy continued. "Judge Kavanaugh flatly denied any such event ever happened." POLYGRAPH REVEALS APPARENT INCONSISTENCY IN FORD'S CLAIMS AGAINST KAVANAUGH None of the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh has first-hand corroboration. In The New Yorker on Sunday, former Kavanaugh classmate Deborah Ramirez claimed that Kavanaugh had exposed his penis to her at a party decades ago, even as her close college friend denied ever hearing about the episode and suggested she was making the claim for political reasons. Kavanaguh also rejected uncorroborated new claims by Julie Swetnick, who is represented by anti-Trump lawyer Michael Avenatti, that he was involved in gang rapes and systematic rape "trains" at parties in the 1980s. "I've never participated in a gang rape," Kavanaugh said. "I've never participated in sexual activity with more than one woman present and me. I think -- yeah. Just making sure I accurately described that. In other words, I've never had a threesome or more than a threesome." Committee investigators additionally asked Kavanaugh about a call received by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., on Tuesday, in which an anonymous constituent claimed that in 1985, two "heavily inebriated men" referred to as "Brett and Mark" had sexually assaulted a close friend of hers on a boat. The constituent apparently recanted the claim Wednesday night on Twitter. Kavanaugh classmate Mark Judge had been identified by another accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, as participating in a separate alleged assault. In response, Kavanuagh categorically denied the claim, saying, "I was not in Newport, haven't been on a boat in Newport. Not with Mark Judge on a boat, nor all those three things combined. This is just completely made up, or at least not me. I don't know what they're referring to." According to the transcript, the person making the Rhode Island accusations appeared associated with a Twitter account that advocated removing President Trump from the White House by means of military coup. On Wednesday, a post on the account read, "Do everyone who is going crazy about what I had said I have recanted because I have made a mistake and apologize for such mistake." Separately, the committee released transcripts of Kavanaugh's conversations with investigators, also under penalty of felony, from Sept. 17, when he flatly denied involvement in Ford's purported assault at a house party more than three decades ago. None of the witnesses Ford has identified as being at the party during the alleged assault have backed up her claims, and apparent inconsistencies have emerged in her retelling of events. WATCH: MCCONNELL UNLOADS ON DEMS FOR 'SMEAR' CAMPAIGN, VOWS UP-OR-DOWN VOTE Lawyers for Ford on Wednesday released the results of a polygraph examination she took Aug. 7 -- but a key detail in the report appears to contradict Ford's past claims. The examination, which was administered by former FBI agent Jeremiah Hanafin, took place in a Hilton hotel in Maryland, according to a "Polygraph Examination Report" compiled by Hanafin. Hanafin first allowed Ford and attorney Lisa Banks to meet alone to formulate a handwritten statement that Ford signed and provided Hanafin when he returned to the room. Then, without Banks present, Hanafin interviewed Ford about the day of the alleged assault, according to the report. In the handwritten statement, Ford wrote that "there were 4 boys and a couple of girls" at the party. But in Ford's letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in July, Ford gave a different tally, writing that the gathering "included me and 4 others." Republicans have accused Feinstein's staff of sitting on Ford's allegations for weeks and leaking the existence of the letter only days before a key vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation earlier this month, which they said compromised Ford's anonymity for their political gain. Kavanaugh and Ford are set to testify Thursday at 10 a.m. ET before the committee. Experienced sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell is expected to handle at least some of the questioning from Republican senators to Ford and Kavanaugh. Fox News' Shannon Bream and Chad Pergram contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's attorney said Wednesday her client is upset about the allegations of sexual assault and misconduct made against him amid the process to confirm him to the nation's highest court, but won't withdraw his nomination. Beth Wilkinson told Fox News' Bret Baier on "Special Report" that Kavanaugh is "very upset about it, because he knows he didn't do" what three women who have come forward have accused him of doing. CHRISTINE FORD RELEASES PREPARED TESTIMONY AHEAD OF SENATE HEARING: 'I BELIEVED HE WAS GOING TO RAPE ME' "He's a judge. He's not a television person, he's not a trial lawyer," Wilkinson said. "He's not used to talking about these things and being on television." The attorney added that she believes Kavanaugh finds it "embarrassing in front of his family and his two daughters to talk about, you know, that he drank at times in excess when he was in college, and about dating girls, and what happened." On Wednesday, a third woman, identified as Julie Swetnick, came forward via her lawyer, Michael Avenatti alleging in a "sworn declaration" that Kavanaugh was "present" during gang rapes in 1982, in which she claims she was attacked. Prior to that, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a party in high school in 1982. And Deborah Ramirez accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct during their time at Yale. "If you read those allegations [that were made public Wednesday], they mean that tens and tens of men and women were involved with gang rape and binge drinking and all that goes along for years and no one reported it," Wilkinson told Fox News. "No one reported it since Judge Kavanaugh has been in this process." NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Republicans signaled Tuesday they arent abandoning Brett Kavanaughs nomination for the Supreme Court as they cast doubt on graphic new allegations made public by attorney Michael Avenatti, and as Kavanaugh insisted hes never been involved in any sexual assault. Avenatti on Tuesday tweeted a "sworn declaration" from a woman named Julie Swetnick who claimed the Supreme Court nominee was involved in "gang" rapes in the early 1980s. She claimed Kavanaugh was "present" when she became a "victim" of one of those alleged assaults. Swetnicks accusations followed claims of sexual misconduct during high school and college against Kavanaugh from two other women. Kavanaugh has denied all the accusations, and responded to Avenattis claim by saying: This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I dont know who this is and this never happened. Late Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that approximately 10 years ago, Swetnick retained the law firm of Katz, Marshall & Banks to represent her in dispute with her former employer, insurance company New York Life, over a sexual harassment complaint Swetnick had brought. Deborah Katz, one of the firm's founding partners, is currently representing another Kavanaugh accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. Meanwhile, Politico reported that a former boyfriend of Swetnick had sought a restraining order against her in 2001. In an interview with the publication, Richard Vinneccy said that Swetnick had threatened him after they broke up and he married his current wife. "I have a lot of facts, evidence, that what shes saying is not true at all," said Vinneccy, who declined to comment further on Swetnick's claims against Kavanaugh. According to The Washington Post, in 2015, the state of Maryland filed a lien against Swetnick's property, citing more than $30,000 in unpaid taxes dating back to 2008. Court records obtained by The Post showed that the total amount owed, nearly $63,000, was resolved in December 2016, although the paper reported it was unclear exactly how. And, in 2017, the federal government filed a lien on Swetnick's property, citing a $40,000 unpaid tax bill from 2014, according to The Post. That lien reportedly was released in March 2018, and the debt was similarly satisfied. Emails obtained Wednesday by Fox News between Mike Davis, the chief counsel for nominations working for Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, and attorney Michael Avenatti showed that Grassley's staff made outreach efforts to obtain a statement from Swetnick. In response to Avenatti's claim that the committee has "wasted days in your rush to confirm Brett Kavanaugh," as well as his demands for an FBI investigation, a polygraph examination of Kavanaugh, and other requests, Davis outlined the steps the Judiciary Committee took in response to his client's allegations. "You are simply wrong that the committee investigators are just now starting an inquiry into your allegations," Davis told Avenatti. "Judge Kavanaugh has fully cooperated with committee investigators, including answering every question posed. Is your client willing to have a similar interview with committee investigators?" For his part, President Trump fired back at Avenatti who represents adult-film star Stormy Daniels in a suit against the president, and who is flirting with a 2020 Democratic White House bid as someone with a history of making false accusations. Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Trump tweeted. He is just looking for attention and doesnt want people to look at his past record and relationships - a total low-life! Speaking to reporters in New York, the president expressed hope Kavanaugh would be confirmed by the Senate soon, despite the allegations. Hopefully over the next couple of days it will be settled up and solved and we will have a Supreme Court justice who will go down as one of our greatest ever, the president said. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted that he hopes people will highly suspicious of this allegation presented by Michael Avenatti, questioning parts of Swetnicks story. I have a difficult time believing any person would continue to go to according to the affidavit ten parties over a two-year period where women were routinely gang raped and not report it, Graham, R-S.C., tweeted. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a key Republican vote, said Wednesday during a floor speech that he will make up his mind after Thursdays planned committee hearing with both Kavanaugh and Ford. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of trying to force himself on her during a party while she was 15 and he was 17. Kavanaugh has also been accused by a second woman of exposing himself during a college party at Yale, something he has denied. I am not psychic, Flake said. I am not gifted with clairvoyance. Given these limitations, I'll have to listen to the testimony before I make up my mind about the testimony. So far, despite the chaos caused by the Avenatti allegations, the hearing is still scheduled for Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Democrats seized on Avenattis allegation, with all 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee urging Trump to immediately withdraw the nomination or order an FBI investigation. We are writing to request that you immediately withdraw the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court or direct the FBI to re-open its background investigation and thoroughly examine the multiple allegations of sexual assault, the Democrats said. One Democrat, Sen. Jeff Merkley, said he was going so far as to file a federal lawsuit asking the courts to stop Kavanaughs confirmation process until Kavanaughs full record is available for public scrutiny. The events of the past ten days have only underscored how critical it is that the Senate conduct a careful and comprehensive review of a nominee before giving its consent, Merkley, D-Ore., said. MICHAEL AVENATTI RELEASES GRAPHIC KAVANAUGH ALLEGATIONS In several tweets, Avenatti fired back at the presidents comments about him, saying, Trump pretends he is a tough guy. He is nothing of the kind. Kavanaugh, in prepared testimony released ahead of Thursdays hearing, describes sexual assault as horrific and morally wrong and says hes never sexually assaulted anyone not in high school, not in college, not ever. I am here this morning to answer these allegations and to tell the truth, Kavanaugh says in remarks released by the committee. And the truth is that I have never sexually assaulted anyone not in high school, not in college, not ever. In his testimony, Kavanaugh admits to juvenile misbehavior that makes him cringe now but says thats not why we are here today. What Ive been accused of is far more serious than juvenile misbehavior, Kavanaugh says. I never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes. Ahead of the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee released copies of the calendar full of hand-written notes from May, June, July and August of 1982. The calendar reflects the daily activities of a typical 17-year-old boy: plans to mow the grass, go to the movies, play sports, go to beach week and attend summer camp. It includes mentions of prom, being grounded, birthday parties, lifting weights and interviewing at Yale and Brown universities. Speaking to the Washington Post, Ford said she believes the allegations she has detailed happened during the summer of 1982, though she cant remember where exactly the party was or how she got there. Its been suggested that the calendars may be used by Kavanaugh to suggest nothing in it alludes to the type of party described by Ford. Meanwhile, ahead of the hearing, Fords attorneys have released statements from four other people who recount Ford telling them about the accusations over the last few years. None of those people, though, claim to have had knowledge in 1982. Ford says she didnt tell anyone until 2012. Fox News Mike Emanuel, Gregg Re, Andrew OReilly and Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! As an extraordinary series of uncorroborated, lurid last-minute allegations threatens to derail his confirmation to the Supreme Court, nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Ford, the California professor accusing him of sexually assaulting her more than three decades ago, are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning. The proceedings may be upended by late-breaking developments: In a statement released Wednesday evening, Judiciary Committee Republicans revealed that on Monday, they conducted their "first interview with a man who believes he, not Judge Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982 that is the basis of his [sic] complaint." They conducted a second interview the next day. On Wednesday, Republicans said in the statement, they received a "more in-depth written statement from the man interviewed twice previously who believes he, not Judge Kavanuagh, had the encounter in question with Dr. Ford." GOP investigators also spoke on the phone with another man making a similar claim. Those claims, too, are a matter of dispute. On Thursday morning, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox & Friends that one of those individuals is crazy as a loon the one that Ive heard about, I think, is not reliable. He did not name the individual, and the committee would not release further details about either person when reached for comment by Fox News. Another source, though, said theres no reason to doubt theyre both of sound mind and are both sincere in their claims. Ford has previously said there is "zero chance" she would have confused Kavanaugh for anyone else. In response, an aide to Democrats on the Judiciary Committee reportedly unloaded on Senate Republicans: "Republicans are flailing," the aide said, according to NBC News. "They are desperately trying to muddy the waters. ... Twelve hours before the hearing they suggest two anonymous men claimed to have assaulted her. Democrats were never informed of these assertions in interviews, in violation of Senate rules." The aide, before again calling for an FBI probe into Ford's accusations, added, "This is shameful and the height of irresponsibility." But Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, shot back on Twitter late Wednesday, writing, "Some might find it exceedingly difficult to imagine Judiciary Committee Democrats expressing this complaint with straight faces." Ford first brought her allegations to the attention of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in July, but Feinstein didn't disclose the allegations to her Senate colleagues or federal authorities until days before a crucial Judiciary Committee vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation earlier this month. Republicans have accused Feinstein's office of compromising Ford's anonymity by sitting on the allegations until she could deploy them for maximum political gain. The stakes for Kavanaugh could not be higher: Key swing-vote senators have said Thursday's hearing, which will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET, presents a pivotal opportunity to assess Ford's credibility and determine whether to advance Kavanaugh to the nation's highest court. The hearing, which for days had been in doubt, will be a chance for the public to see Ford, in person, explain in detail what she claims happened at the Maryland house party in 1982 where Kavanaugh allegedly jumped on top of her and tried to muffle her screams -- and why she didn't tell anyone about the episode until 2012. The proceedings will commence with opening statements from Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking committee member Feinstein. After taking an oath, Ford will deliver the prepared remarks she has already provided publicly, according to a schedule provided by the committee. Each senator on the committee will then be afforded a single five-minute round of questions, with the opportunity to ask questions alternating between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans have retained Rachel Mitchell, an experienced sex-crimes prosecutor, to handle some of their questioning, saying it will help avoid an overtly political atmosphere. Grassley has hammered Democrats, including Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., for "grandstanding" during the confirmation hearings earlier this month. WATCH: CORY BOOKER COMPARES HIMSELF TO GLADIATOR 'SPARTACUS,' CLAIMS HE'S RISKING EXPULSION BY RELEASING CONFIDENTIAL KAVANAUGH DOCS Democrats have indicated they intend to ask their own questions. After Ford's testimony is completed, the process will repeat for Kavanaugh. "It's bad -- it's doing damage to the Supreme Court." Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh In her prepared remarks, which Ford's attorney's released in advance on Wednesday, Ford will tell senators that she "thought that Brett [Kavanaugh] was accidentally going to kill me," and "I believed he was going to rape me." She will explain that she remembers "four boys" being at the party, including one "whose name I cannot recall." The people she did name -- Kavanaugh and his classmates Mark Judge and P.J. Smyth -- have denied under penalty of felony knowing anything about the alleged episode. Ford will also describe one girl, "my friend Leland Ingham," as also in attendance. Ingham, in a previously released statement, has also denied knowing Kavanaugh or having information about the alleged assault. POLYGRAPH REPORT REVEALS APPARENT INCONSISTENCIES IN FORD'S CLAIMS Ford's letter to Feinstein in July, however, gave a different tally, saying that the gathering "included me and 4 others." Additionally, in a handwritten statement she provided the former FBI agent who administered her polygraph exam in August, Ford wrote "there were 4 boys and a couple of girls" at the party -- again apparently contradicting her letter to Feinstein. Republicans, through Mitchell, are expected to question Ford on the apparent discrepancies. Ford is also expected to tell senators that she finally decided to disclose the alleged assault during a therapy session in 2012 because during a remodeling of her house that year, she insisted on installing a "second front door" -- leaving her husband and others wondering why. Additionally, questions have surfaced concerning the credibility of some of Kavanaugh's other accusers, who will not be present Thursday because they have not responded to overtures from committee Republicans. For example, Julie Swetnick, who emerged Wednesday to accuse Kavanaugh of participating in "gang rapes" and rape "trains" in the 1980s, had a restraining order filed against her by an ex-boyfriend, Politico reported. KAVANAUGH FIGHTS BACK, TELLS INVESTIGATORS ALLEGATIONS ARE A 'DISGRACE' THAT WILL KEEP GOOD PEOPLE OUT OF PUBLIC SERVICE Right after I broke up with her, she was threatening my family, threatening my wife and threatening to do harm to my baby at that time, Richard Vinneccy told Politico. "I know a lot about her. ... Shes not credible at all. Not at all." Swetnick is represented by anti-Trump lawyer Michael Avenatti, who has refused multiple requests by the Senate Judiciary Committee to interview her in the past week. On Wednesday afternoon, 60 men and women who attended Kavanaugh's high school or sister schools signed a letter saying they had never heard of Swetnick or anything like the overt, systemic gang raping that she described. According to The Washington Post, both the state of Maryland and the federal government have filed since-resolved liens on her property in recent years for unpaid taxes totalling tens of thousands of dollars. It was not immediately clear exactly how Swetnick, who has held multiple security clearances relating to her work with the government, resolved both liens. Republicans, including President Trump, have repeatedly pointed out that none of the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh has first-hand corroboration. In The New Yorker on Sunday, former Kavanaugh classmate Deborah Ramirez claimed that Kavanaugh had exposed his penis to her at a party decades ago, even as her close college friend denied ever hearing about the episode and suggested she was making the claim for political reasons. Ramirez, who also did not immediately respond to GOP Judiciary Committee inquiries, has acknowledged not being sure whether Kavanaugh had assaulted her until last week, after she spent days consulting with her attorney. Several other allegations emerged this week. On Tuesday, a constituent told the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., that in 1985, two "heavily inebriated men" referred to as "Brett and Mark" had sexually assaulted a "close friend" on a boat. The constituent, whose name was redacted in a document release by the Judiciary Committee but uncovered through tweets cited by the committee, recanted the claim Wednesday night on Twitter -- but several media outlets continued to report the allegations for hours afterwards. In Twitter posts, the person making the accusation had also evidently advocated removing President Trump from the White House by means of military coup. On Wednesday, a post on the accuser's Twitter account read, "Do everyone who is going crazy about what I had said I have recanted because I have made a mistake and apologize for such mistake." In a separate case, Kavanaugh was asked by GOP investigators this week specifically about a new claim in a letter received by Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., from an anonymous individual apparently in Denver, alleging that Kavanaugh "shoved" someone up against a wall "very aggressively and sexually" during an outing in front of four witnesses in 1998. Gardner's office received the letter on Sept. 22. "We're dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend," Kavanaugh told committee investigators asking about the alleged episode. "It's ridiculous. Total Twilight Zone. And no, I've never done anything like that. "It's bad -- it's doing damage to the Supreme Court," Kavanaugh added. "It's doing damage to the country. It's doing damage to this process. It's become a total feeding frenzy, you know? Every -- just unbelievable." Fox News' Brooke Singman and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Michael Avenatti managed to make it all about him. What a shock. The way he handled the third accuser against Brett Kavanaugh yesterday undercut his client and damaged her case. By teasing this on Twitter, by not making Julie Swetnick available, and by phoning into talk shows instead, Avenatti turned the whole thing into a spectacle. Kavanaugh quickly shot back that he doesn't even know the woman: "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone." And President Trump, calling it a "disgrace," took aim at the attorney, calling Avenatti "a lowlife." Now I'm not prejudging Swetnick's allegations, and no one else should, either. Her affidavit is quite chilling. But it does raise certain questions that he hasn't answered. Unlike Christine Ford, who wrote to members of Congress, Swetnick has spoken only through Avenatti. Unlike Deborah Ramirez, who spoke to the New Yorker, which acknowledged issues with her account, Swetnick hasn't talked to a journalist or any outside investigator. Swetnick, who has a security clearance and worked for Treasury and the IRS, makes a series of stunning charges in her declaration. She says she saw Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge at numerous house parties in the early 1980s, where she says the Supreme Court nominee engaged in "abusive behavior." Swetnick says Kavanaugh drank excessively, made "crude sexual comments," and engaged in "fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent ... grinding against girls, attempting to remove or shift their clothing to expose private body parts." She says Kavanaugh and Judge spiked the punch with alcohol and drugs, and recalled seeing them among boys lined up "waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room." And then she gets to her own alleged assault, saying she was incapacitated without her consent, "unable to fight off boys raping me." Swetnick says Kavanaugh and Judge were present during this alleged gang rape but does not say they participated. She also says she told at least two people about this shortly afterward but does not name them. If Avenatti had corroborating statements from them, I'm sure he would have released them. What I, or any other journalist, would ask Swetnick: If girls were being groped, drugged, verbally abused and even raped by Kavanaugh and his friends at these parties, why did you keep going to them? And since such horrendous conduct would have been witnessed by many students at these house parties, why has no one else corroborated either what you say or what Ford has said? Avenatti succeeded in one respect, generating intensive coverage of Swetnick's account. And it will obviously be brought up at today's Judiciary Committee hearing, which originally was going to be devoted to just the two witnesses, Christine Ford and Brett Kavanaugh. The fact that there are now three accusers could be seen as bolstering the case against Kavanaugh. But I suspect it's having the opposite effect, coming at the last minute: conflating all the claims (even involving his yearbook) and neutralizing the strongest allegations by making them seem part of a giant pile-on. I do think the Senate Republicans made a tactical misstep by announcing the vote on Kavanaugh would be Friday. That made it sound like they're just going through the motions with today's hearing and will vote to confirm the judge regardless of what Ford says. As the pols and pundits continue their partisan attacks either saying he's a liar or the women are lying it almost seems like the details no longer matter, only who's got the political muscle. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Juanita Broaddrick, the woman who accused former President Bill Clinton of raping her decades ago, slammed Democrats Thursday for what she called the biggest double standard Ive ever seen in their treatment of sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Broaddrick spoke to the media outside the Senate building where the high-stakes hearing with Kavanaugh's first accuser is being held. Kavanaugh is due to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee after Christine Blasey Ford, who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 at a high school party, speaks to lawmakers. Ford says she first revealed the alleged assault in therapy in 2012 and had told multiple people. She has also taken a polygraph test, and has called for the FBI to investigate her claims. But Broaddrick, outside the Senate, told Fox News Ellison Barber that there was no comparison between her case and Fords. KAVANAUGH, FORD SENATE HEARING LIVE BLOG Because Dr. Ford has no evidence, I had the who, what, when, where and how and had five people that I told, not even counting the woman who found me 30 minutes after the rape with a swollen busted lip, torn clothes and in a state of shock, she said. She alleges that Clinton raped her in Arkansas in 1978 when she was a nursing home administrator and he was state attorney general. She claims the attack left her with a bloody lip, and Clinton told her to put some ice on that. Clinton denied the accusation. On Thursday, she attacked Democrats, such as Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who she said did not believe her in the '90s but have jumped to believe Fords account, despite the corroborating evidence Broaddrick said she had in her case. How they can take these accusations and run with them, and laugh at mine for so many years is the biggest double standard Ive ever seen, she said. It makes me angry that they left [Clinton] in office, she said about the Senate Democrats who she said refused to consider her allegations. Broaddrick indicated she was skeptical about Fords accusations. Its not that Ive decided, she hasnt anything truly evidentiary to this point, how can she all of a sudden have something new to say today? Shes presented nothing, she said. Fox News Ellison Barber and Guerin Hays contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! A visibly angry and emotional Brett Kavanaugh denied under oath that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, telling senators Thursday his name has been "totally and permanently destroyed" by these "false" allegations after his accuser testified she's "one-hundred percent" sure he tried to force himself on her 36 years ago. The drastically conflicting statements, delivered to the Senate Judiciary Committee in dramatic testimony that carried echoes of the 1991 Anita Hill hearings, left senators to make a judgment call on whose story is accurate. Kavanaugh's confirmation process was thrown into chaos by the 11th-hour charges, and it remains unclear whether the hearing will sway enough senators to secure confirmation. Kavanaugh let loose in his hearing appearance, abandoning much of his prepared remarks to blast the process as a "disgrace" and a "circus," and later sparring with Democratic senators. The hearing ended Thursday evening after eight hours worth of testimony from Ford and Kavanaugh. "This confirmation process has become a national disgrace," Kavanaugh told the committee. "The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process. But you have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy." Earlier in the same hearing room, Ford appeared in public for the first time to testify on her allegations and told lawmakers in no uncertain terms that the Supreme Court nominee "sexually assaulted me." She insisted she was not mistaking him for another person. "Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life," Ford told the committee. But Kavanaugh described the allegations, from Ford and others, as part of a calculated political hit deployed by Democrats when he was getting too close to confirmation. "I am innocent of this charge," he said repeatedly. Kavanaugh told senators he has "categorically and unequivocally" denied the allegations since they first aired. He described the toll taken by those charges, especially others that emerged in recent days: "My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by vicious and false additional accusations." As the hearing continued into the late afternoon, the proceedings got more heated. In one tense exchange, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., repeatedly asked Kavanaugh to support a FBI investigation. "If there is no truth to the charges, the FBI investigation will show that," Durbin said. "Are you afraid that they might not?" After Durbin's comments, a fired-up Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., lashed out at the Democrats. "This is the most unethical sham since I have been in politics," Graham said, raising his voice at the Democrats. "And if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn't have done what you have done to this guy." At another point, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Kavanaugh, "Judge, I can't think of a more embarrassing scandal for the United States Senate since the McCarthy hearings." When Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse repeatedly pressed Kavanaugh about alcohol, the nominee shot back: "I like beer. I don't know if you like beer, senator, or not? What do you like to drink?" Similarly, when Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar asked Kavanaugh if hed ever blacked out while drinking, Kavanaugh said no, and then said, "I'm curious if you have?" "I have no drinking problem, judge," Klobuchar said. "Nor do I," Kavanaugh said. Later in the hearing, after a brief break, Kavanaugh expressed regret over his question. "Im sorry I did that," he told Klobuchar. "This is a tough process." The judged choked up repeatedly throughout his opening statement, including recounting how his 10-year-old daughter said of Ford, "We should pray for the woman." At another point, Kavanaugh said, "I am never going to get my reputation back. My life is totally and permanently altered." Cornyn replied, "Judge, don't give up." Kavanaugh insisted the allegations aren't true, and said, "Ive never sexually assaulted anyone." He added, "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process." Kavanaugh rebutted a number of claims from Ford, who said he attempted to rape her at a party in 1982: Kavanaugh said he didnt run in the same crowd as Ford; he referenced that the others listed as being at the party said later they didn't remember it; he pointed out how Ford didnt remember where the party was or how she got there; and he said his personal calendars from the time didnt indicate he attended a party like the one described. "I'm not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time," he said. "But I have never done this to her or to anyone. That's not who I am, it is not who I was. I am innocent of this charge." Ford, however, was equally adamant in standing by her account. She, too, choked up at times but voiced confidence, under sustained questioning, that the judge attacked her. "So what you are telling us is that this could not be a case of mistaken identity?" Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked. "Absolutely not," Ford replied. She added she's "100 percent" certain it was Kavanaugh who attacked her. As her testimony was winding down, Ford was pressed by questioner Rachel Mitchell about how the four people named by Ford as being at the party have said they have no memory of the event. She dismissed the significance of that, saying "nothing remarkable happened" to two of them that evening; the other two are the ones being accused. And in a striking moment, Ford said the one female there, her friend Leland Ingham, has "significant health challenges" and is getting treatment. Ford said Ingham texted her an apology following her statement claiming no recollection of the party, while saying she wouldn't expect her to remember the incident since she was downstairs. The partisan divide over the allegations was on full display, with Democrats assuring Ford they support her. "I want to thank you for your courage and I want to tell you I believe you," California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris told Ford during the hearing. Republicans still expressed skepticism about the allegations but did not criticize Ford herself. Cornyn said after her testimony he found no reason "to find her not credible" but said "there are obviously gaps in her story." Graham said he wasn't convinced: "I did not find her allegations to be corroborated against Mr. Kavanaugh." In her opening remarks, Ford choked up as she described growing up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and hanging out with boys from different schools in the area, including Kavanaugh, "the boy who sexually assaulted me." Ford then described a drunk Kavanaugh attacking her in the 1980s at a high school party. She told senators she "thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me." Ford said she was able to run away. On Thursday, Ford said she was "terrified" to detail her accusations but felt it was her "civic duty." She continued, "I believed he was going to rape me." Ford said Kavanaugh caught her in a room, while a friend, Mark Judge, was present. Ford said the strongest memory she had of the event was the "uproarious laughter between the two, and they're having fun at my expense." Thursdays hearing followed days of negotiations between Senate Republicans and Fords attorneys and amid more lurid last-minute allegations from other women who have accused Kavanaugh of improper sexual behavior in high school and college. The stakes for Kavanaugh could not be higher: Key swing-vote senators have said Thursday's hearing would present a pivotal opportunity to assess Ford's credibility and determine whether to advance Kavanaugh to the nation's highest court. Republicans retained Mitchell, an experienced sex-crimes prosecutor, to handle some of their questioning, hoping it would help avoid an overtly political atmosphere. Republicans, through Mitchell, questioned Ford on apparent discrepancies or holes in the story. In one curious exchange, Ford acknowledged she didnt personally pay for the polygraph examination she took in August, and said she doesnt know who did. Later in the hearing, her attorney Debra Katz said Fords "lawyers have paid for her polygraph." Another Ford attorney, Michael Bromwich, said during the hearing that Ford's attorneys have been working pro bono. READ THE TESTIMONY: FORD'S PREPARED COMMENTS Pressed by Mitchell, Ford said she couldnt be more specific about the date of the incident, other than it was likely in 1982. "I can't give the exact date," she said. Under questioning from Mitchell, Ford said the area of the party was probably about a 20-minute drive from her parents home. She said someone probably drove her there, but she could not remember who it was. "Has anyone come forward to say to you, 'hey, remember, I was one who drove you home?" Mitchell asked. "No," Ford replied. Mitchell pressed Ford over her reported comments that she was reluctant to give an interview to the committee because of her fear of flying. Asked how she traveled from California to Washington for Thursday's hearing, Ford acknowledged she flew. "I eventually was able to get up the gumption with the help of some friends and get on the plane," she said. Ford acknowledged she regularly flies including once a year during the summer to visit family on the East Coast. The hearing, which for days had been in doubt, was the first chance for the public to see Ford, in person, explain in detail what she claimed happened at the Maryland house party in 1982 where Kavanaugh allegedly jumped on top of her and tried to muffle her screams -- and why she didn't tell anyone about the episode until 2012. "He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me," Ford testified on Thursday, describing that day. "I tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes." She said she eventually got away, locking herself in a bathroom as the two eventually went downstairs. In her opening statement, Ford said she remembered "four boys" being at the party, including one "whose name I cannot recall." The people she did name -- Kavanaugh and his classmates Mark Judge and P.J. Smyth -- have denied under penalty of felony knowing anything about the alleged episode. KAVANAUGH CLASHES WITH DEMOCRATIC SENATOR OVER YEARBOOK ENTRIES Ford also named a girl, "my friend Leland Ingham," as also being in attendance. Ingham, in a previously released statement, has denied knowing Kavanaugh or having information about the alleged assault. Ford told senators she finally decided to disclose the alleged assault during a therapy session in 2012 because during a remodeling of her house that year, she insisted on installing a "second front door" -- leaving her husband and others wondering why. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley kicked off Thursdays highly anticipated hearing before the panel by noting past FBI background checks of Kavanaugh turned up no evidence of any wrongdoing. "Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports, which committee investigators have reviewed on a bipartisan basis, was there a whiff of any issue," Grassley said. Feinstein, the committee's top Democrat, defended her decision not to turn over the accusations earlier to the FBI and other lawmakers. She said Ford wanted it to "be held confidential." Though she learned of the allegations in July, Feinstein didn't disclose them to her Senate colleagues or federal authorities until days before a crucial Judiciary Committee vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation earlier this month. Ford said Thursday she decided to go public with her allegations after reporters began staking out her home and work. The proceedings were jolted by late-breaking developments: In a statement released Wednesday evening, Judiciary Committee Republicans revealed that on Monday, they conducted interviews with two separate men who claimed they, and not Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982. In response, an aide to Democrats on the Judiciary Committee reportedly unloaded on Senate Republicans, accusing them of "desperately trying to muddy the waters." Several other allegations have emerged over the last week -- and Kavanaugh has denied them all. Republicans repeatedly have pointed out that none of the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh has first-hand corroboration. LINDSEY GRAHAM TEARS INTO DEMS OVER 'SHAM' KAVANAUGH HEARING In The New Yorker on Sunday, former Kavanaugh classmate Deborah Ramirez claimed that Kavanaugh had exposed his penis to her at a party decades ago. Another woman, Julie Swetnick, emerged Wednesday to accuse Kavanaugh of participating in "gang rapes" and rape "trains" in the 1980s. Swetnick has been represented by anti-Trump lawyer Michael Avenatti. "The Swetnick thing is a joke," Kavanaugh said Thursday, raising his voice. "It's a farce." On Tuesday, a constituent told the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., that in 1985, two "heavily inebriated men" referred to as "Brett and Mark" had sexually assaulted a "close friend" on a boat. But that person recanted the claim Wednesday night on Twitter. In another case, Kavanaugh was asked by GOP investigators this week about a new claim in a letter received by Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., from an anonymous individual apparently in Denver, alleging that Kavanaugh "shoved" someone up against a wall "very aggressively and sexually" during an outing in front of four witnesses in 1998. Speaking to Judiciary Committee investigators, Kavanaugh maintained his innocence and lamented the "total feeding frenzy" of last-minute accusations. "We're dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend," Kavanaugh told committee investigators earlier this week about the alleged episode. "It's ridiculous. Total Twilight Zone. And no, I've never done anything like that." Fox News Judson Berger and Gregg Re contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! A Democrat running for Congress in California is drawing scrutiny because property records suggest that a home 3,000 miles away may be his primary residence. TJ Cox, a candidate endorsed by former President Barack Obama during a visit to California earlier this month, owns a home in Maryland, the Fresno Bee reported. Cox, who is running to unseat Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, purchased a $1 million Cape Cod-style home in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Bethesda, Md., in 2016, according to Montgomery County property records. The property records show Cox has paid about half his annual property taxes on the three-bedroom, four-bathroom home and has claimed it as his principal residence on state property tax records each year since. Cox also received a $692 county property tax credit on the home in the previous fiscal year. He also owns at least two homes with his wife in Fresno, Calif., according to Fresno County property records. OBAMA LESS COMBATIVE IN CALIFORNIA SPEECH In a statement before the story was published online, a spokesman for Cox accused Valadaos campaign of resorting to misleading attacks and that TJ Cox proudly lives, works and raises his family here in the Central Valley, and has for the past 20 years. The spokesman declined to answer whether Cox owns a home in Maryland. Andrew Godinich, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the state of Maryland automatically marked the home as Coxs principal residence, but its not. Godinich also said Cox is not registered to vote in Maryland, but is registered to vote in Fresno County, the paper said. Maryland defines a principal residence as the one dwelling where the homeowner regularly resides, meaning Cox must live in his Maryland home more than half of the year to claim what hes been claiming on his tax documents. Cox said he previously lived in Modesto, Calif., when he attempted to run against Rep. Jeff Denham, a Republican who represents the 10th Congressional District in the Central Valley. In March, Cox switched races to campaign against Valadao following the withdrawal of his challenger, Emilio Huerta. Valadao has tried painting Cox as an outsider who doesnt live in the district he's campaigning represent and Cox has sought to tie Valadao to President Trump. Valadaos voting records aligns with Trump, according to the political analytics website, FiveThirtyEight. A poll of "likely voters" conducted by SurveyUSA found Valadao to be leading Cox, 50 percent to 39 percent, Fresno's KFSN-TV reported. Obama has returned to the campaign trail in an effort to energize Democrats and stump for several U.S. House candidates. He praised Cox in a Sept. 8 speech in Anaheim, Calif. Both the Republican and Democratic parties have poured money into the race. Democrats are trying to flip the seat because of the partys 17-point advantage in voter registration. In 2016, Clinton beat Trump in the district by 16 percentage points. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, hired by the Senate Judiciary Committee to handle some of Thursday's questioning, opened with some words of encouragement for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. I just wanted to tell you, the first thing that struck me from your statement this morning was that youre terrified. And I just wanted to let you know Im very sorry. Thats not right, Mitchell said, shaking her head. Mitchell made the remark after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, deferred his allotted five minutes of questioning to the prosecutor. Just minutes earlier, Ford, a California psychology professor, gave her opening remarks at times appearing emotional. I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified, she said. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION DERAILED BY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS: A LIST OF HIS ACCUSERS Ford has publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were at a house party in the 1980s, both teenagers at the time. She said he held her down on a bed, attempted to forcibly remove her clothes and held his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegation, saying he has never done anything like what the accuser describes to her or anyone. Both he and Ford are appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing regarding the allegations. The GOP side of the Judiciary Committee made up of 11 men which could have sent an unwanted message on live television against the backdrop of the #MeToo era and Mitchell was hired to assist in the questioning. Mitchell works in the Maricopa County Attorneys Office in Phoenix as chief of the Special Victims Division and deputy county attorney. She is currently on leave. WHO IS RACHEL MITCHELL, THE PROSECUTOR HIRED TO QUESTION KAVANAUGHS ACCUSER DURING SENATE HEARING? She spent more than a decade supervising attorneys who handle sex-related crimes, including sexual assault, child molestation and prostitution and computer crimes against children. She was also in charge of a satellite bureau that prosecuted such crimes as well as domestic violence and elder abuse, according to the Judiciary Committee. Shes been described by her boss, Maricopa Attorney Bill Montgomery, as a professional, fair, objective prosecutor and someone who has a caring heart for victims. Kavanaugh has also been publicly accused of sexual misconduct while at parties in high school and college by two other women, but they are not part of the hearing. The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Christine Ford repeatedly named Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as her attacker at a party in the '80s, despite denials from the judge. Hours before the pair faced lawmakers Thursday to clear up their stories, Judiciary Committee Republicans revealed they spoke with two men who claimed responsibility for the encounter. Ford previously stated there was "zero chance" she had mistaken Kavnaugh with another man. But two new witnesses both interviewed by GOP investigators in recent days say Ford may not correctly recall the incident. In a statement released Wednesday night, GOP members announced they conducted an interview Monday with "a man who believes he, not Judge Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982 that is the basis of his [sic] complaint." They added that investigators also spoke on the phone with another man with a similar claim. AHEAD OF PIVOTAL SENATE HEARING, WITNESSES SURFACE TO SAY CHRISTINE FORD MAY HAVE MISTAKEN THEM FOR KAVANAUGH In light of the last-minute news, the California professor was asked again to ensure committee members she was positive Kavanaugh was inovled in the alleged sexual assault. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, asked Ford to address the new defense of "mistaken identity" directly. "Dr. Ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh assaulted you?" Durbin asked Ford. KAVANAUGH, FORD HEARING LIVE BLOG: SUPREME COURT NOMINEE AND PROFESSOR TESTIFY ON SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS "One hundred percent," replied Ford, speaking directly into the mic. Durbin repeated "one hundred percent" as Ford nodded. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all sexual misconduct allegations. In his prepared testimony released ahead of Thursdays Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, he states the truth is that I have never sexually assaulted anyone not in high school, not in college, not ever. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg celebrated the #MeToo movement on Wednesday, just a day before a highly-anticipated U.S. Senate panel hearing into sexual misconduct accusations against high court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Every woman of my vintage has not just one story but many stories, but we thought there was nothing you could do about it boys will be boys so just find a way to get out of it, Ginsburg said during an event with first-year law students at Georgetown University in Washington, Reuters reported. "Every woman of my vintage has not just one story but many stories, but we thought there was nothing you could do about it boys will be boys so just find a way to get out of it." U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg When asked about her views on the current womens movement, Ginsburg replied by saying she was cheered on by the #MeToo movement that has led to the downfall of multiple rich and powerful men over sexual misconduct. Ginsburg said the movement shows that women are united. So it was one complaint and then one after another the complaints mounted. So women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior, she said. "So it was one complaint and then one after another the complaints mounted. So women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior." U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ginsburg didnt name Kavanaugh during the event, but her comments come just a day before Kavanaugh was set to face the Senate Judiciary Committees grilling over multiple sexual misconduct allegations. AHEAD OF PIVOTAL SENATE HEARING, WITNESSES SURFACE TO SAY CHRISTINE FORD MAY HAVE MISTAKEN THEM FOR KAVANAUGH Christine Blasey Ford, the first person who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in 1982, will also testify before the committee. In recent days, two other women have come forward with allegations, with Julie Swetnick being the latest accuser. She claims Kavanaugh was participating in gang rapes and rape trains in the 1980s. Ginsburg, 85, has served on the nation's highest court since 1993, when she was nominated by former President Bill Clinton. She became the second female justice in the court's history, behind Sandra Day O'Connor, the now-retired justice who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan in 1981. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley quoted former Vice President Joe Biden Thursday in an effort to shoot down calls for a new FBI probe into the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. In his opening statement at the highly anticipated hearing of Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford, the Iowa Republican quoted Biden, who served as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 1991 proceedings to confirm Justice Clarence Thomas, and presided over the hearings involving his accuser, Professor Anita Hill. The Judiciary Committee was able to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations. Some of my colleagues consistent with their stated desires to obstruct the Kavanaugh nomination by any means necessary pushed for an FBI investigation into the allegations, Grassley said. I have no authority to force an executive branch agency to conduct an investigation into a matter it considers to be closed. He added: Contrary to what the public has been led to believe, the FBI doesnt perform any credibility assessment, or verify the truth of any event in these background investigations. Grassley went on to quote then-Chairman Biden. The next person who refers to an FBI report as being worth anything obviously doesnt understand anything. The FBI explicitly does not in this or any other case reach a conclusion. Period, Grassley read. They say he said, she said, and they said, period. So when people wave an FBI report before you, understand they do not, they do not, they do not reach conclusions. They do not make recommendations. Grassley added that the FBI "provided us with the allegations. Now its up to the Senate to assess their credibility. Which bring us to today. Ford appeared on Capitol Hill before the committee Thursday to share her allegations against Kavanaugh. She claims Kavanaugh, while in high school 36 years ago, pinned her to a bed and tried to remove her clothing. Her attorney said she believed it to be "attempted rape." Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations. It was revealed this week the committee had begun interviewing a man who believes that Ford had mistaken Kavanaugh for him, as he remembers an incident involving Ford. VINTAGE BIDEN CLIP ON FBI FUELS GOP PUSHBACK IN KAVANAUGH PROBE Biden presided over Thomas confirmation hearings when Anita Hill accused the nominee of making sexually explicit comments to her and unwanted advances while she worked for him. The allegations were briefly investigated by the FBI. Members of the committee at the time called for further FBI investigation into Thomas. But in passionate remarks during the hearing, Biden dismissed those who said the FBI's report was "worth anything." Addressing Thomas, Biden said, The reason why we cannot rely on the FBI report you wouldnt like it if we did: because it is inconclusive. Today's Senate Judiciary Committee faces a similar situation, as Kavanaugh faces allegations of sexual assault dating back to high school by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. He is also accused of exposing himself at a freshman year dorm party to his Yale University classmate Deborah Ramirez. Kavanaugh has emphatically denied the allegations. Ford and Ramirez have both called for FBI investigations into their claims. Senate Democrats have also pushed for an investigation, calling for the White House to demand that the bureau open a probe into Kavanaugh. The FBI conducts background investigations prior to an appointed officials confirmation to determine whether the nominee could pose a risk to the national security of the United States, according to a Justice Department spokesperson. In an FBI background investigation, the bureau is only responsible for finding information and passing it along, which they have done in the Kavanaugh case, a source told Fox News. The source said the FBI would not 'investigate' the information found. The FBI does not make any judgment about the credibility or significance of any allegation, a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement last week. According to the Justice Department, on Sept. 12, the FBI received a letter dated from July 2018, obtained by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., alleging Kavanaugh engaged in an incident of misconduct in the 1980s. The FBI forwarded this letter to the White House Counsels Office, the spokesperson said. The allegation does not involve any potential federal crime. The FBIs role in such matters is to provide information for the use of decision makers. An FBI spokesperson, last week, said in a statement that Fords Sept. 12 letter was included as part of Judge Kavanaughs background file, as per the standard process. The FBI does not plan to launch a criminal investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh, as there are no allegations of a federal crime. The FBI also would only re-open a background investigation into Kavanaugh if the White House requested a follow-up inquiry. A spokesman for Biden said in a statement to Fox News that the use of his statement was "clearly an effort on the part of the White House and Senate Republicans to take out of context then-Senator Biden's statements about the role of the FBI in the judicial nomination process to create a smoke-screen for their unprecedented refusal to have the FBI conduct an investigation into credible charges." "Senator Biden made those comments in response to Senator Hatch's attempts to frame the FBI's 1991 report on Clarence Thomas as exculpatory. His point was that the FBI plays an investigative role in the nomination process; they do not make recommendations," Biden's spokesman said. "That is the sole responsibility of the Senate -- to advise and consent. Vice President Biden believes that the FBI should have investigated in this case in advance of Dr. Blasey Ford's courageous testimony today, just as they did in 1991." NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! A note that read "Good luck, Dr. Ford" was left on the witness table of the Senate Judiciary Committee room hours before she was scheduled to testify on Thursday, according to a Roll Call photograph snapped on Wednesday. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is set to testify at 10 a.m. about allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. A photographer for the publication was checking out the lighting and angles in the hearing room when he noticed the note handwritten in blue ink. The note appeared to be written on United States Senate stationery, but it was unknown who wrote it. An aide told a reporter that Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley penned the note, according to ABC News. But Grassley's staffer told the station that the senator did not in fact write the note, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. Some interpreted the note to be a form of intimidation, while others saw it as an encouraging one. The note was later removed, the report said. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The House Intelligence Committee will vote Friday on whether to make public some executive-session transcripts related to the panels now-concluded Russia investigation. The intel panels investigation was separate from the probe being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The committee is scheduled to meet beginning at 9 a.m. on Capitol Hill, according to a news release. Prior to release, the transcripts would first be reviewed by Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, according to the statement. Earlier this month, intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the transcripts should be made public ahead of Novembers midterm elections. I expect to make those available from our committee to the American public in the next few weeks." Nunes said during an interview on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures. Nunes comments echoed those U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who told the Hill that it "would be beneficial for the public to see" the documents in question. The calls from the two GOP lawmakers came after Democrats in the House repeatedly asked for the documents to be made public. But some GOP lawmakers signaled that making the transcripts public might affect their ability to compel witnesses to testify in future investigations. Nunes, who claimed that "70 or 80 percent" of the depositions were already unclassified, said he thought President Trump had no choice but to release the rest. "I think he doesn't have any choice," Nunes said. "If the president wants the American people to really understand just how broad and invasive this investigation has been to many Americans and how unfair it has been, he has no choice but to declassify." The transcripts in question refer to testimony from numerous individuals, including Coats, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, former director of national intelligence James Clapper, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, former Trump campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, former White House communications director Hope Hicks and presidential adviser Jared Kushner. Also to be released would be transcripts featuring former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, political consultant Roger Stone, Donald Trump Jr., former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, former FBI official Andrew McCabe, and Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale. Testimony from Obama administration figures also would be included, from officials such as former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former deputy national security adviser Benjamin Rhodes and former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Fox News Andrew OReilly contributed to this story. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Christine Blasey Ford, who testified Thursday about an alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, came under scrutiny over her fear of flying after it emerged she is a regular jetsetter. Ford says Kavanaugh assaulted her at a high school party in 1982, and testified about the alleged incident at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Kavanaugh denies the accusation. As part of that hearing, she was questioned by prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, including about media reports that Ford was unable to attend a hearing on Monday in Washington, D.C., because she had a fear of flying and it would take too long to get there from California at such short notice. Ford told Mitchell that she did, in fact, fly from California to the East Coast for the hearing -- saying that it was unreasonable to expect prosecutors to fly to her instead (Chairman Chuck Grassley later clarified that committee Republicans had offered to do that.) FORD GIVES SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION FOR HER MEMORY OF ALLEGED KAVANAUGH INCIDENT She said that she had hoped to avoid getting on a plane but eventually was able to get up the gumption with the help of some friends and get on the plane. However, Mitchell also queried Ford about other plane trips. In fact, you fly fairly frequently for your hobbies, and youve had to fly for your work is that true? Correct, unfortunately, she said, adding that she wouldnt be able to make it to Australia, where her companys headquarters are located. Mitchell then noted in Ford's CV that she lists surf travel as one of her interests, and has travelled to Hawaii, Costa Rica, South Pacific Islands and French Polynesia. Ford said that she had visited all of those places by airplane. Your interests include oceanography, Hawaiian and Tahitian culture. Did you fly by air as part of those interests? Correct, easier for me to travel going that direction when its a vacation, she said. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who accused him of sexual assault are set to face lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday. The hearing comes after much back-and-forth between the Senate Judiciary Committee majority and attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford, who made the allegation against Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has continued to deny he ever sexually assaulted anyone and has said he hopes to use the hearing to defend his reputation. But if his initial confirmation hearing is any indicator, expect sparks to fly early and often Thursday. Read on for a look at who will play a prominent role in the proceedings. Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nominee A federal judge, Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Trump. After his initial confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, multiple women have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct stemming from alleged drunken parties in high school and college. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Kavanaugh said he hoped for a fair process where I can defend my integrity. Christine Blasey Ford Accuser Christine Blasey Ford is a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California. First, in a letter to lawmakers and then publicly Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were at a party in the early 1980s. THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THE KAVANAUGH HEARING AND SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS Both Ford and Kavanaugh were teenagers when she claimed he pinned her to a bed, attempted to forcibly remove her clothes and held his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Chuck Grassley Judiciary Committee chairman Heading up the Senate Judiciary Committee is Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican. While Grassley has accommodated some of Fords requests pertaining to the hearing such as allowing her to testify while Kavanaugh is not in the room he has continued to press forward with the confirmation hearing despite objections from Democrats. Dianne Feinstein Judiciary Committee ranking member A California Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein first received a letter detailing Fords accusations in July. THESE ARE THE WOMEN WHO HAVE ACCUSED KAVANAUGH OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT Feinstein, a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, has called for an immediate postponement of Kavanaughs confirmation hearings and asked that the FBI review the allegations of sexual misconduct. Rachel Mitchell Sex crimes prosecutor Just days before the hearing, Rachel Mitchell was hired by the Judiciary Committee to assist Republican lawmakers in questioning the witnesses. Mitchell has been a prosecutor, specializing in sex crimes, since 1993 and has been largely recognized for her work. She spent more than a decade supervising attorneys who handle sex-related crimes, including sexual assault, child molestation and prostitution and computer crimes against children. She was also in charge of a satellite bureau that prosecuted such crimes, as well as domestic violence and elder abuse. Kamala Harris Democratic senator During Kavanaughs initial hearing before the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., emerged as a prolific lawmaker in opposition of the nominee. In an especially combative exchange during that hearing, Harris pointedly asked Kavanaugh whether he had discussed Special Counsel Robert Mueller or his Russia probe with anyone at the law firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, a former personal attorney to Trump. KAVANAUGH CALLS SEX MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FORMER MENTOR A GUT PUNCH, POINT TO BROADER ISSUE Harris, seen as a potential 2020 presidential contender, was also criticized for taking his comments about a birth control case out of context. Cory Booker Democratic senator New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, too, is largely considered to be a potential 2020 presidential contender. And also, like Harris, Booker has vocally expressed his opposition to Kavanaugh. He brought attention on himself during the initially hearing when he said he was having a Spartacus moment and vowed to release documents that had not yet been cleared for release by the Judiciary Committee a move he said he made knowingly that it violated Senate rules. Many of the documents he released, however, had already been cleared. Jeff Flake - Republican senator A Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Flake, of Arizona, has remained noncommittal about his decision on Kavanaugh. He isnt running for re-election this year, and hes often clashed with President Trump. However this vote goes, Im confident in saying that it will forever be steeped in doubt, Flake said from the Senate floor the day before the hearing. Mark Judge Kavanaughs friend Ford pegged Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaughs, as a witness to the alleged assault. She said she managed to get away from Kavanaugh when Judge jumped on top of them, toppling them to the ground. Judge has said he has no memory of the alleged altercation. Over much of his adult life, Judge has dived back repeatedly into his memories of Georgetown Preparatory School student life in the early 1980s, and his two memoirs and a cluster of internet essays provide cautionary takes on his prep school days and boozy weekend rounds as a teen. A LOOK AT THE CONFIRMATION PROCESS FOR A SUPREME COURT NOMINEE In his book Wasted: Tales of a GenX Drunk, Judge described a drunken chat with several friends that mentioned what some classmates suggest is a very thinly-veiled reference to Kavanaugh. He wrote that a friend named Bart OKavanaugh threw up in someones car. Deborah Ramirez Accuser Deborah Ramirez was the second woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. She told The New Yorker he exposed himself to her while at a Yale University party during the 1983-84 academic year. She said she was also made to inadvertently touch his penis during this alleged interaction, but she also admitted to having gaps in her memory about the party because she had been drinking that night. Kavanaugh dismissed the accusation as a smear, plain and simple in a statement released by the White House and said unequivocally that it did not happen. Julie Swetnick Accuser The day before the hearing, attorney Michael Avenatti released a sworn statement from his client, Julie Swetnick, who alleged Kavanaugh and Judge would spike drinks at parties and participate in gang rapes of inebriated women. She also alleged that Kavanaugh and Judge would drink excessively and would become overly aggressive with girls not taking No for an answer. She said Kavanaugh would engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, which included making crude sexual comments in order to demean, humiliate and embarrass them. Kavanaugh said the accusation was ridiculous, and he does not know who Swetnick is. Fox News Alex Pappas, Gregg Re, Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Following a passionate and at times tearful opening statement, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh adamantly defended himself against all sexual misconduct allegations, including those brought forward by Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick. Ford was the only one to testify in the hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday. During the hearing, Kavanaugh emphasized he wished no "ill will" against Ford or her family, though he stressed to the committee that his family has been completely "destroyed" by the accusations. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a ranking member on the Judiciary Committee who first received a letter from Ford detailing the alleged incident which she claimed took place at a house party in the early 1980s, told Kavanaugh these are "difficult" circumstances. Again, the California senator called for an FBI investigation. KAVANAUGH, FORD HEARING LIVE BLOG: SUPREME COURT NOMINEE AND PROFESSOR TESTIFY ON SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS "What you're saying, if I understand it, is that the allegations by Dr. Ford, Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Swetnick are wrong?" Feinstein asked Kavanaugh during the hearing after he declared he was "all in" when it comes to clearing his name. "That is emphatically what I'm saying emphatically," he replied. "The Swetnick thing is a joke. That is a farce." Feinstein then asked if Kavanaugh wanted to elaborate on his comments about Swetnick's accusations. Shaking his head, Kavanaugh spoke into the mic and said "no." Swetnick, the third woman to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh, said in a sworn statement the judge was verbally abusive toward girls, a mean drunk and would spike the punch at high school house parties. Swetnick adds that she remembers seeing Kavanaugh and other boys lined up outside a room at a party waiting for their turn with an inebriated girl. KAVANAUGH CHOKES UP WHILE DISCUSSING FAMILY'S RESPONSE TO SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS In approximately 1982, I became the victim of one of these gang or train rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present, Swetnick says in her statement, though she didn't explicitly accuse Kavanaugh of assaulting her. During the incident, I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me. I believe I was drugged using Quaaludes or something similar placed in what I was drinking. In a Fox News interview Monday about the claim he and Judge had plied women with drugs and alcohol at parties to help facilitate "gang rapes," Kavanaugh stated it was "totally false," adding he never did "any such thing." The Associated Press and Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! In the midst of his confirmation process, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including an accusation of assault stemming from when he was in high school. Kavanaugh and the White House have unequivocally denied the allegations, and the federal judge is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee later this week. One of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, has also agreed to testify before lawmakers. Read on for a look at the women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct and what exactly they have alleged. Christine Blasey Ford Christine Blasey Ford, a California psychology professor, first sent a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, in July, alleging Kavanaugh attacked her at a house party in the early 1980s. In the letter, Ford claimed Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed during a party in Maryland, attempted to remove her clothes and put his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. She said he and Mark Judge, Kavanaughs friend who was also in the room at the time of the alleged incident, had also turned the music up to a loud volume. At the time, Ford said she was 15, and Kavanuagh was 17 and allegedly intoxicated. She said she was able to escape when Judge jumped on top of them. I thought he might inadvertently kill me, Ford, now 51 years old, told The Washington Post. He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing. Kavanugh called the allegation completely false. A LOOK AT THE CONFIRMATION PROCESS FOR SUPREME COURT NOMINEES I have never done anything like what the accuser describes to her or anyone, the federal judge said in a statement. Aside from Kavanaugh, three people who Ford said was at the party have told lawmakers they were not aware of the incident she alleged. They include: Judge, Patrick "PJ" Smith and Leland Ingham Keyser. Ford, on the other hand, has submitted declarations from four people, including her husband, who say they can corroborate her accusation. Ford is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning, with Kavanaugh appearing after her. Deborah Ramirez In a second claim of sexual misconduct, Deborah Ramirez told The New Yorker Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while at a Yale University dormitory party during the 1983-84 academic year. After being contacted by the magazine, Ramirez claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her, adding she inadvertently touched his penis while trying to shove him away. However, she also admitted to having gaps in her memory about the party because she had been drinking. Kavanaugh dismissed the accusation as a smear, plain and simple in a statement released by the White House. This alleged incident from 35 years ago did not happen, Kavanaugh said. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. KAVANAUGHS ACCUSER WANTS FBI TO INVESTIGATE ASSAULT CLAIM: WHY THE BUREAU LIKELY WONT The magazine stated it had not corroborated that Kavanaugh was at the party in question. But an anonymous male classmate said he was told Kavanaugh had exposed himself to Ramirez within the following days. Still, another male classmate who Ramirez said egged Kavanaugh on during the party has denied any memory of the gathering. In addition, six of Kavanaughs classmates including some who Ramirez said were involved released a statement doubting the incident happened. We can say with confidence that if the incident Debbie alleges ever occurred, we would have seen or heard about it and we did not, they said. The behavior she describes would be completely out of character for Brett. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said "we would be open" to having Ramirez testify before the same Judiciary Committee hearing at which Ford and Kavanaugh are scheduled to appear, but there is no indication GOP Chairman Chuck Grassley is considering that. Julie Swetnick Attorney Michael Avenatti who represents adult film star Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against President Trump said he is representing a woman who has knowledge of Kavanaugh, Judge and others in high school targeting women with alcohol/drugs in order to allow a train of men to subsequently gang rape them. According to a sworn declaration, Julie Swetnick said she met Kavanaugh and Judge in the early 1980s and would often see them at social events. "On numerous occasions at these parties, I witnessed Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively and engage in highly inappropriate conduct, including being overly aggressive with girls and not taking 'No' for an answer," Swetnick said. "This conduct included the fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent." Kavanaugh, specifically, would "engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, 'grinding' against girls and attempting to remove or shift girls' clothing to expose private body parts," Swetnick alleged. She also said he would make "crude sexual comments" to young women to "demean, humiliate and embarrass them." She went on to allege that Judge and Kavanaugh would "spike" drinks at house parties with drugs and alcohol "so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say 'No.'" They would then "target" certain girls, including ones who were alone or shy, and take advantage of them, Swetnick claimed. She said girls who became inebriated would be "gang raped" by a "train" of boys at the parties, who would line up outside of rooms to wait their "turn." "These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh," she said. "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is, and this never happened," Kavanaugh said in a statement to Fox News. Taylor Foy, a spokesperson for Grassley, told Fox News that lawyers for the committee are reviewing Swetnicks declaration. Denver allegation Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., received a letter from an anonymous individual alleging Kavanaugh "shoved" someone up against a wall "very aggressively and sexually" during an outing with four witnesses. Kavanaugh denied the allegations in the letter, which was received on Sept. 22, and told Senate investigators he does not recall socializing with anyone from Colorado in 1998. At the time, he was a key lawyer working for independent counsel Ken Starr. "We're dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend," Kavanaugh said. "It's ridiculous. Total Twilight Zone. And no, I've never done anything like that." Recanted claim Committee investigators have asked Kavanaugh about a call received by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., this week, in which an anonymous constituent claimed in 1985, two "heavily inebriated men" referred to as "Brett and Mark" had sexually assaulted a friend of hers on a boat. The constituent apparently recanted the claim on Twitter ahead of Thursday's hearing. In response, Kavanuagh categorically denied the claim, saying, "I was not in Newport, haven't been on a boat in Newport. Not with Mark Judge on a boat, nor all those three things combined. This is just completely made up, or at least not me. I don't know what they're referring to." According to the transcript, the person making the accusation appears to be associated with a Twitter account advocating for the removal of a military coup. Fox News Samuel Chamberlain, Mike Emanuel, Andrew O'Reilly, Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was contentious, but still, the federal judge was expected to be confirmed by the Senate until a psychology professor came forward to publicly accuse him of sexual assault. Christine Blasey Ford has said Kavanaugh assaulted her while at a house party in the early 1980s, when they were teenagers. She said Kavanaugh held her on a bed, attempted to remove her clothes and held his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. After some back-and-forth between Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Fords attorneys, both Ford and Kavanaugh appear set to testify before lawmakers Thursday morning. As the details about the hearing have continued to change, heres an up-to-date look at what to expect from the much-anticipated hearing. When is the hearing? The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a committee hearing continuation for Thursday, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. It will be public. The hearing will be held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Who will testify? Both Kavanaugh and Ford will testify at the hearing. Ford is expected to tell lawmakers about her accusation: Kavanaugh allegedly pinned her to a bed, tried to remove her clothes and covered her mouth with his hand while at a house party in the early 1980s. KEY PLAYERS IN THE KAVANAUGH, FORD SENATE HEARING In her opening statement, which has already been released, Ford will testify that she was the most frightened when Kavanaugh allegedly covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. She said it "has had the most lasting impact on my life." "It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth," she will testify. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations and has said he wanted to testify to clear his name ever since the accusation came to light. He told Fox News' Martha MacCallum that he wants a fair process where I can defend my integrity. What is the format? Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will make opening statements. Ford will testify first and will have the opportunity to give an opening statement without any time limit. Then, senators will be allotted five minutes to ask questions. They can also defer to a designated counsel during this time. After Ford is finished and has left the room, it will be Kavanaugh's turn. He, too, will be allowed to give an opening statement without time constraints. Senators will be allotted the same five minutes for questions. Keep in mind that Kavanaugh's original hearing was derailed multiple times by protesters and Democratic senators. What were some conditions? Grassley wrangled with Fords team ahead of the scheduled hearing over the terms of her appearance. He was able to grant some of her requests. After originally being planned for Monday, the hearing was moved to Thursday. It will take place in a smaller room with only one camera and limited press access. Ford was also guaranteed the ability to be able to testify without Kavanaugh in the room, adequate breaks and security. However, the committee did not agree to other demands, including: making Kavanaugh testify first and only allowing senators to ask questions. Who will ask the questions? Senate Republicans have designated Rachel Mitchell, a decorated career sex crimes prosecutor with decades of experience, as outside counsel who can participate during the hearing. The GOP side of the Judiciary Committee is made up of 11 men which could send an unwanted message on live television against the backdrop of the #MeToo era. KAVANAUGHS ACCUSER WANTS FBI TO INVESTIGATE ASSAULT CLAIM: WHY THE BUREAU LIKELY WONT Senate Democrats will still be able to ask their own questions, if they so choose, and some have said they intend to do so. Will there be any witnesses? Fords lawyers repeatedly requested to pick witnesses for the hearing, but that was left up to the Judiciary Committee to determine who would be called. Specifically, her attorneys demanded Mark Judge a friend of Kavanaugh whom Ford said was in the room when the alleged incident occurred be subpoenaed and forced to testify as a witness. Judge has already denied the allegations before the Judiciary Committee, according to lawmakers. Additionally, the Judiciary Committee does not take witness requests from other witnesses, it said. Who sits on the Judiciary Committee? Grassley is the chairman of the committee. Feinstein is the ranking member of the committee. The Republicans on the committee are: Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Kennedy of Louisiana. KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION DERAILED BY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS: A LIST OF HIS ACCUSERS The Democrats on the committee are: Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Chris Coons of Delaware, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. Anything else? The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote on Kavanaugh for Friday morning. The typically recommends a Supreme Court nominee to the full Senate for a vote. The committee can give a favorable or unfavorable recommendation or none at all. And you can bet that President Trump will be watching. During a news conference the day before, he told reporters that Ford's testimony could prompt him to reverse course on his nominee: "It's possible that I'll hear that, and I'll say I'm changing my mind." Fox News Chad Pergram, Gregg Re, Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! A few Republican governors have called on the Senate to delay or take the time to carefully investigate the multiple sexual assault allegations that have recently been levied against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a California psychology professor, are appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday. Ford has alleged Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, attempted to forcibly remove her clothes and held his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming while at a house party in the 1980s. As the hearing got underway, popular Republican Gov. Charlie Baker called on the Senate to postpone Kavanaughs confirmation vote. The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation, Baker, who has led Massachusetts since 2015, said in a tweet. There should be no vote in the Senate. Kavanaugh has also been accused of sexual misconduct by Deborah Ramirez, who told The New Yorker Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a party at Yale University. And Julie Swetnick, through her attorney Michael Avenatti, has accused Kavanaugh of engaging in acts of sexual misconduct during high school parties. These women are not part of the Senate hearing. Kavanaugh has adamantly denied all of the accusations. Democrats have continued to call for a delay in Kavanaughs confirmation vote and have pushed for an FBI investigation into the allegations. KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION DERAILED BY SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS: A LIST OF HIS ACCUSERS Aside from Baker, Republican Gov. John Kasich also called for the vote to be delayed. Given the qualifications and allegations surrounding Judge Kavanaughs nomination and the higher standards demanded for a lifetime appointment the United States Senate should not rush to confirm him. In the absence of a complete and thorough investigation, and hearing from all parties involved, moving this nomination forward would be a mistake, Kasich said in a statement. In the best interest of our country and the integrity of the court, the Senate needs to hold on this confirmation, Kasich, a 2016 presidential contender, said. Without an investigation, and with so many serious issues involved, I cannot support this nomination if they choose to move forward. KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION: THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON CHARGES BROUGHT BY SUPREME COURT NOMINEES ACCUSER Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vt., told the Burlington Free Press he hopes senators take their time with the confirmation decision. This is a lifetime appointment, Scott said. And Im not taking a position on Judge Kavanaugh himself, but we owe it to Americans to make sure that they get it right. Because this doesnt happen every day. And its their obligation to do so. So take your time. Investigate. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! As the dramatic hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused him of sexual assault, got underway, hundreds of protesters clashed on Capitol Hill shutting down roads. Demonstrators gathered outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building Thursday, where the hearing is being held. Some stood silently lining stairwells in the Senate building while others clogged elevators. By Thursday afternoon, protesters began gathering in the street on Capitol Hill, blocking the road. United States Capitol announced the closure of First St. NE between Constitution Ave. NE and East Capitol St. NE Thursday as additional officers gathered. Many female protesters wore teal, which has been designated as the color for sexual assault awareness and prevention. Holding signs that read, We Believe Dr. Ford, a few protesters also gathered outside the Supreme Court building Thursday morning. Organizers behind the Womens March planned a direct action Thursday morning in the Hart Senate Building in support of Ford, who is testifying about allegations that Kavanaugh assaulted her during a drunken high school party decades ago. KEY PLAYERS IN THE KAVANAUGH, FORD SENATE HEARING Conservative groups in support of Kavanaugh also planned counter-protesters around Capitol Hill Thursday. A coalition of conservative womens groups planned an I Stand With Brett rally near the Russell Senate Office Building. Hundreds of students from Liberty University were slated to travel from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Washington, D.C., to publicly show support for the federal appeals judge, too. Kavanuaghs confirmation hearing earlier this month was marred by dozens of protesters interrupting the hearing even before Fords allegation became public. Fox News Guerin Hays, Griff Jenkins, Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Controversial Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, Calif., is touting her opposition to President Trumps policies against illegal immigration -- while mayoral challengers criticize her for the city's homelessness problem and its high cost of living. Schaaf, a Democrat who captured headlines earlier this year after tipping off local illegal immigrants to a planned raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, is facing challenges from three other candidates as she seeks re-election Nov. 6. I also am proud when we stood up to Donald Trump when he came for people in our community, Schaaf said, drawing applause, as she debated her election rivals Wednesday, according to the Bay Area's FOX 2. "I also am proud when we stood up to Donald Trump when he came for people in our community." Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf She boasted that her anti-Trump record and opposition to federal immigration policies made her a target of the administration. The mayor was widely praised by progressives in February when she posted a warning on her social media page, saying that she learned from multiple credible sources about an incoming raid by federal immigration authorities and urged not to panic our residents but to protect them. The mayor said she didnt know further details of the ICE operation, but claimed she felt it was her duty and moral obligation as Mayor to give those families fair warning when that threat appears imminent. OAKLAND MAYOR WARNS OF IMPENDING ICE RAID, RAMPING UP SANCTUARY-CITY TENSION But other mayoral candidates decided to focus instead on issues of greater concern to residents of California's eighth-largest city, with about 417,000 residents. The Oakland that we knew will not be here in two years. We will not survive another two years under Mayor Libby Schaaf, candidate and civil rights lawyer Pamela Price told the crowd. We cannot afford to have development that is not balanced, that does not leave behind and destroy the fabric of this community, she added on the topic of the technology industrys domination in the city. Candidate Marchon Tatman slammed Schaaf for the citys homelessness problem fueled by unaffordable rents, which he says doubled in the last four years. Everything doubled in the past four years except wages, he said. HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS INCREASINGLY AFFECTING CALIFORNIA TRAIN TRAFFIC Oakland activist Cat Brooks, meanwhile, slammed Schaaf from the left, saying the city was broken and that Schaaf disrespects and disregards the voices of our most impacted Oakland community members. Schaaf also was accused of ignoring the needs of people in poor neighborhoods when it comes to illegal dumping. If we can do it in the hills, we can do it in the flats, she said. In our mayor's neighborhood there was not mattresses and piles of garbage and dead rats and needles. "If we can do it in the hills, we can do it in the flats. In our mayor's neighborhood there was not mattresses and piles of garbage and dead rats and needles." Oakland activist Cat Brooks Schaaf defended her record, saying Oakland was one of the most violent cities in America and lacked basic investment, but under her watch the city improved. Oakland was ranked as the second most violent city in America and there was not a single construction crane," she said. I am ready to finish the work that I have started and deliver a thriving, equitable city. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., let loose on his Democratic colleagues Thursday over what he called the "sham" hearing to probe sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, in a display that earned him praise from the White House and scorn from the left. Graham blasted Democrats toward the end of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with the Supreme Court nominee and accuser Christine Blasey Ford. She alleges Kavanaugh forced himself on her when both were high school students in the 1980s. But Graham alleged the Democrats' handling was all about politics. "This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics, a visibily angry Graham said from the dais while pointing at Democratic senators. And if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn't have done what you've done to this guy. Graham added: Boy, yall want power and I hope you dont get it. Graham personally addressed Kavanaugh to apologize for the questioning of his high school yearbook comments and his beer drinking habits. If youre looking for a fair process, you came to the wrong town at the wrong time, Graham said. This is hell. Democratic senators have been bringing up Kavanaugh's yearbook as they question him about Ford's allegation of sexual assault when they were teens. Kavanaugh denies the allegation. The senior senator from South Carolina also had pointed words for any Republican senator who is considering not voting to confirm Kavanaugh. To my Republican colleagues, Graham said. If you vote no, you are legitimizing the most despicable thing Ive ever seen in my time in politics. Grahams words drew quick praise from White House officials, with President Trumps counselor Kellyanne Conway praising the lawmaker for excoriating the outrageous and unfair treatment of Kavanaugh. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also tweeted her support for Grahams words. [Lindsey Graham] has more decency and courage than every Democrat member of the committee combined, Sanders tweeted. God bless him. Grahams words also drew mockery on social media from Democratic pundits, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines who said that Graham was auditioning for vice president. Up until now Ive thought Graham has been auditioning for Secretary of Defense or Attorney General, Reines said. Hes shooting for Vice President. Speaking to reporters during a break in the hearing, Graham said that he "had enough of this charade." Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein initiated a "very personal and very hostile" attack on House Republican lawmakers and staffers in May after they requested records about the FBI's investigative strategy in the Russia case, according to a congressional email documenting the meeting, as well as two additional sources. The congressional email reviewed by Fox News documented a May 10 meeting at the Justice Department. The meeting reportedly included Rosenstein; his deputy Ed O'Callaghan; senior law enforcement and intelligence officials; House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif.; Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.; and committee staffers. On April 24, congressional investigators had sent a classified letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and, on April 30, a subpoena for records about alleged surveillance abuse. Rosenstein signed the final surveillance warrant for Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2017. "Before the door even closed, we could hear DAG Rosenstein scream at Chairman Nunes, the substance of which we would be briefed on afterwards. The summary is that DAG Rosenstein launched into personal attacks against Nunes, and myself, calling me out by name," Kash Patel, the intelligence committee's national security adviser, wrote. "Demonstrating childish behavior, and a pattern in doing so, the DAG, without facts to support his claims and relying on false media reporting, personally attacked a staffer, myself and our committee." A source familiar with the closed-door meeting backed up the email account. "Yes, the attacks were very personal and very hostile. Chairman Gowdy tried to calm everyone down and focus on the issues at hand, the source told Fox News. Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein initiated the confrontation and was much more upset than Chairman Nunes." A second source who also declined to speak on the record, citing the sensitivity of the incident, supported the account. However, a Justice Department spokesperson disputed the characterization, saying, "This is not an accurate portrayal of the May 10 meeting as the deputy attorney general, deputy FBI director, and deputy DNI director can attest." Spokespeople from the oversight and intelligence committees declined comment. The claims amount to the latest account calling into question Rosensteins professional conduct while overseeing the inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. The New York Times reported last Friday that he had considered secretly recording President Trump in May 2017 and invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office after Director James Comeys firing from the FBI. Rosenstein called the Times claims "inaccurate," and a source who was in the room told Fox News the comment was "sarcastic." Rosenstein, on the heels of that report, had been scheduled to meet Thursday with Trump to discuss the allegations. But that meeting has been rescheduled to next week, the White House said, so as not to conflict with a Senate judiciary hearing on alleged sexual misconduct by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Sources said earlier this week that Rosenstein expected to be fired when he attended a Monday meeting at the White House, but Press Secretary Sarah Sanders later said that Trump and Rosenstein spoke by phone and agreed to sit down and have that further, longer and more extended conversation in person. Earlier this year, Fox News reported that Rosenstein threatened to subpoena emails and other documents from lawmakers and staff on the House intelligence committee during a tense January meeting over the Russia investigation, according to emails documenting the encounter. In that incident as well, aides described a "personal attack." Those emails, also memorialized for the House general counsel by Patel, described a closed-door meeting involving senior FBI and Justice Department officials, as well as many of the same House members. The account claimed Rosenstein threatened to turn the tables on the committee's inquiries regarding the Russia probe. When the Fox News story was published in June, a DOJ official said the department and bureau officials in the room were all quite clear that the characterization of events laid out here is false, adding that Rosenstein was responding to a threat of contempt. ROSENSTEIN EYEING RESIGNATION, BUT HIS DEPARTURE WOULD CAUSE A FIRESTORM The deputy attorney general was making the point after being threatened with contempt that as an American citizen charged with the offense of contempt of Congress, he would have the right to defend himself, including requesting production of relevant emails and text messages and calling them as witnesses to demonstrate that their allegations are false, the official said. That is why he put them on notice to retain relevant emails and text messages, and he hopes they did so. (We have no process to obtain such records without congressional approval.) But during late June congressional testimony, Rosenstein said the incident never happened. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked: Mr. Rosenstein, did you threaten staffers on the House Intelligence Committee? Media reports indicate you did. Media reports are mistaken, Rosenstein responded. Jordan countered by asking whether hed threatened to subpoena their calls and emails, as alleged. No, sir, and there is no way to subpoena phone calls, Rosenstein said. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The lawyer for the second woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct tweeted a message of support for Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday, as the California professor prepared for her highly anticipated testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Deborah Ramirez, who accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her while at a dorm party during their freshman year at Yale University, shared her message through her attorney's twitter account. From Debbie Ramirez: Thinking of you today, Christine. They want us to feel alone and isolated but Im there wrapping my arms around you and I hope you feel the people of this nation wrapping their arms around all of us. Holding you up in spirit, attorney John Clune tweeted. The Senate Judiciary Committee has invited Ramirez to also share her story. She has signaled through her attorney she is willing to provide information to the committee, but is demanding an FBI probe of the allegations first. Several questions have been raised about Ramirez's accusations against Kavanaugh, which were published in a New Yorker magazine article. Other media outlets had also pursued the Ramirez story, but chose not to move forward because they could not find witnesses or evidence to corroborate key accounts of her story. Ford appeared before the committee Thursday morning to provide testimony to her claim that Kavanaugh, while in high school 36 years ago, pinned her down, covered her mouth, and tried to remove her clothing during a party. But on Thursday night, the committee revealed they had conducted interviews with a man, whose identity remains unknown, who believes he, not Judge Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all allegations against him. On the eve of the hearing, where Kavanaugh will also appear following Ford's testimony, attorney Michael Avenatti revealed the identity of a third woman, Julie Swetnick, who claims Kavanaugh was involved in gang rape during a party in high school. Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! The owner of a Washington, D.C. restaurant where Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife were heckled by a group of protesters earlier this week, said staffers have received life-threatening messages in the wake of the incident. Personally, I am blessed to work with the staff who have handled the harassment and life-threatening messages we and our families have received in the wake of the event, Fabio Trabocchi, the owner, said in a statement on Wednesday posted to Twitter. They have shown remarkable grit and calm, It is scary to hear anger directed at you and those you love -- I am lucky to work with brave people who respect our work. Cruz and his wife were dining at Fiola on Monday when a group appeared to chastise the Senator over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who is facing multiple sexual assault allegations. Two one-minute video clips were posted to the Twitter page of a group called Smash Racism DC, where protesters could be heard chanting, We believe survivors! An activist shouted can be hear shouting Sexist, racist, anti-gay! while a woman quizzed the Texas GOP senator whether he believes the women making the allegations against Kavanaugh. The federal judge has denied all allegations made against him. The couple was escorted out of the restaurant through a side entrance, before being brought back in later through the kitchen after to enjoy the rest of their meal, according to the statement. While Trabocchi noted he is not in the business of hospitality or public safety, the restaurant owner said he has implemented additional safety measures to ensure the ongoing and future privacy, safety and security for our staff and guests. We did our best Monday night to show DC what it means to live, love and work in a city where all voices are welcome and quite necessary to make a republic work, the statement read. It takes everyone, Just like any family. It requires respect, listening, and sometimes a little etiquette, like keeping your elbows and politics off the dinner table. Fox News Bradford Betz and Lukas Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Texas state Sen. Charles Schwertner doubled down on his denial of sending sexually explicit messages to a graduate student by hiring legal counsel on Wednesday amid his re-election campaign, The Dallas Morning News reported. Reports emerged Tuesday that the GOP candidate and practicing orthopedic surgeon had allegedly texted a female student at the University of Texas saying, I just really want to f--- you, in addition to sending a picture of his genitals. The woman said she had met Schwertner, a UT alumnus, during an on-campus event and expressed interest in working in the state legislature. The woman reported Schwertner to the university after the alleged exchange, according to unnamed school officials. The woman was not named in the report. TEXAS STATE SENATOR ACCUSED OF SENDING SEXUAL MESSAGES AND PHOTOS TO GRAD STUDENT Schwertner, 48, has denied the womans claims. In a joint statement, Schwertners attorneys said, We have spent hours with Senator Schwertner and others regarding these claims. Senator Schwertner did not send any inappropriate texts as alleged. Period. Women must feel safe in schools, work, at home and the Texas Capitol. Women must be believed and heard when these incidents occur, no matter if the offender is a boss, friend, U.S. Supreme Court nominee or Texas state senator. Meg Walsh Meanwhile, Schwertners Democratic challenger, Meg Walsh, was quick to link the Senator to U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh who is embroiled in sexual assault allegations by three women ahead of his Friday confirmation. "Like most Texas women, I have dealt with workplace harassment throughout my career," Walsh said. "Women must feel safe in schools, work, at home and the Texas Capitol. Women must be believed and heard when these incidents occur, no matter if the offender is a boss, friend, U.S. Supreme Court nominee or Texas state senator." Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick accused UT officials of potentially jeopardizing the integrity of a serious investigation, by contacting the media. "I am calling on the university to complete their inquiry in a professional manner, protecting the privacy rights of both parties," Patrick said. Schwertners attorneys insisted the public hold judgement until (Schwertner) is afforded the opportunity for a fair process to occur. They said Schwertner has been in contact with the University of Texas to resolve the matter. The university said it will ban the GOP senator from the campus if the allegations are true. I am calling on the university to complete their inquiry in a professional manner, protecting the privacy rights of both parties. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Schwertner was elected to the state House in 2010 and Senate in 2012. He will face Walsh in the November midterms. The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court confirmation, Christine Blasey Ford publicly came forward to accuse the federal appeals judge of sexual assault decades ago. The sexual assault allegation first came to light in the form of a letter obtained by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who sent shockwaves through Washington when she announced last week she forwarded it to the FBI. Feinstein is the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, which is tasked with deciding whether to formally recommend a Supreme Court nominee to the full Senate for a vote. But Ford publicly came forward in an interview with The Washington Post over the weekend, saying her civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation. She has accused Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed during a house party in Maryland in the early 1980s, attempting to remove her clothes and putting his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream. At the time of the alleged incident, Ford was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17, she said, adding that Kavanaugh was drunk. I thought he might inadvertently kill me, Ford said. He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing. She said she was able to escape when Mark Judge a friend of Kavanaughs who has come to his defense after the allegations became public jumped on top of them. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, saying, I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time. Judge said he has no recollection of the alleged events. Kavanaugh and Ford are both set to testify before lawmakers on Sept. 27. Read on for a look at four things to know about Ford. Ford is a college professor Ford is a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California. A biostatistician, she specializes in the design and analysis of clinical trials and other forms of intervention evaluation, according to the university. Her work has also been published in several academic journals, covering topics such as 9/11 and child abuse. KAVANAUGH ACCUSER MAY TESTIFY UNDER OATH, KELLYANNE CONWAY SAYS, AS LAWYER OPENS DOOR Ford has also taught and worked at Stanford University since 1988, according to a Holton-Arms alumni magazine, the Bethesda, Maryland, school from where she graduated, The Wall Street Journal reported. She teaches at both schools in consortium, according to the newspaper. The magazine also noted she is an avid surfer, and she and her family spend a great deal of time surfing in the Santa Cruz and San Francisco areas. Her husband has backed her allegations Russell Ford, her husband, also told The Washington Post that his wife detailed the alleged assault during a couples therapy session in 2012. During therapy, he said his wife talked about a time when she was trapped in a room with two drunken boys, and one of them had pinned her to a bed, molested her and tried to prevent her from screaming. He said he remembered his wife specifically using Kavanaughs name. She said during the session, Russell Ford recalled, she was scared he would one day be nominated to the Supreme Court. KAVANAUGH FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AFTER ACCUSER BREAKS SILENCE, REPUBLICANS WORRY IN PRIVATE ABOUT MIDTERMS Ford provided a copy of the therapists notes to The Washington Post, which detailed her recollection of being assaulted by young men from an elitist boys school who would become highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington. Additional notes from a later therapy session said she discussed a rape attempt that occurred when she was a teenager, The Washington Post reported. Shes a registered Democrat Ford is a registered Democrat who has given small monetary donations to political causes, according to The Washington Post. She has donated to ActBlue, a nonprofit group that aims to help Democrats and progressive candidates, The Wall Street Journal reported. KAVANAUGH STAUNCH GUN-RIGHTS DEFENSE AMONG HUNDREDS OF DECISIONS IN SPOTLIGHT She is also among the thousands of medical professionals who signed onto a Physicians for Human Rights letter in June decrying the practice of separating children from their parents at the border and urging the Trump administration to stop it. Ford already took a polygraph test Once it was clear that Kavanaugh was President Trumps pick to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, Ford contacted The Washington Posts tip line, according to the newspaper. She also contacted her representative in Congress, Democrat Anna Eshoo. She sent a letter to Eshoos office about the allegations that was passed onto Feinstein. After she retained the services of Debra Katz, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney, she took a polygraph test administered by a former FBI agent. According to the results shared with The Washington Post, the test concluded that Ford was being honest. Fox News Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Rachel Mitchell has been selected by the Senate Judiciary Committee to assist Republican lawmakers in questioning the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Christine Blasey Ford, a California psychology professor, alleged Kavanaugh assaulted her while at a house party in the 1980s when they were both teenagers. She said he pinned her to a bed, attempted to forcibly remove her clothes and prevented her from screaming. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations. The GOP side of the Judiciary Committee is made up of 11 men which could have sent an unwanted message on live television against the backdrop of the #MeToo era during the questioning of Fords accusations. Two days before the scheduled Sept. 27 hearing, the committee announced the selection of Mitchell to question Ford. Im very appreciative that Rachel Mitchell has stepped forward to serve in this important and serious role, said Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Ms. Mitchell has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity. Grassley said he hired Mitchell because he wants a hearing that is safe, comfortable and dignified for both Ford and Kavanaugh. He said the goal of Mitchells hiring is to de-politicize the process and get to the truth, instead of grandstanding and giving senators an opportunity to launch their presidential campaigns. Read on for a look at Mitchells long career and where she stands politically. Mitchell has been a prosecutor since 1993 Mitchell works in the Maricopa County Attorneys Office in Phoenix as the chief of the Special Victims Division and deputy county attorney. Maricopa is Arizonas most populous county. She is currently on leave. She spent more than a decade supervising attorneys who handle sex-related crimes, including sexual assault, child molestation and prostitution and computer crimes against children. She was also in charge of a satellite bureau that prosecuted such crimes as well as domestic violence and elder abuse, according to the Judiciary Committee. Her boss, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, told the Arizona Republic that Mitchell is a professional, fair, objective prosecutor and has a caring heart for victims. KAVANAUGH CONFIRMATION: THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON CHARGES BY SUPREME COURT NOMINEE'S ACCUSER Paul Ahler, who formerly worked in the County Attorneys Office described Mitchells life mission as specializing in sex crimes. The county prosecutor's office is entirely distinct from the sheriff's office in Maricopa County, which was led by the controversial Joe Arpaio until last year. Mitchell said she became involved with this line of work when she was a law clerk and still awaiting her bar exam results. She had been paired with an attorney who worked to prosecute a youth choir director. It intrigued me, and I continued to do other work with that bureau chief. It struck me how innocent and vulnerable the victims of these cases really were, she told FrontLine magazine in 2011. I prosecuted other kinds of cases, but I was drawn back to this area. Shes been recognized for her work She was named the County Attorneys Office Prosecutor of the Year in 2006; in 2003, she was recognized by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Terry Goddard as an outstanding sexual assault prosecutor. Mitchell was also awarded the David R. White Excellence in Victim Advocacy Award in 2013, given by the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council. According to the Arizona Republican, Mitchell was on a list of names to be considered for a Maricopa County Superior Court judgeship in 2014. A LOOK AT THE WOMEN WHO HAVE ACCUSED KAVANAUGH OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT In announcing her appointment to the Kavanaugh hearing, the Judiciary Committee noted that as an expert on sex crimes prosecution, Mitchell has also served as an instructor and speaker on the topic. Shes said herself that she works with churches to educate them on mandatory reporting and talks to parents about preventative measures for computer sex crimes committed against children. Shes prosecuted church members, police officers Mitchell, in 2015, prosecuted a 13-year veteran of the Mesa Police Department who groped two women, one of whom was passed out at the time. A year earlier, she prosecuted a former church volunteer in Scottsdale who molested children in his care as a church babysitter and camp counselor over a seven-year period. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison with lifetime probation. People want to go to a church on a Sunday and feel safe, Mitchell said then. WHO IS CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD, THE PROFESSOR WHO ACCUSED BRETT KAVANAUGH OF SEXUAL ASSAULT? In 2005, she led the prosecution of former Catholic priest Paul LeBrun, who was sentenced to 111 years in prison for molesting young boys in Arizona. She called the sentencing "vindication" for the victims. "It's very hard to comprehend how someone can establish a trusting relationship with a child and then betray it," she said in that case. Mitchell is a Republican Mitchell is a registered Republican. According to The Washington Post, she has contributed financially to the campaign of Mark Brnovich, Arizonas attorney general. However, Cindi Nannetti, her former boss, told the newspaper Mitchell will handle her new task as a professional with the utmost respect to the committee. She does not play politics when it comes to anything involving her work, Nannetti said. Fox News Chad Pergram, Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A 3,500-year-old bronze hand decorated with a gold cuff has been unearthed in Switzerland, leading some to theorize it may be the earliest known metal prosthetic. The hand was crafted during the Bronze Age, dating between 1,400 and 1,500 B.C., according to National Geographic. At the bottom of the hand is a socket, an indication that it was either used to fit over something, such as holding a statue or scepter or even used as a prosthetic, according to Andrea Schaer, head of the Ancient History and Roman Archeology Department at the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern, who spoke to National Geographic. 'HOLY GRAIL' FOSSIL MYSTERY CRACKED - 558 MILLION-YEAR-OLD FAT REVEALS EARLIEST KNOWN ANIMAL "We had never seen anything like it," Schaer told the website. "We weren't sure if it was authentic or not or even what it was." What makes this such a remarkable find is that there "has never been a comparable sculpture dating from the Bronze Age in Central Europe," making it "a unique and remarkable object." The hand will be on display from Sept. 18 to Oct. 14, 2018 at the NMB Nouveau Musee Bienne. The discovery was made near Lake Biel in October 2017. Included in the find were a bronze dagger and a rib bone, which were handed over to the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern. "Carbon dating 14 determined that the bronze hand dated from 1500 to 1400 BCE," a Google Translate version of the statement reads. The statement continues: "These two dates, located in the Middle Bronze Age, are consistent with the dagger blade. The first analysis done on the metals used to make the hand confirm that they are alloys current at this time." CREEPY ROBOT THAT COULD 'DESTROY US ALL' HAS A NEW RIVAL A broken-off finger was also found at the site, giving further evidence that the hand was was buried. In addition to the aforementioned findings, Schafer and her colleagues found a damaged grave near Preles, which included the bones of an adult man, a bronze fibula, a spiral-shaped bronze hair ornament and tiny pieces of gold plate, LiveScience reports. The archaeologists also found a stone structure constructed and the owner of the bronze hand was placed over the structure on purpose, the experts said. "He must have been a high-ranking character," the archaeologists said. Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia A woman visiting the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas earlier this month made the find of a lifetime, uncovering a nearly 3-carat diamond, which she initially thought was a piece of glass. The woman, who was only identified as a 71-year-old tourist from Aurora, Colorado, was visiting the park with her husband, son and two grandchildren when she noticed the diamond just 10 minutes after the family began to search for precious stones. According to a press release from the park Tuesday, the woman found the gem about halfway between the East Drain and North Wash Pavilion in the parks 37.5-acre diamond search area, which it described as an eroded surface of an ancient, diamond-bearing volcanic crater. 'TIME CAPSULE' WARSHIP WRECK DISCOVERED The woman said the diamond was just lying on the surface. Later, when she took the find to the Diamond Discovery Center at the park, officials confirmed she had found a 2.63-carat ice white diamond -- the largest found at the park this year so far, according to the press release. Surprisingly, about one out of every five diamonds registered by park visitors is found right on top of the ground, including many of the largest ever found at the Crater of Diamonds, Waymon Cox, a park interpreter at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, said in the statement. On occasion, the diamond search area is plowed to loosen the soil and help with natural erosion. This process helps unearth the precious stones and makes them easier to find. 3,500-YEAR-OLD BRONZE HAND UNEARTHED, MAY HAVE BEEN 'BRONZE AGE CYBORG' I didnt know what to think, the Aurora resident said of the find, which is the size of pinto bean and is shaped somewhat like a fingernail, according to the press release. I was shocked, she added. It is not clear how much the diamond may be worth. A Japanese company that aims to help humanity explore and settle the moon will fly its first two lunar missions with SpaceX. The Tokyo-based startup ispace has contracted to launch its lunar lander and mini-rovers as secondary payloads atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets in 2020 and 2021, representatives of both companies announced today (Sept. 26). "We share the vision with SpaceX of enabling humans to live in space, so we're very glad they will join us in this first step of our journey," ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said in a statement. [Moon Base Visions: How to Build a Lunar Colony (Images)] The two-phase first step is known as Hakuto-Reboot, or Hakuto-R for short. The name is a reference to Team Hakuto, an ispace-managed entrant in the now-defunct Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP), a contest that promised $30 million in prizes for the first teams to successfully land privately built rovers on the moon. The GLXP ended earlier this year with no winners. The 2020 ispace mission will be considered a success if the lander achieves lunar orbit, company representatives said. The following year, the goal is to put a lander down softly on the moon's surface and to deploy data-gathering rovers from the craft. Both of these missions which ispace is bankrolling via its Japanese-record haul of more than $90 million in "Series A" investment funding are technology demonstrations designed to lay the groundwork for the startup's ambitious future plans. Eventually, ispace aims to set up a robotic lunar transportation service and use its bantam rovers to identify and help exploit the resources available on Earth's nearest neighbor, such as water ice. Such work could help lead to the establishment of a permanent human settlement on the moon in the not-too-distant future, company representatives have said. ispace also released imagery of its newly redesigned lunar lander and rover today. The company had previously stated that the lander would be capable of toting 66 lbs. (30 kilograms) of payload to the moon, and that the rover would be based heavily on the 9-lb. (4 kg) vehicle that Team Hakuto was planning to launch as part of the GLXP. ispace isn't the only company interested in selling transportation services to the moon's surface and tapping lunar resources. For example, the plans of the U.S. companies Astrobotic, Blue Origin and Moon Express all seem to overlap at least somewhat with those of ispace. "We are entering a new era in space exploration, and SpaceX is proud to have been selected by ispace to launch their first lunar missions," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in the same statement. "We are looking forward to delivering their innovative spacecraft to the moon." Originally published on Space.com. Florida beachgoers spotted a rather unusual creature Tuesday emerging from the ocean: a possible diamondback rattlesnake. Photos captured by local resident Rhonda Saunders show the serpent emerging from the water onto the Pensacola Beach. The snake appeared to be exhausted and trying to keep its head above the water, Saunders told the Pensacola News Journal, adding a shocked crowd began to surround the creature. It's unclear where the snake came from. 'TIME CAPSULE' WARSHIP WRECK DISCOVERED Local animal control officials were called and the snake was eventually removed. "[An animal control officer] scooped him up with a long-handled net, and dropped him into a carrier," Saunders told the Pensacola News Journal. Not much fight left in him, she said of the snake. While many beachgoers said the serpent was likely a diamondback rattlesnake, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was unable to formally identify the snake based off photos alone, biologists with the organization told the newspaper. 3,500-YEAR-OLD BRONZE HAND UNEARTHED, MAY HAVE BEEN 'BRONZE AGE CYBORG' Diamondback rattlers are capable of swimming, according to Reptiles magazine. These serpents are the largest venomous snakes in North America, National Geographic reported, noting they generally live in dry, pine flatwoods, sandy woodlands, and coastal scrub habitats from southern North Carolina to Florida and west to Louisiana. Rhonda Saunders was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Fox News on Thursday. Underwater archaeologists have discovered the wreck of a Chinese warship that was sunk in a fierce naval battle over 100 years ago. The Japanese Navy sank the Jingyuan in September 1894 during the first Sino-Japanese war. Hundreds of artifacts including shells, bullets, ceramics and leather items were salvaged from the ship Tuesday, according to Getty. Chinas State Administration of Cultural Heritage says that archaeologists have been working on the wreck site off Dalian, Liaoning Province, since July. The hull was found on the seabed in 39.4 feet of water, it said. STUNNING SHIPWRECK DISCOVERY: 400-YEAR-OLD WRECK THRILLS EXPERTS The main part of the hull was covered in sand, which the archaeologists carefully removed. On Sept. 15, researchers found a Jingyuan nameplate hanging on the outer wall of the ship. Remains of the ships masts were found in the front section of the hull, along with anchor chains. The wreck has been compared to a time capsule by Jiang Bo, an archaeologist at Chinas National Center of Underwater Cultural Heritage, according to Nine.com.au, citing the China Daily. STERN OF US WW II DESTROYER DISCOVERED NEAR REMOTE ALASKAN ISLAND: SURVIVOR RECOUNTS HARROWING DAY Mauser rifle bullets, revolver bullets, 37mm shells and 47mm shells are among the items discovered at the wreck site, officials say, along with 53mm artillery shells and 120mm artillery shell fuzes. A number of tools, such as wrenches, were also found. More than 500 artifacts have been recovered from the wreck and taken to the surface, according to Chinese officials. Built at the Vulkan shipyard in Germany, the ship entered Chinese service at the end of 1887, becoming part of the Beiyang fleet. HUGE WORLD WAR II SHIPWRECK RAISED FROM THE DEPTHS IN MASSIVE SALVAGE OPERATION The Jingyuan was sunk in an attack by four Japanese vessels and more than 200 officers and men lost their lives on the ship. Only 16 crewmembers survived the sinking. Other shipwrecks have also been making headlines. For example, a 400-year-old shipwreck recently discovered off the coast of Portugal has been hailed as a significant archaeological find. Earlier this year, a team of scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and the University of Delaware found the stern of World War II destroyer USS Abner Read, which sank in 1943 after hitting a Japanese mine in the remote Aleutian islands. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers Mob-style robberies of Apple Stores continue in the San Francisco Bay Area, with multiple locations losing a total of more than $280,000 in iPhones and other merchandise in the span of a month, local reports showed. Between late August and late September, six Apple Stores in the region were robbed at least nine times, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. In just two days, a store in Palo Alto was robbed of $107,000 worth of iPhones, computers and electronics. On Sunday, an Apple Store in Santa Rosa was robbed for the second time in less than a month, the report said. A robbery in Emeryville on Tuesday was that store's fourth in a month, the Bay Area's FOX 2 reported. The robberies have occurred in other parts of California as well: Earlier this year, five men in hoodies stole about $29,000 worth of iPhones and iPads from an Apple Store in Costa Mesa, Orange County. That same month, a crew of thieves stole $27,000 worth of products from a store in Fresno. IPHONES, IPADS WORTH $29G STOLEN FROM APPLE STORE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In most cases, a gang of hooded individuals will enter a store, grab devices from display tables, and take off in a getaway car parked out front, according to the Chronicle. This year alone, more than $850,000 worth of Apple products have been stolen during 21 robberies from stores in California, KGO-AM radio reported. Although authorities announced eight arrests Wednesday, with the suspects linked to as many as 45 robberies, according to FOX 2, officials throughout the region remain concerned about the crimes. "We obviously need to step up prevention and we need to apprehend the people who are engaged in this repetitive crime." Emeryville Mayor John Bauters "We obviously need to step up prevention and we need to apprehend the people who are engaged in this repetitive crime," Emeryville Mayor John Bauters told FOX 2. ANOTHER APPLE STORE ROBBED IN CALIFORNIA; 4 SUSPECTS SOUGHT Some have questioned whether the stores open-floor designs, with few obstacles, enable such robberies. In addition, stores without uniformed officers onsite tend to be easier targets, San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tony Montoya told KGO. An information security academic cited by the Chronicle suggested Apple would likely make stolen demo products difficult to use. He said the thieves would not get through the activation process, which is controlled by the company. However, the phones constituent parts could be used or work without cellular service, a computer forensics official told the Chronicle. The Pentagons science and technology research arm is launching a vigorous push into a new level of advanced artificial intelligence, intended to integrate advanced levels of machine learning, introduce more adaptive reasoning and even help computers determine more subjective phenomena. It is called the 3rd Wave, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program to leverage rapid advances in AI to help train data to make computer analysis more reliable for human operators, agency Director Steven Walker recently told a small group of reporters. DARPA scientists explain the fast-evolving 3rd wave effort as improving the ability of AI-oriented technology to provide much more sophisticated contextual explanatory models. While humans will still be needed in many instances, the 3rd Wave can be described as introducing a new ability to not only provide answers and interpretations - but also use machine learning to reason in context and explain results, DARPA Deputy Director Peter Highnam said. In short, the 3rd Wave can explain the reason why it reached the conclusion it reached, something which offers a breakthrough level of computer-human interface, he added. When we talk about the 3rd wave, we are focused on contextual reasoning and adaptation. It requires less data training, Highnam said. This not only makes determinations more reliable but massively increases an ability to make more subjective interpretations by understanding how different words or data sets relate to one another. A computer can only draw from information it has been fed or given, by and large. While it can add seemingly limitless amounts of data almost instantaneously, AI-driven analysis can face challenges if elements of the underlying stored data change for some reason. It is precisely this predicament which the 3rd Wave is intended to address. If the underlying data changes then your system was not trained against that, Highnam explained. For instance, 3rd wave adaptive reasoning will enable computer algorithms to discern the difference between the use of principal and principle based on an ability to analyze surrounding words and determine context. This level of analysis naturally creates much higher levels of reliability and nuance as it can empower humans with a much deeper grasp of the detailed information they might seek. That is the future - building enough AI into the machines that they can actually communicate, share data and network at machine speed in real time, Walker said. Yet another example of emerging advanced levels of AI would be an ability to organize hours of drone collected video very quickly - and determine moments of relevance for human decision makers. This exponentially increases the speed of human decision making, a factor which could easily determine life or death in combat. In a warfighting scenario, humans have to trust it when the computer gives them an answer...through contextual reasoning, Highnam said. Given these emerging 3rd Wave advances, making more subjective decisions will increasingly be a realistic element of AIs functional purview. For this reason and others, DARPA is working closely with the private sector to fortify collaboration with silicon valley and defense industry partners as a way to identify and apply the latest innovations. DARPAs 1st, 2nd & 3rd Wave of AI The third wave, described in DARPA materials as bringing contextual explanatory models and a much higher level of machine learning, is intended to build upon the 1st and 2nd Waves of DARPAs previous AI progress. The 1st Wave, according to available DARPA information, enables reasoning over narrowly defined problems. While it does bring certain elements of learning capability, it is described as having a poor level of certainty. This points to the principle challenge of AI, namely fostering an ability to generate trust or reliability that the process through which it discovers new patterns, finds answers and compares new data against volumes of historical data -- is accurate. Given this challenge, certain existing models of AI integration might have trouble adjusting to changing data or determining sufficient context. The 2nd Wave enables creating statistical models and training them on big data, but has minimal reasoning, DARPA materials explain. This means algorithms are able to recognize new information and often place it in a broader context in relation to an existing database. The 2nd Wave, therefore, can often determine meaning of previously unrecognized words and information by examining context and performing certain levels of interpretation. AI-enabled computer algorithms, during this phase, are able to accurately analyze words and information by placing them in context with surrounding data and concepts. With this 2nd wave, however, DARPA scientist explain that there can be limitations regarding the reliability of interpretation and an ability to respond to new information in some instances; this can make its determinations less reliable. Highnam explained this as having less of an ability to train existing data when or if new information changes it. Therefore, this Wave is described by DARPA information as having minimal reasoning. Can AI Make Subjective Determinations? Raytheon, for example, is currently exploring a collaborative research deal with the Navy to explore prognostics, conditioned-based maintenance and training algorithms to perform real-time analytics on otherwise complex problems. It is a 6-month Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to explore extensive new AI applications, company developers said. Raytheon developers were naturally hesitant to specify any particular problems or platforms they are working on with the Navy, but did say they were looking at improved AI to further enable large warfigthing systems, weapons and networks. Todd Probert, Raytheons Vice President of Mission Support and Modernization, told Warrior Maven in an interview what their effort is working on initiatives which compliment DoDs current AI push. Part of deploying AI is about gaining the confidence to trust the AI if operations change and then break it down even further, Probert said. We are training algorithms to do the work of humans. Interestingly, the kinds of advances enabled by a 3rd Wave bring the prospect of engineering AI-driven algorithms to interpret subjective nuances. For instance, things like certain philosophical concepts, emotions and psychological nuances influenced by past experience might seem to be the kind of thing computers would not be able to interpret. While this is of course still true in many ways, as even the most advanced algorithms do not yet parallel human cognition, or emotion, in some respects, AI is increasingly able to make more subjective determinations, Probert said. Probert explained that advanced AI is able to process certain kinds of intent, emotions and biases through an ability to gather and organize information related to word selection, voice recognition, patterns of expression and intonations as a way to discern more subjective phenomena. Also, if a system has a large enough database, perhaps including prior expressions, writing or information related to new information - it can place new words, expressions and incoming data within a broader, more subjective context, Probert explained. AI & Counterterrorism - Torres AES Other industry partners are using new levels of AI to fortify counterterrorism investigations and cyber forensics. For example, a U.S.-based global security firm supporting DoD, the U.S. State Dept. and friendly foreign governments, Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions, employs advanced levels of AI to uncover otherwise obscured or hidden communications among terrorist groups, transnational criminals or other U.S. adversaries. While much of the details of this kind of AI application, company developers say, are naturally not available for security reasons, Torres cyber forensics experts did say advanced algorithms can find associations and digital footprints associated with bad actors or enemy activity using newer methods of AI. As part of its cyber forensics training of U.S. and U.S.-allied counterterrorism forces, Torres prepares cyber warriors and investigators to leverage AI. Torres conducts cyber forensics training of U.S.-allied Argentinian and Paraguayan counter-terrorism officials who, for instance, often look to crack down on terrorist financial activity in the more loosely-governed tri-border area connecting Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. The system that we train builds in AI, yet does not eliminate the human being. AI-enabled algorithms can identify direct and indirect digital relationships among bad actors, said Jerry Torres, Torres AES CEO. For instance, AI can use adaptive reasoning to discern relationships between locations, names, email addresses or bank accounts used by bad actors. To illustrate some of the effective uses of AI for these kinds of efforts, Torres pointed to a proprietary software called Maltego - used for open-source intelligence analysis and forensics. "AI can be a great asset in which our defensive cyber systems learn about the attackers by increasing the knowledge base from each attack, and launching intelligent counter attacks to neutralize the attackers, or feign a counter attack to get the attacker to expose itself. AI is critical to countering attackers," Torres added. The software uses AI to find relationships across a variety of online entities to include social media, domains, groups, networks and other areas of investigative relevance. The Growing Impact of AI AI has advanced quickly to unprecedented levels of autonomy and machine learning wherein algorithms are instantly able to assimilate and analyze new patterns and information, provide context, and compare it against vast volumes of data. Many now follow the seemingly countless applications of this throughout military networks, data systems, weapons and large platforms. Computer autonomy currently performs procedural functions, organizes information, and brings incredible processing speed designed to enable much faster decision-making and problems solving by humans performing command and control. While AI can prove seemingly infinite amounts of great relevance in short order - or almost instantaneously - human cognition is still required in many instances to integrate less tangible variables, solve dynamic problems or make more subjective determinations. When it comes to current and emerging platforms, there is already much progress in the area of AI; the F-35s sensor fusion relies upon early iterations of AI, Navy Ford-Class carriers use greater levels of automation to perform on-board functions and Virginia-Class Block III attack submarines draw upon touch screen fly-by-wire technology to bring more autonomy to undersea navigation. Other instances include the Armys current experimentation with IBMs AI-enabled Watson computer which, among other things, can be used to wirelessly perform real-time analytics on combat relevant maintenance details on Stryker vehicles. In a manner somewhat analogous to this, a firm called C3IOT uses AI-empowered real-time analytics to perform conditioned-based maintenance on Air Force F-16s. Despite higher levels of autonomy, in the end a human will make the decision, using computers as partners. We see the future as much less having machines do everything but rather humans and machines working together to fight the next battle, Highnam explained. Ultimately, Highnam said: --Future warfare will be about speed - turning information into knowledge faster. --- More Weapons and Technology - WARRIOR MAVEN (CLICK HERE Online multiplayer video games like Fortnite and Minecraft are exploding in popularity, and each contains a social media component where players are encouraged to interact with each other. But now the FBI is warning of a new threat: dangerous sexual predators using those games to target underage boys and girls playing online. The warning follows a sting operation in New Jersey that yielded two dozen arrests earlier this week. "Operation Open House" saw law enforcement agents posing as underage players in order to snare online predators soliciting kids for sex through Fortnite, believed to be the world's most-played video game at the moment. FBI Special Agent Kevin Kauffman is now warning parents to get more involved in their kids' game-playing world, sooner rather than later. "This is a tool that the predators are using to go out and get after your kids," Kauffman said, adding "I would say that a good percentage of them are not who they say they are." 'FORTNITE' JUMPS FROM GAMER OBSESSION TO CULTURAL PHENOMENON But stopping those predators won't be easy. The most popular games all come with chat functions or other apps, designed to enable players to talk to each other online. Direct contact between players is encouraged, but with little or no verification systems or online policing in these games, there's a significant potential for misuse. "As long as it's connected to the internet, there's a chance that predators can connect with your kids," Kauffman said. The FBI plans to follow up on "Operation Open House" with more sting operations, but they're also recommending parents monitor their kids closely when using the social media aspects of online games. If needed, most chat functions come with a "mute" option that can be used by parents. Another way to keep your kids safe - create a "shadow" account to monitor them while they play, and make sure they're not giving out any personal information to strangers. But ultimately, most experts say the best way to keep your kids safe is to talk to them, and explain that the people they encounter online aren't always who they seem. Google CEO Sundar Pichai will finally meet with Republican lawmakers on Friday to discuss allegations of bias against conservatives, privacy and controversial business practices as it potentially seeks to reenter China. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R.-CA.) is expected to be among the prominent Republicans to grill Pichai after Google skipped previous government meetings that occurred on Sept. 5, when Twitter and Facebook testified on Capitol Hill about meddling in the 2016 U.S presidential election. Google has a lot of questions to answer about reports of bias in its search results, violations of user privacy, anticompetitive behavior, and business dealings with repressive regimes like China, McCarthy said in a statement obtained by the New York Times. GOOGLE FACES PRIVACY BACKLASH OVER CHROME'S 'FORCED LOGIN' POLICY Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor oversees MRC TechWatch a new project dedicated to exposing incidents of bias and censorship online by major tech companies. Google is fending off a host of serious problems, Gainor told Fox News. First, there are concerns about promoting censorship and state control in China with Project Dragonfly. Closer to home, Google has to address consistent charges of bias against conservatives here in the U.S. GOP officials and political watchdogs have expressed concern that tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Twitter have too much influence over the information made available to voters. President Trump even accused the tech giant of snubbing his State of the Union address, an accusation that the tech giant refuted. In addition to accusations of political bias, Google recently saw employees quit in protest to the companys potential plan to launch a censored version of its product in China. Google has been pressured by a consortium of human rights groups to abandon the project codenamed Project Dragonfly, which would be app-based and censored at the behest of the Chinese government. Gainor said Pichai must convince conservatives that he will treat them fairly with concrete plans to eliminate bias if he wants the tech giant to be considered fair. This is absolutely necessary after revelations of Googles alleged attempt to influence the 2016 election, as well as Googles staff meltdown after Trump won, Gainor said. Earlier this month, Google upset lawmakers by skipping a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. While Google was absent (the company offered its top lawyer, Kent Walker, to the committee, which was declined), Facebook sent its Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter sent its CEO, Jack Dorsey. A chair was left vacant representing where a Google representative was supposed to be seated. Traditionally, businesses have looked to Hill Republicans to protect them from regulation. But if they, too, fear the social media/search media firms are a threat, then Google is left with few allies. That makes regulation more likely, even though conservatives have no reason to expect regulation will solve the problems, Gainor said. He continued: The Conservatives Against Online Censorship coalition has made clear its members will work with tech companies that want to treat conservatives equally. But liberal staffs, byzantine hate speech rules and inconsistent enforcement of those rules mean it will take a major commitment by these companies to fix the problems. Like many Silicon Valley titans, Google has drawn the ire of conservatives who feel right-leaning views are condemned from within. Last week, internal emails between Google employees were unearthed and revealed a desire to manipulate search results on the heels of President Trumps controversial travel ban in order to mute conservative viewpoints and push ways to combat the ban. GOOGLE STAFFERS WANTED TO MANIPULATE SEARCH RESULTS TO COMBAT TRUMP'S TRAVEL BAN, EMAILS SHOW The emails show Google staffers chatting about methods to alter the companys algorithm to point users to pro-immigration organizations, lawmakers and agencies that fit the staffers political beliefs. Google is the most powerful company in the history of the world. Virtually all human information flows through its software and for that reason Google shapes how much of the world understands reality. At the heart of Googles business is its search engine, which has a virtual monopoly on search in this country, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said last week. But what if Google was lying to you? The company did not deny the existence of such emails to Fox News, but offered a statement, saying the "emails were just a brainstorm of ideas, none of which were ever implemented." A spokesperson added that "Google has never manipulated its search results or modified any of its products to promote a particular political ideology -- not in the current campaign season, not during the 2016 election, and not in the aftermath of President Trumps executive order on immigration." The Media Research Center has called for congressional hearings of Google after a series of events have made it appear that the company favors liberals, including a leaked video showing company executives displeasure that Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election. GOOGLE: APPS CAN SCAN AND SHARE YOUR GMAIL DATA, WITH CONSENT I look forward to meeting with members on both sides of the aisle, answering a wide range of questions, and explaining our approach. These meetings will continue Googles long history of engaging with Congress, including testifying seven times to Congress this year, Pichai recently told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported that Pichai would meet with lawmakers. Fox News Chris Ciaccia and Christopher Carbone contributed to this report. Instagram is cracking down on selling illegal drugs after a scathing media report uncovered nefarious actions on the platform. The photo-sharing platform, which is owned by Facebook, has taken steps to alter its algorithms and search system to try to stay ahead of people who use the sites hashtags to market drugs Oxycontin, Percocet and other substances. A Washington Post report on Tuesday revealed that searching the drug hashtags resulted in thousands of posts from a mixture of people selling drugs illicitly, bragging about their drug usage or simply struggling with addiction. AIR FORCE MAPS PLAN FOR NEW HIGH TECH ICBM Eric Feinberg, a researcher and the chief executive of GIPEC, a cyberintelligence company that tracks illegal and illicit activity online, started searching for hashtags back in June and eventually followed a number of accounts that were selling drugs. That prompted Instagrams algorithms to serve up more posts from other drug sellers and introducing him to other related hashtags. However, a representative from Facebook characterized Feinbergs findings as misleading due to this methodology. GIPEC created an artificial Instagram feed by following only objectionable content and some brand accounts. And while the fact that they were able to create it in the first place shows we still have work to do, this kind of manufactured feed is not a real representation of what most people see on Instagram, said Monika Bickert, VP of Global Policy Management at Facebook, in a statement. Nevertheless, Feinberg told Fox News that it was his methodology that alerted Instagram, which hit one billion monthly active users in June, to the severity of the problem. A search by Fox News on Thursday of hashtags for a number of well-known illicit drugs turned up only a handful of posts seemingly to show that the photo-based platform had largely been scrubbed of such content. A similar search on Twitter and Facebook also did not yield any meaningful illicit results. During Feinberg's searching, he also saw ads from a range of mainstream companiesincluding Target, Chase and Proctor & Gamblealongside posts selling illicit drugs. Representatives from Facebook and Twitter told lawmakers during hearings this year that they were cracking down on the marketing of drugs on their platforms, the Washington Post reports. GOOGLE CEO TO MEET GOP LAWMAKERS ABOUT ALLEGED BIAS AGAINST CONSERVATIVES Weve made progress in the fight against illicit drug sales on our platforms, but we have more to do, Bickert said. Were committed to making sure we do everything we can to prevent this kind of abuse. Feinberg suggested to Fox News that tech companies immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act should be revoked as it pertains to drug sales. Indeed, just days after lawmakers made that change, Craigslist shut down its entire Personals section -- a move that was cheered by anti-sex trafficking advocates but criticized by sex workers. Immunity should be removed for illegal acts like sale of drugs and material support to terrorists, Feinberg told Fox News. Ever wonder what would happen to the U.S. leadership and the nuclear missile arsenal if the nation was under attack? New helicopters will take on these two highly dangerous and incredibly important missions. If war breaks out and American home soil is under threat, then the country will be relying on cutting-edge military flying machines that have just been revealed by the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force is replacing its UH-1N Huey helicopter fleet. The iconic Huey is often associated with military missions like search and rescue during its nearly five decades of military service. The Hueys are used to safeguard Americas intercontinental ballistic missile bases and to take key government leadership to safety, ensuring continuation of governance. And the Hueys, while widely loved, have been in service for nearly-half of a century. $674 BILLION OF TANKS, FIGHTER JETS, SUBS AND MORE TO BOOST US MILITARY POWER IN 2019 The stakes for these two missions are gigantic. Should the need arise, then these missions must never fail. The U.S. Air Force has just revealed the Boeing-Leonardo partnerships MH-139 as the Hueys replacement MH-139 is a militarized version of the commercially-available Leonardo Helicopters AW139. The Boeing-Leonardo team design faced competition from Sierra Nevada Corps Sierra Force and Lockheed Martin Sikorskys Black Hawk approach. USAF plans to buy 84 of these new helicopters, with the first one arriving in 2021. Enhanced Capabilities The Huey was made by Bell Helicopter and the Air Force has 59 that are active. Powered by two Pratt and Whitney T400-CP-400 turboshaft engines, it can reach speeds of 149 mph and has a range of more than 300 miles. The helicopter can fly at heights of 15,000 feet and carry approximately 10,500 pounds. WEAPONS UPGRADE SET TO MAKE US SPECIAL OPERATIONS EVEN MORE DEADLY The MH-139 is expected to bring more speed, range, endurance, and payload as well as some nifty new advances to enhance survivability as well. Stopping political VIPs from leading a response to an attack and disrupting the continuity of governance would certainly be an attractive goal for an adversary. A new helicopter with upgraded capabilities could provide more advantages for a successful escape to safety. To defend the missile sites, a helicopter that can fly faster, farther and carry more defenders would certainly be useful. Heres a look at some of the upgrades on this newly - revealed aircraft, which can also be used for USAF missions like testing, training and survival school. PODCAST: ATTACK CHALLENGES WITH THE FORCE OF A NAVY SEAL: HERES HOW Machine Gun Windows The MH-139 design includes special tactical windows that slide up and down. Rather than machine guns mounted on pintles blocking some of the space to enter through the cabin doors (as they can on some helicopters), this means the windows can be used. NEW LASER-EQUIPPED DRONES WILL TAKE OUT MISSILE THREATS AGAINST THE US Uncluttering the access point could be helpful, for example, when loading government leaders who need to quickly board while the machine gun if being fired to protect them. Roomy Cabin The square-shaped cabin has enough space to fit up to about 15 people. There are sliding doors on both sides of the cabin that can be helpful for quickly loading and unloading VIPs. To defend the missile sites, the ability to transport large numbers of very highly trained military teams will be useful. The 54th Helicopter Squadron, for example, could deliver the 91st Security Forces Group defenders and together provide a rapid response to threats. Reduced Detection Whether the helicopters are evacuating personnel or defending nuclear missile silos, adversaries would no doubt be interested in locating and tracking them. The design takes this into consideration. For example, airflow and direction exhaust are used to help lower the helicopters IR signature. Fewer Bird Strikes The design also incorporates side facing engines which help reduce bird strikes that can cause serious problems and even down aircraft. The engines are mounted in separate engine turbine burst containment compartments. 5 Blade-Rotors The main rotor has five blades. To improve performance and reduce noise, it has a completely articulated fail safe system. 'GIRAFFES' JOIN THE NAVY AND HUNT ENEMY THREATS Both the tail and main rotor are set for high ground clearance, which helps safely evacuate personnel. Mission Ensure Succession of Presidential Leadership The nation must not be without leadership and the military has incredible plans in place to ensure this never happens. The mission is to ensure the United States government continues. How does continuity of succession work in practice? Basically, should a serious national emergency arise, then the U.S. President (or the person who has had to succeed him or her) can authorize a temporary government to maintain control of the essential functions of the Federal Government. This is often referred to as the shadow government. From a hostile nations submarines suddenly surfacing off the shores of Virginia and launching missiles through to a potential deadly virus outbreak there are multiple scenarios that could potentially put the President, Vice-President and other senior political and military leadership in jeopardy. BIGGEST-EVER BRITISH WARSHIP JOINS FORCES WITH MOST POWERFUL AMERICAN STEALTH FIGHTER JETS For example, on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush activated the shadow government soon after the World Trade Center incidents. Dubbed "The President's Wing," the 89th Airlift Wing supports Andrews AFB Air Mobility Command wing. In addition to American political and military leadership, Andrews also handles foreign royalty, prime ministers, presidents, popes, and foreign military top brass. An emergency alert could notify 1st Helicopter Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base to head to the Capitol and evacuate the top congressional leaders to a place of safety. The extremely talented pilots at Joint Andrews Base combined with the new MH-139 helicopters will make sure that if something were to befall the president or others in the chain of leadership succession - then the next in line will have reached safety and is ready to instantly take over. Mission Protect and Defend Nations Nuclear Missiles If a Red Dawn-type scenario where a powerful well-armed nation invades U.S. home soil occurs, then it is particularly vital that the nations missiles are defended and kept out of enemy hands. A MILITARY HELICOPTER DRONE THAT CAN FIGHT WILDFIRES But threats to the missile silos can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes beyond a full scale invasion. These new helos will take on the mission to tackle these threats. They will defend these mighty nuclear missile arsenals that can launch strikes against adversaries across entire oceans and they will protect such powerful, destructive weapons from falling into enemy hands. Within Air Force Global Strike Command, the Hueys have been used by the 90th Missile Wing, F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, the 341st Missile Wing, Malmstrom AFB, Montana, and the 91st Missile Wing, Minot AFB, North Dakota. PODCAST: MEET THIS GEORGIA FARM BOY WHO BECAME AN INCREDIBLE HELO ATTACK PILOT This is a rush transcript from "Special Report with Bret Baier," September 25, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In June I traveled to Singapore to meet face-to-face with North Korea's leader. Since that meeting we have already seen a number of encouraging measures, though much work remains to be done. The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs. SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN (through translator): Chairman Kim actually wants to achieve the complete denuclearization of North Korea with President Trump within his first term in office. So in order to make progress he wants to have the second U.S.-North Korea summit as soon as possible. BRET BAIER, ANCHOR: Before the end of the year? JAE-IN: Yes, I believe so. (END VIDEO CLIPS) BAIER: My interview with President Moon of South Korea and the president of the United States speaking before the U.N. General Assembly. Let's talk about it all with our panel: national security analyst Morgan Ortagus; Charles Lane, opinion writer for The Washington Post; and Tom Rogan, commentary writer for The Washington Examiner. Let's start with the president's speech. Morgan, I've already kind of laid out in nuts and bolts what the foreign policy for the Trump administration is. MORGAN ORTAGUS, NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right. And they're calling it principled realism or the doctrine of patriotism. What was interesting to me is normally when Donald Trump is in New York City, he's on his home turf. But when he's speaking at the U.N., he's at an away game. And what I mean by that is there are so many people there sitting around the table. He knows that a lot of them have disdain for him, but those same people rely on his security umbrella. And I think we continue to see a president who is very forthright. There is no dancing around what he sees or what he feels. A lot of people were critical of him for calling Germany, for calling out China. I think it is to be expected. His supporters would have been disappointed if he wasn't so forthright. What remains to be seen for me, the big question is on Iran, because we saw many European nations, Russia, China come together Monday night to discuss potentially a special purpose vehicle in order to evade U.S. sanctions potentially. I think that is very big news. I don't think that European banks who operate in America are going to go along with it. But clearly, he does have the world yet united behind him on his Iran strategy. BAIER: And we'll see. The sanctions probably go in place November, December, and how that effects Iran will play out. Here are kind of the hits, Iran, Syria, Venezuela from the speech. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Iran's leaders sow chaos, death, and destruction. At some point we will have meaningful discussions and probably do a deal. I don't see how it works with them otherwise. The ongoing tragedy in Syria is heartbreaking. But rest assured the United States will respond if chemical weapons are deployed by the Assad regime. We ask the nations gathered here to join us in calling for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela. Today we are announcing additional sanctions against the repressive regime. (END VIDEO CLIP) BAIER: Chuck, your thoughts on the speech and the presentation? CHARLES LANE, THE WASHINGTON POST: The presentation, as always when the president is reading off of a script, he is much more subdued than when he's speaking extemporaneously. And of course you've got to do that in a setting like the U.N. General Assembly where you're trying to be diplomatic and you're sticking to talking points. In that respect, I didn't see a whole lot new there. I think along with Morgan, I was struck by the overt mention of patriotism and sovereignty, which is not exactly what a group like the United Nations loves to hear. But he was determined to get that across as if there were any question about his philosophy and America first and so on. And with respect to Iran, I think it is true that there is sort of a moment coming up here between the United States, Europe, and Iran where the Iranians are clearly being restrained in terms of breaking out on the nuclear deal to see if they can somehow work around the U.S. sanctions and perhaps just simply wait out Donald Trump's first term. BAIER: Obviously he started that speech and got some chuckles in the audience there with his presentation about the superlative, and then he joked about it. He wasn't expecting that response. Tom, I want to ask you about my interview with the South Korean president. Interesting that he is very optimistic that denuclearization is on track, saying that Kim Jong-un is ready to have inspectors on the ground, ready to have a summit with President Trump before the end of the year, and committed, he says, to complete denuclearization. I asked him every way I could if he believed it, and he said, yes. TOM ROGAN, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Yes, I think it's interesting, but I think the real takeaway here is that there is a distinction now between what President Moon and what President Trump need. President Moon really wants to have a reduction in tensions, a movement towards a relative consolidation of peace on the peninsula, and frankly I think he is willing to see a future hedging on those nuclear issues, on those ballistic missile issues in a way that the Trump administration has not suggested that it's amenable to. So there will be a divorce point I think at some level between Moon and Trump on North Korea because at the present track, the indicators, where it matters in terms of the warhead vehicle, in terms of what is going on behind the scenes, yes, not in terms of the missile flights through the atmosphere or into orbit, but in those hidden factories and those hidden research centers, that is a problem that President Trump, Mike Pompeo need to address, and at some point there will be a crunch between these two sides. BAIER: Quickly, Morgan, President Moon said complete denuclearization by January, 2021. I don't know how you get from here to there, but that's what they're talking about. ORTAGUS: It's a long way to go. And Bret, I thought your interview broke so much news. It particularly struck me how much Moon talked about unification of the peninsula, and that's something that I haven't heard him talk in that stark of terms before. Listen, this is all, I think, an exercise to get this peace, end the way, a peace agreement. Moon really needs that. His approval rating has gone done by at least 33 percent in South Korea. I think that he would also like to see the sanctions lifted. He wants to do more business with North Korea. He wants that land bridge to China. So I really think that is Moon's end game here and I think that the president should treat it with some skepticism because, as Tom pointed out, there might be different end games here for both. BAIER: Chuck, I have 15 seconds. LANE: I just want to emphasize that it was pretty striking to have the president of the United States laughed at by the world community in that, and he sort of tried to recover from it. But it recalls back in 2014 when he was tweeting that Barack Obama had made the country a laughing stock. Not a good contrast for him today. Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. This is a rush transcript from "Your World," September 26, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Tomorrow is going to be a red letter day for other developments, including the president's first sit-down with his deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein. That will be at the White House tomorrow. And it will concern his future there. All of this after comments that Rod Rosenstein allegedly made back in 2017 wondering whether he should wear a wire and whether the president was fit for office, invoking, we're told, according to The New York Times, the 25th Amendment to kick him out of there. So, what will happen tomorrow with the president? Does he fire him? Does maybe Rod Rosenstein quit? We simply have no way of gauging this. Let's get the read from House Judiciary Committee member Matt Gaetz, who says that the guy should resign, but for other reasons. You have a host of reasons, right, Congressman? Explain. REP. MATT GAETZ, R-FLORIDA: Well, we do. But what has come to light most frequently, I think, if you took it in the light most favorable to Rod Rosenstein, he would have been joking about wearing a wire on the president of the United States. That is an inappropriate thing to do when you're leading the Justice Department. You don't make jokes about destabilizing the presidency in front of your colleagues and your subordinates and in an administration where there seems to be a culture in some places to resist the president, resist the commander in chief. It seems as though that this is the type of contribution to that ecosystem that is very unhelpful. So it's my expectation that, if Rod Rosenstein is not before the House Judiciary Committee to give testimony about what happened and the context, that we may force a vote on his impeachment. CAVUTO: So, if the president is saying, I want you to stay, Rod, and then you're working with your colleagues, including those in the House Freedom Caucus and elsewhere -- I know you're not part of that caucus -- but saying, we kick the guy out, you guys are not on the same page. GAETZ: Well, we have an obligation that is separate and distinct from the president's, Neil. Our job is not to work for the president. We work within the Congress to conduct oversight on the Department of Justice. It's literally our job in the Judiciary Committee. So, I wouldn't care if it was a Republican president, a Democrat, a president I liked or didn't like. If you have employees at the Justice Department making these kinds of jokes, or maybe it was a joke to try to gauge people's reaction to see if it would lead to further conduct. We don't know. But I think it's really bad for the country to be addressing these questions in the absence of facts on the record under oath. And that's why Mark Meadows is meeting right now with Speaker Paul Ryan to see if we will be able to secure a hearing for Mr. Rosenstein to give that sworn testimony before the Congress breaks for October. CAVUTO: All right, we don't know what really happened and whether he really made these remarks, or whether they were in jest or in earnest or whether they're taken out of contest, nor do we know maybe how things have changed in the year or so since they were allegedly made. So, so much we don't know. But, Congressman, I'm curious to get your gauge on -- let's say you get what you want. Maybe be careful what you wish for, because now you have a guy who would turn into a witness for James Comey, and -- or certainly Bob Mueller, going back to the Mueller -- the Comey firing and everything else. And that could create an even bigger mess for the president. Right? GAETZ: I don't think it's about making a mess for the president. I think it's about transparency for the American people. Whether the information is good, bad, truthful, untruthful, I always think it's good for the country to have these things play out in open hearings, rather than in rumors and leaks and innuendo, because then you really don't know what's going on. So I think that the American people are pretty smart. They can make a good judgment, but we have got to be able to have the facts together. And if Rosenstein offers testimony or information that's unflattering to the president, you're right. We have got to be able to deal with that. CAVUTO: All right, real quickly, this concerns again the Judiciary Committee on the Senate side urging, that is the Democrat, to postpone the hearing. As I told you, sir, many of the Democrats think that it's just a sort of a combination of charges here, that the judge is damaged goods and should step aside. How do you feel about that? GAETZ: Well, I think it's particularly disappointing that Senator Hirono from Hawaii is actually fund-raising off of this, making statements about the appointment and the advice and consent role of the Senate, and then using it to try to generate campaign contributions. That is not helpful to the process we're in. I also think, Neil, it's really dangerous if we simply say that the sum of allegations, the volume of allegations is sufficient to not have to test the veracity or truthfulness or legitimacy of those allegations. We do not want to live in a country where the allegation and the conviction are synonymous. We have got to be able to test those claims. And I think that the Senate set up a fair procedure to do that. And I think that will be able to gauge the credibility and then move forward with the nomination. CAVUTO: All right, we will see what happens. Congressman, thank you very much. There's no response from Chuck Grassley on this call. He's repeatedly denied the necessity of having to postpone anything or put off a vote or do any of things that some of the Democrats are demanding, not the least of which is saying Kavanaugh should step down. Not happening, at least in the eyes of Republicans and the judge himself. END Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. A total of three flights out of South Africas King Shaka International Airport were delayed on Wednesday after thousands of bees made a temporary home in an airplane engine. Mango Airlines confirmed on Twitter that two beekeepers were called to the airport, which is located in the city of Durban, to remove the bees after they began swarming the plane. PASSENGER BOARDS FLIGHT, DISCOVERS ASSIGNED SEAT DOESN'T EXIST "I have certainly never seen anything like this in my eight years in the aviation industry,"Mango Airlines representative Sergio dos Santos told South Africas News24, adding that the bees nestled into the engine within a span of just 25 minutes. The beekeepers who were called to the scene, from a company called A Bee C, were able to safely disperse the swarm, but revealed that ground control was frantic during the process. They wanted us to do it as quickly as possible because of the flight being delayed," according to A Bee Cs Melvyn Dawson, who estimated the swarm to consist of around 20,000 bees. "We have encountered some unusual bee removals, but this was a first for me." 'DRUNK' PASSENGER KICKED OFF FLIGHT FOR ENTERING COCKPIT TO CHARGE PHONE Dawson added in an interview with Jacaranda FM that because the removal site was at an airport, neither he nor his partner were allowed to use a smoker to disperse the swarm, and instead made do with a palm frond. The bees were collected and later brought to the home of a bee-removal specialist, who will then distribute them to beekeepers and macadamia farms. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS A representative for the South African Bee Industry Association believes the bees only used the plane engine as a waypoint en route to a more suitable nesting area, because something as greasy, smelly and hot as an engine is not what bees usually prefer. "Bees prefer secluded wood cavities, he told News24. This is very unusual. The sun will practically never set on Mickey Mouse, thanks to a bunch of Disney Cruise Lines new trips and destinations set to launch in 2020. On Sept. 27, reps for Disney Cruises confirmed to Fox News that the line will open a new home port in New Orleans and house the aptly named Disney Wonder ship, which will travel to various Caribbean and Bahamian destinations. CRUISE WORKER RECEIVES $3.34 MILLION PAYOUT AFTER SHIP DOCTOR GIVES 'WRONG MEDICATION AND WRONG DOSAGE' The cruise line will also make a highly anticipated return to the Hawaiian Islands in early 2020. Trips to Puerto Rico are also slated to sail for a limited time as well. Naturally, the news was largely celebrated by Disney Cruise Line fans on Twitter, many of whom described the announcement as awesome and so exciting. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Bookings will open to the public starting Oct. 4. Bon voyage! United Airlines apologized this week after a new mother said a flight attendant told her it was absolutely unacceptable for her 8-month-old to be crying for more than five minutes during the flight. Krupa Patel Balal, her husband and infant son had just begun their flight from Sydney to San Francisco on Tuesday when the infant began to cry, KTVU-TV reported. A flight attendant approached her after about five minutes and yelled that it was absolutely unacceptable for the baby to cry, the mom claims. "I was told it's part of the rule book that the babies are not allowed to cry for more than 5 minutes," Balal wrote on Facebook. She said she paid $28.99 for in-flight WIFI to share her experience in real time. "I was told it's part of the rule book that the babies are not allowed to cry for more than 5 minutes." Krupa Patel Balal, new mother The mother, travelling in business class, wrote that she attempted to soothe the infant and tried to explain to the attendant that his cries were out of her control. Balal claimed that while the captain apologized, the flight attendant remained "unapologetic." Balal promised that her family will never fly on United again. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost is breaking ground while serving her country. Provost, who joined the agency in 1995 and became its acting chief in April 2017, took over last month as the first female chief in its 94-year history. She said being a woman in a largely male organization didnt cause her problems. Now, Im 6-foot tall. That might help when it comes to my stature. Whether it was the police department or the Border Patrol, I was a police officer, not a female police officer. Im a Border Patrol agent, not a female Border Patrol Agent. Provost is personable and deeply knowledgeable about the Border Patrol. She started as an agent in Douglas, Arizona, after a short tenure as a police officer in Kansas, where her detail included breaking up fights at bars. She said she wanted to get into federal law enforcement and never had been to the border before joining the agency. She worked in top management positions in El Paso, Texas, and El Centro, California, before transferring in 2015 to headquarters, where she focused on efforts to clamp down on corruption, misconduct and mismanagement. I may be the first, but I guarantee you I wont be the last female chief of the Border Patrol, she told Fox News this summer. Provost said she hopes she can inspire other women to sign up with the agency, which has just one female agent for every 20 men. If youre a woman in law enforcement, I dont care where youre at, youre a minority, Provost said. Even without the public pressure, recruiting for the job is difficult, Provost said. Agents must undergo a detailed background investigation, plus a polygraph exam with an average 28 percent pass rate. Theyre stationed in remote locations along difficult terrain and work grueling shifts in scorching heat or bitter cold, often walking miles alone tracking people who crossed illegally. Sometimes backup is hours away. The majority of my personnel are working along the southwest border. I cant compete with a police department where you can live in the city you were born and raised in, she said. Provost said the agency also struggles with available child care, education and access to medical care in the most remote locations. But she said agents now are allowed to move around after a few years, a big change she hopes will result in more people willing to start off in a remote post and transfer to a border city. Honestly, the fact that Im sitting in the position Im sitting in will help as well, she said. The Border Patrol and its 19,000 agents have been under a constant spotlight. Curbing immigration remains at the top of President Trumps priorities, and the administration plans to add 5,000 Border Patrol agents. The agency has come under fire for its checkpoints within 100 miles of the border. And it faced withering criticism for its role in the administrations zero-tolerance policy this spring that resulted in the separation of nearly 3,000 migrant children from their parents. Its the subject of federal litigation on holding facilities where migrants complain of freezing temperatures, inedible food and overcrowding. Earlier this month, a supervisor in Laredo, Texas, was arrested on allegations he killed four women. Provost placed him on unpaid suspension, and said she was sickened and saddened by the alleged acts of a rogue individual. I would hate for this to tarnish the great work that those men and women do, she said at a news conference aside Texas law enforcement. Provost also is dealing with increased arrests at the southwest border a possible marker that more people are coming in illegally and one that roils the Trump administration and the president himself. But for all the controversy surrounding her agency, she is not a controversial figure. Her appointment didnt require Senate confirmation and immigration advocates and Democratic lawmakers critical of Trumps policies havent criticized her. Back then apprehension mostly was just returning people over the line. Theyd turn around and come right back, Provost said, and shed catch the same group three times a night. She liked the work, but it was frustrating. And I think the difference then, too, is we didnt deliver any consequences, she said. The only way someone was fingerprinted was if the person was recognized to be a smuggler, Provost said. And you took him into the station, rolled their prints, faxed them off to the FBI, Provost said. What were we really accomplishing then? But Provost has many in her corner. There is no one more suited to lead the Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said after her appointment. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A pure lesser-of-two-evils race in CO-06 Mike Coffman (R-CO) tries very, very hard to pass himself off as a moderate. It's a farce. Coffman's suburban district wraps around Denver from Littletown and Centennial in the south, Aurora in the east and then Barr Lake and Brighton in the north. The PVI is D+2 and Obama won it both times he ran. Hillary didn't do as well as Obama, but Trump did worse than either McCain or Romney. In the end Hillary beat Trump in the 6th 50.2% to 41.3%-- two flawed candidates who voters didn't like. (Bernie beat Hillary in all three counties that make up the district.) Coffman has survived all the attempts the DCCC has made to dislodge him. This cycle the voters are wise to him and realize he isn't the moderate anti-Trump hero he pretends to be. How independent does this look to you? Yesterday Alexis Levinson, reporting for BuzzFeed News, warned that Trump could send him crashing down . What she doesn't mention is that Coffman is running against the worst Democrat to ever challenge him-- and, in fact, one of the worst Democrats to be running this cycle. Jason Crow has joined the New Dems, a natural place for him. He's certainly from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party and the DCCC tried hard to pass him off as a lawyer who championed "the people," even though he was actually a lawyer for the pay day lending industry. My guess is that he's going to win and go on to be a truly terrible member of Congress and lose the seat to a Republican in 2022, like so many DCCC recruits this cycle. But in a wave elections, it barely matters how horrible the challenger is; he gets swept into office anyway. People in the 6th district want to vote against Trump and they'll vote against his enabler and rubber-stamp instead. The Trump effect is very real, said Morgan Carroll, the chair the Colorado Democratic Party. Carroll is intimately familiar with the unique difficulties Democrats have faced in ousting Coffman: She was his Democratic opponent in 2016, and he beat her 51% to 43%, even as Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump 50% to 41% in the district. ...[T]ime has demonstrated how little [Coffman] can hold its own against the din of whatever Trump tweeted most recently, or whatever chaos is emerging from the White House and its orbit. In a year like this I think you have a lot of independent voters that basically just want to put a check on the president, and theyre going to send that message through those House members, said former representative Tom Davis, who chaired the House Republican campaign arm. I try and tune out the president whenever I can, in terms of his tone and saying things that I think are inappropriate, Coffman told BuzzFeed News. Unfortunately, he acknowledges, it takes a lot of oxygen. Democrats are hoping to capitalize on that fact. Trump is certainly a big figure in this race, Jason Crow, Coffmans Democratic opponent, told BuzzFeed News in an interview in his campaign office. In 2016, when Coffman spoke directly to the camera in an ad and promised to stand up to Trump, a Trump presidency was theoretical. Now, argued Crow, Hes had two years to fulfill that promise, and hes broken it." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has turned that ad into an ad of its own-- splicing Coffmans words together alongside a calculation from FiveThirtyEight that he voted with Trump 96% of the time. Its a stat Coffman calls bogus. Coffman is desperate... and lying. His voting record is hard core Trump. Meanwhile Crow says he's "a very different candidate than folks who have run in this race before." That's true; he's barely a Democrat and will undoubtably alienate Democratic voters once he gets into office. "And were in a very different world than we certainly have been in prior election cycles." Also true. All the garbage gets swept into Congress... 'til the next midterm. FiveThirtyEight.com gives him an 81.1% chance to win the seat. A Maine woman was charged Wednesday after police say she abandoned her toddler in the parking lot of a Massachusetts Target over the weekend. Easton Police responded to a call Saturday about 1 p.m. that a baby was found in the store parking lot, sitting in a cart alone, according to a press release. Members of the Easton Police Department evaluated the 17-month-old child, who appeared to have no injuries. He was taken to an area hospital for further assessment. The person who called the police was a customer, who stayed with the child until authorities arrived. Investigators discovered that an hour after the child was found, a man called the police to report that the child had been left behind in the parking lot accidentally. Police say the man was with the childs mother, who was later identified as 27-year-old Taylor Perdue. Perdue told officials that after leaving the Target, she returned to her car with her three friends and thought one of them had fastened her son in the car seat. They left in a separate car and it was only when Perdue reached Plymouth, more than 30 miles away, that she realized she'd left her son behind. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services returned custody to Perdue later that same day, according to police. She is scheduled to appear in Taunton District Court at a later date. A Texas inmate who taunted a jury to sentence him to death was executed Wednesday evening for torturing and drowning an East Texas woman in his bathtub and then stuffing her body into a barrel. Troy Clark was condemned for the May 1998 slaying of a former roommate, Christina Muse of Tyler. Authorities said that Clark, a drug dealer, had worried that Muse would snitch on him. Clark chuckled as he addressed several friends watching through a window a few feet from him, telling them a number of times that he loved them and "it's all good." "I'm not the one who killed Christina," he said. "But, hey, whatever makes you happy." As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital was administered, Clark was laughing and remarked that the drug "burned going in." "I feel it," he said. Then he grunted, gasped and began to snore. Seconds later, all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 21 minutes later at 6:36 p.m. The 51-year-old Clark became the 17th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the ninth given a lethal injection in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. Clark is the first of two executions this week in Texas. Daniel Acker was scheduled to be executed Thursday for fatally running over his girlfriend. At least eight other Texas inmates have planned execution dates in the coming months. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to recommend a commutation of Clark's sentence. After his conviction, Clark had argued his trial attorneys failed to present evidence of his childhood, marked by physical and emotional abuse, which might have convinced jurors to spare his life. Appeals courts had previously ruled that because of the overwhelming case against Clark, it's likely he still would have been sentenced to death even if the jury had heard evidence of his troubled childhood. Prosecutors said Clark subdued Muse, 20, with a stun gun, bound her with duct tape and left her in a closet for several hours while he played video games and sold drugs to a customer. Clark later moved Muse to a bathroom where he hit her with a board and threatened his girlfriend, Tory Bush, into helping him drown Muse in the tub. Muse's body was then stuffed into a barrel with cement mix and lime before being dumped in a ravine. Against the advice of his attorneys, Clark testified during his trial's punishment phase, saying, "I really ain't got no story to tell. It's just I want the death penalty." Prosecutors also presented evidence Clark had committed two other murders, including one that occurred after Muse's death but prior to his arrest. The Smith County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted Clark, declined to comment. Bobby Mims, one of Clark's trial attorneys, said Clark denied killing Muse. "But there was pretty strong evidence that he was guilty. Tory Bush was pretty damning," Mims said. Bush, who testified against Clark, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Mims said he and his co-counsel were ineffective during the punishment phase in presenting evidence of Clark's troubled childhood, which included having a mother who was incarcerated for most of his life and who introduced him to drugs. Mims said when Clark's case was tried in 2000, most defense attorneys didn't focus on presenting mitigating evidence of a defendant's problematic life as part of their efforts to prevent a death sentence. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously denied Clark's appeals on this issue, saying in 2012 that Clark refused to let his trial attorneys contact family as well as others to testify on his behalf. "At the punishment hearing, the prosecutors actually had one or two of (Clark's) own relatives show up and they had indicated they wanted him to get the death penalty. It was crazy," Mims said. Mims said he doesn't know if evidence of Clark's troubled life would have made a difference with the jury. "I hope he's made peace with his maker," Mims said. A woman testified Wednesday that she picked up a hitchhiker the night that a Mississippi woman was fatally burned, but she's unsure whether it's the man prosecutors have on trial. Quinton Tellis is being retried on capital murder charges, accused of burning Jessica Chambers on a rural backroad on the outskirts of the Mississippi hamlet of Courtland in 2014. She died hours later in a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital. A jury couldn't reach a verdict in Tellis' first trial last year. Sherry Flowers didn't identify Tellis in court Wednesday and agreed with a prosecutor that she didn't know whom she picked up. Flowers, who didn't testify last year, said a man flagged her down and she stopped because she believed it might be her cousin. It wasn't, but she agreed to pick up an African-American man whom she described as appearing to be about 20 years old and having a small to medium build. Tellis, who is 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter), was 26 at the time Still, prosecutors sought to connect the ride to Chambers' death, suggesting it was the right time for Tellis to be heading away from Chambers' car before he returned to burn it. Prosecutors also called witnesses who lived at the destination the hitchhiker cited who said they were cousins of Tellis. The defense disputed the timing, and Flowers acknowledged she wasn't sure what time she made the trip, saying only "I know I picked someone up." After Flowers left the Batesville courthouse, the Clarion Ledger reported deputies made a "traffic stop" of an individual who may have been following Flowers. Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby said he didn't know who had been stopped or if anyone had been arrested. Flowers picked up the hitchhiker close to a location where a sheriff's investigator had testified on Wednesday that a Courtland resident found Chambers' keys in a ditch two days after her death. The defense objects to the keys being entered into evidence because officials can't prove where the keys were during that time. Four more emergency workers testified Wednesday that they heard Chambers say something that sounded like Eric when asked who had attacked her, bringing the total to give such testimony to 10 first responders over two days. One said she described the attacker as a black person, while another said Chambers indicated the attacker was not her boyfriend. The defense contends prosecutors have the wrong man on trial. Several also described Chambers wounds. "Skin was hanging off of her lips (and) out of her nose," emergency medical technician Bradley Dixon testified. "Her eyelashes and eyebrows were gone. The hair on top of her head was a big singe-ball." A medical examiner testified that Chambers' death was a homicide from soot and smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Dr. Erin Barnhart said Chambers had burns over 93 percent of her body. She said Chambers was probably sitting when she was burned because of unburned tissue on her rear and lower back. "I think the most likely scenario based on that pattern was that she was seated," Barnhart testified. Prosecutors have said they believe Chambers was reclined in the passenger seat of her car when she was set on fire. Another analyst testified gasoline was found on the remains of Chambers' bra. Prosecutors have said they believe Tellis retrieved a gasoline can from a shed after he left the scene the first time and returned to set the car and Chambers ablaze. The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday with jurors touring locations involved in the crime and hearing from more witnesses. A 37-year-old mother who survived being shot a dozen times when a suspect opened fire inside Cincinnatis Fifth Third building earlier this month said she pleaded with police to save her because she had two kids who need their mother. Whitney Austin, a bank executive, recalled the moments leading up to the harrowing Sept. 6 shooting during a Wednesday interview on ABCs Good Morning America. Austin, who had been focused on a conference call when she arrived to work, said it felt like a burning sensation when she was shot upon walking into the building. CINCINNATI SHOOTER HAD TROUBLED PAST, INCLUDING ARRESTS AND RAMBLING LAWSUITS AGAINST MSNBC: REPORTS Austin said she feared that she was dying once she started coughing up blood and wanted to reach out to her loved ones. I assumed he saw me move and he shot me several more times, Austin recalled, adding that she then pretended to be dead. That is, until she noticed Cincinnati police and pleaded with an officer. I have a 5- and a 7-year-old who need their mother, she recalled saying at the time. You need to save me! Come get me! WOMAN SHOT 12 TIMES AT CINCINNATI BANK SAYS SHES GRATEFUL FOR HELP FROM FIRST RESPONDERS Police ultimately killed the suspect, Omar Enrique Santa Perez, 29, after he killed three others and wounded Austin and another individual. Austin was initially listed as being in critical condition after the shootings and was released from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center days later after undergoing several hours of surgery. Recounting her experience, Austin told WDRB that there's absolutely no other explanation other than believe its a miracle." The Associated Press contributed to this report. With the flick of a finger, an innovative off-road ATV-like mobility scooter is giving Americans with disability or mobility issues a chance to experience the outdoors. It doesnt look like a wheelchair, it doesnt feel like a wheelchair, it doesnt have the limitations of a wheelchairits not a wheelchairbut it does the things that a wheelchair doesbut 100 times better, said Todd Lemay, owner of TerrainHopper USA, which sells the wheelchairs in the U.S. And, its really cool. The Terrain Hopper, an off-road scooter that can go uphill, downhill, over rocks and sand, and up to 12 miles an hour (with a 4 mph version, as well)allows people to go hiking, adventure out in the woods, or journey on the beachby using handlebars steering with one finger, or by using a customized joystick. Todd Lemay, whos lived with bone brittle disease his whole life, wanted to be able to hold his wifes hand while walking on the beach. He found the UK-based company through a Google search. After being their first U.S. customer and having it shipped to his Arizona homehe was able to do exactly what he set out forhe started to take it out on the beach with his wife, Letitia, and go hiking with it. People would come up to him and ask where he got it, inquiring for their family member of friend who could use one. I know what the other people are going through, as far as their limitations and I think people, they minimize the importance of being outdoors, Lemay said. Going to the beach, going hiking, going to their favorite hunting spot in the woods, or going fishing, those types of thingsbeing outdoors and participating with your friends and family is very therapeutic. If you can be outdoors doing those things, it makes people feel better emotionally and physically. But the souped-up wheelchair is not within reach for everyone because of its steep price tag. It costs $18,000 and not typically covered by insurance. So those who want to buy it have to cough up a lot of money. Its going to be out of the reach of most people with disabilities because people with disabilities in this country are three times more likely to live in poverty than any other minority group, said Heidi Johnson-Wright, an American with Disabilities Act compliance professional. About 26 percent of adults in the United States have some type of disability and 13.7 percent of adults have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs, according to the Center for Disease Control. This year, Lemay licensed the technology and manufactures, sells, and distributes out of a Tempe, Ariz. warehouse. Lemay claims this is the only off-road mobility chair in the United States people can drive with handlebars. He said hes proud of the company. This is, by far, the most rewarding [company Ive helped run] because we're putting smiles on people's faces, we're changing people's lives, Lemay said. It has helped people like Todd Kneale, who was an avid rock climber, skier, backpacker when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003. As the disease progressed, it limited the things he could do. But then he bought a scooter. Its made a huge difference in my life and I know absolutely its going to make a huge difference in many, many people's lives here in the U.S...I can't wait for my next adventure. Todd Kneale, Terrain Hopper USA's first customer It's just opened up my world again, Kneale said. Were able to off-road to different locations and Im able to pull out the Terrain Hopper and go hiking. It has completely changed the way I can interact with nature again, where it gets me back to where I was before where my wife and I could go on a hike and have a picnic, get to an overlookthings you just cant get to in a vehicle. Though they are ATV-like, the scooters are technically considered power-driven mobility devices. That enables riders with mobility impairment to be able to take these anywhere a pedestrian is allowed to walkincluding local parks, state parks, and nature trails. Most scooters and transporters like segways are banned from certain public areas with a lot of foot traffic. Lemay says a donor has purchased chairs and donated them to the non-profits Ability360, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Barrow Neurological Foundation. Its made a huge difference in my life and I know absolutely its going to make a huge difference in many, many people's lives here in the U.S., Kneale said. I can't wait for my next adventure. A well-known big wave surfer from California was found dead two weeks after he went missing in Mexico, his family confirmed. The body of 39-year-old Adam Francis DEsposito was found by Mexican officials in Baja Malibu near Rosarito earlier this month. A coroner determined the cause of death of was drowning, his sister told FOX 5 on Wednesday. Our hearts are heavy as we come to terms with the fact that he is no longer with us, his sister, Briana DEsposito, wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday. He was a very charismatic person with a big heart, passionate personality and a deep love for surfing. She said the details surrounding his death are still being sorted out. The father of one had gone to Mexico on September 2 for a surfing vacation and to see his dad. While there, DEsposito borrowed his fathers station wagon on September 6 and never returned. Two days later, a local surf shop owner reported he had seen DEsposito shoeless and shirtless and running on a highway between Tijuana and Rosarito, acting agitated, like someone was following him, NBC San Diego reported. His sisters Briana and Mary told reporters that Mexican authorities had found his body without identification on September 6, but they werent notified until days later despite a massive search underway for Adam. They said their brother had been struggling with mental illness and that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, NBC San Diego reported. Since my brother is a big wave surfer, spending the better part of the last 20 years in Tahiti surfing some of the most dangerous waves in the world its very hard for us and many of his friends to believe he would just drown, Mary told the news station. It seems like there has to be some more to the story that led him to that point. The nomadic surfer leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter. He had a huge heart for his young daughter and enjoyed spending so much time with her in his last few months, Briana wrote on Facebook. The impact that he had on so many was incredibly evident to my family through your support, love and efforts to help us during a highly stressful & worrisome time. We thank all of you from the bottom of hearts. The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help his daughter. A convicted sex offender charged with killing an elderly woman and hiding her body in his trunk lived less than two miles away from the victim, who disappeared shortly after returning home from volunteering. Timothy Mackley, 58, appeared in a Portland court Wednesday nearly a week after she went missing and pleaded not guilty to murdering 89-year-old Marcine Herinck. He also waived his right to a probable cause hearing. Mackley is a convicted sex offender who has a criminal history in Washington state and Oregon in the 1980s. He pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and sodomy in Multnomah County and was sentenced to prison in 1989, court records show. He was arrested in 2009 for failing to register as a sex offender. SOUTH CAROLINA MAN LINKED TO 2 KIDNAPPINGS, 1 SEX ASSAULT, POLICE SAY Court records show Mackley told officers in Oregon he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and lives on disability payments of less than $1,000 a month. He said in his spare time he volunteers driving people to Alcohol Anonymous meetings. Family members told FOX12 earlier this week Herinck was last seen on the night of Sept. 18. She had pie and coffee in the microwave, her granddaughter-in-law, Julie Herinck, said. The microwave was still beeping in the early hours of Wednesday morning when the family arrived, and we realized she wasnt there. The elderly womans garage door was open and her keys, phone and purse were still in the house. Search and rescue crews spent days looking for her making repeated pleas to the public for tips until police on Monday developed new information that suggested foul play and pointed them in Mackley's direction, Portland police Sgt. Christopher Burley said. [Herinck] put such a legacy in their family. She literally gave them so much joy, family friend Bobbi Anderson told FOX12. The Associated Press contributed to this report. It's been more than three decades since Virginia State Trooper Johnny Rush Bowman was stabbed to death at his home outside the nations capital, but federal investigators are hopeful a new reward -- and a plea from Bowman's daughter -- could finally lead authorities to the officer's killer. Bowman was killed when he answered a doorbell in the early-morning hours of Aug. 19, 1984 at his home in Manassas, Va., located about 30 miles outside of Washington D.C. Bowman was stabbed between 40 to 45 times by an unknown assailant as his young daughter, wife, brother, and sister-in-law were in the home with him. The FBI on Tuesday announced the agency is now offering a $50,000 reward for information that can lead to a break in the case, the only unsolved killing of a Virginia State Trooper in the commonwealths history. This push for information is nationwide, said First Sergeant Michael B. Elliott with the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. With as much time that has passed, people have potentially moved to other parts of the country. If they have knowledge, I hope they will do the right thing and come forward. The attacker or attackers left behind sunglasses, a wig, and a construction hard hat. Even with advances in DNA testing and other forensic technology, investigators have not been able to track down any substantial leads after reexamining evidence from the crime scene. The killing of the 31-year-old off-duty officer spurred one of the most extensive and costly murder investigations in the history of the Virginia State Police, with more than 3,000 people in 41 states interviewed by police, the Washington Post reported at the time. The FBI said it became involved in the case because the murder is considered a line-of-duty death. Bowman's daughter, who was two years old at the time, was awakened in the early-morning attack that ended her father's life. Now an officer with the Manassas Police Department, Nikki Bowman said in a video released by the FBI that her father's memory inspired her to pursue a career in law enforcement and drives her need to find resolution in his case. "Thirty-four years is a long time of waiting. My life is a constant struggle. Every day is hard, and I think its time for the roles to be reversed," she says. "Their life should be hard. You need to own up to what youve done. I should be able to live happily after this but I can't do that without answers." CONNECTICUT MAN ARRESTED IN 2014 MURDER OF MOTHER OF 2 AFTER HE REPORTEDLY CONFESSES TO MURDER Nikki Bowman, who is not part of the investigative team, says that she will continue to "advocate the case" while encouraging anyone who may know about what happened to her father to come forward. "I would find it very hard to believe that theres not someone or multiple people that know what happened that day," Bowman says in the video. "Whether it was by word of mouth, they were there, someone that was there told them, but somebody knows something." In the video, the officer said she remains hopeful someone will finally speak up. "Im thankful to everybody thats still pursuing the case and taking time to continue investigating, continue following leads, trying to find more leads," she says. "At the same time, 34 years is a long time, and each year that passes it gets a little bit more difficult. I just want answers." Anyone who may have information about the case is contact the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or Virginia State police at 703-803-2676. An Indiana woman on Tuesday admitted to charges that she allowed her boyfriend to molest her daughter, leading to the then-10-year-olds pregnancy. The 33-year-old woman, of Marion, pleaded guilty to charges of neglect, aiding child molesting and assisting a criminal. She avoided a trial by accepting a sentence of 20 years in prison and five years of probation. "We were certainly ready to go to trial in a few weeks, but the emotional and psychological toll would have been significantly more (for this trial) than the Thrash trial," Deputy Grant County Prosecutor Lisa Glancy said. The woman's boyfriend, 34-year-old Nicholas Deon Thrash, was convicted of 10 counts of child molesting and sentenced last week to 160 years in prison. The victim, who was not named, testified Thrash had molested her at least 15 times. The mother admitted her daughter told her Thrash was molesting her, yet she continued to live with him, the Chronicle-Tribune of Marion, Ind., reported. She reportedly instructed the daughter to say a classmate impregnated her. Neither the molestation nor pregnancy was reported to police. Part of the womans plea required that she have no contact with her now 12-year-old daughter until a counselor gives permission. The Associated Press did not name the woman to protect the identity of the girl. Prosecutors told FOX59 Indianapolis that the girl, after turning 11, gave birth to a boy in September 2017. The baby was given up for adoption, while the girl now resides in foster care. "She's doing better. That's all that we can hope for right now. She's at a really good place," Glancy said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Florida man accused of killing his wife told detectives he thinks she slipped and fell in the bathtub, but responding officers found the woman completely dry just minutes later, police recordings show. The recordings released Wednesday by the Orange-Osceola State Attorneys Office and obtained by the Orlando Sentinel reveal investigators werent buying the version of events offered by David Tronnes, 50, in the April death of 39-year-old Shanti Cooper-Tronnes, whom he married a year earlier. "Common sense would tell you if you pull a woman soaking wet out of a tub at 3 o'clock and call the police within six minutes, that everything will be soaking wet when police arrive within three minutes of that," Orlando police Detective Teresa Sprague told Tronnes. "That's common sense." Tronnes, seemingly puzzled, said: "So how did everything dry out?" "That's our question," Sprague replied. Tronnes, who was arrested on a first-degree murder charge in August, told detectives he "didn't have the information" they were looking for after another investigator said nobody would believe his story. In the recordings, one detective also accused him of concocting his emotional reaction to his wifes sudden death. "You've fake cried for about seven or eight hours today," Sprague continued. "Not one tear came out of your eyes not one. You have fake cried over this woman's death since we made contact with you There is not a lick of remorse for what you did to this woman." An autopsy ruled that Cooper-Tronnes died from blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. Tronnes told police he found her unresponsive in a half-full bathtub inside their home in the upscale Delaney Park section of Orlando. Click for more from the New York Post. In response to the 10th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo,the European Union is reinforcing preparedness in Uganda with a donation of Shs270 million (60 000) in humanitarian funding to reinforce interventions aimed at detecting cases and preventing transmission. We have to be extremely vigilant and never let our guard down when dealing with health threats such as Ebola. The European Union has been at the forefront of efforts to help people affected by the virus and contain outbreaks, said Commissioner of Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides. The official said they have mobilised the EU emergency response mechanisms and provided logistical support for the recent and current outbreaks in DRC, and also contributed to vaccine development. Our support to the Uganda Red Cross will help to take much needed action to help the country prepare better, he said. Stories Continues after ad Health experts have warned there is a real risk of Ebola spreading to Uganda due to intense cross-border movements between the two neighbouring countries. Should Ebola hit Uganda, it will not be the first time. The deadly disease has hit the country in the past on more than one occasion. The EU funds will allow the Uganda Red Cross to reinforce preparedness and prevention in 7 of the most at risk districts bordering DRC (Ntoroko, Bundibugyo, Kasese, Kisoro, Kanungu, Kabarole, Bunangabo) and 18 points of entry. Staff and volunteers will be trained in contact tracing, informing and engaging with communities, and carrying out safe and dignified burials. Others will be taught how to take infection, prevention and control measures and provide psychosocial support to affected people. The activities will reach 149 000 people over the next 3 months. They are in line with Ugandas preparedness plan and complementary to actions of other partners on the ground. The funding is part of the EUs overall contribution to the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The Uganda-DRC border sees daily movements of displaced populations, traders and miners. Insecurity and community resistance in eastern DRC are hindering efforts to contain the disease. 244 000 Congolese refugees have arrived in Uganda in the first half of 2018 as a direct consequence of inter-communal violence in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Since this outbreak was declared on 1 August 2018, 151 cases of Ebola have been reported in eastern DRC. The EU and its Member States are the worlds leading donor of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian aid Operations department (ECHO), the European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the EU provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs. Meanwhile, the European Commission has signed a 3 million humanitarian delegation agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support the Federations Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF). Funds from the DREF are mainly allocated to small-scale disasters those that do not give rise to a formal international appeal. The Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) was established in 1985 and is supported by contributions from donors. Each time a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society needs immediate financial support to respond to a disaster, it can request funds from the DREF. For small-scale disasters, the IFRC allocates grants from the Fund, which can then be replenished by the donors. The delegation agreement between the IFRC and ECHO enables the latter to replenish the DREF for agreed operations (that fit in with its humanitarian mandate) up to a total of 3 million. A teenage girl who was severely beaten two weeks ago by an unknown assailant in Florida told reporters Wednesday that she was thinking OK, try not to die, during the attack, The Miami Herald Reported. Bela Perdomo, 15, said she was with fellow classmate James Critz, 16, during the Sept. 10 attack in a wooded trail on Florida International Universitys Biscayne Bay campus in North Miami. Perdomo and Critz are high school students studying marine biology on the campus. The students were reportedly collecting dirt for a school project when they passed by an individual on the trail. Perdomo and Critz said hello and two minutes later, were severely beaten by the individual, The Herald reported. The attacker beat them with a tree branch, leaving them with fractured skulls and unconscious, according to the report. I was thinking, OK, try not to die, Perdomo told reporters. I want to catch him. From there, I want to get past him. Perdomo said she regained consciousness and sought help in a nearby building. FIU police and medics found Critz semi-conscious. Neither teenager was sexually assaulted, police said. Both are recovering from their injuries. The assailant managed to escape and remains at large, police said. Perdomo described the assailant as a heavy-set, Hispanic male, around 18-years-old. During Wednesdays press conference in FIUs north campus library, authorities were mum on leads so as not to taint the investigation, they said. Police said theyre reviewing surveillance footage from around the school. Israel's defense minister has expressed indifference to President Donald Trump's backing of a two-state solution for the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Avigdor Lieberman says a Palestinian state "simply doesn't interest me." He says the Israeli interest is "a safe Jewish state." He says: "Everything else interests us less." Trump at the United Nations on Wednesday for the first time said publicly that he believes two states one for Israel and one for the Palestinians "works best." Trump has previously been vague, suggesting he'd support whatever the parties agree to, including possibly a one-state solution. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in the past reluctantly accepted the concept of Palestinian statehood but has since backtracked. A top coalition partner is threatening to topple his government if it returns to the agenda. The retrial of the man accused of the burning death of Jessica Chambers took a new twist Wednesday when a woman called to the stand spoke of a mystery hitchhiker she picked up the day of the murder, as graphic details were released on the condition of the 19-year-old's body. Quinton Tellis, 29, is being retried on capital murder charges after a jury couldn't reach a verdict in his first trial last year. Tellis is accused of burning Chambers on a rural backroad in Mississippi in December 2014. Chambers, a former cheerleader at South Panola High School, had severe burns covering 93 percent of her body after being doused with a flammable liquid and set ablaze. She was discovered by first responders emerging from the woods near her burning car wearing only her underwear. The 19-year-old died hours later at a Memphis hospital. Those emergency workers appeared during the second day of testimony Wednesday, when they recounted what they heard when making contact with the still-alive Chambers. "You could hear her say it sounded like Eric," Pope Firefighter David Gammell said of the teenager's dying words. Paramedic Josh Perkins said that Chambers was not able to enunciate due to her severe injuries at the time, and that it sounded either like "Eric or Derick." A speech pathologist also testified that Chambers was so severely burned that she wouldnt have been able to produce articulate sound. But it was Panola County Sheriff's Deputy Darrell House who may have provided the most detail. He testified that Chambers told him more than just a name when he asked who did this, FOX13 reported. "Best I could understand is black male," House told the court when he asked Chambers about her assailant. The defense contends prosecutors have the wrong man on trial. Several of the emergency workers also described Chambers' wounds in graphic detail. "Skin was hanging off of her lips (and) out of her nose," emergency medical technician Bradley Dixon testified. "Her eyelashes and eyebrows were gone. The hair on top of her head was a big singe-ball." JESSICA CHAMBERS' NEIGHBOR RECALLS HEARING OF TEEN'S BURNING DEATH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DOC: 'IT REALLY MADE ME CRINGE' Testimony on Wednesday also included a woman who did not appear in Tellis' first trial, but said that she picked up a hitchhiker the night that Chambers was killed. Sherry Flowers didn't identify Tellis in court and agreed with a prosecutor that she didn't know whom she picked up. But she did tell the court that a man flagged her down and she stopped because she believed it might be her cousin. It wasn't, but she agreed to pick up the man whom she described as a black male appearing to be about 20 years old and having a small to medium build. Tellis, who is 5-foot-9, was 26 at the time. "Skin was hanging off of her lips (and) out of her nose. Her eyelashes and eyebrows were gone. The hair on top of her head was a big singe-ball." Emergency Medical Technician Bradley Dixon Flowers did not initially come forward to investigators, and when asked why, said in court, I couldn't remember and I thought it was irrelevant." Still, prosecutors sought to connect the ride to Chambers' death, suggesting it was the right time for Tellis to be heading away from Chambers' car before he returned to burn it. Prosecutors also called witnesses who lived at the destination the hitchhiker cited, who said they were cousins of Tellis. RETRIAL SET FOR MAN ACCUSED IN WOMAN'S BURNING DEATH The defense disputed the timing, and Flowers acknowledged she wasn't sure what time she made the trip, saying only, "I know I picked someone up." Flowers had also picked up the hitchhiker close to a location where a sheriff's investigator testified that Chambers' keys were discovered in a ditch two days after her death. The defense objects to the keys being entered into evidence because officials can't prove where the keys were during that time. On Thursday, jurors were scheduled to tour locations involved in the crime and hear more testimony. Fox News' Cristina Corbin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Latest on the trial of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is charged with murder in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald (all times local): 11:45 a.m. A pharmacologist testifying in the trial of a white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of Laquan McDonald says PCP in the black teen's system could have caused aggression, rage and hallucinations. James Thomas O'Donnell said during Van Dyke's murder trial on Thursday that that someone with as much of PCP in his system as McDonald had in his bloodstream could have a "feeling of omnipotence." O'Donnell said the person could feel as if he has "superhuman powers." He says that could put a person at risk of harming himself or others around him. Other witnesses have testified that McDonald refused to drop a knife as police ordered and that McDonald stabbed the tire of a police vehicle. O'Donnell said such "violent rage behavior" could be explained by having PCP in his system. Under cross examination, O'Donnell acknowledged that he had no information that Van Dyke knew McDonald had PCP in his system when he shot him 16 times on the night of Oct. 20, 2014. ___ 11 a.m. A woman is telling the jury in Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke's murder trial about an encounter she had with the teen Van Dyke killed hours earlier that concerned her enough to call police. Yvette Patterson is the latest witness called by defense attorneys who want jurors to know about angry and sometimes violent encounters that black teenager Laquan McDonald had with people. Others have included current and former employees at the county's juvenile detention facility when McDonald was there. Patterson said Thursday that when she got to her home early on Oct. 20, 2014, McDonald was sitting on the stairs. She said he walked to her vehicle and said he wanted to use it. She said that when she told McDonald he could not use her car, he "said OK and started laughing." Still, she said she was concerned enough about her safety to call 911. ___ 11:57 p.m. Wednesday. Lawyers for a white Chicago police officer who shot black teenager Laquan McDonald to death in 2014 are scheduled to call more witnesses as they defend him against murder and other charges. Thursday will be the fourth day that Jason Van Dyke's attorneys present evidence to Cook County jurors. Defense attorneys are trying to show it was reasonable for Van Dyke to have perceived McDonald as a threat. The officer shot the teen 16 times as he walked away carrying a knife. Several defense witnesses have testified about violent encounters McDonald had with authorities at a juvenile detention facility months earlier. And a truck driver testified that McDonald tried to stab him the night of the shooting. Prosecutors rested their case last week but could call more witnesses after the defense rests. Every time Chris Gilman leaves her home at the foot of Washington's Mount Rainier, she fights the gnawing urge to turn around and check that someone isn't about to shoot her. Sometimes she wins the battle. Sometimes she loses. In the year since the 48-year-old was nearly killed in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Gilman has had to get used to living with fear: She has nightmares about family members getting shot, she only sits in spots in restaurants where she can see the exits, and she has to mentally prepare herself for movies that might include rapid gunfire. And then there are crowds, the toughest new obstacle Gilman must brave since surviving the Oct. 1, 2017, massacre in Las Vegas, which killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others. Gilman was shot in the back; the bullet punctured a lung, lacerated her spleen and a kidney, broke two ribs and lodged 2 millimeters from her spinal cord. "There are times I'm at the grocery store and I feel that desire to turn around and look and see who's behind me," Gilman said. "I try to fight it, to just keep walking, and I think, 'You're at the grocery store. There's no one behind you with a gun.' But I always feel like I'm looking behind me." That feeling turned into panic at one of Gilman's first concerts since the shooting. Gilman and her wife of 18 years, Aliza Correa, were with friends at Seattle's KeyArena following an Aug. 11 concert when the surge of people around them became overwhelming. "All of a sudden I felt like the Tasmanian devil, where I was spinning in circles trying not to have anybody behind me," Gilman said. "I tensed up and thought, 'Here it comes, here it comes, I know I'm going to get shot. Who's behind me, who's behind me?' In your mind you know it's crazy to think that way, but when the visions come up it's hard to control." Gilman grabbed her wife's hand and told her she was freaking out, "but it was too late." "I was hyperventilating, and I ended up laying on the ground," said Gilman. Correa is struggling with her own trauma. She was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Vegas with Gilman when a lone gunman busted out the windows of his 32nd-floor hotel room and launched an 11-minute barraged of gunfire on the crowd below. The women were helping a wounded friend when the bullet tore through Gilman. Gilman laid down and told Correa to save herself. Correa refused to leave her side. "I said, 'If you die, I die, so if you don't want me to die, you have to get up," Correa said, recounting how she rolled Gilman over so her injured wife could Army-crawl for cover under some bleachers. From there, Gilman said she knew she couldn't go any farther. That's when two married off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, Alex and Wanda Valiente, came upon the couple. "My wife and I are going to get you out," Alex Valiente told Gilman. "I just need you to help us. I just need you to get up." Overcome with exhaustion and pain, Gilman told everyone: "Just leave me." The Valientes and Correa wouldn't budge. "Get up," Alex Valiente told Gilman. "You're not going to die. You're going to get up." Gilman did just that, and the Valientes helped carry her to a car as bullets continued flying around them. Correa tried to clear a path for them amid a sea of wounded people, bodies and chaos. They made it. Out of the chaos, to the hospital and eventually, back home to the idyllic community of Bonney Lake, an hour southeast of Seattle. Gilman and Correa live in a recently developed, well-kept and tight-knit community that borders between suburban and rural, offering crisp mountain air and lots of grassy open spaces. But coming home was just the beginning. Correa, an ultrasound technologist, recently stopped working with patients needing the scans, often used to find the sources of an illness. Watching someone quietly weep as their mind races through the possibility of a life-threatening condition became unbearable. Gilman is often on high alert, even on her front porch. In casual conversation, her hazel eyes dart between the person she's talking to and her surroundings from neighbors walking their dogs and the children playing in the street to the garbage truck passing by. There are many dark moments that remind them of things they can't forget. The physical nerve pain Gilman feels when Correa affectionately puts her arm on Gilman's hip out of habit. And though she has largely recovered and even had the bullet removed from her body in a subsequent surgery, she proceeds gingerly when she has to bend down and is frustrated that she struggles to exercise like she used to at the gym. There are waves of depression, the loss of freedom from fear, but also overwhelming gratitude for little things, like when Gilman got a card from an 8-year-old she never met who wrote: "I wish this never happened to you." Amid the struggle, the couple strives for normalcy, for experiences most people can enjoy without a second thought. Though they weren't regular concertgoers before the shooting, Gilman and Correa force themselves to get out in large, busy gatherings to face their fears. They also made themselves return to Vegas last month for a previously planned trip for Correa's mother's 70th birthday, a journey that induced panic for Gilman but became therapeutic by the end of the weekend. Gilman and Correa try to focus on what they're thankful for: each other, their friends and family, and the new relationships they've developed as a result of the shooting. The Valientes, the off-duty sheriff's deputies who helped save Gilman's life, have become like family. The group got separated the night of the shooting and it took Gilman about a month to find them. She tracked them down on a Facebook page created to help survivors find the people who helped them, and vice versa. The two couples got together at Christmas and plan to see each other again in October. For now, Gilman and Correa will keep trying, keep putting themselves in uncomfortable situations, and eventually, they hope, live with a little less fear. "Something bad happened in our life. It completely changed, and we're finding a new normal," Gilman said. "We can't ever go back to the way we were before." ___ Follow AP's coverage of the Las Vegas mass shooting here: https://apnews.com/tag/LasVegasmassshooting . A worker at a park where a North Carolina boy with autism went missing nearly a week ago said Wednesday he never saw the 6-year-old in the area prior to his disappearance. Rick Foxx, who called police last Saturday to report Maddox Ritch missing, told CBS News the boys father, Ian Ritch, and his friend, who has not been identified, didnt seem concerned about the child. Ritch had told police his son, who has nonverbal autism, ran ahead of him and disappeared from his view while they were at Rankin Lake Park, about 20 miles west of Charlotte. "It didn't look as though, they were that concerned," Foxx told CBS News, referring to the couple. "I've worked there almost three years and we see everybody come in and out of that park pretty much. I didn't see that kid one time." Foxx also told WSOC-TV that Ritch seemed out of breath when he approached him asking for help. Foxx added that he went out to look for Maddox and contacted police when he couldnt find the child. He didnt act like a concerned parent, like I would act, or any concerned parent would act, Foxx told the news station. The mother [Carrie Ritch] was really frantic. She was hysterical. She got out of the car, and one of the sheriffs deputies had to calm her. DAD OF MISSING NORTH CAROLINA BOY WITH AUTISM BLAMES HIMSELF FOR DISAPPEARANCE AS SEARCH CONTINUES The 911 call released by police Wednesday showed a park employee telling the dispatcher that Maddoxs parents and officials searched everywhere for the child, FOX46 reported. "The parents are out here looking, the park employee is heard saying. The park remains closed Thursday as the search continued. The FBI dive team was deployed Thursday to search the lake that serves as a reservoir, as other officials searched the surrounding marshlands and woods. Ritch on Wednesday said it has been torture watching the search for his son as officials entered the sixth day looking for Maddox. Im not eating. Im not sleeping, Ritch said at a news conference with Gastonia police and the FBI. Im just worried about getting my little boy back. I thought after the first night, he would be fine." I just want my little boy back home. I want to know hes safe. I want to give him a big hug as soon as I see him, he added. I just want to know hes safe. FBI OFFERS $10G REWARD IN HUNT FOR MISSING NORTH CAROLINA BOY WITH AUTISM Ritch said he couldnt catch up to his son when he ran ahead on Saturday, adding that he feels guilt for letting him get so far ahead. Police said Maddoxs mother, father and the friend who was at the park were fully cooperating with the investigation. Maddox is described as 4 feet, 45 pounds with blonde hair. He was last seen wearing an orange "I am the man" T-shirt and black shorts with a white stripe. Anyone with information is asked to contact a special tip line established by Gastonia Police, 704-869-1075. The FBI announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to Maddox. The Associated Press contributed to this report A 66-year-old U.S. Navy veteran dying from cancer has been selling his possessions at weekend yard sales to raise money for his own funeral, reports said Wednesday. Willie Davis, of Cambria County, Pa., was diagnosed with stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma. He plans to raise enough cash to be buried next to his parents in Culpepper, Va., according to his GoFundMe page. The page was created by two men, David Dunkleberger and his friend, Ed Sheets, after visiting Davis yard sale in Brownstown, Pa., in August. When they asked whose funeral Davis was financing, he replied: "Mine." "It broke your heart, hearing the story, and we just decided we had to do something to try and help him, try to make his life a little bit easier," Sheets told Johnstown, Pa.-based WJAC-TV. Davis served in the Navy from 1970-76 during the Vietnam War, the station reported. "He's done a lot serving our country, so we wanted to kind of return the favor to him so that, again, his last days could be a little less hectic, a little more peaceful for him," Sheets told the station. "It broke your heart, hearing the story, and we just decided we had to do something to try and help him, try to make his life a little bit easier." Ed Sheets, good Samaritan Dunkleberger and Sheets set the initial GoFundMe goal at $5,000, but to make Davis final wish of being buried beside his parents come true, they may need to raise as much as $15,000, WJAC-TV reported. The GoFundMe campaign reached its goal of $15,000 early Thursday, and the person who put the fundraiser over the top posted: I saw that $20 was needed to reach the goal and was honored to be the person to reach the finish line and ensure this Navy Veteran can know that his final expenses will be covered. Thank you for your sacrifices in defending the freedoms we still enjoy, sir. God bless you. The two men wrote that any leftover money would go to help another veteran in need. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A man on trial in the death of a North Dakota woman whose baby was cut from her womb denied any role in her death, testifying Thursday that when he walked into his apartment and heard a baby cry, he thought his girlfriend had given birth. William Hoehn, 33, disputed testimony from his now ex-girlfriend, Brooke Crews, that he took any part in the August 2017 slaying of Savanna Greywind, 22. Crews is serving life in prison after pleading guilty to murder. Hoehn is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He has admitted he helped to cover up the crime but denied knowing anything about Crews' plans to kill Greywind. Jurors got the case late Thursday, and deliberated for about 90 minutes with no verdict. They were due to return Friday morning. Crews testified this week that she didn't "explicitly" tell Hoehn what she planned to do, but said when he walked in on a bloody scene in the couple's apartment bathroom, he got a rope and twisted it around Greywind's neck to make sure she was dead. The judge said this testimony could be taken as evidence that Hoehn had agreed to participate in the crime. Crews also testified that she had faked a pregnancy to keep from losing Hoehn, and that when he figured out she was lying, she felt pressured to get a baby. Hoehn disputed that, saying he believed Crews was pregnant until the day of Greywind's death. Hoehn looked frequently at the jury during his testimony as he described arriving home that day and hearing a baby. "It wasn't a wail, it wasn't like a cry or nothing," he said. "It was a distinct baby sound. I remember feeling elated and I thought, 'Oh my god, she had the baby when I was at work.' " Hoehn said after he walked into the bathroom, he asked Crews, "Were you even pregnant?" He said she grabbed her stomach and said, "I think so." When Hoehn was asked by his attorney, Daniel Borgen, whether he had any agreement with Crews to kill Greywind and take her baby, Hoehn said: "Absolutely not. No, no, no." Attorneys on both sides told jurors in closing arguments that they would have to wade through testimony from questionable sources. Borgen called Crews "the most devious, skilled liar we have ever seen." Prosecutor Leah Viste said there's enough circumstantial evidence to prove conspiracy in a case where "everyone related to the event is a liar." "They made a plan and they carried out," Viste said of Hoehn and Crews, calling them "two people deep in dysfunction." Viste said Crews' testimony that she felt pressured to produce a baby and Hoehn's action when he came upon the scene in the bathroom are two ways the jurors can find intent. Borgen said there's no way to prove whether Greywind was alive when Hoehn got there, thus ruling out conspiracy. "'Perhaps he held the rope' was their argument," Borgen said. "Does that sound like beyond a reasonable doubt?" Greywind's death prompted North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to introduce Savanna's Act , which aims to improve tribal access to federal crime information databases and create standardized protocols for responding to cases of missing and slain Native American women . A similar bill has been introduced in the House. A former Penn State fraternity member will serve a year of probation for hazing and furnishing alcohol to a minor for events surrounding the death of a pledge nearly two years ago. The Centre Daily Times said 22-year-old Joseph Ems Jr. was also sentenced to community service and fined Thursday after apologizing and calling himself "a young boy who made bad decisions." The Philadelphia man is among about two dozen members of now-closed Beta Theta Pi to face charges that stemmed from the investigation into the death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza, of Lebanon, N.J. Investigators say Piazza consumed a dangerous amount of alcohol and suffered serious head and abdominal injuries the night of a pledge bid acceptance ceremony. Ems' charges relate to giving pink lemonade vodka to a pledge. A "severely autistic" woman weighed 45 pounds when her body was found locked in a feces-filled room in Southern California around seven months ago, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Authorities found the body of Kaylina Anderson, 18, on March 10 in a home in Mesa Verde in the most southeastern part of California, near the Arizona border. Her stepfather Steven Williams, 40, and mother Jill Williams, 36, were both charged with murder, the Desert Sun of Palm Springs reported. Anderson's body was found in a room containing only an air mattress with "feces found everywhere," Lisa DiMaria, a Riverside County deputy district attorney, told the paper. "It appears she was confined to the room 24 hours a day," DiMaria said. Her parents were arrested March 14, and were being held on $1 million bail each at the Riverside County Jail, Palm Springs' KESQ-TV reported. The couple was also charged with abuse of a dependent adult and child endangerment, Palm Springs' KMIR-TV reported. Investigators said in March that the victim suffered "severe mental disabilities requiring her to have full-time care and supervision," the Desert Sun reported. "Due to her diminished physical appearance and substandard living conditions, investigators from the Blythe Station and the sheriff's Central Homicide Unit responded to the scene and assumed the investigation," the Riverside County Sheriff's Office told KMIR. Three boys no older than 6 also lived at the home, the report said. They were placed into custody of Riverside County Child Protective Services. DiMaria said the boys did not have any visible bruises or injuries, according to the paper. A GoFundMe campaign called "Justice for Kaylina Anderson" was set up in her memory to lay her to rest. Ugandans will now do away with worries of the bad effects high humidity to buildings and other structures as Sadolin Paint, first founded in 1907 has launched a new exterior paint-Wallguard that provides the best protection against the damaging effect of humidity and mould. The first of its kind on the Ugandan market, Sadolin Wallguard, unlike other brands, offers the smooth finish and colour expected from high quality paint but also features unique Mouldex Moisture Resist technology. Developed by an international task team to meet the harsh local climatic requirements, Sadolin Wallguards Mouldex Moisture Resist has a dual purpose. The paint now available in hardware stores countrywide allows harmful trapped moisture to escape while creating an impermeable barrier that stops outside moisture from getting in. This breakthrough technology makes Sadolin Wallguards performance superior to other paints and provides the assurance that the paint work will resist mould attack for longer. Stories Continues after ad Commenting on the new product, Nathalie Sweeney, Marketing Director AkzoNobel Sub-Sahara Africa said the company was thrilled to launch the new paint on the market. We are thrilled to launch Sadolin Wallguard, leading to a comprehensive range of protective paint for walls, roofs and exterior surface preparation to address the damaging effects of humidity, she said. Sweeney added: Humidity and mould can really make a house look old before its time but now with the new Sadolin Wallguard with Mouldex Moisture Resist, walls will look cleaner and mould-free for longer. Deon Nieuwoudt, the Commercial Director East Africa at AkzoNobel said that as Grand Masters of Protection since 1907, Sadolin does not only provide exceptional colour and finish to customers but also meets the modern exterior protection needs required from premium paint products. The new Sadolin Wallguard with Mouldex moisture resist specially made for Uganda offers ultimate protection and it gives longer lasting protection in extreme humidity, said Mr. Nieuwoudt. The new range of exterior paint products also boasts Sadolin Roofguard, a pure acrylic paint that offers roof tops excellent protection and durability; Sadolin Rainshield, a flexible, fibre-reinforced water and crack reistant surface preparation waterproofing product for areas prone to water leaks and Dampshield, a low-odour, quick drying water based preparation product that stops the destructive effect of rising and penetrating damp. These four new specialist exterior products together with well-known Sadolin Weatherguard take exterior protection in harsh and humid climates to a whole new level. AkzoNobel-previously known as Nobel Industries acquired Sadolin& Holmbland in 1987 and is the proud custodian of the Sadolin brand in East Africa and across multiple markets internationally. The company produces other paint brands like; Dulux, Sikkens, International, Interpon and Eka. A Texas inmate maintained his innocence and insisted he didnt murder his ex-roommate just moments before he was executed on Wednesday. Troy Clark, 51, said in his final statement, in front of several friends watching through a window, that its all good, despite denying he tortured and drowned his former roommate, Christina Muse, in May 1998. "I'm not the one who killed Christina," Clark said. "But, hey, whatever makes you happy." As the drugs were coursing through his body, Clark said that it burned going in and laughed. "I feel it," he said. Clark was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m. Wednesday 21 minutes after a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital was injected in his body. NEBRASKA USES FENTANYL FOR FIRST TIME IN EXECUTION Clark, a drug dealer, was sentenced to death in 2000 after he was convicted of killing Muse out of fear she would snitch on him. Clark subdued the 20-year-old with a stun gun, bound her with duct tape and left her in a closet for several hours while he played video games and sold drugs to a customer, prosecutors said. Clark later moved Muse to a bathroom where he hit her with a board and threatened his then-girlfriend, Tory Bush, into helping him drown Muse in the tub. Muse's body was then stuffed into a barrel with cement mix and lime before being dumped in a ravine. During the trial, Clark taunted the jury by saying, I really ain't got no story to tell. It's just I want the death penalty. Clark has repeatedly denied for years any involvement in Muses death. He claimed he was delivering drugs when Muse was killed, the Houston Chronicle reported. His lawyers also pointed that there was no physical evidence that connected Clark to the slaying. But Bush testified in court admitting to the murder and blaming Clark. Bush received 20 years in prison. "There was pretty strong evidence that he was guilty. Tory Bush was pretty damning," said Bobby Mims, one of Clark's trial attorneys. Clark was also accused of murdering two other people, including one killing that was committed after Muse was killed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Authorities in South Carolina said two people were killed Thursday when a midsize jet ran off the runway and split in two. Greenville Downtown Airport Director Joe Frasher told Fox Carolina that the plane landed but could not come to a stop on the runway. Frasher said the plane rolled down an embankment and crashed into a fence at the edge of a road. Frasher said that four people -- two pilots and two passengers -- were aboard. The victims were not identified. Officials told Fox Carolina that three on the jet were transported to a local hospital, but the fourth was trapped in the plane. That person's condition was not immediately clear. Greenville police Chief Ken Miller asked drivers to avoid the area because the jet was leaking fuel. The Dassault-Breguet Falcon 50 was registered out of Delaware to Global Aircraft Acquisitions. Click for more from FoxCarolina.com. An Army veteran who lost his left arm and leg while serving in Iraq will have to wait a bit longer for a house that was being built especially for him -- because two teenagers vandalized the home under construction, officials said. Police in Hanson, Massachusetts said they responded to a report Monday of vandalism at the construction site of the future home of Paul Skarinka, who served as a corporal with the U.S. Army. Officials said they found that 24 custom windows and three doors had been destroyed along with some already-installed lighting. They estimated the damage to cost more than $50,000. This incident is disheartening, Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch said in a statement on Facebook. When a veteran and his family, who have sacrificed so much for our country, become the victim of a senseless crime, it hurts us all. Skarinka told Boston 25 he was critically injured eight months into his first tour in Iraq in September 2004. His unit came under enemy fire while on a mission outside of Bagdad when they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade explosion. He underwent 22 surgeries that included the amputation of his left leg below the knee and partial amputation of his left arm. He is now a firefighter and paramedic in Plympton. The new house is being funded by Jared Allens Home for Wounded Warriors along with the New England Carpenters Training Fund and Commodore Builders, the news station reported. Our house, we wanted a lot of windows because we wanted the natural light and where the house was, was so nice and its a really nice lot on three acres, Skarinka told Boston 25 on Wednesday. One or two windows, thats one thing, but you made an effort and pretty much went out of your way to break every single window that was in that house. Neighbors reported they spotted two teenagers in the area Saturday night. They were later identified via surveillance video from neighbors. The teens were taken to the police station by their parents Monday night and police said the parents are fully cooperating with the investigation. The parents of the two young men have been very helpful and respectful, Miksch said in a subsequent statement. Their children are accused of doing something stupid that in time we hope to use to teach them a valuable lesson about sacrifice. The two teenagers have been charged with vandalism and will appear in Plymouth Juvenile Court at a later date. Hopefully, the punishment fits the crime, Skarinka said. Thats some malicious intent there if you want to break all the windows. You dont have respect for peoples property. Jared Allens Home for Wounded Warriors told Boston 25 they have pushed back the move in date by about five weeks. If all goes well, the family hopes to celebrate their Thanksgiving in their new home. A fundraising campaign was created to help raise additional funds for the house and Skarinkas family. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 The Vatican's breakthrough agreement to give China some say over bishop appointments has critics accusing the church of caving in to the ruling Communist Party just as it is waging a sweeping crackdown on religion. Others say it's an imperfect but much-needed step toward uniting Catholics in the world's most populous country. The agreement is a step toward addressing the long-cherished hope of bringing together China's 12 million Catholics who are divided between those worshipping in state-sanctioned churches and the underground priests and parishioners loyal to the pope, who are frequently detained and harassed. The specifics of the deal announced over the weekend are unknown. Pope Francis said this week that the agreement allows for a discussion with China on the naming of bishops but that ultimately the pope will decide. "The thing is done in dialogue," he said. "But Rome names. The pope names. This is clear." Even though the Vatican will retain the power to put forward candidates, Beijing will likely be given the right to refuse them, said Anthony Lam, an expert on the Chinese church at the Holy Spirit Study Center in Hong Kong. "I myself believe that in the process, the Holy See will agree to give the right of veto to the Beijing government," Lam said, adding that the Vatican had little choice but to accept China's terms. The agreement calls for the Vatican to recognize seven bishops who had been appointed by Beijing without papal consent while also arranging for two legitimate bishops who remain loyal to Rome to step aside. Such moves are seen as a concession on the Vatican's part in the face of Beijing's assertion that it would not allow "foreign forces" to govern the country's faith groups. The Vatican has made "the unusual compromises in order to reach this agreement, while China has given not an inch, almost nothing, up to this moment," said Fenggang Yang, director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University. Already, militant atheists posting online are likening the Vatican's move to Japan's surrender at the end of the World War II for which the Communist Party takes credit, he said. Still, with that, the Vatican said all bishops in China are now in communion with Rome. The Vatican said the agreement was provisional, suggesting it could be revisited periodically. In a letter Wednesday to the Chinese faithful, the pope urged Chinese Catholics to trust him. It appeared aimed at acknowledging the deep reservations of some underground faithful, for whom the deal represents a sell-out to the Communist government and betrayal of their decades of loyalty to the pope. Francis acknowledged these Chinese "sense themselves somehow abandoned" and expressed his "sincere admiration" for their fidelity over the years. The aim of the deal, he said, is to begin a process for the first time that "we hope will help to heal the wounds of the past, restore full communion among all Chinese Catholics, and lead to a phase of greater fraternal cooperation." Whether the agreement holds depends on a multitude of factors, including the government's level of suspicion and how willing the underground church is to cooperate. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, among the fiercest critics of the Vatican's rapprochement with Beijing, has already denounced the agreement as a betrayal of underground clergy and their congregants who were often persecuted for their defiance of the state. China has been tightening controls on all religions, especially Christianity and Islam that are viewed as foreign imports and potential challengers to Communist authority. Authorities have removed or demolished crosses from even officially sanctioned churches, shuttered churches, and at least in one township, replaced posters of Jesus Christ with portraits of President Xi Jinping in what is being called the harshest anti-religion campaign since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. The Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, whose AsiaNews agency closely covered negotiations between the Vatican and China, said the party's departments responsible for religious affairs are all loath to lose absolute power over the church and may attempt to wreck the agreement, as they have with past understandings. The sides may have rushed the agreement so they have something to show for three years of dialogue, Cervellera said. "A provisional agreement is better than nothing," Cervellera said. With the Chinese church in need of at least 18 new bishops, the agreement can help reduce the chances of further schism, he said. It's not clear what will happen to the roughly 30 underground bishops who will now be expected to heed the government and join the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, something many are loath to do. Shanghai Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin was whisked away into house arrest shortly after renouncing his membership in the association. Six years later, he has yet to appear in public again. China also maintains its longstanding demand that the Holy See cut ties with Taiwan before it can normalize diplomatic relations with Beijing that were severed nearly 70 years ago. That will likely only happen after the Vatican obtains further assurances about the rights of Chinese Catholics to worship unimpeded, observers say. However, a government statement Sunday gave no indication that greater freedoms were in the offing, saying instead that the Chinese church would continue to operate under the principles of "independence, self-government and self-regulation" while adhering to socialism and the leadership of the Communist Party. Yet some Chinese Catholics do see signs for hope. The Rev. Peng Zhekang, a priest in the diocese of Guo Xijin, one of two legitimate bishops being asked by the Vatican to step aside, called the agreement "a good thing and a good start." "Because dialogue is better than confrontation," Peng said. ___ Associated Press writers Gillian Wong in Beijing and Nicole Winfield in Vatican City contributed to this report. WikiLeaks on Wednesday replaced Julian Assange as editor-in-chief with onetime spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson. The ramifications of the move are unclear. I condemn the treatment of Julian Assange that leads to my new role, Hrafnsson said, as The Daily Dot reported, but I welcome the opportunity to secure the continuation of the important work based on WikiLeaks ideals. The organization was founded and has been led for more than a decade by Assange, but the silver-haired Australian has been isolated in legal limbo at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012. WikiLeaks tweeted that Assange will stay on as the groups publisher. Assange had his communications cut in March by Ecuadors new president, Lenin Moreno, and Wednesdays statement said the 47-year-old ex-hacker remained incommunicado. WikiLeaks job titles have proven fluid over the years. Assange has described himself variously as the groups spokesman, publisher and editor. Hrafnsson, a longtime friend of Assange, said that it remains to be seen whether his change in responsibility will be permanent. The Dot reported that Hrafnsson is an Icelandic journalist with multiple awards for his work. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Toronto man scheduled to be kicked out of Canada for being a member of MS-13 has asked officials not to deport him because his skull, knuckle and body tattoos could cost him his life in his native El Salvador. Rene Pacheco was granted a temporary reprieve after successfully arguing that his tattoos would make him the target of rival gangs and law enforcement officials in the small Central American country. Pacheco is a permanent resident in Canada and has not lived in El Salvador for 20 years but is not a Canadian citizen. The 25-year-old, who goes by the nickname Machete, was arrested in 2016 on a number of criminal charges. While in custody and awaiting trial, Canada Border Services Agency officers interviewed him. DOZENS OF MS-13 GANG MEMBERS CHARGED FOLLOWING DRUG, MURDER PROBE, U.S. ATTORNEY SAYS It was during that meeting, the National Post first reported, that Pacheco allegedly bragged to agents about his ties to the notorious gang. MS-13, short for La Mara Salvatrucha, is primarily composed of immigrants and descendants from El Salvador and is widely known for their extreme brutality. Pacheco allegedly showed officers a tattoo of the number 13 on the back of his hand, a teardrop inking on his face as well as a number of other permanent markings on his body. He told agents he was initiated into the gang by surviving a 13-second beating. His Facebook page even featured gang graffiti and signs. Pachecos story was believable enough for officers to order his deportation for being a member of a criminal organization. But he then changed his story and denied all ties to the gang. I made a bad decision getting these tattoos not knowing it was going to relate to this, Pacheco said at an immigration hearing in 2017. MOM HONORED BY TRUMP AFTER MS-13 KILLED HER DAUGHTER IS STRUCK, KILLED BY SUV NEAR MEMORIAL SITE He claimed the number 13 tattooed on him was merely his lucky number and said the teardrop on his face was a tribute to his father who was murdered in El Salvador. Pacheco also claimed he learned about MS-13 by watching YouTube videos and said he was on drugs when he spoke to CBSA agents from his jail cell. I am not a member, he said. I made a mistake Innocent people are dying back in my country and here I am getting these tattoos thinking its a joke not realizing the consequences that it brings. A federal court judge didnt buy his reversal and upheld his deportation sentence. Running out of time, Pacheo applied for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, a last-ditch effort to remain in the country. I understand that if someone arrives in El Salvador with tattoos and they think they are in a gang they can kill them, torture them or immediately throw them in prison, he said in his appeal. I can be the target of gangs there for trying to impersonate them. Therefore my life is in danger and I have no hope of being protected. His petition was denied. MS-13 MEMBER IN VIRGINIA PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDER FOR HACKING MAN TO DEATH WITH MACHETE He appealed the decision to a federal court and was granted a temporary stay. Judge E. Susan Elliott noted that Pacheos tattoos were a catalyst for a perceived risk and ordered a new assessment by a different officer. In coming to her decision, Elliott noted a U.S. Department of State report that highlighted the arbitrary deprivation of life gang members face by authorities. This was particularly important as he would be returned to El Salvador for being a member of the MS-13 gang, despite his post-interview denials of such membership, she wrote in her decision. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Anti-India protests and clashes erupted in several places in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after Indian troops killed a young man, officials and residents said, and an Indian soldier and a rebel were killed in a separate gunbattle. Residents in Indian-controlled Kashmir's main city, Srinagar, said government forces shot and killed the young man during a raid early Thursday. The man worked as a shepherd and he was attending to his sheep when troops fired at him, they said. Police have yet to make a statement. The killing triggered protests and clashes as hundreds of people poured into streets at several places in downtown Srinagar calling for the end of Indian rule. They chanted slogans like "Go India, go back" and "We want freedom" as some of the residents barraged police and paramilitary soldiers with stones. Government troops fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to quell the protests while authorities restricted movement in old quarters of the city. Later thousands attended the man's burial. Elsewhere, India's army said a soldier and a rebel were killed Thursday in a gunbattle in southern Qazigund area. Col. Rajesh Kalia, an army spokesman, said the troops raided a village in the area on a tip that some militants were hiding there, leading to exchange of gunfire. He said the operation was ongoing. Also on Thursday, at least two militants were trapped in a mosque after troops laid a siege around it in Panzan village, police said. As the siege continued, villagers tried to march toward mosque in solidarity with the rebels, leading to clashes between stone-throwing protesters and government forces who deployed tear smoke shells and pellets. No one was immediately reported injured in both the clashes. Most Kashmiris support the rebel cause of unifying the divided region either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. In recent years, mainly young Kashmiris have displayed open solidarity with rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations. Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 In a remote outpost in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Ibrahim Abu-Sefira watches a mountainous skyline of jagged rock, ears tuned to the twilight silence, listening for any signs a fragile peace may be disturbed. An elder from the Bedouin Tayaha tribe, he has seen armies, both Egyptian and Israeli, pass through this vast desert. Now the area is the center of a yearslong, bloody conflict between the Egyptian military and a local affiliate of the Islamic State group. In a switch from the past, the military has begun arming Bedouin tribesmen like Abu-Sefira and having them patrol in operations against the IS militants deep in the peninsula's interior, where their local knowledge gives them an advantage, Abu-Sefira and other Bedouin say. "We have to do it, it's our duty to make the people feel safe from the terrorists who were killing us," Abu-Sefira told The Associated Press by telephone from a checkpoint he was manning along with a dozen other men from the area, near the Halal mountains where the IS affiliate has been known to stockpile weapons and equipment. The military has not publicly acknowledged arming and using the Bedouin as a fighting force, saying only that they cooperate and provide intelligence. In the past, security forces have been wary of giving weapons to the Bedouin, given the long history of tensions with the tribesmen. The shift appears to be an attempt to bring the Sinai population more onto the government's side in the fight. Egypt has struggled to defeat the insurgency, led by the IS affiliate known as the Sinai Province of the Islamic State. For years, the epicenter of the conflict has been in a triangle of towns and cities in the northeast corner of Sinai on the Mediterranean coast. The insurgency gained momentum after general-turned-President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi led the army's overthrow in 2013 of the elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi. Thousands of security forces and civilians have been killed, and thousands more arrested in what critics describe as a heavy-handed security crackdown. Homes have been destroyed, and heavy restrictions imposed on the movement of people and goods. The war has largely taken place hidden from the public eye, with journalists, non-residents and outside observers barred from the area. The conflict has also been kept at a distance from tourist resorts at the southern end of the peninsula. In February, the military launched a massive operation in Sinai that also extended to encompass parts of the Nile Delta and deserts along the country's western border with Libya. Since then, the pace of IS attacks in Sinai's main theater has slowed to a trickle. In the operation, the army has employed a force known as the Abdelsalam group, with several thousand Bedouin, deployed in central parts of Sinai. Their main role is to accompany troops on patrols and raids searching for weapons caches, as well as manning checkpoints to control roads, tribesmen have told the AP. Usually if fighting erupts, the Bedouin move back while security forces engage, but "some of us even stay and fight up front," says Abu-Sefira, who patrols several times a week with the army. The tribesmen estimate that around 100 Bedouin have been killed, whether in gunbattles or by roadside bombs. They said they operate under Egypt's Third Army and are regularly attached to its units, with 4x4s and armored vehicles. The Bedouin role points to how the fight has expanded beyond the coastal towns deep into the desert landscape of the peninsula. The tribesmen spoke of operating in areas as far as 90 miles (150 kilometers) south of the coast. "Central Sinai is now mostly cleared," said Saleh Ibn-Rashid, also of the Tayaha tribe. He said the army offered his unit assault rifles, light machine guns, body armor and helmets. "They treat us like soldiers and give us everything we need," he said, adding that his men have uncovered explosives, fuel supplies, cars and other equipment in homes and caves. Allison McManus, a research director at the U.S.-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said the military benefits from the Bedouins' knowledge of the terrain and local intelligence. But cooperation "should be part of a long-term strategy that includes plans for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration to avoid protracted armed conflict once the insurgency is defeated," she said. Tribesmen were already providing scouts and intelligence to the military under a broader organization, the Sinai Tribes Union. There have also been local arrangements with armed Bedouin in key combat zones near the Gaza border. The Abdelsalam group represents a more direct cooperation, arming the Bedouin who do not serve in the military in a militia-like arrangement over a larger area. The development recalls the Sahwa movement in Iraq, where U.S. forces armed Sunni tribesmen to fight al-Qaida after the outbreak of Iraq's sectarian fighting in 2006, although in the Egyptian case the weapons are likely lighter and fewer. IS statements have referred to the Sinai tribal forces as "Sahwa" which in jihadi parlance denounces them as turncoats. The Sahwa experience in Iraq also provides a warning. Some fighters in the Sunni militias later joined militants after the Shiite-led Iraqi government shunned the Sahwa. The Egyptian military in the past balked at arming the Bedouins for fear the weapons could be turned against security forces. The Bedouins have long complained of discrimination by the government, lack of development and abuses by security forces. The tribesmen contacted by the AP said they were participating voluntarily, without pay. One, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said they believe an end to the militants would mean the army would build more infrastructure in the impoverished area. Greenfly, the online name of a blogger who tracks open source information on the Egyptian military, said that at the very least, the cooperation shows local residents expect the army to win eventually. "They're not there out of the goodness of their hearts it's clear self-interest and they want to side with the victors." ___ Follow Brian Rohan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Brian_Rohan ___ Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the U.N. Geral Assembly on Thursday, accused Iran of masking a nuclear warehouse inside a rug-cleaning plant. Netanyahu appeared to disclose information about the atomic warehouse that was otherwise classified. What I'm about to say has not been shared publicly before, he said before pulling up what looked to be satellite images of the supposed location, titled Irans Secret Atomic Sites. The Israeli leader called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate the findings, claiming it has not taken any action thus far. It has not posed a single question of Iran. It has not demanded to inspect a single new site discovered in that secret archive," Netanyahu said. "So I decided to reveal today something else that we revealed to the IAEA and to other intelligence agencies." He brandished visual aids a posterboard map, then a posterboard photo, then another map. Netanyahu vigorously opposes a 2015 deal curbing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of sanctions. Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons. President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in May. The prime minister is known for its showmanship at the General Assembly. In 2012, he famously held up a poster of a cartoon bomb while discussing Iran's nuclear program. The Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 A court in Thailand has convicted a local businessman of fraud for selling fake bomb detectors to the Thai government, five years after a court in the United Kingdom sentenced the British head of the company that supplied them to seven years in prison in a scandal that was worldwide in scale. Thailand's military drew criticism and ridicule in 2010 when the GT200 bomb detectors which were claimed to also be capable of detecting drugs and other substances were exposed as worthless pseudo-scientific instruments. Many millions of dollars of the devices were sold to the Thai army and other security forces around the world. Even after they were proven to be useless, they continued for a time to be used in several countries, including hot spots such as Iraq and southern Thailand, where there is an active Muslim insurgency. The high price of the devices and the fact that prices varied considerably also raised suspicion that corruption was involved in their purchase. The Thai government's Science and Technology Ministry found in 2010 that the detectors had a successful detection rate of only 20 percent. Nevertheless, then-army commander Gen. Anupong Paochinda the interior minister in the current military government denied any corruption and lauded the device's various "successes." Thailand had bought more than 700 of the detectors starting in 2004 at a total cost of about $21 million. The current defense minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, defended the military's handling of the affair Thursday, telling reporters the devices had been tested and found working at the time of purchase, so there had been no wrongdoing by the military. Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said Thursday that Thai authorities had stopped using the GT200 devices "ever since foreign governments proved that they are ineffective" and that various military departments are gradually filing lawsuits against companies that sold the fake bomb detectors to them. Sutthiwat Wathanakij, manager of AVIA Satcom Co. Ltd., on Wednesday was convicted of fraud for three GT200 sales contracts and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. He had already received a 10-year prison sentence last week for selling the bomb detectors to the Thai army under 12 other sales contracts worth 600 million baht ($18.5 million). The GT200 was one of several similar fraudulent devices sold by a loosely connected group of shady, mostly British operators. After Britain banned the export of one of the similar devices in 2010, the scheme started to unravel as independent tests proved the devices were totally ineffective and had no scientific basis. The United Kingdom banned the export of the GT200 devices in 2010 when it accused maker Global Technical Ltd. of fraud. British authorities that year raided the offices of Global Technical and two other makers of similar fraudulent bomb detectors. British businessman Gary Bolton, who led Global Technical, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a U.K. court in August 2013 and ordered to pay over $1.6 million. Some officials still defend the GT200. Surasak Kirivichien, a member of the anti-corruption commission investigating officials involved with the procurement of the GT200, recently said it is difficult to assess the value of the device, comparing it to the amulets many Buddhist Thais wear as lucky charms. "This equipment was purchased for soldiers to be used as defensive weapons in a high-risk environment," he said in an interview last month with Thailand's PPTV. "People working in such areas are risking their lives. The equipment, even though it may not be efficient, has a high morale value. It's better than having nothing at all, that's what people at the operational level feel." Wora-at Soontorn-apichart, lawyer for the convicted Sutthiwat, said he would appeal the court's ruling, making the argument that his client could not be blamed because the GT200 devices were turned over to the army as soon as they arrived in Thailand by air, so could not be tested by Sutthiwat's company, which was just selling a device that met the contract's specifications. The court acquitted two co-defendants who were AVIA Satcom company employees. Sutthiwat was released on 900,000 baht ($27,745) bail. Recreating the THX Deep Note If youve ever watched a movie in a movie theater, chances are that you are familiar with the Deep Note, the audio logo of THX. That sound is one of the first sounds we hear at the beginning of movie trailers in a THX-certified venue. Ive always been fascinated with that great distinctive crescendo, starting from an eerie cluster of tones and ending with a full range bright and grand finale. What an ear treat! Yesterday, (probably) out of nowhere, the origins of that sound tickled my curiosity and I did some little research. Im deeply moved by the history behind it, and I want to share what Ive learned with you. Then we will move on to create that sound ourselves, get your scissors ready, and some glue! The best source of information I could find about the sound, which I think is a complete electro-acoustic composition, is from the great Music Thing Blog. It is from a blog post from 2005. The link to the post is here. So here is some trivia: It was made by Dr. James Andy Moorer in 1982. At one point in history, it was being played 4000 times a day, almost every 20 seconds! A quote from Dr. Moorer: I like to say that the THX sound is the most widely-recognized piece of computer-generated music in the world. This may or may not be true, but it sounds cool! It was generated in a mainframe computer called ASP (Audio Signal Processor) which was able to synthesize the sound in real-time. It took 20000 lines of C code to write a program that generated the score for the ASP to play. The generated score was consisting of 250000 lines of statements which were to be obeyed by the ASP. The oscillators used as the voices are using a digitized cello tone as a waveform. Dr. Moorer recalls the waveform as having something around 12 audible harmonics. The ASP was able to run 30 oscillators of this sort in real-time. (In comparison, the notebook computer I happen to be using right now can handle more than 1000 of them without a glitch). The sound itself is copyrighted, but here is a problem: The code Dr. Moorer wrote has generative characteristics (i.e. it relies on random number generators), so each time you generate a score and feed the resulting statements to the ASP, the generated sound is somewhat different. So I dont really think that it is safe to say that the process itself is or can be copyrighted. The sound itself, yeah that one is covered. It debuted in the THX trailer of the Return of the Jedi before its premiere in 1983. The generative characteristics of the process became troublesome at some point. After the release of the piece with Return of the Jedi, the original recording of the Deep Note was lost. Dr. Moorer recreated the piece for the company but they kept complaining that it wasnt sounding the same as the original one. Eventually, the original recording was found and kept in a safer place from then. Dr. Dre asked for permission to sample the sound for his music but was turned down. He used it anyway and got sued. Metastasis which is an Iannis Xenakis composition (1954) has a very similar opening crescendo (among other works by various composers). It starts with a single tone instead, and lands on a semi dissonant tone cluster instead of a consonant one as in Deep Note. The sound recording used for the patent application can be listened from here: http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/soundex/74309951.mp3 Be sure to listen the sound because we will be referring to that particular recording when we have a go at recreating the Deep Note. You may also listen other instances of this piece: http://www.thx.com/cinema/trailers.html Here is some technical/theoretical trivia before we start synthesizing: This is my observation: The original recording at United States Patent and Trademark Office website has a fundamental pitch which just stands between D and Eb, but the newer renditions on more recent features has a fundamental between E and F. Ill use the original D/Eb fundamental in my recreation attempt. The newer stuff is usually shorter if Im not mistaken. Its clearly obvious that I like the one submitted to the patent office better. According to Dr. Moorer (and also confirmed by my ears) the piece starts with oscillators tuned to random frequencies between 200Hz and 400Hz. But the oscillators are not simply buzzing their sounds, their frequencies are modulated randomly, and they use smoothers to smooth out the random pitch transitions. This goes on until the crescendo is initiated later in the piece. Inside the crescendo and in the final landing sound, the randomizers are still modulating the frequencies of the oscillators, so no oscillator is stable at any given moment. But the random sweep range is narrow so it merely adds an organic / chorus-y feel to the sound sources. Dr. Moorer recalls the digitized cello sound had around 12 audible harmonics in its spectrum. To my knowledge, the written score (which was used to get the copyright) was never released, but Dr. Moorer says he can supply the score if we can get permission from THX, though I think that is not really necessary for an attempt at recreating the piece. The final landing sound (technically not a chord) is just stacked up octaves of the fundamental, to my ears. So when recreating the piece, we will start with randomly tuned (between 200Hz and 400Hz) oscillators, make a semi-sophisticated sweep and land at stacked up octaves on a fundamental that sits between low D/Eb. So lets get going. SuperCollider is my tool of choice here. I start with a simple waveform. I want to use a sawtooth wave as the oscillator source, it has a rich and harmonic spectrum consisting of even and odd partials. Ill want to filter the upper partials later on. Here is some beginning code: //30 oscillators together, distributed across the stereo field ( { var numVoices = 30 ; //generating initial random fundamentals: var fundamentals = { rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ; Mix ({ | numTone | var freq = fundamentals [ numTone ]; Pan2 . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), //stereo placement of voices numVoices . reciprocal //scale the amplitude of each voice ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) I chose to have 30 oscillators for sound generation, congruent with the capabilities of the ASP computer as reported by Dr. Moorer. Ive created an array of 30 random frequencies between 200Hz and 400Hz, distributed them randomly across the stereo field with Pan2.ar and with the argument rrand(-0.5, 0.5), assigned the freqs to the sawtooth oscillators (30 instances). Here is how it sounds: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... Now if we examine the info provided by Dr. Moorer, and/or listen closely to the original piece, we can hear that the pitches of the oscillators drift up and down randomly. We want to add this for a more organic feel. The frequency scale is logarithmic, so lower frequencies should have narrower wobbling ranges than higher frequencies. We can implement it by sorting our randomly generated frequency values, and assigning LFNoise2 (which generates quadratically interpolated random values) mul arguments in order inside our Mix macro. And I also added a lowpass filter for the oscillators whose cutoff frequencies are 5 * freq of oscilator with moderate 1/q: //adding random wobbling to freqs, sorting randoms, lowpassing ( { var numVoices = 30 ; //sorting to get high freqs at top var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; Mix ({ | numTone | //fundamentals are sorted, so higher frequencies drift more. var freq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 5 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) Here is how it sounds with the latest tweaks: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... This sounds like a good starting point, so lets start implementing our sweep, initially in a very crude way. To implement the sweep, we first need to define our final landing pitches for each of the oscillator. This is not very straightforward, but not very hard either. The fundamental tone should be the pitch that is right in between low D and Eb, so the midi pitch for that tone would be 14.5 (0 is C, count up chromatically, Im skipping the first octave). So we need to map our freq arguments for 30 oscillators from random frequencies between 200Hz and 400Hz to 14.5 and to its octaves. By ear, Ive chosen to use the first 6 octaves. So our final array of destination frequencies will be: ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; Well be using a sweep that goes from 0 to 1. The random frequencies will be multiplied by (1 sweep), and the destination frequencies will be multiplied by sweep itself. So when sweep is 0 (beginning) freq will be the random one, when it is 0.5, it will be ((random + destination) / 2), and when it is 1, the freq will be our destination value. Here is our modified code: //creating the initial sweep (crude), creating final pitches ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 1 ], [ 13 ])); Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ]; var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 5 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal //scale the amplitude of each voice ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) Here is the sound: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... As I said earlier, this is a very crude sweep. It goes linearly from 0 to 1, which is not congruent with the original composition. Also you should have noticed that the final octaves sounds AWFUL because they are tuned to perfect octaves, and fuse into each other, having fundamental-overtone relationships between them. We will fix this by adding random wobbling to the final pitches, just as we did with the initial random pitches, and it will sound much much more organic. So we should fix the frequency sweep envelope first. The earlier envelope was just for trying the formulas (and the final landing) out. If we observe the original piece, we can see that there is very little change in organization for the first 5-6 seconds. After that there is a fast and exponential sweep that lands the oscillators to the final octave spaced destinations. Here is the envelope Ive chosen: sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 5 , 8 ], [ 2 , 5 ])); It takes 5 seconds to go from 0 to 0.1, and 8 seconds to go from 0.1 to 1. The curvatures for the segments are 2 and 5. Well see how that worked out, but we also need to fix the final sound spacings. Just as we did with the random frequencies, we will add random wobbles with LFNoise2 whose range will be proportional to the final frequency of the oscillator. This will make the finale sound much more organic. Here is the modified code: //tweaking the envelope, detuning the final chord ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 5 , 8 ], [ 2 , 5 ])); Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.1 , ( numTone / 4 )); var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 8 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal ) } ! numVoices ); }. play ; ) Here, Ive also tweaked the cutoff frequency of the lowpass filter to my liking. I like tweaking stuff, until it alienates me from what Ive been working on Anyway. Here is the resulting sound: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... Im not really happy with this envelope either. It needs a longer initialization and faster finish. Or wait Do I have to have the same envelope for every oscillator? Absolutely not! Each oscillator should have its own envelope with slightly different time and curve values, and I bet it will be more interesting. And the high frequency overtones of the random sawtooth cluster is a bit annoying, so Im adding a lowpass to the sum, whose cutoff is controlled by a global outer envelope that has nothing to do with the envelopes of the oscillators. Here is the modified code: //custom envelopes. lowpass at end ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var outerEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 8 , 4 ], [ 2 , 4 ])); var snd = Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 3 * ( numTone + 1 )); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.1 , ( numTone / 4 )); var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , rrand ( 0.1 , 0.2 ), 1 ], [ rrand ( 5.0 , 6 ), rrand ( 8.0 , 9 )], [ rrand ( 2.0 , 3.0 ), rrand ( 4.0 , 5.0 )])); var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 8 , 0.5 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), numVoices . reciprocal ) } ! numVoices ); BLowPass . ar ( snd , 2000 + ( outerEnv * 18000 ), 0.5 ); }. play ; ) The slightly out of phase envelopes rendered the sweep slightly more interesting. Lowpass at 2000Hz at the beginning helps to tame the initial cluster. Here is what it sounds like: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... I have one more thing that will make the process sound more interesting. You remember weve sorted the random oscillators at the beginning right? Well we can now reverse-sort them and make sure oscillators running in higher random frequencies will end up in bottom voices after the crescendo and vice versa. This will add more movement to the crescendo and is quite congruent with the way the original piece is structured. Im not sure if Dr. Moorer programmed it specifically in this way, but at least, the chosen recording demonstrates this process and it sounds cool, be it a random product of the generative process itself, or a compositional choice (oh, did I say that? If the process covers it, it IS a choice or is it?). So Ill reverse the sorted values and the way we structured our code will make sure that the higher pitched sawtooths will end up in the lower voices in the finale and vice versa. Another thing: We need a louder bass. In the way it is now, all voices have equal amplitude. I want to have the lower voices to have slightly higher amplitude and decay proportionally as the frequency goes up. So Ill change the mul argument of Pan2 to take this into account. Ill re-tweak the cutoff frequencies of the lowpass filters governing the individual oscillators. And I am going to add a global amplitude scaling envelope that will fade the piece in, and fade out when the piece ends, and free the synth from scserver. Also some more numeric tweaks here and there, here is our final code: //inverting init sort, louder bass, final volume envelope, some little tweaks ( { var numVoices = 30 ; var fundamentals = ({ rrand ( 200.0 , 400.0 )} ! numVoices ). sort . reverse ; var finalPitches = ( numVoices . collect ({ | nv | ( nv / ( numVoices / 6 )). round * 12 ; }) + 14.5 ). midicps ; var outerEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 0.1 , 1 ], [ 8 , 4 ], [ 2 , 4 ])); var ampEnvelope = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , 1 , 1 , 0 ], [ 3 , 21 , 3 ], [ 2 , 0 , - 4 ]), doneAction : 2 ); var snd = Mix ({ | numTone | var initRandomFreq = fundamentals [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.5 , 6 * ( numVoices - ( numTone + 1 ))); var destinationFreq = finalPitches [ numTone ] + LFNoise2 . kr ( 0.1 , ( numTone / 3 )); var sweepEnv = EnvGen . kr ( Env ([ 0 , rrand ( 0.1 , 0.2 ), 1 ], [ rrand ( 5.5 , 6 ), rrand ( 8.5 , 9 )], [ rrand ( 2.0 , 3.0 ), rrand ( 4.0 , 5.0 )])); var freq = (( 1 - sweepEnv ) * initRandomFreq ) + ( sweepEnv * destinationFreq ); Pan2 . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( Saw . ar ( freq ), freq * 6 , 0.6 ), rrand ( - 0.5 , 0.5 ), ( 1 - ( 1 / ( numTone + 1 ))) * 1.5 ) / numVoices } ! numVoices ); Limiter . ar ( BLowPass . ar ( snd , 2000 + ( outerEnv * 18000 ), 0.5 , ( 2 + outerEnv ) * ampEnvelope )); }. play ; ) And here is the final recording of the piece: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... You may want to compare it with this original one: http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/soundex/74309951.mp3 So this is my rendition. Of course it can be further tweaked to death, envelopes, frequencies, distribution, everything Nevertheless, I think mine is a decent attempt at keeping the legacy alive. And Id love to hear your comments and/or hear your shots at interpreting this piece. Oh and here is one more thing I did for fun. You know, I told you about how it took 20000 lines of C code to generate the original piece. Im pretty sure Dr. Moorer had to create almost everything by hand so that is not very awkward. But you know, weve been sctweeting for some time, trying to fill stuff into 140 characters of code. So for the fun of it, I tried to replicate the essential elements of the composition in 140 characters of code. I think it still sounds cool, here is the code (this one uses an F/E fundamental): play { Mix ({ | k | k = k + 1 / 2 ; 2 / k * Mix ({ | i | i = i + 1 ; Blip . ar ( i * XLine . kr ( rand ( 2 e2 , 4 e2 ), 87 + LFNoise2 . kr ( 2 ) * k , 15 ), 2 , 1 / ( i / a = XLine . kr ( 0.3 , 1 , 9 )) / 9 )} ! 9 )} ! 40 ) ! 2 * a } And here is the sound this version generates: Sorry, your browser probably doesn't recognise the audio tag somehow... All the code in this page is in this document for you to experiment: - get from here Happy sweeping Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was heading to Germany Thursday for a visit aimed at reducing tensions between the two NATO allies at a time when Turkey's economic troubles are causing growing concerns and Europe needs Ankara's support in reducing the flow of migrants. The trip is Erdogan's first formal state visit to Germany, which is home to more than 3 million people with Turkish roots. But the increasingly authoritarian leader is viewed with suspicion across the political spectrum in Germany, which has had difficult relations with Ankara in recent years. It escalated in the past year to the point where Erdogan called Germany's mainstream parties "enemies of Turkey" and accused officials in Berlin of acting like Nazis, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to condemn the Turkish president's words. At the same time, the two countries recognize mutual strategic interests and the two leaders appeared prepared to bury the hatchet ahead of the trip, which runs until Saturday. "Turkey is an important partner for us, and it is also an important partner for Europe," Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Wednesday. "We have a fundamental interest ... in an economically and politically stable Turkey, and of course in a Turkey in which democracy is practiced," Seibert added. He said that talks with Erdogan will address both "common interests" and difficult issues. In an opinion piece in Thursday's FAZ newspaper, Erdogan said it was time to "set aside our differences of opinion and concentrate on our joint interests." "Turkey's hope is to develop relations with Germany and other nations as equals on the basis of mutual respect," he wrote. Merkel championed a 2016 agreement with Turkey designed to halt the flow of refugees and migrants into Europe, a deal that has held up even as relations between Ankara and the European Union soured. And Berlin considers Turkey an important partner in trying to end the conflict in neighboring Syria. But there has been a series of setbacks to bilateral ties. Among the irritants have been a 2016 German parliament resolution labeling the early-20th century killing of Armenians in Turkey as "genocide." Turkish officials' attempts to rally support among their citizens living in Germany last year for a referendum over whether to expand Erdogan's power caused widespread irritation, and several of their public events were canceled. Most damaging was the jailing of Germans amid mass arrests and firings by Turkish authorities following a July 2016 coup attempt. Germany's foreign ministry says 35 were imprisoned on what Berlin considers political grounds. While the most prominent including two journalists have been released, five remain in Turkish custody. In recent months, officials in both countries have sought to thaw relations particularly on the economic front, something that has gained urgency as Turkey grapples with a currency crisis heightened by tensions with the U.S. over the case of a detained American pastor. While Berlin has said the question of German aid for Turkey "does not currently arise" and emphasized the need for Turkey's bank to be independent, it has made clear that it doesn't want an economic basket case on Europe's doorstep. In Berlin, Erdogan will meet twice with Merkel on Friday and again for breakfast on Saturday. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will hold a state banquet for him on Friday evening, an event that many German opposition politicians are refusing to attend. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Peter Altmaier will attend. Ahead of Erdogan's visit, the pair met in Berlin last week with Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who said he saw a "new era" dawning in relations and declared that "we have left the process of tensions behind us." Erdogan will wrap up his visit on Saturday in Cologne, where he officially opens a new mosque built by a group with ties to Turkey. Demonstrations against the Turkish leader are expected in both Berlin and Cologne, and Amnesty International called for Merkel to use her meetings with Erdogan to address the "dramatic human rights' situation in Turkey." "In such a situation, a state visit must be used to advocate clearly for all arbitrarily and innocently imprisoned people," the organization said. Police in Berlin shut down a large area around the chancellery where Merkel was to meet with Erdogan, including the airspace and boat traffic on the Spree river. _____ David Rising contributed to this report. The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia on Tuesday rejected accusations by Serb nationalist leaders that the United States is seeking to interfere in next month's general election. Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, who is pro-Russia, has accused the U.S. and Britain of supporting his opponents and seeking to influence the outcome of the Oct. 7 vote, which is seen in international circles as a major moment in whether Bosnia will seek to join the European Union and NATO. The embassy denied the charge, and said in a statement that "the United States is not interfering in the election process and we strongly reject such appalling accusations." Though a 1995 peace treaty brought an end to the three-year civil war in Bosnia, there is still bickering among the Serb, Muslim and Croat ethnic groups. Dodik, who has advocated the secession of the Bosnian Serb autonomous region and joining Serbia, is running for a Serb seat in Bosnia's three-member presidency. On Thursday, he said the U.S. and Britain have secured millions of euros to finance various opposition groups in the Bosnian Serb territory. He also claimed that 40 British secret service operatives have arrived in Bosnia ahead of the election to "destabilize" Republika Srpska. "I will insist that the foreign meddling stops," Dodik said at a press conference. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, close Dodik's ally, has alleged that he possesses "a stunning proof of the most brutal meddling by some Western powers" and that he will release the details after the vote. The U.S. Embassy condemned "irresponsible actors" who "drag us into conspiracy theories, unfounded accusations, and, bluntly, lies." "We do not back one candidate or one party over another," it said in a statement, adding that the U.S. refuses to be part of pre-election "manipulation." Evotec works with academic research centers to plan and conduct research designed to assess quickly whether promising early-stage technologies can be developed into successful therapies. Arix funds that developmental research and determines if programs can be spun out into new companies. LAB591 differs from another partnership the Hutch has forged with Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceuticals, which is exploring technologies from Fred Hutch labs with an intention to identify programs to license directly into Takeda for further development rather than creating new companies to do so. The quality of the research at Fred Hutch in oncology and infectious diseases is something of great interest to us, said Arix Executive Chairman Jon Peacock, whose offices are in New York City. We look for the best science to back, and we think Seattle will be a great source of leading-edge research. Bridging the gap from laboratory to bedside requires commercial skills that lab scientists seldom have. For that, researchers need partners. The whole point of this partnership is to provide tools and business acumen to our researchers; to move our great research out of our academic world to and into the hands of skilled partners who can help us to get product to patients, said Hilary Hehman, director of Partnerships & Alliances for Fred Hutchs Business Development & Strategy team. With more than 2,000 employees worldwide, Evotec specializes in using its scientific infrastructure, including the use of high-speed screening technologies to see if its vast library of potential drug compounds might work on targets isolated by Hutch scientists. The goal is to identify potential therapeutics and develop them into products that can be approved, manufactured at scale, and made available to patients outside of the research setting. Our goal is to significantly shorten the time it takes for a program to advance from the lab into commercialization, said Evotec Executive Vice President Dr. Stephanie Oestreich, who heads the companys partnership programs in North America. Evotec has established several cooperative partnerships with academic institutions under its BRIDGE (Biomedical Research, Innovation & Development Generation Efficiency) program, each named with the prefix LAB and a number chosen by the partner. The 591 in the Hutchs LAB591 partnership was chosen to honor the research centers namesake, Fred Hutchinson, who had 591 career strikeouts as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. The research center was founded by Seattle surgeon Dr. William Hutchinson to honor his late brother after he died of cancer in 1964. In her first four years of the Gray fellowship, Tenthorey will study a family of proteins believed to be part of the natural defenses, or innate immunity, of mammalian cells. Hard-wired into our genes, the innate immune system is a kind of first-responder network that reacts quickly to threats from invaders. The molecules Tenthorey studies, known as guanylate-binding proteins, are inactive most of the time but are churned out inside cells that are under microbial attack. They are thought to block several different bacterial species and show an ability to prevent their growth and limit their mobility. Other than that, we dont really understand how they work, Tenthorey said. We know they are important, but we dont know exactly what they do or how they do it. By dissecting the rapid evolution of these proteins as they encounter bacterial challenges, she hopes to find out how specific mutations enable cells to withstand assault or to counteract efforts by bacteria to evade ever-changing defenses. Tenthorey received a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2017. Working in the laboratory of Dr. Russell Vance, she was the lead author of a paper published last November in Science. It showed how a protein inside mammalian cells undergoes a shape-changing routine to grab onto flagella, hair-like structures that some invading bacteria such as salmonella use to propel themselves. Once it clings to one of these propelling hairs, the immune protein sets off a chain reaction that causes that cell to sacrifice itself, trapping the bacterium and releasing a flood of signals that warn neighboring cells of a microbial threat. Its another part of the arsenal to detect and respond to infection, Tenthorey said. The Gray fellowship will pay Tenthoreys salary for the next four years; then it can directly cover her research for up to four more years in a future faculty position. Tenthorey is particularly appreciative that the Gray fellowships were set up to help women and minorities. Tenthorey said she was inspired as a youngster by her mother, who grew up in a conservative home where she was told she could only go to secretarial or nursing school. Her mother went to college as a nursing major, and eventually switched to biology. She somehow convinced her mother that it was close enough, said Tenthorey. She taught me, Hey, do what you want to do, and dont listen to what others say you can or cannot do. Her mother and father both work for pharmaceutical companies in Connecticut. The Gray fellowship is funded by HHMI, the nations largest private supporter of biomedical research in academic settings. Dr. Gray is the former president of the University of Chicago and former chair of the HHMI trustees. Tenthoreys mentor Malik was an HHMI early career scientist from 2009 to 2013, when he was named a HHMI investigator. Her UC Berkeley adviser Vance was also named an HHMI investigator in 2013. La Paz, Sep 27 (EFE).- President Evo Morales signed legislation into law on Thursday strengthening Bolivia's judicial system at a time when the courts are in the spotlight for their handling of several cases, including that of a man convicted of rape despite the existence of evidence proving his innocence. Morales signed the legislation during a ceremony at the government palace in La Paz as judicial and political officials watched. The president said the law's goal was to "improve Bolivian justice" by creating a new class of constitutional courts at the provincial level. "Sometimes the hard work of men and women committed to Bolivian justice, for whatever reason, gets destroyed," Morales said. The law's enactment comes after a court on Monday upheld the 20-year prison sentence handed down to a doctor for raping an infant, a case that has sparked controversy after evidence, including an audio recording of a purported judge saying the physician was wrongly convicted, pointing to the man's innocence appeared. "You can have good rules, good infrastructure, but if public servants don't do their part ... I feel that the hard work will be in vain," the president said. Morales said that some people who questioned measures like the reform of the Criminal Code were now "regretting it. The president talked about the possibility of trying once again to change the code, an effort abandoned earlier this year in the wake of protests, including a six-week strike by doctors. The government is trying to revive the initiative after a recent well-publicized episode involving a doctor accused of mistakenly removing a boy's kidneys. The child had one healthy kidney and a tumor on the other, and the physician had a history of malpractice but was never convicted. The city approved a new contract with an electrical company to update 10 traffic signals between Carson Street and the Outer Traffic Circle. Construction on Maximilian Center : Closures around Bonn Central Train Station this weekend BONN The city ring road in Bonn will be closed on the weekend for the dismantling of a crane at the Maximilian Center. Trams will not go all the way to Bonn Central Train Station. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken For those traveling to or near the Bonn Central Train Station this weekend, there will be major disruptions for motorists and tram users. On both Saturday and Sunday, the city ring road will be closed in front of the construction site of the Maximilian Center. The investor who is building the shopping center, Ten Brinke, said the big crane is being dismantled because it is no longer needed. According to site manager Christian van de Loo, the road closure is necessary because a 500-ton mobile crane has to be used for the dismantling. And that massive crane has to be set up with the help of a second mobile crane. The city of Bonn said that the only location that would accommodate the heavy construction equipment is Maximilianstrae. Traffic on Wesselstrae driving towards the main train station will be rerouted between 10pm on Friday and early Monday morning. Motorists on Wesselstrae will be redirected to the left via Kaiserstrae or Kaiserplatz and to the street Am Hofgarten. Overall, the work on Maximilian Center is on schedule, according to van de Loo. A topping out ceremony is planned for mid-October. City tram passengers will also face some restrictions because of the construction work on the project Urban Soul. The stop Hauptbahnhof will be closed to all trams from Saturday until Monday morning at 4am. This closing is due to work on the roof in the area of the entrances to U-Bahn (underground) tracks 1 to 4 at the central station. On these days, there will be no arrivals, departures or changing trams at the central station for lines 16, 18, 63, 66 and 68. All other stops in front of and behind the main station, in particular the bus stops Universitat / Markt and Stadthaus, can still be used. Lines 18 and 68 will leave this weekend from Heussallee / Museumsmeile. Orig. text: Lisa Inhoffen Traffic disruptions in Cologne : Erdogan visit on Saturday will result in restrictions for the public COLOGNE The visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Cologne on Saturday will mean reduced maneuverability for the public. Police are still in talks with those who have registered counter-demonstrations. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Preparations for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Cologne this coming Saturday are in full swing. But much is still unclear, as a spokesman for the Cologne police said on Tuesday, because they are still waiting for detailed information about the visit. At the moment, they can only develop different scenarios and make their plans based on these. On Thursday, police are expected to announce more details at a press conference. No-fly zone over Cologne This much is already clear: Between 12 and 10pm, there will be a no-fly zone within a radius of 60 kilometers around Cologne. This means that no private jets, drones, balloons or model airplanes may be operated during this time. An intrusion into the no-fly zone could constitute a criminal offense, said the police spokesman. Exempted from this ban is commercial air traffic so Cologne-Bonn Airport and Dusseldorf Airport are not affected. Erdogans route is not yet clear Some things are still not clear, such as the route that Erdogan will take through Cologne. This of course will have an impact on police deployment plans. There is still a lack of information from higher authorities and the Turkish government as to exact plans. Currently, the police are planning to be able to respond to all scenarios. Police Chief Uwe Jacob said that his department had concrete ideas about how to handle the difficult balancing act of protecting the state guest and registered demonstrations without restricting public life for Cologne citizens more than absolutely necessary. But of course more clarity is needed so police can eliminate some alternative concepts from their planning. Considerable restrictions in the inner city Either way, there will be considerable restrictions for people in Cologne on Saturday with many roads closed and some stores having to close as well. Police expect traffic disruptions in the city and from noon on the autobahn around the area will experience temporary but full closures as well. Passenger boats on the Rhine will also be affected. Opening ceremony at Cologne Central Mosque The opening ceremony of the Cologne Central Mosque with the Turkish president is scheduled to begin on Saturday at 2 pm. This was announced by the German-Turkish mosque association Ditib on its Facebook page. Invited are "all our German and Turkish friends". The message continues: "The opening ceremony should be a beautiful and living example for peace, partnership and living together." Attendees are asked to bring only German, Turkish and Ditib flags. Counter-demonstrations announced in Cologne Some counter-demonstrations have already been announced for Saturday, which will also have a major impact on city traffic throughout the day. According to the Cologne police chief, they are still in talks with those who have registered for the counter-demonstrations. iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- During her testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday regarding her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago, senators asked Christine Blasey Ford directly about the judges claim that it may be a case of mistaken identity. Ford, who is a professor at Palo Alto University and co-authored research papers on brain science in her time at Stanford University, refuted that claim in questioning, with a nod to the science behind memory and a part of the brain called the hippocampus. The alleged incident has been "seared into my memory," she said. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., who was the first senator to whom Ford, a California resident, had brought her allegations, asked her directly about Kavanaugh's defense that he did not assault her at a high school party when she was 15 years old. "How are you so sure that it was he?" Feinstein asked. "The way that I'm sure I'm talking to you right now, it's just basic memory functions and also just the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain," Ford said. "That neurotransmitter encodes memories into the hippocampus so that trauma-related experience is locked there, so other memories just drift." The hippocampus is the part of the brain that helps process information into memories. Its process is extremely complex and not fully understood by scientists. In general, the senses experienced by someone at the time of the memory travel as signals to the hippocampus, where it is then consolidated into a memory. This information may be stored as a short-term or long-term memory, depending on how important the information was, and how often the information from the memory is repeated or used, according to widely held views in the neuroscience community and textbooks. Different features of the memory are then sent to various parts of the brain, with some filtered out, so the memory isnt overloaded. Although the brain does not always store memories completely, some moments may be especially vivid if the brain prioritizes them as important or they have a strong emotional component, since the hippocampus is part of the limbic system, which is connected with human emotion. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, asked her to describe "the strongest memory" she had of the alleged incident, "something that you cannot forget? Ford responded, "Indelible in the hippocampus, it was the laughter. The uproarious laughter between the two." "I was underneath one of them while the two of them laughed," she added. "Two friends having a really good time with one another." Ford had no doubt at all that it was Kavanaugh who had assaulted her, she told Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "I am asking you to address the question of mistaken identity directly," Durbin said during his questioning. With what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted you?" "100 percent," Ford said. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. California State Treasurer John Chiang on Wednesday called for an independent investigation into the hiring of CalPERS Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost to resolve questions about whether she misinformed the $360 billion pension fund when she applied for her job.Chiang stressed in announcing his call for an investigation that he has a "favorable opinion" of Frost. He worries, he says, that the questions about Frost will discredit the pension fund if they are not addressed in a manner that restores public trust.As state treasurer, Chiang is a member of the CalPERS Board of Administration. He joins CalPERS board member Margaret Brown in calling for an investigation into Frost's hiring.Other board members have said they were well aware of Frost's credentials when they hired her and have reiterated their support for her in public comments. Chiang was on the board in 2016 and voted to hire Frost. Chiang through a spokesman declined to say whether Chiang felt misled by Frost.CalPERS board members this week awarded Frost an $84,000 bonus and a 4 percent raise following her annual performance review. They did not discuss her performance in an open session.The board had a lengthy closed session discussion about Frost and other executives on Tuesday."We spent over three hours in a closed session doing the performance evaluation of our CEO, and during that period of time each of us, including the treasurer's representative, had the opportunity to ask all the questions regarding performance that they wanted to ask. What was voted out of the meeting was a performance bonus for the fiscal year and an increase in her base pay. That speaks volumes," said board member Bill Slaton.Brown voted against awarding Frost her raise and bonus. Chiang did not attend this week's board meeting. A deputy in his place did not oppose Frost's new pay package.Board member Theresa Taylor said Chiang's office did not ask for a vote on opening an investigation this week. "I thought they were satisfied," she said.CalPERS Board President Priya Mathur also rejected Chiang's call for an official inquiry. Mathur also was on the board when Frost was hired and has said she did not feel misled."There is no need for an independent review. Marcie's leadership is exactly what we need, and the board's review this week on all matters regarding her performance sends a clear and unequivocal message that she has delivered for California public sector workers and retirees. She is the right person to lead CalPERS," she said.Questions about Frost's background have been building since August, when the financial blog Naked Capitalism reported that a consultant-prepared summary of Frost's qualifications in 2016 included misleading information about her education. It implied that she was enrolled in a dual-degree program at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.Frost, 54, was not enrolled in a program and had not taken classes there since 2010. The information was repeated in a press release announcing her hire and in an official biography. She was hired after holding a series of top positions at Washington state's public pension fund, including an appointment as its executive director.Public employee unions and advocacy groups that represent local governments have declared their support for Frost since the questions about her background surfaced. Other retirees and public employees have said they were troubled by the reports and surprised that CalPERS hired a chief executive without a college degree.Chiang said in a news release that CalPERS owes an independent investigation to its members."An organization with the strong reputation of CalPERS needs to have a leader with unimpeachable integrity. If we do nothing, we will be perpetuating a double standard. Worse yet, a cloud of controversy will continue to hang over the head of the nation's largest public pension fund. Until that cloud is removed, pundits will continue to question the decisions made by its leadership," he said.Board members said they were surprised by his public call for an investigation."I'm disappointed in John, who I considered to be a friend and who I've support for years. On this, he just got it wrong," CalPERS Vice President Rob Feckner said.Chiang has been a member of the CalPERS board since 2007, when he was state controller. Earlier this year, he pushed the board to divest from retailers that sell certain kinds of guns and ammunition.The board declined, finding that its policy of communicating its preferences to corporate boards had already resulted in restrictions on sales of guns and ammunition at sporting goods stores. Congress has trained its attention this week on the sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. For many, the controversy is a reminder that federal lawmakers have yet to reconcile two bills that would strengthen laws against sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, which would be the most substantial action yet since the #MeToo movement began.The bills would rewrite how sexual harassment claims are handled, ending a 90-day waiting period before a hearing can be held and making public any settlement reached by Congress. The Senate version, however, requires out-of-pocket settlements only for harassment -- not discrimination.Meanwhile, roughly half of the states have taken some action to strengthen their sexual harassment policies for people working in state politics.Last fall, statehouses across the country were roiled by accusations of sexual misconduct and assault as the #MeToo movement began to spread, prompting more women in all fields to openly discuss the day-to-day realities of sexual harassment in the workplace. According to the Associated Press , at least 30 state lawmakers have resigned or lost their jobs because of such allegations since 2017, when #MeToo began.In New York, for example, harassment scandals inspired a new law requiring the state Division of Human Rights to rewrite sexual harassment policies for public- and private-sector employees.First and foremost, you have to believe survivors," says Nily Rozic, the New York state assemblymember who led the reforms. "You have to have an environment where people feel safe coming forward -- and a very transparent, thorough process when people do come forward. And you cant just brush it aside. You have to deal with it."In Colorado, Rep. Steve Lebsock was accused of systematic assault and harassment by several of his female colleagues. Rep. Faith Winter led an effort to expel him and has been working to create a better environment going forward. The Colorado statehouse has since hired a human resources person, created a nonpartisan department that fields complaints of sexual harassment and mandated annual sexual harassment training for every person working in the capitol.Illinois created a sexual harassment hotline and mandated more frequent sexual harassment trainings for both lobbyists and state lawmakers.While half the states have enacted new reforms or policies to address harassment, half have not. That isnt discouraging to advocates.This time of change, done correctly, will take time. That also means there isnt a best practice thats been identified yet, says Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics.In most cases, the new laws have been championed by female lawmakers. "It shows the importance of having women at the table," says Dittmar. "They come to these issues, unfortunately, with experience."Women are also helping to make this a bipartisan cause. According to Dittmar, when Illinois lawmakers were handling their own sexual misconduct allegations, female lawmakers from across the aisle would discuss, together, how they wanted to proceed. That stands in contrast to Congress, where the push for sexual harassment reform has tended to be supported more by Democrats.While statehouses have been addressing sexual harassment, there are concerns among some advocates that inaction in Congress may prevent future victims of sexual harassment from speaking out.Watching these women come forward and hearing these things said about them [from Congress members who don't believe them] is awful, and its going to have a chilling effect going forward," says Winters. "Why would anyone come forward when we hear these kinds of comments from our legislators? Eleven state delegates from Montgomery County are calling on local police and prosecutors to investigate allegations that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh committed one or more sexual assaults while a high school student at Georgetown Prep in the 1980s.In a letter addressed Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger, State's Attorney John McCarthy and lawyers Debra Katz and Michael Avenatti, who represent women accusing Kavanaugh of crimes, the lawmakers asked local authorities not to wait for an alleged victim to make a complaint to them before starting an investigation."We believe local law enforcement has the authority to investigate allegations of crimes without need for a formal complaint, and we further believe third parties have standing to bring such complaints," the delegates wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.Those signing the letter were Kumar Barve, Al Carr, Bonnie Cullison, Ariana Kelly, Marc Korman, David Moon, Pam Queen, Kirill Reznik, Shane Robinson, Ana Sol Gutierrez and Jeff Waldstreicher. All are Democrats."We, the undersigned elected representatives of Montgomery County, Maryland, residents, are writing to express our concern about the need for an investigation into recent high-profile allegations of sex assault in our county," the lawmakers wrote.Montgomery County police have said it's not their practice to investigate crimes when they have not received a complaint."At this time, the Montgomery County Police Department has not received a request by any alleged victim nor a victim's attorney to initiate a police report or a criminal investigation regarding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh," the department said this week in a statement. "The department recognizes that victims of sexual assault may not want to involve law enforcement and/or initiate a criminal investigation, and we respect that position. The department, however, stands prepared to assist anyone who reports being the victim of a sexual assault."The lawmakers urged local police to proceed regardless."We hope you will choose to be proactive in ensuring proper investigation of the sex assault allegations in Montgomery County by Brett Kavanaugh," they wrote.Manger and McCarthy did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, denied allegations against him Monday in an interview on Fox News."I've never sexually assaulted anyone," the federal judge said.Gov. Larry Hogan on Friday ruled out involving the Maryland State Police in any investigation of allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl more than 30 years ago in Montgomery County.The Republican governor was asked at a news conference about a letter from Democratic state Sen. Cheryl Kagan of Montgomery. She urged Hogan to direct the state police to act because the White House has not ordered the FBI to look into the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford about Kavanaugh's actions at a high school party. Hogan spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said Hogan does not personally order law enforcement investigations.Since then, more allegations have been leveled against the judge. Lawyer Michael Avenatti said he represents a woman with information about additional sexual assaults during parties attended by Kavanaugh in the era he attended Georgetown Prep, a private school for boys. Avenatti urged the U.S. Senate to investigate.Hogan said Tuesday that the Senate should slow down Kavanaugh's nomination process until it conducts a full and fair hearing."It's very disturbing. It gives me great pause. There are credible charges and big concerns. They need to be heard," he said after an event in Montgomery County. "They ought to take whatever time it takes to make sure these accusers are heard and he has a chance to respond to them." Description GIS 27 September, 2018: Thirty-six beneficiaries received their letters of intent yesterday during a ceremony held at the Multi-Purpose Complex of Rose-Belle in the context of the relocation of families from Mare Chicose to Marie-Jeannie Rose Belle. The Minister of Housing and Lands, Mr Purmanund Jhugroo, the Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Mahen Kumar Seeruttun, the Minister of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, and Shipping, Mr Premdut Koonjoo, the Private Parliamentary Secretary, Mrs Deveena Boygah and other personalities were present at the event. In his address, Minister Jhugroo stressed Governments commitment in providing decent housing facilities to Mauritians. Several measures have been implemented since 2014 to address the problems of poor housing conditions as well as improving the citizens lifestyle, he indicated. The relocation of the 36 families of Mare Chicose is one of those measures, he said. In fact, Government had on 13 July 2018, agreed to the grant of a building site lease over a plot of State land at Marie-Jeannie, Rose Belle to the 36 families who are be ing relocated from Mare Chicose. The Minister recalled that each family will be allocated a plot of land of around 225 m2 at Marie- Jeannie, Rose Belle on bail for a period of 10 to 20 years between 2038-2060 depending on their social criteria and that they will be able to buy the plot of land after the bail period ends. The allocation of a plot of land, stressed Mr Jhugroo, will put an end to the inconveniences and problems such as poor living conditions and lack of proper infrastructure and facilities which the 36 families have had to endure over the past 20 years. The site to which these families are being relocated is a prime area with all the necessary infrastructures, said the Minister. It will help to improve their socio-economic and living conditions, he added. For his part, Minister Seeruttun pointed out that the project of Landfill at Mare Chicose requires a buffer zone of one kilometre whereby sensitive activities are not allowed. Government has adopted the best solution to relocate the inhabitants of Mare Chicose, he emphasised. The authorities will also ensure that loan facilities from the Mauritius Housing Co Ltd be extended to those families who are f acing difficulties to construct their houses, said the Minister. Description GIS 27 September, 2018: Twelve officers of the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) are being trained on first aid by two experts of the Twelve officers of the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) are being trained on first aid by two experts of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service of Reunion Island. The initiative is a joint collaboration of the Ministry of Local Government and Outer Islands and the Embassy of France in Mauritius. The Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Outer Islands and Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, and the French Ambassador to Mauritius, Mr Emmanuel Cohet, paid a visit to the trainees yesterday, to take stock of the activities being carried out, at the Coromandel Fire Station. The training programme was held from the 17 to 24 September 2018 and aimed at training trainers in providing first aid in teams. The twelve trainees equipped with the knowledge and skills will in turn dispense training to other officers. In a statement, the Vice-Prime Minister expressed gratitude to the French Embassy for undertaking this capacity-building endeavour, adding that there is an on-going collaboration between the two countries since the last few years. She underlined that offering training to the MFRS officers is a key governmental priority as they have the important responsibility of ensuring the safety of the population and protecting and reducing the losses of life and property from dangers of fire and other emergency threats. According to her, in the wake of climate change, the role of fire-fighters has evolved and they are now called upon to carry out additional tasks such as intervening in situations of natural disasters. She added that the officers of the MFRS have demonstrated courage and determination in handling emergency situations during flash floods that hit the country at the beginning of the year. On that score, she reiterated the commitment of Government to provide the necessary training and capacity-building to uplift their capacities to effectively carry out their tasks, for which a sum of Rs 3 million has been allocated in Budget 2018-2019. Vice-Prime Minister Jeewa-Daureeawoo further pointed out that it is essential for the fire fighters to be versatile and acquire skills and increase their knowhow to improve service delivery. She recalled that several specialised units such as the a erial Fire Fighting and Rescue Unit, the Swift Water Rescue Unit and the Hazardous Material Response Unit have been set up to cater for the safety of the population and to ensure that communities and the environment are as safe as possible. Two leading government contractors have joined forces, offering new products and services. Smarsh , which provides communications archiving and other services for government agencies, completed its merger with Actiance , a communications compliance provider. The two will now operate under the Smarsh name.One of the key services Smarsh brings forward is its system to store, archive and search communication exchanges across a range of modes email, texts, social media posts and the like. The ability to easily access and search communication exchanges among public officials is an essential role of government agencies, as they comply with open-records requirements and requests by the public.Smarsh also announced the launch of its new Connected Suite product, which allows agencies to archive and oversee the growing number of communications avenues.Large enterprises have reached a tipping point with legacy archiving technologies. With our modern and extensible technology stack that can scale with todays data volumes, we are uniquely positioned to help customers accelerate their road maps to cloud adoption and migrate data from legacy systems quickly and easily, Smarsh CEO Brian Cramer said in a statement.Smarsh serves more than 6,500 customers around the world, with more than 600 employees. It is headquartered in Portland, Ore., with nine offices worldwide in locations like Silicon Valley, New York, India, London and Bangalore. (TNS) California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon announced a $148 million nationwide settlement Wednesday resulting from a data breach at Uber.The 2016 breach affected people in several states and exposed personal information, including names and drivers license numbers for drivers, as well as customers names, email addresses and phone numbers. In California, 174,000 drivers more than a quarter of the 600,000 affected nationwide saw their data taken.California will get $26 million, or 18 percent, of the settlement money. That sum will be divided between the offices of the attorney general and the district attorney.The $148 million settlement dwarfs similar data breach cases in recent history. In May 2017, the attorney generals office announced an $18.5 million national settlement with Target after hackers stole 40 million customers credit card information, and Lenovo in Semptember 2017 agreed to pay a $3.5 million multistate settlement for installing software on its computers that compromised users security.Uber agreed to report data breaches to state officials four times a year and adhere to state laws about gathering personal information.In 2017, Uber acknowledged that the 2016 hack had affected 57 million Uber customers and drivers around the world. The revelation, coming a year after the incident, violated California law, which requires that companies notify state authorities and individuals when customer data is stolen.This settlement does not resolve any liability to consumers themselves directly if they suffered damages, Becerra said at a news conference. If they were hacked and had their information used in ways that undermine their credit, there are actions that individuals can take, but that was not part of our settlement.Gascon said resources from the settlement would help the state and county pursue other violations.The breach happened under the watch of Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was forced out of the company last year and replaced by Dara Khosrowshahi, the former CEO of Expedia, a fact Gascon noted.I believe that Uber is moving in a new direction and under the new leadership will take a very different approach, he said. Smart city accelerator US Ignite and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) are partnering on a process that brings together industry and local government to work through data sharing and other challenges related to smart city projects.The initiative is inviting cities of all sizes and their private-sector counterparts to create a blueprint to accommodate the easy and secure sharing of data.We want to identify ways to make it easier for them to share data, to share tools, dashboards, and analysis on top of that, said Nick Maynard, chief strategy officer for US Ignite , a nonprofit charged with growing smart city projects in communities across the country.We dont want to recreate the open data portals that individual cities have done, he added. What were trying to do is make it easier for them to share across multiple cities and learn best practices from them. ATIS is made up of about 150 member companies working in areas like artificial intelligence, 5G networks and blockchain technology.ATIS is bringing the industry folks to the table. US Ignite is bringing several of our cities to the table. So were looking at having like five to 10 cities and about 10 to 12 industry partners participate, Maynard explained.The cities and industry partners will be announced in the next few weeks.The cities working with US Ignite and ATIS will help to build a foundation for data sharing by establishing protocols, privacy requirements and data formats.ATIS and US Ignite are committed not only to enhancing cities ability to solve current data challenges, but to creating a partnership with industry to help cities advance into the future possibilities that secure and effective data sharing will enable, said Mike Nawrocki, ATIS's vice president for technology and solutions, in a statement. (TNS) A Vigo County councilman hopes his fellow county officials consider purchasing flood-prone properties along the west bank of the Wabash River in the unincorporated area of Dresser, between Terre Haute and West Terre Haute, to help establish Bicentennial Park.In November 2017, the Vigo County Board of Commissioners created a new fund aimed at acquiring property for community projects. Money for the fund comes from the sale of existing properties titled in the countys name. The county sold three lots in 2017 for $45,000 that went into the fund.The Bicentennial Park is steered toward the trail head there. We dont want to purchase a piece here or there, but be an actual park, said Commissioner President Judith Anderson.Councilman Brendan Kearns said the county still has money from a fund established for Federal Emergency Management Agency grants that Kearns suggests should be used to purchase more flood-prone properties along the western bank of the Wabash River.I recall sending an email to commissioners within the last two years about this, Kearns said. If that money is sitting in that account ... that is something we can look at and kind of get this back into motion again. There are landowners that want to know about those opportunities.Commissioners said they were unaware of an active account, as FEMA grants were handled through West Central Indiana Economic Development District.That is not the impression we got, said Commissioner Brad Anderson of funds in an account.Kylissa Miller, administrator for the Vigo County Council, said there is a fund, entitled FEMA, that contains $154,351.After the meeting, former county auditor Tim Seprodi said the county established a fund in 2016 to make up-front payments for the purchase of FEMA-entitled properties that the federal agency would fully or partly reimburse.Vigo County Auditor Jim Bramble said the fund last made an appropriation to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 19, 2016, for $83,969. Bramble confirmed the account still has more than $154,000. However, he is not sure if the account is bound by federal grant regulations. Bramble said he will research the fund.Kearns, a Democrat, will soon leave the countys fiscal body, the County Council, to join its administrative body, the Board of Commissioners.Kearns is unopposed in Novembers election for the District 1 seat on the Board of Commissioners.Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter@TribStarHoward.2018 The Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, Ind.)Visit The Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, Ind.) at tribstar.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Time Limits Fee Guidelines What Happens Next? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved sweeping regulations on Wednesday for 5G wireless infrastructure, significantly curtailing the authority of states and localities.The industry-backed declaratory ruling includes several preemption provisions aimed at accelerating deployment of 5G networks that are expected to offer higher internet speeds. It prompted immediate pushback from a wide-range of public-sector association groups and is expected to face legal challenges."The ultimate result from this is going to significantly and negatively impact local governments ability to protect and serve public property, safety and welfare, said the National Association of Counties' (NACo) Arthur Scott.The federal regulations carry major ramifications, particularly given the buildout of 5G networks thats ramping up or is already underway in many larger cities.Underpinning the networks is wireline fiber supporting small cell nodes, typically antennas mounted on street poles or other public infrastructure. Small cells are akin to WiFi-networks in that their coverage is limited, typically 300 to 500 feet , requiring providers to deploy hundreds of the devices to cover relatively small areas.One of the more controversial provisions of the order establishes shot clock time limits for jurisdictions to process applications for mounting small cells on public infrastructure. Installations on existing infrastructure must be processed within 60 days, while requests to build new poles need to be processed within 90 days.The shot clock resets if a company submits an incomplete application and a government notifies them of the issue within 10 days. Under the new order, failing to act within the specified time limits constitutes a presumptive prohibition of services, giving companies further ammunition to take governments to court.According to NACo, applications were generally taking about 120 days to process. Scott is concerned that many local governments lack the resources to process them within the new, tighter deadlines and would need to hire additional staff.[The ruling] forces local governments to make a decision between rubber stamping applications or facing crippling litigation with these providers in court, he says.Under the FCC ruling, batch applications of multiple requests for the same type of facilities filed simultaneously are subject to the same deadlines. Greg Wilkinson, the city administrator for Yuma, Ariz., says his city would have no problem processing a few applications quickly but receiving a hundred or more at once could pose challenges. For instance, some companies seek to affix old, bulky equipment to poles, potentially leading to safety concerns or violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act if they obstruct sidewalks.You have to look at location by location, he says. You cant just give them blanket approval to deploy everywhere.The FCC order also effectively limits what local governments can charge -- $500 for an initial application fee covering up to five small cells and $270 for an annual right-of-way access fee per small cell -- both considerably lower than what cities have typically charged. Localities could still levy higher fees, but if a wireless provider sued, local officials would need to demonstrate the fees are a reasonable approximation of costs incurred. In larger jurisdictions where fees are higher, the FCC ruling could amount to seven-figure losses in unrealized revenues.Part of the FCCs motivation for the lower fees is to enable providers to bring high-speed internet to rural and unserved areas of the country.Commissioner Brendan Carr recounted at Wednesday's meeting that he heard from officials in unserved communities who worried delays and higher small cell fees levied in big cities would effectively hinder deployment to their jurisdictions.Cutting these costs changes the prospects for communities that might otherwise get left behind, he said.But state and local officials argue that lower fees will make little difference in bridging the digital divide unless there is adequate market demand making it economically feasible for companies to deploy. Furthermore, the ruling lacks any requirements for telecommunication companies to provide service to unserved and underserved areas.Some cities fear that the fee recommendations wouldnt cover their costs. Philadelphia, for instance, provided estimates totallying labor costs for all approvals and field inspections that amounted to $800 per small cell node.The city will have incurred disproportionate, unrecoverable costs and lost all its leverage to incentivize deployment in a manner that ensures a complete citywide deployment and reduces the digital divide," said Michael Carroll, deputy managing director of the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, of the ruling.Some telecoms complain that cities use aesthetic concerns about the small cells as a way to delay wireless infrastructure projects. The FCC order doesn't prohibit localities from outlining their own aesthetic requirements, provided they are reasonable and no more burdensome than those applied to other types of infrastructure deployments.The vast majority of state and local officials filing comments opposed the FCC rules. One of the few expressing support was Chairman Jeffrey Bohm of the St. Clair County (Mich.) Board of Commissioners.By making small cell deployments less expensive, the FCC will send a clear message that all communities, regardless of size, should share in the benefits of this crucial new technology, wrote Bohm.The order was modeled largely after similar laws passed in 20 states that preempt local authority to varying degrees. Theyve been mostly adopted in Republican-controlled states, usually passing by wide margins.Although the FCCs fee levels and regulatory guidelines mirror those passed by states, the ruling would preempt any existing legislation not meeting its requirements. In response, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Governors Association filed a joint statement opposing the ruling.Not only will these 20 states be affected, but it also ties the hands of any other state that is looking to ensure inclusive and equitable access to high-speed internet services to residents, the groups wrote.Many larger localities, such as Austin, Boston and San Jose, have already entered into agreements with telecoms in states where theyre permitted to do so. Attorneys for the municipal advocacy group Next Century Cities believe it is unlikely that telecom providers will pursue litigation seeking to void existing agreements. While the ruling doesn't explicitly exempt preexisting agreements or prohibit local governments from negotiating future agreements, it does significantly reduce their leverage in these deals.The ruling is expected to face multiple legal challenges over the FCCs regulatory authority.One group likely to lead litigation on the matter is the Smart Communities and Special Districts Coalition, which is made up of localities and association groups in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Gerard Lavery Lederer, an attorney with Best Best & Krieger representing the group, toldprior to the meeting that they were considering litigation."We're committed to defending local governments rights wherever we have to do it, including the courts," he said.Blair Levin, a former FCC official, said that if the rules arent overturned, a second wave of litigation will ensue over the meaning of several phrases used to define different provisions, such as fees that are a reasonable approximation of localities costs.Next Century Cities has issued guidance for localities, recommending they quickly move to enact zoning, installation requirements and any other regulations. Developing pre-approved design and aesthetic requirements, it also noted, could be particularly beneficial in processing applications faster and defending legal challenges. (TNS) U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson said he wants to see regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency market after a discussion with industry experts and lawmakers.Davidson, R-Ohio, indends to introduce a House bill that would offer what he calls a light-touch regulation of the burgeoning and complex cryptocurrency market, which he discussed at Tuesdays Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies roundtable with fellow lawmakers and representatives from nearly 50 from finance firms and cryptocurrency businesses.Our republic has a colorful history of over-complicating and occasionally frustrating the very spirit of enterprise that built our free market economy into what it is today the worlds land of opportunity, the freshman congressman said. The latest iteration results from regulatory arbitrage in the area of digital currencies, more specifically Initial Coin Offerings.An initial coin offering, or ICO, is roughly similar to an initial public offering, or IPO, but without the regulatory red tape, according to Market Watch Davidson said offering regulation will offer foresight which will solve problems and avoid harm in an industry where innovations in the cryptocurrency technology blockchain have outpaced current law and court decisions.With a thoughtful, bipartisan approach that protects consumers, advances free market solutions, and defines safe-harbors for the earliest stage innovators, Congress can send a powerful message around the world that the U.S. is the best destination for ICO markets, he said.Michael Hiles, owner of Cincinnati-based 10XTS, supports the light-touch regulation approach, saying the industry is currently like the Wild West.There has to be something, said Hiles, who attended Tuesdays roundtable. Im not a fan that we need a free-for-all. Even though Im a blockchain company, Im leaning on the side of there has to be some regulatory frameworks.Most people think of Bitcoin when cryptocurrency is mentioned, however, Hiles said the industry is more than that.Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies like digital coins or tokens that are encrypted, or secured, using cryptography. There are payment transfer coins or tokens, like Bitcoin, but there are other types that dont deal with payments, such as a utility token that can unlock features inside a software application or a security token that performs a computing security task like logging into a computer system.If I have a token that is a share in a company, thats very clearly a security, Hiles said. But if I have a token that unlocks some feature in an application, and I want to pre-sell that token to the marketplace for access to my system and that token becomes freely trade-able on an open market that people could freely buy and exchange these things thats really whats at issue.Tokens that can be traded on the free market is a licensing issue, not a security issue, he said.Everything starts to look like a security to a securities regulator, said Davidson to CNBC earlier this summer about the Securities and Exchange Commission as they started to regulate the industry. We want to make sure that the United States capital markets stay strong and vibrant, and one of the ways to do that is provide regulatory certainty.Pawel Kuskowski, CEO of the compliance platform Coinfirm, wrote last month on Forbes.com that regulation must be fit for purpose. Any ham-fisted attempts to regulate cryptocurrencies as a security will jeopardize market growth.Indeed, many tokens have already seen their price drop and liquidity evaporate, alongside capital flying out of the U.S., he wrote. If tokens are treated as securities, existing exchanges and wallet providers would also need to be regulated, registering with regulators.Europe has become a haven for cryptocurrency companies as theyre locating to regulation-friendly countries, like Malta and Switzerland, which are writing the rules for the industry to operate, according to Bloomberg.com . The market in the United States right now is small, but Davidson said its roughly a $500 billion industry where Bitcoin itself is almost half of that.The Swiss have put a framework in place that is driving capital flows there, so theres certainty, he said.The concern in the United States, Davidson said, is fraud. Theres uncertainty if what these ICOs are going to be securities, or if they are actually commodities.We have to protect consumers, he said.Springfield-based EF Hutton also participated in Tuesdays roundtable discussion. Company officials recently announced it plans to generate about $60 million from issuing cryptocurrency. The company said in a press release it would issue multiple instruments, coins and tokens.In a statement to this newspaper, EF Hutton CEO Chris Daniels said the company planned to make several suggestions, including arguing that the U.S. Commerce Department should create a new unit to advice on blockchain technology.EF Hutton is the largest and most experienced blockchain-related company in Clark County, Ohio and in Rep. Davidsons district, Daniels said. As a regional leader in the fintech industry, we are providing his office with input and expertise in digital assets.The company also announced earlier this month it would provide subscription-based research on cryptocurrencies, and is establishing a cryptocurrency exchange. The exchange is expected to be operational in January next year. (TNS) WASHINGTON With some 40 days remaining to the crucial midterm elections, signs of digital meddling in campaigns are mounting. But most candidates have spent little or nothing on cybersecurity, and say its too hard and expensive to focus on hacking threats with all the other demands of running for office.Only six candidates for U.S. House and Senate spent more than $1,000 on cybersecurity through the most recent Federal Election Commission filing period.Yet those who monitor intrusions and digital mayhem say hackers are active. And various reports cite at least three candidates still in races or ousted in primaries were suffering attempted breaches of their campaigns.We get things literally every day to my team to investigate everything from phishing attacks to We think our data was breached to We think there was a denial of service attack to Someones listening on our cellphones. So we get, like, the whole range of things every single day, said Raffi Krikorian, chief technology officer for the Democratic National Committee, the partys governing body.Krikorian wouldnt provide further details of the meddling or say where the hacking originated. But the subject matter is a sensitive one, given that the DNC and the losing campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton were the victims of cyberattacks by Russian hackers who were trying to help Donald Trump win the presidency.Even candidates deeply schooled in cybersecurity said the intense 24/7 nature of campaigning leaves them little time to raise money and buy technology to secure their cellphones, email networks and computers.Jay Hulings, who ran for a U.S. House seat in West Texas 23rd Congressional District, knew that cybersecurity was important. Hulings had been a federal prosecutor and general counsel to the House intelligence committee, privy to classified secrets.When Hulings mounted his campaign, he told his bare-bones staff to communicate through Signal, an encrypted messaging app, and avoid using email. Then reality sunk in. The staff expanded and the pace quickened.Raising money is hard, and you have to spend it on signs and staff and TV ads and radio and all the typical campaign things. So I dont think we spent anything on cybersecurity, he said, explaining how his staff eventually started using Gmail.Youre taking 22- and 23-year-olds who are just doing something fun before they go to grad school. You dont have time to train, Hulings recalled.In some cases, candidates downplay the likelihood that they could be targeted by Chinese, Russian or other foreign hackers.Most campaigns are not going to have a highly sophisticated foreign entity trying to hack into your campaign network unless you are a U.S. senator. On the House side, theres too many to deal with unless its very high profile, said Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican who has an information technology background.But Russian trolls did get involved in local Florida protests about a natural gas pipeline from Alabama to Florida, encouraging people through fake accounts on social media to get involved.Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat who co-founded the congressional cybersecurity caucus, said the threat from hackers is ever present and growing: There are only those people who have been hacked and those people who dont realize theyve been hacked.Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats cautioned in mid-July that the warning lights are blinking red again over possible foreign intrusions and that Russian hackers are undertaking aggressive attempts to manipulate social media around midterm campaigns.Around the same time, Microsoft said it had detected and helped the U.S. government thwart hacking attempts against three congressional candidates without identifying them.Since then, Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat in a tough re-election battle, reported that Russians attempted unsuccessfully to hack her Senate computer network.The FBI is investigating possible hacks of at least two California House races, including sustained cyberattacks against Hans Keirstead, a Democrat seeking to unseat Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a 15-term Republican and an ardent supporter of Russia, news reports say. Keirstead came in third in a top two June 5 primary, trailing the No. 2 candidate by 125 votes.Another Democratic congressional candidate in Southern California, David Min, was hacked prior to his defeat in an early June primary, Reuters reported Aug. 17, citing three unnamed sources. Mins spokeswoman, Paige Hutchinson, declined comment.Candidates are loath to acknowledge a breach publicly.Everybody is very passionate about staying out of the news, said Patrick Sullivan, global director of security strategy at Akamai Technologies, a Massachusetts cloud service provider that is one of a handful of high-tech companies offering free services to candidates. Thats kind of the phrase we hear a lot. They dont want there to be reporting on something going wrong.Another high-tech executive said many candidates simply ignore the peril of hackers even as the two major parties spend heavily.Everyones hit the snooze button, said Theresa Payton, chief executive of Fortalice, a Charlotte, N.C., cybersecurity firm, and a former White House information technology official.The Republican and Democratic parties have spent sizable sums on cybersecurity, according to Federal Election Commission data through the quarter that ended June 30, the most recent period for which data is available. Those funds are largely for services to protect national databases rather than to protect individual candidates.Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity company that traced the 2016 hack of the DNC to two Russian government hacking groups, helping to set off the sprawling federal probe into Russian meddling in U.S. politics, is by far the largest recipient of campaign spending. According to the most recent filings, Crowdstrike had earned $500,000 from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and won more than $146,000 in contracts with the Democratic National Committee. The Sunnyvale, Calif., firm also won nearly $120,000 in contracts with the National Republican Congressional Committee.Another firm with business with the committees is Guidepoint Security LLC, of Herndon, Va., which won more than $280,000 of business from the NRCC and more than $135,000 with the DNC.A small Pittsburgh cybersecurity firm, Wombat Security Technologies, did more than $13,000 in business with the DNC.None of those firms immediately responded to queries about their services.Fortalice, the Charlotte firm, won nearly $100,000 worth of business from the RNC.You need to set aside about $15,000 to do just the basics, Payton said. If you want to do some pretty decent stuff, not cutting edge, not leading edge, not having cyber ninjas 24 by 7, the next tier of spending needs to be sort of the $25,000 to $50,000 range.That amount will buy a candidate some cybersecurity monitoring tools, techies to set them up, warning systems for email coming from outside the campaign and some basic training of staff to avoid routinely clicking on links or email that might contain malware, she said.According to McClatchy review of FEC data, the two candidates who have spent the most on cybersecurity are Mitt Romney in Utah and John Kingston in Massachusetts, both Republicans running for Senate seats. Kingston spent about $38,000 with a small Lexington firm, Techtonic, while Romney spent more than $34,000 with Braintrace, a larger firm in Salt Lake City.Only four other politicians registered cybersecurity spending with the FEC. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the junior Democratic senator from New York, spent more than $31,000 with Guidepoint Security. A Democrat seeking a House seat in North Carolina, Dan McCready, spent $2,000 with Fortalice and another nearly $20,000 for legal services and cybersecurity with Robinson Bradshaw, a North Carolina law firm.Phil Bredesen, a former Democratic governor of Tennessee now running for the Senate, spent more than $15,000 with Crowdstrike. Hawaiis senior senator, Democrat Brian Schatz, spent more than $2,000 with Fortalice.A handful of other politicians reported cybersecurity spending of under $1,000.Whether candidates receive cybersecurity assistance in other ways unaccounted for by FEC rules is not clear. Their campaigns are by law separate from their offices, if they are incumbents. Nor is it clear which candidates may have received free assistance from a growing list of companies offering some services free. Those companies include Google, Cylance, Synack and Cloudflare.Even if Election Day arrives without another major incident, one cyber researcher said hackers could have embedded surveillance tools in U.S. political campaigns without getting detected.The lack of serious U.S. reprisals against Russia for its 2016 election hacking will embolden hackers from other nations to follow the Russian playbook to try to influence outcomes in a similar fashion, said Mounir Hahad, a seasoned expert and head of threat labs at Juniper Networks in Sunnyvale, Calif.He said foreign hackers may just ratchet it down one level, potentially go after Congress, focus on districts that may have a lot of sway in international affairs, and remain buried in the networks of U.S. politicians for the long term.They can stay there for years and go potentially unnoticed, Hahad said. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced up to $205 million in grants for projects designed to accelerate the adoption of clean freight technologies and reduce air pollution caused by the movement of goods throughout the state. Eleven projects will receive $150 million from California Climate Investmentsusing proceeds from the states landmark Cap-and-Trade programand other sources, with another $55 million to be considered by the Board at its October meeting. The grants will be matched by $210 million invested by private and public partners, bringing total investment to more than $400 million. The projects range from electric locomotives, trucks and refrigeration trailers at railyards in Stockton and San Bernardino, to a hybrid tugboat and electric cranes and forklifts at the Port of Long Beach. All 11 projects are located within disadvantaged communities that are heavily impacted by air pollution from freight facilities. The goal of CARBs Zero and Near Zero Emission Freight Facility program is to support transformative, cost-effective clean technologies that can be adopted by other freight facilities and accelerate the commercialization of these technologies statewide. The projects will reduce pollution that contributes to regional air quality problems, particularly diesel particulate emissions that impact communities located near ports, rail yards and warehouses. Each of the 11 projects will receive matching funds from private and public partners. Grants are expected to be executed over the coming months. Following are descriptions of the projects: Flexible Solutions for Freight Facilities San Joaquin Valley Zero and Near-Zero Emissions Enabling Freight Project: The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) will receive $22.6 to demonstrate a battery electric locomotive, zero-emission drayage truck, hybrid cranes and other equipment at intermodal rail yards in Stockton and San Bernardino. Project partners will provide $22.9 million in matching funds. Frito Lay Transformative Zero and Near-Zero Emission Freight Facility Project: The SJVACP also will receive $15.4 million to help replace all diesel-powered equipment at Frito-Lay in Modesto, including deployment of 15 heavy-duty Tesla battery electric tractors, 38 low NOx trucks fueled with renewable natural gas, and demonstrate six Peterbilt e220 battery electric trucks. Partner match: $15.4 million. Volvo Low-Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS): The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) will receive $44.8 million to deploy 23 Class 8 Volvo battery electric trucks and 24 zero-emission forklifts, along with 58 heavy-duty fast chargers and other related equipment in Ontario, Chino, Fontana and Placentia. Partner match: $45.9 million. Next Generation Fuel Cell Delivery Van Deployment: The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) will receive $5.4 million to deploy four fuel cell hybrid electric delivery vans for UPS for a minimum 12-month demonstration project in Chino. Partner match: $5.8 million. Zero Emissions for California Ports: The Gas Technology Institute will receive $8 million to demonstrate two fuel cell yard trucks at the Port of Los Angeles. Partner match: $6.3 million. Zero-Emission Freight Shore to Store Project: The Port of Los Angeles (POLA) will receive $41.1 million to deploy ten Kenworth and Toyota fuel cell Class 8 trucks, build two new large-capacity hydrogen fueling stations in Wilmington and Ontario, and deploy two electric yard tractors at the Port of Hueneme and two zero-emission forklifts at Toyotas POLA warehouse. Partner match: $41.4 million. Sustainable Terminals Accelerating Regional Transformation (START) Project Phase 1: The Port of Long Beach will receive $50 million for a project expected to benefit the Ports of Long Beach, Oakland and Stockton that will deploy 38 electric yard tractors, nine electric gantry cranes, 18 electric heavy lift forklifts, 15 zero emission Class 8 trucks, a hybrid tugboat, two ocean-going vessels with selective catalytic reduction installations, and other state-of-the-art port-related equipment. Partner match: $52.9 million. Zero-Emission Beverage Handling and Distribution at Scale: The Center for Transportation and the Environment will receive $5.5 million to deploy 21 battery-electric Class 8 trucks at four Anheuser-Busch distribution facilities, and to commission solar generation at its Carson facility. Partner match: $5.8 million. Zero Emission from Farm to Table: Reducing Pollution Emissions and Health Risks from the Movement of Produce along Two adjacent Trade Corridors in California: The City of San Francisco will receive $4.6 million to demonstrate 30 electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles between the Bay Area and the Valley, to install fast chargers in San Francisco and Sacramento, and additional charging infrastructure at the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market. Partner match: $4.6 million. Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Delivery Van Deployment: The Center for Transportation and the Environment will receive $4.3 million to expand a project with UPS in Ontario that will yield 15 new zero-emission vehicles. Partner match: $5.2 million. Net-Zero Farming and Freight Facility Demonstration Project: Project Clean Air will receive $3.3 million to deploy and demonstrate five electric battery Class 7 trucks with all-electric Transport Refrigeration Units with Moonlight Companies in Reedley. Partner match: $3.3 million. The projects, which support implementation of the states Sustainable Freight Action Plan, were chosen based on the following criteria: technology and innovation, potential to act as a showcase to industry, benefit to disadvantaged communities, degree of industry collaboration, budget and match funding, and potential for market penetration. Projects are located in five air districts across the state: San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, and Bay Area Air Quality Management District. California Climate Investments is a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environmentparticularly in disadvantaged communities. ITM Power and Johnson Matthey announced the opening of ITM Powers seventh public access hydrogen refueling station (HRS) located at Johnson Matthey, Swindon on the M4 corridor. The opening is being supported by Toyota, Hyundai and Honda. The new Swindon HRS is ITM Powers seventh public access HRS and joins Cobham on the M25, Beaconsfield on the M40, Rainham in Kent on the A14, Teddington in London, Rotherham on the M1 and Kirkwall in Orkney. Located at Johnson Matthey in Swindon, which is home to the companys fuel cell component manufacturing facility, the new HRS lies just off the M4 linking South Wales with London. It is now open for public and private fleets operating fuel cell electric vehicles. The station uses electricity via a renewable energy contract and water to generate hydrogen on-site with no need for deliveries. The new HRS is the first of two stations in the UK to be deployed as part of the pan European H2ME2 project, which was funded by the European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCHJU) and the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). A further station to be deployed by ITM Power under H2ME1 will be located at Gatwick Airport and will be opened before the end of this year. On 11 September at the Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Birmingham, Prime Minister Theresa May outlined the UK Governments Road to Zero Strategy which includes funding of 1.5 billion for ultra-low-emission vehicles by 2020. At the event, the Prime Minister also announced more than 100 million of funding for innovators in ultra-low-emission vehicles and hydrogen technology. The Road to Zero Strategy maps out in detail how the UK will reach its target for all new cars and vans to be, effectively, zero emission by 2040and for every car and van to be zero emission by 2050. Meh. Photo: Amy Brothers/Denver Post via Getty Images There are many enjoyable fall traditions in New York: sweater weather, the Halloween parade, complaining about pumpkin spice lattes. Autumn is a wonderful time, but those changing leaves mask a lie, a seasonal specialty that is heralded as a much-loved custom when, in reality, it is nothing more than a festering, fall-time deception. I refer, of course, to the return of apple cider doughnuts. Lets be clear: Apple cider doughnuts are not bad. They are simply not special. We get excited to see them because we think they are a nice way to welcome the colder weather and the looming winter. Even though apple cider is readily available all year long, its as if federal law forbids the arrival of apple-cider doughnuts until the thermometer dips into the 60s. Its a trick to make us think theyll carry some taste of the crisp autumn air and late-summer apple harvest. Remove yourself from this facade however, and taste them on their own. They taste like plain doughnuts, with maybe a little cinnamon thrown in. Whats the big deal? I say this as a New Englander, an apple lover, a doughnut devotee, and someone so entrenched in autumnal splendor that cider may as well course through my veins. I want apple cider doughnuts to be special, just as we all do, but I know in my heart that its time to confront reality once and for all: apple cider doughnuts are not special doughnuts. They are not paczki, the almost preposterously hefty egg- and lard-enriched Polish wonders that rightfully deserve their own day of celebration. Apple cider doughnuts are not the Donut Mans fresh fruitstuffed glories that you find at the end of historic Route 66 in Glendora, California. They are not even the gently glazed, perfectly blistered crullers of Curiosity Doughnuts that true fans know to find along the New JerseyPennsylvania border. In my entire life I have eaten exactly one very good apple cider doughnut. A small, plump round from Beardsley Cider Mill in Shelton, Connecticut, that finally delivered on the promise of a doughnut that tastes like bright, comforting apple. But instead of opening my eyes to the truest possibilities of apple cider doughnuts, they only made clear that all the versions I had eaten before, and all that Ive (regrettably) eaten since, are nothing more than plain, otherwise-fine cake doughnuts tossed in spiced sugar and wrapped in a blanket of seasonal deception. So this fall, when my friends drag me north to go look at turning leaves or whatever, and we inevitably stop at a quaint little cider mill somewhere in the Hudson Valley, I wont refrain from eating an apple cider doughnut theyre still doughnuts; theyre still good but I will know that what I am eating is merely as special as the same non-cider doughnuts Ill eat in December, or March, or any other time throughout the year. News VIDEO: Saudi father pardons son's killer, waives blood money Al-Shoujbi said, in an interview with MBC, that he secretly went to visit the mother of his sons murderer so that no one of his relatives would know, and then told them that he had decided to pardon their son for the sake of Almighty Allah. At the meeting between PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his RoK counterpart Lee Nak-yon (Photo: VNA) Vietnam-RoK Joint Statement towards the future signed in March, 2018. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the affirmation during a meeting in Hanoi on September 26th with his RoK counterpart Lee Nak-yon who came to Vietnam to pay tribute to President Tran Dai Quang. On behalf of the Vietnamese Party, Government and people, PM Phuc thanked RoK President Moon Jae-in and his spouse for their message of condolences, and Lee for coming to Vietnam to pay his last respect to President Quang, saying this is vivid illustration of the RoK Government and peoples sentiments towards Vietnam. Also, PM Phuc laid stress on the past achievements in the bilateral ties, adding that high-level exchanges have been maintained, political trust have been enhanced, and people-to-people exchanges have become an important pillar in the Vietnam-RoK friendship. He said that both sides need to channel more efforts to advance relations in various sectors in order to attain their set goals. On behalf of President Moon Jae-in, the RoK Government and people, PM Lee expressed the deepest condolences over the passing of President Quang, saying that this is a huge loss to bilateral relations. The RoK President, Government, and people attach great importance to their relations with Vietnam, he said, affirming that the RoK will join hands with Vietnam to elevate the ties to a new height./. Haiti - Politic : The Ministry of Planning discusses self-sufficiency with USAID Stevenson Jacques Thimoleon, the Director General of the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation (MPCE) met this week with a delegation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on the theme of self-reliance, while the latest report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reminds that Haiti still depends on the assistance of the United Nations to meet its food needs https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25642-haiti-humanitarian-haiti-depends-on-international-assistance-to-feed-its-population.html The Ministry's Technical Directors and Senior Executives participating in this first working session of a series aimed at strengthening collaboration between the Department and this important financial partner, have learned from the new USAID analytical framework, which measures the commitment and capacity of the Government and Civil Society in Haiti. The delegation explained the indicators of this new analysis grid and their roadmap presenting USAID's new mission is to see the partners progress and become autonomous. In this perspective, USAID relies on the Ministry to increase the effectiveness of its actions and their alignment with national priorities. Thimoleon reminded the delegation, the mission and the functions of the Ministry to help them better understand the tools and mechanisms promoted or developed by the MPCE, implemented in particular in the Strategic Plan of Development of Haiti (PSDH), the three-year investment plan (PTI) 2014-2016, the establishment of the PPPBSE chain and the coordination of development aid (CAED). Thimoleon advocates "[...] an alignment, effective ownership of development cooperation and non-fragmentation in order to achieve the Government's development goals, but also to allow international aid to realize its real vocation to know how to be effective and to disappear [...]" See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25642-haiti-humanitarian-haiti-depends-on-international-assistance-to-feed-its-population.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - DR : More than 1,400 false documents seized in the hands of our compatriots Lieutenant General Maximo William Munoz Delgado of the Directorate General of Migration (DGM) revealed that more than 1,400 false or falsified documents were seized in the hands of Haitians during migration control operations in recent weeks in Dajabon, Santiago and in the provinces of Pedernales and Independencia. According to the report of the DGM, in addition to the seizure of 1406 falsified cards of the National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE) was also seized 19 fake Haitian passports and 4 Dominican passports, 1 Haitian identity card, 1 work permit, 1 student permit and 6 expired residence permits. The DGM states that the documents were seized by immigration officers and inspectors, after verification with biometric readers in connection with the central database. Recall that the holder of a falsified PNRE card (impersonation) is expelled for having been in an irregular migration situation in the country and having committed an identity theft. For the true owner of the card, he is excluded from PNRE unless he can prove that he has filed a complaint of the theft of his card before it is seized. It seems that despite our repeated warnings, our compatriots continued to enrich the Haitian-Dominican networks of forgers by paying sometimes very expensive, forged documents or falsified PNRE cards, totally unusable, that do not resist the first biometric control whose use tends to be generalized in the neighboring Republic. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25598-haiti-dr-1-600-haitians-controlled-in-less-than-24-hours-more-than-60-deported-to-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25247-haiti-dr-more-and-more-haitians-are-ripped-off-by-counterfeiters.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24380-haiti-flash-rush-on-false-papers-in-dr.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-24051-icihaiti-rd-seizure-of-nearly-6-000-fake-documents-in-the-hands-of-illegal-migrants.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23913-haiti-social-new-seizures-of-fake-migratory-documents-in-dr.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23522-haiti-flash-more-than-250-haitians-arrested-in-santiago-dozens-of-false-documents-seized.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22776-haiti-dr-seizure-of-141-passports.html https://www.haitilibre.com/article-22708-haiti-pnre-fausses-cartes-plus-d-une-centaine-d-haitiens-vont-etre-expulses.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21746-haiti-flash-dismantling-in-dr-of-a-mobile-laboratory-of-false-haitian-papers.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20762-haiti-dr-seizure-of-more-than-2-200-false-documents-in-the-hands-of-haitians.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Moise meets New York diaspora Wednesday evening President Moise met the Haitian community of New York-Spring Valley one of the important points of his agenda "It is essential to maintain this kind of dialogue with our compatriots so that they are better informed of the situation of the country" declared the Head of State who took the opportunity to renew his promise to equip Haiti road infrastructure and provide electricity 24/24 without setting a deadline... "Ceant is gone wrong" dixit Mirlande Manigat According to the unfortunate former presidential candidate Mirlande Manigat, Honorary President of the Rassemblement des Democrates Democrats Progressive (RDNP) Jean-Henry Ceant did not start very well in his first days at the helm of the Government. Not wishing to give the PM 3 months to see the results, given the urgency of the situation in Haiti, she nevertheless said "As a citizen, I would not want the government of my country to fail, but I can say that he's gone wrong." Moise talks with Bill Clinton On Wednesday, on the sidelines of the 73rd Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Moise went to the Bloomberg Global Business to participate in an important round table. Discussions focused on "Building Resilient Economies and Preserving Marine Ecosystems in the Commonwealth Coast Countries and Haiti". "It was a pleasure for me to meet with former US President Bill Clinton in New York on the sidelines of the Bloomberg Global Business Forum," said Jovenel Moise. Rabies still kills in Haiti In its latest 2018 annual report, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reports that from February 2017 to September 2018, nearly 19 people died of rabies in 4 countries, including 8 in Haiti. PAHO recommending a massive dog vaccination campaign to end this disease. The statistics of the MSPP report that during this period 2,300 cases of bites were reported including 8 fatal cases of rabies : 3 in Port-de-Paix and 5 in the department of the West. Dr. Norelus Joseph Pierre believes that it is alarming in Haiti, recalling that all cases in human rabies do not enter the statistics because they are not all reported. Family planning As part of the International Day for Contraception, Plan International organized, in the North-East department of the country, an awareness-raising day on the theme "Fe planin se dwa fanm tankou gason" to contribute to efforts to reduce number of unwanted pregnancies in Haiti. This action is also part of the "Strengthening Health Outcomes for Women" (SHOW) project, which aims to improve the health of mothers and newborns in this department, as well as strengthening the knowledge of community members about Sexual and Reproductive health. PM : 2nd Council of Government Wednesday at the Primature, Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant chaired his 2nd Council of Government. The fight against corruption and smuggling, the PetroCaribe issue, the issue of the minimum wage, the government's relationship with the press and the media in general, the organization of the forthcoming government retreat and the effectiveness of State expenditure was among other things debated. HL/ HaitiLibre News Release September 27, 2018 Contact information Influenza vaccination rates for Minnesota children up in 2017-18, but too many still at risk MDH, pediatricians join #FightFlu campaign to get more children vaccinated Slightly more Minnesota children received vaccinations for influenza in the 2017-18 flu season compared to the previous season, according to national data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, health officials remain concerned that too many children still remain unvaccinated for influenza each year. That leaves children vulnerable to serious illness and even death from influenza and its potential complications. CDC released the National Immunization Survey (NIS) data today as part of its kick-off of the #FightFlu campaign, a partnership with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) and others to protect more Americans from influenza this year. As part of that effort, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and partners are taking part in a #FightFlu Twitterstorm from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. According to CDC estimates from the NIS, approximately 62 percent of Minnesota children between the ages of 6 months and 17 years received vaccinations during the 2017-18 influenza season. That rate was similar to but up slightly from estimates for the previous two years, which were just over 60 percent. The overall national rate of coverage was 57.9 percent, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points from the previous season. The survey showed that vaccination coverage varied by state and age group. Protecting slightly more Minnesota children from influenza last year is good news, especially given the lack of a no-shot, nasal spray option, but we still have too many children left unprotected from this potentially serious disease, said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. The flu vaccine protects those who receive it as well as those in the community who cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions. Five children died from influenza or related complications during last years flu season, and more than 6,400 Minnesotans of all ages were hospitalized for influenza. CDC says 74 percent of the 172 pediatric deaths nationwide in 2017-18 involved unvaccinated children. Most of them did not have any underlying health conditions. Health officials noted that these numbers underscore how severe influenza can be and that vaccination is the best tool we have to fight influenza. Since children cant make the decision to get vaccinated themselves, its up to parents and health care providers to make it happen, MDH Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann said. Parents should ask their health care provider about influenza vaccine and providers should check the vaccination status of patients at every visit and strongly recommend vaccination. MDH is partnering with pediatricians to get more children vaccinated against influenza this year. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all children ages 6 months and older receive the flu vaccine each year, ideally by the end of October, said Dr. Lori DeFrance, president of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (MNAAP). Parents should be aware that the flu can cause serious complications -- even in healthy children. The flu vaccine is the best way to protect them from outbreaks in schools, daycares and communities. The surveys data for Minnesota show differences in coverage between age groups. The rate for children 6 months through 4 years (75 percent) is significantly higher than the rate for children 5 through 12 years (65 percent). Coverage falls even more for adolescents 13-17 years (50 percent). That suggests influenza vaccination may be related to convenience or how often children of different ages visit their health care provider. Its more difficult to get school-age children in to see a provider during the school year. Ehresmann noted that there are greater opportunities for influenza vaccination today so there are fewer excuses for not vaccinating children, especially school-age children and adolescents. Many clinics will be offering walk-in hours for influenza vaccine over the next few months, so check with your home clinic, Ehresmann said. Also, most pharmacies and convenience clinics offer walk-in vaccinations for influenza. Some local public health agencies also offer the vaccine. Its a good idea to call ahead and make sure that your clinic has vaccine formulations available if you have younger children, because they need specific types of vaccine. Pharmacists can vaccinate children 6 years and older. More information on the national influenza vaccination coverage data can be found on CDC VaxView website. More information on influenza and influenza vaccination can be found at www.mdhflu.com. Go to our Vaccine Clinic Look-Up site for links to search for vaccination clinics near you, including clinics that offer free or low-cost vaccines. -MDH- Doug Schultz MDH Communications 651-201-4993 doug.schultz@state.mn.us Photo: VNA letter, President Joko Widodo expressed his regret that he could not attend the national funeral of President Tran Dai Quang so he sent a representing delegation. He affirmed that the Indonesian government and people will always share and stand side by side with the Vietnamese people in this difficult time. Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh represented Madame Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh to receive the letter. In the Hearing that President Tran Dai Quang passed away, President Joko Widodo expressed his condolence to the family, the Government and the people of Viet Nam on his Twitter and Instagram. Writing in the condolence book, Mr. Wiranto expressed that with the passing of President Tran Dai Quang, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam loses a great statesman who wholeheartedly committed himself to serving his country and all the people of Viet Nam. Our thought and prayers are with the bereaved family and Vietnamese people at this moment of sorrow./. The Ministry of Transport and Communications stated yesterday that it has launched an online survey to gauge public opinion on the different standard time options: summer time, winter time or another time zone. The survey results, it said, will be used to prepare a statement on a directive proposal tabled by the European Commission. Finns have an opportunity to express their views on which time zone should be adopted as the standard in Finland. The survey is hosted on Otakantaa.fi, an online service administered by the Ministry of Justice. The survey will be open until 12 October. The Ministry of Transport and Communications pointed out that adopting summer time as the permanent standard time would, on average, result in slightly lighter evenings and darker mornings. Adopting winter time, on the other hand, would result in slightly lighter mornings and darker evenings. Regardless of the choice, the abolition of the biannual exercise is expected to have positive health effects. Uusi Suomi asked its readers earlier this month to state their preference on the issue. Well over a half (58%) of the over 3,000 people who have responded thus far have voiced their support for winter time. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi There should be no categorical ban on all dual citizens. The Centre does, however, recognise the problem and is prepared to consider certain specifications, he stated in his response to a ten-item survey on immigration-related issues conducted by YLE. The Centre Party is not prepared to support a proposal to prevent dual citizenship holders from advancing to senior military positions in Finland, says Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre). The public broadcasting company distributed the survey to the chairpersons of all political parties represented in the Finnish Parliament. The question of whether dual citizens should be able to advance to senior military positions has recently caused friction between the three ruling parties. Minister of Defence Jussi Niinisto (BR) has been a vocal advocate of the prohibition, whereas Minister of the Interior Kai Mykkanen (NCP) has announced he will not extend the prohibition to positions at the Finnish Border Guard. Petteri Orpo (NCP), the Minister of Finance, told YLE that the prohibition cannot be categorical, emphasising that also dual citizens must have the possibility to apply to military positions. Well therefore need at least a special procedure. Conducting a security clearance to examine all ties to overseas is already requirement for military positions. The government is still considering the matter, he said to the public broadcasting company. The only two parties that are supportive of the notion of excluding all dual citizens from consideration for senior military positions are the Blue Reform and Finns Party, according to YLE. Aleksi Teivainen HT Source: Uusi Suomi MEMBERS of the National Trust are to vote on whether to ban barbed wire fencing from its properties. The move follows the death of a deer at Greys Court earlier this year. David, Michael, and Jemima Sarson, Lucy Davies and Anne Hughes have put forward a resolution to the trusts annual meeting on October 20 calling for barbed wire to be outlawed. The resolution, which has been signed by the required 50 members, says: We believe that barbed wire is an outdated product and that it causes injury to wild animals and people. It asks that: With immediate effect, the trust will not, or allow its tenants to, install any new or replacement wire on any of its properties The trust implements a plan to remove all barbed wire from its properties within five years It ientifies higher risk sites, such as Greys Court, and removes the barbed wire immediately. The deer that died on trust land near Greys Court in March was discovered caught in barbed wire by Judy Dinsdale, of Northfield End, Henley. At the time, she told the Henley Standard: The National Trust says it wants to encourage wildlife and woodland life but at the same time they are installing barbed wire. I dont know how you can defend it when you see that deer. It must have died in such agony. I want to see double strand barbed wire removed from all National Trust properties. The trust is rich enough to remove it and put up an alternative. She had been a member of the trust for about 50 years but left last year in protest at the installation of barbed wire at the Greys Court bluebell woods. The trusts board has recommended that members vote against the resolution. It said: As a conservation charity, and one of the nations biggest landowners, we take our role in protecting the wildlife that lives on our land very seriously. For the people managing our land this means having to make careful decisions about many aspects of land management, including about the use of barbed wire. The population of deer in the UK is at an all-time high. In spite of this the number of incidences of deer (and other wildlife) being harmed by barbed wire is extremely low. Deer will normally try to find a way around, through or under a fence before trying to jump over it. The relatively rare incidents of deer being caught in barbed wire fences usually happen when they are trying to jump over a fence. The trust uses barbed wire to manage livestock. It enables us to protect certain areas, including areas of high conservation sensitivity, from the damage livestock can cause and prevents them from exerting pressure on fencing and potentially breaking through. The alternative is to use plain wire above stock netting. This does not deter livestock in the same way, as they frequently push it over. We try actively to manage this small risk to wildlife. THE manager of a care home in Henley has been nominated for an award. Thelma Clutson, who runs Acacia Lodge in Quebec Road, is a finalist in the Great British Care Awards (South-East). The home was inspected by the Care Quality Commission in April and received a good rating overall and an outstanding score for responsiveness. Mrs Clutson, who lives in Reading, has been praised by her bosses for integrating with schools and nurseries in Henley, the support she provides staff and the use of new technology to make the care home safer. Aileen Nimmo, sales and marketing manager for operator LRH Care Homes, which operates the home, said: Thelma has a huge heart and is incredibly committed to making sure that life in Acacia Lodge is great for everyone. She is also committed to supporting her staff. Following the sad loss of one of her nurses, Thelma and her activity team organised an amazing themed safari day as way of paying tribute. Residents, relatives, staff and the local community were invited to be involved to acknowledge the contribution the nurse had made to her residents and the home in what turned out to be a very moving event. The feedback received following the event was typical of the thanks Thelma is always shown for going above and beyond her job remit. She truly cares that the lives of those she touches is in some way positively improved. The many reviews and thank-you cards reflect this. Despite her years of experience, she is not afraid to embrace and explore new innovative ideas if they can possibly improve the quality of care for her residents. Our organisation is proud to have Thelma as a registered home manager in our group and we feel that she is worthy of not just a nomination but of winning this prestigious award. The awards ceremony will take place in Brighton on November 3. NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) and her Russian guest (Photo: VNA) The top legislator made the statement while hosting reception in Hanoi for Deputy Chairwoman of the State Duma of Russia Olga Epifanova, who led a high-level delegation to Vietnam to pay last respect to President Tran Dai Quang. NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan thanked Russian leaders for extending condolences and sending the delegation to Vietnam to attend the state funeral for President Quang, describing this as a vivid illustration for Russias sentiment to Vietnam. At the meeting, NA Chairwoman Ngan welcomed the Russian officials initiative to set up the Vietnam-Russia Inter-parliamentary Committee, saying that a high-level representative of the Vietnamese NA will be sent to the committee. She thanked the Federation Council and the State Duma of Russia for inviting the Vietnamese NA to attend regional and international parliamentary conferences and forums. Also, she lauded Russias successful organisation of the Eurasian Womens Forum and the Conference of Speakers of Eurasian Countries Parliaments. Host and guest agreed to organise activities marking the 25th anniversary of the signing of a treaty on basic principles for Vietnam-Russia friendship in 2019, and the 15th anniversary of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in October. They also discussed the roles and contributions made by female parliamentarians to the development of each country and the world./. Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez (Front) addresses the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Qin Lang) 35 1 [ Editor: WPY ] GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Three rockets fired by Taliban militants hit Ghazni city, the capital of Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province, on Thursday but caused no loss of life, deputy to provincial police chief Ramazan Ali Mohseni said. "Three rockets fired by Taliban rebels slammed into Ghazni city today morning but fortunately caused no loss of life," Mohseni told Xinhua. The rocket attacks took place hours after President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani arrived in Ghazni city to meet the government officials and locals to inspect the situation there. Taliban militants briefly captured Ghazni city in early August, inflicting countless loss of lives and huge property damages to private and public institutions. After recapturing the Ghazni city in August, President Ghani visited the city and promised Ghazni residents to upgrade the war-torn province administration system and development projects. Almost after one month of his visit to Ghazni, the president took another visit to Ghazni city Thursday morning. After meeting government officials and elders to review the situation, he ordered launching a few development projects including constructing a conference hall and building a new hospital there, Presidential Palace said in a media release. [ Editor: WPY ] OTTAWA, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has never extended an invitation for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York, according to a report by CTV on Wednesday night. A spokesperson for Trudeau told CTV News that "no meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that." Trump said that he turned down a meeting with Trudeau "because his tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move and I've told him forget about it and frankly we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada. That's the mother lode, that's the big one." Trump made the remarks during a news conference in New York earlier on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, when he was asked if he had, in fact, snubbed Trudeau. He said, "Yeah, I did." TV footage shows Trudeau and Trump shook hands briefly during a luncheon for world leaders at the UN headquarters. Trump also said at the news conference, "If Canada doesn't make a deal with us, we're going to make a much better deal. We're going to tax the cars that come in. We will put billions and billions of dollars into our treasury, and frankly we'll be very happy, because it's actually more money than you can make under any circumstance with making a deal." Trump's new threat came four days before the U.S.-imposed deadline of Sept. 30 for Canada to provide the U.S. Congress with an updated text of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal. The United States and Mexico have already reached a consensus following bilateral negotiations. Canadian negotiators are still meeting behind d doors with U.S. counterparts. The two sides have reportedly made progress in recent weeks, but have been unable to settle a few key issues. Trump cast serious doubts on the negotiations. "We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much." "Canada has a long way to go. I must be honest with you, we're not getting along at all with their negotiators," Trump said. It's unclear exactly which representative Trump was referring to. Canada is represented by a team of NAFTA negotiators led by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. [ Editor: WPY ] As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Dairy productivity priority for Thompson Farmer groups should set productivity as the industry priority and push to be more involved in Dairy Australia's planning, while also striving for a new level of transparency and integrity in advocacy. Seafood export affected On October 23, 2017, the EC warned of a "yellow card" as Vietnam's efforts had not been enough to combat IUU fishing. According to seafood exporters, the problem concerning the IUU yellow card" began to show a clear impact on seafood exports. Vietnamese exporters are trying to meet the EU requirements related to IUU regulations, but in the early stages, they may be cautious and awkward in carrying out the procedures, thus negatively influencing the export of aquatic products, especially for the collection of raw materials from various sources and ships. In 2018, seafood exports have tended to decrease from 4-20%. Generally, in the first eight months this year, seafood exports decreased by 25%, only reaching US$252 million. Of which, squid, octopus and other seafood leveled off in the first half of this year and continued the downward trend. Exports of bivalve mollusks have continued to decrease by nearly 10%, with US$55 million. According to Le Hang, Deputy Head of the Training and Trade Promotion Centre under the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), tuna exports to the EU have still maintained double digit growth so far this year. From January to August, tuna exports to the EU reached over US$102 million, up 26%, accounting for 24% of the total export turnover of tuna. However, exports to the US market have decreased continuously in 2018, down by 6% at US$139 million. VASEP forecast that seafood exports to the EU will continue to decrease in the last months of 2018, affecting the overall seafood export turnover in general; estimated at US$3.2 billion, up 7% over the last year. Nguyen Thi Thu Sac, Vice President of VASEP, pointed to lessons from other nations that have successfully removed a "yellow card" or "red card", suggesting that Vietnamese enterprises and fishermen effectively implement the recommendations from the EC to remove the "yellow card", through concentrating personnel and material resources for the implementation, while proposing that the Government continues providing material support for units to invest in machinery and equipment to prevent illegal fishing. Tuna exports to the EU have maintained double digit growth so far this year. Various urgent solutions According to Hang, during the inspection from May 16 to 24, the EC delegation had a positive evaluation, especially recognising the determination and efforts of the Government, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and seafood enterprises against IUU fishing. However, the EC also pointed out a number of shortcomings in the implementation of the urgent tasks and solutions against IUU, such as the lack of a mechanism to direct and manage smoothly from the central to local levels in order to ensure effective enforcement against the IUU and following EC regulations against IUU in practice. Resources in both the personnel and material aspect have not been sufficiently allocated to ensure the effective implementation of international regulations related to IUU. Law enforcement to ensure that Vietnamese fishing vessels do not conduct illegal fishing in inland waters is still limited. In addition, the certification of fishery products originating from fishing activities has not yet met the requirements of the EC on the traceability of illegal products exported to the European market. At present, Vietnam has not been able to control the fishery catching declared on paper, so it is necessary to strengthen the control of fishing vessels at ports and at sea, while using vessel control data to ensure that the fishery products exported to the European market are traceable, ensuring the legality of the certified products. According to experts, by January next year, the EC delegation will return to Vietnam to inspect and assess the results of the implementation of the EC recommendations on IUU fishing. Based on the assessment from the delegation, the EC will consider the removal of the "yellow card" warning on Vietnamese seafood. Therefore, by the year end, it is important to concentrate on implementing several key tasks, including finalising a decree to guide the implementation of the Fisheries Law, a decree on sanctioning administrative violations in the fishery sector, and nine circulars to ensure the effectiveness of the revised Fisheries Law that comes into force from January 1, 2019. In addition, it is necessary to set up a timely, smooth and effective steering and control mechanism from the central to local levels to prevent IUU and facilitate the implementation of the EC's recommendations on the IUU issue. MONTREALAs federal consultations on the use of strychnine come to a close and following the recent highly publicized tragic deaths of two family dogs, Rue and Ruby from strychnine poisoning animal protection and conservation groups have aligned with scientists to call on Health Canada to ban the use of this cruel and inhumane wildlife poison. Fifty leading experts signed on to an open letter submitted today, which includes a detailed addendum of why wildlife poisons should be banned. This letter supports Canadas Pest Management Regulatory Agencys proposal to cancel the use of strychnine for ground squirrel control without delay. It further urges Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor and Canadas Pest Management Regulatory Agency to immediately remove three highly toxic wildlife poisons from the Canadian landscape; strychnine, Compound 1080, and sodium cyanide. These poisons are deadly to all warm-blooded animals but are registered for use in Canada primarily to kill wolves, coyotes, bears, rodents and skunks. According to experts across the globe, these poisons should be banned across Canada because they endanger human health, safety and the environment and pose threats that are both serious and irreversible. Help us protect animals all over the world. Strychnine is a deadly neurotoxin best known for the painful deaths it causes. When inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed by the nose and mouth it causes extremely agonizing muscular convulsions, ending in asphyxiation while still conscious. All three poisons, referred to as predacides when targeting predators, cause violent convulsions prior to death. Pesticides represent over 30 percent of the accidental poisonings identified in livestock, companion animals, and wildlife in western Canada since 1998. The poisons are placed in baits which can attract pets and other wildlife, resulting in non-target victims. Animals that consume the baits can take several hours to die, and carcasses containing Compound 1080 and strychnine are toxic to scavengers, causing widespread secondary poisoning through the food chain. Poorly regulated, the use of these indiscriminate poisons also results in the deaths of pets, endangered species, and other non-target animals. Sadie Parr, executive director of the conservation group Wolf Awareness declared: Scientists and veterinarians have expressed that banning these poisons is long overdue. All evidence shows it is the right thing to do. Julie MacInnes, wildlife campaign manager for HSI/Canada, stated: Dogs like Rue and Ruby should never have died so tragically, nor should any animal. Despite being condemned internationally and banned in many countries, strychnine is inexcusably still being used in Canada to kill wild animals. Sheryl Fink, director of wildlife campaigns for IFAW Canada, said: These cruel poisons need to be removed from the landscape immediately. Not only do they cause agonizing deaths for animals they target, they kill many more animals all up and down the food chain, decimating the ecosystem. We urge the Minister of Health to ban the use of products containing strychnine to kill Richardsons Ground Squirrels. This poison causes an inhumane death for the squirrels who play an important role in the prairie ecosystem. It also kills many non-target species as evidenced by information gathered through multiple Freedom of Information Requests to the Governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is bad for wildlife and bad for the environment and should be banned, said Liz White, Director, Animal Alliance of Canada. For interview requests, please call or email media contact below. -30- Media contacts: Vice President Viphavanh sincerely conveyed the deep condolences and infinite grief of the Lao Party, State, National Assembly, Government, and Lao Front for National Construction to their Vietnamese counterparts over the passing of President Tran Dai Quang. He reflected on the valuable contributions made by President Quang in Vietnams national defence, construction, and development. The departure of President Quang is not only a great loss for the Vietnamese Party, State, and people, as well as his family, but also the Lao Party, State, and people have also lost a close friend, he stressed. President Tran Dai Quang made important contributions to promoting the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam in recent years, he noted. On behalf of the Party, the State and people of Vietnam, General Secretary Trong sincerely thanked the Lao side for offering condolences over the death of President Tran Dai Quang, and especially for assigning the Lao delegation to attend the funeral. He praised Laos for its observation of the two-day national mourning for President Tran Dai Quang, remarking that this shows the special, loyal, and rare solidarity in international relations between the two parties, states, and peoples. The Vietnamese Party leader affirmed that the Vietnamese Party, State, and people will do their best in joiningt hands with their Lao peers to preserve and further develop the Vietnam-Laos special solidarity for prosperous development of the two nations, as well as for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. President Tran Dai Quang passed away at 10:05am on September 21 in Hanoi due to serious illness at the age of 62. The Humane Society of the United States welcomes Thomas J. Sabatino, Jr. to its board of directors. Sabatino brings with him 35 years of business, governance and legal experience, and a commitment to improving the lives of animals worldwide. Sabatino is actively engaged in local animal rescue both in Florida and New England, and is also passionate about empowering attorneys in the field of public interest law. His desire to create long lasting change at a national level led him to become an avid supporter of the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International over the years. Tom has been a dedicated advocate for animals both locally and nationally, and Im thrilled that he is joining our board of directors, says Kitty Block, acting president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States and president of Humane Society International. His wish to ensure all animals are treated with compassion and respect, and his professional and philanthropic background make him a great asset to the organization, and Im excited to work with him. Sabatino is currently Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Aetna, and has previously served in comparable positions at Hertz Global Holdings, Walgreens, United Airlines, Schering-Plough, Baxter International and American Medical International. Throughout his career he has received numerous awards, including the Inside Counsels Transformative Leader Award, the National Bar Association Gertrude E. Rush Award, and the Equal Justice Works Scales of Business Award. In 2016, the Womens In-House Counsel Leadership Institute created the Sabatino Advocacy Award in his honor. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania, and a degree in government from Wesleyan University. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and their 17 year old Jack Russell. Councilors Melissa Mazzeo, in the photo, and Helen Moon, not pictured, filed the petition to restart the committee. Pittsfield Forms Homeless Prevention Committee PITTSFIELD, Mass. Before attending Tuesday's City Council meeting Debbie Vall dropped someone off in a wooded area of the city with a tent. It was all she could do for the homeless man. There weren't any shelters available, no temporary housing. And off he went, exposed to the rain that has been drenching the county for the last few days. "What I am concerned about is immediate shelter," Vall, who is the assistant director at the Christian Center said. In just the last two weeks, Vall said a family of five came into the center with no place to go. Four people reported that they were camping out at the Common. Two people were sleeping in cars. One person was sleeping in the woods and three people were squatting in abandoned houses. And those are just the ones who had gone to the Christian Center for help. Just a few weeks ago, Superintendent of Schools Jason McCandless reported that there are 47 city students currently homeless. It isn't an issue that has gone unnoticed in the city as residents have more and more homeless people camping out in various locations. Often city residents will call Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon and ask, "what is the city doing about this?" For a while, she would respond by telling them about the countywide organizations working on the homeless issue, but she never had much to specifically say the city was doing. Until recently. "I was proud to respond that we are making a homeless committee," Moon said. Moon knew the issue well when she worked on North Street and has certainly noticed the number of homeless people camping out in her ward, specifically in Springside Park. Earlier this year she was contacted by Edward Carmel, who had spent some time living on the streets, asking the same question so many others asked Moon. And he wanted to do something. He proposed the committee and Moon and Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo gladly filed a petition to reactive a dormant committee for homelessness. Having been there before, Carmel knows the physical and mental struggles the homeless population goes through. He knows so many of them and still sees them on the street when he stopped and chats with them. He also knows how difficult it is for them to walk into a big social service agency and ask for help. For all of 2018, this homeless committee being formed to do something to help each and every one of those people became Carmel's passion. "We can't prevent what we already have, homeless. But we can prevent future homeless," Carmel said. On Tuesday, the committee received its final approval from the City Council. It is now up to the mayor to make the appointments and get it going. Mazzeo said there is some urgency because "winter is coming" and the Ordinance and Rules subcommittee had already expedited the formation of it. While the committee is being reactivated with unanimous support, Councilor at Large Pete White said it isn't the only thing the city is doing. He said a "significant amount of money" for years has been spent from the federal Community Development Block Grant to support shelters and organizations. But this committee is a chance to do something different. Councilor Vice President John Krol agrees with the committee saying it can enhance the current efforts being done and come up with "innovative" solutions. "This is an opportunity to think much differently and if there are things that haven't been tried here but have been in other communities and have worked, we should go for it," Krol said. Alicia Costa is the director of Working Cities and she tells the same story as Vall and she says, "these are people I know and care about and it is a horrible feeling when they ask me because I can't help them." Costa doesn't believe the homeless issues can be solved by one organization or one individual. Costa said it needs more than just the social workers or just the housing organizations it is going to require the city as a collective body to solve it. With the committee reactivated, she believes solving the issue can and will happen. "We can tackle this issue together and then we can say 'remember when we had a homeless problem but we solved it together,'" Costa said. The nine officers were sworn into their new roles by City Clerk Michele Benjamin. Joyce Sammons pins Deputy Chief Tom Sammons. Peggy and Andrew Clement pin Capt. Ron Clement. Dominica D'Avella pins Capit. Michael D'Avella. Aimee Packard pinned Capt. Matt Packard. Trisha Sana pinned Capt. Mitch Kellar. Katie Heath and Janet D'Arcangelo pinned Lt. Jim Health. Retired Chief Ray Risley pinned Lt. Matt Risley. Retired Chief Ray Risley pinned Lt. Matt Risley. Michele Conroy pinned Lt. Tim Conroy. Lt. Paul Zwingelstein and his son Brayden. Chief Robert Czerwinski presented Rev. Peter Gregory with a helmet and recognized him as an honorary firefighter. PreviousNext Pittsfield Fire Pins Nine Officers Lt. Paul Zwingelstein has his son Brayden pin the new badge onto his uniform. PITTSFIELD, Mass. Last Saturday was a day of firsts that Mitch Kellar won't soon forget. It was his first shift as a deputy fire chief, his first day serving as a captain, and the first time he'd had to deal with four fires all at the same time. Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said Kellar handled it well though, with a cool and calm demeanor and a high level of professionalism. Kellar isn't the only officer within the department with new roles. Tom Sammons has been promoted to deputy chief; Ron Clement, Michael D'Avella, Matt Packard, and Kellar were all promoted to captain; and Jim Heath, Matt Risley, Tim Conroy, and Paul Zwingelstein were all promoted to lieutenant. "I'm confident you will do a fantastic job," retired Deputy Chief Mark Cancilla told the group of nine on Wednesday night when the department held a pinning ceremony to honor the occasion at Reid Middle School. "It is a long hard battle to get here," Czerwinski said. "We all set goals in life and that's where we end up being, trying to get to these positions and trying to be the best people we can be." The chief provided one major piece of advice for the promoted officers: be professional. "Being a true professional comes from within the individual person. It is not the job of the training officer to teach you how to be professional. What they will do is give you the most basic knowledge to become a professional," Czerwinski said. He called on the officers to treat others the way they would like to be treated, to conduct themselves in a calm and intelligent manner, to display a calm demeanor during an emergency and to perform to the highest standards. "You have to remain passionate about your firefighting career," Czerwinski said. He said there will be a time when others try to shake that passion, but he urged the officers not to give in. He told them to remain dedicated to the job and to be consistent with it. Czerwinski remembered when he was first hired by the department and how happy he was to have the job. He said he was ready and able to take on every challenge and was proud of the work being done. He wants his officers to keep that pride just like he has throughout his career and feel it every day. "It is important that you develop and maintain pride in yourself, your company, your department, and the manner in which you carry yourself. You and you alone set the tone for your future," Czerwinski said. Mayor Linda Tyer is confident in the officer's ability and said that was clearly shown on Saturday, when a suspected arsonist set at least three fires in the city within minutes of each other. She said she was "extremely proud" of the work the city's public safety departments did on that troubling night. The officers were joined by family during the ceremony Thursday. "This weekend certainly was a moment for all of us in the city of Pittsfield when there was some fear and some anxiety. When I received a call from Chief Czerwinski and I spoke to [Police] Chief [Michael] Wynn about what was happening I had a couple reactions. First my heart was filled with confidence. I believe in our public safety community for the firefighters who are there to protect life, home, and possessions, for the Police Department conducting the investigation, I was filled with confidence," Tyer said. "I was also filled with fear and worry that our firefighters and police officers were in harm's way. Every time we have an event like this in our community there is a mixed reaction, mixed emotion. I breathed a sigh of relief when everything has calmed down, I know everyone is safe, and that our firefighters and police officers have delivered to the people of our city the most excellent protection." Department Chaplain Peter Gregory said, "scripture reminds us often that we must always build on rock, never on sand." He feels confident that those being promoted are coming from a solid foundation within the department and prayed for their futures within the city. "Their courage, their commitment, and their vision to assume the responsibilities of their rank was enhanced by this foundation of stone," Gregory said. Gregory had recently retired from St. Charles' Church but he had agreed to stay on with the department. Czerwinski recognized Gregory as an honorary firefighter at Wednesday's ceremony, presenting him with a fire helmet. The promoted officers were then pinned new badged by loved ones. iciHaiti - IDB : Towards a reinforcement of the social safety net face the increase in fuel prices On Wednesday, on the sidelines of the 73rd Ordinary Session of the UN General Assembly, President Moise met with Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), around Haiti's development cooperation. Discussions focused on IDB support for the government's efforts to strengthen the social safety net following last July's riots https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25055-haiti-flash-heavy-balance-of-riots.html In this regard, the Head of State recalled the pending request of the Government to the main donor partners, for the financing of social programs ahead of the application of the Staff Monitored Program (SMP) concluded in February with the Monetary Fund international https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23659-haiti-economy-moise-accepts-the-program-of-control-and-the-requirements-of-the-imf.html . President Moreno, recognized the importance of this financial support for the gradual implementation of the measures recommended in the SMP, especially the adjustment of fuel prices which are largely subsidized by the Haitian state. In addition, as part of the 2018-2019 Programming, it was agreed that the IDB will continue to support, as quickly as possible, initiatives undertaken as part of the Caravan of Change strategy. With regard to agriculture, the President emphasized a better approach to support small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in rice and the poultry sector, with the help of Spanish guarantee funds, which have been available since 2011. President Moreno has announced that he will visit Haiti next December. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25648-haiti-imf-president-moise-talks-with-christine-lagarde.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25618-haiti-politic-jovenel-moise-on-an-official-trip-to-new-york.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25055-haiti-flash-heavy-balance-of-riots.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23659-haiti-economy-moise-accepts-the-program-of-control-and-the-requirements-of-the-imf.html IH/ iciHaiti In the condolence book opened by the Vietnams Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and international organisations in Geneva, Switzerland, General Director of the UN Office in Geneva Michael Moller sent his condolences to the Vietnamese people and Government, and the family and close friends of President Quang. Ambassador and head of the Lao Mission to Geneva Kham-Inh Khitchadeth wrote that the Lao people will always remember the valuable contributions of the President to strengthening ties between the two countries. Heads of the permanent missions of Cuba, Germany, Belgium, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Bulgaria, Singapore, Brunei, Syria, Montenegro and Ivory Coast, representatives from the missions of Japan, Serbia, the International Organisation of the Francophone and the UN Conference on Trade and Development, also came to the Vietnamese missions headquarters to pay respect to President Tran Dai Quang. Many foreign ambassadors, charge daffaires, heads of diplomatic representative agencies and international organisations, leaders of the Vietnamese Association in Switzerland, Chairwoman of the Switzerland Vietnam Association Anjuska Weil and overseas Vietnamese visited the Vietnamese embassy in Bern to express their condolences. Ambassador and head of the Swiss Foreign Ministrys Reception Department Mauro Reina wrote in the condolence book opened by the embassy that President Quang will be always remembered by Vietnamese people. Earlier, Swiss President Alain Berset sent a message of condolences Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, expressing his belief that with trust, determination and commitment, the image of President Quang will forever live in the mind of Vietnamese people. Liechtenstein Ambassador to Switzerland Doris Frick conveyed the sympathy of Liechtenstein royal family, government and people to the Vietnamese State, government and people. Memorial ceremonies were also held by Vietnamese embassies in Belgium, the UK, Italy, France and Ukraine. The embassies all opened condolence books on September 26 and 27. It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that a key factor of completing any postsecondary credential is finding a solution for the financial burden that comes with pursuing a degree or certification. Scholarships play a major role in supporting students financial success. At Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), we award $1.2 million to students pursuing their education annually. One of the main tenets of our awarding philosophy is to provide or leverage financial resources to help cover at least 80 percent of the cost of attendance for students at their chosen institution. But lately, research is telling us that that might not be enough. While an ideal scenario would be to cover 100 percent of a students cost to attend school, there is just not enough funding to go around to all qualified applicants. Therefore, the hope is that if we cover at least 80 percent, then the last 20 percent can be earned through work-study or the student can utilize minimal student loans. However, as CICF embarks on a journey to deepen our impact in the community and truly provide an equitable opportunity for all individuals, no matter their place, race or identity, it is important to examine if our at least 80 percent philosophy is still good enough. Search the internet for student loans and you will find countless articles discussing the growing student loan debt and its impact on students. In May, the Federal Reserve released data showing that student loan debt has reached over $1.5 trillion dollars more than double the student loan debt amount from 10 years ago. In Indiana, students attending public universities graduate with an average student loan debt ranging between $22,000$29,000, and students attending private universities graduate with debt averaging between $22,000$59,000. While investing in your education is a reasonable argument for taking out student loans, the statistic that gave me pause was that last year, 20 percent of individuals with education debt are behind on their payments, according to the Federal Reserve. And those with the highest risk of falling behind are students that do not complete their degree. That same research also shows that if we look at the demographics, the individuals with a higher risk of falling behind on payments are first-generation students and students of color. That is concerning for CICF because that same demographic makes up a significant portion of CICF scholarship recipients. Applications for CICF scholarships open in November and are awarded in June, but currently, CICF has over 300 scholarship recipients attending schools across the country; 42 percent of our scholarships are awarded to first-generation students and a majority of scholarships to students of color. We expect those numbers will increase over time, so it is important to make certain that we are awarding our scholarships in a way that best enables the student to be successful in school and after. We are proud that a majority of CICF scholars do complete their education, but what kind of future are we providing if they are saddled with student loan debt after graduation? In a revised report from the Center for Retirement Research, the authors found that individuals holding a bachelor degree and student loans, regardless of the size of the loan, have significantly lower retirement assets by the age of 30 than individuals without student loans. Another study posits that increases in student loan debt has a negative impact on home ownership in the first five years after finishing school. And still more articles and reports argue additional negative consequences of student loan debt. So while CICF tries to minimize the student loan amount for our scholars, there could still be negative consequences for our scholarship recipients, and thats something were working on addressing. CICF would like to provide or leverage more than 80 percent of the financial cost for students, but we cannot do it alone. Thankfully, in Indiana, there are many institutions and organizations working to improve the completion rate for all students, and we work closely with those partners, and our scholarship donors, to elevate our students academic and financial success. If we all want to ensure that the next cohort of degree seekers has the opportunity to succeed in their education and beyond, all of us in this community need to come together to support these individuals. Laurie Burn is community collaborations and impact analyst at Central Indiana Community Foundation. Contact her at LaurieB@cicf.org. The signing was witnessed by Sen. Lieut. Gen. Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA) and deputy head of the Defence Ministrys steering committee for Vietnams participation in the UN peacekeeping operations. This is the first time that Vietnam has sent its military medicine officers to join the UNs peacekeeping forces. Accordingly, 63 members of Vietnams field hospital, mostly staff from the Military Hospital 175, together with medical equipment, will be sent to South Sudan in order to take over the United Kingdoms field hospital. Addressing the signing ceremony, Under Secretary-General of the UN, Atul Khare, applauded the decision and expressed his belief that Vietnam would contribute a high-quality field hospital that works effectively for the UN peacekeeping operations. He also said he hoped that the country would make further contributions to such an important mission deployed by the UN. A send-off for the field hospital is scheduled to be held at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on October 1. September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - A Labour government would recognise an independent state of Palestine as soon as it takes office, Jeremy Corbyn has said. Corbyn gave his backing for a Palestinian state during a fringe event organised by Labour Friends of Palestine at the partys annual conference in Liverpool. The opposition leader said that he wanted to see a secure and viable Palestine alongside Israel. In his address, Corbyn denounced President Donald Trump for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and for cutting funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The agency provides humanitarian assistance and essential education, health and other services to over five million Palestinian refugees. Calling for a sustainable, just peace with Israel after 51 years of occupation, Corbyn pointed out that peace cannot be achieved with the existence of settlements, human rights abuses, and a disregard for international law by the current Israeli government, like last Sundays [announcement of the] demolition of the Palestinian village of Khan Al Ahmar. The residents of the village in the occupied West Bank were told that they had until the beginning of October to leave their homes before they are demolished. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The security of one country can never be achieved at the expense of another and Britain has historic responsibility towards the Palestinian people, Corbyn told the audience. We will continue to stand up for Palestinians, we will recognise an independent state of Palestine as soon as we take office. Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry echoed the party leader by saying that an independent Palestine was needed while there is still some Palestine left to recognise. She also highlighted the toll that the conflict was taking on children in both Israel and Palestine. This article was originally published by " MEMO " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here. Full Speech ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy The Path to World War III Risky Israeli behavior threatens everyone By Philip Giraldi September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The minimal U.S. press coverage accorded to last Mondays shooting down of a Russian intelligence plane off the coast of Syria is, of course, a reflection both of lack of interest and of Israels involvement in the incident. If one had read the New York Times or the Washington Post on the morning after the shoot-down or watched the morning network news it would have been easy to miss the story altogether. The corporate medias desire to sustain established foreign policy narratives while also protecting Israel at all costs is as much a feature of American television news as are the once every five minutes commercials from big pharma urging the public to take medications for diseases that no one has ever heard of. Israel is, of course, claiming innocence, that it was the Syrians who shot down the Russian aircraft while the Israeli jets were legitimately targeting a Syrian army facility from which weapons-manufacturing systems were supposed to be transferred to Iran and Hezbollah. Seeking to undo some of the damage caused, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to express his condolences. He also sent his air force chief to Russia on Thursday to provide a detailed report on what had occurred from the Israeli perspective. But that story, however it will be spun, is inevitably only part of the tale. The narrative of what occurred is by now well established. The Russian aircraft was returning to base after a mission over the Mediterranean off the Syrian coast monitoring the activities of a French warship and at least one British RAF plane. As a large and relatively slow propeller driven aircraft on a routine intelligence gathering mission, the Ilyushin 20 had no reason to conceal its presence. It was apparently preparing to land at its airbase at Khmeimim in Syria when the incident took place. It may or may not have had its transponder on, which would signal to the Syrian air defenses that it was a friendly. Syrian air defenses were on high alert because Israel had attacked targets near Damascus on the previous day. On that occasion a Boeing 747 on the ground that Israel claimed was transporting weapons was the target. One should note in passing that Israeli claims about what it is targeting in Syria are never independently verifiable. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The Israelis for their part were using four F-16 fighter bombers to stage a surprise night attack on several sites near Latakia, close to the airbase being used by the Russians. They came in from the Mediterranean Sea and clearly were using the Russian plane to mask their approach as the Ilyushin 20 would have presented a much larger radar profile for the air defenses. The radar systems on the F-16s would also have clearly seen the Russian plane. The Israelis might have been expecting that the Syrians would not fire at all at the incoming planes knowing that one of them at least was being flown by their Russian allies. If that was the expectation, it proved wrong and it was indeed a Syrian S-200 ground to air missile directed by its guidance system to the larger target that brought down the plane and killed its fourteen crew members. The Israelis completed their bombing run and flew back home. There were also reports that the French frigate offshore fired several missiles during the exchange, but they have not been confirmed while the British plane was also reportedly circling out of range though within the general area. There was also a back story. The Israelis and Russian military had established a hotline, similar to the one that is used with the U.S. command in Syria, precisely intended to avoid incidents like the Ilyushin shoot-down that might escalate into a more major conflict. Israel reportedly used the line but only one minute before the incident took place, leaving no time for the Russian plane to take evasive action. The Russian Ministry of Defense was irate. It saw the exploitation of the intelligence plane by the Israelis as a deliberate high-risk initiative. It warned We consider these provocative actions by Israel as hostile. Fifteen Russian military service members have died because of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military. This is absolutely contrary to the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership. We reserve the right for an adequate response. Russian President Vladimir Putin was more conciliatory, saying the incident was a chain of tragic circumstances. He contrasted it with the Turkish shoot-down of a Russian warplane in 2015, which was planned and deliberate, noting that Israel had not actually attacked the Ilyushin. Though the Putin comments clearly recognize that his countrys relationship with Israel is delicate to say the least, that does not mean that he will do nothing. Many Israelis are emigres from Russia and there are close ties between the two countries, but their views on Syria diverge considerably. As much as Putin might like to strike back at Israel in a hard, substantive way, he will likely only upgrade and strengthen the air defenses around Russian troop concentrations and warn that another surprise attack will be resisted. Unfortunately, he knows that he is substantially outgunned locally by the U.S., France, Britain and Israel, not to mention Turkey, and a violent response that would escalate the conflict is not in his interest. He has similarly, in cooperation with his Syrian allies, delayed a major attempt to retake terrorist controlled Idlib province, as he works out a formula with Ankara to prevent heavy handed Turkish intervention. But there is another dimension to the story that the international media has largely chosen to ignore. And that is that Israel is now carrying out almost daily air attacks on Syria, over 200 in the past 18 months, a country with which it is not at war and which has not attacked it or threatened it in any way. It justifies the attacks by claiming that they are directed against Iran or Hezbollah, not at Syria itself. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that any peace settlement in Syria include the complete removal of Iranians, a demand that has also been repeated by the United States, which is also calling for the end to the Bashar al-Assad government and its replacement by something more democratic. Aggressive war directed at a non-threatening country is the ultimate war crime as defined by the Nuremberg Tribunals that followed after the Second World War, yet the United States and its poodles Britain and France have not so much as squeaked when Israel kills civilians and soldiers in its surprise attacks against targets that it alone frequently claims to be linked to the Iranians. Washington would not be in much of a position to cast the first stone anyway, as it is in Syria illegally, bombs targets regularly, to include two major cruise missile strikes, and, on at least one occasion, set a trap that reportedly succeeded in killing a large number of Russian mercenaries fighting on the Syrian government side. And then there is the other dimension of Israeli interference with its neighbors, the secret wars in which it supports the terrorist groups operating in Syria as well as in Iran. The Netanyahu government has armed the terrorists operating in Syria and even treated them in Israeli hospitals when they get wounded. On one occasion when ISIS accidentally fired into Israeli-held territory on the Golan Heights it subsequently apologized. So, if you ask who is supporting terrorism the answer first and foremost should be Israel, but Israel pays no price for doing so because of the protection afforded by Washington, which, by the way, is also protecting terrorists. There is, of course, an alternative explanation for the Israeli action. Netanyahu might have considered it all a win-win either way, with the Russian plane masking and enabling the Israeli attack without consequence for Israel or, perversely, producing an incident inviting retaliation from Moscow, which would likely lead to a shooting war with the United States after it inevitably steps in to support Israels government. In either case, the chaos in Syria that Israel desires would continue and even worsen but there would also be the potential danger of a possible expansion of the war as a consequence, making it regional or even broader. Its the same old story. Israel does risky things like attacking its neighbors because it knows it will pay no price due to Washingtons support. The downing of the Russian plane through Israeli contrivance created a situation that could easily have escalated into a war involving Moscow and Washington. What Israel is really thinking when it seeks to create anarchy all around its borders is anyones guess, but it is, to be sure, in no ones interest to allow the process to continue. It is past time for Donald Trump to fulfill his campaign promise to pull the plug on American engagement in Syria and terminate the seemingly endless cycle of wars in the Middle East. Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is www.councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org. The Battle for Our Minds There are battlefields in Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, and elsewhere, but given the state of corporate media, perhaps the most consequential battle now being fought is for our minds. By Patrick Lawrence September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - After reading The New York Times piece The Plot to Subvert an Election I put the paper down with a single question. Why, after two years of allegations, indictments, and claims to proof of this, that, and the other did the newspaper of recordwell, once the newspaper of recordsee any need to publish such a piece? My answer is simple: The orthodox account of Russia-gate has not taken hold: It has failed in its effort to establish a consensus of certainty among Americans. My conclusion matches this observation: The orthodox narrative is never going to achieve this objective. There are too many holes in it. The information age is actually a media age, John Pilger, the noted BritishAustralian journalist, remarked during a symposium four years ago, when the Ukraine crisis was at its peak. We have war by media; censorship by media; demonology by media; retribution by media; diversion by mediaa surreal assembly line of obedient cliches and false assumptions. Pilger revisited the theme in a piece last week on Consortium News, arguing that once-tolerated, dissenting opinion has in recent years regressed into a metaphoric underground. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter There are battlefields in Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, and elsewhere, but perhaps the most consequential battle now being fought is for our minds. Those who dispense with honest intellectual inquiry, healthy skepticism of all media, and an insistence that assertions require supporting evidence should not win this war. The Times piece by Scott Shane and Mark Mazzettitwo of the papers top-tier reportersis a case in point: If the Russia-gate narrative were so widely accepted as their report purports, there would have been no need to publish such a piece at this late date. Many orthodox narratives are widely accepted however among a public that is not always paying attention. The public too often participates in the manufactured consent. Usually it take years for the truth to be widely understood. Sometimes it comes when the U.S. admits it decades later, such as the role of the CIA in the coups in Iran and Chile. Other times it comes through admissions by former U.S. officials, such as former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara about the Vietnam War. Even Recent Narratives are Fraying There are more recent examples of official narratives quickly fraying if not starting to fall apart, though Establishment media continues to push them. For instance, there are serious doubts about who was responsible for alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria. The most significant was in Eastern Ghouta in August 2013 followed by attacks in Khan Sheikhoun (April 2017) and Douma (April 2018). The corporate media accounts of each of these attacks have been countered with persuasive evidence against the prevailing view that the government of Bashar alAssad was to blame. It has been provided journalists (Seymour Hersh ), a scientist (Theodore Postol ), and on-the-ground correspondents and local witnesses. These reports are subject to further verification. But by no means do official narratives stand without challenge. There is also the case of Malaysian Flight MH17, shot down over Ukrainian territory in June 2014. The official report, issued a year later, concluded that the plane was downed by Ukrainian rebels using a Russian-supplied missile. The report was faulty from the first: Investigators never visited the site , some evidence was based on a report produced by Bellingcat , an open-source web site affiliated with the vigorously antiRussian Atlantic Council, and Ukraine was given the right to approve the report before it was issued. Last week the Russian military disclosed evidence that serial numbers found in the debris at the MH17 crash site indicate the missile that downed the plane was produced at a Soviet military-production plant in 1986 owned by Ukraine. Let us see further verification of this evidence (although I seriously doubt any Western correspondent will seek any). The official report of 2015 noted the serial numbers, so we know they are authentic, but it did not use them to trace the missiles provenance. There is also the seriously muddled case of the poisoning of the Skripals in Britain. Why hasnt the Western media dug into this story rather than accept at face value the pronouncements of the British government? A month ago I lamented the damage Russia-gate has done to many of our most important institutions, the press not least among them. What is the corporate media thinking? That once President Trump is dumped, all will return to normal and professional standards will be restored? One can also argue the reverse: that adversarial journalism has returned to the White House beat largely out of personal animus towards Trump and that it will disappear again once a more normal president is in office. As Pilger put it, This is a seismic shift, with journalists policing the new groupthink, as [Robert] Parry called it, dispensing myths and distractions, pursuing its enemies. In other words, Establishment journalism has shifted far afield from its traditional ideals of non-partisan, objective reporting and is instead vying for your mind to enlist it in its agenda to promote American interests abroad or one party or the other at home. We cant let them get away with it. Our minds are our own. Patrick Lawrence, a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for the International Herald Tribune, is a columnist, essayist, author, and lecturer. His most recent book is Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century (Yale). Follow him @thefloutist. His web site is www.patricklawrence.us. Support his work via www.patreon.com/thefloutist . This article was originally published by " Consortium News " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here. Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Show me something that will shock me, I told Amira Hass. So Israels only journalist in the Palestinian West Bank or Palestine, if you still believe in so unorthodox a word took me down a road outside Ramallah that I remember as a highway which led to Jerusalem. But now, just over a hill, it deteriorates into a half tarmac road, a set of closed, rusting shop doors, and garbage. The same old summer smell of raw sewage creeps up the road. It lies, green and gentle, in a pool at the bottom of the wall. Or The Wall. Or, for more cautious scribes, the Security Wall. Or, for more squeamish souls, the Security Barrier. Or for even more slovenly pens, just the Barrier. Or, if youre really worried about the political implications, the Fence. The Fence like the friendly wooden posts and crossbeams you might find along the edge of a field. Or if you really want to frighten the TV editors and anger the Israelis the Segregation Wall or even the Apartheid Wall. Why, soon we will be talking about the Palestinian Bantustans that lie cut off by The Wall and the Israelis-only roads, and the vast empire of Jewish settlements on Arab lands. Trust Amira to start the ball rolling. The phrase Palestinian Bantustan litters her angry digression as she takes me around the Palestinian enclaves of the West Bank and, after an hour or two, the Wall: towering 26 feet above us, stern, monstrous in its determination, curling and snaking between apartment blocks, and skulking in wadis and twisting back on itself until you have two walls one after the other, a double wall but the same wall such are the Alpine twists of this creature. You shake your head for a moment when suddenly, through some miscalculation, surely there is no wall at all but a shopping street or a bare hillside of scrub and rock. And then the massive colonial project of Israels settlements, all green trees and red-roofed houses and neat roads and, yes, more walls and barbed wire fences and yet bigger walls. And then the beast itself. The Wall. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter But the section of The Wall to which Amira Hass takes me tourist guide and analyst of Israeli society, she admits, do not go together is a truly miserable place. Not as epic as Dante. Maybe a war correspondent could better describe the place. Its the old road from Ramallah to Jerusalem, lined with lost wealth and forgotten hopes and once-loved homes which now end, of course, at The Wall. Now if this is not shocking, I dont know what shocking is, Amira says. Its a destruction of peoples life its the end of the world. See here? We go straight to Jerusalem. Not now. This was a busy road and you can see here how people invested in homes with a little bit of grace, the strength of the houses, the stone. Look at the Hebrew signs because these Palestinians used to have so many Israeli customers. Even the name carpenter is in Hebrew. But almost all the shops are closed, the houses shuttered, weeds and dry sticks along the broken kerb. The graffiti are pitiful, the sun merciless, the sky so caked with heat that the grey of the wall sometimes merges into the grey stone of the sky. It is pathetic, Amira Hass says, without emotion. This place Ive always been showing it to people; always, you know, probably a hundred times already, and it never stops shocking me. The sewage, once you get used to it, is somehow appropriate. Its like a place where imagination has dried up, leaving only a grim little pool behind, the green all the brighter because The Wall is acquiring the patina of age. The silence is not oppressive as it might be in a novel but it demands an answer. What does The Wall say to us, I ask Amira? I think what it tells me she begins. Because it realises it cannot drive the Palestinians away, it has to hide them. It has to conceal them from our eyes. Some might go out to work over there for Jews. And this is seen as doing them a favour. Israelis do not enter, because for Israelis, we dont need these areas we dont need it this is garbage this is sewage. The Wall is about how strong is the need to be pure and how many people participated in this act of violence? They say its because of the suicide attacks, but the legal and bureaucratic infrastructure for this separation existed before The Wall. So The Wall is a kind of graphic or plastic or tangible expression of laws of separation that existed before. And this is an Israeli who is speaking to me, the tough, unremitting daughter of a Bosnian Partisan mother who had to give herself up to the Gestapo and a Jewish Romanian Holocaust survivor, and whose socialism, I think, has given her a hard, Marxist courage. She might not agree, but I think of her as a child of the Second World War, even though she was born 11 years after Hitlers death. She guesses she has only between 100 and 500 Israeli readers left; thank God, say many of us, that her newspaper, Haaretz, still exists. Amiras mother, on her way from the train station to Bergen-Belsen in 1944, was struck by the German housewives who came to look at the trail of distraught prisoners, of how the German women watched from the side. Amira Hass, I suspect, will never watch from the side. She has grown used to the hate and abuse from her own people. But she is a realist. Look, we cannot ignore that for a certain period, [The Wall] did serve the immediate role of security, she says. And she is right. The Palestinian campaign of suicide bombing was cut short. But The Wall was also a machine for expansion; it crept forward onto Arab land which was no more a part of the state of Israel than the vast colonies now holding around 400,000 Jews across the West Bank. Not yet, at any rate. Amira wears round spectacles which make her look a bit like one of those dentists we have all met who study with sorrow and cynicism and a certain depression the terrible state of our teeth. She writes like that. She has just finished a long article for Haaretz it will be published two days later, a ferocious dissection of the 1993 Oslo agreement which comes close to proving that the Israelis never intended the peace agreement to provide the Palestinians with statehood. The reality of the Palestinian Bantustans, reservations or enclaves, she writes on the gloomy 25th anniversary of the Oslo agreement, is a fact on the groundnowhere was it stated that the goal was the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territory occupied in 1967, contrary to what the Palestinians, many people in the Israeli peace camp at that time and the European countries had concluded. In Haaretz, Amira says, the problem is the copy editors I call them the kids change every couple of years and each time they ask me: How do you know Oslo was not about peace?Now the paper is proud because they have someone who got it right. Twenty years ago they thought I was a lunatic. The Hass tour continues around what she refers to as the five-star prison. We pause above the city of Ramallah, temporary pseudo-capital of the Palestinian state-that-isnt. She imagines she often does this an alien arriving in the West Bank from outer space. The alien, she says, would notice that Palestinian homes have black water tanks on the roof because their water comes in quotas from the Palestinian Authority while the Jewish settlements have a mains supply. They dont need to worry. The hilltop settlements so lush, so tempting, it has very good air have red, sloping, European style roofs. Now the richer Palestinian families are imitating the red roofs of their occupiers. Amira Hasss alien appears again. It sees a sprawling city [Ramallah], fancy buildingsyou have cinemas here and shops and businesses. Look at the cars along there. Our out-of-space alien, hed say: Whats the problem? Why are you complaining about the occupation? So the problem is that you have an illusion that you are not under occupation in this narrow space, in a caged place, in this five-star prisonThe contours, the borders, are very clear. But people within the borders have got used to some kind of normalcy that is very hard for them to give up now. Basically, they know that if they engage in another wave of resistance, they might lose even this even the little that they have, this normalcyOne of the best proofs to me that there is some kind of normalcy is the Palestinians who are Israeli citizens who come every weekend to this Palestinian Bantustan to escape Israeli racism and the arrogance they face on a daily basis inside Israel and they come here to escape it, to be in an all-Palestinian ambience. The analysis is harsh and not without historical distance. The Palestinians know this is not independence. But right now they make the calculation that this is not worthwhile. During the last two or three years, when some young men were engaged in stabbing attacks and there were some students who went to the checkpoints here to clash with the Israeli army, people felt for them emotionally. But you didnt see the masses coming out to confront the army. Now, its not fear, its not the Palestinian police who have stopped them. Right now, with the Palestinians split between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinians at the bottom of their political savviness, and with America Trump all of this, there is no reason to sacrifice yourself for nothing. She drives on, past a military base where she points out the words in English spray-painted on a wall. Jews did 9/11. With such words, could the Palestinians incriminate their society more utterly in the eyes of the West? But there are other graffiti. In a tiny Palestinian village perhaps two hundred metres from the Jewish settlement of Beit El cameras pointing outwards along its fence she points to the words spray-painted onto the wall of a Palestinian home after settlers raided the village. Judea and Samaria, it says in Hebrew, referring to the West Bank. Blood will be shed. Aisha Fara shows us the roof of her home, where her solar glass has been shattered by tiny stones fired from a slingshot by religious students, she says, just three days earlier and despite her 74 years, she doesnt mince her words. I work out silently that she was born in the original mandate Palestine in 1944, the same year Amira Hasss mother was sent to Bergen-Belsen. The thieves came before sunset, Fara says of the stone-throwers. They burned our trees three times. But thieves do not remain forever. And the people scattered all over will return to their homes, God willing You ask me who they [the settlers] are? You sent them. You have it all in your cameras I want the American pigs to hear we are not Red Indians! Amira listens carefully. For her, history is like a long, long, long chain of expulsion, she says of Aisha Fara. These are things you stop writing about. Normalcy again. This, I think, has affected Amira Hass, the way in which a newspaper story falls away once it is has become a daily event. Stone-throwing, burning, another colonisation. And the privileges of being an Israeli citizen are ever present. In a way, when we were bombed, it was easier because I was with everyone. This is something I can feel the fear of bombs, of course, I share it. But closure, for example, this is something I cannot understand. I cannot really grasp it. For me a wall is just something ugly on the way to Jerusalem. But for Palestinians, it is the end of the world. When I go to Jerusalem, I cannot tell my neighbours that I go there Im shy. Im embarrassedbecause for them, Jerusalem is like the moon. So will she live all the rest of her life among the Palestinians of the West Bank, the only Israeli reporter on the sharp end of the story? I never thought Id live in El-Bireh, but its now the town Ive lived in longer than any other place, she replies. I never planned it but thats what happened. And I know that if something happens if I have to leave, either because I stop working or the Israelis tell me to go or the Palestinians tell me to go, whatever, I will never be able to go back and live in a purely Jewish neighbourhood. Ill have to go to Acre or Haifa In Haifa, you have Palestinians. As I turn to go back to Jerusalem, to the moon, I thank Amira Hass for her lecture tour, academic as well as journalistic and in the eyes of her Israeli non-readers a commentary as appalling as the hate-mail they have sent her. I have a tendency to say to people what they dont want to hear, she says. She sounds like a journalist to me. And I understand at once that she will never watch from the side. Home Search ICH How Conservatives Rationalized Their Being Cold Warriors William Blum takes on the Washington Post Again, in the person of columnist Max Boot, formerly of the Wall Street Journal By William Blum Dear Mr. Boot, You write: Every administration since Franklin D. Roosevelts has tried to improve relations with Moscow. I stopped. Frozen. Can the man be serious? Yes, he is. God help us. Ive published 5 books which give the lie to that statement, detailing all the foreign governments the US has overthrown, or tried to, because they were too friendly with Moscow, or were themselves too communist or too socialist, or simply too liberal. China, France, Italy, Greece, Korea, Albania, Iran, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Haiti, British Guiana, Iraq, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Congo, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Ghana, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Australia, Portugal, East Timor, Angola, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Philippines, Grenada, Suriname, Libya, Panama Im only up to 1989 God help us Read my books William Blum Reply from Mr. Boot: How does your email contradict my statement? I didnt say the US hadnt tried to oppose the Soviet Union and Communism. I said that every president had also tried to improve relations with Moscow. Reply from Mr. Blum: So, overthrowing governments and assassinating their leaders because theyre friendly to the Soviet Union is not a contradiction to trying to improve relations with the Soviet Union. Interesting. The CIA also connived to get Soviet diplomats expelled from various countries and did various things to block Soviet international financial transactions, etc., etc. All signs of trying to improve relations with Moscow? Silly me for not thinking of that. Ill have to revise my books. ================== No reply received ===================== September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The above is one example of how conservatives rationalized their being Cold Warriors - The United States always meant well. No matter how bad their foreign interventions may have looked, Americas heart was always in the right place. The current US secretary of Defense, James Mattis, recently stated: We are the good guys. Were not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys. And so were doing what we can. Russian interference in US election The new Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction The Washington Post has a regular fact checker, Glenn Kessler, who checks the accuracy of statements made by politicians and other public figures. On September 3 he announced that President Trumps first 592 days in office had produced 4,713 false or misleading claims; thats about 8 per day. The article included a list of the types of claims, including the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether people in the Trump campaign were in any way connected to it. Kessler believes they were. All told, more than 200 times the president has made claims suggesting the Russia probe is made up, a hoax or a fraud. The fact checker needs to be fact-checked. He takes it as gospel that Russia consciously and purposefully interfered in the election, but like all the many other commentators offers no evidence. Its conceivable that evidence of such has actually been presented and I was in a coma that day. (Would I remember that I was in a coma? Probably only if someone told me. So far no one has told me that I was in a coma.) Keep in mind that a statement from the CIA that Russia interfered in the election does not count as evidence. Its merely a statement. Keep in mind that a statement from the FBI that Russia interfered in the election does not count as evidence. Its merely a statement. Keep in mind that a statement from the NSA that Russia interfered in the election does not count as evidence. Its merely a statement. Keep in mind that a statement from a dozen other US intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the election does not count as evidence. Its merely a statement. Heres James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence: To me it stretches credulity to think that the Russians didnt have profound impact on the outcome of the election. Clearly if the man had any evidence to substantiate his statement he would have provided it at the time. He did not provide any. So all we get is another statement. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter There are not many government bureaucrats who would publicly contradict the CIA, the FBI and the NSA on an important intelligence matter. How impressed would you be if a dozen Russian intelligence agencies all declared that Russia did not interfere in any way in the US 2016 election? Moreover, keep in mind that numerous notices and advertisements posted to Facebook and other social media calling for the election of Trump and/or the defeat of Clinton do not count as evidence of Russian interference in the election even if some or most of the postings were seemingly made by Russians. Countless other notices and advertisements called for the election of Clinton and/or the defeat of Trump. Moreover, many of these social-media postings (which members of Congress and the media like to make so much of) were posted well before the candidates were chosen, or even after the election took place. So what do we make of all this? Well, its been pointed out that most of these postings were to so-called click-bait Internet sites that earn payments based on their volume of traffic. I have not come across any other explanation of the huge number of electoral postings during 2014-2017. And forget about Trump aides like Paul Manafort and his partner Rick Gates, whove been charged with various financial crimes such as money laundering, tax and bank fraud, failure to register as a lobbyist, and more; in part the charges involve Ukraine But NOTHING to do with Russian interference in the 2016 US election, although their cases have undoubtedly fed that story. The idea of Russian interference in the US election has been repeated so many times in so many places that its now taken as unquestioned history. Guardian reporter Luke Harding has a book out called Collusion: Secret meetings, dirty money, and how Russia helped Donald Trump win, which reinforces this myth, and wouldnt be worth mentioning except that Harding was interviewed by that rare breed, a skeptical journalist, Aaron Mate. Harding repeats one anti-Russian cliche after another, but Mate refuses to allow him to get away with any of it. Its indeed refreshing. Have a look. Even if you assumed that all the charges made about Russian interfering in the elections were true, and put them all together, they still wouldnt have a fraction of the impact on the 2016 elections as did Republicans in several states by disenfranchising likely Democratic voters (blacks, poor, students, people in largely Democratic districts), by purging state voting lists. Noam Chomsky has pointed out that Israeli intervention in US elections vastly overwhelms anything Russia has done. Israeli leader Netanyahu goes directly to speak to Congress without even consulting the president. The United States joined a grand alliance with the forces of the communist Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin in World War II, but Washington cant even talk civilly now with capitalist Russia. When your goal is world domination any country that stands in the way of that is an enemy. American conservatives in particular have a most difficult time shaking this mind-set. Heres the prominent conservative host of National Public Radio (NPR), Cokie Roberts, bemoaning Trumps supposed desire to develop friendly relations with Russia, saying: This country has had a consistent policy for 70 years towards the Soviet Union and Russia, and Trump is trying to undo that. If Trump were to establish good relations with Russia the lack of a European enemy would also leave NATO (= the US) even more obviously unnecessary. Then we have the Skripal poisoning case allegedly carried out by Russia in the UK: There are just two things missing to support this allegation: 1) any verifiable evidence, AT ALL, and 2) any plausible motive for the Russian government to have carried out such a crime. But stay tuned, the Brits may yet find Vladimir Putins passport at the scene of the crime. Lest we forget. One of Washingtons greatest crimes The world will long remember the present immigrant crisis in Europe, which has negatively affected countless people there, and almost all countries. History will certainly record it as a major tragedy. Could it have been averted? Or kept within much more reasonable humane bounds? After the United States and NATO began to bomb Libya in March 2011 almost daily for more than six months! to overthrow the government of Muammar Gaddafi (with the completely phoney excuse that Gaddafi was about to invade Benghazi, the Libyan center of his opponents, and so the United States and NATO were thus saving the people of that city from a massacre}, the Libyan leader declared: Now listen you people of Nato. Youre bombing a wall, which stood in the way of African migration to Europe and in the way of al Qaeda terrorists. This wall was Libya. Youre breaking it. Youre idiots, and you will burn in Hell for thousands of migrants from Africa. Remember also that Libya was a secular society, like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, all destroyed by America while supporting Saudi Arabia and various factions of al Qaeda. Its these countries that have principally overrun Europe with refugees. Gaddafi, like Saddam Hussein, had a tyrant side to him but could in important ways be benevolent and do very valuable things. He, for example, founded the African Union and gave the Libyan people the highest standard of living in all of Africa; they had not only free education and health care but all kinds of other benefits that other Africans could only dream about. But Moammar Gaddafi was never a properly obedient client of Washington. Amongst other shortcomings, the man threatened to replace the US dollar with gold for payment of oil transactions and create a common African currency. He was, moreover, a strong supporter of the Palestinians and foe of Israel. In 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the prime moving force behind the United States and NATO turning Libya into a failed state, where it remains today. The attack against Libya was one that the New York Times said Clinton had championed, convincing President Obama in what was arguably her moment of greatest influence as Secretary of State. The American people and the American media of course swallowed the phoney story fed to them, though no evidence of the alleged impending massacre has ever been presented. The nearest thing to an official US government account of the matter a Congressional Research Service report on events in Libya for the period makes no mention at all of the threatened massacre. Keep this in mind when reading the latest accusations against Russia. The US/NATO heavy bombing of Libya led also to the widespread dispersal throughout North African and Middle East hotspots of the gigantic arsenal of weaponry that Gaddafi had accumulated. Libya is now a haven for terrorists, from al Qaeda to ISIS, whereas Gaddafi had been a leading foe of terrorists. Oh my god, Ive been called an anti-Semite! British Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and many others in the UK and the US are attacked for being anti-Semitic if they criticize Israel. But John McCain had very friendly meetings, and posed for photos, with prominent neo-Nazis in Ukraine and the Middle East without being accused of being anti-Semitic. People involved in political activity on the left have to learn to ignore charges of anti-Semitism stemming from their criticism of Israel. These accusations are just thrown out as a tactic to gain political advantage like with anti-American and conspiracy theorist and do not deserve to be taken seriously. Whenever possible, such name-calling should be made fun of. Theres an unwritten rule in right wing circles: Its okay to be anti-Semitic as long as youre pro-Israel. Evangelical preacher Pat Robertson is such an example. While in the past an anti-Semite was someone who hates Jews, nowadays it is the other way around: An anti-Semite is someone the Jews hate. God appointed America to save the world in any way that suits America. God appointed Israel to be the nexus of Americas Middle Eastern policy and anyone who wants to mess with that idea is a) anti-Semitic, b) anti-American, c) with the enemy, and d) a terrorist. John LeCarre George Bush, Sr.s Secretary of State, James Baker, famously said to a colleague: Fuck the Jews! They dont vote for us anyway. Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser under Jimmy Carter: An anti-Israel bias is not the same as anti-Semitism. To argue as much is to claim an altogether unique immunity for Israel, untouchable by the kind of criticism that is normally directed at the conduct of states. What the man actually believes about his presidency He keeps bragging about how he forced NATO to collect more money from members other than The United States. Here he is in a phone conversation with Bob Woodward of the Washington Post. You do know Im doing a great job for the country. You do know that NATO now is going to pay billions and billions of dollars more, as an example, than anybody thought possible, that other presidents were unable to get more? So its a tremendous amount of money. No other president has done it. It was heading down in the opposite direction. Woodward said nothing to contradict Lord Trump. Someone other than the Posts star reporter might have just might have pointed out that giving NATO billions more is not necessarily a good thing, that the member countries might have just might have spent that money on health, education, the environment, etc., etc. for their own people instead of more planes, bombs and tanks. If not at that very moment on the phone, Woodward or the Post could at least have mentioned this subsequently in print. William Blum is an American author, historian, and critic of United States foreign policy. He worked in a computer-related position at the United States Department of State in the mid-1960s. Initially an anti-communist with dreams of becoming a foreign service officer, he became disillusioned by the Vietnam War. https://williamblum.org Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here. Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. Home Search ICH Russia Will Establish An Unofficial No-fly Zone Over Syria By The Saker September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Defense Minster Shoigu announced measures which went far beyond what I had hoped for. Specifically, Shoigu has announced that Russia will Supply S-300 air defense systems (with a 250km range) to the Syrians in the next two weeks. Russia will deliver advanced automated air defense management systems which will *dramatically* increase the Syrian air defense capabilities and prevent future friendly fire incidents. Russia will use her electronic warfare capabilities to suppress satellite navigation, onboard radar systems and communications of warplanes attacking targets on Syrian territory in the regions over the waters of the Mediterranean Sea bordering with Syria. This is a very flexible and elegant solution for the following reasons: It establishes a de facto air exclusion zone over Syria, but not a de jure one. Thus, the Russians will have the flexibility to decide on a nation by nation and aircraft by aircraft basis which aircraft should be suppressed/engaged and which ones to only track and monitor. This will give Russia a very powerful negotiating position with all the actors of this war. It goes without saying that while these new capabilities will be deployed in Syria in response to the Israeli actions, they will also dramatically boost the Syrian capabilities against any potential aggressors including the USA and US client states. The S-300s will make it possible for the Syrian to detect and even track the Israeli aircraft right after their take-off and while still in Israeli air space. While the Russians have not indicated which automated air defense management system they plan to deliver to Syria, it is likely that this is one which is typically used to control the engagement of S-300 and Buk air defense systems, the Poliana D-4. The delivery of this system will dramatically increase the air defense capabilities of the Russian task force in Syria making it much harder for Neocon a la Bolton to target Russian forces. I have to admit that I am surprised by the magnitude and quality of this response. Clearly, the arrogance of the Israelis did not pay off and this time their usual chutzpah was met with a great deal of Russian anger (albeit carefully controlled anger). For Bibi Netanyahu, the Russian reaction is an absolute disaster because it undermines his entire policy towards Syria (and Lebanon and Iran). The Israeli strikes (over 200, of which they bothered to notify Russia in only about 10% of the cases) did not yield any tangible benefit for Israel, but has now fundamentally undermined Israels relationship with Russia. As I have said it many times, for all their self-serving propaganda about being so smart, the Israelis are actually pretty incompetent being blinded, as they are, by their quasi infinite arrogance. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter However, please keep in mind that in warfare there is no such thing as a magical silver bullet. For one thing, the Israelis will still have the option of attacking targets in Syria (be it by using aircraft, or missiles, including sea based), but the difficulty of successfully executing such an attack will increase by an order of magnitude. The same also goes for the US/NATO/CENTOM/etc. One option would be to go for a saturation attack by using very large number of missiles since the Syrian and Russian capabilities are still limited by numbers: even in an ideal situation (excluding EW capabilities), that is even if the kill ratio of Russian missiles is 1:1, the Russians will only be able to shoot down as many enemy missiles as their supplies allow. The US+Israeli missiles supplies in the region are far bigger. Second, both the US and Israelis have very sophisticated EW warfare capabilities and rest assured that they will use them if needed. Yes, the Russians are qualitatively ahead of other countries in this field, but one should never under-estimate the capabilities of the bad guys. Third, the AngloZionists will now do one of three things: either pretend that they dont care and basically accept the situation on the ground like they did in South Ossetia and Crimea, or try to negotiate some kind of deal with the Russians, or react with hysterical threats and provocation in the hope that the Russians will blink. While we can hope for option #1, we also have to realize that options #2 and #3 are far more likely. In other words, this is far from over. Finally, this latest news conclusively debunks the notion that Putin is a doormat or sellout and that the Russians are either unable or unwilling to oppose the AngloZionists. All those who have accused Putin of being Israels shabboy goy are going to be busy removing eggs from their collective face. The fact that the Russians took their time to analyze what happened and prepare a response was not a symptom of their weakness, but of their responsible behavior in a most dangerous situation. Furthermore, the Russian response also shows that once national security issues are at stake, the Atlantic Integrationist 5th column still has to yield to the Eurasian Sovereignists. This, by itself, is a very good and reassuring development. The Saker Full video of the announcement: This article was originally published by " The Saker " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here. Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy Search Information Clearing House === Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. By Finian Cunningham September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - One trait of imperial decadence is untrammeled hubris. Given the increasingly arrant arrogance on display by United States officials, public figures and news media we can safely conclude that this empire is accelerating into decadence. A recent spectacular example comes with separate visits to Europe by US defense secretary James Mattis and Steve Bannon, the former aide to President Trump. Bannon was addressing a rightwing forum in Italy at the weekend in which he declared that he would be devoting 80 per cent of his time to help anti-European Union parties win seats in the next European parliamentary elections due in May 2019. Bannon said he was setting up a coordinating committee, called The Movement, in Brussels, from where his political project would direct war rooms across Europe to ensure that anti-EU and anti-immigrant parties would succeed in gaining up to a third of the total seats in the 27-nation member blocs parliamentary elections. In short, a declaration of political warfare. Unapologetic. Brazen. Arrogant. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The American ideologue and former Goldman Sachs banker, who is accused of inciting racism and neofascism in the US, has openly backed nationalist politicians in Europe, from the UKs Nigel Farage to Frances Marine Le Pen, Hungarys Victor Orban and Italys Matteo Salvini. Bannon is threatening to explicitly unravel the European Union which he views with contempt for what he calls is its cultural Marxism. Meanwhile, earlier last week, Pentagon chief James Mattis was in Macedonia where he gave his full-throated support for a Yes vote in the countrys referendum. The plebiscite to take place this weekend will decide if the small Balkan country can become a member of the NATO military alliance and the European Union. It is a crucial vote for the country. The irony of this combined American hypocrisy is truly astounding. For the past two years, US politicians and news media have non-stop accused Russia of interfering in their countrys democracy. First, in the 2016 presidential election, and now in the run-up to the mid-term congressional polls in November. No credible evidence is ever presented to substantiate these sensational American accusations against Russia, which some hawkish hot-heads like the late Senator John McCain have even gone as far as denouncing for committing an act of war. The same allegations based on highly likely innuendo have been trotted out against Russia for meddling in European polls, such as the Brexit referendum in June 2016, the French presidential election in May 2017, and now the referendum in Macedonia. While in the capital Skopje last week telling Macedonians to vote for joining NATO, Mattis had the brass neck to accuse Russia of interfering in the referendum. Typically, Mattis did not provide any evidence. He even admitted he didnt know how effective alleged Russian influence has been in swaying voting intentions meaning the US has no idea if Russia is really trying to meddle or not. But what we do know, as reported by US media, is that Washington has vociferously called for a Yes vote in the Macedonian referendum, including a personal call from President Donald Trump. Moreover, as US media also report, Washington has poured million of dollars into the Balkan country to counter social media campaigns calling for a No vote. The US says the flood of money is to counter alleged Russian influence, but a more straightforward explanation is Washington is actually the foreign power doing the influencing by railroading the Yes vote. Moscow has vehemently denied any interference in the Macedonian vote, as well as all the other so-called influence campaigns, from the US to Brexit, among others. Macedonias referendum is a tightly contested issue among its 2.1 million population. A US-run poll found in July that the Yes vote was backed by only 57 per cent of the electorate. Many Macedonians are opposed to the referendums proposal to change the name of the country to the Republic of North Macedonia, which would then pave the way to join NATO and the EU. There is reportedly an ardent No vote campaign, with social media platforms being used to argue the case against the new name being adopted, and, secondly, of joining the US-led NATO alliance. For many citizens, the historic name Macedonia should stand alone, and not be amended with the qualifier North. They say such a move is an unacceptable deference to Greece, which also has a province bearing the same name. In any case, it is a wild leap to attribute the No campaign in Macedonia on Russian interference. The pro-NATO prime minister Zoran Zaev has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in the referendum. Macedonia has expelled two Russian diplomats over meddling claims. The Greek government has also joined in the media allegations against Moscow. There is a vested interest in pushing this anti-Russia narrative. If the referendum goes to the Yes camp, then Athens wins out in the long-running name dispute over Macedonia. And the pro-NATO politicians in Skopje will have won their desired objective to ingratiate themselves with Washington. By talking up allegations of Russian malign activities, it is calculated that Macedonians may be prompted to vote Yes out of patriotic duty. Russia is of course opposed to Macedonia joining NATO, thereby becoming the alliances 30th member and signaling once again the relentless expansion of the multinational military force towards Russias Western borders. But to extrapolate from Moscows legitimate opposition to Macedonia joining NATO to claims of interfering in the referendum is unwarranted. There is no evidence, only the usual surfeit of innuendo and Russophobia. From Steve Bannons open declaration of political warfare against the European Union and James Mattis dictate to Macedonians to vote for NATO membership, the level of outright American meddling in Europes politics is off-the-scale when compared with anything that Russia is accused of, even if the latter had some basis, which is doesnt. For American interference in other democracies, there is nothing new either. Recall how one of the American CIAs first foreign projects was to buy the elections in postwar Italy to defeat the emerging Communists. Fast forward to how Washington actually reveled in its interference in Russias 1996 election for Boris Yeltsin. America has relentlessly meddled in scores of countries to determine election outcomes. Bannon and Mattis are but the latest brazen expression of US malign activity. Against the backdrop of baseless allegations against Russia, this in-your-face American hypocrisy and hubris is something to behold. Finian Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages. He is a Masters graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. This article was originally published by " Strategic Culture Foundation " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here. Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese September 26, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Every war being fought today is illegal. Every action taken to carry out these wars is a war crime. In 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact or Pact of Paris was signed and ratified by the United States and other major nations that renounced war as a way to resolve conflicts, calling instead for peaceful ways of handling disputes. The Kellogg-Briand Pact was the basis for the Nuremberg Tribunal, in which 24 leaders of the Third Reich were tried and convicted for war crimes, and for the Tokyo Tribunal, in which 28 leaders of the Japanese Empire were tried and convicted for war crimes, following World War II. Such prosecutions should have prevented further wars, but they have not. David Swanson of World Beyond War argues that a fundamental task of the antiwar movement is to enforce the rule of law. What good are new treaties, he asks, if we cant uphold the ones that already exist? The United States is violating international law, and escalating its aggression All wars and acts of aggression by the United States since 1928 have violated the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the United Nations Charter since it was signed in 1945. The UN Charter states, in Article 2: All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations. Yet, the United States has a long history of threatening aggression and using military force to remove governments it opposed and install friendly ones. Illegal attacks by the US since World War II have resulted in 20 million people being killed in 37 nations. For example, as we outline in North Korea and the United States: Will the Real Aggressor Please Stand Down,the United States used violence to install Syngman Rhee in power in the 1940s and subsequently killed millions of Koreans, in both the South and the North, in the Korean War, which has not ended. Under international law, the war games practicing to attack North Korea with conventional and nuclear weapons are illegal threats of military action. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter The list of interventions by the United States is too long to list here. Basically, the US has been interfering in and attacking other countries almost continuously since its inception. Currently the US is involved directly in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. The US is threatening Iran and Venezuela with attack. The United States has 883 military bases in 183 countries and has hundreds of outposts scattered throughout the world. Lynn Petrovich recently examined the new defense budget. With regard to the Pentagons 2019 budget report, she writes: If the planet is our community, America is the bully in the neighborhood. Reference to the word lethal is sprinkled no less than 3 dozen times throughout The Report (more lethal force p. 2-6, technology innovation for increased lethality p.1-1, increasing the lethality of new and existing weapons systems p. 3-2). and Were it not for The Reports dire (yet, fully funded) predictions for world domination, one would think this budget request was satire by The Onion. Included in the new budget are funds to recruit 26,000 more of our youth into the military, purchase ten more combat ships, build more F-35s, even though they dont work, and modernize our nuclear weapons. At a time when the United States is losing power in the world and falling behind in wealth, the government voted nearly unanimously to provide $74 billion more than last year to be more aggressive. Imagine what that money could do if it were applied instead to improving public education, transitioning to a clean energy economy and a public works program to restore our failing infrastructure. The United States empire is falling and blindly taking all of us down with it as it tries to assert its power. What to do about it The peace movement in the United States is being revived and building alliances with peace activists in many countries, and it cant happen fast enough. There are many opportunities for action this fall, the Antiwar Autumn. The World Beyond War conference, #NoWar2018, just concluded in Toronto. The focus of the conference was legalizing peace. Among the topics discussed was how to use courts to prevent wars, stop the escalation of militarism and investigate war crimes. Professor Daniel Turp of the University of Montreal and his students have sued the Canadian government over participating in extraditing prisoners to Guantanamo, potential intervention in Iraq and providing weapons to Saudi Arabia. Turp recommends that activists who are considering legal action first look to domestic courts for a remedy. If none exists or domestic action is unsuccessful, then it is possible to turn to international bodies such as the International Criminal Court or the United Nations. Any people or organizations can file a report or complaint with these bodies. Before doing so, it is important to gather as much evidence as possible, first hand accounts are strong but even hearsay can be grounds to trigger an investigation. Currently, Popular Resistance is supporting an effort to ask the International Criminal Court to launch a full investigation of Israel for its war crimes. People and organizations are invited to sign on to the letter, which will be delivered by a delegation, including us, to the Hague in November. Click here to read and sign onto the letter (please share it). Click here to donate towards the delegation to the ICC. William Curtis Edstrom of Nicaragua wrote a letter to the United Nations in advance of Trumps visit to serve as the chair of the Security Council meeting. He is requesting hearings, debate and vote on an effective plan of action against various crimes that have been committed by people working for the government of the US that are of significance to the global community. This week, Medea Benjamin confronted a Trump administration official, the head of the new Iran Action Group, at the Hudson Institute. President Trump is planning to advocate for more aggression against Iran at the United Nations. When the US tried this in the past, it has received push back from other nations Now it is clear it is the US, not Iran, that has violated the nuclear agreement and is conducting an economic war against Iran while threatening military action. The world is likely to stand up to Trump and US threats. Recent progress towards peace by North and South Korea show that activism is effective. Sarah Freeman-Woolpert reports on efforts by activists in South Korea and the United States to build coalitions and organize strategic actions that create the political space for peace. Leaders of both countries met this week to discuss improving relations and finding a compromise between North Korea and the United States. President Moon will meet with President Trump at the United Nations this month. Korean activists say that their greatest concern is that Koreans finally having the ability to shape the future of [their] country. When we understand that war is illegal, our task becomes clear. We need to make sure that all nations, especially the United States, obey the law. We can replace war with mediation, conflict resolution and adjudication. We can legalize peace. Here are more actions this Antiwar Autumn: September 30-October 6 Shut Down Creech week of actions to protest the use of drones. More information and register here. October 6-13 Keep Space for Peace Week. Many actions planned in the US and UK. Click here for details. October 20-21 Womens March on the Pentagon. More information here. November 3 Black is Back Coalition march to the White House for peace in Africa. More information here. November 10 Peace Congress to End U.S. Wars at Home and Abroad. This will be a full day conference to define next steps for collaboration by activists and organizations in the US. More information and registration here. November 11 March to Reclaim Armistice Day. This will be a solemn march led by veterans and military families on the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, which ended World War I, to call for celebrating Armistice Day instead of Veterans Day in the US. Click here for more information. November 16-18 School of Americas Watch Border Encuentro. This will include workshops and actions at the border between the US and Mexico. More information here. November 16-18 No US NATO Bases International Conference in Dublin, Ireland. This is the first international conference of the new coalition to close US foreign military bases. Click here for more details. This article was originally published by " Popular Resistance " - Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here. ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. Peace and joy Vanguard BENINIMMEDIATE past National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has dismissed fears by Nigerians that the Osun State governorship election, which was declared inclusive by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, may truncate the current democracy in the country. Thisday After weeks of sustained negotiations for a return ticket, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, wednesday affirmed that he would participate in the primary election on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday. The Sun The Edo State Government has described the viral pictures of Governor Godwin Obaseki, who was caught sleeping, while President Muhammadu Buhari addressed the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States of America, on Tuesday, as a mischievous campaign designed to smear his image. Guardian Daily Times Apparently indicating collapse of talks between the Federal Government and its representatives, organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and United Labour Congress (ULC), have directed workers to begin strike to demand a quick passage of a new minimum wage for workers nationwide. Leadership National Chairman of the Grassroots Mobilizers for Buhari/Osinbajo (GMBO), Dr. Fatima Mohammed Goni, said the group has 150 reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari, deserves re-election in the forthcoming general elections. Daily Trust The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has distanced itself from inter party negotiations and conclusions reached by Senator Iyiola Omisore, its Osun State governorship candidate. Tribune THE governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore, after due consultations with his party leadership and members in all the 30 local governments in Osun State, has said that SDP is ready to work with the All Progressives Congress (APC), who has agreed to adopt its manifestos in forming a coalition government with SDP in Osun State. The Nation Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) chieftain, Femi Fani-Kayode has accused the All Progressives Congress(APC) of publicly bribing voters with N100, 000. Mr Fani-Kayode also alleged that men of the Nigerian police and army were preventing PDP agents from watching polling units. The former Aviation Minister when speaking via twitter on Thursday also said journalists were also prevented from monitoring the electoral process. He wrote : The Vietnamese Government and the 18 UN agencies signed a One Strategic Plan (OSP) for the 2017-2021 period on July 5 2018, marking a significant milestone highlighting the UNs strong commitment to cooperate with and give support to Vietnam in realising its national action plan to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Vietnam has also closely coordinated with the UN agencies in implementing the UNs Delivering as One (DaO) initiative. The GOUNH in Vietnam, which was inaugurated on the occasion of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons visit to Vietnam in May 2015, is the first green certified UN House in the world. The building was designed as a model to cope with the environmental challenges facing Vietnam, demonstrating the countrys efforts to complete the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The UN staff at the GOUNH are being encouraged to adopt green behaviours by reducing printing, replacing plastic products and using public transportation. The GOUNH is estimated to reuse 94% of the pre-existing building. The building achieved almost a third of its energy reduction targets through various measures including solar water heating and smart environmental controls. It also secured a 42% reduction of water use through using the appropriate fixtures. The building is also powered by solar energy collected through solar panels. Two years after it was put into operation, the GOUNH was awarded the Platinum Lotus Certification, the highest level in the market-based green building rating system, granted by the Vietnam Green Building Council in May 2017. Most recently, the building was honoured with the Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance Award in the Institutional Category at the World Green Building Council's (WorldGBC) biennial Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Building Awards in September this year. The awards are given to recognise iconic green buildings, up-and-coming innovators and inspiring companies driving change and creating a better future throughout the Asia-Pacific region. According to Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, the presentation of the award to the UN in Vietnam recognised the unique role that the United Nations can and must also play in championing the leadership in Green Building designs around the world. Joelle Chen, Regional Head of WorldGBC's Asia Pacific Network, said that the Hanoi-based GOUNH serves as a model for sustainable construction in Vietnam and demonstrates how innovative design and sustainable management practices for existing buildings can lay the foundations for meeting many of the SDGs. Since Vietnam became a middle-income country, the cooperation between Vietnam and the UN shifted its focus from providing technical assistance to upstream policy advice, helping Vietnam to achieve its sustainable development goals, with priorities in such areas as hunger elimination, sustainable poverty reduction, environmental protection, response to climate change and sea level rises, human resources training, institutional reform, and gender equality. In the process of accelerating industrialisation, modernisation and international integration, Vietnam has actively and closely coordinated with the UN to successfully implement its socio-economic development goals, striving to become one of the countries to fully achieve the MDGs. The GOUNH is one of the typical successes in bilateral cooperation as the UN in Vietnam was amongst the very first pioneers globally to realise a One UN House. In the context of rapid and complicated changes in the global situation, the role played by multilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the UN, have become even more important. Vietnam continues to build trust in multilateral dialogues with respect for international law, peace, and equal cooperation for mutual development. The big day is finally here and Osun people get to decide who would lead them for another four years. The rerun election today will determine if Adeleke Ademola of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) or Isiaka Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress(APC) will emerge as the next governor of the state. Nigerians everywhere are calling on all Osun people, who would be voting in the affected LGAs today, to vote someone who would lead them to progress. According to many Nigerians, money from vote sold can never change ones status and therefore urged them not to vote because of money. See reactions below Hopefully, Osun people will make politicians understand today that they are really more important and should be the centre of attraction at critical moments as this #OsunRerun. Go out and make a statement! Vote for whoever you think deserves it. Afinju w'oja (@SimplyTEEWHY) September 27, 2018 An Anambra man will collect your money during elections and still votes his favorite candidate. Money that you get from selling your votes can never positively change your status or that of your state. A lesson to be learned! #OsunDecides2018 #OsunReRun Jay Pee (@JaypeeGeneral) September 27, 2018 @inecnigeria Today's #OsunRerun will be a true test of the confidence you are still struggling to gain from the Nigerian populace. This could be your last chance, don't blow it! #OsunDecides2018 YourFavBakerInOsogbo (@tosinlarewaju) September 27, 2018 Best wishes to everyone invested in #OsunRerun today. Let us remember that this election is about the people deciding who leads them. Shouldnt ever be a reason to fight or cause trouble. Osun agbe gbogbo wa o, ase! #OsunDecide2018 JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) September 27, 2018 Earlier today, there were reports that security men were preventing voters and journalists from accessing certain polling units in the Osun state rerun election. Reacting to this, Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential hopeful and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar said its very unacceptable. Atiku said while speaking via twitter on Thursday, that the rerun is being monitored both locally and internationally, therefore the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) must do all it can to redeem its pledge of being an impartial umpire. He wrote Reports about voters & observers intimidation by security agents in Osun rerun election is unacceptable & must be stopped. The rerun is being widely monitored in Nigeria & beyond. I hope that @inecnigeria will redeem its pledge of being an impartial umpire. #OsunDecides2018 Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) September 27, 2018 However INEC reported earlier that all of such issues have been resolved and voting had said smoothly. It wrote via twitter on Thursday, thus: Performer known as "Iona Fortune Sanchez" lipsanc and danced to You Don't Make Me High Anymore during the Spring Drag Show at the Memorial Union on March 30th. During the performance, the audience came up to give money to the performer, which was often used as another prop itself. Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 4 and grabbed the publics attention with its new design and features, which includes a brand new Electrocardiogram (ECG) testing feature built into the smartwatch. But while Apple was more than willing to talk about the feature and its impending launch in the United States following approval by the FDA, there was some pause when it came to announcements for international markets. Specifically, there will be a potentially significant waiting period before the ECG testing feature arrives outside of the United States. We know that Apple is working with entities in other countries, like Health Canada, to speed up the process, but there is no telling when the feature will arrive in those other markets. Now, 9to5Mac has a report out on Thursday that outlines why the wait for the ECG testing feature in the United Kingdom might be even longer than some might expect. It could take years, in fact, according to a regulator. When the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was asked how long the approval process might take and what might be involved, this was their response, in part: ECG devices for self-monitoring are classified as class 2a and the manufacturer will require a Notified body to carry out a conformity assessment. The most common assessment route is by audit of the full quality assurance system. What might slow things down along the way is further testing. While Apple has obviously already conducted tests in the United States related to the ECG testing feature, and other health-related areas of the Apple Watch Series 4, the MHRA will likely not accept the documentation and findings from those earlier tests, relying on its own separate tests for the new hardware device: You may need to carry out a clinical investigation as part of the process to obtain a CE marking for your medical device. You must inform MHRA if you are planning to do this at least 60 days before starting your investigation [providing] some basic details about the investigational device, the intended population, the type of study, and estimated application date. If all that does go well, the agency has up to 60 days to process the information and make a recommendation. However, if they determine that they need some follow-up questions regarding the findings or device itself, then the countdown stops and the agency can take its time for further investigation. Next, the actual testing itself on Apples part, which could be the longest part of the whole process: The last factor could be the most time consuming and could potentially add years onto the CE marking process. It isnt known where Apple is in this particular timeline. The company may have already jumped over the majority of these perceived hurdles in its goal to launch the ECG feature within the United Kingdom. Indeed, its likely that Apple has done most of the legwork already for the international markets where the ECG feature is even capable of launching. Still, the potential reality is that the ECG testing feature may not be available in the UK anytime soon, which is certainly unfortunate news. [via 9to5Mac During a working session with the Ministry of Planning and Environment of New South Wales (NSW) led by chief planner Gary White, on September 24, the official expressed her gratitude to the host for sharing planning experience, wishing that the two cities would conduct more exchanges in the near future. White shared his experience in building a strategic vision for Sydney and the NSW master plan, which takes into consideration factors such as population aging, transportation, housing for low-income earners, and regional and detailed planning. He said public transportation such as railways, subways, buses and elevated railways must ensure 30-minute city standard, which means that travelling time from homes to schools or offices should be less than 30 minutes. He also called for attention to collecting public opinions on planning and its management. Later, the Vietnamese delegation learnt about NSWs experience in upholding the values of historical and cultural vestiges in combination with tourism promotion, museums and park planning. On September 24, the delegation held a working session with the NSW Ministry of Education led by Executive Director of Education and Business Systems, Chloe Read. Read talked about the management of local public and private schools, teaching equipment, school policies and fees. Both sides expressed their wish to foster bilateral training cooperation, especially in vocational training and career orientation to students after high school graduation. Visiting the Vietnamese Consulate General in Sydney and the Vietnamese Embassy in Canberra, Vice Secretary Ngoc asked them to serve as a bridge connecting Hanoi with Australian localities in the fields of urban planning and transportation, education and training, clean water supply, smart city development, preservation of historical and cultural vestiges, tourism, and cultural and sporting events on an international scale. During its stay, the delegation also held a working session with the Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association in Sydney. They pledged to serve as a bridge to call on Australian firms and organisations to invest in Vietnam and Hanoi in the fields of their strength, such as farm produce, tourism, real estate, resort development and education. Vice Secretary Ngoc expressed her belief that the association would make further contributions to the development of Vietnamese community in Sydney via practical and effective activities. Fuller Gallery celebrates fifth anniversary Visitors to Fuller Gallery might expect to see a painting of Marsh Meadows hanging in the storefront window, but in the five years since it opened, a Chinese sword, Olympic... LEARNING TO SAVE LIVES Volunteer firefighters Lew Kitts, left, and Dave Prior talk to kindergarten and preschool students Friday about the equipment used to extinguish flames during emergencies. The annual showcase at Melrose School... Film explores body and clothing An 8-minute film shot at Beavertail State Park to explore connections between clothing and the body will be screened at the Jamestown Arts Center. The screening of Waves and Shadows... Addressing the programme, which drew more than 100 leaders, ministers and representatives of embassies and UN member countries, Deputy PM Minh said that Vietnams run for the position proves the countrys external policy of peace, independence, and selfreliance, as well as its wish to make more contributions to the joint efforts of the international community for peace, security and sustainable development. He affirmed that if elected, Vietnam will exert every effort to promote dialogue and cooperation to prevent conflicts and peacefully settle international disputes, protect civilians amidst conflicts and deal with war aftermaths, thus building sustainable peace. Vietnam will work to strengthen the cooperation between the UN Security Council and regional organisations, he stated, expressing his belief that, with the support of UN member countries, Vietnam would complete the tasks of a UN Security Council council, contributing to peace and security in the region and the world. All of the participants expressed their belief that Vietnam would successfully perform the role of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and make positive contributions to the activities of the UN and the international community. The same day, he had bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ecuador, Uganda Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and the US Deputy Secretary of State, during which he thanked the countries for extending their condolences to Vietnam over the passing away of President Tran Dai Quang. He said that with the economic achievements in external relations and results of international commitment implementation, Vietnam is willing to take the role and successfully complete the tasks of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure. He proposed that the EU partners support Vietnam and push forward the signing of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the bloc. Foreign officials hailed the role and position, as well as the important contributions of Vietnam, to the common work in the region and around the world, while promising to consider Vietnams proposal and continue to coordinate closely with the Southeast Asian country to maintain international peace and security, contributing to stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. Minh and Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, agreed to continue the exchange of delegations, especially at the high level, as well as the sharing of measures to boost economic and trade partnership between the two countries, including the import and export of agricultural products, while promoting trade facilitation and regional economic connectivity. Australia will assist Vietnam to engage deeper into peacekeeping operations and build an e-government, while working closely with Vietnam at the ASEAN, APEC and UN, said Payne. At the meeting between Deputy PM Minh and Slovakian Foreign Minister, Miroslav Lajcak, the two sides agreed on the need to continue taking measures to maintain and bolster the sound traditional ties between the two countries. Deputy PM Minh suggested that Slovakia create favourable conditions for Vietnamese investors in Slovakia as well as the Vietnamese community in the country. Meeting with Slovenian Foreign Minister, Karl Erjavec, Deputy PM Minh proposed that the two sides start negotiations and the signing of a number of framework agreements, including the double-tax avoidance deal and another to recognise each others qualifications, while strengthening their affiliation in areas related to maritime transport, tourism, pharmaceuticals and home appliances. In his meeting with Ugandas Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Henry Oryem Okello, Deputy PM Minh asked the Government of Uganda to support Vietnamese firms to sell strong Vietnamese products in Uganda and seek investment opportunities in the country, including activities of the telecommunication firm Viettel. The two sides concurred to soon negotiate and sign a visa exemption deal for diplomatic and official passport holders. Meeting US Deputy Secretary of State, John Sullivan, Deputy PM Minh stated that Vietnam values its relationship with the US and hopes to continue promoting the bilateral ties in the key pillars of economics, trade, education-training, and science and technology. To mark 25 years of diplomatic ties in 2020, the two sides agreed to increase delegation exchanges at all levels and foster cooperation between the two ministries. On the occasion, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh proposed that the US continue supporting Vietnam in dealing with war aftermaths, including the implementation of a dioxin detoxification project at Bien Hoa Airport at an early date. In his speech at the Vietnam ICT Investment Forum (VIIF) in Hanoi, Tam stressed the need for Vietnam to focus on developing the domestic telecommunications industry and IT, while promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction in the field. The top priority should be given to encouraging digital infrastructure development, including broadband and database infrastructure, as well as completing 4G mobile networks and deploying 5G, towards meeting the requirements of IoT development in the future. In addition, in order to participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Vietnam needs to develop human resources and promote digital skill training in order to equip workers with the skills that will enable them to meet the future work requirements, Deputy Minister Tam added. The ministry has proposed that the Government devises priority policies to meet and create momentum for the transformation of the economic, industrial and service sectors, he noted. Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Communication of India, Ravi Kant, emphasised the desire to promote the cooperation between India and ASEAN member countries, including Vietnam, to expand its IT exports. India is interested in developing sustainable infrastructure and digital innovation, taking full advantage of qualified IT human resources who are capable of working in many markets around the world, he said. Meanwhile, Swedish Ambassador Pereric Hogberg shared the countrys experience in the use of IT, innovation and digital services in urban and rural areas to make it one of the leading technology countries in the world. Participants at the forum also shared information on emerging technology issues in the world, such as 5G technology, solutions related to cloud computing, initiatives and digital connection projects among ASEAN countries, and measures for ensuring information security for digital connections. The forum showed the importance of digital connectivity in the Fourth Industry Revolution, contributing to encouraging Vietnamese enterprises to foster investment cooperation with peers in the field in countries in the Mekong-sub region and Southeast Asia. On the sidelines of the event, the exhibition India-ASEAN ICT Expo is being held on September 27-28, featuring products from 30 Vietnamese and Indian IT and telecom enterprises. The exhibitors will introduce products, services, telecommunication and IT solutions with the application of IoT in traffic management, agriculture and banking serving the development of smart cities. In recent years, the Vietnamese Government has been determined to build visions, orientations and policies in all sectors to fully tap the advantages of the Fourth Industry Revolution. The worlds longest serving national bank governor and his talented architect son have shown how to transform passion into profit, as well as illustrate the success of a close partnership with the European Union. After 13 years of hard work, dedication and perseverance, Romanian National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu (70) and his son, Costin, 31, stand literally on the brink of immense success - in the specialized fields of viticulture and oenology, as both winemaking shareholder and company general manager respectively. The event is part of a programme held from September 23-29 to introduce a friendly and attractive Vietnam to the other ASEAN member states, focusing on the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. It attracted the participation of over 100 delegates representing Indonesian travel agents and enterprises operating in the hospitality industry and international airlines. Speaking at the event, Ngo Hoai Chung, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that Vietnam is not only one of the fastest developing economies in Southeast Asia, with an average annual growth rate of 7 percent, but also an attractive destination which welcomed 13 million foreign tourists in 2017. Last year, Vietnam was ranked sixth in the Top 10 fastest-growing tourist destinations by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Recently, the country was honoured as a leading tourist destination in Asia by the World Travel Awards (WTA) 2018, Deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Chung said. He stressed that the Roadshow is designed to introduce Vietnams tourism products and attractions and opportunities to invest in the Vietnamese market. It is also a venue for Vietnamese and Indonesian tourism managers and businesses to meet and discuss cooperation opportunities, he added. Participants at the event were introduced to the beauty of the Vietnamese land and people through video clips and art performances. MEDFORD, Ore. Public health officials in Jackson County are issuing a warning after a reported increase in opioid overdoses over the last several weeks, according to a statement from Jackson County Health & Human Services (JCHHS). Officials classify the warning as a "yellow alert for non-fatal suspect illicit opioid overdoses" culminating from "higher than usual" admissions to local hospitals from people experiencing accidental overdoses from illegal drugs, an increased number of calls from law enforcement where naloxone (Narcan) was administered, and a similar increase in the use of Narcan reported by Mercy Flights. These reported increases in non-fatal overdoses came during the week of September 16, according to JCHHS. There has been only one death from a suspected overdose on illegal opioids since late July of 2018 in Jackson County. A similar jump in overdoses has been reported in the area of Springfield and Eugene, which are believed to be connected to the powerful opioid fentanyl. According to JCHHS, a yellow alert means that public health officials have found a sudden rise in accidental overdoses on illegal opioids "higher than usual," it said in a statement. The alert is intended to warn medical professionals, community partners, family and friends to be aware of the issue, and JCHHS advises those who suffer from an opioid addiction of the following: PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Federal prosecutors have been unable to confirm the identity of an Oregon man accused of presenting someone else's birth certificate and driver's license to obtain a U.S. passport. The man identified in federal court in Portland as "John Doe" won release from jail Wednesday as he awaits trial on charges of aggravated identity theft and making false statements in a passport application, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported . Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Kerin objected to the man's release, saying his real name hasn't been verified. "He could be wanted in four states for all we know," Kerin told the judge. Defense lawyer Conor Huseby told the court that he was hesitant to give his client's name, citing the man's Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. His client has pleaded not guilty to the charges. "We can't prove the government's case for them," Huseby said. Court documents also identify the man under the alias Augustin Contreras, which he hasn't used in at least a decade, according to court testimony. He was booked into a Multnomah County jail as 41-year-old Augustin Contreras. His long-term girlfriend gave federal authorities the name Celilio Beltran-Leon, Kerin said. "I don't have anything that suggests he's that person," Kerin said. Huseby agreed to provide pretrial release officers with the man's birth certificate or another document under seal, meaning prosecutors won't be able to see it. "I just can't turn it over to the government, which can use it in trial," Huseby said. The judge ordered the man's release, noting she was convinced he would not flee before trial and there was not an allegation that he wanted a passport for the purpose of another crime. NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The white paper just released by China on its trade friction with the United States has been "quite effective" in defending the legitimacy of its positions on trade and innovation while highlighting U.S. trade bullying and intimidation, experts said. "The Facts and China's Position on China-U.S. Trade Friction," released on Monday, outlines the Chinese government's response to criticisms leveled against the world's largest developing country by the United States, including those with respect to the perceived trade imbalance, the subsidy policy and alleged intellectual property theft. The key message is that China's trade and investment policies and practices are "anchored in international law and economic reason" and that China "stands ready for principled win-win compromise on this basis," Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies, said in an interview with Xinhua via email on Tuesday. However, the same cannot be said of Washington, Gupta said. "Its attempt to re-write the rules of law and reason in its economic intercourse with China on the basis of unilateralism, protectionism and self-centeredness is an abdication of global public goods responsibilities and poses a grave threat to the international economic order," he said. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has leaned heavily towards unilateralism and tried to use coercion in its trade negotiations with China to get what it wants, while China has said it is willing to negotiate on an equal basis but rejected unilateralism. China has also made it clear that it will adhere to the policy of reform and opening-up to further develop its economy. Gupta said the white paper released by China is well-timed. The white paper was released at a time when unilateral tariffs on an additional 200 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods imported from China took effect. China responded in a steadfast but measured way by subjecting about 60 billion dollars worth of U.S. imports to retaliatory tariffs. Gupta said that the explicit purpose of China in releasing the White Paper is to offer a "robust defense" of its liberalization policies and practices since its accession to the World Trade Organization, and challenge Washington's narrative "head-on" on topics ranging from the bilateral goods trade deficit to so-called "fair trade" and alleged intellectual property rights infringements. "By detailing the U.S.' own hypocritical set of policies that discriminate against Chinese goods and investments and run afoul of international law, the intent is to apply the adage 'the best defense is a good offense,'" he said. Gupta said the document also serves the purpose of sending a "signal that China has not got -- and will not get -- weak-kneed in the face of unjust and escalatory U.S. trade enforcement actions." "If there were expectations in Washington that China would bow to pressure because U.S. has more items on which it can impose tariffs, then those expectations are misplaced. China is prepared to play the long game with the U.S. until such time that its international legal rights as well as its right to development is respected," he said. Zhu Zhiqun, a professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University, said it is necessary for China to release the white paper and "set the record right" as the trade friction keeps escalating. It shows that China hopes the United States will "fully understand China's position" before going to the negotiating table, thus laying a sound foundation for the next round of negotiations, he said. "Of course, the key is that the U.S. is willing to talk about resolving differences through rational consultation on an equal basis, instead of coercing China to accept the unilateral requirements and conditions set by the U.S.," Zhu added. Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs known for advocating effective communication between China and the United States, said the white paper as a response of China to U.S. accusations is "long overdue." The former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia even went on to suggest that it is helpful to include a ranking of issues that "are most important -- and least important -- in driving a wedge between the U.S. and China." "I think this white paper is quite effective in offering a detailed response by China to U.S. charges and counter-charges," he said. EUGENE, Ore. A crew from Eugene Springfield Fire cleaned the crime scene on Bailey Lane Wednesday morning across the street from Monroe Middle School after Tuesday morning's shooting. KEZI 9 News spoke with firefighters who said parents were upset about the stain being so close to the school. Emily Gilkey-Palmer said she had just left her house Tuesday morning before the shooting happened. She said shes glad she changed her plans for the morning. "My kids had actually asked to go to Tandy Turn which is just down the street and we would have walked and so yesterday I thought that's exactly the time we would've been walking if I hadn't insisted we drove over to Amazon Park, Gilkey-Palmer said. I'm grateful my kids didn't see anything. They're very interested in cop cars. They had fun seeing all the emergency vehicles after the fact, but I'm grateful it wasn't like in the moment where I had to explain it." She said she found out about the shooting when her husband called her and asked if she and her kids were okay. Greg Christy, a man who lives on nearby Luella Street in Eugene, said he saw the blood stain before crews could clean it up. He said hes relieved the shooting suspect didnt target the school, but hes still concerned it happened so close to a school and his home. He said he was home the moment shots rang out Tuesday morning and ran to his front window. "I saw the guy running across my lawn and I thought he was going to come up my driveway and I thought he was going to come towards me so I kind of hid around the corner so maybe he wouldn't know I was home, Christy said. He said he became scared and believed he saw the suspect still holding a gun in his hand as he ran past his house down Van Avenue and out of sight. Christy said an incident like this has never happened in his neighborhood. "I would not have thought something like that would happen in this neighborhood cause it's a very nice neighborhood and I know most of my neighbors," he said. "I would not have thought something like this would happen and from what I understand, it's just kind of a random event that happened to be there. It wasn't like they were targeting this neighborhood or targeting that school." The suspect, 17-year-old Mason Everett Wood, was arrested Tuesday night. EUGENE, Ore. -- The teen charged with opening fire outside Monroe Middle School Tuesday has pleaded not guilty. Mason Everett Wood, 17, faced a judge Thursday morning, and KEZI 9 News reporter Jessica Babb was at the arraignment. Wood is being charged as an adult for first-degree assault, first-degree burglary and unlawful use of a weapon. RELATED: 17-year-old suspect in Eugene shooting identified, charged as adult According to court documents, Wood broke into a home on Bailey Lane near the middle school Tuesday. Wood is also accused of shooting a 17-year-old victim and fleeing the scene. MORE: Parents reunited with kids after lockdown at Monroe Middle School Afterward, an hours-long SWAT standoff took place near downtown Eugene. Investigators believed Wood was hiding out in that part of town. Wood ended up turning himself in. A status check hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1 at 2:30 p.m. MORE: Eugene police seek suspect in shooting that put Monroe Middle School on lockdown KEZI 9 News is working to obtain Woods mugshot. The John Serbu Youth Detention Center wouldnt comment on that Thursday morning, and the Lane County Jail said it doesnt have a copy of Woods mugshot. BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Violent crime rose in Oregon in 2017 despite a slight nationwide decrease in violent crimes and property crimes. The Bulletin reported Wednesday that FBI statistics show Oregon experienced a more than 6 percent jump in violent crimes. Nationwide, murders decreased 0.7 percent in 2017, and robberies, by 4 percent. Burglaries decreased 7.6 percent and larceny thefts decreased 2.2 percent. But Oregon saw a 6.3 percent jump in violent crime in 2017. There were 104 murders in Oregon reported to the FBI in 2017, compared to 116 in 2016. There were 1,999 rapes reported, compared with 1,784 in 2016. A vast majority of reported crimes happened in urban areas. The FBI collects the information from local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement agencies and releases it annually. FREEBORN COUNTY, Minn. One person was injured when a vehicle went through a fence and struck a tree after leaving the Interstate-35 roadway Thursday morning. The Minnesota State Patrol said 74-year-old Arthur Albertson, of Kiester, was injured in the accident south of exit 22 in Bancroft Township. He was driving a 2009 Subaru Outback. Albertson suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to Mayo Clinic Health System Albert Lea. The Minnesota State Patrol was assisted by Geneva Fire, Gold Cross Ambulance and Mayo 3 Helicopter. Freshman Admission is a Three-Step Process 1. APPLY To apply online or print a paper application, click an application link above and choose the term you would like to start. You can also apply to UM using the Common Application. 2. TEST SCORES OPTIONAL ACT/SAT test scores are not required for admission to the University of Montana. 3. TRANSCRIPT Send/upload an unofficial transcript when you apply. Send UM your official high school transcript upon graduation. The transcript must include your date of graduation and final GPA. The HiSET and GED are also acceptable. U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York, Sept. 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday delivered his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which U.S. experts say is indicative of a zero-sum worldview that is detrimental to world stability and prosperity. Trump touted his "America First" foreign policy and defended actions under this belief. While highlighting his commitment to "putting sovereignty above global governance," he attacked globalism, and lashed out at several international organizations and treaties, such as the UN Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court and the Iran nuclear deal, all of which his administration has said it would exit or impose sanctions against. Kyle Ferrier, an analyst for the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute of America, told Xinhua that "Trump's speech attempted to reframe his 'America First' foreign policy into something that would be more universally understandable: patriotism." "Dressing up his foreign policy, however, is not going to allay widespread concerns about U.S. withdrawal from global governance," Ferrier said. "Trump's foreign policy is a mixture of anti-globalism and traditional conservativism, which don't often align," the expert said. Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that "in his speech, President Trump drew on his own belief in American sovereignty, as well as the advice being given to him by advisors like John Bolton and Stephen Miller." "In this framework, international institutions present a threat to American sovereignty, especially at a time when issues like immigration, trade, and the role of frameworks such as alliances and multilateral institutions limit American freedom of action," he said. "While they espouse a belief in the sovereignty of nations, they also acknowledge that there are instances where another nation's reliance on the United States for military protection or economic ties presents an opportunity for the United States to have legitimate grievances about those policies that they pursue that are counter to U.S. interests," he added. "It does shift significantly away from the benefits that the United States has achieved in its partnerships and alliances with other countries as it better reflects President Trump's zero-sum worldview," he said. Christopher Galdieri, assistant professor at Saint Anselm College, said that "since his first flirtations with running for office, Trump has seen the United States as getting the short end of the stick when it comes to relations with other countries, particularly in the realms of trade deals and multilateral agreements." "Trump appears to view relations with other countries in zero-sum, bilateral terms -- there should be two parties to agreements, and the United States should get the better of the other country in the deal," he said. "Similarly, he dislikes groups like NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) because he sees them as somehow taking advantage of the United States." However, Douglas Paal, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that Trump's speech "is a campaign statement for the mid-terms, making incredible claims for success." "Trump really does not care about other country's systems, so he means not to interfere in that. But if a country poses a threat -- military or economic -- to the U.S., the U.S. will work against it," he said. "The speech is about equally uninformative about policy, although we should be glad he is less belligerent regarding North Korea (the DPRK)." In his speech, Trump said that his meeting with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s top leader, Kim Jong Un, was productive. However, he added that sanctions on the nation will stay in place "until denuclearization occurs." "The biggest difference between Trump's 2018 and 2017 UNGA speeches is how he characterized North Korea (the DPRK)," said Ferrier. Last year, Trump used the derogative nickname of "rocket man" for Kim and called the DPRK regime a "band of criminals." This year, Trump thanked Kim for his courage in taking recent diplomatic steps. Comparing the two speeches is a reminder of how much the Korean Peninsula issue has changed in a year, Ferrier said. (Matthew Rusling in Washington also contributed to the report.) ROCHESTER, Minn. Right now in Minnesota, there arent enough people to fill all the job openings. Thats according to Jen Strand whos a recruitment marketing consultant at Jobs HQ. The company hosted a job fair in Rochester on Wednesday, in hopes of providing a networking outlet. Michelle Oachs moved to Rochester a couple weeks ago, and is currently looking for work. There are a lot of jobs out there, Oachs said. So it's just trying to find out where I fit in but a lot of opportunity here. According to Strand, there are 142,000 job openings across Minnesota and at least 9,600 of those are in the southeast region. As the economy grows, as Rochester grows, I don't foresee it becoming easier for companies, Strand said. It's easier for job seekers. Jobs HQ plans to host future job fairs at Rochester Community and Technical College. BRISTOW, Iowa The Department of Natural Resources is monitoring a manure spill in Butler County. Officials say a water line broke Wednesday at a hog confinement about three miles north of Bristow. An unknown amount of manure from the empty building traveled about a mile before entering a tributary of Parmentar Creek. The DNR says field tests found slightly elevated levels of ammonia but nothing high enough to kill fish. The facility is leased by Iowa Select Farms and the DNR says the companys cleanup crew stopped the flow of manure and built downstream dams to contain contaminated water, which was pumped and hauled away to apply on crop fields. No dead fish were seen in the stream. MASON CITY, Iowa A guilty plea is entered by a man accused of attacking a woman and trying to pull off her clothes. Dean Richard Huse, 62 of Mason City, was arrested in June after authorities say he tore off a womans swimsuit and tried to pull off her shirt and shorts. Huse pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. He is now sentenced to 180 days in jail, followed by one year of supervised probation. Huse must also sign up with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry and pay a $250 civil penalty. MASON CITY, Iowa - A road was blocked off at the intersection of 9th St. and North Jefferson Ave. in Mason City as police investigated a report of a person dragged by a car. Authorities say the person was transported to the hospital by ambulance for non-life threatening injuries. That person has since been released. Authorities said the two people involved likely know each other. Police say they're searching for a white pick-up truck and are asking anyone with information to contact the Mason City Police Department. OSAGE, Iowa - Seventy-two percent of voters believe it is time for the government to "step it up" when it comes to providing internet to Americans in rural communities. That's according to a new survey from Connect Americans Now. In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission awarded nearly $1.5-billion to the effort. However, states like Missouri and Illinois received a large portion of that. Josh Byrnes tells KIMT it is time for action especially when it comes to avoiding the digital divide in the education field. "Students are being sent home with laptops, they have assignments they have to do online. You don't want to get into a situation of the haves and the have nots, and you don't want to have a school district where these kids live over in this section, so they can't do their homework at home because they don't have the connectivity but these kids over here do, said Byrnes. Byres also added that if the rural communities were to receive broadband connections, it could be utilized as an economic development tool to draw business and professionals to Iowa. ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Several large Chinese companies, including tech giant Alibaba (BABA.N), are actively looking at opportunities in Turkey and have met with Turkish firms after the liras sell-off has made local assets cheaper, sources familiar with the talks said. The talks in Istanbul started in mid-August, when Turkey was at the height of its currency crisis, four sources said, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public. In addition to Alibaba, which earlier this year purchased Turkish online retailer Trendyol, other companies holding talks included China Life Insurance (601628.SS) and conglomerate China Merchants Group, three of the sources said. We met four Chinese groups in just a week. They held more than 20 meetings, one of the sources said, adding that the meetings had been arranged by top U.S. investment banks. They are looking into nearly everything. Alibaba declined to comment on future investment plans. China Life Insurance did not respond to a request for comment while China Merchants could not immediately be reached for comment. Chinese firms have shown interest in Turkeys infrastructure, mining, energy, retail and insurance industries, three of the sources said. The heightened Chinese interest comes as the worlds second-largest economy braces for an escalating trade war with the United States. LIRA SELL-OFF Turkeys lira has fallen some 40 percent so far this year, hit by concerns about President Tayyip Erdogans control over monetary policy and a diplomatic rift with the United States. The sell-off has deepened concerns about the outlook for the Turkish economy while depressing local asset prices. Turkish energy firms have been particularly hit hard, given that much of their debt and their import costs are denominated in foreign currency, while their revenues are in lira. Various China-based energy companies are interested in energy production plants that are having trouble servicing their financial debt, one of the sources said. Despite the crisis, Turkey retains enviable demographics, making it particularly attractive for consumer-focused industries over the long term. It is home to some 80 million people and with one of the youngest populations in Europe. Chinese companies first showed interest in Turkey as part of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative - a vehicle for Beijing to take a greater role on the international stage by funding and building global transport and trade links in more than 60 countries. BEIJING (Reuters) - China demanded the United States dispel obstacles to improving military ties and stop slandering it, amid growing tensions over trade, Taiwan, the South China Sea and U.S. President Donald Trumps claims of China meddling in the upcoming U.S. election. Trump on Wednesday accused China of seeking to interfere in the Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections, saying that Beijing did not want him or his Republican Party to do well because of his pugnacious stance on trade. The two countries are already embroiled in an acrimonious trade war and have continued to butt heads over a list of sensitive issues including the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan, armed by Washington but claimed by Beijing. On Saturday, China summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing and postponed joint military talks to protest Washingtons decision to sanction a Chinese military agency and its director for buying Russian fighter jets and a surface-to-air missile system. Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing that the United States should take steps to improve military relations and expressed Chinas firm opposition to provocative U.S. air force flights over the South China Sea, after U.S. B-52s flew in the vicinity of the waterway this week. He even hinted a planned visit to the United States later this year for Defence Minister Wei Fenghe could be in doubt. The United States is to blame for the present problem, so the United States must immediately correct its mistakes, and withdraw the so-called sanctions to dispel obstacles that interfere in the healthy development of relations between the two militaries, Ren said, when asked about Weis trip. Beijing has also denied a request for a U.S. warship to visit Hong Kong, the U.S. consulate in the Chinese city said on Tuesday. Ren said he had no further information on that. Adding fuel to the flames, China was angered this week when the United States approved the sale of spare parts for F-16 fighter planes and other military aircraft worth up to $330 million to Taiwan, which China considers a wayward province. ELECTION INTERFERENCE Speaking at a separate briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated a denial of Trumps accusation that Beijing is trying to influence the U.S. congressional elections in November. We advise the United States to stop this unceasing criticism and slander of China, Geng said. Stop these wrong words and deeds that damage bilateral relations and the basic interests of both countries peoples. Trump also said on Twitter on Wednesday that China was placing propaganda ads in U.S. newspapers, referring to a Chinese government-run media companys four-page supplement in the Sunday Des Moines Register promoting the mutual benefits of U.S.-China trade. Asked about the tweet, Geng said that such advertisements by foreign media were commonplace and allowed by U.S. law. To say that this regular cooperation is Chinas government interfering in the U.S. elections is totally far-fetched and without foundation in facts, he said. The military spat and election accusation have worsened a relationship already poisoned by the Sino-U.S. trade war. Chinas commerce ministry said it was ridiculous for the United States to think that pressure could force concessions from China, sparked by Trumps blaming China for stealing U.S. intellectual property, limiting access to its own market and unfairly subsidizing state-owned companies. I want to stress that bullying and maximum pressure will not scare China and will not cause Chinas economy to collapse, ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters. Gao was answering a question about comments by former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who last week told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post that Trump planned to make the trade war unbearably painful for Beijing and would not back down. FILE PHOTO: Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang attends a news briefing in Beijing, China May 25, 2017. China Daily via REUTERS FILE PHOTO: Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang attends a news briefing in Beijing, China May 25, 2017. China Daily via REUTERS JAKARTA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Global mining giants Freeport McMoRan Inc and Rio Tinto on Thursday signed a "definitive" sales purchase agreement for a majority stake in the Grasberg copper mine to be transferred to Indonesia's state mining holding company, Inalum. "I would like to congratulate Inalum, Rio and FCX, which have just made a share sales purchase agreement," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters at a press conference after the signing. Several matters must still be resolved before financial transactions for the share transfer can take place, said Inalum Chief Executive Budi Gunadi Sadikin, also at the press conference. Sadikin added that he expects the transactions to be completed in November at latest. Freeport McMoRan Chief Executive Richard Adkerson told reporters that the latest agreement is "definitive" and "binding". (Reporting by Wilda Asmarini and Bernadette Christina Munthe Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Adrian Croft) Messaging: fergus.jensen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) (Kitco News) - Mixed momentum in the U.S. manufacturing sector is helping to pressure gold prices, which has fallen clearly below $1,200 an ounce. Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau said that new durable goods orders increased by $11.1 billion or 4.5% to $259.6 billion, in August, up from Julys decline of 1.7% and significantly beating expectations. Consensus forecasts were calling for an increase of 1.9%. According to reports, this is the highest increase in headline durable goods in year. The increase some as the sector copes with rising momentum in the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile core durable goods, which strips out the volatile transportation sector was weaker-than-expected, increasing 0.1% last month. Consensus forecasts were calling for a 0.4% increase. Gold prices were under pressure ahead of the data and have fallen further in initial reaction to that data that shows the U.S. economy continues to build momentum. December gold futures last traded at $1,192.40 an ounce, down 0.56% on the day. Katherine Judge, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, said that while core durable goods was weaker than expected, the sector still remains healthy. Even with the disappointment, the three-month annualized trend rate of core capital goods held steady at a solid 11.4%, a positive indicator for business investment and GDP, she said. (Adds quote, background) Sept 27 (Reuters) - China's net gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong fell to their lowest this year in August, as Beijing curbed import quotas for banks amid a trade tussle with the United States. Imports via Hong Kong to China, the world's top consumer of the metal, decreased by 29 percent to 31.857 tonnes in August from 44.802 tonnes in July, according to data mailed to Reuters by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. That is the lowest since December 2017, when imports were at 31.221 tonnes. Total gold imports via Hong Kong fell 30 percent to 34.22 tonnes in August from 48.635 tonnes in July. "Gold imports have fallen in both August and September and it is mostly to do with China limiting import quotas for the banks," a Singapore-based precious metals trader said. China allows 13 banks, including three foreign lenders, to import gold, according to the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Benchmark spot gold prices registered a 1.9 percent decline in August. In July, China's net gold imports via Hong Kong fell 45 percent. China does not provide trade data on gold, and the Hong Kong figures serve as a proxy for flows to the mainland. The Hong Kong data, however, might not provide a full picture of Chinese purchases as gold is also imported via Shanghai and Beijing. (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Mark Potter) 1-651-848-5832, Outside U.S. +91 8067496031); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, accompanied by Jeannette Kagame, wife of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, visits the FAWE Girls' School in north Kigali, Rwanda, July 23, 2018. (Xinhua File Photo) Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressed the United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting on ending tuberculosis (TB) via a video on Wednesday, calling for global efforts to put an end to the epidemic. Peng, who became World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for TB and HIV/AIDS in 2011, shared her feelings and experiences with the attendees of the meeting, which took place in the UN headquarters in New York. She also shared the touching stories of the unsung heroes in China who have been selflessly dedicated to the cause of combating TB. Peng, who is also China's National Ambassador for TB Control and Prevention, said that the control and prevention of the epidemic disease in China have made rapid progress and its victims are being diagnosed and treated more timely and effectively. She also pointed out such progress has been made because of the great importance that the Chinese government and the entire society have attached to the cause as well as the enthusiastic participation of about 700,000 volunteers. In some parts of China, TB prevention has become one of the key tasks in the government's poverty alleviation program, said Peng. Now, China has seen continuous increases of case detection and cure rates for TB and decreases in morbidity and mortality, as many TB victims in the country have their lives renewed, said Peng, adding that the awareness rate of TB control and prevention knowledge has reached over 75 percent in China. Thanks to joint efforts of governments, international organizations, NGOs, specialists and volunteers, the control and prevention of the tuberculosis epidemic on the global level have scored significant achievements, but mankind still faces severe challenges in the aspect, Peng said. The World Health Organization has adopted the End TB Strategy, she said, urging all countries in the world to join hands and do their best to change the life of the millions of people who are affected by TB and end the global epidemic. The high-level meeting was chaired by Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, president of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. A political declaration on the control and prevention of TB was endorsed by the meeting. * H1 net loss of $24.8 million* Expects to report profit next year* FY output guidance lifted to 420,000-450,000 ounces * Brings back founder Peter Hambro as President (Adds details, CEO comments, share price) By Anna Rzhevkina Sept 27 (Reuters) - Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk expects to report a net profit next year as a key gold treatment project is set to boost production and cut costs, Chief Executive Pavel Maslovskiy said on Thursday. The company swung to a net loss of $24.8 million in the first half on rising costs and lower sales but the company declined to give a forecast for the full year. It reported a net profit of $24.5 million in the first half of last year and $41.5 million for the full year. The company's main project, known as a pressure oxidation hub (POX), allows the treatment of refractory gold ore that is difficult to process using traditional methods. Refactory gold contains ultra-fine gold particles that are resistant to recovery by standard methods. Maslovskiy, who returned to the helm of the company in June after a boardroom battle, said POX would allow the company to "significantly" reduce costs. "We should be on schedule and put commercial production in March, which means that we can produce roughly 150,000 ounces out of POX," Maslovskiy added. Petropavlovsk also lifted its 2018 production outlook to 420,000-450,000 ounces from 400,000-410,000 ounces due to the inclusion of "high-grade sellable floatation concentrate". It sees its gold production rising to about 500,000 ounces next year. Petropavlsk's share price was up 0.5% at 6.51 pence, still well below the highs it hit a decade ago and has lost 12 percent so far this year. The miner also brought back its founder Peter Hambro as president and senior adviser to the board. Hambro was ousted last year amid a shareholder row over control of the company. (Reporting by Anna Rzhevkina, writing and additional reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) * Charter finalisation crucial for investment* Union says free community stake needed for social peace* Mining laid foundations for Africa's industrial powerhouse (Recasts with details, quotes) By Patricia Aruo PRETORIA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - South Africa unveiled a new regulatory charter for its mining industry on Thursday, a crucial step to attracting further investment to a sector laid low by depressed prices, soaring costs and murky policy. It is part of an affirmative action drive to reverse black people's exclusion from the mainstream economy under apartheid and pointedly targets the mining industry, which accounts for about 8 percent of the country's gross domestic product now, but laid the foundations for Africa's most industrialised economy. Presented by Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, the third version of the charter requires miners to provide their local communities and employees with a free 10 percent stake, a policy some companies may be pressed to bear but which unions say is needed to secure social peace. "Regulatory and policy uncertainty is removed. We have a duty now to mobilise investment into mining," Mantsahe, a gruff former trade unionist and senior member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), told a media briefing. The charter raises the level of black ownership as expected to 30 percent from 26 percent while providing breakdowns on how the stakes should be divided, with 20 percent for black business interests and 5 percent each for communities and employees. "The community/employee stake is a 10 percent investment in peace and stability. Current levels of mine community unrest and high number of industrial action creates a high level of instability," Gideon du Plessis, the head of the Solidarity trade union which represents skilled workers, told Reuters. Mining operations in the world's top platinum producer which also exports gold, coal, diamonds and iron ore are flashpoints of social and labour unrest amid perceptions that the wealth flowing from the shafts does not benefit local communities. For example, between the start of 2016 and April 2018, the eastern limb of the platinum belt was hit by over 400 incidents of social unrest impacting mining operations, according to data compiled by Anglo American Platinum . The Minerals Council South Africa, which represents most of the country's mining companies, said it would comment later after it has studied the document. Among the controversial provisions in previous drafts that were dropped was one that would have required companies to pay 1 percent of earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation to employees and communities if no dividends were paid for six years. At the board level and among top management, the charter requires 50 percent black representation and 20 percent female representation. (Writing by Ed Stoddard Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng/ Richard Balmforth and Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Messaging: edward.stoddard.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Chinese FM says willing to tap cooperation potential with Panama China is willing to tap the cooperation potential with Panama and make more achievements to benefit the two peoples, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi here Tuesday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yileftand Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela.[Photo:China Plus] Wang made the remarks at a meeting with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela while attending the United Nations General Assembly. The care and support from Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Panamanian counterpart Varela have injected strong impetus into exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, said Wang. Noting that since the two countries established diplomatic relations 15 months ago, bilateral relations have been developing with a good momentum and cooperation in wide fields has been advancing rapidly, Wang said China is confident about the prospect of bilateral relations. Varela said Panama is satisfied with the fast development of bilateral relations over the past year and that with the joint efforts from both sides, their cooperation is producing positive results, which has proved again that establishing diplomatic relations with China is a right choice. Panama speaks highly of and is willing to participate in the Belt and Road constructions, which is believed to be a strong impetus for bilateral cooperation, said the president. China and Panama established diplomatic relations in June last year. By Jung Min-ho Bill Cosby, 81, has been sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman 14 years ago. The case marked the first high-profile conviction since the international #MeToo movement shed light on sexual abuse against women. "It is time for justice," Judge Steven T. O'Neill said as he handed down the sentence Tuesday at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania. "Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The day has come. The time has come." Cosby was denied bail and taken into custody immediately. He was led away in handcuffs. Cosby declined the opportunity to speak before the ruling and showed little reaction as it was handed down. At a retrial in April, Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault for drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004. She was a former Temple University employee to whom he had been a mentor. By Dong Sun-hwa Claudia Kim, whose Korean name is Kim Soo-hyun, will appear in the Hollywood movie "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," which premieres on Nov. 16 in North America. The movie is a spinoff of the worldwide hit "Harry Potter" series penned by JK Rowling. Kim revealed in an interview clip released on Tuesday that she will play "Nagini," the final hocrux and killer serpent of Lord Voldemort. He "divided" his soul into seven pieces for resurrection and "Nagini" is one of them. The date of the Korean premiere is not yet decided. Kim gained attention after winning a modeling contest in 2005. She began forging an acting career by appearing in the drama "Brain" in 2011 and sitcom "Standby" in 2012. The actress grabbed worldwide attention thanks to Netflix drama "Marco Polo" in 2014 and blockbuster "Avengers: Age of Ultron" in 2015. She has lived in New Jersey, in the U.S., for six years. The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) has conducted various social contribution activities to fulfill its corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a state-run financial institution. Naming its social contribution as the "Hope Seed Program," the bank has carried out various CSR activities since 2012, including leading global contribution projects, helping the underprivileged and supporting multicultural families and North Korean defectors. Most of all, utilizing its role as a state-run bank specialized in foreign trade, Eximbank is actively engaging in global CSR activities. In Cambodia, it has built wells, toilets and health clinics in remote and rural villages to improve quality of life while supporting building middle schools there. Eximbank also signed an MOU with the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh to annually provide three university students with internship opportunities in the bank's Economic Development Cooperation Fund division. Founded in 1976, Eximbank has contributed to the development of Korea's economy and enhanced economic cooperation with other countries through the provision of financial support for export and import transactions, overseas investment projects and the development of overseas natural resources. Eximbank's support for the underprivileged in Korea targets low-income households, single-parent families and the disabled. The bank has not only donated money to support social centers across the country but also conducted various volunteer campaigns such as education programs for children from low-income families and volunteer activities to help the homeless. The bank is also supporting people newly entering Korean society, including multicultural families and North Korean defectors. For multicultural families, the state lender has also run its education program for their children on a regular basis. It also monetarily supports social enterprises that hire migrant women from multicultural families. For North Korean defectors, Eximbank is sponsoring education for teenagers of defector families while helping build alternative schools designed for such children under a partnership with the nongovernmental organization Gazok. The bank also donates money to social enterprises that hire North Korean defectors. (advertorial) By Kang Seung-woo Lotte Hotel Seoul named 'Best Business Hotel in Seoul' The Lotte Hotel Seoul has been named the "Best Business Hotel in Seoul" for the ninth consecutive year by Business Traveller, one of the world's leading travel magazines. The property, located in Myengdong, ranked first in the magazine's ratings, nudging past the Grand Hyatt Seoul and the Westin Chosun Seoul. The annual prize has been awarded since the travel magazine began in 1976 to celebrate the world's best hotels and airlines based on subscribers' assessments and expert reviews. The hotel, established in 1988, features 1,015 rooms in various types and 14 banquet halls. On Sept. 1, it unveiled the newly renovated six-star Executive Tower. Alcove Hotel Seoul to open next month The Alcove Hotel Seoul is set to officially open its doors on Oct. 15. The property, which will stand in the trendy Gangnam district, features 108 rooms in seven styles along with an American bistro and a rooftop dining bar that offers a commanding view of the UNESCO World Heritage Site _ Seonjeongneung, or the royal tombs. Plus, it will be the first indigenous hotel brand to use the booking system and loyalty program of French hospitality group AccorHotels. Every room is equipped with top-tier mattresses and bedding along with eco-friendly amenities. Maison Glad Jeju offers post-holiday promotion The Maison Glad Jeju has initiated a package to refresh women who are plagued by the traditional holiday syndrome. The Beautiful Life promotion, available until the end of October, features a one-night stay in the hotel's premium room, a complimentary breakfast buffet at Samdajeong, a locally famous dining room, and a $100 (110,000 won) relaxing body treatment. Plus, the first 10 guests of the package will be given jewelry brand J. Estina's necklace worth 160,000 won. Kim Jong-un inspects Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist district in Gangwon Province (top) and hot spring resorts at Yangdok County in South Pyongan Province (below). KCNA via Yonhap By Jung Da-min North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently visited major tourist facilities and encouraged officials, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday. With his wife Ri Sol-ju, Kim inspected the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist district in Gangwon Province under construction and encouraged workers there, saying it would be "a very nice gift" for the people of North Korea once completed. He stressed that the project should be finished by Oct. 10 2019 the foundation anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). President Moon Jae-in speaks to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 26 (local time). / Yonhap North Korea is sincerely moving down the path of complete denuclearization and its acceptance and inclusion by the international community will help further accelerate the process, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday. "North Korea on April 20 officially terminated its nuclear development policy, and has been focusing all its efforts on economic development," Moon said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "North Korea has come out of its long isolation on its own to stand before the world again," Moon said. "Now, it is time for the international community to respond to North Korea's new choice and efforts," he added, devoting more than half of his rare address to the world body. Moon's call for international support for efforts to denuclearize the North came after his trip to the communist state last week for his third and latest meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in which Kim reportedly expressed his willingness to completely rid his country of nuclear weapons before U.S. President Donald Trump's four-year term ends in January 2021. "We must provide assurance that Chairman Kim Jong-un's decision to denuclearize was the right choice. We must lead North Korea so it can continue to walk the path of permanent and stable peace," Moon told global leaders at the 73rd U.N. General Assembly. "The U.N. is vowing not to leave anyone behind. I am confident North Korea will not stop its march toward peace and prosperity if the international community opens the way. South Korea will do all it can to lead North Korea to that path," he said. The South Korean leader insisted denuclearizing North Korea will serve not only his country's own interests and those of the Northeast Asian region but the entire world. U.S. President Donald Trump holds a news conference on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS-Yonhap President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his work to settle a nuclear deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he has given up nothing but his time during a June summit yet stands on the cusp of denuclearizing the North. In a wide-ranging news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump told reporters that despite tough U.S. sanctions against the North staying in place, he believes that Kim wants to get a deal done because of their close ties. "We have a very good relationship. He likes me, I like him, we get along,'' Trump said. ''He wants to make a deal and I'd like to make a deal." He wouldn't put a timeframe, however, on when the two leaders might settle the standoff. ''We're not playing the time game,'' he said. It has lasted for decades, flummoxed a long line of U.S. and South Korean presidents and had many fearing war last year during a series of increasingly powerful North Korean weapons tests that experts believe put the country close to a long-time goal of viably targeting any spot on the U.S. mainland. Trump and his top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, are trying to get past the deadlock that has followed the Singapore summit. Pompeo is planning to visit Pyongyang next month to prepare for a second Kim-Trump summit. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Wednesday also said separately that he wants to meet with Kim though no details had been decided on yet. Trump's optimistic comments come amid widespread skepticism that Kim will actually relinquish an arsenal that Pyongyang likely sees as the only way to guarantee the Kim dynasty's continued authoritarian rule. Although Trump maintained that he'd given up nothing in his dealings with Kim, he has faced criticism for his decision during the Singapore summit to scrap annual U.S. military drills with ally South Korea. Critics called it a concession for the North, which has long railed against the drills as invasion preparation and proof of U.S. hostility. Trump said Wednesday that he'd long wanted to stop the drills, which had always been portrayed by the allies as defensive in nature, because of their high cost and said he could restart them if needed. ''For the taxpayer, we're saving a fortune,'' Trump said. Trump also made the stunning claim that former President Barack Obama told Trump that Obama was ''very close'' to going to war with the North. ''If I wasn't elected,'' Trump said, ''you'd be in a war.'' North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) waves as he and US President Donald Trump look on from a veranda during their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. Korea Times file Li Qiuyu (L) and Yuan Songling (R). (Photo: Beijing Morning Post) A Chinese girl finally met her sponsor who has aided her for three years, Li Qiuyu in the staff office of Wuhan Institute of Technology. In the fall of 2016, Yuan Songling, a sophomore, went back to her hometown to work after dropping out of school because her family was extremely poor. After hearing this story, Li Qiuyu, who is pursuing the same major as Yuan at the Wuhan Institute of Technology, decided to help Yuan return to school. Li never admitted helping Yuan for the past three years, but Yuan has been looking for her benefactor and wrote to this person every year. The meeting between the two was accidental. Before this year, Li used to send the tuition through the school's online payment system. However, this year, due to a system upgrade, Yuan could not log into her account. After trying for several days, Li had to ask Yuans WeChat ID (a social media platform with transfer function) to send the money to her. U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago state in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2017. Korea Times file By Jane Han The mood is picking up again as a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected soon, but despite what Trump sees as ''tremendous progress,'' denuclearization may not be so realistic, says a prominent North Korean expert. But there is a way to make it happen, Dr. Han Park, professor emeritus of international affairs at the University of Georgia and founding director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues, said in an interview with The Korea Times. ''It's Trump's abnormality,'' he said. ''His unconventional and unpredictable nature.'' Park, who has served as an unofficial negotiator between the Washington and Pyongyang during past U.S. administrations, stressed that North Korea will not provide what the U.S. wants and the U.S. will not provide what North Korea wants. ''The U.S. will never give North Korea a peace treaty or diplomatic normalization without denuclearization,'' said Park. ''And North Korea will never, ever give up its nuclear capability because that is what they need for national security,'' he said, ''so unless security is guaranteed in the form of a peace treaty, North Korea cannot and will not relinquish its nuclear program.'' But what it can do, Park stressed, is that it can give an appearance of giving it up. ''And if we want to go anywhere toward denuclearization, that appearance should be accepted by the U.S.,'' he said. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un show the Pyongyang Peace Agreement after they signed it at Paekhwawon in Pyongyang, Sept. 19, during their third summit. Korea Times file South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo heads to Cabinet Council at Seoul Government Complex, Thursday. Yonhap By Jung Min-ho U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his predecessor Barack Obama was ready to start a war with North Korea, telling reporters that, if it weren't for him, millions of people would have been killed. "If I wasn't elected, you would be in a war," Trump was quoted as saying in New York by local media. "President Obama essentially said the same thing. He was ready to go to war. You would have had a war and you would have lost millions, not thousands." The comment came as Trump talked about his administration's efforts to denuclearize North Korea. He said he deserves more credit for lowering the risk of the regime's nuclear threat. "You know how close he (Obama) was to pressing the trigger for war? Millions of people. With me, nobody is talking about that We have a very good relationship," Trump said. Since their first summit in Singapore in June, Washington and Pyongyang have been engaged in denuclearization talks. On the same day, the U.S. State Department said that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Pyongyang again next month at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's invitation. By Jung Da-minWhile the second summit between North Korea and the U.S. is expected to be held within a few months, the status of Kim Jong-un's top envoy Ri Yong-ho has been elevated to its highest level.Ri arrived in New York on Tuesday (local time) to attend the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly and was quickly sought after by his counterparts.Following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday (local time), Ri met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono on the same day.While Ri has met the main parties involved in talks for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he has not met South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa.Pompeo said on Twitter that the talks had been "very positive" and there was discussion on the next steps in North Korea's denuclearization, as well as repatriation of the remains of U.S. soldiers from the Korean War.Wang again emphasized China's support for the third inter-Korean summit and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018.Kono, however, told NHK that he will not say "a word" about his talks with Ri during their 20-minute meeting.Meanwhile, Ri is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Saturday (local time). South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha has held bilateral talks with her Chinese and Japanese counterparts over Seoul's drive for inter-Korean rapprochement and peace, her office said Thursday. Kang held the separate meetings with Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers, Wang Yi and Taro Kono, respectively, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Wednesday (local time). The talks followed the inter-Korean summit earlier this month where Pyongyang agreed to take additional denuclearization steps, such as shutting down its key missile engine test site and launch pad on its west coast in the presence of international experts, and closing the main Yongbyon nuclear complex should Washington take "corresponding" measures. The agreement has set the mood for the resumption of the U.S.-North Korea denuclearization negotiations that have been stalled with neither side willing to give ground. During her talks with Wang, Kang called for Beijing to continue to play a "constructive" role in the ongoing efforts for denuclearization and a lasting peace regime on the peninsula, Seoul's foreign ministry said. In response, Wang noted the need for Seoul and Beijing to maintain close communication and cooperation to ensure that the peninsula issue can be settled peacefully. During the meeting with Kono, Kang stressed the need for tight cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo to achieve substantive progress in promoting the peninsula's denuclearization and establishing peace. Kono agreed. Kang also made a call for Japan to work together to "wisely" resolve the issue regarding the foundation established to respect and support the South Korean victims of Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery. During his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe in New York on Tuesday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in hinted at the possible dissolution of the foundation, citing resistance from the surviving victims and many South Korean citizens. The foundation was established with the fund Tokyo provided in accordance with the 2015 agreement with Seoul to address the sex slavery issue that has long been an irritant in bilateral ties. (Yonhap) South Korea has improved its quality of life to become the world's 18th best this year, a survey by a U.S. non-profit organization showed Thursday. According to the survey conducted by the Social Progress Imperative, South Korea earned an overall score of 87.13 out of 100 in its "social progress index" survey for 2018, making it 18th of 146 nations surveyed across the globe. Last year, the Northeast Asian nation ranked 26th. The index aggregates 51 social and environmental indicators that track three aspects of social progress: basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunity. The organization began compiling such data in 2013. "South Korea earned relatively high scores in its solid education and IT infrastructure among others, but needs more efforts to improve environmental quality and to promote social inclusiveness for minorities," said Cho Yong-ho, an official of international consultancy Deloitte Anjin which works with the non-profit group for the study. Norway topped the list this year with 90.26 points, followed by Iceland, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany and New Zealand. (Yonhap) By Park Si-soo Students sitting in classrooms with uniformly short, black and neat hair are expected to become a scene from the past. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education declared "freedom of students' hairstyles" on Thursday, suggesting schools in its precinct not control "hair length, color and shape." The office demanded schools with hairstyle restrictions scrap or revise them by the autumn semester of 2019. The office is also pushing forward with a policy to give students more leeway in terms of school uniforms. "The decision (on hairstyle freedom) is a bold step forward to make schools a place where students are happy and excited," Cho Hee-yeon, the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said at a press conference. "Students have the right to decide the length, color and shape of their hair and the rights should be protected." Regulations on students' hairstyles and clothing are considered a legacy of the 1910-45 Japanese colonialization of the Korean Peninsula, during which students had to cut their hair in a uniform manner in a show of obedience. The military junta kept the practice in place in the 1970-80s for the same reason. But such rules faced challenges from the late 1990s as students voiced their rights. As of late last year, 84 percent of primary and secondary schools in Seoul did not have hair length limits, according to the office. But many schools still ban dyeing and perms. This move is expected to press other education offices to follow suit. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon speaks of his plan to abolish hairstyle regulations at middle and high schools, during a press conference at the SMOE building in Seoul, Thursday. /Yonhap By Kim Jae-heun Middle and high school students in Seoul will be allowed to not only grow their hair as long as they want but also have their hair dyed or permed, as the regional education authority is moving to break hairstyle regulations at schools starting with the fall semester next year. The move ends a decades-long debate about hairstyle control, which is a vestige of the Japanese imperial era and later dictatorial governments and has been criticized for infringing on students' human rights. Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon said Thursday he is declaring the abolition of hair regulations at all schools in the capital. "I have received many demands and complaints from students to free up the dress code and hair regulations. Choosing which hairstyle to adopt is a part of the right of self-determination and it should be guaranteed as a basic human right," Cho said during a press conference at his office. Cho ordered schools to revise their hair regulations through open discussions among students, teachers and parents and adopt new rules for the fall semester next year. He gave a "guideline" about the new rules, virtually pressuring schools to follow it _ abolishing control over the length of a student's hair, and giving students the freedom to color or curl their hair. Forcing students to have short hair has been a long practice here, although the strict enforcement of the regulation has been decreasing. In 2005, 92.6 percent of middle schools and 91.1 percent of high schools in the country had the strict hair code, according to the Ministry of Education. Some schools had scissors or hair clippers to cut students' hair if they did not follow the school rules. According to SMOE, however, 597 out of 708 middle and high schools in Seoul, or 84.3 percent, were not regulating the length of students' hair as of last year. But 15 percent of the schools still ban students from growing their hair long and more schools restrict students from getting perms or dyeing their hair. Such control is stricter among schools in provinces, as 39.5 percent of 200 schools nationwide controlled the length of students' hair and 88 percent banned students from curling or coloring their hair, according to separate data by a parents' group conducted in June and July. Still, there are negative views on the "liberalization" of the hair code at schools. Some teachers and parents are worried the liberty can turn into self-indulgence, which can result in difficulty controlling students at school. Earlier this year when the National Council of Governors of Education attempted to revise the Education Act which states the hair and dress code, it faced opposition from the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, a conservative teachers' group. SMOE also said it will provide a new guideline for schools to allow students to wear comfortable uniforms, with an aim to introduce such uniforms beginning with the spring semester of 2020. SMOE's initiative began with the growing public opinion in support of changing school uniforms because uniforms for female students are too small and uncomfortable. By Kang Seung-woo A so-called handmade organic cookie maker has been found selling cookies purchased at Costco that it had repackaged. After angry consumers have called for punishment of the "manufacturer" and launched an online petition on Cheong Wa Dae's website, the company suddenly announced a suspension of its business. Mimi Cookie, based on Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, has been making a name for itself since July as it boasted about using organic ingredients without artificial additives for its range of products from cookies and macarons to sponge and roll cakes. However, some consumers suspected that its handmade cookies seemed to be the same as those sold by big-box retailer Costco. Although the cookie maker initially denied the allegations, the company later admitted that it had sold both handmade cookies and end products from Costco after repackaging them. "It is true that we changed wrappers of Costco-sold products to sell them together with our handmade cookies," the company said last Friday. "We never did that to make a huge profit." However, the fallout stretched to another product as some consumers had suspicions about its roll cake, claiming that it was the same kind sold at Costco, which was also confirmed later. The company once again admitted they had been selling Costco roll cakes, saying it did this because it could not cope with demand for the product. "We tried to tell the truth, but frankly speaking, we were also concerned about profits," it said. Although the company said buyers of cookies and roll cakes would get a refund, it refused to refund those who purchased macarons and sponge cake, claiming that those were its own products, and not from other retailers. However, consumers raise questions that it seems Mimi Cookie just added cream to sponge cakes available at E-mart Traders to make its "whipped cream-stuffed sponge cake." Customers are outraged because the company not only lied to them about it only using organic ingredients for handmade desserts, but also sold its products at relatively expensive prices. Mimi Cookie the roll cakes and cookies at 19,500 won and 19,000 won respectively, whereas Costco sells the same products for 7,000 won and 13,000 won. Customers are preparing to file a lawsuit against the company. "We plan to carry out an on-site inspection of the cookie maker about allegations surrounding it," said an official of Eumseong County. "If we find the alleged wrongdoings true, we will consider taking administrative measures as well." By Jung Min-ho Starting tomorrow, all car passengers will have to buckle up. The National Police Agency said Thursday that a new enforcement ordinance requiring all car passengers to wear seatbelts on Korea's roads will come into force on Friday. A driver will be fined 30,000 won ($27) if any passenger violates the rule. The fine will be 60,000 won if the passenger is 13 or younger. Police said they are planning to start cracking down on seatbelt violations in December, after a two-month awareness campaign. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, passengers in rear seats are less likely to buckle up (14.8 percent), compared with drivers (88.4 percent) and front-seat passengers (81.4 percent). An Indonesian teenager was rescued on a drifting fishing hut in waters off Guam, surviving 49 days adrift at sea about 1,920 kilometers away from its original mooring place. The 18-year-old, Aldi Novel Adilang, from Sulawesi, is a lamp keeper for a floating fish hut, locally known as rompong, and was 125 kilometers out at sea where the coastline is not visible. The hut has no paddles or engine, and anchored to the seabed by ropes with a walkie-talkie and weekly supplies, the Jakarta Post newspaper reported. Aldi was in charge of keeping lamps lighted with a power generator every night to attract fish. His contract with the hut owner was six months. Every week, the company would come to collect the fish and bring him fresh food, clean water and fuel. In mid-July, heavy winds snapped the huts moorings and sent it adrift into the ocean. During the 49-day drift, more than 10 ships passed by but failed to spot him until a Panamanian vessel rescued him. With only a few days' worth of supplies, Aldi survived by catching fish and cooking them by burning the rompongs wooden fences. When it didnt rain for days, I had to soak my clothes in the sea, then I squeezed and drank the water, said Aldi. "(He) said he had been scared and often cried while adrift," Fajar Firdaus, an Indonesian diplomat in Osaka, said. On August 31, Aldi sent a radio signal to the vessel Arpeggio which sailed past him. The signal was received but the rescue was difficult. High waves that day kept the ship far from the hut. The Arpeggio threw a rope but the rope did not reach Aldis rompong. Aldi swam to grab the rope, but was too weak to catch it. But the ships crew managed to catch his hand, Fajar said. The Arpeggio docked in Japan on Sept. 6. Aldi flew home to Manado two days later accompanied by consulate officials, and is reportedly in good health. AP reported that the family was angry with Aldis employer. It was the third time the teens hut had drifted since he was employed two years ago. The previous two times it had been rescued by the owners ship, Aldi said. The Indonesian consul general in Osaka, Mirza Nurhidayat, told The Jakarta Post that the rompong owner had around 50 rompong spread out in waters north of Manado, Indonesia. Aldis mother told AP that the minders earn 130 dollars a month. As the youngest son in the family, Aldi decided not to work on a romping. My parents agree, he said. President Moon Jae-in delivers a keynote speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Wednesday (local time). He asked for U.N. member countries to continue their support for the ongoing peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula. Yonhap By Lee Min-hyung President Moon Jae-in returned home Thursday after ending his diplomatic schedule in New York as a mediator for the ongoing denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang. On his U.S. visit, he focused on delivering a message for peace from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who reiterated his strong willingness for complete denuclearization at an inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last week. In a keynote speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday (local time), Moon called on international society to support the two Koreas' peace-building momentum, which he said will speed up their joint move for the early declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War. "Kim Jong-un expressed his hope of completing denuclearization as soon as possible to focus on economic growth," Moon said in the speech. The remark came a week after the regime's young leader promised to dismantle the country's Tongchang-ri missile launch facility with outside experts in attendance at the third inter-Korean summit of this year. Pompeo's NK visit next month seen crucial By Kim Bo-eun Washington and Pyongyang are moving quickly to find common ground in their denuclearization negotiations after South Korean President Moon Jae-in's landmark visit to Pyongyang last week. Top officials of the two countries met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Wednesday (local time), to discuss a roadmap for the North's nuclear disarmament. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posted on Twitter about his meeting with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho in New York. He stated he had a "very positive meeting with Ri to discuss the upcoming summit and next steps toward denuclearization of North Korea." "Much work remains, but we will continue to move forward," he said. In a statement, the U.S. State Department said Pompeo accepted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's invitation to visit Pyongyang next month. It said his visit would take place to make further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the Singapore summit between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea, and prepare for a second summit. By Lee Min-hyung Seoul has set up legal grounds to support firms with businesses in North Korea's Gaeseong Industrial Complex, as part of efforts to facilitate inter-Korean economic exchanges, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday. "On Sept. 21, the city promulgated an ordinance to provide support for companies to join the complex, in a move to make sure their business activities remain stable there and promote inter-Korean exchanges and partnerships," the local government said in a statement. The decision was made a day after President Moon Jae-in finished his three-day visit to Pyongyang last week for the third summit with Kim Jong-un. Under the new legal background, the city will create a special committee dedicated to supporting South Korean firms that conduct business at the complex in the North's border city. The committee will also draw up comprehensive roadmaps for the companies' smooth operations and rapid growth at the complex, the city government said. The move is in line with Kim Jong-un's keen interest in economic growth. During the recent inter-Korean summit, Kim expressed his strong willingness to stop engaging in any activities that intensify military tension on the Korean Peninsula and shift his focus into the regime's economic development. On a recent visit to New York, President Moon also underlined that Kim Jong-un shares his firm determination for economic growth. "The North Korean leader expressed his strong desire for the North's economic prosperity," Moon said in a speech Wednesday while attending a diplomatic event there. "I believe Kim Jong-un is sincere enough to give up nuclear weapons for the regime's economic growth if the U.S. guarantees the North's safety and provides trust," Moon said. By Park Ji-won The fate of Education Minister nominee Rep. Yoo Eun-hae is up in the air after opposition parties refused to adopt a confirmation hearing report on her, Thursday, citing lack of qualifications. In a statement, the largest opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) called for voluntary withdrawal of Yoo, a ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker, citing "illegalities and immorality" exposed during a National Assembly hearing last week. "The LKP once again sincerely asks for Yoo Eun-hae's voluntary resignation according to the saying 'As you sow, so shall you reap,'" LKP spokesman Lee Yang-soo said in a statement. Minor opposition Bareunmirae Party (BMP) leader Kim Kwan-young also stated his opposition. "Our party considers nominee Yoo Eun-hae not good enough for education minister and deputy prime minister for social affairs in many ways. As the former minister stepped down from the post not in a good way, the Assembly cannot agree with an unqualified nominee," he said. "We urge the ruling party and Cheong Wa Dae to take that into consideration and take appropriate measures." The National Assembly hearing report should be adopted by Thursday. If it fails, the President can ask again to adopt the report. Even without legislative consent, the President can appoint the minister. The ruling and opposition parties failed to narrow their differences over Yoo's nomination during a confirmation hearing held in the National Assembly on Sept. 19. Yoo is suspected of abusing her power in renting an office in the past and registering her daughter's home address falsely to send her to an elite school. Meanwhile, the ruling DPK criticized the LKP saying they are making "groundless" accusations. "Through the hearing, Yoo is confirmed to be qualified to serve as minister. However, conservative opposition parties are only eager to tarnish her reputation," DPK leader Rep. Hong Young-pyo said Thursday. "We have 50 days left until the college scholastic ability test. We cannot wait and see regarding the vacancy in the education administration. If the LKP shows an attitude of putting a strain on government operations, Cheong Wa Dae has no choice but to appoint Yoo." South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the United Nations on Wednesday (September 26) praised his North Korean counterpart and U.S. President Donald Trump for encouraging "something miraculous" on the Korean peninsula, and urged the international community to support the process of denuclearization and ending the Korean War. "Over the past year, something miraculous has taken place on the Korean peninsula. For the first time in history, the leader of North Koreacrossed the military demarcation line to visit Panmunjom," Moon said. "Chairman Kim Jong Un and I removed the shadow of war and resolved to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity." Moon thanked Kim and Trump for their "courage". At a meeting last week with Moon, Kim promised to dismantle a missile site and also a nuclear complex if the United States took "corresponding action." "North Korea moved out of long-standing isolation on its own initiative and stands before the international community once again. Now it is the international community's turn to respond positively to North Korea's new choices and efforts. We must assure Chairman Kim that he has made the right decision in committing to denuclearization. We must encourage North Korea to stay on the path that leads to permanent and solid peace," he said. Kim's commitments and actions so far have fallen far short of Washington's demands for a complete inventory of North Korea's weapons programs and irreversible steps to give up a nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States. Trump has nevertheless heaped personal praise on Kim and expressed enthusiasm for a second summit. On Monday, he said he expected this to be announced "pretty soon" but that the location had yet to be determined. (Reuters) By Li Kaisheng Unfortunately, while most East Asian countries enjoy economic prosperity, the whole region has lived in the shadow of a fragmented security order. Yes, there are some security arrangements, such as the U.S.-led bilateral alliances and ASEAN Regional Forum, but these mechanisms either only protect the limited members or have no muscle to manage regional challenges. So how do you build an inclusive and effective regional security institution? In international politics, institutions usually originate from the need to resolve certain problems. But the different security challenges may have varying possibilities in breeding and establishing an institution. In East Asia, which security issue will create a security institution? The answer may be the Korean nuclear issue. Why? It is because that, compared with other security challenges in East Asia, the Korean nuclear issue has the following characteristics. Firstly, the issue covers the main East Asia players: China, the U.S., Russia, Japan and the two Koreas. If it succeeds, an institution based on the Korean nuclear issue would be a very representative and inclusive arrangement. Any East Asia security mechanism should especially include China and the U.S. But with the South China Sea, Taiwan and Diaoyu issues, the U.S. isn't recognized by China as a direct concerned party, thus it would be impossible to construct an inclusive institution based on these issues. Secondly, in the Korean nuclear issue, most parties share the common important interest of denuclearization. Even North Korea now shows it is willing to give up its nuclear plans if certain requirements are satisfied. The sharing interest is a precondition to create a security arrangement. Relatively, there is less overlap of interest among the concerned parties in other East Asia security challenges. Lastly, the Korean nuclear issue is tied to a series of security challenges, such as how to end the Korean War, normalization of North Korea's relations with a few powers, and the future of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, etc. Fundamentally, these issues should be solved together by a comprehensive arrangement or it is impossible for North Korea to give up its nuclear plans. Of course, it is not an easy task to create a new security arrangement. When the six-party talks achieved progress, some policymakers and researchers believed a new security institution would come into being. But so far nothing has happened. Here, some lessons should be learned and remembered. The most important lesson is always to consider denuclearization as the highest interest. The failure of the six-party talks was in large part the consequence of strategic ignorance of the previous American administrations. During the George W. Bush administration, the Afghanistan War and Iraq War were considered as its priorities; not enough resolve and time were poured into the Korea nuclear issue. The Obama administration insisted on the so-called strategic patience policy, thus fewer initiatives were taken on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, to maintain the current dynamics of solving the nuclear issue, one of preconditions is that the U.S. doesn't shift its focus from the Korean nuclear issue again. Moreover, to achieve the international cooperation that is the key to denuclearization, the U.S. should stop poisoning its relations with China by ending the trade war. Fundamentally, the U.S. should be ready for a new institution on the Korean Peninsula. If there is no peace regime, it is hard to expect that North Korea would give up its nuclear plans. America has considered its bilateral alliance with South Korea as one of the pillars of its hegemony in East Asia. But for solving the Korean nuclear issue, the South Korea-U.S. alliance may be at least adjusted to some degree. Given that to balance China's rise is one of the potential goals for this alliance, the U.S. is obviously not ready to give up this comfortable tool. Thus, to create a new security institution, China and the U.S. should make a strategic compromise in achieving peaceful co-existence and competition in East Asia. When there is rising tension between two powers, it is not easy to achieve. But in the long-term, even though competition may be inevitable between the established and rising powers, this competition should be based on the rules and managed by some mechanisms. It should be noted that in the process of compromising the two powers and establishing the new security institution, South Korea may play a more active and positive role. South Korea is an ally of the U.S. and friend of China. When strategic distrust is still rooted deeply between two giants, the neutral initiative from South Korea would be more welcomed in regional-order planning. All these efforts should be aimed at denuclearization and establishing a new security institution in East Asia. Since the 1990s, although the Korean nuclear issue has been a challenge to regional stability and frustrated the concerned parties so many times, we have to consider it as an opportunity for building a lasting peace in East Asia. Li Kaisheng is a research fellow of the Institute of International Relations, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, China. By Mahmood Elahi Only a year ago, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was testing what many experts thought was a hydrogen bomb and test-firing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching continental United States. He was also threatening the United States and South Korea with nuclear annihilation. This alarmed both countries and the United States responded by installing an anti-missile system in South Korea. Then came the counter threat from the United States when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to destroy North Korea in a pre-emptive nuclear strike. Given the overwhelming military superiority of America, it was no empty threat. With its vast array of a submarine and carrier-based nuclear strike force, the United States is capable of wiping out North Korea in a matter of hours. Kim may be a brutal dictator, but he is not suicidal. This explains why he changed his tune and accepted the olive branch offered by President Moon Jae-in and almost overnight, he became a protagonist for peace and reconciliation. This was followed by two Kim-Moon summits in quick succession. And the rest belongs to history. Trump's threat of a pre-emptive strike played a crucial role in the transformation of Kim Jong-un from a warmonger to a peacemaker. There are few parallels in history in which a warlike dictator is transformed into a peace-loving statesman. By toning down his rhetoric, Trump also helped Kim continue his march for reconciliation and peace. By agreeing to meet Kim at Singapore, Trump gave him an opportunity to shine as a statesman on the global stage. It was a rare opportunity for a tinpot dictator like Kim to be treated as an equal by the most powerful leader in the world. In return, Kim agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea. President Moon also benefited from the Trump-Kim summit. This helped him continue his reconciliation efforts, culminating in his highly successful latest visit to Pyongyang. However, any further improvement in inter-Korean relations will depend on the success of the next Trump-Kim summit. And I am certain Trump will ask Kim to honor his pledge to denuclearize which will open all doors to normalization of relations between North and South Korea and between North Korea and the United States. Trump deserves our thanks for bringing peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula which eluded earlier administrations. He has been careful to prod North Korea gently but firmly to respect its commitment to denuclearization. Mahmood Elahi (omega51@sympatico.ca) is a freelance writer in Ottawa. By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS Presidents, prime ministers, kings and potentates have converged in New York for the 73rd U.N. General Assembly. The annual rite of autumn brings together world leaders from 193 member states to discuss and hopefully try to solve key global crises ranging from the wars in Syria and Yemen, to the pressing refugee tragedies in Myanmar (Burma) and the Middle East. The role of proactive diplomacy in solving current crises and, as importantly, preventive diplomacy in averting new outbreaks, will be highlighted in the upcoming 10-day debate. Addressing the General Debate session of the Assembly, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres conceded, "Our world is suffering from a case of 'trust deficit disorder.' People are feeling troubled and insecure. Trust is at the breaking point. Trust in national institutions, trust among states." Guterres continued, "There is outrage at our inability to end the wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere. The Rohingya people remain exiles traumatized and in misery." Contrary to last year's Assembly, the looming threat of a possible nuclear war with North Korea did not dominate the address. Rather the secretary-general cautiously praised the ongoing process in defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula where both the U.S. and South Korean governments have striven for a diplomatic solution over North Korea's nuclear proliferation. He stated, "The courageous initiative of the Singapore summit between the leaders of the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, along with the recent meeting of the two Korean leaders in Pyongyang, offers hope for the possibility of a full and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." U.S. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley spoke about the Assembly as "the forum to highlight the U.S. role and relationships in the world." She said the multilateral meeting would allow her to "put U.S. interests in the spotlight," something she has tirelessly done during this month's American presidency of the 15-member Security Council where she has focused on crisis situations from Nicaragua and Venezuela to Syria and Yemen. President Donald Trump's measured but firm address to the Assembly stressed the narrative of standing up for America in the world while "pursuing security without apology." But what a difference a year makes! Last September, amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula over Pyongyang's nuclear proliferation and missile firings, President Trump firmly confronted the threats with blunt rhetorical deterrence. He famously called the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un "Little Rocket Man" and warned that nuclear threats to American territory or that of our Asian allies would not be tolerated. Period. The world held its breath; many expected war. Even earlier this year, many "experts" expected a conflict between the U.S. and North Korea. Fortunately diplomacy prevailed. Credit the Olympics and common sense. While hosting the Winter Olympics, South Korea's government played a positive political role in courting their fellow Korean cousins in the North. The Olympics allowed for South and North Korea to thaw their once glacial inter-state relations. Equally the U.S. prevailed upon China, North Korea's longtime comrade and benefactor, to coerce its minions in Pyongyang to talk rather than shoot missiles. Decisively the Trump administration played a diplomatic card, and with the support of South Korea, held the Singapore summit. As President Trump stated, "The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction. Nuclear testing has stopped," significantly adding, "though much work remains to be done. The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs." Trump did not solve the problem, but stopped the ticking nuclear clock. Now comes a harder part, convincing Kim Jong-un to follow through. The president saved his toughest words for the Islamic Republic of Iran, "Iran's leaders sow chaos, death, and destruction. They do not respect their neighbors or borders, or the sovereign rights of nations." He justified pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, reached by the previous U.S. administration, adding that tough economic sanctions would be re-imposed on Tehran's rulers; "We cannot allow the world's leading sponsor of terrorism to possess the planet's most dangerous weapons." The European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini differs, "Iran has continued to fully and effectively implement its nuclear-related commitments." Significantly the geopolitical pendulum has shifted from Pyongyang to Tehran. U.S. political and economic pressures on Iran have produced an almost sullen pushback from the Europeans. Contrary to North Korea, Iran offers commercial and trade opportunities and thus achieving consensus will be far more difficult. Washington's renewed focus on Iran's nonproliferation poses a genuine dilemma for many countries whose lucrative contracts are in the wind. The world nervously watches the new showdown. John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism: the Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China." Pompeo to visit Pyongyang next month The U.S. and North Korea are moving quickly to resume high-level nuclear negotiations on the heels of the successful Sept.18-20 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Pyongyang Declaration made at the third Moon-Kim meeting provided momentum for the stalled U.S.-North Korea negotiations. Both sides are eager for a second U.S.-North Korea summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim. It looks like the second Trump-Kim meeting is imminent with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo planning to visit North Korea next month. In a Sept. 26 statement, the U.S. Department of State confirmed that Secretary Pompeo had accepted an invitation from the North Korean leader to visit Pyongyang in October to "prepare for a second summit" between Trump and Kim. The statement was released after Pompeo met North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho in New York. The top U.S. diplomat's trip will focus on the "implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK." The mood between the two countries has certainly changed since August when Secretary Pompeo's planned trip to Pyongyang was canceled amid a deadlock in denuclearization talks. The canceled trip triggered concerns that the denuclearization talks were on the brink of falling apart, and that U.S.-North Korea relations could return to the state they were in before the June 12 summit in Singapore. The last time Pompeo visited Pyongyang was in July, but he failed to meet with Kim and returned without any real progress in the denuclearization process. As North Korea has been slow to take tangible steps toward denuclearization even after the Singapore summit, there has been mounting criticism about the effectiveness of the U.S.-North Korea summit. Conservative media in Korea and the U.S. have mocked it as nothing more than a political show. But there are also rising expectations that a second summit may be different after the renewed commitment toward denuclearization Kim showed during his meeting with Moon last week. In the Pyongyang Declaration, Kim mentioned "corresponding measures" from the U.S. as conditions for additional steps to denuclearize. The U.S. is still firm that denuclearization has to come first. With the positive mood created by the third inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, it is timely for the U.S. and North Korea to engage in productive communication to narrow the gap in their nuclear negotiations. This time, Kim should meet Pompeo and produce a detailed and convincing roadmap for complete denuclearization. By Kim Ji-myung At the recent pre-summit working level meeting held in Gaeseong, they agreed to carry out an eighth joint survey and historical preservation effort at Manwoldae between today and Dec. 27 this year. The joint excavation of the Goryeo-era (918-1392) royal palace, Manwoldae, in the old capital city of Gaeseong has become a symbol of non-political and successful heritage activities. Between 2007 and 2015, seven joint excavation efforts were carried out at Manwoldae. Joint cultural and academic projects and activities continued relatively steadily although inter-Korean political relations affected contact in all areas. Cultural heritage projects, like joint excavations of Buddhist temple sites or palace ruins in the north continued except in 2012 and 2013, despite frequent and long periods of severed dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang. Looking back, the first talks on protecting cultural heritage between South and North Korea occurred in 1972, after more than two decades of national division. By the historical July 4 Joint Declaration, South-North Coordinating Committees were set up for political, military, diplomatic, economic, and cultural affairs. However, actual projects on historical relics started in August 1993 and the scholars from both sides first met at the first international conference on Goguryeo culture. At the Manwoldae site, structures of 40 building wings and terraces have been confirmed. Some 16,500 relics were also retrieved from the site among them are five Goryeo period movable metal types. In my February 13 article in 2015, I wrote about the story of 11 pieces of Goryeo period metal types, allegedly "the oldest movable type" created by humankind. The owner presented those types and the bronze kettle that contained them to the public in July 2013. He claimed they had been unearthed near Gaeseong. The authenticity of the pieces the accuracy of the carbon dating of the ink, and whether these type pieces were actually used in printing the books they were contended to have printed were finally were disproved by the government in 2016. South and North Korea has only one metal type each. But if the five metal type pieces retrieved during the Manwoldae project in 2015-16 will be verified, there are now seven of them. Let me introduce an unrequited South-North heritage project in which I was involved. During the port-opening period for Korea, roughly between 1880 and 1910, there were numerous nationwide movements and campaigns to enlighten the people and to resist against foreigners and maintain independence. A team of researchers from Kyungpook National University and the Academy of Korean Studies had a plan to survey the North Korean university for an archive of the 1907 National Debt Redemption Movement. As direct cooperation with a North Korean university was found to be impossible, the project was re-designed to included Yanbian University in China as a coordinating institute. The project awaits a new impetus to begin again. The newspapers from 1907-1910 carry stories of the astonishing campaign throughout the country. Anti-Japanese education campaigns and activities outnumbered those of the southern area in some part of the northern region where many patriotic leaders and activists were produced. As of now, there are few original artifacts from the northern part, and there is high hope to find valuable documents through a joint survey. The Archives of National Debt Redemption Movement was listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World in October 2017. UNESCO's Memory of the World program and its International Register program began in 1992 first to protect cultural heritage from destruction by war, social upheaval, or neglect and natural disasters, as well as by a severe lack of resources. It also aims to have a valuable and historical memory of the world accessible to all mankind so that they can be shared. A major step was taken in 2015 when documentary heritage in digital form was also included as the target of the programs. How well are the records of those heroes and events preserved in repositories, archives, or museums of North Korea? There is a discouraging story that almost nothing above ground remains after the heavy bombing during the Korean War. Paper artifacts are vulnerable to moisture, sunlight, and pests. But I still hold hope with my fingers crossed. The writer (heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Wang Yang (R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), meets with Mokolo Wa Mpombo, Democratic Republic of Congo's first deputy speaker of the Senate, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang on Wednesday called on China and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to implement consensus of the two heads of state and achievements of the FOCAC Beijing Summit for a closer bilateral relationship. Wang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the remarks during a meeting with Mokolo Wa Mpombo, DRC's first deputy speaker of the Senate. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Beijing Summit opened a new chapter of China-Africa relations, and the eight initiatives put forward by President Xi Jinping will guide the comprehensive development of China-African cooperation, and lend fresh impetus to the development of China-DRC relations, Wang said. Wang thanked Mokolo for the long-term contributions he has made to the friendly cause between the two countries and said the CPPCC National Committee stands ready to work with the Senate of the DRC to facilitate the comprehensive development of bilateral friendship for the benefit of the two peoples. Mokolo highly commended the friendly bilateral relations based on mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. He said the DRC is committed to promoting all-around exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields and cementing the continuous development of friendship between the two countries. By Andrew Hammond Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping deepened bilateral ties in Vladivostok on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Eastern Economic Forum. This week's conference, hosted by Putin, represents an attempt by Moscow to assert itself more in the Asia-Pacific in a growing partnership with Beijing with which it has a burgeoning bilateral dialogue over key regional and global economic and political issues such as North Korea. The theme of the Vladivostok forum "the Russian Far East: expanding the range of possibilities" underlines Putin's big ambition. Not only did the Russian president meet with Xi, he also engaged with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, and Indian Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu. A key reason Putin is putting renewed emphasis on the Asia-Pacific is that his relations with Western powers are generally so strained. This follows years of sanctions over Ukraine and Crimea; concerns over Moscow's alleged extensive meddling in a suite of Western elections; plus the attempted murder in England of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter which has been widely blamed, internationally, on Moscow. The Russian president is seeking strengthened relations not just with China, but a host of Asia-Pacific powers. On Monday, for instance, Abe and Putin made further moves toward clearing the pathway for progress toward a peace treaty settlement on the disputed islands off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido which was seized by the former Soviet Union at the end of World War II. These islands are now controlled by Moscow, but claimed by Tokyo, and have been a long-running sore in relations. Yet, it is Xi with whom the Russian president has formed the strongest relationship. The Chinese head of state asserted in June that bilateral relations are at "the highest-level, most profound and strategically most significant relationship between major countries in the world" and also praised Putin by stating that he "is my best, most intimate friend". Perhaps the most cited area of these warmer ties is on the political and security front. For instance, "war games" are taking place this week in the Trans-Baikal region in Russia's Far East involving 300,000 troops, including 3,000 from China. However, outside of the political and security domain, China and Russia also enjoy an extensive economic dialogue which has deepened since Moscow's annexation of Crimea. For instance, a $20-billion deal was signed Tuesday between the Alibaba Group and Mail.ru Group, and Russia has also previously announced plans for numerous cooperation projects with China, including a new method of inter-bank transfers, and a joint credit agency that seeks to create a shared financial and economic infrastructure that will allow them to function independently of Western-dominated financial institutions. China and Russia are also among the states involved in creating alternative fora to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, including the New Development Bank. This will finance infrastructure and other projects in the BRICS states, and a related $100-billion special currency reserve fund. Moreover, in the energy sector, the two states have signed a $400-billion natural gas supply deal which will see an approximately 2,000 mile gas pipeline from eastern Siberia to northeast China. And they have agreed to construct a second major gas pipeline from western Siberia to China's Xinjiang Province. Moscow has also opened parts of its upstream oil and gas sector to direct investment from Beijing. Moreover, Chinese firms have also stepped in to provide their Russian counterparts with technology, and Chinese banks have become an important source of loans for Russian businesses, in the wake of Western sanctions. The boost to the bilateral cooperation agenda has helped enable work toward stronger, common positions on key regional and global issues too. This includes North Korea which both Russia and China have land borders with and were its allies in the Korean conflict in the early 1950s. In the context of next week's third summit this year between Seoul and Pyongyang, North Korea was a significant theme of the Vladivostok summit discussed not just by Xi and Putin, but also Abe and Lee. Beijing, Moscow, and Tokyo too, cautiously welcomed June's Singapore summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, and are all concerned that they don't become passive bystanders, wanting instead to reinforce their interests as key players in the grand geopolitical game that is now potentially being played out on the peninsula if the peace process does not unravel. To this end, Putin hopes to meet with Kim in the coming months, and invited Moon Jae-in to Moscow in June, the first such visit by a sitting South Korean president since 1999, in a bid to stamp his own influence. A key part of this discussion was Moon's promotion of his "New Northern Policy" under which Seoul is seeking to improve ties with Eurasian neighbors that could, for instance, see it seeking to persuade Pyongyang to link transport networks along the western and eastern corridors of the peninsula, and potentially then be extended to China and Russia. Taken overall, with Western-Russia rapprochement looking increasing uncertain, Putin is placing increasing emphasis on the Asia-Pacific as Vladivostok showed. While his ambition is warmer ties with a range of regional powers, including Japan, India and the Koreas, the super-priority remains China with his closeness to Xi underpinning a significant warming of the bilateral relationship. Andrew Hammond (andrewkorea@outlook.com) is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics. Lee Jong-min, head of the Media Infra Lab at SK Telecom, explains the firm's Scene Discovery technology searching for and recommending images in movies and dramas during a media conference at its head office in Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom By Jun Ji-hye SK Telecom has completed the development of artificial intelligence (AI)-based image search and recommendation technology, the firm said Thursday, noting that it will commercialize the technology within the year. The company said the technology, called "Scene Discovery," will enable users to pick out certain scenes in movies or dramas by entering keywords in Oksusu, its video streaming app, or Btv, its internet protocol television (IPTV). Users can also pick up scenes in which their favorite actor or actress appears. For example, when a user wants to watch a kiss scene in "La La Land," AI recognizes faces of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and extracts scenes in which the two appear at the same time. Then, AI selects and recommends the kiss scene to the user. The firm said it has developed the technology to better respond to each user's preference. Currently, the AI, which has learned thousands of videos and hundreds of images, is capable of recognizing more than 2,500 actors and actresses at home and abroad, and 50 different situations such as weddings and dances as well as landmarks, seasons and background music. During a media conference held at its head office in Seoul, SK Telecom said it and its internet service subsidiary, SK Broadband, plan to apply the technology to Oksusu and Btv within the year. SK Telecom is also considering adding a voice command function to the new service. The firm also introduced the technology recommending customized content based on each user's viewing history information. The technology enables each user to watch customized home screens in accordance with their preferences. SK Broadband partially applied the technology to Oksusu on Sept. 14 and plans to fully apply it soon. SK Telecom said the recurrent neural network (RNN), one of the major artificial neural networks, is used in the technology. "More than 20,000 videos and other content are being uploaded to Oksusu every month. The core competitive power in the media platform will be the recommendation technology that reflects users' diverse preferences and viewing patterns," said Lee Jong-min, head of the Media Infra Lab at SK Telecom, during the conference. Kumho Tire Chairman Kim Jong-ho shakes hands with Century Engineering Industries Chairman Jawed lqbal Siddiqui after signing an agreement for technology licensing at the former's headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. Under the deal, Kumho Tire will provide its tire-making technology licenses for 28 products to the Pakistani company for 10 years for $5 million and a 2.5 percent commission on the latter's sales. This is the first technology license deal made by a domestic tiremaker. / Courtesy of Kumho Tire By Nam Hyun-woo Lotte E&C CEO Ha Suk-joo Winners of POSCO Industrial AI Solution Challenge pose at the POSCO Center in Seoul, Sept. 19. / Courtesy of POSCO POSCO, Korea's largest steelmaker, has valued the importance of talented people for the past five decades since its founding in 1968. Its management philosophy is devoted to nurturing talented individuals. To enhance job competency of its employees, POSCO has operated a training institute since 1969 while the group was busy constructing its steel mill. To strengthen its competitiveness, POSCO recently announced it will spend 45 billion won ($40.45 billion) over the next five years and hire an additional 20,000 employees by 2023. POSCO said creating 20,000 jobs is a 190 percent increase compared to the steel maker's recruiting performance of the past five years, in which it hired about 7,000 employees. "As POSCO has valued the importance of talented individuals since its founding, the recruitment plan is to secure a growth engine for the group in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution," the steelmaker said. POSCO said hiring more employees is also in line with the government's new labor policy that reduces the country's statutory maximum work week from 68 hours a week to 52 hours. POSCO has also been providing artificial intelligence education to all employees of the group since April. While POSCO provided the education program to 686 employees last year, the group said it plans to conduct the training program for about 1,800 employees by the end of this year. To take part in the three-day education program, employees gather at the group's training facilities in Songdo in the western port city of Incheon, Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province and Gwangyang in South Jeolla Province. The first day of the education program is focused on how emerging technology can create business models while the second day is about analyzing the digitalization process of the world's leading companies. The last day of the program features a series of AI-related lectures provided by professors from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). During the program, participants also learn about the practical use of "PosFrame," a smart factory platform developed by POSCO as well as the essential information of the basics of internet of things, big data and AI technology. To nurture experts in AI technology in the steel industry, the steelmaker inaugurated a "POSCO Industrial AI Solution Challenge" event at the POSCO Center in Seoul, Sept. 19. The event tested the participants' ability to utilize AI technology through three questions, such as finding ways to predict the price change of raw materials used in the steel industry, and others. (Advertorial) CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik speaks after receiving the Van Fleet award from the Korea Society at the Plaza Hotel in New York, Friday (local time). / Courtesy of CJ Group By Nam Hyun-woo CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik has won the Van Fleet award in recognition of his contribution to promoting Korean culture and Korea-U.S. relations. According to the group, Thursday, Sohn was awarded the honor during the annual meeting of the Korea Society, a non-profit organization dedicate to better understanding and cooperation between Korea and the United States. The organization has been giving the award to people who have contributed to improving relations between the two countries since 1992. Previous honorees include former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, former Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee and SK Chairman Chey Tae-won. Sohn was recognized for introducing and spreading Korean culture to the U.S., as well as serving a role in bridging businesses of the two countries as a former chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "CJ will play a trailblazing role in spreading Korean culture and lifestyle across the world and further enhance its contribution in improving Korea-U.S. relations," Sohn said during the awards ceremony at the Lotte Plaza Hotel in New York. Sohn cited CJ's KCON culture fair as a model for introducing Korean culture to the U.S. "CJ has been holding KCON in Los Angeles, New York and major cities across the world since 2012," he said. "Though the first KCON in the U.S. only had 12,000 visitors, it grew to 144,000 this year, which is a great pleasure for CJ in distributing Korean culture through the festival." The first KCON was held in Irvine, California, and quickly grew as an integrated Korean culture festival featuring pop music, TV dramas, movies, fashion, food and beauty products. The combined attendance of this year's KCON in Los Angeles and New York surpassed 147,000, according to KCON USA. "As a lifestyle and culture company, CJ will spare no efforts to provide innovative and fulfilling lifestyles for consumers across the world," Sohn said. Meanwhile, in an interview with Bloomberg, Sohn said that during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang he saw that North Koreans want to enjoy economic cooperation with South Korea, but businessmen from the South have not made any commitments so far. A video shows Chinese-speaking tourists teasing and grabbing a swan in Lucerne. Photo from South China Morning Post By Simone McCarthy Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Snow this evening will give way to lingering snow showers late. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Snow this evening will give way to lingering snow showers late. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. The Xin Hai Ma CCCC Shanghai Dredging Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), has been carrying out dredging work for ports in Brazil since 1999, improving their operational capability and contributing to the local economy. Xin Hai Ma, the trailing suction hopper dredger of the Chinese companys Brazilian branch, created substantial economic benefits for the Port of Paranagua in south Brazil, said Wan Yanjun, the dredger's captain. It helped broaden the waterway of the port from the previous 200 meters to 250 meters, and also deepened the navigation channel, Wan noted. Thanks to these efforts, the port's annual throughput increased from a historical high of 46.1 million tons in 2013 to 51.5 million tons in 2017. The figure for March of this year was 4.9 million tons, setting another record high. The Port of Itajai, the second largest container port of Brazil, also benefited from the Chinese companys technology. Following the El Nino phenomenon in 2016 which caused the economic loss of over 31 million reals (about $7.69 million) in Brazil, the port's passage for container liners was restored within a week thanks to two Chinese trailing suction hopper dredgers. Statistics indicate that over 100,000 jobs in the city of Itajai are related to the port, accounting for nearly half of the citys total population. Furthermore, industries relating to the port make up more than 70 percent of the citys entire financial revenue. Also, the Chinese enterprise pays close attention to the protection of the local environment, while ensuring project quality, said Hu Zhongqiang, a manager of the company. In order to protect the local environment and wildlife, the Chinese dredgers usually slow down or stop to wait for the dolphins to swim away, noted Tang Bin, a Chinese engineer for the company. Chinas dredging technology is advanced and highly automated. I have learned a lot and picked up skills here, said Brazilian engineer Marcelo at the company, adding that Brazil needs the Chinese technology. Although standards for acceptance of dredging work in Brazil are the strictest in the industry, the passing rate of dredging projects completed by this Chinese enterprise has now reached 99.99 percent, the highest rate in the world to date, Hu noted. Angola, IN (46703) Today Snow showers. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Snow showers. Low 31F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. The inaugural ceremony. The Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University was established on Wednesday morning, to allow the Chinese university to contribute more to the great cause of co-building the Belt and Road. The university has actively responded to the Belt and Road Initiative, which has produced fruitful results, said Cheng Jianping, Secretary of the university's Party Committee, during his speech at the inaugural meeting of the school. Cheng added that opening the school will help the university better engage in the initiative. Cheng Jianping, Secretary of the university's Party Committee, speaks at the ceremony. During the meeting, Chinese official Gan Zangchun with the Ministry of Justice also expressed his recognition of the universitys research and achievements in promoting construction of the Belt and Road. The school is expected to cultivate talents and provide ideological support for building the Belt and Road, Gan added. Gan Zangchun with the Ministry of Justice speaks at the ceremony. The Belt and Road School, as a comprehensive teaching and research institute, with disciplinary advantages and a focus on major national development strategies, will endeavor to offer effective decision-making consultation services for relevant departments alongside a new platform to enhance friendship and exchanges between countries along the Belt and Road. Lane splitting by motorcycles has been allowed by California law for nearly two years. Now the California Highway Patrol has issued safety guidelines on the topic guidelines that apply not only to motorcyclists but also to drivers of cars and trucks. The law enforcement agency also said Thursday for the first time that interfering with lane splitting is illegal. State legislation explicitly allowing lane splitting in which motorcycles drive in the space between traffic lanes on public roads and freeways took effect in January 2017 and stipulated that the CHP could issue safety tips on the topic. The resulting tip sheet, published Thursday, notes that lane splitting can be dangerous and urges extreme caution. Advertisement Every rider has the ultimate responsibility for their own decision making and safety, CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said in a statement. Drivers of cars and trucks have responsibilities too. Its illegal to intentionally block or impede a motorcyclist, including by opening a vehicle door, the CHP tip sheet says. It also says vehicles in the far left lane should move to the left part of the lane so motorcycles have room to pass on their right. To reduce risks, the CHP tip sheet advises motorcyclists to remember the following: -- Consider the total environment when you are lane splitting (this includes the width of lanes, the size of surrounding vehicles, as well as current roadway, weather, and lighting conditions). -- Danger increases at higher speed differentials. A speed differential is the difference between the speed of the motorcyclist and that of nearby vehicles. -- Danger increases as overall speed increases. -- It is typically safer to split between the far left lanes than between the other lanes of traffic. -- Avoid lane splitting next to large vehicles (big rigs, buses, motor homes, etc.). -- Riding on the shoulder is illegal; it is not considered lane splitting. -- Be visible avoid remaining in the blind spots of other vehicles or lingering between vehicles. -- Help drivers see you by wearing brightly colored/reflective protective gear and using high beams during daylight. In years past, the CHP in partnership with the Department of Motor Vehicles published similar guidelines for lane splitting. Those were more specific, indicating that the practice was least dangerous at certain speeds. The guidelines issued Thursday which the CHP developed in partnership with the DMV, the California Department of Transportation, the Office of Traffic Safety and multiple motorcycle safety organizations do not give advice on how slow traffic should be. Motorcycle safety studies have said that lane splitting, though unnerving to some drivers and apprentice motorcyclists, is safer than not splitting when done intelligently principally because it reduces the risk of a rider being hit from behind while stopped in freeway traffic. California is the only U.S. state that allows lane splitting, though the practice is legal and common in most European and Asian countries.. Legislators in other states, notably Nevada, Texas and Washington, have proposed laws similar to Californias. None have passed. Instagram is known for its celebrity posts and photos of enviable vacations. But it has also become a sizable open marketplace for advertising illegal drugs. The company has pledged a crackdown in recent weeks, but it is struggling to keep pace with its own algorithms and systems, which serve up an array of personalized drug-related content aimed directly at people who show an interest in buying substances illicitly. Recent searches on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook Inc., for hashtags of the names of drugs such as #oxy, #percocet, #painkillers, #painpills, #oxycontin, #adderall and #painrelief revealed thousands of posts by a mash-up of people grappling with addiction, bragging about their party-going lifestyle and enticements from drug dealers. Following the dealer accounts, or even liking one of the dealer posts, prompted Instagrams algorithms to work as designed in this case, by filling up a persons feed with posts for drugs, suggesting other sellers to follow and introducing new hashtags, such as #xansforsale. Ads from some of the countrys largest brands, including Target, Chase and Procter & Gamble, as well as Facebooks own video streaming service, appeared next to posts illegally selling pills. Even as top executives from Facebook and Twitter Inc., which has also long struggled with posts offering drugs illegally, promised this month during a congressional hearing that they were cracking down on sales of opioids and other drugs, their services appeared to be open marketplaces for advertising such content. Facebooks chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, said her company was firmly against such activity. Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said he was looking deeply at how drug-selling spreads on his site. Advertisement But activists and other groups have warned tech companies about illegal drug sales on their platforms for years. In recent months, lawmakers, the Food and Drug Administration and some advertisers have stepped into the fray. In April, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb charged internet companies with not taking practical steps to find and remove opioid listings. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) called social media companies reckless, saying: It is past time they put human life above profit and finally institute measures that crack down on these harmful practices, preventing the sale of illegal narcotics on or through their platforms. The prevalence of drug posts on social media which the FDA says has helped fuel the opioid epidemic that claimed more than 40,000 lives in the United States last year shows how tech companies are often outsmarted by the software they created. The algorithms that power social media spread illicit content including illegal drug ads, misinformation and hate speech faster than the companies know how to take it down. The most common features of social platforms, such as hashtags and algorithms that deliver personalized feeds, drive drug-sale posts directly to users who have expressed interest in them potentially exposing the most vulnerable people to addictive drugs. Just as drug use rewires the brain to crave more of the substance, social media platforms have designed their sites in such a way that after a single search for an illicit drug, the algorithm gets rewired to advertise drugs to the already vulnerable user, said Rick Lane, a longtime technology policy advisor who helped push legislation known as FOSTA-SESTA through Congress this year. That law holds technology companies liable for prostitution and sex-trafficking ads on their platforms. He is now pushing for similar legislation for drug ads. Facebooks vice president of global marketing solutions, Carolyn Everson, said Instagram was paying more attention to illegal sales of drugs because of a growing focus on safety and on preventing abuses of the companys platform. Were not yet sophisticated enough to tease apart every post to see if its trying to sell someone illegal drugs or they are taking Xanax cause they are stressed out, said Everson, referring to the companys artificial intelligence technology. Obviously, there is some stuff that gets through that is totally against our policy, and were getting better at it. Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger said late Monday that they were exiting the company. Adam Mossieri, a longtime deputy to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is likely to become the photo-sharing apps next leader, according to a person familiar with the matter. Why Instagrams founders are leaving Facebook Some of the emergent behaviors weve seen have presented a new challenge, and were focused on tackling them alongside law enforcement, our peers and the FDA, Twitter spokesman Ian Plunkett said. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to promote their brands on social media, but the process is highly regulated by the FDA, and companies and individuals are not allowed to sell drugs through social media. Technology companies, which are lightly regulated compared with other industries, face the prospect of stricter rules if they cannot control the problems. During this months technology hearings, Manchin told the executives that his state had been hit hard by opioid addiction and that he was interested in launching a bill modeled after the sex-trafficking law that would hold companies liable for drug dealing taking place on their services. John Montgomery, executive vice president for global brand safety for the ad-buying giant GroupM, whose agencies work with companies such as Procter & Gamble and Target, said Instagram was moving too slowly. With illegal pharma content, there is little nuance. So it should be possible to identify and block faster than weve seen, he said. Instagram has become one of the most potent platforms for drug marketing, said Libby Baney, senior advisor for the advocacy group Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies. Its growing use among teenagers as well as the services emphasis on visuals, its sophistication at personalizing content and its allowance of anonymous accounts have turned it into a hotbed of illegal promotion of drugs, she said. Eric Feinberg, a researcher and the chief executive of GIPEC, a New York City cyberintelligence startup that tracks illegal activity such as counterfeit goods and terrorist content on technology platforms, began hunting for drug posts in June by searching for obvious hashtags. He found hundreds of Instagram posts appearing alongside content from 60 advertisers. Some of the Instagram dealers touted corresponding Twitter accounts, and Feinberg began tracking those accounts too. Some of the Twitter accounts were even more brazen and had been up for years. Once he followed the sellers accounts, Instagrams algorithms began delivering posts marketing drugs directly into his feed, suggesting other drug sellers for him to follow and introducing him to additional hashtags that he used as clues. At one point, he said, posts from sellers constituted about 40% of his feed. Feinberg said he plans to sell his monitoring software, but his company doesnt yet earn any revenue. Facebook said Feinbergs feed was not a real representation of what the vast majority of people see in their feeds because he exclusively followed bad actors and some brands, prompting the companys algorithm to cluster the two types of content together. That being said, even a single piece of bad content on our platforms is one too many, and were working hard to improve our detection and enforcement, Facebook spokesman Joe Benarroch said. Most of the posts that appeared to be from dealers had a similar format: Photos of different types of drugs captioned with a string of hashtags and instructions to contact the account holder through a channel outside Instagram, such as email or messaging platforms Wickr, Kik or Facebook-owned WhatsApp. (Most drug posts included explicit instructions to avoid DMs, or direct messages, on Instagram itself. Such messages could be more easily traced.) In recent months, Instagram took what it described as an extreme step by blocking search results for certain hashtags, such as #fentanyl, #cocaine and #heroin, even though that had the unwanted side effect of limiting peoples ability to seek support for substance abuse issues, Facebooks Everson said. The hashtags can still be used and the posts can still be found through a persons network, even though they are unavailable through a public search. To get around blocked hashtags, sellers now market opioids under Xanax- and Adderall-related hashtags, many of which are searchable, Feinberg said. They also slightly tweak the spelling of drug names and include their contact details in the photos themselves for example, by writing them on a piece of paper and then photographing it to avoid software tools that can identify problematic keywords in a caption. Instagram appeared to suspend some hashtags when asked about them by the Washington Post. Dealers appear to employ a spray and pray strategy designed to get around Instagrams monitoring, Feinberg said. They post frequently, with individual posts getting a small number of likes before many are taken down by Instagrams systems within 48 to 72 hours, often because users flagged them as problematic. As soon as one account was taken down, dealers created multiple Instagram accounts with similar names, such as a cluster including FoxPharm, FoxPharm12, FoxPharm69 and FoxPharm90, all featuring the same contact information. Some appeared to have been created automatically, Feinberg said, suggesting the sellers are using bots. The different iterations of the name reminded him of Islamic State terrorist accounts and disinformation groups, which use a similar tactic. They are playing whack-a-mole here. They take them down, and then they come back again, Feinberg said. If [the tech companies] were really doing a full-court press, we wouldnt keep finding what we are finding. Everson said Facebook and Instagram were in the early stages of developing artificial-intelligence tools that could flag drug content. She compared it to Facebooks efforts, starting two years ago, to build AI software that it says can detect the majority of Islamic State accounts before people can see them. Now they are building visual classifiers that can recognize photographs of particular pills and detect common patterns, such as the inclusion of a phone number to move the transaction onto an encrypted messaging platform. Facebook also gives advertisers tools to block their messages from appearing alongside certain publishers or categories of content, including tragedy or controversial social issues. This month, Instagram also launched a pop-up notification that appears when someone searches hashtags for opioids, prescription medications or illegal drugs. The pop-up offers to connect people with free and confidential treatment referrals and information about substance use, prevention and recovery. Dwoskin writes for the Washington Post. Ai Weiwei is weary from travel. The Chinese artist and human rights activist shuffles into the Marciano Art Foundations cavernous Theater Gallery he arrived in L.A. from Berlin just last night and has spent about half the year, he says, traversing the globe making films or exhibiting art. The Marciano space, a former Masonic temple theater, is dimly lighted and nearly empty, a box of cool, gray concrete. But at the far end of the room, light emanates from a new piece Ai has created hes seeing it installed here for the first time. Ai slowly makes his way across the room, soft spoken and a bit spacey, his loose cotton clothing fluttering ever so slightly from the AC as if crossing a dark ocean toward the light. Finally, he peers over a railing into the glowing, sunken Black Box gallery housing his work. His cheeks lift and his eyes brighten. Oh, wow, so beautiful, he says, turning back around. The light, the shadows. Advertisement Hes talking about Life Cycle, the central piece in the Marciano exhibition, the artists first solo institutional show in L.A. The exhibition, also called Life Cycle, is one of three Ai Weiwei shows opening in L.A. this week; the others are at Jeffrey Deitch gallery and UTA Artist Space. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei takes on L.A. with three new solo exhibitions at the Marciano Art Foundation, Jeffrey Deitch gallery, and UTA Artist Space. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) A detail from Ai Weiweis Life Cycle boat, on view at the Marciano Art Foundation. It was made using traditional Chinese kite-making techniques. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) The Life Cycle work that now has Ais attention looks like an enormous inflatable raft crammed with towering human figures bearing animal heads of the Chinese zodiac, all crafted entirely from thin switches of bamboo. It took dozens of craftspeople, using ancient Chinese kite-making techniques, nearly two years to make. The work is similar to his 2017 piece, Law of the Journey, which was made from black PVC rubber and which also addresses the global refugee crisis, a central theme in Ais work, whether it be installation art, photography, porcelain works, multimedia performance or documentary film. The figures, with their long necks and animal heads, are imposing, frightening even, but theyre also hollow, transparent, like ghosts lost at sea. Its so dramatic, but its nothing compared to the dramatic conditions of people fleeing from their homes to avoid bombing or war, he says, and they have to go through mountains and rivers and oceans, throw their children onto those kinds of boats, at midnight, and try one time, a second time, could be eight, 10 times, and not even make it. The walls of Ai Weiweis studio collapse during a multi-day demolition in Beijing on Aug. 4. The frequent government critic said on his Instagram account that the demolition began without prior notice. (Ng Han Guan / Associated Press) A narrow escape Life Cycle almost didnt make it to Los Angeles. Ai, an outspoken political dissident, has long been targeted by the Chinese Communist government for channeling his social justice activism into online projects and art that has resonated around the world. In 2011 he was arrested and detained, in a secret location, for 81 days after having been accused of vague economic crimes. Since getting his passport back in 2015, hes resided in Berlin but has kept an active studio in Beijing, his Zuoyou studio, where Life Cycle was assembled under his guidance. Just days after the artwork was shipped to L.A., Ais Beijing studio was demolished by the Chinese government. No one was hurt, but some artworks were damaged, others totally destroyed. Hed been alerted, months earlier, that hed eventually have to vacate the space because it was being redeveloped but the demolition began, as a surprise to him, before the mutually agreed upon evacuation date and without his consent. It was quite surreal, I was shocked, he says. But in a state like China, you have no space to make any kind of argument or communication. You have to just stand there and watch. We forget humanity is not something we originally always have had but rather, its something we need always to defend. Ai Weiwei Ai was in Berlin when the Aug. 3 destruction began. It was late morning and hed just taken his son to school when his Beijing studio assistants began sending photos and video clips via WhatsApp. A construction vehicle was shattering the buildings windows, then wrecking its brick and concrete walls. The experience wasnt new to him. In 2011, his Shanghai studio which he designed and built from scratch was also demolished by local authorities. This sort of demolition of human rights, as Ai calls it homes being torn down so government-owned land can be redeveloped is a common practice in China, he says, one that disproportionately affects migrant workers and poorer communities. And there is no law that can protect any individual. In Beijing or Shanghai, there must be thousands of villages that have been destroyed and those people just have to go back to where they [came] and they have no voice, they will never have any paper or reporter to talk about them. Life Cycle not only conceptually addresses Ais exploration of refugees and displacement, but without its original studio to return home to, the work a vehicle for passengers and a passenger itself physically embodies those ideas as well. A time-lapse video of Ai Weiweis Life Cycle" as its installed over three weeks at the Marciano Art Foundation, including narration by the artist himself. The film is by Jeremy Eichenbaum and the Los Angeles Video Club. Shadows and reflections So fragile, like life, Ai says, stepping down the stairs into the Black Box gallery for an eye-level view of the work. Above him, mythical creatures from the ancient Chinese text, the Shanhaijing, made from bamboo and white silk, dangle from the ceiling a snake swooping through the air, a four-headed fish with legs outstretched and mouths agape. A third piece, a dense wall installation called Ten Windows (2015), is composed of hundreds of two- and three-dimensional objects, also made from bamboo, that dangle on twine and cast pronounced shadows on the walls, like a tangle of stark line drawings. One of Ai Weiweis bamboo and silk mythical creatures from the ancient Chinese text, the Shanhaijing. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Part intricate mobile and part narrative tapestry, Ten Windows is political, art historical and autobiographical at once and funny. Its peppered with middle fingers flipping a bird, as Ai says, and cartoonish birds resembling the Twitter logo nodding to his frequent social media activity. There are references to Marcel Duchamps bottle rack, Jasper Johns numbers and imagery from Ais own works, such as stools, bicycles and Lego bricks. But the piece is also disturbing. There are bamboo re-creations of the six hangers Ai was given in detention to dry his freshly washed clothing. Theres a replica MRI image of his hemorrhaging brain after he was assaulted in 2009 by local police in the city of Chengdu. I suffered, I feel the pain, but I never think its an attack on me [personally], he says of struggles with Chinese authorities like the recent destruction of his art studio. I think my existence reflects certain values which they cannot accept. And those values make me stronger you see the strength of yourself through your enemys eye. Ai Weiweis wall installation, Ten Windows, is political, art historical and intensely autobiographical. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) An L.A. art intervention When an Ai Weiwei exhibition comes to town, its less a quiet affair at a single art gallery. Instead, its an expansive art intervention, with multiple shows, across multiple artistic mediums, in multiple locations. Last years Good Fences Make Good Neighbors in New York involved more than 300 public artworks spanning all five boroughs. In L.A. this week, the inaugural show at Jeffrey Deitch gallery, which opens its doors Sept. 29, is Ai Weiwei: Zodiac, showing new and historic work. Deitch is displaying the artists seminal 2013 Stools, involving nearly 6,000 antique wooden stools from Northern China that date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republican period that followed. The work is both a textural and abstract ode to Chinese social and cultural history. A surrounding survey of works will also include new Zodiac works made from Lego bricks. The art gallery offshoot of United Talent Agency, which represents Ai, will present Cao / Humanity, a show of the artists marble and porcelain sculptures as well as a new, crowd-sourced, multimedia performance project based on Ais book published earlier this year, Humanity. The little blue book comprises quotes taken primarily from the more than 300 interviews and public talks Ai did in 2017 after his documentary feature about the refugee crisis, Human Flow, was released. For the new video project Humanity, guests to the UTA Artist Space which Ai designed the interior of are invited to record themselves reading passages from Ais book. The video will play in the gallery. Individuals are encouraged to share their recordings on social media, as Ai has done. Its so dramatic, but its nothing compared to the dramatic conditions of people fleeing from their homes to avoid bombing or war. Ai Weiwei I think hes testing the potential of the gallery without walls, says LACMA Director Michael Govan, who in 2012 showed Ais outdoor installation, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads. Hes a true contemporary artist in that hes adept at communicating on many channels at once, at an art museum, directly through social media, through the medium of documentary and distribution. He grasps the potential of the present and the kind of multifaceted, multi-model potential for communication. And you can tell he does not want to be restricted. Spouts, 2015, contains more than 250,000 broken antique teapot mouths from Chinas Song dynasty. Its a call for freedom of speech among the masses. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) A moment of multiplicity Ai has long wanted a solo exhibition of multiple works in L.A., he says. He views the city as one of imagination and invention and the West Coast, more broadly, as a place for burgeoning technology and creativity, but also a place roiling with immigration conflicts and border issues, central themes in his work. So its the right moment to have art to be celebrated and to have a voice to be heard in L.A., he says. The very different works on view in L.A. address a panoply of topics. But Ai sees all three exhibitions as one show, with certain themes rippling throughout, not only refugees but freedom of speech, surveillance, classic Chinese craftsmanship, individualism and mass production among them. The through line? Humanity, he says. It could be a totalitarian society or a so-called democratic society, but violations of basic human rights and the tragic conditions related to human dignity is happening every second in this world. And it seems it doesnt get any better, he says. Very often we forget we forget humanity is not something we originally always have had but rather, its something we need always to defend. Simply having concurrent shows itself is a nod to multiplicity, a theme in so much of Ais work. The Marciano Art Foundation is showing the artists iconic Sunflower Seeds (2010), which consists of nearly 50 million individually sculpted porcelain sunflower seeds created by about 1,600 artisans, over two years, in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen known for porcelain-making. It addresses Chinas vast population as well as economic and cultural exchanges with the West. His 2015 work Spouts shown at the Marciano in its entirety for the first time contains more than 250,000 antique teapot spouts from Chinas Song dynasty. The veritable carpet of broken porcelain teapot mouths many tilted upward as if gasping for air is a call for freedom of speech among the masses. I want to have a full voice and I want to get exhausted as if this is my last show, he says of the L.A. exhibitions. Then I will be satisfied, I will not have regret. Chinese artist Ai Weiweis themes of freedom of expression and refugees have new resonance now with the recent demolition of his Beijing studio. The Life Cycle sculpture demonstrates refugees on a boat. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) A global passenger Just before leaving the Marciano Art Foundation, Ai who was a child refugee in China, now lives in exile in Berlin and spends about half the year traveling for work pauses on the gallery floor. His bamboo and silk art objects, delicate in material but heavy with meaning, hover and spin above him. Shadows flicker around him. Kites may be the perfect metaphor for displacement, he says. I love the object to be flying in the space, he says, so it doesnt belong to any place. Like his boat, Life Cycle. Like himself. Still, Ai doesnt see himself as a citizen of the world, as hes often described. Im not so romantic, he says. I just feel Im a passenger. Ai WeiWeis sculpture Cao, 2014, will be on display at his agencys UTA Artist Space gallery. (Eric Powell / Ai Weiwei Studio) Life Cycle, Marciano Art Foundation, 4357 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (424) 204-7555, Sept. 28, 2018 March 3, 2019. www.marcianoartfoundation.org Ai Weiwei: Zodiac, Jeffrey Deitch, 925 N. Orange Drive, Hollywood, (323) 925-3000, Sept. 29, 2018 Jan. 5, 2019. www.deitch.com Cao / Humanity, UTA Artist Space, 403 Foothill Road, Beverly Hills, (310) 579-9850, Oct. 4 Dec. 1. www.utaartistspace.com deborah.vankin@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @debvankin A bird's-eye view of Anji county, Huzhou city, Zhejiang province, where President Xi Jinping proposed a new development method. HUANG ZONGZHI/XINHUA China's Zhejiang province was recognized with a Champions of the Earth Award, the UN's highest environmental honor, on Wednesday. Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Program won in the Inspiration and Action category, one of five categories at the awards, "for the transformation of a once-heavily polluted area of rivers and streams", according to the website of the United Nations Environment Program. "This exceptionally successful eco-restoration program shows the transformative power of economic and environmental development together," said the website. In the spring of 2012, Orange County developer Gerald Buck attended a seminar at Laguna Art Museum. Discussion topics that day included the Getty Foundations 2011-12 Pacific Standard Time (PST) art initiative, involving more than 100 Southland museums and galleries, focusing on the Southern California postwar art scene. As the audience joined in the dialogue, the self-effacing Buck remarked that he had toured dozens of PST exhibitions during the previous six months. Few attendees at the seminar that Sunday afternoon knew that Buck had been quietly amassing what later came to be known as the Gerald E. Buck Collection, considered by art curators and dealers as the most comprehensive private collection of modern California art ever assembled. The irony of Bucks presence that day is that many of his 3,200 paintings, sculptures and works on paper mostly hidden from view from the public for decades almost mirrored in scope, styles and genres the artworks exhibited in the Pacific Standard Time exhibitions. Still Buck, who believed in the importance of displaying fine art, had loaned a few of his prized pieces to PST shows that year. Among these were pieces by Carlos Almaraz, Ed Bereals mixed-media American Beauty (1965) and Gordon Wagners assemblage piece, The Mexican Night Clerk (1960-65). Other postwar art, still hidden in Bucks Los Angeles storage facility, included pieces by luminaries Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Richard Diebenkorn, George Hermes, Ed Kienholz, David Park, Ed Ruscha, Wayne Thiebaud, James Turrell, DeWain Valentine and many others. Advertisement Fifty pieces by these and other California artists will soon be on view at UC Irvines Claire Trevor School of the Arts, in First Glimpse: Introducing the Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum for California Art. An accompanying catalog discusses the significance of Bucks works, and explains how 20th century California artists were instrumental in launching several art movements including Assemblage, Bay Area Figurative, California Funk, Chicano art, Hard-edge painting as well as Light and Space. We have the largest collection of art that no one has ever seen. Stephen Barker Viola Freys piece Woman in Blue and Yellow II, aka May Lady is installed at the Contemporary Arts Center at UCI (Steve Zylius / UCI) Christina Buck, who administered her fathers art collection, was privileged to witness its evolution. When I went away to college, she says, I would come home and my father would show us the latest addition to his collection. We had paintings hung everywhere. Art in all forms was truly fulfilling for him. Why had Buck who created his fortune by developing suburban communities hidden his extraordinary collection for decades? This question soon became a discussion topic among UC Irvines art department faculty, and it still is; as in the fall of 2014, a year after Buck and his wife Bente passed away, the UCI art department was bequeathed the entire Buck collection of artworks, catalogs and notebooks. One morning, I received a phone call from a Los Angeles lawyer telling me that our university would be receiving the Buck collection, says Stephen Barker, UCIs art department dean. That same week, Barker was informed that UCI would also inherit 1,200 19th and 20th century paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the nearby Irvine Museum, founded by heiress Joan Irvine Smith in 1993. Nearly stunned by this windfall, Barkers mantra became: We have the largest collection of art that no one has ever seen. The combination of collections we are offering is unparalleled, Barker says. After ruminating on how the university would manage and display the collections, Barker proposed creating the Institute and Museum for California Art, a venue that would combine a museum and institute for the study of art, in conjunction with the universitys offering of advanced degrees in museum studies and art conservation. UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman soon approved the formation of IMCA , which was a part of architect William Pereiras original 1962 campus vision. Many museums have study centers, and many institutes possess art, but our project has a three-part structure: exhibiting art, studying art and engaging with the university, Barker, who is also the executive director of IMCA, says. Peter Alexander, Thrasher, 1992. Oil on canvas, 48 x 84 in. 2018, Peter Alexander. The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum for California Art. (Fredrik Nilsen) The Buck collection is cleaned, photographed, and readied for exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center at UCI. (Steve Zylius / UCI) Along with Bucks extensive art collection, UCI inherited his private 3,000-square-foot art gallery in a former post office in downtown Laguna Beach. Bedecked with furnishings and rugs, similar to those in Bucks nearby Emerald Bay home, the gallery featured 80 pieces of 20th century California artworks with 150 more stored on-site. In November 2017, the facility was opened to members of the press, revealing several dozen art pieces. Twenty-two of these works are now on display in the UCI First Glimpse exhibition; the remaining 28 works came from Bucks Los Angeles storage facility. Among the artworks from the Laguna space, now in the UCI galleries are many from notable artists, including Peter Alexanders Thrasher, a night-time hilltop view of Los Angeles; Richard Diebenkorns Albuquerque, an abstract painting in Southwestern colors; Viola Freys imposing ceramic Woman in Blue and Yellow II; and Helen Pashgians luminous epoxy resin sculpture Blue Secret. Other works from the L.A. storage facility, now in the UCI exhibition, are Ed Kienholzs The Fish Track, an assemblage evoking a shrine and featuring a boot as its centerpiece; and Peter Voulkos massive, abstract ceramic sculpture, Mimbres. But the current UCI exhibition is merely the first of three phases in IMCAs evolution, Barker explains. The second phase, expected to open in early 2019, will also include selections from the Irvine Museum collection, and will be installed in a 15,000 square foot space on the UCI campus. Phase three, to occur in about four years, will be the construction of the 100,000-square-foot IMCA building, which will include 45,000 square feet of gallery space. As Barker explains, large amounts of funds need to be raised before that building can be designed, let alone built. In the meantime, UCI will soon embark on an international search for a chief curator to oversee the IMCA collection. The art collections that Gerald Buck began amassing three decades ago and that the Irvine Museum began displaying 25 years ago are morphing into an extensive compendium of California art. When asked to compare IMCA with museums around the state, Barker explains that the recently closed Pasadena Museum of California Art had large exhibitions, but no collection. Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum, owning a large collection of California art, also exhibits art from around the world. And Laguna Art Museum, while specializing in California art, has a much smaller collection than IMCAs. With nearly 5,000 California-made art pieces as a foundation, UCIs institute will engage in interdisciplinary studies about the art of our state, and about how it relates to the larger story of American art. And Barker is enthusiastic, stating that IMCA will simply have the best collection of California art to be seen anywhere. Richard Diebenkorn, Albuquerque, 1952, part of the Buck Collection at UCI. (Fredrik Nilsen) First Glimpse: Introducing The Buck Collection at the UCI Institute and Museum for California Art When: Sept. 29, 2018-Jan. 5, 2019, Tues.-Sat., 12:00-6:00 p.m., Thursdays until 8:00 p.m. Opening reception: Sept. 29, 2-5 p.m. Where: Contemporary Arts Center Gallery & University Art Gallery, 712 Arts Plaza, Claire Trevor School of the Arts, Irvine Info: imca.uci.edu/firstglimpse/ In the weeks since Christine Blasey Ford came forward with her accusation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, many celebrities have opened up about their own long-secret traumas. They have shared their stories on social media under the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport, a movement that began in response to President Trumps tweet that said, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. Actress Alyssa Milano was one of the first celebrities to reply to the presidents inquiry. I was sexually assaulted twice. Once when I was a teenager. I never filed a police report and it took me 30 years to tell [my] parents, she tweeted to him. Milano, who attended Thursdays Ford-Kavanaugh hearing as a guest of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also invited other survivors to share their stories. Ashley Judd, Lili Reinhart, Padma Lakshmi, Mira Sorvino, Busy Philipps and others have all talked about their own experiences with rape and abuse. Here are some of their accounts: libby.hill@latimes.com @midwestspitfire At First Light, written and directed by Jason Stone, takes a Spielbergian science-fiction story and wraps it in a gritty but hopeful indie package. Steeped in low-key naturalism, many of the films sequences feel more like The Florida Project than Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Theodore Pellerin plays Sean, a self-reliant, recent high school grad living near the poverty line with his younger brother (Percy Hynes White) and nearly comatose grandmother (Janet Laine Green) in a shabby Central Valley apartment. After Seans upper-class ex-girlfriend Alex (Stefanie Scott) has a near-death experience, strange phenomena follow her, and the pair flee as they try to figure out what is going on. Pellerin and Scott are such deeply compelling performers that you are likely to forgive the familiarity of the lovers-on-the-run, first-contact narratives (Andrew C. Erin co-wrote the story). Every role is cast with precision, including Said Taghmaoui and Kate Burton as government agents, and the production design and special effects effectively bridge the gap between realistic drama and sci-fi wonder. Stone doesnt explicitly ask the straightforward, big-picture questions youll find in a film like Arrival. But his attention to detail and character, and his ability to render those people in recognizable settings, is engrossing. Your satisfaction with At First Light will be heavily dependent on your willingness to go along for the ride and project your own questions. Advertisement ------------ At First Light Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 28, Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills; also on VOD Its surprising how much happens in the science-fiction mystery Domain, given that most of the movie consists of seven people sitting in front of computer terminals, video-chatting. Writer-director Nathaniel Atcheson has found a clever way to tell a lot of story without many resources although the end result is still more exhausting than enticing. Set in wake of a panic over a flu pandemic, Domain follows a handful of select people secured into solitary cells, with a lifetime supply of a protein shake and a human-powered generator to run their tech. Theyve been assigned into groups of seven for remote communication and companionship, but as the movie starts, theyre getting sick of each other. Theres still a bond, though, between Phoenix (Britt Lower) and Denver (Ryan Merriman), who draw even closer as they watch the others either descend into madness or get abducted from their pods by mysterious figures. The strikingly futuristic set design and the question of whats really going on here mitigate the tedium of watching actors talk into screens but only a little. Its no fun being stuck with a bunch of bickering characters, no matter how many plot curveballs Atcheson throws. Advertisement Domain aims to say something about the prisons we construct for ourselves via social media. What it mainly proves is that trolls and flame-wars are just as aggravating on-screen as they are online. ------------- Domain Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 28, Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills Los Angeles-based journalist and filmmaker Ashley York, born and raised in the mountains of eastern Kentucky (the evocatively named Meathouse Holler to be specific), returns to Appalachia to question the media depiction of the regions residents, while also tracking the 2016 U.S. presidential election, in the documentary Hillbilly. Co-written and co-directed with Sally Rubin, the film is a far more sympathetic portrait than J.D. Vances best-selling Hillbilly Elegy, taking a more descriptive than analytical approach. York interviews writers and scholars, including bell hooks and Silas House, who critique the negative ways that popular media has represented Appalachians throughout the 20th and 21st centuries in fare including the comic strip Lil Abner and the 1972 Burt Reynolds film Deliverance, all the way to the 2013 MTV reality series Buckwild. Though many of the mountain people interviewed embrace the term hillbilly, they resent the characterization that they are uniformly poor and illiterate. For the record: This review incorrectly identifies an interviewee as uncle Tim. The man is actually Bobby Smith, co-director Ashley Yorks uncle. Tim York, who also appears in the film, is the filmmakers father. A self-described progressive feminist, York also drops in on her family, including her grandmother Shelby and uncle Tim, both longtime Democrats who voted for Trump. The expression on Yorks face as she respectfully listens to their voting rationale is worth the price of admission. While an effective rebuttal to media stereotyping, especially in its own portrayals of people of color and the LGBTQ community, Hillbilly feels less assured in dealing with the election, a subject that is getting a little tired but no less confounding. Advertisement ------------- Hillbilly Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 28; Laemmle Glendale In a few short years, director Jeremy Saulnier has thrillingly become whatever the opposite of a friendly tour guide is, the artfully grim paths set by his indie revenge saga Blue Ruin and doozy of a siege flick Green Room proving that where Saulnier leads, youre likely to follow with equal parts tingly concern and grindhouse-promised excitement. Saulniers evolution has led him to Hold the Dark, a moodily violent, willfully enigmatic Alaska-set mystery about the beast within that isnt always the most persuasively realized experience. But its determined ambition and atmospheric skill keeps Saulnier firmly in the category of directors to watch. Lured by an imploring missive, wolf specialist and nature author Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright) travels alone to the isolated Alaskan outpost of Keelut, where lonely military wife Medora Slone (Riley Keough) is convinced her missing boy was seized by wolves. Though Medoras behavior is alarming her bizarre nighttime manner is our first clue things arent entirely what they seem Russell empathizes enough to set out in search of the creatures that took her son. Clue No. 2: Russell happens upon a bloodied wolf pack, all right, but what theyre gnawing on is one of their own. Until then, Saulnier has imbued the fierce, enveloping calm of this harshly beautiful landscape and Cores unease as its visitor with a curiously forthright ponderousness. Its when Core returns to Keelut, however, when the story, adapted by Saulnier collaborator Macon Blair from William Giraldis acclaimed novel, takes its Jack London-meets-Deliverance aura into a decidedly more churning gear. Advertisement A gruesome discovery back in Keelut, and Medoras own sudden disappearance, sets in motion an investigation that calls home from Iraq her husband Vernon, played by the lanky, intense Alexander Skarsgard. A stoic wraith whom we first encounter committing righteous murder in a sequence set in Fallujah, Vernon isnt so different on home turf, opting to set in motion a puzzling, bloody crusade of vengeance that turns this frozen, distressed area at civilizations outer perimeter into a fresh hunting ground. Embedded in the movies DNA is a view of tribalism and mans capacity for savagery that may not be terribly new, but its rendered through Saulniers measured compositions and methodical pacing with an almost stern respect. (How else would we get the pitch-black thrillers Saulnier loves if human beings werent so terrible to each other?) Hold the Dark clings to the notion that in the quest to make sense of what roils inside us hunger, anger, grief the Vernons of the world readily enter the abyss, while others, like Core, whom Wright plays with a bone-deep strickenness, and James Badge Dales conscientious local cop on the trail of Vernon, embrace that theres something that should pull us back from it. That tension isnt terribly interesting when the focus is Vernons strange rampage, which eventually leans into a mysticism thats less to-the-marrow eerie than head-scratchingly tedious. But that heart-of-darkness strain is in full force for the movies gut-wrenching centerpiece, a civil-before-its-chaotic standoff between law enforcement and a childhood friend of Vernons named Cheeon (Julian Black Antelope), whose own rage has taken him to the brink. Its a prime, Peckinpah-worthy example of how a sequence of righteous wrath can bleed with the sins of history and the confounding awfulness of despair. Individual scenes have power, but its in the connecting, and the stop/start momentum, where Saulnier regrettably allows his movie to outlast its effectiveness and eventually feel forced. Nevertheless, Hold the Dark is wholly evocative, from the stunning locations to the wintry pall created by cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jnck. Unlike the technical flashiness of the similarly immersive The Revenant, Saulniers movie has a lived-in chill that practically breathes on you. It just might not linger the way he wants it to. ------------- Hold the Dark Not rated Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes Playing: Starts Friday, Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica; streaming on Netflix Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as brash stand-up comic Nina Geld in writer/director Eva Vives bold debut All About Nina, which lures you with jokes and then explores the effect of long-term, repressed trauma. Like the groundbreaking comedy special Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, it uses humor as a blunt-force weapon to unearth a womans rage and pain. Whiskey-swilling, black-leather clad Nina is daring and sexually frank, a tough girl, yet constantly propositioned in her workplace, the comedy club scene. When an abusive relationship with a married cop, Joe (Chace Crawford), spirals out of control, she moves to L.A. The film is also a love story, which at times can be a bit of a mismatch, like Nina and her new L.A. love interest, the strong, sensitive Rafe (Common). There are moments where the chemistry can feel a bit off, but Rafe represents a much-needed change for Nina. Vives filmmaking is confident, threading the needle on some emotionally complex scenes, but the film works because of Winsteads bravura performance, taking Nina to a place of raw, deep emotional honesty. Both bleakly humorous and laugh out loud funny, the brilliant All About Nina is a powerful film about the importance of womens voices, and the change that can come from telling your story. Advertisement ------------- All About Nina Rated: R, for strong sexual content and language throughout, some nudity and brief drug use Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 28, ArcLight Hollywood; AMC Dine-In Sunset 5, West Hollywood Should you find yourself in New York over the next 17 days and in an insufficiently apocalyptic frame of mind, you might want to check out Jean-Luc Godards The Image Book, one of the more mind-blowing titles in this years excellent New York Film Festival. There are, as the title suggests, a lot of images here, most of them cherry-picked from other movies Nicholas Rays Johnny Guitar, Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo and Pier Paolo Pasolinis Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom are just a few of many and then interspersed with documentary footage of various wartime atrocities. For 90 minutes or so, the history of motion pictures and the history of human civilization seem to collide in a frenzied symphony of destruction, exacerbated by the fact that nearly every clip appears to have been distressed and distorted, as though scoured with acid. The Image Book is a bulletin from a doomed world, a despairing document that nonetheless produces a strange exhilaration. If this mad, synesthetic scramble of a movie represents the 87-year-old Godards swan song and given his tendency to be both playful and extremely prolific, theres no guarantee that it is it concludes his landmark career on a note of remarkable promise. Its nice to think that the end of the world, and of cinema as we know it, can still occasion new creative possibilities. But then, for Godard, an end always feels like a beginning. And it is only fitting to begin with this filmmaker, who has been a fixture of the New York Film Festival presented annually by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and running this year from Sept. 28 to Oct. 14 going all the way back to its inaugural 1963 edition, when the festival screened RoGoPaG, an omnibus film directed by Roberto Rossellini, Godard, Pasolini and Ugo Gregoretti. Advertisement The Pasolini-directed segment of RoGoPaG featured a performance by none other than the late Orson Welles, another titan of cinema who, against all odds, has managed to claw his way back to this years festival lineup. His long-gestating final feature as a director, The Other Side of the Wind, will premiere in the Special Events sidebar, alongside Theyll Love Me When Im Dead, Morgan Nevilles documentary about Winds troubled 48-year production history. (Both titles are being released by Netflix.) John Huston, left, Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich. (Gary Graver) Godard and Welles are just two of the filmmaking greats whose legacies have helped shape the reputation of this festival, with its fierce championing of world auteurs and its willingness to program work that sometimes gets assailed by that overused, under-examined word difficult. Difficulty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and from this critical vantage, there nothing especially hard, challenging or forbidding about the 30 features set to screen in this years main slate, the festivals 56th. (The selection committee is chaired by the festivals director, Kent Jones, and also includes Dennis Lim, the Film Societys director of programming, and Florence Almozini, associate director of programming.) Certainly there is nothing but pure pleasure on offer from the festivals opening-night attraction, The Favourite, a viciously entertaining English-language period piece from the Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster). Featuring superb performances by Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and especially Olivia Colman, its a delectably twisted tale of courtly manipulation and rivalry that brilliantly reenergizes the conventions of the British historical costume drama. Bouncing back from the grim misfire of The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Lanthimos channels his emotionally brutal, formally severe style into a tragicomedy of genuine beauty and stealth emotion. Like several other films playing in the festival, The Favourite will soon be opening in theaters, and its plum opening-night slot and ecstatic reviews (it already screened at the Venice and Telluride festivals) suggest the Fox Searchlight release is being positioned for a potentially lucrative Oscar campaign. Similar expectations are being lined up for the festivals centerpiece gala, Roma, Alfonso Cuarons gorgeous evocation of 1970s Mexico City, and the closing-night selection, At Eternitys Gate, Julian Schnabels vibrant portrait of the final years of Vincent Van Gogh, played in a remarkable performance by Willem Dafoe. Netflix, which is releasing Roma, is making a strong bid for fall prestige-cinema dominance with three other titles in the main slate. These include Alice Rohrwachers nimble Italian fable Happy as Lazzaro; Tamara Jenkins superbly acted marital dramedy Private Life; and Joel and Ethan Coens The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a lovingly shot, erratically executed western omnibus that strings together six twisty yarns, at least two of which are gems (the ones with Tom Waits and Zoe Kazan, respectively). Stephan James and KiKi Layne in a scene from If Beale Street Could Talk from director Barry Jenkins. (Tatum Mangus / Annapurna Pictures / TIFF) Another hot main-slate ticket is If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins follow-up to Moonlight. This achingly lush and romantic ensemble drama, swooningly adapted from James Baldwins Harlem romance, will fittingly make its U.S. debut in that neighborhoods historic Apollo Theater, marking the first time the festival has held a screening at that venue. If Beale Street Could Talk first showed at Toronto, where it was one of several titles that set Oscar prognosticators tongues a-wagging. Still, as impossible as it may be to avoid awards-season chatter this time of year, its best to leave your Oscar barometers at home and approach the New York Film Festival and really, any event worth its salt with eyes and mind wide open. I doubt many industry accolades await the likes of High Life, Claire Denis magnificently deranged psychosexual space odyssey starring Robert Pattinson as a death-row astronaut, or Alex Ross Perrys riveting backstage drama Her Smell, though Id say Elisabeth Moss deserves to run the table for her epic portrayal of a punk rocker gone very, very wrong. One of the reasons this festival has been worth returning to, year after year, is the assurance that it will be governed by a rigorous curatorial sensibility. The main slate reliably screens some of the best films that have shown at earlier events (including Cannes, Sundance, Berlin and Venice), while showing little concern for snagging the sort of world premieres that can give a festival bragging rights. For NYFF, bragging rights are a matter of quality, not exclusivity. And so its only to be expected that some of the festivals strongest titles first premiered at Cannes this past May, including Godards The Image Book; Cold War, a scalpel-sharp account of doomed love and tragic history from the Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski; Burning, a breathtakingly complex psychological thriller from the South Korean writer-director Lee Chang-dong; and the Palme dOr-winning Shoplifters, a piercing family drama from the Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda. Zhao Tao in a still from Jia Zhangkes Ash Is Purest White, which played in competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. (mk2 Films) Elsewhere among the Cannes-to-NYFF gems, not enough has been written in praise of two Chinese-language triumphs: Jia Zhangkes sensationally entertaining gangland melodrama Ash Is Purest White, centered on a wonderful performance from Zhao Tao, and Bi Gans gorgeous and innovative noir reverie Long Days Journey Into Night, which features one of the most entrancing technical stunts (complete with 3-D) in recent memory. Both are festival must-sees, as is 3 Faces, a beguiling tale of deception, rural intrigue and female resistance whose New York premiere will regrettably not be attended by its director, Jafar Panahi, still banned from traveling by the Iranian government. Festival-goers with especially adventurous appetites may be inclined to seek out Mariano Llinas 15-hour epic La Flor, the longest film in the main slate and the longest Argentinean picture ever made. It consists of six genre-shuffling stories, each featuring the same four lead actresses: Pilar Gamboa, Elisa Carricajo, Laura Paredes and Valeria Correa. Promising a shorter sit, and a snap at four hours, is Watergate, a blow-by-blow account of the political scandal that brought about President Nixons downfall. Although its dramatic Oval Office reenactments sometimes gum up the works, the movie, screening in the festivals Spotlight on Documentary sidebar, has been assembled in characteristically absorbing and analytical fashion by Charles Ferguson (Inside Job). It also bears a pointed, defiantly optimistic subtitle: Or, How We Learned to Stop an Out-of-Control President. Maybe the end isnt in sight after all. justin.chang@latimes.com When Kevin Hart came up with the idea for Night School, he conceived of it as an adult version of John Hughes classic The Breakfast Club. The idea came from me just thinking about how funny it would be to place adults back in a high school-like atmosphere, said Hart, who co-wrote and stars in the film, which opens nationwide Friday. What made The Breakfast Club so special was that it only focused on those five characters [so] you really got to dive into each one of their stories. Rather than group detention, Night School bands together a disparate class of seven students seeking to pass the GED exam. The motley group includes Teddy (Hart), a schmoozing sweet-talker whose recent career change demands a high school diploma or equivalent; Jalen (Romany Malco), recently unemployed due to advancing technology and still touchy about it; Big Mac (Rob Riggle), a dad seeking to inspire his teenage son to finish high school; and Theresa (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a hardworking mom going back to school to gain some independence from her domineering husband. Al Madrigal (who plays Luis, a Mexican immigrant with a personal vendetta against Teddy), Anne Winters (as Mila, who was given a choice between night school and juvie) and Fat Joe (as Bobby, an inmate who Skypes into class from prison) round out the cast. Advertisement The movie is about a diverse group of underdogs who are looking for a second chance. None of their lives have gone the way that they thought they were going to go, said producer Will Packer. We wanted to make sure it was a really diverse group of folks from various backgrounds and perspectives. The cast of Night School, clockwise from far left: Mary Lynn Rajskub, Al Madrigal, Kevin Hart, Rob Riggle, Fat Joe, Anne Winters and Romany Malco. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) While finding the right ensemble could make or break the film, Packer remembers the casting process as relatively seamless. It wasnt an extensive audition process, he said. We kind of knew who we wanted. These were established comedians for the most part. We wanted to go after some of the best in the business and folks that could do a variety of things. We wanted to go funny, agreed Hart. And we wanted people that could improv. People that could bring the material on the page to life and add a new flavor to it. In fact, improvisation skills were instrumental in deciding whom to hire. You cant have a movie like this and not [improv], said Hart. Thats why I went after Tiffany Haddish [who plays Carrie, the night school instructor], thats why I went after Romany Malco. Thats why we offered it to Rob Riggle. Some people just got offers because we knew what they could do. And though the films promotional push has focused on stars Hart and Haddish, the night school classmates (as well as other supporting characters) provide some of the biggest laughs. Thats one of the things I think will be a pleasant surprise for people about the movie, said Packer. Because a lot of the marketing is focused on Tiffany and Kevin who are amazing, but there are gems within the story that revolve around the other actors and the classroom dynamic. Some of it was on the page, but a lot of it we found on set allowing the actors to riff and ad lib and have fun with their roles. Kevin Hart, from left, Tiffany Haddish and Taran Killam in a scene from Night School. (Universal Pictures) On the other hand, it was just as important to director Malcolm D. Lee (Girls Trip) that the actors kept their characters true to what was on the page. We made sure, the writers and I, to be very clear about who each character was, he said. We wanted to give them all specificity and we discussed in rehearsal about how far we could go with certain things and how we can get deeper into back story and display that on screen. Malcolm is great that he allows his actors to do that, said Packer. He keeps them on track and keeps them in the zone of the story. But hes really good about letting his actors have some freedom. In assembling a group of performers that span the worlds of stand-up, film, television and even music, it was crucial that each member of the ensemble bring something different to the table. You want to make sure youve got folks that have different skill sets that can be woven together in the tapestry of the narrative, said Packer. You want to give the actors room to play within the parameters of the story. And these guys were all really good at that. Added Lee, When youre doing a comedy, especially an ensemble comedy, youve got to have choices in the editing room. Because when you get to the editing room with one take, you could be painting yourself into a corner. And not a very good one. Coming off the breakout success of Girls Trip, Lee (and Haddish) had experienced first-hand what a difference one movie can make in an actors career. And the director jumped at the chance to work on a project that gave even more opportunities for supporting players to make their mark. I would say theyre all scene stealers in their own right, Lee said of his Night School cast. And for me, its always great to put great comedians, actors, improv people in the arena together. They can play with one another and go with their different styles of comedy and you get something magical when that happens. The filmmakers credit each of the actors for finding idiosyncrasies in their characters that added texture to their back stories and simultaneously dialed up the humor. Some of it was in the script, and some of it we found as the actors started performing and really started to become their characters, said Packer. Romany is a good example. We had Jalen written on the page as this character who doesnt trust technology and what Romany did was just ratchet it up a notch. He made him this cerebral conspiracy theorist which was a really, really funny way to go with that character. The cast of Night School, clockwise from far left: Mary Lynn Rajskub, Al Madrigal, Kevin Hart, Rob Riggle, Fat Joe, Anne Winters and Romany Malco. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) You know what Romany did that was really funny? added Hart. Romany brushed his hair where there wasnt any for the entire movie. Romany clearly is bald. And he chose to brush his bald spot for the entire movie and its the funniest thing in the world. He was just very persistent and adamant, and thats how characters are made by finding little nuances that they hold onto that you can build off of throughout the movie. Thats what the pros do. You know, you dont miss with Romany Malco. Ive been in several movies with him, you just dont miss, hes as good as it gets. Rob Riggle, as good as it gets. Mary Lynn, as good as it gets. Al Madrigal, oh my God. That was my first time working with Al but when I saw what he brought to the table and the angle that he came from, I was blown away. Between Al and Romany, I feel they both steal the movie. The films strong cast extends beyond the classroom as well, with Ben Schwartz as Teddys longtime friend, Megalyn Echikunwoke as Teddys high-powered fiancee, Yvonne Orji as her protective friend and Keith David and Bresha Webb playing Teddys father and sister. Saturday Night Live veteran Taran Killam, who plays the schools strict principal and Teddys former high school rival Stewart, also contributes some of the most memorable jokes of the film. The whole idea behind the principal was that he was such a fan of Lean On Me, said Hart. I said the funniest thing in the world is to have a white guy that embraces Joe Clark. So thats where the bat came from, thats where the Im going to whip this school into shape perspective on education came from. Having established himself as one of Hollywoods few remaining bankable comedy stars with hits including Central Intelligence, Ride Along and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, theres no doubting that Night School is a Kevin Hart vehicle. But the star acknowledges that allowing others a turn in the spotlight only served the movie overall. You want people to have the confidence to be the best version of themselves, said Hart. So we established a high level of comfort from the beginning. We wanted to give everybody moments to score, which is why I can openly say Im not the funniest person in this movie. Im the straight guy for the most part. The ResultsAs They Happen The ResultsAs They Happen WorldTempus brings you all the Only Watch news direct from the auction WorldTempus brings you all the Only... When Richard Rodgers wrote the lyric There is nothin like a dame, he likely did not have the stars of Tea With the Dames in mind. Or maybe he did. Candid, insightful and unpredictable, Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Dame Maggie Smith are not only acting legends but also great friends. And a treat to hang out with. All in their 80s, these women apparently get together periodically to lunch and gossip, and it was the idea of director Roger Michell to record one of these sessions and see what happened. As he says in a directors statement, I didnt want to stage anything, repeat anything, fake anything. Because he is a fine filmmaker in his own right (Persuasion, Notting Hill and others), Michell wanted to do more than just record. He has, for instance, woven in archival clips of the quartets work so we can see the rarely viewed television performances of their early years. Advertisement That includes Plowright playing Portia in a 1970 The Merchant of Venice, Dench and Atkins in the marvelous 1960 Shakespearean epic An Age of Kings, even a newsreel clip which the actress herself had never seen of an 18-year-old Dench appearing in the York Mystery Plays. But, of course, the main lure of this brisk and entertaining film is the four women and what they have to say. Because theyve known each other so well for so long, we get to see them as people, not stars, as they tease one another, tell old war stories and make one another laugh. Though their discussion takes wide-ranging turns including Dench recommending a filmed press conference by Soviet double agent and master of duplicity Kim Philby as something every actor should look at some common threads emerge. For one thing, because, as Atkins says, we all thought we were going to be theater people, stage fright is a recurring issue. The actress recalls she would frequently ask herself, Would you like to be run over in a massive car accident on the way to the theater or go onstage? with go onstage narrowly winning out. Taking on Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra unnerved all of them, with Dench going so far as to ask director Peter Hall when he offered Cleopatra to her, Are you sure you want a menopausal dwarf to play this part? Another key player in the quartets professional and personal lives was Laurence Olivier, the great actor of his generation and the founding artistic director of the National Theatre. Smith acted with Olivier many times I was more scared of him than the critics, she cracks and Plowright, who married as well as worked with him, thinks carefully before she calls the whole experience a great privilege and a bit of a nightmare. The dames also talk about their contemporary work, with Dench saying she took the part of James Bonds boss, M, because then-husband Michael Williams told her, I long to live with a Bond woman. Smith is equally acerbic about her award-winning popular role as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey, talking about the huge hats she had to wear (exhausting) and revealing that she has yet to watch the show, though Ive been given a boxed set. Although the women steer clear of wild and crazy stories, personal temperament and rivalries do make appearances. Smith cracks that Dench always gets called first for juicy parts, while Plowright reveals her agents self-described search for a nice little cameo that Judi Dench hasnt got her paws on. Perhaps most poignantly, each of the women is asked what advice she would give her younger self. Atkins says, Try not to be so bad-tempered and confrontational; Dench says, Try not to be susceptible to falling in love; and Smith tartly concludes, When in doubt, dont. Lives well-lived cant be compressed into a brief documentary, but Tea With the Dames is hard to resist nevertheless. --------------- Tea With the Dames Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 21 minutes Playing: Laemmle Royal, West Los Angeles kenneth.turan@latimes.com @KennethTuran Its election night 2016 in the opening minutes of the rebooted series Murphy Brown. Dressed in a T-shirt that reads Original Nasty Woman, the retired news anchor (the indispensable Candice Bergen) has dozed off on the couch while waiting for the results. And shes having a nightmare. Its a furious barrage of news clips surrounding the election, including footage of actual news anchors struggling with how to repeat then-candidate Donald Trumps phrase Grab em by the. She jars awake to the election results, and a resounding Noooooo! is the first word we hear from Brown in 20 years. Brown and her creator Diane English, who has described the shows namesake character as Mike Wallace in a dress, couldnt have returned to the fold at a more opportune time even down to the day the CBS series premieres. Murphy Brown reenters the fray Thursday, the same day Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford are scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding her allegations that he tried to rape her at a house party in their high school years. Advertisement Their testimony, if televised, promises to fuel a news cycle as frenetic and disturbing as Browns show-opening nightmare, a feeding frenzy that will undoubtedly spill over into the series prime-time slot. Browns real-life peers such as Andrea Mitchell will be recapping the most contentious SCOTUS confirmation hearing since Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill testified in 1991. It was a nationally televised spectacle many Americans thought theyd never witness again: a room of all male politicians grilling one woman about her sexual harassment claims against a former male superior. Thomas was up for a lifetime appointment to nations highest court of law, but it was Hill who was scrutinized, grilled and ultimately dismissed. Back then, the always-topical Murphy Brown dedicated at least one episode to the painful chapter in American politics, and in it, Brown the journalist refused to reveal her sources to a condescending group of senators who looked awfully familiar. In that version of Senate inquest, she did what Hill could not fight back. The lines between TV and reality were further crossed when a year later Vice President Dan Quayle expressed moral outrage about Murphy deciding to raise a baby on her own. A Kavanaugh, Ford and other accusers-inspired episode cant be far off. Thats because Brown, who returns to journalism in the rebooted series, once again has a podium from which to debate and satirize current events, and poke fun at how those events are covered. Breaking news in the last week alone is a cornucopia of material compared with what she had to work with back in the day. And if the first three episodes available for review are an indication of whats to come, shes prepared to slay this time around. And how is it that this sitcom character created in the 1980s does a better job at skewering our modern media culture, and showing us how far we havent come in terms of womens fair representation, than most of her present-day scripted competition? Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown and Grant Shaud as Miles Silverberg in an upcoming episode of the revival. (John Paul Filo / CBS) Browns driven back into journalism after she realized during the first Womens March that she still had plenty to say, and rather than screaming at the television she figures why not scream outward toward viewers. Shes passionate about combating fake news, speaking truth to power and only being shot from the waist up so she can host her new morning cable show, Murphy in the Morning, in pajama pants. Shes gotten the old team of Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford), Frank Fontana (Joe Regalbuto) and Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud) back together. Theyll hopefully counter all the misinformation peddled on the Wolf News Network, where all the men are conspiracy theorists and the women are dead behind the eyes. So we see Brown sneaking into White House press briefings in disguise after being banned, starting a Twitter war with Trump on air and refusing to interview a Steve Bannon-like character despite the pressure from the networks CEO. Brown makes the tough decision after speaking to another veteran journalist that fans will recognize (no spoilers here). They argue that if Brown gives that human mudslide airtime to justify his racist policies and conspiracy theories, shell be giving a false news equivalency to the racist propaganda she seeks to eradicate. Its one of many present-day journalism conundrums thats tackled in the half-hour show with nuance, smart humor and a still surprisingly sharp edge. If the confirmation hearing addressing the mounting sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh does take place Thursday, or any other time in the near future, it will no doubt be a font of disturbing and infuriating material for the outspoken Brown to satirize. Brown knows what to do because, sadly, weve been here before. Murphy Brown Where: CBS When: 9:30 p.m. Thursday Rating: TV-PG-L (may be unsuitable for young children with an advisory for coarse language) lorraine.ali@latimes.com @lorraineali The long Night of the Living Dead television shows continues, with the resurrection of Murphy Brown, a topical multi-camera, live-audience sitcom from the 20th century, starring Candice Bergen as a television journalist. Premiering Thursday on CBS, it returns to the series all its surviving stars, either as regulars or recurring faces, and also brings back several original writers and creator Diane English, who left the show after its fourth season. Three episodes were made available to review, and I watched them twice to get past the disorienting effect of 20 extra years on a first viewing, in order to see it fresh, paradoxically, on a second. Its funny and sweet and true to its roots, if, at times, a little obvious in its aims. Its tempting to compare this to the revival of Roseanne, which premiered in 1988, the same year as Murphy Brown. Each featured a strong, (refreshingly) opinionated woman in the lead. Each was concerned with the sociopolitical matters of its time, if viewed in different ways from different places. Advertisement The new season begins after a preamble of recent electoral history in the recent past as Murphy walks out of this years Womens March and into Phils Bar, wearing a gladiators helmet, and delivers a message: The pink hats were fine for the first march, but its time to step it up. Were at war now. Joe Regalbuto as Frank Fontana and Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown in a scene from the series premiere of Murphy Brown. (Jojo Whilden / CBS) RELATED: How do you dress a resurrected icon like Murphy Brown? Very carefully Murphy Brown was born in the George H.W. Bush administration with which it famously clashed, when then-Vice President Dan Quayle attacked the show for Murphys single motherhood but lived large in the Clinton years. Reflecting our current state of mental emergency, the revival comes with a heightened sense of urgency and public mission, like a tweet you just have to send to stop evil from winning. Still, its not as if no one has been doing that job. There is so much topical comedy now with myriad nightly and weekly series turning current events into one-liners or extended analytical comic monologues. Trump is imitated everywhere, and there is the incidental, unintended black comedy the president himself commits, as when he recently got laughs at the U.N. when he claimed that almost no other administration in history had done as much as fast as his. Thats not to say that the political humor in Murphy Brown is superfluous indeed, the news is central to its premise; its the reason were meeting. Like Murphy Brown, Murphy Brown has come out of retirement explicitly because of Trump. There is such insanity out there, says Murphy, that I was this nut job yelling at the TV. Id rather be on TV yelling out. But like the reborn Roseanne, which took heat for what some called politicking, the funniest jokes and most affecting moments are rooted in the characters and their way of being with one another. Frank Fontana (Joe Regalbuto), the investigative reporter whose fearlessness is matched only by his neediness, has been teaching. Perky Southern features reporter Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford) has been cut from a morning show. And Miles Silverburg (Grant Shaud), on the far side of a nervous breakdown, is fetched from the dark disarray of his rooms at the Watergate Hotel. Soon they will be back on TV, with Murphy in the Morning. Murphys son, Avery (Jake McDorman), a child when last seen, is now a broadcast journalist himself, bearded and strapping and conveniently returning home to Washington, D.C., to live with his mother. (The character in some respects takes the place of Eldin Bernecky, played by the late Robert Pastorelli, the house painter who never went home.) Avery has been offered his own show on the Wolf Network nothing subtle in that name where, as his mother describes it, all the male anchors are conspiracy theorists and the women are dead behind the eyes. It happens to be on opposite hers. Jake McDorman, pictured here with Candice Bergen, takes over the role of Avery Brown most recently played by Haley Joel Osment. (Jojo Whilden / CBS) Avery does not fit the network profile. But in the course of covering the 2016 election, he has developed sympathy for the good people, who care about this country, who drive pickup trucks and have kids in the military, and save their coupons and go to church on Sunday, not to indulge in any limiting stereotypes about the good people. They deserve a voice. Theyve got one, says his mother. Its orange, lives in the Oval Office and is Facebook friends with Putin. Murphy characterizes Averys new employers as the ministry of propaganda, but most not all of the battles have been designed for her to win. One episode pits Murphy against a Steve Bannon/Alex Jones stand-in, a straw man who rails against libtards, crimmigants and swarthy people; she gets the last, withering word. Likewise, she bests Trump (who nicknames her Old Murphy) in a social media war. Still, English takes care to humanize the opposition. Avery has a friendly relationship with Sarah Huckabee-Sanders; the media takes its lumps: Theres a difference between good television and journalism, says Murphy. This is why the people dont trust the press anymore. The team has now acquired a tech expert, Pat Patel (Nik Dodani). Given a smartphone and told to get onto social media, Murphy objects: Its where people go to nurse their outrage and express their opinions and as we all know, I dont care what other people think. Her own first tweet: Heres a fun fact. I once went on a date with Donald Trump. (Candice Bergen did too.) Just think before you tweet, mom, Avery says. Shows have been canceled for less. And there is your Roseanne reference. Time is inescapably of the essence: It seems like just yesterday I was changing your diaper, Frank says to Avery, who replies, Well, in a few years, Uncle Frank, Ill be happy to return the favor. Corky is menopausal, which she characterizes as Gods way of saying to women, Sorry, but now that youre done having babies, Im going to have to kill you. Miles, whose extreme youth was a joke in the first seasons, is solidly middle-aged. (And co-anchor Jim Dial, played by Charles Kimbrough, is not a new series regular, though he will drop in from his boat, like a good-looking Poopdeck Pappy, to show his face, and amuse.) Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown, Charles Kimbrough as Jim Dial, Tyne Daly as Phyllis in an upcoming episode of Murphy Brown. (John Paul Filo / CBS) RELATED: Not the fall CBS expected: Murphy Brown returns as Les Moonves exits And yet in some ways, time has, comfortingly, stood still. Murphy has apparently done no redecorating in 20 years. Nor has Phils Bar changed, apart from the inspired installation of Tyne Daly as its reluctant new proprietor, Phyllis, brother of the late Phil (played by Pat Corley). Of her Washington clientele, Phyllis says, They got fired, their mistress got a lawyer, theyre under indictment for collusion with a foreign government please, Ive got my own problems. Younger Murphy was something of a terror her co-workers, even her close friends could fear her, and she was forever being banned from the halls of power. Shes still competitive and ego-driven and banned from the halls of power and Bergens delivery, though quieter, has its old crisp, propulsive rhythms. But time has tempered Murphy Brown. She has a new, slightly daffy sweetness, most notable in her scenes with her son, with whom she dotingly spars (Shut up, you little piss pot is typical banter). It mirrors the tone of the revival itself: a reunion about a reunion, an expression of the love of the people making it it for the material, their characters and one another. They hit their marks they are who they were. If they seem to move a little slower than before, even as the world moves faster, well, check yourself. Murphy Brown Where: CBS When: 9:30 p.m. Thursday Rating: TV-PG-L (may be unsuitable for young children with an advisory for coarse language) robert.lloyd@latimes.com Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd Ashley Graham made a 24-hour stop in Los Angeles Tuesday to help e-tailer PrettyLittleThing celebrate its new size-inclusive range, and she appears in its #EveryBodyinPLT campaign. Before the party at Delilah, Graham sat down with WWD at the Peninsula Beverly Hills to talk about how shes helping to reprogram the way the fashion industry views size inclusivity. Welcome to Los Angeles. Ciao. I just landed. I was in Puglia shooting and my husband and I drove five miles down the coast to Reggio Calabria to see his family and then we went to Milan. Ive been gone for two weeks, but it was amazing. What was your favorite part about helping to put together the PLT collection? The best thing about the whole collection is its size inclusive, which was an obvious must for me. But also that were not hiding her, we are celebrating her and showing cleavage, thighs, slits, sheer. Its very sexy, sassy and glamorous, but also fun, and thats exactly what we all wanted for her to feel her best. Advertisement Did you have trouble finding fun clothes when you were younger? Oh, 100 percent. I remember in middle school and high school thinking, What am I going to wear for school the next day? And I could never figure out where to buy it or how to put it together in my closet so I actually started cutting my clothes up because I wanted to show off my stomach, show my breasts, and so I just would kind of create my own things. My mom and dad thought I was crazy because I was cutting clothes that I had just bought but they let me and I got to wear things that I felt good and sexy in and here I am now, still cutting clothes up. Its nice to be able to do it yourself and not have to worry about ruining expensive pieces. Growing up there wasnt accessibility like there is now for younger curvy girls. Now there are so many brands that are doing it and thats why I was so excited to join with PLT, because they are doing it globally. I really believe that its not just the U.S. and its just not the U.K., its women around the world who want to feel sexy, sassy, glamorous and included in the conversation. Do you feel that your work as a runway model is helping to move the needle the fashion industry? I have to say theres been so many strides with curvy girls and the runway and theres still so much more work to be done, but Cushnie last season was one of the newer designers to have curves. Prabal [Gurung], Michael [Kors], Christian [Siriano] have been doing it for the last handful of seasons, so it was nice to see yet another designer saying, We want to have more inclusivity. If one does it, then two do it, and a handful do it, its like a domino effect. I think some people wish it would happen a little faster but Ive been doing this for almost 19 years now and Ive never seen it accelerate at the rate its happening now. Im encouraged by it. Do you also feel as though more curvy models are breaking into the industry? Theres always been the desire to be a model, hence why Tyra Banks made Americas Next Top Model because theres so many young faces out there who have the potential and the desire who want to break into the industry. But its not an easy road and if you are one of the different girls, even being curvy is different in this industry, its a hard road to take. But Ive been seeing a lot of new faces and Im encouraged by it because it means we are all headed in the right direction. Whats next for you? Ive got American Beauty Star that I hosted thats coming out in January. Its a new panel and the talent is just extraordinary. Behind every great look is a great hair and makeup team so Im excited to celebrate them. The reflective blue tower of St. Francis Medical Center is the tallest structure in Lynwood, a symbol of the outsized role the hospital plays in the mostly working-class city. Founded in 1945, the facility delivers about 5,000 babies a year, more than almost any other hospital in the state. It is home to a trauma center, treating gunshot victims and others with serious injuries. And its the largest employer in Lynwood, a town of less than five square miles. So news that the hospitals parent company filed for bankruptcy protection last month has sparked alarm in the city, along with a bold plan to protect what officials say is a vital institution. On Tuesday night, the Lynwood City Council voted to launch a bid to buy St. Francis. The interest from the city speaks not only to the hospitals role in the community but also to concerns that it could otherwise be purchased by a company looking to squeeze it for profits, perhaps by reducing or even ceasing medical care. Advertisement Regardless of their past history of good or unfair management, we cant lose sight of keeping the hospital open, said Lynwood Mayor Jose Solache. Thats my No. 1 priority how do we keep the hospital open? The nonprofit Verity Health Systems bankruptcy announcement has imperiled the future of six California hospitals, which mostly serve low-income patients. Verity officials say that 120 academic centers, hedge funds, health systems and other entities have expressed interest in bidding on one or more of the facilities now for sale. Anthony Wright, head of advocacy group Health Access California, said county governments typically manage healthcare services in California. Cities dont usually deal with financing and governing public hospitals, he said, the exception being San Francisco, which has a joint city-county government. This would be novel to have a city get into the world of running a hospital, he said. In addition to St. Francis, the Verity hospitals include St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, OConnor Hospital in San Jose, St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, Seton Medical Center in Daly City and Seton Coastside in Moss Beach. The hospitals were originally owned and operated by Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, but it began looking for a buyer in 2014 after years of financial struggles. Integrity Healthcare, a company created by New York hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management, took over management of the hospitals in July 2015. Last year, NantWorks, the Culver City company controlled by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, purchased Integrity. (Soon-Shiong, a physician and entrepreneur, bought The Times this year.) Soon-Shiong has been criticized for declaring bankruptcy so soon after gaining control of the hospital chain. Theres nothing inevitable about this situation, said Dave Regan, head of SEIU-UHW, which represents nearly 2,000 workers at four Verity hospitals. The union has expressed concerns about Verity efforts to nullify workers pension contracts as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. Verity CEO Richard Adcock said the hospitals dire financial situation necessitated a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The hospital system needs expensive infrastructure updates and has unfunded pension liabilities and bond debts totaling more than a billion dollars, he said. Entities related to NantWorks contributed more than $300 million within the last year in unsecured and secured loans and investments. But Adcock said those investments simply were not enough to stem the losses. You cant keep swimming against that tide, Adcock said. While Verity overall is unprofitable, St. Francis did turn a profit, he said. Still, Adcock stressed that the hospital faces severe structural costs that require significant investment. The bankruptcy allows Verity to consider buyers for each of the hospitals. Adcock said nondisclosure agreements prevented him from discussing those conversations in detail. Any sales must ultimately be approved by the Bankruptcy Court. Our objective is to ensure patient care across the entire system, Adcock said. What were trying to do is balance what is the right mission, as well as our fiscal responsibility. As the sun set on Tuesday evening, more than 50 nurses and hospital staff gathered on the sidewalk outside St. Francis hospital to protest its potential closure. Lynwood City Councilwoman Aide Castro gripped a plastic candle in one hand and a microphone in the other as she addressed the group. She said that she gave birth to two children at St. Francis and that the hospital remains close to her heart. St. Francis Medical Center will make it through this storm, Castro said. Im with you. The citys plan to buy St. Francis would require taking out a bond for the cost of the hospital, which is estimated between $200 million and $300 million, said City Manager Jose Ometeotl. The city would then lease the hospital to a group of doctors who would manage it, he said. A board of trustees would manage the bond and seek new owners if the doctors could not pay the lease, protecting the city from financial liability, he said. Were not risking the general fund and pushing the city into a default or a bankruptcy, Ometeotl said. City officials say they hope to expand the hospital and transform it into a training institution. We want to make this a St. Francis University, said Dr. Joe Ponnezhan, a critical care physician who works at the hospital. Many hospital employees who gathered Tuesday said they worried about what would happen if the hospital closed. Other than St. Francis, nearest trauma center to Lynwood is in Long Beach. Our patients who are en route because they had a stroke may not survive and that could be my aunt, that could be my mom, said Noe Guzman, a nuclear medicine technologist who said he and his family members have received treatment at Verity hospitals. Many health advocates said they feared the hospitals could be sold to someone focused on profits. When the Daughters of Charity were searching for buyers four years ago, the for-profit Prime Healthcare was interested in purchasing the system. But it backed out after the state attorney generals office mandated that it keep the hospitals open for 10 years and provide the same levels of charity care. Im not sure that for-profit operators of this kind of operation are going to have the best interest of the mission in mind, said John Baackes, head of L.A. Care Health Plan, a Medi-Cal managed care plan. They run at the first sign of trouble, and I dont blame them, because theyre backed by investors who are looking for return. In Santa Clara County, officials are trying to buy the Verity hospitals in San Jose and Gilroy, in part because they want to ensure the two hospitals continue to serve low-income patients. Officials want to integrate the two facilities into the county health system, said County Executive Jeff Smith. In this county, the only three hospitals that actually take care of a significant number of Medi-Cal and uninsured patients are the two Verity hospitals and the county hospital, Smith said. So its very critical for us to make sure that those patients who are currently seen by those three hospitals continue to be seen by those three hospitals. Some advocates raised concerns about what will happen to some of the lesser-known Verity hospitals. The Daughters of Charity sale had required that all six hospitals be sold together, but Veritys bankruptcy allows each hospital to be sold individually. You worry that one of them might not find a happy home, said Wright, of Health Access California. There might be one or two that are orphaned, and I think thats obviously a concern for the unions and the community. soumya.karlamangla@latimes.com Twitter: @skarlamangla University of California faculty leaders announced Wednesday they would launch a study aimed at finding out whether SAT and ACT tests accurately predict college success. Those who want the nations most prestigious public university system to make the standardized tests optional for admissions saw it as a positive sign, though Robert May, the chairman of the UCs Academic Senate, would not say whether that outcome could result from the review. More than 1,000 universities across the country including the elite University of Chicago no longer require the tests, which have come under growing criticism. A major study of more than 950,000 applicants to 28 colleges and universities found the tests failed to fully identify talented students capable of college success. Campuses that dropped the requirement saw an increase in applicants, including more blacks and Latinos, the April study found. Those who think such tests should not be required also argue that they automatically place low-income applicants who cant afford expensive test preparation at a competitive disadvantage. Advertisement Theres a lot of research about this, May said after his announcement at the UC regents meeting at UCLA. We just want to be sure we have the best procedures that are the fairest. May said the Academic Senate would study the issue over the course of the school year at the request of UC President Janet Napolitano. In a July letter to faculty leaders, Napolitano said a review of how UC uses the tests and whether any changes were necessary was particularly important now as the university has expanded eligibility for admissions and is experiencing unprecedented growth in demand. Regent Eloy Ortiz Oakley, who heads the California Community College system, already has made up his mind that the requirement should be dropped. Its more of a measure of wealth than it is of preparedness, he said. It has created a whole industry around test prep, and it really does nothing to help a university determine who is the best applicant so I think it should just be gone. The UC Student Assn. has supported dropping the test requirement as part of its push for equity in admissions, according to Caroline Siegel-Singh, the organizations president and a UC San Diego political science major. She said she knows from personal experience that high scores can be bought. She said a friend of hers spent $7,000 on SAT test prep and increased her performance by 400 points to hit a near-perfect score a few years ago. We see the SAT and ACT as a gatekeeper to keep certain students out, she said. The UC Academic Senate periodically reviews standardized test requirements. In 2003, UC accepted a Senate board recommendation to adopt tests covering fundamental disciplines language arts, math and writing that are demonstrably related to college work and can help diagnose student strengths and weaknesses. The new UC requirements led the College Board which administers the SAT and ACT, Inc., to add writing components to the tests. UC regents and administrators also vowed during Wednesdays meeting to build better relations with Native American tribes, who have accused some campuses of failing to return the remains and cultural artifacts of their ancestors. Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, said his tribes efforts to retrieve ancestral burial remains have been absolutely stonewalled by some UC researchers. (Nicholas Agro / Los Angeles Times) Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, told regents Wednesday that their efforts to retrieve remains have been absolutely stonewalled by some UC researchers. Unlike your ancestors, ours are still seen as specimens to many UC researchers instead of human beings with the right to a final, undisturbed place of rest, he said. One point of contention between the tribe and UC Berkeley has been over rights to remains found on San Nicolas Island, one of the Channel Islands. Macarro said he was hopeful that progress would be made after he met with Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ, Napolitano and Regent John A. Perez. Perez, who said his own ancestors were buried among indigenous people in an area of pre-Columbian settlement in Mexico, criticized UCs history related to remains as deeply flawed. But he said he was heartened by Napolitanos remark Wednesday that UC has a fundamental value and that value is in support of repatriation. UC will work to improve its policies, said UC Provost Michael Brown, in consultation with tribal members and faculty leaders. It creates a really good opportunity for us to chart a new course, Perez said. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe A man caught looting homes vacated during the West fire in San Diego County in July has been convicted of breaking into one and trying to get into a second. Ardian Iseni, 30, faces up to seven years and four months in state prison when he is sentenced Oct. 26, a prosecutor said Wednesday. The 500-acre West fire broke out July 6, south of Interstate 8 in Alpine. Flames destroyed 34 homes and 21 other buildings, and damaged 20 more homes and buildings. Iseni was arrested the next day, while some evacuation orders were being lifted. Advertisement He was already on probation for an earlier East County burglary, Deputy Dist. Atty. Shane Waller said. On July 8, a resident posted a notice on the Alpine Community Network website that she had caught a looter on Sage View Drive. He had a tote bag with jewelry in it, the unsigned notice said. I caught him entering a home but got him BEFORE he got in. He had just opened the door. So the jewelry is from other homes in our area, the resident wrote. Waller confirmed that a neighbor saw Iseni peering into the window and jiggling the doorknob of a home while carrying a womans purse. Other neighbors moved in and detained him until a district attorneys office investigator, who was helping with evacuations, came to help. Sheriffs deputies then arrested Iseni. Waller said the jewelry was mostly costume pieces from the victims mother and her husbands Navy campaign medals and dog tags from his three tours of duty in Vietnam. A three-day trial last week ended Friday with a jury finding Iseni guilty of one count each of residential burglary and attempted burglary. Waller said Iseni will be sentenced next month for the Alpine looting case and the probation violation. pauline.repard@sduniontribune Repard writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. A Los Angeles fugitive and serial-predator suspect who fled while out on bail on charges of sexually assaulting a woman in her Westside home was named by the FBI to its Ten Most Wanted list Thursday. The FBI is offering $100,000 for the capture of Greg Alyn Carlson, whom the agency is calling armed and dangerous. Following Carlsons arrest last year, investigators say they used DNA to tie the 46-year-old to at least three sexual assaults stretching back 15 years. Investigators say Carlson is a hot prowl rapist who breaks into womens homes while they are alone or asleep, threatens them with a knife or gun and then sexually assaults them. Advertisement Greg Alyn Carlson joins the notorious Top Ten list because he is considered an enemy to the public, and we believe his violence may escalate, said Paul D. Delacourt, the assistant FBI director in charge of the Los Angeles office. My hope is that his photograph will be viewed by many on the internet, on every phone, in every newspaper and on television sets across the world until he is caught. L.A. police said Carlson burglarized a womans West Los Angeles house on July 13, 2017, and then waited for her to come home. When she arrived, he threatened her with a weapon and then sexually assaulted her, L.A. police said. He broke into a house, viciously attacked a woman when she returned home, LAPD Capt. Billy Hayes said of Carlson. Using forensic evidence and other leads, detectives arrested Carlson on Sept. 3, 2017, in connection with the attack in the 1700 block of Dorothy Street. But shortly after, he posted $1-million bail using his mothers South Carolina home as collateral and fled the state, authorities said. The Washington, D.C., native went to Mount Pleasant, S.C., where his mother lives. According to FBI Special Agent Scott Garriola, Carlson stole a handgun from his stepfather and $75,000 from his mother and then took off again, leaving a note on Nov. 17 saying he was going on the run because he did not believe he would get a fair trial. He left in a Hertz rental car and was next spotted in Hoover, Ala., on Nov. 22. Carlson led police on an erratic, high-speed pursuit that was terminated by officers because of the potential danger to the public, authorities said. A license plate reader next captured Carlsons Hyundai Accent in Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 28 and then a few days later in Daytona Beach. Hayes said DNA has tied Carlson to an April 2003 rape in the 800 block of North Spaulding Avenue and a July 2003 sexual assault in 10400 block of Woodbine Street. Carlson is the 520th fugitive to be named to the FBIs list of the 10 most-wanted fugitives, which has existed since 1950. Investigators think Carlson may have worked as an actor while in L.A. and say that skill may have allowed him to escape unnoticed. Hes gone off the radar like many people do, Hayes said. Hes just disappeared from there. richard.winton@latimes.com Twitter: @lacrimes Police in San Francisco have confirmed that a headless body found in a fish tank was that of the homeowner, who vanished several months ago. KPIX-TV said police announced Wednesday that the remains have been identified as those of 65-year-old Brian Egg. Family and friends hadnt heard from Egg since June, and he was reported missing in late July. On Aug. 14, neighbors reported seeing a stranger and a private crime-scene cleaning truck at Eggs home. Scot Free, one of Eggs neighbors, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he called police after two strangers answered Eggs door. Advertisement Its horrifying, Free said. A dead body was in the house this entire time. Police smelled a strong odor of decay when they went to the home. They found Eggs headless, handless torso in the fish tank. Two men were arrested in the case. Lance Silva, 39, and Robert McCaffrey, 52, havent been criminally charged, but police say they are persons of interest in the case, which remains under investigation. A Sacramento man on Wednesday filed a claim seeking $750,000 against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging that agents beat and threatened him with deportation last year when he refused to turn in other people who were in the country illegally. The complaint says ICE agents first put Carlos Alfredo Rueda Cruz, 28, who is originally from Mexico, on an order of supervision in March 2017, which required him to report to the agency monthly and divulge information about other immigrants in exchange for being permitted to stay in the United States. Rueda said agents pushed him to turn in people with criminal convictions and those who engaged in criminal activity but had not been arrested or faced trial. Although Mr. Rueda reported monthly as required, not once did he provide information about other noncitizens, the claim states. Mr. Rueda did not know of any criminal noncitizens and refused to fabricate stories. A spokesman for ICE did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment Thursday. Claims against government agencies are typically filed before a lawsuit is initiated. Advertisement According to the claim, ICE agents in Sacramento grew increasingly frustrated with Rueda over several months, screamed at him during meetings and threatened to deport his family if he didnt provide information. The situation intensified, according to the claim, on Sept. 26, 2017, when Rueda went to the field office for his scheduled check-in and was told he was being arrested and deported for failing to be an informant. After being held in the office for hours, Rueda was brought into a room with three ICE agents, one of whom demanded he sign a paper written in English. He refused to sign it because he does not speak or read English and didnt understand the contents of the document. Agents told him that it was for his deportation to Mexico and that he had no choice but to sign it, the claim states. Agents refused to allow him to speak with an attorney, Rueda said. When he continued to refuse to sign the document, he alleged, two agents jumped on top of him and then grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back. Another agent slammed Ruedas head on the table. A fourth agent tried to force Ruedas index finger onto an ink pad to use his fingerprint as a signature on the document, but he made a fist to prevent them from getting a usable print, the claim says. Rueda said he was screaming and crying uncontrollably and felt like he was being tortured during the encounter. He was sent to Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center for the night but was brought back the next day to the immigration office where, the claim says, agents assaulted him a second time. When Rueda again refused to sign the document, he said, four agents slammed his head on the table, jumped on top of him, kneed him in the ribs and pulled his arms behind his back. Agents again tried to force his finger onto an ink pad so they could place his fingerprint on the document, according to the claim. Mr. Rueda tried to make a fist to prevent [the agent] from taking his fingerprint, but the agents continued to knee him on his ribs so that the pain caused his hand to open, the claim states. The ICE agents pushed his arms further up behind his back, causing him extreme and severe pain, as this aggravated the injuries to his neck and shoulders that he suffered the previous day. Ruedas screams and cries for help caused other detainees in the holding rooms to bang on the door and scream through the window for agents to stop hitting him. The abuse continued, the claim alleges, until agents obtained his fingerprint. He called a lawyer when he returned to detention that afternoon. Rueda was released from detention in November, and attorneys have been able to get his deportation orders stayed based on the claim that agents coerced him into providing his fingerprint. Ruedas attorney, Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, said this is the first case hes aware of in which ICE agents used an informant to gather information in their community. Its very difficult to get any transparency from ICE about what goes on behind closed doors, he said. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @Hannahnfry With an event at NUO Hotel Beijing, Carl F. Bucherer and JD.com, Chinas largest online retailer, announced their collaboration and the launch of a limited-edition watch available exclusively from JD.com. Sascha Moeri, CEO of Carl F. Bucherer, and Belinda Chen, General Manager of JD Watch, welcomed around 150 media representatives and influencers as guests. Li Bingbing, Chinese actress and Brand Ambassador for Carl F. Bucherer, also attended the event. The online boutique marks the brands first entry into the Chinese e-commerce market. Carl F. Bucherer Our exclusive online boutique on JD.com perfectly complements our expansion in China, said Sascha Moeri, CEO of Carl F. Bucherer, speaking about the new collaboration. Besides the opening of new top retail stores, it is important for Carl F. Bucherer to further develop its position in China by entering the countrys e-commerce market. Thanks to this collaboration, discerning Chinese consumers will have easy access to an exclusive selection of our latest high-quality timepieces. JD.com is the leading trendsetter in Chinas digital transformation. Its infrastructure and technology are also used by a number of renowned international brands, and the company has established strong partnerships with several Swiss luxury watch manufacturers. Customers benefit from the convenience of 24/7 shopping in the online boutique. Carl F. Bucherers foray into Chinas e-commerce market is in collaboration with one of Chinas largest watch retailers, Harmony World Watch Centre, which will operate and maintain the Carl F. Bucherer online boutique on JD.com. Li Bingbing Carl F. Bucherer Launch of a Limited-Edition Timepiece An exclusive timepiece was launched to honor the collaboration with JD.com: the Patravi ScubaTec Lady Limited Edition available only at JD.com. The watch is limited to 888 pieces, and a particularly eye-catching feature is the rotating ceramic bezel in red, inspired by JD.coms corporate color. The wave pattern dial is adorned with three diamonds. Beyond that, in addition to the white rubber strap, the watch also comes with an additional red rubber strap that can be fitted free of charge at a Harmony service center of the owners choice at any time. The Patravi ScubaTec is a watch made for diving and underwater exploration of every kind. In a sturdy case with red highlights and sporty functions, the Patravi ScubaTec is the perfect companion underwater or on land. Carl F. Bucherer has sponsored the Manta Trust, a charity that works to protect the endangered manta ray, for many years. As a sign of the companys commitment, two of these impressive creatures are engraved on the back of every Patravi ScubaTec case. The Patravi ScubaTec is powered by the automatic CFB 1950 movement, which keeps the time precisely and reliably. The Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the parents of a man who was struck and killed as he crossed the street near Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey. Michael Lockridge, 21, was killed just before midnight in April of 2016 as he and his girlfriend crossed Vista del Mar to reach their parked car. Lockridge was struck by two drivers and died at the scene. His parents sued Los Angeles, alleging that the city was responsible for Lockridges death. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2017, said city officials were aware that Vista del Mars design posed a danger to pedestrians but had failed to correct it. (Laura J. Nelson / Los Angeles Times) Advertisement Vista del Mar runs parallel to the ocean and is a common parking spot for people headed to the Dockweiler Beach fire pits. City officials created a pedestrian trap along Vista del Mar by failing to install crosswalks or street lighting, the complaint said. Lockridge was killed a mile from the closest crosswalk, the lawsuit said. The attorneys for Lockridges family did not respond to a request seeking comment. We know that Michaels parents hearts are broken with this tragic loss, said Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer. We hope they can find some solace in todays result. The $5-million settlement, approved in closed session at Wednesdays City Council meeting, is the latest in a string of costly settlements linked to allegations of dangerous conditions on L.A.s streets, sidewalks and bicycle lanes. The year before Lockridges death, 16-year-old Naomi Larsen was struck and killed by a taxi driver on Vista del Mar as she and her friends left Dockweiler Beach. The City Council approved a $9.5-million payment to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Larsens parents. City lawyers told lawmakers at the time that defending the case would be difficult because Los Angeles had failed to take steps to protect pedestrians there despite repeated collisions. After the $9.5-million settlement, transportation officials hastily narrowed Vista del Mar to one lane in each direction and shifted all the parking to the beach side of the street, in an effort to reduce the citys liability before summer crowds began descending. The redesign occurred with little warning for commuters who use Vista del Mar as an alternative to the 405 Freeway and coincided with lane reductions on three other streets in Playa del Rey. The collective traffic delays sparked outrage and frustration from commuters, a flood of calls to City Hall and an unsuccessful recall effort against Westside Councilman Mike Bonin. The lane reductions were reversed two months later, with Bonin admitting that most people outright hated the Vista del Mar redesign. Vista del Mars four traffic lanes have been restored, but on-street parking has been restricted and shifted to a county-owned parking lot nearby. The hope, officials said, is that the design will cut down on the number of people crossing the street. laura.nelson@latimes.com For more transportation news, follow @laura_nelson on Twitter. Now it is Laquan McDonald who is on trial. After days of prosecutors making their case to jurors that Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke committed first-degree murder in 2014 when he shot the black teenager 16 times, attorneys for the white officer are presenting their own evidence. Their contention: The teenager was a violent, dangerous, knife-wielding suspect on a rampage whom Van Dyke was forced to kill. What you are seeing is they are trying to build a case on Laquan as if he is the perpetrator and not the victim, said the teens great-uncle, the Rev. Marvin Hunter. Thats because what you see on the video is so clear that when [Van Dyke] got out of the car, all he saw was a black boy he felt was disobeying the orders or the police. The shooting happened after police were called to a report of someone breaking into trucks. Testimony and video shows officers had McDonald largely surrounded on a city street and were waiting for someone to arrive with a stun gun to use on the teenager when Van Dyke pulled up, got out of his squad car and started shooting. Squad car video shows McDonald was veering away from police, a knife in one hand. An autopsy showed McDonald had a small amount of the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system. Advertisement Part of the story being told is about McDonalds past. He spent most of his 17 years as a ward of the state, shuttled between different relatives homes and foster care from the time he was 3. McDonald wound up in juvenile detention after an arrest on a marijuana possession charge in January 2014, and among those testifying at Van Dykes trial this week were several current or former employees at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center who said they had violent run-ins with McDonald. Under state law, in cases where criminal defendants claim they acted in self-defense, as Van Dyke has, judges can let attorneys present evidence about previous incidents, even if the defendants didnt know about them. But prosecutors have argued that McDonalds past is irrelevant because Van Dyke did not know anything about the teen when he shot him on Oct. 20, 2014. An attorney who is not involved in the case, but who regularly represents police officers, says it appears Van Dykes lawyers are using that evidence to put into context McDonalds actions that night. According to testimony, McDonald ignored orders to drop his knife and at one point used it to puncture a squad car tire. One officer who encountered McDonald before Van Dyke arrived testified that the teenager looked deranged and wouldnt look at officers as they followed him. They are trying to demonstrate to the jury that Laquan McDonald had the capability of becoming violent and resisting the orders of police officers, said Laura Scarry, a Chicago attorney who has represented police officers for more than 20 years. They are trying to paint a picture that contradicts the idea that he was compliant that night ... to show that he had a pattern of violent tendencies, and tendencies to resist orders from police. In this Oct. 20, 2014, image taken from dash-cam video provided by the Chicago Police Department, Laquan McDonald, right, walks down the street moments before being fatally shot by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. (Associated Press) On Thursday , the defense called a witness to bolster that portrayal: A pharmacologist testified the teen had enough PCP in his bloodstream to cause hallucinations, rage and violence to trigger significant bizarre behavior and leave him dangerous to himself and others. Some see the defense strategy as more insidious than just trying to show Van Dyke was acting in self-defense. The mission is not merely to support Van Dykes view that he had to do what he did but to ... take [McDonalds] humanity away so they can identify with the police officer rather than a dead kid, said Jennifer Bonjean, whose clients include a man whose murder conviction was dropped after he alleged a former Chicago police detective beat him into making a false confession. They are saying, Dont get so worked up over a dead kid; this is a bad dead kid. Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune put it more bluntly in a column this week, saying the defense is trying to plant the vile idea in jurors minds that Van Dyke should be hailed, not convicted, for ridding our city of a pest. Prosecutors have stressed throughout the trial that no other officers opened fire. When a truck driver testified about how McDonald tried to stab him, prosecutor Joseph Cullen noted he was able to fend the teen off by throwing a cellphone and a handful of rocks. Jeffrey Neslund, an attorney who represented the McDonald family in negotiations with the city that resulted in a $5-million settlement, sees it as risky defense to suggest that it was OK to shoot this kid because he was a juvenile delinquent troublemaker. Neslund added: You are sending that message with guys who all were able to get [McDonald] under control without shooting him. Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Thursday Sept. 27, and heres whats happening across California: TOP STORIES A fight over rent control has raged for three years in the Silicon Valley suburb of Mountain View, with no end in sight. It began in October 2015, when Mountain View City Council members rejected pleas from tenant activists to limit rent increases. Tenant groups responded with a November 2016 ballot initiative to restrict rent hikes, and council members countered by putting a less stringent proposal before voters. Similar battles could be coming to the rest of California. In November, voters across the state will decide on Proposition 10, an initiative to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a 1995 state law that keeps local governments from implementing most forms of rent control. Los Angeles Times Decision California Advertisement Rep. Maxine Waters has tried for months to get a House committee chairman to subpoena documents from Deutsche Bank about Russian money-laundering and the finances of President Trump and his family. If Democrats win the House majority in November, the 14-term Los Angeles lawmaker is almost certain to gain the committees gavel. That would give Waters, one of Trumps fiercest critics, the power to issue those subpoenas along with something more a high-profile platform to battle the administration. Los Angeles Times Plus: Boosted by growing support among suburban women and widespread antipathy toward President Trump, Democrats approach the midterm election poised to make major gains nationwide, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll shows. Los Angeles Times And: In a neighborhood built by refugees more than a generation ago, Trump has found strong support for his crusade to keep immigrants from entering the U.S. without legal status. To many first-generation Vietnamese Americans, who fled war and communism to become stalwart Republicans, its an issue of fairness and waiting your turn in line. But its also a stance that butts up against a few uncomfortable realities including Vietnamese entrepreneurs heavy reliance the labor of Mexican and Central American immigrants often in the country illegally. Los Angeles Times Get more midterm election coverage on our Decision California page. Get the Essential California newsletter (Los Angeles Times) L.A. STORIES Cooling off? Southern California home prices kept rising in August, but sales fell as questions grew over whether the housing market is finally cooling. Los Angeles Times #TBT: The Dodgers loss was the Angels gain when they hired Mike Scioscia. Los Angeles Times Contentious negotiations: Los Angeles school officials on Tuesday announced an improved contract offer to teachers that was immediately rejected by union leaders. Los Angeles Times A rising tide lifts all boats? Can L.A.s restaurant development boom do more for diversity? Eater LA IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER Big roundup: Immigration officials announced the arrest of about 150 people in the Los Angeles area they described as criminal aliens and other immigration violators. Los Angeles Times Plus: ICE agents express dismay at how the public perceives their job. BuzzFeed Scary: In Mexico, federal authorities have taken over security in the Pacific Coast city of Acapulco after suspicions that the local police force has been infiltrated by organized crime. Los Angeles Times POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Drip, drip: Michael Avenatti has revealed client Julie Swetnick as the third woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Los Angeles Times On the trail: Gavin Newsoms low-risk campaign for governor, along with a widespread sense that the outcome of the contest is almost a foregone conclusion, suggests voters may learn little between now and Election Day about Mr. Newsoms qualifications and what he intends to do should he take over as the leader of the nations most populous state. New York Times Money, money, money: How John Cox made the money hes using to run for California governor. Sacramento Bee The midterms: Inside three crucial battleground races. California Sunday Magazine Ooops! San Franciscos new Transbay Transit Center will remain closed at least through the end of next week, transportation officials said Wednesday, after a second cracked steel beam was discovered during an overnight safety inspection. San Francisco Chronicle CRIME AND COURTS Charged: A man suspected of killing several homeless people and leaving others comatose during a string of brutal assaults in Southern California was charged with three counts of murder Wednesday as authorities identified an eighth victim who suffered serious injuries in a recent Westside attack. Los Angeles Times Plus: A Los Angeles County judge ordered journalists Wednesday not to publish courtroom photographs of the man in the homeless beating case. The Times plans to challenge it in court as an unconstitutional prior restraint against the media. Los Angeles Times Yuck: A former Rancho Palos Verdes building inspector was arrested Tuesday and charged with 89 counts of voyeurism after authorities say he placed a hidden camera inside a City Hall bathroom and a bathroom at a coffeehouse, authorities said. Los Angeles Times Following up: An investigation released Tuesday found a California senator threatened to slap a lobbyist and rubbed her shoulders at a restaurant near the Capitol in August. Mercury News THE ENVIRONMENT Another fire: A blaze that quickly chewed through 50 acres of brush in the Cajon Pass on Wednesday prompted the closure of the 15 Freeway. Los Angeles Times More trouble: With climate change, Valley fever spreads in Californiaand this year could be the worst yet. CALmatters CALIFORNIA CULTURE Blame game: Teslas Elon Musk is blaming a trailer shortage for Teslas Model 3 delivery delays. Auto haulers are dubious. Los Angeles Times Pay up: Uber Technologies Inc. will pay $148 million to settle claims related to a large-scale data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 25 million of its U.S. users. Los Angeles Times Yum! One of L.A.s best Sichuan restaurants is opening on the Westside. Los Angeles Magazine RIP: William Bill Patterson, a longtime Fresno Bee reporter who unflinchingly faced an unknown amount of jail time to protect a confidential source and subsequently helped change laws that protect journalists, died Sunday at the age of 91. Fresno Bee On the market: What $2,700 rents in L.A. right now. Curbed LA CALIFORNIA ALMANAC Los Angeles area: partly cloudy, 86, Thursday and Friday. San Diego: partly cloudy, 78, Thursday and Friday. San Francisco area: partly cloudy, 66, Thursday; partly cloudy, 62, Friday. San Jose: partly cloudy, 82, Thursday; partly cloudy, 75, Friday. Sacramento: partly cloudy, 96, Thursday; partly cloudy, 85, Friday. More weather is here. AND FINALLY Todays California memory comes from Virginia Rodriguez: In 1982 I celebrated my quinceanera (traditional Mexican 15th birthday celebration) at the Church of the Epiphany in Lincoln Heights wearing a big white dress. The girls in my court wore pink dresses and the boys wore burgundy tuxes with pink ruffled shirts. Our family church was the birthplace of the Chicano Movement in the 1960s, but to me, it was a special place with beautiful traditions that honored our community and my Mexican and Californio ancestors. We always enjoyed homemade Mexican hot chocolate, pan dulce and tamales after church, and sometimes we had Aztec dancers dancing down the aisle during church. If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad. A look at todays pivotal hearing with Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. TOP STORIES No Ones Pawn In a hearing scheduled to start today at 7 a.m. Pacific, professor Christine Blasey Ford plans to tell senators that she is no ones pawn and that during an alleged 1982 sexual assault by now-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Kavanaugh is denying Fords story as well as other allegations, including from Julie Swetnick, who has accused him of being present at another 1982 party where she says she was gang-raped. Senators will have five minutes each to ask questions of Ford and Kavanaugh, though the all-male Republican contingent on the Senate Judiciary Committee has opted to have a female prosecutor do their questioning. Advertisement I Could Be Doing This All Day Long President Trump was planning to meet with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein today, amid reports that Rosenstein could be fired or quit. But during an often rambling 80-minute news conference, Trump said his preference was to keep Rosenstein and that he might postpone the meeting to watch Kavanaugh and Ford. The president also claimed the women who had accused him of sexual misconduct were paid, called the laughter during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly fake news, raised questions about George Washingtons past, quoted Elton John and much more. I could be doing this all day long, he said. President Trump fields questions at the New York Lotte hotel. (Justin Lane / EPA) A Blast at Beijing In his news conference, Trump also referred to a commentator as saying China has total respect for Donald Trumps very, very large brain. It was just hours after the president had been at a United Nations Security Council meeting where he accused Beijing of interfering against his administration in Novembers midterm election. Though Trump wouldnt elaborate, a senior administration official cited propaganda such as newspaper ads, and retaliatory tariffs against Trump-supporting soybean farmers. The accusation comes amid an escalating trade war and a new espionage arrest in Chicago. Lessons From the Starr Chamber That Kavanaugh and Rosenstein are both in the limelight this week is an interesting twist of fate, considering both worked for Kenneth Starr during his independent counsel investigation of President Clinton. Starr hired them, in part, for their ability to tune out the noise in high-pressure situations. Heres a look at how their work in the 1990s is informing their experience today. A Big GOP Boost From Little Saigon? The Trump administrations crackdown on illegal immigration has sparked protests in many areas of California, but in Little Saigon, its received strong support from an older generation who came to the U.S. as refugees. That could help Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a hard-liner on illegal immigration, keep his seat in the House. But it also reveals a generational conflict and the shifting dynamics of Orange County. Get more midterm election coverage on our Decision California page. Sign up to get Todays Headlines delivered to your inbox. CALIFORNIA -- A man suspected of killing several homeless people and leaving others comatose during a string of assaults in Southern California was charged with three counts of murder. Meanwhile, a judge ordered journalists not to publish courtroom photographs of the man. -- If the Democrats flip the House in November, Rep. Maxine Waters, one of Trumps fiercest critics, will get a powerful platform. -- A fight over rent control in Silicon Valley could be a preview of things to come statewide. -- Another first for scooters in L.A.: A conviction for scooting under the influence. HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS -- Murphy Brown is back on TV tonight after 20 years, and TV critic Lorraine Ali says the character is returning just when we need her the most. -- Now 90, songwriter Burt Bacharach is doing everything he can to stop school shootings. -- Kevin Hart says his new film, Night School, was conceived as an adult version of the John Hughes classic The Breakfast Club. -- Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj has made good on her promise to donate $25,000 to The Cosby Show actor Geoffrey Owens after he was job-shamed while working at a Trader Joes. CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD On this date in 1954, Steve Allen brought The Tonight Show to a national audience for the first time. Asked to describe his humor, he once said: My comedy has always appealed to the hip and to the silly, whether its the 9-year-olds who dig the silliness, or the high school and college kids who dig the hipness. NATION-WORLD -- An estimated 80,000 Americans died of the flu and its complications last winter. It was the diseases highest death toll in at least four decades. -- How did Bakari Henderson, a 22-year-old from Texas, wind up being beaten to death by a mob in Greece? Witness testimony in a murder trial may shed some light today. -- An evening with Oscar Goodman: Armed with only a martini and a long memory, the former Las Vegas mayor talks mobsters, rats and Trump. -- Seeking to curb rampant gang violence and police corruption in Acapulco, Mexican authorities are replacing local cops with state police and the military. -- Indias Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a national identity program that has built the worlds largest biometric database, but curbed some of its sweeping powers. BUSINESS -- Southern California home prices kept rising in August, but sales fell as questions grow over whether the torrid housing market is finally cooling. -- Consumer columnist David Lazarus reviews the Apple Watch 4 and finds it blows away the competition with flashier looks and more functionality. SPORTS -- After losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers are now a half-game behind the Colorado Rockies for first place in the National League West. -- How Mike Scioscia led the Angels to the promised land: Part 2 of our series ahead of his anticipated departure as a manager. OPINION -- Why do we let border agents run checkpoints 100 miles from the border? -- Author Gabrielle Selz writes that women dont come forward because talking about sexual assault is excruciating and people dont want to hear it. WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offers how he would fix the United Nations. (Foreign Policy) -- What will Bill Cosbys life be like as Inmate NN7687? (New York Times) -- Does language come from our brains or the universe? (Aeon) ONLY IN L.A. When Times classical music critic Mark Swed wrote about the Los Angeles Philharmonics upcoming 100th anniversary, he chronicled the characters who helped create what is today one of the worlds top orchestras. (We dont choose our parents, and the LA Phil was born to an eccentric father is how he begins to describe founder William Andrews Clark Jr., an amateur violinist and rare-book collector.) Readers wrote in to add a few more colorful details. If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends. Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com. Thursdays Senate Judiciary Committee hearing will be both dramatic and extraordinary. Barring any unforeseen developments and God only knows what might happen next California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford will publicly accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers and Kavanaugh will repeat his fervent denials, while the nation watches on live TV and tries to determine who is telling the truth. Of course, the future of the U.S. Supreme Court hangs in the balance, but equally important are the cultural implications of Thursdays showdown, which could last just as long and run just as deep. The hearing and the very serious charges that made it necessary are coming in the midst of the powerful #MeToo movement that has swept the country in the last year. The testimony will be narrowly focused on what Kavanaugh did or didnt do back in 1982, but the ramifications of what is said and done by the senators and the witnesses will go much farther. Just look at Anita Hills testimony in 1991 that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her in the workplace. The rushed hearings and belittling treatment of Hill by senators exposed the pitfalls that come with publicly accusing the powerful. Thomas was ultimately seated on the court. But Hills allegations shined a spotlight on sexual misconduct, put harassers on notice that attitudes were slowly changing, and inspired a wave of women to run for and win elected office. The future of the U.S. Supreme Court hangs in the balance, but equally important are the cultural implications of Thursdays showdown. Advertisement Now there is again a reckoning underway with sexual misconduct. It is long overdue and badly needed. The fact is that 27 years after Hill came forward, sexual harassment and sexual assault remain shockingly common and all-too-often unpunished. Women are still reluctant to come forward when they are abused or mistreated. Perpetrators offend and re-offend, often with impunity. (Finally, this week, Bill Cosby was sentenced to prison.) It remains easy for women to be dismissed by those in power. (Consider President Trumps snide tweet in which he wondered if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says.) At Thursdays hearing, it wont just be Ford and Kavanaugh under scrutiny. There will be attention paid as well to how the Judiciary Committee, which is woefully short of female voices, handles such sensitive and serious allegations. Just four of the 21 members of the committee are women. The GOP seats are all filled by men, which is no doubt why Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) chose to fly in a female attorney to question both Ford and Kavanaugh. Grassley said the hiring of Rachel Miller, a sex-crimes prosecutor from Arizona, was an attempt to de-politicize the process and avoid grandstanding. That would certainly be a relief after what weve seen in recent weeks. At Thursdays hearing, the senators from both parties need to act respectfully and listen with open minds. Both Ford and Kavanaugh must be allowed to make their cases. Weve come too far to repeat the mistakes of the Clarence Thomas nomination hearings nearly three decades ago, when Hill faced demeaning inquiries, such as when Alabama Sen. Howell Heflin asked whether she was a scorned woman or a zealot civil rights believer. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion Republicans have already failed to act with appropriate gravity by refusing to request an FBI investigation into Fords charges before the hearing. Nor has there been an investigation into the newer allegations of sexual misconduct from a former Yale University classmate who says he exposed himself in front of her during a college dorm room party, and a woman who said a youthful Kavanaugh was present when she was gang raped decades ago. Kavanaugh called the allegations false and a grotesque and obvious character assassination. The senators have a difficult job ahead to untangle what really happened 30 years ago. Even if an unequivocal determination cannot be made, they have an obligation to try to get as close to the truth as possible, and not to let this devolve into a rote exercise or a partisan charade. Like many of the shocking stories that have characterized the latest #MeToo moment, the Kavanaugh case raises a number of challenging and complex issues. Among them are how to separate truth from falsehood in he-said-she-said allegations; how to make it easier for women to come forward when they are assaulted; how to distinguish between more egregious and less egregious allegations of sexual misconduct; and how to think about misbehavior that may have occurred in the past, even decades ago. This hearing is not the only #MeToo showdown there will be, but its vital that senators get this one right. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein takes a highly publicized three-quarter-mile drive to the White House for a sit-down with President Trump on Thursday. It will be their first face-to-face meeting since the explosive report that Rosenstein once mused about wearing a wire in talks with the president and about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. The meeting has been billed as Rosensteins last stand, a conversation (as Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the media ) in which the deputy attorney general must offer his boss a satisfactory explanation for his actions, or else. That story line, however, doesnt comport with Trumps personality or the political calculus the White House swiftly adopted in the wake of the report of Rosensteins disloyalty. First, Trump is hardly the conversation type: Thats too touchy-feely for the reality TV star who made youre fired his tag line. And, by all reports, the White House has already concluded that sacking Rosenstein would be, at the least, fodder for the Democrats in the upcoming midterms. After Nov. 6, however, it seems very likely there will be a changing of the guard at the Department of Justice, and one that will involve not just Rosenstein but also Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. What would a change augur for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and the investigation he heads? Advertisement As it turns out, theres no longer an easy path for Trump to break free of the Russia probe. If the president sacks Sessions and nominates a new attorney general, that person, once confirmed, would assume oversight of the probe. But its a good bet that Trump would face pressure even in a majority-Republican Senate to pick a nominee who would provide assurances that Mueller could complete his work. And if the Senate (or the House) changes hands in November, those assurances would have to be airtight. Theres no longer an easy path for Trump to break free of the Russia probe. Trump is almost as constrained if he sets his sights on Rosenstein, unless the deputy attorney general agrees to resign. In that case, under the Vacancies Reform Act, the president is entitled to install any Senate-confirmed officer in the vacated slot. In other words, he would have his choice of toadies and deep-state haters. Trumps prerogative is far less clear in the event of a firing. The Vacancies Act provides for citizens to sue over an appointment they think violates its terms. The courts could reject the presidents choice, and depending on whom he might tap, an avalanche of lawsuits is almost guaranteed. The president has another option. He could discharge Rosenstein and rely on the Department of Justices automatic devolution of oversight responsibility. That would transfer responsibility of the probe to Solicitor General Noel Francisco or Steven Engel, the head of the Office of Legal Counsel. Engel is the more likely choice because Franciscos firm represented Trump during the campaign; he would probably have to recuse himself. Objectively, the result would be a trade down from Rosenstein. Neither Francisco nor Engel has prosecutorial experience, and both men are more ideological than career prosecutor Rosenstein. But they are also likely to want to have a professional future in Washington once the Trump train finally rolls out of town. They will almost certainly calculate that pulling the plug on the Mueller probe would not be a good career credential. So lets posit that, in the event of Rosensteins departure, whoever assumes oversight of the probe wont kill it outright. There would still be plenty of ways to try to weaken it. One would be by ordering Mueller to no longer pursue any offenses other than those directly related to a conspiracy with Russia during the campaign. So far, the probes most fruitful achievements trace to Muellers authority, established by Rosenstein, to go after any matters that arise directly from his investigation. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion A hostile supervisor could also put Mueller on a tight deadline to finish the probe, adopting the Trump line that the probe has dragged on way too long. The evidence, of course, is directly contrary: Mueller has achieved far more in far less time than any other special or independent counsel. The most worrisome outcome of a change at the top of the DOJ is what would happen when Mueller finishes his report. The regulation that governs special counsels requires Mueller to deliver his findings to his boss in confidential form. It then falls to that official to provide an explanation of the findings contours undefined to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. That official also decides whether it is in the public interest to release the explanation to the public. Trumps lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani has already indicated that the White House will do what it can to bury the report. That would be the ultimate constitutional affront and public disservice. More than that, it would surely be a political nonstarter. Some way, somehow, Muellers findings would be made public. Which brings us back to Rule No. 1 of the Mueller probe: The public, Congress and the White House know only a fraction of what the special counsel has uncovered. It wouldnt be surprising if there are already contingency plans in place to counteract any change of oversight. One hugely effective measure Mueller has taken is farming out spinoff investigations to different DOJ offices, including the notoriously independent Southern District of New York. Whatever measures a new overlord could take, its a good bet that Mueller and his team will be ready to parry them, if not fully then at least sufficiently to complete the basic work of the probe and bring their findings to light. That makes it very unlikely that Trump will find a way to avert Muellers eventual harsh judgment, and all that flows from it. Harry Litman, a former deputy assistant attorney general, teaches constitutional law at UC San Diego and UCLA and practices law at Constantine Cannon. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Our friends and peers are asking more and more about our retirement plans, probably because they are thinking about retirement themselves. And although we all may be thinking about it, we find ourselves reluctant to give up our career lifelines. But if our generation is wary, what are our kids thinking? Many of us have healthcare plans, pensions, savings, Social Security and Medicare. Our kids are likely to have none of that. When we were growing up, there were new highways being built, bridges erected, mass transit created and water treatment systems invented. Our kids have seen little in the way of public works improvement. Instead, their future is overshadowed with serious problems: low wage growth, climate change, the collapse of basic healthcare and a rollback of reproductive health services. Advertisement Our kids are wise enough to see their crumbling future and inspired enough not to despair in the face of it. The federal governments ability to address these problems is increasingly hogtied by national debt: $21 trillion at present, or about $1 million for every high school student in the country. Our kids live in a different society than our generation does, and its a crueler and more precarious one. This makes us mad and sad in equal measure. And it means voters our age need to change how we do things at the voting booth. Younger generations were adamant in 2016 that Bernie Sanders was the beginning of an answer. They saw in him, if not a savior, the only national politician willing to acknowledge their predicament. We worked our way up through companies for decades. Not them. Jobs today are increasingly specialized, and career advancement is attained by quitting and moving to a new company. We got health insurance through our long-term employers. Now that employers have little loyalty to employees, our kids need healthcare that doesnt hinge on a job. How many of us got a college education and launched into life nearly debt-free? Not them. They will be saddled with student debt the magnitude of which was unheard of in our day. How many of us bought starter homes in new neighborhoods with good public schools? Not them. In the few cities with good tech jobs, even starter apartments are virtually out of reach. There are solutions to these problems. Nearly every advanced society in the world is doing a better job of finding them than we are. In America, clearly, fixes are not going to come from our senior political leaders, big companies or the clergy. Rather, solutions are bubbling up from a new crop of politicians who are willing to face the world our kids live in, because they themselves live in the same world. This diverse set talks of investing in healthcare for all, education for all, infrastructure for the future and jobs that value workers. The main reason we recognize the potential in these candidates is because our kids know about them, and tell us. Their solutions may not seem perfect, or perfectly practical, to our generation. But at least these hopefuls are grappling directly with the intractable problems our kids will need to solve. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion Some of these candidates are on the national radar. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in New York, who defeated Rep. Joseph Crowley in the Democratic race for the House. Beto ORourke, the 45-year-old congressman from El Paso who is closing in on Ted Cruzs Senate seat. But the few who have attracted headlines are not alone. A whole wave of younger, bolder, more diverse candidates is emerging. They are running for school board seats, county administrators, state representatives. With our help, this new wave could crest. In the next few weeks, we ought to listen to our kids. Ask them whom to vote for and why. Perhaps we wont agree with their choices, but we ought to believe in them enough to vote their way anyway. The middle of this century will be theirs to navigate. They need and deserve the power to begin forging a path through it. We can give them a boost. For the first time in our countrys history, the next generation will be worse off than our own. Our kids are wise enough to see their crumbling future and inspired enough not to despair in the face of it. Why not prioritize their needs in the midterm elections? Signs in our neighborhood read, Drive like your kids live here. In that spirit, this November, vote like your kids live here. Because they do. Steve Palumbi and Mary Roberts live in Pacific Grove. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: I write, not only as an attorney but also an outraged citizen, at the failure of the news media to fully report on the debacle that has become the Senates rush to judgment, without a full and impartial investigation into the claims brought by psychologist Christine Blasey Ford and now at least two other women. The Senate Judiciary Committees failure to fulfill its constitutional obligation, by hiring a prosecutor to ask the Republican majoritys tough questions, is outrageous. A prosecutors job is not to get at the truth, but rather to take the best (or even worst) evidence available to her that investigators have roughly collected, and that a grand jury then has to decide whether is sufficient evidence to indicate, and then use that evidence selectively to convict. So, it is inappropriate that a prosecutor is questioning Ford because her job has never been to get to the truth, but rather, to use the facts available to advocate her position. The American people deserve a fair and just investigation, not a rush to judgment without first conducting a thorough search for the truth. Karen Firstenberg, Los Angeles Advertisement .. To the editor: To all those demanding proof in sexual misconduct cases, but especially in those involving political figures, I have a question for you: Would it make any difference to you anyway? People forgave the Republicans Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore and voted for him anyway despite a security guard at a mall stating that he was banned from it for his inappropriate behavior toward young women. President Trump admitted that he committed what is the textbook definition of sexual assault. He still got the votes. Be honest: Even if you had outright proof, wouldnt you find a way to write it off anyway? From what Ive seen, the reactions to accusations of sexual misconduct are far more partisan than any accusation itself. Show me that thats not true, and I might begin to take your outrage seriously. Tina Schrader, Sun Valley .. To the editor: The Democrats dont have a credible argument to make against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, so theyve resorted to throwing excrement against the wall in the hope that some of it will stick. It doesnt stick. It just stinks. Robert S. Rodgers, Culver City .. To the editor: I am no Kavanaugh fan, but I understand his quandary. Decades into a stellar legal career, his ultimate goal may elude him because some alleged youthful alcohol-fueled hijinks have come to light at a pivotal moment. What choice did he have? Admit to an adolescent sex offense, and incur the Senates rejection? Or deny Fords charges and hope that 50 senators will opt to confirm him no matter how credibly she testifies? The #MeToo movement has brought long overdue changes. Kavanaugh isnt the only one who didnt see them coming. If nothing else positive comes of his nomination saga, its that males of all ages have been put on notice: Sexual harassment perpetrators may pay an enduring price, just as their victims do. Edgar M. Martinez, Orcutt, Calif. .. To the editor: It appears that I am not able to relate as much as some of my fellow citizens are to Kavanaugh and his current predicament. I hear expression of empathy: People claim he is being destroyed, smeared and even punished. From my nonwhite perspective, however, I see a man simply being scrutinized for a highly prized promotion. If he does not get it, he can join the countless of us who have been denied such endeavors. He will be OK. Daniel Luna, West Covina Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: Before the 20th century, much of the Owens Valley on the eastern edge of California was uninhabitable swampland, which shows how much water the Sierra Nevada are capable of producing. Starting in 1913, the city of Los Angeles began draining the Owens Valley, resulting in the high, dry desert we have become. Now, the Department of Water and Power is going after the meadows that rest high in the Sierra. It has informed local ranchers that it may soon no longer put water back into the environment they depend on. People from all over the world vacation in the Eastern Sierra. They come because of the beauty and the splendor. They come to ski, fish, hunt, hike and camp. They come to enjoy the silence and the wonder of the mountains. Drying up our meadows will harm us irreparably. I realize it is an impossible dream for the water to be returned to the Owens Valley, but why not help us stay green in areas? Please, Mayor Eric Garcetti, help protect the delicate ecosystem of the Eastern Sierra for the benefit of not only Los Angeles but the entire state. Advertisement Genette Clark, Bishop, Calif. .. To the editor: As reported in the article, the DWP has been annually flooding the lush plains of the Eastern Sierra, allowing ranchers, hikers and nature seekers a way of life they otherwise would not enjoy. However, as with so many other changes people must now make, we have to give up our current lifestyle, whether we live on a ranch, in the forest or in a city. We cannot continue to use water as if it is going to always be there. We need to learn how to take shorter showers, plant desert cactus instead of grass, rid ourselves and our homes of plastic. Although we are sad for the changes the Owens Valley ranchers will have to make, Los Angeles cannot continue flooding the area. Linda R. Todd Dittmar, Chicago Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed potential cooperation projects to upgrade the fleet of the countrys flag carrier EgyptAir with Marc Allen, the president of Boeing, during talks in New York on Wednesday, a presidential spokesman said. El-Sisi and Allen also looked at ways to bolster Egypt's defense fleet, spokesman Bassam Rady added. He quoted the Boeing official as saying that his company aims to scale up its investments in Egypt. The pair met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. EgyptAirs fleet currently contains 39 Boeing 737-800, 777-200ER and 777-200ER aircrafts out of its 72-plane fleet, a source from the company told Ahram Online on Wednesday. Last December, the airline received its ninth B737-800 aircraft, the last in a $864 million deal signed with Boeing in July 2016. EgyptAir also bought six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners as part of a major $6 billion deal signed late last year to expand its fleet with 45 new aircraft, the biggest deal in the company's history. Egypt will receive the first of these aircrafts in March 2019, the company's source said. Search Keywords: Short link: Does the hearing take place and does everyone show up? The hearing starts at 7 a.m. Pacific time, and all signs point to it moving forward. But both sides are nervous, so there is always the chance of a last-minute complication. Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when both were in high school, was initially reluctant to come forward and only agreed to appear under certain conditions. Late Wednesday her team submitted her testimony for the record and said she was ready for the hearing. Kavanaugh has said he is eager to defend himself. Even so, some Republicans have worried privately that he could not survive the spectacle of a public hearing. Is anything truly new revealed? No one has heard directly from Ford since she gave an interview to the Washington Post, and there are a lot of missing details about the incident, including what day the party took place and who all of attendees were. In her prepared statement, Ford said she wished she could recall some of those details, but that the key moment the alleged attack was seared into my memory. Advertisement Kavanaugh, in his interview this week with Fox News, repeated his denials of any misconduct. But senators are likely to press him more directly on aspects of his personal life, including whether during his student years he drank so heavily that he does not remember certain incidents. Will senators go too far in their comments? Republicans are on high alert about how the hearing will appear to potential voters at home. Most of them say they will leave the questioning to the female counsel they hired to question Ford and Kavanaugh. Democrats, including some expected to run in 2020 for the partys presidential nomination, may use the platform to raise their profile. Unlike the Republican senators, the Democrats plan to ask their own questions. Some Democratic strategists worry the senators could push so hard in questions about Kavanaughs private life that they could cause a backlash with the public. How hard does the GOP attorney question each side? Will the committees specially recruited outside counsel Rachel Mitchell, a sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona aggressively question Ford and seek to raise doubts about her story while the 11 Republicans senators, all men, sit silently? Will she also ask probing questions of Kavanaugh? Does Jeff Flake, the one clearly undecided member of the committee, tip his hand? Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who is retiring, was among the first senators to call for a hearing into Fords allegations. In a Senate speech Wednesday, he implored his colleagues to approach the hearing thoughtfully. But he didnt give a clear indication of how he plans to vote. Who comes off as more credible? This is the root of the entire hearing. Senators from both parties acknowledge that the chances of getting a clear resolution of the disagreement between Ford and Kavanaugh are slim. Ford has not been seen or heard in public since her story grabbed the national spotlight less than two weeks ago. And unlike Kavanaugh, she is not a public figure used to testifying under pressure of hostile questions. Kavanaugh will need to explain the two starkly different portrayals he has offered of his youth: a hard-partying, heavy-drinking frat boy or a church-going athlete devoted to studies. If both accounts seem credible, senators will have to decide which side bears the burden of proving its case an issue the Senate leaves up to each member to decide. Unlike a court, where the prosecution must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, a confirmation is more like a job interview. Its unclear how the remaining undecided senators will decide if, as Flake predicted it may, the process ends with the facts still in doubt. More stories from Sarah D. Wire sarah.wire@latimes.com Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter President Trump picked Judge Brett Kavanaugh for a vacant Supreme Court seat in early July, and for a couple of months it looked as though the appeals court judge for the District of Columbia might cruise to confirmation despite the Republicans slim Senate majority. Then came Christine Blasey Fords allegation, made public Sept. 16, that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s, when they were high school students in suburban Maryland. Kavanaugh denied the charges. A week later came a new accusation, this one from Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez, who said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a drunken dormitory party. Again, Kavanaugh denied the charge, saying: This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. Advertisement This week, Julie Swetnick alleged that Kavanaugh was present at a 1982 house party where the Washington woman says she was gang raped. This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone, said Kavanaugh. Heres a look at the three women accusing the Supreme Court nominee. Julie Swetnick Has worked on website operations for U.S. government agencies. (Michael Avenatti) Time frame: High school Allegation: Swetnick says Brett Kavanaugh was present at a 1982 house party where she was gang-raped. She does not accuse Kavanaugh of participating in the assault, but said she witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh and others to get girls inebriated and disoriented so they could then be gang-raped. Response: Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. Christine Blasey Ford Psychology professor at Palo Alto University. (TNS) Time frame: High school Allegation: Ford says that at a party, a drunken Brett Kavanaugh pinned her on a bed, groped her, tried removing her clothing and held his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams. She considers it attempted rape. Response: Kavanaugh has denied the allegation. Deborah Ramirez Volunteer coordinator at Boulder County Health and Human Services. (Associated Press) Time frame: College Allegation: Ramirez says Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at close range at a drunken dormitory party when they were freshmen at Yale University. Response: Kavanaugh has denied the allegation. Senate Republicans blame Feinstein for not bringing Dr. Christine Blasey Fords letter to light earlier Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif). (Michael Reynolds / Pool Photo) Senate Republicans repeatedly blamed ranking Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein for not revealing earlier Dr. Christine Blasey Fords letter detailing her allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. Finally at the end of the day, Feinstein interrupted Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) to push back. I did not hide Dr. Fords allegations. I did not leak her story, Feinstein said. l was given some information by a woman who was very much afraid, who asked that it be held confidential, and I held it confidential until she decided that she would come forward. Republicans said they could have investigated her claim while protecting her identity, without delaying the confirmation process. Ford named herself in the Washington Post after news and vague details about the letter leaked to the news media, and thanked Feinstein in her opening statement. Nearly every Republican on the committee, and Kavanaugh, have directly referenced Feinstein today. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) accused her and Democrats of lying in wait to release the letter. Kavanaugh echoed that in his opening statement. Some of you were lying in wait and had it ready. This first allegation was held in secret for weeks by a Democratic member of this committee, and by staff. It would be needed only if you couldnt take me out on the merits. Tillis told Democrats that if they were worried about having a full investigation, I would tell you to pound the table with your ranking member and leadership on your side [asking] why didnt we we do our part in the investigation. Feinstein had forcefully defended herself in her opening statement. Yes, I did receive a letter from Dr. Ford, Feinstein said. I held it confidential, up to a point where the witness was willing to come forward. Otherwise, Feinstein kept quiet as they criticized her. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said Republicans were accusing Feinstein and Democrats of political posturing because they were trying to change the conversation from Fords testimony. They want to distract us from what happened here this morning, Hirono said. President Trump dismissed as fake news reports that he was laughed at during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, said he wanted Rod Rosenstein to remain in his Justice Department job, said he rejected a one-on-one meeting with the Canadian prime minister, and accused China of interfering in the 2018 midterm election in a freewheeling news conference in New York on Wednesday. Wading into the conversations about the #MeToo movement, an agitated Trump acknowledged that past accusations of sexual misconduct against him have influenced the way he views similar charges against other men, including his Supreme Court nominee. Trump said he viewed such accusations differently because hes had a lot of false charges made against me. He made the comments a day before Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee amid multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. While Trump pledged to listen to the testimony of Kavanaughs accuser and even said he was open to changing his mind about his nominee, he made clear that he was deeply skeptical of these types of accusations. Advertisement Its happened to me many times, Trump said, claiming hed been falsely accused by four or five women. In fact, more than a dozen women came forward during the 2016 campaign, claiming they were assaulted, groped or kissed without consent by Trump. Trump was also caught on tape in 2005 boasting of grabbing women by their genitals and kissing them without permission. During the news conference, Trump continued to lash out at Democrats and label the allegations against Kavanaugh politically motivated. He also expressed frustrations with the delays in the process guided by Republicans and took a shot at attorney Michael Avenatti, who is representing the latest accuser. Trump said reports that he was laughed at during the opening moments of his speech before the General Assembly are fake news. The laughter was clearly audible. Trump said the heads of states and delegates in the audience werent laughing at me. They were laughing with me. Trump opened Tuesdays speech by boasting about an American economy that he says is booming like never before. He also claimed his administration had accomplished more in the less than two years hes held office than any other administration at the same point. The boast elicited laughter. Trump insisted that they did not laugh at me. People had a good time with me. Two days after Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein appeared to be on the verge of getting fired, Trump said he would like to keep him as the Justice Departments second-in-command. My preference would be to keep him and let him finish up, Trump said. The president also told the hundreds of reporters gathered at the New York Lotte Hotel that he had evidence that China was attempting to meddle in the U.S. midterm election. A reporter asked Trump what evidence he had to back up the accusation, which China has denied. He said he couldnt disclose what evidence he had, but that it would come out. He said his allegation did not come out of nowhere. The Trump administration said China is stepping up covert and overt activities to stifle free speech, punish those who support the presidents tough trade stance against China and interfere in the U.S. political system. The administration said China is hurting farmers and workers in pro-Trump states and districts. According to Trump, China has actually admitted that theyre going after farmers. Trump said he rejected a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the tariff dispute involving the two countries. Hes also threatening to place tariffs on cars imported from Canada as trade talks between the two neighbors drag on. Trump said Canada has treated the U.S. very badly during the trade talks. Canada was left out when the United States and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. and Canada are under pressure to reach a deal by Sept. 30. Trump suggested he may go forward with a revamped NAFTA without Canada, saying the agreement would be called USM, for the U.S. and Mexico, instead of USMC. Trump later claimed credit for saving the rebel-held Syrian stronghold of Idlib from a Russian-backed offensive that could have resulted in thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis. Trump said in Wednesdays news conference that he instructed his national security team to warn Russia about the operation after he heard about it from a supporter at a rally and read a news story. He also recalled that he used his Twitter account to warn of consequences in the event that chemical weapons were used there by Syrian forces who were poised to enter the province with Iranian proxy fighters and Russian air support. The offensive was postponed indefinitely this month after the leaders of Russia and Turkey reached a deal declaring a demilitarized zone around Idlib, which is home to 3 million residents and around 60,000 fighters, including some of the worlds most radical. Some estimates put the number of radical fighters at about 10,000. The deal aims to end their presence in Idlib. The news conference prompted real time reaction on Twitter. There is nothing on television more entertaining than a Trump news conference. Nothing. Rob Schmitt (@SchmittNYC) September 26, 2018 Pres Trump news conference passes one hour mark. "I could be doing this all day long," he says of taking reporters' questions. pic.twitter.com/xFMdm7zeKF Mark Knoller (@markknoller) September 26, 2018 Egyptian Preident Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Thursday to discuss efforts to revive the Middle East peace process, a presidential spokesman said. During the talks, El-Sisi stressed the "importance of resuming negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides with a view to reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue based on the two-state solution and relevant international reference points," El-Sisi's spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. El-Sisi added that a final and just settlement of the Palestinian issue will guarantee "stability, security and development" in the Middle East. The two met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled for several years and Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, where the Palestinians hope to establish an independent state, have expanded. The border between Gaza and Israel has been the scene of weekly Palestinian protests over the past months Egypt, longtime mediator in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, has condemned the deaths of Palestinians and President El-Sisi had earlier said that the move of the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem will cause some instability in the region. Egypt was the first Arab country to forge a peace treaty with Israel in 199 under the US-sponsored Camp David accord. Netanyahu and El-Sisi met in public for the first time in September 2017 also in New York, ahead of the annual UN General Assembly. Search Keywords: Short link: Republican John Cox, kicking off the final weeks of his campaign for governor, huddled on Wednesday with workers who produce Sriracha hot sauce and prodded them to air their grievances about Californias housing costs and the price they pay at the pump. The low-key event kicked off Coxs Help Is On The Way statewide bus tour, which will provide the GOP candidate ample opportunities to attack rival Gavin Newsom and other Democrats for the day-to-day struggles of working Californians. Cox listened intently as mixing-room worker Sal Salas talked of needing two incomes in the family just to pay the rent. Felipe Martinez added that his four children sleep in the lone bedroom in his San Dimas apartment while he crashes every night in the living room. The primary reason Im running for governor is because of the affordability of the state, and livability and the quality of life in California, Cox told the small gathering of workers circled around a table inside Huy Fong Foods in Irwindale, where he was joined by company owner David Tran. Ive watched whats happened to the state, and most working people have been priced out. Advertisement Coxs campaign stop lacked the crowds and pep-rally atmosphere that surrounded Newsoms campaign bus tour earlier this month when he stopped in contested congressional and legislative districts to energize support for down-ballot Democrats. Cox never asked the workers for their votes, saying instead that he wanted to hear about the problems they face. Donna Lam, the companys executive operations manager, said Huy Fong Foods welcomed the Cox campaign to the plant but added that no one should consider it an endorsement by the company or the owner. Huy Fong Foods welcomes candidates from all parties, as well as Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and church groups, she said. David [Tran] is not really political. Hes all about America. Made in America, Lam said of the owner. After taking a tour of the plant, Cox told reporters that his 30-stop bus tour will focus on the grave problems facing California, including the rise in poverty, homelessness and cost of living. He blamed those ills on the Democratic politicians who have controlled Sacramento for years. Cox walks past his bus at Huy Fong Foods, which makes the popular Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) He also accused Newsom, Californias two-term lieutenant governor and a former San Francisco mayor, of being more focused on criticizing President Trump than tending to the needs of the nearly 40 million people who live in the state. My opponent has been part of the problems for the last 16 years. He presided over San Francisco, which is now a cesspool, Cox said. Hes been lieutenant governor for eight years, and we havent heard a peep out of him in relation to the major problems this state has. Newsom has repeatedly called that charge false, saying he has offered concrete policies and solutions while Coxs campaign promises have the form and substance of fog. Cox also was quick to say that hes been rising in the polls, a claim borne out by an opinion survey released Wednesday night. A new poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that, since July, Cox has cut Newsoms lead in the governors race by half he now trails the Democrat by 12 percentage points. That same poll found that two-thirds of the likely voters in California disapproved of the job Trump has done as president. Trump endorsed Cox before the June primary, giving his campaign a major boost. Just after Cox finished in the top two in that election, advancing him to the November election, he said he would welcome Trump coming to California to campaign for him. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Coxs Democratic rival, visits with children at UCLAs University Village Center on Wednesday. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) On Wednesday, as his campaign bus headed to Thousands Oaks, Cox told The Times that he still wants Trumps support on the campaign trail but said its not necessary. I think it would be an honor to have the president support me, but thats not what my campaign is about, Cox said. So it doesnt matter. My campaign is about delivering results for the people of California. Newsom was also in Southern California on Wednesday to tour UCLAs University Village Center in Los Angeles, an early childcare and education facility that caters to children of students, including low-income families. He revealed that his campaign will air two more commercials before the Nov. 6 election and described the spots as positive about the issues. Newsom also said that he doesnt have any plans to increase his attacks against opponent Cox, or to link him to Trump. I dont want to, Newsom said. He seems to think thats already happened. Im focusing on the issues. Newsom added that if hes coming after me, well have to respond. Coverage of California politics phil.willon@latimes.com Twitter: @philwillon Updates on California politics We are writing to support Measure QS. As parents of students at Burbank Unified School District, we feel fortunate to live in Burbank, a community that values education and supports the growth and development of our youth. Our schools are comprised of innovative leaders, dedicated teachers and engaged parents, making our schools some of the best in the state. Burbank schools strive to provide a robust education focused on the whole child. We love and appreciate the commitment our teachers and support staff make to our students on a daily basis. Our children are truly fortunate that they can cultivate a love for lifelong learning at our local neighborhood school. As an educator at a private school and an invested parent at our Burbank schools, I (Sarah Escobar) am able to see the differences between a public school and a private school, and feel that Burbank has the vision and talent to contend with most private schools. Unfortunately, the funding for public schools does not keep up with the needs of our children. There is work to be done! That is why we are supportive of Measure QS. We feel a modest contribution of $14 to 18 per month is the most valuable investment we can make as community. Its an investment in the quality of education our children receive. As advocates for our children, community and schools we strongly urge you to join us in supporting our learning community and vote yes for QS! Sarah and David Escobar Burbank -- We are voting yes on Measure QS, and you should too. One of the things that makes Burbank such a great city and a wonderful community is the public school system. In addition to our own utility and fire and police departments, we bought a home here over 13 years ago because of Burbanks schools. Burbank Unified students, including ours, enjoy access to lower class sizes, fantastic teachers, a robust arts program, wellness programs, and STEM and GATE programs. The state is only funding the local school systems at the 2008 level, and without our passage of this measure, some, if not all, of these attributes will be deeply impacted. Having a great school system benefits all of us. As property owners, it increases the value of our homes and makes them more desirable to potential buyers or renters. Businesses want to be located in a vibrant city, and great schools motivate employees to want to live and work in the same community. In addition, our senior neighbors will not be negatively impacted. All they have to do is submit an exemption request. An adequately funded school system provides the instruction and programs that prepare todays students to be tomorrows leaders, the next generation of Burbank doctors, lawyers, police officers, firefighters, community activists, teachers, business owners, etc. We need to join together as a community to support our schools and vote to provide the additional funding this measure will provide. For us its about $14 per month, and we know its well worth the investment. A vote for QS is a vote for quality schools, a vote for stronger community. Cindi and Brian Smith Burbank One historical theme to be gleaned from the Bowers Museums new exhibit, Knights in Armor, is the 17th century invention that led to the downfall of armor and its accompanying weaponry as effective fighting tools: firearms. Providing visual proof is a metal breastplate pockmarked by bullets, one of the 100-plus pieces in the Knights in Armor exhibit, which features a collection of centuries old armor, swords and daggers, known around the world. No matter how hard they tried, they could not develop a set of armor that could effectively protect a person from a bullet, said Bowers researcher Mark Bustamante, who is well versed in the exhibit, running through Jan. 13. While no longer practical in battle, the shaping of armor as intricately designed art has continued. Pieces in the exhibit represent a collaboration with the Museo Stibbert museum in Florence, Italy, which houses close to 50,000 items, most of which focus on European, Japanese and Islamic armor from the 15th to 19th centuries. The collection belonged to Florentine Frederick Stibbert, an avid collector of armor, who lived from 1838 to 1906. When Stibbert died, he willed his collection to the city. [The Italian people] love the fact that these kinds of art objects are displayed abroad to widen the knowledge, said Ricardo Franci, curator of the exhibition from the Stibbert. A helmet on display in the Knights in Armor exhibition at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. The exhibition features pieces from the famed collection housed at the Museo Stibbert museum in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Lou Ponsi) The exhibit features battle armor designed for various parts of the body, including helmets, gloves, boots, breast plates and shields. Full suits of armor are displayed along with two horses, also armored. On display in the main exhibit hall are full suits of battle armor, helmets, shields, swords, daggers, a crossbow and paintings depicting military battles, jousting and notables from the period. In this exhibition we wanted to give a wide idea of the world of the knights at their highest point and at the last moments of their history, Franci said. We have arms and armor from the late 15th century up to two firearms of the 18th century. In conjunction with Knights in Armor, the Bowers Kidseum is hosting Kings, Queens, and Castles, an exhibition that includes an interactive, life-sized chess board. Events related to Knights in Armor are also scheduled throughout the exhibitions run. An Italian Renaissance Faire with sword demonstrations and live music, along with a three-course Medieval banquet, is set to take place Oct. 7. Screenings of Monty Python and of the Holy Grail, A Knights Tale and Camelot are scheduled for Nov. 24 and 25 and Dec. 15. Lou Ponsi is a contributor to Times Community News. If You Go What: Knights in Armor When: Through Jan. 13 Where: Bowers Museum, 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana. Cost: Adult tickets are $23 on weekdays and $25 on weekends; seniors are $20 on weekdays and $22 on weekends; children are $5. Information: bowers.org and (714) 567-3600 The Newport-Mesa Unified School District board of trustees received a petition Tuesday from a charter school seeking to operate within the districts boundaries. The International School for Science and Culture submitted the petition to the district on Sept. 11 with a letter from Patricia Guild, who is in line to be the schools founding principal. Our charter petition was thoughtfully prepared and rigorously evaluated by experts in the fields of education, administration, finance and the law, Guild wrote. We believe that we have satisfied all the legal requirements for authorization and have built a strong founding team capable of executing our mission. ISSAC is seeking a five-year term and intends to open in August with about 390 students in transitional kindergarten through fifth grade, according to the petition. It would operate as a public, tuition-free charter school. Its mission includes using a standards-aligned STREAM program and world languages and cultures to differentiate it from local public schools. STREAM stands for science, technology, reading, engineering, art and math. Students would study Spanish and Mandarin Chinese in addition to English, and would rotate among different classrooms. The school would be able to enroll students from Newport-Mesa as well as neighboring districts. The Newport-Mesa board is required by state law to hold a public hearing on the petition, and trustees will subsequently vote to grant or deny it. If it is denied, ISSAC may seek approval from the Orange County Board of Education. Im looking forward to the public meeting with our community and recommendations from staff as well as the presentation from the proposed charter, Newport-Mesa board President Vicki Snell said Wednesday. District spokeswoman Annette Franco said the public hearing is planned for Oct. 25. A handful of letters of support were included with ISSACs petition packet, including one from parent Yola Zajac, a recent immigrant who intends to enroll her daughter, Ola, at the charter school next year. Even though we have to work hard to improve our English, I believe it will benefit my daughter to learn Spanish and Chinese, Zajac wrote. The message of global citizenship is also very important. We do not want our daughter to be narrow-minded but rather to understand the people of the world through their languages and cultures. charity.lindsey@latimes.com Twitter @CharityNLindsey In response to direction from a federal judge presiding over litigation that threatens to imperil Costa Mesas ability to enforce its anti-camping laws, city officials have committed to securing 62 emergency homeless shelter beds, 12 of which would be in a local hospital and available to those suffering from a mental health crisis. Though there are no concrete plans for the 50 other beds and it remains to be seen whether those would be in one facility or spread among different locations officials hope to firm up details in the next month or so, according to city spokesman Tony Dodero. Finding 50 emergency shelter beds in Costa Mesa or by partnering with surrounding cities is going to take a tremendous amount of civic engagement and support by elected leaders and the greater Costa Mesa community, as the citys goal will be to ensure any impacts are minimized, Dodero said in a statement. The city has begun working with College Hospital an acute care facility at 301 Victoria St. to provide the mental health beds. Such an arrangement, Dodero said, would enable law enforcement and firefighters to quickly refer people they encounter on the streets who are a threat to themselves or the community. It also would result in fewer individuals with mental health issues on Costa Mesa streets, which will make the community safer, he said. The citys hope is the combined 62 beds will satisfy U.S. District Judge David Carter, who is overseeing a federal lawsuit filed in January against Orange County and the cities of Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Orange on behalf of homeless people cleared from a former encampment along the Santa Ana River. Carter has called for county cities to develop enough emergency and transitional housing beds to accommodate 60% of the 2,584 unsheltered people tallied during a 2017 countywide count. That survey documented 103 unsheltered homeless people in Costa Mesa down from 158 recorded during a similar effort by Vanguard University in 2015. Carter also has threatened to consider an order preventing cities from enforcing their anti-camping ordinances or citing the homeless for sleeping in public if theres no resolution for these men and women. No community, whether its Costa Mesa, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Huntington Beach, wants to be the regional site for an emergency shelter, Costa Mesa City Councilman John Stephens said this week. But when were talking about taking care of our own and doing our fair share, thats a lot more doable and thats something I think the community can wrap their minds around, especially ... if the consequence of not doing that is not being able to enforce our anti-encampment ordinance. Stephens who is chairman of the Assn. of California Cities-Orange County Homelessness Task Force said another consideration is a recent ruling from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which determined it is unconstitutional to prosecute homeless people for sleeping on public property when they dont have access to shelter. When faced with the choice of having encampments in our city or controlling a limited amount of shelter beds, [the latter] seems to be the wise thing to do, he said. As the wider debate about homelessness in Orange County continues, Costa Mesa officials have regularly said theyre willing to do their part to tackle the issue but that other cities need to step up too. Current efforts in Costa Mesa include the Network for Homeless Solutions, a collaboration of city staff, local churches, nonprofits, private organizations and volunteers to identify and provide resources to the homeless. Officials say that effort has helped house almost 300 people and reconnected more than 120 others with family or friends outside the city. luke.money@latimes.com Twitter @LukeMMoney State Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) will hold a Take Back California Grassroots Training Workshop in Costa Mesa on Thursday evening. The event will start at 6 p.m. at the Skosh Monahans bar and restaurant at 2000 Newport Blvd. The workshop is part of a series Allen is holding throughout the state in which he is rallying and motivating volunteers to help elect conservative candidates throughout California, according to a news release. Allen has represented the 72nd Assembly District which includes Fountain Valley and a portion of Huntington Beach since 2012 but is leaving office this year following an unsuccessful bid for governor. HB council candidates forum set for Monday The Huntington Beach Coordinating Council will present a City Council candidates forum at 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Murdy Park Recreational Center, 7000 Norma Drive. Lunch will be provided with a $5 donation, and the panel debate will begin at 12:15 p.m. The event is open to the public. RSVP to deedee@SurfCityFinancialGroup.com Fifteen candidates are vying in the Nov. 6 election for four available seats on the seven-member council. Incumbents Mike Posey, Erik Peterson, Barbara Delgelize and Billy OConnell are running for reelection. H.B. Firefighters Assn. endorses council candidate Dan Kalmick The Huntington Beach Firefighters Assn. has endorsed City Council candidate Dan Kalmick for the November election, according to a news release. Im honored to have the support of our hard-working men and women of the HBFD, Kalmick said in a statement. Having grown up in a household of firefighters dad, uncle and brother and having worked as a volunteer firefighter myself, I have so much respect for our folks putting their lives on the line to save others. Kalmick also has received endorsements from the Orange County League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, HB Tomorrow, UFCW Local 324 and Teamsters Local 911. Kalmick is one of 15 candidates for four available seats on the City Council. Authorities say a group of four men assaulted and robbed a person last Thursday in the elevator of his Glendale apartment complex after asking if they could use his cellphone. A 24-year-old man was using his laptop next to the pool of his apartment building in the 600 block of North Central Avenue when, sometime around 2 a.m., he was approached by a group of four men in their early 20s. The men reportedly wanted to use the mans cellphone in order to order a ride-share car to pick them up and would pay him $20 in return. The man agreed and the group traveled down an elevator to the buildings lobby, according to Sgt. Dan Suttles, a spokesman with the Glendale Police Department. However, during the elevator ride, Suttles said the man had second thoughts and wanted to back out of the agreement. When the elevator reached the lobby, the man was punched in the back of his head and the four men took his laptop, wallet and keys, Suttles said. Two of the suspects were identified and arrested on suspicion of robbery, 19-year-old Angelo Taylor from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and 23-year-old Kaya Matthews of Glendale. A third suspect was also arrested, a 23-year-old man from Beecher, Illinois, but was later released. Suttles said a fourth person was identified but has not been arrested. Its unknown how the four were able to enter the building. andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc Surrounded by salt water, visitors to the Island of Hawaii can now harvest some of that salt in the same way natives of centuries past did. The Salt Harvesting Experience at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai is the newest of the hotels Only at Hualalai activities. The resort is located along the Island of Hawaiis Kona coast. Guests take a short hike along the beach to a flat where the salt gathers in pens carved in lava rock. There, they use spoons to collect salt in fabric bags. Advertisement With culinary uses in mind, participants return to the hotel for a cooking class during which a member of the restaurant team demonstrates how flaky sea salt is dried and then used in the preparation of various dishes. The Salt Harvesting Experience costs $450 per person. Our Hawaiian ancestors lived off of Hawaiis bountiful resources and in turn respected and honored our land and ocean, said Earl Regidor, the resorts cultural center manager. The natural salt the ocean provided was a cornerstone of Hawaiian living used for food preservation, cooking, medicine and more. The resorts spa uses seven varieties of sea salt in its Salts of the Ocean treatment. The 80-minute session is $285. Both experiences are for hotel guests only. Info and reservations: (808) 325-8000. travel@latimes.com By many estimates at least mine this is the best time of year to travel. Fares are lower, lines are shorter and the chance of some kid kicking the back of your plane seat is less than usual, now that school is back in session. Add the Technicolor hues of aspen and maples, and fall is calling us. Who are we to resist? This week, we look at a train ride through Canadas Charlevoix region, a feast for the eyes and stomach. Advertisement We also pause for a moment closer to home, where the aspen are beginning to put on their show in the eastern Sierra and in selected spots across California, an underappreciated Golden State rite of fall. Dont forget that Californias grapes are ripening along with the fall colors, bringing yet another reason for celebration. Im Chris Erskine, filling in for Travel editor Catharine Hamm, who is off celebrating another recent development: The Times selection this week as the No. 1 travel section in the country at the Lowell Thomas Awards, presented at the Society of American Travel Writers annual conference. Hamm is the heart and soul of this operation, and even though shes busy with the SATW gathering, she weighs in with tips on making your next trip a success, whether its to Quebec City for fall colors or to Napa for a toast to the endless wonders of travel. CHOO-CHOOSE QUEBEC Margo Pfeiff writes that autumn is the hottest season for Quebecs Train de Charlevoix, where passengers enjoy the regions foliage and food. The train runs June through October, seven days a week. And you wont believe the price: $99 per person. The 77-mile trip follows the St. Lawrence shoreline. The charms of Baie-Saint-Paul, two hours from Quebec City. (Margo Pfeiff) ESCAPE TO LEGOLAND Sharon Boorstin discovered that Legoland does more than entertain the grandkids. After taking her grandsons, ages 4 and 7, for a long weekend, she found that it also stimulates their imaginations and keeps them very active. She details her splashy adventures in Carlsbad in this weeks Escape. Riders can spray water at other boats and people on shore in Splash Battle, an interactive ride at Legoland. (Paul Boorstin) ON THE SPOT To really enjoy carefree travel, you need to do a little homework before you leave. Catharine Hamms column tells us how to avoid the unexpected with three simple rules for travel preparation. No. 1? Read the terms and conditions of your cruise, tour or flight. Before signing, make sure you understand your rights. (Damerau / Getty Images) EUROPES DROUGHT River trips in Europe have been affected by a drought, says our cruise columnist. Rosemary McClure, who received an honorable mention from the Lowell Thomas Awards, reports how low points in the Danube prevented many riverboats from passing this summer. But there are signs of relief. And she suggests that travelers consider the time of year when booking such adventures. People walk on a part of the Margaret Island along the Danube River in Budapest. (Attila Kisbendek / AFP/Getty Images) CALIFORNIAS GOLD STANDARD When you think of fall colors, you may think of New Hampshire and upper Michigan. Fair enough. But look no farther than the eastern Sierra, a few hours north of Los Angeles, for splendid aspen quivering against alpine lakes. The Zinfandel leaves are turning too. Master leaf peeper John Poimiroo has begun his annual montage of California colors. Zinfandel grapes ripen in northern California. (John Poimiroo) WHAT WERE READING Well, were not the only ones obsessed with fall. Conde Nast Traveler looks ahead to the best places to visit in November. Its a terrific time to take an off-season jaunt to a few unexpected places whether you want to add a little sunshine to Turkey Day, or visit some spots when the crowds have thinned, the magazine writes as it explores destinations from Savannah to Spain. Meanwhile, Sunset magazine shows us 11 places in the West to celebrate the fall grape crush. END PAPER Fortunately, our hero and headmaster, Ms. Hamm, will be back at the Escapes newsletter controls next week, fresh from her Caribbean adventure. As always, shell have stories to share. Till then, have comments, questions, travel tips, concerns? You can email us at travel@latimes.com The Indian Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a 158-year-old law that criminalized adultery, ruling that the statute drafted by British colonizers was archaic and discriminated against women. The law criminalized sexual relationships between men and married women whose husbands hadnt consented, with men liable to serve up to five years in prison. Women could not be punished under the law, which regarded them as the property of men, the five-judge panel ruled. The wife cant be treated as chattel and its time to say that [the] husband is not the master of woman, Chief Justice Dipak Misra said. The lone female judge on the panel, Justice Indu Malhotra, called the law a clear violation of fundamental rights. Advertisement While adultery could still be grounds for civil cases, such as divorce, the court ruled it should no longer be a criminal offense. The Indian government doesnt maintain statistics on the numbers of adultery prosecutions, but they were rare. It was the second colonial-era law to be struck down by the top Indian court in a month, following a ruling that decriminalized gay sex. The court is deciding a clutch of cases involving civil liberties and minority rights in the weeks before Misra is due to retire next month. On Friday, the court is expected to rule in a case challenging a ban on menstruating women entering a famed Hindu temple in the southern state of Kerala. Many commentators hailed Thursdays decision for removing one of the more blatant vestiges of Victorian-era morality laws in India, more than 70 years after independence from Britain. Three weeks after legalizing gay sex, Indias Supreme Court has decriminalized adultery. 2018 will be remembered as the year judges tore down the scaffolding of Victorian morality in India erected more than 150 years ago by the British. #Section497 https://t.co/IakORVaV5b Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) September 27, 2018 It was an outdated law which should have been removed long back, said Rekha Sharma, chair of Indias National Commission for Women. This is a law from the British era. Although the British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it. But the case also revealed a chasm within Indian society, large portions of which place a premium on the institution of marriage. The Indian government had argued in court that the statute should remain, saying that decriminalizing adultery would harm the sanctity of marriage and sexual fidelity encompassed in marriage, which forms the backbone of the Indian society. Swati Maliwal, chair of the Delhi Commission for Women, said the court should have amended the law to make adultery punishable for both men and women, instead of scrapping it entirely. Theyve given license to married couples [for] adulterous relationships, Maliwal tweeted. Whats sanctity of marriage then? Totally disagree with SC on adultery. They've given license to married couples 4 adulterous relationships. What's sanctity of marriage then? Instead of making 497 gender neutral, criminalising it both for women and men they have decriminalised it totally! Anti women decision. Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) September 27, 2018 Adultery is still illegal in 21 U.S. states, although it is rarely prosecuted. It is not considered a criminal offense in European countries or in Australia. Masih is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Shashank Bengali contributed to this report from Kochi, India. Mrs Trump said she looks forward to promoting the message of her "Be Best" child welfare campaign during the trip US First Lady Melania Trump will visit Egypt as part of a four-state tour of Africa next month, her first major solo international trip and first ever visit to the continent. Mrs Trump, the wife of US President Donald Trump, will travel the first week of October and the tour stops will include Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt, the White House said in a statement Wednesday, with Egypt being the last stop. Mrs Trump made remarks about the trip, which will focus on child welfare, at a reception she hosted for the spouses of visiting heads of state and others participating in the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. "October 1 will mark the first day of my solo visit to four beautiful and very different countries in Africa," she told the gathering, according to a transcript of her speech published by the White House. Mrs Trump said she looks forward to promoting the message of her "Be Best" child welfare campaign during the trip. She said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is coordinating the trip, but gave no details about the itinerary or how long it will last. "Whether it is education, drug addiction, hunger, online safety or bullying, poverty or disease, it is too often children who are hit first, and hardest, across the globe," Mrs Trump said. "Each of us hails from a country with its own unique challenges, but I know in my heart we are united by our commitment to raising the next generation to be happy, healthy and morally responsible adults." Her trip will focus on maternal and newborn healthcare, education for children, and US support for each country to achieve self-reliance. In Egypt, the focus will be on tourism and conservation projects. The first ladies of Ghana, Malawi and Kenya attended the event and Mrs Trump recognised each of them individually. Search Keywords: Short link: Bakari Hendersons father Thursday shared a simple message in a Greek courtroom while describing the loss of his 22-year-old son, who was beaten to death last year in the resort town of Laganas. We would hope and pray that no other family go through this, Phil Henderson, his hands clasped behind his back, told a court panel. Behind Henderson in the Patras courtroom sat the six defendants charged with first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence. Three other defendants face lesser charges. Our life has changed, Phil Henderson said. Bakari was a beautiful young man with a bright, bright future. Advertisement Bakari Henderson, of Austin, Texas, died in July 2017 on the island of Zakynthos. He was fatally beaten on the street after an altercation with a group of men in a bar in Laganas. Security camera footage shows Henderson being drawn into a fight then fleeing down a street before being beaten and kicked by the mob. According to a 55-page indictment, during the final 11 seconds of the early morning beating Henderson received 33 blows and kicks to the head and body. Only a few months after graduating from the University of Arizona with a degree in business, Henderson was in Greece with friends working on a photo shoot for a planned clothing line. Most of the first day of testimony in the trial, which began last week, centered on determining the sequence of events leading to Hendersons death. The indictment describes a quick escalation that began after Henderson and a friend took a selfie with a female employee of the bar. At one point, according to the indictment, one of the guests, a Serbian tourist, complained about the woman, also a Serbian, taking photographs with the Americans. There are so many Serbs in this bar. Why are you talking to a black? he is quoted as saying in the indictment. The security camera captured the man throwing a glass toward the woman, prompting Henderson, who was black, to respond. The man slapped Henderson, setting off the events that led to Hendersons death. The indictment said the defendants attacked with murderous intent, continuing to beat Henderson even after he had fallen to the ground. One witness, a friend of Hendersons, testified Thursday that the friends had chosen the bar purely by chance. Its the first bar on the strip you see. There were people in there and they looked fun, the witness, who cant be identified under European privacy laws, told the court. In the course of the evening, the three friends were challenged by two men apparently angry at them for placing their drinks on their table. The men werent speaking English. The friends tried to placate the men, Hendersons friend testified. Bakari was one of the best people I knew at defusing situations, the witness testified. He said that the fact the friends had been drinking would not be an excuse for anything that followed that night. Hendersons parents are in Greece for the trial and on Monday they traveled to Zakynthos to see where their son died. Hendersons mother, Jill Henderson, said in an interview Thursday that seeing where he died was definitely something we needed to do to put all this in perspective. It was heartbreaking to see the distance Bakari had run to get anyway from them, she said. Petrakis is a special correspondent. A former governor of Mexicos Veracruz state who was suspected of embezzling possibly billions of dollars while in office and who became a symbol of endemic political corruption in this country has struck a deal with prosecutors that will land him nine years in prison, a fraction of what he might have faced if tried andconvicted. The sentence sparked outrage among many in Mexico who assailed the punishment as too lenient. Ex-Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte, a onetime rising star of Mexicos ruling party, was charged last year with setting up shell companies to divert public money and having links to the criminal gangs that have made the Gulf state one of the most violent regions of the country. He faced up to 55 years in prison if convicted on all charges. Instead, Duarte pleaded guilty Wednesday to two charges money laundering and criminal association and received a nine-year prison term. Advertisement Along with prison time, Duarte must pay about $3,000 and give up 41 properties that he allegedly purchased with illicit money. Duarte, 45, became a national embodiment of the corruption that has ravaged Mexico and severely tainted the image of the long-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, of which Duarte was a longtime member. Duarte is one of at least half a dozen PRI former governors facing corruption charges or jailed for alleged wrongdoing. The mounting roll call of tarnished ex-governors has become a major embarrassment for a political party that ruled Mexico for much of the 20th century. Veracruz, once a PRI bastion, has fallen largely under the political control of opposition blocs. With time already served and the potential for parole, Duarte could be free in four years, authorities said. It is a mockery, Martha Tagle, a federal deputy for the Convergence for Democracy party, said on Twitter. With sentences like this, instead of inhibiting corruption, you are encouraging it, tweeted political analystJose Antonio Crespo. But the Mexican attorney generals office which has faced setbacks in prosecutions of some other high-profile corruption cases defended the outcome. With cases like these no one is ever satisfied,Felipe de Jesus Munoz Vazquez, a top prosecutor with the attorney generals office, told reporters. (Los Angeles Times) State prosecutors in Veracruz say they are also investigating corruption charges against Duartes wife, Karime Macias, who is reportedly living in London with the couples three children. Macias is seeking asylum in England as a victim of political persecution in Mexico, her lawyer has told Mexican news media. During Duartes almost six-year term, Veracruz which is among Mexicos richest states, home to a major port and base of the countrys petroleum industry became infamous as a battleground for various gangs seeking control of drug smuggling and other rackets. Criminal syndicates also fight for primacy of the huge migrant-trafficking business in Veracruz, which is traversed by multitudes of Central Americans headed to the United States. In recent years, the state has also won notoriety as the home of many clandestine graves where the bodies of homicide victims have been found. Grisly footage of the unearthing of skulls and other remains from remote sites in Veracruz is regularly aired on Mexican television. Thousands of people have disappeared in the violence that continues to rack Veracruz. More than a dozen journalists were killed in Veracruz during Duartes term in office, according to press freedom groups. But prosecutors never linked Duarte directly to any of the killings and disappearances that, along with rampant corruption, tainted his administration. Duarte left office in 2016, six weeks before his gubernatorial term was to end. He vowed to defend himself against the mounting allegations, insisting that he had not stolen one cent. Instead, Duarte went on the run. He was captured in April 2017 in a lakeside mountain resort in Guatemala. The fugitive governor was extradited to Mexico to face criminal charges. Authorities said Duartes theft of public funds reached historic levels, perhaps in excess of $3 billion. He was ultimately charged with stealing millions of dollars in public money. Duarte was once seen as one of the most promising young members of the ruling party headed by Mexican President Enrique PenaNieto. Duarte was expelled from the party in late 2016 when he was charged with corruption. Still, corruption charges against him and other ex-governors who belonged to the PRI helped turn public opinion against the party. The PRIs candidate in this years presidential election, Jose Antonio Meade, finished in third place. The winner of the election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, ran on an anti-corruption platform and vowed to root out billions of dollars in annual corruption and use the money to pay for the creation of social programs for the elderly, the sick and students. Lopez Obrador ran under the banner of his own National Regeneration Movement, known as Morena. President-elect Lopez Obrador has said he will lead by example in order to change Mexicos culture of corruption, but critics say that may not be enough in a place where bribe-paying and the personal enrichment of political leaders have long been regarded as facts of life. Lopez Obrador, who takes office Dec. 1, is himself a onetime PRI stalwart from southern Tabasco state. The president-elects prospective administration includes many former ruling-party loyalists who have since switched their allegiance to Lopez Obrador and his political movement. All say they are on board with the new presidents vow to rid the country of institutionalized corruption. kate.linthicum@latimes.com Twitter: @katelinthicum UPDATES: 1:39 p.m.: This article was updaed with addition details, context and reaction. This article was originally published at 9:25 a.m. Seven men were arrested Thursday in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting a large-scale extremist attack that Dutch prosecutors said they think was foiled following a months-long investigation. The national prosecutors office said in a statement that heavily armed police arrested the men in the towns of Arnhem, about 62 miles south of Amsterdam, and Weert in the southern Netherlands close to the borders of Germany and Belgium. The investigation was launched after intelligence was received suggesting that the alleged ring leader, a 34-year-old man of Iraqi heritage, wanted to carry out an attack at the site of a large event and cause multiple casualties, according to the statement. The suspects allegedly wanted to use bomb vests and assault rifles to do harm at the event, and planned to detonate a car bomb at another location, prosecutors said. An investigation of potential targets was continuing. Advertisement Prosecutors said the suspects ranged in age from 21 to 34. Three of them, including the 34-year-old Iraqi, were previously convicted of attempting to travel overseas to join extremist networks. The men were attempting to obtain AK-47 assault rifles, handguns, bomb vests, grenades and raw materials for bombs and were looking for opportunities to train with such weapons, according to the statement. Prosecutors said the investigation sped up this month because of the suspects advanced preparations. Minister for Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus told Dutch national broadcaster NOS that police acted in time to prevent an attack. In a sense it is serious, but luckily its also good news a terrorist cell that was plotting an attack has been taken down, Grapperhaus said. They werent so far that it was a danger to society, in the sense that it was nearly too late. But they were quite far in their preparations. The men were to be brought before an investigating judge on Friday at a closed hearing. The arrests came weeks after a 19-year-old Afghan citizen living in Germany allegedly stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdams main railway station in what prosecutors described as an attack with an extremist motive. The Dutch anti-terror coordinators office said in a tweet Thursday that the plot fit the current threat profile for the Netherlands, which is at 4 on a scale that tops out at 5. The office did not raise the level following the arrests. Jihad networks are also active in the Netherlands with the intention to plot attacks in Europe, the office said. Todays arrests must be seen in that light. Seeking to curb rampant gang violence and police corruption in the seaside city of Acapulco, Mexican authorities are taking a gamble: replacing local cops with state police and the military. Federal officials say it is a last-ditch effort to bring peace to Acapulco, once a glamorous resort favored by Hollywood celebrities that has become one of the most murderous cities on Earth. The local police force appears to have been infiltrated by organized crime, authorities said. The strategy of sending in soldiers and state and federal police to do the work of neighborhood cops has been employed in other parts of the country, with mixed results. Critics say the plan is treating a symptom instead of the underlying disease ineffective and corrupt policing and that it is unlikely to reduce crime and could lead to human rights abuses. Advertisement Mexicos local police forces are famously under-trained and badly compensated, with some officers paid as little as $300 a month and required to buy their own uniforms and even bullets. That makes them susceptible to gangs, who offer money in return for loyalty and threaten violence if they disobey. Police collusion with criminals has ranged from officers looking the other way when a crime has been committed to detaining people and turning them over to gangs. Mexico, with substantial support from the United States, has made efforts to professionalize local police forces in recent years, with a focus on improving training and vetting procedures for new recruits. But experts say those changes will have little impact without more mechanisms for accountability. That could include the formation of civilian oversight commissions, which are common in many American cities, and the strengthening of internal affairs units. Firing corrupt officers and replacing them with new cadets is not enough, said Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope. You need much broader change, he said. You need a mechanism to ensure the police remain clean. Other Mexican cities and towns have seen their local police agencies disarmed in recent years, but Acapulco is the biggest city yet to embark on the experiment. The city, whose decline began a decade ago, had 941 homicides last year, or 107 for every 100,000 inhabitants. Thats more than 15 times the homicide rate in Los Angeles. More than a dozen criminal groups are battling for access to drug trafficking plazas, street-level drug sales and dominance of extortion rackets, according to officials. This weeks move was provoked by the the nonexistent response of the municipal police to confront the crime wave, the task force overseeing the disarmament of Acapulco police said in a statement Tuesday. The task force, known as the Guerrero Coordination Group, said that all members of the police force have been required to turn in their bulletproof vests, radios and weapons and that two police commanders had been charged with homicide while the rest of the force is being investigated. Mexican soldiers have been involved in carrying out public security functions since 2006, when then-President Felipe Calderon declared war on the countrys increasingly powerful drug cartels. But in recent years, their role has grown in some parts of the country where local cops are seen as particularly corrupt, including in the states of Oaxaca, Jalisco, Colima and Nuevo Leon. In the state of Tamaulipas, which borders southeast Texas, nearly all local police forces have been disbanded and replaced by state and federal police and soldiers. In Guerrero, the violence-plagued state where Acapulco is located, the same strategy has been employed in several towns. Although surveys show that Mexicans generally trust soldiers more than they trust local police officers, there is also mounting evidence that soldiers trained in tactics of war against foreign armies are not equipped to perform domestic police functions. A U.S. State Department cable made public by WikiLeaks in 2010 found that the Mexican militarys presence in the troubled border city of Juarez had been ineffective. The military was not trained to patrol the streets or carry out law enforcement operations, the cable said. It does not have the authority to collect and introduce evidence into the judicial system. The result: Arrests skyrocketed, prosecutions remained flat, and both the military and public have become increasingly frustrated. The armed forces have also faced repeated accusations of torture, illegal arrests and extrajudicial killings. Between January 2012 and August 2016, there were 5,541 complaints of human rights violations against the armed forces registered with the National Human Rights Commission. Even some current and former soldiers have recently joined human rights groups in denouncing Mexicos ever-increasing militarization of civilian law enforcement, a trend solidified last year by controversial legislation known as the Internal Security Law. Hundreds of human rights groups pushed lawmakers to reject the law, which expands the powers of the armed forces to combat national security risks inside Mexico. The United Nations high commissioner for human rights warned that the measure would give too much power to the military without the necessary civilian checks and balances. Many human rights officials say that state and federal forces are not necessarily less corrupt than local law enforcement. They point to the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from a small town in Guerrero as proof. Federal investigators say local police kidnapped the students and turned them over to a drug gang, which subsequently killed them and burned their bodies. But international experts have disputed that account, calling for investigations into the role of federal police and the military. Federal prosecutors have failed to find any remains or secure convictions for those responsible. The mass disappearance occurred four years ago on Wednesday. As human rights advocates marched and held protests this week to commemorate the students, many Mexicans angrily decried news of the military intervention in Acapulco. Security analyst Ernesto Lopez Portillo complained on Twitter that Mexico was duplicating known mistakes. It repeats itself in endless cycles of inefficiency, he said. Maria Elena Morera, an anti-violence advocate and president of the nonprofit Common Cause, said that Mexicans deserve more information about what is planned in Acapulco, as well as more accountability. When federal forces enter, nobody is responsible, she said. At least tell us: What is the strategy? How are they going to operate it? Who will oversee it? When are they going to train the local police to resume their functions? Cecilia Sanchez in The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report. kate.linthicum@latimes.com Twitter: @katelinthicum President Sisi said during talks with the Italian Prime Minister in New York on Wednesday that Cairo is determined to solve the murder of Giulio Regeni Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has assured Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that the government is committed to finding the truth in order to bring to justice those responsible for the death of an Italian student in Cairo in 2016. The two leaders met on Wednesday in New York on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly. During the meeting, El-Sisi reiterated Cairo's commitment to "reaching the truth" about Regeni's death, and said that Egypt "shares Italy's interest in uncovering the circumstances of this crime and bringing the perpetrators to justice," said presidential spokesman Bassam Rady in a statement. Giulio Regeni was a postgraduate research student looking into Egyptian labour movements. He was found dead in February 2016. The 28-year-old had disappeared on 25 January 2016, and his body was found 10 days later on the outskirts of Cairo. Egyptian investigators have said that Reginis body bore signs of torture. Rady quoted Conte as saying that closing the case, by identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice, will help push the relationship between the two nation-states forward. In June, prosecutors from the two countries said that footage from the night Regeni disappeared was recovered from CCTV cameras at a Cairo metro station, although it showed no "videos or images" of Regeni. Officials added that there were a number "gaps" in the recovered footage. Both sides agreed that advanced technical tests ought to be carried out to determine why these gaps exist. Last month, during a visit to Cairo, Italys Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said that Italy hopes investigations into the case will make a breakthrough by the end of the year. During Wednesday's talks in New York, El-Sisi and Conte discussed Egyptian-Italian trade and economic ties and means of boosting Italian investments in Egypt. Italy is a major trade partner for Egypt with 4.75 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in trade exchange per year; it is also the world's biggest importer from Egypt with imports worth $1.8 billion, according to Egypts foreign ministry. Italys investments in Egypt are at an estimated 7 billion euros, making it the fifth biggest investor in Egypt. Italian company Eni is among one of Egypts top foreign investors. Search Keywords: Short link: 75 years at Goldman at Wengrow The coming of the lake brought a young World War II veteran from Williston, South Carolina to Lincolnton in 1946. Abraham Wengrow, just back from... Council approves millage rate, proposed budget in split vote City Millage Rate and Proposed Budget Approved in Split Vote Lincolntons 2022 Proposed Budget of $1,211,418.89 and a 7.1 mill property tax rate was approved... Veterans Day parade today Today (Thursday) is the first Lincolnton Veterans Day Parade in many years, and it promises to be good one based on the participation already committed.... Computer & Technology Impressive virtual reality applications for trade fairs Digitally enlarge the exhibition stand with AR and VR 27.09.2018 15:20:49 - Mariani chooses CAD Schroers virtual and augmented reality applications for its trade fair presentations and creates a lasting impression (live-PR.com) - Cambridge, UK and Pittsford, NY 26 September 2018: Mariani is one of the world's leading suppliers of packaging systems in the food and pharmaceutical industries, and regularly exhibits at international trade fairs. At the DrinkTec in Munich, Mariani wanted to present several new machines to trade show visitors. Machines too large and exhibition stands too small? Unfortunately, some things are simply - Cambridge, UK and Pittsford, NY 26 September 2018: Mariani is one of the world's leading suppliers of packaging systems in the food and pharmaceutical industries, and regularly exhibits at international trade fairs. At the DrinkTec in Munich, Mariani wanted to present several new machines to trade show visitors.Machines too large and exhibition stands too small?Unfortunately, some things are simply too big, too heavy or too bulky to be presented on an exhibition stand. Just like the packaging machines from Mariani. As the space on most exhibition stands is usually very limited, not all machines can be exhibited. This is a common problem that many exhibitors struggle with today. New technologies dominate the exhibition stand Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have matured in recent years, which is why these technologies are now being increasingly used by industry. AR and VR provide companies, across a wide range of industries, with great new ways to showcase their products, and are now becoming highly relevant in marketing and trade fair presentations. Digitally enlarge the exhibition stand with AR and VR CAD Schroer has developed several new AR and VR applications for trade fair use, with which individual machines or even entire systems can be digitally presented. When the applications were demonstrated to Mariani, the company was so impressed that it decided to use them at its next trade fair, the DrinkTec in Munich. The CAD model becomes virtual Mariani provided CAD Schroer with CAD models of its machines and equipment. CAD Schroers development team then converted the models into AR and VR apps. Augmented Reality apps display the machines directly in the real world, enhanced with animations which simulate how the machines work. This enables Marianis customers to virtually observe the movement of individual machine parts. Virtual Reality apps allow you to virtually inspect a proposed layout and see the machines in action - an important point for a brand that stands for leading-edge technologies. More new customers through VR and AR Marianis requirement to exhibit using virtual reality was urgent, so CAD Schroer was invited to take charge of the entire presentation at Marianis stand. As a result, Marianis staff were free to benefit from the new technologies. The AR and VR equipment was also provided by CAD Schroer. Visitors could visualise machines in augmented reality using a Microsoft HoloLens or tablet. VR glasses also allowed visitors to explore Marianis facilities in virtual reality. Visitors leave the trade fair with a lasting memory The feedback from Mariani and its customers after the fair was simply amazing! The use of tablets and AR / VR glasses enabled Mariani to attract many interested parties to their stand. Visitors were excited by the new technologies, providing Mariani with many new businesses opportunities. In addition, visitors, enjoyed a completely new and memorable trade fair experience. The positive outcome Mariani presented its new machines at international fairs using AR /VR solutions from CAD Schroer. So successful were the results, that Mariani has already ordered further AR / VR solutions from CAD Schroer for future fairs. Additional systems and machines are currently being readied for AR and VR presentation, with more on the way. Applications to support marketing, sales and maintenance, are also being planned. A glimpse into the future Trade fairs provide an opportunity for direct communication between exhibitors and visitors. Visitors can also compare products and gain a comprehensive overview of the latest industry developments. AR and VR technologies offer direct visual access to products and provide visitors with an impressive and unforgettable experience. In addition, the technologies can be quickly deployed. For these reasons, the use of AR / VR technologies to digitalise stands will become commonplace in the next few years. When an exhibitor takes new, creative paths and utilises innovative advertising opportunities, they are quickly recognized as a pioneer of new technologies within their industry. >> How you can impress your trade fair visitors with Virtual Reality www.cad-schroer.com/news/impressive-virtual-reality-applications-for-trade-fairs/ About CAD Schroer CAD Schroer is a global software development company and engineering solutions provider, helping to raise the productivity and competitiveness of customers working in manufacturing and process engineering, including the automotive sector and its supply chain, the energy sector and public utilities. CAD Schroer has offices and subsidiaries throughout Europe and in the United States. CAD Schroers product portfolio includes 2D/3D CAD, plant design, factory layout and data management solutions. Customers in 39 countries rely on MEDUSA, MPDS, M4 ISO and M4 P&ID FX to provide an efficient, flexible and integrated design environment for all phases of product or plant design cutting costs while raising quality. CAD Schroers product and service portfolio also includes Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR & VR) solutions. Together with its customers, CAD Schroer develops immersive AR & VR apps using existing 3D CAD data for a wide range of applications, including impressive sales presentations, interactive training workshops, and servicing and maintenance guides. CAD Schroer apps are also used by distributed design teams to collaboratively review designs in virtual meeting rooms. CAD Schroer emphasizes close customer partnerships and supports its clients objectives through extensive consultancy, training, development, software support and maintenance services. Contact Information CAD Schroer GmbH Fritz-Peters-Strae 11 47447 Moers Germany Website: Email: Telephone: UK: +44 1223 850 942 USA: +1 866-SCHROER (866-724-7637) Germany: +49 2841 9184 0 Switzerland: +41 43 495 32 92 France: +33 141 94 51 40 Italy: +39 02 49798666 too big, too heavy or too bulky to be presented on an exhibition stand. Just like the packaging machines from Mariani. As the space on most exhibition stands is usually very limited, not all machines can be exhibited. This is a common problem that many exhibitors struggle with today.New technologies dominate the exhibition standVirtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have matured in recent years, which is why these technologies are now being increasingly used by industry. AR and VR provide companies, across a wide range of industries, with great new ways to showcase their products, and are now becoming highly relevant in marketing and trade fair presentations.Digitally enlarge the exhibition stand with AR and VRCAD Schroer has developed several new AR and VR applications for trade fair use, with which individual machines or even entire systems can be digitally presented. When the applications were demonstrated to Mariani, the company was so impressed that it decided to use them at its next trade fair, the DrinkTec in Munich.The CAD model becomes virtualMariani provided CAD Schroer with CAD models of its machines and equipment. CAD Schroers development team then converted the models into AR and VR apps. Augmented Reality apps display the machines directly in the real world, enhanced with animations which simulate how the machines work. This enables Marianis customers to virtually observe the movement of individual machine parts. Virtual Reality apps allow you to virtually inspect a proposed layout and see the machines in action - an important point for a brand that stands for leading-edge technologies.More new customers through VR and ARMarianis requirement to exhibit using virtual reality was urgent, so CAD Schroer was invited to take charge of the entire presentation at Marianis stand. As a result, Marianis staff were free to benefit from the new technologies. The AR and VR equipment was also provided by CAD Schroer. Visitors could visualise machines in augmented reality using a Microsoft HoloLens or tablet. VR glasses also allowed visitors to explore Marianis facilities in virtual reality.Visitors leave the trade fair with a lasting memoryThe feedback from Mariani and its customers after the fair was simply amazing! The use of tablets and AR / VR glasses enabled Mariani to attract many interested parties to their stand. Visitors were excited by the new technologies, providing Mariani with many new businesses opportunities. In addition, visitors, enjoyed a completely new and memorable trade fair experience.The positive outcomeMariani presented its new machines at international fairs using AR /VR solutions from CAD Schroer. So successful were the results, that Mariani has already ordered further AR / VR solutions from CAD Schroer for future fairs. Additional systems and machines are currently being readied for AR and VR presentation, with more on the way. Applications to support marketing, sales and maintenance, are also being planned.A glimpse into the futureTrade fairs provide an opportunity for direct communication between exhibitors and visitors. Visitors can also compare products and gain a comprehensive overview of the latest industry developments. AR and VR technologies offer direct visual access to products and provide visitors with an impressive and unforgettable experience. In addition, the technologies can be quickly deployed. For these reasons, the use of AR / VR technologies to digitalise stands will become commonplace in the next few years. When an exhibitor takes new, creative paths and utilises innovative advertising opportunities, they are quickly recognized as a pioneer of new technologies within their industry.>> How you can impress your trade fair visitors with Virtual RealityAbout CAD SchroerCAD Schroer is a global software development company and engineering solutions provider, helping to raise the productivity and competitiveness of customers working in manufacturing and process engineering, including the automotive sector and its supply chain, the energy sector and public utilities. CAD Schroer has offices and subsidiaries throughout Europe and in the United States.CAD Schroers product portfolio includes 2D/3D CAD, plant design, factory layout and data management solutions. Customers in 39 countries rely on MEDUSA, MPDS, M4 ISO and M4 P&ID FX to provide an efficient, flexible and integrated design environment for all phases of product or plant design cutting costs while raising quality.CAD Schroers product and service portfolio also includes Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR & VR) solutions. Together with its customers, CAD Schroer develops immersive AR & VR apps using existing 3D CAD data for a wide range of applications, including impressive sales presentations, interactive training workshops, and servicing and maintenance guides. CAD Schroer apps are also used by distributed design teams to collaboratively review designs in virtual meeting rooms.CAD Schroer emphasizes close customer partnerships and supports its clients objectives through extensive consultancy, training, development, software support and maintenance services.Contact InformationCAD Schroer GmbHFritz-Peters-Strae 1147447 MoersGermanyWebsite: www.cad-schroer.com Email: marketing@cad-schroer.com Telephone:UK: +44 1223 850 942USA: +1 866-SCHROER (866-724-7637)Germany: +49 2841 9184 0Switzerland: +41 43 495 32 92France: +33 141 94 51 40Italy: +39 02 49798666 Press Information: CAD Schroer Uk Ltd Sheraton House, Castle Park CAMBRIDGE CB3 0AX Contact Person: Gudrun Tebart Marketing Phone: +44 1223 850942 eMail: eMail Web: http://https://www.cad-schroer.co.uk 27.09.2018 15:20:49 - Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party. Stock Market News Economic Data - US Treasury yields fall after Fed hikes rates; economic data due 27-09-2018 04:12 Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk One gets the feeling, when reading their observations regarding this countrys current economic malaise, that its economic managers believe that the increasingly worrisome merchandise trade imbalance is a problem that will eventually just go away. They are wrong. The problem is not going to go away anytime soon, with all the dire implications of that for the BOP (balance of payments) and the external value of the peso. The principal reason why the current merchandise trade imbalance is unlikely to dissipate in quick fashion is that of the four export groupsthe Big Four that the Philippines used to be able to depend on, only one, coconut products, is still there. The other three are gone as export-trade prime movers. The first to go was wood products; the ban on log exports enacted several decades ago put an end to such exports. The instability of the copper concentrates market, occasioned by the rise of substitute raw materials, knocked out mining products as a leading source of export trade revenues. And the termination in 1974 of the Laurel-Langley Agreement, with its large, preferential-price for Philippine sugar, wrote finis to the major role of sugar as a Big Four export product. The fact is that this countrys export system has experienced a structural shift. The Philippines has ceased to be essentially an exporter of merchandise. Today it is primarily an exporter of labor, either totally (as in Overseas Filipino Workers) or partially (as in semi-conductor manufacturing and other assembly-type production operations). The economic managersthe Secretary of Trade and Industry in particularshould stop glossing over the trade-deficit problem and conduct a searching review of the economic landscape, with a view to determining where the new export industries will be coming from. It is simply no longer enough to provide fiscal incentives and believe, as in the film Field of Dreams that If you give them incentives, they will come. I strongly suggest that our economic managersespecially the Secretary of Trade and Industrytake a leaf out of the strategy that Taiwan implemented in order to develop a world-competing export trade. The strategy was born almost immediately after the Chiang Kai-shek group fled to that island in 1949. The first thing that the Chiang-led Nationalist government did was to engage the services of SRI (Stanford Research Institute) to develop an export trade plan for Taiwan.In line with its reputation as a first-rate research institution, SRI immediately set about doing an inventory of all the islands resources, particularly its manpower and natural resources. SRIs approach was guided by a philosophy consisting of two parts, namely, (1) making the best use of what resources were available in Taiwan and (2) knowing what resources it would have to bring into the island. The inventory revealed that long-neglected Taiwan was not without resources and that, with government guidance and assistance, many new industries, most of them small, saw the light of day. One of the potential industries that SRI spotted for development was a shipbreaking industry: old vessels were brought into Taiwans harbors and there broken up, the dismantled parts recycled into new Taiwan-built vessels or exported. To borrow a tired, old phrase, the rest is history. Taiwan slowly but painstakingly built a world-class merchandise export trade. Their achievements would not have been possible without steadfast hand-holding on the part of the government. Government was a true partner of the Taiwanese private sector in that game-changing endeavor. In this country the government has largely limited itself to providing fiscal and other incentives to potential investors, whether these are or are not located in facilities provided by PEZA (Philippine Export Zone Authority). The government ought to emulate the Taiwanese export development model. Does the government have to engage the services of SRI or a similar institution to get this country out of its trade-deficit quagmire? It doesnt. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has the resources to do the job. All that DTI has to do is to get off its backside and begin to deploy determination and creativity. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi opened on Thursday the 42nd meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of 77 and China, which Egypt is chaired in 2018. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. El-Sisi reviewed the Egyptian role in backing the group's activities in the 1960s in a way that contributed to enhancing the group's march with regards fostering cooperation among the countries of the South. During his speech, El-Sisi handed the chairmanship of the group for the year 2019 to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. More to follow Search Keywords: Short link: On 3 August, Alberto Garzon, the leader of the Spanish United Left (Izqierda Unida, or I.U.) posted an article entitled "Is Marxism a scientific method?" Under the guise of presenting a 'scientific' critique, Garzon was preparing a break with Marxism. Like every revisionist in history, he disguises this break with the excuse of 'modifying' the ideas of Marx. In reality, he was jumping on the bandwagon of those 'left' leaders who are making a dash for the 'centre ground'. In their haste to present themselves in a more modern and moderate light, they cast off the theoretical baggage of the past, which they regard as an encumbrance, whereas in fact it is a necessary compass that leads the movement to the correct path. Alberto Arregui is a member of the Federal Coordinating Committee of the IU. Together with Alan Woods, the political editor of marxist.com, he has produced a detailed reply to the arguments of Garzon. This was published by Cuarto Poder (in parts one, two and three): a daily internet publication that is widely read by the Spanish left. It has caused quite a stir. We published the reply for the information of our readers, and we invite you to give it the widest circulation. Alan Woods The left, and not only in Spain, finds itself in a state of bewilderment before a self-evident paradox: capitalism, the economic system from which has arisen the destructive exploitation of nature and human labour, is passing through what is possibly the most serious global crisis in its entire history. It would seem logical that, in such a moment, an anti-capitalist alternative should be strengthened, since the need for socialism has never been more clearly demonstrated in the whole of history. Despite this, the main political formations of the left have proved incapable of taking advantage of these favourable conditions and are now plunged in a series of internal struggles, trying to discover who to blame for their failure. Greece is a case in point, but so is the case of Spain, where the experience of the last decade has served to expose the illusory nature of the democratic transition. It is, of course, the duty of any activist, and not only of the leadership, to attempt to understand the world in which we live and to overcome its self-evident deficiencies in practice. Comrade Alberto Garzon has approached this task, attempting to discover the source of these failures. However, in order to obtain a satisfactory answer, it is first necessary to formulate a satisfactory question; and in order to find something, one has to look in the right places. We very much fear that, by jumping on the bandwagon of the host of professors, parliamentarians and intellectuals engaged in their never-ending efforts to supersede Marxism, he has mistaken both the question to be asked and the places to look. He therefore runs the risk of failing to see the wood from the trees and to analyse his own responsibility, that of the leadership of the United Left on his watch, and of the left as a whole. Alberto Garzon appears to be sliding onto a slippery slope that, rather than correcting the ideas of Marx and Engels, can lead to a total break with Marxism / Image: Flickr, sevillareport We believe that our most pressing task is not to discover deficiencies in the writings of Marx and Engels (and exchange them for nothing whatsoever), but to establish the basis for the realisation of socialism. One of the things that unites all the intellectual quacks who serve the interests of the bourgeoisie everywhere, is the constant declaration that Marxism is dead, or at least has been left far behind. Alberto Garzon, in his article, which carries the promising title of Is Marxism a scientific method? appears to be sliding onto a slippery slope that, rather than correcting the ideas of Marx and Engels, can lead to a total break with Marxism. The comrade writes: Marxism is not, to sum up, the key that opens all doors. Marxism is rather a humble instrument for the analysis of society and also for political practice. To the best of our knowledge, nobody has ever claimed that Marxism is the key that opens all doors. But it is most definitely the only consistently revolutionary theory that provides us with a powerful tool for understanding capitalist society, and therefore preparing the ground for its revolutionary overthrow. If that is what Alberto means to say, then we agree with him. Nevertheless, the entire content of his article leads us to the opposite conclusion. Garzon refers in an ironic tone to sacred scriptures and the altar of Marxian orthodoxy, and other such commonplaces, thereby presenting himself as a courageous innovator engaged in a struggle against ideas that have become ossified into a kind of religion that does not admit any modification or questioning. Marxism, in our firm opinion, is indeed scientific socialism (without inverted commas) and therefore very far from any kind of religion. It is based on a rigorous scientific method (dialectical materialism) and a scientific interpretation of history (historical materialism). Like any scientific theory, Marxism can be modified, added to and changed in the light of recent discoveries. But if one examines the fundamental ideas put forward by Marx and Engels, what is surprising is just how little has had to be changed in the course of the last 150 years. This fact is itself a striking indication of the robustness and vitality of Marxism. Let us submit this claim to a little test. If we go to a library and take out any bourgeois book on sociology, economics or politics written 150 years ago, it will immediately become obvious that this book is merely of historical interest its application to modern conditions, next to zero. But if we open the pages of the Communist Manifesto, written by two young men in 1847, Marx and Engels, we will find a most astonishing description and analysis, not of the world of 1847, but of the world in which we live today. The vitality of Marxism This fact has been noted in recent times by people who have no connection with Marxism, or indeed are hostile to it. Even the official newspaper of the Vatican, LOsservatore Romano, published an article in 2009 praising Marxist analysis of the inequality of incomes, which is a rather surprising recognition of the man who declared religion to be the opium of the people. Capital is now a best-seller in Germany, while in Japan it has been published in a manga format. Marx and Engels' words retain all of their relevance today / Image: Flickr, IISG George Magnus, one of the main economic analysts of the UBS bank, wrote an article with the intriguing title, Give Karl Marx a chance to save the world economy. Switzerland-based UBS is a pillar of the financial establishment, with offices in more than 50 countries and over $2tn in assets. Yet in an essay for Bloomberg View, Magnus wrote that todays global economy bears some uncanny resemblances to what Marx foresaw. In his article, he starts by describing policymakers struggling to understand the barrage of financial panics, protests and other ills afflicting the world and suggests that they would do well to study the works of a long-dead economist, Karl Marx: Consider, for example, Marxs prediction of how the inherent conflict between capital and labor would manifest itself. As he wrote in Das Kapital, companies pursuit of profits and productivity would naturally lead them to need fewer and fewer workers, creating an industrial reserve army of the poor and unemployed: Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery. He continues: The process he [Marx] describes is visible throughout the developed world, particularly in the U.S. Companies efforts to cut costs and avoid hiring have boosted U.S. corporate profits as a share of total economic output to the highest level in more than six decades, while the unemployment rate stands at 9.1 percent and real wages are stagnant. U.S. income inequality, meanwhile, is by some measures close to its highest level since the 1920s. Before 2008, the income disparity was obscured by factors such as easy credit, which allowed poor households to enjoy a more affluent lifestyle. Now the problem is coming home to roost. The Wall Street Journal published an interview with the well-known economist Dr. Nouriel Roubini, who argues that the chain of credit is broken, and that capitalism has entered into a vicious cycle where excess capacity (overproduction), falling consumer demand and high levels of debt, all breed a lack of confidence in investors that in turn will be reflected in sharp falls on the stock exchange, falling asset prices and a collapse in the real economy. Like all the other economists, Roubini has no real solution for the present crisis except more injections of liquidity by the central banks in order to avoid a collapse. His conclusions could scarcely be more pessimistic: Karl Marx got it right, at some point capitalism can destroy itself. We thought markets worked. Theyre not working. The most serious bourgeois economists, particularly since the crisis of 2008, have become increasingly interested in the theories of Marx and Engels. It is therefore ironic that, in this very same period, a growing number of people on the left have decided to throw Marxism overboard. Alberto Garzon runs the risk of joining this camp. The poverty of Popperism Although he tries to conceal his abandonment of Marxism by all manner of peculiar circumlocutions, asking questions but giving no clear answers, the thrust of his argument is very clear: Marxism is out of date and no longer serves even as a method of analysis. We must, therefore, find an alternative. But what alternative does he propose? Comrade Garzon says he is opposed to quoting dead authors to see if our current thoughts fit their words. By dead authors, he clearly refers to Marx and Engels. But then he goes on to quote with approval the words of Karl Popper who regrettably passed away in the year of our Lord 1994, and is therefore precisely a dead author, whom we are told should not be quoted. Karl Popper (whom Garzon cites) collaborated with arch-reactionaries like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman / Image: Lucinda Douglas Menzies The choice of Karl Popper as a point of reference for the so-called philosophy of science is doubly unfortunate in view of the fact that he devoted almost his entire life to vilifying Marxism, communism and socialism. He was a fanatical defender of so-called liberal democracy, i.e. capitalism. Popper collaborated actively with other arch-reactionary advocates of the free market economy like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. His most famous books, The Poverty of Historicism and The Open Society and its Enemies, are libellous attacks against socialism in general and Marxism in particular. It is frankly incredible that a responsible leader of the Spanish Left can seriously take this reactionary philosopher as the starting point for his argument against historicism, i.e. against Marxism itself. As far as Poppers theoretical pretensions are concerned, these cannot be taken seriously. He proclaimed himself as High Priest of an alleged philosophy of Science. But his attempt to establish an arbitrary definition for what is, and what is not, science (the falsifiability theory) has been comprehensively demolished and is regarded with contempt by most scientists today. We take the liberty to point out that Poppers absurd theories not only reject Marxism but also the ideas of Charles Darwin, Einstein and modern genetics. Popper stated that Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory, but a metaphysical research programa possible framework for testable scientific theories, and almost tautological. One might add that these false arguments have been utilised by the reactionary right in the USA to defend the ideas of Creationism. Is Marxism out of date? Alberto says We cannot forget that Marx and Engels were children of their time. Indeed they were. As were Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Napoleon, Julius Caesar and Jesus Christ. To state this is to state the obvious. But what is meant by this statement? The argument is put forward that Marx and Engels were, to quote comrade Garzon, products of their time. That is a sly way of saying that they are products of the 19th century, therefore old-fashioned, hopelessly out of date and irrelevant to the 21st century. They provide old ideas, whereas what is required in the 21st century are new views. But wait a minute, comrade Garzon! An idea is not necessarily false for being old. In the fairy story of Aladdin the wizard promised new lamps for old. A foolish young lady took him at his word and thereby parted with a fortune. She discovered the hard way that new lamps are not necessarily better than old ones, and people hawking such new products in the streets are to be definitely avoided. Let us take another example. The wheel has been around for many thousands of years and despite its advanced age still functions tolerably well. What would we think about somebody who protested that it was time to dispense with the old wheel and invent a new one, which would obviously be much better for the fact of being new. What shape would this new wheel have? Would it be square, rectangular or octagonal? Whatever the shape, one could be absolutely certain that it would not carry us a single step further. We wish to make it clear that we do not have a closed mind to new ideas, on the condition that their superiority is proved to us. Let us make an offer to comrade Garzon: if you are able to show us a set of ideas that offers a better explanation than Marxism of the present crisis of capitalism and which offers us a better alternative, we promise to abandon Marxism and embrace the new theory with every enthusiasm. The problem is that, up to the present day, the critics of Marxism have never been capable of offering anything of the sort. Nor have they been able to explain what these new ideas of theirs really consist of. As a matter of fact, the ideas of Marx and Engels are a thousand times more relevant and correct today than when they were first put forward. The Communist Manifesto is the most contemporary document that one can read. Let us quote just two examples to illustrate the point. There are two alternatives before the human race: socialism or barbarism. In modern conditions perhaps we ought to modify that to socialism, or the destruction of life on Earth / Image: Adam Jones Nowadays, globalisation is considered to be a recent phenomenon. Yet it was explained and predicted in the pages of the Manifesto, 150 years before it existed. Marx and Engels explained how capitalism first creates the nation state as a means of developing the productive forces, but the development of the latter outstrips the narrow limits of the nation state, creating a world market. The crushing domination of the world market is the most striking feature of the world we live in. In recent decades, bourgeois economists assured us that Marx was wrong when he predicted a growing polarisation between rich and poor, and an enormous concentration of wealth and power in a few hands. In Marxs day, there was very little empirical evidence to prove this. Capitalism only existed to any extent in England, and even there, large-scale industry had not yet developed. What is the position today? The argument of the bourgeois economists that small is beautiful has most certainly been falsified by history. It is a prediction that is in flagrant contradiction with present-day reality. Today, the entire world economy is in the hands of no more than 200 gigantic multinational companies, most of them based in the United States of America. A mere 147 giant corporations make up a super-entity that controls 40 percent of the worlds wealth. These megacorporations are the real rulers of the world economy. The 10 biggest multinationals, including Walmart, Apple and Shell, earn more money than the majority of the countries of the world combined. The value of the 10 main companies amounts to $285tn, which is greater than the $280tn that constitutes the wealth of the last 180 countries, including Ireland, Indonesia, Israel, Colombia, Greece, South Africa, Iraq and Vietnam. If one of the requirements of a correct theory is its ability to make accurate predictions, then these very bold and striking predictions have been entirely confirmed by subsequent history. Referring to the founders of scientific socialism, Alberto Garzon tells us, although it is impossible to know what sources he is using, that both authors believed that the future of society was predetermined. With a certain reluctance, the leader of United Left adds that they claimed that capitalism was pregnant with socialism. This statement is in itself an admission of a rejection of dialectical thought, not understanding that socialism is an historical necessity. The only way to overcome capitalism in a progressive manner is socialism, but it is the only tendency that it carries in its womb. The internal contradictions are not subject to a predetermined outcome. Perhaps it would be easier for comrade Garzon to understand that pregnancy is a tendency, the preferred result of which is the growth of the foetus and a healthy birth. But there are other possibilities since other forces are at work in nature and in the human body, including those which we regard as accidental factors, that can result in a miscarriage, for example. If the comrade would pay attention to Marx and Engels, then he would know that they also considered the possibility of the mutual destruction of the contending forces. To give a simple example, an acorn can be said to be pregnant with an oak tree, but there exist many possibilities that this magnificent tree will never come into being: some animal might swallow it, without even realising that it has interrupted a dialectical process History knows a descending line as well as an ascending one. We see this clearly in what happened after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Marx and Engels explained that there are two alternatives before the human race: socialism or barbarism. In modern conditions perhaps we ought to modify that celebrated phrase: the alternatives before humanity are socialism or the destruction of life on Earth. And the result, as ever, will depend on the class struggle. Is Marxism a scientific method? Comrade Garzon, blindly following in the footsteps of Karl Popper, wants to exclude Marxism as a scientific method. But Popper's attempt to establish an arbitrary definition of what science is does not correspond to the real world. No scientist feels the need to receive a certificate signed by Mr. Popper in order to continue doing scientific work. Neither do Marxists need a certificate from any living author to continue practising scientific socialism. It is true that there are sciences, and there are sciences. Some are more exact than others. An astronomer can predict what the precise location of a star or a galaxy will be millions of years from now with absolute certainty. On the other hand, a geologist can be absolutely certain that there will be an earthquake in a certain place, but to this day it is impossible to predict with certainty when an earthquake is going to happen, which does not prevent the majority of people from recognising geology as a science. Medicine can also be included as a science, although a doctors predictions cannot have the same character as those of an astronomer. A doctor makes a diagnosis based, on the one hand, on his or her knowledge of pathology and similar case studies, on the other, based on the observable symptoms in a specific case. A patient may complain of stomach problems. The doctor (we assume that he or she is qualified and efficient) has to decide if it is a colic, an ulcer, a cancer, etc. Even the most qualified doctor can make a wrong diagnosis. But these errors cannot be used as an excuse to deny the scientific character of medicine. In the case of psychology, the situation is even more complicated, being a science that is still in its infancy. And when we get to the social sciences, matters get even more complicated, not only because it involves an immense amount of changing factors, but also because the interests of antagonistic classes come into play. Trotsky: In the eyes of a philistine a revolutionary point of view is virtually equivalent to an absence of scientific objectivity. We think just the opposite: only a revolutionist provided, of course, that he is equipped with the scientific method is capable of laying bare the objective dynamics of the revolution." / Image: public domain It is not difficult to understand that the mask of false academic objectivity serves to conceal the crude reality of a defence of the interests of the bourgeoisie. In contrast to the hypocritical pseudo-objectivity of academic historians, Marxists openly espouse the cause of the working class and socialist revolution. But does this mean that Marxists cannot approach questions in an objective manner? Is there a contradiction between having a passionate interest in changing society and at the same time being capable of an objective appraisal of historical events and the role of individuals in the historical process? The answer was given by the great Russian Marxist, Leon Trotsky: In the eyes of a philistine a revolutionary point of view is virtually equivalent to an absence of scientific objectivity. We think just the opposite: only a revolutionist provided, of course, that he is equipped with the scientific method is capable of laying bare the objective dynamics of the revolution. Apprehending thought in general is not contemplative, but active. The element of will is indispensable for penetrating the secrets of nature and society. Just as a surgeon, on whose scalpel a human life depends, distinguishes with extreme care between the various tissues of an organism, so a revolutionist, if he has a serious attitude toward his task, is obliged with strict conscientiousness to analyse the structure of society, its functions and reflexes. (Trotsky, The Chinese Revolution, 1938.) Engels as a scientist Comrade Garzon will doubtless remind us that the contents of Engels famous book The Dialectics of Nature are a reflexion of the science of the 19th century. In reality, however, Engels was far in advance of the science of his time. He was extremely critical of the mechanistic theories that dominated Newtonian physics. His criticisms were completely corroborated by the discoveries of quantum mechanics and relativity theory at the beginning of the 20th century. Engels was not a professional scientist, but had a fairly extensive knowledge of the natural sciences of his time. However, based on a deep understanding of the dialectical method of analysis, Engels made a number of contributions to the philosophical interpretation of science that fully retain their importance today, although they have remained unknown to the overwhelming majority of scientists. In fact, modern science furnishes us with far more proof of the correctness of dialectics than the examples that were available to Engels. In particular, the new field of chaos theory and its derivatives provides a striking proof of Engelss statement that, in the last analysis, nature works dialectically. The dialectical law of the transformation of quantity into quality lies at the heart of chaos theory, and is absolutely fundamental to the study of phase transitions, a most important area of modern physics. Engels made a number of contributions to the philosophical interpretation of science that fully retain their importance today / Image: public domain In his book Ubiquity, the American scientist, Mark Buchanan, points out that phenomena as diverse as heart attacks, avalanches, forest fires, the rise and fall of animal populations, stock exchange crises, the movement of traffic, and even revolutions in art and fashion are all governed by the same law, which can be expressed as a mathematical equation known as a power law. This is actually the law of the transformation of quantity into quality. What about materialism? The materialist method is fundamental to all science. Every attempt to substitute materialism for idealism in the field of science has led to mistake after mistake. This is particularly the case in the study of human origins, which for over a century was hampered by the idealist prejudices of paleontologists, who were looking for the fossil of a human ancestor with a large brain. They never found it, but were taken in by a fraudster who invented the so-called Piltdown man, which turned out to be a human skull to which the jawbone of an ape had been attached. Scientists believed this fraud because it coincided with their idealist prejudices. But Engels had explained in advance that it was not the brain that created the hand, but the hand that created the brain. This is what the renowned American scientist Stephen Jay Gould wrote about Engels: Indeed, the nineteenth century produced a brilliant expose from a source that will no doubt surprise most readers Friedrich Engels In 1876, Engels wrote an essay entitled, The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man. It was published posthumously in 1896 and, unfortunately, had no visible impact upon Western science The importance of Engelss essay lies, not in its substantive conclusions, but in its trenchant political analysis of why Western science was so hung up on the a priori assertion of cerebral primacy The importance of Engelss essay does not lie in the happy result that Australopithecus confirmed a specific theory proposed by him via Haeckel but rather in his perceptive analysis of the political role of science and of the social biases that must affect all thought. Indeed, Engelss theme of the separation of head and hand has done much to set and limit the course of science throughout history Even today, pure researchers tend to disparage the practical, and terms such as aggie school and cow college are heard with distressing frequency in academic circles. If we took Engelss message to heart and recognised our belief in the inherent superiority of pure research for what it is namely social prejudice then we might forge among scientists the union between theory and practice that a world teetering dangerously near the brink so desperately needs. (Stephen Jay Gould, Ever Since Darwin, pp. 210-213.) Goulds fulsome tribute to Engels is a sufficient answer to the nonsense of Karl Popper and everyone else who tries to discredit Marxism by attacking its philosophical basis, dialectical materialism. Capitalism in a dead end At the present juncture, capitalism finds itself in a deep crisis. As a socio-economic system, it has long since exhausted any potential for carrying humankind forward. When a social system enters into terminal crisis, this finds its reflection not only in a failure to develop the productive forces, but also in other fields: culture, art, morality, philosophy, etc. In the past, when the bourgeoisie was still capable of playing a progressive role, it had a coherent ideology and philosophy. Liberalism presented the capitalist system (the free market economy) as the only possible system, a system that guaranteed progress and constant advances. Today was better than yesterday, and tomorrow would be better than today. Capitalism finds itself in a deep crisis. As a socio-economic system, it has long since exhausted any potential for carrying humankind forward / Image: Flickr, KOREphotos After the fall of the Soviet Union, this beautiful vision received a powerful new impulse. Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the end of history. Socialism was alleged to have failed, capitalism was the only possible system. The future would be one of peace and prosperity for all. 25 years later, not one stone upon another is left of these comforting illusions. For 10 years, governments and economists have struggled to pull the system out of the crisis, without any signs of success. The bourgeoisie and its ideological defenders are filled with pessimism about the future. They have no answers to the crisis of their system. This pessimism finds its reflection in philosophy. Instead of admitting honestly that on the basis of the present system no progress is possible, so-called postmodernism assures us that progress in general does not exist. History cannot be understood, except as a series of accidents. Similarly, ideology cannot exist, for the simple reason that the bourgeoisie itself has run out of ideas. Clarity, not confusion! It gives us no pleasure to say this, but comrade Garzons article, far from clarifying the questions it deals with is full of confusion from the first line to the last. It attempts to demolish Marxism, without actually admitting to that intention, or perhaps because Garzon is not even conscious of it. He fails to make the slightest dent in Marxism, because he never deals seriously with the subject. Instead, he constructs a scarecrow in order to push it over. That is really not a very hard thing to do, and it does not serve to clarify anything or raise the political understanding of members of the United Left. This is doubly unfortunate, because at the present time what is required in order to unite the Left on a sound basis is precisely clarity. The crisis of capitalism has produced a growing revolt in society. We saw this in the mass demonstrations and strikes for women's rights on 8 March, of pensioners demanding their rights and, before that, in the democratic rebellion of the people of Catalonia. Everywhere we see the same discontent, anger, rage, and above all frustration a frustration that is directed to a large extent at the leaders of the Left and the trade unions who, instead of providing the movement with the necessary programme, ideas and organisation, have systematically disappointed the masses and their own members. Comrade Garzon should not see Marxism as heavy baggage left over from the past, which we would do well to throw off our backs. Marxism is not an onerous load that impedes our progress. Rather it is a compass that is absolutely necessary for us to find the right road. Without the aid of such a compass, we will necessarily lose ourselves in a morass of incorrect and contradictory ideas. We should not allow ourselves to be tempted to fall into a kind of dilettante eclecticism, accepting a quarter or half of Marxism while rejecting the rest, amputating it so as to reduce it to an impotent stump, stripped of its revolutionary essence, wiping out its program and thus transforming it into a religious relic to be brought out for use in processions and saints days, but completely removed from real life. To see how this ideological confusion ends up, it is only necessary to point to the present crisis of Podemos. Podemos seemed to represent a way out. The radical speeches of Pablo Iglesias inspired hope in the hearts of many people. But it is impossible to turn ones back so frivolously on ideology, which, when expelled through the front door will fly in through the back window. Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. The absence of ideology merely signifies the acceptance of a bad ideology. Ideas as confused as we are neither Left nor Right open the door to an opportunist policy, with disastrous consequences. The initial hopes are increasingly transformed into a growing disenchantment. This is precisely the result of the ideological confusion and political ambiguity of the leaders of Podemos who foolishly imagined that the way to increase their support was to modify their language in a vain attempt to win over the so-called centre ground. A serious mistake! If people want reformism they have the Socialist Party. They do not need Podemos, which naturally has lost ground to the PSOE. To see how ideological confusion ends up, look at the present crisis of Podemos / Image: GUE NGL In such a situation, the United Left has a golden opportunity to win the leadership of the movement. But the first condition is that it should defend firmly the genuine left ideas: the ideas of communism and revolutionary Marxism. In attempting to distance himself from these ideas, comrade Garzon is doing precisely the opposite of what is needed at this time. We cannot forget what happened in the Transition. The abandonment of Marxism and Leninism, which is part of the same process, expresses itself in the first instance as a confused mish-mash. The following quote serves to sum up the latest articles written by comrade Garzon: [He] accepts Marxism as a theoretical tool, critical and not dogmatic, for the analysis and the transformation of social reality, embracing different contributions, Marxist and non-Marxist, which have contributed to make socialism the great emancipatory alternative of our times and fully respecting personal beliefs. But we should fill in the missing part of the first sentence by adding The PSOE, because this is the resolution that was approved by the extraordinary Congress in 1978 in which the party, led by Felipe Gonzalez, formally abandoned Marxism! Confused ideas can only be combated by ideological firmness and absolute clarity. We are very sorry to say that the ideas expressed by comrade Albertos article do not offer any clarity but represent a clear turn towards the right, not towards the left. Marxism must change Marxism has to change, says Alberto. This is a song that is very well known to us. It has been sung for well over hundred years by people like Bernstein, Kautsky and many others. All of these people wanted to change Marxism into its opposite, to deprive it of its revolutionary identity, to castrate it and reduce it to a harmless kind of parliamentary reformism. But at least the revisionist thinkers of the past tried to put forward a coherent programme. That, sadly, cannot be said in the present case. The article of comrade Garzon contains many criticisms of Marxism, but when it comes to presenting a coherent alternative, it turns out to be a big disappointment. The attitude of Garzon towards Marxism, denying that it is a scientific method, and nor does it even provide us with any kind of method, seems to be identical to the attitude of his hero Karl Popper towards Darwinism, i.e. that it is not a testable scientific theory, but a metaphysical research programa possible framework for testable scientific theories. Philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways the task is however to change it. / Image: public domain As with every other statement by Popper, this needs to be translated into plain English, intelligible to normal human beings. While reluctantly paying tribute to Charles Darwin as a significant thinker of the past (the word past must be heavily underlined), his theories are a complete waste of time. In the same way, Alberto Garzon is quite prepared to keep Marxs photograph on the wall and the first volume of Capital on his bookshelf (after all, it is part of our tradition) as long as what Marx actually wrote is completely ignored. Displaying a complete misunderstanding of the ideas of the founders of scientific socialism, he writes: In the first place, I believe that it is important to abandon the strong determinism that emanates from their conception of history. History is not written in advance by any providential forces and therefore we must not presuppose certain historical developments without the intervention of other variables that are not strictly economic. Here the comrade is mistaken, and vulgarises Marxism to the point where it is rendered unrecognisable. He carries it to an extreme of economic reductionism and a kind of religious determinism. But this was already brilliantly answered by Engels in his letter to Joseph Bloch: According to the materialist conception of history, the ultimately determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life. Other than this neither Marx nor I have ever asserted. Hence if somebody twists this into saying that the economic element is the only determining one, he transforms that proposition into a meaningless, abstract, senseless phrase. () We make our history ourselves, but, in the first place, under very definite assumptions and conditions. Among these the economic ones are ultimately decisive. () Marx and I are ourselves partly to blame for the fact that the younger people sometimes lay more stress on the economic side than is due to it. We had to emphasise the main principle vis-a-vis our adversaries, who denied it, and we had not always the time, the place or the opportunity to give their due to the other elements involved in the interaction. () Unfortunately, however, it happens only too often that people think they have fully understood a new theory and can apply it without more ado from the moment they have assimilated its main principles, and even those not always correctly. And I cannot exempt many of the more recent Marxists from this reproach, for the most amazing rubbish has been produced in this quarter, too In any case, we are told by Garzon, I do believe that we must recover historical materialism, in a softened version, as a useful instrument for social science and as a way of counteracting the postmodern tendencies whose analysis has been disconnected from the economic base. But what this softened version of historical materialism consists of, we do not know. No alternative is offered. Marxism must change, but nobody has the remotest idea as to what the change consists of. We are well aware that the young leader of the United Left is beset by doubts concerning the reality that surrounds us and is attempting to find a way out of the crisis through which the organisation is passing, but before converting these reflexions into authoritative statements, he should first of all follow the advice that Marx gave. He made a magnificent criticism of the philosophy of his own times, and it would be difficult to arrive at the correct understanding of Marxism without a study of the German Ideology, which he wrote together with Engels. But years later Marx himself delivered the following judgement of this work: We abandoned the manuscript to the gnawing criticism of the mice all the more willingly as we had achieved our main purpose self-clarification! Marx analysed the capitalist world, laid bare its internal workings and proposed an alternative. The world today, in all essentials, still remains the same system and the alternatives are also, in all essentials, the same, since the problems of exploitation, poverty, the concentration of capital, the law of value, surplus value and the crisis of overproduction still exist. This not only demonstrates the enormous superiority of Marxist thought, but also indicates the blind alley in which the left has landed by attempting to find an alternative by resorting (while changing the names) to pre-Marxian ideas. Our discussion must not base itself on rejecting the formulations of Marx and Engels, but rather on finding the way to carry them into practice, while basing ourselves on living experience. We must go back to the study of Marxism with the aim of consigning this system with all its destructive consequences into the dustbin of history. What the postmodernist economists so critical of Marx fail to understand is that he was not an economist, but a revolutionary. He did not work out an economic theory in order to deliver clever lectures in university seminars, to find a way to run the capitalist system, nor to work out a reformist electoral programme, but to analyse reality in order to carry out a thoroughgoing social transformation. Basing himself on the internal contradictions of capitalist society, he elaborated his perspective for the transformation of society by the working class. This leads us to the essence of Marxist thesis: Philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways the task is however to change it. Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has facilitated the return of 78 Egyptians who were being held in Libya for illegally entering the country, the ministry announced on Thursday. Tunisia's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) office had notified the Egyptian foreign ministry that 115 Egyptians had been arrested in Libya. 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By Martin Kidston How do angel investors and angel groups work? Where do you find them as an entrepreneur? Angel investing has not only become trendy and highly profitable, it has emerged into being a powerful source of fuel for the national economy, jobs, and new innovation. For entrepreneurs, angels have become a primary source of funding, and for many startups, a vital part of their existence. How do angels and groups work? How is this type of fundraising different? How can founders connect with this money? Alejandro Cremades https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrocremades/2018/09/25/how-angel-investors-and-angel-groups-work/#3cd504b176dc *** Welcome to Frontier Angels, a unique Montana-based investment network of 100+ highly accomplished people from across the state built upon 3 key principles: Discover top-tier emerging technology investment opportunities which provide attractive ROIC to members. Concentrate the collective experience, capabilities and resources of the group to achieve critical mass on a few key initiatives to accelerate the growth of the tech ecosystem in Montana. Actively promote gender diversity to advance the next generation of female leaders in Montana. Why the Business World Needs More Female Angel Investors http://www.matr.net/article-84898.html Angel Capital Association Study Provides New Insights on Angel Group Investments and Their Portfolio Companies http://www.matr.net/article-84722.html An Evening With Montana Ambassadors: Exploring The Montana Start-Up Community 10/11 Seattle, WA http://www.matr.net/article-84606.html 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. 'We should mobilise the necessary funding to face climate change, and cooperate with the effective international bodies to achieve the Global Sustainable Development Goals of 2030, the president said Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi opened on Thursday the 42nd meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of 77 and China, which Egypt is chairing in 2018. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York, and was attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antomio Guterres. El-Sisi discussed Egypt's role in backing the group's activities in the 1960s in a way that contributed to serving the group's goals with regards to fostering cooperation among the countries of the South. El-Sisi also handed the chairmanship of the group for the year 2019 to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The UN's Group of 77 and China was founded in 1964 with 77 countries including Egypt, Brazil and India. It has since grown to 134 members plus China as a participant non-member. Egypt has previously chaired the group in 1972/73 and 1984/85. The Egyptian president's speech tackled the issues of climate change and the challenge it represents to developing countries, as well as the technological gap between North and South. "Egypt, as the president of the Group of 77, has been representing developing countries in negotiations in the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," he said. "We should mobilise the necessary funding to face climate change, and cooperate with the effective international bodies to achieve the Global Sustainable Development Goals of 2030," El-Sisi said. The Egyptian president also stated that developing countries need to make advancements in healthcare, education, food, water and energy. "Technology should be used in sustainable development," the Egyptian president said, adding that countries should be using technologies that provide new jobs opportunities, and not those that end existing opportunities. El-Sisi also said that developing countries are facing challenges because they are trailing behind in fields such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and biotechnology. President El-Sisi announced that the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh will be hosting the UN biodiversity conference COP14 in November. Search Keywords: Short link: Syrian rebels forced from their towns when government forces retook eastern Ghouta near Damascus are starting over in the far north, aiming to build hundreds of homes for displaced fighters and civilians on opposition-held land near the Turkish border. Jaish al-Islam, one of Syria's most prominent rebel groups, likens the project to a new town for people from eastern Ghouta who have been living in camps since President Bashar al-Assad recaptured their area in April. The project near the city of al-Bab points to preparations for a long stay in northern Syria, though Jaish al-Islam insists that the people displaced from eastern Ghouta will return. It is part of a wider effort by the group to recover in the north. Jaish al-Islam commander Issam al-Buwaydani told Reuters in an interview that his group is reorganising and rearming. Since arriving in the north, it is operating under the "National Army" umbrella - a Turkish-backed effort to unify numerous factions. But civilian affairs are also a top priority: Buwaydani said a mall, a school, a mosque and a clinic would also be built at the construction site some 15 km (10 miles) from al-Bab. "My entire combat group is working today in construction," said Abu Jaafar al-Khouli, 25, one of the Jaish al-Islam fighters working at the construction site. "I took part in many battles in Ghouta against the regime and the Nusra Front. Now, I have returned to my original profession," added Khouli, a carpenter before Syria's civil war. The site, where the goal is to build 1,400 homes, is part of an arc of territory in the northwest at that forms the last major opposition-held area in Syria. The eastern Ghouta rebels defended their stronghold on the Damascus outskirts through years of government siege until earlier this year, when Assad took back the area in a ferocious Russian-backed offensive. When it fell, thousands of people opted to take safe passage to the northwest rather than live under government rule, a pattern seen elsewhere that has left the northwest crammed with anti-Assad fighters and dissidents from all over Syria. Jaish al-Islam headed to the area north of Aleppo rather than Idlib province because of long-standing hostility towards the jihadist Nusra Front, also known as Tahrir al-Sham, which has a strong presence in Idlib. The housing project is being built on land that officially belongs to the Syrian state. Permission was granted by the opposition-run council in al-Bab, Buwaydani said. Financing is being provided by Ghouta merchants with no foreign funding, he said. He noted that some displaced Syrians had been living under canvass for three or four years, adding: "Our view is that living in tents has a negative impact on society." The first phase of the project will lay foundations for homes. These will then be handed free of charge to Ghouta residents who will complete the construction with financial support from relatives outside Syria, he said. But this does not signal any acceptance that they will not return to Ghouta. "We will go back to our towns. We will liberate them and topple the terrorist tyrant," Buwaydani said, referring to Assad. Buwaydani says his fighters are getting financial aid from Turkey in the form of salaries. He said the group is ready for new battles against the Syrian government or other enemies, including the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia which controls much of northern Syria. Turkey views the YPG as a national security threat, and its intervention in northern Syria has been driven largely by this concern. Though Assad has crushed many areas of rebellion, Buwaydani still believes he can be toppled. "It is not impossible that Assad falls, especially given that the opposition forces are gathered today in one place," he said. "This is a source of strength." Search Keywords: Short link: The Kurdish YPG Treatment of Non-Kurdish Groups in Northwest Syria (AINA) -- The Syrian Democratic Forces are mostly Kurds from YPG/PYD, a Marxist organization. The Democratic Self-Administration of Northern Syria (DSA) is controlled by the YPG. Most of the Assyrians in the DSA are independent; some are not. Dawronoye are Assyrians who advance the Kurdish agenda and have no support from Assyrians. On paper the DSA gives equal rights to all of its members (Assyrians, Armenians, Yazidis, Arabs, Kurds and others), but in practice the DSA is controlled by the YPG and engages in oppressive, discriminatory actions against non-Kurdish groups. The following are examples of abuses committed by the YPG in northwest Syria: Closing Assyrian, Armenian and other non-Kurdish schools Imposing Kurdish school curricula on non-Kurdish schools Bombing Assyrian businesses Occupying Assyrian villages Occupying Assyrian schools Illegally seizing property Forced conscription Violently clashing with Assyrians not aligned with the YPG Assassinating members of other ethnic groups Displacing Arabs from their villages Ethnic cleansing ibid Recruiting children into their militia Arbitrarily arresting critics Editor's note: this article has been updated since its original publication. Israel is ready to reopen a crossing point into the Syrian-controlled Golan Heights now that Syrian government forces have regained control from rebels, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday. But Lieberman, on a visit to the Israeli-held side of the Quneitra crossing, said any resumption of operations at the facility depended on Syria. "The fact that we have come here, to Alpha Gate, and as far as we are concerned UNDOF forces have begun to operate and patrol with the Israeli military's assistance, says that we are ready for the crossing to reopen," he told reporters, in comments distributed by his ministry. Lieberman was referring to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, whose monitoring operations in a demilitarised zone established in 1974 between the Israeli-occupied Golan and the Syrian sector were disrupted by Syria's civil war. "At the moment, the ball is in the Syrian court," Lieberman said. Military police from Russia, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have been patrolling on the Syrian side of Quneitra, where Lieberman said Syrian police and customs officials were also present. In the past, Lieberman said, traffic through Quneitra mainly comprised shipments into Syria of apples grown by Druze farmers on the Israeli-controlled Golan - and the entry of brides for partners on both sides of the armistice line. Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and fought Syria again on the strategic plateau in a 1973 conflict. Search Keywords: Short link: KABUL Acting and Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mr. Hekmat Khlail Karzai received the newly appointed Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark in Afghanistan, Mr. Nicolaj Petersen in a courtesy call in his office today. Deputy Minister Karzai welcomed the Danish Ambassador designate to Afghanistan and commended Denmark's support to Afghanistan. The Ambassador designate also stressed sustaining his country's support to Afghanistan. Both sides discussed and exchanged views on the Peace Process, counterterrorism, significance of the upcoming elections, bilateral and multilateral issues as well as regional matters. Voters in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq will elect a new parliament on Sunday. What Does The Parliament Do? The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament is responsible for passing laws in the Iraqi provinces governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Of its 111 seats, 11 are reserved for minorities: five for Turkmen, five for Assyrians and one for Armenians. The majority bloc forms the government. Since the region established its autonomy in 1991, this has usually taken the form of a coalition between the two parties that have traditionally controlled the region's biggest cities: the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), based in the capital Erbil, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), based in Sulaimaniya. This arrangement was interrupted by a civil war between the two parties in the 1990s. Who Are The Main Parties? Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Founded in 1946 by Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani, the KDP is the largest Kurdish party, holding the most seats in both the regional parliament, 38, and Iraq's federal parliament, 25. Its stated goal is Kurdish independence and it has always been led by the Barzani clan. Mustafa Barzani's son, Masoud Barzani, was the only president the region had known until he stepped down in 2017 following a failed bid to secure independence through a referendum. He remained leader of the KDP, however. Masoud's nephew, Nechirvan Barzani, is the current KRG prime minister. Masoud's son, Masrour Barzani, leads the region's security forces. The KDP traditionally enjoys close relations with neighbouring Turkey. Patriotic Union Of Kurdistan (PUK) The PUK was founded in 1975 by a group of leftists in Sulaimaniya dissatisfied with the KDP. The most notable among them was the late Jalal Talabani, who went on to become the first post-Saddam Hussein federal president of Iraq, and whose family still controls the party. The PUK slipped to third place in the 2013 election, but its dominance of the Sulaimaniya area meant it extended a coalition with the KDP that has ruled autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991. Jalal's son Qubad Talabani is the current deputy prime minister. The PUK holds 18 seats in both the Kurdish assembly and the Iraqi federal parliament, where it is the second-largest Kurdish party. It has traditionally been close to Iran. Gorran (Or Movement For Change): Gorran has been the main opposition movement in Iraqi Kurdistan since it was founded in 2009 by Nechirvan Mustafa, a former senior PUK leader. It currently holds 24 seats in the regional parliament. Gorran has been riven with infighting since Mustafa's death in 2017, and managed to win only five seats in Iraq's federal parliamentary election in May, down from eight in 2010. Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU): The KIU was founded in 1994 and is the main Islamist party in Kurdistan. It has been formally affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood since 2015 and currently holds 10 seats in the regional parliament. New Generation: Founded in 2017 by entrepreneur Shaswar Abdulwahid to contest Iraq's federal election in May, and won four seats. Search Keywords: Short link: NEW YORK - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, H.E. Salahuddin Rabbani participated in the annual coordination meeting of the Non-Aligned Countries, held at the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly. Minister Rabbani stated that terrorism was a global phenomenon that has violated all international rules and principles, and stressed the need for serious struggle of countries around the world against this phenomenon. He emphasized that the only way to defeat terrorism was to identify its causes and financial resources. NEW YORK - Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Cooperation Adela Raz spoke today at the Annual Ministerial Meeting of the Least Developed Countries held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. She briefed the participants about the implementation of the Istanbul Program of Action (IPoA) for LDCs in Afghanistan and stated that despite the challenges related to peace, security and development, the government of Afghanistan is determined to implement the SDGs and other development agendas including IPoA. The government is currently pursuing an integrated approach to self-reliance under the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF) and the National Priority Programs (NPPs) in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, natural resources, human capital, private sector development and womens economic empowerment. Deputy Foreign Minister Raz also highlighted the importance of regional economic cooperation as a cross-cutting enabler in the implementation of SDGs and IPoA and in this context, spoke about the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) and the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) as two prominent Afghanistan-centered regional cooperation frameworks. She also stressed the importance of continued international assistance to the implementation of IPoA. KABUL- Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Management and Resources, Dr. Nasir Ahmad Andisha met with the Head of Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan, Mr. Juan Pedro Schaerer. Dr. Andisha praised ICRC's humanitarian activities in Afghanistan paralleled with due consideration of the principle of impartiality. Hinting at the challenging security situation and limitations for the access of ICRC staff to some remote areas of Afghanistan, Mr. Schaerer called for further ease in the issuance of visas for ICRC personnel and help in maintaining their security in Afghanistan. Dr. Andisha assured of necessary cooperation with respect to relieving the visa issuance process, maintenance of security, safety and technical assistance. NEW YORK Mr. Chairman, It is a pleasure to address this years annual coordination meeting of the Non-Alignment Movement. On behalf of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, I thank the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as Chair of our Coordinating Bureau, for convening this meeting. We also welcome the theme designated for our discussion today: Upholding the UN Charter and the Purposes and Principles of NAM, Towards a Culture of Peace. We live in a day and age in which the nature and scope of global challenges have grown more complex. Threats to international peace and security are no longer seen from the viewpoint of armed conflicts, military confrontations and terrorism alone. Rather, calamites such as climate change, rampant poverty and the mass displacement of peoples around the world also undermine the peace and stability of societies. NAMs founding principles of multilateralism, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of States and peaceful co-existence still represent the most viable approach for our common prosperity. They are also fundamental preconditions to consolidating the rule of law and promoting a culture of peace. Afghanistans foreign policy is guided by a firm commitment to upholding the principles of the UN Charter, with which NAM principles are closely linked. We have always advocated through words and deeds international cooperation and solidarity to advance peace and stability in our region and the world at-large. This is manifested by our strategic partnerships with a wide nexus of regional and international partners, which have steadily grown and expanded since 2001. Mr. Chairman, Promoting and consolidating the culture of peace requires decisive action by various stakeholders - beyond just States alone. This was highlighted during the high-level meeting on Sustaining Peace in April, which emphasized a more cohesive UN approach to build and sustain peace in societies worldwide. In this context, we also welcome the Secretary Generals reform measures across the peace, security and development pillars. We must not forget that up-holding the UN Charter and the principles of NAM; and embedding a culture of peace is also dependent on a reformed Security Council that responds more effectively to threats confronting international peace and security. The inter-governmental negotiation process on Security Council reform must progress beyond the current stalemate and achieve the intended outcome to help save current and future generations from the scourges of conflict, strife, and humanitarian tragedies. On this occasion, we underscore once again the importance of the peaceful settlement of disputes. Initiating such an approach provides the surest guarantee for resolving bilateral, regional and international tensions, as well as addressing current conflicts and preventing new ones from occurring in the first place. More broadly, this principle is critical for cultivating and consolidating a culture of peace. Mr. Chairman, International terrorism is a phenomenon that violates fundamental human rights and other core tenets of both the UN Charter and NAMs founding principles. Our group shares responsibility to ensure that the international response to this threat achieves more tangible result, under the 4 Pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. In that regard, passivity on the part of any State in meeting their obligations hinders broader counter-terrorism efforts. Terrorism will only be defeated with a zero tolerance approach against all shades and forms of terror groups, with due focus on addressing all forms of material and logistical aid that enable them to continue their reign of terror against the civilized world. We hope the creation of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and other important developments related to the UNs CT architecture leads to more tangible progress in the fight against terrorism. Mr. Chairman, This year, again, our people have continued their resilience in the face of terrorism to achieve peace and stability. Our National Defense and Security Forces continued to fend off various attacks throughout Afghanistan, which resulted in the enemys failure to capture and control of any of the provincial capitals. The security efforts also include a vigorous fight against elements of international terrorist groups, including Daesh, which also have suffered major setbacks. Moreover, we presented an unprecedented peace offer to the Taliban within the framework of the Kabul Process Conference in February. In June we witnessed a 3-day mutual ceasefire, which marked an important development. That said, we still await the Talibans overall commitment to a durable peace. We welcome all support being provided for our peace efforts by regional and international partners, and reaffirm the importance of their conformity with the principle of Afghan ownership and leadership. We are also working to ensure successful parliamentary and presidential elections, scheduled for October this year, and April 2019. Inclusive, transparent and credible electoral processes remain an ultimate demand of our people, on which we must deliver. We also look forward to the up-coming International Geneva Conference on Afghanistan in November, where a new phase of our partnership with the international community will commence. Overall, in spite of current challenges, Afghanistans progress towards stability continues in a positive trajectory. I thank our group as a whole, and the many individual NAM member-states for their steadfast support for our security and prosperity. Mr. Chairman, The UN Charter provides the corner-stone of our rules-based international order, and the principles of NAM lay at the core of that historic text. At this time of ever-evolving global landscape, we must reinforce those vital principles as an imperative to ensuring a more peaceful and prosperous world order. Thank You. Palestine formally assumed on Thursday the chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China for the year 2019. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who chaired the group for 2018, handed over the chairmanship of the G77 to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his speech at the opening of the Group of 77 and China meeting in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. More to follow Search Keywords: Short link: September 27, 2018 British Intelligence Throws More Novi-Fog To Hide The Holes In Its Skripal File The UK/NATO propaganda group Bellingcat asserts that the man in the left picture is the same man as the person in the other two pictures. The man in the middle and right picture is supposed to be Ruslan Boshirov, one of the two Russians who say (vid) that they went to visit Stonehenge via Salisbury on March 3 and March 4 2018, but could not reach it because the roads were closed after recent snowstorms. (Stonehenge was indeed closed during those two days.) The British government asserts that the two visiting men are agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU. It says that they applied 'Novichok' to the doorknob of Sergej Skripal's house with the intent to kill the former British spy. The 'highly deadly' poison is said to have affected Sergej Skripal, his daughter Yulia and a policeman. All are said to be well by now but all three have been vanished from the public by the British intelligence services. The alleged GRU men went on, says the British government, to dispose the rest of the 'Novichok' in a perfume bottle, the packing sealed in cellophane, which was months later found by some bloke in Salisbury while rummaging through charity boxes. That 'perfume' is claimed to have killed the blokes drug addicted girlfriend. Today's release of these pictures adds another layer of disinformation to divert the public from the many contradictions in the case the British government presented. It is Novi-Fog. Bellingcat, which claims to work with open source material, does not really say how it found the picture at the left. It claims to have had access to "leaked Russian databases" and to have "obtained" Russian passport files without further explanation. It then asserts that the man in the left picture is one Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, who, it says, is a highly decorated officer of the Russian GRU. Bellingcat concludes that the man known as Ruslan Boshirov in the middle and right picture is indeed the supposed GRU officer in the left picture. The former British ambassador Craig Murray does not believe that man on the left is the same one as the man in the other pictures. Other people have pointed out various inconsistencies with the pictures, seemingly faked papers, and the whole story presented by Bellingcat. Elena Evdokimova @elenaevdokimov7 - 1:52 UTC- 27 Sep 2018 @Belligcat's new opus on #Skripal's alleged poisoning This is becoming hilarious Person who filled the alleged passport form also forged the .. on the other form- its the SAME handwriting! --- Charles Wood @Mare_Indicum - 3:52 UTC- 27 Sep 2018 Bzzzt! #Bellingcrap two images, one of Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga, one of Ruslan Boshirov, only get a 75% match using facial recognition software and are classified 'from different persons', not even 'quite look-alike'. Keep up the futile search guys! (Follow the links in the above tweets to see the presented evidence and conclusions.) Moon of Alabama commentator Debs is Dead is likewise unconvinced of the stroy. The following is his (edited for readability): --- I flicked on the beeb news channel as I dragged myself outta the pit this AM and caught the 'news' of the Bellingcat claim that Ruslan Boshirov = Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. Now I'm fully cognisant of the fact that neither Russia nor Chepiga should feel obliged to prove this claim is untrue, but since whichever way you slice it Chepiga is now 'blown', they (Russia/Chepiga) may as well prove the claim is nonsense. The thing being that the boof heads at MI6/CIA would also have worked that out, unless it was a particularly boofed boofhead who put this latest snippet together. IMO in all likelihood Ruslan Boshirov = Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga is correct. Towards the end of one of the supporting articles that sets out the 'proof' Bellingcat mutters something rather odd which seems like it actually detracts from the story - if the ultimate target of this revelation is Colonel Chepiga. But who really cares about some obscure military intelligence mid-level bloke? [...] No one cares about Chepiga, this entire saga is about getting the masses to accept without any deep consideration, that "Putin" the figurehead who (according to western media) micromanages everything evil about Russia, only cares about destroying the life of Jo/Joe Shitkicker where ever in the world Jo/Joe may be. So the last two paras of the burble runs thusly: Bellingcat has contacted confidentially a former Russian military officer of similar rank as Colonel Chepiga, in order to receive a reaction to what we found. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed surprise that at least one of the operatives engaged in the operation in Salisbury had the rank of colonel. Even more surprising was the suspects prior award of the highest military recognition. In our sources words, an operation of this sort would have typically required a lower-ranked, field operative with a military rank of no higher than captain. The source further surmised that to send a highly decorated colonel back to a field job would be highly extraordinary, and would imply that the job was ordered at the highest level. The logical flaw is obvious of course. If 'the job' had been ordered at the highest level surely sending some bloke who had been riding a desk for the last six years is not how it would be handled, the most recently capable operative would be send - either a relatively junior officer or a young but experienced NCO. However assuming Boshirov = Colonel Chepiga is correct, while he would never be sent to supervise a hit on the ground much less carry it out; it doesn't take a great stretch to ruminate on the possible tasks a military intelligence colonel would be sent to England for. There is one obvious task which would explain most credibly what he was in Salisbury for - to give Sergey Skripal confidence that his repatriation was a genuine offer, not some half arsed wish fulfillment plan dreamed up by Yulia and a low level intelligence operator eager to climb into Yulia's pants. Two colonels of the GRU, one a highly decorated hero and the other a dodgy turncoat who had come to realise after the nonsense his immediate MI6 superior Pablo Miller, plus his big boss "Mr Steele" had put out about Moscow golden showers, whilst insinuating he, Skirpal was party to the fiction, that rapprochement between Russia and England/America was never gonna happen. He was never going to be able to know any of his grandchildren or see his motherland again because US/UK needed 'evil Russia' to distract their citizens away from the real evildoing 'at home'. Someone used a chess metaphor elsewhere in a thread, well I would say that if the Bellingcat revelation that Ruslan Boshirov = Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, if true, sails close to a checkmate. If Russia confesses that Ruslan Boshirov = Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, citizens in the west would be denied any explanation as the fishwraps and talking heads would be too busy celebrating Russia's alleged 'defeat' to include any other portion of what Russia had said, especially not an exposition which dealt with everything from the fact that Chepiga & Co arrived too late on Sunday for their poisoned doorknob to have tainted the Skirpals who had left the house for the last time hours before and that of all the English towns some idiot chose to squirt this muck around Salisbury was the one where assassination by chemical weapon was the town the least likely to give success since the proximity of Porton Downs guaranteed that some if not all staff at Salisbury Hospital would have been trained in chemical weapon detection and antidote. On the other side of the coin - panic stations at MI6, on a quiet Sunday it has just been uncovered that an asset was 'going over'. So some duty officer sent the thug on call for the day over to Porton Downs to grab 'a little something' guaranteed to prevent any such nonsense. --- End of Debs is Dead's comment. Previous Moon of Alabama coverage of the Skripal case: Posted by b on September 27, 2018 at 17:18 UTC | Permalink Comments next page Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. One of Nigeria's main oil unions, PENGASSAN, said it would join a general strike that started on Thursday. "We are to proceed on the action with immediate effect. However, those on critical and essential services are required to remain on their duty posts," it said in a statement. Search Keywords: Short link: IRS Slams Door on Property Tax Workarounds One of the more contentious provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was a new ceiling on the SALT deduction. This is the amount taxpayers can deduct on federal tax returns for what is paid in state and local taxes including income, sales, and property taxes. The new limit is $10,000 where previously there was none. The increase in the standard deduction included in TCJA meant most taxpayers are better off not itemizing SALT and other Schedule A deductions and the change is also is expected to bring the Treasury an additional $36 billion in revenue this year, reaching $90 billion by 2024. However, the SALT deduction has been an important one for those homeowners of high value properties living in states where property taxes are also high and to those with second homes. George King, an analyst with CoreLogic's Government, Risk Management division, writes in the companies blog that the passage of TCJA near the end of last year sent many of those who would be affected scurrying to their tax collector to prepay their 2018 property taxes before the New Year's ball dropped so as to take the SALT deduction one last time on their 2017 returns. CoreLogic data shows that prepayment activity increased by 90 percent in California and by 300 percent and 191 percent in New Jersey and Massachusetts respectively. However, IRS has warned that these prepayments may be allowable only under certain circumstances. Both taxpayers and those states most heavily impacted are seeking a way out of the "unintended" consequences of the tax act. Four states, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and New York are suing to strike down the $10K cap and are asking the courts to declare it unconstitutional. Several states are following the lead of New York which has amended its own tax law to authorize school districts, county governments, and New York City to establish charitable funds which would provide a credit for taxpayers of up to 95 percent of donations those funds. The credits can be applied against property taxes. Connecticut and New Jersey have since passed similar charitable funds bills, which both went into effect in early July and a bill is pending in California and possibly in Illinois. Needless to say, the IRS is looking somewhat askance at these state workarounds and has announced that it and the U.S. Treasury will be issuing guidance on the issue. One subsequent notice from IRS has reinforced that federal law controls the characterization of payments for federal income tax purposes regardless of how state laws may characterize them. Last month IRS opened public comment on a proposed regulation that holds that all contributions claimed for purposes of charitable deduction must be reduced by the amount of corresponding credits received. The comment period expires on October 11. King says should the proposed rule go into effect it would pretty much negate the states' attempts to get around the SALT cap. It would, he says, 'be bad news for those who itemize their tax deductions and may consider moving out of high property tax areas." However, he adds that lenders would avoid the anticipated mortgage loan administration challenges as they try to determine the correct amount to escrow for borrowers' accounts each year." Related Palestine assumes chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China in 2019 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called on U.S. President Donald Trump to rescind his decisions recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and cutting aid to the Palestinians, which he said had undermined the two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. "With all of these decisions, this administration has reneged on all previous U.S. commitments, and has undermined the two-state solution," Abbas said in his address to the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. "I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements." President Abbas slammed the recent Israeli law which defined Israel as nation-state of the Jewish people as racist. Israel adopted a racist law that crossed all the red lines and called it a Nation-State Law of the Jewish People. This law denies the connection of the Palestinian people to their historic homeland and dismisses their right to .to self-determination and their history & heritage, as well as the UN resolutions relevant to the Palestine question and the agreements concluded w/ith Israel.This law will inevitably lead to the creation of one racist State," Abbas said as quoted by the official Twitter account of the State of Palestine. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 [] The Kremlin will look for information on a man that UK media reports said was a Russian colonel and a suspect in the Salisbury nerve poison case, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. UK media reported on Wednesday that the real identity of one of the men wanted by Britain for the Salisbury nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter was Anatoliy Chepiga, who they said was a decorated Russian colonel. "Many people look alike, but I cannot tell you who this citizen who was pointed out in this investigation is," Peskov said. Search Keywords: Short link: International Police chief stabbed to death in France London, Sep 27 (Agencies) | Publish Date: 9/27/2018 12:15:08 PM IST A police chief has been stabbed to death in the city of Rodez, in southern France, outside the city hall, BBC reported. Pascal Filoe was stabbed three times in the middle of the street by an individual known to police. French radio network France Info reports that the suspects dog was taken away from him a week ago. This reportedly led him to threaten the mayor and the police chief. Mr Filoe died of his injuries in hospital shortly after the incident. The Mayor of Rodez, Christian Teyssedre, told AFP Mr Filoe was the father of three children. The attacker was known to police. He had defaced the city hall door on 11 April, she said. Officials said emergency psychological support would be made available to staff affected by the stabbing. Three Saudi men accused of terrorism were killed on Wednesday after they resisted arrest in the eastern Shia Muslim region of Qatif, a Saudi security spokesman said on Thursday. Three members of the Saudi security forces suffered light injuries, he said. The three killed "are linked to the terror incidents that happened in Qatif," he said. Search Keywords: Short link: By PTI MUMBAI: A special court Wednesday gave diamond jeweller Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the PNB bank fraud case, time till October 30 to file his reply to an Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea seeking to declare him a "fugitive" under a new law. Earlier, the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had summoned Choksi before it on September 26 in connection with the ED's plea to declare him a "fugitive" under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Appearing before the court presided over by judge M S Azmi, Choksi's lawyer Sanjay Abbot Wednesday said they have been provided a copy of the ED's complaint in the USD 2 billion fraud case and need some time to file a reply. Following this, the judge adjourned the matter to October 30 for filing the reply. The financial crime probe agency had moved the court seeking to declare Choksi and his nephew and diamond trader Nirav Modi as "fugitive economic offenders" and nod to confiscate their assets worth Rs 3,500 crore. The court Tuesday asked Nirav Modi to file his reply on October 29 in the matter. The probe agency, empowered to enforce the new law enacted by the NDA government to curb big economic crimes and check the escape of perpetrators from India, had filed two separate applications against Nirav Modi and Choksi. The law is aimed at deterring economic offenders from evading the process of law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. It seeks to expedite recovery of losses incurred by banks and other entities by confiscating their properties. The ED seeks to confiscate their assets, both movable and immovable, including those located in the UK and the UAE. The move has been made on the basis of two charge sheets filed by the agency under the PMLA against the diamond jewellers, who are currently abroad. Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after it was detected that they allegedly cheated PNB (Punjab National Bank) of more than Rs 13,400 crore with the purported involvement of a few of its employees. The scam, which reportedly began in 2011, was detected in January, after which PNB officials reported it to the probe agencies. Two criminal complaints were filed by the ED in these instances after taking cognisance of CBI FIRs. Non-bailable warrants were issued against Nirav Modi and Choksi. Also, an Interpol 'red corner' arrest warrant has been issued against Nirav Modi on the ED's request. By ANI NEW DELHI: State Bank of India (SBI) at its Executive Committee meeting of the Board approved the sale of 86.2 lac shares of Rs 10 each, summing up to four per cent stake in its subsidiary, SBI General Insurance Company Limited (SBI GI), for Rs 482 crore. Axis New Opportunities, represented through its investment manager Axis AMC Ltd., and Premji Invest, will purchase 1.65 per cent and 2.35 per cent stake, respectively, from SBI. The proposed transaction values SBI GI at over Rs 12,000 crores, and completion of the transaction would be subject to regulatory approvals. Upon completion of the transaction, SBI will hold 70 per cent stake in SBI GI, while its joint venture partner, IAG International Pty Ltd., will continue to hold 26 per cent. "State Bank of India happily welcomes Axis New Opportunities AIF and Premji Invest as our incoming partners in SBI GI. Insurance segment is still young and nascent in India, it is a highly under penetrated market, we foresee a significant scope of growth for SBI GI to achieve size, scale and profitability. We shall continue to extend our support and are excited about SBI GI's bright journey ahead," said Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited acted as the financial advisor for the transaction while J. Sagar Associates was the legal advisor for the transaction. Roshne Balasubramanian By Express News Service CHENNAI: Though Mahatma Gandhi and Rukmini Devi Arundale never met each other, they shared many common values. In fact, she created her work from within the narratives of the anti-colonial nationalism explained by Gandhi. The revival and reformation of the Indian traditions by Rukmini Devi took a radically new form, says Revathi Ramachandran, director of Kalakshetra Foundation. To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, Kalakshetra Foundation will present a Bharatanatyam production titled Shanthi Sutra, capturing in its form the common threads that connect two of the countrys key influencers the Mahatma and Kalakshetras founder Rukmini Devi Arundale. The production will not only showcase the common threads, but will also celebrate the threads that best represent their inter-connectedness, says the artistic director of the production. It will be in association with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India that is celebrating a series of activities under the umbrella of Gandhi Parv. Rehearsals for the production are in full swing and Revathi tells us about the ideation and what binds the two visionaries together. When I took charge of Kalakshetra Foundation this year, I had quite a few plans and I certainly wanted to do something for Gandhi Jayanthi. Thats when this idea came about. Rukmini Devi and Gandhiji have contributed so much to the nation, and that became our narrative, she says. The production went on floors in June this year and artistes have been rehearsing every day. We have weaved the five key elements that connect Gandhiji and Rukmini Devi together into this creation, she says. Both of them, in a sense, stood for self-esteem, passion for education, non-violence, a non-consumerist view of the environment we live in, an acceptance of all Gods as one, and their love for Rama. Rama was Gandhijis ishta devata and Rukmini Devis Ramayana production is known to be legendary. Shanthi Sutra is really a production where the audience can immerse themselves and internalise the values these two leaders stood for. The values are very relevant in the world we live in, she says. City-based VR Devika of The Aseema Trust, which was founded to build bridges between traditional performing arts, education, and Gandhian views, has helped with the content and research for the production. While one spun the thread during the freedom struggle for the country, the other wove the thread into the fabric of new age dance and textile post-independence for the nations betterment, Devika says in a press release. The dance has been choreographed by senior artistes like Jyolsana Menon, Shaly Vijayan, Mohan, Nirmala Nagaraj, Nandini Nagaraj, Sooryanarayana Moorthy, Hari Padman, KR Lokesh Raj and KP Rakesh. The music has been composed by K Sai Shankar. We have also collaborated with Krishnakumar Balasubramanian of Little Theatre for theatre direction and light design, Revathi says. BK Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, chairman and member of the central committee of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore, who is also a Gandhian, will be the guest of honour. (Shanthi Sutra will be staged on October 1 at Rukmini Arangam, Kalakshetra Foundation from 6 pm. For details call: 24524057/ 0836) By Express News Service CHENNAI: Protests demanding better pay and protection by labourers working at Royal Enfield and Yamaha seem to have turned volatile as it also hits production at the plant of the two-wheeler majors. Police entered both premises on Wednesday causing panic among protesters. While workers from Yamaha have been protesting for eight days now, Enfield workers started their agitation on Monday. Royal Enfield Employees Union, who applied for registration, demanded a settlement on their charter of demands, including wage increase, said R Sampath, vice-president, Working People Trade Union Council and vice-president of Royal Enfield Employees Union. Almost 1,300 workers from Enfield and 750 from Yamaha are taking part in the protest. However, police asked protesters to clear the Yamaha plant citing a High Court order that prevented them from agitating within 200m of the campus. This caused unrest among workers, some of whom threatened to jump off a cell-phone tower. We, however, explained the order to them. The situation is under control now and they moved the protest 200m away from the campus, said Santhosh Hadimani, Kancheepuram SP. Royal Enfield had allegedly put up an internal notice stating that the company will consider the training over if trainees do not show up to work by Friday. Labourers from the plant alleged that police officials tried dissolving the protests forcibly, but Hadimani argued that they kept the situation under control without causing unrest. Both companies have not responded yet. Mouli Mareedu By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Drunken and demonic is how onlookers could describe 48-year-old Vaddegoni Kishan Goud, who along with his cousin Ampalle Laxma Goud, chased and hacked to death a 24-year-old youth accused of murdering the formers son last year. While most of them were frozen by the brutality that was unfolding in front of their eyes, some did nothing but film the episode. A few though did try to intervene and save a precious life. P Linga Murthy, traffic police constable attached with Rajendranagar traffic police, is certainly the one who, though with little success, tried to come to the rescue of the victim. Linga Murthy was manning the traffic at pillar number 140 in Attapur junction, at around 11.10 a.m, when a person came rushing to him, asking him to be saved him from assailants chasing him. Ramesh was already bleeding. I asked him to get on to my bike. But by then the two drunk men pushed my bike away. Immediately, Kishan Goud started attacking Ramesh with an axe. Within a matter of minutes, Kishan Goud killed Ramesh, said Linga Murthy. First, I thought it was a case of drunk men causing public nuisance. At that time, I did notice an axe with Kishan Goud. I sensed trouble for the victim and tried to rescue him, shouting out for help, Linga Murthy said. Kishan Goud threatened me with an axe even as I was trying to rescue a bleeding Ramesh, Linga Murthy added. Meanwhile, Rajendranagar police, who registered a murder and Arms Act cases on Kishan Goud and Laxman Goud for killing of Ramesh, have recorded the statement of Linga Murthy as he is key witness in the case. Accused have confessed to crime, say police Police said, the accused have confessed to having committed the offence. Recalling the last years murder, police said Mahesh was killed on December 22, 2017 and the body was found dumped at Muchintal locality. The accused after dumping the body had set the body on fire. The murder and Rameshs links came to light only when he took the vehicle that carried Maheshs body to a water wash and the staff there noticed blood stains and alerted police. A case against Ramesh and three others have been registered. Sweden's anti-immigration party - which is shunned by the political mainstream - insisted on Thursday it would block the formation of a new government unless it gets a say in policy - something the two main political blocs have ruled out. The Sweden Democrats have grown in popularity since entering parliament in 2010 and hold the balance of power after winning 62 seats in the 349-member house at a Sept. 9 election. They voted with the centre-right Alliance bloc to scupper the government of Social Democrat prime minister Stefan Lofven on Tuesday. But at consultations on forming a new administration on Thursday, said they would not back an Alliance government. "We will not, either actively or passively, support a government that does not give us influence," Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson told reporters. The speaker of parliament has four attempts at picking a prime minister who can get support from parliament - a process that could take weeks. If he fails there will be a new election within three months. Lofven and Alliance leader Ulf Kristersson are both claiming the right to build a new minority administration. Kristersson said he wanted to form a government consisting of his Moderate party and its Centre, Liberal and Christian Democrat allies. With 143 members of parliament, that grouping is one seat smaller than Lofven's centre-left bloc. Lofven, whose Social Democrats are the biggest party in parliament, is hoping that the Centre and Liberal parties will support him if their only other option is a deal with the Social Democrats. The speaker will hold a news conference later in the day after completing his first round of talks with all the party leaders. Search Keywords: Short link: By Express News Service KOCHI: Kochi city will soon have its own comprehensive master plan to deal with emergency situations arising due to natural calamities and disasters. The Kochi Corporation authorities have come with the proposal in the wake of the devastating floods which hit the state last month. The decision to formulate the master plan was announced during a seminar on awareness on disaster management organised by the Kochi Corporation on Wednesday."For the disaster mitigation programme in the city, scientific systems need to be prepared. Since the natural disasters are increasing in the state, it is also better to provide an awareness to the people too," said the Mayor while inaugurating the seminar. The seminar also discussed the issues that would be faced due to the climate change in the future. "The recent flood is an eye-opener for several reasons. The rebuilding of new Kochi should be carried out based on the experiences that we have gained," said Mayor Soumini Jain. Opposition leader K J Antony said stringent action will be taken against the construction work carrying out after encroaching the water bodies. Deputy Mayor T J Vinodh opined the lack of exclusive disaster management plan for the city is a major threat. During the seminar, T B Ramakrishnan, Angamaly fire and rescue station officer and Deputy Collector M V Suresh Kumar detailed the steps taken for the disaster relief during the flood. Town Planning Committee Chairperson Shiny Mathew, Development Standing Committee chairperson Gracy Joseph, Welfare standing Committee Chairperson A B Sabu, Health Standing standing Committee chairperson V K Minimol, Works Standing Committee Chairperson P M Harris also attended the seminar along with other officials. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The initial proceeding of the much-awaited flyover project at Kazhakoottam which will decongest the traffic at the IT corridor is moving at a slow pace. Though the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) selected a contractor for the construction of the flyover, there has been no concrete follow up on the project. The 2.7 km four-lane flyover project was awarded to Kochi- based Cherian Varkey Construction company last month after the firm quoted the lowest amount of Rs 195 crore. However, the company is yet to receive the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from the NHAI.When Express contacted the contractor, they said that they could not begin any work unless they received the LOA. Till Tuesday, we have not received the letter. We only know that we have been selected for the work, said Cherian Varkey, managing director, Cherian Varkey Constructions. However, NHAI officials say that the LOA will only be handed over to the construction company once 80 per cent of the land acquisition process is completed. The land is being acquired under 3 (D) of the NH act 1956. The acquisition of a 1.3 km stretch is nearing completion. The LOA will be submitted to the contractor at the earliest, a top NHAI officer said. The longest flyover in the district will be developed as a standalone project under the Engineering Procurement, Construction(EPC). In October last year, NHAI headquarters had approved the flyover design. The initial proposal was to have a 1.4 km flyover. However, the design had to be altered owing to the heavy traffic at the busy junction. The flyover will have 75 piers, each 30 meters apart. The main carriageway will be 21 metres. Unlike the earlier proposal, the flyover will end near Technopark Phase-III and will start near Kazhakoottam police station. As per plan, the vehicles arriving from Kollam towards Kovalam or the airport will benefit mostly from the flyover, while local traffic will be directed underneath the flyover. The project, which was proposed by the previous government, was set in motion after the Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari instructed NHAI to build a flyover and underpass at Kazhakootam. However, the underpass project was later dropped due to practical difficulties. The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), which conducted a study on de-congesting the area three years ago, had suggested an elevated road from Kazhakoottam to Technopark. According to the study, all the road sections around Technopark have been catering to traffic nearly three times more than its capacity. As per the report, about 30 per cent of those who arrive at the Technopark Campus uses two-wheelers while 26 per cent each use cars and buses. What the NHAI says The LOA will only be handed over to the construction company once 80 per cent of the land acquisition process is completed By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Every year, thousands of students from Andhra Pradesh go abroad, especially the United States (US), to pursue higher studies. This year, the students may face a tougher time as the rupee value has come down as compared to US dollar. Most of the students go abroad either by taking education loans from banks or through NTR Videsi Vidya, a State governments scheme. Under the scheme, Rs 10 lakh in two installments will be given to BC, SC, ST and Brahmin students. Ever since the rupee fell, the students are requesting the government to increase the incentive amount. Pranati, a student, who applied for NTR Videsi Vidya scheme from Kapu community said, We have requested the officials to increase the incentive as the expenditure has gone up. As the application fee, travel, tuition fees, accommodation, living expenses are to be paid in US dollars, the fall in rupee value has come as a big blow to us as we rely on loans and small savings. Speaking to TNIE, S Easwar Swaroop, a student awaiting his US visa said, Since January this year, I planned to do MS in computers in a New Jersey university. I need to join the Campus in fall session. I paid all my tuition fees. Due to a fall in rupee value coupled with delay in visa, I paid an additional Rs 2 lakh. The travel cost has also increased and so has the accommodation and living expenses. The technical courses related to IT industry cost around 40,000 to 70,000 USD in the US for a period of two years. This apart, the flight, accommodation and living expenses add another 15,000 USD. Due to the fall in rupee value, the students are burdened with an additional USD 3,000 to USD 5,000. Kapu Welfare Corporation MD Shiva Shankar said, We have received several requests from the students to increase the amount and have forwarded the same to the ministry. The government may not increase the incentive, but we are expecting that it may release special grants such as airfare or accommodation among others for a certain period until the rupee bounces back. The second phase of NTR Videsi Vidya is still going on; selections to this scheme are likely to get completed this week. Almost 1,000 students will be going abroad this year under this scheme, he added. By Express News Service ONGOLE: Three workers were killed and eight others injured when an under-construction granite polishing unit collapsed on Wednesday in Ballikurava mandal of Prakasam district. According to police, a roof slab of Sai Granite factory fell on G Purnamba (35) and G Yesumariyamma (35) killing them on-the-spot. Another worker A Venkateswarlu (50), who was grievously injured, succumbed on way to a hospital in Chilakaluripeta in Guntur. The police rushed the other injured persons to a hospital for treatment. As many as 13 workers were on the spot at the time of the incident. Ballikurava police has filed a case and investigation is underway. By PTI LONDON: Eva Green is on board BBC's new drama series "The Luminaries". The 38-year-old actor, best known for "Casino Royal", will be joined by Eve Hewson and Marton Csokas in the cast, the network said in a press release. The series is an adaptation of Eleanor Catton's Man-Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name. Catton is adapting the novel for the series alongside director Claire McCarthy. Green will portray Lydia Wells in the series, while Hewson will be playing Anna Wetherell. Csokas will essay Francis Carver. "I'm thrilled to be joining Working Title and this wonderful team. Eleanor has written a series of brilliant screenplays. I loved her original novel and it's so exciting that her own screen adaptation reveals yet more exquisite material," Green said in a statement. The novel is set on New Zealand's South Island against the backdrop of the 1860s gold rush. The series will start filming in New Zealand in November. Murali Krishna CH By Express News Service Vijay Deverakondas upcoming bilingual political thriller NOTA is inspired by a Tamil novel, producer Gnanavel Raj tells us. Refuting the allegations that the film is based on a true story, the producer explains, NOTA is actually based on the novel, Vettattam penned by Shan Karuppusamy. We have bought the rights and the script was altered a bit to suit the sensibilities of the audience. The author, along with the films director Anand Shankar, was involved in writing the script. The film is an out-and-out political drama that touches upon several contemporary issues from across the South Indian states. But the film will not show anyone in a bad light. The film features the Arjun Reddy actor as a CM. It is reliably learnt that the story also features the incidents that happened during the State division of Andhra Pradesh; a couple of characters resembling Telangana Chief Minister KCR and his son KTR; former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaas last days in the hospital; her hunger strike on Cauvery issue; Karnataka political drama; and Tamil Nadu-Kerala dam controversy. Also starring Mehreen Pirzada, Nasser, and Sathyaraj, NOTA is slated to be released simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil on October 5. The film, which marks the debut of Vijay Deverakonda in Tamil, has music by Sam CS. By Online Desk The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled the adultery law as unconstitutional - the 150-year-old law which gave the husband the right to prosecute his wife's lover. All the five judges CJI Dipak Misra, Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, unanimously struck down Section 497 IPC. Section 497 in The Indian Penal Code reads: Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor. "Ancient notions of man being perpetrator and woman being victim no longer holds good," said Justice Rohinton Nariman CJI Dipak Misra said adultery might not be the cause of an unhappy marriage, it could be the result of an unhappy marriage. Here are the key highlights: Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against the prime accused of Kasganj communal flare-up over a Tiranga Yatra on Republic Day this year. During the riots, one person 19-year-old Chandan Gupta alias Abhishek had lost his life as he was allegedly shot dead. The NSA has been invoked against Saleem Javed prime accused in Guptas murder and his brothers Wasim Javed and Naseem Javed. According to sources, the NSA advisory board had recommended that the Act should be slapped against the three accused brothers for the next three months and may be extended by up to a year. Kasganj DM R P Singh said the accused could not be released as the district was still tense. The probability of the recurrence of unrest could not be ruled out because after Chandans killing, members of both the communities had made several attempts to take out processions and organise rallies carrying the posters of the deceased, Singh said. The possibility of another round of tension cannot be ruled out. On the pretext of holding such events, anti-social elements get active, said the district magistrate. According to sources in the administration, the police probe reports indicated that the accused persons fired in self-defence as they saw a violent mob heading towards them. The report also claimed that Saleem Javed admitted to have fired at Gupta, who was heading the Tiranga Yatra on a mobike. Police later recovered a .315 country-made pistol from the house of the accused. It may be recalled that on Republic Day, Kasganj town, around 350 km from Lucknow, was gripped in communal tension after members of a community objected to a Tiranga Yatra being taken out by another community from a particular locality. While Gupta died, scores were left injured in the clashes. A curfew-like situation had prevailed in the town for many days as the clashes between the two communities had continued for almost a week amidst incidents of brick batting, vandalism and arson. It may be extended up to a year NSA has been invoked against prime accused Saleem Javed and his brothers Wasim Javed and Naseem Javed. The NSA advisory board had recommended that the Act should be slapped against the trio for next three months and may be extended up to a year. Sumi Sukanya dutta By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The allegedly-corrupt Medical Council of India (MCI) was on the chopping block for quite some time now. The axe finally fell on Wednesday, when the Centre issued an ordinance, appointing a seven-member committee to run the medical education regulator. The panel will be in charge till the MCI is replaced by the proposed National Medical Commission (NMC). The board will be headed by Niti Aayog member (health) V K Paul, and will have the directors of AIIMS, New Delhi, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, among others, as members. The government was forced to take this step after the Supreme Court-appointed oversight committee (OC), meant to monitor the MCIs functioning, resigned in disgust earlier this month, top officials in the Union Health and Family Welfare ministry told TNIE. The MCI was non-compliant and non-cooperative throughout, and it was the second time an apex court-appointed OC (the first one was headed by former CJI R M Lodha) put in its papers so urgent action was needed, an official in the ministry said. The Supreme Court had appointed the committees due to charges of corruption in the MCI. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Ordinance was signed by the President after the Cabinet passed it on Wednesday. Officials said an urgent temporary arrangement has been made till Parliament clears the NMC Bill. The proposed body will have just five elected representatives. It will also be made mandatory for final year MBBS students to take an exit test, do away with periodic inspections of medical colleges and pre-approvals to increase MBBS seats or starting PG courses. Sources in the government said the move was imperative while MCI members termed it immature. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Tension gripped the Maudaha town of Uttar Pradeshs Hamirpur district, 150 km from the state capital, after clashes broke out between police and Kans Mela devotees who were insisting on taking out a procession through a Muslim-dominated area instead of the designated route. Police personnel had already been deployed in huge numbers as the administration apprehended trouble. When they tried to stop the procession, the devotees resorted to heavy stone pelting late Monday night. According to sources in the police headquarters, about 10 policemen, including an additional superintendent of police, a circle officer and two station officers were injured in the clashes. An FIR was lodged against over 200 unidentified people and 14 trouble-makers have been arrested so far. A heavy police contingent has been deployed in the area to maintain law and order. Local sources claimed the district magistrate and the SP also sustained injuries. The mob vandalised the police vehicles. The incident which triggered the clashes took place near Devi Chauraha in Maudaha. The organisers of the procession announced that they would pass through Imambara Road. Getting a wind of their plan, district administration officials reached the spot and tried to convince the devotees to stick to designated route, but they refused and there was a stand-off. BJP MP Pushpendra Singh Chandel had reportedly asked the administration to allow the procession to pass through Imambara Road. On getting information about the trouble, state DGP O P Singh rushed N N Sawant, Additional Director General (Allahabad zone), to the troubled area and issued orders to take strict action against the troublemakers. Local police sources said nine police teams were constituted to round up those had been booked. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) should not share power with the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. "Of course, I also rule this out categorically," Merkel said during a panel discussion after a senior CDU member in the eastern state of Saxony suggested that a coalition with the AfD should not be excluded in next year's regional elections. Search Keywords: Short link: By PTI NEW DELHI: The RSS welcomed the Supreme Court ruling on Ayodhya Thursday and expressed confidence that a just verdict on the case will be reached at the earliest. "Today, the Supreme Court has decided to hold hearing on the Shri Rama Janmabhumi case from 29th October by a three member bench. We welcome this decision and are confident that a just verdict will be reached over the case at the earliest," the RSS said in a statement. The Supreme Court has declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam which had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute. In a majority verdict of 2:1, an apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence, adding that the previous verdict has no relevance on this issue. The apex court said now the civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench on October 29 as Justice Misra will retire on October 2 as the CJI. The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by CJI Misra was hearing a batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided into three parts. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is expected to deliver two key verdicts on Thursday-one that will decide the constitutional validity of the offence of adultery and the other pertaining to the Ismail Faruqui judgment in which it was said that mosque is not an integral part of Islam should be re-examined by a larger Bench. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer had taken up the long-pending Ayodhya land title appeals against the Allahabad High Court judgment of 2010, which had ordered a three-way partition of the disputed land. In 1994, a five-judge Constitution Bench, hearing the M Ismail Faruqui vs Union of India case, had held that a mosque was not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and hence its acquisition (by the state) is not prohibited by the provisions in the Constitution of India. This issue was once again raised during the hearing of the Ayodhya title suit. A five-judge constitution will pass a judgment on the petition challenging the constitutional validity of Section 497 (Adultery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had referred the matter to a Constitution bench on the plea claiming that it is discriminatory towards men. The bench had reserved its judgment in August. Hearing the mater, the apex court questioned the governments stand defending the adultery law that punishes a man for having a sexual relationship with a married woman without the consent of her husband. By PTI NEW DELHI: Declaring that adultery is not a crime, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era anti-adultery law, saying it was unconstitutional, dented the individuality of women and treated them as "chattel of husbands". The judgment was welcomed by activists, who said the archaic law should have been dumped a long time ago to keep pace with the rest of world. The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. READ HIGHLIGHTS: Adultery not a criminal offence, says Supreme Court A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. READ FULL JUDGEMENT HERE: The top court, which held adultery as a relic of the past, said the autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices. The National Commission of Women chief Rekha Sharma welcomed the judgement saying it should have been removed long time ago. "This is a law from the British era, although British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it," she said. Her views were echoed by many lawyers and activists. "While adultery should not be a criminal offence, the bench held that adultery should continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be grounds for dissolution of marriage or divorce. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home," Justice Misra said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both. The apex court pronounced four sets of concurring judgements to declare penal provision on Adultery and section 198 of CrPC dealing with the prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional. Justice Misra noted that adultery dents the individuality of women and it is not a crime in countries like China, Japan and Australia. "We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional," said Justice Misra, who wrote the judgement for himself and Justice Khanwilkar, adding that any provision treating women with inequality is not constitutional and it's time to say that "husband is not the master of woman". Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the bench, said Section 497 is a clear violation of fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and there is no justification for the continuation of the provision. Justice Nariman termed Section 497 as archaic law and concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, saying that the penal provision is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity and is destructive of women's dignity, self-respect as it treats women as "chattel of husbands". Adultery might not be the cause of unhappy marriage, it could be a result of an unhappy marriage, Justice Misra said. The CJI began reading the judgement by saying the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes "the I, me and you". He said equality is the governing parameter of the Constitution and section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women. Justice Chandrachud said autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices and held adultery as a relic of past. The legislature has imposed a condition on the sexuality of women by making adultery as an offence, he said, adding that section 497 is a denial of the substance of equality. The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar said mere adultery cannot be a crime, but if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partner's adulterous relation, then if evidence is produced, it could be treated as an abetment to suicide. By PTI SRINAGAR: Two unidentified militants were Tuesday killed in an encounter with security forces in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, an Army official said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Bomai area of Sopore town this morning following information about presence of militants in the area, he said. The official said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire on security forces. "In retaliatory action, two militants have been killed so far," the official said, adding that search operation was underway. The identity and group affiliation of the slain ultras is being ascertained, he said. By IANS NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the global community for conferring upon him the United Nations (UN)'s "Champions of the Earth" award and dedicated it to the countrymen and the country's tradition of coexisting with nature. "I would like to express my gratitude to the global community for conferring this honour upon me. This honour is not meant for an individual, but rather for the great Indian tradition, through which for centuries, we have been taught values like co-exisiting with nature," Modi said in a video message. I accept, with all humility the Champions of the Earth Award and thank the @UN for conferring this honour. This Award is not for an individual but for the Indian tradition and value systems of living in harmony with nature and protecting the environment. pic.twitter.com/mq785AozYC Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 27, 2018 He said he was delighted that "the human race has begun to accept the importance of nature". "This struggle with nature has brought destruction, both on humankind as well as on nature. In this changing situation, all of us are putting emphasis on protecting nature," he said. The Prime Minister's remarks came after the United Nations recognised him with its highest environmental honour in the Policy Leadership category. Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron were recognized in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022. ALSO READ | Maldives' president-elect Solih invites PM Narendra Modi in swearing-in ceremony Modi said: "Whether you call it global warming, or whether you call it environment, or whether you call it carbon emissions, whether you are referring to "developed countries" or "developing countries", no matter what phrase you use, ultimately we must all focus on climate justice." Asserting that the poor and the marginalised were the ultimate victims of the climate injustice, Modi said "we need to put the same emphasis on protecting nature as we do on other issues". He also said that in the pursuit of climate change, "India stands with the world, and is ready to march with you, shoulder to shoulder in order to achieve this goal". Modi also congratulated French President, saying that the honour is fitting recognition for his role towards creating a cleaner and greener tomorrow. Delighted that Cochin International Airports remarkable usage of sustainable energy has been recognised and the Airport is a proud recipient of the @UN Champions of the Earth Awards. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 27, 2018 Beside Modi and Macron, Kerala's Cochin International Airport was also honoured for its entrepreneurial vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. "Delighted that Cochin International Airport's remarkable usage of sustainable energy has been recognised and the Airport is a proud recipient of the UN 'Champions of the Earth' awards," Modi tweeted. "The Airport is an inspiration for several other airports in how we can leverage the power of solar energy for a better tomorrow," he added. The UN Champions of the Earth awards would be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in US' New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly (UNGA). By IANS NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to Indian Naval Commander Abhilash Tomy, who was rescued four days after he was seriously injured and stranded in a boat race and said that every Indian is praying for his quick recovery. Spoke to @abhilashtomy and enquired about his wellbeing. Every Indian is praying for his quick recovery. I also compliment the teams that were involved in his rescue. I have fond memories of my meeting with Abhilash, when he came with the team of INSV Tarini. pic.twitter.com/Yefo9l4Ksu Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 27, 2018 Modi also complimented the rescue teams who were involved in his rescue. "Spoke to Abhilash Tomy and enquired about his wellbeing. Every Indian is praying for his quick recovery. I also compliment the teams that were involved in his rescue," Modi said. "I have fond memories of my meeting with Abhilash, when he came with the team of INSV Tarini," the Prime Minister said attaching the photographs of the naval officer. The naval sailor-cum-sportsperson participating in the GGR-2018 was caught in a huge storm on last Friday, 5,020 km from Cape Comorin, India, and 3,500 km from Perth, Australia, in the Indian Ocean. His boat, SV Thuriya, had overturned while he was virtually left paralysed with severe back injuries but managed to relay messages to various authorities from his satphone. He was picked up by a French fishing vessel Osiris on Monday, which had responded to a call for a massive joint operation launched by Indian and Australian authorities. The Supreme Court judgment on the constitutional validity of Aadhaar is very disappointing for the poor. The main reason why people like us whose work deals with social welfare and welfare benefits went to court was because the constitutional right to life was threatened by the fact that Aadhaar was made mandatory to get benefitseven though the people are entitled to them. Because of Aadhaar, a large number of people got excluded and the safeguards that were put in place never gave them an opportunity to get their benefits. The people who do not have Aadhaar are not being excluded; it is the people who have Aadhaar and are still not able to avail the social benefit schemes who are the real losers. As a result, there have been hunger deathsand no accountability for that. The court judgment, by allowing the mandatory use of Aadhaar for welfare benefits to continue, therefore to us is not in line with a fundamental right of people: the right to life. That is something that the Justice Bhushan judgment saidthat nobody should be excluded. But simply saying that has not helped in the past and there is no reason for us to expect that it would help in the future. The only way to give relief to the poor would be to not make Aadhaar mandatory. Allowing Aadhaar to be linked to PAN (Permanent Account Number) actually means that all the poor are covered through welfare benefits and income-tax payers and others are covered through the PAN card. Even though it is no longer necessary to link Aadhaar to bank accounts, by linking it to PAN, one is in effect linking it to all financial transactions. Linking of Aadhaar as a number actually means nothing. The real question, however, arises when an individuals biometrics are linked to either PAN or the social benefit schemes. How can there be a grievance redressal mechanism without it being clearly spelled out and no accountability fixed? If someone does not get their benefits and starves or dies, who will be held responsible and what compensation would they get? This again is unanswered. We welcome Justice Chandrachuds minority opinion that the passing of the Aadhaar Act as a money bill is a fraud on the Constitution. Actually, we think the whole process of passage of this law was a fraud on democracy because there was no public consultation while formulating the law, and earlier there was no law either. Without a law, even though the court repeatedly said that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory, it was made mandatory. In Rajasthan, we have found that among those with Aadhaar who are entitled to benefits, 20 per cent of them are not able to draw their rations and we have found that crores of people were not able to take their MGNREGA wages because of Aadhaar. Somebody has to answer for that and our struggle will continue. This is in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. The result of this is that many of these people have opted out of the rural employment generation scheme. This is the reason that people like us have been saying that Aadhaar is unconstitutional because we are entitled to certain benefits. And only because of the law which forces us to provide data are we not able to avail the benefits. Another section of society that has faced hardships because of the Aadhaar system are pensioners. Around 10 lakh pensioners were taken off the list due to the Aadhaar system. We have been saying time and again that the prime minister claiming that the government has saved a certain amount by weeding out fictitious beneficiaries is worseas amounts which have not been disbursed to beneficiaries cannot be termed as savings. This is all because of the Aadhaar system. In fact, it is an insult to the beneficiaries. However, all is not bad. The fact that the verdict can be reviewed is a good sign. Also, another good aspect of the verdict is the scrapping of Section 57 of the law. Now, private companies cannot access details of citizens. However, all is not good even in this aspect. There are many social benefits which are run under the public-private partnership model. This means the government can still access data of individuals and we do not know where and to whom the data is given. As activists, we have made use of the Right to Information (RTI) Act a lot. The RTI allows us to keep a watch on the governments moves but Aadhaar has allowed the government to watch peoples moves. When by law you have to provide your data, where it goes is a big issue. We are deeply disappointed that Section 7, which was the core of the argument in the entire case and deals with the generation of a Unique Identification Number for availing benefits, has not been struck down. We are deeply disappointed that the core was used as an excuse. We are also deeply disappointed that the middle class has not got any relief from the verdict. Like demonetisation, the government thinks that Aadhaar can be imposed on the public. But somewhere, we want the government to say Please vote on Aadhaar. We certainly want to say, please vote on Aadhaar. Nikhil Dey Social activist working for the National Commission for Peoples Right to Information Tweets @nikhilmkss Aruna Roy Social and civil rights activist who founded the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and is one of the petitioners in the case By Express News Service VISAKHAPATNAM /ELURU: Director General of Police RP Thakur has admitted that failure of Intelligence, Greyhounds and other wings of the Police Department and lack of coordination among forces of border States, resulted in Maoists taking advantage and gunning down Araku MLA Kideri Sarveswara Rao and former legislator Siveri Soma. The DGP said that the Police Department will take the responsibility for the gruesome incident and fight back against the Maoist threat. After cutting short his US tour following the Maoist attack in the Agency area, Thakur on Wednesday visited Tottangi village in Dumbriguda mandal, where the two Telugu Desam leaders were shot dead by the Maoists. Visakhapatnam Rural Police officials explained to the DGP as to how Maoists had gained entry into AP from Odisha border, the possible routes used by them to escape after the attack and the combing operations being launched in the Agency to nab the killers. Thakur said that they will focus on overcoming the drawbacks in the Police Department to combat the Maoist threat effectively. He underlined the need for better coordination among police forces in the Maoist-infested areas of border States to curb extremist activities effectively. SIT probe into attack A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by DCP (Law and Order) K Fakeerappa, will probe the Maoist attack. The police have collected vital clues in the killing of the MLA and former MLA, said DGP RP Thakur We have collected very important clues in the case and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by DCP (Law and Order) K Fakeerappa, will investigate the matter. Further investigation will ascertain how the Maoists managed to execute the major operation. No statement has been issued by Maoists so far claiming responsibility for the killings, the DGP said. Thakur also said that the geographical location of Tottangi was another advantage for the Maoists. He said that from some villages in AP, Odisha border is just about 5 to 10 km, which helped the Maoists escape after the attack. The Maoists who took shelter on the side of Odisha border, entered Dumbriguda, gunned down the MLA and former MLA and fled. We will soon sort out issues with regard to jurisdictions for better coordination among the police forces in border areas, he said. According to police sources, Thakur conducted a high-level meeting on the Maoist attack and possible steps to be taken to combat the threat effectively. Police officials, however, are tight-lipped on the meeting. Meanwhile, with intelligence agencies identifying three of the Maoists who took part in the killing of Araku MLA Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma, and one of them suspected to be from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district, police on Wednesday conducted a door-to-door search in Indiramma Colony of the town to know the antecedents of the suspected Maoist Kameswari alias Swaroopa alias Sindhri alias Rinki. A team of over 100 police personnel, led by DSP Prabhakar, conducted the search, which covered every house in Indiramma Colony. Showing the photo of Kameswari, police asked the residents of the colony whether they know the woman. We conduct cordon and search operation in the town at regular intervals to nab offenders. During the search operation on Wednesday, we focussed on knowing the antecedents of Kameswari from local residents, a police official said, adding that it went on for three hours from 6 am. The search was carried out in Indiramma Colony as there was a beneficiary of the social welfare scheme in the name of Kameswari. However, the suspected Maoist was not the mentioned beneficiary. By Express News Service BENGALURU: Petitioners against the implementation of the controversial Aadhaar scheme are now contemplating filing a curative petition following Wednesdays Supreme Court judgment. They contend that the Supreme Court has not been apprised about the technical complications in the scheme which will lead to more cases of mistaken identities. The petitioners say they will go through the 1,488-page judgment before deciding on the course of action. One of the first anti-Aadhaar petitioners from Karnataka, Col (retd) Matthew Thomas, described the judgment as a partial success. We should think of measures to get rid of it permanently, he said, noting that none of the concerns regarding the use of biometrics have been addressed. READ| How to delink Aadhaar details shared with private firms He said that if the court has to scrap the scheme, it is essential to highlight the flaws in the biometric system. The Act would have been struck down if lawyers had succeeded in exposing the national security implications of the project, he added. Judgment is a balancing act Another petitioner, Maj Gen (retd) Sudheer Vombatkere, said the judgment was a fine balancing act between the demand to scrap the scheme and to stipulate regulations for it. However, the devil is in the details, he said and added that there is no clarity regarding the features to opt out of Aadhaar or regarding Aadhaar numbers already seeded with bank accounts. There are directions that enrolment agencies should delete data collected by them in six months. But there is no clarity on who will be the monitoring agency. And what about the biometric Aadhaar data already seeded with bank accounts? How can one opt out of Aadhaar if he does not want to avail any subsidised benefits? These are among the questions that remain to be answered, he added. READ| Money Bill or not: The debate surrounding Aadhaar law Proponent Nandan Nilekani has welcomed the SC decision. Nilekani, former chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India under whom the scheme was launched, took to Twitter to welcome the decision. He tweeted: Aadhaar has undergone the ultimate scrutiny in the highest court, and a lot of recommendations have been incorporated. Through the democratic process of discussion and debate, we have created a better and stronger Aadhaar together. Thousands of drivers for ride-hailing services Uber and Cabify, waving flags and chanting slogans such as "we want to work", marched down Madrid's central boulevard on Thursday ahead of plans by the government to tighten regulation. Drivers from both companies, which have faced complaints from taxi drivers all over the world for allegedly providing unfair competition, offered free rides for 12 hours a day before the strike, business association Unauto said. In Spain, there are almost 11,000 vehicles with ride-sharing licenses and more than 65,000 with taxi licenses, Public Works Ministry data shows, with more than 150,000 taxi drivers and 15,000 Uber and Cabify drivers operating throughout the country. Cabify driver Juan Antonio Sastre, 57, who left the ranks of millions of long-term unemployed to join the company, said he feared for his job ahead of the new regulation to be passed on Friday. "We don't know what is going to happen next, our future is uncertain," he said, while taking part in the march. Full details of the new regulation have yet to be announced, though new laws are expected to include additional restrictions for non-taxi services offered by the companies. Backed by investors including Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, and valued at more than $70 billion, Uber views Western Europe as an increasingly important market. Uber has faced law suits in countries around the world, with London cab drivers planning a class action law suit and New York mulling capping the services after a spate of suicides by yellow cab drivers struggling to compete. Taxi drivers, who staged their own six-day strike at the beginning of August to protest against licenses for Uber and Cabify, say the services, which are hailed via smartphone apps rather than on the street, are deliberately under charging. "We cannot compete against corporations like Uber and Cabify, their prices are way too low," Madrid taxi driver Jorge Gordillo, 33, said. Search Keywords: Short link: By Online Desk A constitution bench of Supreme Court today will pronounce its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking permission for women aged between 10 and 50 to enter the 800-year old Sabarimala temple in Kerala. A five-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice RF Nariman, Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra had reserved the judgment on August 1. The Indian Young Lawyers Association was the first to file a plea in 2006 in the Supreme Court seeking scrapping of the temple law that restricted women's entry. After about a decade, the apex court took up the case for hearing in January 2016. The SC will consider whether the exclusion of women (between the 10-50 age group) amounts to discrimination and is therefore against the Constitution. The top court will also examine if excluding these women is an essential religious practice under Article 25 (which guarantees right to freedom of religion) of the statute and if a religious body can assert a claim in this regard under the pretext of its right to manage its own affairs. The claim of temple authority that the shrine has a denominational character will also come under the scanner of the top court, which will consider if religious denomination managed by a statutory board can be allowed to be financed under Article 290-A of the Constitution of India by the Kerala exchequer. The LDF government of Kerala, which has been changing its stance, made its stand clear at the Supreme Court in July this year. It said that all women irrespective of their age must be allowed to enter Sabarimala temple and the gender discrimination at the temple must end. Earlier in 2016, UDF regime had told the court that it was duty bound to protect the tradition banning entry of women into the shrine. It is unclear since when or why women aged between 10 and 50 are not being allowed to enter the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala. According to Thantri Mandalam president V R Nampoothiri, the temple was not a public place, instead, the home of the deity. The final word on the customs and practices, which are 800 years old, must be vested with the Hindu books of Thantrasaram, Saradathilakom and Thantrasamuchayam and not the legislation, he says. By IANS KOCHI: The Kerala High Court will deliver on October 3 its order on the bail plea of former Bishop Franco Mulakkal, arrested on charges of raping a nun. Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan heard on Thursday the arguments in the case against Mulakkal for allegedly raping the senior nun repeatedly between 2014 and 2016. He was arrested on September 21 after three days of questioning and on September 24, he was sent to two weeks of judicial custody by Judge M. Lekshmi of Pala Judicial Magisterial Court. Pressing for bail, Mulakkal's counsel presented a visual evidence of the former bishop taking part in a private function at the victim's home. The significance of the evidence is the visit which came just a day after the victim was allegedly abused for the first time. The prosecution however pleaded that granting him bail would affect the ongoing investigation as more statements have to be recorded. Mulakkal, who heads the Roman Catholic Diocese in Jalandhar, Punjab, is the first bishop in the country to be sent to jail on charges of rape. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR:With the State Government showing no sign of relenting to pressure from Centre for implementation of its flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, the BJP on Wednesday announced to launch a Statewide campaign to create awareness among people about the benefits of the scheme. ALSO READ | Modi slams Patnaik government for rejecting Ayushman Bharat scheme The party will launch a signature campaign from September 30 to October 7 to create awareness about Ayushman Bharat scheme and build pressure on the State Government to implement the scheme as it is more beneficial than Biju Swasthya Kalayan Yojana, said State BJP president Basant Panda. Dubbing the ruling BJD as anti-poor, Panda said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is more concerned about his post than peoples interest. People suffering from critical ailments like cancer and needing treatment outside the State will not benefit from Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY). Besides, Odia people living in other States will be deprived of availing the benefits of the Central scheme. Coming down heavily on the State Government for failing to improve the healthcare system, Panda said while shortage of doctors and paramedical staff has crippled hospitals, lack of infrastructure is the other reason for rural people opting for costly treatment in urban centres. The State Government is not implementing the Central scheme for political reasons. We will make people aware about the scheme and collect signatures of one crore people during the week-long campaign, said Panda. The decision of the saffron party to launch a public campaign in support of Ayushman Bharat follows the public announcement of BJPs national president Amit Shah at Puri on Monday that the issue will be taken to the people. In his address to the national executive committee meeting of BJP Mahila Morcha at Puri, Shah asserted that the BJP will implement the scheme after Naveen Government is ousted from power in 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the State on September 22 had also appealed to the Chief Minister to link the people of the State with Ayushman Bharat scheme which he launched in Jharkhand a day after. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Responding to the attack launched by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on the DMK, accusing the party of indulging in corruption in construction of the new secretariat building, DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday challenged him to prove the charges in an appropriate court of law. No one will get frightened with your threats. If you can accuse the DMK (of corruption), go and prove it in the court, Stalin said in a statement. He flayed the Chief Minister and his party colleagues for indulging in trivial act of hurling corruption charges against the DMK and trying to extract political mileage from the issue of Eelam Tamils. ALSO READ | DMK synonymous with nepotism: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami Throwing posers to Palaniswami, Stalin questioned why the AIADMK government had remained quiet all these days if DMK had indulged in corruption during its regime and asked who barred them from prosecuting the party. The Leader of Opposition said the reputation of Tamil Nadu had touched a low, following raids conducted at the Secretariat, DGPs premises and residences of Ministers. Referring to the AIADMKs protest over the Eelam issue, he ridiculed it, saying it was for the first time that a ruling party was launching stir against an opposition party and noted that DMK had been raising the Eelam issue since 1956. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a meeting with available ministers at Pragathi Bhavan here on Wednesday and discussed TRS election meetings which would be resumed with a meeting at Nizamabad on October 3. All the available ministers attended the meeting. The meeting mainly focussed on the forthcoming election meetings, according to industries and IT minister KT Rama Rao. Later, legislative affairs and irrigation minister T Harish Rao held a separate chat with the chief minister on the Legislative Council meeting which will begin on Thursday. In the evening, the Chief Minister called on Governor ESL Narasimhan and discussed various matters including the Council session. By AFP UNITED NATIONS: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would present a two-state peace plan for the Middle East before the end of the year, voicing confidence that the Palestinians would return to talks despite his unwavering support for Israel. Speaking as he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, Trump said that it was a "dream" of his to bring about a peaceful solution to a conflict that has eluded several of his predecessors. While Trump said he expected Israel to make concessions in any final settlement of the decades-old conflict, the Palestinians said his administration's policies in the Middle East were destroying hopes of peace. ALSO READ | Israel retaliates after Paraguay says embassy to leave Jerusalem Jared Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law as well as a senior advisor in the White House, has been working on a peace plan for more than a year now but there have been few clues to date of what he is expected to propose. "I would say over the next two to three to four months," Trump said, referring to his prospective timetable for presenting a plan. Trump, who met with Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said explicitly for the first time that he backed a two-state solution that would create an independent Palestine, saying: "That's what I think works best, that's my feeling." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump. (Photo | Twitter) "I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term," added Trump, who was elected to a four-year term through January 2021. The Middle East peace process has effectively been stalled since the Palestinians broke off contacts with the Trump administration last year in protest at the US president's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. Trump then authorized the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Palestinians also want Jerusalem to be their capital and have long argued that the status of the holy city should only be settled as part of a larger peace agreement. Relations between the Palestinian Authority and the United States have fallen even lower in recent weeks after Washington cut off funding, including to a UN agency that helps millions of Palestinian refugees. Israel will have to do something Trump said, however, that he was in no doubt that the Palestinians would soon return to the negotiating table. "They are absolutely coming back to the table," he said. "Absolutely, 100 percent." "Lots of good things are happening," said Trump, before adding: "Israel will have to do something that will be good for the other side." The initial reaction, however, underlined the uphill struggle Trump will face in convincing the Palestinians that he is a neutral broker. ALSO READ | Iran says military parade attackers trained by two Gulf states; linked with US, Israel "Their words go against their actions and their action is absolutely clear (and) is destroying the possibility of the two-state solution," Husam Zomlot, head of the recently closed Palestinian mission in Washington, told AFP. He added that Trump's comments alone were not enough to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. While not directly addressing the issue of a two-state solution, Netanyahu had warm words of praise for Trump. "No one has backed Israel like you do and we appreciate it," said the Israeli prime minister, who has forged a strong bond with Trump over their mutual hostility towards Iran. (Photo | Twitter) Several of Trump's predecessors have played leading roles in trying to bring an end to the conflict, including Jimmy Carter who brokered the 1978 Camp David agreement which saw Egypt and Jordan formally recognize Israel. Bill Clinton oversaw the Oslo peace accords a quarter of a century ago which spelled out the aim of a two-state solution and allowed for the creation of the Palestinian Authority which is meant to rule over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However it left issues such as the exact borders and the status of Jerusalem unresolved. Apart from Egypt and Jordan, no other Arab nation currently formally recognizes Israel. By ANI NEW YORK: Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda EP Chet Greene on Wednesday (local time) reassured External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of full cooperation in the extradition of Mehul Choksi, a prime accused in the USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, who is currently in Antigua. The issue of Choksi's extradition was raised by Swaraj in the bilateral meeting held with the Antiguan Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). When asked if Antigua would help India in extraditing Choksi, Greene told ANI, "I think it is only appropriate if you speak to your Foreign Minister." According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Swaraj, during the bilateral meeting, conveyed to her Antiguan counterpart that there was immense expectation in India regarding Choksi's extradition, as he left the country after committing a massive fraud, to which she was assured of full cooperation. Apart from the meeting with Greene, Swaraj also held bilateral talks with Fernando Huanacuni Mamani, Foreign Minister of Bolivia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Armenia's Foreign Minister, Karin Kneissl, Austrian Foreign Minister, Isabel Saint Malo, Vice President of Panama, Heiko Maas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, and Roberto Ampuero, Foreign Minister of Chile. The External Affairs Minister was also slated to meet her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UNGA. However, after increasing reports of violence on police and army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, the meeting was called off. Apart from participating in the General Debate, Swaraj, during her jam-packed schedule, will hold a total of over 30 bilateral meetings as part of her visit to the United States. By AFP JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had turned down an invitation on Wednesday to a UNESCO conference on anti-Semitism during a visit to New York, over its "egregious bias" against the Jewish state. Israel withdrew from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2017, accusing it of adopting anti-Israeli policies, following the lead of the United States. "While I commend all efforts to combat anti-Semitism, I have decided not to participate in this week's UNESCO conference on anti-Semitism due to the organisation's persistent and egregious bias against Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office. READ| Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, UK opposition leader in row over Munich massacre The prime minister, who is currently in New York to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly, said that UNESCO "must do more than host a conference on anti-Semitism. It must stop practising anti-Semitism." While not directly addressing Netanyahu's no-show at the conference, UNESCO's head said that education was the best way to combat intolerance and discrimination. "Antisemitism undermines fundamental rights in general," the organisation's director-general Audrey Azoulay said at the conference. "To address it is to defend fundamental freedoms. It is to defend the equal dignity of all human beings." By AFP BRUSSELS: The leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, met senior EU officials in Brussels Thursday after warning he may oppose any Brexit deal negotiated by the London government. Corbyn, who told his party conference Wednesday that a no-deal Brexit would be a "national disaster", has nevertheless said his party will vote against any accord based on Prime Minister Theresa May's plan. European officials and many EU member state leaders also oppose parts of May's "Chequers" blueprint, but worry Britain could crash out of the bloc if an eventual deal is vetoed by British MPs. Corbyn's answer is to push May to call a general election, in the hope that Labour can win power and then negotiate an exit deal that he says would better protect jobs, trade and workers' rights. He told the Labour conference on Wednesday he would support any "sensible deal" May brings back from Brussels but warned: "if you can't negotiate that deal then you need to make a way for a party that can". There is barely any time for such a plan to bear fruit, however -- under the terms of Article 50 of the EU Treaty, Britain will leave the Union on March 29 next year, with or without a divorce deal. May, meanwhile is in talks with EU negotiator Michel Barnier in hopes of striking a compromise arrangement that would keep Britain in a single market for goods while seeking a broader trade deal. European leaders warn that this deal, which they insist must include special provisions for Northern Ireland that May has rejected out of hand, must be ready before a Brussels summit on October 18. But if a deal is struck, perhaps then or perhaps at an expected extraordinary summit in mid-November, then it would have to be approved by both the British and EU parliaments. This would appear to leave no time for Corbyn's Labour to overthrow May's Conservatives and to negotiate a Brexit in line with his own more worker-friendly vision. Europe is therefore worried, and Barnier took the opportunity of Corbyn's visit to Brussels to attend a tribute to murdered pro-Europe Labour MP Jo Cox to arrange a meeting. - Extremist murder - Ahead of the talks, EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas refused to comment on reports that the powerful secretary general of the EU civil service, Martin Selmayr, is working on a plan for "no deal". "We work for a deal, without neglecting our duties," he told reporters, denying reports that Corbyn would meet with Selmayr during his one-day Brussels visit. Before heading to the Berlaymont building housing the European Commission, Corbyn and Labour's Brexit pointman Keir Starmer attended a ceremony to name a Brussels square after murdered Labour MP Jo Cox. Cox, a strong supporter of Britain's EU membership, was killed by a right-wing extremist on June 16, 2016, at the height of the country's divisive Brexit referendum campaign. Corbyn, himself previously a long-standing euro-sceptic, has been criticised by the pro-remain camp for not campaigning hard enough for Labour's anti-Brexit stance. Now he is under pressure again from within his own party and the left-leaning electorate to back a second referendum on whatever deal May and the Conservatives come up with. Starmer has said a referendum to reverse Brexit must be an "option", but Corbyn's position is less clear. The Labour leader did not address the issue at Cox's memorial ceremony, but -- as he looked on sombrely -- two political allies paid tribute to the slain MP's support for Europe. "She lived her life to make lives better for everybody else," Corbyn said of Cox, who worked in Brussels for six years as an aide to Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock and for aid agency Oxfam. "She loved her time in Brussels. She loved the spirit and the music, the internationalism, the globalism of the city," he added, without reference to the European Union. But Richard Corbett, head of the Labour MPs in the European Parliament, noted that Cox was murdered "just a few days before we voted in that terrible referendum." And Udo Bullman, overall head of the Socialist group that includes Labour, said: "If we had heard the voice of Jo, this great nation the United Kingdom would stay where it belongs in the heart of Europe." By AFP NEW YORK: President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed credit for saving Syria's rebel-held province of Idlib from an assault that would have "killed millions of people" and "would have been a shame." Trump told a news conference in New York that he gave the order "don't let it happen" to his secretary of state and national security advisor and: "It stopped." Russia and Turkey agreed during a summit meeting in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on September 17 to set up a buffer zone in Idlib aimed at preventing a military assault. Syria, which has received vital military support from Russia and Iran, had said that it planned to seize Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in the seven-year war. READ| Donald Trump pledges new Middle East peace plan within months The Russia-Turkey deal was agreed following warnings that an all-out military offensive would trigger a bloodbath in the province of three million people. "Nobody's going to give me credit but that's okay," Trump said. "That's okay because the people know." "Millions of people have been saved," he added. Trump said he first heard of the looming assault on Idlib from a Syrian woman who warned of the planned attack during a meeting during which she expressed concern for her sister living there. "I didn't hear of Idlib province," said Trump, who added that he later read about the planned attack in a New York Times article. "I said that's the same story the woman told me that I found hard to believe because how would anyone do that with three million people?" "I think millions of people would've been killed, that would have been a shame." Trump acknowledged that there could still be "selective" targets in Syria for military action but no large-scale operation. Iran, Russia and Syria deserve credit "for not doing it," said Trump, adding that Turkey, which backs some armed groups, was also "a big help." The war in Syria, now in its eighth year, has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions. Qatar is the country at highest risk of being downgraded by S&P Global Ratings as it continues to feel the impact of a boycott by other Arab states, the rating agency said in a research note. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar last year, accusing it of backing terrorism, a charge which Doha denies. The move disrupted Qatars imports and led to the withdrawal of billions of dollars from Qatari banks by depositors from the four states, hurting the economy. But the worlds top exporter of liquefied natural gas developed new trade routes and used tens of billions of dollars from its sovereign wealth fund, estimated to have about $320 billion of assets, to protect its banks. Rated AA-(minus) by S&P three notches higher than Saudi Arabia Qatar in April demonstrated that it still had easy access to international capital markets, issuing a jumbo $12 billion bond which received orders estimated in excess of $52 billion. Diplomatic tensions should continue to pressure Qatar's economic, fiscal, and external metrics, especially if the boycott is tightened or prolonged, the agency said. It added that made Qatar the credit with the highest downgrade risk across all markets. ISLAMIC BONDS According to Mohamed Damak, global head of Islamic finance at S&P, the Qatar boycott and other geopolitical risks have also dampened investor appetite for sukuk, or Islamic bonds, in the whole Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region over the last year. It started with the boycott of Qatar...which we think weakened investors view of the cohesiveness of the GCC countries as a block, he said in a separate note. The shifts in Saudi Arabias power structures and societal norms have also attracted a lot of attention from investors. Despite Qatar's successful conventional bond issue, a look at the volume of sukuk issued by the state suggests its ability to fund itself through such instruments has been hampered by the rift. Sukuk sales in both local and foreign currency, amounted to $5.5 billion in 2017. Volumes have gone down by over 50 percent to $2.6 billion so far this year, according to S&P. The boycott means that Qatari issuers can no longer rely on demand from regional Islamic investors and banks, which has traditionally been boosted by institutions in need of high-grade sharia-compliant bonds to meet liquidity standards. Search Keywords: Short link: By AFP WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he rejected a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the trade dispute involving the North American neighbors and renewed his threat to slap tariffs on cars imported from Canada as negotiations drag on. Trudeau spokeswoman Eleanore Catenaro said in response: "No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that." In an extraordinary rebuke of America's northern neighbor, Trump vented his frustration with Canada during a news conference along the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between two allies who share a border. "His tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move and I've told him forget about it," Trump said of Trudeau. "And frankly, we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada. That's the mother lode. That's the big one." "We've very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," Trump said in an apparent reference to Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, who has been negotiating with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Canada, the United States' No. 2 trading partner, was left out when the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. and Canada are under pressure to reach a deal by the end of the month, when Lighthizer must make public the full text of the agreement with Mexico. But Trump suggested he may go forward with a revamped NAFTA without Canada. The president said it would be called "USM," for the U.S. and Mexico, instead of "USMC," and offered blunt criticism of the Canadian team engaged in the talks. "Canada has a long way to go. I must be honest with you, we're not getting along at all with their negotiators. We think their negotiators have taken advantage of our country for a long time," he said. Any push by Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on imported autos and auto parts from Canada might help American workers but could also inflate car prices, make U.S. manufacturers less competitive and generate retaliation. Roughly four in five cars assembled in Canada are exported. The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association has warned that the auto tariffs could affect billions of dollars' worth of exports and lead to the loss of more than 100,000 jobs across the country. Relations between the two neighbors have been strained since Trump assailed Trudeau at the G-7 meeting in June, calling him a "weak" and "dishonest" back-stabber. Canadian leaders have objected to Trump's decision to impose tariffs on Canadian steel, citing national security. The trade talks have been deadlocked over issues such as Canada's high dairy tariffs and U.S. efforts to shield drug companies from generic competition. Trump, during the news conference, reiterated his longstanding grievances against NAFTA and job losses, saying the trade pact had been "great for Canada, great for Mexico, very bad for us." The trade agreement, which took effect in 1994, removed most trade barriers between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, leading to a boost in trade, but it encouraged U.S. automakers and other manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of low-wage Mexican labor. By AFP WASHINGTON: Donald Trump said he would "prefer" to keep his embattled deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein -- who oversees the Russia collusion probe -- but that he might delay a politically risky decision on the official's fate originally expected for Thursday. "I'd much prefer keeping Rod Rosenstein," Trump told journalists in New York on Wednesday. However, Trump said that a meeting scheduled for Thursday at the White House between him and Rosenstein might be put off, because of the focus on a separate political drama over his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh. "I may call Rod tonight or tomorrow and ask for a little bit of a delay to the meeting," Trump said. No meeting with Rosenstein appeared on the president's schedule for Thursday, which was released by the White House. Doubts over how long Rosenstein can keep the job have been swirling since shock US media reports that he once suggested secretly recording Trump to collect evidence for ousting him under a constitutional amendment for presidents unfit to remain in office. This Monday, Rosenstein was widely rumored to be on the point of being fired or handing in his resignation when he arrived for a meeting with the White House chief of staff. But in an unpredictable series of events, he emerged from the meeting with his job intact and the White House announcing that Trump would see Rosenstein in person Thursday after returning from the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations. Trump indicated Wednesday that Rosenstein -- who has dismissed the media reports as inaccurate -- had gone a long way in persuading him. "I'm talking to him. We've had a good talk. He said he never said it," Trump said. "He said he has a lot of respect for me." The Russia question Quite apart from the lurid claims of backroom plotting, Rosenstein matters because he plays a key role in overseeing the Russia investigation. Trump is infuriated by what he says is Special Counsel Robert Mueller's "witch hunt" into whether Russia conspired with Trump's campaign during his shock 2016 election win. The president has frequently criticized Rosenstein, who has been steadfast in trying to protect Mueller as the probe digs ever deeper into Trump's inner circle. So Rosenstein's departure -- possibly putting someone more pliable in his place -- would set off alarm bells over the future independence of a probe which has the potential to rock the entire Trump presidency. Trump has made no secret of his readiness to take on what he sees as a politicized, hostile Justice Department and FBI. Just last Friday, Trump referred in a speech to supporters to a "lingering stench" at the Justice Department that he would soon eradicate. Not before the elections? But if events would seem to point to Rosenstein being pushed out, both Democrats and Trump's Republicans have urged caution. Even allies say that nothing should be done before the November midterm congressional elections in six weeks, arguing that the ensuing row would fuel expected Democratic momentum for making gains in the legislature. If the Democrats overturn the current Republican majorities in the lower house and even Senate, then aggressive committee investigations and even calls for impeachment might follow. Some speculate the Rosenstein story was planted to undermine both the deputy attorney general and Mueller, giving Trump a legitimate excuse to do what he'd wanted to do all along. But amid ever deepening paranoia and partisan division in Washington, others ask if the story wasn't leaked to trap Trump, trying to bait him into ousting the official -- thereby plunging his administration into new controversy. By PTI MALE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the Maldives' President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, according to a Maldives media report Thursday. Solih, 56, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's candidate, emerged victorious over incumbent President Abdulla Yameen in the election held in September 23. He will be sworn in on November 17. The President-elect had extended the invitation during a phone call by Modi, after Solih's victory in the September 23 presidential elections, spokesperson for Solih, Mariya Ahmed Didi was quoted as saying in 'The Edition'. Modi had also invited Solih to visit India, Mariya said, adding that the president-elect had accepted the invitation. The two leaders agreed to work closely together to further strengthen the close, friendly and good neighbourly relations between the two countries. Maldives is the only SAARC country that Modi has not visited. His visit to the archipelago was cancelled in March 2015 due to the volatile political situation. India's ties with the Maldives came under strain after President Yameen declared Emergency in the country on February 5, following an order by the country's Supreme Court to release a group of Opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. India had criticised the Yameen government for the imposition of the Emergency and urged it to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners. The Emergency was lifted 45 days later. In July, India expressed concern over announcement of the presidential election without allowing democratic institutions, including Parliament and the judiciary, to work in a free and transparent manner. By AFP RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced plans Wednesday for a luxury tourism destination on its northwestern coast, the latest in a series of mega projects as the oil-reliant kingdom seeks to diversify. The project called "Amaala" would be "a natural extension of the Mediterranean Sea, and dubbed the Riviera of the Middle East", the country's top sovereign wealth fund said in a statement released by the information ministry. The development will feature hotels, private villas, an arts academy and a yacht club, PIF added. It did not reveal any timeframe or the size of the investment, saying only that the "initial funding for the project will be provided by PIF". Saudi Arabia has dazzled investors with plans for a series of "giga projects", funded in part by its sovereign wealth fund, but sceptics question their viability. The kingdom has already unveiled blueprints to build NEOM, a mega project billed as a regional Silicon Valley, in addition to the Red Sea project, a reef-fringed resort destination -- both worth hundreds of billions of dollars. "Amaala will sit alongside NEOM and the Red Sea project as part of the giga-projects investment portfolio, helping to... (support) economic diversification," PIF said. Such projects are the brainchild of Prince Mohammed, architect of a sweeping reform programme dubbed "Vision 2030". The reforms stem partly from a motivation to boost domestic spending and attract foreign investment as the kingdom reels from an economic slowdown. Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Vision 2030. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said it will begin issuing visas to visitors to attend sporting and cultural events from December, a first for the kingdom as it seeks to lure international tourists. By AFP UNITED NATIONS: South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday urged world governments to encourage North Korea to advance toward denuclearization by "responding positively" to leader Kim Jong Un's "new choices". Addressing the UN General Assembly, Moon praised his North Korean counterpart -- with whom he has held three summits -- saying he had "changed the direction of the political situation" on the Korean peninsula. "North Korea moved out of longstanding isolation on its own initiative and stands before the international community once again," Moon said. "Now it is the international community's turn to respond positively to North Korea's new choices and efforts." Moon, who has embraced dialogue with the North, advocates a step-by-step approach that would push Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in exchange for a gradual easing of sanctions. That stance, however, is challenged by the United States and Japan, which maintain that North Korea must have fully dismantled its weapons programs before any of the sanctions can be lifted. Moon argued that it was time for a gesture toward Kim. "We must assure Chairman Kim that he has made the right decision in committing to denuclearization," he said. "We must encourage North Korea to stay on the path that leads to permanent and solid peace." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier met with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho in New York and later announced that he will return to Pyongyang next month to push ahead with denuclearization. Pompeo will also try to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim, whose meeting in June in Singapore was the first ever between leaders of the two states. Led by the United States, the Security Council last year slapped three rounds of sanctions targeting North Korea's economy with the aim of cutting off sources of revenue for Pyongyang's weapons program. The United States is facing calls from Russia and China to consider easing sanctions to create an incentive for Pyongyang to move forward. Pompeo on Thursday will address a Security Council meeting on North Korea. Despite the warming of ties, there has been little concrete action towards denuclearization and there remains skepticism about Kim's intentions. At the last Kim-Moon summit in Pyongyang, the North Korean leader agreed to close a missile test site in the presence of international monitors and offered to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear plant if Washington takes "corresponding measures." Egypts real-estate sector is not experiencing uncontrolled growth, but more regulation is still needed, experts say Egypts real-estate market is witnessing a slow-down, not the end of a bubble, Hisham Shoukri, chairman of the Roaya Group for Real Estate Investment, told Al-Ahram Weekly recently, adding that the country has experienced various ups and downs in the property market over the past 30 years. Traditionally, a housing bubble is an escalation of real-estate prices driven by increased demand, limited supply and possible speculation that eventually bursts causing prices to fall. The US saw the bursting of a real-estate bubble in 2008 when mortgages represented 98.8 per cent of all the purchases in the countrys real-estate market. Millions of US homeowners then suddenly owed more on their properties than they could expect to sell them for, and they swiftly got into difficulties on their loans. Mortgage financing in Egypt makes up barely three per cent of purchase operations. This makes Egypt safe from a real-estate bubble, Tarek Shoukri, chairman of the Real Estate Development Chamber at the Federation of Egyptian Industries and head of Arabiya Group for Real Estate Investment, told the Weekly. Demand is high in the real-estate market in Egypt, however. In particular, somewhere between 900,000 and one million marriages take place in the country annually, and scores of newly-weds buy new residences. Private-sector real-estate companies construct 50,000 to 60,000 residential units per year, but there are still not that many units for sale, continued Arabiyas chairman. This is because every year Egypts population increases by 2.5 million. For a real-estate bubble to occur, supply has to outstrip demand, which is not the case in Egypt, said the head of Roaya. Purchases in the Egyptian real-estate market are mostly paid for in cash, not credit, said a study published last week by the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies (ECES). This being the case, a real-estate bubble is highly unlikely, the report added. Alaa Fekri, chairman of Beta Egypt for Real Estate Investment, concurred. What we are witnessing is a slow-down in the market. There is not, and there will not be, a real-estate bubble, he said. Since mid-2017, a few months after the floatation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016, peoples purchasing power had decreased with the depreciation of the pound, Arabiyas chairman said, adding that while many people still wanted to buy housing units those on the market did not suit many peoples purchasing power. A real-estate bubble would mean a continual rise in the price of units to exceed their real value in the market, said the ECES report. It observed increasing demand for small units, coupled with payment problems on the part of individuals because of present economic conditions. Consequently, units available for purchasing had increased and their prices had risen, the report said. The secondary market had seen a slow-down, and selling had become limited to the primary market. The ECES report criticised the governments venture into the real-estate market and its inclination to build and sell fully-finished units to higher-income groups. The states experience of real estate in the new cities was not encouraging, the report said, and occupation rates in these remained less than what was targeted. The real-estate market needs better organisation, Fekri said, who also criticised the state for venturing into real-estate development. Its easy to enter the market, but it is difficult to get out of it, he added. The ECES study said that 25 per cent of the units built by the state in the new cities had not been sold, something that had started when the price of land increased in 2004 at Urban Communities Authority auctions. Land put up for auction in New Cairo and 6 October city went up by 130 per cent. The governments real-estate tax, the report explained, would have a positive impact in the long run, limiting the number of units being held for sale at a premium in the future. The tax would, however, have a negative effect in the short term, with an increase of units offered for sale on the secondary market. Some 16.2 per cent of the countrys GDP comes from the real-estate sector, something which the ECES study says is too high. It points out that construction-sector and real-estate activities rose by 225 per cent and 952 per cent, respectively, between 2010-11 and 2016-17. The report said it was worrying for Egypts economic development to depend so much on the real-estate sector, since any crisis could boomerang on related activities. Real-estate company owners say some companies are not serious about their advertised projects, and that there are bodies, represented by housing associations, that are conducting sporadic construction operations not in line with market regulations. These could also lead to an imbalance in the market. Parliament has received huge numbers of complaints from people who bought units from developers who didnt commit to the delivery dates. Some of these people live abroad, said Sahar Atman, a member of the parliaments Housing Committee. Some real-estate companies are not serious either, offering units at prices and conditions not matching market regulations. They sell units on 15-year instalments and 10 per cent down-payments. Some of them offer units without any down-payment. Any serious developer that cares about its reputation and delivering according to a scheduled deadline will not make these offers, said Hussein Sabbour, head of the Al-Ahly Company for Real Estate Development. There is one company that is offering units in a new area on 15-year instalments, whereas the state has demanded it hand over the units within four years. This is a huge cost shouldered by the company for no return. No serious company could make such an offer, Sabbour added. A law to curb infractions in the real-estate market, such as not meeting delivery dates, is needed, observers said. However, such infractions should be reduced once the real-estate development bill, now in discussion in parliament, goes into effect. The aim of the bill is to monitor closely the sectors activities and bring violations to a halt. But discussions of the bill in the parliament have also come to a halt, said Mohamed Abdel-Ghani, a member of the Housing Committee, citing the committees insistence on putting into effect regulations on credit ceilings for companies according to their experience and the date of their establishment as the reason for the delay. The regulations discussed included forbidding advertisements for any project unless it had obtained a licence from the party from which it acquired the land, which means that the price of the land has to be fully paid in advance, added Abdel-Ghani. He criticised the states involvement as an investor that constructs and sells housing units, saying that this had led to an increase in the price of units. The price of a square metre had increased in Al-Tagammu Al-Khamis from LE7,000 to LE9,000 when the government had developed its Dar Masr units, he said. A square metre in the villas area of Alamein City, developed by the private sector, had used to cost LE12,000 to LE15,000. Now it ranged from between LE25,000 and LE27,000 following the governments announcement of units to be sold at Alamein Towers where a square metre cost LE40,000, he said. *A version of this article appears in print in the 27 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: No real-estate bubble? Search Keywords: Short link: Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has issued a presidential decree approving a cooperation agreement for technical support between Egypt and the European Investment Bank. Under the agreement, the bank is offering technical assistance to develop and expand a drainage treatment plant in Alexandria. The deal was first signed in December of 2017. El-Sisi also issued a presidential decree approving a partnership agreement between Egypt and the French Development agency, whereby the agency will offer a 500,000-euro grant to Egypt. The two decrees were published in the official state Gazette on Thursday. Search Keywords: Short link: Columnist Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich). One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Meghan Markle attended the opening of London's new "Oceania" exhibition on Tuesday evening in what was her first royal solo outing since marrying Britain's Prince Harry in May. Meghan, 37, who is officially known as the Duchess of Sussex, visited the Royal Academy of Arts, where on display are some 200 works including ornaments, canoes and images from the Pacific region Meghan will visit with Harry on their first overseas tour next month. The exhibition, which includes items from Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and New Zealand, marks 250 years since British explorer James Cook set off aboard the HMS Endeavour for the South Pacific. Meghan viewed artefacts which span 500 years and are displayed according to the exhibition's "voyaging, place-making and encounter" themes. Last week, in her first solo initiative as a royal, the duchess lent her support to the launch of a charity cookbook aimed at helping a community project formed following London's Grenfell Tower fire disaster last year in which 71 people died. Meghan and Harry will set off for Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Australia in October for a royal tour focusing on "youth leadership, environmental and conservation efforts", according to their office, Kensington Palace. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: Install the Newser News app in two easy steps: 1. Tap in your navigation bar. 2. Tap to Add to Home Screen. (Newser) Nearly two months after her 15-year-old brother Miguel Garcia-Moran vanished in Suffolk County, Long Island, his older sister Lady discovered she could access his Facebook account. What she discovered were 84 text and voice messages exchanged with Alexander, a classmate of Miguel's at Brentwood High who pushed him to come to the woods, alone, to smoke up. "That man Jairo"who had attended Brentwood"is going to treat you," Alexander wrote. Miguel agreed to go, and was never seen again. In a piece for ProPublica, Hannah Dreier examines his February 2016 disappearance and the 10 that followed it over the next two years, most if not all now believed to be tied to the MS-13 gang. She delves into the "inaction and inadequate procedures of the Suffolk County police": Most of the teens were classified as runaways, though there was no indication any of them fit that profile. story continues below Only three of the department's 3,800 employees were certified to interpret Spanish, though most in the Latino-majority town of Brentwood spoke it as their first language. Detective Luis Perez wasn't one of them, though he did speak Spanish. Miguel's family took the Facebook messages to him, and he took the "unusual" step of having the family meet with Alexander at school; Alexander insisted Miguel never showed up that night. At one point, the family says his advice to them was: "If you're so worried, go pay a fortune teller to find Miguel." Dreier explains how the September 2016 murders of two US-born girls became national news and spurred police to begin searching the woods. One week after the murders, Miguel's body was found in what police have dubbed the MS-13 "killing fields," his bones covered in machete marks. Police still haven't solved Miguel's casebut Dreier may have. Read her full story here. (Read more Longform stories.) (Newser) The national president of the notorious Bandidos biker gang was sentenced Wednesday to life plus 10 years in prison for directing a violent racketeering and drug trafficking enterprise. Jeffrey Faye Pike of Conroe, Texas, was sentenced in federal court in San Antonio. The 63-year-old leader of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Organization for more than a decade was convicted in May, along with deputy leader John Xavier Portillo, after a lengthy trial, the AP reports. The jury found Pike and Portillo guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder conspiracy, racketeering assault, murder racketeering, extortion, and weapons violations. story continues below Portillo also was convicted of another racketeering murder count, drug trafficking, and drug trafficking conspiracy. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 20 years Monday. The case arose from the 2006 killing of Anthony Benesh, who was attempting to start a Texas chapter of the Hells Angels and had ignored the Bandidos' warnings to cease recruitment. Evidence during trial revealed that Portillo and Pike ordered members to murder Benesh, who was killed outside an Austin restaurant in March 2006. Also, with Pike's approval, Portillo declared that the Bandidos were at war with the Cossacks motorcycle organization, which led to numerous acts of violence by the Bandidos. (Read more motorcycle gang stories.) (Newser) "It is time to say husband is not the master," Dipak Misra, the chief justice of India's top court, says in a ruling striking down the country's adultery law. "Legal sovereignty of one sex over another is wrong." The ruling jettisoning the 158-year-old colonial-era law means adultery is no longer a crime in India, the BBC reports. Long criticized as archaic and sexist, it made it illegal for a man to have sex with a married woman without the permission of her husband. Misra said that while adultery could certainly be an issue in civil cases like divorce, "it cannot be a criminal offense." The law had been challenged three previous times, most recently in 1988. story continues below "I welcome this judgment by the supreme court," says Rekha Sharma, the head of Indias National Commission for Women. "It was an outdated law, which should have been removed long back." She notes that the law dated from the British colonial erabut the British got rid of their version of the law many years ago. Government lawyers had urged the court to keep the law, arguing that "making adultery legal will hurt marriage bonds." The Guardian reports that those who brought the case had only sought to make the law gender neutral, but the court decided to simply get rid of it. (Earlier this month, the court struck down a colonial-era law banning gay sex.) The newly appointed Japanese ambassador to Egypt visits the restoration project of Khufus second solar boat as the first archaeological site in his long tour list Masaki Noke, the newly appointed Japanese ambassador to Egypt, visited on Thursday the restoration project of Khufus second solar boat in Giza Plateau. Ambassador Noke viewed the techninque which the Egyptian and Japanese archaeologists are using to lift up the boats wooden beams from its original location inside the pit to the surface, before transporting it to the site laboratory for restoration and consolidation. Eissa Zidan, the head of the Restoration Department of the project, told Ahram Online that the Japanese archaelogist Sakuji Yoshimura, the head of the restoration team, explained to Ambassador Noke that "restoring the second solar boat of king Khufu was his dream to come true.' Yoshimura said "the Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), had helped him realise his dream by supporting and financing the project." The JICA will continue its support of the project until the restoration and reconstruction of the boat is completed and the boat is readied to be on show at the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is scheduled to open in 2020. Zidan told Ahram Online that the restoration team has so far succeeded in removing 866 pieces from the pit, and restored 840 pieces and transported around 700 pieces to the GEMs restoration centre. The first phase of the project began over 20 years ago. In 1992, a Japanese scientific and archaeological team from Waseda University, in collaboration with the Japanese government, provided a grant of $10 million to remove the boat from its original pit, restore and reassemble it, and put it on show to the public. The team first cleaned the pit of insects then Japanese technicians inserted a camera through a hole in the chamber's limestone to assess the boat's condition inside the pit and the possibility of its restoration. The teams inspection showed that the second boat was in a much better state of preservation than the first one discovered in 1954. Khufu's first solar boat was discovered by the late architect and archaeologist Kamal El-Malakh, together with Zaki Nour, during routine cleaning on the south side of the Great Pyramid. The first boat was removed piece by piece under the supervision of master restorer Ahmed Youssef, who spent more than 20 years restoring and reassembling the boat. The second boat remained sealed in its pit until 1987, when it was examined by the American National Geographic Society via remote camera. After the space inside the pit was photographed and air measurements were taken, the pit was resealed. It was initially believed that the pit had been so well sealed thus the air inside must have been preserved since ancient Egyptian times. Sadly, though, Yoshimura pointed out that this was not the case, explaining that air had leaked into the pit from outside and mixed with the air inside and this had allowed insects to thrive and negatively affect some wooden beams. Search Keywords: Short link: (Newser) Seven years after a bank in Alaska had more than $4 million lifted, the man suspected of stealing the money has been extradited back thereall the way from Mexico. A DOJ release reports that 33-year-old Gerardo "Gary" Adan Cazarez Valenzuela, who used to be the cash vault services manager at an Anchorage KeyBank, will appear in court Thursday in the Last Frontier. He stands accused of strolling into the bank on the night of July 29, 2011, filling three large boxes with $4.3 million in cash, and fleeing, all in about 20 minutes' time. A sworn affidavit from an FBI special agent cited in the New York Times reveals the intricacies of Cazarez's alleged getaway route: He drove home to stuff the cash into suitcases and other bags, took a charter plane to Seattle, then took a taxi to meet his girlfriend. story continues below After acquiring an AK-47 and another gun, as well as ammo, per the affidavit, Cazarez bought a Ford Fusion, and the two drove to Tijuana, Mexico. They then ditched the car and hopped on a bus bound for Sonora, Mexicoand that's when they were busted with the weapons and $3.8 million in cash after being randomly flagged for inspection at a checkpoint. Meanwhile, back in Anchorage, it took bank officials an entire day to get the vault door open when Cazarez was a no-show for work. Cazarez was charged and convicted in Mexico for money laundering and illegal possession of firearms and served out that sentence before being shipped back to the US. The AP notes Cazarez's girlfriend wasn't charged. If convicted, Cazarez could see up to 30 years behind bars and be hit with a fine up to $1 million. (Read more theft stories.) (Newser) There were some gasps and raised eyebrows from Twitter after President Trump on Wednesday called upon a reporter during a news conference using the name "Mr. Kurd." Rahim Rashidi is not among the aghast, and his opinion matters more than most: He's Mr. Kurd. As the Washington Post reports, Rashidi, a Kurdish journalist who reports for Kurdistan 24, wanted to ask Trump about US relations with the Kurds, some 30 million stateless people who live across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and have helped the US in the fight against ISIS. Trump said to him, "Yes, please, Mr. Kurd. Go ahead." Rashidi, frankly, was thrilled. story continues below "I loved it, because all the time our identity is ignored by the Turkish government, by the Iranian government," he tells the Post. "We are proud of our struggle for democracy, for justice, for freedom. He made me so happy when he called me Mr. Kurd. It was a moment of respect for us, for me." Indeed, the Post notes that when it telephoned Rashidi late Wednesday, he picked up the phone with a new greeting: "Hello, this is Mr. Kurd." (Read more President Trump stories.) (Newser) Students love Herman Gordon, who has worked as a custodian at the UK's Bristol University for 12 years. So when they found out that Gordon, who moved to England when he was 12 and rarely sees his family in Jamaica, hadn't been back to visit his homeland in almost 10 years, they decided it was time to send him on a long-overdue vacation. Hadi Al-Zubaidi, a medical student, came up with the idea to launch a crowdfunding campaign to send Gordon and his wife to Kingston for a week, and the $2,000 needed for plane tickets was raised in just days, CNN reports. Gordon shared photographs from his trip earlier this month, the Independent reports. story continues below "Everybody loves Herman for his happy energy," Al-Zubaidi explains, and this was a way students could "[give] back for all that he does." The campaign was shared on an anonymous campus confessions Facebook page normally used for students to gossipand quickly went viral, with hundreds of students contributing to the fundraiser. Sandals Resorts heard about it, and invited the Gordons to spend two nights during their visit at the company's luxury Montego Bay resort as a gift for their 23rd wedding anniversary. A video shared by crowdfunding site JustGiving shows Gordon's tearful reaction when students presented him with the money for his trip and a note explaining it. "When you see things like this, you know that somebody loves you," he said. (Read more uplifting news stories.) (Newser) A Texas woman's destination wedding and dream honeymoon turned into a nightmare when a wave threw Nikki Lewis to the ground while she was boogie boarding with her new husband, just four days after they wed on the beach in Maui. The Sept. 12 accident broke the 34-year-old's neck in two places, leaving her partially paralyzed, the Star-Telegram reports. "It seemed like the wave was just bigger than me standing up and I'm 6 feet tall, so it just engulfed her; kind of landed on top of her and nose dived her into the sand," a friend who was with the couple at the time of the accident tells KITV. She was ultimately transferred to a hospital in Honolulu, and now Lewis and husband Will are waiting for the day they can return to their home and children in the Dallas area, per Hawaii News Now. story continues below A Facebook group has been created to track Nikki's progress, with her husband posting videos Wednesday of her working on walking and other exercise; he says the only reason they're not back home yet is "insurance issues." A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to raise money for her medical care, as well as transportation home; it mentions that a private plane back to Texas has been quoted as costing $70,000. Despite the difficulties, the couple's friends say Nikki's journey is inspiring them. "You just have a renewed faith that everything is going to be fine," one friend tells WFAA. "She's going to get back to being her old self, you can already tell nothing's going to stop her. She's the reason why everybody else is like, 'Go Nikki! Go Nikki!'" (Read more Hawaii stories.) (Newser) Florida's Alan McCarty has made clear he does not like judges, and he will spend the next 20 years in prison as a result. The 36-year-old received the 20-year sentence this weekalong with an extra 10 days for contempt of court, a penalty more serious than it soundsfor calling 911 last year and promising to kill a judge he mistakenly believed had ruled against him in a custody case, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. During Wednesday's sentencing in front of a different judge, Matt Foxman, McCarty had to be removed from the courtroom as Foxman listed his offenses. What a bunch of (expletive) lies you stupid piece of (expletive), McCarty yelled. You threatened my life, (expletive, expletive). (Expletive) you, you (expletive, expletive). story continues below Foxman explained that he was tacking on the 10-day contempt of court sentence for a variety of reasons, including one particular McCarty outburst during the trial. You also offered me to perform a sex act upon you, which I politely declined and still do to this day for whatever thats worth, Foxman said. The extra 10 days will be served when the 20-year sentence is done, and it's no small thing, explains the News Journal. It means that McCarty won't be able to participate in a work-release program while in prison. McCarty also was convicted of threatening 911 dispatchers, reports GateHouse Media Florida, which notes that because of his courtroom behavior, McCarty had to observe most of his trial from behind one-way glass. (Read more Florida stories.) The fight for control of the Eastern Mediterraneans oil and gas resources could be the catalyst for further conflict in the region The vast discoveries of natural gas that have recently been made in the Eastern Mediterranean have sparked new forms of struggle and at the same time forged new alliances between the countries of the region in order to extract this valuable new source of energy. However, because the region is witnessing its most turbulent period in decades thanks to the ongoing ramifications of the Arab Spring, gas exploration and gas discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean have been taking on political angles as well as possible military ones. There have been constant provocations led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since the news was announced that Egypt and Cyprus had discovered new gas fields in the region. These were only exacerbated by the historical demarcation deal in the Eastern Mediterranean between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus that opened the door to massive exploration plans and resulted in major gas discoveries in the region. The Mediterranean Sea was not a major source of oil and gas in the past, but in recent years the race to tap newly discovered resources has become something of a gold rush particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Egypt struck gold after a number of successful discoveries were made both offshore and on land, representing a major change in the industry and qualifying it to become an oil and gas hub or aggregator in the region. This means that Egypt will not only produce its own natural gas but will also liquify gas imported from other countries and then re-export it. This is part of Egypts 2030 Vision, making the country the energy hub of the region, and the government has signed 88 agreements to carry out oil and gas exploration in areas including the Suez region, the Western Desert, the Nile Delta and most importantly the Mediterranean Sea. The discovery of the gigantic Zohr Gas Field and its record development such that it could be fully operational by the end of 2018 has whetted the appetite of many international oil and gas giants that desire to follow in the footsteps of the Italian company ENI that manages the field. Not content with the 88 agreements that have been signed and are already active, the government has a further 13 agreements in its sights. Even more important than the major discoveries are the bilateral agreements that have been made with a number of countries to utilise the huge Egyptian gas-liquifying facilities for these countries to re-export gas to European clients. The latest agreement with the Cyprus government amounts to $1 billion. Prior to that, an Egyptian private company and one from Israel signed an agreement worth $10 billion, intending to develop Egypt as a major hub for gas exports. Such moves by the Egyptian government have irked the Turkish government, which has continued to provoke the Egyptian, Greek and Cyprus governments by claiming that it will not acknowledge the demarcation agreements signed in 2013 between the three countries. An Egyptian government spokesman was firm in his rejection of comments made by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu when he declared that the agreements had been signed in accordance with international law and that they were not up for discussion. Predicting Erdogans next move has been made more difficult by the failing Turkish economy, witnessing its worst crisis in decades. Some analysts expect Erdogan to embark on a new military adventure to divert the attention of the Turkish population from the worsening domestic situation. In August, Turkey declared that it was contemplating the opening of a new naval base and the reopening of an old airbase in Northern Cyprus, which would be a provocation for the entire region. While a new Turkish naval or air base will hardly represent a turning point, they may lead countries such as Egypt and Greece to take military steps in the foreseeable future. Moreover, Turkey continues to provoke other nations in the region, and it has attempted to harass Italian oil-exploration ships headed to the Eastern Mediterranean. It captured four Egyptian sailors on 21 September who were fishing near the Cyprus coast in an act that Egypt will not take lightly. The tripartite alliance between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus agreed in December 2017 to expand joint military training has been reflected in the annual Medusa military manoeuvres carried out by the three countries. This alliance stands against Turkish aspirations in Cyprus, which is within striking distance of the Egyptian air force. Cyprus airspace could be protected by the Egyptian Air Force as well as by that of Greece should matters escalate as a result of Turkish aggression. The new purchases made by the Egyptian navy, including two Mistral amphibious assault ships, a French FREMM frigate, four Gowind corvettes, four German type 209 submarines, a South Korean frigate and a Russian Molniya class missile craft enhance Egypts naval strength and guard against possible threats to its oil and gas investments in the Mediterranean. They also reaffirm the Egyptian navys supremacy in the region and its position as the sixth-largest naval fleet in the world. The purchases, along with Egypts dozens of new French and Russian jet fighters and helicopters, reflect growing concerns at the threat of terrorism and of hostile regimes in the region. Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, Israel and Turkey are all targeting new oil and gas exploration and investment, and as a result tensions have been rising in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is not only patrolled by these countries navies. The region also contains naval vessels from countries such as the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, France and Denmark, many of them on standby because of conflicts in the region, especially in Syria and Libya, and the resulting wave of migrants and refugees to Europe. Though conflict with Turkey is not imminent, Egypt, Greece and Cyprus are taking all their options into account as the Turkish regime is still undermining the sovereignty of these countries, especially that of Cyprus, by claiming unwarranted rights to natural gas resources in the region. The upcoming period may witness escalation from Erdogan, since he may want to try to rally the Turkish people behind him after years of tyranny have led to the countrys worst political, social and economic situation in decades. The regions natural gas resources are one of the key reasons behind the Turkish regimes megalomania, displayed in its failed incursions into Iraq and Syria and against the Kurdish population in Turkey. They could also be the catalyst for conflict with Egypt, Greece and Cyprus, which remain vigilant with regard to the Turkish tyrants ambitions. * The writer is a political analyst and author of Egypts Arab Spring and the Winding Road to Democracy. * A version of this article appears in print in the 27 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: The battle for Mediterranean gas Search Keywords: Short link: The Flexi Permit system introduced last year has a number of loopholes that need to be addressed by the authorities, according to trade unions. Flexi Permits, introduced by the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) last July is seen as a progressive step towards the protection of workers. The move received a red-carpet welcome within and outside the Kingdom as it was seen as a great stride in the labour sector. However, the system is not an astounding success, according to several trade unions that met yesterday to discuss the impact of the new system. Representatives of The General Federation of Workers Trade Unions in Bahrain (GFWTUB), International Trade Union Confederation, Migrant Workers Protection Society and other unions took part in the meeting. Speaking to Tribune on the sideline of the event, Jaffar Isa, a GFWTUB representative said that the issues associated with the permit are many. If someone who is on Flexi Visa gets injured at work, who is going to pay the insurance? Will the employers pay when these people are temporary workers? There are a few gaps here which need to be clarified, he said. There is no clear-cut contract law. For example, are there any guarantees that the workers who work for an hour or two will get paid? If the employer does not pay, what are the mechanisms the workers need to follow? he added. Another huge issue is the fact that many workers may not be able to afford it and they may not be able to bear the cost every month. If he is not able to pay that money what can he do? It becomes a similar situation as the free visa system. This system is not based on a law but on an order. The chamber of commerce has given its approval for it and it is logical because from a business owners point of view, the system is good. It reduces their costs, the business owners will have access to a range of workers who will have their own visa, who can be hired at any time on a short-term contract. This also creates an unfair competition for Bahrainis because flexi-workers would be seen as attractive options for companies to hire. The workers union should have been consulted before implementing a system like this, he added. The High Appeals Court has adjourned the trial of Shaikh Ali Salman, the former secretary general of the now dissolved Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, who is accused of conspiring with Qatar against the Kingdom, to hear the Public Prosecutions closing arguments. Three opposition members have been tried in connection with this case including two former Al Wefaq MPs Hassan Ali Sultan and Ali Al Aswad. They have been accused of spying on behalf of a foreign country. They were cleared by the High Criminal Court, but Attorney General Osama Al Oufi lodged the appeal citing there was adequate proof to upturn their clearance. Shaikh Salman has been accused of receiving money in exchange for revealing state and military secrets, including information about GCC forces in Bahrain. The case is connected to phone conversations dating back to 2011 between Qatari officials and senior members of Al Wefaq. Al Oufi argued earlier that the cleric knew he was breaking the law by having contact with the Qatari government. Relying on armed militias in Libya has been a disastrous policy that must end. Only a unified security arrangement, under regular national armed forces, can help ground a solution to the Libyan crisis Whoever follows developments on the Libyan scene will have noticed the strange persistence of the hijacking of state institutions by armed militias. These militias manipulate decisions issued by leaders who occupy formal positions with control over the Libyan peoples money and destiny. What is interesting is that these parties are not ashamed of serving, on the political and security levels, the objectives of gangs that have inflicted huge losses upon Libyan citizens during the last few years. They didnt learn the lesson of the negative repercussions of the hegemony of terrorist groups and making a considerable part of Libyan resources subject to their personal and ideological whims. The battles that raged in Tripoli on 26 August were totally different from skirmishes and engagements that preceded them, because an important party, the Seventh Infantry Brigade, which can hardly be ignored in any security arrangements, entered the equation. If the mistakes that led to the exclusion of regular forces in favour of militia rule arent set right, there will arise an even more complex crisis. The problem is that there are different circles within the incumbent authority, or at its margins, that provide political cover for the aforementioned militias and deal with them as they are a security guarantor in Tripoli. This, in turn, has granted them considerable legitimacy, permitting them to penetrate most local authorities. Some international powers have not hesitated to make deals with armed militias, which they have relied upon to secure their interests. This has granted militias a formal nature. For when a state resorts to militia leaders under the pretext of protecting its diplomatic mission, companies, and some affiliated humanitarian organisation, it isnt expected that this state will exert pressure upon them. There are those who insist upon turning a blind eye to the risks that these practices entail, ignoring disasters caused by the actions of irregular forces in the last period. Worse is that those parties are attempting to repeat the tragedies of the plan of Paolo Serra, former senior military advisor of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). This plan granted militias a legal presence. Hence, the capital has entered into a cycle of violence that didnt stop except through adopting an alternative plan that revived regular security institutions. The irony here is that Ghassan Salame, the UN secretary generals special representative and head of UNSMIL, who seeks to avoid problems caused by his previous political and security conceptions, has plunged himself in a severe crisis. He has threatened to impose sanctions on militia leaders and still believes that their influence is hard to ignore without asking himself about the long term impact of this policy. If two years have passed where relying on warlords, drug addicts and human traffickers caused all these losses, what will be the case if we extend the conditions allowing for their presence even further? Of course, there wont be any glimmer of hope for the political settlement that Egypt and other international powers, who are keen that the Libyan state reaches safe ground, will be fulfilled. That is because the "patting on the back" diplomacy that some are practicing will lead to negating the role of national security institutions and drive the peace process even further out of reach. Salame and his teams way of handling things betrays a determination to repeat past mistakes, with all the bitter consequences they entailed. Current moves concerning new security measures maintain an outlook of keeping open a significant role for armed militias under the claim of bringing swift order to the capital. But one of the main reasons for breakdown in order is the overwhelming presence of militias. The path of unifying the Libyan military institution, which Egypt advocated and has taken pains to realise, is the only one that will resolve the security problem in Tripoli and other cities. According to this path, militias must be disaggregated in the face of a non-ideological regular force that alone has the right to bear arms in Libya. This regular force is also the best guarantee for any political faction that will win in the upcoming elections, which have been delayed because the appropriate security conditions for conducting them are absent. The approach adopted by some political forces to obstruct the unification of the military institution, or jump on its moral gains, wont enable them to pass their past plans intact. Nowhere in the world exists a stable social and political arena that relies on armed gangs to guarantee its security. Didnt those parties learn from Somalia, which disintegrated due to the burgeoning of militias and the failure of efforts to unify its lands and institutions? Perhaps some Western powers, which via blatant interventions led Somalia to tragedy, have been satisfied by gang rule and didnt want the Libyan state to regain its authority through a unified military institution. Those who are keen that the Libyan state unify dont want it to face the same fate as Somalia. However, the approaches embraced by Salame along with a few Libyans will drive the country to a much more dangerous whirlpool from which political efforts would fail save it in the future. New security arrangements must be compatible with the Libyan peoples interests and not conform with militia interests and those investing in them politically, economically and militarily. It is in the interest of Libyan cities and tribes that no one party dominate over the others, and to avoid the implementation of regional or sectarian quotas. The only path to achieve balance is through reviving respect in professional institutions and those who had experience in administering the state bureaucracy, steering away from amateurs, charlatans and warlords whose actions drove the country towards the edge of the abyss. The conclusion that the reasoned observer comes to is that there is no one party that can win the battle alone, and even current alliances between militias and political forces cant be sustainable in the face of any storm coming from the east, the west or the south. Because the deals are fluctuating and the understandings temporary and subject to narrow considerations, this makes every current formula to stabilise security in Tripoli shaky. It is in the interest of those involved in the crisis to search for serious means to resolve Libya's crisis, because the time for sedatives is over, and the Libyan crisis has taken a decisive turn. There is an opportunity on the horizon to set up far reaching rules for security that conform to the Libyan peoples interests. Because the sedative by which the crisis has been treated has lost its security and political effects, and has tarnished all those who sided with militias, whose hands are still smeared with blood, only returning state institutions to their real Libyan owners can resolve the crisis and transcend the regionalism, sectarianism and precariousness of the militia complex. Search Keywords: Short link: The High Criminal Court yesterday revoked the nationality of two Bahrainis convicted of joining the terror group Saraya Al Ashtar. The first defendant was handed down a life sentence while the second was given 10 years in jail. Chief of Terror Crime Prosecution Dr. Ahmed Al Hammadi said in a statement yesterday that the duo had plotted to murder a police officer and they were in possession of weapons as well as live ammunition which they intended to use in terrorist activities. They were arrested after the police received a tip-off. The first defendant, a Bahraini-fugitive based in Iran, is said to have been a member of Al Ashtar Brigades and he was the one who recruited his co-suspect for the terrorist organisation, according to court files. The second defendant allegedly received funds from the terrorist organisation and used them for financing terrorist activities which were sponsored by Saraya Al Ashtar. Saraya Al Ashtar has been designated a terrorist organisation by the Kingdom, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United States as well as the United Kingdom. Prosecutors said that the second defendant was ordered by the group leaders to target police patrols and he surveyed several locations to choose the best one. New Delhi : Five people were killed Wednesday when an apartment block collapsed in New Delhi, crushing residents beneath mountains of concrete, in the latest building accident to hit India. Rescuers combing the wreckage with sniffer dogs in Delhis north pulled out at least a dozen people who were trapped beneath the rubble. We can confirm the deaths of five people. Rescue teams at the site are still clearing the debris, local police official Sarat Chandra Nirmal said. Madrid : British screen legend Judi Dench was honoured Tuesday with a lifetime achievement award at Spains famous San Sebastian film festival. The 83-year-old actress, who won an Oscar in 1999 for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, received the festivals Donostia Award, which goes to a great film personality in recognition for their work and career. During a short ceremony to collect the prize, Dench said she first visited San Sebastian with her parents when she was a teenager but never thought for a second, that I would be an actress the rest of my life and receive such an incredible award here. I appreciate it very much indeed, she added before her new film Red Joan, directed by Trevor Nunn, was screened. In the film, inspired on a true story, she plays a tranquil retiree who is suddenly arrested by MI5 and exposed as a long-standing KGB spy. Dench, a veteran star of the stage and screen, made her cinema debut in 1964 and has worked with directors as varied as Stephen Frears, Kenneth Branagh, Clint Eastwood and Sam Mendes. Her subtle portrayal of complex characters such as Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown or author Iris Murdoch in Iris have earned her critical acclaim. A seven-time Oscar nominee and the recipient of several Bafta awards, Dench is perhaps best known worldwide for playing M, the head of MI6, in James Bond films. It was her first visit to the San Sebastian film festival, the oldest and most prestigious event of its kind in the Spanish speaking world. Dench joined US actor Danny de Vito and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose film Shoplifters won the Palme dOr in this years Cannes Film Festival, who also picked up a Donostia Award this year. Past recipients include Gregory Peck, Robert De Niro, Bette Davis, Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep. The 66th edition of the festival concludes on Saturday. A total of 18 films are competing for the best film award this year. Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former taxi driver over the alleged robbery of a current cabbie earlier this month, reports TBS News (Sept. 26). On September 9, Yasuhide Miyakoshi, 45, entered the cab of a female driver in the Kabukicho red-light district of Shinjuku Ward. Upon the cabas arrival in Nakano Ward, the suspect pulled out a knife. After taking about 20,000 yen in cash from the driver, he ordered her to return to Kabukicho. The suspect also evaded paying the fare of 17,500 yen, according to police. aI target female or frail-looking male drivers,a Miyakoshi told police in admitting to the allegations. After the incident, an employee at a manga kissa coffee shop in the Ikebukuro area of Toshima Ward summoned police to the establishment after a customer, later identified as Miyakoshi, was unable to pay his bill, which covered expenses over a three-day period. During questioning about the bill, the robbery in Kabukicho surfaced, police said. A record 103 Japanese universities made it onto this yearas Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings list, with the nationas two top universities a the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University a moving up in the standings. According to THE, the countryas top institution, the University of Tokyo, also known as Todai, climbed to 42nd place, up four places from its worst-ever ranking last year. Kyoto University secured its position as the nationas second highest-ranked university, jumping up nine places from last year to 65th a marking its second consecutive year of improvement on the influential ranking that lists over 1,250 of the worldas top institutions. aThis is a nation of immense ingenuity and potential, and we could be witnessing a positive turning point here for its universities,a Phil Baty, THEas editorial director of global rankings, said in a press release Wednesday. However, he warned that to strengthen its status as a key competitive higher-education power both regionally and globally, Japan arequires a commitment to much greater investment and an intensification of its efforts to internationalize.a The organizationas rankings are based on the weighted scores of thirteen indicators in five pillars, including learning environment, research, international outlook, research influence and industry income. THE attributes the surge in Todaias ranking to improvement in its learning environment (ranked 16th), research (ranked 19th) and industry income performance. The record high 103 Japanese institutions that made the list surpassed last yearas 89, making Japan the second most-represented country after the United States with 172 institutions. The United Kingdom, with 98 universities in the rankings, lost its second place position for the first time. Ahead of the 2019 general election, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Leo Ogor, has stated that the high number of aspirants jostling for the Peoples Democratic Party ticket is testament to the Democratic disposition of the party.Ogor who made the statement while addressing newsmen when former Secretary to Delta State Government, Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay played host to Governor of Sokoto, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, said the competition is what will spur the party into victory.He said the election will bring out the best among equals who will be able to address the development and welfare Interest of Nigerians.He said the general election of 2019 is a done deal because the taste of the pudding is in the eating. This is one thing that should be tested and it has been tested. So, no matter how it is, we will definitely succeed.The Minority Leader posited that he foresees presidential aspirants working together against forecasts that the primaries will tear the PDP. I believe that after they participate and see a free and fair election, then definitely, they will just congratulate the winner. So, there will be no cry of foul or anything at all. It is one out of the best, it is just the fact that, one man will definitely emerge and that person will emerge.Ogor while speaking on his 2019 ambition, said he is very prepared to run. I am prepared; very prepared. I am going there with my experience and experience holds the ace. So we are prepared, when I am prepared, I am prepared.He urged members of the Isoko Federal Constituency to maintain faith in him as he is ever poised to bring the dividends of democracy to their tables. Magnus Abe, senator representing Rivers south-east, says Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, has become bigger than the All Pr... Magnus Abe, senator representing Rivers south-east, says Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, has become bigger than the All Progressives Congress (APC). Abe, who has been having a running battle with Amaechi, said this at a rally in Bori local government area of Rivers state, on Thursday. A governorship aspirant of the APC, he accused the leadership of the ruling party of giving special treatment to some members. He vowed not to take part in the partys governorship primary on Saturday if the APC does not conduct indirect primary. The national working committee (NWC) of the APC adopted direct primary in the state. People have said they will retire Senator Abe, send me home, where is home? Home is in the heart of my people and nobody can send me away from their heart, he said. Every campaign of calumny, deceit must cease in Rivers state, this state must move forward. Today, I want to speak to the national leadership of our party, we continue to worship individuals in a party where we have said we are standing for change, we must have the courage to do that. I am my own man and nobody can make me do what is wrong. This country cannot go forward if we cannot find courage to do justice when it is time to do what is right. If we continue to be a nation where individuals are bigger than our rules, where individuals are bigger than our institution, the country can not go anywhere. We all belong to a party that promised Nigerian change and we had a meeting and said there would be direct primaries and the national chairman promised direct primaries anywhere there are issues that will make the outcome of the primaries legally contested and the first example he gave was Rivers state but as soon as they appointed Amaechi DG again and DG again, everything changed because the man has now become bigger than the party. I will not accept it. There has to be direct primaries here. I stand before you to assure you that nobody is bigger than this state. Abe also accused Amaechi of betraying the people of Ogoni, wondering why an Ogoni man has not become governor since the state was created. Today is the day of truth and today I want to tell Nigerians the truth. Every other senatorial district has produced a governor but our district has not, he said. When it was the time of my brother, Chief Chibike Amaechi to be governor, it was the Ogoni chiefs led by the same Kinginiwa that they are abusing today, that went as a delegation to Governor Peter Odili to make a case for the Ikwere people, he said. We did not stop there, we took a full page advert in Thisday newspapers then, paid for by the Ogoni people. Today, we want to be governor and people are making noise, who are those people? Sometime ago, the former governor of Rivers state, Chief Rotimi Amaechi invited the Ogoni people to the government house, not once or twice , we were all there. He promised the Ogoni people that the reason we have not produced a governor is because we have not made enough noise, that because the world has not heard us, that is why the injustice being done to the Ogoni people have not been corrected, that next time its time for the governorship to come up, he will lead the campaign for Ogoni people, now is the time, where is he? The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos has summoned all 57 chairmen of the local governments and party chairmen to what it on Wednesday described as an urgent and crucial meeting towards preparations for the Saturday Gubernatorial primary.The news of the meeting followed Governor Akinwunmi Ambodes decision to fight for the nomination despite the endorsement of his rival, Jide Sanwo-Olu by the grassroots as represented by the council chairmen.The invitation issued by the state secretary, Dr. Wale Ahmed read:The State Chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, invites all L.G.A chairmen and Council Chairmen to a crucial working meeting tomorrow 27th September at 10am prompt.The venue is state party secretariat at Acme, Kindly be punctual.It is important we get the primaries Venues for each L.G.A on the basis of 20 Local Government and for each ward on the basis of 245 wards.All concerned should please meet later today to harmonize and agree on the said venues and submit them tomorrow morning.I have the directive of the State Chairman to implore you to consider as urgent and please comply. Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party to be diplomatic in the... Reno Omokri, a former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party to be diplomatic in their reaction to the decision of Senator Iyiola Omisore to support the All Progressives Congress, APC in Thursdays governorship rerun in Osun State. Omisore had on Thursday announced his decision to pitch his tent with the APC after consultations with his party members which stirred backlash from some PDP Chieftains. PDP Chieftain, Femi Fani-Kayode on his part described Omisores decision as shameful, adding that his decision might deprive Ile-Ife indigenes of producing a Deputy Governor. But reacting, Omokri urged leaders of PDP not to throw insults at Omisore, but to appeal to him. The former presidential spokesman, therefore, called on those insulting Omisore to withdraw same. Omokri tweeted: Rather than PDP chieftains insulting Omisore for supporting APC, what we should do is appeal to him. Abraham Olujonwo Obasanjo, son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has publicly declared his support and availability to work for the... Abraham Olujonwo Obasanjo, son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has publicly declared his support and availability to work for the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari. According to Festus Keyamo, Director of Strategic Communications, President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Obasanjos son wrote the campaign organisation on Wednesday to officially declare his support. In the signed cover of the letter to Keyamo, Abraham Obasanjo had written: Dear Sir, please find attached a statement of my public declaration and support for the 2019 second term re-election bid of our highly esteemed President Buhari. I have taken a personal decision to release the statement and to notify you of my availability to work for the re-election of our dear President Muhammadu Buhari with sincerity and loyalty. Please accept my assurances of the highest regards. The ex-president is vehemently opposed to the reelection of Buhari. In January, he released a strongly-worded statement where he advised the president to forget about another term. Obasanjo accused Buhari of shielding some corrupt persons around him and also favouring a section of the country against the other. THE LETTER IN FULL A CLARION CALL TO ALL NIGERIAN YOUTH TO SUPPORT THE SECOND TERM BID OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI IN 2019 All over the world the youth have a significant and instrumentative role in shaping society. They are the future leaders who possess great energy, talent and abilities to positively transform the socio-economic and political future of our nation. The younger generation should not be on the sidelines, leadership will not be handed over to them on a platter of gold. It is important to be involved in activities and decisions that will steer Nigeria forward and we must learn from the mistakes of the past. Our elders and leaders also must willingly prepare and mentor us the youth to take on more crucial roles and become responsible leaders in various spheres of the country. Critical understanding of issues and constructive criticisms would be a positive step, not misinformation, poor reporting, lies or propaganda to undermine the achievements and efforts of the current administration. The Bill and Melinda gates foundation predicted that by 2050 Nigeria and Congo will have of the world's poorest people. These findings were not concluded within three years but have gathered data from the past 58years of our great nation. We are at a critical juncture where the current administration, in order to prevent the predictions coming to pass, have had to go back to the drawing board. The current administration has begun the process of laying a solid foundation for future generations. They have deliberated and contemplated extensively on our myriad of issues and complexity as a nation to proffer deeply rooted plans and policies to tackle and establish a strong base on which to build and consolidate upon. It is also important to note that this process is not without pains but we should consider where we were, where we are and where we are going, The current administration has given hope to the common man; it is the dawn of a new age. I would humbly and strongly appeal that we all embrace and support Buhari's government in his aggressive, relentless pursuit of equitable distribution of wealth and resources to the masses to aid the growth and development of our nation. He is seriously improving and empowering local farmers, indu strialists, the women, the SME and businessmen. The government is serious about development and has given new life to the steel industry and the Buhari Administration is determined to industrialize our Nation and to make us a producing nation and the revival of the Ajaokuta steel complex and completion of the Baro and Lokoja ports are examples, The current administration has sought to address our importation of petroleum products through the relocation of refineries. These are few examples, a whole book is needed to put the achievement and successes of the current administration into details. The current administration has invested more in education, health, agriculture, security, road infrastructural development to aid the growth of the economy despite receiving less revenue. The ingenuity of the current administration in proffering solutions is highly commendable. No human is perfect, no government is perfect, only the Creator of heaven and earth embodies perfection. We are on the right path and should not deviate. The youths of our great nation should join hands and support the progress and giant strides of President Buhari, he is working commendably to free us from past bondage and captivity. We are on the right path but we must not go back into bondage again. The Lord has provided a safe route for us through the Red Sea now, we must continue safely in this journey and not relent. I am calling on the youths of our nation to let us work together to return President Buhari to power in 2019. Thanks and God bless Nigeria and protect all of us I remain a sincere, committed servant of the people Mr Bello Ahmed, the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police in charge of the Osun governorship re-run election in Olede in Ife South Local Government, has said that security agents were monitoring the issue of vote-buying.Ahmed, while speaking with newsmen at Adereti polling Unit 12, ward 7 in Olode, said that any one caught buying votes would be arrested.He, however, said that the election had been peaceful, adding that the voters were behaving maturely. We are law abiding and we obey the rule of law but anyone who perpetrates crime will be arrested.But so far, so good; the election is going on smoothly, Ahmed said.Also speaking, Mr Stephen Ojewande, Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity, INEC, said nobody was allowed to come to the polling unit with smartphones.Ojewande said people with smartphones were restricted 300 metres away from the polling units.We ensure that nobody comes to the polling unit with smartphones.We also ensure that people with smartphones are chased 300 metres away from the polling unit, he said.Ojewande also said that voting would end by 2 p.m., adding that the last person on the queue would be attended to.Asked why Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agent was not at the polling unit, Ojewande said all parties agents were supposed to be at the polling unit.He said it was the PDP Chairman that could answer that question.Also speaking, Olalekan Tanni, a member of local observer group, said the election process was very transparent.Tanni also commended INEC officials for arriving at the polling unit early.He, however, said that no election observer was prevented from monitoring the election at the polling unit.Mr Femi Kuku, INEC Supervisory Presiding Officer, said that election materials arrived at the polling unit before 7 a.m.Kuku also said that the turnout of voters was impressive.Meanwhile, there was heavy security presence at the polling unit even as voters waited patiently to exercise their civic duties.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at Olode there were 581 voters with PVCs. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stakeholders in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State have decried the alleged attack on its members, party secretariat and security personnel in the area by armed youths suspected to be members of the All Progressive Congress, APC.The PDP stakeholders led by Senator Ben Murray Bruce, representing Bayelsa East senatorial district, the Deputy Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Abraham Ngobere and the Caretaker chairman of Brass Local Government Area, Hon. Victor Isaiah said the alleged attack was masterminded by the leaders of the APC from the area.But the Bayelsa State Police Command through its public relations officer, Asinim Butswat, dismissed the claim saying report at the command disposal showed that it was a cult clash and none of their personnel was attacked.At a media briefing Thursday in Yenagoa, the Chairman of the Brass Local Government Council, Hon. Victor Isaiah, said the suspected armed APC members attacked the PDP secretariat, destroying the party flag and setting it ablaze.He said: When the incident happened, the Divisional Police Officer of Brass Council called me and informed me that some gunmen suspected to be APC members, opened fire on the security personnel and set ablaze the PDP flag at the secretariat.We are calling on the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the DSS to investigate the incident.The mandate of the APC gunmen is to chase out the PDP members in Brass because the APC leader, Chief Timipre Sylva is coming for a burial ceremony in Brass.Also speaking, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, called on the appropriate authorities to invest more on security personnel in order to enhance optimal peformance.According to him, the police station at Twon Brass is in a sorry state.The structure is not befitting. There is need for the police authorities to invest more on its personnel. Mr. IG, there is need for more investment in personnel because of the sensitive nature of their constitutional responsibility.it is sad that the APC members opened fire on the law enforcement agents.Murray-Bruce, however, said the cry of PDP members is not about avenging the alleged series of attacks.If this is a pattern of attacks by the APC, it is barbaric and old-fashioned, he lamented.In his speech, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Abraham Ngobere, who is from the area stressed the need for the protection of lives and property on the Brass Island.He also called for a thorough investigation and bring the culprits to book so as to serve as a deterrent to others.Reacting to the incident, the Spokesman of the Bayelsa State Police Command, Asinim Butswat said the alleged violent attack was a clash among rival cult groups.He said: it is a cult clash. And none of our men were injured in any attack.On whether the attack was politically motivated, he simply replied I dont know about that, adding that normalcy had been restored in the area with the people going about their legitimate businesses. The Nigeria Police Force has arrested one Augustus Akpan, 43, for allegedly threatening former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to withd... The Nigeria Police Force has arrested one Augustus Akpan, 43, for allegedly threatening former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to withdraw from the presidential race. The Force Spokesman, DCP Jimoh Moshood, disclosed this in a statement to NAN on Wednesday. He said that the suspect hailed from Edemaya village in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Moshood said that one Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge cell phone and a SIM card used by the suspect to send the threat messages to Atiku were recovered from the suspect. He said that the suspect sent a text message which reads: Turaki Atiku, we are watching you and your family, we ask you right now to withdraw from the race for Presidency, we will kill, rape your wife and daughters. That your ambitious and black daughter, Maryam, who worked at CBN and left because we were going to mess her up. We will molest, rape, deform her and kill her. Your daughter Fatimah the former Commissioner of Health in Adamawa State, we have a lot of information about her, he said. Let Buhari run against your PDP members. We know that you are bigger than all those candidates in PDP. That is why we need you to step down. We will blow your plane off from the sky and we will poison you and your family. Atiku Abubakar, take our words for granted and watch what will happen to your family before you. You are going to see what we will do to you and your family. We know where and where your children travel to. We have watched your daughter who is a strong supporter of her father (your daughter Maryam) at number 5, Buzi close and number 5, Lake Maracaibo close. Tell your dad to step down. He should forget about the Presidency. If he refuses, we will blow up his plane the Gulf Stream from the sky and also rape you and kill of his daughters,he said. The spokesman said that the suspect was arrested at the toll-gate along Lagos-Ibadan express way, while on the run to escape arrest. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and admitted that he resorted to the threat and intimidation when all efforts to extort money from the former Vice President were unsuccessful, he said. Moshood said that the suspect also admitted that he was a professional fraudster and not working for any political party. He quoted the suspect as saying that the Let Buhari run against your PDP members in his threat message to the former Vice President was merely to divert attention. Investigation is being concluded and suspect will be arraigned in court on completion of investigation, he said. The Nigeria police force say they have arrested some persons impersonating officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission ... The Nigeria police force say they have arrested some persons impersonating officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the ongoing Osun governorship rerun election. Folasade Odoro, police spokeswoman in the force department of operations, announced this in a statement on Thursday. She said the individuals were arrested in Orolu, one of the local government areas where the rerun is taking pace. Odoro said the suspects were in possession of membership cards of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and customised INEC tags, face cap and jackets used for easy access to restricted areas meant for personnel with due accreditation. Observer folder The police statement read: The Nigeria Police Force in it continue efforts to discharging its responsibilities of ensuring the peaceful conclusion of Osun 2018 Gubernatorial Election, that was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in which Thursday 27th September, 2018 was fixed for the re-run in the Seven (7) Polling units. Caps and uniforms Police team on stop and search duties at Orolu; intercepted vehicles with sixteen persons on board in possession of customized INEC tags, face cap and jackets with the inscription of INEC Osun 2018 Election Observer and PDP membership cards, The suspects are using the items to have easy access to restricted areas meant for personnel with due accreditation. Police team on stop and search duties at Orolu; intercepted vehicles with sixteen persons on board in possession of customized INEC tags, face cap and jackets with the inscription of INEC Osun 2018 Election Observer and PDP membership cards, The suspects are using the items to have easy access to restricted areas meant for personnel with due accreditation. assuring the good people of Osun State and other critical stakeholders of its renewed commitment and resolve to ensure adequate security for a free and fair re-run election while investigation continues. The Nigeria Police Force whishes to debunk report that some accredited INEC Observers were arrested or denied access to polling units. Therefore,assuring the good people of Osun State and other critical stakeholders of its renewed commitment and resolve to ensure adequate security for a free and fair re-run election while investigation continues. Hajiya Hadiza Kabir, National Women Leader, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU) on Thursday, called for immediate removal of the Labour Minister, Mr Chris Ngige from office.Kabir, made the call in a telephone interview with the Newsmen in Zaria, Kaduna State.She said the call became imperative in view of the fact that Nigerian workers no longer had confidence in the minister and his style of leadership.We are not sure as labour organisations whether the minister briefs President Muhammadu Buhari on the outcome of the meetings between government representatives and union leaders.Therefore, we are appealing to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari to remove the labour minister, Mr Chris Ngige, with immediate effect.We no longer have confidence in him as the minister at all; it seems he doesnt know his job. I also want to use this medium to appeal to government to give priority to workers welfare for the good of the nation, she said.On compliance of SSANU members to the nationwide strike, Hadiza, who is also a senior staff at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said their members had complied 100 per cent.In essence, the strike had recorded 100 per cent success.While commending the members for their total compliance, she encouraged them to stay at home until government heeded to the demands of labour.Recall that workers at federal institutions, banks and other private organisations in Zaria complied with the strike order.A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who monitored the strike in the area reports that all federal government institutions and financial institutions were under lock and key.Institutions visited included ABU, Federal College of Education (FCE), Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) and Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST).Others were the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT) and National Animal Production and Research Institute. FL-62 simulates air flow around aircraft before real flight test The nation's newest wind tunnel will shape China's future fighter jets and boost their efficiency, according to its maker and Chinese military experts. Approved for construction by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence in 2012, the FL-62 wind tunnel will be completed "very soon," according to a statement by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China released on its WeChat account on Tuesday. Weighing 6,620 tons, the 17,000-cubic-meter FL-62 is China's first-ever large continuous transonic wind tunnel, its maker said in the statement. Unlike the unstable and inconsistent airflow of previous Chinese wind tunnels, the FL-62 is able to provide a stable wind field and more precise measurements, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday. In this way, many unnecessary trials and errors can be avoided in the designing of a new aircraft, significantly reducing its development period, Song said. A wind tunnel is used to simulate the airflow around an aircraft before it conducts a real flight test. The results help shape and improve the aerodynamic design of the aircraft, the statement said. The statement dubbed the FL-62 a "pillar of a great power," calling it a fundamental and strategic facility crucial to China's aviation industry. The corporation noted specifically in the headline of the statement that the FL-62 will decide the shape of China's future fighter jets and will serve as a backbone for China's development of cutting-edge aircraft. With the help of the tunnel, China's sixth generation of fighter jets can be more aerodynamic and stealthy than ever before, Song said. China's sixth generation fighters will include artificial intelligence, have multiple unmanned aerial vehicles under their command and be equipped with directed-energy weapons like lasers and high-power microwaves, Song said. China's most advanced fighter jet, the J-20, was developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Company, a member of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. The J-20 was delivered to the People's Liberation Army in 2017. In addition to the development of new fighter jets, the wind tunnel can also contribute to space research. The tunnel is expected to see use in fields like transportation, construction, new energy and environmental protection, the statement reads. 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. Walk into any major institution like the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, or any Natural History Museum around Europe and you will be confronted with hall after hall of glass vitrines containing artifacts and relics of ancient cultures around the globe. Egyptian sarcophagi, African tribal masks, and Native American Totem poles are all easily recognizable hallmarks of any museum's permanent collection but more often than not their presence there is a direct byproduct of imperialist violence. Often acquired through conquest and looting, many of the world's revered artifacts are the spoils of colonization and war making for a problematic existence. The British Museum returned eight 5,000 year-old artifacts to Iraq earlier this year after it was learned that they were obtained through looting but only offered to loan out a set of bronze statues to their country of origin, Nigeria. It is this type of conditional return that reasserts structures of imperial power over liberated colonies, depriving indigenous populations access to their own history. Working with Seoul-based art company sketchedSPACE to facilitate Davies debut US show at Washington's DuPont Underground, HOD will be on view from September 27th through October 20th. "Their curiosity and approach to working with artists from different backgrounds, their willingness to engage in cultural exchange and to broker dialogue is refreshing," said Davies of working with sketchedSPACE, "it means a lot to collaborate with people of colour, and enhances the conversation that this is not a black/white binary, but rather a shared cultural discourse, that has far reaching resonance in terms of production and ownership of the work." We caught up with Davies to discuss the ideas behind the work and get an exclusive look at stills from the film: Photo Courtesy of Akinola Davies What first drew you to this subject matter? The conversation of displacement - talking about energies in an alienated space, and trying to apply the meaning to objects and artifacts in alienated spaces, and the urge to return them home. Cradled within that is the notion of giving ourselves permission to create and tell our stories, that can become stories and mythologies, unifying as opposed to isolating ourselves. This work stems from an inherent awareness borne of the collective lived experience of diaspora, and culture, community building and the various contexts within which the idea of the self is created, and how the self is perceived from an external gaze. I was inspired from internal conversations that I innately have had, the themes of which have been a constant strand throughout my work body. What consecrated this idea from thought to actualization were words from Kerry James Marshall, on the importance of creating and having agency over a mythology for black people. Hearing Arthur Jaffa articulate ideas that were ones in my head, helped to further crystallize ideas of radical energies and the vibrations they emit. Hearing these two black artists speak my internal language, almost left me feeling as if I had no choice but to make the work. I gave myself permission to externalize my thoughts. This subject isn't juxtaposed against anything, but speaks of the necessity and reality for telling stories of reclamation, whilst inspiring people to have their own conversations of displacement and reclamation. Voicing emotions, experiences and truths through creativity in a way that is positive, and empowering. How did the film eventually come together? Drawing on the notion of freedom, and stories being told. I approached artisans who I admire and was intrigued by. People who have creative narratives which I wanted to see come to life, with as much space to create their visions as possible. It was a process of collaboration from the beginning. I would speak to artisans, costume designers about the theme of reclamation, radical displacement, identity and diaspora. We would then take research trips to find artifacts that spoke of otherness, familiarity, entrapment and personal histories that resonated within these ancient works. From there, the custodians were created and their own mythologies written and developed. The process of making the music was similar. The overarching theme was one of freedom and trust. This was a process that went through many iterations of making, and our methods were unique in that none of the designers had knowledge of who the others were, there was no intention to have a uniform look or feel to the film, but rather a true reflection of the expression of reclamation and radical displacement according to individual voices. There have been so many artists that directly and indirectly contributed to this process. What was something that surprised you in the making of this film? The term surprising, in this film can be applied to every element of the making. Working with 35mm film, and the outcome of seeing the work once it was finished, but ultimately, the most significant, and recurrent thing that I appreciated and gave pause for consideration was the willingness for people to be involved, and the extent to which they resonated with the themes, and invested evocative, touching and significant research. It was an ambitious undertaking, and the willingness for people to be so invested and involved was a constant negotiation. When there are so many moving parts, it is both positive and inspiring, equally there is a huge sense of responsibility to carry the integrity of not only my ideas forward, but those of others. It was an experience that carried a lot of privilege but there was a constant sense of risk which has been an interesting navigation. Artists like Mowalola Ogunesi, Neesha Champaneria, Ola Olu Ebiti, Feben Vemmenby, Rhona Ezuma, Tim Dewit, Nicolai Neirman, Stephanie Kevers, Moya Deyoung and everyone else involved went above and beyond in terms of their time, willingness to participate and the generosity of their time. Should there be more of an effort to decolonize Western collections? There should be more of an effort to decolonize Western Collections and demystifying the histories attached. Equally, there should be more of an effort to dismantle the structural power imbalances caused by the legacy of all forms of imperial and colonialism. Constantly. What do you hope people take away after watching the film? I hope people take their own meanings from the work. I don't aim to dictate any reaction. One thing I do hope for all people who resonate with these themes and ideas, is a continuing sense of solidarity, and that we continue to work towards self determination; that a global diaspora feels emboldened to share their stories and evoke their agency and that we have permission to speak and be heard. Photo Courtesy of Akinola Davies Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi listens to US President Donald Trump address a UN Security Council meeting during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, Sept. 26, 2018. /VCG Photo Five days before Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended a high-level meeting on peacekeeping at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, a team of Chinese troops left for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The team, comprising of 100 engineering and medical soldiers, departed at 3 a.m. from Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sept. 20. They are on a one-year peacekeeping mission about 8,500 kilometers away from their home. The meeting Wang attended during the 73rd Session of UN General Assembly was on Action for Peacekeeping (A4P), where he proposed improving the UN peacekeeping operations. Those soldiers are the first group of the 22nd batch of peacekeepers China has dispatched to the DRC. Without troops of its own, the UN relies on member states to provide security force to fulfill peacekeeping operations and maintain world peace. The UN has faced challenges in its peacekeeping efforts including having its personnel be accused of committing sexual abuse. In late July, it received 70 allegations of sex abuse and exploitation against UN and non-UN personnel during peacekeeping missions throughout the second quarter of this year. These are being responded to more quickly and more support is being provided for victims, and the UN is now more effective in seeking justice, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in September, in response to those allegations. The Unknown Woman of the Seine Ann Demeulemeester loves death. After last season's embrace of mourning and 19th century fin de siecle drama, it was only logical that designer Sebastien Meunier would turn to a famous death mask for inspiration. For those not well versed in the intricacies of corpse art, a death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person's face following their death. The L'Inconnue de la Seine, or The Unknown Woman of the Seine, ultimately inspired (and gave a title to) Meunier's spring 2019 collection. This unidentified woman's post-mortem face became a fixture in the homes of artists in the 1900s and influenced a number of literary works, the first of which was Richard Le Gallienne's 1900 novella The Worshipper of the Image. In that particularly cheery story, a poet falls in love with the mask, which leads to the death of his daughter and suicide of his wife. Elvis Pompilio Belgian hat designer Elvis Pompilio's ghostly funeral veils wrapped tight around model's faces gave a haunting and romantic update to the death masks that inspired the show. The millinery maven has been crafting headwear for the likes of Dior and Valentino since 1987, and for Demeulemeester's spring 2019 show, his delicately stitched headpieces lent a perfectly gothic grace to the runway. Welcome to the Black Parade Sheer black veils and a stark black runway turned the Chaillot National Theater into a crypt for the Demeulemeester's eerie ode to death. On the runway, the darkness continued with rose appliques, sheer skirts, boots, and long plunging trenches for a collection that filled our cold dead hearts with joy. Corpse Bride Corpse brides roamed the catwalk for some of the show's most stunning looks. Clad in sheer, all-white ensembles and nearly-faceless thanks to the tight veils that dominated the collection, their ghostly silhouettes were as romantic as they were haunting. A Streak of Color Unless you're Lana Del Rey and attending your sugar daddy's funeral, you wouldn't wear a blood red dress to the cemetery, so it's expected that Meunier's dominant color scheme would be variations of black and white. There were plenty of the two tones in all manner of materials, but subtle streaks of color did manage to find their way in to the collection. A gauzy millennial pink dress dressed up in a long black trench with dead rose adornments opened the show and from there, beige, gold, and a surprising shade of orange on a leather harness brought some life to Demeulemeester's spectral show. With more dignity and poise than any woman could be expected to have in the situationas Kavanaugh claims the mysteriously well-corroborated allegations against him are "from the Twilight Zone," Trump insists that he is "an unfairly maligned" "gem," and the GOP frantically digs up rapidly crumbling evidence to support the judge's good characterNew York senator Kirsten Gillibrand delivered a poignant but scathing rebuke of the treatment of Kavanaugh's ongoing nomination. Begging Congress to take seriously the stakes of appointing a sexual abuser, she asked for common sense: "I want to take a step back for a second, and look at the big picture of what's actually going on with this nomination. We have a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, who has been accused credibly of sexual assault." She continued: "This process is sending the worst possible message to girlsand boyseverywhere. It's telling American women that your voice doesn't matter. It's telling survivors everywhere that your experiences don't count, they're not important and they are not to be believed. We are saying that women are worth less than a man's promotion." Referencing Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearings, she implored: "That's not how the world is in 2018 and we cannot allow this Senate, this body, to bring us back to before 1991." In response to those arguing that Kavanaugh is entitled to due process, and that the accusations must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to affect his nomination, Gillibrand argues that in fact, that they do not and asks that Congress keep that in mind as the Judge and his accuser testify tomorrow: "...those are the standards for a trial. Those are the standards in criminal justice. We are not having a trial, this is not a court. He's not entitled to those because we are not actually seeking to convict him or put him in jail. We are seeking the truth, we are seeking facts, we are seeking just what happened. We, senators, not staff-members, not female lawyers, we Senators are being asked to assess he honesty. Is he an honest person. Is he trustworthy. Can we trust him to do the right thing for decades? Rule on women's lives for decades to come? Can we trust him to do that right? This is not about whether or not he should be convicted, this is about whether or not he has the privilege to serve on the highest court in the land for a lifetime." Sensitivity warning: This article discusses rape. This week Christine Blasey Ford, Ph.D. will testify that Supreme Court Nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. Predictably, there's been a resurgence of the dangerous rhetoric that even when it comes to something as serious as sexual abuse, "boys will be boys." Sexual assault is not a rite of passage for high school boys. I went to high school with a lot of good boys, now men, that I doubt ever raped anyone, then or since. Boys who attack girls aren't young and dumbthey're predators. President Trump has tweeted that "Democrats are working hard to destroy a wonderful man" with "false accusations." These triggering responses to Dr. Ford's allegations have forced me to revisit the trauma of being raped at a high school party. Neither Kavanaugh or my attacker were just kids, and they shouldn't be excused for their actions. Yes, allegations of sexual assault could ruin their lives, but their actions have already ruined the lives of the women they've attacked. Their vicious actions matter, even decades later. The impact of sexual assault stays with survivors forever. According to Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Jill Whitney , the Kavanaugh hearings can bring up trauma, even for survivors who've since made a good life for themselves and put in the work to heal. "Hearing what happened when Kavanaugh was in high school brings a survivor right back to the dark room or back seat of a car where their assault happened," she said. "It's normal to be triggered by those stories, especially when our newsfeeds are full of them every minute." When I was 15-years-old, I was raped in the bathroom of a hotel room during a party. Like Dr. Ford, I thought my attacker might kill me. I've been asked about what clothing I opted to wear that night an uncountable amount of times. Not that it matters, but I was wearing bootcut light wash jeans, a white tank trimmed with lace, and a cropped baby pink sweater. It was an outfit as innocent as I was. And no, I wasn't drunkbut it wouldn't have made a difference if I was. "Sexual assault is not a rite of passage for high school boys." I was incredibly naive and sexually inexperienced. I didn't know I was being raped as it happenedthat's how little I knew about intercourse. I didn't really understand how sex worked, let alone what rape was. I'd taken a photo of my rapist on a disposable camera before he attacked me. We'd been friendly at the party, speaking Spanish about our beloved South America. He seemed so romantic. He sang Spanish songs and played the guitar and I remember being curious about what it would be like to kiss him. I had kissed a few boys before but he was older than me, perhaps 19 at the time. In the photo, he's holding a guitar as his warm brown eyes peek shyly through his long hair that had been tousled by the ratty sweatshirt he wore. He was a monster in a good disguise. It disturbs me now that he looks like the men I find myself attracted tothe tall, dark, and handsome trope. His method was grossly common, in retrospect. He preyed upon my kindness. I doubt it was his first assaultor his last. He tricked me by asking me to help him clean up shards of a glass bottle in the bathroom, but the moment I entered he carefully closed the door behind me and locked it. Before I could process what was happening he had pushed me onto the groundand into the broken glass. He held a chunk of the glass bottle to my neck, threatening to use it as a weapon as he raped me. I'm not sure how I got home. I remember using lotion to remove the blood stains from my clothes and washing them in my bathtub. I was glad it was winter because I was able to cover up the scabs on my back with thick sweaters. Threads would often get caught and reopen the wounds. I didn't tell anyone exactly what had happened. My life changed that evening when my innocence was violently stolen from me. I felt numb to everything, and often still do. Whitney reassured me that this is unfortunately very common. "The effects of being sexually assaulted as a teenager are different for everyone," she said. "For some, the primary emotion is anger; for others, fear. Some become numb. Some relive the memory every day, while some block it out,although it will inevitably bubble back up." My solitary suffering resulted in a dangerous habit of consuming copious amounts of booze in tandem with taking prescribed pain killers. After the assault, the next person I had sex with was a friend who told me I'd feel better if we had sexas if it would undo the rape. He seemed to know that what he was suggesting was wrong and could barely maintain an erection as we attempted to have sex in the backseat of his car in a Target parking lot. A few weeks later at a house party, I had sex with a complete stranger who had just gotten out of jail. Legally, I was underage and so once again unable to give consent. I didn't realize then that I was suicidalwhile I never consciously thought about taking my life, I had lost the will to live. Being raped taught me that my body was my only value. I let the possibility of death in through my reckless actions, tempting it to take me. "Boys who attack girls aren't young and dumbthey're predators." Whitney explains that sexual assault can have an enduring impact on a survivor's sex life. "Some victims internalize a message that they're 'damaged goods,'" she said. "They may shut down sexually and be reluctant to get into future relationships they don't feel they deserve. They may have sex but not feel much pleasure. Or, they may 'act out' sexually, having many casual partners for a period of time. They may be numb through the casual sex or may feel like they're taking back control of their sex life. However it plays out, it's often very different from her sexual behavior before the assault." Over the years, I reassured myself that what happened that night was a one-time thing. It gave me solace to convince myself that he wasn't really a bad guy. He'd been too drunk. I sent him the wrong signals. I was attracted to him. I flirted with him. I blamed myself for being young and at a party with booze and older guys. These sentiments are all too common. Whitney has found that those who are sexually assaulted and have been drinking feel guilty for being impaired. "They often blame themselves for not having said 'No' even more times or for not having fought back harder or screamed louder," she said. I know now that it's not my fault that I was violated, and that nothing I did gave my rapist permission to attack me. The very act of rape violates permission and defies consent. "Self-blame is about what the victim 'should' have done differentlywhen in fact it's the attacker who should feel guilt and shame. He's the one who did something wrong. But our cultural tendency to blame the victim makes it easy for guys to rationalize their behavior and not take responsibility for it," Whitney said. Navigating life after surviving rape as a high schooler is a complex battle. I'm haunted knowing that he may be hurting other women as a result of my silence. I'm not brave enough to set in motion a confrontation with my rapistI never was. That's partially why I'm so in awe of Dr. Ford's bravery to testify against Judge Kavanaugh, and the courage of Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick for coming forward with their own stories. So many aspects of American life hinges on the results of this hearing. I must try to remain hopeful that this will be a paradigm shift for society and law enforcement to start believing women. There's a long way to go before survivors can share their stories and be met with support and where appropriate, legal action, rather than denial, disbelief and shame. Mr. Bendgate himself Lewis Hilsenteger of Unboxed Therapy decided to switch to using the iPhone XS Max this week so that he could test it out. Rather quickly he's found something to pick on and it's an odd ball matter to be sure, but one that is mildly educational and definitely entertaining to see unfold. Do the new iPhones actually provide their selfie camera with what's known in the industry as a "beauty mode?" A mode that purposely smooths out and lightens your skin and even clothing in a selfie so as to make you look lighter and brighter, and thus better. Our cover story image shows the difference in camera shots taken with 4 different iPhones. While Apple may brush this off and say it's just the great new AI being used in the camera by the Neural Engine blah, blah, blah, Hilsenteger has a point. If the camera has such a hidden feature, then give users the ability to turn it off. Yet in a catch 22 scenario, Apple is unlikely to ever admit to the claims that are being made online. It would snowball into a new round of class actions. So the issue would have to be massive for Apple to officially respond to these claims. This oddball story actually began on a Reddit thread, says Hilsenteger. This Google search result shows that there are many Reddit threads on this story now. There's no doubt that Hilsenteger is a bit of an Apple Sh*t disturber, but if you don't take it or him too seriously, then the segment could be worth at least a chuckle at the effort he goes through to stir things up. If you have one of the new iPhone models and a handy older model like an iPhone 6 hanging around the house, test out the claims yourself. Is it a real issue? Is it a secret feature Apple should be honest enough to admit to and allow users to shut it off? Or is just a mind bender claim? Reviewers have said that the one big advantage of the new iPhones is the camera. So is Hilsenteger being honest here or is this a paid-for hit focused on the new iPhone cameras from a competitor? If I go by the reaction seen online, it would seem that Hilsenteger may have tapped into something here. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. In a new report posted by the Financial Times today we learn that a Google executive has for the first time publicly confirmed the existence of the company's 'Project Dragonfly' venture to build new search tools for China, during a tense hearing with US lawmakers about online privacy. Senator Ted Cruz got Keith Enright, Google's chief privacy officer to admit to the existence of this project but said the company wasn't close to launching it. Mr. Enright was forced to defend what many see as a potential compromise of Google's privacy values at the same time as pushing for new federal data protection legislation in the US that would override state-by-state rules. Alongside Google, officials from Apple, Amazon, Twitter, AT&T and Charter Communications all said they supported federal legislation albeit with a variety of qualifiers that suggested they did not want any national rules to constrain the services they currently offer to consumers. Guy (Bud)Tribble, Apple's vice-president for software technology stated today: "We believe that comprehensive federal legislation is needed to help protect consumers. I have oodles of information about my life sitting in my pocket right now. That is only going to increase." For more on this report, read the full Financial Times report here. Earlier this week Axios reported on the coming Senate hearing and more specifically about Google's Keith Enright who testified today. Dr. Jack Poulson, along with a handful of other Google employees, recently resigned from the company in protest of Project Dragonfly. Dr. Poulson's concerns are now shared by a number of civil rights organizations, like Amnesty International, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Human Rights Watch. You could read about Dr. Poulson's letter to the U.S. Senate here. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. UN Security Council Members Reject Trump's Calls For Sanctions On Iran 09/27/18 Source: RFE/RL U.S. President Donald Trump has taken his case against Iran before the United Nations Security Council, a day after urging all nations to isolate the Iranian government. Source: Iran daily Trump presented his arguments on September 26 at a Security Council meeting that he chaired on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction -- accusing the Iranian government of exporting "violence, terrorism and turmoil." "It illicitly procures sensitive items to advance its ballistic missile program and proliferates these missiles all across the Middle East," Trump said. "The regime is the world's leading sponsor of terror and fuels conflict across the region and far beyond. A regime with this track record must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon." But his calls for other countries to join U.S. sanctions against Tehran were rejected by the other signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran -- Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rohani told journalists on the sidelines of the UN meeting that Tehran would continue to meet its obligations under the nuclear deal as long as his country benefits. Is the US after regime change in Iran? President @HassanRouhani says that some in America may have wanted that in the past, but "such an objective was never reached, will never be reached." pic.twitter.com/70g5dWLWYU Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) September 25, 2018 The response from Washington's European allies also served to highlight their disagreement with Trump's decision earlier this year to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the 2015 accord, which Trump insists will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Trump told the Security Council he withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal because he believes it is enabling Iran to develop nuclear weapons and carry out other "malign" activity. He argued that in the years since the Iran nuclear deal was signed, "Iran's aggression only increased." "This horrible, one-sided deal allowed Iran to continue its path toward a bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most," Trump said. "They were in big, big trouble. They needed cash. We gave it to them." "The regime used new funds from the deal to support terrorism, build nuclear-capable missiles, and foment chaos," Trump said. Trump also repeated a threat to punish any person or company that does business with Iran in violation of renewed U.S. sanctions. That threat came just a day after the five remaining world powers that signed the nuclear deal announced they'd set up a special payment system to continue trade with Iran. Trump said that after renewed U.S. nuclear-related sanctions against Iran come "in full force by early November," the United States will "pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran's malign conduct." "Any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences," Trump said. "I ask all members of the Security Council to work with the United States to ensure the Iranian regime changes its behavior and never acquires a nuclear bomb." "Public Opposition To Trump (at United Nations Security Council)" Source: Iranian daily Shargh 'Crisis Of Confidence' But French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May both disagreed with Trump's assessment on the Iran nuclear deal, insisting that it is the best way to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Macron and May also implicitly referred to the "America First" foreign policy that Trump enunciated on September 25 in his speech to the UN General Assembly. Ensuring nonproliferation of nuclear weapons "requires collective leadership of the type that led to the agreement" on the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, May said. "For many years, the scale and nature of Iran's nuclear program raised serious international concerns," May said. The Iran nuclear deal "remains the best means of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and we are committed to preserving" the accord "as long as Iran continues to abide by its obligations in full." Macron said Trump had created a "serious crisis of confidence" by unilaterally withdrawing the United States from the deal, and that UN Security Council resolutions supporting the accord need to be "respected by all members of the Security Council." "We need to build together a long-term strategy in order to manage this crisis and it cannot just boil down to sanctions and containment," Macron said. He also said there needed to be a "basis for new negotiations, created first by the framework" of Security Council resolutions on the nuclear deal, in order to address "the issue of the increased scope and accuracy of Iran's ballistic missiles." Macron said that should be "part of an international strategy in order to reduce the dangers for the region and also attain the goal that we all want -- namely that Iran does not ever attain a nuclear weapon." "Permanent members of the UN Security Council must not attack and undermine the international nonproliferation regimes and the institutions that underpin them," Macron said. "All members of the council must fulfill their responsibilities to safeguard them in support of international peace and security." Macron said that since the nuclear deal was signed in 2015, the pathways of the signatories" had "diverged." But Macron said he was convinced that they all "retain the same objective in mind -- namely, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and guaranteeing strict international control on the peaceful use of their nuclear program." May said Iran's "proliferation of missile and sophisticated military technology to groups like Hizballah in Lebanon" or to Shi'ite Huthi rebels in Yemen is "not in compliance with Security Council resolution." "It risks a dangerous escalation, so we need to see further decisive action in this council to tackle both the transit and proliferation of these technologies and increase the costs for those responsible," May said. Russia's 'Destabilizing Activity' She blamed Russia for allowing that situation to continue by vetoing or otherwise blocking UN Security Council resolutions on the issue. "It is regrettable that Russia continues to prevent the council from upholding its responsibility to stop this destabilizing activity," May said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Security Council that Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal "poses a serious threat" to the international nuclear-nonproliferation regime. He said Russia was actively working with the European Union, China, and Iran to preserve the Iran nuclear deal. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Security Council the Iran nuclear deal was a "hard-won achievement of multilateralism" that bolstered nuclear nonproliferation as well as peace and stability in the Middle East. Wang said that "there is no international agreement that is perfect," but the Iran nuclear deal "has been endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council" and the past three years had shown it is "a "viable agreement." "China encourages Iran to continue to fulfill all commitments it has made," Wang said. "At the same time, the legitimate right of all countries to normal economic relations and trade with Iran should be respected." "China calls on the relevant parties to bear in mind the big picture, think long-term, and uphold the sanctity and integrity" of the Iran nuclear deal, Wang said. Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), answers reporters' questions at a regular press conference on Sep.27, 2018. (mod.gov.cn/Photo by Feng Kaihua) (The following English text of the press conference is for reference. In case of any divergence of interpretation, the Chinese text shall prevail.) Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang: Dear friends from the media, good afternoon! Welcome to the monthly press conference of China's Ministry of National Defense (MND). First, Ill release three pieces of information. The first is about this years PLA conscription work. Since the beginning of this year, the Party committees, governments and military service institutions at all levels have been vigorously adopting the thinking of President Xi Jinpings reply letter to new recruits from the Nankai University (NKU) and firmly implementing the conscription order of the State Council and the Central Military Commission (CMC). They have done solid work in doing registration and organized physical examinations and political tests. Weve seen smooth progress and are positive about finishing the tasks. There are four features in this years conscription: Firstly, theres a high enthusiasm among young people of the right age to join the military. Secondly, weve registered growth in both the number of the college volunteers for military service and the number of college conscripts. As a result, the personnel structure and the quality of new recruits have improved. Thirdly, local governments in different areas have provided favorable policies to encourage people to join the military, and military service has became a more honorable profession. Fourthly, in order to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the conscription, we have put more emphasis on the rule-of-law and disciplines and conducted clean and regulated conscription. The second is about the 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum. The China Association for Military Science (CAMS) and China Institute for International Strategic Studies (CIISS) will co-host the 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum from October 24th to 26th, 2018. By the end of September 20th, representatives from over 30 countries and international organizations have registered, which includes at least 15 defense ministers. We have had 7 successful Xiangshan Forum before, in which we also demonstrated the characters of the Chinese military. The forum upholds openness, inclusiveness, mutual-learning and cooperation. It has already become a platform for equal dialogues, consensus, exchanges and cooperation. It is also a platform where thoughts meet actions and where we can discuss how to enhance our security. It helps us better understand each other and deepen friendship. We certainly cannot achieve the progress without the coverage and support from the Media, and we welcome all of you to cover this years Beijing Xiangshan Forum. ( http://vv.chinamil.com.cn/asset/category3/2018/09/27/asset_336525.mp4) The third one is that the Chinese Armored Police Force (APF) will host the 2nd Blade International Sniper Competition. From October 18th to 22nd, 2018, the Chinas Armed Police Force (APF) will host the 2nd Blade International Sniper Competition in the Gaoling Training Base in Beijing. The theme of the competition is real combat situation, elite forces and challenging tasks, and there will be over 12 contests including short-distance precision shooting, hostage rescuing shooting, counter shooting, comprehensive combat etc.. The host has invited police and military snipers from over 20 countries such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, countries alongside the Belt and Road Initiative and those with rich experiences. Special forces from the PLA Army, Navy and Air Force will also participate. This competition is now a major brand of the Armed Police Force for real combat training and international cooperation. It can help strengthen our cooperation with foreign military police forces, further enhance the counter-terrorism capabilities, and help Chinese snipers gain expertise and real combat experience. Now the floor is open for questions. Question: On September 21st, the US unilaterally announced sanctions on the Equipment Development Department and its Director. The Chinese military also promptly recalled its visiting Navy Commander in the US. Whats your comment on the current China-US military relationship? Answer:The Chinese military has expressed our firm opposition to the unreasonable sanctions by the US side. The US side should be solely blamed for and bear full responsibilities for the current problems between the two countries . We demand the US side to show sincerity and take actions with a reasonable and mature attitude to improve bilateral mi-mil relationship. We urge the US side to work together with China to build our military relationship into a stabilizing factor for bilateral ties. Question: By the end of this month, the Chinese troops who participated in the Vostok-2018 strategic exercise have all returned to China. What has China learned from the exercise and will such a strategic exercise between China and Russia become a regular arrangement in the future? Answer: China sent more troops to the exercise than any other exercises we had before in a foreign country. This exercise has fully tapped into the potential of Chinas defense and military reform. Chinese and Russian soldiers trained together and learned from each other in this exercise. By working and fighting together, they have deepened friendship and trust and cooperation. This exercise also helped safeguard peace and improve the joint capabilities of the two militaries in protecting regional peace and security and dealing with multiple security threats. Generally speaking, we have achieved the desired goals and we are satisfied with the performance of our troops. In recent years, China and Russia have conducted multiple joint military exercises either bilaterally or under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation OrganizationSCO, these exercises have already been a regular arrangement. As for whether China will participate in Russias strategic exercise on the regular basis, we will consult with the Russian side according to our security needs. Question: I have two questions. The first is about Chinese defense ministers visit to the US this year. Is it going smoothly? The second question is that on September 26th, the US Department of Defense said that one of its strategic bomber had again flown over the South China Sea and the US Defense Secretary James Mattis said that it was what the US had been doing for decades and it would not escalate tensions between the two militaries. Whats your comment? Answer: On the first question, we have been positive on maintaining military exchanges at various levels with the US. However, the US side should bear full responsibility for the recent impact on the China-US mil-mil relationship. We demand the US side to take a rational and mature attitude and create favourable conditions for bilateral military exchanges and cooperation. On the second question, Chinas position on the South China Sea issue is consistent and clear. I wont repeat it here. As for the provocative actions taken by the US military aircraft in the South China Sea, we are firmly against them and will continue to take necessary measures in response to these actions Question: Recently, the US announced a $330 million arms sale to Taiwan. Though its mainly composed of components and the scale and total number are not biganalysts held that this would become a regular arrangement in the future. Whats your comment? Answer: We have expressed our firm opposition to the US arms sale to Taiwan. It is not about the number but about the nature of the action. Taiwan is a part of China. The Taiwan question matters on Chinas core interests. The US action has violated the one-China principle and the three Joint Communiques between China and the US. It is an interference into China's domestic affairs. It undermined Chinas sovereignty and security interests and severely damaged China-US military relations and bilateral ties as well as peace and security across the Taiwan Straits. I want to stress that any attempts to contain China with Taiwan or to resist reunification through force are surely to fail. QuestionWe all know that the Vostok-2018 is the largest military exercise conducted by Russia after the Cold War, and youve just mentioned that China also send more soldiers to this exercise than any other joint exercises in a foreign country. Some reports say that this exercise is aimed to show strength to the West and some are concerned that China and Russia are forging an anti-America alliance. Whats your comment? AnswerThe comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia features non-alliance, non-confrontation and is not targeted against any third country. Chinas participation in the Vostok-2018 is to consolidate this partnership, strengthen practical cooperation and improve capabilities in dealing with various security threats. It can help safeguard regional peace and security. It is not targeted against any third country and is not relevant to regional situations. Question: There are reports saying that the US sanctions on Chinas Equipment Development Department will have negative impact on Chinas military technological cooperation with Russia. Will there be such an impact and what are Chinas countermeasures? Answer: China and Russia are comprehensive strategic partners of coordination. The military cooperation between the two sides are normal ones between two sovereign states aiming to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the two countries and maintain regional peace and stability. These co-operations are totally in line with international laws. The US has no right to interfere. The technological co-operations between China and Russia are pressing ahead according to plan and the two countries will further strengthen co-operations on the principle of mutual benefits and coordination. Question: Can you tell us why the Chinese side has denied the application of the USS Wasps to visit Hong Kong? Answer: On this question, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated the position of the Chinese side and I have no new information to release. Question: It is reported that the PLA Rocket Forces Song and Dance Troupe has recently exited from the active duty. And there are also sources saying that the Song and Dance Troupes under the PLA Navy, Air Force and Army will also be completely withdrawn. Can you confirm it? If its true, does it mean that the Song and Dance Troupes in the military will completely withdraw from the stage of history? Answer: According to the agenda of the defense and military reform, the Central Military Commission (CMC) has decided to optimize the institutional structure of the militarys cultural force by emphasizing its nature as a cultural combat force and a cultural cavalier. The CMC has decided to re-establish the PLAs Song and Dance Troupe, keep the Song and Dance Troupes in the Xinjiang Military Region and Xizang Military Region, and cut those under the services and the Armed Police Force. The priority is to provide guidance for cultural service in troops and build a cultural force with its main body in grassroots units. As an important part of Chinas military culture, the cultural force and its work shows the political strength of the Chinese military. In the new era, the cultural force will inherit the fine traditions of the PLA with an orientation to serve the goal of building a strong military and serve the grassroots units. It will function as a combat force as well as a cultural cavalier, and provide mental support for fighting and winning wars. QuestionAccording to reports, the US recently released a new Cyber Security Strategy report, listing China as a cyber threat to the United States. According to this report, the United States will take offensive actions to curb and deal with cyber attacks. Whats your response? Answer: We have noticed this report. We think it is full of fabricated ideas and Cold War mentality. We are firmly opposed to this report. China has always been advocating peace in the cyber space and opposing any cyber warfare or cyber arms race. The US is, on the one handstepping up its efforts on developing an offensive cyber force while on the other handgroundlessly criticizing other countries. This is typically double standards. QuestionIt is reported that the PLA army is conducting mass training and skills competition across the service. Could you please give us more details? AnswerConducting mass training and skills competition is a glorious tradition of the Peoples Liberation Army. President Xi Jinping has stressed many times that in the new era, the military needs more training and skills competitions to spur the enthusiasm and creativity of our service members. Since the beginning of this year, the military has been implementing President Xi Jinpings order and the Training Doctrine announced at the CMC Training Commencement Meeting earlier this year. The mass training and skills competition has become one of the priorities of our military training programs. We have conducted activities such as on-the-job training, quality ranking, record-breaking, and made a lot of efforts to train top soldiers. There is an ongoing popular trend in the military to conduct mass training and skills competition. Question: Could you please tell us the military cooperation between China and Africa for the year 2019? Besides, China-ASEAN maritime joint military exercise will be held in Zhanjiang in October. Could you please brief us on its preparations? Answer: China and African countries are a community with a shared future that share weal and woe. By following the principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith and a right approach to responsibilities and interests, the Chinese side will continue to have military cooperation with all African countries and support their defense and security build-up. China and the 10 ASEAN countries are preparing for the maritime exercise and we are still discussing on the number of forces to be sent and the subjects of the exercise. We will release relevant information in due course. China and the ASEAN countries will conduct the maritime exercise in the open sea of Zhanjiang. This fully demonstrates that countries in the region have the capability, confidence and wisdom to handle regional disputes. This kind of exercise can help enhance trust and cooperation and safeguard regional peace and stability. Question: The National Education Conference was held in Beijing recently. The military also commended a number of outstanding teachers. What specific measures will the military take to implement the thinking of the National Education Conference? Answer: Recently, the CMC Political Work Department and Training and Administration Department jointly issued a circular to commend 50 outstanding teachers and teaching staff and some civilian teachers were also commended for the first time. This is an important move to promote reform in military academies and accelerate their transformation. It is of great significance to improve modern military education and reconstruct a new-type military talents training system. To build a world-class military, we need a contingent of teachers in the military who have "dreams, virtues, knowledge and love for students". Meanwhile the military also values its civilian employees personnel in the education sector. This year, two civilian teachers were commended for the first time. This is a high recognition of their contribution to teaching and the reform. Guided by Xi Jinpings thought on building a strong military, we will firmly adopt the thinking of the National Education Conference in the military education area. We will make efforts to spur the enthusiasm of teachers in military academies after the reform, and inspire a sense of honour and responsibility for teaching and educating people so as to provide talented personnel and intellectual support for building a strong and world-class military. Question: On September 17th, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force said that its Kuroshio submarine and three vessels including the Kaga helicopter carrier conducted training in the South China Sea on September 13th. It is the first time for a Japanese submarine to conduct training in the South China Sea. Whats your comment? Answer: We have closely watched the related moves of the Japanese side. The Chinese side opposes interference in the South China Sea issue by countries outside the region. Due to historical and realistic reasons, Japan's Asian neighbors and the international community are highly concerned by Japans military moves. We hope Japan can do more things to contribute to the peace and stability in the South China Sea and be cautious in words and deeds on the South China Sea issue. QuestionIt is reported that China carried out a ten-day counter-terrorism exercise with Nepal named the Sagarmatha Friendship-2018 on September 17. Could you please tell us more about the exercise? It is also reported that Nepal withdrew from a joint exercise with India, and there are comments that China is behind this decision. So whats your comment? AnswerAccording to the agreement between China and Nepal, we carried out the joint counter-terrorism exercise Sagarmatha Friendship-2018 in Chengdu from September 17th to 28th. Weve already read media reports on this exercise. This exercise is conducted within the two militaries planned exchanges. The main purpose for the exercise is to jointly fight against the international terrorism and the main subject is urban counter-terrorism operations. The two sides did exercises in building joint command posts, carrying out blocking and searching and executing joint counter-terrorism operations. As for the considerations of the Nepalese side, you can refer to the statements from them. Question: RecentlyBritain conducted freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea. Is the Chinese side concerned that American allies will escalate this kind of activities in the South China Sea? If they continue these operations, how will China respond and what are the counter measures China will take against the US allies that might be planning similar operations? Answer: For some time, with joint efforts made by China and the ASEAN countries, the situation in the South China Sea is steadily improving. It shows that countries in the region have the wisdom, capability and confidence to handle the South China Sea issue. However, some countries outside the region such as Britain and France turned a blind eye to the stability in the South China Sea and insisted on hyping up the false idea of freedom of navigation and tried to make troubles out of nothing. They came to the region to take advantage of this issue. The Chinese military is firmly opposed to these actions. China respects and protects the freedom of navigation and over-flight entitled to all countries by international law. However, we are firmly opposed to other countries taking provocative actions in the name of freedom of navigation and we are against those countries showing their existence in the South China Sea. The Chinese military will fulfill its defense responsibility and strengthen the patrol in the region to safeguard our sovereignty and security and maintain regional peace and stability. Question: Does China have any plans to allow other countries' access to the facilities in China's Nansha islands for civilian purposes, such as search and rescue operations, disaster relief and fishermen logistics? Answer: If you pay attention to the construction work by China on the Nansha islands of the South China Sea, you would not lose sight of the fact that the facilities built there are mainly for civilian purposes and are now functioning. I believe with more civilian functions of the facilities such as navigation service and maritime rescue functions are applied to practice, China will be able to provide more civilian services to passing ships of neighboring countries if they are in need of help. Question: Does the Chinese military have any plan to put sanctions on the US enterprises that sell arms to Taiwan? Answer: We have stated our position on the unreasonable sanctions on China by the US side. As for whether we will have any sanctions on related US enterprises, I advice you to refer to competent authorities. Few days later, the 5th Chinese Memorial Day will fall on September 30th. Martyrs represent a nations backbone and spirit. They are the carrier and incarnation of our national spirit. Weve made a video clip to commemorate the Chinese Memorial Day. (http://vv.chinamil.com.cn/asset/category3/2018/09/27/asset_336537.mp4) Let us remember the history, cherish the memory of our revolutionary martyrs, stay true with the original self, and keep moving on. Here concludes todays press conference! Thank you! President Nana Akufo-Addo has said that the relationship between Ghana and China will ultimately benefit the West African countrys economy by expanding its infrastructural needs. We know we must get our population educated and trained, and we are setting about it. We must address our infrastructural deficit. The traditional methods of tackling this problem will not provide the answer. We are looking for new ways to resolve it. Ghana, like many countries in Africa, is forging relations with China to make arrangements to help address part of our infrastructure deficit, Mr Akufo-Addo said in his address at the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, 26 September 2018. The Ghanaian leader added that the relationship between China and Ghana as far as development is concerned, is not a uniquely Ghanaian or African phenomenon. It has not been lost on us that the developed, rich and well-established countries have been paying regular visits to China, and seeking to open new economic ties and improve upon existing ones. It is also not lost on us that a lot of anxiety is being expressed about the possibility of a re-colonisation of the African continent by a new power. We should, indeed, learn from history. It was at the turn of the 20th century that Chinas first railways were built by Western companies, financed by Western loans to a nearly bankrupt Qing Dynasty, and it was under those circumstances that a certain strategic port called Hong Kong was leased for 99 years, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history. Today, the former victim of Western Railways imperialism is lending billions to countries throughout Asia, Africa and Europe to construct not only railroads, but also highways, ports, power plants and other infrastructure, and many businesses. The historical echoes are certainly worrisome, but, yes, surely, we must and can learn from history. We, in Ghana, must build roads, bridges, railways, ports, schools, hospitals, and we must create jobs to keep our young people engaged. It is obvious to us that the development trajectory we had been on for many decades is not working. We are trying a different one, and we would appreciate the support and goodwill of the world, especially in helping to stem the huge flow of illicit funds from the continent, he concluded. Source: classfmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), a non-governmental organisation, has commended the Food and Drugs Authority, (FDA) for the implementation of pictorial health warning on cigarette packages. It expressed gratitude to the FDA for keeping to its commitment to introducing the pictorial warnings on Ghanas cigarette packages. The VALD, which is a non-governmental organisation into curbing the use of tobacco in the country, gave the commendation in a statement signed by Mr Labram Musah, the Programmes Director of VALD, and the National Coordinator of the Ghana NCD Alliance and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday. It said the introduction of pictorial warnings on tobacco products was highly essential to reaching smokers with low education and literacy and would help to reduce disparities in health knowledge. The statement said health warnings on tobacco packages constituted an important method to informing and educating the public about the harms of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. It is important to also note that Ghana has many languages, out of which only nine are spoken and written in schools, as such rolling out cigarettes in Ghana with picture warnings will enable smokers to appreciate the dangers associated with smoking, other than text only warning, which previously appeared on Ghanas tobacco packs, it said. The statement said currently, pictorial warnings on tobacco packages had been adopted and implemented by many African countries including Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Senegal, and Seychelles. It said health messages on tobacco packages delivered important information directly to smokers. Pictorial warning labels can motivate smokers to quit, discourage non-smokers from starting and keep ex-smokers from starting again, the statement said. It said pictorial health warnings contributed in the long-term to reducing tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, hence improving public health. The Tobacco Control Measures of the Public Health Act of 2012 (Act 851) and Tobacco Control Regulations of 2016 (LI 2247) mandates the tobacco industries to implement pictorial health warnings on all tobacco products packages in Ghana within 18 months after the FDA has made the source documents containing the health warnings. In April 2017, the FDA made the source documents available to the tobacco industry to work towards implementing the pictures on the cigarette packages. The timeline for the implementation of the health warnings, as approved at a tobacco control stakeholders meeting in 2017, indicated that by October 1, 2018, the tobacco industry must discontinue sale of old tobacco products without approved graphic or pictorial health warnings. Ghana started the implementation of text only warning on cigarette packages in 2010. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey shows a downward trend in smoking among junior high school (JHS) students; 3.6 percent smoked cigarette in 2009 while 2.8 percent smoked same in 2017. However 5.3 percent of the JHS students smoke shisha higher than traditional cigarettes in 2017. The VALD expressed the hope that with the introduction of pictures on the cigarette packages, the smoking prevalence would reduce while in coming days the FDA would work with relevant stakeholders to put in appropriate monitoring framework to effectively monitor the implementation. It lauded the Ministry of Health, FDA, Ghana Health Service, the World Health Organisation country office, the Global Tobacco Control Community, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and other stakeholders who contributed to the successful introduction of the pictorial health warnings. 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 A groundbreaking deal that will activate the housing industry in Ghana has been signed in New York, United States, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The deal allows the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to commit $5 billion to construct over 100,000 affordable houses in the country with no financial commitment from the government of Ghana. The project is being facilitated by two young Ghanaian entrepreneurs, Kwame Blay and Alvin Bekoe. UNOPS says the 100,000 affordable houses project in Ghana is under a social housing project with innovative financing. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to that effect was signed between Government of Ghana and UNOPS. A Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Freda Prempeh, signed the agreement on behalf of Ghana, with the UNOPS Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary-General, Grete Faremo penning for the UN agency. According to Ms Faremo, the project is under the mandate of the UN General Assembly, and similar projects are being executed in Kenya and other parts of the world. Its a win-win situation, the UN under Secretary General said. She explained that UNOPS, as mandated by the General Assembly on infrastructure, procurement and project management, allows us to work with your government to build these houses. The agreement, UNOPS said, is a major milestone in its commitment to fostering innovative financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and will help the Government of Ghana create access to sustainable, affordable and environmentally sound housing for its citizens. There is great potential here to improve access to high-quality, sustainable and resilient housing for thousands of people. At the same time, this project will work to boost livelihoods and the local economy, Ms Faremo indicated. The 100,000 houses are to be constructed using energy-efficient solar rooftops, while the implementation work will involve local materials, equipment and expertise, which will in turn offer returns to local people. President Akufo-Addo, who is attending the UN General Assembly, was excited with the landmark deal and expressed gratitude to UNOPS for settling on Ghana for the massive housing project, stressing that it will go a long way in bridging the gap in the countrys housing sector. He indicated that the huge housing deficit in the country is a major issue for his government, expressing joy in narrowing it through the landmark initiative. I believe we are all well aware of the challenges Ghana, and most of Africa, face when it comes to the provision of decent, well-planned and organized housing for our citizens. The difficulty in addressing this ongoing challenge has led to a huge housing deficit in our country, President Akufo-Addo added. I believe that with the signing of this project, we shall be ushering into existence a new dawn for Ghana and our citizens, he added. President Akufo-Addo assured the UNOPS Team that his government would work hard to make the project come to fruition. Fulfilling Dream Ms Prempeh couldnt hide her joy for the realisation of the project. This housing deal is a dream come true, Ive been following up with UNOPS Office for a long time. One of our mandates is to ensure that we provide affordable houses for the good people of Ghana, she said, adding we want to move away from the traditional way of building to incorporating some new technologies into the housing industry. As part of the agreement, UNOPS will mobilize resources from its funding partners to support the initiative, which may eventually cost about $5 billion. The Government of Ghana will identify and allocate land for potential development and help create enabling environment for foreign investors. Source: Daily Guide 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 Convicted paedophiles in Kazakhstan are facing chemical castration after the government provided funding for some 2000 injections. One man from the Turkestan region will receive the first injection in a process supervised by the health ministry, following the $37,000 allocation from Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, News Corp reports. At the moment there has been one request for chemical castration in accordance with a court ruling, Deputy health minister Lyazat Aktayeva said. Funds have been allocated for more than 2000 injections, Ms Aktayeva said. The process uses anaphrodisiac drugs to reduce the offenders libido and sexual activity. Unlike surgical castration, chemical castration does not remove organs, nor is it a form of sterilisation. Senator Byrganym Aitimova initially stated that castration would be temporary, consisting of a one-time injection, describing it as a necessity to prevent a man from committing sexual violence. Child sex crimes in Kazakhstan carry prison sentences of up to 20 years in prison. Source: au.news.yahoo.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 Government has withdrawn from Parliament a 1.6 billion Japanese Yen financing agreement for the construction of an Advanced Research Centre into Infectious Diseases at the Noguchi Memorial Institute at Legon. According to the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, the funds for the project, the equivalent of some $14.4 million is a grant from the Japanese agreement, and should not have been laid in the house requesting approval. It was one of six agreements amounting to $236 million that were laid in parliament on Monday by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta. The withdrawal reduces the total amount being sought now to 222 million dollars. Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, the Majority Leader said the agreement should not have been laid in Parliament. The contract agreement that was laid in Parliament in respect of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for medical research, University of Ghana, there is an amount of Japanese Yen 1.68 billion. That is a grant and that ought not to be laid in the House, he explained. The government of Ghana signed an agreement with Japan for the construction of an advanced centre for medical research at the Noguchi Memorial institute at Legon in 2016. John Mahama, the President at the time, after holding bilateral discussions with the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, said the move will enhance healthcare infrastructure in Ghana. Weve held fruitful discussions with Prime Minister Abbey and we have agreed to continue our collaboration in the areas of improvement in health care infrastructural development and economic cooperation. We just signed two agreements. One for the construction of an advanced research centre at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for medical research in Accra, and the second for the extension of scholarships for improving the human resource potential of Ghana. These two agreements will go a long way to advance the bilateral relations between our two countries, said the President. 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 Bishop Daniel Obinim who is the founder and leader of International Godsway Ministries has been classified by some section of Ghanaians as fake due to the weird miracles he performs in his church and his shocking revelations . He is counted among the controversial pastors in Ghana for his actions and feud with other pastors as well as top personalities in the country. Like he always make absurd revelations , Angel Obinim has disclosed that he knows Adam and Eve personally . You might be wondering which Adam and even he is talking about ; its the same Adam and Eve in the Bible . According to the outspoken man of God , he knows Adam and Eve and that Jesus took him to the spiritual realms and showed him Adam , Eve , Abraham and Moses . He made this revelation in a live interview on Soul Tv. However, for clarity sake the TV presenter quizzed Angel Obinim that You are saying this on a live TV, people are watching . the Adam and Eve that God created and died long time . I saw them . I know Adam and Eve . Jesus Christ took me to the spiritual realms to Show me Adam , Eve, Abraham and even Moses . I know Bishop Obinim disclosed in a recent interview on soul TV. Some section of Ghanaians are of the view that Obinim makes such revelations just for publicity stunts . Watch video below : 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 Ghanaian actor, Prince David Osei, has accused the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Afeku of failing to make any impact on the countrys creative arts industry since being appointed. According to him, despite the high hopes that accompanied the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government when they came into power, the creative arts have largely been left unimproved. Forget about the Ministry of Tourism. The Minister of Tourism has failed the industry, thats what I keep saying I dont know what the one in charge is doing. We felt like they coming into office would help, but they have not done anything remarkable that I have seen or felt so I think the Ministry is not doing well. Speaking to Citi TV, Prince David Osei added that the country needed to leverage more on its film industry to create more buzz about Ghana internationally in order to boost tourism. According to him, other countries have taken advantage of the allure of their movie industries to market themselves. He called on the government to learn from Hollywood, which he believes the United States has used to endear itself to movie lovers around the world. You need to come up with ideas. You need to make sure the right structures are there. You need to make Ghana a gateway for tourism. Most of us travel outside, others have not traveled outside before, but they can visualize how New York looks like because they have seen it on TV. Thats what Hollywood does. We need to open our sector, the movie industry should be the mouthpiece that will sell Ghana, through our movie making. Ever since they came into power, tell me one remarkable thing they have done. Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The next commander of the U.S. Forces Korea on Tuesday cast doubt on an inter-Korean military deal that would result in the withdrawal of soldiers from the demilitarized zone. Gen. Robert Abrams told the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services that all activities in the DMZ are under the jurisdiction of the UN Command, which the USFK commander also heads. President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week agreed to withdraw 11 guard posts each from the DMZ by year's end and disarm the Joint Security Area in the border truce village of Panmunjom. But it seems consultation with the U.S. has not gone smoothly. Abrams said military talks can go on between the two Koreas, but the process should be "brokered, adjudicated, observed and enforced" by the UN Command. Last week, a Defense Ministry source said, We negotiated the matters 52 times through three different channels. But Pentagon spokesman Christopher Logan said on Sep. 19 that the U.S. Defense Department will "thoroughly review" the military pact. Moon told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that "it's up to the two Koreas to reduce military tensions caused by conventional weapons," though the denuclearization process should depend on steps to be taken by the North and the U.S. "A basic step was taken by the two Koreas in the joint declaration in Pyongyang to reduce military tensions," Moon added. "If the declaration is implemented properly, it'll be possible to take a next step to reduce North Korea's long-range artillery pieces... and more threatening weapons later." Moon quoted the North Korean leader as saying during their latest summit, "What exactly would I gain by deceiving people and buying time? If I was indeed trying to deceive the United States, then I would face all mighty consequences, a great retaliation from the United States which North Korea would not be able to withstand. So I am asking for the international community to trust my sincerity." President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is aware that the international community accuses him of "deception" or "buying time" with baby steps toward denuclearization. Moon was speaking at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Moon said that he believes the U.S. also trusts in Kim's sincerity, so efforts are continuing to realize a second U.S.-North Korea summit and achieve tangible results from the talks. Kim "is young but he is also candid and he respects elders," Moon said. "He seems to have great aspirations to achieve economic development, so even without nuclear weapons, if the United States could provide the trust that they will offer security guarantees and also aid North Korean economic development, then I believe that Kim is very much prepared to abandon his nuclear program in exchange for economic development." DART is a test of the kinetic impactor technique, a potential method to deflect an asteroid on course to impact the Earth. Kinetic impactors are one of only a small number of approaches we think are mature enough to deploy in the near future if they are needed (though we hope they wont be). The most powerful asteroid-deflection technique is the use of a nuclear device. While such a device makes for good (and bad) sci-fi movies, there is widespread desire to develop alternate techniques. The kinetic impactor concept is rather straightforward: ram the threatening object with a spacecraft and change its orbit so that it misses our planet. In theory, we could heave ever-larger masses at ever-faster speeds to deflect ever-larger objects. However, we think there is a practical limit we dont want to break up an incoming object into several pieces, lest we replace one big impact with multiple, only-slightly-smaller impacts. Exactly where that tradeoff lies is still uncertain, but we believe we can keep an object intact if we change its speed by less than the objects own escape speed. In other words, since we think a lot of these objects are loose aggregates of gravel held together by gravity, we dont want to shove so hard that we accidentally overcome that weak gravity and disperse the gravel. For Ryugu, the asteroid being visited by the Japanese Hayabusa-2 sample return spacecraft right now, that maximum deflection speed is about 30 centimeters per second. That tells us two things: first, its important to find potential problem objects as soon as possible because the longer warning time we have, the less we need to change the objects speed. Second, kinetic impactors would be used to make speed changes of millimeters to centimeters per second, so thats the kind of speed change we need to be able to measure on a test flight. Asteroids orbit the Sun at speeds of something like 30 kilometers per second. If we change the orbital speed by 30 centimeters per second, thats 0.001 percent of its orbit speed, a change that would be hard to measure. The first idea for testing a kinetic impactor was a two-spacecraft mission. This concept, called Don Quijote and studied by the European Space Agency in 2005-2006, had an impactor (named Hidalgo) and an observer spacecraft (named Pancho) to measure the collision and movement of the asteroid. The estimated price tag was more than ESA wanted to pay, but the idea inspired some thought: Was there a way to do it with just one spacecraft? The DART mission is our answer to that question. As may be obvious from the name of the mission, DART targets a binary asteroid systemthat is, a double asteroid. This system, named Didymos, has a main body (Didymos A) about 750 meters (2,460 feet) in diameter and a satellite (Didymos B, though it also has an extremely informal nickname of Didymoon) 160 meters (525 feet) or so in diameter. Didymos B orbits Didymos A every 11.9 hours. The system is too far and too small for us to see it as anything more than a single point of light in even the most powerful telescopes, but thats OK for our purposes. If we were to watch Didymos and measure its brightness, wed see that twice every 11.9 hours it would dim by 10 percent or so as Didymoon moves either in front of Didymos A and blocks some of its light or behind Didymos A and is blocked in turn. Didymoon is moving about 17 centimeters (7 inches) per second around Didymos A, and we expect to change its speed by about half a millimeter per second. Instead of trying to measure this speed change in Didymos orbit around the Sun, we only need to measure it in Didymos Bs orbit around Didymos A. The DART spacecraft meets its fate by ramming Didymos B. But while its the end of the spacecraft, its just the beginning of the experiment. Because we think Didymos B has the same kind of internal properties and density as typical asteroids (whether they are moons or not), we can apply the results of this experiment to other objects and their orbits around the Sun. Ideally, the space agencies of the world will design follow-up experiments to hone the technique, but one experiment is a great start! We expect the impact of DART to change Didymos Bs orbit period from 11.90 hours to 11.83 hours, a change we can measure by looking at the frequency of the brightness changes after we impact and comparing them to the original frequency. These measurements can be done very precisely from telescopes on Earth, and we are already identifying the telescopes the team members plan to use. Since we have an international team, these telescopes are located around the world. Asteroid impacts can occur anywhere on the planet, and humanitys response is a truly international issue. In addition to the use of telescopes around the globe, the international nature of planetary defense also is evident in two companion spacecraft to DART that are being proposed by our European colleagues: the LICIA CubeSat, being developed by the Italian Space Agency to piggyback on the DART spacecraft and bail out shortly before impact to take images of the impact plume and, hopefully, the crater DART makes, and the Hera spacecraft, which is being designed by the European Space Agency to follow DART to Didymos a few years later to do a detailed reconnaissance and assessment. The next major milestones for DART come in 2019. We have our Critical Design Review scheduled for the spring, when we need to demonstrate the design is far enough along to allow for full-scale fabrication. Some hardware work is already being done at APL and other locations. Didymos itself is observable from telescopes this coming spring, as well. It will be a busy fall for the DART team preparing for these events! Speaking of the team, Id like to mention a few of DARTs wonderful scientists, engineers, managers and cost analysts. Theres Project Manager Cheryl Reed, who led us to where we are today. Some of the other people in leadership positions on DART include Andy Cheng (with whom I co-lead the Investigation Team), Project Scientist Nancy Chabot, Mission Systems Engineer Elena Adams, Spacecraft Systems Engineer Dan OShaughnessy, Mission Design Lead Justin Atchison, and Investigation Working Group leaders Angela Stickle, Cristina Thomas, Derek Richardson, Olivier Barnouin and Gene Fahnestock. We look forward to keeping you updated as DART progresses! KAMPALA The former president of Forum for Democratic Change has formed a new political group that he intends to use to run for Presidency in 2021 general elections. Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu said the new political group will be announced before Christmas and be launched than join other opposition forces seeking to cause regime change in Uganda. The announcement brings to end months of speculation and followed days of political haggling over the former army commanders political direction after he lost the FDC party presidency to Mr Patrick Oboi Amuriat in November 2017. Our departure is in good faith and our commitment to a united opposition is more real and we shall keep our dialogue real. He said at a press conference held at Hotel Africana September 27. Rtd Maj Gen Muntu said the new political group will not work in isolation but together as opposition as they continue to fight the common enemy, the NRM bad governance. We hope to launch the new formation before December 25, 2018, and we are calling upon all like thinking Ugandans to join us, he noted before adding that no single party can rescue the country from the dangerous path it is treading on because the political space is shrinking day by day as well as the patience of Ugandans. Muntu, however, downplayed the notion that he is power hungry, noting that he is always willing to pave way for others to lead. Since his days at the party president, Rtd Maj Gen Muntu has been branded as being planted by government within the opposition, and the notion became more pronounced when he officially declared leaving the biggest opposition party. There was no time I was not called a mole. Even when we were in the bush, they didnt trust me. Commanders had to put me under surveillance until they realized I was genuine, Rtd Maj Gen Muntu said. Even in FDC I have been branded the same but if there is the will of God, there is going to be a time when people will be shocked to know who the real moles are. The former FDC president said there was no need for him leaving the party if indeed he had been planted by government to destabilize it adding that he would better spy on them while still within the party. Rtd Maj Gen Muntu explained that he has a core principle of being honest, noting that he would not waste his valuable time to spy his fellow opposition members and then leave unceremoniously. He said he at one time turned down a ministerial position from President Museveni to show he was not determined to fall for anything or serve in the ruling NRM government. The Former Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president on Thursday, September 27 addressed a televised press conference on his exit from the party. Below are excerpts of what he said; -We have parted ways peacefully. We have agreed to set up a joint team and keep an open door policy between us and FDC -We found out that FDC had several divisions. There were suggestions that we stay in and have our agenda pushed from inside -We hope to launch the new formation before December 25, 2018, and we are calling upon all like thinking Ugandans to join us. -We have developed an online portal www.newformation.ug specifically for the purpose of connecting with you. -We believe that new single party acting on its own can rescue our country from the dangerous path we currently tread -Uganda as it currently stands can easily plunge into anarchy People have lost trust in the state. Our health and education sectors are in chaos. Theres rising insecurity, inequality and injustice. -The political space in the country is shrinking by the day and so is the patience of most Ugandans -For us to de-escalate mounting tensions, we must be willing to reach out beyond our parties, communities and faith. We must be willing to recognise that one Uganda One People cannot be achieved without truth and justice; that peace, unity and transformation cannot happen without Peoples power being our power. -But when all is said and done, the boda-boda rider has as much claim to this country as the richest businessman; those born in our ghettos are as much our children as those born in our most expensive suburbs. -We all need to work for our country in which when our soldier fight, they fight for us all and not the chosen few -When our police keep law and order, they should do so as passionately for the Opposition as they do for those in power. We must recognise that for each of us; the black, yellow and red stripes of our national flag represent a place we call home. We are brothers and sisters and not enemies. -Our new formation may use strategies that are different from other parties but our goal will be the same; a Uganda that works for us all. In this regard, I wish to highlight our commitment to cooperation with democracy-seeking forces as a bedrock of our new formation. God Bless Uganda! -Former FDC Deputy President for Eastern region, Alice Alaso (convener of the conference) takes over: This document is available and will be circulated. Our new formation believes in democracy and good governance -We believe that every Ugandan has an equal and legitimate voice and that those who lead the country must be rightly operating from the people through regular free and fair elections -The other core value for the new formation is gender equity. We have found that for far too long, women in our country and globally have been treated as second-class citizens -To transform Uganda, womans voices and the voices of other marginalised Ugandans need to be heard and included in the mainstream. Related Officer Andrew Delke (Photo: Metro Nashville PD) A Metro Nashville Police officer charged with criminal homicide in the shooting death of a man has turned himself in, reports WZTV. Nashville Judge Michael F. Mondelli found probable cause on Thursday morning against Officer Andrew Delke in the deadly shooting of Daniel Hambrick. Delke was booked and had bond set at $25,000. It has already been made and Delke was expected to be released the same afternoon. Delke, who had been working a desk job with Metro Police, has been decommissioned. Prosecutors for D.A. Glenn Funk sought the charge in the wake of Hambrick's fatal shooting by Delke in July. The shooting had drawn scrutiny after Hambrick was reportedly shot while running away from Delke following a traffic stop. The affidavit charging Delke with homicide details a report by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations which states Hambrick was shot four times. The move is a reversal of a magistrate in Nashville the very same morning, who ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to charge Delke with homicide. An Army staff sergeant was found guilty Wednesday of 17 charges including three capital murder counts in the fatal shooting of his wife and a Virginia police officer who was on her first shift, reports WTOP. Officer Ashley Guindon was shot and killed on her first day on the job. She was assisting other officers on a domestic violence call. (Photo: Prince William County PD) Ronald Hamilton, 34, of Woodbridge, VA, was charged in connection with the February 2016 fatal shootings of his wife, Crystal Hamilton, and Officer Ashley Guindon, who was just hours into her first shift as a Prince William County police officer. Hamilton was found guilty of three counts of capital murder: killing a law enforcement officer, killing more than one person in a single event, and killing more than one person within three years. He was also found guilty of attempted capital murder of Officers Jesse Hempen and David McKeown, who were severely wounded during the shooting. Ronald Williams Hamilton has been convicted of murdering Officer Ashley Guindon and the attempted murder of two other officers. (Photo: Prince William County PD) Several officers, including Guindon, responded to Crystal Hamiltons 911 call within minutes and tried to enter the house to check on her welfare. Ronald Hamilton refused to let them in. One of the officers then kicked open the front door, which is when, police say, Hamilton opened fire with an AK-47 rifle. Even though police say Hamilton confessed to the shootings after his arrest, he pleaded not guilty. Budapest finishes higher in top global destinations ranking Bangkok, London and Paris are the top travel destinations in the world, according to Mastercards Global Destination Cities Index, which puts Hungary to the 32nd spot, seven places higher than in the previous survey. The Mastercard Index, which expanded this year to look at global 162 cities, shows that With roughly 20 million international overnight visitors, Bangkok remains in the top spot this year and is unlikely to be bested due to a strong projected growth of 9.6% for 2018. Interestingly, visitors tend to stay in Bangkok 4.7 nights and spend USD 173 per day, on average. It is followed by London with 19.83 million visitors, and Paris with 17.5 million. The number of international visitors is expected to rise by 3-10% in the Top 10 cities including (besides the aforementioned Top3) Dubai, Singapore, New York, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Istanbul and Seoul, with the number of nights and money spent there also seen going up.With the global economy buzzing, the annual growth of international overnight visitors to the Top 10 destination cities was up in 2017 except for Seoul, which saw a dip. The forecast for 2018 indicates across-the-board growth, with Istanbul expecting the largest uptick in visitors.where visitors spend USD 537 by day on average, and where total spending was almost USD 30 mn in 2017. The second is Makkah, with USD 18.45 mn total spending, followed by London with USD 17.45 mn. As regards the daily spending, Dubai is followed by Paris (USD 301) and Singapore (USD 286).The Mastercard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks cities in terms of the number of their total international overnight visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities in 2017, and gives international overnight visitor growth forecasts for 2018.Public data is used in deriving the international overnight visitor arrivals and their cross-border spending in each of the 162 destination cities.Forecasts are based upon the weighted average of the national level tourism forecasts and the actual 2018 monthly data at the destination level, which is available to the latest month before release.This Index and the accompanying reports are not based on Mastercard volumes or transactional data. Dhangadhi, September 27 Locals of Dhangadhi city in Kailali district of Province 7 have called for the shutdown of all businesses and trades in the city for one day as they launched a protest against the Provincial Assemblys preparations to relocate the provincial capital into a forest. Dhangadhi has been serving as the provisional provincial capital for last one year. However, a committee in the Assembly on Tuesday had recommended that the capital be shifted to a forest area in Godavari Municipality of the district. Locals have claimed the area recommended for the capital city does not have sufficient infrastructures for government functioning. They say the recommendation was made to serve vested interests of members of the land mafia and forest mafia. Earlier on Wednesday, the locals led by the citys Mayor and Nepali Congress leader Nripa Bada, staged a protest outside the Assembly building. The Assembly is currently considering the recommendation, and is expected to come up with the decision soon. Daily life of the locals has been hit hard due to the shutdown imposed in the run-up to the festive season. Major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Thursday have given priority to a host of topics from multiple spheres. The statement of Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa over the probe into rape and murder of Nirmala Pant in Bhimdatta Nagar of Kanchanpur district around two months ago has been covered on the front pages of most newspapers. Some other issues that have been featured on the front pages of the newspapers are medical education reform activist Dr Govinda KCs warning of launching another round of hunger strike demanding an early endorsement of the Medical Education Bill, the prediction made by Asian Development Bank about Nepals weakening economic growth and Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis address to a function in New York. Some newspapers have published reports about the proposed construction of an international airport in Nijgadh of Bara. Important Home Minister blames police for Pant murder probe lapses Home Minister Thapa told lawmakers during a meeting of the State Affairs Committee of Parliament on Wednesday that police negligence was responsible for delaying the investigation into the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant, according to newspaper reports. In the meantime, he also revealed that police forged the fingerprint of the victims father Yagya Raj Pant while handing over Nirmalas body to the family for cremation. The Kathmandu Post quotes him, Its shameful to see what the local police did. It also burnt Pants clothes as an attempt to destroy the evidence. Nepal Police Chief Sarbendra Khanal was also present in the meeting, and lawmakers asked both the officials when the culprits of the case will be booked, reports Naya Patrika. Dr KC warns of another hunger strike After the current session of Federal Parliament failed to endorse the new Medical Education Bill, medical education reform activist Dr Govinda KC has warned of launching the 16th fast-unto-death, according to newspaper reports. Dr KC issued the warning in his statement yesterday after media reports claimed that the government was preparing to wrap up the current session today. ADB predicts Nepals weak economic growth The Asian Development Bank has revised its prediction for Nepals economic growth for the current fiscal year, and claimed it would be around 5.5 per cent, according to reports in Rajdhani, Karobar and Abhiyan. The government has announced to achieve an ambitious growth rate of 8.8 per cent. Though the ADB prediction is lower than the government target, it is better than the average growth rate in past 10 years, according to economist Sharad Bhandari. Ignored Environment Minister defends Nijgadh project Whereas media reports claim two ministries of the governmentForest and Environment; and Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviationare at odds over the construction of an international airport in Nijgadh of Bara considering the projects impact on environment, the Environment Minister, Shakti Basnet, also said the project will be constructed at any cost, according to Abhiyan. Meanwhile, Naya Patrika reports in its lead story that chopping down the trees for the project may involve some environmental costs; but selling them will general enough funds to construct the airport. Oli in US renews commitment to democracy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli addressed a function on peace, democracy and development organised by the Asia Society in New York, during which he stressed Nepals unflinching commitment to democracy and fundamental freedom, according to The Kathmandu Post. On the occasion, Oli said the government would not make any compromise on democratic norms, values and principles. Gorkhapatra and Annapurna Post have also covered the event on their front pages. Saptari racket found forging citizenship certificate for Rs 60,000 Police in Saptari district of Province 2 have discovered that a racket was active in the district in helping people who fail to meet criteria for citizenship to acquire the document from the District Administration Office, according to a report in Nagarik. It has been found that the group was selling a forced certificate for Rs 60,000 to Rs 200,000 based on the financial status of the client, the report says. Lawmakers quiz Minister over transport syndicate Members of the Development and Technology Committee in the House of Representatives on Wednesday grilled Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth for recognising the transport entrepreneur committees which were scrapped by the government decision some months ago, Republica reports in a four column story. In response, Mahaseth claimed that the federation that the government signed an agreement with was not any organisation that imposed transport syndicate. Interesting Ilam police make it mandatory for drivers to put on shoes Traffic police in Ilam district of eastern Nepal have made it mandatory for drivers in the district to put on their shoes while driving so as to control accidents, Kantipur reports in the anchor story. The police have argued that the drivers are likely to slip while on slippers, sandals or flip-flops; hence they must wear shoes. "Campus Management is proud to be the largest education technology provider, based on student count, in India," said Jim Milton Campus Management Chief Executive Officer. "We're looking forward to implementing CampusNexus solutions to enable over five million students in Maharashtra to better engage with their university and enjoy more streamlined university processes." Campus Management solutions are built on Microsoft technology, allowing clients to benefit from Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the trusted Azure cloud platform. The strong Microsoft foundation enables Campus Management to focus on higher education specific software and solutions development to deliver innovation that transforms academic delivery, student success and operational efficiencies. "Microsoft's relationship with Campus Management allows us to impact a diverse global footprint in higher education," said Microsoft Vice President of Worldwide Education Anthony Salcito. "Enhancing university collaboration and student engagement for millions of students in this region is one of the many reasons we continue to invest in our cloud-based solutions." Campus Management recently announced that it achieved its highest booking results in its 30-year history. The International booking results for FY2018 were 61 percent higher than FY2017. The EMEA and APAC regions continue to be an important part of the strategic growth plan for Campus Management. "Our existing international partnerships showcase Campus Management's efficiency in completing large university system integrations. As an example, our ability to roll out the CampusNexus platform across 900 Industrial Training Institutes and Industrial Training Centers (ITIs) as part of the DVET project in Maharashtra led to this exciting new partnership with MahaIT Partners," said Campus Management International Managing Director Raj Mruthyunjayappa. "Together, we are going to enhance the higher education system in Maharashtra and make more students successful in achieving their dreams." About Campus Management Corp. Campus Management is a leading provider of cloud-based SIS, CRM and ERP solutions and services that transform higher education institutions. Today, more than 1,100 institutions in over 30 countries partner with Campus Management to transform academic delivery, student success, and operational efficiency. Campus Management is the 2018 Microsoft Global Education Partner of the Year. Media Contact: Ashley Prince Media Relations Campus Management Corp. 954-249-1124 [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750180/Maha_IT_PR_Social.jpg Related Links http://www.campusmgmt.com SOURCE Campus Management Corporation PUNE, India and SUNNYVALE, California, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New Facility in Pune Marks Hypergrowth for Druva with Plans to Reach 1,000 Employees Regionally Druva, Inc. , the leader in Cloud data protection and management, today announced the opening of its new facility in Pune, India, which will serve as a key innovation center focused on product development and support the company in reaching its goal of 1,000 employees in the region. The new space further expands Druva's footprint and provides a central location for supporting its global client base located across the US, Europe and APAC. Since the company's founding in 2008, Pune has remained the innovation hub for Druva. The new office signals a continued commitment to the region and will provide support for growing international demand. The Pune facility will continue to be a home base for Druva's engineering talent pool, focused on building technology that will change how organizations all over the world manage and optimize their data. "The opening of the new center in Pune is a significant milestone for Druva," said Jaspreet Singh, Founder and CEO, Druva. "The development center is a major step toward continuing our global expansion, strengthening our international reach, and positioning Druva to attract the best talent in the world. This is where Druva was founded and we look forward to working on new technology here that will help fuel our aggressive international growth plans." Priorities for the local team will include providing support for growing needs around Druva's data management applications as well as driving R&D around new areas of Cloud storage, big data analytics, and AI-driven services, all within the Druva Cloud Platform. The Druva Cloud Platform is a unique Cloud-native solution, combining Druva inSync, Druva Phoenix and Druva CloudRanger to deliver a unified solution for data protection, security and governance across endpoints, SaaS, data centers, and IaaS. It offers customers the ability to pay as data is consumed, eliminating the need to invest in additional hardware or software. Unlike other solutions on the market, the Druva Cloud Platform readily scales to accommodate hundreds of petabytes of data through its Cloud-based architecture. Additional information Explore career opportunities at Druva Learn more about Druva Cloud Platform Connect with Druva on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram About Druva Druva's industry-leading data management-as-as service platform unifies data protection, governance and intelligence across enterprise data, delivering enterprise-level scalability and security, while reducing cost and complexity. Over 4,000 enterprises trust Druva to protect and manage more than 100PB of data worldwide. Visit Druva and follow us @druvainc. Media Contacts: Jesse Caputo Senior Manager, Public Relations Druva, Inc. +1-516-815-2836 [email protected] Rachitta Bahal Edelman India +91-9975961601 [email protected] Senior Account Manager Edelman India SOURCE Druva, Inc. MUMBAI, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ~ Government to relax FDI regulations in food processing sector ~ In a bid to give a fillip to industry and an impetus to trade and industry, the government is expected to announce a new industrial policy soon. The proposed policy will encompass the use of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and IoT which will open new avenues for investments in India. Speaking at the 13th edition of 'Annapoorna World of Food India 2018', organized by FICCI in association with Koelnmesse GmBH, Mr Rajiv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, said, "The Food Processing Sector is one of the emerging sectors in our country. The government of India's policy regime and robust business environment have ensured that foreign capital keeps flowing into the country. The government will relax FDI regulations to give a boost to the Food Processing Sector." While sharing his views via a video message Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Government of India, stated, "India produces 600 million tonnes of agriculture and horticulture products. We are working on different areas like agriculture policies, export and import policies, and food parks to boost the growth of the industry. Annapoorna World of Food India 2018 is a great platform, which gives an opportunity to connect with all the stakeholders and explore various possibilities of growth." The three-day event is being attended by buyers and sellers from 30 countries with 297 exhibitors showcasing the latest technologies and trends in the food and beverage industry and 7,000 scheduled B2B meetings are to be held. The special seminars during the event will focus on the emerging trends and investment opportunities in Indian Food Processing Sector. Mr. L N Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of MSME, Government of Odisha and Dr. Satyanand, Commissioner, Horticulture, Government of Madhya Pradesh, also shared details on the trade and investment opportunities in their respective states and urged the industry to exploit the potential. About Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI): A non-government, not-for-profit organisation, FICCI is the voice of India's business and industry. From influencing policy to encouraging debate, engaging with policy makers and civil society, FICCI articulates the views and concerns of industry. It serves its members from the Indian private and public corporate sectors and multinational companies, drawing its strength from diverse regional chambers of commerce and industry across states, reaching out to over 2,50,000 companies. Further information is available at: http://ficci.in. This message is intended for the addressee only and may contain confidential or privileged information. The communication is the property of FICCI and its affiliates and may contain copyright material or intellectual property of FICCI and/or any of its related entities or of third parties. If you are not the intended recipient of the communication or have received the communication in error, please notify the sender or FICCI immediately, return the communication (in entirety) and delete the communication (in entirety and copies included) from your records and systems. Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Media Contacts: Concept PR Heena Nankani Mob - +91-9920627409 Email - [email protected] Chandrakant Pattade Mob - +91-9930155711 Email - [email protected] SOURCE FICCI MUMBAI, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MyBranch, a company of Narayan Bhargava Group, offers fully furnished premium branch offices equipped with infrastructure and support staff for smooth functioning of business across 16 cities in India. These office spaces (available in Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubneswar, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Navi Mumbai, Goa, Pune and Ranchi) provide strategic boost to business expansion plans in terms of cost and increased speed of execution with zero cost towards branch management. MyBranch has already served 20+ clients from various business domains and plans to add 40 more cities in the coming year. To serve clients of all size and enable their businesses make the best impression, MyBranch introduces Virtual and Managed Offices. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/724111/My_Branch_Logo.jpg ) Virtual offices at up-scale locations provide professional identity to businesses as well as boosts customer confidence with no investment towards owning or leasing the office space. It is an ideal and cost-effective solution for new-age entrepreneurs, international organizations, businesses in residence and industrial units with presence in remote areas. It helps businesses to centralize mails, messages and calls at a fixed address. MyBranch offers virtual offices along with added features such as handling mails, allocating dedicated receptionist for answering calls, routing messages, and providing meeting/training rooms at best rates. Additionally, forwarding mails to business owners and displaying company presence is offered at reasonably low rates. The virtual offices, manned by professional staff members are trained to handle and forward packages, mails, client calls/messages to business owners in a timely manner. GST registration is one of the main requirements for Virtual office and can help in scaling up of business overnight. The offering of Virtual offices is provided in three forms: GST Registration, Mailing Address and Complete Package. For GST Registration, office address can be used only as 'Additional Place of Business for GST Registration only' and not as 'Registered Primary Address as per ROC'. Mailing Address covers only provision of branch address and package handling while the Complete Package covers additional services such as dedicated branch contact number, complimentary meeting room service for limited hours, message routing services, discounts on training room booking and more. In addition to Virtual Offices, MyBranch also offers unique combination of Managed and Serviced Offices . Business owners can choose office location of their choice and let the trained professionals of MyBranch handle the leg work of setting up the required business infrastructure. MyBranch eliminates all hassles and costs related to property scouting, leasing, compliance, office furnishing, set-up, maintenance and support staffing. MyBranch's Virtual Offices can let one's business stand out from the rest . Write to us at [email protected] or visit https://www.mybranch.co.in/ to unleash business growth with MyBranch. Explore their offerings at the World Expo Office 2018, Nehru Centre, Worli, Mumbai on 28-29 September from 10 am to 6 pm at 2P Block, near entry gate. About Narayan Bhargava Group Founded in 1979, the Narayan Bhargava Group is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra and is India's most dependable business support and growth partner. Its pan India network of associates and affiliates comprises global multinationals, large private enterprises and governmental institutions, spread across 350+ locations in the country. The group employs a highly credible workforce of experienced and respected professionals who deliver the best solutions in quick succession and drive remarkable customer experiences. For more details, visit https://www.narayanbhargavagroup.com/ or write to us at [email protected] Media Contact: Neelam Solanki [email protected] +91-9136907558 MyBranch Services Private Limited SOURCE Narayan Bhargava Group Home Just In NCP leader demands Oli resign from either PM or party chair Kathmandu, September 27 Nepal Communist Partys Central Committee member Jagannath Khatiwada has demanded that his partys Chairman KP Sharma Oli resign from either of the two positions he is holdingthe chair and the Prime Minister. Khatiwada claims Oli continuing both of the positions is against his own principle that one leader should hold one position. In an interview with Onlinekhabar, Khatiwada says the leaders, while unifying then CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre, had finalised a criteria that none would be given double responsibilities as far as possible. But, you have assigned the responsibility of provincial incharge of chief ministers, he questioned the leadership. A recent meeting of the party Secretariat has appointed chief ministers of Gandaki and Province 5, Prithvi Subba Gurung and Shankar Pokhrel respectively, as the partys incharge for the provinces. The party Chairman has been unable to perform nicely because he is holding the two positions of Chairman and Prime Minister, he clarifies. #Samsung Samsung nears selection of site for new U.S. chip factory Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest memory chip and mobile phone maker, is inching closer toward the selection of the site for its new chip plant in the United States, ind... 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 SignAll Co-Founder and CEO Zsolt Robotka with the SignAll translation system SignAll has pioneered the first platform that allows instant communication between ASL users and non-signing people. Research and development startup SignAll is the first to use technology to facilitate real-time American Sign Language-to-English translation. The technology is now available to businesses and organizations that want to increase accessibility for their Deaf and hard-of-hearing employees and customers. More and more companies are striving to be inclusive, and SignAlls technology allows Deaf and hearing people to communicate without barriers, SignAll Co-Founder and CEO Zsolt Robotka said. We invite those who are interested to be part of our pilot program. American Sign Language the main language of many Deaf and hard-of-hearing people in North America is a complex visual language that incorporates distinct signs, facial expressions, and body movements and positions, which made it a challenge to translate via computer. Budapest-based SignAll has pioneered the first platform that allows instant communication between ASL users and non-signing people. The SignAll team, made up of Deaf and hearing researchers, mathematicians, developers and linguists from the United States and Hungary, spent seven years developing the SignAll Automatic Sign Language Interpreter System, which uses machine vision and natural language processing. Four cameras pick up the signers visual cues; NLP software translates ASL to English text; and a speech-recognition feature processes spoken English into text. Text is displayed on a chat-like interface on two monitors. SignAll collaborated with Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the only university in the world created specifically for the Deaf and hard of hearing, to fine-tune the program. SignAll debuted to the public June 2018 at Gallaudets Maguire Visitor Center, allowing Deaf and hard-of-hearing signers to seamlessly interact with hearing visitors who do not sign. "Gallaudet provided expert information on American Sign Language and computer language processing and translation, and students assisted with development by acting as sign language models and testing software, said Dr. Patrick Boudreault, associate professor in the Gallaudet Department of Translation and Interpretation. The goal of the partnership with SignAll is to create full accessibility for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and SignAlls use of native ASL signers is a value-added feature that other companies skip over in their rush to develop new translation technology. SignAlls vision includes expanding to public and private organizations, such as government offices, schools and universities, and companies that want to improve communication with Deaf employees and customers. We are proud that SignAll has been developed jointly by Deaf and hearing people, Robotka said. We are concentrating on installing more systems in the United States. Our plans for the future include the development of a SignAll mobile application and making it available for systems like Siri or Alexa. Online Press Release For more information, please visit signall.us or contact us at pr(at)signall(dot)us About SignAll: Founded in Hungary, SignAlls diverse team of 15 deaf and hearing American and Hungarian professionals has over 100 years of combined experience. SignAll has offices in Budapest, Hungary, and Arlington, Virginia, and has been collaborating with Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., since January 2017. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: VIM Airlines declared bankrupt RIA Novosti, Alexander Tarasenkov 10:33 27/09/2018 MOSCOW, September 27 (RAPSI) - The Commercial Court of Tatarstan has declared VIM Airlines bankrupt, RAPSI has learnt in the court. A bankruptcy claim has been filed against the air carrier by RNGO company. In August, the court granted an application filed by the firm seeking to include a 3 billion-ruble ($44 million) debt of VIM Airlines into the creditors demands list. In April, the Eleventh Commercial Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal filed by VIM Airlines against initiation of a bankruptcy monitoring procedure against the company. The airline appealed the February 19 ruling of the Commercial Court of Tatarstan. The court found the motion filed by RNGO to be justified and initiated the monitoring procedure against the airline. According to a representative of VIM Airlines, the company has enough property to pay debts, and it expects additional 500 million rubles ($8.6 million) to be transferred from the budget. In December 2017, the airlines CEO Vyacheslav Kononenko said that the company was facing a serious problem in that it cant pay salaries because of debts to the Federal Tax Service (FTS) reaching 500 million rubles ($8.8 million). According to Kononenko, all funds transferred to the airlines accounts are automatically blocked and transferred to tax authorities. On October 17, 2017, a criminal case was launched over premeditated bankruptcy of VIM Airlines. In September of the same year the court returned a bankruptcy claim against the airline back to the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA). According to the court, due to the social tensions surrounding the activities of the airline, the applicant decided to recall the motion. Investigators believe that certain top managers and owners of the air carrier intentionally made losing bargains in 2016 and 2017 including those aimed at siphoning of assets abroad. The deals led to enormous financial outlay and undoubtedly resulted in the companys failure to pay debts to creditors in full. According to investigators, employees of VIM Airlines continued to sell tickets to clients despite being aware that the airline was not able to transfer passengers because there were not enough funds to buy fuel. Investigators believe that the employees embezzled more than one million rubles ($17,000). VIM Airlines CEO and chief accountant Alexander Kochnev and Yekaterina Panteleyeva have been arrested as part of the case. Co-owners of VIM Airlines Rashid Mursekayev and Svetlana Mursekayeva fled Russia and are currently residing abroad, according to investigators. Allegedly Mursekayev and Kalashnikova fled Russia to hide from investigative authorities. In December, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow issued an arrest warrant for Mursekayev in absentia. Investigators also believe that between 2015 and 2017 the defendants abused their office positions to buy overpriced aviation fuel from companies controlled by Mursekayev. Moscow court to review Total CEO airplane crash case once more RIA Novosti, Maksim Blinov 11:59 27/09/2018 MOSCOW, September 27 (RAPSI) A criminal case over Total CEO Cristophe de Maergeries lethal airplane crash in Vnukovo airport in 2014 has reached the Solntsevsky District Court of Moscow for another review, the courts spokesperson Georgy Yengibarov has told RAPSI. The case against airport flight manager Roman Dunayev and air traffic controllers Alexander Kruglov and Nadezhda Arkhipova was returned to court after the end of additional investigation. In 2017, the court returned the case to prosecutors in order to fix the problems found during the first consideration. Preliminary court hearings in the case are set for October 4. In August 2017, lawyer Olga Dinze said that the Investigative Committee resumed investigation into a separate criminal case over the crash of de Margeries airplane in Vnukovo. Earlier that year, the Moscow City Court upheld an order to return the case to prosecutors. In July 2017, snow plow driver Vladimir Martynenko and Vnukovo lead airfield service engineer Vladimir Ledenev, who had earlier pleaded guilty and signed a plea bargain, were sentenced to 4 and 3.5 years in penal colony respectively and were immediately pardoned as part of the broad amnesty program on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II. Martynenko and Ledenev were charged with violation of traffic safety rules resulted in the death of two or more persons. The widow of Total CEO Cristophe de Maergerie, relatives of the deceased flight crew members, Vnukovo airport and Unijet air carrier have been recognized as victims in the case. Christophe de Margerie died in a plane crash at Vnukovo airport on October 21, 2014, when his planes wing hit a snow plow. Among the victims were three crew members, all French citizens. On October 25, 2016, the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) published its final report on the investigation into the death of de Margerie. The reports authors listed several factors, which, when combined, may have resulted in the plane crash. Among potential causes of the crash are: violation of regulations over control of alcohol use by drivers of special equipment, absence of equipment for listening to traffic controllers in snow plow machines, inefficient organization of work with subsystem of observation and control of airfield, no measures taken by the planes crew to prevent takeoff after receiving information about machine that intersects a road. Russian Intellectual Property Court rules to reconsider Tupolev trademark case RIA Novosti, Dmitry Korobeinikov 12:59 27/09/2018 MOSCOW, September 27 (RAPSI) The Intellectual Property Court (IP court) has ordered Russias patent agency Rospatent to once more review an application filed by Tupolev aircraft company, seeking to recognize Tupolev name as a commonly known trademark, the court documents read. The court overturned the January 29 decision of Rospatent, which stated that documents provided by Tupolev did not contain information on intensive use of Tupolev name during marking of aircraft. Back then, Rospatent noted that from all photos provided by the company, only three planes have Tupolev marking and there is no way to tell how many planes with that marking were produced and utilized by the applicant. Second defendant gets prison term for plotting terror attack in Rostov Region Fotolia/ Africa Studio 14:15 27/09/2018 MOSCOW, September 27 (RAPSI) - The North Caucasus District Military Court has sentenced Ruslan Tambiyev, one of the defendants in a case on plotting a terrorist attack in one of shopping malls in Rostov Region, to 7 years in prison, the courts spokesperson Alena Katkalo has told RAPSI. Prosecutors have asked the court to give the defendant 8 years behind bars. Tambiyev earlier pleaded guilty. According to the Investigative Committee, Tambiyev has been preparing the terrorist attack since February 2017 along with Russian citizen Maxim Martynov. However, the crime was not committed because Martynov and Tambiyev were arrested on May 24, 2017, and the explosives were seized. Martynov was sentenced to 11 years in prison in early September. '... And I don't think it really is that despite a lot going wrong.' 'Naivete or stupidity or trusting the wrong person, the outcome is the same, which is that the group has gone to trash.' 'I'm not OK with people saying I had a role to play in crooking the system, which is not what I did.' IMAGE: Shivinder Mohan Singh, right with his elder brother Malvinder Mohan Singh. Photograph: Kind Courtesy Fortis Healthcare Fortis Healthcare co-founder Shivinder Mohan Singh tells Pavan Lall why he dropped the lawsuit against brother Malvinder Mohan Singh in the National Company Law Tribunal, how his reputation has been affected, and what he plans to do to restore it. What made you suddenly withdraw the petition filed against your brother? I would like to give you some background. I was called by my brother a couple of years ago and given the view that things were not okay and I was needed. There was fraud in the aviation business and Religare. I had shifted to Beas then. The Ranbaxy-Daiichi issue -- all emerged within one year. I said I had taken a one-way ticket to Beas and was not interested, but, then, because I had been involved, I had to come back. I considered myself a transit passenger to go in and help and go back, but nothing has worked in the last two years. Last September, I told my brother I was leaving as we weren't able to work out things as expected. Then my mother got involved recently and said this had to get out of the court. So, I said it would if the past was addressed, appropriate accountability fixed, and a framework implemented. On that basis, I withdrew the case. Fingers crossed, things will work out. What really happened at Ranbaxy, one of the country's most storied pharma companies? My knowledge, honestly, is through Daiichi's eyes because every time I asked questions I was told nothing went wrong. I sat through five days of Daiichi's arbitration hearings in Singapore, and their claim was that reports were hidden and there was pre-planned perpetrated falsification of data and bad quality products. I have told everyone that I stand behind Ranbaxy's drugs because what the USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) highlighted was in the regulatory bucket, not the drugs bucket. Even so, you were part of the promoter family and a board member. So, is it fair to expect the world at large to believe that you didn't know about anything that went wrong? The unfortunate truth I've learned in the last few years is that the board knows nothing. In board meetings, 80 per cent of the discussions are on things that SEBI (the Securities and Exchange Board of India) requires, and not the actual business. I am liable for my share of responsibility, but I have not engaged in any wrongdoing. As the dirt flies, it's also hitting you because you were a board member with shareholding in all companies. It is. But, look, when I went to Beas, people questioned it. Why? Some people say I had a deal with Babaji (the head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas sect) that I wouldn't pursue the money if I was given the top seat there. That's one story being created by creative minds. My response is that naivete or stupidity or trusting the wrong person, the outcome is the same, which is that the group has gone to trash. I'm not OK with people saying I had a role to play in crooking the system, which is not what I did. I'm willing to take 100 per cent responsibility for Fortis which I ran -- the good, the bad and the ugly, everything. There are hospitals out there that didn't have occupancy certificates, there are procedures that went wrong. And I'm willing to accept whatever liability the law of the land requires. But I had nothing to do with Ranbaxy. Photograph: Kind Courtesy Ranbaxy Did you always have different visions for the business and how to run companies with your brother? Always. But the drifting apart happened in 2011, when we ended up in the same bucket. So how it worked for a decade was that Malav (Malvinder Singh) ran Ranbaxy, Sunny (Sunil Godhwani) was in charge of Religare, and I of Fortis. We met and discussed issues at a high level and then executed what was needed. But when one leg (Ranbaxy) went away, then someone had to fit into another bucket. It unfortunately became a feud between brothers, and I don't think it really is that despite a lot going wrong. Your exit to a retreat for three years had some wondering about how you balance capitalism and spirituality. I'm not a capitalist and I don't see myself as that. The only reason I got lucky in business was because of Fortis. I spoke to my father in college and told him I don't want to join Ranbaxy. I don't get it. Pharma is a financial business, not a healthcare one in my view. I was clear about not joining the family business. As a promoter how can you say you were not involved in the group's affairs? Well, I was not involved at the group level because Malav and Sunny did coordination for almost everything. Malav was de facto chairman, and Sunny the CEO. If I had a choice I would attend no meetings. Most of the ones I attended were because Sunny wanted me to convince Malav on something or Malav to Sunny. It was mostly about money being put into this business or the other. At a group level, I never felt I was being kept out of anything. Within Fortis, yes, I did. When (Fortis) International was set up, I had no one reporting to me, and I was told multiple times at board meetings that we now had international management who would run the company better than before. Were you not concerned about allegations of money being siphoned off firms in the group and other impropriety? A lot of stuff has happened in Fortis since I have gone. I was Fortis first and promoter second. In 2005, the Fortis brand fee was Rs 100,000. In 2016, it went up to Rs 5 million when I was not in charge. So, things changed. What would you have done differently, and what is the learning? Split the group. I never wanted to be part of the group or be an industrialist. The learning is that don't put your signature on anything that you're not definitely involved in. There is some hope for these companies, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying there was a need for legislative backing for private companies that were using Aadhaar. Adding that a careful reading of the judgment is required, Jaitley said this could be temporary. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com Financial technology (fintech) companies have voiced concerns over the Supreme Court (SC) verdict on Aadhaar that disallows private companies from using the biometric data of citizens. They have argued that without authentication, their businesses will be disrupted. These corporate entities have said the government needs to think about a legislation that reinstates their right to ask for Aadhaar. Omidyar Network, which backs India Stack and funds start-ups as well as research on Aadhaar, said private companies will expect Parliament to pass a favourable law. The direction by the court will now require Parliament to pass laws that allow for specific uses of Aadhaar for us. "Such parliamentary oversight is warranted and desirable, said C V Madhukar, global digital identity initiative lead at Omidyar Network. Madhukar said private companies will need to evolve their business models. As shown in the State of Aadhaar report, Aadhaar-based e-KYC (electronic-Know Your Customer) has led to greater inclusion for underserved segments and opening of millions of bank accounts. There is some hope for these companies, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying there was a need for legislative backing for private companies that were using Aadhaar. Adding that a careful reading of the judgment is required, Jaitley said this could be temporary. The prohibited areas should not assume they are perpetually prohibited, he said. Legal experts, however, said introducing a law to bypass the judgment might not be possible, given the courts stern stance. According to the judgment, Section 57... (is an) invasion of a citizens privacy by the private players. Hence, it will be difficult to bring it back through legislation, said Prasanth Sugathan, legal director, Software Freedom Law Centre. By Rediff Get Ahead Last updated on: October 01, 2018 12:31 IST Her latest cover is way too sexy to handle. Photograph: Courtesy Filmfare/Instagram You really need to try hard not to drool seeing Parineeti Chopra's latest cover. The actor couldn't get any sexier than this! Dressed in a black two-piece, Parineeti sizzled on the cover of Filmfare's October cover. Photograph: Courtesy @parineetichopra/Instagram Titled 'Red Hot Sexy! Parineeti Chopra's new avatar', the cover reveals a sexy, glamorous avatar of actor. Filmfare uploaded the pic and captioned it, 'Hot! Hot! Hot! @ParineetiChopra sizzles and turns up the heat on our October cover.' Styled by Divyak D'Souza and captured by Abhay Singh in his lens, the cover has been shot at Maldives. 'If your data is hacked you cannot go to court. Only UIDAI can go to court.' 'UIDAI is lying that Aadhaar is completely secure.' Nikhil Pahwa, founder, editor and publisher of the Web site Medianama, is a vociferous critic of Aadhaar. He has still not got an Aadhaar card and says, sadly, he will now have to get one after the Supreme Court's judgment on Wednesday, September 26. "The government argued against the Fundamental Right to Privacy in the Supreme Court to delay the hearings for Aadhaar. Had they not done that, the case would have finished in 2016 itself. During that time, millions of people went for Aadhaar so it became a fait accompli, and that was the intention all the time," Pahwa tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf. You called for the 'destruction of Aadhaar' in a tweet. Why do you hold such strong views against it? Aadhaar is the making of a surveillance State. Profiling of citizens is already being done at the state-level in state resident data hubs. I think it is dangerous for democracy if states are allowed to profile citizens to such an extent. It is happening in Rajasthan. I think even (Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara) Chandrababu Naidu is building a similar database, linking all aspects of a citizen's life with the Aadhaar number. Aadhaar is dangerous for us as citizens. Also, there is no means to know what kind of fakes exist in the Aadhaar system. If you look at the enrolment software hack, which Huffington Post reported (external link), it allows people outside of India to enrol for Aadhar who are not necessarily in the database. From that perspective, Aadhaar has become a massive security risk. Also, leakages of people's personal information have become personal risks for them. I think it is going to be very dangerous for our country in the future. At some point of time there will be certain damage that will be done to individuals before it is destroyed. The United Kingdom considered unique identity projects before the Labour Party came to power and destroyed it because it was very serious (issue). I don't think Aadhaar complies with the Fundamental Right to Privacy. I disagree with the Supreme Court that it isn't unconstitutional. I understand the judges have gone by their own wisdom, but I would go with Justice (D Y) Chandrachud's distinct judgment. Also, Aadhaar is extremely unsecure and I think the Supreme Court needs to take that in cognisance. There are reports coming out every day of data being leaked and software being hacked. The UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) is lying that Aadhaar is completely secure. The assumption is that biometrics are safe and secure, but you say it is not so. We leave our biometrics on every glass of water that we pick up. There are students who have cloned fingerprints to mark proxy attendance. Biometrics, in fact, is the least secure form of authentication. You cannot change your biometrics. You can change your PIN and password, but you cannot change your biometrics. If your biometric gets copied, and it is very easy as biometric have been copied from photographs, you are compromised for your entire life. That sounds dangerous. It is a fact. Biometrics are not secure. You pick up a glass of water and are you telling me your fingerprints cannot be copied? Of course, it can be copied and they do that in forensics. There is a college in Mumbai where students replicated thumb prints to mark proxy attendance. In Surat, biometric data was being sold and two traders were arrested for that. Biometrics are less secure than passwords. All major businesses get hacked at one point or other time, but they protect users by keeping data in silos. Secondly, when something goes wrong with passwords, they change the password. But how do you change your fingerprints? Since I have already given my biometrics for a mobile phone connection, how can that be misused? (Finance Minister) Arun Jaitley had said in Parliament once that there are a number of cases where people's money has been funnelled out of their bank accounts. There are a number of cases like that and we did stories on Medianama. Let me ask you this since you got an Aadhaar how often you have used biometric authentication. Hardly ever, right? Except while connecting my SIM card to Aadhaar... Most people use a one-time password-based system (for that). In a country where the population barely understands technology, look at the number of instances where money is being funnelled out by using OTP and UPI (the Unified Payments Interface). Phishing attacks are already happening. Now the problem is when that happens, you will not link back to the source of loss of data. TRAI (the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) chief R S Sharma (recently) tried to point out that losing data is not problematic. But just because he was not harmed today does not mean he will not be harmed in future. People, though, went and located all sorts of information about him (on Twitter). The Modi government brought in Aadhaar as a money bill, which you have criticised. It may have been procedurally wrong, but was there any other problem with that decision? Why did the government want to pass this bill so desperately? I am not going to question the intent of the government in terms of why they wanted this bill to be passed so desperately. My problem is that it did not go under the scrutiny of the Rajya Sabha. In fact, there were amendments pushed by the Rajya Sabha which were not accepted by the government. Therefore, it is highly problematic how it was dealt with. I would just say what they did procedurally and operationally was wrong. I think it is very disappointing that the Supreme Court has upheld Aadhar as a money bill as that opens the doors for this government and governments to follow to misuse the money bill provision. The United States has the social security number, most democracies have a citizens ID card. Can't Aadhaar be of some use in a similar way? Scroll.in has done a story about it and we too have done (a story) on this. Aadhaar is not a social security number and social security number is not a 'linked' number. You can change your social security number but you cannot change your Aadhaar number. I am not sure whether this provision has been removed or not, but under the Aadhaar Act, if your data is hacked you cannot go to court. Only the UIDAI can go to court. That is inherently unconstitutional. The social security number is also not linked to biometrics. If you want to look at the US situation, the social security numbers were hacked last year. Any centralisation of data is problematic. If we have multiple identification cards and identification numbers we can choose to keep ourselves secure by using different cards and different identification methods in different circumstances. I can give my driving licences or other ID or Aadhaar. Hopefully not Aadhaar. I will never use Aadhaar as I have still not got Aadhaar. You don't have an Aadhaar card yet? No. I might be forced to get one now as it has been made mandatory for PAN. Look, I saw the dangers very early and decided that I didn't want to risk myself. My Supreme Court has failed me (on Aadhaar) and my government has already been failing me, so I might get one. Linking Aadhaar with phone numbers helps track criminals. An alleged terrorist was arrested in Gaya because of Aadhaar. I have never heard anything like this. In Pathankot, there was a terrorist who was found with Aadhaar,. An Uzbek woman who committed a crime in Andhra Pradesh had Aadhaar in a different name. I have never heard of a terrorist being caught because of Aadhaar. Aadhaar is not proof of identification. A CNN-IBN journalist proved there is a problem with Aadhaar when he got Aadhaar in a fake name by producing a fake driving licence. They did not verify his address like they do for a passport for which the police comes to your home, checks your address and also with neighbours to confirm your address. Where is that kind of verification in Aadhaar? Aadhaar is based on any other ID. It is not proof of address. Phone linking with Aadhar helps national security. How does it help? If I have an Aadhaar card in a fake name and then I get a mobile with a fake Aadhaar, how does it help national security? Granted there are loopholes. This is not loophole. This is a problem. If you look at the Huffington Post report (external link), it says anyone in the world could have enrolled for Aadhaar. It was a sophisticated hack. Anyone in the world could have enrolled for Aadhaar and that was certified by multiple security experts globally. So someone sitting in Pakistan could have potentially enrolled for Aadhaar with their fingerprints and you would never know. There was no way of knowing it. Why did the Modi government not realise these things? I have been saying this for a while now. Aadhaar is a major national security risk for India. I wish the Supreme Court realised it and I hope the Indian Army realises it. UIDAI does not have a monitoring mechanism. They have an audit mechanism. When journalists report issues, that is when they (UIDAI) act on it. And what they do? They file an FIR against journalists who report on the Aadhaar problem so more people do not report problems on Aadhaar. What kind of security policy is this? Look at what happened to the Tribune newspaper story. UIDAI comes out and says 'Oh, but there is no problem'. How can you trust a government body that lies like that? There are good things about Aadhaar too, like the leakage in subsidies being plugged. We have done an analysis on the leakage of subsidies. The government took data which was not attributable to Aadhaar, but they just attributed to Aadhaar. There have been instances where they have taken data for one small part of one district and attributed that to the entire country over a longer period of time. The World Bank has largely retracted the report which the government had cited as proof of savings. There is no trustworthy information coming out from the government on Aadhaar. They went and argued against the Fundamental Right to Privacy in the Supreme Court to delay the hearings for Aadhaar. Had they not done that, the case would have finished in 2016 itself. During that time, millions of people went for Aadhaar so it became a fait accompli, and that was the intention all the time. 'The striking down of the use of Aadhaar by private companies implicitly calls for the deletion or erasure of all personal data vested in the servers of the private service providers.' On Wednesday, September 26, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar but struck down parts of the Aadhaar Act. "The judgment is explicit: The collection of information is in silos and merging it to deploy the instruments of mass surveillance is prohibited. The caveat to remember is that there is no metric to predict political behaviour. The citizen therefore has to be eternally vigilant," Shankkar Aiyar, political economy analyst and author of Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution, and visiting senior fellow of IDFC Institute, tells Rediff.com's Utkarsh Mishra. How far is the verdict in the government's favour as it upholds the necessity of Aadhaar for filing income tax returns and availing of subsidies? It is an excellent judgment that balances individual rights and national interests. Many of the critical issues were flagged in the epilogue of my book. These ranged from the provisions in Section 47 that denied individuals the right to redressal, the use of the omnibus preamble to expand linkage of Aadhaar, the deployment of Aadhaar for every ill of governance. It has reviewed the Aadhaar Act and read down or struck down provisions, making it citizen friendly. The judgment has weighed in in favour of rooting out corruption in delivery of welfare and curbing the accumulation and use of black money and therefore has upheld the necessity of Aadhaar for filing returns in tune with its order on the issue earlier. By keeping Aadhaar mandatory for any of the services, does the verdict contravene the Right to Privacy judgment in any way? The conflict between individual interest and public interest has been balanced. All rights are corralled by conditions. The issue of privacy of personal information will be enforced through the law on data protection and privacy. The Court ruled that private companies cannot insist on Aadhaar details, so what effect would it have on people's personal data already available with these entities? How will it affect the functioning of e-wallets? The striking down of the use of Aadhaar by private companies implicitly calls for the deletion or erasure of all personal data vested in the servers of the private service providers. The details of how and when needs clarity, which will follow as UIDAI, government and private companies seek clarifications. Does the verdict address the concerns of the petitioners that Aadhaar can be used for mass surveillance? The judgment is explicit that the collection of information in silos and merging it to deploy the instruments of mass surveillance is prohibited. It states, 'The information collected, as aforesaid, remains in silos. Merging of silos is prohibited.' This is as of now. The caveat to remember is that there is no metric to predict political behaviour. The citizen therefore has to be eternally vigilant. If one sets aside the fear of identity theft -- of which, as you mentioned in your book, there has been no case reported in India so far -- how much should a person worry if his/her Aadhaar number is leaked? The revealing of the number is prohibited and punishable under the existing law. The judgment has also placed the onus of ensuring this on the government. The judgment says, 'We are of the view that there is a need for a proper legislative mechanism for data protection'. That said, there are areas of disappointment. The power of the UIDAI to cancel Aadhaar leaves the citizen vulnerable and a more explicit view is needed. Also, there is need for clarity on the argument that no person shall be denied entitlement for lack of Aadhaar. While the majority verdict supports the categorisation of the Aadhaar Act as a money bill, Justice D Y Chandrachud called it 'a fraud on the Constitution'. Which view do you support? The majority view has upheld the passage of the Aadhaar Act 2016 as a 'money bill'. The point made by Justice Chandrachud on this issue merits attention -- particularly the fact that the burden of decision is on an individual when ideally it should be on the institution of Parliament. The larger question here is how well is a legislation scrutinised by elected representatives. And the emerging trend of bypassing select and standing committee scrutiny is worrisome. There is also the reality of bills dealing with use of public monies in lakhs of crores being passed by Parliament in minutes. This is not in the spirit of the basis and afflicts the quality of legislation. The very fact that four important sections of the Aadhaar Act have been reviewed/stripped/struck down is a testimony on the need for better scrutiny. By upholding the Aadhaar-PAN linkage, does the verdict pave way for the linking of Aadhaar to other ids, like driving licences, if the government wants to do so? Prima facie, any attempt to expand the use of Aadhaar will result in litigation and judicial review. Will the government legislate its way through is the question and this again will depend on the role of elected representatives. The resistance to the passage of changes in the Motor Vehicles Act despite the number of accidents reflects one end of the spectrum of political thought. In your book, you discussed the need for data protection laws. Do you find the recommendations of Justice B N Srikrishna panel satisfactory in that direction? The draft law proposed by the Justice Srikrishna Committee is an excellent template to work from. The protection of data is not about collection. but what it is used for by who and where. There is room for improvement in the leeway granted to the State by the draft bill and call for a review. The apex court struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence stating it was archaic and violative of right to equality. Declaring that adultery is not a crime, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era anti-adultery law, saying it was unconstitutional, dented the individuality of women and treated them as chattel of husbands. The judgment was welcomed by activists, who said the archaic law should have been dumped a long time ago to keep pace with the rest of world. The apex courts five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. The top court, which held adultery as a relic of the past, said the autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices. The National Commission of Women chief Rekha Sharma welcomed the judgment saying it should have been removed long time ago. This is a law from the British era, although British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it, she said. Her views were echoed by many lawyers and activists. While adultery should not be a criminal offence, the bench held that adultery should continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be grounds for dissolution of marriage or divorce. There cant be any social licence which destroys a home, Justice Misra said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery. Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both. The apex court pronounced four sets of concurring judgments to declare penal provision on Adultery and section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional. Justice Misra noted that adultery dents the individuality of women and it is not a crime in countries like China, Japan and Australia. We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional, said Justice Misra, who wrote the judgement for himself and Justice Khanwilkar, adding that any provision treating women with inequality is not constitutional and its time to say that husband is not the master of woman. Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the bench, said Section 497 is clear violation of fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and there is no justification for continuation of the provision. Justice Nariman termed Section 497 as archaic law and concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, saying that the penal provision is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity and is destructive of womens dignity, self-respect as it treats women as chattel of husbands. Adultery might not be cause of unhappy marriage, it could be result of an unhappy marriage, Justice Misra said. The CJI began reading the judgment by saying the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes the I, me and you. He said equality is the governing parameter of the Constitution and section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women. Justice Chandrachud said autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices and held adultery as a relic of past. Legislature has imposed a condition on sexuality of women by making adultery as offence, he said, adding that section 497 is denial of substance of equality. The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar said mere adultery cannot be a crime, but if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partners adulterous relation, then if evidence is produced, it could be treated as an abetment to suicide. Six persons, including a soldier and three terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba were killed on Thursday in four anti-terror operations in Kashmir. IMAGE: Security forces position themselves near the mosque where terrorists were hiding during an encounter, at Panzan Chadoora area of Budgam district near Srinagar. Photograph: PTI Photo Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Gazigund area of Anantnag district in the early hours on a tip off about presence of terrorists in the area, a police spokesperson said. "During searches, a gunfight began between security forces and terrorists. In the encounter, a local terrorist identified as Asif Malik who was operating as a commander of proscribed terror outfit LeT was eliminated," he said. An army jawan, identified as Happy Singh of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, too was killed in the encounter, he added. The spokespersons said Malik was involved in several attacks on security forces, including the killings of Central Reserve Police Force men at Achabal this year and in several other cases of atrocity against civilian. The forces also recovered various incriminating material including several arms and ammunition from the encounter site, he added. IMAGE: Special Operation Group of Jammu and Kashmir police run towards the mosque where terrorists were hiding during an encounter. Photograph: PTI Photo In another encounter at Panzan in Budgam district, security Forces "neutralised" two terrorists, he said. The slain terrorists were identified as Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat and Irfan Ahmad Dar of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. "Dar was working as an SPO before deserting the police force a couple of months ago," he said. The spokesman said the terrorists fired on a search party from a mosque, prompting the security personnel to cordon off the area. "The local Auqaf Committee was engaged to convince the hiding terrorists to come out. Security forces too appealed the terrorists to come out," said the police spokesperson. But they turned down the offer, forcing the security personnel to launch the operation. The forces carried out the operation "very cautiously", ensuring that the sanctity of the mosque is not breached, he said. IMAGE: Protesters hurl throw stones on a police vehicle during a protest after a funeral procession of Mohammad Salim Malik, who was killed in a firing incident during a search operation, at Noorbagh, Srinagar. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI Photo In this operation, an army jawan too sustained bullet injuries and was evacuated to hospital, he added. Another encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Noorbagh on the outskirts of Srinagar city early in the morning. Acting on a "credible input" about the presence of terrorists in the area, security forces cordoned off a cluster of houses and challenged the terrorists. "The hiding terrorists began firing indiscriminately, resulting in death of an individual identified as Saleem Malik," he said. The local residents, however, alleged Malik was killed in unprovoked firing by security forces and took to streets in protests, leading to clashes. At least eight persons were injured in the ensuing police action against the protestors. IMAGE: The local residents alleged that Malik was killed in unprovoked firing by security forces and took to streets in protests, leading to clashes. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI Photo Meanwhile, the separatists called for a day-long strike on Friday to protest against the killing. In yet another incident, an unidentified civilian was allegedly killed in an army firing in Kupwara district during an ambush with militants, official sources said. The army had laid an ambush at Syedan Pathra in Kralpora area of Kupwara last night following information about movement of terrorists through that area, the sources said. The soldiers opened fire upon noticing some suspicious movement in the area, they said, adding the body of an unidentified male was recovered later from the spot. The body has been kept at Kupwara district hospital for identification and other legal proceedings, the sources added. The army and defence officials did not respond to calls to seek their comment on the incident. A "terrified" woman who accused judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault on Thursday told United States senators that the incident "drastically altered her life" and she felt it was her "civic duty" to share her story about what happened to her 36 years ago at the hands of the man nominated by President Donald Trump as a Supreme Court judge. IMAGE: Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US. Photograph: Saul Loeb/Pool via/Reuters Christine Blasey Ford, 51, has alleged that at the age of 15 she was sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in 1982. Both of them were in high school in suburban Maryland at that time. Kavanaugh, 53, has denied the allegations. "My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed," an emotionally choked Ford told a historic hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth," she said. "I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified," Ford said. Asked by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., how certain she is that Kavanaugh assaulted her, Ford replied: "100 percent." To a question posed by Senator Dianne Feinstein whether she is sure it was Kavanaugh who assaulted her, Ford responded, "The same way I'm sure I'm talking to you right now..." "Absolutely not," Ford said when Feinstein followed up with another question: "So what you're telling us is this could not be a case of mistaken identity?" IMAGE: Protesters rally before the hearing with placards, which read 'Believe women', 'I Believe'. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters As Ford was giving her testimony, Kavanaugh's protesters were standing silent outside the hearing room, clogging halls and elevators. Their mouths were taped shut with "Believe survivors" and "Believe women" inscribed on the tape. Similar messages are written on their raised palms, "I believe...We believe." Ford said she had kept the episode a closely-guarded secret, except for sharing it with her husband and few of her friends, till the time it started appearing in the press that Kavanaugh was going to be nominated as a Supreme Court Judge. In early July 2018, Ford said, she saw press reports of Kavanaugh shortlisted for potential Supreme Court nominees. "I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr Kavanaugh's conduct so that those considering his potential nomination would know about the assault," she said. "On July 6, 2018, I had a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and the President as soon as possible before a nominee was selected. I called my congressional representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the President's shortlist had attacked me," she said. "I also sent a message to The Washington Post's confidential tip line. I did not use my name, but I provided the names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. I stated that Mr Kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland. This was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I felt I couldn't NOT do it," Ford said. IMAGE: Ford reacts as she speaks before the Senate. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/Pool via Reuters Giving details of the incident, Ford, who was seemingly on the verge of tears, said it happened one evening at a common friends place in Chevy Chase area where they had gathered. "When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark (Judge) were visibly drunk," Ford, a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in San Francisco, said. Ford said she was accosted by Kavanaugh and his friend Mark. They thrust her into an upstairs bedroom at the house and locked the door. "I was pushed onto the bed and Brett (Kavanaugh) got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me...Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes...I believed he was going to rape me," she said. "I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me," Ford alleged. Ford said she was finally able to escape and rushed out of the house with an "enormous sense of relief" that the duo did not follow her. She said that the assault on her "drastically altered" her life. "For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details," she said. IMAGE: Protesters rally before the hearing. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters Ford said apart from the assault itself, these last couple of weeks have been the hardest time of her life. "I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me," she said. Instead of questioning Ford themselves, Republicans hired Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, to question Ford. The hearing marks a pivotal moment in what has become a raucous confirmation process. Kavnaugh's chances, once thought to be assured, have been thrust into uncertainty since Ford came forward. On Thursday, a number of senators who are thought to be critical to Kavanaugh's confirmation vote, have said they will be watching closely. Trump himself, who has called all the allegations false, said Wednesday that he was open to Ford persuading him otherwise. "I'm going to be watching, you know, believe it or not, I'm going to see what's said," Trump said. "It's possible that (Ford) will be convincing." Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded with the United Nations highest environmental honour, bestowed upon five other individuals and organisations, for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single use plastic in India by 2022. Six of the worlds most outstanding environmental change makers have been recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award. This years laureates are recognised for a combination of bold, innovative and tireless efforts to tackle some of the most urgent environmental issues of our times, the UN Environment Programme said. French President Emmanuel Macron and Modi have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macrons work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modis unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022. Cochin International Airport has also been honoured this year with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. Cochin is showing the world that our ever-expanding network of global movement doesnt have to harm the environment. As the pace of society continues to increase, the worlds first fully solar-powered airport is proof positive that green business is good business, UNEP said. The other winners of the 2018 Champions of the Earth Awards are Joan Carling, recognised with the lifetime achievement award for her work as one of the worlds most prominent defenders of environmental and indigenous rights. Carling has been at the forefront of the conflict for land and the environment for more than 20 years. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are jointly recognised in the Science and Innovation category, for their revolutionary development of a popular, plant-based alternative to beef, and for their efforts to educate consumers about environmentally conscious alternatives. Chinas Zhejiangs Green Rural Revival Programme is awarded for Inspiration and Action for the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams in East Chinas Zhejiang province. This exceptionally successful eco-restoration programme shows the transformative power of economic and environmental development together. In a world of uncertainty, this is certain: We will not solve the extraordinary challenges our world faces today without extraordinary talent, new thinking and bold ideas, said Head of UN Environment Erik Solheim. The Champions of the Earth Award and Young Champions of the Earth Prize recognise those not afraid to chart unknown waters or be the voice of the voiceless. These people are changing our world today for a better tomorrow. The awards will be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly. The gala, hosted by actor and environmental activist Alec Baldwin and model, actress, producer and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza, will bring together a cross section of world leaders and influencers to celebrate momentum for change in defense of our one planet. The Champions of the Earth award is the UNs highest environmental recognition celebrating exceptional figures from the public and private sectors and from civil society, whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment. Jabir Moti, allegedly a "top lieutenant" in underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's organised crime syndicate, was denied bail for the second time by a United Kingdom court on Thursday, even as the Pakistani government vouched for him as a man of "good character". The letter from Pakistani high commissioner, Sahebzada Ahmed Khan, was submitted to the judge during Moti's ongoing extradition case hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in support of an application for his bail, which was denied and he was directed to appear for the next hearing in the case on October 19. Moti has been described in UK court proceedings as a "senior member" and "top lieutenant" of D Company. Mumbai bomb blasts' accused Dawood Ibrahim was not mentioned by name in the UK court but the judge was told that the leader of network was based in Pakistan. Moti, referred to in court as Jabir Motiwala, was arrested from a London hotel last month and is fighting extradition to the US on money laundering and extortion charges. The 51-year-old had already been denied bail at an earlier hearing in August and to back up his second bail application on Thursday, his defence team presented a letter from the Pakistani High Commissioner among the many sureties that he would not jump bail and abscond. "That (Pakistan high commission) is a pretty unusual and unequivocal support," said barrister James Lewis, representing Moti. He told the court that the letter from the Pakistani high commissioner supports the application for bail for Moti, who is a "well known and respected businessman" in Pakistan, and confirms that he does not posses any other travel documents besides the Pakistani passport in possession of Scotland Yard. However, Judge Emma Arbuthnot was unconvinced that Moti did not pose a "flight risk" as acquiring travel documents through crime networks was not unheard of and denied him bail. "I accept that you are a man of good character, with this letter from the Pakistani high commissioner offering you support if granted bail... But this is not a straight forward matter, there is much more to this case," she said. Prosecutor Ben Lloyd, from the Crown Prosecution Service, had opened the hearing on Thursday by reiterating the summary of the US charges against Moti, which cover allegations of laundering USD 1.4-million of purported proceeds from narcotics smuggling and "conspiracy to collect credit extensions by extortionate means", amounting to around USD 80,000. The charges relate to a period between December 2011 and September 2012, which carry a maximum sentence of 25 years behind bars in the US. "This all has a very bad smell to it," the judge said in reference to a two-day "gambling" visit by Moti to Atlantic City during which one of the undercover FBI operations took place. His defence claimed that the allegations were the result of entrapment and that he had informed the Pakistani police of the instances of laundering and extortion he was being accused of. They also presented a London-based family friend of Moti, Gaffar Khan, as willing to offer him a spare room at his home on Edgware Road in London if he was to be granted bail and also offered to pose as much as GBP 1 million as security. But the judge indicated that she would not consider anything less than GBP 5 million in cash as adequate security in a case like this. Moti, who sat poker faced in the dock during the hearing, has been remanded to custody until his next hearing on October 19, when the judge will consider the US government's evidence relating to his extradition. The extradition request follows an FBI investigation dating back to 2005. The court was once again informed that the accused goes by multiple names, including Jabir Siddiq, as on his Pakistani passport and Jabir Motiwala, as on the provisional arrest warrant on which Scotland Yard had arrested him on August 17. At previous hearings, the court was told that Moti had been under investigation by the FBI as a key aide of D Company, named after the leader of the company based in Pakistan, associated with trafficking and money laundering through international smuggling routes across South Asia that were also linked to terrorist funding. "For a fee, D Company uses the power of violence for debt collection and has a reputation of intimidating members of the family of its debtors in India and Pakistan," the prosecution had said in its case summary. In his interactions with undercover agents in the US and Pakistan, Moti allegedly admitted to being involved with narcotics and dealing with large amounts of cash and the court was told that it is believed he is behind nearly USD 1.4 million laundered to date. His barrister on Thursday disputed the allegations that he was a key aide of D Company as obvious nonsense, describing his client as a man of exemplary character who was a tax paying, prominent businessman based in Karachi and accredited as a stock broker, with a family stock broking business dating back to the 1950s in Pakistan. Moti had arrived in the UK on business on a 10-year visa and was due to leave the UK on August 22 before his arrest. Curiously, on one aspect -- the large turnout of Dalits at Bhima-Koregaon -- both the counsel for the government and police, and the counsel for Milind Ekbote, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence, pursued the same line of questioning. They asked Tukaram Gavare about the planning that must have gone behind this turnout. Jyoti Punwani reports from the Bhima-Koregaon hearing. IMAGE: Retired assistant police inspector Tukaram Gavare, left. Photograph: Jyoti Punwani Retired policeman Tukaram Gavare was one of the victims of the violence that broke out at Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018. In his affidavit filed before the Bhima-Koregaon Commission, the 70 year old described in detail how the bus in which he and members of the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Kalyankari Mandal, Thane, of which he is the president, was stoned by motorcyclists carrying saffron flags, shouting 'Jai Bhavani Jai Shivaji'. Gavare was hurt by glass pieces when the bus was stoned. The motorcyclists forced the occupants of the bus to get off and then burnt the bus. The affidavit goes on to say that these men, 20 to 25 in number, abused Gavare and his companions thus: 'Hey Maharde faar maajlet, tyana khali khecha, tyancha maaj utarava (These Mahars have become too arrogant. Pull them out (of the bus), let's put an end to their arrogance).' The affidavit criticises the role of the police. The police knew a bandh had been declared in the villages near Bhima-Koregaon. They also knew people were to come in large numbers to Bhima-Koregaon. Why didn't they take adequate precautions so that these people should be given food and water? Why was there no bandobast there? By not doing this, the police have deliberately allowed a riot to take place, says Gavare's affidavit. Gavare was cross-examined at length by Shishir Hiray, the counsel for the government and the police. Making much of Gavare's 35 years experience as a policeman -- he rose from the ranks to assistant police inspector -- Hiray asked the retired cop a number of questions regarding police bandobast during processions. Three key questions were: If any action is required to control a mob, does not the police take into consideration those constituting the mob/procession, whether women, old persons and children, are present in it? Isn't it true that even if there are two groups, the police must take into consideration the possible reaction of the rival group while taking action against one of them, so that minimum damage is done to life and property? Isn't it true that while determining the intensity of police action against one group, the police must assess the determination of the group and assess how much they will obey the police? These questions assume significance given the criticism against police inaction made by the three witnesses who have deposed so far. All three spoke of the police doing nothing while a riot-like situation prevailed in and around Bhima-Koregaon as they were abused, stoned and terrorised. Hiray questioned Gavare on his inaction when a bandh was imposed by Dalits in his neighbourhood on January 2. When Gavare and members of his mandal went to the police station in Thane to file a complaint about what had happened to them in Bhima-Koregaon, the policeman on duty there refused to take the complaint. This angered some local youth who went around forcing shops in the area to close. "Did you stop these youth from forcing the shops to close?" asked Hiray, to which Gavare replied that he remained inside the police station while this was going on. Incidentally, in his affidavit, Gavare points out that even when later, the police did write down their complaint, they did not include two important details narrated by the victims: The caste abuse the latter faced and the loss caused by the burning of the bus. Curiously, on one aspect -- the large turnout of Dalits at Bhima-Koregaon -- both Hiray, counsel for the government and police, and Niteen Pradhan, counsel for Milind Ekbote, an accused in the Bhima- Koregaon violence, pursued the same line of questioning. They asked Gavare about the planning that must have gone behind this turnout. However, Gavare gave the same answer to both: He knew nothing about any such planning. Asked by Pradhan about meetings held in December 2017 to spread awareness, Gavare replied: "I do not know if there was any awareness campaign." Asked by Hiray whether such "mass mobilisation" had to be planned by someone, Gavare replied, "It could be so. But I did not make any effort to mobilise people, and I do not know if anyone has mobilised people." Interestingly, the detailed narration in Gavare's affidavit saw no questions being asked. Though veteran lawyer B A Desai had taken another Dalit witness Tanaji Sable through his affidavit, he did not do the same this time with Gavare. Though two lawyers were present for Gavare, neither of them thought fit to highlight the facts in Gavare's affidavit. The only questions asked about Gavare's affidavit were by advocates who cross examined him. Both Pradhan and Vijay Sawant, representing Ekbote and the Hindutva think-tank Vivek Vichar Manch respectively, pointed out to Gavare that his affidavit and that of the first witness Manisha Khopkar, were almost the same. Khopkar had travelled in the same bus as Gavare. Gavare admitted that he and his Mandal secretary had made a draft and then filled in the details of all those members who had travelled there. Two applications were filed on Wednesday, September 26, before the two-member Bhima-Koregaon Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice J N Patel. Both have asked for the complete police records pertaining to the events preceding the violence at Bhima-Koregaon on Janaury 1. The applications were filed by advocates Desai and Sandeep Dongre, on behalf of Congressman Sanjay Lakhe Patil and Gavare respectively. Arguing that only police affidavits would not be enough, the applications ask for copies of station diary entries and wireless messages between the control room and police stations on January 1, 2018. They also ask for all material relating to the police investigations carried out so far relating to that violence: Chargesheets filed if any, FIRs, statements of witnesses, panchnamas pertaining to the incidents of January 1. Desai has also asked for the copies of the affidavits filed by the government in the Bombay high court and Supreme Court when Ekbote's anticipatory bail application was heard. This material was essential to ascertain whether the police had done their duty that day or failed to control the situation -- one of the commission's terms of reference, the advocates told the Commission. "Without these, the commission's proceedings would be meaningless," Desai told the commission. Copies of the proceedings of the Maharashtra legislative council and assembly relating to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's statements on Bhima-Koregaon on March 13 and 27 have also been asked for by Desai. Hiray will file his reply to the applications. 'The Supreme Court has reiterated that marriage is an important institution, but it cannot depend on criminal prosecution.' 'It has to rest on certain surer foundations like love, mutual trust etc.' Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj, who appeared on behalf of petitioner Joseph Shine in the case against adultery law in the Supreme Court, speaks to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf. "This is a historical judgment and I am extremely happy. This is a monumental judgment for three reasons. One, it has done away with provisions which are against the concepts of gender equality and human dignity. Secondly, this has put an end to a situation where women are simply treated like chattel or some property belonging to men, mainly the husband. Thirdly, this has put an end to a situation where women did not have the locus to initiate prosecution against her erring husband. Therefore, this has scaled up the standard of gender equality and human dignity. The court has rightly said that provisions regarding adultery are violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The Supreme Court of India has said this judgment does not mean that you have a licence to have extra-marital relations. The court reiterated that marriage is an important institution. The only thing is that institution of marriage cannot depend on criminal prosecution. It has to rest on certain surer foundations like love, mutual trust etc. No family can be maintained or preserved or improved on the basis of criminal prosecution. This is what the court said. Often what happens in our country is that as a result of criminal prosecution for adultery the families are not maintained or developed or preserved. On the other hand, the families are destroyed. After this judgment the sanctity of relations will be maintained and the dignity of men and women too will be maintained. The misuse of provision will also be put an end. The level of human dignity will be enhanced. In over 80 countries adultery is no longer a criminal offence and now in India too we will reach a scenario where human beings respect one another with a sense of Constitutional morality, gender equality and human dignity. Section 497's provisions were challenged earlier too, but unfortunately the Supreme Court on earlier occasions took a very orthodox view about it, a conventional view about it. As a result in judgments recorded in 1954, 1985 and 1989 the court only validated the provisions, instead of striking them down. In today's judgment the Supreme Court has corrected all the earlier judgments and has said all the provisions have to be done away with. Today Indian society has also changed and is changing. The subject of women is subject to radical alteration. Women are capable of taking their decisions. It is not that men are allowed to treat women as their private property, therefore, society's perceptions has also changed. Infidelity will still remain as a ground for divorce. There is no dispute about it, nobody has questioned it. The only thing is that the State cannot send citizens to jail for infidelity or adultery. The State has no business to do that." Kindly note the lead image has been published only for representational purposes. Photograph: Kind courtesy Joey Yee/Creative Commons TURKMENISTAN: Tenth jailed conscientious objector in 2018 Publisher Forum 18 Author Felix Corley Publication Date 21 September 2018 Cite as Forum 18, TURKMENISTAN: Tenth jailed conscientious objector in 2018 , 21 September 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5bac83a04.html [accessed 13 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Internal displacement: Some reflections on cracking the urban challenge Publisher International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Publication Date 23 September 2018 Cite as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Internal displacement: Some reflections on cracking the urban challenge , 23 September 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5bacc41d4.html [accessed 13 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Cities may be places of refuge for large numbers of people fleeing armed conflict or violence unfolding in the countryside or in other cities. Take the Somali city of Baidoa, where the population is estimated to have doubled because of the large-scale movement from rural areas caused by drought and insecurity in 2016-2017. Cities may also be the theater of warin which case, people may flee from neighborhoods under attack to safer ones. Take Mosul, where hundreds of thousands of displaced persons moved from one side of the city to another, seeking shelter in safer neighborhoods from ongoing military operations. Such rapid arrivals durably change the landscape and social fabric of cities. To reflect on displacement in urban settings and on the extent to which typical humanitarian responses are fit for purpose, we interviewed hundreds of people who had been internally displaced into or within cities and people from their host communities in four cities: Baidoa in Somalia, Maidugiri in Nigeria, Mosul in Iraq and San Pedro Sula in Honduras. We concluded, as reflected in the report we just launched, that some inspiring approaches are being developed, but that there is significant room for improvementnotably in building responses upon reliable data and analysis, rather than on assumptions about people's situation. The effect of displacement In city after city, people's stories made it clear that the experience of displacement went beyond a loss of assets. In Mosul, people kept evoking the extreme violence they had endured. Men spoke with great pain of their failure to protect their families during their flight. Parents talked of the unbearable sorrow of their inability to provide specialized medical care for their sick children. In Maiduguri and Baidoa, people spoke of having to familiarize themselves with a foreign environment, of having lost their social place in the world. In San Pedro Sula, people described how violence had dispersed their families within and across borders. The same people were afraid of taking public transport, as they feared running into those who had made them flee in the first place. This strongly limited their ability to work. Their grief for a pasta community, a home, a way of lifethat no longer existed resonated with Hannah Arendt's poignant writings on the reduction of refugees to their state of bare life and their 'deprivation of a place in the world which makes opinions significant and actions effective'.The people we spoke to had crossed no border, but they conveyed a great sense of uprooting, of no longer being part of a community. They spoke of the humiliation at having to beg for help and rely on other people's charity, and of their sense of not being seen and of no longer being considered as dignified persons. Conducting this research was perplexing and frustrating: at times we wondered why the humanitarian response remained so imperfect, after decades of critical writing and thinking on humanitarian action. How could the response overlook large populations simply because they did not live in camps? How could it be so focused on bare survival, and neglect longer-term recovery? How could it so often fail to capture the reality that people's experiences and well-being cannot be neatly divided in categories of needs? We knew even before starting that despite important efforts by humanitarian actors in recent years to develop better responses to urban displacement, significant improvements were still needed. We knew that shortcomings are often attributed to the scale of needs and complexity of cities, to humanitarian actors' limited urban expertise, to the rigidity of planning and funding schemes, to funding gaps and to political interests. Yet, we did not expect to reach the conclusion that shortcomings also largely result from responses being built upon assumptions, rather than on sound evidence and analysis. The problem with assumptions The typical humanitarian response to displacement in urban settings outside camps can be described through three key features. First, it focuses on formal and informal campsand this, despite the fact that we know a large number of people do not settle in camps. Second, gaps exist both in the emergency response and the longer term response. Third, there is an over reliance on blanket responses, which means that the specific needs of displaced persons might remain unaddressed. We argue that these shortcomings notably result from the fact that the response is commonly built on unverified assumptionsand routine ways of operating. The bias towards camps can be explained by the assumptions that displaced persons living in urban settings outside camps are harder to identify and that they are better off than those living in camps. The latter can also explain both the limitations in the emergency response and the lack of continuity in the response. Blanket responses without individual or household responses are in part favored because of the assumption that people outside camps face the same problems as the urban poor and the assumed difficulty of identifying them. The lack of context-specific reliable information makes it difficult, if not impossible, to assess the validity of these assumptions. But the limited information available in the literature makes it clear that they are not universally true and should be assessed against the local reality. Otherwise, the response will fall short of meeting people's needs. A focus on dignity is essential to meet people's needs People flee to cities or certain neighborhoods in cities not only hoping to find safety, but also seeking services, work, social networks and support from relatives and friends, and, eventually, humanitarian assistance. Arriving in cities, many settle outside of campsin fact, many avoid camps at all costs. Some are hosted by the community, others rent accommodation, settle in half-destroyed or unfinished buildings or piece together sticks and rugs to erect flimsy shelters. Most receive limited support and struggle to put food on the table, secure adequate housing and find a livelihood. In the absence of safety nets, people displaced into cities and living outside camps are left to their own devices to cope. Social, legal and political environments sometimes obstruct their efforts to normalize their situation. And while host communities often show great solidarity in receiving displaced persons, displacement evolves into a burden to hosts when it becomes prolonged and support from the government or humanitarian organizations is minimal or nil. People manage, but often to the detriment of decent meals, adequate housing and education for their children. Sometimes they end up resorting to harmful survival strategies, such as selling all their assets, sending their children to work or engaging in transactional sex. With relatively little assistance many would be able to start working again and regain their autonomy. Yet, when there is a humanitarian response, it often focuses only on ensuring that people stay alive. This is not enough, especially as displacement often becomes prolonged. Humanity goes beyond meeting our food or water needs. We, as humanitarian actors, need to focus more on helping people to preserve or regain their autonomy and their sense of dignity. Building people's resilience might entail significant short-term investments, but in the long run, helping people regain their autonomy lessens their need for assistance. And although assets and a stable income cannot solve all-displacement related problemsfor instance, they may not address insecurity or discriminationthey are essential for people to regain their autonomy and normalize their situation by being able to buy food, pay their rent and send their children to school. Four avenues to improve the response As the world is urbanizing, has been urbanizing for a long time and will continue to urbanize, cracking the urban challenge is essential. We did run into some promising approaches in the course of our researchfor instance, in Maiduguri, programmes to help displaced persons secure tenure are being implemented. And in Iraq, urban services are being rehabilitated to cover the needs of residents and displaced persons. But we need to do more to better meet people's needs and expectations. Obviously, we need to build responses on reliable data and analysis, rather than generalizations and assumptions. We need to better understand the needs and vulnerabilities of displaced persons in cities and the impact that their displacement has on host communities. To do this, we must truly place people at the center of our reflection. Humanitarian organizations have made significant efforts to enhance their engagement with affected populations, but the practice sometimes steers away from that, in part because consulting people takes time and there is a fear that doing so could create expectations that cannot be met. We also need to find ways to help people come to us to express their needs, their problems, their expectations. We need to focus more on helping people recover and live dignified lives. To do this, we must be able tosupport them before they become completely destitute and until they can regain their autonomyhence, we must stay by people's side as long as needed and recognize that helping them earn their living again is essential. This means that we must better articulate short- and long-term interventions by approaching emergency support and resilience building simultaneously from the beginning of displacement rather than as sequential times of the response. And it means that we need to work at different scaleson the level of individuals, communities and citiesthrough tailored responses and structural interventions such as rehabilitating urban services or supporting the development and implementation of domestic normative and policy frameworks on internal displacement, in line with international obligations. Integrating long-term considerations in the humanitarian response can also help prevent development reversals. And finally, we need to team up andexplore new approaches.We need to ensure complementary and coordinated efforts by humanitarian and development organizations in support to the authorities and other central and municipal actors. Development organizations may be better placed than humanitarians to work with public authorities on broader and structural issues, but may not be in a position to address individual vulnerabilities. Humanitarian organizations may also have access to areas that remain out of the reach of development organizations.And to innovate and test ideas, we need to allow ourselves to fail and learn from experience. *** Footnotes [1] The research, co-led with Angela Cotroneo, global adviser on internal displacement, is the fruit of a joint project between the divisions of protection and of policy and humanitarian diplomacy at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with significant support from the organization's economic security and water and habitat units and ICRC delegations around the world. [2] Arendt, Hannah. 1968 [1951]. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Cleveland: Meridian Books: 296. *** KAZAKHSTAN: Senate to adopt "extremely harsh" religion amendments? Publisher Forum 18 Publication Date 25 September 2018 Cite as Forum 18, KAZAKHSTAN: Senate to adopt "extremely harsh" religion amendments?, 25 September 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5bace80f4.html [accessed 13 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Coral Springs, FL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/27/2018 --A clean dryer vent can help improve the flow of the air while keeping the energy bill to a minimum. A clean dryer vent will allow the air to flow freely to the outside and ensure the clothes are dried in the allotted time frame. 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About All About Bail Bonds All About Bail Bonds Company is a renowned company in the United States which offers the best in class bail bond services to the customers. Uranium producer Cameco (CCO.TO, CCJ) announced Thursday that the Tax Court of Canada has ruled unequivocally in favour of the company in its dispute of the reassessments issued by Canada Revenue Agency or CRA for the 2003, 2005 and 2006 tax years. The Tax Court ruled that Cameco's marketing and trading structure involving foreign subsidiaries and the related transfer pricing methodology used for certain intercompany uranium sale and purchase agreements are in full compliance with Canadian laws for the tax years in question. The court has referred the matter back to the Minister of National Revenue in order to issue new reassessments for the 2003, 2005 and 2006 tax years in accordance with the court's decision. The timing for the issuance of the revised reassessments along with refunds plus interest is uncertain. The company noted that CRA has 30 days from the date of the decision to appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal. If appealed, Cameco estimates it would take about two years for the Federal Court of Appeal to hear and decide the matter. If an appeal to the Supreme Court is pursued, Cameco estimates that a further two years would be required to receive a decision. According to the company, the Tax Court decision is not legally binding for other tax years in dispute, but it believes there is nothing in the decision that would warrant a different outcome for the other tax years in question. Cameco said it will be making an application to the court to recover the substantial costs incurred over the course of this case. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News A third woman has made sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The accuser Julie Swetnick, said Kavanaugh lined up with other boys, including his close friend Mark Judge, with the intention of raping girls at house parties in the 1980s after drugging them. The Washington DC resident says the incident took place while she was a high school student in suburban Maryland. Swetnick says she once became a victim of gang-rape, but does not accuse Kavanaugh himself of sexually assaulting her. The allegations were detailed in an affidavit that she signed, and released by Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels is engaged in a legal battle with Trump claiming that he paid hush-up money not to disclose a sexual encounter between them. Avenatti said his client Julie Swetnick is demanding an immediate FBI investigation and an opportunity to testify under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. In a statement released through the White House, Kavanaugh denied the allegation, saying he doesn't know who the accuser is. Swetnick's stunning claims came on the eve of Prof Christine Blasey Ford's scheduled testimony before the committee on Thursday regarding her sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. A testimony by Kavanaugh in front of the 21-member bi-partisan Committee is also scheduled for the same day, but only after Ford leaves the room. All 10 Democratic members of the committee have called on the President to "immediately withdraw" Kavanaugh's nomination. A vote is scheduled for Friday but committee chairman Chuck Grassley has left open the possibility it might be delayed again. The latest revelation triggered a war of words between Trump and Avenatti on Twitter. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, denying that her accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are politically motivated. In prepared remarks, Ford said she believes it was her civic duty to provide the information about Kavanaugh's conduct so that the Senators considering his nomination would know about the alleged assault. "I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives," Ford said. "Those who say that do not know me. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no one's pawn." She added, "My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed." Ford spoke emotionally as she provided details about the alleged assault by Kavanaugh at a party when they were both in high school. The details were previously revealed in a report from the Washington Post. The clinical psychology professor claims she was pushed onto a bed, where Kavanaugh got on top of her, groped her and tried to take off her clothes. "I believed he was going to rape me," Ford said. "I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming." "This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life," she added. "It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me." Ford said she was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details of the alleged assault for a long time until a couples counseling session in May of 2012. "After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety," Ford said. She added, "Occasionally I would discuss the assault in individual therapy, but talking about it caused me to relive the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it." Ford said she later felt a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and President Donald Trump after it was revealed that Kavanaugh was on the "short list" of potential Supreme Court nominees. "As the hearing date got closer, I struggled with a terrible choice: Do I share the facts with the Senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight?" Ford said. "Or do I preserve our privacy and allow the Senate to make its decision on Mr. Kavanaugh's nomination without knowing the full truth about his past behavior?" Ford eventually provided details of the alleged assault to a journalist at the Washington Post and claims she has been the target of constant harassment and death threats since the story was published. In his prepared remarks delivered later in the day, Kavanaugh noted that he has unequivocally and categorically denied Ford's allegations. The federal appeals court also lashed out at the Democratic members of the committee, calling his confirmation process a "national disgrace." "The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process" Kavanaugh said. "But you have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy." Kavanaugh claimed the accusations of sexual misconduct are a "calculated and orchestrated political hit" fueled in part by pent-up anger about Trump and the 2016 election and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. "My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by vicious and false additional accusations," Kavanaugh added. Kavanaugh called the allegations of misconduct completely inconsistent with the rest of his life and declared he will not be intimidated into withdrawing. While Kavanaugh acknowledged saying and doing things in high school that make him cringe now, he claimed he "never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes." The testimony by Ford and Kavanaugh comes a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee is currently scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. In a post on Twitter on Tuesday, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, noted committee rules normally require three days notice before a vote is held but suggested the vote could be delayed if members aren't ready to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Political News The Canadian stock market ended on a firm note on Thursday, led by gains in energy shares after crude oil prices rose amid prospects of a supply shortage post sanctions on Iran in November. Buying interest in other sectors were a bit subdued. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 35.34 points, or 0.22% at 16,204.62. The index scaled a low of 16,193.04 and a high of 16,262.84 intraday. In economic news, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $997 in July, a decrease of 0.4% from the previous month. Earnings were up 3%, when compared with earnings in the last 12 months. The Capped Energy Index climbed up 1.77%. Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) jumped 9% after the company announced that it has signed three-year contracts with Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway to transport crude. Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU.TO) spurted 8.1% and ARC Resources (ARX.TO) gained 3.3%, while Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO), Encana Corporation (ECA.TO), Imperial Oil and Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.TO) moved up by 1 to 1.7%. In the materials space, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM.TO) surged up 3.5%, Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) gained 3.15%, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) ended nearly 1% up, Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (CCL.B.TO) advanced by 1.35% and Methanex Corporation (MX.TO) gained 1.85%, while First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) declined by 3.7%. Information stocks Shopify Inc. (SHOP.TO), Constellation Software Inc. (CSU.TO), Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) gained 1.5 to 3%. The Capped Healthcare Index ended more than 3% down. Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) declined by 4.1%, Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO) ended nearly 5% down, Aphria Inc. (APH.TO) declined by 6.4% and Extendicare Inc. (EXE.TO) edged down by 1.5%. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) edged up marginally and National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) edged down marginally. Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce (CM.TO) declined by 1.1%. A favorable court ruling from the Tax Court of Canada lifted shares of Cameco Corp. by nearly 16%. The company announced that the Tax Court of Canada has ruled unequivocally in favour of the company in its dispute of the reassessments issued by Canada Revenue Agency for the 2003, 2005 and 2006 tax years. The U.S. market ended higher thanks to some upbeat economic data. European ended mostly higher despite the Italian government's announcement of a delay of the country's budget. Asian markets ended mixed. In commodities, crude oil futures for November delivery ended up $0.55, or 0.8%, at $72.12 a barrel. Gold futures for December ended down $11.70, or 1%, at $1,187.40 an ounce, the lowest close since August 17. Silver futures for December ended lower by $0.111, at $14.290 an ounce, while Copper futures settled at $2.7830 per pound, losing $0.0450 for the session. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal on Thursday criticised the striking down of British-era adultery law by the Supreme Court, saying that the decision is tantamount to extending "open licence" to cheating among men. In what was hailed as a landmark judgement by many, the apex court decriminalised adultery by striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, terming it as unconstitutional, archaic and manifestly arbitrary, with one judge saying women cananot be treated as "chattel". "Mere adultery can't be a criminal offence. It is a matter of privacy. Husband is not the master of wife. Women should be treated with equality along with men," Chief Justice Dipak Misra said earlier in the day. Taking exception to the widely praised verdict, Maliwal said that it undermines the "sanctity of marriage". "It is tantamount to giving an open licence to commit adultery to all. How can this be right? If this (decriminalisation of adultery) is right then what is the sanctity of marriage? They should ban marriages as well. "Majority of the women who come to the DCW are those who have been cheated upon by their husbands... Today's judgement will only aggravate the pain of women," Maliwal told reporters after the verdict. National Commission for Women Chairperson Reha Sharma, however, did not share Maliwal's view on the matter and welcomed the decision as a step towards equality for women. "We have equal laws ensured in our Constitution. But there were some laws, like this law, which were not touched. Now they are being addressed. I am happy that we have begun thinking on the line of equality a little," Sharma said. LITTLE COLORADO RIVER GORGE, Ariz. (AP) Like a scene out of a high-octane action movie that he would star in, Will Smith celebrated his 50th birthday Tuesday by successfully bungee jumping from a helicopter near the Grand Canyon. Cameras, which captured the stunt for a livestream on YouTube , showed the actor hooked to a harness and bungee cords dangling over a gorge in northeastern Arizona. "This is some of the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen in my life," Smith said while still swinging over the chasm. He described the experience as going "from pure terror to absolute bliss." The entire event had the feel of a polished episode of reality TV. Camera crews showed Smith, wife Jada Pinkett Smith and his three children being greeted by dozens of relatives and friends on a platform. His "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" co-star, Alfonso Ribeiro, served as a host interviewing Smith and others before and after. The stunt was billed as a leap "in the heart of the Grand Canyon." But the jump was outside Grand Canyon National Park on the Navajo Nation. The tribe's reservation borders the east rim of the national park. A Navajo medicine man gave Smith a blessing and thanked him for coming to the reservation. Smith said the bungee jump was a challenge from Yes Theory, a YouTube channel that makes videos of people doing activities outside of their comfort zone. But the event also raised money for charity through an online lottery for a chance to watch the jump in person. The proceeds will benefit access to education for children in struggling countries. The following letter from the Assistant Secretary of Plant Export Operations, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, regarding interim control measures for the export of fresh strawberries, implemented by the Australian Government to manage any potential risks to international consumer health and to Australias reputation as an exporter of safe horticultural produce. Effective from 19 September 2018, exporters are required to provide assurance to the department that their consignment is free from metal contaminants in order for strawberry export permits to be approved. Australias current health advice is that strawberries be cut before consumption. The implementation of interim measures for exports provides further assurance that the risk of metal contamination in Australian strawberries is being managed. Should you have any questions, comments or concerns, or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind Regards Laura McIlhenny Third Secretary and Vice-Consul Australian High Commission Samoa THE LETTER READS: Pelenato Fonoti Assistant Chief Executive Officer Quarantine Division Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Samoa Dear Mr Fonoti, I am writing with regard to interim measures that the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (the department) has introduced to manage the potential risk in the export supply chain from incidences of intentional metal contamination in fresh strawberries. Since 12 September 2018, Australian authorities have been responding to incidences of intentional contamination of fresh strawberries with sewing needles or similar metal items. Incidences have been reported at a small number of locations within Australia. I would emphasise that verified contamination events remain limited noting a range of media reports are yet to be substantiated at this time. This intentional contamination, including possible copy-cat activity, is a serious criminal matter and police investigations continue. The department has been engaged with national food safety agencies with the advice that Australian strawberries are safe to eat noting fruit should be cut up prior to consumption. The department has also reviewed the situation with regard to export markets and has implemented interim export control measures to address the potential risk of metal contaminants in fresh strawberries intended for export. Effective from 19 September 2018, exporters are required to provide assurance to the department that their consignment is free from metal contaminants in order for strawberry export permits to be approved. This assurance can include evidence of screening, such as metal detectors or x-ray, noting visual inspection alone is not an acceptable measure. Our records indicate that approximately 136 kilograms of fresh strawberries have been exported from Australia to Samoa from 1 September 19 September 2018. While it is not possible to definitively identify any link between commercial brands that have been affected domestically and export fruit, I would emphasise Australias current health advice is that strawberries be cut before consumption. In addition, the departments interim measures for strawberry exports provides further assurance to retail customers and consumers in overseas markets that the potential risk of metal contamination in Australian strawberries is being managed. These interim measures apply to fresh strawberries for all export markets, including markets that do not require a phytosanitary certificate, and will remain in place until the current concerns over potential metal contaminants have been addressed. The Australian Government continues to work closely with state and territory governments and the strawberry export industry on this situation and additional information on Australias response will be provided as this incident is resolved. Yours sincerely, David Ironside Assistant Secretary Plant Export Operations 20 September 2018 The Deputy Chairman of the Tenders Board, Papalii Niko Lee Hang, has strongly defended their decision to award a $3.5 million tala Airport contract to a company owned by Associate Minister Peseta Vaifou Tevaga and his family. The process put in place for tendering of projects does not seek to discriminate. It is a fair process for the contractors, who are eligible to carry out mandates of the contract, he told Samoa Observer. A recent search of company records at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour (M.C.I.L.) by Samoa Observer uncovered the Associate Ministers shareholding in Aldan Civil Engineering Company Limited, despite Peseta telling this newspaper a fortnight ago that he had no involvement with the company. According to M.C.I.L. records, Peseta is the major shareholder with 50 share parcels, followed by Ruby Tevaga with 20, and Allen Tevaga and Danny Tevaga (with 15 share parcels each). When it was put to Papalii that the awarding of the contract to Peseta was a clear case of conflict of interest, he said that concern is besides the point, as the company had the lowest bid. The company is run and operated by Pesetas son. Regardless who owns the contract, the fact remains they were the lowest bidder. While he admitted that there is a conflict of interest to award the contract to Pesetas family company, he said it is in the Governments interest to save money. The Aldan Company is eligible for this contract. The Airport Authority conducted an assessment of the company, financially they are the cheaper and they have the technical support needed for this project, with a proven record." This company has the ability to see this contract through and that is what I looked at. As long as we know this is the best price for the Government in saving money and we cant discriminate this company, he said. It was then put to Papalii by this newspaper that there are policies in place to ensure the integrity of a public tender process, and to guard against Cabinet ministers getting involved in publicly-funded projects. But he was adamant that there was nothing wrong with the Tenders Boards decision. I know what you are saying. They (Ministers) should have stayed away completely and let their children run the business but sometimes they dont. However, the businesses are run by their children. Some Ministers and Associate Ministers have removed their name as directors and are not involved. Papalii then reiterated that at the end of the day the Tenders Board will give the contract to a company that completes the job and saves the Government money. We look at the companys finances whether they are able to fulfill the contract and we also look at the technical side. That is my view, I dont care who wins the contract, so long as the company serves out the contract and it saves government monies that is the avenue we will take. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has issued an order stopping the quarrying of an area at Tafua on Savaii, where a recent landslide killed three people. M.N.R.E. Chief Executive Officer, Ulu Bismarck Crawley, told Samoa Observer that the order was issued after they received reports that people had returned to the site and were quarrying. Safety is paramount to the M.N.R.E. and the stop order was issued following reports from the village there is active quarrying in this specific area, he said. He said he was puzzled as to why people in the area disregarded the recent incident and the fatalities, and had returned to the site despite public safety concerns. The preliminary reports from our team that conducted the assessment indicated the landslide occurred due to human-induced activities, in this case quarrying, he said. Ulu then emphasised the importance of developers obtaining a development consent permit and issued a warning to local businesses. We will not hesitate to take the matter to the court if people continue to defy the law. Sometimes people tell us, its their land which is true." However, the Government can interfere when the safety of the public is at risk hence the development consent permit is important for every development project, he said. Ulu said under the law it is a requirement that the Ministrys Planning and Urban Management Agency (P.U.M.A.), conduct an assessment of the proposed project site prior to the issuing of a permit We consider the environment in any development consent permit and in this specific case, we assess whether this is safe for quarrying among other things." We dont just issue a development consent permit, a thorough assessment must be conducted, to avoid situations as the current one, he said. For a site that a developer proposes to quarry, Ulu said the P.U.M.A. assessment will give the permissible quantity of soil that can be extracted from the site. Faafafines Got Talent (F.G.T.) is back bigger and better this year. The event will be run under the auspices of the Samoa Faafafine Association to showcase the faafafine talent this year. Asomua Asia Stanley said the event is all about providing a platform for the faafafine community in Samoa and will revolve around the theme this is my talent. It is very important that the talents of our faafafine community are brought to light. Platform as such for Faafafine is very rare especially on the national scale let alone on national TV. Asomua said the event is an opportunity for the faafafine of Samoa to build their personal capacity. It is a pure work of love and charity; this is the charitable segment of the work by the Faafafines of Samoa. [And] most especially this is an opportunity for the Faafafines of Samoa to make their families proud. Who knows? Someone from Hollywood might catch a unique talent on social media by the Faafafines that they have never seen before. Stanley also said the objective of the event is to bring to light the many unique talents that have not been exposed. It is about having the ability to confidently showcase talents to Samoa and the world. Its about strengthening relationships among the Faafafine Association in Samoa as well as obtaining a golden experience as an actor, actress and a performer on the F.G.T stage. And lastly to complete a charitable segment of the S.F.As pure work of love and charity for the community. For this years event Asomua said she has decided to step down as the host for F.G.T. 2018. F.G.T. 2018 also has a new host whom needs no introduction as shes the former Miss Samoa Faafafine Association Ms. Charlize Leo. No doubt you will execute an amazing job in hosting F.G.T. this year. Auditions will be held this coming Saturday September 29 at TV3 studio, Taufusi (next to Marias Healthcare Pharmacy). This is your chance to showcase Samoa and the world your talent. Even though Asomua has stepped down as the host of the programme she is still the Producer of F.G.T. 2018, Season 2 and working closely with TV3 general manager Roa Pesamino, General Manager and also the F.G.T. event coordinator. It is very important that the talents of our faafafine community are brought to light. Platform as such for Faafafine is very rare especially on the national scale let alone on national television. I take this opportunity to thank our major sponsors TV3, S.S.A.B. and Taula. I also want to thank our associate sponsors Samoa Airways and Digicel, she said. The grand price for the winner is $3,000 with other consolation prices. The judges for the competition will be the former Miss Samoa Papalii Alexandra Iakopo, Letisia Siaosi and a third judge, who will be announced on the day of the audition. The Office of the Electoral Commissioner (O.E.C.) is continuing its preparations for the 2021 General Elections with the Vision of Embracing free, fair and inclusive elections as guidance. Since the launch of its Strategic Plan 2016-2021 following the 2021 General Elections, O.E.C. is implementing strategic objectives that include inclusive elections. Our electoral laws allow all citizens of Samoa who have attained 21 years of age to take part in our elections, Electoral Commissioner, Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio says. Thats regardless of your gender or whether you have disabilities or not. For that, Faimalomatumua said it was important that a platform is readily available for all citizens to learn about their rights obligations as voters or candidates under the electoral laws. This week O.E.C. welcomed experts from the Samoa Deaf Society, to conduct basic training on sign language. The logic behind the training with the O.E.C. is to not only promote the ability of the deaf Society but also to recognize deaf peoples rights to be able to access information on elections so that they can have a voice in this process of selecting future leaders of Samoa without being interfered with by anyone else, Vice President of the Samoa Deaf Society, Josefa Sokovagone said. According to Mr Sokovagone, about 200 people with hearing impairment in the database but they believe there are more out there. He said their organizations aim is not only to promote sign language to its members but also to the public, especially those in government agencies, to ensure that this portion of the population is not disadvantaged from the government services. He emphasized on the importance of election in any democratic society, and ensuring participation from all citizens, including those with disabilities contribute to a healthy democracy in that society. This training, which coincided with the commemoration of the International Death Week also acknowledged the importance of making sure that the rights of people with disabilities are exercised exclusively at any Election. O.E.C. is committed to having sign language on a constant basis with the hope to up skilled its staff members to improve communication with people suffering hearing impairment. It is also planning to work with Non-governmental Organizations that deal with the rights of people with disabilities like Nuanua o le Alofa and SENESE to develop materials that are accessible and user friendly not only for those with hearing impairment but also those with vision impairment. Another important aspect of the training is the push to change the communitys mindset when dealing with people with disabilities. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is investigating claims that local alias have been anchoring off the Fishing Aggregating Device (F.A.D) located in Apia. This was confirmed by the Assistant Chief Executive Officer for the Fisheries Division, Magele Etuati Ropeti. He said they are in discussions with their lawyer on how to proceed in accordance with the current fisheries law. But he said their priority is to generate cooperation with the local fishing bodies, in particular the Alia Association to ensure that the message reaches the skippers of the Alia. The thing is we have continuously been working over the years with the local alias to look at this issue and weve dealt with the alia owners, said Magele. Most of the time the guys operating the alias are actually out at sea and the owners are the ones who are supposed to pass the message on to them. Magele said they have asked the President of the Tautai Association, who also sits on the commercial fisheries advisory committee, to initiate a meeting with the not only the alia owners but also their operators. The Principal Fisheries Officer, Mataia Ueta Faasili, said there are no mechanisms for the fisheries division to disseminate information as far as the operators. But it is in the best interest of the Alia owners to push for cooperation, he said. The issue here is more related to the mentality of the fisherman because the owners themselves have already stated in previous meetings that it is in their interest to take care of the F.A.Ds because it helps them to save fuel and make an income. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries currently have nine deployed F.A.D.s around Samoa. Magele explained that the Fisheries division does not have enough resources to police all of them, which is why they rely on Alia fisherman who are out at sea almost every single day. Weve encountered this issue of alias anchoring on the F.A.Ds, Magele said. We do not have the resources to monitor these things. Weve got nine F.A.Ds already in the water and all around the place so we are so dependent on the alia association members to report cases to us. What we have found out that those based in Savaii, they feel so responsible to look after these things and those are our eyes and ears out there to look after them because we dont have the resources to police them. In looking at ways to find solutions to avoid the abuse of F.A.Ds in the future, the Fisheries division deployed several submerged F.A.Ds that are anchored 20 meters below the surface of the water, about nine months ago. Generally when the Ministry deploys F.A.Ds they invite the local fishermen in those particular areas to make their own landmarks and according to the feedback from the local fishermen reported to the Fisheries Division, the submerged F.A.D design is proving to be effective. We brought in a F.A.D expert last year to look into a new design that is not only effective but very secured, said Magele. Its proven to be safe, even the big boat propellers cant reach the unit. So theres only a flag that comes out as a marker. They are more effective than the previous ones we have deployed according to the reports we are getting from the alias, thats why you see loads of skipjack coming back. The A.C.E.O of Fisheries said that this design is also economical with the unit costing around US$2,000 ($T5,000) and with the funding that has been allocated to this area; they are looking to increase the number of these F.A.Ds as well as the monitoring of the devices. With regards to prosecution, Magele said that he could not comment on any specific legal actions they will take. He said they are working instead on renewing and strengthening their commitment to working with their fishing partners around Samoa. If anything, what needs to come out of this is the partnership with our partners like S.I.G.F.A. need to be enhanced especially with the look out and putting anything in the water. The Fisheries division look to support our fisherman and enhance the development of Samoa. With the help of a club that dodged reckless drivers and barking dogs and braved the unrelenting heat while running around Upolu, Goshen Trust is $22,000 tala richer. Apia Hash House Harriers did not just run, of course. For weeks leading up to the 10th annual Upolu perimeter run, they convinced their workmates, friends and families to make donations towards the Goshen Trust. A non-profit agency with dozens of in-need patients and a team of full-time staff, Goshen Trust is the necessary respite that Samoans need when faced with seemingly insurmountable mental health difficulties. But they are surmountable, of course, and with the right help provided by clinical therapists, mental health support workers and doctors, many residents are set to return to their normal lives within months of arriving at the residential facility. Taumaia Esera is a mental health support worker at the residence, and she said the people living there are as normal as anyone. We are just there to supervise, and make sure they take their medication, she said. But they are active, normal people who cook, clean, paint, everything other people dont understand that. Mental illnesses can be a burden, and most people and their families need help to carry it - but that is where the residence comes in. After initial consultations at the Mental Health Unit, people stay at Goshen House for anywhere between a few weeks to a few months to find themselves, develop routine and undergo counselling. Chief executive officer Naomi Sone Eshraghi said for them, its important to be able to go home as a functioning member of the family and community. Little over a month ago, the residence was without a fridge or freezer, losing valuable time and money trying to cater for their residents without them. When you tell people a story, they give from their hearts, said Hash House organiser Ariane Stevenson. By sharing the problems of the trust with her friends and family, Ms Stevenson found people who wanted to donate their quality white ware, so the rest of the money raised for the trust, could be spent on other valuable resources. The residents gasped and applauded when Ms Stevenson excitedly turned around the oversized cheque for $21,812.20 the Hash Harriers brought with them. We had a last minute donation to make this a round figure, so its actually $22,000 tala, she said. Chairman of the board, Tuaena Lomano Paulo told the members of Hash that he was lost for words. We cannot repay you, but the Lord can, he said, gratefully. We pray you have the strength to continue the work you are doing for the betterment of other people. Majority of the trusts operating budget comes from the Civil Society Support Programme, which is enough to keep the facilities in order, so with the help of donated time and effort from friends and family small renovations can be done occasionally. With the $22,000 tala boost from the club, their operating budget has expanded enough to allow the trust to hire more female staff, which they havent had enough of in the last few months. Ms Eshraghi said eventually she would like to afford a minivan, because for the last month, residents have done most of their activities on site, without transport to go to other activities. Usually Goshen can share the Mental Health Unit minivan, but it hasnt always worked out and it is important for the residents to get some time away from the facility. They have their own mental health work and family visits to do, so they cant always lend it to us, she said. The Hash House has been donating their perimeter run fundraising efforts to Goshen for the last three years. While Ms Eshraghi said she hopes their support will continue, eventually Goshen needs to improve its sustainability with some self-funding mechanisms. The private sector is a big help to Goshen too, with trades and resources being provided pro bono, and businesses taking on the residents of the trust for part-time work experience to help reintegrate them into society. The idea is not necessarily for them to be working, but to be able to improve relationships with others that are not their family, said Ms Eshragi. Goshen staffs accompany residents to their jobs, and help the companies supervise them as they learn to work and cooperate with new colleagues. Its a slow process, but its worth it. The Tiavea village Council wants the Government to pay $5.58 million for 23 acres of land to build the countrys newest airport. The decision was confirmed by the Tiaveas Village Mayor, Sola Siuele Seiuli, in an interview with the Samoa Observer at his residence yesterday afternoon. The $3.5 million contract for the proposed airport has been awarded to Aldan Civil Engineering Company Limited, a company owned by Associate Minister Peseta Vaifou Tevaga and his family. The village mayor said the highest offer made by the Government is $30 per square meter but the village wants double that. We have already relayed to the Government how much we want and thats $60 per square meter. And we are still negotiating the price, as there are nine families involved, while the Village Council is negotiating the deal, he said. Asked whether the land will be leased, Sola said most of the families do not want to lease their land, and would rather the Government made an outright purchase. We have yet to finalise the decision. There are nine families and the village who plays a vital role in negotiating the deal and we are the 10th party to the matter. The families have agreed to allow the Government to start the project. Asked whether the land in question is customary or privately owned, he said the land is owned by the families. However, under the Land Taking Act, the Government can compensate the families for these customary lands for the developments, which of course benefits everyone, he added. While work on the ground looked promising when the project was first announced, the villagers abruptly pulled out. Sola yesterday clarified that the initial project agreement was for land that did not have any residents, but the Government later changed its mind, causing a delay in the project. Last year the village agreed to build the airport on a specific area where there were no families residing and that agreement was signed between the parties. However, the Government changed its mind and asked for a specific area, where the project is now underway. Thats why there was a delay in the process. Sola gave the assurance that all the families involved have given their blessings for the airport project to go ahead. The Samoa Observer visited four of the nine families who are parties to the deal but they refused to comment and instead referred this newspaper to the Village Mayor. We also want to thank the Government for having a major development project in Tiavea and this is our way to assist the Government, is to allow them to build an airport on our lands, he added. As reported earlier, the Tiavea airport in Tiavea is 1000 meters long and is of the same length as the Fagalii Airport. The construction of the runway will take up to four months to complete. After five and a half years of intense legal studies, it all came down to one ceremony that made it official for Wilberforce Suagalevaatele Tupua. Last Tuesday, Mr. Tupua graduated from The University of Auckland with two degrees: Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts majoring in Politics and International Relations. The memorable day was witnessed by his brothers and mother, Tafaoga Tupua, grandparents, Fuimaono Fereti Tupua and Feaisili Tupua. Mr. Tupua was born and raised in Samoa. He attended Samoa College before he left in his penultimate year to pursue his studies in Auckland. After his last year at Avondale College, he was awarded the Portage Trust Scholarship and the British High Commission Scholarship to study at the University of Auckland Law School. After a competitive first year, he was successfully selected as one of the 300 out of 1000 students to enter second year of law school. Before he graduated, he received an offer to work as a Criminal Defense Law Clerk for the Office of the Public Defender. He aims to specialise in criminal and civil litigation. I wanted to do law because I enjoy advocacy the idea of providing a voice to those that cannot represent their own interests, he said. I have always admired the adversarial process in the Court room. I am passionate about arguing on the interpretation of the law and how it applies to certain issues. Mr. Tupua is currently undertaking his legal professional training at the College of Law in preparation for admission next March as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand. He hopes to return to Samoa one day and start a law firm with his uncle Tosimaea Tupua, who is a qualified lawyer in Samoa and Australia. Public complaints against the Ministry of Police have dropped to 37 per cent for the financial year 2017 compared to the same period in the previous year. But a total of 63 cases of disciplinary action were taken against the Police force last year. The statistics were revealed in the Ministry of Polices Annual Report for the financial year 2016-2017. The report from the professional standards unit (P.S.U.) division was done with the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Attorney General on issues of police discipline and general ethical behavior of all Samoa Police Service staff (except for the executive). According to the data in the report, 68 public complaints were received last year and were all investigated by the P.S.U. Out of the total 68 cases, 21 have so far been completed. The P.S.U. has also investigated 30 internal complaints with four tribunals convened last year. The report further stated that there were 36 criminal cases filed following the P.S.U. inquiry. The professional standard unit performance during the financial year, in terms of their response to complaints (internal and external) was reduced to 29 per cent overall. Internal complaints have reduced to 60 per cent during the financial year. According to the report, the reduction in matters handled by P.S.U. is due to the implementation and enforcement of internal systems and processes as well as enhancement of partnership with other stakeholders. There has been an increase in community awareness encouraging the public to report unethical behavior of members of the service, stated the report. During the said financial year, all four assistant commissioners of police resigned from their post. One Assistant Commissioner was suspended and later resigned. During that financial year, the Cabinet went ahead with its restructure of the Ministry of Police executive body, reinstated the position of a deputy police commissioner, and removed the current four assistant Commissioner positions. This came after the court dismissed all 265 charges against Police Commissioner, Fuiavailili Egon Keil. The National University of Samoa has a new Deputy Vice Chancellor (Corporate Services). She is Maugaoalii Ufagalilo Faamanu Diana Mualia. Her appointment was announced in a press conference convened at the Taputoi Building yesterday afternoon by the N.U.S. Vice Chancellor, Fui Asofou Soo. Maugaoalii takes over from Cheri Robinson Moors, who is now the new country director for the Australia Pacific Training Coalition (A.P.T.C.) Maugaoalii has over 16 years working experience with the last three in the education sector, which Fui said will be well utilised in her new role at the university. Maugaoalii is one of our two deputy vice chancellors. Her other key role in the university is to drive the support thats needed and necessary, for the work of our staff here and of course for our students. She comes to N.U.S. with a lot of experience having worked in New Zealand and Australia and in the last three years. She was the coordinator of the education sector and not new to tertiary institutions. Being a coordinator in the last three years she has had the opportunity to familiarise herself with the kind of work that the university is involved in. She has come and be part of meetings up here at the National University of Samoa, he added. In her first statement as Deputy Vice Chancellor, Maugaoalii said with her coming on board, she will support an initiative of the N.U.S. to revive the archaeological school. So I am happy to support this initiative to revive the archaeological school. We have a lot of archaeological sites in Samoa so with our relationship with some of the universities overseas well be tapping into that initiative. She said she intends to contribute and serve the national university and the Government by utilising her expertise to further improve and strengthen the overarching corporate and strategic goals of the institution. Maugaoalii will report to the N.U.S. vice chancellor and president and will be responsible for providing leadership, strategic advice, managing staff and matters pertaining to the following department, human resources, learning resource center, finance, property maintenance, student administrations, student support services and the international office. She holds a Bachelor of commerce (specializing in marketing management and international business) and tourism and a bachelor of arts specializing in South Pacific and South east Asia Archaeology both degrees from the University of Otago in New Zealand. With California battling an increasing number of deadly wildfires, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Friday will bring emergency service officers and water and power officials from across the state to San Diego to discuss ways to improve planning and communicationr in the event of catastrophes. Open to the public, the workshop starts at 9:30 a.m. at the San Diego County Operations Center and features four panel discussions that will run throughout the day. The workshop is not a voting meeting of the CPUC but commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen will attend. The focus here is to see how we can improve what utilities are doing in terms of communicating with government agencies on all levels, what lessons we can learn from some of our recent emergencies and see how we can do better, Rechtschaffen said. Advertisement Among the topics examined will be improving how utilities communicate with customers living in hard to reach communities during a public safety emergency. Fridays meeting is the second the utilities commission has hosted as part of a proceeding looking into water and electric utility planning and disaster preparedness. The workshop comes as city, county and state agencies cope with a fire season that for all intents and purposes runs year-round, fire and rescue, crews say. This years Mendocino Complex Fire in Northern California surpassed 2017s Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties as the largest in state history. Five of the seven worst wildfires in the state have occurred in the past six years. Its very timely because of all the disasters, wildfires and other events weve been having, Rechtschaffen said. The workshops are a result of legislation passed in 2012 after a severe windstorm knocked out power to thousands in the Los Angeles area. Some homes had no electricity for as long as a week, which prompted the bill that called for utilities to update their emergency response plans every two years. I think wildfires may be pre-eminent in peoples minds because of the disastrous years weve had in 2017 and 2018 but (this workshop) covers the whole gamut of emergency events that may impact ratepayers and utilities in California, Rechtschaffen said. California Public Utilities Commission workshop What: Utility Disaster Planning & Emergency Response When: Friday, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Where: Hearing Room, San Diego County Operations Center, 5520 Overland Avenue Public invited, audience Q&A scheduled for panel that is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m. Business rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski A 42-story apartment tower could take the place of downtowns former library building on E Street. Civic San Diego, downtowns planning agency, recommended Wednesday that the City Council enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Canadian-based Bosa Development to develop the site for a mixed-use project. Bosas initial plans call for 392 rental apartments (including 30 subsidized units for low-income renters), restoring the historic facade of the building and reserving 8,800-square-feet on the ground floor for commercial uses. Its going to be a high-quality development with high-quality materials, Paul Lamme, senior development manager at Bosa, told the board. We will be preserving the historic aspect of this. Advertisement After Wednesdays action, the project goes to the City Council for consideration in October or November. The estimated schedule calls for City Council approval by November, completed negotiations to buy the city-owned site by June, and construction to begin sometime in 2020 or 2021. Board members were in favor of the project largely because it increases housing and includes subsidized apartments. However, director Stephen Russell strongly opposed the project on grounds it did not preserve the history of the library, built in 1954, even though he is a strong advocate for more housing. He noted that plans for the 420-foot tall building included construction of three floors of underground parking and four above ground, which would mean little left of the library besides the facade. For that parking to go in as proposed, it really requires hollowing out this particular civic asset and building on top of it, Russell said, Once that is hollowed out, we dont get it back. Civic San Diego only received two complete proposals for the site. The second came from Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company, which called for rehabilitating the building mainly for office space and a public museum for the library in the lobby. The three-story proposal from Lincoln was rejected by the board because of several high-profile office projects already slated for downtown, including at Horton Plaza, and the need for more housing. Also, the Bosa project is expected to return more money to the city. A study by the agency projected revenue to the city of $32.3 million from Bosa over 30 years compared to $21.1 million from Lincoln. The site has been sitting there not utilized and given the fact we are in a housing crisis, I am supportive of the (Bosa) approval moving forward, said director Paola Avila. Other board members expressed reservation over the initial design shown by Bosa, saying there would be an opportunity in the future to discuss changes before approval. In the end, the vote was 6-1 with only Russell voting against the Bosa proposal. The city left the 75,000-square-foot library building at 820 E St. in September 2013 when it moved to the new Central Library on Park Boulevard across from Petco Park. The first effort to get proposals for the site, focused on technology and innovation uses, received only underwhelming responses, said Civic San Diego staff. In late 2017, the agency instead issued new proposals that were more broad and allowed for a sale of the land, instead of a lease. If given final approval, the Bosa tower above the library will be nearly across the street from another tower it is constructing. The roughly 490-foot tall apartment tower on Broadway will be the tallest residential building in San Diego County history. It was a busy meeting for Civic San Diego, with other projects and actions approved: Fifth & Ash Suites: A 16-story hotel in Cortez Hill from San Diego-based Narven Enterprises on the site of a former parking lot got unanimous support from the board. It is now approved to begin construction, unless it is appealed, and would then go to the San Diego Planning Commission. The developer said after the meeting that construction would probably start in a year and then take two years to complete. The proposed design of Fifth & Ash Suites. (JWDA) Plans for the hotel call for 156 rooms and a roof deck with a bar, lounge and pool. Cristoph Fassler, senior architect at Joseph Wong Design Associates, said the design of the building would fit in well with surrounding buildings. Its a very dynamic and unpretentious design, he said. Its not trying to be eye candy. Its a nice, simple building we feel fits within the neighborhood. Third and A Street: A 21-story mixed-use tower from Houston-based The Hanover Company was unanimously approved by the board. Like Fifth & Ash Suites, it now has final approval unless appealed to the San Diego Planning Commission. The developer said construction could begin in March and would take roughly two years to complete. The Cortez Hill building calls for 270 apartments, 4,000-square-feet of retail on the ground floor and 280 parking spots spread out over three underground levels and three floors above ground. The architect is Carrier Johnson + Culture. Presidents compensation: Andrew Phillips was named interim president in May and the board voted Wednesday to increase his pay by $39,000 a year. Phillips was earning a base salary of $186,000 a year as its chief financial and operating officer. Phillips replaced former president Reese Jarrett, who abruptly resigned in February. Business phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar ALSO San Diegos new single-family homes are pricey, modern and in short supply Tijuana condo craze continues in to 2018 Last years housing market broke records The Port of San Diego is working with the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security to investigate a cyberattack that crippled some of the ports computer systems, with ransomware identified as the culprit. Port officials said Thursday the attack is centered on administrative computer systems, limiting the availability of park permits, public record documents and some business services. Cargo shipping, cruise lines, ship manufacturing and other functions on San Diego Bay have not been affected, according to the port. A handful of port tenants, including ship builder General Dynamics-NASSCO and hotel owner Sunroad, confirmed to the Union-Tribune that they are operating as usual. Advertisement This is mainly an administrative issue and normal port operations are continuing, said Randa Coniglio, chief executive of the port, in a statement on Thursday. The Port remains open, public safety operations are ongoing, and ships and boats continue to access the Bay without impacts from the cybersecurity incident. Some Harbor Police computer systems have been harmed in the attack, so the department is using alternative systems. The port also is shutting down certain computers on its own as a precaution. Port officials said they remain in close communication and coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard following the incident. The port first announced the attack on Wednesday, a day after it was uncovered. Officials confirmed that it received a ransom note that sought payment in bitcoin a digital currency used in certain online transactions without involving a bank. The port is not disclosing the amount sought. Ransomware is a type of malware that freezes or encrypts critical data on a computer system. Cyber criminals demand payment from the computer user to unlock the data, though sometimes it is erased anyway. Several government agencies have been recent victims of ransomware attacks, which rose 350 percent worldwide between 2016 and 2017, according to research firm Dimension Data. Hospitals and government entities, where a halt in operations would be particularly disruptive, have become popular targets for ransomware attacks, said Stephen Cobb, senior researcher at the San Diego office of digital security firm ESET. Because ransomware leverages your dependence on availability, it would make sense for criminals to target organizations which need their data right now, said Cobb. In a port, if you have any kind of a delay, that is very expensive. So I think it is reasonable to speculate that criminals are looking at companies for whom immediate access to data is important and lack of access is immediately quantifiable in terms of losses. Last week, the Port of Barcelona was hit with a cyberattack, though it has not revealed if ransomware was involved. Last year, the largest terminal at the Port of Los Angeles was closed for a short period as Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk grappled with effects of a cyberattack. And this year, the China Ocean shipping terminal at the Port of Long Beach was attacked. In the past, ransomware often locked up data that organizations wanted but was not critical to their operations, said Robert Belk, West Coast cybersecurity lead at Ernst & Young. We are now seeing incidents where all of the sudden it is really impacting operations in a way that hasnt happened before, he said. In March, the city of Atlanta received a $51,000 ransomware demand that it refused to pay. The resulting attack disabled computers so residents could not pay water bills or traffic tickets online. Corrections and city planning were forced to do jobs without computers for a time. Wi-Fi service at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was unavailable for a week. Atlanta has spent around $6 million so far fixing the problem, accord to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Colorado Department of Transportation also was hit by a ransomware attack that has cost roughly $2 million to fix. Faced with a ransomware demand, should organizations simply pay? There is a risk in doing so, said Belk. Yes, people do pay because they make a decision it is worth it to get the operation back up and running, he said. They are betting that the instigator of the attack is going to provide them the keys back to their own kingdom. What happens, of course, is once theyve paid the ransom, people think they might be a good target again. Business mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com; Twitter:@TechDiego 760-529-4973 El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho, who is embroiled in several lawsuits and under investigation by the state, will not represent the city on any regional boards or commissions for the foreseeable future. Kalasho was the citys representative on the Metro Wastewater Joint Powers Authority and an alternate on the East County Economic Development Council and Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee. He sent a letter of resignation on Sept. 5 to City Manager Graham Mitchell saying a personal schedule conflict arose making it difficult to attend future Metro JPA meetings, effective immediately. He did not specify what that conflict was. Advertisement Kalashos resignation came as Mayor Bill Wells weighed which council members he would appoint to the various regional boards and commissions. Kalashos name was absent from the list released Tuesday by Wells. I felt like we had to make a change due to the amount and the severity of the allegations swirling around council member Kalasho, Wells said. He was good enough to put in his resignation for committee assignments. I think this is the best way to deal with city business till some kind of resolution is found. In the San Diego region, City Council members are appointed by the mayor to serve year-long terms on a number of regional boards. Those groups include the San Diego Association of Governments, Metropolitan Transit System and Metro Wastewater Joint Powers of Authority. The groups offer per diems or stipends, typically from $50 to $100, and meet once or twice a month. El Cajon council members also sit on other commissions that are of more local interest, such as Heartland Fire Training JPA, the East County Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee and the Harry Griffen Park Joint Steering Committee. City Councilman Gary Kendrick will be the citys new representative on Metro and City Councilman Steve Goble will be El Cajons representative on the economic council. The Indian Gaming Council was not listed on the agenda, but Wells said that Kalashos current legal tangles, including the most recent one in which political regulators are investigating whether he properly recorded $1 million in loans against two of his properties, made the new appointments a priority. Kalasho, who is running for re-election, said he was fine with being left off the boards, that he didnt run for city council to run for Metro JPA. He said he was more concerned about the defacing of 53 of his 55 campaign signs. On many of the signs that were defaced, he put another sign on top of that reads, My opponents want to limit YOUR Free Speech by defacing my signs. We fought wars against this exact behavior. karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com A week after her opponent challenged her educational background, San Marcos Unified School Board President Stacy Carlson said she has learned that shes one class short of earning a college degree. Carlson had listed a degree in business administration from Vanguard University on the website for the governing board, but removed that reference last week after her opponent in the Nov. 6 election, Christina Linden, claimed that Carlson never graduated from the private, Christian University, located in Orange County. Carlson said that until Linden raised that complaint, she was unaware of any uncertainty about her graduation status. She said that she had walked in a commencement ceremony at Vanguard 16 years ago, with one lab course pending. To complete that, she said she took the course the following summer at MiraCosta College and submitted transcripts that she believed fulfilled the credits she needed to graduate. However, after meeting with officials from Vanguard Tuesday, Carlson said she learned that her follow-up coursework didnt qualify for the universitys graduation requirements. Advertisement We now understand why the class I took at MiraCosta does not satisfy my graduation requirement, she said. I will therefore be enrolling in an appropriate class in the next term to complete my degree. I am grateful for the assistance and support Vanguard is providing and look forward to getting this matter resolved very soon. In response to questions about Carlsons record at the university, a spokeswoman last week confirmed that she attended Vanguard, but said the campus did not have a record that she had earned a degree. Officials at MiraCosta said that they could not provide any records of Carlsons attendance at the community college because Carlson had not authorized them to release those. Linden, who is challenging Carlson for her seat in the districts first election to be decided through local voting districts, said Carlson should provide documentation at the next school board meeting on Oct. 16 to demonstrate that shes one class shy of graduation. If thats the case, then she should be more than willing to release her transcript, saying thats the only class shes missing to complete her studies, Linden said. Carlsons husband and campaign manager, Daniel Finkenthal, said that Carlson will not provide transcripts, citing her educational privacy. She admits to having made a mistake, he said. She is rectifying that mistake by going back and repeating a class that she needs. I think weve been as open and transparent as we can be. Anything more simply seeks to embarrass her. deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan Saying it is a well-planned project that will ease the countys housing crisis, the Board of Supervisors Wednesday unanimously approved the 2,135-home Newland Sierra development along Interstate 15 in North County. The vote was 4-0, with Supervisor Dianne Jacob absent. The approval caps six years of planning by Newland Communities, the San Diego-based company that developed 4S Ranch, Woods Valley in Valley Center, and the original Rancho Penasquitos. And it came just a day after a Superior Court judge refused to halt the vote at the behest of the Sierra Club and Golden Door spa, who argued that the way the developer was proposing to mitigate the projects greenhouse gas emissions was likely to be ruled illegal later this year. Advertisement Despite the long-sought approval, the battle against the project appears far from over. Within weeks, opponents say, a lawsuit will be filed challenging the decision. And within days, paid workers will begin hitting the streets throughout the county to gather signatures for a referendum that would ask voters to overturn the approval. The signatures to qualify the measure for the March 2020 ballot must be obtained within the next month. Rita Brandin, senior vice president and development director for Newland Communities, said she was pleased with the supervisors support but said its a shame the fight is still ongoing. Im very grateful the Board of Supervisors supported the project and Im looking forward to moving forward, she said. Its not over yet and its unfortunate its not over yet, but we will defend the project. Newland is in the business of providing housing for families of all types. The hearing has a familiar feel. It was eight years ago that the supervisors were asked to approve a different, but similar project on the same property called Merriam Mountains. That project, which called for several hundred more homes, was denied 3-2 with Ron Roberts casting the deciding vote. But this time, Roberts said, things have changed. The world is different today from when we heard this before, he said. The project is different. Were lacking in housing. Period. Not just affordable housing, all types. The cost of housing is so out of line with most areas of this countryWe have to look at the plan in light of what are our needs. We need housing. That is our overriding need. It overshadows everything. More than 100 people addressed the supervisors during the all-day hearing, with supporters and opponents of the project pretty evenly split. Brandin told the supervisors that allowing the seven-village development to be built north of Deer Springs Road, just west of Interstate 15, was the better choice to make. She said current zoning of the property would allow construction of 99 luxury homes and up to 2 million square feet of commercial and office space that could generate more traffic than their proposed project. She also said far more open space will be preserved with their master-planned, clustered community. Many speakers wearing green stickers on their shirts reading I support A Better Choice: Newland Sierra stressed the desperate need for more homes in the county. They said they want their kids to grow up and be able to afford a San Diego County home, something they fear isnt possible now because of the lack of housing stock and resulting high home and rental prices. I lost my my daughter to Idaho because she couldnt afford a home here, said Debra Rosen, the president of the North San Diego Business Chamber. We need more homes and we need more communities. Opponents, wearing anti-Newland stickers and T-shirts, stressed how the project would forever change the semi-rural, agricultural community. Adding 6,000 people to the Twin Oaks area where only 2,000 live now would cause massive traffic problems, despite Newlands plans to widen Deer Springs Road and fund a yet unplanned new freeway interchange near the property. They worried about evacuating during a fire. One man said residents of surrounding communities such as Hidden Meadows, Champagne Village and Twin Oaks are scared to death. The project call for 2,135 dwelling units: 1,140 single-family houses and 995 multi-family units. It also contains 81,000 square feet of office and retail space, including a grocery store, 1,209 acres of open space, nearly 36 acres of public and private parks, 19 miles of trails, and a six-acre school site. The four supervisors who voted for the project all talked about the need for more housing and all praised the project. Dianne Jacob did not attend the hearing because she is mourning the death of her husband, Paul, who passed away Sunday after a long illness. Supervisors Bill Horn and Greg Cox, who voted eight years ago to support the previous version of the development, said Newland Sierra is superior to that one. I supported Merriam Mountains, Cox said. I thought it was a decent proposal. Compared to this, I was wrong. We have a housing availability crisis in this county, Cox said. We have a housing affordability crisis. We have a homeless crisis. We have a lot of crises we have to deal with. One of the underlying themes is we have to find a better way to have a better supply of various types of housing stock. Horn said in all the 24 years hes been on the board there have been few large housing developments approved in his North County district. I think this is a good project, well designed, well planned, he said. Im pleased with the mix of housing types. Clifton Williams, a land-use analyst working for the Golden Door luxury spa which is located along Deer Springs Road across from the Newland Sierra property, said the the fight will continue. We think there are serious flaws in the project and serious flaws in the environmental documentation that was done for the project, he said. And things that were left out in the analysis and new things that were added at the last minute. jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones The University of Saint Katherines move from San Marcos to Chula Vista is a little bit closer. The private university is currently negotiating an option to lease 10 acres of Chula Vistas 375-acre University Site in Otay Ranch. Once the two sides sign an option to lease, the university will begin a capital fundraising campaign to raise money to build what could be the first four-year private university in the South Bay. Our goal is to transition from San Marcos to Chula Vista as quickly as we can without jeopardizing any of the relationships we have with our students, said Frank Papatheofanis, the schools founder. Advertisement The University of Saint Katherine owns about $3 million of real estate property. The school plans to sell those buildings as soon as the option to lease is finalized. Their goal is to use that money to pay for planning costs and hopefully put up their first building in Chula Vista. Papatheofanis hopes to build a campus large enough for 1,000 students with enough housing for 400 students Additionally, the university hired the person behind Drexel Universitys $500 million capital fundraising campaign, Papatheofanis said. Chula Vista has tried to find a four-year university for the South Bay for decades. The City Council hopes the University of Saint Katherine serves as a catalyst for their University Site by taking the first 10 acres and prompting other universities to take the remaining 365 acres. The mayor and members of the City Council are currently talking to state representatives to bring a public four-year university to Otay Ranch. To lure the University of Saint Katherine away from San Marcos and jumpstart their university project, Chula Vista is offering them a $1 a year lease. The exact length of the lease has not been determined. Chula Vista vetted Saint Katherine for more than a year. First, city staff reviewed the schools academic standards. That included a review of the schools accreditation by the Senior College and University Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), an organization responsible for accrediting public and private universities in California and Hawaii. Other favorable academic factors that Chula Vista liked include the schools 70 percent graduation rate, a wide range of degrees they offer, and partnerships with other local schools like University of San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene. The most recent vetting process, which formally ended Tuesday when the City Council agreed to negotiate an option to lease, dealt with the schools finances. The university opened in 2011 with 20 students. That first year, they generated $55,000 from student tuition and fees while spending $550,000. Private donations covered the difference. Based on enrollment data, the University of Saint Katherine expects revenues from tuition and fees to exceed operating expenses in 2019, which is impressive for such a young institution, according to a memo written by Eric Crockett, the citys director of economic development. USK anticipates having a balanced budget after only seven years of operations, which is an unusually rapid attainment to achieve a balanced budget for a private, nonprofit institution of higher learning, the memo states. Saint Katherines $23,000 annual tuition is in the middle of what other local colleges charge. San Diego State Universitys annual tuition is $7,500 and UC San Diegos is $14,000. Point Loma Nazarene and University of San Diego charge about $35,000 and $47,000 respectively. If Chula Vista signs an option to lease but the university is unable to raise enough money to build within a certain timeframe, the option to lease will be terminated. The exact length of the fundraising campaign will be determined during the option to lease negotiations. Contact Gustavo Solis via Email or Twitter As Fauna was just opening its doors to the public last year, the buzz around it was already swirling. The New York Times, Food & Wine and Sunset magazine had written about the luxuriously rustic restaurant in Bajas Valle de Guadalupe wine country within days of its debut. A slew of influential publications and websites followed, including Forbes, the Robb Report and the Independent in London. Most of the hubbub centered on the estimable pedigree of Faunas young Mexican chef, David Castro Hussong, whod done a stint at Noma, in Copenhagen, and spent several years cooking at New Yorks Eleven Madison Park and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Consider Fauna a stunning homecoming for a chef returning to his hometown after a first-class world tour, wrote the Robb Report, which caters to an ultra-luxe audience. Advertisement What happened next at Fauna mirrors whats been happening Valle-wide over the past few years. The first two months, it was all word of mouth that brought people in. We didnt even do any social media, Hussong, 28, said recently in an interview on Faunas patio. Things happened really fast. By December, there were five tables in the dining room filled with people from New York. Crazy. 1 / 35 Andres Salazar, 29 chef at Deckmans at Mogor restaurant places a quail on the grill. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 2 / 35 Finca Altozano | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 3 / 35 The kitchen at Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn. The table is filled with fresh fruits. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 4 / 35 Grapes at Lomitas vineyard. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 5 / 35 Owner of Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn Tru Miller in the kitchen. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 6 / 35 Several business located at Finca Altozano. From restaurants to food trucks. Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 7 / 35 Deckmans at Mogor restaurant. Uni served with beets and abalone. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 8 / 35 On the right Jose Fernandez general manager at Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn. He looks over the grapes that have been unloaded by field workers. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 9 / 35 Grapes that have been unloaded by field workers at Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 10 / 35 The grape juice is being drained into a large container at Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 11 / 35 Finca Altozano Asador Campestre restaurant by Chef Javier Plascencia is the main attraction at the vineyard. Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 12 / 35 Finca Altozano Asador Campestre restaurant by Chef Javier Plascencia is the main attraction at the vineyard. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 13 / 35 Deckmans at Mogor restaurant. Ceviche served with flowers. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 14 / 35 Baja Divinas gift shop at Finca Altozano. Various bracelets are on display. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 15 / 35 A large dining and the bar in the back at Faunas Restaurant at Bruma in Valle de Guadalupe. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 16 / 35 Two field workers walking in the vineyards of Adobe Guadalupe. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 17 / 35 Guest at Traslomita Restaurant are severed white wine at Lomita Vinicola Mexicana in Valle de Guadalupe. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 18 / 35 A large water fountain in the main courtyard at the Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 19 / 35 Fish heads and tostadas on the grill at Traslomita Restaurant at Lomita Vinicola Mexicana in Valle de Guadalupe. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 20 / 35 Dining room in Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 21 / 35 The swimming pool are Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn. In the distance is the wine cellar. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 22 / 35 Deckmans at Mogor restaurant. The dining experience is outdoors with a view of the vineyards. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 23 / 35 Field workers at the Adobe Guadalupe Vineyards & Inn unload grapes from a truck. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 24 / 35 Traslomita Restaurant at Lomita Vinicola Mexicana in Valle de Guadalupe. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 25 / 35 Chef David Castro Hussong of FaunaOs Restaurant at Bruma stands by the main dining table. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 26 / 35 Deckmans at Mogor restaurant. The dining experience is outdoors with a view of the vineyards. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 27 / 35 Cook Luis Noriega, 27 grills some fresh vegetables at Deckmans at Mogor restaurant. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 28 / 35 Deckmans at Mogor restaurant. Colorful grilled vegetables. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 29 / 35 Das Cortez coffee shop is located at Finca Altozano. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 30 / 35 Deckmans at Mogor restaurant. The dining experience is outdoors with a view of the vineyards. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 31 / 35 Above the wine cellar at Bruma Valle de Guadalupe are large tree branches coming out go the ground. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 32 / 35 In the wine cellar at Bruma Valle de Guadalupe. Barrels of wine rest in the chilled space. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 33 / 35 Grilled asparagus with ricotta, nuts and olive oil severed at Traslomita Restaurant in Lomita Vinicola Mexicana in Valle de Guadalupe. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 34 / 35 Chef Sheila Alvarado serving a plate to guest at Traslomita Restaurant in Lomita Vinicola Mexicana in Valle de Guadalupe. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) 35 / 35 Lomitas vineyard. | Alejandro Tamayo The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) The Valle de Guadalupes crazy trajectory with this once-sleepy wine region riding a wave of accolades and hippest-hottest designations since the early part of the decade has fueled dizzying amounts of foreign investment, global tourism and ever-more buzz. So its only fitting that the area will play host to one of the biggest culinary events on the planet next weekend, the Valle Food & Wine Fest, featuring nearly three dozen of the most lauded chefs in America and Mexico and 25 of Bajas top wineries. The lineup reads like a food lovers bi-national dream team: Rick Bayless, Nancy Silverton, Dominique Crenn, Jonathan Waxman, Javier Plascencia, Benito Molina, Solange Muris, Ray Garcia, Drew Deckman, Walter Manzke, Ori Menashe, Miguel Angel Guerrero and Faunas Hussong among a bounty of other celebrity chefs from Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Baja. The cream of San Diegos crop is also making the 90-minute trip south, including Trey Foshee, Brian Malarkey, Jason Knibb, Flor Franco, Jason McLeod, Andrew Spurgin and Claudia Sandoval. For this professional watcher of the food-fest scene, its not hyperbole to predict that the second annual Valle Food & Wine will be a knockout on a grand scale. Three of the regions most revered restaurants will be on display: Plascencias Finca Altozano will host the main event Oct. 6; Deckmans en el Mogor will be the setting for the VIP chefs welcome dinner (which will honor Bayless) Oct. 5, with an A-list afterparty to be thrown at Fauna. Things get real on Oct. 7, when the top food trucks from Tijuana, Rosarito and Ensenada are being brought together for a street-food festival called De La Calle Al Valle (from the street to the valley). It will be held under the oak trees at the events venue El Kiosko de Santo Tomas. TrasLomita chef Sheyla Alvarado, a rising star in the Valle de Guadalupe, will be back for the second Valle Food & Wine Fest next weekend. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) For the mega-festival, the non-Baja chefs will eschew their fine-dining accouterments festival co-founder Fernando Gaxiola joked that he told Crenn that shed had to leave her tweezers behind in San Francisco and cook locally sourced ingredients on no-tech, open-flame, woodfire Caja China pig roasters, barrel smokers, Santa Maria-style grills and traditional copper pans. And the people who started it all the winemakers and producers will have their one-of-a-kind vinos poured alongside star-chef creations. Adobe Guadalupe, Casa de Piedra, Decantos, Lomita, Monte Xanic, Torres Alegre and Vina de Frannes are among the wineries represented. The wine is just getting better and better, said Valle wine expert Michael Langdon, who, as a former wine and spirits buyer for Whole Foods, has given Baja a big boost in San Diego. You listen to the winemakers talk theyre realizing it could be even better. You still have your older generation but theres a new generation coming up, maybe theyre not the farmers their dads and grandfathers were, but theyre willing to experiment; they want to make better wines. Like anyone who travels to the Valle with any regularity, Langdon said he sees wineries opening up every time he goes down. My goodness, there are so many new ones, he said. The last time I was there, there were three wineries that hadnt been there a couple of months before. For a little perspective on the Valles roots, we tapped the historical memory of Tru Miller, owner of the magical Adobe Guadalupe, the elegant ranch-style inn that opened in 1997; the winerys first vintage was released in 2000. We were the only ones here back then; now it seems like weve been doing interviews every day with U.S. (media), Europe and Mexico, Miller said. The wine brought the chefs, and the chefs brought the people. She said the Valles relaxed, small scale and anything-goes attitude when it comes to blending wine grapes distinguishes it from the wine regions its often compared to Napa and Sonoma. Miller credited the late Anthony Bourdain and Bayless, the Chicago chef who is considered Americas master of regional Mexican cooking, with spreading the early Baja gospel to the masses. Bayless now works with Adobe Guadalupe to produce wine for his Chicago restaurants and also carries multiple Valle labels on his wine lists. And Bayless continues to spread the word on the Valle de Guadalupe. He was featured in a multi-page spread entitled Baja on the Rise in the August issue on Mexico in Food & Wine, in which his tasting travels took him to Adobe Guadalupe, Plascencias Animalon where you eat under a 200-year-plus oak tree the cult breakfast spot La Cocina de Dona Esthela, and TrasLomita, the pastoral outdoor restaurant behind Lomita winery. In the article, Bayless called out TrasLomitas young chef for particular praise. I think Sheyla Alvarado has got to be the most talented chef in the Valle, he said. Alvarado, 28, recently was deftly multi-tasking in her kitchen without walls, tending to whole fish and asparagus spears grilling in the wood-fire oven, while answering questions from a succession of cooks, as well from a reporter interviewing her in English, her second language. In a way, she said, the Valle Food & Wine Fest validates all the hype the Valle gets. Its cool that all these people with importance are coming here to support what we do here, the open fire, the wine, our small producers of cheese, olive oil, honey, our vegetables, our animals, Alvarado said. We dont have these big ... factories. No, she said, shes not nervous to be cooking in the same lineup as Michelin-starred chefs (although she was last year, the festivals debut). Im making dessert, and only Nancy Silverton and I are making dessert, so thats exciting, she beamed. Nobody ever complains about dessert. The tasting room and tienda (store) at Adobe Guadalupe is a must-visit in the Valle. Another must? Lunch on the patio from the Adobe food truck. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) Top 5 Valle wineries to visit There are scores of wineries in the Valle de Guadalupe, but if youre a first-time visitor, here are my picks that will give you a true flavor for the region. Across-the-board elegance and deliciousness in a gorgeous setting. The Adobe Food Truck outside the tasting room is a must try. Top sip: The earthy Kerubiel Rhone blend; the older the better, as Adobe wines age impressively. The Valles first producer of high-quality wine, Monte Xanics facility is a stunner. Reservations required to visit. Top sip: The sauvignon blanc Vina Kristel for impressive acidity and intoxicating citrus and tropical fruit flavors. A project by Valle pioneer Ernesto Alvarez Morphy Camou with an assist from the Bordeaux-based, globe-trotting wine consultant Michel Rolland. The winery is modern and stylish. Top sip: The silky and rich Legat cabernet franc. A tasting provides a master class in how the Valles Mediterranean climate makes it so hospitable to Italian varietals, particularly nebbiolo. Reservations preferred. Top sip: The brick-red Paoloni brunello tastes like Tuscany. The signature winery of Hugo DAcosta, whos considered the regions Robert Mondavi. Reservations preferred. Top sip: Espuma de Piedra Blanc de Blancs, an unorthodox Mexican bubbly thats world class. Get a taste of the Valle in San Diego If youre curious about tasting Valle wines or just cant get enough here are places in San Diego to try it. Shops: Truly Fine Wine (on Morena Boulevard), Vintage Wines (on Miramar Road) and Krisp (downtown San Diego) are among the stores that put a premium on selling premium Valle wines. Restaurants: Pueblo (Pacific Beach), Red O (UTC area), 3rd Corner (Ocean Beach), El Jardin (Liberty Station), Coasterra (Harbor Island), Vistal (downtown San Diego), and Puesto* (La Jolla and The Headquarters, downtown San Diego). * Puesto gets a special shout-out for its extensive by-the-bottle list and cheers! the Valle by-the-glass, on-tap program. Puestos director of operations, Lucien Conner, has worked tirelessly to secure top Baja wines by the barrel. Currently on tap are Lechuzas pristine unoaked chardonnay and Amantes red blend (which, by the way, joins the Monte Xanic sauvignon blanc, on the wine list at The French Laundry). Also by the glass right now is the Casa de Piedra blanc de blanc. Pair these balanced wines with Puestos tacos and you might never down a margarita or cerveza with Mexican food again. Valle Food & Wine Fest When: Oct. 5-7 Where: Various locations Tickets: $125 (main festival); $40 to $500 (other events, VIP experiences) Online: vallefoodandwinefest.com Note: An earlier version of this story included chef Michael Mina as one of the participants. He is no longer participating. michele.parente@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @sdeditgirl September 27, 1970 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 27, 1970 In 1970, Santa Ana winds blew a tree into a power line, sparking a fire in the Cleveland National Forest. By the time it was controlled more than a week later, the massive Laguna fire had scorched over 180,000 acres, killed eight people and burned nearly 400 homes. Before the firestorms of the 2000s, the 1970 Laguna fire was San Diegos largest wildfire. Here are the first few paragraphs of the story: Lagunas Fire Chars Vast Area, Perils Pine Valley Hundred Flee 100-Foot Flames; Interstate 8 Shut By Michael Scott-Blair and Richard R. Barnes A fast-moving fire, spurred on by gusts of winds up to 50 miles an hour, burned more than 30,000 acres of forest and dry brush last night in the Laguna Mountains, forcing evacuation of two communities and the closing of Interstate 8. Fire boss John Caragozian of the U.S. Forest Service said the blaze was burning out of control in a southerly direction from Mt. Laguna toward Pine Valley and Morena Reservoir resort on an enormous front. The flames were said to be 40 to 50 feet high in some spots. Earlier, the flames were 100 feet high and were said to be traveling at speeds of almost 40 miles an hour over brush-covered meadows. The fire, which started shortly after 6 a.m. yesterday on Mt. Laguna south of the resorts, last night destroyed three homes in the northeast section of Pine Valley and threatened several more. The blaze was reported only several hundred yards east of the small community, and flames encircled it to the south. At 8:30 p.m. firemen did not give Pine Valley a chance of surviving, but a 180-degree shift in the wind granted the community a reprieve. The wind abruptly shifted from an eat to a west wind. Several Hundred Persons Evacuated Several hundred persons, including Pine Valleys 500 residents, the 400 residents of Morena Village, and occupants of numerous cabins and vacation homes which dot the area, were evacuated. Civil Defense was preparing to open an evacuation center in Alpine. Some residents planned to spend the night in motels. Camp Oliver, a girls camp near Descanso, made its 120 beds available to the Pine Valley residents. Deputies, who were supervising the Pine Valley evacuation, were ordered by Sheriff Joseph OConnor to remove residents by force if they insisted on staying in their homes. Interstate 8, which crosses the rugged Lagunas in eastern San Diego County, was closed to traffic by the California Highway Patrol. Curious motorists were stopped by the CHP at Alpine and through traffic was restored to state Highways 94 and 78. 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. Police are searching for a man they say stabbed and kicked an Uber driver following a road rage incident on Highway 87 in San Jose on Wednesday morning. A 24-year-old man was driving a passenger north about 8:45 a.m. near the Capitol Expressway exit when he was involved in a road rage type incident with a woman driving a white sedan in front of him, according to the California Highway Patrol. CHP said the woman drove away without confronting the Uber driver. A few minutes later, a man driving a gold or brown sedan pulled alongside the Uber drivers vehicle and requested that he pull to the right shoulder. Advertisement After both got out of their vehicles, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed the Uber driver in the stomach, according to the CHP. The driver fell to the ground, and the man kicked him before he got back into his car and drove off. The attack investigators describe is frightening, Uber wrote in a statement. We have been in contact with the drivers family to offer our support and urge anyone who can help authorities catch the suspect to please come forward. Authorities described the attacker as being in his mid-30s with tan skin, short hair and has several tattoos on his arm. Anyone with information is asked to call CHP investigators at (707) 917-4491. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @Hannahnfry UPDATES: 8:25 a.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Uber. This article was originally published at 7:35 a.m. A man caught looting homes vacated during the West fire in Alpine in July has been convicted of breaking into one home and trying to get into a second one. Ardian Iseni, 30, faces up to seven years, four months in state prison when he is sentenced on Oct. 26, a prosecutor said Wednesday. The 500-acre West fire broke out July 6, south of Interstate 8 between West Willows Road and Alpine Boulevard. Flames destroyed 34 homes and 21 other buildings and damaged another 20 homes and buildings. Iseni was arrested the next day, while some evacuation orders were being lifted. Advertisement He was already on probation for an earlier East County burglary, Deputy District Attorney Shane Waller said. On July 8, a resident posted a notice on the Alpine Community Network website that she caught had a looter on Sage View Drive. He had a tote bag with jewelry in it, the unsigned notice said. I caught him entering a home but got him BEFORE he got in. He had just opened the door. So the jewelry is from other homes in our area, the resident wrote. Waller confirmed that a neighbor saw Iseni peering into the window and jiggling the doorknob of a home, while carrying a womans purse. Other neighbors moved in and detained him until a district attorneys investigator, who was helping with evacuations, came to help. Sheriffs deputies then arrested Iseni. The purse and jewelry inside it were stolen from another victims home. Waller said it was mostly costume pieces from the victims mother and her husbands Navy campaign medals and dog tags from his three tours of duty in Vietnam. A three-day trial last week ended with a jury finding Iseni guilty of one count each of residential burglary and attempted burglary. Waller said Iseni will be sentenced next month for the Alpine looting case and the probation violation. pauline.repard@sduniontribune Twitter: @pdrepard A public interest group and the San Diego teachers union are raising concerns about the potential renewal of the charter network Thrive Public Schools, claiming that its test scores are too low compared to campuses with similar student demographics. Their concerns and the response from Thrive leadership have generated a debate about the many ways the quality of education can be measured. The criticism surfaced at a public hearing Tuesday night as the San Diego Unified School Board considered whether to approve a five-year renewal of Thrives charter, which Thrive needs to continue operating. Thrives charter is set to expire in June of next year. School board trustees on Tuesday also held public hearings about renewal petitions for The OFarrell, Empower and Ingenuity charter schools. But Thrive was the only charter-school renewal to generate public opposition Tuesday in addition to support from several dozen parents and staff. Advertisement The board is expected to decide on Thrives renewal petition at its Nov. 13 meeting, according to a district spokesman. If the board rejects the renewal, Thrive can appeal to the San Diego County Board of Education, then to the State Board of Education if the county also rejects its petition. Thrive serves almost 1,000 students in grades K-11 at four campuses, including two that are shared with district schools. Thrive says it focuses on providing engaging and project-based education as well as personalized learning plans for each student. It aims to have an intentionally diverse population and provide a better educational option for students struggling in other schools. Thrive has received considerable recognition for presenting an innovative approach to learning. But critics take issue with Thrives state test scores, which have declined each year since Thrives inception. Founder and CEO Nicole Assisi attributes those declines to the waves of new students Thrive has added each year, many of whom she says arrive significantly behind in math and English. A lot of kids come to us because they havent been successful in other school settings, Assisi said in an interview. In its first year, Thrive enrolled 45 students. Half of those who took state tests met or exceeded English language arts standards while 37 percent did so for math. In the 2016-2017 school year, the last year for which test data is available, Thrive enrolled 461 students and 37 percent met or exceeded English standards, while 20 percent did so for math. Assisi said she wants to focus on student growth, or how much students improve in performance over time, not just on the number of students meeting standards at any point in time. About 56 percent of Thrive students met growth targets on a different test in reading last school year, and 51 percent did so in math, according to Thrives charter petition. Thrives critics include the San Diego Education Association, the union for district teachers, and In the Public Interest, an Oakland-based organization that has criticized charter schools in the past and calls out the privatization of public services. The nonprofit policy and research group recently published a report estimating that San Diego Unified loses $65.9 million a year due to students enrolling in charter schools. According to In the Public Interests analysis of Thrives test scores, Thrive performs the worst on state tests among certain district schools with similar percentages of low-income students. According to Thrives own analysis, its low-income students performed worse on state tests than students in comparable schools. About 56 percent of Thrive students are considered low-income. The academic performance gives us extremely severe concern when looking at comparable schools, said Clare Crawford, senior public policy advisor for In the Public Interest, at Tuesdays hearing. Crawford said she is concerned that Thrive is growing too fast at the expense of student performance, a concern that was echoed by San Diego Unified Trustee Michael McQuary. Two teachers from district schools also claimed at Tuesdays public hearing that some Thrive students have jeopardized the safety of district students who attend school at the same location. Bill McClain, a fourth-grade teacher at Carver Elementary, which shares a school site with Thrive, claimed that Thrive students have thrown rocks at Carver students, flipped them off, cursed at them and pounded on his classroom windows during testing. I have never heard a student say they were sorry, McClain said at Tuesdays board meeting. It makes me wonder who was holding these students responsible for their behavior. Assisi later said she was surprised that nobody had told her or her principals about these alleged safety incidents prior to Tuesday night. I think anyone whos been at our school will say theyve had a different experience, Assisi said in an interview. We have a calm, safe, productive environment. Thrive also had difficulty winning approval to operate back in 2014, when it first sought San Diego Unifieds authorization to open. The San Diego school board denied Thrives petition early that year, saying it was unlikely to successfully implement its program. The San Diego County Board of Education denied Thrives petition two months later because it believed Thrive had an unsound educational program. Only after appealing to the State Board of Education did Thrive finally receive approval to open. State education officials also voted in 2016 to allow Thrive to expand to high school. Kristen Taketa Email: kristen.taketa@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @Kristen_Taketa Daily vitamin doses were all that 11-month-old Maverick Coltrin needed to end the deadly seizures that arrived shortly after his birth. But that simple solution materialized only after quick-turnaround genetic sequencing helped doctors at Rady Childrens Hospital in San Diego find the correct diagnosis fast enough to make a difference for the rapidly-deteriorating infant. Maverick is among a growing number of Rady patients who have benefited from the rapid sequencing and analysis capabilities of the hospitals genomics institute. He was on hand with his family at the hospital Wednesday to announce Project Baby Bear. The $2 million state-funded initiative will explore bringing similar cutting-edge diagnostic capabilities to young patients covered by Medi-Cal, the health insurance program for the states most disadvantaged residents. Advertisement It was stories like Mavericks, said Michael Wilkening, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, that convinced the state to invest in a pilot project to explore how the service could fit into Medi-Cal, a program that covers 6 million kids statewide. The practical application of genomic sequencing that were seeing here at Rady Childrens, using it to actually save babies lives, is a compelling story and a very good application of very interesting technology, Wilkening said. The initiative, which was requested by state Assemblyman Brain Maienschein who co-chairs the California Legislative Rare Disease Caucus, will work with infants on Medi-Cal from four different cities: Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego. The goal is to derive genetic diagnoses for at least 100 children admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in their communities with severe but unexplained symptoms. Blood samples will be dispatched to Radys high-speed sequencing lab in San Diego, where the institutes team of geneticists will use custom software to quickly look for genetic markers of disease. The institute recently set the Guiness world record for whole-genome sequencing, and is already working with several other childrens hospitals across the nation to make gene-based diagnoses as quickly as possible. Speed is of the essence because many children with severe seizures, metabolic disorders or other maladies often die before doctors can hit on the right combination of medications. The idea, then, is to spot those disorders caused by genetic mutations quickly by using high-powered computers and artificial intelligence to accomplish what used to take weeks in hours or days. Dr. David Dimmock, the institutes senior medical director, said he believes that diagnosing 100 different Medi-Cal patients will show Medi-Cal that its worth adding the service statewide. The pilot data that we expect were going to get in the next 18 months is going to demonstrate that it is affordable and effective for Medi-Cal to do this for every baby admitted to a level three or four NICU across the state, Dimmock said. The institute has already made a first foray into connecting high-speed sequencing, which costs about $20,000 per kid, to cost savings. By getting to a diagnosis more quickly, researchers have found that hospitals waste less money trying medication after medication and keeping young patients in expensive hospital beds longer. A recently-published study from the institute examined the cases of 42 infants with unexplained symptoms and estimated that early diagnosis saved between $800,000 and $2 million. Getting Medi-Cal involved is a critical step in the overall quest to expand access to genetic sequencing for babies across the state and the nation. At present, few private health insurance companies cover the service without significant pleading from doctors. In most cases, costs are covered under clinical trial protocols or through philanthropy. Convincing Medi-Cal that sequencing is cost effective and delivers a real benefit for enough babies across the state, Dimmock said, could go a long way toward pushing private insurance companies to follow suit. I think its quite hard for a commercial insurer, or the large companies that they represent, to explain why theyre not covering something that Medi-Cal is covering, Dimmock said. Rady estimates that about 40,000 babies born across the United States every year with life-threatening but unexplained symptoms could benefit from rapid sequencing. Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson Brett Kavanaugh, touted by his alma mater when he seemed poised to join three other Yale Law School graduates on the Supreme Court, defended himself in an extraordinary hearing Thursday stemming from accusations of sexual misconduct, including one alleged to have taken place at Yale, where he was also an undergraduate. On Thursday, about 70 law students gathered in a student lounge to watch the Senate Judiciary Committee question Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a California research psychologist who said Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her when the two were in high school. Though Thursdays hearing centered around an encounter alleged to have occurred in suburban Washington D.C., the years Kavanaugh spent at Yale have come under scrutiny during a strikingly bitter confirmation process. The law school was closed to the press Thursday. Elsa Mota, a second year law student from Miami, said the mood inside was somber and tense. Earlier this week, hundreds of students staged a sit-in and walked out of class to protest Kavanaughs nomination after another woman, Deborah Ramirez, said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while the two were classmates at Yale. Advertisement At Yale, Kavanaugh Stayed Out Of Debates At A Time Of Many The school itself has become a player in the saga. When Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump in July, the law schools dean and three professors praised his brilliant and lucid legal opinions and mentorship of a diverse set of clerks, in all respects. The dean, Heather Gerken, said she had known Kavanaugh for many years, and could personally attest that, in addition to his government and judicial service, Judge Kavanaugh has been a longtime friend to many of us in the Yale Law School community. Some at the law school were elated at the time, Carl Jiang, a second year law student from Chicago, said on Thursday. This is an alum; this bolsters the credibility of the school, Jiang, 25, recalled the line of thought. We should be celebrating it. In this circa 1992 photo provided by Jim Brochin and made by Martha Kavanaugh, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, front row far right, poses with Yale University Law School classmates at Kavanaughs parents home in St. Michaels, Md. (Martha Kavanaugh / AP) Jiang, however, did not support Kavanughs ascent to the high court. He felt the schools championing of him pointed a readiness, across the institution, to embrace the prestige of another Supreme Court placement without examining the judges record. Mota, the law student from Miami, had met Kavanaugh for lunch with a group of other students in April. He dispensed advice on getting clerkships, she said, the coveted placements that can catapult young graduates through the ranks of the judiciary. She shook his hand; he gave out his personal email address. A first-year law student at the time, Mota knew only Kavanaugh was a judge. She didnt know he was being groomed at the time by legal circles hoping to position him as President Trumps second nominee, and cement a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. I had no idea he was on a shortlist, Mota said, or that he was even important enough, or good enough, to be considered for the Supreme Court. The accusation that Kavanugh drunkenly exposed himself to a classmate has clouded his time in New Haven. Gerken, who two months earlier had lauded him as a longtime friend of the law school, said on Monday that the allegations were rightly causing deep concern. That day, hundreds of law school students staged a sit-in to protest Kavanaughs nomination; dozens more traveled to Washington, where two students were arrested for demonstrating inside Senate office buildings. Kavanaugh, both defiant and tearful during Thursdays hearing, called the allegations of sexual misconduct a calculated and political hit, engineered by Democrats still smarting from the 2016 election and bankrolled by millions of dollars in left-wing money. Youve tried hard; youve given it your all, Kavanaugh told Senate Democrats. No one can question your effort. But your coordinated and well-funded effort to destroy my good name, and destroy my family, will not drive me out. As more and more of these women come forward, we believe, and our classmates believe, that they all have a right to be heard. Kayla Morin, a second-year Yale Law student from Portage, Mich. Fifty faculty members sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, urging its members to open an FBI investigation into Blasey Fords allegations. Ramming through Kavanaughs appointment could shake confidence in the confirmation process and the Supreme Court itself, they wrote. In a statement, Gerken, the law school dean, called the letter thoughtful, but said she was precluded by university policy from taking a stance for or against a particular nominee. Since the misconduct allegations surfaced, Jiang said the early support Kavanaugh enjoyed at the law school has become more muted. But some, he said, are supporting a slower, quote un-quote, deliberate process: Lets wait to protest, lets wait to pass judgment. I respect that their intention is to have a very fair process, he added, but I think too often those arguments are used to cudgel survivors. Ironically, its to speed up the confirmation process and allow him to be confirmed without a full hearing, with everyone whos come forth. Jenny Tumas, a second-year law student from Los Alamos, N.M., stressed that because Kavanaugh does not face criminal charges, the same standards for burden of proof or due process do not apply. Senators are tasked explicitly with examining Kavanaughs character, Tumas, 26, said, unlike in a criminal trial where character evidence is off limits. To suggest that we need to have a presumption of innocence and a really high standard, its a way to speed up the process, silence people who are coming forward and push a political agenda that wants to ignore the character of this person, she said. Being nominated to the Supreme Court is a privilege, a process that cannot be compared to a criminal trial, said Kayla Morin, a second-year law student from Portage, Mich. Hes not being prosecuted, he cannot be imprisoned for this its a privilege to be nominated for the Supreme Court, Morin said. Its not the same standard for due process rights as in a courtroom. Morin, 23, was traveling to Washington D.C. for a demonstration when she read Ramirezs account of Kavanaugh drunkenly exposing himself at Yale. Her allegations made the call for an FBI investigation even stronger, Morin said. As more and more of these women come forward, we believe, and our classmates believe, that they all have a right to be heard and there should be a full and impartial investigation. Since Kavanaugh was nominated in July, Tumas, the law student from Los Alamos, said shes felt disappointed, frustrated and, at times, inspired. Shes not resigned herself to what role her school has already played in the Kavanaugh saga: launching pad to a sterling legal career, site of alleged misconduct. On campus and in the nations capital, Yale students are trying to shape this story before it ends, she said. Its a mix of anger and frustration and sadness and also, for me, it feels very powerful and heartening, she said, to get to be a part of trying to change the story and the institutions role in it. A body believed to be that of missing 6-year-old Maddox Ritch has been found near the North Carolina park where he disappeared, the FBI said Thursday. The body was found at approximately 1 p.m. at a location about a mile from where Maddox was last seen. The boys parents have been notified and the identification will be performed by the medical examiners office. I think its reasonable to say that its him, FBI supervisory special agent Jason Kaplan said at a press conference Thursday. Some time will pass before we are able to say that definitively, he said. Kaplan, who saw the little boys body, said it was absolutely amazing that he was found. Advertisement It was extremely difficult to see him even when we were standing right next to him, he said. Kaplan stated that the area in which the boys body was found had previously been searched by multiple crews, including drone, ATV teams and foot patrol. Maddox, who is autistic and does not speak, disappeared on Saturday when he ran ahead of his father at Rankin Lake Park. Ian Ritch, who was with his girlfriend, said this was normally what would happen when they went to the park. However, this time he said he lost sight of Maddox. Maddox was about 25 feet away before he broke into a sprint as a jogger passed them. The father said he is a diabetic and has trouble running because he has neuropathy in his feet. Maddox Ritch had been missing since Saturday. (Handout) He likes running, Ian Ritch said. I couldnt catch up with him. I feel guilt for letting him get so far ahead of me before I started running after him. In a 911 call, park employee Rick Foxx said that Id say its been almost an hour now. We searched everywhere. He said during the call that Maddoxs parents were still searching for their son. Gastonia cops say they are looking for people who were at the park that day. Police need to talk with everyone at the park on Saturday to find all possible clues or valuable witnesses in the case, the department wrote on its Facebook page on Wednesday. The department hasnt yet heard from everyone who was present at the park and is imploring possible witnesses to contact them. Ian Ritch said during a press conference on Wednesday that he just wants Maddox back. Its been torture, he said. Im not eating, not sleeping. Im just worried about getting my little boy back. Mom Carrie Ritch said earlier this week that Maddox is my whole world and my reason for living. A candlelight vigil was held in Gastonia on Wednesday night for Maddox. There is no sense of accomplishment here today. There is grieving down at our command post, Gastonia Fire Chief Phil Welch said. Investigators are still seeking to understand if criminality was involved or if Maddoxs disappearance was an accident. This is the end we hoped we wouldnt find, Gastonia police chief Robert Helton said. With News Wire Services For those wondering aloud if a person can faint standing up, heres proof that yes, its possible. A Wednesday commuter on the PATH had passed out for at least several seconds before anyone realized the man on the crowded train was unconscious. I looked behind me, and the mans head is drooping to the side and his eyes are closed. He fainted, Jersey City resident Gary Toriello told NJ Advance Media, who was commuting between the Exchange Place station and the World Trade Center. The train is so crowded, he couldnt even drop to the ground. He was being propped up by other commuters, including myself. Toriello blamed chronic overcrowding for exacerbating the unidentified mans problem. Despite the sardine-like situation, passengers were able to create enough space so he could recline. He then fell into my arms, said the Jersey City man. Advertisement The trains conductor discovered no medical crisis after one patron pulled an emergency alarm. Toriello stated the conductor didnt arrive on the scene until after the vehicle had stopped and the doors opened. Having recovered by now, the man simply walked out of the car and onto the platform. The woman I saw just pressed the red call button and told the conductor someone fainted, recalled Toriello. The train did not screech to a halt. It kept going and pulled into the station normally. Overcrowding and a sense of claustrophobia are common occurrences on PATH, especially during morning-hour commutes, in which there are routinely twice as many standing passengers than available seats. I have been riding PATH for 13 years, Toniello said. It has always been crowded from the start. The dentist changed his life. The day after a mostly nonverbal Texas boy received a non-invasive laser treatment, he woke up his parents with a simple phrase: Momma, Im hungry. More than a year after Mason Motz received his life-altering surgery, his family is coming forward as a thank you to the doctor who performed the surgery. Before receiving the treatment in April 2017, Mason could barely speak and missed important childhood milestones. Advertisement He only made sounds like Ma instead of mom or Da instead of dad. After years of speech therapy and doctors visits, Masons father, Dalan, and mother, Meredith, took him to see Dr. Amy Luedemann-Lazar at Kidstown Dental in Katy, Texas. They brought Mason to the office to fix a cavity, but ended up finding out he had something called tongue-tie, also known as Ankyloglossia a condition that involves a band of tissue tying the tongue, limiting its range of motion. In addition to have his tongue cut, Mason also had five teeth removed. The procedure took about three minutes, not very long and the recovery time, which is dependent on the patient, was a seven hour turnaround for Mason, Dalan Motz explained. Mason started talking a little the evening following his surgery, but he was still trying to adjust to the pain from all the work that was done in his mouth. Before the surgery, Mason Motz (left) was just making sounds like Ma instead of mom or Da instead of dad. (The Motz Family) Motz and his wife grew worried that night when they didnt hear Mason having trouble breathing on the sleeping monitor they had become accustomed to the sounds of him gasping for air, wheezing, coughing or snoring. In the past Mason would breathe every two minutes and gasp for air, Motz said. It wasnt until the next morning that Mason truly started to speak. Motz recalled doctors saying Mason had the language before the surgery. He knew it he had the words, but his mouth wasnt allowing him to articulate the sounds. Now Mason enjoys speaking to his 4-year-old brother, Max, and singing songs from the movie Les Miserables, something he does when he feels nervous. Because he was blocked from being able to articulate his feelings at a young age, he refers back to something that makes him happy and thats singing or acting out scenes from a movie, his father said. Mason also enjoys telling his mom to settle down. Motz explained his wife has been on cloud nine since the successful treatment. Luedemann-Lazar has been trying to raise awareness of tongue-tie in hopes doctors can know to check it. Signs a child may have of tongue-tie could be unexplained cavities, behavior problems, speech difficulties, poor sleep, breast-feeding issues and eating problems. Certain facial features can also be associated with the syndrome. Weve gone through geneticists and different pediatricians and nobody knew to even look through this to be a contributing factor, Motz said. A large majority of the dental work was funded through a nonprofit organization called The School of Athens, a charity formed by soldiers in Oklahoma. Motz wants others to know that, Just because the dentist isnt in network or you have to put it on a credit card reach out. Dont let money be a reason for you not to help your child. Find a way It just so happened we were able to. Psycho wants its storyline back. Donna Sue Hudgins allegedly kept her 93-year-old mothers dead body in her North Carolina home without telling anyone because she was curious and wanted to see the stages of death, police said Tuesday. Hudgins, 69, was arrested for felony concealment of death after she went to a funeral home to make arrangements for her mother. According to her obituary on the funeral homes website, Nellie Mae Jones Hudgins died on Sept. 7, but a statement from the Enfield Police department said her body had been dead for several months. Advertisement Kenny Velasquez, who is separated from Nellie Hudginss granddaughter, told WRAL that Hudgins wouldnt allow any relatives to see or talk to the elder woman. Every time somebody would stop by, she would meet us at the door, say shes asleep or something like that, he said. Apparently every time someone would call, same thing. The owner of a series of YouTube channels popular with tweens has been charged with sexually abusing an aspiring actress who claims he fondled her breasts and forced her to change in front of him before a photo shoot. Ian Rylett, 55, was arrested last month and charged with one count of lewd or lascivious molestation, online records show. He was released from the Orange County Jail after posting bail. Rylett, a citizen of the United Kingdom, heads a branch of YouTube channels known as SAKS channels, which includes Seven Cool Tweens, Seven Awesome Kids and the most popular, Seven Super Girls. Altogether, his channels boast more than 178 million subscribers. It was a minor aiming to become a member of Seven Super Girls who accused Rylett of abuse, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Daily News. Advertisement The victim said she met up with Rylett to take part in a photo shoot about a week after signing a contract to become part of his elite team of actresses. Rylett allegedly called the victim into his room and ordered she remove her shirt in order to practice wrapping her breasts down so that theyd appear smaller in the shoot. The victim said she initially refused, but that he warned her shed need to get comfortable removing her clothes in front of him or else hed have to use force. She eventually complied, and removed her shirt and bra, at which point Rylett allegedly wrapped down her breasts with a bandage, cupping and manipulating her chest as he repeated the act two or three times, the affidavit says. The victim also claims Rylett gave her three different bikinis to change into, and removed her panties himself after she refused to do so. The victim was not identified, but documents filed in circuit court say she was between the ages of 12 and 16. SevenSuperGirls hasnt uploaded any new videos since Ryletts arrest. (Youtube) Rylett was arrested on a warrant Aug. 18, and pleaded not guilty on Aug. 22. The Seven Super Girls channel has not uploaded any new content since his arrest. The channel was created in 2008, and bills itself as the largest all-girl partner collaboration on YouTube. It is made up of seven different young actresses who each record videos on one set day of the week. In a New York Times profile last year, Rylett said his role is to deal with the videos copyright issues, create sponsorship deals, create weekly themes and monitor meet-and-greets. He told the Times he receives income from the channels, and some of the girls do, too. The content caters to the tween set, and includes DIY videos teaching kids how to make slime and build obstacle courses, as well as scripted skits focusing on things like sleepovers and birthday parties. Over the last decade, the channels videos have amassed more than 5 billion views. A YouTube spokesperson told the Daily News that the company takes allegations of sexual harassment and assault very seriously, and will remove content should it violate the Community Guidelines. The company also confirmed that Ryletts channels were demonetized shortly after his arrest. A watchdog group has filed a lawsuit seeking to block construction of a large housing and commercial project in southeastern San Diego because of ethics violations by a member of the Civic San Diego board. San Diegans for Open Government, a group led by attorney Cory Briggs, contends the City Councils June approval of the project is null and void because of the violations, which the citys Ethics Commission called extremely egregious. Civic San Diego board member Phil Rath in August paid the commission a relatively large fine of $11,000 because he voted in favor of selecting Affirmed Housing to develop the project without disclosing his financial relationship with the company. The developer had previously paid Raths communications firm $122,000 for help with a separate project in San Marcos. Advertisement The commission said such violations of San Diegos ethics law undermine public confidence in the integrity of the citys decision-making process. Rath agreed to pay the fine rather than demand a hearing to dispute the charges. The lawsuit seeks to block construction of a project that would include 113 rent-restricted apartments, 47 market-rate condominiums and 8,500 square feet of retail space on a vacant lot at Euclid Avenue and Hilltop Drive in Chollas View. In addition, the lawsuit seeks reimbursement to the city of all money paid to contractors and others associated with the project since the council approved it in mid-June. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 13, also asserts that additional illegal activity is likely to be uncovered during the case. A spokeswoman for City Attorney Mara Elliott said in an email Wednesday that the city will review the allegations and respond through the courts. Civic San Diego officials didnt return phone calls on Wednesday. Rath declined to comment through a spokeswoman. The Ethics Commission said Rath violated both conflict-of-interest and disclosure rules. He failed to disclose the payments as required under city ethics laws, and he also failed to recuse himself from two Civic San Diego votes recommending the council choose Affirmed for the project in southeastern San Diego. Civic San Diego is a nonprofit group entrusted by the city to handle planning and project approvals downtown and some other neighborhoods. In August, Rath said he regrets failing to disclose the conflict of interest. While there was no ill intent behind the error, I alone am responsible for ensuring the accuracy of my disclosure forms, and I failed in this case, Rath said in a statement last month. Civic San Diego rescinded its recommendation of Affirmed Housing to the council after Raths conflict of interest was uncovered. The council, however, eventually entered into an agreement with company anyway. Rath received his final payment from Affirmed in August 2015, shortly after he joined the Civic San Diego board in July 2015. City codes require that Rath, within 30 days of joining the board, disclose all of his financial interests from the previous 12 months. He was also required to file a report in spring 2016 covering all of his financial interests during the previous calendar year. The payment from Affirmed was not included in either of those reports. Meanwhile, Rath voted on June 8, 2016, as a member of Civics real estate and finance joint committee, to recommend the council choose Affirmed for the project. And on June 22, 2016, Rath voted as a member of the agencys board in favor of the same recommendation. During both meetings, he also made positive comments about Affirmed to his colleagues. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick The city of San Diego consistently ranks among the safest big cities in the U.S., but last year when it came to violent crime it was the safest. According to FBI data released this week, police investigated 5,221 violent crimes in 2017, giving San Diego a rate of 3.7 crimes per 1,000 people, fewer than New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Chicago. The FBI tracks four kinds of violent crimes: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. While San Diego regularly logs the lowest murder rate of the countrys 10 largest cities it did last year with a murder rate of 2.5 killings per 100,000 residents 2017 was the first time in at least five years that San Diego recorded the lowest overall violent crime rate. Advertisement The city also saw the second lowest property crime rate of the biggest cities, at 18.4 crimes per 1,000 residents. New York had the lowest, with a rate of 14.5. Both violent crime and property crime rates were slightly down from the year before, mirroring a downtick seen across the country, according to the data. Nationally, violent crime decreased 0.2 percent when compared to 2016 and property crime fell 3 percent. Although San Diego County saw a slight increase in violent crime in the first half of 2018 when compared to the year before, the region continues to enjoy historically low crime rates. Given that we are such a large U.S. city, I dont think anyone would be surprised if our crime rate was higher, said Cynthia Burke, director of criminal justice research at the San Diego Association of Governments. Im baffled by it. Burke isnt the only one who wrestles with the why to explain the falling crime numbers. Its a topic that has been debated among criminologists since the 1990s, when crime across the nation plummeted. Theyre still talking about it and its still worthy of research because its still happening, said Charis Kubrin, a criminology professor and researcher at UC Irvine. Theories for the decline abound. Some credit a decline in the crack trade and mass incarceration, while others the hiring of more law enforcement officers and the development of data-driven policing. Theres data to suggest that income growth, a decrease in alcohol consumption nationwide and an aging population each played a role. Conversely, gang activity and gun markets are generally factors that fuel violent crime. New explanations continue to crop up, like the exploding popularity of video games. When you think about whos most likely to sit at home on their computer and play video games, its young men , said Kubrin. Which means that theyre not hanging out on the corner, getting in trouble. Some suspect San Diegos low crime rate is related to its high immigrant population, theorizing that certain characteristics of immigrants act as a sort of buffer against crime. For example, many immigrants tend to arrive with families that include children and grandparents who go on to live in the same house. More adults in a house can mean higher incomes and more supervision for children, both which have the potential to affect crime. Burke, with SANDAG, said some of the low numbers may be a reflection of the changing nature of crime, as well. The data released Monday is part of the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which doesnt collect crimes like identity theft an offense thats on the rise, Burke said. Community members choosing to report crime less often would also affect the crime rate. The FBI data also painted a positive picture of the county as a whole. According to an analysis by The San Diego Union-Tribune, the region logged the sixth-lowest violent crime rate of the 20 largest metropolitan statistical areas. These geographic regions typically include a core, densely-populated city with at least 50,000 people and its surrounding regions. Nearly 11,300 violent crimes were recorded across the county in 2017, which is about 3.4 crimes per 1,000 people. The Houston region had the highest rate in the country with nearly six violent crimes per 1,000 people. The region logged the third-lowest property crime rate in the country, according to the Union-Tribune analysis. There were 56,800 incidents reported in 2017 for a rate of 17 per 1,000 people. Two metropolitan regions Chicago, Naperville and Elgin, in Illinois, and St. Louis, Mo. did not report violent crime data for the FBIs analysis and were not included in the ranking. Five regions that did not report property crimes were not included either. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com After half a year at the helm, Interim Lifeguard Division Chief James Gartland can now drop that first word from his title. On Wednesday, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department announced that it has appointed Gartland to permanently lead its lifeguard division. Chief Gartland has a passion for lifeguarding and is a dedicated member of our department and the San Diego community Fire Chief Colin Stowell said in announcing the selection of Gartland. He has the attributes, skills and experience that make him the best choice to lead the lifeguard division, Stowell said. Advertisement Gartland a lifeguard with the department for 23 years had held the top job in the division on an interim basis for the last six months. In the announcement, Gartland said that attaining the leadership job has been a dream of mine and I am honored to have been selected. The San Diego State University graduates resume includes being chair of the San Diego Regional Aquatic Lifesaving Emergency Response Task Force and the Area Maritime Security Subcommittee on Preventative Radiological Nuclear Detection. He also spent 18 months as the regional maritime emergency preparedness manager with the Citys Office of Homeland Security according to the announcement. Outside of work, he is president of the Old Town Academy School Advisory Board and has volunteered for San Diego Coastkeeper and Clairemont Hilltoppers Little League. He officially began his new duties leading the division last Saturday. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com (760) 529-4945 Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT For the past several years, activists from the San Diego area have gathered on the 26th day of each month outside the Mexican consulate in Little Italy to protest, and to show they wont forget, the disappearances and presumed deaths of 43 students in 2014 in southern Mexico. On Wednesday morning, the monthly demonstration and a similar evening demonstration organized by the same groups in San Ysidro took on extra importance, as the activists marked four years since the students vanished on Sept. 26, 2014. Our purpose is to continue to make this issue visible, said David Morales, a teacher at High Tech High Media Arts in Liberty Station. In these four years, weve had no answers from the Mexican government that werent later proved scientifically impossible. Disputes remain about what exactly happened to the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College four years ago after they commandeered several buses to drive to Mexico City in a yearly tradition. Advertisement A government inquiry determined the young men were taken into custody by local police in the southern Guerrero state, then turned over to the a local crime group. The government inquiry concluded that the students were mistaken for a local drug gang, killed and their bodies burned in a garbage dump. But a year later, an independent panel of experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released a 500-page report calling the governments findings scientifically impossible. This situation that happened with the 43 students hit a lot of us close to home, Luis Osuna told the Union-Tribune over the phone Wednesday night after attending both the morning and evening demonstrations. Being students, being Chicano, being Mexican its a thing that could have happened to any student like us, to our brothers and sisters. Activists make chalk art Wednesday morning on a sidewalk outside the Mexican consulate in Little Italy to protest the forced disappearances of 43 students who went missing in southern Mexico in 2014. (Courtesy of David Morales) Wednesday nights demonstration, near the last trolley stop in San Ysidro, drew some attention from the Metropolitan Transit System, according to Morales, and from San Diego police, who were monitoring the public display, according to a police sergeant. But the monthly consulate demonstrations, and the one near the border Wednesday night, remain peaceful, Morales and Osuna said. We have 43 big signs with the faces of the missing students, Morales said. We set them up all around the sidewalk to show the official representatives of the Mexican government that were still out here. Were still seeking answers for those parents who lost their children. The groups involved in Wednesdays demonstrations were 43 San Diego, whose name honors the number of missing students, and Raices sin Fronteras. The local demonstrations were just two of hundreds that were staged Wednesday across Mexico and North America. The case of the missing students marred the presidency of Enrique Pena Nieto, who has been in office since 2012 as Mexicos murder rate has rocketed to record heights. Strong evidence suggests the police, military and other government officials were at least partially responsible for the forced disappearances, with #FueElEstado it was the state becoming an online rallying cry. We are protesting that the Mexican government we call it a narco-government can act with this level of impunity, along with the drug cartels and organized crime that is widespread throughout Mexico, Morales said. We want to imagine a community thats more just. Osuna said that while Wednesdays demonstrations were aimed at the Mexican government, they were also meant to inform U.S. citizens about the connections between the two countries. The corruption and drug trafficking isnt isolated in Mexico, the U.S. is involved in it, Osuna said. Why is there so much drug violence in Mexico? The no. 1 buyer is the U.S. Though its widely believed the government is to blame for the 43 students forced disappearances the federal government inquiry found that the towns mayor had ordered police to attack the students things might be different under the president-elect. On Wednesday night, as Morales, Osuna and thousands of others across North America honored the missing students, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met with families and attorneys for the students and promised that when he takes office in December, hell create a truth commission to investigate and bring closure to the families. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com A pedestrian was struck by an SUV and seriously injured early Wednesday morning in South Bays Egger Highlands neighborhood, police said. It happened in the predawn darkness just after 5 a.m. as the woman was walking south across Palm Avenue a few blocks west of Saturn Boulevard, San Diego police Officer Sarah Foster said. She was in the far left of Palm Avenues three westbound lanes when she was struck by a Ford Edge. The pedestrian, whose name and age were not released, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries that were not expected to be life-threatening, Foster said. The 28-year-old man driving the Ford SUV was not injured. Investigators from the San Diego Police Departments traffic division were handling the investigation. Advertisement Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com Two adults suffered minor injuries Thursday in a Spring Valley house fire that caused an estimated $400,000 in damage. The fire was reported about 4:05 a.m. in the 8800 block of Olive Drive, said San Miguel Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Gehrig Browning. A man and a woman, who were able to escape the house before firefighters arrived, were treated at the scene for minor injuries, he said. Crews knocked down the flames in around 20 minutes, but noticed a gas line was ruptured inside the house, the battalion chief said. Firefighters secured the scene until San Diego Gas and Electric crews arrived and shut off the gas around 6:20 a.m., Browning said. Advertisement Olive Drive from Bancroft Drive to Central Avenue was shut down, but no evacuations were ordered. The fire, which was contained to the house and a shed in the backyard,caused an estimated $400,000 in total damage to the structure and contents,Browning said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The American Red Cross was dispatched to assist the displaced residents. Twitter: @LAWinkley (619) 293-1546 lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.com President Donald Trump on Wednesday placed himself at the center of the anguished national debate over sexual assault, suggesting in his defense of embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that the #MeToo movement was very dangerous and unfairly threatened an entire class of powerful men. Trumps expansive argument cast doubt on the credibility not only of the three women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, but also on scores of other women who have claimed sexual abuse by prominent men, including the president himself. In his defiant rush to rescue Kavanaughs nomination, Trump effectively sought to draw a line in the sand against the growing number of allegations that have felled male authority figures in politics, the media and business - including many, Trump acknowledged, who have been his friends. When you are guilty until proven innocent, its just not supposed to be that way, Trump told reporters. Thats a very dangerous standard for the country. Advertisement During a freewheeling, 81-minute news conference Wednesday in New York, Trump was asked whether the sexual assault or harassment brought against him by more than a dozen women - claims he denies - influenced his thinking about the Kavanaughs accusers. Absolutely, Trump said. Ive had a lot of false charges made against me, really false charges, he added. I know friends that have had false charges. People want fame. They want money. They want whatever. So when I see it, I view it differently then somebody sitting home watching television, where they say, Oh, Judge Kavanaugh this or that. Its happened to me many times. On the eve of Thursdays high-stakes Senate hearing that likely will determine whether Kavanaugh is confirmed to the high court, Trump appointed himself the judges principal character witness and moved to personally navigate one of the most acute crises of his presidency. The president said he stood by Kavanaugh, but also left open the possibility of withdrawing his nomination if he is persuaded of the judges guilt after watching Thursdays testimony from him and his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. Some of the first cracks in confidence emerged inside the White House on Wednesday as a third woman came forward alleging Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, with growing worries that the nomination might go down. But there was also a hardening resolve to press forward and fight back once attorney Michael Avenatti - who represents Trump accuser Stormy Daniels and is toying with a 2020 presidential run - entered the fray Wednesday representing the latest Kavanaugh accuser. Trump and his advisers and allies expressed genuine anxiety about Thursdays Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Aides found it difficult to mobilize surrogates - especially female high school friends and other women who know Kavanaugh personally - to blanket the airwaves defending the judges character. 1 / 72 Brett Kavanuagh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 2 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 72 Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., are seen during testimony by Judge Brett Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s. ( Tom Williams / Getty Images) 4 / 72 Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., listens to Judge Brett Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s. (Tom Williams / Getty Images) 5 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questions Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing as he testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Win McNamee / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (MELINA MARA / AFP/Getty Images) 7 / 72 Guests wait to enter the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 28, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 8 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., questions Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Win McNamee / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Senator Dianne Feinstein (R)(D-CA), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (C) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) prepare for a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., shouts in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/ AFP/Getty Images) 11 / 72 Sen. Ben Sasse, R-NE, questions U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 27, 2018. (JIM BOURG / AFP/Getty Images) 12 / 72 Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., questions Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. ( Andrew Harnik - Pool/Getty Images) 13 / 72 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gives his opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sept. 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 14 / 72 Ashley Estes Kavanaugh listens to her husband, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s. Laura Cox Kaplan appears at left. (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images) 15 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) 16 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 17 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. Seated in the background at right is White House Counsel Don McGahn. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 18 / 72 Edward Kavanaugh and his wife Martha, parents of Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, listen as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 19 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford said her attackers uproarious laughter is a vivid memory. Brett Kavanaugh denied the accusations against him and told Democrats that they would never get me to quit. (Matt McClain / The Washington Post) 20 / 72 Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in before testifying during the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 21 / 72 Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, arrives for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) 22 / 72 Demonstrators protest against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on the streets outside on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Jose Luis Magana / AFP/Getty Images) 23 / 72 Demonstrators opposed to the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh protest inside the Hart building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Olivier Douliery / TNS) 24 / 72 U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (R-CA), ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, gives an opening statement as committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) looks on before testimony from Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 25 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford becomes emotional as she listens to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 26 / 72 Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., listen as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 27 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford takes a breath at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post) 28 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party 36 years ago, chats with her attorneys as she testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 27, 2018. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 29 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford (L) speaks with her lawyer Michael Bromwich, during her testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 27, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post) 30 / 72 Rachel Mitchell, counsel for Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, questions Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as Senators, from (L-R), Ben Sasse, R-NE, Ted Cruz, R-TX, Mike Lee, R-UT, and John Cornyn, R-TX, listen during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s on September 27, 2018 in Washington,DC. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 31 / 72 Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-CA, listen during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s on September 27, 2018 in Washington,DC. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 32 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 33 / 72 Pro-Kavanaugh supporters gather in the Hart Senate Office Building on Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Chet Strange / AFP/Getty Images) 34 / 72 Dr. Christine Blasey Ford speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 35 / 72 Rachel Mitchell ask questions to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 36 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 37 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford (L) talks with her attorney Michael Bromwich as she prepares to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 38 / 72 Demonstrators supporting the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh hold signs on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press) 39 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford arrives to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Michael Reynolds / AP) 40 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) (C) and committee members Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (L) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) prepare for the arrival of Christine Blasey Ford in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 41 / 72 A protestor demonstrates against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh inside the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 42 / 72 Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Cory Booker, (D-NJ) (L) look on during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 43 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Senator Dianne Feinstein (L)(D-CA), speaks with Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (C) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 44 / 72 US Capitol Police arrest demonstrators for protesting against Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court as the US Senate Judiciary Committee considers his nomination, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 28, 2018. (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images) 45 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) speaks during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 46 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) (C) arrives for a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 47 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington. Her attorneys Debra Katz and Michael Bromwich watch. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 48 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Sept. 28, 2018, in Washington. Flake said it would be proper to delay a Senate floor vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for a week. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 49 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., center, confers with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, left, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., during a delay in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 28, 2018, at the Capitol in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 50 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, center, speaks with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., right, as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, walks past during a hearing on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 51 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., listens to Democratic senators speak during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Sept. 28, 2018, in Washington. The committee met to discuss and later vote on recommending the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court ahead of a vote in the full Senate. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) 52 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 53 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee members Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., confer after a hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 54 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., points out names on the high school calender of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during a hearing on Sept. 28, 2018. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 55 / 72 Demonstrators protesting Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court rally outside the high court in Washington on Sept. 28, 2018. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) 56 / 72 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., left alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., holds up a poster depicting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaughs high school calendar as he speaks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 28, 2018. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 57 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Kamala Harris, D-Calif., joined by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, left, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., second from right, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., speaks to media about the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, at the Capitol on Sept. 28, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) 58 / 72 US Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pauses while speaking with survivors of sexual assault and supporters as they protest against Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court as the US Senate Judiciary Committee considers his nomination, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 28, 2018. (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images) 59 / 72 Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee surround Sen. Jeff Flake after he announced he was in favor of a delay in the Kavanaugh nomination process, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28, 2018. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) 60 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee members Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (L) speaks with Dick Durbin (D-IL) during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 61 / 72 Female members of Congress stand in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room as committee members vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 62 / 72 Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, steps out to speak to a group of Democratic members of the committee that walked out of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 63 / 72 Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., left, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., center, sit as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., right, walks out of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 64 / 72 Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. looks past empty seats after Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee walked out of the meeting, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 65 / 72 Place holder card for Christine Blasey Ford who will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 66 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) arrives in the hearing room where Christine Blasey Ford will testify in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 67 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake listens to fellow Senate Judiciary Committee members debate the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh during on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 68 / 72 Demonstrators against US Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh protests at the Hart US Senate office building in Washington, DC, on September 27, 2018. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 69 / 72 Protestors rally against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh outside the Supreme Court, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 70 / 72 Protestors rally against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh outside the Supreme Court, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 71 / 72 People line up outside the Dirksen Senate Office building before the US Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 72 / 72 The U.S. Capitol is seen at dawn in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Thursday from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says he sexually assaulted her. (Patrick Semansky / AP) The president has acknowledged uncertainty about how the hearing would go and how Kavanaugh might be perceived, and he has begun laying the groundwork to blame Senate Republican leaders should the nomination fail, according to people who have spoken with him or have been briefed on conversations With so much in limbo, there was no grand strategy at play other than Trumps call for a more forceful defense of Kavanaugh. The president and his aides concluded that they have a narrowing window of time during which to push Kavanaugh through before his nomination becomes even more tainted. Trump is confronting both his own personal grievances with the #MeToo reckoning and his responsibilities as leader of the Republican Party, whose congressional majorities are at risk six weeks from now in the midterm elections. Aides have said Trump feels vindicated politically on this issue because he was elected despite the Access Hollywood recording in which he bragged to Billy Bush about grabbing women by their genitals. Either outcome in the Kavanaugh fight is likely to have far-reaching impact on both the upcoming elections and the next two years of the Trump presidency, according to strategists in both parties. Kavanaughs confirmation could help inspire more Republicans to turn out to vote November, but could also motivate Democrats and alienate some women voters from the GOP for years to come. A failed nomination, meanwhile, could deeply divide the Republican coalition and suppress voter turnout. As Trump answered a succession of questions in Wednesdays news conference about Kavanaugh and sexual assault, one veteran Republican lawmaker called The Washington Post to wonder aloud whether a White House aide could gently nudge the president off the stage or else risk further unnerving Republicans. Allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said they were uneasy late Wednesday about the myriad ways events could spiral out of control on Thursday. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the Capitol on Wednesday to reassure Senate Republicans at their regular closed-door lunch. The vice president reaffirmed his and the presidents support of Kavanaugh, saying he was confident it would be a respectful and fair process for all involved, and criticizing the Democrats for conducting themselves disgracefully, according to a White House official. We stand with the nominee, Pence told the senators, according to the official. For Kavanaugh, who spent the day hunkered down with White House counsel Donald McGahn and other advisers, the pressure is intense to improve upon his performance in a Fox News Channel interview earlier this week. The judge has told White House aides that he would answer any question posed to him at Thursdays hearing, even those that are incredibly personal, according to officials involved in the preparations. Kavanaugh received mixed reviews for his Fox interview from critics - including Trump, who told aides that he thought the judge came across as weak, unconvincing and insufficiently indignant, according to people who spoke with him. The president, who has closely monitored news coverage and cable commentary from his perch in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, wondered aloud whether Kavanaugh should have even sat for the interview, advisers said. Trump wants to see the judge with a more combative posture, according to aides, and has said he is willing to fight for Kavanaugh as long as the judge is willing to fight for himself. Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservatives Union, said, My advice to Brett is, throw away scripts, speak from the heart, answer openly and be proud of the man you are and the life youve lived. Theres not an American who doesnt look at this situation and realize that girls become women and boys become men, and along that path you have lots of experiences and make lots of decisions. Kavanaugh, through White House intermediaries, was being urged to defend himself on television from almost the moment the New Yorker published accusations from a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, on Sunday night. Senate Republicans began to make clear to the White House that the situation had moved from poor to red-alert crisis, as one Republican adviser in touch with GOP senators described it. Instead of just issuing statements and talking points, Senate Republicans insisted that Kavanaugh had to give them some clarity about where he stood and help his own cause, the adviser said. Trump initially wanted Kavanaugh to appear on television and defend himself - an unusual strategy for a Supreme Court nominee - and there was consideration by aides to having him conduct a broader media blitz. There were deliberations for days about whether Kavanaugh should appear on the conservative-leaning Fox News or a more mainstream national broadcast network, according to two people familiar with the planning. Veteran CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford, who has written books on the Supreme Court and interviewed several justices on camera, was discussed by top White House aides as a possible option. But after lengthy discussions with Kavanaugh, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum was selected, mostly due to the judges comfort level with the idea, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly reveal internal deliberations. Fox was the safest bet, said one adviser. Kavanaugh was acutely aware that Trump and other senior aides thought he needed to be more forceful with his denials than he was in his Fox interview, which is why he issued a statement Wednesday calling the allegations brought by Avenattis client from the Twilight Zone, according to someone familiar with the drafting of it. On Tuesday, Trump told advisers that he had grown tired of seeing Kavanaugh dominate the headlines, according to people who have spoken with him. So on Wednesday, the president took Kavanaughs defense into his own hands, defending him in multiple appearances before reporters at the United Nations. In recent days, advisers said, the president has complained bitterly that McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have been getting played like a bunch of fools by agreeing to Democratic demands to slow the pace of Kavanaughs confirmation. They could have pushed it through two and a half weeks ago, and you wouldnt be talking about it right now - which is, frankly, what I would have preferred, Trump told reporters Wednesday. But they didnt do that. First published by The Washington Post. Julie Swetnick, who Wednesday became the third woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, is an experienced Web developer in the Washington area who has held multiple security clearances for her work on government-related networks. The child of two government bureaucrats - her father worked on the lunar orbiter for NASA and her mother was a geologist at the Atomic Energy Commission - has spent most of her life around Washington. Now 55, she grew up in Maryland and graduated in 1980 from Gaithersburg High School, located in a far less affluent section of the same county where Kavanaugh lived and attended an exclusive prep school. Swetnicks father, 95, said Wednesday he was shocked to learn from a Washington Post reporter that his daughter had made the explosive allegations. She said in an affidavit that Kavanaugh was present at a house party in 1982 where she alleges she was the victim of a gang rape. Kavanaugh immediately issued a statement in response: This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I dont know who this is and this never happened. Advertisement Interviewed at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, Martin Swetnick said he had no idea that his daughter was suddenly in the news as he hadnt spoken to her in 10 years. He had long fallen out of regular contact with his children, the retired space scientist said, an estrangement he blames on his focus on career over family. The only time we communicate is on my birthday when she sends me an email, Swetnick said. Swetnick said he worked for the Department of Defense and NASA, as the program scientist for unmanned lunar exploration, and was often away from home. I was busy traveling around the country, he said. We didnt have a good relationship. He said his daughter was born in Brooklyn but grew up in Silver Spring and then Montgomery Village, where she lived while attending high school. He described her as a typical girl. She was not shy, he said. She was a good-looking girl. According to her online resume, Swetnick attended Montgomery County Community College, where she took pre-med courses. But by the mid-1990s, she had jumped into the exploding world of Web development, accumulating a string of IT and software certifications. A contract job at the State Department started her on government work. Her experience has included work for U.S. embassies, Customs and Border Protection and the Internal Revenue Service. She has held security clearances at the Departments of State, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security, according to her resume. She never went to college, but she bootstrapped herself and became a computer expert, her father said. Shes a sharp woman. On her resume, Swetnick described herself this way: She is a hands-on team player; having no problem stepping into new or difficult roles, situations and projects, it says. She is highly professional, ethical, responsible and hard working. As she moved among government contracting jobs, Swetnick has repeatedly encountered trouble paying her taxes. In 2015, the state of Maryland filed an interstate lien against her property in the District. The bill included over $32,000 in unpaid taxes from 2008, and another $27,000 in interest on the 7-year-old debt. Court records reflect the full amount due of nearly $63,000 was satisfied 15 months later, in December 2016. It is not clear from court records whether the bill was paid or if the lien was released because of a decision that the bill was unwarranted. Similarly, the IRS in 2016 assessed Swetnick a bill of over $40,000 in unpaid taxes from 2014. The federal government filed a lien on her property for the amount in 2017. The debt was listed as satisfied and the lien was released in March of this year. Miami-Dade County, Florida, court records show Swetnick was involved in a 2001 domestic-violence case filed by Richard Venneccy, who told Politico that she threatened him after they broke up. But the case was dismissed les than two weeks later when they failed to appear in court. In 1993, Swetnick accused a Maryland podiatrist and his wife of harassing her with repeated phone calls in a complaint filed with state prosecutors. The case was withdrawn two months later. Swetnick now lives in a newly built apartment complex in City Center, an expensive enclave in downtown Washington. There is almost no trace of her on social media. One of the few online tidbits that appears to be posted by her: a five-star Yellow Pages review of Bistro Provence in Bethesda. Yannick Cams done it again! wrote a jswetnick in 2010. ". . . Great French cuisine, a wonderful wine selection, indoor and outdoor dining, and authentic atmosphere. 1 / 72 Brett Kavanuagh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 2 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 72 Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., are seen during testimony by Judge Brett Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s. ( Tom Williams / Getty Images) 4 / 72 Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., listens to Judge Brett Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s. (Tom Williams / Getty Images) 5 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questions Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing as he testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Win McNamee / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (MELINA MARA / AFP/Getty Images) 7 / 72 Guests wait to enter the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 28, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 8 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., questions Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Win McNamee / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Senator Dianne Feinstein (R)(D-CA), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (C) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) prepare for a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., shouts in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/ AFP/Getty Images) 11 / 72 Sen. Ben Sasse, R-NE, questions U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 27, 2018. (JIM BOURG / AFP/Getty Images) 12 / 72 Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., questions Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. ( Andrew Harnik - Pool/Getty Images) 13 / 72 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gives his opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sept. 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 14 / 72 Ashley Estes Kavanaugh listens to her husband, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s. Laura Cox Kaplan appears at left. (Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images) 15 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) 16 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 17 / 72 Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. Seated in the background at right is White House Counsel Don McGahn. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 18 / 72 Edward Kavanaugh and his wife Martha, parents of Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, listen as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 19 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford said her attackers uproarious laughter is a vivid memory. Brett Kavanaugh denied the accusations against him and told Democrats that they would never get me to quit. (Matt McClain / The Washington Post) 20 / 72 Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in before testifying during the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 21 / 72 Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, arrives for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) 22 / 72 Demonstrators protest against the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on the streets outside on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Jose Luis Magana / AFP/Getty Images) 23 / 72 Demonstrators opposed to the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh protest inside the Hart building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Olivier Douliery / TNS) 24 / 72 U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (R-CA), ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, gives an opening statement as committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) looks on before testimony from Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 25 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford becomes emotional as she listens to Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 26 / 72 Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., listen as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 27 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford takes a breath at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post) 28 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party 36 years ago, chats with her attorneys as she testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 27, 2018. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 29 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford (L) speaks with her lawyer Michael Bromwich, during her testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 27, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post) 30 / 72 Rachel Mitchell, counsel for Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, questions Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as Senators, from (L-R), Ben Sasse, R-NE, Ted Cruz, R-TX, Mike Lee, R-UT, and John Cornyn, R-TX, listen during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s on September 27, 2018 in Washington,DC. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 31 / 72 Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-CA, listen during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh against Christine Blasey Ford in the early 1980s on September 27, 2018 in Washington,DC. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 32 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 33 / 72 Pro-Kavanaugh supporters gather in the Hart Senate Office Building on Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Chet Strange / AFP/Getty Images) 34 / 72 Dr. Christine Blasey Ford speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 35 / 72 Rachel Mitchell ask questions to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 36 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call) 37 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford (L) talks with her attorney Michael Bromwich as she prepares to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 38 / 72 Demonstrators supporting the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh hold signs on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Olivier Douliery / Abaca Press) 39 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford arrives to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 27, 2018. (Michael Reynolds / AP) 40 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) (C) and committee members Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (L) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) prepare for the arrival of Christine Blasey Ford in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 41 / 72 A protestor demonstrates against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh inside the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 42 / 72 Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Sen. Cory Booker, (D-NJ) (L) look on during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 43 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Senator Dianne Feinstein (L)(D-CA), speaks with Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (C) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 44 / 72 US Capitol Police arrest demonstrators for protesting against Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court as the US Senate Judiciary Committee considers his nomination, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 28, 2018. (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images) 45 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) speaks during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 46 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) (C) arrives for a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 47 / 72 Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington. Her attorneys Debra Katz and Michael Bromwich watch. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 48 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Sept. 28, 2018, in Washington. Flake said it would be proper to delay a Senate floor vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for a week. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 49 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., center, confers with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, left, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., during a delay in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 28, 2018, at the Capitol in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 50 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, center, speaks with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., right, as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, walks past during a hearing on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 51 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., listens to Democratic senators speak during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Sept. 28, 2018, in Washington. The committee met to discuss and later vote on recommending the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court ahead of a vote in the full Senate. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) 52 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 53 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee members Ted Cruz, R-Texas, left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., confer after a hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 54 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., points out names on the high school calender of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during a hearing on Sept. 28, 2018. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 55 / 72 Demonstrators protesting Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court rally outside the high court in Washington on Sept. 28, 2018. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) 56 / 72 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., left alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., holds up a poster depicting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaughs high school calendar as he speaks at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 28, 2018. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 57 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee member Kamala Harris, D-Calif., joined by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, left, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., second from right, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., speaks to media about the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, at the Capitol on Sept. 28, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster / AP) 58 / 72 US Senator Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pauses while speaking with survivors of sexual assault and supporters as they protest against Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court as the US Senate Judiciary Committee considers his nomination, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Sept. 28, 2018. (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images) 59 / 72 Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee surround Sen. Jeff Flake after he announced he was in favor of a delay in the Kavanaugh nomination process, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28, 2018. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) 60 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee members Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (L) speaks with Dick Durbin (D-IL) during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Sept. 28, 2018, for the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 61 / 72 Female members of Congress stand in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room as committee members vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Andrew Harnik / AP) 62 / 72 Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, steps out to speak to a group of Democratic members of the committee that walked out of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 63 / 72 Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., left, and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., center, sit as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., right, walks out of a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 64 / 72 Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. looks past empty seats after Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee walked out of the meeting, Sept. 28, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP) 65 / 72 Place holder card for Christine Blasey Ford who will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 66 / 72 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) arrives in the hearing room where Christine Blasey Ford will testify in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 67 / 72 Sen. Jeff Flake listens to fellow Senate Judiciary Committee members debate the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh during on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) 68 / 72 Demonstrators against US Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh protests at the Hart US Senate office building in Washington, DC, on September 27, 2018. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 69 / 72 Protestors rally against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh outside the Supreme Court, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 70 / 72 Protestors rally against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh outside the Supreme Court, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 71 / 72 People line up outside the Dirksen Senate Office building before the US Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford on Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) 72 / 72 The U.S. Capitol is seen at dawn in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Thursday from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says he sexually assaulted her. (Patrick Semansky / AP) Swetnicks accusations against Kavanaugh came a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who said Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party when they were both teenagers. A second woman, Deborah Ramirez, told the New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were both at Yale. Kavanaugh has unequivocally denied both charges, as he did in response to Swetnick on Wednesday. According to her affidavit, Swetnick met Kavanaugh and his friend and Georgetown Prep classmate Mark Judge in the early 1980s at house parties. She alleges that the teens who attended tried getting girls drunk so they could then be gang raped in a side room or bedroom by a train of numerous boys, she wrote. I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their turn with a girl inside the room. These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh. Swetnick said she herself had been gang raped in one of these trains where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present and soon after, told two others about her experience. During the incident, I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me, she said, adding that she was drugged with Quaaludes or something similar . . . One of Swetnicks high school teachers remembers her as a student who got As and Bs. She was a good student, said David Kahn, 76, who taught Swetnicks modern world history class at Gaithersburg High. She was relatively quiet, but was sharp and pleasant. Swetnicks father said he could shed little light on his daughters high school years. I was busy traveling around the country, he said. We didnt have a good relationship. He said Swetnick wasnt closely supervised by her parents but never mentioned any type of sexual assault as a teen or showed any signs of trauma or depression. Maybe we were poor parents, he said. She lived her life. We didnt discuss it. If her father wasnt paying close attention, some of the familys neighbors were. Donald Fontaine said he will never forget how the Swetnicks welcomed his own family to their Montgomery Village cul-de-sac in 1969 or 1970. We were the first black family to move here, and the guy got fired for selling us this house, recalled Fontaine, 89, during an interview in that same house. The Swetnicks, including a young Julie, brought over cake and fruit. Thats why I remember how appreciative we were when the Swetnicks welcomed us, said Fontaine, who was a scientist at IBM. Told of the accusations, Fontaine said he would certainly believe her. She was not a flirtatious girl, Fontaine said. She was a pretty intelligent young lady. The neighborhood was stocked with scientists and federal government employees, recalled another neighbor, Bob Shewmaker, 78. It was all PhDs and master degrees around here, said Shewmaker, who said he had a security clearance from his time at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, where Swetnicks mother worked for a time. As the kids got older, the neighborhood became home to many parties, some in houses and others held in open fields. The party thing was going on, recalled Shewmaker, who said he instantly recognized Swetnick when her face appeared on television Wednesday. Theres no question about that. At least one of Kavanaughs classmates scoffed at the notion that Swetnick would have been a regular at parties with Georgetown Prep students. Never heard of her, said the person, who declined to be named because members of the class have agreed not to speak on the record to reporters. I dont remember anyone from Prep hanging out with public school girls, especially from Gaithersburg. But Swetnicks attorney, Michael Avenatti, said her credibility should be assessed in the light of the background checks she had previously passed to secure multiple security clearances. She has been fully vetted, time and time again, Avenatti said on MSNBC. She is an honest and courageous woman. The Washington Posts Marc Fisher, Aaron C. Davis, Julie Tate, Alice Crites, Andrew Ba Tran and Donna St. George contributed to this report. First published by The Washington Post. Judge Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination hung in the balance Thursday night as Republicans calculated whether they had the votes to confirm him following a highly anticipated showdown filled with hours of raw, emotional testimony. After meeting Thursday night, Republican senators expressed confidence that Kavanaugh would be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a vote Friday morning, but acknowledged the outcome would be close. Preliminary votes by the full Senate are scheduled to begin Saturday, with a final vote next week. But key members from both parties, whose decisions will likely determine Kavanaughs fate, have yet to signal how they will vote, a worrisome sign for Senate Republicans, who, clinging to a narrow majority, hoped to swiftly confirm a staunchly conservative jurist for a lifetime seat on the high court. The dramatic testimony Thursday by Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students, threatened to derail the nomination. Advertisement Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee that a drunken Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge locked her in a bedroom during a 1982 gathering and that Kavanaugh tried to rape her. When asked about her most indelible memory, Ford recalled the uproarious laughter between the two, and their having fun at my expense. She told the senators she was 100% certain Kavanaugh was her attacker. Both Kavanaugh and Judge have denied the allegations. When it was his turn to testify, Kavanaugh responded with anger and emotion, almost shouting his opening statement and stopping repeatedly to fight back tears and compose himself. Kavanaugh said he had no ill will toward Ford, but denied her allegations. Echoing now-Justice Clarence Thomas condemnation of the high-tech lynching he said he had endured during his 1991 confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh called what has happened to him a national disgrace. It was a surprisingly raw display of rage and passion for a judicial nominee, but his supporters said it reflected the heartfelt frustration of a man who thinks hes been wrongly accused. Hes righteously incensed, and I dont blame him, said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah.). Kavanaughs sharply partisan complaints were highly unusual for a Supreme Court candidate. He accused Democrats of lying in wait to attack him, frequently interrupted and mocked Democratic senators during questioning and attributed his treatment to revenge on the behalf of the Clintons. Kavanaugh is a longtime GOP attorney who worked with special counsel Kenneth Starr to investigate former President Bill Clinton. Noting the Senates role in the process of confirming Supreme Court nominees, he said Democrats have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy. Marc Short, the Trump administrations former liaison to Congress, predicted that Kavanaughs impassioned testimony would help him win confirmation along party lines. Trump was glued to the television and heartened by the fiery testimony, aides said. One senior administration official involved in the confirmation process described Kavanaughs performance as powerful...strong...game changing in a text message. The president was happier to see Kavanaugh defending himself so strongly, another administration official said, as Trump had counseled Kavanaugh to do earlier in the week after the nominee and his wife appeared on Fox News. Immediately after the hearing, Trump tweeted, Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote! Democrats repeatedly pressed Kavanaugh on his reputation for drinking and partying while in high school and college, and tried, without success, to get him to call for an FBI investigation into Fords allegations. The White House and GOP leaders have said there is no need for the FBI to get involved. Democrats praised Ford for sharing her story. You have given America an amazing teaching moment, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Ford, causing her to choke back tears. 1 / 19 Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh speaks at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency) 2 / 19 Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in before testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. (Michael Reynolds / EPA) 3 / 19 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb / Assocaited Press) 4 / 19 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as his wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, watches. (Jim Bourg / Pool) 5 / 19 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaughs parents, Edward Kavanaugh and Martha Kavanaugh, watch as Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. (Erin Schaff / Pool) 6 / 19 Laura Cox Kaplan tears up while seated behind Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. (Matt McClain / Pool) 7 / 19 Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks as Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. (Saul Loeb / Associated Press) 8 / 19 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. (Win McNamee / Associated Press) 9 / 19 Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington DC. (Tom Williams / Associated Press) 10 / 19 Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in before testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee / Pool Photo) 11 / 19 Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley, left, with Senator Dianne Feinstein, right, gives a preliminary statement before Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party 36 years ago. (TOM WILLIAMS / AFP/Getty Images) 12 / 19 Rachel Mitchell, the chief of the Special Victims Division of the Maricopa County attorneys office in Arizona, prepares to question Christine Blasey Ford on behalf of Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Win McNamee / POOL) 13 / 19 Dr. Christine Blasey Ford speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill. (ANDREW HARNIK / AFP/Getty Images) 14 / 19 Dr. Christine Blasey Ford shakes hands with attorney Debra Katz after the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill. (MICHAEL REYNOLDS / AFP) 15 / 19 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) arrives in the hearing room where Christine Blasey Ford will testify in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) 16 / 19 The Supreme Court building is seen at dawn on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) 17 / 19 A sign indicates where witness Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will sit to speak to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. (MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA/Shutterstock) 18 / 19 Protesters gather in front of the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) 19 / 19 A staff member places name plates as the Senate Judiciary Committees room on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, during preparations one day before the hearing with Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images) Fords combination of emotional fragility evident in her face and voice and her precise recall of certain facts and details made the California professor a powerful witness. She had not been seen or heard in public since her story gained the national spotlight two weeks ago. Ford also described the harassment, death threats and other blowback she has endured since coming forward. I am here not because I want to be, she told the Senate Judiciary Committee. Im terrified. She emphasized that she had originally reported the alleged incident to Democratic lawmakers before Kavanaugh was selected by President Trump and denied having any political motivations. As Ford testified, her training as a research psychologist periodically became obvious. Asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) about the impact that the alleged attack had on her life, Ford referred to the sequelae of the attack, a psychology term that refers to the symptoms that can follow a traumatic event. Ford has a doctorate in educational psychology from USC. The sequelae of sexual assault vary from victim to victim, she noted, adding that in her case, she had suffered from PTSD-like symptoms, including claustrophobia. Later, Feinstein asked how she could be sure that it was Kavanaugh who had put his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. The same way that Im sure that Im talking to you right now, she responded. Basic memory function. Ford went on to refer to the way neurotransmitters in the brain record memories in the hippocampus, a portion of the brain that plays a central role in human memory. But her responses were not entirely clinical. Asked by Feinstein if there was a possibility that this could be a case of mistaken identity, Fords response was simple. Absolutely not. At times Fords California informality, nervousness and lack of experience in public speaking contrasted sharply with the usual stiffness of Senate proceedings in Washington. She joked about needing caffeine, referred to childhood beach friends, spoke of her fear of flying and often took deep breaths. At one point she drew sympathetic laughter when she asked for the definition of exculpatory evidence. She said events regarding her coming forward publicly unfolded so quickly this summer that she was interviewing potential attorneys from her car in a Walgreens parking lot while on vacation. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the committee, opened the hearing by apologizing to both Kavanaugh and Ford for the intense media scrutiny and threats theyve had to endure. He also called on fellow members to maintain civility, but then launched into a partisan attack on how Democrats handled the allegations, which became public days before the committee planned to vote on Kavanaugh. Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the committee, defended her actions, saying she kept the allegations confidential at the request of Ford. In her opening statement, Ford thanked Feinstein for her discretion. Sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves whether their private experience is made public. Some of the most impassioned comments came from the senators themselves, particularly Republicans, who compared Democrats efforts to question Kavanaugh about Fords allegations to the anti-communist McCarthy hearings in the 1950s. This is the most unethical sham since Ive been in politics, said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The committee has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, and the Republican majority all of whom are men recruited Rachel Mitchell, a sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, to conduct the questioning for them. GOP leaders were anxious to avoid the optics of older, all-male senators grilling Ford, as occurred during the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearing in 1991. Mitchells questioning of Ford was limited to five-minute segments, since she was effectively filling the time afforded to Republican members of the committee. As a result, she frequently had to interrupt her examination, sometimes in the middle of question, to allow a Democratic lawmaker a turn to ask questions for five minutes. Mitchell focused largely on exploring how Ford decided to go public with her story, who paid for her polygraph test, who recommended potential attorneys and other details that might bolster Republicans claims that Ford was being manipulated by Democrats for political purposes. But conservative television commentators voiced frustration that Mitchell wasnt able to undermine Fords story, and after Kavanaugh began to testify, Mitchell was largely shunted to the sidelines as Republican senators took over the questioning. During a break in Fords testimony, some Republican lawmakers comments inadvertently demonstrated why GOP leaders opted to leave the questioning of Ford to Mitchell. Related: If Christine Blasey Fords testimony stirred up painful memories, heres where you can get help Asked whether he found Ford credible, Hatch said, I think shes an attractive, good witness. Asked to clarify what he meant by attractive, Hatch added, In other words, she is pleasing. Later, Graham said he felt ambushed by the way the assault allegations were raised so late in the confirmation process, a questionable word choice given Fords allegation of attempted rape. But generally there were stark differences between the examinations of Ford and Hill, who endured relentless questioning from Republican senators. The late Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania accused Hill of committing flat-out perjury in her claim that Thomas had sexually harassed her at work. In the past week, two other women have come forward to lodge similar allegations against Kavanaugh that involve heavy drinking and abusive behavior. Deborah Ramirez told the New Yorker of a humiliating sexual incident when she was a freshman at Yale and joined a drinking game with several others, including Kavanaugh. On Wednesday, Julie Swetnick filed a sworn declaration in which she recalled being at several parties where Kavanaugh and Judge were drunk and abused young women who were also drunk. Kavanaugh has denied both accusations. Times staff writers Eli Stokols and Noah Bierman contributed to this report. The latest from Washington More stories from David G. Savage david.savage@latimes.com Twitter: DavidGSavage sarah.wire@latimes.com jennifer.haberkorn@latimes.com UPDATES: 5:55 p.m.: This article was updated with details on Democrats questions and comments at the hearing. 5:15 p.m.: This article was updated after the GOP meeting ended. 4:45 p.m.: This article was updated with the Republican meeting. 3:30 p.m.: This article was updated with Trumps reaction. 2:25 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from Kavanaugh and Graham. 1:25 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment from Hatch about Kavanaughs statement. 12:45 p.m.: This article was updated with Kavanaughs opening statement. 11:50 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Graham and others. 10:40 a.m.: This article was updated with details from the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings. 10:15 a.m.: This article was updated with a comment from Hatch. 9:50 a.m.: This article was updated with more details from Ford. 8:45 a.m.: This article was updated with Fords referring to scientific terms. 8:20 a.m.: This article was updated with more details from Fords testimony. 7:55 a.m.: This article was updated with Fords opening statement. 7:20 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Grassley and Feinstein. This article was originally published at 7 a.m. A fifth accusation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was revealed in an interview transcript released by the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday night. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) received a call from a man who claimed his close acquaintance had been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh and pal Mark Judge on a docked boat in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1985. The anonymous constituent said his friend was assaulted by two heavily inebriated men she referred to at the time as Brett and Mark, according to the committee. After she told the caller, he and another man went to the harbor to confront Brett and Mark, leaving them with significant injuries. New accuser says Brett Kavanaugh was present when she was gang raped a claim Kavanaugh calls out of the Twilight Zone Advertisement The caller said that he identified Kavanaugh after seeing the judges high school yearbook photo on TV over the weekend, at which point he called Whitehouses office. Kavanaugh denied the allegations. I was not in Newport, havent been on a boat in Newport, not with Mark Judge on a boat, nor all those three things combined, he said during the interview. This is just completely made up, or at least not me. I dont know what theyre referring to. This new accusation is the fifth made against Kavanaugh: three others of a sexual nature and one of physical assault. Judge, Kavanaughs high school friend, has been named in multiple claims. Julie Swetnick said Wednesday that Judge was at the high school parties were gang or train rapes occurred and Christine Blasey Ford,claimed that he was in the room when Kavanaugh tried to rape her. Judges ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth Rasor, told the New Yorker that he had told her about he and other classmates taking turns having sex with a drunken woman. Brett Kavanaughs made-for-television testimony on Thursday was filled with tears, laughter, shouting, references to sex, beer drinking and teenage debauchery. The beleaguered Supreme Court nominee doubled down on his denials of Christine Blasey Fords allegations that he sexually assaulted her at a drunken high school party in Maryland in the early 1980s, but he also let out a torrent of non-denial related details about himself. Beer and some more beer Kavanaugh, who is accused of having been stumbling drunk when he assaulted Ford, was asked how many beers are too many in his opinion. Kavanaugh had a novel reply. Advertisement I dont know. You know whatever the chart says, the Supreme Court nominee said, chuckling. Earlier in the hearing, while delivering his opening remarks, Kavanaugh attested to how much he loves beer. Sometimes I had too many beers. Sometimes others did. I liked beer, I still like beer, Kavanaugh said. FBI investigation standoff Democrats have been calling for a federal investigation ever since Ford first went public with her allegations last week. Since then, other women have come forward with sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, only fueling the Democratic demands for an FBI probe. But the White House and Republicans and have refused and that led to a fiery exchange between Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and his GOP colleagues at Thursdays hearing. Turn to your left in the front row to Don McGahn, counsel to President Donald Trump and ask him to suspend this hearing until the FBI completes the investigation of the charges made by Dr. Ford and others, Durbin said. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) quickly interrupted. Stop the clock! he shouted. This committee is running the hearing. Not the White House, not Don McGahn, not even you as a nominee. He added, Were not suspending this hearing. The White House alone can order the FBI to open an investigation into non-federal crimes. Graham fires in all directions South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was one of the committees few Republicans who actually spoke during the committee, with most of his GOP colleagues ceding their time to the appointed counsel. And, boy, did Graham make the most of his time at the pulpit. If you wanted an FBI investigation, you could have come to us! Graham shouted at Durbin, ignoring the fact that Ford had specifically requested anonymity until she went public on her own accord. What you want to do is destroy this guys life, hold this seat, and hope you win in 2020! Graham then reloaded and took aim at his own colleagues. To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, youre legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics, he shouted again. Kavanaugh cries President Trumps Supreme Court wannabe cried so much during the hearing that the reaction over social media was nearly uniform: what is he crying about? At one particularly bizarre occasion, Kavanaughs voice cracked as he reminisced about working out and lifting weights with other guys at Tobins house. At other times, Kavanaughs sulking was more poignant. The other night Ashley and my daughter said their prayers and little Liza all of 10 years old said to Ashley, we should pray for the woman, Kavanaugh said, choking back tears. Thats a lot of wisdom from a 10-year-old. We mean no ill will. Like a virgin Even though none of his alleged victims have claimed that he raped or sexual penetrated them, Kavanaugh went out of his way to affirm that he was a virgin many years into college. I never had sexual intercourse or anything close to it during high school or for many years after that, he said. In some crowds I was probably a little outwardly shy. I tried to hide that. Women gathered outside the Senate Thursday to show support for Supreme Court judge nominee Brett Kavanaugh as sex assault accuser Christine Blasey Ford testified against him. Concerned Women for America a conservative non-profit held a rally to support of Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court and advocate for his appointment. The group had a tour bus that drove to the Senate with the judges face and the words WOMEN FOR KAVANAUGH #AnotherGreatJustice plastered on the side. Advertisement We are here today in support of Brett Kavanaugh, CEO and President for CWA Penny Nance said at the rally. Attendees held signs and wore shirts that read things like Confirm Kavanaugh and I Stand with Brett. The women began their rally with prayer and followed with speeches from CWA leaders. What were seeing here is a pattern of Democrats pushing forward allegations that as soon as you press on them, fall apart, Chief Counsel and Policy Director for CWA and Judicial Crisis Network Carrie Severino said. While Ford may have suffered that and that is a horrible experience, Servino said, men need to have due process as well, that we need to be able to hear both sides and not jump to judgement. Servino also noted the group of 65 women that came forward to support Kavanaugh and deny that he gave them reason to believe he would sexually assault someone. Other Pro-Kavanaugh supporters were reported outside the building, including Juanita Broaddrick, who accused former President Bill Clinton of sexual assault in 1999. Broaddrick has said she does not believe Fords allegations. A supporter of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh stands inside the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, September 27, 2018 (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) Students from Liberty University were also spotted at the CWA rally. Students from the school were encouraged by President Jerry Falwell Jr. to attend the rally after it was discovered Yale University students were going to protest Kavanaughs nomination, Huffington Post reported. Concerned Women for America is committed to standing in support of Judge Kavanaugh, as we have throughout this process. We are also committed to much larger goals protection of the presumption of innocence, support of due process, and pursuit of truth and justice, Nance said in a statement. CWA is the nations largest public policy womens organization that brings Biblical principles into all levels of public policy, as stated on their website. Thank you God for President Trump. and Thank you for President Trump for nominating Judge Brett Kavanaugh, CWA state director of Maine Penny Morrel said. The County of San Diego will pay millions of dollars to settle a pair of lawsuits filed by two former foster children who accused officials of failing to protect them from abuse by their foster parent, then invaded the privacy of one boy during resulting litigation, county officials said. Lawyers for the county and the victims notified the court last month that they intended to settle the lawsuits, but the terms were not finalized until last week and the amount was disclosed this week. The plaintiffs, twin brothers identified in court records as A.G. and M.G. will receive $3 million combined, including legal fees. Neither Workman or other county officials responded to requests for comment on the lawsuits or their outcome. According to records filed Monday in both cases, the court accepted the settlement agreement and dismissed the litigation with prejudice -- meaning it cannot be revived at a later date. The filings included no admissions of fault by the county or plaintiffs. Advertisement The settlement is structured so that the money will be managed in trust for the plaintiffs, who are now 19 years old. They will not have access to it until they are older. The agreement resolves a lawsuit the brothers filed against the county and 14 social workers two years ago. They sued the defendants for allegedly ignoring or failing to properly investigate more than a dozen reports of suspected child abuse, leaving the boys at the mercy of Michael Jarome Hayes, the foster father who sexually abused them for years. Hayes pleaded guilty in 2014 to sexually molesting A.G., M.G. and a third boy the county also had placed in Hayes care. He is now serving a nearly 21-year sentence, and was recently transferred to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa. The dual settlements also resolve a lawsuit A.G. filed earlier this year alleging the county violated his privacy by viewing his juvenile case records without first seeking permission from the court, records show. San Diego attorney Shawn A. McMillan, who represented the brothers, said his clients are satisfied with the settlement terms. The boys are really happy that its over and theyre satisfied with the settlement, especially the structure, and they want to move on with their lives, McMillan said in a telephone interview. Its their hope that the county learned a lesson from this experience and that the county will take steps to make sure it never happens again to any kid. A spokeswoman for Kristin Gaspar, who chairs the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, did not immediately respond to questions about whether the county plans to make policy changes to the child welfare system or take disciplinary action against any employees. The years-long abuse suffered by A.G. and M.G. was first reported in a lengthy Union-Tribune story in July. The following day, two candidates for the Board of Supervisors on the November ballot called for an investigation of the county foster system, as well as reforms and accountability where necessary. Former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who is running to succeed termed-out Supervisor Ron Roberts, released a statement after the July 22 article condemning the countys handling of the foster-care case. He also called for an investigation into the allegations and also the countys child welfare system. On Wednesday, Fletcher said he hoped the settlement would bring a brighter future for the twins and for all county foster children. I hope this brings some measure of comfort to these victims whose lives were so severely impacted by the countys failure to protect them, he said by telephone. I also hope the county takes seriously the need for an independent investigation and structural changes to the foster care system to ensure tragedies like this are not repeated. Fletchers challenger in November, former District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, also called for investigation in the wake of the storys publication, saying in July that she already had approached Roberts and others to request that they take action. In a phone interview Wednesday, Dumanis said county officials have started taking steps to examine the system for weaknesses. The allegations in the lawsuit and what happened to these kids caused them to be very concerned about whats going on, and to make sure this doesnt happen again, she said. There were a lot of things that in this particular case went wrong. After the county and the plaintiffs notified the courts in August of their intention to settle the lawsuits, Roberts and Supervisor Greg Cox called for a multi-stakeholder working group to identify ways to improve the foster care system. The county supervisors suggested the proposed group work to identify areas for improvement by the end of December. Roberts spokesman Tim McClain said in an email Wednesday that the group had been formed, work had begun and a report is expected by the end of the year. Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35 morgan.cook@sduniontribune.com Christine Blasey Ford, the first in a growing number of women who have accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct or sexual assault, will testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about an alleged failed rape attempt by Kavanaugh while the two were in high school. Kavanaugh will testify immediately thereafter. While the hearing is shaping up to be the grand finale before senators decide if Kavanaugh will be elevated to the highest court in the country, it also comes amid a nationwide reckoning over the treatment, abuse and harassment of women in America. It has been 27 years since Anita Hill stared down an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee to explain and detail the harassment she claimed to receive at the hands of then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Advertisement Back then the hearing was both uncomfortable and unprecedented, as senators pried with salacious questions. Today, many people especially Democrats arent expecting things to have changed all that much. While debate over the nomination has largely broken along party lines, some local Democrats were reluctant Wednesday to weigh in on the hearing. Ammar Campa-Najjar, for example, who is challenging for Rep. Duncan Hunter in the 50th congressional district, did not respond to a request for comment regarding the Kavanaugh nomination. Some Republicans in San Diego County also shied away from discussing the hearing and its implications. Neither the president of the San Diego County Federation of Republican Women or the chair of the Republican Party of San Diego County returned calls seeking comment on the Kavanaugh nomination. But a number of candidates and political activists were not so reserved. Here are some snapshots of what they think. Diane Harkey, candidate for the 49th congressional district: Harkey, a Republican woman seeking the soon-to-be vacated seat held by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, was careful not to disparage the accusers in discussing her views about the nomination. The women who have stepped forward need to be treated with respect and have the opportunity to tell their version of events and Judge Kavanaugh must have the opportunity to respond, said Harkey, a former California legislator who now serves as chairwoman of the state Board of Equalization. Harkey noted the decision on the nomination ultimately rests with the U.S. Senate, but expressed frustration with senate Democrats for not bringing the accusations to light sooner. I do wish the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee would have revealed the accusations earlier so the people of this nation would not be facing such a divisive dilemma, at a time when we should be detoxifying politics to ensure a safe and orderly election process. Mike Levin, candidate for the 49th congressional district: An Orange County lawyer and the Democratic Party challenger, Levin said the allegations against Kavanaugh need to be taken very seriously. He said he supports the idea that the FBI investigate the claims. We cannot put partisanship ahead of ensuring that people who serve on the Supreme Court are of the highest character, Levin said In a phone interview. Levin also expressed concern about how this current situation reflects a larger societal issue regarding the treatment of sexual assault allegations. It is long past time we started believing women and stopped shaming and blaming the victims of sexual assault, he said. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine: According to his spokesman, Hunter is following the hearings with great interest and supports Kavanaughs nomination. Like many Americans and the president, (Hunter) is looking forward to the hearing to learn more information, spokesman Michael Harrison said in a statement. Hunter, who is seeking re-election while also defending himself against a federal indictment alleging misuse of campaign funds, said he expects the hearing to be thorough and fair. Senators should move quickly with whatever decision they make regarding the nomination, he said. The five-term congressman also questioned the handling of the Ford accusation by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other Democrats, stating the accusations were held until the 11th hour and gave the appearance of these accusations being purely politically motivated, therefore, doing a disservice to the overall goal of addressing the important issue of sexual violence toward women and all individuals. Jessica Hayes, San Diego County Democratic Party chair: Hayes said she isnt sure shell be able to stomach watching the hearing live, and has low-expectations for how she thinks Republican senators will treat Ford. I think their [Republican senators] female attorney is going to do what is disallowed in court and that is to shame and blame the victim, said Hayes, referring to an outside lawyer Senate Republicans retained to questions witnesses. Hayes also said she and other local Democrats had no interest in hosting a viewing party of the hearing because the whole situation is not something to celebrate. The outrage regarding Kavanaughs nomination isnt about him being a conservative justice, she said, but rather he is only one of two nominees in the history of the Supreme Court to have credible sexual misconduct allegations about his behavior toward women. At what point in time does this tell you enough, we cannot keep loading the Supreme Court with men who disrespect women, Hayes said. This is about our daughters, our sisters, our cousins, our grandmothers. Susan Peinado, president of the Democratic Womens Club: Peinado said she has seen a strong and angry reaction to the Kavanaugh allegations among club members and women she has spoken with across San Diego County, but she is not convinced Republican senators will abandon President Trumps nominee. My expectations are low, she said in a telephone interview. this has just brought up a lot of our past experiences and it has been a difficult time to relive all this stuff ..Women are beyond mad. Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35 charles.clark@sduniontribune.com Twitter @bycharlesclark City must address those who lash out Re Mission Hills residents concerned about aggressive homeless (Sept. 26): Its not just Mission Hills. My wife had a frightening thing happen to her in broad daylight this weekend on Sixth Avenue downtown. A big, delusional, shirtless man started screaming that he was going to kill her, and then chased her as people on the street declined to get involved. Finally a woman offered her shelter until the police arrived. Here are our issues as San Diegans: not enough police, inadequate 911 system and too many aggressive homeless. The mayor and City Council must know we need their help now. Advertisement Kennedy Gammage Hillcrest Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. The Senatorial disregard of Christine Blasey Ford is exactly the reason people stopped themselves from accusing priests for so many years, why teenagers and people in the #MeToo movement waited. Many senators denounced Ford before hearing her testimony. They bullishly wont allow Fords FBI investigation request. Even George Bush authorized the FBI to investigate Anita Hills accusations of Clarence Thomas. Mitch McConnell says he will plow through to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, but the FBI could quickly interview witnesses in order to provide due process. Surely Americans dont want the Supreme Court Judges confirmed using bulldozer procedures: Supreme Court judges are supposed to protect people from prejudice. Kavanaugh himself should be requesting due process. Kavanaugh dodged many questions during hearings, often saying he could not answer hypothetical questions. 100,000 pages of records from Kavanaughs White House tenure are sealed. Who is Kavanaugh? This is a lifetime appointment! We need the FBI investigation! C. Wootton Advertisement San Diego Your recent editorial about the alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh is another example of the left leaning press. You suggest that Kavanaugh should initiate the FBI investigation. First of all, he has had numerous investigations in his role as a judge. He has denied the allegation under oath in front of the Senate committee. He is innocent until proven guilty. Although the Clarence Thomas FBI investigation in 1991 took three days, our government agencies have proven that they cant do anything in three days. I dont understand why Christine Ford didnt report this event when it happened since she now recalls its horrific nature. If its that important she should not be dictating the terms of her testimony. The agenda of our political parties (both) is that they will do anything just to defeat the other side and the press seems to support that agenda. Bruce Reed Scripps Ranch Throughout Judge Kavanaughs career, the FBI has allegedly investigated him numerous times yet never disclosed the purported drunken assault upon Dr. Ford. When Judge Kavanaugh was mentioned in connection with a possible Supreme Court nomination where was Dr. Ford? It was at this juncture that her request for investigation into her alleged assault would have timely . If the FBI found nothing before why is Dr. Ford banking on them finding anything now? Judge Kavanaugh, his family and friends have been forced to be in public with this accusation tarnishing his reputation. His accuser should honestly face him and provide supporting documentation. Police reports, forensic evidence and statements from various partygoers. At this time at least two of the alleged partiers including an eyewitness who was in the room have denied any knowledge of the alleged assault. Rita Clinton San Diego Re the Blasey-Kavanaugh hearing, Ramesh Ponnurus On The Gender Gap and letter writer S.A. Peters Minimizing Fords claim shows sexism exists (Sept. 25): It is past time for the men of this country to step up, call GOP Senators, & stop appeasing men who think they can do as they wish with women. Ponnuru identifies Democrats problem with white male voters, paralleling Republicans problem with women voters. Peters sites the hypocrisy of everyone being appalled and outraged when men recall being sexually abused by priests 30 years ago, then negating Blaseys recollection. Male GOP Senators must hear male voices telling them to follow the rule of law and uncover all relevant facts associated with the alleged incident. Dig deep! Find the outrage that in our culture some men get to do as they wish with womenwomen who could be your mother, sister, wife, daughter, friend. Please tell GOP Senators to treat one human, Christine Blasey Ford, with fairness and respectthe rest of us can generalize from that example. Cheryl Martin Ede Pacific Beach I was sickened by the obsequious, sycophantic, and in my mind, gutless, action by the GOP Senators with a very few notable exceptions to ram this nomination through without QUESTIONING the other complainants against Judge Kavanaugh, and without allowing an FBI investigation. This behavior belies the attempt by the GOP to call this a political conspiracy by the Democrats and in fact points to a political conspiracy by the President and the GOP to pad the Supreme Court with conservatives being more important than digging out the truth by allowing the FBI investigation to happen. This makes their action an affront to the American people. An interesting point: Even Fox News admitted a poll showed more Americans believed Dr. Ford than Judge Kavanaugh. For something this important, take a little more time to let an investigation by the FBI provide more information in something of this importance to the country and the American populace. Ed Karesky Escondido Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. Hunter taken to task for attack on opponent Re Rep. Hunter appears to suggest foe radical Muslim (Sept. 27): As a veteran, I am completely sick of Duncan Hunters lack of character and integrity. Not only is he corrupt and self-serving, he is stooping to lows that are shameful even for him. He clearly stated in Ramona on Monday night that his Democratic opponent Ammar Campa-Najjar is tied to radical Muslims trying to infiltrate the United States. Not only is he lying about Campa-Najjars religion (he is a lifelong Christian), Hunter is showing himself to be a racist. Hunters conduct is despicable; he is proving himself to be totally unfit to serve. Advertisement As a Marine Corps veteran, Hunters conduct is abhorrent to the values I fought to defend. I can think of nothing more un-American than race-baiting and attacking a political opponents ethnic heritage. Campa-Najjars story is the story of America. Hunter has proven himself to be both dishonest and a racist, and he has no place in Congress. Chris Dalton Del Sur After reading the article in the Union Tribune that Duncan Hunter in a speech to a womens group, implied his opponent is a radical Muslim I think it is both insulting and laughable. Ammar Campa-Najjar was raised and still is a Christian. When Ammar worked for the Department of Labor he was thoroughly vetted by the FBI for security reasons, back in the days when that meant something. Not only will Hunter be facing a 60 count criminal trial for felony theft of $250,000, but his lack of ethics in general give all politicians a dirty name. Hopefully voters in the 50th Congressional District will remove Hunter from office and elect a honorable man: Ammar Campa-Najjar. Dave Willner Mt. Helix Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford comes off as measured, low-key and smart. She said she was terrified to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her accusation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in high school. The extensive TV coverage suggested it could be a landmark day in U.S. history. The build-up hinted at fireworks, yet Ford defused that expectation with her calm, steady responses. NBCs Chuck Todd said Fords details gave her credibility. Advertisement A few that stood out: Ford said that she had never forgotten the laughter of Kavanaugh and pal Mark Judge at her expense. The alleged attack affected her early college study. Ford took a lie detector test shortly after her grandmothers funeral. CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer highlighted psychologist Todds remark that the details of the alleged assault were seared into her memory. MSNBCs Brian Williams called attention to her humanity and her forthright testimony. Ford could be your neighbor, Williams said. It was clear she wasnt seeking the limelight. Since coming forward, Ford said she had relocated twice. She said wasnt aware of how to contact Congress to share her story. She was new to the world of GoFundMe campaigns. And she was ready to get out of that hearing. Once she was on her way out, CNNs Jake Tapper said that, no matter your political stripe, Ford was seen as a sympathetic and credible witness. Ford drew glowing comments from Democratic senators who praised her bravery. Yet Ford seems also to have charmed Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes prosecutor who was questioning her for Republican senators. Bringing in Mitchell was a clunky approach. CNNs Jeffrey Toobin cited Mitchells cross examination as ineffective and compared her work to CSI: Chevy Chase. Daniel Goldman, an MSNBC legal analyst, said Mitchell was getting nowhere and might as well read Green Eggs and Ham. Even Mitchell acknowledged questioning Ford in five-minute increments wasnt ideal. Norah ODonnell of CBS was struck by Fords independence and sense of civic duty. The CBS This Morning anchor said Ford came across as credible, but the day was about the character of Kavanaugh. I wrote about him in a later post. Email Hal at hboedeker@orlandosentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter: @hboedeker. Follow him on Instagram: @hboedeker. San Diego may have a well-earned reputation as a craft beer mecca, but its quickly becoming a tequila town. Several new restaurants and bars have opened from the Gaslamp Quarter to Oceanside with bar programs centered around upscale tequila and mezcal brands served in shots, flights and cocktails. So when did the Mexican-made spirits transition from frat party favorites to upscale sippables for the hipster set? Ask Miguel Luna, founder of CaliFino Tequila, which just opened its first U.S. retail store in Carlsbad. Good-quality tequilas have been around for a while, just not embraced, Luna said. We are starting to see a growing appreciation and enjoyment of finer tequilas. We are becoming more and more educated on tequila and it is no longer just a spirit to shoot to get drunk. The public is starting to realize there are fine tequilas one can sip on and enjoy. Advertisement Heres a look at some of the regions newest tequila- and mezcal-centric restaurants and bars, as well as a new one coming this fall: Tequila tasting flight at Blanco Tacos + Tequila in Mission Valley (Blanco Tacos + Tequila) Blanco Tacos + Tequila, Fashion Valley Blanco opened Sept. 26 in the former California Pizza Kitchen space in Fashion Valley shopping center. It serves a menu of 11 signature tacos with an ambitious tequila and mezcal beverage program overseen by Mat Snapp. The location has 40 to 45 tequilas and eight to 10 mezcals. Snapps signature cocktail is the Operation Diono made with Campari, orange brandy, vermouth and Banhez mezcal, which comes from a collective of mezcal farms in Oaxacas Ejutla Village. Tasting flights are served in a wooden box with six glasses that include three grades of tequila, one sangrita, a soda water, and a citrus-flavored salt. Fashion Valley Mall, 7007 Friars Road, Suite 901, Mission Valley. (619) 810-2931. blancotacostequila.com A tequila cocktail at Death by Tequila restaurant in Encinitas one of several just-opened restaurant that specialize in tequila and mezcal bar drinks. (Cole Ferguson) Death by Tequila, Encinitas Opened in mid-July by Carlsbad residents Chad and Jessica Mestler, this Baja-inspired upscale Mexican restaurant and bar has more than 80 tequilas and 30 mezcals on its bar menu, as well as wines from Mexicos Valle de Guadalupe and Mexican beers on draft and in cans and bottles. It offers a variety of fruit juice- and herb-infused margaritas on the rocks and 10 tequila cocktails. Signatures include the Tres Cacti, made with Hacienda Silver tequila, lemon, prickly pear, agave and Jarritos soft drink; the Los Muertos, made with Milagro Silver tequila, lime, mango and chile ash, served on the rocks; and Frothing in Puerto, made with Gracias a Dios mezcal, lemon, vanilla, pineapple and egg white served in a coupe glass. 569 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. (760) 230-6108. deathbytequila.com El Chingon in the Gaslamp Quarter serves margarita flights as well as cocktails that are customizable with four different distilled Mexican spirits. El Chingon is one of several newer restaurants and bars that specialize in tequila and mezcal bar programs. (Courtesy photo) El Chingon, Gaslamp Quarter Opened last year by GBOD Hospitality Group, this self-proclaimed bad ass Mexican restaurant/bar offers a unique Mexican spirits program. The restaurant has six cocktails that are customizable with choice of four Mexican distilled spirits: tequila, mezcal, raicilla and sotol. The restaurant also serves margarita flights. 560 Fifth Ave., downtown. (619) 501-1919. elchingon.com El Jardin in Liberty Station serves 27 tequilas and 26 mezcals, along with Mexican bottled and canned wines and beers. (James Tran) El Jardin, Liberty Station Open since July, this regional Mexican restaurant and tequila bar is overseen by Top Chef star Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins, who hand-selected everything in the restaurant from the furniture and dishes to the menu ingredients and the selections in the bar. The bar serves 27 tequilas and 26 mezcals. There are also Mexican whiskeys distilled by Sierra Norte from yellow and black corn, Mexican bottled beer, wines from the Valle de Guadalupe and agua fresca. 2885 Perry Road, Liberty Station, San Diego. (619) 795-2322. eljardinrestaurantbar.com El Roys Tequila Bar + Kitchen in Coronado serves more than 90 agave spirits and nine flavored margaritas. (Blue Bridge Hospitality) El Roys Tequila Bar + Kitchen In mid-August, El Roys replaced the fomer Candelas on the Bay restaurant at the Coronado Ferry Landing with this innovative Mexican restaurant and bar. Its owned by Blue Bridge Hospitality, which runs numerous Coronado restaurants, including Stake Chophouse and LeRoys Kitchen & Lounge. Its extensive bar menu features more than 90 agave spirits, nine margaritas and sangrias. It also offers three drink flights of tequilas and mezcals as well as an agave flight featuring sotol, raicilla and bacanora that range in price from $15 to $38. 1201 First St., Coronado. (619) 537-0195. bluebridgehospitality.com/el-roys-tequila-bar-kitchen/ Jalisco Cantina in Oceanside serves more than 75 varieties of tequila and mezcal. Its one of several newer restaurants and bars that specialize in tequila and mezcal bar programs. (Courtesy photo) Jalisco Cantina, Oceanside Last year, Barrel Republic owner Dave Pike opened this 50-seat tequila bar and restaurant in downtown Oceanside. It serves more than 75 varieties of tequila and mezcal. Shots start at $5 but go up to $75 for the Herradura Seleccion Suprema Tequila Extra Anejo, which is cask-aged for four years. The bar also sells the spirits in flights, where patrons can sample three different brands of tequilas or mezcals or do a vertical tasting of the different aged grades, from the youngest (blanco) to the middle-aged (reposado) to the oldest (anejo). 213 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside. (760) 429-1679. thejaliscocantina.com Juan Tequila is a new New York-style seafood and cocktail bar that serves tiki"-style cocktails that are made with Mexican and Latin American distilled spirits. Its one of several newer restaurants and bars that specialize in tequila and mezcal bar programs. (jim sullivan / Courtesy photo) Juan Tequila, Downtown This upscale Baja-style cocktail and seafood bar opened in June in the former New Yorker pizzeria space. The upscale interior features chandeliers, leather furniture and marble table tops. The menu is a mix of small and large plates plus a selection of raw oysters and seafood. The bar program, created by Cervantes Magana, offers 10 tiki-style cocktails, many made with tequilas, mezcals and other Latin American liquors. A few examples are the Mexicano Highball, made with Mexican sherry, tequila and Campari ($10) and the La Perla Del Mar, a tiki drink made with Barbados and Jamaican rums, macadamia milk blend and Caribbean spices and citrus ($15). 535 Fourth Ave., downtown. (619) 458-9455. juantequila.net A selection of cocktails at Lola 55, which serves 52 agave spirits. (Sergey Kolivayko) Lola 55, East Village Frank Vizcarras just-opened East Village tacos and cocktails spot offers made-from-scratch Mexican food and a full bar. Bar manager Gareth Moore serves 52 agave spirits from Mexico, with more to come. He has also created 10 custom cocktails made with tequila, mezcal and other spirits that are citrus-forward to balance the spiciness of the food. One of the most popular is the Cielo Mi Amor, made with tequila, Aperol, passion fruit, pineapple cactus agua fresca and lime. 1290 F St., East Village. (619) 542-9155. lola55catering.com The team behind Tahona mezcal tasting room, open this fall in Old Town San Diego, from left, Amar Harrag, Blair Marano, Carlo Bracci Devoti and Steven Sadri. Tahona is one of several new local restaurants and bars that specialize in tequila and mezcal drinks. (Nicholas Kowalski) Tahona, Old Town San Diego Slated to open in October, Tahona will be a mezcal tasting room, bar and Oaxacan-style restaurant that will serve 120 varieties of mezcal. The 52-seat restaurant/bar will re-create the look, taste and feel of the mezcal tasting rooms founder Amar Harrag visited during his travels in Oaxaca. Among the mezcal brands it will serve are Casa Tribal and Mezcal Animas. There will also be a variety of mezcal cocktails. 2414 San Diego Ave., Old Town. tahonasd.com A VIP tequila storage locker at Volcano Rabbit in the Gaslamp Quarter. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) Volcano Rabbit, Gaslamp Quarter This restaurant/nightspot opened in mid-February in the former Don Chido Mexican restaurant. Its a high-energy, 95-seat tequila bar, serving 175 agave spirits, which it bills as downtowns largest selection of tequila and international agave spirits. Locals can rent in-house tequila lockers, which entitles them to buy bottles for half-price. Theres also a 40-label bottle service program, with a mix-and-match mini-bottles option. With so many spirits to choose from, partner Mike Georgopoulos recommends his three favorites for shots: Casa Dagones Joven, a blanco barrel-aged in American oak for five years ($40 a shot); Azunia Reposado, aged 11 months in whiskey barrels ($12 a shot); and Expresiones del Corazon Thomas H. Handy Anejo, aged 19 months in Handy Sazerac rye whiskey barrels ($16 a shot). 527 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp Quarter. (619) 232-8226. volcanorabbitsd.com A variety of tequila brands available at Volcano Rabbit. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union Tribune) A novices guide to tequilas, mezcals and other agave spirits Bottled agave spirits arrived in Mexico when the Spanish explorers wanted to create a locally distilled substitute for their fruit-based brandies. The first major tequila distillery was established in Jalisco in the 1600s. Tequila is made from blue agave plants grown only in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Nayarit, Michoacan and Guanajuato. Mezcal, often characterized as having a smoother, smokier flavor, can be made from any of up to 30 kinds of agave grown in a larger area of Mexico. Tequila is graded in quality and price by how long its aged, starting with the less-aged blanco, followed by reposado, anejo and high-end extra anejo. Mezcal comes in joven, reposado and anejo varieties, as well. Also increasingly popular are a trio of similar Mexican spirits known as sotol, raicilla and bacanora. Sotol is distilled from the desert spoon plant, raicilla is a highly potent agave liquor and bacanora is a less-smoky form of mezcal. pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com. Twitter: @pamkragen 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. Brooklyn, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/26/2018 -- Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Automatic Power Factor Controller (APFC) Market Professional Survey Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports. This report studies the global Automatic Power Factor Controller (APFC) market status and forecast, categorizes the global Automatic Power Factor Controller (APFC) market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, India, Southeast Asia and other regions (Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa). Automatic power factor controllers use an automatic capacitor recognition mode to operate and are mainly used to maintain an ideal power factor under fluctuating load and voltage conditions. These controllers help in increasing the efficiency and reducing the energy consumption by avoiding voltage fluctuation and wastage of energy, which could occur if the power is not allocated optimally. Automatic power factor controllers are used to maintain a suitable power factor under fluctuating voltage and load conditions. In addition, most devices come with step switching and step protection features, making these controllers more suitable for the end-user industries. The active APFCs, which allow the designers to achieve PF as high as 0.99, held the largest market share in 2017. For more information on this report, fill the form @ https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1858906&type=S The major manufacturers covered in this report ABB General Electric ON Semiconductor STMicroelectronics Texas Instruments Ab Power System Solution Dynamic Control Systems Eaton Havells LOVATO Electric REM Electromach Schneider Electric Serwel Electronics Socomec Techno Power Systems Vicor Corporation We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: North America United States Canada Mexico Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Australia Indonesia Singapore Rest of Asia-Pacific Europe Germany France UK Italy Spain Russia Rest of Europe Central & South America Brazil Argentina Rest of South America To Browse a Complete Report with TOC Visit @ https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-automatic-power-factor-controller-apfc-market-professional-survey-report-2018.htm On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Active APFCs Passive APFCs By Application, the market can be split into Manufacturing Utility Commercial Enterprise Military The study objectives of this report are: To analyze and study the global Automatic Power Factor Controller (APFC) capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025); Focuses on the key Automatic Power Factor Controller (APFC) manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future. Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. About QYResearchReports.com QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market. Contact Us: Brooklyn, NY 11230 United States Toll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA) Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/qyresearchreports-com Blog: https://studyanalyst.blogspot.in Web: https://www.qyresearchreports.com Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/27/2018 -- Liberalized telecom laws in Mexico had set the grounds for significant foreign investments, thereby maneuvering potential uptick in user adoption. Low priced mobile voice services and affordable mobile data have accentuated growth in Mexico telecom, broadband, and pay-TV services. Pervasive internet connectivity will likely enable proliferated rise in mobile data and fixed broadband consumption, thus ushering considerable growth. A new research report titled, 'Mexico: Country Intelligence Report' jots down crucial development endeavors and their corresponding impact on the growth of the market. IoT and Advances in 5G Network Behold Ample Growth Probabilities in Mexico Advances in 5G connectivity as well as significant advancement in IoT remain crucial to the development of telecom infrastructure in Mexico. Leading telecom giants are akin towards diverting substantial investments towards spectrum allocation to leverage growth in the rapidly evolving telecom infrastructure in Mexico. Request For Sample Report: https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1277460 AT&T and Telefonica Lock in 120 MHz Spectrum to Support IoT and 5G in Mexico In a recent development, telecom stalwarts AT&T as well as Telefonica have recently secured 120 MHz spectrum in the bandwidth of 2500-2690 MHz, expected to aid wireless services, thus reflecting favorably on the growth trajectory of telecom market in Mexico. The development is also expected to pave way for ample development in 5G connectivity, broadband as well as IoT. The spectrum entitled to the aforementioned companies will allow them to offer superior services in the telecom spectrum thereby elevating their market foothold in Mexico telecom market. Televisa Continues to Harbor Lead in Pay-TV Market in Mexico Further, in pay-TV market landscape, Televisa registered highest lead in revenue generation in Mexico pay-TV offerings contrary to rivals, Cablemas and Sky. To remain at the helm of pay-TV market growth, the company has recently inked a deal with Amazon Prime to enhance its subscription video on demand (SVOD) services in Mexico. Televisa has also rolled out Televisa Alternative Originals (TAO) to support broadcasting of original content in Spanish language that will be distributed on Amazon Prime across several regions globally, inclusive of Mexico. This section of the report elaborate on various market segments and factors that trigger growth in Mexico fixed telephony, broadband, mobile and pay-TV market. This section of the report elaborates on the impact of segments in maneuvering growth in the market besides allowing readers to determine the effectiveness of the segment associated with surged revenue generation in Mexico fixed telephony, broadband, mobile and pay-TV market. Browse Full Report with TOC- https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/mexico-country-intelligence-report-report.html Additionally, the report also provided holistic description of various business tactics and tools incorporated by leading players across several regions and their reciprocal impact on overall market growth as well as end-user response. Competition Dashboard: Mexico Fixed Telephony, Broadband, Mobile and Pay-TV Market Comprehensive research data encompassed in this section of the report enable readers to gauge the efficacy of marketing strategies in orchestrating superlative market growth as well as favorable end-user response such as their buying preferences and eventual buying behavior. Market players can engage in in-depth analytical review of these strategies to incur pertinent deductions based on which market players can facilitate lucrative business goals. Pertinent market players identified in the market include, AT&T, Movistar, and Axtel / Alestra Enquire about this Report- https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=1277460 About Market Research Hub Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRH's expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps. MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients. Contact Us 90 State Street, Albany, NY 12207, United States Toll Free : 800-998-4852 (US-Canada) Email : press@marketresearchhub.com Website : https://www.marketresearchhub.com/ Read Industry News at - https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ It is common for companies to organize various informal events where workers can come with their partners. One of those... Disney will also go back to Puerto Rico for a limited number of Southern Caribbean cruises and continue guest-favorite itineraries to tropical destinations from Florida and California. Varied sailings from the Big Easy From New Orleans, Disney Wonder will embark on six cruises, departing Feb. 7 through March 6. These include four-, six- and seven-night Western Caribbean sailings, a seven-night Bahamas cruise and a 14-night Panama Canal voyage. Honolulu-Vancouver After a five-year hiatus, Disney Wonder will return to Hawaii in early 2020 for two special cruises: a nine-night voyage to Honolulu from Vancouver, BC, on April 29, and a 10-night sailing back to Vancouver on May 8. Southern Caribbean, Mexican Riviera Disney Wonder continues its standout season with returns to popular homeports on both coasts. First, the ship visits the Southern Caribbean during two seven-night cruises departing Jan. 19 and 26 from San Juan, followed by a five-night Bahamas cruise. Then, beginning March 20, the ship embarks on seven sailings to Baja and the Mexican Riviera. These two- to seven-night cruises are from San Diego. Florida departures Disney Cruise Line will have three ships sailing to the Bahamas and Caribbean from Florida in early 2020, and every cruise includes a day at Castaway Cay. From Miami, Disney Magic will sail three-, four- and five-night Bahamas cruises and five-night Western Caribbean cruises. From Port Canaveral, Disney Fantasy will sail seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, plus two special cruises of six and eight nights each. Also from Canaveral, Disney Dream will offer three- and four-night Bahamas getaways to Nassau and Castaway Cay. 2020 bookings open to Castaway Club members starting Oct. 1 and to the general public Oct. 4. The companys 13th world cruise from Sydney will depart on May 12 and will be operated again by Sea Princess. Princess' first world cruise from Australasia in 2008 Svp Asia Pacific Stuart Allison, who hosted lunch in the ships Cantonese restaurant, Harmony, said the company launched its first world cruise from Australia in 2008 and it continues to offer Australians and New Zealanders the opportunity to sail around the world from their doorstep, with departures from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland. Speaking via video link from California, Princess Cruises director of deployment and planning, Crystal Morgan, told guests a full world cruise can take 18 months to plan. Were always thinking about where we can take our guests next, where they havent been before, Morgan said. 14,000 nautical miles on 2020 world cruise In 2020 were doing just that by taking our guests 14,000 nautical miles from Sydney to Honningsvag to see the northern-most point of the European continent. Just think how many people from Australia get to say that they have done that! Sea Princess global circumnavigation will visit 41 ports across 27 countries and introduce new destinations including Sibenik in Croatia, Ceuta in Spanish Morocco and Isafjordur in Iceland. ... including a 77-night full circle Pacific cruise Another major highlight of the 2020 programme is a 77-night full circle Pacific cruise aboard Sun Princess, departing Sydney on April 15. Allison said it was back by popular demand, following a three-year hiatus. It will make a record number of calls in Japan and offer access to seven UNESCO World Heritage sites. Maiden calls include Alotau in Papua New Guinea, Kodiak and College Fjord in Alaska, Monterey and Santa Barbara in the United States and Prince Rupert in Canada. The new 2020 programme will be on sale to elite guests on October 9, before going on public sale on October 11. This annual launch event has become the most anticipated booking day in the cruise industry in Australia, Allison said. In fact, maybe it is the most anticipated booking day for any travel product. This article is part of State of Health, a series examining health disparities, how they affect Michigan's children and seniors, and the innovative solutions being developed to address them. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund. Imagine being a gay or lesbian teenager thrown out of your home, living on the streets, finding out you're HIV positive, and trying to navigate the healthcare system your own. Or imagine being a homeless transgender teen getting jeered at by other patients in the waiting room of a community health clinic. That was the reality for many of the clients served by the Ruth Ellis Center (REC) in Highland Park, says Mark Erwin-McCormick, director of development and advancement for the center. The organization's drop-in center was already offering "low-barrier" access to food, showers, laundry facilities, recreation, and peer support. But when staff asked how they could better serve their clients, they found that the homeless LGBTQ youth they served were still facing significant barriers in accessing primary care services. Youth at the Ruth Ellis Center wrote these descriptions of what the center means to them. "We found out that not only were more than 90 percent not connected to primary care, about 40 percent were already living with HIV," Erwin-McCormick says. "When you don't have family support and you're experiencing identity-based rejection, it's really hard for a young person to navigate the healthcare system or enroll in Medicaid when you're 16 or 17." Mark Erwin-McCormick. REC staff responded by using private funding to add a health and wellness clinic to the ground floor of a building they were already using as a drop-in center. They also chose not to accept any federal funding, which would have required them to open the clinic to the broader community. "The idea behind it was that we need this to be a safe space for LGBTQ young people," Erwin-McCormick says. Dr. Maureen Connolly, the practitioner who works with homeless LGBTQ youth at REC, says she and other REC staff weren't sure how popular the health and wellness clinic would be, but the number of repeat visits by the same patients indicates it was sorely needed. "I had a sense when we first started that these teens had so much going on in their life. Would they even have healthcare on their list of priorities? Was it something they want to make time for?" she says. "What we found was that if we make it accessible, yes, absolutely. They're concerned about their health and they follow up really well." Dr. Maureen Connolly.REC is just one of many healthcare clinics around Michigan that are finding creative ways to address the social determinants of health and provide healthcare to Michigan's most vulnerable residents, the homeless. Special health challenges for the homeless Eric Hufnagel, executive director of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, says the organization's data from 2016 shows about 10 percent of homeless children and about 20 percent of homeless adults are dealing with some kind of long-term disability or chronic health issue, including physical illness, mental health issues, and substance use disorders. Lacking insurance is a huge risk factor for falling into homelessness in the first place, and people who are homeless and uninsured experience higher mortality rates, he says. Luckily, policy changes in recent years mean that most homeless adults and virtually all homeless children are covered by some type of insurance, usually Medicaid for minors. Unfortunately, insurance coverage alone doesn't solve the healthcare access issue. Dr. Wendy Ringo, executive director of the Genesee Community Health Center (GCHC), says housing insecurity is at the root of many of the social determinants of health. "If you're living on the streets or in shelters or you're couchsurfing, it's difficult to adhere to a blood pressure regime or have a refrigerator where you can make sure your insulin is cooled at a proper temperature," Ringo says. Wendy Ringo. Having a housing safety net is very important, Ringo says. If someone is putting all his or her energy into finding a stable home, health concerns will be put on the back burner. Once someone has housing, he or she will have time and energy to schedule a checkup or have a troublesome tooth examined. As a woman experiencing homelessness in the Grand Rapids area, Maiya Copeland knows these challenges all too well. Copeland's 6-year-old daughter receives care at federally-qualified health center Cherry Health for allergies, breathing issues, and eczema. Copeland's daughter has a semi-permanent place to stay with friends, but Copeland copes with her lack of housing by staying with friends a few days a week and sleeping in her car the rest of the time. When she was abruptly asked to leave her previous apartment, she had to hastily throw all her and her daughter's belongings into her car. It took Copeland some digging around to find her child's inhaler and eczema ointment. If her daughter's breathing issues worsen, the situation gets even more precarious. "She has allergies, and they have her on a (nebulizer), and it's hard trying to keep that in a safe, cool area," Copeland says. "If she needs her breathing treatments, and she's living at somebody else's house, I have to hurry up and drive over there to help with that." Copeland recently received a voucher for housing but was told there won't be an opening until November. "My daughter's problems are worse in the wintertime," Copeland says. "Hopefully, this (housing opportunity) comes through, because I do not want to go through this in the wintertime." Searching for successful strategies Healthcare organizations across Michigan are implementing a variety of innovative strategies to make healthcare more accessible to Michigan's homeless. Most recently, GCHC bought a 16-passenger van and a smaller minivan to address transportation-related barriers to care. Transportation arrangements are integrated into the appointment-scheduling process, so a front desk staffer can set the appointment and arrange for transportation all at the same time. Other GCHC strategies include offering ready-to-eat foods through a food pantry at every health clinic site, using social workers to assess clients' needs and connect them to other community resources, offering medicines to assist clients who want to stop drinking alcohol or using drugs, and using "geo-fencing" to send out smartphone alerts to people in a certain geographic area. "We can send out specific messages to, say, around the bus depot, where we know a lot of homeless individuals are congregating," Ringo says. These alerts allow health center staff to send out the message that there's a free clothing giveaway or that the clinic is offering free flu shots. Cherry Health CEO Tasha Blackmon says about 10,000 of the 80,000 clients Cherry Health served in 2017 were homeless. Of those 10,000, about 26 percent are under age 18, and 48 percent are people of color. Cherry Health CEO Tasha Blackmon. Cherry Health makes it a priority to establish clinics within walking distance of areas where potential clients congregate. They also co-locate many services, such as vision and dental exams, on one site so that clients don't have to drive to multiple locations for specialty care. Additionally, clients can pick up their medications in the same building where they were seen by the healthcare team. Getting to the root of homelessness, in 2015 REC started a Family Preservation pilot program designed to help LGBTQ children and youth stay connected to their families so that they might not have to experience homelessness in the first place. The program trains Child Protective Services case managers to provide home-based family support services and identify abusive behaviors related to the child's identity and gender expression. But for those who do experience homelessness and need help, there's an emphasis on colocation of services. "We believe in bringing healthcare to these vulnerable people in a way that has not been done before, co-located with the drop-in center," Erwin-McCormick says. "The center has been there almost 20 years, and we've established a level of trust like nobody else." The health and wellness center at REC doesn't only provide acute care and care for chronic illness but also provides "affirming care" for transgender youth, whether that's access to hormones or referrals for gender-affirming surgeries, a type of speciality care that isn't often included in a primary care health clinic setting. Not just tolerated, but welcome Beyond specific strategies and programs, many providers emphasize that homeless patients are sensitive to the attitudes of healthcare providers and community members. At Cherry Health's Heart of the City center in downtown Grand Rapids, homeless folks are always sitting on benches around the health center and frequently come in to charge a cell phone or use the bathroom. They aren't just tolerated, but welcome, Blackmon says. "It's important for us to treat people with dignity and respect, even if they're getting onto the elevator with you and talking to themselves," Blackmon says. "We don't want to be an organization that says you have to look or smell a certain way to be able to have access to quality, affordable healthcare. We want to meet you exactly where you are and provide interventions, if you want them, around food, housing, and healthcare. We're welcoming to all. We want to be a beacon." Connolly says that although she witnesses hard things in her work, she wants people to know it's not all gloom and doom. She says she's impressed by the resiliency and creativity that her patients show in surviving and getting what they need. "It can be sad and frustrating, because there's a lot that they're facing," Connolly says. "But what I see all day is people who understood who they are and are living their truth, their authentic lives, and that's more than you can say about a lot of people. There's a lot of positivity and community-building, and that's inspiring." Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and editor in Ypsilanti Township. You may reach her at sarahrigg1@gmail.com. Wendy Ringo photo by Mike Naddeo. Mark Erwin-McCormick photo courtesy of Mark Erwin-McCormick. Tasha Blackmon photo by Adam Bird. All other photos by Nick Hagen. Though they are heading two very different organizations, Domenico Grasso and Russell Kavalhuna have a lot in common. Theyre both first-generation Americans, new to Dearborn and are the sixth people to lead their higher education institutions -- Grasso as the University of Michigan-Dearborns (UMD) chancellor, and Kavalhuna as the president of Henry Ford College (HFC). The two had yet to meet at press time but each says theyre excited to explore ways that the two schools can work together. Our bridge between the two institutions is long and healthy, says Kavalhuna, citing transfer agreements, some public safety services and joint programs for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service each January. I have been pleased and impressed by how U-M Dearborn works as good neighbors. We have two different missions, but I see a lot of opportunities for us to work together collaboratively," says Grasso. Singing the praises of community college Kavalhuna, 39, joined HFC on July 2 after a stint as executive director of Western Michigan Universitys College of Aviation. A former federal prosecutor and a commercial airline pilot, Kavalhuna deflects praise for his diverse accomplishments, calling himself a guy who cant keep a job. Henry Ford, which is entering its 80th year, is seeking funding to update and expand its technology building, which is more than 50 years old. Kavalhuna hopes half of the $14-million project will come from Gov. Rick Snyders Marshall Plan, which will invest $100 million in Michigans talent and education system. HFC hosted about 100 business and educational leaders at a Marshall Plan workshop on July 26. Michigan is projected to have more than 811,000 job openings through 2024 in fields facing a critical talent shortage. The greatest demand for workers will be information technology and computer science, manufacturing, health care and other business and professional trades careers, says the governors office. HFC is uniquely positioned to help fill many of those jobs, Kavalhuna says. We are at the cusp of being the answer to what needs to be delivered right now. That is not just happy talk. We cant say it loudly or clearly enough -- we want to be the gem in Michigan that does the kind of education to answer the unmet needs of these career paths. Russel Kavalhuna, Photo by Doug Coombe. Many times, people look at a community college and draw the false dichotomy that it is just a springboard [to a four-year college], Kavalhuna added. That is true maybe for a small majority of our students, but we take very seriously those who only need a certificate program or associates degree for what they want to achieve in life. Community colleges, he says, offer frankly unbeatable prices for the return on investment and are at the forefront of public institutions that can serve society in moving people from high school to well-paying jobs. That philosophy was illustrated last semester at HFC with Tiny Home for Tiny Tots, a joint project of the schools architecture/construction technology (ACT), energy technology and interior design programs. The real estate firm RE/MAX commissioned the fully functional 202-square-foot structure as a fundraiser for the Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals, and it fetched more than $47,000 at auction in July. This is the manifestation of the value of our education, Kavalhuna says. We are teaching people how to install a high-end floor, how to hang cabinets, plumb an area, learn project management. Another initiative Kavalhuna says hes happy to carry on is the Integrated Energy Master Plan, which is designed to reduce energy consumption by 60 percent and water by 40 percent by 2039. It will probably cost us north of $20 million by 2039 but we hope to draw down that cost by the synergy of getting new programs in green technologies, he says. Community college, Kavalhuna says, is the gateway for the American dream. My father came from Brazil and lived in a dirt-floor basement. His one chance for higher education was the community college in his Battle Creek neighborhood. My mother is the daughter of a factory worker and they met at that community college. Kavalhuna says hes enjoying Southeastern Michigan. I made a conscious decision to move my family to Dearborn, he says. Like its college, it has a unique lens of the diversity of thought and people and unparalleled support for education and its transformational value. Fresh eyes at a Backyard Gem The son of Italian immigrants, Grasso was a major in the U.S. Army before embarking on an academic career. Hes worked at Smith College, the University of Vermont and, most recently, was an engineering professor at the University of Delaware, where he also served as provost. He received his Ph.D. in environmental engineering from U-M. I knew of the strengths of the university and am a little surprised at the strengths I continue to uncover in terms of faculty and expertise, Grasso says of his short tenure, which began August 1. This institution can consider itself to be fully transformational in the lives of its students. They see this as a gateway to a different life and we want to be a part of helping them realize that. Grasso, 62, says hes excited about the ongoing construction of the Engineering Laboratory Building (ELB), a $90-million project that will open in fall 2020. The facility will include dedicated labs that replicate industry environments; offer faculty additional research opportunities in mechanical and electrical technologies, mechatronics, robotics, and other emerging fields; and allow the school to double the number of engineering graduates over time. A third of the funding is coming from the state of Michigan. Domenico Grasso. Photo by Doug Coombe. Its very forward thinking, which really personifies what this university is really all about, Grasso says. Hes also making a top priority of the Student Success Collaborative, which tracks student progress and offer interventions to keep under-performers from falling through the cracks. Our six-year graduation rate is 54 percent, which is respectable compared to many schools, but a far cry from where we want it to be, which is in the 80s, says Grasso, noting that the University of Delaware has had great success with a similar program. He also plans to promote the schools Talent Gateway, an initiative unique to the school that encourages students to explore career opportunities and develop leadership skills with real-world experiences. The majority of students have not taken advantage of it and we plan to push it, he says. Its a big differentiator when people want to hire individuals. After recently meeting with Mayor John O'Reilly Jr., Grasso says he sees Smart City initiatives in which different types of electronic data collection sensors help manage assets and resources more efficiently -- between the university and the city of Dearborn as an exciting possibility. Grasso says hes enjoying rediscovering the Dearborn area with his wife, Susan Hull Grasso, who grew up in Troy. I stole her away in 1987 and now shes showing me the ropes, he says. I have loved this part of Michigan and am enjoying being back. The university is a gem in the region that I dont think has been fully appreciated. Does Grasso think that the school has been taken a bit for granted? We've been awfully taken for granted, he says. Familiarity can breed contempt, and oftentimes people dont appreciate what theyve had. This is a terrific, terrific university and I want everyone to know whats in their backyard. Joyce Wiswell is a Royal Oak-based freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in a variety of publications and platforms. Sterling Heights is now the home of several public murals, adding some color to commuters and pedestrians around the city. On the south-facing wall of the Utica BP gas station local artist Wendy Popko has installed a mural of a bear and her cub, representing the Marshall Fredrick sculpture in front of the Sterling Heights Public Library. Commissioned by the city, Popko says the bears represent family, the wavy lines represent the Clinton River that runs throughout this city, and the globe in the center represents Sterling Heights cultural diversity. Sterling Heights graphic designer and artist Kelly Gray won a mural design contest to have her work displayed on this exterior wall of the Sterling Heights Public Library. Her illustration of children reading inside a giant bookshelf was unveiled in June and actually painted by installation artist Elton Monroy Duran. The city commissioned mural artist Louise Jones, known as Ouizi, to design the wall and anchor posts along the Dodge Park Trail under the M-53 underpass. Based out of Detroit, Ouizi has floral mural artwork all over the country and world and her unique style adds color to many commuters day. While the illegal graffiti on the wall of the pedestrian tunnel below M-59 in downtown Utica is often deemed a blight, and has seen a police crackdown in the last few years, more than one artist has tried their hand at creativity there. Press Release September 27, 2018 Dispatch from Crame No. 389: Sen. Leila M. de Lima's statement on the Ombudsman's new policy to give up if its prosecutors lose cases at the level of Sandiganbayan, RTCs (criminal) and Court of Appeals 9/27/18 It was reported recently that Ombudsman Samuel Martires has issued a directive not to anymore appeal lost cases in the Sandiganbayan and the lower courts. I consider this as a clear sign that we are now in a path towards impunity and away from accountability. In the 2001 case of Uy v. Sandiganbayan, the Supreme Court emphasized that: "The prosecution of offenses committed by public officers and employees is one of the most important functions of the Ombudsman." The mandate of the Ombudsman as the protector of the people impresses upon him and his office the obligation to be an active and effective agent of the people in ensuring accountability in public office. However, we are now living in dark times, under a president whose utter disregard, disrespect and contempt of the laws is an everyday occurrence. Kung ang nasa tuktok ng administrasyon mismo ang bumabali at bumabastos sa mga batas, ano pa nga ang aasahan nating mga Pilipino? Under such kind of leadership, we need a strong and independent ombudsman who will resist any attempt to abuse public office. We had that under former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales whose independence, competence, and integrity is so well beyond question that Duterte himself cannot take her down despite attempts to do so. Unfortunately, the President replaced her with Ombudsman Martires, whose independence from Duterte is suspect at best. In his short stint in the Supreme Court, he has always voted in favor of Duterte's positions no matter how tenuous they were. Ilang araw lamang matapos maluklok sa puwesto si Ombudsman Martires ay nagpakita na siya ng kawalan ng kasarinlan nang ipatupad niya ang dismissal ng Malacanang kay Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang sa kabila ng malinaw na hatol ng Korte Suprema laban dito. A few weeks after that, Ombudsman Martires has ordered his prosecutors to withdraw all pending motions for the preventive suspension of public officials being prosecuted and to refrain from filing the same in future cases. Now, our Ombudsman issued a directive not to anymore appeal any dismissal of cases and acquittals by both the trial courts and the Sandiganbayan, as well as reversals secured at the Court of Appeals. He is now preventing our prosecutors to exhaust all remedies against lost cases regardless of the merits of the case. It appears that there is a systematic attempt on the part of the new Ombudsman to reduce the efforts of his office to half-measures. Such trend will not only end up frustrating the ends of justice, but will operate to embolden those who seek to abuse the public office for personal gains. This administration's lack of interest to hold those guilty of abuse of power responsible is so telling; that there cannot be any clearer manifestation of the erosion of the independence and zeal of the Office of the Ombudsman than this. Tila ba ang gusto lamang na maikulong sa likod ng mga rehas ay ang mga may lakas ng loob na magsabi ng totoo, kaysa ang mga tunay na nang-aaso sa bayan. Silang patuloy na nagpapataba ng sariling mga bulsa habang milyon-milyon sa ating mga kababayan ang patuloy na nasasadlak sa kahirapan, sila ang pinoprotektahan ni Duterte. We are in a slippery slope and if we do not do something now, we will lose our fight against graft and corruption. Ito ba ang pagbabagong paulit-ulit na ipinangako sa taong-bayan? This administration has done nothing but sow discord among people, and breed public officials whose sense of accountability and integrity is so questionable that it makes a mockery of the fundamental rule that "a public office is a public trust". There could be no greater betrayal of the nation than this: to give those who empty the pockets of the nation, at a time of agonizing famine and devastating disasters, unbridled courage to do so while the Ombudsman looks away. Sino na ang tatanod para sa taumbayan? Press Release September 27, 2018 Dispatch from Crame No. 390: Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on Francis Tolentino's Gross Ignorance of Election Law and of His Own Case 9/27/18 Presidential Political Adviser Francis Tolentino should study his own election protest case with his lawyers before talking about it in public because he only exposes his ignorance about his own case. He claims that if I resign (Gosh, why should I?), he automatically takes his oath as senator. He says this was the case when Sen. Migz Zubiri resigned. Sen. Koko Pimentel who filed an election protest against Zubiri assumed the position he vacated. There is no provision in our election laws which states that if the 12th-ranked winning senator resigns, the 13th-ranked but losing senatorial candidate automatically becomes senator. The 13th ranking senatorial candidate will always be a loser. He will never be a senator unless he is proclaimed the rightful winner in an election protest. And Tolentino is still light-years away from proving in the election protest he filed against me that he actually won in the 2016 senatorial elections. In the case of Senators Pimentel and Zubiri, what happened was that Zubiri resigned because he already knew by then that Pimentel was going to win the election protest between them. Sen. Pimentel became senator not because Zubiri resigned, but because he won his election protest case against Zubiri and was proclaimed the 12th winning senatorial candidate in that elections. That Tolentino cannot even get this simple fact straight explains his absolute ignorance about the facts of his own election protest case. This includes his allegations of cheating which up to now he cannot prove or clearly explain in public. He settles with a general allegation of cheating, supposedly committed by the COMELEC through a so-called Super Service of Amazon.com. His conspiracy theory might be alluring as a plot for a cheap paperback novel, but it is another matter altogether proving it before the Senate Electoral Tribunal. Up to now his elaborate conspiracy theory remains a fantastic story that only losers in elections are capable of concocting. Finally, his election protest case is so near bankruptcy that he is desperate enough to use the same convicted criminals used against me by the Duterte Administration. In the first place, his cited ground of failure to report to COMELEC the convicts' alleged contributions is not proper in an election protest case. Besides, these individuals are even disqualified by law from becoming state witnesses because they are criminal convicts. The law deems their word unreliable and untrustworthy. The claim of some of them that they gave money for my campaign funds is an absolute falsehood. Tolentino's reliance on the word of convicted criminals to support his case only shows how hollow it already is. Tolentino's election protest case remains a sputtering engine that has failed to take off from the very start for lack of any evidence that he was cheated. My advice to him is that he should take his defeat like an honorable man, and just prove himself worthy of the post by winning in the next elections. The Cayman Islands Grand Court has found investors in the Torchlight fund abused the process in trying to wind up the distressed asset vehicle linked to Pyne Gould Corp. Government agencies Accident Compensation Corp and Crown Asset Management Ltd were among petitioners seeking to have the Torchlight entity wound up after they lost faith in the Pyne Gould-owned general partner managing the fund. ACC, CAML and Aurora Funds Management reached a deal to exit the fund before the judgment was released. However, the Cayman Islands judge said it was in the public interest to publish the ruling to publicly exonerate Pyne Gould managing director George Kerr and Russell Naylor of the harsh criticism they'd faced and because the dispute raised a number of significant issues of law. Justice Robin McMillan said the investors abused court process by bringing the petition for an improper purpose to "obtain accelerated liquidity". A court should only wind up an entity in an extremely serious situation, he said. "The court is of the opinion that to wind up the partnership would not be in the interests of the limited partners taken as a whole because to do so could be financially devastating," the judge said. Justice McMillan said the few instances where Torchlight's general partner wasn't a perfect manager didn't prove the investors' claim on the balance of probabilities. He preferred the evidence provided by the general partner over the investors. The judge said Naylor was a "most impressive witness" . He presented evidence in a straightforward way and his credibility was enhanced under cross-examination. He said Kerr was a very skilled and talented investor who didn't pay an ideal amount of attention to administrative duties, but was honest and reliable. "It would be fair to say that while Mr Kerr's business skills are exceptional and the limited partners have unquestionably benefited from them his governance style has not been quite so highly developed," the judge said. "However, if that became the sole measure for winding up a solvent business there might not be many businesses that unequivocally survived." In contrast, the judge said CAML chair Gary Traveller's evidence was formulaic and less than persuasive and CAML general manager Sharon Burleigh was unconvincing. Justice McMillan said evidence from Greg Marshall of Logic Funds Management was "calamitous" with fervent attacks on Kerr's integrity. Marshall was involved in concocting a plan to replace the fund's manager, in theory to protect the interests of investors but in reality "for their own enrichment", the judge said. The judge said ACC investment manager Nicholas Bagnall's evidence was unpersuasive, and that it was troubling ACC didn't disassociate itself from the proposal to replace the manager. Pyne Gould's Kerr said the judgment was a complete vindication of the fund, its performance and its management. "What should be concerning to many is the judge rejected the evidence of senior New Zealand public servants and directors, who were described in the judgment as less than persuasive, formulaic, unconvincing, tenuous, unreliable, emotional and irrational," he said. ACC chief executive Scott Pickering said he was disappointed the judge issued the ruling having already made an order to end proceedings. We respectfully disagree with the judges decision to publish his judgment and with the criticisms he makes of the petitioners and their witnesses," Pickering said. "We are committed to the agreement the parties entered into so we dont wish to make any further comment on the proceedings or the settlement." Pickering defended Bagnall's track record as outstanding and affirmed his confidence in ACC's investment chief, who has held the role since 1999. The workplace insurer's investment team outperformed its benchmarks in 24 of the 25 years to June 30, 2017, achieving annual compound returns of 10 percent through that period. He is a long-time public servant who cares deeply about the sustainability of the ACC scheme and the important role he, and the investment team, play in ensuring that happens," Pickering said. CAML's Traveller and Burleigh and Logic Funds' Marshall didn't respond to BusinessDesk inquiries by the time of publication. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Contact Energy Limited (NZX: CEN) Sets Interest Rate for Green Capital Bonds Rakon Limited (NZX: RAK) Upgrades Earnings Guidance 12th November 2021 Morning Report The Warehouse Group Limited (NZX: WHS) FY22 First Quarter Sales Update Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) Interim results for the period ended 30 September 2021 11th November 2021 Morning Report Goodman Property Trust (NZX: GMT) Delivers Interim Profit Before Tax of $570 Million Mainfreight Limited (NZX: MFT) Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2021 Arvida Group Limited (NZX: ARV) Completion of Shortfall Bookbuild Auckland International Airport Limited (NZX: AIA) Announces Interest Rate for Retail Bond Issue New Zealand's export log market took a hit from the trade dispute between the US and China as the declining value of the yuan crimps the buying power of the country's largest log market. The average price for New Zealand A-grade export logs dropped to US$133/JAS from US$141/JAS in August, and US$145/JAS in July, and is now the lowest since June 2017, according to AgriHQ's Forestry Market Report for September. "The Chinese log market has again dominated talk in the NZ forestry industry amid its sudden depreciation these past two months. Purely from a data perspective August and early September dont make for pretty reading," AgriHQ analyst Reece Brick said in his report. "All of this weakness is directly related to the reduction in Chinese buying power, itself due to the depreciation of the CNY:USD." The yuan has depreciated 7.5 percent since mid-June, recently trading at 6.8763 per US dollar. Still, Brick said that despite the fall, market sentiment has stayed "quite positive" as factors such as port-level inventories, offtake rates and shipping rates otherwise point towards healthy fundamentals for New Zealand log trading in China. "Consensus among the majority of traders is that weve settled at the bottom of the market for at least the time being," he said. Chinese demand for New Zealand logs has been strong over recent years after Asia's largest economy clamped down on the harvesting of its own forests and reduced tariffs on imported logs to meet demand in its local market. However, trade tensions between the US and China have dented the value of the Chinese currency and traders fear rising tariffs will hurt economic growth and dampen demand. "What the future looks like will largely be dictated by the actions of the Trump administration," Brick said. "The latest round of 10 percent tariffs covering US$200 billion of Chinese products is yet to be felt within the log industry. The main headache, however, is that theres no end in sight for the trade war. Its expected the latest tariffs will be lifted to 25 percent by Christmas, while Trump has threatened to extend these tariffs to another US$267 billion worth of Chinese products. "Given log demand is so closely tied to economic growth, we can only hope these two power-houses can settle their differences sooner rather than later. Just dont count on it," he said. Brick noted that neither India nor South Korea, New Zealand's other major log markets, have provided any significant relief for exporters either. However, he noted the weaker New Zealand exchange rate against the US dollar had offered some protection for local export traders against the depreciation within China. Forest products are New Zealand's third-largest commodity export group behind dairy and meat products. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Contact Energy Limited (NZX: CEN) Sets Interest Rate for Green Capital Bonds Rakon Limited (NZX: RAK) Upgrades Earnings Guidance 12th November 2021 Morning Report The Warehouse Group Limited (NZX: WHS) FY22 First Quarter Sales Update Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) Interim results for the period ended 30 September 2021 11th November 2021 Morning Report Goodman Property Trust (NZX: GMT) Delivers Interim Profit Before Tax of $570 Million Mainfreight Limited (NZX: MFT) Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2021 Arvida Group Limited (NZX: ARV) Completion of Shortfall Bookbuild Auckland International Airport Limited (NZX: AIA) Announces Interest Rate for Retail Bond Issue Greymouth Petroleum, the second-largest New Zealand-based oil and gas producer, has started court action challenging the governments plan to ban the offering of new offshore exploration permits. The company, whose assets include the onshore Turangi, Onaero, Kowhai, Radnor and Ngatoro gas fields, said the governments April 12 announcement halting further offshore block offers was unlawful. Chairman Mark Dunphy said the Crown Minerals Act requires the government to consult on any planned changes which it had not done. And the recent proposal by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods to sustain activity by extending drill or drop deadlines for existing permit holders risked adding to the clouded muddle of process explorers and producers now face. He said reduced production from the Pohokura field earlier this year, and again currently, showed how little redundancy there is in the countrys gas supply. I think people are coming to terms with the real problem, which is that New Zealand is short of gas, he told BusinessDesk. The fact Greymouth had a High Court claim against the Crown was disclosed in the Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Bill the government is rushing through parliament to effect its exploration ban. The public have only until Oct. 11 to submit on the bill which will also prevent any onshore acreage being offered outside Taranaki and could also end those onshore Taranaki exploration offers after 2020. The government has said the ban is necessary as part of its climate change strategy and will ensure a long-term transition away from the use of fossil fuels. Woods believes the existing 100,000 square-kilometres of exploration acreage is sufficient to ensure long-term gas supplies for industry and generation. But critics say she doesnt understand the low probabilities involved in offshore exploration, that the ban has already slowed investment, and that much of that offshore acreage is likely to be surrendered as permits reach their drill-or-drop deadlines in coming years. Government officials also advised against the ban saying that long-term it was likely to result in an increase in emissions as locally produced methanol, urea and steel is replaced with overseas product, often from countries and industries using coal rather than gas. They also estimated the potential loss in Crown revenue out to 2050 at between $1.2 billion to $23.5 billion. Dunphy said the government appeared determined not to consider what the top end of that curve really meant. And the public, who struggle to visualise a million dollars let alone a billion, would find it hard to believe that any government would take a decision to forego $23.5 billion in revenue, he said. But if the cost to the Crown was really only $1 billion, Dunphy said that would be just as disastrous for the country as it would imply that New Zealand is perilously short of gas. Greymouth, formed in 2000, specialises in supplying low-cost gas to industrial and commercial consumers. Its clients include producers of fertiliser, petrochemicals, wood products, meat products, health foods, beer, sugar and glass. Dunphy said those clients rely on gas and their processes dont lend themselves to electrification or use of other renewables. Without local gas supplies they would have to look at imported LPG, which would be out of the question or the country would need to start importing liquefied natural gas, which would be just as expensive. In that scenario most of his clients would likely shut down. This is really, really backwards thinking, he said of the exploration ban. What you will find is that imports will end up replacing our manufactured goods sector. Greymouth filed its claims with the High Court in April. The company would like the case heard as soon as possible, but that is unlikely to be this year, Dunphy said. The company is also disputing its unsuccessful bid for acreage in the 2017 block offer. Dunphy said the company had bid for an offshore coastal permit, but he declined to say where. He said the application had been declared compliant and appeared to be proceeding normally. After the change of government that appeared to change. The only acreage awarded on Dec. 20 was a 547 square-kilometre permit granted to Westside New Zealand. The near shore permit abuts the onshore Kauri and Rimu fields the company operates on the South Taranaki Coast near Hawera. Westside, which also operates the Meridian gas field in Queensland, is owned by China-based Landbridge Group. Dunphy said he is not concerned whether bidders are Chinese or Russian, so long as they are judged on the quality of their work programmes and New Zealand operators arent given the raw prawn. He said Greymouths work programme was better than that proposed by Westside, and the acreage involved was also far less complicated. Dunphy said the company is not big oil. It had not wanted to have to go to court but had not been able to resolve the issues with the minister or officials. We are extremely hardworking New Zealanders who are proud of what we do. New Zealand petroleum companies rely on the block offer process to ensure transparency, contestability, maintain competitiveness and grow their businesses. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: Contact Energy Limited (NZX: CEN) Sets Interest Rate for Green Capital Bonds Rakon Limited (NZX: RAK) Upgrades Earnings Guidance 12th November 2021 Morning Report The Warehouse Group Limited (NZX: WHS) FY22 First Quarter Sales Update Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) Interim results for the period ended 30 September 2021 11th November 2021 Morning Report Goodman Property Trust (NZX: GMT) Delivers Interim Profit Before Tax of $570 Million Mainfreight Limited (NZX: MFT) Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2021 Arvida Group Limited (NZX: ARV) Completion of Shortfall Bookbuild Auckland International Airport Limited (NZX: AIA) Announces Interest Rate for Retail Bond Issue New Zealand King Salmon hopes it will be allowed to move around half of nine square hectares of its Marlborough Sounds fish farms to better locations, but is braced for a disappointing outcome for both the companys growth and environmental outcomes. Speaking to BusinessDesk at the Aquaculture New Zealand conference in Blenheim, NZKS managing director Grant Rosewarne expressed frustration at the likelihood of a sub-optimal outcome. Leaving 4.5 hectares of the nine hectares of existing farms in place would be worse for both productivity and the environment when we can get a worlds best practice environmental outcome a kilometre away, he said. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash is expected to take recommendations on the proposed relocations to Cabinet before Christmas, with a decision pencilled for February. Nash told the aquaculture conference the industry needed to innovate more and invest in high-value brands to maximise export revenues. However, Rosewarne said NZKS was already producing the most highly branded salmon in the world, with highly differentiated products. Were getting high prices but slow regulatory processes were impeding growth potential. I do think we will get there and you heard the positive intent of the minister, he said. But I think were all dumb-founded that when something is so positive its not given a fast track or enabled with a proper strategy. Nash said the newly created Fisheries New Zealand agency, split out from the Ministry for Primary Industries, would deliver a new aquaculture strategy within the next year and strongly backed emerging deep-sea fish farming technology. The sooner we get into that space, the better, Nash told BusinessDesk. The consumer wants that, local iwi want that, communities want that. They can grow. The sooner tech allows us to get to the point where we can have commercial finfish farms off the coast, the better we all are. But he pushed back at the suggestion the regulatory processes were too slow and failing to support the aquaculture industry. One of my frustrations is that it does seem to take a long time to get anywhere in fisheries. I would rather take six months longer and make sure we get the process right than rush something through, get it wrong, and end up in court. Rosewarne said barely 20 surface hectares of salmon farming was consented in New Zealand, 17 hectares of which are ours, and half of which is no good. Moving the whole nine surface hectares in question should not be a hard thing, he said. We cant even move a tiny nine surface hectares, which weve already got and can already use, to a better spot and get a vastly superior outcome. Thats really disappointing. NZKS could apply to the Provincial Growth Fund for assistance with applying deep-sea fish farming in New Zealand, but the most important government contribution was a new aquaculture strategy. We could be New Zealands most valuable industry bar none technology, dairy, education, tourism. We can outdo all of those if theres a proper industry strategy and we can do it with an environmental footprint that would be hard to measure, it would be so green. The conference heard from international speakers from the World Wildlife Fund and the Norwegian salmon-farming industry about the relatively low impact of aquaculture for the production of protein for human consumption compared with traditional agriculture. Aaron McNevin, from WWF-USA, made a case for a global shift from land-based farming to farming in the sea, given the far greater efficiency and lower environmental impact of aquaculture. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. 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Related News: Contact Energy Limited (NZX: CEN) Sets Interest Rate for Green Capital Bonds Rakon Limited (NZX: RAK) Upgrades Earnings Guidance 12th November 2021 Morning Report The Warehouse Group Limited (NZX: WHS) FY22 First Quarter Sales Update Infratil Limited (NZX: IFT) Interim results for the period ended 30 September 2021 11th November 2021 Morning Report Goodman Property Trust (NZX: GMT) Delivers Interim Profit Before Tax of $570 Million Mainfreight Limited (NZX: MFT) Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2021 Arvida Group Limited (NZX: ARV) Completion of Shortfall Bookbuild Auckland International Airport Limited (NZX: AIA) Announces Interest Rate for Retail Bond Issue Sify.com Movies Reviews Tamil Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Chekka Chivantha Vaanam review: All about family feud, greed, thirst for power and revenge! Mani Ratnam ditches his usual style and creates a slick action film with a brilliant cast Source: SIFY By: MOVIEBUZZ Critic's Rating: 4/5 Thursday 27 September 2018 Movie Title Chekka Chivantha Vaanam review: All about family feud, greed, thirst for power and revenge! Director Mani Ratnam Star Cast Vijay Sethupathy, Prakash Raj, STR, Arvind Swami. Arun Vijay By Moviebuzz Mani Ratnam is back with a bang in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, an intense crime action drama set against family feud, greed, thirst for power and revenge. Having said that, the director has also moved out of his usual style and made this one as a slick action film, giving up his trademark songs, romance and sentiments. The film begins with Inspector Rasools (Vijay Sethupathi) voiceover, he says that like a snake, Chennai city sheds its skin and appear differently in every ten years. Todays gangster has many namesIndustrialist, educationalist, real estate kingpin, sand-mining mafia and then Senapathy (Prakash Raj) who is shown heading to temple with his wife (Jayasudha). On their way back home, both Senapathy and his wife are attacked by two henchmen in police uniform. Immediately the news reaches Varadhan (Arvind Swamy), the first son of Senapathy as he is the one who takes care of his fathers business and dirty jobs in Chennai. As both his parents are brutally attacked, Varathan calls his two brothersThyagu (Arun Vijay) and Ethi (STR) who are taking care of the family business in Dubai and Serbia respectively. While Varathan and Thyagu are married to Chitra (Jyothika) and Renu (Aishwarya Rajesh), Ethi is in love with Chaya (Dayana). The House with a Clock in Its Walls review: A clunky and familiar tale | Varathan review: Entertaining and relevant When the two brothers reach Chennai, they are on the mission to pin down the two people who attacked their parents with Rasool's help. When things are back to normal Senapathy is discharged from the hospital, and both the brothers return back. But Senapathy who was recovering fast, passes away due to a sudden heart attack. The brothers then start fighting among each other to find out who killed Senapathy and to occupy his throne! The biggest strength of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is the casting. Strong performances from this ensemble: All the four protagonists-Arvind Swamy, STR, Arun Vijay, and Vijay Sethupathi has equal scope and they have delivered their best. Among the four, Vijay Sethupathy has the best one-liners and is the real hero while Arvind Swamy has more screen space. STR is top class as owns his scenes with natural swag and screen presence while Arun Vijay shines as the classy yet deadly Dubai based businessman. STRs ability to perform intense scenes is evident in the emotional conversation with his mom in the second half. Throughout the film, we get the feel that Vijay Sethupathi's character is under-utilised but he is the show stealer in the climax! The women in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam have been only showcased as collateral damages for the sin committed by men. Jayasudha had to see her three sons fighting and baying for each others blood. Jyothika has to run away and struggle like a refugee because of Arvind Swamy and put up with Aditi Rao Hydari who is her husband's concubine. Aishwarya Rajesh and Dayana are also victims because of their husbands played by Arun Vijay and STR. Among the five women Jyothika is the best while Aditi Rao Hydaris character is unwanted to the plot! As usual, Rahman has reserved his best for Mani Ratnam. The Bhoomi track which has been used throughout the film raises the tempo and in terms of background score, one can easily say that it is his best work in recent times. Santosh Sivans camera captures the mood of each character, his lighting and shot divisions will be followed in the upcoming crime dramas in Tamil cinema. Even in Serbia and Dubai, Santosh Sivans lens focuses on the characters and not the picturesque locations. Editor Sreekar Prasad has once again proved that he is the best in the business. On the downside there is no Mani Ratnam style romance, song pictusation or chemistry between anyone in the film-be it among brothers, couples or parents and children. In the end, we wish the plot had more depth, as the film stays on the surface. Despite being a multi-starrer, the runtime is just perfect, special mention to the end credits which is in the form of the investigation report. Overall, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is easily Mani Ratnams best work in recent time. He has crafted a powerful film that you wont be able to shake off immediately. Chekka Chivantha Vaanam review- Verdict: Engaging Reactions from Social Media: Ashameera Aiyappan @aashameera #ChekkaChivanthaVaanam is KICK ASS. A complete revenge saga, that makes the best use of @thearvindswami, @arunvijayno1 and #Simbu. But @VijaySethuOffl. people who kept saying #ManiRatnam has lost his touch, #CCV is your answer. Harish kalyan @iamharishkalyan Jus watched d #fdfs at kasi ..! Semma response for #CCV Balanced weightage for everyone .... with a fitting climax. Thalaivan #STR rocked as #Ethi so did everyone else. #ChekkaChivaanthaVaanam Sreedhar Pillai @sri50 #ChekkaChivanthaVaanam 3.5/5. Riveting & Racy, Pure Vintage #ManiRatnam. where he has concentrated more on story & plotline. A multi-starrer where every male star has shades of grey & gets their equal share of screen space. Super Climax. Among ladies #Jyotika has the better role. S Abishek @cinemapayyan #CCV at @RohiniSilverScr Padam illa, pattasu! Half way through and the war has barely started. #ManiRatnam for the gallery Every single character shines Kaushik LM @LMKMovieManiac #ChekkaChivanthaVaanam #CCV -Welcome return to the gritty gangster genre for #ManiRatnam. Multi-hero film in the true sense of the word. Keep making such films sir. Liked the 2nd half much much more compared to the 1st. 3.5/5.. #STR #VijaySethupathi @arunvijayno1 @thearvindswami Vinish vini @ketta_vini First half - Veritanam Second half Ku semma lead. If second half is quick n racy as first half then this film is an blockbuster. after so many years for manirathnam.#CCV #CCVReview Jeya Suriya @MSPMovieManiac Done with first half of #CCVPacked and Engaging!Not even a single dull momentIf the film travels in the same pace on the latter half - undoubtedly a winner! Kollywood Headmaster @KollywoodHM #ChekkaChivaanthaVaanam / #CCV Maniratnam modifies his narrative style and the screenplay is at top notch. ARR's BGM is the main pillar for this multistar cast. All the characters are portrayed with a neat and meaty role for them. #Ethi and #Rasool are making fans go crazy. Balaji @Balajiuv End of first half .This is what we expected from d genius #ManiRatnam. All d main leads outplayed their char in their own style. @arrahman Bgm summa therikudhu.#CCV China executes man who stabbed nine children to death Beijing, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 A man whose brutal knife attack left nine schoolchildren dead and injured 12 others was executed in China on Thursday. Zhao Zewei was sentenced to death in July for the massacre -- reportedly motivated by a grudge against the school in northern Shaanxi province, which he had attended as a child. The defendant "intentionally deprived others of their lives," the court that handed down the decision said in a statement on its official social media account. "Because his work and life were not going well, Zhao Zewei held a grudge in his heart and took it out on innocents," it said. The April attack on the Number Three Middle School came as children were heading home from class. At the time, Zhao told police he had been "bullied" when he attended the school as a child, "hated" his classmates and decided to use a "dagger" to exact revenge. Knife attacks are not uncommon in China. Incidents have targeted schoolchildren in the past, forcing authorities to increase security around schools. In January 2017, a man armed with a kitchen knife stabbed and wounded 11 children at a kindergarten in the southern Guangxi Zhuang region. The previous February, a knife-wielding assailant wounded 10 children on the southern island of Hainan, before committing suicide. The man had entered the school in the afternoon, claiming that he was there to pick up his son. Page Content On September 24th, Carol Voges in her capacity as President of the Executive Committee of the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA), presented the associations position on the proposed framework for the future European Union (EU) EU-OCT relationship, also known as the Overseas Association Decision (OAD) which will come into effect as of 2020 to the Development Committee of the European Parliament. In her presentation Voges reinforced OCTAs support of the European Commissions approach to retain the structure and acquis of the current (OAD) but highlighted a number of recommendations to further improve the Commissions proposal. Voges urged the Commission to seize this opportunity to ensure a more in-depth renewal of its vision and strategic direction regarding the EU-OCT partnership, and emphasized that the last review took place in 2009. Moreover, Voges noted during her presentation, that although the Commission had proposed to increase investment in EU external actions by up to 26%, the territorial allocations to the OCTs under the proposed OCT financial instrument for the period 2020-2027, would only increase by 3.2%. Voges stated that it was OCTAs belief that the recognition of the OCTs contribution to the global dimension of the EU and their strong added value in the implementation of the partnerships of the EU with the regions to which they geographically belong should have led the Commission to further strengthen the commitments of the EU towards the OCTs and should be translated into maintaining the current level of funding for all OCTs to at least the current level of 582,3 million euros. Furthermore, clarifications were sought with respect to future funding for reconstruction efforts in OCTs post natural disasters, as this seemed to have been decreased in the proposed OCT financial instrument. Voges recalled the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, as well as the tsunami that struck Greenland and underlined the need to strengthen EU support to the OCTs for reconstruction efforts post natural disasters. In closing, Voges thanked the Commission on behalf of OCTA for answering the call of the OCTs to create innovative financial devices to facilitate regional projects between OCTs, Outermost regions of the European Union, ACP states and Non-ACP states. However, Voges requested further clarifications on the implementation of this approach and also requested that the Commission take into account the limited administrative capacities and human capital of the OCTs and encouraged them to provide for specific, simplified rules for OCTs, in all future programming matters. The presentation was well received by the Development Committee of the European Parliament and will contribute to the upcoming debates on the future of the EU-OCT relationship post 2020. PHOTO CUTLINE: Carol Voges 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(0x7f3fdab068a8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdac4f3d8)', '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(0x7f3fdab068a8)') 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(0x7f3fdac4f3d8)') 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(0x7f3fdab422c8)') 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(0x7f3fdac4f3d8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdac4f3d8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda1f9420)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdae54af0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdae54af0)') 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(0x7f3fda711e50)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda22ac88)', '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(0x7f3fda711e50)') 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(0x7f3fda22ac88)') 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(0x7f3fda725f88)') 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(0x7f3fda22ac88)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda22ac88)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda1f9450)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fda6d8270)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fda6d8270)') 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(0x7f3fda6e3ba8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda6f7b18)', '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(0x7f3fda6e3ba8)') 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(0x7f3fda6f7b18)') 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(0x7f3fda7e6230)') 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(0x7f3fda6f7b18)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda6f7b18)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda601ed8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd9fc38d8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd9fc38d8)') 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(0x7f3fda6cc6d0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdab764a0)', '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(0x7f3fda6cc6d0)') 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(0x7f3fdab764a0)') 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(0x7f3fda6db8d0)') 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(0x7f3fdab764a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdab764a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda1fb080)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdab5df40)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdab5df40)') 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(0x7f3fda6cc720)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdab56718)', '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(0x7f3fda6cc720)') 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(0x7f3fdab56718)') 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(0x7f3fda6dbbb0)') 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(0x7f3fdab56718)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdab56718)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda1f9438)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdab455d0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdab455d0)') 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(0x7f3fdac1e258)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda9868a8)', '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(0x7f3fdac1e258)') 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(0x7f3fda9868a8)') 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(0x7f3fc562d368)') 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(0x7f3fda9868a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda9868a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda1f9bd0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdab07a20)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdab07a20)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Wetlands disappearing three times faster than forests: study Geneva, Sept 26 (AFP) Sep 26, 2018 Wetlands, among the world's most valuable and biodiverse ecosystems, are disappearing at alarming speed amid urbanisation and agriculture shifts, conservationists said Thursday, calling for urgent action to halt the erosion. "We are in a crisis," Martha Rojas Urrego, head of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, told reporters in Geneva, warning of the potential devastating impact of wetland loss, including on climate change. The convention, adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar nearly a half-century ago, on Thursday issued its first-ever global report on the state of the world's wetlands. The 88-page report found that around 35 percent of wetlands -- which include lakes, rivers, marshes and peatlands, as well as coastal and marine areas like lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs -- were lost between 1970 and 2015. Today, wetlands cover more than 12 million square kilometres (4.6 million square miles), the report said, warning that the annual rates of loss had accelerated since 2000. "We are losing wetlands three times faster than forests," Rojas Urrego said, describing the Global Wetland Outlook report as a "red flag". While the world has been increasingly focused on global warming and its impact on oceans and forests, the Ramsar Convention said wetlands remain "dangerously undervalued". Thursday's report, released in advance of a meeting of the parties to the convention in Dubai next month, stressed the importance of wetlands to all life on Earth. - Don't drain the swamp - Directly or indirectly, they provide almost all of the world's consumption of freshwater and more than 40 percent of all species live and breed in wetlands. Animals and plants who call wetlands home are particularly vulnerable, with a quarter at risk of extinction, the report said. Wetlands also provide a livelihood for more than one billion people, while mitigating floods and protecting coastlines. They are also a vital source of food, raw materials and genetic resources for medicines. The Ramsar Convention stressed that wetlands are essential to reining in climate change, pointing out that peatlands store twice as much carbon as the world's forests, even though they cover just three percent of all land surface. Salt marshes, seagrass beds and mangroves also store large quantities of carbon. So when wetlands disappear, carbon that has been safely locked in the soil is released into the atmosphere. Climate scientists have long warned of the threat of so-called positive feedbacks -- a vicious circle of global warming -- but their fears have focused primarily on the potent greenhouse gas methane seeping from thawing Arctic permafrost. The dark swampy peatlands of the tropics are also a major concern, according to Thursday's report, warning that draining soil for farming and development poses a climate threat. Considering wetlands as wastelands is therefore problematic, Rojas Urrego said, lamenting "the perception of swamps as something we need to drain". The Ramsar Convention has been ratified by most of the world's nations, including major polluters the United States, China and India, and since coming into force in 1975 has designated more than 2,300 sites of international importance. But the report stressed the need to do more to develop effective wetland management, including as part of overall national sustainable development plans. Rojas Urrego pointed out for instance that restoring peatlands should be seen as an effective measure to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to live up to commitments made under the Paris Climate Accords. Michael Bloomberg, against climate change and anti-Trump New York, Sept 26 (AFP) Sep 26, 2018 Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is using his vast fortune, estimated at $51 billion, to spur action to address climate change -- and to tilt the US Congress toward Democratic control. The 76-year-old businessman, activist, philanthropist and potential presidential aspirant spoke with AFP on the sidelines of the One Planet Summit featuring several world leaders Wednesday in New York City. When he took the podium he reiterated the message he delivered at a climate conference he co-organized in San Francisco two weeks ago; that private initiatives and local actors could take over from states when it comes to meeting the challenges of global warming. QUESTION: Why do you present yourself as an eternal optimist on climate, given how many leaders warn that the Earth is careening toward disaster? BLOOMBERG: "We are making progress, China is making some progress, throughout Europe they're making some progress. In the end, it's not governments that drive behavior, it's capitalism, it's the economic interest of companies who want to be environmentally friendly because their employees want it, their investors want it, their customers want it. And individuals who want to breathe clean air today and drink clean water today. "Basically, the federal government has been missing in action for a long time, not just this administration. But it really doesn't matter because coal fired power plants, no matter what the government says, are going to go out of business because of low-priced natural gas. "So the federal government can make things worse with some environmental rules and rolling back some of our things, but the good news is in America, the courts are stopping our government from rolling most of them back." QUESTION: Isn't China still building coal-fired plants? BLOOMBERG: "It's still opening coal plants, but it's also closing a bunch... India is even worse. "And eventually I think China will come around to understand that because of their geography, they're going to run out of water unless we do something here. Because of their geography, and the number of poor people who can't have filters in their air and live in closed houses, they are going to really suffer." QUESTION: You have said you are actively considering a White House run in 2020. What is your deadline for deciding? BLOOMBERG: "There's no deadline. I think it's probably not right after the (midterm elections set for November 6) -- within the next two or three months after that you would have to start focusing. But there's no drop dead date we have to do it. "It'd be harder to do it the day before the election, it'd be a little bit easier two days before, and a year and a half before it would be much easier." QUESTION: You also announced a few months ago that you would spend $80 million supporting Democratic congressional candidates in the November elections. Where are you on that? BLOOMBERG: "There are some people who are running for Congress, women and men, a lot more women than men this time, who will all of a sudden see ads on television that are helpful to them or hurtful, depending on which side they're on. "But we're not going to help people that have no chance whatsoever, nor people that have a very good chance and don't need our help. It's in the middle, it will be 25, some number like that. "I think we'll do more than 80 (million dollars)... I think I have an obligation to do that. I can afford to do it, and I should do everything I can to improve the government that I'm going to leave to my children and grandchildren." World leaders gather to breathe new life into Paris accord New York, Sept 26 (AFP) Sep 26, 2018 World leaders gathered in New York on Wednesday to try to breathe new life into the Paris global climate accord, amid backsliding from several nations over commitments made in the historic deal. The "One Planet Summit," launched last year by French President Emmanuel Macron, aims to accelerate the implementation of the 2015 pact. "We are not here just to speak, but to be accountable," Macron told delegates at the Plaza luxury hotel in New York. Having last year warned that "we are losing the battle" against climate change, Macron called on countries to massively increase funding for climate action. Despite a stream of announcements and summits -- including in Bonn in May, and Bangkok and San Francisco this month -- the front line in the climate war has hardly moved, and much of the hope and goodwill brought by the Paris deal has been replaced with passivity. President Donald Trump in June 2017 announced the US would pull out, effective November 2020, and momentum from several other countries has stalled. Trump has abandoned targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, set by his predecessor Barack Obama, by slashing dozens of environmental regulations. Australia, one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters, has scrapped plans to enshrine targets for reducing carbon emissions into law. And in Brazil, right-wing presidential front-runner Jair Bolsonaro has said he would pull the country from the deal if he is elected. The Paris agreement also stipulated that rich countries establish an annual $100-billion fund to help developing nations react to our heating planet. But only $10 billion has been collected so far. The United States had promised $3 billion and only gave $1 billion -- under Obama. - 'Very challenging' - The next UN negotiating summit, COP24, will take place in December in Poland. Preparatory meetings ended in deadlock. "It looks very challenging," Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary of UN Climate Change, told AFP. "We do not yet have certainty that we will be able to make it a success, but it's not impossible either." Fewer leaders participated in this year's One Planet Summit, organized with the World Bank and the UN. About 30 presidents, prime ministers and ministers are due to attend, including from Spain, Denmark, Norway, China, as well as from small Pacific island nations whose coastlines are getting eaten by a rising ocean. "Time is not our friend," said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. We should not "have the ability to opt out of action either." Over the course of the day, participants were to announce billions of dollars of new actions to "decarbonize" the world economy, help vulnerable countries and finance the ecological transition of developing countries, particularly in Asia and in Africa. But these commitments only represent a small portion of what is needed to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as enshrined in the 2015 Paris accord. Experts warn the global temperature is on track to surpass three degrees by 2100. A study in the journal Nature this month found that even global temperature rises of two degrees Celsius could still be enough to melt parts of the largest ice sheet on Earth, in the Antarctic, and raise sea levels by several meters (yards). Greenpeace questioned Macron's climate credentials, given that greenhouse gas emissions have recently crept up in France, mainly from the transport sector. Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is using his vast fortune to spur action to address climate change told AFP that nations are making progress but ultimately, it is not governments that drive behavior. "It's capitalism, it's the economic interest of companies who want to be environmentally friendly because their employees want it, because their investors want it, because their customers want it," he said. It's not that bad! Science, tourism clash on Great Barrier Reef Sydney, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 A row is raging over Australia's warming-damaged Great Barrier Reef, with firms worried that scientists' apocalyptic warnings are scaring visitors out of the water. Every year, more than two million snorkel-wielding tourists head to Australia's famed coral ecosystem, generating revenues of $4.3 billion (Aus$5.9 billion) and supporting 64,000 local jobs. But damage done by higher temperatures -- which turn patches of the reef ashen white -- has threatened to put a break on the number of tourists willing to wrestle their way into a wetsuit. There was surprise then, when the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre recently published a markedly more optimistic report, heralding "significant signs of recovery" at major dive sites around Cairns and prompting a flurry of upbeat news coverage. If the report's findings seemed out of kilter with other studies about the reef, that was by design. It was part of an effort to show that not all of the Great Barrier Reef is an aquatic wasteland, according to Col McKenzie of tourism industry lobby group AMPTO, which helped carry out the research. "Overall, are we seeing a drop in visitation because of the negative press, absolutely we are, there's no doubt about that," McKenzie told AFP. He suggested visitor numbers to the reef and nearby islands had dropped by 10 percent in 2017 and were on track to plunge by a further 15 percent this year. Although government data shows that the number of visitors to the broader region has actually increased, those figures are older and don't include coral-viewing activities. McKenzie said it was vital to get the message out that some areas of the massive ecosystem are still teeming with colour and life. "What people miss with our reef system is... it's a massive structure," he said. His comments are the latest salvo in a battle between ecologists and the tourism industry, as they struggle to come to terms with competing interests and new realities on the reef. Professor Terry Hughes of James Cook University, who leads the surveys of bleached corals, cautioned that while some damaged coral regain their colour within several months, more badly damaged reefs can take a decade to recover. "It's very early days yet," he told AFP, describing a patchy recovery that makes generalisations difficult. "Basically we are in year one in the middle of the reef, or year two in the northern reefs, in the decade-long process of recovery." The government's Australian Institute of Marine Science says coral cover has "continued to decline due to the cumulative impacts of multiple, severe disturbances over the past four years". The same institute showed that apart from the risk of extreme sea surface temperatures -- with some areas more affected, the reef is also grappling with the impacts of farming run-off, development and severe tropical cyclones. - Conflicting interests - Even within government there are conflicting interests at play, as well as rolling debates about how best to respond. Canberra has -- so far successfully -- urged UNESCO to hold off listing the reef as an endangered World Heritage site, fearing it would have an adverse economic impact and lead to tougher restrictions on local industry. It has allocated some $1.4 billion to protect the site, but at the same time backed a huge coal project nearby by Indian mining giant Adani and moved away from legislating climate targets under the Paris Accord. A parliamentary inquiry was recently set up to investigate why former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull gave nearly half a billion dollars to a small business-backed reef charity without a competitive tender process. Australians also appear divided on damage done to the reef. Only half of the country thinks that climate change is already causing the destruction of reef, according to an annual Ipsos poll on environmental issues. Whichever way the political winds blow, scientists like Hughes are determined to document changes to one of the world's most biodiverse regions. But that remains a moving target. "It's a critical recovery period," Hughes said. "The unknown, of course, is whether we'll get another bleaching event, which potentially could come as soon as early next year if we get a heatwave." grk/arb/gle/amu IPSOS Danish shipping firm tests Russian Arctic route Saint Petersburg, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 A Danish vessel loaded with Russian fish and South Korean electronics arrived Thursday in Saint Petersburg, becoming the first container ship to navigate the Russian Arctic as the ice pack melts and recedes. Maersk's new ice class container vessel, Venta Maersk, embarked on a trial journey from the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok in late August, completing the Arctic route in five weeks. "We are carrying out a one-off trial passage of the Northern Sea Route from East to West," said Janina von Spalding, a spokeswoman for the world's biggest shipping company. The vessel earlier made stops at Russia's Vostochny Port and Busan in South Korea before passing through the Bering Strait and Germany's Bremerhaven and finally entering Saint Petersburg. The ship carrying 3,600 containers and designed to operate in extreme weather conditions was assisted by nuclear icebreakers. The route along Siberia's northern coast could until now only be used by far smaller ships and was only passable several weeks a year. But as a result of rising temperatures and melting ice it is becoming accessible for increasingly longer periods. Russia is investing heavily in the development of this maritime shortcut that allows ships to cut the journey to Asian ports by 15 days, compared with the conventional route through the Suez Canal. Maersk said the one-off trial crossing presented a "unique opportunity to gain operational experience in a new area and to test vessel systems and crew capabilities". The company stressed however it "currently does not see the Northern Sea Route as a viable commercial alternative to existing east-west routes". The passage is only feasible "around three months a year" and requires additional costs to hire accompanying icebreakers, Maersk said. Nuclear-powered liquified natural gas carriers already use the Northern Sea Route to ship their cargo to Europe from the Arctic Yamal peninsula, where Russia's Novatek and France's Total opened a giant plant last year. - Environmental worries - Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the Northern Sea Route to become a global transport artery and this month once again called on "all interested parties to develop this promising route". In its draft budget for 2019-2021, Russia plans to invest more than 40 billion rubles (519 million euros) into the development of the route. This includes investing in port infrastructure and nuclear icebreaker construction in order to boost ship traffic. Sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk dramatically in just a few decades. Russian energy expert Ruslan Tankayev believes the Northern Sea Route could be passable all year round by 2050. He said that global warming is a "terrible evil" for countries such as Africa and Latin America, but added it could provide opportunities for Russia and Canada. The route, he added, is not only several thousand kilometres shorter than passing through the Suez Canal but also much safer with virtually no piracy risks. Tankayev predicted that Arctic traffic will grow to 40 million tonnes in the coming years. This rush worries environmental protection groups who fear oil spills that would threaten a well preserved ecosystem. "It's important to know what kind of fuel will be used," said Greenpeace activist Rashid Alimov. An accidental oil spill would be very dangerous as there is practically no infrastructure to treat the consequences and oil stays in the environment longer in cold weather, Alimov said. US Congress passes major spending bill, sending it to Trump Washington, Sept 26 (AFP) Sep 26, 2018 The US House passed an $854 billion spending bill Wednesday that ramps up military funding but does not include President Donald Trump's cherished border wall, sending him the measure days before the government runs out of money. The bipartisan measure, which passed 361-61, funds the department of defense and a handful of agencies, and includes a short-term extension of funding for other operations until December in order to avoid a government shutdown. The Senate easily passed the 2019 spending package, which provides US service members with their biggest pay raise in nine years, earlier this month. It allows for robust investments in defense operations, which are funded to the tune of $674.4 billion -- a boost of $17 billion over 2018 levels. It also includes $67.9 billion for war on terror efforts and ongoing war funds known as overseas contingency operations. The bill also increased National Institutes of Health funding to $39 billion, $2 billion higher than this year, and provides $6.7 billion for programs to combat America's opioid crisis. With the September 30 fiscal year deadline looming, Republicans are counting on Trump to bite the bullet and sign the bill into law, despite it failing to provide funding to build his much-promised wall on the US border with Mexico. "We're going to keep the government open," Trump told reporters in New York, where he was attending the UN General Assembly. Trump has consistently called for construction of a border wall as part of his efforts to stem illegal immigration, and at recent rallies he had go so far as threatening a government shutdown over the issue. A government shutdown crisis could severely hurt the party's efforts in the November congressional elections, and Republican leadership appeared uninterested in taking chances with a stoppage of federal operations. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the measure funds some 75 percent of total discretionary spending, and is the first time in 22 years that such a large portion of the federal pie has been funded before start of the fiscal year. "This brings certainty to our armed forces," Ryan said. Number two House Democrat Steny Hoyer said he was pleased that both parties worked together "to move this minibus appropriations package through Congress free from partisan riders or severe cuts to programs that help workers access economic opportunities." Iraq's Kurdistan region, autonomous since 1991 Arbil, Iraq, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 Iraqi Kurdistan, which holds parliamentary elections on Sunday, has been autonomous since 1991 and mired in an economic crisis since its failed independence referendum a year ago. Here is some background about the region bordering Iran and Turkey. - Mountainous north - Situated in the rugged mountainous north of Iraq, the region is home to about five million people. They are mainly Kurds, who are mostly Sunni Muslims, and a Turkmen minority. Kurdish and Arabic are the official languages, and the capital is Arbil. Of Indo-European origin, Kurds also live in Iran, Turkey and Syria. - Long persecuted - The struggle for an independent Kurdish state started during Britain's mandate in Iraq and was relaunched in 1961 by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Mustafa Barzani. It erupted into an Iraqi-Kurd war that finished in 1970 with a peace accord that granted Kurds autonomy. But this failed to materialise and a new conflict started in 1974, the Kurds quickly collapsing. The following year, the KDP split with the creation of the revolutionary Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). In 1987-1988, as the Iran-Iraq war neared its end, the regime of Saddam Hussein launched violent operations against the Kurds. The Anfal campaign saw nearly 180,000 killed and more than 3,000 villages destroyed. The regime's policy of "Arabisation" forced thousands to leave their homes, replaced by Arabs. Baghdad used chemical weapons against the village of Halabja, killing 5,000 people. - Autonomy - Iraqi Kurdistan gained de facto autonomy after the 1991 Gulf War, when Western powers intervened to protect Kurds against an onslaught by Saddam's forces that led hundreds of thousands to flee to neighbouring countries. In 1992 the Iraqi Kurds elected their first parliament and set up a government. Clashes erupted in 1994 between the PUK and the KDP parties over the distribution of the region's resources, leaving 3,000 dead over four years. In 2003 Kurds joined up with US troops to help overthrow Saddam. He was executed three years later. Iraqi Kurdistan became formally autonomous as a federal republic in 2005, with Mustafa Barzani's son, Massud, elected president. - US allies against IS - In 2014 Kurdish forces took control of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, profiting from the chaos created by the advance of the Islamic State (IS) group. They became an important ally of the US-led coalition against the jihadists in zones bordering Kurdistan. - Failed independence referendum - On September 25, 2017 Iraqi Kurdistan voted for independence at a referendum initiated by Massud Barzani, despite warnings from Baghdad and the international community. The referendum covered disputed border areas beyond the autonomous region, such as Kirkuk, and led Iraqi government forces to act to retake the oil-rich province. Barzani stepped down as president. Since then Iraqi Kurdistan has been run by his nephew, Nechervan Barzani. - Economically strapped - Iraqi Kurdistan went through an economic boom after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, as the rest of the country sank into violence. However the emergence of IS in 2014 hit investments hard. In the wake of last year's failed referendum, the loss of disputed territory, notably Kirkuk, deprived the region of essential oil revenues. The central government withheld civil servant salaries, fuel prices rose and there were power cuts, feeding popular anger that erupted into days of protests in December. Baghdad also imposed a blockade for nearly six months on two of the region's airports that was lifted in March 2018. A year of crisis since Iraqi Kurdistan's bid for independence Arbil, Iraq, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan, which votes for a new parliament on Sunday, has endured a year of unrest and open crisis with the Baghdad government since it overwhelmingly backed independence in a referendum a year ago. Here is a recap: - A massive 'yes' - The September 25, 2017 referendum on Kurds' long-cherished dream of independence for their mountainous northern enclave returns a 93 percent "yes". Regional president Massud Barzani says there will be no immediate declaration of independence, but he calls for negotiations with Baghdad. The central government is furious. It had warned against the referendum, saying it would be illegal and that "measures" would be taken to defend Iraq's unity. "We will never hold talks based on the results of the referendum," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says. "We will impose Iraqi law in the entire region of Kurdistan." Neighbouring Turkey and Iran were also against the referendum, concerned it could stoke separatist aspirations among their own Kurdish minorities, as were the United Nations, United States and other countries. - Iraq seizes oilfields - Baghdad's backlash is swift. On September 29 it cuts the Kurdish region's direct air links with the outside world and on October 2 Iranian and Iraqi forces stage joint military exercises near the Kurdistan border. Iraqi forces on October 16 take control of the Kurdish-majority city of Kirkuk, capital of the oil-rich province of the same name, and start seizing oilfields that had been in the hands of the Kurds since 2014. It is a massive blow for the Kurds as their already flagging regional economy largely depends on oil revenues. Iraqi forces complete their takeover of disputed Kirkuk on October 20, despite resistance by Kurdish fighters. - Regional leader quits - Under pressure, Kurdish leaders take a step back on October 25 and offer to freeze the outcome of the referendum, calling for "an immediate ceasefire". Barzani, who initiated the controversial referendum, announces that he will step down on November 1. The prime minister, his nephew Nechirvan Barzani, takes charge. Iraq's Supreme Court issues a statement on November 20 declaring the referendum unconstitutional. - Explosion of anger - The Kurds are furious at their political elite and squeezed by an economic crisis partly triggered by Baghdad's reprisals for the referendum. Anger boils over on December 18 when demonstrators attack and torch the headquarters of main political parties and government buildings, in the first of days of protests that reach several towns. On December 19 security forces open fire on protests in Raparin, leaving five dead. Scores of others are hurt. Troops are stationed on the streets and hundreds are arrested. Amid the power cuts, rising fuel prices and suspension of civil servant salaries, the federal government prepares a budget that will cut the Kurdistan share from 17 percent to 12.6 percent. On December 28 it extends the international flight ban. Barzani denounces a "collective punishment" on the entire people of Kurdistan. - Easing - In January 2018 the Kurd and Iraqi leaders meet for first time since the independence referendum. In March Iraqi authorities lift the choking air blockade and resume paying the salaries of Kurdish civil servants and security forces. Abadi visits the regional capital, Arbil, on April 26 as he campaigns for national elections the following month, still firm about any attempt to break away. "Today we are all under the tent of Iraq, and whoever wants separation will be torn apart by hyenas," he says. Moscow dismisses report publishing identity of Skripal suspect Moscow, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 Moscow has scoffed at a report by a respected investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov is Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the country's top award, the Hero of Russia. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. "There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday. "The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it?" Speaking on Wednesday, May attacked Moscow over the poisoning Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent designed in the Soviet era, in March. "Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication," she said. Bellingcat said Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in the far eastern city of Blagoveshchensk, one of the country's top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine and was bestowed the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for "conducting a peace-keeping mission," a likely reference to the Ukraine conflict. Bellingcat said it was "highly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows Chepiga because he personally hands out these awards. Only a handful of such awards are given each year, often posthumously. Citing a former Russian military officer, Bellingcat said it was very surprising that a highly decorated officer holding the rank of colonel was sent into the field. It "would imply that 'the job was ordered at the highest level,'" the group quoted its source as saying. This month Putin said that the two men suspected by Britain of poisoning the Skripals were "civilians." In an eyebrow-raising interview with the Kremlin-backed RT channel, Boshirov and Alexander Petrov said they went to Salisbury as tourists, sparking ridicule in Russia and abroad. Some observers have speculated the two intelligence agents have been effectively thrown under the bus by their superiors for failing in their mission. "From hero to zero," Bellingcat said on Twitter as it released its report. China slams US B-52s fly over disputed seas as 'provocative' Beijing, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 The Chinese defence ministry on Thursday denounced flyovers by US B-52 bombers over the South China Sea and East China Sea as "provocative" actions amid soaring tensions between the two global powers. The Pentagon said Wednesday the heavy bombers had taken part in a combined operation with Japan over the East China Sea and had flown through international airspace over the South China Sea a day before. "Regarding the provocative actions of US military aircraft in the South China Sea, we are always resolutely opposed to them, and will continue to take necessary measures in order to strongly handle (this issue)," Chinese defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly news briefing. China has claimed large swaths of the strategic waterway and built up a series of islands and maritime features, turning them into military facilities. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims to the region, and an international maritime tribunal ruled in 2016 that China's claims have no legal basis. Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said this week's flights were part of "regularly scheduled operations." The United States rejects China's territorial claims and routinely says the military will "continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows at times and places of our choosing." Washington this week enacted new tariffs against China covering another $200 billion of its imports while it last week sanctioned a Chinese military organisation for buying Russian weapons. China has reacted angrily, and this week scrapped a US warship's planned port visit to Hong Kong and cancelled a meeting between the head of the Chinese navy and his American counterpart. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was not concerned the US transit flights would increase tensions with China. "If it was 20 years ago and they have not militarised those features there, it would have just been another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or whatever," he told Pentagon reporters, referring to the US military base in the Indian Ocean. "So there's nothing out of the ordinary about it, nor about our ships sailing through there." The Pentagon chief went on to say there is no "fundamental shift in anything." "We're just going through one of those periodic points where we've got to learn to manage our differences," he said. Rights activists slam Moroccan navy for deadly migrant boat shooting Rabat, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 Human rights activists on Thursday hit out at Morocco's navy for firing on a boat that was carrying migrants to Spain, in an assault that killed a 22-year-old student. Hayat Belkacem died and three other Moroccans were wounded -- one critically -- when a speedboat they were in was hit by live rounds on Tuesday in waters off the Moroccan locality of M'diq-Fnideq. "There is no evidence at all to suggest that the passengers were a security risk to anyone - the only legal justification Morocco might have had to fire on them," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said. Morocco's navy found the boat acting "in a suspicious manner in Moroccan waters", according to a statement by the M'diq-Fnideq authorities, released by the interior ministry on Tuesday. The vessel had "refused to comply with warnings", the statement said. The Spanish driver of the boat was unhurt and was arrested, said the interior ministry, which announced an inquiry into the incident. Human Rights Watch called for the investigation to begin immediately and urged the authorities to "disclose their findings publicly, and bring those responsible to justice". Internet users shared pictures of the dead student and called her "Hayat the martyr", saying her only crime was attempting to leave a miserable life in Morocco to help her family. "Moroccan civilians are killed in cold blood just because they want to leave this country of social disparities, poverty and repression", the Moroccan Association of Human Rights in coastal city Nador said on Wednesday. Morocco -- a key route for sub-Saharan Africans trying to reach Europe -- said this month it has foiled 54,000 bids so far in 2018 by illegal migrants to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The figures included 7,100 Moroccans for the period until the end of August, according to figures released last week by the Moroccan government spokesman. Since early 2018, Spain has recorded more than 38,000 arrivals by sea and land, according to the International Organization for Migration. Moscow dismisses report claiming to identify Skripal suspect Moscow, Sept 27 (AFP) Sep 27, 2018 Moscow has scoffed at a report by an investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov was Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the country's top award, the Hero of Russia. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. "There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday. "The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it?" President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "we have seen the report" by Bellingcat but added that the Kremlin stands by its previous assertion that the two suspects named by Britain are "civilians". "Lots of people look like one another," he said when asked about the similarities between Boshirov and the photo of Chepiga published in the report. "I don't know who Colonel Chepiga is and why he was awarded (the Hero of Russia medal)," Peskov added. "We will check this information, we will check the lists of those awarded," he said. Speaking on Wednesday, May attacked Moscow over the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent designed in the Soviet era, in March. "Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication," she said. Bellingcat said Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in the far eastern city of Blagoveshchensk, one of the country's top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine and was bestowed the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for "conducting a peace-keeping mission," a likely reference to the Ukraine conflict. Bellingcat said it was "highly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin knew Chepiga because he personally hands out these awards. Only a handful of such awards are given each year, often posthumously. Citing a former Russian military officer, Bellingcat said it was very surprising that a highly decorated officer holding the rank of colonel was sent into the field. This would imply that "the job was ordered at the highest level", the group quoted its source as saying. This month Putin said that the two men suspected by Britain of poisoning the Skripals were "civilians". In an eyebrow-raising interview with the Kremlin-backed RT channel, Boshirov and Alexander Petrov said they went to Salisbury as tourists, prompting ridicule in Russia and abroad. Some observers have speculated that the two intelligence agents have been hung out to dry by their superiors for failing in their mission. "From hero to zero," Bellingcat said on Twitter as it released its report. Optimization Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should? Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools. Chahid El Hafed, Sept 26, 2018 (SPS) - The Sahrawi Republic has Wednesday slammed the Moroccan intransigence policy to hinder on the international peace efforts in Western Sahara, calling on the UN Security Council to shoulder its full responsibility in responding to this situation and its dangerous consequences that would entail the international peace process and regional peace and security. The address of the Moroccan Prime Minister before UNGA 73th reflects clearly the Moroccan occupation state is still insisting on the policy of intransigence and flight forward, at time when the SG prepares to submit his report to the UNSC on Western Sahara on the Horizon of the invitation to be sent by the Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Mr. Horst Kohler, to enter into a new round of direct negotiations between the parties to the conflict, the Frente POLISARIO and the Kingdom of Morocco, the statements says It has also underlined that the insistence of the occupying state to adhere to its intransigent stance at this particular time is an attempt to dismiss its defeats at the level of the African Union, expressed on its unshakable position by establishing a special mechanism at the highest level to contribute to the search for a solution to the conflict between the Sahrawi Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco in accordance with the decisions of the African Union and the United Nations. Morocco has received repeated setbacks at the level of the European Union, where the European Court of Justice issued judicial rulings reaffirming the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in 1975 and clearly stipulated that Morocco has no sovereignty or administrative mandate over Western Sahara, emphasizing the fact that Morocco is an occupying Power in the territory as provided for in General Assembly resolutions 34/37 of 1979 and 35/19 of 1980 and other relevant resolutions, the said communique stresses despite the Moroccan naked attempt to falsify the facts, the international community position would remain steadfast on the Saharawi issue as a decolonization issue, as recently confirmed by the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples In its annual report to the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sahrawi Information Ministry communique adds SPS 125/090/TRA New data from these statistics will be published on the home page of the Students and qualifications. Published: 27 September 2018 Number of new students in vocational training 126,900 According to Statistics Finland's education statistics, a total of 126,900 new students attended education leading to a vocational qualification in 2017. Fifty-two per cent of them were women. Of the new students, 46,200 studied in curriculum-based education aimed at young people leading to an initial vocational qualification, 41,800 in preparatory initial vocational education for a skills examination, and 38,900 in further vocational education (further and specialist vocational qualifications). There were one per cent more new students than in the previous year. New students in vocational education by field of education (Finnish Standard Classification of Education 2016) and gender in 2017 27 per cent of the new students studied in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction, 21 per cent in the field of services, and 19 per cent in the field of business and administration. Fifty-two per cent of the new students were women. The fluctuation in the shares of men and women viewed by fields of education was large. In the field of health and welfare, the share of women was 84 per cent and in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) it was 12 per cent. In the calendar year 2017, a total of 327,000 persons were studying in vocational education leading to a qualification. There were 156,400 students in curriculum-based basic vocational education aimed at young people provided by educational institutions in 2017. Since 2013, data on the number of students in education for young people have been available both for the calendar year and for the autumn cross-sectional point on 20 September. On 20 September 2017, there were 116,200 students in education for young people. There were three per cent less of them than in the previous year. There were 117,800 students in preparatory education for a skills examination provided by educational institutions. There were two per cent more students than in the year before. Of the students, 71,300 studied in preparatory initial vocational education for a skills examination, and 46,500 in further vocational education. There were 52,700 students in apprenticeship training. The number of students was four per cent more than in the year before. Of the students, 1,400 studied in curriculum-based education aimed at young people leading to an initial vocational qualification, 17,900 in preparatory initial vocational education for a skills examination, and 33,400 in further vocational education. Qualifications from vocational education 20112017 Altogether, 76,800 students completed a vocational qualification in 2017. Curriculum-based basic vocational education qualifications numbered 34,800, examinations in preparatory initial vocational education for a skills examination totalled 20,500, and qualifications in further vocational education amounted to 21,500. The number of attainers of vocational qualifications was three per cent more than in the previous year. 54 per cent of them were women. Almost half, 47 per cent, of those who attained qualifications studied in the field of engineering, manufacturing and construction, or in business and administration. 18 per cent of the qualifiers were apprenticeship students. More detailed information on vocational education students and completers of qualifications, for example, by region of education and age can be found in the database table. Source: Education. Statistics Finland Inquiries: Soile Lampinen 029 551 3446, koulutustilastot@stat.fi Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma Publication in pdf-format (212.1 kB) Updated 27.9.2018 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Vocational education [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-1986. 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 13.11.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/aop/2017/aop_2017_2018-09-27_tie_001_en.html A more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: Energy supply and consumption 2021, 2nd quarter Published: 27 September 2018 Total energy consumption rose by 4 per cent in January to June According to Statistics Finland's preliminary data, total energy consumption in January to June amounted to 709 petajoule (PJ), which was four per cent more than in the corresponding period last year. Electricity consumption amounted to 45 terawatt hours (TWh), which was four per cent more than one year earlier. Carbon dioxide emissions of the energy sector rose by eight per cent year-on-year. Total energy consumption *preliminary The cold weather increased the consumption of fuels in the first quarter of the year. The consumption of peat grew most, by as much as 47 per cent from the year before. In turn, the consumption of fuels decreased as a result of the warm weather in the second quarter. The consumption of coal declined most, by 16 per cent from the previous year. As a whole, the consumption of fuels grew during the first half of the year except for hard coal and wood fuels. The consumption of natural gas turned upwards for the first time in seven years. During the first half of the year, the growth in the consumption of electricity was caused by the cold weather as well as the improved economic situation of industry. The productions of hydro, wind, solar and condensate power grew clearly from the year before. The relative growth in solar power was clearly sharper than in other production modes, but its total share still remained very small. Net imports of electricity decreased by four per cent, which was mostly due to increased exports to Estonia. In January to June, diverse energy products were imported into Finland to the value of EUR 5 billion, which was 14 per cent more than one year earlier. Most energy products were imported from Russia, whose share of the value of imports was 63 per cent. Energy products were exported to the value of EUR 2.6 billion, which was 18 per cent more than one year previously. Most energy products were exported from Finland to EU countries, which accounted for 80 per cent of the value of exports. Total energy consumption by source (TJ) and CO2 emissions (Mt) Energy source I-II/2018* Annual change-%* Percentage share of total energy consumption* Oil 1) 156,537 3 22 Coal 2) 62,893 -3 9 Natural gas 3) 41,885 7 6 Nuclear energy 4) 118,003 2 17 Net imports of electricity 5) 36,133 -4 5 Hydro power 5) 28,756 17 4 Wind power 5) 9,800 19 1 Peat 42,122 32 6 Wood fuels 179,446 -1 25 Others 6) 33,801 16 5 TOTAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION 709,377 4 100 Bunkers 22,674 10 . CO2 emissions from energy sector 24 8 . * = Preliminary data. = Category not applicable1) Oil: includes the bio part of transport fuels.2) Coal: includes hard coal, coke, blast furnace gas and coke oven gas.3) The consumption of natural gas does not include raw material use.4) Conversion of electricity generation into fuel units: Nuclear power: 10.91 TJ/GWh (33% total efficiency)5) Conversion of electricity generation into fuel units: Hydro power, wind power and net imports of electricity: 3.6 TJ/GWh (100%)6) Others: includes exothermic heat from industry, recovered fuels, heat pumps, hydrogen, biogas, other bioenergy and solar energy. Source: Statistics Finland, Energy supply and consumption Inquiries: Ville Maljanen 029 551 2691, energia@stat.fi Director in charge: Ville Vertanen Publication in pdf-format (272.7 kB) Updated 27.9.2018 Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Energy supply and consumption [e-publication]. ISSN=1799-7976. 2nd quarter 2018. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 13.11.2021]. Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ehk/2018/02/ehk_2018_02_2018-09-27_tie_001_en.html D&C Days are held each year in the middle weekend during the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They aim to influence the ambition mechanism process under the UFCCC and to inform climate action on all levels. The days are organized in a dynamic format to encourage dialogue on a range of issues that link policy, knowledge, and practice. The innovative approaches used during the event aim to inspire the participants to interact, challenge existing thinking, and generate new ideas. This is an opportunity for researchers, practitioners, and negotiators to meet informally for honest and open discussions around development and climate change. The topic for this years D&C Days is Global ambition. Local action. Climate resilience for all. The programme will focus on the following four themes related to this topic: Transparency and downward accountability Resilience through empowerment Financing adaptation, risk reduction and risk management, and Valuing lived experience and local knowledge. This event is organized by a partnership between Global Resilience Partnership (GRP), Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Environmental Finance Center West (EFCWest), the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut fur Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Contributing partners to this years event are Action on Climate Today (ACT). Registration is now open for the 16th D&C Days. Attendance is free and open to anyone attending COP24 in Katowice. Register here. Event details Location: Hotel Diament Arsenal Palace, Paderewskiego 35, 41-500 Chorzow, Katowice, Poland For further information, contact Global Resilience Partnership Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. In mid-2018 the Chinese Navy proclaimed that its new AIP (air independent propulsion system) equipped submarine had performed very well. Actually, as described the Chinese AIP performed about as well as early Western AIP systems. For the Chinese that was good enough because they have had problems getting their AIP (apparently based on the Swedish Stirling AIP system) to perform adequately and reliably. China has been working on getting a working AIP system in one of their Yuan class Type 39B subs for over fifteen years but until now no Chinese AIP equipped boats were seen in action. That changed earlier this year when new Yuan class sub went to sea and operated like an AIP boat (staying underwater for more than seven days at a time). According to the Chinese press releases their AIP sub stayed under for over two weeks at a time, which is typical of what a Stirling AIP system can do. China may now have three of these AIP equipped boats. That is because in late 2016 China apparently resumed building more of its Yuan class subs. These are based on the late model Russian Kilo class diesel-electric boats. Construction of the Yuans appeared have halted in 2013 for reasons unknown. Then at the end of 2016 three more of these Yuan class (Type 39B) subs were seen being built. The last new Type 39B appeared in late 2013 but even before that, there were indications that this was another pause to absorb user experience with the current model and plan modifications for the next batch. This new batch is apparently the three new ones that recently went to sea. When these enter service China will have ten Type 39Bs, plus three of the earlier Type 39A versions. In late 2016 it was believed the three latest 39Bs would have many modifications and upgrades, some of them visible because of minor changes in the conning tower or hull features. China was apparently upgrading its sensor and fire control electronics but the capabilities of these wont be detected until foreign subs encounter the new 39Bs at sea. At that point, U.S. subs will be able to construct an acoustic and electronic signature of the new 39Bs so they can be more easily and quickly identified in the future. That process also confirmed that the latest 39Bs had working AIP. How reliable the AIP is will come only after thousands of hours of use. One thing was certain about the latest Type 39Bs; the Chinese are continuing their relentless effort to create world-class subs, one tweak and improvement at a time. Since the late 1980s, China has been designing and building a rapidly evolving collection of "Song" (Type 39) class diesel-electric submarines that emphasize quietness and incremental improvements. The changes have been so great that the four Songs completed in 2013 were recognized as a new type and designated the Yuan class (Type 39A). The original design (Type 39) was a 1,800 ton Kilo type sub that first appeared in the late 1990s and 13 have been built. The larger (2,800 ton) Type 39A first appeared in 2006. The Type 39A quickly involved into the larger and more lavishly equipped Type 39B showed up. The evolution continues, and there are now thirteen "Type 39 Yuan Class" subs (of at least four distinct models). These latest models were thought to have AIP along with new electronics and other internal improvements. Now the presence of AIP has been confirmed. This rapid evolution of the Type 39 appears to be another example of China adapting Russian submarine technology to Chinese design ideas and new technology. China has been doing this for as long as it has been building subs (since the 1960s). But the recent versions of the Type 39B design shows Chinese naval engineers getting more creative. The Yuans were meant to have an AIP that would allow them to cruise underwater longer. Western AIP systems allow subs to stay underwater for two weeks or more. China has been working on AIP since 1975 and the first working prototype was available by 1998. A decade later it seemed that design was ready for regular use but it wasnt. The first Chinese AIP had less power and reliability and does not appear to be nearly as capable as Russian or Western models. In part, this was because that AIP used lead-acid batteries. The Chinese kept improving on their AIP, and the last half dozen AIP systems were designed to use a more efficient lithium battery system. This AIP 2.0 has numerous other tweaks and appears, on paper at least, to match what most Western AIPs can do and thats the version that was installed in one (or all three) of the latest Type 39B subs. The Songs look a lot like the Russian Kilo class and that was apparently no accident. The 39s and 39A/Bs are both similar in appearance but the type 39A/Bs appear larger than the 1,800 ton Type 39s. Both have with crews of 60-70 sailors and six torpedo tubes. This is very similar to the Kilos (which are a bit larger). China began ordering Russian Kilo class subs, then one of the latest diesel-electric designs available, in the late 1990s. The first two Type 39Bs appeared to be a copy of the early model Kilo (the model 877), while the second pair of Type 39Bs appeared to copy the late Kilos (model 636). The latest Yuans still appear like Kilos but may be part of an evolution into a sub that is similar to the Russian successor to the Kilo, the Lada. The Type 39s were the first Chinese subs to have the teardrop shaped hull. The Type 39B was thought to be just an improved Song but on closer examination, especially by the Russians, it looked like a clone of the Kilos. The Russians now believe that the entire Song/Yuan project is part of a long-range plan to successfully copy the Kilo. If that is the case, it appears to be succeeding. The Chinese Navy currently has 13 Song class, 12 Kilo class, 13 Type 39A/B (Yuan) class, and 18 Ming (improved Russian Romeo) class boats. But at least a dozen more Yuans are apparently planned. The Song/Yuan class subs are meant to replace the elderly Mings. The Chinese nuclear sub program has been less successful. There are only 3 Type 91 Han class SSNs (nuclear attack subs), as the Chinese are still having a lot of problems with the nuclear power plant in subs. Despite that, the Hans are going to sea, even though they are noisy and easily detected by Western sensors. Five Hans were built (between 1974 and 1991) two have already been retired. There are six newer Type 93 Shang class SSNs in service, but these are still pretty noisy. There is one Type 95 Sui class SSN undergoing sea trials with another building, The first Type 95 is expected to enter service in 2020 and if it is as quiet as hoped, a lot more will be built. There are also ten SSBN (ballistic missile carrying nuclear subs) in two classes and these have had a lot of problems and rarely go to sea. China is also offering their improved Kilo designs to export customers. In late 2016 China confirmed that final details have been agreed to on the sale of eight Chinese S20 diesel-electric submarines to Pakistan. These are export versions of the Type 39A that lack many of the advanced features. Four of these will be built in China while at the same time Chinese personnel will assist Pakistan in building another four in Pakistan. Final cost is expected to average somewhere between $500 million and $600 million each and the first one will enter service by 2023. Since early 2014 China and Pakistan have been negotiating prices and terms for the sale of the S20. At first, it was believed that Pakistan wanted six subs, but the final deal specified eight. Currently, the Pakistani Navy has five submarines and plans to use all of them against India (which is also considered a Chinese foe). In 2017 China sold three of those export model Yuan class subs to Thailand. Construction on the first one began in early September. These boats will cost over $400 million each. The Moslem violence in the south is 14 years old now and slowly fading away after causing at least 7,000 dead. The violence has been less and less each year for nearly a decade. In 2017 a record low 235 people were killed down there and that trend has continued into 2018, even though it is getting more difficult to determine which incidents are actually related to Moslem separatism. In 2017 there were 489 violent incidents compared to the peak year (2010) when there were 2,061. These incidents now tend to arrive in clusters rather than randomly throughout the year. Since the military took over the government in 2014 the security forces have received more resources to deal with the violence. This has included economic aid as well as better intelligence collection and analysis along with an expansion of the village defense volunteer program. Thus it has become more of a problem to determine if murders of village defense volunteers or bombings are the work of separatists or Islamic terrorists or something more mundane like gangsters for a local feud. Yet efforts to achieve a permanent fix for the resentment of a Moslem majority population in the three southern provinces remains out of reach. This is all mainly about cultural differences (religion, ethnicity). Thailand has few (about three million) Moslems and while some of the separatist Moslems in the south (where most live) have tried to link their independence efforts to religion, its mostly about ethnic differences because 95 percent of Thais are ethnic Tai and the southern Moslems are nearly all ethnic Malays. The Tai people are mainly in Thailand but many also live in southern China, Laos, Cambodia and India. The farthest south the Tai got was where the three Moslem provinces are. The "terrorists" are a combination of Islamic radicals, Malay nationalists and gangsters (smuggling has long been a big business down there). The ethnic Thai majority refused (as they usually do) to back down in the face of Malay Moslem violence. After years of futile violence the Moslem minority became increasingly hostile to the Islamic terrorists, and more frequently cooperated with the police. This happened gradually as it became obvious that the Thai government was never going to give in. As a result of this, the militants turned on the Moslem civilians, which was a downward spiral that is gradually destroying the remaining popular support they have. That led to the current decline in violence. The new pattern for the violence is for a few violent individuals operating together as a gang to carry out attacks in batches and then go silent (or get arrested). If one of these gangs is active they will account for most or all the terrorist violence in the south. The police and military go after these gangs as soon as they appear and several of them have responded to the investigations, and locals providing tips, by going inactive and either eventually disbanding or staying until the police attention subsides. At the moment the gangs are losing and even ones that have gone silent are being found and arrested or killed. Another trend is for much of the violence to come from a few individuals (gangster or separatist). In September a lot of the violence was related to attacks on rubber plantations and the people who work there. This is seen as something of an extortion effort but it is hard to tell is the attackers are gangsters or separatists. Sometimes the perpetrators are both. There are other problems. The Moslem fanatics are hostile to secular education while most Moslems in the three provinces want their children to get a secular education because that is obviously the key to a better life for the kids. Moslem majority Malaysia next door encourages secular education and Moslem Malaysians have done well as a result. Because of the lack of education the southern Thai Moslems have been unable to make the most of over two decades of dramatic economic growth in Thailand. For over a decade the Thai government (elected and military) has concentrated on education and economic development in the south while also improving security. Progress has been made but it has been slow, as these changes usually are. Despite that the separatists (although not the Islamic terrorists) retain a lot of popular support in the south. The separatists are demanding a federal form of government that would give the three southern provinces a lot of autonomy. The Thai generals are unwilling to consider that and so the peace negotiations are stalled. The Slight Of The Generals The military government used cleaning up corruption as one of its justifications for taking power in 2014. To the surprise of no one the military government proved quite corrupt and the military response was to try and suppress embarrassing news of this. The censorship and failed efforts to curb corruption were disappointing to many Thais. An early 2018 opinion poll showed that 20 percent of Thais believed the corruption problem could be handled if a government made enough of an effort. For most Thais the military is seen as all talk and little action in the anti-corruption department. That same opinion poll also revealed how difficult the corruption problem is. Thus the poll revealed that 48 percent of Thais believed the corruption problem cannot be fixed because it is so deeply ingrained in Thai culture. Asked to name the main causes of corruption 69 percent said greed and selfishness, 28 percent said it was loopholes in the audit (monitoring) systems, 19 percent blamed it on lenient punishment of offenders, 17 percent thought it was changes in social values and 14 percent attributed it to poverty. Despite those attitudes corruption has turned into a focal point of visible opposition to the military government. That can be seen by the growing presence of clever graffiti portraying the corrupt generals pretending to be determined foes of corruption. September 12, 2018: The king has approved new laws mandating that national elections be held by May 2019. At the same time the military government has not lifted rules prohibiting public activities by political parties. September 11, 2018: In the south (Pattani province) an army patrol was ambushed, leaving two soldiers dead and four wounded. In the capital the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand had, for the sixth time since the 2014 coup, one of its events shut down by the police. This event was a panel discussion of the misbehavior of the Burmese generals next door. The Burmese officers ran a military government for decades until they were forced to allow elections again in 2011. That was arranged via a deal that left the Burmese generals with a lot of political power and that enabled the Burmese to military and Buddhist militants to expel over a million Burmese Moslems. This sort of bad behavior is being described as a war crime. Some of what the Burmese generals did is similar to what the Thai generals are trying to do during this period of military government. The military government censors ordered it shut down when it was apparent where the discussion was probably going (towards comparison of military governments in Burma and Thailand). September 9, 2018: In the south (Pattani province) a veteran village defense volunteer was murdered by a drive-by shooter. Local separatists are suspected. September 8, 2018: In the south (Narathiwat province) two village defense volunteers were killed and two wounded when five gunmen attacked a building used by the defense volunteers for training. The attackers also set fire to a vehicle before fleeing. Local separatists are suspected. September 4, 2018: In China construction began on the first of three submarines purchased by the Thai Navy 18 months ago. That deal was not explained in much deal other than that the three subs would cost $1.3 billion and only the first one was actually on order. Actual purchase orders for the other two were expected in 2021 and 2022, when an elected government would be back in charge. If all three subs were actually bought Thailand would be making payments into the late 2020s. The military government got a lot of criticism for this deal, especially from retired generals and admirals who were unafraid to point out that the military had more pressing and practical needs (like new patrol boats and helicopters for the navy) than submarines. Officially the navy defends the purchase as necessary because Thailand has to defend its Andaman Islands and all its neighbors have submarines. But Thai naval officials admit that most Thai coastal waters are too shallow for most submarine operations. Historians point out that every time there is a military government the military takes advantage of it to get major purchases made. Every year since the 2014 coup the military budget has increased. Some of these additional defense spending involved corruption opportunities because buying stuff that is not needed is nothing new. In the 1990s a military government approved the purchase of an aircraft carrier that became infamous for never having anything to do and absorbing so much of the navy budget to maintain that the admirals gradually diverted money away from the carrier and the expensive ship spent most of its career (which has not yet ended) tied up in port without any aircraft or even a full crew. In the spirit of that carrier the navy has long sought money for submarines. In mid-2016 the navy revived its plan to buy three submarines from China. The navy had first proposed this in June 2015 but withdrew the proposal a month later because of so much opposition. Most Thais oppose the navy submarine proposal and believe that the $1.3 billion needed to buy the three Chinese subs would be better spent on updating the rest of the navy and buying for patrol boats to improve security along the coasts. The sad shape of many Thai warships, especially the sole aircraft carrier, is a national embarrassment. Each of the three Chinese submarines costs more than the carrier did. Another factor (that can get you arrested if discussed openly in Thailand) is the Chinese frequently using bribes to expedite major weapons sales. August 30, 2018: In the south (Pattani province) in a crowded market a village defense volunteer was shot dead (and his pistol taken) by two men. A civilian was killed by the gunfire. The defense volunteers wife and another woman were wounded. Police are trying to determine of the attack was caused by a personal dispute or, more likely, the years of service as a local defense volunteer. by Austin Bay September 26, 2018 War and anarchy directly link to mass human hunger. In 2017, the United Nations reported 37 countries confronted food insecurity or scarcity conditions that required external assistance - meaning food supplied by international agencies or donor nations like the U.S. Internal conflicts or regional warfare afflicted at least 30 of these countries. The problematic connection between violent conflict and hunger led the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs to organize a forum (held Sept. 17) addressing the national security aspects of food insecurity. The event featured House Homeland Security Committee chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and former Special Operations Command commander Admiral William McRaven. McCaul also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. McRaven has impeccable national security bona fides and extensive experience in the world's hardest corners as a former Navy SEAL. Houston Chronicle business writer and former East Africa bureau chief for The Associated Press Chris Tomlinson moderated the discussion. Tomlinson noted his African experience had taught him, "Where there is a food crisis, there is always a political opportunity." Tomlinson meant political angle, for he mentioned militia leaders paying fighters with food. McCaul and McRaven agreed. From that point forward the often three-way conversation had a theme: Food security for any human population -- from Pleistocene hunter-gatherer band to 21st-century superpower -- requires physical security. McCaul listed Syria, Nigeria and Africa's Sahel region as areas where anarchic violence breeds hunger. He mentioned Venezuela. Food insecurity conditions there are forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. "From the standpoint of a military man," McRaven observed, "it's all connected. Terrain, water and food." (Later he would add that he had seen "food weaponized, and water" in Afghanistan and elsewhere.) He added that the "hotspots" (where terrorists lurk) are in "fragile, unstable" countries experiencing food insecurity. Nation states must address these conditions. McCaul and McRaven pegged the State Department and nongovernmental organizations as the instruments for addressing a fragile nation's problems. To operate effectively, however, civilian organizations need security forces to protect them. McCaul said dispensing aid is a difficult issue. In Venezuela, the U.S. must "make sure (aid) goes to the right place, not the corrupt government." McRaven agreed Venezuela exemplifies "the problems of a country in chaos." He thought the U.S. should generally use humanitarian aid as "positive (diplomatic) leverage within a country." Moderator Tomlinson mentioned a problem vexing U.S. government policy efforts. Presidential administrations change, so goals may change. Solving complex international "generational" problems affecting American security can become more difficult. Plan Colombia, Tomlinson said, had results, but it took "three administrations to stick to it." The background: For two decades, violence had wracked Colombia. Plan Colombia was a late 1990s Clinton administration policy implemented to help the Colombian people -- with their elected government the primary instrument -- maintain security and reduce the violent threat to internal order presented by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's (FARC) narcotics-dealing Communist rebels. The Bush administration supported the plan. In 2003, the government began to defeat the FARC. The Obama administration continued Plan Colombia. Today, Venezuelans flee to Colombia. McCaul agreed America must have a long-term strategy. Plan Colombia was a good example of one that succeeded. McRaven said the U.S. poured "billions into Colombia," but unlike some other U.S. partners, the Colombian government showed progress on its own. "The Colombians went after the FARC and cleaned up their own mess. President (Alvaro) Uribe made difficult decisions" that few leaders would do. I agree with the congressman and the admiral that Plan Colombia is a model for a long haul U.S. "inter-agency" operation. However, new administrations aren't the only problem. Recall 2007 when Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a long-time critic of any aid to the Colombian government, used Plan Colombia to smear the Bush administration's foreign policy. FARC was reeling as Leahy froze $55 million in military aid and attacked Uribe, the Colombian leader McRaven characterizes as courageous. There's an argument that Leahy's grandstanding gave FARC a respite to rebuild its forces and continue the war. India is refusing to talk with Pakistan until the Pakistani military at least reduces its Islamic terror activity in Kashmir. Pakistan denies there is any such thing, despite a growing body of evidence from captured Islamic terrorists, documents and electronic intercepts. Pakistan has found that their best tactic in the face of all this evidence is to just continue denying while putting all the blame on India. Even veteran diplomats find this approach tiresome and repugnant. Pakistani elected officials (and many more retired civil and military personnel) have admitted this but often quietly because the Pakistani military does not respond well to public criticism from anyone inside Pakistan. In the last month, Pakistan has ordered its Islamic terrorists operating in Kashmir to terrorize the locally recruited police as well as their families. There are about 26,000 of these SPOs (Special Police Officers) in Kashmir and the threats caused about fifty resignations. India responded by increasing the pay of SPOs, especially those with years of experience. The intent of the terrorist threat is to destroy the local police and force India to bring in outsiders to provide local policing. This would make it easier for the Pakistani terrorists to carry out another mission; make it more difficult to hold elections, especially those that elect local officials. Most Kashmiris are hostile to both of these Pakistani efforts but there is not much they can do about it. As long as there are a few hundred Islamic terrorists out in the hills, and those Islamic terrorists are willing to take a lot of casualties (which they are as a result of engaging in a high-risk activity like kidnapping locals and killing those who are police) Pakistan can keep Indian Kashmir in disarray. While more young men from Kashmir are joining the Pakistani Islamic terror groups police point out that these recruits are not trained (often for a year or more), like the ones from Pakistan are and rarely last more than a year before getting killed or dying from disease or accidents or getting captured and jailed. Pakistan can bring over more of their trained Islamic terrorists but the losses getting across the border are high and despite their training, the imported Islamic terrorists dont last long either. Pakistani planners believe if they can amp up the violence in Kashmir the Indian forces will react and that will mean more pain and loss for civilians because the paramilitary police prefer to avoid casualties at all costs and thus deal harshly with any civilians suspected of harboring Islamic terrorists. The civilians usually have no choice and thats why its so important to have local police, who can determine who is a victim and who is supporting the Islamic terrorists. Pakistan is willing to impose more and more pain on the Kashmiri population because after more than 20 years of this nothing has worked. Most Moslem Kashmiris are not interested in becoming part of Pakistan (they know how it is over there) but there are a minority of Kashmiris who do support Pakistan and thats enough for Pakistan to keep the violence going but not enough to win. Apparently, Pakistan believes they have nothing to lose with their burn the place down approach. Afghan Angst The Afghan Taliban is divided over the issue of being controlled by Pakistan and being held responsible for the growing number of Afghan drug addicts. Then there is the role of Pakistan in sustaining the chaos Afghanistan has suffered since the late 1970s (when Russian backed Afghan communists tried to start a revolution). The communists were followed by a Russian invasion, drug gangs, an Islamic revolution, civil war and Pakistan seeking to take control in the 1990s with their Taliban movement. Pakistan did serve as a base for millions of Afghan refugees and thousands of Afghan rebels during the 1980s but that led to Pakistan believing it could continue to support violence in Afghanistan if it was deemed to be serving Pakistani interests. The Pakistani created and supported Taliban had control of Afghanistan (or at least most of it) from the late 1990s until 2001. That led to the American invasion and Pakistan continuing to support the drug gangs and Taliban while assisting the U.S. in its war on terror. Many Americans want to just leave. The problem is just getting out leaves Afghanistan at the mercy of Pakistan, Iran and Russia, as well as all the drug gangs, Islamic terror groups and numerous Afghans who oppose the drugs and all the outside interference. The drugs and Islamic terrorism will still be major exports. The West can leave Afghanistan but the ills of Afghanistan wont leave the West and that is just fine with Pakistan. A growing number of Afghan Taliban leaders want peace and an end to being manipulated by the Pakistanis. Despite that, the senior Afghan Taliban leader and the Pakistani generals are not inclined to consider peace talks because of all that money from the drug gangs as well as the ability to control (or at least disrupt) Afghanistan. The U.S. recently repeated its accusation that Pakistan had done nothing about the Pakistan sanctuary for the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network and several other Islamic terror groups that do the bidding of the Pakistani military. Direct peace talks between Afghan Taliban leaders and the United States, which is now a possibility, are very risky for the Taliban and their Pakistani patrons because the existence of their sanctuaries in Pakistan, while denied by the Pakistani military, are an open secret in Pakistan where it is also obvious that the Pakistan military and its intelligence agency (the ISI) handles these sanctuaries. Those sanctuaries make it possible for the Afghan Taliban to plan and organize attacks on internal enemies (factions that oppose Pakistani control). Peace talks between the Americans and factions of the Afghan Taliban are just one of the problems the Afghan Taliban face. There has been growing internal unrest, mainly between factions that believe they are serving Pakistan at the expense of Afghans. On an individual basis, more Afghan Taliban veterans are quitting to join ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) because they see the Afghan Taliban becoming more of a drug gang security force than anything else. Other Taliban veterans just quit. The Afghan Taliban is gradually losing its true believers (in the original goal of establishing a religious dictatorship in Afghanistan) and turning into mercenaries. Whatever the Afghan Taliban evolves into the Pakistani military will have a major role to play. The Pakistani military does what it wants in Afghanistan, just like it does in Pakistan, where the military is very much above the law and can usually act like it. That is not a secret because about half the time since Pakistan was created in 1947 the military has openly run the government (after a coup) until popular opposition (and frustration at the task of governing) forced the generals to allow elections again. The Afghan Taliban insist their main goal is to get foreign troops out of Afghanistan but say nothing about suppressing the widely unpopular drug trade. Moreover terrorism related deaths are overwhelmingly caused by the Islamic terrorists, mainly Taliban and Haqqani Network attacks. These men die protecting the drug production that has turned millions of Afghans into addicts and crippled efforts to build the economy and educate the children. Few Taliban really believe they are doing anything good for Afghanistan or the average Afghan. To maintain control of the Afghan Taliban the ISI calls on another of their protected Islamic terror groups; the Haqqani Network. This group was once a faction in the 1990s Afghan civil war but always had a good relationship with the ISI. Over the last two decades Haqqani have turned into a criminal gang that also manages terror operations in Afghanistan for ISI. Because of that Haqqani, at the behest of ISI, also became part of the current Afghan Taliban senior leadership. Most Afghans know all about this and are not happy with how the Pakistani military gets away with it. This has caused a split in the Afghan Taliban with several factions still working for drug gangs but refusing to take orders from the ISI controlled Afghan Taliban leadership. Since 2015 there has been a lot more violence in Afghanistan and most of it has involved fighting between Islamic terror groups as well as with local tribal militias and Afghan security forces. What drives this extraordinary degree of violence is the drug trade, which is seen as a quick path to wealth by many uneducated and unemployed Afghans. While Taliban attacks on urban areas are always big news outside of Afghanistan what is important to the Taliban is control of key rural areas where opium and heroin are produced as well as the routes to external markets (usually via Pakistan, as well as Iran and Central Asia). The routes to Pakistan are also important for importing chemicals (to turn opium into heroin), weapons and other illegal suppliers. The Americans have revised their strategy in Afghanistan to recognize the key importance of Pakistan. This is where most of the heroin moves from Afghanistan to world markets (via the Port of Karachi) and where the Pakistan military makes sure whatever the Taliban in Afghanistan needs gets safely to the Afghan border. Since 2oo2 the U.S. has respected Pakistani demands that the Taliban leadership sanctuary in Quetta (the capital of Baluchistan Province and near the Afghan border and Kandahar province, where most of the worlds heroin comes from) not be attacked by American UAVs. Apparently those conventions are being reviewed while all military aid to Pakistan has been halted. Pakistan received over $33 billion in aid since 2001. Halting all military aid to Pakistan has caused the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistan military to reconsider their strategy towards the drug trade and efforts to maintain influence over Afghanistan by sponsoring lots of violence inside Afghanistan. By continuing to refrain from hitting Afghan Taliban sanctuaries Pakistan has an incentive to continue allowing NATO to move supplies from the port of Karachi, by road, into Afghanistan. Afghan Sanctuaries Meanwhile the remnants of the Pakistani Taliban hide out in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border. A favorite hideout for all sorts of Islamic terrorists, smugglers and outlaws is Nangarhar province where the Afghan military and American forces are constantly seeking out all manner of Islamic terrorists (Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, ISIL and both flavors of Taliban). For example on August 25th an American air strike killed the head of the Afghan branch of ISIL. This sort of thing slows down but does not stop ISIL efforts to expand its operations in into Pakistan. This is something the Pakistani military would rather not dwell on because Pakistan prefers to insist that Afghanistan and the Americans are not doing enough to suppress Islamic terrorists who are hostile to Pakistan (especially the Pakistani Taliban). The Afghan-Pakistan branch of ISIL (Wilayat e Khurasan or just Khurasan) has found it is possible to operate in Pakistan. First ISIL had to find existing groups that were at war with the Pakistani government and done so by successfully adapting to the military counter-terrorism efforts. The two most hospitable groups were the rebellions Baluchi tribesmen in Southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan). The second haven was urban areas in Sind and Punjab provinces. These two provinces contain most of Pakistans population and economic activity. This is also where most of the better educated (and often unemployed) ISIL recruits can be found. There were already some ISIL support networks in these urban areas and ISIL has learned how to use them for organizing attacks. While ISIL attacks in Baluchistan can be attributed (by the military) to Baluchi separatists or other Islamic terror groups that survive there , the attacks in Sind and Punjab are generally accepted as ISIL efforts and that embarrasses the military. All Quiet On The Pakistani Media The Pakistani military won a major victory in 2018 that they prefer not to publicize. The loser here has been Pakistani press freedom and all that goes with it. The key to calling this a victory is the military gaining control over the courts, especially the highest tribunals beyond which there is no appeal. The military can now act freely to intimidate and silence any media critics. The intimidation comes in many forms. One is to have ISI (military intelligence) agents break into the homes of uncooperative journalists and steal items related to investigations of military misconduct. The victims usually suspect the ISI because if you have been active online or in print or electronic media criticizing the military the ISI will send you a message. Burglary is one of the milder forms of ISI media intimidation. If a Pakistani online critic lives outside the country the ISI will threaten parents or other kin who still live in Pakistan. The threats often include kidnapping and torture if their overseas critic does not shut up. If the victims in Pakistan seek out the police and courts for protection they receive no help. Few of these offshore online critics and family in Pakistan continue to defy the ISI. This sort of thing explains why a mid-2018 survey found that 88 percent of Pakistani journalists admitted that they self-censor to avoid problems with the military (which now prefers to be referred to as the Institution.) Kidnapping and injuring kin of foreign critics is often risky for the ISI because the UN and many foreign nations are already pressuring the Pakistani military to halt its support for Islamic terrorism against neighbors and police terrorism against critics inside Pakistan. That is less of a problem as the military escalated its use of coercion against uncooperative Pakistani mass media. Recent examples of this can be seen in the blocking of the distribution of the Dawn newspaper in early May because Dawn printed an interview with a former prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) who admitted that the 2008 Islamic terror attacks on India in Mumbai were the work of a Pakistan based Islamic terrorist group that has long, and still does, receive support and sanctuary by the Pakistani military. The military also sought to suppress news of a recent book by Asad Durrani, a former (1990-92) head of ISI (military intelligence) that was written with a former head of RAW, the Indian equivalent of ISI. These two intel experts compare perspectives and it does not look good for the Pakistani military. As a result Durrani was barred from leaving the country for any reason. Durrani and Sharif are but the latest (and among the most senior) Pakistani insiders to go public with details of how the Pakistani military operates. The military wants to minimize the damage these traitors inflict on the reputation and credibility of the military. A growing number of Pakistanis believe it is too late for that. While the Pakistani military is gradually losing its popular support due to relentless and growing opposition inside Pakistan, the military still controls nuclear weapons. Worse there are a growing number of generals who are true believers in Islamic radicalism (some have even joined Islamic terror groups after retiring). These true believers are a minority in the military leadership but that fact that they exist and the fact that Pakistan was able to build nuclear weapons via corrupt practices (and then secretly offer some of the tech for sale) makes a lot of people inside and outside Pakistan nervous. Dawn continued to report on that Sharif interview, the book and the reaction of readers inside Pakistan and worldwide. Details of the 2008 Mumbai attack are well documented and widely accepted worldwide and were included book Dawn gave a lot of attention to. But to discuss this in inside Pakistan can get you into trouble. Sometimes fatal trouble. Dawn is the oldest and most read English language newspaper in Pakistan. The military had suspended distribution of Dawn in areas that the military controls (because of military bases, military operations or because the military controls much of the local economy.) This sort of thing backfires because the military cannot control the Internet and as the news gets through anyway people are eagerly seek it out and embrace it. Among those embracing this news are many Pushtuns in the northwest who are openly blaming the military for all the Islamic terrorism and chaos in the Afghan border areas where most Pushtun live. China Tries Harder As India achieves a higher GDP growth rate than China and will soon have more people than China it has become popular for Indians to seek other comparisons. That does not work out well. India is playing catchup with China when it comes to explosive economic growth and India has several serious shortcomings compared to China. For one thing the Indian workforce is less educated than the Chinese. This is due to the rampant corruption throughout Indian public education. China, in comparison, has far higher standards in public education. While China has problems with corruption the problem is much more severe for India, especially in the government. This means key decisions (like military procurement and educational or other reforms) are delayed for years, or decades, because of the corruption and political deal making. Its a cultural thing and India will have to work hard to become competitive with China. On a practical level Indian military capabilities are inferior to the Chinese because of the corruption and government sloth. For example the Indian military cannot get needed new weapons or essential support to keep existing one operational. Efforts to improve roads and other infrastructure in border areas claimed by China are way behind schedule because the government delays and procrastination. These are not new problems but have been around for centuries. China overcame them and if India does not China will always have the upper hand in tech, economy and military power. September 25, 2018: In northwest Pakistan (North Waziristan) the government has ordered customs officials to strictly enforce import-export rules and block any Afghan imports that do not have the proper paperwork. That means an Electronic Import Form, which is available, for a fee. Many Afghans refuse to get the forms because they see it as a ploy by Pakistan to impose fees to get goods into Pakistan, particularly perishables (like fruit and vegetables). Pakistan didnt demand the paperwork when they reopened the border to trade in May. September 24, 2018: In northwest Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) a policeman guarding polio vaccination workers was shot dead on the first day of another major vaccination effort. Pakistan is on the brink of eliminating polio, with only four cases of it so far this year. Afghanistan is having more of a problem (because of more widespread Taliban violence) and has had 14 cases of polio so far this year. The only other nation on the planet with cases of polio is Nigeria and there the vaccination efforts are sharply reducing the number of cases. Vaccination teams are particularly vulnerable because they must visit the most remote and lawless areas to deliver the vaccination to vulnerable children. Parents tend to favor the vaccination and given the proliferation of cell phone service it is rather easy to call in or text a tip about some threat to the vaccination effort. In the last decade the main obstacle has been Islamic terror groups who ban polio vaccinations and attack anyone trying to deliver the vaccine to children. Islamic terrorists in general tend to believe the vaccination teams are spying for the government and that the vaccinations are a plot to sterilize or kill Moslems. In Pakistan and Afghanistan there are still religious problems with vaccination. The Afghan Taliban now openly support the vaccination program but there still some rural areas where local Moslem clerics or teachers continue to denounce the vaccinations. There is a similar situation in Pakistan, where some fringe Islamic groups still try and kill members of the vaccination teams. Despite the death threats there was another major effort in 2017 to vaccinate vulnerable Afghan and Pakistani children against polio. In 2016 there were 20 cases of polio in Pakistan and 13 in Afghanistan. There were four in Nigeria, a country that is expected to be free of polio this year or next. Despite this continued resistance polio cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan continues to decline. For Afghanistan there were fewer cases in 2017 and 2016. In Pakistan the situation is similar with about the same number of cases in 2017. Nevertheless the global vaccination effort has worked. In the 1980s, when the polio elimination effort began there were 350,000 cases in 125 countries. For the last several years there have been fewer than a hundred cases worldwide. After a few years of no reported cases polio will gone, as happened with smallpox in the 1970s. In Pakistan a journalist for the Dawn newspaper is accused of treason for interviewing a former prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) who admitted that the 2008 Islamic terror attacks on India in Mumbai were the work of a Pakistan based Islamic terrorist group that has long, and still does, receive support and sanctuary by the Pakistani military. While most of the world accepts this as true the Pakistani military wants to discourage Pakistanis from publishing this sort of thing. Treason is a capital offense. September 22, 2018: In northwest Pakistan (North Waziristan) an army patrol clashed with a group of Islamic terrorists crossing the border from Afghanistan. Seven soldiers and nine of the intruders (apparently Pakistani Taliban) were killed during the battle. The surviving Islamic terrorists fled back into Afghanistan. September 21, 2018: India cancelled a high level meeting with Pakistani officials because of the uproar in India over continued Pakistani violence on the border and in Kashmir. Imran Kahn, the new Pakistani prime minister, suspected of being under the control of the Pakistani military has quickly shown that is true. Kahn has come out and praised the Pakistani military not matter what the generals do and that includes imposing media censorship and making public criticism of the military a punishable (legally or otherwise) offense. India has been subjected to these tactics for decades and there is little patience left for Pakistan to turn itself around. That means India is more inclined to meet force with force and, for example, carry out more attacks at Islamic terrorists targets inside Pakistan. While that could mean nuclear war, India is apparently not dissuaded by that anymore. September 18, 2018: Due to the worsening economy in Iran (made worse by the American revival of sanctions in March) over 15 percent of the three million Afghan refugees still in eastern Iran have returned to Afghanistan so far this year. Nearly all of these Afghans are Shia who feared returning as long as the Afghan Taliban (and ISIL) were active in Afghanistan. These two groups, and Sunni Islamic terror groups in general, consider Shia heretics and targets them for death on a regular basis. But Iran has made returning to Afghanistan easier by increasing its support for the Afghan Taliban. This gesture is also a favor to Pakistan, which Iran is trying to maintain good relations with (as Pakistan is also an ally of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan is the only Moslem nation with nukes). September 17, 2018: In Bangladesh police commanders are complaining that NGOs (non-government organizations) and the UN are discouraging Rohingya refugees from returning to Burma. Thats not hard to do but the accusations are disputed by the UN and NGOs, What is undisputed is that the NGOs do often have their own foreign policy and a tendency to try and work the mass media to persuade or coerce governments to work for them. This has led Bangladesh to impose restrictions on what the 41 NGOs operating in the Rohingya refugee camps. September 12, 2018: In northwest Pakistan (South Waziristan) a truck from Pakistan was seized by Afghan police as it crossed into Paktika province. The truck from Pakistan carrying over half a ton of ammonium nitrate (used for explosives). Two Haqqani Network members were arrested and it was discovered that the ammonium nitrate came from a Haqqani base across the border in Pakistan (South Waziristan). This shipment of ammonium nitrate was headed for Ghazni province where Islamic terrorists were planning another series of attacks. Bangladesh again proclaimed that it would never assimilate the Burmese Rohingya refugees, even those the Rohingya are ethnically Bengali and share the same religion as Bangladeshis. Most of the Burmese Rohingya comes from families that have been in Burma for over a century and most speak Burmese and consider themselves Burmese. There has also been some intermarriage with ethnic Burmese (who are East Asian, like most Chinese rather than Indo-European as most Bangladeshis are) which means many Burmese Rohingya no longer look like Bengalis. September 6, 2018: China has agreed to establish multiple hotlines along their mutual border and also between the defense ministries of both nations. This revives previous efforts to establish a hotline. In 2016 China and India have worked out and agreed to details of a hotline for commanders on both sides of the LAC (Line of Actual Control). Also known as the MacCartney-MacDonald Line the LAC is the unofficial border between India and China. The LAC is 4,057 kilometers long and is found in the Indian States of Ladakh, Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal, and Arunachal. On the Chinese side it is mostly Tibet. China claims much territory that is now considered part of India. There have been hundreds of armed confrontations over the last few years as one side or the other accuses foreign troops of crossing the LAC. The agreement fell apart when India went ahead, despite Chinese protests, and expanded its military ties with the United States. China has a history of expecting nations to do China an extra favor if they want a hotline arrangement. In the case of South Korea the hotline agreement did not go into effect until after South Korea cut some of its military ties with Taiwan. A hotline is nothing new for China. There has been one with North Korea since the 1950s. This enabled senior Chinese military leaders to pick up a phone and call their North Korean counterparts to quickly deal with any mutual problems. In 2008 China and the United States approved an agreement for a communications hotline followed in 2011 by a similar agreement between China and South Korea. A hotline like this is quicker and more accurate than waiting for the usual diplomatic channels to be used (and having to depend on the mass media in the meantime.) September 4, 2018: The recent death of Jalaluddin Haqqani, 79 year old founder of the Haqqani Network, was revealed by the Afghan Taliban. Jalaluddin Haqqani was thought to have died in 2o14 but that was actually when he became so disabled that he turned over control of the network to his successor (Siraj Haqqani). This transition was smooth and Siraj Haqqani continued to cooperate with the Taliban and maintain subservience to ISI (Pakistani military intelligence). Because Jalaluddin Haqqani helped Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders escape Afghanistan in 2001 there has always been a sense of mutual dependence. For that reason Haqqani leaders were able to help deal with the mid-2015 power struggle within the Taliban and thwart the recruiting efforts of ISIL. Given that Haqqani works for ISI, Pakistan had to approve, if not help bring about this new arrangement. September 2, 2018: The United States told Pakistan that $300 million in military aid was suspended because continued refusal of Pakistan (specifically the military) to shut down Islamic terrorist operations inside Pakistan. The Pakistani military showed, in 2014, that it could do so against Islamic terror groups (Pakistani Taliban, ISIL) that threatened the Pakistani government. But Pakistan has refused to admit it protects Islamic terror groups, like the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani Network and several groups that carry out attacks in India. August 31, 2018: In southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan) Iranian border guards clashed with Iranian Sunni separatists who were based in Pakistan and returning to Iran to carry out an attack. Four of the separatists were killed and three wounded while survivors fled back into Pakistan. The Iranian forces suffered one wounded. Industry titans Omega Architects have been part of some big name partnerships this year, including an important collaboration with Benetti Yachts. "We did a complete range of blast motoryacht designs for Benetti who are an old friend in the superyacht industry," Frank tells us, "They are trying to find out what a fast yacht of 20 knots plus would be for them." Omega Architects generally work with more brokers than clients and, as ever, have exciting plans in the works. They are currently developing a 45m Hakvoort and have recently intensified relationships with Turkish clients, participating in a 45m build for an Istanbul based customer. Also under construction is a 62m 5 deck yacht for CRN, and a 60m 5 deck for Heesen. Omega, who take a highly active role in their build projects, continue to prove that the yachting experience goes beyond aesthetics. Laupman has been working on the Ultimate Bridge Experience, a concept that he explains to us: "The Ultimate Bridge Experience is a thought of one of our electrical installer friends that I gave my own interpretation to. My thought was that, in the bridge, rather than having your weight point in front of you, as a captain you would bring it up on a big iPad behind you." Frank explains that this system could be used on commuter and commercial vessels, as in the case of a 100m Portliner. "Sometimes you cannot see in front of you," Frank tells us, "and it would be good to have this on a screen." The Ultimate Bridge Experience can also serve as a 'team building' space in a wheelhouse setting to gather with crew and talk about the week's agenda. It is evident from talking to him that Frank values each Omega project highly and individually, with pride taking a central role in their projects within the industry. We can't wait to see what's to come. Hammond marches on Another week, another shut out victory for the Hammond Skyhawks following a 31-0 win over First Baptist. The Skyhawks improve to 11-0 and advance to the semifinals of the SCISA... C.A. Johnson pounds Wagener-Salley for first playoff win in decades For the first time in more than three decades the C.A. Johnson Green Hornets have won a playoff game following a 39-8 victory over the Wagener-Salley War Eagles in the... Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 08:45 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774b19d9 4 Editorial #Editorial,Karen-Agustiawan,corruption-case,corruption,graft-allegation,graft,pertamina,Attorney-General-Office Free The prosecution against the former president director of state oil and gas company Pertamina is questionable as it was carried out against the legal principles of business practices. It also indicates that legal uncertainty, one of the factors behind Indonesias low investment in the oil and gas sector, still persists. The Attorney Generals Office (AGO) arrested Pertaminas former president director, Karen Galaila Agustiawan, on Monday for her alleged involvement in a graft case relating to the companys investment in Australias Basker Manta Gummy (BMG) block in 2009. The case had caused Rp 568 billion (US$38 billion at the current rate) in state losses, according to the AGO, which named Karen a suspect last April. Pertaminas investment did not run as expected because the BMG block was only able to produce 252 barrels of oil per day (bpd), far lower than the estimated 812 bpd. It was finally shut down after being found economically unviable. The AGO also accused Karen of violating investment procedures, such as approving the acquisition deal without a due diligence audit and without approval from Pertaminas board of commissioners. Yet, her lawyers said Karen had fulfilled all procedures, such as a due diligence audit including a feasibility study, and had secured approval from the board of commissioners. Moreover, the AGO opened the alleged corruption case despite an audit conducted in 2010 by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which did not find any irregularities in the acquisition of the BMG block. The government, as the shareholder of the state-owned oil and gas company, had also approved Pertaminas financial reports that included the BMG investment. Normally, if a companys financial reports are approved by shareholders, the executive board is freed from any responsibility of losses incurred due to corporate actions during the financial year. Business failures are part of business risks. If a failure such as the investment made by Pertamina is considered a crime, it will scare investors. Such a legal risk would further hurt the governments efforts in promoting the role of state-owned companies in the countrys economy. The government has encouraged state firms to run businesses more professionally so that they would be able to take advantage of available business opportunities. State-owned companies should be able to generate more profits to enable them to pay higher dividends to plug the state budget deficit. Raising state revenue from state-owned companies dividends is one of the goals of President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration as tax revenues are inadequate to finance the countrys development programs. Therefore, the prosecution of state companies executives without solid legal evidence would not only harm the credibility of those who uphold the law, it would also damage Indonesias business confidence. To state-owned firms, the impact of Karens arrest will be quite damaging as the executives in charge will avoid making big decisions, fearing wrong business decisions could land them in jail. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fahmi M. Nasir (The Jakarta Post) Kuala Lumpur Thu, September 27, 2018 16:13 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d206b 3 Opinion 1MDB,Malaysia,Indonesia,graft,corruption,corruption-eradication-commission,Najib-Razak Free Two recent developments in Malaysia and Indonesia have involved corruption. The Supreme Court has just allowed former graft convicts to run in next year legislative elections, citing their constitutional rights. In Malaysia, the launch of two books expose Malaysias biggest financial scandal, 1MDB, that contributed to the fall of the Najib Razak government to the hands of the opposition for the first time since the countrys independence in 1957. Upon reading the Supreme Court decision, I immediately recalled a conversation in 2013 between my mentor, the late Sanusi Junid, a former Malaysian minister for nearly 20 years and a group of young Malaysians, who were asking his insights on political developments. One of their questions was why so many parliament members (MP) seemed to fail to contribute to debates in lawmaking. Junid joked that such MPs represented the illiterate in the electorate. Can we assume that our Supreme Court viewed there are so many graft convicts in our country that they also deserve representation in the House of Representatives? And who would be the most appropriate candidates to represent them other than former graft convicts themselves? Back to Kuala Lumpur, the new books The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose by Clare Rewcastle Brown and Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope received wide coverage and were quickly sold out. These developments in Malaysia and Indonesia showed that the corrupt among the elite have mostly found salvation through legal avenues. If this is the case, what can ordinary citizens do? In 2011, Carne Ross wrote The Leaderless Revolution, urging citizens to take matters into our own hands to solve problems instead of waiting hopelessly for our ineffective governments. We might not have the power or avenue to challenge the binding and final decision of Supreme Court, but we can decide to vote the graft convicts out, as the editorial of The Jakarta Post reminds us. This can be done if all voters choose to vote for clean and untainted candidates. We could also look at the contribution of the journalist Brown in uncovering the 1MDB scandal. When she sensed that something was terribly wrong regarding 1MDB she started a blog called Sarawak Report to expose the wrongdoing and the shady dealings of politicians, financial and legal institutions across the globe. Her blog became very popular and received support, especially through information from Malaysians who faced persecution in the country if they attempted to uncover the 1MDB scandal. Browns effort was picked up by mainstream media like The Edge in Malaysia, New York Times and Wall Street Journal in the United States, and finally the 1MDB scandal was investigated by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Now, the new government of Malaysia is working very hard to bring perpetrators of 1MBD to court. Thus ordinary citizens and the voters are reminded that we have powerful tools, the vote, and to be a game changer and to start a leaderless revolution for our better future. *** The writer is the founder of the Center for Study and Consultancy of Waqf, Jeumpa DMeusara and Ph. D student in waqf (religious endownment) law and governance at Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Thu, September 27, 2018 13:04 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774c1edd 2 Entertainment Judi-Dench,Kevin-Spacey,sexual-harassment,#MeToo Free Veteran British actress Judi Dench has criticised the decision to remove Kevin Spacey from a completed Hollywood film last year after the two-time Oscar-winning actor was accused of sexual misconduct. The makers of All the Money in the World decided to reshoot Spaceys scenes with actor Christopher Plummer stepping in to play the late U.S. oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty in the drama about the 1973 kidnapping of Gettys grandson. I cant approve in any way of the fact, whatever he has done, that you then start to cut him out of films, the 83-year-old Dench told a news conference at Spains San Sebastian Film Festival on Tuesday when asked about Spacey. Are we to go back throughout history now and anyone who has misbehaved in any way, or has broken the law, or has committed some kind of offence, are they always going to be cut out? Spaceys character was also written out of U.S. TV series House of Cards after more than 30 men accused him of making unwanted sexual advances. Dench described Spacey as a good friend and an inestimable comfort when they worked together on 2001s The Shipping News after Denchs husband died. I dont know about any of the conditions of it but nevertheless I think he is and was a most wonderful actor. I cant imagine what hes doing now, Dench said. Read also: Screen legend Judi Dench honored at Spain film festival Spacey became embroiled in controversy in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused him of trying to seduce him in 1986 when Rapp was 14. Spacey apologised for any inappropriate conduct and has since stepped away from public life. Los Angeles prosecutors this month announced they would not file sexual assault charges against Spacey in one case involving a 1992 accusation citing Californias statute of limitations. A second case is under review by the Los Angeles District Attorneys office. Spacey, 59, won an Academy Award as best supporting actor for 1995s the Usual Suspects and another for best leading actor for 1999s American Beauty. He also won a Golden Globe in 2015 for his work on House of Cards. Dench won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I in 1998s Shakespeare in Love and has been nominated for an Academy Award six other times. She was being honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. An exhibition titled Home 7+1 Chinese Culture, aims to show how Chinese culture just like other Indonesian ethnic roots exists in most Indonesians daily lives, so much so that it doesnt seem obvious anymore. Photographer Shamowel Rama Surya heads the exhibition, held by Salatigas Lighthouse Photo Institute until Sept. 28 at the 1915 Arts Koffie Huis in Salatiga, Central Java, along with seven fellow photographers: Aris Liem, Seno Resta, Mohammad Reza Gemi Omandi, Edial Rusli, Mas Aslam Muhammad Aslam, Ully Zoelkarnain and Edward Nugroho. The photos showcase details of homes around Salatiga and are the photographers own houses, which are permeated with styles and decorations that are rooted in Chinese traditions and arts. Diversity in Indonesia which we call Nusantara is an unavoidable fact, notes event curator Argus FS, who said the event aimed to stand as a unique photo project that could represent a voice for humanity, diversity, antipolitical purposes, equality and peace in Nusantara. As to showcase how much the exhibition is a project of passion, the photographers all pitched in their own money to make sure the event went ahead. The seeds of the exhibition were planted when the Jakarta gubernatorial election was held last year, which the photographers saw evoked a lot of racial sentiments that they felt did not represent how the majority of Indonesians felt. At that time, they all saw glimpses of the anti-Chinese perception that led to the 1998 anti-Chinese riots and felt like they had something to say regarding it. Shamowel, who had the initial idea for the show, then contacted some of his colleagues all from a variety of different religious and ethnic backgrounds who had been participants in the photography workshops he has held in the past. The open invitation he sent was answered by only seven photographers. We all wanted to show how Chinese culture has been accepted as part of the daily life of Indonesian families. This can be seen through the presence of [Chinese-rooted] household objects in peoples houses, such as Chinese jars and vases, paintings and other decorations, he says. We all love Bhinneka Tunggal Ika [unity in diversity] and that it represents people of many different backgrounds in Indonesia. Of the seven, Shamowel said only two photographers who are of Chinese descent wanted to participate, but they initially felt some trepidation in exposing their Chinese roots front-and-center. He managed to persuade them by telling them how valuable and important it was to stand up for their identity and Chinese culture. On the contrary, Shamowel said the photographers who did not come from a Chinese background were eager to take part. The technical approach the photographers used was done to make sure the photos looked and felt natural. As such, they avoided using too much additional lighting the kind that would be used in home decor publications and focused on capturing the homes natural ambience and atmosphere. We wanted it to look natural and as such did it like we were doing documentary photography, Shamowel says. The photos also show how embedded Chinese traditions are in Indonesian households, which may not be obvious to many. We are living in a contemporary time, so not all things come from the past it has grown, explained Shamowel. Some decorations may not even announce their Chinese-roots, having already become rooted in Indonesian tradition. The photographers also made sure they observed everything in detail because, Shamowel says, Chinese culture is complex, with many aspects of philosophy and beliefs. Some aspects are still pure in their presentation and many aspects have been mixed and blended in our daily lives. The hope is that those who view the photos will come away with a clearer understanding of the deep relationship between Chinese and Indonesian culture. For viewers with a Chinese-Indonesian background, Shamowel hopes they come to appreciate their own heritage and identity as members of a big nation, the multi-cultured Indonesia. ___________ For further details, please check sramasurya.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agus Dermawan T. (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 09:58 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774b4ef9 1 Art & Culture Joop-Ave,Garuda-Wisnu-Kencana,GWK,bali,Nyoman-Nuarta,Tourism-Ministry Free The recent inauguration of the gigantic Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue in Bali might not have been possible if not for the late and often controversial Joop Ave. Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant! (Hail Caesar, were greeting you before our death!) might have been the last sentence uttered by Joop, Indonesias cultural gladiator, before he died on Feb. 5, 2014. Memories of the cultural role of Joop, the tourism, post and telecommunications minister from 1993 to 1998, have popped up with the completion of the GWK, created by legendary Balinese sculptor Nyoman Nuarta, on the top of Ungasan Hill in Jimbaran, Bali. The idea of the GWK image indeed came from Joop Ave and me in 1993. He was a gladiator fighting all out for the erection of this monument. Without his encouragement, this statue would have stayed a mere dream, Nyoman said. For the project, Joop always urged that it should be as huge and mighty as possible, while promising to get the necessary funds. President Joko Jokowi Widodo shared Nuartas revelation in his message when inaugurating the sculpture on Sept. 22, 2018. Without a big idea and without farsightedness, this monument would have never come true, Jokowi said. Therefore, the role Joop played should not be forgotten. Joop, who was born in Yogyakarta on Dec. 5, 1934, is probably one of the most remembered figures from Soehartos New Order regime. Bureaucrats remember him as an energetic and perfectionist worker who observed discipline, while nationalists describe him as a figure knowledgeable about history. The Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue (The Jakarta Post/Zul Edoardo) Meanwhile, circles within the Presidential Palace under Soehartos era saw Joop as being conversant with culture, and the tourism community honored him with the title Father of Tourism. In 1979, as the protocol and consular director general of the Home Ministry, he accompanied then-vice president Adam Malik on a visit to Turkey. When the Turkish tourism minister accompanied Adam, Joop mingled with European tourists there to tell them about Indonesian art and culture. He demonstrated his multilingual fluency by speaking Dutch, French and German to visitors from the Netherlands, France and Austria. Joop, who also spoke Sundanese and Javanese, maintained that arts and culture formed the strength of Indonesian civilization. Indonesias natural beauty is only an entry gate, he once said. Because Joop was passionate about promoting Indonesian arts and culture, he made sure that all parts of the presidential palaces in Jakarta, Bogor and Yogyakarta were completely immersed in the countrys culture when he was the head of the Presidential Palace household staff from 1972 to 1978. Many people have rated Joop as one of the best Presidential Palace managers in Indonesian history. Some cultural observers also called Joop a cultural ambassador in his own country. Joop promoted the opening of art shops, galleries and museums in Bali to fulfill the aspirations of Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati (former Ubud king). He also promoted the conservation of heritage buildings in Indonesia, besides gathering dozens of famous photographers to take pictures of Indonesian nature, culture and art in creative frames, which were printed and distributed worldwide with pride. This way please: Joop (right), as the head of the Presidential Palace staff, provides directives for First Lady Tien Soeharto (second right) and president Soeharto (left). (Courtesy of Agus Dermawan. T/-) On other occasions, Joop also asked Indonesian painters to keep painting unique Indonesian tourist sites and attractions. Dont be afraid to paint in the Mooi Indie [beautiful East Indies] style because the culture and nature of Indonesia are in fact mooi, beautiful, he assured. Asked about his flair for culture, Joop said he learned it from the late president Sukarno. In his 20s as a Foreign Ministry employee, Joop was frequently invited to the palace by Sukarno to help handle protocol affairs, decorate the building and garnish various dishes to be served. Bung Karno [Sukarno] noticed my talent and potential to Indonesianize everything in the palace, recalled Joop. Heading the Jakarta palace household staff, Joop claimed to learn much from the experiences of his predecessors at presidential palaces all over Indonesia. They included Maj. Gen. Soehardjo Hardjowardojo (who served from 1950 to 1967), Brig. Gen. Soetikno L. (1967 to 1973) and Brig. Gen. Soesidarto (1973 to 1978). Joops enthusiasm at the Presidential Palace and dynamic cultural instinct combined with his authority as an official met with the genius of Nyoman, who was born in Tabanan, Bali in 1951. The meshing of the exalted idea of Joop and the ardor of Nyoman for the gigantic statue produced a rare and invaluable cultural treasure that is the GWK, which depicts Lord Vishnu riding the mythical bird Garuda, which is also the national emblem of Indonesia. Sadly, Joop as the initiator had no chance of witnessing the GWK standing tall in all of its glory. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Julie Charpentrat (Agence France-Presse) San Francisco, United States Thu, September 27, 2018 12:35 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774be3f5 2 Science & Tech Uber,data-breach,security,ride-hailing-application Free Uber agreed Wednesday to pay a $148 million penalty over a massive 2016 data breach which the company concealed for a year, in the latest effort by the global ridesharing giant to improve its image and move past its missteps from its early years. The settlement stems from a breach affecting some 57 million Uber riders and drivers, prompting litigation that was eventually joined by officials from the 50 US states and the District of Columbia. The payment, described as the largest in a data breach settlement, is part of Uber's efforts to burnish its reputation after a series of scandals over alleged misconduct and unethical practices. Uber disclosed the breach last year shortly after it hired chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi, who promised a new way of doing business as the company with an estimated value of more than $70 billion expands globally and prepares for what could be a massive stock offering. "The commitments we're making in this agreement are in line with our focus on both physical and digital safety for our customers," Uber's chief legal officer Tony West said in announcing the settlement. "We know that earning the trust of our customers and the regulators we work with globally is no easy feat ... We'll continue to invest in protections to keep our customers and their data safe and secure, and we're committed to maintaining a constructive and collaborative relationship with governments around the world." The company reached an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission on the breach that called for improved security and audits but no financial penalty. According to officials, Uber paid data thieves $100,000 to destroy the swiped information -- and remained quiet about the breach for a year. The settlement avoid a potentially lengthy court fight which could be embarrassing to Uber. Read also: Uber enlists Japan among 5 candidate site to test flying taxi Improving security As part of the settlement, Uber will be required to improve its security practices, with an independent outside review of data practices. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said her office would oversee a fund of $5.1 million that would pay each driver from the state $100, and seek to locate those who may no longer be driving for Uber. "While Uber is now taking the appropriate steps to protect the data of its drivers in Illinois and across the country, the company's initial response was unacceptable," Madigan said. "Companies cannot hide when they break the law." New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said: "This record settlement should send a clear message: we have zero tolerance for those who skirt the law and leave consumer and employee information vulnerable to exploitation." Uber learned of the breach in November 2016 involving personal information on riders and drivers, nearly half in the United States, but disclosed it publicly only after Khosrowshahi took over and pledged more transparency. The case is the second large court settlement this year for Uber. In February, Uber agreed to pay $245 million to Alphabet's self-driving car unit Waymo to settle a lawsuit over allegedly stolen trade secrets. But Uber still faces potential inquiries in the United States and elsewhere over data security, the use of illegal software to thwart rivals, and cases of sexual discrimination. As part of its transparency effort, Uber this year also scrapped policies requiring arbitration over claims of sexual misconduct involving employees, riders and drivers, allowing cases to be heard in public and pursued in open court. As a privately held firm, Uber is not required to report its finances. Released data from the second quarter however shows it lost $891 million on revenues of $2.8 billion, with bookings hitting a total of $12 billion. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Milan, Italy Thu, September 27, 2018 12:09 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774bba8d 2 Lifestyle Versace,Michael-Kors,fashion,#fashion Free Fashion house Versace did not receive any offers from Italian investors before selling to Michael Kors but the deal with the US fashion group will create jobs in Italy, creative director Donatella Versace told newspapers on Wednesday. In the last year Versace has been approached by many people. French, American ... but no Italians. It was not us who refused to take part in an Italian group, Donatella, the sister of Versaces late founder Gianni, told Corriere della Sera. She added the deal showed how desirable Italian brands are to foreign investors, speaking in similar interviews with daily la Repubblica and financial paper Il Sole 24 Ore, and dismissing criticism over a sale to foreigners. Michael Kors on Tuesday agreed to buy the luxury label for 1.83 billion euros ($2.15 billion) including debt, in a move aimed at allowing the Kors group to take on larger European rivals and reviving sales and profits at Versace. In the interviews, Donatella Versace said that a result of the deal the company would employ more people in Italy. Read also: Versace sale would leave few global luxury brands available We will create new jobs and we will be a stimulus for economic development in the territories where we work, she told Il Sole 24 Ore. As part of the deal, Michael Kors Holding Ltd will be renamed Capri Holdings Ltd and the Versace family, which owned 80 percent of the fashion house, will receive 150 million euros of the purchase price in shares in the newly-named holding company. Its an important share, Donatella said, without giving details. The newspapers estimated the share would be between 1.5 percent and 2 percent. Be prepared, Versace will be now more powerful than ever, Donatella said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) London Thu, September 27, 2018 14:08 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774c67dd 2 Food restaurant,Michelin,Wales,United-Kingdom,food,#food,The-Checkers Free A tiny restaurant in Wales is giving up its coveted Michelin star for more quality family time. The Checkers in the town of Montgomery decided to relaunch operations under the name Checkers Pantry in mid-November and stay open during the day only. It informed the guide that it was making the changes and would no longer be qualified to compete for the award earlier this month. "The move is not about the pressure of being in the guide," co-owner Kathryn Francis told AFP. "But pressure does comes from juggling families with work and running a business -- a familiar tale for so many working families." Michelin stars are the gold standard of the restaurant business and the crowning achievement of any chef. The Checkers kitchen offers complex and visually striking dishes such as a "weetcorn veloute, thyme cream & popcorn" starter. The stars also demand a level of dedication and commitment that often take a bruising psychological and physical toll. Read also: Want to become a Michelin inspector in New York City? The French restaurants Le Suquet made headlines when it gave up its three stars and withdrew from consideration last year. The Checkers is doing the same after a seven-year run. Co-owner Stephane Borie -- a Frenchman who is also one of the chefs -- intends to take on private clients and "freelance". Kathryn's sister Sarah will run the stove until evenings. Then it will be time for kids. "Our business benefited greatly from having (a Michelin star) -- it raised our profile and directed guests to us," said Kathryn Francis. "But late nights take their toll; we have five kids between our two families and it was time for a change, to make our business a little friendlier for us and our families." Deep in the heart of a valley surrounded by rocky hills, a wooden library sits just over a creek on the outskirts of Beijing, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Every weekend, hundreds of bookworms flock to Liyuan Library in Jiaojiehe village, a book sanctuary surrounded by chestnut, walnut and peach trees whose branches were used to decorate the building. The lush environment is what first drew architect Li Xiaodong to the village -- the library has a steel and glass base but its facade is cladded with branches and twigs arranged in vertical rows. Visitors cross a narrow wooden bridge which leads to a bright and airy space, sunlight seeping in through gaps in the uneven wood, a design feature. Bookshelves that double up as walls line the reading area -- basically one large room -- and readers lounge with tomes on the floor or on elevated platforms. Read also: Jakpost guide to the National Library of Indonesia With space for just 40 people at a time, visitors stand in line to enter the library, which only opens on weekends. The library, which opened in April 2012, draws hundreds of visitors every weekend, many of whom are attracted by the design, which makes for great pictures on social media. "We have now banned taking pictures inside, as some people come here just for taking pictures. They even come in costumes, that's really disturbing," owner Pan Xi told AFP. "We still want to give those who love reading a conducive environment." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru Thu, September 27, 2018 06:16 1143 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774afc70 1 National death-penalty,drugs,methamphetamine Free The Bengkalis District Court in Riau sentenced two people to death on Wednesday after they were found guilty of violating the Narcotics Law by transporting 10 kilograms of powdered methamphetamine. According to court documents, the police arrested 38-year-old M. Hanafi of Batubara, North Sumatra, and Riko Fernando of Pekanbaru, Riau, after they were caught transporting pressed methamphetamine powder last December during a raid in Siak Kecil district, Bengkalis regency, Riau. Both Hanafi and Riko claimed that they were instructed by a Lampung Prison inmate to deliver the meth packages from Dumai, Riau, to Lampung for Rp 130 million (US$8,700). However, they had only received Rp 4 million as transport money. They said they had no idea where the packages of meth had come from as they were only ordered to pick up the packages from Dumai. The prosecutor from the Bengkalis District Attorneys Office demanded the defendants receive capital punishment as per the 2009 Narcotics Law. They have worsened the drug trafficking problem in the country, presiding judge Sutarno said. Their lawyer, Farizal, said they were still considering whether to file an appeal for the sentence. In response, prosecutor Agrin Nico Reval said they would also consider the possibility of an appeal. If the defendants decide to go forward with the appeal, we are ready to file one too, he said. (ris/swd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 08:15 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774b16b9 1 Politics 2019-elections,2019-legislative-election,2019-presidential-election,PKI,communism Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo has called on Indonesians to be aware of fake news in the upcoming simultaneous legislative and presidential elections, while dismissing once again rumors that he was a member of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). During a land certificate distribution ceremony on Wednesday, Jokowi said people should maintain unity and harmony between one another amid differences that could emerge during the elections. Elections happen every five years. We cant let that divide us, he said during the ceremony in South Tangerang, Banten, as quoted by Antara. He added that fake news would spread in order to take down rivals because the country was entering the political year. Jokowi said the rumor that he was a PKI member started in 2014 when he was running for the presidency. During that time, he said, social media had been awash with accusations that he was member of the party whose ideology is banned in Indonesia. However, he denied the accusation. The PKI was banned in 1965, I was born in 1961. Is it possible for a toddler to join the party? he said. I wanted to let the rumors die a natural death, but some people believed it so I had to clear myself. Instead of spreading rumors and fake news to take down rivals, the former Jakarta governor is asking candidates in the 2019 elections to communicate their programs, ideas and achievements. (ris) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 17:13 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d44a4 1 National immunization,vaccine,rubella,health,aceh,MUI Free The Aceh branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has emphasized its support for the government's measles and rubella (MR) immunization drive in the conservative Muslim province. "Immunization has many benefits and can save lives," Aceh MUI executive Abd. Rahman said at an inter-ministry coordination meeting in Banda Aceh on Wednesday. "MUI is obligated to help all programs that have a noble purpose, especially immunization, which is one of the keys to public health." He added that the central MUI had issued a fatwa declaring that the MR vaccine was mubah (permitted for Muslims) despite containing materials derived from pigs, because of the necessity of preventing an MR epidemic. "I have seen for myself young mothers whose babies have become deaf, blind from cataracts and suffer from leaky hearts and shrunken brains," he said. "I do not dare to take the responsibility in front of Allah if I deny that this is an emergency situation and do nothing to prevent it." The Health Ministry has set a target of 95 percent MR immunization coverage in the second phase of the program, held in August to September. Aceh is the province with the lowest coverage rate so far, with only 4.94 percent or 76,461 children vaccinated out of its target of 1.5 million. "Effective immunization can provide immunity for children and if 95 percent coverage is achieved there will be herd immunity," Aceh health agency head Hanif said. "This is very important because measles and rubella spreads very easily through the air." (kmt/ahw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 18:03 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d5b6e 1 City river-restoration,river-tourism,Kalimalang,Bekasi Free Bekasi municipality has called on the West Java administration to involve it in the Kalimalang rehabilitation project, claiming it has been planning to give the waterway a face-lift for two years. We made a Detail Engineer Design (DED) for Kalimalang in 2016. We have been intending to start the project next year, said Bekasi Environment Agency head Jumhana Luthfi on Thursday as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com. Now that we know [West Java Governor] Ridwal Kamil has a similar vision, we have to synergize ours with his, he added. Jumhana said that the city planned to revamp the man-made Kalimalang along Jl. Hasibuan in South Bekasi to Jl. Caman in Jatibening. The revamp would include parks, water fountains, sidewalks and the Candrabhaga bridge along the river. Kalimalang, initially named Saluran Induk Irigasi Tarum Barat (Main Stream of Tarum Barat Irrigation) runs from Curug Dam through East Jakarta. Jumhana also said that the city administration would summon prominent Bekasi figures to discuss the plan. Newly inaugurated Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi urged Ridwan Kamil to take a look at the citys Kalimalang renovation project before implementing his. [Ridwan Kamil] has to check out our DED. Kalimalang is in our area, he said. Earlier this month, Ridwan Kamil revealed that the provincial administration would allocate up to Rp 50 billion (US$3.4 million) to turn Kalimalang into a world-class tourist destination just like the Cheonggyecheon in Seoul. (vla) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi Thu, September 27, 2018 19:18 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d9440 1 National #religion,#intolerance,Jambi,seals,church,Muslim,opposition Free Several members of a church congregation in Jambi city burst into tears on Thursday upon seeing their house of worship sealed by Public Order Agency personnel. We have been worshiping here for 18 years. Suddenly [the church] is closed. We are shocked, Sinaga, one of the leaders of the Kanaan Methodist church on Jl. Lingkar Barat Tiga in Kota Baru district, told reporters. Sinaga said the church leaders had applied for a permit from the city administration for years but had never been granted one. He said up until now there had been no conflict with followers of other religions around the location of the church, and congregation members were often involved in communal activities. Jambi National Unity and Politics Office head Liphan Pasaribu said the sealing had been conducted because of local residents rejection of churches without permits. Based on negotiations between the administration and residents, it was agreed to seal the church, Pasaribu said, without divulging details on the parties involved. The administration had reportedly planned to seal three churches in the area but postponed the move on two of them amid opposition from their congregation members. Before the sealing of the Methodist church, a letter widely circulated in Jambi stated that some 1,000 residents would gather at a nearby mosque to demonstrate against the three churches. (jun) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 09:55 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774b41f3 1 Business tourism-industry,accessibility,Arief-Yahya Free Tourism Ministry Arief Yahya has stressed the importance of better accessibility to tourist destinations while also highlighting the remaining A-factors in tourism, namely attractions and amenities. The secret of success is accessibility, he said on the sidelines of the Tourism Ministry National Meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday. Attractions? We do not need to worry [about that] because Indonesia is rich in both natural and cultural attractions, and is always in the worlds top 20. Amenities? There are many investors investing their money, as long as the accessibility is there. Accessibility is one of the top traveling criteria for tourists, Arief said, adding that most travelers prefer direct flights as opposed to having to transit. At least 60 percent of tourists look for direct flights. If we want our destinations to become world-class destination, we must have international airports [at essential locations] he said. He added that many beautiful tourist destinations in Indonesia were difficult to access, citing Tanjung Lesung Beach in Banten as an example. The fastest way to reach the area is by a five-to seven-hour drive from Jakarta. Indonesia aims to welcome 17 million foreign tours this year and 20 million tourists in 2019. Arief expressed his optimism that the target could be reached even after a string of earthquakes in August struck Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, a major tourist destination. The Asian Games, Asian Para Games and the IMF-World Bank meetings are expected to attract more visitors, he added. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 14:16 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774c75eb 1 Business FreeportIndonesia,agreement,Freeport-McMoRan,government Free The government and American mining giant Freeport-McMoran (FCX) plan to sign a sales and purchase agreement on Thursday afternoon in what would be another step toward majority ownership of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) by state-owned mining holding company PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum). The agreement is one of three required for the divestment process of PTPIs shares. The two other agreements, which could also be signed on Thursday, are on information exchange and shareholders. The sales and purchase agreement is likely to lay out details on the disbursement of US$3.85 billion for Australian miner Rio Tintos participating interest in PTFI and $350 million for FCXs shares in PTFI by Inalum as agreed upon in a previous document. The deal was initially to be made on Wednesday as the government had sent out invitations for an event, but the event was canceled without any clarification. Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, the United States Embassy issued a press release regarding the visit of US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan, Jr to PTFI's site in Mimika, Papua, from Sept. 21 to 24. Donovan emphasized his support for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's vision of a "win-win" outcome that would see a contract extension for the operation of the gold and copper mining site in the easternmost Indonesian province. I head back to Jakarta with an improved understanding of the need for a timely resolution to negotiations over Freeport's operating rights extension," he said. The three agreements are a follow-up to a heads of agreement signed on July 12 by Inalum and FXC. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Eva Aruperes (The Jakarta Post) Manado Thu, September 27, 2018 20:32 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774da1d3 1 National survival,Guam Free Eighteen-year-old Aldi Novel Adilang made headlines this week after he spent 48 days adrift in open waters, in a remarkable tale of survival reminiscent of the titular character in the Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi. But Aldi, who was employed to live on and maintain a rompong, a floating fish trap, off the coast of North Minahasa, North Sulawesi, says he now wants to abandon the seafaring life in exchange for the safety of land. Out at sea for six months at a time, Aldi would be contracted by the rompong owner to power up the lamps around his floating abode with a generator every night to attract fish. Once a week, the owner would send someone to harvest the fish from the trap and to give Aldi a week worth of supplies: food, gas for cooking, clean water and fuel for the generator. This was the third time Ive been adrift, Aldi said recently at his home in Lansa village in Wori, North Minahasa. The first time, I was adrift for a week, and I was rescued by the romping owners boat. The second time was for two days, and I was rescued again by the rompong owners boat. This third time was for one month and 18 days. A strong wind on July 14 blew him to Guam waters, thousands of kilometers away from home. It was around 7 [a.m. local time], and my rope was cut off after my fish trap rubbed against my friends. Unfortunately, my friend was still asleep, so he didnt realize that I was adrift, he said. Aldi was trying to get help, to no avail. He spent days floating around while reading the Bible and chanting religious songs to keep his spirit high. Aldi continued praying for his safety and to reunite with his parents. Desperation hit Aldi at one point, when he contemplated drowning himself, but he had second thoughts and continued to cling onto hope. He had to cope not only with loneliness but also hunger, thirst and fear, until the Panama-flagged Arpeggio rescued him on Aug. 31. Read also: Indonesian teenager survives 49 days adrift in Guam waters The experience has put Aldi off the idea of going back to sea. The junior high school graduate is now in search of a safer job. He said the rompong had no safety or survival facilities, such as a GPS, compass or life vest, and the only safety training he had received was a weeklong briefing by his uncle on how to take care of himself on a rompong. He did not even know how to swim. The pay was meager considering the dangers involved. I was contracted for a year and paid Rp 2 million (US$133) a month, he said. His parents had encouraged him to do the job, because they thought the pay could support the whole family. Now they do not expect Aldi, the youngest child, to continue the life-threatening job. Aldis mother, Net Kahiking, 53, said she had had a bad feeling before the incident happened. She had a dream about Aldi almost drowning while cooking. I really thank God he is safe, she said. (kmt/swd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Tim Kelly (Reuters) Aboard the Kaga, Indian Ocean Thu, September 27, 2018 09:08 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774b28e8 2 World #Japan,#China,#SouthChinaSea,#UK,Japan,United-Kingdom,military-excercise,SouthChinaSea Free Japan's biggest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, joined naval drills with Britain's HMS Argyll in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as the frigate headed toward the contested South China Sea and East Asia. Britain, Japan and their close ally the United States have found common cause in countering growing Chinese influence in the region that they worry could put key commercial sea lanes linking Asia with Europe, the United States and elsewhere under Beijing's sway. "We have traditional ties with the British navy and we are both close U.S. allies and these drills are an opportunity for us to strengthen cooperation," Kenji Sakaguchi, the Maritime Self Defence Force (MSDF) commander of the Kaga group's four helicopters said on the hangar deck. The more frequent presence of the Royal Navy in a region is a chance for the two navies to train more closely in the future, he added. The Argyll, Kaga and its destroyer escort the Inazuma practiced formations on calm seas in the Indian Ocean close to commercial sea lanes plied by container vessels and oil tankers. Three helicopters from the Japanese carrier hovered above, monitoring the drill. The Argyll's arrival in the region comes after Britain's amphibious assault ship HMS Albion, last month challenged Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea on its way to Vietnam from Japan by sailing close to Chinese bases in the Paracel islands in a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP). China dispatched a warship and helicopters to counter the British presence and warned London that similar actions in the future could endanger talks for a possible trade deal that Britain is seeking as it prepares to leave the European Union. GLOBAL HOTSPOT China, which says its intentions are peaceful, claims most of the South China, through which some $3 trillion of seaborne trade passes every year. Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the sea, which has oil and gas deposits as well as rich fishing grounds. Japan, which is embroiled in separate territorial dispute with China in the neighbouring East China Sea, has yet to conduct a FONOP in the south China Sea. However, in a rare public announcement this month, Japan's Ministry of Defence said one of its submarines had carried out a naval exercise in the disputed waterway with two Japanese destroyers and the Kaga, which is on a two-month deployment in the Indo-Pacific. After crossing the South China Sea, the Argyll will operate in waters around Japan, including a stint monitoring sanctions imposed on North Korea by the United Nations to force it to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, said a British government source, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorised to talk to the media. The Argyll is the third Royal Navy ship in Asia's waters this year following the tour of the Albion and another frigate. "Normally we hold discussion with other countries before joint drills, but with the British there is no need to, so they are easy to work with," said Tatsuhiko Mizuno, an operation planning officer for the Kaga group. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 12:10 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774bc49a 1 National Jokowi,Jokowi-Maruf,212-Alumni,Prabowo-Sandiaga,PKS,PDI-P Free A recent survey has revealed that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is considered to be more religious than his challenger in the 2019 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto. A survey commissioned by Indikator Politik Indonesia polled 1,220 respondents from Sept. 1 to 6, asking them about their views on the two presidential candidates. In terms of personal branding, 76 percent of the respondents consider Jokowi to be religious and pious, while 58 percent say Prabowo is religious and pious. Jokowi has, since last year, successfully portrayed himself as a religious person. He has frequently visited ulama, kyai [religious teachers] and religious figures across the country, Indikator executive director Burhanuddin Muhtadi said on Wednesday. Since early last year, Jokowi has made many visits to Islamic boarding schools, mostly across Java, and met with senior religious figures from various Muslim groups in different regions. In April, Jokowi also invited representatives of the self-proclaimed 212 Rally Alumni group, which comprises groups and activists who participated in nonviolent protests in 2016 to call for the prosecution of then-Jakarta governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, an ally of Jokowi, over blasphemy. Burhanuddin said Jokowis running mate Maruf Amin, a prominent Muslim cleric, also contributed to the newfound religious branding, though it was not the main factor. Eighty-two percent of respondents said Maruf was religious and pious, while 63 percent said the same for Prabowo's running mate, Sandiaga Uno. Jokowi has been labeled as anti-Islam and pro-communist by hard-line groups, while Prabowo is portrayed as pro-Islam because he is a longtime ally of the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and close to the Muslim conservative groups that were behind the 212 rally. Burhanuddin said Jokowi and Prabowo represented different Muslim blocks with different perspectives. For example, PAN [National Mandate Party] and PKS [Prosperous Justice Party] represent modernist Muslim groups. Thats why such groups throw support behind Prabowo, he said. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) senior politician Maruarar Sirait acknowledged that the anti-Islam image associated with Jokowi was of concern for the Jokowi camp, saying that the decision to pair Jokowi with Maruf, an influential Muslim cleric, was a way to address the issue. We hope that people can engage in constructive discussions [on issues] such as economic problems, rather than sectarian issues, he said. (swd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Thu, September 27, 2018 16:32 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d3902 1 National drugs,drugs-use,Malaysia,bali Free The Denpasar District Court in Bali has sentenced a Malaysian resident to seven years' imprisonment for the possession of illegal drugs. The man, 23-year-old Mohammad Eryfan bin Jamaluddin, was found guilty of possessing 15 pills of MDMA, known also as ecstasy, and 1.7 grams of ketamine. The court has found him guilty of violating Article 113 of Law No. 35/2009 on narcotics, said presiding judge Estard Oktavi on Wednesday as quoted by antaranews.com. Mohammad was also ordered to pay a fine of Rp 1 billion (US$67,060) or else face an additional four years in prison. He was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport on March 4 at 8:15 p.m. local time after landing from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Customs officers found a package inside his underwear that contained the drugs. During an interrogation, Mohammad confessed to having bought the pills from a dealer in Malaysia for 200 RM. Prior to his departure to Bali, Mohammad consumed two of the MDMA pills and carried the rest of the drugs on him. (dpk/swd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia Thu, September 27, 2018 16:19 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d29b8 2 World #Malaysia,#prostitution,Malaysia,woman,caning Free A Malaysian woman was sentenced Thursday to be caned and jailed for six months for prostitution in violation of Islamic laws, weeks after the flogging of two lesbians sparked outrage. The 30-year-old single mother of one admitted to offering sexual services in a hotel in the conservative northern state of Terengganu this month after being caught by religious enforcement officers. Multi-ethnic Malaysia has a dual-track legal system, with Muslims subject to Islamic laws in certain areas. Critics say a traditionally tolerant brand of Islam in the Muslim-majority country is being eroded as more conservative attitudes gain ground. Sentencing the divorcee to six strokes of the cane and jail time, judge Rosdi Harun told an Islamic court that he was "very disappointed" the woman had not shown any remorse. "Your punishment will give you time to reflect on your mistakes and repent," he said. The woman, who was not identified, has 14 days to appeal against the sentence. If the caning goes ahead it will take place in the prison where she is serving her sentence. Rozana Isa, executive director of women's rights group Sisters in Islam, criticised the sentence: "There really is no compassion in these kinds of punishment. "Is this really where we want the country to go?" Two women were caned in Terengganu on September 3 after admitting breaking Islamic laws that prohibit lesbian sex, sparking a storm of criticism from politicians and rights groups. Campaigners said it was the first time women had been caned for same-sex relations in Malaysia, and that the case highlights the worsening climate for the country's gay community. Caning under Islamic laws is carried out with a thin rattan cane on a person who is fully clothed. It is also a punishment for many crimes under civil law in Malaysia. About 60 percent of Malaysia's 32 million people are Muslim, and the country is also home to substantial ethnic Indian and Chinese communities. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika & Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru Thu, September 27, 2018 19:06 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d6ea1 1 National tiger,conservation,sumatra,Sumatran-tiger Free The authorities have arrested a man in connection with the death of a pregnant Sumatran tiger after it was caught in a hunter's trap, an official said on Thursday. The man in question, identified only as E, was detained by the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (Riau BKSDA) near the location of the tiger's corpse on Wednesday night. The head of Riau BKSDA, Suharyono, said E was still being questioned as a witness. He admitted that he had set up several traps in various areas, Suharyono told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. According to Suharyono, E, who works as a security guard for an oil palm plantation, denied that he killed the tiger intentionally and said he used the traps to catch pigs. I told E that he was supposed to wait around the trap to prevent other animals from being harmed if he actually wanted to catch a pig. If a tiger passed by, then he should shoo it away. What would happen if it was his kid instead who was trapped? he said. The tiger, which was estimated to be between 3.5 and 5 years old, was found dead with the wire from the trap wrapped around its belly. The autopsy report showed that the wire had ruptured the tigers kidney, which led to her death. The autopsy also revealed that the critically endangered animal was carrying two fetuses and was expected to deliver her cubs in two weeks. If the authorities name E a suspect, he could face 5 years in prison and a Rp 100 million (US$6,708) fine as stipulated in Article 21 of Law No. 5/1999 on the conservation of biological resources and the ecosystem. (ahw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Moscow, Russia Thu, September 27, 2018 16:04 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d0476 2 World #Russia Free Moscow has scoffed at a report by a respected investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov is Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the country's top award, the Hero of Russia. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. "There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday. "The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it?" Speaking on Wednesday, May attacked Moscow over the poisoning Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent designed in the Soviet era, in March. "Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication," she said. Bellingcat said Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in the far eastern city of Blagoveshchensk, one of the country's top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine and was bestowed the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for "conducting a peace-keeping mission," a likely reference to the Ukraine conflict. Bellingcat said it was "highly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows Chepiga because he personally hands out these awards. Only a handful of such awards are given each year, often posthumously. Citing a former Russian military officer, Bellingcat said it was very surprising that a highly decorated officer holding the rank of colonel was sent into the field. It "would imply that 'the job was ordered at the highest level,'" the group quoted its source as saying. This month Putin said that the two men suspected by Britain of poisoning the Skripals were "civilians." In an eyebrow-raising interview with the Kremlin-backed RT channel, Boshirov and Alexander Petrov said they went to Salisbury as tourists, sparking ridicule in Russia and abroad. Some observers have speculated the two intelligence agents have been effectively thrown under the bus by their superiors for failing in their mission. "From hero to zero," Bellingcat said on Twitter as it released its report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yara Bayoumy and Michelle Nichols (Reuters) United Nations, United States Thu, September 27, 2018 12:03 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774bb3cd 2 World #DonaldTrump,#China,DonaldTrump,China,meddling,Beijing,denial Free US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of seeking to meddle in the Nov. 6 US congressional elections, saying Beijing did not want his Republican Party to do well because of his pugnacious stance on trade. "China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November. Against my administration,"Trump told a UN Security Council meeting whose ostensible subject was nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Chairing the Council for the first time, Trump made no reference to suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and provided no evidence for his allegation about China, which Beijing immediately rejected during the same meeting. "We did not and will not interfere in any country's domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China," the Chinese government's top diplomat Wang Yi told the Council. The United States and China are embroiled in a trade war, sparked by Trump's accusations that China has long sought to steal US intellectual property, limit access to its own market and unfairly subsidize state-owned companies. Later on Wednesday, Trump referred to a Chinese government-run media company's four-page supplement in the Sunday Des Moines Register promoting the mutual benefits of US-China trade. The practice of foreign governments buying space in U.S. newspapers to promote trade is common and differs from a clandestine operation run by a national intelligence agency. "China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news," Trump said in a Twitter post. In a Des Moines Register article about the advertising supplement, Carol Hunter, executive editor of the newspaper, said the placement was not surprising. "Its not surprising that China Daily sought to place advertising with the Des Moines Register, because the Register is Iowas largest news organization and Iowa farmers are disproportionately affected by Chinas tariffs," Hunter said. A senior Trump administration official said China uses political, economic, commercial, military and information tools to influence US public opinion and promote the interests of the Chinese government and Communist Party. US Vice President Mike Pence plans to make a speech next week detailing the allegations, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, saying the US government was working to declassify further information on the matter. During an evening news conference, Trump described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a friend, prompting a reporter to ask how that could be the case given the allegations of meddling. "Maybe he's not any more, I'll be honest with you," Trump replied. IRAN: US 'ABUSED' COUNCIL SESSION Trump also used the Security Council session to defend the US withdrawal in May from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran, hint at progress in US efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear program, and to criticize Iran and Russia for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's war, now in its eighth year. "The Syrian regime's butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran," Trump said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded in a Twitter post, saying the United States had "abused" the Council and is "further isolated." Trump's allegation of Chinese election meddling came as a surprise during a formal meeting around the Security Council's horseshoe table that was expected to concentrate on the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. "They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, we are winning at every level. We don't want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election," said Trump, who is attending the U.N.'s annual gathering of world leaders. Trump himself is not up for re-election until 2020 but November's voting will decide whether his Republican Party can keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Some opinion polls show that the Democratic Party could make a strong showing, notably in the House. In the latest salvo in the trade dispute, U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and retaliatory taxes by Beijing on $60 billion worth of U.S. products kicked in on Monday, unnerving global financial markets. During his roughly 10-minute speech, Trump made no reference to U.S. allegations against Russia concerning the election that brought him to power. Speaking later to reporters, Trump said: "They (China) are trying to meddle in our elections. And were not going to let that happen, just as were not going to let that happen with Russia." Trump's presidency has been dogged by the Russian issue, which led to an investigation by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller into potential collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign, which Trump rejects. Moscow denies interfering. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Muguntan Vanar and Philip Golingai (The Star/ANN) Kota Kinabalu Thu, September 27, 2018 19:17 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d85f7 2 SE Asia Abu-Sayyaf,Malaysia,Philippines,Indonesia,kidnapping Free The resurrection of a kidnap-for-ransom group in southern Philippines after a 21-month hiatus is posing fresh threats to Sabahs east coast. Abu Sayyaf sub-commanders are regrouping after nearly two years on the run. A resurrected sub-commander is Indang Susukan, who was widely reported to have died when his wife and children were killed during a security forces attack on his home base in Talipao on Jolo island. He previously held several hostages who were abducted from the east coast of Sabah, including the Tung cousins from Negri Sembilan kidnapped in 2012, Taiwanese Chang An Wei (snatched from Pom Pom island in 2013) and Bernard Then, the first and only Malaysian to be beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf. Indang is back on the radar of the Philippine security forces as he is believed to be plotting a cross-border kidnapping. The sub-commander has recovered from gunshot injuries during the security forces attack and kept a low profile. He has changed his looks by dyeing his long black hair blonds. He, however, continues to organise localised kidnappings in Jolo town with the Lucky 9 group. Indang, according to a regional intelligence source, is working with another Abu Sayyaf sub-commander, Hatib Sawadjan, who managed to stay out of sight during the crackdown on the Abu Sayyaf. The source said Indang and Hatib received financing from southern Philippine political warlords growing edgy over the newly introduced Bangsamoro Organic Law (also known as Bangsamoro Basic Law). The BOL creates a Muslim-majority sub-state in the Philippines that will replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. The source explained that the warlords were setting their sights on high value victims. According to the source, the warlords through Abu Sayyaf sub-commanders have so far financed up to 1.7 million pesos (US$90,126) for two kidnap-for-ransom groups to carry out kidnapping in Sabahs east coast waters. The source said one of the groups, with at least eight gunmen led by Amah Ullah @ Suraka, tried to target an oil palm-laden tugboat in Tambisan waters off Lahad Datu on Aug 10. But the group failed after Malaysian forces sped to the scene when they were alerted by the crew who hid in the tugboat. The source said Suraka was backed by another group of seven under Salip Murah who was waiting at the sea borders. After the failed attempt, Philippine authorities tracked down Suraka in the Tawi-Tawi chain of islands in southern Philippines and killed him a few days later while several members of his eight-man gang were caught, the source added. Subsequently, Salip and his group fled towards the Philippines Palawan island (north of Kudat) where they picked up two Filipino hostages and returned to Jolo. The source said Indang paid two other groups one million pesos to seek high-value targets in Sabah waters. On Sept 11, a group led by an Abu Sayyaf gunman named Titing used pump boats to sneak from Siluag island in southern Philippines into Sabah waters by navigating through shallow shoals. Pump boats, often likened to sea scooters, are powered by water pumps and used as a cheaper mode of transport to move around shallow waters without any hassle, rather than using outboard engines. The source said for kidnap-for-ransom groups, travelling on a pump boat was much cheaper as it cost them about RM200 ($48) in fuel for a round trip from Jolo to Semporna. With speedboat engines, the fuel could cost over RM1,000. These pump boats are very agile, they can move through shallow waters and also seaweed farms without getting stuck like those with outboard engines, he said. In the latest case, the abductors snatched two Indonesian fishermen at gunpoint from a trawler anchored near Pulau Gaya, which is about a 30- to 40-minute boat ride from Semporna town. Samsul Sagunim, 40, and Usman Yunus, 35, were taken on a pump boat to Jolo where they are said to be held by Indang in Patikul. The kidnappers thought that the hostages were Malaysians as the fishing trawler flew the Malaysian flag, said the source, adding that a Malaysian hostage could be worth a ransom of about RM1mil whereas it was only about RM50,000 for an Indonesian boatman. Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah told reporters on Tuesday that the captors were demanding RM4 million for the release of the fishermen. Thats not surprising because usually the initial ransom demand is outrageous as it is part of such groups bargaining process, said the source. Before this, the last abduction on Sabah waters was on Dec 8, 2016, when the notorious Abraham @ Ibrahim went on a kidnapping spree. In his third bid that night, Abraham and two accomplices were killed by police in a gunfight off Pulau Gaya in Semporna. Police rescued a victim but two other kidnappers and a second victim are still missing at sea. According to the source, the second kidnap-for-ransom group led by one self-styled Commander Black is lurking in the waters between eastern Sabah and Tawi-Tawi chain of islands. Commander Black is an emerging kidnapper. He is aggressive and he will take on security forces if confronted, he said. The source said they were using spotters to give them information on potential targets. The Sept 11 kidnapping was a test run. It was successful and the kidnap-for-ransom group will use the same route going through shallow waters to go for a more audacious attempt along the shores of Semporna town, he said. However, Commander Blacks plan might have hit a snag. Last Thursday night in the waters off Kunak, Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) shot dead two suspected kidnap-for-ransom group collaborators and recovered two revolvers, a samurai sword and a pump boat which were suspected to be used in the kidnapping of the two Indonesians. Esscom commander Deputy Comm Datuk Hazani Ghazali said they believed the two killed were key local links to the groups involved in the Sept 11 snatching of the two Indonesians off Pulau Gaya. I believe we have cut off their links, hopefully they will not have spotters to guide them into our waters, he said when contacted. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Glenda Kwek (Agence France-Presse) Sydney, Australia Thu, September 27, 2018 17:04 1142 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308774d4493 2 News Great-Barrier-Reef,travel,tourism,Science Free A row is raging over Australia's warming-damaged Great Barrier Reef, with firms worried that scientists' apocalyptic warnings are scaring visitors out of the water. Every year, more than two million snorkel-wielding tourists head to Australia's famed coral ecosystem, generating revenues of $4.3 billion and supporting 64,000 local jobs. But damage done by higher temperatures -- which turn patches of the reef ashen white -- has threatened to put a break on the number of tourists willing to wrestle their way into a wetsuit. There was surprise then, when the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre recently published a markedly more optimistic report, heralding "significant signs of recovery" at major dive sites around Cairns and prompting a flurry of upbeat news coverage. If the report's findings seemed out of kilter with other studies about the reef, that was by design. It was part of an effort to show that not all of the Great Barrier Reef is an aquatic wasteland, according to Col McKenzie of tourism industry lobby group AMPTO, which helped carry out the research. "Overall, are we seeing a drop in visitation because of the negative press, absolutely we are, there's no doubt about that," McKenzie told AFP. He suggested visitor numbers to the reef and nearby islands had dropped by 10 percent in 2017 and were on track to plunge by a further 15 percent this year. Although government data shows that the number of visitors to the broader region has actually increased, those figures are older and don't include coral-viewing activities. McKenzie said it was vital to get the message out that some areas of the massive ecosystem are still teeming with colour and life. "What people miss with our reef system is... it's a massive structure," he said. His comments are the latest salvo in a battle between ecologists and the tourism industry, as they struggle to come to terms with competing interests and new realities on the reef. Read also: Great Barrier Reef showing signs of recovery Professor Terry Hughes of James Cook University, who leads the surveys of bleached corals, cautioned that while some damaged coral regain their colour within several months, more badly damaged reefs can take a decade to recover. "It's very early days yet," he told AFP, describing a patchy recovery that makes generalisations difficult. "Basically we are in year one in the middle of the reef, or year two in the northern reefs, in the decade-long process of recovery." The government's Australian Institute of Marine Science says coral cover has "continued to decline due to the cumulative impacts of multiple, severe disturbances over the past four years". The same institute showed that apart from the risk of extreme sea surface temperatures -- with some areas more affected, the reef is also grappling with the impacts of farming run-off, development and severe tropical cyclones. Conflicting interests Even within government there are conflicting interests at play, as well as rolling debates about how best to respond. Canberra has -- so far successfully -- urged UNESCO to hold off listing the reef as an endangered World Heritage site, fearing it would have an adverse economic impact and lead to tougher restrictions on local industry. It has allocated some $1.4 billion to protect the site, but at the same time backed a huge coal project nearby by Indian mining giant Adani and moved away from legislating climate targets under the Paris Accord. A parliamentary inquiry was recently set up to investigate why former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull gave nearly half a billion dollars to a small business-backed reef charity without a competitive tender process. Australians also appear divided on damage done to the reef. Only half of the country thinks that climate change is already causing the destruction of reef, according to an annual Ipsos poll on environmental issues. Whichever way the political winds blow, scientists like Hughes are determined to document changes to one of the world's most biodiverse regions. But that remains a moving target. "It's a critical recovery period," Hughes said. "The unknown, of course, is whether we'll get another bleaching event, which potentially could come as soon as early next year if we get a heatwave." Were told the State Liquor Authority (SLA) has finally approved an operating permit for a new liquor store at 393 Grand St. As you may recall, the SLA rejected the application this past spring for the new business in the former Seward Park Liquors space at 393 Grand St. After approving a bid by Seward Park Liquors to relocate to Ludlow Street, SLA commissioners ruled that the general area was oversaturated with liquor stores. A Request for Consideration was heard by the SLA yesterday. According to the Seward Park Cooperative, the landlord at 393 Grand, the liquor authority reversed its decision, granting the license. Vinfamily Inc., doing business as Seward Park Wine and Spirits, is now cleared to open in a retail strip controlled by the co-op. The operator, Anastasia Ceballos, is a sommelier who lives in East River Coop. The store will stock 90% wines and 10% spirits, were told. There will be a focus on organic European and New York State wines. At the hearing, Seward Park Liquors owner John DeBlasio spoke against the application, while several elected officials submitted letters in support of the new liquor store. Last year, the board of the Seward Park Co-op decided not to renew Seward Park Liquors lease. DeBlasio, who had been in the space for four decades, waged a very public battle against the board and management. Hes now filed a lawsuit against the co-op. JK Rowling has revealed that Nagini, Voldemorts snake and constant companion, was once a woman. Naginis true nature was revealed in the final trailer for Fantasic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald, as the snake is played by the South Korean actress Claudia Kim. Rowling said she had always imagined Nagini as a Maledictus, a woman turned into an animal after a blood curse, and has been keeping the secret for 20 years. Social media users have been quick to criticise the announcement, with many arguing that casting an Asian actress as a snake submissive to an evil man is racist. One Twitter user wrote: Listen Joanne, we get it, you didnt include enough representation when you wrote the books. But suddenly making Nagini into a Korean woman is garbage. Representation as an afterthought for more woke points is not good representation. Rowling responded by saying: The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name Nagini. They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day. However, many fans were critical of Rowling's research of Indonesian mythology. Okay first of all. East Asian =/= Buddhist/Hindu. Conflating Asian mythos? Next, the Naga are revered to be life-giving beings, associated with fertility, life. In Buddhism, they are the protectors. In your world, Nagini is a cursed creature who will serve the white villain. https://t.co/tT9Frigp0K Miguel Lizada (@mlizada) September 27, 2018 Others expressed annoyance at the 'post-production tweaking' of JK Rowling attempting to make the Harry Potter series more diverse than it originally came across. Dumbledore is gay. Hermione might be black. There are magic schools with spirit animals in N.America. And now, Nagini is an Asian woman trapped in the form of a snake. ALL of these stink of post-production tweaking NOT at all well supported in the original canon and it shows. Fonda Lee (@FondaJLee) September 26, 2018 Not everyone was upset by the news however, with some fans supporting Rowling's announcement. All these people upset about Nagini being Asian keep calling her "a pet" and it's like... Did you guys only watch the films? I'm Asian. I'm happy to see Asian women in Hollywood films. I have no problem with them portraying us as badasses, or villains. We can be villains too. FU. Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) September 26, 2018 Some other fans suggested possible future disclosures about characters from the Harry Potter series: Wait...I may be thinking something dumb out loud here, but could MRS NORRIS possibly be a Maledictus too!? After finding out about the whole Nagini thing!? Kelsey Ellison (@KelseyEllison) September 26, 2018 me: hi jk rowling: hedwig was a nigerian woman of color raya (@wewritelettrs) September 26, 2018 This is not the first time that JK Rowling has faced controversy over the spin-off film series Fantastic Beasts. Last year many fans criticised the author for casting actor Johnny Depp in the role of Grindelwald despite allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife Amber Heard. This summer the author again found herself the target of fans anger, as it was revealed that Albus Dumbledore will not be explicitly depicted as gay in the new film, despite being shown alongside his supposed former lover Gellert Grindelwald. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Gindelwald will be released in UK cinemas on November 16. Daveed Diggs, of Hamilton fame, has co-written, co-produced, and co-stars in Blindspotting alongside his friend and collaborator Rafael Casal. The Sundance Grand Jury Prize-nominated film follows Collin (Diggs) and his troublemaking friend Miles (Casal) as Collin tries to stay out of trouble on his last three days of probation. When he witnesses a police shooting, it throws some race and class issues into sharp relief, and may be the end of their friendship. Read our review here. Diggs spoke with The National Student on the creative process behind the film, police shootings, Bay Area slang, and whats next for him. I read that you guys wrote this screenplay ages ago - how much changed from that screenplay to what we see on screen? A lot and a little at the same time. The biggest change in the scripts since the earliest version is really to do with a change in the world. When we first stared writing right after Oscar Grant was killed at Fruitvale Station I was living five blocks away from there at the time. The way that our community responded to that was by protesting, and Oscars name was everywhere, and Oscars face was everywhere. It was one of the first cases where there was such definitive cellphone footage of the act happening we all watched Oscar get murdered by a police officer for no reason. He wasnt resisting, he was on the ground with his hands behind his back. And so I think the fantasy of that protest was that by pushing that footage out into the world, everybody would look at that and say, Oh my god, what a horrible thing has just happened. Something has to change. But thats not what happened. The police officer didnt do any time for the crime, he wasnt convicted. It was determined that what he did was reasonable. And weve seen that happen over and over again, and so the climate now that the film exists in is one where nobody protests. I think Miles (Rafael Casal) has that great line where hes watching the news report and theyre running down the list of who Randall (Travis Parker) was, and Miles says, Wrong cocktail - no protest for you. Were in a world right now where theres so much fatigue from shouting so much that its hard, and well look for a perfect victim, and so the only person who is affected in the day to day by the shooting is Collin (Diggs), because he was there. So thats the biggest difference - when we wrote it there were protests, there were riots Miles and Collin got caught in the middle of a riot. It was sort of about the politicising of these two apolitical characters. But that didnt feel particularly honest any more. How important was it to bring humour to this incredibly real and painful social commentary? I think that was the most honest way to do it. The Mileses and the Collins we know those are both composites of folks that we grew up with and this is true of ourselves too, we cope with humour. I would say that in most underprivileged communities you would find the same thing. I say this all the time, that I grew up poor but not sad. I dont remember ever being sad, I dont remember ever being bored. I remember laughing so much the bulk of my memories throughout my life are of laughter. I laugh so much more than I cry. And it is still true that I have lived through some tough events, and that my community is changing from under my feet, and I feel unsafe in my own skin, and stuff like that. And yet still I find that most of my memories are of laughing. And so I think that it was important for us to reflect that reality. You and Rafael obviously have known each other for a long time, but what was it like casting the other characters? We were very specific about it. I mean, theres a lot of friends in the film. Jasmine Cephas-Jones weve known for a long time doing Hamilton. Utkarsh Ambudkar, who does the hilarious retelling of the crime, is an old friend of mine and Rafaels and weve made a bunch of music together. And the guy hes standing next to telling the story to is my friend Justin (Liu) we all went to high school together, we grew up together. A lot of it is in the family in a lot of ways, but the most important thing was just trying to either pick people who were from the Bay Area who really understood we only had 22 days to shoot the thing, so there was a shorthand at play. We needed people who just kind of understood the world that they were living in. Particularly characters like Cuttie (Lance Holloway), the dude who comes up and then Miles sells the sailboat to. Lance is from Oakland, and we had auditioned him for a bunch of different parts, and he was just in there one day and we just happened to hand him those lines he was reading for something else and we said, Why dont you look at these. And his eyes sort of lit up and he said, Oh, okay, and he nailed it immediately. Because he understands all that slang. So those are the kinds of things we needed people who could pull that off, so we were pretty specific about that. Janina (Gavankar) was such a great addition she taught us so much about Val that I think we didnt know, you know? Making her very deliberately a child of immigrants and inserting all of that, all of the pressures that into Val was a thing we didnt intend, that I think gave that character so much more life and understanding than we would have been able to without her. So sometimes that concept just happens in the audition room you meet somebody like that and say oh! They actually know more about this character than we do. Were there a lot of ad libs and improvisation involved on set - with the rap and the jokes? The rap all of the verse is very written, very very scripted. We needed stuff to tie in later. And thats what we come from, so its actually the easier stuff to write. But we filmed long sections of Miles and Collin just freestyling in the truck, but it all ended up getting cut. Were releasing some of the audio as part of the soundtrack, the Collin EP is out right now with a little truck freestyle, and that audio is just Raf and I in the truck driving around freestyling. Well put more of that out on the Miles EP too when that comes out. At what point in the process did you guys come up with the title assigning that name to that concept? Literally in the last revision of it. Its one of the more recent things. We were looking for a moment of slang creation, and we really wanted it to be Val, because we thought that was interesting because she gets accused a lot of not being from the town. But one of the most town things you can do is create new slang we really pride ourselves on that. So we thought it would be really great if it was coming from Val, if she was using it for this very practical thing of studying. It was actually Rafaels idea he was searching really hard for this thing, and then when he was looking through old textbooks and landed on Rubins Vase and called me and was like, What do we call this? And we started just riffing on terms. But I think we werent sure if Blindspotting was right for a long time, but we sat with it and it kept coming back. Still, there were some arguments between us and the producers over whether that should be the title, and whether it was two words or one word, and is one word too close to Trainspotting? All those kinds of stupid things. Titles are hard. Ive never been particularly good at them, but Im pretty happy with this one. Is directing something you see yourself doing soon, since youve taken on so many different roles in the industry so far? Directing? I am not I dont think I have that mind. Rafael is for sure, hes already slated to direct something which we cant talk about yet. He is for sure a director and has been a director he would have directed this, when we were initially talking to our producers they were like, Do you wanna direct? But we felt it was one too many hats to wear at the same time. He for sure will be directing a bunch of things. I dont think I have that if there is a thing that makes me good at my job as an actor, its the fact that I have a pretty narrow focus. Im very good at ignoring everything thats not my job, so I end up being able to focus on the honesty of the character that way. The flipside to that is that Im very bad at holding a ton of things in my head at once, and thats really what a director has to do. So I dont think I have that muscle. Can you tell us anything about any projects that youre working on at the moment? Well, Im in Vancouver right now shooting Snowpiercer for TNT, its very cool. Its based on the same graphic novel as the film was based on, so im spending pretty much every day on a train! Its a great cast and a really cool story. Lots of music clppngs working on another album, Rafael and I and obviously trying to get out the Miles EP as a follow up to the Collin EP, and that music is done and being mixed right now. Its so so good, so I cant wait for people to hear that. Were in the process of formalising a production company with the two producers, Jess and Keith Calder, who produced Blindspotting, and we have a bunch of interesting new projects, and Im just excited about working with some voices who maybe havent had the same kind of opportunities that weve had lately. Getting the chance to shine the spotlight on some new writers and some new directors. So thats the vibe right now to just try and make sure that the whole community is eating. To really get some other people to be able to get some great work produced. Theres a bunch of other great movies coming down the pipeline contractually were not allowed to talk about them though. Im in talks about some plays again, very early stages, Im not sure if any of thats going to work out, but I would love to get back to some theatre stuff so Im working on that too. That all sounds amazing good luck, and thank you so much for your time. Thank you, and thanks for helping get the word out about this thing. I have no idea how its you know its pretty unbelievable to us that its even coming out over there! Blindspotting releases in UK cinemas on October 5th, distributed by Lionsgate. The Churrasco Burger, a much-loved chicken dish, will be back on Nandos menu this October as part of the restaurant chain's efforts to fight Malaria in Southern Africa. Nando's Fighting Malaria Across next month, 25p from the sale of every Churrasco Burger will go towards Nandos Fighting Malaria, a campaign which launched in 2017 to help fund spraying projects in Mozambique, where the PERi-PERi chillies are from. The burger, available for a limited time only, consists of two flame-grilled chicken thighs, fino coleslaw, cheddar cheese and barbecue-flavoured Churrasco PERinaise, all wrapped up in a traditional Portuguese roll. As well as donating 25p from the sale of each Churrasco Burger towards the campaign, Nando's will also donate 10p from every purchase of a 2M beer. Better yet, if you buy a Churrasco Burger with a 2M beer in October, Nandos will increase its donation to 50p. Also available to buy as part of the campaign are woven bracelets; these have been handmade by communities in Southern Africa and will be sold for a suggested donation of 3.50, an amount which can protect two people from malaria for a year. The Churrasco Burger will be available in Nandos restaurants for 7.75 from 1 - 31 October. For more information about the Nandos Fighting Malaria campaign, visit their website here. Invisible Zagreb, dubbed as the anti-tour of Croatias capital city, was created by humanitarian workers Mile Mrvalj and Branimir Radakovic with the aim of bringing the stories and struggles of Zagreb's homeless population to light. Credit: Qaalvin on Wikimedia Commons police According to estimated data from the Croatian Network for the Homeless and NGO MoSt, approximately 300 people sleep rough in Croatia, with a further 217 living in temporary accommodation, 124 people living in overnight shelters, and approximately 350 people living in temporary, non-standard structures. The data also reveals that there are only 22 services such as homeless shelters and supported accommodation in the Republic of Croatia. With strict vagrancy laws and no government strategy to tackle homelessness, the number of homeless people in Croatia is increasing steadily.Naturally, people experiencing homelessness congregate in public areas such as the central railway station, parks, and kitchens in the city centre of Zagreb. The tour maps out homeless life in the city, shedding light on places often overlooked by the public. Beginning at Tomislav Park, the tour shows guests the contrast between the two sides of the Zagreb through the eyes of the homeless. The tour guide is Mrvalj himself, founder of the company along with Branimir Radakovic from local social impact agency Brodoto . Mrvalj, who was homeless for three-and-a-half years as a result of accumulating debt, now guest lectures at the University of Zagreb, where Radakovic discovered his story. Together, they came up with the vision for the Invisible Zagreb tour which, despite still being in its early stages, has already received positive reviews from tourists and locals in the city. Speaking to Lonely Planet , Radakovic says: People first see beautiful grass, fountains, benches and usually see [the park] as a place to rest, chill, have fun. For the homeless, it is completely the opposite. They cannot lay down becausewill drag them away." He continues, "Its a similar story with the railway station. People come and go, look at the screens for train information. For the homeless, it is a crucial place where they can heat up for a bit during winters (before they get kicked out) and where they can buy a cup of coffee/tea from the machines as theyre often not allowed into cafes, restaurants and bars." Radakovic explains that the tour name Invisible Zagreb is inspired by the purpose of the tour, to illuminate aspects of the city which are normally invisible to people but nevertheless exist. The Invisible Zagreb tour is non-profit and therefore free, although they welcome donations which go directly towards helping the homeless people in Zagreb. 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 You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close 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. MBABANE Montigny Investment is piloting a wattle extension project in several neighbouring communities in a bid to diversify its product lines and maximise production to meet market demands. The company has secured a reliable market in Japan for wattle products. It would seem Montigny is leaving no stone unturned in exploring more opportunities for job creation. As it were, the company is among the countrys leading employers with over 10 000 people employed by contractors sub-contracted by Montigny Investment in its existing forestry business covering some 55 000 hectares and stretching from Nhlangano to Bhunya. In June this year, the company engaged traditional leaders in northern Hhohho, where Head of Strategic Initiatives Kelly Cure revealed that the initial project was being piloted in communities within the vicinity of the Montigny plantation, including Sigangeni, Lundzi and Mangcongco. Cure informed stakeholders that teams had been put in place to focus on operations in each community. She said wattle extension officers were split into two operational teams, with the immediate mandate being to increase production. She mentioned that the project engaged foreign expertise for added insight. At the time of planning, the target was to cover 30 hectares of land with wattle trees in each community per month. Community leaders expressed excitement with the job creation prospects brought about by this initiative. We are excited about the employment opportunities that this project has made available, especially in the communities where it is being piloted. We are delighted to hear that increased production would positively impact exports to far markets; hence earning the country the much needed foreign currency, consequently improving the economy. We urge the teams to work closely with all local chiefs in identifying the land that will be used for this project so as to avert any unforeseen conflicts, said a community leader. The Montigny team was led by group Managing Director Neal Rijkenberg, who expressed satisfaction with the progress, made in the project; and further, confirmed that export markets had been secured in Japan. He was optimistic that new markets would open up soon, especially in Europe and Japan. Meanwhile, Montigny is on course to harvest 100 000 wattle trees for the first time in 2023, a staggering 1 000 per cent increase from the projected 10 000 trees that will be harvested in 2022. MBABANE The Ezulwini Municipalitys revenue for the year increased by nine per cent from E17 470 766 to E19 087 443 when compared to the 2016/17 financial year. Chief Executive Officer Vusi Matsebula explained that major contributing factors included the rates increases which were hiked by five per cent. Matsebula disclosed that as a result; the municipalitys financial position improved from E89 million to E99 million which is by E10 million when compared to the previous financial year. It was reported that property plant and equipment also increased from E60 million to E65 million which was equivalent to eight per cent. The contribution factor was the upgrade of the Kunene and Lubane Road and the Mantenga Phase Two Roads, explained Matsebula. Project The total project cost for Kunene and Lubane Road was E3 605 939.70 while Mantenga Phase Two Roads contract cost was E3 669 239.81. The CEO clarified that the financial statements were prepared in line with the Urban Government Act and the Urban Government Financial Regulations as well as in the manner required by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The audit was carried by Kobla Quashie & Associates in accordance with International Standards on auditing. The audited financial statements were approved by the council on September 19, 2018. Fairly Matsebula said the auditors issued an unqualified (clean) audit opinion which means that the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects the financial position of the council as at March 31, 2018. A risk based approach was used to audit the financial statements, Matsebula mentioned. Cash and cash equivalents stood at E24.8 million and saw an increase of 19 per cent (from E19 980 800 to E24 7863 177) when compared to the 2016/17 financial year. Further, non-current liabilities decreased by 52 per cent (from E8 550 094 to E4 510 161) since the loan of E8 million which was acquired in March 2014 from Old Mutual to be paid up in February 2019. The monthly instalment amount is E198 666.83. Liabilities It was stated that current liabilities increased by four per cent (from E5 555 748 to E5 781 101). Interest from bank increased from E692 154 to E940 720 which was equivalent to 36 per cent due to the increase in cash balances. Other income decreased by 59 per cent (from E569 121 to E357 507) while direct costs increased by 21 per cent from E3 535 635 to E4. 2 million)as a results of maintenance and improvements of roads. Operating expenses slightly increased by seven per cent (from E10 026 258 to E10 735 811) when compared to the 2016/17 financial year. The surplus for the year stood at E6 971 526. This was an increase of 15 per cent (from E6 045 850), added Matsebula. MBABANE The long wait is finally over! After it was revealed almost two months ago that one of South Africas most respected ensembles, Tshwane Gospel Choir (TGC), will be performing in the country, the choir is arriving today to set the Mbabane Alliance Church stage on fire tomorrow. The choir is committed to creating close ties with the country by hosting a show to tighten the ties between the two countries with Umvini Investments, an Eswatini events company. Rehearsing Confirming that TGC will be arriving today was TGC Co-Director Bheki Langa, who said the team was to leave South Africa at 5am. We have been rehearsing non-stop for this show as our aim is to create a great rapport with emaSwati by blowing them away. As a choir, we have been anticipating this day greatly and we cannot wait to eventually be inside Eswatini, said Langa. Launch Adding zest to the event which is dubbed The Road to Tshwane which will also see their launch of the new album titled The Next Revival; Eswatinis iconic traditional gospel music group Shongwe and Khuphuka Saved Group has been added to the line-up. Popular The group is led by Reverend Elias Shongwe and their popular hit songs are Konkhe Kuhamba Kahle and Egameni. Tickets are available in all Ocean Basket eateries countrywide at E150 early bird and E200 at the door. I would like to congratulate those who made it to the august House through the ballot. We congratulate them for we now know what they went through to get those seats. I am, however, of the view that it was not necessary for them go through so much if we are to believe what is told to us. People were not supposed to go to those lengths just to get to Parliament if the system was what we are told it should be. I have heard complaints that if you do not have enough money you cannot get to Parliament and true, we have seen people splashing money to endear themselves to the electorate. My plea to the incoming parliamentarians is that they must have the guts to pass laws that will stop people from using their money to buy their way into the House. Yes, most of them are going to Parliament now for using the same tactics. I know that deep down in their conscience they know that this is wrong and should not be happening. It is this very same problem that our womenfolk are complaining about. They are saying their weak financial muscles are what are stopping them from winning seats in Parliament. Up to now I am yet to hear someone disputing what they are saying. But this is not supposed to happen because people with no integrity and no goodwill are going to be elected into the august House. My plea, again, to those going to Parliament is that they should stop lining their pockets but also think about the people who elected them into office. The truth is they have to get back what they wasted when doing their campaigns because it was basically an investment. They were investing their money and they will get the profits when they get to Parliament. I am, however, pleading with them that as much as they cashed out on their investment they must remember that people, the people they are supposed to serve, are in need of their services. They must pass laws that are going to assist the ordinary people in communities. I want to emphasise that they must pass laws because when they were campaigning they were telling us about development projects they had in mind, yet this is not their mandate in the House. Some among them are going to be appointed into Cabinet while others, outside those who were elected, are also going to be appointed into Cabinet. My plea to them all is that as they travel the whole world, they must remember that they are using taxpayers money. At least the taxpayer should get some crumbs from whatever will fall from what they will be giving to themselves without the authority of the taxpayers. EmaSwati deserve better service delivery and they must not destroy them for their own personal and family enjoyment. Taxing people to death will not help them but one way or the other it may lead to their downfall. I am thinking of last weeks mayhem during the strikes. Once people are tired, angry and hungry they would go to extreme lengths to get what they need. The guns and batons will fail to stop them. The very same incoming Cabinet is expected to prepare and present a budget to the nation. Members of Parliament will debate that budget and pass it, so as they work on the budget my plea is that they should consider the pressing needs of the people and not please their friends. The events of the last few weeks explained it to me why the security budget is always exorbitant. The continuous promotion of police officers, even when others are told that they should not promote personnel, told me that they are considered more special than all other civil servants. That they then went to brutalise people is a clear sign of why they are treated differently. We are told that we must understand that service delivery is so poor in the country because of financial problems but that does not apply when it comes to pleasing police officers with promotions. Education is not necessary because security forces do not need much of that; Health is not necessary because even if one officer was to pass on there are other emaSwati waiting to get an opportunity to be employed, thus replacing the departed officer. All of this can be corrected and only those in the august House can help pass laws to curb this. So my appeal to those going to Parliament is that in whatever they do, please think about the suffering populace. As parliamentarians who will enjoy your time and getting huge allowances, please remember the suffering person who is banking on you to assist. That can only be by passing laws that will help the people. MANZINI Four family members were left with minor injuries, however, they suffered severe trauma after a runaway horse and trailer truck reduced their six-room house to four rooms. The accident took place at Ngculwini, along the accident-prone Hhelehhele-Siphofaneni Public Road at around 3:55pm on Monday. The survivors included a 58-year-old woman, her 40-year-old daughter and two grandchildren; a boy and a girl aged two months and four years old respectively. Business According to an eyewitness, the truck driver parked it by the road and alighted to attend to some business nearby. It was gathered that a few minutes later, a motorist, who was driving a Toyota Hilux LDV, which operates as for hire, parked in front of the horse and trailer sugar cane truck and loaded logs. While fastening the logs in the van, he saw the driver-less truck moving towards his car and he jumped off the vehicle, the source said. He said the runaway truck knocked the vehicle off its way and it continued down a steep hill to the home which is situated about 200 metres from the public road. He said it crashed through the side of the six-room house and smashed a Toyota Vitz sedan which was parked next to the house. The 58-year-old woman who identified herself at Make Gwebu, said she was inside the house with her daughter and the two grandchildren when the truck crashed into her house. She said the truck brought down two rooms; a kitchen and dining room and destroyed everything inside it, including food and furniture. Part of the wall fell on me while I was playing with one of my grandchildren and I am told that I was assisted by those who were first to arrive at the scene as I was trapped, she said. Even though Make Gwebu said she could not remember very well what happened after the accident as she was unconscious, they were rushed to hospital by an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulance. Gwebu, who was found with her grandchildren who were continuously crying at her home yesterday, said they had been crying since the day of the accident. Traumatised She suspected that they were still traumatised by the presence of the truck which was still stuck at the accident scene, as its owner had not towed it away by yesterday morning. On another note, Gwebu said her family was surviving through handouts they were getting from their neighbours, as all their food was destroyed during the accident. Meanwhile, the owner of the truck, who did not identify himself, said he had hired a tow truck to tow the truck but the family allegedly stopped it. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the accident. MBABANE Watching dagga fields overnight has exposed farmers to contracting malaria, resulting in the shooting up of cases in the Hhohho Region. While the country was getting towards the elimination stage of malaria, there has been a spike in the trend of malaria cases with a total of 1 184 reported in 2017/ 2018. This is according to recent data from the National Malaria Programme (NMP), which traced the issues back to the people working in the mountains, especially the ones involved in dagga cultivation. Cases have tripled in the trend as there were only 431 which were reported in 2016/17, while during the drought season in 2015/16 there were only 324 cases reported. The rains received after the drought season are also considered as a contributing factor. Areas which have been identified to be malaria prone include Manzana, Madlenya, Ngonini, Phuzumoya, Mliba, Kwakheni and Ekufikeni. Giving the status of malaria in the country and the role of the media, Mathokoza Sibandze said the cases were sporadic with one or two occurring per community. Sibandze said it was tricky controlling the cases due to confidentiality issues. He said their interventions, which included spraying of homes following surveillance, have not worked as people in the malaria prone areas continued to contract it because of going to the mountains at night. Sibandze said after identifying the case, they conducted investigations to find the cause and noted that it was mostly people who worked in the mountains at night who contracted the disease. According to Sibandze, the Hhohho Region was leading with malaria cases. He said from the beginning of this year to they had recorded 45 cases. In July, Sibandze said there were a total of 27 cases with 10 locally contracted infections and the remainder imported. Gabisile Nhlengetfwa from the health promotion at NMP said as they worked towards the eradication of malaria, their goal was mainly to encourage people to adopt practices that eliminated the risk of Malaria infection. Nhlengetfwa also expressed hope that there would be provision of comprehensive information packages on the importance of preventative action at individual, households and community levels. Their key message, she said was for the general public to have knowledge of malaria symptoms and how it was transmitted. She said what was important was that malaria was curable if treatment was started early. Further, she said people should prevent stagnant pools of water. Nhlengetfwa said overgrown vegetation around the home, office and fields should also be cleared. She encouraged the use of mosquito repellents in high risk areas and proper waste management among other things. MANZINI Teachers have made their decision and it is not something any country would like to experience. Following the Industrial Court judgment of September 23, 2018, which stopped the proposed Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) and National Public Service and Allied Workers Unions (NAPSAWU) proposed strike action, the teachers union called an extraordinary general meeting yesterday. During their meeting, which was held at SNAT Centre and attended by over 5 000 teachers from the four regions of the country, the educators decided to abide by the court ruling by calling off their intended strike action. The strike was supposed to start on Tuesday and end tomorrow. However, the teachers decision was clear that even though they have called off their proposed strike action, they would ensure that teaching and learning does not take place in schools across the country. The teachers agreed to do this by attending a series of activities to be organised by their associations on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. In their agreement, they said teachers, especially SNAT members, were only expected to go to their workplaces on Mondays and Fridays until they got the 6.55 per cent cost-of-living-adjustment (CoLA) for 2018/19 financial year. This agreement was effective from yesterday after the SNAT extraordinary general meeting and it continues today. It is worth noting that as teachers were expected to go to their respective workplaces tomorrow, they agreed that no teaching and learning would take place as they would go there for the sake of being at work. They said the same thing would apply in the coming Mondays and Fridays. They agreed to follow this routine until their demand of 6.55 per cent pay rise was met or if there was a need to change strategy and engage another gear. There was a suggestion that they not stage a sit-in to avoid the no work-no-pay rule, something which they experienced during their 2012 Waya Waya strike action. However, the agreement was that they should stick to the above activities because a sit-in could land them in trouble with their employer. They said if they engaged in a sit-in, the head teachers could charge them with misconduct. Furthermore, the teachers agreed that no voice would stop their action plan beside that of their employer. This was after some members raised a concern about what would happen if the police, through the office of the national commissioner (NATCOM), decided to stop their activities. The agreement was that they should not bother listening to any other statement besides that of their employer. However, it was clarified that the only voice from the employer which they would give an ear to was one which would be addressing their demands. They also agreed that if, by any chance, force would be used to stop their planned activities, they would converge at their home; SNAT Centre and map a way forward. Enjoy the last of the last golden days of the summer weather, and avoid the crowds Can you actually visit some of the most popular Greek islands, enjoy the last of the last golden days of the summer weather, and avoid the crowds by planning a trip to Greece in October? Yes, you can! Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your October holiday on some of the most popular Greek islands. Why October? October in Greecewhen the weather is still warm and the crowds are few. Some of the most obvious reasons why you should plan a trip to Greece in October is that hotel and travel prices can drop by as much as 20% in the country, and you will find more mild temperatures as well as less of a crowd. Where to island hop in Greece in October? All of the above stated factors make October one of the best times to visit some of the most popular Greek islands. Our top picks for the best islands to visit on your October holiday in Greece are Santorini, Mykonos, Corfu and Kefalonia. Some tips on making your reservations Even though these top vacation destination Greek islands are booked throughout the summer months, do not take for granted that you can wait to the last-minute to book a hotel of any other activities in which you might want to participate while on the islands. When planning your October Greek island vacation, make sure that you make your reservation at least one to two months in advance. You are sure to find yourself a bargain, since in October, hotel prices and travel costs tend to plummet. What weather to expect in Greece in October Wondering what you should pack when visiting Greece in October? In Greece we say that the warmth of the sea is influenced by the previous three months temperature. If you are wondering if the sea temperature is colder in October, just think, Julys temperatures reached into the high 90s (F) almost daily so definitely pack your swimsuit! Santorini The island of Santorini has an average temperature of 21C, or 69F in October, while the average sea temperature is 23C, or 73F like bath water! Also, the narrow streets will not be so crowded, giving you the chance to enjoy the picturesque caldera and the iconic island. Mykonos Mykonos is similar to Santorini, with an average temperature of 19C, or 66F in October. The average sea temperature is 22C, or 72F the perfect temperature to enjoy the beaches. Also, you will be able to witness the rich history of this island; something that is frequently overlooked by the summertime party crowd. Corfu What better time to check out the fortress and historical center of the island of Corfu than October? With an average October temperature of 19C, or 65F and an average sea temperature of 22C, or 72F, it is the perfect time to get to know this popular Greek island and its traditions. Kefalonia Kefalonia is known for its beautiful seas in various shades of blue. In October, the average temperature on the island is 18C, or 64F, and the average sea temperature is 23C, or 73F. Enjoy you October vacation on this island that is dotted with traditional villages and seeped in culture. 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 Stay away if you are even considering starting a diet Regardless of sex, nationality or age, a delicious cookie will most likely put a smile on your face. Insider listed what it believed were the best cookies in the world and included the famous Greek Kourambiedes. Here are 10 types of cookies from around the world that would be enough to tempt Cookie Monster himself. Alfajores are for breakfast in Argentina If youve ever dreamed of eating cookies for breakfast, then youre in luck. Argentina offers a sandwich-like shortbread cookie filled with luscious dulce de leche and often rolled in coconut shavings. The popular snack is perfect for tea time, dessert, and yes breakfast. In fact, theres never a bad time to indulge in the decadent treat. Enjoy buttery vanillekipferl in Austria This is a crisp, buttery, shortbread cookie made with ground almonds and dusted with vanilla sugar. The name vanillekipferl translates to vanilla moon, according to Curious Cuisiniere, and is a nod to its crescent shape. The traditional Christmas cookie, which originated in Vienna, Austria, is quite popular. Canadas Nanaimo bars include delicious layers of wafer These no bake wonders originate from a city of the same name in British Columbia. The iconic Canadian dessert features layers of wafer cookies, chocolate, and custard. In Croatia, enjoy the unexpected kick in paprenjak This is a traditional Croatian biscuit with a twist black pepper. Thats right. The recipe calls for an unusual combo of honey and black pepper along with nuts, spices, eggs, and butter. Another unique feature is the decor which is stamped on. Madeleines are a classic in France Technically Madeleine is really a sponge cake, but its petite enough to qualify as a cookie. Kourabiedes are bite-sized cookies from Greece The light shortbreads special ingredient is almond, which gives it its signature flavor. The bite-sized cookies are dusted with powdered sugar, making it pretty hard to just have one. Indias nankhatai have a rich flavour These buttery shortbread cookies get their distinct, rich flavor from ghee. Theyre particularly popular during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. Irans reshteh khoshkar are deep-fried A deep-fried cookie sounds like something you would find at a state fair. But reshteh khoshkar, made from rice flour, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, and walnuts, is deep fried before being drenched in syrup. It is also the traditional cookie of Ramadan. Amaretti is an Italian staple Biscotti is not the only Italian treat in town. Amaretti is essentially an almond flavored macaroon. Its the perfect blend of crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. Stroopwafels combine the best of breakfast and dessert in the Netherlands Stroopwafels originated in Gouda, a city which is pretty famous for another culinary delight. The thin waffle cookie with a syrupy center is usually served with coffee or tea for an ingenious reason. When placed on top of the cup like a lid, the hot vapor softens it up for optimal consumption. Its no wonder passengers were pretty bummed when it was announced that stroopwafels would no longer be served onUnited flights. Source: insider.com Read more at protothema.gr 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: Jastrow License: CC-BY-SA Senior students of Rheingauschule highs school from Geisenheim, a city near Hessen, west of Frankfurt in Germany, were taken on a guided tour of the Mausoleum and the Nazi Victims Museum in Distomo of Boeotia in central Greece. The 45 pupils visited Greece for 8 days thanks to Thomas Fischer, Director of the School, who had served for years as Director in the German School of Athens. The director included Distomo in the educational programme of the school, which also included visits to the Parthenon, the Acropolis Museum, Delphi, Osios Loukas, Ancient Corinth, Nafplion, Mycenae, Epidaurus. The students were moved during the screening of a documentary that depicted the massacre of 214 villagers by the invading Nazi troops in 1944, and the guided tour by Chr. Papanikolaou, with the (translational) help of Mrs. Regina Visegger, Professor of the German School of Athens. The Rheingauschule High School has a history of more than 160 years, and as the Director of the School notes on the website, it welcomes all students, irrespective of religion and nationality, while being committed to teaching the values of European humanity and the ideas of the Enlightenment, respect for human dignity, courtesy, openness and service to fellow human beings. Read more at protothema.gr 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: Sogal License: CC-BY-SA The value of the Bahrain- origin exports hit BD184 million ($485 million) during August as against BD182 million for the same month of the previous year, marking an increase of 1 per cent, said the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA). The value of the Bahrain- origin exports reached BD184 million ($485 million) during August as against BD182 million for the same month of the previous year, reflecting an increase of 1 per cent, said the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) in its latest foreign trade report. The top ten countries account for 81 per cent of the exported national origin value and 19 per cent for other countries. Saudi Arabia was ranked as the first country importing from Bahrain with BD40 million, UAE positioned second with BD22 million and Oman comes third place with BD22 million. As for national exported products, agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top products exported in August with BD30 million; aluminium wires were positioned second products exported with a value of BD25 million and unwrought aluminium stood third place for exported products with BD18 million. In regards to the re-exported field, the value of re-exports decreased by 26 per cent as it reached BD33 million during August 2018 versus BD44 million for the same month of the previous year. The top ten countries account for 92 per cent of the re-exported value and 8 per cent for other countries. Saudi Arabia was ranked as the first country to re-export from Bahrain with BD12 million, China ranked second with BD6 million and UAE as third with BD4 million. Four-wheel drive cars emerged as the top product re-exported from Bahrain with BD8 million; cigarettes containing tobacco came as second products with BD3 million; and mountings, parts of aero planes or helicopters came as third with BD2 million. The value of the deficit of the trade balance, difference between exports and imports, reached BD187 million during August 2018 versus BD201 million for the same month of the previous year with decrease of 7 per cent. Meanwhile, the value of imports decreased by 6 per cent as it reached BD404 million during August versus BD428 million for the same month of the previous year, while the top ten countries account for 66 per cent of the imports value and 34 per cent for other countries. According to the report, China was ranked as the first country that exports to Bahrain with BD51 million; US as the second with BD45 million whereas the UAE is ranked third with BD36 million. Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product imported to Bahrain with BD25 million, while the four-wheel drive cars as the second with BD16 million. Aluminium Oxide was the third product with BD14 million during August. TradeArabia News Service Saudi low-cost carrier flynas recently participated in the third edition of the Biban forum, organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monshaat) on September 26, as the event's official air carrier. The forum, which was themed Idea for Aspiration and Biban for Success, was held at the Abha International Exhibition Centre in the region of Asir for four days, under the patronage of HRH Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Asir Region, and in the presence of the Minister of Commerce and Investment in Saudi Arabia and chairman of SMEs Board of Directors, Dr. Majid bin Al-Qusaibi, and Monshaats Governor, Engineer Saleh Al-Rasheed. On this occasion, the director general of corporate communication and official spokesperson of flynas, Ahmad Al-Musained, said that the carrier's participation in the Biban forum is part of the companys initiative to support young Saudi men and women, including entrepreneurs, and drive them to a future built by the hands of Saudi nationals. He noted that the forum will contribute to enhancing communication between the leading entrepreneurial ideas and the available means of investment, which will enrich the commercial movement in the region. The third Biban forum, which was held previously in Riyadh and Al Qassim, stems from Monshaats aim to support young Saudi entrepreneurs and facilitate the contribution of small and medium enterprises to the increase in GDP from 20 per cent to 35 per cent, an objective of the kingdoms vision 2030. The forum covers several focus areas including enterprises, start-up, growth, market, empowerment and business facilitation. Additionally, it features an e-commerce section, which offers workshops by experts in the fields of e-commerce and provides support services for this type of commerce, such as delivery, payment methods, etc. - TradeArabia News Service EF Hutton Leads Group to Establish the American Cryptocurrency Exchange EF Hutton Inc. (EF Hutton), a unit of HUTN Inc., (OTC: HUTN), headquartered in Springfield, Ohio, is leading a group of financial service firms to establish the American Cryptocurrency Exchange (ACEx), a first of its kind membership exchange in North America. The ACEx is expected to commence trading of digital assets based on blockchain technology, such as tokens and virtual currencies similar to Bitcoin, by January 2019. The market for digital assets, including coins and tokens, has grown substantially. Trading volume in cryptocurrencies is more than 12 times higher than it was in 2016. Globally, according to Price Waterhouse, more than $13 billion was raised through initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the first half of 2018, with the largest amount raised equal to $4 billion and an average amount raised of $25.5 million. The capital raised in ICOs in the first half was more than 40% of the entire amount raised by companies through traditional common stock IPOs and more than 30% of the capital raised from venture capital, according to Forbes Magazine. The United States has lost crypto market share to offshore marketplaces and ACEx is designed to attract customers who want the security of dealing with a trusted, domestic financial provider. Only 2% of investors in the U.S. currently hold Bitcoin, the most widely-held a digital asset in their portfolio, according to a recent Bloomberg survey. However, investors seek security and better understanding before committing. ACEx is designed to alleviate concerns and, thereby, expand the market. All members must be registered financial services companies, brokers and/or advisors. ACEx is sponsored by EF Hutton, a financial firm with an iconic brand and a 114-year legacy and extensively engaged in Fintech initiatives, including products and services utilizing blockchain technology. EF Hutton recently launched specialty research on Digital Assets including Coins and Tokens that is available to the public via subscription, see www.efhutton.com/crypto-research ACEx is unique because it provides up to $5 million of equity in ACEx, LLC to each of the first 250 members that join the exchange. Issuance to members is to be exempt from registration under Rule 506(c). The ACEx is expected to have significant value when it commences trading. For reference, an exchange was funded last year by private equity investors at an $800 million valuation. Membership is open to any broker-dealer or investment advisor registered to do business in the United States. Existing Cryptocurrency exchanges seek to cut-out brokers and advisors, small and midsized brokers. ACEx will be the only exchange that seeks to incorporate regulated firms as members and provide them with a share of the exchange economics. Dozens of firms are in the process of becoming members of ACEx. ACEx is accepting membership applications at membership@acex.us. 1 2 next For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: SEC to Host Roundtable on Market Data and Market Access By john DAntona Jr. Mark your calendars, the Securities and Exchange Commission is hosting a roundtable on market structure. The SEC announced that its Division of Trading and Markets will host a two-day roundtable on October 25 and 26 on market data and market access. The roundtable agenda is below. Agenda Day One Assessing Current Market Data Products, Market Access Services, and Their Associated Fees 10:30 a.m. Opening Statements 10:45 a.m. Panel One Overview of Current Landscape for Market Data Products and Market Access Services Panel One will discuss the evolution in recent years of market data products and market access services, both those provided by the central securities information processors (SIPs) and those provided directly by national securities exchanges (Exchanges). Has the evolution of SIP and Exchange products and services affected the ability of market participants to obtain the data and access needed to trade effectively in todays market structure? 12:15 p.m. Lunch 1:00 p.m. Staff Presentation 1:15 p.m. Panel Two SIP Core Data Products and Exchange Top-Of-Book Data Products Panel Two will focus on the extent to which SIP data products meet the needs of all or most market participants in todays market structure. What are the differences, such as latencies and data content, between the SIP data products and Exchange proprietary products? What works well and does anything need to be improved with respect to SIP data products? 2:45 p.m. Break 3:00 p.m. Panel Three Exchange Depth-Of-Book Data Products and Market Access Services Panel Three will focus on those Exchange proprietary data products and access services that offer the most content and the lowest latencies. 4:30 p.m. End of Day One Day Two Assessing Potential Steps to Improve Market Data Products and Market Access Services 9:00 a.m. Panel Four Elements of the Core Data Infrastructure Panel Four will focus on potential steps to modernize the infrastructure for providing the market data products (Core Data) and market access services (Core Access) that market participants need to trade effectively in todays market structure (collectively, the Core Data Infrastructure). Should Exchanges disseminate Core Data directly from their respective data centers as a means to minimize geographic latencies? If data vendors and market participants could obtain direct access to Core Data, would the current SIP model with a central plan processor be improved if there were multiple data aggregators? 10:30 a.m. Break 10:45 a.m. Panel Five Governance of Core Data Infrastructure Panel Five will focus on potential steps to improve the governance of the Core Data Infrastructure. Issues for discussion may include confidentiality policies, use of executive sessions, conflicts of interest, and voting structure. 12:15 p.m. Lunch 1:15 p.m. Panel Six Funding of Core Data Infrastructure Panel Six will focus on potential steps to assure that a modernized Core Data Infrastructure is appropriately funded and that the associated fees and revenues are fair, reasonable, and not unreasonably discriminatory. 2:45 p.m. Break 3:00 p.m. Panel Seven Public Transparency Panel Seven will conclude the Roundtable by focusing on the information available to the public about data products and access services, including their associated fees, revenues, costs, and respective latencies. 4:30 p.m. End of Program In examining the aforementioned agenda and meeting, Ed Tilly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cboe Global Markets said he was happy to see these topics being examined. We applaud the SEC for hosting a roundtable on industry market data and we look forward to participating in this conversation. Cboe has consistently supported transparency and broad industry participation in these critical discussions involving market structure and market data. This is a positive step in a long process as the industry continues to evaluate ways to enhance our markets, Tilly said. He added that a holistic review of equity market structure, including these discussions about Securities Information Processor (SIP) governance and resilience, is warranted for the investors and traders we serve each day. The strength of American capital markets in serving companies and investors is admired around the world, and we embrace discussions that will help us reinforce and grow these markets for generations to come, he concluded. The roundtable will be held at the SECs headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C., and will be open to the public and webcast live on the Commissions website. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: BSO and Hoptroff Bring Plug-and-Play Time-Sync Service to Market Global network provider, BSO has partnered with Hoptroff London, the time-synchronization software experts, to provide the financial services community with the first fully traceable accurate Time-as-a-Service (TaaS) on the market. Since MiFID II went live in January, the entire financial ecosystem has a growing demand for a precise reading of when a trade is executed, so traceable accurate synchronised timing has become crucial. This new partnership combines Hoptroffs market-leading Global Timing Network and AI enabled Time-Suite software with BSOs global low-latency network reach, providing firms with a timestamp of trades to within ten micro-seconds of the primary reference standard of Universal Time (UTC). This will also enable market participants to meet additional regulatory demands, such as CAT and PSD2. New requirements have put technological and operational strains on firms who risk heavy fines if they fail to comply, so BSO and Hoptroffs complete and scalable technology allows for a quick, smooth and cost-efficient implementation, eliminating risk of any regulatory infringements across the globe. BSO and Hoptroffs TaaS model means firms can simply cross-connect into the Hoptroff traceable time feed from any of BSOs 100+ points of presence around the world and eliminate the need for capital investment in expensive timing hardware at each of their PoP requiring compliance. Commenting on the partnership, Fraser Bell, Chief Commercial Officer of BSO said: Having an accurate time-stamp is imperative for firms to adhere to a number of global regulations. With our far-reaching and reliable network infrastructure underpinning Hoptroffs exceptional software, firms can rest assured they have a fully compliant time-stamping service. Its an extremely beneficial arrangement for both parties and were excited to be bringing it to market. Simon Kenny, CEO of Hoptroff added Choosing Time-as-a-Service instead of installing and integrating local timing hardware and software, saves our clients money and provides them with fully traceable timing that meets all current compliance standards at any PoP on demand. We believe accurate timing is a critical service for financial services firms across the globe and we wanted to make sure that delivery of our time feed was underpinned with the most reliable and fastest low latency network available. We believe accurate timing will become a universal service as demand grows to synchronize different locations to understand, in real time, how processes running across distributed computing infrastructure are actually performing. This will bring benefits not just to the financial trading community but to a wide range of other industries that include Gaming, Media & Broadcast, E-commerce and the emerging Blockchain applications. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: New York The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), founders FINCH and founding partner Mars, Incorporated today launched an innovative and unique initiative to support wildlife conservation and animal welfare across the globe. Called The Lions Share, the initiative asks major advertisers to contribute 0.5 percent of their media buy for each campaign featuring an animal. The new fund aims to raise $100 million over the next three years, which will be invested in initiatives and programmes that benefit animal welfare, conservation and their environments worldwide. UNDP will host the funds Secretariat, which will support the overall operations of the fund. As well as UNDP and production company FINCH, the founding partners are Mars Incorporated, advertising heavyweight Clemenger BBDO and leading global measurement and data analytics company Nielsen. Each year, we lose 10,000 species to extinction a staggering 1,000 times the natural rate. The Lions Share idea is as fascinating as the far-reaching impact it will have. The revenue generated from this ambitious and innovative partnership will make a real and lasting effect on the future of our planet and the animals we share it with, said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. Conservatism and consumerism rarely mix. The Lions Share is abundant with hope acting as the nexus between the two. It feels like compassion and imagination are sorely missing in the world, and The Lions Share is a great example of both working together, said Rob Galluzzo, FINCH founder. Andy Pharoah, Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Strategic Initiatives and Sustainability at Mars said: The Lions Share Fund is exactly the type of ambitious initiative we need to ensure that we foster a healthy planet in which everyone including animals can thrive. For Mars, its another step in living the commitments of our Sustainable in a Generation Plan and tackling todays social and environmental issues through the actions and values of our brands. Were excited to be working with our partners on the fund, which has the potential for far-reaching impact for generations to come. As a family-run company its built into our DNA to take the long-term view. We recognize that tomorrow is shaped by how we do business today, he added. We are thrilled to be a founding partner in The Lions Share and hope that along with the other founding partners can help make a change for the better. As a global company, with deep and often longstanding roots in the communities of over 100 countries, we know that a community is not only made unique by the people alone, rather the culture is often defined by things like the geography, the food, the fauna and the beautiful creatures that make up those areas, said Marie Lalleman, EVP and Managing Director, Global Clients Solutions, Nielsen. When we were approached to be a founding partner of The Lions Share, it was a no-brainer to participate when we considered our relationship to the cultures of so many different and diverse regions, she added. UNDP has the worlds largest portfolio of environmental development programmes, which brings with it many years of experience distributing funds and managing development programmes in an efficient, transparent and accountable way. The Economist Group, which also publishes 1843 and The World In, has just joined The Lions Share. While corporate partners contribute 0.5 per cent of their media spend when they feature an animal in an advertisement, The Economist Groups role will be unique as it contributes 0.5 per cent of the amount it receives from advertisers featuring animals in their commercials in the groups publications. "We are pleased to partner with the United Nations Development Programme as the inaugural publishing partner for the Lion's Share initiative," said Chris Stibbs, CEO of The Economist Group. "We are proud to have The Economist Group take part in this program which both aligns with our brand values and supports the UNDP accomplish their goal of wildlife conservation." As The Lions Share becomes operational, the fund will quickly invest in the next three months in a number of high impact conservation initiatives around the world: Land purchase in Sumatra to safeguard orangutan and tiger habitats. An African Elephant Economics Study to catalyse government investment in elephant conservation. Upgrading digital radio communication systems in the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique to support law enforcement operations in protecting wildlife. Rwandan refugee Amelie Fabian was able to study at a Canadian university thanks to an education program for refugees. UNHCR/Michelle Siu NEW YORK When she had to leave Rwanda in 2001 with her family and became a refugee in Malawi, six-year-old Amelie Fabian was determined not to miss out school. In Malawi she had to beg her parents to allow her to attend class. She was bullied by peers and teachers for being a foreigner. She had to switch schools several times. I never even for a second considered dropping out, she said. Amelie's excellent grades allowed her to become one of the 80 refugee students who every year are granted access to university studies in Canada through its Student Sponsorship Program (SRP). After graduating from McGill University in Montreal, Amelie recently started working as an accountant at the consulting firm Deloitte. I long for the day when my story ceases to be the exception and becomes the norm, she said. The international community must strive harder to provide refugee children, especially refugee girls, with the education they deserve. As refugees, education equips us with the power to determine our own fate. Amelie shared her inspirational story in front of a room filled with humanitarians, international policy makers and country leaders at UNICEF House during the UN General Assembly in New York. The Action for Refugee Education meeting aimed to catalyse support to ensure that refugee childrens right to education is fulfilled. Today, over four million refugee children are out of school. This is an increase of half a million children from 2016. Only 61 per cent of refugee children attend primary school compared with a global average of 92 per cent. As refugee children age, the obstacles to education increase. Just 23 per cent of refugee children are enrolled in secondary school and only one per cent of them attend university. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi highlighted Fabians story as an example of how education can bring you out of a very difficult situation. She is unique in her skills, her intelligence, her eloquence, but she should not be unique in the opportunities she is given, Grandi added. In her address to the leaders in the room, Amelie stressed that education is essential for the future of refugee girls, who might be at risk of marrying too young if they lack other opportunities. As refugees, education equips us with the power to determine our own fate, she added. Education taught me I have a voice. Education holds the key for a better life for children and young people, said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. She noted that many collective benefits come from better education for all, like enhancing economic growth and reducing the likelihood of conflict. The international leaders in the room agreed on the importance of integrating refugee children into national school systems, ensuring that both local and displaced communities can benefit from further development. Countries in developing regions host 92 per cent of the worlds school-age refugees. Many struggle with education infrastructure and need more sustained financial support from the international community. The Global Compact on Refugees, to be endorsed by the UN General Assembly at the end of 2018, would mobilize more direct financial support in the hosting communities to meet the specific education needs of refugees. Beyond supplying school books and teachers, Save the Children CEO Helle Thorning-Schimdt said it is also essential to invest in psychosocial support for refugee children. A traumatized child will have a hard time learning, she said. We need to focus on those children. When they receive proper education, refugees become leaders. Foni Joyce Vuni is a South Sudanese refugee living in Kenya, as well as the co-chair of UNHCRs Global Youth Advisory Council. She has conducted consultation with over a thousand young refugees and their needs, for whom more formal and informal education opportunities are paramount. When they receive proper education, refugees become leaders, she said. Foni recently joined a delegation of refugees who participated in the South Sudan peace negotiations something she could never have achieved without education, she said. Education taught me I have a voice, Foni said. International leaders expressed their commitment to strengthening collective responses to ensure that all refugee children have access to quality education. It is the challenge of our generation, facing this refugee crisis, said Gordon Brown, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and chair of the Education Cannot Wait fund. We can win it, by acting together. The canal system that brings precious water to farmers in this remote community in eastern Ethiopia has allowed a parched desert to bloom and a community to flourish. Before the canal was built, there was only bush here, says Ibrahim Abdi Farah, Host Community Irrigation Scheme Chairman at Kobe refugee camp. We couldnt grow anything here. It was barely enough to eat, let alone sell. A new approach by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the IKEA Foundation, and Ethiopian authorities is empowering thousands of refugees and local residents like Ibrahim, devastated by successive droughts, in Ethiopias remote Somali region. Together people are regaining their independence. Under the five-year partnership, some 20,000 metres of irrigation canals have been built turning a desert into valuable agricultural land. The irrigation scheme was built two years ago. The water comes from the river through the canals and flows into the farms. Everyone has their own canal so the water gets to everyone. People are becoming self-reliant, they understand and support each other. Using the same seeds, tools and training, Somali refugees and locals are working the land together. We are all brothers and we do things together, Ibrahim says. We gave them this land because before they used to rely on assistance. Now they can be independent and help others as well. A farmer works land irrigated by a canal in Melkadida, Ethiopia. UNHCR/Diana Diaz The programme illustrates a wider response to refugee movements known as the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, or CRRF, which calls for a greater emphasis on refugee self-reliance and support to host communities, alongside stronger partnerships and a broader range of actors involved. The approach underpins a new global compact on refugees which is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly by the end of 2018. Thanks to the project, farmers grow 13 different crops ranging from tomatoes to onions which are sold in markets across the country, improving the lives of refugees and local residents alike, says Host Community Chairman Mohamed Kulow Hassan. People are becoming self-reliant, they understand and support each other, he says with pride. My dream if for Melkadida to keep developing like this in the future and that it will become a great city someday. For Somali refugee Dahaba Hassan Ibrahim and her family having a successful plot of land and the income that it brings - has been lifesaving. This farm has given me freedom. Before my life depended on selling vegetables to cover the needs of my children, and on the assistance we were given. Now, because of this farm, I can buy anything I need. Dahaba and other parents want to be able to provide an education for their children. The project supported by UNHCR and the IKEA Foundation, is keeping many youngsters in schools and is allowing some, like 20-year-old Iqra, to continue their studies at university. I want to learn management, to solve the continuing problems in my country, she says, allowing herself to dream big for the future. If I become the president of Somalia, I will open more schools for the society, thats my wish and my dream and I will. Goa PWD, Portugal Environment ministry to sign MoU for water management Panaji, Sep 27 (UNI) Goa Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Thursday announced that State PWD Ministry and Portuguese Ministry will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 28, 2018, for a proposed technical partnership various areas. Addressing a press conference at State Secretariat at Porvorim near the city, the minister said that the areas in which the MoU would be signed included water supply operation and energy efficiency, resource valorisation, waste water and sewerage planning, management and technological solutions, asset management procedure and standards, energy management operational workflows, operational data and information management. "On Friday, a memorandum of understanding for proposed technical partnership between government of Goa and the ministry of Portuguese Republic for water supply and water management and sanitation will be signed by Portuguese Environment Minister Joao Pedro de Matos Fernandes," Dhavalikar said, said, adding the main points were water supply operation and energy efficiency and resource valorisation, waste water and sewerage planning, management and technological solutions, asset management procedure and standards, energy management operational workflows, operational data and information management. Soon Karnataka will have anti-conversion law: CM Bommai 13 Nov 2021 | 12:48 AM Bengaluru, Nov 12 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the state is studying anti-religious conversion law enacted by other states and soon an anti-conversion legislation will be drafted. see more.. Bommai to attend CMs' coordination conclave chaired by Amit Shah in Tirupati 13 Nov 2021 | 12:34 AM Bengaluru, Nov 12 (UNI) Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is set to participate in the Coordination Conclave of Chief Ministers of Southern States to be chaired by Union Home minister Amit Shah in Tirupati on November 14. see more.. Hizb commander, MGH fidayeen among three top militants killed in Kashmir 12 Nov 2021 | 11:56 PM Srinagar, Nov 12 (UNI) Security forces gunned down three terrorists, including a self-styled district commander of banned Hizbul Mujahideen and a Mujahedeen Gazwatul Hindin fidayeen in separate encounters in Kashmir valley, going on since Thursday night. see more.. SJVN signs Contract Agreement for EPC of 75 MW Solar Project at Parasan Solar Park 12 Nov 2021 | 11:50 PM Shimla, Nov 12 (UNI) SJVN entered into Contract Agreement for development of 75 MW (AC) Solar Power Project at Parasan Solar Park, Uttar Pradesh on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis with subsequent O&M for three years with M/s Solarworld Energy Solutions Private Limited, Noida. The Contract was signed in the benign presence of Nand Lal Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director, Geeta Kapur Director (Personnel), S.P. Bansal Director (Civil), Akhileshwar Singh Director (Finance), Sushil Sharma Director (Electrical). see more.. Meghalaya government to consult stakeholders on NRC Shillong, Sep 26 (UNI) Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma on Wednesday said that the government will consult all stakeholders on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise before it is implemented in the state. We need to look at this from all perspective and take all stakeholders on board, he said replying to the short duration discussion on North East Students Organisation call for NRC in all the north east states. Conrad said that there is a need to have lots of consultation and discussion with different stakeholders on the issue as NRC exercise is huge and tedious. By Suresh Nautiyal Rome, Italy, Sep 27 (UNI) 'The representative democracy is perceived not being enough, therefore, we want to have more democracy and bring the direct democracy debate at the centre of the democracy discourse,' said Mr Riccardo Fraccaro, world's first direct minister for democracy. Opening the seventh edition of the Global Forum on Direct Democracy here on Wednesday evening at Palazzo Senatorio in Piazza del Campidoglio, Italys direct democracy minister Ricardo Fraccaro said that there was an increasing need for direct democracy as the educated and enlightened citizens had greater expectations from their respective governments. At the same time, there is a lack of knowledge on the direct democracy concept. Ignorance leads to fear but this has to be dispelled. As regards Italy, the country is moving steadily towards direct democracy, towards more and more democracy. However, we need this everywhere in the world and translate everything into reality, asserted the first direct democracy minister in the world. The co-president of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, Bruno Kaufmann, said that there was an urgent need to make the world democracies more democratic. He lamented that the democracies have been reduced to representative democracies only. Mr Joe Mathews, also co-president of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy, said that it was a moment of pride for all democracy lovers that the first direct democracy minister was opening the current edition of the meeting. He said great struggle lies ahead and the world needed more inclusiveness to fructify the concept of direct democracy. Ms Virginia Raggi, mayor of Rome, said the government in the city of Rome has brought changes to its constitution to incorporate the tools of direct democracy and peoples participation was being ensured at several levels. She said, 'There was need to develop the representative democracy into the direct democracy and realise this we need to have more active citizens.' Mr Jin Sung Joon, deputy mayor of Seoul, South Korea, said that it was a great experience in his country to move from autocracy to democracy and now there were ongoing efforts to introduce the tools of direct democracy. Mr Angelo Sturni, city councilor for constitutional reforms in Rome, said that there was a great need to connect local and global movements through internet to promote direct democracy and Rome was pioneering this lately. He added that Rome has introduced online petitions and the right to participation was being ensured. Mr Thomas Benedikter, author of direct democracy books, said that the move of the Italian democracy towards the direct democracy was good but it needed to strengthen its referendum and initiative tools. Mr Mathew Kneale, novelist, said that free speech was important in any functional democracy. He said that inequality was bad for democracy. Democracy gives power to the people and those propagating democracy must know whom they need to serve, he added. The Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy is being sponsored by the city of Rome and organised by the Global Forum consortium in collaboration with civil society organisations. The general and international secretariat of the event is being organised by the Democracy International organisation. The Global Forum -- now in its seventh edition after previous events in Switzerland, Korea, US California, Uruguay, Tunisia and the Basque Country Spain -- has long been based on the practice of sharing and confrontation. In Rome, people have brought their knowledge, scholarships and experiences from their cities, and are sharing them. According to Mr Kaufmann, the 2018 Global Forum will go even beyond the previous editions. We will not limit ourselves to comparison and learning. On the contrary, we will produce a real new vision regarding what democracy must mean in the city. The city council of Rome has officially asked the Global Forum to produce a new Magna Carta for the democratic cities of the world. And so, through the continuous comparison and contribution of all the participants in the forum, we will gather a document that answers the question about what the cities should do in terms of elections, citizen participation, budget, planning, public space and assistance to citizens, to be considered truly democratic, he added. The draft of the Magna Charta produced in Rome will be just a beginning. Since all roads lead to Rome, the streets of Rome lead all over the world. And next year, the Charter for Democratic Cities will travel around the world, concluded Mr Kaufmann, also a journalist. UNI SNU SB 1307 Pakistan army two soldiers martyred, four terrorists killed in Kalat operation Islamabad, Sep 27 (UNI) Two soldiers of Pakistan army received martyrdom while four terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted on a terrorist hideout in Balochistan's Kalat district on Wednesday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The exchange of fire, which took place in the Mangochar area of Kalat, also resulted in injuries for two soldiers, Pakistan daily, Dawn stated. The operation was conducted following intelligence reports that the terrorists were planning to do major terrorism activities in the province. Troponin test with CE Mark that can more accurately predict chances of having heart attack Mumbai, Sep 27 (UNI) Abbott on Thursday announced that its High Sensitive Troponin-I blood test is the first troponin test with CE Mark that can more accurately predict the chances of having a heart attack or other cardiac event potentially months to years in advance in people who otherwise appear healthy. This life-changing technology has the potential to transform how doctors identify those at risk for developing heart disease because the diagnostic test uses a biomarker specific to the heart. Biden, First Lady to host tribal nations summit next week - White House 13 Nov 2021 | 1:44 AM Washington, Nov 12 (UNI/Sputnik) US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a tribal nations summit at the White House next week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday during a press briefing. see more.. Pakistan to allow Indian trucks carrying wheat 'on exceptional basis', Imran Khan tells Taliban delegation 13 Nov 2021 | 1:33 AM Islamabad, Nov 12 (UNI) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday told an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan delegation led by Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi that Islamabad would favourably consider the request by the Afghan Taliban to allow trucks carrying Indian wheat through Pakistan on exceptional basis. see more.. Macron says International community 'unanimous' in support for Libyan elections 13 Nov 2021 | 12:56 AM Moscow, Nov 12 (UNI/Sputnik) International community is unanimous in the support of Libyan elections scheduled for December 24, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday. see more.. Pakistani leader notes crucial role of Troika Plus in resolving Afghan humanitarian issues 13 Nov 2021 | 12:53 AM St Petersburg, Nov 12 (UNI/Sputnik) Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasized the crucial role of the Troika Plus format on Afghanistan, including Russia, the United States, China and Pakistan, in efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the country, his office said on Friday. see more.. Strengthening criminal justice responses to human trafficking and migrant smuggling Vientiane, Lao PDR - 27 September 2018 - An important initiative under the Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants ( GLO.ACT) in Lao PDR was launched the week of 17 September 2018. Workshops were held in support of the GLO.ACT work plan to assist in building capacity of lawyers on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) and the Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), with the specific objective of helping Lao PDR to strengthen their criminal justice response to human trafficking and migrant smuggling. Beginning with a half-day consultation meeting in Vientiane Capital on 17 September 2018, the week began with the discussion and exchange of ideas among the relevant sectors, to foster more effective collaboration and coordination in criminal proceedings and the criminal justice system, specifically focusing on the role of lawyers in the prosecution of human trafficking. In cooperation with the Asia Foundation and facilitated by the Legal Development Partnership (LDP) and UNODC, the consultation raised the current challenges and generated discussions on the importance of coordination and cooperation, both among and between, government entities, lawyers, and local NGOs, to help strengthen access to justice and human trafficking proceedings. Reference documents for the discussion included the Law of Lawyers and latest Decree on Legal Aid. Following the consultation meeting, a 3-day training on prosecuting TIP and SOM cases was held from 19 to 21 September 2018 in Vientiane. The intent of the workshop was to provide capacity building training for those working directly in the field of protection and justice, to improve their understanding of human trafficking and cross-border migration. Specifically, the workshop's objectives were: To provide front line workers with an understanding of human trafficking and irregular migration across borders; To create the capacity to provide services and assistance in legal, cases based on the interests of victims in the justice system; To improve the capacity and understanding about volunteer legal assistance (pro-bono) for victims of TIP and SOM; To promote the importance of the relevant entities role in working together and coordinating mechanisms to assist and protect victims. Beginning with a general overview of TIP and SOM, the workshop highlighted the different applicable national, regional, and international instruments, and the importance of distinguishing between the two phenomena. The Foundation for Human Rights and Development (HRDF), Thailand discussed the challenges of TIP and SOM legal cases and explored the available legal assistance mechanisms. By sharing their experiences and analysing case law, participants furthered their comprehension of TIP and SOM victim identification and existing support mechanisms. A medical doctor shared that the Friendship Hospital in Vientiane now has the resources to verify the age of survivors - a crucial component to support the legal process. With a long history of both regular and irregular migration to neighboring countries, especially Thailand, Lao PDR is primarily a country of origin for TIP and SOM. With an irregular migrant status, Lao migrants' face an increased risk of exploitation, trafficking, and forced labour by their employers and nationals of other countries. Workshop participants became more familiar with these challenges when Mr. Joy, a survivor of exploitation, shared his experiences. A Lao citizen, Mr. Joy travelled to Southern Thailand in search of better employment opportunities, securing a job on a fishing boat in Pattani. After working for several years on the boat, a friend recommended a similar position with better pay in Penang, Malaysia. However, upon his arrival in Malaysia, Mr. Joy's passport was confiscated by his new employer and he quickly discovered his salary would not increase. As the only Laotian among his new crew mates, Mr. Joy faced also consistent discrimination and abuse. After enduring nine months of violence from the crew, the threats on Mr. Joy's life became more serious and he knew he had to flee to survive. After reclaiming his passport, Mr. Joy reached the Penang airport, only to be detained after assaulting a police officer for not allowing him to board a plane back to Laos. With no one to provide him with assistance, Mr. Joy was imprisoned for six months when an American couple visiting Penang prisoners learned of his situation, and graciously posted his bail and helped him return to Laos. Today, Mr. Joy is earning a living by working in a bike shop in central Vientiane. Hearing stories from survivors like Mr. Joy exemplify the lived experiences of victims and are crucial for any strategy to combat TIP and SOM. After listening and learning from his account, participants deepened their understanding of the real challenges TIP victims and smuggled migrants face. Following the workshop's conclusion, participant feedback suggested not only an increased understanding of TIP and SOM, but also an improved awareness of various entities role in ensuring practical referral mechanisms exist for victims and vulnerable migrants to access to justice and legal aid. Overall, participant responses suggested the workshop was successful in equipping front line workers and lawyers with the tools required to provide improved support to TIP victims and smuggled migrants in their communities. The Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT) is a four-year (2015-2019), 11 million joint initiative by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The project is being implemented in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). GLO.ACT aims to provide assistance to governmental authorities and civil society organizations across 13 strategically selected countries: Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, South Africa, Ukraine. GLO.ACT works with the 13 countries to plan and implement strategic national counter-trafficking and counter-smuggling efforts through a prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships approach. It supports the development of more effective responses to trafficking and smuggling, including providing assistance to victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants through the strengthening of identification, referral, and direct support mechanisms. More information about GLO.ACT is available here. For more information, please contact: Ms. Siliphaithoun Xayamoungkhvoun GLO.ACT National Project Officer Email: siliphaithoun.xayamoungkhoun@un.org Website: www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act/ Email: glo.act@un.org Twitter: @glo_act T he difficulty of discussion with degrowers comes from the fact that they and the rest of us live in two different ideological worlds. De... The government contract, adopted last May by the Five Stars Movement and the League, confirms that Italy considers the United States its privileged ally . A link which was reinforced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte who, at his meeting with President Donald Trump in July, established with the USA a strategic cooperation, almost an exercise of twinning, by virtue of which Italy will become a privileged interlocutor of the United States for the principal challenges which must be faced . However, at the same time, the new government signed a contract declaring an opening to Russia, which should be perceived not as a menace, but as an economic partner and even as a potential partner for NATO . Rather like persuading the devil to feel good about holy water. In this way, both the government and the opposition can ignore the US strategy of demonising Russia, which is aimed at creating the image of a dangerous enemy against whom we must prepare to fight. This strategy was exposed, in a hearing at the Senate, by Wess Mitchell, Assistant Secretary of the State Department for European and Eurasian Affairs. In order to stand up to the Russian menace, US diplomacy must be backed up by a military power which is second to none and fully integrated with our allies and all our instruments of power [1]. Increasing its military budget, the United States began to recapitalise the nuclear arsenal , including new B61-12 nuclear bombs, which, from 2020, will be deployed in Italy and other European countries against Russia. The United States, specifies the Assistant Secretary, have spent 11 billion dollars since 2015 (this will rise to 16 billion in 2019) for the European Dissuasion Initiative , in other words to potentialise their military presence against Russia in Europe. Inside NATO, they have managed to force an increase of more than 40 billion dollars in the military spending of their European allies, and establish two new command centres, including one situated in the USA for the Atlantic, to defend against the threat of Russian submarines . In Europe, the United States give particular support to the States along the front line , like Poland and the Baltic countries, and they have cancelled the restrictions to the supply of weapons to Georgia and the Ukraine (that is, the States which, with the aggression against South Ossetia and the Place Maidan putsch, triggered the US and NATO escalation against Russia). The representative from the State Department accused Russia not only of military aggression, but also, in the United States and in the European states, of operating psychological mass campaigns against the population in order to destabilise the society and the government . In order to implement these operations, which are part of the continual effort by the Putin mechanism for international domination , the Kremlin uses the panoply of subversive policies once employed by the Bolsheviks and by the Soviet state, updated for the digital age . Wess Mitchell accused Russia of techniques in which the USA excel they have 17 federal agencies for espionage and subversion, including the State Department. It was this same organisation which has just created a new figure - Senior Advisor for Russian Malign Activities and Trends [2] - charged with developing inter-regional strategies. On these bases, the 49 diplomatic US missions in Europe and Eurasia must set up, in their respective countries, specific plans of action against Russian influence. We do not yet know what the US embassys plan of action may be in Italy. But as the privileged interlocutor of the United States , Prime Minister Conte must know what it is. He should communicate this knowledge to the Parliament and the nation, before the evil activities of Russia destabilise Italy. Madam President: Mister Secretary-General: It is impossible to be here, speak from this rostrum on behalf of Cuba, and not recall historic moments of the General Assembly which are also part of our dearest memories : Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raul Castro and the "Chancellor of Dignity", Raul Roa, just to mention the most significant, have brought here not only the voice of our people but also the voice of other Latin American and Caribbean, African, Asian, non-aligned peoples, with whom we have shared more than half a century of struggles for a fair international order, which is still far to be attained. It is absurd but consistent with the irrationality of a world in which the richest 0. 7k of the population owns 46% of all the wealth, while the poorer 70o/o of the population can access only 2.7% of it ; 3.460 billion people survive in poverty ; 815 million go hungry ; 758 million are illiterate and 844 million lack basic services of drinking water. All these figures, by the way, are prepared and regularly used by global organizations, but it seems that they have failed to raise sufficient awareness of the so called international community. These realities, Madam President, are not the result of socialism, like the President of the United States said yesterday here. They are the consequence of capitalism, especially imperialism and neoliberalism ; of the selfishness and exclusion that is inherent to that system, and of an economic, political, social and cultural paradigm that privileges wealth accumulation in the hands of a few at the cost of the exploitation and dire poverty of the large majorities. Capitalism consolidated colonialism. It gave birth to fascism, terrorism and apartheid and spread wars and conflicts, the breaches of sovereignty and self-determination of the peoples ; repression on workers, minorities, refugees and migrants. Capitalism is the opposite of solidarity and democratic participation. The production and consumption patterns that characterize it, promote plundering, militarism, threats to peace ; they generate violations of human rights and are the greatest danger to the ecological balance of the planet and the survival of the human being. No one should be deceived by anybody claiming that humanity lack enough material, financial and technological resources to eradicate poverty, hunger, preventable diseases and other scourges. What is lacking is the political will of the industrialized countries, who have the moral duty, the historical responsibility and the abundant resources to solve the most pressing global problems. The truth is that while it is claimed that there is a shortfall in funding to attain the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda or address the increasing impact of climate change, 1.74 trillion dollars were wasted in military expenditure in the year 2017, the highest figure since the end of the Cold War. Climate change is another unavoidable reality and a matter of survival for the human species, particularly for Small Island Developing States. Some of its effects are already irreversible. Scientific evidence indicates there is an increase of 1.1 C relative to pre-industrial levels, and that 9 out of 10 persons living in urban areas breath polluted air. However, the United States, one of the major polluters of yesteryear and today, refuses to accompany the international community in the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. It thus endangers the lives of future generations and the survival of all species, including humans. In addition, and like there were not enough threats on humanity and its dazzling creations, it is a fact that the military and nuclear hegemonism of imperialism is perpetuating itself and expanding to the detriment of the hopes of the majority of peoples for a general and complete disarmament. Cuba shares this ideal and, as testament of its commitment with this goal, on last 31 January, it became the fifth State to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In this organization that was born out of the human desire to overcome the destruction left by a terrible war with the dialogue between nations, it is not possible to keep quiet about the danger looming over all of us, with the exacerbation of local conflicts, wars of aggression disguised as "humanitarian interventions", the forceful overthrow of sovereign governments, the so-called "soft coups" and interference in other States internal affairs, recurrent forms of action by some powers, using the most diverse excuses. The international cooperation for the promotion and protection of all human rights for all is a must. However, its discriminatory and selective manipulation with claims of domination, violates the rights to peace, self-determination and development of the peoples. Cuba rejects the militarization of outer space and cyberspace, as well as the covert and illegal use of the information and communication technologies to attack other states. The exercise of multilateralism and full respect for the principles and rules of International Law to advance towards a multipolar, democratic and equitable world, are required in order to ensure peaceful coexistence, preserve international peace and security and find lasting solutions for systemic problems. Against that logic, the threat or use of force, unilateralism, pressures, retaliations and sanctions which increasingly characterize the behavior and rhetoric of the US government and its abusive use of the veto power in the Security Council in order to impose their political agenda, pose huge challenges and threats within the United Nations itself. Why dont we just implement the promised strengthening of the General Assembly as the main organ of deliberation, decision and representation. The reform of the Security Council must not be delayed or prevented, as this organ is in need of adjusting to the times by democratizing its membership and working methods. Today we have come to reiterate what Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz said on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the UN, which summarizes the most noble aspiration of the majority of the humanity, and I quote : "We want a world without hegemonistic practices, without nuclear weapons, without interventionism, without racism, without national or religious hatred, without violations of the sovereignty of any country, with respect for independence and the free self-determination of peoples, without universal models that do not take into account the traditions and cultures of all components of humanity at all, without cruel blockades that kill men, women, children, the young, and the elderly like silent atomic bombs". More than 20 years have elapsed since that demand was made and none of those ills have been cured ; in fact, they have exacerbated. We have every right to ask why. And we have the duty to insist on effective and equitable solutions. Madam President : Our America is currently the stage of persistent threats, inconsistent with the "Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of Peace", signed in Havana by the Heads of States and Government on the occasion of the 2"d Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, in 2014. The current US administration has proclaimed the relevance of the Monroe Doctrine and, in a new deployment of its imperial policy in the region, is attacking Venezuela with special cruelty. It is in this threatening context that we wish to reiterate our absolute support to the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution, the civic-military union of the Venezuelan people and its legitimate and democratic government. led by the constitutional president Nicolas Maduros Moros. We reject the intervention attempts and sanctions against Venezuela, aimed at suffocating her economically and hurting the Venezuelan families. We likewise reject the attempts at destabilizing the Nicaraguan government, a country of peace that has made a remarkable social, economic and public safety progress in favor of its people. We denounce the politically-motivated imprisonment of former president Luiz lnacio Lula da Silva, and the decision to prevent the people from voting and electing Brazils most popular leader to the Presidency. We stand in solidarity with the Caribbean nations who demand legitimate reparation for the horrible effects of slavery as well as the fair. special and differential treatment that they deserve. We reaffirm our historic commitment with the self-determination and independence of our brother people of Puerto Rico. We support Argentinas legitimate sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands, South Sandwich and South Georgia Islands. We reiterate our unrestricted support to a comprehensive, just and lasting solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the basis of the creation of two States, allowing the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and to have an independent and sovereign State based upon the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. We reject the unilateral action of the United States to establish their diplomatic representation in the city of Jerusalem, which heightens even more the tensions in the region. We condemn the barbarities of the Israeli forces against civilian population in Gaza. We reaffirm our steadfast solidarity with the Saharan people, and support the search for a final solution to the question of Western Sahara, which will allow the exercise of selfdetermination and to live in peace in their territory. We support the search for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the situation imposed in Syria, without foreign interference and with full respect to their sovereignty and territorial integrity. We reject any direct or indirect intervention, carried out without the legitimate authorities of the country. The continued expansion of NATO towards Russian border is causing serious threats, worsened by the imposition of arbitrary sanctions, which we reject. We demand compliance with the Islamic Republic of Irans nuclear deal. We welcome the process of rapprochement and dialogue among the Koreas. This is the way to achieve a lasting peace, reconciliation and stability in the Korean peninsula. At the same time, we strongly condemn the imposition of unilateral and unfair sanctions against the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and foreign interference in Korean internal affairs. The violations of the rules of international trade and the sanctions against China, the European Union and other countries will bring about harmful effects, particularly for developing States. We favor dialogue and cooperation, thanks to which we can report today that the Cuba-EU Agreement on Political Dialogue and Cooperation has provisionally entered into force and is a good foundation to develop beneficial ties between the Parties. Madam President : The government of the US keeps an aggressive rhetoric towards Cuba and maintains a policy aimed at subverting the political, economic, social, economic and cultural system in my country. Contrary to the interests of both peoples and giving in to the pressures of minority sectors, the new US government has devoted itself to artificially fabricate under false pretexts, scenarios of tension and hostility serve nobodys interests. This is in contrast with the fact that we have formal diplomatic relations and mutually beneficial cooperation programs in a limited number of areas. Our peoples share increasingly closer historic and cultural bonds, which are expressed in the arts, sports, science, the environment, among others. The potential for a fluent business relationship is well known and a genuine and respectful understanding would be in the interest of the entire region. However, the essential and defining element of the bilateral relationship continues to be the blockade, which seeks to suffocate the Cuban economy in order to generate hardships and disrupt the constitutional order. It is a cruel policy, punishing Cuban families and the entire Nation. It is the most comprehensive and long-standing system of economic sanctions ever implemented against any country. It has been and continues to be a major obstacle to the countrys development and to the realization of the aspirations to progress and well-being of several generations of Cubans. As has been said for so many years in this same place, due to its aggressive extraterritorial implementation, the blockade seriously damages the sovereignty and interests of all countries. On behalf of the Cuban people, I would like to thank this General Assembly for the virtually unanimous rejection to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against my country. Nevertheless, the actions of the US government against my country go farther. It includes public and covert programs of gross interference in Cubas internal affairs. To this end, tens of millions of dollars that are officially allocated in its budget are used, in violation of the standards and principles upon which this organization rests, and in particular, of Cubas sovereignty as an independent nation. Cuba stands ready to develop respectful and civilized relations with the US government on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect. This is the will of the Cuban people and we know this is a shared aspiration by most US citizens and, particularly, by Cubans living there. We shall continue to tirelessly demand the end of the cruel economic, commercial and financial blockade, the return of the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base and adequate compensation to our people for the thousands of dead and disabled and for the economic and property damages caused to Cuba over so many years of aggression. Cuba will always be willing to engage in dialogue and cooperate on the basis of respect and equal footing. We shall never make concessions affecting the sovereignty and national independence, we shall not negotiate our principles nor shall we accept conditionalities. In spite of the blockade, the hostility and the actions carried out by the United States to impose a regime change in Cuba, the Cuban Revolution is right here, alive and strong, faithful to her principles ! Madam President : The generational change in our government should not raise the hopes of the enemies of the Revolution. We are the continuity, not a rupture. Cuba has continued taking steps to improve its model of economic and social development in order to build a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable Nations. This is the path that our people has freely chosen. The country will not go back to the opprobrious past that it shook off with the greatest sacrifices during 150 years of struggle for independence and full dignity. By the decision of the overwhelming majority of Cubans, we shall continue the work that started almost 60 years ago. In this conviction, we began a constitutional reform process, a truly participatory and democratic exercise, through popular discussion of the draft which will eventually be approved in a referendum. I am certain that there will be no changes in our strategic objectives and that the irrevocable nature of socialism will be ratified. The principles of foreign policy will remain unchanged. As the First Secretary of our Party, Raul Castro Ruz, said on his statement on the occasion of the 70 anniversary of the United Nations, and I quote : lithe international community will always be able to count on the Cuba s sincere voice against injustice, inequality, underdevelopment, discrimination and manipulation ; and for the establishment of a fairer and more equitable international order, whose center is placed, really on the human being, its dignity and wellbeing". The Cuba on behalf of which I speak today is the proud successor of that independent, sovereign, fraternal and solidarity policy with the poorest of this world, producers of all the wealth in the planet, although the unequal global order has sentenced them with dire poverty on behalf of words like democracy, freedom and human rights, words which the rich have actually emptied of meaning. It has been exciting and pleasant to take the floor at the same rostrum from which Fidel expressed powerful truths 58 years ago, that still continue to shake us in front of representatives of more than 190 nations who, rejecting extortion and pressures, every year fill the voting screen of worthy green lights of approval to our demand for the end of the blockade. I bid you farewell in the hope that the noble aspirations of most of the Humanity will be achieved before younger generations take this rostrum to demand the same as we do today and our historic predecessors did in yesteryear. Thank you very much. On behalf of the United Kingdom let me begin by paying tribute to an outstanding leader of this United Nations, who sadly passed away this summer. Kofi Annan was one of the great Secretaries General, a tireless campaigner for peace and progress, and a champion of human rights and human dignity whose influence will continue to be felt around the world for years to come. Over the course of his lifetime he witnessed the extraordinary progress that we as a community of nations have made since this organisation was founded. Progress in which we have more than halved the number of people living in extreme poverty in this century alone. Progress in which the number of people killed in conflicts has fallen by three quarters in just over three decades. And progress in which millions of our citizens lead healthier and longer lives and where thanks to advances in human knowledge in medicine, in science and in technology we are presented with huge opportunities in the years ahead. Yet today many are concerned about whether this progress will continue, and fearful about what the future holds. For the end of the Cold War did not as many once believed lead to the inevitable supremacy of open economies and liberal democracies co-operating on the global stage for the common good. Today instead we face a loss of confidence in those very systems that have delivered so much. The belief in free markets has been challenged by the financial crisis of 2008, by the concerns of those feeling left behind by globalisation, by the anxieties about the pace and scale of technological change and what that will mean for jobs, and by the unprecedented mass movements of people across borders with all the pressures that can bring. And after the military interventionism at the beginning of the century, people question the rationale and indeed legitimacy of the use of force and involving ourselves in crises and conflicts that are not ours. While at the same time being repelled by the slaughter in Syria and our failure to end it. These doubts are entirely understandable. So too is the demand for leadership. So those of us who believe in inclusive societies and open economies have a duty to respond: to learn the lessons of the past, to meet peoples concerns with practical actions not beguiling illusions and to renew our confidence in the ideas and values that have done so much to benefit so many for so long. For be in no doubt, if we lack the confidence to step up, others will. In the last century whether in the rise of fascism or the spread of Communism we have seen those on the extreme right and extreme left exploit peoples fears, stoke intolerance and racism, close down economies and societies and destroy the peace of nations. And today once more we see worrying trends in the rise of these movements in Europe and beyond. We have seen what happens when countries slide into authoritarianism, slowly crushing the basic freedoms and rights of their citizens. We have seen what happens when corrupt oligarchies rob their nations of the wealth, resources and human capital that are so vital to unlocking a brighter future for their citizens. We have seen what happens when the natural patriotism which is a cornerstone of a healthy society is warped into aggressive nationalism, exploiting fear and uncertainty to promote identity politics at home and belligerent confrontation abroad, while breaking rules and undermining institutions. And we see this when states like Russia flagrantly breach international norms from the seizing of sovereign territory to the reckless use of chemical weapons on the streets of Britain by agents of the Russian GRU. We have to show there is a better way to meet the concerns of our people. That way lies in global cooperation between strong and accountable states based on open economies and inclusive societies. That ensures strong nation states provide the bonds that bring citizens together and ensures power remains accountable to those it is there to serve. That celebrates free markets and has the confidence to reform them when they need to work better. And that demonstrates that delivering for your citizens at home does not have to be at the expense of global cooperation and the values, rules and ideals that underpin this. Indeed cooperation and competition are not mutually exclusive. Only global cooperation based on a set of agreed rules can ensure competition is fair and does not succumb to protectionism, with its certain path to lost jobs and international confrontation. And it is only global co-operation which can harness legitimate self-interest towards common goals, producing agreements on global challenges such as climate change, proliferation and increasing inclusive economic growth. We see this cooperation here today at this UN, as we also saw it at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting earlier this year. And here today as Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth I deliver a clear statement on behalf of the Heads of Government of its fifty-three equal and independent member states. We reaffirm our shared commitment to work together within a rules based international system to address shared global challenges and foster a fairer, more secure, more sustainable and more prosperous future. This commitment takes account of the special requirements of least developed countries, and of small and otherwise vulnerable economies, and it benefits all our citizens and the wider world. But it is not enough for us merely to make the case for cooperation. We need action, at home and in the community of nations, to show how our ideas and values can deliver practical benefits for all our people in all parts of the world. We must recognise the legitimacy of peoples concerns and act to build a global economy that works for everyone. We must invest in the patient work of building open societies in which everyone has a stake in the future. And we must act to uphold the international rules based system and stand up for our values by protecting those who may suffer when it is violated. Let me take each in turn. First, we must respond to those who feel that the global economy is not working for them. The pace of globalisation that has left too many people behind. The fear that our children and grandchildren may lack the education and skills to secure the jobs of tomorrow. And the risk that technological change could become a source of inequality and division rather than the greatest opportunity in history. In the UK we are driving investment in industries of the future to create new jobs from low carbon technologies to Artificial Intelligence. We are investing in education and skills so that workers are ready to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead. And we are making sure people play by the rules so that business and innovation is celebrated for creating jobs not demonised because of grievances over tax not paid or rights not respected. And while we strive to make our own economies work for all our people we should do the same at a global level. In an increasingly global economy, it is not enough to ensure people play by the rules at home. We need global co-operation to set and enforce fair rules on trade, tax and the sharing of data. And these rules need to keep pace with the changing nature of trade and technology. So we need to give the World Trade Organisation a broad, ambitious and urgent mandate to reform. This must address the areas where it is not functioning effectively; deal with issues that are not currently covered; and maintain trust in a system which is critical to preventing a return to the failed protectionism of the past. Fair and respected rules are essential for business to flourish and drive growth. But recent history shows that this cannot be sustained without deeper partnerships between governments, business, international financial institutions and civil society to ensure that growth delivers for everyone. That is why I recently visited Africa along with British businesses to promote trade and investment, and encourage a new partnership based on shared prosperity and shared security. It is why at this General Assembly I co-hosted an event with Prime Minister Trudeau, Prime Minister Kagame and President Akufo-Addo calling for more support for investment and job creation for young people in the continent. It is why the United Kingdom will maintain our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on official development assistance. And we will put our development budget at the heart of our international agenda, and do more to create jobs, improve skills and increase investment in emerging economies in both our interests and theirs. For the best way of resisting protectionism is to ensure that this century is defined by open markets that really deliver for all our people. Second, we must build countries, not only economies, that work for everyone inclusive societies where every citizen has a stake in the future. These are the firm foundations on which strong and accountable nations are built. And history has consistently taught us that giving people a stake in society is the best way to ensure stability, security and economic growth. There is no one right way to do this. Every country must choose its own path. But the basic tenets are common across the world. They include a government that is transparent and accountable. An independent judiciary to enforce the rule of law. Free and fair elections and a free and open media. The freedom of expression, a right to redress and property rights that are reliably enforced. And equality, freedom of thought, opinion, religion and conscience all found in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed 70 years ago. Those of us who believe in these tenets must set an example in defending and strengthening them at home and abroad. That is why we must call out hate speech, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of prejudice and discrimination against minorities wherever we find it. Like many leaders, I suspect, I do not always enjoy reading what the media in my country writes about me. But I will defend their right to say it for the independence of our media is one of my countrys greatest achievements. And it is the bedrock of our democracy. So too will I defend objectivity and impartiality in the face of those who treat truth as just another opinion to be manipulated. This challenge has only become more complex with the rise in social media, and online information. That is why we agreed at the G7 Summit in June to step up our efforts to respond to disinformation. And why, together with our partners, and with tech companies, we are leading efforts to reclaim the internet from terrorists and others who would do us harm. And just as we must stand up for the values that we adhere to, so we must support countries and leaders who choose to take the often difficult steps towards a more inclusive society. The United Kingdom will use all the levers at our disposal to do so. Through our aid budget and commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals we will not only protect the most vulnerable but also bolster states under threat and help others sustain their progress. Through global campaigns we will help countries to end scourges such as modern slavery and sexual violence in conflict. And we will mobilise wider support through our alliances and membership of multilateral organisations not only the UN, but also international financial institutions, the G7, the G20 and NATO. And just as there is no single recipe for an inclusive society, so there is no single model for balancing the democratic demands of our public with the imperative to co-operate internationally. The vote by the British people to leave the European Union was not a rejection of multilateralism or international co-operation. It was a clear demand for decisions and accountability to lie closer to home. I believe the role of leadership in these circumstances is clear: it is delivering on the democratic wishes of our people and international cooperation working with allies and partners in pursuit of our shared values. Third, we must have the will and confidence to act when the fundamental rules that we live by are broken. This is not about repeating the mistakes of the past by trying to impose democracy on other countries through regime change. But we should not allow those mistakes to prevent us from protecting people in the face of the worst violations of human rights and human dignity. We should not allow those mistakes to paralyse the international community when its long-established norms are violated. And we should not let our inability to prevent some of the worst conflicts today stop us from making every effort to ensure they do not happen again in the future. For if we stand back, we allow the world to become divided into spheres of influence in which the powerful dominate the weak, and in which legitimate grievances go unaddressed. This is not just a moral imperative. It is also a matter of self-interest. For when barbarous acts and aggression go unchecked dictators and terrorists are emboldened. So, we must have the confidence to act. When the Syrian Regime used chemical weapons on its people again in April, it was Britain together with France and America who took military action to degrade the Syrian regimes chemical weapons capability and deter their use. And when earlier this year, Russia used a toxic nerve agent in a sickening attack on the streets of Salisbury, the UK with our NATO, EU and other allies took action, expelling over 150 Russian intelligence officers: the largest collective expulsion ever. In Burma, following the damning report of the United Nations fact-finding mission, we should show the same confidence to hold accountable those responsible for the appalling atrocities repeatedly inflicted by the Burmese military on the Rohingya, Shan and Kachin peoples since 2011. Similarly we should gather evidence of Daeshs crimes worldwide, so ensuring justice for their victims and deterring those who might conduct such crimes in the future. But accountability alone is not enough. We must do more collectively to prevent such atrocities in the first place, and address the causes of instability that can give rise to them. The United Nations has a critical role to play. And it has a wide range of levers to do so from sanctions which show the leaders of Iran and North Korea that they cannot act without consequence to peacekeeping missions such as that in South Sudan, which is helping to prevent suffering and the collapse of law and order. But to be able to draw effectively on these levers, the Security Council must find the political will to act in our collective interest. The UNs agencies must deliver the reforms that the Secretary General has started to become more agile, more transparent and better co-ordinated on the ground. And to support these reforms, we must also ensure proper funding is targeted specifically at those parts of the UN that deliver results. 70 years ago the General Assembly agreed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Today we must renew the ideals and values on which that Declaration was founded. In doing so, we must learn the lessons of the past and show through our actions how co-operation between strong and accountable states with open economies and inclusive societies can best deliver security and prosperity for all our people. As Kofi Annan said at the start of his second term as Secretary General: I have sought to turn an unflinching eye to the failures of our recent past, in order to assess more clearly what it will take for us to succeed in the future. In that spirit, let us show unflinching resolve to renew the promise of freedom, opportunity and fairness. A promise which has delivered for more people, in more places than at any other period in our history. And let us ensure that promise can be fulfilled for our children and grandchildren and for every generation to come. Thank you. Madam President, Mr. Secretary-General, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honored to take the floor today before this Assembly as the spokesman of the will of the Italian Government and people to confirm our commitment alongside and in favor of the United Nations. In a global context that is .increasingly fragmented, multipolar, and in constant evolution, we are convinced, in fact, that the international community needs more effective multilateralism and a United Nations that is strengthened in its role as a pillar of an international system based on peace, justice and equity. We therefore continue to support the reform plan of the Secretary-General even more today, in the delicate implementation process that awaits him. We want a United Nations that is closer to the people, able to respond to their needs for security and well-being, and ready to protect them from the pitfalls of globalization, which offers many opportunities but can also produce errant effects. The Italian Government has placed these same priorities at the basis of its action. Government action that does not give due consideration to assuring that all of its citizens have equitable and fully dignified living conditions is not action that I can consider morally, much less politically acceptable. When some accuse us of souverainism or populism, I always enjoy pointing out that Article 1 of the Italian Constitution cites sovereignty and the people, and it is precisely through that provision that I interpret the concept of sovereignty and the exercise of sovereignty by the people. This approach does not modify the traditional position of Italy within the international community and consequently toward the United Nations. Security, the defense of peace and the values that best preserve it, and the promotion of development and human rights are goals that we share and shall continue to pursue with courage and conviction at the national and international levels. On the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Italy 1s expressing this will through is candidature to the Human Rights Council. Respect for the inviolable rights of man is one of the pillars on which the Italian Republic is founded, our beacon, especially today, when we are called upon to address the immense challenges of the grave and prolonged crises in the EuroMediterranean area, including migratory flows. For years Italy has been engaged in search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea, and has saved from death tens of thousands of people, often single-handedly, as has frequently been acknowledged by those who say that Italy has "saved the honor of Europe." The migratory phenomena we are facing require a structured, multilevel, and short-, medium-, and long-term response from the international community as a whole. It is on this basis that we support the Global Compact on migration and refugees. This is a challenge that can and must be met through a "shared responsibility" approach, in a logic of partnership between the Countries of origin, transit, and destination of the flows, taking into account the priority need to guarantee the dignity of the individual but also the firm determination to fight those who trample on this dignity and on life itself through human trafficking. Madam President, Distinguished Delegates, Italy pursues the goals of international peace and security, also during times of budgetary constraints. We are solidly in eighth position as a contributor to the United Nations regular budget, and we supplement this commitment through development initiatives both at the bilateral level and through the United Nations Agencies. These initiatives are inspired by the sustainable development goals inscribed in Agenda 2030. Poverty, inequalities, unemployment, and the devastating effects of climate change are ills that concern every Country, independently of their level of development. The logic of assistance must g1ve way to a framework of mutual responsibility and partnership, such as what Italy is promoting, for example, on the African continent, so that each stakeholder can do his part to the best of his possibilities and abilities. Italy is proud to be one of the main contributors to peacekeeping operations. This is a commitment we have maintained for many years now, and for which we have received the appreciation, essential to us, first and foremost of the local communities in which we are operating. Italy is a Country whose DNA contains the promotion of dialogue and inclusiveness in crisis situations. These principles are essential when addressing the grave and widespread situations of instability that today characterize an area that is vital to the security and prosperity of Italy and Europe as a whole, namely the greater Mediterranean. In the upcoming weeks Italy will host a Conference on Libya whose main goal is to support the shared political path and contribute to the political stabilization of the Country. This path will foster the broadest possible involvement of the Libyan stakeholders, who remain the master of their destiny. The United Nations will play a central role through the Action Plan, on which all the contributions of the main international and regional stakeholders will converge. The long conflict that for seven years has roiled Syria demonstrates all the limits of military solutions. We have the duty to support the action of the UN and of Special Envoy De Mistura. Madam President, Distinguished Delegates, Shared responsibility, in the framework of building peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies, is a call that we share and accept as an invitation to change: the same spirit of change that characterizes the action of the Government that I lead. But we must also assume this responsibility toward the reform of the United Nations Security Council, on which Italy will continue to pursue its deep commitment, in dialogue with all Member States, to achieve the goal of a shared reform. The path to effective multilateralism, to which we all should aspire, cannot disregard, in fact, the need for every member of the human family to recognize in the United Nations a true global leadership to which they look with renewed faith. Thank you. Distinguished Madam President, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of Ukraine, I congratulate Madam President on the election as President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly. We support outlined priorities and are ready to do our share in translating them into reality. Our deliberations are taking place at a defining moment for the Organization. Despite the universal appeal for peace and declared commitment to uphold it, wars and armed conflicts remain our reality. Conflicts are the main reason for the rise in refugees and displaced persons worldwide to the unprecedented figure of 65.5 million. Since no peace means no development, hundreds of millions are doomed to mtsery. The international security environment seemed rock-solid less than two decades ago. Now it has descended into a volatile and increasingly disturbing state where both traditional and hybrid threats are challenging stability of our societies: Too often lofty rhetoric on peace, respect for international law, and commitment to human rights remains just that- rhetoric, nice sounding words, politically correct messages, whichi however, are not backed by concrete actions. We may become tempted to talk about achievements or grand plans for the future. However, from our perspective, addressing fundamental problems that the UN and the international community as a whole face is much more important. We shall never forget that the raison detre of this Organization is to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war". Madam President, Unfortunately, my fellow citizens have become a part of that one-fifth of the world population who is experiencing the horrors of war. As I deliver my speech, reports have brought a sad news about another human life just lost on the frontlines of the war inflicted upon my country by the permanent member of the UN Security Council. Yesterday, and the day before, several families, again, were struck by grief, as their loved ones perished under Russias hostile attacks. Moscow turns Ukrainian to orphans. lt tortures our patriots in its prisons. Over 1.5 million people became internally displaced persons. They still cant return to their homes. Russia constantly multiplies the human tragedy, which lately received a new dimension: ecological. lt poisons the Ukrainian soil and causes an environmental disaster not only in the occupied Crimea, but in Donbas as well. This has been a daily reality for Ukrainians for four years now. Thousands of deaths, destruction, displacement and human suffering. For my fellow citizens, these years have become a tremendous challenge- a test for their determination and solidarity, resilience and faith. Let us not forget what this war is about. Ukraine made a sovereign decision to live its way and promote the Free World based on democratic values and rules. Russia punishes Ukraine for this decision. lt kills. lt ruins homes. lt lies on industrial scale. lt pretends that Ukraine, as well as Georgia "attacked themselves". Do we know which neighbor of Russia will "attack itself" next? Or will the world be "comfortably numb" in a hope that "the next one wont be me"? As we defend Ukraines land and our free choice, as we counter the res urging neo-imperialist power willing to divide the world anew- we defend the Free World. The UN shall not be silent, when the values and principles rooted in its Charter and the entire body of international law are being violated by a veto country. This is not just a challenge, but our chance to make the United Nations relevant and to make the motto of this Assembly session work. Madam President, How did such a deterioration in the world affairs happen? Many assumed that the respect for peace and international law is a constant g1ven. Developments on international stage over the last decade have seriously undermined this confidence. Appeasement and quick fixes to difficult problems have proven to be a false option. lt has proven that staying comfortably silent when international norms are breached does not stop but encourages the. offender to continue its destructive policies. Your silence is exactly what the Kremlin weaponizes against Ukraine and, ultimately, against all of us! lts na"ive to believe that safe shores will always be around. There will be no safe shores, shall we allow someone to feel that HE is not bound by any norms or restrictions. That HE has a right to reshape the international system to his liking. That HIS interests are more legitimate than ours. In the absence of a strong and united reaction, such extremely irresponsible and selfish actor resorts to the tactic of further escalation, creating new crises, raising the stakes, blackmailing other countries and even entire international organizations. All in an effort "to get away with murder". We shall not allow this to happen. We shall bring the world back on track. What is the cure? In one word: responsibility. The international communitys ability to ensure systemic and inevitable responsibility for each and every violation of international laws - first and foremost norms and principles of the UN Charter- is the benchmark indicating how successful we, as the family of nations, can be in achieving common goals. Ensuring responsibility is never an easy feat. Let me be clear on this point: Nothing will stop Moscow from continuing its aggressive expansionist policies if it does not face a united stand of the international community, if punishment for its actions does not become inevitable. lt is due to the lack of relevant punishment that after Georgia came Ukraine, that after Lytvinenko came Skrypals, that after Aleppo came ldlib ... Kremlin has no intention to stop. After occupation of Crimea, it aims now at occupation of the Sea of Azov between Ukraine and Russia. Having illegally constructed a bridge across the Kerch Strait, Russia launched a systematic disruption of freedom of international navigation through the Kerch Strait for Ukrainian and foreign ships. Such brutal actions must be rejected as illegal, including under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They require a strong response, including an enhanced sanctions policy and other targeted measures. Efficiency of international actions often falls short of expectations and the relevance of the United Nations itself is questioned. We must admit that the responsibility for fixing the current state of affairs rests with all of us collectively and each of us individually. If we are committed to building peacefut equitable and sustainable societies, we protect the UN Charter, uphold its norms and principles, take resolute action to restore justice. Let me say it more precisely - the beautiful language of the Charter worth nothing if it is not enforced. No more words, time for deeds! The United Nations must gain momentum as there are continued attempts to ruin the rules-based international order and revise internationally recognized state borders by force. This dangerous slide towards the world with no civilized rules has to be stopped. In this regard, there is a need to revitalize and strengthen the role of the General Assembly in the sphere of international peace and security. With conflicts spreading, we have to ensure maximum flexibility and comprehensiveness of the agenda of the General Assembly, which is the only inclusive and chief policy-making forum. That is why Ukraine introduced the item "The situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukrainen in the agenda of the current session of the General Assembly. Member States should be provided with every possibility for in-depth considerations of all urgent situations that require attention of the international community. As outlined by the General Assembly President, we have to "facilitate quick and effective responses of the General Assembly to emergency situations". Ukraine, as one of Vice-Presidents of the 73rd session, stands ready to contribute to that. As Member States, we "conferred on the Security Council the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security". What shall we do if a veto holding member of the Security Council uses this right not to help international peace and stability, but to help itself escape from responsibility? lt is time to say that the abuse of veto right is a brake that often does not allow our Organization to really act. We believe that the progress on the Security Council reform will be an important contribution to the ongoing UN-wide change. We support launching text-based talks within the Intergovernmental Negotiations and are ready to engage constructively in this process. We also expect that the ongoing reform of the peace and security pillar envisaged by the Secretary-General, with the support of the General Assembly, would contribute to the speed and abilities of the Organization to react to the emerging threats to international peace and security. Ukraine fully shares the approach of the Secretary-General on the peacekeeping activity of the Organization within his concept of the "Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)". lt is a timely opportunity for Member States and the UN leadership to consider measures leading to effecting real changes in the UN. peacekeeping. The very same peacekeeping that Ukraine has been asking the UN to deploy on its territory since April 2015, when I addressed my request, supported by the Parliament of Ukraine, to the President of the Security Council, to the President of the General Assembly and to the UN Secretary-General. After the failure of the UN to prevent aggression against Ukraine, we still hoped that the UN would help settling the conflict by deploying an UN-mandated multinational peacekeeping force in the occupied Donbas. A mission, with a strong mandate and broad responsibilities to help bring peace on the Ukrainian soil. Rather than to freeze the conflict or cement the presence of the aggressor and its proxies in Donbas. We firmly count on further progress on this important issue. After all, and perfectly in line with the topic of this General Debate - Making the United Nations relevant to all people - it is through such a UN Security Council-mandated PKO that the UN would save countless lives and prevent further sufferings. Madam President, We remain as determined as ever to keep defending every inch of our territory against the aggression. At the same time, we will continue exploring all available means to end the conflict peacefully and restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Let me stress- Ukraine has always put legal and diplomatic means of conflict resolution first. We have prioritized multilateralism, by turning for support of the United Nations, OSCE, the Council of Europe and other international organizations, fora and mechanisms. And we will continue along that path. Moscow shall feel the strength of the rule of international law. We initiated several legal cases against the Russian side in international courts. On some of them we have already achieved important results. In particular, in the beginning of 2017 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Russia to lift the ban on activities on Mejlis- representative body of Cri mean Tatars in the occupied Crimea. However, Russia continues to ignore the ruling demonstrating its disregard not only to its international obligations but to the Court as well. Another important element of our case in the ICJ it is the downing of MH17 in 2014 and the role of the Russian Federation in this tragedy. lt is important that Australia and the Netherlands recently joined Ukraine in its efforts to bring Russia to account. The international community repeatedly calls Russia to acknowledge its responsibility and change its destructive behaviour in Ukraine and elsewhere. We know that following the legal path is a lengthy process, but we are confident that at the end it will allow us to achieve justice. Ladies and Gentlemen, lt has been almost four years since Russias attempted annexation and illegal occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol. Under Russian occupation, Crimea has turned into a military stronghold threatening security and stability in the entire wider Black Sea region. We believe that increasing militarization of Crimea deserves the General Assemblys close attention and prompt reaction. Russias aggressive policies as well as its arrogance in using lethal weapons multiply the threat. In this regard, Ukraine counts on your active support for the relevant resolution during this session. Since the first day of the illegal occupation of Crimea, Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians have faced repressions and discrimination. There are many cases of murders, tortures, harassment and arrests under fabricated charges. The list of hostages and victims of the Russian occupation regime in Crimea is getting longer almost every day. The Ukrainian and Cri mean Tatar identities seem to be a criminal offence in todays reality of the occupied peninsula. Cri mean farmer Volodymyr Balukh was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison for raising a Ukrainian flag upon his private residence. Cri mean film director Oleg Sentsov remains behind the bars in a remote penal colony in northern Russia serving a 20-years prison term on fabricated charges. Both Oleg and Volodymyr are balancing between life and death as they remain on a hunger strike. I highly appreciate a remarkable manifestation of support and unity throughout the world to seek freedom for these brave persons. Unfortunately, Kremlin remains blind and deaf to these appeals of the international community and many of Russias intellectuals. I call upon UN Member States to strengthen their efforts in demanding respect for human rights in the temporarily occupied Crimea through the adoption of the respective UNGA resolution. There are also dozens of Ukrainians held by the occupants in Donbas since the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014. Ukrainian soldier Serhii Glondar has never seen his youngest daughter, as he has been held captive for three and a half years. All Ukrainian proposals to exchange the Russian citizens convicted for crimes against our sovereignty and territorial integrity for the Ukrainian citizens held as political prisoners by Kremlin remained unanswered. lts just another side of Russias recklessness: first sending and inciting own citizens to this war- and simply abandoning them afterwards. This is the thing about todays Russia: they dont care. They dont care about suffering. They dont care about truth. They dont care about law. They think that their military might and status in the UN give them this right. lts up to us to prove them wrong. lts up to us to MAKE THEM CARE. Otherwise whats the idea of us being here? Otherwise whats the difference between the era before the UN and with the UN? In a broader context, Ukraine has always considered protection of human rights as one of the cornerstones of the UN activities. Sustainable peace and security cannot be achieved in isolation from human rights. We therefore support the efforts to bring back human rights issues to the UN Security Council and to promote close cooperation among all relevant UN bodies in this area. Ladies and Gentlemen, My country is delivering on its commitments under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. Ukraines economy grew in the second quarter of 2018 at a 3.8% annual rate. This marks the tenth straight quarter of growth that is a clearly sustainable trend. The GDP increase was helped by macroeconomic stabilization, improved investment climate and clean-up of the banking sector. Ukraine is demonstrating the best dynamics in growth among the emerging markets. Despite heavy security and defense expenses totaling more than 6% of its GDP, Ukraine is undergoing fundamental transformations on social economic and political tracks. We have consistently implemented progressive reforms - rangmg from . judicial, education, healthcare, public administration reforms to carrying out decentralization and fighting corruption. In 2019-2021, Ukraine will take over an important responsibility as member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Based on its extensive recent experience, my country looks forward to using its membership to strengthen the role of the Council in following-up and reviewing 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, particularly when it comes to conflict and post-conflict settings. Among 17 Sustainable Development Goals Ukraine particularly welcomes the UN initiatives aimed at reducing global hunger. Today, when more than 850 million people in the world are starving, my country cannot stand idle and is ready to offer the world its help in addressing the issue of food security. Ukraine, like nobody, knows the price of this tragedy. This November we will mark 85th Anniversary of one of the deadliest crimes of the 20th century- the crime of Holodomor, mass starvation in Ukraine artificially organized by the Stalinist regime. lt took lives of several millions of Ukrainians. In this regard, I would like to renew my appeal to the Assembly to mark one of the biggest tragedies in human history by adopting a dedicated declaration. Madam President, Our Organization is only as strong as we want and allow it to be. Therefore, our full support and strong political will are required to ensure that the United Nations remains relevant in todays uncertain and turbulent times. Relevant, as you rightly put it in the theme of this debate, to all people. lt is our mission and shared responsibility to empower the United Nations to do what is expected of the Organization. To do it through our global leadership based on shared values- freedom, the rule of law and tolerance. Thank you for your attention. Distinguished Madam President, Excellencies, Esteemed Delegates, I congratulate Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, the President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, on her election to this honourable function. I wish to assure you, Madam President, about Poland`s full support for the measures you will take. At the same time, I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Miroslav Lajcak for his active chairmanship over the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly. Ladies and Gentlemen, This year Poles celebrate the centenary of regaining independence. In 1918, after 123 years of bondage, Poland returned to the map of Europe. The restoration of an independent, free and sovereign state became a reality mainly due to three factors: the desire of the Polish nation to have its own state, the heroic sacrifice of the battling soldiers, and the determination of courageous leaders, who convinced politicians across the world that without a restored Poland, Europe would not be just and safe. Both then and today, the will of the nations and of the political leaders remains crucial. Both then and today, Europe will not be just and safe without sovereign Poland. Each September the Heads of State meet here, in New York, to engage in an in-depth reflection on the most crucial issues affecting our globe. Hence, it is us with whom a particular responsibility lies. It is us who are rightly expected to be courageous and active, able to rise above divisions, determined in our search for solutions to the most pressing issues of the contemporary world. Ladies and Gentlemen, The modern world is full of threats. We are witnessing a very dynamic development of the international situation. There are reasons to be hopeful, such as a potential change in the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the ongoing de-escalation of tensions there. But there are also problems that persist and remain unresolved. In order to sort them out, we undoubtedly need the cooperation of as many countries as possible today. To make it effective, two conditions need to be met. Firstly, we must all comply with the international law, which was the main theme of the Polish Presidency of the Security Council in May this year. I had the privilege of holding a high-level open debate at that time, the conclusions of which were that only 1) cooperation among countries within the rule-based global order will provide an opportunity to resolve frozen conflicts and prevent us from the emergence of new ones, 2) the rule-based global order requires strong institutions to enforce the international law and 3) no violation of the law can be justified or distorted by a whole range of language definitions. Today the map of the world is full of flashpoints. As part of the rule-based global order that we are promoting, I would like to draw your attention to one fundamental principle that will be our priority throughout the second year of Polands membership of the Security Council. I am thinking of the sovereign equality of states, as referred to in Article 2 of the United Nations Charter. If we want to be the advocates of multilateralism, and the UN is, after all, its source, we must bear this principle in mind. In other words, not everyone who claims to be a proponent of multilateralism thinks of it in terms of the equality of states. One can say that there is a negative multilateralism, which boils down to the concert of powers, a division into spheres of influence and the conviction that the fate of others can be decided without their participation. Europe and Poland were often victims of this kind of multilateralism, starting from the 18th century, throughout the 19th century, to the times of the Cold War. Multilateralism and the rule-based global order are there not just for the chosen ones. The same principles must apply to all and to the same extent. Everyone has equal rights and proportional obligations. This is how I define the positive multilateralism, which Poland stands for. The multilateralism of equal states and free nations, not the multilateralism of usurpation and hierarchy. We are committed to relations in which every state enjoys equal rights. This however does not imply a naive perception of the world, a world devoid of differences among states. What it means is that the states which have an advantage, in terms of potential and power, should not deprive others of their equal right to independence and subjectivity. Only with such equality ensured, are we able to fully use the potential of states for the common good and according to the rule of fair play. This applies both to political and economic relations, since only if the principle of the equality of states is respected, are we able to talk about the exchange of interests and real alliances. However, the concept of the positive multilateralism, which Poland subscribes to, goes one step further. It claims that, wherever possible, weaker countries should be given additional opportunities to make an impact, in order to make the equal rights of states more realistic. Such opportunities can encompass an additional voting power, or an additional territorial representation in the decision-making bodies. To me as President of the Republic of Poland, two areas of application of this principle are particularly close: 1) the awaited reform of the Security Council, which we support, and want to participate in, and which should include among its leading themes: expanding the field of equal rights and competences of all Council members; 2) a reform of the European Union as returning to its origins, which emerged from the concept of positive multilateralism, and which today are repeatedly violated. Next year Poland will organize a series of initiatives centred around the idea of sovereign equality. The aim of that effort is to win over as many supporters of our vision as possible. Secondly, it is important that multilateralism serves a certain system of values, instead of being just an element of a political technology and a game of interests. Such system of values is reflected in the Charter of the United Nations. Negative multilateralism, which contravenes these values, may only result in the exacerbation of global problems. On the other hand, a voluntary cooperation of states, equal in their rights, can bring lasting peace to Europe and the world. Every time a temptation of a concert of powers is born, the global stability is undermined. Whoever promotes negative multilateralism contributes to the disintegration of the global order. Multilateralism is meant to be a commitment to respect for values, especially the fundamental ones, such as respect for human dignity and life. It is about the values which go beyond the political order and are not politically defined, for they are the foundation of the global political order. Ladies and Gentlemen, International relations do not serve states only, they serve the entire humanity. Therefore, sovereignty of a state should be fundamentally linked to responsibility for the respect of norms which are common for the good of us all. Every violation of the norms must bear consequences. Wherever leaders might infringe fundamental human rights, use tortures, persecute their political opponents or use weapons of mass destruction, the international community, including the Security Council, should respond swiftly and decisively. Being a nation with a unique experience of a peaceful democratic transformation and a struggle for fundamental freedoms, Poland attaches particular importance to protection and promotion of human rights, as exemplified, among others, by my country`s bid for membership in the UN Human Rights Council, for the 2020-2022 term. Our potential membership in this body, unique for the global human rights protection system, will complement, in a natural way, our current membership in the Security Council, in accordance with the fundamental UN triad of peace and security, human rights and development. Ladies and Gentlemen, The UN Charter endows the Organization, and especially its Security Council, with special responsibility for matters pertaining to peace and international security. As a non-permanent member of the Security Council we deem this task to be of crucial importance. Poland actively supports all actions and initiatives aimed at preventing the use and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, as well as bringing the perpetrators using such weapons to justice. I wish to announce that Poland intends to return to an active participation in the UN peace-keeping missions. We have submitted a formal application to the Secretariat in this regard and are looking forward to its positive evaluation. Given our experience in this field, extending over many years, we are convinced that it will positively contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Poland is involved in the process of stabilization and building of lasting security on the Korean Peninsula, not only now, in its capacity as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, but also as a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea. I am convinced that the NNSC experience could potentially be applied while establishing foundations for peace and stability on the Peninsula. Given its extensive experience accumulated during the period of political transformation, Poland stands ready to get actively engaged in the international peace rebuilding and consolidation programmes in the Middle East. In all the places where, after the end of conflicts, it is necessary to restore stability and provide development opportunities. At the same time, Poland regards it as its duty to draw the attention of the international community to the sources of threats to world peace resulting from frozen conflicts, occupation and shifting of borders by force, which is happening in Eastern Europe. International community must not allow a return to business as usual, and the actions of the aggressors should be confronted with a relevant response. Ladies and Gentlemen, This December Poland will have an honour to host the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 24), in the city of Katowice. The primary goal of the meeting is to finalize works on the provisions implementing the Paris Agreement. A complete and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement is inextricably connected with the attainment of the UN sustainable development goals. Therefore, the global climate action should bring together the economic, social and environmental dimensions, while at the same time, be conducive to stopping the global warming and eradicating the most serious problems of the modern world. The implementation package, planned to be adopted in Katowice, provides an essential basis for action to be taken by state entities and NGOs, including international financial institutions, the private sector, local authorities and civil society organizations. Only provisions applicable in the long-term and accepted by all actors, are able to guarantee transparency, legal security, and sustainability of rules, which is indispensable for the implementation of the adopted obligations and for the strengthening of global ambitions. COP 24 will be launched with the Leaders` Summit, which is scheduled for December 3rd and 4th, and offers an excellent opportunity to express our common and responsible political will. It will also send a clear messege to the world that the efforts we make are aimed at securing a safe future. Once again, I wish to invite you to attend the Katowice summit and ensure a high-turn out for the event. Ladies and Gentlemen, The centenary of Poland regaining independence makes us reflect on the fate of the world, Europe and on my country`s difficult road to freedom. Simultaneously, it is a reason to look into the future and an inspiration to sensibly shape our common, international reality based on historical experiences, values and aspirations. I encourage all member states to work even closer together on the initiatives aimed at achieving the objectives which guide the United Nations Organization. Only the decisions taken jointly by political leaders are able to address challenges faced by the globalized world. Poland subscribes to the view that our common future requires a strong and effective international community, which will better accommodate the needs of humanity. This however is going to depend mainly on us, since the United Nations Organization is not an abstract entity, it is the common achievement of us all. It is up to us how effective we will be in using it for the sake of building peace, ensuring justice and sustainable development, in other words: building a better world, worthy of the 21st century for us, but first and foremost, for the future generations. Thank you very much for your attention. Jerusalem is not for sale and the Palestinian peoples rights are not up for bargaining In the name of God, the most merciful and beneficent Excellency, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Excellency, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, In these days last year, I came before you appealing for freedom, independence and justice for my oppressed people, who are suffering under Israeli occupation for more than fifty-one years. I return to you today as this colonial occupation continues to suffocate us and to undermine our serious efforts to build the institutions of our cherished State, which this august General Assembly recognized in the year 2012. This year the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the State of Palestine, convened and renewed the legitimacy of our national institutions through the election of a new leadership for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole legitimate represenlalive uf lhe Palestinian people. This Parliament undertook important decisions, which oblige me to review the agreements, political, economic and security alike, that have been reached with the Israeli Government, and to also review the future of the Palestinian National Authority, which has been rendered without authority. The Parliament also instructed me to suspend the Palestinian recognition of Israel until Israel recognizes the State of Palestine on the 4 June 1967 borders, and also instructed me to approach the international courts, including the International Criminal Court (I CC), to investigate Israels breaches of treaties and the Israeli occupying forces aggressions and settler terror against our people, our land and our holy sites. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Last July, Israel adopted a racist law that crossed all the red lines and called it the "Nation-State Law of the Jewish People". This law denies the connection of the Palestinian people to their historic homeland and dismisses their right to self-determination and their history and heritage, as well as the United Nations resolutions relevant to the Palestine question and the agreements concluded with Israel. This law will inevitably lead to the creation of one racist State, an apartheid state, and nullifies the two-State solution. This law discriminates against the Palestinian-Arab citizens in Israel, granting the right to selfdetermination exclusively to Jews in Israel and legislating discrimination against those Arab citizens, who constitute 20% of the population of Israel, in addition to other non-Jews who have immigrated to Israel. This law strips them of their rights as citizens. This law constitutes a gross breach and real danger, both politically and legally, and reminds us of the apartheid state that existed in South Africa. We therefore reject and condemn it in the strongest terms. We further call on the international community and this august Assembly to act to reject it and condemn it as a racist, illegal law and deem it null and void, just as the United Nations condemned apartheid South Africa in several resolutions in the past, bearing in mind also that thousands of Jews and Israeli citizens have rejected and protested this law and 56 Knesset Members out of 120 voted against it. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, This racist law talks about what is called the "land of Israel". Can you ask the Israeli government what exactly constitutes the "land of Israel", what the "borders" of the State of Israel are ? I challenge anyone to tell us what they are. This racist law constitutes another stigma on Israel and anyone who consents to it. This law is just like other Israeli laws that legislated the theft and confiscation of the land, properties and funds of the Palestinian people. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, We have always fully and positively engaged with the various initiatives of the international community that have aimed at achieving a peaceful solution between us and the Israelis, including the Arab Peace Initiative, which was recognized by the Security Council in its resolution 1515 (2003). We continued on this path with the administration of President Trump from the start of his tenure, with the same positive engagement, and I have met with him numerous times. We awaited his peace initiative with utmost patience, but were shocked by decisions and actions he undertook that completely contradict the role and commitment of the United States towards the peace process. In November 2017, his administration issued a decision to close the PLO office in Washington, DC. He then announced his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transferred his countrys embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and boasts that he has removed the issues of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and security off the negotiation table. All such decisions threaten the Palestinian national cause and constitute an assault on international law and relevant United Nations resolutions. The US administration went even further in its assault by cutting assistance to the Palestinian National Authority, UNRWA and Palestinian hospitals in Occupied East Jerusalem. With all of these decisions, this administration has reneged on all previous US commitments, and has undermined the two-State solution, and has revealed its false claims of concern about the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian people. It is ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the "deal of the century". But what is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people ? Humanitarian solutions ? And, the US Congress continues to insist on considering the Palestine Liberation Organization - which is recognized as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by the overwhelming majority of countries of the world, including Israel - as a terrorist organization, at a time when the State ofPalestine cooperates with the majority of countries of the world, including the United States, to combat terrorism. For years, we have affirmed our readiness to the US administration to establish a PalestinianAmerican committee to examine the political and legal status of the PLO as a means of proving to them that the PLO is committed to achieving peace and combating terrorism, as well as to also demonstrate that Congress legislation regarding the PLO is arbitrary, unlawful and unjustified and deliberately ignores the official agreement with the US Government to combat terrorism, an agreement we have also concluded with 83 other countries. Despite all of this, and from this august platform, I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements, which contravene international law and UN resolutions, as well as the understandings among us, in order to salvage the prospects for peace and to achieve stability and security for the future generations in our region. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Consistent with our commitment to peace and the two-state solution and the path of negotiations to achieve them, a path we have never refused, and with a view to rescuing the peace process, I came before the Security Council on the 20th of February this year and presented an initiative calling for the convening of an international peace conference based on the relevant UN resolutions and the internationally-endorsed terms of reference and parameters. Such a conference should involve broad international participation that includes regional and international stakeholders, led by the Permanent Members of the Security Council and the Quartet. We shall circulate this initiative in its entirety to you and hope you will support it. Here, I must reiterate that we are not against negotiations and have never rejected negotiations, and that we continue to extend our hands for peace. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Peace in our region cannot be realized without an independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and not some place in East Jerusalem as its capital, and with all of its holy sites. There is no peace otherwise. There is no peace with a state of temporary borders. There is no peace with an alleged state in Gaza. The path to peace is enshrined in your resolutions, including resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012, which was adopted by an overwhelming majority and refers to the State ofPalestine on the basis of the 1967 borders. I thus call upon all the countries of the world that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to accelerate this long-overdue recognition. I can no longer see a convincing reason for the continued delay of recognition of the State of Palestine by some countries. In this context, I wish to draw your attention to the fact that, in 2019, the State of Palestine will chair the Group of 77, which represents 134 States, and I urge you to support the request to enhance the State of Palestines status during its tenure and to allow it to exercise its full responsibilities on behalf of this Group. In this regard, I wish to convey our appreciation and gratitude to Colombia for its recent recognition of the State of Palestine, becoming the 139th State to recognize our State, and likewise to Paraguay, which had previously recognized the State of Palestine and decided to return its embassy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, and I urge Guatemala to do the same. Here, I must once again call upon the British Government - which bears a historical, political, legal and moral responsibility with regard to the suffering and displacement of the Palestinian people as a consequence of the Balfour Declaration of 1917 - to rectify this historic mistake by recognizing the State of Palestine and compensating the Palestinian people for their pain and suffering. I also call upon the United States of America, which strongly supported the Balfour Declaration and cooperated with Great Britain to implement it, to do the same. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I must remind you once again that Israel, the occupying Power, has not implemented any single resolution of the hundreds of resolutions adopted by the Security Council, most recent of which was resolution 2334 (2016), and by the General Assembly regarding the question of Palestine. Is it acceptable that Israel remains without accountability or consequence ? Is it acceptable that Israel remains a state above the law ? Why does the Security Council not uphold its duties to compel Israel to abide by international law and to bring an end to its occupation of the State of Palestine ? Madame President, Distinguished Representatives gathered here in this General Assembly, We resist this colonial, settler Israeli occupation through the legitimate means created by this international organization. Foremost among these is peaceful, popular resistance as we witness today in the Great March of Return in Gaza. We also see it in other areas of our occupied territory, such as in Khan al-Ahmar, which the Israeli Government has decided to forcibly uproot and displace its Palestinian inhabitants, who have lived there for more than 50 years, in order to illegally impose settlement activities in that area and to sever the contiguity of the Palestinian State. Our Palestinian people and the territory of the State of Palestine are in more urgent need of international protection than at any time before. Here, allow me to express our deep appreciation and respect to the States that supported the resolution on protection for the Palestinian civilian population, which was adopted on 13 June 2018, and to urge you to find the mechanisms necessary to provide protection as soon as possible. We also express our thanks to the Secretary-General for his report in this regard. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, While we welcome all the economic and humanitarian support to our people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip through the legitimate Palestinian institutions, we refuse that this support be considered a substitute to a political solution that would bring an end to the Israeli occupation and achieve the independence of the State of Palestine on the ground. This support also cannot be considered an alternative to lifting the Israeli blockade and ending the division between Gaza and the West Bank, and we will frrmly stand against any attempts, under any pretext, to separate our beloved Gaza from our State. We continue to exert genuine, serious efforts to end the division and to achieve reconciliation. Despite the many obstacles to achieving these aims, we continue to uphold our responsibilities towards our people. We express our appreciation to our Arab brethren, in particular the fraternal Arab Republic of Egypt, for the efforts being undertaken to end this division, hoping that they will be successful. My Government- the National Consensus Government- affirms its readiness to uphold its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip once it is allowed to exercise its full authority and in the framework of one Palestinian political system, one sole legitimate authority, one law and one legitimate weapon. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, After all that I have said in tny statetuents before tllis distinguished General Assen1bly, let me sum up : We are not a people that can be excluded on this earth ; we are an indigenous people and our roots are deep across five thousand years. We insist on fairness towards us and the implementation of your resolutions. We have concluded agreements with Israel and they have abrogated all of them. Either Israel abides by these agreements, or else we will renege on them. Israel will bear the responsibility and consequences of this. There are also agreements with the US administration, but why have they reneged on all of them, and how should we address this ? Please answer me. Either it respects its commitments, or we are not going to comply with any of these agreements. We will also not accept sole American mediation in the peace process because the US administration has lost its eligibility due to its recent decisions. We have also concluded agreements with Hamas. Either they implement them fully, or we will distance ourselves from any agreements or measures that are concluded without our approval and will not bear any responsibility. Lastly, allow me to reaffirm to you that we will not revert to violence and terror, no matter what the situation or conditions are. Madame President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I pay tribute to all freedom-loving countries and peoples that continue to extend political, financial and humanitarian assistance to our people in their struggle to bring an end to the occupation, to strengthen our institutions in preparation for full independence, and in support of UNRWA. I urge the General Assembly to ensure support to this Agency as a matter of international responsibility. UNRWA was established by a General Assembly resolution [302 (IV)] in 1949 and was mandated to provide assistance to the Palestine refugees until the achievement of a just and permanent solution for their plight. In conclusion, I salute our resilient and brave people in Palestine, in the refugee camps and in the diaspora with deepest respect and admiration for their heroic stances and their great sacrifices in defense of our peoples inalienable rights in their homeland and their rights to self-determination and an independent State, with East Jerusalem as its eternal capital. It is inevitable that we will achieve our freedom and independence and that we will celebrate the independence of our democratic State despite the occupations illusions. I pay tribute to our honorable martyrs and courageous prisoners and say to all Palestinians that we are soon approaching our day of freedom and independence and that the darkness of occupation will soon vanish. Peace and Gods mercy be upon you. * * * Palestinian Political Initiative First : We call for the convening of an international peace conference by mid-2018, based on international law and the relevant UN resolutions, with broad international participation and including the two concerned parties and the regional and international stakeholders, foremost among them the Permanent Members of the Security Council and the international Quartet, as was the framework for the Paris Peace Conference and as envisaged for the conference to be convened in Moscow as per resolution 1850 (2008). The outcomes of this conference should be as follows : A. Acceptance of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations and a call on the Security Council to achieve that, taking into account General Assembly resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012, and guaranteeing international protection for our people. B. Mutual recognition between the State of Palestine and the State of Israel on the basis of the 1967 borders. C. Formation of an international multilateral mechanism that will assist the two parties in the negotiations to resolve the permanent status issues defined in the Oslo Accords (Jerusalem, borders, security, settlements, refugees, water and prisoners), conduct those negotiations on the basis of international law and the relevant UN resolutions, and implement what is to be agreed upon within a set timeframe and with guarantees for this implementation. Second : During the period of negotiations, all parties must refrain from unilateral actions, particularly those that would prejudge the outcome of a final solution, as set forth in Article 31 of the Oslo Accords of 1993. Foremost must be the cessation of settlement activities in the territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and suspension of the decision regarding Jerusalem and halting transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, in compliance with the relevant Sectuity Council resolutions, including in particular resolutions 476 (1980), 478 (1980), 2334 (2016), and General Assembly resolution ES-1 0/19. At the same time, the State of Palestine would refrain from further joining organizations, as we have previously committed ourselves to. (Namely 22 international organizations out of 500 organizations and treaties.) Third : Implementation of the Arab Peace Initiative, as adopted and endorsed, and the conclusion of a regional agreement upon achievement of a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis. In this regard, we must reaffirm the terms of reference for any upcoming negotiations and they are as follows : 1. Respect for international law and the relevant resolutions, including Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) through to resolution 2334 (2016), and the Arab Peace Initiative, and the signed agreements. 2. Preservation of the principle of the two-States, i.e. the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with the State of Israel in peace and security on the basis of the 4 June 1967 borders, and rejection of partial solutions and a State of provisional borders. 3. Acceptance of minimal land swaps, in equal value and ratio, with the agreement between the two parties. 4. East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine and an open city for the faithful of the three monotheistic religions. 5. Ensuring the secmity of the two States without undennining the independence and sovereignty of either of them through the existence of an international third party. 6. A just and agreed solution for the Palestine refugees on the basis of resolution 194 (Ill) and in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and, pending a just solution, continuation of the international commitment and support to UNRWA. NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE Weyland Tech Inc. (OTCQX: WEYL) (Weyland or the Company) announced today a further update regarding the spin-off of its Weyland AtoZ Pay subsidiary (WAI), which holds a 49% equity ownership interest in PT Weyland Indonesia Perkasa, a limited liability company organized under the laws of the Republic of Indonesia (WIP). WIPs primary business operations includes a digital financial transactions app serving the rapidly growing Indonesia e-commerce and e-payment markets (eWallet). After its last press release, the Company has continued to receive numerous inquiries from shareholders, questioning the status of the Companys spin-off processing instructions to the DTC Participants (Spin-Off Processing Instructions). The Spin-Off Processing Instructions have been made available to the Companys transfer agent and DTCC, and the transfer agent is currently working with DTCC to ensure a full understanding of the Spin-Off Processing Instructions, so those requirements can be fully communicated to all relevant DTC Participants. As inquiries persist, however, the Company has decided to change the record date for the spin-off to October 5,, 2018 from September 28, 2018. The Company is making this change to allow more time for a full understanding of the Spin-Off Processing Instructions, so that those requirements can be fully communicated to all relevant DTC Participants. No other provisions for the Spin-off or the Spin-off Processing Instructions have changed. In light of this change the Companys shareholders of record as of the close of trading on October 5, 2018, the record date for the spin-off, will receive a pro-rata distribution of one (1) share of common stock of WAI for each five (5) shares of the Companys common stock held as of the record date. Fractional shares of WAI common stock will not be issued in the distribution. The spin-off is expected to be effective as of the end of the day on November 15, 2018, the distribution date for the spin-off. As mentioned in the Companys last press release, the Spin-Off Processing Instructions have been made available to the Companys transfer agent and DTCC, and the transfer agent is currently working with DTCC to ensure a full understanding of the Spin-Off Processing Instructions, so those requirements can be fully communicated to all relevant DTC Participants. As the spin-off shares are not DTCC, eligible and the spin-off is being processed outside of DTCC, the Spin-Off Processing Instructions provide DTC Participants with instructions for receiving the distribution for their beneficial owners directly from the Company. The instructions provide, in part, that: In order to obtain the spin-off shares for their clients, each DTC Participant must submit to the Company, no later than October 15, 2018, a beneficial owner list, as of the record date. The spin-off shares will be issued by the Companys transfer agent in physical certificate form. Certificates for each non-objecting beneficial owner (NOBO) will be issued in the name of the NOBO and mailed directly to the NOBO at their account address provided in the beneficial owner list. Certificates for each objecting beneficial owner (OBO) will be issued in the name of the DTC Participant, for the benefit of the OBO, and mailed directly to the DTC Participant, in accordance with the OBO delivery instructions contained in the DTC Participants Beneficial Owner List Transmittal, for further processing in accordance with their OBOs instructions. With respect to WEYL shares held in retirement accounts, the Company will issue certificates for the spin-off shares in the name of the respective DTC Participant, as custodian for, and for the benefit of, the particular retirement account (e.g., Participant Name, Custodian FBO John Smith Roth IRA), and such shares will be mailed directly to the DTC Participant, in accordance with the retirement account delivery instructions contained in the DTC Participants Beneficial Owner List Transmittal. If you are a registered shareholder of the Company and hold your shares in WEYL, as of the record date, in certificate or book-entry form through the transfer agent you need not do anything to receive your spin-off shares, as the transfer agent will automatically issue your spin-off shares directly to your account and deliver the certificate to your address of record with the transfer agent. DTC Participants should refer to the full Spin-Off Processing Instructions for complete details regarding the spin-off processing procedures. Inquiries from DTC Participants or shareholders regarding the spin-off can be directed as follows: Email: spin-off@weyland-tech.com Tel: 347.566.4334 If any DTC Participants have not yet received the Spin-Off Processing Instructions they can also request a copy directly from the Company, by email to the above email address, while they are awaiting formal notice of the spin-off from DTCC. Further details regarding WAI and WIP (and its Indonesia eWallet business) will be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K, which will be filed on the SECs EDGAR reporting system prior to the distribution date for the spin-off. About Weyland Tech Inc. Weyland Tech is a global provider of mobile business applications. Its CreateApp platform offers a mobile presence to businesses in emerging markets, with partnerships on 3 continents and growing. This DIY mobile application platform, offered in 14 languages with over 35 integrated modules, enables small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) to create native mobile applications (apps) for Apples iOS and Google Android without technical knowledge or background, empowering SMBs to increase sales, reach more customers and promote their products and services in an easy, affordable and efficient manner. In May 2018, the Company expanded its portfolio to fintech applications with the launch of its AtoZ Pay mobile payments platform. The mobile wallet launched in the worlds 4th most populous country, Indonesia, and is already experiencing rapid growth in transactions taking place on the platform. Follow Weyland Tech online at: Weyland Tech Facebook Page ( https://www.facebook.com/weylandtech ) Weyland Tech Twitter Feed ( https://twitter.com/weylandtechinc ) Weyland Tech LinkedIn Page ( https://linkedin.com/company/weylandtech ) Brent Suen, CEO Public Facebook Page ( https://www.facebook.com/BrentSuenWEYL ) Brent Suen, CEO Public Twitter Feed ( https://www.twitter.com/BrentSuenWEYL ) Safe Harbor Statement This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements including statements regarding: the continued growth of the e-commerce segment and the ability of the Company to continue its expansion into that segment; the ability of the Company to attract customers and partners and generate revenues; the ability of the Company to successfully execute its business plan; the business strategy, plans, and objectives of the Company; and any other statements of non-historical information. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as believes, expects or similar expressions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Companys actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Companys periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website ( http://www.sec.gov) . All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume any duty to update these forward-looking statements. UK and Gibraltar Governments in High-Level Brexit Talks The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia today met in Downing Street with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Dominic Raab MP together with Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Robin Walker MP. This is part of the continuing engagement between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar Governments. It comes as part of an intensification of the programme of work in the run up to the next meeting of the European Council in October. The United Kingdom and Gibraltar Governments, as has already been said, are preparing for a deal and for a no-deal Brexit at the same time. The high-level political meeting followed detailed technical talks with officials from different UK Government Departments, which also included Attorney General Michael Llamas and Financial Secretary Albert Mena. During the meeting the Secretary of State expressed his full support for Gibraltar in the Brexit negotiations and going forward. Jazz FM for the Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival Jazz FM, billed as the worlds greatest jazz, blues and soul station, will broadcast live from Gibraltar from Monday, November 12th Friday, November 16th 2018, coinciding with the 6th edition of the Gibraltar Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival. Presenter Nigel Williams (a Jazz FM stalwart who first joined the station in 1994) will host the weekday breakfast show from the Rock airing GMT 6.30 am -10.00 am. Each day the show will highlight a tourist attraction or theme, mixed with local interviews and drawing on the buzz of the Literary Festival. Commenting ahead of the live broadcast Nigel commented I cant wait to head back to Gibraltar and be a part of this wonderful festival. The Rock holds a special place for me personally having visited regularly throughout my life and actually my father was born in the military hospital there! A prize draw to win a trip to Gibraltar will be promoted over a six-week period on-air and online through the Jazz FM website, maximising the destinations exposure to a listening weekly audience of 672,000. UK listeners can reach the station through DAB Digital Radio, on Sky Channel 0202, online at Jazzfm.com and via free Apple, Android and Alexa apps. Jazz FM embraces and celebrates the complete spectrum of Jazz in all its colourful forms. Broadcasters, producers and the team are true devotees, with a deep love and understanding of their particular Jazz shade. Jazz FMs passion is vivid, its enthusiasm infectious, sharing the finest jazz with everyone. As the UKs only dedicated Jazz broadcaster, the mission is to entertain, promote and celebrate all thats great about Jazz, and give back to the public by co-founding the Love Supreme Jazz Festival and celebrating the best talent by hosting the sensational annual Jazz FM awards. The involvement with national festivals and awards is part of this masterplan - setting the bar high for live performance, recognising outstanding talent and strengthening the Jazz community. Jazz FM has always worked with the best - the best presenters, brands and organisations, including the BBC on the ground-breaking BBC Music Jazz pop-up digital radio station in 2015 and 2016. The latest technology and platforms allows Jazz FM to reach its audience in ways they want across the UK on DAB, online, on smart phone, tablet and DTV. It was also one of the first UK-wide radio brands to create its own ground breaking Smart Speak Skill. Alexa... play Jazz FM Photo: Neon The marketing for Assassination Nation suggests an orgy of empowering ultraviolence: You asked for it, America, blare the posters, above an image of four young women in shiny red coats brandishing an assortment of deadly weapons. But is it a movie about empowerment, or annihilation? Sam Levinsons film takes place in the small suburban enclave of Salem (literary allusion alert!), which loses its motherfucking mind and is plunged into chaos when a mysterious hacker starts stealing peoples private information and making it public. First, the conservative town mayor is outed as a cross-dresser who solicits male escorts, which in turn leads to his committing suicide during a news conference. Next, the high-school principal is condemned for innocent photos of his naked 6-year-old daughter, which some deem pornographic. Eventually, the hacker (named Er0str4tus, evoking Herostratus, the ancient Greek fame-hound who torched the Temple of Artemis for the lulz) uploads half the towns data, and all hell breaks loose particularly for our protagonist Lily Coulson (Odessa Young), a high-school girl carrying on a sexting affair with her married next-door neighbor (Joel McHale), and her closest friends Bex (Hari Nef), Sarah (Suki Waterhouse), and Em (Abra). Before the madness erupts, however, Assassination Nation depicts a town already teetering on the edge of ruin even if nobody quite realizes it. The first half of the film shows the four girls navigating a world where judgment, posturing, and misunderstanding rule the day, fueled by the breakneck speed of social media. Ironically enough, before he gets his own digital comeuppance, the principal confronts Lily over a series of explicit nudes shes drawn; she insists that shes trying to convey the physical imperfections that girls are always wrestling with, and the reality that nobody is ever flawless. But nuance, sincerity, and humanity are impossible in this ruthless atmosphere. They tell you that if youre honest and you say what you feel that youll get what you want, Lily tells us in voice-over, over images of her friends dancing and hooking up. But the truth is no one wants the real you They only want pieces and parts. They want to pick and choose. Overstuffed with contemporary newspeak, Assassination Nation presents an exaggerated portrait of the sounds and textures of todays America. The movie even playfully opens with a Trigger Warning and proceeds to launch into a rapid-fire montage of all the objectionable things were about to see. (Homophobia racism transphobia fragile male egos ) But as contrived and stylized as its narrative is, Levinsons film does capture a certain anxiety that is very much of the moment. Which is why its final scene, of our four heroines, joined by a group of other battle-ready teens, preparing for one final and presumably devastating confrontation with the rest of Salem the moment referenced in that aforementioned poster feels like the only possible way to end this picture. The jurys out on whether the time were living in is any more hopeless than other periods in history. (Lets face it: 1968 had a lot more assassinations; 1933 had a lot more people on the streets; 1939 had way more Nazis.) But because of the accelerated nature of communication and the way misery, anger, and panic spread like wildfire online, things often feel more hopeless. And our cultural products seem to reflect this, too. You can see traces of this despair in movies as diverse as Sorry to Bother You whose vision of racial and economic conflict is only partly resolved by a climactic, surreal melee involving genetically engineered, all-powerful Equisapiens (long story) and Avengers: Infinity War, whose epic tale of superheroes trying to stop the universes greatest villain from wiping out half of all humanity ends with the universes greatest villain wiping out half of all humanity. Watching Assassination Nations arch portrait of todays currents and countercurrents, one senses just how utterly irreconcilable our many differences are. One is tempted to say that its a movie made for that 39 percent of Americans who think a second Civil War is around the corner. While the catalyst for the films rapidly spiraling cataclysm of violence is an anonymous hacker with uncertain aims, its telling that all the hacker has to do to cause a full-on societal meltdown is simply to let everyone know what everyone else is thinking and doing. Honesty, in other words, is the worst policy in the movies vision of America. Speaking of Civil War, with its gleefully nihilistic bloodshed and its sense that we are all just one or two news cycles away from all-out Armageddon, Assassination Nation actually reminds me of a smaller film that came and went last year: Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnions Bushwick, a sleazy little thriller that depicted an invasion of Brooklyn by a rebel military force from Texas, part of an alliance of secessionist southern states. I first saw Bushwick at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, just days after Donald Trump had taken office; at the time, its conceit of a rogue South allied against the U.S. government felt like a misread prophecy. But as with Assassination Nation, its mood of paranoid desperation rang very true. Bushwick follows Lucy (Brittany Snow), a grad student on her way to see her grandmother when she finds herself in the middle of an explosive street battle. She joins forces with Stupe (Dave Bautista), a burly ex-marine with excellent survival skills, as they make their way through Bushwick in an attempt to reach a military extraction point. At one point, they interrogate a rebel soldier, who confesses that Brooklyn was chosen as an invasion point because its ethnic diversity and strict gun laws made it weak and defenseless. (Har har.) Of course, the local resistance is scrappy, resourceful, and armed in all sorts of creative ways; the bad guys might have tanks, but the people of Brooklyn have garbage trucks. Nevertheless, the film ends in the middle of a huge battle in the park, during which the invaders appear to be on the verge of conquering all of New York. And yet, Bushwick isnt exactly a depressing picture. Not unlike Assassination Nation, there is something weirdly enthralling about the fact that it all ends on the promise of potentially cleansing apocalypse. It speaks to a tendency in todays movies, a sense that our current social and political trajectories make peaceful reconciliation impossible. True, peaceful reconciliation is an inherently uncinematic concept; movies are all about drama, and drama demands conflict. But more than ever, it seems, our cinema has become a cinema of the end, our aesthetic the aesthetic of burn it all down. Assassination Nation has also been compared to The Purge, in part because it indulges in the spectacle of ordinary people in masks roaming the streets wallowing in their bloodlust. But The Purge franchise itself has changed quite a bit over the past few years going from a Twilight Zoneinflected home-invasion thriller in the first film to a more pointed allegory in the later entries. And its now a fairly middling TV series a fact which seems to say more about our current predicament than any specific thing that might actually happen on the show. In the second entry of the film series, The Purge: Anarchy (still the best of the lot), director James DeMonaco presents us with a landscape of inchoate rage and resentment as soon as Purge Night starts, citizens begin raping and pillaging and murdering with abandon. Even as the protagonists fight back, and try to quell their own violent instincts, the film suggests that wrath and murder are our default settings. Later titles have tried to walk back this notion somewhat. Purge: Election Year, released during the 2016 campaign, gives us a female presidential candidate who is crusading to stop Purge Night, battling the wealthy, pasty, sneering men who control the U.S. government. It ends with her triumphant at the polls, a development which now looks downright fantastical yet another outdated transmission from a more hopeful time that ultimately wasnt very hopeful at all. Meanwhile, this years The First Purge gives us a prequel that looks back to the very first Purge Night, showing how initially the promise of sanctioned lawlessness led not to bloodshed but wild hedonism. Frustrated that the residents of Staten Island (where the Purge had its first test run) arent offing each other, the men in charge resort to broadcasting video of a stabbing, and floating social-media rage-bait in an effort to turn people against one another. When even that doesnt work, they finally just send masked soldiers pretending to be ordinary folks out into the streets to start mowing everyone down. The Purge has somehow gone from being a tale of societal bloodlust and psychosis to one of top-down, coerced slaughter violence imposed on us against our better, more communal instincts. And while its admirable and even kind of interesting that this grind-house-y series has become more responsible, its also hard not to feel that explaining away our madness as just the demented fancy of a gaggle of evil elites is an awkward retcon an attempt to let the rest of us off the hook. It may well be that we are more than capable of harming each other without the intervention of faceless, powerful bogeymen. DeMonaco, after all, first had the idea for The Purge after being involved in a road-rage incident, and recognizing the deep swells of anger within himself. Of course, these are all just movies, and often stupid ones at that. But sometimes, schlock has a way of bringing things to the surface that more respectable fare is afraid to touch. Maybe thats why, ultimately, the empowered nihilism of Assassination Nations finale, as consciously silly as it is with the girls all decked out in the costumes of a Japanese cult action movie feels more cathartic, even emotionally honest. It doesnt seek reconciliation, or find solutions, or even deliver a cheap and fake happy ending. Because in the movies, we can admit to ourselves that sometimes its best to let the temple burn. #freebritney The Conservatorship of Britney Spears and Her Estate Is Officially Over Whats next for Britney, and this is the first time this could be said in a decade, is up to one person: Britney. John Cho. Photo: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images for Film Independen Post-Searching, John Cho is co-starring in Ike Barinholtzs political comedy The Oath. When the Barinholtz character refuses to sign a national declaration of loyalty to the president, Cho plays a government agent who comes knockin. Cho is characteristically good at playing the calmly unsettling agent who arrives without warning, and the goofy role was a good time. When I was younger I was just really worried about the next job, and now it feels like Im allowing myself more to think about what would be fun, what would be a crazy situation what would you have never thought about doing when you started 20 years ago? he told Vulture at The Oaths L.A. premiere at the ArcLight Hollywood. The movie definitely fits those descriptions: Cho crashes a familys Thanksgiving festivities and gets into a fistfight with Barinholtz in the living room. I honestly cant believe Im in that place, not that Im an A-lister and can green-light anything I want. Its just sort of my mind is opening up to things I want to say and do, Cho continued. Im more in this space now where Im evaluating projects based on this rationale: Is there a reason for that to be here? Like, you look at a television show and you go, Does that need to exist? But if I feel like, Yes, it needs to be made, then thats exciting for me. As a younger actor, Cho says he didnt have the same luxury: When I was young, I didnt think that way because I couldnt afford to. Reporting by Scott Huver. Nelly. Photo: Greg Doherty/Getty Images Nelly has a settled a lawsuit with a woman who accused him of rape, TMZ reports. Monique Greene, a college student, accused Nelly of forcing her to perform oral sex on him and raping her on his tour bus last October, which Nelly denied. Nelly was arrested, but Greene dropped the charges saying she did not feel safe enough to testify in court. Greene later sued Nelly for sexual assault and defamation for accusing her of fabricating the rape allegations, to which Nelly countersued for defamation. A lawyer for the rapper tells TMZ that Nelly and Greene have now mutually agreed to drop their lawsuits and no money changed hands, which Greenes lawyer disputes. Nelly has been accused of sexually assaulting at least two other women. South Park Dead Kids Season 22 Episode 1 Editors Rating 2 stars * * Previous Next Photo: Comedy Central Up at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, I saw a motion picture that begins with a realistically rendered school shooting. The rest of the film interrogates the lasting emotional and sociological ramifications of this tragedy in particular and the phenomenon in general, placing the epidemic of gun violence within a broader framework of hysteria in America. Nonetheless, a good deal of the audience wasnt having it, judging from the healthy number of walkouts and the shall-we-say-mixed reception on Twitter afterward. One critic told me that the movie had lost him from the first scene and never got him back onboard, and he wasnt the only one taking the graphic handling of such sensitive subject material as an instant deal-breaker. These people would lose their damn minds if they had to watch South Park every week. They dont have to, and most likely wont; the shows great advantage is that after two decades on the air, theyve winnowed their viewership down to a core fandom impervious to offenses of taste and large enough to sustain the production into perpetuity. The 22nd season premiere, Dead Kids, opens with an active gunman on the loose at a grade-school facility, and if the clinical detachment of the previously mentioned film alienated average moviegoers, the sniggering glibness of these scenes could very well inspire mass fainting spells. Of course, Trey Parker and Matt Stone would love nothing more. Their goal has always been to get a rise out of their audience first and launch a cogent satirical critique second. This episode passes the former hurdle with flying colors, but never clears the latter. The gag here is that, after sitting through the exact same news cycle ad nauseam, nobodys all that fazed by the prospect of a serial murderer prowling through a local school. In Stan and Cartmans class, they continue to learn how to add fractions with different denominators as if nothing has happened, the teacher speaking only slightly louder to be heard over the sound of gunfire. During a meeting with PC Principal (who speaks with his hands tucked into his armpits, a subtly clever gym-teacher touch), Mr. Mackey steps out to take care of a shooting situation the same way someone at a party shoulders the chore of answering the door when the pizza guy arrives. Stans mom Sharon is the only one appropriately processing the days happenings, screaming her head off while her husband and son behave in a rather cavalier manner. (Whats this about a shooting at the school? Was it you? Did you get shot? is Randy Marshs half-interested inquiry.) South Parks point that the constant routine of shock and grieving has inured the American people to the simple act of feeling is not incorrect, just expressed in garbled terms. Instead of digging deeper on the psychosis of numbness, the A-plot turns into an unending elbow-rib about chicks and the periods that make them crazy. An unruly response to such extreme experiences is perfectly reasonable in these extraordinary circumstances, but Randy is convinced that Sharon is overreacting due to her time of the month and conveys as much via labored charades behind her back. He smooths everything over with a heartfelt rendition of Andy Williamss gold-throated theme (Where Do I Begin?) Love Story, and yet still things end with her apologizing to him for being unable to recognize when shes acting irrationally. Because Sharons in the right while Randys a complete idiot, the jokes supposed to be on him, but that reading doesnt completely hold water. Thats surely the explanation Parker and Stone would give for their approach, doubly applied here as Cartman goes on an investigation to figure out whether Token abstained from seeing Black Panther in the B-plot. Cartmans blithe racism and Randys mid-century attitudes about the female body are posited as self-evidently laughable, baldly wrong as they are to any right-thinking human being. But that impression originates in the presumed conscience of the viewer and not from the show, which is glad to chortle along at the suggestions that bleeding makes ladies cuckoo and black people are lying about loving the actually-not-that-great Black Panther. If were willing to be decent people, that frees Parker and Stone up to misbehave to their hearts contents. Covering South Park at the same time as Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia feels a bit like being on a sophomoric current-events beat, as both shows process the major topics of the moment with a self-aware boorishness. They duel every Wednesday night, and this weeks matchup made the contrast between the two programs and their distinct methods of satire starker than ever. While the Paddys gang touched on the #MeToo movement with humility, implicating themselves as part of the problem to communicate the sum total of issues currently facing women, South Park has a chronic tendency to let itself off the hook. The crux of the South Park ethic is the viewers willingness to point and say look at this A-hole over here, but that places the onus of creating meaning on us. The flip side of this tack is that it leaves room for morally deficient viewers to have their worst instincts validated and parroted back, and those without the inclination to question whats onscreen simply wont do so. Parker and Stone bank on their viewer recognizing the horribleness played for laughs as such, but leave no signposts to suggest their true intentions. Forget the finger-flutterers thrown off balance by art-house severity; imagine how a hypothetical outsider with no knowledge of or regard for the ongoing school shooting cycle would see this. To anyone who doesnt already see the horror of these images going into the episode, making it redundant as commentary, it all looks like a big joke. Assorted Thoughts Before the deleted-scene footage shows up, the end credits roll over a large watermark reading #cancelsouthpark, a reference to their cheeky new advertising campaign in which Trey Parker and Matt Stone plead with fans to free them from their contract by demanding the shows removal from Comedy Centrals schedule. Call it a sign of the times: One of TVs most dependable controversy magnets now has to gin up its own opposition. Though he cuts an imposing figure, toddling down the corridors of his school with an AK-47 clutched in hand, Butters may not be the most effective hall monitor the South Park school system couldve chosen. Cartmans side adventure this week is pretty tiresome, but its all worth it for the bit where he briefly turns into Columbo while grilling Token and his family, muttering, One last thing! like the gumshoe of note. Hes like a tiny, bile-spewing, cartoon Peter Falk. Who would have thought that a group outing to a location literally called the Anger Room could have gone so poorly? To aid in their collective recovery, Stephanie is hosting a spa day in her beautiful new bathroom, which, in case youve forgotten since RHODs last half-Architectural Digest, half-porn montage introduced us to it, features a $45,000 hot tub, a $40,000 steam room, and a $10,000 Japanese toilet that opens itself up to greet you like gobbling your turds and guzzling your pee is the unequivocal highlight of its day, please, can it have some more? (To be clear, I love this toilet.) With Brandis help, Stephanie auditions male models who are, almost uniformly, very buff and very gay to serve as their massage-adjacent eye candy, putting them through a gauntlet of gentle and loving sexual harassment: parading shirtless, feeding Brandi grapes, withstanding a series of industrial-strength hugs. And then, for some reason, a baby kangaroo wearing a diaper appears. We get no explanation for its presence from its apparent owner, a conspicuously skinny man whose relatively unexceptional physique does not spare him from having his nipples stroked by Stephanie. She hires them all (including, especially, the kangaroo), on the grounds that each and every one was so stinking nice. Even more than your average Housewives episode, this week were in for an extended commercial for our gals various business ventures. LeeAnne poses in look after look after look during a video shoot for her convertible Infinity Dress. For a moment, I am racked with terror at the prospect that they are going to make me sit and watch as LeeAnne demonstrates every single possible permutation of the dress, in every possible color, including some wavelengths that can only be perceived by mantis shrimp. I will die here, my only legacy the blob of thigh fear-sweat stained into my couch. Fortunately, its over soon, and while I actually do like many of her miscellaneous sleeves and poofy skirt add-ons, she has at least one regrettable piece of shoulders-to-elbows fabric, which evokes Michael Scott tearing up his suit in the wilderness, but make it fashion. Kameron hails the garment as genius, and coming from the creator of SparkleDog, that really means, well, something. We get only a few precious clips of Kameron manning her booth at the Global Pet Expo (no contract for licensing or a distributor just yet, though), but they do include her telling a group of pups, You guys are all SparkleDogs inside! You guys are sparkling every day! Which happens to be the affirmation I say aloud to myself in the mirror every morning. Most pivotally, were all off to a party for a pop-up for Brandis Brandi Land clothing line. Think caftan wrap dresses in jewel tones and foliage prints. I like them! But this event is not so much about the merch as it is a social Large Hadron Collider, in which everyone ricochets around the shop at the speed of light and immediately finds a reason to fight with whoever they happen to smash into. First, Kameron decides shes angry at Cary for playing both sides as to whether she or Stephanie was in the wrong during the Battle at Beaver Creek (best remembered for how unbearably annoying Kameron was being about Brandis adoption). Um, you were both wrong, Cary replies without hesitating. Kameron accuses Cary of pointing a finger at her, then moments later points her own finger at Cary. She gets up in a huff, only to collide with DAndra and LeeAnne, who are just raring to continue their fight over DAndras $200 shopping account. DAndra says shes especially embarrassed about Kameron, what with her judgmental society connections, having heard about her supposed poverty. Thank God this isnt transpiring on a nationally broadcasted television show and is instead a secret that weve all sworn to take to our graves! Anyway, LeeAnne apologizes profusely to DAndra, with a Terms of Endearment-esque catch in her throat: I would rather hurt myself than hurt you. (In a pretty delightful confessional, DAndra waves a purple unicorn piggy bank around and accuses LeeAnne of wearing $4 hair extensions from China, so its safe to say this isnt over.) Cary and Kameron make up, too. Kam explains that, deep down, shes still hurt that no one defended her from a crazed, dildo-wielding Brandi in Mexico. Cary earns points with Kameron by telling her that she stopped Brandi from giving her a Stressticles gag gift in Colorado. COLLISION THE THIRD! Brandi is quietly distraught to hear Cary say this, given that it was her decision to withhold this years crop of rubber genital simulacra. While Im less than thrilled to be spending some of the waning moments of my youth litigating over a gift that was never actually given, I dont necessarily think either Brandi or Cary is in the wrong, here! Cary correctly remembers that she advised Brandi against whipping out the Stressticles, whether or not her counsel was ultimately what changed Brandis mind. For her part, Brandi is generally exhausted and overwhelmed, not to mention, as shell tell Stephanie later, frustrated that shes continually painted as the bad influence in their group. The sun rises on spa day. Flanked by hired hunks clad in togas, self-described madam Stephanie greets each of her four horny queens in attendance with a tiara and a monogrammed robe, to match the monogrammed private-jet PJs Kameron got them just a few weeks earlier. Does every woman in Dallas have a closet full of monogrammed, impossible-to-regift party favors? Callie-Roo the kangaroo constitutes the marsupial branch of the welcoming committee. I have so many questions. Who is the kangaroo keeper? How did they find him? Why did he come here? Why does he have a kangaroo? Is he some kind of professional exotic wildlife handler, humiliated for one day into wearing a toga on the job? If not, why did he bring the kangaroo? If so, why did he bring the kangaroo? Is the kangaroo okay? Do I, personally, need to be calling some kind of Texas animal control agency? As LeeAnne says, I am 100% sure that this aint legal. Brandi and Cary split off to get manis; LeeAnne and Stephanie get massages. After Brandi and Cary make amends (I did feel upset and shocked about the Stressticles thing is a sentence I have never heard before, but with any luck, I will one day hear it again), Brandi speculates that LeeAnne has poisoned Kameron against her. I give Cary Guess What? Im Literally Going to Tell Every Secret You Tell Me to Everyone Else and You Cant Even Be Mad About It Deuber ten minutes before she spills to LeeAnne, or maybe five, if Stephanies bathroom also has a pneumatic tube messaging system ($50,000!) they forgot to include in the final cut of the episode. Each month, several films and TV shows leave Netflixs library; we recommend titles to watch before theyre gone. For all our streaming guides and Netflix picks, head to Vultures What to Stream hub. Glee. Photo: FOX This Months Highlight Glee Some people have The Office or Seinfeld, but for a certain generation, there was Glee, a show we love to hate and also hate that we love. Ryan Murphys huge project before countless American Story series and spinoffs (and after Nip/Tuck), Glee was simply about a high-school show choir in Ohio and become a huge hit. The whole series itself is grab bag of quality, so I wouldnt blame you for skipping out on the later seasons, but if you only have time to rewatch a couple of episodes, do yourself a favor and check out the very first episode at least. Its truly one of the strongest pilots in recent history and will have you weirdly emotional over Dont Stop Believin for the rest of your life (or maybe thats just me). Full List of Whats Leaving Netflix November 2021 Noteworthy selections in bold. Leaving November 1 My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree My Little Pony: Happy Birthday to You! Leaving November 4 Bucket List The Lovers Leaving November 5 The Late Bloomer Leaving November 7 Sleepless Leaving November 10 A Single Man Leaving November 11 Fruitvale Station Leaving November 14 Americas Next Top Model: Season 19 Americas Next Top Model: Season 20 K-on! the movie K-On!: Seasons 1-2 Survivor: Season 20: Heroes vs Villains Survivor: Season 28: Cagayan Leaving November 15 Safe House Leaving November 17 Naomi and Elys No Kiss List Leaving November 19 Spy Kids: All the Time in the World Leaving November 21 Beverly Hills Ninja Machete Kills Leaving November 26 Broadchurch: Seasons 1-3 Leaving November 29 Man Down: Seasons 1-4 Leaving November 30 3 Days to Kill A Knights Tale American Outlaws Are You The One: Seasons 1-2 Battlefield Earth Chef Clear and Present Danger Freedom Writers Glee: Seasons 1-6 The Happytime Murders Ink Master: Seasons 1-2 Letters to Juliet The Lincoln Lawyer Million Dollar Baby Peppermint Pineapple Express Rake: Seasons 1-4 Richard Pryor: Live in Concert School of Rock Stargate SG-1: Seasons 1-10 TURN: Washingtons Spies: Seasons 1-4 Waterworld For more coverage of the best movies and TV shows available on Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Disney+, and Showtime check out Vultures What to Stream Now hub, which is updated throughout the month. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's effort to marshal unified international pressure on North Korea, already under strain, showed cracks Thursday as Russia and China registered their opposition to further punishing Pyongyang. Pompeo expressed frustration at a United Nations meeting Thursday that some countries were not strictly abiding by sanctions on Pyongyang, a major part of the US strategy to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs, along with President Donald Trump's efforts at personal diplomacy. Asia China Continents and regions Donald Trump East Asia Eastern Europe Embargoes and sanctions Europe Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Government departments and authorities Government organizations - Intl International relations International relations and national security Mike Pompeo Military Military weapons North America North Korea North Korea nuclear development Nuclear weapons Political Figures - US Pyongyang Russia State departments and diplomatic services The Americas United Nations United Nations Security Council United States US-North Korea summit Weapons and arms Weapons of mass destruction "It is imperative for members of the United Nations to take that to heart," Pompeo said of the need to maintain pressure. "Enforcement of UN Security Council sanctions must continue vigorously and without fail until we realize the fully, final, verified denuclearization. The members of this council must set the example on that effort, and we must all hold each other accountable." 'A wise decision' But in the same meeting, the representatives from Russia and China pushed back on Pompeo, asking the US to make concessions or back off its push to maintain sanctions. The Chinese foreign minister, after praising US engagement with North Korea and in particular the announcement that Trump will hold a second summit with Kim, suggested the Trump administration give North Korea something it has long sought: an official end to hostilities between the two countries. "A timely declaration of an end of war ... would help build basic trust, further facilitate denuclearization and put in place [conditions] for a final peace accord," said Wang Yi. "In China's view, a political and wise decision must be made." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that steps by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including the dismantling of nuclear sites and a cessation in weapons and missile testing, should be followed by an easing of sanctions. "It is unacceptable for sanctions against the DPRK to become an instrument of collective punishment," Lavrov said, according to UN translators. "Against a backdrop of readiness of Pyongyang to cooperate ... it seems inappropriate and untimely when our Western partners have imposed a course of tightening sanctions against Pyongyang." Pompeo outlined a few of the sanctions violations the US has become aware of. He noted that North Korea had breached a UN-mandated cap on petroleum imports through smuggling and that its coal exports, which fund its weapons programs are continuing. He also noted that some Security Council members were violating a UN resolution that barred the use of North Korean workers, a possible reference to Russia and to China, both of which have used large numbers of North Korean workers in the past. "The United States is troubled by recent reports that member-states, including members of the Security Council, are hosting new North Korean laborers," Pompeo said. "This violates the spirit and the letter of the Security Council resolutions that we all agreed to uphold." Pompeo said the US and North Korea are "well into a diplomatic process and we want, indeed we hope, to see this through to a successful end." Pompeo said he would be traveling to "Pyongyang next month to meet with Chairman Kim and accelerate that process." In September, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley accused Russia of "cheating" and acting like a "virus" for helping North Korea evade international sanctions through ship-to-ship transfers on the high seas. Russia's ambassador to the UN denied the accusation and said Haley had made an "emotional statement." In his address to the General Assembly, Trump heaped praise on Kim, claimed great progress has been made with North Korea and insisted that sanctions against Pyongyang would remain in place until the country has denuclearized. "I would like to thank Chairman Kim for his courage and for the steps he has taken, though much work remains to be done," the President said. "The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs," he said. NANJING, China, Sept. 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recently, the 15th Pacific Rim International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (PRICAI 2018), co-hosted by Jiangsu Association for Artificial Intelligence and Southeast University, was successfully held in Nanjing. More than 200 well-known university professors, scholars, as well as enterprises and experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence from all over the world discussed deeply and exchanged their opinions on topics related to Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Discovery in Database, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, etc. Dr. Cui Wei, chief scientist with Squirrel AI Learning, was invited to the conference. He delivered a wonderful speech and became the focus among the distinguished guests. It is known PRICAI is a biennial international conference on Artificial Intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region. The conference contents mainly include Artificial Intelligence theory, technology and applications, covering important sectors such as society and economy in the Pacific Rim countries. It is an international event with far-reaching influence in the field of science & technology in the Asia-Pacific region. As the chief scientist of Squirrel AI Learning, Dr. Cui Wei delivered a wonderful keynote speech at the meeting. He shared the technical advantages of the Squirrel AI Adaptive Learning System and the achievements in the technology-driven application process. The participants learned about the development and application of Artificial Intelligence in the field of education, which attracted great attention of famous experts and scholars in the international Artificial Intelligence field. Dr. Cui Wei said that the squirrel AI Adaptive Learning System is a "full-circle" AI education product introduced by Yixue Education with the aim to implement it in the core process of "teaching" and "learning". It applies Intelligent Evaluation Algorithms, Capability Diagnosis and Students State Representation Models, as well as recommended algorithms applied in both Learning Path Planning and Learning Content Planning. In addition, Dr. Cui Wei also revealed that the Squirrel AI Learning is now working on the of algorithms such as learning mode selection and early warning/intervention through deep learning. The key is that by collecting and analyzing learning data, the target-related knowledge points will be identified/mastered in minimum time with the combination of AI and nano-scale knowledge maps. We can establish the personalized and dynamic student portrait via continuous measurement of students' knowledge status, understand each student's learning state and problems encountered, so as to design test and learning paths accordingly, adjust teaching activities, and continuously recommend the most appropriate learning materials during the learning process, measure learning effects, as well as foster self-learning and provide feedback to AI predictive ability and effect. Dr. Cui Wei introduced three modeling elements of Squirrel AI Learning, which are: 1) user portrait of students the student's preference and interest, learning style, cognitive characteristics, ability level and knowledge status; 2) model the learning content and build nano-scale knowledge maps present different forms of learning resources in the forms of video, text, audio, picture and exercise, and at the same time, establish algorithms to tag knowledge points and exercise as well as provide corresponding difficulty coefficients; 3) Personalized matching match each student with the most suitable learning paths and courses, and recommend personalized learning contents to maximize learning efficiency via the data generated in the previous two steps. Finally, Dr. Cui Wei mentioned an unprecedented man-machine teaching competition held across the country in 100 cities by Squirrel AI Learning, where the Squirrel AI Adaptive Learning System and experienced public school teachers experienced fair competition. The results showed that the teaching quality and efficiency of Artificial Intelligence Adaptive Learning System was significantly higher than human teachers. In addition, Squirrel AI Learning has successively established a joint laboratory for Artificial Intelligence adaptive learning in cooperation with Stanford Research Institute (SRI). Squirrel AI Learning has also established a parallel AI intelligent adaptation joint laboratory with the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the future, they will jointly explore the ability of continuous technological innovation in the era of Artificial Intelligence. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/30884440-cb83-4526-973f-c58039262be5 After the meeting, Dr. Cui Wei communicated and discussed with Yang Qiang (Fig. 1), Dean of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Zhou Zhihua (Fig. 2), Dean of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence of Nanjing University, Professor Stephen Muggleton (Fig. 3) of Machine Learning, Department of Computing at Imperial College London as well as other well-known experts and scholars in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Discovery in Database. As an international expert and leading figure in Artificial Intelligence research, Professor Yang Qiang has played an important role in guiding and promoting the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Knowledge Discovery in Database (KDD) in China. He is the first and the only AAAI Chinese executive member and also the first Chinese scientist serving as chairman of the IJCAI Board of Trustees. Professor Zhou Zhihua, who has worked as AAAI Fellow, IEEE Fellow, IAPR Fellow, ACM Fellow and AAAS Fellow successively, is the first Chinese person who has participated in all the important international association of Artificial Intelligence. AAAI recently announced that Professor Zhou Zhihua would serve as co-chairman of the Program Committee of AAAI 2019 Conference with Professor Pascal Van Hentenryck from the University of Michigan. Professor Stephen Muggleton, graduated from the University of Edinburgh, has served as postdoctoral researcher at Turing Academy at University of Glasgow and EPSRC Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University Computing Laboratory (OUCL). After understanding the leading algorithms and models of Squirrel AI Learning as well as the practical application of intelligent adaptation technology, they expressed great appreciation to the achievement of Squirrel AI and the endeavors to apply Artificial Intelligence technology in order to promote fair, efficient and personalized education. They were confident that Squirrel AI Learning would become the forerunner and leader in the field of global Artificial Intelligence technology in the education sector. In addition, members of the Squirrel AI team exchanged and interacted with experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence and listened to their research report,including Deborah Richards(fifth from right), professor with Department of Computer Science,Australia's Macquarie University; Paul Compton (fourth from right), honorary professor from the University of New South Wales, Australia. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/df4ccfb6-8618-4e7f-a27d-16db6b23aed3 Deborah Richards specializes in the application research on Artificial Intelligence technologies, such as the application of Artificial Intelligence to educational data, government public data, Internet data and many other fields. She gave a report entitled "Towards real time adaption: uncovering user models from experimental data" at the conference. "By exploring student data as well as using big data and Artificial Intelligence technology, we can learn the learning patterns of students and conduct real-time adaptive education," she said. She also mentioned that one of their educational software, PALLAS, is on sale in China. Being the former Dean of the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales, Paul Compton presented this conference as Session Chair. He elaborated his famous algorithm Ripple-Down Rules in his report. The algorithm is a kind of expert system methodology, which is a method for knowledge representation and acquisition. Paul Compton said that in a sense, the RDR algorithm is an extension or variant of the CBR (Case-base Reasoning) method. By introducing rules into CBR, RDR applies rules to index cases, and uses error-driven mechanisms to acquire knowledge. Moreover, we know that Squirrel AI Learning will further expand its data open plan, and welcome the cooperation with global researchers and teams to conduct more extensive academic research on the application of Artificial Intelligence technology to the field of intellectual adaptation. About YiXue Squirrel AI Learning Inc. YiXue Squirrel AI Inc. is a leading AI-based adaptive learning service provider for K-12 students in China. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, YiXue offers after-school courses for Math, English, Chinese, Physics and Chemistry subjects, powered by its proprietary AI adaptive engine and custom-built courseware. Students on Squirrel AI 's platform enjoy a supervised adaptive learning experience that has been proven to improve both efficacy and student engagement across Squirrel AI's online learning platform and in-person learning centers. To learn more about YiXue Squirrel AI Learning, please visit http://www.squirrelai.us/. Birmingham firefighters are on the scene of a fire in downtown monitoring hotspots. The ABC station in Birmingham reports the fire is burning in the Lakeview District. Fire officials said the fire started just after 12:30 Thursday morning. It was an unfinished apartment complex that caught fire which spread to a nearby law office. Fire officials told ABC 33/40 that about 80% of the apartment was finished. The power was cut to a nearby apartment complex, and 16 people were evacuated as a precaution. The fire captain did tell the ABC station there that one firefighter was injured while fighting the flames. There were no other reported injuries. Officials said right now, its too early to tell how this fire started. As this story develops we will be sure to update. Every year tons and tons of unwanted fabric ends up in landfills nationwide. It is called textile waste, and it is made up of discarded fabric. This includes everything from old sheets, to clothes, to socks. Textile waste makes up a total of 6% of everything put in landfills each year. "Six percent may not sound like much but it's billions of pounds of which otherwise could be reused," said Jackie King. She is the executive director of Secondary Materials and Recycles Textiles Association, known as SMART for short. She added, "Unfortunately, the thing is 95% of that material could be reused or recycled." The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 46.5 billion tons of trash ends up in America's landfills ever year. It costs $41 for a ton of garbage to go into a landfill. That means textile waste alone costs American taxpayers just shy of $115 billion a year. "That is a huge cost," said King. "Communities, cities, towns, states, looking are what we are going to do as our waste piles up - glass, paper, plastic. The next big component is textile waste." A family owned business in Fort Payne called Zkano Socks is doing its part to fight the problem. Owner Gina Lockleer created a program to specifically recycle old socks. "A few years ago, we launched Zkano Recycles. It is nothing fancy. People send us their old socks they're going to put in a landfill, but instead they send them here and we'll have them recycled," said Lockleer. The packages inside the Zkano warehouse come in from all over the country, from as far away as New York and California. Lockleer collects them in a giant recycle bin which, once full, is delivered to a nearby shredding facility. From there the material is sold to companies which make carpet padding for the automotive industry. Click here to learn how your old socks can be recycled through Zkano. They only ask that you wash them before shipping, and only donate socks - not any other clothing or underwear. Huntsville will be celebrating its history throughout the month of October, as part of a new campaign from the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). The campaign is endorsed by the Alabama Bicentennial Commission and the City of Huntsville, with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle officially naming October Huntsville History Month. Some of the annual events are the Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll, Huntsville Ghosts Walks and guided walking tours in the Five Points and Old Town districts. New activities have been announced like a guided photowalk through the Twickenham district, guided tours of Lowe Mill and history hikes with the Land Trust of North Alabama. Local breweries like Straight to Ale, InnerSpace and Green Bus Brewing will be creating special beers for the campaign. Battle said that celebrating the area's heritage is beneficial for the community's future. The past is a prologue. It helps us to understand our roots and connections and breathes life and meaning into our identities," Battle said. SINGAPORE, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today announced the release of its ASEAN Disclosure Index 2018 , which tracks corporate disclosure practices amongst 180 publicly listed corporations in the ASEAN region: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.1 FTI Consultings latest ASEAN Disclosure Index reveals that companies in the region overall scored well on corporate disclosure, with an average Composite Disclosure score of 7.8 out of a maximum of 10 and an average Board Quality score of 3 out of a maximum of 4. However, many companies in the region could improve their risk disclosure standards, with an average Risk Disclosure score of 3.8 out of a maximum of 5 for all 180 companies. FTI Consulting reviewed public information from the annual reports and corporate websites of 180 listed companies in the ASEAN region to create a weighted Composite Disclosure scoring system with 12 disclosure parameters and applied it to the FTSE ASEAN Stars Index to create the ASEAN Disclosure Index 2018. The 12 disclosure parameters were divided into three groups: Performance Disclosure (two parameters), Board Quality (five parameters) and Quality of Risk Disclosure (five parameters). The parameters were weighted to calculate the Composite Disclosure score for each company and then aggregated for all 180 companies. ASEAN Disclosure Index 2018 Highlights: 24 of the 180 ASEAN companies (13%) are classified as corporate disclosure champions, with Composite Disclosure scores of 10/10. Eleven of these companies are from Malaysia, eight are from Thailand, three are from Singapore and three are from Indonesia. Ten out of the 24 companies are from the Banking/Financial Services sector, and four are from the Telecom/Tech sector. Board Quality Scores: 45 out of the 180 companies (25%) do not have any female board members. Only 49 (27%) of the 180 ASEAN-listed companies provide third-party board evaluations, though most provide self-evaluations. Between the six jurisdictions, Malaysian companies have the highest average Board Quality score of 3.5/4, followed by Singapore and Thailand at 3.2/4, Indonesia at 3/4, the Philippines at 2.9/4, and Vietnam at 2.5/4. Aggregated by industry, Telecom/Tech companies have the highest average Board Quality score at 3.5/4, followed by Banks/Financial Services and Healthcare/Pharma companies at 3.2/4, Energy/Utilities at 3.1/4, and Real Estate/Construction companies and Food/Consumer Goods companies at 2.8/4. In terms of gender diversity at the board level (i.e., at least one female director), Malaysian companies scored the highest (29 of 30 companies had at least one female director), followed by Thai companies (24 of 30 companies had at least one female director). Across the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore, 21 of 30 companies in each country have at least one female director on their board. Indonesian companies are the weakest on this disclosure parameter, with only 19 of 30 companies having at least one female director. Risk Disclosure Scores: 81 of the 180 ASEAN (45%) companies do not provide a convenient whistleblowing mechanism (phone number or email) on their website or in their annual report. 66 (37%) do not provide analyst transcripts or details of analyst engagements (even if investor presentations are available on the website). A majority of companies (74%) provide sustainability reports with international benchmarks (i.e., Global Reporting Initiative standards), but the remaining 26% (47 companies) do not. Between the six jurisdictions, Thai companies have the highest average Risk Disclosure score of 4.5/5, followed by Malaysian companies at 4.2/ 5 and Singaporean companies at 4.1/5. They are followed by companies in Indonesia and the Philippines at 3.9/5, and Vietnam at 1.9/5. Aggregated by sector, Telecom/Tech companies have the highest average Risk Disclosure score of 4.9/5, followed by Energy/Utilities at 4.6/5, and Healthcare/Pharma at 4.3/5. The Banking/Financial Services and Manufacturing/Industrial sectors have average Risk Disclosure scores of 3.5/5 and 3.4/5, respectively. The ASEAN Disclosure Index report shows that progress is being made in the region to raise corporate transparency and non-financial disclosure, but there is still room for improvement, said Paul Downie , Chairman of Asia Pacific for the Strategic Communications segment at FTI Consulting. These are increasingly important issues, bolstered further by the EU non-financial guidelines announced last year, and we are pleased to produce a report that will help improve the financial communications ecosystem in Asia. Commenting on the ASEAN Disclosure Index 2018, Amrit Singh Deo , a Managing Director in the Strategic Communications segment at FTI Consulting and author of the report, said, Despite seemingly high aggregate Composite Disclosure scores in the region, there are significant differences on individual parameters between companies and jurisdictions. Directors and management teams should discuss higher standards of risk disclosure at board meetings, as global investors view high risk disclosure standards as an opportunity to earn a transparency premium. About the ASEAN Disclosure Index 2018 The ASEAN Disclosure Index 2018 is a report of corporate disclosure by 180 listed companies in the ASEAN region as assessed on 12 publicly available information disclosure parameters. The full report and methodology can be found here . About FTI Consulting FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional. With more than 4,600 employees located in 28 countries, FTI Consulting professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and make the most of opportunities. The Company generated $1.81 billion in revenues during fiscal year 2017. For more information, visit www.fticonsulting.com and connect with us on Twitter (@FTIConsulting) , Facebook and LinkedIn . ___________________________ 1 Constituents of FTSE ASEAN Stars Index At the invitation of Europol, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya visited The Hague, Netherlands to attend the Joint Session of the European Directors General of Customs Administrations and Chiefs of Police, held at Europol headquarters on 26 September 2018. During the Session, Dr. Mikuriya shared some of the WCOs priorities requiring closer Customs-Police cooperation. He referred firstly to cross-border e-commerce, the subject of a Framework of Standards developed by the WCO at its most recent Council sessions. One of these standards recommended the provision of advance data by businesses for risk assessment purposes. Given the huge amount of data available, intelligence sharing by the Police would greatly help Customs in improving risk profiling to combat illicit trade. Secondly, the security initiative by Customs on controlling goods, passengers and money, stemming from the Punta Cana Resolution issued in 2015, would be significantly enhanced through joint actions with the Police. Thirdly, the G20 initiative on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) was closely related to trade-based money laundering and bulk cash smuggling. When finalizing its study report on IFFs for the G20, the WCO had placed emphasis on tackling this issue together with the Police and other relevant authorities. Dr. Mikuriya then turned to the Customs-Police Cooperation Handbook, a joint publication released by Interpol and the WCO in March 2018. He mentioned the need to establish common understanding, respect and trust as regards the respective goals, plans and responsibilities, as well as a well-defined structure. He went on to list several practical measures, such as signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), organizing joint actions, establishing liaison offices, and joint training and exchanges of personnel. As the WCO had concluded MoUs with both INTERPOL and Europol and had also established liaison offices, Dr. Mikuriya hoped to see best practices emerge at national level. In parallel with the Europol meeting, Secretary General Mikuriya had a bilateral meeting with the newly appointed Executive Director of Europol, Ms. Catherine De Bolle, on cooperation between the two Organizations. They agreed on the installation of Europols SIENA system of information exchange at the WCO Secretariat in early 2019. They also agreed on harnessing their shared interest in fighting wildlife and cultural heritage crime as potential areas for joint actions. The WCO and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) led a new C-RED ("Customs: against Epidemic Diseases funded by the Government of the Netherlands) mission of national assistance which involved several Officials from the Republic of Guinea. The mission was held in Conakry from 11 to 14 October 2018, with the support of the project focal point in Guinea, and aimed at finalizing a draft operational guide describing the procedure for importing relief goods, for the attention of customs and humanitarian operators. This draft guide was prepared after two previous missions held in Conakry in July and October 2017. It has been prepared in close collaboration with the Gendarmerie, the Police, the Civil Protection, the National Agency for Health Safety, the Standard and Quality Service, the Territory Management Authority, the National Service for Humanitarian Action, and representatives of MSF, WFP, UNICEF and WHO in Guinea. In addition, the mission led to a simulation exercise of clearance of a parcel at Conakry International Airport, under similar conditions as in an emergency situation. This exercise yielded many lessons, which resulted in a partial revision of the draft guide. In order to ensure the widest possible dissemination of this guide, the experts mandated by the WCO, assisted by a trainer from Guinean Customs, gave a training of trainer session to trainers of the different involved Authorities. It included teaching the prerequisites and training techniques that should be used for future trainings on the operational guide. This mission proved to be very fruitful in that it enabled the various stakeholders to exchange, to improve existing procedures and to lay the groundwork for strengthening cooperation between the Customs, other Government Agencies and Humanitarian actors in Guinea. For further information on the C-RED Project, you may contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org. On this event, you may also visit the Guinean Customs webpage: http://dgd.gov.gn/2018/09/17/projet-c-red-omddouanes-face-aux-maladies-epidemiques-seminaire-de-formation-des-formateurs-du-11-au-14-septembre-2018-a-conakry-republique-de-guinee-hotel-riviera/ The World Customs Organization (WCO), in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) and the General Directorate of Guinean Customs, organized a third sub-regional workshop of the C-RED project (Customs: against epidemic diseases). Like the two previous ones, this workshop brought together the Customs representatives of the beneficiary countries of the project: Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria, as well as representatives of their Ministries of Health and of their Disaster Management Agencies. For Guinea, other governmental bodies that attended previous workshops were represented, such as Police, Civil Protection and National Agency of Sanitary Security. The workshop was officially opened by His Excellency Mr. Ismael Dioubate, Minister of Budget. The Director General of Customs and Experts from WCO and UN OCHA also delivered opening remarks that highlighted the importance of the Project. Stakeholders expressed their deep appreciation to the funder, the Government of the Netherlands, and to all the participants who are continuously active on this project. The WCO thanked Guinea as the host and for the perfect organization of this meeting. The presence of the Minister of Budget at the opening ceremony was highly appreciated. The workshop was an opportunity to review the activities carried out in the beneficiary countries and to underline the excellent results of the Project. It has been a very interactive way of learning from the two and a half years of national support and capacity building. Each one shed light on the progress made but also on the actions to be taken afterward for the continuity of the Project. The participants emphasized the synergy created at national level but also between beneficiary countries. ECOWAS, present at the workshop, welcomed this rapprochement and these discussions, which should be extended to other Member States. This exchange of experiences, this reinforcement in the collaboration between Intergovernmental Agencies and humanitarian actors has been a great success. At the closing ceremony held at the Customs Headquarters, OCHA in turn stressed the need for maintaining the dialogue established between humanitarian actors and national agencies through platforms of communication. For further information on the C-RED Project, you may contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org. On this particular event, you may also visit the Guinean Customs webpage: http://dgd.gov.gn/2018/09/18/coup-de-projecteur-sur-latelier-regional-c-red-omd-en-republique-de-guinee-du-17-au-19-septembre-2018-conakry-hotel-riviera-royal/ English French Regulated information Gosselies, Belgium, 27 September 2018, 7am CEST BONE THERAPEUTICS (Euronext Brussels and Paris: BOTHE), the bone cell therapy company addressing high unmet medical needs in orthopaedics and bone diseases, today announces an increase in the total number of voting rights and shares as a result of the issuance of new shares on 12 September 2018 following the conversion of convertible bonds issued on the private placement on 7 March 2018. The following information is published in accordance with Article 15 of the Belgian Law of 2 May 2007 on the publication of major shareholdings in issuers whose shares are admitted to trading on regulated market. Total amount of share capital on 22 August 2018 EUR 11,813,360 Total number of shares with voting rights on 22 August 2018 7,834,949 Total number of new shares issued on 12 September 2018 83,292 Total amount of share capital on 12 September 2018 EUR 11,939,131 Total number of shares with voting rights on 12 September 2018 7,918,241 (a) Total number of voting rights (denominator) on 12 September 2018 7,918,241 Total number of attributed warrants 167,300 Total number of convertible bonds outstanding 292 Total number of bond warrants outstanding 3,234 Total number of shares with voting rights that could be created following the exercise of the bond warrants, the conversion of the convertible bonds and the attributed warrants (1) 1,197,415 (b) Total number of diluted shares with voting rights 9,115,656 (a+b) (1) Based on the conversion price of EUR 8.5573 (92% of the Volume-Weighted-Averaged-Price of Bone Therapeutics on 12 September 2018) About Bone Therapeutics Bone Therapeutics is a leading cell therapy company addressing high unmet needs in orthopaedics and bone diseases. Based in Gosselies, Belgium, the Company has a broad, diversified portfolio of bone cell therapy products in clinical development across a number of disease areas targeting markets with large unmet medical needs and limited innovation. Bone Therapeutics technology is based on a unique, proprietary approach to bone regeneration, which turns undifferentiated stem cells into bone-forming cells. These cells can be administered via a minimally invasive procedure, avoiding the need for invasive surgery. The Companys primary clinical focus is ALLOB, an allogeneic off-the-shelf cell therapy product derived from stem cells of healthy donors, which is in Phase II studies for the treatment of delayed-union fractures and spinal fusion. The Company also has an autologous bone cell therapy product, PREOB, obtained from patients own bone marrow and currently in Phase III development for osteonecrosis of the hip. Bone Therapeutics cell therapy products are manufactured to the highest GMP standards and are protected by a rich IP estate covering nine patent families. Further information is available at: www.bonetherapeutics.com. Contacts Bone Therapeutics SA Thomas Lienard, Chief Executive Officer Jean-Luc Vandebroek, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +32 (0) 71 12 10 00 investorrelations@bonetherapeutics.com For Belgium and International Media Enquiries: Consilium Strategic Communications Amber Fennell, Jessica Hodgson, Hendrik Thys and Lindsey Neville Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701 bonetherapeutics@consilium-comms.com For French Media and Investor Enquiries: NewCap Investor Relations & Financial Communications Pierre Laurent, Louis-Victor Delouvrier and Nicolas Merigeau Tel: + 33 (0)1 44 71 94 94 bone@newcap.eu For US Media and Investor Enquiries Westwicke Partners John Woolford Tel: + 1 443 213 0506 john.woolford@westwicke.com Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company or, as appropriate, the Company directors` current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person`s officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit NEWTOWN, Conn., Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Data generated by Forecast International through its innovative Platinum Forecast System 4.0 indicate that a number of planned new-start acquisition programs will kick-start demand in the long term in the light military rotorcraft market. Forecast International projects that 1,630 light military rotorcraft will be produced during the 15-year timeframe between 2018 and 2032. The value of this production is estimated at $24.4 billion (in constant 2018 U.S. dollars). In general, the Connecticut-based defense intelligence firm defines a light military rotorcraft as having a maximum gross weight of less than 6,804 kilograms (15,000 lb). Production of light military rotorcraft is forecast to decline to 146 units in 2018, from 211 in 2017. A rebound to 154 units is expected in 2019, but annual output is then projected to decline over the next several years, reaching double-digit levels for the first time since 2006. In 2026, however, annual production is projected to once again begin rising, returning to triple digits by 2029 and remaining there for the remainder of the forecast period. The near-term decline is due to current re-equipment cycles coming to an end in the U.S. and much of Europe. But the long-term outlook is considerably brighter. According to Forecast International senior aerospace analyst Raymond Jaworowski, "Driving the return to market growth in the long term of our forecast will be production ramp-ups for such new programs as the French military's Helicoptere Interarmees Leger (HIL) program, the South Korean Army's Light Armed Helicopter (LAH) effort, and the U.S. Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) project." The Airbus Helicopters H160M has been selected for the HIL program, while the LAH is being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) from the Airbus Helicopters H155. Contractor selection for the FARA program, though, is only in the earliest stages. The FARA platform is intended to fill the armed scout role for the U.S. Army, and could also be used to replace various other light helicopters in U.S. military fleets. Jaworowski stated, "The manufacturer selected to produce the FARA platform will find itself in a position to possibly garner orders for hundreds of rotorcraft for the U.S. military, with export sales potentially adding to this total." Forecast International projects that production for the FARA program will be worth an estimated $2.1 billion by 2032, representing fully 8.8 percent of the market by value and 7.3 percent of the market by unit production. In addition, production of the FARA platform will continue well beyond 2032. Overall, Forecast International's market share projections indicate that China's Avicopter will lead the light military rotorcraft market in unit production, producing 330 units over the 15-year forecast period for a market share of 20.2 percent. Airbus Helicopters is next, with production of 295 units for an 18.1 percent share. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) of India is third on production of 267 units, representing a 16.4 percent share. Bell is projected to be fourth, with production of 174 units for a 10.7 percent share. Finally, KAI of South Korea will rank fifth with production of 137 rotorcraft for an 8.4 percent market share. The Platinum Forecast System 4.0 is a breakthrough in forecasting technology that enables customized market assessments to be created based on proprietary Forecast International production forecasts and data. With use of the Platinum system, clients can quickly identify both market risk and future opportunities. System types and platforms, national currencies, geographic regions, and more can all be input into the system as criteria in order to create distinct market segments for evaluation. Market trends and shares are displayed graphically, and all data are complemented by full market reports, Forecast Rationales, Excel spreadsheets, and more. About Forecast International Forecast International, Inc. is a leading provider of Market Intelligence and Consulting in the areas of aerospace, defense, power systems and military electronics. Based in Newtown, Conn., USA, the company specializes in long-range industry forecasts and market assessments used by strategic planners, marketing professionals, military organizations, and governments worldwide. Forecast International also maintains a high posture of situational awareness and geopolitical analysis. By Sep. 27, 2018 nniversary Book Talk This year marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. The central question in the book - Just because it can be done, should it be done? - is just as relevant now as it was in the early 19th century. In partnership with the Class Acts Series and the US Bank Family Series at the Carson Center in downtown Paducah, the McCracken County Public Library will host a free book discussion of this enduring classic on Monday, October 15 at 7 pm in the library's Meeting Room. The discussion is open to everyone, from students through adults. Information about the Carson Center's productions of Frankenstein will also be available at the discussion, as well as a chance to win some free tickets to the US Bank Family Series performance on October 21 at 6 pm. Matt Jaeger is the library's youth services assistant. Copies of the book, both physical and digital, are available to check out from the McCracken County Public Library. PADUCAH - Frankenstein, 200th Awill be presented by Matt Jaeger on Monday, Oct 15 from 7 until 8 pm at the McCracken County Public Library in the 2nd floor library meeting room. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2018 | 09:12 PM | GRAVES COUNTY An arrest has been made in a church burglary that was reported to the Graves County Sheriffs Office on Saturday. The Antioch Church of Christ in Farmington was burglarized on Thursday night, Sept. 20. Deputies said video footage from the church showed a black male and two white females entering both the church building and the fellowship building. Police said the suspects took a few items from the church and left the scene. Over the weekend it was also learned that the Calloway County Sheriffs Office was working several burglaries in Calloway County, including at some churches. Video footage from the Antioch Church of Christ burglary was forwarded to investigators in Calloway County. Calloway County deputies were able to identify one of the suspects in the video. After a lengthy investigation, the suspects from the Graves County church burglary were identified. Deputies say 24-year-old Stephen John Clement of Murray was arrested on Tuesday and charged with third-degree burglary. Deputies said Clement was identified as one of the suspects on the video footage and he then confessed to his role in the burglary. He was lodged in the Graves County Jail. Deputies said the two females involved in the Antioch Church of Christ burglary have been identified and will be charged over the next few days. By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2018 | 08:54 PM | MAYFIELD A Graves County man is facing charges after police say he was found in possession of a stolen vehicle. According to the Mayfield Police Department, on Monday, the owner of Chili Motors reported that a 2008 white Nissan Altima had been stolen from his lot on West Broadway. Police said the vehicle was later located on Carlyon Drive with 42-year-old Jason Garber, of Mayfied, sitting in the driver's seat with keys in hand. Garber was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property under $10,000-auto, and operating a motor vehicle on a suspended operator's license. He was lodged in the Graves County Jail. By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2018 | 06:02 PM | MURRAY The report by Murray State University Police gives a little more detail into an alleged rape on the campus.West Kentucky Star obtained a copy of the report from September 15 from the university president's office, and it says MSU Police responded to a call from College Court Apartments. Documents say the suspect, Reyon Williams, lived there, and that he and the victim were acquaintances.The report says Williams is suspected of using alcohol on the day of the alleged crime, and that the victim, a white female, was listed as "incapable of consent," because she was "physically helpless."Williams was arrested on September 19 and charged with 1st degree rape and 2nd degree unlawful imprisonment. He is still listed as an inmate at the Calloway County Jail, and is being held on $100,000 cash bond. On the Net: By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2018 | 10:33 PM | MURRAY A joint investigation between the Calloway County Sheriff's Department, The Murray Police Department, and the Graves County Sheriff's Department, has led to the arrest of six people in a burglary and theft ring.Police have been investigating a ring of local church and business burglaries for the last few weeks in Murray, Calloway County, and Graves County. The burglaries are believed to be connected.Surveillance video helped identify suspects over the weekend, and law enforcement located a suspected vehicle in Murray. This led to several people being interviewed.Tuesday, police executed two search warrants which resulted in the recovery of some of the stolen property.Six people have been arrested in connection to the burglaries, including two juveniles. The following arrests and charges have been made:, charged with five counts of 3rd degree burglary, five counts of 3rd degree criminal mischief, one count of engaging in organized crime, one count of 3rd degree complicity to burglary, and one count of 3rd degree complicity to criminal mischief., charged with eight counts of 3rd degree burglary, six counts of 3rd degree criminal mischief, and one count of engaging in organized crime., charged with one count of 3rd degree burglary. (See link below for related story.), charged with one count of receiving stolen property over $500, one count of 3rd degree assault, two counts of 2nd degree criminal mischief, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of disorderly conduct., charged with one count of receiving stolen property over $500, and one count of engaging in organized crime., charged with five counts of 3rd degree burglary, five counts of 3rd degree criminal mischief, one count of engaging in organized crime, one count of 3rd degree complicity to burglary, and one count of 3rd degree complicity to criminal mischief. On the Net: Jury to get to weigh some lesser charges in Rittenhouse case Golar LNG Limited (the "Company") advises that the 2018 Annual General Meeting of the Company was held on September 26, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. at Rosewood Tucker's Point, 60 Tucker's Point Drive, Hamilton Parish, Bermuda. The audited consolidated financial statements for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2017 were presented to the Meeting. The following resolutions were passed: 1) To re-elect Tor Olav Trim as a Director of the Company. 2) To re-elect Daniel Rabun as a Director of the Company. 3) To elect Thorleif Egeli as a Director of the Company. 4) To re-elect Carl Steen as a Director of the Company. 5) To re-elect Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen as a Director of the Company. 6) To re-elect Lori Wheeler Naess as a Director of the Company. 7) To re-elect Michael Ashford as a Director of the Company. 8) To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP of London, England as auditors and to authorise the Directors to determine their remuneration. 9) To approve the remuneration of the Company's Board of Directors of a total amount of fees not to exceed US$1,750,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. Hamilton, Bermuda September 27, 2018 CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Raising Albertas minimum wage will do little to reduce poverty because 92 per cent of minimum-wage earners in the province dont live in low-income households, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. Next week, the Alberta government will raise the provinces minimum wage to $15 per hour from $13.60. Increasing the minimum wage is a poorly targeted anti-poverty measure, given that most minimum wage earners dont live in low income households. There are more effective strategies for helping the working poor, said Steve Lafleur, Fraser Institute senior policy analyst. The study, Increasing the Minimum Wage in Alberta: A Flawed Anti-Poverty Policy, finds that 92 per cent of Albertas minimum-wage earners dont live in low-income households, as defined by Statistics Canadas Low Income Cut-off (households below the cut-off likely devote larger shares of income to food, clothing and housing than the average family). In fact, 50.1 per cent of Alberta minimum-wage earners in 2017 were teenagers or young adults aged 15 to 24, and among this group, 85.1 per cent lived with their parents or other relatives. Only 2.1 per cent of all minimum-wage earners were single parents with young children. Moreover, decades of Canadian academic research shows minimum-wage hikes can hurt young and inexperienced workers as employers adjust to higher labour costs, leading to less employment. Raising the minimum wage can also lead to reduced hours and fewer benefits for workers. Finally, minimum-wage hikes can lead to higher prices for goods and services, disproportionately affecting the poor, as employers pass the increased cost of labour onto consumers in the form of higher prices. The decision to raise the minimum wage was surely motivated by good intentions, but the policy may ultimately hurt the very people its supposed to help, Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and director of the Alberta Prosperity Initiative. MEDIA CONTACT: Steve Lafleur, Senior Policy Analyst (in Calgary) Fraser Institute Ben Eisen, Senior Fellow Fraser Institute To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact: Mark Hasiuk, Senior Communications Specialist, Fraser Institute (604) 688-0221 Ext. 517 mark.hasiuk@fraserinstitute.org Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institutes independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org Ledumahadi mafube South Africas new Jurassic Giant A team of international scientists, led by Professor Jonah Choiniere from Wits, described a new species of a giant dinosaur that has been found near Clarens. A new species of a giant dinosaur has been found in South Africas Free State Province. The plant-eating dinosaur, named Ledumahadi mafube, weighed 12 tonnes and stood about four metres high at the hips.Ledumahadi mafube was the largest land animal alive on Earth when it lived, nearly 200 million years ago. It was roughly double the size of a large African elephant. A team of international scientists, led by University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) palaeontologist Professor Jonah Choiniere, described the new species in the journal Current Biology today. The dinosaurs name is Sesotho for a giant thunderclap at dawn (Sesotho is one of South Africas 11 official languages and an indigenous language in the area where the dinosaur was found). The name reflects the great size of the animal as well as the fact that its lineage appeared at the origins of sauropod dinosaurs, said Choiniere. It honours both the recent and ancient heritage of southern Africa. Ledumahadi mafubeis one of the closest relatives of sauropod dinosaurs. Sauropods, weighing up to 60 tonnes, include well-known species likeBrontosaurus. All sauropods ate plants and stood on four legs, with a posture like modern elephants. Ledumahadi evolved its giant size independently from sauropods, and although it stood on four legs, its forelimbs would have been more crouched. This caused the scientific team to consider Ledumahadian evolutionary experiment with giant body size. Ledumahadis fossil tells a fascinating story not only of its individual life history, but also the geographic history of where it lived, and of the evolutionary history of sauropod dinosaurs. The first thing that struck me about this animal is the incredible robustness of the limb bones, says lead author, Dr Blair McPhee. It was of similar size to the gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, but whereas the arms and legs of those animals are typically quite slender, Ledumahadis are incredibly thick. To me this indicated that the path towards gigantism in sauropodomorphs was far from straightforward, and that the way that these animals solved the usual problems of life, such as eating and moving, was much more dynamic within the group than previously thought. The research team developed a new method, using measurements from the arms and legs to show that Ledumahadiwalked on all fours, like the later sauropod dinosaurs, but unlike many other members of its own group alive at its time such as Massospondylus. The team also showed that many earlier relatives of sauropods stood on all fours, that this body posture evolved more than once, and that it appeared earlier than scientists previously thought. Many giant dinosaurs walked on four legs but had ancestors that walked on two legs. Scientists want to know about this evolutionary change, but amazingly, no-one came up with a simple method to tell how each dinosaur walked, until now, says Dr Roger Benson. By analysing the fossils bone tissue through osteohistological analysis, Dr Jennifer Botha-Brink from the South African National Museum in Bloemfontein established the animals age. We can tell by looking at the fossilised bone microstructure that the animal grew rapidly to adulthood. Closely-spaced, annually deposited growth rings at the periphery show that the growth rate had decreased substantially by the time it died, says Botha-Brink. This indicates that the animal had reached adulthood. It was also interesting to see that the bone tissues display aspects of both basal sauropodomorphs and the more derived sauropods, showing that Ledumahadirepresents a transitional stage between these two major groups of dinosaurs. Ledumahadilived in the area around Clarens in South Africas Free State Province. This is currently a scenic mountainous area, but looked much different at that time, with a flat, semi-arid landscape and shallow, intermittently dry streambeds. We can tell from the properties of the sedimentary rock layers in which the bone fossils are preserved that 200 million years ago most of South Africa looked a lot more like the current region around Musina in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, or South Africas central Karoo, says Dr Emese Bordy. Ledumahadi is closely related to other gigantic dinosaurs from Argentina that lived at a similar time, which reinforces that the supercontinent of Pangaea was still assembled in the Early Jurassic. It shows how easily dinosaurs could have walked from Johannesburg to Buenos Aires at that time, says Choiniere. South Africas Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says the discovery of this dinosaur underscores just how important South African palaeontology is to the world. Not only does our country hold the Cradle of Humankind, but we also have fossils that help us understand the rise of the gigantic dinosaurs. This is another example of South Africa taking the high road and making scientific breakthroughs of international significance on the basis of its geographic advantage, as it does in astronomy, marine and polar research, indigenous knowledge, and biodiversity, says Kubayi-Ngubane. The research team behind Ledumahadi includes South African-based palaeoscientists, Dr Emese Bordy and Dr Jennifer Botha-Brink, from the University of Cape Town and the South African National Museum in Bloemfontein, respectively. The project also had a strong international component with the collaboration of Professor Roger BJ Benson of Oxford University and Dr Blair McPhee, currently residing in Brazil. South Africa employs some of the worlds top palaeontologists and it was a privilege to be able to build a working group with them and leading researchers in the UK, says Choiniere, who recently emigrated from the USA to South Africa. Dinosaurs didnt observe international boundaries and its important that our research groups dont either. The artwork that illustrates Ledumahadi was done by Wits M.Sc. student (Palaeontology), Viktor Radermacher, who is fast becoming recognised as both a palaeoscientist and palaeoartist. His work has been on display earlier this year in international publications on Shartegosuchus as well as the recent publication on Chinese alvarezsaurs, another international collaboration involving Choiniere. After three days at the United Nations meetings in New York City, President Donald Trump held a news conference Wednesday night. It was only the fourth solo press conference of his presidency and was, reportedly, his idea. The goal, ostensibly, was to fight back hard against the allegations made by three women against his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But, like almost everything that Trump touches, the 81-minute extravaganza turned into the Trump Show. And what a show it was. Continents and regions Donald Trump New York (State) New York City North America Northeastern United States Political Figures - US Press conferences The Americas United States Brett Kavanaugh Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Political organizations Politics US Democratic Party US federal government US political parties White House Demographic groups Elections (by type) Elections and campaigns Females (demographic group) Population and demographics Society US Federal elections Asia East Asia North Korea Government organizations - US US federal court system US Supreme Court Christine Blasey Ford Crime, law enforcement and corrections Crimes against persons Criminal offenses Misc people Sex crimes Sexual assault Sexual misconduct Below, the most quotable lines from the President. 1. "This is quite a gathering. Wow, that's a lot of people, a lot of media." And away we go! (Also, never forget this: Trump is always aware of how much media coverage he draws because he understands the more media coverage, the more relevant he is.) 2. "They would like to see me lose an election because they've never been challenged like this." Who's Trump talking about here? The Democrats? No! China. 3. "It's had no impact on our -- absolutely, by the way, no impact on our economy, which I said it wouldn't." The CEO of Ford said on Wednesday that the steel and aluminum tariffs will cost his company $1 billion. So.... 4. "Steel is like the hottest industry there is." Steel. So hot right now. Steel. 5. "They were going to choke the economy, as it was already choking, but it would've been worse, and they were going to raise your taxes." One of several times in this press conference where Trump claims that had he not been elected, things would have been bad. Like, really bad. Later he says that if he hadn't won the election the US would be at war with North Korea right now. 6. "And they know it's a big, fat con job." No biggie. Just the President of the United States saying that Democrats are purposely lying about Brett Kavanaugh to win a political argument -- and to thwart his pick for the court. 7. "They go in to a room, and I guarantee you, they laugh like hell on what they pulled off on you and on the public, they laugh like hell." More Trump on Senate Democrats -- all aimed at the message he knows works for his base: None of these people are on the level. They are all trying to screw you. And I'm the only one telling you the truth. 8. "These are false accusations in certain cases, and certain cases even the media agrees with that." Not true. What can be said is that three women are making accusations that Kavanaugh either assaulted them or behaved inappropriately with them. Kavanaugh denies this in each of the three situations. No responsible member of the media has said these are false accusations -- because it's impossible to know that based on the available facts. 9. "I have a 145 judges I will be picking by the end of a fairly short period of time, because President Obama wasn't big on picking judges." Er, I think the number of judicial openings is more about the blockade Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) led against Obama's judicial picks than the result of a lack of interest in nominating judges by the 44th president. 10. "And I would love to be in the room with the Democrats, close the door, you guys are all away, outside waiting and Schumer and his buddies are in there laughing. How they fooled you all. 'Let's just stop them.' A big, fat con." Again, this is all about Trump playing to his base. They believe they have been purposely duped by elites (of both parties). Those people are laughing at you. They think you're stupid. But we'll show them. 11. "They're going to have to believe what they believe." Look, at the end of the day, it is what it is. 12. "I wouldn't say that socialism has been working really well around the world, OK?" "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." -- Margaret Thatcher 13. "Well first of all, I wasn't happy with Roy Moore, let's get that straight." "We need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, border wall, military, pro-life, VA, judges, Second Amendment and more." -- Donald Trump, December 4, 2017 14. "Luther Strange had a lot of things going against him as far as women -- whether it's a man or a woman, these are, you know, it can happen the other way." Uhhhhhhh. I read this over a bunch. I think Trump means that Moore had a bunch of things "going against him as far as women," and then quickly transitions to how men can be sexually assaulted by women too. I think. 15. "I could pick, as an example, hopefully I won't have to do it as a replacement, because hopefully this is going to go very well on Thursday." In which Trump brings up -- unasked -- the possibility of replacing Kavanaugh if he fails to do well in Thursday's hearing. 16. "I could pick a woman and she could have charges made from many years ago also." Amazing. In one sentence Trump suggests he could replace Kavanaugh with a woman (presumably Amy Coney Barrett) and that she could have some of the same issues Kavanaugh has. 17. "Now it's possible I'll hear that and I'll say, 'Hey, I'm changing my mind.' That is possible." Another remarkable admission by Trump here -- that he is leaving the possibility open that he hears something in testimony from Christine Blasey Ford -- or Kavanaugh -- that changes his mind about the whole thing. 18. "And you know what? I can be persuaded also." In case you missed it, Trump reiterates that he is open to persuasion on whether Kavanaugh did what Ford said he did. Which is stunning. 19. "I can't tell you, I have to watch tomorrow, I have to read." When asked whether he believed the three women accusing Kavanaugh of wrongdoing, this is how Trump responded. What does he have to read? I honestly have no idea. 20. "I don't know what happened today because I've been very busy with Japan, with South Korea, with China and about seven other countries, as you know, and I chaired the Security Council." Look, I've been very busy doing extremely important thing. Chairing this, ruling on that. Can't be bothered with regular people news. You wouldn't understand. Not important enough. 21. "So as far as the other women are concerned, I'm going to see what happens tomorrow. I'm going to be watching." It's not at all clear to me that Trump knows that only Ford will be testifying on Thursday. 22. "I hope I can watch. I'm meeting with a lot of countries tomorrow." "This is a very complicated case...You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's." -- Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski 23. "If we brought George Washington here and we said, we have George Washington, the Democrats would vote against him." [Donald Trump walks into a room filled with Democratic Senators] "We have George Washington." [Democratic senators] No. 24. "He may have had a bad past. Who knows, you know? He may have had some, I think, accusations made. Didn't he have a couple things in his past?" The 45th president reflects on the 1st president. 25. "I've known them for a long time and a lot of these people. A lot of people. And some I've been disappointed with. I have been disappointed with some others like -- you know, there are charges that are pretty weak. But I've known people for a long time." This is Trump's verbatim response to this question from NBC's Hallie Jackson: "Has there ever been an instance when you've given the benefit of the doubt to a woman?" I mean.... 26. "And there's some that probably I agree. I can tell you there's some that I -- I've been watching for a long time. And in a couple of cases they weren't Republicans, and a lot of cases they were not. They were exactly the opposite." Again, this is more of Trump's response to Hallie Jackson's question that was, to remind you, this: "Has there ever been an instance when you've given the benefit of the doubt to a woman?" This is a word salad of epic proportions. 27. "It doesn't mean they had to report it, because in some instances people keep it quiet. It's a very tough situation for a woman, there's no question about it. And in some cases, they do report it." Donald Trump on how women handle the reporting of sexual assault. So, yeah. 28. "Frankly, had they reported it, it would have been pretty amazing, wouldn't it?" OK. So, to follow Trump's logic here: If Ford had told her parents about the alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh when they were in high school in the 1980s, and then they had told the authorities, that would have been "pretty amazing." [shakes head confusedly] 29. "We could have heard from her last week. We could have heard from her for a long time." Ford emerged in public when she granted an interview to The Washington Post on September 16. That was 11 days ago. 30. "And I was accused by -- I believe it was four women. You can check with Sean Hannity, you can check with Fox because they covered it very strongly." Ah yes -- the noted fact-checking powers of Sean Hannity. 31. "I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me." As best I can tell, Trump is referring to reporting that attorney Lisa Bloom was actively seeking women to come forward to tell about their own experiences with Trump. Trump's claim here is kind of, sort of true-ish. Read more here. 32. "We caught them and the mainstream media refused to put it on television. They refused to even write about it." The New York Times wrote about the Lisa Bloom episode on December 31, 2017. Here's what the piece said: "[Bloom] told [donors] that she was working with 'a few other women' who might 'find the courage to speak out' against Mr. Trump if the donors would provide funds for security, relocation and possibly a 'safe house.'" 33. "I'm a very famous person, unfortunately." My biggest burden? My immense fame. 34. "I've been a famous person for a long time." Same. 35. "It's happened to me many times. I've had many false charges." Reminder: During the course of the 2016 campaign, more than a dozen women came forward and said Trump had either assaulted them or behaved inappropriately to them. He denied every charge. He said he was going to sue each and every women for defamation when the campaign ended. He has launched a total of zero of those suits. 36. "When I heard that they caught these four people, I said wow, that's a big story. And it was, for Fox." There's zero evidence that four women (or any women) were caught making up false accusations against Trump in exchange for money. Zero. 37. "We have evidence, we have evidence -- it'll come out. Yeah, I can't tell you now, but it came -- it didn't come out of nowhere, that I can tell you." This incredibly vague answer came after Trump was asked to back up his claim from earlier Wednesday that the Chinese were actively interfering in US elections. Does he have actual evidence? Will it "come out?" Count me as skeptical. 38. "He was on a good show, I won't mention the name of the show, recently, and he was saying that China has total respect for Donald Trump and for Donald Trump's very, very large brain." No words. I am not sure my normal-sized brain can grasp what is going on here. 39. "I would certainly prefer not doing that, there was no collusion, there was no obstruction." This is Trump's answer on whether he was planning top fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in their planned meeting tomorrow. And, no, I didn't edit this. He really said those words in this order. NO COLLUSION. 40. "Unless you call obstruction the fact that I fight back -- I do fight back, I really fight back. I mean, if you call that obstruction that's fine. But there's no obstruction, there's no collusion -- I'm going to meet with him tomorrow." This is all totally fine! Nothing to see here, folks! 41. "You know, I call it a 'witch hunt,' and it is a witch hunt." Look, at the end of the day, it is what it is. 42. "Many people say I have the right to, absolutely, fire him." "Many people say" is Trump code for "I could do it if I wanted to, you know that, right?" 43. "I was saying things that nobody in the room even understood, and I said them a long time ago. And I was right. He said, 'That's not the 25th Amendment that I'm looking at.' I think I can say that from Mike." Trump is talking to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo here. Beyond that, um, [vacant stare]. 44. "Now I must say. I know many of the Democrats. They'll say things and then wink at me." Winking, you say? 45. "The reason they don't want me is because they want to run the show. They want it. It's power, it's whatever you want to call it. But what they've done here is a disgrace, a total disgrace, and what they do -- I know it's sort of interesting." These are four consecutive sentences from the commander in chief. The question he was asked, in case you may be wondering, was whether anyone in his administration had ever discussed invoking the 25th Amendment. 46. "You were going to have a war -- if I wasn't elected, you'd be in a war." As I noted above, Trump declares here that had he not won in 2016, the United States would be at war with North Korea right now. 47. "This is an incredible -- this is a historic letter. And it is a historic letter. It's a beautiful -- it's a beautiful piece of art." Stay with me here: This is Trump paraphrasing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reaction when Trump showed him one of the letters North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had sent to the White House. Also, this. 48. "You know, North Korea's very mountainous. Beautiful land, beautiful." Very mountainous. But beautiful. Beautifully mountainous. 49. "And millions of people -- not -- you know, I -- I -- they say oh, thousands of people -- no, no, not thousands. Millions of people would have been killed." So, not only would the US be at war with North Korea if Trump wasn't President, but the body count from that war would number in the millions. How does Trump know this? I think you probably already know the answer to that one. 50. "I mean con job -- it is. It's a con job. You know confidence. It's a confidence job, but they -- it's a con job by the Democrats." You're saying "con job" is short for "confidence job" [nods head knowingly] 51. "But I'll tell you this, the people that have complained to me about it the most about what's happening are women. Women are very angry." Yes, yes they are. 52. "You know I got 52% with women. Everyone said this couldn't happen -- 52%." [narrator voice] He got 41% of the female vote in 2016. He got 52% of the WHITE female vote. 53. "I love Canada by the way, I have so many friends." [Justin Bieber nods approvingly] 54. "Where's General Kelly? He likes that USMC, which would be US, Mexico, Canada." See, it's an acronym -- both for the United States Marine Corps and for this nonexistent new trade agreement that Donald Trump thinks can happen. It works on so many different levels. Well, just actually two levels. 55. "This whole room would be filled up with hundred dollar bills." Admittedly, I would like to see that. 56. "And I heard smiles -- and I said, oh, I didn't know that's be like a -- they weren't laughing at me. They were laughing with me. We had fun. That was not laughing at me." So that's what you think happened, huh? 57. "He's a tremendous man. He's a tremendous genius. He's a great intellect. He was, I believe, number one at Yale. Is that a correct statement? Number one in his class at Yale." On Kavanaugh and everyone else in his life, Trump is obsessed with intelligence. Always has been. Also: Kavanaugh wasn't #1 in his law school class, although he was on the Yale Law Journal. 58. "And it's open and it's beautiful by the way, Jerusalem stone, one of my favorite stones." Of all of Trump's favorite stones, the Jerusalem stone is right up there. 59. "All my life I've had very few stories, but I've had some on the front page of The New York Times. Now I think I average about three or four a day, right? And of the three or four they're all negative, no matter what I do they're negative, but you know what? That's OK, I still love the paper." Yes, he does. Never forget that Trump is obsessed with the Times and how it covers him. It's his hometown paper. For all of his attacks on it, he cares more what the Times writes about him than any other media outlet in the country. 60. "Elton John said when you hit that last tune and it's good, don't go back." "Showmanship, George. When you hit that high note, you say goodnight and walk off." -- Jerry Seinfeld 61. "I've seen -- have you ever seen? They do great. They're great. They hit the last tune and everyone goes crazy. Then they go back for an encore, right? And they don't hit it. And they leave, everyone leaves. And they say that wasn't a very good concert was it?" I don't know who the "they" is here. And I'm not sure Trump does either. BUT he is totally right that encores are overrated. Play the tunes you want to play, say goodnight, the end. 62. "I could conceivably imagine going to one of them and saying it's too bad what happened to this wonderful man, but I'm going to choose you, number two. I want you to go." Trump, AGAIN, floats the possibility of getting rid of Kavanaugh. But that's nothing compared to his theoretical pitch to the potential replacement: "I'm going to choose you, number two." Who would not be convinced to take the job with a pitch like that? 63. "There's nothing beyond Supreme Court. This is beyond Supreme Court." This feels like a good place to end. There's nothing beyond the Supreme Court, after all. Not one damn thing. (KPRC/NBC News) Houston, Texas could soon be home to America's first "robot brothel." Yuval Gavriel operates "Kinky S Robots" in Toronto, Canada, where customers can rent life-like sex robots for $120 an hour and buy them for between $2,500 and $10,000. Now he's hoping to set up shop in Houston. "We're ready as soon as we get the get-go," Gavriel said. "We're legal people." Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Wednesday he was asking the city's legal department to see if any existing ordinances apply to Kinky S Dolls and whether any changes need to be made. "It's not the sort of business that we advertise for or seek to attract or quite frankly that I want in the city of Houston," Turner said. Gavriel said he would like to get the mayor's blessing, but his attorneys told him it's not a requirement. "We want to open peacefully and without opposition from any group," Gavriel said. He said Houston was chosen, in part, because it doesn't regulate sex robots. A growing movement to stop Kinky S Dolls is being led by Elijah Rising, a Houston nonprofit dedicated to ending sex trafficking. The organization started a petition that now has 7,500 signatures. "These rape bots are mechanized pornography and everything we know about porn fueling the demand for real women, real children in the sex-trafficking industry is going to apply to this robot brothel," said Executive Director Micah Gamboa. Read more: http://bit.ly/2NNexRg ROME -- Rome Mayor Jacqueline Izzo presented her proposed 2019 budget to the city's common council at a special meeting Wednesday. The proposed 2019 budget for the City of Rome includes a zero percent tax increase for residents, and a .04 decrease in the tax levy for inside district residents. Mayor Izzo also presented a proposed capital spending plan along with the budget. That plan will be used to budget requests from different departments within the city, such as the fire department, police department, Dept. of public works, as well as many others. The proposed budget accounts for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The City of Rome is responsible for design and engineering costs of the project. The common council will be reviewing the proposed budget over the next month, and meeting with city department heads to go over their financial requests within the budget. The council will meet at the end of next month to either accept, or reject the proposed budget. The administration has been extremely responsible in budgeting and planning for the future, Mayor Izzo said. Overall, we were able to achieve quite a bit in this budget, as well as in the capital spending plan, and that'll keep the city moving forward. There will be a public hearing at Rome City Hall on October 15th that will allow the public to have an input in the 2019 budget. That public hearing will be at 6:45 p.m. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein (all times local): 12:45 p.m. President Donald Trump has postponed his highly anticipated meeting with embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein until next week to avoid interfering with the Senate hearing on sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court nominee. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the president spoke with Rosenstein "a few minutes ago" and they now plan to meet next week. She said, "They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing." Rosenstein's job is in question following reports he discussed possibly secretly recording the president and using the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove him from office. Trump says he has denied the reports. Trump also said Wednesday he'd "certainly prefer not" to fire Rosenstein, the Justice Department's No. 2 official who is overseeing the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling. ___ 11:45 a.m. It remains unclear whether President Donald Trump will be meeting with embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders tells reporters aboard Air Force One that Trump did not call the Justice Department's No. 2 official Wednesday evening as he said he might. And she says she has no update on whether they'll meet Thursday. Trump said Wednesday he was considering calling Rosenstein that night or Thursday to delay their highly anticipated meeting. Trump said he wanted to avoid distracting from the Senate's hearing on sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court nominee. Trump said he'd "certainly prefer not" to fire Rosenstein and that Rosenstein had denied reports he discussed possibly secretly recording the president and using the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove him from office. Rosenstein is overseeing the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling. ___ 12:30 a.m. President Donald Trump's meeting with the deputy attorney general may or may not happen as originally planned, but Trump says he'd prefer not to fire Rod Rosenstein regardless. Rosenstein landed in hot water after remarks first attributed to him in a New York Times report, including that he had discussed possibly secretly recording Trump and using the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove him from office. Rosenstein has disputed that. Rosenstein was called to the White House earlier this week, but a decision on his fate was put off until Trump's return from the United Nations. Trump said Wednesday in New York that the planned meeting Thursday might be delayed because it would come the same day as the Senate hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Tired of this reality? Facebook released a fancy new VR headset that doesn't even require a PC to work. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) 1. Brett Kavanaugh Today is the day. After what seemed like an eternity of debates and accusations and counter-accusations, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual assault decades ago, Christine Blasey Ford, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee starting at 10 a.m. ET. Both have prepared written testimony (Ford's is here; Kavanaugh's is here). Many are making comparisons with Anita Hill, who in 1991 accused then-SCOTUS nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, which he denied. Today's hearing comes a day after another accuser -- the third on the record -- came forward to say Kavanaugh displayed sexually aggressive behavior during high school parties. The bottom line? What happens today matters -- for the Supreme Court, for #MeToo, for both political parties, for the upcoming midterm elections, for everyone. You can watch it all live on CNN and CNN.com. 2. China The relationship between the US and China is pretty tense right now, so any little action between the two countries is going to be a bit dramatic.A This week, the US Air Force conducted two bomber flights into areas considered sensitive by the Chinese military, namely the South and East China seas and through an area China calls its Air Defense Identification Zone. Think of it like walking through a neighbor's lawn to get somewhere else -- except the neighbor's lawn is rigged with military-grade security equipment. Meanwhile, President Trump rubbed some salt in the diplomatic wound. In an unrelated news conference yesterday, he claimedA China is trying to interfereA in November's US midterm elections. Why? Because, according to him, China isn't happy with his tough trade tactics and wants to hurt his political power. 3. North Korea Looks like there will be a sequel to June's United States-North Korea summit. Next month,A Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to North Korea again to start making arrangements for President Trump and Kim Jong Un to meet.A Trump said yesterday that the summit will happen "fairly quickly"A and that North Korea has the potential to be an economic power.A The announcement of Pompeo's trip, his fourth to North Korea, came just weeks after Trump canceled a trip the top US diplomat had planned for August. At the time, Trump said there hadn't been enough progress on denuclearization. 4. Google What is Google's "Project Dragonfly?" The mysterious code-named plan came up yesterday during aA Senate committee hearing,A at which several major techA and telecomA execs testifiedA about a potential federal law to regulate data privacy. Project Dragonfly is widely rumored to be a search engine project for ChinaA that would block sensitive websites and search terms in accordance with Chinese censorship. Unsurprisingly, a lot of Google employees have taken issue with the plan. The company was tight-lipped during the hearing, though, and did not confirm nor deny the link between the code name and the project. 5. Methamphetamines While the opioid epidemic continues to ruin lives across the country, another monster is growing. States like Oklahoma are experiencing a troubling increaseA in methamphetamine activity. Experts say Mexican cartels are one of the reasons for the riseA because they bring in cheaper and purer forms of the drug.A In fact, overA the past eight years, there has been a nearly tenfold increase in the amount of methamphetamine seized by US Customs and Border Protection. It's probably no coincidence the number of overdose deaths in Oklahoma has risen as well. HAPPENING LATER Will he or won't he?A The Kavanaugh hearing isn't the only big thing going down in Washington. Today is also supposed to be the day President Trump meets with Rod Rosenstein. The deputy attorney general is widely rumored to be on the chopping block, but in the last few daysA Trump has been back and forth on it. Will they meet? Will Rosenstein get the boot? Stay tuned. BREAKFAST BROWSE UK postal service to environmental campaigners: Please stop mailing empty potato chip bags Worst. Love letter. Ever.A One of China's space labs will fall to Earth in 2019A They're gonna need a pretty big net. (That's how space works, right?) Scientists may have uncovered a new whale species that lived millions of years agoA Frankly, the more we can learn about whales, the better. This cafAA in Korea looks like an actual cartoonA So, when you're bleary-eyed and jonesing for your morning coffee, walking into a completely different realm of existence won't be confusing at all. 500 food experience worth traveling for No. 1: The Waffle House 0.2 miles from theA front door. TODAY'S NUMBER 80,000 The number of American deaths caused by the flu and its complications last winter alone, according to the CDC. Last year's flu season was the deadliest in four decades. Now's the time to get your flu shot. TODAY'S QUOTE "Everybody looks at you as a monster, and I regretted it since the moment it happened." Ian Ritch, the father who lost track of his autistic son last weekend during a visit to a park in Gastonia, North Carolina. Six-year-old Maddox Scott Ritch is still missing, and his father says he is consumed by guilt. AND FINALLY RUDE!A Don't you hate it when you're just enjoying your big friendly kayaking adventure and a seal slaps you with an octopus? (Click here to view.) 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 Dublin, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global SVOD Forecasts" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The worldwide number of paying SVOD subscriptions will increase by 409 million between 2017 and 2023 to total 777 million. Eleven countries will have more than 10 million SVOD subscriptions by 2023. China and the US will together account for more than half the world's SVOD subscriptions by 2023. China will have the most SVOD subs from 2019 - despite multiple subscriptions being commonplace in the US. China will have 235 million SVOD subscribers by 2023 - up from 97 million in 2017. The US will have 208 million SVOD subscriptions by 2023; up by an impressive 76 million on 2017 despite its relative maturity. Its share of the global market will fall from 36% in 2017 to 27% by 2023. By 2023, Netflix will contribute 192 million (25% of the 777 million subscriptions), Amazon Prime Video 120 million (15%), China 235 million (30%. Neither Netflix or Amazon Prime Video operate in China) and 230 million others (30%). Netflix will add 82 million subs between 2017 and 2023. Amazon Prime Video launched in 200 countries in late 2016 - like Netflix, not in China. We forecast 120 million Amazon Prime Video's subscribers by 2023 - double the 2017 total. However, 110 million of the 2023 total will be in Amazon Prime territories, and therefore will not directly pay for the video platform. Key Topics Covered: Published in September 2018, this 463-page PDF, PowerPoint and excel report contains comprehensive coverage of the SVOD sector (TV episodes and movies) for 694 platforms across 138 countries. The report comprises: Executive Summary. Major SVOD players, including subscriber and revenues estimates by country (2010 to 2023) for the major platforms. NEW FOR 2018: Insight profiles for the top 10 countries (Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, UK and USA) Country-by-country forecasts from 2010 to 2023 NEW FOR 2018: 207-page Outlook report in PowerPoint, with 308 charts that highlight SVOD developments for 138 countries. Bullet point analysis for the top 50 countries and the global slides. Companies Mentioned A1 Now Amazon Prime Video beIN Connect Blim Cell C Claro Video Crackle Fox Globo Play HBO Horizon Icflix Iflix Iroko Kwese Play Maxdome Megogo Netflix NL Ziet Orange Pickbox RTL Shahid Plus Showmax Sky Starz Turkcell Viaplay Videoland Unlimited WAVO Ziggo Movies & Series For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6fsfs3/global_svod?w=12 27 September 2018 Acron Board of Directors Issues Dividend Recommendation At its meeting on 27 September 2018, Acron Board of Directors recommended to the extraordinary general meeting to be held as absentee vote on 19 October 2018, to pay (declare) dividends of RUB 40 per share (from Acrons retained earnings for previous years) in monetary form. Thus, the Company will allocate a total of RUB 1,621 million for dividend payment. The Board of Directors proposed to set the record date for persons entitled to dividends for 30 October 2018. Media contacts: Sergey Dorofeev Anastasiya Gromova Tatiana Smirnova Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Investor contacts: Ilya Popov Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Background Information Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It has a wholly owned transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acrons subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining licenses for 13 parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty S.A., one of the largest chemical producers in Europe. In 2017, the Group sold 7.3 million tonnes of various products to 65 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets. In 2017, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 94,342 million (USD 1,617 million) and net profit of RUB 14,260 million (USD 244 million). Acrons shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs approximately 11,000 people. For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en. Email Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter According to the latest Property Market Monitor released by JLL, Grade A office rents in Hong Kong advanced by 0.7% m-o-m in August, with Wanchai/Causeway Bay posting the strongest growth on the back of robust demand, up 1.0% month-over-month. In Central Hong Kong, office rents in Grade A1 offices grew by 1.6% m-o-m, underpinned by a tight vacancy environment, while overall, rents in Central grew by 0.9% m-o-m. Rents were able to climb higher despite new lettings in Central registering a m-o-m drop of 51%. Still, finance-related firms remained active and sought to expand in the traditional CBD. In one of the most notable transactions, BitMEX, a cryptocurrency trading platform, reportedly leased the whole of the 45th floor at Cheung Kong Center for a monthly rent of HK$225 per sq. ft, setting a new record high for the building. In Wong Chuk Hang, the completion of South Island Place saw the addition of a further 307,200 sq. ft. of Grade A office space being added to the market in August. However, the realization of pre-commitments in the building was offset by returning space in Kowloon East, resulting in a net take-up amounting to a mere 28,300 sq. ft. in the overall market for the month. With about 452,000 sq. ft. to be vacated upon lease expiry in Kowloon East over the next 12 months, it is likely that net take-up in the overall market will continue to be weighed down over the short term. Alex Barnes, Head of Markets at JLL said, "Despite an escalating US-China trade dispute, the market remains robust due to supply and demand fundamentals. While Grade A office rents moved higher in most submarkets during the month, the wave of new office supply coupled with elevated levels of vacancy in Kowloon East are expected to dampen growth in the district in the months to come. Nonetheless, the rise in supply in Kowloon East should will likely provide an opportunity for tenants seeking to decentralize." Denis Ma, Head of Research at JLL also added, "The government's recent housing initiatives and the escalating trade hostilities between the US and China contributed to home sales sliding 21% m-o-m in August and to and five-month low. Still, the primary sales market continues to hold up well as developers adopt less aggressive pricing strategies, which is drawing buyers to the market." Sign Up Free | The WPJ Weekly Newsletter Relevant real estate news. Actionable market intelligence. Right to your inbox every week. Go Thank you for your interest! You will now be receiving our Weekly Real Estate Newsletter. Future of listed Groves building to be explored as primary education use likely too complicated This article is old - Published: Thursday, Sep 27th, 2018 A former grammar school been deemed surplus to requirements for primary school usage, however future use of the building for primary educational purposes has not been ruled out entirely, despite being described as too complicated. The Grade II listed Groves building, located on Powell Road in Wrexham, has stood empty for a over a decade; with the potential uses of the site coming under debate a number of times in the past three years. Earlier this week Wrexham.com reported that a feasibility study exploring whether the school could be converted into a primary school had been published. Carried out by architects TACP the study found that that building could be converted into primary school usage, however acknowledged that there would be some constraints in doing so. As a result the councils education department has proposed that it declares the building surplus to its requirements and use part of the site to build a new primary school. An application for such a development could be submitted within the next six to twelve months. Yesterday the Groves was back up for debate, with members of the customer, performance, resources and governance scrutiny committee agreeing that the feasibility study was the starting point of a discussion on the future usage of the building, not the end. Meeting begins with Chairman Cllr John Pritchard saying he is aware the Groves is an emotive subject and asks the committee to focus on the report before them and not duplicate previous discussions. Wrexham.com (@wrexham) September 26, 2018 Cllr Carrie Harper, who submitted the initial request to debate the Groves, said she felt the report was positive overall and that it should have been carried out a long time ago. She continued: We have been told for sometime that the Groves is not suitable for primary use, this report clearly demonstrates that isnt the case. It is possible to convert the Groves. There are constraints as weve already heard, which youd expect in converting a building as opposed to a new build. Reading the report those are issues that are solvable which is a positive. I do think the study stops short in terms of looking at detail in terms of various funding options that could be available to cover gap to convert the building. I dont have a lot of experience in this area but I am aware of a local group who commissioned a piece of work that cost a fraction of this. It was along similar lines and concluded what potential funding options might be disappointed not to see in report. The listing is often referred to negatively but this opens up opportunities that wouldnt ordinarily be there, such as Heritage Lottery. There maybe further discussions with Welsh Government given theyve listed the building. Also there need to be more suggestions of making use of part of building that wouldnt be needed for primary school use which need to be explored in more detail. Cllr Harper also suggested that a joint task and finish group between the committee and members of the lifelong learning scrutiny was established to explore potential uses for the school away from primary education. Cllr Paul Jones, who represents the Maesydre ward, said he was pleased that the Groves was back on the agenda and that it was being spoken about for the right reasons. He also called for reassurances that the direction of travel with the listed building if a primary school is built on the site, that the issue with Groves continues to be looked at alongside any future development Cllr Phil Wynn, lead member for education, said it was his personal hope that the study would provide evidence to proceed with using the school for primary use and that he would work with anybody to find an alternative use for the Groves. He continued: It was up to the feasibility study to come up with findings and it may well have come up with a solution that wasnt compromised. Had that been the case the education officers would have been happy to progress to the next stage but unfortunately that is not the outcome of that report. We cant hide away from the fact that as an education department we would be required to find additional monies for the school element of a listed building. That would mean we would have to stop doing a school project elsewhere. We have 7 million in Band B funding to deliver a school on the site. Unfortunately the study found it was too complicated a solution. If the building wasnt listed it would be a different discussion but we have to respect the listed status. It hasnt delivered the outcome I was hoping for. Head of education at Wrexham Council, Ian Roberts also noted that using the Groves as a primary school would be a significantly compromised position compared to other 21st century schools in the area. Cllr Adrienne Jeorrett questioned at what point does the cost of mothballing the building outweigh the benefits of a new school and what would be the potential legal cost when it comes to challenging the covenants on the site. Cllr Wynn explained it cost 11,000 per annum, with ongoing costs to keep the building watertight. There was also an additional fee spent to clear the site after the homeless encampment in summer 2017. The meeting was also told that should the school be declared as surplus to the education departments requirements and planning permission for a new building elsewhere on the site was approved, it would be a case of challenging the covenants on the site in court. Cllr Michael Morris said: It is a stark statement saying it is surplus to requirements. What we are considering is the requirement of the education department. It doesnt absolve the council of responsibility in terms of the listed building, it is still with the authority not the education department. The future is the future and we still have the responsibility to look after the listed building as the owner. He added that the Groves should always be on the radar of the committee and considered regularly. Cllr Morris recommended that the committee endorse the findings of the report and declare the Groves surplus to primary school usage. He also proposed that the council explores all avenues for future use of the building such as secondary or further education via a joint task and finish group, with a six monthly report to provide an update on any findings. Thorough debate on the Groves this morning will committee agreeing to set up a Task & Finish Group to explore future uses of the building such as secondary or further education uses. Wrexham.com (@wrexham) September 26, 2018 The committee unanimously voted in favour of the recommendations. A similar vote will take place with members of the lifelong learning committee prior to any task and finish group being established. The Catalan separatist Candidatures of Popular Unity (CUP) party has publicly denounced a coordinated and overt campaign of police spying directed against it. At a press conference last Thursday in front of CUP headquarters, National Secretary Nuria Gibert and former deputy Mireia Boya explained that the police have been spying on them for over a year, since before last Octobers Catalan independence referendum, and are continuing to do so. Boya said that the repression is from well before last September [when the crackdown on Catalan secessionists started]. She continued: To this day, we are suffering police monitoring of our headquarters. There are undercover policemen watching us, watching and monitoring each one of our movements. In the course of the press conference, various CUP members showed photos to the media of the alleged spies. According to Boya, the undercover officers write down notes and take photographs of those who come in and out of the premises. It would be unusual if the police carried out physical surveillance without also systematically intercepting phone calls and digital communications. Boya said the espionage targeting the CUP has been reported to the Interior Department of the Catalan regional government, so that the regional police, the Mossos dEsquadra, can investigate. They have not yet received a reply, however. The CUP warned that they intend to find out who has ordered the spying and why, since this is a serious violation of democratic rights and freedoms. According to Boya, there are 1,200 people persecuted by the Spanish justice system, with eavesdropping, espionage and monitoring. Gibert recalled last years siege of CUP headquarters, when police tried to enter the building without a warrant during the September 20 crackdown, in the course of which high-ranking civil servants were arrested for preparing the October 1 independence referendum. When the CUP refused, and crowds of people started a sit-down protest in front of CUP headquarters to keep police from entering, the cops provocatively stood outside the premises for eight hours in full anti-riot gear (See video). This action was part of Madrids strategy to provoke violence. A clash would have allowed the judiciary to frame the Catalan referendum as an act of rebellion, which, under the law, must involve a public show of violence. The intervention of hundreds of protesters to peacefully defend the headquarters thwarted this attempt. However, it did not prevent Madrid from charging Catalan nationalist leaders with rebellion after the referendum, even though they had constantly appealed for the protests to be peaceful. Gibert said their complaint filed last year had been rejected by the judge, but that they have appealed the decision. Boya announced that the CUP will undertake new legal measures against the Spanish state over serious violation of fundamental rights. The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) opposes and denounces the police spying and repression of the CUP and the Catalan nationalists. The ICFI has unbridgeable and well-documented political differences with the CUP. Its bourgeois separatist programme and promotion of nationalism divide working people on the Iberian peninsula, and its support for Catalan pro-austerity governments underscores its hostility to the working class. However, police spying and threats against the CUP violate democratic principles and basic democratic rights, and establish a precedent that will be turned most savagely against the working class. Claims that the CUP is a terrorist group and an instigator of violent attempts to overthrow the state are a political fraud. Over the past year, the CUPs activities against Madrids repression of the Catalan nationalist movement has consisted of peaceful protests, strikes, blockades of roads via sit-ins and the display of yellow ribbons throughout major cities and towns. Madrids violence is well documented, however. Under the previous right-wing Popular Party government, supported by the Socialist Party, the state sent 16,000 policemen to storm polling stations, assault peaceful voters and confiscate ballot boxes and voting papers to try to halt the October 1 referendum. This left over 1,000 injured, including children and elderly people. In the weeks before the referendum, over 100 websites were closed, ballots were confiscated, millions of posters and leaflets were seized, newspapers were searched and meetings were banned. Madrid-based media overwhelmingly endorsed these anti-democratic and repressive measures. Official chauvinism reached levels not seen since the fascist dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. The media hailed far-right protestors gathering in front of police stations and calling for Spanish police to go for them [the Catalans]. The press depicted them as concerned citizens defending Spanish unity. Spains right-wing ABC even called for the banning of the CUP and its youth wing, Arran. In an editorial, it stated: The law of political parties allows the banning of a party once it has been demonstrated that it engages in antidemocratic and unconstitutional behavior, without the need to charge it with a specific crime. Soon after the referendum, Madrid dissolved the Catalan regional government, imposed an unelected regional government, and moved to arrest the main secessionist leaders. Apart from those such as former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont who fled to Belgium, the rest are still in jail. Anna Gabriel, a CUP leader and former MP, fled to Switzerland, having left the country believing she could not get a fair trial from the Spanish judiciary. Her suspicion was confirmed last week when eldiario.org posted leaked messages from several Spanish judges corporate email accounts. One October 6 email read: As a Spaniard, a Catalan and a judge, what happened on September 6 and October 1 was a coup detat You cant negotiate with those who carry out a coup, nor engage in dialogue with them. Another judge said that a coup has winners and losers, and stated that the bloodshed that [pro-independence leaders] aimed for cant go unpunished. Several messages slandered the Catalan nationalists as Nazis. Its the same that occurred in Germany long ago, reads one comment. Another judge hailed king Felipe VI and the police agencies, writing, Long live the Spanish police, long live the Guardia Civil, long live Spain and long live the colleagues who truly look after our legal system. The repression has continued under the Socialist Party (PSOE) government, backed by the pseudo-left Podemos party. While calling for dialogue with the Catalan separatists, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has threatened to re-invoke article 155 and dissolve the Catalan regional government. He has ordered the new attorney general to continue prosecuting Catalan nationalists under fraudulent rebellion charges. Within Catalonia there is mass opposition to the ongoing repression. Up to one million protesters joined a mass march in the streets of Barcelona on September 11, Catalonias National Day, calling for the release of those in jail and return of those exiled. The operation against the CUP is a transparent attempt to step up the state terror campaign targeting any and all opposition to Madrid under conditions of a growing radicalization of the working class against social inequality, militarism and police repression. The defense team for Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke completed its third day of testimony yesterday and will continue today. Van Dyke is being tried for the murder of Laquan McDonald after shooting him 16 timesemptying his entire magazineand killing him in 2014. In December 2015, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Garry McCarthy, whoalong with the mayors office and the entire Chicago city councilsuppressed the video of McDonalds murder, allowed Van Dyke to walk free, and paid the teens family an unprecedented $5 million. Jury selection for the trial has sparked controversy. An aspiring police officer made the cut, and only one member of the jury is African-American. Van Dykes legal team attempted to have the trial moved out of the city of Chicago, on the grounds that if Van Dyke is acquitted of the charges, there could be mass unrest in the city. Based on this supposition, they argue Van Dyke could not get a fair trial. The Illinois state prosecutors rested after four days of testimony last Thursday. Former FBI agent Urey Patrick testified that Van Dyke, who shot the teenager 16 times, could have apprehended him by other means. McDonalds three-inch knife, which he had on him before being shot, did not rise to the necessity of using deadly force to stop it. Patrick continued, referring to the dashcam video of the killing, He never said anything to anybody, never made any threats, never made any move towards the police officers confronting him. Here in this video hes walking away from them. Chicago police officer Joseph McElligott also testified. Before McDonald was killed, McElligott trailed him for blocks on foot, testifying he had no reason to shoot because McDonald didnt pose enough of a threat. He didnt make any direct movement at me, he said. An FBI ballistics expert also testified the sudden movement on the dashcam video made by Van Dykes partner, Joseph Walsh, the moment Van Dyke began firing his shots was consistent with a flinch meaning he was likely surprised by the shots and was not expecting them. Also based on evidence from the dashcam video, the same expert testified the time from Van Dyke firing the first bullet to his 16th lasted at least 14.2 seconds. A video was then shown of an FBI marksman firing 16 bullets into a target. Using a similar gun to the one Van Dyke had the night of the shooting, the video showed the marksman firing 16 bullets into a target as fast as he could. It took him 3.7 seconds. Then, the marksman fired 16 bullets the same alleged time it took Van Dyke to empty his magazine, 14.2 seconds. The expert showing the video stated, Its a deliberate rate of fire. Its methodical. He was taking time to aim each shot. Methodical is one of the best ways to describe that. In other words, Van Dyke did not act out of fear, compulsively and unconsciously. Every shot fired was deliberate and intended, meaning that he knowingly fired all 16 bullets even after McDonald fell to the floor. The attorneys representing Van Dyke began their defense on Monday. The team is primarily, and one could say desperately, basing its defense on the claim that the troubled teen McDonald, who had a history of mental illness, was extremely violent and physically dangerous to others and ultimately posed a threat to Van Dyke, warranting his death. The defense might invoke the 1984 Illinois Supreme Court ruling People v. Lynch, which stated a defendant who claims self-defense for a murder trial may introduce evidence of the victims aggressive and violent character regardless if the defendant was aware the victim was aggressive and violent when killed. Thus far, the defense has introduced multiple witnesses who allege McDonald being combative in numerous occasions. During the first day of the defense, testimony was heard from previous and current juvenile detention Cook County Sheriffs officers. One told the court of an incident when McDonald put his arm back, so my partner hit him in the stomach but it really didnt affect him while another stated, We took him to the floor in the prone position due to his combative behavior. A testament was heard Tuesday from McDonalds former probation officer, Dana Randazzo, who stated McDonald was once violent and combative during a court trial in August 2014, telling the court, He became very upset and combative with the sheriffs. Also on Tuesday the defense showed an animation that recreated the killing of McDonald. The four-minute animation shows multiple perspectives of the shooting. An animated version of McDonald is shown walking parallel to Van Dyke and then shot multiple times. The video does not depict McDonald lunging towards or showing any kind of movement in the direction of Van Dyke before being shot but does show him closing the distance between the two. The defense introduced on Tuesday a piece of evidence of a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) card that McDonald allegedly had on him when he died, which belonged to a disabled, retired veteran. Van Dykes attorney, Daniel Herbert, stated this was proof that he had stolen the CTA card and went on a wild rampage before encountering Van Dyke. Judge Vincent Gaughan barred evidence from being entered into the trial on the grounds that it was weak and that it was unclear who took the card from McDonalds body, possibly invalidating the defenses claim, stating, Being on the CTA and taking multiple rides doesnt prove anything. The judge, also on Tuesday, barred the defense calling a Chicago police officer to testify he encountered McDonald almost 19 hours before he was killed. The officer encountered the teen after he asked his aunts next-door neighbor to borrow her car at 3 a.m. The woman, frightened, called the police. The next-door neighbor told the Chicago Tribune that McDonald was not aggressive when she encountered him, and he was not arrested that night. Yesterday, testimony continued to portray McDonald as combative and deranged. Chicago police officer Leticia Velez spoke vaguely about seeing McDonald the night of the shooting. He did not look toward our direction, she said. He just kept looking straight ahead. He looked deranged. There was nothing that was actually fazing him. He was just, like, in a twilight. Velez later testified she was worried McDonald might have had a gun, which police later confirmed he did not. As she and her partner were driving in a police squad car, she said I did believe that he had a gun, and when we made a U-turn, they were already firing shots. The murder of McDonald represents one of thousands in the United States and one of hundreds in Chicago over the past four years. Chicago is an epicenter of police violence within the United States. The Democratic Party, which has run Chicago politics for decades, is complicit in the endless crimes of the Chicago police. Indeed, just last week, former Chicago police commander Jon Burge, who resigned in disgrace, died at his home in Florida. Though he was never put on trial, Burge was accused of torturing black men in Chicago with beatings and electrocution, especially to the genitals, in order to elicit murder confessions. The evidence that Van Dyke murdered McDonald deliberately and not in self-defense is overwhelming. But the history of police murder trials makes clear there is no reason to suspect Van Dyke will be found guilty. Sections of the ruling class are seeking a non-guilty verdict to maintain a legal precedence of police murder in the United States. At the same time, the killing of McDonald, like that of Michael Brown and others, has been a center of political protest, and has put the entire Democratic Party establishment of Chicago and nationally on edge. A verdict of not guilty will likely invoke large protests from workers and youth in Chicago and nationally, and perhaps internationally. But, if found guilty, the ruling will not do anything to reform or stop the endless bloodshed of the police. A guilty verdict will be used to attempt to quell the growing unrest among youth and workers and their growing hatred for police violence, and the capitalist system that produces it. The case is being closely monitored by the Illinois attorney general, the prosecutor in the trial. The prosecution is acting carefully to depict Van Dyke as an isolated anomaly and pretend that his murder does not amount to anything beyond being possibly racially motivated and done with criminal and malicious intent, both of which may very well be true. What will not be part of the prosecutions case is any argument on the true nature of class relations within the United States and the role of the police as the violent enforcers of class rule by the ruling class over the working class, black, brown and white. The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality are holding a series of meetings explaining the political issues posed to the working class by the campaign against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn by the Blairite right in alliance with the Tory government and intelligence agencies. The meetings will discuss the call by the SEP for Labour members and supporters to drive out the right-wing and why Corbyn is opposed to this elementary task. For months the Blairites and the media have led a destabilisation campaign involving MI5 in the UK, Mossad in Israel and the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States that has included claims that Corbyn is a threat to national security, warnings by a senior serving general that there would be a mutiny if he became prime minister and endless bogus accusations of anti-Semitism. This foul right-wing campaign is ultimately not levelled against Corbyn, but at the workers and youth who responded to his calls for an end to austerity, militarism and war. Its aim is to delegitimise and suppress their socialist aspirations and to preserve the unchallenged rule of the financial oligarchy. Corbyn and his backers have opposed any serious fight against the right-wing inside the Labour Party, while adopting their policies on NATO membership, the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons, the war in Syria, adopting a definition of anti-Semitism that threatens all those critical of Israels subjugation of the Palestinians and to rescue British capitalism from its Brexit crisis. The SEP will explain how Corbyns repeated capitulations confirm that Labour Party is a pro-capitalist organisation that cannot be transformed into a genuinely working-class party and why a genuine struggle against big business and its political representatives must be conducted based on a genuinely socialist and internationalist programme. Attend the public meeting in your area. For further information visit socialequality.org.uk and facebook.com/sepbritain. Meeting details: London Monday October 8, 6.30 p.m. St Pancras and Somers Town Living Centre 2 Ossulston Street (off Charrington Street), NW1 1DF (nearest tubes St Pancras/Kings Cross) Manchester Tuesday October 9, 7 p.m. Room F13, Friends Meeting House Mount Street (behind Manchester Central Library), M2 5NS Leeds Saturday October 13, 2 p.m. Woodhouse Community Centre 197 Woodhouse Street, LS6 2NY Sheffield Tuesday October 16, 7 p.m. Central United Reform Church Norfolk Street, S1 2JB English Danish Company Announcement No. 8-2018, Copenhagen The previously announced signed contracts for two cement plants in Central America (Company Announcement No. 6-2018 on 4 August 2018) are now effective, as FLSmidth - among several other conditions - has received the agreed down payment. FLSmidth has been awarded two contracts: one for a greenfield cement plant and the other for a brownfield cement plant, together worth more than EUR 250 million which will be part of the order intake for the third quarter of 2018. The plants will be located in Central America and will supply cement mainly to their local markets. The expected commissioning is within 24 to 36 months and once operational, the cement plants will have a capacity of 2,000 and 3,500 tonnes per day, respectively. Both contracts include design and engineering, equipment supply, automation systems, training as well as advisory services for installation and commissioning. "These orders mark the culmination of a close collaboration between the customer and FLSmidth and demonstrates our ability to work with contractors from anywhere in the world based on our experience and competencies from the cement industry, our global presence, and the know-how of our 12,000 employees," said Jan Kjaersgaard, President, Cement. He continued: "We are extremely proud to have been chosen as supplier of these two cement plants." Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risk and uncertainty. Contacts Investors Relations Pernille Friis Andersen, tel +45 36 18 18 87, pefa@flsmidth.com Nicolai Mauritzen, tel +45 36 18 18 51, nicm@flsmidth.com Contacts Media Relations Sofie Karen Lindberg, tel +45 30 93 18 77, skl@flsmidth.com FLSmidth delivers sustainable productivity to the global mining and cement industries. As the market-leading supplier of engineering, equipment and service solutions, FLSmidth improves performance, drives down costs, and reduces the environmental impact of operations. Present in more than 50 countries and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Group and its 11,700 employees generated revenue of DKK 18 billion in 2017. www.flsmidth.com Following the press and television news in the US on Wednesday might lead one to believe that a kind of madness has seized hold of the American media, along with sections of the affluent petty-bourgeoisie. The media generated new geysers of filth in regard to the controversy surrounding the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trumps candidate for the US Supreme Court. On the same day, the degrading impact of its #MeToo campaign could be seen in the hysterical, semi-fascistic tone of the response to the sentencing of comedian Bill Cosby. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Thursday from Christine Blasey Ford, who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were high school students. But newer allegations against Kavanaugh bumped up against one another on Wednesday. Before the population had time to digest the claim by Deborah Ramirez (reported by the New Yorker magazine September 23) that Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her at a Yale University party 35 years ago, a third woman came forward with even more sensational charges. Michael Avenatti, best known as the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal case against Trump, tweeted a sworn statement by Julie Swetnick, 55, claiming that Kavanaugh and others, while in high school, spiked the drinks of girls at house parties so that they might more easily gang-rape them. Swetnick went on to allege that she herself became the victim of one of these gang rapes where [Kavanaughs friend] Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present. Avenattis tweet became the occasion, in the bland phrase of the New York Times, for immediate, blanket coverage across social media and cable news. The cable news channels did indeed bombard their viewers non-stop with the storyif they werent reporting on Cosbys being sent to jail. MSNBC correspondent Kate Snow, for instance, read the most graphic portions of Swetnicks statement. The other cable channels followed suit, along with the Times, the Washington Post and the rest. CNN anchor John King asked correspondent Sara Sidner to walk us through the allegations, which she obliged by providing every salacious detail. Afterward, King expressed appreciation for the live reporting on a very sensitive and dramatic issue. The Times set the stage for the days torrent of media smut in its morning edition, which plastered across its front page two lead articles on the Kavanaugh sexual assault allegations and a third on the Cosby sentencing. The report on Trumps fascistic and war-mongering rant at the United Nations was relegated to a subordinate spot. The opinion pages featured a lengthy editorial (Questions Mr. Kavanaugh Needs to Answer) listing detailed questions for senators to ask about his sexual activities. The American media lowers and demeans itself further with every new scandal. It is impossible for us to determine the truth of the claims against Kavanaugh. It is certain, however, that the Democratic Party campaign against Trumps nominee is a reactionary diversion and an effort to bury the most pressing issues. Kavanaugh is a zealous right-winger and enemy of democratic rights. But no Democrat on the Judiciary Committee will ask him, What was your role in the attempted coup detat, known as the Starr investigation, against Bill Clinton? or Why did you support torture and illegal detention as part of the Bush administration? None of the Democrats, the supposed defenders of women, will even forthrightly denounce him for his attacks on abortion rights. Theyve all but dropped the issue. Speaking on CNN, the Times Michael Shear inadvertently alluded to the anti-democratic character of the campaign against Kavanaugh: One of the dynamics that weve seen throughout this entire #MeToo movement is that accusations that start out as a single, a solitary accusation against a man in power, often dont pick up the kind of steam that ultimately forces action until theres a second allegation, and a third allegation, and beyond. And thats what creates often the kind of pressureoverwhelming pressure that forces some action. Five, ten or twenty accusations do not amount to proof. Kavanaugh may have been guilty of sexual misconduct, but Shear and the rest apparently need to be reminded that every witch-hunt in history has also operated on the principle of numbers. The repressive, right-wing character of the middle-class outrage over sexual misconduct, whipped up by the #MeToo campaign, is on view in the frothing reaction to Cosbys sentencing. The comedian was convicted of sexually assaulting a Temple University employee at his home in 2004 while she was under the influence of a sedative. The comments on the outcome of the Cosby case in the Times from readers of its article Bill Cosby, Once a Model of Fatherhood, Is Sentenced to Prison, are overwhelmingly vengeful and vindictive: Id rather my taxes dont go toward paying for his 3-10 year confinement. Just put him in with the general population and dont have the guards intervene to protect him. He would be dead within minutes, but at least his last moments on earth would be filled with terror. He is a beast no matter his physical condition. We can only hope he dies in jail. Such a shame. Good riddance. I really dont care that he is old and has lost his sight. He should have been in prison decades ago. Let him serve his time in the dark in a cold cell. Only 10 years? He deserved 100! Neither the Times nor the majority of its middle-class readership has ever expressed this degree of outrage about the past quarter-century of bloody, neo-colonial wars and occupations pursued by American imperialism, which has led to more than one million deaths and the displacement of tens of millions more. The destruction of societies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen and beyond does not keep this social element awake at night. Drone strikes, kill lists, NSA spying, the persecution of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assangenone of this merits more than hand-wringing or the occasional tsk-tsk, if not outright assent. Of no concern either is the industrial slaughterhouse in America: the 5,190 workers (90 percent of them male) who died on the job in 2016, and the 3.7 million workers across all industries who had work-related injuries and illnesses. The hysteria over the Cosby case and the Kavanaugh nomination has a logic, despite its unhinged character. On the part of the Democratic Party and the Times, the incitement of a frenzy over sexual abuse is a conscious political operation. For the American ruling elite, it is a pressing matter to change the subject from economic inequality; to weaken, dissipate and divide popular anger toward the wealthy and capitalist rule by pointing to other guilty partiesmen or white people. The aim is to reduce and blunt class hatred and feeling, divide along gender lines, prevent as far as possible and for as long as possible independent political and social action by the working class, slow down and ideologically cripple such a movement, and build up a reactionary constituency within the upper-middle class. This was the response of the Clinton campaign in 2016 to the mass support for Bernie Sanders: the manipulation of the case of Stanford student Brock Turner and the focus on Trumps alleged sexual carryings-on. The current furor is a repetition along even more reactionary lines. It is a reaction to the growth of popular hostility to Trump and anti-capitalist sentiment generally, to the movement of masses of the population to the left and to the increase in strike activity. The sex hysteria is meant to poison the atmosphere, pollute political consciousness, stop people in their tracks, numb and confuse them. It has the effect of completely discrediting the entire political system. The Times and the Democrats are appealing to a well-to-do social layer that has already moved far to the right. These elements oppose Trump on a right-wing, anti-democratic basis, including the #MeToo sexual witch hunts explicit renunciation of due process and the presumption of innocence. All of this is entirely compatible with war, dictatorship and savage attacks on the mass of working people. ROSEDALE, Ind. (WTHI)- A new law in Indiana requires teachers to teach students about sexual abuse and how to protect themselves. A bill lawmakers passed last year set this program into motion. It's effective for the 2018 school year. The law requires Indiana schools to provide child abuse and child sexual abuse education to children in pre-K through 12th grades. Rosedale Elementary sent letters to parents this week. They're about a new program teaching all kids, age-appropriate techniques to recognize child sexual abuse. William Livers, a social worker at Rosedale Elementary, says the subject is something he supports. "We need to have kids understand the ability that they have," Livers said. "They can say no." Livers works one on one with students dealing with trauma. He believes this new program will be beneficial for children. "Most people are good people," he added. "I think maybe I am more optimistic, but I believe that. "I believe that people are good and helpful. But, there are some that are not." Mya Kenley, a fourth-grader at Rosedale Elementary, says she has already learned so much. "It teaches you to not do things that other people are forcing you to do," Kenley said. Students at Rosedale Elementary have already learned the three 'R's: - Recognize; Is it safe? What's the rule? - Report; Tell an adult. - Refuse; Say words that mean no. Officials have canceled a Fort Wayne area Amber Alert. Dispatchers in the area told our sister station, WFFT that both one-year-old Mary Kryder and 27-year-old Ikeca Betzner were located. ---- Original story FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WTHI) - Indiana officials have declared a statewide Amber Alert. According to police, the Amber Alert is out of Fort Wayne. Police are searching for one-year-old Mary Kryder. Mary is described as a biracial female, 3 feet tall, 30 lbs, black hair, and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a teal shirt, and black sparkly pants. She was last seen Wednesday, September 26, 2018, at 6:00 pm in Fort Wayne and is believed to be in extreme danger. The suspect is 27-year-old Ikeca Betzner. Betzner is described as a biracial female, standing 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 133 lbs. She has brown curly hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a blue jean jacket with gray sleeves and faded blue yoga pants. Betzner is suspected to be in a silver 2013 Hyundai Elantra with Indiana Autism Awareness plate DD6937. If you have any information on this incident, contact the Allen County Sheriffs Department at 260-449-3000 or 911. Tupelo Partly Cloudy 59 Hi: 69 Lo: 38 Feels Like: 59 More Weather Columbus Partly Cloudy 60 Hi: 70 Lo: 38 Feels Like: 60 More Weather Oxford Cloudy 54 Hi: 65 Lo: 35 Feels Like: 54 More Weather Starkville Partly Cloudy 52 Hi: 71 Lo: 36 Feels Like: 52 More Weather Canadian high pressure will dominate our weather forecast for the weekend. This will bring our area some of the coldest mornings of the season so far. So, get ready for some frosty conditions. JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - The Mississippi Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the sentencing of a juvenile in a Lee County stabbing case. Brett Jones, 29, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the 2004 stabbing death of his grandfather, Bertis Jones. Jones' attorney argued before the full panel of the high court that the trial judge failed to determine Jones was permanently incorrigible before handing down the sentence. Court records show Jones stabbed his grandfather eight times and had to use at least two knives because the first one broke during the attack. Jones was 15 at the time of the murder and later appealed claiming a U.S. Supreme Court ruling granted juveniles parole in criminal cases. The Mississippi Supreme Court granted a motion to have the trial judge re-sentence Jones. Lee County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Gardner III reviewed the evidence and witness testimony before giving Jones the same sentence. On December 14, the Mississippi Court of Appeals reviewed the sentence and says the judge was correct in sentencing Jones but failed to rule that Jones was permanently incorrigible. Jones is serving his sentence in the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leaksville. It is unknown when the State Supreme Court will hand down its opinion in the case. JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - The Mississippi State Board of Contractors is advising property owners to be cautious when it comes to making repairs to property following this weeks rains and flooding. They say be aware of unlicensed or unscrupulous contractors who may take advantage of help-seeking property owners. It is against Mississippi law to undertake or offer to undertake construction or superintending of the construction of home improvement or construction jobs valued at $10,000 or more in combined labor and material costs for residential projects or $50,000 or more for commercial projects. The Board is urging consumers to hire properly licensed contractors. Take your time and protect yourself against scam artists who will take your money or unskilled contractors who will perform shoddy work, said MSBOC Executive Director Stephanie Lee. Update 09/27/18 1:37 p.m. LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) - School and emergency officials are still trying to determine what is causing some Louisville middle school students and staff to become ill. Health issues started Tuesday at Eiland Middle School. The school district says four students started complaining of dizziness and flushing on Tuesday. The following day, multiple students suffered similar complaints and temporarily lost consciousness. Nine students were treated at Winston Medical Center. At least two teachers/staff and four first responders also suffered similar symptoms. While most students were treated and released, two were transported to hospitals in Jackson for further treatment, stated the district. One of these students is expected to be released Thursday. All students were evacuated from the 8th-grade hall and efforts were made to find an environmental source of the problem. Through several resources, no environmental cause has been found, the district stated Thursday afternoon. Atmos Energy also inspected the facility for gas leaks, carbon monoxide and methane and found no problems. The district says at least four students and one teacher reported symptoms on Thursday. Some were transported for medical assistance. The school district and other agencies are investigating the possibility that vaping or other substances may be the cause. At least one student on Wednesday and one on Thursday admitted to vaping either prior to/or at school. Officials say there is currently no evidence that secondhand vaping could cause such symptoms. No specific drugs/substances have been identified that might be a source. Classes were held on Thursday following a thorough inspection of the facility and consultation with resources including the Mississippi Department of Education. Currently, several governmental agencies, law enforcement are on the scene, and the inspection and investigation are ongoing. Update 09/27/18 11:47 a.m. Three to four more people were taken to the hospital Thursday morning, said Superintendent Randy Grierson. However, he's not sure if these illnesses are linked to the others reported Wednesday. He says the 7th and 8th-grade buildings are closed and being sanitized. As of now, he's unsure what is causing all of this. This is a developing story and this article will be updated as more information becomes available. Update 9/27/18 7:20 a.m. The building where students reported fumes at Eiland Middle School is closed for inspection, Superintendent Dr. Randy Grierson said. Multiple agencies, including the Center for Disease Control, have tested for carbon monoxide and gas leaks. There have been no signs of either, according to Grierson. See the original post below. LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) - Several law enforcement agencies are investigating unidentified fumes reported at Eiland Middle School around noon on Wednesday, according to Superintendent Dr. Randy Grierson. Grierson confirmed one student was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson for a medical evaluation. Law enforcement agencies worked through the night to inspect the middle school to see if any side effects were suspected, Grierson said. At this time, there are none. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Radius Gold Inc. (TSX-V: RDU) is pleased to announce it has received drill permits for its Coyote hot-springs epithermal gold project near Elko, Nevada and has initiated a detailed CSAMT geophysical survey at its 100% owned Bald Peak hot-springs epithermal gold project near Hawthorn, Nevada. Radius expects to commence drilling at Coyote in the next month and is currently working on drill permits for the 2019 season at Bald Peak. Coyote Project Radius recently received a drill permit for the Coyote Project, located near Elko in a world class gold producing district near the intersection of the prolific Carlin trend (estimated 90Moz gold production since 1965) and the Independence trend (estimated 8Moz gold production since 1981). Radius has signed a drill services contract for Coyote and expects to commence drilling in October. The drill program will target deeply penetrating resistive structures with co-incident rock and soil geochemical gold-antimony-arsenic-mercury anomalies within a surficial sinter hot spring environment. In August 2018, Radius completed a detailed CSAMT and soil geochemical survey at Coyote. The CSAMT survey (see figure 1) defined a coherent (950m by 250m) strongly resistive zone adjacent to and below the surface sinter that extends from surface to the bottom of the geophysical survey at 600m depth and is predicted to represent a sheeted vein system. The recent discovery of the Gravel Creek Gold-Silver Deposit (see note 1) by Western Exploration, approximately 45km north of Coyote, is an excellent analog where a hot spring sinter environment, and anomalous geochemistry and geophysical programs led Western Exploration to target the Tertiary-Paleozoic boundary beneath the system with deep drilling, resulting in spectacular high grade discovery holes at Gravel Creek including: WG373 from 470m to 762m with 291m at 13.52 g/t Au, and WG374 from 457m to 646m with 189m at 34.6 g/t Au Note 1. Information on the Gravel Creek Gold-Silver Deposit was published in New Concepts and Discoveries: Geological Society of Nevada 2015 Symposium, O.D Christensen and J.G. Cleary. Geology and Discovery History of the Gravel Creek Silver-Gold Deposit, Elko County, Nevada. Bald Peak Project The Bald Peak Project is located mainly in western Nevada, with an extension into California. The property was acquired in 2017 (see news release of March 6th, 2017) and subsequently expanded to cover an 8km trend of gold rich sinter terraces and epithermal quartz veins which outcrop along the 8km length of the property (see figure 2). The Bald Peak epithermal system occurs 6km north of and parallel to the trend of the neighbouring Bodie, Aurora, and Borealis mining camps. The property has seen limited shallow drilling, none of which targeted the gold rich sinter occurrences. The sinters evidence that the epithermal system has not been eroded beyond its paleo-surface elevation and thus is likely fully preserved. Radius recently received permission from the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a geophysics survey and has commenced a deep penetrating CSAMT geophysical survey covering the main sinter and vein targets at Bald Peak. Radius expects to integrate the CSAMT data with the results from its previously completed mapping and geochemistry to refine the identified drill targets for the 2019 field season. Radius is currently working on drill permitting with the U.S. Forest Service. Technical Information Bruce Smith, M.Sc. (Geology), a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is Radiuss Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Smith participated in the reported programs and prepared and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Radius Gold Inc. Radius has a portfolio of projects located primarily in the United States and Mexico which it continues to advance, utilizing partnerships where appropriate in order to retain the Companys strong treasury. At the same time, management is seeking out additional investment and project acquisition opportunities across the globe. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Simon Ridgway President and CEO Symbol: TSXV-RDU Tel: 604-801-5432; Toll free 1-888-627-9378; Fax: 604-662-8829 Email: info@goldgroup.com Website: www.radiusgold.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements which include, without limitation, statements about the exploration plans for the Bald Peak and Coyote Projects; the Companys business strategy, plans and outlook; the merit of the Companys investments and properties; timelines; the future financial performance of the Company; expenditures; approvals and other matters. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimate, estimates, estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, upgraded, offset, limited, contained, reflecting, containing, remaining, to be, periodically, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, the plans for exploring the Bald Peak and Coyote Projects; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Companys quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the exploration activities at the Bald Peak and Coyote Projects will proceed as planned; that the Companys activities will be in accordance with its public statements and stated goals; that all required approvals will be obtained; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its investments or properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Figures accompanying this announcement are available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7dfc1608-2d71-4015-831e-8194a8b8e50e http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c8f67b71-dd9d-4b2a-ac02-82b2b57eb860 "He had fell to the ground, then his tail was wagging and then Lynn had to try to move him off of (it) that he realized that he got shocked and then Lynn's hand got shocked as he was moving Charlie," McDermott said. "And then Charlie started foaming at the mouth." She said paramedics pronounced her dog dead at the scene. Florida Power and Light said once aware of the situation, they shut off that power line until it was fixed. "To lose your dog in four months from something that could have been - it's negligence," she said. "I feel like we should still have Charlie today." Through all their grief, Debbie and Lynn say they hope someone can learn from this tragedy. The only way that we can wrap our minds around this in our hearts is to know that maybe Charlie, his legacy continues, that hes going to save other children, human beings, anybody you know from being electrocuted, something that should not have happened, McDermott said. ALBANY, Ga. (WTXL) - Students and Staff of Florida A & M University are looking to recruit in Albany. The FAMU Presidential Tour stopped by the Albany High School Complex to put on a show for the Juniors and Seniors. The event included a majors fair, a performance about FAMU history, and speeches from school officials. Alumni Affairs Director Carmen Cummings says they have die-hard alumni in Albany, so they've joined a new partnership with the Dougherty County School System. "So that's why we're here, to spread the news of what's available down in Tallahassee," Cummins said. Students who attend Florida A&M performed, tying in university history with popular music. GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Florida man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for sex trafficking a 14-year-old child with two other women. According to Christopher Canova, a U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, 24-year-old Rajheem Kwamaine Roddey of Starke was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison. In June, Roddey plead guilty to benefiting financially from child sex trafficking. He and two other co-defendants, 21-year-old Bailegh Noelle Coleman and 21-year-old Laney Ellis, also plead guilty to child sex trafficking. Between April and June 2017, officials say Roddey, Coleman, and Ellis were involved in a scheme to make money using a 14-year-old female to perform sex acts. Court documents say the trio took pictures of the child and created advertisements on the now shut down online advertising website Backpage.com. Under the false name Emily," the advertisements were posted in a section for escort services, when the advertisements were actually offering up the victim for commercial sexual activity. According to court documents, Ellis and Coleman handled texts and calls received by "johns" and coordinated the details such as the price and location, sometimes even sending pictures of the victim. Documents say Roddey, Coleman, and Ellis profited from the sex trafficking scheme and purchased drugs with the proceeds. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - A restriction on fishing for red drum and snook was extended to next spring and will stretch north to Pasco County, as the state continues trying to limit impacts from a red-tide outbreak along the Gulf Coast. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission agreed Wednesday to extend until May 10 an executive order imposing a mandatory catch-and-release rule on red drum and snook. The order has been in place for a month from Anna Maria Island to Naples. The commission also announced it is immediately ending the scallop season in Northwest Floridas Gulf County, where red tide has recently appeared. FWC Chairman Bo Rivard says the commission will pursue innovative testing to reduce the often-annual outbreaks of red tide. Were putting our best foot forward to learn what we can from it and be better prepared next time," said Rivard. The catch-and-release order, which was set to expire next month, now will be reviewed by the commission next May. It covers waters from Naples north to the Pasco-Hernando County line. Commission Executive Director Eric Sutton says the action was taken with an abundance of caution. I certainly hope that the message is that catch and release means you can still catch them, and you can. If you go out on those waters, you will see that its patchy," said Sutton. "There are places to still catch fish. We just want to make sure we are returning them back to the water to help with the recovery. Red tide produces toxins that kill fish, birds, sea turtles, manatees and dolphins and can cause neurotoxic shellfish poisoning in human. The outbreaks occur in salt water and are separate from the inshore toxic blue-green algae that has plagued areas from Stuart to Cape Coral and has been tied to the release of polluted waters from Lake Okeechobee. The current red tide problem is the longest since 2006, when an outbreak lasted about 17 months. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Nearly three million Floridians are currently living in poverty according to the 2018 Center for American Progress. Data shows 14 percent of those living in Florida have incomes below the poverty line, compared to 12 percent nationally. Contributing factors include healthcare and childcare costs, as well as the need for affordable housing options. Jay Revell with the Chamber of Commerce, says the Capital City's unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in about 20 years. Sounds like good news, but Revell says it brings new problems. "It means two things. A, companies may not be looking to hire as much. And B, if they are the pool of applicants that they may get would be severely shorter than it would normally be when there's an active job market, when people are actively going out seeking more opportunities to work," said Revell. Revell says raising the minimum hourly wage could help reverse the poverty trend in Tallahassee, but it could also hurt local companies. QUITMAN, Ga. (WTXL) - Quitman's now former Police Chief Calvin Troy abruptly left the department just days ago. Now he's speaking out. Troy said officers were trying to arrest a man who they suspected was driving a stolen car. During the pursuit, the man got out of his car and ran off, leaving the car in the middle of the road and three kids in the back seat. He says one resident called Dennard to come to the scene on Main Street, and she did. But, when she got to the scene Troy says she was quote "disrespected" by an officer. "If she's interfering with his investigation, he has the right to lock her up, and that's what he said." A reporter reached out to Dennard multiple times but, she has yet to return any of her messages. Troy said it's that type of involvement that led him to leave earlier than he originally planned. "Councilwoman Mattie Neloms asked me what was the problem, and why I was leaving, and I told them," Troy said. "I said the mayor is a bully. It's because of the mayor. She comes to the police department, wanting to take over, and shut down half of the police department." Troy has been with the Quitman Police Department for 12 years, and has been the police chief since March of this year. Dennard became mayor January 1. He says because of her mismanagement, he believed the best option for him was to leave, even though he didn't want too. "I didn't want to leave, but I knew things weren't going to change," he said. "And I really enjoyed my job over there because over there respected me. And if they get Mayor Dennard out of there, I'll come back and work for them." This month, Troy and six officers have left, leaving the community worried about what will happen to the police department. Brooks County Sheriff Mike Dewey does not anticipate the department shutting down. However, he says if the department needs assistance with calls and patrols they'll be there to help like they always. A reporter also reached out to City Manager Willie Burns and City Attorney Karla Walker, and neither have yet to return any of her calls. BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WTXL) - Authorities in Georgia are looking for information on a missing 12-year-old child. Bainbridge Public Safety, Decatur County Sheriff's Office, and Decatur County School Resource Officers are searching for Joel Lumpkins, who was last seen walking south from Bainbridge on Tallahassee Highway near Attapulgus around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday. BPS stated he was wearing a yellow or white shirt with black gym shorts and white shoes, and he was carrying a white bag. BPS said if you have seen a boy matching this description, please call 911 immediately. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Police have arrested four roommates after a six-month investigation led them to find thousands of dollars in cash and more than two pounds of marijuana inside their Tallahassee apartment. On Tuesday, the Florida State University Police Department arrested Daniel Daniel Vincent Diaz, 21; Matthew John Horn, 21; Renaldo Orellana Jr., 21; and Kyle Ronald Raymond, 20. All four were booked into the Leon County Detention Center on drug-related charges. Police said the total seizure from the search warrant was $11,192 in cash and around 2.3 pounds (1,056 grams) of marijuana. In a probable cause affidavit, police said that while executing their search warrant at the Woodlands Apartment Complex, 2195 W. Tennessee St., they found and detained four people within the apartment. An investigator wrote that officers found a "large amount of illegal narcotics (marijuana) throughout the kitchen inside of multiple cabinets and in plain view on the counter tops." Drug paraphernalia was also found in plain sight and in multiple cabinets throughout the kitchen. In the kitchen, police said there was $390 cash in one cabinet, 831.5 grams of marijuana, $1,180 cash in a separate cabinet, scales and several paraphernalia items. Surveillance of the apartment confirmed multiple people coming and going frequently from it, the court document said. "It is reasonable to conclude that anyone living in the residence knew or should have known that controlled substances were being unlawfully used, stored, or sold within the residence," police wrote. Documents say that officers also searched the men's rooms. In Diaz' room, according to the court document, officers found five glass vials of steroids, $265 cash, a large glass bong and 37.5 grams of marijuana shake. Diaz admitted to owning and storing the marijuana and cash in the kitchen. He also admitted to routinely making drug sells at the apartment. When Horn was asked if he had anything illegal in his room, he said that a clear glass vial on the floor containing steroids as well as a box of needles in his closet were his. He also identified a bong as belonging to him. Documents say Orellana told officers the marijuana and drug paraphernalia that was on a desk belonged to him. Officer also found $9,200 in cash inside a locked safe in his room under his bed, grinders, scales and 9 grams of marijuana. After being read his rights, Raymond declined to speak with an investigator, the court document said. In his room, police found 127.5 grams of marijuana in two vacuum containers, 7 grams of marijuana on the bathroom floor, 3 grams of marijuana on the desk, rolling papers, bong, smoking pipe, $157 in cash, and 40.5 grams of marijuana inside of the toilet. Raymond told officers he was scared an tried to flush the contraband down the toilet, but officers prevented him from completing the act. Their charges are as follows: Daniel Vincent Diaz, 21 Possession of a controlled substance without a prescription Possession of narcotics equipment Possession of marijuana Keeping a public nuisance structure for drug activity Matthew John Horn, 21 Keeping a public nuisance structure for drug activity Possession of a controlled substance without a prescription Renaldo Orellana Jr., 21 Possession of marijuana of not more than 20 grams Possession of narcotic equipment Keeping public nuisance structure for drug activity Kyle Ronald Raymond, 20 Keeping public nuisance structure for drug activity Possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana Possession of narcotic equipment Destroying or tampering with evidence Raymond was released from jail on a $5,000 bond, Diaz was released on an $11,500 bond, Horn was released on $3,500 bond, and Orellana was released on a $2,000 bond. Court documents list Raymond as a student at Florida State University and Orellano as a student at Tallahassee Community College. No occupation or school was listed for Diaz or Horn. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glance Technologies Inc. (Glance or the Company) (CSE:GET.CN) (OTCQB:GLNNF) (FKT:GJT), specializes in enabling merchants to provide their customers with quick secure payments, digital rewards, and a better customer experience. The Company is pleased to provide a corporate update on its recent activities including investor outreach, technology development, sales and marketing, and costs and controls. Investor Outreach Glances CEO, Desmond Griffin, recently presented at three investor conferences: the MoneyShow in Toronto, ON, the Global Chinese Financial Forum in Markham, ON, and the Extraordinary Future conference in Vancouver, BC. The presentations at the conferences were well-received and the conferences provided excellent forums for the Company to directly interact with institutional investors, investment advisors, individual shareholders and potential partners. We received positive feedback from the investment community and interest from potential strategic partners. These events gave us the opportunity to listen to our shareholders and hear their requests for more frequent updates on the Company, specifically on our sales and marketing plans, as well as progress on technology development. We received several inquiries from shareholders regarding the release from escrow of certain shares of the Company in early September, including shares owned directly and indirectly by the co-founders of the Company. While the Company has no access to trading activity of its shareholders other than what is publicly disclosed by insiders, Glance can confirm that insider filings show that Desmond Griffin is now the only shareholder that holds 10% or more of the shares of the Company and that Mr. Griffin has not sold shares in the Company in the past 10 months. We also listened to shareholder concerns regarding rumours and apparent false information on internet chat boards. While the Company has a policy not to comment on rumours or speculation, we do remind shareholders that they should only trust information regarding the Company that is received through our official press releases and disclosure channels. With regards to ongoing and future investor relations activities, we currently have a video airing on BNN Bloomberg (which can be seen at this link ) and we will soon be refreshing our Glance.Tech website to make it more investor-friendly. Mr. Griffin will also be presenting at the 19th Annual Global Chinese Financial Forum Conference in Vancouver on October 13, 2018. More details on this conference will be provided at a later date. Technology Development The Company recently announced product testing for its upcoming release of the Glance PayMeTM application, a downloadable merchant app, has commenced and a number of merchants have signed on for beta testing. We are extremely pleased with the progress we are making on Glance PayMeTM and very excited about the new payment capabilities such as pay by QR Code, Bluetooth (automatically detecting nearby payments), and digital invoice (for more information regarding Glance PayMeTM see this link ). Glance continues to work towards the goal of going to market with Glance PayMeTM within the present fiscal quarter. We are also excited about other new features that our development team has been working on such as Pull the Bill, Order from Table, and Pay with Bitcoin, which we also plan to roll-out this fiscal quarter. We continue to work on integration of Glance Coin into our Glance Pay and Glance PayMeTM platforms. Sales & Marketing Sales and marketing efforts have been gearing up as we prepare for the roll-out of Glance PayMeTM and new features such as Pull the Bill, Order from Table, and Pay with Bitcoin. We recently hired new senior sales representatives in Vancouver and Toronto. Our sales team is focused on signing up large restaurant chains and high-volume busy urban restaurants concentrated in specific neighbourhoods that are frequently visited by consumers that fit the profile of our target market for users, which includes Millennials and Gen Z. Our marketing plans are focused on building brand awareness, increasing the number of user downloads of Glance Pay and the launch of Glance PayMeTM. Coinciding with the launch of Glance PayMeTM, Glance will target small to medium sized businesses including segments in the rapidly growing freelance or gig economy. Shareholders can expect to see more marketing and promotion of Glance to merchants and users through digital advertising, social media, influencers such as celebrity chefs and food bloggers, and traditional media such as transit ads and radio. Costs and Controls As previously disclosed, management has been in the process of reviewing and prioritizing its expenditures to improve efficiency. Significant changes have already been implemented to better utilize its cash resources going forward. Specifically, the Company has reduced costs related to external advisors and restructured our team to focus on the core technologies of Glance PayMeTM, Pull the Bill, Order from Table, and Glance Coin. We thank our shareholders for their encouragement, patience and long-term outlook on our Company. We remain confident and excited about the tremendous opportunity in front of us as the revolution in mobile payments and blockchain unfolds. Glance will be providing further updates on the exciting innovations it has in development throughout the remainder of 2018. About Glance Technologies Inc. Glance owns and operates Glance Pay, a streamlined payment system that revolutionizes how smartphone users choose where to shop, order goods and services, make payments, access digital receipts, redeem digital deals, earn great rewards & interact with merchants. Glance offers targeted in-app marketing, geo-targeted digital coupons, customer feedback, in-merchant messaging and custom rewards programs. The Glance Pay mobile payment system consists of proprietary technology, which includes user apps available for free downloads in iOS (Apple) and Android formats, merchant manager apps, a large-scale technology hosting environment with sophisticated anti-fraud technology and lightning-fast payment processing. Glance is working on a rewards-based cryptocurrency, the whitepaper for which can be found on the companys website. For more information about Glance, please go to www.glance.tech . For more information, contact: Paola Ashton VP Business Development 833-338-0299 investors@glancepay.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: may, "believe", thinks, "expect", exploring, expand, could, "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", plan, pursue, "potentially", projected, should, will and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. These forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to, among other things, the discussion of Glances business strategies and its expectations concerning future operations (including advancing its technological roadmap and the Pay with Bitcoin feature), the advancement of Glances blockchain infrastructure, Glances plans with regards to sales and marketing, the expectation that Glance will accelerate growth and scale, risks related to Glances future costs and controls, and expectations that the number of downloads of Glance Pay will increase. Although Glance considers these forward-looking statements to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include, among other things, risks related to the beta testing of Glance PayMeTM, risks related to implementation of the new Pull the Bill, Order from Table and Glance Pay with Bitcoin features, and regulatory risks related to cryptocurrencies. The forward-looking information in this press release is also based on certain estimates, forecasts and projections, as well as expectations, beliefs and assumptions, including, among other things, that Glance will be able to achieve its business objectives, that Glance will be able to develop proprietary software to implement its plans. For additional information with respect to these and other factors and assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this press release, see the section entitled Risk Factors in the most recent Annual Information Form and Prospectus of Glance, which may be accessed through Glance's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Glance cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Glance is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking information, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The League of Women Voters of Tallahassee hosted a Meet Your 2018 Cabinet Office Candidates forum. That includes candidates running for Florida's attorney general, chief financial officer and commissioner of agriculture. They were invited to speak at the forum and listen to questions and concerns of local residents. A few dozen people attended Wednesday night's event. The next local candidate forum will be on October 9 at 5:30 p.m. The forum will include the candidates running for the Tallahassee City Commission. GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Three men are behind bars in Gadsden County for the murder of a man who'd been missing for five months. Quincy police say Benjamin Wardy was on his way to meet with officers on April 29, but never showed up. Thursday, Quincy Police and the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office announced 20-year-old Ja'Darrius Handy, 18-year-old Marvlous Moore, and 21-year-old Christopher Monroe were arrested in connection to the case. Investigators found human remains on Flat Creek Road Wednesday night. They believe they are Benjamin Wardy's remains. FDLE is working to officially confirm that. Handy is charged with murder, while Moore and Monroe are charged with accessory after the fact to commit murder. GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Quincy Police and the Gadsden County Sheriffs Office have made arrests in the missing persons case of Benjamin Wardy. On April 29, Wardy went missing after he told Quincy Police that he was on his way to meet them. Wardy never arrived to meet police and was never seen or heard from. On Wednesday night, investigators located human remains in rural Gadsden County on Flat Creek Road. The remains are believed to be that of Wardy, however confirmation by the FDLE crime lab must be done. Police say all three suspects, 18-year-old Marvlous Moore of Quincy, 20-year-old Ja'Darrius Handy, and 21-year-old Christopher Monroe have been arrested. Moore is charged with accessory after the fact to commit murder and Monroe with homicide and accessory to homicide. It is unclear what charges Handy is facing. GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Investigators came to Sawdust Park in Quincy, Fla. Friday looking for Benjamin Wardy as part of a search that's spanned three states: Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Since April, investigators have been trying to track down Wardy. Now the Quincy Police Department, Gadsden County Sheriff's Office, and multiple agencies have come together for a third search. Authorities say Wardy is a person of interest in a robbery at a Quincy home back in April. Another man, Carlton Bell, was arrested in early May for his involvement. Police spoke with Wardy on the phone shortly after the robbery and he agreed to come meet with them, but never showed up. Since then, Quincy Police hasn't been able to contact Wardy and are concerned for his safety and welfare. "Based on information we've attained recently, this is one of the areas where the missing person maybe located and we've solicited assistance from other agencies," said Captain Robert Mixon of the Quincy Police Department. As of right now, the search continues for Wardy. According to Quincy Police, what happens next will depend on when Wardy is found. Police say if you know where Wardy is, call law enforcement immediately. GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A multi-agency search is underway at Sawdust Park in Gadsden County for a man who went missing after a victim named him as a "person of interest" in an April robbery case. The Gadsden County Sheriff's Office is on scene as well as the Quincy Police Department. Authorities are currently searching for Benjamin Wardy, who is a person of interest in a burglary at a Quincy home back in April. The search has now crossed into Alabama and Georgia, according to authorities. Wardy went missing on April 28, the night of the robbery. Another man, Carlton Bell, was arrested in early May for his involvement in the robbery. Police spoke with Wardy on the phone shortly after this incident and he agreed to come meet with police, but never showed up. Since then, QPD hasn't been able to contact Wardy and are concerned for his safety and welfare. Quincy PD is heading up the case. This is a developing story. We have a reporter on scene. Stay with us for details. QUINCY, Fla. (WTXL) - A Quincy man has been arrested, accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint. Carlton Bell was arrested on Monday for his involvement in an armed robbery on South Cleveland Street on April 28. Police believe he is one of two suspects involved in the robbery. The other suspect, Benjamin Wardy, has been missing since the night of the robbery. The victim told police that Bell was armed with a handgun during the robbery. Police say that they are still searching for Wardy and are seeking to interview him as a person of interest. Anyone with information about this case or Mr. Wardys whereabouts are asked to contact the Quincy Police Department at (850) 627-7111 and ask for Capt. Robert Mixson or Inv. Shawn Boyd. You can also call Crime Stoppers at (850) 574-TIPS. You can remain anonymous and you may receive a reward if your information leads to an arrest. QUINCY, Fla. (WTXL) - The Quincy Police Department is concerned for the safety of a man who went missing after a victim named him as a "person of interest" in a robbery case. QPD says they are looking for Benjamin Wardy, 25, of Quincy. He was last seen Sunday evening around 7:40 p.m. when the department began investigating a robbery case on South Cleveland Street in Quincy. Wardy was mentioned by the victim as a person of interest in the case. Police spoke with Wardy on the phone shortly after this incident and he agreed to come meet with police, but never showed up. Since then, QPD hasn't been able to contact Wardy and are concerned for his safety and welfare. Anyone with information about Mr. Wardys whereabouts are asked to contact the Quincy Police Department at (850) 627-7111 and ask for Capt. Robert Mixson or Inv. Shawn Boyd. You can also call Crime Stoppers at (850) 574-TIPS. You can remain anonymous and you can receive a reward if your information leads to an arrest. THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) - Some residents in Thomasville have fallen victim to criminal street gangs over the past few months. But, recently Thomasville Police have made several arrests, and Captain Maurice Holmes says crimes rates decreased almost immediately. Holmes says three juveniles, and Markevious Samuel, were arrested in connection to car break-ins, and burglaries, and they are all still in jail. For the past year there have been 100 car break-ins. Those juveniles and Samuel are linked to that spike in crime between June and August, when they had 35 car break-ins. Since their arrests, that number is down to seven. However, Holmes says that doesn't mean the problem will go away. "You're talking about one percent of the population committing 100 percent of the crime. And you know, once you take a certain group of individuals off the streets, crime always reduces significantly," said Holmes. "And you know, there are always going to be other individuals that are associated with these individuals that will carry on this trend, and we will address them as well." Holmes says they take gang violence very seriously, and they do everything they can do identify and locate those people, because Thomasville has a zero tolerance for this type of behavior. He says it's heavily monitored because, he doesn't want Thomasville to face the same struggles other cities do, if gangs became prevalent in the community. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-26 19:42:23|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China is always sincere about improving relations with the Vatican and has done unremitting efforts in this regard, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday. China and the Vatican signed a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops last Saturday in Beijing. The agreement represents important initial achievement in the process of improving bilateral relations, spokesperson Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing. China is willing to further work with the Vatican to carry out constructive dialogue, enhance understanding and build up mutual trust and advance the process of improving bilateral ties, Geng said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 00:39:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIROBI, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- A political and diplomatic secretary in Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday hailed the milestone covered since the diplomatic ties with China were established after the East African Nation gained independence some 55 years ago. "Kenya's relationship with China will continue to grow in width and breadth. Over 400 Chinese companies are doing business in Kenya and the country is also active in our Big Four Agenda," said Tom Amolo at a reception hosted by the Chinese embassy in Kenya to mark the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which falls on Oct. 1. He lauded China for its unwavering support towards a rules based international system. Li Xuhang, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, said in his opening remarks that the robust diplomatic ties between China and Kenya that covers broad areas including trade, infrastructure, energy, health and education, remain a model for the rest of Africa. He singled out the China-funded Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) for catalyzing Kenya's transformation through efficient transport, robust trade and job creation. The celebration was attended by senior Kenyan government officials, among them Raphael Tuju, Secretary General of the ruling Jubilee Party and minister without portfolio. According to the Chinese embassy, about 400 people attended the event. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 01:04:17|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Africa will simplify visa requirements for Chinese tourists, beginning from next month, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom said on Wednesday. An agreement on simplification of visa requirements with China will be implemented on October 1 this year, the minister said without elaboration. The move is designed to "attract larger numbers of tourists, business people and family members from this country," Hanekom said. According to Hanekom, the South African cabinet agreed last week that visa requirements should be simplified for China and India, two major tourism markets for South Africa. Due to strict visa requirements, the number of Chinese and Indian tourists visiting South Africa has dropped significantly over the past few years. China is now the world's number one market for foreign tourists, accounting for 70 million overseas trips last year. While other countries are opening their doors to Chinese tourists, South Africa has a very complicated visa process for them. The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Africa declined by 17 percent last year, according to official figures. Of South Africa's top 10 overseas tourism markets, only Indian and Chinese nationals are required to get visas. On Tuesday, Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba announced a number of visa-related reforms which will make it easier for tourists, business people and academia to come to South Africa. As one of the reforms, South Africa is simplifying visa requirements for countries such as China and India, said Gigaba. "This will make provision for taking biometrics on arrival in South Africa; allowing visa applications via courier and issuing five-year multiple entry visas," Gigaba said. Easing visa requirements is part of the economic stimulus package announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week. Ramaphosa said the list of countries requiring visas to enter South Africa will be reviewed, an e-visas pilot will be implemented, and the visa requirements for highly skilled foreigners will be revised. "Tourism continues to be a great job creator and through these measures we are confident that many more tourists will visit South Africa," he said. Tourism is now the world's fastest growing industry with over 1.3 billion people travelling internationally. In South Africa tourism has outpaced other sectors, contributing about 9 percent to the country's Gross Domestic Product. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 01:09:18|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressed the United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting on ending tuberculosis (TB) via a video on Wednesday, calling for global efforts to put an end to the epidemic. Peng, who became World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for TB and HIV/AIDS in 2011, shared her feelings and experiences with the attendees of the meeting, which took place in the UN headquarters in New York. She also shared the touching stories of the unsung heroes in China who have been selflessly dedicated to the cause of combating TB. Peng, who is also China's National Ambassador for TB Control and Prevention, said that the control and prevention of the epidemic disease in China have made rapid progress and its victims are being diagnosed and treated more timely and effectively. She also pointed out such progress has been made because of the great importance that the Chinese government and the entire society have attached to the cause as well as the enthusiastic participation of about 700,000 volunteers. In some parts of China, TB prevention has become one of the key tasks in the government's poverty alleviation program, said Peng. Now, China has seen continuous increases of case detection and cure rates for TB and decreases in morbidity and mortality, as many TB victims in the country have their lives renewed, said Peng, adding that the awareness rate of TB control and prevention knowledge has reached over 75 percent in China. Thanks to joint efforts of governments, international organizations, NGOs, specialists and volunteers, the control and prevention of the tuberculosis epidemic on the global level have scored significant achievements, but mankind still faces severe challenges in the aspect, Peng said. The World Health Organization has adopted the End TB Strategy, she said, urging all countries in the world to join hands and do their best to change the life of the millions of people who are affected by TB and end the global epidemic. The high-level meeting was chaired by Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, president of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. A political declaration on the control and prevention of TB was endorsed by the meeting. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 02:39:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Battle for Brexit was fought both sides of the Atlantic Wednesday as Prime Minister Theresa May defended her Chequers' blueprint in the U.S. and her opposite at Westminster, Labor's Jeremy Corbyn condemning it in Liverpool. In a rousing end-of conference speech in Liverpool, Corbyn primed Labor faithful to prepare for a general election to ensure he enters 10 Downing Street as the next British prime minister. He made it clear at Labor's annual conference that Labor would oppose a no-deal Brexit or the so-called Chequers plan for a future relationship with Europe favored by May. In New York the Prime Minister addressed a Bloomberg Business Forum to highlight her Brexit plans. She told 200 U.S. business leaders that Britain will cut corporation tax after it leaves EU. In her speech May said she wanted to reform World Trade Organization rules so they kept pace with the changing nature of trade and technology. Corbyn addressing a packed riverfront conference center, just a few hundred meters from where millions of Europeans once boarded ocean liners bound for New York. Delegates welcomed his rallying speech with standing ovations, reaching a crescendo when he said Labor was now ready for government. It took Corbyn over an hour to set out his vision for a fairer society under Labor, taking in better care of disabled people, free child care for working parents to workers appointed to company boards. He also spoke of tackling pollution and environmental issues as crucial. "When we meet this time next year let it be as a Labor government. Investing in Britain after years of austerity and neglect and bringing our country together after a decade of division," he said to a chorus of loud cheers and applause. And with the fate of Brexit still to be decided between London and Brussels, an early general election cannot be ruled out. In the Spectator current affairs magazine columnist Isabel Hardman said Corbyn's conference speech showed how confident he had become. Hardman wrote: "He knew his way around the text enough to be able to make little spontaneous jokes." She said party members were, unsurprisingly, delighted by the very appearance of their leader, waving "Jeremy Corbyn" scarves. "Labor will leave this conference feeling pretty good about itself. But there's a risk that this good feeling allows the leadership to continue to fudge on Brexit, both in terms of the deal being negotiated and the terms of a proposed second referendum on that deal," said Hardman. Tim Montgomerie, founder of the website the Conservative Home commented: "Don't agree with it, but Corbyn has a comprehensive and maybe compelling vision for post-crash future of Britain. May doesn't and that leaves Conservatives very vulnerable. Much more than that, it leaves future of our free enterprise system vulnerable. Tick tock, tick tock for Tory MPs." The speech was given the thumbs down by the Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis. He said: "Jeremy Corbyn has shown at every turn he is unfit to govern. All he offers are failed ideas that didn't work in the past and would leave working families paying the price with higher taxes, more debt and more waste -- just like last time. Only the Conservatives offer people opportunity for the future." Away from the political classes, Carolyn Fairbairn, director general, of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said of Corbyn's speech: "Much of Labor's vision for a more sustainable and fair country is absolutely right. Business not only supports it but holds many of the keys to making it a reality. "From onshore power to affordable childcare, the Labor leader's speech echoes calls from firms for more action on climate change and to unlock productivity." Fairbairn added: "But this will only happen if Labor invites business into the tent. Continual public barbs and backward-facing policy are deterring entrepreneurs and investors, at a time when we need them most." Riding on the crest of a conference wave, Corbyn travels to Brussels Thursday (Sept 27) for talks with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Back in New York, May faced questions about Brexit and prospects for a deal between Britain and the remaining 27 EU member states. She told them: "We're at the point of the negotiations where we've got a few weeks to go. We don't know where the negotiations will end. I'm confident about getting a deal." But there was a blunt add to her message to the U.S. business world: "We have to make sure we're prepared for any eventuality. And of course as government we're preparing for a deal and we're preparing for no deal." TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- YAMANA GOLD INC. (TSX: YRI; NYSE: AUY) (Yamana or the Company) will release its third quarter 2018 operational and financial results after market close on October 25, 2018, followed by a conference call and webcast on October 26, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. ET. Third Quarter 2018 Conference Call Details Toll Free (North America): 1-866-223-7781 Toronto Local and International: 416-340-2218 Webcast: www.yamana.com Conference Call Replay Toll Free (North America): 1-800-408-3053 Toronto Local and International: 905-694-9451 Passcode: 7856108 The conference call replay will be available from 12:00 p.m. ET on October 26, 2018, until 11:59 p.m. ET on November 9, 2018. About Yamana Yamana is a Canadian-based gold producer with significant gold production, gold development stage properties, exploration properties, and land positions throughout the Americas including Canada, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Yamana plans to continue to build on this base through existing operating mine expansions, throughput increases, development of new mines, the advancement of its exploration properties and, at times, by targeting other gold consolidation opportunities with a primary focus in the Americas. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Investor Relations 416-815-0220 1-888-809-0925 Email: investor@yamana.com Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 03:25:07|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close NEW YORK, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Pyongyang next month to discuss a second summit between the leaders of the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Pompeo, in his meeting with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the DPRK earlier on the same day, accepted DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un's invitation to travel to Pyongyang next month, according to a statement issued by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert. Pompeo's travel aims "to make further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim," the statement read. Pompeo earlier tweeted that his meeting with Ri was "very positive." Also on Wednesday, Pompeo said in an interview with CBS News in New York that the second meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the DPRK's top leader, Kim Jong Un, "may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that." At the conclusion of the historic Trump-Kim summit in June in Singapore, the two sides issued a joint statement, agreeing to improve bilateral relations and work together to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula. However, U.S.-DPRK talks have been stuck in an impasse due to their differences over the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. In August, just one day after Pompeo announced his visit to the DPRK, Trump tweeted that he had asked Pompeo not to go due to the insufficient progress with the DPRK. During his Sept. 18-20 trip to Pyongyang, Moon held talks with Kim, and signed the Pyongyang Declaration, an advancement towards the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization and concrete measures to end hostile acts near the inter-Korean border areas. Pompeo said later in response that the United States is ready to transform its relations with the DPRK immediately. He added that he had invited Ri Yong Ho to meet in New York City where they were scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 04:05:17|Editor: yan Video Player Close HELSINKI, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Russian Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedev on Wednesday in Helsinki strongly dismissed the claim that Russia has military plans concerning the properties in Finland which the Finnish police raided over the weekend. At a press conference during an official visit to Finland by Medvedev on Wednesday, Finnish media took up security policy speculation about the police raids on seventeen foreign properties in the southwestern Finnish archipelago. The Finnish police again confirmed on Wednesday the raids were related to suspicions of economic crimes. The ownership of the properties has connections with Russia. In response to a question by Finnish national broadcaster Yle on the possible Russian use of the helicopter pads built on the properties in case of conflict, Medvedev said such a thought "can only have been created in a sick mind". Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said the police raids were not on the agenda of the visit and were not discussed in the official talks. Medvedev noted that one Russian was detained in Finland following the raids and should get all necessary legal and consular assistance. Local media has reported two were detained and the other detainee is Estonian. Medvedev said it is a Finnish investigation and Finland investigates what it wants. Responding to a question, he said Finland would be given investigative assistance, if Finland requests it. Sipila saidhe did not hear of a need to ask for assistance from Russia. He also underlined the events would not affect the relations between Finland and Russia. On other matters, Medvedev thanked Finland for its "constructive attitude" towards the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. He said that practical work on the pipeline in the segment associated with the Finnish economic zone started already in early September. Sipila said Finland is willing to arrange an Arctic summit meeting during the remainder of its chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The Finnish tenure ends next May. Sipila gave the aim of the summit as combating black coal in the Arctic. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 04:40:24|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The UK's Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, on Wednesday began a three-day visit to Tanzania as part of his mission to fight poaching and tackle illegal trade in wildlife. A statement by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism said Prince William was visiting the east African nation as president of United for Wildlife, which fights illegal trade in wildlife, and patron of Tusk, which promotes conservation. During his visit, Prince William will raise awareness on the Illegal Wildlife Conference to be held in London in October, said the statement. Tanzania is home to the African elephants, rhinos and other wildlife population that are facing threats from syndicates of local as well as international poachers. During his visit, according to the statement, the Duke will meet with President John Magufuli to discuss the president's efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade in Tanzania. He will also visit the Dar es Salaam port and Mpingo House, offices of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, where he will learn more about the work Tanzania was doing to combat illegal wildlife trade with support from the UK Government. Prince William will also visit Mkomazi National Park and the College of African Wildlife Management in Kilimanjaro region in northern Tanzania. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 05:40:45|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Actors of Sichuan Song and Dance Theatre Co., Ltd. perform in the poem-dance drama in Chicago, the United States, on Sept. 25, 2016. A poem-dance drama titled the Greatest Spirit was staged in a theater in the suburbs of Chicago Tuesday night to mark China's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) CHICAGO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- A poem-dance drama titled the Greatest Spirit was staged in a theater in the suburbs of Chicago Tuesday night to mark China's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival. The drama, performed by Sichuan Song and Dance Theatre Co., Ltd. from Southwest China's Sichuan Province, included 10 chapters. With Chinese culture of alcoholic beverages as the cue, the 10 chapters gave the audience 10 different scenes: "Ancient drinking rituals of a banquet", "the Spirit of Han Dynasty", "Enchanted Ancient Beauty", "the sounds of the Teahouse", "Bamboo Rhyme", "Memorial day at the river bank market", "the Phoenix hair clip", "Robe of a cloud and face of a flower", "Delighted Panda" and "the countless flowers vying for beauty", with an ancient poem preceding each scene. Chapter "the Spirit of Han Dynasty" depicted how Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, drank together with his soldiers after a long hard battle. Chapter "the sounds of the Teahouse" presented the daily life of the Sichuan residents by combining the arts of the tea ceremony, Sichuan opera, Sichuan cuisine and the magic of mask changing. Chapter "the Phoenix hair clip" described the tragic love story of famous poets Lu You and Tang Wan in Song Dynasty. "I love the Enchanted Ancient Beauty best," Alan Wagner told Xinhua. "I love the long braid the performers wear, it is really beautiful." Wagner's wife, Nancy Wagner, was deeply impressed with the "Delighted Panda", where a costume-donned girl panda kept flipping over. The clumsy and slow movement of the panda constantly drew laughters and applauses from the audience. Talking of the poems preceding the chapters, Nancy admitted frankly, "my Chinese friend is translating for me." Ren Pingping, a Sichuan native before coming to the United States, was excited about the show. "I am proud being a Sichuan native. I saw in the performance the familiar scenes where I grew up." "I am happy to see the culture of Sichuan Province is going out to the world. With alcoholic beverages as the carrier, the world will have a better knowledge of Sichuan," Ren said. Chicago is the second leg of the Sichuan art troupe, which staged the epic drama first in Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota, and will conclude its U.S. tour with one more performance in Los Angles. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 06:56:06|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed during a confrontation with police at an airport in northeastern Brazil, the Federal Police said on Wednesday. The deaths occurred at the Salgueiro Airport in the northeastern state of Pernambuco when the armed group attempted to rob a plane's cargo of money intended for city banks. The gang overcame security guards and accessed the runway as the plane was landing, before firing at the pilot to stop the plane. The Federal Police, who had been investigating the gang for three years and were awaiting them, returned fire. In total, six members of the armed group were killed, one was wounded and another four detained. No police were harmed and no money on the plane was stolen during the fighting, authorities said. The pilot was injured but was taken to hospital soon after the incident, and is said to be in good condition. Authorities recovered six AK47 rifles and a pistol that were used in the attempted robbery. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 07:26:11|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close ISTANBUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is making all efforts to draw more Chinese tourists as it is trying to develop new markets, the country's minister of culture and tourism said on Wednesday. Based on what it has experienced over the years, Turkey is trying to diversify the sources of foreign arrivals, with emphasis given in particular to Asian countries like China, Japan, South Korea and India, said Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. Turkey's tourism industry is rebounding after suffering from a spate of terror attacks and chilling relations with Germany, Russia and others in the past years. Speaking to a Chinese press delegation on a four-day visit to Istanbul, Ersoy said he was expecting the Chinese arrivals, which numbered 250,000 during the first eight months, to grow further to 450,000 at the end of this year. He said Turkey is taking a raft of measures to tap the potential of the huge Chinese market, including mulling the possibility of allowing Chinese nationals to work as tour guides in Turkey to supplement their Turkish counterparts who are in short supply, and make Chinese travel in Turkey easier. The efforts include setting up Chinese-language signboards, opening more Chinese restaurants and even Chinese food streets if possible, establishing an office to handle problems faced by Chinese visitors, and encouraging more flights to Turkey from China and other countries. The Turkish ministry is set to unveil many megaprojects from the New Year of 2019, which the minister believes shall appeal to Chinese investors. Mevlut Uysal, mayor of Istanbul, hosted a dinner for the Chinese journalists and bloggers and voiced hope for a lasting and vibrant relationship with China through cultural exchanges. Cui Wei, the Chinese consul general in Istanbul who joined the dinner, spoke of tourism's significance in promoting Chinese-Turkish ties and deepening exchanges and contacts between the peoples. Referring to the fact that Chinese arrivals in Turkey grew by 91 percent during the first seven months of this year, Cui was hopeful of a bright future in bilateral cooperation on tourism. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 07:46:04|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Polish President Andrzej Duda (Front) addresses a UN Security Council meeting on the maintenance of international peace and security at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addresses the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) NEW YORK, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that as long as the Iran nuke deal meets with Iran's interests, his country will remain in the deal. Speaking at a press conference in New York, Rouhani said that "as long as the deal serves our interests we will remain in the pact." "Remaining members of the deal have taken very good steps forward but Iran has higher expectations," he said. "We do hope with all the law-abiding and multilateral-oriented countries that we can ultimately put this behind us in an easier fashion than it was earlier anticipated." "Should the situation change, we have other paths and other solutions that we can embark upon," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, leaders of France and Britain, while speaking at the UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on non-proliferation, vowed to defend the Iran nuke deal. Earlier on Monday, European Union (EU)'s foreign and security policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and the re-imposition of sanctions. All these showed that Washington, by exiting the deal and sanctioning Iran, has put itself in isolation, Rouhani said. "The United States of America one day, sooner or later, will come back. This cannot be continued," Rouhani said. "We are not isolated; America is isolated." U.S. President Donald Trump said in the same Security Council meeting earlier on Wednesday that the United States will impose "tougher than ever" sanctions on Iran after the punitive actions against the country slated in November this year. Rouhani said that the expected U.S. sanctions in November on Iran were illegal and "nothing new." Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted later that "once again, the U.S. abused the UNSC only to find itself further isolated in its violation of #JCPOA and SC resolution 2231. When will it learn its lesson?" Rouhani, however, added at the press conference that Tehran had no intension to go to war with U.S. forces in the Middle East. The Iran nuclear deal was reached in Vienna in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - China, France, Russia, Britain, the United States - plus Germany). ]In May, Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iranian nuclear deal. Since then, the Trump administration has slapped a number of sanctions on Iran while vowing to apply more in November. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) shakes hands with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas after a joint press conference in Berlin, capital of Germany, on May 31, 2018. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) NEW YORK, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday that China is willing to boost communication and coordination with Germany at the UN Security Council in efforts toward international peace and security. Meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Wang said China is willing to strengthen exchanges with Germany on World Trade Organization (WTO) development and reform, so as to better safeguard its core values, the international trade rules and order as well as the legitimate rights and interests of the developing countries. "We firmly uphold the multilateralism process, firmly uphold the UN-centered international system, firmly uphold international law and international rules, and firmly uphold the international trade system with the WTO at the core," said Wang, also a Chinese state councilor. Aiming to make the international system work better, China has launched a number of international and regional cooperation initiatives, including the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the 16+1 Cooperation, which are all open and transparent, he said. "We are glad to see that adherence to multilateralism has become the mainstream voice of this session of the General Assembly," Wang said. Maas, for his part, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits China on a yearly basis, which demonstrates that Germany attaches great importance to German-Chinese relations. Both Germany and China support multilateralism, and share similar positions on major international issues including free trade, climate change, and the Iranian nuclear issue, he said. The German diplomat expressed his hope that China will play a greater role in international affairs, and that the two sides will strengthen communication and coordination in multilateral institutions such as the UN Security Council. Noting international relations are undergoing structural changes, he stressed that all parties should uphold and maintain jointly established international rules. While affirming the EU does not appreciate using sanctions and tariffs as main diplomatic tools, Maas said Germany advocates strengthening communication and cooperation between the EU and China on major international issues. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 09:36:28|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The envoys of the Middle East Quartet met in New York on Wednesday to discuss the prospects for peace negotiations and the situation on the ground, particularly in Gaza, said the envoys in a joint press statement. Meeting on the margins of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the envoys of the Middle East Quartet, which is composed of Russia, the United States, the European Union and the UN, expressed their deep concern over the continued escalation in Gaza, said the statement. The envoys expressed support for UN efforts to prevent further escalation, empower the legitimate Palestinian authorities in Gaza and address all humanitarian needs, it said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and indicated readiness to resume peace talks with Israel under the auspices of the Middle East Quartet. The Palestinian cause was dealt a series of blows from the U.S. administration. U.S. President Donald Trump's decision in May to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem enraged Palestinians. Trump later cut and then stopped funding for a UN agency that helps more than 5 million Palestinian refugees. Trump's latest move was the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization's mission in Washington. September 27, 2018: OSLO, NORWAY, PGS will release its third quarter 2018 results on Thursday, October 18, 2018 at approximately 8:00 am Central European Summer Time (CEST). The earnings release and a corresponding presentation will be posted on www.newsweb.no and on PGS' web site www.pgs.com. A presentation is scheduled the same day at 9:00 am CEST at PGS' headquarters at Lilleakerveien 4C, Oslo, Norway. A conference call of the event is scheduled for 9.00 am CEST - use Click To Join to listen to the presentation and ask questions after management's remarks. An additional conference call is scheduled the same day at 3:00 pm CEST. To access the conference call scheduled at 9:00 am CEST please use the Click to Join link 5-15 minutes prior to start time, where you will be asked to enter your phone number and registration details. The event conferencing system will call you on the phone number you provide and place you into the event. Please note that the Click To Join link will be active 15 minutes prior to the event: https://event.mymeetingroom.com/Public/EventMeet/P2lkPTk0MDA3MTEmbGFuZ3VhZ2U9ZW5nbGlzaA If Click to Join does not work please dial-in at the number provided below, corresponding to your location. The conference ID is 609672. Location Dial-In Number Norway 23 50 01 87 UK +44 (0)330 336 9401 US +1 323 794 2558 A digital replay will be available shortly after the conference call and until October 25, 2018. The access number for this service is 9400711. Please access the replay by dial-in at the number provided below. Location Dial-In Number Norway +47 23 50 00 77 UK +44(0)207 660 0134 US (toll) +1 719 457 0820 To access the conference call scheduled at 3:00 pm CEST, please use the Click to Join link 5-15 minutes prior to start time, where you will be asked to enter your phone number and registration details. The event conferencing system will call you on the phone number you provide and place you into the event. Please note that the Click To Join link will be active 15 minutes prior to the event: https://event.mymeetingroom.com/Public/EventMeet/P2lkPTI2NzkzMTImbGFuZ3VhZ2U9ZW5nbGlzaA If Click to Join does not work please dial-in at the number provided below, corresponding to your location. The conference ID is 930107. Location Dial-In Number Norway 23 50 01 87 UK +44 (0)330 336 9401 US +1 323 794 2558 The telephone will be open for questions at the conclusion of management's remarks. A digital replay will be available shortly after the conference call and until October 25, 2018. The access number for this service is 2679312. Please access the replay by dial-in at the number provided below. Location Dial-In Number Norway +47 23 50 00 77 UK +44(0) 207 660 0134 US +1 719 457 0820 For details, contact: Bard Stenberg, SVP IR & Communication Mobile: +47 99 24 52 35 **** Petroleum Geo-Services is a focused marine geophysical company providing a broad range of seismic and reservoir services, including acquisition, processing, interpretation, and field evaluation. The company also possesses the world's most extensive MultiClient data library. PGS operates on a worldwide basis with headquarters at Lilleaker Oslo, Norway. For more information on Petroleum Geo-Services visit www.pgs.com . This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 09:36:28|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close SYDNEY, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- About 400 luminaries and representatives from the Chinese and Papua New Guinea public and private sectors in the Oceania country's capital Port Moresby earlier this week celebrated the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Speaking at the event at the Stanley Hotel on Tuesday evening, ahead of China's National Day on Oct 1, Chinese Ambassador to PNG Xue Bing pointed to China's remarkable achievements since its founding, particularly those from its reform and opening-up implemented four decades ago. This year is also an important one for bilateral relations between China and Papua New Guinea, with the two sides maintaining a frequent exchange of high-level visits, he added. PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's visit to China in June was significant with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative, said Xue. Tuesday's reception was attended by PNG Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae and other ministers, diplomatic staff and members of the Chinese business community. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 09:41:29|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced an agreement Wednesday that the IMF will increase its financial aid by 7.1 billion to 57.1 billion U.S. dollars. The announcement was made by IMF's managing director Christine Lagarde and Argentina's finance minister Nicolas Dujovne in New York. Lagarde confirmed the IMF's support to Argentina's economic and monetary policies. She also expressed the monetary organization's commitment to help the country face new financial challenges. Following two weeks of negotiations, Argentina and the IMF also agreed to new terms in the disbursement of the original 50 billion dollar funding package so the South American country can meet its financial obligations for 2019. Through the end of 2018, Argentina will receive payments of 13.4 billion dollars which are added to the 15 billion U.S. dollars it received in June. In 2019 Argentina will be able to access portions totaling 22.8 billion dollars. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 10:31:37|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close CANBERRA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- An Australian man has undergone plastic surgery after being attacked by a kangaroo he thought to be dead. Billy Willox had the ligaments and skin tissue around his eyes torn by an eastern grey kangaroo on the side of a Canberra road after he stopped to check the animal's pouch on Sept. 11 for a joey assuming the kangaroo had been struck by a car and killed. "All of a sudden, it just got up," Willox told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) of the kangaroo on Thursday. "Before I knew it, it had gone for my eyes. It was very, very quick. "I just couldn't move away from it." Willox, a bus driver who was on his way to work at the time of the attack, kicked the marsupial away and managed to drive home despite blood pouring from his eyes. Kerrie Venables, Willox's partner, described the scene upon his return home as "gruesome". "When he turned around, all I could see was two split eyes," she said. "It was just so gruesome and he just kept trying to wash them out." He was rushed to Canberra Hospital where he underwent plastic surgery and received a tetanus shot. Joel Patterson, a park ranger in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), said it was common for injured animals to appear to rise from the dead as a "last hurrah". "They can spring quite quickly into action and cause quite a bit of damage," he said. "I've seen it often with kangaroos that have sustained quite severe injuries; they have this last surge where they just spring to life a little bit." Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 10:51:41|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (2nd R) meets with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde (2nd L) in New York, the United States, on Sept. 26, 2018. (Xinhua) NEW YORK, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde on Wednesday, exchanging views on multilateralism and the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO). During the talks, Wang emphasized China's stance in upholding multilateralism, free trade and international rules and law. Wang also called for increased international efforts to safeguard multilateralism. Echoing Wang's views, Lagarde said it was one of IMF's principles to advocate multilateralism and international trade. The international community should firmly protect multilateral trading system and abide by rules and regulations in international trade while addressing disputes through consultations, she said. When discussing issues on the reform of WTO, Wang proposed the reform should be transparent, open and inclusive, since it is related to interests of all its members. Opinions of all WTO members, especially the developing countries, should be considered, said Wang, noting that the global trade body plays a vital role in the development of international trade. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 11:01:42|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close MANILA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Philippine police have killed seven alleged drug suspects in Lapu-Lapu City in the central Philippine Cebu province, police said on Thursday. The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon when operatives responded to a tip from concerned citizens that an illegal cavity is taking place in one of the city's villages, police said. A shoot-out reportedly ensued between the police and the suspects that resulted in the killing of the seven, police said, adding that the seven were also arrested in the police operation, police added. Police said operatives recovered handguns and sachets of illicit drugs from the scene. On Thursday, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency's (PDEA) said a total 444 drug suspects were killed in August, or 14 per day in the month. PDEA said that from July 1, 2016 to Aug. 31, 2018, a total of 4,854 suspects were killed while 155,193 others were arrested in 108,058 anti-drug operations nationwide. Police have claimed that those killed in the anti-drug operations fought it out with operatives forcing police to shoot back. A nationwide survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) conducted on June 27 to 30 asked 1,200 Filipinos to respond to their views on the current administration's campaign against illegal drugs, finding 78 percent satisfied and 13 percent dissatisfied with it. Nine percent of the respondents said they were undecided on the matter. The survey institution said these data yielded a net satisfaction rating of 65 and the number classified by SWS as "very good". Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched an anti-drug war when he assumed office in June 2016, saying the illicit drug operations have become a menace to his country. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 14:32:27|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least eight militants were killed due to eruption of fighting between security forces and Taliban fighters in Chardara district of northern Kunduz province on Thursday, said Abdul Hadi, an army official in the restive province. According to the official, six more militants were injured in the fighting erupted early on Thursday morning. Without mentioning the possible casualties of security personnel, the official said no civilian had been hurt. The security forces will continue to chase militants in the restive Chardara district and adjoining areas, the official added. Taliban militants who are in control of parts of Kunduz province have not commented on the situation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 14:37:30|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A private airlines' cabin crew had to offload an unruly passenger who tried to enter the cockpit even as the flight was preparing to take off from Indian's financial capital city of Mumbai, confirmed the airlines' official on Thursday. The flight of private airlines Indigo was on the Mumbai-Kolkata route. As the unruly passenger forcibly insisted on entering the cockpit for charging his mobile phone and refused to relent, he was offloaded by the airlines' crew following the standard operating procedures. The passenger was removed from the flight and taken to the Mumbai airport police station by the airline's security staff. He was let off after questioning. A statement issued by the private airlines reportedly said "Following standard operating procedures, the captain operating flight number 6E-395 from Mumbai to Kolkata initiated the offloading of the passenger on grounds of a security violation." During the interrogation by the police, it was found that the passenger was in an inebriated state. In a similar case reported by the New Delhi Television (NDTV), a passenger onboard another private airlines GoAir flight from Delhi to Patna attempted to open the rear door of the aircraft mid-air allegedly mistaking it for a toilet. He was apparently a first-time flier. Another passenger raised an alarm after which the man was stopped by the crew. On arrival in Patna, the capital city of eastern state of Bihar, the passenger was handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 14:42:32|Editor: Liu Video Player Close XI'AN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A man convicted of killing nine middle school students in a knife attack was executed Thursday in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, a local court said. Zhao Zewei's death sentence had been reviewed and approved by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), the country's top court, according to the Yulin Intermediate People's Court. The SPC said Zhao should be punished according to the law as his motive was abhorrent and highly vicious, and his brutal crime caused severe consequences and social influence. The evidence of the intentional homicide was factual and sufficient, and the sentencing was appropriate, the SPC ruled. On July 10, the intermediate court in Yulin sentenced Zhao to death after finding him guilty of attacking students near the No. 3 Middle School in Mizhi County on April 27, leading to nine deaths and 12 injured. The 28-year-old did not file an appeal against the sentence. According to the verdict, Zhao, a former student of the middle school, bought five knives online and planned the attack because he wanted to get revenge on his former classmates who had teased him. Failing to find his classmates, Zhao randomly stabbed students who were leaving the school. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 14:57:34|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday that he is willing to meet with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump. Despite enormous historical, ideological and social differences, he would be willing to reach out to Trump for talks, Maduro told the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly. "Venezuela has a tradition of being a peaceful nation. Venezuela is a very friendly country and we have not forgotten the United States," said Maduro. "Rather we appreciate the culture, the art, and the social life of the United States. We are against the imperialists in charge of power in Washington." In an address to the General Debate on Tuesday, Trump criticized Maduro. "Today, we are announcing additional sanctions against the repressive regime, targeting Maduro's inner circle and close advisors," said Trump, whose administration has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Maduro's government since 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 15:22:37|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea has consulted, and will continue to consult, with UN Command on ways to stop hostile acts in inter-Korean border areas, which were agreed upon by South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) during the inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last week. South Korean defense ministry spokesperson, Choi Hyun-soo, told a press briefing Thursday that the UN Command shared views over the inter-Korean agreement on military affairs, which was signed by defense chiefs of the two Koreas on the sidelines of the summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un. Moon made a three-day visit last week to Pyongyang to hold his third summit with Kim. On the second day of the summit, the leaders signed the Pyongyang Declaration while the defense heads of the two sides inked the military agreement. Under the military agreement, the two sides designated buffer zones on land, in waters and the air near the border, which left the Korean Peninsula divided, as part of efforts to stop all hostile acts toward each other. The two Koreas also agreed to withdraw 11 guard posts inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a heavily armed inter-Korean border area, on a trial basis. The spokesperson said South Korea has closely consulted with the UN Command, which handles military affairs in the DMZ, on the inter-Korean military agreement including the pullout of guard posts from the DMZ. She added that the defense ministry will continue cooperation and consultation with the UN Command. English French MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. (MOBI724 or the Company) (TSX-V: MOS) (OTC QB:MOBIF), a global Fintech company offering a fully integrated suite of multiple Card-Linked Offers and Rewards (CLOR), Digital Marketing and Business Intelligence (DMBI) and Payment Solutions, announced today that Rachel Girard, currently the Companys Financial Director, will succeed Derek Lindsay as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary subject to applicable regulatory and exchange approvals. Rachel joined MOBI724 in June 2018 and brings a broad range of skills in financial management, financial instruments, business acquisitions and convertible debenture financing which she has built over a career spanning 20 years. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Girard was the Controller of Orbite Technologies Inc., a startup public company in the mineral processing industry. She previously served as Senior Manager Financial Reporting Project and Policies at Domtar Corporation. Rachel is a CPA, CA and worked as a Chartered Accountant in public practice with Deloitte for almost 10 years. In her new role, Ms. Girard will lead the Companys finance strategy and oversee the Company`s financial operations, including budgeting and planning, treasury, accounting, tax and statutory reporting. "We are pleased to welcome Rachel Girard to our executive team as we continue to streamline our activities and optimize our balance sheet," said Marcel Vienneau, CEO of MOBI724. "Her promotion to CFO comes at an ideal time as we are working on bolstering our financial position as well as other strategic initiatives to strengthen our growth momentum. Rachel brings a rigorous approach to the CFO role. Her extensive experience and expertise in complex transactions and in identifying and executing key initiatives will help support the continued growth and strategic direction of the Company." Marcel Vienneau added: "Derek assisted us as we transitioned from the CSE to the TSX-V. We are appreciative to him for the guidance he has provided. We sincerely wish him all of the best in his future endeavours." About Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. We enable smart transactions anywhere MOBI724, a global Fintech company, offers a fully integrated suite of multiple Card-Linked Offers and Rewards, Digital Marketing, Business Intelligence and Payment Solutions (including a mobile EMV compliant payment platform), which work with any payment card, on any mobile device and at any Point of Sale. MOBI724 provides turn-key solutions for card associations, card issuers, banks, retailers, manufacturers, offer providers, to create, manage, deliver and track and measure incentive campaigns worldwide in real time. The company captures value from big data to deliver seamless and personalized user experiences for the benefits of all parties in the ecosystem. MOBI724 headquarters are in Montreal, Canada, and the company presently has operations in North and Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia Pacific. Legal Disclaimer Certain statements in this document, including those which express managements expectations or estimations with regard to the Companys future performance, constitute forward-looking statements as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to the Company or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. Unless required by law, the Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute a solicitation to buy or sell any securities in the United States. For further information, please visit www.MOBI724.com or contact Investor Relations: Mr. George Aizpurua Vice-President, Communications First Canadian Capital Corp. T: 647-500-2389/416-742-5600; E: gaizpurua@firstcanadiancapital.com Mr. Marcel Vienneau Chief Executive Officer MOBI724 Global Solutions Inc. T: 514-394-5200; E: IR@mobi724.com Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 15:52:42|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close MACAO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The total merchandise export for August in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) amounted to 1.02 billion patacas (about 12.65 million U.S. dollars), up by 26.7 percent year-on-year, the SAR's statistics bureau said on Thursday. Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) also indicated that the value of reexports increased by 30.9 percent to 907 million patacas, with that of diamond and diamond jewellery, as well as watches surging by 191.3 percent and 145.4 percent respectively. The total merchandise import rose by 22.5 percent year-on-year to 7.58 billion patacas, of which imports of motor cars and motorcycles, as well as beauty, cosmetic and skincare products expanded by 86.6 percent and 66.7 percent respectively. Merchandise trade deficit in August amounted to 6.56 billion patacas. From January to August 2018, the total value of merchandise export increased by 7.9 percent year-on-year to 8.13 billion patacas. The total value of merchandise import went up by 24.0 percent year-on-year to 58.39 billion patacas. Merchandise trade deficit widened to 50.25 billion patacas for the first eight months of 2018. External merchandise trade totalled 66.52 billion patacas from January to August 2018, up by 21.7 percent compared with 54.64 billion patacas a year earlier. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 8.06 patacas) Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 15:52:42|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said here on Wednesday that he does not want to put a timeframe for the denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Speaking at a press conference on the last day of his stay for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Trump said that "we're not playing the time game." "They're taking down plants, they're taking down a lot of different testing areas. They're going to take down some more. You'll be hearing about that very soon. I don't want to go ahead of myself," Trump said. "I really believe he wants to get it done. He wants to make a deal, I want (to) make a deal," he said, referring to DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un. "If it takes two years, three years or five months, it doesn't matter," Trump said. But he added the U.S. sanctions on the DPRK would not be lifted. "There's no, you know, cessation of sanctions. We got the sanctions on. I didn't take any sanctions off," Trump said. Also on Wednesday at the UNGA, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said high-level diplomacy has "removed the shadow of war" that hung over the Korean Peninsula last year. "Over the past year, something miraculous has taken place on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said in his speech. "We have crossed the barriers of division and are tearing down the walls in our heart." U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Pyongyang next month to discuss a second summit between the leaders of the United States and the DPRK. Pompeo, in his meeting with DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho earlier in the day, accepted Kim's invitation to travel to Pyongyang next month, so as "to make further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim." Pompeo earlier tweeted that his meeting with Ri was "very positive." Also on Wednesday, Pompeo said in an interview with CBS News in New York that the second meeting between Trump and Kim "may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that." At the conclusion of the historic Trump-Kim summit in June in Singapore, the two sides issued a joint statement, agreeing to improve bilateral relations and work together to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula. However, U.S.-DPRK talks have been stuck in an impasse due to their differences over the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. In August, just one day after Pompeo announced his visit to the DPRK, Trump tweeted that he had asked Pompeo not to go due to the insufficient progress with the DPRK. During his Sept. 18-20 trip to Pyongyang, Moon held talks with Kim, and signed the Pyongyang Declaration, an advancement towards the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization and concrete measures to end hostile acts near the inter-Korean border areas. Pompeo said later in response that the United States is ready to transform its relations with the DPRK immediately. He added that he had invited Ri to meet in New York City where they were scheduled to attend the UNGA meeting. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 16:02:43|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi on the sideline of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that the two leaders "met for almost two hours and discussed regional developments and the situation in Gaza." "I met tonight in New York with Egypt's President Sisi to discuss regional developments," Netanyahu tweeted on Thursday morning on his Twitter account, with a photo of him and Sisi shaking hands. A spokesperson of Egyptian presidential palace in Cairo said that the two leaders "discussed ways to renew the diplomatic process (between Israel and the Palestinians)," Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported. According to the spokesperson, Sisi stressed that a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will contribute to "a new reality in the Middle East, in which all of the peoples of the region will enjoy stability, security, and prosperity." The meeting came amidst concerns raised by the Middle East Quartet, a body that includes the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations, over the violence in the Gaza Strip. In a meeting on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the Quartet discussed the "prospects for peace negotiations and the situation on the ground, in particular in Gaza," according to a statement it issued. "The envoys expressed their deep concern over the continued escalation in Gaza," the Quartet said. Sisi was the only Arab leader who met with Netanyahu during the current UN annual convention. The two met during last year's UN General Assembly, in a meeting that marked their first public meeting. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 16:22:46|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close JAKARTA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) would like to enhance communication and cooperation with relevant organizations of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, so as to contribute to the development of relations between China and the three nations, a senior Chinese official has said. Li Bin, vice chairman of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, made the remarks during her visit from Sept. 18 to 27 with a CPPCC delegation to Indonesia to attend the 23rd Annual Board Meeting of Partners in Population and Development, and to Sri Lanka and Thailand at the invitation of Sri Lanka's parliament and Thailand's legislative assembly respectively. Li met with the leaders of the governments and parliaments of the three nations, as well as heads of relevant international organizations. Li introduced to them Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, and the multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Leaders of the three countries highly praised the results and development achieved during the past 40 years after the adoption of China's reform and opening-up policy, voicing their willingness to promote pragmatic cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and to promote friendly exchanges with the CPPCC, so as to strengthen their relationship with China. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 16:22:46|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close HOUSTON, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States should build a relationship featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, Chinese Consul General in Houston Li Qiangmin said Wednesday. Delivering a speech at the reception celebrating the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li said that the two sides have conducted bilateral cooperation in many areas and maintained close communication and coordination in tackling regional and international issues. "A sound and steady development of China-U.S. relations serves the fundamental interests of our two peoples and the expectation of the international community," Li said. "Thanks to trade with China, American families have enjoyed higher quality but lower-cost products," he said. Regarding China's development, Li said that under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, Chinese people are now at a decisive stage of building a prosperous society in all aspects. While talking about the Chinese communities in the southern United States, Li said that they had contributed to the development of the China-U.S. relationship, as well as the motherland's development and peaceful reunification. "I hope all the local Chinese communities could continue to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States," Li said. Nearly 500 people, including U.S. and Chinese officials, scholars and business people, attended the reception. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 16:32:47|Editor: ZX Video Player Close ANKARA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a state visit to Germany on Thursday after four years in a bid to restore deeply eroded relations and boost economic cooperation as tensions in Ankara-Berlin ties appear to have been eased. "The priority agenda on my visit to Germany will be completely leaving behind the period experienced in recent years in our political relations," Erdogan said. Relations between Germany and Turkey hit rock bottom over the past two years, continued with ups and downs so far, but in recent months both sides have taken steps towards improving ties. There have been signs of thaw in ties during the past months since German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited Turkey in early Sept. and Turkey released one German-Turkish journalist and allowed another German citizen to leave the country. A failed coup attempt in 2016 caused mutual mistrust and led to conflicts between Turkey and many of its Western allies, including Germany. Nearly 4,000 supporters of Gulen movement, led by U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen who is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding the coup, have gone to Germany from Turkey, local media reports. Several of Gulen supporters, including former soldiers and diplomats, have been seeking asylum from Germany and the key suspects of the coup attempt are not extradited despite calls by Ankara. In 2017, Turkish authorities arrested German citizens, further straining the relations, particularly Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yucel. He was accused of being a German "spy" and carrying out propaganda of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). German government criticized his detainment as "political hostage-taking." The journalist was released after spending 10 months in prison during a period of thaw between two countries. German municipalities ban on Turkish politicians from campaigning for a 2017 referendum, which aimed to address Turkish expats, fuelling the crisis. Tension further escalated after Turkish government's refusal of German parliamentarians to visit German troops at the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which led to redeployment of German troops to Jordan. The Turkish President seeks to reconcile deteriorated ties between Turkey and European countries at a time when its economy is in slowdown with significant Turkish lira depreciation, mounting concerns about a build-up of debts. The Turkish government is seeking new foreign investors to boost its economy. Erdogan will meet the CEOs of several major German companies during his visit to Berlin on Friday. Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Mustafa Yeneroglu, who has grown in Germany and holds Turkish-German citizenship, said that a delegation of German businessmen will pay a visit to Turkey in October. The Turkish president's visit to Germany between Sept. 27-29 aims to "gain momentum to the Turkish-German ties again," Yeneroglu said, adding that he hopes the visit will end the tension and open a "new chapter" in bilateral relations. Germany is Turkey's main economic and trade partner and home to more than 3 million people with Turkish roots. The bilateral trade volume reached 43.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. Nearly 7,500 German companies are active in Turkey. President Erdogan will remind his German counterpart of taking measures against terrorist groups in Germany including Gulenists and the PKK, said Kemal Inat, deputy coordinator of Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), a local think tank. For their part, Berlin want to normalize relations with Turkey because it is worried about further influx of Syrian refugees to Europe, Inat added. Turkey has been hosting nearly 3.5 million refugees fled war-torn Syria. "Another issue that compels the two countries to work more closely is the U.S. trade wars, which took a toll on global stability," said Yahya Bostan, columnist from Daily Sabah, adding that the potential impact of Washington's sanctions on Iran might also disturb on both economies. On Aug. 26, German Minister for Economy Peter Altmaier voiced support for Turkey after the U.S. slammed sanctions against Ankara and raised trade tariffs on the country. On Wednesday, one day ahead of his official visit, the Turkish leader called on Germany to press the reset button on their tricky relations. "It is our responsibility to rationally move our relations forward on the basis of our shared interests, quite apart from irrational fears," Erdogan wrote in the op-ed published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 16:37:49|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) meets with Foreign Minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Ri Yong Ho in New York, on Sept. 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Qin Lang) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday that China fully appreciates the measures taken by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Wang made the remarks at a meeting with DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho while attending the United Nations General Assembly. China speaks highly of the Pyongyang summit held on Sept. 18-20 between the leaders of the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the joint declaration signed at the summit, and expressed clear support in a timely manner, Wang said. China supports the joint efforts to improve DPRK-U.S. and DPRK-ROK relations and to push forward the process of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he said. On bilateral ties, Wang said that to constantly strengthen and develop the traditional friendship between China and the DPRK in the new era is a significant consensus reached by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea. China is willing to work together with the DPRK to implement the consensus reached by the two top leaders and steadily push forward exchanges in various fields, so as to maintain a good momentum in the development of bilateral relations, said the Chinese state councilor. For his part, Ri said that the DPRK attaches great importance to DPRK-China relations, adding based on the important consensus reached by the two top leaders, the DPRK is willing to promote high-level exchanges and strategic communications with China. The DPRK hopes to continue working with China to make efforts for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and for the peace and security in Northeast Asia. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 17:07:56|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Afghanistan's Senate Chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar speaks during an intetview with Xinhua in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Sept. 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah) KABUL, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Senate Chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar described the role of China in pushing the Afghan peace process and making success the national reconciliation as very important. "China as a world power, as a well-respected country in the region and as a good neighbor of Afghanistan and Pakistan can play a significant role to help succeed the Afghanistan peace process, and I am sure its role is vital," Muslimyar told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. Muslimyar, who visited China to attend the Sixth China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in early September, also described China as a good friend of Afghanistan and said that Afghans are looking towards getting help from China in various fields, above all achieving peace and security. "Afghans have been suffering due to the lingering war over the past 40 years, therefore, above all we need security," said the Senate chairman, saying Afghans are hopeful that China as a friendly neighbor could play its role in ending the conflict, achieving peace, enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries, activating the Wakhan Corridor and improving Afghanistan's roads and transport system. Describing his meetings with Chinese officials as "very fruitful", Muslimyar said his talks with Chinese dignitaries had covered a variety of issues including Afghan peace process, the mega projects of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese investment in Afghanistan and terrorist threats. 2018 marks the fifth anniversary since the Belt and Road Initiative was first put forward in 2013, and Muslimyar said more and more people in Afghanistan wanted to take advantage this initiative to expand exchanges at all levels with China. "China has included Afghanistan into the mega project of the Belt and Road Initiative," Muslimyar said, adding that the implementation of the project expands connectivity in the region and ultimately strengthens regional peace and prosperity. "Afghan saffron has already found its place in Chinese markets and we have reached an agreement that Afghan pine nuts would also be exported to China," he added. Afghanistan also hopes to export dry fruits, semi-precious and precious stones and carpets to China in the future, the senator said. According to Muslimyar, the Belt and Road Initiative has offered opportunities to countries in Asia for shared benefits, and has promoted infrastructure, connectivity, trade and transit in the region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 17:23:06|Editor: zh Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least three people have been killed and seven others injured after two groups opened fire at each other following heated arguments in the western Indian state of Rajasthan Thursday, police said. The incident took place at Bhilgawan village in the state's Dholpur district. "Both groups clashed and fired at each other after heated arguments between them this morning, in which three people died on the spot while seven sustained injuries," local police chief Dusht Daman Singh told the media. The injured have been hospitalized, another police official said, adding that there has been heavy deployment of force in the village. No one has been arrested yet, the official said. "But a case has also been registered against members of both the groups though it seemed to be a case of personal rivalry. All the accused will soon be nabbed," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 17:28:07|Editor: zh Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Christians on Thursday are celebrating Meskel, the Finding of the True Cross on which Christ was crucified on Good Friday. In Ethiopia, Meskel is celebrated annually on September 27 or September 28 in a leap year commemorating the fourth century discovery by Roman Empress Saint Helena (Queen Eleni) of the True Cross. The eve of Meskel, September 26, is marked by the burning of a large bonfire, locally called 'Demera' in Amharic language, at churches, villages and household levels. Especially, the eve is celebrated colorfully by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church at Meskel Square in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa with the burning of huge bonfire and procession by priests, deacons, Sunday School students with spiritual chants and songs. The colorful and elaborate celebration at the Square is annually attended by archbishops, senior government officials, diplomats as well as tens of thousands of adherents and tourists. According to church account, the bonfire and procession commemorate that Queen Eleni was directed to the True Cross through a dream in which she was told to start a bonfire and follow the smoke to where the Cross was buried. In early morning of Meskel, Orthodox adherents go to the nearby churches and make signs of cross with ashes of the bonfire burnt on the eve. In Ethiopia, Meskel and other holidays are celebrated traditionally with unique customs, whereby people prepare special traditional foods and drinks and visit each other with exchanging of seasonal greetings. MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Glen Eagle Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: GER) (Glen Eagle or the Company) is pleased to announce that a Cooperation Agreement was reached between Glen Eagle and Inception Mining Inc, a Nevada company that is publicly quoted on the OTCQB market. As both companies have operations in Honduras in the same vicinity within 25 minutes of each other and rendered mutual services in the recent past, the companies have decided to further extend their cooperation to better serve their mutual interests. Since 2015 Inception has operated a heap leach plant processing 500 tonnes per day from its open pit mine that has been in operation for 40 years. According to the terms of the cooperation agreement, Glen Eagle will process Inceptions high-grade ore contained in sulfides that can not be heap leached but can be recovered by Cobra Oros processing plant. Recent sampling results by the Company of the main tunnel at Inceptions mine graded between 8 to 16 grams gold per tonne with upside potential for even higher grade ore based on Inceptions geological data base. Sampling results were fire assayed at Cobra Oros laboratory. The cooperation agreement is ideal for both companies by securing additional volume with high grade ore for future processing. Both companies will commence basic work immediately hoping to extract a minimum of 35 tons per day in the coming weeks while assessing the potential for additional tonnage. Gilles Laverdiere, P.Geo, has read and approved the technical content of this News Release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Values in the news release are quoted in canadian dollars. Jean Labrecque, President Glen Eagle Resources Inc Complexe du Canal Lachine 4710 St-Antoine Street, Suite 308 Montreal (Quebec) Tel : 514-808-9807 Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 17:28:07|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Kashmiri people carry the body of a militant during his funeral at a village in Anantnag district, about 65km south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27, 2018. Three militants and a trooper were killed Thursday in two separate gunfights in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. (Xinhua/Javed Dar) SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Three militants and a trooper were killed Thursday in two separate gunfights in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. The gunfights between militants and government forces broke out in southern Anantnag and Budgam districts, while a civilian was shot dead in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Anantnag district. "An army trooper and a militant were killed today in a pre-dawn gunfight in Dooru village of Anantnag," Indian army spokesperson, Col Rajesh Kalia told Xinhua. "Later on two militants were killed in Budgam." According to police officials, both the areas were cordoned off on specific intelligence information, suggesting presence of militants. A civilian was killed in Srinagar's Noorbagh locality during an early morning raid, locals said. The killing triggered massive protests and demonstrations in the capital city. Police have yet to make a statement about the killing. Reports said clashes broke out in several parts of the city against the killing despite heavy police and paramilitary deployments. Residents took to roads in Srinagar and threw stones at government forces, who responded by firing tear smoke shells and warning shots. Meanwhile, reports said a non-local working with India's Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was killed during an army ambush in Chowkibal area of frontier Kupwara district, northwest of Srinagar early Thursday. The region's separatist groups have called for a shutdown on Friday against the killings in the region at the hands of Indian forces. Militant groups opposing New Delhi's rule are engaged in a guerilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. Gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 17:28:07|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, in New York, on Sept. 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Qin Lang) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes the improving situation on the Korean Peninsula and calls for further efforts to advance the political settlement of the peninsula issue, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Wednesday. During the meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Wang said China has always supported the improvement of ties between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as well as the DPRK-U.S. dialogue. China appreciates Seoul's efforts to improve its ties with Pyongyang, ease military tensions and advance the denuclearization process on the peninsula, Wang said. The international community welcomes and appreciates the Pyongyang Declaration and the sincerity the DPRK shows has gained global recognition, he said, expressing the hope that South Korea and the DPRK will continue to try to implement the consensus reached between the two sides and accelerate the improvement of bilateral relations. All parties concerned should learn historical lessons and meet each other halfway, said Wang, adding that China is willing to maintain close coordination with South Korea. For her part, Kang said the Pyongyang summit between the leaders of South Korea and the DPRK has injected momentum into the settlement of the peninsula issue and the safeguarding of peace on the peninsula. South Korea supports direct communication between the United States and the DPRK and hopes all related parties will make further efforts to speed up the denuclearization process on the peninsula, she said. South Korea highly values the important role China has played in addressing the peninsula issue and hopes to enhance communication and coordination with China in this regard, said Kang. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 18:03:18|Editor: ZX Video Player Close MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least six militants loyal to the Taliban group were killed and two others wounded following a fierce clash with the government forces in Afghanistan's northern province of Faryab, an official said Thursday. "A clash took place on Wednesday afternoon between the Afghan security forces and the Taliban militants in the Arklik village of Qaisar district, Faryab province, where the country's air-force bombed the militants' positions, leaving six fighters dead and two others critically wounded," Mohammad Hanif Rezai, the spokesman of 209 Shaheen Army Corps, told Xinhua. No civilians or security forces sustained casualties in the fighting which lasted for a while. The militants fighting the government forces in the area were not available for comment on the report. A woman in Chinese traditional costume gestures during the Confucius Institute Week in Gaborone, capital of Botswana, Sept. 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Yang Mengxi) GABORONE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Confucius Institute at the University of Botswana (CIUB) has opened a Chinese language teaching point in Francistown, Botswana's second largest city. The teaching point is the second of its kind established in the country of about 2.1 million people, after the first one was set up early last year at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) in the central town of Palapye. On Tuesday, the Francistown teaching point was initiated with close to 50 students at the University of Botswana (UB)'s Centre for Continuing Education in Francistown. "Embracing Chinese language is important, especially in the 21st century," Olekantse Kuswane, UB's Francistown centre manager, told Xinhua after attending the first lesson of the 12-week session. Kuswane said it had never crossed her mind that she would enroll for the course. However, when a lot of people, including senior government officials registered for the program, she was compelled to register. Eatlametse Olopeng, Senior Superintendent of the Botswana Police Service (BPS), said he enrolled for the course because "China is the future in trade, security, international relations and the growth of industrialization." "Everyone is looking to the East these days," said Olopeng. "It is imperative to study the Chinese language." Another student, Sharon Moloi, a waitress at one of the leading hotels in Francistown, said her dream is to become a Chinese interpreter during international meetings since they sometimes host Chinese nationals at the hotel she works for. "I am really thankful to the Chinese government for coming up with Confucius Institute and allowing its language to be an universal language that can be taught in interested countries across the globe. My dream has finally come true," she said. CIUB provides local students with an opportunity to attend two-week summer or winter camps and four-week summer school in China and also helps locals to win scholarships to study in China for four weeks, one term, a year or for a degree. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 18:28:26|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Despite growing trade tensions between China and the United States, China's manufacturing capability, broad market and more open business environment appeal to U.S. technology firms. Together with 30 Chinese entrepreneurs, Wang Yuquan, co-founder of Haiyin Capital, will make his third trip to the United States in October, looking for opportunities to cooperate with American high-tech companies. Haiyin Capital, a Chinese venture capital firm that invests in global high-tech companies, has introduced the U.S. high-tech firm Wicab, with its BrainPort technology helping the blind "see with the tongue," to China. "The growing trade tensions do not appear to have affected U.S. tech firms' determination to invest in China," said He Zhigang, CEO of Innovationmap, a startup company founded by Haiyin Capital, which is devoted to connecting Chinese enterprises with global innovation firms. Wicab, for example, with a factory in China, could get closer to its potential customers as there are over 5 million blind people in China. Noting that the high-tech industry requires a lot of investment, research and hard work, He said small companies like Wicab could benefit from scale effects and productivity gains from China's technologically advanced manufacturing. During his last visit to Georgia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. in May, He found that despite the U.S. administration's rising protectionism against Chinese investment, local officials and business communities showed a strong willingness to cooperate with Chinese partners and were ready to offer preferential measures to bring in Chinese investors. International tech giants including Microsoft and Amazon will establish AI-related innovation centers and research institutes in Shanghai, which was announced at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2018 earlier this month. China is willing to share the development opportunities in the digital economy with other countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a letter of congratulations to the opening of the conference. A web of interconnected universities, researchers, supply chains, and capital flows is now emerging in the global technology industry, and cooperation across a wide range of industries in different countries is needed for R&D and technology application, said He. In the short term, the ongoing China-U.S. trade frictions might lead to inefficiency, higher costs, and less innovation among U.S. firms, dampening their willingness to invest in China, said He. However, He noted, China still has long-term appeal as it is working harder to improve the business environment and strengthen intellectual property right (IPR) protection, for both Chinese and foreign enterprises. "We have been increasing our investment in China. Every year we bring in more capital expenditures because the market is still growing and the environment is becoming friendlier," an unnamed director of government relations in a U.S. chemical company was quoted as saying in the 2018 China Business Climate Survey Report released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China. In the first eight months of the year, the number of new overseas-funded companies established in China more than doubled from a year earlier to 41,331, Ministry of Commerce data showed. During the period, foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland in dollar terms grew 6.1 percent year on year to 86.5 billion U.S. dollars, with investment from the United States in China up 23.6 percent. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 18:38:28|Editor: ZX Video Player Close RAMALLAH, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Authority (PA) slammed on Thursday the walk in of hundreds of settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem early in the day, accusing Israel of attempting to impose a new reality of time and space zoning of the Islamic holy site. Al-Aqsa Mosque is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Jewish people refer to it as the Temple Mount, while it is considered the third holiest site for Muslims. Palestinian Minister of Wakfs and Islamic Affairs Yousef Ide'is told Xinhua that Israel is exploiting of the Jewish holidays to "impose a new reality on the ground by escalating incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque." Ide'is said "this is part of a scheme to impose time and space zoning of Al-Aqsa Mosque and judaizing it, which requires immediate international intervention." Ide'is urged Muslims and Arab countries to protect the holy site "because it is related to the faith of one billion Muslims, not just the Palestinians." According to the information and PR director for Al-Aqsa Mosque, Firas Al-Dibs, nearly 1,000 settlers stormed into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound earlier Thursday on the fourth day of Jewish Sukkot holiday. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israel has imposed tightened security measures in East Jerusalem ahead of a "central Jerusalem rally" by Israelis, annually held on the same occasion. Palestinians want the eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital of their future Palestinian state, while Israel insists that unified Jerusalem be its eternal capital. Israel occupied the eastern part of the holy city in 1967, a move that was never recognized by the international community. On Dec. 6, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel and moved his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, 2018. The steps infuriated Palestinians and lead to severing ties between the U.S. and the PA. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 19:18:39|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- California legislators are calling on U.S. Congress to expedite the passage of two bills to recognize the service of Chinese American veterans who fought in World War II, said two California State Assembly members on Wednesday. "As a proud grandson of a Chinese American World War II veteran, I urge Congress to fully support H.R. 2358 and S. 1050," said California Assembly Member Evan Low at a press conference. "At a time when the United States government discriminated against Chinese Americans, many chose to serve our country during World War II. Passing these bills will show our veterans that we honor their service and sacrifice," he said. The H.R. 2358 and Senate Bill 1050, called the Chinese American World War II Veterans Congressional Gold Medal Act, were introduced to the House of Representatives and the Senate in May last year to award Chinese American World War II Veterans a Group Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in the United States. The bills are the result of a national campaign, organized by the Chinese American Citizens Alliance and known as the Chinese American World War II Veterans Recognition Project. The U.S. Senate passed the Senate Bill 1050 on Sept. 12 and now it awaits a vote in the House of Representatives, so does the H.R. 2358. The two bills still need to be passed in the House before it can be signed into law. The recognition of Chinese American veterans' service is very important because "so much of the American history is not taught in our schools," said Low, who represents the 28th Assembly District that includes parts of the South Bay and Silicon Valley. "We need to tell our story that we are Americans and we are patriotic just like everybody else," he said. Chinese Americans have served the United States in every war since the Civil War, while faced with hostility and a number of discriminatory federal and state laws, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. An estimated 13,000 Chinese Americans served in World War II even as the Chinese Exclusion Act remained in place. After advocacy from civilians and service members, the U.S. Congress finally repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943. "It is essential for Congress to recognize their sacrifice just as it has done for other marginalized groups who served," said California Assembly Member David Chiu, who represents the 17th Assembly District that encompasses the eastern half of San Francisco. Low and Chiu wrote a joint letter to Congress to urge expeditious support in co-sponsoring the bills on Sept. 13. "As each year passes, fewer and fewer Chinese American veterans of World War II remain with us. Awarding the Congressional Gold Medal in honor of Chinese American World War II veterans provides the opportunity to recognize the courage and sacrifice of these veterans who served our country in the face of discrimination," said the letter. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 19:33:41|Editor: ZX Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia and Russia will enhance cooperation in the mining sector, especially on the exploration of a coal mine in southern Mongolia, a statement from the Mongolian Mining and Heavy Industry Ministry said Thursday. A Mongolian delegation led by Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry Dolgorsuren Sumiyabazar visited Russia on Sept. 23-25. "During the visit, the delegation inspected a project of dry bulk terminal at the Russian seaport Taman. The delegation and relevant Russian officials, including Presidential Aide Igor Levitin, agreed to cooperate to export coal of Tavan Tolgoi to third-party markets via the port of Taman," said the statement. With a total estimated reserve of 6.4 billion tons, Tavan Tolgoi, located in Omnogovi Province, southern Mongolia, is one of the world's largest untapped coking and thermal coal deposits. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 19:38:42|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIRUT, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese State Security on Thursday arrested a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon over producing explosives and fabricating toxic substances for the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, local media reported. The suspect admitted that he was in direct contact with IS in Syria and was planning to put poison in water tanks supplying to the Lebanese army in a bid to kill the biggest number of soldiers, according to Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. He also admitted to have planned a mass poisoning to be implemented in a foreign country in one of the public celebrations there. The report did not mention which specific country it was. The suspect was handed over to the judiciary in charge and the arrest of others involved in the crime is under way. Lebanese State Security also arrested a Syrian national suspected of working with IS to carry out terrorist attacks on Lebanese soil earlier in September. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 19:38:42|Editor: ZX Video Player Close ANKARA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities have announced that an early-Christian basilica discovered at the bottom of a lake in the northwestern city of Iznik, ancient Nicaea, a pivotal site for Christendom, will be transformed into an underwater museum. The basilica, a Roman-style church, lies about three meters beneath water, 50 meters off the shore. According to scientists, an earthquake destroyed the structure in the 8th century and it later sank into the lake and rested there totally forgotten before it was discovered centuries later by accident. Alinur Aktas, the mayor of Bursa, the province where Iznik city is located, said in a written statement that Turkey's first underwater archeological museum will be built around the 1,700-year-old basilica and will be opened for tourists. A project has been prepared and submitted to Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry and once a greenlight is given, works will begin for building a museum and a 20-meter high viewing tower on the shores of Iznik Lake where artifacts of the basilica will be displayed, said the mayor. "The site will also be open for eager divers and will make a great contribution to tourism," Aktas said, adding that professional diving courses will be offered as part of the project. A walkway over the lake may also be built as well as a submerged glass room where people could pray. The project could begin as soon as towards the end of next year, Xinhua learned form cultural authorities. The ruins of the ancient church were found back in 2014 by local archeologist, professor Musafa Sahin, during a survey of aerial photographs of the lake, reported state-run Anadolu Agency. Professor Sahin was looking for the remains of this church for years but he was checking the terra firma instead of the bottom of the lake. According to researches conducted by a team of archaeologists led by professor Sahin, the church was most likely built on top of a temple to the Greek and Roman sun god Apollo, like other temples of this kind built in this region and discovered by researchers. The expansion of the Early Church in the first centuries mainly happened in western, central and eastern Anatolia which was part of the Roman Empire. The discovery of the submerged church has made ripples in the Christian community because it was in Nicaea that the so called "first council of Nicaea" was held in 325 A.D. under the orders of Constantine I. Constantine I was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, and the council that he conveyed laid the foundation of a coherent system of teaching in this religion plagued before this momentous event by conflicts between different theological factions. Some landmark dates were also agreed upon like Easter by hundreds of bishops across the known world of the time who gathered in Nicaea on the shores of the lake. In the globally famous fiction novel "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, the Nicaea council has a prominent importance and protagonists discuss that bishops who participated in the landmark meeting voted on the divinity of Jesus Christ. So it may not to be far fetched that the council members met indeed in this ancient church, argue scholars, even though this remains still to be proven by science. MINNEAPOLIS and SHANGHAI, China, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahon Pharmaceutical Co Ltd.(Ahon Pharma), a subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd, (Fosun Pharma, HKG: 02196 and SHA: 600196) and DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. (TSX Venture: DMA and OTCQB: DMCAF) today entered into a license and collaboration agreement, which allows Ahon to have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize DM199 for acute ischemic stroke in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong S.A.R. and Macau S.A.R. Fosun Pharma is one of Chinas largest pharmaceutical firms with annual sales of more than USD$2 billion and an extensive related hospital sales force. DM199 (synthetic KLK1 protein) is an investigational product in development to treat patients who experience an acute ischemic stroke. Upon successful development, DM199 could provide a treatment option for patients worldwide who suffer from an acute ischemic stroke within 24 hours compared to the short, 3 to 4.5-hour treatment window available today with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA, with trade name Activase). In China, a human urine source form of the KLK1 protein, u-KLK1 or Kailikang, has been approved and widely used since 2005. Under the terms of the license agreement, DiaMedica is entitled to receive an upfront payment of $5 million, consisting of $500,000 on signing and $4.5 million upon regulatory clearance to initiate a clinical trial in China. DiaMedica also has the potential to receive an additional $27.5 million in development and sales related milestones and high single and low double-digit royalties on net sales of DM199 in the licensed territories. All development, regulatory, sales, marketing, and commercial activities and associated costs in the licensed territories will be the sole responsibility of Ahon Pharma. Fosun Pharma, with its partnership with SK Group (a South Korea based Fortune Global 100 Company) called Hermed Capital Healthcare Fund, is an investor in DiaMedica through its equity investment in 2016. "We are extremely pleased to have Ahon Pharma and Fosun Pharma as our partner, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in China. Their existing equity interest makes them a trusted partner to commercialize and market DM199 in mainland China and certain surrounding territories for acute ischemic stroke," stated Rick Pauls, President and CEO of DiaMedica. "Ahon Pharma and Fosun Pharma have significant resources and commercial capabilities to develop and market DM199 to stroke health care providers and patients. This collaboration is aligned with DiaMedicas global strategy to bring DM199 to the market for the millions of patients who suffer from acute ischemic strokes each year." Mr. Guang Qu, President of Ahon Pharma commented, With the acceleration of the aging population in China, stroke has placed a big burden on patient, family, society and healthcare settings. This collaboration conduces to the integration of the existing advantages of both parties, and to the satisfaction of the urgent need of drug access and standardized treatment for acute ischemic stroke patients in China. About Acute Ischemic Stroke An acute ischemic stroke is characterized by rapid loss of brain function due to an interruption of blood supply to the brain due to a blood clot. Affected areas of the brain become inactive and cells eventually die causing neurological impairment. Each year over 12 million people worldwide suffer an acute ischemic stroke and it is the leading cause of death and disability globally. The only approved U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or European Medicines Agency (EMA) drug treatment is tPA (Activase). However, only 5-7% of acute ischemic stroke patients are actually treated with tPA due to eligibility and other issues. About DM199 for Acute Ischemic Stroke DM199 is a recombinant human tissue kallikrein 1 (rh-KLK1). KLK1cleaves the low molecular weight kininogen to produce kinins, which is known as the kallikrein-kinin system (KKS), causing many beneficial effects to ischemia including vasodilation, anti-inflammation, cell repair and decreased apoptosis, with a possible therapeutic window of 24 hours or above. About Fosun Pharma and Ahon Pharma Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. ("Fosun Pharma"; stock code: 600196.SH in Shanghai, 02196.HK in Hong Kong ) is a leading healthcare group in China. Fosun Pharma's business covers the whole healthcare industry chain, including pharmaceutical manufacturing and R&D, healthcare services, medical devices and diagnosis, as well as pharmaceutical distribution and retail, making contribution to improving people's health. Fosun Pharma maintains a national recognized enterprise technology center and a highly capable international R&D team, with relentless efforts exerted on innovation and research of therapeutic areas including cardiovascular system, central nervous system, blood system, metabolism and alimentary system, anti-infection and anti-tumor. Ahon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Ahon Pharma) develops and produces high-tech biological pharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticals. Ahon Pharma joined Shanghai Fosun Pharma Group Company in 2011 and is one of Fosun Pharmas core member enterprises. Ahon Pharmas lead marketed product is for treatment of acute neurological disorders. About DiaMedica Therapeutics Inc. DiaMedica Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel treatments for neurological and kidney diseases. DiaMedicas shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol DMA and on the OTCQB under the trading symbol DMCAF. For more information, please visit www.diamedica.com. Follow us on social media - Twitter, LinkedIn. For further information: Paul Papi Vice President of Business Development 2 Carlson Parkway, Suite 260 Minneapolis, MN 55447 (617) 899-5941 info@diamedica.com CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts contain forward-looking information that involves risk and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address DiaMedicas expectations, should be considered forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on managements exercise of business judgment as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. When used in this press release, the words may, will, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, intend and words of similar import, are intended to identify any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements concerning DiaMedicas expectation that it will receive payments from Ahon pursuant to the license agreement, and its anticipation for DM 199 upon successful development of the drug, and all other statements that are not statements of historical fact. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect a current view of future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as contained in the DiaMedicas filings with the Canadian securities regulators, all of which are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the difficulty of developing pharmaceutical products, obtaining regulatory and other approvals and achieving market acceptance; risks and results of clinical testing; risks involved in international operations; dependence upon Ahon Pharma and Fosun Pharma for the development, regulatory, sales, marketing, and commercial activities and associated costs of DM199 in the licensed territories; need for, and ability to obtain, additional financing to fund future development of DM199, and the terms of such additional financing; and other factors identified and discussed from time to time in DiaMedicas filings with Canadian securities regulators. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. DiaMedica undertakes no obligation, and does not intend to update, revise or otherwise publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events, unless required by law. Although management believes that expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that these expectations will materialize. 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 the contents of this press release. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:03:45|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Bounchan Sinthavong (C) poses with representatives of the Laos-China Railway Company, China Railway No. 2 Group (CREC2) and China Power, who were commended in an order signed by Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, during a handing-over ceremony in Vientiane, Laos, on Sept. 26, 2018. Chinese engineering companies, which are building China-Laos railway in northern Laos, have handed over four bridges to the Lao government. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun) VIENTIANE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese engineering companies, which are building China-Laos railway in northern Laos, have handed over four bridges to the Lao government. A handing-over ceremony was held on Wednesday in Lao Ministry of Public Works and Transport in capital Vientiane. Li Bingxuan, director general of the Laos-China Railway Company, the China-Laos joint venture in charge of the construction and operation of China-Laos railway, briefed the construction and completion of the four bridges in Attapeu Province in southern Laos, and handed over them to the Laos side. To honor the achievement and contribution of the Chinese engineering companies, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith signed an order of commendation for the Laos-China Railway Company, China Railway No. 2 Group (CREC2) and China Power. On behalf of the government, Lao Minister of Public Works and Transport Bounchan Sinthavong, conferred development medals to the three companies. The fracture of saddle dam D, one of five auxiliary dams at the under-construction Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project, some 560 km southeast of Lao capital Vientiane, resulted in massive flooding on July 23 which has killed 40 people with 97 remaining missing. Over 6000 more have been left homeless. The Chinese engineering companies along the China-Laos railway construction sites proactively responded to the Lao government's request, donating cash and materials to the disaster-hit areas and offering assistance to urgently build four bridges for the access to the flooded villages of Attapeu Province, Li Bingxuan told Xinhua on Thursday. In less than 50 days, the CREC2 and Sinohydro Bureau 10 under China Power, with the guidance from the Laos-China Railway Company, completed the construction of four brand new bridges in southern Laos' flooded Attapeu. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:08:47|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close HONG KONG, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Thursday announced three grants totaling 15.721 million HK dollars (about 2.01 million U.S. dollars) for providing relief to flood victims in Kerala, India. The move came after the government accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee. The three grants, one of 6.508 million HK dollars to World Vision Hong Kong, one of 5.6 million HK dollars to Oxfam Hong Kong and one of 3.613 million HK dollars to CEDAR Fund, will be used to provide food, shelter kits, hygiene and household items to around 108,500 flood victims in Kerala. The Committee hopes the grants will facilitate the provision of timely relief to the victims and help them restore their normal living, a government spokesman said. To ensure that the money is used for designated purposes, the relief agencies will be asked to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grants after the relief projects are completed, the spokesman added. (1 U.S. dollar = 7.81 HK dollars) Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:08:48|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close TIANJIN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Yang Chongyong, a former senior legislator of north China's Hebei Province, was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for taking bribes of over 206 million yuan (29.95 million U.S. dollars) by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin Municipality. Yang, former deputy director of the Hebei Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee, was also deprived of his political rights for life, and all his personal property was confiscated, according to the verdict. His illegal gains and the yields generated will be retrieved and turned over to the national treasury. The court found that Yang took advantage of his posts, as a standing committee member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Hebei Provincial Committee and vice governor of Hebei, to help others with project construction, land use rights, forming business partnerships, establishing companies, as well as job adjustments and promotions between 2008 and 2016. In return he accepted and solicited money and property, personally or through others, according to the court. Yang was given a lenient punishment as he confessed, provided additional information about his crimes and important evidence in other cases, showed repentance and voluntarily surrendered his illicit gains, most of which have been recovered, the court said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:13:48|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close CHANGCHUN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A project to strengthen the protection of Chinese mergansers, an endangered bird species commonly found in northeast China's Jilin Province, was launched on Thursday. According to the project's managers, the province aims to increase the number of such bird to over 400 pairs in the Changbai Mountain area by 2030. "The species is very picky about its living environment and is sensitive to environmental changes, so it can be used to monitor ecological environments," said Wang Haitao, a professor with Northeast Normal University. "Protecting the bird is also important for the ecological system and bio-diversity." Survey results show that there have only been about 190 pairs of the bird seen in the Changbai Mountain area over the past decade, with only around 2,000 pairs living in other parts of the world. The bird is believed to be threatened by challenges such as habitat fragmentation, a lack of food supply and problems brought about by rising tourism. The species is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list, with Russia's Far East and northeast China officially regarded as the bird's major reproduction bases. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:28:50|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BERLIN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The German government urged Turkey on Thursday to release five German citizens who remain jailed in the country on political grounds. Speaking just a few hours before the beginning of a two-day visit to Germany by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday and Friday, Michael Roth, minister of state for Europe in the country's foreign office, told the radio station Deutschlandfunk that Berlin still expected Ankara to "move" on the question of political arrests. "We will not forget what has happened," Roth said. "At the moment we are still far away from a normalization of relations," the state minister added. Traditionally close German-Turkish ties have come under severe strain in the wake of a failed military coup against President Erdogan in July 2016. Nearly 4,000 supporters of Gulen movement, led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding the coup, have gone to Germany from Turkey, local media reports. Berlin sharply criticized Ankara's human rights record in the wake of a nationwide crackdown in Turkey against thousands of suspected coup plotters, during which dozens of German citizens were arrested. German municipalities ban on Turkish politicians from campaigning for a 2017 referendum, which aimed to address Turkish expats, fueled the crisis. In spite of these differences, Erdogan will be offered his first ever state banquet and full military honors during his upcoming visit to Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declined her invitation to the event hosted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, however, with Roth emphasizing on Thursday that the Turkish president could not expect to only hear "friendly tones" in diplomatic talks while in Germany. Roth told Deutschlandfunk that he would be "very pleased" if Germany and Turkey warmed up to each other again and defended the controversial decision to host a state banquet for Erdogan as a gesture of respect for the Turkish people. At the same time, he warned that Berlin would only be able to heed calls from Ankara to help it overcome an ongoing financial crisis, if it agreed to judicial and economic reforms. Turkish officials have publicly expressed hopes that Erdogan's visit will encourage more trade with, and investment from, the eurozone's largest economy. Turkey is currently in the midst of a severe currency crisis, a circumstance which has raised pressure on its president to provide markets with signs of reassurance, such as an expression of continued confidence in the prospects of Turkish growth from its largest trading partner Germany. Speaking to Xinhua on Thursday, the German economy ministry said Germany was still "interested in good economic relations with Turkey." The spokesperson noted that over 7,000 German companies were active in Turkey and that the bilateral volume of trade between the two countries was around 37.6 billion euros (44 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:43:56|Editor: ZX Video Player Close HARARE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank on Wednesday said it will offer technical support to Zimbabwe as it seeks to implement a debt arrears clearance plan, dubbed the Lima plan agreed with global lenders in Peru in 2015. Zimbabwe owes the World Bank over 1 billion U.S. dollars in debt arrears, which led the global lender to suspend balance of payment support to the southern African country in 2000. The near two decades long isolation from the international community restricted financial aid flows and resulted in a build-up of arrears to multilateral and bilateral partners including the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the IMF. However, the country has only managed to clear debt arrears owed to the IMF in fulfillment of the debt clearance plan. The clearance of the arrears to the global lenders would facilitate access to much needed financing from international financial institutions. World Bank vice president for Africa Hafez Ghanem told Zimbabwean media after a meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa in New York that the two had discussed the possibility of the bank providing technical support to Zimbabwe, the state news agency New Ziana reported Thursday. Ghanem said he was aware that Zimbabwe, through its finance ministry and the Central Bank, was fervently working on implementing the Lima plan, which is crucial towards the attainment of Mnangagwa's vision 2030. "We will be in contact with them (Zimbabwean Minister of Finance and central bank governor) to work on that (Lima plan) and also to look at the future how the World Bank and Zimbabwe's cooperation can be strengthened and how we can move beyond the debt clearance," he said. Zimbabwe has also sought support for the Lima plan from its former colonial master, Britain, at next month's annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Bali, Indonesia. Zimbabwe's new administration has placed emphasis on economic growth, and re-engagement with the international community as it takes steps to fulfill the "open for business" mantra which seeks to enable greater foreign direct investment inflows. Successful implementation of the Lima plan also requires Zimbabwe to implement a raft of economic reforms including reducing the fiscal deficit, stabilizing the monetary system but most importantly resolving the arrears issue to allow for a resumption of development financing. Zimbabwe is also required to reform its public sector and reduce the high wage bill which currently accounts for more than 90 percent of the national budget, which is funded entirely on taxes. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:43:57|Editor: ZX Video Player Close LONDON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Thursday announced a fund of almost 8 million U.S. dollars to help boroughs in the British capital create car-free streets and anti-pollution measures. The fund will be used to target the worst polluted hot spots as part of a bigger multi-million dollar air quality drive by Khan. Launching the new campaign in Leyton, Khan said: "Our filthy toxic air is a national health crisis, contributing to tens of thousands of premature deaths in the UK every year. "The bold action we've already delivered such as establishing Low Emission Bus Zones and cleaning up the bus and taxi fleets are starting to have a positive impact. Today's funding will help boroughs to deliver targeted action to complement these strong measures and improve their local areas for the benefit of all Londoners. "Despite all that I'm doing here in London, we can't win this battle until the government provides extra resources and delivers a national scrappage fund to get the dirtiest vehicles off our streets and a new Clean Air Act fit for the 21st century." As well as working with boroughs on new ideas to target filthy air, part of the funding will be used to establish more Low Emission Neighbourhoods (LENs), cut emissions from construction machinery, create car-free and low-emission streets, and support people and businesses to start using ultra-low emission vehicles. The London borough of Waltham Council has already created a "mini Holland" that has seen the creation of 22 kilometers of segregated cycle lanes, 660 new trees, 37 roads closed to through traffic and 15 new pocket parks. Meanwhile, innovative schemes like replacing delivery vans with cargo bikes have helped local businesses to make a tangible difference. "Air quality is a huge concern for our residents," Council leader Clare Coghill said: "and sadly around 270 people in the borough die from illnesses related to air pollution every year. Therefore, we've made tackling this issue as a priority through the Enjoy Waltham Forest program and our work with the Mayor's Air Quality Fund. We've cut the number of households in the borough facing dangerously high levels of air pollution by 90 percent." The Mayor is already supporting five borough-led Low Emission Neighbourhoods in some of London's busiest and most highly polluted areas, including in Westminster, the City of London, and Greenwich town center. Closer to central London nine streets in Hackney and Islington have this month been turned into ultra-low emission zones. A City Hall spokesperson said: "Based on the Mayor's actions to clean up the capital's air, London is expected to be legally compliant with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits by 2025. However, Sadiq Khan wants to achieve legal limits well before this and adopt tighter World Health Organization recommended air quality guidelines." Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:43:58|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIRUT, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese lawmaker Yassin Jaber urged Thursday for a solution to the electricity problem in Lebanon which costs the country around 2 billion U.S. dollars yearly, local media reported. "The electricity problem has become a national disaster and the country can no more bear the loss of 2 billion dollars every year," he was quoted by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper, as saying. Lack of electricity in Lebanon has been a problem for many years, as the government is incapable of generating the needed amount of power. Successive governments failed over the years to build power stations to solve the electricity problem in Lebanon. An audio recorded by Jaber earlier this month went viral online claiming that the government refused an offer by Siemens to build power stations in Lebanon to solve the electricity crisis. This promoted Caretaker Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil to respond by saying Germany's Siemens did not submit any offer to build power stations in Lebanon. "The only thing that has happened in this area is that Siemens made such a suggestion but it withdrew it later on," the minister added. However, Siemens CEO Joe Keaser said on Wednesday that Siemens has in fact offered to help improving the whole electricity value chain in Lebanon and have Siemens team assess what's best for the country. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:43:59|Editor: ZX Video Player Close HARARE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Thursday gave Zimbabwe 90,000 Euros in humanitarian funding to help the country contain a raging cholera outbreak that has killed at least 49 people and infected over 10,000 others in the last three weeks. The EU said the aid will directly benefit 15,000 people who live in Budiriro, Glen View, Chitungwiza and Mbare, the four affected suburbs of Harare where the outbreak originated. "The ultimate aim of EU humanitarian aid is to prevent further loss of life and help curb the ongoing outbreak. "The funding will support the Zimbabwe Red Cross to carry out lifesaving actions through the early detection of cases, followed by an immediate response at the community level and appropriate care for all patients," the EU said in a statement. It added that eight oral rehydration points will be set up in the four affected areas for the treatment of cholera while 120 Red Cross volunteers, 20 supervisors and 60 community leaders will be trained on health and hygiene education. Door-to-door campaigns and mass media awareness will be conducted and community volunteers will monitor the situation and refer cases. "Soap, water purification tablets, buckets and jerry cans will be distributed, and 100 hand washing stations which will be set up at health centers, oral rehydration points and other public places." In a ministerial statement presented in Parliament Wednesday, Minister of Health and Child Care Obadiah Moyo said the death toll from the outbreak had risen to 49, with over 10,000 people being screened for the disease. The outbreak was declared on September 6 in the capital Harare and was followed by the proclamation of a state of emergency on September 11. Five out of the country's ten provinces have reported sporadic cases. Trends indicate that the number of cases is growing at an exponential rate, according to the Red Cross. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:54:02|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's Baghdad University entered an international global rankings for 2019, in a sign of post-war improvement. A statement by Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education on Thursday said "Baghdad University appeared in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in the 801 to 1,000 band." The Times Higher tables included the ranks of 1,250 universities around the world. "Baghdad University achieved a new accomplishment by entering the Times Ranking, after its researchers submitted more than 7,000 researches to Scopus international data base," the statement said. "The result of the British Times Rankings shows University of Baghdad was among the world universities that have been contested and evaluated in accordance with 2019 Times Rankings criteria, which is considered as the second best global ranking after Academic Shanghai Ranking," the statement said. According to data published on Wednesday by the British rankings, the United Kingdom universities of Oxford and Cambridge were in the first and second places. It also showed that China is now home to the best university in Asia, while France's Sorbonne University came in the highest-ranked in the table. Higher education in Iraq was badly affected by conflicts, insecurity and chaos that engulfed the country after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Fort Lauderdale, FL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc. (SanSal Wellness or the Company) (OTCQB: SSWH), a vertically-integrated agribusiness focused on producing full spectrum natural phytocannabinoid-rich industrial hemp extracts, is pleased to announce that the Company will be featured on the upcoming episode of business and finance programming New to The Street airing this Saturday, September 29, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The opportunity for SanSal Wellness and Veritas Farms to appear on an established nationally televised business program like New to The Street on the FOX Business Network will enable us to engage with a much larger investor audience and also reach a significant number of new potential customers for our growing list of cannabinoid-rich products, commented Derek Thomas, SanSal Wellness Vice President of Business Development. We are confident that viewers will gain a positive impression of the Company, our business strategy, and of course, our products. We look forward to welcoming many of the shows viewers as new SanSal Wellness shareholders and customers. New to The Street is broadcast nationwide on the FOX Business Network reaching 100 million homes. Interested viewers should check their local TV cable providers channel lineup to find FOX Business Network in their area. About New to The Street New to The Street is a leading provider of business profiles and special corporate programming. New to the Street provides an inside look into the latest financial issues, offering a blend of business and financial services news reporting and in-depth interviews relating to new products, economic analysis, and public company profiles. New to The Street airs as paid TV programming in the United States reaching potentially 100 million homes. And, in Canada reaching potentially more than 5.3 million homes and viewed on other select international stations. Visit www.NewToTheStreet.com. About SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc. SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: SSWH) is focused on producing superior quality, whole-plant, broad spectrum phytocannabinoid-rich hemp oils and extracts. SanSal Wellness currently operates a 140-acre farm and production facilities in Pueblo, Colorado, and is registered with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp. The Company files periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be viewed at www.sec.gov. For additional information, visit www.sansalwellness.com and www.theveritasfarms.com. Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc. press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including those with respect to the Companys mission statement and growth strategy, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Companys future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:54:02|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BERLIN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's political alliance of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) is the most popular party among migrants in Germany, a study published by the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration(SVR) on Thursday showed. According to the study, 43.2 percent of immigrants residing in Germany would vote for the sister parties. CDU and CSU gained 15.6 percent in migrants' approval compared to the last SVR survey published in 2016. Support among the population with a migration background for the German Social Democrats (SPD) has significantly decreased compared to findings of the 2016 study by SVR. Germany's social party lost 15.1 percent of migrants' support in the current evaluation. Only 25 percent of migrants would vote for the SPD. The decrease in migrants' approval for the SPD is mainly due to the loss of trust in the biggest left-wing party among the Turkish population living in Germany. Their approval for the social democrats has been almost halved to 37 percent since 2016. Although the SPD remains the most popular among the Turkish community in Germany, it is only slightly ahead of the CDU/CSU union. Turkish women in Germany have reacted positively to Merkel's government policies in recent years, according to the SVR study. In 2016, just three percent of Turkish in Germany women expressed sympathy for Merkel's party, compared to 48 percent in the current study. The study stated that the stable bond between the Turkish community in Germany and the social democrats, which has lasted for many decades, is fading, said Henriette Litta, co-author of the study. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 20:59:02|Editor: ZX Video Player Close HARARE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday delivered his inaugural address to the United Nations General Assembly, briefing world leaders on strategies being employed by Zimbabwe to improve socio-economic conditions in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Mnangagwa first assumed office in November last year following the resignation of long-time leader Robert Mugabe. He eventually won a presidential election eight months later, securing his first five-year term of office. "I am pleased to report that Zimbabwe has made substantial progress in the implementation of some of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular with regards to ensuring food security," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency New Ziana. He said his government was pursuing home-grown solutions in addressing key developmental and economic challenges in spite of the continued illegal Western sanctions imposed on the country. "We call for their immediate and unconditional removal," he said. While the EU has removed most Zimbabwe officials on its sanctions list except Mugabe and his wife Grace, the United States in July renewed its sanctions law -- the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act (ZIDERA), on Zimbabwe. The U.S. first imposed the sanctions law in 2001. Mnangagwa said he was confident that the multi-pronged economic revival programs would accelerate Zimbabwe's re-entry into the global economy and associated value chains. He said Zimbabwe held fee, fair and credible elections on July 30 and thanked the UN and other member states for sending election observer missions and for their technical assistance to the electoral management body ZEC. "The exceptionally peaceful pre and post electoral environment represented the maturing and entrenchment of democracy in Zimbabwe. Their recommendations (election observer missions) will be taken into account as we deepen our democratic and electoral processes," he said. He reiterated that his government will continue to entrench constitutionalism, democratic traditions and norms, peace, unity and harmony for sustainable development. Mnangagwa added that following the elections, Zimbabwe was now focusing on modernizing and industrializing its economy. In tandem with the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the African Union Agenda 2063, Zimbabwe also outlined its 2030 vision to become a middle income economy with a per capita income of about 3,500 U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Mnangagwa joined several other developing world leaders in calling for the urgent reform of the United Nations to allow Africa to be represented in the permanent category and to have increased representation in the non-permanent category. "This position is indeed justified, in view of the need to correct the historical injustice which has left the African continent on the periphery of all major global decision making processes," he said. He also called for the review and reform of the Bretton Woods institutions and other international financial institutions. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 21:04:03|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Li Zhanshu (Front), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, mourns the passing away of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang at the Vietnamese embassy in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 27, 2018. Li paid the visit entrusted by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese president and on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the Chinese government. (Xinhua/Li Tao) BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese top legislator Li Zhanshu on Thursday went to the Vietnamese embassy in Beijing to mourn the passing away of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang. Li, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, paid the visit entrusted by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese president and on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the Chinese government. Li sent a wreath and signed the condolence book. He said China spoke highly of the important contributions made by President Quang to the relations between the two political parties and two countries. Xi sent a message of condolence to Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, over the passing away of President Quang last Friday and Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, mourned the passing away of President Quang on Wednesday in Hanoi. Noting that China and Vietnam are good neighbors and strategic partners, Li said China is willing to work with Vietnam to carry forward the traditional friendship, enhance political mutual trust and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation so as to continuously promote relations between the two political parties and the two countries. Vietnamese Ambassador to China Dang Minh Khoi expressed appreciation to Li for visiting the embassy to mourn. He said Vietnam is ready to work with China to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries so as to further consolidate and develop bilateral ties. Tran Dai Quang passed away last Friday after a serious illness. He was 61 years old. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 21:24:10|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close DALIAN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A joint archeological team has concluded the first phase of salvage operations for the warship Ching Yuen, a heroic Chinese cruiser sunk during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). Parts of soldiers' remains and more than 500 items from the wreckage were recovered near the city of Zhuanghe in northeast China's Liaoning Province, according to a team from the National Center of Underwater Cultural Heritage and the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. The team conducted an underwater investigation from July to September, which confirmed the warship as a number of relics bore the words Ching Yuen, the name of the armored cruiser, which was made in Germany between January 1885 and January 1887. The Ching Yuen was one of the cruisers ordered by the Qing Empire (1644-1911) in the late 19th century to create a modern navy. "Remains of soldiers were also found in the shipwreck," said Zhou Chunshui, head of the archeological team. He said the remains would be dealt with by protective measures before they are buried. Items found include bullets, cannonballs, spanners and files, as well as iron, copper, wood, glass, porcelain and leather items. The Ching Yuen was besieged by a four-strong Japanese fleet on the Yellow Sea in September 1894. Captain Lin Yongsheng led more than 200 soldiers, many of whom fought to their death. There were only 16 survivors. The cruiser has immeasurable historical value, as a witness and symbol of the Sino-Japanese War, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration. Another warship, the Zhiyuan, also destroyed and sunk during the war, was discovered in 2014. The war, known in China as the Jiawu War, started on July 25, 1894, when a Japanese fleet attacked two Chinese vessels off the Korean port of Asan. At the time, Korea was a tributary of the Qing Empire. By March 1895, the Chinese army and navy were routed; it was the first time China had lost to Japan in a military conflict. The Shimonoseki Treaty, signed to conclude the war, ceded the Liaodong Peninsula in northeast China, Taiwan and its annex the nearby Penghu Islands to Japan. China also paid Japan 200 million taels of silver (5.2 billion U.S. dollars today). The Jiawu War Museum opened to the public in 1985 on Liugong Island, Weihai, eastern China's Shandong Province. The Beiyang Fleet, to which the Ching Yuen belonged, was formed on the island in 1888. The museum has since received more than 10 million visitors, including 1.5 million in 2017 alone. . Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 21:24:10|Editor: ZX Video Player Close KIEV, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has signed a visa-free agreement with Uruguay, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The agreement was signed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and his Uruguayan counterpart Rodolfo Nin Novoa during the 73rd session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York. The deal allows citizens of Ukraine and Uruguay to stay in the other country for up to 90 days. Ukraine has signed such agreements with more than 80 countries and held talks with about 20 other states on visa-free travel. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 21:29:11|Editor: ZX Video Player Close MOSCOW, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Russian State Duma, or lower parliament house, passed a bill on raising the retirement age on Thursday. The bill raises the retirement age to 65 from 60 for men and to 60 from 55 for women, starting in 2019. The bill allows mothers of multiple children to retire before the age of 60 and citizens, who under the current legislation will retire in the next two years, could get their pension six months before the new retirement age. It will be sent to the Federation Council, or upper parliament house, for approval and then to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will sign it into law. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 21:29:11|Editor: ZX Video Player Close JUBA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Africa Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) said Thursday it has extended 90 million U.S. dollar credit facility to support South Sudan's 2018/19 budget. Benedict Okey Oramah, Afreximbank president, said the two-year trade finance facility will be repaid from the oil revenues and is guaranteed by Trinity Energy Limited, a South Sudanese company specializing in petroleum products and related services. Salvatore Garang Mabiordit, minister of finance and economic planning said the funds will be used to facilitate trade and developmental projects, support the budget and finance social benefits and humanitarian disaster management programs. In August, South Sudan's parliament approved a budget of 585 million dollars for the 2018/19 fiscal year, an increase of 75 per cent from the previous period. The budget is expected to be partly financed by external creditors and donors. South Sudan depends more than 90 percent on oil revenue to finance its fiscal budget and in a bid to widen its tax base in the non-oil sector, it established the 2017-2018 Tax Amendment law which helped boost revenue collection amid tougher financial regulations and increased borrowing from Treasury Bills. This development led to the introduction of the airport departure tax which has since risen from 20 percent to 30 percent helping to replenish the Treasury. South Sudan in May also lifted the fuel subsidies in a bid to cut spiraling public expenditure costs in the youngest nation that has in the past experienced rampant fuel shortages due to conflict. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 21:34:13|Editor: ZX Video Player Close LISBON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Twelve people were charged with negligent homicide in deadly forest fires in Portugal last year, local public prosecutor's office said in a statement on Thursday. The defendants include three commanders of Portugal's civil protection agency, three local officials and three employees of a company responsible for the maintenance of a road where some 50 people died the blaze in Pedrogao Grande, and two senior managers of an electricity supply company, the statement said. A total of 66 people died in Pedrogao Grande, some 200 kilometers northeast of Lisbon, among whom 47 were killed in their cars as they fled the huge flames in June 2017. The fires also destroyed more than 24,000 hectares of forest. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 22:04:22|Editor: ZX Video Player Close SINGAPORE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's total population stood at 5.64 million as of June 2018, growing slightly by 0.5 percent over the past year, mainly due to stable growth in the citizen population, according to a government document released Thursday. Singaporean Prime Minister's Office's Strategy Group announced Population in Brief 2018, as an annual publication providing key updates and trends on Singapore's population. According to the document, Singapore's citizen population reached 3.47 million by this June. Among the total citizen population, 15.2 percent aged 65 and above, compared with 14.4 percent last year. Meanwhile, the permanent resident population remained relatively stable at 0.52 million, and the non-resident population remained relatively stable at 1.64 million. The document also revealed that there were 24,417 citizen marriages in 2017, compared with 23,873 in 2016; and there were 32,356 citizen births in 2017, compared with the 33,167 in 2016. Meanwhile, the resident total fertility rate fell from 1.20 in 2016 to 1.16 in 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 22:09:25|Editor: ZX Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) on Thursday released two important publications to guide the ongoing national efforts to reform its child care system. Supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the publications aimed at reducing the number of residential care institutions and increasing family-based care services for vulnerable children, said a joint press release. The first publication is the Capacity Development Plan for family support, foster care and adoption, the release said, adding that the plan presents key actions required by the MoSVY, other government institutions and partners to improve care services for children without parental care, to ensure that they can still live in a family setting that promotes their full development. "MoSVY has already started implementing some of the recommendations of this plan. As a priority, MoSVY will establish a comprehensive database of all children in care to ensure that all children benefit from the best care option for them," said Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation Vong Sauth. "We are also developing procedures and training tools for professionals on kinship care, foster care and adoption," he said. "Stronger safeguards and standards will be introduced." The minister said all foster carers and adoptive parents will be carefully assessed, prepared and followed up with to ensure they are providing adequate care for the children. In Cambodia, an alarming number of children live in residential care institutions, or orphanages, despite the fact that most of them have at least one living parent. A last year's report found that some 16,579 children under the age of 18 were living in 406 orphanages or one out of every 350 Cambodian children lived in an orphanage, and almost 80 percent of children in the orphanages have a living mother or father. Debora Comini, UNICEF representative to Cambodia, said children should never be separated from their parents simply because of poverty, and families should receive the support they need to be able to provide proper care for their children. "However, when a family is unable, even with appropriate support, to provide adequate care, children should receive the alternative care that meets their needs and still enables them to grow up in a loving home and enjoy all their rights," she said. Family-based care, such as kinship care, foster care and adoption, are the alternatives to residential care being promoted by the MoSVY, UNICEF and other partners. However, these forms of care require quality standards and careful monitoring to ensure that the protection of children and their best interests are being met. At the event held on Thursday, the MoSVY also released the Study on Alternative Care Community Practices for children in Cambodia, including pagoda-based care, the release said, adding that this study is the first of its kind which sheds light on how different forms of alternative care are being used in the community. The study found that not all children going into kinship and foster care are registered with the Department of Social Affairs and that kinship care and foster care providers should be better assessed, prepared and supported, it said. The study suggests that pagodas and other faith-based institutions caring for more than 10 children should employ a full-time trained caregiver. Also, the study strongly recommends increasing the number of professional social workers within the MoSVY and partner organizations to provide proper case management and support services to children and vulnerable families in the community. "MoSVY considers the recommendation to increase the number of trained social workers as a priority, not only for child protection but also for successful implementation of social protection efforts," Vong Sauth said. To Receive TEXT ALERTS On Greenbelt Resources TEXT "GRCO" To 522-36 PASO ROBLES, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via OTC PR WIRE Greenbelt Resources Corporation (OTC: GRCO) (Greenbelt or the Company) and Biofuels & Energy (B&E) have announced the execution of a contract for engineering services on the SLV Biopro Project located in San Luis Valley, Colorado announced earlier this year. Greenbelt will provide engineering consulting services to B&E during the development phase of this project, which intends to utilize various food wastes and surplus, including potato industry processing waste and off-spec grains. The total SLV Biopro Project budget is estimated at $8.0 to $9.0 million, depending on final location and production capacity, of which about $7.2 million is allocated to Greenbelts system. This project is the first of three similar projects on B&Es four year time horizon and therefore potentially represents in excess of $20.0 million in additional sales for Greenbelt. We are confident that Greenbelts technology provides us with a significant, unique value added investment return to the project, said Richard Mason of B&E, adding The model of utilizing local regional wastes and low value surplus materials as feedstocks to produce a wide range of bioproducts has been proven. As demonstrated by the Greenbelt system in Australia, we feel the market potential for deploying Greenbelts ECOsystem model is potentially limitless worldwide. Extensive feasibility analysis conducted by B&E indicates that the SLV region produces a significant variety of wastes which qualify as feedstocks, in quantities well beyond that needed for the project. B&E is currently securing both feedstock and off take agreements for the project. The B&E vision addresses a variety of niches in the SLV region. Deploying Greenbelt technology for their SLV Biopro Project to address a local waste/surplus issue and also creating valuable bioproducts via a sustainable model is ideal for the local economy, says Darren Eng, CEO of Greenbelt. Once established in Monte Vista, we look forward to working with B&E to replicate the model and become a leading regional source of bioethanol and biobased protein. Greenbelt has pioneered this local community scale model, which uses a variety of organic feedstocks and converts these into valuable bioproducts such as bioethanol and biobased protein products. The Company is currently raising funds for two projects focused on producing bioethanol for use in the cannabis industry as extraction solvent, using winery and brewery wastes as feedstocks: PRECO and the California BioEthanol Project . Greenbelt recently announced a profitable second quarter , primarily the result of a project for the Andrew J. Young Foundation, cultivating duckweed as a feedstock to produce bioethanol and biobased protein concentrate. About Greenbelt Resources Greenbelt Resources Corporation is an award-winning provider of automated, modular, small scale sustainable energy production systems, products and processes that enable local cost-effective processing and disposal of food, beverage and cellulosic waste to be converted into commercially viable saleable consumer products such as bio ethanol, protein concentrate and fertilizer. Operating in several business segments, Greenbelt provides value added solutions to the cannabis, food, beverage and agricultural industries. For more information visit www.greenbeltresources.com . Forward-Looking Statements & Safe Harbor This document includes certain statements, predictions and projections that may be considered forward-looking statements under securities law. These statements involve a number of important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially including, but not limited to, the supply and demand for biofuels, our ability to remain technologically competitive and other economic, competitive and technological factors involving the Company's operations, markets, services, products and prices. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 22:09:26|Editor: ZX Video Player Close KIGALI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- African economies need to strengthen efforts to accelerate digital literacy across the continent in order to achieve full transition to knowledge-based society, scholars said Thursday. They were speaking at the opening of 13th International Conference and Exhibition on ICT for Education, Training and Skills Development held in Kigali, capital of Rwanda. The small central African country hosts the forum from Sept. 26 to 28, which seeks to discuss key issues affecting education, training, skills and technology in Africa. African countries need literacy skills to work, learn and communicate productively using the power of technology to avoid global digital exclusion, said Ebenezer Malcalm, dean of graduate school, Ghana Technology University College (GTUC). Much emphasis should be put in investing in required infrastructure that supports the development of digital literacy skills across African economies, said Malcalm. For Africa to achieve knowledge-based economies, digital literacy has to be scaled up across all communities most especially in rural settings, said Mmabaledi Kefilwe Seeletso, lecturer in the department of educational management and leadership at Botswana Open University, "Teaching and learning basic digital skills will encourage Africans most, especially the youth to become more involved with the digital world," she said. Suleiman Adamu, head of information communication technology unit of Sule Lamido University, Nigeria, emphasized that digital literacy should top the development agenda of African governments, the private sector and the civil society as part of efforts to transition to knowledge-based society. Technology adoption and access is not enough to transform economies in Africa, he said, adding that Africans need to learn how to use digital technology, communication tools, or networks to communicate and create information. According to him, institutions of learning in Africa have a key role in ensuring that people receive digital literacy training they need. The conference has brought together more than 1,000 high-level policy and decision makers and practitioners in the sectors of education and business from Africa and beyond. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 22:19:30|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BANGKOK, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- JD CENTRAL, a giant online retailer, has officially launched its online platform www.jd.co.th in Thailand. In a press release distributed on Thursday, JD CENTRAL Chief Executive Officer Vincent Yang said the firm has a fully integrated logistics service and plans to increase the number of warehouses to support same-day delivery for about 25 million customers by next year. JD CENTRAL is an e-commerce joint venture between two retail giants, Central Group, the biggest retail conglomerate in Thailand, and JD.com, the largest retailer in China, he said. "Since the launch of JD CENTRAL last June, the company has met with a warm reception from Thai customers. This shows JD CENTRAL has great potential to be the leader in modern online retail trade with technology integration." "The company pursues a policy of dealing in 100 percent genuine products to establish credibility with customers shopping on JD CENTRAL's online platform. As a result, we are confident that the firm will be the most trusted leading e-commerce platform in Thailand," the firm's CEO said. Meanwhile, JD CENTRAL expects to leverage modern logistics technology for warehousing and delivery management. Autonomous Warehouse Robots will be introduced to replace manpower, substantially cut overheads and improve performance, according to the firm's CEO. The warehouse will also use Autonomous Delivery Vehicles and apply logistics innovation which can be integrated with Big Data and AI technology. A "Super Brand Day" will be held from October 1 to October 20 to offer special deals of the day by leading brands. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 22:29:33|Editor: ZX Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli defense minister said Thursday a Palestinian state "doesn't interest" him, dismissing U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration that a two-state solution is the best solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I do not care about a Palestinian state," Avigdor Lieberman told reporters during a tour in northern Israel, according to Ynet news site. "I am interested in a secure Jewish state," he added. He attacked Israel's Palestinian Arab minority as disloyal to the State of Israel. "There are 20 percent Arab citizens who demonstrate on every occasion holding Palestinian flags. This is the problem that needs to be solved," he said. On Wednesday, during joint remarks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sideline of the UN General Assembly, Trump said he supports a two-state solution. It was the first time Trump has endorsed it. Netanyahu did not comment on Trump's statement but later he held a briefing for journalists, saying he would accept a self-ruling Palestinian authority but only if Israel will retain the security control over that territory. "I am prepared for the Palestinians to have the ability to defend themselves without the ability to threaten us," he said. "Except for Gaza, security control west of the Jordan River until the sea will remain in our hands. That is non-negotiable and will not change as long as I am prime minister. I am confident that any American initiative will include this principle," he added. Responding to his statement, Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told the Palestinian news agency of WAFA that not a single Israeli soldier will be accepted to remain on a Palestinian land. "We would only accept an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital," said Abu Rudeineh. Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war and has kept its control over these territories ever since, despite international criticism. The last round of U.S.-brokered peace talks reached an impasse in 2014 amid Israel's continuing construction in the West Bank settlements. File Photo: Bolivian President Juan Evo Morales Ayma speaks at a press briefing on indigenous peoples' collective rights to lands, territories and natural resources at the United Nations headquarters in New York, April 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) by William M. Reilly UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- As he presided over the UN Security Council on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump shot criticism at members and non-members of the panel and quickly got counterblasts, notably from Bolivia. Trump was able to take the gavel at a session on weapons of mass destruction and the non-proliferation of deadly weapons because the United States holds the council's presidency this month. The topic allowed discussion of nuclear issues concerning Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as well as chemical weapons in Syria. In his statement, President Evo Morales of Bolivia wasted no time in lowering charges ranging from the United States financing a 1953 coup in Iran to lying about weapons of mass destruction in order to justify invading Iraq illegally in 2003. "Now that Iran has retaken control of its own resources it is once again the victim of a U.S. siege," he said, referring to Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and reinstating sanctions on Tehran. "Bolivia categorically condemns the unilateral actions imposed by the United States of America on Iran," Morales said. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran deal, was signed in 2015 by Tehran and the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany. Trump declared the United States no longer in the deal earlier this year. "This horrible, one-sided deal allowed Iran to continue its path towards a bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most," Trump told the council in his opening remarks. "They were in big, big trouble. They needed cash. We gave it to them." In refutal, Morales said, "the United States has withdrawn from the JCPOA hiding behind pretext to continue its policy of interference and meddling in the internal affairs of this brother country, Iran." He went on to list the "three most egregious aggressions of the 21st century" -- in Iraq, Libya and Syria. "After the last few months the United States has demonstrated its contempt for international law, multilateralism and for the purposes and principles of the United Nations," Morales said, in reference to frequent statements by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advocating multilateral diplomacy. "Each time the United States invades states, launches missiles or finances regime change it does so behind a propaganda campaign which incessantly repeats the message that it is acting in the course of justice, freedom and democracy, in the cause of human rights or for humanitarian reasons," he said. "In no way is the United States interested in upholding democracy," Morales said. "If such were the case it would not have financed coups d'etat and supported dictators. It would not have threatened with military intervention democratically elected governments as it has done with Venezuela." His criticism against Washington continued another few minutes before he concluded simply with "Thank you." Trump showing no reaction, replied quietly and routinely, "Thank you, Mr. President" before giving floor to the next speaker. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:04:42|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close HANGZHOU, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A culture festival honoring an ancient Chinese playwright has begun in east China's Zhejiang Province. The 8th Tang Xianzu Culture Festival in Suichang County will see a series of seminars discussing the influence of Tang Xianzu and William Shakespeare. An opera week will also be held. "We not only need to let the world know that China has Confucius and classic books, but also Tang Xianzu, who can be talked about on the same level as Shakespeare," said Luo Yimin, a professor of Southwest University, at the event. Tang, born in 1550, was a famous Chinese playwright best known for four plays dubbed the "Four Dreams." His masterpiece "Peony Pavilion" tells of a romance between an official's daughter and a poor scholar, as they pursue love and freedom. A play adapted from the story has been performed for international audiences. Tang died the same year as British playwright William Shakespeare, with the coincidence drawing comparisons between the two. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:09:43|Editor: yan Video Player Close BERLIN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- German companies are highly sceptical that the British government can deliver on a promise to attract more business to Britain by lowering taxes after Brexit, a study published on Thursday by the Foundation for Family Business in Germany and Europe found. According to the study, only 11 percent of German companies with commercial links to Britain believe that benefits from a lower corporation tax would outweigh the disadvantages of leaving the European Union (EU). The findings were based on a representative survey of 1,250 businesses conducted by the Ifo institute for economic research on behalf of the Munich-based lobby group for family-owned enterprises. Policymakers in Britain have pledged to intensify tax competition with other countries as a means to offset the adverse economic effects of giving up its membership of the EU single market. "My message today is that a post-Brexit Britain will be unequivocally pro-businesses", British Prime Minister Theresa May recently said at a business forum on the sideline of the United Nations (UN) general assembly. "So let me say this bit very clearly. Whatever your business, investing in a post-Brexit Britain will give you the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20", she added. In the meanwhile, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) has urged companies in his own country to intensify their preparations for a "no-deal scenario" in which Britain crashes out of the EU without an agreement on its future relationship with the bloc. A recent summit of European leaders once again failed to produce a much-needed breakthrough on the key question of how to prevent the erection of a hard border in Northern Ireland, prompting an emergency meeting between EU officials in Brussels on Wednesday to determine which concrete steps to take in response to a disorderly Brexit. Even if Britain somehow still succeeds in persuading Germany and other EU nations of the benefits of the Chequers deal preferred by May in time for it to be ratified by March 29, the model would not address concerns voiced by many British-based banks whose service-sector activities are not covered by the agreement. As a consequence, these firms are now highly likely to lose their current "passporting" rights to conduct financial business in across the members of the EU as of next year. Speaking to Xinhua on Thursday, Thiess Petersen, senior economics expert at the Bertelsmann Foundation, predicted that such economic disruption following Brexit would lead to a rise in the cost of bilateral trade between Germany and Britain. "German exports (to Britain) will fall as a consequence, and intermediate goods imported from Britain by German companies will simultaneously become more expensive", Petersen said. He noted that the development would lead to a loss of competitiveness among affected firms, especially in the automotive industry which was characterized by close German-British links in its global value chain. Additionally, Petersen pointed to a likely further decline in the value of the pound in the event of a no-deal scenario as an important reason why German companies did not feel re-assured to expand their British activities by promises of lower corporation taxes there. Sterling's anticipated fall would hereby be mirrored in a corresponding re-valuation of the euro, leading to a "further deterioration of export opportunities" to Britain. As a consequence, Petersen argued that May's self-declared Brexit pro-business offensive would only appeal to types of enterprises which were primarily targeting British sales with a more localized commercial model. However, firms to whom this circumstance did not apply, would probably still shun Britain in the future in spite of a potential reduction in their fiscal burden. "If the United Kingdom is seen primarily as a location for production, from which goods and/or services should be sold across Europe, it makes no sense (to move to Britain after Brexit). To the contrary: In this case a relocation from the United Kingdom to Germany or another EU country would be sensible", Petersen said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:19:46|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close CAIRO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting in New York for a comprehensive settlement for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as key to security and stability in the Middle East region, the Egyptian presidential spokesman said in a statement on Thursday. Sisi's remarks came during his meeting with Netanyahu at the former's residence in New York on the sidelines of their participation in the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, according to Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady. During the meeting, which discussed ways of reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Sisi stressed "the importance of resuming the negotiations between the two sides, the Palestinians and the Israelis, to reach a just and comprehensive solution based on a two-state solution and in accordance with the relevant international treaties." The Egyptian president added that a final just settlement for the Palestinian question would create a new reality in the Middle East region where all its peoples enjoy stability, security and development. Over the past few months, Egypt has been seeking to broker inter-Palestinian reconciliation, particularly between Hamas movement that practically controls the Gaza Strip and Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. On the other hand, Egypt tries to reach a lasting truce between Hamas and Israel in return for easing the blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza. The seven-decade-long conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians erupted following the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948. The United States, Israel's main backer, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last December and relocated the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the disputed holy city later in May. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital in light of the UN-proposed two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:29:48|Editor: yan Video Player Close PARIS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A man stabbed to death a local official on Thursday in the city hall of Rodez, south France, before being arrested by police, media reported. The daylight assault occurred near the city hall building at around 10:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) after a man armed with a knife attacked Pascal Filoe who was in charge of local police services, news channel BFMTV reported. The victim succumbed to his injuries two hours later, it added. Known by police for robbery and violence, the 39-year old attacker was arrested and put under custody. He had previously damaged a patio door at city hall. The knifeman's motive remained identified but according to local media his act could be for vengeance after his unregistered attack dog was confiscated. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb condemned "despicable attack." "My first thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Support for his colleagues and national police who immediately arrested the person," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:29:48|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIVASHA, Kenya, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A regional pest and vector management body said Thursday the Fall Army Worm is a major threats to food security in the East and Central Africa region. The Desert Locust Control Organization for East Africa (DLCO-EA) said the pest was spreading at a worrying rate noting that all regions of the continent were already feeling the effects of worm. "Our main focus as an institution is to deal with locust and other migratory pests but we are worried by the fall army worm which has continued to spread from one country to the other," DLCO Director Dr Stephen Njoka told journalists in Naviasha. According to Food and Agriculture Organization, (FAO), the insect which was recently detected in India has the capacity to fly over long distances (100 km per night) and ravage crops all year round given the region's favorable tropical and sub-tropical climate, which means there are always crops and weeds around that Fall Armyworm can feed on. Fall Armyworm can eat maize and some 80 other crops, including rice, vegetables, groundnuts and cotton, according to FAO. The latest development comes after it emerged that all the nine member countries of the organization had been affected by the pest whose solution was yet to be identified. According to Njoka, the pest was devastating and a major threat to plans by member countries to achieve food security. He noted that apart from Somali and Djibouti, all the other member countries had been hardest hit by the pest which was first detected two years ago. "If Kenya and other neighboring counties do not address the issue of the devastating fall army worm then it will be hard for the region to be food secure," Njoka said during the organization's annual general meeting which was attended by representatives from all the member countries. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:39:50|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close OTTAWA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday defended Canadian negotiators for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after U.S. President Donald Trump cast serious doubt on the fate of NAFTA. "The Americans are finding that the negotiations are tough because Canadians are tough negotiators, as we should be, but a good and fair deal is still very possible," Trudeau said to reporters on his way to a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Thursday morning. Trump, speaking at a press conference in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, threatened to tax cars imported "if Canada doesn't make a deal with" the United States. He also said that he was very unhappy with "the negotiations and negotiating style of Canada" and that he had turned down a recent one-on-one meeting with Trudeau in New York. In response, Trudeau's office released a statement saying that there had been no such request. Trump's new threat came just four days before the U.S.-imposed deadline of Sept. 30 for providing the U.S. Congress with an updated NAFTA text. Bangalore, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infoholic Research LLP, a global market research and consulting organization, has published a study titled Global Smart Signaling Market: Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, Trends, and Forecast up to 2024. According to Infoholic Research, the smart signaling technology in the North America region is gaining importance, owing to more number of technology providers along with the highest number of start-ups providing intelligent traffic signals across the region (way higher than European and Asian countries). Furthermore, the increasing traffic congestion and growing advanced infrastructure development capabilities are fostering the smart signaling market. On the contrary, the implementation of smart signaling in the APAC region is expected to closely follow due to the rapid urbanization and increasing investments in the development of smart infrastructure in developing countries. Growth is relatively higher in China and Japan, owing to the initiative to build smart cities to create a new path for the industry players. Request for Sample of the report @ https://www.infoholicresearch.com/request-a-sample-report/?repid=11087 APAC is expected to significantly adopt smart signaling systems during the forecast period, mainly due to the push from China and Japan. Chinese smart cities, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are deploying smart signaling systems, which offer an accuracy of over 95%; however, the signal technology is based on image sensing and analysis. The smart cities in Japan have a higher adoption of public transportation and public smart bicycle services, which are likely to result in the reduced demand for smart signaling in smart cities. However, the need for smart signaling remains the same in the country as municipalities have started adopting centralized traffic management solutions to address traffic causalities. The traffic system vendors in Japan are deploying smart traffic lights across India, Cambodia, and other Asian countries. However, the deployment of smart traffic signals in developing countries of Asia is challenging as the existing signal systems hold complex technology, which would be a cost-intensive move for local governments. The global smart signaling market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41.4% during the forecast period. Key Trends: China, the largest market for smart signaling, has seen the entrance of ride-sharing platforms such as Digi Chuxing, and e-commerce company, Alibaba. These companies are expected to address traffic pileup by deploying smart signaling across Jinan, Beijing, Guiyang, and Wuhan Dubai has installed a smart traffic system to ease the traffic congestion. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai has recently declared a new smart transport strategy 20172021, which aims to transform 25% of the citys road trips into autonomous by 2030. The growing concern over traffic congestion and the availability of real-time traffic flow data have increased the market potential of smart traffic signals across major cities globally. However, high integration and deployment cost are major deterrents to attain the desired adoption results. Priyanka Yadav, Research Analyst, Infoholic Research The key players offering various technological solutions in the smart signaling market include Onnyx, Trafficware, Rapid Flow Technologies, GE, Siemens AG, and others. These players hold a significant market share and are opting for organic and inorganic growth. For instance, in 2018, Cisco partnered with Downer, an infrastructure service provider for an IoT project. Through this partnership, Downer will install intelligent street lighting, traffic light management, and security. The landscape of the global smart signaling market is complex as each competitor is adopting a different strategy to lead the market. Buy Complete Report @ https://www.infoholicresearch.com/report/smart-signalling-market-research-up-to-2024/ The report aims to highlight key insights from verticals and stakeholders. The report covers the current scenario and the development prospects of the smart signaling market during the forecast period 20182024. It also provides an in-depth analysis and forecast of the industry covering the following key features: Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:39:51|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 319 people have been killed during the past five months of lawlessness in rebel-held areas in Idlib province in northwestern Syria, a war monitor reported Thursday. Around 250 rebel fighters were among those killed and the rest of the death toll is for civilians who were either assassinated or killed in explosions in Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Throughout the more than seven-year-long war, Idlib has emerged as the main destination and stronghold for the rebels fleeing other parts of Syria through deals or surrender. The al-Qaida-linked groups, including the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, otherwise referred to as the Nusra Front, are the most powerful among other rebel factions in Idlib. Due to the presence of many rebel groups with different affiliations in Idlib, the lawlessness has ramped up dramatically in recent months. Earlier this month, Turkey, a backer of the opposition, and Russia, which is the key backer of the Syrian government, agreed to establish a demilitarized zone between the Syrian forces and the rebels in Idlib. The deal averted Idlib a wide-scale military offensive by the Syrian army. According to the deal, the rebels would withdraw from the demilitarized zone along with heavy weapons. The establishment of the demilitarized zone is set for Oct. 15. The Observatory, which claims to rely on a network of activists on the ground, said that no rebel groups have evacuated the planned demilitarized zone yet. Recent reports said that groups affiliated with al-Qaida have rejected the Turkish-Russian deal in Idlib. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:39:52|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Su Liang, Chen Yao BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Like many farmers in Maringa, a municipality in southern Brazil, Manoel Marques has decided to expand his soybean planting from 6,800 to 7,100 hectares for the 2018-2019 season, as China is increasing its soybean imports from the Southern American country. About 8,500 km to the north, however, American farmer Don Lutz of Scandinavia, a town in the northern state of Wisconsin, feels uneasy about the coming soybean harvest. He has begun to think about planting other crops for the next season as trade tensions between the United States and China show no sign of abating. The protectionist measures by the United States have caused chaos in the international market, with soybeans now posing a burden for U.S. growers but an opportunity for Brazilian ones. U.S. LOSSES China began importing soybeans in 1996. In recent years, it has become the main destination for U.S. soybeans. Lutz, aged 65, still remembers the rapid increase in Chinese demand for U.S. soybeans over the past decade. "Ten years ago, out of every four rows of soybeans that grew up, one was exported to China," said Lutz in his farmyard, looking at the mature beans. "Nowadays exports to China have increased to one in three." The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated in August that local production of soybeans for the 2018-2019 season will break its record and reach 4,586 million bushels. However, Lutz is worried about a possible loss in the Chinese market after Beijing imposed some retaliatory additional tariffs. As a result, the price of soybeans on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the world's largest derivatives market, fell 20 percent, reaching the lowest level in the past decade. The Port of Long Beach also felt the shock. Located in California, the port has China as its main trading partner and is one of the major soybean export hubs to China. Although the full impact of the trade tensions is too early to be seen, 7 percent of the port's total revenue will be affected by the first round of tariffs, said Noel Hacegaba, deputy executive director of Administration and Operations for the Port of Long Beach. BRAZIL TO FILL THE GAP In contrast to the gloomy U.S. farmers, Brazilian soybean growers are glimpsing an opportunity. The price of Brazilian soybeans has risen by more than 15 percent year-on-year, thanks to increased demands from the Chinese market. The export of Brazilian oilseed to China in the first seven months reached 43.9 million tons, which accounts for 80.6 percent of the total, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. Seeing the opportunity, Marques has decided to expand his oilseed planting. "In the past season 2017-2018, we extended the sowing for 4 percent more and we had a good income," the 65-year-old farmer told Xinhua. "For the new cycle, we tried to expand more, up to 7,100 hectares and getting an increase of 4.4 percent." In the next ten years, soybean production in Brazil will reach 156 million tons, which means an overall increase of 30 percent, according to research conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. The report projects that Brazilian soybean exports will reach 96.5 million tons, of which 70 percent will go to China. Silceu Dalberto, president of Cotrimaio, an agricultural cooperative in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, also wants to increase his planting by 3.5 percent. Cotrimaio plans to focus more on the Chinese market. Wang Guoliang, Cotrimaio's partner in China, said Chinese buyers and Brazilian farmers can establish a cooperation scheme in which the Chinese side offers fertilizers and the Brazilian side exports soy. "These days Brazilian soybean exports are controlled by the major international distributors, but this scenario will change with the fast increase of soybean trade between China and Brazil," Wang predicted. NOT ALL ROSY For CME agricultural market analyst Virginia McGathey, U.S. soybean farmers have become victims of trade frictions between China and the United States, while Brazil and its farmers stand to benefit. "This is perfect for Brazil and I know that they are going to use the money they receive from the purchases from China to improve their infrastructure and improve their competitive edge," said McGathey. Bernardino Braz, president of the Association of Soybean Producers of Brazil (Aprosoja), believes that U.S. protectionism can be an opportunity for Brazil to expand its soybean exports to China. "What we do need is to have greater credibility for the future, more alliances to maintain growth, and stronger relationships," said Braz. "We can do it in the medium and long term, (and) we have to have confidence to achieve that goal." Not all sectors in Brazil, however, can benefit from U.S. protectionism, said Marcos Jank, CEO of Asia-Brazil Agro Alliance. "It seems that the oilseed sector will benefit, but the price increase will increase the cost of livestock and reduce the competitiveness of Brazilian meat products in the international market," Jank said. The trade frictions caused by U.S. protectionism will distort the global supply chain and increase uncertainty in the international market, the specialist in agribusiness said. (Xinhua correspondents Chen Weihua and Zhao Yan from Rio de Janeiro, Peng Hua from Sao Paulo, Gao Shan from Los Angeles, Wang Ping from Chicago and Gao Pan and Sun Ding from Washington D.C. also contributed to the report.) Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:39:53|Editor: yan Video Player Close YAOUNDE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Two police officers were killed in the early hours of Thursday in Fako division of Southwest, one of the two anglophone regions of Cameroon ravaged by secessionist violence, local sources told Xinhua. The two police officers were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a police station in Limbe, a town in the southwest region, a security source who asked not to be named told Xinhua "The officers died on the spot and a woman was wounded in the clashes," according to the source. With presidential election approaching, fighting is intensifying in the minority English-speaking part of Cameroon where armed separatist forces have declared "independence" since last year. They have vowed to stop the election from taking place in the regions. The clashes have claimed the lives of over 100 soldiers, according to the government. The number of the separatists and civilians killed in the conflict is still unknown although security sources say over 200 separatists have died. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:44:54|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIROBI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Thursday launched an online media campaign to promote the East African Community (EAC) integration within university colleges in the country. Susan Koech, Principal Secretary for the Ministry of East Africa Community and Regional Development, said the campaign, dubbed Ushirikiano Digital, acts as a platform for exchange of information by the youths in colleges and the ministry through digital platforms. "The campaign is to help increase awareness amongst the youths and members of the public on the role and integration process within the EAC," Koech said during the launch in Nairobi. She said that the campaign that is due to run for the next three months is involving all university colleges in the country. "We want the youths to be part of the journey by exploring the opportunities that unfold as the policy makers make decisions on behalf of citizens," she added. Koech noted that the EAC is a major market for Kenya's products, creates opportunities for cross-border investment as well as platform for creation of a unified voice in the international arena. She noted that the campaign is timely given that the six members of EAC namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan are headed towards having a single monetary union and a political integration. "We want to build a community that has a collective common development agenda and responsive to the development plans within the bloc," she added. She told the university students who were drawn from 13 universities that the regional bloc has created a one stop border post where citizens of the six countries now walk freely without producing a visa. "You no longer require a visa to travel to any of the five countries. You only need to produce your identification certificate or passport at a border post," the official said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:54:56|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army advanced Thursday in the battles against the Islamic State (IS) in the group's last stronghold in the desert of Sweida province in southern Syria, state news agency SANA reported. The battles are taking place in an extremely rugged area in the Tulol al-Safa hills in the depth of the eastern desert of Sweida, said SANA, adding that the army captured a number of caves and cliffs as well as a number of IS posts that were used by snipers. The battles are coupled with artillery shelling and airstrikes targeting the IS positions in that area, where the IS has become cornered as a result of the military campaign that has started in July. The military campaign in the eastern countryside of Sweida came against the backdrop of a massive IS attack on villages in Sweida, where the terror-designated group killed civilians and carried out suicide bombings in the provincial capital of Sweida. A total of 260 people were killed between civilians and local fighters who attempted to defend themselves and their families in that province near Jordan. The IS militants also abducted over 30 civilians to an unknown destination. The kidnaped people appeared in several videos calling for their release. The IS killed a 19-year-old young man and a woman died of her medical condition while in the IS captivity. People of Sweida have been calling on the authorities to help in securing the release of their relatives from the grip of IS. The army kept advancing in eastern Sweida until encircling the IS militants in the Tulol al-Safa hills in the eastern countryside of Sweida near the provincial border of the capital Damascus but the battles are difficult there as the area is extremely rough. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-27 23:54:58|Editor: yan Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and six others injured in two explosions in El-Wak town in southern Somalia on Thursday, witnesses said. Residents living the area which is close to the border with Kenya said the blasts occurred at a restaurant situated near a police station in El-wak district of Gedo region of southern part of the Horn of Africa nation. "There were two explosions which targeted both tea shops in Elwak town where some people were killed and others critically injured," a resident who did no want to be named told Xinhua by telephone. The incident caused confusion and panic in the border town as emergency rescue teams rush the injured to hospitals. Residents and local officials believe the explosions to be from improvised explosive devices which were planted inside the restaurant in El-Wak, close to the border with Kenya. No group has yet claimed the attack but government officials blamed al-Qaida allied terrorist group al-Shabab, who often carries out such attacks as part of effortts to overthrow the Western-backed government. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 00:00:00|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close THE HAGUE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU)'s new connectivity plan marks its growing confidence as a connectivity actor and could help improve mutual understanding between Brussels and Beijing, said Francesco Saverio Montesano, senior research assistant at the College of Europe. In its new strategy released last week, the EU calls for a comprehensive, sustainable and rules-based connectivity and expresses its willingness to boost cooperation with China and other Asian countries. "While the EU's new plan does have competitive elements in relation to China's Belt and Road Initiative, European and Chinese observers alike have also been quite optimistic with regard to their interplay, stressing that Brussels and Beijing could benefit from the compatibility (and possibly complementarity) of their initiatives and work together to open new markets, hence benefitting all parties," Montesano said while presenting the EU plan at the Dutch think tank Clingendael's weekly Silk Road Headlines. "I am moderately optimistic with regard to the interplay between EU and Chinese connectivity initiatives," the researcher at the Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, told Xinhua. "Connectivity has already been quite high on both actors' agenda for some time, and both have acknowledged the importance of the other in this regard. This is especially true given the isolationist and at times disruptive stance towards global governance, including in the field of connectivity, of the current U.S. administration," he said. The launch of the new connectivity strategy can be seen as the by-product of the EU's growing confidence as a connectivity actor, he said. The breadth of the initiatives envisaged under the strategy, including trade, transport, finance, digital, energy, climate change, education etc., calls for stronger cooperation not only with "target" Asian partners, but also with other key actors operating in the region, notably China, as well as within the EU, both among member states and between them and EU institutions, he added. Montesano also noted that high-level EU figures have emphasized the normatively different nature of the EU's connectivity strategy vis-a-vis other existing initiatives, as it fosters a sustainable and rules-based model, striving to adhere to high standards of transparency and environmental protection, and ensure a level playing field for enterprises. "Now that the EU has an official overarching strategy, the EU and China could sit down and talk about connectivity at large in a more balanced way, each having their own flagship initiative and possibly using the EU-China Connectivity Platform, a Brussels-driven initiative launched in 2015, as a bridge to enhance cooperation in the field," he said. "The values-based elements of its external projection in the field of connectivity can be made clearer, and this could help improve mutual understanding between Brussels and Beijing, hence leading to better bilateral communication, coordination, and cooperation," he said. "In general, however, I believe that the new EU strategy could help foster greater understanding between the EU and China, and this is per se an important contribution for the future of the strategic partnership, given how lacking awareness and flawed knowledge of the other side (e.g. in the field of trade) have been major hurdles in the bilateral relationship in recent years," the expert said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 00:05:03|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Yang Jiechi (2nd R), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with a visiting group of the Hong Kong Professional and Senior Executives Association in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has called on Hong Kong professionals to contribute more to the country's development. Yang said he expected more efforts by the professionals to benefit the country in furthering the reform and opening up, when meeting a visiting group of the Hong Kong Professional and Senior Executives Association on Thursday. He said the association took a firm position to uphold the guidelines and policies of the central government, adding that it had greatly promoted professional exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong. He encouraged professionals in Hong Kong to grab development opportunities in the new era and support Hong Kong in integrating its own development into the overall development of the country. File Photo: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks to journalists at the Palais Coburg Hotel where the Iran nuclear talks are being held, in Vienna, Austria on July 7, 2015. (Xinhua/Qian Yi) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday called on the international community to champion the rule of law, take multi-front measures and enhance international cooperation in further efforts at global nuclear non-proliferation. Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Wang proposed that countries should abide by the rule of law to consolidate and improve the international non-proliferation regime. "All of us should earnestly safeguard the universality, effectiveness, and authority of non-proliferation regime, and in particular prevent terrorists and other non-state actors from getting hold of weapons of mass destruction material and technologies," said Wang. The top Chinese diplomat said multi-front measures should be taken to implement the non-proliferation treaty in a balanced manner. Wang called on countries to honor their words, shoulder their responsibilities and fulfill international obligations with no double standards, discriminatory arrangement or selective enforcement. He added that countries need to bolster international cooperation and enhance their non-proliferation capability. On the international deal brokered to restrict Iran's nuclear program, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Wang said it is "a hard-won achievement of multilateralism conducive to international non-proliferation regime and peace and stability in the Middle East." Noting that no international agreement is perfect, Wang said what happened in the last three years showed that the JCPOA is a viable agreement. "China encourages Iran to continue to fulfill all commitments it has made and at the same time the legitimate rights of all countries to normal economic relations and trade with Iran should be respected," said Wang. He called on the relevant parties to "bear in mind the big picture, proceed from a long-term perspective and safeguard the solemnity, integrity and efficacy of the JCPOA." On the Korean Peninsula issue, Wang pointed out that the situation has changed for the better, and China has made unremitting efforts to this end. "We call upon all parties to seize the current opportunities, turn political consensus into concrete actions, and work in the direction of setting up a peace mechanism as well as denuclearization on the peninsula to realize lasting peace at an early date," said Wang. Wang said China has, as always, adhered to the principle of non-interference, and non-interference in other's internal affairs is a tradition of China's foreign policy, which has won widespread praise from the international community, Wang said. "We did not, do not and will not interfere in the internal affairs of any country, and we don't accept any unwarranted accusations made against China," he said. "We also urge other countries to follow the principles of the United Nations Charter, which forbids interference in any nation's internal affairs," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 00:15:07|Editor: yan Video Player Close MANILA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Sino-Philippine relations are moving along the fast track and gearing up for faster and stronger development under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries, Zhao Jianhua, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, said on Thursday. Zhao made the remarks here at a reception celebrating the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China which falls on Oct.1. There have been frequent high-level exchanges between China and the Philippines over the past two years, Zhao said, adding that a series of dialogue and consultation mechanisms have been revived in areas such as foreign affairs, defense, energy, economy and trade, agriculture, fisheries, science and technology. There have been also increasing interactions and exchanges between local governments, media agencies, universities, think tanks and cultural institutions, he added. In the meantime, China and the Philippines have maintained good communication on international affairs, the Chinese ambassador said, adding that the sound ties being enjoyed by China and the Philippines have contributed to regional stability. Philippine presidential spokesperson Harry Roque lauded China for being a model and an example of the developing world to successfully bring prosperity to the people. "I want to express our congratulations to you on the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China," Roque told Xinhua at the reception. Roque added that the Philippines values its friendship with China. "We hope a closer partnership between the Philippines and China," which will bring more benefits to the two peoples, Roque said. Misenheimer, North Carolina, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States Department of Agriculture has approved Pfeiffer University's application for a USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan. The loan, which amounts to $34.5 million, will allow Pfeiffer University to begin and secure several specific initiatives. The process to secure the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan started in Fall 2016. Among these initiatives is the construction of the Pfeiffer University Health Science Center in Albemarle, North Carolina. This state-of-the-art facility will be home to the graduate Physician Assistant Studies program and the Occupational Therapy program. Once construction is complete, the Pfeiffer University Health Science Center will also provide an additional resource for affordable health care in the area. The development of the Pfeiffer University Health Science Center is a critical component of the revitalization of downtown Albemarle. (Related: Click to learn more about the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies. www.pfeiffer.edu/mspas) With Pfeiffer's commitment to providing top-tier healthcare education, planned renovations to the Harris Science Building will see completion. These renovations will allow for the expansion of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The reconfiguration of classroom space will be able to accommodate an additional ten nursing students. Other planned renovations will take place in Goode Hall which was closed in 2010 due to the accumulation of deferred maintenance. With the reopening of Goode Hall, academic support services such as tutoring and career services can be moved to a single location improving student services. Renovations to classrooms and the art gallery in Goode Hall will provide additional academic and multiuse space. Plans to add elevators to Goode Hall and the Administration building are also in place. The approval of the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan will allow Pfeiffer University to consolidate and pay off the current institutional debt incurred by previous renovations. Pfeiffer University President Dr. Colleen Perry Keith says that it is an exciting time for Pfeiffer University but the approval of the USDA loan is only the beginning for creating long-term sustainable growth. "Much of our day-to-day business will remain the same. We will, however, be able to move ahead with programs and facility improvements that help our overall position: better space for teaching and learning, additional revenue, and student and employee satisfaction." Pfeiffer University officials state that projects are expected to begin as early as December 2018 in Albemarle and the Spring of 2019 on the Misenheimer campus. Attachment Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 00:15:07|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Professor Eleni Karamalengou, dean of the School of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), speaks at the forum "China-Greece Dialogue: The contemporary reach and influence of Chinese culture" in Athens, Greece, on Sept. 27, 2018. Representatives of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the Beijing Normal University (BNU) participated in a forum held in Athens on Thursday under the title "China-Greece Dialogue: The contemporary reach and influence of Chinese culture." (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the Beijing Normal University (BNU) participated in a forum held in Athens on Thursday under the title "China-Greece Dialogue: The contemporary reach and influence of Chinese culture." During the event hosted at the main building of the NKUA, Greek and Chinese professors exchanged views on the links between Greek and Chinese culture and explored prospects to deepen bilateral cooperation in the academic field, in science and art. "We share several common elements we can develop into a very positive cooperation in the future in the cultural sector...Today's forum will highlight these aspects and the potential of collaboration," Professor Eleni Karamalengou, dean of the School of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens said in the opening remarks. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 00:25:10|Editor: yan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Security forces in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala carried out a major operation to hunt Islamic State (IS) militants, an Iraqi newspaper said on Thursday. The operation was designed to prevent the extremist IS militants from launching surprise attacks against security forces and civilians, the independent newspaper of al-Mashriq said. "Iraqi forces backed by Iraqi aircrafts pushed in five routes to pursue IS militants in three areas of Udhiem, Amerli and Tuz-Khurmato near the provincial border with neighboring Salahudin province," said the newspaper quoting Mizher al-Azzawi, commander of Diyala Operations Command. Azzawi said that the troops combed large rugged areas looking for IS hideouts based on accurate intelligence reports, according to the newspaper. Mohammed al-Zuhairy, a captain of the command, told the newspaper "the operation which was launched Wednesday will not be limited to the areas in Diyala but it will reach to neighboring Salahudin in coordination with its operations command and Hashd Shaabi units." The operation came four days after similar military operation launched last Saturday to track IS in the desert area which extends in the provinces of Nineveh, Salahudin and Anbar north and west of Iraq, al-Zuhairy said. Despite repeated military operations in the Diyala province, remnants of IS militants are still hiding in some rugged areas near the border with Iran, and in the sprawling areas extending from the western part of the province to the Himreen mountainous area in north of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from the IS extremist group. However, small groups of IS militants have since regrouped in rugged areas, carrying out attacks against security forces and civilians despite the military operations from time to time to hunt them down. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 01:00:16|Editor: yan Video Player Close JUBA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Thursday it was dismayed by the United States for not respecting its senior government officials planning to visit America by deliberately delaying issuance of visa. Baak Valentio Akol, undersecretary in the ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said it was upset Washington does not fast-track the issuance of visas for its top officials including army commanders planning to visit America. Akol, who handed over a protest note to the U.S Ambassador to South Sudan, Thomas Hushek, criticized America for subjecting South Sudanese government officials to tedious bureaucratic process. "We are informed that senior South Sudanese government officials wishing to travel to United States of America don't get their visas on time, sometime they have to wait for up to one month or even over a month before they get the visa," Baak told journalists in Juba. Baak said in 2003 the United State Congress had enacted unjust law that classified Sudan People's Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) as terrorist or unwelcome organizations by the then U.S. administration. "For our ruling party the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to be described as a terrorist organization is unacceptable," Baak said. This photo shows a plenary session being held at the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, in Moscow, Russia on September 27, 2018. (Photo by State Duma) MOSCOW, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Russian State Duma, or lower parliament house, passed a bill on raising the retirement age on Thursday. The bill raises the retirement age to 65 from 60 for men and to 60 from 55 for women, starting in 2019. The bill allows mothers of multiple children to retire before the age of 60 and citizens, who under the current legislation will retire in the next two years, could get their pension six months before the new retirement age. It will be sent to the Federation Council, or upper parliament house, for approval and then to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will sign it into law. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 02:40:34|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIRUT, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh emphasized Thursday the importance of forming a government to restore confidence in Lebanon's economy. "The formation of a government would give positive signal to the international community," he was quoted by the National News Agency as saying. His remarks came during a conference held at the Economic and Social Council to discuss the financial situation in the country. Salameh reiterated that the Lebanese pound is stable and the banking sector is solid. He pointed out that the rumors about the instability of the Lebanese pound aim at spreading confusion in the market. "The Central Bank has sufficient liquidity to meet all the financing requirements," he said. Lebanon held parliamentary elections on May 6, but the government formation has been repeatedly delayed due to the different parties' jostling over cabinet positions. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, speaks during the first meeting of national security secretaries of Afghanistan, China, Iran, India and Russia, in the Iranian capital Tehran on September 26, 2018. (AFP Photo) TEHRAN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian security official on Thursday warned Israel against attacking the Syrian army and its allied forces in the Syrian territory. In case the Zionist regime of Israel hits the Syrian army and its allied forces fighting terrorists in the Arab state, it should expect a regrettable response, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said. Shamkhani made the remarks in a meeting with the visiting Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev in the capital Tehran on Thursday. For his part, the Russian security official stressed the need for closer regional cooperation against terrorism, warning that the U.S. government and some of its allies are transferring defeated terrorists from Syria and Iraq to other places, according to Tasnim news agency. Iran says it has deployed military advisers to Syria at the request of Syrian government to fight terrorists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday that Israel will continue to act against Iranian aggression in Syria, Lebanon, anywhere else. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 03:40:47|Editor: yan Video Player Close PRAGUE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Czech State Veterinary Administration (SVA) informed on Thursday that all pork meat and pork products imported from the countries where African swine fever virus (ASFV) has been confirmed must be tested for this virus. According to the authorities, emergency veterinary measures will be announced by the state on Monday, then they will take effect on Tuesday. The obligation will apply to all domestic food business operators importing pork and pork products from Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Poland or Romania. Upon the inspection, the pork will be able to enter Czech market again. Those importers who fail to comply with the state requirement will face a fine of up to 2 million Czech crowns (around 90,868 U.S. dollars). Tests are usually completed within 24 hours of receipt of the sample. The general director of SVA Zbynek Semerad said on Wednesday that if samples are taken by the veterinary institutes before noon, they should be analyzed by the end of the day. If later, the results are likely to be the next day. The disease has been recently reported in Belgium and Poland, which are the third and fourth largest pork and pig importers to the Czech Republic. Czech Agriculture Minister Miroslav Toman said that due to the rapid desease spreading over Europe, this compulsory examination for ASFV is required in order to protect domestic pigs and guarantee high-standard market for the Czech consumers. The country had already had the experience in fighting the virus and it costed the state a lot of money. According to SVA, this yeat the veterinarians took over 100 of samples to test for African swine fever -- the results have been all negative so far. Based on SVA information, currently Czech importers receive approximately 3,000 consignments of pork from the infected countries, which is around 4,000 tonnes per month. On average, a single shipment for test inspection, is roughly 1.3 tonnes. Meanwhile, the country reports that Czech pork producers now suffer from low purchase prices, said Chairman of the Pig Breeders Association Jan Stibal. He added that prices are the lowest since 2004, and the breeders might need to ask for the a rescue package from the European Union. According to Stibal, pigs are now being bought at 35.56 Czech crowns (around 1.62 U.S. dollars) per kilogram of live weight. The purchase prices have been lower than production costs for a long time. In the Czech Republic, the cases of African swine fever were first historically recorded in June 2017 in the outskirts of Zlin city. (1 U.S. dollar=22.01 crowns) A satellite photo of the Parchin military complex located in Tehran, Iran, provided by the U.S. Institute for Science and International Security on Aug. 13, 2004. JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that he has proof that Iran holds a "secret atomic warehouse" and urged international action against the Islamic republic. During his vehement speech at the UN conference, Netanyahu presented what he said was an aerial photo of a previously unknown nuclear facility in Iran's capital Tehran, saying the 2015 nuclear deal enabled Iran to continue its attempts to build nuclear weapons. "The reason Iran did not destroy its atomic facility and warehouse is because it has not finished with them," Netanyahu noted. The Israeli prime minister also urged Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to check the suspected nuclear site. "Do the right thing. Go and inspect. Go and investigate," he said. Netanyahu also warned that Israel will attack Iran if the Islamic republic threatens the Jewish state. "We will act against you in Syria. We will act against you in Iran. We will act against you wherever and whenever," Netanyahu said. Notably, the hawkish Israeli leader admitted that the Iranian nuclear deal "brought Israel and many Arab states closer together than ever before." Israel "deeply values these new friendships" and hopes "the day will soon arrive when Israel will extend a formal peace, beyond Egypt and Jordan, to other Arab nations, including the Palestinians," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 04:25:59|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (bottom) addresses the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Qin Lang) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that the hostile policy actions of the Trump administration against the Palestinians have undermined the two-state solution, urging Washington to reverse these decisions. Speaking at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, Abbas cited U.S. decisions to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, move U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv, cut off funding for the Palestinians and close the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington. "With all of these decisions, this administration has reneged on all previous U.S. commitments, and has undermined the two-state solution, and has revealed its false claims of concern about the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian people," Abbas said. "It's really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the 'deal of the century.'" "But what is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people? Only humanitarian solutions?" He asked. "What is left as a political solution?" The Palestinian leader lashed out at the U.S. actions behind the peace plan. "We awaited his peace initiative with utmost patience, but were shocked by decisions and actions he undertook that completely contradict the role and commitment of the United States towards the peace process," he said. "The U.S. acts as a mediator, however, now we view the U.S. with new eyes. The U.S. cannot be a mediator single-handedly," he added. "We will also not accept sole American mediation in the peace process because the U.S. administration has lost its eligibility due to its recent decisions." "From this august platform, I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees ... in order to salvage the prospects for peace and to achieve stability and security for future generations in our region," Abbas said. "I must reiterate that we are not against negotiations and have never rejected negotiations," the Palestinian leader added. "We will continue to extend our hands for peace." Abbas noted that there could be no peace without an independent Palestinian State, with east Jerusalem as its capital, and not some place in East Jerusalem as its capital, and with all of its holy sites. "There is no peace otherwise. There is no peace with a state of temporary borders," he said. "Jerusalem is not for sale," Abbas said. "The Palestinian people's rights are not up for bargaining." U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would present the principles of plan in the next "two to three to four months" to promote peace between Israel and Palestine, adding he wanted a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term," Trump said, referring to the peace agreement on the conflict. "I like a two-state solution. That's what I think works best." The Trump administration has always argued that it would support a two-state solution if both sides agreed to it. But this is the first time Trump has explicitly backed it. However, Husam Zomlot, head of the PLO's office in Washington, told AFP that the White House's "words go against their actions and their action is absolutely clear (and) is destroying the possibility of the two-state solution," He added that Trump's comments alone were not enough to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. The Trump administration earlier this month announced its decision to close the PLO's office in Washington, a new move to step up pressure on the Palestinians. Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched a string of U.S. funding cuts against the Palestinians to push them back to the negotiating table. In December last year, the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, an unconventional step announced by Trump himself that sparked global outcry and an absence of the furious Palestinians in talks mediated by Washington. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 04:36:01|Editor: yan Video Player Close DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- UK's Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, on Thursday pledged to continue supporting Tanzania in its anti-poaching crusade. Prince William, who is on a three-day official visit to the east African nation, made the pledge during talks with President John Magufuli, said a statement by the Directorate of Presidential Communication at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam. "I am highly impressed with anti-poaching initiatives being done by the government of Tanzania, and be assured of my support," the statement quoted Prince William as saying. The Duke of Cambridge was also said he was impressed by the continued relations between the UK and Tanzania. For his part, President Magufuli thanked Prince William for the support in wildlife conservation, and pledged to double efforts towards anti-poaching of elephants. Prince William on Wednesday began a three-day visit to Tanzania as part of his mission to fight poaching and tackle illegal trade in wildlife. A statement by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism said Prince William was visiting the east African nation as president of United for Wildlife, which fights illegal trade in wildlife, and patron of Tusk, which promotes conservation. During his visit, Prince William will raise awareness on the Illegal Wildlife Conference to be held in London in October, said the statement. Tanzania is home to the African elephants, rhinos and other wildlife population that are facing threats from syndicates of local as well as international poachers. BOSTON, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gender lens investing investment strategies designed to make a positive impact in the lives of women and girls, while also meeting necessary return and risk objectives may provide a unique road toward higher financial returns and greater social impact, according to a new report by investment firm Cambridge Associates. Research has shown time and again that diversity of thought and perspective leads to better investment returns, better business strategies and stronger organizations as a whole, says Deborah Christie, Managing Director at Cambridge Associates and a coauthor of Gender Lens Investing: Impact Opportunities Through Gender Equity. Thats why an institutional investor who looks at strategies through a gender lens may see excellent opportunities they may have otherwise missed opportunities to both make an impact that aligns with their mission and to benefit from investment diversification. The report points out how much room there is for a gender lens approach to grow. For instance, as of 2017, only 16% of board seats and 4.4% of CEO roles across Russell 3000 companies were held by women even though by 2020 women are projected to control $72 trillion of wealth, or 32% of global wealth. The report cites a variety of third-party studies that advance the gender lens argument Sales growth, earnings per share growth and return on assets were all higher in companies where women comprised 50% or more of leadership positions. Start-ups founded by women generated 10% more revenue than male-founded counterparts. The performance of venture capital firms improves as the ratio of investment in women-led businesses increases, despite these businesses receiving less funding. Female investors are less likely to churn portfolios, which helps net returns, whereas male investors trade 45% more than women, which lowers net returns. The overall intelligence of a team or company increases when women are included, due to more perspectives and fewer blind spots. According to an analysis of 37 female hedge fund managers, female-led hedge funds outperform a general sample of hedge funds over a ten-year period. Although gender lens investing strategies are not as numerous as other impact strategies, the lists are growing. According to the report, Cambridge Associates monitors about 30 strategies in the public markets that are considered gender lens investments (with $1 billion in aggregated assets). And Project Sage, a research initiative of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative follows 58 private investment strategies with a gender lens focus (at a total of $1.3 billion aggregated assets). So how can institutional investors enact a gender lens approach? The report says its helpful to think about gender lens initiatives in three categories: Increasing access to capital for women. This can mean investing in female entrepreneurs and female fund managers or educating women about finance to help them grow assets. It can also mean empowering women through microfinance and small business lending. This can mean investing in female entrepreneurs and female fund managers or educating women about finance to help them grow assets. It can also mean empowering women through microfinance and small business lending. Creating workplace equity for women. This can take the form of investing in companies with gender equity policies like wage equity and paid family leave and those that have a certain number of women in senior management positions. This can take the form of investing in companies with gender equity policies like wage equity and paid family leave and those that have a certain number of women in senior management positions. Supporting products and services that benefit women and girls. This approach means investing in companies focused on improving health and education for women and girls, investing in female-oriented products or investing in products that mitigate societal problems that primarily affect women. In terms of specific potential strategies, one gender lens strategy might, hypothetically, involve providing private equity capital to female entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and another may entail investing with a company or investment manager that makes loans to women in rural communities in emerging markets to help them start small-scale businesses. In another gender lens approach, institutions might deliberately seek to have investment strategies and funds managed by women alongside their traditional investment portfolio. One more example could be a venture capital fund that funds products designed to improve the lives of girls. Adds Christie, Most importantly, as gender lens investing expands, it will ultimately promote a culture that extends beyond just counting women in the workplace toward one that views investing in women as a societal norm. For a copy of Gender Lens Investing: Impact Opportunities Through Gender Equity or to speak with Deborah Christie, please contact Katarina Wenk-Bodenmiller at katarina@sommerfield.com or (212) 255-8386. About Cambridge Associates Cambridge Associates is a leading global investment firm. We aim to help endowments & foundations, pension plans, and private clients implement and manage custom investment portfolios that generate outperformance so they can maximize their impact on the world. Working alongside its early clients, among them leading university endowments, the firm pioneered the strategy of high-equity orientation and broad diversification, which since the 1980s has been a primary driver of performance for institutional investors. Cambridge Associates delivers a range of services, including outsourced CIO, non-discretionary portfolio management, and investment consulting. Cambridge Associates maintains offices in Boston; Arlington, VA; Beijing; Dallas; London; Menlo Park, CA; New York; San Francisco; Singapore; Sydney; and Toronto. Cambridge Associates consists of five global investment consulting affiliates that are all under common ownership and control. For more information, please visit www.cambridgeassociates.com . Contact: Katarina Wenk-Bodenmiller Sommerfield Communications +1 (212) 255-8386 katarina@sommerfield.com Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 04:41:04|Editor: yan Video Player Close Juba, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese Chief of Defence Forces Jok Riak (SPLA) on Thursday expressed the military's commitment to implementation of the permanent peace deal which was signed by warring parties early this month in Ethiopia. South Sudan's army chief told the members of the Red Army Foundation during a thanksgiving ceremony in Juba that the killings that has pitted the army on ethnic line has costly affected the young East African nation dearly in the last four years, saying the army is desperately in search for peace in the country. "The first people who need peace are we, the soldiers especially myself. I have 38 years in military uniform," Riak told the gathering of the ex-child soldiers. In June, South Sudan's warring parties signed a Permanent Ceasefire Agreement in Khartoum, since then the parties have engaged in counter blame games over the truce violation. Riak urged South Sudanese citizens to own the peace deal and should not allow politicians to own it and give them chance to derail the deal. President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in-opposition (SPLA-IO), agreed to the final peace deal mediated by Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an east African bloc. The conflict in South Sudan erupted in 2013 after forces loyal to president Kiir and his former deputy Machar engaged in combat. A 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016, when rival factions resumed fighting in the capital, Juba, forcing Machar to flee into exile. Millions of South Sudanese civilians have sought refuge in neighboring countries as the conflict rages on. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 04:56:08|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday that it was close to covering 85 percent of the shortfall it had this year due to the funding cut by the United States. "I think that's a remarkable result. And the entire international community joined us in the effort to overcome that, so we were not giving in to any pressure," Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner-general for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. "When you lose 300 million U.S. dollars of income, you're going to face a crisis," he said, noting that "a loss of income on certain scale forces you to take decisions and to set priorities." "Our first priority was to mobilize the funding from other donors," he said. "We're not giving in or reducing the energy on the intensity that we show in covering the needs of Palestine refugees," he added. Krahenbuhl apologized for laying off 118 UNRWA staff due to stringent budget, noting that he was fully aware that finding a job was hard in Gaza. However, he said he felt proud that he had managed to protect the food distributions for a million people in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. State Department announced on Aug. 31 that the United States would not provide assistance funding any more for UNRWA. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 05:16:11|Editor: yan Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top online retailer Amazon opened a new bricks-and-mortar store in New York City Thursday in its new efforts to expand its physical stores ambition in the retailing sector. The new shop called Amazon 4-star, which is located on 72 Spring Street in New York's SoHo neighborhood, opened to the public Thursday morning as a new-concept store selling top-rated products from its online shop. "Amazon 4-star' s selection is a direct reflection of our customers -- what they' re buying and what they' re loving," the company said in a blog post Wednesday. All products in the New York location, ranging from kitchenware, consumer electronics, books, game and toys, are items sold and rated 4 stars or above in its online store. "They're top sellers, or are new and trending," and its customers with Prime membership can pay the same preferential online price in the New York store, Amazon said in the blog. The e-commerce giant said "the average rating of all the products in Amazon 4-star is 4.4 stars, and collectively, the products in store have earned more than 1.8 million 5-star customer reviews." "We created Amazon 4-star to be a place where customers can discover products they will love," Amazon said. The world top online retailer has been pursuing an aggressive plan to expand its online retailing business to the bricks-and-mortar sector since it officially launched the first cashier-less grocery store Amazon Go in Seattle, Washington State in January this year. It currently operates three Amazon Go shops in Seattle and one in Chicago, Illinois. Media reports have said that Amazon is considering increasing its self-serviced, automated cashier-less convenience stores to around 3,000 across the U.S. by 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 05:31:15|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Qin Lang) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that Iran has hidden "massive amounts of equipment and materiel," indicating that the country is eyeing nuclear weapon program. Speaking at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said that nearly 15 kilograms of radioactive material had been stored in the warehouse in the Turquzabad district of Tehran. "Today I am disclosing for the first time that Iran has another secret facility in Tehran, a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Iran's secret nuclear program," Netanyahu said. This site contained as much as 300 tonnes of nuclear-related equipment and materiel, he said, noting Iran hasn't abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons. While not detailing what the material was, Netanyahu urged the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN atomic watchdog, to inspect the location immediately. Netanyahu also criticized Europe for setting up a legal entity to bypass U.S. re-imposed sanctions, saying such action amounts to an appeasement with Iran. On Monday, European Union foreign and security policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and the re-imposition of sanctions. On Wednesday, leaders of France and Britain, while speaking at the UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on non-proliferation, vowed to defend the Iran nuke deal. All these showed that Washington, by exiting the deal and sanctioning Iran, has put itself in isolation, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said. Netanyahu on April 30 revealed what he called a "great intelligence achievement" about Iran's nuclear program, saying that he had proof that Iran had been seeking nuclear power even after it signed an agreement curbing its nuclear program in 2015. However, Iranian Foreign Ministry later denounced his nuclear allegations against Iran as a "worthless show" and "ridiculous propagandist presentations" that were "merely aimed at spreading lies and deception." Tensions between Iran and Israel, as well as the United States, have been running high this year. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States will impose "tougher than ever" sanctions on Iran after the punitive actions against the country slated in November this year. In May, Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iranian nuclear deal. Since then, the Trump administration has slapped a number of sanctions on Iran while vowing to apply more in November. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on July 12, 2015. (Xinhua/JINI/POOL/Emil Salman) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that Iran has hidden "massive amounts of equipment and materiel," indicating that the country is eyeing nuclear weapon program. Speaking at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said that nearly 15 kilograms of radioactive material had been stored in the warehouse in the Turquzabad district of Tehran. "Today I am disclosing for the first time that Iran has another secret facility in Tehran, a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Iran's secret nuclear program," Netanyahu said. This site contained as much as 300 tonnes of nuclear-related equipment and materiel, he said, noting Iran hasn't abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons. While not detailing what the material was, Netanyahu urged the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN atomic watchdog, to inspect the location immediately. Netanyahu also criticized Europe for setting up a legal entity to bypass U.S. re-imposed sanctions, saying such action amounts to an appeasement with Iran. On Monday, European Union foreign and security policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the international agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and the re-imposition of sanctions. On Wednesday, leaders of France and Britain, while speaking at the UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on non-proliferation, vowed to defend the Iran nuke deal. All these showed that Washington, by exiting the deal and sanctioning Iran, has put itself in isolation, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said. Netanyahu on April 30 revealed what he called a "great intelligence achievement" about Iran's nuclear program, saying that he had proof that Iran had been seeking nuclear power even after it signed an agreement curbing its nuclear program in 2015. However, Iranian Foreign Ministry later denounced his nuclear allegations against Iran as a "worthless show" and "ridiculous propagandist presentations" that were "merely aimed at spreading lies and deception." Tensions between Iran and Israel, as well as the United States, have been running high this year. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States will impose "tougher than ever" sanctions on Iran after the punitive actions against the country slated in November this year. In May, Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the landmark Iranian nuclear deal. Since then, the Trump administration has slapped a number of sanctions on Iran while vowing to apply more in November. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 06:41:27|Editor: yan Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras, on Thursday agreed to pay a fine of 853 million U.S. dollars to end the corruption investigation against the company. Petrobras, which is also Brazil's largest company, said in a statement that the fine payment was agreed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice. By paying the fine, Petrobras will avoid potential litigation over corruption on U.S. territory. With the payment, both SEC and the Justice Department say that the company's corruption was carried out by directors and officials who no longer work there and that the company was the victim of corruption. "The company will recognize a provision 853.2 million U.S. dollars," Petrobras confirmed. Eighty percent of the amount, some 682.6 million U.S. dollars, will go directly to the Brazilian federal prosecutors, who will have to allocate it to be used in social and transparency projects. The remaining 20 percent will be split evenly between SEC and the Department of Justice. The agreement came almost five years after the launch of landmark "Car Wash" investigation by Brazilian police to probe corruption in the country. The investigation revealed a huge international network of corruption, implicating current and former presidents and high-level politicians throughout Latin American nations. At the start of the year, Petrobras also agreed to pay more than 2.9 billion U.S. dollars to American investors, who denounced it for damages caused by acts of corruption. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-28 07:01:30|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Ludo Van Campenhout (5th L), Antwerp vice mayor, and sculptor Yan Shufen (5th R) attend an unveiling ceremony for Yan's work at Antwerp train station in Antwerp, Belgium, on Sept. 27, 2018. Several organizations and institutions on Thursday signed an ambitious agreement to jointly work to introduce train services between this Belgian port and the Chinese port of Shanghai. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan) ANTWERP, Belgium, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Several organizations and institutions on Thursday signed an ambitious agreement to jointly work to introduce train services between this Belgian port and the Chinese port of Shanghai. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Antwerp among the World Free & Special Economic Zones Federation, Brussels-based magazine Diplomatic World and the Antwerp-based non-profit European Federation of Traditional Chinese Culture (EFTCC). The program, called Diamond Silk Road, aims to connect Antwerp and Shanghai by a passenger train that will run through 10 other cities including Brussels, Moscow, Ulan Bator and Beijing, thus forming the world's largest space for free trade and manufacturing. Currently, there is only freight rail service network linking China and Europe. Since the first China-Europe freight train from Chongqing to Duisburg of Germany was launched in 2011, there have been more than 10,000 trips and the trains continue to serve as a crucial network of the Silk Road Economic Belt. As of June 30 this year, the freight rail services link 48 Chinese cities with 42 European cities. The year 2018 marks the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, a transnational network connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond. Li Jianmin, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese mission to the European Union who attended the signing ceremony, said: "Silk Road is not only a road for the development of economies, trade and industry, but it is also a road for education and culture." "I hope the future train service between Antwerp and Shanghai will play a role for bridging Belgium and China, and all the countries along the way," he said. Ludo Van Campenhout, Antwerp vice mayor who attended the signing ceremony, said: "The old Silk Road transported goods from East to West. Now we want to do the same with the exchange of goods, culture and persons through the development of a new railway. The aim is intercultural exchange from East to West." "Each nation, big or small, benefits from competition. Free trade is the basis for creating wealth but also basis for well-being and peace," he added. The planned refurbishment of Budapests landmark Chain Bridge and the adjacent tunnel should not take more than 18 months, the municipal assembly unanimously decided. Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos told the assembly that the government will contribute 7 billion forints (EUR 22.7m) to the project, while the city has budgeted 16.4 billion forints for the purpose. Talks with the government have been initiated to get extra funding to ensure that the bridge and its surroundings can be renewed simultaneously, Tarlos added. Apart from refurbishing the bridge and the tunnel, the project will cover the reconstruction of Clark Adam Square at the western end of the bridge and an underpass at its other end, on the Pest side. Retaining Hungarys position as Chinas number one economic partner in central Europe is a strategic interest, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New York. Parties at the talks, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session, agreed on launching a direct flight between Budapest and Shanghai. The talks also touched on Hungarys resumption of poultry exports to China, as well as Chinas first international import expo, at which Hungary will be the guest of honour. Hungary continues to be the primary market for Chinese investments in central Europe, Szijjarto said. Among ongoing major bilateral projects, he noted the construction of the Hungarian section of the Budapest-Belgrade railway line. There are two consortiums consisting of Hungarian and Chinese firms still in competition, he said, adding that talks with them on the projects technical and financial details would be concluded in the first week of October. A construction contract will be signed with the winning bidder before the end of this year to ensure that the project is completed by 2023, Szijjarto said. In terms of volume, he noted that Chinese businesses had so far invested more than 4 billion dollars in Hungary. Photo: kormany.hu Hungary is interested in seeing the deepest and most comprehensive possible free trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom after the latter country leaves the bloc, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a meeting with his British counterpart in New York. At the meeting held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Szijjarto told Jeremy Hunt that an agreement should be sought to minimise the economic damage caused by Brexit. Szijjarto noted Hungarys open economy, adding that free trade with its top partners was crucial. He gave warning that a lack of agreement in the Brexit talks could make investment and trade cooperation between EU member states and Britain extremely cumbersome and these could be reduced to a fragment. WTO rules would govern ties, burdened with tariffs and other hindrances, he said. The minister also said that Europe has never before faced such a serious threat of terrorism, adding that the UKs contribution to ensuring security was crucial, especially in terms of Britains intelligence and defence systems. He said the UK should continue participating in European missions, otherwise a large part of those missions will be shut down. He said that the childish attitude of taking revenge on Britons to show them what a bad decision they have taken with Brexit should be dropped, and the EU and the UK should set up the closest possible security cooperation. Szijjarto is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on Friday. MTI Photo: KKM Dublin, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Floating LNG Power Vessel Market by Component (Power Generation System and Power Distribution System), Power Output (Up to 72 MW, 72 MW-400 MW, Above 400 MW), Vessel Type (Power Barge and Power Ship), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The floating LNG power vessel market is projected to reach USD 931.6 million by 2023 from an estimated USD 860.1 million in 2018, at a CAGR of 1.61%. This growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for power and the lack of power infrastructure. However, price disparity across regional markets, increasing focus on renewable energy, and high capital cost associated with operations, maintenance, transportation, and logistics could hinder the growth of the floating LNG power vessel market. The power distribution system segment is expected to be the fastest growing market in the floating LNG power vessel market from 2018 to 2023. The power distribution system is estimated to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. It is further classified into transformer and switchboard. Switchboard is estimated to be the fastest growing sub-segment during the forecast period, as it provides a key link in the dependability chain that ensures the smooth and reliable flow of power from the power generation units to end-users. Asia Pacific: The fastest growing market for floating LNG power vessel The Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest market for floating LNG power vessel in 2023 and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The Asia Pacific is one of the most populated regions in the world and witnesses a high demand for electricity. By and large, the demand for power vessel market is recorded from South East Asian island countries, owing to the limited land availability for power plant construction. Therefore, the governments of South East Asian island countries are investing heavily in fulfilling the increasing demand for power. For instance, Myanmar Electric Power Generation Enterprise awarded a contract to Karpowership, one of the leading players in the power ship market, to provide an FPP in Rangoon, Myanmar. Such activities are expected to drive the demand for floating LNG power vessel in the region. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market Overview 4.2 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Vessel Type 4.3 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market: Component & Region 4.4 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Power Output (2018-2023) 4.5 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Component (2018-2023) 4.6 Power Generation Systems Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Key Components (2018) 4.7 Power Distribution Systems Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Key Components (2018) 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Increasing Demand for Power, Coupled With the Lack of Power Infrastructure 5.2.1.2 Benefits Over Land-Based Power Plants 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 High Operating Cost Associated With Transportation, Logistics, & Accessibility Issues 5.2.2.2 Price Disparity Across Regional Markets 5.2.2.3 Increasing Focus on Renewable Energy - Floating Power Plants 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Stringent Emission Norms for Diesel Engine Powered Marine Gensets & Rise in Hybrid Fuel Engines 5.2.3.2 Growth in Adoption of LNG as an Energy Source 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 Growth in Distributed Energy Generation 6 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Vessel Type 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Power Barge 6.3 Power Ship 7 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Power Output 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Small Scale (Up to 72 MW) 7.3 Medium Scale (>72 MW-400 MW) 7.4 High Scale (>400 MW) 8 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Component 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Power Generation System 8.2.1 Gas Turbine & IC Engine 8.2.2 Steam Turbine & Generator 8.3 Power Distribution System 8.3.1 Transformer 8.3.2 Switchboard 9 Floating LNG Power Vessel Market, By Region 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Asia Pacific 9.2.1 By Component 9.2.2 By Power Output 9.3 Middle East & Africa 9.3.1 By Component 9.3.2 By Power Output 9.4 North America 9.4.1 By Component 9.4.2 By Power Output 9.5 Rest of the World 9.5.1 By Component 9.5.2 By Power Output 10 Competitive Landscape 10.1 Overview 10.2 Key Players & Market Structure 10.3 Competitive Scenario 10.3.1 Contracts & Agreements 10.3.2 New Product Launches 10.3.3 Partnerships, Collaborations, Alliances, and Joint Ventures 10.4 List of Component Providers 10.4.1 Gas Turbine 10.4.2 Steam Turbine 10.4.3 Power Transformers 10.4.4 Switchboard 11 Company Profiles 11.1 Floating Power Vessel Manufacturers 11.1.1 Benchmarking 11.1.2 Waller Marine, Inc. 11.1.3 Karpowership 11.1.4 Power Barge Corporation 11.1.5 Modec, Inc. 11.1.6 Chiyoda Corporation 11.1.7 Wison Group 11.1.8 Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd 11.1.9 Sevan Marine Asa 11.1.10 Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. 11.1.11 IHI Corporation 11.1.12 Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. 11.1.13 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. 11.2 Component Provider 11.2.1 Benchmarking 11.2.2 General Electric Company 11.2.3 Siemens AG 11.2.4 Wrtsil Corporation 11.2.5 Man Diesel & Turbo SE 11.2.6 Caterpillar, Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9xtccc/931_million?w=12 Four bilateral agreements on educational, scientific and diplomatic issues will be signed between Hungary and Moldova, Tunisia, Namibia and the Palestinian National Authority on Tuesday in New York as part of the high-level meetings of the session of the UN General Assembly which will start officially, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto announced. These are countries which have emerged on the horizon of Hungarian foreign politics as part of its easterly opening strategy, he added. The agreements will be signed at bilateral meetings with Namibian International Relations Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, Moldovan Foreign Minister Tudor Ulianovschi and Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui. Mr Szijjarto highlighted that one of Hungarys most important resources is its higher education system which is recognised also internationally. This is underlined by the fact that there are more than 3,000 students currently studying in Hungary on the basis of bilateral agreements. Namibia will now join this cooperation system: based on the scholarship agreement to be signed, next September 10 Namibian students will start their studies at Hungarian universities. Hungary has had such an agreement with the Palestinians for a long time, Mr Szijjarto pointed out. Due to the high number of applications well in excess of the available scholarships, the Palestinians requested Hungary to increase the contingent of 50. Therefore pursuant to the new agreement, from next September Hungarian universities will receive as many as 60 Palestinian students. The government will sign agreements on cooperation between foreign affairs institutes with two countries in order to use one anothers experiences in the training of diplomats and to mutually send diplomats to one anothers countries for exchanges. One of the agreements will relate to cooperation between the Hungarian Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (KKI) and the Moldovan institute of diplomacy, while the other one will concern cooperation between the institute responsible for the training and education of Tunisian diplomats and its Hungarian counterpart KKI. MTI Photo: KKK; FM Szijjarto with Namibian Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah Analysing the frequent meetings between President Putin of Russia and PM Orban of Hungary, two researchers independently suggest that both parties seek to promote their national interests rather than sharing joint values. On parameter.sl, a Hungarian language public affairs website edited in Bratislava, Balazs Jarabik, a non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, dismisses opinions in Germany, France, Poland and the Baltic countries which suspect Prime Minister Orban of building an alliance with President Putin. In his comment on the latest meeting between the two leaders in Moscow last week, he lists a series of conflicts over influence within Hungarys business world where Mr Orban firmly defended the Hungarian national interest. There is no value alliance between the two sides, he writes. Putin tries to divide the European Union, while Mr Oban seeks economic advantage. (Apparently contradicting the content of the article, the editors run Jarabiks analysis under the headline Orban in Putins net.) In Magyar Idok, David Jozsef Szabo, a senior researcher at the pro-government Szazadveg think tank describes the Prime Ministers attitude towards Russia as dictated by common sense. Hungary knows that Russia is also a source of potential threat but sees the eastern giant as an indispensable partner as well. Hungary considers its dependence on Russian gas supplies a weakness, Szabo explains, and is working on diversifying its energy resource, including future liquified gas imports through Croatia and promoting solar energy production. The government is not convinced about the usefulness of economic sanctions against Russia, he continues, but in a show her solidarity with the westernalliance, she enforces them despite the substantial damage they inflict on Hungarys economy. This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online Click here to Share Your Story MTI Photo: Szecsodi Balazs Stiri pe aceeasi tema - Un medic roman din Liverpool sustine ca utilizarea antibioticelor in tratarea pacientilor COVID nu aduce beneficii si poate avea efecte adverse. Medicul Radu Angelescu spune ca antibioticele nu schimba evolutia bolii decat in unele cazuri. Antibioticele in COVID nu aduc niciun beneficiu si nu schimba - Un medic roman din Liverpool sustine ca utilizarea antibioticelor in tratarea pacientilor COVID nu aduce beneficii si poate avea efecte adverse. Medicul Radu Angelescu spune ca antibioticele nu schimba evolutia bolii decat in unele cazuri. Antibioticele pentru tratarea Covid-19 pot fi folosite doar - US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III will visit Romania next week, informs the Romanian Embassy to the United States of America. According to a message posted on the diplomatic mission's Facebook page, the visit is part of a tour that includes visits to Georgia and Ukraine, before attending - The Save Romania Union - Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (USR PLUS) alliance staying in the freshly ousted government led by Florin Citu would have meant bailing out unbefitting conduct, USR PLUS Chairman Dacian Ciolos said on Thursday. In a Facebook post, Ciolos replied to President Klaus Iohannis' - The risk is very high if even one unvaccinated employee in one of the institutions coordinated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection (MMPS) comes into contact with vulnerable people in the protection centres, such as the elderly, children and adults with disabilities, the risk on the health - Minister of Interior Lucian Bode has asked the Ministry of Interior (MAI) structures to play an active part in the development of the vaccination campaign, according to a post published on Thursday on his Facebook page. "The fact that we are facing some new challenges in the 4th wave of the pandemic - Romania will send to Greece 142 firefighters, 8 trucks of putting out forest fires, three tanks, a command center, two Multirisc containers, an intervention vehicle, as well as other means of logistic support, among which a drone which can be used to fly by around the areas the interventions will - Romanians' level of anger decreased by 10% from May to July 2021 to its lowest 2021, with the trend being associated with an increase in relaxation and calm, as well as motivation, show findings of a specialist study released on Thursday.According to the findings of Reveal Marketing Research, social Salt Lake City, UT, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inception Mining Inc. (OTCQB: IMII) (Inception or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a verbal cooperation agreement with Glen Eagle Resources Inc., a TSX-V listed Canadian company (Glen Eagle). According to the terms of the cooperation agreement, Glen Eagle will process certain high-grade material contained in sulfides produced at the Clavo Rico Mine that cannot be heap leached at the Clavo Rico Mine site but can be processed at Glen Eagles Cobro Oro de Honduras processing facility. Both Inception and Glen Eagle have mining operations in Honduras within miles of each other and the companies have rendered mutual services cooperatively in the recent past. Due to these similarities, the companies have decided to further extend their cooperation to better serve their mutual interests. The cooperation agreement is beneficial for both companies because it allows the processing of certain high-grade material for processing that may not otherwise be processed. Both companies will commence due diligence and basic work immediately hoping to extract material in the coming weeks while assessing the joint potential of the arrangement. A formal, written agreement will follow in the coming weeks. Recent sampling of the main tunnel at Inceptions Clavo Rico Mine yielded hopeful results. The sampling results were fire assayed by Cobra Oro de Honduras, Glen Eagles processing laboratory and plant, and indicated grades necessary for processing. The companies will split any proceeds of materials processed under the Cooperation Agreement net of recovery costs. Sampling results were fire assayed at Cobra Oros laboratory. Trent DAmbrosio, Inceptions chief executive officer, is excited about the cooperation agreement and the relationship with Glen Eagle. This agreement opens new avenues of revenue for both companies and is a natural fit, he said. It is a great stepping stone for us and is in line with our long-term business goals. About Inception Mining, Inc. Inception Mining Inc., a Nevada corporation, is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold projects in Central and North America. Inceptions core asset is the Clavo Rico gold project in Honduras, which features a heap leach facility and on-site ADR plant. Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements with respect to the potential mineralization and geological merits of the Company properties. There can be no assurance statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from anticipated in such statements. Inception Mining Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events except as required by applicable securities legislation. Contact: SOURCE: Inception Mining Inc. (OTC QB: IMII) 5330 South 900 East, Suite 280 Salt Lake City, Utah 84117 Trent DAmbrosio CEO (801) 312-8113 Ext. 101 info@inceptionmining.com www.inceptionmining.com Dincu: Trecerea de la cota unica la impozit progresiv, in etape Trecerea de la cota unica la impozitul progresiv ar urma sa fie facuta in etape, iar un prim pas ar putea fi impozitarea marilor averi si a produselor de lux, a spus la Digi24 Vasile Dincu, presedintele Consiliului National al PSD. Social-democratii si liberalii nu [citeste mai departe] The Toronto Zoos endangered Pygmy Hippopotamus calf made her public debut on September 19 in the Zoos African Rainforest Pavilion! Twelve-year-old mom, Kindia, gave birth to the female calf on August 10. The pair will be on exhibit daily from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. However, this schedule is subject to change as there may be times when she is brought inside the Pygmy Hippo Maternity Area for feeding and to enable our Veterinary and Wildlife Care teams to closely monitor her progress. The Toronto Zoo launched their Name Our Pygmy Hippopotamus Calf promotion on Friday, September 21, 2018! The Zoo is asking the public to vote for their favourite name from a group of four names that have been thoughtfully selected by her Wildlife Care keeping staff. You can cast your vote here: https://woobox.com/rhd5qk Voting ends Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at 11:59 pm, and the name receiving the most votes will be announced as the winner on Thursday, October 4, 2018. Please cast your vote here: https://woobox.com/rhd5qk / Photo Credits: Toronto Zoo The Toronto Zoo is celebrating this recent birth as very important for Pygmy Hippopotamus conservation. The species (Choeropsis liberiensis) is currently listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, and there are approximately only 2,000 to 3,000 left in the wild in West Africa, with Liberia having the majority of the population. Small numbers are also found in the neighboring countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Ivory Coast. Over the past 100 years, the Pygmy Hippos habitat has declined dramatically as a result of logging, farming and human settlement. As deforestation continues and their habitat becomes more fragmented, newly accessible populations are coming under increasing pressure from hunters. The Toronto Zoo is part of the Pygmy Hippopotamus Species Survival Plan (SSP), which aims to establish and maintain a healthy, genetically diverse population, and overall conservation efforts to save this incredible species. One of the Toronto Zoo's mandates is to educate visitors on current conservation issues and help preserve the incredible biodiversity on the planet. The Toronto Zoo is in a great position to bring forward the plight of the Pygmy Hippopotamus and supports Hippopotamus conservation efforts in the wild through keeper awareness events and the Toronto Zoo Endangered Species Reserve Fund. From left: Howard Van Burean, Tony Iannucci and James Keegan of Sheet Metal Workers Local 19, with their mascot Fat Cat, were among union picketers leafletting workers and visitors to the new Holtec plant in Camden, N.J. before dawn on Thursday, Sept. 27. The power plant parts company's Pennsylvania plant is unionized, but union leaders say Holtec bosses have refused to negotiate union training or representation, despite up to $260 million in labor-backed state and local tax breaks. Holtec owner Krishna Singh has cited the poor quality of city labor as an obstacle to recruiting. But the union has more than 80 members who are Camden residents, and can train many more, says assistant business agent Bryan Bush Read more Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 members drove up before dawn in the union's Chevy Tahoes to the year-old, $320 million Holtec power-plant parts factory on the Camden riverfront. They set up their larger-than-life inflatable "Fat Cat" mascot a company owner squeezing a hard-hat construction worker and greeted workers as they drove to the gates, handing them leaflets urging Holtec staff to "let us represent you." The union, based in Philadelphia, already represents 5,000 in the area at employers including Joseph Oat Corp., which makes oil tanks at its plant next door to Holtec in Camden's Delaware River industrial district east of Broadway. Workers at nearby sites are represented by locals of the Teamsters and Longshoremen, and workers at a Holtec site near Pittsburgh have been represented by the United Steelworkers, according to Bryan Bush, assistant business manager at the local and an organizer of the pickets. But after a series of conversations with Holtec officials including vice president for manufacturing Allen Hickman over the past year, the unionists say company officials have declined to negotiate for representation or to use the union's skilled-worker training program. "They've been trying to organize since the day the building went up," Holtec's Hickman told me. He noted the plant was built with union labor. But now that it's finished, "we are a manufacturing facility. We're very specialized," he said. "As a supplier of products and services to the nuclear power industry, Holtec's safety, quality and training programs have successfully passed rigorous nuclear industry audits and regulatory inspections," said Holtec spokeswoman Joy Russell in a statement. In a memo to Holtec workers from human-resources chief Jack C. Johnston, the company defended its labor and training practices. "Our current employment structure will allow us to continue producing the high-quality products" that nuclear plants need, he wrote, adding that the company had given 4,500 hours of training in line with industry specs and safety practices this year, enabling welders to boost their wages and some to become supervisors. He accused the Sheet Metal Workers of "disturbing" employees. Holtec laborers in Camden start at $14 an hour, with welders, machinists, and other skilled trades paid significantly more, for an "overall average manufacturing wage" of $25.31 an hour, the company says, with the same retirement and medical benefits as other Holtec plants. Union members say the company's refusal to work with them or their training program is surprising, given Holtec owner Krishna Singh's widely reported comments about the inadequacy of the Camden workforce, and union leaders' support for the "New Jersey Grows" business incentive program that has granted Holtec $26 million a year in tax relief over 10 years. "We have more than 80 members who are Camden City residents" and would be glad to train more for Holtec, said Todd Farally, political director for Local 19. "They complain about the workers. Give them the training. We can help," Bush said. Holtec has recruited welders from a Camden County College training program. In his comments to the business publication ROI-NJ, Singh SAID too many city residents who applied for jobs failed to show up for work on time and accept factory discipline. After protests, Singh clarified his remarks, pledging his "deep commitment" to the city. Supporters of the "N.J. Grows" tax-break program that Holtec and other employers have taken advantage of include State Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), general vice president of the Ironworkers union, and U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.), who, like his late father, George Norcross Jr., formerly headed the Central Labor Council in the Camden area. But Democrats also have close ties to Singh. Norcross' brother George E. Norcross III, a commercial and municipal insurance brokerage owner, Cooper Health chairman, and Democratic fundraiser, serves on Holtec's board (as does former Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton). A political action committee, General Majority, which worked in favor of Sweeney's re-election last year, borrowed $250,000 from Singh, Politico reported, citing state election filings. Norcross is an unpaid director and not a Holtec owner, said his spokesman Dan Fee. Bush said Sweeney gave the Sheet Metal Workers' organizing push his blessing: "He said, 'Do what you have to do.'" "I have always supported organized labor and collective bargaining rights for workers. This situation is no different, and I will continue to support policies that lift up working families," Rep. Norcross said in a statement, adding that the Holtec plant was built under a Project Labor Agreement by contractors who employed union tradesmen. But labor conditions at Holtec "went south after that," said Daniel Cosner, president of the Southern New Jersey Building Trades union council and business manager of Electricians Local 351. Cosner said the construction unions agreed to let Holtec bring in specialized workers to handle energy equipment from out of town, though that's not usual union practice. "We did that to build a relationship," Cosner said. "But after the agreement ended, Mr. Singh and company weren't too good with us," bringing in nonunion workers for later projects. Cosner also said his union has "a lot of success bringing workers from Camden into apprenticeships," in response to Singh's complaints about the difficulty of keeping local staff. Bush said Holtec's Hickman told him Wednesday that the company would rather close the plant than recognize the union. Workers at the plant have shown interest in joining a union, but have been led to believe the company "will shut it down if they try to organize," said Darnell Hardwick, president of the Camden County chapter of the NAACP. But Holtec's Hickman said claims the company would shut instead of agreeing to work union were "not correct." The plant employs over 200, but Singh has said the payroll could grow to over 1,000 in the next few years if the company wins additional nuclear power plant update and construction orders, and decides to expand in Camden. Staff writer Christian Hetrick contributed to this article. Anchor Health Properties of Charlottesville, Va., has acquired two medical buildings in Havertown, with plans for upgrades to the property that it says will allow Crozer-Keystone Health Systems to expand. An Anchor subsidiary paid $17 million Monday for the Crozer-Keystone Surgery Center at 2010 and 2050 West Chester Pike, according to records filed with the Delaware County Recorder of Deeds. The seller was an affiliate of Kansas City, Mo.-based RREEF Property Trust, which held the property on behalf of the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System, according to public filings. Anchor said in a release that it plans to invest "several million dollars" over multiple years to redevelop the two Havertown buildings, which together compose 68,740 square feet of medical office space on a 2.3-acre campus. The company is partnering on the investment with Washington-based private-equity firm Carlyle Group. "The improvements will allow Crozer and other tenancy the opportunity to expand and prosper over time and facilitate best-in-class treatment for area patients in a modernized medical setting," Anchor said. A Crozer spokesman had no immediate details of the health system's expansion plans. Anchor said it is the largest medical office landlord in the Philadelphia area, with more than one million square feet of medical office space managed or under development in the region. Other holdings include Penn Medicine Southern Chester County in West Grove and the Doylestown Health & Wellness Center in Warrington. The Crozer-Keystone offices in Havertown sold in addition to another medical building in West Chester, N.Y. which was acquired by another buyer for a total of $34.4 million, according to a release from commercial real estate firm Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, which represented the seller in the deal. Uber drivers in Pennsylvania will receive settlement money because of the company's failure to disclose a 2016 data breach, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday. The money, $5.7 million, will be distributed among at least 13,500 drivers by the state's Attorney General's Office. The New Jersey Attorney General's Office received $3.75 million, but the 16,000 drivers there were determined to have not suffered financial harm and will not receive a payment. That money will go toward a consumer fraud account to support programs run by the Attorney General's Office. In Pennsylvania, the affected drivers will each receive $100, with the rest of the settlement money, about $4.3 million, going toward the Attorney General's Office's public protection section. All 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in the data breach case against Uber, and the San Francisco-based tech company reached a $148 million settlement for about 600,000 drivers affected nationwide. Up to 57 million drivers and passengers worldwide were affected, according to the Attorney General's Office of Washington state, one of the first offices to take legal action. Uber learned that digital data stored on a third-party software platform was hacked in November 2016, according to authorities. Intruders got log-in information to an Amazon Web Services account Uber used, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said, and through that, gained access to drivers' names and license numbers, and passenger information, including log-ins, encrypted passwords, and geolocation data. The company paid off the hacker and received assurances that the information was deleted, authorities said, but didn't notify state officials of the breach until about a year later, which violated state laws requiring swifter notification when personal information is stolen. Along with the financial payment, Uber agreed to make changes to its operation, including taking steps to protect user information stored on third-party platforms, creating stricter password policies for workers, creating a corporate security policy, improving protections for data, and hiring an outside consultant to regularly evaluate Uber security policies. >>READ MORE: At Philly airport, Uber and Lyft drivers wait and wait, gambling on a big pay day On Tuesday, another court action killed California Uber drivers' efforts to negotiate with the company as a class, rather than one-on-one, over labor issues. The five-year-old case ended with a three-judge panel deciding that an arbitration agreement that drivers there had agreed to was valid. In doing so, it eliminated the ability of drivers to pursue a class action against the company. The decision applied to 11 groups of plaintiffs seeking reimbursement for expenses related to driving for Uber, such as vehicle maintenance and regulatory fees. The decision has no direct bearing for Pennsylvania's Uber drivers, lawyers in the Philadelphia region said, but it does establish a pattern of courts failing to grant drivers protections as independent contractors. Jeremy Abay, a Philadelphia lawyer representing Uber drivers, unsuccessfully sought court action in May to have Uber drivers recognized as employees, not independent contractors, over minimum wage and overtime complaints. Drivers generally are not actually seeking to become Uber employees, he said, but make arguments in favor of that conclusion to win better treatment from Uber. For example, the Uber app requires out-of-pocket expenses the company doesn't reimburse drivers for, Abay said, which was the basis for the California case. "They were saying that Uber exerts so much control over them they were legally an employee and shouldn't be on the hook for those expenses," Abay said. In a statement Wednesday, a spokesman for Uber said the company was pleased with the California decision. The company did not comment on the data breach settlement. Ali Razak, the plaintiff in Abay's case and an Uber Black driver, said many drivers appreciate the freedom Uber offers them but rankle at what they see as decisions imposed on them with little regard to their circumstances. He noted that drivers can be penalized for declining requests for rides. >>READ MORE: Should Philly limit the number of Uber and Lyft drivers? "If you are claiming I'm independent," Razak said, "then treat me as an independent contractor." Abay is appealing the decision in his case to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and said the California decision would not affect that effort. It does, however, take pressure off Uber to treat drivers differently. If successful, the California case would have pushed Uber to handle complaints from drivers in that large state differently. Meanwhile, keeping drivers locked into an arbitration system benefits the company, lawyers said. Arbitration is handled privately and can become too expensive for an individual plaintiff. In arbitration, each driver would need to hire experts and handle discovery individually, rather than spreading the costs among a group of workers. The California case itself isn't a deal breaker, but it does continue a trend of decisions that give little solace to drivers. "It's tough to sort of say this is some groundbreaking decision," said Casey Green, a labor lawyer with the firm Sidkoff, Pincus & Green, "but it is in the trend of decisions that have come out, which is that they're not favorable decisions." Sean Fogler is reflected in a window outside his condo outside Chinatown. D Read more When Sean Fogler fell off the mountain, he hit every boulder and tree trunk on his tumble to the bottom. One day he was a respected anesthesiologist, the next day he was in a prison jumpsuit battling drug addiction. The Inquirer headline on July 21, 2016, read: "Phila. doctor charged with providing drugs to 'sugar baby.'" Fogler, 49, traces his slow decline to 9/11, when he was working on Wall Street, taking a break from his medical education. He worked four blocks from the World Trade Center. After the first building was hit, he and a coworker started to walk out of the chaos that was gripping Manhattan. When the first building collapsed, everything got worse. "People were running and screaming in the street, and crap was falling from the skies. You can't see anything, being enveloped by this cloud and thinking, 'I'm dead,'" he says. "I think I did die that day, because nothing was the same after that." At the time, he was living with his first wife in New Jersey, across the Hudson River from his office. He began using drugs, and in less than a year he quit his job, ditched his wife, threw his belongings into a storage unit, and returned to medicine, completing a residency in anesthesiology at Hahnemann University Hospital in 2006. Not long after that, he married his current wife, now 40, a nurse. They have a 10-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. Even after starting his family, Fogler dabbled in drugs. The trauma of 9/11 was like a disease, he says. He tried antidepressants, but they didn't work. Cocaine did. "Having a job and money allows you to dress it up and think everything is fine, and it's not," he says. To outward appearances, he was successful, but his drug use was growing. "It would numb me out and keep me disconnected from life," he says, but the disconnection intensified his depression. Still falling down the mountain, he hooked up on a sex website with a woman who was more drug-dependent than he. That bad choice was compounded when he wrote some prescriptions for her and her friends that later led to his arrest. He hit bottom in 2014, and in 2015 he put himself into rehab that ran four months. In one of life's little ironies, Fogler was arrested and prosecuted after he had gotten clean and become involved in a support group for physicians with addictions. "There is a lot of stigma around mental health and addiction issues" for the medical profession, he says. He hopes that telling his story will be a cautionary tale for others. We're talking in the living room of his condo on the edge of Chinatown that has a wraparound deck and a panorama of the Center City skyline. He's clean, sober, and grateful for a lot of things, including his wife's forgiveness. In August, Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter gave Fogler five years' probation, and the doctor lost his license. I couldn't get the judge on the phone, but the Pottstown Mercury reported that Carpenter explained his sentence by citing Fogler's "great efforts to dig out of a hole" and help others in addiction. Dr. Frederic Baurer also gives credit to Fogler for helping others. Baurer, president of the Pennsylvania Society of Addiction Medicine, tells me Fogler spent a couple of years in weekly psychotherapy sessions conducted by the Pennsylvania Physicians Heath Program, which services physicians in recovery. Fogler remains active in the recovery community, trying to help others get straight, and has coauthored a book about opioid addiction that he's hoping to get published. Finally, with a few friends, he's launched a startup with an app that protects patients and doctors in the prescription-writing process. Such an app might have prevented him from writing illegal scrips. Too late for Fogler, but, from the bottom of the mountain, he hopes it may protect another doctor. French English After planting its flag at the top of Mount Everest, CHAIN OF LIFE, an organization whose goal is to make our youth ambassadors of family discussion, invites the general population to plant a flag at the top of a mountain in their region on behalf of organ-donation education. QUEBEC CITY, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CHAIN OF LIFE has made a lot of headway this year, even setting a new record as the first organ-donation flag to be planted at the top of Mt. Everest! Continuing this momentum, the general population is invited to follow suit by taking on the CHAIN OF LIFE CHALLENGE and carrying the CHAIN OF LIFE flag to the top of a mountain in their region on October 13 and 14. Profits from this event, which brings together the entire chain of those involved in organ donation, will allow the organization to continue its mission of capital importance, that of educating 15-17-year-olds about organ and tissue donation in their English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. A UNIQUE CHALLENGE THAT TAKES PLACE IN PARALLEL In connection with the World Day of Organ and Tissue Donation, the general population is invited to join in this family event and climb a mountain in their region, accompanied by representatives of the organ donation chain comprised of doctors, nurses, persons who have received a transplant, families of donors, teachers, students, climbers and public figures. This unique event, which takes place on 15 mountains across Quebec and two in Europe, raises funds for the development and promulgation of CHAIN OF LIFE. It is made possible by the invaluable support of hundreds of volunteers from all over Quebec. The publics support of the CHAIN OF LIFE CHALLENGE allows the organization to continue its educational mission in secondary schools and at the same time, brings a message of hope to those waiting for a transplant," emphasizes Isabel Marechal, spokesperson for the CHAIN OF LIFE CHALLENGE. "I have experienced first-hand what it is like to wait for a transplant that can save the life of a loved one and every gesture to increase the number of donors is extremely important. Hats off to the teachers, who year after year, raise our young peoples awareness about organ donation and lead them to become ambassadors for family discussion," adds Thierry Houillon, co-spokesperson of the CHAIN OF LIFE CHALLENGE and recipient of a liver transplant. "Statistics show that the number of families that refuse has decreased considerably this year. I am convinced that initiatives like those of CHAIN OF LIFE is surely one of the reasons for this. The CHAIN OF LIFE CHALLENGE is proud to be able to again count on the support of Cogeco, as well as that of Rando Quebec. The general public is invited to support the regional teams by climbing along with them or by making a donation at: defi.chainedevie.org. In Quebec, the CHALLENGE will take place on the following mountains: Montreal: Mount Royal Bas-Saint-Laurent: Mont Comi Centre-du-Quebec: Mont Gleason Chaudiere-Appalaches: Mont Orignal Cote-Nord: Mont Gallix Estrie: Mont Orford Gaspesie Nord: Mont Castor Gaspesie Sud: Mont Saint-Joseph Lanaudiere: Ski-Montagne Coupee Laurentides: Sommet Saint-Sauveur Mauricie: Vallee du Parc Monteregie: Ski Saint-Bruno Outaouais: Mont Cascades Quebec: Centre de ski Le Relais Saguenay: Sommet des Caps-Sentier Eucher CHAIN OF LIFE, AN ORGANIZATION THAT CONTRIBUTES TO SAVING LIVES! In Quebec, each year, 1,000 people are on the waiting list for a transplant that can save their life. When we know that less than one percent of those who die are able to become potential donors, we realize just how much each donation counts. Unfortunately, it is estimated that approximately one fourth of the families of potential donors still hesitate to authorize organ donation, often because they did not have time to discuss the subject with their loved one. Out of respect for the family, the medical team always honours this decision. CHAIN OF LIFE is a non-profit organization whose main mission is to support an educational project of invaluable importance, that of educating 15-17-year-olds about organ and tissue donation via their ESL classes. This project allows young people to make an informed personal decision regarding this important social issue in our society and encourages them to become our ambassadors of family discussion. Presently, the CHAIN OF LIFE project is taught in a quarter of public schools across Quebec and to date, over 100,000 young people have been reached by it! This year marks an important moment for CHAIN OF LIFE because the project is now also officially a part of the curriculum of the Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland, explains Lucie Dumont, founding president of CHAIN OF LIFE. Thanks to undeniable support from the public, we will have several other great developments to announce in the upcoming months! TO WATCH THE PROMOTIONAL VIDEOCLIP: youtube.com/watch?v=zFoF0oJzc1s TO FOLLOW THE CHALLENGE AND THE CHAIN OF LIFE PROJECT The CHALLENGE Website: defi.chainedevie.org Facebook: facebook.com/ProjetChainedeVie Twitter: twitter.com/ChainedeVie Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCIyYp2WXNhqyOu For more information or to set up an interview: Sophie Allard, APR 514-499-3030, ext. 771 sophieallard@chainedevie.org In this April 1991 photo, architect Robert Venturi poses in his Manayunk office with a model of a concert hall for the Philadelphia Orchestra. The project was never built. Read more The caption read: "Architect Robert Venturi at his office in Philadelphia in 1991, with a model of a new hall for the Philadelphia Orchestra." It was a strange postscript to a giant career the Associated Press using this particular photo with an obituary that was published nationwide after the Philadelphian died at home a couple of weeks ago. Strange and poignant, because this was the concert hall that was never built. Had it been, it would have filled a significant gap in the output of Venturi and his wife and partner in work, Denise Scott Brown. Their firm achieved ambitious, large-scale projects all over the world: at the Seattle Art Museum, the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery in London, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. But what they never saw come to fruition in their hometown was a large public building. Robert Venturi was born here, did his work here, and died here. But for a wide swath of the public to experience an actual realization of the couple's influential theories, to be among such a building on a daily basis, you'd have to live somewhere else. As Venturi himself noted: "We are busy at Princeton, Dartmouth, Penn, UCLA, Disney, and in France and Japan and our getting no work in Philly (except at Penn!) parallels Lou Kahn's experience," he wrote in a 1997 letter now in the Architectural Archives at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. (Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates did quite a bit of work at Penn, including the Perelman Quadrangle and restoration of the Furness-designed Fisher Fine Arts Library). There's something very Philadelphia about all of this. Reliably a couple of times a year, I'll find myself at a party or dinner where some lifelong Philadelphian will ask me whether the Philadelphia Orchestra is considered a good orchestra. No. The answer is no. It is not merely good, but great. For decades, it's been widely considered among the best in the world. I've come to believe there's an additive in the local water that makes it impossible for natives to entertain the idea that anything here can be tops. There was modesty, too if that's what this odd civic quality is to the first (1990) Venturi design for the concert hall and adjacent recital hall, though the commission started with the recognition that the city's most visible world-class arts organization should be paired with the city's most visible world-class architects. The second design was a knockout. For one thing, the 1995 iteration was pop-art fun rather than bricked-up institutional, with large cutout notes from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata signaling the building's purpose. Tall windows allowed life inside the building to interact visually with life outside. The flattened tracery of a classical-architecture pediment in the window pattern was a sly bit of humor. An electronic ticker beneath the notes added a kinetic tech element. Venturi was engaged in the Philadelphia Orchestra concert hall for about a decade while the proposal tried to attract funding. Eventually, Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates was, in effect, dropped. When then-Mayor Ed Rendell, developer Willard Rouse, and philanthropist Sidney Kimmel took control and the project was rebranded an arts center, another firm, led by Rafael Vinoly, was chosen. How is it possible that Philadelphia let Venturi and Scott Brown slip through its fingers without ever having extracted from them a large, public downtown building? "It's not unusual for great architects to build more elsewhere than in their hometown it comes with greatness. But the situation for Venturi, and also Kahn, in Philadelphia is more complicated," says University of Pennsylvania architectural history professor David Brownlee. He cites two factors: One is poverty. "We built relatively little here, period, during the last third of the 20th century. We were a city in decline." The other, Brownlee says, is "lack of visionary clients. We built very little by any architects that one could call great architecture. Even our huge, costly urban renewal projects, Penn Center and Market East, were spiritless. In short, we were a real hotbed of architectural thinking and innovation, but we didn't see a lot of it because we lacked the money and the vision." >> READ MORE: Robert Venturi, 93, Philadelphia architect who led the rebellion against modernism Venturi did leave the city some influential projects, Franklin Court and the Guild House among them. The recent dorm and rehearsal-hall building at the Curtis Institute of Music "came as he was withdrawing from practice," says Brownlee, though "there is still a lot of him in Lenfest Hall." And there is Venturi's mother's house in Chestnut Hill, which Brownlee ranks among the half-dozen most important buildings of the 20th century. "It's not public, of course, but, boy, it sure draws the eyes of the world to Philadelphia," he says. But what would life have been like for the city, the orchestra, and the thousands who pulse through that busy corner of South Broad Street had the Venturi concert hall been built? For one thing, it might have kept the focus on the orchestra, giving it a prominence that would have continued into the fund-raising firmament. It has always seemed deeply wasteful to me that, from the street outside the arts center, you have no idea that one of the great orchestras of the world lives inside. There is a sign on the outside of the complex for Volver, the restaurant, but none for the orchestra. And the Venturi design would have been good for the vitality of the city. The Kimmel's vast lobby is technically public but remains largely unused outside of performance times. The exoskeleton of the complex puts a significant barrier between the street and the art inside. Venturi telegraphed what was going on inside music and invited the public in with colorful iconography. Kimmel leaders have spent years correcting and refining, making up for the building's deficits. A master plan for renovating the lobby into something more lively and transparent is promising and awaits funding. And Robert Venturi, who designed a hall that would have brought the music right out onto the street, is gone. His New York Times obituary, topped so enigmatically with that shot of the architect with the model for a hometown project that would never get built, included the small detail that Venturi died while listening to Beethoven piano sonatas. Bruce Springsteen, shown here performing at Springsteen on Broadway, doesn't need your money. Read more By most estimates, New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen is worth upwards of $500 million. So if someone purporting to be the Boss reaches out to you on social media asking for cash, don't be fooled. CBS Chicago reports that this week, an area woman was defrauded out of more than $10,000 after falling victim to a scammer who pretended to be Springsteen on social media. Identified only as "Mary" by the station, the woman says she sent money to the scammer via iTunes gift cards, MoneyGram and Western Union wire transfers, and a cashier's check sent to a person in Dubai. The scam, Mary told CBS Chicago, started on a Facebook fanpage for Springsteen, when someone claiming to be the Boss messaged her out of the blue. Communication lasted for about a year before the tone turned "flirty," Mary said, with the impersonator claiming he was getting a divorce from his wife. The Springsteen scammer told Mary that his wife tied up his bank accounts as a result of the divorce, and that he was in need of some cash. Mary said she sent over several hundred dollars via iTunes gift cards, which apparently wasn't enough for the Springsteen impersonator. The next request was for $11,500, which "Springsteen" said he needed to ship home a stash of gold worth millions of dollars from Dubai. Mary obliged, sending the amount for MoneyGram, Western Union, and a cashier's check. "My mind was just so, so, like, maybe brainwashed or something," Mary told CBS Chicago. "I said, 'Okay how much money?'" As the Federal Trade Commission told the station, these types of impostor scams are actually somewhat common, with more than 350,000 complaints worth $328 million filed last year. Those numbers made impostor scams the top fraud issue for the FTC in 2017, spokesperson Todd Kossow said. CBS Chicago, in fact, also spoke with Ardiss Robbins, 78, who said she recently lost about $10,000 to a person posing online as country star Kenny Chesney. Police told the station the money actually went to someone in China. "I was vulnerable at the time, but you know it hurt," Mary told CBS Chicago. "It hurts and you feel so stupid." Mural Arts Philadelphia and Federal Donuts are teaming up to launch a Berries & Cream donut, pictured here in front of the Spring Arts District Mural by Lauren West. Read more As if you needed another reason to eat doughnuts, a fancy charitable version of the treat will soon become available at all six locations of Federal Donuts. Mural Arts Philadelphia and Federal Donuts are teaming up to launch a Mural Arts Month doughnut, available Oct. 1 to 8. A portion of the proceeds from the eight-day Berries and Cream special will benefit Mural Arts' Art Education program, which provides in-school and after-school arts-based programming to more than 2,000 students at 25 sites across the city. The doughnut is a classic spiced cake topped with a tart blackberry glaze and a sweet cream drizzle. Its green-streaked design, scattered with white sprinkles, is intended to mirror this year's branded Mural Arts Month' colors and aesthetics. Mural Arts Month unfolds across October as a celebration of the nation's largest public art program, dedicated itself to the belief that art ignites change. The annual festival brings more than 25 free events to spots citywide, and now, a new doughnut to enjoy. Federal Donuts will sell the doughnut for $2.75. The treat will also be served complimentary at three Mural Arts Month events: the panel discussion for To the Polls on Oct. 1; the Dreams, Diaspora, and Destiny Mural Dedication on Oct. 9; and the Legacy Dedication on Oct. 20. "We have so much respect for the culinary arts and love when food and art can merge together," said Jane Golden, executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia. "This is the time of year when we shine a light on all of the constituents who make our work possible, so it is fitting when a food tribute from a beloved institution also acknowledges our work." Booze and drugs are plenty prevalent in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but now, we known which member of the gang is the biggest drunk, thanks to a new study that examines the show's use of drugs and alcohol. It may come as no surprise, but It's Always Sunny's biggest lush is Charlie Day's Charlie, by far, with 324 references to booze and drugs throughout the 12 seasons that have been aired. His substance use (and abuse) more than doubled Frank's (Danny DeVito) number, who, with just 140 references to drugs and alcohol on the show, is actually the gang's cleanest member. That's according to a new study on Alcohol.org, a website owned by American Addiction Centers that reviewed the series entire run excluding the current 13th season to determine their rankings. In the middle of the pack is Dennis (Glenn Howerton) with 251 drug and alcohol references, Dee (Kaitlin Olson) close behind with 249, and Mac (Rob McElhenney) in fourth with 217 mentions. On average, that's 21 mentions or visual depictions of drugs and alcohol per episode for 134 episodes straight. The show's peak use of drugs and alcohol use occurred in Season 10, which the study says had about 31 alcohol or drug references per episode. Season 12 appeared to see the gang clean up their acts, with just 6.6 references per episode. The worst offender across the series' run, of course, is season 10's "The Gang Beats Boggs," in which the gang attempts to drink 70 cans of beer each on a flight to Los Angeles. Overall, that episode contained 183 references to drugs and alcohol. This season, the gang revisited the plot with "The Gang Beats Boggs: Ladies Reboot," which no doubt increased Dee's total number. In addition to being It's Always Sunny's biggest drunk, Charlie also has used the largest range of drugs in episodes of the show. Like with the rest of the cast, beer is his drug of choice, but the character has ingested everything from steroids, poppers, and marijuana to cocaine, LSD, and various inhalants. Frank, on the other hand, has more discerning tastes, and has consumed just seven drugs in total across the show's run, including the fictional Adderall/Ritalin cross, Ridderall. While the show often plays drug and alcohol use to comic effect, the Alcohol.org study notes that substance abuse is "no laughing matter." According to the study, some 17 million Americans have an Alcohol Use Disorder, which is defined by symptoms like "cravings, spending an excess time drinking, drinking longer or more than intended, and experiencingdangerous outcomes as a result." Put that way, it looks like every member of the gang has a problem. "Alcoholism is a disease that manifests itself in the form of physical dependency and finding treatment won't be the same for everyone," the study notes. "If you or someone you love is suffering from alcohol misuse or addiction, help is here for you." It's Always Sunny airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FXX. Punk's not dead, after all at least on ABC's Jenkintown-set sitcom, The Goldbergs. The show, which began a new season this week, will pay homage to iconic South Street punk rock boutique Zipperhead with "You Got Zuko'd," an upcoming episode that premieres Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. In the show, protagonist Adam F. Goldberg tries to go punk to keep the attention of his girlfriend, Jackie, who herself turned punk following a year living in New York. Naturally, as a Philadelphia area youth, Zipperhead is his best option to look the part. "The store was an accidental overnight sensation," says founder and former owner Rick Millan, 65, who now works in real estate. "It was rock and roll to wear." Opened in 1980, Zipperhead served as one of the first clothing stores of its kind in the nation. Though he doesn't consider himself a punk, Millan opened the boutique with a partner after a trip to Europe, where he saw the punk scene in full effect, and decided to give nascent Philly punks a way into the scene. As Millan puts it, there was "nothing like" Zipperhead in the area at the time. One of those potential punks, it turns out, was Adam F. Goldberg, creator of The Goldbergs. A suburban youth in Zipperhead's heyday, Goldberg often took trips down to South Street, which he saw as the "polar opposite" of Jenkintown at the time. Since the show is loosely autobiographical, Goldberg reached out to Millan to get started on a episode. "Our favorite place was Zipperhead, which defined cool," Goldberg said, "especially for a suburban geek like me." Goldberg then worked with Millan to recreate the original Zipperhead, which closed its original location at 407 South St. in 2005 (its giant metal ants, however, still adorn the building). Using photos supplied by Millan and former general manager Margarita Passion, the Goldbergs reconstructed the boutique's interior in detail, which surprised the shop's former owner. "It is an unbelievable recreation," Millan says. "It looks just like Zipperhead." Adding to the authenticity is Millan's daughter, Tedra, who serves as a guest star in the episode. An actress who debuted on Broadway opposite Kevin Kline in Present Laughter last year, Tedra plays a cashier at the store in The Goldbergs, and even donned her own vintage Zipperhead T-shirt for the role. For Millan, that element has made The Goldbergs' homage a little more special, as he used to have Tedra and his son Josh act as living mannequins in Zipperhead's window to attract business back in the day. Tedra called the part the "opportunity of a lifetime." "Talk about full circle," Goldberg said. Millan, who also owned South Street shops Urban Guerilla and Xog, got out of the retail business for a run in real estate in 2000. That year, he sold Zipperhead to two former employees, Rob Windfielder and Stefanie Jolles. While the original location closed, Zipperhead's spirit today lives on at Crash Bang Boom, Windfielder and Jolles' current shop at 528 S. 4th St. In its time, however, Zipperhead was no stranger to controversy. While it was known mostly for dealing punk wares like T-shirts and Doc Martens boots, the store was also known for its over-the-top advertising campaigns and headline-making events. For example, there was the time Millan and his cohorts tried to drum up business using images of serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson on posters a stunt that ended after a family member of one of Dahmer's victims contacted Millan, as his wife, Harriet, wrote back in 2016. Or the time Millan commissioned a TV ad showing a 500-pound woman jumping on a trampoline, advertising the slogan, "Extreme Clothes for Extreme Times." The store was even immortalized in local punkers The Dead Milkmen's biggest hit, "Punk Rock Girl." "One Saturday I took a walk to Zipperhead," the song, released in 1988, goes. "I met a girl there and she almost knocked me dead." However, Millan says, the boutique's name also a racial slur toward people of Asian descent was never protested. Millan says Zipperhead got its name in a "name this store" contest, and it was more connected to David Lynch than David Duke. The name, it turns out, came from clothing designer Raymond Ercoli, who was an art student at Glassboro State College now Rowan University. One night, he had watched a screening of Lynch's Eraserhead at the nearby TLA, and walked by the store afterward, where he noticed a group of mannequins wearing garments with large zippers on them. From there, the name Zipperhead was born, and Ercoli won an Atari video game system for his trouble. He also went on to design Zipperhead's logo and T-shirts. "We had no idea about the racial element," Millan says. "We were open from 1980 to 2005 as Zipperhead and never heard anything." To celebrate the Zipperhead-focused episode of The Goldbergs, the punk boutique's former owner says he plans to hold a viewing party with former employees when it airs Oct. 3. The event, he adds, will serve as a reunion for many ex-Zipperhead workers from the store's prime, an era when punk was very much still alive. "It was the place to be," he says. As Christine Blasey Ford testified about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday, crisis centers around the Philadelphia region said they had seen an increase in calls from sexual assault survivors, in equal part traumatized by the details they heard, and empowered by seeing a woman tell her story so publicly. "For some people it's throwing them into action," said Karen Baker, chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, which represents 48 crisis centers across the state. "They'll say, 'I hadn't been vocal about this before, but I'm going to be now.' But other people are driven more into silence." The National Sexual Assault Hotline estimated its call volume increased 147 percent above normal on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which runs the hotline. Most local rape crisis centers don't fully analyze their call data until the end of a month, but they say they have been noticing a marked increase in callers in recent weeks as allegations against Kavanaugh have been in the news. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of holding her down and drunkenly groping her at a high school party. Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh's at Yale University, said he exposed himself to her in college. A third woman, Julie Swetnick, came forward Wednesday, claiming Kavanaugh spiked drinks at a high school party where she was gang-raped, though she did not say he participated in the attack. Kavanaugh has denied all allegations. As Ford's testimony was underway Thursday, C-SPAN, which was broadcasting the hearing along with most major networks, reported people were calling in with their own stories of sexual violence. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said three women reached out to him within the span of an hour, saying they are victims of sexual assault, too. "It is striking how many survivors of sexual assault are watching and choosing this moment to come forward with their accounts," he said. Many callers are recognizing certain childhood experiences as sexual assault for the first time, said Erin Slight, supervisor of direct services at the Victim Services Center of Montgomery County. "That kind of behavior might have been normalized in the past," Slight said. "But now people are being given words to name it. They realize what happened, and they can call. That is powerful." While she did not have data for this month, Slight said, during past events that brought sexual violence to the national spotlight like Bill Cosby's trial and sentencing, and the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Pennsylvania State University call volume increased about 25 percent. She expects the numbers will be similar in response to the Kavanaugh hearings. But not all the calls reflect empowerment. For some survivors, watching Ford's testimony is having a darker effect. Hearing skeptical senators can bring back memories of being shamed and doubted. That can lead to low self-esteem and isolation, Slight said. It might dissuade some from calling or seeking services at all. Many are recognizing the toll sexual trauma has taken on their lives for years, Baker said. Seeing Ford testify about her post-traumatic stress disorder, claustrophobia, and fear of flying may help others realize that their insomnia or panic attacks may be connected to their own history of trauma. It can lead to a lot of conflicting feelings, Baker said. Most survivors want to stand in solidarity with Ford some have even contacted the coalition to organize demonstrations but many also fear facing the same backlash as Ford, who has received death threats. Survivors need to handle their feelings whatever way is best for them, Baker said. If they're feeling overwhelmed, they should consider turning off the TV, putting down the cell phone, and taking a walk instead. Going for a run, interacting with pets, or taking a drive can all help. She also recommended reaching out to a friend, family member, or local crisis center. Many have 24/7 hotlines and online chat rooms that can provide support. "Sometimes it's 2 a.m. and people can't go to sleep because that's all they can think about," said Gina Ridge, who helps coordinate victim services at the Center for Family Services in Camden. "We're there for them to talk and help them work through it." The center has seen demand for its online chat room double in recent weeks. Ridge said the center has helped people access counseling services or begin the process of pressing charges. (There is no statute of limitations on sexual assault charges in New Jersey.) "People are wanting to speak up because they feel like other people have, and they might be believed at this point in their life," Ridge said. If you need help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. You can find your local rape crisis center by searching a national database, centers.rainn.org. For services in Pennsylvania, visit www.pcar.org, and for Southern New Jersey, visit www.centerffs.org/serv. Fall colors in Minnesota last October; the show might be muted around here this year.. Read more The increasingly annoying sequence of downpours and a mild-temperature outlook might constitute the imperfect storm for the annual fall-foliage show around here, an expert says, and the early signs aren't encouraging. "Normally by the end of September you start to see some signs of coloration," said Marc Abrams, a forest ecology professor at Penn State who has been monitoring autumn colors for three decades. "And I've seen very little coloration." One factor has been the rain. Rainfall has been radically above normal for the last two months throughout Central and Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center. In some counties, it has been double the long-term averages, approaching 20 inches. It also has been warm, and the government's Climate Prediction Center sees odds strongly favoring above-normal temperatures for the next two weeks throughout the Eastern foliage zones. They also favor above-average rains. So what might that mean for what the late naturalist Edwin Way Teale eloquently described as "the glorious, flaming sunset of the year?" "This is the opposite of what is needed to bring out the best and timely colors," Abrams said. His ideal formula would include adequate but not excessive rain during the growing season, and "a nice cool-down in late September through mid-October." Those conditions are ideal for allowing nature to orchestrate its magic. Responding to autumn's light cues, chlorophyll in deciduous trees recedes and gives way to yellows and oranges. Food-bearing veins at the leaf base shut off, the stranded sugars manufacture the show-stealing anthocyanins that turn leaves aflame. Predicting how brilliant fall will be in any given woods, or any given species, is impossible, but Abrams said it might be a good year to head for the hills of upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Don't give up on fall around here. Abrams pointed out that nature is notorious for executing the counter-intuitive, doing exactly what you don't expect. Also, and sources indicate this has happened before, the atmosphere might well disobey the forecasts. In any event, we've never known autumn to be a complete bust in the Philadelphia region, where the peak typically occurs in the last week of October. We've never seen it pass without at least some splashes of scarlet, gold, and cinnamon. Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, of the Camden Diocese, will preside over a vigil to pray that victims of clergy sexual abuse will be healed and that the church will atone for its sins. Read more As the Roman Catholic Church continues to grapple with the sexual-abuse crisis that has shaken its foundation, the Camden Diocese will host a series of evening vigils starting Friday to pray for the victims and the church. The diocese is inviting South Jersey's 475,000 parishioners to pray that the victims will be healed and that the church will atone for its sins, as part of the "legal, psychological, and pastoral work that is already being done" to cope with the crisis. Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan will preside during the first prayer service, at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Agnes Church of Our Lady of Hope Parish, 701 Gloucester Rd., Blackwood. The remaining vigils will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at six churches throughout the diocese. The vigils come after the release last month of a Pennsylvania grand jury report revealing that top Catholic leaders in six dioceses had covered up decades of child sex abuse involving more than 1,000 victims and hundreds of priests. Two priests who had served in the Camden Diocese were included in the report. READ MORE>> Pennsylvania grand jury report recounts sexual abuse in six Catholic Dioceses. Sullivan has said in a letter to parishioners that he is "ashamed and disgusted" by the past actions of bishops and priests and that their failure is heartbreaking. Earlier this month, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal launched an investigation of potential clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups into the state's Catholic dioceses. New Jersey is one of at least seven states to announce official probes of clergy misconduct since the release of the Pennsylvania report. Grewal established a 24-hour hotline for victims to report abuse. The number is 855-363-6548. The Camden Diocese has faced numerous allegations of abuse and paid out millions in settlements, according to the website BishopAccountability.org. The diocese will be working with the Attorney General's Office in "any capacity that they require of us," said Michael Walsh, spokesman for the Camden Diocese. Sullivan wrote in a recent column that the church community must show its solidarity "that this will never happen again." Clergy and church leaders must protect youths and young adults, and "will continue to immediately engage law enforcement the moment we hear a report of abuse." The laity must hold church officials to that pledge, the bishop wrote. READ MORE>> The Archdiocese of Philadelphia holds 7-hour prayer vigil to atone for sexual abuse The Oct. 5 vigils will be at St. Joseph the Worker in Haddonfield, the Church of the Incarnation in Mantua, St. Andrew the Apostle in Gibbsboro, Christ the Good Shepherd in Vineland, St. Katharine Drexel in Egg Harbor Township, and Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cape May. Robert Hoatson, founder of Road to Recovery, a New Jersey organization that supports victims, said that prayer is always welcome but that vigils are often used to "schmooze over a problem." The laity is asked to participate in prayer services that church officials use to "mask holding themselves accountable," said Hoatson, an abuse survivor and former priest. "People have a tendency to think that once a prayer service is ended, the consciences are clear and the forgiveness is done," Hoatson said, "but it's just the beginning." Two Philadelphia police officers were arrested Wednesday and charged with illegally detaining a man during an April pedestrian stop in East Mount Airy. Officers Matthew Walsh, 30, and Marvin Jones, 48, both assigned to the 14th District, were suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss by Commissioner Richard Ross, the department said. Both were charged with obstructing administration of law, a felony; and with misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, tampering with records, and official oppression. The charges were approved by the District Attorney's Office on Monday. The department said Walsh, a four-year veteran of the force, and Jones, a 10-year veteran, stopped the man in the 100 block of East Sharpnack Street just after 10 a.m. April 17, without the legally required reasonable suspicion or probable cause. The two officers improperly searched the man who was not identified and his vehicle, detained him in handcuffs for about 15 minutes, then drove him a block away and released him, the department said. Based on surveillance video, internal affairs investigators found that the officers falsified the paperwork they submitted on the arrest, the department said. A department statement Thursday said that according to "documentation subsequently prepared and submitted by the officers, the citizen was stopped for 'apparently using narcotics.' Also according to the officers' paperwork, during the encounter, the citizen was frisked because he failed to take his hands out of his pockets." "Based on video surveillance recovered during the course of the IAD investigation, Police Officer Walsh and Police Officer Jones could not have seen the citizen 'apparently using narcotics.' In addition, the citizen was fully compliant at the time of the stop," the statement said. The investigation "also determined that Officers Walsh and Jones falsified the Vehicle/Pedestrian Investigation Report they prepared and submitted," it said. Meanwhile, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 said in a statement Thursday that it would provide legal representation for "both officers, who are entitled to due process," as well as continuing their union representation. Former Philadelphia Police Officer Ryan Pownall, arrested and charged Sept. 4, 2018, with criminal homicide in the June 8, 2017, shooting death of David Jones, 30, on the 4200 block of Whitaker Avenue in North Philadelphia. Read more A Philadelphia judge said Thursday he would rule within two weeks on whether a former city police officer charged with murder is entitled to a preliminary hearing. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office maintains that no such hearing is needed because an investigative grand jury spent months hearing testimony before recommending charges earlier this month against the former officer, Ryan Pownall, in the death of David Jones. But lawyers representing Pownall, 36, believe he's still entitled to a hearing, which they say would enable them to prove the charges are without merit, freeing their client. Pownall is the first on-duty Philadelphia officer charged with homicide since 1999. The last officer charged, Christopher DiPasquale, was never tried because manslaughter charges against him for shooting an unarmed teenager were twice dismissed by judges at preliminary hearings. In a courtroom packed beyond its legal capacity, mostly with police officers supporting Pownall, Common Pleas Court Judge Robert P. Coleman said he needed until Oct. 11 to reread the 1,000-page grand jury report because he wanted to make sure the jury members knew they were voting to recommend that Pownall be charged with first-degree murder. Coleman noted that he was not even aware of that until Thursday's hearing. "The question is: Is there enough to get to first degree, and I don't know if they considered that," said Coleman, who added that he had never ruled against a request by prosecutors to bypass a preliminary hearing. "I'm not trying to prolong your torture here, but I have to be fair to both sides," Coleman said to Pownall, who has been jailed without bail since Sept. 4. In briefs submitted to Coleman prior to the hearing, the opposing legal teams presented clashing views on the need for a preliminary hearing, the step in the criminal justice process when prosecutors bear the burden of establishing that a crime has been committed and that the defendant committed it. Assistant District Attorney Tracy Tripp clarified during Thursday's hearing that under the count of criminal homicide Pownall is charged with first-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter. Under state law, he is not eligible for bail due to the murder charge. Tripp, in her briefs to Coleman, wrote that the state Supreme Court has previously ruled that an investigative grand jury presentment is a "constitutionally permissible and reasonable alternative to a preliminary hearing." The grand jury, which was convened April 3, heard testimony from 15 witnesses police officers and civilians, Tripp told Coleman. "Simply put, to require lengthy, complex testimony from an investigative grand jury to be repeated, for the sole purpose of establishing probable cause a second time, is not only a waste of scarce judicial resources, but also a repetitious, costly, and superfluous layer of delay before trial," Tripp wrote. In 2011, Common Pleas Court Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes granted a request from the District Attorney's Office to deny preliminary hearings to abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell and his nine codefendants in the high-profile baby-killing case in which the doctor received a life sentence without parole for delivering premature babies during abortions and then killing them. In that case, prosecutors argued that a preliminary hearing was not warranted because a grand jury had spent eight months hearing testimony from 63 witnesses and the charges were detailed in a 260-page report. Pownall's lead attorney, Fortunato Perri Jr., wrote to Coleman that the District Attorney's Office was misreading the law and that his client was entitled to a preliminary hearing as a matter of due process. If granted a hearing, Perri would prove that Pownall had not committed a crime, the lawyer wrote. During the hearing, Perri accused city prosecutors of trying to hide the murder charge within the grand jury presentment. "We would ask this court to end this now," Perri told Coleman. "We aren't asking for any charges to be dismissed. Just give him due process." Police Commissioner Richard Ross fired Pownall in September 2017, citing various departmental policy violations in the fatal shooting of Jones three months earlier. Pownall, a 12-year Police Department veteran, shot Jones in the back as Jones fled from a traffic stop in North Philadelphia. Jones had a gun when Pownall pulled him over for riding an illegal dirt bike, authorities said, but the weapon fell to the ground before Jones started running away. Surveillance video showed Jones running with his hands held above his head before being shot in the back and falling to the ground. TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Osisko Mining Inc. (OSK:TSX) ("Osisko" or the "Corporation") is proud to recognize and congratulate Robert Wares, one of the original founders of the Osisko group companies on the announcement of his donation of $5 million to McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. The following is an excerpt from yesterdays McGill press release. As an entrepreneurial geologist, Bob Wares, (BSc79, DSc12), became a mining rock star when he discovered one of Canadas largest gold deposits in the Abitibi region of Quebec. Now, he is bringing that Midas touch to his alma mater in the form of a landmark $5 million gift that will support research programs, fellowships, innovative research, a lecture series and outreach efforts in McGill Universitys Faculty of Science, with a particular focus on his home department, Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS). The gift will provide immediate impact for students and faculty in five targeted areas: - the Wares Science Innovation Prospectors Fund, designed to support innovative, high-risk research by funding up to four promising projects a year from researchers across the Faculty of Science; - a Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator Fund, supporting the activities of a coordinator to liaise with CEGEPs and high schools in an effort to attract more students to EPS studies at McGill; - the Wares Field Study Fund, supporting field studies in Canada and abroad for EPS students; - the Wares Postdoctoral Fellowships, which will provide funding for up to four EPS postdoctoral fellows each year pursuing earth science research. - an Annual Lecture Fund, to bring globally renowned keynote speakers to Montreal to discuss earth science topics or areas of research. We would like to thank Bob Wares for this exceptional gift and for his continued support of McGill, said Suzanne Fortier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. This donation will make an immediate impact on our Faculty of Science and will greatly enhance important research, education and out-of-classroom student experiences in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. A graduate of EPS, Wares has been a longtime supporter of McGill, contributing to the Faculties of Science and Medicine. In 2009, Wares and his company, Osisko Mining Corporation, contributed $4.1 million to endow two faculty research awards, undergraduate and graduate level scholarships and a field trip fund in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, with part of the gift matched by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. Wares has supported McGill every year since 2009 and his latest gift brings his total McGill support to date to over $10 million. As a volunteer and member of the Faculty of Science Advisory Board, he has also been exceptionally generous with his time and insights. Bob has had a tremendous impact on our Faculty and I am grateful for his involvement, his ideas, and his perspective as a business leader, said Bruce Lennox, Dean of the Faculty of Science. His continuing commitment to our students and researchers is an invaluable asset, particularly to Earth and Planetary Sciences. A mining industry leader and innovator, Wares has been dubbed a rock star in the field because of his remarkable success in assessing, finding and launching various mining exploration projects over the course of his 40-year career. Together with two associates, he founded Osisko Mining Corporation in 2003, and, against all odds, the fledging company eventually developed the Canadian Malartic mine, which, to this day, remains the largest single gold producer in Canada, with initial reserves of 11 million ounces of gold. In 2012, Wares received an Honorary Doctorate from McGill in recognition of his achievements in the field of applied economic geology. Im very pleased to have this opportunity to support McGill, the Faculty of Science and EPS, said Wares, who is currently Executive Vice-President of the new Osisko Mining and Executive Chairman of Osisko Metals. Im particularly pleased to support field trips and experiential education, which are so important to students in Earth and Planetary Sciences. For further information, please contact: John Burzynski President and Chief Executive Officer Telephone: (416) 363-8653 As the nation tuned in Thursday to watch Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, we convened a panel of experts to watch and offer real-time perspective about the hearing. How did the committee tackle Ford's memory lapses? What is this experience like for a trauma survivor? Or one accused of sexual assault? How credible were the two of them? The Inquirer and Daily News invited four area experts: Carol Tracy, executive director of the Women's Law Project Stewart Ryan, trial lawyer at Laffey, Bucci & Kent and former Assistant Chief of the Trials Division in the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office where he prosecuted Bill Cosby Robin Fierstein, licensed psychologist who specializes in trauma Mary Onama, executive director of the Victim Services Agency in Montgomery County Talk to me about the credibility of these witnesses. What are some overall takeaways there? Ryan: One of the things I think is great about the jury system is that you have 12 people sitting in a box, looking at a witness and using nothing more than their common sense or gut to figure out whether or not someone's telling the truth. And there were a couple moments during Dr. Ford's testimony where I felt that. I think the statement about the laughing being burned in her memory. There was another moment about asking her about the "boys will be boys" and she answered the question I don't think there was a single question that she avoided. She might not have been able to answer all the questions, but she tried. You cannot say the same for Judge Kavanaugh. But didnt he face tougher questioning in some ways? Ryan: I think both were challenged. Dr. Ford was challenged on the polygraph, the fear of flying, the map. But the tone that Dr. Ford has I think echoed the tone that the prosecutor used, and the same can be said for Judge Kavanaugh, he came out guns blazing. I think the senators reacted. Fierstein: Even if it might not come across that she might not have been challenged through the questions, she started out by having to share all about her sexual assault, which I think is one of the largest challenges out there. What are your major takeaways? What might stick with you? What are some moments that you think will define this? Fierstein: For me, I think just think of her reaction. I've sat with so many clients. Part of treatment is writing a trauma narrative and then reading it over and over, and there's nothing dissimilar from how they react as compared to how she reacts, knowing that there's this whole range of reactions. It was just so consistent with anything that I've ever seen in my experience, and the memory and the visceral reactions. Ryan: I had a hope that maybe there would be some independence, and I think having observed thus far what I've seen, it's nothing more than the political theater that a lot of people expected. I think that the takeaway here is probably going to be Judge Kavanaugh's opening speech, because I think that reset the table. Tracy: It just became very, if you'll pardon the expression, I would say it was totally testosterone-fueled. Kavanaugh and Ford and the way that they testified is such an interesting contrast of how men and women might approach getting the attention of a room in different ways. And so I wonder if the tables were turned, what the response would have been if we saw an alleged victim coming in with the sort of anger or emotion that we saw from the accused. Tracy: She was polite. She was deferential, didn't interrupt, asked for clarification and he was bombastic and aggressive, interrupting. And I'm not saying either is appropriate. But clearly, they're very, very different and very gendered. Onama: And also, the professional differences also do play into that. She's in a helping profession, he's a lawyer. Anything final thoughts? Fierstein: He was talking about how this is going to impact people or families for decades. I think of that impact for victims. And how, much like you said, less likely they might be to speak out. Below is a transcript of our conversation with the experts during the first 15-minute break in Kavanaugh's testimony. Kavanaugh said during his opening that his mothers trademark line was Use your common sense, what rings true? What rings false? So what about you guys? What rings true and what rings false? Ryan: I think that the emotional display was appropriate for the circumstances and to a certain extent goes to his credibility and it was a powerful speech. It wasn't challenged. So you have to wait and see what happens with that. And I would expect someone of his caliber to give that sort of speech. I would expect other individuals who have seen their downfall to be able to give a similar speech and provide the same sort of character references. What I'm waiting to see someone challenge is: he seems to hang his hat on a couple different things. One of them being this [Leland] Kaiser and her affidavit, and the fact that she says she does not know him and she does not remember any sort of a party that they're describing, and yet by his own testimony, he just said that he does know of her and it's certainly possible they met or came in contact with each other. You can't discount that possibility. And I think those two things are diametrically opposed. Fierstein: One thing that stood out to me in terms of ringing false: One of the questions was, Has anyone ever told you about something that happened that you forgot? I mean, just in life we all forget things, and it's really hard for me to imagine that he remembers 100 percent of things that people have ever told him he did unrelated to drinking. He was a little more emotional than I expected. Would you agree with that? Can you sort of compare and contrast how he came across vs. how Dr. Ford came across? Tracy: I think Dr. Ford was frightened. And I think he was angry. And they have very, very different emotional reactions to it and she has nothing to gain. I think that's one of the important considerations here. She has absolutely nothing to gain here and a great deal more is at stake for him. Onama: Another thing that struck me was when he said 'this nonsense,' almost like, that's a level of arrogance. It seems that this is kind of dismissing the whole thing. Ryan: The talk about his daughters was appropriate, that was extremely emotional and when it came to his family it was like his whole life is being examined. And he's a political Washington D.C. professional so it's not surprising that he was able to deliver that sort of speech because I would imagine that's sort of the mindset that you have to have to live in a world like that and succeed. One of the things he said the most forcefully was when he said, Were in a dangerous new place if everyone who drinks beer is presumed guilty of sexual assault. Knowing what you know about sexual violence and how substances are often part of that, whats your response to that? Can we go too far in vilifying people who take part in any sort of drinking or substance use? Tracy: I think it was completely absurd. I mean, I think that there's no equation sexual assault is particularly if it's by a serial perpetrator it's very strategic, and getting someone drunk or drugged is part of that strategy, not having a couple of beers. I think saying that was completely absurd and also so dismissive. Mary: We also know that too much alcohol creates some risk factors for the victim Tracy: But it doesn't make someone a rapist. Ryan: I agree with the point that he's making about how toxic rhetoric can be. I think it was well stated. I think the real question is, while that point might be well taken in this political forum, the right way to get to the truth of what occurred is fact-finding. For example, you'll get the question from Mitchell about 'Well, how much beer is too much beer?' And he says something about the [blood-alcohol content] chart, and that was that. Is it going to be softballs from her and then grandstanding from the other side? So much of this has been about an investigation that didnt happen. Is that a good strategy? Tracy: If I were in his shoes, I'd want another investigation to just totally, totally clear his name. He's saying his family is destroyed. I hope they're not destroyed, but this is going to live with him, even if he goes to the Supreme Court, because he's never had an investigation to clear his name. Kavanaugh repeatedly pointed out that that hes been in the public sphere for 30 years, working for Ken Starr and in the Bush White House. He makes a point these allegations didnt come up at any point. Onama: It is possible for a victim to not say something until it reaches a certain point in their life and maybe through their own career. Below is a transcript of our conversation with the experts during the second 15-minute break in Ford's testimony. Any idea where the prosecutor was going with that last line of questioning, particularly about the details of the polygraph test? Ryan: Just based on the way that she's been asking questions, my expectation was for her to have something. Of course if she doesn't, it could be because she wants to know the answer, could be because there's some other purpose The question might be just as important as the answer. Tracy: My sense of it was she wants to know who paid for it. What do we think about the questioning, particularly from the prosecutor? Theyre not going to talk about the actual assault itself much beyond her opening statement. Theyre really sort of avoiding coming across as grilling her. Fierstein: And yet I feel like they're doing it. Maybe not grilling her, but I think like one thing that I was thinking of even from the beginning is: Her first question after those five things to clarify was asking if she drank any alcohol. I know I talked about rape culture, victim blaming I just feel like there are these kind of like passive comments that she's making, that she's not grilling her and yet she doesn't feel particularly kind. Tracy: At the same time, I think those are reasonable questions to ask, to find out what's your state of mind, flaws and memory and all of those kinds of things. And it turns out she answered very definitively. I think many of the questions are fair and the tone is taking on that cross examination. Ryan: It's rare that there's that Perry Mason moment you get somebody to admit all the wrongdoing they've ever done. I think when you're cross examining someone you build and attack credibility around the edges, and that may be what she's doing. What do you mean around the edges? Ryan: You talk about things that you know you can prove someone is telling the truth about or that they're not telling the truth about. That's of course the challenge with not having an investigation. Do you think that thats why she brought up the issue with the flying? For example, you know, probably a fair assessment to say, OK, you have a phobia flying, but it was OK when youre going on vacation. So would you suggest that the prosecutor might not actually care about whether she has a phobia of flying, but more or less goes to overall credibility? Ryan: Yeah, that's exactly it. Tracy: Connected to that, it's also to make it partisan. To say 'You just want to delay these hearings. That's why you came up with that phobia present.' Ryan: That was a great moment when her attorney essentially told her not to answer the question from, I think, Sen. Grassley and she essentially ignores advice and then she answers directly and she explained 'I just did not understand it.' Tracy: Very authentic. Are you surprised at all about how shes sort of coming across and going along with that? Im curious how she seems compared to Anita Hill for those of you who may have seen or remember that, because their demeanor seems different me. Tracy: Their mistreatment of Hill was so, so profound, the clear interrogation of her to the whole demeanor of the committee and she didn't have any example to look at to be prepared for what came at her, but she remained as I recall, very, very composed throughout all of it. Thats kind of what I was getting at. What Ive seen of Anita Hill, she was almost more rigid than she was emotional. Tracy: Yeah, and she's a lawyer, right, and lawyers aren't used to being on the witness stand But this is a far more serious allegation that she has made. Fierstein: So I've spoken to clients when they're going to court and some say I would do everything to not cry. I don't want to show any emotion others feel unable to manage it and kind of everything in between. And I think it just shows that authenticity, she's really trying to I think hold this really big weight on her shoulders and share all of this information. I think one of the senators had mentioned something about retraumatization. Can you talk about what youve seen in victims of sex crimes that youve worked with who have had to go to court and relive that experience? What happens during that experience? Fierstein: It's about power and there's this loss of control. So there is that piece that can sometimes feel empowering and everything else that comes along with it, but often your sexual history like your whole background is put out there and that can be terrifying the entire time. Tracy: I think it has a lot to do with how the person has been preparing. Certainly knowing prosecutors who have sat down with people and said you know it's going to be tough. Ryan: Preparation is so important. You try your best to tell them what's coming. I also as a matter of course for every single trial, I have tried my best to get the person into the courtroom and sit them in the chair and ask them questions. So I think it is all about preparation. Dr. Ford got a little choked up, particularly when I think it was Senator Blumenthal talking about how brave she is and the courage to come forward. What do you make of that? Fierstein: I can imagine, you know, perhaps feeling a lot of things. I think a piece of that is maybe feeling heard. I think also I'd imagine that just brings up still a lot of shame of everything that's happened. Tracy: And I would think there's also a little bit of I wish I could have done that at the time, which could be winning and we wouldn't be here now. I was really struck when she was talking about the aftereffects of what had happened. She said she struggled even to have friendships with men that she was going to school with. Is that a common occurrence and why does trauma manifest itself in that way? Onama: Rape victims struggle with sexual intimacy because of memories and experiences and it can happen in so many different ways. Rape victims who have been affected in such a way that they cannot build trust. They cannot really have meaningful intimate relationships because of the flashbacks of the experience Tracy: It's also really important to remember that it manifests itself so different in so many people. That's what we're fighting against in this work, is the sense of what that should look like. 'She should be terrified. She should report immediately. Should be crying. She should be hysterical. You know, she should have had a knife at the throat,' and knowing that some people have absolutely no effect whatsoever. Others are very emotional. The conversation around the FBI investigation is interesting in part because, as the chairman pointed out, the FBI is not going to draw a conclusion. Theyre not going to make a credibility determination. So even if there is an investigation, isnt it still a he said, she said situation anyway? Ryan: No. Whether it's a document, whether it's a person coming forward, if they were called on either side, any person that is going to corroborate what their account is, that no longer is a he said, she said. The other thing is, with an investigation, you never know what you're going to come up with. Tracy: That process, as it stands right now, is designed to make it a 'he said, she said.' This hearing is destined to turn into that. Below is a transcript of our conversation with the experts during the first 15-minute break while Ford testified. I have some sort of specific questions. But Im curious if anybody has any sort of initial reactions in terms of how Dr. Ford came across and whether there any major sticking points that stick out. Onama: The major sticking point for me was them saying instead of using the word "confidential," the word "secret," which really points to suspicion and you're hiding something. And that in itself is the whole victim doubt that is put there. So, that person will say 'well, you know she's probably not OK in the head.' I mean, one lawyer who was a victim of sexual assault in college said that oftentimes the methods that they use is either the woman is a nut or a slut. Those are the two things that they do for defense of the person who has been accused. Ryan: At this stage, I think there were two important things. First, being that what you said about it being a confidential statement initially and then essentially being forced to come forward. And it's critical. The way that you have to do this and put it in context because no person should be made to come forward with an allegation like that. It's not fair to do so. I personally can't make any sort of credibility assessment but so far, I think the most powerful thing she said was, I think, in response to Senator Leahy, about her strongest memory being the laughter, because from my perspective, what she was saying in that moment was leaving aside the trauma and terror of the assault and thinking about the humiliation of having the people who are assaulting her laughing, and that is burned in her memory. And I think that is something, I don't like to use the word "classic," but you know that kind of describes when someone then leaves that moment and tried to blame themselves are asked what they've done wrong. Robin, is that is that something that you found in working with patients who have had traumatic experiences? Fierstein: Yeah, absolutely. That's one of the things that really stood out to me as well. I just think so much of that shame that we really often hear about and you know, literally can watch. There were times and he's talking details that you could watch her, you know, kind of bow her head and just see though maybe her face continued to look composed could see that just to talk about it and bring it up and literally watch her shame response happen. I think that is absolutely a strong piece. I very much agree with everything you said and kind of even how they started out talking [about] how she had so much time, she could have spoken about this. She chose not to bring it forward, like just starting with that victim shaming, victim blaming, kind of reinforcing that rape culture. Im kind of interested in this idea of it was a case of mistaken identity. And her response, when she said its basic memory functions and then went on to describe the science behind that. No. 1, Im curious, was that accurate? And No. 2, how do you think that plays and how does that make her come across? Fierstein: Traumatic memories [are] more kind of coupled with emotions, and that area of the brain and we might have memory for every single excruciating detail of what happened in the trauma or perhaps you don't have anything because you've dissociated, or there might be kind of certain pieces that stand out to you, and that could be details of the trauma that could be sights, smells, sounds. I was also really struck as she described the layout of the living room just how like that was so encoded in the brain. Tracy: I remain incredibly offended [that] these men that their bias is so great that they know they can't ask a respectful question That to me is extraordinary. It's quite clear [Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell] is being very clear and sensitive and chronological, but there's no reason that a Republican man can't ask a question I thought that the whole process she's gone through, because she's had this monkey on her back, what she called being 'haunted episodically,' that she wanted someone to know about it [But] it seems to me that she really, really wants to confront what happened there because she can't get rid of it. Fierstein: Who would want to be there? It's such a humiliating and terrifying experience when it happened. And that doesn't go away. PTSD is a type of anxiety, and anxiety is maintained by avoidance, and often that happens we avoid because it feels terrible, whatever we're avoiding whether it's a traumatic memory or heights. It's just too distressing . I thought of that so much as I know she talked about claustrophobia. Ryan: I can appreciate supplying her professional knowledge to the situation, but I bet if anybody went on Twitter right now, there are people saying that she's using her professional background in order to try and build her credibility. I do want to talk a little bit more about memory. She has such clear memories of the sound of the men going down the stairs and when the music was turned up and things like that, but doesnt remember necessarily where this took place, and there are some other details that she doesnt remember clearly. What can you say about how memory associated with traumatic experiences works in that way? Onama: I think traumatic experiences create an environment in which the victim has to kind of protect their psyche. Therefore certain experiences become more vivid, like for example the hand over her mouth. I'm sure if somebody even tried to do that to her now, it would just trigger that memory. So that is one way that trauma gets put it in the memory. Fierstein: I think there's so many different reactions during a trauma We often talk about the fight-or-flight response is very much about survival, but really what often happens in trauma is a freeze response where we're just completely paralyzed and overwhelmed by everything. And you know, so often you might hear about someone who was being raped or attempted rape of any kind of assault and that someone might say 'well why didn't you run, or why didn't you use this weapon?' All very victim blaming. The reality is our bodies just shut down, and sometimes that's what we need to get through the trauma and actually when our bodies are in you know this freeze response. Tracy: I once worked with a rape victim in Philadelphia, a horrendous serial event, and she escaped from him. She was in one place. She remembered being assaulted there and the next thing she knew, she was on a highway flagging down someone and could not remember how she got from one place to another. And you know she was in significant therapy trying to see if that traumatic amnesia, because sometimes it does come back in flashbacks. Ryan: There are significant concerns about process but something like that, not remembering how you got home is something that I saw frequently, and I think if there's someone who doesn't understand the science behind it, you would say, 'Well, how could you not remember how you got home?' Whereas if you brought someone educated in that field to help, that makes a huge difference. I do want to talk about the sort of process. This isnt like being under direct examination, because were having a chronological recounting of events mixed in with five minutes of sort of big picture questions coming from the Democrats. What sort of impact does that have on a witness, just sort of jumping back and forth between minor details and sort of bigger picture? Ryan: Just to go back to my experience just talking to someone to get them comfortable I don't think it can be understated, that aspect of just trying to build a little rapport. And I appreciate what the prosecutor started with, just wanting to get sort of a baseline for easier statements and make sure they're accurate, but I think the way to start something like that is to just have a conversation. But, and I'm not criticizing, it doesn't seem like the process is allowing her to be that it's disruptive. You said a conversation. What do you mean by that? Ryan: When I speak to people, I'm trying very hard for us to not jump right into what occurred. I literally just ask people about their background, telling them about my background I think that's a tremendous way to start speaking to a survivor. Philadelphia has hired the same vendor Chicago is using to distribute municipal ID cards to residents. This rendering shows an example of Chicago's card. Read more Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed a bill Thursday that clears the way for the city to begin issuing municipal identification cards next year. Anyone trying to get a job, housing, government services, or health care needs proof of identity, but many people particularly low-income residents, immigrants, and youth don't have it. Cities including Newark, N.J.; Chicago; New York City; and San Francisco have distributed municipal identification cards, conceived as a way to help vulnerable populations. The bill that passed Thursday, introduced in 2016 by Council members Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Helen Gym, and Curtis Jones Jr., amends the city code to allow distribution of the cards. "Photo IDs are an essential part of modern life, from opening a bank account to borrowing a library book to checking in at the emergency room," Quinones-Sanchez said in a statement. "Municipal IDs will unlock doors so that all Philadelphians can fully participate in our city's vibrant economic and civic life." Council passed the bill by a 15-0 vote. Philadelphia officials plan to begin issuing municipal IDs in January, according to Joanna Otero-Cruz, Philadelphia's deputy managing director of community services, who is leading the program. According to the legislation, all city agencies and departments and any entity that receives city funds through contracts or grant or loan agreements would have to accept municipal IDs as proof of identity and residency. The bill also says the city will encourage acceptance of the card by public and private organizations such as libraries, museums, schools, health-care providers, museums, and banks. The city hopes eventually to add benefits such as museum discounts and library card capabilities to the ID a perk used by other cities to encourage widespread use of the card and reduce the stigma of a separate type of ID. Mayor Kenney said the IDs were a priority when he took office in 2016. Concerns about privacy slowed the ID program's progress last year. Under the bill, the city will not keep originals or copies of identifying documents, and will keep confidential the information it needs to issue the cards. Immigrant advocates in Philadelphia and across the country have said they worry governments will use identifying information to deport immigrants. >>READ MORE: No driver's license, no photo ID? Philadelphia will issue municipal ID cards starting next year Some opponents of municipal IDs say the cards give undocumented immigrants access to government services to which they are not entitled. Others question the need for creating a separate card instead of easing processes for obtaining state-issued IDs. To apply for a card, Philadelphia residents would need to prove their identities with documents such as U.S. or foreign passports, driver's licenses, state IDs, permanent resident cards, visas, Pennsylvania school IDs, certified copies of birth certificates, or Social Security cards. At least one form of identification must include a photograph and date of birth. Residents 13 and younger can submit copies of their birth certificates or medical or school records. Philadelphians can prove their residency with documents such as recent utility bills; letters from homeless shelters, health care centers, or social service agencies that receive city funding; pay stubs; bank account statements; property tax or mortgage payment receipts, and insurance bills. The bill gives the city discretion to decide whether to accept other forms of proof of residency and identity. Applicants would risk perjury if they give the city incorrect information. Information on the cards would include a person's name, date of birth, address, photograph, and a card renewal date. Police are investigating a double shooting in West Philadelphia that left a 29-year-old female bartender dead and the suspected gunman critically wounded. The victim and the suspect knew each other but their relationship was not immediately clear, police said. The shooting occurred about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Studio 7 Lounge on the corner of Spruce and 60th Streets, police said. Officers who heard the gunfire entered the bar and found the bartender, identified as Gwendolyn Anderson of the city's Hunting Park section, with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at 10:32 p.m. at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. A few doors away, they found a 52-year-old man believed to be the shooter with a bullet wound to the head and a handgun under his body, police said. The man, whose name has not yet been identified, was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in critical condition. For days, pundits and the nation have drawn parallels or sought to highlight the differences between the 1991 testimony of Anita Hill against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas and Christine Blasey Ford's claims that current nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982. And as the Capitol Hill hearing on the allegations opened Thursday, senators didn't shy away from linking the two. Senators cited the Hill hearing more than a half-dozen times in ways to be expected. Democrats said conditions for women, including Ford, had not improved in the halls of Congress since Hill's appearance. They called for the FBI to investigate Ford's claims, in keeping, they say, with protocol for the vetting of judicial nominations. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) reiterated why he and other Republicans say that's not necessary. Grassley pointed to comments by one of the Democrats' senior statesmen, former Vice President Joe Biden, who in 1991 was the committee chairman overseeing the Senate hearing where Hill testified. "This is what Sen. Biden said," Grassley said. "Quote: 'The next person who refers to an FBI report as being worth anything obviously doesn't understand anything. FBI explicitly does not, in this case or any other case, reach a conclusion, period. They say, 'He said, she said, they said. Period.' " Few Republicans on the committee other than Grassley spoke during the Ford hearing. The GOP-led committee brought in an Arizona sex-crimes prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, to question Ford on behalf of most Republican members. That move appeared designed to avoid the spectacle from 1991 of an all-male panel grilling a woman about misconduct allegations. The committee's current ranking Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, suggested Republicans were treating Ford much the way Hill was treated a quarter-century ago, proof, she said, that the country's institutions have not made progress in the treatment of women and sexual assault victims. "In 1991, Republicans belittled Professor Hill's experience, saying, and I quote, 'It won't make a bit of difference in the outcome,' end quote, and the burden of proof was on Professor Hill," she said. Minutes later, two more senators Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) again revisited the Hill hearing. "You and I were both here 27 years ago," Leahy told Grassley. "At that time, the Senate failed Anita Hill. I said I believed her. But I'm concerned that we're doing a lot less" for Ford as well as two other Kavanaugh accusers who have come forward in the past week. Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), added, "In 1991, during a similar hearing, one of my Republican colleagues in this committee stated: 'These claims were taken seriously by having the Federal Bureau of Investigation launch an inquiry to determine their validity.' That could have and should have been done here." Kavanaugh, in his fiery and emotional statement, called the Senate's treatment of the allegations against him a "national disgrace." He did not mention Hill. Late in the hearing, during Kavanaugh's questioning, the Hill hearing was again invoked. "This is worse than Clarence Thomas. I didn't think it could get any worse than that," Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican, said to the nominee. "This is a national disgrace, the way you're being treated." Hill, a professor at Brandeis University, was not at the hearing. In recent days, she said it was unlikely the hearing would be fair to Ford. Speaking to graduates at Rutgers-Camden this spring about six weeks before Ford first shared her allegations against Kavanaugh Hill hailed the impact of the #MeToo movement. "We can never as a society ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist," she said then. "We can't be the same as we were before, and we certainly can't go backward when we know that so many people are hurting and suffering." Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh gives his opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Saul Loeb/Pool Image via AP) Read more The hearing over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court and the sexual misconduct allegations surrounding him has ended after nearly nine hours Thursday. Christine Blasey Ford offered emotional testimony alleging she was sexually assaulted at a party 36 years ago. Kavanaugh was also emotional in his testimony, appearing irritated and at times tearing up as he refuted Ford's account of what happened. "I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified," a visibly nervous Ford told the committee after being sworn in Thursday morning. "I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school." Kavanaugh, Trump's pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, has vehemently denied all the accusations of sexual misconduct and assault made against him. In his own remarks before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the nominee again categorically denied the allegations, and slammed the turns the confirmation process has taken. Republicans hired an outside counsel, Rachel Mitchell, a sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, to question Ford. Democrats asked questions themselves. Both Democrats and Republicans questioned Kavanaugh. Here's a recap of what happened. Booker asks Kavanaugh whether he thinks Ford is a political operative Sen. Cory Booker (D, N.J.) asked Kavanaugh whether he wished Ford never came forward. "The witnesses who were there say it didn't happen," Kavanaugh replied. Booker also asked Kavanaugh whether people who believe Ford were legitimizing despicable things. "I say listen to both sides before you make a bottom-line conclusion that is fair," Kavanaugh said. Booker defended Ford and said she gave meaningful and credible testimony. He referred to an earlier claim by Kavanaugh, who said he was a victim of "revenge on behalf of the Clintons." "[Ford] is not a political pawn she is not part of the Clintons' efforts to get some kind of revenge," Booker said. "The witnesses who were there say it didn't happen," Kavanaugh responded. Sen. Kamala Harris (D, Calif.) asked Kavanaugh whether he had taken a polygraph test regarding the allegations. He said he had not. Asked about allegations of being an aggressive drunk, Kavanaugh lists his college accomplishments Sen. Mazie Hirono (D, Hawaii) pressed Kavanaugh about a college roommate who recalled that Kavanaugh was an aggressive drunk. Asked if the roommate was lying, Kavanaugh responded by listing his college accomplishments. "I worked very hard in college and my studies, and I also played basketball," Kavanaugh said. "I did sports." Sen. Thom Tillis (R, N.C.) said Kavanaugh was the victim of unfair attacks. "I look forward to supporting your confirmation, I believe that you're gonna be on the bench," he said. Republican Sen. Hatch says Kavanaugh is not a monster Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) called Ford's allegations uncorroborated and unsubstantiated. He also stressed that the alleged conduct is from Kavanaugh's teenage years. "He was an immature high schooler," Hatch said. "So were we all." Hatch said it was a "national disgrace" how Kavanaugh has been treated. "This man is not a monster," Hatch said. "Nor is he what has been represented here in these hearings." He was among the Republicans to address and speak positively to Kavanaugh. No Republicans, other than Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, addressed Ford. Republican Sen. Graham defiantly tells Kavanaugh he has nothing to apologize for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C) was livid as he accused Democrats of wanting to destroy Kavanaugh's life. "You've got nothing to apologize for," Graham said. Then, addressing Democrats, he said, "this is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics, and if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn't have done what you've done to this guy." Graham said Democrats knew about Ford's allegations against Kavanaugh but didn't move on them. "I hope that the American people will see through this charade," Graham said. He told Kavanaugh, "I wish you well, and I intend to vote for you." The White House praised Graham in a tweet. Sen. John Cornyn (R, Texas) told Kavanaugh he had a right to be angry. "The burden is not on you to disprove the allegations made," Cornyn said. "The burden under our system is on the person making the accusation." He also urged Kavanaugh not to give up. Kavanaugh gets into heated exchange with Democratic senators Sen. Patrick Leahy (D, Vt.) pointed out that Kavanaugh had brought up drinking in his high school yearbook. Kavanaugh tried to list his accomplishments in high school. "I was number one in the class," Kavanaugh started. Leahy then interrupted, causing Kavanaugh to tell "No, no, no, no, no." "I'm gonna talk about my high school record if you're gonna sit here and mock me," Kavanaugh said. Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) pressed Kavanaugh on whether he'd be open to an FBI investigation. "I wanna know what you wanna do, Judge," Durbin said. "I'm innocent," Kavanaugh responded. "I'm innocent of this charge." "Then you're prepared for an FBI investigation," Durbin said. "They don't reach conclusions," Kavanaugh said. "You reach the conclusions." "No," Durbin replied, "but they do investigate questions." Kavanaugh questioned about drinking habits; calls allegations by accuser Julie Swetnick a joke Under questioning by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Kavanaugh addressed the allegations by Julie Swetnick, who has said Kavanaugh was present at a party where she was raped (she has not identified Kavanaugh as the rapist). Swetnick was the third woman to come forward with allegations against Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. "The Swetnick thing is a joke," he said. "That is a farce." "Would you like to say more about it?" Feinstein asked. "No," he responded. Feinstein also asked Kavanaugh why he wasn't asking the FBI to investigate the allegations against him, given that he's so confident he never sexually assaulted the women who have accused him. "I'll do whatever the committee wants," Kavanaugh replied. "I wanted a hearing a day after the allegation came up it's an outrage that I was not allowed to come and immediately defend my name." Under questioning by Mitchell, Kavanaugh was asked questions about his sexual activity. He denied ever having rubbed his genitals on Ford, putting his hand over her mouth, or removing her clothes. Mitchell also asked Kavanaugh about his drinking. "What do you consider to be too many beers?" Mitchell asked. "I don't know," Kavanaugh replied. "Whatever the chart says, the blood alcohol chart." Asked if he had ever passed out from drinking, he said he had fallen asleep but never blacked out. Kavanaugh: Im a victim of revenge on behalf of the Clintons During his opening remarks, an angry and visibly upset Kavanaugh claimed Democratic opposition to his nomination and allegations of sexual misconduct were done in part to get "revenge on behalf of the Clintons." "This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups," Kavanaugh said. Kavanaugh worked as an associate counsel under independent counsel Ken Starr during multiple investigations of President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, which ultimately ended in Clinton's impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1998. Kavanaugh calls confirmation process a national disgrace Kavanaugh, who came out defiant and emotional in his opening statement, denied being at the party with Ford and called out Democrats, describing the confirmation process as a "circus." "This confirmation process has become a national disgrace," Kavanaugh said. He added: "There's been a frenzy on the left to come up with something, anything, to block my confirmation." He said the allegations other women have since lodged against him since Ford's emerged have hurt his and his family's good name. "My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by vicious and false additional accusations," he said, describing them as "last-minute smears" designed to scare him. "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," he added. Kavanaugh said he does not question that Ford may have been assaulted at some point. "But I have never done this to her or to anyone," he said. "That's not who I am." On social media, observers noted that Kavanaugh appeared visibly irritated and upset. Some said he may be acting defiant to appeal to President Trump. Kavanaugh acknowledged that he sometimes drank too much beer in the past. "I liked beer, I still like beer," he said. "But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out, and I never sexually assaulted anyone." Republican senator: Fords allegations are credible Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, called Ford's allegations "credible" following more than four hours of sometimes emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I thought she looked credible," Shelby said of Ford, according to The Hill. Shelby wasn't the only Republican senator to weigh in on Ford's testimony. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia called Ford's testimony "riveting." "It's riveting and that's all I'm going to say," she told reporters following the first half of the hearing. Most Republican senators, including Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Jeff Flake, said they were waiting until Kavanaugh had a chance to respond to Ford's allegations before rendering judgement. "I'm glad we're having the hearing and we'll see where it goes," Flake told reporters. Republican senator: Democrats set it up In an angry rant following Ford's testimony, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham claimed Democrats "set it up" to bring her allegation at the end of the process in hopes of pushing Kavanaugh's nomination past the midterm elections in November. Graham told reporters: "All I can say, is that we are 40 something days away from the elections and their goal, not Mrs. Ford's goal, is to delay this past the midterms so they can win the Senate and never allow Trump to fill this seat." Graham told reporters. "The friends on the other side set it up to be just the way it is. I feel ambushed," Fords attorney interrupts arguing senators: Can we be excused? After Ford had concluded offering her testimony, one of her lawyers had to interrupt a pair of arguing senators in order for her to be excused. "Can we be excused?" Michael Bromwich said, interrupting a back-and-forth between Republican Sen. John Kennedy and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. "The witness is quite tired. She'd like to be excused. " Cory Booker calls Ford heroic Sen. Cory Booker (D, N.J.) called Ford "heroic" for coming forward and testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Booker's comments drew rave reviews from at least one Hollywood admirer. >> READ MORE: Amid Kavanaugh controversy, conservatives attack Cory Booker's 1992 admission to 'groping' a high school friend after a kiss >> READ MORE: 'So much is at stake': Why Cory Booker has shed his nice guy image in Brett Kavanaugh hearings Republican senator calls Ford attractive Sen. Orrin Hatch (R, Utah) told reporters he thought Ford was an "attractive" witness when asked by reporters if he found her testimony credible. "Well, it's too early to say. I don't think she's un-credible. I think she's a very attractive, good witness," Hatch said. Hatch was cut off by McClatchy reporter Kate Irby, who asked what the senator meant by the term attractive. "Oh, in other words she's pleasing," Hatch responded. As ABC News noted, a spokesman for Hatch clarified that he uses the term "attractive" to "describes personalities, not appearances." Republican senator not swayed by Fords testimony During a break in the hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham told a gaggle of reporters he wasn't swayed by Ford's testimony, claiming she remained "uncertain in time, place, date." "Hiring a lawyer and taking a polygraph makes me more suspicious," Graham said about Ford testimony, adding that Ford "can't say how she got [to the party] and how she left." >> READ MORE: Have young men's attitudes toward sexual violence changed since Kavanaugh's youth? "She seems like a something happened to this woman. The question for me is, I've got a man who's lived a credibly productive life adamantly denying it," Graham added. "And a lot of the details, I don't know how you fill them in." Graham also warned Democrats that if Kavanaugh's nomination ends up failing over allegations of sexual assault, "you better watch out for your nominees." Graham wasn't asked about Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee who wasn't granted a hearing by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Questions about Fords fear of flying stir debate in both political parties Mitchell questioned Ford about her fear of flying, pointing out that Ford has taken planes for work and vacation. "You've had to fly for your work, is that true?" Mitchell asked. "Correct, unfortunately," Ford replied. Ford said she had hoped to avoid flying to Washington D.C., but that, "I eventually was able to get up the gumption with the help of some friends and get on the plane." Some Kavanaugh supporters jumped on the flight issue to question Ford's credibility. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted a criticism of Ford but didn't appear to understand she had flown to Washington to testify. Critics of Mitchell's line of questioning said people afraid of flying often have to fly and that Ford's travel had nothing to do with the allegations of sexual misconduct. The stairwell, the living room, the bedroom Ford recalled to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) things that continue to haunt her about the night she says she was assaulted. "The stairwell, the living room, the bedroom, the bed on the right side of the room as you walk into the room, there was a bed to the right the bathroom in close proximity, the laughter, the uproarious laughter, and the multiple attempts to escape and the final ability to do so," Ford said. Ford came forward before Kavanaugh was nominated Ford confirmed to Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.) that she came forward with her allegations about Kavanaugh before he was nominated by President Trump to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Ford also confirmed it wasn't her intention for her allegation to have an impact at such a late stage of the nominating process. >> READ MORE: Rutgers Law School students, professors rapt as Kavanaugh accuser testifies during hearing "I felt it was very important to get the information to you but I didn't know how to do it while there was a short list of candidates," Ford said. Fox News host: This is a disaster for Republicans Fox News host Chris Wallace called Ford's powerful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee a "disaster" for Republicans. "This was extremely emotional, extremely raw, and extremely credible. And nobody could listen to her deliver those words talk about the assault and the impact it had had on her life and not have your heart go out to her, and she was actually traumatized by an event," Wallace said following the committee's first break. "This is a disaster for the Republicans." Fellow Fox News host Martha MacCallum, who interviewed Kavanaugh on Monday night, agreed that Ford's testimony was powerful and suggested it may have been a mistake for Republican senators to outsource their questions to Rachel Mitchell, the top sex crimes prosecutor for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix. "You have to believe that the Republican senators right now are asking themselves whether or not this was a good idea whether or not they have robbed themselves of their opportunity to ask pointed questions in a way that perhaps might be more compelling," MacCallum said. What anchors are saying on Fox News is important, Air Force One televisions were tuned to Fox News' live coverage of the hearing, according to The Hill. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Trump was watching the live coverage of the hearings aboard Air Force One. I was underneath one of them while the two laughed Ford explained to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.), that one of her most distinct memories from the alleged assault was the laughter shared during the incident between Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge. "Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two, and them having fun at my expense. I was underneath one of them while the two laughed," Ford said. "You've never forgotten that laughter. You never forgot them laughing at you," Leahy responded. "They were laughing with each other," Ford said. Ford shoots down conspiracy theory pushed by some Republicans Ford once again dismissed a conspiracy theory promoted as recently as Thursday morning by White House counselor Kellyanne Conway that allegations against Kavanaugh were simply a case of mistaken identity. "So what you are telling us this could not be a case of mistaken identity," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, asked Ford. "Absolutely not," Ford responded. The idea that Ford could have misidentified Kavanaugh was first floated by Ed Whelan, a conservative lawyer and a close friend to Kavanaugh. Last week, Whelan rolled out a baseless conspiracy theory that Ford was assaulted by a different classmate who, in Whelan's view, could easily have been confused with Kavanaugh. Whelan has since apologized and called his comments "appalling and inexcusable." Ford has been clear since first coming forward to the Washington Post 11 days ago that it was Kavanaugh and Judge who sexually assaulted her at the high school party. "[T]he details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget," Ford said during her opening remarks. "They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult." Republican questioner opens with empathy to Ford Mitchell, who is questioning Ford on behalf of Republican senators, began her first question by showing the witness some empathy. "I just wanted to tell you that the first thing that struck me from your statement this morning was that you were terrified, and I just wanted to let you know that I'm very sorry," Mitchell said. "That isn't right." Fords view as she delivers her opening remarks Ford explains why she first revealed she had been sexually assaulted During her opening remarks, Ford, her voice cracking at times, disclosed what caused her to first reveal to her husband, Russell Ford, that she had been sexually assaulted. "The reason this came up in counseling is that my husband and I had completed an extensive remodel of our home, and I insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand," Ford explained. "I wanted to have a second front door, I described the assault in detail. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke a bit about his background. My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh." She later said the door had been installed. Top Republican apologizes to both Ford and Kavanaugh Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley apologized to both Kavanaugh and Ford during his opening remarks, citing death threats both of them and their families had received over the past week. "What they have endured ought to be considered by all of us as unacceptable and a poor reflection on the state of civility in our democracy," said Grassley, a Republican from Iowa. "I want to apologize to you both for the way you've been treated and I intend hopefully for today's hearing to be safe, comfortable and dignified for both of our witnesses." Fox News host said Kavanaugh allegations caused his two daughters to open up Fox News host Chris Wallace got personal during the network's live coverage of the hearing, revealing that two of his daughters opened up to him about incidents they experienced in high school that they had never discussed before. "Two of my daughters have told me stories that I had never heard before about things that happened to them in high school," Wallace said. "There are teenage girls who don't tell stories to a lot of people, and then it comes up I don't think we can disregard Christine Blasey Ford and the seriousness of this." Alyssa Milano in attendance Actress Alyssa Milano, who revealed that it took her 30 years to admit she had been sexually assaulted as a teen, is among the invited guests on hand to watch the historic hearing. Milano said she came to show solidarity with Ford, and believes the country is in a different place than when Anita Hill testified that she had been sexually harassed by then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas back in 1991. "Women throughout the country are not going to let it be what it was," Milano told my colleague Jonathan Tamari. Tamari caused reporters in the hearing room to chuckle when he asked the popular actress to tell the press gaggle her name and to spell it. Additional developments Kavanaugh denied two additional allegations, including an alleged rape that took place on a boat in Newport, R.I. in August of 1985, according to a transcript released by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee also spoke to two individuals who believed they were the men who assaulted Ford, according to an investigative summary released by the committee. The anonymous claims were not corroborated or verified. Fox News host Laura Ingram called Ford a liar for her decision not to hand over her therapist's notes to the committee. "Guess what, there are no notes! She didn't deliver her notes. You know why? Because I think the therapist is an ACME therapist. There was no therapist! It's a big lie! Lie! Lie! Lie!" Maine Sen. Susan Collins, one of the few Republican swing votes on Kavanaugh, raised serious concerns on Wednesday about Swetnick's allegations and questioned why the committee did not subpoena Judge, according to CNN. Three and a half years ago, then-Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced that the city would spend $4 million to implement a computerized licensing and inspection system that would let people apply for permits online, and let inspectors more easily track applications and violations. "We'll spend some money, we'll save some money, and we'll make a lot of money," Nutter said at the 2014 news conference. The program was supposed to be fully functioning by the end of 2015. Instead, it is only halfway done and the bill has topped $10 million. Around the same time, the city hired a company for $15 million to replace its 30-year-old payroll system and sync it with pensions, benefits, and time management under the same computerized system, all by mid-2015. Already, $23 million has been spent on the project and it's far from complete. City officials also wanted to move away from the thousands of Excel pages used to create annual budgets. A $3 million contract was signed to digitize the city's budgeting system and make it more efficient and transparent. After shelling out $1.6 million, they now want to scrap it. An Inquirer and Daily News review shows four of the city's most critical information technology upgrades have been plagued by cancellations, contractor disputes, years of delays, and other problems. Together, their combined price tag has already swelled $21 million above what city officials initially said they would cost, with no sign of a ceiling. Such seven-figure blunders rarely get noticed or widely shared with the taxpayers who fund them. Information technology projects are mostly paid through the city's capital budget, which averages about $1.3 billion annually. If one program goes over its projected budget, the money is moved from another initiative that was perhaps under budget. City officials say overruns and delays are to be expected. "Part of monitoring contracts is monitoring your vendor as you go along," said Rob Dubow, city finance director since 2008. "You are, over time, going to have issues with a variety of vendors. What you have to do is recover when that happens, and that's what we are doing." Last year, Mayor Kenney hired a chief information officer, Charles Brennan, who administration officials say is supposed to take a more hands-on approach to managing IT projects. Increasing that focus "will help contain costs and provide more accurate costs projections," said the mayor's chief of staff, Jane Slusser. Philadelphia's stumbles aren't unique. Jim Johnson, founder and chairman of the Standish Group, a firm that analyzes private- and public-sector technology projects, said government projects often fail because they have too much oversight and are too big in scope. "They like to create these big projects with lots of people and lots of money, and they just don't work," Johnson said. The Standish Group's analysis of more than 1,200 multimillion-dollar government projects between 2012 and 2016 showed that only 13.6 percent were finished on time and on budget. Thirty percent completely failed. (One was Pennsylvania's $110 million attempt to upgrade its unemployment compensation system the initiative was $60 million over budget and 45 months behind schedule when the state put an end to it in 2013.) But complaints about Philadelphia's IT woes and its slow, costly march into the modern age have been bubbling. The four programs were part of a $120 million capital investment in city technology that started under Nutter. At a budget hearing this spring, Councilwoman Helen Gym said she was concerned that the current IT projects "are becoming increasingly more expensive, and as they become increasingly delayed, they become immediately irrelevant." In a letter last month to the chief information officer, City Controller Alan Butkovitz warned that "Philadelphia has a history of jumping into costly projects and failing its citizens when it comes to operating in the 21st century." "This is a trend that cannot continue," he wrote. Pointing to Philadelphia's outdated and technology-challenged property assessment system, Councilman Mark Squilla noted the city is losing money and keeping its citizens from getting tax breaks they may deserve. "Values that are properly assessed would be a big bonus to residents and business. They are supposed to be doing assessments every year," Squilla said. "The [upgrade] costs keep running on, which means every year we have to allocate additional dollars to a system that should have already been up and running." That was supposed to all change 11 years ago, when the city embarked on a new computerized system called Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA). "We're not using anything from that" CAMA's purpose was to allow annual valuation updates on all city properties, which should lead to more accurate assessments and tax bills. In 2006, the Board of Revision of Taxes signed a contract with Colorado CustomWare Inc. to implement the system. Five years later, and after paying the company $4.3 million, the Nutter administration agreed to end the contract. What did the city get for its investment? No one could say. Carla Pagan, the Board of Revision of Taxes executive director who signed the settlement agreement, told a reporter last week to ask "the lawyers that negotiated that deal." Shelley Smith, city solicitor when the settlement was reached, said she did not recall its details or why the contract ended. Dubow, the finance director back then, also was stumped. "I don't think a lot of us know any of the details other than we know we're not using anything from that," he said. Still, the city trudged on. Shortly after signing the 2011 settlements, the Nutter administration took responsibility for property assessments and created the Office of Property Assessment. In 2015 two years after the controversial Actual Value Initiative, which reassessed all properties at market value it again tried to create a CAMA system, and budgeted $4.7 million to do so. Thomson Reuters won the bid and the city started negotiating the details of a contract. Then, according to city officials, Thomson Reuters pushed the start date of CAMA until September 2018, much later than the city had requested. So, the city walked away and started the bid process all over again, delaying the project further. In April, the city signed a $7 million contract with Plano, Texas-based Tyler Technologies to help launch the CAMA system. It's expected to go live at the end of 2019. A partial eCLIPSE? Attempts to modernize the licensing system have endured similar twists. In January 2014, Nutter announced a $4 million project known as eCLIPSE (Electronic Commercial Licensing, Inspection and Permit Services Enterprise) for the Department of Licenses and Inspections. The hope was that it would enable contractors and residents to apply online for permits instead of using paper forms and give city inspectors instant access to such licenses and any violations in one online system. The project was to be rolled out in four phases, ending in December 2015. Instead, the implementation is ongoing and the bill has grown to at least $10.7 million. David Perri, L&I commissioner, said increased costs are due to the city's adding a data warehouse and other tools not outlined in the initial contract. Perri noted that just the half-completed eCLIPSE system has generated $12 million in revenue because it helps inspectors scour Revenue Department records and identify tax delinquents. Business and rental license applicants are barred from getting approved until they settle their tax bills. In years past, with a paper system across several offices, those cross-checks fell through the cracks. "Folks were getting different permits without getting clearance on their taxes," he said. A bankruptcy disrupts Perhaps no project has been as tortured as OnePhilly, an initiative to connect city personnel, pension and benefits data and payroll under the same system. The project was launched in 2014 with Colorado-based Ciber Inc. as the lead vendor, a $15.3 million capital budget and a July 2015 target for completion. Two years later, it's still in flux. Taxpayers have paid $19.3 million to Ciber and other vendors involved in the project, including $8.5 million in Oracle software licensing fees. The city also spent $3.7 million for 10 employees dedicated to that project. In April, Ciber filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy , and was purchased by a Michigan company, HTC Global, in June. City spokesman Mike Dunn said the city expects to pay HTC Global an additional $2.6 million to finish what Ciber started. But even after that, the city still needs to figure out how to complete the full project. So the current $25.6 million price tag for OnePhilly will likely grow. 'Over their head' Finally, there's the budgeting system. The city contracted CGI Group Inc., a Montreal-based vendor, to create a performance-based budgeting system to replace the thousands of spreadsheets currently used to put together its annual $4 billion operating budget and $9 billion six-year capital budget. According to the July 17 letter from Butkovitz to Brennan, the city has paid CGI $1.6 million but there is nothing to show for it. The city wouldn't comment on the CGI contract other than to say both sides are negotiating a "resolution." Butkovitz has launched an investigation into the matter. "The recurring failures," he said, "indicate that they're over their head in dealing with this." The emotional testimony offered to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a high school party, came across as "credible and powerful" to Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume. ''The more hesitant, the more fragile she has seemed, the more credible and powerful she seems to the audience," Hume said following Ford's testimony. But while Hume found Ford credible, her testimony divided many Fox News hosts and pundits, and led to one contributor being fired. In one of the most incendiary reactions to Ford's testimony, Kevin Jackson, a syndicated radio host and a Fox News contributor who has guest hosted Outnumbered and Fox & Friends, claimed Ford's problems were her own "promiscuity," adding, "Dang girl, stop opening your legs" in tweets that have since been deleted. "Kevin Jackson has been terminated as a contributor. His comments on today's hearings were reprehensible and do not reflect the values of Fox News," a spokeswoman said in a statement. What anchors were saying on Fox News was important, as televisions on Air Force One were tuned to the network's live coverage of the hearing, according to The Hill. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that President Trump was watching the live coverage of the hearings aboard Air Force One before returning to the White House. Fox News host Chris Wallace was among those to praise Ford's testimony, calling her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee a "disaster" for Republicans. "This was extremely emotional, extremely raw, and extremely credible. And nobody could listen to her deliver those words talk about the assault and the impact it had had on her life and not have your heart go out to her, and she was actually traumatized by an event," Wallace said following the committee's first break. "This is a disaster for the Republicans." Fellow Fox News host Martha MacCallum, who interviewed Kavanaugh on Monday night, agreed that Ford's testimony was powerful and suggested it may have been a mistake for Republican senators to outsource their questions to Rachel Mitchell, the top sex crimes prosecutor for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix. >> READ MORE: Anita Hill cited again and again as Kavanaugh-Ford hearing opens >> READ MORE: Have young men's attitudes toward sexual violence changed since Kavanaugh's youth? "You have to believe that the Republican senators right now are asking themselves whether or not this was a good idea whether or not they have robbed themselves of their opportunity to ask pointed questions in a way that perhaps might be more compelling," MacCallum said. Fox News host Bret Baier even felt the need to respond to a viewer on Twitter who claimed the network's analysis of Ford's testimony made it seem they were "bending over backwards" to be MSNBC. "If you think that first section of this hearing was a win for the GOP Then you saw a different hearing," Baier wrote. But other conservative commentators weren't as impressed by Ford's testimony. The Resurgent's Erick Erickson wrote that Ford "seems very unsure of much of her memory" and that "emotion does not equal fact and tears do not equal evidence." CRTV's Michelle Malkin referred to Ford's testimony as "victimization" and claimed Kavanaugh "has been transformed by Resistance magicians into a serial gang rape predator." And popular conservative commentator Glenn Beck said Ford's pain "doesn't seem authentic." Ford's testimony even divided pundits and contributors on Fox. Fox Business host Stuart Varney said Ford's testimony "was undermining the integrity of the court and the nominee." Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor and a frequent Fox Business guest, said Ford "was far from being raped" and wondered if "women actually find her credible. Frankly, I do not." >> READ MORE: Kavanaugh allegations raise questions about alcohol, sexual assault, and the reliability of memory Prior to Ford's testimony, Wallace got personal during the network's live coverage, revealing that two of his daughters opened up to him about incidents they experienced in high school that they had never discussed before, following the allegations against Kavanaugh. >> READ MORE: Rutgers Law School students, professors rapt as Kavanaugh accuser testifies during hearing "Two of my daughters have told me stories that I had never heard before about things that happened to them in high school," Wallace said. "There are teenage girls who don't tell stories to a lot of people, and then it comes up I don't think we can disregard Christine Blasey Ford and the seriousness of this." >> READ MORE: Here's how Brett Kavanaugh could have redeemed himself | Ronnie Polaneczky >> READ MORE: How do you investigate a decades-old sexual assault claim? In January, thousands of city employees could find themselves working fewer hours for the same salary and others will be working the same hours for more money, thanks to a new human resources computer system that will have cost more than $44 million by the time it is operational later this year. For uniformity, city officials want the new system to classify about half the workforce, or 13,400 employees, as working 7.5-hour days. But since many have jobs that require them to work eight hours a day, that design choice could end up costing Philadelphia millions, and wipe out some of the savings officials projected from getting a new computer system in the first place. The move could have at least three potential ripple effects: Some employees who currently work eight-hour days will be moved to a 7.5-hour schedule but paid the same salary. Others workers whose jobs require them to work eight hours must maintain that schedule and will be paid more for what, on paper, will be considered an extra 30 minutes a day. And the shorter workday means 11,000 who are eligible for overtime will see a 10 percent increase in their overtime pay rate. Labor union officials were baffled when the city approached them about switching to 7.5 hours. The city's blue-collar union, AFSCME District Council 33, initially fought the change, asking why the new system couldn't accommodate both kinds of workers, but eventually accepted it when city officials told them employees would get more money in the deal. "They said it has to do with computer stuff, it all has to be uniform," said Sam Spear, DC33's labor attorney. "We said, 'That sounds crazy but if you say so.' " The city says it does not know how much the switch will cost because officials cannot currently say how many employees currently work 7.5 hours or eight hours. "We expect that many employees will continue to work 7.5 hours because they are already doing that and that some departments will change their 8 hours workers to 7.5 hours, thereby avoiding any additional cost," city spokesperson Mike Dunn said in an email. "Of course, there are some departments who will actually work 8 hours and pay the extra half hour on a regular basis. We can't, at this point, pinpoint that last group and predict how all of this will work out or the cost of it." But one impact is clear: The move will increase the hourly rate for many workers, and thus will hike overtime rates. If overtime were to remain the same as it was this past record-breaking year, the city would be on the hook for more than $7 million in additional payroll cost. That's not counting the additional 30 minutes of straight-time pay some will get for keeping to their eight-hour workday. For an employee with a $50,000 salary, that could mean an automatic $3,072 annual pay bump. Multiply that by thousands and the hourly rate switch could put a dent in its $4.7 billion annual budget. The additional compensation would also be used to calculate employees' future pensions and thereby increasing the city's liability long term. The system upgrade is part of the One Philly project, launched in 2014 to link the city's personnel, payroll, pensions and benefits systems and give managers the ability to better keep track of employee hours and reduce the use of overtime. For decades every piece of employee information has been manually entered into various incompatible programs. The new system can accommodate both 7.5- and eight-hour workdays. It will cover police officers, firefighters, prison guards, sheriff deputies, and all court employees who will continue to work their eight-hour and 12-hour shifts. But legions of other employees won't be accommodated. "If you are building all this specialty code, why not account for 7.5 hour workers and eight-hour workers," said one source with knowledge of the system, who requested anonymity because he's not authorized to speak about the project. "Why would you give up millions of dollars for nothing?" Pennsylvania has a similar split among its 73,000 public workers 46,000 work 37.5-hour workweeks while many of the rest, in law enforcement and certain facilities, work 40-hour weeks. But the state doesn't pay extra for its eight-hour-a-day workers. One option for Philadelphia would have been to make everyone eight-hour employees. Because the current payroll system was already calculating workdays that way, such a move would have been cost-neutral, Dunn said. Officials, however, did not want to inconvenience employees who might have been forced to extend child care or adjust other commitments. "We did an analysis of it and at the time we presented it to the steering committee and at the time they thought the benefits outweighed the negative," Rick Stewart, the One Philly project director, said of going to 7.5-hour days. He cited the incompatibility of the previous disjointed system. "As you can imagine, addresses spelled differently or different benefit type information put into another system doesn't match another," Stewart said. "So we are constantly going back and forth saying well why doesn't this match here, what's the system of record?" Ciber Inc was selected as the lead vendor for One Philly with a $14.8 million contract and a 2-year timeline. But as the Inquirer and Daily News reported last year, the project was riddled with significant delays and cost overruns by the time the firm, based in Colorado, filed for bankruptcy in April 2017. By then Ciber had been paid $9 million and the city had spent millions more on software and staff. Yet One Philly was far from complete. Other governments, including the Hawaii Department of Transportation and Washington state's community colleges, went to court over Ciber Inc.'s inability to deliver and won. Philadelphia decided it was best to proceed and finish the project. The city increased its contract with the company, by then purchased by HTC Global and rebranded as Ciber Global, to $28.7 million, nearly double the original amount. Philadelphia officials dismissed questions about the quality of Ciber's work, saying that the reorganized company is improved. While some of the same employees as before remain, city officials say they are confident. The new system is expected to go live by mid-December. Vickas Bhutada, executive vice president at HTC/Ciber Global, said that when his team acquired Ciber, it checked with Philadelphia and other customers to resolve outstanding issues. "We deployed the right team on the project, defined all the requirements and details, validated all the work that had been done, figured out the gaps," Bhutada said. "We believe we are now in very good shape and on schedule, hitting budget and we should be ready to launch as far as the plan." It's been more than a month since the Inquirer and Daily News requested copies of Philadelphia's Ciber contracts, as well as related One Philly contractors, including Oracle. The city provided the Ciber Global contract on Monday but has not yet provided the rest. Without the original contracts, it is difficult to see just how much over budget the project currently is. Including other vendors and payroll, the city says it expects to have spent at least $44 million by the time One Philly goes live. But even after the project is completed, taxpayers will still be on the hook for at least $3.3 million a year to support the new system. That doesn't include the extra costs of the new work schedule. President Trump appears at a rally August 2, 2018, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes Barre. Read more President Trump will visit Philadelphia on Tuesday to deliver a speech to electrical contractors gathered at the Convention Center, according to a White House official. Trump will speak to the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), which is expected to draw about 8,000 visitors to the city for a convention that starts Friday and concludes Tuesday. "The president will highlight the Trump administration's commitment to workforce development and small business growth during his remarks," said the White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The trade group in February tweeted a video criticism of Trump, saying tariffs he imposed would drive up costs for solar panels, discouraging building owners from installing them. "Unfortunately, the president decided to impose a 30 percent tariff on imported solar cells and panels," NECA government affairs manager James Farrell said in the video. "It's only going to hurt the already growing industry and going to hurt construction." The group, which also met with Trump in Florida in July to discuss job development, last year tweeted praise for the president when he approved the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Trump, known for speeches that roam across a range of topics, is likely to delve into the midterm elections during Tuesday's speech. Trump encouraged U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, a Republican from Hazleton, to challenge U.S. Sen. Bob Casey's bid for a third term. Casey, a Democrat from Scranton, holds 17-point lead on Barletta among likely voters, according to a Franklin and Marshall College Poll released Thursday. The National Electrical Contractors Association endorsed Barletta last month. The trade group's political action committee has given Barletta's campaigns for the House and Senate $29,000 since 2012, according to federal campaign finance records. It gave Casey a lone donation of $2,500 in 2010. Trump visited Wilkes-Barre in August to tout Barletta's campaign in a rally that drew thousands. In Wilkes-Barre, Trump also endorsed former State Sen. Scott Wagner, a York County Republican challenging Gov. Wolf's bid for a second term. Wolf, a Democrat from York County, holds a 22-point lead on Wagner among likely voters, according to the F&M Poll. Trump will not be the only draw for the final day of the trade group's convention. Jon Dorenbos, the former long snapper for the Eagles and now a practicing magician, will deliver a speech Tuesday afternoon. The rock group Foreigner is scheduled to perform a concert later that evening. Orlando FL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sentry Management, Inc., the leader in homeowner association and condominium management has joined forces with New Yorks Diamond Realty Management (Diamond). The new office has begun the changeover and will officially be renamed Sentry Management. Since 1975, Sentry has been a leader in the community association management industry. Sentry has established its national presence through satisfied clients, the introduction of innovative services, full transparency to Boards of Directors, and industry-leading software technology, each of which has been designed around the community association and the homeowner. David Disco, AMS and Joseph Conlon, PCAM built Diamond into a community association management powerhouse in the New York Capital Region. For thirty years, Diamond has been a leader in community association management throughout the Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady and Troy area. The reputation of Diamond and the quality and professionalism of their team is impressive, says Howard Pomp, CEO of Sentry. Diamond and Sentry both agree that the combined operation will provide a greater level of service to its portfolio, and increase the career opportunities for Diamonds employees. Diamonds decision to team with a national company was made in the best interest of its clients, as well as its employees. We are dedicated to augmenting the quality of service our clients have come to expect. Coupled with our outstanding customer service support, Sentry Management provides the strategies and expertise to meet the specialized needs of every association client, says David Disco, Vice President of the Capital-Saratoga Sentry office. As industry technologies quickly evolve, we intend to be at the forefront of the marketplace, providing our clients with the best possible service. The service area for Sentry Managements Capital-Saratoga office is primarily Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady and Rensselaer Counties in New York. The local office will remain at 790 Watervliet Shaker Road, Suite 2, Latham, NY 12110-2207. The phone number is (518) 783-5000. To learn more, go to CapitalSaratoga.Sentrymgt.com Sentry Management is a full-service community management company. Sentrys business is the day-to-day operation of communities, homeowner associations and condominiums. Sentry is accredited as an AMO (Accredited Management Organization) by the Institute of Real Estate Management, providing independent evaluation that Sentry has one of the highest operating and financial standards in the industry. Sentry operates in dozens of localities in Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Attachment Judge Brett Kavanaugh's future as a Supreme Court judge will be on the line today during a historic hearing on Capitol Hill. Read more Judge Brett Kavanaugh's future as a potential Supreme Court judge is on the line today as Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexual assault at a high school party, testified under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kavanaugh, who has denied Ford's allegations and the claims made by two other woman, also testified. Both Ford and Kavanaugh have released their opening statements ahead of the hearings. Ford testified first, with Kavanaugh going second so he would have the opportunity to respond to her allegations. Each offered an opening statement before facing questions from each of the committee's 21 senators, who each had five minutes to question each witness. Republican senators largely allowed their questions to be asked by Rachel Mitchell, the top sex crimes prosecutor for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix. There is no set end time for today's hearing. Sources at the networks initially said their rough estimate was sometime between 3 and 4 p.m., but at the rate of the proceedings (Ford's testimony wrapped up shortly after 2 p.m.), the hearing isn't likely to end until after 7 p.m. Kavanaugh's earlier hearings on Capitol Hill lasted more than 12 hours each, though senators had 20 minutes each to ask questions of Kavanaugh. Previous hearings were also delayed by procedural objections by Democrats and numerous protests that took place in the seating gallery. Here's what you need to know to follow today's historic hearings: Scheduled start time: 10 a.m. ET Location: Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington D.C. TV channels: ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and Univision will all cover the hearings live. Streaming: The hearing is being streamed on Philly.com >> READ MORE: Inside the Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford hearing >> READ MORE: What 4 Philly-area experts say about Dr. Ford's testimony Broadcast plans Fox News: Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, who interviewed Kavanaugh on Monday night, will anchor the network's coverage starting at 9 a.m. CNN: Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer will anchor the network's live coverage starting at 8:30 a.m., and will be joined by reporter Dana Bash and CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, among other guests. CNN will also stream coverage live on their website without cable authentication. ABC: George Stephanopoulos will anchor coverage based in ABC's studios in New York, while World News Tonight anchor David Muir will be on location in Washington, D.C. CBS: CBS This Morning hosts Gayle King Norah O'Donnell, and John Dickerson will join CBS Evening News host Jeff Glor to anchor CBS News' coverage starting at 10 a.m. NBC: Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Chuck Todd, Megyn Kelly, and Andrea Mitchell will all participate in NBC's coverage of the hearings, which kicks off at 9:30 a.m. MSNBC: Stephanie Rule and Brian Williams, host of MSNBC's The 11th Hour and former NBC Nightly News host, will anchor the network's coverage beginning at 9:50 a.m. Univision: Univision News Anchors Ilia Calderon and Jorge Ramos will anchor live coverage beginning at 10 a.m., joined by live coverage from reporters Janet Rodriguez and Claudia Uceda. >> READ MORE: Anita Hill cited again and again as Kavanaugh-Ford hearing opens >> READ MORE: Crisis centers see increase in sexual trauma calls during Kavanaugh hearing >> READ MORE: Rutgers Law School students, professors rapt as Kavanaugh accuser testifies during hearing Sheila Ronkin, 61, of Philadelphia and Longport, N.J., a specialist in maternal fetal medicine who later became a clinical research leader at Pfizer, died Tuesday, Sept. 25, of pancreatic cancer at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse. In her first career, beginning in 1988, Dr. Ronkin directed and provided maternity care, prenatal diagnosis, and ultrasound imaging for expectant women at area hospitals. Those included Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Hahnemann University Hospital, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, and Brandywine Hospital. "She was very hands-on, personally seeing patients rather than being in the background reading reports," said her husband, Andrew Gerson, who is also a maternal fetal specialist. "She was very smart, she would know a patient from 18 months before. She focused on patients, identified with patients, and bonded with people." In her second career, starting in 1998, Dr. Ronkin joined Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company, as medical director of women's health. Her focus was clinical research and development. During almost two decades at the company, she contributed to the development of new medicines and studied medicines already on the market for possible new therapeutic uses. "I worked with Sheila professionally in clinical development for several years," wrote Eric Maller, a Pfizer executive, in an online guestbook. "I always found her to be so smart, practical in her approaches, and a fierce advocate for patients, especially women, during and after her time working in women's health. Her dry humor, sharp intelligence and no-nonsense commitment to quality and safety in drug development are sorely missed." When Pfizer acquired Wyeth in 2009, Dr. Ronkin was named assistant vice president of clinical development. In 2014, she became vice president of clinical sciences. In that role, she was responsible for design, conduct, interpretation, and reporting of clinical trials in the areas of rare diseases, renal disorders, and women's health. "Although she was the head of it, you would never hear the word I," her husband said. "It would be, 'My team worked together to bring this medicine to market.'" When Pfizer reorganized in 2016, she left to join BioMarin, a California-based biopharmaceutical innovator focusing on treatments for rare diseases driven by genetic causes. Her title was clinical research consultant. She retired in March for health reasons. Born in Trenton, Dr. Ronkin graduated from Cherry Hill High School East in 1974 and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Cornell University in 1978. She completed a medical degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey New Jersey Medical School, Newark, in 1982. She was offered internship and residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at Temple University Hospital. In a light moment, the program director asked a young resident already in the program to choose one of five candidates listed on index cards. "Every Tuesday we had lunch with our chairman," Gerson said. "It was like Dad with the kids. So, he walks in, he hands me five cards. He says, 'Here, pick one.' Sheila's smile [on the card] was very engaging. "I said, 'Here, take this one.' I thought it was a joke. He took her.'" Dr. Ronkin joined the program in July 1982, and the two married in 1983. They had two children whom they raised in Merion. While working and raising her family, Dr. Ronkin returned to school in 1996 and earned a master's degree in business administration and strategic planning at Haub School of Business of St. Joseph's University. Her husband and children were at the center of Dr. Ronkin's life. They enjoyed vacations at their summer home in Longport. When the family moved to Center City in 2011, she took long walks on city streets, her husband said. She was an avid reader, knitter, weaver, traveler, and loved to engage in current political discussion. The couple went to independent films together. The last one they saw was RBG, a documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In addition to her husband, she is survived by daughter Lyssa Gerson Guy; son Alexander Gerson; her father, Seymour Ronkin; and three brothers. Funeral services were Wednesday, Sept. 26. Memorial contributions may be made to Philabundance via https://www.philabundance.org/, or the Mitzvah Food Pantry run by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia via https://jewishphilly.org/need-help/direct-services/serving-vulnerable-populations/mitzvah-food-program/ With the midterm elections on the horizon, neighborhoods are filling with political canvassers, volunteers stomping the sidewalks for candidates seeking greater name recognition and all-important votes. Some see these folks, armed with shiny campaign materials, as pests to be ignored. As someone who has knocked on her share of unopened doors, I certainly understand that. But I also want to note that in many cases, the one-on-one connection between a canvasser and a willing citizen can yield interesting and illuminating results. >> READ MORE: Running for office in South Philly taught me that politics starts with your neighbors | Opinion Take last week, when I was campaigning for two candidates running for the Pennsylvania legislature. While the candidates were both Democrats, the lists of houses my friend and I were to hit included a number of Republicans and Independents, who might be persuaded to switch their party allegiance on Election Day. We weren't guaranteed a warm welcome from everyone we were about to meet. But I'm here to report that far from shutting any doors in our faces, everyone who answered their doorbells gave us a fair hearing, without exception. And that, in many cases, people were more than willing to come onto their front steps on this sunny day and talk to us about their concerns and their beliefs. While no one seemed willing to commit to a change in their party allegiance, everyone readily engaged and discussed the issues, from clean water to better public schools to health care. In some cases, we had broader discussions: We talked about the candidates and their connections to the community. We talked how the neighborhood had changed over the years, how new people were moving in and older folks were downsizing. We did a fair amount of shaking our heads about the state of affairs in Washington both Republicans and Democrats. >> READ MORE: What it means to be a committee person in Philadelphia | Perspective As a person interested in the politics, I've canvassed for years. And each time I'm out in the streets of our suburban neighborhood, I'm reminded of how actively participating in grassroots politics can remind you of how democracy is supposed to operate. I'm no Pollyanna. I'm canvassing this year to relieve my years-long anxieties over the future of the U.S., both at home and abroad. Yet I can't ignore how there is something very pure about going to a person's home and inviting them to talk about issues they care about and affect them daily. As always, on this particular Saturday, I was struck by how people are better educated on both local and national issues than for which they are often given credit. It's also worth noting that no matter how controversial the topic abortion, gerrymandering, gun control I've never gotten into an argument with anyone I'm spoken with. If we do disagree, we seem to also agree silently to be civil and hear one another out. It would be great to say that every one of my conversations led the candidates I'm working for to victory. But even as I set out their stands and talk about why they might be best for the job, that isn't what I take with me from the experience of canvassing. >> READ MORE: A challenge for all Americans: Earnestly talk to someone you disagree with politically | Opinion Instead, I carry home the vision of people total strangers who are willing to stop their lawn mowers, come out from their garages, sometimes even turn around their cars, to take the time to share their opinions on topics that concern us all. I believe our country has serious problems with race, with income inequality, with digital inequities, the environment, voting rights. Canvassing gives me a little boost that even if we don't agree on problems or how to deal with them, for a few minutes on a Saturday afternoon, we were willing to stop, listen to one another, and take each other seriously. Ilene Raymond Rush writes fiction and freelance articles in Elkins Park. A spring convergence of the Flower Show at the Convention Center and Philadelphia's 248th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade along Market street makes for a mess of traffic in Center City March 11, 2018. The along the 600 block of Arch Street. TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer Read more Last week, City Council President Darrell Clarke introduced a resolution and ordinance to address traffic congestion in Center City. Clarke's package proposes amending the City Charter to establish a new class of employee within the civil service system: Public Safety Enforcement Officers. The non-sworn and non-armed officers' main goal would be to enforce traffic laws, but they would also help with non-criminal, quality-of-life code violations such as littering, graffiti, and vandalism to street signs and other street fixtures and order during large events. If two-thirds of Council support Clarke's proposals, voters will see a question about the initiative on their ballots in the May 2019 primary election. There is a lot to like in this proposal: Congestion has become so bad that a report by the Center City District points out it is faster to walk during certain hours than take a bus in Center City. Enforcement of traffic law has been declining in recent years by a count of police citations. And, with almost half of homicides in the city going unsolved it seems logical to find a way to increase enforcement without diverting police resources away from the investigation of serious crime. The new enforcement officers will also be cheaper than hiring more police officers, according to Clarke, who estimates that 100 officers would be needed. But there are also arguments against: The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the area, opposes the proposal, arguing that traffic enforcement should be reserved for police officers. Inquirer reporter Jason Laughlin reports that Pennsylvania state law might be on the FOP's side. This means that Harrisburg might need to get involved to allow Philadelphia to create the new force. The Philadelphia Parking Authority, which already has about 250 parking enforcement officers on the streets, could serve an enhanced function. But that's not their priority, and they believe that traffic violation enforcement is very labor intensive. That is why the PPA advocates for the use of technology instead; one example is the use of forward-facing cameras on buses that would automatically issue citations to drivers blocking bus lanes. Congestion, especially in an older city, grows out of a number of factors construction activity, ride-sharing services, economic and population growth, more reliance on online shopping and delivery, lack of strategic parking, and traffic enforcement. To solve it, a multidimensional approach is necessary that includes departments and divisions from throughout the city. Should we close certain streets, or limit deliveries to designated time periods? Should the city impose congestion pricing? Clarke's proposal has merit, but we are worried that it is a Band-Aid that isn't necessarily designed to alter the underlying conditions that cause congestion. The road to civilian traffic enforcers is long. Clarke will need the support first of Council, then Philadelphia voters, and perhaps even the FOP and Harrisburg. He would make a stronger case if the current proposal is part of a comprehensive approach that brings all the key stakeholders to the table. 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... Whether it accepts it or not, the furore over the Rafale fighter jet with France's Dassault has become a problem, a big one, for the BJP-led NDA government. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declared it to be a "perception problem" and in what seems like an eerie coincidence, the name of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, has cropped up as "one who failed to get a cut" and therefore an interested party in the deal in which Congress president Rahul Gandhi accuses Prime Minister Narendra Modi of dubiously bringing in Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence as Dassault's partner. In this war of mostly noisy and pointless TV news show debates, it has become fashionable to throw cow dung in return for bull droppings. But we must learn to look beyond these to ask some hard questions: 1. Why was the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) sidestepped by its sole shareholder, the government of India, all of a sudden? 2. Since Anil Ambani publicly announced an Rs 30,000-crore revenue opportunity from the Dassault "offset" partnership, is there not a need to ask how his company there got in the first place without any bidding involved? 3. Why would a former president of a G-20 country, Francois Hollande, say the Indian government played a role in Dassault's choice of partner? 4. If Dassault added features to its fighters while cutting down the number of jets in the deal to 36 from 126, and it was indeed because of a secrecy clause linked to sweetheart features for India's added security, does that not set a secrecy precedent for any defence deal where any future government can escape the scrutiny of auditors, Parliament or media by citing a secrecy clause? How does that weigh in with a culture of transparency to cut corruption? I would look for best practices to guide us in these matters. When the government is itself in the dock, it is best to look at global practices to arrive at an idea of fair play because the rule-makers cannot be judged on the basis of their own rules when they are themselves the purchasers. In 2012, the European Court of Justice in a landmark ruling "significantly restricted the ability of EU governments to use sole-source or negotiated procedures with selected suppliers for purchases of defence and security equipment." The ECJ ruled that procurement agencies "must" use competitive tendering procedures unless the supplies have been specially designed or modified for military use and the procurement involved an "essential national security interest." Now, the NDA government is citing both modifications of supplies and essential national security interest among the reasons for the less-than-transparent Rafale deal, but it is pertinent to ask if a government in a democracy that runs under institutional supervision can be its own judge. The fact of the matter is that "offset" deals forming part of defence purchases to aid local suppliers are a regular part of defence contracts. If the main purchase is an apple, the offset part is an orange. But the key point to note is that both the apple of the fighter jet and the orange of the offset components are paid for by the same taxpayer. If you follow the money, the Government of India has both the right and the duty to determine the offset partner. A public purchase cannot be subject to the same rules as a private purchase. Therefore, a statement by the government made last week that it had no role in Dassault's choice of partner is in itself questionable. In coal linkages for power plants, the NDA government reversed the UPA's policies and set the tone for auctions. In the case of 2G spectrum , the Supreme Court supervised auctions even before the NDA came to power. Should not the logic that was applied to 2G spectrum and coal applied to defence offsets as well? The Reliance Defence contract falls into the "sole source" category ECJ mentions above and goes against the principle of transparency. No wonder the Congress has been talking of either a parliamentary probe into the Rafale deal or a Comptroller and Auditor General report. The Supreme Court is looking into a public interest litigation that is due for hearing on October 10. Don't expect a miracle there, but I do anticipate the honourable judges to ask some sharp questions on transparency -- enough to give the Congress ammunition in an election year. If national interest is monitored solely by a political leadership in power and kept outside other institutions, it does raise hard questions. However, the fact is that Congress is not overly confident of getting Supreme Court support. A senior Congress source told me it was not keen on the PIL track as it did not "want to lose the narrative." Between the Congress party's 'narrative' and the BJP's 'perception problem' true insights may yet come from the CAG and/or the Supreme Court. (Madhavan Narayanan is a senior journalist who has covered politics, diplomacy, business, technology and other subjects in a long career that has spanned organisations including Reuters, Business Standard and Hindustan Times. He is currently an independent columnist, editor and commentator. He is listed among the top 200 Indian influencers on Twitter. He tweets as @madversity) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) New Delhi: Crisis-hit Jet Airways has told its pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers and senior management team that part of their August salaries will be paid by October 9, according to a communication. On September 6, the full service airline told senior employees that salaries would be paid in two instalments till November. The salaries for August was to be paid in two instalments -- 50 per cent by September 11 and the remaining by September 26. In a communication Wednesday, Jet Airways Chief People Officer Rahul Taneja said that part of the August salaries would be paid by October 9. "While we have remitted the first instalment, please note that we shall be remitting 50 per cent of the second instalment today and defer the remaining sum to a later date. The company is committed to honour its obligations and shall make every effort to release the remainder by October 9, 2018," Taneja said. The communication is addressed to pilots, Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs) and senior management team. "On behalf of our leadership team, I regret this change of plan and the attendant inconvenience this may cause you," Taneja said. A Jet Airways spokesperson said the airline Wednesday remitted half of the second instalment of pending emoluments of its pilots, AMEs and senior management for August. "The airline has also communicated a revised date of payment to the concerned employees and stands committed to honour its obligations," he said in a statement. While the management regret the attendant inconvenience, it also appreciates the continued support and understanding of the employees, he added. The airline, which has posted losses for two straight quarters, is grappling with financial woes. Earlier this month, the airline said that disbursal of salary for "GMs and above, cockpit crew and AMEs will be postponed for the month of August 2018, and shall be disbursed in 2 instalments - 50 per cent by 11th September and balance fifty per cent by 26th of September 2018". For the months of September and October 2018, the same disbursement schedule will be followed, Taneja had said. Shares of Jet Airways closed almost flat at Rs 191.90 apiece on the BSE. Vancouver, BC, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genus Capital Management and Social Venture Connexion (SVX) today announced the launch of the Genus-SVX Impact Investment Counsel, a strategic partnership designed to address the challenges faced by foundations, high net worth individuals, charities, endowments and pension funds, in becoming impact investors. The Counsel seeks to mobilize $100 million in capital toward impact investments by 2020. "Many organizations and high net worth individuals want to use their investments to create positive social and environmental impact, but they often have finite time and experience, and there are limited options on the market for them," said JP Harrison, president of Genus Capital. "With the Impact Investment Counsel, we're offering a comprehensive solution giving investors the sourcing support and due diligence of SVX, with the financial analysis and diversified portfolio building of Genus Capital." The global impact investing market was worth $228 billion in 2017, effectively doubling in size since 2016. In 2017, SVX researched high net worth individuals (HNWIs) interest in impact investing and found the vast majority of Canadian HNWIs are interested, with 89.8% of all those surveyed expressing some degree of interest in impact investing. "We've moved towards a world where individuals and institutions want to put their money to work for good, and they want to generate strong returns while doing so," said Adam Spence, Director of SVX at MaRS. "By teaming up with Genus to launch the Impact Investment Counsel, we're able to deliver on both of those objectives." The Genus-SVX Impact Investment Counsel is designed for foundations, high net worth individuals, charities, endowments and pension funds, with a minimum of $2 million in assets. The goal will be to mobilize $100 million in capital across asset classes towards impact investing by 2020, measuring and managing those impact in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). For more information on the Impact Investment Counsel, please visit https://genuscap.com/impact-investment-counsel/ Media Contact Ashley Letts ashley@yulupr.com 778 668 3867 About Genus Capital Management Inc. Genus Capital Management Inc. is an independent investment management firm based in Vancouver, founded in 1989. We are passionate about creating innovative investment solutions that meet our clients' changing needs. With more than $1.3 billion in assets under management, Genus' clients include leading environmental organizations, foundations, and individuals across Canada. Today, Genus Capital is at the forefront of Canada's Divest-Invest movement with a complete suite of fossil fuel free funds that are tailored to meet the needs of investors who wish to invest in a sustainable, clean energy future. About SVX SVX is an impact investing platform for ventures, funds, and investors seeking social and/or environmental impact alongside the potential for financial return. We provide a single access point for raising capital and making investments. We work across sectors including cleantech, health, education, food, and social inclusion to help enterprises raise capital so they can focus on their business. We work with all investors, from foundations and family offices to everyday investors, to help them make good impact investments through education, due diligence, advice, and transaction support and management. SVX is powered by MaRS in collaboration with the TMX Group Inc. and the Government of Ontario. SVX is a nonprofit organization based in Canada registered with local securities regulators as an Exempt Market Dealer (EMD), with a network of platform partners in the US and Mexico. www.svx.ca. SHIMLA: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday rescued almost all stranded persons in Himachal Pradesh's snowbound Lahaul and Spiti districts from where they were taken to safer places. According to IAF officials, a total of 99 stranded persons, including 18 foreigners, were airlifted from various inaccessible areas of Himachal Pradesh including Lahaul, Spiti, Chhota Dara districts on Thursday. #Himachal Pradesh: 24 tourists who were stranded at Chhota Dara (between Rohtang pass and Chandratal lake) have been rescued and brought to Kullu pic.twitter.com/nXOl58kRY7 ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 According to ANI, five women labourers were also rescued from Killing Sarai near Sarchu by an IAF helicopter. "We were stranded in the mountains due to snowfall in the area since September 22," a woman labourer said. Kullu: 5 women labourers have been rescued from Killing Sarai near Sarchu by helicopter. A woman labourer says, "We were stranded in the mountains due to snowfall in the area since September 22." #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/0Y7h4GcufM ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Over 1,000 persons were transported to safer places by roads in the last three days, they added. #WATCH #HimachalPradesh: Stranded tourists being rescued from Chhota Dara (between Rohtang pass and Chandratal lake) (Source:Indian Air Force) pic.twitter.com/MX12Mpiwo3 ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Meanwhile, the Border Road Organisation personnel also cleared several roads, including Darcha-Khoksar and Tandi-Thirot, of snow, they added. These roads were closed due to untimely snowfall and rains, but are now ready for vehicular traffic, the officials said. A Kullu district official informed that a total of 63 persons, including three German citizens, were airlifted on Thursday by three Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters, adding that the rescued were flown to a temporary helipad in Kullu district. The entire evacuation operation was coordinated by IAF Wing Commander SK Ahuja. The IAF also shared videos of evacuation done in the snow-covered Bara Lachala pass, Himachal. #SavingLives : ALH of 117HU, Sarsawa carrying out rescue ops near the completely snow covered Bara Lachala pass, Himachal. Carried out low hover at less than 1 feet over 3-4 ft thick snow covered restricted area and brought the casualties to safety.#HimachalRescue#HimachalRains pic.twitter.com/2DojDlJfCH Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) September 27, 2018 Earlier on Tuesday, five stranded persons were airlifted, while 31 were airlifted on Wednesday, which included 15 foreigners. The 18 foreigners, who were evacuated in the last three days, include four Danish, three Germans, eight Nepalese, two Norwegians and one Bhutani citizens, the officials said. All airlifted persons have been provided first-aid at the regional hospital in Kullu and most of them were discharged immediately, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Yunus said. (With Agency Inputs) NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code calling it unconstitutional. With adultery no longer being a crime, Supreme Court said that Section 497 is an archaic law, manifestly arbitrary. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Thursday said that mere adultery can't be a crime unless it attracts abetment to suicide. Speaking strongly against Section 497 which defines Adultery in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the CJI said that adultery can be a ground for civil issues including dissolution of marriage but it cannot be a criminal offence. Here is what is Section 497 of the IPC - Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor. "Legal subordination of one sex by another is wrong. Social progression of women and views of Justice Nariman in Triple Talaq case has been considered. Adultery can be grounds for dissolution of marriage," the CJI said while reading out the verdict on behalf of himself and Justice AM Khanwilkar. SATNA: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked the Narendra Modi government for insulting the country's first Home Minister late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, saying that the statue being built for him in Gujarat is "Made in China". BJP president Amit Shah hit back at him and accused the Gandhi family of "humiliating" and unsuccessfully trying to erase the legacy of Sardar Patel. "Modi ji had promised to build the world's largest statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. But later it was revealed that on the back of the statue it was written Made in China," Rahul Gandhi said while addressing a public meeting here. Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Congress chief said, "Look, how he insulted Sardar Patel.'' ''His (Patel's) statue was built, and behind it, it was written Made in China," he said. The Statue of Unity, which is 182 metres from the ground and 240 m from the river base of Narmada, has been completed. The inauguration of the statue will be done on Vallabhbhai Patel's 143rd birth anniversary on October 31 by Modi. Rahul Gandhi also said that the Prime Minister had "cheated" the people of the country by making false promises. "Modi ji had promised to you that he shall provide employment to two crore youths every year. But what is the condition now?" he asked. Slamming the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state, the Congress leader said, "And this damage has been done in the last four years by Modiji and to people of Madhya Pradesh in last 15 years by (Chief Minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan." "They made false promises. They lied to you. And your right of employment has been snatched," he claimed. Gandhi said that if his party forms the government in the state, then within five years the youth of the state would find Made in Madhya Pradesh and Made in India written on the back of their phones. After Gandhi's charge, BJP President Amit Shah also hit back accusing his family of humiliating Sardar Patel and unsuccessfully trying to erase his legacy. "Dear Rahul Gandhi, your family humiliated Sardar Patel, unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds. Your lies on the 'Statue of Unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel," Shah said in a series of tweets. At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand Statue of Unity the Congress President is spreading canards to discredit the project. Shame! https://t.co/d9lgUfnt7E Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 27, 2018 "At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand Statue of Unity,' the Congress President is spreading canards. NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government on Thursday constituted an eight-member search committee, to be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, to recommend the chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal. The committee, formed despite concerns raised by the Congress, has former chief of State Bank of India (SBI) Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) head A S Kiran Kumar as members. Besides them, Justice Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, former judge of Allahabad High Court; Shabbirhusein S Khandwawala, former Gujarat Police head; Lalit K Panwar, retired IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre; and Ranjit Kumar are the other members of the panel, according to an official order issued by the Personnel Ministry. "The process of Lokpal selection is going as per the guidelines laid down in the Lokpal Act," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh told PTI when asked about the development. The move assumes significance as the government decided to go ahead with the formation of the search committee despite Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the Lokpal selection panel, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior government official said. "The search committee is a major step towards setting up of the Lokpal. The committee will start its functioning soon," he said. The decision to constitute the search committee comes four years after the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which envisages establishment of anti-graft body Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed in 2013. Kharge had been boycotting the selection committee meeting on the pretext that he is not made a full-fledged member in the panel. He had rejected the invitation extended to him to attend the meetings of the selection committee held this year on six occasions - March 1, April 10, July 19, August 21, September 4 and September 19 - as a "special invitee". The eight-member search committee is mandated to recommend a panel of names for the appointment of the Lokpal and its members. Kharge had earlier urged the government to amend the Lokpal Act to include the leader of the single largest opposition party in Lok Sabha in the selection committee and bring an ordinance in this regard. As per the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, only the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha is a member of the selection committee and since, Kharge does not have that status, he is not a part of the panel. A party should have at least 55 seats or 10 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha for its leader to get the LoP status. The Congress is the single largest opposition party in the Lower House but its leader could not be given the LoP status as it does not have the requisite number to qualify for it, the official said. The Lokpal selection committee headed by the prime minister has as its members the Lok Sabha speaker, leader of the opposition in the lower house, the chief justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the president or any other member. Upon the recommendations of the selection committee in its meeting held on April 10, President Ram Nath Kovind had nominated Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General of India as 'eminent jurist' member of the panel against the vacancy arising following the death of senior advocate P P Rao. HYDERABAD: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Thursday alleged the Centre's ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence is a murder of democracy, and said it is exploring legal options to challenge the move. The apex Muslim body said the government did not bother to discuss the issue in Parliament and it's an insult to the country's supreme legislative body. "This ordinance is a 'chor darwaza'. It's a murder of democracy and an insult to Parliament. The Parliament session is to start... But the government did not even bother to discuss... We feel it will be harmful to Muslim women," AIMPLB Assistant General Secretary Maulana Khalid Saif Ullah Rehmani told reporters here. He said it's strange that no consultations were held with the community and "you (government ) decided on it yourself. Rather than rendering justice, injustice will be meted out through this ordinance". Asked if the board will move the Supreme Court against the ordinance, Rehmani said, "Our legal committee will discuss and may consider it (legal options)." AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi described the 'triple talaq' ordinance a "fraud" and said it should be challenged in court. "I personally feel there is a need to challenge this ordinance in court... This is a wrong ordinance. It is a fraud... There are mistakes," Owaisi said. According to Owaisi, the ordinance is the Bharatiya Janata Party's "technique" to divert people's attention from the Rafale issue, Nirav Modi, Mehul Chowksi and rising petrol prices. President Ram Nath Kovind had last Wednesday signed the ordinance making instant triple talaq illegal and void. The offence will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. Seeking to allay fears that the law could be misused, the government also included some safeguards in it, such as providing for bail to the accused. (With Agency inputs) New Delhi: The vice chief of Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Marshal SB Deo, is understood to have accidentally shot himself in his thigh, sources said on Wednesday. They said he was rushed to a military hospital in Delhi where he underwent a surgery. His condition is stable. However, there was no official comment on the incident from the IAF. He had taken over as vice chief of the Air Staff in January 2017. Air Marshal Deo, who was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the IAF on June 15, 1979, is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down adultery terming it unconstitutional but added that if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partner's adulterous relation then it could be treated as an abetment to suicide. Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Khanwilkar said mere adultery cannot be a crime, but if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partner's adulterous relation, then if evidence is produced, it could be treated as an abetment to suicide. "Mere adultery can't be a crime, unless it attracts the scope of Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC," said CJI Misra. Abetment to suicide pertains to Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), abetment of suicide --if any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. The apex court declared that adultery is not a crime and struck down the anti-adultery law, saying it dented the individuality of women and treated them as "chattel of husbands". The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery and holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic law which is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both. A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. The top court, which held adultery as a relic of the past, said the autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices. The apex court pronounced four sets of concurring judgements to declare penal provision on Adultery and section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional. "We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional," said the Chief Justice, who wrote the judgement for himself and Justice Khanwilkar, adding that any provision treating women with inequality is not constitutional and it's time to say that "husband is not the master of woman". Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the bench, said Section 497 is a clear violation of fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and there is no justification for a continuation of the provision. Justice Nariman termed Section 497 as archaic law and concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, saying that the penal provision is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity and is destructive of women's dignity, self-respect as it treats women as "chattel of husbands". The CJI said adultery dents the individuality of women and it is not a crime in countries like China, Japan and Australia. Adultery might not be cause of unhappy marriage, it could be result of an unhappy marriage, Justice Misra said. The CJI began reading the judgement by saying the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes "the I, me and you". He said equality is the governing parameter of the Constitution and section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women. The bench held that adultery can be treated as civil wrong for dissolution of marriage. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home, the CJI said, but added that adultery should not be a criminal offence. The court said adultery can be a ground for civil wrong, a ground for divorce but not a criminal offence. Justice Chandrachud said autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices and held adultery as a relic of past. The legislature has imposed a condition on the sexuality of women by making adultery as an offence, he said, adding that section 497 is a denial of the substance of equality. New Delhi: The Indian Air Force has been actively undertaking sorties to rescue people stranded in remote locations of Himachal Pradesh after heavy rainfall lashed the state this week. On Thursday, news agency ANI reported that an IAF chopper airlifted 10 women and three children from a remote shelter near Chhota Dara and brought them to Kulu. The men at the location were provided with packets of food, medicines and relief materials, and would be rescued soon as well. Earlier in the day, nine persons - including three German nationals - were airlifted from a camp in Sarchu and taken to Kullu. They had been rescued from different parts of the state on Wednesday. As part of the relief operations, food packets are being dropped in several locations - including Manali-Leh highway. Apart from two Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and a Medium Lift Helicopter (MLH) already deployed on Wednesday, IAF has decided to press two more Cheetah helicopters in the Himachal. State CM Jai Ram Thakur has said that over 900 people have been rescued in two days of operations so far. Apart from the Indian Air Force, three Navy choppers are also deployed for rescue and relief operations. Three encounters broke out between security forces and terrorists in the early hours of Thursday in Noor Bagh area on the outskirts of Srinagar, Anantnag district and Budgam district, in Jammu and Kashmir. According to news agency ANI, at least two terrorists are believed to be trapped in Noor Bagh area. In the encounter in Anantnag district's Doru Shahabad, a terrorist -- identified as Asif Malik -- has been killed and an Army jawan was also killed. The firing has stopped and a search operation is underway. Earlier, security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in Qazigund of the district after receiving information about the presence of militants in the area said a police official. The search operation turned into an encounter with militants when the insurgents opened fire on the security forces, he said. Authorities have suspended internet services in Srinagar and adjoining areas without providing any reason. A third encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Panzan area of Chadoora town in Budgam district. Security forces are locked in a gunbattle with three militants reportedly holed up in a building, the official said. Two militants have been killed in the encounter. Earlier on Tuesday, at least two terrorists were killed after an encounter broke out with security forces in Sopore area of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. An exchange of fire took place between the security forces and terrorists in Baramulla district. Following the firing, security forces launched a search operation and cordoned off the area. NEW DELHI: Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has been accused by the Congress-led Opposition of lying and suppressing facts related to the Rafale fighter jet deal, on Thursday denied any wrongdoing on the part of the Narendra Modi government. The Defence Minister, while categorically rejecting the Congress party's allegations, said that the Rafale jet deal was sealed under a legal framework. ''The inter-governmental agreement to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France was fully legal, as per the law and executed under a proper legal framework. The deal was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).'' The Defence Minister said this while speaking to Aaj Tak news channel during which she sought to clear doubts and apprehensions over the Rafale jet deal. Referring to Congress party's allegation of the Modi government favouring industrialist Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence over HAL- the Indian aero space major Sitharaman said, ''You ask anyone, under the inter-governmental agreement, the name of one specific company can't be taken. And, if any firm, in the case of Rafale, wants to commercially collaborate with one or many other firms than all that is finalised under the offset rules.'' To a question about former French President Francois Hollande's explosive claims that the selection of the Indian company (Reliance Defence) in the Rafale deal was done at the behest of the Indian Government, which eventually led HAL kicked out of the deal, Sitharaman said, 'You should ask this question to the Congress party since it was during the UPA government that 95% of the deal with HAL as the Indian partner of France's Dassault Aviation was reportedly finalised. I want to ask Congress why the deal could not be finally sealed when 95% of it was already cleared?'' The clarification from the Defence Minister came hours after French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that the defence deal for the purchase of French-manufactured 36 Rafale fighter jets was a government-to-government deal. In a big boost to the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, the French President had on Wednesday confirmed that the Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France was a government-to-government deal. Extending support to PM Modi, who is at the centre of Opposition attack over the controversial defence deal, Macron also said that the Indian PM is right in claiming so. However, he refused to say more on the defence deal. ''PM Modi is right. That's a Govt-to-Govt discussion. We have a very strong partnership between India and France regarding Defence. I dont want to comment on any other thing,'' French President Emmanuel Macron told ANI. The French President had earlier distanced himself from the controversy, saying he was not in power when the multi-billion dollar agreement for the 36 fighter jets was signed between New Delhi and Paris. While addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Macron was asked if the Indian Government had at any point told France or Dassault - the French aerospace major - that they had to accept Reliance Defence as the Indian partner for the Rafale deal. India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one-and-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the proposal during a visit to Paris. The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September 2019. While Prime Minister Modi has not spoken on the Rafale controversy himself, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other senior ministers have asserted that people of India have put a closure to the issue, saying there were no irregularities. Prime Minister Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after holding talks with the then French president Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015, in Paris. The final deal was sealed on September 23, 2016. The French government had recently said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners. The Rafale deal has landed in the trouble waters after a report in the French media quoted former president Hollande as saying that the selection of the Indian company in the Rafale deal was done at the behest of New Delhi. Hollande said that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for the French aerospace giant in the Rafale deal and France did not have a choice. His comments to 'Mediapart', a French-language publication, triggered sharp reactions from the opposition parties which have been accusing the government of massive irregularities in the deal and benefiting Reliance Defence Limited despite not having any experience in the aerospace sector. The report quoted Hollande as saying, "It was the Indian Government that proposed this service group, and Dassault which negotiated with (Anil) Ambani. We had no choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us." In its statement, Dassault Aviation said the contract for the supply of 36 Rafale jets is a government-to-government agreement, adding, "It provides for a separate contract in which Dassault Aviation commits to make compensation investments (offsets) in India worth 50 percent of the value of the purchase." The company also said its partnership with Reliance has led to the creation of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) joint-venture in February 2017. It is to be noted that the Congress has been demanding a JPC probe into the Rafale deal, which it said was the biggest defence scam of the country. However, after the French President's confirmation, the ruling BJP has hit back at the Congress party and accused it of running a smear campaign to defame the Modi government at the international level. (With PTI inputs) NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorney Advertising-- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is investigating potential claims on behalf of purchasers of NiSource Inc. (NiSource or the Company) (NYSE: NI). Such investors are encouraged to obtain additional information and assist the investigation by visiting the firms site: www.bgandg.com/ni. The investigation concerns whether NiSource and certain of its officers and/or directors have violated federal securities laws. 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In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firms expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. CHITRAKOOT: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took to poetry to attack the Narendra Modi government at the Centre over the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France. Rahul, whose party has launched a major offensive against the Centre and termed the Rafale deal as the biggest defence scam of the country, tweeted a poetry in which he sought to explain how PM Modi and industrialist Anil Ambani snatched the Rafale deal from HAL the Indian aerospace major. The Gandhi scion also accused the Modi government of doublespeak and complicity with the Reliance Group over Rafale deal. The Congress chief further alleged that the money power was used to snatch the deal which dealt a major blow to the Indian armed forces. Accusing the Modi government of working with a vendetta, the Congress president said the BJP regime was shunting and suppressing the voice of all those who objected to the deal. The Congress chief was apparently referring to the alleged shunting of a senior official, who had indicated the loss in the Rafale jet deal, by the Modi government. The Congress party had alleged that the government, in fact, rewarded his boss who overruled him, saying there were "perks of pleasing" that covered "corruption tracks." "The Modi government shunted the whistle-blower Joint Secretary (Air) who questioned the loss to government treasury by paying 300 per cent extra for 36 Rafale. Director General Smita Nagaraj, who overruled the joint secretary, was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Perks of pleasing Modi government cover corruption tracks," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had said in one of his tweets. ''The government of India says that since Rafale deal was a secret pact the price can't be revealed. When Fthe rench President was here, I met him and asked if there is a secret pact on the price? He said 'no', if PM Modi wants to reveal he can do so,'' the Congress president, who was in Chitrakoot on Thursday, said. The latest attack from Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale issue came a day after French President confirmed that the defence deal for the purchase of French-manufacture fighter jets was a government-to-government deal. In a big boost to the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, French President Emmanuel Macron had on Wednesday reaffirmed that the Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France was a government-to-government deal. Extending support to PM Modi, who is at the centre of Opposition attack over the controversial defence deal, Macron also said that the Indian PM is right in claiming so. However, he refused to say more on the defence deal. ''PM Modi is right. That's a Govt-to-Govt discussion. We have a very strong partnership between India and France regarding Defence. I dont want to comment on any other thing,'' French President Emmanuel Macron told ANI. The French President had earlier distanced himself from the controversy, saying he was not in power when the multi-billion dollar agreement for the 36 fighter jets was signed between New Delhi and Paris. While addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Macron was asked if the Indian Government had at any point told France or Dassault - the French aerospace major - that they had to accept Reliance Defence as the Indian partner for the Rafale deal. India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one-and-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the proposal during a visit to Paris. The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September 2019. While Prime Minister Modi has not spoken on the Rafale controversy himself, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other senior ministers have asserted that people of India have put a closure to the issue, saying there were no irregularities. Prime Minister Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after holding talks with the then French president Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015, in Paris. The final deal was sealed on September 23, 2016. The French government has said it was in no manner involved in the choice of Indian industrial partners. The Rafale deal has landed in the trouble waters after a report in the French media quoted former president Hollande as saying that the selection of the Indian company in the Rafale deal was done at the behest of New Delhi. Hollande said that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence as the partner for the French aerospace giant in the Rafale deal and France did not have a choice. His comments to 'Mediapart', a French-language publication, triggered sharp reactions from the opposition parties which have been accusing the government of massive irregularities in the deal and benefiting Reliance Defence Limited despite not having any experience in the aerospace sector. The report quoted Hollande as saying, "It was the Indian Government that proposed this service group, and Dassault which negotiated with (Anil) Ambani. We had no choice, we took the interlocutor who was given to us." In its statement, Dassault Aviation said the contract for the supply of 36 Rafale jets is a government-to-government agreement, adding, "It provides for a separate contract in which Dassault Aviation commits to make compensation investments (offsets) in India worth 50 percent of the value of the purchase." The company also said its partnership with Reliance has led to the creation of the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) joint-venture in February 2017. It is to be noted that the Congress has been demanding a JPC probe into the Rafale deal, which it said was the biggest defence scam of the country. However, after the French President's confirmation, the ruling BJP has hit back at the Congress party and accused it of running a smear campaign to defame the Modi government at the international level. (With PTI inputs) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sangeet Som's residence in Uttar Pradesh was attacked on late on Wednesday night by unidentified miscreants. The miscreants opened fire and hurled a hand grenade at his residence. According to Meerut SSP Akhilesh Kumar, the incident took place around 12.45 am on Thursday. A forensic team has been inspecting empty bullet shells found from the spot. A hand grenade was also found. The firing was aimed at the guard's cabin and the main gate of Som's residence said the police official. The CCTV footage will be investigated by the police, added SSP Kumar. However, there has been no loss of life or injuries in the incident. "The security guard told us that it happened around 12.45 am. We've found empty bullet shells from the spot and forensic team is inspecting them. We also found a hand grenade. There's no loss or injury. The firing was aimed at guard's cabin and main gate. We'll investigate the CCTV footage," said SSP Meerut. Reacting to the incident, MLA Som said, "I have not received any threats. But yes, I had received a call 2 years ago that I will be killed with a grenade." PUNE: A sudden breach in the wall of the Mutha canal on Thursday afternoon left several localities inundated in Maharashtra's Pune district. Though district administration said that there was no casualty due to the breach in canal wall, the sudden flooding triggered panic among residents here. According to reports, millions of gallons of water was suddenly released into some residential localities of Pune after the Mutha river canal breached on Thursday. Several low-lying areas were inundated and hundreds of vehicles were swept away due to heavy water current. The 15-metre breach, which occurred around 11 AM, caught thousands of people unaware. The water flooded Sinhgad Road in the city and entered houses in nearby areas. Around 200-300 houses were affected "There was a breach in the Mutha`s right bank canal near the Dandekar Bridge on the Sinhgad Road. We have mobilised all resources. Will ensure that the accumulated water eases out soon," Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Mayor Mukta Tilak said. Pune: The wall of canal of Khadakwasla dam collapsed earlier today. The water flooded Sinhanad road in the city and entered houses in nearby areas. Around 200-300 houses were affected. (Earlier visuals) #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/31FSH7QLJ3 ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Homes in Parvati Hill and Janata Vasahat Colony's vicinity were flooded while pedestrians and motorists were virtually flung aside by the gushing waters. There were, however, no casualties. People were seen holding onto each other to prevent being swept away. Later, they were seen wading through waist-deep water in some localities. The Dandekar Bridge was submerged, leaving scores of vehicles stranded on both sides. #WATCH: A wall of a canal of Khadakwasla Dam collapsed earlier today leading to flooded Sinhanad road in Pune. People trapped in the area were rescued by police and rescue teams. #Maharasthra pic.twitter.com/1r1aAQK3eV ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Traffic went haywire across the city, with thousands getting stranded at various points while disaster relief authorities worked to control the flood-like situation. The Mutha river carries water from the Khadakwasla Dam, the main source of drinking water for Pune and the surrounding areas. The canal banks are built with stones and concrete. At least a 15-metre portion is believed to have been washed away, causing the water to flow into residential areas. Though the irrigation officials managed to stop the water from the dam to the canal, it was more than three hours before the situation eased in the affected localities. PMC officials said repair of the breached canal will be taken up on a war footing. Mumbai: Actor Govinda, known for his comic skills, says there was a time when he was not good at doing romantic scenes in films. Govinda and actor Varun Sharma had shot for an episode of acting-based reality show "India's Best Dramebaaz". While shooting for it, Govinda was asked if he ever had to work hard for any of his movie scenes, read a statement. The "Hero No.1" star replied saying: "I was not very good at romantic scenes. In my very first movie Ilzaam', there was a dance sequence where I was supposed to run and get close with my co-star Neelam but I could not do it. "I started shivering and started feeling feverish. Our choreographer Saroj Khan noticed it and she asked me if I ever had a girlfriend. I said no. She smiled and said she would teach me how to romance on screen." Govinda also promoted his forthcoming film "FryDay" on the semi-finale episode of "India's Best Dramebaaz" Mumbai: The debate over what is being seen as Bollywood's #MeToo moment snowballed Thursday as Tanushree Dutta reiterated her claim that Nana Patekar had harassed her on the sets of a film in 2008 and the veteran actor laughed off her allegation, asking what he could do about it. A day after Dutta reopened the window on the 10-year-old incident and specifically named Patekar, there was a furious discussion on social media platforms and other media outlets but the film industry itself was mostly silent. Patekar dismissed Dutta's claim that he had misbehaved with her on the sets of "Horn Ok Pleassss" in 2008. In a telephonic conversation with Mirror Now, the 67-year-old actor said he would see if he could take any legal step. "What can I do about it? Tell me? How would I know?" he asked with a laugh. "What does she mean by sexual harassment? There are 50-100 people on the sets with me. Will see what I can do legally," Patekar can be heard saying in Marathi in the audio available on the channel's official Twitter account. Such behaviour, he added, could not have gone unnoticed in a film set with "50-100" people. Rakesh Sarang, director of "Horn Ok Pleassss", backed Patekar. "She misunderstood the enthusiasm of Mr Patekar. There were so many people on the sets. If somebody wanted to do it, why do it in front of everyone?" Sarang told PTI. Dutta, who said she had spoken about her ordeal in 2008 as well, described Patekar's response as a "fear and intimidation tactic". Patekar was "repeating the mistake" that got him into trouble, she said. "I don't even consider him worth commenting on... Dismissing a woman's claim, dismissing her completely. It is fear and intimidation tactic. This attitude to laugh it off, I think he will face a severe backlash. I can see through everything he is trying to do. That is sad," the actor, who is now based in the US, told PTI. Asked about the issue that was trending on social media and was the subject of many discussions all over, Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan evaded a direct answer. "My name is not Tanushree and my name is not Nana Patekar," Bachchan, who shared screen space with Patekar in "Kohram" in 1999, said when asked to react to Dutta's allegations. Khan said it would not be right for him to comment but "whenever something like this does happens it is really a sad thing". The two stars were speaking at the trailer launch of their upcoming film "Thugs of Hindostan". "I don't think I can comment on it... But whenever something like this does happens it is really a sad thing. Now whether such a thing has happened, it is for people to investigate," Khan added. Asked about the evasive reaction, Dutta said she was going to give them time and was hopeful that "people would do the right thing". "They are exposing themselves. This is the response of those who talk about women's empowerment and support the #MeToo movement happening in America... And when that is happening here, this is how they respond," she said. She said she was coming from a compassionate space and was not going to jump to conclusions. "Some humanity will rise and they will say or do something about it. I am still hopeful that people will do the right thing," the actor said. When Dutta had raised the issue in 2008, Patekar denied the claims. Recounting the incident and its aftermath, she said she had tried to escape but the situation went from being a "harassment situation to a mob lynching situation". "When I tried to escape they called the media, they called some people to mob lynch and attack my car. My parents were there inside and even I was inside, it was horrific... "They made sure that we did not escape from the studio, they locked the gates and then the cops came and they got us out... So when we filed the police report, they filed a counter complaint and because of the counter FIR, my dad, hair dresser and spot boy had to go through so much harassment over the next couple of years," she recounted. Dutta's allegations have triggered a furious debate on sexual harassment in the Hindi film industry with many supporting her but others questioning her motives for raising the issue so many years later. The actor, who has featured in films such as "Aashiq Banaya Aapne" and "Chocolate", said she spoke about the issue earlier and no one had the right to say anything to her. "They called me a slut, an unprofessional.. When I spoke about it eight to ten years back. Nobody has right to say anything to me," Dutta said. PTI reached out to Patekar for a comment but there was no response. New Delhi: Former beauty queen and Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta has been away from the showbiz world for quite some time now. The actress recently hogged the limelight for her allegations against a senior B-Town actor, whom she accused of harassment. While the fans were yet to digest that bit of a shocker, there came another big revelation from the actress's side. Pinkvilla.com quoted Tanushree as telling India Times in an interview about the latest fad of going under the knife. Without naming the actress, Tanushree alleged that a Bollywood actress friend of hers tried to convince others to undergo plastic surgeries. She even claimed that the said actress herself had undergone 'millions of surgeries'. Tanushree said, I had this Bollywood actress friend who herself has done millions of surgeries and used to suggest everyone to go under the knife because she was got screwed. Instead of helping others by sharing her horrible experiences she used to convince them to go ahead with surgeries. The 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' actress stated that instead of sharing her horrible experience, this actress friend tried to convince others to undergo the plastic surgeries. Tanushree, however, admitted having got her teeth corrected as she felt conscious about it. But she added that it was the only cosmetic surgery she ever did. Google's journey over two decades has seen more than 2000 doodles on its homepage. It is only apt then that the company decided to showcase some of the best to celebrate its 20th birthday on Thursday. A short video showing the Google logo adorned with birthday balloons on Thursday opened up about how doodles have changed over the last 20 years. The video aims to showcase how Google has helped people around the world not just connect with one another but to discover our world, and beyond. With a generous mix of cultures, sporting events, natural and man-made phenomena and ode to widely recognised personalities, Google doodles have brought in bursts of freshness on the homepage of the site almost every single day since 1998. Some of the best doodles have also been interactive, letting people play short games, read tales and even get a glimpse into what goes on in the world of Google. Google today is the world's premier search engine company but has also dabbed into a number of fields like driverless cars, phones and investing in start-ups. New Delhi: Maintaining that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has no right to discuss matters related to India's internal affairs, a strong objection was raised against Pakistan's move to once again highlight Jammu and Kashmir in the international organisation with 57 member states. OIC was founded in 1969 with the primary objective of promoting peace and harmony - especially in the Muslim-majority countries. However, it has no authority to discuss or comment on internal matters of any country - a point highlighted by India on Wednesday. "As far as OIC is concerned, we always note with regret that the matter which is very internal to Indian affairs was again discussed at OIC," said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of MEA. "We reject such references to a matter very internal to India." Kumar's strong comments came shortly after Pakistan - once again - raised the Kashmir issue at OIC and accused India of committing atrocities against locals in the state. It has long been a Pakistani strategy to bring about any discussion or talk possible at international forums which revolves around Kashmir. Earlier this year - in June, Pakistan had raised Kashmir issue at OIC's Dhaka meet as well, only to be snubbed strongly by India. In the end, only one of 39 resolutions adopted at the end of that meet made any mention of Jammu and Kash India has, in fact, repeatedly countered saying that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and that no other country has any right or authority to interfere. "We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on India's internal affairs. We feel that it is completely unwarranted to discuss matter related to India's internal affairs in any multi-cultural setup," Kumar said. Washington: US President Donald Trump had a handshake with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a luncheon in New York, the White House said, but Qureshi described it as an "informal meeting" when they discussed bilateral ties. The episode happened on Tuesday at a luncheon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Qureshi in an interview with the official Pakistani media described it as an "informal meeting" with Trump during which, he claimed, they discussed matters relating to bilateral relations. "I met with President Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. I requested him to rebuild the cordial relations that we have enjoyed in the past," Qureshi told Pakistan Television. Several Pakistani media outlets, including Dawn and Pakistan Tribune, reported the "informal meeting" citing the PTV report. According to official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, Qureshi received a "positive response" from Trump, who said they intend to "rebuild" the bilateral relations. However, the White House said only a handshake happened between the two at the luncheon. "It was a handshake at a luncheon with other world leaders," a National Security Council spokesperson told PTI. Informed sources in New York tracking Trump's engagement confirmed to PTI that Trump had no meeting with Qureshi and that it was never planned. The pool of reporters who follow Trump and report about his meetings with the world leaders did not mention the US president's meeting with Qureshi either. The White House pool, which covered the luncheon, also did not mention Trump having a long chat with Qureshi, which would have had come to the attention of the reporters. "Spotted: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly approached Trump and shook his hand as Trump stayed seated at the head table just before lunch started," a White House pool report said. "He (Trump) is shaking hands and mingling," it said. The luncheon was hosted by the UN secretary general in honour of the heads of state and government. The lunch kicked off at 1:27 pm (local time), with the secretary general offering the introductory remarks, according to a White House pool report of the luncheon. "Trump sat with his arms crossed and occasionally nodded. Secretary general offered a toast and Trump took a sip of what appeared to be a glass of red wine after the toast. Trump began his remarks at 1:31 pm," the report stated. "I've long said the United Nations has great potential...," Trump said according to the report. "His toast ended at 1:33 pm. Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is seated at Trump's table as is Croatia president, others unknown," the pool report stated. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the BC Check-Up, an annual economic report released by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC), in 2017 B.C. enjoyed the largest job gain in the past decade, pushing the unemployment rate down from 6.0 to 5.1 per cent. A total of 87,300 new jobs were recorded in 2017. The majority of these new jobs were full-time positions in the service sector. And not surprisingly, most of the provinces employment growth occurred in B.C.s most populated regions Southwest B.C., Vancouver Island/Coast, and Thompson-Okanagan. Our province once again enjoyed the highest job creation rate when compared to Alberta, Ontario, and Canada as a whole, said Lori Mathison, FCPA, FCGA, LLB, president and CEO of CPABC. Improved labour market conditions drew many workers back into the labour force. As a result, our labour force participation rate reached 65.3 per cent, the highest level since 2010. Job creation is expected to continue throughout 2018, but at a slower rate. Unadjusted data from Statistics Canada indicates that between December 2017 and July 2018, B.C. added 26,500 new jobs, which is substantially less than the 105,300 new jobs created between December 2016 and July 2017. Two major factors are moderating job creation. Real estate and consumer spending activity are slowing down, which have been the drivers of labour demand in the past few years, meaning fewer new jobs are required to fulfil market demand, continued Mathison. The other is a tightening of labour supply. Labour demand is outstripping supply, making it challenging for employers to recruit talent. Between the months of April and June, B.C.s job vacancy rate was 3.4 per cent, with 62,200 jobs unfilled. Our labour market is near full capacity. While this exerts pressure on employers, it is usually good news for workers. Limited supply of labour means employers will have to offer competitive wages to attract and retain talent. Between December 2017 and July 2018, B.C.s average weekly wage rate increased by 2.7 per cent to $981.87, according to data from BC Stats. Learn about the BC Check-Up at www.bccheckup.com. About CPA British Columbia The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is the training, governing, and regulatory body for over 35,000 CPA members and 5,000 CPA students. CPABC carries out its primary mission to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy. CPAs are recognized internationally for bringing superior financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight, and leadership to organizations. KIEV Five days after she fell into a coma, Oksana Nezhalskaya came to. Dazed, she felt her body throb with pain. The room was hot. A doctor leaned in and told her she had been injured by an exploding landmine. Nezhalskayas gaze shifted from the doctors eyes. She looked down her body, past her shrapnel-scarred arms. Only then did she notice that her right leg was missing. Within four months, her left leg would be gone, too. Since war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the vast quantities of landmines and unexploded ordnance that litter large tracts of the countryside have killed more than 600 people. At least 1,000 have suffered serious, life-altering injuries like Nezhalskaya. No one really knows the extent of contamination, but the Ukrainian defense ministry has said it estimates around 16,000 square kilometers are strewn with land-mines, trip wires and booby traps. While some experts say this figure is excessive, all agree defusing the region poses an immense long-term challenge. Nezhalskaya was delivering groceries to isolated villages near the front line during the summer of 2014 on the day her life changed irrevocably. It was a tumultuous year. In February, pro-European protesters had ousted then-President Viktor Yanukovych. Russian troops later annexed Crimea, and rebels backed by Moscow rose up in Ukraines eastern Donbas region. When separatists declared independence in April, Nezhalskaya found herself living in the so-called Luhansk Peoples Republic. The front lines shifted constantly, and rockets and shells scattered across the contested area. Clashes intensified in August, but Nezhalskaya whose hometown, Ivanovka, lay less than 30 miles from the Russian border was determined to keep up her day job. Thankfully, the fighting was relatively far from us around 10 miles, she recalls. A lack of food supplies meant we sometimes had to travel several hours to stock up. Generally, though, people just kept working, and life carried on as best it could. She was driving down a bumpy road on a grocery run with her friend Elena and son-in-law Sasha when their vehicle detonated one of these devices. Elena was killed immediately. The blast flung Nezhalskaya and her son-in-law from the car. Sashas legs were bloodied, his kidneys damaged. Nezhalskayas right leg was torn off, her left leg fractured in multiple places. Her body was peppered with shrapnel, she lost her hearing in her right ear and no longer has feeling in her fingers. She awoke in a run-down ward in Antratsyt, a depressed coal mining town held by rebels. A clock hung on the wall, which I looked at constantly, she recalls. I felt as if I was in hell. She was transferred a few months later to a hospital in government-held Kharkiv where, despite several operations, her left leg refused to heal. Surgeons scheduled it for amputation. So much had happened by then that I just accepted it, she says. Nezhalskaya is no stranger to adversity. Born in a rural area of Soviet Ukraine in 1972, her father made machinery and her mother worked at a chemical plant. The collapse of the USSR plunged the region into poverty and caused unemployment to soar. She worked as a primary school teacher, and recalls one employer paying her in groceries instead of a salary. When she received a set of prosthetic legs in February 2015 and started to learn to walk again, it felt like a birthday present, she says. Despite regular sweeps, efforts to rid the countryside of explosives are unlikely to make much headway as long as hostilities continue. According to UNICEF, a child is injured or killed every week on both sides of the contact line. Landmines and unexploded ordnance are the main culprit causing more than 100 child casualties to date, leaving many with lifelong disabilities. All along the contact line, there are thousands of these indiscriminate weapons, seen and unseen, Alexander Hug, deputy head of Ukraines OSCE ceasefire monitors, said in June. Not only are the sides not de-mining, they are in fact laying more mines. Humanitarian de-mining groups rarely secure access to the territory where contamination is heaviest: the 280-mile long buffer zone between the two sides. When they are allowed into suspected minefields, these civilian men and woman put on flak jackets and protective masks before slowly pushing into these hazardous areas. Danger forces them to move at a glacial pace, meticulously removing weeds and wildflowers, then scanning the ground with metal detectors. All the time they watch out for tripwires or detonators that could set off a range of devices, from powerful TM62 anti-tank mines to OZM-72 bounding fragmentation mines, which jump into the air and explode at waist height. Two of the main groups on the ground the HALO Trust and the Danish Demining Group (DDG) have so far cleared 3 square kilometers in eastern Ukraine over many months of intensive work. Vast tracts of land remain, filled with explosive threats. The HALO Trust says that, out of more than 1,200 locations, it has identified one in five as potential minefields or hazardous areas. State-run de-mining groups tend to use outdated equipment and have been criticized for not properly clearing or marking de-mined areas. The lack of a central government database on mine contamination impedes efforts to rid the area of explosives in a systematic way. Waning interest in the conflict internationally also adds to the challenge, as foreign funding is starting to diminish. Funds from the European Commission, for example, have dropped by three-quarters. The U.S. has cut its funding by two-thirds and the U.K. has slashed its contributions by a quarter, according to official figures. As a result, less than 4 percent of all potentially hazardous areas is estimated to have been cleared, according to the Heinrich Boll Foundation, a Berlin-based think tank. For survivors in separatist-held areas, the unresolved conflict also hampers their access to rehabilitation services as authorities there have blacklisted most international humanitarian groups. Nezhalskaya was lucky to access medical centers further west. In July 2015, five months after the Ukrainian defeat at Debatlseve, volunteers raised funds for her to be rehabilitated at a special center in Austria where she relearned the basics: how to get out of bed, how to get dressed. She now divides her time between a center in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and one near Kiev, located in a pine forest on the banks of the River Dnieper. There, therapists teach the residents new skills to return to the workplace. Nezhalskaya is focusing on embroidery. Of course, there have been low moments but I have no shoulder to cry on, Nezhalskaya says as we tour the grounds. You have to deal with your own problems by yourself. She still suffers occasional phantom limb sensations. Sometimes it feels as if I still have my legs. Its unnerving. In January, two winters after the explosion, Nezhalskaya ventured out in the cobbled streets of Lviv in sub-zero temperatures to put her new prosthetics through their paces. She had set her sights on a now-ruined castle perched on a hill, at the end of a winding path and a series of rusting steps. A strong wind was blowing, she says. The steps were icy, and snow was everywhere. But I was determined not to lose heart. It was a personal victory after a long struggle. She rested her hands on the railing and took a deep breath in. Gazing out over the frozen city from the summit, she looked back toward the east, where more landmines lie in wait in a now distant war. Read the original text here. The number of hospitalized people goes up every hour Open source On September 25, in occupied Makiivka, Donetsk region, the mass poisoning of the civilians by the drinking water took place as Commissioner of the Ukrainian Parliament for Human Rights in Donbas Pavlo Lysyansky reported on Facebook. "At the moment I know about 37 hospitalized adults and two children up to the age of nine (the data from the medical workers). Part of people was sent to the hospitals of Donetsk, I could not get the information from that place," Lysyansky wrote. The local citizens continue to complain about the peculiar odor of the water. According to them, the water stinks of chemicals and medicines. "Yesterday the city hospital of Makiivka got the mass complaints about health problems with such symptoms: ache in the abdomen, vomiting, shivering, temperature rise, or even explicit intoxication and dehydration in the grave cases," the message said. The reason for the incident is the breakdown or failure of the disinfection system of water in Makiivka. "Donbas Water" controlled by the authorities of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" knew about these problems and on the eve they even recommended to boil water for 5-7 minutes before the use of it. Earlier a mass poisoning was observed in the village of Ivane-Puste in Ternopil region, western Ukraine. 250 people turned for medical assistance after a plane irrigated the local greenery. Also, the number of children poisoned at school #62 in Dnipro that was earlier closed into quarantine has reached 38. Related video: According to the intelligence, two occupants were eliminated and two more injured Over the past 24 hours on September 26, the militants attacked the positions of the Joint Forces Operation 15 times. No casualties reported as the Joint Forces Operation HQ informed on Facebook. Russian occupants opened fire 15 times at the positions of our troops. The enemy used Minsk-banned weapons, the message says. Russian troops were conducting adjusted fire from 120mm mortars, IFV, grenade launchers pf various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms. The militants fired at our positions near Krymske, Volnyi, Svitslodarsk, Krasnohorivka, Chermalyk, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Vodyane, Lebedynske, and Shyrokyne. The enemy attacked from 120mm mortars near Krymske in Luhansk sector and near Hnutove in Pryazovia. Russian occupation troop used IFV near Hnutove and Lebedynske. No casualties among the Joint Forces reported, the representatives of the HQ reported. According to the intelligence, two occupants were eliminated and two more injured. Today, the enemy performed seven attacks from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and small arms near Novotoshkivske, Volnyi, Pavlopil, Vodyane, Lebedysnke, and Shyrokyne. Besides, the occupants conducted fire from anti-craft installation ZU-23-3 near Novotoshkivske in Luhansk region. No casualties reported. It should be noted that 350 Kyivans have died since the beginning of combat actions in Donbas, one woman was among them. Related video: The entry-exit checkpoint in Novotroitske, Donetsk region, undergoes reconstruction; this causes temporary limitation of transport capacity. The press service of the Joint Forces Operation HQ reported that on Facebook. 'Under the government's orders, Novotroitske entry-exit checkpoint currently undergoes reconstruction works and improvement of the infrastructure - so as to improve the conditions of crossing the checkpoint', reads the message. The government asks citizens to be patient and to excuse any inconveniences that may occur during the works. Earlier, Mariinka checkpoint was modernized and furbished, and now it continues working. Oleksandr Kuts, the head of Donetsk military and civil organization, reported that on Facebook. Two halls, air circulation system, video displays and a toilet for the people with special needs were set. Water and power line communications are in place, as well. The administration spent about 300,000 dollars on the upgrades. The test project will soon be implemented in other entry-exit checkpoints in Donbas in Novotroitske, Hnutove and Mayorsk. The Temporary Investigation Commission for inquiring thefts in the Armed Forces has officially started its work in the Ukrainian parliament. It plans to work until December 6, when the final report will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada. The date is symbolic. On December 6, Ukraine celebrates the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. About commission The official name of the commission is the Provisional Investigation Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to investigate the information concerning the thefts in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the undermining of the state's defense capability in the period from 2004 to 2017. The commission was established on June 7, 2018. 184 people's deputies voted for its creation. Chairman of the commission is MP from the Petro Poroshenkos Bloc Ivan Vynnyk. In total, the commission included 11 more people's deputies: - Deputy Chairman of the Commission Dmytro Linko (Radical Party); - Olexandr Brygynets (Petro Poroshenkos Bloc); - Tetiana Rychkova (Petro Poroshenkos Bloc); - Yuriy Bereza (National Front); - Andriy Teteruk (National Front); - Taras Pastukh (Samopomich); - Ivan Krulko (Motherland); - Yuriy Miroshnychenko (Opposition block); - Volodymyr Zubik (Vidrodzhennya); - Igor Molotok (Volia Narodu); - Pavlo Kishkar (non-factional). What issues will the commission deal with? The word to Ivan Vynnyk: "The defense ministers, who destroyed the system of military command, provision, material support, who sold weapons and equipment for pennies, hundreds of tanks, hundreds of armored personnel carriers, dozens of helicopters it is the army that was one of the most powerful in Europe, which was completely destroyed, robbed as of 2014. The army was demoralized due to the fact that the money supply system of servicemen led to a beggarly existence of Ukrainian warrior in the period from 2004 to 2014. The Commission is going to investigate these issues," Vynnyk said. And more about the tasks. From the draft resolution on Provisional Investigation Commission: - Verification of the legality and validity of the transfer of military property to the status of surplus. - Verification of the information on the validity of the cost of alienating military property, surplus military property and other objects of property rights of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces. - Verification of the information on the amount of compensation justification for the value of land owned by the Ministry of Defense and/or the Armed Forces, alienated and/or transferred for development within the framework of investment projects and programs. - Verification of the targeted use of funds aimed at financing the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces. In particular, regarding the implementation of programs to improve the defense capability and security of the state and programs for the development of Armed Forces. - Establishment and collection of information and a circle of persons and/or enterprises, institutions, organizations and their officials "involved in the implementation of activities related to a range of issues investigated by the Commission." - Initiation of the issue of bringing the perpetrators to justice, as provided by the legislation of Ukraine. Important: The Provisional Investigation Commission cant directly bring persons and enterprises to responsibility (actually, therefore the word "initiation" is highlighted). Here is what Vynnyk said about this: "The report will be heard on December 6, 2018. The Verkhovna Rada can accept the commission's recommendation and send materials to law enforcement agencies, to open a criminal proceeding with a subsequent investigation." What is already known about thefts in the army? The first decisions of the commission have so far concerned most of the organizational work and decision-making rules. However, we already know interesting statistics on the number and value of the sold military property. In particular, one of the members of the commission, Olexandr Brygynets, published the following data on Facebook: Information from the Investigation Commission on how the ministers sold the army: Lebedev in times of Azarov / Yanukovych (2012-2014) sold equipment for 7,8 million USD, including Tanks - 51 IFV / APC - 50 Helicopters - 9 Airplanes, UAV, gliders - 27 Salamatin in times of Azarov / Yanukovych (2012) sold the military property for 8,9 million USD, including Tanks - 86 IFV / APC - 89 Helicopters - 85 Airplanes, UAV, gliders - 36 Yezhel in times of Azarov / Yanukovych (2010-2012) sold military assets for 21,6 million USD, including: Tanks - 340 IFV / APC - 191 Helicopters - 51 Airplanes, UAV, gliders - 31 Ivashchenko, in times of Tymoshenko / Yushchenko (2009-2010) sold military assets for 9 million USD, including: Tanks - 128 IFV / APC - 72 Helicopters - 16 Airplanes, UAV, gliders - 33 Yekhanurov in times of Tymoshenko / Yushchenko 2(007-2009) sold military assets for 18 million USD, including: Tanks - 27 IFV / APC - 167 Helicopters - 57 Airplanes, UAV, gliders - 67 Hrytsenko in times of Tymoshenko, Yekhanurov, Yanukovych, and President Yushchenko (2005-2007) sold military assets for 47 million USD, including: Tanks - 200 IFV / APC - 145 Helicopters - 14 Airplanes, UAV, gliders - 8 So the ministers sold the army's property at those unrealistically low prices for 114 billion USD. In the documents that were partially quoted by Brygynets, we can find more detailed information. - Under Lebedev (December 24, 2012 - February 27, 2014): 224,878 small arms, 22.66 million units of ammunition, 33 units of evacuation and repair equipment, 286 units of vehicles, 59 units of rocket and artillery weapons, 14 units of engineering equipment alienated, transferred to the sale. - Under Salamatin (8.02.2012 - 24.12.2012): 346 units of missile and artillery weapons, 56,466 small arms, 73.98 million units of ammunition, 37 units of evacuation and repair equipment, 396 units of vehicles, 87 units of special equipment of engineer troops alienated, transferred to the sale. - Under Yezhel (11.03.2010 - 8.02.2012): 5574 units of rocket and artillery weapons (12 on a free basis), 458 482 small arms (1292 on a free basis), 138.87 million ammunition, (580 882 - on a free basis), 391 units of evacuation and repair equipment, 2334 units of vehicles (5 - on a free basis), 87 units of engineering equipment (578 - on a free basis) alienated, transferred to the sale. - Under Ivashchenko (06.06.2009 - 11.03.2010): 775 missile and artillery armament (6 - on a free basis), 97 669 small arms, 40.92 million units of ammunition, 66 means of evacuation and repair of armored vehicles, 177 units of vehicles, 32 units of engineering equipment alienated, transferred to the sale. - Under Yekhanurov (February 18, 2007 - June 5, 2009): 5237 missile and artillery armament units, 525 840 small arms, 144.67 million ammunition, 82 means for armored vehicles evacuation and repair, 1389 vehicles, 95 units of special equipment of engineer troops alienated, transferred to the sale. - Under Hrytsenko (4.02.2005 - 18.12.2007): 16 564 units of missile and artillery armament, 461 027 small arms, 139.79 million units of ammunition, 348 vehicles (228 - on a free basis ), 48 units of means of evacuation and repair of armored vehicles, 6 units of special equipment of engineer troops alienated, transferred to the sale. - Under Koval (March 25, 2014 - April 14, 2014): 4 units of air defense missile and radio-technical weapons of the Air Forces alienated, transferred to the sale. What's next? Well, the next is conducting further investigation. According to the chairman of the commission Ivan Vynnyk, the Provisional Investigation Commission has already approved a "large complex request to state bodies with the purpose of clarifying the circumstances, obtaining information about the thefts." What will happen after that, well find out on December 6. Read the original text at 112.ua. Open source Denis Pushilin Perhaps, the outcome of future elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) can be bet on the winner (9 to 1), and this would be acting DPR leader Denis Pushilin. With the same ratio, we can bet on the absence of global changes in the foreign policy of the so-called DPR. Head of the terrorist organization "Donetsk People's Republic" Aleksander Zakharchenko died in Donetsk downtown on August 31 in the result of a car blast. This death has radically changed the situation with the elections in the quasi-state: earlier this issue was actually out of the agenda, but now it has become inevitable. The first week of September was tensed by the confrontation between the three main contenders for power: DPR vice-prime ministers Dmitry Trapeznikov, Alexander Timofeev and head of DPR the parliament Denis Pushilin. The latter became the head of the "DPR." He benefited from a loophole in the "DPR legislation" - although according to the "constitution," the "First Deputy Prime Minister" becomes the successor to the head, he was never appointed, which helped Pusilin legitimately become a temporary head of the quasi-state. Periodically, "public opinion polls" appear in the media space, and their authors claim that the surveys are anonymous, apparently to somehow make them believe in their results. However, the polls were conducted on the basis of the "republican" "Phoenix" communications operator, so its hard to believe in its anonymity. So, according to one of them, during which 1,700 people were allegedly interviewed in Donetsk, Makiyivka, and Horlivka, has demonstrated a great gap between Denis Pushilin's rating and his main rivals ("ex-people's DPR governor" in 2014, Pavel Gubarev, and the main oppositional DPR politician Alexander Khodakovsky, who moved to Russia in May 2018). So, Denis Pushilin had a rating of 11.8%, Alexander Khodakovsky had only 0.1%, Pavel Gubarev out of the list of candidates. A quite unexpected fact was that Igor Strelkov and Oleg Tsarev had a similar rating of 0.1%. The third in the list of popularity became "ex-speaker of the DPR parliament" Andrei Purgin, ousted by Pushilin during the coup in the fall of 2015. The fourth position was taken by the "talking head of the people's militia of the DPR" Eduard Basurin. It did not allow taking the results of the "poll" seriously. Open source Alexander Khodakovsky However, the anti-rating of Denis Pushilin is 68%, and this should soften the situation. He is the most known person among the others, which simultaneously is disadvantageous for him since the uncommitted Minsk agreements are associated with his own name. Elections ended before they began There was some intrigue in the official ratings of the candidates, however, on the very first day of the official start of the candidates' nomination it has disappeared. In the morning of September 21, the main rival of Pushilin, "ex-secretary of DPR Security Council" Alexander Khodakovsky said that he was not allowed to enter the territory of the republic. The ex-battalion commander of the "Vostok" battalion absent in the "official ratings" was considered a real candidate to win elections if they pass at least with a minimum observance of laws and regulations. Khodakovsky's rating could be explained by his military past (in contrast to the office worker Pusilin) as well as dissatisfaction with the socio-economic situation in "DPR." The last commander of the "Vostok" battalion has also criticized Zakharchenko, which ultimately led to his departure from the territory of the self-proclaimed "DPR" in May 2018. The list of candidates for the post of "head of the DPR" from September 25 includes: 1) Denis Pusilin - head of the "DNR"; 2) Pavel Gubarev - former "people's governor" in 2014; 3) Roman Khramenkov - ex-mayor of Yenakiyevo and Horlivka from the self-proclaimed "DPR"; 4) Elena Shishkina - lawyer, chairman of the "Ukrainian People's Court," investigating "war crimes of the Ukrainian authorities"; 5) Vladimir Medvedev - "Deputy Minister of Education of DPR"; 6) Igor Khakimzyanov - former "Defense Minister of DPR," leader of the Radical Party of Ukraine Oleg Lyashko stated about interrogating him in 2014; 7) Ivan Mikhailov - "head of the administration of the Starobeshevsky district of the DPR"; 8) Vyacheslav Dyakov - "serviceman of the People's Democratic Republic"; 9) Roman Evstifeev - an employee of the administrative structures of the "DPR", the head of the Museum of Combat and Labor Glory of the Union of Afghanistan Veterans Petrovsky district of Donetsk; 10) Valentin Spiridonov - director of the Yenakiyevo Bakery. Open source Pavel Gubarev Internal changes except external Ukraine does not really care about who becomes the next head of the DPR. Anyway, his activities and even words will be projected by Russia. The "election" of a new leader will matter for the residents of the uncontrolled part of the Donetsk region. What to expect from the winner of the "elections"? Most likely, the winner would try to avoid the militant rhetoric and gradually shift the main task of the authorities for "defending the achievements of the Republic" to its "development." A number of factors should contribute to this - fatigue of the population from military operations, difficult socio-economic situation, and in the case of Pushilin, his image of a person who did not take part in hostilities. Some steps in this direction, by the way, have already been made. For example, the customs duty on import of poultry meat in the "DPR" has been reduced, which is expected to reduce the price of chicken meat. The rating of Denis Pushin is 11.8%, Andriy Purgin has 0.8%, Eduard Basurin, and Dmitry Trapeznikov have 0.5%, "mayor" of Horlivka Ivan Prikhodko has 1.5% support of the locals. Open source Ivan Prikhodko A number of various alternative polls in social networks have demonstrated much greater support for the Horlivka mayor. Of course, such polls should not be taken seriously, especially since the Horlivka mayor is very active "DPR officials" in social media, and there is no doubt that Prikhodko has much more than 1.5% of support. And the very fact of placing him in second place indirectly speaks about the recognition of such popularity in official structures. Previously, the possibility of nominating Prikhodko as a candidate to the "head of DPR" was discussed, however, it did not happen. In this regard, there might be two options - either Horlivka mayor can count on the increase as a recognition of his merits and rating, or he might be taken as a possible competitor. Some "heads of cities and districts of DPR" might expect for resignation if the new "head of the DPR" decides that they are not loyal to him. Read the original text at 112.ua This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or 112.International and its owners. Journalist-investigator Jan Kuchak was killed along with his girlfriend Monika Kusnirova in his own house in Velca Maca village The police of Slovakia detained a few suspects in the murder of journalist-investigator Jan Kuchak and his bride, Peter Pelligrini, the Prime Minister of Slovakia reported on Facebook. "I am pleased to report that the police detained the suspects in the murder of two innocent young people. I also appreciate professional work of investigators and prosecutors," he wrote. Pelligrini praised the work of the police officers, noting that the investigation of the murder of the journalist and the punishment of the persons involved in the case is one of the priorities of his government. "I think that this brutal action will be solved and we will know the motives of the attackers," Pelligrini wrote. Advocate Daniel Lipsic reported on Facebook that the suspects were arrested on September 27. "I do not possess the additional information. I only hope that they are real perpetrators and it is not a mistake," Zlata Kusnirova, the mother of fiancee claimed to Aktuality.sk. As we reported journalist- investigator Jan Kuchak and his girlfriend were shot in Slovakia on February 22-25, 2018. The bodies of 27-year-old reporter and his bride were found at their house in Velca Maca village, not far from Trnava. The cause of the death was the gunshot wounds: the journalist was shot in the chest, and his girlfriend was shot in the head. Also, previous Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico resigned due to the political crisis, which occurred after investigative journalist Jan Kuchak murder along with his girlfriend. Related video: The Spokesperson mentioned that the presidents and their spouses have similar outfits President Petro Poroshenko met with American President Donald Trump in the lobbies of the UN General Assembly in New York. Svyatoslav Tsegolko, Spokesperson of Poroshenko shared the photo of the presidents and their spouses on Facebook. The Spokesperson mentioned that the presidents and their spouses have similar outfits. Indeed, Poroshenko and Trump are dressed in black suits with red ties, Maryna and Melania are in black restrained dresses. This is when a dress code symbolizes the unity of the positions of the strategic partners, Tsegolko claimed. Reportedly, the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly takes place in New York. Poroshenko has already delivered his speech in front of the leaders and diplomats of other countries. He devoted his speech to the global security and called the General Assembly to introduce a peacekeeping mission in Donbas. NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Black Girls CODE, the innovative non-profit organization dedicated to teaching girls ages 7-17 about computer programming and technology, cut the ribbon on its redesigned New York Tech Exploration Lab thats co-located within its existing East Coast office within Googles New York headquarters. Along with the opening of their new tech lab, CEO Kimberly Bryant announced the organizations new Board of Directors. Designed to look like the inside of a computer, the new space was built for the sole purpose of bringing both new and existing BGC students closer to the innovative technologies used within the workshops the organization hosts throughout the year on topics such as game development, robotics, virtual reality, blockchain and more. Weve been working with Google to improve diversity in the STEM industry since we were founded in 2012, says Black Girls CODE CEO Kimberly Bryant. This new space will bring us one step closer to our goal of teaching 1 million girls to code by 2040. Here we will hold workshops, host talks, and also provide after-school and summer programs for students eager to learn skills for building mobile apps, virtual reality games, and more. At the grand opening, Bryant announced the organizations new Board of Directors. The 10 Board members include: Kimberly Bryant, Founder & CEO, Black Girls CODE Kimberly has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries as an Engineering Leader in a series of technical leadership roles for various Fortune 50 companies including Genentech, Merck and Pfizer. Kimberly has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries as an Engineering Leader in a series of technical leadership roles for various Fortune 50 companies including Genentech, Merck and Pfizer. Jessie Wooley-Wilson, CEO and President, DreamBox Learning DreamBox Learning pioneered the concept of Intelligent Adaptive Learning and serves nearly 3 million K-8 students and 120,000 teachers. Jessie recently secured a $130 million investment in DreamBox from The Rise Fund, a global impact investing fund managed by TPG Growth. DreamBox Learning pioneered the concept of Intelligent Adaptive Learning and serves nearly 3 million K-8 students and 120,000 teachers. Jessie recently secured a $130 million investment in DreamBox from The Rise Fund, a global impact investing fund managed by TPG Growth. Heather Hiles, Founder, Chair and CEO, Imminent Equity Over the past 25 years, Heather has researched and established some of the best technological architectures for startups or large companies and has served on more than a dozen boards, including for the San Francisco Unified School District and UNIFORM. She is also the Co-founder and CEO of Atribute.io. Over the past 25 years, Heather has researched and established some of the best technological architectures for startups or large companies and has served on more than a dozen boards, including for the San Francisco Unified School District and UNIFORM. She is also the Co-founder and CEO of Atribute.io. Stacy Brown-Philpot, CEO, TaskRabbit With over 15 years of consumer technology experience, Stacy has led the growth and scale of large and small enterprises in the digital economy. Ranked by Business Insider as one of the 46 Most Important Blacks in Technology, Stacy is a frequent speaker on the advancement of women and minorities in technology. She led a successful acquisition of TaskRabbit by the IKEA Group in 2017. With over 15 years of consumer technology experience, Stacy has led the growth and scale of large and small enterprises in the digital economy. Ranked by Business Insider as one of the 46 Most Important Blacks in Technology, Stacy is a frequent speaker on the advancement of women and minorities in technology. She led a successful acquisition of TaskRabbit by the IKEA Group in 2017. Sebastien Taveau, Technologist, Entrepreneur and Curious Mind Sebastiens technical experience spans more than 25 years in various industries. He is passionate about helping entrepreneurs and watching people turn concepts into full-fledged companies via non-intrusive nurturing and mentoring. Sebastiens technical experience spans more than 25 years in various industries. He is passionate about helping entrepreneurs and watching people turn concepts into full-fledged companies via non-intrusive nurturing and mentoring. Lauren Olivia Ruffin, Chief External Relations Officer, Fractured Atlas Lauren has experience in marketing, communications, community engagement, and fundraising. In her 2 years Fractured Atlas, Lauren has worked to develop the organizations first Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression (ARAO) Community Guidelines and the ARAO Committee. Lauren has experience in marketing, communications, community engagement, and fundraising. In her 2 years Fractured Atlas, Lauren has worked to develop the organizations first Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression (ARAO) Community Guidelines and the ARAO Committee. Julia Collins, Co-Founder and President, Zume Inc. As an African American entrepreneur, Julias focus is on building successful businesses in food. Zume Inc. sits at the forefront of responsible automation and has built a technology platform thats poised to tackle the logistics needed to feed the estimated 9 billion people that will inhabit the planet by mid-century. As an African American entrepreneur, Julias focus is on building successful businesses in food. Zume Inc. sits at the forefront of responsible automation and has built a technology platform thats poised to tackle the logistics needed to feed the estimated 9 billion people that will inhabit the planet by mid-century. Sherman Whites, Director, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Sherman manages philanthropic investments in K-12 education, including emerging portfolios related to innovation and community ownership. Prior to joining Kauffman Foundation, Whites was a program officer for the K-12 Education and Special Interest teams at the Walton Family Foundation. Sherman manages philanthropic investments in K-12 education, including emerging portfolios related to innovation and community ownership. Prior to joining Kauffman Foundation, Whites was a program officer for the K-12 Education and Special Interest teams at the Walton Family Foundation. Dr. Robert Simmons, CEO, See Forever Foundation and Maya Angelou Schools As a nationally recognized scholar and expert on racial equity and urban education, Dr. Simmons has lectured and delivered workshops throughout the United States and Europe. Schools As a nationally recognized scholar and expert on racial equity and urban education, Dr. Simmons has lectured and delivered workshops throughout the United States and Europe. Dr. Sylvia Wilson Thomas, Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida Dr. Thomas has over 25 years of global experience in academia and industry, assisting in the advancement of companies and organizations such as the University of South Florida, Lucent Bell Labs, IBM and Procter & Gamble. To learn more about Black Girls CODE, events, or ways to get involved, visit: www.blackgirlscode.com / . About Black Girls CODE Since 2011, Black Girls CODE has been committed to providing girls from underrepresented communitys access to technology and 21st century skills necessary to become tech leaders. Having reached more than 8,000 young women in 14 chapters around the world, Black Girls CODEs organizational vision is to increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7 to 17 to become innovators in STEM fields, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology. http://www.blackgirlscode.com PRESS CONTACTS: Claire Nelson and Claire Burke E-mail: bgc@upraisepr.com Phone: 415.397.7600 Foreign Minister of Hungary claimed that the election in 2019 can change the situation Open source Foreign Minister of Hungary Peter Szijjarto thinks that "the oppression of Hungarians" by the Ukrainian state will not stop until current president heads Ukraine as the press service of Hungarian Foreign Ministry reported. Szijjarto claimed that the election in 2019 might change the situation. "Until Ukraine is headed by the current president, the incitement of the hatred to the Hungarians from the Ukrainian state will not stop as the president finds it a way to get a particular public support that is very low now," the message said. Also, 112 Ukraine reported that Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin held the meeting with Szijjarto, however, they could not find the common language. "Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin met his Hungarian colleague, but they could not find the common language on the main bilateral issues. Klimkin claimed during the meeting that he would possibly expel the Hungarian diplomat from Ukraine if Hungary does not withdraw him after the scandal with the Hungarian passports in Berehovo," the journalist noted. Earlier, Ukrinfrom published a video where a few Ukrainians are receiving Hungarian passports and owe allegiance to Hungry in the Consulate in Berehove. The Hungarian diplomat recommended not to inform the Ukrainian authorities about receiving the new documents. Later, Pavlo Klimkin, the Foreign Minister, said that the video is being checked on the authenticity. If it is authentic, the Hungarian consul might be expelled from the country. In his turn, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed the attempts to intimidate the Transcarpathian Hungarians and threatened to make Ukraines integration more complicated. Later it was also reported that for seven years, the Hungarian consulates in Berehove and Uzhhorod of Zakarpattia region, have been granting Hungarian citizenship to local residents who are citizens of Ukraine. Related video: The mutiny's goal was to remove militant leader Aleksander Zakharchenko, who recently deceased in the bomb blast The SBU, Ukraine's state security service, published the audio records, where the current acting leader of self-styled DNR (Donetsk People's Republic) Denis Pushilin talks to unknown individuals; the parties discussed the organization of coup d'etat in the DNR. This is mentioned in the message on the SBU's website. It appears that the mutiny's goal was to remove militant leader Aleksander Zakharchenko, who recently deceased in the bomb explosion in Donetsk. 'The conversation among Pushilin's assistant Aleksandr Lavrentyev and two unknown persons took place at Yuvam restaurant in Antalya, Turkey, on June 12. The tape confirms that Pushilin prepared a 'coup' in the self-proclaimed 'republic', the SBU reported. The militants are reported to have insisted on removing Zakharchenko from his office without holding the 'election'. According to Pushilin's assistant, the 'Zakharchenko issue' will be solved as soon the mercenaries get the new leader. The conversation ran for almost four hours, the SBU said. Hennady Moskal, Zakarpattia Oblast Governor, claimed that all attempts of the anti-Hungarian provocations in the region were disclosed and its citizens did not participate in them as Segodnya reported. According to him, the difficult situation in the region was always used by Russia, but such state of affairs was countered. "For example, once the office of the Hungarian Culture Society was burned, we have solved this case. It was burned for the second time, the roads led to Transnistria, the Ministry of State Security. Who does this? FSB career officer heads the Transnistrian State Security Ministry. Moreover, the provocateurs wanted to see the mass clashes in Uzhhorod when the Hungarians celebrated the national holiday. 53 people were stopped at the checkpoint "Nyzhni Vorota." They had the balaclavas, knives, batons, metal objects and so on. Then our services spotted the cars of the provocateurs near Skole. They did not allow anyone to cross the border, each of them was identified. Everything that fell under the Criminal Code of Ukraine was confiscated. The criminal proceedings were opened. There was a series of them. The cars were burned in Berehovo. This case was also solved," he said. Moskal noted that the citizens of Kyiv region were the perpetrators of the anti-Hungarian campaigns. "Citizens of Zakarpattia will never be up for such actions, even if they have right, left or any other proclivities. They do not want to burn their own houses. Everyone understands it, regardless of the political proclivities," the official claimed. At the same time, Moskal noted that there are no anti-Ukrainian attitudes in Berehovo as well as in the region. "What happened in Berehovo? There are no anti-Ukrainian attitudes. Zakarpattia does not support the negative trends, which are described and equitable for Kyiv, including the statements of (Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs - Ed.) Klimkin. Because Hungarians, Ukrainians, and other nationalities have been residing Zakarpattia for 1100 years. Who is the indigenous of Zakarpattia but did not come there after 1946 as the result of the migration processes, everyone posses the Hungarian blood from a drop to the liter. Nobody can deny this. People who completely do not deal with the situation, who do not know Zakarpattia from inside, speculate on this issue," he explained. Earlier, Ukrinfrom published a video where a few Ukrainians are receiving Hungarian passports and owe allegiance to Hungry in the Consulate in Berehove. The Hungarian diplomat recommended not to inform the Ukrainian authorities about receiving the new documents. Later, Pavlo Klimkin, the Foreign Minister, said that the video is being checked on the authenticity. If it is authentic, the Hungarian consul might be expelled from the country. In his turn, Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed the attempts to intimidate the Transcarpathian Hungarians and threatened to make Ukraines integration more complicated. Later it was also reported that for seven years, the Hungarian consulates in Berehove and Uzhhorod of Zakarpattia region, have been granting Hungarian citizenship to local residents who are citizens of Ukraine. Related video: The court ruled that Ukraine should reply to Russia's remarks by January 14; the Ukrainian side hopes UN Court will decline these comments and look into the case Open source Russia passed the UN International Court its remarks, where it claimed this authority does not have the jurisdiction to consider the case as Ukraine sued Russia in 2017; the Ukrainian side charged Russia with sponsoring the international terrorist activity. This is mentioned on the website of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry. The Ukrainian authority reiterated that in January 2017, Ukraine turned to the UN International Court against the Russian Federation - 'due to numerous and systematic violations of the International Convention on Combating the Sponsorship of Terrorism and the International Convention on Liquidation of all forms of Racial Discrimination'. Ukraine filed the Memorandum that described and confirmed all violations allowed by the Russian Federation, reads the message. Russia used its right to object and passed these objections to the Court. The Ukrainian side said it hoped the UN Court would decline these comments, deciding it has the jurisdiction in this particular case. The court ruled that Ukraine should reply to Russia's remarks by January 14, 2019. In particular, these are the cases of damaging of the historical monuments, vandalism, increase of the conflicts using illegal weapons, manipulations with the religious issues In August of 2018, the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs documented 140 cases of attempts to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, as the department of the conflict and post-conflict settlement of the Ministry reported. The Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs analyzed the information received from the open sources concerning the situations which might destabilize the Ukrainian community. In August 2018, the officers of the Ministry recorded more than 140 such cases, the message says. In particular, these are the cases of damaging of the historical monuments, vandalism, increase of the conflicts using illegal weapons, manipulations with the religious issues. The enlistment of the Ukrainians and their usage to perform subversions to worsen the situation in eastern Ukraine remains one of the most troubled directions. For instance, in early August, Ukraines Security Service stopped the activity of a private commercial enterprise which supplied components for production capacities, located on the occupied territory of Luhansk region, the message says. The representatives of the Ministry stressed that the Russian propaganda is also working through social networks urging Ukrainians to split the country. Moreover, fake mining, production, and distribution of the illegal weapon and explosive devices among the civilians are also used to destabilize the situation. According to the monitoring, in August, most of the cases which might destabilize the situation in Ukraine, were recorded in Kyiv and Kyiv region (14%), Donetsk (12%), Odesa (13%), Dnipro (8%), Kharkiv (8%), and Luhansk (8%) regions, the Ministry informs. It is noted that the Ministry is taking steps to tackle this problems by monitoring, analysing, introducing preventive measures on the conflict settlement in the East and throughout Ukraine. Related video: Yesterday, within the 73rd UN General Assembly, Maryna Poroshenko, Ukraines First Lady, had a working meeting with the authority of New York Education Department, discussing prevention and counterwork of bullying, as the Presidents Administration reports. "Since bullying in the educational environment negatively affects the development of the child's personality and the formation of the system of values, it is very important to timely and effectively counteract violent and cruel behavior of the schoolchildren," Maryna Poroshenko noted. At the meeting, she thanked the American side for cooperation which began in 2016, which facilitated crucial changes in the process of inclusive education in Ukraine. Over this time, the number of students with special educational needs in our country, which moved from social isolation to education in ordinary schools, increased by 66%. Also, the network of inclusive resource centers is being actively developed in the country. These centers started functioning on September 1 under new, more progressive and qualitative approaches," the First Lady said. Besides, the parties discussed the preparation of the students of the pedagogical profession to effective work with children with special educational needs. In particular, it was about the way to create a knowledge and skills system concerning the organization and introduction of inclusive education for children with special educational needs. The parties agreed to continue fruitful cooperation in modernizing education in Ukraine and creating a tolerant, humane and safe atmosphere in the new Ukrainian school, the message says. Reportedly, at the UN General Assembly, Petro Poroshenko urged the UN to bring the peacekeeping mission to Donbas. The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Navy Andriy Ryzhenko notes that the ships of Ukrainian border guards repeatedly suffer from the sea mines Open source Ukraines naval base, which is to be set in the Sea of Azov by the end of the year in Berdyansk (Zaporizhia region), will counter mine threat, as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Navy Andriy Ryzhenko told Hromadske. The main task of the base is to protect the ports of the Azov Sea and provide security of shipping, which means carrying out anti-mine measures. Its a priority direction of the development of the naval forces, he said. He notes that the ships of Ukrainian border guards repeatedly suffer from the sea mines. It is due to the current status of the inland waters that allows the opponent to use such weapons without restriction, he added. It was also reported that the Ukrainian Navy in the Sea of Azov has two artillery-armored boats. They are equipped with modern sonars allowing to disarm the mines safely. According to the agreement of 2003, the Sea of Azov is an internal sea of two states where civil and military vessels under the flags of Ukraine and the Russian Federation can freely enter through the strait and go to their ports. Over the past three months, Russia's activity in the Azov Sea has increased significantly. The Russians do not allow commercial vessels going to and leaving Ukrainian ports to pass through the Kerch Strait without hindrance. In this regard, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko instructed the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff and the Ukrainian Navy to take measures to stop Russian provocations with regard to blocking the entry of ships into Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov. The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine has developed a set of measures in response to Russia's actions. At the same time, it was reported that the package of measures includes, among other things, restrictions on passenger traffic with Russia. Moreover, in July, Russia detained 148 ships for inspection in the Sea of Azov. Due to this, President Poroshenko entrusted the Defence Minister, the Head of the General Staff, and Command of Ukraines Naval Forces to take measures to stop Russian provocations concerning the blockade of Ukrainian ships in the Sea of Azov. Ukraine also supports the imposition of sanctions against Russian Black Sea ports due to the blockade of the Sea of Azov. Related video: One of the accused in the attempt at Odesa activist Oleg Mykhailyk was earlier suspected in the murder of the Georgian crime lord as Odessa.online reported citing the sources. As the sources said, Tornike Nagladze, the suspected in the attack at Mykhailyk was also suspected in the premeditated murder. "In 2007 near the memorial of 411th battery, a body of the Georgian criminal lord was found. During the investigation, a suspect in the murder was found but he succeeded to escape from Ukraine. Later the case on the murder secretly disappeared and he could return to Odesa," the message said. Reportedly, public activist Oleh Mykhailyk was shot in Odesa on September 22. He is in a hospital right now and provided with a guard. It was reported that Mykhailyks condition had stabilized, he has a bullet in his chest. At the same time, Chief Doctor Yevhen Hryhoriev said that there is no need to take the bullet out right now. The extraction of a foreign body is carried out after the condition of patient stabilizes, and usually is done routinely after two or three months, the Chief Doctor claimed. It was also reported that a special investigation group was created to investigate the attack on Oleh Mykhailyk. The group consists of experienced investigators, detective, and employees of SBU. Later, about a hundred people went to protest in Odesa because of the shooting of public activist Oleg Mykhailyk. The protesters demand the resignation of the chiefs of the police and the prosecutor's office of the region, as well as require law enforcement officers to effectively investigate attacks against activists and name customers and performers. Related video: During his speech at the UN General Assembly, President of Ukraine Petro Porosheko claimed the necessity to make more efforts to release Ukrainian political prisoners Oleg Sentsov and Volodymyr Balukh. 112 Ukraine broadcasted the event. Being a Ukrainian or a Crimean Tatar is a crime in the new reality. Volodymyr Balukh was arrested for raising a Ukrainian flag over his house. Crimean movie director Oleg Sentosov was sentenced to 20 years under fake accusations. Now, Oleg and Volodymyr are straddling between life and death, declaring a termless hunger strike. And I appreciate these people very much. Unfortunately, the Kremlin remains blind and deaf to the calls of the international community and the Russian intellectuals. I urge the UN member states to call Russia for obligating the human rights on the occupied territories of Crimea and Sevastopol The Ukrainians remain political prisoners of Russia and the calls for their release are left without any response. Its an issue of a modern Russia they dont care. They dont care about suffering, they dont care about the truth. They think that their military power and the status in the UN gives them this right, Poroshenko stated. As we reported earlier, Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian political prisoner announced a hunger strike in May 2014, demanding to release him and the rest of Ukrainian political prisoners illegally kept by the Kremlin. Sentsov already survived three health crisis; the medics warn that the fourth one, which might involve the breakdown of the body's internal organs, could begin anytime. The native of Crimea, film director, and political activist, Sentsov was illegally detained in Crimea in 2014, then taken to Russia. They judged him and sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment at a high-security penal colony. The prosecutors charged Sentsov with preparing terrorist acts in the occupied Crimea. Sentsov denies his guilt. Ukraine's government, common citizens and the international society - politicians, artists, public figures - urge the Kremlin to release him. Related video: President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko urged to adopt the declaration on the recognition of Holodomor as the genocide of the Ukrainians during his speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as 112 Ukraine broadcasted. "I would like us to emphasize the anniversary of this tragic event by the adoption of the proper declaration," Poroshenko. Due to the fact that more than 850 million people are starving, Ukraine welcomes the initiatives on the decrease of starvation in the world: "My country cannot be outside because we can help in the solution of the problem." The president reminded that Ukraine like nobody else faced the starvation as more than 70 years ago one of the worst tragedies of humanity, Holodomor, took place and it claims lives of more than 7 million of Ukrainians. The Holodomor lasted for 17 months from April 1932 to November 1933. The researchers have not defined the number of victims yet. They name the numbers from 1,8 million to 10 million. Most of the experts believe that the number of victims is from 3 to 3,5 million. Many countries, including some states in the U.S. and governments of particular cities recognized Holodomor of 1932-1933 as the act of genocide of the Ukrainian nation. Related video: BURNABY, B.C., Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The company is a long-time industrial developer, home builder, private investor, and philanthropist. Now, all those facets are coming together under a single name: BEEDIE. Launched more than 60 years ago with housing construction, Beedie is one of Western Canadas largest private industrial developers and most respected residential developers. It has built more than 25 million square feet of industrial space, as well as hundreds of single-family homes and higher-density mixed-use projects. Add to that Beedies private investment arm and more than 39 million dollars raised for charities, and you get one of the most active and community-aware corporations in British Columbia. Beedie was founded in 1954 by Keith Beedie, who passed away last year at the age of 91. Bringing our various components under a single name underscores that we all operate on the same core values and principles established by my father, said company president, Ryan Beedie. We carry on my fathers legacy of uncompromising quality, dedication to customer service and commitment to communities, and his legacy reminds us of how far weve come and where our shared vision will take us in the future. A strong component of the Beedie legacy is in giving back to the communities where Beedie builds. The companys evolved philosophy, Built for Good, captures the build quality and service reliability that clients and purchasers have come to depend on from Beedie over six decades. It also speaks to the company looking forward to continue creating developments that balance the well-being of people, community and commerce. We are known for our uncompromising quality, dedication to customer service and long-standing commitment to communities, said Beedie. Our rebrand brings this focus to the forefront. Ryan chairs the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation Capital Campaign, which is close to reaching its goal of $100 million. He and wife Cindy are constant contributors to the BC Childrens Hospital, while Cindy chaired the Capital Campaign for the Powell Place Womens Shelter in 2014. Ryan also sits on the Canadian board of ONE Campaign, which fights extreme poverty around the world. Ronald McDonald House, the YWCA, the Vancouver Police Foundation and Simon Fraser University are also charities that benefit from Beedies philanthropic commitment. Beedies largest donation was to SFU in 2011. The family gave $22 million to establish The Beedie School of Business. Please visit www.beedie.ca to explore the new website and learn more about the company. Media Contact: Renu Bakshi 604 787 1873 or renu@renubakshi.com Klimkin specified that the issue is about the joint draft document with the U.S., France and Germany Open source Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin claimed that Ukraine along with the international partners, particularly the U.S., France and Germany prepares to submit the draft resolution on the deployment of the UN peacekeepers in Donbas for the voting at UN Security Council as Ukrinform reported. "We have the agreements with our friends the United States, Germany and France. Yesterday I negotiated with Heiko Mass, State Secretary Mike Pompeo again; we will submit the joint resolution," Klimkin said. In this connection, he noted that it is important to have not only the military component of the mission in Donbas but also to deploy the international administration and the police component. "As, otherwise, Russia will continue to govern the occupied territories and the idea of the Russian so-called "peacekeeping mission" is the beginning of the process of the regionalization and federalization of Ukraine," the minister said. Foreign Minister also emphasized that the real positive changes for the Ukrainian citizens in Donbas can be implemented only after the holding of the actual de-occupation under the international control. Earlier Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine urged the UN to deploy the peacekeeping mission in Donbas. The president specified that the international mission with broad and clear authorities should settle the conflict, not freeze it. On September 25, Kurt Volker, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine called the countries that are ready to provide assistance in bringing the UN peacekeepers to Donbas. Related video: Poroshenko thinks that it is a timely possibility for the members of the organization and its leadership of the implementation of the relevant events on this issue Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, has urged the UN to deploy the peacekeeping mission in Donbas in his speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as 112 Ukraine broadcasted. "After the UN failed to prevent the Russian aggression against Ukraine, we still hope that the UN will help in this issue, deploying the international peacekeeping mission at occupied territories of Donbas," Poroshenko claimed. The president specified that the international mission with broad and clear authorities should settle the conflict, not freeze it. "We hope that the progress in this important issue is relevant to the topic of this UNGA session, particularly, to make UN topical for all people. Exactly such peacekeeping mission will allow the UN to save a lot of people's lives and make our lives better," Poroshenko claimed. At the same time, the president noted, that even Ukraine would like to protect each centimeter of the territory against the aggression; it still considers all possible means of the diplomatic and political influence for the provision of the territorial integrity of the country. "Ukraine prefers legal and diplomatic solutions of the conflict." "Moscow will fell the strength of the international law, we have begun the number of the legal processes against Russian in the international courts, in some of them we got the positive results," the president reminded about the investigation of the crash of MH17, the Malaysian "Boeing" over Donbas. According to it, the Netherlands and Australia officially accused Russia in the downing of MH17. The president concluded that during four years of the illegal occupation of Sevastopol and Crimea by Russia, the last made a military base from the territory and it threatens the safety of the region. So, it needs quick pressure and close attention of the UN. Related video: The Communique of Apostolic Nunciature in Ukraine on September 26 on its official website published a message saying that the news spread by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry about Vaticans support of the autocephaly, needs some correction, as Cerkvarium reports. "The Apostolic Nunciature in Ukraine partly corrects the news by the government source about the meeting between Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, and Mr. Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The Nunciature reaffirms the position repeatedly expressed by the Holy See, for which the question of the creation of one Ukrainian Orthodox Local Church is an internal question of the Orthodox Church, in relation to which the Holy See has not given or intends to give any assessment," the Communique message said. As it was reported earlier, on September 25, Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in the frameworks of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly held a meeting with the Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See's Secretariat of State Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted on its website that the Holy See respected the decision of Ukrainian people to create the Unified Local Church. The support of the Holy See and a clear position on Tomos is an important step for strengthening the inter-religious dialogue, the message says. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated that the violations of Russia in the Sea of Azov should be stopped in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the sanctions are needed. He claimed this during his speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as 112 Ukraine broadcasted. "Russia is not going to stop after the occupation of Crimea, the occupation of Azov Sea takes place. By the illegal construction of the bridge over the Kerch Strait, Russia has begun the obstruction of the ships' navigation through the straight. Such rude actions should be condemned as the illegal, including the violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Such actions need the enhanced sanctions regime and other targeted activities. The effectiveness of the international actions does not correspond to the expectations of the UN members very often," Poroshenko claimed. According to Ukraine's president, if we want to build a peaceful, equal, and stable society, we have to uphold norms and principles of the UN statute and assume measures for the restoration of the justice. "Eloquent speech of the UN statute is worthless if it is not observed. The time of words ran out, we should return to the decisive actions. UN should resist the degradation of the world order and establishment of the world without civilized rules. It should be stopped. At the same time, I emphasize the necessity to strengthen the authorities of the General Assembly; we should provide flexibility and inclusiveness of the discussion at the GA. Exactly, for this reason, Ukraine submitted a report on the current status at the occupied territories of Ukraine for the consideration of the Assembly. Its members should consider and discuss the first priority actions on this issue. We should provide a quick and efficient response to the present situation," Poroshenko claimed. Over the past three months, Russia's activity in the Azov Sea has increased significantly. The Russians do not allow commercial vessels going to and leaving Ukrainian ports to pass through the Kerch Strait without hindrance. In this regard, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko instructed the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff and the Ukrainian Navy to take measures to stop Russian provocations with regard to blocking the entry of ships into Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea. The Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine has developed a set of measures in response to Russia's actions. At the same time, it was reported that the package of measures includes, among other things, restrictions on passenger traffic with Russia. Moreover, in July, Russia detained 148 ships for inspection in the Sea of Azov. Due to this, President Poroshenko entrusted the Defence Minister, the Head of the General Staff, and Command of Ukraines Naval Forces to take measures to stop Russian provocations concerning the blockade of Ukrainian ships in the Sea of Azov. Ukraine also supports the imposition of sanctions against Russian Black Sea ports due to the blockade of the Sea of Azov. Related video: TEDxABQ, that is? You know the conceptyouve probably even watched the YouTube videos and then retreated to your bedroom to practice power poses or study your third language. But have you tapped into all of the local genius via this Albuquerque-centric event? Get in on the brilliance and learn from your fellow Burquenas and Burquenos at TEDxABQ , an ongoing series of events that is looking to the next chapter on Friday, Sept. 28 at 6pm and Saturday, Sept. 29 at 1pm , titled Imagining Albuquerque, held at the National Hispanic Cultural Center . Tickets for this knowledge exchange start at $25 . Find all the details at nhccnm.org . (Maggie Grimason) An exploration of emerging ideas from New Mexicans focused on the community. This September, TEDxABQ Main Event returns to Albuquerque with an exploration of emerging ideas from New Mexicans and focused on our community. The event, which will be hosted at the National Hispanic Cultural Center will take place over two days. Friday, September 28th at 5:00 pm, we start with Imagine Alburquerque. This event is an evening to explore the boldest ideas for, and by the city of Albuquerque. 7 Inspiring Speakers, 2 Performers, 2 TED Videos and 2 Films. There will also be audience engagement and VIP Reception. Featured speakers will be Andrew Lovato, Chris Sylvan, David Campbell, Monique Fraqua, Sofia Michelle Sanchez, and T.J. Cook $25 Students* (Friday Only) $35 General (Friday Only) $110 VIP (Friday Only) $160 Two Day VIP option (*Student ID required at registration) Saturday, September 29th at 9:00 am, The Main Event is broad in scope and theme, showcasing the best and most diverse ideas and experts across all disciplines. There will be 14 Inspiring Speakers, 4 Performers, 2 TED Videos, and 4 Films. Audience Opportunities & VIP Lounge speakers will be Angel Mondragon, Arman Rashidi, Chantelle Wagner, David Rakel, Devonte Watson, Jeff Nichol, Jill Geltmaker, Kaatje Gotcha, Matthew Fricke, Pilar Sanjuan, Robert Arrieta, and Dr. Victoria Mora. $35 Students* (Saturday Only) $55 General (Saturday Only) $100 VIP (Saturday Only) $150 Two Day VIP option (*Student ID Required At Registration) The work reflects a quiet and profound aesthetic by creating signature imagery for over 40 years in N.M. He uniquely captures the essence through landscapes, villagescapes, architectural details and the inherent patterns found in the natural and man-made world. Runs through 9/29. Thayer Carter : A Journey of Woodcuts new grounds REMARQUE print workshop 3812 Central Ave SE 100 B Albuquerque, NM 87108 Opening Reception Friday, September 7th, 5 8PM Thayer Carter: A Journey of Woodcuts September 7th 29th, 2018 Dan Noyes: Present September 7th 29th, 2018 Located 212 blocks east of Carlisle. Parking in the back, at Silver & Solano. Gallery Hours: Thursday-Saturday 10AM 6PM and by appointment (505) 268-8952 www.remarqueprintshop.com Thayer Carter's artwork reflects a quiet and profound aesthetic by creating signature imagery for over 40 years in New Mexico. He uniquely captures the essence of place and the spirit of NM through landscapes, villagescapes, architectural details and the inherent patterns found in the natural and man-made world. A humble and relentless professional artist, Carter's work is deserving of recognition as a resident artist of this state, with family roots in New Mexico dating back to the early 1920's. He is a living legend, carrying generations of artistic talent and commitment to excellence. As an active Santa Fe artist for over 40 years, with a range of exceptional talents in woodcut printmaking, watercolor, oil and acrylic landscape paintings, as a woodworker, furniture maker and carpenter. This exhibition, Thayer Carter : A Journey in Woodcuts is a glimpse through images into his world of interest, travel and talent. Biography Thayer Carter is a painter and printmaker whose work has been inspired by over 30 years of travels throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia and South America. His pictures, on paper and canvas, are strongly influenced by early American Modernists, ranging from Lyonel Feininger and Charles Sheeler to Lynd Ward and Rockwell Kent. The landscapes that attract him come from both the natural and built environment, and are as diverse in their subject matter as the villagescapes of northern New Mexico, the jungles of Asia and the Carribean, scenes of urban Europe and the coastline of the North Atlantic. Carter attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and The Art Students League in New York. His work has been exhibited in New York, Boston, Seattle, Santa Fe and Cuenca, Ecuador, with work published in the United States and Europe. Carter was Head Fabricator for the Exhibitions Division of the Museum of New Mexico for 18 years. He currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We're sorry, you encountered a page that doesn't exist. Mexico City, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Due to the great success of Aeromexicos new fare model launched in March for domestic flights bound to the United States and Canada, from this day you can enjoy the benefits offered by Branded Fares on all flights that we operate to Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, and Asia. Branded Fares will be available and customized for each region to satisfy your needs and offering a tailored service. Through this concept, Aeromexico puts at your disposal the maximum comfort and modernity of its aircraft at competitive prices, and creates an Aeromexico for everyone, with products and services that are increasingly personalized and flexible. Learn more about each fare in detail and get the most out of each one in your next trips. For more information, visit: https://aeromexico.com/en-us/travel-information/fare-types-and-tickets oo00oo About Aeromexico Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in commercial aviation in Mexico and the promotion of passenger loyalty programs. Aeromexico, Mexicos global airline, operates more than 600 daily flights and its main hub is in Terminal 2 at the Mexico City International Airport. Its destinations network features more than 90 cities on three continents, including 43 destinations in Mexico, 22 in the United States, 17 in Latin America, 4 in Europe, 3 in Canada and 3 in Asia. The Group's operating fleet of 133 aircraft is comprised of Boeing 787 and 737 jet airliners and next generation Embraer 170 and 190 models. In 2012, the airline announced the most significant investment strategy in aviation history in Mexico, to purchase 100 Boeing aircraft including 90 MAX B737 jet airliners and 10 B787-9 Dreamliners. As a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, Aeromexico offers customers more than 1,000 destinations in 177 countries served by the 20 SkyTeam airline partners rewarding passengers with benefits including access to 672 premium airport lounges around the world. Aeromexico also offers travel on its codeshare partner flights with Delta Air Lines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, EL AL, GOL Linhas Aereas, Jet Airways and WestJet, with extensive connectivity in countries like the United States, Brazil, Canada, Central America, Colombia, India, Israel or Peru. www.aeromexico.com www.skyteam.com Attachments VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fancamp Exploration Ltd. (Fancamp or the Company) (TSX VENTURE: FNC) wishes to announce the resignation of Dr. Fouad Kamaleddine from the Board of Directors, effective immediately. He will remain as V.P. Research and Development for the Company as per his contract. The Company will continue with its in effect, streamlined, four member Board, well acquainted with, and supportive of, the Companys fast developing projects. The focus is on the government grant supported Magpie Process demonstration plant currently in its earliest stages, and the dynamic Industrial Synergy Route as previously reported (NR September 13th, 2018) together with current boots on the ground exploration activity on the Companys Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick gold prospects, to be completed before the snow flies. About Fancamp Fancamp Exploration Ltd. is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company. It continues to evolve into a holder of shares in partner companies together with royalties. The Company has an exceptional inventory of resource properties in three provinces; Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. The commodities include gold, base metals, chromium, titanium and iron. The Company is a reporting issuer in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec and its common shares are listed for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol FNC. For further information, please contact Peter H. Smith PhD., P.Eng.(Ont) President 1-514-481-3172 Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Johnstown, PA, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Marine Corps Installations Command (MCICOM) has awarded Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) a prime contract to support the Marine Corps efforts within its various sections (i.e. Headquarters Marine Corps, Regions, and Installations), which possess their own challenges in addressing the Marine Corps objectives to meet Energy Reliability and Resilience requirements. The contract was awarded in a full and open competition and includes one base period and four option periods that could reach up to $36 million in value if all the option years are exercised. CTCs team includes four small business subcontractors (Sain Engineering Associates, Risk Mitigation Consulting, Cintel, and Barbaricum) chosen for their unique, best-in-class technical capabilities. Through its role as prime contractor, CTC will address utility distribution systems that support the energy reliability and resilience requirements linked to mission readiness and operational effectiveness. To do this, the CTC Team will: develop installation resilience metrics; evaluate unclassified Energy Security Assessments (ESA) reports; collect, store, and analyze energy data; provide written recommendations of suggested infrastructure upgrades; provide regular analyses of the utility bills and rates; assist in development of energy projects to address gaps noted in the ESA reports; assist in conducting building level energy audits; provide information on steps that will improve energy efficiency; and provide technical support to facilitate the energy security strategy and Installation Energy Planning. Energy touches every aspect of Marine Corps missions and functions, and even short-term interruptions in electric power or disruptions to delivery of fuel or natural gas can have serious consequences on mission readiness and the ability to deploy Marines in support of critical operations, said Randy Monohan, MCICOMs Energy Projects Officer. In March 2018, CTC won a $6.2 million contract to provide functional and technical programmatic support for securing the Marine Corps existing Facility Related Control Systems (FRCS). CTC now proudly serves as the U.S. Marine Corps Installations Commands prime technical support contractor in addressing all of its energy efficiency, resiliency, and reliability needs for all Marine Corps installations worldwide. CTC is proud to continue its support of the Marine Corps in strengthening the energy posture of its installations, said Edward J. Sheehan, Jr., CTC President and CEO. Our team is uniquely qualified to provide high-quality services and innovative solutions, leading to increased mission effectiveness, energy resilience, and reduced waste to the Marine Corps. Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) is an independent, nonprofit, applied scientific research and development professional services organization. Together with our affiliates, Enterprise Ventures Corporation and CTC Foundation, we leverage research, development, test and evaluation work to provide transformative, full lifecycle solutions. To best serve our clients needs, we offer the complete ability to fully design, develop, test, prototype and build. We support our clients core mission objectives with customized solutions and strive to exceed expectations. For more information about CTC, visit www.ctc.com. Attachment SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corelight, providers of the most powerful network visibility solution for cybersecurity, today announced that it has been named the winner of the Network Security Innovation Award from CyberSecurity Breakthrough , an independent organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global information security market today. Our founders recognized many years ago that network data would always be critical in providing visibility for security, said Alan Saldich, chief marketing officer for Corelight. Over the last 20 years, they and others have been working on the Bro open source network security monitoring project to improve performance, add features, and to make it more robust and useable, making them pioneers in the cybersecurity space. The Corelight Sensors have been on the market for a little more than a year, so we are thrilled to receive this honor particularly because it recognizes the spirit of innovation that lies at the heart of everything we do at Corelight, he added. The mission of the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work and success in a range of information security categories, including Cloud Security, Threat Detection, Risk Management, Fraud Prevention, Mobile Security, Email Security and many more. This years program attracted more than 3,000 nominations from over 14 different countries throughout the world. Corelights spirit of innovation stems from a longstanding tradition of network security product ingenuity and progress, said James Johnson, managing director of the CyberSecurity Breakthrough awards program. We are proud to recognize Corelight for its history of innovation and for serving as a driving force in the progression of cybersecurity solutions for the most complex network environments. Corelight was founded by Dr. Vern Paxson (a Professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley and Chief Scientist at Corelight), Robin Sommer (CTO) and Seth Hall (Chief Evangelist) to deliver network visibility solutions for cybersecurity built on an open source framework called Bro. Paxson began developing Bro in 1995 when he was working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL); the name refers to George Orwell's "Big Brother" as it signals the need for operators of network monitoring to remain mindful of their users' rights and privacy. Today, Corelight has merged the power of Bro with a suite of enterprise features to create a line of Corelight Sensors that make Bro dramatically easier to deploy in physical or virtual enterprise environments, like an intuitive management UI, native NIC shunting, sensor health metrics, and automated data export to Splunk, Elastic, Kafka, Syslog, S3, and more. About Corelight Corelight delivers the most powerful network visibility solutions for information security professionals, helping them understand network traffic and defend their organizations more effectively. Corelight solutions are built on a foundation of Bro, the powerful and widely-used open source network analysis framework that generates actionable, real-time data for thousands of security teams worldwide. Bro data has become the gold standard for incident response, threat hunting, and forensics in large enterprises and government agencies worldwide. Corelight makes a family of network sensors - both physical and virtual, at every scale - that take the pain out of deploying open-source Bro by adding integrations and capabilities large organizations need. The Bro project was initially developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and has been supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI). Corelight is based in San Francisco, Calif. For more information, visit https://www.corelight.com or follow @corelight_inc. About CyberSecurity Breakthrough Part of the Tech Breakthrough Awards organization, the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in information security and cybersecurity technology companies, products and people. The CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough information security companies and products in categories including Cloud Security, Threat Detection, Risk Management, Fraud Prevention, Mobile Security, Web and Email Security, UTM, Firewall and more. For more information visit CyberSecurityBreakthrough.com . Media and Analyst Contact: Kylie Heintz KMH Communications for Corelight kylie@corelight.com 408-505-1078 TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bunker Hill Mining Corp. (the Company or Bunker Hill) (CSE: BNKR) announces that Harold Roy Shipes has resigned as a director of the Company for family reasons. The Board of Directors would like to thank Mr. Shipes for his contributions to the Company. About Bunker Hill Mining Corp. Bunker Hill Mining Corp. has an option to acquire 100% of the Bunker Hill Mine. The Bunker Hill Mine was the largest producing mine in the Coeur D'Alene zinc, lead and silver mining district in northern Idaho. Historically, the mine produced over 35M tons grading on average 8.76% lead, 3.67% zinc, and 155 g/t (4.52 ounces per ton) silver (Bunker Hill Mines Annual Report 1980). Information about the Company is available on its website, www.bunkerhillmining.com, or in the SEDAR and EDGAR databases. For additional information contact: Bruce Reid, Chief Executive Officer (647) 500-4495 br@bunkerhillmining.com Nicholas Konkin, Marketing & Communications (416) 567-9087 nk@bunkerhillmining.com Cautionary Statements Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as well as within the meaning of the phrase forward-looking information in the Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations. The forward looking statements made herein are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations or assumptions with respect to, among other things, the ability of the Company to successfully complete the acquisition of the Bunker Hill Mine Complex on the terms as announced or other satisfactory terms or at all, and fund the initial payments for which the Company does not have funds at this time, the Companys present and future financial condition, the Companys ability to secure financing, and the state of financial markets. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Companys future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as believes, anticipates, expects, estimates, may, could, would, will, or plan, and may include statements regarding, among other things, the terms of the Bunker Hill Mine Complex acquisition and funding of the acquisition. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, project development, and the Companys financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: the inability of the Company to successfully acquire the Bunker Hill Mine Complex on the terms as announced or other satisfactory terms or at all, and fund the payments for which the Company does not have funds at this time; the inability of the Company to budget and manage its liquidity in light of the failure to obtain additional financing; the inability of the Company to develop or sustain an active public market for its securities; development of changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for precious metals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; operational difficulties encountered in connection with the activities of the Company; and other matters discussed in this news release. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Companys forward-looking statements. These and other factors made in public disclosures and filings by the Company should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Companys forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. English French VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grant MacKenzie, CEO of Peoples Group, announced today that it has been selected as the Winner for Canadian HR Team of the Year, Finance or Insurance, in the 5th annual Canadian HR Awards. The Canadian HR Awards is one of a series of international HR events. The event is held annually in Toronto and brings together industry leaders to celebrate excellence in the HR industry and is designed to recognize individuals, teams, and companies for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the field. Semi-finalists were selected by a vote of the readers of HRD Canada magazine, a leading HR-focused magazine with more than 24,000 readers and subscribers across Canada. Winners in each of the 25 categories were selected by a panel of industry experts. Ann McDow, Vice-President of People and Culture at Peoples Group, said, In less than two years we have grown from 125 to almost 200 employees where acquisitions, mergers, and expansion have been the main drivers. The People & Culture team was created by our new CEO, growing from a team of 1 to 6. We are small, but we have a BIG impact! The VP, P&C is part of the Strategic Leadership Team, which helps provide the people focus in all decisions. Our mission is to create an environment where employees can choose to be successful. From implementing the Ultipro system, developing strengths-based leadership programs, and improving internal communications, we are transforming the culture. Our recent engagement survey tells us; keep doing what you are doing! So, in the coming years, our goal is to win the Best Workplace Culture award... and I am positive we will get there! About Peoples Group: As the foundation for Peoples Group, Peoples Trust Company is a federally chartered financial institution that has been providing financial services to Canadians for over 30 years. With a focus on exceptional customer service backed by extensive product knowledge and experience, Peoples is a niche company known for their lending and asset securitization expertise who also offer deposit rates that are among the best in Canada. In addition, for more than a decade, Peoples has been providing comprehensive issuing services for prepaid and credit cards as well as innovative programs in the merchant services business sector through Peoples Payment Solutions and Peoples Card Services. Their regulatory expertise and market guidance have helped innovators from around the world establish, launch and grow programs in Canada. For more information, visit www.peoplesgroup.com. Media Contact English French 2018 HALF-YEAR CONSOLIDATED RESULTS: STRENGTHENED FINANCIAL SITUATION SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS IN BOTH AREAS OF BUSINESS Cash position: +9.9m at June 30, 2018 compared to +4.9m at December 31, 2017 thanks to the reinforcement of shareholders' equity Half-year net loss of the group: -3.7m vs. -3.3m in the first half of 2017 Significant strengthening of the antibiotic portfolio with the acquisition of a clinical-stage compound (DNV3837) and a license option on a preclinical anti-gram-negative program (NBTI) Partnerships with Naicons and bioMerieux to broaden the scope of the AGIR program Commercial launch of two natural active ingredients for cosmetic use Montpellier, September 27, 2018 (7:15 pm - CEST) - DEINOVE (Euronext Growth Paris: ALDEI), a biotech company that discovers, develops, and produces high-value compounds from rare bacteria, notably from the Deinococcus genus, released its half-year results for 2018. The 2018 Interim Financial Report in French (an English version will be posted soon) is available at: www.deinove.com/fr/espace-investisseurs/centre-documentation/rapports-financiers Emmanuel PETIOT, Managing Director of DEINOVE, stated: "This half-year was marked by the successful industrialization of the process developed exclusively by DEINOVE and the launch of the first commercial products, resulting from several years of research. We have also included in our portfolio an antibiotic molecule of major therapeutic interest and at an advanced development stage. We are becoming a visible player in the innovative antibiotic market, which is a global health issue. Lastly, we have strengthened our capital base and welcomed a new reference shareholder, TVM Capital, one of Europe's leading biotech venture capitalists. DEINOVE has added a whole new dimension this year. We will continue in this direction to accelerate the development of our innovative active ingredients and initiate Phase II of our antibiotic candidate DNV3837." SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION As of June 30, 2018, the scope of consolidation includes the companies DEINOVE and DEINOBIOTICS over the entire period and the companies BIOVERTIS and MORPHOCHEM over the period from May 24 to June 30, 2018. As of June 30 and December 31, 2017, it included only DEINOVE and DEINOBIOTICS. The Group's statutory auditors, audit firm PwC, conducted a limited review of DEINOVE Group's financial statements at June 30, 2018. PwC also audited the half-yearly accounts of BIOVERTIS AG. (in thousands of euros) 6 month period ending June 30 2018 2017 Total operating revenues 715 140 Total operating costs 5,070 4,898 o/w Research & Development costs 3,682 3,635 o/w Administrative and General costs 1,388 1,263 Operating profit / loss - 4,355 - 4,758 Financial result 6 -3 Current pre-tax profit / loss - 4,349 -4,761 Profit/loss from non-recurring items 157 348 Income taxes (R&D Tax Credit) and deferred taxes - 661 - 1,253 Goodwill amortization 204 185 Result of equity affiliates 0 0 CONSOLIDATED PROFIT / LOSS - 3,735 - 3,345 Minority interest 0 0 NET PROFIT / LOSS - GROUP SHARE - 3,735 - 3,345 (in thousands of euros) at 30/06/18 at 31/12/17 Term deposits 1,300 2,000 Provision for impairment of marketable securities 0 0 Cash on hand 8,595 2,876 Accrued interest not yet due & bank overdraft facilities 0 0 NET FINANCIAL POSITION 9,895 4,876 HALF-YEAR CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS OPERATING REVENUES The DEINOVE Group recorded operating revenues of 715k over the half-year mainly from the operating grant received from Bpifrance under the AGIR program. In the same half-year, operating expenses reached 5.1m. The net change in operating expenses between the first half-year of 2017 and 2018 amounted to +172k (+3.5%). It included the impact of the change in scope (integration of MORPHOCHEM and BIOVERTIS) for a total amount of 61k. On a like-for-like basis, operating expenses increased by 111k (+2.2%). The Group continued to invest in the development of its programs, including an increase in staff from 54.5 in H1-17 to 62.1 in H1-18 (in average FTE). The increase in the payroll was partially offset by a decrease in external studies and in honorary fees, particularly scientific fees. Over the period, R&D expenses, which represented 73% of operating expenses (vs. 74% in the first half of 2017), remained stable. Administrative and general expenses slightly increased to 1,379k. DEINOVE has continued its investments over the half-year, mainly for the automation and the development of the technological platform, and in relation to the ramp-up of the AGIR program. NET RESULT The consolidated net loss for the first half amounted to 3.7m. It includes a positive exceptional result of +157k (compared to +348k in the first half of 2017), which was mainly due to a waiver of receivables (209k) reported by Bpifrance on the THANAPLAST(TM) program. The financial result was negligible (+6k). The half-year consolidated net result includes a tax profit corresponding to a R&D Tax Credit (CIR) of 661k (compared with 1,253k in the first half of 2017). FINANCIAL POSITION The financing of operating expenses for the first half of 2018 required 4.8m (excluding depreciation charges), to which were added investments in laboratory equipment (including leasing rents) for 1.2m. The capital increase completed in June raised a net amount of 8.0m. Over the half-year, the Group also raised 0.7m through the equity line funding signed in December 2014 with Kepler Cheuvreux. In addition, the Group received 2.6m in a repayable advance and a subsidy under the AGIR program. Finally, the integration of the two new subsidiaries BIOVERTIS and MORPHOCHEM had a negative net impact of 0.3m. As of June 30, 2018, the Group's net financial position amounted to +9.9m, vs. +4.9m as of January 1, 2018, a net change of +5.0m over the half-year. LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS Acquisition of BIOVERTIS and its subsidiary MORPHOCHEM by contribution in kind remunerated by issuing new shares and share allotment warrants The Combined General Meeting of the Company held on May 23, 2018 approved the realization of the contribution in kind of shares, options, and a preferential right of the Austrian company BIOVERTIS in favor of the company DEINOVE, which since then holds 100% of the company BIOVERTIS, itself holding the entire capital of the German company MORPHOCHEM that developed the antibiotic compound MCB3837. This antibiotic is a clinical stage molecule, ready to enter Phase II, targeting the treatment of severe forms of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI), gastrointestinal infections. This contribution in kind was valued at 900,001.80 and remunerated by issuing 500,001 new DEINOVE ordinary shares, to which are attached 8,000,000 share allotment warrants, giving entitlement to 8,000,000 shares and progressively exercisable according to the achievement of key milestones in the development of the drug candidate. At the end of this operation, the contributors held 4.06% of DEINOVE's capital. The Combined General Meeting of May 23, 2018 also decided to appoint TVM Capital as a new member of the Board. Capital increase with the cancellation of the DPS for the benefit of a category of beneficiaries carried out by accelerated book building The Board of Directors of June 14, 2018 decided to make use of the delegation granted under the Thirteenth Resolution by the Combined General Meeting of May 23, 2018 in order to proceed with a capital increase by issuing new shares, with cancellation of the preferential subscription right ("DPS") for the benefit of a category of beneficiaries. It sub-delegated to the Chief Executive Officer the power to determine the final terms and conditions of the capital increase operation and to carry it out. By decisions dated June 14 and 19, 2018, the Chief Executive Officer made use of this delegation and recorded a capital increase of 1,259,259.60 by the issue of 3,148,149 new shares. These 3,148,149 new shares, with a nominal par value of 0.40, were issued at a price of 2.70, including issue premium, for a total amount of 8,500,002.30, representing 25.35% of the Company's capital prior to the transaction on an undiluted basis, i.e. a dilution of 20.22%. Investment funds managed by TVM Capital contributed 2m. The share capital of the Company was increased to 6,226,593.60. MAJOR OPERATIONAL PROGRESS New generation anti-infectious programs Collaboration with Naicons to discover new antibiotics as part of the AGIR project In March 2018, DEINOVE signed an exclusive research license with the Italian biopharmaceutical company Naicons, as part of the AGIR program (Antibiotics against Resistant Infectious Germs) supported by the Investments for the Future Program. DEINOVE will study 400 strains belonging to Naicons to detect and characterize possible innovative antibiotic activities. In case of discovery of a strain of interest, DEINOVE may acquire it either via a commercial license or in full ownership, to initiate the development of drug candidates. Licensing option agreement with Redx Pharma to enrich the innovative antibiotic portfolio In March 2018, DEINOVE signed a licensing option with the British company Redx Pharma (AIM: REDX) for the acquisition of their fisrt-in-class NBTI (Novel Bacterial Topoisomerase Inhibitor) anti-infectious program. The agreement is for an exclusive license option, with DEINOVE having 9 months to confirm its interest in this series of molecules and lift the option. The NTBI program, about to enter preclinical regulatory development, concerns a family of molecules targeting multi-resistant Gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These bacteria are part of the list of the 12 most dangerous pathogens for human health, published by WHO in 2017. DEINOVE acquires MORPHOCHEM's antibiotic compound in clinical phase In May 2018, DEINOVE acquired the Austrian company BIOVERTIS and its German subsidiary MORPHOCHEM through a contribution in kind transaction. DEINOVE acquired the property of the first-in-class antibiotic program MCB3837, developed by MORPHOCHEM. This molecule, ready to enter Phase II, targets the treatment of severe gastrointestinal infections with Clostridium difficile, a pathogen classified as a priority by the WHO and the CDC. This operation significantly boosts DEINOVE's 'Antibiotics' activity with the inclusion in its pipeline of a compound in the clinical phase. DNV3837 (ex-MCB3837) is the only antibiotic candidate administered by IV (intravenous) developed in this indication. It crosses the gastrointestinal barrier and precisely targets the area of infection. Several Phase I trials (on healthy volunteers) have shown a high concentration of the antibiotic in stools, a strong marker of its presence in the intestine. It has also demonstrated its ability to eliminate Clostridium difficile bacteria without destroying other microorganisms of the gastrointestinal flora. The next stage of development will be a Phase II clinical study, involving a small number of patients. DEINOVE collaborates with bioMerieux to discover new antibiotics In June 2018, DEINOVE entered into a collaboration with bioMerieux, a major player in in vitro diagnostics, to explore new strains and increase the opportunities for discovering new antibiotics. bioMerieux provides DEINOVE with more than 250 strains of 130 different species that integrate the AGIR program for the discovery of new antibiotic structures that are effective against resistant pathogens. Natural active ingredients programs DEINOVE launches PHYT-N-RESIST, an anti-aging active based on pure Phytoene, its first innovative carotenoid DEINOVE has launched on the market its first innovative active ingredient, Phytoene, a colorless precursor of all carotenoids, that no-one had managed to obtain pure before. The scientific platform DEINOVE has designed an exclusive process for the production of Phytoene via a process of fermentation of natural sugars by the extremophilic bacterium Deinococcus geothermalis. This active ingredient was first developed for cosmetic use with anti-aging activity under the PHYT-N-RESIST brand. DEINOVE and Hallstar-Oleos, partners to develop two cosmetic active ingredients In January 2018, DEINOVE entered into a partnership with Hallstar-Oleos to develop a new 100% natural cosmetic active combining the exclusive properties of DEINOVE bacteria and Oleos' patented Oleo-eco-extraction technology. In May 2018, the development of a second Oleoactif was initiated, with the financial support of the Occitanie Region. The commercial launch is planned for 2019. Oleos already sells around 20 active ingredients to cosmetics brands in France and internationally. DEINOVE and Greentech announce the launch of their first cosmetics active ingredient jointly developed, Hebelys In April 2018, DEINOVE and Greentech announced the launch of Hebelys, the first anti-aging active ingredient from the collaboration launched in March 2017. It is an anti-aging active, obtained by fermentation of a bacterium, Sphingomonas, aimed at protecting the skin from premature cellular aging. DEINOVE selected the strain, developed the production process to achieve optimal fermentation performances, and supervised in vitro tests to characterize the extract; Greentech developed the formulation process, validated stability and safety as well as efficacy by additional ex vivo tests. Hebelys is effectively marketed by Greentech, which already distributes around a hundred active ingredients from biotechnology. COLOR2B Program: Confirmed progress and prospects The COLOR2B project, carried out in collaboration with Avril group, and which focuses on the development of a process for the production of natural ingredients for animal feed, is currently in its 3rd phase. The final choice of the selected strain has been confirmed and its performance is comparable to the products currently on the market, which are derived from petrochemicals. Several formulations have been tested in experimental farms and the nutritional performances remain constant, which makes it possible to envisage a panel of different formulations according to the targeted applications and the regulatory issues. Next steps will be the validation of optimal dosages, process scaling and regulatory approach for the commercial launch of a competitive natural alternative in the feed market. POST-CLOSURE: Strategic partnership with UNIVAR for the distribution of PHYT-N-RESIST in EMEA DEINOVE announced on September 13, 2018, the signing of a strategic agreement with UNIVAR for the distribution of its anti-aging ingredient Phyt-N-Resist, its first innovative carotenoid for cosmetics. UNIVAR, a major player in chemical distribution and the European leader in the sector, will distribute Phyt-N-Resist over the entire EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). The collaboration includes promotion and commercial distribution. Through this collaboration, DEINOVE accesses a broad portfolio of customers. ABOUT DEINOVE DEINOVE (Euronext Growth Paris: ALDEI) is a biotech company that discovers, develops and produces high added-value compounds from rare microorganisms for use in the fields of health, nutrition and cosmetic markets. To do so, DEINOVE draws on two key assets: a unique library of 6,000 rare or unexploited bacterial strains; a metabolic and fermentation engineering platform capable of leveraging these natural "micro-factories" to turn them into new industrial standards. Based in Montpellier, DEINOVE employs approximately 60 employees and has nearly 160 international patent applications. The Company has been listed on Euronext Growth since April 2010. CONTACTS Emmanuel Petiot CEO Tel.: +33 (0)4 48 19 01 28 emmanuel.petiot@deinove.com Julien Coste CFO Tel.: +33 (0)4 48 19 01 00 julien.coste@deinove.com Coralie Martin Communication and Investor Relations Tel.: +33 (0)4 48 19 01 60 coralie.martin@deinove.com ALIZE RP, Press Relations Caroline Carmagnol / Aurore Gangloff Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 54 36 66 deinove@alizerp.com DALLAS, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mary Kay Inc., celebrating its 55th anniversary as a top beauty brand and direct seller in nearly 40 markets, announces the appointment of Deborah Gibbins to Chief Operating Officer at the companys global headquarters in Addison, Texas. In her new role as Chief Operating Officer, Gibbins will now assume responsibility for the Global Supply Chain and Research and Development organization including the new global Richard R. Rogers Manufacturing / R&D Center in Lewisville, Texas. In addition, she will continue to oversee the finance, public affairs and strategic planning divisions at Mary Kay Inc. This is an exciting time for Mary Kay as our company celebrates 55 years of inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs around the world, said Deborah Gibbins. As one of the top innovators in the direct selling and cosmetic industries, Mary Kay is a cosmetics powerhouse with more than 700 products in its global portfolio. As we continue to produce best-in-the-industry products and provide an unrivaled business opportunity for millions, I am honored to serve in a new capacity as Chief Operating Officer. Gibbins joined Mary Kay Inc. in 2013 as Chief Financial Officer following a long career of broad leadership experience. Prior to joining the iconic beauty brand, Gibbins spent 17 years at PepsiCo, where she held senior roles within the finance function, including Senior Vice President of Revenue Management at Frito-Lay North America, a multi-billion-dollar convenient foods business unit. Before PepsiCo, Gibbins excelled in a decade-long career at Arthur Andersen LLP, leaving the firm as a senior manager in the audit and consulting practice. In her five years with Mary Kay Inc., Deb has proven to be an incredible leader and strategic thinker focused on the future of our business, said David Holl, President and Chief Executive Officer for Mary Kay Inc. She is passionate about the direct-selling model and the opportunity it creates for women around the world. Known for looking at situations from all angles and challenging the status quo, Deb is constantly working to identify ways that our company can be more efficient and agile, to better serve our markets and millions of Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultants worldwide. Gibbins is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. In 2014, she was named a Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumni. An active community volunteer, she serves on the boards of the SMU Cox School of Business, the SMU Texas-Mexico Center, the Dallas chapter of the International Womens Forum, Jesuit College Preparatory School Foundation and for 10 years served as a board member for the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. She also serves on the board of directors of Bush Brothers & Company. Gibbins and her husband reside in Dallas and are the parents of two sons. For more information about Mary Kays company timeline, positive community impact, rewarding opportunity and irresistible products, click here. About Mary Kay At Mary Kay, success lies in our dedication to irresistible products, a rewarding opportunity and positive community impact. For 55 years, Mary Kay has inspired women to achieve their entrepreneurial goals in nearly 40 countries. As a multibillion-dollar company, we offer the latest in cutting-edge skin care, bold color cosmetics and fragrances. Discover more reasons to love Mary Kay at marykay.com. Attachment English French MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Theratechnologies Inc. (TSX: TH) (Theratechnologies) announced today that it will issue its financial results for the third quarter ended August 31, 2018, on Thursday, October 4, 2018. A conference call will be held on October 4, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. (ET) to discuss the results. The call will be hosted by Luc Tanguay, President and Chief Executive Officer. The conference call will be open to questions from financial analysts. Media and other interested individuals are invited to participate in the call on a listen-only basis. The conference call can be accessed by dialling 1-877-223-4471 (North America) or 1-647-788-4922 (International). The conference call will also be accessible via webcast at http://www.gowebcasting.com/9644 . Audio replay of the conference call will be available on the same day starting at 11:30 a.m. (ET) until October 18, 2018, by dialling 1-800-585-8367 (North America) or 1-416-621-4642 (International) and by entering the playback code 7764859. INFORMATION: Contact: Laetitia Scarlat Phone: 514.336.7800 ext. 223 CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Spirit Resources Inc. (CSRI or the Corporation) (TSXV:SPI) (OTCBB:CSPUF) announces the appointment of Carrie Yuill as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Corporation effective October 1, 2018. As of September 30, 2018, Dean G. Hill, current CFO, will step down to pursue a new role as Chief Executive Officer at Behr Integrated Solutions, a private emergency management and response services company. J.R. Richard Couillard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CSRI commented, I would like to thank Dean for his excellent leadership and contribution to CSRI over the past 12 years and we wish him success with his future ventures. CSRI is pleased to welcome Carrie as the Corporations new CFO. Carrie has over thirty years of experience in the finance sector, with the past twenty years serving in executive roles at both private and public oil and natural gas companies. CSRI is a natural resources company focused on the identification and development of opportunities in the Montney Formation resource play in northeastern British Columbia. Information regarding CSRI is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or the Corporations website at www.csri.ca. For further information, please contact: Canadian Spirit Resources Inc. Telephone (403) 539-5005 Rich Couillard (rich.couillard@csri.ca) The corporate information contained in this news release may contain forward-looking forecast information. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonably accurate by CSRI at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. The actual results achieved during the forecast period will vary from the information provided herein and the variations may be material. Consequently there is no representation by CSRI that actual results achieved during the forecast period will be the same in whole or in part as those forecast. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE Ministro #JavierPique: Estamos trabajando en varias zonas de Lima para llevar agua segura de calidad, es el compromiso del Gobierno de cerrar las brechas. Culminaremos nuestra meta para que en el 2021 todos los peruanos que vivimos en la zona urbana tengamos agua y saneamiento pic.twitter.com/3hr8v7Tadz "Moving from a unicameral Parliament to a bicameral system does not mean increasing spending. We have demonstrated it," Vizcarra added. The high-ranking official hailed Congress' decision to approve on Wednesday the draft bill on political parties' private financing the second of four reform initiatives launched by his Government. "We are on schedule, and there is no doubt it will be followed as expected," he said after highlighting Peruvians' willingness to vote in the referendum Under this premise, Peru's top official affirmed he has no doubt citizens will express their opinion on the four reforms , which are the start of a structural change within institutions that need to be strengthened. ?Un hito ambiental para America Latina y el Caribe! La ministra del Ambiente, @FabiolaMunozD, representando al ????Peru, firmo #AcuerdoDeEscazu, el primer tratado regional que contribuye a fortalecer la democracia ambiental.#UNGA pic.twitter.com/oIIWmmcdHP Dr Kerryn Phelps is the biggest threat to the Morrison Government right now. Shes running for the seat of Wentworth and if she wins, she just might become Australias most powerful politician. And yesterday, she announced that she supports an end to live sheep exports. I believe it is our moral and ethical responsibility to bring an end to live sheep export. Dr. Kerryn Phelps Why this is a big deal? When Australias former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, lost his spot as the countrys leader voted out by his own party he announced that he was resigning from politics. This meant that his Sydney seat of Wentworth would be vacant, forcing a by-election and allowing this electorate to vote in a new representative. While the countrys new PM, Scott Morrison tries to find his feet in the fallout of #Libspill, General Practitioner, Dr Kerryn Phelps, has put her hat in the ring for the former PMs seat and she just might win it. Wentworth is a famously safe Liberal seat it has been occupied by a member of the Liberal party (and its predecessors) ever since the countrys first election in 1901. But right now, its on a knifes edge. There is a LOT riding on the outcome of this by-election. Because the Liberal/National coalition only won the last Federal election by a one seat majority, they need to hold onto every possible seat they can. If they lose Wentworth they lose their majority. The Australian Labor Party, the Greens, and crossbench MPs Andrew Wilkie and Rebekha Sharkie are already in support of an end to live export. So if the winning candidate in Wentworth joins the push to end Australias cruel trade in live sheep that person could deliver the critical voice needed to help push the recently introduced bill to end live sheep export through Parliament. As former president of the Australian Medical Association and a current City of Sydney councillor, Dr Kerryn Phelps already has a high profile and her polling results so far indicate that the Morrison Government has reason to be nervous. Her announcement today means that three out of the four leading candidates in Wentworth support an end to live sheep export (Labors Tim Murray is also supportive as is Dominic Wy Kanak from The Greens) proving that candidates are very sensitive to the issues of concern to voters and more than ever, are prepared to listen. Not only is ending live export squarely a by-election issue but Dr Phelps' announcement sends a strong message to the PM who is refusing to allow his MPs to even debate and vote on it that this issue will not go away. The majority of Australians want live export to end and the majority of politicians do too. It's time the Morrison Government listened. Please, keep up the pressure by taking action for animals today. Take action now End of an Era Mayor Taylor won reelection. But his opponents won council. by James Leonard, John Hilton From the September, 2018 issue A record 28,608 Ann Arborites cast votes in the August 7 Democratic mayoral primary. Of those, 16,867 were for Christopher Taylor. That was more than all the votes cast in 2014's four-way mayoral primary--the previous record turnout. Taylor beat Ward 4 councilmember Jack Eaton by a convincing 59 to 41 percent. Yet those same voters rejected four of the five city council candidates Taylor supported. That faction--the Observer calls them the Activist Coalition--has controlled the city almost uninterrupted for eighteen years. Following November's general election, they'll be down to a four-vote minority. That would seem to make Eaton and his allies--we call them the Back-to-Basics caucus--the new power on council. "I disagree," says Eaton with a smile. "I will admit that the change on council means the mayor doesn't have an automatic majority, but I'm not sure that anybody does," the three-term councilmember says in an interview at a park near his southwest-side home. "Each one of the candidates that beat an incumbent ran as being independent of anybody." Not entirely independent. Eaton endorsed Kathy Griswold and Ali Ramlawi, who won in Wards Two and Five. He also walked doors with Alice Liberson, who nearly took Ward Three. And much of the challengers' anti-incumbent rhetoric echoed his. Taylor's predecessor, John Hieftje, accepts Eaton's disclaimer: "I don't expect all the folks who were elected to vote lockstep with Jack," he says. "The current majority isn't in lockstep. Jack might say that, but no more than the other side." Instead, the town's longest-serving mayor sees ambivalence in the razor-thin margins in three races and the closeness of a fourth. "If you turn around about three hundred votes [in three races], there'd be a different majority," Hieftje notes. "Reelecting the mayor shows the voters like the direction the city is going." In an interview at his downtown law office, Taylor says he thinks he won because "I am a positive person, and I expressed a positive vision for how we can make ...continued below... Ann Arbor better. I believe that aspirational message resonated.""Every council candidate that won did better in their ward than I did," Eaton admits. He took only three of the city's fifty-three precincts--two in his home ward plus the First Ward's Foxfire subdivision, which borders the new developments on the old Nixon farm. The Activists approved those projects--and Eaton and his allies opposed them.---Both mayoral candidates say opposition to Donald Trump's presidency spurred more Democrats to vote. A three-way gubernatorial primary, a four-way state senate contest, and competitive races in all five city wards added fuel to the fire.Most of those council contests were extremely close. The tightest was in Ward Two, where Kathy Griswold beat incumbent Kirk Westphal by just fifty-three votes. In Ward One, Jeff Hayner finished 130 votes ahead of Ron Ginyard, and in Ward Five, 162 votes put challenger Ramlawi ahead of incumbent Chuck Warpehoski. None of the winners got more than 51 percent of the vote.The vote was close even in the Third Ward, Taylor and Hieftje's base, where Liberson came within 372 votes of beating incumbent Julie Grand. The only clear victory was in Eaton's Ward Four, where newcomer Elizabeth Nelson finished 1,069 votes ahead of incumbent Graydon Krapohl--even with the massive turnout, that worked out to a decisive 60-40 percent margin.Just as remarkable was the races' ugliness. Ranging from the release of campaign donation forms showing Eaton taking money from the chair of the Michigan Republican Party to the posting of Hayner's inflammatory tweets and documents detailing Nelson's impersonation of a city official, these were easily the nastiest races since 2010, when mayoral challenger Pat Lesko said she'd prefer Satan to Hieftje. Asked about the tweets, which seemed critical of abortion and gun control, Hayner emails that "I am pro-choice, and I have written many times about the need for, and suggested paths to, better gun control measures." Nelson emails that she has "no additional comment about my neighbors and what they did or didn't do."Eaton is more forthcoming. He acknowledges taking $500 from state GOP chair (and U-M regent) Ron Weiser, and the same amount from Weiser's wife Eileen, a Republican member of the state board of education. "My campaign sent a fund raising letter to many residents who are active in our community, including the Weisers," he emails. It also paid to circulate a letter from former mayor Ingrid Sheldon and former council candidate John Floyd urging moderate Republicans to cross over and vote for him.An anonymous group bought the web domain RonGinyard.org and used it to post a slick website attacking him. A union-backed group mailed flyers detailing the purported flaws of four challengers, three running for council and one for county commissioner (see "End of a Dynasty?"). Many of the same attacks appeared on the Facebook page of the Michigan Talent Agenda, run by former state house candidate Ned Staebler. "Negative ads are effective," Staebler says. "They turn some people off, but the data shows it works."Maybe. But Eaton says, "it would be a terrible turn of events if that was the kind of campaigns we face in the future."---The two most contentious issues in the campaign were development and the poor state of roads. Eaton says that the new council will look at "our $108 million general fund budget and our $200 million capital improvement budget [and] find a way to make the road repairs happen sooner and better."The longest-running development fight is over the "Library Lot," the space atop the Library Lane underground parking structure. Last year, the Activists voted to sell the right to build there to Chicago developer Core Spaces for $10 million; the company plans a seventeen-story building on the site. Though the proposal includes a public plaza, Eaton and others think the entire space should be a park; a charter amendment to mandate that is on the fall ballot.Eaton says that what happens there "will depend on what the voters say in November. Our charter is our governing document, so whatever the charter says is binding on council." Taylor disputes that. "Our Charter is subordinate to state law," he writes. "It is not clear to me that the ballot language has force under Michigan law." They even disagree on whether the sale to Core Spaces is a done deal.Both questions are being litigated by the project's opponents, and both are sure to come before council again.The Activists still have a couple of months to try to advance Core Spaces and other projects. The new members won't take office until after the general election in November--when Democratic primary winners normally coast to victory in this deep-blue town. At that point, the initiative will pass to Eaton and his allies.Whatever happens, Taylor says, "I will respect residents and colleagues and treat them with openness and good cheer, whether we agree or disagree. People in Ann Arbor continue to want a positive constructive leadership at City Hall, and that's what I intend to provide."Good cheer will be harder to sustain once he's on the short end of seven-to-four votes. But Taylor's mayoral veto gives him bargaining power the Back-to-Basics Caucus lacked when the odds were reversed.Eaton says he hopes the new council will work together on "improved basic services. All of our infrastructure, our water mains, our sewers, are in sad shape." Since infrastructure has been an Activist theme since the Hieftje era, there should be room for agreement there.Hieftje predicts that things will work out because "Christopher is very tolerant of other viewpoints and very invested in doing what's best for the city."Unlike Hieftje, though, Taylor's also very willing to take sides in council campaigns, working to support allies and remove opponents. But any counterattack will take longer this time.In the past, councilmembers served two-year terms, with half of council up for reelection every year. But the folks elected last year are serving three-year terms, and won't be up for reelection till 2020. And starting this year, all terms will be for four years--which means August's winners can't be challenged till 2022.---While there were nuances in each of the five council races, the biggest issue was development. Ginyard in Ward One and Kirk Westphal in Ward Two both lost their races in precincts bordering Nixon Rd. Hayner got 61 percent of the vote in the two precincts just west of Nixon, and Griswold got 59 percent in the precinct to the east."I concentrated where there was development," says Griswold. "I also did well in Jane Lumm's [Ann Arbor Hills] neighborhood. Republicans voted in the Democrat primary. I'm sure they did."Ramlawi opposed the Library Lane structure and opposes the Core Spaces project atop it, but says that's not why he beat Warpehoski. "Development wasn't the big issue in my ward. It was basic services," he says. "But we still have development issues with downtown."Hayner still faces an independent, democratic socialist Ryan Hughes, in November. While some Activists are already backing Hughes, as the Democratic Party candidate Hayner can count on a tide of straight-ticket votes in state and national races.Assuming Hayner wins, he and Griswold, Ramlawi, and Nelson will join incumbents Eaton, Lumm, and Anne Bannister to form a new council majority. At that point, responsibility for getting the roads fixed will fall to them--though just how, Hayner writes, is "a question for City Administrator Lazarus, whom the council directs."Griswold would do more. "I am going to start studying the budget," she says. "I want to get better metrics from staff."Ramlawi says he'd spend the entire balance in the road repair fund, "and continue to apply pressure to city officials."So would Griswold. "This is one of the most dysfunctional organizations I've ever encountered," she says of city hall. "I want to focus on greater accountability and more transparency from staff and hold staff accountable. Howard Lazarus is capable of getting the job done, but he lost track when he started counting votes on council.""You clobbered me," Washtenaw County commissioner Conan Smith wrote on his Facebook page to congratulate challenger Katie Scott.Scott got 66 percent of the vote in the Ninth District-a victory she attributes to talking to close to 2,000 people."The doors were the campaign," she says, while on break from her job as an ICU nurse. She says just 5 percent of the folks she spoke with even knew what the county commission was.Smith says he lost because he "wasn't prepared for the tremendous uptick in voters. I talked to 8,000 people, but it wasn't enough."The fourteen-year county board veteran says Scott beat him "with great civility and friendliness." But mailers from the Great Lakes Renaissance Fund focused on his failed 2016 bid to head the county's Office of Community and Economic Development. Though he ultimately resigned from the board to pursue the job and was later reelected to the board, the ensuing controversy dogged Smith-though he doesn't think it cost him the election. "My loss is a part of the powerful force for women in office this year," he says.Smith is the grandson of Al Wheeler, Ann Arbor's first black mayor. His mother, Alma Wheeler Smith, served in both the state house and the state senate, while his aunt Nancy Wheeler was a judge for decades. Does Smith's defeat mark the end of the family dynasty?Not at all, he says. Even if he never runs again, he says, "I've got nephews! I've got several second cousins! My mom is still out there!"The four-way race for the Democratic nomination in the State Senate District Eighteen was another cliff-hanger: former state rep Jeff Irwin squeaked past county commissioner Michelle Deatrick by just 241 votes-less than one half of 1 percent of the 55,845 votes cast.In a year when women ran strongly, it's not the exception it might seem: fitness entrepreneur Anuja Rajendra got 14,673 votes, compared to just 1,597 for the other white male in the race, WCC student Matthew Miller. Between them, Deatrick and Rajendra got 61 percent of the vote.Though Irwin still faces Republican Martin Church, he's probably not sweating that one. In 2014, Rebekah Warren got 72 percent of the vote in this deep-blue district.Warren, who's term-limited in the senate, steamrollered Shauna McNally with 77 percent of the vote to win the nomination in House District Fifty-Five. Republican primary winner Bob Baird should do better than McNally in November, but Warren's on track to two final years in Lansing.---[Originally published in September, 2018.] YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has met with the foreign minister of Madagascar Maxime Eloi Dovo on September 26 within the framework of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York City. The Armenian FM was pleased to note that relations between Armenia and Madagascar have significantly boosted in recent years, particularly since Armenia joined the La Francophonie Organization. The sides addressed partnership in various arenas during the meeting, especially highlighting close cooperation within the La Francophonie. The Armenian FM noted that Armenia is interested in expanding comprehensive partnership with the African continent and is willing to take practical actions for realizing untapped potential. The ministers exchanged ideas over developing relations, stressing the role of high-level mutual visits and contacts. The Armenian FM also discussed the upcoming La Francophonie Yerevan summit with Maxime Eloi Dovo. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan TULSA, Okla., and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jericho Oil Corporation (Jericho) (TSX-V: JCO; OTC PINK: JROOF) is pleased to provide an update regarding its ongoing participation in its Oklahoma STACK Joint Venture (STACK JV). The Companys 2018 development plan within the STACK continues to focus on the delineation and de-risking of its acreage position for the Meramec and Osage formations. Currently, the STACK JV now has an interest in four Osage formation wells and two Meramec formation wells. An update is provided below: Producing Operations: - Wardroom 13-19N-13W #1H (Meramec) 47.5% Working Interest Producing: 220 Gross BOE per day (40% oil; 227 days since first oil production) - Swordspear 15-23N-10W #1H (Osage) 47.5% Working Interest Producing: 351 Gross BOE per day (50% oil; 128 days since first oil production) Drilling Operations: - Trebuchet 21-23N-10W #1H (Operator: Armor Energy; Major County Osage) 48.0% Working Interest Drilling ahead and building the curve from vertical to lateral section - Valkyrie 6-19N-12W #1H (Operator: Staghorn Petroleum; Blaine County Meramec) 23.5% Working Interest Drilling ahead and nearing total measured depth of approximately 13,500 feet - Ula 1-31H 6X7 (Operator: ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy; Major County Osage) Less than 1% Working Interest Drilling ahead - Hilltop 2009 1-19MH (Operator: Alta Mesa Resources; Major County Osage) Less than 1% Working Interest Drilling ahead The STACK JVs first two horizontal producing wells have given the Company great confidence to push ahead with further development targeting the Meramec and Osage formations across its acreage position. As previously announced, the STACK JV has begun drilling operations on a second Meramec formation well (the Valkyrie) on its western flank and on a second Osage formation well (the Trebuchet) on its northern most STACK acreage. The STACK JV holds a significant working interest in each. Moreover, the Company is also participating in two additional Osage formations wells with experienced, surrounding marque operators which will prove immensely valuable information through the collection of best practices gleaned from drilling, completion and production data of those nearby wells. Brian Williamson, CEO of Jericho Oil, stated The Company continues to deliver on its two-pronged strategy of delineating and de-risking our STACK acreage for the Meramec and Osage formations, adding, our first Meramec and Osage formation wells have given our team the added knowledge and confidence in our world-class acreage position. We are excited to further develop our assets and hope our shareholders will realize the tremendous value inherent throughout the development process. Each well drilled has the potential to generate significant returns for our Company and with over 150 gross un-risked drillable locations there is significant net asset value within our STACK position. About Jericho Oil Corporation Jericho Oil ( www.jerichooil.com ) is focused on domestic, liquids-rich unconventional resource plays, located primarily in the Anadarko basin STACK Play of Oklahoma. Jerichos primary business objective is driving long-term shareholder value through the growth of oil and gas production, cash flow and reserves. Jericho has assembled an interest in 55,000 net acres across Oklahoma, including an interest in ~16,000 net acres in the STACK Play. Jericho owns a 26.5% interest in STACK JV. Jerichos current operations are focused on the oil-prone Meramec and Osage formations in the STACK. The Jericho team applies advanced engineering analyses and enhanced geological techniques to under-developed resource areas. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, with operational headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jericho trades publicly on the TSX-Venture (JCO) and OTC (JROOF). Jericho owns its net acre position in Oklahoma through, and participates in the STACK JV through, one or more wholly owned subsidiaries. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from Jericho's expectations include risks related to the exploration stage of Jericho's project; market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration stage companies; and uncertainties about the availability of additional financing. 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. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Kiribati have established diplomatic relations, the foreign ministry said. On September 26, Armenian foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and President of Kiribati Taneti Mamau, who also serves as the countrys minister of foreign affairs and migration, signed a protocol of establishing diplomatic ties in New York. The sides expressed hope that the establishment of diplomatic relations with boost cooperation in various directions. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Seven CIS countries have commenced air defense military exercises today with up to 100 aviation units involved, including strategic bombers, Russias defense ministry said. Russias Aerospace Forces are in command of the drills. Up to 100 aircraft of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kygryzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are deployed in the drills, as well as radio-technical and rocket forces units, which are separated from the named states within the air defense single system, the Russian defense ministry said. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Armenias healthcare minister Arsen Torosyan has delivered a speech at a high-level meeting on combating tuberculosis in New York within the framework of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Below is the transcript of the ministers speech, as provided by the healthcare ministry: Honorable Chairman; Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to start by acknowledging the leadership of the President of the UN General Assembly, the UN Secretary General and the WHO Director-General for setting Tuberculosis at the forefront of global dialogue. In Armenia the health reforms have led to dramatic decrease in TB new cases in recent years, but TB remains one of the major public health issues. The number of TB incidence cases in our country increased during 1990sbut in 2000s the situation stabilized and in the last 10 years, Armenia managed to nearly halve the number of new TB patients and decrease the mortality by more than 3 times. Nevertheless, the new and relapse TB case notification is still high, while the treatment success rates are low equaling 81% for drug-sensitive and less than 50% for drug-resistant TB cases. Armenia is in the number of countries of WHO European region with high burden of DR TB. Overall, about 30% from the total number of TB patients under treatment are suffering from this form of the disease. The national TB strategy of Armenia complies with WHO END TB strategy confirming our commitment to fight TB on national level. The TB treatment policy was complemented in 2015 by piloting and then introducing new less toxic and more effective TB drugs. The use of better drugs, following the WHO guidance for optimal uptake and responsible use of them, was a major step forward for our country. The TB treatment is universally accessible, provided free of charge for all patients and shortages in drug supply do not happen anymore. This is acknowledged by the WHO European Regional office as an example of best practice. Owing to the international support new models of care have been introduced, such as home treatment of patients with extra-pulmonary TB and treatment of new smear-negative drug-sensitive patients with pulmonary TB with involvement of their family members. Armenia has introduced new financing mechanisms for hospital TB services with updated hospitalization and discharge criteria. It resulted in significant drop in hospital admissions - a reduction of nearly 60% in 10 years. They also markedly reduced the length and costs of hospitalization without affecting the rates of successful treatment. Fast PCR diagnostic methods (Gene-experts) were introduced in all regions of the country including penitentiary system. We are focusing our efforts on stopping the spread of drug resistant TB forms and eventually eliminating TB in Armenia through strengthening of the PHC and out-patient care systems. We acknowledge the need of increased and sustainable financing of the sector, continuous capacity building of health care providers, elimination of stigma and discrimination, as well as persistent public awareness raising for effective prevention, early detection and successful treatment of the disease. Confidently, the fight with TB, as well as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis requires new tools, more research and innovation at global level, as well as inter-sectoral collaboration and collective actions of government, civil society, international partners and of the patients themselves. Ladies and Gentlemen, Armenia confirms its commitment for realization of joint actions in line with the Sustainable Development Agenda to end TB epidemics by 2025. I thank you for your kind attention. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia has disclosed details over the 16-year-old Turkish border trespasser, who was recently returned to Turkey. The NSS said that a criminal case was launched on July 25, 2018 on Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmens illegal crossing of the Turkish-Armenian border. Immediately after crossing the barbed-wire line he was captured by Armenian and Russian border guards. The Turkish citizen was placed under arrest and charged with illegal crossing of the state border. During the investigation the Turkish citizen expressed regret over his action and noted in his testimony that he had always had a desire to come to Armenia to compare it with his native Kars province, and since he is a minor and didnt have the necessary documents his only option was to illegally cross the border. The NSS said that it has checked Ozmens possible affiliation with extremist of terrorist groups, but there was no information to suggest any ties with the mentioned groups. Based on humanitarian principles, taking into consideration that Ozmen is underage and that he has given true testimonies about the circumstances and has expressed remorse, the NSS on September 25 decided to drop the criminal proceedings against the 16-year-old. The boy was released and he left Armenia under specified proceedings. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) will convene an Executive Body session tonight at 19:00. According to HHK official Ruben Tadevosyan, the session will be chaired by HHK President Serzh Sargsyan, the former President of Armenia. The HHK did not specify the agenda of the upcoming session. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Three Armenian men have been busted by Chopin airport security in Warsaw while attempting to smuggle drugs on board a plane, according to Polish news media. According to Radio Poland, the men, aged 23, 35 and 44, were travelling from Barcelona to Yerevan. Border guards noticed suspicious behavior and searched the men as they approached passport control. One of the men was found with 200-300 grams of cocaine. After the other men were searched, a total of four packets were found in their underwear. Tests showed the packets contained high-quality cocaine. Three Armenian men face up to 15 years imprisonment, according to Radio Poland. No other details were available at the moment. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. French lawmaker Luc Carvounas and Mayor of the commune of Alfortville Michel Gerchinovitz visited on September 27 the Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan. The delegation of the French politicians included Alfortville City Hall officials and members of the ARF France office. The entire history of Armenia is here. I remember how three years ago we visited Tsitsernakaberd [memorial] with [then] President of France Francois Hollande. We, Frenchmen, consider it our mission to establish dialogue and implement joint projects with Armenia, and now also Artsakh, MP Luc Carvounas, who himself once served as Mayor of Alfortville, said. He said that he visited Artsakh two days ago and saw that the countrys President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of parliament and the Mayor of Berdzor have great expectations in terms of cooperation. On September 25, Alfortville and Berdzor signed a declaration of friendship. Carvounas says that the declaration is a political process. When Azerbaijan is exerting pressure on Alfortville through law enforcement thats also a political process. Despite these pressures, there are politicians in France who stand with Armenia and Artsakh, and we hope to carry out cultural cooperation with Berdzor, convey our experience in terms of community administration and realize long-term projects, he said. Carvounas said that yesterday he held a meeting with the French Ambassador to Armenia. The MP and the ambassador have discussed the meetings in Artsakh and noted that agreements have been reached between the two countries. We have spoken about the revolution which took place in Armenia, the upcoming La Francophonie summit. Realities are changing in Armenia and I hope that France, as a member of the [OSCE] Minsk Group, can reach success in the issue of Artsakhs recognition, the French lawmaker said. Mayor of the commune of Alfortville Michel Gerchinovitz said he is happy and pleased with the declaration of friendship between his town and Berdzor of Artsakh. We have been subjected to pressures from Azerbaijan, but we didnt give in, we resisted and we signed this agreement, he said. Speaking about his visit to Artsakh, the mayor said that he met people who are courageous and are willing to fight for their hope and future. The agreement which was signed two days ago was initialed back in 2017. Photos by Tatev Duryan Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia is probing the estate of Robert Kocharyan, a former President of Armenia who ruled the country from 1998 to 2008. NSS director Arthur Vanetsyan told reporters after todays Cabinet meeting that the probe is underway and that details will be disclosed soon. No other details were available at the moment. Kocharyan has faced corruption-related allegations but has denied any wrongdoing. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Multilevel complex military exercises led by the commanders of the Armenian air defense forces and the joint Armenia-Russia air defense forces have commenced September 27 with the purpose of perfecting and inspecting the capabilities and skills of the Armenian air defense forces, the defense ministry said. Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan YEREVAN, 27 SEPTEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 27 September, USD exchange rate is up by 0.59 drams to 482.25 drams. EUR exchange rate is down by 2.01 drams to 564.57 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate is up by 0.01 drams to 7.33 drams. GBP exchange rate is down by 0.67 drams to 633.15 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price is down by 95.82 drams to 18516.48 drams. Silver price is up by 3.14 drams to 224.43 drams. Platinum price is down by 30.83 drams to 12775.87 drams. New role-based analytics dashboard suite empowers SaaS and subscription-based e-commerce companies to drive greater revenue through unprecedented analysis and insights SAN FRANCISCO and CHENNAI, India, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chargebee, an emerging leader in SaaS subscription management and recurring billing solutions, today announced RevenueStory, a breakthrough new suite of business intelligence dashboards that empower subscription-based companies. RevenueStory gives organizations unprecedented visualization and insight into revenue-generating activities and opportunities to drive subscription growth. Available immediately, RevenueStory goes far beyond typical reporting tools meant only for finance departments by including a broad number of templates tailored to every role that impacts an organizations subscription-based programs. As a result, SaaS and e-commerce companies can get a complete understanding of their business and make informed decisions that dramatically increase monthly and annual recurring revenue. With the continued rapid rise of subscription-based businesses, recurring revenue is fundamentally changing the way companies make business decisions. In the subscription business landscape, monthly recurring revenue is a direct function of customer retention rather than one-off sales, and every member of the team, ranging from product, sales and marketing, to customer support and finance, plays a direct role in attracting, retaining and expanding client accounts. With companies all over the world and of all sizes moving to subscription-powered business models, revenue is no longer a finance function and every business function either contributes to it or detracts from it. Compared to traditional BI tools that simply stack on increasing amounts of data, RevenueStory directs users to see the right data through the right lens, said Krish Subramanian, CEO and co-founder of Chargebee. RevenueStory reconciles disconnected data and ties it to revenue to isolate growth levers that are uniquely relevant for specific business functions to act on. Now, Chargebees thousands of customers can make smarter and more timely decisions that impact the top line. RevenueStory is based on more than 1,800 manually designed Excel sheets and PDF reports that Chargebee developed over four years for its thousands of subscription-based SaaS and e-commerce companies to drive smarter decisions driven by revenue data. From this in-depth analysis, Chargebee has launched RevenueStory to fundamentally change the way subscription-based companies manage their business. RevenueStory provides preset role- and goal-based templates that combine and visualize the relevant set of metrics applicable to different business functions within the subscription business. This helps organizations understand and drive strategies through role-specific revenue and growth dashboards, including those tailored for founders, finance, customer success, marketing, product and sales. RevenueStory gives us visibility over a much larger range of data than we previously had, allowing us to dive into data points and perform really detailed cohort analyses. It gives us complete visibility of our monthly recurring revenue and our churn rate data that we use on a day-to-day basis, said Sebastiaan Bruinsma, co-founder of Nobly Point of Sale. With the granularity of the data that RevenueStory gives us, were able to take actionable insights from the data and use it to run our business better. And thats better for everyone. Chargebees RevenueStory enabled us to get deep into our business financials, reducing our reporting effort basically to zero, while adding extensive options for explorative analysis, said Robert Weigraeber, CTO at AX Semantics. And all of that was achieved just based on our existing information in Chargebee." Built on top of Chargebees award-winning subscription billing management platform, RevenueStory includes numerous benefits for SaaS and e-commerce subscription-based businesses including: Revenue-driving metrics, only : Existing analytics solutions provide an overwhelming amount of data, making it hard for businesses to know which reports and metrics are relevant for them. Powered by real-world analytics and insights gleaned in Chargebee, RevenueStory offers the most relevant revenue-driving and subscription metrics that businesses need for a 360-degree view of business growth and leakage points. : Existing analytics solutions provide an overwhelming amount of data, making it hard for businesses to know which reports and metrics are relevant for them. Powered by real-world analytics and insights gleaned in Chargebee, RevenueStory offers the most relevant revenue-driving and subscription metrics that businesses need for a 360-degree view of business growth and leakage points. Revenue by business function : To better understand the impact of function-specific activities, RevenueStory provides tailored templates and dashboards that monitor the most impactful metrics by specific business functions. For example, sales and marketing teams require metrics on promotion success rates and new subscriber conversion, while customer success teams require metrics related to churn and subscription enhancement. These capabilities are critical to subscription management to ensure growth and maximize recurring revenue. : To better understand the impact of function-specific activities, RevenueStory provides tailored templates and dashboards that monitor the most impactful metrics by specific business functions. For example, sales and marketing teams require metrics on promotion success rates and new subscriber conversion, while customer success teams require metrics related to churn and subscription enhancement. These capabilities are critical to subscription management to ensure growth and maximize recurring revenue. Real-time data, instantly: Subscription-based businesses can fluctuate dramatically, making it important that companies can quickly analyze their business across any time domain and in real time, in order to gain actionable insights. Unlike traditional business intelligence tools, RevenueStory doesnt crunch or manipulate data, thus allowing users to explore metrics across any time window and at any depth of granularity. Based in San Francisco and Chennai, India, Chargebee offers a payment gateway agnostic subscription billing solution, complementing gateways like Stripe, Braintree, PayPal, Adyen and many others. Chargebee powers the recurring revenue engines of B2B and B2C services across various industry verticals such as SaaS, digital media, e-commerce and IoT. Founded in 2011, Chargebee has scaled to support more than 8,000 customers in 53 countries. For more information on Chargebee and RevenueStory, please visit: www.revenuestory.io About Chargebee Chargebee is a subscription and recurring billing management solutions company that helps businesses manage their billing, payments, subscriptions and invoicing services efficiently. Founded in 2011, Chargebee offers a SaaS solution that simplifies billing complexities and operations for subscription businesses, while delivering a seamless customer experience. Chargebee is backed by Insight Venture Partners, Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management. For more information on Chargebee, visit www.chargebee.com or follow us on Twitter @chargebee. For media inquiries, please contact: media@chargebee.com YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Masis Mayilian received on September 27 the delegation from the Wolomin County of the Republic of Poland, which had arrived in Artsakh on a cognitive visit. The delegation was led by Head of the Wolomin County Kazimierz Rakovski. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of MFA Artsakh, Masis Mayilian welcomed the delegation members, expressing hope that the visit to Artsakh would give an opportunity to get comprehensive information on the situation in the Republic and would serve as a basis for the establishment of bilateral cooperation. In this context, the interlocutors exchanged views on the prospective directions of collaboration in the local self-government sphere. During the meeting, the Foreign Minister briefed on the priorities of the Republics foreign policy, noting the achievements in the processes of state building, international recognition of Artsakh, and decentralized cooperation. Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the Republic of Poland Edgar Ghazaryan also participated in the meeting. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has arrived in Tajikistan on a working visit and has met with the President of the country Emomali Rahmon. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the Prime Minister of Armenia, greeting the Armenian PM in Dushanbe, the President of Tajikistan noted that this is their first meeting and wished him success. Emomali Rahmon expressed satisfaction with the level of bilateral political relations and emphasized the importance of expanding trade and economic relations. The Armenian PM thanked for the warm reception, underlining that the Armenian Government is interested in developing and expanding multidimensional cooperation between the two countries. Pashinyan highlighted the development of concrete economic programs and their implementation. According to the PM, Armenia highlights cooperation on both bilateral and multilateral formats, including in the sidelines of integration unions. During the meeting the interlocutors discussed issues referring to the expansion of relations in various spheres, spoke about future cooperation in the sidelines of integration unions. In the evening the PM participated in the non-formal luncheon in honor of the Heads of State of the CIS member states. Pashinyan will participate in the regular session of the Council of the Heads of State of the CIS member states on September 28. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met separately and jointly with the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, and the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, between 25 and 27 September on the margins of the UN General Assembly, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the OSCE. The Co-Chairs were joined in their meetings by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk. They also met with the OSCE Secretary General, UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, and a representative of the Italian OSCE Chairmanship. The Ministers continued negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Co-Chairs and the Ministers discussed the situation in the region and sought clarification with respect to several recent statements and incidents of concern. The Co-Chairs expressed deep regret over the continuing and unnecessary loss of life. They cautioned the Ministers about the dangers of escalation, called on the parties to engage constructively in a positive atmosphere, and to avoid inflammatory rhetoric. The Co-Chairs underscored that a comprehensive settlement will require compromises on all sides. In this context, the Ministers confirmed the importance of taking measures to intensify the negotiation process and to take additional steps to reduce tensions. The Ministers agreed to meet again before the end of the year. The Co-Chairs plan to visit the region in the near future and will then brief the OSCE Minsk Group and the Permanent Council on the status of negotiations. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan A new Miss Ukraine was crowned on Thursday in the countrys capital city of Kiev. But the celebratory beauty pageant that concluded with Veronika Didusenko winning the title and wearing the prized sash and crown has taken quite a turn. Pageant officials have since stripped her of her title for lying about her personal life on her application. The 23-year-old, who was commemorating her big win on social media is now thanking followers for their support after the organising committee announced her disqualification on Monday. According to the statement from the official Miss Ukraine organisation, Didusenko was in direct violation of the contests rules when she applied to compete, as Didusenko had previously been married and had a child. The Organizing Committee of Miss Ukraine 2018 released a statement regarding disqualification of Veronika Didiusenko, who had won the title. (Credit: The Organizing Committee of the National Beauty Contest Miss Ukraine) In accordance with the Rules for conducting the National Beauty Contest Miss Ukraine, a person who wishes to take part in the National Beauty Contest Miss Ukraine must comply, among other things, with the following requirements (valid for the period of the Contest): not / was not married; has no children, the statement reads. The same requirements are indicated in the official form (OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM), which is contained in the unified rules and conditions of participation in Miss World contest 2018. Miss Ukraine 2018 was disqualified days after getting crowned. (Photo: veronika_didusenko via Instagram) Didusenko, who works primarily with children as part of the Young Einsteins organisation in Ukraine, allegedly did not disclose the truth in her paperwork and omitted information about her four-year-old son, who is absent from her social media accounts. However, some of her supporters think this shouldnt be a reason to take away her title. I do not think that the child and the family should be an obstacle to their dream, one person commented on Didusenkos Instagram account. While another wrote, Its time to change the rules. But still, there are others who argue that a rule is a rule, and that Didusenko had no business breaking it. The rules are the same for all, and Ukraine did not come up with them, but the founders of this world competition. Story continues Now, Miss Ukraine officials have yet to decide which contestant will fill her position to compete in Miss Universe. The competitions jury plans to announce a new Miss Ukraine 2018 on Sept. 30 in a television broadcast, according to a statement. In Didusenkos most recent Instagram post, the model thanks fans for their sincere support at such a difficult time, and even acknowledges her growing following since the controversy. Now, with over 11,000 followers, Didusenko could have a future as a social media influencer despite losing her crown. The parents of an aspiring model say their son was murdered as he tried to sell his iPhone to a stranger hed agreed to meet through an app. Joshua Grey, 23, was shot and killed in northeast Richmond in the US state of Virginia on September 17 after using the app Letgo to try and sell his mobile phone, US television station WNEP reported. Letgo is an online market place similar to Gumtree and Craigslist which allows users to advertise their belongings for sale. Joshua Grey died on September 17 when he was shot dead near a Richmond convenience store. Source: WNEP Mr Grey made his way to Mechanicsville Turnpike after agreeing on a location to meet. He was shot dead shortly after 1pm. He had suffered an apparent gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, a Richmond Police spokesperson said. Police said after Mr Grey was shot, he ran into a convenience store where he died from his injuries. Richmond Police have released CCTV footage of a man they want to speak to in connection with Greys death. Richmond Police have released CCTV footage of a man they want to speak to in connection with Jousha Greys death. Source: Richmond Police Mr Greys family have spoken out after the short clip was released, calling for justice over their sons death. Its a senseless tragic crime. It never should have happened, Greys father said. I just hope that everyone that sees this video tonight, that if theres someone out there that knows something, they can reach out to police and help them solve this crime. Qatar Airways says a baby died following a flight from Doha to the Indian city of Hyderabad. The boy was on board a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to the Indian city of Hyderabad on Wednesday. We are aware of the very sad news that a young child passed away at Hyderabad International Airport this morning, the airline said in a statement. Our heartfelt sympathy and thoughts are with the affected family, it added. A spokesperson for Qatar Airways told AFP that the baby was an 11-month-old boy who had been on the flight with his parents in the early hours of Wednesday. Qatar Airways said a baby had died following a flight from Doha to the Indian city of Hyderabad. Source: Getty Images (File pic) The parents became aware that their child was having breathing problems after the plane had landed as they made their way to the immigration counter, the spokesperson said. He was taken to the citys Apollo hospital. A spokeswoman for Hyderabad airport denied that the baby had died at the airport. Were awaiting for investigations to conclude and for official reports from both Qatar Airways and Apollo hospitals on the babys death, Sangeetha C R said. The hospital was not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP. A convicted sex offender pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to killing an 89-year-old Oregon woman who had been missing for a week, before a body believed to be hers was found in his trunk. Timothy Mackley, 58, appeared in a Portland court and waived his right to a probable cause hearing. His court-appointed attorney, Kathleen Dunn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mackley was arrested on Monday when police found a body in his car trunk during a traffic stop, Portland police Sergeant Christopher Burley said. This undated photo provided by the Multnomah County Sheriffs office shows Timothy Mackley . Source: Multnomah County Sheriffs Office via AP The body is likely that of Marcine Herinck, who was reported missing on September 19 from her home, Burley said in a statement. Police are awaiting confirmation on the bodys identity from the Oregon Medical Examiner. Court documents filed after Wednesdays hearing show prosecutors have charged Mackley with her murder. Herinck, a grandmother who regularly attended church and volunteered at a thrift store, lived independently despite some memory issues, police have said. She was brought home the evening of September 18 and disappeared the following day. Her purse was found on the kitchen floor, a cup of coffee was in the microwave, her garage and front doors were open, and the clothes she wore the night before were on her bed the day she disappeared, KGW-TV has reported, citing a family account. Marcine Herinck was reported missing on September 19 from her home in northeast Portland, Oregon . Source: Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles/Portland Police Bureau via AP Search and rescue crews spent days looking for her making repeated pleas to the public for tips until police on Monday developed new information that suggested foul play and pointed them in Mackleys direction, Burley said. Based on that information, police stopped Mackleys car on and found the body, he said. No additional details were released, and Burley did not return a call seeking further comment. Mackley is a convicted sex offender who pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and sodomy in Multnomah County and was sentenced to prison in 1989, court records show. He was arrested in 2009 for failing to register as a sex offender, those records show. Story continues He also has previous felony convictions in Washington state from the 1980s, according to court paperwork filed as part of his bail review. Mackley told court officers in Oregon that he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and lives on disability payments of less than $1,000 a month, court records show. He volunteered driving people to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in his spare time, he told court officers. The most recent address listed for Mackley is less than two miles (3.2 kilometres) from where Herinck lived. Its been very, very troubling for us, Jeff Herinck Sr her son, told The Oregonian/OregonLive after the hearing. She was a great person. A breast cancer patient support organisation called Breast Friends of Oregon said on its Facebook page that Herinck came each year to the survivors luncheon and stood proudly when recognised as the organisations longest cancer survivor. The group will have a moment of silence for Herinck at its next luncheon, the post said. A US-Israeli consortium leading the development of Israel's offshore gas reserves announced Thursday a deal that would enable the export of natural gas to Egypt. Noble Energy and its Israeli partner Delek, along with Egyptian East Gas Company, bought 39 percent of a disused pipeline connecting the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon with the northern Sinai peninsula. The consortium paid $518 million for the interest in the East Mediterranean Gas Company pipeline. The mainly undersea pipeline will be used to transport natural gas from the Tamar and Leviathan reservoirs to Egypt from as early as 2019, allowing a 10-year $15 billion deal signed in February with Egypt's Dolphinus to move forward, Delek said in a statement. It will be the first time Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, imports gas from its neighbour. Israel had bought gas from Egypt but land sections of the pipeline were repeatedly targeted by Sinai jihadists in 2011 and 2012, and soaring demand meant Egypt could use the gas domestically. Delek chief executive Yossi Abu called the pipeline purchase "the most significant milestone for the Israeli gas market since the discoveries" of the reservoirs. "The Leviathan reservoir is becoming the Mediterranean basin's primary energy anchor, with customers in Israel, Egypt and Jordan," he said. In September 2016, Jordan struck a deal to buy 300 million cubic feet (8.5 million cubic metres) of Israeli gas per day over 15 years, an agreement estimated to be worth $10 billion. Tamar, which began production in 2013, has estimated reserves of up to 238 billion cubic metres (8.4 trillion cubic feet). Leviathan, discovered in 2010 and set to begin production in 2019, is estimated to hold 535 billion cubic metres (18.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, along with 34.1 million barrels of condensate. Exports from Tamar to Jordan began on a small scale last year. They are set to increase significantly at the end of 2019, when a new pipeline connecting Leviathan and Jordan is due to be completed. Jordan is the only Arab country besides Egypt to have a peace deal with Israel, signed in 1994. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israeli public radio that acquisition of the Mediterranean pipeline to Egypt, alongside exports to Jordan, "connects the peace axis states with the shared regional gas infrastructure." Israel has limited natural resources but in the past few years it has discovered major gas fields off its coast and is building the infrastructure needed to tap them. Israel hopes its gas reserves will give the country energy independence and the prospect of becoming a supplier for Europe as well as forging strategic ties within the region. Last week, Cyprus, whose offshore reserves border those of Israel, signed a deal paving the way for construction of an undersea pipeline to liquefied natural gas facilities in Egypt to enable production to be re-exported to Europe. A US-Israeli consortium leading the development of Israel's offshore gas reserves has announced a deal that will enable the export of natural gas to Egypt The pipeline had been used to supply Egypian gas to Israel but repeated attacks by Sinai jihadists on land sections, like this one near El-Arish on February 5, 2012, prompted the halting of exports From the brink of war to decades of discrimination and poverty, it has not been an easy ride for the Albanian minority wedged into Macedonia's northwest corner. But a referendum on Sunday to change the country's name -- and open the door to EU-membership -- is giving the community a sliver of hope that a better future awaits. Ethnic Albanians, who make up nearly a quarter of Macedonia's 2.1 million population, are expected to play a decisive role in Sunday's vote to settle a long-running row between their Macedonian compatriots and Greeks across the border. And their position is no mystery: many say they will happily accept the name "North Macedonia" -- a compromise between Skopje and Athens -- if it means clearing their country's path to the EU. "Everyone is for yes," said Selajdin Latifi, a 46-year-old post office worker in Aracinovo, an Albanian village perched on a hillside above Skopje. "Here we have nothing, but in the EU, there is everything." Nearly two decades ago artillery shells were raining down on Aracinovo, a rebel holdout for Albanian guerillas who brought Macedonia to the edge of civil war in 2001. A peace deal was reached that year after more than 100 were killed, guaranteeing more rights and representation for Albanians in government. But high unemployment, crime and a xenophobic brand of Macedonian nationalism have stalked Albanians since. The country's stalled integration with the West -- a process held up by the Greece dispute -- has sowed further disappointment. "Everyone just wants a better life. No one wants to fight or think about war," said Latifi, sipping a coffee in the village's dusty main square. - Change for the youth - A high turnout on Sunday could see up to 300,000 Albanians cast ballots, overwhelmingly for "yes", said Albert Musliu, a political analyst. That would represent a large chunk of the 900,000 votes needed to pass the 50 percent mark of registered voters to make the poll credible. There is scant data on the economic situation of Albanians, as Macedonia has been unable to complete a census since 2002 due to ethnic tensions. But Musliu said high poverty rates among Albanians date back to Yugoslavia, when the community was excluded from state institutions and firms, and therefore missed out on the economic boons of privatisation in the 1990s. Albanian political parties say their communities still suffer low rates of state investment. "Basically these regions are living on money transfers from abroad, from Switzerland and Germany," said Visar Ademi, an economist who leads an NGO to bring down youth unemployment. Today, the village of Aracinovo is peaceful but struggling with a broken sewage system and patchy water supply. Quiet streets speak to the emigration exodus that has hit Albanian communities especially hard. "We have some water but not for drinking... What century are we living in?" said Neazid Sulejmani, a 76-year-old who is volunteering to help campaign for the referendum. He is hoping a successful 'yes' vote will speed-up EU accession. "It will change things for the youth," said the father-of-three, whose children have moved abroad for work. "They will have some hope." - 'Good signals' - While the identity battle has chiefly pitted Greeks against ethnic Macedonians, Albanians have also been caught in the crossfire. The row stoked Macedonian nationalism that has often targeted the minority, casting them as a threat. Tensions bubbled over on April 27, 2017, when a mob of Macedonian nationalists stormed parliament in protest of the appointment of the first Albanian speaker of the chamber. Scores were injured but the incident failed to stop the appointment, eventually allowing Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and ethnic Albanian parties to forge ahead with a new coalition government. This year, Zaev made good on a promise to pass a law boosting the official use of the Albanian language. "There are some good signals that this government might really fulfil their promise that they are going to take care of the entire society," said Musliu. But "the honeymoon will not last long if the government doesn't start to prove itself," he added. Ethnic Albanians, who make up nearly a quarter of Macedonia's 2.1 million population, are expected to play a decisive role in Sunday's vote to settle a long-running row between their Macedonian compatriots and Greeks across the border. An Albanian flag flying in the village of Arachinovo, once a rebel holdout for Albanian guerillas who brought Macedonia to the edge of civil war in 2001. Children in the village of Arachinovo, near Skopje Toronto, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ontarios universities and colleges are vital spaces where a culture of rich academic debate and free expression should be fostered. Core to the mandate of our postsecondary institutions is the advancement of knowledge, and that requires our campuses to be places where all community members have the right to speak their minds and respectfully challenge each other intellectually. Faculty associations, labour unions, and student unions deeply believe in these rights, and will continue our collective work to uphold them. There is no free speech crisis on Ontario campuses. This is an ideological fiction advanced by the government to justify interference in the academic governance and autonomy of Ontarios universities and colleges. It is telling that the government did not consult with any sector stakeholders before announcing the new requirement for campus free speech policies and disciplinary measures tied to possible cuts to university and college funding. This intervention is not just unnecessary, it is harmful. These policies will actually limit the rights of faculty, staff, and students to express themselves and jeopardize the quality of student education and research: Threatening to discipline students, staff, and faculty actually limits expression rights on campus, especially for systemically marginalized groups. Members of the campus community may be discouraged from speaking up for fear of being disciplined. Threatening to withhold financial support or recognition from campus student groups suppresses student voices and denies students their right to freedom of association. Threatening budget cuts for already underfunded universities and colleges undermines their academic integrity and jeopardizes education and research quality. Requiring universities and colleges to develop free speech policies undermines institutional autonomy and overrides important protections that allow our postsecondary institutions to operate free of political interference from government. Given these many real dangers, we encourage the Ontario Government to reconsider this directive, withdraw their prescribed disciplinary measures, withdraw their threatened funding cuts, respect the autonomy of Ontario's universities and colleges, and support the speech rights of students, staff, and faculty. Ontarios universities and colleges already have policies in place that govern campus speech, and it does not make sense to require them to be arbitrarily rewritten just to conform to a set of principles developed by a private university in the United States. There are improvements that could be made to foster stronger speech freedoms on our campuses. The rise of precarious academic work means that a majority of university and college faculty cannot depend on the academic freedom protections afforded to tenure-stream faculty and, although university faculty and students are represented on institutional decision-making bodies, representative collegial governance bodies are lacking at Ontarios colleges. However, the governments new free speech policy requirement will do nothing to address these issues or foster better speech on campus. It will only create a more polarized and litigious environment that risks suppressing speech. Meaningfully addressing the real challenges our campuses face will require postsecondary institutions to embrace collegial governance by adopting more transparent and accountable decision-making bodies that represent all members of the campus community. It is through more democratic campuses that we will ensure freedom of expression and the continued vitality of Ontarios postsecondary institutions. Nour Alideeb, Chairperson, Canadian Federation of StudentsOntario Janice Folk-Dawson, Chair, CUPE Ontario University Sector Gyllian Phillips, President, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Chris Buckley, President, Ontario Federation of Labour RM Kennedy, Chair, OPSEU College Faculty Janice Hagan, Chair, OPSEU College Support Staff Kella Loschiavo, Chair, OPSEU University Sector 9 Harvey Bischof, President, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation Sharon DeSousa, Regional Executive Vice-President, PSAC Ontario Marty Warren, Director, United SteelworkersDistrict 6 Attachments Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said in an interview with a French magazine that until recently "hundreds of thousands of immigrants were being delivered to our coast by NGOs." However, Italian coastguards estimate that an average of 30,000 people have disembarked from NGO boats every year since August 2014. - WHAT ARE WE VERIFYING? - "We've simply sought to introduce rules in Italy to stop what was, until recently, a real invasion, with hundreds of thousands of immigrants delivered by NGOs daily to our coast, in the face of indifference from the international community," Salvini said in an interview with Valeurs Actuelles (1). - WHAT DO WE KNOW? - Italian coastguard statistics (2) show that more than 600,000 migrants have landed in Italy in the past four years, with around one fifth of those brought in by NGOs. According to the statistics, NGOs rescued 1,450 people in 2014 during the two-month mission of the Maltese NGO Moas, which was the first to start sea rescues. NGOs then rescued 20,063 in 2015, 46,796 in 2016 and 46,601 in 2017. From January to July 2018 (3), another 5,204 people were rescued in the Mediterranean. That makes a total of 120,114 people delivered by NGOs in four years, or around 30,000 people per year, rather than "hundreds of thousands". The same statistics show that boats chartered by NGOs represent only one fifth of the aid brought to migrants in the Mediterranean sea in the past four years. Official Italian ships (coastguards, navy and customs vessels) delivered 309,490 migrants, more than half the total of 611,414. The rest came mainly from European missions or merchant ships. The exact number of migrants brought in by NGOs is difficult to evaluate because rescued people are sometimes counted as those who have not been brought to shore or, in other cases, NGOs bring people in who have been rescued by official boats. Salvini decided shortly after taking his post in June to ban NGOs bringing help to migrants in the Mediterranean from Italian ports, in a hardening of the country's migration policy. Some 21,024 migrants landed on Italy's coasts between January 1 and September 26, according to official figures (4). That represented a drop of 84 percent compared with the same period in 2016 and almost 80 percent compared with the same period in 2017. Of those, 12,389 left from Libya, and the others left from Tunisia, Turkey and Algeria. - WHAT CONCLUSION CAN BE DRAWN? - Official figures from the Italian coastguard for recent years contradict Salvini's estimate of how many migrants are being delivered by NGOs to Italy's coasts. (1) https://www.valeursactuelles.com/monde/exclusif-aquarius-macron-europe-lentretien-verite-de-matteo-salvini-99240 (2) http://www.guardiacostiera.gov.it/attivita/Documents/attivita-sar-immigrazione-2017/Rapporto_annuale_2017_ITA.pdf (3) http://www.guardiacostiera.gov.it/attivita/Documents/attivita-sar-immigrazione-2017/Rapporto_annuale_2017_ITA.pdf (4) http://www.libertaciviliimmigrazione.dlci.interno.gov.it/sites/default/files/allegati/cruscotto_statistico_giornaliero_26-09-2018.pdf Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini incorrectly told a French magazine that "hundreds of thousands of immigrants" were arriving in Italy from NGO boats Migrants and refugees are seen on board of the Topaz Responder, a rescue ship run by Maltese NGO MOAS in 2016 Swedish ready-to-wear giant H&M on Thursday said it saw a major boost in online sales in the third quarter, even as a cumbersome shift to faster logistics weighed down on profits. Hennes and Mauritz and other global high street chains have been pressing a drive to better integrate online markets, but the transition has faced stiff competition from fast fashion websites popular with millennials, and from behemoths like Amazon. For this year's summer months, H&M reported a 32 percent increase in online sales, even as profits shrank 19.2 percent. In a statement, the company blamed the drop in profits on "problems that arose during the implementation of new logistics systems in the US, France, Italy and Belgium during the spring (that) led to extraordinary costs". Net profit was 3.1 billion krona ($350 million, 300 million euros), with sales hitting 55.8 billion krona, an increase of 9 percent. "The rapid changes in the fashion industry are continuing and the H&M group is in an exciting transitional period," H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson said in a statement. "Our transformation work has contributed to a gradual improvement in sales development with increased market share in most markets during the third quarter, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Eastern Europe, Russia and China." - 'Long-term perspective' - Persson said H&M is now present online in 47 markets, adding that the company is working "at full speed" to bring the brand's products to more online markets. He also said the trouble implementing the new logistics systems has now "largely been resolved". The systems, he said, are "an essential part of our work to make our supply chain faster, more flexible and more efficient". Experts say chains like H&M have struggled to compete with rising fast fashion online brands like Boohoo that are doted with a faster design-to-website product turnaround. "As always, we have a long-term perspective. Our improvement work is continuing and although many challenges remain, there are more and more indications that we are on the right track," Persson said. Investors welcomed H&M's rise in online sales, boosting its share price by 10 percent in early Thursday trading on the Swedish stock exchange. H&M poured $700 million -- 45 percent of its total investments -- in 2017 into efforts to boost its online prowess. It has meanwhile opened 380 new stores in emerging markets, including Ukraine and Uruguay, in 2018, while shutting down some 140 stores in other countries. H&M's online sales shot up by a third Chinese officials pulled a tour by the German theatre star Thomas Ostermeier when audience members in Beijing shouted slogans demanding free speech, the director told AFP. Ostermeier, one of Europe's hottest theatre makers, said the Chinese tour of Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" -- in which a local doctor fights political corruption -- was abruptly cut short by the authorities "because of technical problems". His acclaimed version of the 19th-century classic by the Norwegian playwright, which played at the Opera House of the National Centre for the Performing Arts near Tiananmen Square, includes a scene where the actors and audience interact. "When the authorities realised (after the first of three planned performances in the Chinese capital) that it included an interaction, they did everything they could so there would be no scandal," Ostermeier told AFP. "But the news had spread like wildfire on social media," the director of Berlin's famed Schaubuhne Theatre added. The authorities moved quickly to censor all mention of the scene, "erasing everything that had been said on social media", said Ostermeier, who is in Paris to premiere his new staging of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" at the Comedie Francaise. State control of the Internet has been drastically increased in China under President Xi Jinping, with the web regularly purged of criticism of the authorities or content judged politically sensitive. Ostermeier said he was told to cut the scene but instead replaced it with a announcement saying that "we would have liked to have a discussion with you, but the actor who was to do it has lost his voice. Has that ever happened to you? - Recording confiscated - "Then the whole troupe came on stage and there was two minutes of silence. The audience understood immediately," Ostermeier said of the performance earlier this month. "Some started shouting out their support of free speech and individual liberty," he added. The German, who has toured China with his company many times before, said he had been told by fellow directors that it "wouldn't be possible" to stage "An Enemy of the People" in the country. The play tells the story of a provincial doctor who discovers that the waters of a spa are contaminated. But when he reveals the scandal he is forced out of his home after being accused of trying to ruin the village. Ostermeier said he thought that by inviting him to stage the play in China, the authorities wanted to show their openness. It was only later that "we realised that they had not seen the play in advance, and that from their point of view, there had been an error", he said. Further performances in Nanjing were cancelled "because of technical problems". The left-wing director has shown his adaptation in some 40 countries after it was the hit of the Avignon festival in France in 2012. Since then he has filmed the scene where the public are invited to speak in every city that it plays for a documentary he is making called "Mapping Democracy". The Beijing show was also filmed although the recording was later confiscated by officials. However, Ostermeier revealed that he still has a copy. "It's delicate," he told AFP. "They wanted to watch it to see who had spoken out." German theatre director Thomas Ostermeier said he thought that by inviting him to stage the Ibsen play in China, the authorities wanted to show their openness -- but he soon realised this was not the case. Prominent Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been granted a three-day leave from prison to visit her ailing father, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported Thursday. Mohammadi's lawyer, Mahmoud Behzadi told ISNA she left Tehran's Evin prison on Wednesday, adding that the leave was granted "due to her father's deteriorating condition" and that she "must return to prison by Saturday". Mohammadi, 46, was the spokeswoman for the Centre for Human Rights Defenders in Iran and campaigned against the use of the death penalty. Initially arrested in 2015, the mother-of-two was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison for "forming and managing an illegal group" among other charges. Mohammadi reportedly suffers from a neurological disease that causes muscular paralysis. In October 2016, a group of Iranian lawmakers wrote an open letter to the head of the judiciary urging him "to apply the mercy and clemency of the Islamic republic" and free the activist. in August 2017, Amnesty International urged EU foreigy policy chief Federica Mogherini to use a visit to Tehran to call for the release of Mohammadi and other jailed human rights activists. Prominent human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, seen here in 2007 at the Centre for Human Rights Defenders in Iran where she campaigned against the use of the death penalty, has been granted a three-day leave from prison to visit her ailing father Italy's populist government agreed Thursday on a deficit of 2.4 percent of gross domestic product for the next three years in a move which risks setting Rome on a collision course with the European Commission. "We're satisfied, this is the budget of change," joint deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Miao said in a statement after securing a last-minute victory over the country's more cautious finance minister. The deficit is set at 2.4 percent for 2019, 2020 and 2021. The figure, vastly higher than the 0.8 percent forecast by the previous, centre-left government, will inflate the country's already mammoth debt burden -- currently 131 percent of GDP, the biggest in the eurozone after Greece. There were cheers from flag-waving members of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement outside the prime minister's offices in Rome, as their leader Di Maio left the cabinet meeting, shouting "We did it!" The decision follows weeks of suspense over whether Western Europe's first anti-establishment leadership would defy Brussels with its first budget to uphold its costly electoral promises. Finance Minister Giovanni Tria, an independent, had attempted to set an upper limit of 1.6 percent but was forced to back down. His capitulation came just hours after rumours he would be forced to resign if he refused to play ball. The 2.4 percent figure "suggests that Mr Tria is not the moderating force that some had assumed, and will raise question marks over his future," said Jack Allen, Senior European Economist at Capital Economics. "Even if he stays on as finance minister, his credibility has taken a knock and his presence in the cabinet will be of less comfort to investors in the coming weeks and months," he said. - 'Historic day' - "Today is a historic day! Today Italy changes! For the first time the state is on the people's side. For the first time it is not taking away, but giving," Di Maio said in a message on Facebook. He had previously threatened to vote against the budget unless funds were found for projects promised in March elections, including the movement's flagship pledge for a basic income of 780 euros for the unemployed and those on low wages. There were 10 billion euros ($11.5 billion) earmarked for the income in the budget, which "for the first time in the history of this country will eradicate poverty", he said. Salvini said the budget would lower taxes by 15 percent for over one million Italian workers and free up around 400,000 jobs for the young by enabling people to retire earlier. All would be paid for without imposing a VAT hike on long-suffering Italians, he said. Di Maio had repeatedly railed against the EU's budgetary restrictions, initially insisting it could do no harm to go over the 3.0-percent threshold set by Brussels. "We'll explain to the markets that there are so many investments we can do with this 2.4 percent that we'll be able to make the economy grow as we wish," the populist leader said. Italy's draft budget must be submitted to the European Commission by October 15 and "a protracted period of negotiation between Italy and the Commission seems likely," Allen said. - Growth woes - The big spending may unnerve investors and drive up the spread between the German and Italian bond yields, which rose above 300 points in May amid concerns over a eurosceptic government taking power. The higher the yield, the more expensive it is for the state to borrow money, reducing its financial margins for manoeuvre. The situation is made more complicated by a lacklustre growth forecast: just 1.0 percent in 2019 according to the Bank of Italy and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and 1.1 percent according to the European Commission. All eyes are on Italy's leadership to see whether it will defy the EU or toe the line US President Donald Trump on Friday ordered a new FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court pick, as the Senate delayed a vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to make way for the probe. After a dramatic day-long hearing at which a university professor accused Kavanaugh of pinning her down and assaulting her at a party in the 1980s, the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier Friday approved his nomination in a preliminary vote along party lines. But committee chair Chuck Grassley, a Republican, then bowed to intense pressure from inside and outside Congress and announced he was asking Trump to order the new background review that "must be completed no later than one week from today." The Kavanaugh nomination has turned into a political firestorm ahead of November congressional elections -- in which Republicans will battle to keep control of Congress -- and is threatening to derail Trump's push to get a conservative-minded majority on the top court ahead of the vote. Trump, who repeatedly blasted Democratic opposition to Kavanaugh as a political "con-job," agreed to the investigation. "I've ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week," the president said in a statement. He later tweeted support for Kavanaugh, saying "Just started, tonight, our 7th FBI investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He will someday be recognized as a truly great Justice of The United States Supreme Court!" - Threat to break ranks - Trump's order and the decision to put off a final vote came after a key Republican senator, Jeff Flake, threatened to break ranks with his party because of the clouds hanging over Kavanaugh. At least three women have now accused the 53-year-old conservative judge of sexual misconduct while drunk, as a high school and later a university student. Democrats have repeatedly demanded those charges be assessed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine if he is suitable for the lifetime high court appointment. Flake's 11th-hour move played out on national television amid heated partisan debate and raucous protests in the halls of the Capitol, where several women cornered the Arizona senator in an elevator demanding he oppose Kavanaugh. "This country's being ripped apart," said Flake. "And we have to ensure that we do due diligence here." "There's lingering doubt out there among a lot of people that we haven't taken every measure that we should to make sure that these allegations are dealt with, and so that's what this effort is about," he said. His move earned the endorsement of another Republican seen as wavering on the nomination, Lisa Murkowski. With the Republicans holding a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, that placed pressure on Trump to order the FBI probe. - Tense showdown in Congress - Republicans see Kavanaugh as pivotal to their gaining control of the nine-member Supreme Court bench. Trump nominated him to replace Anthony Kennedy, who for years was a swing vote between four conservative and four liberal justices. Many conservatives hope Kavanaugh's appointment leads to a reversal of the court's protection for women's abortion rights and for "affirmative action" programs supporting minorities in schools and jobs. With the stakes high, the Judiciary Committee's preliminary vote took place amid extraordinary tension. Kavanaugh's supporters and opponents squared off furiously in hearing rooms and protesters crowded the hallways of Congress chanting "November is coming!" -- a reference to the upcoming midterm elections. "Don't look away from me! Look at me and tell me that it doesn't matter what happened to me, that you'll let people like that go to the highest court in the land," one weeping woman berated Flake, as he made his way to the committee room. The panel vote split along strict party lines with the 11 Republican members backing Kavanaugh and all 10 Democrats opposing him. - Emotional hearing - The vote came a day after 51-year-old university professor Christine Blasey Ford described over four hours how she says Kavanaugh assaulted her 36 years ago, and how it traumatized her for decades since. Blasey Ford said she was "100-percent" certain that a drunken Kavanaugh, along with his friend Mark Judge, were the ones that attacked her at a high school party in suburban Maryland in 1982. One of her lawyers, Debra Katz, on Friday said "no artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed" on the new FBI investigation, US media reported. After Blasey Ford's testimony, Kavanaugh hit back furiously, categorically denying the assault took place and accusing Democrats of destroying his reputation for political reasons. "This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election," he said. "This is a circus." While the vote on Kavanaugh is postponed, the full Senate is now officially considering Kavanaugh's nomination. "We're on the nomination, and we're moving forward," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters. The other person named by Blasey Ford as having taken part in her attack, Kavanaugh's school friend Judge, said in a letter dated Friday that he would "cooperate with any law enforcement agency that is assigned to confidentially investigate these allegations." Kavanaugh said in a statement that he had done "everything" requested of him and would "continue to cooperate." Christine Blasey Ford delivered emotional testimony about the assault she says she suffered at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh 36 years ago, but the federal judge firmly denied the allegations Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley calls for the White House to order a new FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, speaks alongside US Senator Kamala Harris (R), Democrat from California, as demonstrators protest Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination outside the US Supreme Court The make-up of the US Supreme Court as President Donald Trump's nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces sexual assault allegations Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov called on Thursday for voters to boycott this weekend's referendum on a name change, saying the country was being asked to commit "historical suicide." "Voting in a referendum is a right, not an obligation," Ivanov told the UN General Assembly. "On September 30, I will not go out and vote and I know that you, my fellow citizens, will make a similarly wise decision." Macedonians are due to go to the polls on Sunday to vote on whether to add "North" to their country's official name in an effort to overcome a 27-year-old argument with neighboring Greece. The government in Athens has refused to recognize Macedonia's name since the Balkan country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, arguing that the name belongs solely to its northern province called Macedonia. In protest, Greece has blocked Macedonia from NATO and the EU, although a yes vote should pave the way for entry into both organizations. Athens has also forced the country to use the clunky name FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) in the UN. Speaking on the third day of debate at the annual General Assembly meeting, Ivanov -- whose position is largely ceremonial and is not a member of the governing party -- said the Macedonian people were effectively being asked to commit "historical suicide," likening the referendum to a "noose around our necks." "This referendum could lead us to become a subordinate state, dependent on another country," he said. "We will become a state in name only, not in substance." The referendum comes as a result of an agreement reached between Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras in June. Ivanov is a member of the right-wing nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party which has been heavily critical of the deal. The president vetoed the Zaev-Tsipras accord back in June after it was initially voted through by lawmakers, but he was obliged to approve the referendum the following month after a second vote in parliament. People attend a campaign rally for the "yes" ahead of a referendum on whether to change Macedonia's name to "Republic of Northern Macedonia", in Prilep on September 26, 2018 President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov says a vote to change his country's name would be "historical suicide" The Maldivian opposition appealed to the international community Thursday to help ensure a peaceful transition of power amid fears that strongman Abdulla Yameen may cling onto power despite his shock election defeat. The joint opposition, which includes four political parties that successfully put forward the little-known Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at Sunday's vote, called for external help to re-establish democracy in the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago. "In this regard, we look towards our friends and partners in the international community to assist us, as we move forward in trying to create a Maldives in which all citizens can enjoy peace, prosperity and justice," the opposition said in a statement. It did not say what form of assistance was requested, but opposition sources said they were looking for strong foreign warnings to Yameen to go quietly. The statement came hours after the country's military chief and the head of police issued veiled warnings on television against Yameen trying to cling onto power. Yameen decisively lost Sunday's election, despite all his main rivals being in prison or in exile, sparse media coverage of the opposition, and monitors and the opposition predicting vote-rigging. Formal results will be announced by the election commission on Sunday and Yameen -- who on Monday conceded defeat -- must hand over power to successor Solih on November 17 at the end of his five-year term. But rumours have abounded on social media and elsewhere that Yameen could file an election petition seeking the delay of the announcement. This prompted military chief Major General Ahmed Shiyam to appear on a private TV channel on Wednesday night promising the results would be honoured. "The people have spoken," Shiyam said. "I want to assure the Maldivian people that the military will protect the will of the people." Election commission chief Ahmed Shareef confirmed that Yameen's party has lodged several complaints of suspected voting irregularities. "We will look into these concerns," Shareef said. But he added that there were no grounds for him to delay the announcement of the formal results. On Wednesday, the opposition accused Yameen of delaying the release of high-profile political prisoners despite calls by Solih for their release. Shortly after his shock defeat, Yameen freed five prisoners. But scores of others -- including Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his estranged half-brother and former president -- remain incarcerated. There was no immediate comment from the government. Yameen jailed or exiled most of his rivals during his turbulent five-year term. Suspecting a plot to impeach him, in February Yameen declared a state of emergency and arrested top judges as well as political opponents. Yameen's rule dented its image as a honeymoon paradise and attracted alarm abroad -- both the US and the EU had threatened financial sanctions unless the democratic situation improved. Opposition forces in the Maldives called for a peaceful transition of power to Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who won a surprise victory in the presidential election A Canberra man has undergone plastic surgery after he was attacked by what he thought was a dead kangaroo on the side of the road. Billy Willox was driving along Googong Road, south of Queanbeyan on September 11 when he noticed a kangaroo on the ground. Mr Willoxs partner Kerrie Vernables wrote on Facebook that he thought the roo was dead. He wanted to check the kangaroos pouch for a joey in the hope of saving it. Billy Willox was attacked by a kangaroo he thought was dead after he pulled over on Googong Road, south of Queanbeyan to check if it had a joey. The attack left him with injuries to his eyes. Source: Facebook/ Kerrie Vernables However, the kangaroo was still alive. All of a sudden, it got up, he told the ABC. Before I knew it, it had gone for my eyes. It was very, very quick. Ms Vernables added the kangaroo went for his eyes only. Despite the blood pouring from his eyes he was able to get away from the marsupial and was rushed to Canberra Hospital. The kangaroo, which was thought to be dead, went for Mr Willoxs eyes. Source: Getty Images (File pic) His partner described his injuries as gruesome and all she could see were two split eyes. The Canberra resident has had to undergo surgery to repair the skin around his eyes but has since returned to work. Last month, an 18-year-old boy from Queenslands Sunshine Coast leapt into action after he found a dead kangaroo on the side of the road and rescued its joey. Quick-thinking Shiloh Leeke checked the roos pouch and found the orphaned joey inside alive, but cold. An Adelaide woman also rescued a tiny joey from a kangaroos pouch after finding the animal dead on the side of a road. It was quite obviously kicking in the tummy and I got out and had a look and saw two little feet sticking out of its pouch, she told the Adelaide Advertiser. Moscow has scoffed at a report by an investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov was Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the country's top award, the Hero of Russia. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. "There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday. "The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it?" President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "we have seen the report" by Bellingcat but added that the Kremlin stands by its previous assertion that the two suspects named by Britain are "civilians". "Lots of people look like one another," he said when asked about the similarities between Boshirov and the photo of Chepiga published in the report. "I don't know who Colonel Chepiga is and why he was awarded (the Hero of Russia medal)," Peskov added. "We will check this information, we will check the lists of those awarded," he said. Speaking on Wednesday, May attacked Moscow over the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent designed in the Soviet era, in March. "Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication," she said. Bellingcat said Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in the far eastern city of Blagoveshchensk, one of the country's top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine and was bestowed the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for "conducting a peace-keeping mission," a likely reference to the Ukraine conflict. Bellingcat said it was "highly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin knew Chepiga because he personally hands out these awards. Only a handful of such awards are given each year, often posthumously. Citing a former Russian military officer, Bellingcat said it was very surprising that a highly decorated officer holding the rank of colonel was sent into the field. This would imply that "the job was ordered at the highest level", the group quoted its source as saying. This month Putin said that the two men suspected by Britain of poisoning the Skripals were "civilians". In an eyebrow-raising interview with the Kremlin-backed RT channel, Boshirov and Alexander Petrov said they went to Salisbury as tourists, prompting ridicule in Russia and abroad. Some observers have speculated that the two intelligence agents have been hung out to dry by their superiors for failing in their mission. "From hero to zero," Bellingcat said on Twitter as it released its report. The man identified by British police as Ruslan Boshirov (left) and his alleged accomplice Alexander Petrov. Borishov is in fact highly decorated colonel Anatoly Chepiga in Russian military intelligence, according to the Bellingcat investigative group Graphic on the known whereabouts in March of two Russians wanted by Britain for the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daugher Yulia VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) (Teck) will release its third quarter 2018 earnings results on Thursday, October 25, 2018 before market open. The company will hold an investor conference call to discuss the third quarter 2018 earnings results at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time / 8:00 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday, October 25, 2018. The conference call dial-in is 416.340.2216 or toll free 866.225.0198, no pass code required. Media are invited to attend on a listen-only basis. A live audio webcast of the conference call, together with supporting presentation slides, will be available on Teck's website at www.teck.com . The recording of the live audio webcast will be available from 10:00 a.m. Pacific time October 25, 2018 on Tecks website at www.teck.com . About Teck Teck is a diversified resource company committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, steelmaking coal, zinc and energy. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, its shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TECK.A and TECK.B and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TECK. Learn more about Teck at www.teck.com or follow @TeckResources. Investor Contact: Ellen Lai Coordinator, Investor Relations 604.699.4257 ellen.lai@teck.com A distraught mum has slammed an airline after she claimed she was told to stop breastfeeding during a flight. Kelly Edgson-Payne, 36, was feeding her one-year-old son Lex on board an easyJet flight to Spain from Londons Gatwick airport last month when she was left in tears by a member of staff, Fox News reported. Travelling with her husband and four children, she says she was approached during takeoff by a male crew member who told her to stop breastfeeding and to fasten her child into a seat. Its just absolutely crazy that I was told that I couldnt feed him crazy, and really embarrassing for me, she revealed. Kelly Edgson-Payne pictured with her one-year-old son Lex. Source: MEGA/ SWNS She said she was forced to hand her son to her husband and quickly cover herself up, leaving her and her child visibly upset. She says a female crew member approached her soon after and apologised for her colleagues behaviour. Yet the inconsistency from employees angered the British mother further, and she claims when she delved into the matter further, she found varying responses on the matter. While easyJets website says the company fully supports breastfeeding at any time during their flights, she was told by customer services she must be discreet while doing so. The 36-year-old mum revealed shes never had any issue of breastfeeding her children before. Source: Instagram/ Teamedgpayne Ms Edgson-Payne said that the airline were in fact breaking the law refusing her the right to breastfeed. I just want them to make themselves aware of the law so no other mums have to go through this, she added. She revealed she was given a 25 ($45) voucher by the airline as compensation for the incident. An easyJet spokesperson told the publication that passengers were entitled to breastfeed at any time during their flights. It is not our policy to ask mothers to be discreet and we make this very clear in our training, the spokesperson said. The airline says the flight in question was operated by another airline and have taken the appropriate action to make sure this doesnt happen again. A row is raging over Australia's warming-damaged Great Barrier Reef, with firms worried that scientists' apocalyptic warnings are scaring visitors out of the water. Every year, more than two million snorkel-wielding tourists head to Australia's famed coral ecosystem, generating revenues of $4.3 billion (Aus$5.9 billion) and supporting 64,000 local jobs. But damage done by higher temperatures -- which turn patches of the reef ashen white -- has threatened to put a break on the number of tourists willing to wrestle their way into a wetsuit. There was surprise then, when the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre recently published a markedly more optimistic report, heralding "significant signs of recovery" at major dive sites around Cairns and prompting a flurry of upbeat news coverage. If the report's findings seemed out of kilter with other studies about the reef, that was by design. It was part of an effort to show that not all of the Great Barrier Reef is an aquatic wasteland, according to Col McKenzie of tourism industry lobby group AMPTO, which helped carry out the research. "Overall, are we seeing a drop in visitation because of the negative press, absolutely we are, there's no doubt about that," McKenzie told AFP. He suggested visitor numbers to the reef and nearby islands had dropped by 10 percent in 2017 and were on track to plunge by a further 15 percent this year. Although government data shows that the number of visitors to the broader region has actually increased, those figures are older and don't include coral-viewing activities. McKenzie said it was vital to get the message out that some areas of the massive ecosystem are still teeming with colour and life. "What people miss with our reef system is... it's a massive structure," he said. His comments are the latest salvo in a battle between ecologists and the tourism industry, as they struggle to come to terms with competing interests and new realities on the reef. Professor Terry Hughes of James Cook University, who leads the surveys of bleached corals, cautioned that while some damaged coral regain their colour within several months, more badly damaged reefs can take a decade to recover. "It's very early days yet," he told AFP, describing a patchy recovery that makes generalisations difficult. "Basically we are in year one in the middle of the reef, or year two in the northern reefs, in the decade-long process of recovery." The government's Australian Institute of Marine Science says coral cover has "continued to decline due to the cumulative impacts of multiple, severe disturbances over the past four years". The same institute showed that apart from the risk of extreme sea surface temperatures -- with some areas more affected, the reef is also grappling with the impacts of farming run-off, development and severe tropical cyclones. - Conflicting interests - Even within government there are conflicting interests at play, as well as rolling debates about how best to respond. Canberra has -- so far successfully -- urged UNESCO to hold off listing the reef as an endangered World Heritage site, fearing it would have an adverse economic impact and lead to tougher restrictions on local industry. It has allocated some $1.4 billion to protect the site, but at the same time backed a huge coal project nearby by Indian mining giant Adani and moved away from legislating climate targets under the Paris Accord. A parliamentary inquiry was recently set up to investigate why former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull gave nearly half a billion dollars to a small business-backed reef charity without a competitive tender process. Australians also appear divided on damage done to the reef. Only half of the country thinks that climate change is already causing the destruction of reef, according to an annual Ipsos poll on environmental issues. Whichever way the political winds blow, scientists like Hughes are determined to document changes to one of the world's most biodiverse regions. But that remains a moving target. "It's a critical recovery period," Hughes said. "The unknown, of course, is whether we'll get another bleaching event, which potentially could come as soon as early next year if we get a heatwave." Every year, more than two million snorkel-wielding tourists head to Australia's famed coral ecosystem Map and factfile on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Tourists look through a glass-bottomed boat at the sea life on Australia's Great Barrier Reef Tourists to the Great Barrier Reef generate revenues of $4.3 billion (Aus$5.9 billion) and support 64,000 local jobs A Polish Catholic bishop apologised Thursday to victims of sexual abuse by clergy in the country as the Church reels from a wave of abuse scandals worldwide. "With all our determination, we want to protect children and young people everywhere at all times," Romuald Kaminski, the archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, told the media. "I would like to apologise and am determined to do everything so that those who feel wronged can safely return to the Church community and regain their trust" in the Church. Kaminski said 12 abuse cases were investigated in his diocese -- one of two in the capital Warsaw -- over the last 26 years. Abuse was confirmed in ten cases, he said, some involving youngsters aged between 15 and 18. The accused perpetrators in three cases were referred to the Polish justice system, and two were sentenced, he added. Kaminski also presented a document outlining measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse in future, as well as how to help victims. Similar documents will be sent to every diocese in the country, the Polish Church said on Wednesday. It added that it would collect data on the scale of sexual abuse by clergy in Poland, where some 90 percent of the country's 38 million people identify as Roman Catholic. Poland's Catholic Church has previously addressed child sexual abuse by its members, apologising at a landmark ceremony in 2014 which was attended by top clergy and abuse victims. According to the Polish foundation Don't Be Afraid, which supports victims of clerical abuse, 56 priests have been convicted in recent years, including some for possession of child pornography. The Church has been rocked by a fresh string of devastating claims of sexual abuse committed by clergy in Australia, Europe, and North and South America. The German Church apologised on Tuesday after a report was published showing that at least 3,677 minors were abused by clergy between 1946 and 2014. Also on Tuesday, Pope Francis admitted the scandals have put off some young people who believe the Catholic Church has not condemned the crimes harshly enough. Some 90 percent of Poland's 38 million people identify themselves as Roman Catholic and the Church continues to exert huge influence on the country's social and political life Romania's constitutional court ruled Thursday that gay couples should have the same family rights as heterosexuals, a judgment that runs counter to a referendum next month seeking to interdict gay marriage. The court said gay couples had the same rights to a private life and a family life as heterosexuals and thus should "benefit, in the long term, from legal... recognition of their rights and obligations". The landmark ruling comes before a referendum planned for October 6 and 7, seeking to restrict the constitutional definition of "family" to heterosexual, married couples. The vote was called by a group called "Coalition for the Family" and others close to the Orthodox Church. The proposal is to change the constitution to stipulate that marriage is between a man and a woman, and not simply "spouses", as it currently states. The plebiscite has already been criticised by Amnesty International, which says it would breach international human rights standards and amount to homophobic discrimination. Thursday's ruling was in a case brought by a US-Romanian couple who had asked the authorities to recognise their marriage, registered in Belgium, so the American could move with his husband to Romania. The constitutional court based its judgment on a ruling issued in June by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Romania is a very conservative country where most people are members of the Orthodox Church, and only legalised homosexuality at the beginning of the 2000s. Romania's constitutional court said gay couples (pictured June 2018) have the same rights to a private life and a family life as heterosexuals and thus should benefit from legal "recognition of their rights and obligations" Ryanair will cut 150 flights because of strike action across Europe on Friday, as Brussels urged it to respect workers' rights enshrined in EU law. The Dublin-based carrier said that it would cancel six percent of flights amid the walk-outs in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. It had previously estimated 190 would be affected. Germany's pilots' union said it would support the strike action, while the country's cabin crew union said it would announce on Thursday evening whether German Ryanair crew would join Friday's walkout. Trade unions have claimed that Friday's 24-hour stoppage will be the biggest strike in the Irish carrier's history. Ryanair said in a statement that the vast majority of its 2,400 flights on Friday "will be unaffected by these unnecessary strikes and will operate as scheduled". All affected customers received email and text message notifications on Tuesday to advise them of cancellations and options, Ryanair said. "We sincerely apologise to those customers affected by these unnecessary strikes on Friday which we have done our utmost to avoid," it said. Ryanair staff have been seeking higher wages and an end to the practice whereby many have been working as independent contractors without the benefits of staff employees. Another key complaint of workers based in countries other than Ireland is the fact that Ryanair has been employing them under Irish legislation. Staff claim this creates huge insecurity for them, blocking their access to state benefits in their country. EU Social Affairs Commissioner Marianne Thyssen said on Wednesday air crews should be employed under contracts from the country where they work. "Respecting EU law is not something over which workers should have to negotiate, nor is it something which can be done differently from country to country. I made this very clear to Mr O'Leary today," Thyssen said in a statement after a meeting between Ryanair's combative chief executive Michael O'Leary and EU officials. "The internal market is not a jungle; it has clear rules on fair labour mobility and worker protection. This is not an academic debate, but about concrete social rights of workers." At a press conference O'Leary called for the cancellation of the strike, threatening to shrink Ryanair's fleet at two Brussels airports if it went ahead. Last month, Ryanair pilots across Europe staged a coordinated 24-hour strike to push their demands for better pay and conditions, plunging tens of thousands of passengers into transport chaos at the peak of the busy summer season. In July, strikes by cockpit and cabin crew disrupted 600 flights in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, affecting 100,000 travellers. This week, Ryanair signed deals with cabin crew unions in Italy to provide employment contracts under Italian law. Trade unions have claimed that Friday's 24-hour stoppage will be the biggest strike in Ryanair's history. Three Saudi wanted "terrorists" were killed in a shootout with security officials in the Shiite-majority eastern region of Qatif, state media said Thursday. Three security officers also suffered minor injuries as they raided the "hideout" in a residential neighbourhood on Wednesday, the official Saudi Press Agency said citing a security spokesman. The Saudi men were wanted for "terror incidents in Qatif" in the kingdom's Eastern Province, the spokesman added without offering details. "No other resident of the building or passersby were hurt due to the intensive firing from inside the place towards the street," he said. Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened by the Arab Spring took to the streets demanding an end to what they say is discrimination by the Sunni-dominated government. The Shiite community is estimated to make up between 10 and 15 percent of the kingdom's population of 32 million, but the government has released no official statistics. The government denies discrimination against Shiites. The region was also home to Nimr al-Nimr, a fiery Shia cleric and government critic who was executed in 2016 on terrorism charges, sparking widespread outrage and leading to renewed tensions with regional rival Iran. Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province (pictured October 2017) has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened by the Arab Spring took to the streets demanding an end to what they say is discrimination by the Sunni-dominated government English French MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sigma Industries Inc. ("Sigma") (TSX-V: SSG) is pleased to announce that all the conditions to the closing of the arrangement are now satisfied and, as result, the arrangement will be completed on September 28, 2018, thus, further to the Sigmas news releases dated July 3 and September 21, 2018, that the common shares of Sigma will be delisted from TSX Venture Exchange effective at the close of business on Friday, September 28, 2018. The delisting of the Sigmas common shares results from the completion of an arrangement pursuant to which NanoXplore Inc. (NanXplore) acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Sigma for 0.390625 common share of NanoXplore for each share of Sigma. The value of Sigma common shares has been set as $0.75, and the value of NanoXplore common shares has been set at $1.92. Furthermore, the holders of the Sigmas debentures will receive cash and common shares of NanoXplore for their debentures as follows: (i) for every $1,000 principal amount of the series 1 debentures, $5,000 plus a number of NanoXplore common shares equal to $500; (ii) for each $1,000 principal amount of the series 2 debentures, $9,000 plus a number of NanoXplore common shares equal to $1,000; and (iii) for each $1,000 principal amount of the series 3 debentures, $8,800 plus a number of NanoXplore common shares equal to $1,000. The price of the NanoXplore common shares will also be $1.92. The arrangement was approved by the Sigmas shareholders at a special shareholders meeting held on September 14, 2018, and was approved by the Superior Court of Quebec on September 21, 2018. For more information, please consult the Sigmas Management Information Circular dated August 14, 2018, which is available on SEDAR. About Sigma Industries Inc. Sigma is a manufacturing company specializing in the manufacture of composite products, has two operating subsidiaries and employs 275 people. It operates in the markets for heavy trucks, buses, public transit, machinery and wind energy. Sigma sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and distributors in the United States, Canada and Europe. 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. For more information, please contact: Sigma Industries Inc. Denis Bertrand President and CEO (418) 484-5282 denis.bertrand@sigmaindustries.ca US President Donald Trump proved a good apprentice of a different kind Wednesday, bringing to the UN Security Council good manners and sticking to protocol, with none of the "you're fired" swagger of his reality TV days. His debut outing as chair of the august world body, where the United States holds the monthly rotating presidency, had fanned anxiety he might indulge some of the made-for-television antics infamous on "The Apprentice" show. But in the end -- apart from a tardy arrival time -- the session passed off smoothly, even going so far as to disappoint one or two diplomats who might have secretly hoped for fireworks. Trump himself convened the meeting to discuss three of his favorite foreign policy topics -- Iran, North Korea and Syria. The time was set for 10:00 am. Except the minute hand came and went, and there was no US president in sight. In the solemn chamber, 14 leaders waited and waited and waited -- for more than 20 minutes around the vast polished table in the form of a horse shoe. French President Emmanuel Macron chatted to the likes of British Prime Minister Theresa May and European leaders against the backdrop of artist Per Krohg's mural symbolizing the promise of peace and individual freedom. They greeted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who was called to attend as an observer. In the room were four presidents, of France, Poland, Equatorial Guinea and Bolivia, one vice president, from the Ivory Coast, two prime ministers (Britain and the Netherlands) and seven foreign ministers. Contrary to previous fears of trouble ahead, one diplomat present in the hall told AFP that there was "no particular tension." - Approving nod - Delayed by talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump finally arrived and the room fell silent. The president swiftly got down to business by announcing the agenda, bringing down the gavel and calling the meeting to order. While not strictly against the rules, Trump opted as host to go first rather than the more customary last, denouncing Iranian aggression, condemning Russia over Syria and accusing China of interfering in upcoming US elections. His UN ambassador Nikki Haley sitting right behind him, Trump brought down the gavel again and gave the floor to Macron. The French head of state's praise for North Korea aroused an approving nod from the 72-year-old American, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put the finishing touches to his own speech. One after another the world leaders followed suit, making their speeches with an implacable Trump in the chair. Russia, China, Bolivia -- all were politely thanked even if they took swipes at the United States, overtly or subtly. Before it ended, Trump slipped out, as did Macron, allowing Haley to slip back into the US hot seat to listen to Kazakhstan and Sweden. "In the end Trump was very well behaved," conceded one diplomat on condition of anonymity, almost disappointed that the meeting had gone smoothly without meltdown, hiccup or scandal. On Tuesday, Trump aroused laughter from world leaders for boasting in his address to the UN General Assembly that his administration had already achieved more than "almost" any other in history. Global dignitaries started to chuckle, Trump ad-libbed with a "so true" and the laughter grew. "They weren't laughing at me, they were laughing with me," the US president insisted at a news conference later on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump convened the UN Security Council meeting to discuss three of his favorite foreign policy topics -- Iran, North Korea and Syria US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was open to pulling Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination if he finds the evidence against him of sexual assault convincing. "I can always be convinced," Trump said at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, on the eve of a key Senate hearing at which a university professor accusing his nominee of assault will detail her allegations to lawmakers. "If I thought he was guilty of something like this, yes, sure. I want to watch. I want to see," the president said. At the same time, Trump described Kavanaugh as a "great gentleman" and said he believed the accusations against the conservative were "false." Trump said he was skeptical because he personally has been the target of "false statements" in the past made by various women. "It does impact my opinions because I've had a lot of false charges made against me," he said. "People want fame, they want money, they want whatever." Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, is to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Kavanaugh also stands accused of exposing himself to a classmate, Deborah Ramirez, during an alcohol-fueled Yale University party a few years later. And on Wednesday a new woman came forward with explosive allegations, saying she witnessed sexually abusive behavior by the Supreme Court nominee when he was a teenager and claiming she was gang-raped at a party he attended in the early 1980s. The case has turned into a political firestorm ahead of congressional midterm elections, with the scandal threatening to derail Trump's push to get a conservative-minded majority on the top court. US President Donald Trump takes questions during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Twenty-seven people were killed in clashes between members of the same Tuareg tribe in Mali's troubled northeast earlier this week, the West African state's security ministry said Thursday. Previous reports said 12 people had died in the violence on Tuesday, which took place in a region near the Niger border affected by chronic unrest between local tribes and jihadist militants. "Clashes occurred in the area of Inekar, 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of the town of Menaka, between members of the Idourfane community," a Tuareg tribe, the ministry said in a statement. "This unfortunate event has unfortunately cost the lives of 27 people, and injured one." Army troops supported by police have been deployed to the region to stabilise the situation and "find out the motive for such a violent outburst within a single community". A local official earlier said that "armed men on motorcycles killed at least 12 civilians," citing a resident of the town who claimed to have seen the bodies. The official, who asked not to be named, added that "for now we do not know exactly who did it. I don't know if it was the result of a dispute between tribes or a terrorist act." About 200 people, many of them civilians from the Fulani and Tuareg tribes, have been killed in the area this year. It has been a violent week for Mali, one of Africa's poorest states, after seven soldiers and a civilian driver were killed in the centre of the country on Wednesday when their vehicle hit explosives. Mali's unrest stems from a 2012 Tuareg separatist uprising which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key cities in the north. The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013. But despite a 2015 peace agreement between the government and the Tuareg rebels, large stretches of the country remain out of the control of Malian, French and UN forces, which are frequent targets of attacks. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south and spilled into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often exacerbating communal conflicts. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected in August after vowing to restore peace to the restive north of the Saharan country. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Keita admitted the regional G5 Sahel armed force had struggled to become "operational" and called on financial contributors to "honour their commitments". On Thursday, France sent 120 paratroopers to the Menaka region. Map of Mali locating the region of Menaka where the death toll from an attack by armed militants rose from 12 to 27 people The United States along with several Arab and European countries called on a UN envoy Thursday to urgently set up a committee on drafting a post-war constitution for Syria and report on his progress by October 31. The foreign ministers of the seven countries met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss steps to advance the political process in Syria, now in its eighth year of war. In a joint statement, they backed the "urgent convening" of the committee by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura that would begin work on drafting a new constitution and lay the groundwork for elections. The seven countries asked De Mistura to report back to the UN Security Council on his progress no later than October 31, setting a deadline for action, according to a joint statement. Egypt, Germany, Jordan, Britain joined the United States, France and Saudi Arabia in warning that "those who seek a military solution will only succeed in increasing the risk of a dangerous escalation." Western diplomats say a recent agreement between Russia and Turkey to avert an all-out military assault on the rebel-held province of Idlib has created an opportunity to jump-start political talks. De Mistura told the council this month that there were ongoing disputes between the Syrian government and opposition over the composition of the committee, first announced at a summit convened by Russia in January. But the envoy said he hoped that the committee could begin work in the coming weeks. More than 360,000 Syrians have died in the war and millions have been uprooted. The foreign ministers of the seven countries backed the "urgent convening" of the committee by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura that would begin work on drafting a new constitution and lay the groundwork for elections A top UN envoy called Thursday for transparency on arms flowing into the Central African Republic from Russia, China or the United States, urging diplomatic "coherence" as Moscow seeks a larger role in the war-torn sub-Saharan country. In an interview with AFP, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the UN special representative for the Central African Republic, whose term expires at the end of the year, said he felt "a measured, but definite hope" for the country, even as armed groups who covet its natural wealth still clash on the ground. President Faustin-Archange Touadera controls only a fraction of CAR, most of it overrun by militants who claim to protect either the Christian or Muslim communities. Touadera, addressing the annual UN General Assembly, urged a complete lifting of the arms embargo on the country. Onanga-Anyanga said that the need for weapons was "undeniable" as the government builds its own armed forces to the tune of 1,300 new troops a year through 2023. Russia has already received an exemption. "China, but also the United States, have proposed new quantities of weapons," Onanga-Anyanga said. "It's for a good reason." European trainers of Central African troops have themselves backed the increased flow of weapons, he said. "It's dangerous to have trained men loafing around all day. If they aren't under supervision and put to use, they risk being drawn back to the demons of the past and returning to predation," Onanga-Anyanga said. He also acknowledged the "need for the clearest transparency." The United Nations has just verified, with the defense ministry and Russia, weapons deliveries by Russia. He said that the head of the UN sanctions committee would travel on October 2 to Bangui to "examine the needs and make sure that these transactions are in line with the positions of the Security Council." - Risking diplomatic 'cacophony' - Thousands of people have died, 700,000 have been internally displaced and another 570,000 have fled abroad in fighting since 2013, when majority-Muslim militias toppled longtime leader Francois Bozize, a Christian. Russia, in addition to sending weapons, has proposed mediating with CAR rebels and held a meeting in Sudan with armed groups, in a sign of Moscow's growing post-Cold War ambitions in Africa. Former colonial ruler France has rejected the Russian initiative, saying that there was "no alternative" to the process led by the African Union. "There must absolutely be coordination among partners," the envoy said of the political mediation. "For it to be constructive, everyone needs to have the same vision and approach," he said. "Solitary, non-coordinated moves could create a real cacophony." President Touadera, speaking to reporters Thursday after talks at the United Nations, said that Russia's role was only one of "facilitation." "We're working to hold an upcoming dialogue with armed groups to seek peace and reconciliation," he said. Smail Chergui, who heads the peace and security commission of the African Union, called Russia's Khartoum meeting "complementary" and said it would "not replace the African initiative." The UN stabilization force in Central Africa has 12,000 troops and 2,000 police officers. Nearly a year ago, the UN Security Council authorized boosting the number by 900 military personnel, although Onanga-Anyanga admitted that the level had not yet been reached. He said that troops from Rwanda and Nepal had arrived but did not yet have equipment in place. Since its establishment in 2014, the UN peacekeeping force known by its French acronym MINUSCA has witnessed the deaths of 70 soldiers. United Nations Special Representative for the Central African Republic Parfait Onanga-Anyanga (R) is calling for more transparency on arms flowing into the country The UN Human Rights Council voted Thursday to set up a panel to prepare criminal indictments over atrocities committed in Myanmar, amid allegations of genocide against the Rohingya minority. The top UN rights body voted to "establish an ongoing independent mechanism to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011". The text, a collaboration between the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), says the panel will be responsible for preparing files "in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings... in national, regional or international courts or tribunals". Thirty-five of the council's 47 members voted in favour of the resolution and only three -- China, the Philippines and Burundi -- voted against. The remainder either abstained or refrained from casting a vote. The council's decision, which was immediately hailed by Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and other rights groups, will go to the UN General Assembly in New York for final approval. The text was presented after a damning report was released to the council earlier this month, outlining in meticulous and searing detail atrocities against the Rohingya, who fled a violent military campaign that started in August last year. - 'Categorically' rejected - The UN report also spoke of "crimes against humanity and war crimes" against other minorities in the northern Kachin and Shan States. But Myanmar's representative Kyaw Moe Tun told the council the report lacked "balance, impartiality and fairness", and said his government "categorically rejects" the resolution. The 444-page report by a UN fact-finding mission concluded there was enough evidence to merit investigation and prosecution of Myanmar's army chief and five other top military commanders for crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya. Myanmar's powerful army chief Min Aung Hlaing this week insisted the United Nations had no right to interfere in his country's sovereignty. Troops, sometimes aided by ethnic Rakhine mobs, committed murder, rape, arson and torture, using unfathomable levels of violence and with a total disregard for human life, investigators concluded. More than 700,000 of the stateless Muslim minority took refuge in Bangladesh, where they remain -- fearful of returning to mainly Buddhist Myanmar despite a repatriation deal. The military has denied nearly all wrongdoing, justifying its crackdown as a legitimate means of rooting out Rohingya militants. The UN and rights groups say the operations were vastly disproportionate and a troop build-up in the area occurred before insurgents attacked police posts in August 2017. The campaign against the Rohingya has especially tarnished the international reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the long-detained democracy advocate and Nobel laureate who has been reticent in addressing the violence. Her democratically-elected government remains in a delicate power balance with the generals, whose presence in parliament gives them an effective veto on constitutional changes. - 'Atrocities may continue' - Presenting Thursday's resolution to the council on behalf of the OIC, Pakistan's ambassador Farukh Amil said the situation in Myanmar was a "grave tragedy that merited an exceptional and robust response from the international community". Austria's ambassador Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, speaking on behalf of the EU, said "unless impunity is urgently addressed, similar outbreaks of violence and atrocities may continue with further devastating domestic and regional impact". The International Criminal Court in The Hague independently ruled that it had jurisdiction to open a preliminary investigation, even though the country has not signed the treaty underpinning the tribunal. Thursday's text took note of the ICC ruling, and requested "the mechanism to cooperate closely with any of its future investigations pertaining to human rights in Myanmar". It also said the UN fact-finding mission's mandate should be extended until the new mechanism is operational. Thursday's decision marks the first time the Rights Council has itself opted to create such a mechanism. A similar panel was created in 2016 to build cases for the prosecution of war crimes in Syria, but it was set up following a General Assembly vote. More than 700,000 Rohingya took refuge in Bangladesh, fearful of returning to Myanmar despite a repatriation deal A damning report was released to the UN Human Rights Council earlier this month, outlining in meticulous and searing detail atrocities against the Rohingya Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has come under fire over her response to the Rohingya crisis Major Rohingya refugee camp populations in Bangladesh Myanmar's army chief General Min Aung Hlaing has insisted the United Nations had no right to interfere in his country's sovereignty US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he was confident Congress would approve a new trade deal with Mexico, even if it left out Canada. However, he said he hoped Washington and Ottawa would be able to reach an agreement. "I hope so. We have an important trading relationship with Canada," Mnuchin said at a forum, although he declined to speculate on a timetable. President Donald Trump's trade team last month reached an agreement with Mexico but has yet to overcome the remaining differences with Canada on a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The White House has said it intends to sign the deal with Mexico by December 1, when a new government takes office in Mexico City. That means the administration must submit the text of the agreement to Congress by Friday. However, some US legislators say the White House cannot substitute a three-nation trade pact for one with Mexico alone. But Mnuchin said, in the event there is no deal with Canada, "I am confident Congress will pass" the "great agreement" with Mexico. Trump on Wednesday once again criticized Ottawa, saying "Canada has treated us very badly" and threatened to impose tariffs on imported autos. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said negotiators are "running out of time" to add Canada to the deal, although it could join later. And he said there was still "a fair amount of distance" between the sides. US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, pictured July 2018, said he hoped Washington and Ottawa would be able to reach an agreement on a new trade deal A woman kept her mothers body at home months after she had passed away because she wanted to see the stages of death. Donna Hudgins, 69, from North Carolina in the US, kept the decomposing body of her 93-year-old mother Nellie in the house for several months before telling relatives she had died, Fox6 News reported. Donna Hudgins, 69 (left) from North Carolina in the US, kept the decomposing body of her 93-year-old mother Nellie (right) in the house for several months. Source: Fox6 News A relative formerly married to Nellies granddaughter told Fox6News the family had tried to see Nellie several times but Donna kept making excuses. Shed meet us at the door (saying) shes asleep, or something like that, Teddy Velasquez said. Enfield Police said Donna Hudgins finally went to a funeral home to tell them her mother had died, but she didnt know where emergency responders had taken her. The North Carolina home whee Nellie Hudgins decomposing body was found. Source: Fox6 News Workers at the funeral home alerted authorities, who then went to the womans home and found the elderly womans badly decomposed body. Donna Hudgins was taken into custody on a AUD$6900 bond, charged with felony concealment of a death. Her mother has now been laid to rest at the Elmwood Cemetery in North Carolina. A Yemeni activist who was held and allegedly tortured for months by Huthi rebels this week criticised the UN-backed peace process for his country as "naive", warning against "humanising" his captors. Hisham Al-Omeisy, an outspoken activist, journalist and political commentator, was arrested in August 2017 after speaking out against restrictions and corruption in rebel-held areas of the war-ravaged country. Omeisy, who has also harshly criticised the actions of the Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the rebels since 2015, says the Huthis accused him of being an American and Saudi spy. "I was tortured in prison... They employed barbaric measures," he told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. He warned that UN officials trying to bring both sides to the table to hammer out a peace deal were being "played by the Huthis". Omeisy was finally released in January after an international campaign to secure his freedom. He lives in Cairo but says he still follows the situation at home. Yemen's war pits forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014. Some 10,000 people have died since the conflict escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition entered the fighting to support the government. - 'Overly simplistic' - UN mediator Martin Griffiths tried earlier this month to organise the first negotiations between Yemen's warring sides in two years, but the Huthis failed to show up in Geneva. Omeisy said the rebels refusal to come should not have been a surprise, and questioned whether those trying to broker peace sufficiently understand the complexities of the conflict. "The process came off as very naive and overly simplistic," he said. A major mistake, he said, was trying to "humanise" the Huthis. Omeisy said he knew from his time in Huthi custody how brutal they were. "They would hang me from the wall, beat me up. I had cuts and bruises all over my body," he said, displaying scars on his wrists from metal cuffs and a stab-wound on the back of one hand. He also had pictures of big, red scars on his back and thigh. His interrogators demanded that he confess on video to being a spy, but Omeisy said he refused, pointing out that if he had given in, "I know I would have been executed". He said he was held alone in a tiny concrete cell with no light and no toilet, and was often denied food and water. "They dehumanise you," he said, adding that he knew of at least 16 journalists who were held in his block. He says he is haunted by their screams. - 'Syria on steroids' - The UN insists there is no military solution to Yemen's conflict, but Omeisy insisted it would be preferable to go in quickly to retake the areas under Huthi control, instead of allowing the conflict to drag on. The impression on the ground, he said, is that "the international community, and especially the Saudis, are willing to fight this war to the last Yemeni". He described the Yemen conflict as Syria "on steroids". While Syria's war has been raging for more than seven years, he warned that Yemen's conflict could "drag on for 70". The UN process was "flawed", he said. "You need something beyond just good intentions. You need a solid strategy, and you need a solid implementation." Omeisy meanwhile said he strongly supported the work of a group of investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council a year ago to probe violations in Yemen. In a report presented to the council Wednesday, the investigators said there was reason to believe that all sides in Yemen's conflict had committed "war crimes". The council is due to determine this week if the probe can continue for another year, but Saudi Arabia and others are opposed to extending its mandate. The investigators "are independent" and enjoy "enormous credibility on the ground", Omeisy said, adding that it was "extraordinarily important that it continues its work". Yemen's war pits forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014 Three quarters of Yemen's population -- or 22 million people -- are in need of humanitarian aid, including eight million who need food relief to survive, according to UN figures The UN tried earlier this month to organise the first negotiations between Yemen's warring sides in two years, but the Huthis failed to show up in Geneva Some 10,000 people have died since the conflict escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition entered the fighting to support the government SAN DIEGO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Vantara , a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), and Arrow Electronics, Inc., a complete technology solutions lifecycle provider, today outlined the next phase of its successful 20-year affiliation. Together, the companies will expand their combined efforts beyond high-end storage to include the development and sales of new end-to-end market-ready solutions powered by proven infrastructure, analytics, internet of things (IoT) applications, vertical solutions, network and connectivity, gateways, sensors and edge technologies from Hitachi Vantara and Arrow, as well as other ecosystem partners. According to Bain & Company , the total IoT opportunity from embedded and consumer devices and network through data center, analytics and systems integration will grow to $520 billion by 2021. Expected to be available by the end of 2018, the first market-ready solution, a public safety and transportation offering from Arrow, will target the greater than $158 billion estimated Smart City market opportunity* with the hardware, software, cloud application capabilities, and services that can become the foundation of a dynamic and scalable smart city. Earlier this month, Hitachi Vantara announced that it joined Arrow as a technology adviser and partner in the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance (see recent press release ). Hitachi Vantara and Arrow will help Colorado municipalities utilize data-driven insights derived from IoT, big data, advanced analytics and video intelligence technologies and solutions to fuel innovation, solve local challenges and improve smart city development. Over the last 20 years, Arrow has been instrumental to our growth and a key part of our success. Now, as the industry transforms and new trends and requirements emerge, we are excited to transform and expand our relationship to address new avenues and customer demands from Smart Cities and Smart Spaces to Smart Transportation and Smart Manufacturing, said Mike Walkey, senior vice president, Strategic Partners and Alliances at Hitachi Vantara. Today, we see a massive opportunity to offer innovative, sensor-to-edge and edge-to-core intelligent IoT platforms and solutions that can deliver value from data management and data governance to advanced insights, said Howard Goldberg, senior vice president, Global Marketing and Business Development at Arrow. Our work with Hitachi Vantara is a reflection of our strategic alignment and commitment to deliver the technologies and solutions that can accelerate transformation and help our customers across the globe realize the power of their data. About Hitachi NEXT 2018 NEXT 2018 is the premier event for the digital revolution. Its for data-driven innovators who lead the transformation in their industry. They lead with clear insights drawn from their own data to make the right decisions for the best results. Data changes the way the world works, advancing business and even society itself. There can never be too much data and it can never come too quickly if organizations manage, govern, mobilize and analyze it effectively. At NEXT 2018, leaders see whats next for their data in IT, operational technology and the internet of things, from Hitachi and our many partners. They bring back insights and strategies they can use right away to transform their businesses and build them for tomorrow. At NEXT 2018 we change the way the world works. NEXT 2018 is held September 25-27 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California. For more information and to register, please visit HitachiNEXT.com . About Hitachi Vantara Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., helps data-driven leaders find and use the value in their data to innovate intelligently and reach outcomes that matter for business and society. We combine technology, intellectual property and industry knowledge to deliver data-managing solutions that help enterprises improve their customers experiences, develop new revenue streams, and lower the costs of business. Only Hitachi Vantara elevates your innovation advantage by combining deep information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and domain expertise. We work with organizations everywhere to drive data to meaningful outcomes. Visit us at www.HitachiVantara.com . * IDC Worldwide Semiannual Smart Cities Spending Guide , July 2018 Connect With Hitachi Vantara About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer societys challenges, combining its operational technology, information technology, and products/systems. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2018) totaled 9,368.6 billion yen ($88.4 billion). The Hitachi Group is an innovation partner for the IoT era, and it has approximately 307,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation with customers, Hitachi is deploying Social Innovation Business using digital technologies in a broad range of sectors, including Power/Energy, Industry/Distribution/Water, Urban Development, and Finance/Social Infrastructure/Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com . HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners. MEDIA CONTACTS Brian Garabedian Hitachi Vantara Brian.garabedian@hitachivantara.com +1 408.386.4621 Ashley Paula Weber Shandwick for Hitachi Vantara apaula@webershandwick.com +1 415.262.5975 An influential national organization advocating for reproductive rights is supporting Democratic challenger Dana Balter in the 24th Congressional District race. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, endorsed Balter, D-Syracuse, Thursday. In a news release, the group called her "a staunch supporter of a woman's access to quality health care and a right to make her own health care decisions, including whether to have a safe, legal abortion." Balter is challenging U.S. Rep. John Katko, a Republican, in the 24th district. Katko initially opposed slashing federal funding for Planned Parenthood. But when a series of controversial videos were released by a conservative group, he voted to strip the organization's federal aid. Planned Parenthood's view is that Katko is working to "strip hardworking people of their right to affordable health care." "Dana Balter is a fierce advocate for women's access to full, equitable and comprehensive health care," said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. " Planned Parenthood Action Fund is proud to stand with her to further the rights of women and people in New York's 24th district and all across the country." Laquens added, "Dana has shown us time and again that she is willing to stand up and defend the idea that your body is your own, and the rights of all people to make their own health care choices." Balter has shown her support for preserving federal funding of Planned Parenthood since the early days of her campaign. During a forum in Auburn earlier this year, she criticized attempts to slash federal assistance. Planned Parenthood, Balter said at the time, is a critical resource for women. "We cannot take those services away from the most vulnerable women in our communities," she said in February. "It is unconscionable." The Planned Parenthood Action Fund is one of several groups that have endorsed Balter in the 24th district race. Her supporters include U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, EMILY's List, the National Organization for Women and #VOTEPROCHOICE. In a statement, Balter said she's "thrilled" to have the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's backing. "A woman's access to complete and equitable health care is a fundamental right," she said. "For too long women have faced obstacles in access to insurance for simply being women. We must continue to fight to ensure all women have the right to make the best choices for themselves and their circumstances." Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 5 WASHINGTON, D.C.Though Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee hired a professional prosecutor to question Christine Blasey Fordwho accuses Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assaultapparently to avoid the spectacle of the all-male GOP side of the panel attacking a sexual assault survivor, the committees chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa opened the hearing with a statement decsribed by one media outlet as a grotesque partisan screed. In that statement, during which Grassley seemed to say that the recent experiences of Ford and Kavanaugh were equivalent claiming that both had been through a terrible couple of weeks, Grassley also cited Kavanaughs earlier hearings and background checks by the FBI. Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports, which committee investigators have reviewed on a bipartisan basis, was there ever a whiff of any issueat allrelated in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior, Grassley claimed in his opening remarks. But on her Twitter account, investigative reporter Marcy Wheeler rebutted Grassley's claim, and noted that in fact there had been a whiff of sexual misconduct in Kavanaughs earlier testimony. Grassley in opening statement says there was no whiff of allegation about inappropriate sexual behavior, Wheeler wrote. False, there was a whiff: Kavanaugh's close ties with (Alex) Kozinski, and his refusal to check to see whether he got some of Kozinski's sexually explicit emails. Alex Kozinski, as AVN.com has reported, was a federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court who last year was forced to resign after a sexual harassment scandal. Kavanaugh served as a clerk for Kozinski in 1990 and 1991 and remained friends with Kozinski throughout the years. During Kavanaughs 2006 confirmation hearing for his seat on the Washington, D.C., federal court, Kozinski described Kavanaugh as my good friend. During his confirmation hearings Kavanaugh was asked whether he received sexually inappropriate emails from an email list operated by Kozinski, on which the Ninth Circuit judge would send off-color jokes and occasional sexually explicit images. Kavanaugh claimed that he did not remember anything like that. Grassley boasts that Kavanaugh answered more (questions) than any prior candidate, Wheeler wrote. Except many of the questions were insolent non-answers, such as to the question of whether he received abusive Kozinski emails. In fact, when Delaware Senator Chris Coons asked Kavanaugh, Have you conducted a search of your email accounts and/or correspondence with Judge Kozinski in an effort to provide an accurate response to the preceding question? If not, why not? he received another non-answer from Kavanaugh. I do not remember receiving inappropriate emails of a sexual nature from Judge Kozinski, Kavanaugh said, repeating his previous answer to Coons verbatim. Kavanaugh has dismissed all of the sexual assault allegations against him, including the most recent allegation that he targeted women for gang rapes, as smears. Photo By U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain CYBERSPACEThe mystery over millions of fake comments posted on the Federal Communications Commission website in the run up to the FCCs vote to repeal net neutrality rules only got deeper last week, when The New York Times filed a lawsuit demanding information on how Russian hackers may have manipulated the public comment process. According to the Washington Post, the FCC received about half-a-million comments from Russian email addresses during the open comment period last year. The Times originally filed a Freedom of Information request in June of 2017 for server logs that would show where the comments came from, but the FCC turnd down that request and claimed that to comply would violate the privacy rights of individuals who made the comments. The Times filed new and narrower versions of the FOIA request on repeated occasions, only to be rebuffed by the Republican-controlled FCC each time. Then, on Septemeber 20 of this year, the newspaper filed a lawsuit against the FCC in the Southen District of New York federal court, accusing the FCC of throwing up a series of roadblocks despite the clear public importance of the requested records. The Times lawsuit goes on to note that, the FCC's mishandling of the public comment process for the proposed rule has been well documented." In fact, as AVN.com has reported, the FCC lied about an outage on its website in May of 2017, claiming that it was the victim of a hacking attack that shut down the site. But further investigation revealed that the flood of comments came from fans of comedian John Oliver, who called for viewers of his HBO Last Week Tonight show to comment on the site in favor of retaining net neutrality rules. This litigation involves records that will shed light on the extent to which Russian nationals and agents of the Russian government have interfered with the agency notice-and-comment process about a topic of extensive public interest: the governments decision to abandon net neutrality, the Times lawsuit says. Release of these records will help broaden the publics understanding of the scope of Russian interference in the American democratic system. Even the Russian state-owned propaganda outlet RT has weighed in on The New York Times action, ridiculing the lawsuit and saying that even though the approximately 500,000 comments came from Russian addresses, there is no evidence Russians actually sent them. The FCC continues to claim that turning over information about the comments to the Times would jeopardize its security. We are disappointed that The New York Times has filed suit to collect the Commissions internal Web server logs, logs whose disclosure would put at jeopardy the Commissions IT security practices for its Electronic Comment Filing System, the FCC said in a statement after the Times filed its suit. Photo via Kremlin / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain DALLASSliquid has launched Sliquid 101, an educational and marketing campaign based on questions Sliquids customer service team receives on a daily basis. Our marketing and sales team have put together something truly original for our customers and vendors to enjoy. It's not all fun and games though. Sliquid 101 is real-time product education, for all consumers who are conscious of buying a product that is going to work for them and address their specific need(s). I am excited to see our brand grow, not just in product SKUs, sales, and employees, but also in ideas and concepts that come to fruition through the creative and innovative minds behind this Sliquid 101 campaign. I am very proud of the entire Sliquid team for all their hard work on this campaign, said Dean Elliott, Sliquid CEO. The questions range from, What is the difference in water-based and silicone products? to more complex questions, such as, I have multiple sensitivities, so which is going to work best for me? For this reason, Sliquid has taken their product education directly to the consumer in an accessible, streamlined Quiz. The Sliquid 101 campaigns main component is an interactive Quiz, which is available starting today at Sliquid.com/sliquid-101/. The quiz consists of five questions that calculate a result based on the answers provided, which will land the customer on a page containing pertinent information about the recommended Sliquid product they should use and why exactly they have been directed to that particular product. As part of this learning experience, Sliquid has produced original videos featuring Sliquid expert Michelle Marcus, to convey the information in a more direct, clear, and personalized way. The video content offers the viewer the foundational knowledge as to what they should be using, then links them to the site to learn more about the product, as well as to purchase if they wish. Viewers can add a bottle of the product they land on directly to their cart without ever leaving the quiz. The Sliquid 101 campaign is the culmination of months of work put forth by a creative team that I am unbelievably proud to be part of. Together, we have crafted a comprehensive, strategic marketing initiative that deviates from the traditional photo campaigns of yesteryear and positions Sliquid a step above the rest by offering our customers a more innovative way of connecting with our brand. When it comes to marketing, companies must think outside the box and meet their customers where they are at ... and that is online. Moreover, when it comes to branding, companies must be bold and direct in their mission. For Sliquid, this meant taking product education to a digital platform, and making it accessible to our end user so that their intimate product purchases are thoughtful and educated, said Erik Vasquez, Sliquid marketing director. Sliquid has also created original artwork for the campaign, which is visually reminiscent of educational learning. The chalkboard, back to school theme will be released one at a time, once a week throughout the fall, along with information about the product. This imagery and the data will be posted on all social media platforms. With today marking the rollout of Sliquid 101, bloggers and online retailers can now request a customized, branded quiz. The branded quiz will be generated using the requester's logo and website color scheme. The requester will then be sent a link to embed the quiz into their own website, and the landing page with the suggested product will then link back to that website's Sliquid product page so the customer can purchase directly through their site. Should the product they land on not be available through the site, the customer can then request to have the retailer carry the product. This is a great way for Sliquid retailers to gather information from their customer base and may be helpful in identifying deficiencies in the range of lubricants they carry. I am super excited about this campaign as it will provide a great opportunity for our retail partners to offer a much needed educational tool that will guide the consumer through the what and why of selecting an intimate lubricant. Often when it comes to selecting intimate products, for some, it becomes so overwhelming that they end up walking away without anything to address their needs. While the lubricant market continues to grow and offer a plethora of options, Sliquid is using this time to empower customers to make better-informed decisions regarding their overall sexual health and wellness, said Michelle Marcus, vice president of sales and merchandising Coming later this fall, Sliquid will be printing an infographic poster that can be sent to retailers for in-store use. The poster will work in the same way that the quiz does, only in a non-digital format. This will be a great tool for brick and mortar retailers to offer the Sliquid 101 experience without needing the internet. Sliquid will also be hosting online LIVE Lessons with Michelle, via Facebook, where she will be bringing in special guests to talk about lube and answer questions. During these lessons, anyone who interacts during the broadcast will be eligible to win Sliquid swag and free product. Online retailers and bloggers can request their customized Sliquid 101 quiz by visiting Sliquid.com/sliquid-101/quiz-request/. Keep up with everything Sliquid by visiting the company's official website Sliquid.com. Follow Sliquid through social media on Twitter @Sliquid, on Instagram @_Sliquid and on Facebook.com/sliquid. BERLINThe Munich regional court (Landgericht Munchen I) has ruled in favor of WOW Tech Group(Novoluto GmbH) in a utility patent infringement lawsuit against Venize Trading GmbH. Innovation is the fuel of our industry, says Johannes Plettenberg, managing director of WOW Tech. No products illustrate that better than those from Womanizer and We-Vibe. Our research and development investments bring to market new products that broadly benefit retailers and distributors worldwide. The future of our industry relies on those investments and on trusted partners that support innovation and respect intellectual property. The court found that Venize Tradings clitoral stimulator, Lumunu Traumtanzer (Dream Dancer), infringes a utility patent covering Womanizer Pleasure Air Technology products. Following the ruling, the parties agreed to settle the dispute. The settlement includes the immediate removal of infringing products from the market, penalties of up to 10,000 per unit for any further sales, and an undisclosed settlement payment. Venize Trading will destroy any remaining Traumtanzer inventory and submit to third-party sales audits. Furthermore, the two companies agreed to work together by making Venize Trading a new Womanizer direct retail partner. WOW Tech International will continue to protect its valuable intellectual property rights and pursue legal actions against those who manufacture, distribute, market and/or sell products that infringe on those rights. PENNSAUKEN, N.J.Williams Trading has launched a System JO e-learning course designed to educate retailers on how to sell silicone lube. This new mini series from System JO will be a great way to help improve sales and help salespeople feel confident when answering customers questions about lubricants, said Scott D., director of sales and marketing. Store associates who complete the series will also receive a free gift upon certification. Williams Trading Co., a System JO Preferred Partner, recently launched their new e-learning mini-series to teach the ins and outs of selling lubricants. There are six courses of the series are available now. You can view the new System JO modules on Williams Trading University here. This Silicone Lube 101 course focuses on teaching learners the characteristics of silicone and hybrid lubes. It takes learners through a step by step process on understanding the difference between silicone lube versus other types of lubes. This course features sex expert Dr. Emily Morse as she takes students through the features and benefits of silicone lubes as well as offers some selling pointers. Williams Trading University (WTU) is a free resource provided to our dealers with the collaborative support of our vendors. Since its September 2015 launch, WTU has certified over 68,000 store associates, impacted retail sales growth, and provided a better store experience for all customers. View the complete portfolio of e-learning courses at WTULearn.com. The full System JO line is now in stock for immediate shipment. Williams Trading Co. offers drop shipment services for all e-commerce channels. For product ordering and shipping information, contact a Williams Trading sales representative at (800) 423-8587 or visit WilliamsTradingCo.com. SAN DIEGO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Vantara , a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), today at NEXT 2018 announced that it is collaborating with Health City , a cluster-led, economic development organization driven to take health innovation to new levels for the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Health City leverages Edmontons tremendous assets in health, health research, data, artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship to position the city as a premier location for health innovation. Health Citys role is to form innovation consortiums, bringing together highly talented people and organizations to enable innovation and products to get to market. Health City serves as a central connection point for Edmontons health innovation sector, working with and seeking inspired partners who share a vision for excellence, have a culture of collaboration and who are driven to take health care innovation to the next level. Through these partnerships, Health City is empowering Edmonton innovators to create locally relevant and globally scalable health solutions that have economic outcomes plus health and social impacts. Hitachi and Health City will establish a co-creation relationship focused on innovative technology solutions that facilitate opportunities for health innovation in Alberta. This collaboration brings together Hitachis leading data and information management technologies with Health Citys focus on regional economic development, while advancing health and social well-being. This collaboration is designed to scale over time to allow the development of repeatable solutions for any community. Hitachi Vantara and Health City share a vision for advancing healthcare and social innovation by using the value of data to create a safer, smarter and healthier future for the community, said Marcel Escorcio, regional vice president and general manager, Canada at Hitachi Vantara. We are excited to work with Health City to build long-term collaborative relationships that will use technology to help solve healthcare-related issues and make significant impacts toward advancing the well-being of the population. Our relationship with Hitachi Vantara exemplifies the kind of extraordinary partnerships we are seeking in transforming healthcare to meet the evolving needs of our population, said Reg Joseph, CEO, Health City. We are inspired by companies like Hitachi, whose talent and vision elevates health innovation beyond just the commercial opportunity, developing and supporting solutions that result in economic, social and health outcomes for citizens. More information about Health City is available at https://edmontonhealthcity.ca/ . Connect with Health City on Twitter and LinkedIn . About Hitachi NEXT 2018 NEXT 2018 is the premier event for the digital revolution. Its for data-driven innovators who lead the transformation in their industry. They lead with clear insights drawn from their own data to make the right decisions for the best results. Data changes the way the world works, advancing business and even society itself. There can never be too much data and it can never come too quickly if organizations manage, govern, mobilize and analyze it effectively. At NEXT 2018, leaders see whats next for their data in IT, operational technology and the internet of things, from Hitachi and our many partners. They bring back insights and strategies they can use right away to transform their businesses and build them for tomorrow. At NEXT 2018 we change the way the world works. NEXT 2018 is held September 25-27 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California. For more information and to register, please visit HitachiNEXT.com . About Hitachi Vantara Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., helps data-driven leaders find and use the value in their data to innovate intelligently and reach outcomes that matter for business and society. We combine technology, intellectual property and industry knowledge to deliver data-managing solutions that help enterprises improve their customers experiences, develop new revenue streams, and lower the costs of business. Only Hitachi Vantara elevates your innovation advantage by combining deep information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and domain expertise. We work with organizations everywhere to drive data to meaningful outcomes. Visit us at www.HitachiVantara.com . Connect With Hitachi Vantara About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer societys challenges, combining its operational technology, information technology, and products/systems. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2018) totaled 9,368.6 billion yen ($88.4 billion). The Hitachi Group is an innovation partner for the IoT era, and it has approximately 307,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation with customers, Hitachi is deploying Social Innovation Business using digital technologies in a broad range of sectors, including Power/Energy, Industry/Distribution/Water, Urban Development, and Finance/Social Infrastructure/Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com . HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners. MEDIA CONTACTS Brian Garabedian Hitachi Vantara Brian.garabedian@hitachivantara.com +1 408.386.4621 Ashley Paula Weber Shandwick for Hitachi Vantara apaula@webershandwick.com +1 415.262.5975 As chief budget writer in the House, state Rep. Nelson Dollar is accustomed to dealing with big numbers. But he marvels at the pending $6 billion layout to launch the first phase of the state's Medicaid transformation to a managed care format.the Wake County Republican told Carolina Journal.The government insurance program for the poor, elderly, and disabled serves about 2 million North Carolina residents.Medicaid reform has been in the works since 2013. After release of a scathing audit , Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican-led General Assembly began reversing years of sloppy management and chaotic practices that led to $2 billion in Medicaid cost overruns over four years. Since then, the program has stayed within budget The state Department of Health and Human Services is collecting bid offers from parties wanting to manage the Medicaid program. The reform has been called the biggest change to Medicaid in 40 years.Delivery will shift from a fee-for-service system in which every doctor visit and service was charged to the state, to a capitated system giving managed care networks a flat monthly fee to cover all health care services, and contract with providers to meet quality and cost targets.The managed-care plans will include up to four statewide commercial networks and 12 regional provider-led entities. They will offer standard plans, which include comprehensive services, to most Medicaid and NC Health Choice beneficiaries. Tailored plans will serve populations with unusual health care demands.DHHS spokesman Cobey Culton said bid proposals will be accepted in October. Officials expect to award contracts in February, and plans are for the new system to go live the second half of 2019.Culton said some networks and partnerships might include the state's LME/MCOs - seven geographically arranged organizations that administer services for intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health, and substance abuse. They already operate on a managed care basis. Health care providers and other parties will fill out the networks.AmeriHealth Caritas, a national leader in Medicaid managed care, recently offered a look at its proposal. A press release announced it signed a letter of agreement with Advancing NC Whole Health Coalition to join in a network connecting behavioral health, physical health, and pharmacy services.The coalition comprises three LME/MCOs - Alliance Behavioral Healthcare, Trillium Health Resources, and Vaya Health. They serve 715,000 Medicaid eligible individuals in 53 counties with $1.375 billion in public funds.Alliance Behavioral Healthcare serves 471,000 Medicaid-eligible and uninsured individuals in Durham, Wake, Cumberland, and Johnston counties with a network of almost 2,200 private providers.Trillium Health Resources operates in 26 counties in eastern North Carolina.Asheville-based Vaya Health manages services in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey counties.AmeriHealth Caritas operates in 15 states and the District of Columbia, serving about 5.3 million Medicaid, Medicare, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) members. It is seeking a standard benefit plan contract.Dollar said while the General Assembly doesn't sign off on awarding contracts, lawmakers ensure contracts follow both the law and the basic outlines of the reform model.The Cooper administration hasn't seen eye-to-eye with Republican lawmakers over Medicaid reform. He began negotiating Medicaid expansion with Obama administration officials without legislative approval when he took office in January 2013.He said expansion could provide coverage for up to 650,000 uninsured people at a cost of about $6 billion over 10 years. His 2018 budget proposal recommended expanding Medicaid to 670,000 people.Republican legislative leaders sued in federal court to block Cooper's expansion in 2017, but withdrew the lawsuit because Cooper never filed an expansion request with the federal government.Dollar saidCooper's administration could wage a turf battle over implementation of Medicaid reform, including attempts to expand Medicaid.he said.Hundreds of details must be resolved on Medicaid reform, Dollar said, and the Trump administration may require tweaks before approving a required waiver for the reform plan. DHHS and the General Assembly may have to make other changes before reforms take effect.Meanwhile, legislative Republicans are touting the Medicaid turnaround in this election season.Sen. Louis Pate, R-Wayne, co-chairman of the Senate Health Care Committee, said in a Tuesday, Sept. 25 press release.Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, said in the release. 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". From left, Sens. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, and Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, debated the judicial vacancy amendment Tuesday, Sept. 25, in Salisbury. (Photo provided by Graison McKissick) Is a constitutional amendment on the November ballot changing the way judicial vacancies are filled a good step toward merit selection of judges, or a reckless consolidation of power?That was the question four political veterans sparred over in a live panel debate Tuesday evening in Salisbury.The amendment checks , but retains, the governor's power to fill judicial vacancies. It would require the governor to choose from at least two nominations submitted by the General Assembly from a field of nominations approved by a commission equally appointed by the state's chief justice, legislature, and governor.State senators Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, and Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, sat on a panel at stage right. Opposite them were Republican legislative special counsel Brent Woodcox and N.C. Democratic Party Executive Director Wayne Goodwin.The debate was the first of a four-part Hometown Debate Series hosted by the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership.Although the four spoke as individuals, the legislators' views generally matched those of their party.Democratic debaters suggested the amendment was a Republican attempt to pack the judiciary after several state laws in recent years were struck down in court."This whole merit selection process is completely devoid of merit," McKissick said. "It was a political grab from the outset."Woodcox countered the Democrats' view."Getting more people involved in the process isn't a power grab," Woodcox said. "If anything, it's a power grab for the people."Goodwin said when South Carolina legislators took control of state judicial selection, the bench became a retirement home for fellow legislators. Goodwin pointed out that all living former North Carolina governors oppose the proposed amendment McKissick framed the amendment as an attack on the governor's power."I think it's absolutely unnecessary and unneeded," McKissick said. "This is something we should be deeply concerned about. North Carolina already has one of the weakest governors in America."Woodcox emphasized that former N.C. governors, such as Bev Perdue, have appointed members of their staff to judgeships just before leaving office. He said one person shouldn't have the power to appoint the state's judges in the middle of the night."That's not appropriate," Woodcox said. "That's not how government's supposed to work."Newton called the amendment a "step forward" and said he thought it would "break up the good old boy's club."Goodwin said if Republicans were so concerned after Perdue's midnight appointments, he wondered why they didn't address the issue when fellow Republican Pat McCrory was governor.Newton and Woodcox suggested skeptics look beyond the state's current partisan balance to understand how the changes could improve the judicial system."What we've got to build here is a framework that best serves North Carolina's interests," Newton said. "We've got to look long-term, and this is a very good way to strengthen our bench."Goodwin described the amendment as complicated and unclear."I'm worried voters aren't going to know what they're voting on," Goodwin said. "This is three times more difficult to read than an insurance policy." Goodwin is a former state insurance commissioner.McKissick and Goodwin also said they're concerned that the General Assembly hasn't passed enabling legislation to fill in details not stated in the amendment."This proposal doesn't put meat on the bones for a merit selection process," Goodwin said.McKissick said Republican legislators benefit from gerrymandered districts and wouldn't be serious about promoting diversity among judges, something Democrats historically have done.Woodcox disagreed, crediting the collective wisdom of the legislature."The idea that one person can take care of diversity better than 170 just doesn't wash," Woodcox said.Newton hopes members of the public will join lawyers, educators, small business owners, and prospective judicial nominees in proposing candidates for the bench.The debate was held at the Meroney Theater and recorded by Spectrum News. Spectrum senior political reporter and host Loretta Boniti moderated. The debate will appear online in its entirety and in an edited form to be broadcast this Sunday, September 30, at 11:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. on "In Focus With Loretta Boniti."The N.C. Institute of Political Leadership is a nonpartisan organization that since 1988 has been training leaders for public service in North Carolina.The Salisbury debate was co-hosted by the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce. Series sponsors include North Carolina's Electric Cooperatives, the North Carolina Sheriffs Association, and the John William Pope Foundation.The Hometown Debate Series premiered in 2016 and first featured statewide political candidates debating head-to-head. In 2017, the series featured education-issue debates between panels of state legislators and policy experts.Three debates on proposed constitutional amendments remain in the fall 2018 series. Each will start at 7 p.m. and open to the public:Voter ID, Oct. 3 at the Turnage Theatre in Washington, NCBoard of Elections, Oct. 9 at the Clayton Center in ClaytonIncome tax cap, Oct. 16 at Gastonia Conference Center in Gastonia This week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was eating at a restaurant with his wife, Heidi Cruz, when he was suddenly accosted by a group of "anti-racism activists." These activists grilled Sen. Cruz on whether he believed the three-decade-old sexual abuse allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's pick to replace former Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. "Do you believe survivors, sir?" one of the protesters asked. The group then began chanting, "We believe survivors!" in increasingly vociferous tones. Eventually, Cruz and his wife were forced to leave the restaurant.The question was, of course, improperly formed. It assumed facts not in evidence, namely that every allegation against Kavanaugh is true. By labeling all of those making claims "survivors," the protesters simply asserted the conclusion of a case they had yet to make. The question isn't whether one ought to believe "survivors" - of course one should. The question is whether everyone who alleges sexual abuse is, in fact, a survivor of sexual abuse.And the answer, clearly, is no.Jackie, a woman who alleged being gang raped at a University of Virginia frat house in the pages of Rolling Stone, leading to a national uproar, was lying. When Emma "Mattress Girl" Sulkowicz was a fourth-year Columbia University student, she alleged that she had been raped by a foreign Columbia student. She was lying. Crystal Mangum alleged that she had been gang raped by members of the Duke lacrosse team. She was lying.In order for us to determine whom to believe, we must come up with a standard for belief. "Believe all women" just won't cut it, because not all women should be believed. Neither will "innocent until proven guilty," because the court of public opinion isn't a criminal trial. But the answer lies somewhere in between: We should examine the merits of the allegations, the credibility of the accuser, the corroborating evidence. If we fail to do that, we're not actually engaged in fact-finding - we're engaged in confirmation bias.So, where do we stand with Brett Kavanaugh?To date, three allegations have been made against Kavanaugh. The first, by a woman named Christine Blasey Ford, seems credible on its face: She says she was at a party with Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, and that the two of them forced her into a room, where Kavanaugh pressed himself on her, tried to remove her clothes and stifled her screams. But Ford has been less than forthcoming about testifying; has provided no date, time or location of the alleged abuse; and hasn't provided any corroborative evidence. All the witnesses she has cited have denied knowledge of the case.Then there's Deborah Ramirez, who claims that in college, Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face at a drunken dormitory party. She told her story to The New Yorker at the behest of Senate Democrats. She freely admitted, as The New Yorker wrote, that "her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident," and explained that she spent six days "carefully assessing" her memories. No witnesses of the event have come forward. Again, this was at a party.Finally, there's Julie Swetnick. She came forward via Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, and claimed that when she and Kavanaugh were in high school, they both went to parties in Maryland during which boys formed "gang rape" lines and spiked the punch with Qualuudes. Swetnick graduated high school three years before Kavanaugh. The story seems incredible on its face.So, no, it wouldn't be fair to condemn Kavanaugh based on this evidence. Not all accusers are automatically survivors. It's our job to determine whether each individual accusation merits belief. And if the answer is no, that isn't an indicator of sexism. Sometimes it's an indicator that an allegation just doesn't have enough support. English French Speakers to discuss artificial intelligence and its impact on research, business, and government OTTAWA, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CANARIE, a vital component of Canadas digital infrastructure supporting research, education and innovation, today announced the final program for its National Summit, being held in Ottawa on October 2 and 3, 2018. The Summit will highlight the transformative effects of automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) across a range of sectors, and explore how human systems are evolving to manage the economic, social, and ethical impacts of this change The Summit will also incorporate a celebration of CANARIEs 25th anniversary on the evening of October 2. In order of appearance, Summit sessions include: CANARIE is grateful for the support and collaboration of its sponsors. The Summits Platinum Sponsor, Juniper Networks, has been a CANARIE technology partner for more than fifteen years. CANARIE and Juniper have worked together to ensure networking technologies continue to evolve to benefit Canadas research, education and innovation communities. Juniper Networks is a leading innovator in todays digital transformation era. Juniper has enabled customers to connect to everything and empower everyone in ways that have literally changed the world. We provide industry leading solutions designed to meet the unique challenges of every business, said Jason Black, Senior Director of Sales Canada, Juniper Networks. Through innovative thinking, performance, automation, and commitment, Juniper has enabled the worlds best networks; has enabled enterprises to automate; connect to the multi cloud and transform their business safely and securely. Juniper Networks is pleased to announce their sponsorship of the CANARIE National Summit 2018 to share their industry leading solutions and innovations. In addition to the speakers listed above, CANARIEs President and CEO will provide an overview of CANARIEs proposed initiatives for its 2020-2025 mandate. Attendees are encouraged to use this time to ask questions and provide feedback on the organizations evolution. The Summit has almost reached capacity, but limited seats are available. More information may be found at https://canariesummit.ca For more information, please contact: Ela Yazdani Director, Communications CANARIE Inc. (613) 943-5432 ela.yazdani@canarie.ca About CANARIE CANARIE strengthens Canadian leadership in science and technology by delivering digital infrastructure to support world-class research that directly benefits all Canadians. CANARIE and its twelve provincial and territorial partners form Canadas National Research and Education Network. This ultra-high-speed network connects Canadas researchers, educators and innovators to each other and to global data, technology, and colleagues. Beyond the network, CANARIE funds and promotes reusable research software tools and national research data management initiatives to accelerate discovery, provides identity management services to the academic community, and offers advanced networking and cloud resources to boost commercialization in Canadas technology sector. Established in 1993, CANARIE is a non-profit corporation, with the majority of its funding provided by the Government of Canada. Chicago, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Guaranteed Rates Yellow Brick Road Revolutionizes Daily Work of Mortgage Teams CHICAGO, September 27, 2018 Guaranteed Rate, one of the nations largest retail mortgage lenders, has completely overhauled its mortgage production management tool, the Yellow Brick Road (YBR) to entirely change the way loans are now processed. The YBR system manages daily workflow, monitors the performance of teams, and removes the paper-based process teams had to contend with before its launch so that the customer and employee experience is significantly enhanced and more efficient. This is our most important technology platform since we introduced the countrys first online mortgage, said Martin Logan, Chief Information Officer for Guaranteed Rate. Imagine coming in every day and knowing your to do list was already created and prioritized for you. From the creation of work queues and dashboards to easy loan profile snapshots to avoid our teams dependency for status, the platform was built to process loans by the very people that do it every day. The key enhancements to YBR include: Queues and Dashboards Loan officers and PODs know exactly whats on their plate with tasks already prioritized. Loan officers and PODs know exactly whats on their plate with tasks already prioritized. Loan Profiles With one click, instantly answer the question, Whats the status? with a loan profile and easy monitoring of its status without disrupting a teams workflow. With one click, instantly answer the question, Whats the status? with a loan profile and easy monitoring of its status without disrupting a teams workflow. Performance Monitoring Size up team performance at every step of the loans lifecycle and instantly diagnose any bottlenecks. Size up team performance at every step of the loans lifecycle and instantly diagnose any bottlenecks. Team TransparencyAccess automated checklists and underwriting approvals and always keep your team on the same page with shared task lists. According to Logan, the upgrade provides tremendous benefits. YBR provides greater transparency so that everyone can see exactly whats been accomplished and what work will be the highest value to complete next. YBR 3 allows me to look at my pipeline and gather real-time status on every file, said Larry Steinway, Branch Manager and Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending. More specifically it allows me as a Loan Officer to deliver updates to my borrowers and business partners about what is going on with their file without having to wait or interrupt one of my POD members. This really increases our overall efficiency. It is truly a gamechanger management tool opening up a whole new level of efficiency and organization in my day-to-day tasks as a Loan Coordinator. The various systems and dashboards within this pipeline management tool allow for real-time updates for loans in process and contains organizational aspects that make the mortgage process smoother for our borrowers, clients, and employees, said Bob Ligon, a Senior Processor at Guaranteed Rate. About Guaranteed Rate Companies Guaranteed Rate is one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the Company has approximately 210 offices across the U.S. and Washington, D.C., and is licensed in all 50 states. Since its founding in 2000, Guaranteed Rate has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners with home purchase loans and refinances and funded nearly $19 billion in loans in 2017 alone. The Company has become the Home Purchase Experts by introducing the world's first Digital Mortgage technology and offering low rate, low fee mortgages through an easy-to-understand process and unparalleled customer service. In 2017, Guaranteed Rate launched Guaranteed Rate Affinity, LLC, a mortgage origination joint venture between Guaranteed Rate, Inc. and Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE:RLGY), a global leader in residential real estate franchising and brokerage. Guaranteed Rate won an American Business Award for its Digital Mortgage technology in 2016, ranked No. 1 in Scotsman Guide's Top Mortgage Lenders 2016, was chosen as Top Lender 2016 and 2017 by Chicago Agent magazine, made the Chicago Tribune's Top Workplaces list seven of the past eight years, and was named Best Overall Online Lender and Best Lender for FHA Refinance by NerdWallet in 2018. Visit rate.com for more information. ### There is now a fourth allegation, and it involves physical assault. NBC News reports that the Senate Judiciary Committee is inquiring about at least one additional allegation of misconduct against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Republican Senate investigators are reported to have asked Kavanaugh about the new complaint during a phone call Tuesday with Kavanaugh and Republican staff. On that call, Kavanaugh denied the allegation in the letter, and a spokesman for the committee would not comment to reporters. According to an anonymous complaint sent to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman he socialized with in the Washington, D.C., area in 1998 while he was inebriated. The sender of the complaint described an evening involving her own daughter, Kavanaugh and several friends in 1998. "When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh, shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually." "There were at least four witnesses including my daughter." The writer of the letter provided no names but said the alleged victim was still traumatized and had decided to remain anonymous herself. A Democratic source said the minority wasn't satisfied by the Republicans' questions about the incident during the call, calling them cursory, and believed it should be investigated more deeply. NBC News reached out to the White House for comment, and received none. When the first claim of sexual assault against Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee came out, many of us said there would likely be more than one Kavanaugh victim. There are. As Ted Lieu says, - Winnie Madikizela Mandela was honoured with a freedom of the city award but it's not enough according to Joburg's mayor - Mayor Mashaba wants the city council chambers to be named after her as well - A freedom of the city award is given to the most outstanding service delivery candidate at a national level PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed! Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba wants the city council chambers named after Winnie Mandela. Mayor Mashaba announced his wish at the council chambers when Winnie was honoured with a freedom of the city award. Mashaba wants the chambers to be named after her because he feels she hasn't been given the recognition she deserves. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app He added that she was an extremely brave woman who wasn't fazed by the apartheid government. Mashaba stated that the struggle fighter's efforts and sacrifices are reduced to "nothing but a footnote" and that she's just "Nelson Mandela's wife". What is a freedom of the city award? This award is given to the most outstanding service delivery candidate at a national level. Products or services can be awarded as well. A panel of judges decides if the candidate deserves the award. Winnie was honoured with the reward because she was a prominent figure in leading South Africa out of apartheid. Winnie's family received the award on her behalf. Others who also received this reward include Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Dr Beyers Naude and Joe Slovo. READ ALSO: Fitch: Ramaphosas stimulus plan unlikely to boost South African economic growth Do you have a beautiful or inspiring story to tell us? Message us on our Facebook page and we could share your story. To stay up to date with the latest news, download our news app on Google Play or iTunes today. Cartoon Comedy: When Adam Met Eva and take a look at what else is happening on Briefly South Africa's YouTube channel. Source: Briefly.co.za Here is a story for this newborn baby to tell at birthday parties, at children's naming ceremonies, graduation parties and so many more events. PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Briefly.co.za News on your News Feed! "Oh, remember that time my mother took me to the United Nations General Assembly as a newborn baby." Who else can brag about being the first baby to go to the United Nations General Assembly? Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, who recently delivered a baby girl has made history with her 3-month-old baby. The prime minister took her baby with her to a peace summit at the United Nations. Briefly.co.za learned that the baby, named Neve Te Aroha, was kissed on the forehead by her mother who had to address the summit. Before going forward to address the summit, she gave her baby to her partner, Clarke Gayford. READ ALSO: From beggar to butcher: How an alcoholic man turned his life around Naij.com reports that Gayford took to Twitter to share photos of his beautiful daughter's United Nations security pass. On the pass, a photo of the baby was printed on it with the name "NEW ZEALAND FIRST BABY". He wrote: "Because everyone on twitter's been asking to see Neve's UN id, staff here whipped one up. I wish I could have captured the startled look on a Japanese delegation inside UN yesterday who walked into a meeting room in the middle of a nappy change. Great yarn for her 21st." PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app The 38-year-old prime minister is New Zealand's youngest leadre and the first to take maternity leave. In the modern history of the country, she is the second leader to give birth while in office, since Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990. According to United Nations spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, the UN is delighted to have the baby girl in the General Assembly hall. READ ALSO: Meet Refiwe Ledwaba, the helicopter pilot teaching young girls to fly He said: Prime Minister Ardern is showing that no one is better qualified to represent her country than a working mother. Just five percent of the worlds leaders are women, so we need to make them as welcome here as possible. 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. Watch the animated video and head over to Briefly South Africas Youtube channel for more. Source: Briefly.co.za Two-years-ago a 13-year-old girl led a protest against the rules of a white-owned school, which banned natural hair. PAY ATTENTION: Click "See first" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed! Zulaikha Patel made headlines in 2016 after she stood up against her school's system, which banned girls of colour from sporting their natural hair. The protest was heavily published and made headline across the globe, with an artist painting a 3,65m mural of the teen in New York. Recently her activism was shared on social media again when a tweep posted about the incident on Twitter. READ ALSO: Beautiful KZN teen, 17, stuns the internet: I was born a boy PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app So, in honour of the brave then 13-year-old Patel, Briefly.co.za took a look at what she has been up to since stand against the school's rules. According to an article by W24, the now 16-year-old has continued to fight for the rights of women. The anti-racism and anti-sexism activist now acts as a guest speaker at schools to talk about identities within SA schools. Patel, who has a black mother and Indian father, has also joined forces with the local Kidz of Biko organisation, where she aims to empower the African youth. She said they wanted "to give them a platform to tackle topics such as politics, racism and sexism, teach them African history and celebrate African leaders." 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. Top 5 richest men in South Africa on Briefly. Everyone, quick: off the top of your head, name a billionaire. Now, think hard and name two or three South African billionaires. How about more? Dont worry, we have gathered this extremely interesting information for you! Source: Briefly.co.za Vaughan, ON, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Empire Communities, one of Canadas largest homebuilders, is thrilled to have been honoured with three Ontario Home Builders Association (OHBA) awards this past Tuesday evening in Ottawa, Ontario. The Empire team has been recognized in the categories of Social Media Campaign for Love Design, Live Empire, Low-Rise Ad Campaign for Empire Legacy, and Model Home for Empire Riverland. The awards of distinction brought together the very best talent in the industry to be recognized for their accomplishments. Both Social Media Campaign and Model Home awards were presented to the Empire Riverland community in Breslau, Ontario. The Love Design, Live Empire campaign showcased the beautiful model homes that were designed by interior designer Andrew Pike and filmed by LuxStory Media. Each of the five model homes was skillfully designed to reflect a different design style, which gave every type of homeowner the opportunity to envision their dream home. The Coastal Chic model home design took home the top prize in its category. Empire Legacy in Thorold, Ontario was awarded the winning Low-Rise Ad Campaign through the joint efforts of Empires Marketing team and digital partners at Pureblink. As Thorolds first master-planned community, Empire Legacy will bring more than 1,000 new townhomes and detached homes to the heart of the Niagara region. To assist with the homebuying journey, Empire introduced an immersive media campaign, A Home for Generations, that captures the big and small life moments that happen in a home. At Empire, we are always looking ahead to push ourselves in the industry and to be recognized by OHBA for our hard work feels incredible, says Sue MacKay, VP of Marketing at Empire Communities. We are so thankful for everyone who helped us on these campaigns and wish a congratulations to everyone recognized on Tuesday night. This year, there was a record 511 entries submitted into the OHBA awards program. Ontario Home Builders Association (OHBA) believes in the great Canadian dream of home ownership by supporting more housing choice and supply across Ontario. OHBA is the voice of the residential construction industry in Ontario, representing 4,000-member companies organized into 29 local associations across the province. EMPIRE COMMUNITIES Empire Communities ( empirecommunities.com ) is a residential builder/developer involved in all sectors of the new home building industry, including both lowrise and highrise built forms. Celebrating 25 years of building inspiring new places to live, Empire has an established tradition of creating prestigious award-winning new homes, communities and amenities and has earned a reputation for outstanding attention to detail and customer service. Since its inception in 1993, Empire has built over 12,000 new homes and condos. Today, Empire is one of the largest homebuilders in Canada with current communities in Toronto, Southwestern Ontario and the Southern U.S. States. -30- MEDIA CONTACT: Atara Cadesky, Marketing Coordinator acadesky@empirecommunities.com or 905-307-8102 x. 1164 Attachments - Durban businessman Kessie Nair has apologised to and asked President Ramaphosa to forgive him for his now-infamous k-word video - Nair is facing six-counts of crimen injuria and two counts of incitement, he appeared in the Verulam Magistrates Court on Wednesday - In his apology, Nair said he had used the k-word as a tactic to get the attention of Ramaphosa and the nation PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed! The Durban businessman who shocked South African when he posted a video on Facebook in which he unleashed a verbal tirade which included calling President Cyril Ramaphosa the k-word has apologised to Ramaphosa and asked the country and president to forgive him. Nair is facing six-count of crimen injuria and a further two counts of incitement over the incident, he appeared in the Verulam Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Nair made the apology during one of the breaks from proceedings. READ ALSO: Boer sends Ramaphosa and Malema a chilling warning over land reform Nair claims he used the k-word as a tactic to draw the attention of Ramaphosa and the nation as a whole to his broader message and said he was not a racist. Nair said he could have used other words in the video but using the k-word ensured that he would get noticed because its use was so provocative. Briefly.co.za gathered that Nair said he wanted to let South Africans know that words and the use of certain slurs should not be allowed to hold sway over a person and the words and actions of others should not be permitted to destroy a persons sense of self. Citizen.co.za reported that Nair dismissed claims that he was mentally unwell, his brothers and ex-wife told the court that Nair suffered from delusions, a view shared by the surgeon general. Nair told eNCA.com that he was mentally stable and did not need to be evaluated by the state to establish whether he was of sound mind and body and therefore able to fully comprehend the charges against him. News24.com reported that Nairs legal team told the court that Ramaphosa had not yet filed a complaint in the matter. The public prosecutor said the state was not willing to comment on this issue as yet. Nairs lawyer Chris Gounden said the case should not be treated differently from any other crimen injuria case. He said in any legal matter it should not matter whether the complainant is the president of the country or an average Joe in the street. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app Magistrate Ncumisa Gcolotela granted the states request to have Nair sent for 28-days of mental observation to establish his psychological state. Gounden initially opposed the application and told the court his client needed to be released in order to deal with his heart condition. Gounden revealed that Nair was on the heart transplant list and needed constant medical attention from his personal cardiologist. The case has been postponed until 1 October for further investigation and evaluation. Nair remains in custody. READ ALSO: EFF angered by Thabo Mbekis comments over land expropriation without compensation For more amazing, funny and informative videos, please visit Briefly South Africa's YouTube Channel. Do you have a story to share with Briefly? Visit our Facebook page where you can send us a message or leave us a comment. Your story could be shared online. To stay up to date with the latest news, download our news app on iTunes or GooglePlay today. Source: Briefly.co.za Featured Post Mohawk Nation News 'Kanistensera and Men's Fire Won't Permit McGill to Investigate Itself' KANISTENSERA & MENS FIRE WONT PERMIT MCGILL TO INVESTIGATE ITSELF Audio Mohawk Nation News November 12, 2021 https://mohawknationnews.... The Voice of a Warrior Woman in the Amazon Opens Bioneers 2021 Archive Search This Blog Donate to Censored News Please donate to Censored News for travel and equipment for our live coverage. Thank you, Brenda. About Censored News Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell. Since 2006, Censored News has received more than 20 million pageviews. As a collective of writers, photographers and broadcasters, we publish news of Indigenous Peoples and human rights. Contact publisher Brenda Norrell: brendanorrell@gmail.com From the publisher Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a journalist in Indian country for 39 years. Norrell created Censored News after she was censored and terminated as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today in 2006. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the mainstream media for 14 years. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com Translate News / National by Staff reporter ACTING President Kembo Mohadi will get full appreciation of issues besetting local industry when he meets industrial leaders during their annual congress underway in Bulawayo seeking to come up with interventions to rejuvenate one of the key sectors expected to drive economic recovery and growth in Zimbabwe.The Acting President, who is also expected to provide policy intervention to the challenges facing the manufacturing sector, is scheduled to address over 200 delegates attending the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) three-day annual conference, which began yesterday, the first since the new dispensation.Among the guest speakers is former Botswana President Ian Khama who will present on how his country leveraged diamonds for economic growth. CZI spokesperson Kuda Mataure said they were expecting the Acting President to officially open the conference tomorrow."We were expecting him on Friday, but the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) has since advised us that he will be with us tomorrow since the former President of Botswana Ian Khama will be here by tomorrow," he said.CZI vice president Henry Ruzvidzo said yesterday that industry needed to align with the Government's vision."We look forward to chatting a way on how best we can move forward. We believe that the manufacturing industry is the driver of Zimbabwe's Vision 2030 because of its multiplier effect," Mr Ruzvidzo said.Wattle Company project director Joseph Musemwa weighed in saying, "Our thinking seems to resonate with the thinking of the new dispensation."The conference will set the tone for prosperity of local industry."The manufacturing industry has struggled to regain its footing even after Zimbabwe dollarised in 2009, as most of the manufacturing companies have found it difficult to secure access to affordable long term lines of credit.Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told delegates at a Zimbabwe Investors Forum in the US on Sunday, on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly he is attending together with President Mnangagwa, that the manufacturing sector was this year projected to grow at a sluggish 3 percent. As such, some of the issues that will be discussed at the congress include reindustrialisation of the economy driven by private sector policies.This year, panellists will provide their perspectives on the beef to leather value chains, motor industry value chains as well as steel value chains. The role of infrastructure development, technology, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in re industrialisation agenda will also come up for be discussion.Currency and fiscal reforms as well as possible or appropriate implementation models all critical ingredients to reboot Zimbabwe's sluggish economy are among major issues that will come under discussion.Further, discussions will also be centred on the need to address interventions through macroeconomic policies and speakers will be drawn from the Government, banking sector, academia and the private sector. Last year, the manufacturing sector grew by 1,2 percent and is projected to expand by 2,1 percent this year.Output, a key measure of the performance of this value addition industry, grew by an average of 5,5 percent. The government had projected the economy would expand 4,5 percent this year, but is optimistic that growth could be as much as 6 percent, underpinned by manufacturing, mining and construction and agriculture.CZI, the country's largest industrial companies' representative, body expects output growth for 2018 to expand beyond last year's 5,5 percent while capacity would go beyond 50 percent from 45 percent last year.According to CZI, local manufacturers have registered solid performance during the first six months of the year, in terms of exports, revenues and volumes. But the improved industrial performance is putting more pressure on foreign currency demand for importation of raw materials, electricity and fuel.While the country recorded a 44 percent trade deficit during the first six months of the year, the makeup of the deficit shows a significant shift from consumptive to productive imports, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.Raw materials and machinery imports were up 34 and 14 percent for the period between February and June respectively. Consumer goods imports declined 34 percent to $401 million between January and July 6, from $610 million in the same comparative period the prior year as domestic consumption of locally produced goods surged. News / National by Stephen Jakes Mthwakazi Republic Party leader Mqondisi Moyo has hailed the human rights defenders for assisting victims of Zanu PF activists attack in Shangani.Last year a Zanu PF group allegedly led by a local teacher Shame Mathe attacked some villagers over control of the land.Moyo said "On my behalf and the party, I would like to thank Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, particularly pastor Useni Sibanda and his staff, Jenny Williams, Tineyi and Galen house medical staff and all those who supported Mthobeki Ncube and Newman Ncube who were severely beaten by the thugs hired by Shame Mathe the head of Nsango Primary school in Insiza district.""We call upon all Mthwakazi people to come and give morale support to the two as they appear at Tredgold on Monday after Shem Mathe caused the arrest of the two regardless of the fact that they are the ones on the receiving end. I also gather that Shem Mathe instructed the police to release the culprits who had stolen the building materials from Mthobeki, Newman Ncube and other villagers.We bemoan the falling policing standards of this country." News / National by Stephen Jakes Norton legislator Temba Mliswa has described President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the best leaders that Zanu PF has ever had."Let me go to the issues that the President spoke about and also to congratulate His Excellency, Cde. Emmerson. Dambudzo Mnangagwa, for the victory. I do not think there will be any other ZANU-PF leader who will be as democratic as him. I think ZANU-PF has a lot to learn from Emmerson Mnangagwa," he said."He was so democratic that he was prepared to even lose the election and there is no way that ever before since 1980, we had an election so close. I think it is also important for this House sitting here to ensure that institutions that run elections it is up to us in this House to make sure that they do what we want at the end of day.""I think we have an opportunity in this House to ensure that if we are not happy with ZEC, we are able to debate and change whatever laws we need to change so that ZEC becomes a better animal in terms of running elections. So, the onus also lies upon us Members of Parliament. I hope we will not be asleep and wait for elections to happen then talk about ZEC when elections have happened. This is the time to talk about ZEC. This is the time to correct what ZEC did not do which was proper." News / National by Staff reporter THE job to rebuild Zimbabwe's broken economy is achievable, although it will take time and sacrifice from all stakeholders, analysts and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya say.This comes as President Emmerson Mnangagwa has also repeatedly stated including in America this week where he was attending the United Nations General Assembly that the country's economic turnaround will not be an overnight event.The statements also come as there is renewed optimism in the country following former president Robert Mugabe's ouster from power, recent installation of a leaner Cabinet and current shake-up of the State bureaucracy.Ashok Chakravarti, a University of Zimbabwe economics professor, told The Financial Gazette yesterday that resuscitating the country's sickly economy would take time and would not be a stroll in the park."After 37 years of economic mismanagement, it will take time. One month will certainly not be enough to correct all the wrongs," he said.Chakravarti added that there were numerous possible solutions to the country's economic challenges, including the foreign currency crisis.But to begin to mitigate these challenges, the government would have to start implementing the required remedies now.In interviews in New York this week, Mangudya also warned that although fixing the country's economy, including the forex crisis, was doable, Zimbabweans should not expect a quick turnaround of the situation. "The meetings (with investors and financiers) have been very productive. But as you know in finance, it is not an overnight issue," he said."We need patient capital to restart our industries. We need patient capital to increase capacity utilisation in the country," Mangudya said."You do not start with execution. You start by negotiating and talking and then at the end of the day we have term sheets that will come our way and then we will be able to continue discussing and then execute later."Mangudya later told The Financial Gazette that "government needs to work on rebalancing or right-sizing the economy by reducing fiscal imbalances, improving access to foreign finance and increasing confidence"."Jumpstarting the economy requires substantial inflow of foreign exchange into the economy to support the productive sector, whilst at the same time minimising consumptive expenditure," he said.Respect Gwenzi, the lead economist at research firm Equity Axis, said it would take "years" to realise meaningful recovery of the local economy."Fiscal consolidation is imperative and this will take at least two to three years. It has to be gradual," he said.In any case, Gwenzi added, "any serious investor will have to do an assessment of the economy and its potential first before committing their capital here"."A quick resolution to the outstanding multilateral debt has to be established to allow fresh credit lines. But without much fiscal space and with a lot of other economic excesses such as forex and cash shortages, we may not clear the debt soon," he said."Clearly the government is targeting a middle-income economy status by 2030, which implies a growth rate of at least 11 percent per annum over a 12-year period. But under the present circumstances, this is not achievable," he said further.Tony Hawkins, an economics professor, also warned recently that reviving the economy which would probably entail the government adopting an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-sponsored reform programme would be accompanied by "pain" which was likely to be far worse than that experienced during the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) of 1991."The programme, which must tackle five unsustainable aspects which include currency devaluation, fiscal and public sector retrenchment, removal of subsidies and the abolition of protectionist policies such as SI 64, will have far-reaching implications for all businesses," he said.Hawkins also said Zimbabwe's economic revival would need to start with the clearing of $2 billion in arrears to multilateral funders and getting the programme through the IMF board "some of whose members will be constrained from voting in favour of Zimbabwe due to the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, which directed that the US government should oppose the granting of any loan or financial assistance to Zimbabwe"."It will be a lengthy process Zimbabwe will negotiate a debt-restructuring deal with official lenders (donors) at the Paris Club and even if all goes well, this process will take months so, there is unlikely to be any inflow of official creditor financing before mid-2019," he added.Another economist John Robertson also warned that selective application of laws and policies would also prolong the country's recovery process."Selective approach to laws does not inspire confidence. Current government employees should not have immunity," he said.On his part, Busisa Moyo United Refineries' chief executive was of the view that parastatal reforms were going to be tough, while the currency crisis also needed urgent attention."Government will have to cut expenditures to reduce the budget deficit. Export generation and import management strategies are also key to manage the trade deficit," he said.Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, who was also in New York with Mnangagwa, acknowledged that the revival of the country's economy would be painful, and that what Zimbabwe needed to do urgently was to curb fiscal indiscipline.He revealed that the government was working on a plan to reduce its expenditure from around 33 percent of GDP to single digits over the coming three years."We have to reduce the public sector wage bill and deal with subsidies, but we also have to expand the tax base, increase tax collection efficiencies and ensure compliance with laws," Ncube said, adding that "there is no reform without pain we are determined to fix this economy within five years". News / National by Staff reporter Addressing the Gukurahundi Matabeleland massacres of the 1980's is among the top priorities that the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission will tackle, chairperson Selo Nare said.At a peace dialogue yesterday, the retired High Court judge said Gukurahundi, as it is known, will not be ignored.The Gukurahundi massacres that occurred in Matabeleland in the 1980's saw thousands of mainly Ndebele people being killed."We created a strategic plan and noted our country's elections as a major area. The second issue we are going to deal with is that of Gukurahundi. We are quite aware as a commission that people are still boiling on the inside because of the issue of Gukurahundi, hence they need to be healed."Very soon we will spread out to Matabeleland and its border areas and try to solve the issue. We know people are saying that we have delayed in dealing with the matter but everything has its own time. One of our visits in Beitbridge revealed that people are still bitter over the issue and want it resolved and the accused brought to book," he said.Nare added that the Gukurahundi atrocities were not going to be buried before a resolution because the commission knows that a lot of people in the nation were carrying a burden."The violators carry a burden because they have violated the law, the people who have been wronged are also carrying a burden. We are going to go to the people and seek to know the answers despite the area being wider than our capacity," Nare further highlighted.The Gukurahundi massacres have been a very emotive topic in the country with activists accusing President Emmerson Mnangagwa of being one of the henchmen in the atrocities. Political activists in Bulawayo recently lambasted Mnangagwa's government for tampering with Gukurahundi mass graves at Bhalagwe Shrine, in Kezi, Matabeleland South Province.This came after it emerged that government had erased inscriptions on the mass graves leaving them blank in what political activists say was a move to conceal evidence of the deadly atrocities which left thousands dead.After erasing the inscriptions, authorities are said to have replaced them with a commemoratory structure inscribed: "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" erected behind the two mass graves.Bhalagwe is the Gukurahundi flash point where thousands of those killed were thrown into a disused mine. Initially, soon after the atrocities, names of victims were inscribed on the mass graves but were later removed by the Mugabe regime, in what observers viewed as a clear attempt to conceal evidence.Adding insult to injury, the Gukurahundi graves were later mixed with those of local war heroes which saw the shrine being turned into a Matopo District Heroes Acre. News / National by Staff reporter Nine bodies of victims who perished in the Intercape bus accident in Polokwane have been repatriated with the assistance of both the Zimbabwean and South African governments.Walter Choga will not forget the accident which claimed his wife Asichile Liwawanya and their one year three months old daughter Anenyasha.Last Thursday he was an excited husband and father waiting for his family to arrive from Harare.However, it was not to be.The two were on their way to Johannesburg when the Intercape Bus they were travelling on was involved in an accident which claimed 9 lives in Polokwane.The South African and Zimbabwean governments worked together to facilitate the repatriation of the bodies.Eight of the victims are from Harare while one is from Nyanga.The families of the victims have received state assistance to give their loved ones decent burials. News / National by BBC Chaos at St Johns College parents meeting over gay form 6 teacher, Neal Hovelmeier who announced his sexuality to students at an assembly - 24 September 2018 #Zimbabwe pic.twitter.com/5vG2XY9uY6 Povo Zim (@povozim) September 25, 2018 A gay teacher at a top Zimbabwean boys' school has resigned after death threats and pressure from parents.Neal Hovelmeier, deputy head for St John's College's sixth form, came out to his students last week.He was encouraged to do so as a Zimbabwean newspaper was planning on outing Mr Hovelmeier, the school's chairman wrote in a letter.Some parents threatened legal action against him in a country where homosexual acts are illegal."I will not submit myself to a sham trial," Mr Hovelmeier wrote in his resignation letter.The teacher, who has worked in the elite school for 15 years, apologised for the distress caused by revealing his sexuality, saying it has since led to "death threats as well as threats of physical danger to myself and my pets"."I have come to realise that my current position as deputy headmaster is now untenable," he wrote in the resignation letter.Mr Hovelmeier came out to the student body on 21 September when the school, which is based in the capital Harare, released a statement by him.He wrote that former students had confided to him that they had felt intimidated and ostracised at the school amidst a homophobic atmosphere.He said he could only deal with the issue if he was "open and transparent about it myself".The issue of gay rights has always been both controversial and emotive within Zimbabwe's conservative society.It was one of the most contentious matters as a new constitution - adopted in 2013 - was being drawn up. The majority of Zimbabweans appeared to support the continued outlawing of homosexual acts - and a clause banning same-sex marriage was added to the country's laws.Zimbabwe's gay community is small and largely operates underground. Secret gay bars do exist and the Gay and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (Galz) is formally registered and recognised as a civil society group, but in the past it has been raided by police.Former President Robert Mugabe was most outspoken against gay rights, describing gay people as "worse than pigs and dogs". Other government ministers have been at pains to say that no person should be denied healthcare, or have their children lose access to education, because of their sexuality.More recently when asked whether he would champion gay rights, Mr Mugabe's successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said a constitution voted for by the people was in place, hinting that amidst the myriad challenges facing the country, the issue was not a priority.The move was applauded by rights activists, but also led to uproar among some of the parents.Footage of an emergency parents' meeting on 24 September showed participants angrily shouting at one another.On the same day, the school's chairman Charles Msipa released a letter to the parents.He took responsibility for Mr Hovelmeier coming out to the school, saying their hand was forced as a newspaper planned on revealing the teacher's sexuality.Mr Msipa thought it was in the college's best interest if Mr Hovelmeier "communicate directly to stakeholders in an open, transparent manner"."The publication of the story in the Daily News newspaper of Saturday September 22 was based on the management communication of the matter - rather than conjecture and rumours," Mr Msipa wrote.The following day, a law firm hired by some of the parents threatened legal action against the school if its board did not resign, according to a letter by the firm seen by the BBC.It said the teacher's decision to come out "has no place whatsoever in a school environment where they are minors, who look up to your staff as their life models as they exercise their role".They also cited the country's Section 73 criminal law that criminalises gay sex, and said that their clients therefore reserved "a right to place criminal charges against your staff member".The British curriculum boys school was founded in 1986 and admits boys from the age of 12 to 18, its website says. Survey Finds The Most Common Post-Sex Activities Trending News: These Are The 10 Most Common Things People Do After Getting It On After a sweaty romp in the sack, what do you do as soon as you're done? If you watch old movies, you might guess that people grab a cig and take one long drag. But in real life, the average person does a whole list of different very reasonable things, according to a new survey. The survey of 2,000 people conducted by online retailer Pure Romance found that 36% of Americans have a post-sex routine, Bustle reports. So what are these routines? The number one most common activity after sex is cutsie wootsie cuddling. Aww! Related: Eight Unexpected Cuddle (Yes, Cuddle) Positions You Need To Try The next is to turn on Netflix or the TV and melt. Nearly half of the Americans polled did the responsible thing and reached for a glass of water because sex really burns calories. The next cohort listed getting dressed, which seems like a pretty reasonable decision after taking your clothes off. After that, it's spooning, though, spooning probably should be listed under cuddling. The next routine is 'nothing' followed by having a deep, meaningful conversation. The following two are all about feeding that growling tummy they either make food or order takeout. Finally, people turn on their device and browse social media. The last one was a particularly surprising result for Pure Romance founder Patty Brisben. "We were most surprised by the amount of people who immediately pick up their phone and check social media after sex," Brisben told Bustle. "At Pure Romance, we recommend using the post-sex time to continue connecting with your partner. What this entails varies on the couple, but could include cuddling or having conversations, in order to keep the intimacy of the moment." That's a pretty good assessment. Don't just flick on social media and ignore your partner. The moments after sex are for showing the other person you care, and let's be honest, cleaning up the mess. You Might Also Dig TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (TSX:RBN.UN) Investors and investment advisors are invited to listen to an update on Blue Ribbon Income Fund (the Fund), hosted by Paul Bloom of Bloom Investment Counsel, Inc. A link to the update call recorded on September 27, 2018 has been posted to the Blue Ribbon Income Fund website. Investors may listen by clicking the following link: Blue Ribbon Income Fund Update. The Fund is available for purchase on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RBN.UN. The Fund invests in a portfolio consisting primarily of Canadian high income equities. The investment objectives of the Fund are to provide unitholders with monthly cash distributions and the opportunity to participate in gains in the value of the Funds investment portfolio. The Fund has a current distribution of $0.60 per unit per annum, and since inception on September 17, 1997 to August 31, 2018, the Fund has paid cash distributions of $18.58 per unit. The TSX closing price of the Funds units on September 26, 2018 was $9.07. The Fund also offers a distribution reinvestment plan (DRIP) which provides unitholders with the ability to automatically reinvest distributions, commission free, and realize the benefits of compound growth Unitholders can enroll in the DRIP program by contacting their investment advisor. For further information, please contact your investment advisor, call Bromptons investor relations line at 416-642-6000 (toll-free at 1-866-642-6001), email info@bromptongroup.com or visit our website at www.blueribbonincomefund.com. You will usually pay brokerage fees to your dealer if you purchase or sell units of the investment fund on the Toronto Stock Exchange or other alternative Canadian trading system (an exchange). If the units are purchased or sold on an exchange, investors may pay more than the current net asset value when buying units of the investment fund and may receive less than the current net asset value when selling them. There are ongoing fees and expenses associated with owning units of an investment fund. An investment fund must prepare disclosure documents that contain key information about the fund. You can find more detailed information about the Fund in the public filings available on www.sedar.com. The indicated rates of return are historical annual compound returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account certain fees such as redemption costs or income taxes payable by any security holder that have reduced returns. Investment funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to matters disclosed in this press release and to other matters identified in public filings relating to the Fund, to the future outlook of the Fund and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the future financial performance of the Fund. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, predict, potential, continue or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Members of the Canadian military will be allowed to sport beards, as long as they are not shaggy hipster beards, National Defence announced on Wednesday. A new general order from the country's top military commander spells out the times and circumstances when facial hair will be permitted. The order includes specific grooming instructions. Beards must be neatly trimmed and "shall not exceed two centimetres in bulk" and both the neck and cheekbones must be shaved. The new policy eases restrictions that have been in place for years. Until now, beards were allowed only on a limited basis and solely at the discretion of the chief of the defence staff. There has long been an exception for beards grown for religious purposes. The current defence minister, Harjit Sajjan, a Sikh, served as a lieutenant-colonel in the reserves with a full beard. The change is being made, according to the military's top non-commissioned officer, to keep up the times and to make the Canadian Armed Forces an attractive place to work. The policy "recognizes that greater control over personal appearance enhances organizational morale and our ability to attract a wider range of Canadians," Chief Warrant Officer Alain Guimond said in a statement. In an interview with CBC News, Guimond said military leaders have received regular requests to ease the restriction and started seriously examining the idea almost two years ago. Canadian Forces The grooming instructions which prevent soldiers, sailors and aircrew from going full hipster are important for maintaining an image, he said. "We did a lot of working groups and consultations," he said. "We need to keep an appearance for the Canadian public so we are all the same and clean. So, those beards absolutely need to be trimmed. There is one big caveat to the new policy: Commanders can order a soldier, sailor or aircrew member to shave if the beard presents a safety hazard or there is some operational reason it cannot be worn. Story continues In fact, the navy will issue its own separate, complementary instructions that clarify its position on the new policy. Navy policy to stay At the moment, the navy allows sailors to grow beards while ashore, but it insists they be shaved when a warship goes to sea. That overall policy will remain, said Guimond. In the early 2000s, the navy fought a pitched battle with sailors when it tried to crack down on the growing of beards, long considered a tradition for men standing watch on deck in cold, stormy seas. At that time, a working group of senior officials studied how well safety equipment, such as respirators, fit over furry features. Sailors, in emergencies, are required to don the bulky gear in the event of fire or chemical-warfare attack. Guimond said the same concerns are present today. The debate over whether beards should be allowed in navy has raged for decades. During the Second World War, the navy instituted an outright ban for safety because beards were considered a hazard to men who were forced to swim in oil-fouled waters after their ships were torpedoed. The issue resurfaced in the 1950s as gas masks and breathing equipment became standard throughout most warships. Even though he is now permitted, Guimond, 52, said he doesn't plan to follow the younger crowd, but will keep a clean face. "I have been shaving since I was 17 and I even shave on the weekends," he said. Edmonton police issued a dire warning Wednesday after the gang unit seized more than 3,700 pills, thought to be a variant of the deadly opioid fentanyl, disguised as the mild pharmaceutical tranquilizer Xanax. "Police continue to find fentanyl and its analogs in various forms, including illicit pills designed to look like prescription medication," said Staff Sgt. Pierre Blais with the Edmonton Drug and Gang Section. "People who use street drugs must understand that they may not be ingesting what they think they are, which could lead to serious harm or even death." The stash of pills was uncovered on Sept. 20 when officers with the drug and gang unit launched a co-ordinated raid on four Edmonton properties and one vehicle. During the bust, police searched two properties in Windermere, one in the MacEwan neighbourhood and another in the Davies Industrial area, police said in a statement on Wednesday. They may not be ingesting what they think they are. - Staff Sgt Pierre Blais Edmonton police The fake Xanax pills have an approximate street value of more than $151,000, police said. Officers also seized more than 900 grams of ketamine, an animal tranquilizer, with an approximate street value of $29,250, along with 355 grams of MDMA, more than 200 grams of cocaine and 375 grams of the pain-killer Phenacetin. Police also recovered $12,600 in cash. When the investigation began in March, officers initially focused on one Edmonton man, police said. But during the months-long investigation, three additional suspects and four addresses within the city were identified. Four people, all in their mid-20s, now face a combined 23 charges, including drug trafficking and possession. Former Silicon Valley developer wants to help U.S. tech workers move to Canada A developer who formerly worked for LinkedIn in Silicon Valley is offering Canadian tech companies a solution to their talent shortage. Vikram Rangnekar has founded MovNorth, a website and software mix to match up Canadian companies hungry for talent with tech workers from abroad. "Traditionally, Canadian companies were not focused on international hiring, but the tech talent gap is real and as the tech ecosystem here has begun to grow within the last few years, they're starting to feel that," said Rangnekar, who now lives in Toronto. According to Jodi Marner, head of diversity and talent initiatives at Communitech, an organization in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. focused on growing the tech sector, the talent shortage still plagues companies in a region deemed as Canada's growing tech hub. "It's the job skills that we've noticed the gaps," Marner said. "Everything from developers to tech sales, digital marketing, product management, UX/UI design." Marner said they've been trying to recruit with many strategies, such as offering micro credentialing and experiential training by partnering with universities and recruiting from international talent pools. "Just to give you an example, Thalmic [Labs], one of our member companies has hired 16 people internationally," Marner said, adding that MovNorth's appearance in the region will now help with the hiring. "Without this type of opportunity, we wouldn't be able to meet the talent targets we have in K-W," said Marner. Rangnekar is visiting Kitchener on Thursday to talk about how LinkedIn surpassed 400 million users. Prior to his speaking engagement, he's planned to meet and pitch MovNorth to companies such as Velocity, Qspice Labs and the Perimeter Institute, a leader in scientific research and theoretical physics. "This type of tech immigration is what built Silicon Valley and it's done wonderfully," Rangnekar said. "There are smart people everywhere and tech needs those people there are lots here, but we need even more." SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Ride-hailing firm Grab said on Wednesday it would stop offering car-pooling services during late-night hours in Singapore after drivers complained about some passengers being drunk and argumentative. Citing feedback from drivers who described intoxicated commuters vomiting in their cars or arguing with them during the ride, the company said it would stop its GrabHitch service between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. from next month. GrabHitch enables private car drivers to offer a ride to passengers heading in the same direction for a fee. GrabShare, the carpooling service offered by Grab's commercial drivers, has been suspended during the same overnight hours since June. The company's other ride-hailing services are still available during those hours. "Grab has always taken a proactive approach to ensure that our driver-partners and passengers will have a safe and positive driving/riding experience," the company said on Wednesday. Ride-hailing firms in Asia have faced questions about safety after incidents involving drivers and passengers this year. China's biggest ride hailing firm, Didi Chuxing, implemented safety measures after a public outcry over the murder of a 20-year-old passenger by her Didi driver in August, the second such incident since May. (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Darren Schuettler) New York, NY, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The publication, founded in 1987 and geared toward tech executives, featured Sabrina amongst a variety of noted founders like Julia Taylor Cheek of medical testing company EverlyWell, Amanda Signorelli of events company Techweek, and Lisa Wang of SheWorx, a platform that provides support systems for female leaders. Though these three made it to the top of CIOs 2017 top female entrepreneur list, Sabrina beat them out this year at #13. "I'm beyond honored to receive this recognition. Entrepreneurship has always been a way of life for me, I contribute a lot of my success to the many mentors I've been fortunate enough to have in my life. A passion of mine has always been helping other businesses grow and succeed so opening my media and public relation agency gave me the ability to do that. If I could give any advice to emerging entrepreneurs it would be to learn sales, learn how to generate revenue and not get caught up in the details and the rest will fall into place," says Sabrina. Sabrina is no stranger to innovative thought leadership. Starting her career as one of the youngest equity traders on Wall Street at just 19 years old, Sabrina moved on to a successful career in financial planning before founding Tribe Builder Media in 2008. Earlier this year Danielle raised over $40 million dollars for a blockchain startup she co-founded. Currently she and her team are busy expanding her agency to open a third location in Boston with a fourth coming soon in Asia. In addition to expanding her agency she is also an advocate for female entrepreneurs, donating her time, money and resources to women owned small businesses. The agency has plans to launch an incubator program late 2019 for emerging minority entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on community development. Her success through the years has gained the trust of many high-profile clients, professional athletes and celebrities who look to her to incubate new ideas, raise capital and develop strategic partnerships. Her strategy and insight has played an integral part in her clients achieving prestigious awards such as Inc 500, Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startup, and Entrepreneur 360 among other top-level recognition. She was recently accepted as a member of the Forbes Agency Council, and her work has been featured in top-tier publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Results -- that is all I can say about Danielle and her services, says Jessica Contreras, founder of The Aclyd Project, a blockchain payment system for delivery of alcoholic beverages that restricts minors from access. I sought PR for one of my ventures, and within 10 days, an article was produced in a major business publication. Combining old-school financial know-how with a strong command of the fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency market, Sabrina is now known as the "cryptoqueen." With several successful ICO's and token sales behind her, Danielle has an entire team dedicated exclusively to blockchain and cryptocurrency to help clients navigate complicated regulatory landscapes, launch successful campaigns and align with the right partners. She is also the co-founder of a new financial blockchain company to help cryptocurrency investors. The federal families minister announced Wednesday that a new parental leave benefit of up to five additional weeks of time off from work will be available to eligible parents as of March 2019, three months earlier than initially planned. The measure, first announced in the last federal budget, will provide an additional five weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits when parents including adoptive and same-sex parents agree to share some of the benefits. Parents with children born or placed for adoption on or after March 17, 2019 will be eligible for the benefit. Initially, the benefit was to take effect in June. The Liberal government has touted the benefit as a way to encourage male partners to take some of the allotted leave to more equally share the responsibilities of raising children. Share the joy "This new benefit supports a more equal distribution of home and work responsibilities by providing an additional five weeks of EI parental benefits when both parents share parental leave this helps parents share more equally both the work and the joy associated with raising children," Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said at a press conference in Toronto Wednesday. BlueOrange Studio/Shutterstock As of now, women make 85 per cent of all parental claims and generally take longer leaves from the workplace, Duclos said. Duclos said Quebec fathers already have access to a similar program provincially and Ottawa hopes to replicate its success in the rest of Canada. Statistics Canada reported in 2016 that 80 per cent of new fathers in Quebec claimed or intended to claim parental benefits, in part because there is leave there that is specifically reserved for them, Duclos said. In the rest of Canada, which does not provide second parent leave, this same figure was only 12 per cent. Currently, parents can share 35 weeks of paid leave with division of that time determined by the couple. The new rules would enable families to now take up to 40 weeks of leave from work as long as the second parent claims at least five weeks of that time. Story continues 24,000 more Thus, the additional five weeks is a "use it or lose it" benefit top-up only available when both parents agree to share the parental leave. By moving the benefit up to March, the government estimates an additional 24,000 parents could benefit from the extended leave. "They'll have more time together with their newborns not only to share the responsibility but the joy," Status of Women Minister Maryam Monsef said of the announcement. "When it comes to gender equality when more and more parents take this leave norms start to shift, norms start to shift in our workplaces. Employers start to recognize women and men can take this leave, and it will reduce the unconscious biases that can sometimes hold women and businesses back." WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing. The chief of the Nekaneet First Nation says his band is 'shocked' that convicted child murderer Terri-Lynne McClintic has transferred to a minimum-security healing lodge on their land. "We have no say in who goes there," Alvin Francis, chief of Nekaneet, said. "My heart goes out to the Stafford family because it is a horrible crime." McClintic was convicted eight years ago of the gruesome rape and murder of an eight-year-old Ontario girl. There are no fences around the minimum-security Okimaw Ohci healing lodge near Maple Creek, where McClintic is now serving her sentence. McClintic serving 'an indeterminate life sentence': corrections officials McClintic lured Tori Stafford into her then-boyfriend's car on April 8, 2009. In court, she told jurors Michael Rafferty repeatedly raped the girl before she bludgeoned the young girl to death with a hammer. CBC\Trevor Bothorel The pair was convicted of first degree murder the following year. Corrections Canada has said McClintic is serving "an indeterminate life sentence" for first-degree murder and won't be eligible for parole until May 19, 2031. 'That crime is quite horrendous': chief Her move to Saskatchewan leaves the band chief shaking his head. "I can't say it's acceptable," Francis said.. "I think that crime is quite horrendous, it really is." He said he trusted federal officials, who are taking a step in the right direction by reviewing their decision to move McClintic. He said McClintic's ancestry would not affect her willingness to change her ways. Reserve has no say in prisoner screening Francis said six years ago, his people lost their say over which prisoners move onto their land. "They need to know too, who are we bringing back to Nekaneet," said Francis, who said Cree elders used to travel to other prisons to interviews inmates who wanted to transfer to the healing lodge. Story continues He said elders did occasionally deny those prisoners' requests. Now he said band members are forced to trust federal prison officials to make the right decision, which makes him feel uneasy. "[Elders] are concerned about who comes there," said Francis. "Because with no fences there she can walk off, right?" By David Brunnstrom and Jeff Mason UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump praised North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday for his courage in taking steps to disarm, but said much work still had to be done and sanctions must remain in place on North Korea until it denuclearizes. "The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction, nuclear testing has stopped, some military facilities are already being dismantled," Trump said in his speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly. "I would like to thank Chairman Kim for his courage and for the steps he has taken, though much work remains to be done," Trump said. "The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs." Trump's remarks on North Korea were dramatically different from those in his speech last year at the U.N. assembly, when he threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea and mocked the North Korean leader as "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission". Trump held an unprecedented summit with Kim in Singapore in June which yielded a broad pledge by Kim to "work toward" denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. However, Kim's commitments and actions so far have fallen far short of Washington's demands for a complete inventory of North Korea's weapons programs and irreversible steps to give up a nuclear arsenal that threatens the United States. Trump has nevertheless heaped personal praise on Kim and expressed enthusiasm for a second summit. On Monday, he said he expected this to be announced "pretty soon" but that the location had yet to be determined. During a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the United Nations on Monday, Trump said Kim has been "really very open and terrific, frankly." "I think he wants to see something happen." Trump singled out Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, Moon and Chinese President Xi Jinping for their support over North Korea, in spite of some questions about the commitment of the latter two leaders to maintaining tough sanctions on Pyongyang. At a meeting last week with Moon, Kim promised to dismantle a missile site and also a nuclear complex if the United States took "corresponding action." Moon told an event in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. meeting that declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War would encourage North Korea to move further with denuclearization. "JOINING THE IMF, WORLD BANK" Moon said Kim had told him the "corresponding measures" he was seeking were security guarantees Trump pledged in Singapore and moves toward normalization of relations with Washington. "I believe that setting a timetable for all these measures is a task for the second U.S.-North Korea summit," Moon said. He added that, once the North's nuclear program is dismantled and sanctions are lifted, it will need the help of the South and other countries to rebuild its economy. "I can tell you, the North Korean side has confirmed it's willing to join the IMF and the World Bank and other international agencies to undertake the policy of opening up and reform," Moon said. Fox News said Moon told the network in an interview to be broadcast on Tuesday evening that Trump could meet Kim before the end of the year. Moon has said his administration aims to declare an end to the Korean War this year. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday he hoped to travel to North Korea again before the end of the year to make final preparations for a second Trump-Kim summit. Pompeo has proposed a meeting with North Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho at the General Assembly this week. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said last week the two had agreed to meet but that the meeting could take place later. Ri, who responded to Trump's U.N. remarks last year by calling them "the sound of a dog barking" and warning that North Korea could detonate a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific, arrived back in New York on Tuesday afternoon. He did not reply when asked on arrival at his hotel close to the United Nations when he would meet Pompeo. Moon and Abe met on the sidelines of the U.N. assembly and the South Korean leader highlighted the importance of improved relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang to accelerate North Korean denuclearization, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. "I believe the normalization of North Korea-Japan relations is required in the process of establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula, and I will actively support and cooperate so a North Korea-Japan summit will be held," Yonhap quoted Moon as telling Abe. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Jeff Mason and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish) Sex can be an agonising ordeal for those suffering from vaginisimus [Photo: Getty] Words by Francesca Specter. Not every sexual experience goes to plan, but for those suffering from vaginisimus, sex can be an agonising ordeal. Yet there is little awareness about this condition, which is said to affect two in 1000 women in the UK, although it is possible the number could be higher due to unreported cases. Vaginismus is an involuntary tightening of the pubococcygeus (or PC) muscle at the entrance of the vagina, explains gynaecologist Dr Anne Henderson. Vaginal muscles are surprisingly strong. If theyre contracting involuntarily, its very, very rigid. Try to push anything in and the pain could be an 8/9 out of 10. Its not pain that will go away if you leave it a minute. Its not pain where you can add a bit of lubricant and its going to be fine. You cant force yourself to relax because the muscles arent under voluntary control. So what causes vaginisimus? The root of the issue is said to be psychological and can be down to anything from internalised religious beliefs to a previous traumatic experience. Henderson says: Psychologically, a bad event, such as a misplaced tampon or painful intercourse, can trigger vaginismus (for example, after a painful sexual experience you start associating vaginal penetration with pain). Physical or emotional abuse can trigger psychological consequences, but sometimes its less obvious. One patients vaginismus stemmed from growing up in a very religious family, where it was drummed in to her to not have sex before marriage. This formed her standards on relationships and she was unable to step out of that belief. The problem isnt limited to the first time you have sex; in fact, it can occur at any time. Interestingly, it doesnt just apply to the first time you have sex: Ive seen women whove never had any problems, then they get a new partner, something minor goes wrong and it triggers a downward spiral, Henderson explains. So what can be done for those suffering from vaginisimus? Henderson advises seeking help from an expert in the field, such as your GP, an experienced nurse or a family planning clinic. You could also speak to a gynaecologist who specialises in psychosexual medicine. Story continues Cures include medication, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), or couples counselling. Vagina trainers are also common penis shaped objects inserted into the vagina to help the muscles get used to penetration. The chance of overcoming the problem is between 50% and 70%, Henderson says. I would never say well cure you, its not that sort of a condition. But you can manage the condition to live with it more happily. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK. Read more from Yahoo Style UK: Diastasis recti: the post pregnancy belly problem youve probably never heard of Experts warn health wearables could fuel rise in tech-driven hypochondria Can you ever reverse sun damage? The Evangelical Alliance UK is urging caution before a new pre-natal Down's Syndrome test is made more widely available. The Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT) is already available in Wales and will be rolled out by the NHS in England next month. The test will be used by the NHS to establish genetic conditions like Down's syndrome, but parents can also access it via private health care providers to determine their baby's sex. The BBC reports that NHS doctors in England will not be sharing information concerning the baby's gender when the test is made available. Jane Fisher, director of Arc Antenatal, a charity that helps parents through antenatal screenings, expressed support for the testing on BBC Radio 4 Today. She claimed women were 'desperate' to have access to this kind of testing and that delays to rolling out more widely had pushed some women into 'risky testing and potentially risking their baby because they can't access this more accurate form of screening'. 'We have this postcode lottery of women in Wales being able to have it,' she said. But Abi Jarvis, Public Leadership coordinator at the Evangelical Alliance UK, fears that such testing will increase the number of abortions. 'While the strategist in me would appreciate the opportunity to plan for my family's future, the realist in me believes the statistics indicate that for most people, this plan will take the form of an abortion appointment,' she said. She warned that with constant advancements in technology, there was a much wider issue than Down's syndrome and disability, and that it could open the door to even more selective abortions. 'In a society that highly values intelligence, will we one day decide that there is an IQ level so low that it would be better for a child to be aborted?' she said. 'What about people who are blind, or even just short-sighted, in a world where visual mediums like TV and WhatsApp messages are taking over from radio and phone calls? 'People have committed suicide because of bullying over their hair colour could parents decide that their ginger unborn baby should be aborted?' Last week, Labour called for a ban on NIPT over concerns that it is leading to gender selective abortions. Shadow women and equalities minister Naz Shah told the BBC that in communities where boys are preferred over girls, some women feel pressured into using NIPT 'to live up to expectations of family members'. The comments were in response to an investigation by the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme, which found thousands of British women using an online forum to discuss the use of NIPT as a way of determining their baby's sex. CARE chief executive Nola Leach said the call from the Labour party was 'very welcome'. 'Sex-selective abortion is completely discriminatory and should be explicitly outlawed in UK law,' she said. 'We might have made great progress in society in terms of how we treat those with disabilities but it is utterly wrong that so many babies with Down's syndrome end up being terminated.' Photo - Berkanau Musem Some scientific developments during the early twentieth century through the eyes of Lise Meitner is worthy of comment. Lise Meitner was a physicist credited with discovering that nuclear fission occurs when a naturally radioactive uranium nucleus splits into two smaller parts, releasing energy. It is a summary of a longer article published on the Cranky Ladies of History Blog Tour. Australians and New Zealanders were among the amazingly brilliant scientists of this time. Doing a PhD (doctorate) was not possible in Australia until after the war, so scientists committed to research needed to go overseas. Many gained prestigious positions in Europe and North America and; I will mention a few, look out for them. But back in Vienna in 1899, girls were first permitted to enter the University. Lise Meitner was an intelligent young woman from an educated family with means. At age eight, she had slept with a maths book under her pillow, but there had been no schooling available after she was fourteen. Now she could continue, so she and several other young women obtained private tutoring to enable them to sit the entrance exam for the University of Vienna in 1901. (Her sister had started in 1900 as a medical student.) Lise graduated as the first woman PhD in physics in 1906. What made these women in those times know in their hearts that they could achieve in their chosen area when there were no role models that we think are so important nowadays? In fact, society was often downright antagonistic to educating women (as it is in some other societies today, thinking of Malala Yousefzai in Pakistan. Perhaps there is a clue in a letter Lise Meitner wrote to a woman friend in Berlin: I love physics with all my heart. I can hardly imagine it not being part of my life. It is a kind of personal love, as one has for a person to whom one is grateful for many things. And I, who tends to suffer from a guilty conscience, am a physicist without the slightest guilty conscience. (Cited in Ruth Lewin Sime (1996) Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics available free from openlibrary as ebook (https://openlibrary.org ) After graduating, she found an unpaid position in Berlin, where she was mentored by the exceptional physicist, Max Planck and her conversion from Judaism to Lutheranism is thought to have been through his humane and gentle attitudes. Planck was am adamant anti-Nazi, remaining in Germany to fight the enemy from within. Albert Einstein (Meitner's contemporary and friend), on the other hand, chose to remain in America ever after. Lise Meitner won many awards and accolades; including the honour of a new element (number 109) being named meitnerium. Her supporters were distraught that she did not share the 1944 Nobel Prize awarded to her close life-long friend and colleague, Otto Hahn; but others asserted that Hahn had actually done the necessary chemistry experiments without input from Meitner who was in exile from the Nazis. Being a Christian did not protect her in the end, though in 1933 she had assumed it might. In 1966, two years before her death, she and Hahn and their assistant Strassmann were jointly awarded the US Atomic Energy Commission's Enrico Fermi Prize for the discovery of fission. But Lise had only had a kind of pleasure in this award - because of the bomb - which she had been associated with in the public arena, but in actual fact had refused to do any work associated with it. Photo - Birkenau entrance Really, really exciting science of early 1900s Hebrews 11 verse 3 (KJV) Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. How small is an atom? You can see most cells in your body with a microscope, but atoms are smaller than that and you can't see them with that instrument. You cannot even see molecules such as proteins or DNA which are made up from thousands of atoms. (See: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/scale/) It was not until the 1890s that scientists realised that atoms could break up into smaller particles and, in doing so, emanate rays of different energies and electrical properties. They couldn't see the particles, but they quickly developed new techniques to visualise traces of their radiating energy on photographic film, or to detect their electrical properties. Chemists, physicists and theoreticians worked together to gradually solve the puzzle: each atom has a nucleus consisting of a tight ball of positive protons and neutral neutrons, with negative electrons (which are smaller) whizzing around the outside each electron in its own special energy level. It took from 1897 to 1932 to understand the nucleus, although the overall idea of the whole atom was determined by New Zealander Ernst Rutherford in 1911. This research continues to this day; it is now known that electrons, protons and neutrons are made of even tinier particles, with names like quarks and gluons etc. Meitner and Hahn were excited and stimulation of the buzz generated by gifted scientists sharing new discoveries. They were friends with some famous Nobel Laureates such as Rutherford, Einstein, the Curies, Bohr, Planck, Chadwick, Fermi, Hertz and others. There were musical evenings and dinners at each others' homes. I will also mention a few innovations from the biochemical discipline. Australian Howard Florey was producing sufficient penicillin for the American troops for D-day in June 1944. The Braggs (father and son) from Adelaide determined the structure of crystal using reflected and refracted X-rays (crystallography); which led to Rosalind Franklin's work that helped Watson and Crick to determine the structure of DNA in 1953. Franklin died young from cancer, but these others all became Nobel laureates. Photo Auschwitz sleeping quarters Speculation about why Lise Meitner did NOT win the Nobel Meitner's missing the Nobel probably had a lot to do with the internal politics of the Swedish Academy; the global politics surrounding the Nazi regime which meant that Otto Hahn would have been in danger if he had published in both names, because of Meitner's Jewish background; and the local politics that gave Hahn accolades as a science hero after the war, because he had been holding the fort. However Strassmann wrote that Meitner had still been the intellectual leader of the group, even from exile. There is evidence that Lise and her colleague and nephew, Otto Robert Frisch, did the theoretical calculations, concluded that nulear fission had occurred, and then suggested the final chemical experiments to Hahn. Undoubtedly, Lise Meitner had overcome some barriers because she was a woman; but by the time she left Germany in 1938, she had had a long and distinguished career as a full professor at the top of the complex German academic system - the first woman to do so. She had a high international reputation for intellectual capacity and leadership. There were other woman in high regard in the scientific community at the time, and I do not believe that gender was a factor in this oversight in Sweden. Cranky on Lise's behalf Meitner smoked; she worked with radioactive substances in labs contaminated also with mercury; she lived through periods of food deprivation; she fled Germany as a refugee; she suffered a heart attack at 86 and still lived on to ninety. Yet she always came through the dark phases to light at the other side. On her gravestone, Otto Robert wrote A physicist who never lost her humanity. Perhaps she would have preferred a physics Nobel rather than the chemistry award. Perhaps she was secretly relieved because the Nobel would have further associated her with the atomic bomb. But if I get a chance to choose dinner with a historical figure, I will pick Lise Meitner so that I can ask her what really made her mad (cross). In the meantime, I maintain the rage on her behalf. This is an adaptation from my previous article on Leis Meitner Photo - Auschwitz shoes Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children. Dr Tronson writes a daily article for Christian Today Australia (since 2008) and in November 2016 established Christian Today New Zealand. Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html PepTalk is on a Bye Week - but will return next week. Hoping as well to chat with my nephew Kyle who is just 2 sleeps away from heading out to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro with his friend Audrey. They also live in Dunrobin - and were there when the September 21 tornado swept thru leaving a path of destruction in it's wake. Thanks to Andy Garrow and Katimavik for joining me on the show this morning. For more info go to: www.katimavik. org Cutting So Fine (Just Cause Show Theme) Canada High - Canada High (Working Title) - Canada High (Working Title) Early Every Morning JW Jones - Live - Live I Don't Believe a Word You Say JW Jones - Live - Live Strong Like A Girl Neverfriend - Strong Like A Girl - Strong Like A Girl I Might Not Come Home At All/Medley JW Jones - Live - Live Ottawa, ON, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fears surrounding economic, social, and political disruption loom large in the minds of policy-makers throughout the West. In response, many governments including governments in Canada have renewed their focus on income redistribution, hoping that tackling income disparities will help restore political tranquility. One such policy has been the previous Ontario governments now cancelled Ontario Basic Income Pilot, aimed at guaranteeing individuals a guaranteed level of income, regardless of employment or other circumstances. However, while well-intentioned, do these sorts of programs do more harm than good? MLI Managing Director Brian Lee Crowley and Munk Senior Fellow Sean Speer set out to answer this question in a new report titled A Work and Opportunity Agenda for Canada. Examining the impact of substituting paid work with unconditional cash payments, Crowley and Speer find that not only is such a policy of higher taxes and higher government spending economically harmful, it also misunderstands and poorly serves the people its ostensibly aiming to help. Most people are principally concerned about work and opportunity. They do not want unconditional payments from government, the authors write. They want to feel like they are contributing. Specifically, Crowley and Speer identify seven key problems with a basic income model: It is likely unaffordable; There is a low probability of intergovernmental cooperation or bureaucratic efficiencies; It creates disincentives to work; It neglects the non-financial benefits of work; The presumption of mass joblessness is false; Poverty is not merely an income problem; Paying able-bodied people not to work defies societys moral expectations. This report finds that a high-tax, high-transfer agenda is bound to do more harm than good for Canada. Instead of focusing solely on equality, the most effective way to both materially and socially help those struggling with poverty is by pursuing a policy more focused on economic growth and opportunity. A higher rate of compound growth is the best means of extending opportunity to as many people as possible. The best means for achieving this goal is to liberate the market economy from the dead hand of government, write Crowley and Speer. To learn more, read the report here. Instead Crowley and Speer set out an alternative agenda focused on expanding work and opportunity for all Canadians. A work and opportunity agenda starts first and foremost by learning the lessons from Canada's "redemptive decade" in the 1990s when the federal and provincial governments enacted sweeping economic and fiscal reforms to reduce the size and scope of government and enable businesses, investors, and workers to save, invest, and generate new economic activity. The "redemptive decade" should be understood as a time when policy-makers understood the need to shift the focus from high taxation and redistribution (including public employment) to fiscal discipline, de-regulation, investment, and growth. It was a formula that gave Canada world-leading economic growth, investment, and job creation as well as significant reductions in poverty. Present-day policy-makers would be wise to relearn these lessons. In addition, Crowley and Speer match their seven critiques of a guaranteed annual income with seven more targeted yet positive policy recommendations to bolster a work and opportunity agenda for Canada: Improve Indigenous education and social services; Support resource development; Strengthen Canadas intellectual property regime; Support affordable and responsible home ownership; Favour pro-work labour policies; Open up internal trade; Eliminate intergovernmental overlap and duplication. ** Attachment THURSDAY, Sept. 27, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Wearable defibrillators do not lower the chances of dying from sudden cardiac arrest among high-risk patients who've just had a heart attack, a new investigation concludes. Worn externally as a vest, these defibrillators are a noninvasive alternative to surgically implanted defibrillators. Both are designed to deliver a corrective electric shock to the heart if a heartbeat rhythm goes out of whack. While implanted defibrillators are known to save lives in the months and years following a heart attack, "prior clinical trials have found that implantable cardioverter defibrillators did not lead to a survival benefit in the first 40 to 90 days" right after a heart attack, said cardiologist Dr. Gregg Fonarow. So guidelines prohibit implantation during the first 40 days after a heart attack, or during the first 90 days among patients who've had bypass surgery or stent implantation, explained Fonarow. He is director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center and co-director of the UCLA Preventative Cardiology Program in Los Angeles, and was not involved with the new study. According to Fonarow, despite a lack of solid proof, many cardiologists have operated under the assumption that wearable defibrillators could pick up the lifesaving slack in those early days after a heart attack. Why? On the one hand, cardiac arrest is a big public health concern. Cardiac arrest, which is not the same as a heart attack, is caused when the heart's electrical system malfunctions and the heart stops beating properly. The American Heart Association estimates it affects more than 350,000 non-hospitalized Americans every year. What's more, Fonarow stressed that the risk of cardiac arrest is "relatively high" in the immediate aftermath of a heart attack, particularly among those diagnosed with low "ejection fraction" (EF). In such patients, the heart's left ventricle pumps out a relatively low amount of blood with every heartbeat. In the new study, all 2,300 patients had an EF of 35 percent or less within a week after being discharged from the hospital following a heart attack. (A normal EF hovers between 50 to 65 percent). About two-thirds of the study patients were trained to use a "LifeVest," a combination harness/vest that is worn underneath clothing. One-third received usual care. On average, the vest group wore the device 14 hours a day for up to three months. However, usage steadily decreased from 18 hours a day on average to 12 hours a day, and by the study's end half the patients had stopped wearing it altogether. Perhaps in part for that reason, the study team ultimately found no evidence that the vest helped to lower sudden cardiac death risk. Fonarow described the study as "well conducted," and suggested that it's a good example of the fact that "many therapeutic strategies that seem plausible don't actually work out the way intended when subjected to a rigorous clinical trial." Dr. Richard Page, who co-authored an editorial accompanying the study, suggested the findings are far from clear-cut. Page noted, for example, that the study team also found that vest wearers saw their overall risk of dying from any cause drop by 35 percent. Exactly why remains unclear. And Page acknowledged that while he "would like to say that the device played a role, we can't, because it's not the endpoint that the study was designed to test." But Page said he would still prescribe the vest "for a patient who I feel is at high risk and is highly motivated to wear the device." "This study was a heroic effort. But there is no question that these kinds of patients are at high risk for sudden cardiac arrest and death," said Page. He is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist and chair of the department of medicine at the University of Wisconsin's School of Medicine and Public Health. "And during this window of time after a heart attack, they are not eligible for an implantable device," he continued. "But this wearable device -- if you're actually wearing it -- likely offers a very good chance, and almost your only chance, for saving your life if you have a cardiac arrest," Page said. The study was led by Dr. Jeffrey Olgin, who is chief of the division of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco Center for the Prevention of Sudden Death. Olgin and his colleagues published their findings in the Sept. 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and LifeVest manufacturer Zoll Medical Corp. More information There's more on sudden cardiac arrest at the American Heart Association. WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Synthetic marijuana laced with rat poison has caused hundreds of hospitalizations in the United States this year, and a new study details just how serious the poisonings can be. In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned of recent outbreaks of severe bleeding linked to synthetic marijuana that was tainted with brodifacoum -- a blood thinner used in rat poison. At the time, the FDA said that hundreds of people in about 10 states had been hospitalized for bleeding after using the contaminated products, and several had died. Synthetic cannabinoids are human-made compounds that target the same brain receptors as marijuana. Known by names like Spice and K2, they are sold online and at gas stations and convenience stores, according to the FDA. The compounds are typically sprayed onto various herbs so they can be smoked. It's still unclear how or why a rat poison ingredient got into some products, experts said. But the consequences have been clear. The new study, published Sept. 27 in the New England Journal of Medicine, describes the cases of 34 patients who used the tainted products. All were admitted to the same Illinois hospital last March or April. Of the patients who were tested, all had brodifacoum in their systems. Some tested positive for additional blood thinners, as well. Most came to the hospital with multiple symptoms -- including blood in their urine or stool, unexplained bruising, nosebleeds and coughing up blood. One patient died from bleeding in the brain. And while the others survived, the treatment was not simple. Brodifacoum and other blood thinners used in rat poison are designed to have a long half-life. And their effects last for not hours or days -- but for months, explained report author Dr. Amar Kelkar. That meant the patients required long-term treatment with vitamin K, which helps the blood clot. One patient, for example, needed 50 milligrams (mg) of vitamin K every day for about nine months. Kelkar, who is now with the University of Florida's Shands Hospital, was based at the University of Illinois at the time. He said there were several obstacles to getting patients treated. Eight left the hospital against medical advice, with six needing to be readmitted. Two even used the contaminated products again. And then there's the high cost of the cure. According to Dr. Jean Connors, a hematologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, "Vitamin K is very expensive." Just three 5-mg pills of generic vitamin K cost about $81 out-of-pocket, said Connors, who wrote an editorial published with the study. Kelkar and his colleagues worked to get the patients the supply they needed -- reaching out to insurance companies, federal programs and pharmacies. The Illinois health department ultimately got a donation of 800,000 vitamin K pills from drug maker Valeant. Who added rat poison to the products, and why? No one yet knows for sure, Kelkar said. But the leading theory is that the contaminants were added to prolong the drug's "high," he noted. This is far from the first time synthetic cannabinoids have been linked to serious problems, Kelkar pointed out. Even if they are not tainted with rat poison, the products are risky -- partly because manufacturers are constantly tweaking the chemical composition. "So the people who take these drugs end up being a test population -- which is very dangerous," Kelkar explained. Connors stressed the same point. "I think people may not realize there's a difference between synthetic cannabinoids and marijuana," she said. "But these drugs are very different from the leaves off that [cannabis] plant. They can have unexpected mind-altering effects that are different from marijuana." Kelkar said that, in fact, some patients in this report did not realize they were taking a synthetic product. Authorities have banned some chemicals used in synthetic cannabinoids, according to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. But makers keep changing the chemical formulas in the products, to stay one step ahead of the law. More information The U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has more on synthetic cannabinoids. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, September 27, 2018Kazakh authorities should allow French journalist Vincent Prado and his local fixer Danara Ismetova to work without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Prado and Ismetova were briefly detained by police this morning, before a judge fined Prado and banned the journalist from filming in the Manghystau region of Kazakhstan, the scene of a deadly protest in 2011, according to media reports. Detaining and banning a journalist in a matter of hours, just for covering an important but sensitive issue, is a sign of weakness from the Kazakh authorities, who appear determined to control the free flow of information, said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Research Associate Gulnoza Said. Authorities should overrule the ban and fine, and ensure that Vincent Prado and all journalists can cover important stories without fear of retaliation. Police detained Prado and his interpreter Ismetova in the western city of Aktau, where they were interviewing witnesses to the 2011 protests, according to media reports. Prado and Ismetova were briefly held at a local police station. Prado was later taken to an administrative court, where a judge banned Prado from filming in the region and ordered him to pay a fine of 60,000 Kazakh tenge (US$166) for violating migration laws, Prado told the local service of U.S. Congress-funded radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Prado was reporting for the French media outlets Front Line and M6, and had press accreditation, French media reported. Tamara Kaleyeva, the head of local press freedom organization Adil Soz, wrote in her Facebook post that when he applied to the Foreign Ministry for accreditation, Prado indicated the areas of Almaty and Astana as being places from which e planned to report. The journalist was working on a story about authorities violent reaction to a protest by oil workers in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen in 2011. Kazakhstans law enforcement opened fire on the demonstrators, killing at least a dozen people, according to Freedom Houses 2012 report. Following the incident, dozens of prominent activists were jailed and independent and opposition media outlets were banned, according to media reports. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Nairobi, September 26, 2018Authorities in the Somali state of Galmudug should immediately release broadcast journalist Mohamed Abdiwali Tohow without charge, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today. Intelligence personnel detained the journalist on September 22 over a report broadcast the previous day for the Mogadishu-based Radio Kulmiye, according to the stations director, Burhan Dini Farah, and Ismail Sheikh Khalifa, chairperson of the advocacy group Human Rights Journalists. On the morning of September 22, the journalist received a phone call from intelligence personnel, asking him to appear at a station in the state capital, Dhusamareeb, according to Burhan, who spoke with journalists who have visited Mohamed in the detention center, and a Galmudug-based journalist who is familiar with the case but who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized by his company to comment. The intelligence personnel told Mohamed that his report alleging that the militant group Al-Shabaab was regrouping in parts of the state was false news, according to Burhan and the Galmudug-based journalist. As of late today, the journalist had not been charged, Ismail told CPJ. That Mohamed Abdiwali Tohow has not been charged with any crime, four days after he was arrested, demonstrates this is little more than an attempt to intimidate and punish the journalist for his reporting, said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo. Authorities in Galmudug should immediately release him without charge, and allow journalists to work freely, especially when they report on critical issues. Mohamed contributes to several stations, including the London-based broadcaster Universal TV. The broadcasters East Africa director, Abdullahi Kulmiye Hirsi, told CPJ today that authorities in Galmudug said that they would produce the journalist in court on September 27. Burhan told CPJ that Galmudugs minister of information, Mohamud Aden Osman, told him on September 25 that the journalist would be released once investigations were completed. The minister told CPJ that he was aware of the journalists arrest and that it was not the first time the reporter had spread wrong information, The minister said he was in discussions and that he hoped Mohamed would be released soon, but did not specify further details. Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States. MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- goeasy Ltd. (goeasy or the Company), a leading full service provider of goods and alternative financial services that provides everyday Canadians with a chance for a better tomorrow, has announced today that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets, Raymond James Ltd., and Cormark Securities Ltd., under which the underwriters have agreed to buy on a bought deal basis 600,000 common shares (the Common Shares), at a price of $50.50 per Common Share, for gross proceeds of $30,300,000 (the Offering). The Company has granted the Underwriters an option, exercisable at the offering price for a period of 30 days following the closing of the Offering, to purchase up to an additional 15% of the Offering to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on or about October 10, 2018 and is subject to goeasy receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. Net proceeds of the Offering will be used to support the growth of the easyfinancial consumer loan portfolio. We continue to enhance and strengthen our balance sheet to support the growth of easyfinancial and ensure that we have the financial liquidity to achieve our recently updated 3-year targets. said Mr. Ingram. The use of some equity during a period of high growth helps ensure we remain comfortably below our targeted leverage ratio of 70% net debt to total capitalization and in a conservative position relative to our covenants. Furthermore, when combined with the existing cash on hand and available credit facilities, we now have approximately $340 million in capital available to fund our future growth. The Common Shares will be offered in all of the provinces of Canada, excluding Quebec, pursuant to the Companys base shelf prospectus dated May 19, 2017 and may also be offered by way of private placement in the United States. The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Forward-Looking Statements All figures reported above with respect to outlook are targets established by the Company and are subject to change as plans and business conditions vary. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the foregoing guidance. Actual results may differ materially. This press release includes forward-looking statements about goeasy, including, but not limited to, its business operations, strategy, expected financial performance and condition, the estimated number of new locations to be opened, targets for growth of the consumer loans receivable portfolio, annual revenue growth targets, strategic initiatives, new product offerings and new delivery channels, anticipated cost savings, planned capital expenditures, anticipated capital requirements, liquidity of the Company, plans and references to future operations and results and critical accounting estimates. In certain cases, forward-looking statements are statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and/or can be identified by the use of words such as expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, budgeted, estimates, forecasts, targets or negative versions thereof and similar expressions, and/or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on certain factors and assumptions, including expected growth, results of operations and business prospects and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Companys operations, economic factors and the industry generally, as well as those factors referred to in the Companys most recent Annual Information Form and Management Discussion and Analysis, as available on www.sedar.com, in the section entitled Risk Factors. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made by the Company, due to, but not limited to, important factors such as the Companys ability to enter into new lease and/or financing agreements, collect on existing lease and/or financing agreements, open new locations on favourable terms, purchase products which appeal to customers at a competitive rate, respond to changes in legislation, react to uncertainties related to regulatory action, raise capital under favourable terms, manage the impact of litigation (including shareholder litigation), control costs at all levels of the organization and maintain and enhance the system of internal controls. The Company cautions that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter the forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law. About goeasy goeasy Ltd. is a leading full-service provider of goods and alternative financial services that provides everyday Canadians with a chance for a better tomorrow, today. goeasy Ltd. serves its customers through two key operating divisions, easyfinancial and easyhome. easyfinancial is a non-prime consumer lender that bridges the gap between traditional financial institutions and costly payday lenders. It is supported by a strong central credit adjudication process and industry leading risk analytics. easyfinancial also operates an indirect lending channel, offering loan products to consumers at the point-of-sale of third party merchants. easyhome is Canada's largest lease-to-own company, offering brand-name household furniture, appliances and electronics to consumers under weekly or monthly leasing agreements through both corporate and franchise stores. Both operating divisions of goeasy Ltd. offer the highest level of customer service and enable customers to transact through a national store and branch network and through its online and mobile eCommerce enabled platforms. goeasy Ltd.s. common shares are listed for trading on the TSX under the trading symbol GSY and goeasys convertible debentures are traded on the TSX under the trading symbol GSY-DB. goeasy is rated BB- with a stable trend from S&P and Ba3 with a stable trend from Moodys. For more information, visit www.goeasy.com. goeasy Ltd. is listed on the TSX under the symbol GSY. For more information, visit www.goeasy.com. For further information contact: David Ingram Chief Executive Officer (905) 272-2788 Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved National Digital Communications Policy-2018 (NDCP 2018). It also has re-designated Telecom Commission as Digital Communications Commission. It replaces existing National Telecom Policy-2012 to cater to the modern needs of the digital communications sector of India. National Digital Communications Policy-2018 (NDCP 2018) It envisions supporting Indias transition to digitally empowered economy and society by fulfilling information and communications needs of citizens and enterprises. It strives to achieve this by establishing ubiquitous, resilient and affordable digital communications infrastructure and services. It is customer focused and application driven. It will help lead to new ideas and innovations after launch of advanced technology such as 5G, IOT, M2M, etc. which shall Indias govern telecom sector Key Objectives Broadband for all. Creating four million additional jobs in Digital Communications sector. Enhancing contribution of Digital Communications sector to 8% of Indias GDP from ~ 6% in 2017. Propelling India to Top 50 Nations in ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017. Enhancing Indias contribution to Global Value Chains and Ensuring Digital Sovereignty. These objectives are to be achieved by 2022. Features NDCP 2018 aims to Provide universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen. Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022. Ensure internet connectivity to all uncovered areas. Attract investments of US $100 billion in Digital Communications Sector. Train 1 million manpower for building New Age Skill. Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices. Establish comprehensive data protection regime for digital communications that safeguards privacy, autonomy and choice of individuals Facilitate Indias effective participation in global digital economy; Enforce accountability through appropriate institutional mechanisms to assure citizens of safe and Secure digital communications infrastructure and services. Strategy NDCP 2018 advocates Establish National Digital Grid by creating National Fibre Authority . by creating . Establish Common Service Ducts and utility corridors in all new city and highway road projects. Create collaborative institutional mechanism between Centre, States and Local Bodies for Common Rights of Way, standardization of costs and timelines; Remove barriers to approvals. Facilitate development of Open Access Next Generation Networks. Background As the present technological world has entered into era of modern technological advancements in Telecom Sector such as 5G, Internet of things (loT), Machine to machine (M2M) communication etc. So, need was being felt to introduce customer focused and application driven policy for Indian Telecom Sector. This policy main intention was to serve as main pillar of Digital India by addressing emerging opportunities for expanding not only availability of telecom services but also telecom based services. Accordingly, new National Digital Communications Policy 2018 has been formulated. Indian Navy has signed contract with Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) located in Visakhapatnam for construction of two Diving Support Vessels (DSV). These vessels will help to augment Indian Navys submarine support operations on either coast. Key Facts The first DSV will be built over 36 month period and will be followed by second, six months later. These vessels will be based at Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai respectively. They will be of 118 m in length and shall have approximately 7,650 tonnes displacement capacity. These DSVs will be equipped with Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV), which significantly enhances its Submarine Rescue Capabilities. These vessels are capable of effecting submarine rescue upto depths of 650 meters. Need for DSVs Indian Navy undertakes diving operations in Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in addition to operating submarines to secure our waters. This necessitates extensive diving operations to facilitate various activities such as submarine rescue, testing or salvage, under water inspection and recovery of objects/ship aircraft lost at sea. As these activities involve diving operations with divers remaining underwater for prolonged durations, it requires suitable platform for their launch and recovery, as well as for carriage of related tools and equipment. Thus, induction of DSVs equipped with DSRV, will go long way in enhancing Indian Navys capability and reach of submarine rescue operations in IOR. The jury heard closing arguments Wednesday in Ronald Hamilton's 2016 capital murder case MANASSAS, Va. Defense lawyers for an Army staff sergeant accused of killing his wife and a police officer on her first shift pleaded with a jury to convict their client on a charge other than capital murder. A jury heard closing arguments Tuesday in the death penalty trial of Ronald Hamilton, 34, of Woodbridge, who is charged with capital murder and other counts in the February 2016 fatal shootings of Crystal Hamilton and Officer Ashley Guindon. He is also charged with attempted capital murder of two police officers who survived the shooting, Jesse Hempen and David McKeown. During two weeks of testimony, jurors heard evidence that Crystal Hamilton called 911 after her husband struck her and slammed her to the floor. Jurors heard the 911 call which ended with Crystal Hamilton pleading, "Stop!" Prosecutors say Ronald Hamilton shot his wife four times with a Glock handgun. Several officers responded to the 911 call. The officers tried to enter the house to check on Crystal Hamilton's welfare, but Ronald Hamilton refused to let them in. One of the officers then kicked open the front door, only to find Hamilton crouched with an AK-47 rifle opening fire. All three officers who initially responded to the home were struck, including Guindon, who had just been sworn in as an officer. Hempen and McKeown, who testified at the trial, survived but suffered serious injuries. Gene Hart, one of Hamilton's public defenders, acknowledged to the jury during Tuesday's closing arguments that Hamilton is guilty of the slayings. But he argued that the killings lacked the premeditation necessary for a capital-murder conviction and possible death penalty. Instead, he urged the jury to convict on lesser charges of either second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter, saying Hamilton was acting in the heat of passion. "The government has to prove to you what was Ronald Hamilton's intent? What were his thoughts? It is getting inside the mind of the defendant," Hart said. Prosecutor Richard Conway said the most obvious evidence of premeditation is the fact that Hamilton selected a Glock handgun to shoot his wife, and then upgraded to a more powerful AK-47 rifle in preparation for the anticipated police response. "A .45 Glock, that's just not going to do it when the police arrive," Conway said. While prosecutors presented an overwhelming amount of evidence, they were hamstrung by a ruling that barred them from presenting expert testimony like DNA and ballistics evidence or the conclusions of the medical examiner's report. The judge barred the testimony after prosecutors missed a deadline requiring advance notice to the defense of such experts. Hart sought to capitalize on that during closing arguments, noting the lack of DNA and fingerprint evidence and suggesting that prosecutors should have been more thorough in a potential death-penalty case. "The failure to provide readily available evidence is just startling," Hart said. Conway told jurors their obligation was to decide the case on the evidence that was in front of them as opposed to "speculating on what else might be out there." If convicted of capital murder, prosecutors will seek the death penalty during the trial's sentencing phase. A sentencing phase would likely involve several weeks of testimony, and jurors would choose one of two options: execution or life in prison. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde The Associated Press, September 26, 2018 Richard Glossip's bride is 33 years younger than him - and today they were allowed to touch each other for the first time. A prisoner who survived an execution attempt because of a mistake with a lethal injection drug has got married - almost three years on from his brush with death. Richard Glossip's bride is 33 years younger than him, and admits that her family initially opposed the wedding. RELATED: Oklahoma Death Row Inmate Richard Glossip Details His Execution Experience Glossip was due to die on 30 September 2015 - his third execution date that year. But after all legal appeals were exhausted, and an hour after he was scheduled to be put to death, the execution was called off because a pharmacist had supplied the wrong drug. It was the latest in a series of botched executions in Oklahoma, and the state has now abandoned lethal injections as its preferred method of execution. Work is now under way to start using nitrogen gas to kill death row prisoners. If it succeeds in perfecting the process, Glossip would become the first prisoner in the US to die using this method. Glossip was convicted of arranging for an employee to murder their boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese. He has always maintained his innocence, and there was no forensic evidence to prove his guilt. FIND related content related content here Several appeal court judges agreed with his lawyers' submissions, but a majority of judges voted to uphold the sentence and rejected clemency. Today, his 21-year-old fiancee, Leigha Jurasik, was escorted into the death row section of Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The prison staff supervised a brief ceremony in which they were allowed to touch for the first time. Previously they have been separated by bars and thick glass. After the wedding they had 30 minutes together, overseen by guards. RELATED: Will Richard Glossip Kill The Death Penalty Miss Jurasik, a student from New Jersey who is training to work as an undertaker in a funeral home, began writing to Glossip having read about his case. She says neither the age difference nor his pending execution were obstacles. She said: "When you love someone, you love someone - trivial stuff like that doesn't bother you. He's innocent, he should not be there, but it's never been a deterrence in our relationship." He added: "She's been there through all the tough times. I'm in one of the worst places a human being could ever be put, and yet she somehow gave me one of the best years I've ever had in my life." He added: "She's been there through all the tough times. I'm in one of the worst places a human being could ever be put, and yet she somehow gave me one of the best years I've ever had in my life." When asked why anyone would want to marry someone on death row, he replied: "I don't know how to explain it because I've asked her a million times, why would she be interested in somebody like me when she could have anyone out there? "But to her it's not about the freedom, it's the connection that she and I have." In his first public comments since Oklahoma decided to pursue nitrogen gas as a way of resuming executions, Glossip told Sky News: "A lot of people say it's going to be more humane, but not everybody is going to lay down and let it happen to them, especially people who are innocent. "No innocent man is going to lay on a table and say 'go ahead and kill me, I'm cool with it'. If you do, you were never innocent in the first place." Oklahoma's attorney general, Mike Hunter, says it's a well-known method of assisted suicide, but Glossip says that is very different to an execution. "Using gas is no different than suffocating somebody, or drowning somebody. It's the same thing. "When they use the example of assisted suicide, that's somebody who wants to die because they're very sick and they're tired of being in pain. "There's a difference between somebody who wants to die, and somebody who doesn't want to die," he said. | 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 With an Oct. 11 execution looming, jurors and prison staff support clemency for death row inmate Edmund Zagorski's plea for mercy is short and simple. Dear Governor Haslam, he writes. "Thank you for your time. I just wanted to let you know that I regret everything that happened. I feel really bad for victims' families and the vast impact it caused. I knew their lives would have been so much better in so many ways and not a day has gone by I haven't thought about it. If you spare me I will continue doing my best." In 1984, Zagorski was convicted of murdering 2 men who were meeting him to buy drugs. He was said to have shot the men, slit their throats and robbed them. Now, 34 years later, the state of Tennessee plans to put him to death by lethal injection on Oct. 11. Zagorskis short note to the governor is included in his application for executive clemency - an official request for the governor to spare his life, submitted by his attorneys at the end of August. Attorneys representing Zagorski in his clemency effort shared the application with the Scene. Specifically, they are asking Haslam to commute Zagorski's sentence to life without parole. The scheduled execution of Zagorski would be the state's 2nd execution this year. Haslam denied a clemency request from Billy Ray Irick in August, allowing his execution (to which this reporter was an official media witness) to proceed despite Irick's history of mental illness and an ongoing legal fight over the state's lethal injection protocol. Few observers expected Haslam to grant clemency to Irick, if only because of the heinous nature of his crime - he was convicted of the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl. But advocates for Zagorski believe he has a strong argument for clemency, from the circumstances surrounding his conviction and sentencing to the life he has lived in prison since. 'Death by default' Earlier this month, the Scene reported on court filings that argue that Zagorski's case perfectly illustrates the arbitrary nature of Tennessee's death penalty. Citing a report called "Tennessee's Death Penalty Lottery," authored by attorneys Bradley MacLean and H.E. Miller Jr., Zagorski's attorneys highlight the fact that of more than 2,500 people convicted of 1st-degree murder in Tennessee over the past 40 years, only 86 received death sentences, and only 6 were executed. Citing the report, they further note that while Zagorski was sentenced to death for the drug-related killing of 2 men, other people convicted of killing 4, 5 or even 6 people in drug-related homicides have received life sentences instead of the death penalty. In Zagorski's clemency application, attorney Robert Hutton makes a related argument about the circumstances of Zagorski's sentencing. Today, every death penalty state has an option for jurors of life without parole. But when Zagorski was sentenced in 1984, his jury did not have that option. They could sentence him to life with the possibility of parole, or death. They chose death at the time. But 6 of the jurors from his trial have since signed sworn declarations that they would have voted for a life-without-parole sentence if it had been available to them. (4 jurors have died, and 1 declined to speak with the attorneys.) Their statements are included in Zagorski's clemency application. "We really did not want to give him the death penalty," says the foreman of the jury from Zagorski's trial. "If life without parole would have been an option the sentence would have been different." Another juror says: "If life without parole had been an option at the time of trial, I would have voted for life without parole instead of death." And another: "I would like Mr. Zagorski's sentence of death to be changed to a sentence of life imprisonment without a chance of parole. That would have been my choice at the time of trial, and that is my preference today." Hutton writes in the application: "Under all sentencing statutes in effect now, a single juror wanting LWOP [life without parole] would preclude the jury from imposing a sentence of death. If LWOP had been available in 1984 as it is now, Ed would have received a sentence of life without possibility of parole." Studies have shown that the predicament jurors in the Zagorski case found themselves in is not an uncommon one. In an article published in December 2004 by the Tulane Law Review, Steven Mulroy of the University of Memphis law faculty wrote about the concept of "death by default." "The empirical evidence overwhelmingly shows that the lack of an LWOP option skews the sentencing decision towards death sentences that would otherwise not be imposed," Mulroy writes. "A substantial body of research shows that jurors consistently overestimate the likelihood that defendants will be released on parole, and that concern over a defendant's premature release, or any release at all, is a major factor motivating jurors to vote for the death penalty." Although it was not specifically part of his research, Mulroy tells the Scene that on top of erroneous beliefs about how soon people sentenced to life in prison would get out on parole, the lack of recent executions might also have been a factor in the Zagorski jurys deliberations. "I think it's highly relevant that in the 1980s, when this capital-sentencing jury had to deliberate, there hadn't been an execution in Tennessee for decades," says Mulroy. A footnote in Zagorski's clemency application notes that Marsha Dotson - wife of Dale Dotson, one of the men Zagorski murdered - also does not oppose clemency. "Even though Zagorski ruined my life and those years have been hard," Dotson says, according to the application, "it would be OK with me if he wasn't executed and spent the rest of his life locked up in prison." In fact, a significant part of Zagorski's argument for clemency rests on the way he lives his life in prison. Hutton writes that "Ed has lived a truly extraordinary life in prison" and notes that "Ed has not received a single disciplinary write-up, not even a minor one, in the entire 34 years he has been in custody." Remarkably, a number of current and former prison staff members, including a former warden, voiced their support for clemency in Zagorski's case, citing their personal experiences with him on death row. "I remember one time when a couple of inmates had gotten into a fight," says a correctional officer in a statement included in the clemency application. "I was the corporal in charge that day and was called to help break up this fight. Ed was in the room, but he was not involved in the fight. One inmate had taken the mop ringer [sic] off of the mop bucket and was going to use it as a weapon to attack another inmate. I was able to get the ringer out of the inmate's hand and hand it back to Ed. When I handed it to Ed, I did not have to say anything to him about what to do. I trusted him to know to get the ringer from my hands and take it out of the room so it would not be within reach of the 2 men fighting, which is exactly what he did. He even removed the mop too, so it could not be used as a weapon." A counselor from the prison says Zagorski is "1 of only 3 men for which I would support clemency." A supervisor from the Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction, which provides occupational and life-skills training for prisoners, says, "Having people around like Ed made me not afraid to work there." Still another correctional officer recalls Zagorski breaking up a bloody fight between 2 inmates, and a former warden says, "Ed is a perfect example of how a man can change for the better over the years." With Zagorski's scheduled execution 2 weeks away, Haslam and his legal staff are reviewing his request for clemency. In the request, Hutton writes: "Governors possess clemency powers to prevent miscarriages of justice, and to grant grace where merited. Ed Zagorski's life should be spared." | 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 New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to raise the issue of Indias request for extradition of Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam-accused Mehul Choksi with a minister in the Government of Antigua and Barbuda whom she is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting on Wednesday evening (New York time) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. India had earlier sent a request to Antigua for extradition of Choksi who had earlier obtained citizenship of the Caribbean nation. Antigua is examining Indias request for extradition of Choksi, with New Delhi saying in August that an extradition arrangement already exists between the two countries. The Indian governments position is that there is already an existing facility between India and Antigua that constitutes an extradition arrangement between India and (A&B) Antigua and Barbuda under their (Antiguan) Extradition Act of 1993 which provides the legal basis for extraditing offenders from each others jurisdiction. On August 3, New Delhi had quietly issued a gazette notification that the provisions of the Extradition Act, 1962, shall apply with respect to Antigua and Barbuda with effect from 2001 i.e. when Antigua and Barbuda notified India as Designated Common-wealth country under the provision of its own Extradition Act. This could enable New Delhi to seek extradition of Choksi from Antigua under this already-existing arrangement. As per Antiguas own Extradition Act of 1993, a fugitive may be extradited to a Designated Commonwealth country or a state with which there are general or special arrangement or a bilateral treaty. Significantly, the Antiguan Government way back in 2001 had then notified India as a designated Common-wealth country. Kochi: The national budget carrier Air India Express (AIE) is set to convert the current three days a week connectivity from Kochi to Singapore via Madurai into a daily one via Bangalore, which also will be an additional destination for the carrier. The flights via Bangalore are set to take off on October 29, according to an official of the airline. At present, Air India Express operates Kochi-Singapore service via Madurai thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The flight IX-484 departs from Kochi at 10:40 a.m. (local time) and reaches Singapore at 7:05 p.m. (local time). On the return direction, flight IX-483 will depart Singapore at 08:10 p.m. (local time) and arrives in Kochi at 11:45 p.m. (local time). The Kochi-Singapore service via Bangalore of Air India Express begins on October 29 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Flight IX-486 will depart Kochi at 10:30 a.m. and will reach Singapore at 07:55 p.m.. On the return direction, the flight IX 485 will depart Singapore at 09:10 p.m. and arrives Kochi at 01:30 a.m. The AIE has also added one more aircraft on lease to its fleet taking the total number of flights in its fleet from 23 to 24. The new aircraft is set to be deployed from newly opened Kannur International Airport and AIE is set to operate the first international service from the airport. This would be to a Gulf destination and the official said the details of the schedule are being worked out. To mark the beginning, Air India Express has already operated its test flight at Kannur International Airport on September 20. Responding to reports in a section of the press, the official said that both Air India and AIE have not issued any orders increasing charges for carrying bodies of the deceased from abroad. We are the only airlines undertaking this service and the cargo department of AI is in charge of it for both AI and AIE and it is headquartered in Delhi. The office in Kochi has not received any intimation of increasing the charges. There may be variance in rates destination to destination, said an official. Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May, and his administration imposed a round of sanctions on the Islamic republic in August. (Photo: File) Tehran: US President Donald Trump is the "main culprit" to blame for a recent surge in oil prices, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Wednesday. "The main culprit of the price hikes... and the destabilisation of the market is Trump and his disruptive and illegal policies," Zanganeh said on state television, after the US president hit out at OPEC accusing it of "ripping off the rest of the world". "Trump both tries to decrease Iran's oil exports significantly and also wants prices not to go up. These two can't happen together," Zanganeh said, alluding to US sanctions on Iran's oil sales set to take effect in November. Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May, and his administration imposed a round of sanctions on the Islamic republic in August. Zanganeh said if Trump wants prices to ease then he has to "stop his unwarranted interference... in the Middle East and not prevent Iran's production and exports". "It's interesting that Macron also explicitly pointed to this," Zanganeh said, referring to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters after addressing the UN General Assembly, Macron said Iran should be allowed to keep selling oil and called for dialogue as he rejected a US push to isolate the clerical regime. "It would be good for the price of oil for Iran to be able to sell it," the French leader said. "It's good for peace and it's good for the shape of the international price of oil." NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Investment Management Inc. announced today that the Board of Trustees of Center Coast Brookfield MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund (NYSE: CEN) (the Fund) has approved a change in the Funds fiscal year end from November 30 to September 30. Accordingly, the Funds current fiscal year will end on September 30, 2018 and its next fiscal year will commence on October 1, 2018. Brookfield Asset Managements Public Securities Group Brookfield Investment Management Inc. (the Firm) is an SEC-registered investment adviser and represents the Public Securities platform of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., providing global listed real assets strategies including real estate equities, infrastructure equities, multi-real-asset-class strategies and real asset debt. With approximately $20 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2018, the Firm manages separate accounts, registered funds and opportunistic strategies for institutional and individual clients, including financial institutions, public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds and high net worth investors. The Firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., a leading global alternative asset manager with over $285 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2018. For more information, go to www.brookfield.com. The Center Coast Brookfield MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund is managed by Brookfield Investment Management Inc. The Fund uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding the Fund is routinely posted on and accessible at www.brookfield.com . Foreside Fund Services, LLC; distributor and sub-placement agent. COMPANY CONTACT Center Coast Brookfield MLP & Energy Infrastructure Fund Layout plan for Long Thanh terminal. Photo by the Airports Corporation of Vietnam Vietnams plans for building and expanding airports and seaports have attracted the interest of companies in the U.S. and Japan. Joel Szabat, deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Transportations Office of Aviation and International Affairs, said his country wants to strengthen ties with Vietnam in the transport infrastructure area, especially airports and seaports. He told Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho at a meeting Tuesday that his department would facilitate U.S. investment in Vietnams infrastructure projects in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs). But Vietnam needs to have more policy consistency and open policies, Szabat said. Last month Japan's Secretary of State Tsukasa Akimoto told Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong that many Japanese investors are eyeing key transport projects in Vietnam. They are interested in the Long Thanh International Airport and high-speed north-south railway, he said. At the meeting with Szabat, Tho said Vietnam is focusing on five areas of transport infrastructure: roads, aviation, waterways, railways, and network connections to boost logistics. One of its national infrastructure projects is the north-south expressway measuring over 2,100km in length, of which 650km will be built in 2017-2020 under the PPP model, he said. With the countrys railway network being obsolete, there is need for an upgrade to both its long-distance and inner-city railways, he noted. Our ministry is considering feasibility studies for the north-south high-speed railway. The transport ministry is set to report on the high-speed railway to the National Assembly next year. It is now consulting various agencies for a feasibility study for the Long Thanh airport in the southern Dong Nai Province, which is expected to be approved by the government at the end of next year. Vietnam has 21 airports, eight of which receive international flights. Given the rapid rise in traffic, it plans to build, expand or upgrade several including Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in HCMC. The ministry this month approved changes to the upgrade plans for Tan Son Nhat Airport, including the addition of a third terminal and a 250-hectare expansion of the airport. French consulting firm ADPi's proposal on Tan Son Nhat expansion includes building a new terminal in the south (yellow) and supporting structures north of the airport (blue). Graph by VnExpress When the work is complete, the airports size will increase from the current 545 hectares (1,350 acres) to 791 ha. Besides building a new terminal, T3, to the south with a capacity of 20 million passengers a year, the ministry also seeks to expand the two existing terminals to increase their capacity to 30 million passengers a year. The airport currently handles 36 million passengers a year against a designed capacity of only 25 million. Tho said Vietnam has two major ports, Lach Huyen in the north and Cai Mep-Thi Vai in the south, which can accommodate ships of up to 100,000 DWT. However, network connections for logistics in ports remain underdeveloped. US looks to up innards export to Vietnam Vietnam has not allowed the import of stomach and other white organs. Photo by VnExpress A U.S. agency wants the Vietnamese government to allow it to sell more pig organs not consumed at home. The National Pork Board (NPB), sponsored by U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that Vietnam has allowed the import of red organs like heart, liver and kidney, but not stomach and other white organs. Since Americans do not consume the pigs innards, the U.S. wants to export both red and white organs to Vietnam. The products have been exported to other Asian countries like China, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. Craig Morris, vice president of international marketing for NPB, said the agency is trying to find out more about consumer interests, building relationships with buyers, influencers and retailers after noticing that consumption rate of U.S. pork in Vietnam remains positive. In 2017, the U.S. exported fresh, frozen ham and shoulder meat worth more than $11 million to Vietnam. The NPB has stressed that U.S. - China trade tensions are not the reason for the latest push to export more to Vietnam. However, it has acknowledged that China has increased its import tax on U.S. pork from 12 percent to 62 percent, causing exports to fall. Meanwhile, the shift in eating habits in Vietnam and Singapore opens up new opportunities, the agency said. Currently, Vietnam is the U.S. second largest trading partner in pork products after Hong Kong. A fondness for wearing rings and bracelets embedded with elephant hairs is putting a strain on the few surviving elephants in Vietnam. Vietnam is home to just 80 elephants left in captivity and about 100 in the wild. Photos by AFP/Thanh Nguyen In a village in Vietnam's "elephant kingdom," a vendor holds up a severed, dried tail dotted with coarse hairs she promises will bring good luck - a grim new trade that is endangering the country's few remaining elephants. "I'll cut a hair off right in front of you here, so you can be sure it's not fake," said the saleswoman in Tri A village in the country's forested Central Highlands. A fondness for rings and bracelets embedded with elephant hairs is fuelling a worrying fashion fad in a country notorious for its illicit wildlife trade, from rhino horns to pangolin scales, tiger teeth and bear bile. The trend is putting a strain on the few surviving elephants in Vietnam whose hairs are plucked or tails cut off by poachers, leaving the animals without the crucial appendage used to swat flies and keep their backsides clean. The fad leaves the animals without the crucial appendage used to swat flies and keep their backsides clean. "The tail is very much a part of body hygiene, so by plucking the hairs out... or cutting the entire lower tail off, you're putting a handicap on your elephant," Dionne Slagter, Animal Welfare Manager at Animals Asia, told AFP. With just 80 elephants left in captivity and about 100 in the wild -- down from as many as 2,000 in 1990 -- Slagter suspects most of the tails are being smuggled in from neighboring countries or as far afield as Africa. The appetite for elephant parts is a cruel trend familiar to much of the region. In nearby Myanmar elephants are killed to feed a growing demand at home and in China for their skin, believed to cure eczema or acne. Loss of habitat and poaching has also badly dented elephant numbers in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, where they were worshipped for centuries. A fondness for rings and bracelets embedded with elephant hairs is fuelling a worrying fashion fad. In Vietnam too, the M'nong and Ede ethnic minorities in Dak Lak Province -- dubbed the "elephant kingdom" for the large herds that once roamed its forests hold a deep spiritual reverence for the animals. As legend goes, finding a tail hair by chance on the forest floor was considered good luck -- local lore that has been peddled in recent years by shop owners selling the strands, along with ivory jewelry and Buddha statues that can fetch up to $900. But actively cutting off tails or plucking hairs was never part of the tradition. "They loved and considered elephants part of their family so they wouldn't do anything to hurt them," according to Linh Nga Nie Kdam, a researcher on Ede culture. "They never sold their hair." Vietnam has to handle issues like new payment methods and 'zero dong tours' to actually reap the benefits of the great inflow of Chinese tourists. Dr Le Hong Hiep, Fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has recently instructed the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Finance and relevant government agencies to crack down on the use of Chinese electronic wallet services, such as WeChat Pay and AliPay, as well as illegal points of sale devices at travel hotspots frequented by Chinese tourists. The government is concerned that the use of such payment methods, through which the transactions, conducted between Chinese bank accounts of Chinese tourists and business owners, can circumvent Vietnams banking system and national regulations, leading to loss of tax revenues and other potential problems. This is one of the many challenges that Vietnamese authorities have to handle to reap the benefits of the greater inflow of Chinese tourists while minimizing any unwanted impacts that they may generate for the country in general and the economy in particular. In the first half of 2018, 2.5 million Chinese tourists visited Vietnam, representing a 36 percent year-on-year increase and accounting for 32 percent of international arrivals in the country. However, the benefits that Chinese tourists bring the country may not be as significant as it may seem. Various media reports point out that many of these tourists have arrived in Vietnam through so-called zero dong tours organized by Chinese tourist companies. During these tours, Chinese tourists stay at Chinese-run hotels, eat at Chinese restaurants, and shop at Chinese shopping outlets. They also use Chinese tour guides instead of local ones. Just like the use of Chinese e-wallet services, these problems reduce the trickle-down effect of Chinese tourists to the economy and local businesses. The increasing inflow of Chinese tourists tends to create political problems for the Vietnamese government as well. For example, Chinese investors reportedly used Vietnamese proxies to buy land plots to build hotels to serve Chinese tourists. In certain cases, these land plots are next to military facilities, giving rise to security concerns. In May 2018, a group of Chinese tourists wearing T-shirts with a Chinese map featuring the nine-dash line caused widespread uproar among the Vietnamese public. In 2016, the Vietnamese public was also infuriated when a Chinese tour guide reportedly told his group of tourists that the imperial city of Hue has architecture features similar to Chinas as the city used to belong to China. Chinese tourists are seen with others onboard during their visit in UNESCO's world heritage Ha Long Bay. Photo by Reuters/Kham The problems that Chinese tourists present host countries are not unique to Vietnam. Similar stories can be heard across Southeast Asia and elsewhere. For example, a recent article by Cambodian scholar Pheakdey Heng reported similar problems in Cambodia. Among other issues, the author found that Chinese residents and visitors in Cambodia buy from Chinese businesses, eat in Chinese restaurants and stay in Chinese hotels. The trickle-down effect to local businesses is minimal. In certain cases, Chinese tourists can also become a strategic tool for the Chinese government to pursue its foreign policy goals. During the 2012 standoff over the Scarborough Shoal, for example, Beijing directed its tourist companies to stop sending Chinese tourists to the Philippines to mount pressure on Manila. Its entirely possible that China will do the same to Vietnam if bilateral maritime tensions in the South China Sea escalate in the future, causing Hanoi to be further vulnerable to Beijings economic influence. Chinas economic success over the past four decades has led to an increasing level of wealth for its people, enabling more and more Chinese to afford overseas leisure trips. The Chinese outbound tourism boom has brought both new opportunities and challenges to host countries across the world, including Vietnam. In that sense, just like Chinas rise itself, Chinese tourists, as Bloomberg put it, are indeed reshaping the world economy, for better or worse. *Dr Le Hong Hiep is Fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute where this article was first published. The opinions expressed are his own. A group of 15 protesters will be jailed for attacking police officers and vandalizing a fire police station last June. A court in the south central province of Binh Thuan Wednesday sentenced Pham Thanh, 31, to four years and six months in prison for disrupting public order during a protest that broke out against the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) draft law on June 11. Fourteen others also got jail terms of two to four years on similar charges. According to the indictment, on the morning of June 11, hundreds of people disrupted order under the guise of protesting the SEZ draft law. They gathered on a section of National Highway 1 in Phan Ri Thanh Commune in the province's Bac Binh District, resulting in serious traffic congestion. Nearly 300 police officers were dispatched to the area to maintain order and local authorities used loudspeakers to call on protesters to disperse. These efforts however failed as some protesters turned violent and attacked police officers with sticks, bricks, rocks and petrol bombs. After the police retreated to the Phan Ri firefighting station, Thanh and his accomplices urged the crowd to storm the building. In the ensuing chaos, the defendants burned down cars and damaged or destroyed other properties inside the building. The court concluded that the defendants' actions resulted in 19 police officers injured, 12 cars burnt, 18 motorbikes and many other properties damaged. The total loss was estimated at nearly VND12 billion ($514,000). The protest also paralyzed traffic along National Highway 1 for six hours. At the trial, all defendants admitted to their crimes. Prior to Wednesday's trial, Binh Thuan courts had, in two separate trials in July, sentenced 16 protesters to up to three years and six months in prison and given a minor an 18-month suspended sentence in two separate trials for disrupting public order. A number of protesters in Binh Thuan are still under investigation for "resisting law enforcement officers in performance of official duties" and "deliberate destruction of property." The protests in Binh Thuan were among several that erupted in Vietnam on June 10 and 11. Thousands of people had also taken to the streets in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and several provinces, with banners and signs calling for the SEZ draft law to be scrapped. They were objecting in particular to a provision that would allow foreign investors to lease land for 99 years, saying that such a law would allow foreign countries to undermine Vietnams sovereignty. The bill, which was scheduled to be passed in June, has been postponed for further discussions in October. As Vietnam has delayed passing the Law on Demonstration several times, all acts to incite public protests are deemed illegal. Following the demonstrations, police detained hundreds of protesters and said they had uncovered evidence that the protests were anti-state actions incited by organizations based in other countries using false, distorted information about the draft law. Vietnam said goodbye to departed President Tran Dai Quang on Thursday, after a memorial service held in Hanoi. Vietnam's Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong started the memorial service at the National Funeral Home in Hanoi by delivering an eulogy, reviewing all contributions Quang has made for the country. Quang, who served as Vietnam's Minister of Public Security before becoming president in April 2016, passed away on September 21 after battling a serious illness for more than a year. National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and General Secretary Trong join hands to carry President Quangs coffin out of the funeral home at 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street. Leaders from Cambodia, Laos and South Korea and some 50,000 paid their respects to the late president on Wednesday. Vietnamese bid farewell to President Tran Dai Quang Le truy ieu Chu tich nuoc Tran ai Quang Guards perform a ritual to prepare the hearse for the parade of Quang's coffin around Hanoi. President Quang's flag-draped coffin will be carried around Hanoi before he is buried in his hometown in Kim Son District of Ninh Binh Province, two hours south of Hanoi, at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Vietnamese bid farewell to President Tran Dai Quang President Tran Dai Quang's coffin is carried on Hanoi streets The coffin parade on Hanoi streets. The coffin is paraded past Hanoi's Opera House. At the Flag Tower of Hanoi on Dien Bien Phu Street. All government buildings and public places in Hanoi are flying the national flag at half mast on Wednesday and Thursday. Outside the Presidential Palace on Hung Vuong Street. The parade goes past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. People stand watching the parade on Kim Ma Street. Quang's coffin arrives at his house on Nguy Nhu Kon Tum Street in Hanoi. On Ring Road 3, the lifeline of Hanoi that stretches 65 kilometers (41 miles) through nine districts. All vehicles have been banned on the road during the parade. The road runs to Phap Van-Cau Gie Expressway which connects Hanoi with Ninh Binh Province, where President Quang will be buried. The coffin parade arrives in Ninh Binh Province at nearly 2 p.m. on Thursday for a burial ceremony. People in Ninh Binh cry during his burial service in Kim Son District. Vietnamese bid farewell to President Tran Dai Quang oi tieu binh thuc hien nghi thuc ha huyet President Quang is laid to rest. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he chairs a meeting of the United Nations Security Council held during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Eduardo Munoz U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of seeking to meddle in the Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections. China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November. Against my administration, Trump told a U.N. Security Council meeting whose ostensible subject was nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Chairing the Council for the first time, Trump made no reference to suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and provided no evidence for his allegation about China, which Beijing immediately rejected during the same meeting. We did not and will not interfere in any countrys domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, the Chinese governments top diplomat Wang Yi told the Council. The United States and China are embroiled in a trade war, sparked by Trumps accusations that China has long sought to steal U.S. intellectual property, limit access to its own market and unfairly subsidize state-owned companies. Later on Wednesday, Trump referred to a Chinese government-run media companys four-page supplement in the Sunday Des Moines Register promoting the mutual benefits of U.S.-China trade. The practice of foreign governments buying space in U.S. newspapers to promote trade is common and differs from a clandestine operation run by a national intelligence agency. China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news, Trump said in a Twitter post. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Chinese delegation listen to U.S. President Donald Trump address the U.N. Security Council meeting at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Carlos Barria In a Des Moines Register article about the advertising supplement, Carol Hunter, executive editor of the newspaper, said the placement was not surprising. Its not surprising that China Daily sought to place advertising with the Des Moines Register, because the Register is Iowas largest news organization and Iowa farmers are disproportionately affected by Chinas tariffs, Hunter said. A senior Trump administration official said China uses political, economic, commercial, military and information tools to influence U.S. public opinion and promote the interests of the Chinese government and Communist Party. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence plans to make a speech next week detailing the allegations, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, saying the U.S. government was working to declassify further information on the matter. During an evening news conference, Trump described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a friend, prompting a reporter to ask how that could be the case given the allegations of meddling. Maybe hes not any more, Ill be honest with you, Trump replied. Iran: U.S. 'abused' council session Trump also used the Security Council session to defend the U.S. withdrawal in May from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran, hint at progress in U.S. efforts to curb North Koreas nuclear program, and to criticize Iran and Russia for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the countrys war, now in its eighth year. The Syrian regimes butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran, Trump said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded in a Twitter post, saying the United States had abused the Council and is further isolated. Trumps allegation of Chinese election meddling came as a surprise during a formal meeting around the Security Councils horseshoe table that was expected to concentrate on the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, we are winning at every level. We dont want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election, said Trump, who is attending the U.N.s annual gathering of world leaders. Trump himself is not up for re-election until 2020 but Novembers voting will decide whether his Republican Party can keep control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Some opinion polls show that the Democratic Party could make a strong showing, notably in the House. In the latest salvo in the trade dispute, U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and retaliatory taxes by Beijing on $60 billion worth of U.S. products kicked in on Monday, unnerving global financial markets. During his roughly 10-minute speech, Trump made no reference to U.S. allegations against Russia concerning the election that brought him to power. Speaking later to reporters, Trump said: They (China) are trying to meddle in our elections. And were not going to let that happen, just as were not going to let that happen with Russia. Trumps presidency has been dogged by the Russian issue, which led to an investigation by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller into potential collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign, which Trump rejects. Moscow denies interfering. SVP Finance Jerry Murray to Serve as Interim CFO PLANO, Texas - (Sept. 27, 2018) - J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) today announced that Jeffrey Davis has informed the Company that he is resigning from his position as executive vice president and chief financial officer effective Oct. 1 to pursue another opportunity. Jerry Murray, senior vice president of finance, will assume the position of interim chief financial officer, reporting directly to the Office of the CEO. "On behalf of our board and leadership team, I want to thank Jeff for his service to JCPenney," said Ronald W. Tysoe, chairman of the JCPenney board. "His leadership has been instrumental as both the Company's chief financial officer and as a member of the Office of the CEO. We wish him much success in his future endeavors, and we thank Jerry for stepping in to assume this leadership role." Murray joined the Company in Feb. 2016 after serving as chief financial officer for Valassis, a multimedia marketing firm. As interim CFO, he will report into the Office of the CEO members Therace Risch, chief information and digital officer, and Mike Robbins, executive vice president of private brands and supply chain. The Company will commence a formal search for Davis' successor, reviewing both internal and external candidates. "I am grateful for my time with the Company, leading some of the most talented teams in retail during a time of transition. I have every confidence that JCPenney has the experience and determination to persevere and strengthen its position as one of America's leading retailers," said Davis. To download a copy of this news release, as well as executive headshots, please visit https://www.jcpnewsroom.com/news-releases/2018/0927_announces_departure_of_chief_financial_officer.html JCPenney Corporate Communications & Public Relations: (972) 431-3400 or jcpnews@jcp.com Follow @jcpnews on Twitter for the latest announcements and Company information. About JCPenney: J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP), one of the nation's largest apparel and home retailers, combines an expansive footprint of over 860 stores across the United States and Puerto Rico with a powerful e-commerce site, jcp.com, to deliver style and value for all hard-working American families. At every touchpoint, customers will discover stylish merchandise at incredible value from an extensive portfolio of private, exclusive and national brands. Reinforcing this shopping experience is the customer service and warrior spirit of approximately 98,000 associates across the globe, all driving toward the Company's mission to help customers find what they love for less time, money and effort. For additional information, please visit jcp.com. ### U.S. B-52 bombers have recently conducted transit operations in the South China Sea and East China Sea, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Late Tuesday the heavy bombers "participated in a regularly scheduled, combined operation in the East China Sea," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said. A defense official said the nuclear-capable aircrafts were escorted by Japanese fighters and the flight was part of the Pentagon's "continuous bomber presence" in the region. Earlier in the week, B-52s flew through "international airspace over the South China Sea," Eastburn said. China has claimed large swaths of the strategic waterway, including waters close to Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, and built up a series of islands and maritime features, turning them into military facilities. Vietnam calls the waters the East Sea. An international maritime tribunal ruled in 2016 that China's claims have no legal basis. Eastburn said the flights were part of "regularly scheduled operations." The U.S. rejects China's territorial claims and routinely says the military will "continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows at times and places of our choosing." Washington this week enacted new tariffs against China covering another $200 billion of its imports. China has reacted angrily, and this week scrapped a U.S. warship's planned port visit to Hong Kong and canceled a meeting between the head of the Chinese navy and his American counterpart. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was not concerned the U.S. transit flights would increase tensions with China. "If it was 20 years ago and they have not militarized those features there, it would have just been another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or whatever," he told Pentagon reporters, referring to the U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean. "So there's nothing out of the ordinary about it, nor about our ships sailing through there." The Pentagon chief went on to say there is no "fundamental shift in anything." "We're just going through one of those periodic points where we've got to learn to manage our differences," he said. Ukraine to get four French helicopters for rescue operations by year-end The State Emergency Situations Service says its rescuers will be able to carry out search operations at sea after the helicopter fleet expands. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ukraine boosts steel output in August, climbs to 12th place in WSA's rating All the 64 countries ranked by the WSA increased steel output by 2.6% in August 2018 y-o-y, to 151.740 million tonnes. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Ernst&Young assesses state stake in Centrenergo at US$225.5 mln Ukraine's Cabinet on May 10 endorsed a list of companies for large-scale privatization in 2018. If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter The growth in exports is attributed to a hot and dry summer in the EU, which led to down revisions in production forecasts for the 2018-19 marketing year. Ukrainian corn exports to the EU have reached 1.19 million mt, up 2.8% on the marketing year (July to June), the first time Ukraine has exceeded its previous years output this marketing year, according to data from the EU Crops Market Observatory, released Monday. The growth in exports is attributed to a hot and dry summer in the EU, which led to down revisions in production forecasts for the 2018-19 marketing year, S&P Global Platts reported. Similarly, the tariff of 25% applied to U.S. corn as a retaliatory measure to the tariffs the U.S. applied on EU steel imports has also aided Ukrainian exports. Despite the U.S. being the most competitive origin globally FOB October-loading offers were heard at $159/mt late Tuesday the tariff has rendered imports uncompetitve. This has been reflected in the U.S. now being 26.1% lower on the year at 266,872 mt. Imports from Brazil have also slowed significantly on ports being optimized for soy exports. Brazil is now exporting 34.2% less to the EU than the previous marketing year. Nonetheless, Ukraine is likely face further difficulties as the months of October, November and December arrive as market participants see the value of Ukrainian corn to be inflated. Some big exporters have struggled to move any deep water vessels so far this year, a phenomenon considered a rarity at this stage. With harvest pressure set to arrive over the next weeks, market sources expect to see further downside to prices. Kentucky Power and Community Action of Kentucky have filed a joint application with the Kentucky Public Service Commission to modify and expand an energy assistance program to aid more low-income families this winter. In the application filed Friday, Kentucky Power and Community Action asked the PSC to change the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) from a summer and winter program to a winter-only program. The Kentucky Power-funded program has been offered since 2006. The change concentrates financial assistance in the months of January to April when people use more electricity because of cold weather. Increased winter usage also causes higher bills. If approved, qualifying residential customers with electric heat could receive $115 each of the four designated months under the modifications. Customers with non-electric heat would qualify for $58 a month for four months. In past years, electric customers qualified for $65 a month and non-electric customers qualified for $33 in the winter. Small awards were made in summer to assist with cooling costs. Summer assistance would be discontinued under the plan. Kentucky Power also proposed renaming the program to the Home Energy Assistance in Reduced Temperatures (HEART) program to eliminate confusion with the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program called LIHEAP. While separate, both assistance programs are administered through Community Action and its local agencies. "Kentucky Power wholeheartedly believes in assisting low- and fixed-income customers to manage their energy usage and we will not waiver from this commitment," said Matt Satterwhite, Kentucky Power president and chief operating officer. "By focusing the funds on the winter months, we can provide more customers with greater assistance when they most need it." In addition to the HEART program, Kentucky Power has proposed adding a new limited assistance program called Temporary Heating Assistance in Winter (THAW). This program would provide qualifying residential customers with a once-a-year grant of up to $175. THAW is designed to assist customers, such as single parents, seniors on fixed incomes, the recently unemployed, or other customers who need temporary assistance to get through the winter months. The program also would be administered by Community Action on a first come, first served basis until designated funds are depleted. Both HEART and THAW are funded with customer and company contributions. Customers pay 30 cents a month into the program. Kentucky Power matches those funds dollar for dollar with shareholder money. Together, the contributions generate about $1 million a year to provide heating assistance to about 2,500 customers in eastern Kentucky. Money is divided among customers who heat with electric and non-electric sources, including wood and coal. Kentucky Power also asked the PSC for permission to create a voluntary assistance fund. Under the Donation HEART Program, customers could make special contributions that also would assist neighbors in need. The company would match customer contributions up to $20,000 a year. Kentucky Power and Community Action asked the Commission to make a decision on the filing by Oct. 31. Community Action begins taking applications for home energy assistance on Nov. 1. Customers seeking heating assistance should contact their local community action agency. Community Action of Kentucky agencies are: Big Sandy Area Community Action Program. Counties: Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin and Pike. http://bsacap.org. 606-789-3641. Counties: Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin and Pike. http://bsacap.org. 606-789-3641. Gateway Community Action Agency. Counties: Bath, Menifee, Morgan, Montgomery and Rowan. http://gatewaycaa.org. 606-743-3133. Counties: Bath, Menifee, Morgan, Montgomery and Rowan. http://gatewaycaa.org. 606-743-3133. LKLP Community Action Council. Counties: Knott, Leslie, Letcher and Perry. http://www.lklp.org. 606-436-8853. Counties: Knott, Leslie, Letcher and Perry. http://www.lklp.org. 606-436-8853. Middle Kentucky Community Action Partnership. Counties: Breathitt, Lee, Owsley and Wolfe. http://www.mkcap.org. 606-666-2452. Counties: Breathitt, Lee, Owsley and Wolfe. http://www.mkcap.org. 606-666-2452. Northeast Kentucky Community Action Agency. Counties: Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Lawrence and Greenup. http://nkcaa.net. 606-286-4443. Kentucky Power customers who receive assistance will be enrolled in the budget billing option called Average Monthly Payment (AMP). AMP is 12-month average bill to even out bill spikes. The average residential Kentucky Power customer uses about 1,300 kWh a month with an average bill of about $168 a month, or about $5.40 a day. "Overall, our residential rates have stabilized and bills are down for the average customer," Satterwhite said. "However, there are customers who need help and both HEART and THAW will assist many families. The most important thing customers who are experiencing difficulties can do is contact us or their local Community Action Agency. We make every effort to assist all customers." Kentucky Power, with headquarters in Ashland, provides electric service to about 168,000 customers in 20 eastern Kentucky counties, including Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Clay, Elliott, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Morgan, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Rowan. Kentucky Power is an operating company in the American Electric Power system, one of the largest electric utilities in the U.S., delivering electricity and custom energy solutions to 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. Rockville, MD, USA, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) today announced the recipients of its 2018 Community Leadership Award. They are: Lena Cordie, president, Qualitas Professional Services, and Alan McEmber, MS, RAC, head, therapeutic area regulatory strategy, Shire. The Community Leadership Award recognizes RAPS members who have helped build thriving local networks, supported fellow regulatory professionals and acted as RAPS ambassadors. Cordie and McEmber will be honored and receive their awards next week during RAPS annual Regulatory Convergence conference, being held in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Community is the essence of RAPS, and dedicated members like Lena Cordie and Alan McEmber, help make our community the vital, passionate and supportive one that it isfrom the local on up to the global level, said RAPS Executive Director Paul Brooks. Their commitment not only to their own professional excellence, but also to their fellow regulatory professionals, is what makes them exemplary leaders. Under Lena Cordies leadership as chair of the RAPS Twin Cities Chapter, the chapter was completely revitalized, quickly becoming among RAPS most active and successful. One of her key contributions was to develop relationships with Minneapolis-area universities to engage students in chapter activities. Cordie also has taken on leadership roles in RAPS UK Local Networking Group and RAPS Roadshow events. She sits on the RAPS European Council, and has been an enthusiastic participant in RAPS global planning meetings. In addition, she often generously shares her subject matter knowledge on Regulatory Exchange, RAPS online community for members. Alan McEmber has been volunteering and sharing his knowledge in the regulatory community for more than a decade. He has served as workshop facilitator, session leader and presenter at numerous RAPS annual meetings. Throughout his career, McEmber has trained and mentored many junior regulatory professionals as part of formal and informal training within the companies he has worked for, and through several professional organizations, including RAPS. He co-developed coursework and served as lecturer of biotechnology and regulatory at Columbia University and as a guest lecturer at Stoney Brook University, Manhattan. Reporters, bloggers and other members of the media who wish to cover all or part of the RAPS Regulatory Convergence should contact Zachary Brousseau, senior manager, communications, RAPS, at zbrousseau@raps.org. On-site registration also will be available for media with valid press credentials or a letter from an assigning editor. About RAPS The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) is the largest global organization of and for those involved with the regulation of healthcare and related products, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biologics and nutritional products. Founded in 1976, RAPS helped establish the regulatory profession and continues to actively support the professional and lead the profession as a neutral, non-lobbying nonprofit organization. RAPS offers education and training, professional standards, publications, research, knowledge sharing, networking, career development opportunities and other valuable resources, including Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC), the only post-academic professional credential to recognize regulatory excellence. RAPS is headquartered in suburban Washington, DC, with chapters and affiliates worldwide. www.RAPS.org ### Attachment UCOM keeps on supporting the 42 YEREVAN programming school Recognizing the One-Year Anniversary of the Ceasefire Declaration Between Armenia and Azerbaijan They should not be positioned near civilian communities neither in Armenia nor in Artsakh Humanitarian and human rights protection needed following the 2020 outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh Google Ad Galaxy Group of Companies expands its activities in Belarus: a new TIME and Pandora store launched I think its a good moment to invest in Armenia. Head of Markets at Symbiotics Vincent Lehner Ameriabank has Raised USD 17.5M Tier 2 Capital UNIGHT TO UNITE. UCOM CELEBRATED ITS REBIRTH Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees Ameriabank. 62.5% Growth in Taxes YOY Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans have provided 300 million AMD to overcome the infertility in Armenia UCOM has officially launched the sale of IPHONE 13 Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to Positive Ararat Mirzoyan to visit to Minsk Foreign Minister of India visits the Memorial of Armenian Genocide Google Ad 1217 new cases Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group At UCOM only: Tv sets at 10% discount + 1 month free UMIX package + 4k tv channel Ameriabanks Special Offer for New Clients of Hrazdan Branch "Fall forward": Gurgen Khachatryan, the Co-Founder of the Galaxy Group of Companies, addressed a message to young people in Armenia UCOM hosted interns of Russian CBOSS corporation for a month The 20-episode Bloody bet thriller to be broadcast on Ucom's Armenia Premium TV channel Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group UCOM offers affordable gadgets at bigger discount Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to New York Governments preventing publication of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper during state of emergency UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers UCOM keeps on supporting the 42 YEREVAN programming school Recognizing the One-Year Anniversary of the Ceasefire Declaration Between Armenia and Azerbaijan They should not be positioned near civilian communities neither in Armenia nor in Artsakh Humanitarian and human rights protection needed following the 2020 outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh Galaxy Group of Companies expands its activities in Belarus: a new TIME and Pandora store launched I think its a good moment to invest in Armenia. Head of Markets at Symbiotics Vincent Lehner Ameriabank has Raised USD 17.5M Tier 2 Capital UNIGHT TO UNITE. UCOM CELEBRATED ITS REBIRTH Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees Ameriabank. 62.5% Growth in Taxes YOY Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans have provided 300 million AMD to overcome the infertility in Armenia UCOM has officially launched the sale of IPHONE 13 Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to Positive Ararat Mirzoyan to visit to Minsk Foreign Minister of India visits the Memorial of Armenian Genocide Google Ad 1217 new cases Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group At UCOM only: Tv sets at 10% discount + 1 month free UMIX package + 4k tv channel Ameriabanks Special Offer for New Clients of Hrazdan Branch "Fall forward": Gurgen Khachatryan, the Co-Founder of the Galaxy Group of Companies, addressed a message to young people in Armenia UCOM hosted interns of Russian CBOSS corporation for a month The 20-episode Bloody bet thriller to be broadcast on Ucom's Armenia Premium TV channel Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group UCOM offers affordable gadgets at bigger discount Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan will pay a working visit to New York Governments preventing publication of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper during state of emergency UCOM prolongs the unlimited internet offer for the level up 4700 and level up 5500 subscribers Statement of civil society organizations condemning military aggression of Azerbaijan against civilians and especially children living in the borderline communities of Armenia During the period of September 13-17, 2018 the armed forces of Azerbaijan started again the shooting of Armenian villages from large-scale weapons: Chinary, Baghanis, Koti, Vazashen, Voskevan, Berkaber,Aygehovit, Voskepar located in Tavushprovince and Areni village in Vayots Dzor province. In Chinary village in result of the shooting the local kindergarten was damaged, likewise its protective wall and households. In Koti village a senior civilian (Suren Sepkanian) was wounded, numerous households were damaged, the buildings of schools and kindergartens bear multiple marks of bullets. The video footage from Vazashen village reveals the fact that the shootings happened during the daytime when children were outside or were in schools and kindergartens. These acts point out the fact that shootings targeted civilians and children in particular, with an aim to destroy them and cause atmosphere of panic and horror. Particularly, within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States Parties should respect the norms of International Humanitarian Law in the event of armed conflict involving children. Moreover, not only children are specifically protected under the rules of International Humanitarian Law, but all seizure of, destruction or willful damage done to educational institutions is forbidden, and also subject to proper legal proceedings. Noteworthy, Armenia in 2017 joined the Safe Schools Declaration that urges states to protect educational institutions from military offense and the use of armed forces against them. Accordingly, Armenia, along with 81 other states signatories of the declaration, gives importance to the protection of children, students and teachers during armed conflicts and condemns any military actions against schools and educational facilities. It should be mentioned, that in May 2017, the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, and later the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflicts and the Human Rights High Commissioner urged all Member States to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration in their report to the United Nations Security Council on protection of civilians in armed conflict. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan has not joined the Safe Schools Declaration up until now, thus displaying its attitude towards the values adopted and protected by international community. We strongly condemn any acts of violence of armed forces towards civilian population and especially children and call international community to evaluate these violations and leverage legal means to demonstrate anti-humanistic nature of such policy. At the same time, we reinstate our commitment to work for the wellbeing of children and their safe life. CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bengal Energy Ltd. (TSX: BNG) ("Bengal") is pleased to announce that the nominees listed in the information circular proxy statement dated August 20, 2018 were elected as directors of Bengal. The detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at its annual meeting of shareholders on September 27, 2018 in Calgary, Alberta are set out below. Election of Directors On a vote by ballot, each of the following seven nominees proposed by management was elected as a director of Bengal: Nominee Votes For Votes Withheld Ian J. Towers 44,230,478 8,792,759 Chayan Chakrabarty 45,080,371 7,942,866 Peter D. Gaffney 45,060,671 7,962,566 James B. Howe 45,082,371 7,940,866 Brian J. Moss 44,232,478 8,790,759 Robert D. Steele 45,082,371 7,940,866 W.B. (Bill) Wheeler 52,722,303 300,934 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Bengal Energy Ltd. Chayan Chakrabarty, President & Chief Executive Officer Matthew Moorman, Chief Financial Officer Phone: (403) 205-2526 Email: investor.relations@bengalenergy.ca Website: www.bengalenergy.ca The business court, taking into account the position of the Supreme Court, on September 20 annulled its decision to collect $5.3 million (UAH 134.4 million) of a debt to TAScombank from Ukrzaliznytsia under a loan agreement with Donetsk Railways and obliged the bank to return the money, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) reported on Wednesday. "The court applied overturning of execution of the decision and obliged the claimant to return the funds it had received," the PGO said. The PGO said that the office joined the bank's case against Ukrzaliznytsia in 2017 and achieved the annulment of the decision of the business court, which was upheld by the appeal court, by the Supreme Court of Ukraine. "The prosecutor in the new trial by the court of lower instance proved the groundlessness of the claims and the lack of legal grounds for collecting debts from Ukrzaliznytsia on the loan obligations of the enterprise located in the territory beyond Ukraine's control," the PGO said. Earlier, Ukrzaliznytsia repeatedly said that the state-owned enterprise Donetsk Railways remains a legal entity and is not excluded from the public register, therefore, the legal succession in material legal relations for PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia after Donetsk Railways has not arrived. UN should not be silent when a veto country violates its charter and principles - Poroshenko Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that the silence of the UN when a veto country in the organization violates its charter and principles is unacceptable. "The UN shall not be silent when the values and principles rooted in its Charter and the entire body of international law are being violated by a veto country," Poroshenko said at the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. He stressed that there was an opinion that the respect for peace was a constant given. However, appeasement and quick fixes to difficult problems have proven to be a false option, and now the aggressor continues its destructive policy, Poroshenko added. According to the president, silence is exactly what the Kremlin weaponizes against Ukraine and, ultimately, against the whole international community. Poroshenko added that in the absence of a strong and united reaction, "such extremely irresponsible and selfish actor resorts to the tactic of further escalation, creating new crises, raising the stakes, blackmailing other countries and even entire international organizations." The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has approved a draft resolution recognizing the 1932-1933 Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people, Ukraine's Embassy in the U.S. has said on Facebook. The draft resolution condemns the systematic violations of human rights, including the right to self-determination and freedom of expression, committed by the Soviet government against the Ukrainian people. Deepest condolences are expressed to the victims, those who survived the famine, and their families, as well as a call is made for the dissemination of information to raise awareness in the world about the artificial nature of this tragedy," the embassy said. The resolution, sponsored by more than two dozen senators, was submitted on March 14 by a group of senators from the Republican and Democratic parties, led by co-chairs of the group of friendship with Ukraine in the U.S. Senate, Robert Portman and Richard Durbin. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's Spokesman Svyatoslav Tsegolko said on Facebook the resolution is "one more example of strategic partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine." Poroshenko on September 26 thanked the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States for their work with the U.S. Senate on the Holodomor resolution. U.S. House of Representatives approves draft Pentagon budget allocating $250 mln to Ukraine for defense purposes The U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Senate's 2019 draft budget for the U.S. Defense Department that allocates $250 million to Ukraine for enhancing security, according to Ukraine's U.S. embassy. "The House of Representatives approved the draft National Defense Authorization Act for 2019, previously agreed with the Senate, which provides $250 million to help Ukraine in the security sphere," the embassy said. According to the NDAA, the funds are allocated for military exercises, provision of military equipment, lethal weapons and logistics support, replacement of previously provided weapons or military goods. The list of types of assistance also includes intelligence support for Ukraine's Armed Forces and security services. Poroshenko calls on UNGA to adopt resolution on observance of human rights in Crimea Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution on the observance of human rights in Russian-occupied Crimea. "I call upon UN Member States to strengthen their efforts in demanding respect for human rights in the temporarily occupied Crimea through the adoption of the respective UNGA resolution," he said at the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. He noted that since the first day of the illegal occupation of Crimea, Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians had faced repressions and discrimination and that there were many cases of murders, tortures, harassment and arrests under fabricated charges. "The list of hostages and victims of the Russian occupation regime in Crimea is getting longer almost every day," Poroshenko said. According to him, Ukrainians or Crimean Tatars are unfoundedly accused of committing various crimes. Poroshenko recalled that Crimean farmer Volodymyr Balukh had been arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for raising a Ukrainian flag upon his private residence, whereas Crimean film director Oleh Sentsov remains behind the bars in a remote penal colony in northern Russia serving a 20-years prison term on fabricated charges. He thanked the world community for support and unity in the effort to help free fighters for freedom. "Unfortunately, Kremlin remains blind and deaf to these appeals of the international community," Poroshenko said. He stressed that there are also dozens of Ukrainians held by the occupants in Donbas since the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014. According to the president, all Ukrainian proposals to exchange the Russian citizens convicted for crimes against Ukraine's sovereignt Ukraine's SBU Security Service is investigating criminal proceedings on the receipt of Hungarian citizenship by citizens of Ukraine. Obtaining dual citizenship entails deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said. "The SBU is conducting an investigation, and we are in charge of procedural supervision. Obtaining dual citizenship is strictly forbidden under Ukraine's Constitution. There can be no two interpretations. If there is evidence of dual citizenship, it should be punished," Lutsenko told journalists in Kyiv on Thursday. He said action will be taken if the SBU establishes "cases involving mayors, governors, ministers, pensioners or servicemen." Ukrainian media earlier reported information about the issuance of Hungarian passports to Ukrainian citizens at the Hungarian consulate in Berehove in Zakarpattia region. A video clip was published showing persons taking an oath calling Hungary their homeland, as well as pledging to serve the country. Media said Hungarian diplomats urged those gathered not to inform Ukrainian state agencies that they obtained Hungarian citizenship. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin discussed the issue with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in the United States on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Klimkin said they discussed in detail what is happening at the Hungarian consulate in Berehove, but Szijjarto disagreed about violations committed by the Hungarian consul. Sentsov on initial list of candidates for 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who is serving 20 years in prison in Russia on terrorism charges, has been included in the preliminary list of candidates for the European Parliament's 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The presentation of the nominees for the award was held at a joint meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and Development and the Subcommittee on Human Rights in Brussels on Thursday. Sentsov was nominated by the European Parliament's largest political faction, the European People's Party (EPP). Factions and groups of deputies in the European Union have put forward eight people and non-governmental organizations as candidates for this year's prize, which is intended to honor those who defend democracy and basic rights around the world. Following debate, all eight were included in the initial list. It was announced that a shortlist of three candidates will be determined through a vote at a similar joint meeting on October 9. German side stands for Russia's return to PACE, but 'not at any cost' Ariev Head of Ukraine's permanent delegation to the PACE Volodymyr Ariev, after meetings with the deputies of the Bundestag (Germany), has said that the German side is in favor of returning the Russian Federation to PACE. "The situation in the PACE and the Council of Europe was discussed in general. The Germans believe that Russia needs to be returned to the PACE, but they doubt whether it should be done at any cost. That is, everything is complicated, but not hopeless," he wrote on Facebook page after meetings in Berlin on Thursday. According to Ariev, the German side is ready to "hear the Ukrainian position." "We will continue the dialogue," the deputy added. In 2014, the delegation of the Russian Federation due to the situation around Ukraine was deprived of its basic rights - the right to vote, in the Assembly's governing structures and its observation missions. In response, Russian parliamentarians refused to attend PACE's sessions. On Friday, September 28, at 12.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "The Presidential Autumn: Start, Tracks, Trends." Participants include Director of Ukraine's Institute for Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov, expert of the Gardarika Strategic Consulting Corporation Kostiantyn Matviyenko, and Director of the Ukrainian Barometer Sociological Service Viktor Nebozhenko (8/5-A Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. On Monday, October 1, at 10.30, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference on the introduction of telemedicine and tele-radiological technologies in the diagnosis of cancer diseases in Kirovohrad region at the Kirovohrad Regional Oncological Dispensary. Participants include a people's deputy of Ukraine, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Health Kostiantyn Yarynych, Executive Director of Medstar-Solutions Ltd Anton Ivankin (8/5-A Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation. More information by phone: (067) 719-94-44. WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Smithfield Foods, Inc. donated more than 35,000 pounds of protein to the Capital Area Food Bank and DC Central Kitchen. Smithfields contribution was part of the companys 2018 Helping Hungry Homes donation tour. Now in the programs 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes is Smithfields signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. The donation, equivalent to more than 140,000 servings, will help families fight hunger in the DC metro area. Food has the power to nourish today and to transform lives tomorrow, said Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of Capital Area Food Bank. Were incredibly grateful to collaborate with partners who share a deep commitment to relieving hunger for people in our local community, and to see a generous donation like this one from Smithfield make its way to the tables of those who need it. Smithfield presented the donation to the Capital Area Food Bank and DC Central Kitchen at an event this morning. Members of each organization discussed food insecurity in the local community and the significance of this donation, which will provide protein to food insecure individuals across the area. Volunteers from each organization prepared 5,000 healthy meals, which will be delivered to more than 80 homeless shelters and other nonprofit partners across the city. In addition to preparing the barbeque-style meal with DC Central Kitchen, local chefs Kwame Onwuachi and Alex McCoy attended the event and led a training course for students in DC Central Kitchens culinary job training program on the various methods of cooking protein. Protein is a center-of-the-plate item we are always in need of to provide wholesome meals to those we serve, said Mike Curtin, Jr., CEO of DC Central Kitchen. We are incredibly thankful for this donation that will allow us to prepare nutritious meals for our partner nonprofits so they can focus on supporting their clients and addressing the barriers that left them hungry in the first place. This is the 45th large scale protein donation made by Smithfield to food banks across the country during its 2018 Helping Hungry Homes tour. Since the programs inception in 2008, Smithfield has provided more than 100 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster relief efforts, and community outreach programs nationwide. Smithfield is in the business of feeding people, and we are proud to witness our hunger-relief efforts come to fruition with the help of our community partners, said Jonathan Toms, associate manager of charitable initiatives for Smithfield Foods. Its humbling to work with the local advocates who are a part of this donation. Its their support that allows us to make a positive impact on this community and helps us to further our cause to alleviate hunger across the country. For more information about Smithfield Foods Helping Hungry Homes initiative and a list of upcoming donation events, visit helpinghungryhomes.com . About Smithfield Foods Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, Farmer John, Kretschmar, John Morrell, Cook's, Gwaltney, Carando, Margherita, Curly's, Healthy Ones, Morliny, Krakus and Berlinki. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com , and connect with us on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn . About Capital Area Food Bank The Capital Area Food Bank is the largest organization in the Washington metro area working to solve hunger and its companion problems: chronic undernutrition, heart disease and obesity. By partnering with nearly 450 community organizations in DC, Maryland and Virginia, as well as delivering food directly into hard to reach areas, the CAFB is helping 540,000 people each year get access to good, healthy food. Thats 12 percent of our regions mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and grandparents. To learn more, visit capitalareafoodbank.org , or find the Capital Area Food Bank on Facebook at facebook.com/CapitalAreaFoodBank / CapitalAreaFoodBankEnEspanol ; Twitter at @foodbankmetrodc / @cafb_es ; and Instagram at @CapitalAreaFoodBank . About DC Central Kitchen As the nations first and leading community kitchen, DC Central Kitchen develops and operates social ventures targeting the cycle of hunger and poverty. The organizations life-changing ventures provide culinary training to jobless adults, turn wasted food into balanced meals for shelters and nonprofits, expand access to healthy food, and provide healthy, scratch-cooked meals in low-income schools. These efforts have been recognized with the leading national award for healthy school food innovation, The Golden Carrot ; the Washington Business Journals Green Business Award for Innovation; and the DC Chamber of Commerces Community Impact Award. To learn more, visit www.dccentralkitchen.org or follow @dcck on Twitter . Media Contacts: Dalton Agency for Smithfield Jana Beasley (904) 534-8568 jbeasley@daltonagency.com Capital Area Food Bank Hilary Salmon (202) 644-9864 hshsalmon@capitalareafoodbank.org DC Central Kitchen Erica Teti-Zilinskas (202) 664-7949 eteti@dccentralkitchen.org A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c3a7e762-6aa2-4d7f-8a3c-1e16f0996071 KYIV. Sept 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) The Eastern Ukrainian Community Initiatives Center, (a member of the coalition of human rights organizations Justice for Peace in Donbas) and FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights) have submitted a motion on sexual violence during the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine to the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). "This contains about a hundred pages of text that we sent to the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court within the framework of the official procedure the day before yesterday," Chairman of the NGO East Ukrainian Center of Public Initiatives Volodymyr Shcherbachenko said at a press conference in the press center of the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Thursday. The submitted document refers to the preliminary examination of the situation in Ukraine over the past three years. Also, the document contains 58 testimonies of people who saw the facts of sexual violence or were themselves the object of such violence. Based on the documented and analyzed material, human rights defenders identified 121 illegal places of freedom deprivation in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas, in particular 40 places where facts of sexual violence were confirmed. Among them, there are places where violence was systemic in nature. In particular, it is about the former premises of the SBU in occupied Donetsk, the premises of the former department of Nova Poshta No. 22 in Donetsk, the military base in the "Motel" area in Donetsk, the UBOP (Organized Crime Division) in occupied Horlivka, garages near the "Kohana" store in Luhansk, hostel of the Dahl University, the former premises of Zhovtneva district administration in Luhansk. FDIH and the Eastern Ukrainian Community Initiatives Center report that they collected facts that confirm that sexual violence was carried out in the context of an armed conflict in eastern Ukraine or as part of a systematic attack on the civilian population. According to Natalia Hrytsenko, a researcher at the NGO East Ukrainian Center of Public Initiatives, it deals with such sexual crimes as rape, coercion to prostitution, coercion to nudity, and others. This appeal is aimed at persuading the prosecutor to conduct a full investigation of sexual crimes within the framework of the statute of the International Criminal Court. The International Chamber of Commerce Ukraine (ICC Ukraine) jointly the Internet portal "Ukraine in Arabic" have released the first issue of the magazine "Ukraine in Arabic The Economic Herald" in the Arabic language. The next issue will be available in January, and subsequently the magazine will be published quarterly, the publishers of the magazine said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday. It is expected that the publication will be distributed through diplomatic offices of Ukraine in Arab countries, embassies of Arab countries accredited in Ukraine and chambers of commerce and industries of the 22 members of the League of Arab States. The participants in the conference say that the assistance of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in distributing the magazine was stipulated in the protocol of a workshop on February 21, 2018, on cooperation with the countries of Africa and the Middle East. Group Stanley LLC and GSP LLC were engaged in the production of the magazine. In addition, financial support for the first issue was provided by Ukreximbank, SPE 5 Element LLC, Rubizhne cardboard packaging mill, Maximer LLC, IT Lynx, Managing Company "Wind Parks of Ukraine," PTG, GSP Group. Earlier, ICC Ukraine indicated that the circulation of the publication would be 1,000 copies. According to the "Ukraine in Arabic" portal, the Ukrainian-Arabic site was founded in September 2003. It became the "Ukraine in Arabic" information portal in December 2011. The website is funded through NGO "Ukraine in Arabic." Mokhammad Faradzhallakh is the head of the NGO and editor-in-chief of the portal. Almost 25 years after the bombing of a Jewish Center in Buenos Aires, Argentinas President Mauricio Macri has asked friendly countries not to receive or protect or grant diplomatic immunity to any of the Islamic Republic officials who have an international arrest warrant out in their name. During his speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this week, President Macri insisted on his unrelenting commitment to bringing those guilty to justice, adding, Our country will not cease in its objective to interrogate and eventually sentence all the people who are involved in the attack. He also asked Iran to cooperate with Argentine authorities to allow the investigation of the attack to move forward. In this regard, given that next year will be the 25th anniversary of the attack ...in Argentina, I should like to, once again, ask the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate with Argentine judicial authority, so as to advance the investigation into the most brutal attack we have suffered on our territory, President Macri noted. Stressing the necessity of bringing to justice all international criminal fugitives, Argentine President said, Our country will not waiver from its goal of bringing all those involved in these attacks to Argentinian courts, so they can be tried and ultimately sentenced. Directly addressing all countries friendly to Argentina, President Macri also reiterated the Buenos Aires requests to be assisted by avoiding hosting or sheltering any one of those accused; for whom international arrest warrants, on red part have been issued. During two deadly explosions in front of Israels embassy (1992) and the community center, Argentinian Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), (1994) in Argentinas capital, Buenos Aires, at least 107 were killed and hundreds more injured. The AMIA attack alone left at least 85 dead. Following primary investigations, Argentine judicial authorities pointed the finger at the Islamic Republic and accused Tehran of being the mastermind behind the deadly AMIA attack. Immediately, several Iranian officials, including Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ali Akbar Velayati, who were respectively the President and Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic at the time. Years later, international arrest warrants were issued for all the Iranians accused of being involved in the deadly terrorist action in Buenos Aires. However, Tehran has repeatedly denied and dismissed the accusation as baseless. Responding to President Macris annual speech at UNGA, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Iran strongly condemns the terrorist acts anywhere, and in any form, maintaining that Tehran has repeatedly condemned the AMIA bombing in Argentina and has sympathized with the families of the victims. Bahram Ghassemi, rejected President Macris comments and described it as a distortion of the facts. Since 2006 when the international warrants were issued, none of the accused have left Iran, save Ali Akbar Velayati who is currently the senior advisor of the Islamic Republics Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for international affairs. Velayati, Foreign Minister at the time of the AMIA attack, travelled to Moscow last July to deliver Khameneis personal message to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. As soon as Velayatis scheduled visit was announced, an Argentine federal judge, Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, investigating the 1994 Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish center bombing asked Russian officials to arrest him. Nevertheless, President Putin decided to ignore the demand. In 2016, ahead of another Velayati trip, Argentina made requests for his arrest to Singapore and Malaysia but was not successful. According to Israeli sources, Iran also is believed to be behind the 1992 car bombing that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring 242. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: New leadership of Armenia demonstrates reluctance in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by making contradictory statements, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said. Mammadyarov made the remarks at the Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Upholding the UN Charter and the purposes and principles of the NAM: towards a culture of peace in New York. The established principle of the inadmissibility of the use of force for acquisition of territory and the ensuing obligation of non-recognition of situations resulting from serious violations of international law must be applied and enforced universally and unconditionally, the minister added. Azerbaijans position with regard to this issue is well known, coming from its experience of facing armed aggression, ethnic cleansing and unlawful foreign military occupation, he said. Regretfully, I dont have any good news to share concerning the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said. New leadership of Armenia demonstrates reluctance in the settlement of the conflict by making contradictory and irresponsible statements, Mammadyarov said. Such provocative approach will definitely not serve for the positive developments in the negotiations process and will only worsen already fragile situation on the ground. We call upon international community to send a strong message to Armenia to act in accordance with international law and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions adopted with regard to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the minister added. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 79 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Sept. 27. Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen in New York on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said in a message on Sept. 27. Broad exchange of views on the OIC-Azerbaijan relations and further development of cooperation, the OIC Contact Group on the aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan and actions to be taken in this framework, as well as the increasing role of the OIC as an important strategic partner of the UN on maintaining global peace and security were held between the sides. Mammadyarov also met with United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Erlan Abdyldaev and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Honduras Maria Dolores Aguero Lara. During the meetings the sides exchanged their views on the prospects of cooperation development, the issues of mutual cooperation and support within the international organizations, as well as the agenda of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: On Sept. 26, the Azerbaijani delegation at the General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly made a statement in response to the speech of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, which has been occupied by Armenia since 1994, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry said in a message Sept. 27. The initial impression is that the speaker, still under the influence of what he calls Velvet revolution and driven by populist and highly contradicting rhetoric, confused the General Assembly of the United Nations with the streets in Gyumri and Yerevan, reads the statement. While the prime minister of Armenia was not fastidious in his choice of words to blame the ousted government of his country for authoritarian rule, corruption and suppression of democracy and human rights, his comments about the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan differed little from the phraseology that has been stubbornly used by his predecessors in the past, the statement said. As a result, the statement of the Armenian prime minister has become yet another useless attempt to deny the facts and responsibility for unleashing the war against Azerbaijan and its devastating consequences. It is well-known that Armenia used military force to seize a part of the territory of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the seven adjacent districts and some exclaves, and to set up the subordinate racist minority regime there, the Azerbaijani delegation said in its statement. The war waged by Armenia claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, ruined cities, towns and villages and resulted in the forcible expulsion of more than 1 million Azerbaijanis from their homes and properties, while thousands of people went missing in connection with the conflict. The claims and misinterpretations that we have witnessed in the statement of the Armenian prime minister are particularly astonishing as they sound in the United Nations, whose Security Council adopted four resolutions, condemning the use of force against Azerbaijan and the bombardment and occupation of its territories and reaffirming respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the inviolability of international borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for the acquisition of territory, reads the statement. Furthermore, in response to Armenias territorial claims and forcible actions, the Council reconfirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories. In other words, in the resolutions, the Security Council acknowledged the fact that acts of military force were committed against Azerbaijan; that such acts are unlawful and incompatible with the prohibition of the use of armed force in international relations and in contradiction with the Charter of the United Nations and its purposes; and that they constitute an obvious violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the statement said. No surprise that, in his speech, the prime minister of Armenia deliberately didn't mention the resolutions of the Security Council. He also omitted to mention other important international documents adopted in connection with the conflict. The declared commitments and deeds of Armenia have always been at odds with the objective of the peaceful settlement of the conflict, reads the statement. The statement by the prime minister of Armenia is no exception. In reality, having used military force to occupy the territory of a sovereign state, Armenia has demonstrated its firm conviction in the existence of an alternative to a political solution. Allegations about a new mythical genocide threat against the Armenian people represent another falsehood, according to the statement. Unlike Armenia, which has implemented a policy of total ethnic cleansing of both its own territory and the occupied territories of Azerbaijan of all non-Armenians, Azerbaijan has preserved its ethnic and cultural diversity to the present day and is a home to tens of thousands of Armenians living in peace, harmony and dignity in the capital city of Baku and other parts of the country, reads the statement. All statements by the Armenian leadership about democracy, human rights and the peaceful settlement of the conflict are preposterous and will remain mere words unless they are translated into real action that would put an end to the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan and ensure the return of the forcibly displaced Azerbaijanis to their homes and properties in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other occupied districts of Azerbaijan in safety and dignity. The achievement of that objective, which is imperative and not compromise, will create the necessary conditions for addressing other issues with direct, equal and full participation of both communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region within the constitutional and legal framework of Azerbaijan, the statement said. Armenias annexationist and colonization policy has no chance of succeeding. The Nagorno-Karabakh region has always been and will remain an inseparable part of Azerbaijan. The military occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan is temporary and will never produce a political outcome desired by Armenia. Yerevan must drop its futile attempts to mislead its own people and the international community, engage constructively in the conflict settlement process and comply with its international obligations. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 28 Trend: Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov had meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius in New York on the margins of the UN GA 73rd session, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry told Trend. The sides had broad exchange of views over the bilateral cooperative relations and discussed the issues of mutual interest of the agenda of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Jani Babayeva Trend: Azerbaijan will hold the Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts and Spirituality for the first time on September 27-30. The festival, dedicated to the work of Imadaddin Nasimi (1369-1417), one of the brilliant poets and thinkers of the East, has been organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and is supported by Azerbaijans Ministry of Culture. The program of the festival is full of bright events and interesting projects. Participants of the 9th international festival of arts, Qiz Qalasi (Maiden Tower), held in the ancient part of Baku, Icheri Sheher (Inner City), on the square in front of the Maiden Tower have created the artworks reflecting Nasimis creative activity, philosophy and works. The Maiden Tower Festival has been held since 2010. The aim of the project is to promote in the world the Maiden Tower situated in the territory of Icheri Sheher, which is considered a symbol of Baku and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000. Artists from different countries, participating in the festival, paint on dummies of the Maiden Tower. These unique artworks, which are demonstrated in various cities around the world, play an important role in the popularization of the Maiden Tower, which is a historical and architectural monument of Azerbaijan. This year 17 artists take part in the festival. They started painting on the models of the Maiden Tower with great interest, creating extraordinary masterpieces. The artists will paint on models in the open air for a few days. Their work attracts attention and delights passers-by, including residents of the city and numerous tourists. Narmina Valiyeva, a participant of the project, said: I participate for the first time in the Maiden Tower festival. This years event is part of the Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts, Spirituality, so all artists have the task to create artistic compositions devoted to Nasimi. The idea of my artwork is based on the famous words of the poet: Both worlds can fit within me. My composition shows Yang and Yin (male and female principles), space, flora and fauna... the whole world, everything that God has created. Nasimi is one of my favorite philosophers and I have already referred to his creative activity in my works. The event is held in a creative and friendly atmosphere. The participants are happy to talk about the themes of their artworks, and how they are inspired by the brilliant poet and thinker Nasimi. 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. During the festival, programs will be organized in various places in Baku, as well as in Shamakhi, the native city of the poet. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: The meetings were held at UNEC's faculties, in order to inform the academic-teaching staff about the directions of activities of the Examination Center and the improved differential wage system in the 2018/2019-th academic year. In the meeting, held with the participation of the academic-teaching staff of the Finance and Accounting faculty, the adviser to the UNEC rector Elshan Baghirzadeh gave the information on the changes, that had been made to the Regulations for the Differential Wage System based on the Assessment of the Academic activity of academic-teaching staff at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics and approved for the current academic year. Elshan Baghirzadeh noted that, the main goal of implemented changes was to achieve the strategic target of UNEC in the direction of transforming into the research university. Thus, according to the updated rules, the share of the scientific activities in the system increased from 40 percent to 70 percent, the scores given for the publication of articles in the authoritative magazines included in the Web of Science and Scopus platforms, publishing of monographs in the reputable international publishing houses, and the points for references had been significantly increased and and the publications of scientific reports on Scopus basis had been taken into consideration, as well . Ragif Gasimov, the Director of the Training Assurance and Management Center spoke about the innovations applied in the Electronic University Model. The academic-teaching staff was talked about the interface of the teachers cabinet, the process of downloading the teaching materials, the module of making appeals, the mechanism of admission of individual works, announcement and notification sections. The Deputy Director of the Training Assurance and Management Center, Sohrab Isayev spoke on the scope of activities of the Examination Center, which had been created to improve the organization of the examination process. It was noted that, the Examination Center would carry out the coordination of the examination process on the faculties, the preparation works before the examinations, the operative resolution of appeals, and compilation of reports for providing the analysis and would implement other activities, as well. SAN DIEGO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Vantara , a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), concluded its second annual user conference Hitachi NEXT 2018 . The conference was held Sept. 25-27, 2018 in San Diego at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel. With NEXT 2018, Hitachi Vantara reaffirmed its data-driven commitment to helping customers and partners maximize the value of their data through all four main solution areas: infrastructure, IoT, cloud, and big data and analytics. Attendees learned about Hitachi Vantaras new product updates and experienced high-energy keynotes from best-selling author and top global thinker Malcolm Gladwell, innovation leader and futurethink CEO Lisa Bodell, and numerous Hitachi executives and customers. In more than 50 breakout and spotlight sessions, attendees learned about products and services from Hitachi Vantara and its partners. Several of the breakout and spotlight sessions were recorded for on-demand viewing. These recordings, along with recordings of General Sessions, will be available at HitachiNEXT.com . Introducing New Technologies Attendees got a sneak peek at exciting new technologies in development: new purpose-built FPGAs, which are silicon devices for optimizing performance of massive-scale data lake processing requirements; neural network storage research that introduces unprecedented data management and reduction; a new approach to machine learning model management that accelerates the delivery of new analytic outcomes into applications, chatbots and SaaS services that power todays business and consumer applications; and an advanced, 3D-motion LiDAR-based analytics platform that captures and analyzes real-time movements of inventories, persons and objects for security enhancement, retail and marketing analysis, warehouse and manufacturing, and care facilities and hospitals. Hitachi Transformation Awards Peoples Choice Winner NEXT 2018 attendees and the general public were encouraged to vote for their favorite story from the Hitachi Transformation Awards winners. NASA Johnson Space Center, State of Andhra Pradesh and Smart Payments by Nets won awards based on the substantial business outcomes they have achieved through accelerating business transformation, improving user experience, innovating with data and using the internet of things (IoT). The votes were tallied and the Peoples Choice Award went to State of Andhra Pradesh Real Time Governance. State of Andhra Pradesh Real Time Governance : With a people-first motto, the government of Andhra Pradesh, India strives to provide an agile and efficient public service delivery system benefitting nearly 50 million citizens in a 360-degree life cycle approach through its Real Time Governance (RTG) initiative. With the help of Real Time Governance, Andhra Pradesh can now swiftly resolve citizen grievances and monitor infrastructure projects, incidents, weather and climatic events across the state in real time, leveraging technology services. RTG is able to analyze big data sets gathered from various sources with the help of Hitachi to make insightful decisions that vibrantly transform citizen services. Keeping technology in its mind and citizen centricity in its heart, Real Time Governance is set to revolutionize governance in Andhra Pradesh, catalyzing government operations to create a safer, more efficient and sustainable society. Additionally, Hitachi Vantara celebrated the winners of the NEXT 2018 Partner Awards. The five award winners were selected from over 25 nominations. These partners were acknowledged for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions in four categories based on Hitachi Vantara technologies: Best Collaboration/Teamwork IT Novum for BVA HCL Excellence in IoT Consiliant Technologies for City of Las Vegas, City of Dublin and Yale New Haven Health Most Innovative Solution Cognizant for Centrica Enterprise Transformation Hitachi Vantara would like to thank the sponsors of NEXT 2018: Diamond: Intel Intel Platinum: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Arrow Electronics, DXC Technology, Google Cloud and VMware Amazon Web Services (AWS), Arrow Electronics, DXC Technology, Google Cloud and VMware Gold: Atos, Cisco and Veritas Atos, Cisco and Veritas Silver: Aptare, Broadcom, Commvault, Extreme Networks, Flexential, RedHat, SUSE, Tech Data, Verizon, Virtual Instruments and Xorux Aptare, Broadcom, Commvault, Extreme Networks, Flexential, RedHat, SUSE, Tech Data, Verizon, Virtual Instruments and Xorux Virtual: Cognizant, Juniper Networks and Mesosphere Announcing Hitachi NEXT 2019 Dont miss your chance to attend next years event! Hitachi NEXT 2019 will be held Oct. 8-10, 2019 in Las Vegas. Check back here for details as they become available. Follow NEXT 2018. Join the conversation with #HitachiNEXT : About Hitachi NEXT 2018 NEXT 2018 is the premier event for the digital revolution. Its for data-driven innovators who lead transformation in their industry. They lead with clear insights drawn from their own data to make the right decisions for the best results. Data changes the way the world works, advancing business and even society itself. There can never be too much data and it can never come too quickly if organizations manage, govern, mobilize and analyze it effectively. At NEXT 2018, leaders see whats next for their data in IT, operational technology and the internet of things, from Hitachi and our many partners. They bring back insights and strategies they can use right away to transform their businesses and build them for tomorrow. At NEXT 2018, we change the way the world works. NEXT 2018 is held September 25-27 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California. For more information and to register, please visit HitachiNEXT.com . About Hitachi Vantara Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., helps data-driven leaders find and use the value in their data to innovate intelligently and reach outcomes that matter for business and society. We combine technology, intellectual property and industry knowledge to deliver data-managing solutions that help enterprises improve their customers experiences, develop new revenue streams, and lower the costs of business. Only Hitachi Vantara elevates your innovation advantage by combining deep information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and domain expertise. We work with organizations everywhere to drive data to meaningful outcomes. Visit us at www.HitachiVantara.com . Connect with Hitachi Vantara About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer societys challenges, combining its operational technology, information technology, and products/systems. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2018) totaled 9,368.6 billion yen ($88.4 billion). The Hitachi Group is an innovation partner for the IoT era, and it has approximately 307,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation with customers, Hitachi is deploying Social Innovation Business using digital technologies in a broad range of sectors, including Power/Energy, Industry/Distribution/Water, Urban Development, and Finance/Social Infrastructure/Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com . HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trademarks, service marks and company names are properties of their respective owners. MEDIA CONTACTS Amanda Lennon Hitachi Vantara Amanda.Lennon@HitachiVantara.com +1 650.703.7610 Ashley Paula Weber Shandwick for Hitachi Vantara apaula@webershandwick.com +1 415.262.5975 Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: A delegation of the senior management of CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organization), headed by Director General Jeff Poole, arrived in Baku on a working visit on September 27, the press service of Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC said in a statement. The guests got acquainted with Azerbaijan's civil aviation facilities, including the Azeraeronavigation Air Traffic Control Center, Airspace Supervision & Efficiency Center (ASEC) and the new airport complex of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport. At the meeting with AZAL President Jahangir Asgarov, the issues of holding the Global ATM Summit in Baku were discussed. Also, the parties discussed the prospects for cooperation between the Azeraeronavigation Air Traffic Control Center (AZANS) and CANSO, including the issues of joining of AZANS to the CANSO Europe Executive Committee, as well as Azerbaijani specialists participation in the working groups of the organization. Creation of CANSO joint training center and opening of air traffic control center using artificial intelligence by 2020 Summit was also discussed at the meeting. A development strategy, which is currently elaborated only until 2020, will be adopted at 2020 Sammit in Baku. Jeff Poole noted the great achievements of Azerbaijan's civil aviation, which is becoming more attractive to the global aviation community. Airlines increasingly prefer to fly over the territory of Azerbaijan, which provides a high level of flight safety thanks to the most modern system of air navigation equipment. It is forecasted that flights over Azerbaijan will increase in the following years. Following the meeting, Jahangir Asgarov and Jeff Poole signed the agreement on holding the CANSO Air Navigation Summit in Baku from June 8 to June 12, 2020. It should be noted that the candidacy of Baku to host CANSO AGM-2020 was unanimously chosen at a meeting of the Executive Committee (consists of the leaders of the FAA (US), air navigation systems of Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Argentina, civil aviation administrations of Singapore, Tanzania, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia) in Bangkok. Over 70 countries voted for the candidacy of Baku during the CANSO general meeting. The annual Global ATM Summit is one of the most prestigious events in the field of civil aviation. Over 250 participants from more than 100 countries take part at the summit. Due to its scale this event is often compared with the Olympic Games in the field of aviation. Such a large-scale and important summit in the history of Azerbaijan's civil aviation will be held for the first time in Baku. CANSO's decision to entrust the holding of the international summit of great importance in Baku is a clear indicator of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyevs constant attention and care to the civil aviation, as well as the successes achieved in this sphere. The structural subdivision of CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines - Azeraeronavigation (AZANS) is one of the key air traffic control departments linking Europe and Asia. Annually over 90,000 transit flights are carried out over the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Favorable geographical location of Azerbaijan also allowed to open the Airspace Supervision & Efficiency Center (ASEC), the only one in the former Soviet Union, in the territory of the country. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Azerbaijan is interested in further increasing trade and investments with Russia, Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said. He made the remarks Sept. 27 at an expanded meeting of the Azerbaijani-Russian and Russian-Azerbaijani business councils as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum. The minister noted that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia is based on mutual respect and good-neighborliness at the level of strategic partnership. He said that Azerbaijan and Russia are experiencing positive dynamics of the development of bilateral trade. Russia is one of the main trade partners of Azerbaijan and comprehensive measures have been recently taken to diversify the trade turnover, Mustafayev said. So far, Azerbaijan has invested over $1 billion in the Russian economy, while Russia has invested over $4 billion in the Azerbaijani economy, he added. Presently, 760 companies with Russian capital operate in Azerbaijan, he said. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkish Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan urged the US companies to invest in the Turkish economy, Turkish media reported Sept. 27. We want to see US investors in Turkey, the minister said. The minister also noted that over the past 10 years, the trade turnover between Turkey and the US has doubled and reached $20 billion. She reminded that Turkey and the US have huge potential for increasing trade turnover. On Sept. 20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following a meeting with the heads of US companies held in Ankara said that the Turkish-US relations will be strengthened through trade. "Turkey has opened its doors to all foreign investors and has implemented large-scale economic reforms over the past 16 years," Erdogan said. After the deterioration of relations between the US and Turkey, President Erdogan urged foreign companies to invest in the Turkish economy. The relations between Washington and Ankara have deteriorated recently, in particular due to the case of the American pastor Andrew Brunson, detained by the Turkish authorities in 2016. After that, President Donald Trump said that he authorized a double increase in duties on aluminum and steel exported from Turkey to the United States, to 20 and 50 percent, respectively. This decision caused the collapse of the Turkish lira to a historical minimum. The court of the Turkish city of Izmir refused again on August 17 to release from house arrest the American pastor accused of aiding terrorists. On August 1, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against the Minister of Internal Affairs of Turkey Suleyman Soylu, and Minister of Justice, Abdulhamit Gul due to the fact that Ankara did not allow Brunson to return home. The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the US decision and urged to abandon it. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: Within the framework of expanding cooperation with international financial organizations, First Deputy Chairman of the Uzbek Chamber of Commerce and Industry Islom Jasimov met with head of the delegation of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group Violane Konar-Leacy on trade policy, trade facilitation, and also regarding assisting Uzbekistan to join the World Trade Organization, Uzbek media reported. The sides discussed effectiveness of Uzbekistan's economic reforms in further liberalization of the foreign economic sphere, simplification of foreign trade procedures, and creation of favorable conditions for participants in foreign economic activities in the sphere of customs regulation of export-import transactions. During the meeting, the members of the IFC delegation were thoroughly acquainted with the activities of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan in support of business entities in the foreign economic sphere, ensuring protection of the rights and interests of entrepreneurs in front of government bodies, interaction of the Chamber with state authorities in the field of business development and creating favorable conditions for foreign economic activity. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: The Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council is ready to actively cooperate with the subjects of Russia, Council Chairman Samad Gurbanov said. He made the remarks Sept. 27 at an expanded meeting of the Azerbaijani-Russian and Russian-Azerbaijani business councils as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum. We are very pleased to be ready to establish contacts with all the subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as to stimulate the interest of Azerbaijani business circles in investing in these regions, Gurbanov said. He added that a number of major projects in the regions of Russia have been recently implemented by the members of the Council and with its direct assistance. Azerbaijani company Karat Holding commissioned a sanatorium-resort center in the Russian city of Yessentuki, and the amount of investments was $25 million, Gurbanov said. In addition, the Azerbaijani group of companies ATEF became the first foreign resident of the special economic zone Lotus in the Astrakhan region. The value of investments is about $18 million. The Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council was established in 2016. The main goal of the council is further deepening of ties in the spheres of economy and mutual investment between Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as cooperation between businessmen. To this end, the Azerbaijan-Russian Business Council closely cooperates with a similar organization of Russia, the Russia-Azerbaijan Business Council, and systematically holds joint meetings of business councils with the participation of businessmen. The previous meeting of the Azerbaijan-Russia and Russia-Azerbaijan business councils in expanded format was held in December 2017. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_Mammadov Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia in the fields of energy and industry are developing successfully, Azerbaijans Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov said. He was speaking Sept. 27 at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects of Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional forum in Baku. Industry and energy are important components that make up our countries economic relations, Safarov said. I would like to note that the relations in the sphere of industry and in the energy sphere are developing successfully. There are very good examples of bilateral cooperation. The deputy minister stressed that the Azerbaijani economy is developing very intensively and it has grown more than threefold over the past 15 years. The non-oil sector grew 2.8 times and the non-oil industry increased 2.2 times, he noted. Investment relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are developing intensively, Safarov said. Azerbaijan has invested more than $1 billion in Russias economy, and Russia has invested more than $4 billion in Azerbaijans economy. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Anvar Mammadov - Trend: The Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of Azerbaijan has managed to lay the foundation for successful cooperation with the Federal Corporation for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises of Russia (SME Corporation), Chairman of the Agency's Board Orkhan Mammadov said Sept. 27 during his speech at a panel session dedicated to "Cooperation on Small and Medium-Sized Businesses" within the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum. "We have signed a memorandum of understanding, as well as a road map, in which specific activities and deadlines for their implementation are shown. By making joint efforts, we will be able to effectively realize the potential that is laid down in the road map," Mammadov said. He noted the high level of economic cooperation with Russia and stressed the intention to further develop it. "It is enough to note that 759 companies with Russian share are functioning in Azerbaijan, which are represented in such areas as industry, construction, trade, banking and insurance, communications, transport and agriculture. Russian companies are contractors in eight state projects. Azerbaijani companies are also represented in the Russian market; today there are also the companies which are just starting to enter the Russian market," Mammadov said. He noted that the Agency plans to improve cooperation with various associations of entrepreneurs. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend: Work on the reconstruction of the Baku-Yalama railway is scheduled to begin in 2019, the chairman of the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, Javid Gurbanov told journalists on Sept. 27. "Tender documents will be signed soon. The length of the railway is about 200 kilometers. Also, work is underway to move the 313 kilometers long Baku-Astara railway, a part of which lies not far from the coast," Gurbanov said. He also said that an electric train with a speed of 159 kilometers per hour has been tested. The work on launching the Baku-Ganja electric train is underway. "The work is planned to be completed by the end of 2018. In about 10-15 days, we are planning to exhibit the trains of this route," Gurbanov added. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Matanat Nasibova - Trend: Russia and Azerbaijan will sign a veterinary agreement soon, Russian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sergey Levin told Trend on Sept. 27. "The cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan in the agricultural sector is very well developed, our trade turnover has exceeded $1 billion, which is a serious indicator of effective cooperation," he said. Levin noted that, in particular, Azerbaijan is a major supplier of fruits and vegetables to the Russian market. "Russia, in turn, is a major supplier of grain to Azerbaijan. But the prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation are great, and we are working on this issue as a ministry. In the near future, an important agreement will be signed between our countries in the field of veterinary medicine, which should significantly facilitate mutual trade in animal products. I believe that we will carry out similar work on other types of products," the deputy minister said. He expressed confidence that Azerbaijan and Russia have great prospects for further development of cooperation in trade and agriculture. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Matanat Nasibova - Trend: Russia is a major partner of Azerbaijan in all areas of agriculture, Azerbaijani Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilham Guliyev said. He made the remarks Sept. 27 at a roundtable meeting on the development of agricultural ties as part of the 9th Russia-Azerbaijan interregional forum in Baku. Azerbaijan and Russia are the closest regional partners and todays roundtable meeting will promote even greater interaction in this important area, he said. Guliyev noted that there is sufficient potential and willingness of the parties to close and long-term cooperation in this area. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend: The Russian government calls on Azerbaijan and Iran to solve the issue of connecting their railways as soon as possible to increase cargo transportation along the North-South transport corridor, Russian Presidential Aide Igor Levitin said at the round table Strengthening cooperation in the field of transport and transit shipment, held during the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional Forum in Baku Sept. 27. "The North-South transport corridor can not function in parts. We must improve the work of customs checkpoints and border guard services. It is also necessary to unify digitalization efforts. It is necessary to create a single digital consignment note along the North-South corridor, which will be accepted by all countries," Levitin said. According to Levitin, member countries of North-South need to think about more active use of sea transport. "If ships of large capacity are used, they could attract some of the road transport from other international corridors to the Caspian," the presidential aide said. The North-South transport corridor is envisaged to connect Northern Europe with South-East Asia, including the unification of Azerbaijani, Iranian and Russian railways. At the first stage, it is planned to transport six million tons of cargo per year along the corridor, and later 15-20 million. The cargo will pass through the territory of India and further through the Persian Gulf, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia towards the Scandinavian states and Northern Europe in just 14 days. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars corridor is already being used for transits from Central and South-East Asia. The cargo transported to Russia also moves along the North-South corridor, which currently connects Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia and has prospects of extension to India and the Gulf countries. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Details added (first version posted on 11:00) Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli Trend: The business councils of Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement on cooperation. The document was signed by chairmen of the Azerbaijani-Russian and Russian-Azerbaijani business councils Samad Gurbanov and Alexey Repik on the sidelines of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional forum in Baku on Sept. 27. Repik told reporters after the signing that one of the objectives of the agreement for Azerbaijan and Russia is to get formal opportunity to represent each other in their domestic markets and help solve the tasks that, for example, Azerbaijani partners in Russia have. The document is an institutional framework that creates a new system format for dialogue between the countries, he noted. Every new year, every new month, when we come here and tell about the success of certain companies, other companies draw conclusions for themselves that there are opportunities and they need to be used. Our goal is to maximize the set of proposals for the Azerbaijani market from the side of the Russian companies and for the Russian market from the Azerbaijani side, Repik said. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Details added (first version posted on 11:49) Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia in the fields of energy and industry are developing successfully, Azerbaijans Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov said. He was speaking Sept. 27 at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects of Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional forum in Baku. Industry and energy are important components that make up our countries economic relations, Safarov said. I would like to note that the relations in the sphere of industry and in the energy sphere are developing successfully. There are very good examples of bilateral cooperation. The deputy minister stressed that the Azerbaijani economy is developing very intensively and it has grown more than threefold over the past 15 years. The non-oil sector grew 2.8 times and the non-oil industry increased 2.2 times, he noted. Investment relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are developing intensively, Safarov said. Azerbaijan has invested more than $1 billion in Russias economy, and Russia has invested more than $4 billion in Azerbaijans economy. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: The Board of the Baku Business Factory (BBF) met with the President of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Jeffrey Finkle in Washington, US. Finkle provided information about the IEDC and spoke about the US practice. The sides discussed an exchange of experience and cooperation opportunities for incubation and acceleration centers for a more rapid development of the startup ecosystem. With more than 5,000 members, IEDC is the world's largest economic developer organization. Its main mission is to contribute to social welfare and living conditions by encouraging creation of new jobs. BBF was established in May 2015. The main purpose of the company is to have a positive influence on country's economic and social development, promote the rapid implementation and sustainability of the projects of young people with perspective business ideas by assisting them at the initial stage. Tehran, Iran, Sept. 27 Trend: Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy and Industry, and Akbar Behnamjoo, the governor of Ardabil, explored ways to enhance trade ties between Baku and the northwestern Iranian province. Mustafayev hailed the current level of trade ties between the two countries, particularly in the sector of transportation. He added that several meetings between the two neighboring countries officials have helped pave the way for enhanced ties between the two nations. CEO of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Saeed Mohammadzadeh and his Azerbaijani counterpart Javid Gurbanov were also present at the meeting. Mohammadzadeh referred to the latest developments around the completion of the International NorthSouth Transport Corridor. Gurbanov, for his part, pointed to the opening of Baku-Astara highway on the Islamic Republic of Iran's border last week and said the length of Baku-Astara road was already 243 kilometers, which by the new highway has been reduced to 204 kilometers. He added the two sides have great potential to boost their transportation ties. Details added (first version posted on 11:01) Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Ilkin Shafiyev Trend: The Russia-Azerbaijan relations are the ties of strategic partners, which cover different areas of the economy, Head of the Russia-Azerbaijan Business Council Alexey Repik said. Repik made the remarks during the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional Forum in Baku on Sept. 27. "Today, the executive bodies of the two countries focus on ensuring barrier-free, comfortable interaction between entrepreneurs of the two countries," Repik added. The Council intends to continue to actively contribute to the development of bilateral economic relations. I think that nothing but the opportunity to communicate more often, personally, will be able to give additional impetus to implementation of bilateral projects, not only trade projects, but also strategic ones, Repik said. The Azerbaijani side provided this opportunity by inviting us to the meeting." --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Details added (first version posted on 12:11) Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Azerbaijans non-oil industry is expected to grow at least 10 percent in 2019, Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said. He was speaking Sept. 27 at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects for Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Russian-Azerbaijani interregional forum in Baku. For eight months of 2018, Azerbaijans non-oil industry grew 11 percent, Mustafayev said. The minister reminded that the non-oil sector is a priority for the development of the Azerbaijani economy and this idea is reflected in all programs and concepts of the government. We are trying to create conditions for the growth of non-oil industry to outpace the growth rates of the economy as a whole, the minister added. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Details added (first version posted on 12:07) Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Azerbaijan is interested in producing railway cars together with Russia, Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev said. He was speaking Sept. 27 at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects for Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Russia-Azerbaijan interregional forum in Baku. Talking about the establishment of joint production between Azerbaijani and Russian companies, the minister noted that there are already successful examples. A pharmaceutical plant of R-Pharm is under construction in the Pirallahi industrial district and it is planned to arrange assembly of GAZelle cars in the Hajigabul industrial district, he said. In general, over the past two years, investments worth $3 billion have been raised for the industrial districts of Azerbaijan, he added. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum was held in Baku Sept. 27. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend: Azerbaijan and Russia may increase trade turnover by 20-25 percent, Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Azer Talibov told journalists on Sept. 27. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to eliminate certain obstacles in mutual trade, Talibov said. "If these obstacles are eliminated, we can increase the turnover by 20-25 percent. As for the current turnover, it grew 10 percent in 1H2018. We expect this figure to remain until the end of the year," Talibov added. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.27 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: On the 4th of November when the oil sanctions are applied, Iran will be in a very difficult predicament as what to do with its oil industry and oil exports, Ariel Cohen, senior fellow Atlantic council, principal, International Market Analysis, told Trend. "It will not receive funds in US dollars from oil sales and there will be the secondary sanctions against all companies and central banks from different countries that may try to bypass and circumvent the sanctions," he said. Cohen noted that Iran will be facing a very difficult situation both externally, in terms of the ability to sell oil, but also internally as their income will be drying up, which may cause internal problems, social unrests, demonstrations and etc. Therefore, the Iranian regime will have to make a strategic decision, whether to continue with its current policy in the Middle East, or change the policy and work with the international community and with the US and the Trump administration in terms of lifting the sanctions, he believes. "I do not believe that this change will come soon. I do not believe that this regime is about to change its course and therefore the price that the Iranian people will pay is going to be very high, as was with the case of Iraq under Saddam Hossein during the sanctions," said Cohen. Ariel Cohen said he thinks that there will be attempts to bypass the sanctions regime and sell oil either via Russia or via Turkey or even via some of the Gulf states such as Qatar. But in the long term, very few companies and countries will be interested in risking the repercussions and getting under the US sanctions regime, he added. Sanctions are due to be re-imposed on Iran's oil industry on November 4. The move comes after US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw his country from the 2015 nuclear deal in May. The US has said that countries or companies that conduct transactions with Iran are liable to face secondary sanctions. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn From now until Election Day, The Brian Lehrer Show is hosting a series called 30 Issues in 30 Days. The idea is to dive deep on one issue a day to give voters a sense of what candidates are saying about the policies that affect their lives. The next issue up: New York's incomplete abortion laws. In 1970 New York stunned the country by legalizing abortion. It was only the second state to do so (Hawaii was first but New Yorks law went further, with no residency requirement). What seemed like a massively progressive move at the time was enacted through a legal technicalityand that resulted in limitations in the law today that New York Democrats and pro-choice proponents say could potentially jeopardize a woman's right to an abortion. Under current New York law, women cant get abortions after 24 weeks unless their life is in danger. If they do, their doctors could face up to seven years in prison. Federal laws are more progressivefor now. Legal experts say that President Donald Trump's next pick for the Supreme Court (whoever that is) would likely side with a 5-4 majority to repeal the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, leaving New York's punitive laws in place. Since 2007, lawmakers have been working to pass legislationcalled The Reproductive Health Act (RHA)that would change New Yorks abortion laws so theyre in step with current Federal law. The RHA could be in play this year, if New Yorkers vote to flip the State Senate to Democrats. Heres what you need to know: The Issue The RHA would expand the reasons a woman would be allowed to get an abortion after 24 weeks. With the RHA in place, a women could get a late term abortion if she was facing non-life threatening risks, or if the fetus was not viable. These exceptions already exist under federal lawthats why people say the RHA is just codifying Roe v Wade into state law. The legislation would also decriminalize abortion by moving abortion statutes out of state penal law and into health law, and expand the types of medical professionals allowed to perform abortions to include nurse practitioners and physician assistants How It Figures In The November Election The Reproductive Health Act was passed the State Assembly on January 17, but was subsequently blocked by Republicans who control the Senate with a razor thin majority. The vote came down to 32 to 31. One Democrat voted to oppose the measureSimcha Felder. If the Senate flips, the RHAs sponsor, Senator Liz Krueger, is confident the bill will among the earliest the Senate will take up and pass. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who is the lead co-sponsor on the bill, will want to make her mark as the first ever woman majority leader in the Senate and deliver on this promise to New York's women and families," Krueger told WNYC. The Case For The RHA We need to help women make decisions for themselves," Anna Kaplan, a Democrat running against Republican State Senator Elaine Phillips in the 40th district, said Wednesday on The Brian Lehrer Show. "This is not about aborting a fetus that is far along. This is about giving a woman the right to have an abortion if she knows the pregnancy is non-viable, or that her health is in danger. Its basically codifying Roe and allowing this to come out of the criminal code in New York State. The Case Against It Some Republicans, who identify as pro-choice, are against the bill anyway. Senator Phillips says she is pro-choice and wholeheartedly supports Roe v. Wade, but that the proposed bill goes too far, which is why she voted against the RHA. The Republican candidate for Governor, Marc Molinaro, said he was concerned about the provision in the bill that allowed for non-doctors to perform abortions. Advocates for the bill, however, including its sponsor Krueger, told WNYC that non-doctors would only be able to perform non-surgical abortions (administer the abortion pill). From a pro-life perspective, the RHA escalates an already pernicious problem. Michele Sterlace-Accorsi, executive director of Feminists Choosing Life of New York, points out that New York has among the highest rate of abortion in the country. She says we need to work to de-escalate the astronomically high rate of abortion in the state and that the RHA completely disregards unborn human life. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: Interested countries can join the North-South energy corridor project, Azerbaijans Deputy Energy Minister Samir Valiyev said. He was speaking at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects for Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum in Baku. We believe that it would be good to build a new power transmission line to strengthen cooperation with [Russia], the deputy minister said. The negotiations are underway in this direction. This project will serve to the creation of a new North-South energy corridor. He reminded that the deputy ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran met to discuss this issue, and a relevant protocol was signed. This is a very promising direction, he added. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Azad Hasanli - Trend: On October 3-6, Moscow will host a meeting of a special working group on energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, Azerbaijans Deputy Energy Minister Samir Valiyev said. He was speaking Sept. 27 at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects of Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum in Baku. He noted that the meeting of the working group, which operates under the intergovernmental commission, will be held as part of the Russian Energy Week. Energy is one of the main areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, he added. As successful examples of cooperation, Valiyev mentioned the activities of Lukoil company in Azerbaijan, cooperation as part of OPEC, trade in petroleum products, etc. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanli Tehran, Iran, Sept. 27 Trend: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh will visit Moscow in early October to take part in the Russian Energy Week-2018 forum, according to the event's program. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh is scheduled to sit down with Russian and Qatari energy ministers during an upcoming visit to Moscow. Zangeneh will hold talks with Alexander Novak and Mohammed Saleh Al-Sada on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week-2018 forum slated to be held in the Russian capital on October 3-6, IRNA news agency reported on September 27. Reports suggest that Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih and Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu are also expected to join Iran-Russia-Qatar special panel. They will discuss the prospects of the global energy market in 2030. OPEC has come under pressure to raise output amid a steep downturn in supply among some of its biggest exporters. One is Venezuela, which has been faced with a sharp fall in production amid a deepening economic crisis and the threat of US sanctions. Another one is Iran, which has been the target of new US sanctions targeting its oil industry since Trump decided to pull America out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. One set of sanctions has already been imposed on Iran and another is due to come into effect in November. The US State Department has been warning companies buying Iranian crude to put an end to purchases by early November. However, Saudi Arabia and Russia ruled out any expeditious supply increases at the Algeria meeting while decidedly ignoring Donald Trumps call to increase supplies and ease price pressures. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: A group of French experts from the world-famous Louvre Museum, headed by Director of the Department of Islamic Art Janik Linz, is on a working visit in Uzbekistan on Sept. 19-28, Uzbek media reported. The delegation also includes Director of the French-Uzbek archaeological mission in Bukhara, archaeologist of the department of Islamic art of the Louvre Rocco Rante and experts-restorers Anna Ligei, Christina Pariselle, Dolphin Eli Lefevre, Geraldi Fray. The main purpose of the visit is to conduct a study in cooperation with experts from Uzbekistan, provide scientific analysis and draw up an expert opinion on the status of the exhibits previously selected in museums of Uzbekistan for the Civilization and Culture on the Silk Road the exhibition, which will be held at the Louvre in 2021. This is the second visit of the French delegation. The first one took place in May 2018. The French experts on restoration and conservation of museum exhibits are carrying out systematic work on the study of cultural heritage items of Uzbekistan. They conduct their research in leading museums and research institutes in Uzbekistan. French archaeologist Geraldi Fray, in order to study the collection, is planning to visit the Karakalpak Scientific Research Institute of the Humanities. French and Uzbek scientists are conducting a large-scale work on selection and study of the preliminary list of exhibits that most fully reflect the ancient and medieval culture of states that existed on the territory of modern Uzbekistan. Based on the results of the joint study, an expert opinion will be given on each selected exhibit and a single list of works of art will be drawn up for the exhibition in the Louvre. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend: Russia remains a priority market of tourism industry for Azerbaijan, Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan Fuad Nagiyev said. He was speaking Sept. 27 at a round table meeting on the Development of Cooperation in Tourism, held as part of the 9th Russia-Azerbaijan interregional forum. Nagiyev noted that in January-February 2018, Azerbaijan was visited by over 600,000 tourists from Russia, which is 20 percent more than in the same period last year, and the positive dynamics persists. He added that Russian tourists always feel comfortable in Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijani citizens feel no less comfortable in Russia. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend: A very promising cruise route can be created in the Caspian Sea, which had never existed in the history of tourism, the head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of Russia Oleg Safonov said at the round table on Development of cooperation in the field of tourism, held during the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional Forum in Baku Sept. 27. Presently, cruise tourism is developing at a very fast pace in the world, according to Safonov. "World leaders in cruise tourism are interested in the appearance of new routes. I think that our joint task will be to attract the world's leading cruise tourism leaders," Safonov said. According to him, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran are very positive about the idea. Safonov noted that the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional forum contributes to active discussion and solution for these most important tasks. According to the signed Memorandum, sea tours of "Peter the Great" will start in Baku by the end of 2019. The Memorandum provides for joint activities to study and develop optimal routes for cruise passenger ships, such as the ports of the Black Sea - inland waterways of the Russian Federation - Astrakhan - ports of the Caspian Sea; Moscow - Baku; Astrakhan - Makhachkala - Baku; Baku - Enzeli - Nowshahr - Turkmenbashi - Aktau - Astrakhan and others. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: The familiarization with the potential of East Kazakhstan region at the exhibition of investment projects, the signing of memoranda and agreements has taken place within the program of the international investment forum "Altai Invest-2018", which has been held Sept. 27 in Ust-Kamenogorsk city, Kazinform reported. It is no secret that the main purpose of the forum is to attract additional investments in the eastern region of the country, to promote the East Kazakhstan brand and to inform investors about the potential of the region. The presentation of investment projects in the region, in particular in the field of innovations and new technologies is a significant event for companies that are interested in the development of enterprises through the attraction of additional financial resources. The forum participants have been presented projects in the field of tourism, industry, energy and housing and public utilities (HPU), agro-industrial complex (AIC) and public-private partnership (PPP). These projects include the production of sturgeon, milk, sausage etc, antler products, construction and finishing materials, as well as the products of industrial enterprises and their new potential. Three memoranda in the amount of 104 billion tenge have been signed at the end of the plenary meeting. A road show in the fields of industry and energy, agriculture, tourism and PPP has been held, as well as B2B meetings have taken place within the framework of the "Altai Invest-2018" forum. As a result of the forum, the parties have signed 42 memoranda for another 191.2 billion tenge. The 15th Astana Leisure 2018 international exhibition has unveiled at the Korme Exposition Center in Astana this morning, Kazinform reports. Coverimh an area of over 1,300 square meters, the exhibition showcases some 100 companies from 15 countries of the world, including Kazakhstan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand. The tour operators give the guests of the exhibition an insight into the tour packages they offer. Those include gastronomy tourism, health tourism, and cultural tourism. Kazakhstani tourists are mostly interested in health tourism and Georgia seems to be most popular destination in that respect. Local tour operators are also among participants of the exhibition. They offer a wide range of hotels and tours around Kazakhstan's historical sites. For instance, tour operators of Zhambyl region offer to visit historical buildings dating back to XIII century and roam the popular tourists' routes. Those who are interested in ecotourism may visit one of the most well-known tourist destinations in Kazakhstan - the Burabay resort. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: The National Bank of Kazakhstan assesses the situation in Tsesnabank as stable, Chairman of the National Bank Daniyar Akishev said at a press conference, Capital reported Sept. 27. The bank complies with all prudential regulations, he said. However, recently, the bank has faced an unplanned outflow of funds from the accounts of the population and enterprises, so the regulator decided to support the second-tier bank, he added. "The National Bank, in these conditions as well as taking into account the entry into force of the Basel III requirements, has provided support to the bank in the amount of 150 billion tenge on various terms," Akishev said. Akishev stated that in the situation with Tsesnabank, its shareholders have made every effort to stabilize the work of the financial institution. The bank has already been recapitalized and a new management with experience in solution of crisis situations has been appointed. Tsesnabank is conducting a deal to sell a significant share of the portfolio of agricultural loans in the amount of 450 billion tenge to the Fund of Problem Loans, Akishev added. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: Kazakhstan has plans to significantly increase gas exports to China, Interfax Kazakhstan reported citing the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Kanat Bozumbayev. "Yes, there are such plans. There is a preliminary agreement to significantly increase export. There are already such agreements, at least between two gas companies," Bozumbayev said, answering the question whether Kazakhstan plans to increase gas exports to China. The minister refused to name the planned export volumes, only specifying that in 2018 exports can reach 5 billion cubic meters of gas. The head of the national company KazMunaiGas, Sauat Mynbayev, had also earlier confirmed Kazakhstan's plans to export gas to China. According to him, 5 billion cubic meters of gas is planned to be delivered to China by October 2018. In 2017, Kazakhstan started to export its gas to China. Expected export revenue is about $1 billion. It is planned to increase gas exports to China in 2019, to 10 billion cubic meters. According to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Energy, at present Kazakhstan has 3.9 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves. In 2017, Kazakhstan produced 53 billion cubic meters of gas. Of these, about 22 billion were consumed by the producers themselves (injection of gas into the reservoir), the domestic market consumed 13.8 billion, and the remaining 17.2 billion cubic meters were exported. KazMunaiGas is Kazakhstan's national operator for exploration, production, processing and transportation of hydrocarbons, which represents the interests of the state in the oil and gas industry. Some 90 percent of the company's shares belong to the state fund Samruk-Kazyna and 10 percent to the National Bank of Kazakhstan. Ask a Reporter is an occasional series about civic engagement in and around the city. Do you have a question about how you can make a difference in your neighborhood, city or state? What about voting, the elections or navigating civic life in New York? Ask us! We want to help you get involved by answering your questions. Q: How can we advocate for voting reforms in New York? A: So youve noticed New Yorks election laws are dismally restrictive and based on 19th century legislation. Youre not the only ones. States actually working to constrain voting have pointed to New Yorks outdated rules for cover. When asked in 2016 about Ohio curtailing its early voting period, Governor John Kasich, in an interview on MSNBC, said, Why dont you go pick on New York? An attorney for the state of North Carolina cited New Yorks lack of early voting in opening arguments for North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. McCrory. This is the case where the NAACP stepped in to sue over cuts to early voting; eliminating pre-registration for young people before turning 18; and same-day registration, among other changes. This package of legislation, of course, was ultimately found to be discriminatory. But New York doesnt even have progressive voting laws to curtail. And advocates, along with lawmakers pushing for change, note that such restrictive and outdated voting practices lead to problems such as inappropriate voter purges; voters not appearing on the rolls and other Election Day confusion. People who've only voted in New York think all the elections across the country are the same craziness, said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause New York. They are not. Here are just some of the ways that advocates say New York is behind in voting: No early voting (37 states the large majority have some form of early voting) No same-day registration No automatic voter registration, which ensures that eligible voters are indeed registered Restrictive protocol for getting an absentee ballot: you need to provide a reason for not being able to make it to the polls No ability to pre-register 16- and 17-year-olds Separate state and federal primaries the only state to have two The staggering length of time required to change party affiliation before voting in a primary (nearly a year in advance) Not to mention, New York Citys procedures for maintaining voter rolls are outdated, a problem highlighted by the legal settlement following the 2016 Brooklyn voter purge. You combine all those problems together problems with getting on the rolls, problems with staying on the rolls, problems with turning out to the elections it's no wonder that New York has such low turnout rates, said Sean Morales-Doyle, legal counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU. Morales-Doyle this month co-authored a piece for The Atlantic on New Yorks dire situation when it comes to voting. He noted that New York ranked 41st in voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election. Turnout is worse in midterm elections and primaries, though turnout was markedly higher for the most recent primary in September. New Yorks voting laws are controlled by New Yorks lawmakers, of course. And while they must be the ones to enact change, Morales-Doyle and Lerner say people must push them in that direction. Sometimes people roll their eyes at it, but I do think that it is a real thing: There is a real impact made by contacting your elected representatives and letting them know how much of an issue this is for you, Morales-Doyle said. Lerner said lawmakers resist change by insisting its just advocacy groups who want it. People in New York have become a little too cynical and they're not pushing hard enough, she said. So your elected representative needs to hear from you that you think that this is absolutely unacceptable. Lerner suggests the first question should be, Why the hell are we paying for two primaries? Common Cause New York and the Brennan Center are part of a coalition called Let New York Vote, which aims to update New Yorks election laws. Their website walks you through the process of finding and contacting your representative. (Dont forget the governor, too.) Its important to note that voting reforms do have supporters in Albany. Democratic state Senators introduced the Voter Empowerment Act once again in January of this year. The bill calls for automatic voter registration, pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds and easing the burdensome deadlines for registering and changing party affiliations. Another Senate bill seeks to establish early voting, and Governor Cuomo, during the last budget cycle, introduced a budget amendment that would fund it. But while voting reform bills have sailed through the Assembly, theyve only stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. Michael Gianaris, a senator from Queens and author of the Voter Empower Act, puts the blame on his Republican colleagues. As long as the Republicans are in charge of the Senate, they have an interest in keeping people from voting because the more people vote the worse they do in the elections, Gianaris said. And at every turn, they have stood in the way of efforts to make it easier for people to vote, easier for people to register. Voting reform should be a bipartisan issue, Gianaris said, but its not in New York. The chair of the Senate Elections Committee, Fred Akshar, a Republican from the Southern Tier of New York, supports some changes to the states election laws, including making voting by absentee ballot less burdensome. A spokesman said Akshar was open minded about early voting, but had concerns about cost. But the bills to modernize New Yorks election laws have not had a full airing in the Senate, because they have not been brought to the floor for a vote. Its up to Majority Leader John Flanagan to make those decisions. Flanagan did not return multiple requests for comment. Brian Kavanagh, the ranking Democrat on the Elections Committee, and sponsor of the early voting bill, said Democrats are prepared to make voting changes should they take control of the chamber in November. I want it to be the first thing we do next year, and voters should demand this of their representatives. Hear Yasmeen Khan and Richard Hake talk about voting in New York on WNYC. Russian President Vladimir Putin has highly valued the development of Turkmenistan, he wrote in his greeting telegram to Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov on the national holiday - Day of Independence, TASS reports. "The head of the Russian state highly valued Turkmenistans confident movement on the path of socio-economic development and the deserved authority of the country in the Central Asian region and beyond," the Kremlin press service reported. Putin highlighted that "Russian-Turkmen relations are based on the good traditions of friendship and mutual confidence and noted with satisfaction that the recent enactment of the Treaty on Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan opens new prospects for extending effective bilateral ties in all areas, which is undoubtedly in the interests of the two countries and supports the consolidation of regional stability and security.". Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Uzbekistan on Oct. 18-19, Uzbek media reported referring to the message of the Foreign Trade Ministry of Uzbekistan. "The meeting of the heads of Uzbekistan and Russia - Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Vladimir Putin - will be held in Tashkent on Oct. 18-19, 2007. The first Russian-Uzbek forum of inter-regional cooperation will be held within the framework of the official visit of the Russian president," the ministry said. Russia today is one of the leading trade and economic partners of Uzbekistan. The Central Asian state employs over 960 enterprises with participation of Russian capital and, according to experts of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, their number will exceed 1,000 before the end of the year. Uzbekistan itself is active in Russia, and it has already opened over 560 enterprises. Uzbekistan is on the fourth place in terms of commodity turnover with Russia among the CIS countries. At the end of 2017, it amounted to $3.6 billion and increased by 33.9 percent. In January-February 2018, trade turnover increased by 50.2 percent and reached almost $600 million. Russia's exports grew by 59.7 percent, and imports - by 28.1 percent. At the same time, the total volume of investments from Russia to Uzbekistan exceeded $8.5 billion. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, who was in New York to take part in the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, returned home on Thursday, IRNA reports. President Rouhani began his intensive visit to New York on Monday morning at 8 am with a meeting with a number of American media executives. An interview with the NBC, a meeting with the managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Cuban president, and addressing the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit were among president's Monday plans. In the evening of the same day, Rouhani met with the president of Bolivia, president of International Olympic Committee, chief executive of Afghanistan and the Turkish president, as well as participating in a meeting of a group of US foreign policy elites. On Tuesday, Iran's President's intensive work program began with an interview with CNN and PBS television networks, and then, attended the UNGA to express Iran's positions and views on regional and international issues. Meetings with prime ministers of Britain, Belgium and Norway and the French president, and attending a meeting with a number of American Muslim leaders, ended Rouhanis Tuesday program. On Wednesday, President Rouhani met with prime ministers of Malaysia, Japan and Italy, and the president of Switzerland. Rouhani left New York on Wednesday evening after meeting with the UN Secretary-General and attending a press conference. Rouhani's Chief of Staff Mahmoud Vaezi, Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht-e Ravanchi and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi accompanied Rouhani on his trip to New York. Golestan Provinces customs saw 185,000 tons of exports equal to 137 million dollars in the first half of the current Iranian year (beginning on March 21), said the head of the provincial customs office, IRNA reports. 'The exports consist of steel bars, iron, dairy foods, tomato paste, polystyrene which shows a 57 percent rise in weight compared to the same period last year,' said Ebrahim Hosseini Managing Director of Golestan Province customs office, addressing an anti-smuggling commission meeting held in the city of Gonbad-e Kavus. Hosseini said that Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq are major destinations of commodities exported from Golestan Provinces customs. 'A total 15 million dollars of commodities were imported during the same period,' he added. Establishing the Kazakhstan Turkmenistan - Iran international railway in recent years has made the Golestan customs capable of delivering railway trade customs services. Incheh Borun is the largest customs of Golestan Province, which is located in the north of Iran and southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea. Russian, Iranian and Turkish Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov, Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu, who had a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, hailed the Russian-Turkish agreements on Syrias Idlib that are geared to protect civilians while continuing fight against terrorist, the Russian foreign ministry said, TASS reported. "Participants in the meeting highly assessed the agreements on the stabilization of the situation in Idlib that were reached in Sochi on September 17. These agreements make it possible to protect civilian populations while continuing uncompromised fight against terrorists, the ministry said. Russian, Iranian and Turkish Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov, Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu, who had a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, stressed the importance of more active efforts to launch the work of Syrias Constitutional Committee, the Russian foreign ministry said. "The sides once again stressed their commitment to more active efforts to form and launch the Constitutional Committee on the basis of the resolutions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 as it will make it possible for the Syrians to decide about the future of their country by themselves," the ministry said. An agreement on a constitutional committee in Syria was reached at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Russias Black Sea resort city of Sochi on January 30. United Nations Secretary Generas Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura plans to convene the committees meeting in Geneva as soon as possible. The committee will be comprised of delegates from the Syrian government, opposition and a group of independent politicians. De Mistura said this committee should have not more than 50 members. The committee will be tasked to work out recommendations on amendments to the Syrian constitution. Once these amendments are adopted, general elections will be held in Syria under the United Nations auspices. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he is willing to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and to speak about anything the U.S. government wants to discuss, Reuters reported. Iran along with representatives from 100 world countries and international organizations took part in the 3rd Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo in China on Thursday, IRNA reports. The two-day Silk Road Expo opened in the northwestern Chinese city of Dunhuang. The today Silk Road Expo is to discuss ways to further cooperation among the world countries, promote cultural and tourism exchanges, hold more festivals and conferences, share experiences and protect win-win interests. The Dunhuang festival which is an international expo has been held in China since 2016. The Vostok-2018 exercise consolidated friendship, confidence and cooperation between the armed forces of China and Russia. Spokesman for Chinas Ministry of National Defense Ren Guoqiang reported at press conference that the regular participation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Russian strategic drills should be discussed by both sides, TASS reports. "The current drills made it possible to fully use the effectiveness of the changes in the Ministry of National Defense and the armed forces. The armies of China and Russia carried out a joint field exercise, learnt from each other and developed friendship and mutual confidence in joint combat activities," he noted. The massive Vostok-2018 exercise was carried out from September 11 to 17 under the command of Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu on the soil and in the waters of Russias Far East and in the neighboring waters of the Pacific Ocean. A total of about 300,000 servicemen took part in it, as well as more than 1,000 planes, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, along with as many as 36,000 tanks, armored fighting vehicles and other cars, and up to 80 ships and support vessels. As many as 3,500 servicemen from the Chinese People's Liberation Army took part in the exercise. Japan and China are preparing for an official meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping on Oct. 24 in Beijing, sources familiar with bilateral ties said Thursday, Kazinform reports. Abe is scheduled to make a three-day visit to China from Oct. 23, which falls on the 40th anniversary of the coming into effect of a bilateral peace and friendship treaty, KYODO NEWS reports. The last Japanese prime minister to travel to China for the primary purpose of holding formal talks with Chinese leaders was Yoshihiko Noda in December 2011. Since taking office in late 2012, Abe has held face-to-face talks with Xi seven times, which all lasted less than an hour and took place on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, including the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, southeastern China, in 2016 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Beijing in 2014. Brig. Gen. (res.) Pini Yungman is confident Israel will soon export the short range missile interception system to the US, Globes reports. "We'll make the first export deal for Iron Dome with the US ground forces during the current Hebrew calendar year," Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. EVP air superiority systems division head Brig. Gen. (res.) Pini Yungman told "Globes." He added, "There is no deal yet, but it may come soon." The company's dealings with procurement agencies in the US army and Department of Defense are being coordinated with US corporation Raytheon, which is cooperating with Rafael in missile development. The two companies jointly develop and manufacture the David's Sling interception system for medium-range missiles, a system declared operational by the IDF three years ago. This cooperation also includes joint production of the Stunner interceptor missile used for David's Sling. Rafael is not offering additional details about the emerging deal in the US or its monetary value. One Iron Dome interceptor missile costs $50,000, and the estimated price of one battery, including its command and control system, is $50 million. Yungman's remarks indicate that Rafael has successfully completed installation of all of the units connected to the Iron Dome system in a single vehicle, which can provide mobile defense against short-range rockets and mortars for forces deployed on the battlefield. The truck-like vehicle will carry the launcher, radar, and the command and control system in order to provide close protection for maneuvering forces. "This system has the same performance as the regular Iron Dome missile we are all familiar with," Yungman says. "it provides protection against rockets and mortars. We already have a model of the system, and if we have an end customer, we'll have it up and running within two years. The US taxpayer is funding part of the Iron Dome plan, so the US army is also entitled to benefit from this system." Rafael and Raytheon tested Iron Dome twice in 2016 and 2017. "We and Raytheon jointly leased an Antonov-126, loaded a battery, and flew it to the US," Yungman says. The trial was conducted at the White Sands missile testing base. The system was challenged with two threated aimed at it unexpectedly, without its operators knowing even the general direction in advance. "All of the threats were successfully destroyed," says Yungman. Correction: The Comptroller's Office reported Wednesday evening that it made a "calculation error" in its original report, which stated that the city lost 1.069 million units renting for less than $900 per month between 2005 and 2017. The actual figure is 425,492 units. We have updated our article to reflect the change. Revision to The Gap is Still Growing report: pic.twitter.com/DNPJGlCgNl Scott M. Stringer (@NYCComptroller) September 26, 2018 New York real estate is rife with wildly overpriced listings: Would you like to rent this couch-sized studio for $2,500 a month? Would you pay $1,375 for the privilege of awakening to the invigorating patter of freezer drip from your bunk-bed-slash-kitchenette? Do you have $500,000 to spend on an apartment you can fold into an armoire? What about $2,000 per month you'd gladly pay for a good old-fashioned kitchen shower? True, these real listings that are not jokes may not paint a wholly accurate picture of the average New York living situation, but according to a new report, their high price tags do. Data from City Comptroller Scott Stringer's office, published Tuesday, offers a bleak update to a 2014 report on the city's affordable housing stock. Four years ago, 400,000 listings priced under $1,000 per month had been wiped from the housing market between 2000 and 2012, at the same time as median rents surged by 75 percent. Now, the report shows that 425,492 under-$900 rentals disappeared between 2005 and 2017. In that time, the city got 235,000 units priced between $1,051 and $1,650, and over 111,000 units priced $2,700 and up. In part, we can blame this trend on population growth: The report notes that the city took on 576,000 new residents between 2005 and 2016, but just over 76,000 occupied rental units. Meanwhile, unavailable units ballooned by 51 percent. At the same time, the city's rent-regulated housing stock plummeted by 88,518 units from 2005 to 2017, losing more units than it gained every year during that 12-year period except for 2017. The report attributes this phenomenon to high rent vacancy deregulation, a provision that means units lose stabilization status when tenants decline to renew their leases and "that unit's maximum legal rent exceeds a deregulation threshold set by the State." That threshold jumped from $2,000 to $2,500 in 2011, continuing to climb all the way to $2,700 in 2015, whichper the report"may also explain why three-quarters of units renting for over $2,700 were unregulated in 2017." "Unless Albany lawmakers strengthen renters' rights and expand rent stabilization, this will become a city where the entrance fee will become a two-million-dollar condo," Stringer said at a press conference on Tuesday, according to Patch. "And that kind of city betrays everything we stand for." Indeed, as Patch reports, the most a minimum wage worker can be expected to pay per month is $900 toward rent, if they also want to eat and commute. Recent years have seen an uptick in the number of fabulously wealthy New Yorkers deciding to rent when they could reasonably afford to buy, contributing to the scarcity of affordable apartments. Some landlords have also undertaken harassment campaigns to drive out rent-stabilized tenants, freeing up prime real estate and charging far more for it. Mayor de Blasio has pledged to make or preserve 300,000 affordable units by 2026, but the prognosis on that plan does not look promising. Still, Stringer says the housing crisis is "a fight we can win." The most pertinent question would seem to be: how? BEDEKs Engine Division will serve as the maintenance and overhaul center for the V2500 engines of HNA Group's airlines, Globes reports. Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) BEDEK Aviation Group has signed an official supplier agreement with China's HNA Group. Under the agreement, BEDEKs Engine Division will serve as the maintenance and overhaul center for the V2500 engines of HNA Group's airlines. The engines will be sent to BEDEK by the customers and returned to China following servicing. The signing of the agreement, which is estimated at tens of millions of dollars a year, was held at HNA Group headquarters in Haikou. BEDEK has acquired a worldwide reputation as a supplier of comprehensive services for passenger and cargo airplanes. Its customers include aircraft lease companies, airlines, aircraft manufacturers and cargo shippers. BEDEKs modern facility provides a complete range of maintenance and overhaul services catered for wide and narrow body aircraft. Recent years have seen significant developments in engine maintenance with BEDEK's Engine Division providing leasing services to aircraft engines. The new agreement with HNA Group is an important breakthrough and vote of confidence in the quality of service provided by BEDEK Aviation Group. IAI EVP and General Manager of BEDEK Aviation Group Yossi Melamed said, We welcome the contract with HNA Group, a breakthrough for BEDEK which is expected to open up additional markets for us in engine maintenance as well as in other specialty areas. Information exchanges among Russian language media in different countries, as well as professional management matters were on the agenda of the 20th World Congress of Russian Press in New York. The session was devoted to the role of Russian language mass media as a platform for inter-ethnic cultural communication, TASS reports. "Proposals voiced at the forum for opening courses of modern management for print and electronic media sounded quite remarkable and promising," the president of the World Association of Russian Press, Vitaly Ignatenko, told. "We are prepared to provide active assistance in arranging for professional retraining courses for the management of print and electronic media." The idea of stepping up exchanges among Russian language media in various countries is very timely, Ignatenko said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27 Trend: Moscow and Ankara seek to bring bilateral trade to $100 billion, but the development of relations between the countries should not be limited to the economy alone, it is also important to develop humanitarian ties, Turkish Ambassador to Russia Huseyin Dirioz said, RIA Novosti reported. "The history of our diplomatic relations dates back more than 500 years. Since the 2000s, thanks to the efforts of our leaders, the relations have assumed a completely new impetus and began to develop rapidly. Turkey is committed to developing not only political, economic relations, but also the ties between peoples," Dirioz said at a round table meeting. "Our strategic partnership is developing in all areas ... the trade turnover between the countries has been actively growing over the past few years, and we hope to achieve the goal set by the two presidents - to bring the trade to $100 billion. But it is not enough for us to develop only strategic economic projects, the priority is humanitarian ties, because they determine the closeness of peoples," the Turkish ambassador said. The 21st World Congress of World Press will be held in October 2019 in Turkey, said Executive Secretary of the World Association of Russian Press (WARP) and TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman at the final session of the 20th World Congress of Russian Press, which took place in Brooklyn, New York, TASS reports. "The upcoming forum will promote the development of Turkish-Russian relations," said Mehmet Ali Dim, Vice President of the Turkish Federation of Journalists and President of the Alanya Association of Journalists. "I informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu on the plans to hold the congress, and they supported this idea. For our part, we will invite the Turkish president to take part in the congress activities." Mehmet Ali Dim hopes that the work of the World Congress of Russian Press will be carried out not just in Alanya, but in Ankara and Istanbul as well. "The forums participants will have a chance to learn about the culture of our country," he added. WARP President Vitaly Ignanenko stressed the importance of fostering contacts between members of the Russian-language media. "Your role as representatives for the Russian-language press abroad is very important in todays difficult international climate," he said, addressing the forums participants. "You support close contacts with compatriots abroad, and it is vital for you to be the first to provide true, objective information about Russia to the public." About 200 chiefs and high-profile journalists from Russian-language media outlets from more than 50 countries, along with politicians and public figures from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) took part in the forums endeavors. The event was organized by the World Association of Russian Press and a US committee with support from the Russian news agency TASS and the Foundation for Cooperation with Russian-Language Media Abroad. KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 14:12 | All, World The foreign ministers of Japan and North Korea on Wednesday held talks for the first time in three years, amid expectations that Pyongyang may start taking concrete steps toward denuclearization and engage in more dialogue. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters that he sat down with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho for about 20 minutes in the U.N. headquarters, without giving further details. (Ri Yong Ho, left) The meeting in New York, where the 73rd session of the General Assembly is under way, came a day after South Korea's presidential office revealed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed during last week's inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang his preparedness to engage in direct talks with Japan at an "appropriate time." "I have been debriefed that it was a substantial sit-down style meeting," Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told a regular press conference in Tokyo. But Suga also said he would refrain from disclosing what the two foreign ministers discussed. Kono is believed to have conveyed Japan's stance that economic assistance will come after North Korea takes action to dismantle its missile and nuclear programs and tackles the issue of its past abductions of Japanese citizens, and also following normalization of bilateral relations. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed a willingness to meet with Kim to resolve the long-stalled issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. "To settle the abduction issue, it is necessary for Japan and North Korea to talk directly," a senior Japanese diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. (Taro Kono speaks to reporters) On Tuesday, South Korean President Moon Jae In told Abe that during the inter-Korean summit he touched on the importance of improving ties with Japan and Kim, in response, voiced readiness to do so by resuming talks with Tokyo when an opportune time arises. It was the first time since August 2015 that a foreign ministerial meeting has taken place between Japan and North Korea, according to Japan's Foreign Ministry. Those talks were held between Fumio Kishida and Ri Su Yong. Kono's meeting with the current North Korean foreign minister followed their brief chat on Aug. 3 in Singapore on the sidelines of a regional security forum. Kim has committed to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and U.S. President Donald Trump has also been saying he wants to meet with Kim again following their June historic summit in Singapore. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit North Korea in October as part of efforts to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim. KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 18:20 | World, All, Urgent Japan and China are preparing for an official meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping on Oct. 24 in Beijing, sources familiar with bilateral ties said Thursday. Abe is scheduled to make a three-day visit to China from Oct. 23, which falls on the 40th anniversary of the coming into effect of a bilateral peace and friendship treaty. The last Japanese prime minister to travel to China for the primary purpose of holding formal talks with Chinese leaders was Yoshihiko Noda in December 2011. Since taking office in late 2012, Abe has held face-to-face talks with Xi seven times, which all lasted less than an hour and took place on the sidelines of multilateral meetings, including the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, southeastern China, in 2016 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Beijing in 2014. Relations between Tokyo and Beijing, which until a few years ago were locked in bitter disputes over the sovereignty of a group of small islands in the East China Sea and wartime history, have been improving. Abe met with Xi earlier this month in Vladivostok, when he visited the Russian Far East city for a regional economic forum, and agreed to speed up preparations for a trip to China. According to the sources, Abe is likely to leave for the Chinese capital on the afternoon of Oct. 23 and attend a ceremony later in the day to mark the treaty's anniversary. During the talks with Xi and other high-ranking Chinese officials, including Premier Li Keqiang, Abe is expected to call for greater economic cooperation and the promotion of people-to-people exchanges, while North Korea and China's trade friction with the United States are also likely to be discussed. He is also likely to agree with the Chinese leaders to launch an "innovation dialogue" aimed at discussing ways to cooperate in developing artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies and to resume a bilateral currency swap arrangement to prepare for financial crises. On the last day of his trip on Oct. 25, Abe may visit the southern city of Shenzhen, neighboring Hong Kong, which is home to a number of successful Chinese start-up companies producing cutting-edge technologies, the sources said. KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 01:47 | World, All Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed Wednesday to uphold the 2015 Iran nuclear deal even after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in May. In a meeting in New York, Abe and Rouhani discussed the reinstatement of sanctions by the United States against Iran and a U.S. demand that countries halt oil imports from Tehran by Nov. 4, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. (Pool photo) The official declined to reveal details of the talks, especially when Japan has been asking for a waiver during negotiations with the United States. Tehran accounts for about 5 percent of Tokyo's total crude oil imports. In the meeting held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Rouhani sought Japan's cooperation in ensuring the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, and Abe responded that Japan continues to support it, according to the official. Abe was quoted as telling Rouhani that Iran's constructive role is indispensable for ensuring stability in the Middle East. Under the deal struck between Iran and six major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama -- Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. Abe and Rouhani, meanwhile, agreed to cooperate in denuclearizing North Korea, according to the Japanese official. The Japanese prime minister expressed his expectation that Iran will play a role in full implementation of U.N. sanctions on North Korea to compel it to give up its nuclear weapons program. Abe said Japan will continue to extend assistance to Iran in the fields of the environment, medicine and disaster risk reduction. KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 05:00 | All, World Japan and the United States have agreed to start bilateral trade agreement talks, with Washington indicating it will refrain from imposing higher tariffs on automobile imports from Japan while negotiations are under way, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday by the two governments. The statement was issued after a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. "The United States and Japan will enter into negotiations, following the completion of necessary domestic procedures, for a United States-Japan Trade Agreement on goods, as well as on other key areas including services, that can produce early achievements," it said. "The United States and Japan will conduct these discussions based on mutual trust, and refrain from taking measures against the spirit of this joint statement during the process of these consultations," it said. The United States agreed to respect Japan's position that it will not reduce tariffs on agricultural, forestry and fisheries products beyond levels agreed to under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an 11-member regional trade pact from which Trump withdrew the United States last year. "For Japan, with regard to agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, outcomes related to market access as reflected in Japan's previous economic partnership agreements constitute the maximum level," the statement said. It's been two weeks (just two weeks!) since a record number of New Yorkers went to the polls for the state primary, and on Thursday the New York City Board of Elections is expected to certify the results. But not every registered voter who wanted to vote was given the chance: many Gothamist readers reported broken machines and "mass confusion" at polls sites. Some were told they weren't registered when they were, others were given affidavit ballots and a shrug. Even Dante de Blasio was caught up in the confusion. Didn't the Board of Elections just get in trouble for this kind of crap? After the BOE admitted to purging more than 100,000 voters from its rolls in 2016, they got sued, and signed a settlement agreement pledging to prevent future illegal voter purges, and subjecting them to court-ordered scrutiny at least through the 2020 election. Yet this month's bustling, messy primary proved that the purges continue, and there is still a lot of work to be done, which is why the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, the group that filed the suit, just signaled to the BOE that they may not be holding up their end of the settlement agreement. The lawyers represent a group of nonprofits and civic organizations like Common Cause NY, and the 30-day notice given to the BOE on Thursday is the first necessary step towards getting the BOE back in court before a judge. At a press conference outside BOE headquarters on Thursday afternoon, Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause NY, said that her organization scrutinized the voter files from the primary after hearing from more than 100 people who experienced problems while trying to vote. "We were shocked to find over 300 people who were able to vote in the Democratic Congressional primary in June, who are now mysteriously switched to being 'unaffiliated,' so there are a lot of answers we need," Lerner said. "It's virtually impossible to voluntarily change your party registration here in New York, so it's very ironic that people are involuntarily removed and had their parties changed," she added. "We need answers." A spokesperson for the BOE did not respond to a request for comment. Lerner stressed that it wasn't just New York City voters who experienced problems: her group received complaints from Long Island and Westchester and towns upstate. Early voting and automatic voter registration are two initiatives that would go "a long way" towards addressing many issues. Cuomo: Its crazy that voting is so hard in this state. Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) September 25, 2018 "There are workable common sense solutions to improve the way our elections are run and it's way past time for the legislature to have caught up with the rest of the country to protect our franchise," Lerner said. By Mariko de Freytas, KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 21:30 | Feature, All, Urgent Japan wants the International Whaling Commission to discuss reforms immediately, its senior fisheries negotiator said Thursday, again issuing a veiled warning of a potential pullout if the body remains "dysfunctional." After its proposal to ease the IWC's decision-making rules was voted down in an annual meeting on Sept. 14, Japan was "obliged to seriously think about our status at the IWC and also seriously examine every possible option for achieving sustainable use of whale resources," Hideki Moronuki told a press conference. "If we could have the opportunity to discuss materialization of IWC reform soon, I think it's very good," Moronuke said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. But he also said "Japan does not have any intention to have prolonged discussions on IWC reform." Japan's past attempts to resume commercial whaling of relatively abundant whales such as minke whales have always been stymied by anti-whaling members, such as Australia and New Zealand. Attempts to compromise over the last 30 years have "all failed," said Morunoki, due to the "inflexible attitude of anti-whale countries." Calling the IWC "dysfunctional" for being unable to reconcile opposition over the resumption of commercial whaling, which Japan argues is a "sustainable use of whale resources" and recognized by the IWC rules, Moronuki said "now is the time to change the situation." "I think that by changing the decision-making system, there might be a so-called paradigm shift and the mindset of those two groups might be altered. They might start to feel they can coexist in the IWC," he said. "Therefore we made the IWC reform proposal at the last IWC meeting." At this year's annual meeting in Florianopolis, Brazil, Japan proposed making it easier to establish whale sanctuaries where whaling is banned in an attempt to make an overall proposal appealing to anti-whaling members. (The Japanese delegation at the IWC meeting on Sept. 13) Currently a three-quarters majority of IWC members is needed to set a catch quota or establish a sanctuary. The Japanese proposal would have lowered the hurdle to a simple majority. Although 27 countries supported it, 41 voted against. While Japan halted commercial whaling in line with a moratorium adopted in 1982 by the IWC, it has hunted whales since 1987 for what it calls "scientific research" purposes. But this has been criticized internationally as a cover for commercial purposes. Japan also suggested in 2007 that it might withdraw from the IWC, in protest at the ban on commercial whaling, but it was later persuaded by the United States and other countries to remain in the organization. KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 11:57 | All, World U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that his determination to work toward creating a world free of nuclear weapons was renewed by his recent trip to Nagasaki, one of the two atomic-bombed cities in Japan. "Last month, I had the extraordinary honor of visiting Nagasaki to commemorate the seventy-third anniversary of the atomic bombing," Guterres said at a high-level U.N. General Assembly meeting to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. (Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) Guterres shake hands in New York on Sept. 25) "The reality of the death and destruction caused by only one nuclear weapon -- small by today's standards -- reinforced my personal commitment to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons," he said. Guterres traveled to Nagasaki in August, becoming the first sitting U.N. chief to attend an annual memorial ceremony to mark the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japanese city. In May, Guterres unveiled his disarmament agenda, which recognizes that progress toward the goal of a nuclear-free world remains uneven. "That is why I have called for the resumption of sincere, substantive and results-oriented dialogue towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, as well as the implementation of existing commitments," he said, adding that countries possessing nuclear weapons have a responsibility to lead. Related coverage: As Japan stays away from nuke ban treaty, eyes on hibakusha, citizen power Japan's Abe, U.N. chief Guterres agree to keep N. Korea sanctions in place U.N. chief to visit Nagasaki for 73rd anniv. of atomic bombing Guterres pressed the United States and Russia to re-engage in the dialogue necessary to maintain their track record of bilateral arsenal reductions. He also reiterated that all countries have responsibilities in the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, mainly the fulfilment of their nonproliferation obligations. Saying it is now time to make "tangible progress to rid our world of nuclear weapons," the U.N. chief pledged both his own personal support and that of the U.N. system for efforts toward nuclear disarmament. "Such a challenging goal will not be achieved overnight. But we must take urgent steps now," he said. Also Wednesday, four more countries added their names at a U.N. ceremony to the list of nations that have ratified the world's first nuclear weapons ban treaty together with seven other nations that have newly signed onto the pact. Officially known as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the document was ratified by Gambia, Samoa, San Marino and Vanuatu. The seven countries that added their signatures to the accord are Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Brunei, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Myanmar and the Seychelles. The treaty was adopted in July last year. A total of 50 countries must both sign and ratify the treaty before it can enter into force. With the new additions, a total of 19 nations have now ratified it and 67 others have signed onto it. KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 12:50 | All, World Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he has agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump that the two countries will start negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement, while avoiding higher U.S. tariffs on Japanese auto exports that Tokyo feared would have a devastating impact on the economy. The bilateral deal reached during a meeting in New York between the two leaders signals a concession by Tokyo, which has favored a multilateral approach to address trade issues. Trump has taken issue with the huge U.S. trade deficit with Japan and called for "reciprocal" trade. Tokyo has been trying to fend off the U.S. push for negotiating a free trade agreement. "The agreement today will create a win-win economic relationship through the promotion of trade," Abe told a press conference after the meeting. Autos and agricultural products are seen by the two countries as sensitive items. Abe said he confirmed with Trump that Japan will be exempted from the potential imposition of tariffs on imports of cars and auto parts as long as trade negotiations are under way. According to a joint statement, Japan and the United States "respect positions of the other government." Tokyo's stance is that it will not make bigger concessions than those already agreed to under existing free trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral framework from which the United States has withdrawn. (U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (far R) and Japan's economic revitalization minister Toshimitsu Motegi (far L) hold talks in New York) [Pool photo] "We're starting trade talks with Japan. They were not willing, for years, to talk trade," Trump said at a separate press conference. "And now, they're willing to talk trade. And I'm sure we'll make a very good deal." Although the envisaged deal is seen as a de-facto free trade agreement, Japanese government officials stress that it will be different as FTAs are more "comprehensive." The summit came amid growing trade friction among the world's major powers, notably the United States and China. Wednesday's agreement to start talks is seen as good news for Trump in the run-up to the midterm congressional elections in November. Upcoming negotiations are expected to cover a wide range of goods and services, but it remains unclear exactly when they will start negotiations due to congressional procedures. Japan has been seeking to expand the coalition of countries promoting free trade through such frameworks as the TPP and the regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in the Asia-Pacific region. In July, Japan signed a free trade pact with the European Union to reject the rise of protectionism. The Abe-Trump summit was also aimed at enhancing coordination over the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Following up on his unprecedented June summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, Trump has said he wants to meet the North's leader again in the near future. Japan and the United States confirmed the need for bilateral cooperation on Wednesday as Kim pledged during the inter-Korean summit last week to permanently dismantle his country's major nuclear complex if the United States takes unspecified reciprocal actions. Speaking at the press conference to wrap up his visit to New York, Abe reiterated that he is ready to meet with Kim face to face and put an end to years of mutual distrust. "Should any summit be held, it should be something that will contribute to resolving the abduction issue." Abe has made it a priority to settle the issue of the abductions by North Korea of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s. South Korean President Moon Jae In told Abe on Tuesday that Kim had said he was ready to engage in dialogue with Japan and improve ties at an appropriate time, according to South Korea's presidential office. By Noriyuki Suzuki, KYODO NEWS - Sep 27, 2018 - 22:16 | All, World, Japan The Japan-U.S. agreement to enter negotiations for a bilateral trade deal raises one question: will this lead to the kind of "win-win" situation that Japan has envisaged? Tokyo appears to have acquiesced to Washington and moved away from exploring a multilateral approach to trade issues as U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding a bilateral deal to fix imbalanced trade. Even as Japanese officials dismiss the view, a future Japan-U.S. trade agreement on goods will, in effect, be a free trade agreement that Tokyo has been reluctant to negotiate. Concerns are growing in such sectors as autos and agriculture about Japan being forced into making more concessions. "It's no different from an FTA," said Junichi Sugawara, senior research officer at the Mizuho Research Institute. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump agreed during their summit Wednesday that their countries will start negotiations for a trade agreement on goods. Washington will hold off on imposing higher auto tariffs so long as negotiations are under way. "Both Japan and the United States appear to have gotten what they wanted. Is that a win-win situation? All the United States did was to threaten to impose auto tariffs," Sugawara said. At the United Nations, Abe chose trade as his first topic in his address, taking time to explain the contributions of Japanese automakers to the United States, a major auto market. The number of cars manufactured by Japanese companies in the United States is roughly double that of those exported to the major auto market in 2017, Abe told the international body. Japanese officials were worried about the sweeping impact of tariff hikes on auto imports into the United States and the possibility that Washington will demand export curbs. Abe's personal rapport with Trump apparently served as a plus in persuading the president to exempt Japan, its longtime ally, from the additional auto duties, officials and analysts said. "If the U.S. trade deficit is the problem, buying more liquefied natural gas or defense equipment will be a viable option for that matter," said Junichi Makino, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. "Japan still has a variety of negotiating cards because it may be a big exporter but it is also a big importer." Expected demands from Washington include tariff cuts on beef, on which Japan imposes a 38.5 percent tariff except for imports from countries already having a bilateral accord with Japan, according to experts. Japan has repeatedly said it cannot accept more than what has already been agreed to under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral framework from which the United States has withdrawn. Under the TPP, Japan will incrementally lower its beef tariff to 9 percent over 16 years after the accord takes effect. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Japan came to nearly $69 billion last year, according to U.S. government data. New trade negotiations may take years despite U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer hoping for an "early harvest." Abe, who has secured another term as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has three more years to lead the party under current rules and the country. His diplomatic and negotiating skills will be put to the test as Japan needs support from the United States in dealing with key diplomatic challenges, notably North Korea. Government officials have dismissed the idea of trade-offs between security and trade issues. "As he (Abe) is close to Trump, the alliance is stronger (than at other times)," said Takashi Kawakami, a professor well-versed in Japan-U.S. relations, at Takushoku University. "From an economic viewpoint, he made a big decision and concession." The Idukki Collector warned the people living downstream the Idukki dam and along the banks of Periyar river to remain cautious. Police are looking for a man accused of stabbing a subway rider on Wednesday afternoon. The incident took place on a Queens-bound F train on September 26th. According to the NYPD, while the train was at the Queens Boulevard and 75 Avenue station, the victim, a 49-year-old man, was stabbed in the chest and leg following a verbal dispute with the suspect. Sources tell Gothamist that the suspect had bumped into a woman, which started the argument. WABC 7 reports that the victim "tried to step in-between a man and a woman who were arguing." The assailant fled at the 75 Avenue station, while the victim was taken to Jamaica Hospital for treatment. (NYPD) A witness on the train took photographs of the suspect, who is described as being about 45 years old, 6'0" tall, and 220 pounds, with brown eyes, medium build and a grey beard. He was last seen wearing black pants, a grey sweatshirt, black sneakers and a tan cap. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. Maybe you have heard that a certain Georgetown Prep graduate Brett Kavanaugh has a few controversies to publicly confront, and maybe youlike mehave been looking forward to watching this Supreme Court nominee squirm as the sole bright spot in this 10,000-year week. Maybe you would simply like to watch a panel of old Republic men try to keep themselves in check around the "female assistant" they hired to improve their optics. Maybe you live for the political process, or the drama, I don't know, I don't know your life. If you are one of six in 10 Americans who plan to monitor this shit with unblinking beady hawk eyes, and you clicked, then I assume you're wondering when the Kavanaugh hearing will begin. I'll save you a Google search: Kavanaugh and the first woman to publicly accuse him of sexual misconduct, Christine Blasey Ford, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee starting at 10 a.m. I cannot say how much time you should budget for this endeavor, as time has lost all meaning to me. Just to quickly recap, because it would be a shame for you to walk into this hellscape unprepared, Kavanaugh has been accused of sexually and verbally abusing multiple women during high school and college. Blasey Ford, who testifies today (and whose testimony you can read here) tipped off press and Senators to her experience before Trump named Kavanaugh as his SCOTUS pick. She alleges that Kavanaugh, then 17, pounced on her at a house party and, along with his BFF Mark Judge, pushed her into an empty room. Covering her mouth so no one could hear her scream, Kavanaugh pinned her down, she says, and tried to rape her. She only got away because Kavanaugh and Judge were wildly inebriated. Kavanaugh denies this, and you can read his (shorter and more vague) testimony here. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford arrives before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. (MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) The Senate Judiciary Committee will not hear directly from Kavanaugh's two other accusers today, although you can bet their allegations will come up. Deborah Ramirez says that, as freshmen at Yale, she and Kavanaugh wound up at the same party, and Kavanaugh eventually took advantage of her drunkenness: While she was lying on the floor, he stood over her and shoved his penis in her face, telling her to "kiss it." Kavanaugh denies this, and has said his fellow studentshis fellow alleged partygoersconfirm it never happened. They don't, though, not entirely. He has also stated that, because he remained a virgin until well after graduating high school, there is no way he could have tried and failed to have sex with anyone, or waved his dick at another student. Arguably the largest bombshell to drop so far, though, came in the form of Wednesday's sworn affidavit, currently under review by the Judiciary Committee. In it, government employee Julia Swetnick states that in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh and Judge habitually helped orchestrate the group rape of multiple girls at parties, slipping them alcohol and drugs with the explicit intention of incapacitating them. In addition to getting wasted and berating women who told him 'no,' Kavanaugh allegedly became physically aggressive on many occasions. And notably, Swetnick said, Kavanaugh and Judge were present forif not necessarily participants inher own "train" rape, under the influence of the Quaalude-type substance she believes someone slipped into her drink. Kavanaugh has characterized this allegation as "Twilight Zone" stuff, but...perspectives from people who knew himlived with him!in his younger years place this kind of behavior well within the realm of possibility. I will be watching the hearing, but given all that, I will also be screaming into the sun. Come join me! 10 a.m. Eastern Time all across the Internet. Earlier this week, a pop-up experience appeared in Greenwich Village courtesy of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). Inside a small space on West 8th Street, the NYCLU has set up its Museum of Broken Windows, which features the work of multiple artists showcasing the ineffectiveness of Broken Windows policing, which criminalizes our most vulnerable communities. As is explained inside the museum, Broken Windows is a policing strategy that was popularized in a 1982 Atlantic article by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, who claimed that by cracking down on minor offenses like selling loose cigarettes, marijuana possession, or jumping a subway turnstile, police could protect communities from more serious, violent crimes. In reality, this approach resulted in police harassing, criminalizing, and brutalizing communities of color and poor people in general. The Department of Investigations Office of the Inspector General for the New York City Police Department produced a report in 2016 that analyzed six years of summons and arrest data, and found no evidence to suggest that cracking down on small quality of life offenses had anything to do with meaningful drops in felony crimes. Broken Windows policing was put into practice in NYC by former NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton under former mayor Rudy Giuliani, but continues to this very day under a supposedly progressive mayor who re-hired Bratton as NYPD commissioner, and then, after Bratton announced his resignation amidst protests calling for his firing, hired Brattons protege, James O'Neill. When a visitor enters the museum, theyre immediately greeted by a damaged cop car with its windows broken and plants bursting out the top of the car from the inside. Many of the other works inside the museum are also emotive and eye-opening, and illustrated facts about Broken Windows policing adorn the walls of the museum. Even the mens bathroom had facts about stop-and-frisk. The piece, Wanted by an artist (cleverly) named Dread Scott, was composed of three fake wanted posters with police sketches of young Black and Brown people who are wanted for ordinary things like lifestyle choice, making a "furtive movement," and for looking out. Russell Craig's "Self-Portrait" is an image of the artist painted onto a canvas made out of paperwork saved from over seven years he spent making his way through the criminal justice system over a non-violent drug conviction. While looking at Tracy Hetzel's portraits of the relatives of people killed by NYPD holding photos of their dead loved ones, you can almost feel their pain emanating from the canvas. Ann Lewis's "And Counting" consists of over 1,000 toe tags hanging from the ceiling containing the names, the vast majority of whom youve probably never heard, and information behind all the people killed by police in 2016. It took me a while just to find Philando Castile. The rest of the show includes historical artifacts, famous photographs, or images that became widespread on the internet, such as the New York Daily News front pages when Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell were killed, or the photograph of Edward Crawford Jr., throwing a tear gas canister during the Ferguson uprising. Despite some great exhibits and information inside the museum, the history told on the museums walls only goes from the 1960s to 2010. Missing are the Black Codes and vagrancy laws from which Broken Windows ideologically descends. These post-Civil War laws severely restricted the freedom of Black people and allowed cops to arrest Black folks for minor offenses, imprison them for long sentences, and then use them as cheap labor via the convict-lease system. The museum also largely omits the role radical, grassroots organizing has played in fighting back against racist policing. The Young Lords are mentioned, and the Black Panther Party is mentioned in reference to a case where the NYCLU represented them in court. And thats it. One of the pieces consisted of an old subway turnstile, which would have been a perfect place to mention the #SwipeItForward campaign that began in early 2016. Instead, the history focused more on (the NYCLU's) legislative and legal victories. Yet the NYCLU didn't speak out against Mayor de Blasio for picking Bratton as his first police commissioner, and the NYCLU has yet to forcefully speak out against the NYPDs racist gang database, which has been compared to stop-and-frisk. Radical, grassroots groups, on the other hand, vocally opposed Brattons appointment as commissioner and are currently fighting against the gang database. Heading back to the subway to go home, I tried to be optimistic and look at the museum as a sign that Broken Windows end was imminent and inevitable. As I walked into the station and took out my MetroCard, I saw two cops standing there. I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that I had money on my MetroCard that day and didnt have to hop the turnstile. Though I had just left a Broken Windows museum, for a working-class person of color like me, Broken Windows is nowhere near history. The Museum of Broken Windows is open through this Sunday, September 30. Ashoka Jegroo is a journalist born and raised in Brooklyn. 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. Fri., Nov. 12, 8-9:30 p.m. and Sat., Nov. 13, 7-8:30 p.m. Mason City Limits Comedy Club 114 E. Chestnut St., Mason City Central Illinois Theater & Comedy Chicago comedian Bob Jay swears that when he first started perfecting impressions of John Wayne and The Muppets, it was just the idle work of a boy with too much time on his hands. Little did he know that these voices and mannerisms would become a 20-year professional career. Bob does impressions and sound effects that range from famous celebrities to cartoon characters to popular singers. The impressions Jay chooses to bring out on stage depend on the audiences he's performing for, with younger audiences seeing more modern references 217-482-5233 Description Stony Brook University will play host to a screening and Q & A session with the filmmaker of the multiple award-winning and this years Emmy Award nominated documentary, The Island and the Whales on Thursday, September 27 at 1:30pm at the Wang Center. Winner of the Peabody Award and DOC NYC Grand Jury Prize, this film looks at the North Atlantic archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the longtime hunting practices of the Faroese that are threatened by dangerously high mercury levels in the whales; decimated seabird populations who have been contaminated by ingesting plastics; and anti-whaling activists who challenge the Faroese way of providing food for their families. The Faroe islanders consider themselves a canary in the mine; their tale a warning to the rest of the world. Filmmaker Mike Day will introduce the film and address questions regarding the changing lifestyles of the Faroese, their longstanding cultural hunting traditions, the health issues they are facing and the extraordinary experiences he had directing this film. This is a free screening and the film is being presented by the Stony Brook Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research (CIDER). Mike Day is available for interview. (Corrects to show ban on U.S. acquisitions has not yet been lifted in 15th paragraph) * Santander says new CEO is not a strategy change * Chairman says Orcel will focus on digital transformation * Investment bankers point towards aggressive M&A approach abroad By Jesus Aguado MADRID, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Britain's looming exit from the EU and political uncertainty in Brazil will test the management skills of Santander's new chief executive Andrea Orcel while fellow bankers say his appointment is a sign the bank could go on an acquisition spree. Orcel, who had headed the investment banking business of Switzerland's UBS Group since 2014, was named on Tuesday as the new CEO of the euro zone's biggest lender. The management restructuring comes at a sensitive time for the Spanish bank with two of its three main markets - Britain and Brazil - in focus and with its shares down 20 percent in the last year. A new strategic plan that Banco Santander had planned to unveil by the end of this year has been delayed until next February because Santander said it needed more time due to the uncertainty stemming from Brexit and next month's presidential election in Brazil. The chairman of Banco Santander, Ana Botin, said on Wednesday Orcel's appointment did not signal a strategy change, and he would focus on growing Santander's business organically. "There has been speculation that he comes to overhaul our strategy. But we are already clear on what our strategy is. We will remain the bank we are, a commercial bank operating in 10 countries," Botin told journalists at an event in Madrid. Story continues The bank, which made more than half a dozen high-profile deals in the 1990s and 2000s to grow from a regional Spanish lender to a global bank, is now putting the emphasis on better service and customer loyalty. While Orcel is mostly known for his investment banking skills, which he used to advise Santander at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS for two decades, the Italian also has a strong track record at the top of a global bank. "Orcel is known for being a tough and an effective manager and was credited for turning UBS around. He is seen as a very aggressive manager and very demanding of his own employees," a London-based investment banker close to Orcel said. A banker close to Orcel said he had almost become the "unofficial CEO" of UBS but his working relationship with its current CEO Sergio Ermotti had become difficult. M&A? Other bankers believe he will guide Santander towards a new phase of acquisitions. "If you bring in an investment banker such as Orcel you don't want to be wasting his advising skills," a top Madrid banker said on condition of anonymity. "Prior to his appointment, the bank counted on him as an external adviser, now he will be advising from within the bank," the banker said. Orcel, who had been a member of UBS's executive board since 2012, advised Santander on the deals it made in Britain, including the acquisition of Abbey National and Alliance & Leicester. He was also behind the three-way purchase of ABN Amro by RBS, Fortis and Banco Santander and worked on Santander's acquisition of Sovereign in the United States, where a ban on acquisitions is expected to be lifted next year, paving the way for a more effective capital allocation. The banker close to Orcel said that he could even try to gatecrash Unicredit's attempted merger with Societe Generale and look into a potential acquisition of the Italian bank. (Reporting by Jesus Aguado, additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Andres Gonzalez; Editing by Julien Toyer and Adrian Croft) Sept 28 (Reuters) - Westpac Banking Corp said on Friday it had agreed to sell funds management business Ascalon Capital Managers to Generation Development Group. The lender said in an announcement that funds manager Generation Development will invest in Ascalon and become its ultimate owner. It did not disclose the amount for which the business was being sold. Westpac added that the transaction, which is expected to close by March 2019, is subject to approval from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis) * Delek, Noble and Egyptian East Gas Co buy into pipeline * EMG pipeline will export gas from Israel to Egypt * Exports could begin in early 2019 -companies (Adds detail, background, Egyptian comment, Delek share price) By Ari Rabinovitch and Tova Cohen JERUSALEM, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Companies operating in both Israel and Egypt will buy a 39 percent stake in the EMG pipeline to enable a landmark $15 billion natural gas export deal to begin next year, the partners said on Thursday. The $518 million purchase by Israel's Delek Drilling , Texas-based Noble Energy and the Egyptian East Gas Co will enable the supply of 64 billion cubic metres of gas over 10 years from Israel's offshore Tamar and Leviathan fields to Egypt as part of the export deal signed in February. "The partnership intends to act to close the transaction and begin piping natural gas from Israel to Egypt as early as the beginning of 2019," Delek said in a statement. Delek and Noble, which are partners in the Israeli gas fields, will each pay $185 million while the Egyptian East Gas Co will pay $148 million. This comes against the backdrop of Egypt's efforts to liberalise its gas market and open it up to trading by private companies. "The ministry welcomes this new step by the private companies responsible for the commercial project's implementation," Ministry of Petroleum spokesman Hamdi Abdelaziz said in a statement. The spokesman added that the ministry is ready to consider permit requests from the private sector to help Egypt become a regional hub for gas trading. 'HISTORIC TRANSACTION' To buy into EMG, which owns a 90 km subsea pipeline between Ashkelon in Israel and El-Arish in Egypt, the three partners formed a joint company called EMED. Story continues Egyptian East Gas also owns a pipeline between El-Arish and Aqaba, Jordan, which the EMED companies said could be used to transport additional gas supplies in the future. "This is a historic transaction, that renders Egypt a regional energy centre and positions it in line with significant global energy centres, said Delek CEO Yossi Abu. Shares in Delek Drilling were up 3.6 percent at midday. The EMG pipeline originally carried gas supplies in the other direction, when Israel was buying gas from Egypt. That deal collapsed in 2012 after militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula carried out repeated attacks on the pipeline and EMG sued the Egyptian government for damages. The pipeline again became an export option after the Tamar and Leviathan discoveries. Tamar began production in 2013 and Leviathan is due to come online in late 2019. Under the new deal, EMG agreed to end arbitration with Egypt and drop claims against Cairo, Delek said. At the start-up of the Leviathan field, Noble said it expects to sell at least 350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to Egyptian customers. Other shareholders in EMG are Thai energy company PTT , state-owned Egyptian company EGPC and investment group MGPC. Egyptian East Gas holds a stake on its own. Delek and Noble have also signed deals to export gas to Jordan. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Tova Cohen Additional reporting by Ehab Farouk Editing by David Goodman) Japan Bitcoin Exchange Earlier this month, major Japanese crypto exchange Zaif was hacked, losing $60 million worth of crypto in user funds. The Financial Services Agency (FSA), the main financial watchdog of Japan, has stated that it regrets allowing Zaif to continue its operation after the exchange was given two warnings to drastically improve its system. It is extremely regrettable that such an incident happened when (Tech Bureau) was given two business improvement orders, an FSA official said. Two Warnings on System Failures and Fraudulent Withdrawals On September 24, the Japanese government officially opened an investigation into Zaif to evaluate the method of hacking attack utilized to breach into the exchange and the vulnerabilities the exchange had to prevent similar cases from occurring in the near future. Prior to its hack, the FSA issued two business improvement orders to Zaif, which essentially were warnings, to overhaul their internal management system and security measures to ensure that its system is operating with the risk of being compromised. However, the exchange failed to comply and implement necessary changes to improve its infrastructure. It remains unclear whether the exchange simply did not have the resources and manpower to implement significant changes to its infrastructure or did not feel the need to update its systems. Within months after the business improvement orders were issued, the exchange suffered a $60 million hack, becoming a second high profile crypto exchange subsequent to the $500 million security breach of Coincheck. Currently, the FSA and cybersecurity agencies perceive the root of the attack to be a hacked employee PC, a method utilized by a group of hackers who breached into the internal management system of Bithumb and stole millions of dollars in crypto as well as customer data on the Bithumb platform. We have not received enough explanation on what exactly happened. What they told us is an employees PC was hacked, a senior official at FSA said. Story continues Already, the FSA and the Japanese government have streamlined the process of compensating investors affected by the hack. Almost immediately after the breach, acknowledging that it cannot repay $60 million to its investors, Zaif secured a deal with publicly-listed technology corporation Fisco. In the weeks to come, Fisco is expected to pay over $40 million on behalf of Zaif in return for majority stake in the crypto exchange. Why Wasnt Zaif Suspended? In hindsight, officials at the FSA could have lawfully suspended the crypto exchange of Zaif citing issues related to investor protection and company security. In South Korea, local agencies led by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) initiated an investigation to all of the countrys crypto exchanges. In its findings, the FSC stated that Upbit, Korbit, Coinplug, Huobi, Bithumb and Coinone had decent security measures in place. The listing of Bithumb as a safe exchange was taken aback by the local crypto community but the decision of the FSC was understandable given that it requested Bithumb to shut down its platform until the systems are fully improved. More than 20 crypto exchanges in South Korea received orders to overhaul their systems within a period of 30 days. In the months to come, as the FSA prepares to go through 160 applications filed by local businesses to operate as crypto exchanges, it is most likely that the agency will proactively stop trading platforms with low-security measures, which may be massively beneficial for the entire market of Asia. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Japan Govt Outraged by $60m Crypto Hack of Zaif, Regrets Lack of Suspension appeared first on CCN. When soon-to-be former President Enrique Pena Nieto announced his governments energy reform before Mexicos congress in December 2013 he proclaimed, we are facing a historical opportunity to change what has been preventing the country to move forward. With that speech, Pena Nieto pinpointed an important impediment to Mexicos economic growth and unleashed a highly bold move to liberalize Mexicos dwindling energy industry, which for nearly 80 years has been dominated by state-monopoly Pemex. That reform effort is now under threat after the landslide victory of left-populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (commonly referred to as AMLO) in Mexicos presidential elections in July. However, whereas he once planned to scrap the reform entirely, as the election drew closer, AMLO softened his stance, thereby exemplifying the contest between idealism and pragmatism that will likely define his premiership. His announcements since being elected suggest the net result of his stance will be that the reform will largely be implemented, but that his program, will hinder not help energy production. Contrary to Pena Nieto and his PRI partys stance, AMLOs team believe that the route to increased production lies in revitalizing Pemex and restoring its role as the central pillar of the industry, rather than opening the sector to foreign players. The context behind the reform was the precipitous fall in the chronically inefficient Pemexs production its crude output dropped below 1.9 million barrels per day from a peak of 3.4 million barrels per day in 2004. Mexico has a growing population, impressive manufacturing base and is highly connected to international trade via some 44 trade agreements with countries around the world. However, high electricity and gasoline costs compared to the United States harm its competitiveness and it is increasingly dependent on imports of oil and gas, made worse by a severe lack of refining capacity. Therefore, there is broad agreement in Mexico that its hydrocarbon production needs to increase, including by AMLO himself. Of course, from a sustainability standpoint, ideally Mexico would aggressively pursue renewables, but such sources of energy are a long way off in meeting Mexicos immediate needs. Story continues Mexicos energy reform has taken time to bear fruit, but it is starting to do sofive upstream projects have been awarded to date, mainly due to the reforms, and they are expected to contribute 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent of hydrocarbon production by 2021-2022. Additionally, the amount of acreage being explored in the Mexican Gulf of Mexico has more than tripled because of the 12 bid rounds completed since 2013 which have led to 107 contracts being awarded. Implications Of Rhetoric On September 2 AMLO announced the indefinite suspension of energy sector tenders and auctions until the revision of the contracts awarded since the introduction of the energy reform. Additionally, the president of the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) announced the postponement from November this year to February 2019 of a tender for Pemex to find partners for exploration projects. Somewhat assuaging investors fears, the incoming minister of energy Rocio Nahle confirmed that the new administration does not intend to permanently cancel future auctions and tenders, which she said will continue once the review process for the awarded contracts is over. Nevertheless, AMLOs team have made it clear that Pemex will regain its position as the leading actor in Mexicos energy landscape, and they have promised to increase the companys exploration and production (E&P) budget to $11 billion in 2019 from $7 billion in 2018. It is highly likely that the new administration will give preferential treatment to Pemex over private players, including by limiting the number of auctions and blocks available to foreign operators for E&P projects. Prior to these latest moves, AMLO on July 27 announced new directors of Pemex and national utilities company CFE, which have sparked criticisms for being highly political appointments when what is needed is competent technical managers. Both appointees are political confidants of AMLO and have little experience in the energy sector. The new director of Pemex, Octavio Romero Oropeza, is a former mayoral candidate in AMLOs home state of Tabasco and a member of his National Regeneration Movement (Morena) party. The new CFE director, Manuel Bartlett, is coordinator of the Labor Party, part of the same left-wing coalition as Morena, in Mexicos Senate. Additionally, AMLO has long demanded that a new refinery be built in Tabasco, pledging to make the state the oil capital of Mexico, and wants to build another one in Campeche state. He has promised that construction of the Tabasco refinery will start in December this year and be complete within three years time. Rocio Nahle has already visited the worlds largest refinery in India, whose output is 1.2 million b/d, in preparation. In one area at least, the conflict between pragmatism and idealism does not look positive for Mexico. Whilst the construction of these plants will help plug Mexicos refinery capacity and ensure less gasoline is imported, overall AMLOs policies will not increase hydrocarbon production as he desires. There will likely be a prolonged review period of contracts, which may allow AMLO to score political points if any irregularities are unearthed, but by suspending any new tenders or auctions there will be many missed opportunities for increased oil and gas output. According to S&P Global Platts, Mexico requires upstream investment of more than $20 billion per year to produce 2 million barrels per day, almost twice Pemexs increased budget under AMLOs plans. Meanwhile, conservative estimates expect Mexicos oil production to reduce to 1.6 million barrels per dayby the end of the incoming administrations term. The key to increased production is private sector involvement, as one company alone cannot achieve the required increase. But this is something which AMLO has historically rejected, although now will probably have to reluctantly accept. Ideologue Or Pragmatist? The future direction of Mexicos hinges in large part in answer to the question of what sort of president AMLO will be: an ideologue or a pragmatist? His stance on the energy reform and other areas provides some clues. On the pragmatic side, he has significantly softened his stance on the energy reform, supported keeping NAFTA which he once railed against, as well as having the army on the streets to fight drug cartels. At the same time, he has made highly political appointments to technocratic posts and has initiated the contract review process. Another example of his pragmatism is the continuation of the program of contract termination (PCC) in the natural gas sector which was launched in 2016 to promote entry of new players in distribution. Under the initiative, Pemex will cede transport contracts to new players up to 70% of the total volume of natural gas transported over a period of four years. According to political risk advisors Control Risks, AMLOs team has not set out major revisions to policy for the downstream natural gas sector most likely because demand for LPG in Mexico is depressed with only 15% of households using it as their main source of energy and instead relying on more polluting sources such as wood. For now, key investors such as Premier Oil, which holds 25% in Block 7 which includes the world-class Zama discovery made last year, do not appear too worried. We had meetings with people very close to the top of the AMLO administration. These are sophisticated, clever people. Theyre well attuned to the concept of international business and the need for international oil companies to participate in their sector, remarked Premiers director of exploration Robin Allan in an earnings call in August. (i)ts a political change for sure, but business is carrying on uninterrupted and we dont foresee any interruption, according to Allan. By giving preferential treatment to Pemex and suspending new auctions and tenders, AMLOs administration will make it harder for Mexico to improve its energy production. In one area at least, the conflict between pragmatism and idealism does not look positive for Mexico. Photo Credit: Shutterstock The post Mexicos Energy Reform: Some Clues On Obrador appeared first on Emerging Market Views. Noble Energy Inc. NBL announced that it has executed multiple agreements to support the delivery of natural gas from the Leviathan and Tamar fields, offshore Israel, into Egypt. The company expects to commence operation of the Leviathan field by 2019-end and anticipates to sell a minimum of gross 350 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to contracted customers in Egypt. Also, Noble Energy is all set to invest approximately $200 million in Eastern Mediterranean Gas Company S.A.E., which owns the EMG Pipeline, to acquire a 10% indirect interest in the EMG Pipeline. The transactions are expected to close by early 2019. The EMG Pipeline is nearly a 90-kilometer (56 miles) pipeline located primarily offshore, which connects the Israel pipeline network from Ashkelon to the Egyptian pipeline network near El Arish. Noble Energys Position in Israel Noble Energy is currently focused on strengthening its operations in Israel. Further, the possibility of extracting higher gas volumes from the existing assets of the Tamar Field is expected to bode well for the company along with growing demand of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Per management, higher recovery of gas from Leviathan at the end of 2019 and the continued operations in Tamar Field are likely to boost Noble Energy's activities in Israel. The company is targeting 1 billion cubic feet per day of volume under contract as and when it starts operation from Leviathan late next year. Courtesy of rising demand in the surrounding areas, the company has been able to secure long-term contracts of 900 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). This improvement in gas demand was owing to addition of industrial customers in Jordan and higher Israeli demand on the back of the government mandate of reducing coal-fired power generation. Going Ahead Noble Energy expects to invest in the range of $700-$775 million during the third quarter. Also, the company plans to incur a capex of $3,000 million for the full year. Nearly 70% of the planned outlay is directed toward developing U.S. onshore assets. The higher number of wells brought online in the DJ Basin, Eagle Ford and Delaware areas will ramp up production output. In this context, the U.S. onshore production is expected to contribute a major portion of Noble Energys total yield. In addition to organic growth, the strategic acquisition of Rosetta Resources has enhanced the companys presence in the resource-rich Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin. Noble Energy has completed the buyout of Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. and further cemented its position in onshore U.S. Moreover, natural gas volumes are anticipated at 880-910 million cubic feet of natural gas per day while natural gas liquids (NGLs) are expected to be between 59 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d) and 64 MBbl/d in third-quarter 2018. For the full year, production is expected to be around 915-930 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and NGLs in the 62-66 MBbl/d band. Price Movement Year to date, shares of Noble Energy have outperformed the industry it belongs to. The stock has gained 6.8% compared with the industrys growth of 1.4%. Story continues Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider Noble Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are Denbury Resources Inc. DNR, Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. NOG and Viper Energy Partners LP VNOM, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Denbury Resources came up with an average beat of 162.86% in the preceding four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year bottom line has been revised 20% upward to 48 cents per share over the past 60 days. Northern Oil and Gas pulled off an average positive surprise of 138.54% in the trailing four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings has moved 34.2% north to 55 cents per share over the past 60 days. Viper Energy Partners delivered an average earnings surprise of 6.71% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been raised 72.8% to $2.54 per unit over the past 60 days. 5 Medical Stocks to Buy Now Zacks names 5 companies poised to ride a medical breakthrough that is targeting cures for leukemia, AIDS, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, and other conditions. New products in this field are already generating substantial revenue and even more wondrous treatments are in the pipeline. Early investors could realize exceptional profits. Click here to see the 5 stocks >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Viper Energy Partners LP (VNOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Sept 26 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Wednesday asked the Chinese government to move ahead with "trust, courage and farsightedness" to continue a dialogue started when the Vatican and Beijing signed a landmark agreement on the appointment of bishops. In a message to Chinese Catholics, Francis also said that while they should be good citizens, they will not shrink from offering "a word of criticism" when necessary to defend human dignity. (Reporting by Philip Pullella Editing by Andrew Heavens) BERLIN/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair (RYA.I) said on Thursday it would invest $400 million (304 million pounds) on establishing hubs for its planes at two French airports, returning to heavily unionised France after the airline's decision to recognise unions. Europe's largest low-cost carrier, which closed its last hub in France in 2011, has faced several months of strikes as a result of its decision in December to recognise unions. Pilots and cabin crew in Germany are the latest to step up pressure over pay and conditions. German unions representing both said their members would strike on Friday, joining crews in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal, and bringing the number of flights cancelled to almost 250. Ryanair said when it made its announcement on union recognition in December that the decision would help it expand in countries where unions had a strong influence, like France. On Thursday, the airline said it would base two planes in Bordeaux and two more in Marseille, using the airports as a hub to add 27 new routes to its summer 2019 schedule. The move would create 60 new Ryanair jobs in each location, it said. Basing planes at an airport allows an airline to fly a larger number of flights per day from that location. Ryanair, which now has 86 bases, aims to fly 200 million passengers per year by 2024, up from a forecast 139 million this year. Ryanair said in January it planned to double capacity in France in the next four years to about 20 million passengers, although it said continued strikes might force it to consider cutting short-term growth plans in other markets. Story continues Ryanair had already cancelled 150 flights scheduled for Friday due to the cabin crew action when it announced on Thursday that "under 100" flights would now also not operate in and out of Germany after the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) called on pilots to join the 24-hour strike. "No improved offer has been made since the last industrial action on Sept. 12. In addition, no conciliation agreement has been reached between Ryanair and VC so far," VC said. Ryanair Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew told VC in a letter dated Sept. 26 and released on Thursday that the airline was ready to enter arbitration with the union. Ryanair said VC had rejected three German candidates it had suggested for arbitrator and that negotiations should take four to five weeks, not the five months proposed by the union. Germany's services union Verdi, which represents around 1,000 cabin crew at Ryanair and had encouraged them to hold rallies on Friday, said its members would also join the walkout. Ryanair has traditionally employed a large proportion of its staff under Irish law, which unions say inconveniences staff and impedes them from accessing local social security benefits. The European Union executive backed Ryanair workers on Wednesday by saying they should work under contracts in the countries where they live rather than in Ireland where the airline's planes are registered. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Douglas Busvine in Berlin and Frankfurt, Graham Fahy and Padraic Halpin in Dublin; Editing by Darren Schuettler, Edmund Blair and Alexandra Hudson) Recently, Synovus Financial Corp. SNV entered into a purchase-and-assumption agreement to divest three branches of its subsidiary Synovus Bank to Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union. While two of the three branches are situated in Mobile, AL, the third one is located in Daphne. The sale will likely close by first-quarter 2019, after obtaining all regulatory approvals and fulfilling customary closing conditions. Per the agreement, Synovus Bank will transfer loans amounting to $138 million and deposits worth $107 million, along with other assets belonging to the three branches. In return, the bank will receive a deposit premium of $14.5 million from Jefferson Financial. Notably, Jefferson Financial is a member-owned and not-for-profit financial institution. Till the transactions conclusion, the branches will continue to function as part of Synovus Bank. Synovus Financial has been aggressively disposing distressed assets to improve its capital base, which, in turn, will likely ensure a decent capital position for the long run. Also, the company has been trying to expand through opportunistic acquisitions. Lately, it announced plans to acquire FCB Financial Holdings FCB, which will consequently make Synovus the largest mid-cap bank in the Southeast in terms of deposits. Shares of the company have inched up 1.2% compared with the industrys rally of 9.7% over the past year. Synovus Financial currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the same space are CBTX, Inc. CBTX and The First Bancshares, Inc. FBMS. Both stocks flaunt a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), at present. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CBTX has been revised 8% upward for the current year, in the past 60 days. The companys share price has jumped 20.5% in the past six months. The First Bancshares has witnessed 2.3% upward earnings estimates revision for 2018, over the past 60 days. Its share price has rallied 23.6% in six months time. 5 Medical Stocks to Buy Now Zacks names 5 companies poised to ride a medical breakthrough that is targeting cures for leukemia, AIDS, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia and other conditions. New products in this field are already generating substantial revenue and even more wondrous treatments are in the pipeline. Early investors could realize exceptional profits. Click here to see the 5 stocks >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The First Bancshares, Inc. (FBMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Synovus Financial Corp. (SNV) : Free Stock Analysis Report FCB Financial Holdings, Inc. (FCB) : Free Stock Analysis Report CBTX, Inc. (CBTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research bitcoin trading Scott Nations, the president and chief investment officer of NationsShares, a division of Fortress Trading, shorted Bitcoin through the Cboe futures market live on CNBC on September 26. Since then, the price of Bitcoin has slightly increased to $6,500. I want to be a seller of the October contract. The Cboe Bitcoin futures, that is a single Bitcoin in a futures contract. My targeted downside is $5,950 and my stop to the upside is $6,600. Why do I want to short? Because it is Bitcoin. It has no fundamental value. Were in an unravelling of this collosal bubble and the only thing going for it is hope, and hope is a horrible strategy, Scott said. Since Scott shorted Bitcoin at $6,370, the price of BTC has increased by 2 percent, demonstrating stability in the mid-$6,500 region. Why Short Contract Holders are Losing out Holders of short contracts of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Ripple have lost out massively over the past week, especially as XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, recorded a three-fold increase in value and ETH, the base currency of the Ethereum network, demonstrated decent gains throughout the same period. It is difficult for short contract holders to bet against the cryptocurrency market at the current phase of the correction because as billionaire investor Mike Novogratz said, the market is in a bottoming out process wherein it has started to demonstrate seller fatigue. Novogratz emphasized that once Bitcoin surpasses major resistance levels at $6,800, $8,800, and $10,000, the cryptocurrency market may also start to see actual demand from institutional investors that could drive up the price of Bitcoin by more than 30 percent by the end of the year. No Fundamental Value Argument has no Merit The argument of Nations that the price of BTC will decline by 3 percent in the short-term because it has no fundamental value and that it will eventually hit zero has no merit, because if that is the case, Nations should not even be attempting to short the market in a short-term downtrend. Story continues As demonstrated by Iran, Turkey, and Venezuela in the past nine months, it has become difficult to argue that fiat currencies have fundamental value as well, as their value depend on the economy they are based in and if the economy fails, it has no support. Over the past few months, the national currencies of Iran and Venezuela have declined so massively in a short period of time that it has been unable to operate as currencies. Citizens and residents in the two countries have found it difficult to purchase basic necessities and food with their national currencies. The fundamental value of Bitcoin comes from its ability to operate as a consensus currency. The market, based on a simple concept of supply and demand, measures the value of BTC in real-time. In the months to come, especially as the crypto market continues its gradual recovery, the relevance of Bitcoin as an alternative currency to fiat money will likely increase in struggling economies. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post This Trader Shorted Bitcoin to $5,950 on CNBC, Bitcoin Price Now at $6,500 appeared first on CCN. By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada on Thursday shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism that talks to modernize NAFTA were moving too slowly and made clear it had to keep negotiating as long as there was a chance of success. The prospects for a quick deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement appeared to dim on Wednesday after Trump blasted Canada's stance and threatened to impose tariffs on cars imported from Canada. "The Americans are finding that the negotiations are tough because Canadians are tough negotiators, as we should be," Trudeau told reporters on the way into a regular weekly cabinet meeting in Ottawa. "But a good, fair deal is still very possible. We won't sign a bad deal for Canadians," he added, saying his office had not requested a private meeting with Trump. He declined to answer when asked whether Trump had lied. The United States has imposed a Sept. 30 deadline for Canada to agree to the text of a new NAFTA. The 1994 deal underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Canada, which sends 75 percent of its goods exports to the United States, is vulnerable. The Canadian dollar weakened to its lowest in more than two weeks against the U.S. greenback early on Thursday. But insiders - who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation - say there is no alternative for Canada but to keep trying to settle the differences between the two nations and ignore mounting pressure from the U.S. administration. "Plan A, B, C and D is NAFTA. If the government listened to everything the Trump team said about the negotiations we'd never get anything done," said one source with direct knowledge of Ottawa's stance. Story continues Separately, a well-placed Canadian source said there were no immediate plans for any more talks with the United States. Washington has already wrapped up a deal with Mexico, the third NAFTA member, and is due to publish the text on Friday. Although U.S. lawmakers said they expected that text to completely exclude Canada, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has made clear Ottawa could sign on later. Canadian officials say there is no rush to get an agreement since any move to recast NAFTA as a bilateral deal would have to be approved by the U.S. Congress. Some U.S. legislators - echoing comments by business leaders - say the agreement must stay a three-nation affair. Rep Brian Higgins, a Democrat whose district borders Canada in upstate New York, attended a briefing by Lighthizer and afterwards attacked the plan to proceed with Mexico. "(Lighthizer) indicated there was no deal with Canada, but the hope is that Canada will come in later on, which I think is totally unacceptable. This is an abject failure," Higgins said. U.S. lawmakers at the Lighthizer meeting cited him as saying the earliest they would be able to consider a deal with Mexico, even a bilateral agreement, would probably be next February or March. One Canadian government source said there was a significant chance that Congress would balk at any move to turn NAFTA into a bilateral pact. Yet people close to Trudeau acknowledge that it is quite possible Trump might slap tariffs on Canadian autos, which would have major consequences. Andrew Scheer, leader of Canada's official opposition Conservatives, on Thursday cited the risk of auto tariffs and told legislators that "Canadians are rightly becoming more and more nervous" about the way the talks were going. Trudeau responded by saying, "the Conservatives want to sign any old deal quickly at any cost." Polls suggest Trudeau would easily retain power in a federal election set for October 2019. A recent Reuters/Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics poll showed a majority of voters in the industrial states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin opposed tariffs on Canada. Half the voters in Indiana also rejected the idea. The survey suggested politicians in America's Rust Belt would likely struggle to capitalize on Trump's trade war in November congressional elections. (Additional reporting by David Lawder and Megan Davies in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Paul Simao and Nick Zieminski) CFTC Lawsuit Cryptocurrency A U.S. district court on Wednesday gave leave to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to proceed with the lawsuit against Nevada-based My Big Coin Pay Inc. who had allegedly been operating a $6 million fraud, per the courts Memorandum of Decision. The federal judge who presided over the case affirmed that the cryptocurrency in question falls within the definition of a commodity, and as a result gave the regulator the authority to charge for fraud since it falls within its jurisdiction. The Alleged My Big Coin Scam As the crackdown on virtual currency scams gained momentum, the CFTC pursued a case against technology entrepreneur, Randall Crater, and his corporate entity My Big Coin in January. Crater had allegedly perpetrated a $6 million fraud on naive individuals who were keen on purchasing the shady virtual currency. In the lawsuit filed against Mr. Crater and My Big Coin, the CFTC accused the defendants of misappropriating $6 million from 28 clients by selecting a name that sounds like bitcoin and also claiming the cryptocurrency was backed by gold. The plaintiff further alleged the defendants falsely indicated the cryptocurrency had trading representation on several currency exchanges. Mark Gillespie, an associate of Crater, was also accused to have conned investors of their funds and then redirected such funds to personal bank accounts in connivance with Crater. The defense counsel, however, attempted to dismiss the case on the grounds of virtual currency not being a tangible good or service on which futures contracts are being traded the agencys clear jurisdiction. Judge Questions Both Parties cryptocurrency derivatives CFTC In reaching his judgment on the definition of a commodity, U.S. Judge Rya Zobel in Boston put questions to the defendants and plaintiff about the operations of cryptocurrencies. Zobel did not unilaterally overrule Caters request for the case to be dismissed but maintained she would decide in the shortest possible time. Story continues In her judgment, she noted that My Big Coin fell under the classification of a commodity in line with the definition of the Commodity Exchange Act which incorporates broad categories. Following her clarification on the commodity status of virtual currencies and bitcoin futures, the CFTC by extension can exercise its oversight function on other virtual currencies. That is sufficient, especially at the pleading stage, for plaintiff to allege that My Big Coin is a commodity under the Act, she wrote in Wednesdays judgment. Controversy Still Remains The lacuna on the jurisdiction over cryptocurrency remains evident in the United States. Earlier this year, a judgment delivered by U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn stated that CFTC could regulate virtual currencies as commodities. This ruling was leveraged by Craters counsel, who disputed its application over bitcoin on which futures contracts are traded. Images from Shutterstock The post U.S. Court Grants CFTC Request to Sue $6 Million Crypto Fraud appeared first on CCN. Ryan Parsell begins his role as Chief Public Information Officer for El Paso County beginning Monday. He succeeds Dave Rose, who held the position for 10 years. Courtesy photo Colorado Springs police are working with federal agencies to see if a military-grade technology can help combat gun violence. The FireFLY gunshot detection system, similar to a program used in other U.S. cities, is a network of acoustic sensors that detects when a shot is fired, pinpoints the location of the gunfire and immediately notifies police, said police spokesman Lt. Howard Black. Alabama-based Invariant worked with several government defense research organizations to develop the technology to detect hostile fire during military operations, according to the Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center. Now, Colorado Springs police are working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Department of Defense to adapt the system for civilian law enforcement. As part of a pilot program, officials have installed the network of sensors near the Valley Hi neighborhood and East Fountain Boulevard and South Chelton Road the intersection that has the highest reports of gunfire in the city, according to police. The system, which officials tested using live fire on Tuesday, has been designed so that it can be moved to other areas of the city, Black said. Police hope that, because dispatchers will be immediately notified of gunfire instead of relying on residents reports, police will be able to respond to more shootings, get to the scene faster and make more gun-related arrests, Black said. Were also hopeful that ... people will really think twice before they make an inappropriate choice of pulling that trigger that they might have a criminal consequence because of that technology, he said. The system may also help authorities retrieve more ammo casings for a national network of ballistic evidence thats used to solve crimes, said ATF spokeswoman Mary Markos. The system is similar to another gunshot detection program called ShotSpotter that cities can pay to subscribe to; however, the FireFLY wont cost the city, Black said. ShotSpotter is in use in more than 90 cities across the country, including New York City, Chicago and Denver. The California-based companys website boasts of dramatic decreases in gunfire and increases in gun-related arrests in areas that use the system. Denver Channel 7 reported in April that since Denver police began using ShotSpotter in early 2015 it has lead to 102 arrests and the recovery of more than 80 guns. ShotSpotters two-year contract with the city is worth nearly $2 million, according to Channel 7. But critics have questioned whether the ShotSpotter system can actually help police catch or deter more criminals. Some communities have discontinued the program amid concerns related to its cost and effectiveness, according to multiple media reports. A 2016 Forbes Magazine analysis of data from seven participating cities found that police were unable to find evidence of gunshots 30 to 70 percent of the time after ShotSpotter alerts. A 27-year-old Cotopaxi man was fatally shot Saturday night, the fifth homicide investigated by the Fremont County Sheriffs Office since November. Jonathon Kern was found dead about 10:45 p.m. near K Path and 30th Trail in Cotopaxi. Homicides are uncommon in the southern Colorado county, which has less than 50,000 residents. The Sheriffs Office didnt investigate any homicides in 2016 or 2015, Colorado Bureau of Investigation data show. One homicide was reported in 2014, but none were reported in 2013. The active homicide cases are on the rise, said Undersheriff Megan Richards. The five unsolved homicides in less than a year is the most open cases the Sheriffs Office has had in 17 years, Gazette news partner KKTV reported. The others homicides are: Loa Kennedy, 74, of Canon City, who was found dead June 24 on Chinook Drive in Canon City. Kenneth Orchard, 77, of Canon City, who was found dead in a May 22 house fire in the 1800 block of Pinion Avenue in Canon City. John Allen Alderman, 57, of Fremont County, who was found dead Feb. 20 in Penrose. Jerry Thomas Hoglan, 53, of Cotopaxi, who was found dead Nov. 17, 2017, in the Texas Creek area near the Arkansas River. No arrests have been announced in the deaths, but Richards said officials do not believe they are connected. At this point, we are not connecting these as related to each other at all, she said. Richards wasnt immediately able to provide a total number of homicides for 2017. Absolutely, its concerning, Richards said. Any homicide is tragic and terrifying. A group of teenagers who used a stolen van to smash their way into a medical marijuana dispensary early Wednesday would be better off sprinkling what they stole on pasta than smoking it. Witnesses said the teens stole containers of what appeared to be marijuana at Native Roots Dispensary at 3660 Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeastern Colorado Springs. Except that whats on display isnt marijuana. Its oregano. Which probably would make you cough if you smoked it but wont get you high. The communications manager for Native Roots, Kim Casey, said no medical marijuana was taken in the smash-and-grab robbery reported about 1 a.m. The thieves crashed through two walls of the building, but did not reach the locked bud room, she said. The dispensary displays containers filled with oregano for looks, Casey said. Those containers were what was stolen, along with several T-shirts. Witnesses told police multiple people got out of the stolen van, and at least one other had been waiting in a getaway car in which they all fled. Police spotted the car near Rebecca Lane, where it hit the police car and drove away. No injuries were reported. In late August, similar smash-and-grab incidents were reported at Canna Meds Wellness Center in eastern Colorado Springs, and at a Famous Footwear in northeastern Colorado Springs. There does appear to be a pattern with regards to similar crimes like this, not only with dispensaries but with other businesses as well, police Sgt. L.C. Morgan told Gazette news partner, KKTV. No arrests have been announced. Descriptions of the burglars have not been released. Contact the writer: 636-4809 @leslie_m_james If a blue wave is coming in the November midterm elections, as some polls are predicting, the revolution wont begin in Doug Lamborns congressional district. Nate Silver, editor in chief of the national election forecast blog FiveThirtyEight, tweeted an update to the sites House predictions Tuesday: Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican has a 98 percent chance of beating his Democratic opponent Stephany Spaulding and winning a seventh term. Silvers prediction is hardly going out on a limb. A Democrat has never been elected in the 5th Congressional District since it was created in 1973. According to the Secretary of States Office, Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2 to 1 in the district, which consists of El Paso, Teller, Chaffee and Fremont counties and part of Park County. If that wasnt enough of an advantage, Lamborn has outraised Spaulding, three times over, according to campaign finance data filed this month with the Federal Election Commission $568,526 to $188,007. Lamborn has spent $686,615 to Spauldings $108,942, FEC data shows. If Spaulding were to win, it would be the greatest political upset in the states history, said Matthew Hitt, a political science professor at Colorado State University. Spaulding believes its possible. The one constant in this election season is the number of times the pundits have been wrong, she said in a statement. Over the past 14 months, Ive crisscrossed the region and voters overwhelmingly say theyre ready for a champion who will fight for all of our families, not just the fortunate few. The status quo no longer cuts it in this region. Lamborns campaigns could not be reached for comment. As with Lamborn, the incumbents in the states 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th congressional districts are expected to win easily, according to predictions. Colorados 6th Congressional District is in play, however, with some polls showing Democratic candidate Jason Crow far ahead or at least even with Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman. FiveThirtyEight predicts Crow has an 81.2 chance of ousting Coffman, who has held the seat since 2009. Another prominent national forecaster, The Cook Political Report, shows the 6th District race is leaning toward a Crow victory. The University of Virginia Center for Politics, reiterated that forecast as do mid-September polls from The New York Times, which shows that 51 percent of voters lean toward Crow while 40 percent prefer Coffman and 9 percent remain undecided. In the 3rd District, Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton is expected to easily defeat Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush, while Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ken Buck is given a 97 percent chance of holding off Democrat Karen McCormick in the 4th Congressional District. If the 3rd (District) flips, you could say Colorado is actually having the kind of Democratic wave (like) weve never seen, Hitt said. And if Tipton is a sign of the greatest Democratic wave in Colorado history, I dont know what defeating Lamborn would be. Democratic incumbent U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette and Ed Perlmutters seats in Colorados 1st and 7th districts also are considered locks at 99.9 percent and 99.8 percent chances of success, respectively, FiveThirtyEight reports. They are competing against Republican candidates Casper Stockham and Mark Barrington. Democratic candidate Joe Neguse who is running for the 2nd District seat currently held by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis has a 99.9 percent chance of winning over Republican candidate Peter Yu, according to FiveThirtyEight. While FiveThirtyEight has proven itself remarkably accurate over the years, people must still understand what the election predictions mean, said Robert Duffy, a political science professor at Colorado State University. This is especially true since the 2016 presidential election, when Democrat Hillary Clinton was widely projected to win over now-President Donald Trump. To say that somebody has a 3-in-4 chance of winning is also the same thing as a 1-in-4 chance of losing, Duffy said. Thats not the same thing as a sure thing. Barry Fagin is Professor of Computer Science at the US Air Force Academy, and a Senior Fellow in Technology Policy at the Independence Institute in Denver. In 2012, he was named the Colorado Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. His views are his alone, and not necessarily those of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. He only wishes they were. Aram Benyamin has been offered the position as Colorado Springs Utilities third CEO. Benyamin is currently the general manager of CSUs Energy Department, and has been with the company since May 2015. Courtesy photo VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ICC International Cannabis Corp. (CSE: KBB)(FWB: 8K51)(OTC: KNHBF) ("ICC" or the Company) is pleased to welcome South Africas recent ruling legalizing the consumption of Cannabis. On September 18th, South Africas Constitutional Court unanimously voted to legalize adult Cannabis consumption, as well as the cultivation of Cannabis for private consumption. South Africas Parliament is expected to amend the laws that criminalise cannabis following the Constitutional Courts ruling in the coming months. ICCs has agreements in place to provide Cannabis products to over 2,800 independent and corporate pharmacies across South Africa (see ICCs news release dated August 16, 2019). ICCs South African distribution network is complemented by the Companys licences for medical Cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, transport, research and import/export in the Kingdom of Lesotho. The Company recently announced its engagement of leading Lesotho based infrastructure and development consultancy firm; Volare to assist with local development efforts (see ICCs news release dated September 12, 2018). In 2017, Lesotho became the first African Nation to issue licenses for medical Cannabis operations. The Kingdom of Lesotho is an enclave of South Africa and will act as a cultivation and production hub for ICCs 2,800 South African pharmacies. Both South Africa and Lesotho are members of the South African Customs Union (SACU), which aims to maintain the free interchange of goods between member countries. Lesotho has also signed numerous international trade agreements permitting the unencumbered export of Cannabis products to various jurisdictions worldwide. Eugene Beukman, chief executive officer and director of ICC, stated: "ICC applauds South Africas progressive decision to legalize adult Cannabis consumption and private cultivation. The Company is well positioned to capitalize on South Africas maturing Cannabis regulations, through its South African distribution infrastructure and Lesotho based cultivation and export licences. It is anticipated that Lesotho will act as a staging ground for access to larger African markets including its neighbour South Africa and its population of over 55 million. Lesotho is a favourable jurisdiction for Cannabis cultivation due to its rich soils, ideal climate, skilled agricultural workforce, low cost labour, and access to key infrastructure. ON BEHALF OF THE ICC INTERNATIONAL CANNABIS CORP BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Martinz Michael Martinz President, Director info@intlcannabiscorp.com THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE. Notice Regarding Forward Looking Information: This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. This information is only a prediction. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking information throughout this news release. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: political changes in Canada and internationally, future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis in Canada and internationally, the Companys ability to secure distribution channels in international jurisdictions, competition and other risks affecting the Company in particular and the cannabis industry generally. The forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements and is made as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX: AUG, NYSE AMERICAN: AUG, Auryn or the Company) is pleased to announce results from additional trenching work at its Sombrero copper-gold skarn project in southern Peru. In particular, Trench 18 includes 30 meters of 1.93% CuEq, 24 meters of 0.73% CuEq and 54 meters of 0.34% CuEq (Table 1). A Message from Ivan Bebek, Executive Chairman & Director: These are the highest-grade trenches we have seen to date from Sombrero, a project that continues to have impressive surface mineralization peripheral to a large-scale 3.5-kilometer-long target. We are very excited to put the first drill holes into Sombrero, which we are anticipating in Q1 of next year, pending permitting. As for the two projects we drilled this summer, Committee Bay and Homestake Ridge, we are looking forward to results in the coming weeks. Table 1: Trench results Sombrero Trench 2018 Copper & Gold Significant Intercepts* Trench From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Cu (%) Au (g/t) CuEq (%) AuEq (g/t) 18SRT-17 62 68 6 0.10 0.91 0.63 1.08 136 142 6 0.19 0.04 0.21 0.37 162 178 16 0.14 0.05 0.16 0.29 18SRT-18 14 30 16 0.47 0.10 0.53 0.92 49 79 30 1.86 0.12 1.93 3.34 79 104 not sampled bedrock not encountered 104 158 54 0.32 0.04 0.34 0.60 182 206 24 0.66 0.11 0.73 1.26 230 244 14 0.14 0.02 0.15 0.27 *No less than 5m of >= 0.1 g/t Cu, maximum dilution 5m Metal price used for Eq calculations: Au $1300/oz and Cu $3.28/lb, no adjustments for metallurgical recoveries have been made. Auryn believes these trenches represent true widths of the mineralized system. These results conclude Auryns successful trenching program on the southern half of the project and identified a 1.3-kilometer-long zone of copper-gold mineralization hosted within endoskarn intrusive bodies. The encountered mineralization is peripheral to the target area, which is defined by the contact zone between the intrusives and the Ferrobamba limestone. This area is characterized by a 3.5-kilometer-long chargeability anomaly (Figure 2). Trench 18 is approximately 100 meters from Trench 08 (99 meters of 0.46% CuEq) and 1.2 kilometers from Trench 09 (105 meters of 0.3% CuEq) (see press release from June 19, 2018). Importantly, the encountered mineralized intervals in Trench 18 are separated by an interval where the trench was unable to reach bedrock (Table 1). If we composite the intervals of copper-gold mineralization together with the area where no bedrock was encountered, using values of zero for both the copper and gold grades in the unsampled part of the trench, Trench 18 has a result of 109 meters at 0.7% CuEq (Figure 2). Figure 1: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a24645a5-fae2-48dd-a817-6559ccc720c9 Figure 2: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e3dbb32e-3f2e-4154-8478-1ca73a618d1f Michael Henrichsen, P.Geo, COO of Auryn, is the Qualified Person who assumes responsibility for the technical disclosures in this press release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AURYN RESOURCES INC. Ivan Bebek Executive Chairman For further information on Auryn Resources Inc., please contact Natasha Frakes, Manager of Corporate Communications at (778) 729-0600 or info@aurynresources.com. About Auryn Auryn Resources is a technically driven junior mining exploration company focused on delivering shareholder value through project acquisition and development. The Companys management team is highly experienced with an impressive track record of success and has assembled an extensive technical team as well as a premier gold exploration portfolio. Auryn is focused on scalable high-grade gold deposits in established mining jurisdictions, which include the Committee Bay and Gibson MacQuoid gold projects located in Nunavut, the Homestake Ridge gold project in British Columbia and a portfolio of gold projects in southern Peru, through Corisur Peru SAC. About Sombrero This project consists of the North Sombrero and South Sombrero properties, comprising approximately 100,000 mineral claims owned or optioned by Auryn Resources. The copper-gold Sombrero mining concessions are located 340 kilometers SE of Lima in southern Peru and are hosted in the Andahuaylas-Yauri belt. This belt is interpreted to be on the north-western margins of this Eocene-Oligocene aged copper-gold porphyry and skarn belt that hosts the Las Bambas, Haquira, Los Chancas, Cotambambas, Constancia, Antapaccay and Tintaya deposits. The project is characterized by a strong structural control and significant copper and gold values from historical surface samples. The principle targets at Sombrero are copper-gold skarn and porphyry systems and precious metal epithermal deposits. Trenches 2018 (Sombrero, Peru) Analytical samples were taken from each 2-meter interval of trench floor resulting in approximately 2-3kg of rock chips material per sample. Collected samples were sent to ALS Lab in Lima, Peru for preparation and analysis. All samples are assayed using 30g nominal weight fire assay with atomic absorption finish (Au-AA25) and multi-element four acid digest ICP-AES/ICP-MS method (ME-MS61). Where MS61 results were greater or near 10,000 ppm Cu, Zn or Pb, the assay was repeated with ore grade four acid digest method (OG62). QA/QC programs for 2018 trench grab samples using internal standard and blank samples; field and lab duplicates indicate good overall accuracy and precision. Intervals were calculated using a minimum of a 0.1% Cu cut-off at beginning and end of the interval and allowing for no more than five consecutive meters of less than 0.1% Cu with a minimum length of the resulting composite of 5m. Copper and gold equivalent grades (CuEq and AuEq) were calculated using gold price of $1300/oz and copper price of $3.28/lb. Forward Looking Information and Additional Cautionary Language This release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to or associated with the acquisition and title to mineral concessions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to the risks discussed in the Companys Annual Information Form and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2017 and subsequent continuous disclosure filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators available at www.sedar.com and the Companys registration statement on Form 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov. The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ICC International Cannabis Corp. (CSE: WRLD)(FWB: 8K51)(OTC: KNHBF) ("ICC" or the Company) is pleased to announce the following material progress updates in regards to its Danish Cannabis operations: Identifying the city of Meldrup, Denmark as the epicentre of its local operations; Securing a fully equipped 55 acre land parcel in Meldrup; Advancing relationships with the Mayor and Town Council of Meldrup; and Solidifying its European strategy in a Cannabis friendly regulatory arena. ICC controls one of twelve Cannabis cultivation and manufacturing licences in the Kingdom of Denmark (see ICC news release dated August 28, 2018). ICCs entry into Denmark mirrors industry peers such as Canopy Growth Corporation, Green Organic Dutchman Holdings, Aurora Cannabis Inc. and CannTrust Holdings. ICC has engaged an Israeli Cannabis organic cultivation and management company, Sababa Sciences Inc. (Sababa Sciences). Sababa Sciences will provide end-to-end management including the implementation of advanced Israeli agricultural technologies for high quality medical Cannabis treatments. ICC and Sababa Sciences have designed a 473,000 square foot, fully automated greenhouse facility that will meet IMC-GAP, ISO: 9001 and European GMP standards. ICC and Sababa Sciences are also developing an on-campus European GMP compliant facility utilizing advanced analytics to maximize extraction and product manufacturing processes. In addition, ICC and Sababa Sciences are planning joint research initiatives in both Israel and Denmark and will produce products that leverage a proprietary formulation and delivery technologies for the Danish market and for export. Meldrup is approximately 20 kilometres from the City of Viborg and is located in western Denmark. Western Denmark is a region known for its highly educated and skilled labour force, and robust agriculture community. The initial land parcel secured for development by ICC is over 2,400,000 square feet; of which 1,400,000 square feet are allocated for greenhouses and over 1,000,000 square feet earmarked for processing, extraction, research and manufacturing facilities. The land parcel is equipped with necessary utilities in close proximity including water, gas, telecommunications and electricity. Eugene Beukman, chief executive officer and director of ICC, stated: The Town of Meldrup and its Mayor Ulrik Wilbek have made great efforts to host ICC and Sababa Sciences. We are proud to be working with a forward-thinking industrious town with a robust infrastructure. Since legalization on January 1, 2018, the Danish government has displayed strong support for Cannabis development, in the forms of research grants and tax incentives. ICC holds claim to premier European Cannabis assets; domiciled in a jurisdiction with a highly skilled agriculture and manufacturing workforce. With the help of Sabba Sciences, we look forward to continuing to advance our Danish operations. Finished Cannabis and Cannabis derivatives produced by ICC will be sold through Denmarks retail pharmacy network. The Kingdom of Denmark has developed a program for reimbursement for Cannabis therapeutics through its national health care program. Patients can be reimbursed for their Cannabis medicine in the same manner as all other prescriptions. ICC and Sabba Sciences also boast various industry relationships that will complement future development potential throughout Scandinavia. Continued development of ICCs Danish Cannabis portfolio will help serve both local and export market demand. ICCs Danish assets are strategically positioned in immediate proximity to Germany, allowing for direct imports of CBD products, as well as medical Cannabis flower. ON BEHALF OF THE ICC INTERNATIONAL CANNABIS CORP BOARD OF DIRECTORS Michael Martinz Michael Martinz President, Director info@intlcannabiscorp.com THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE. Notice Regarding Forward Looking Information: This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. This information is only a prediction. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking information throughout this news release. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: political changes in Canada and internationally, future legislative and regulatory developments involving cannabis in Canada and internationally, the Companys ability to secure distribution channels in international jurisdictions, competition and other risks affecting the Company in particular and the cannabis industry generally. The forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements and is made as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise. Show Spoiler C Hi Turkish,This ratio-based question can be solved in a number of different ways; you can take an Algebraic approach or you can use a combination of TESTing VALUES and the TESTing THE ANSWERS.We're given a few facts about the make-up of an organization from 2000 to 20011) The number of male members INCREASED by 12%2) The number of female members DECREASED by 6%3) The overall membership INCREASED by 1.2%We're asked for the ratio of male members to female members in the year 2000.To start, I'm going to prove something about the ratio in the year 2000....IF....we had an equal number of male members and female members, the membership increase would have been GREATER than 1.2%.....Here's proof:IF.....in 2000Males = 100Females = 100Total = 200in 2001Males = 112Females = 94Total = 206The total increase from year to year would be 6/200 = 3%Since we're told that the total increase was 1.2%, that means that there had to be MORE women than men in 2000 (which would end in a % change that would be less than 3%) - probably not that many more women, but enough to bring down the percent. Eliminate answers D and E.From the remaining 3 answers, we can TEST VALUES, using the ratios in the answers to select our VALUES. From the 3 options, we have....Answer A: Females is DOUBLE the number of malesAnswer B: Females is TRIPLE the number of malesAnswer C: Females is 50% more than the number of malesAnswer C involves the smallest difference, so I'm going to start there...IF.....in 2000Males = 200Females = 300Total = 500in 2001Males = 224Females = 282Total = 506The total increase from year to year would be 6/500 = 1.2%This is an exact MATCH for what we were told, so we have the correct answer.Final Answer:GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,Rich_________________ From the Kaplan practice test A 1973 Supreme Court [ #permalink 2 Bookmarks From the practice test A 1973 Supreme Court decision and related Senate hearings focused Congressional criticism on the 1966 Freedom of Information Act. Its unconditional exemption of any materialstamped classifiedi.e., containing information considered relevant to national securityforced the Court to uphold non-disclosure in EPA v. Mink. Justice Potter Stewart explained that the Act provided no means to question a decision to stamp a document secret. Senate witnesses testified that the wording of certain articles in the Act permitted bureaucrats to discourage requests for newsworthy documents. In response, a House committee drafted HR 12471, proposing several amendments to the Act. A provision was reworded to ensure release of documents to any applicant providing a reasonable descriptionexact titles and numbers were no longer to be mandatory. The courts were empowered to review classified documents and rule on their status. The Senate companion bill, S 2543, included these provisions as well as others: standardization of search and copy fees,sanctions against non compliant Federal employees, and a provision for nonexempt portions of a classified document to be released. The Justice and Defense departments objected to the changes as costly, burdensome, and inflexible. They argued that the time limits imposed on response might actually hamper access to information. The Pentagon asserted that judicial review of exemptions could pose a threat to national security. President Ford, upon taking office in August 1974, concurred. HR 12471 passed in March 1974; S 2543 was approved in May after the adoption of further amendments to reduce the number of unconditional exemptions granted in 1966. The Hart Amendment, for instance, mandated disclosure of law enforcement records, unless their release would interfere with a trial or investigation, invade personal privacy, or disclose an informers identity. This amendment provoked another Presidential objection: millions of pages of FBI records would be subject to public scrutiny, unless each individual section were proven exempt. Before submitting the legislation to Ford, a joint conference of both houses amalgamated the two versions of the bill, while making further changes to incorporate Fords criticisms. The administration of disciplinary sanctions was transferred from the courts to the executive branch; provisions were included to accord due weight to departmental expertise in the evaluation of classified exemptions. The identity of confidential sources was in all cases to be protected. Ford nevertheless vetoed the bill, but was overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses. Q#1. According to the passage, the Justice and Defense Departments opposed the proposed revision of the Freedom of Information Act on the grounds that it A was an attempt to block public access to information B would violate national security agreements C would pose administrative problems D was an attempt to curtail their own departmental power E would weaken the Presidents authority Q#2. Which of the following statements, if true, supports the assertion that judicial review of exemptions could pose a threat to national security (lines 3233)? A Judges lack the expertise to evaluate the significance of military intelligence records. B Many of the documents that are presently stamped classified contain informationthat is inaccurate or outdated. C It would be time-consuming and expensivefor judges to review millions of pages of classified records. D Some judges are likely to rule on exemptions in accordance with vested interests of political action groups. E The practice of judicial review of exemptions will succeed only if it meets with Presidential approval. Q#3. Which of the following statements is in accordance with President Fords position on disclosure of FBI records? A FBI records should be exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. B FBI records should only be withheld from release if such release constitutes a threat to national security. C It would be too expensive and time-consuming to identify exempt sections of FBI records. D Protection of the identity of confidential sources is more important than the protection of personal privacy or investigative secrecy. E FBI records should not be reviewed section by section before being released to the public. SajjadAhmad wrote: In 1985, the california supreme court lifted a ban on fortune tellers, which likened them as economic prognosticators and investment counselors who also make predictions for profit. a) which linked them as b) who have been likened as c) who are likened to be d) likening them to e) which were likened to be "which likened them as[/u] economic prognosticators and investment counselors who also make predictions for profit. " what do we have before COMMA A ban on fortune tellers the question is about MODIFIERSwhat does the portion -- modify??it is clearly the BAN that likened them to....- It is "fortune teller", a wrong object being modified.so hw do we correct it - BY introducing a modifier that is not restricted by touch rule, the way WHICH or WHO are restricted..One way to correct is to introduce a VERB+ING modifier that can modify the previous clause -ONLY D has a modifier of this type_________________ The Muslim Students Organization of University of Illinois Springfield will host a public lecture Saturday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. on the subject of Pakistans foreign policy under the Imran Khan administration: Implications for the great powers. Featured speaker will be Shahbaz Gill, who acts as an adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister Khan in addition to his role as a professor of business administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The lecture will take place in the UIS Public Affairs Center, conference rooms C & D. For further information, contact Ali Nizamuddin, UIS associate professor of political science, at 206-8424 or aniza2@uis.edu. Illinois Times has provided readers with independent journalism for more than 40 years, from news and politics to arts and culture. Now more than ever, were asking for your support to continue providing our community with real news that everyone can access, free of charge. Were also offering a home delivery option as an added convenience for friends of the paper. Click here to subscribe, or simply show your support for Illinois Times. 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 The Bartholomew County School Corp. is developing a program to improve the mental health of students. Counseling Counts focuses on prevention and discussion of mental illness in schools. The program is funded by a grant from the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Lilly Endowment designed to help address counseling needs in schools. Bartholomew County schools paired it with local funding from Heritage Columbus to create Counseling Counts. Bill Jensen is director of secondary education for the district. He says school counselors are meant to focus on academic prep, career readiness, college readiness and social and emotional wellbeing. But Jensen says counselors increasingly find themselves focused on other areas of students lives. There was an issue with more and more counselor time being taken away from those four areas of need to be working on testing, to be working on accounting, to be working on clerical work, Jensen says. Jensen says Counseling Counts is designed to provide other avenues for that discussion so counselors can return to those areas of focus. The program is made up of two tiers. The first is providing each student access to mental health care providers in each of the school buildings. Jensen says every middle school has two care providers, and by the start of the spring semester, each of the remaining schools will have at least one. The second tier focuses on preventative measures. So thats a whole program or a whole system of building developmental assets, developmental relationships with our students, Jensen says. Jensen says the program serves to identify students with mental health needs, address gaps between inpatient and outpatient services, and remove barriers that impact mental health. He says it also focuses on following up with parents and caregivers and reducing the stigma around mental illness. Jensen says the grant expires in 2021, and the district is seeking ways to make the program financially stable past that time. Embattled Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill says hes pleased with the investigation into allegations that he groped four women earlier this year. C-SPAN's Pedro Echevarria interviewed Hill live Thursday morning as part of the state capitals tour of the U.S. A special prosecutor is assisting the Indiana Inspector Generals investigation into the allegations. Hill says a prosecutors involvement is necessary because public allegations spark a presumption of guilt. "That process is underway, Im very pleased about how the process has been undertaken," Hill says. "We expect to have some determination at some point in time." Hills interview ended just before Christine Blasey Ford began testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her thirty years ago. "In this environment, as you know what were seeing in Washington, were fighting with the upside down world of guilty until proven innocent," Hill says. "And the result of that for us here in Indiana is that were fighting that, and I think its important that we fight that." Both Hill and Kavanaugh deny the sexual misconduct allegations. Hill has questioned his accusers credibility, threatened defamation lawsuits, and started a fund to raise money for his legal defense. Gov. Eric Holcomb, all four state legislative leaders and many other state officials have called for Hill to resign. Its unclear how long the investigation into the allegations could take. Watch the section of the interview below. Watch the full interview on C-SPAN. Indiana State University President Deborah Curtis is touting the schools accomplishments in her first fall address. During her speech Wednesday Curtis highlighted statistics from the universitys growing student population. The university's enrollment is down more than five percent since last year, but Curtis says there has been a 9.3 percent increase in on-time graduation rates over the past 3 years. This year 78 percent of the freshman class is from Indiana and 50 percent are first generation college students. She says the university aims to serve students who reflect the surrounding community. Indiana State University makes a difference in Terre Haute and in the Wabash Valley and by your example, our students learn from that, she says. Curtis also provided an update to the universitys master plan which includes residence and dining hall renovations, a $15 million fine arts building renovation and updates to the Hulman Center. With jobs, construction projects and visitor traffic, Curtis says ISU has a $475 million economic impact on the state of Indiana. Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to the Hulman Center as the Rose Hulman Center. It has been corrected. New poll results show a majority of Great Lakes residents, including Hoosiers, support swift action to keep invasive Asian carp out of the lakes. The group that commissioned the survey says one of Indianas neighbors isnt working fast enough. The Great Lakes Basin Partnership to Block Asian Carp wants to move forward with the Army Corps of Engineers plans to prevent the fish from entering Lake Michigan through a lock and dam in Joliet, Illinois. Alliance for the Great Lakes Vice President for Policy Molly Flanagan says Illinois hasnt reached out to other states to help fund the project or shared the Army Corps report. What we want is more collaboration among the Great Lakes states to make sure that were addressing asian carp with urgency, she says. The state of Michigan is offering to chip in up to $8 million a year, nearly half the cost of installation at the dam. Indiana and Illinois have not signed on to the partnership agreement. The poll results are a clear indicator that the time to act on invasive carp is now, Keith Creagh, Director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says. The Great Lakes Basin Partnership to Block Asian Carp has created a petition to show support of the Army Corps of Engineers' plan for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam. READ MORE: 'Bait' Near Dams Could Be Asian Carp Indiana Environmental reporting is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute, an Indiana University Grand Challenge project developing Indiana-specific projections and informed responses to problems of environmental change. Indiana lawmakers met to talk about ways they are addressing the opioid epidemic. Access to treatment is improving but continues to be an issue. Indiana has a mix of treatment options for people in addiction recovery and the state has been working to increase these in recent years. Family and Social Services Administration Director of Mental Health and Addiction Kevin Moore says Indiana spent nearly $11 million in federal money last year. He says part of that money went to increase treatment options. "One of the ways we did that was to build infrastructure across the state to support treatment," says Moore. He says this allows providers to treat other substance addictions too. The state has increased residential treatment capacity by 26 percent. Moore says some Hoosiers, especially in rural areas, still do not have close access to treatment. This year the state is focused on increased mobile teams and outreach efforts. "To follow up on people who have overdosed, visit them in the community, visit their family, make a connection to treatment, in the local community," says Moore. Last week it was announced that Indiana will receive another $18 million to address opioids. The incident reportedly involved four gunmen posing as soldiers, who opened fire on a military parade killing at least 25 people, including a dozen members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to Reuters, the prominence of the IRGC in the targeted event could produce a greater amount of sympathy for the hardline paramilitary group among casual supporters of the Islamic Republic while also silencing dissent by those who oppose the clerical regime. On the other hand, the same report indicates that some of those who responded to the incident on Iranian social media did so in an effort to discourage any outpouring of sympathy by the IRGC, by highlighting the organizations role in the repression and killing of Iranian activists and political dissenters during times of unrest such as the 2009 Green Movement and the anti-government uprising of December 2017 and January 2018. And while Reuters finds that this sort of reaction comprises only a minority of public comments in the wake of Saturdays attack, it also characterizes that attack as a blow to the IRGCs public image, which may help to prompt more repressive activities by the paramilitary. The report notes that since soon after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the IRGC has sought to project an image of invincibility. This is evident, for instance, in the hardline rhetoric that IRGC officers have perpetuated against the backdrop of tensions with the United States and other traditional enemies of the Islamic Republic. And that rhetoric, in turn, has been evident in the responses issued by the IRGC and other hardline entities to the Ahvaz terror attack. At a funeral for victims of the attack, the IRGCs acting commander, General Hossein Salami, declared without evidence that a triangle of enemies comprised of the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel was responsible for backing the terrorists. He then vowed revenge, implying readiness on the part of the IRGC to confront and defeat multiple foreign entities including the worlds foremost military superpower. To the extent that the terror attack highlights cracks in the IRGCs supposedly all-encompassing armor, it may be expected to prompt the Guards to compensate by cracking down on domestic detractors and perceived opponents of their mission of defending and principles of the Islamic revolution. Certainly, some prominent figures within the Iranian activist and expatriate communities have been quick to raise alarms about the likelihood of this outcome. For instance, the Center for Human Rights in Iran quoted the Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi as saying of last Saturdays attack, Such actions lead to the justification of state violence and the arrest of many opponents in the name of fighting terrorism. Meanwhile activists echoed the sentiment, saying, Terrorism and violence in any form should be condemned in the strongest terms [but] such acts of violence should not become an excuse for state violence to suppress peaceful opposition. The concerns voiced by these and other human rights defenders are firmly grounded in the past behaviors of the IRGC and the Islamic Republic as a whole. The above-mentioned Reuters report notes that increases in domestic repression and attacks on foreign targets have both been employed in response to perceived threats to the IRGCs public image or social dominance. Sometimes, these two approaches are utilized in tandem to showcase the Guards domestic strength while also distracting tension away from local Iranian affairs. As an example of this dual approach, Reuters cited the recent missile strike carried out against a Kurdish separatist group in Iraq, which coincided with the summary execution of Iranian Kurds who were accused of armed opposition to the clerical regime. Of course, such clashes with Kurdish individuals and groups are a perennial feature of the Islamic Republic, as well as being indicative of the tension that exists between the government and various minority groups. An Arab separatist organization was one of two groups to claim responsibility for Saturdays attack, and the site of that attack, Khuzestan Province, had previously been the site of a number of largely peaceful protests motivated by Arab rights issues. Many of those protests were made the subject of familiar repression by security forces and the IRGC, while government officials reportedly gave no public consideration to the participants demands. On Tuesday, the Islamic Republic announced that nearly two dozen ethnic Arabs had been arrested in the wake of Saturdays attack a fact that will no doubt fuel concerns about expanded repression unless officials are able to demonstrate that the arrests are credibly linked to the attack. Otherwise, the security sweep may be regarded as another incidence of the regime declaring targets guilty by association. That phenomenon was one feature of the details that were released on Saturday by the IHR website, regarding the August 2016 execution of Kurdish political prisoner Mohammad Abdollahi. According to the newly acquired information about that case, Abdollahi steadfastly professed his innocence after being shot and arrested by the IRGC and accused of involvement in a shootout that killed three police officers. According to a relative of the accused, The Revolutionary Guards beat him badly while he was already injured and bleeding. His right hand, left leg, and three of his teeth broke under torture. Mohammad was interrogated and tortured in the solitary confinement for three months until he had internal bleeding and was transferred to Mahabad Prison. Despite a lack of evidence and the failure of interrogators to elicit a confession by these means, Abdollahi was sentenced to death solely on the basis of his membership in the Kurdish group known as Komala, which was sufficient to declare him guilty of enmity against God. The judge in his case rejected all appeals and explicitly declared that he would do everything in his power to see that Abdollahis death sentence was implemented, which it was along with four others, roughly two years later. The principle of guilt by association is not only a danger to members of ethnic minorities, but also to members of specific types of activist groups. And in those cases, the principle may also lead to the death of the accused, either through execution or through extrajudicial means. Whats more, recent history has shown that such groups may be targeted not only on the basis of supposed direct threats to the IRGC such as the Ahvaz terror attack, but also on the basis of purely political conflicts between the paramilitary and the activist community. All of these phenomenon were on display in January in the midst of a wave of arrests targeting environmental activists. One of several detainees, Kavous Seyed-Emami, died under suspicious circumstances though security forces insisted that he committed suicide in his cell. The others have reportedly remained in detention ever since, and the crackdown on environmental activists has continued ever since, with six more being arrested on September 15 and 16. The original wave of arrests came at a time when Iranian security forces were already contending with the nationwide mass uprising and chants of death to the dictator. But it has variously been alleged that the proximate cause of those particular arrests was an effort by the Persian Heritage Wildlife Foundation to prevent the IRGC from building missile facilities on environmentally sensitive land. This explanation for the crackdown goes a long way toward explaining some of the peculiarities of the case, which were briefly detailed by CHRI on Tuesday in the context of a report on efforts by the families of environmental activists to appeal directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for action in the case. Khamenei reportedly rebuffed those requests, repeating a line frequently used by President Hassan Rouhani to explain the refusal to exert pressure on an independent judiciary that is often seen as a functionary of the IRGC. Some other government officials have been warned against intervening on behalf of the environmental activists, after they acknowledged that there is no evidence to support the accusations of espionage that have been levied against them. In reporting on the latest environmentalist arrests, I W explained that Rouhani ordered the creation of a four-person panel to investigate the initial arrests at the beginning of the year, but even after finding that there was no cause of those arrests, it took no action other than assuring the public that the situation would be resolved quickly. Cases like these hint at the great quantities of power wielded by the IRGC, and they also point to the possibility of the Guards using actual and purported security threats, such as the Ahvaz terror attack, as a pretense for enacting crackdowns that serve its own interests and agenda. Meanwhile, Reuters and IW both point to the potential for broader collaboration between the IRGC and other Iranian security forces in carrying out those crackdowns in the wake of that attack. While Reuters notes that public expressions of sympathy may be burying much of the ordinary criticism of the IRGC and further erasing the differences between the Rouhani administration and its traditional, hardline adversaries, IranWire points out that some of the most recently arrested environmentalists were targeted not by the IRGC directly by rather by the Intelligence Ministry because the targets in question also happened to be members of the Bahai religious minority. The Intelligence Ministry is directly overseen the president, but the supposedly moderate Rouhani has made no effort to rein it in at a time of increased domestic repression. Neither has the president spoken critically of the IRGCs contribution to that same repression. And if analysis like that which was provided by Reuters is correct, he is all the more unlikely to do so in the wake of the recent attack. A senior official at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the Kingdom completely rejects the accusations by Iranian officials that Saudi Arabia supported the actions and explained that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a clear policy about not interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries. By comparison, the Iranian Regime constantly interferes in the affairs of its neighbours and even stations proxy militias inside them. According to the US State Department, Iran is the leading sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East and the world. Since the mullahs stole power in 1979, the Iranian Regime has spread chaos, sectarianism, extremism, and destruction throughout the world. They have stolen money from the Iranian people and used it to create chaos in the region. The senior official said that the Kingdom is frankly used to the Iranian Regime making up lies about it. They assessed that the Iranian Regime has no option but to lie and blame other countries in order to disguise its shortcomings and failures to look as if they are as powerful as they wish to appear. The Iranian Regime also recently accused Saudi Arabia of causing the economic collapse in Iran, which anyone could tell you were caused by decades of corruption and mismanagement by the mullahs. The Regime spent its peoples resources on terrorist militias and ballistic missiles, with no thought to creating jobs; what else could possibly be the result? The senior official then said that Saudi Arabia advised the Iranian regime to choose a new path to follow and behave like a responsible country, to seek prosperity and stability for its people, rather than blow resources on the support of terrorist organizations, sectarianism, and extremism. They further advised that Iran should build new relationships with their neighbouring countries based on the principle of good neighbourliness, respect for international laws and norms, and without interference in their domestic affairs. Iran has also blamed the attack on ISIS and the UAE, both of whom have denied the allegation. The UAEs Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted on Sunday: Incitement against the UAE inside Iran is unfortunate and is escalating following the Ahwazi attack UAEs historic position against terrorism and violence is clear and Tehrans accusations are baseless. The semi-official Fars news agency tweeted and then deleted the video on Tuesday, shortly after Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed Riyadh and Abu Dhabi for the attack on an IRGC military parade in the city of Ahvaz on Saturday. The video, which has been described by eagle-eyed Iran watchers, shows file footage of previous ballistic missile attacks launched by the IRGC and then a graphic of a sniper riflescope homing in on Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The video also threatened Israel. Over these disturbing images, a clip from a Khamenei speech in April can be heard: The era of the hit-and-run has expired. A heavy punishment is underway. Iran has twice fired its ballistic missiles in anger in recent years, not counting the missiles that the Houthis have fired at Saudi Arabia. Once in 2017 at supposed ISIS militants in Syria and once earlier this month at a meeting of Iranian Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq. The IRGC, a paramilitary force that only answers to Khamenei has sole control over Irans ballistic missile programme, which has a range of 2,000 kilometres. This means that they can strike Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, as well as regional American military bases. The Saturday attack in Iran was carried out by militants dressed in Iranian military uniform who opened fire on the rows of soldiers. At least 29 are reported dead and another 60 are injured. Iranian State TV reported that 22 people have been arrested in connection with the attack, while the five who were shooting have been killed. Hossein Salami, the IRGCs acting commander, blamed the triangle of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States and vowed to take revenge. He did not say that he believed the UAE were involved. While Khamenei said also linked the attack to those three countries and said that the attack shows that Iran has a lot of enemies. The latter part is at least true, Iran does have a lot of enemies and its all their own making. On 15th September, Mohammed al-Halbousi was elected the new speaker of Iraqs Council of Representatives. The situation was a shambles and was just another example of how democratic values have been trampled. And ironically, it took place on the International Day of Democracy. It seems that nothing much has changed in the past decade and a half in Iraq. Iran was of course delighted with the news of Halbousis appointment. The United States was also quick to congratulate the new speaker of Iraqs Council of Representatives. Then the European Union joined in and so did the United Nations. Spokeswoman of the US State Department Heather Nauert congratulated him and praised him on his previous service to the United States, in particular his support of U.S. interests in Anbar. What she did not point out, however, was that he became governor there because of the occupation forces that were present. The United States knows that Halbousi was loyal to Iran. Stories about Halbousi have circulated and it is certain that many foreign leaders will have heard them. Stories, or rather testimonies, about how he spent tens of millions of dollars on guaranteeing a win in the elections. Current and former ministers and representatives have also said that pro-Iranian militias had made threats and put intense pressure on officials without an ounce of shame. The people of Iraq have been calling for Iran and its proxies and militias to leave their country. They have hoped so hard for change in the country and have been desperate for the corruption to be left in the past. They hoped that the countrys judiciary, and foreign powers, would help and support them in their just demands. However, it was not to be. The same corrupt officials are still playing their malign role in the same corrupt political system. Iraq has moved one step closer to Iranian hegemony and one step further away from Western democracy. Justice has been denied to the people of Iraq and further corruption has been allowed to continue and to prevail. Nuri al-Maliki, Ibrahim al-Jafari and Haider al-Abadi have all been puppets to the Iranian regime. But now, Iran is going to be able to get the best one yet when the next prime minister is announced. The countrys presidency will be as much of a disaster as the parliament and the government. The presidency will probably be given to a leader of the Democratic National Union of Kurdistan or the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan as long as they agree to act as a puppet. It is a shame that in 2018 such events can take place. And it is even more of a shame that the international community has basically sat down and watched it happen. The sooner Iran is removed from the country, the better. In fact, the sooner the Iranian regime is toppled, all the better for the region and beyond. - During a speech, President Duterte said that he did not steal nor sent someone in jail - However, he admitted that his only sin was the extrajudicial killings - The President also discussed about ICCs investigation on his war on drugs campaign PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed In a speech during the oath taking of new Career Executive Service Officers, President Rodrigo Duterte said that the only sin he committed was the extrajudicial killings. KAMI has learned that President Duterte said, Ano kasalanan ko? Nagnakaw ba ako diyan ni piso? Did I prosecute somebody na pinakulong ko? Ang kasalanan ko lang 'yung extrajudicial killings, in Malacanang on Thursday. As reported by CNN Philippines, President Duterte has also mentioned the involvement of International Criminal Court (ICC) in the administrations war on drugs. PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data! According to the President, Eh 'yang extrajudicial killing naman, itong mga ulol, lalo na 'yung, itim na sino 'yun, sabi ko, 'wag ka, ihampas ko sa ulo mo 'yung prosecutor na 'yan, pertaining to ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. As previously reported by KAMI, the International Peoples Tribunal (IPT) said that the President is guilty for committing violations on human rights. However, the Palace shrugged of the decision and said it was useless and a sham decision. President Duterte has been known for his campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines. Based on a survey by Social Weather Stations, 78% of the population are satisfied with the Presidents war on drugs. POPULAR: Read more news about President Duterte here! Ang chili pepper prank ay handa na! Maaaring makatulong ang chili peppers sa isang tao na maging isang milyonaryo? Ang aming host ay sigurado na maaari nila! At ibabahagi niya ang kanyang lihim sa tagumpay sa chili pepper prank video na ito! on KAMI HumanMeter Youtube Channel! Source: Kami.com.ph Dhangadi locals demonstrate against proposed name, capital of Province 7 Locals staged a demonstration outside the Province Assembly on Wednesday expressing dissatisfaction over the proposed name and capital of Province 7. Pokhara rape-murder: Paudel confesses to bludgeoning Shriyas face repeatedly Kaski District Police Office on Wednesday made public Kusum Paudel, 27, who was arrested in connection with the rape and murder of 10-year-old Shriya Sunar of Pumdibhumdi, Pokhara-22 in Kaski district. It will be in effect from 23:00 to 10:00 local time in the morning. Kyiv City Council has once again introduced limitations on the sale of alcohol via retail outlets at night. The decision scored 77 votes out of 85 local council members, an UNIAN correspondent reports. Read alsoItaly becomes main supplier of wine to Ukraine The ban does not apply to restaurants, cafes, bars, and catering establishments. It will be in effect from 23:00 to 10:00 local time in the morning. Kyiv City Council instructed its industry and entrepreneurship department to inform private businessmen and owners of retail outlets about this decision. The city council has also recommended the National Police to intensify work to monitor compliance with the requirements of the relevant legislation. Bill Cosby Sentenced to 3 to 10 Years in Prison, Files Notice of Appeal Bill Cosby arrived at the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania courthouse in a black SUV surrounded by his publicists and attorneys. He left in a prison van, escorted by sheriffs deputies. His lawyers immediately filed a notice of appeal. Judge Steven T. ONeill sentenced the fallen comic to as many as 10 years in state prison. Cosby, 81, could be released after serving a minimum of three years. ADVERTISEMENT You have no right to it, ONeill told Cosbys attorney Joe Green, when asked that his client remain free on bail pending appeal. This is a serious crime, said the judge, who earlier had designated Cosby a sexual violent predator which means hell have to undergo a lifetime of monthly counseling and report quarterly to authorities. Because of the sexual violent predator designation, Cosbys name also will appear on a sex-offender registry sent to neighbors, schools and victims. Additionally, after having already paid the victim in the case, Andrea Constand, $3.4 million in a civil settlement, the sexually violent predator designation can also be used against him in several defamation lawsuits that are pending against him. Prosecutors had asked for a five- to 10-year sentence. Cosbys spokesman Andrew Wyatt told reporters that the sentence continues the lynching of a legacy. This has been the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States, Wyatt said. Dr. Cosby has been one of the greatest civil rights leaders in the United States for over the last 50 years. Hes also been one of the greatest educators of men and boys over the past 50 years. ADVERTISEMENT This wasnt pointed out in court to the jurors or allowed in because of the racist and sexist mass media was attacking and denouncing Dr. Cosby whenever his lawyers even hinted that racism and sexism was present. Wyatt continued: All three psychologists that testified against Dr. Cosby were white women who make money off of accusing Black men of being a sexual predator and its no accident that Prosecutor Steele worked so closely with anti-Black and anti-Male activist groups who tried to extort $100 million from Dr. Cosby in 2014. Wyatt and Cosbys wife, Camille, also pointed to an NNPA Newswire exclusive story earlier this month that revealed that tapes used to help convict Cosby were doctored. After reading the NNPA Newswire story, Cosby hired a forensic firm in Northern Virginia to review recordings of phone calls with Cosby provided by Constands mother, Gianna. The recordings were used as evidence in both of Cosbys trials. However, Wyatt and Camille Cosby said the firm found that the recordings were indeed doctored. In a statement from Camille Cosby, read by publicist Ebonee Benson on Tuesday, Cosbys wife said they also presented the findings to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania detectives who investigated Bill Cosby. They found that they were unable to authenticate the tapes, Camille Cosby said in her statement. Cosby said her husbands legal team would immediately file for relief on the basis that Steele used falsified evidence to win the conviction. The right to a fair trial is of utmost importance, Camille Cosby said. The prosecutor has the responsibility to protect the innocent Gianna Constand surreptitiously and illegally recorded a conversation with my husband, which the former District Attorney Bruce Castor said was illegal, she said. Steele used illegal recordings in both trials. Wyatt called it a persecution. Im not saying Mr. Cosby is Jesus, but we know what this country has done to Black men for centuries, he said. Cosby was found guilty in April of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for the drugging and sexual assault of Constand, a former Temple University employee, at his in Montgomery County more than 14 years ago. He was the first celebrity to be criminally convicted of sexual abuse since the start of the #MeToo movement, the national movement that has resulted in numerous celebrities and powerful individuals, like former NBC Today host Matt Lauer, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, and many others, losing their careers. President Donald Trump has also been accused of sexual misconduct and his Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh is set to face at least one of his accusers when he appears before a Senate committee on Thursday. Cosby, who declined to address the court during sentencing and also didnt testify during either of his trials, has vowed to continue to fight his conviction. His attorneys as well as many other legal experts have said there are numerous grounds for a higher court to consider overthrowing the verdicts against him. Among ONeills rulings that Cosbys team believe are questionable is the contentious relationship the judge has had with former District Attorney Bruce Castor, who previously declined to file charges against Cosby because he said Constand wasnt credible and there wasnt evidence to support a prosecution. Castor also made an agreement with Cosby in which the actor would waive his Fifth Amendment right and sit for a civil deposition. The then-District Attorney agreed that whatever Cosby said in the deposition would be sealed and could never be used to prosecute him. Camille Cosby recently filed a request for a full investigation into ONeill with the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board at the states capitol in Harrisburg. In light of Judge ONeills continuing unethical conduct, I have retained a former prosecutor based in Harrisburg, Brian W. Perry, to facilitate my efforts to uncover the truth regarding the longstanding and ongoing feud between Castor and the judge, Camille Cosby said in a statement last week. Mr. Perry will provide the Judicial Conduct Board with recent written communications from Mr. Castor that contradict the judges claim that there is no grudge, Camille Cosby said. For example, an email from Mr. Castor references Judge ONeill as A judge with an enormous potential bias [who] did not disclose that possible bias to the lawyers to give them the option to seek a new judge, she said, specifically referencing an email Castor sent to the Washington Informer on March 27th. Camille Cosbys statement continued: One week prior to my request for investigation, Bill Cosby filed a motion demanding that the judge provide a full accounting of his longstanding feud with and bias against Bruce Castor, the former DA of Montgomery County. The motion explained that Mr. Cosby retained a former FBI agent to investigate the relationship of Messrs. Castor and ONeill after recently being tipped off about their feud in an unsourced tabloid [Radar Online] article. The former agent discovered that, in 1999, when Messrs. ONeill and Castor were running against each other to become DA, Mr. Castor ordered a female prosecutor whom Mr. ONeill had dated to visibly support Mr. Castor during a key debate. After Bill Cosby was led away in handcuffs on Tuesday, Wyatt said his boss was holding up well. Bill Cosby is fine. They prosecuted Jesus, and look what happened to him, Wyatt said. [Cosby] believes in God, and he will be OK. Dr. William King Joins Community for the Third Time at this Years Taste of Soul Through college, through medical school, through my residency and post op school, I learned the importance of seeing my patients as my fellow community members, said Los Angeles Internist, Dr. William King. For the third time, King is bringing his medical practice to Bakewell Medias Taste of Soul in October. This year, King told the Sentinel, he and his team will be focusing on the medical station, where attendees can go for things like chest pain, shortness of breath or wounds. Hell also be offering testing for HIV and Hepatitis C. Ive always been interested in becoming a physician, since I was a boy about five or so and I had a great pediatrician, whose office was about five minutes from where my office is right now, recalled King during a recent interview with the Sentinel. ADVERTISEMENT My parents instilled in me the value of education and being involved in the community. It wasnt until I was an adult that I saw how the two things being a physician and being involved in the community could merge together. As an undergrad at Cal State Northridge, studying cellular/ molecular biology, King began learning about the huge inequities in healthcare, especially when it came to race and gender. He had a strong need to be a part of a comprehensive solution in healthcare, so much so, that he developed a new passion. He left California for the University of Illinois, where he garnered a law degree in addition to his medical degree. I was interested in health law and civil rights. But at that time there were very few programs for that, said King. I was doing some work with the NAACP Defense fund and I was doing some work with the Rand Corporation and I was doing some community based work at the school health center. There, I learned the importance of getting out to the community with health fairs and barbershop programs, things like that. It was important that he be seen, and that patients/ community members knew he was available, that he had a vested interest in them. So, it wasnt me just punching in and punching out at the office but you would see me in grocery store, bowling, etc., he said. ADVERTISEMENT I wanted people to realize that the doctor is part of the community just like teachers are a part of the community and pastors are a part of the community. King left Illinois to study internal medicine at Cambridge Hospital in Massachusetts. He did a stint as chief resident there, before heading home to California to be near his family. Here, he completed two fellowships at the University of California at Los Angeles. I became more and more interested in HIV care, he said. It brought everything together. There were racial disparities, you had Black international work, there was the great impact on women (cis and trans women also) Doing research, for him was worthwhile. I thought I was doing good, he said, until began to become unsatisfied with what he was doing. I traveled to Southern and Western Africa many times. It was fun, it was stimulating but I didnt really see how it was impacting individuals. So, I worked at a couple of clinics and I developed some programs. King is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has been certified as a HIV specialist by the American Academy of HIV Medicine. He is known nationally and internationally for his work in HIV/AIDS which includes lectures, publishing several peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and clinical trial investigations. Dr. King has received numerous awards for leadership, volunteerism and community support. His work and lectures have been recognized both nationally and internationally in South Africa, Uganda and Ghana. He has also been appointed as a Commissioner by the LA Board of Supervisors to the LA County HIV Commissioners. He learned a lot during that time of research and outreach. So, he and his wife decided to open up their own clinic. So, we looked around for a place to open up a practice and the practice is about five minutes away from my pediatrician. But also, its about five minutes from where I grew up, where my parents still live (in Baldwin Hills), he said. I do bread and butter medicine. So I see diabetes, hypertension, I refer people to specialists here. I also do geriatric medicine. But I also do HIV and were building our HIV practice. Its a practice that extends into different areas of interest but it still focuses on equality in healthcare. King still holds to his belief that the doctors of the community should be interwoven in its fabric. Thats what keeps him coming to events like Taste of Soul. At the medical station, were essentially doing triage (as the intermediaries between the medical stations and the EMT/Paramedics and Firemen.), King explained. An individual comes in for example we had an individual come in. She was having chest pains. We convinced her to go to the hospital and it turns out she was about to have a massive heart attack. She called later to let us know that she went there and had emergency surgery. We basically saved her life. A lot of that has to do with the coordination between the medical, the fire and police departments, the CT team, EMTs, paramedics. Every year the coordination has gotten better. This year, King and his team are accepting new patients for primary care, for PrEP prescribing and for HIV specialty care. He is married with both three-year-old and four-year-old girls, he said. Former Florida Police Chief Guilty of Framing 3 Black Men In 2013, then Biscayne Park Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano informed community leaders of the Biscayne Park Police Departments perfect clearance record for solving crimes: It was 100 percent. According to Atesiano, his police department near Miami was perfect at solving burglaries. On September 21st, it was revealed in a plea agreement that the former chief directed his officers to frame unsolved cases on three Black men. A federal court hearing confirmed that former Chief Atesiano directed three police officers on his department to accuse a series of crimes on three innocent men, all of them Black. In August, Biscayne Park Police Officers Charlie Dayoub, 38, and Raul Fernandez, 62, pleaded guilty to falsifying the arrest affidavits for a 16-year-old black suspect in four break-ins from June 2013. A second false arrest was made on a man named Clarence Desrouleaux. Desrouleaux, 35, was deported to Haiti as the result of being framed and sentenced to five years. A third man, Erasmus Banmah, 31, was falsely accused for burglary. ADVERTISEMENT Former Chief Atesiano, 52, pled guilty to conspiracy for the framings. The conspiracy convictions carry up to 10 years in prison. Atesiano resigned from the Biscayne Park Police Department in 2014. The details of the Atesiano framings of three Black men were detailed in a statement released on September 14 by the Department of Justice. According to documents filed in connection with the plea entered today, Atesiano was acting under color of law as chief of police when on three separate occasions he ordered officers under his command to falsely arrest and charge individuals with unsolved burglaries. In court filings related to the plea, Atesiano admitted that on one occasion he instructed an officer to falsely arrest and charge an individual for several vehicle burglaries based upon what Atesiano knew were false confessions. According to the documents, Atesiano intentionally encouraged officers to arrest individuals without a legal basis in order to have arrests effectuated for all reported burglaries, which created a fictitious 100% clearance rate for that category of crime, said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Greenberg said in a written statement on the Atesiano prosecution. The right to be free from false arrests is fundamental to our Constitution and system of justice, said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore. Law enforcement officers who abuse their authority and deny any individual this right will be held accountable. As the Chief of Police, Defendant Atesiano was trusted by his community to lead their police officers by example; he has failed his community and the officers of Biscayne Park, Gore added. It is a deliberate injustice to intentionally charge and arrest an innocent man. Police Chief Raimundo Atesianos actions were intended to give his community a false sense of security and were a betrayal of his oath to protect the residents of Biscayne Park and all the people of Miami-Dade County, commented State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. I applaud the combined efforts of our law enforcement partnership to end this calculated abuse of power. Jermaine Dupri and So-So Def Grammy Museum Exhibit Music producer Jermaine Dupri was honored at the Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles, Thursday Sep. 21. Dupri, founder of So-So Def Recordings, was issued an entire exhibit dedicated to his role in shaping southern hip-hop culture. This marks the first time the Grammy Museum has dedicated an entire exhibit for hip-hop music. Im thankful for all those who support me, Dupri told a crowd of about 100 attendees. The music producer started the label 25 years ago. ADVERTISEMENT Dupri has been the mastermind behind some of music biggest stars. Through his leadership, rap duo Kris Kross went on to sell millions of records. Dupri shared stories on how he met the young rappers. I saw them at a mall just being themselves. They had girls chasing them and what not. I dont think they realized their star potential back then. I just had to sign them, said Dupri. He continued to sign numerous successful artists. Hit makers such as Xscape, Lil Bow Wow and Jagged Edge all were signed to his label. Some of his artists attended the celebration. Hip Hop rapper Da Brat, who became the first female rapper to sell one million copies, explained how her and Dupri met. I just performed on the Oprah show for Kris Kross. I eventually got in contact with Dupri through them. Little did I realize, I had call everyone just to have a meeting with him, joked Da Brat. Dupri responded with laughter. Shes right but I told her that its going to be hard to sell. No one wanted to hear from a female rapper. Im proud to say that she went on to become the first female rapper to sell a million copies, said Dupri. ADVERTISEMENT Dem Franchise Boyz, best known for their hit singles White Tee and I Think They Like Me, told the audience Dupri made their songs big globally. We were already popping in Atlanta. Our songs were playing everywhere on the radio. Jermaine made the song popular once we dropped our label, said Dem Franchise Boyz. The exhibit takes you through a journey on how So-So Def Recording was created. Spectators will be able to view never before seen material up close. This ranges from music video wardrobe, to Dupris award from the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. The exhibit will run through March 2019. Jim Clyburn for Speaker of the House No one questions the fact that for the past six decades, African Americans have overwhelmingly supported and voted for Democratic Party candidates for the United States Congress. In the upcoming 2018 midterm elections, African Americans by the millions will once again cast the clear majority of their votes for Democratic Party candidates for governors and members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. The mission of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, is to report the news and to be an advocate for freedom, justice and equality for Black America and for all others who stand in opposition to racism and economic inequality and cry out for a better quality of life. Last week, during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, the NNPA awarded Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-SC) our 2018 National Leadership Award for outstanding service and commitment to equality and justice. ADVERTISEMENT From time to time, it is our mandate and responsibility to express our collective editorial opinion about the interests of the 47 million African Americans who strive to empower, sustain, protect, and care for our families and communities. It is, therefore, appropriate for me to support and express, on behalf of the 220 Black-owned newspapers and media companies affiliated with the NNPA across the nation, that Congressman Jim Clyburn should be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives. During this time of renewed civic and political fervor for a more progressive, inclusive and diverse democracy in the United States, it is past-due time that Jim Clyburn should be given the opportunity to lead the U.S. Congress as Speaker of the House. Clyburn is uniquely qualified to be the Speaker and his timely elevation to this historic and vitally important position will help put to rest the widespread notion that the Democratic Party takes African American votes for granted. Given the current increased racial divide and regional polarizations in this regressive era of President Donald Trump, there is no better prepared member of the U.S. Congress than Jim Clyburn, with his base in rural and urban South Carolina, to help lead the House of Representatives forward. Jim began public service as a college student fighting for equal rights and fair treatment alongside John Lewis in the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), of which they were founding members. I have known Clyburn since those transformative days in the 1960s when young student leaders of SNCC and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., advanced the enactment and fulfillment of civil rights. Clyburn served as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundations Annual Legislative Conference for both Sessions of the 104th Congress. In the 105th Congress, he was unanimously elected Chair of the CBC. ADVERTISEMENT As CBC Chair, Jim successfully led the effort to desegregate the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4thCircuit. Clyburn successfully engaged the GAO to conduct a study of restorations and preservation needs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which led to comprehensive legislation to preserve and restore historic buildings on HBCU campuses across the country. The House recently appropriated another $8 million to continue this effort. He has helped the caucus develop legislation to restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act and expand access to the ballot, and recently led the fight to defend the Affordable Care Act. In 2002, Jim was elected Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. He was elected Chair in 2005, Majority Whip in 2006, and Assistant Democratic Leader in 2010. In every capacity he has been inclusive and selfless. In addition, as Whip, he chaired the House Democratic Task Force on Hurricane Katrina, shepherding numerous bills into law, contributing to the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Today, as Assistant Leader, Clyburn has earned the respect of Democrats on Capitol Hill as well as throughout the country. Jim also has helped to raise significant amounts of money for numerous Democratic candidates. Every August Jim and his wife, Emily whom he met in jail during one of his SNCC incarcerations host a Health Fair, Food Bank, Back-to-School bash and Scholarship Banquet for families and communities along the I-95 corridor. This year they awarded $250,000 in cash, laptops and software packages to 127 needy, college-bound students, resulting in a total of $4.9 million in student aid their Foundation has awarded to students over more than 30 years. This effort by the Clyburns precedes Jims outstanding congressional service. In conclusion, in Americas 233 years as a republic, we have never had an African American Speaker of the House. The time has now come for serious consideration. The midterm elections are only a few weeks away. We will be voting in record numbers and after the November 6, 2018 elections results are reported, there will be new opportunities and responsibilities to reorganize the newly elected U.S. Congress. African Americans continue to be a major determinative component of the current resurgence of the Democratic Party and are key to winning and maintaining a new majority in the U.S. Congress. Simply put, we are very tired of hearing, Wait your turn. It is our turn. We demand respect and accountability for our longstanding and solid support of the Democratic Party. Elect Jim Clyburn Speaker of the House. Legislation to Protect Children from Lead Poisoning Bill Signed by Governor Governor Brown signed Assemblymember Chris Holdens legislation, Assembly Bill 2370, that expands lead testing in drinking water within Californias child care centers. Lead poisoning is a serious threat to childrens health, said Assemblymember Chris Holden. Increasing lead testing for Californias high-risk children is one of the single biggest steps we can take to prevent lead poisoning. A 2009 California Environmental Protection Agency report states that very young children absorb about 40 to 50 percent of the ingested lead when drinking contaminated water, while adults absorb between 5-15 percent. Even small amounts of lead in the bodies of very young children can cause irreversible harm to their brains and central nervous systems. ADVERTISEMENT AB 2370 requires the Department of Social Services, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, to adopt requirements to ensure that drinking water at child care centers does not contain elevated lead levels. AB 2370 also requires child care providers to receive instruction on the risks of and how to prevent lead exposure, and requires them to give parents written information about childhood blood lead testing requirements. Under AB 2370, licensed child day care centers will be eligible to apply for loan funding through the Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund in order to remediate lead contamination at the child care center and receive grants from the State Water Board for testing and remediating lead in their water systems. Murry and Holy Trinity AME Find Success Within and Outside Church Walls The multigenerational membership of Holy Trinity AME Church continues to grow, in part because the ministry strives to provide a range of programs that affect people both within and outside its physical walls. Led by the Rev. Rethis Murry, the Long Beach fellowship is open seven days a week and offers many ministries that attract seniors, young adults, teens and children. In addition to Sunday worship, Holy Trinity has Bible Studies for adults, women and millennials, a 40-member youth and young adult Voices of Destiny choir, a mens ministry, the Womens Missionary Society (WMS) and the Young Peoples Division. Community outreach programs include food distributions, a legal clinic and educational seminars on a monthly basis. God gave me a vision that we must be more than just a church building operating on Sundays, said Murry. Being open every day helps us to fulfill our goals to restore hope to the helpless, uplift the down-trodden, encourage the youth, engage the millennials and celebrate our seniors as we preach the Gospel and save souls. ADVERTISEMENT Holy Trinity has been especially effective in adding young people to the congregation. His approach consists of providing programs and ministries that positively affect that demographic as well as their families. We reach out to them through our actions, not words. Our worship begins with high praise and we try to maintain that level until the benediction. We are excited to have four Licentiates (ministers-in-training), and three that are under the age of 30, said the pastor, who is assisted by his wife, Eva, in creating a spiritually uplifting service for all ages. When it comes to youth and young adults, Murry said he has learned a lot by observing Bishop Clement W. Fugh, presiding prelate of the Fifth Episcopal District of the AME Church. Bishop Fugh has a special relationship with the young people because they see his realness. He makes time for them and this is how you build relationships with the youth. He calls them his peeps and they love it, noted Murry, who also urged churches without youth and young adults to consider the situation as a wake-up call. Its time to start walking neighborhoods again, knocking on doors again! Begin introducing ourselves to them again and stop relying on social media and fancy banners, insisted Murry, who has been in the ministry for 22 years. Accepting his call to preach in 1996, Murry previously served four years as pastor of St. Mark AME Church in Los Angeles. Prior to that assignment, he was the pastor and founder of New Hope Community Church in Bellflower from 2001 to 2005. He later held associate minister positions at St. James AME and Second AME Churches. As he completes his second year as pastor of Holy Ministry, Murry intends to take full advantage of the opportunity to serve Gods people. ADVERTISEMENT It is my prayer that in the next five-to-10 years, my ministry will lead many young people back into the pews of church. I would like to continue to build bridges with other organizations nonprofits, political, and other entities to work with the church. It will take everyone working together. In the more immediate future, Holy Trinity will hold its 3rd annual Give Joy Christmas Giveaway on December 22. This is where we will give 100 bikes, toys and other gifts to those less fortunate, said Murry. We know God blesses us to be a blessing! Holy Trinity AME Church is located at 200 E. 68th St., in Long Beach. To learn more, call (310) 631-9166 or visit holytrinityamelb.com New Poll Shows Young Californians Politically Engaged, Eager to Vote With one of the most important midterm election less than five weeks away, a new survey shows that young Californians are fired up and ready to head to the polling booth. The poll, which was conducted by Evitarus, a public policy consulting firm, showed that young Californians were politically active and engaged in political events. The survey quizzed more than 2,000 Californians aged 16-24. Seventy percent of them were people of color. The poll was funded by the California Endowment and Power California, an organization that encourages young people from underrepresented communities to vote. ADVERTISEMENT The midterm election will be my first-time voting. This is a very significant milestone because I finally have the opportunity to make my voice heard. Our voices are not considered when decisions are made, said Eugene Vang, a youth volunteer with 99Rootz from Merced, according to a press release. Here are some of the findings: 82 percent of young people said voting made a difference. 88 percent of the young people surveyed said they had discussed political issues with friends and family members. 58 percent had volunteered in their community and 29 percent had participated in a march or protest. The poll findings go against the popular opinion of young people being self-obsessed individuals who are glued to their cell phones. ADVERTISEMENT Young people in California care about social issues and are engaged with politics, said Luis Sanchez, co-executive director of Power California. Its up to adults to find strategies to engage and educate these young people who care about voting, but have not been mobilized to vote. We cant afford to ignore the emerging electorate and their unique politics. Another interesting finding from the poll was the fact that 48 percent of young people have posted their political opinions on social media. This shows that many young people see social media as not just a plaything, but an important tool for expressing their political views. This point was also shared in a recent Our Weekly article, which talked about how Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles was utilizing social media for publication and organizing. Social media has provided a helpful platform for organizers and activists from across this country and throughout the diaspora to connect with one another, said Jade Daniels, Black Lives Matter-LA, organizer on Communications and Arts and Culture Committees. On social media, the black community has created a space for dialogue, a place for healing, a place to cultivate joy, and to build power among one another. Social media, arguably, has become a strong vehicle of liberation and radical resistance and base building in this time of such crises in the United States. Black Lives Matter owes much of its success to social media. The organization was born five years ago after the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. According to Pew, the blacklivesmatter hashtag, created after George Zimmerman was acquitted of killing Martin, has been retweeted more than 30 million times. The Evitarus poll stated that one in two young Californians surveyed identifies with BLM. Rev. James Lawson Continues Life Mission of Advocating for Nonviolent Action By all accounts, the Rev. James Lawson has exceeded legendary status in the annals of U.S. history. Renowned for his teachings on nonviolent action, the pastor emeritus of Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles was the master strategist behind some of the memorable marches defining the countrys Civil Rights Movement. Lawson worked closely with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and trained many of the future leaders of the movement including John Lewis, Diane Nash, Marion Barry and James Bevel. In addition, his students participated in the Freedom Rides, the 1963 Birmingham Childrens Crusade, the 1966 Chicago Open Housing Movement and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement. Celebrating his 90th birthday on Sept. 22, Lawson shows no signs of straying from his life mission of training people about nonviolent civil resistance. In fact, Lawson spent half of the day moderating a special teach-in discussing the topic: What kind of people should we be in these violent, chaotic times and how do we work to effect nonviolent campaigns in the 21st century and move toward equality, liberty and justice for all in the U.S.A.? In addition to Lawson, the panelists included Maria Elena Durazo, international vice president of Unite Here; Dr. Veena Howard, Gandhi scholar and associate professor at CSU Fresno; the Rev. Phil Lawson, a nonviolence movement builder; Kayla Parker, junior director of Amnesty International L.A.; and the Rev. Mel White, author and founder of Soulforce, which works to end oppression of LGBTQI people through nonviolence. ADVERTISEMENT Throughout the lively discussion, attended by more than 125 people, Lawson reflected on his personal experience with nonviolent campaigns along with encouraging the audience to persist in conducting nonviolence action. One of the powers of nonviolence, insisted Lawson, is the ability to challenge ancient philosophies. In scripture, it says we have to challenge people with good, with hope, and determination. Responding to the Sentinels question as to why, even in the ninth decade of his life, he remains staunchly committed to nonviolent action, Lawson answered, The reason is, first of all, in this nation that calls itself a Christian nation, often times, the religion of Jesus was not about violence and war. Its not about racism, its not about sexism, and its not about people beating up on people for whatever reason or whatever they are or whoever they are. Moses and Jesus both insisted that you must treat the alien like you yourself want to be treated. The second thing is that violence has its limits. The violence of lynching did not stop me or my people in the 20th century from pushing to eradicate it and the violence of police into the 21st century will not stop us. So, non-violence is the remedy for the violence. Its the antidote. Unless Western civilization can end its preoccupation of using science and technology for the destruction of people whether its pollution of the crops or the use of nuclear weapons or polluting the air with carbons unless Western civilization ends its reliance on developing life that destroys life, Western civilization will turn this planet into an ice planet with no life on it. ADVERTISEMENT Thats the reality and many scientists and people of the 20th century have said this, including myself, Martin King, Gandhi, and Albert Einstein. So part of my own quest for nonviolent action and struggle is to say the survival of the human family is dependent upon us moving away from hatred and fear of life to loving life and loving one another and creating a better society. And the United States must lead the way! The Nonviolence Workshop with Rev. James Lawson is held every fourth Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., in Los Angeles. For information, call (323) 703-5868. Suge Knight Pleads To Manslaughter Over Fatal Confrontation Averting a murder trial that had been nearly four years in coming, former rap mogul Marion Suge Knight pleaded no contest Thursday to voluntary manslaughter for running over and killing a Compton businessman and agreed to serve nearly 30 years in prison. The Death Row Records co-founder entered the plea in Los Angeles Superior Court after striking a deal with prosecutors, and has agreed to serve 28 years. Jury selection for his trial, which could have led to a life sentence, had been scheduled to begin Monday. Knight was charged with murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run after fleeing the scene of a dispute in January 2015 outside a Compton burger stand. Knight and Cle Bone Sloan, a consultant on the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, traded punches before Knight clipping him with his pickup truck and ran over businessman Terry Carter, who died from his injuries. ADVERTISEMENT Knights attorneys have said he was acting in self-defense and was fleeing armed attackers when he ran over Carter and Sloan. Sloan has denied he was carrying a gun during the confrontation. During Thursdays hearing, Knight, wearing orange jail attire with his arms and legs in chains, answered Judge Ronald Coens questions, loudly and quickly saying no contest when the judge asked for his plea. He will be formally sentenced on Oct. 4. The plea deal calls for Knight to serve 22 years in prison on the voluntary manslaughter count, and another six years because it is a third strike violation. Knight disagreed with the judges description of one of his previous strikes and put a pause in the proceedings that briefly raised tension in the courtroom. You served nine years for it, Coen said, before Knight agreed to move on. Carters daughter, Crystal, sat in the front row of the courtroom and displayed no visible reaction to the proceedings. Im surprised he pleaded out, Crystal Carter said outside court. Normally he likes the cameras to be on him 24-7. ADVERTISEMENT The agreement also absolves Knight in two other cases, both from 2014. He was accused of stealing a camera from a woman and of sending threatening text messages to Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray. Delays, detours and drama marked the run-up to Knights trial, which was expected to begin Oct. 1 under tight security and secrecy. Court officials had said that no witness list would be released ahead of the trial, and that some witnesses might not be identified by name during the case. Surveillance video that showed Knight hitting the two men with his truck was likely to play a central role for both sides. Sloan, who had feuded with Knight for years in a dispute with roots in their Compton gang ties, was likely to have been the trials key witness, but may have been a difficult one for the prosecution. Despite giving a detailed account of the incident to police on the day it happened, just a few months later at a preliminary hearing he claimed to have little memory of it, and even refused at first to identify Knight as the person sitting in the courtroom who hed fought with. Knight collapsed during one court hearing, two of his former attorneys were indicted on witness-tampering charges, and his fiancee pleaded no contest to selling video of Knight hitting the two men with his truck. His attorney Albert DeBlanc Jr., appointed by the court five months ago, was his 16th, and Knight tried to fire him and get yet another lawyer just a day before the deal was reached. Knight would frequently, against the advice of Coen and his attorneys, speak extensively during hearings, complaining about jail conditions, his attorneys and his health issues. On Thursday, while Coen read legal language about the plea and told Knight he was subject to deportation if he was not a citizen, Knight said ICE is coming to get me? to a smattering of laughs. DeBlanc declined comment on the plea agreement. Prosecutors did not speak to reporters outside court. The 53-year-old was a key player in the gangster rap scene that flourished in the 1990s, and his label once listed Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg among its artists. Knight lost control of the company after it was forced into bankruptcy. He has prior felony convictions for armed robbery and assault with a gun. He pleaded no contest in 1995 and was sentenced to five years probation for assaulting two rap entertainers at a Hollywood recording studio in 1992. He was sentenced in February 1997 to prison for violating terms of that probation by taking part in a fight at a Las Vegas hotel hours before Shakur was fatally wounded in a drive-by attack as he rode in Knights car just east of the Las Vegas Strip. Shakurs slaying remains unsolved. The Price of Black Disunity is Much Too High Currently, Los Angeles Black city council members mostly seem to be working together which hadnt happened for some time. A telling example of past negativity was the fight between the three Black council members over redistricting following the 2010 census; it lacked civility and any semblance of common ground. But it highlighted the lack of unity among Black leadership that has become more the norm than the exception throughout the U.S. Disunity among its leadership also mirrors the lack of cohesiveness and common ground in the Black community. And Black peoples failure to hold its leadership accountable tends to perpetuate conditions inimical to their own interests. The negative implications of disunity are clear though largely ignored, even though now, more than ever, Black unity on political, economic and public policy issues is crucial-not just for forward progress, but our very survival. Todays column takes a closer look at Black disunity and the need to come together to develop strategic alternatives for concrete sustainable change. Barack Obamas presidency had little, if any effect, on the lack of unity among Blacks whose attitudes and behavior tend to reinforce a status quo that has never accorded us full rights and privileges. Proposed solutions must begin with acknowledging that the current pervasive lack of unity is lethal and if continued, could result in the virtual downfall of the race. (A scarred collective psyche heads the list of unacknowledged and unattended obstacles to attaining not only sustainable political and economic success, but our full potential as a people.) ADVERTISEMENT Blacks disunity involves a broad denial of the significance of race and the reasonable argument that until whites see their own well-being threatened by the status quo, Blacks will remain spectators not equal participants in the political power equation. A critical challenge, therefore, is for Blacks themselves to develop strong unified political influence that causes such a threat. The late Derrick Bell reminded us that enslaved Blacks managed to retain their humanity and faith and that pain and suffering were not the extent of their destiny. Today, mutual respect and shared responsibility is lacking among too many Blacks. (An additional aggravating factor, these days, is the wrongheaded chasm between middle-class and poorer Blacks making sound remedies all the more difficult.) The genesis and continuing impact of Blacks disunity is evident to those who view Americas history with even a modicum of sophistication. Racism has always marginalized Blacks and excluded us from circles of power. But, as Bell said, Blacks can find inspiration and unity in the lives of those who defied death and extinction as slaves and freed men, insisting on their humanity despite societys consensus that they were an inferior people. That kind of unfailing hope and resilience must be rekindled among Blacks today. Professor Adolph Reeds provocative analysis of race and disunity suggests that egalitarianism appealed to both civil rights activists and corporate America because it did not really challenge capitalism. Interestingly, Reed maintains capitalism stressed the immortality of racism and segregation and he asserts that Black opposition in the 1960s was integrated into the system in a way that strengthened, not challenged it. Dr. Cornel West-and other Black scholars like Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, regularly weigh in on race and Black disunity. DR. West argues a byproduct of racism and major barrier to Black survival and progress in America is, loss of hope and absence of meaning Many Blacks now reside in a jungle with a cutthroat mentality devoid of any faith in deliverance or hope. These scholars forcefully articulates the need for Blacks to debunk the internalized, debilitating myth that race no longer matters. They also emphasize racism and Black unity must be at the center, not the periphery, of strategic alternatives to the status quo. And, that such strategies must stress that moral and ethical values, and top-to-bottom accountability, are foundational for actual change. ADVERTISEMENT Disunity and ineffective leadership typically occur with impunity, which not only perpetuates, but aggravates the substandard conditions which far too many Blacks must endure. Public conversations about alternatives to Black disunity are rare, probably because in order to be effective, such dialogue requires honesty and a real desire for change, both of which are in short supply. Witness the iconic euphoria over Obamas presidency and his race-neutral performance. Both tended to reinforce, not change Blacks plight. Yet, to even objectively critique Obamas performance for most Blacks is still sacrilegious. Also, the growing divide between middle-class and poorer Blacks makes holding Back leadership and intragroup collaboration harder than ever. Effective leadership is essential for reversing the pervasive disunity among Blacks. However, as long as Black people persist in emulating Whites individualistic and materialistic values, the widespread lack of unity will persist and continue to render us complicit in our own oppression. Many Blacks are unaware of their true history in America that is also replete with Black pride and perseverance that enabled our forbearers to overcome indescribable brutality and systemic scorn. Sadly, these positive characteristics are less prominent today, especially in Black leadership. Proposed solutions must first acknowledge the lack of unity, then develop alternative strategies unapologetically designed to benefit the Black community. Disunity, which stems chiefly from Blacks having internalized European individualistic and materialistic values, must be reversed. However, this requires renewed self-respect and moral and ethical group-oriented values driven by a revived unity among Blacks themselves. UN honors Nelson Mandela as peace summit begins Nelson Mandelas South African journey from anti-apartheid leader to prisoner to president to global statesman the Long Walk to Freedom of his autobiography title is one of the 20th centurys great stories of struggle, sacrifice, and reconciliation. Now the United Nations is seeking to harness its soaring symbolism. The unveiling of a statue of Mandela, born 100 years ago, with arms outstretched at the UN building in New York on Monday opens a peace summit at the General Assembly, where world leaders will once again address the planets pressing problems: war, poverty, disease, migration, and climate change. Theyll do so amid a massive security operation in a city where Mandela was welcomed by exultant crowds in 1990, a few months after he walked out of a South African jail, ending 27 years of imprisonment under the countrys white government. South Africa will be free, Mandela said during that visit, and indeed, he became the countrys first black president in its first multi-racial elections four years later. His death in 2013 at age 95 brought a global outpouring of grief and tributes. ADVERTISEMENT But there is something of a distinction between the main global perception of Mandela the moral colossus whose resolve and generosity of spirit, tactical as well as genuine, inspired people in Colombia, Northern Ireland, and other places struggling with seemingly intractable conflicts and a growing body of opinion at home that he and his party were too quick to accommodate South Africas white minority, which lost political control but still dominates industry in one of the worlds most economically unequal societies. Despite South Africas sense of unfinished business, it is a country enormously proud of the tall, charismatic orator with a broad smile and ironclad principles whose image and words were banned by his former captors, rendering him virtually invisible to the outside for decades. Mandelas universality means that he also belongs to the world, which has wrestled with a fresh set of economic and political ruptures of late. In July, former United States President Barack Obama traveled to Johannesburg and spoke about how Mandela, by offering the possibility of moral transformation, means as much to the globe as he does to South Africa. At the outset, his struggle was particular to this place, to his homeland a fight to end apartheid, a fight to ensure lasting political and social and economic equality for its disenfranchised non-white citizens, Mr. Obama said. But through his sacrifice and unwavering leadership and, perhaps most of all, through his moral example, Mandela and the movement he led would come to signify something larger. The United Nations is declaring 2019-2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, and a declaration being adopted at Mondays peace summit identifies the personal qualities that made him a transcendent humanitarian humility, forgiveness and compassion and connects them with UN goals, including disarmament, human rights, and poverty alleviation. It also warns of challenges to the primacy of multilateralism, a catch-all term that could refer to trade disputes between the administration of President Trump and other countries, or the European Unions Brexit challenge, or other pressures testing the idea of shared values on which the UN was founded after World War II. ADVERTISEMENT The declarations signatories recognize that the world has changed significantly since the founding of the United Nations, and acknowledge that global peace eludes us to this day, it says. But the tone is hopeful we must make the impossible possible and the document singles out South Africa for praise, remembering the countrys dismantling of its nuclear weapons program toward the end of apartheid and Mandelas appeal for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Mandelas plea is no closer to reality, and other elements of his legacy are under threat. In 2016, South Africa said it was withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, though a South African court later ruled against the move to pull out of the Hague-based tribunal, which was launched in 2002 and pursues perpetrators of the worlds atrocities. Mandela had been a strong advocate for the courts creation. The shine has come off the rainbow nation that was internationally admired in its early post-apartheid years during Mandelas presidency. South Africa struggles with fallout from allegedly massive corruption under former president Jacob Zuma, and a contentious debate about land reform reflects the frustrations of many in the black majority who think their country has let them down since they got the right to vote. Still, it has one of the biggest economies in Africa, as well as a relatively robust judicial system and civil society. For all our shortcomings and simmering tensions, our country was truly inspirational, and it still is. In recent years it had become harder to sell the South African miracle, as our detractors would point to rampant corruption, cronyism, and the masses who are yet to share in the dividends of peace, Shannon Ebrahim, foreign editor for the Independent Media Group in South Africa, wrote in a column. The UNs honoring of Mandela, Ebrahim said, again gives South Africans a chance to inspire the world. Monday is also a public holiday in South Africa, Heritage Day, introduced when Mandela was president to celebrate the countrys cultural diversity. According to accounts, Mandela wanted to be seen as a normal human being with both flaws and virtues, and not as an icon or legend. In 2007, he spoke at the dedication of a statue in his likeness opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, and his talk about the symbolism, not the man, seems equally apt for the new statue at the United Nations. We trust that the statue will be a reminder of heroes and heroines past, Mandela said, as well as an inspiration for continuing struggles against injustice. Words of the Week A Life Worth Living Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6 Sometimes, sisters and brothers, the challenges and complications of life can be so overwhelming that they can cause us to want to give up on living. Earlier this summer, the challenges and complications of life caused fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain to give up on living. ADVERTISEMENT The complications and challenges of life dont just effect high profile individuals but they have had a rising effect on teens and young adults. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the rate of suicide among teen [and young adult] girls is the highest it has been in 40 years and the rate among boys has increased by 30%. While these recent incidents and statistics have raised awareness of the mental health issues surrounding these challenges and complications, they have been a part of our reality for some time. And the truth of the matter, sisters and brothers, is that all of us are closer to the edge than we may think or realize. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five brought it to our attention in the 1980s with the lyrics, Dont push me, cause Im close to the edge, Im trying not to lose my head. Its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under. In a sense, thats what Paul was writing to the saints at Ephesus about in this text. In his exhortation to them, he shares with them a life worth living. I say to you live a life worthy of the calling you have received (v.1). They had been called by the Lord Jesus Christ through the ministry of Paul and had accepted the grace of God in the saving work of Jesus Christ on Calvary. Pauls exhortation to them is to live a life worthy of their calling. ADVERTISEMENT They had been called for much more than mere individual existence. They had been called for abundant living in the unity of community. In speaking to the Pharisees in John 10:10 Jesus said that he came that the people might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). To live a life worthy of their calling, the apostle exhorts them to be humble. In the first part of Verse 2, he tells them to be completely humble and gentle (v.2a). The humility to which Paul exhorts them manifests itself in servanthood and obedience. Then Paul tells them that if they are to live lives worthy of their calling, they are to be patient, bearing with one another (v.2b). Bearing with one another means to give each other the benefit of the doubt, not to jump to conclusions about one another, presume that someone is innocent before guilty and presume that someone is trying to do you good and not harm. For Paul patience is the very fabric of their abundant living in the unity of community. Perhaps thats why he says to them to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (v.3). Pauls final and ultimate exhortation to the saints at Ephesus to live lives worthy of their calling is that they have hope. They had been called to one hope. As believers, they had hope and their hope was in the Lord who had called them. Their hope was in the one faith that saved them (Romans 10:9-10). Their hope was in the one baptism of the Spirit that sealed them (Ephesians 1:13). Their hope was in the one God that was over all, and in all, and through all. Sisters and brothers, a life worth living is a life that has something to live for. People who give up on living have things to live with, but nothing to live for. No matter how challenging or complicated life gets, you got something to live for. Hope in Jesus is something to live for. With hope in Jesus, things will get better. With hope in Jesus, change will come. With hope in Jesus, there is a bright side somewhere. With hope in Jesus, sorry might last for a night, but joy will come in the morning. The 18th Century preacher and hymn writer Edward Mote said it far better than I can when he wrote these words: My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. The Rev. Dr. Kelvin T. Calloway is the pastor of Bethel AME Church, 7900 S. Western Ave., in Los Angeles. For her 35th birthday, Behnoush Babzani decided to hold a party. She used her birthday to ask friends to donate money to a cause she cares about: helping people who need bone marrow transplants. Babzani herself received bone marrow from her brother in a transplant operation. Its not that my body was making cancerous cells. It was that my body was making no cells, she said. Turning to social media, Babzani published a picture of herself on Facebooks website. The photograph showed her as a hospital patient. Using a new program on Facebook, she asked her friends to help raise $350. New way to raise money for causes It has always been easy for Facebook users to send birthday messages to friends online. Now people are using the social networking site to turn birthday messages into donations for a favorite cause, such as a charitable group. A year ago, the American company launched a new feature that has helped charities in the United States and around the world. In its first year, Facebooks birthday fundraiser feature raised more than $300 million for groups helping those in need. This success has caused some charities to rethink their methods for raising money. However, the success of the Facebook birthday feature comes at a troubling time for the company. Social media users have begun to question how internet services connecting friends and family have also become tools for some to spread hate or influence foreign elections. Recently, a U.S. Senate committee met with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebooks chief operating officer, and Jack Dorsey, who heads Twitter. Sandberg spoke about steps Facebook has taken to identify and remove messages that violate the companys terms of service. We were too slow to spot this, and too slow to act. That is on us, she told the lawmakers. However, the birthday fundraiser feature shows the power of using social media for good, says Facebook spokeswoman Roya Winner. It gives people who are celebrating a birthday, a chance to turn that day into something thats bigger than themselves, she said. Some of the charities receiving the largest donations are Saint Jude Childrens Research Hospital, the Alzheimers Association and the American Cancer Society. In the case of Behnoush Babzani, she raised more than $1,700 in donations to help pay for bone marrow transplants. Rescuing sea lions Two weeks before his 65th birthday, Stan Jensen received a message from Facebook asking if he wanted to use his birthday to ask people to donate to a cause. Jensen, a retired sales worker, decided that he did. He turned to 1,400 Facebook friends to help raise money for the Marine Mammal Center in Northern California, where he cares for injured sea lions. He works as a volunteer there once a week. Jensen raised $2,300. He said that much money was more than he could have dreamed for, and he let his friends know they made a difference. Youve bought a ton of fish, he told them. You are feeding all the animals we have on site for several days. His birthday is coming up again, and the sea lions are always hungry. Hes perfecting his pitch: I know Im special to you, but Id like just the cost of a Starbucks coffee. Just $5. Please. Im Phil Dierking. Michelle Quinn wrote this story for VOANews.com. Phil Dierking adapted her story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Quiz Quiz - Facebook Birthday Feature Lets Users Raise Money for Charities Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story bone marrow - n. a soft substance that fills the bones of people and animals feature - n. an interesting or important part, quality, ability, etc. fund-raiser - n. a social event held to collect money for a political party, charity, school, etc. online - adj. done over the Internet sea lion - n. a large seal that lives near coasts in the Pacific Ocean site - n. the place where something (such as a building) is, was, or will be located spot - v. to see or notice (someone or something that is difficult to see or find) transplant - n. to remove (a plant) from the ground or from a pot and move it to another place American President Donald Trump is directing the Federal Bureau of Investigation to launch an additional investigation into his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. Trump acted at the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The request followed reports of sexual wrongdoing by Kavanaugh. Trump said in a statement that the investigation must be limited in nature and completed in less than one week. The decision marks a reversal for the administration, which had argued that the FBI had already investigated Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has strongly denied the reports of sexual attack. Earlier Friday, the Senate committee voted in support of the nomination of Kavanaugh. Now, the decision is left to the full Senate to confirm or reject Kavanaughs lifetime appointment to the high court. Eleven Senate Judiciary Committee members voted to support Kavanaughs nomination. All 11 are Republicans, the party of President Trump. The committees 10 Democrats said they did not support Kavanaughs appointment. Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona asked Friday for the FBI to have a week to examine the accusations against the nominee. Kavanaugh has been accused of sexually attacking at least one woman when they were both teenagers. The woman, Christine Blasey Ford, told the committee about her memory of the assault. Kavanaugh strongly denied the claims. "I have never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever," Kavanaugh told the committee Thursday. "I have never done this to her or to anyone." Hours earlier, Ford spoke at the public hearing. She told senators she was "100 percent" sure that Kavanaugh and a friend of his, Mark Judge, locked her in a bedroom during a party near Washington D.C. She said Kavanaugh forced himself on top of her, groped her, and covered her mouth when she shouted for help. Kavanaugh told senators he attended no such party. He accused Democrats of attacking him and his nomination for political gain. Kavanaugh also denied accusations of sexual wrongdoing from several other women who came forward in the past week. He noted that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had found no suggestion of sexual wrongdoing in any of its six investigations of him during his career. All those investigations were carried out before Ford's accusations were made public. Trump chose Kavanaugh in July to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. Christine Blasey Ford is a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California. Brett Kavanaugh is a federal judge in Washington, D.C. They both attended private high schools in the D.C. area in the 1980s. Im Caty Weaver. I'm Ashley Thompson. VOA News reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story reversal - n. a change to an opposite state, condition, decision, etc. grope - v. to touch (someone) in an unwanted and unexpected sexual way intimidate - v. to make afraid riveting - adj. very exciting or interesting testimony - n. something that someone says especially in a court of law while formally promising to tell the truth scream - v. to suddenly cry out in a loud and high voice because of pain, fear, surprise, etc. Indias Supreme Court has ruled that the governments biometric identity, or ID system for citizens is legal. Four out of the five judges who heard the case voted Wednesday to keep the ID system in place. But the Supreme Court also ruled to limit parts of the program to protect individual privacy. The biometric identification project is called Aadhaar. Under it, the government aims to release an individual 12-digit number to each of the nations citizens. This number is linked to the individuals fingerprints and a scan of their eye, to be used as an electronic form of ID. Critics of the system say it threatens privacy rights and warn that the information collected could be misused. Opponents also argue that companies such as banks or telephone providers - could use the biometric ID as a requirement for service. The government has said the system is meant to make sure its food, fuel and other assistance reaches citizens who need it. It aims to block theft and other problems in Indias $23.6-billion-a-year food public aid program. The Supreme Court in its decision said the Aadhaar system provides more good than risk. The judge who announced the ruling said the court believed the best solution was to fix the current public assistance system rather than end it. The judges ruled that anyone seeking any government services will be required by law to have a biometric ID number. But the court said companies could not require Indians to provide their ID to register for telephones and other services. The judges also ruled that children would not need Aadhaar to begin school because education is a fundamental right of all citizens. The court also said the law must include a government process to help people who have information misused or their identities stolen as a result of the system. The biometric ID system was first proposed by the Congress Party government in 2010. But it expanded under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose BJP party came to power in 2014. In a related case last year, the government went to the Supreme Court to argue that Indians did not have a fundamental right to privacy. The government lost, with the court ruling that privacy was the right of every citizen guaranteed by the constitution. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and VOA News. was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story biometric n. involving the application of statistical analysis to biological data scan n. looking at the inside of something by using a special machine fundamental adj. relating to the most important or main part of something Jamey Turner often performs to large crowds in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, a short drive from Washington, D.C. You can find Turner playing an unusual musical instrument, the glass harp, near Alexandrias historic waterfront. A glass harp is made up of different sized stemmed drinking glasses, each filled with water. Turner makes music by running his fingers over the tops of the glasses. By doing so, each glass makes a different musical sound. Visitors to Alexandria like what they see and hear. They thank Turner by leaving a dollar or more in his box for donations. Nicole Schwarss is a visitor from Germany. I think its fantastic. Ive never heard something like this before, she said. Jamey Turner is 78 years old. He says he has been playing the glass harp for 50 years. Turner says he became interested at the age of six, when he heard his father playing with a glass of water at the dinner table. Today Turner puts together his instrument by placing 60 different glasses on a wooden soundboard. He holds the glasses in place with rubber bands, which keeps them from breaking. He then adds different amounts of water to each one to create different musical notes. Turning says adding or taking away just a little water will change the sound. Adding water to a glass will make a lower sound. The smaller bowls of water produce a higher sound, while the larger ones produce a lower, deeper sound. Turner says he uses low-priced glass because it sounds better than costly crystal. And he has more control over the sound. Before buying new glasses, he will test them in stores. He decides if they produce the right sound by rubbing his finger over the top of them. The glass harp was popular 300 years ago when composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote music for the instrument. There have been about 400 musical compositions written just for the glass harp. But Turner plays all kinds of music, even popular music from China. Turner says he has performed all over the United States and in Japan. Few people play the glass harp these days, but Turner says he sees videos of people experimenting with the instrument on YouTube. He hopes the next generation will continue making its music. Im Dorothy Gundy. Deborah Block reported on this story for VOANews.com. Dorothy Gundy adapted the story and video for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story stemmed adj. having a stem, the long and thin part: such as the long, thin piece that supports the bowl of a wine glass soundboard n. a thin sheet of wood over which the strings of a piano or similar instrument are positioned to increase the sound produced rubber bands n. circles of stretchy rubber for holding things together crystal n. a special type of glass that is very clear composer n. a person who writes music Oppo may be preparing to offer one of the first smartphones with 10GB of RAM. A listing on Chinas TENAA website suggests that a 10GB version of the Oppo Find X could be in the works. The Find X is a premium smartphone with high-end specs, a nearly all-screen design, and a slide-out camera system that hides the front and rear cameras when theyre not in use. Oppo launched the phone this summer, but the company currently only offers models with 8GB of RAM. The TENAA page shows 8GB and 10GB options. The rest of the specs are pretty much the same, including storage options (128GB or 256GB), and cameras (two rear and one front). Most high-end Android phones on the market in 2018 feature at least 4GB of RAM. Some have 6GB, and others have 8GB. But so far we havent seen a smartphone with 10GB of RAM but earlier this year there was a rumor going around that Vivo would launch one. Fun fact: Vivo and Oppo are both owned by the same parent company: BBK. Do you need 10GB of RAM in a smartphone? Probably not. Im still pretty happy with my Google Pixel 2 which has just 4GB. But phone makers are constantly looking for bragging rights and its getting harder and harder to make a phone stand out by offering a fast processor, big screen, slim bezels, or large amount of storage. So RAM has become one of the latest battlefields. There may come a time when developers come up with apps that can actually make use of that much memory. For now, it probably just means youll be able to keep a few more apps running in the background without having to reload them after you spend time doing other things with your phone. via GizmoChina, The Leaker, and @UniverseIce Share this article: Share this: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pocket Tumblr Pinterest LinkedIn Email Jamaicans Publicly Question Chinese Investment and Influence Jamaicas open arms to Chinese investment in recent years has led many island residents to fret about possible adverse effects on the local economy. Allan Hope, the Jamaican poet, musician, actor, and talk-show host better known as Mutabaruka, recently voiced his concern during his Cutting Edge radio talk show that Chinese road projects in Jamaica will put his country on a path toward debt default, according to a Sept. 25 article by Caribbean news site Loop. We must look at what is happening in other parts of the world as it relates to China. Other countries are faltering on loans and they have to take land and seaports, Mutabaruka said. Loop highlighted the case in Sri Lanka, when China took control of a Sri Lankan seaport and 15,000 acres of nearby land included in a 99-year lease, after the Sri Lankan government defaulted on a Chinese bank loan. Beijing is currently financing several road-rehabilitation projects in Jamaicas capital of Kingston, including projects at Three Miles, Constant Spring Road, Hagley Park, and Mandela Highway. The total cost of these projects would be roughly $88.6 billion. Additionally, Jamaican government signed a loan agreement with Chinas Export and Import Bank in February 2017, for $384 million to renovate 110 kilometers (about 68 miles) of the South Coast Highway, which runs from the Harbour View in Kingston to Port Antonio in Portland, a parish on Jamaicas northeastern coast, according to the Jamaican government. You think it cant happen to we [sic], after all these pretty lights and motorways? Mutabaruka said. Currently, Jamaica sits on a mountain of debt. According to a May 16 article by Jamaica information website DigiJamaica, total debt stands at roughly $15 billion as of the end of March, citing data from Jamaicas Ministry of Finance. The countrys external debt is roughly $10 billion. It isnt known how much of that is owed to China. Chinas Interests in the Caribbean Aside from road-rehabilitation projects, Beijing has invested heavily in Jamaica under the One Belt, One Road initiative (OBOR, also known as Belt and Road). OBOR, first announced by Beijing in 2013, seeks to build Beijing-centered land and maritime trading networks by financing infrastructure projects throughout Europe, Asia, Africaand most recently, the Caribbean and Latin America. Under the OBOR initiative, Beijing has begun investing heavily into Jamaica, including a $721 million investment into Highway 2000, Jamaicas first toll road, which taken over by the state-run China Harbor Engineering Co. in 2014; and the purchase of Jamaicas Alpart aluminum refinery, which was previously owned by a Russian mining company. Chinas state-run Jinquan Iron and Steel bought it for $3 million in 2016, according to Chinas official OBOR website. The Alpart refinery purchase is part of Chinas desire to tap into Jamaicas rich deposits of bauxite, a clay rock that can be refined to produce aluminum. Jamaica has one of the worlds largest deposits of the material. Separate from OBOR efforts, in June 2013, Beijing offered a $3 billion loan with favorable rates to nine Caribbean countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica, according to Chinas finance website Caixin. While Beijing has claimed its investments and loans to Jamaica are for the benefit of both countries, the formers motives could be read between the lines in a policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean issued by the central government in November 2016. In the document, Beijing called for greater military cooperation with the two regions in the realms of training, trade, and technology. Politically, Beijing stated that it would engage with countries in the region on the basis of the One China principle. According to the Chinese Communist Party, the One China principle stipulates that both mainland China and Taiwan are inalienable parts of a single China, and Taiwan must one day be united with the mainland, by military force if necessary. However, Taiwan is self-ruled with its own constitution, democratically elected government, and military. Beijing has targeted the Caribbean for dollar diplomacy, because many of Taiwans diplomatic allies are in the region: Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Dominican Republic was Taiwans ally before Beijing pressured the country to recognize one China and drop ties with Taiwan in May. The U.S. Department of Defense, in its annual report on Chinas military and security development prepared for Congress in May, pointed out that China had increasingly used professional military exchanges to build its influence in the region and counter the United States presence. The report noted that many countries in the Caribbean and Latin America have sent officers to the Chinese-military-run National Defense University in Beijing. Jamaican Economy A letter to the editortitled Chinas Colonization of Jamaica appeared on the Caribbean regional news site Caribbean News Now on Sept. 4, questioning how much the Jamaican economy and Jamaicans have really benefited from Chinese investment. For one, Chinese investors often hire Chinese instead of local Jamaicans to work on Chinese infrastructure projects. Such imported Chinese laborers was one reason that Jamaicas GDP hasnt shown any significant growth, despite all the direct investment from China, according to the letter. Between 2013 to 2017, when Chinese investment began pouring in, Jamaicas GDP has more or less hovered around $14 billion, dipping to a low of $13.9 billion in 2014 and registering a high of $14.4 billion in 2017. In March 2016, an unidentified local contractor told The Gleaner that Chinese workers were often preferred because they were cheaper to hire: $1 and a bowl of rice for a Chinese worker per day, compared to $4 daily wages for a Jamaican worker. Meanwhile, the jobs created by Chinese investment were often limited to cheap subservient marginal jobs in wholesale and on infrastructure projects, the letter pointed out. Chinese companies that have invested in Jamaica and dominated its construction sector has inevitably pushed out local construction companies. In August 2017, Peter Bunting, former minister of Jamaicas National Security, called the Chinese presence a form of economic colonization, according to a report by The Gleaner. He said Chinese companies had an unfair advantage because they were supported by Beijing and had virtually unlimited resources. Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai On paid a visit to Asilo Vila Madalena home in Coloane Village this week in the company of Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan and the President of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Jose Tavares, the office of the CE informed. According to the statement, the visit comes after a group of residents handed the government a letter complaining about the relocation of the former Canidrome greyhounds to a land plot next to the home. In the letter, the seniors expressed concerns about noise and smell reducing their quality of life. Chui informed them that the government was paying special attention to the case and that they will do their best to guarantee that the seniors lives will not be disturbed. Alexis Tam gets flu shot to encourage vaccination Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam received the influenza virus vaccine in a promotional activity with the aim of encouraging residents to get the vaccination, the Office of the Secretary informed in a statement. According to the statement, accompanying Tam was the director of the Health Bureau (SSM) Lei Chin Ion, and public hospital director Kuok Cheong U among other members of SSM and the Secretariat. The public vaccination was said to be a way of encouraging and calling on high-risk groups to be vaccinated as soon as possible, in order to protect them against the influenza virus. According to SSM, the bureau has ordered 150,000 vaccine doses for the 2018-2019 season enough to cover all residents. DSAMA approves license for Maritime Touristic Tour The Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) issued their first license for the operation of maritime tourist tours in Macau waters on Monday, DSAMA informed in a statement. The license will allow the company to make use of the Inner Harbour Passenger Terminal and ferry the passengers to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge artificial island and by the Inner Harbour Channel before returning to the same pier. Tours start on September 25 and will operate twice daily, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.. Each trip takes about two hours and costs MOP150 per person. LOW-COST carrier Cebu Pacific recently introduced a new direct route linking Cebu City to Macau, which will begin operating on December 7. The new route will operate four times a week- every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, leaving Cebu at 18:50 and arriving in Macau at 22:00. The return flight will leave Macau at 22:45 and arrive in Cebu at 01:45. Cebu Pacific holds over 50 percent of the capacity share, as it now flies direct from three hubs Cebu, Clark and Manila. According to the company, this is also an opportunity to grow its other hubs outside of Manila. We believe that this new connection is not only an answer to our passengers demands but will also stimulate both the trade and tourism aspects in both destinations as it makes available both passenger and cargo services, said Paterno Mantaring, Cebu Pacifics vice president of Corporate Affairs, as cited in reports. Earlier this month, the carrier also increased the number of flights from Clark to Macau, which now flies daily at 21:25, with the return flight departing Macau at 12:15 the following day. Direct flights to Hong Kong will also be added, increasing the number of flights from seven per week to 10 flights per week, beginning from November 26. LV Pope Francis urged Chinese Catholics yesterday to trust him and make concrete gestures of reconciliation following a landmark deal over bishop appointments that is aimed at ending decades of estrangement between the Vatican and Beijing. In a letter to the Chinese faithful, Francis also called for greater dialogue between local priests and government authorities to ensure that ordinary church activities can be carried out, while encouraging the opening of a new chapter in official bilateral cooperation. Chinas estimated 12 million Catholics are split between those belonging to the government-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is outside the popes authority, and an underground church loyal to the pope. Underground priests and parishioners are frequently detained and harassed. The letter appeared aimed at acknowledging the deep reservations of some underground faithful, for whom the deal represents a sell-out to the Communist government and betrayal of their decades of loyalty to the pope. Francis acknowledged these Chinese sense themselves somehow abandoned and expressed his sincere admiration for their fidelity over the years. But he asked them to trust him. The aim, he said, is to initiate an unprecedented process that we hope will help to heal the wounds of the past, restore full communion among all Chinese Catholics, and lead to a phase of greater fraternal cooperation. The letter follows the deal signed Saturday governing the naming of bishops in China, an issue that has split the church and vexed relations for decades. The agreement regularizes the status of seven bishops who had been appointed by Beijing over the years without papal consent, and sets out a process of dialogue going forward to name new ones. Francis says he, not Beijing, ultimately will name new bishops. While the deal addressed a crucial aspect of church governance in China, it didnt address more pastoral issues of unifying split communities, which the letter published yesterday aims to do. The Catholic community in China is called to be united, so as to overcome the divisions of the past that have caused, and continue to cause, great suffering in the hearts of many pastors and faithful, Francis wrote. All Christians, none excluded, must now offer gestures of reconciliation and communion. Francis and before him Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II had tried to unite the two communities, including a letter Benedict penned to the Chinese faithful in 2007. Years of negotiations kicked into high gear over a year ago, culminating in the deal signed Saturday. Unlike Benedicts 2007 letter, which labeled the Patriotic Association incompatible with Catholic doctrine and took a hard line in asserting the exclusive right of the pope to name bishops, Francis tone was far more conciliatory and focused on moving past previous differences. He didnt even name the Patriotic Association or insist on his right to name bishops. He has told reporters, however, that after a period of dialogue he would ultimately name new leaders of the church. The letter provided some detail of the process involved, which includes ordinary priests and lay faithful taking part in the nomination process. That lay participation is unknown in the West, where such nominations are put to the Vatican for consideration by the local hierarchy and the local Vatican ambassador. Francis urged the Chinese faithful to join in seeking good candidates who are not mere functionaries but are authentic shepherds committed to working generously in the service of Gods people, especially the poor and the most vulnerable. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Francis acknowledged that both sides lost something in the talks, and said members of the underground Chinese church will suffer as a result of the deal, the text of which has not been released. But he took full responsibility for it, and said he had already received messages attesting to the martyr-like faith of Chinese Catholics and their willingness to accept whatever was decided. He urged prayers for the suffering of those who dont understand, or who have so many years behind them of living clandestinely. It was a reference to the underground faithful who endured decades of persecution for refusing to join the Patriotic Association and staying loyal to the Holy See. Their cause has long been championed by Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who has called Francis deal a sell-out of the church to Chinas Communist rulers. The issue of bishop nominations had been the main stumbling block to restoring diplomatic relations that were severed nearly seven decades ago when the Chinese communists came to power. The Holy See insisted on the popes right to name bishops to preserve the apostolic succession that dates to Jesus original apostles. China considered the Vaticans insistence as an infringement on its sovereignty . Nicole Winfield, Vatican City, AP A Chinese citizen living in Chicago was arrested yesterday [Macau time] for allegedly spying, including by helping with the recruitment of U.S. engineers, defense contractors and scientists for intelligence services in China, federal prosecutors said. Ji Chaoqun, 27, is charged with one count of knowingly acting in the U.S. as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification of the attorney general, a statement from the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago said. He allegedly worked at the direction of high-ranking intelligence officials with the Peoples Republic of China and was given the task of providing information about eight people for possible recruitment. Ji made an initial appearance in federal court in downtown Chicago, looking tired and fidgeting as he stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason. Ji huddled with a Chinese-language interpreter for much of the 15-minute hearing. But when the judge asked if he understood his rights, Ji lifted his head and said in English, I understand. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shoba Pillay said at the hearing that Ji faces up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted on the one count. Through a lawyer, Laura Hoey, Ji also asked that the Chinese consulate be notified about his arrest. Judge Mason ordered that Ji remain in custody for now, and U.S. Marshals agents handcuffed him and led him away. No additional hearings were immediately set. A 17-page criminal complaint says Ji came to the U.S. in 2013 on a student visa to study engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in 2016 under a program that allows some immigrants living in the country legally to serve in the military if their skills could be vital to U.S. interests. There was no answer at a number for the Chinese consulate in Chicago yesterday. AP Move over pot stickers, here comes another Asian dumpling. South Koreas largest food company is making a multimillion-dollar bet on mandu, developing its own machines to automate the normally labor-intensive production of the Korean dumpling and building factories around the world. It will be the next kimchi, predicted Cho Gun Ae, a senior researcher at CJ CheilJedang Corp. who has spent more than 20 years researching dumpling recipes and production. The nearly 4-year-old effort is an example of how technology is transforming the food industry, in this case making over the image of frozen dumplings as a cheap and unhealthy product made by small companies. Automation made the quality, the look and the size of each bite-size dumpling consistent and significantly improved productivity, Cho said. CJ recently opened a factory in New Jersey, its third in the U.S., and has expanded production lines in China and snapped up local companies in Vietnam and Russia so it can churn out more of its Bibigo-brand frozen dumplings. Few workers could be seen on a recent visit to a CJ factory in South Korea. One picked out defective onions and cabbages from a conveyor belt where machines washed the vegetables with water and chopped them into cubes in seconds. At another conveyor belt, two workers picked out defective chives, while another checked the machines to make sure they were running smoothly. A series of machines cut the dough into identically sized circles, dropped a dollop of filling inside and closed the dumpling into a crescent shape, onto which another machine put a frill-shaped pattern. Lines of dumplings streamed out on conveyor belts, like a production line of miniature cars. The facility in Incheon, outside of Seoul, produces 100 tons of dumplings a day. One challenge was designing the machines that make the pattern on the dumplings. Instead of using machines made in Japan for its popular gyoza dumplings, CJ developed a new machine for mandu. Last year, U.S. sales of CJs Bibigo dumplings surged 70 percent to 175 billion won (USD156 million). Tess Sarosdy of San Antonio, Texas, who reviews ready-made foods on her blog I Am Tired of Cooking, praised the mandu for being easy to heat and serve. American consumers are more familiar with pot stickers and not the Bibigo-style of dumpling, she said in an email interview. My daughter loves them. Moon Jung-hoon, a food business professor at Seoul National University, is upbeat about CJs dumpling business. Its targets are Chinese, Chinese people outside China and others around the world who are familiar with Chinese dim sum, he said. Globally, the company aims to triple its dumpling sales to 1 trillion won ($929 million) by 2020, mostly to Koreans, Americans, Chinese and Russians. It would be an unusual feat at a time when mainstay South Korean exports, such as autos and ships, are struggling to grow and companies are reluctant to expand investment. AP Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak presented the governments proposal to change the current legal framework which allows authorities to record and gather information from people while they are being investigated for certain crimes. The proposal was seconded by the Director of the Judiciary Police (PJ) Sit Chong Meng and is now in its public consultation period. It aims to present, as Wong said, a response to the new challenges created by the fast development and vulgarization of modern communications technology. In his speech, the Secretary also noted that the current laws are obsolete in the face of new crimes, as these laws also cannot tackle the more organized, more concerted and more concealed [ways] traditional crimes [have developed]. The proposal was presented in six sections. This included an analysis of the difficulties of applying the current regime, the protection of fundamental rights, adjustments to the current regime, the content of the new regime, as well as its application and relation to the Penal Code, and the proposed date of enforcement of the new regime. According to Sit, the most relevant issue authorities identified was how outdated the current law had become. The legal framework is already 21 years old and when established, did not account for the modern communication developments. We do not have just phone calls anymore. Most people use other ways to communicate, such as symbols, images, sounds and videos, the PJ director noted, pointing out that such new methods of communication should be included under communication interception and recording for criminal investigations. The PJ director also noted the increase in crimes such as phone scams, hidden broadcasting stations (for illegal gambling related promotions) as well as terrorism acts, and human trafficking are new policing challenges. Sit explained that the principles of the current regime are to be kept. Investigations and phone taps will still require to be ordered and conducted under the supervision of a judge and court order. Those under investigation will retain the right to access the contents collected for their defense. Of the adjustments made, the government proposed a change to the types of crimes subjected to such measures. These will now include Crimes associated with Terrorism, Money Laundering, Crimes against the Security of the State, Cybercrimes and related to the violation of privacy through communications. Crimes related to smuggling were removed, as they were a type of crime that does not exist anymore in Macau, Sit said. Other changes included the recording or collection of information not just related to phone conversations, but also newer communication methods, such as texting, symbols, voice messages and videos, which are to be targeted as material proof. There were also proposed changes to article 172 of the Penal Code, regarding methods of intercepting and recording information from these new methods of communication. The time allowed for certain surveillance to occur was also defined. Previously, no maximum period had been established, however, the new law proposes a maximum three-month period, before being up for renewal by order of a judge for similar periods. A total new change to the law is the fact that both data owners and service providers (such as telecommunications companies) can now be accountable for failing to co-operate with authorities when providing communications contents upon request, and failing to keep the records stored. The proposed bill includes a penalty of up to two years of imprisonment or 240 days of fine for data owners. Service providers may be targeted with the sanction equivalent to a fine of MOP20,000 to MOP200,000 if they are a person, and MOP150,000 to MOP500,000 if they are a company. The PJ will have jurisdiction over this topic and be responsible for management. The government is also proposing that the law should be enforced 90 days after its publication, establishing a one-year transition period for operators and service provider to comply. The document has been in public consultation for 45 days and until November 9, opinions can be sent to the PJ by letter, via the official PJ website and through the government portal. To update the laws is a responsibility of the government On the sidelines of the presentation of the new regime for interception and protection of communications, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said: to update the legal regimes is a responsibility of the government and if [the government] was not doing such work it should be failing. Wong was replying to criticisms that the constant changing and enforcing of stricter legal regimes was restraining the liberty of the citizens and making every common citizen out to be a criminal. In his reply, Wong noted that the fulfillment of [legal] obligations is an indicator of a democratic and rule-of-law-based [territory]. He also noted that law updates are being made by all other secretariats to improve and respond to social challenges. RM Following the Court of Final Appeals (TUI) recent decision to end the consideration of an appeal submitted by Sulu Sou, the lawmaker officially stated that he would not pursue clarification of the courts decision. The appeal was regarding the legal grounds of procedures leading to the suspension of his mandate by the Legislative Assembly (AL). In a statement Sou disseminated yesterday, the lawmaker lamented that the court ended up not ruling in his favor on the wrongs described in his civil actions against AL. The action ended up with no winners, and no losers. I am saddened that Macau was not given an opportunity to see these matters clarified, because the Rule of Law depends to a significant extent on the clarity of the rules and principles that govern our life, the lawmaker stated. As previously reported, the courts justification was that the appeal was dismissed as unnecessary according to the Article 84 (e) of the Code of Administrative Litigation and Article 229 (e) of the Code of Civil Procedure, since a favorable decision would result in the return of the lawmaker to his seat in the AL. Since Sous mandate had already been re-established, the court thus decided that it was useless to continue to analyze the appeal. Pursuant to the law, Sou could still dispute whether the action would be of no practical consequence or not by lodging an appeal to the three judge panel at the TUI. However, I decided not to challenge TUIs ruling. The judge who issued the ruling elaborated on his reasons, explained it to them, provided the decision in both official languages and publicized it. Meanwhile, Sou expressed that discussing whether illegal resolutions of the AL can be nullified by the courts particularly when they breach fundamental rights is relevant for the protection of the Rule of Law, for furthering the Basic Laws guarantees and for better defining the separation of powers. Our view is that confirming the illegality of the AL decisions, which breached fundamental rights of a legislator, would matter for the well-functioning of the AL and to the Rule of Law, said Sou. In the latter part of the statement, Sou commended his lawyer Jorge Menezes, along with Scott Chiangs defense lawyer, Pedro Leal. Menezes took the forefront of our quest by courageously committing to represent us in this system-shaking legal action against the AL, the pro-democracy lawmaker stated. The U.S. approved the sale of military equipment to Taiwan this week, drawing Chinas ire as tensions escalate between the worlds two largest economies. Taiwan welcomed the package, estimated by the Pentagon to be worth USD330 million, which was proposed by its government last year and includes spare parts for F-16, C-130 and indigenous defense fighter aircraft. It represents the smallest stand-alone offering to the self-ruled island since President George W. Bush approved a $125 million sale of anti-ship missiles in 2007, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. This case-by-case approach in military sales could be more efficient than previous practices of big packages, Chen Chung-chi, spokesman for Taiwans Ministry of National Defense, said by phone on Tuesday. We hope military purchases in the future can be discussed case by case in order to enhance efficiency. The sale may further hurt U.S.-China relations, which have deteriorated as President Donald Trumps use of tariffs stokes fears of a long-term competition for global power between the nations. The Chinese government has already called off a planned round of bilateral trade talks with the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter, and the countries imposed a new round of tariffs on each other on Monday. Chinas military is strongly dissatisfied and strongly opposed to this, Defense Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said in a statement, adding that it has launched stern representations with the U.S. We are resolutely opposed to the U.S. sale of weapons to Taiwan, Ren said. China demanded that the U.S. cancel the sales as well as its military contacts with Taiwan in order to avoid the next step in damaging China-U.S. military relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan strait. Trumps relationship with Taiwan has been a hot issue for China since he accepted a congratulatory phone call from President Tsai Ing-wen after his election and questioned why the U.S. recognizes Beijing instead of Taipei, a policy that underpins China-U.S. relations. Since then, the U.S. has approved $1.3 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, and Trump has signed legislation to encourage senior U.S. officials to visit the island, a move that would raise its diplomatic status. In a March address to Chinas parliament, President Xi Jinping warned that efforts to widen divisions with Taiwan would be punished by history. The government has ordered all airlines to stop referring to Taiwan and the former colonies of Hong Kong and Macau as countries, something the White House described as Orwellian nonsense. Strong self defense will help Taiwanese people to be more confident when they face more severe security challenges, said Alex Huang, spokesman for the president. Bloomberg This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept President Donald Trump yesterday accused China of attempting to interfere with the upcoming United States congressional elections, and claimed its efforts are motivated by opposition to his tough trade policy. Trump, speaking in front of world leaders while chairing the United Nations Security Council for the first time, did not present evidence for his claim, which came amid an ongoing special counsel investigation into Russias attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election and concerns that the November elections could also be vulnerable. Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, Trump said They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade. U.S. officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. With the elections less than two months away, U.S. intelligence officials have said they are not now seeing the intensity of Russian intervention registered in 2016 but are particularly concerned about activity by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Trump also used his moment chairing the Security Council meeting about nuclear proliferation to issue a strong warning to nuclear-aspirant Iran, which he deemed the worlds leading sponsor of terror fueling conflict around the region and far beyond. The president has withdrawn the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, accusing the country of destabilizing actions throughout the region and support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah. Tough sanctions are due to kick in against Tehran in November, and Trump warned that there would be severe consequences for any nation that defied them. Despite his tough talk, Trump said he could envision relations with Iran moving along a similar trajectory as ones with North Korea. A year ago at the U.N., Trump belittled its leader Kim Jong Un as Rocket Man and threatened to annihilate the country, but on yesterday he touted the the wonderful relationship with Kim and teased that details of a second summit between the two men could be released soon. He also condemned violence in the ongoing bloody civil war in Syria, saying that the butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran. Trump also waded into thorny Middle East politics, endorsing the two-state solution to bring an end the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. A day after being greeted with laughter by world leaders still uncertain how to manage his America First ideology, Trump explicitly backed Israel, noted the moving of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and suggested that he saw progress on the horizon for Middle East peace. I like two-state solution, Trump said in his most clear endorsement of the plan as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Thats what I think works best. Trump indicated that moving the embassy was a big chip the U.S. delivered to the Israelis. I took probably the biggest chip off the table. And so obviously they have to start, you know, we have to make a fair deal. We have to do something. Deals have to be good for both parties. Now that will also mean that Israel will have to do something that is good for the other side. The two-state solution is mostly aspirational. Ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians over the division of territory, borders and governance has spawned violence going back years and long stymied Mideast peace efforts. Moving the embassy from Tel Aviv triggered considerable protest from the Palestinians and expressions of condemnation from many American allies who worried about further violence that could destabilize the fragile region. Trump said that his administrations peace plan, in part helmed by his son-in-law senior adviser Jared Kushner, would be released in the coming months. Trumps meeting with Netanyahu came, symbolically, just ahead of his chairing a meeting of the U.N. Security Council about nuclear proliferation. The president had suggested, in a recent tweet, that Iran could be his focus, and he unloaded harsh The high-profile Security Council meeting came a day after Trump poured scorn on the ideology of globalism and heaped praise on his own administrations achievements in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly that drew head shakes and even mocking laughter from his audience of fellow world leaders. The U.S. will not tell you how to live and work or worship, Trump said as he unapologetically promoted his America First agenda. We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return. Speaking in triumphal terms, Trump approached his address to the world body as something of an annual report to the world on his countrys progress since his inauguration. He showcased strong economic numbers, declared that the U.S. military is more powerful than it has ever been before and crowed that in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. AP Beijing rejects charge of elections meddling Chinas foreign minister said his country doesnt interfere in any other nations internal affairs. His comments came at a U.N. Security Council meeting after President Donald Trump accused the Chinese of attempting to interfere in the November elections in the U.S. Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said he refused to accept any unwarranted accusations against China. Trump said the interference happened because hes the first president ever to challenge China on trade. Wang looked on, stone-faced, as Trump made his statement. Chinas longstanding policy is noninterference in other nations internal affairs and it is quick to cite that policy when any other nation criticizes it over anything from politics to human rights. President Donald Trump is following a detailed script as he convenes his first meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The famously free-wheeling leader is referring to notes that are guiding him through the bodys parliamentary procedures, including which leaders to recognize and when to use the gavel afforded to the councils president. The U.S. held the presidency for yesterdays session. Wearing an earpiece, Trump is alternating between listening to simultaneous translation as other leaders and ministers spoke and scanning the room or his prepared notes. Bolivian leader Evo Morales launched a blistering critique of U.S. policy toward Iran as well as Trumps immigration policies that resulted in the separation of migrant children from their parents. Trump sat stone-faced during the remarks, looking straight ahead. He thanked Morales for his remarks, before recognizing the next leader. AP A deterioration in U.S.-China relations, seen most dramatically in their escalating trade dispute, is spilling over into the military arena. The Pentagon yesterday [Macau time] confirmed that China had canceled a Washington visit by the head of its navy, and U.S. officials said China had denied a request for a U.S. Navy ship to make a port visit next month at Hong Kong. Also yesterday, China demanded the Trump administration cancel a planned USD330 million sale of military equipment to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing considers a renegade province. The backdrop to these tensions is the U.S.-China trade dispute. Each imposed tariff increases on the others goods Monday, and Beijing accused the Trump administration of bullying. A Chinese official said China cannot hold talks on ending the trade dispute while the U.S. holds a knife to Beijings neck by imposing tariff hikes. The two countries are mired in a dispute over Washingtons allegations that Beijing pilfers foreign trade secrets and forces U.S. companies to hand over technology in return for access to the Chinese market. The predatory practices, the U.S. says, are part of Chinas relentless drive to challenge American technological dominance. Also at stake, beyond economic cooperation, are U.S. hopes for gaining Chinas help in persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. In his address Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Trump thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for his assistance with the North Korea problem, but he also blasted China for what he called unfair use of international trade rules to diminish U.S. jobs and deepen U.S. trade deficits. Those days are over. We will no longer tolerate such abuse, Trump said. Military ties between Washington and Beijing have been relatively stable in recent years, even as the U.S. complained of China militarizing reefs and islands in the South China Sea amid overlapping territorial claims by other Asian nations. In May, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis disinvited China from participating in a multinational naval exercise in the Pacific. Pentagon officials cited Chinas military buildup on disputed South China Sea islands. In recent days the breadth of military tensions has grown. A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn, said China informed the Pentagon that the chief of the Chinese navy has been recalled to Beijing, canceling a planned meeting with his American Navy counterpart at the Pentagon after visiting a naval conference at Newport, Rhode Island. On Monday a reporter asked Mattis what he made of these developments and how he expected to address them. Right now, its too early to say. Were still sorting this out, he said, adding that he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agree we do have to have a relationship with China. And so were sorting out the way ahead right now. Mattis visited Beijing in June, making him the first Pentagon chief to do so since 2014. In addition to its anger over the military sale to Taiwan, China is strongly objecting to a U.S. decision to issue a visa ban and assets freeze on Chinas Equipment Development Department and its director, Li Shangfu. The U.S. action relates to Chinas purchase from Russia of Su-35 combat aircraft last year and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment this year. Those purchases violated a 2017 law intended to punish the Russian government for interfering in U.S. elections and other activities. Chinas Defense Ministry said the U.S. had no right to interfere in Chinese military cooperation with Russia and demanded the sanctions be revoked. In addition to warning that failure to revoke the sanctions would mean Washington must bear the consequences, Beijing postponed a meeting it had been scheduled to host this week between U.S. and Chinese military staffs. In a further act of retaliation, China turned down a request for an October port call in Hong Kong by the U.S. Navys amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. China last denied such a visit in 2016 amid a spike in tensions between the sides over the disputed South China Sea. We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, and we expect that will continue, said Eastburn, the Pentagon spokesman, in confirming that China had not approved the Wasps visit. Robert Burns, Washington, AP A German court decided Tuesday not to subject Kuwait Airways to fines after it refused to take aboard one of its flights an Israeli passenger two years ago. A Germany-based Israeli student, Adar M., lodged a lawsuit against the Kuwaiti carrier in 2016 after the airline boycotted him. He bought a ticket online to travel from Frankfurt to Bangkok with the airline but the carrier canceled the ticket when he revealed he had an Israeli passport and offered to book him on another airline, reports say. Tuesday, a higher regional court in Frankfurt slammed the boycott calling it unacceptable but ruled that because the flight required a stopover in Kuwait City, which is under Kuwaiti jurisdiction, it was factually impossible for the airline to have fulfilled its contract. The court also turned down Adars request for compensation and demand to be able to book a new journey to Bangkok with Kuwait Airways. Kuwait like several countries in the Arab region has no diplomatic ties with Israel. The Kuwaiti law also prohibits citizens or entities to be engaged in business or cooperation with Israelis or Israeli companies. Adars representative in the court, Lawfare project, expressed dismay and said it will appeal the verdict. This is a tragic day for German law, Lawfares executive director Brooke Goldstein said. Rather than be held accountable before the law, the court has rewarded Kuwait Airways for its anti-Semitism. U.S. envoy to Germany, Richard Grenell who has been vibrant since his arrival in May, criticized the Kuwait carriers policy banning Israeli passengers. It is 2018. No airline should be allowed to categorically reject Israelis, he said. In 2015, Kuwait Airways opted to scrap all its flights between New Yorks JFK airport and London Heathrow after U.S. authorities threatened legal action over its refusal to sell tickets to Israelis. A vaccine against deadly foal pneumonia might finally be within reach, thanks to Morris Animal Foundation-funded research conducted at two major universities. The breakthrough could potentially save the lives of thousands of foals every year. "After many decades of efforts, our research, funded by Morris Animal Foundation, has led to the first effective vaccine protecting foals against infection with R. equi., considered the most common and important form of pneumonia in foals older than a few weeks of age," said Dr. Noah Cohen, one of the senior authors of the PLOS Pathogens paper describing the vaccine trail, and the Patsy Link Chair in Equine Research at Texas A&M University. Researchers at Harvard Medical School also were part of the research team. In addition to causing severe, insidiously progressive pneumonia, infection with Rhodococcus equi can affect other organs in the body, such as bones (including the spine), abdominal lymph nodes, eyes, joints and brain. Fatality rates range from 20 percent to 40 percent of infected foals. There currently are no licensed vaccines to protect against foal pneumonia, creating a critical need for development of an effective vaccine. For the vaccine trial, Dr. Cohen's team first investigated if vaccinating pregnant mares at three weeks and six weeks prior to birth of their foals protected their newborns against foal pneumonia. The team found antibodies that ward off pneumonia were transferred to the foals via the mares' colostrum, which was critical to establish as horses lack the ability to transfer antibodies through the placenta. Most importantly, those antibodies were able to protect almost all the foals born to vaccinated mares from contracting pneumonia. Next, the team conducted a small, randomized, controlled study of nine foals with R. equi. Five foals were given serum with high levels of antibodies against R. equi and four were not. All five foals receiving the hyperimmune serum were protected against R. equi pneumonia whereas the foals that received standard plasma all developed pneumonia. Further safety testing is ongoing, but these early results appear to support the safe and effective use of this novel foal vaccine strategy against pneumonia. Moreover, it suggests that immunizing donor horses with this vaccine could be used to produce plasma with which foals could be transfused to prevent R. equi pneumonia. Pneumonia caused by R. equi, which often clusters by farms, is found on all continents except Antarctica. Some farms experience problems recurrently and other farms sporadically or not at all. Despite effective antibiotic therapies, the incidence of this disease remains high, and many affected foals die. At farms that have problems with this disease, an average of 15 percent to 20 percent of foals develop pneumonia in a given year. In addition to protecting foals against pneumonia caused by R. equi, Dr. Cohen said the new vaccine has the potential to protect against other diseases, including sepsis, the leading cause of death for foals in the first few weeks of life. Other potential disease targets for the vaccine include bacterial infections such as Streptococcus equi subspecies equi, the cause of the ancient and prevalent disease known as strangles. "Developing a vaccine to protect foals against pneumonia has long been a priority at Morris Animal Foundation and of the equine researchers we support," said Dr. Kelly Diehl, Interim Vice President of Scientific Programs at Morris Animal Foundation. "We have invested more than $2 million to help fight this disease. Dr. Cohen's team's findings are groundbreaking and have the potential to change how we manage this disease going forward, saving the lives of young horses around the world." Explore further Antibiotic-resistant gene discovered in soil bacterium that commonly infects foals More information: Colette Cywes-Bentley et al, Antibody to Poly-N-acetyl glucosamine provides protection against intracellular pathogens: Mechanism of action and validation in horse foals challenged with Rhodococcus equi, PLOS Pathogens (2018). Journal information: PLoS Pathogens Colette Cywes-Bentley et al, Antibody to Poly-N-acetyl glucosamine provides protection against intracellular pathogens: Mechanism of action and validation in horse foals challenged with Rhodococcus equi,(2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007160 Provided by Morris Animal Foundation Professor Paul Bywaters. Credit: University of Huddersfield NEW research has uncovered massive differences in children's social care between the four countries of the UK, with Northern Ireland emerging as the territory where young people are much less likely to be fostered or taken into residential care. This is despite the fact that the province has the UK's biggest percentage of children living in deprived areas. Now the researchersheaded by a University of Huddersfield professorare investigating the reasons for Northern Ireland's lower rates and the lessons that can be learned. Policy makers should be profoundly interested in the findings, states Paul Bywaters in a new online article. He is Professor of Social Work at Huddersfield and a leader of the Child Welfare Inequalities Project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and involving experts based at seven UK universities. They include Professor Brid Featherstone, who is Head of the Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences at the University of Huddersfield. Latest outputs from the project include a co-authored article titled Child welfare inequalities in the four nations of the UK that appears in the Journal of Social Work. Professor Bywater has also written Country matters: inequalities in children's social care, appearing on the CommunityCare website for the social work profession. The article, includes statistics which show that in Northern Ireland, 48 children out of every 10,000 living in the most deprived areas are looked after in foster or residential care. The equivalent figures for England, Wales and Scotland are 112, 135 and 188 respectively. Figures also indicate that children in Northern Ireland are more likely to be on the child protection registermeaning they stay with their familiesthan to be looked after away from their homes. "We don't yet understand the reasons for these large differences, which do not seem to be the focus of government interest. It is clear that within each country family economic circumstances and ethnicity are the most significant factors, but between the four UK countries other factors must be at work," writes Professor Bywaters. Children's social carevariations Professor Bywaters analyses different legal and social care systems around the UKincluding Scotland's Children's Hearing systembut adds that "there may be something different about the strengths of families and communities in the four countries, with local solidarity and resistance to state involvement in family life perhaps greatest in Northern Ireland." Professor Bywaters writes that the UK's cross-country inequalities mostly matter because "decisions to separate children from their families or keep them together reverberate through the rest of their lives and the lives of their siblings, parents and grandparents." "Partly in response to our findings, Glasgow has embarked on a radical culture change which is already significantly reducing the numbers of children in residential and foster care and rebalancing services towards family support," continues Professor Bywaters, adding that there are also economic reasons why policy makers and professional leaders should want to understand the inequalities. "We estimate that if other countries had Northern Ireland's rates... there would be around 40 per cent fewer looked after children in England, 50 per cent fewer in Wales and 60 per cent fewer in Scotland. In England, this equates to around 1.6 billion per year, which could be available to spend on keeping families safe and together, just under 20 per cent of the total children's services budget." The Child Welfare Inequalities team is now examining whether practice on the front line in Northern Ireland and the family and community context is significantly different from that in the other countries and it aims to report on this by end of the year, writes Professor Bywaters. But he adds that: "Cross country comparisons are bedevilled by inadequate data systems which do not easily transfer across national borders. So it is the four UK governments that need to take a lead." Explore further Study shows huge postcode disparity in proportion of children in care More information: Paul Bywaters et al, Child welfare inequalities in the four nations of the UK, Journal of Social Work (2018). Paul Bywaters et al, Child welfare inequalities in the four nations of the UK,(2018). DOI: 10.1177/1468017318793479 Credit: CC0 Public Domain In a new study, researchers at the CHEO Research Institute have found that children aged nine and 10 who meet recommendations in the Canadian 24-hour Movement Guidelines for physical activity, screen time and sleep time have superior global cognition. The results were published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal. Researchers from the CHEO Research Institute's Healthy Active Living and Obesity (HALO) group used data from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) studymore than 4,500 US children aged nine and 10. The study team looked at the cognition of children compared to their physical activity levels, recreational screen time use and sleep time. When children met the recommendations for these, they were found to have higher measures of cognition. Cognition was measured six ways: language abilities, episodic memory, executive function, attention, working memory, and processing speed, using the Youth NIH ToolBox. "When we looked at the ABCD data, we saw clearly that the whole day matters for children's cognitive health," says Dr. Jeremy Walsh, lead author of the study, formerly post-doctoral fellow at the CHEO Research Institute and currently a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Post-Doctoral Fellow at University of British ColumbiaOkanagan. "The greatest benefits for cognition were when children met the screen time plus sleep time recommendations or the screen time recommendations alone. But, the more recommendations a child met, the more positive their global cognition." The 24-hour Movement Guidelines were developed by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, with leadership from HALO and are the first guidelines to incorporate movement recommendations for a child's whole day. In children aged five to 13 years, the guidelines recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity, no more than two hours of daily recreational screen time and nine to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The study shows that only half of children were meeting the sleep time recommendation, 36% met the screen time recommendation and only 17% met the physical activity recommendation. "The shift in the lifestyle behaviours of children towards low physical activity, a reduction in sleep and ubiquitous screen time use may pose a threat to cognitive development," says Dr. Mark Tremblay, Senior Scientist with the CHEO Research Institute, Professor of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa and senior author of the paper. "We need to be doing more to encourage behaviours that promote healthy activity throughout the whole day. There is a positive relationship among childhood global cognition, future academic success and lower all-cause mortality. Meeting the recommendations in the 24-hour Guidelines sets kids up for a lifetime. If kids aren't meeting the recommendations, their healthy development could be at risk." The ABCD is a 10-year longitudinal, observational study investigating brain development in US children. Data were collected on more than 4,500 US children aged nine and 10 years old at 20 study sites across the country. Explore further CSEP announces new Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for children and youth Provided by Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute Alessandro Doria, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator in the Section on Epidemiology and Genetics at Joslin Diabetes Center, and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Credit: John Soares Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading killer of people with type 2 diabetes, and it's not a secret killer. Physicians can assess the risks of major coronary events for someone with diabetes for reasonably well. Among those with diabetes, there are well-established indicators of risk such as weight, fasting levels of blood glucose and family history of the disease. Doctors also can consider more general measures of health such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure and smoking history. Until recently, researchers thought that genetic analyses could add relatively little to these factors in predicting CAD risk for people with type 2 diabetes. But a study led by Joslin Diabetes Center scientists now has shown that adding genetic factors into the mix can help to further hone these risk assessments, says Alessandro Doria, MD, Ph.D., an Investigator in Joslin's Section on Epidemiology and Genetics. The study leveraged greater information gathered in recent years about genes implicated in CAD among the general population, notes Doria, the senior author on a paper describing the research published in Diabetes Care. "The effect is not dramatic, but it is much better than what we expected," he says. Joslin scientists used a genetic risk score derived from 160 gene locations now associated with CAD in the population at large, says Doria, who is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. The team examined how well this score applied to people in two studies of type 2 diabetes, the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial and the Outcome-Reduction with an Initial Glargine Intervention (ORIGIN) trial. Scores were calculated for 5,360 ACCORD participants and 1,931 ORIGIN participants. The results showed that the genetic score provides a significant improvement in the ability to correctly predict future major coronary events, Doria says. The advantage of a score based on genetic markers is that it can be used early in life, when clinical predictors of cardiovascular risk, such as increased body weight or increased cholesterol, may not yet appear. However, the score doesn't seem to be useful for predicting which treatments, such as intensive control of blood glucose levels, may help to guard against major coronary events. In previous work, Doria and his colleagues had identified two genes that do help to predict whether such treatments would be effective against CAD in type 2 diabetes. Continuing to seek out genetic clues, they then found that lower levels of a protein called GLP-1 are associated with people who will benefit most from intensive control of their blood glucose levels. Drugs that increase production of this protein are widely used to treat diabetes. It may be that people who produce less GLP-1 when they are under intensive glycemic control receive particular benefits against CAD from such drugs, Doria speculates. His study shows that large clinical trials such as ACCORD and ORIGIN can continue to provide useful data long after their main conclusions have been gathered. "Ten years after its completion, ACCORD continues to generate ideas and findings," Doria says. The research also highlights the role of collaboration across expertise and institutions, he emphasizes. For instance, leaders of the ORIGIN trial at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario made key contributions to the work. Explore further Trial suggests way to personalize heart health in diabetes Cardiologists at Henry Ford Hospital performed the first implantation in the United States of a device approved for use in Europe for hard-to-treat angina. The Neovasc Reducer was successfully implanted in a middle-aged, Detroit-area man on June 19. Henry Ford Health System cardiologist Gerald Koenig led the procedure, with support from cardiologists Ryan Gindi and Janakkumar Kansagra, and cardiac electrophysiologist Claudio Schuger. "Angina affects millions of people in the United States," said Dr. Koenig, research director for the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Henry Ford Hospital and catheterization lab medical director at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. "Unfortunately, bypass and medical intervention provides little relief to some. So we are hopeful that this procedure can be of some benefit." Anginaslight to debilitating chest painis thought to be caused by a lack of blood flow to certain areas of the heart. Bypass, stenting and certain medicines help many by improving blood flow to affected areas. But those options have little or short-lived effects for others. The "reducer" is a stainless steel, hourglass-shaped mesh that is 3 millimeters in diameter at its smallest point. Through a catheter inserted in the patient's groin area, the reducer is placed inside the heart in a minimally invasive procedure similar to implanting a coronary stent. The procedure typically takes about 20 minutes. Within six to eight weeks, tissue then grows over the mesh, narrowing the passageway. The procedure attempts to address angina by creating a backflow pressure into the heart by narrowing the area of the heart where blood flows out, the coronary sinus. That backflow pressure pushes blood into areas that need additional oxygenation. The idea originated in the 1950s with Dr. Claude S. Beck, prior to the development of heart bypass surgery or the use of stents, Dr. Koenig said. In an open heart surgery, Dr. Beck stitched the coronary sinus to a narrower 3 mm. "They saw a dramatic improvement in a vast majority of patients," Dr. Koenig said. "Seventy percent of patients had some relief of their angina." Prior to the Henry Ford patient's procedure in June, he told his doctors he could walk about two blocks before experiencing angina, which he rated a 7-8/10 on a pain scale. He also used nitroglycerin two to three times per week to alleviate symptoms. At an Aug. 12 follow-up appointment 12 weeks after the procedure, he reported walking several miles without any symptoms and taking nitroglycerin one or two times per month. He said he was rarely experiencing chest discomfort, and any chest pain was rated at a 3/4. Doctors had stopped using the procedure with the development of heart bypass in the 1960s and coronary stenting in the 1980s. But it drew interest again as a non-invasive approach in the early 2000s. The device has been commercially available in Europe since 2015, according to the Canadian manufacturer, Neovasc Inc. The product is still in development in the United States, and U.S. trials are pending. In the case of the Henry Ford Hospital patient, Henry Ford administration and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) permitted the device to be used as a "compassionate use" case. In those situations, there are no other medically viable, commercially approved options available for the patient. "We participate in trials and strive to work with patients who have been told they are out of options," said cardiologist Henry Kim, medical director of the Edith and Benson Ford Heart & Vascular Institute at Henry Ford Health System. "At Henry Ford, we're continually working to advanced science in the field of cardiology to provide the best care available to our patients." Explore further Henry Ford Hospital hits new heart valve surgery milestone In low-resource countries without well-developed screening programs, expanding access to human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination is the best means of preventing cervical cancer and other diseases caused by HPV infection, according to an editorial in the October special issue of the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, official journal of ASCCP. "For countries without screening and treatment, HPV vaccination offers the best and possibly only opportunity for protection against HPV-related neoplasia," write Herschel W. Lawson, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and Mona Saraiya, MD, MPH, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Their editorial introduces a special collection of papers focusing on anogenital and HPV-related diseases in medically underserved populations. Papers Highlight Burden of Lower Genital Tract Disease in Underserved Populations Since the mid-twentieth century, there has been remarkable progress in reducing the burden of cervical and other lower genital tract cancersfirst by cervical cytology screening (Papanicolaou test) and then by identifying HPV as the main cause of cervical cancer. Current HPV vaccines can reduce the risk of cervical cancer by preventing infection with "high-risk" types of HPV. The World Health Organization recommends universal HPV vaccination for girls aged 9 to 14 years. "Unfortunately, the application of this great health benefit has not been universal," Drs. Lawson and Saraiya write. The special issue of JLGTD presents 15 research papers, with a focus on extending effective screening and prevention for cervical cancer to underserved populations, in the United States and around the world. Underserved women, both in the United States and in low-resource countries around the world, face barriers to healthcare due to a wide range of geographic and socio-economic factors. T. Clark Powell, MD, MPH, and colleagues of University of Alabama at Birmingham looked at racial, geographic, and socioeconomic risk factors for advanced-stage cervical cancer among women in Alabama. More than half of women had advanced cancer at diagnosisindicating "ample opportunities for improvement in both prevention and early detection," the researchers note. Black women were more likely to have advanced cervical cancer at diagnosis, regardless of age, insurance, and geography. For white women, insurance status and age were significant risk factors. "Disparities in cervical cancer are multifactorial and necessitate further research into socioeconomic, biologic, and systems causes," the researchers write A study by Meheret Endeshaw, MPH, Dr. Saraiya, and other CDC researchers found that foreign-born women living in the United States were twice as likely as US-born women to have never received cervical cytology screening (17% versus 7%). Women from Mexico, South America and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia were least likely to have had this recommended screening test. Endeshaw and colleagues also noted that foreign-born women living in the United States fewer years of their lives were less likely than others to have had cervical cytology screening. "These findings may inform cervical cancer screening efforts targeting foreign-born women," the researchers conclude. While cervical cytology screening can reduce the incidence and mortality from cervical cancer, this intervention isn't accessible to most women living in low-resource countries. Given the barriers to effective screening in less-developed countriesincluding the need for coordinated follow-up testing and treatment for patients with abnormal screening testsHPV vaccination is the most promising approach to lowering the rates of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases worldwide, Drs. Lawson and Saraiya believe. They conclude, "Clearly, applying sustainable funding sources, and vaccine delivery systems, newer screening, management and prevention technologies in a culturally sensitive fashion is important for those communities where access and resources are highly limited." Credit: CC0 Public Domain Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that a novel analysis of more than a thousand patients adds to evidence that hospitalization, critical illness and major infection may diminish brain structures that are most commonly affected by Alzheimer's disease. Results of the study, published Sept. 24 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, suggestbut do not provethat critical illness and major infection can promote such brain structure changes and accelerate the process of cognitive decline, the researchers say. "There's long been evidence that critical illness severe enough to require hospitalization is linked with subsequent negative neurological outcomes such as dementia, but we believe our study is one of the first to look specifically at how both critical illness and infection might promote brain changes that set the stage for late-life cognitive decline, and serve as independent risk factors for dementia," says Keenan Walker, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study's lead author. Walker cautions that the findings may be limited due to undetected or misclassified billing codes that define diagnosis in the medical records; a lack of information about potentially relevant comorbidities such as delirium; and the "observational" nature of the study, which was not designed toand cannotdetermine or prove cause and effect. But, he said, "The findings do indicate that hospitalization, infection and critical illness may well influence changes in brain regions that underlie dementia." He went on to say that "in order to maintain brain health in older adulthood, it is important to maintain bodywide health. Some of the events that can land you in the hospital may serve as risk factors for dementia." To explore whether critical illness and infection were associated with brain structure changes underlying cognitive decline and dementia, the research team used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), which included MRI scans showing brain structure, as well as social, demographic and hospital information for a large cohort of participants followed over a 24 year period that included five medical exams and structured interviews. The study originally enrolled nearly 16,000 participants ages 45 to 64 from Washington County, Maryland; Forsyth County, North Carolina; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Jackson, Mississippi. Using this dataset makes the team's study especially rigorous, Walker says, because of the long follow-up period that allowed the research team to capture hospitalization events over many years. This is important, he notes, because the process of Alzheimer's disease evolves over the course of decades and takes time to diagnose. For its analysis, Walker's team focused on a subset of ARIC subjects who received a brain MRI during the final medical exam in the study to look at evidence of atrophy and damage to so-called white matterthe part of the brain responsible for transmitting messages. Damaged white matter appears superwhite on a scan, similar to overexposure on a photograph, Walker explains, and was measured using an automated program. All participants who received this brain MRI were included in the analysis. Data on hospitalization frequency was collected from five in-person exams, annual telephone contact with participants and a survey of medical records from hospital admissions throughout the ARIC study. The research team identified critical illness using internationally defined classification of disease codes, or ICD-9 codes, used for insurance billing purposes. Critical illness included shock, severe sepsis (blood infections), acute respiratory failure, hypotension, respiratory or cardiac arrest, and the need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation orprolonged ventilation. The team then also identified the number of major infections, including septicemia, other bacterial infection and pneumonia, the same way. Of the 1,689 participants included in the analysis, 1,214 (72 percent) were hospitalized, 47 (4 percent) had a critical illness and 165 (14 percent) had a major infection. The participants' age at the first visit was 52.7 years, 60 percent were women, 28 percent were African-American and 5 percent met criteria for dementia. The research team found that hospitalization during the follow-up period, regardless of the reason, was associated with 9 percent greater white matter hyperintensity volume and significantly lower integrity of white matter microstructure. Among the 1,214 hospitalized patients in the analysis, those who had one or more critical illness had a 3 percent smaller brain volume in brain regions such as the hippocampus that are implicated in Alzheimer's disease. Major infection was associated with both smaller brain volume in regions vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease (2 percent smaller) and 10 percent larger brain ventricle volume. Although infection can, in some instances, cause critical illness, the research team found that infection alone (without critical illness) was associated with reduced brain volume later in life. Walker and the research team say they plan to examine how each hospitalization event relates to inflammation in the brain and systemic inflammation. They suspect, based on a growing body of research, that events such as critical illness and infection can cause brain inflammation, which leads to the observed reduction in brain volume. Together, these brain changes are thought to set the stage for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, which is estimated to occur in one in every three older adults in the U.S. More information: Keenan A. Walker et al, Association of Hospitalization, Critical Illness, and Infection with Brain Structure in Older Adults, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2018). Journal information: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society Keenan A. Walker et al, Association of Hospitalization, Critical Illness, and Infection with Brain Structure in Older Adults,(2018). DOI: 10.1111/jgs.15470 Antonia Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at Penn Nursing Credit: Penn Nursing Persistent and significant health disparities related to sexual health, including a higher teen birth rate and HIV prevalence, exist among Puerto Rican adolescents compared to other racial and ethnic adolescents. The Internet is a major platform for the dissemination of health information and has the potential to decrease health disparities and provide quality, culturally sensitive health information to disadvantaged populations. Yet, little is known about the barriers that exist related to how Latinos use web-based health information. In an upcoming article in the journal Nursing Research, a study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), reports results of a web-based intervention, Cuidalos, in Puerto Rico designed to increase sexual risk communication between parents and adolescents. "Culturally and linguistically appropriate websites, programs and materials that consider and test how Latinos access, use and engage with resources have the potential to positively influence health outcomes," said lead-author Antonia Villarruel, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Professor and the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing at Penn Nursing. "We wanted to learn about how parents would use web-based health information if given unrestricted access to that information through the Cuidalos program." The study, Use of Web-Based Parent-Adolescent Health Promotion Program among Puerto Ricans, showed that parents with a high school education or less were more likely to access the online program than parents with a college education. "This is an important finding in the context of Puerto Rico, where sexual education in public schools is limited and many parents and schools express traditional views of sexuality and social mores," said Villarruel. "Parents with lower education levels could have less information and skills to provide sexual health information to their children but be motivated to continue accessing Cuidalos as an important resource." For the study, parents were recruited from community-based and school sites in the San Juan metropolitan area in Puerto Rico, and randomly assigned to a web-based, parent-adolescent sexual communication or a physical activity program. Parents were instructed to complete the two-session program within one week and had access to the program for a period of three months. Outcomes in this secondary analysis were the number of logins and self-reported access during the three-month period. Reasons for not accessing the program after the three-month period were assessed. Despite self-reported computer and Internet access and the availability of both at study sites, parents did not frequently access the Cuidalos website, indicating that sociodemographic factors and computer and internet access could not predict use of the program. "Further research is needed to identify how to facilitate greater access and actual use of digital health resources by Latinos," said co-author Nelson Varas-Diaz, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies in the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs at Florida International University. "This is an important effort in order to prevent a widening health equity gap." More information: Antonia M. Villarruel et al, Use of Web-Based ParentAdolescent Health Promotion Program among Puerto Ricans, Nursing Research (2018). Antonia M. Villarruel et al, Use of Web-Based ParentAdolescent Health Promotion Program among Puerto Ricans,(2018). DOI: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000306 Researchers have created a program to help people with dementia to hang up their car keys. Credit: University of Queensland When people with dementia hang up their car keys, the sudden loss of mobility can have devastating effects. The University of Queensland School of Psychology's Dr. Theresa Scott said the CarFreeMe program was designed to help make the transition easier. "Mobility impairments and loss of driving may lead to people becoming isolated and house-bound, and at increased risk of depression and anxiety," she said. "CarFreeMe educates people with dementia, and their families, on how to stay active in the community without a car. "Developing alternative transport habits and making lifestyle changes have the most benefit in the early stages of dementia, while people are still driving, to allow room for adapting to changes. "Providing alternative transport options and emotional support for loss and grief are shown to lessen the negative effects of driving cessation. "For people who have stopped driving, the study provides tailored information for alternative mobility support services so they can continue to be actively engaged within their communities. "Care partners or family members can also receive education and support to assist them to manage this significant life change for their loved ones." The program is being delivered in Canberra and surrounding southern New South Wales regions. People with dementia aged 65 years and older who are still driving, or who have stopped driving, can participate in a seven week program. Participants will be the first to trial innovative technology and use telehealth to meet with health professionals and develop tailored solutions to their individual needs. Support will also be provided by a local occupational therapist. "We hope results will contribute to the intervention becoming more widely available to people living with dementia, and their families, who are experiencing issues related to driving and driving cessation," Dr. Scott said. Explore further Staying social wards off depression when older women stop driving Dear Mayo Clinic: Medical marijuana is now legal in the state where I live. What conditions can it be used for and how effective is it? Do people who use medical marijuana need to be concerned about addiction? A: Medical marijuana, also called medical cannabis, can be helpful in treating a variety of conditions. The specific disorders it can legally be used to treat vary from state to state. To date, it appears to be most effective for treating muscle spasms, chronic pain and nausea. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a form of medical cannabis to treat severe childhood epilepsy. There is no convincing evidence that cannabis used to treat medical conditions leads to cannabis dependence. Marijuana comes from the Cannabis plant. In its leaves and buds are substances called cannabinoids. The plant contains more than 100 cannabinoids, but two are of particular interest for medical purposes: THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). THC is the primary mind-altering ingredient in marijuana that makes people "high." CBD does not trigger changes in the brain that lead to a high. Possession of marijuana is illegal under federal law in the U.S. However, 30 states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing medical cannabis in some form. To obtain medical cannabis in those states, your health care provider certifies that you have a condition that allows you to buy medical cannabis from an authorized dispensary. The conditions that qualify for treatment with medical cannabis differ considerably among the states where it's legal. Some states have only a few qualifying conditions, while others have dozens. A recent report from the National Academies of Science reviewed and summarized the medical literature published about medical cannabis, specifically examining its effectiveness and safety. It concluded that medical cannabis was particularly effective for easing chronic pain, especially pain caused by nerve damage. It can effectively control nausea and vomiting and is often used to manage those symptoms in people undergoing chemotherapy. Medical cannabis also has been shown to be useful in relieving painful muscles spasms caused by conditions such as multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injuries. The drug approved by the FDA for epilepsy is a liquid medication that's sold under the brand name Epidiolex. It can be used for patients age 2 and older to treat two rare and severe forms of epilepsy: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. Epidiolex is a pharmacy-grade product composed almost entirely of CBD. It's the first FDA-approved drug that contains a purified drug substance that comes from marijuana. Examples of additional conditions that may benefit from treatment with medical cannabis, and are approved for its use in some states, include anxiety and depression, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), inflammatory bowel disease, Tourette syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autism. Additional study is needed to further define the specific benefits medical cannabis may have for these and other related disorders. If you are interested in exploring medical cannabis as a treatment option for a disease or condition you have, talk with your health care provider. If your provider isn't familiar with it, ask if there's another clinician in his or her practice who can answer your questions. In states where medical cannabis is legal, the state's department of health often has a website with details and resources to help patients who want to learn more about the benefits and risks of medical cannabis. 2018 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A blood clot forming in the carotid artery. Credit: copyright American Heart Association A novel therapy technique invented by researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas has been shown in a pilot study to double the rate of upper limb recovery in stroke patients, a leap forward in treating the nearly 800,000 Americans who suffer strokes each year. The results of the study, funded by UT Dallas spinoff company MicroTransponder of Austin, Texas, were published Sept. 27 in the journal Stroke. The findings indicate that targeted plasticity therapywhich involves stimulation of the vagus nervepaired with traditional motor-skill rehabilitation is not only safe, but also twice as effective as rehab alone. Dr. Jane Wigginton, the chief medical officer at UT Dallas' Texas Biomedical Device Center (TxBDC) and an associate professor of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, led the Dallas site of the clinical trial, which involved 17 people across the country who had suffered a stroke. "Stroke is too common and too debilitating for us to tolerate the status quo," Wigginton said. "Patients need a real solution so they can get back to fully living their lives." Dr. Michael Kilgard, associate director and chief science officer of the TxBDC, invented targeted plasticity therapy (TPT). Kilgard, who is also the Margaret Fonde Jonsson Professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), said the study results further validate the theories that he and his colleagues based their TPT work on beginning in 2009. "We set out to design an approach that could transform long-term care and restore quality of life to patients for whom that has thus far been impossible," said Kilgard, who was not involved in the clinical trial. "These results show our method has immense potential. We're excited about what this could mean for millions of stroke patients worldwide." Researchers affiliated with the TxBDC and BBS developed the therapy technique, which pairs physical movements with precisely timed vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)electrical stimulus of the nerve via a device implanted on the nerve in the neck. The vagus nerve controls the parasympathetic nervous system, overseeing many unconscious functions such as circulation and digestion. Stimulating the nerve initiates neural plasticityreorganization of the brain's circuitry. The idea behind TPT is that synchronizing VNS with movement accelerates plasticity in a damaged brain, and with it, recovery. A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted because of a blockage or a ruptured blood vessel. Limb mobility can be affected when nerve cells are damaged. Such forms of brain trauma are often treated with rehabilitation that includes repeated movement of the affected limb in an effort to regain motor skills. The approach is thought to work by helping the brain reorganize. Several studies of Kilgard's technique in animal models have previously demonstrated that it is effective in recovering limb function after stroke. A small clinical trial in Europe also provided encouraging data for its potential use in humans. In 2009, UT Dallas licensed its VNS technique as a stroke and tinnitus treatment to MicroTransponder, which sponsored the new double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Neither the researchers nor the study subjects knew who was getting VNS stimulation and who was not. Each study subject was a stroke patient whose stroke occurred between four months and five years prior to selection. After they had a VNS device implanted, the subjects received six weeks of in-clinic rehab followed by a home exercise program. About half were treated with active VNS while the rest received control VNS. All were assessed one, 30 and 90 days after therapy with a widely used, stroke-specific measure of performance impairment. In addition to showing that the technique is safe, the researchers found that subjects receiving active VNS scored more than twice as high as control subjects at the 30- and 90-day intervals, opening the way for larger, more extensive clinical trials, Kilgard said. One such trial is in the recruitment phase and includes a study site in Dallas. Explore further Vagus nerve stimulation boosts post-stroke motor skill recovery Figure 1: Download data for MoDEsT source code from June 2017 to May 2018. Credit: Medical Research Council Adaptive clinical trials are transforming the efficiency of drug development and the MRC has played a crucial role in implementing this innovative method into the UK clinical trials landscape. This trial methodology helps to deliver the right treatment to the right patient faster than ever before. As treatments increasingly become more personalised, accommodating a complex approach within a clinical trial setting requires a new type of clinical trial with a flexible design. A carefully implemented randomised clinical trial (RCT) design has been considered the gold standard for testing new health interventions since the MRC pioneered the first such trial in 1947 testing streptomycin to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. RCTs are valued for their ability to avoid bias, and for their statistical robustness. However, RCTs have become increasingly expensive and take much longer to complete, in a time of increased demand for resources and time. What is an adaptive trial? In contrast to a traditional RCT, in an adaptive trial the patient responses are observed and analysed at pre-defined interim points, and pre-determined modifications to study design can be implemented based on these observations. It allows an adaptive trial to be flexible and efficient without undermining the validity and scientific integrity of the study. Where appropriate, adaptive trials have the potential to vastly improve the way clinical trials are put into practice. The lack of flexibility with a traditional RCT has several disadvantages when compared with an adaptive trial design. For example, a promising experimental drug identified in the laboratory can take nearly a decade to successfully pass through all three phases of clinical trials. Sometimes if patients on an experimental arm of a RCT fare vastly better than patients on the control arm of the study, there would be an ethical necessity to abort the RCT prematurely rather than withhold the effective treatment from the control group. Or, since patient responses are not evaluated until a RCT is complete, an ineffective treatment is only identified at the end of the study. In contrast, adaptive trials have a degree of flexibility and efficiency that traditional RCTs cannot accommodate. Adaptive trials can seamlessly allow the addition of promising new drugs to existing studies, or halt the investigation of ineffective treatments sooner rather than later, saving both time and money while accelerating the delivery of life-saving and life-extending drugs to patients. An adaptive trial could anticipate the possibility of an experimental arm outperforming the control arm and ensure that the trial continues while making sure that all patients on the trial have access to effective treatments. The MRC's support for adaptive trials The MRC has a rich history of supporting clinical trials, and has been instrumental in leading the implementation of adaptive trials into the UK clinical trials landscape. The first unit to undertake clinical trials within the MRC was the Tuberculosis Research Unit which was set up in 1948, following the introduction of the first drugs to treat tuberculosis. Numerous clinical trials followed, and in 1998 the Tuberculosis Research Unit evolved into the MRC Clinical Trials Unit, to bring together research programmes in HIV and cancer. Additionally, the Clinical Trials Service Unit at the University of Oxford established in 1975 is a world leader in the conduct of large-scale RCTs and combined analyses of detailed data from randomised trials, which provide reliable evidence about the safety and efficacy of treatments. In 2008 the MRC and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) set up the Methodology Research Programme to fund high-quality methodology research in areas including but not limited to clinical trials. The MRC Hubs for Trials Methodology Research Network (MRC HTMR), established in 2009, has an Adaptive Designs Working Group that collaborates closely with the academic community while also linking with key stakeholders such as regulatory bodies and industry. The Working Group also fund the position of an Outreach Officer whose principal task is to popularise adaptive designs among medical researchers and statisticians by visiting clinical trials units across the UK to promote the benefits of these flexible designs. Within three years, the Outreach Officer visited eight clinical trials units across the UK, and supported the design of five clinical trials. The MRC HTMR Network has also supported the development of MoDEsT, a software package for Model-based Dose Escalation Trials. The MoDEsT source code has been available since June 2017, and downloads of this source code has steadily increased since (as seen from the graph below), preceding the formal website launch in May 2018. These efforts have led to the development of ground-breaking adaptive trials capable of efficiently testing several promising compounds precisely targeted at specific sub-populations of patients. From bench to bedside in two years The benefits of an adaptive trial design capable of seamlessly allowing the addition of a promising new drug to an existing study was brought into sharp focus in 2017 with an experimental drug called AZD1775. The drug was made available for bowel cancer patients enrolled in the multi-arm adaptive trial, FOCUS4, co-ordinated by the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London. In 2015, Professor Tim Humphrey and his team at the CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology showed that cancer cells with a mutated gene called SETD2 were killed by the experimental drug AZD1775 being developed by Astra Zeneca. This research exploits a concept called 'synthetic lethality'; in the presence of a mutation (such as SETD2) or drug (such as AZD1775), a cell can still function, but a combination of both specifically kills cancer cells. This approach has the potential to be less toxic and more effective than existing treatments by focusing lethality on cancer cells; traditional chemotherapy drugs kill all rapidly dividing cells, even normal healthy cells. As an adaptive trial progresses, new discoveries from the laboratory can be incorporated into the trial by adding new treatment arms to the existing trial even after the trial has begun, rather than setting up a brand-new trial which would take much more time. About one in 10 bowel cancer patients have SETD2 mutations and the translational potential of this targeted treatment for treating those patients is accelerated towards the clinic in less than two years thanks to the flexible design of the existing FOCUS4 trial. Identifying ineffective treatments early In May 2018, the STAMPEDE trial received the '2017 David Sackett Trial of the Year Award' from the Society for Clinical Trials, as recognition that adaptive trials such as STAMPEDE provide methodological excellence and substantial beneficial change towards improving human health. Launched in 2005, STAMPEDE is an ambitious clinical trial for finding the best treatment for people with advanced prostate cancer. It is funded by the MRC Clinical Trials Unit, Cancer Research UK, and several pharmaceutical companies. STAMPEDE aims to prevent prostate cancer re-growth by adding other treatments to hormone therapy, and is the largest ever prostate cancer treatment trial, having already recruited over 10,000 men. STAMPEDE has pioneered the multi-arm, multi-stage platform randomised trial design; it currently has eight different treatment arms and one common control arm, making it much faster for evaluating a diversity of potentially effective treatments than a traditional RCT would be. In 2015, results from STAMPEDE showed that men having docetaxel as well as standard treatment lived on average 10 months longer than men who had standard treatment alone. At the same time, results showed that men who had the drug zoledronic acid as well as standard treatment didn't live any longer than men who had standard treatment alone. Thanks to its adaptive design, the STAMPEDE team could halt recruitment for the ineffective treatment arms while continuing to investigate other promising arms of the trial. Explore further New bowel cancer drug starts clinical trials Electron micrograph of a negatively stained human papilloma virus (HPV) which occurs in human warts. Credit: public domain A tumor-specific vaccine combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor shrank tumors in one third of patients with incurable cancer related to the human papilloma virus (HPV) in a phase II clinical trial led by investigators at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and reported in JAMA Oncology. "That encouraging response rate is about twice the rate produced by PD1 checkpoint inhibitors in previous clinical trials, so these results will lead to larger, randomized clinical trials of this combination," said principal investigator Bonnie Glisson, M.D., professor of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology and Abell-Hanger Foundation Distinguished Professor at MD Anderson. Vaccines specific to HPV antigens found on tumors had previously sparked a strong immune response, but had not, by themselves, been active against established cancers, Glisson said. "Vaccines are revving up the immune system, but the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment probably prevents them from working," Glisson said. "Our thinking was that inhibition of PD-1 would address one mechanism of immunosuppression, empowering the vaccine-activated T lymphocytes to attack the cancer." The team combined the vaccine ISA101, which targets important peptides produced by the strongly cancer-promoting HPV16 genotype of the virus, along with nivolumab, a checkpoint inhibitor that blocks activation of PD-1 on T cells. Of the 24 patients with recurrent HPV16-related cancers, 22 had oropharyngeal (back of the throat) cancer, one had cervical cancer and one had anal cancer. Eight (33 percent) had a tumor response, two were complete. All eight had oropharyngeal cancer. Median duration of response was 10.3 months. Overall median survival was 17.5 months, progression-free survival was 2.7 months and 70 percent of patients survived to 12 months. Five of the eight responders remain in response. "The median survival of 17.5 months for these patients is promising and provides further support for randomized trials testing the contribution of ISA101 to PD-1 inhibition," Glisson said. HPV causes nearly all cervical cancers, and most oropharyngeal, anal, penile, vulvar and vaginal cancers. HPV16 and HPV18 are the leading viral genotypes that increase cancer risk. Given the viral cause of these cancers, immunotherapy has been considered a strong potential approach. The researchers note that three previous clinical trials of PD1 inhibitors alone for recurrent HPV-related cancers yielded response rates ranging from 16 to 22 percent. Two patients had grade 3 or 4 side effectselevated enzyme levelsthat required them to discontinue nivolumab. Glisson said the team observed side effects expected from the two treatments separately, but the researchers were encouraged to see no sign of synergistic side effects caused by the combination. "That's important as we develop rational combination immunotherapy," Glisson said. This clinical trial was among the first to combine vaccination with PD1 inhibition. Randomized clinical trials of the vaccine and anti-PD1 combination for cervical and oropharyngeal cancer are being organized. The single-arm trial was an investigator-initiated effort originated at MD Anderson, Glisson noted. Explore further Combination immunotherapy shrinks melanoma brain metastases Purdue University researchers are developing an app and wearable technology that will allow pregnant women to use a smartphone to detect whether they have or are susceptible to a preeclampsia, a complication caused by high blood pressure that can cause organ damage and premature birth. The device uses the supine pressor test, which measures whether a womans blood pressure increases when she changes position from lying on her left side to lying on her back. If the diastolic pressure increases enough, it is a warning sign that a woman is susceptible to preeclampsia. Credit: Purdue University Pregnant women could use a "wearable" app to detect whether they have or are susceptible to a condition that leads to serious health complications for them or their unborn child. A Purdue University research team, led by Craig Goergen, an assistant professor in Purdue's Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, is developing a low-cost automated early detection sensor of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that can lead to high blood pressure and cause both organ damage and premature birth. "We hope this will allow us to predict and prevent preeclampsia and reduce the number of children born prematurely each year. This could also reduce the long-term health complications for mothers," Goergen said. According to the Preeclampsia Foundation, 5 to 8 percent of pregnancies are diagnosed with preeclampsia, affecting nearly 7 million women worldwide. Preeclampsia is the No. 1 reason that doctors decide to deliver a baby prematurely. "This is a device that women are going to be able to use at home with a minimal amount of training. That is an important aspect to remember as preeclampsia is a worldwide medical concern," Goergen said. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 10 percent of all maternal deaths in Africa and Asia are associated with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, and the figure is 25 percent of all maternal deaths in Latin America. Most of those deaths are avoidable, according to WHO. "The most innovative aspect to our technology is that it uses a simple supine pressor test that can estimate a patient's risk for developing preeclampsia," Goergen said. "The test assesses blood flow through the kidney, and 90 percent of women with a positive test eventually develop preeclampsia. The early detection enables more effective detection and prevention strategies." Women using the app can send the results to a doctor's office, a health care system or a centralized network where the results can be reviewed and where they could receive counseling focused on care management and treatment options as early as possible. The researchers received a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2017 to advance the technology. The program is part of a family of initiatives by the foundation fostering innovation to solve key global and health development problems. "The Gates Foundation is looking for something that's going to have an impact in the immediate future in low- and middle-income countries," Goergen said. "They are interested because the treatment and management of preeclampsia in sub-Saharan Africa, India, China and other developing countries is typically very poor." Dr. David Reuter of Seattle Children's Hospital, a Purdue alumnus and a member of the research team, said the primary goal of clinicians is to prevent disease. "Addressing the problem of prematurity and preeclampsia could have profound implications for women and children globally," Reuter said. "Our scientific insights provide an exciting road map to start revolutionizing the care of pregnant women." The financial costs are great, as well. The American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology issued a report in 2017 estimating the costs to the U.S. health care system for preeclampsia at $2.18 billion for the first 12 months after birth$1.03 billion for mothers, and $1.15 billion for infants. While the Gates Foundation's goal is to help women in developing countries, Goergen said the device the Purdue researchers are working on also could help women in inner cities and rural areas of the United States and other developed countries. They plan to initially test the device on low- and middle-income pregnant women in and around Indianapolis once the researchers receive the institutional approval. "It will be a great way to make sure that these patients are not going down a road that is going to lead to problems for both them and their baby," Goergen said. Other team members include George Wodicka, the Dane A. Miller Head of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue, and Kirk Forster, a senior research engineer at the Weldon School. The team is working to combine available existing technologies such as smartphones, a conventional inflatable blood pressure cuff, and a wireless accelerometer (which measures body position) to build an innovative prototype that will detect preeclampsia before it develops. Explore further Technology could help pregnant women detect health complications More information: Warren Stevens et al. Short-term costs of preeclampsia to the United States health care system, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2017). Journal information: American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Warren Stevens et al. Short-term costs of preeclampsia to the United States health care system,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2017.04.032 Credit: CC0 Public Domain Workers in the construction and transport industries experience high rates of traumatic spinal injuries, and there is an urgent need for more effective safety and prevention measures, says a new study led by a team at UNSW Sydney and the University of Sydney. Published today in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the study investigated 824 cases of people admitted to NSW hospitals over three years with workplace-related traumatic spinal injuries. The data show that 86 per cent of injured workers were male, had an average age of 47 years and spent 16 days on average in hospital. In all, these injuries accounted for 13,302 acute-care bed days with a cost of $19.5 million for time off work and medical costs. Co-author Professor Rebecca Ivers, Head, School of Public Health & Community Medicine at UNSW Sydney said that there is a clear need for stronger regulation and education in the construction and transport sectors. "Prevention is by far the best approach and we know that effective regulation is the most cost-effective means of reducing injury," she explained. The study's lead author, Dr. Lisa Sharwood of the University of Sydney School of Medicine, added: "Our study reveals that 50 per cent of work-related spinal injuries happened in the construction industry and 31 per cent occurred in transport vehicle crashes. "In the construction industry, 78 per cent of spinal injuries were due to falls. These were predominantly falls from height, such as from building structures, scaffolding or ladders. "This study demonstrates that the construction industry is still experiencing a high burden of work-related spinal trauma, particularly related to falls, despite safety measures being in place. "Increased local surveillance of safety systems and stricter enforcement of relevant legislation is needed to reduce risks and fall-related injuries." Transport crashes accounted for 31 per cent of spinal injuries, with heavy vehicle crashes being the most common cause at 24 per cent. Half of all transport injuries occurred 'off road' that is, not on state roads. These injuries are most likely to be on farms or rural properties, meaning that injured victims are not covered by the compulsory third party (CTP) insurance scheme. "Industry safety for heavy vehicle drivers has a long chain of responsibility and all parties need to work together to reduce overall risk," Dr. Sharwood added. "Work-related traumatic spinal injuries represent a significant burden of cost and disability to the Australian workforce but they are preventable. "Work-related traumatic spinal injuries are a current focus of Safe Work Australia policy aiming to reduce serious injury compensation claims by 30 per cent by 2022. "There is an urgent need for more effective policies, risk management strategies and countermeasures for prevention." Explore further Older patients with traumatic spinal cord injuries less likely to get surgery More information: Lisa N. Sharwood et al. The Epidemiology, Cost, and Occupational Context of Spinal Injuries Sustained While 'Working for Income' in NSW: A Record-Linkage Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(10), 2121; Lisa N. Sharwood et al. The Epidemiology, Cost, and Occupational Context of Spinal Injuries Sustained While 'Working for Income' in NSW: A Record-Linkage Study.2018, 15(10), 2121; doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102121 . 27 September 2018 Share Pin Email Reddit WhatsApp 162 Shares The 5th annual Etsy Made in Canada Marketplace returns to Vancouver on Saturday Join this celebration of quality craftsmanship and and shop more than 90 local artists wares. Etsy Made in Canada Marketplace When: Saturday, September 29, 2018 from 10:00am to 6:00pm Where: Robson Square (800 Robson Street, Vancouver) Tickets: FREE! The first 50 shoppers in line will receive $25 Briteup Bucks for the show. Etsy Made in Canada Marketplace events will be taking place in nearly 40 cities across the country on Saturday and Vancouvers event will have a full day of shopping, food trucks, and more. Shop accessories, art & design, baby & kids products, bodycare, fashion, food & beverage, home decor, jewelry, paper & stationary. Enter to Win I have $100 BriteUp Etsy Bucks to give away for the lucky winner to use towards their purchases at the marketplace. Heres how you can enter to win: Leave a comment on this post (1 entry) Click below to post an entry on Twitter Click to enter via Twitter Click To Tweet I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 8:00am on Friday, September 28, 2018. Etsy Dollars can only be used on-site at the Etsy Made in Canada Market on Saturday, September 29, 2018 and/or Sunday, September 30, 2018. Follow Esty Canada on Twitter, hosts Brite Up on Instagram, and the event on Facebook. Update The winner is Leah NOTICE: TO BE CLEAR: WE HAVE OUTLINED UNDER OUR RECORD MAINTENANCE POLICY WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE A FAIR PROCESS FOR ALL. SIMPLY PUT: IF THE COURT SAW FIT TO EXPUNGE YOUR RECORD,SO WILL WE, FREE OF CHARGE. ARRESTS DO NOT IMPLY GUILT AND CRIMINAL CHARGES ARE MERELY ACCUSATIONS,EVERYONE IS PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW AND CONVICTED. 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OUR CONTENT REVOLVES AROUND CRIME, ARRESTS AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT. WE BELIEVE IN THE CONSTITUTION AND OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO PUBLISH UNPOPULAR SPEECH. OPEN RECORD LAWS WERE WRITTEN TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC; BY INFORMING THE PUBLIC OF ARRESTS AND TO HOLD LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE HUMANE TREATMENT OF ARRESTEES. MOST OF, IF NOT ALL MUGSHOT LAWS WERE CRAFTED TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC FROM FEES FOR REMOVAL OF ONLINE MUGSHOTS AND TO FURTHER PROTECT THE PRESS FROM THOSE VERY SAME "MUGSHOT LAWS".WE DO NOT ACCEPT PAYMENT FOR REMOVAL OF ARREST INFORMATION AND/OR BOOKING PHOTOGRAPHS. MORE... Miami, FL - A woman and her boyfriend are facing charges after the man accidentally shot her 5-year-old daughter Tuesday at their home in Miami, authorities said. Jonathan Craig, 41, faces charges of child abuse, aggravated battery and drug trafficking. The victim's mother, Tralliney Coleman, 43, faces charges of child neglect, drug trafficking, failing to keep a firearm in safe storage away from a minor and providing law enforcement officials with false information. According to Craig's arrest report, Craig, who lives with Coleman and her three children, said he saw armed men walking outside his apartment complex near Northwest 12th Avenue and Northwest 66th Street about 1 a.m. Tuesday. Craig picked up a handgun and repeatedly manipulated the slide of the gun, causing one of the children to ask him to leave the living room, the report said. Craig then took the weapon into their mother's bedroom, the report said. The three children fell asleep on the futon in the living room, but were awoken by the sound of a gunshot just before 3 a.m., the report said. Sasha Wheelers, 5, had been shot in the back. Craig reportedly screamed, "Oh no. Damn. Damn," and ran to the mother's bedroom. According to the report, Sasha's mother confronted Craig, saying, "You did this!" Craig replied, "I f**ked up," the report said. When officers arrived, the mother was cradling Sasha in her arms. Paramedics took Sasha to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where she is listed in critical but stable condition. According to Coleman's arrest report, the woman initially told detectives that she had no idea how her daughter had been shot nor who shot her. Police said they went into the home and saw a severe roach infestation in the kitchen, bathroom, closets and living room. The futon shared by the three children was also heavily infested and the sheets on it appeared worn and discolored, the report stated. According to authorities, the children's clothes were kept in dirty storage bins that were also infested with roaches. Police said they found a bag of heroin in the main bedroom after searching the home. A gun was also found on the second shelf of the nightstand and was loaded with 13 rounds, police said. Detectives said Coleman later admitted that her boyfriend was the person who shot her daughter and said he had placed the gun near the TV stand. Craig and Coleman are currently being held without bond at Miami-Dade County's Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. In court Wednesday, a Miami-Dade County judge ordered Coleman's other two children to undergo trauma therapy and said she wanted them to be back in school Thursday. She also ordered a petition to be started to terminate Coleman's parental rights. Coleman's children are now in the care of the Department of Children and Families. A relative is being considered for full-time custody of the children. "The family isn't alright right now, but we're surviving," Sasha's older sister, Luxury Rose, said. Craig has been ordered to have no contact with Coleman and the victim. Uber Technologies Inc. will pay $148 million to settle claims related to a large-scale data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 25 million of its U.S. users. The settlement, spanning all 50 states and the District of Columbia, is the biggest data-breach payout in history, and marks the most sweeping rebuke by regulators against the San Francisco-based company, which earned a reputation for skirting rules in its push to dominate the ride-hailing market. The states agreement stemmed from data compromised in 2016 by hackers, who obtained 607,000 U.S. drivers license numbers as well as tens of millions of consumer email addresses and phone numbers, a leak that Uber failed to disclose for more than a year after discovering the attack. This record settlement should send a clear message: we have zero tolerance for those who skirt the law and leave consumer and employee information vulnerable to exploitation, said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood in a statement Wednesday. The penalty comes at a pivotal time for Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi, who is laying the groundwork for a 2019 initial public offering while working to distance the brand from the controversial growth-at-all-costs approach established under his predecessor, co-founder Travis Kalanick. Bloomberg News reported last November that Kalanick learned of the 2016 breach just a month after hackers stole the personal data on 57 million of Ubers customers around the globe, including 25.6 million riders and drivers in the U.S. But the company concealed the breach from authorities and instead paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the stolen data and keep the incident quiet. After the episode came to light, Uber ousted its chief security officer and disclosed the breach to the Federal Trade Commission, which had already reprimanded the company for a similar data breach from 2014. The commitments were making in this agreement are in line with our focus on both physical and digital safety for our customers, as exemplified by our recent announcement of a host of safety and security improvements and our recent hiring of experts like Ruby Zefo as Chief Privacy Officer and Matt Olsen as Chief Trust & Security Officer, Uber Chief Legal Officer Tony West said in a statement Wednesday. The nine-figure settlement will be distributed to the states, rather than directly to those affected in the breach. In Iowa, for example, its $612,950 share of the settlement will go to the states Consumer Education and Litigation Fund. New York is receiving about $5.1 million. As part of the agreement, Uber also promised to improve its security policies and hire an outside party to monitor its data-privacy efforts and regularly report on necessary improvements. International roaming charges remain a money-making scheme for the mobile industry, and there is no will to change it thanks to the high profits. So bad did the international roaming situation become that the EU stepped in in 2012 to stop the practice of exorbitant rates. The EUs 2012 Roaming Regulations put price caps on data charges 70 cents per megabyte which was six times lower than what these rates were three years earlier. The EU went one step further in 2016 when representatives of the member states voted to abolish all roaming charges by June 2017. This makes perfect sense. Why would local consumers pay R1 per MB when using a network, but when a traveller uses the same network the price shoots up to R100 per MB? Africa trying to do something without success In Africa, countries have been trying to do the same as the EU and signed the SADC roam like at home initiative in 2007. This initiative wants to convince operators to allow consumers to pay charges as close as they would have paid in their home countries. Fast forward 10 years, and not much has been done regarding the high roaming fees on the continent. In September 2017, the high cost of roaming in the SADC was again discussed when communications ministers met, but not much came from this. ICASA has blamed loopholes in regulations for the high roaming costs in the region. Paying R220,000 per GB when roaming To illustrate the ridiculous roaming charges in South Africa, one only has to look north to our neighbour Zimbabwe. Telecel Zimbabwe subscribers pay $0.15 for 10kb of data when roaming on Vodacoms network, $0.05 on MTN, and $0.03 on Cell C. The table below shows how much it costs for Zimbabweans to roam on local networks, and how much it costs locals to roam on the Telecel Zimbabwe network. Telecel Zimbabwe Roaming Charges per GB Country Vodacom MTN Cell C Zimbabweans roaming in South Africa R220,330 R73,448 R44,069 South Africans roaming in Zimbabwe R10,240 R5,120 R226,304 1USD = 14.24ZAR Cell C fighting for lower roaming costs Cell C explained that the costs of roaming are proportional to what foreign networks charge local operators. Over the past two years Cell C has reduced the cost to foreign operators for international incoming data roaming by 89%, while the cost to Cell C from foreign operators has decreased by 49% over the same period, Cell C said. The company added that it is strongly in favour of a Roam Like at Home model for SADC countries, and is actively engaged with 32 operators in SADC to bilaterally reduce the cost of roaming. In addition, Cell C currently has prepaid roaming agreements with 60% of the SADC countries and is actively engaged with the remainder to prevent bill shock for customers when travelling to these regions, the company said. MTN supports lower prices MTN SAs executive for corporate affairs Jacqui OSullivan explained that wholesale costs for data usage while roaming is bilaterally agreed between MTN and other telecoms operators. Over the past several years, MTN and other Southern African telecoms operators have strived to reduce these costs to encourage data roaming, she said. OSullivan explained that although wholesale costs are agreed on a bilateral basis, retail charges are set independently by the retail business of each network. It also includes a number of input costs such as distribution costs, VAT, and exchange rate fluctuation protection. MTN is therefore responsible for setting the retail charges for its own customers as they roam on other networks, while other network operators are responsible for setting retail charges for their customers as they roam on MTN. MTNs objective is to set prices at a level that encourages roaming, and we continuously review our retail rates to assure they are fair. Vodacom responds Vodacom did not answer the question as to why Telecel subscribers from Zimbabwe pay $15 per MB to roam on its network. Instead, the company said it negotiates discounted rate agreements with networks around the world to ensure that customers benefit from discounted pricing. Now read: SADC ministers want roaming charges to drop ICASA will publish the final 2018 call termination regulations in the government gazette on 28 September 2018. ICASA said the final regulations are the result of an extensive consultative process and include a number of amendments to the 2014 call termination regulations. The new regulations revise wholesale voice call termination rates as follows. For operators with more than a 20% share of total minutes terminated in the wholesale voice market, a glide path period: Where a charge for terminating a call at a fixed location would be 9c from October 2018 to September 2019; 7c for the period October 2019 to September 2020; and 6c from October 2020 onwards. Where a charge for terminating a call at a mobile location would be 12c from October 2018 to September 2019; 10c for the period October 2019 to September 2020; and 9c from October 2020 onwards. For operators with 20% or less share of total minutes terminated in the wholesale voice market, a glide path period: Where a charge for terminating a call at a fixed location would be 10c from October 2018 to September 2019; 8c for the period October 2019 to September 2020; 6c from October 2020 onwards. Where a charge for terminating a call at a mobile location would be 18c from October 2018 to September 2019; 6c for the period October 2019 to September 2020; and 13c from October 2020 onwards. These changes will come in to effect from 1 October 2018 and are aimed at reducing the cost to communicate, ICASA said. We do hope that the call termination regulations will enhance an effectively competitive ICT environment. Telkom previously stated that reduced call termination rates would lead to big job losses at the company, as they will hit Telkom harder than its competitors. ICASA believes that the new call termination rate regulations will transition the market towards a more competitive environment as outlined by the Electronics Communications Act. Now read: ICASA settles spectrum court battle with minister A November ballot initiative that would allow cities to enact strong rent control across California is widely unpopular, even among renters, according to a new Public Policy Institute of California poll. Roughly half of likely voters -- 48 percent -- oppose Proposition 10, according to the poll -- the first conducted on the measure. Just 36 percent are in favor and 16 percent are undecided, the poll found. Proposition 10 would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, passed by California lawmakers in 1995 and restore the ability of cities across the state to enact strong rent control laws. Currently, the state says cities with some form of rent control -- there are at least 15 in California -- cannot strengthen their existing ordinances, and new rent control laws cannot apply to a large share of California's housing supply, including single-family homes, condos and anything built after 1995. Backlash to rising housing costs across the state, and concerns about rampant displacement of low-income tenants and communities of color, prompted renter advocates to advance the ballot measure. But support for it is lagging, even among renters. A slight majority of renters -- 51 percent -- said they'd vote against the measure, while 43 percent said they'd vote in favor. "Given the amount of attention to housing affordability and the stress it's causing, you would expect it to start out with more support," said Mark Baldassare, PPIC president and CEO. "This might be an issue that Democrats rally around, but not (one) that (is) important to people." The California Democratic Party, and its liberal base have endorsed the measure, though the Democratic candidate for California governor, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, opposes it. Newsom's Republican opponent, John Cox, also opposes it. In the poll, support was split nearly equally among Democrats, though Republican opposition far outnumbers Republican support. Baldassare said voters appear confused over major "complex" questions, including "who is supporting it, what their motivations are and whether it will actually help voters." "Whereas many Californians feel that housing is one of our top issues today, people are not making the connection between Prop. 10 and the cost of housing," Baldassare said. "When there are so many questions, it's easier to just vote 'no' and hope there's another (way) to solve it." Support for the measure is greatest in Los Angeles, the poll found, with 45 percent of likely voters saying they'd vote in favor. The Central Valley ranked second highest in support among likely voters, with 39 percent. Opposition to the measure is highest in California's Inland Empire, where just 29 percent of likely voters support it, and 51 percent are opposed. In the San Francisco Bay Area, with a high concentration of rent-controlled cities, just a third of likely voters support the measure. Campaign spending is expected to ratchet up in the roughly five remaining weeks before Election Day. Tenants' rights organizations and renter advocates have raised more than $13 million, according to Secretary of State campaign finance filings. That is far less than the $31 million raised by the state's real estate interests, including the California Apartment Association and the California Association of Realtors. "Proponents have a lot of work to do to make the connection between what is happening in the market and this policy change being an improvement," Baldassare said. Staff Writer Alexei Koseff of The Bee's Capitol Bureau contributed to this report. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Residents with the right financial qualifications can apply to become the next Napa County treasurer-tax collector and oversee hundreds of millions of dollars in county funds. Incumbent Tamie Frasier decided for personal reasons to step down after winning reelection in June. The county Board of Supervisors plans to appoint a replacement for a term lasting until the March 2020 election. Whoever is appointed will have a full-time job paying $195,021 annually. That person must be a registered county voter by the time he or she takes office. The department manages a pooled portfolio of about $609 million for the county and other agencies. It handles about $1.5 billion in checks and cash, state subventions and wire transfers annually. It mails and collects about 51,000 property tax bills annually, the county budget said. Frasier urged supervisors not to rush to make an appointment, but rather to give potential candidates time to make what could be a big decision. She thought a proposed 30-day recruiting period too short. Thats not enough time to make a decision, Frasier said. Possibly somebody may want to look at, do they want to relocate to live here and run. The county settled on a 45-day recruitment period that opened on Wednesday. Once Frasier steps down on Nov. 2, Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Bret Prebula will run the office until the Board of Supervisors makes an appointment. The Board of Supervisors talked over the treasurer-tax collector situation on Tuesday and Sept. 18. Among the topics was possibly someday consolidating the position with the elected auditor-controllers position, given the two departments must work together. Board of Supervisors Chairman Brad Wagenknecht said hes nervous about putting all of our economic eggs in one basket. He didnt want to give all that power to a single elected department head who is one vote more popular than someone else. Ive lived with an elected department head in one of those positions who I think would have driven the county off the edge of the universe monetarily, he said. Supervisors Alfredo Pedroza and Belia Ramos said they see potential advantages to consolidation. Pedroza, who previously worked for a bank, said the proper checks and balances would have to be in place. Tracy Schulze is the countys auditor-controller. I will support the Boards decision, regardless of which way you go, Schulze told supervisors. I believe there are definitely positives and benefits of consolidation, but I understand its a big change. Going the consolidation route would mean seeking state legislation. If supervisors pursue the matter, the earliest the offices would merge would be in 2023, county officials said. Supervisors last filled a vacated elected position in October 2016, when they appointed Allison Haley as district attorney. Haley retained the office beyond the appointment period by winning in the June election. She ran unopposed. Napa Countyand Californiaprimary elections have usually been in June. However, the state moved up the 2020 primary election to March so its voters have a bigger voice in choosing presidential candidates. The original posting of this story did not reflect a recently updated salary for the treasurer-tax collector. 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. A 25-year-old woman was hospitalized with major injuries Tuesday afternoon after falling through a hole in the roof of a building at the Standard Portland Cement Company in American Canyon, better known as "The Ruins." Her boyfriend, who was not injured, was with her and called 911, according to the American Canyon Fire Protection District. A California Highway Patrol chopper was in the area and airlifted the woman to the Queen of the Valley Medical Center for treatment. It would have been a difficult drive through late-afternoon traffic without the helicopter's help, according to the fire district. It's unclear how the couple gained access to the private property, let alone climbed atop the building on the east side of the site, according to the fire district. The pair were not arrested or cited. See more here: Courtney can be reached at 707-256-2221. You can send her an anonymous tip, and follow her reporting on Twitter and Facebook. 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. A legal case that began with a dispute between a Virginia county official and a constituent may help to set the rules for how government officials - up to and including President Donald Trump - interact with the public online. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, will hear the case this week, and, while the stakes of the conflict may seem small at first - one man was banned for a day from an official's Facebook page - it has potentially enormous First Amendment implications. The case could establish a precedent that it is unconstitutional for government officials to block comments on their official social media sites because of distaste for a poster's opinion. If that view becomes settled law, it could end up reshaping how Trump and his aides run his famous Twitter feed. And given the ubiquity of online political communication today, such a decision would reverberate across the country. These implications are why we've filed a friend-of-the court brief on behalf of leading First Amendment scholars in the Loudoun County, Virginia, case being argued Wednesday, and it's why the Georgetown University Law Center institute where one of us works previously filed a brief in support of some of the people whom Trump has blocked on Twitter. The case being heard this week has its origins in February 2016, when Phyllis Randall, chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, took away one of her constituent's posting privileges on a Facebook page she'd set up to discuss local issues; Brian Davison's offense was to have accused the local school board of having conflicts of interest (specifically, self-dealing involving family members). She relented the next day and let Davison post. But he sued, and a trial court in Virginia declared that the blocking of the constituent's account violated the First Amendment. The trial court's ruling is consistent with long-standing Supreme Court precedent holding that, while government officials are under no obligation to create speech forums of any kind, once they do, "viewpoint-based discrimination" becomes unlawful. The classic public forum is a public park or street corner, but in a 1985 case called Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., the Supreme Court explained that its precedents demonstrate that the government can create many others: "In addition to traditional public forums, a public forum may be created by government designation of a place or channel of communication for use by the public at large for assembly and speech, for use by certain speakers, or for the discussion of certain subjects." By that standard, there is no question that Randall created a forum for speech when, acting in her official capacity, she set up a Facebook page that she said would enable her "to hear from ANY Loudoun citizen on ANY issues, request, criticism, compliment, or just your thoughts." Having set up the forum, Randall was barred by the First Amendment from banning Davison's speech simply because she disagreed with it. One of Randall's defenses is that her Facebook page amounts to speech by a government official, and that courts have granted significant leeway for officials to control such speech. (Citizens have no right to have their views represented in an official's news releases or speeches, for instance.) But Randall set up the page in such a way that it encouraged comments from her constituents, and no one could possibly confuse such citizen comments as conveying a message from the government. Nor, contrary to Randall's position, does the fact that Facebook is a private company - and that blocking other users from a page you set up is one of many features it offers - change the constitutional analysis. Long-standing precedent makes clear that government officials cannot avoid the First Amendment's requirements simply by hosting public meetings on private property. After all, Randall, and not Facebook, is the one who banned Davison. Randall also contends that a brief ban of 12 hours was too insignificant to count as a First Amendment violation. As the trial court concluded, however, even a short ban punished Davison for his views and could have a chilling effect on other citizens' speech. The arguments in Randall v. Davison could serve as a preview of another case heading for a three-judge panel of appeals court judges in New York this winter. Last year, Twitter users blocked from the @realDonaldTrump account sued the president for unconstitutionally suppressing their voices. Earlier this year, a federal trial court in New York agreed that their First Amendment rights had been violated. The Justice Department has appealed the case. We believe the district court in the president's case also got it right. While, at first blush, the president's Twitter account may seem less like a public forum than a Facebook page devoted to local issues, there are important similarities. First, although @realDonaldTrump is technically nonofficial - the purportedly official Twitter account is @POTUS - Trump still conducts official business on the account - including announcing his nominees for Cabinet positions and sharing the results of official diplomatic meetings. He (or others who help run the account) also make use of certain features that turn it from a system of one-way proclamations into a forum: Trump engages regularly with those who "like" and retweet his own remarks. In turn, the threads created under his tweets by constituents using Twitter's "Reply" function result in a robust exchange of views. Once Trump enabled certain features - such as by ensuring that replies were visible to him - the First Amendment barred him from deciding which views he'd be willing to tolerate. As former national security lawyers in government, we're well aware of the challenging issues the intersection of the First Amendment and rapidly advancing technologies can raise. But applying long-standing constitutional principles to novel factual circumstances is something courts do every day. And we think the case in Loudoun County implicates the most basic of the First Amendment's mandates: Government officials can't silence views simply because they dislike them. Indeed, given how central social media has become to political dialogue in this country - as the Supreme Court itself recently recognized - it's especially important to ensure that First Amendment protections govern in digital spaces. It's true that the government has an interest in not seeing official Twitter feeds and Facebook pages get overwhelmed by disruptive spam or obscene, threatening, abusive, or harassing language - a disturbing possibility. But we think a federal district court in Kentucky erred when it stated that applying the First Amendment to social media could prevent government officials from being able to stop their accounts from degenerating into online cesspools. (The court made that argument in siding with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, who wanted to be able to continue blocking followers.) The Supreme Court has long been clear that the government can engage in what is called "content neutral" speech regulation, and that such regulation can actually promote dialogue. Consistent with this interpretation, government officials are starting to develop policies that forbid spamming, violating copyright laws, and harassment on official social media pages. More work needs to be done to refine these policies, and we believe both legal and technological expertise should be brought to bear on their development. Even the best policies may still raise difficult First Amendment questions in their application to hard cases. But drawing difficult lines is hardly a challenge unique to the online world. Officials presiding over in-person gatherings also must enforce rules that forbid harassment, microphone-monopolizing harangues and other forms of speech that actually hurt the exchange of views. Getting this right is important, as the stakes are high. Silencing voices criticizing the government on social media while permitting voices praising the government has become an all-too-familiar playbook for authoritarian regimes worldwide. Allowing government officials here in the United States to employ the same tactics would be a decidedly unhealthy direction for our democracy. Our first line of defense is our judiciary, which can stop government officials from engaging in this slide through decisions that uphold the First Amendment. The second step must be to help government officials figure out how to facilitate genuine discourse on social media, so that digital-age public forums prosper. But that first step is a crucial one: getting courts, and the public, to see that today's digital town halls deserve as much protection as traditional in-person gatherings. That's what the First Amendment demands. Joshua A. Geltzer, formerly senior director for counterterrorism and deputy legal adviser at the National Security Council, is executive director and visiting professor of law at Georgetowns Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. Christopher Fonzone, formerly deputy assistant to the president and National Security Council legal adviser, is a partner at the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP. They wrote this for The Washington Post. I would like to commend the NAPAPAC for their opposition to the Civic Center project. I voiced my opposition to it when I first heard about it from James Hinton. He is the only candidate for City Hall who opposed this before it became a campaign issue. In a recent debate, two candidates still supported it, one had supported it but now had reservations and the other two were uncertain. If City Hall is to effectively serve the people of Napa, we need to elect someone on the council with a vision for the future who is knowledgeable about the pros and cons of an issue. We need someone who will investigate the risks, ask the tough questions and listen to his constituents. I will be voting for James Hinton because he, alone, possesses these qualifications. He is a gadfly who will not compromise his ideals for a quick rubber stamp. Moreover, James Hinton is the only candidate who stands firmly against the 5G cell towers. Sacramento firefighters have reported memory loss and confusion after limited exposure. Other cities have already banned them because of worries that they might cause neurological disorders and lower property values as well. Mr. Hinton also has a plan to reallocate the funds from the 2 percent hotel bed tax for the benefit of Napa communities, environment and infrastructure. There is currently no oversight over those funds. Yet no other candidate has questioned this. Nor has any member of the current council. I think its time to ask those questions. Its time to elect James Hinton. Donna Laba Napa With all the books and op-eds coming out claiming that Donald Trump is an amoral, pathological liar and unfit to serve as president, some still question the veracity of those statements. The painful and solemn 9/11 anniversary unfortunately gave us an opportunity to look back at additional evidence in this debate over whether DJT's actions fit those descriptions. 40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan And now its the tallest. The day the twin towers fell, real estate businessman Donald Trump was speaking to WWOR radio station when he veered off to brag about his nearby 71-story skyscraper, claiming the title of highest building in Lower Manhattan now that the twin towers had fallen. I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down, and I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. He later repeated his claim to ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, adding that the cheers came from areas of New Jersey with large Arab populations. The claims were denied by Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and police. I lost hundreds of friends in 9/11. Trump insisted he knew many of the people who perished in the twin towers, but never named a single person. Trump would have had to have known about one in 10 of the victims if his claim of knowing hundreds of the 2,996 victims was true. Trump never attended a single funeral for any victims of the twin tower attacks. Trump, then a local business mogul with a major building just blocks from the World Trade Center, claimed he had made a $10,000 donation to the Twin Towers Fund, a charity set up by New York City to benefit the terrorists victims and their families. But, according to a review of documents conducted by New York Citys comptroller at the request of the New York Daily News in 2016, that was not true. In the immediate wake of the 9/11 attacks, Trump didnt respond selflessly, instead he took money from a program meant to help small businesses while lying about donating to help the attacks victims. Trumps company tapped into a program designed to help businesses in Lower Manhattan stay afloat in the wake of the attacks, receiving $150,000 in state grants. Trump claimed hed taken that money as repayment for allowing local businesses to operate out of his 40 Wall Street building near the crash site. It was probably a reimbursement for the fact that I allowed people, for many months, to stay in the building, use the building and store things in the building, Trump told Time magazine in 2016. I was happy to do it, and to this day I am still being thanked for the many people I helped. The value of what I did was far greater than the money talked about, much of which was sent automatically to building owners in the area. Records from the Empire State Development Corporation, which administered the recovery program, show that Trumps company asked for those funds for rent loss, cleanup and repair not to recuperate money lost in helping people. You might ask yourself, 'who does that?' What kind of man does any of that? Let alone, all of it? Could the answer be: an amoral, pathological liar who is unfit to hold the highest office in the world? Beth Mattei Napa Lavrov, Shoygu discuss situation in Karabakh with French counterparts Armenia PM to send High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs to Russia on business trip Explosion takes place in mosque in Afghanistan, leaving 15 injured Armenia Parliament Deputy Speaker meets with Karabakh Security Council Secretary and parliamentarians Gunshots heard in computer game room in Yerevan RFE/RL Armenian Service: Iranian drivers complain that new Tatev-Aghavni road is narrow for trucks EU, UNDP launch Mayors for Economic Growth Program in Armenia Armenia Deputy PM: We support adoption of documents for further enhancement of defensibility of CIS countries Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin says COVID-19 vaccination does not present spiritual danger Armenia Deputy PM meets with representatives of Asian Development Bank Monument to officers of Russian helicopter downed in 2020 unveiled during ceremony in Armenia's Yeraskh Armenia Kotayk Province's general jurisdiction court has new judge Armenia ruling party MP appointed Ambassador to Spain NEWS.am daily digest: 12.11.21 Armenia Justice Ministry, UNDP to cooperate for constitutional reforms and in anti-corruption field Turkey, Qatar agree to strengthen military cooperation Armenia defense minister, India Ambassador discuss cooperation in defense sector Armenia has new Ambassador to Germany Armenia appellate court releases ex-MP from custody Armenia economy minister meets with Charge dAffaires of Georgia 12-year-old Armenian boy's 4 fingers cut, undergoes 10-hour surgery Armenia Deputy PM opposes Azerbaijani premier, says Karabakh conflict can't be resolved by force Dollar continues going down in Armenia Lithuania ambassador to parliament speaker: Relations with Armenia are priorities of our country Millions of Austrians not vaccinated against COVID-19 may be quarantined Georgian and Turkish border guards conducting joint military exercises in Javakhk Charles Michel thanks Turkey for prohibiting citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen from flying to Belarus Myanmar court sentences US journalist to 11 years in jail Armenia official: Azerbaijan continues to torpedo implementation of agreements reached Opposition MP to Armenia minister: Who will perform the duties of the mayor of Goris? Man in photo died from railway accident in Russia, there is suspicion that he was from Armenia's Armavir Province Armenia ex-deputy defense minister: Pashinyan is lying when he says there is no logic of corridor Video showing another act of vandalism of Azerbaijanis in Karabakh disseminated on social networks Armenia, Palestine FMs discuss Armenian heritage in Holy Land Azerbaijan says it is ready to sign with Armenia peace agreement recognizing territorial integrity Armenia official: We are building many roads in Syunik Province Karabakh state minister delivers lecture at Columbia University in New York Ukraine delegation to visit Armenia next week Armenia FM in Paris, meets with French Armenian figures (PHOTOS) Armenia to host Eurasian Intergovernmental Council session 80 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Erdogan says 'Greece has turned into a U.S. military base' Sweden lifting entry ban for Armenia citizens fully vaccinated against Covid Russia peacekeepers escort more than 8,000 traveling vehicles in Karabakh in 1 year 1,309 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia 11 foreign nationals living illegally in Armenia are found in downtown Yerevan hotels Aram Yacoubian is on Varietys Hollywoods New Leaders of 2021 list Biden, Xi expected to hold virtual summit on November 15 Newspaper: Process of shaking up Armenia law enforcement system to begin Newspaper: Armenia cargo transportation increases FM to UNESCO head: Preventive steps against Azerbaijan destruction of Armenian heritage are simply imperative Armenia Security Council chief: No logic to using Goris-Kapan motorway Armenia Security Council secretary: Political decision is needed if agreement is reached on logic of unblocking roads FM: There are numerous cases of Azerbaijans deliberate destruction of Armenian cultural, religious heritage Armenia PM: Security is our most vulnerable place today Armenian Church Diocese in Russia supports Finnish MP who is charged with offending reps of sexual minorities Women of Artsakh organize meeting with Russian peacekeeping troops' commander US Senate Armed Services Committee to consider 3 key amendments, including cutting off aid to Azerbaijan Armen Sarkissian: I consider any encroachment on Armenia's borders inadmissible and unacceptable Russian analyst says deployment of border and customs checkpoints in Lachin not ruled out UN representatives provide humanitarian aid to immigrants on Polish border U.S. security advisor: Rivalry with China in Pacific need not lead to new Cold War UAE, Bahrain, Israel and US conducting maritime security exercise in Red Sea Opposition 'With Honor' faction MP: Ruling party is implementing Baku's policy in Armenia Armenia finance minister receives experts of Russian Financial Research Institute Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group NEWS.am daily digest: 11.11.21 Opposition 'With Honor' Alliance: We have a few questions for the Armenian premier Dollar drops somewhat in Armenia Deputy Mayor of Armenia's Goris Menua Hovsepyan voluntarily going to penitentiary institution to be arrested EU remains committed to promoting peaceful, prosperous South Caucasus Armenia MFA: Mirzoyan-Bayramov meeting held in Paris with participation of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Azerbaijan FM continues developing Zangezur corridor concept Court rules to arrest Deputy Mayor of Armenia's Goris Menua Hovsepyan Armenia government allocates over $1 mln to repair Yerevan-Meghri road and two more roads Flights to and from Yerevan and Kapan to be launched on January 20, 2022 Armenia Police: 33 citizens apprehended near government building Armenia Ombudsman: Perhaps Azerbaijan will be deprived of jurisdiction over the motorway after delimitation Armenia PM: Coronavirus situation is somewhat stable 'Armenia' Alliance: Azerbaijan is the one making decisions instead of Armenian PM, we will not put up with this YEREVAN. At this point, we have no information on finding [former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and ex-Defense Minister of Armenia] Mikayel Harutyunyan in any country. The Prosecutor General of Armenia, Artur Davtyan, on Thursday told the aforementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am. When asked whether it was finally determined as to which countrys citizen Harutyunyan is, the attorney general responded that respective inspections were still in progress. According to Russian media, Mikayel Harutyunyan is a Russian citizen, and Russia is not going to extradite him to Armenia. Former Defense Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan has been charged in Armenia within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in capital city Yerevan on March 1 and 2, 2008and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenias constitutional order, in conspiracy with others. But since Harutyunyan is not in Armenia, an international arrest warrant for him was declared. Subsequently, however, Russian mass reported that Russia halted the search for Harutyunyan in the country. On March 1 and 2, 2008, the then authorities used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the recent presidential election. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day. An Armenian criminal, who committed several aggravated rapes and assaults in the Belgian coastal town of Oostende, was arrested last week in Szczecin, Poland, the website of EUs law enforcement agency reported. At the time of arrest the 30 year old was in possession of counterfeit Romanian, Belgian and Greek documents. Polish police officers immediately checked Europes Most Wanted website and recognised him as the fugitive wanted by Belgium. The suspect was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by a court in Bruges (Belgium). He was found guilty of violently raping several women, threatening his victims with a weapon, and numerous other assaults in Oostende (Belgium) in 2011 and 2012. He fled abroad and his whereabouts were unknown until last week. The criminal was featured on both Belgiums and Europes Most Wanted websites. The Fugitive Active Search Team (FAST) of the Belgian federal police was contacted by their Polish colleagues after they recognised him on Europes Most Wanted website. They were quickly able to confirm his identify by comparing fingerprints. The Belgian authorities have already requested his extradition. YEREVAN. Armenian Parliament speaker Ara Babloyan received the Vice President of Central and Eastern Europe for Veolia Jur/Water Company Malika Ghendouri on Thursday, Armenian parliaments press service reported. Babloyan, in his turn, highlighted the importance of the meeting in order to strengthen political and economic cooperation between Armenia and France. Speaking about the current activities of Veolia Company, the sides noted the existing problems should be solved with the obligations stemming from contractual provisions, and the arising questions should be settled through talks and discussions. According to Armenian parliamentarians, the presence of Veolia company in Armenia, which has more than 80 business units, is a successful cooperation both of the state and a private company and should be a good example of including foreign investments and having reliable atmosphere for investments. Greenhouses are a relative newcomer to Armenias Shirak Province. Just a few years ago, the first ones were built in the communities of Torosgyugh and Basen. Today, Tsolak Chadryan from Gyumri is growing roses in a greenhouse. Its a so-called "amateur" greenhouse, with an area of 560 square meters. Tsolak hired Samvel Mkrtchyan, an expert rose grower who moved to Gyumri nine years ago from the Aragatzotn village of Voskevaz. Tsolak says he decided to try his hand at growing roses after meeting Samvel. His original plan was to grow vegetables. Samvel smiles when he talks about roses. He says the plants have souls and pick up the vibes emanating from people. "Three years ago, when I initiated this, everyone advised against it, since maintaining greenhouses was thought to be problematic in Shirak. But now its been shown that our province is the best for greenhouse use given our numerous sunny days and temperate heat, says Tsolak. Tsolak says there was another rose greenhouse in Gyumri, but it closed before he opened his. Samvel used to work there. Tsolak Chadryan 36-year-old Tsolak has two specialties - engineer-mechanics and financial planning . He used to work in government (Gyumri Municipality, Shirak Provincial Administration) and has some experience in the cafe business. He admits that he wasnt satisfied with any of his past jobs. "During my past career, I was a consumer. Roses made me turn from a consumer into a creator, says Tsolak, adding that he is going to expand operations soon. The new greenhouse, covering 5,000 square meters, will be ready in mid-October. Tsolak plans to grow more rose varieties. Tsolak has taken on his friend Artyom as a partner in expanding the business. The partners bought 2.3 hectares of land in Gyumri at an auction for 23 million drams. Currently, they plan to use one-fifth of the land. To build the larger greenhouse, theyve invested their savings. Loans comprise 30% of total expenditures on the project. Tsolak points to a major flaw in the governments current program for offering low interest loans to agricultural businesses. We now have to pay off a loan at 10.5%. We wanted to avail ourselves of the governments program offering low cost agricultural loans but theres the requirement that all equipment and other items to be purchased must be imported. They cant be produced domestically. Weve bought our drip-feed irrigation system from Israel and the computer from Russia. We could have purchased similar quality equipment here, from local producers, he says. Tsolak says that during his recent tour of Shirak, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan visited the greenhouse and promised to help obtain a low-cost loan. To complete the work satisfactorily we need an additional 40 million drams. The minister promised to get us a 11% loan. Lets see what happens. The bank we do business with has promised to drop our loan rate to 6%, he says. Tsolak says they plan to try their hand at selective rose breeding as well. Samvel Mkrtchyan appears in top photo YEREVAN. The American dollars (USD) exchange rate against the Armenian dram (AMD) comprised AMD 482.25/$1 in Armenia on Thursday; this is up by AMD 0.59 from Wednesday, informed the press service of the Central Bank of Armenia. The exchange rate for one euro was AMD 564.57 (down by AMD 2.01), that of one British pound totaled AMD 633.15 (down by AMD 0.67), and the rate of one Russian ruble made up AMD 7.33 (up by AMD 0.01) in the country. In addition, one gram of silver, gold and platinum amounted to AMD 224.43, AMD 18,516.48 and AMD 12,775.87, respectively. Aghasi Mkrtchyan, a serviceman in the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh was mortally wounded Wednesday at around 8:10pm. The soldier died at the protection area of a military unit, and under still undetermined circumstances, the Artsakh Ministry of Defense informed. An investigation is underway to find out the details of this incident. Armenias Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on Wednesday met in New York, by the mediation of and participation by OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs as well as Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. The meeting kicked off in an expanded format, and, subsequently, the two FMs had tete-a-tete. The interlocutors exchanged views on the avenues for settling this conflict, and aimed at the establishment of stable peace in the region, Armenian foreign office said. The parties agreed to continue the discourse, including along the lines of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs forthcoming visit to the region. Mnatsakanyan held a number of meetings within the framework of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, including the meeting with Russias Sergey Lavrov. The judge, the National Security Service (NSS) director, and the Special Investigation Service (SIS) head have been questioned over the wiretapped telephonic conversation. They were questioned along the lines of the criminal case which the Investigative Committee of Armenia is investigating, and which has been filed on charges of exceeding official powers. Azerbaijan has not moved the units participating in the recent military drills from the frontline to the initial positions, spokesperson for the Artsakh president Davit Babayan said. Davit Babayan added that Azerbaijan continues doing so for many years. The situation is the same, the units participating in the military exercises were not moved to the initial positions. We see this and take a note, he said. The government of Armenia has approved the 2019 State Budget draft. The Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan noted that the outlook for Armenias economic growth in 2018 was revised, and therefore now it is expected to be 6.5 percentinstead of the previous 4.5 percent. As per the minister, Armenias national debt will total 50.4 percent, both in 2018 and 2019. The bill will be submitted to the National Assembly on October 1. TUMOs first international center, TUMO Paris, opened its doors in front of students yesterday. Half of the 1,500 students of TUMO Paris will start their studies this year, while the other half will start from January 2019. We got to know Armenia as a country with traditions in science, technologies and education. With the help of Tumo we provide the youth of Paris with all the tools necessary for shaping the future world, noted Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Azerbaijan periodically brutally violates the principles of Bandung, applying aggression towards the population of Artsakh and refusing to recognize the most important principle of equality among all nations, Head of the International Organizations Department Vahram Kazhoyan said at the high-level meeting of Non-Aligned Movement held within the framework of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, responding to the speech of the head of the Azerbaijani delegation. In particular, Vahram Kazhoyan noted :"It is Azerbaijan that refuses to solve the Karabakh issue peacefully and continuously conducts military operations both on the border with Armenia and on the line of contact with Artsakh. It is unacceptable that the aggressor, pretending to be a victim, accuses others. " The representative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reminded that Azerbaijan refuses to recognize the Artsakh people's right to self-determination, which is marked as one of the principles of the Karabakh conflict settlement by the Minsk Group Minsk Group co-chairs. Vahram Kazhoyan further reminded that most members of the Non-Aligned Movement have gained independence thanks to the realization of the right to self-determination. "The people of the Republic of Artsakh already made their decision through a referendum conducted on December 10, 1991 and they have every right to be recognized as an independent state. It's their choice and no one can make them do the opposite. " Dashtadem is a small village in Armenias Lori Province, located next to Armenian-Georgian border. Having more than 1,000 inhabitants in the 1960s, that number has dropped to some 200 today. The villages basic school has only seven students. Because of this low number, two classes are combined. Thus, second-graders Maneh and Artyom study in one class together with first-grader Rouben. Armineh Khroyan teaches Rouben the basics of grammatical particles, while at the same time she follows Maneh and Artyom as they read their Armenian language lesson. First-grader Rouben In the village, guests are rare, so the presence of strangers makes the students feel uncomfortable and shy. They keep silent when asked about their everyday life and dreams. School Principal Sergey Aghajanyan says the number of pupils is not fixed, since some of the families living in the village move in the summer and return in the winter. This year, they have four combined classes. Rouben is the only first-grader. Teachers like Armineh hope that they will have more students in the future, since the birth rate has increased in the village. The only senior student in the school is ninth-grader Harout Mezhlumyan. His two brothers also studied at this school, and then went to the army. Hes shy, but agrees to accompany us to his house after classes and talk about his favorite hobby - horse riding. Hes proud to be able to ride a horse without a saddle. Ninth-grader Harout Mezhlumyan Nine teachers work at school. Even so, there is lack of those trained in teaching physics, chemistry, biology, painting, and national song and dance. The nine teaching try to convey elementary knowledge of these subjects to the pupils. The school building is two-storied, and only three rooms are used as classrooms. Built in 1935, the building had another purpose, but was adapted for use as school. The school hasnt been renovated since its construction. In recent years, the staff has repaired rainwater pipes and roofs with their own hands. In winter, the school is heated with wood stoves, but the classrooms are large and difficult to heat. There is no gym inside, so the students spend their physical exercise hours outside, playing with a ball. Deputy Principal Sophia Margaryan adds that there is no bathroom in the school, and this creates greater problems in the winter. The teachers room is located at the end of the corridor. One of the corners of the room serves as a seat for village mayor Marineh Khroyan, since there is no village administration building in the village. Dashtadem School Staff and Students Teachers note the need of a pre-school in the village, so that parents with kindergarten-age children dont have to move from the village. Armineh Khroyan, who has worked as an elementary-grade teacher for over a year, says it would have been easier for children if they had attended a pre-school, since they have to learn everything from scratch at school now, including numbers and colors. Having combined classes makes it even more complicated both for children and teachers. Photos by Narek Aleksanyan; Video by David Banuchyan Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Holy See Mikayel Minasyan, the son-in-law of the ex-president Serzh Sargsyan, will be recalled from the post of ambassador, as confirmed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ruben Rubinyan. Rubinyan said that was the Prime Minister Pashinyan's decision. "The prime minister has clearly stated that there should not be political appointments. I rule out political appointments in the near future, but they cannot be ruled out in the long run. Mikayel Minasyan's appointment was among the political appointments," said Ruben Rubinyan. If you found a typo you can notify us by selecting the text area and pressing CTRL+Enter Public demonstration, lecture and auction highlight SIUs 2018 metalsmithing conference by Hannah Erickson CARBONDALE, Ill. Home of the only blacksmithing university program in the nation, Southern Illinois University Carbondale students are gearing up to share their unique work with the local community. The Southern Illinois Metalsmiths Society, a registered student organization, will host their annual conference Sept. 28 29, featuring special guest artist Rachel David. The conference includes a live demonstration of metalsmithing practice and a variety of other unique events. Conference showcases a national juried exhibition The conference begins with a student metalwork competition, complete with prize money and recognition. The national juried exhibition is an annual event providing students with an opportunity to dialog between institutions and promote metalsmithing and blacksmithing to the community. This years juror is Tobias Birgersson, associate professor and senior lecturer for The University of Gothenburg HDK. The three best pieces from the Form, Forge and Fabricate exhibition will receive awards and will be on display at the University Museum Sept. 24 Oct. 27. An opening reception will take place Sept. 28 from 4 7 p.m. Guest artist to give unique look into how metalsmithing works Visiting artist David will present an artist lecture at the University Museum following the opening exhibit reception. David, a designer, blacksmith, fabricator and installer at Red Metal, uses her blacksmithing techniques to express emotions and intentions in iron and steel. She will also conduct a public demonstration Sept. 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Pulliam Industrial Wing. This event will provide visitors with an inside look into the work of a blacksmith/metalsmith, while also giving art students a greater understanding of the field. Dinner and auction feature a variety of crafts A fine craft auction 5 9 p.m. on Sept. 29 will highlight over 100 works in metals, jewelry, prints, ceramics, glass, printmaking, painting, photography and wood. The event will pair with a dinner at 17th St. BBQ, located on 32 N. 17th St. in Murphysboro. Funds raised from this event will go towards keeping student fees low and bringing in visiting artists year round. Media Advisory Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the exhibition reception at the University Museum, 4 7 p.m., Sept. 28, the artist lecture at the University Museum auditorium 7 p.m., Sept. 28, and the public demonstration at the Pulliam Industrial wing, 9 a.m. 4 p.m., Sept. 29. For more information contact Sun Kim, associate professor of metalsmithing/jewelry at SIU, at sunkim@siu.edu or 618/453-3774. Activities and events for all audiences The event overlaps with SIUs family weekend, beginning Sept. 28. 4 7 p.m. Opening reception at the University Museum. 7 9 p.m. Artist lecture, featuring Rachel David, at the University Museum. The conference concludes with a full day of activities on Sept. 29. 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Public Demonstration at Pulliam Industrial Wing. 5 9 p.m. Dinner and Auction at 17th St. BBQ in Murphysboro. Register at the door Prior registration is not required, but admission fees will be taken at the door. General registration Includes admission to lecture, opening reception, demonstration, dinner and auction - $35. Student (non-SIU student) registration Includes admission to lecture, opening reception, demonstration, dinner and auction - $25. SIU student registration Includes admission to demonstration, but not dinner and auction Free with SIU ID. General admission to just dinner and auction - $10. SIU student admission to just dinner and auction - $5 with SIU ID. For more information on this event, visit www.simssiu.com or contact Kevin Dotson at dotsonkevin@gmail.com. State historian lecture will focus on inspiring leaders in Illinois history by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. As Illinois celebrates its bicentennial year, Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumnus and state historian Samuel Wheeler will return to campus to discuss inspiring leaders in state history. Wheeler, an expert on the Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln, will present Statesmanship in Illinois History at 7 p.m., Oct. 3 in Student Center Ballroom B. The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is presenting the lecture. The event is free and the public is invited. Media Advisory Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the lecture. To arrange for interviews or for more information on the event, contact Cary Day, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, at 618/453-4009. Statesmanship is a universal concept Wheeler is one of the states most interesting and important historians and plays a critical role during this bicentennial year in reminding us about Illinois many triumphs and continuing challenges, Shaw said. His speech should remind us that statesmanship is a universal concept that is also relevant to our states evolution, he said. Became state historian in 2016 A native of Springfield, Wheeler earned a doctorate in history from SIU Carbondale. His dissertation was on Lincolns poetry. While at SIU, Wheeler worked as both a teaching assistant and lecturer focusing on Illinois history, the Civil War era and Lincoln, John T. Shaw, Institute director, said. Wheeler is the 10th state historian. In that role, Wheeler directs research and collections at the state historical library, a part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. He is also historian of record for the states 56 historic sites. Wheeler also leads efforts to use the states historical resources, including museums, library collections and historic sites, in educating the public about the states rich heritage, according to the Illinois Division of Historic Preservation within the states Department of Natural Resources. Prior to Wheelers appointment, he was research historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, and spent time as an interpreter at the Old State Capitol and Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices historic sites, both in Springfield. A member of the Illinois Bicentennial Commission, Wheeler earned a masters degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield and a bachelors degree from Illinois State University. Malaysia Blockchain The Malaysian government is seeking to explore blockchain solutions in the nations three largest industries: renewable energy, palm oil, and Islamic finance. A task force named the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) will be spearheading the move to adopt blockchain in each industry in order to increase transparency, sustainability, and logistical efficiency according to a report published last week. Renewable Energy MIGHT holds talks with energy companies in Malaysia to evaluate the ways they could be using blockchain to increase renewable energy adoption. When sellers put energy on the blockchain, the transparent nature of the system means that they must declare exactly how the electricity was generated for buyers to scrutinize. Through blockchain adoption, buyers can now choose to buy green or renewable energy only, whether from energy companies or even private owners of solar panels with excess energy, a process which is often far more efficient than sending energy over longer distances from non-local power stations. Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysias sole provider of utilities, has already looked into blockchain solutions and the General Manager of Innovations stated that the company has been holding workshops to identify use cases and discuss adoption with business owners. Palm Oil Palm oil is a controversial product at the moment due to unsavory reports of bad practices and child labor being used in the industry around the world. Blockchain adoption can help identify certified palm oil operations with ethical practices and allow buyers to identify the source of their palm oil before making a purchase. Around 8% of Malaysias GDP comes from agriculture, and 43% of agricultural revenue comes from palm oil sales, making this a major area to undergo blockchain adoption. As well as having benefits for buyers, blockchain adoption would help the government identify and monitor palm oil operations with sustainable practices and regulate accordingly. Story continues Islamic Finance As CCN has reported before, Islam forbids usury (the collection of interest on a loan) under the principle that money has to be based on a real commodity and cannot simply be generated from more money. Debt creation must be backed by something like gold as opposed to futures as is common practice in Western fractional reserve banking, the system that is to blame for the 2008 world financial recession. The strict ethical regulations in Islamic banking create higher overhead costs in the industry, and Malaysia is looking into how blockchain could help offset these costs while remaining compliant with Sharia law. Already in the Middle East banks have begun pegging debts to units of gold and representing the debt as a smart contract on the blockchain. Crypto firms in Dubai and Malaysia have also pegged sums of gold to cryptocurrency units to allow debt creation compliant with Sharia law. Images from Shutterstock. The post Malaysia is Directing Its Three Largest Industries to Blockchain Technology appeared first on CCN. Donald Trump Kim Jong Un Two Washington-based financial experts say that North Korea is increasingly using cryptocurrency to evade U.S. Sanctions. According to Lourdes Miranda, a financial crimes investigator specialized in intelligence collection and analysis, and Ross Delston, an expert witness who specializes in anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, Pyongyang is creating its own cryptocurrency and is likely also using popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies are being preferred by international criminals and for terrorist financing, and the country of North Korea is no exception, the duo said in a written statement to Asia Times. They said: Crypto-currencies have the added advantage to the DPRK of giving them more ways to circumvent US sanctions. They added, They can do so by using multiple international exchangers, mixing and shifting services mirroring the money laundering cycle to exploit international financial institutions that have correspondent banking relationships with the United States. According to Priscilla Moriuchi, a former NSA cybersecurity official, North Korea is earning around $15 million to $200 million by mining and selling cryptocurrencies. Speaking to The Hill earlier this year, Moriuchi said: North Korea has pursued other avenues for obtaining cryptocurrencies as well, including mining of both bitcoin and Monero, ransom paid in bitcoin from the global WannaCry attack in May and even commissioning a cryptocurrency class for North Korean students in November. North Korea bitcoin cryptocurrency Now, per the Asia Times report, Miranda and Delston stated that North Korea could use the most popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, or the countrys government could create its own. Having their own crypto-currency would also facilitate their ability to open online accounts under the guise of a non-adversarial nation using anonymous communication to conceal the users locations and usage on the internet, they stated. Story continues The researchers also said that the country would create its own blockchain in order to alter their public record of transactions to show that these transactions are coming from legitimate sources. Further, the country would create its own cryptocurrency wallet services. Explaining about the making of successful exchange of crypto into fiat currencies all the while undetected the pair said that North Korean-mined cryptocurrencies would be laundered onto European exchanges, enabling the rogue nation to obtain USD with none of those pesky sanctions attached. The investigators are not sure about the current scale of North Koreas crypto-currency operation. As CCN reported, Americas rivals including Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela have recently turned to cryptocurrencies in order to counter economic pressure from the U.S. and its allies. For example, the petro, an oil-backed cryptocurrency announced by Venezuelas president, Nicolas Maduro, was banned in the United States. Earlier in May, President Trump issued an executive order banning American citizens from buying, trading, or dealing with the petro cryptocurrency in light of recent actions taken by the Maduro regime to attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions by issuing a digital currency. Also, Iran has recently revealed the details of its national cryptocurrency in response to U.S.-led economic sanctions. Irans future cryptocurrency is allegedly backed by the fiat Rial and is developed on the Linux Foundation-led open-source Hyperledger Fabric technology, the report said. Featured Image from U.S. Government The post North Korea is Using Cryptocurrency to Evade U.S. Sanctions: Experts appeared first on CCN. maybe he just doesn't want to deal with kirstie alley's crazy ass again Reply Thread Link Good, I never liked Cheers Reply Thread Link me either. I tried to watch it when it was on the air and tried to watch the syndication/reruns but couldn't get into it all. As I never liked Cheers I love Frasier and loved it as soon as I saw an episode. Edited at 2018-09-27 04:11 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link me too! Reply Parent Thread Link I wouldn't want to see it rebooted anyway. I don't need to see sam as a 70 something womanizer still working at the bar and all the other characters still not have realized that they're alcoholics. Reply Thread Link That scene on The Good Place made me kind of emotional, tbh Reply Thread Link he's perfect on the good place Reply Thread Link It's for the best. I enjoyed Cheers but it ages v ~problematic. Like Sam legit slaps Diane in an episode and talks about wanting to hit her and kill her regularly. Or when Sam gets a crush on his ex's daughter that he knew when she was a young girl who sees him as a father figure. Reply Thread Link I can't seem to get the image of him in Blackface out of my head. That's literally all I think about when I watch The Good Place. Edited at 2018-09-27 02:57 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link i never understood the appeal of cheers... i love ted danson. he's so tall and his voice is perfection. Reply Thread Link He also did blackface. Puke. Reply Parent Thread Link Dad Reply Thread Link The Good Place is such a good show. Its so positive and upbeat and hopeful and I really appreciate it at this point in time. Reply Thread Link Been watching since the beginning but it's so much better on rewatch. Bless Netflix for finally getting their act together and putting season 2 on. Reply Parent Thread Link Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ Reply Thread Link Got 11 comments in this time! Reply Parent Thread Link "Is that a star?" "No that's Ted Danson." Honestly, I'd only care about Woody and he probably needs this the least of all of them. Reply Thread Link "Is that a star?" "No that's Ted Danson." That was the best thing about Doc Hollywood. Beside George Hamilton as the plastic surgeon. Reply Parent Thread Link Count me in as a Good Place stan! He's so great as Michael. Reply Thread Link Good, I'm getting insanely sick of these reboots. (And Frasier >>>> Cheers, but I don't want a reboot of that either.) I love him as Michael a million times more than I ever did as Sam. Or Becker. But I guess that's a given. Reply Thread Link All of this. Honestly, there is nothing this pilot season that looks remotely entertaining, and I'm busy. It's clear with the number of reboots filling up the air that there's not a whole lot of good new TV ideas out there right now. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah some things should be left alone. Reply Thread Link I am so excited for a new double length episode of The Good Place. It's just such a delightful show. Reply Thread Link I love Cheers, mostly for weird sentimental family related reasons. but i did love it. It needs to be left alone. nobody needs kristie alley's crazy ass, and unfortunately shelly and rhea don't get along so..... and idk. i saw the stills from the murphy brown ep going around and it depressed me how old everyone got. i love the actors i do. i know aging beats the alternative. but sam still trying to get laid like that, at 60 something would be depressing. vera would probably be dead. fraser and lilth wouldn't be on the show for obvious reasons. so that makes it norm, cliff, sam and carla. since woody not only wouldn't need it, his character had entered a life of politics. Reply Thread Link i will say i always thought it was a missed opportunity that they didn't pair Ted Danson and John Larroquette together for a project. both were such huge sitcom icons in the 80's and early 90s on NBC. and both have great comedic timing. both had similar hair even. both have great voices. or maybe just put The John Larroquette Show on dvd. i loved that show and it i loved how dark the first season was before they made them happy it up. and i loved that it had an actually diverse cast instead of ~the token black guy~ Reply Thread Link The United States will not sell crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help ensure the global market is well supplied when sanctions against Iran enter into effect, Reuters reports, quoting Energy Secretary Rick Perry. If you look at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and you were to introduce it into the market, it has a fairly minor and short-term impact. The numbers Ive seen do anyway, Perry told media, chiming in with arguments some skeptics have voiced about the effect of a SPR sale would have on the market. Perrys statement, however, is confusing in light of a notice for the sale of 11 million barrels of crude from the SPR dated August 20th. The notice stated buyers could bid for the crude until August 28, with contracts to be awarded within another seven days. Deliveries will be take place in October and November 2018, the notice said. That SPR release is part of a larger planned drawdown, ans one of several this year alone, including FY 2018 mandated and FY 2018 modernization sales, in which billions of the SPR were sold. Talk of Washingtons readiness to offer additional supply on a market that is bracing up for distress has acted as a cap on prices, especially in the last few days, after the U.S. special envoy for Iran said at the UN General Assembly the U.S. will make sure there is enough supply. Related: $80 Oil: Increased Investment Or Demand Destruction? If this supply is not coming from the SPRhowever moderate effect this crude would have had on pricesthen buyers would have to rely on other major producers. Perry also said as much: the market would have to rely on large producers for maintaining ample supply of crude. Im comfortable that the world supply can absorb the sanctions that are coming, the Energy Secretary said, noting that Iraq alone could add 300,000 bpd of oil to global supply if it allows Kurdish oil to reach international markets. Another 300,000 bpd, he said, could come from a field in the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait when the two agree on how to share the profits. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The decision by OPEC+ to essentially let Brent crude rise above $80 per barrel, a four-year high, was met with outrage by U.S. President Trump. At the UN General Assembly, he denounced OPEC. OPEC and OPEC nations, are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world, and I dont like it. Nobody should like it. We defend many of these nations for nothing, and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices. Not good, Trump said. We want them to stop raising prices, we want them to start lowering prices, and they must contribute substantially to military protection from now on. We are not going to put up with it these horrible prices much longer. It is unclear what he meant by that last sentence. He would seem to either being threatening some retaliation against OPEC members for not increasing production, or perhaps he was threatening to do something to try to lower oil prices. There is little the U.S. government can do to promote even faster domestic production as production decisions are made at the company level. The only thing the Trump administration can do is to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR). The rebuff by OPEC+ to Trump led to some analysts to expect a release from the SPR, particularly since mid-term elections are quickly approaching and voters are experiencing retail gasoline prices close to multi-year highs. Average retail gasoline prices nationwide rose to $2.844 per gallon for the week ending on September 24, according to the EIA. If OPEC does not wish to jeopardise its independence, it will hardly be able to respond to Trumps latest remarks by raising output, Commerzbank wrote in a note. So Trumps only real option is to release strategic reserves in order to drive prices down ahead of the congressional elections. Related: Traders Turn Bullish Ahead Of Iran Sanctions Theres a strong possibility of another strategic reserve release, said Antoine Halff, head of the global oil market program at Columbia Universitys Center on Global Energy Policy, according to Bloomberg. Its a wild card that justifies close attention for the next few weeks. Bloomberg also reported that oil-trading industry executives openly speculated about when Trump might tap the reserve at the annual Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore this week. However, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry dismissed these rumors. He told reporters that any sale would have a fairly minor and short-term impact, and he trusted that the oil market would be fine as OPEC and Russia would fill any potential gap. Hes right on the first point: Even if the U.S. moved to sell more oil from the SPR, it would only have a limited and temporary impact. Citis Ed Morse said it could lower prices by a few dollars per barrel. But oil traders would know that any sale is temporary. Mike Muller, an executive at Vitol Group, told Bloomberg that the market may even interpret a release as a bullish sign since it would reduce the supply cushion that major producers could call upon for future outages. In any event, the use of the SPR as a political tool may not be all that effective because its probably too late. There is a lag between changes in global crude oil prices and the price of gasoline at the pump, so even if an SPR release were to occur tomorrow, motorists likely wouldnt see the effect until after the mid-term elections. Related: OPEC's No.4 Vows To Boost Spare Oil Capacity Still, the political cost of unloading oil from the SPR is not what it once was. It used to be the case that the U.S. government was extremely protective over the SPR and very cautious about dipping into it. However, the shale revolution has created the semblance (or illusion) of abundance, and the U.S. Congress has already begun legislating sales of the SPR for budgetary reasons. Top U.S. policymakers have all but given up on the massive SPR as a tool for energy policy and energy security. The Congress has already legislated sales of oil from the SPR, spread out over the next decade. The upcoming sale of 11 million barrels in October and November is part of that. In other words, there is no longer a political cost for the Trump administration if it were to decide to take an aggressive route and sell large volumes of oil from the SPR, above what is already scheduled. For now, Sec. Perry insists that is not in the cards. And because Iranian supply will continue to fall in the weeks and months ahead, oil could be heading higher. As a result, the talk is now Brent reaching $100 a barrel in the not-so-distant future, said Tamas Varga, analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates, according to the Wall Street Journal. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: After frequent rescheduling and downgrading, including a last-minute delay after market close last Friday, September 21, New Englands main natural gas pipeline, Algonquin Gas Transmission (AGT), may finally run their biggest maintenance event of the year in terms of impact and duration. From September 25 through October 12, Algonquin will conduct an outage between its Stony Point (NY) and Oxford (CT) compressors. The outage reduces operational capacity at the Stony Point compressor from 1,141 MMcf/d to 744 MMcf/d for the duration of the event. While AGT reported average flows of 1,110 MMcf/d through Stony Point over the last two weeks, implied flows including no-notice nominations show Stony Point averaging 1,274 MMcf/d, meaning this event will cut over ~0.5 Bcf/d of mainline flows relative to the previous two-week average. Assessing previous years flows through Stony is somewhat tricky because of recent years restrictions for the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) expansions, but Summer 18 Stony Point flows are well above the five-year average, once adjusted for no-notice. The outage also limits the Oxford compressor to a capacity of 867 MMcf/d. (Click to enlarge) Algonquin Gas Transmission mainline as illustrated in Genscape's Natural Gas RT platform. (Click to enlarge) Stony Point Compressor Station to Oxford outage from August 21, 2018 through September 22, 2018. (Click to enlarge) Stony Point flows are well above the five-year average this September. Stony Point is the main constraint point for the AGT mainline, meaning this event brings significant upside risk to AGT Citygate prices and downstream demand. Mainline demand will rely on supply interconnects downstream of Stony Point; including Everett liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Salem Essex interconnect with Maritimes, and the Lincoln and Mendon interconnects with Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP). AGT also notified preemptively declaring an operational flow order (OFO) effective on Monday, heavily penalizing shippers for imbalances. Algonquin also plans to suspend its no-notice service beginning on September 25 and lasting for the duration of the maintenance. Coinciding Power Market Risks So far in 2018, natural gas comprised 47 percent of electricity supply in ISONE, and 45 percent of their generation capacity are gas fired plants, which means gas and power markets are intrinsically tied in New England. On the power side of the energy market, we expect several coinciding transmission and generation outages bringing bullish risk to gas and power prices. From October 1 to October 6, a planned transmission line outage over the Phase I/II interface will further limit an average of 2,000 MW of imports from Hydro Quebec. This import tie de-rate brought elevated heat rates throughout most of the summer, and only recently returned to more than half capacity on September 22. Related: The Gas Revolution In Central And Eastern Europe On the generation side, the Pilgrim nuclear plant experienced continuous operational issues since mid-August and has not sustained a full load since then. These outages also coincide with ISONE planned maintenance. During the week of October 6, ISONE will have up to 5,826 MW of planned outages, compared to 193 MW on outage for the week of September 8. There will also be 2,800 MW of allowances for unplanned outages, and this is likely to be used given the high summer demand preceding this shoulder season. This potential 8,626 MW of planned and unplanned outages are likely to include two nuclear plants the 867 MW Millstone Unit 2 and the 1,251 MW Seabrook plant, as this lines up with their 18-month refueling cycle, which is all bullish for gas plants to pick up the slack. The Mystic Generation Station, New Englands largest power plant at 1,998 MW, will be crucial for the New England power stack as it is mostly fueled by LNG and not reliant on Algonquin for supply. (Click to enlarge) Planned outages during the week of October 6 in ISONE will reach up to 5,826 MW. Unplanned outage allowance for the same week is 2,800 MW. Click to enlarge Conclusion New England is currently forecasted to cool over the next two weeks, bringing significant downside risk, but unexpected heat waves could cause power demand spikes. Cold snaps could create residential/commercial gas demand for heating, which takes priority over gas demand for power. The ISONE demand forecast for September 24 25 only predicts ~15.3 GW of peak load over the next three days. Power demand was much higher during the last major Stony Point outage on August 16 and 17, peaking at 22.6 GW. During the last few major Stony Point outages, Algonquin Citygate prices did not blow out, but merely spiked. During the outage this past August, AGT basis spiked to $1.13 after averaging $0.29 for the month up to that point. Still, this is Algonquins longest and most impactful maintenance event in recent memory, and plenty of upside risk abounds in New Englands gas and power markets. Genscapes power and natural gas analysts will continue to monitor Algonquin and ISONE and update this blog in real-time as these outages progress. By Genscape More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The warning signs are there the industry isnt finding enough oil. Thats the start of a new report from Wood Mackenzie, which concludes that a supply gap could emerge in the mid-2020s as demand rises at a time when too few new sources of supply are coming online. By 2030, there could be a supply shortfall on the order of 3 million barrels per day (mb/d), WoodMac argues. By 2035, it balloons to 7 mb/d, and by 2040, it reaches 12 mb/d. Barring technology breakthrough beyond what we already assume, well need new oil discoveries, the report says. The seeds of the problem were sown during the oil market downturn that began in 2014. Global upstream exploration spending plunged from $60 billion in 2014 to just $25 billion in 2018, according to WoodMac. Unsurprisingly, that translated into a steep decline in new discoveries. In the early part of this decade, the oil industry was discovering around 8 billion barrels of oil annually. That figure has plunged by three quarters since 2014. The precise figures vary, but Rystad Energy came a similar conclusion, noting that the total volume of new oil and gas reserves discovered plunged to a record low in 2017. We havent seen anything like this since the 1940s, Sonia Mlada Passos, Senior Analyst at Rystad Energy, said in a December 2017 statement. The most worrisome is the fact that the reserve replacement ratio in the current year reached only 11% (for oil and gas combined) - compared to over 50% in 2012. This year, the industry has had a bit more success. Spending is on the rebound and new discoveries are on track to rise by about 30 percent, although that is heavily influenced by the developments in Guyana, where ExxonMobil and Hess Corp. have reported nearly a dozen discoveries, and hope to ramp up production to around 750,000 bpd by 2025. It still may not be enough. Even if the industry were to somehow return to the good ol days prior to the 2014 market crash, and begin discovering around 8 billion barrels of oil each year, it would only delay the supply crunch into the 2030s, according to WoodMac. But, of course, that rate of discovery remains far below those levels, so the supply crunch may take place much sooner. Moreover, because large-scale projects take several years to develop, the activity taking place today will determine the supply mix in the mid- to late-2020s. WoodMac says that the rate of discovery is highly correlated with the level of spending, so closing the supply gap will require more capital. And because of the run up in oil prices this year, the industry will have a lot more cash to throw around. Related: Goldman Sachs: Oil Prices Wont Hit $100 The problem for the industry is that over the last few years the mindset, and the demands of shareholders, have shifted from production growth to profitability and investor returns. Shareholders are pressuring executives to return cash in the form of dividends and share buybacks. Energy stocks are not the darlings of Wall Street in the way they once were, particularly prior to the 2014 market meltdown. That puts extra pressure on oil and gas companies to dish out more of their earnings to investors rather than plowing it back into the ground. But that means less spending on exploration. The mind set for most E&Ps is still to be conservative, and default is to return capital to shareholders. Yet the duty to shareholders' interests cannot be myopically short term. More of the windfall cash needs to find its way into exploration to sustain the business in the long term, WoodMac said in its report. Shale output will continue to grow, especially after new pipelines come online in Texas, which will ease the current bottleneck. But the large-scale increases in production in the medium-term will come from frontier areas, WoodMac says, as the string of discoveries in Guyana prove. WoodMac says the areas with the highest potential include Suriname, the Brazilian Equatorial Margin; Mexico; Senegal, Gambia, Namibia and South Africa; Australiaand Alaska. For now, the level of activity is not enough to stave off the supply crunch, WoodMac warns, unless there is a dramatic increase in spending. More explorers need to get in on the action if the spectre of peak supply is to be kept at bay, the consultancy says. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Qatar, the worlds largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has just announced plans to further increase its LNG production capacity. The new export capacity, with projects to be completed in 2024, is expected to bring in billions of dollars more to the state coffers of the tiny gas-rich country, which is isolated by its Arab neighbors in a bitter feud in the Persian Gulf that has gone on for more than a year now. Qatars plans to expand even more the previously announced expansion come at a time in which competing LNG projects from the U.S. to Australia to Russia will add to the global LNG supply over the next few years. The announcement for the expansion also coincides with a massive surge in LNG imports in China, which is pushing for a coal-to-natural gas switch across the country in efforts to fight air pollution. China and South Asia are expected to be the key drivers of LNG demand growth in the coming decade. Qatar is geographically well-positioned, together with Australia, to further boost its LNG exports to the fast-growing Asian market. Qatar also has the advantage of low breakeven costs for its projects, analysts reckon. Qatar Petroleum, the state energy giant, said on Wednesday that it would be increasing the capacity of its expansion project, adding a fourth train that would raise Qatars LNG production capacity by 43 percentfrom 77 million tons annually now to 110 million tons a year. Last year, Qatar announced plans to boost LNG capacity to 100 million tons annually with three new LNG trains, after it lifted a self-imposed moratorium on the development of its part of the worlds largest gas field that it shares with Iran. Based on the good results obtained through recent additional appraisal and testing, we have decided to add a fourth LNG mega train and include it in the ongoing front end engineering of the project, Qatar Petroleums President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said in a statement. This new capacity increase will further strengthen our leading position as the worlds largest LNG producer and exporter, and will further boost Qatar Petroleums strategic growth plan. This production addition will have a great impact on Qatars economic growth and will help stimulate our local economy, Al-Kaabi said. Related: Oil Price Rally Hits Asia Where It Hurts According to a Reuters source familiar with the projects timeframe and execution, Qatar expects to reach the planned new capacity by 2023 or 2024. Thanks to the new LNG production capacity, Qatars budget surplus will reach US$44 billion (160 billion Qatari riyals) in 2024, which would more than cover the expected external debt, the source told Reuters. The higher revenues will mean more funds for the countrys sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, to invest outside Qatar, according to the source. Qatar Petroleum didnt disclose how it would finance the expansion of the expansion or how much it would cost, but its head, Al-Kaabi, said it has no plans to raise funds through an IPO in the plans. According to Bloomberg NEF analyst Maggie Kuang, Qatar may find bringing all this new capacity online in five-six years challenging, and smaller U.S. LNG trains are likely to be built quicker than the giant trains in Qatar. Before Qatars latest expansion announcement, Rystad Energy said in July that Qatar could win the race for new LNG capacity projects final investment decisions (FID). Qatars plans are a challenge to some U.S. projects ready to take FID, as the Qatari project is estimated to have the lowest breakeven price of all the planned projects in the world. Rystad Energy expects the breakeven price for the Qatari brownfield expansion at around $5.60 per MMBtu (including transport to Asia)some 34 percent below the breakeven price of the more competitive U.S. projects. In the race to supply Asia with LNG, Qatar may also see the current U.S-China trade war as a rare opportunity, as U.S. LNG was embroiled in the tariff tit-for-tat with China that slapped a 10-percent tariff on imports from America. Chinas LNG demand and imports are expected to continue to grow as natural gas demand soars thanks to policies designed to curb pollution. China will become the worlds top natural gas importer by 2019, and most imports by 2023 will be supplied by LNG, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Gas 2018 report in June. The United States, for its part, will account for nearly three-quarters of LNG export growth in the world by 2023, with destination-free and gas-indexed U.S. LNG exports providing additional flexibility to the expanding global LNG market. Australia and the United States appear as new global players likely to challenge Qatar in Asian markets, the IEA said a few months before Qatars announcement of further LNG capacity expansion. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Trump administration and some others in the U.S. government have sent some not-so-subtle hints lately that they are open to a military invasion of Venezuela to oust President Nicolas Maduro. Its a regime that frankly could be toppled very quickly by the military, if the military decides to do that, President Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. The words seem to offer some encouragement for a coup, which may not come as a surprise because the New York Times published an investigation in early September that found that the Trump administration met secretly with Venezuelan military officers over the last year to discuss an overthrow of Maduro. Venezuela is in tatters and there have been previous signs that Maduros grip is tenuous, including the renegade helicopter pilot earlier this year and the bizarre scene in which drones exploded during a military parade in August near Maduro. In other words, the threat of a coup has been rising for some time. But more recently, there have been louder murmurings in Washington and beyond. Bloomberg noted that Fernando Cutz, a former member of the National Security Council, said that a multilateral military invasion of Venezuela might be the best solution. Also, some prominent Venezuelan dissidents and former officials have supported regime change. Florida Senator Marco Rubio said there is a very strong argument for such a move. Then there were Trumps comments in New York at the UN. Related: Has Iran Started To Switch Off Oil Tanker Tracking Systems? Some cautious, but notably receptive comments to an invasion or coup came from officials at the Organization of American States and in the Colombian government, Bloomberg pointed out. Also, Trump is expected to bring in some officials to his government that are notably hawkish in regards to Venezuela. For now, the U.S. has only officially tried sanctions as a tool of pressure on Maduro. The latest round of sanctions came this week. [W] ask the nations gathered here to join us in calling for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela, Trump said at the UN General Assembly. Today, we are announcing additional sanctions against the repressive regime, targeting Maduros inner circle and close advisors. The sanctions once again notably stop short of targeting Venezuelas oil sector. There has been speculation about whether or not the Trump administration would go as far as to try to disrupt more of Venezuelas oil supply, since it is already in a steep decline. Cutting off imports from Venezuela or barring the export of U.S. diluent to Venezuela would likely contribute to an acceleration of supply losses. That would surely put more pressure on the Maduro regime, but it would also deepen the existing misery in Venezuela. But a coup or a military invasion is a whole different matter. The U.S. has a long and sordid history intervening in Latin America, playing a role in the overthrow of governments in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, among others. In fact, much of the legitimacy of Maduros Chavista government comes from the political narrative of opposing U.S. imperialism. Maduros regime is isolated at this point, due to the horrific humanitarian disaster and the brutal repression. But a U.S. invasion would be highly unwelcome in much of Latin America and could bolster support for Maduro, while potentially shifting the responsibility of Venezuelas crisis from Maduro to Trump. The Lima Group, a group of 17 Latin American countries formed in 2017 in order to form a collective response to the Venezuelan catastrophe, issued a declaration in August stating that only Venezuelans can find a solution to the grave crisis affecting their country, a diplomatic way of stating their opposition to outside military intervention. Related: Schlumberger To Buy Russia's Leading Drilling Company Moreover, an invasion would not necessarily end the chaos. You need to have a very strong group of people who can credibly take over, and its not clear that theres a faction in the Venezuelan military or security services that wants that, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told Bloomberg. So youre talking about essentially going in and somehow replacing the entire structure of governance and hoping that somehow somebody is going to back you. If there is anything that we have learned from the U.S-led military adventures, its that they almost never result in the rosy forecasts that war planners put forth. But, even absent an invasion or a coup, Venezuelas oil production is heading south. Venezuelas oil production fell to 1.235 million barrels per day (mb/d) in August, down another 36,000 bpd from a month earlier, according to OPECs secondary sources. The losses likely have continued at a similar pace in September, and at this rate, Venezuelas production could fall below 1 mb/d by the end of the year or in early 2019. We are entering a very crucial period for the oil market, the IEA said in mid-September. The situation in Venezuela could deteriorate even faster. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Chinese energy company Nexen, a unit of CNOOC, is preparing to pull out of the United States amid rising trade tensions, Reuters reports, citing three unnamed sources with knowledge of the companys plans. Canada-based Nexen became part of CNOOC back in 2013, with the Chinese company paying over US$15 billion. The acquisition gave it a presence in the Gulf of Mexico, including a 25-percent holding in the Stampede field, operated by Hess Corp. and 21 percent in Shells Appomattox field. Stampede has recoverable reserves estimated at 300-350 million barrels of oil, while Appomattox holds an estimated 700 million barrels in probable oil and gas reserves. A spokeswoman for CNOOC said, as quoted by Reuters, that the company had no plans of exiting its GOM operations but was considering selling parts of its interests there and had not scheduled any new investment in exploration in the region. Nexen is also one of the biggest oil and gas operators in the North Sea, where it operates three fields: Buzzard, Golden Eagle, and Scott. The company also has assets in West Africa, Colombia, and Canada. If the company does leave the United States, it will be just part of the fallout from the trade war between Washington and Beijing that President Trump started, blaming China for a hefty trade deficit between the two countries, and accusing it of using unfair trade practices. The accusations quickly led to the first round of tariffs, which China responded to in-kind. Related: Saudis To Pump More Crude Oil In The Next Three Months The latest chapter in the drama involved U.S. import tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods, with Beijing retaliating by slapping tariffs on US$60 billion worth of products and commodities, notably including liquefied natural gas. For now, oil is off the list of goods subject to tariffs, but as tension continues to intensify its anyones guess when or if it will be added to the next list. The latest threat of President Trump is to impose tariffs on virtually all things coming from China. China, meanwhile, is cutting import tariffs on products coming from other countries. The South China Morning Post reports that as a result of the cuts, aimed at easing the burden on local companies and consumers, the countrys overall tariff level is now 7.5 percent, compared with 9.8 percent in 2017, as per a statement from the State Council. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A nationwide workers strike that Nigerias main unions started on Thursday has not had an impact on the oil industry in the country, a spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) told Reuters, while leaders of the two main oil workers unions said there havent been any companies affected. The main unions in Nigeria are staging a nationwide strike to demand an increased minimum wage after talks with the government broke down on Wednesday. Cogent Ojobor, a leader in the Niger Delta region at the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), told Reuters: No oil company is affected for now. We are not shutting down production, Lumumba Okugbawa, the general secretary of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), said. On Wednesday, NNPC Group Managing Director Maikanti Baru appealed to motorists and other consumers of petroleum products across the country not to engage in panic buying of products over the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) planned industrial action. The nationwide strike in all sectors of Nigerias economy comes a few weeks after ExxonMobil warned at the beginning of this month that a six-week-long blockade of ExxonMobils offices and oil facilities in Nigeria by former workers protesting their dismissals threatens the normal production and exports of Nigerias flagship Qua Iboe crude grade. After some hiccups and pipeline outages during the spring and early summer, Nigerias crude oil production jumped by 74,000 bpd from its July level to average 1.725 million bpd in August, according to OPECs secondary sources. In May, Nigerias production and exports were disrupted by outages of oil flows on pipelines feeding oil export terminals, and delays in cargo loadings. In June, there were disruptions to Bonny Light, Forcados, and Qua Iboe flowsall of which are key Nigerian crude grades. But production has recently stabilized and Nigerias oil exports for October are expected to hit a four-month high at 1.73 million bpd, as grades are coming back online following pipeline outages in the summer, according to loading schedules that Reuters has seen. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Mexicos state-owned oil company Pemex plans to start importing up to 100,000 barrels of light crude daily, ending decades of oil self-sufficiency as declining domestic production meets rising energy demand. Reuters quotes Pemex chief executive Carlos Trevino as saying, A hundred thousand barrels (per day) more or less is what were going to import to process and incorporate into our refineries, mostly at Salina Cruz. Were going to mix it with Mexican crude, with some of our mix to be able to process at the levels we want to get back to in refining. We should be around 800,000 barrels (per day of refining in the countrys entire system) by the end of the year. Pemex has six refineries with a combined capacity of 1.6 million barrels daily. This year, however, due to operational problems and outages, as well as Pemexs focus on generating as much revenue from its crude as it can, which means exporting more, these have been operating at 40 percent of this capacity. The oil imports will begin in late October and continue at least until late November, with the most likely source of the feedstock Mexicos neighbor to the North. At the same time, Pemex still must tackle declining local production: Trevino told Reuters the company would not be able to meet its production target for this year, which was 1.95 million bpd. The CEO said the actual output will be considerably below the target. Related: Don't Underestimate The Trade War Impact On Oil Demand On a positive note, the executive said he was certain there will be an oil and gas auction next February. The auction was scheduled by the outgoing government of Enrique Pena-Nieto, but President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has canceled all auctions until a review of contracts signed under previous ones are reviewed. Yet even with new tenders, Pemex is in for another year of production declines, Trevino also said. Whats more, its questionable how many more tenders there will be: Obrador said he will give Pemex the powers to select its partners rather than have them picked by the national hydrocarbons commission in tenders. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: One of New Zealand's top judges has ordered a compromise in a David-and-Goliath trademark dispute that had fans of rival Kiwi and British cereals cursing into their breakfast bowl. The legal wrangle pitted New Zealand food giant Sanitarium, which manufactures the popular Weet-Bix cereal, against specialty food store Little Bit of Britain, which imports a similar product called Weetabix. Sanitarium took legal action against the Christchurch-based store, arguing the Weetabix product and branding were so close to its own that it could confuse the public. As the case dragged on for more than a year, New Zealand customs stopped boxes of Weetabix at the border and expatriate Britons had to survive without their early morning staple. Little Bit of Britain owner Lisa Wilson complained last year that she tried to switch her two-year-old son to another British cereal, Shredded Wheat, but he spat it out in disgust. Now High Court Justice David Gendall has brought almost 50 years of legal experience to bear and ordered a compromise deal. Gendall found Weetabix did infringe on Sanitarium's trademark but that did not mean Little Bit of Britain had deliberately deceived or misled customers. He said it could still be imported but only sold in the specialty store after the Weetabix branding had been covered with a sticker. He also ordered 108 cases of Weetabix held by customs, which had long passed their use-by date, to be destroyed. "This is a pragmatic solution," he said in a 42-page ruling on the matter. Wilson accepted the ruling and said she was looking forward to re-stocking her shelves. "We're happy we can still sell it, obviously a little bit disappointed we have to re-label it but it's not the end of the world," told news site stuff.co.nz. Sanitarium general manager Rob Scoines said the company had successfully protected its trademark. "The judgement enables us to protect our brand, which supports the employment of New Zealanders and contributes to the community," he told the New Zealand Herald. FILE PHOTO: House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo MANILA, Philippines House Speaker Gloria Arroyo refused to comment on the arrest of opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV even when media pointed out that the rebellion case stemmed from Trillanes participation in a failed uprising against her administration. No reaction, still no reaction, she said to reporters. Trillanes was arrested by authorities last Tuesday after a Makati court granted the Department of Justices motion to issue an alias warrant and hold departure order against the senator. Trillanes was taken into police custody and later returned to Senate after posting a P200,000 bail for his temporary liberty. The post House Speaker Arroyo no reaction on Trillanes arrest appeared first on UNTV News. Japanese, British warships carry out joint exercise in Indian Ocean in latest show of strength to China Japans biggest warship joined a British frigate for naval drills in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as the latter was en route to the contested South China Sea, in the latest sign of Tokyos growing involvement in efforts to counter Beijings influence in the region. The deployment of the Japanese helicopter carrier Kaga alongside the HMS Argyll came after the United States said it had sent B-52 bombers to conduct transit operations in the South China and East China seas. Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said on Wednesday that the heavy bombers took part in a regularly scheduled, combined operation in the East China Sea on late Tuesday after flying through international airspace over the South China Sea earlier in the week. Britain, Japan and the United States have found common cause in countering growing Chinese influence in the region, which they worry could put commercial sea lanes linking Asia with Europe, the US and elsewhere under Beijings sway. We have traditional ties with the British navy and we are both close US allies, Kenji Sakaguchi, the naval commander of the Kaga groups four helicopters. These drills are an opportunity for us to strengthen cooperation. The more frequent presence of the British navy in the region was a chance for the two sides to train more closely together, he said. The Argyll, Kaga and its destroyer escort, the Inazuma, practised formations on calm seas in the Indian Ocean close to commercial sea lanes plied by container vessels and oil tankers. Three helicopters from the Japanese carrier hovered above, monitoring the drill. After crossing the South China Sea, the Argyll will operate in waters around Japan, including a stint monitoring sanctions imposed on North Korea by the United Nations with the aim of getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Story continues The Argylls arrival in the region comes after Britains amphibious assault ship HMS Albion last month challenged Beijings territorial claims in the South China Sea on its way to Vietnam from Japan by sailing close to Chinese bases in the Paracel Islands during a freedom of navigation operation. China dispatched a warship and helicopters to counter the British presence and warned London that similar actions in the future could endanger talks for a possible trade deal that Britain is seeking as it prepares to leave the European Union. The Japanese military has been stepping up its presence in Southeast Asia. Last week, the defence ministry in Tokyo confirmed that the submarine Kuroshio had joined the Kaga, Inazuma and another destroyer, Suzutsuki, in an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the South China Sea on September 13. Japans Murasame-class JS Akebono destroyer, with its two SH-60K patrol helicopters, is making a three-day port visit to the Philippines. Collin Koh, a research fellow with the Maritime Security Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Japan had in recent years been reaching out to other nations, including Britain, to counter Chinas influence. If we look at it from a trilateral perspective involving Japan, the US and the UK we can expect interoperability between forces, which may not take too long to build, he said, adding that there would be more cooperation among the three militaries. No longer bilateral exercises always stay bilateral. From time to time, depending on the topics of the joint training engagements, a third party or third parties can be roped in. Additional reporting by Reuters and Agence France-Presse This article Japanese, British warships carry out joint exercise in Indian Ocean in latest show of strength to China first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Phuket, 27 September 2018 After a day spent enjoying outdoor activities with exposure to the sun, sand and sea, skin can be sun-damaged and sapped of hydration. To put out the all-over fire, Breeze Spa at Amari Phuket has released a new After Sun package, which offers the soothing and cooling power of aloe vera after sun gel. Guests will relax with a 60-minute body wrap. While the bodys skin is pampered with aloe vera and cucumber, the therapist will provide a facial cleansing and mask for 15-minute using Biodroga products, which are great for sensitive skin gentle facial care to promote radiant skin growth. The After Sun package is priced at 1,900 THB net per person and available to experience from now until 31 October 2018. Amari Phukets Breeze Spa is open daily from 11:00 to 21:00. For more information, please call +66 (0) 7634 0106-14 ext. 8809, email phuket@breeze-spa.com or visit www.breeze-spa.com/amari-phuket. Address: Amari Phuket, 2 Muen-ngern Road, Patong Beach, Kathu, Phuket 83150 JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spas Cucina, The Italian restaurant today announced that it has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. The Cucina has received 498 reviews with scored 4.5 out of 5 and ranked No. 9 out of.73 restaurants in Mai Khao area, Phuket. Now in its eighth year, the achievement celebrates businesses that have earned great traveler reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year. Certificate of Excellence recipients include restaurants, accommodations and attractions located all over the world that have continually delivered a quality customer experience. JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa is honored that our Cucina, The Italian restaurant has earned the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. There is no greater seal of approval than being recognized by our customers. With the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence based on customer reviews, the achievement is a remarkable vote of confidence to our continued business success and commitment to service excellence, said Mr. Matthias Y. Sutter, General Manager, JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa. Phuket, Thailand, September 2018 Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa, Nai Yang Beach recently joined forces with its sister properties in Phuket to organize Run To Give a charitable event that forms part of Marriott Internationals Take Care campaign. These runs took place on Sunday 23th September 2018 and gathered approximately 2,700 competitors. The aim of the event was to raise funds for charity, while reinforcing Marriotts focus on developing community relations and putting people first. Funds raised from the event will be donated to Maha Jakri Sirinthorns Children Project and the Pun Fhun Pun Yim Foundation, which support underprivileged local children. Richard Dawkins, author, evolutionary biologist and emeritus fellow of New College, University of Oxford, is one of the worlds most prominent atheists. Credit: Fronteiras do Pensamento/wikipedia, CC BY-SA Many atheists think that their atheism is the product of rational thinking. They use arguments such as "I don't believe in God, I believe in science" to explain that evidence and logic, rather than supernatural belief and dogma, underpin their thinking. But just because you believe in evidence-based, scientific research which is subject to strict checks and procedures doesn't mean that your mind works in the same way. When you ask atheists about why they became atheists (as I do for a living), they often point to eureka moments when they came to realise that religion simply doesn't make sense. Oddly perhaps, many religious people actually take a similar view of atheism. This comes out when theologians and other theists speculate that it must be rather sad to be an atheist, lacking (as they think atheists do) so much of the philosophical, ethical, mythical and aesthetic fulfilments that religious people have access to stuck in a cold world of rationality only. The science of atheism The problem that any rational thinker needs to tackle, though, is that the science increasingly shows that atheists are no more rational than theists. Indeed, atheists are just as susceptible as the next person to "group-think" and other non-rational forms of cognition. For example, religious and nonreligious people alike can end up following charismatic individuals without questioning them. And our minds often prefer righteousness over truth, as the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has explored. Even atheist beliefs themselves have much less to do with rational inquiry than atheists often think. We now know, for example, that nonreligious children of religious parents cast off their beliefs for reasons that have little to do with intellectual reasoning. The latest cognitive research shows that the decisive factor is learning from what parents do rather than from what they say. So if a parent says that they're Christian, but they've fallen out of the habit of doing the things they say should matter such as praying or going to church their kids simply don't buy the idea that religion makes sense. This is perfectly rational in a sense, but children aren't processing this on a cognitive level. Throughout our evolutionary history, humans have often lacked the time to scrutinise and weigh up the evidence needing to make quick assessments. That means that children to some extent just absorb the crucial information, which in this case is that religious belief doesn't appear to matter in the way that parents are saying it does. Even older children and adolescents who actually ponder the topic of religion may not be approaching it as independently as they think. Emerging research is demonstrating that atheist parents (and others) pass on their beliefs to their children in a similar way to religious parents through sharing their culture as much as their arguments. Some parents take the view that their children should choose their beliefs for themselves, but what they then do is pass on certain ways of thinking about religion, like the idea that religion is a matter of choice rather than divine truth. It's not surprising that almost all of these children 95% end up "choosing" to be atheist. Science versus beliefs But are atheists more likely to embrace science than religious people?Many belief systems can be more or less closely integrated with scientific knowledge. Some belief systems are openly critical of science, and think it has far too much sway over our lives, while other belief systems are hugely concerned to learn about and respond to scientific knowledge. But this difference doesn't neatly map onto whether you are religious or not. Some Protestant traditions, for example, see rationality or scientific thinking as central to their religious lives. Meanwhile, a new generation of postmodern atheists highlight the limits of human knowledge, and see scientific knowledge as hugely limited, problematic even, especially when it comes to existential and ethical questions. These atheists might, for example, follow thinkers like Charles Baudelaire in the view that true knowledge is only found in artistic expression. And while many atheists do like to think of themselves as pro science, science and technology itself can sometimes be the basis of religious thinking or beliefs, or something very much like it. For example, the rise of the transhumanist movement, which centres on the belief that humans can and should transcend their current natural state and limitations through the use of technology, is an example of how technological innovation is driving the emergence of new movements that have much in common with religiosity. Even for those atheists sceptical of transhumanism, the role of science isn't only about rationality it can provide the philosophical, ethical, mythical and aesthetic fulfilments that religious beliefs do for others. The science of the biological world, for example, is much more than a topic of intellectual curiosity for some atheists, it provides meaning and comfort in much the same way that belief in God can for theists. Psychologists show that belief in science increases in the face of stress and existential anxiety, just as religious beliefs intensify for theists in these situations. Clearly, the idea that being atheist is down to rationality alone is starting to look distinctly irrational. But the good news for all concerned is that rationality is overrated. Human ingenuity rests on a lot more than rational thinking. As Haidt says of "the righteous mind", we are actually "designed to 'do' morality" even if we're not doing it in the rational way we think we are. The ability to make quick decisions, follow our passions and act on intuition are also important human qualities and crucial for our success. It is helpful that we have invented something that, unlike our minds, is rational and evidence-based: science. When we need proper evidence, science can very often provide it as long as the topic is testable. Importantly, the scientific evidence does not tend to support the view that atheism is about rational thought and theism is about existential fulfilments. The truth is that humans are not like science none of us get by without irrational action, nor without sources of existential meaning and comfort. Fortunately, though, nobody has to. Explore further Study into national character of Australia's active atheists This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Tech giants AT&T and Samsung announced Wednesday that they will create the country's first manufacturing-focused 5G "Innovation Zone" in Austin. The zone, designed to test 5th generation wireless broadband technology, will be on Samsung Austin Semiconductor's 160-acre campus in North Austin. The site will feature AT&T's 5G wireless technology along with Samsung's 5G network equipment, according to a news release from the two companies. Technology experts say 5Gwhich is essentially ultra high-speed wireless connectionswill not only power future waves of mobile devices, but also will evolve technology in other industries like automotive and health care. Companies have said they expect 5G to be up to 100 times faster than the current 4G networks. "This collaboration with Samsung Electronics America and AT&T will help us test how a 5G network can improve mobility, performance and efficiencies within our plant," Sang-Pil Sim, president of Samsung Austin Semiconductor, said in a written statement. South Korea-based Samsung has operated in Austin since 1997. About 3,000 employees work in the 2.45 million square foot Austin chipmaking plant. Samsung has invested $17 billion in its Austin campus through the years, according to the company. The two companies say they expect to test location services to improve safety, industrial "Internet of Things" sensors that monitor environmental and equipment conditions and more. The companies selected Austin as the site of its innovation zone because of the city's strong semiconductor manufacturing industry, said Jonathan Taylor, vice president of production and systems technology at Samsung Austin Semiconductor. "I'm not aware of any other innovation zones like this one," Taylor told the American-Statesman on Wednesday. "There are none that are trying to capitalize on manufacturing and smart factory." A smart factory is a tech term that refers to a production facility which relies on technology-driven manufacturing like Internet-connected machinery. AT&T recently opened a 5G testing lab in North Austin. The lab, one of several AT&T has throughout the country, is a testing ground for 5G signal transmitters and how they handle certain conditions. But to fully prepare Austin for 5G-enabled devices, the city will need to approve hundreds of small-cell networks for installation, Digneo told the American-Statesman earlier this month. The new lab at Samsung's Austin campus is different because it is focused on manufacturing, said Mo Katibeh, chief marketing officer of AT&T business. "This is a first. We'll be testing the real-world impact 5G will have on the manufacturing industry," Katibeh said. "Ultimately, we plan to use what we learn from this 5G Innovation Zone to help create better technology experiences and improvements in Samsung Austin Semiconductor's plant along with creating a future blueprint for people and businesses across all industries." AT&T expects to deploy its commercial mobile 5G network in parts of dozens of cities by the end of the year. Explore further Samsung Initiates Construction for FAB Expansion to Introduce New Capacity for Next Generation Nano-Scale Memory Technol 2018 Austin American-Statesman, Texas Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Kira Hinslea wanted to play outside, but she knew she couldn't until her mom checked an air-quality app on her phone. "Is it OK?" the 6-year-old eagerly asked her mother, Shirley Hinslea, one day late last month. Hinslea gave Kira the green light, and the child beamed with excitement. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she yelled, sprinting from the kitchen, across the living room and out to the porch of their mobile home in this small Kern County town. Kira's freedom didn't last long. Within 20 minutes, her throat started to itch and her chest felt heavy, she told her mom. She wearily returned inside and sifted through her backpack for her inhaler. Kira has had severe asthma since she was 2, and the polluted air in the San Joaquin Valley exacerbates her symptoms. Valley residents inhale some of the dirtiest air in the nation, and families know to keep masks in their cars and inhalers within reach and to check the air quality on a dailysometimes hourlybasis. But Hinslea questions the air-quality readings. The mobile phone apps she uses to search for conditions in her ZIP code often lag hours behind the real-time data. Occasionally, apps and websites show conflicting readings, she said. Now, local health and environmental groups in the San Joaquin Valley are helping residents like Hinslea get up-to-the-minute air-quality readings by distributing 20 monitors that measure particulate matter. "We just don't have all the information we neednot at the neighborhood level," said Kevin Hamilton, a respiratory therapist and CEO of the Central California Asthma Collaborative, a nonprofit organization based in Fresno. "The regulatory agencies think regionally ... not at the neighborhood level." Hinslea is enrolled in the collaborative's asthma management program, and it offered her one of the palm-sized devices. She jumped at the opportunity. The monitors cost about $230 and require a Wi-Fi connection. A map showing all active monitors around the worldalong with their datacan be viewed online. "For (Kira's) health, I want to have the best, real-time information," said Hinslea, 47, as a staff member from the collaborative mounted the monitor on the side of the house near her front door. Efforts by such nonprofits will supplement a new state law that aims to improve air qualityand air-quality monitoringin communities such as Wasco that are heavily affected by air pollution. As part of the law, the California Air Resources Board later this month is expected to name 10 polluted communities chosen to get help from the state to clean up their air. They will each have an air-monitoring system composed of several monitors strategically placed in different neighborhoods. The monitors will track all types of air pollution, including the two most common: ozone, the main ingredient in smog, and particulate matter, which is pollution made up of ash, soot, diesel exhaust and other small particles. The data from these monitoring systems will help communities identify specific pollution sources, such as sprayed pesticides, emissions from local oil refineries and from port operations. Then the California Air Resources Board and regional air districts will devise a plan to reduce those emissions, said Lindsay Buckley, a spokeswoman for the board. More communities will receive monitoring systems in later years. Communities slated to receive monitors in the first round include Shafter (near Wasco), south-central Fresno, Boyle Heights, south Sacramento, San Bernardino, El Centro in Imperial County and portside neighborhoods in San Diego County. The state plans to begin monitoring those communities by next July. Although Wasco is not among the first communities to receive a tracking system from the state, its residents will likely benefit from the data collected and lessons learned in nearby Shafter, Buckley said. Wasco, home to about 26,000 people, takes pride in having the ideal climate for growing roses. It is also a big almond producer. But as more farmers grow almonds, there's more spraying of pesticides, said Gustavo Aguirre Jr., an organizer with the Central California Environmental Justice Network, which is helping distribute the 20 off-the-shelf air monitors. Wasco is "surrounded 360 degrees by agricultural production," he said, and the San Joaquin Valley is also a key player in oil and gas production for California. "On top of that, we're also in the middle of Highways 5 and 99," Aguirre said. "So you have this cumulative effect from all these sources of pollution." Wildfire smoke this summer compounded worries over air quality for residents in the region, including Hinslea. "Now you've got smoke, and dust and just everyday pollution. ... It can get really bad," she said. "You look outside and think, 'Is it overcast or is it smog?'" When her daughter Kira's asthma flares up, the little girl often coughs and wheezes through the night and misses school the next day, Hinslea said. Having more timely and reliable information from the small air monitor near her front door will help her decide if her daughter can go to schooland if she does, whether she should stay indoors during recess, she said. "It wasn't always like this," said Hinslea, who was born and raised in Wasco. "When I was little, it seemed crisper and brighter, fresh. It was just different." Explore further Indoor HEPA filters significantly reduce pollution indoors when outside air unhealthy, study finds 2018 Kaiser Health News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Cosmic dust is too cold to be captured by optical telescopes, so visual images of galaxies don't give the full story of conditions. Credit: The Hubble Heritage team, picture is in the public domain Measuring the vast quantities of cosmic dust in interstellar space may be a key to unlocking various mysteries of the cosmos, including how the grains form and whether new types of galaxy are obscured by the particle clouds. Cosmic dust grains, which are born in stars, are the building blocks for other stars and rocky planets such as Earth as well as maybe life itself. However, our understanding of the dusty universe and the processes that form it remains limited. 'We lack vital knowledge about the origin of cosmic dust, its evolution, and therefore the fuel for star formation of galaxies over recent cosmic history,' said Professor Haley Gomez, an astrophysicist at Cardiff University in the UK. The cosmic haze also means that key astronomical processes evade detection by traditional telescopes. 'Our view of the universe has been biased,' said Prof. Gomez, who is undertaking a project called CosmicDust. 'We've been looking at the visible light from stars and galaxies. But half of all the light shone by stars since the Big Bang has in fact been hidden.' The problem is, cosmic dust is too cold to be detected by optical telescopes. In the past decade, however, dust exploration has been aided by major space missions, such as the Planck and Herschel missions launched in 2009. These have involved telescopes that can capture galaxies in the far-infrared part of the spectrum where the dust particles become visible. Both missions finished in 2013, leaving behind a wealth of raw data to delve into. This is being harnessed by DustPedia, one of a couple of Cardiff University projects seeking to better understand the properties of space dust. Data bank DustPedia is combining the Herschel and Planck data with that from ground-based and space-based telescopes and from other parts of the spectrum, such as the visible and ultraviolet to create a huge archive for studying dust and its interactions in galaxies in the part of the universe nearest to us. It currently provides imagery for nearly 900 galaxies. 'One of the prime motivations in doing this is to understand how galaxies are evolving and changing with time,' said Professor Jonathan Davies, principal investigator of DustPedia. He explained that, for instance, a large portion of chemical elements synthesised by stars reside in cosmic dust. Understanding how much of each of these is present helps reveal how chemically evolved a galaxy is, and ultimately how far it has proceeded along its life path. This can also help us compare how different types of galaxies are evolving for instance, the differences between giant elliptical galaxies and smaller flattened ones. Prof. Davies describes cosmic dust as being like cigarette smoke blown in front of a light bulb, obscuring much of the light from stars. 'You might be misled into thinking that if a galaxy is not producing much light, there can't be many stars there. If you can measure the quantity of dust, you can start making corrections,' he said. Prof. Gomez's CosmicDust project is seeking to build an extensive catalogue of dusty galaxies to create a 'census of dust' aided by the insights from Herschel. She expects this will help uncover mysterious new classes of galaxies that appear dust-poor in visible light pictures, but actually contain huge quantities of dust. The project has already finished its first statistical dust census of 15,000 galaxies, finding that some contain far more dust and some far less than predicted and has released catalogues and maps covering almost half a million galaxies. Among other things, the team has found three new exploding stellar remnants containing lots of dust. Interestingly, said Prof. Gomez, these all contain rapidly rotating neutron stars resulting from massive star explosions, hinting that these may be important dust-producing systems. Furthermore, by using the Herschel data to peer back 12 billion years to the early universe, her team found initial indications that the universe may have been much dustier in the past than today and thus characterised by faster star formation. Prof. Gomez says possible explanations for today's missing dust include galactic winds blowing large volumes out of galaxies or destruction by shockwaves of hot gas. 'These are exactly the kinds of things we should be able to test once the large surveys have been analysed and our catalogues and measurements are finished,' she said. The researchers are also aiming to resolve a long-standing controversy over the origin of cosmic dust, said Prof. Gomez 'whether it is made by sun-like stars in their quiet death throes, or if it is much more violent, instead originating from massive stars that tear themselves apart at the end of their lives.' Scientific research is currently leaning towards the latter explanation, she added. Lab dust Another initiative, NANOCOSMOS, is modelling cosmic dust in the laboratory to build a better picture of how it forms and behaves. Several experimental set-ups have been built to do this, such as the stardust chamber, which simulates the formation of dust grains. Researchers at the Institute of Fundamental Physics (IFF) in Madrid, Spain are currently using this vacuum chamber to investigate the reaction of individual elements found in dust, looking initially at carbon clusters and their interaction with hydrogen. They will later investigate interactions and dust properties involving silicon, iron and other metals, and their interaction with gases, to simulate more realistic astrophysical environments. 'Studying how dust particles form and how they interact with the gas are essential to understand their properties,' said Professor Jose Cernicharo, a physicist working in the field of molecular astrophysics at the IFF and corresponding principal investigator for the NANOCOSMOS project. 'Deriving the structure of the first nanoparticles formed from different elements is a mandatory step to model correctly the physics and chemistry of the ejecta of red giants and supernovas.' Understanding more about nanoparticle formation does not just help uncover what is happening in space and track the universe's history. Models showing how dust forms and grows can also aid innovation on our own planet in areas such as nanotechnology important in fields such as green energy and biotechnology. As for the cosmos, investigating dust will ultimately help us form a fuller picture of the universe around us. 'Dust plays a key role in the physical and chemical evolution of astronomical objects, but cannot be properly considered in models because of our limited knowledge on its nature and properties,' said Prof. Cernicharo. 'Any progress on this question will therefore have a strong impact in astrophysics and astrochemistry.' Explore further A century of galaxy discrimination revealed by giant European astronomy survey Delta Air Lines plans to launch what it calls the nation's first "biometric terminal" by deploying facial recognition at multiple points in the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson. At the Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal and Concourse F at the Atlanta airport, Delta plans to use facial recognition at check-in, at the security checkpoint, at boarding and at Customs processing. Atlanta-based Delta says international travelers flying on Delta between Atlanta and other countries can use facial recognition instead of their passports to get through those checkpoints at the airport. It's similar to what has been launched at other airports globally, including a biometric terminal opened last fall at Singapore Changi airport. Other airlines have also tested the use of biometrics at other airports. In Atlanta, plans are for the technology to be at Concourse F gates at Hartsfield-Jackson by Oct. 15 and throughout the international terminal by Dec. 1. However, international travelers will still need to bring their passports, and will still need to show their boarding passes at the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint. And Delta's deployment of facial recognition for international passengers in the international terminal doesn't change the process for those traveling on domestic flights, or people flying other airlines. Passengers have the option to opt out of the facial recognition process, according to Delta. Those who want to use facial recognition can approach a kiosk in the lobby and click "Look," or approach a camera at the ticket counter, the TSA checkpoint or when boarding. Once a green check mark flashes on the screen, the passenger can proceed. Some privacy advocates have warned of risks of security based on facial scans. A senior staff attorney with digital rights nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, Jennifer Lynch has said she is wary of facial recognition, and sees a threat to privacy, "our constitutional 'right to travel' and right to anonymous association." And she said the greatest concern is the risk of a data breach. The Delta rollout uses U.S. Customs and Border Protection's traveler verification service and software developed by NEC Corp. Customs is required by Congress to begin collecting biometrics of foreign visitors when they leave the United States. "We see very few people choosing to opt out of the process, because it makes it pretty easy for them," said Customs and Border Protection deputy executive assistant commissioner John Wagner. "There's great potential here to change some of the pain points in the airport process, all based on some security mandates." According to Delta, facial recognition can save up to nine minutes of time during boarding. Passengers on Delta partner carriers Air France-KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico can also use facial recognition technology in the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson. "We're scaling first in Atlanta at Concourse F, and as we get experience with that we're going to look to scale it throughout our system ultimately," said Gil West, chief operating officer of Delta. "We think it will over time become the norm in the travel experience." Delta has been testing facial recognition in recent years in partnership with Customs during boarding at Hartsfield-Jackson as well as in Detroit and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. It has also tested biometric boarding and bag drop, partners with biometric firm Clear for expedited security lines, and allows Sky Club members to use their fingerprints to enter clubs. Also at the international terminal, TSA will soon roll out new Computed Tomography (CT) scanners at two automated screening lanes, meaning passengers won't have to take electronics and other items out of their bags. TSA has been rolling out the new scanners at other airports around the country. How it works Customers flying direct to an international destination from Atlanta's international terminal can: - Enter their passport information when prompted during online check-in. You can also enter passport information at the terminal. - Click "Look" on the screen at the kiosk in the lobby, or approach the camera at the counter in the lobby, the TSA checkpoint or when boarding at the gate. - Once the green check mark flashes on the screen, you can proceed. Travelers will need to have their passports available and should always bring their passports when they travel internationally for use at other touch points during their trip. Those who don't want to use the facial recognition technology can opt out. Source: Delta Air Lines Explore further JetBlue, Delta will test biometric boarding passes 2018 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Flock Bronzewing is an inland species that is vulnerable to drought. Those vulnerabilities are heightened in an era of climate change and increased risks from feral predators. Credit: Shutterstock Australian rural communities face hardships during extended drought, and it is generally appropriate that governments then provide special support for affected landholders and communities. However, some politicians and commentators have recently claimed that such circumstances should be addressed by circumventing environmental laws or management by, for example, reallocating environmental water to grow fodder or opening up conservation reserves for livestock grazing. But subverting or weakening existing protective conservation management practices and policies will exacerbate the impacts of drought on natural environments and biodiversity. Drought-related decline in wildlife Impacts of severe weather on some natural systems are obvious and well-recognised. For example, during periods of elevated sea temperature, coral bleaching may conspicuously signal extensive environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. On land, however, the impacts of comparable extreme climatic events on natural systems may be less obvious, even if of comparable magnitude. Nonetheless, the record is clear: drought leads to extensive and severe declines in many wildlife species. Early observers in Australia reported the collapse of bird communities ("the bush fell silent") and other wildlife across vast areas during the Federation Drought. Feral cats and introduced foxes now exist across most of Australia. Drought can increase their hunting success and impact. Credit: AAP Image/NT Department of Land Resource Management There were comparable responses during the Millennium Drought. Unsurprisingly, wetland environments, and species dependent on them, may bear the brunt of impacts. That said, impacts are pervasive across all landscapes exposed to drought. Drought contributed to the extinction of one of Australia's most beautiful birds, the Paradise Parrot. For example, the pastoralist and zoologist Charles Barnard noted: "Previous to the terrible drought of 1902 it was not uncommon to see a pair of these birds when out mustering but since that year not a single specimen has been seen For three years there had been no wet season, and very little grass grew, consequently there was little seed; then the worst year came on, in which no grass grew, so that the birds could not find a living, and perished they have not found their way back." After the long droughts break, native plant and animal species may take many years to recover, and some never recover or return to their former range. Threatened plant and animal species with an already tenuous toe-hold on existence are often the most affected. Days of extremely hot temperatures also exceed the thermoregulatory tolerance of some species. That means mass mortality for some animals; and large numbers of even hardy native trees may be killed by heat and lack of rain across extensive areas. Furthermore, water sources can disappear from much of the landscape. Organisms dependent on floods are now more vulnerable, given that overallocation of water from rivers has increased drying of wetlands. Drought contributed to the extinction of one of Australias most beautiful birds, the Paradise Parrot. Credit: Wikimedia, CC BY Drought is not new in Australia, but the stresses are greater now Of course, drought has long been a recurrent characteristic of Australia. Indeed, many Australian plants and animals are among the most drought-adapted and resilient in the world. But drought impacts on wildlife are now likely to be of unprecedented severity and duration, for several reasons: with global climate change, droughts will be more severe and frequent. There will be less opportunity for wildlife to recover in the reduced interval between drought periods feral cats and introduced foxes now occur across most of Australia. In drought periods, these hunt more effectively because drought reduces the ground-layer vegetation that many native prey species rely upon for shelter. Cats and foxes also congregate and hunt more efficiently as wildlife cluster around the few water sources that are left prior to European settlement, the reduction in vegetation during drought would have been accompanied by natural feedback loops, notably reduction in the density of native herbivores. Now, livestock are often maintained in drought-affected areas, with supplementary food provided, but they also graze on what little native vegetation remains. Now, wildlife must compete with feral goats, camels and rabbits for the last vestiges of vegetation clearing of native vegetation across much of the eastern rangelands means it will now be much harder for species lost from some areas during drought to recolonise their former haunts after drought. The habitat connectivity has been lost many wildlife species could previously endure drought by maintaining a residue of their population in small refuge areas, where nutrients or moisture persisted in an otherwise hostile landscape. Now, livestock, feral herbivores and predators also congregate at these areas, making them less effective as native wildlife refuges in at least woodland and forest habitats, droughts may interact with other factors. Notably, drought increases the likelihood of high intensity and extensive bushfires that can cause long-lasting damage to wildlife and environments. Our intention here is not to downplay the needs or plight of rural communities affected by drought. Rather, we seek to bring attention to the other life struggling in that landscape. Australia should bolster, not diminish, conservation efforts during drought times. If we don't, we will suffer irretrievable losses to our nature. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. In this Tuesday, May 22, 2018 file photo, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, right, welcomes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg upon his arrival at the EU Parliament in Brussels. A senior European Union lawmaker on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 is calling for an audit of Facebook by Europe's cyber security agency and data protection authority. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File) European Union lawmakers appear set this month to demand audits of Facebook by Europe's cybersecurity agency and data protection authority in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. A draft resolution submitted Thursday to the EU Parliament's civil liberties and justice committee urged Facebook to accept "a full and independent audit of its platform investigating data protection and security of personal data." The assembly summoned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in May to testify about allegations that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica used the data of millions of Facebook users to target voters during political campaigns, including the one that brought U.S. President Donald Trump to office. Claude Moraes, the chairman of the EU parliamentary committee who drafted the resolution, said the probes "need to be done." "Not only have Facebook's policies and actions potentially jeopardized citizens' personal data, but then they have also had an impact on electoral outcomes and on the trust citizens pose in digital solutions and platforms," Moraes said. The committee aims to adopt the resolution, which will almost certainly be modified, by Oct. 10 and put it to the full assembly for endorsement in late October, well ahead of EU elections next May. The resolution also urges European justice authorities to investigate any alleged "misuse of the online political space by foreign forces," and calls on the EU's executive Commission to propose ways to boost the powers of Europe's public prosecutor's office so it can tackle crimes against electoral infrastructure. It notes "with regret" that Facebook did not send staff with the right technical knowledge to answer lawmakers' questions and "points out that such an approach is detrimental to the trust European citizens have in social platforms." Zuckerberg was questioned in Brussels on May 22, but the lawmakers used up most of the speaking time with their own remarks, leaving the Facebook chief with little time to respond. Explore further EU lawmakers miffed over new Facebook snub 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Cyberattacks grow in prominence each and every day; in fact, 2017 was the worst year to-date for data breaches, with the number of cyber incidents targeting businesses nearly doubling from 2016 to 2017. Now, new research from the UBC Sauder School of Business has quantified the security levels of more than 1,200 Pan-Asian companies in order to determine whether increased awareness of one's security levels leads to improved defense levels against cybercrime. The study found that when cyberattacks were less likely to directly harm a company, organizations were unlikely to prioritize security improvements. Firms were more likely to fix issues related to spam emails originating from their compromised computers, but failed to act when they were found to host phishing websites on their servers. Most of the firms with phishing websites are actually hosting service providers. The researchers conducted a randomized field experiment on organizations in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia and Taiwanwhich were chosen for their significant economic development as well as rapid adoption of technologies. The experiment evaluated each organization's preparedness against two distinct security issues: spam emissions and phishing website hosting. Spam usually consists of unsolicited bulk messages sent out by compromised "zombie" computers controlled by cyber attackers, while phishing refers to fraudulently obtaining sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details for malicious reasons. "For companies hosting phishing websites, there were fewer incentives to crack down on the sites since they were operated by paying customers and the sites failed to negatively impact the company itself," explains Gene Moo Lee, study co-author and assistant professor of Accounting and Information Systems at the UBC Sauder School of Business. The researchers developed and assigned an information security score, similar to the idea of Moody's and Standard and Poor's credit ratings, to each organization. The score can be used as an indicator of each organization's security vulnerabilities. The security results from each company were then published online. According to Lee, publicizing firms' security levels not only leads to greater transparency, but it could also be used to strengthen their security over time. In addition, organizations with poor performance could face greater pressure from their customers and a loss of reputation. "The ever-increasing number of cyberattacks motivated my co-authors and I to explore a more effective way to enhance the security awareness of organizations and the general public," explains Lee. "By establishing a ranking scheme of firms against online scams, we hope this will heighten firms' awareness to address suboptimal security issues." For Lee, cybersecurity is an international concern that needs to be managed more effectively. "Many organizations don't understand the threats posed by emerging, sophisticated cyberattacks and usually adopt a wait-and-see approach in security investments until a huge security incident affects them significantly," he said. "Our hope with this research is that companies improve their security levels to prevent the potential of cyberattacks from happening in the first place. And, ultimately, the goal of our research is to provide insights for cybersecurity policy makers." "Information Disclosure and Security Policy Design: A Large-Scale Randomization Experiment in Pan-Asia" was recently presented at the Workshop on Economics of Information Security. It was co-authored by Yun-Sik Choi and Andrew B. Whinston from the University at Texas in Austin, Shu He from the University of Connecticut, and Yunhui Zhuang and Alvin Chung Man Leung from the City University of Hong Kong. Credit: NASA Smoke is still spewing from the Klondike and Natchez fires both of which began from lightning strikes on July 15, 2018 in Oregon and California. Over 1000 lightning strikes landed in southwest Oregon in the middle of July 2018. Initial attack resources caught 98 percent of the new starts. The Klondike fire was one that was not able to be caught. This fire, located nine miles northwest of Selma, OR, has been blazing for over two months now and the containment level on the 154,663 acres is at 72 percent. The dry windy weather is causing active fire behavior and intensive fuel consumption on the interior of the Klondike Fire. The fire's size increased by 7,600 acres yesterday, as fire spread through unburned areas well within containment lines. Poor humidity recovery will enable active fire growth to continue in the night hours. Fire activity is expected to be ground fire with torching trees, and minimal spotting. Between 400-600 acres of growth expected overnight. Full containment is not expected until October 31. The Natchez fire which also began from those infamous strikes on July 15 is also a two plus month fire. This fire is located 8 miles northwest of Happy, California. This fire is much smaller than the Klondike fire but is nevertheless difficult to contain. Currently this fire is at 36,060 acres and is 82 percent contained. The Natchez fire has the potential to spread south, out of the Siskiyou Wilderness and also west further into the wilderness. There is 15-20 miles of uncontained fire perimeter, on the southwest section of the fire. Weather concerns for this blaze include prevailing dry conditions with upslope winds developing in the afternoons with no rain forecast through Thursday. This image of the two fires was collected by NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Worldview application which provides the capability to interactively browse over 700 global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data. Many of the available imagery layers are updated within three hours of observation, essentially showing the entire Earth as it looks "right now. This satellite image was collected on September 25, 2018. Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Caption: Lynn Jenner with information from Inciweb. Explore further Image: Smoke obscuring large portions of Northern California and Oregon Scientists found the bryozoan Bugula neritina in Alaska for the first time in the town of Ketchikan, as part of the citizen science project Plate Watch. Credit: Melissa Frey, Royal BC Museum, Canada Alaska has a near-pristine marine ecosystemit has fewer invasive species in its waters than almost any other state in the U.S. But that could be changing. With help from local volunteers, biologists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and Temple University have reported a new invasive species in the Ketchikan region, the invertebrate filter-feeder Bugula neritina, and documented the continuing spread of three other non-native species. Ketchikan, a town of about 8,000 people on the southern tip of Alaska, is a gateway to more remote Alaskan waters in the north. It sits fewer than 100 nautical miles from British Columbia, so invasive species travelling from southern ports are likely to appear in Ketchikan first. But detecting marine invasive species is a constant challenge, even in a single harbor. By collaborating with citizen scientists from Ketchikan, Smithsonian researchers were able to document these new invasive species hopefully as soon as they arrived. "It's really important to know when new non-native species show up. They may be tiny invertebrates, but they can create big problems," said lead author Laura Jurgens, who was a SERC postdoc at the time of the study. "Early detection means you have a better chance of controlling them before the populations get established. In other places, like California, Oregon and Washington, these organisms have displaced local marine animals or had economic impacts by fouling boats, fishing or aquaculture gear." The research focused on invasive "fouling organisms," animals that live their lives glued to hard surfaces, filtering food from the water. To find the species, the scientists hung hard plastic squares from local docks and waited to see what grew on them. Between visits from the researchers, citizen scientists tended the squares, corresponding with SERC scientists to identify the animals growing there. The new invader, B. neritina, is what is called a branching bryozoan. Like coral, bryozoans are colonies of tiny animals that together resemble undersea lichen, and are sometimes referred to as moss animals or sea lace. B. neritina had been observed all across California, but never as far north as Alaska. Before Plate Watch found it in Ketchikan in 2016, the solitary tunicate Ciona savignyi had not been seen in Alaska since 1903. Credit: Melissa Frey, Royal BC Museum, Canada "It's a really obvious bryozoan species," said Jurgens. "It's the only purple thing in a forest of brown. So when you see it, you kind of gasp." The other species found in the study are tunicates, leathery invertebrates that are prolific in southern waters. Two of these tunicate species, the golden star and chain tunicates, seem to be spreading in Ketchikan. The discoveries, published Sept. 27 in BioInvasions Records, are the culmination of years of observation by scientists from the Smithsonian, Temple University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, as well as local citizen scientists. The project was hosted locally by the University of Southeast Alaska. In 2003, a group of scientists from SERC conducted an initial survey of Ketchikan, and noticed the chain tunicate, native to the western Pacific. In 2007, SERC established a citizen-science monitoring program called Plate Watch. Local citizen scientistsincluding a teacher and students from a nearby high schoolhave documented the chain tunicate's spread ever since. One of these citizen scientists was the first to notice the arrival of the golden star tunicate in Ketchikan waters in 2010. When scientists returned to Alaska in 2016, they found that the golden star and chain tunicates had become much more abundant than a decade earlier. They also noted the arrival of Bugula neritina, and the appearance of another tunicate, the solitary sea squirt Ciona savignyi, not seen in Alaska since 1903. "One of the great things about this was that citizen scientists originally found the star tunicate," said Jurgens. "We were then able to complement their work with intensive surveys for rare species." Gary Freitag of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (left), kneels on a dock with fouling plates. (Photo: Linda McCann/SERC) Credit: Linda McCann/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center If these species become established in Ketchikan, scientists worry they could rapidly spread to other Alaskan waters. Since they spread largely by boat traffic, Ketchikan harbor, a hub for ships travelling north, could be a launching site for more invasions. Ketchikan is the first stop in Alaska for many cruise lines. Invasive species in its harbors will likely hitch rides further north, disturbing remote ecosystems. "There are four or five cruise ships here every day in the summer," said Gary Freitag, a coauthor of the study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "It doubles the town's population." The scientists do not think there is a particular reason the species are arriving now. It is an inevitability in a region with heavy boat traffic. "There's always been a lot of potential for invasive species to show up," Freitag said. Climate change might also speed up the process: Warming means new arrivals are more likely to survive in once-cold waters. And as Arctic ice melts, more ship traffic will head north to take advantage of an open Arctic Passage. That makes it even more important to keep an eye on Ketchikan, said Jurgens. Observing invasive species in real time helps scientists understand how invaders spread and establish themselves. "If we know when they arrive, it also helps us study what factors, like climate warming and human activities, might exacerbate their spread, so we can better predict when and where they might show up next," she said. The next step, according to SERC scientist Linda McCann, is to extend the reach of the citizen science network. "Education and prevention go together," said McCann, who also acts as regional coordinator for Plate Watch. "We can't be everywhere, and it's incredibly valuable to have local eyes on the ground. It's much more likely that management works if we detect invasive species early." Explore further Citizen scientists advance the knowledge of coastal seas More information: Laura Jurgens, Poleward range expansion of a non-indigenous bryozoan and new occurrences of exotic ascidians in southeast Alaska, BioInvasions Records (2018). Laura Jurgens, Poleward range expansion of a non-indigenous bryozoan and new occurrences of exotic ascidians in southeast Alaska,(2018). DOI: 10.3391/bir.2018.7.4.02 The Highland Giant: Artist Viktor Radermacher's reconstuction of what Ledumahadi mafube may have looked like. Another South African dinosaur, Heterodontosaurus tucki, watches in the foreground. Credit: Viktor Radermacher A new species of a giant dinosaur has been found in South Africa's Free State Province. The plant-eating dinosaur, named Ledumahadi mafube, weighed 12 tonnes and stood about four metres high at the hips. Ledumahadi mafube was the largest land animal alive on Earth when it lived, nearly 200 million years ago. It was roughly double the size of a large African elephant. A team of international scientists, led by University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) palaeontologist Professor Jonah Choiniere, described the new species in the journal Current Biology today. The dinosaur's name is Sesotho for "a giant thunderclap at dawn" (Sesotho is one of South Africa's 11 official languages and an indigenous language in the area where the dinosaur was found). "The name reflects the great size of the animal as well as the fact that its lineage appeared at the origins of sauropod dinosaurs," said Choiniere. "It honours both the recent and ancient heritage of southern Africa." Ledumahadi mafube is one of the closest relatives of sauropod dinosaurs. Sauropods, weighing up to 60 tonnes, include well-known species like Brontosaurus. All sauropods ate plants and stood on four legs, with a posture like modern elephants. Ledumahadi evolved its giant size independently from sauropods, and although it stood on four legs, its forelimbs would have been more crouched. This caused the scientific team to consider Ledumahadi an evolutionary "experiment" with giant body size. Ledumahadi's fossil tells a fascinating story not only of its individual life history, but also the geographic history of where it lived, and of the evolutionary history of sauropod dinosaurs. "The first thing that struck me about this animal is the incredible robustness of the limb bones," says lead author, Dr. Blair McPhee. "It was of similar size to the gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, but whereas the arms and legs of those animals are typically quite slender, Ledumahadi's are incredibly thick. To me this indicated that the path towards gigantism in sauropodomorphs was far from straightforward, and that the way that these animals solved the usual problems of life, such as eating and moving, was much more dynamic within the group than previously thought." The research team developed a new method, using measurements from the "arms" and "legs" to show that Ledumahadi walked on all fours, like the later sauropod dinosaurs, but unlike many other members of its own group alive at its time such as Massospondylus. The team also showed that many earlier relatives of sauropods stood on all fours, that this body posture evolved more than once, and that it appeared earlier than scientists previously thought. "Many giant dinosaurs walked on four legs but had ancestors that walked on two legs. Scientists want to know about this evolutionary change, but amazingly, no-one came up with a simple method to tell how each dinosaur walked, until now," says Dr. Roger Benson. By analysing the fossil's bone tissue through osteohistological analysis, Dr. Jennifer Botha-Brink from the South African National Museum in Bloemfontein established the animal's age. Ledumahadi mafube is the first of the giant sauropodomorphs of the Jurassic. Credit: Wits University "We can tell by looking at the fossilised bone microstructure that the animal grew rapidly to adulthood. Closely-spaced, annually deposited growth rings at the periphery show that the growth rate had decreased substantially by the time it died," says Botha-Brink. This indicates that the animal had reached adulthood. "It was also interesting to see that the bone tissues display aspects of both basal sauropodomorphs and the more derived sauropods, showing that Ledumahadi represents a transitional stage between these two major groups of dinosaurs." Ledumahadi lived in the area around Clarens in South Africa's Free State Province. This is currently a scenic mountainous area, but looked much different at that time, with a flat, semi-arid landscape and shallow, intermittently dry streambeds. Some of the preserved elements of the newly discovered dinosaur, Ledumahadi mafube. Credit: McPhee et al. / Current Biology "We can tell from the properties of the sedimentary rock layers in which the bone fossils are preserved that 200 million years ago most of South Africa looked a lot more like the current region around Musina in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, or South Africa's central Karoo," says Dr. Emese Bordy. Ledumahadi is closely related to other gigantic dinosaurs from Argentina that lived at a similar time, which reinforces that the supercontinent of Pangaea was still assembled in the Early Jurassic. "It shows how easily dinosaurs could have walked from Johannesburg to Buenos Aires at that time," says Choiniere. South Africa's Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says the discovery of this dinosaur underscores just how important South African palaeontology is to the world. Closely spaced growth rings at the periphery of the fossil show that the animal is an adult. Credit: Wits University "Not only does our country hold the Cradle of Humankind, but we also have fossils that help us understand the rise of the gigantic dinosaurs. This is another example of South Africa taking the high road and making scientific breakthroughs of international significance on the basis of its geographic advantage, as it does in astronomy, marine and polar research, indigenous knowledge, and biodiversity," says Kubayi-Ngubane. The research team behind Ledumahadi includes South African-based palaeoscientists, Dr. Emese Bordy and Dr. Jennifer Botha-Brink, from the University of Cape Town and the South African National Museum in Bloemfontein, respectively. The project also had a strong international component with the collaboration of Professor Roger BJ Benson of Oxford University and Dr. Blair McPhee, currently residing in Brazil. "South Africa employs some of the world's top palaeontologists and it was a privilege to be able to build a working group with them and leading researchers in the UK," says Choiniere, who recently emigrated from the USA to South Africa. "Dinosaurs didn't observe international boundaries and it's important that our research groups don't either." Explore further Giant dinosaur bones get paleontologists rethinking Triassic period More information: Blair W. McPhee et al, A Giant Dinosaur from the Earliest Jurassic of South Africa and the Transition to Quadrupedality in Early Sauropodomorphs, Current Biology (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.063 , Journal information: Current Biology Blair W. McPhee et al, A Giant Dinosaur from the Earliest Jurassic of South Africa and the Transition to Quadrupedality in Early Sauropodomorphs,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.063 , www.cell.com/current-biology/f 0960-9822(18)30993-X Lockheed Martin pulled up the curtain on a new innovation lab Tuesday, showing off 3-D printers, virtual and augmented reality headsets and a robotics lab meant to encourage its employees to experiment. The 6,500-square-foot lab, which sits near the eastern perimeter of the defense giant's Orlando-based Missiles and Fire Control campus, will also be used as a recruitment tool, as Lockheed competes in a highly competitive battle for skilled workers. "It's a place people want to work at," said corporate innovation manager Chad Harper, who is based in Dallas and also helped open the company's innovation lab there. It's "having the ability to have the freedom to experiment and explore and also do your day job." Lockheed Martin has 7,000 employees in Orlando, and that number is expected to grow. "This area is great and there is a lot more competition for talent," engineering vice president Tom Mirek said. "One of my jobs is to attract them to Lockheed Martin. (The innovation center) benefits this area by keeping students we have here in the area with high-paying jobs instead of going west or going north." A stroll through the lab during its coming-out party gave a glimpse at what the company thinks could be the future of innovation, with 3-D-printed hardware sitting alongside a 3-D-printed bullfrog and bottle opener. On the other side of the room, employees tinkered with an augmented reality headset, just next to another worker playing a fighting game using virtual reality. In another room, a table is lined with drones as room leaders talk about how an exoskeleton built by an employeeknown as ONYXnow has dedicated space in the facility for future development. The area is meant to encourage experimentation, said Travis Coomer, the company's vice president of engineering and technology. "We are expecting spectacular successes," he told a small crowd at the facility. "We are expecting spectacular failures." Lockheed anticipates that the new facility will help the company create new patents and win multimillion-dollar contracts. Any intellectual property created there will belong to Lockheed, although Harper said at least one project created in its Dallas location was in a sector Lockheed does not operate in. The creator of that was allowed to take his intellectual property outside of the company, according to Harper. "We wanted to create a space where people can imagine the future and have the tools to ... test ideas," said Frank St. John, Missiles and Fire Control's executive vice president. The layout of the space includes five dedicated laboratories, each sporting its own kind of next-generation technology for workers to play around with. These include a computing test environment, where workers can create and test applications; a lab that includes access to AR, VR, high-powered computers and 3-D printers; a robotics test bay; an animation lab that allows quick visualizations of concepts; and a sensor, optics and laser testing site. Explore further Lockheed Martin wins $7.2B Air Force satellite contract 2018 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A zoom into the Hubble Space Telescope photograph of an enormous, balloon-like bubble being blown into space by a super-hot, massive star. Astronomers trained the iconic telescope on this colorful feature, called the Bubble Nebula, or NGC 7635. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), F. Summers, G. Bacon, Z. Levay, and L. Frattare (Viz 3D Team, STScI) Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the universe. As NASA has explored our solar system and beyond, it has developed increasingly sophisticated tools to address this fundamental question. Within our solar system, NASA's missions have searched for signs of both ancient and current life, especially on Mars and soon, Jupiter's moon Europa. Beyond our solar system, missions, such as Kepler and TESS, are revealing thousands of planets orbiting other stars. The explosion of knowledge of planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets, and the results of decades of research on signatures of lifewhat scientists call biosignatureshave encouraged NASA to address, in a scientifically rigorous way, whether humanity is alone. Beyond searching for evidence of just microbial life, NASA now is exploring ways to search for life advanced enough to create technology. Technosignatures are signs or signals, which if observed, would allow us to infer the existence of technological life elsewhere in the universe. The best known technosignature are radio signals, but there are many others that have not been explored fully. In April 2018, new interest arose in Congress for NASA to begin supporting the scientific search for technosignatures as part of the agency's search for life. As part of that effort, the agency is hosting the NASA Technosignatures Workshop in Houston on Sept. 26-28, 2018, with the purpose of assessing the current state of the field, the most promising avenues of research in technosignatures and where investments could be made to advance the science. A major goal is to identify how NASA could best support this endeavor through partnerships with private and philanthropic organizations. To view the workshop online, visit: www.ustream.tv/channel/asteroi ative-idea-synthesis-3 On Thursday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. EDT, several of the workshop's speakers will be answering questions in a Reddit AMA. What are Technosignatures? The term technosignatures has a broader meaning than the historically used "search for extraterrestrial intelligence," or SETI, which has generally been limited to communication signals. Technosignatures like radio or laser emissions, signs of massive structures or an atmosphere full of pollutants could imply intelligence. In recent decades, the private and philanthropic sectors have carried out this research. They have used such methods as searching for patterns in low-band radio frequencies using radio telescopes. Indeed, humanity's own radio and television broadcasts have been drifting into space for a number of years. NASA's SETI program was ended in 1993 after Congress, operating under a budget deficit and decreased political support, cancelled funding for a high-resolution microwave survey of the skies. Since then, NASA's efforts have been directed towards furthering our fundamental understanding of life itself, its origins and the habitability of other bodies in our solar system and galaxy. History of the Search for Technological Life Efforts to detect technologically advanced life predates the space age as early 20th century radio pioneers first foresaw the possibility of interplanetary communication. Theoretical work postulating the possibility of carrying signals on radio and microwave bands across vast distances in the galaxy with little interference led to first "listening" experiments in the 1960s. Thanks to NASA's Kepler mission's discovery of thousands of planets beyond our solar system,including some with key similarities to Earth, it's now possible to not just imagine the science fiction of finding life on other worlds, but to one day scientifically prove life exists beyond our solar system. As NASA's 2015 Astrobiology Strategy states: "Complex life may evolve into cognitive systems that can employ technology in ways that may be observable. Nobody knows the probability, but we know that it is not zero." As we consider the environments of other planets, "technosignatures" could be included in the possible interpretations of data we get from other worlds. Debate about the probability of finding signals of advanced life varies widely. In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake created a formula estimating the number of potential intelligent civilizations in the galaxy, called the Drake equation, and calculated an answer of 10,000. Most of the variables in the equation continue to be rough estimates, subject to uncertainties. Another famous speculation on the subject called the Fermi paradox, posited by Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, asserted that if another intelligent life form was indeed out there, we would have met it by now. NASA's SETI work began with a 1971 proposal by biomedical researcher John Billingham at NASA's Ames Research Center for a 1,000-dish array of 100-meter telescopes that could pick up television and radio signals from other stars. "Project Cyclops" was not funded, but in 1976, Ames established a SETI branch to continue research in this area. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) also began SETI work. In 1988, NASA Headquarters in Washington formally endorsed the SETI program leading to development of the High Resolution Microwave Survey. Announced on Columbus Day in 1992500 years after Columbus landed in North Americathis 10-year, $100 million project included a targeted search of stars led by Ames using the 300-meter radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and an all-sky survey led by JPL using its Deep Space Network dish. The program lasted only a year before political opposition eliminated the project and effectively ended NASA's research efforts in SETI. Why Start Looking at Technosignatures Now? Fueled by the discovery that our galaxy is teeming with planets, interest in detecting signs of technologically-advanced life is again bubbling up. Kepler's discovery in 2015 of irregular fluctuations in brightness in what came to be known as Tabby's Star led to speculation of an alien megastructure, though scientists have since concluded that a dust cloud is the likely cause. However, Tabby's Star has demonstrated the potential usefulness of looking for anomalies in data collected from space, as signs of technologically-advanced life may appear as aberrations from the norm. Scientists caution that we will need more than an unexplained signal to definitively prove the existence of technological life. For example, there can be a lot of radio frequency interference from Earth-based sources. NASA will continue assessing promising current efforts of research in technosignatures and investigating where investments could be made to advance the science. Although we have yet to find signs of extraterrestrial life, NASA is amplifying exploring the solar system and beyond to help humanity answer whether we are alone in the universe. From studying water on Mars, probing promising "oceans worlds" such as Europa or Saturn's moon Enceladus, to looking for biosignatures in the atmospheres of exoplanets, NASA's science missions are working together with a goal to find unmistakable signs of life beyond Earth. And perhaps that life could indeed be more technologically advanced than our own. Fascinating. With many teens constantly on their smartphones, online harassment and bullying is seen as a major problem, according to a recent study A majority of US teenagers say they have been victims of online harassment or bullying, and that social media companies aren't doing enough to fight the problem, a survey showed Thursday. The Pew Research Center survey found that 59 percent of US teens reported being bullied or harassed online, and 63 percent said it was a major problem for people their age. The most common type of harassment cited was name-calling, cited by 42 percent, while 32 percent said someone had spread false rumors about them on the internet and 16 percent said they had been the target of physical threats online. Among teens surveyed, one in four said they had received unwanted explicit images, received queries about their whereabouts from people other than a parent or had explicit images of them shared without their consent. "Name-calling and rumor-spreading have long been an unpleasant and challenging aspect of adolescent life. But the proliferation of smartphones and the rise of social media has transformed where, when and how bullying takes place," said Monica Anderson, the lead researcher for the Pew report. According to Pew, similar shares of boys and girls have been harassed online, but girls are more likely to be the targets of rumor-spreading or nonconsensual explicit messages. Teens from lower-income families are more likely than those from higher-income families to encounter certain forms of online bullying, Pew said. Most young harassment victims feel that teachers, social media firms and politicians are doing a poor or fair job in addressing the problem of cyberbullyingan issue which has drawn the attention of US First Lady Melania Trump and Britain's Prince William. The teens believe parents are doing betterwith 59 percent saying that parents are doing a good or excellent job in addressing online harassment. One of the factors fueling online harassment is that many teens are on their phones or online so frequently. A previous Pew study showed 95 percent of US teens had a smartphone and nearly half were online "almost constantly." The latest report showed two-third of teens who say they are online almost constantly have been cyberbullied, compared with 53 percent of those who use the internet several times a day or less. Pew said that 59 percent of parents interviewed during the research were worried about their teen being harassed or bullied online, and a similar percentage were concerned about their teen sending or receiving explicit messages. The researchers surveyed 743 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 and 1,058 parents between March 7 and April 10. The estimated margin of error is five percentage points for the teen group and 4.5 points for the parents. Explore further Poll: Teens say social media makes them feel better 2018 AFP Credit: University of Southern California Recent years have seen an explosion of accusations from individuals who have experienced harassment in the workplace or sexual victimization in other settings. On many occasions, the disclosures concerned incidents that took place decades ago. These delays in reporting have raised doubts among some regarding the veracity of the claims. In some cases, political motivations have been alleged. However, my own personal and professional experiences would suggest that these delays are both understandable and predictable. In the mid-1980s, I was appointed to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the agency within the United States Department of Education that enforces laws prohibiting discrimination in programs that receive federal funding. It is the same office that Clarence Thomas, with Anita Hill as his key adviser, directed from 1981 to '82. I arrived shortly after they had both moved to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I was fortunate to be supervised by a group of idealistic, talented and driven professionals. Still, I was exposed to several instances of men and women in the department interacting in ways that were not always appropriate. I did not completely understand the implications of the norms to which I was being exposed. One of the moments that later proved to be clarifying was the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. I listened with horror as Anita Hill described her experiences. Her testimony was consistent with the environment I had witnessed at OCR. In the years after Thomas' confirmation hearings, I completed my doctoral training in clinical psychology. I am now associate professor of psychology and director of clinical training at USC Dornsife. (Coincidentally, Christine Blasey Ford, who recently went public with allegations of sexual misconduct against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, earned her own psychology Ph.D. at USC in 1996.) Much of my career has been concerned with understanding the effects of violence and victimization. As a clinician, I've worked with hundreds of survivors of sexual assault and other forms of violence. As a researcher, I've examined the effects of exposure to violence in the home, school and community. Something that initially startled me was the silence of many of the victimized individuals I encountered. The data has always suggested that most women who survive sexual assault will never pursue justice against their attackers. My own clinical experiences were consistent with these findings. In some cases, transforming events eventually forced clients to come forward. In most of those cases, though, their reports were met with denial and skepticism. The reasons that many victims choose not to disclose their experiences have to do with the dynamics of trauma and sexual violence. Sex assault victims often experience overwhelming fear, pain, self-doubt and shame. They find themselves embedded in a culture that commonly discounts their experiences and excuses the behavior of their assailants. They may continue to fear for their own safety and face real dangers if they come forward. An example of how powerful men suppress disclosure occurred in the months before the 2016 election. Then presidential candidate Donald Trump was accused of sexual assault by multiple women. His eventual response was to assure the public that he would launch lawsuits against the women whom he had allegedly assaulted. In effect, he was attempting to use threats of economic violence to silence his accusers. More recently, we can look at Ford's experiences as she revealed during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings the details of her own violent victimization. She has been met with death threats, constant attacks on social media and scornful remarks from public officials (including comments from the president himself). Ford has been victimized once again by a culture that promotes and embraces sexual violence. I do not know for sure what Ford experienced in her high school days. Nonetheless, I can recognize remarkable bravery when I see it. Ford has risen above her personal pain and confronted trauma in order to protect the sanctity of our country's highest court. In the end, I suspect that Kavanaugh will be confirmed just as Thomas was. I also believe that history will eventually recognize Ford's heroism, and she will one day be viewed as a courageous patriot. Explore further Sexual assault among adolescents: 6 facts Credit: Fujifilm FUJIFILM Corporation has successfully developed intestinal epithelial cells derived from human iPS cells for optimal use in assessing drug absorption in joint research conducted with Nagoya City University (Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Professor Tamihide Matsunaga). The cells have been confirmed to have high capabilities in activating enzymes involved with the metabolism of drugs as well as drug intake/emission, and have properties that are close to the intestinal epithelial cells of the small intestine that play an important role in drug absorption. These research results are ground-breaking in the field of drug discovery support using human iPS cells, and are expected to contribute significantly to enhancing the efficiency of the development of oral drugs. Currently, in new drug development, animal experiments are conducted to confirm the efficacy and safety of drug- candidates, followed by clinical studies on humans subjects. However, as the properties of animal and human cells are different, in many cases, even if efficacy and safety are confirmed in animal tests, they are not confirmed in humans, and development is discontinued. For this reason, there is an increased need to confirm efficacy and safety using cells with properties equivalent to those of primary cells prior to conducting clinical studies. In the case of oral drugs, widely used among pharmaceutical products, the intestinal epithelial cells of the small intestine are mainly responsible for intake of the active pharmaceutical ingredient, a portion of which is metabolized by enzymes within the intestinal epithelial cells, and a portion of which is emitted outside the cell. Since the drugs and the metabolites that remain without being emitted are absorbed within the blood and circulate throughout the entire body, the assessment of the absorption and metabolism of drugs by the intestinal epithelial cells is one of the important endpoints for predicting efficacy and safety in accordance with the dosage. It is extremely difficult, however, to stably acquire primary enterocytes for use in drug discovery research. Currently Caco-2 cells derived from human colon cancer cells are generally used, but with these cells there was the issue that activation of drug metabolizing enzymes was low. In this joint research with Nagoya City University, Fujifilm combined the differentiation inducing technology, from iPS cells to intestinal epithelial cells, developed by Professor Tamihide Matsunaga of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University with the world-class iPS cell related technology of the Fujifilm Group to successfully develop high quality intestinal epithelial cells derived from human iPS cells. As these cells are derived from human iPS cells, it is possible to mass produce them with stable quality, and also have optimal properties for the assessment of drug absorption. Fujifilm and Nagoya City University investigated the activation of CYP3A4, a representative drug-metabolizing enzyme in intestinal epithelial cells, in these cells and the gene expression levels related to transporters that govern the intake of drugs into the cells and emission of drugs outside the cells, with the following results. Credit: Fujifilm Enzyme activation and transporter gene expression levels of the cells in question Upon assessing CYP3A4 activation, it was found to be approximately 10 times that of Caco-2 cells and equivalent to that of primary enterocytes (Figure 1). Upon comparing the expression levels of transporter genes that govern the intake of drugs into the intestinal epithelial cells and emission of drugs outside the cells, the transporter (PEPT1) that governs intake was found to be greater than for Caco-2 cells and virtually equivalent with primary enterocytes. The transporter (P-gp) that governs emission was found to be virtually equivalent with Caco-2 cells (Figure 2). Based on the above results, by using these cells, assessment of drug absorption can be stably conducted in an environment close to the human body compared to Caco-2 cells that are currently commonly used. Further, as they are derived from human iPS cells, the cells can be mass produced with stable quality, and are expected to make a significant contribution to enhancing the efficiency of the development of oral drugs. These research results are scheduled to be presented at the 2018 International Meeting on 22nd MDO(Microsomes and Drug Oxidations) and 33rd JSSX to be held from October 1st, 2018 at the Ishikawa Ongakudo Hall. Fujifilm supplies major pharmaceutical companies and advanced research institutions around the world with iPS cells for drug discovery support to be used in drug discovery screenings and toxicity tests in new drug development through FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics, Inc., its U.S. subsidiary and a leading company in the development and manufacturing of iPS cells. Fujifilm will contribute to enhancing the efficiency of pharmaceutical development and the industrialization of regenerative medicine by further promoting research and development by developing and utilizing the highly functional material technology and engineering technologies cultivated over many years of research in photographic film. Explore further Cellular pumps protect the gut from toxins Provided by Fujifilm Credit: CC0 Public Domain Corporations making political contributions are not only more likely to be awarded a federal contract, but these contracts more often contain conditions uniquely advantageous to the firm, says a new study from Ball State University. Reza Houston, a Ball State finance professor, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and Florida Atlantic University, developed a measure of contract terms identified as a "sweetheart index." Companies in the study consisted of all Standard & Poor's 1,500 firms listed in COMPUSTAT from 2006 to 2013. In the study, "It's a Sweetheart of a Deal: Political Connections and Corporate-Federal Contracting," the index captures the inclusion of company-preferred provisions like single bid contracts, cost-plus clauses and multiyear arrangements. Researchers found that companies making larger political contributions are most often awarded contracts containing these terms. "We conclude that there is an important political influence on the choice of terms included in a federal contract as well as the contract award decision itself," Houston said. "Political contributions affect contract terms even after controlling for the company's hiring of former government officials and expenditures on lobbying." The researchers also found that firms with stronger political connections more frequently have these terms included in their contracts. This is reflected with higher values of the sweetheart index for these connected firms. "We find that increases in political contributions are associated with an increase in the sweetheart index for contracts awarded to these firms," Houston said. "Overall, these results are consistent with the premise that there is a political influence on both the contract award decision and the choice of specific terms contained in the awarded contract." Houston noted that the study's findings have important implications for the literature on government contracting. "First, it suggests that the true advantage of political connections for firms negotiating federal contracts might be understated," he said. "Second, given that the government spends vast amounts on its contracts, a more complete understanding of how quid pro quo relations influence that process is necessary." "Our findings suggest that PAC contributions provide a unique mechanism of political connectedness beyond lobbying and the employment of former government officials. Finally, since the government does not obviously benefit from the inclusion of these 'sweetheart' contract provisions, it suggests areas for reform or revision in federal acquisition regulations." The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the Financial Review, a publication of the Eastern Finance Association. Explore further Nepal reinstates $2.5bn hydropower deal with Chinese firm More information: Stephen P. Ferris et al. It's a Sweetheart of a Deal: Political Connections and Federal Contracting, SSRN Electronic Journal (2016). Stephen P. Ferris et al. It's a Sweetheart of a Deal: Political Connections and Federal Contracting,(2016). DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2869878 A GIF showing ESA's 35m deep-space tracking station at New Norcia, Western Australia, recorded in 2012 when it was was undergoing maintenance. Credit: European Space Agency As ESA celebrates the 100th launch of Ariane 5, the Agency's worldwide ground station network is also marking ten years of providing vital tracking services to launchers soaring out of Kourou. ESA's Earth-orbiting satellites and probes out in the Solar System are ultimately dependent on a small network of ground antennas, keeping them connected to their home planet. For ten years, this network has also been doing the same job for Europe's high-flying launchers. "ESA's ventures into space have sent back vast quantities of scientifically vital data and beautiful images from our Solar System, yet without this little-known network, most of these incredible insights would never have reached Earth." explains Gerhard Billig, responsible for managing launcher tracking support at ESA's operations centre in Germany (ESOC). Named Estrack, this global system of ground stations provides links between satellites in orbit and the teams on Earth that control them, and of course the scientists who analyse their data. The core Estrack network comprises seven stations in seven countries on three continents, all are centrally controlled from the Agency's operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Ten years of launcher tracking Map showing locations of ESA tracking (Estrack) stations as of 2017. Note this map is representational only and not all locations are shown with complete accuracy. Blue indicates core ESA-owned stations operated by the Estrack Network Operations Centre (NOC) located at ESAs European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany. Orange indicates Augmented Estrack stations, procured commercially and operated on behalf of ESA by commercial entities. Green indicates Cooperative Estrack stations owned and operated by external agencies, but regularly providing services to ESA missions on an exchange basis. The ESA tracking station at Perth, Australia, was retired from service in December 2015. The ESA stations at Villafranca and Maspalomas, Spain, were transferred to industry in 2017. Credit: European Space Agency In addition to catching signals from satellites almost anywhere, 2018 marks ten years since Estrack stations began tracking the launch vehicles that deliver these satellites into orbit, starting in March 2008, with the Ariane 5 rocket that carried the ATV-1 cargo vessel, Jules Verne. Initially established to communicate solely with satellites, Estrack was expanded to support their rockets in 2008 with the establishment of a ground station and 5.5 m-diameter antenna on Santa Maria Island in the Azores archipelago, Portugal. The first Estrack station with the capability to track launchers, Santa Maria provided ESA with the independent means of receiving information from launchers through all phases of their flights. Santa Maria joined Estrack at the same time that the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-series of missions got underway; the five ATVs were a series of expendable spacecraft developed by ESA to carry supplies to the International Space Station, at about 400 km altitude. The special Ariane launch trajectory for these missions required a dedicated station in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. For the same reason, this station has continued to be used for all launches of Galileo satellites, helping orbit Europe's new navigation system. In contrast, the original Ariane launcher tracking station networkoperated by the French space agency CNES from Europe's Spaceport in Kourouis tailored for a different launcher trajectory followed by most launches from Kourou. These deliver telecom satellites into geostationary orbit at 36 000 km. ESA's Santa Maria ground station is located on the Montes das Flores (Hill of Flowers) on Santa Maria island in Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores. It includes a Galileo Sensor Station. Credit: European Space Agency Santa Maria tracks all launch vehicles operated from Europe's Spaceport: including the three world-changing launch vehicles, Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega. Estrack stations provide teams on site with vital information acquired from the launchers soaring overhead, which is then passed on to the CNES and Arianespace teams who control their flights. "ATV-2 in 2011 was a particularly memorable launch," says Gerhard, who was at Santa Maria station at the time. "Just minutes after liftoff from Kourou, while the Ariane rocket was in radio contact with our station, we could see it whizzing high over our heads in the clear night-time sky." "We could actually make out the upper stage thruster burning! It was amazing to see the rocket speed across the horizon, like a comet through the sky. And what we saw visually, was being confirmed on our screens via the live telemetry link." On 28 June 2017, Ariane 5 flight VA238 lifted off from Europes Spaceport in French Guiana and delivered two telecom satellites, Hellas Sat 3Inmarsat S European Aviation Network and GSAT-17, into their planned orbits. A new four-panel fairing was also validated on this flight. Credit: European Space Agency To date, the Estrack stations in Portugal and Western Australia have supported 35 launches, many of which were monitored by more than one ground station; 16 launches have been supported from Santa Maria, and 34 from Western Australia (20 from Perth and 14 from New Norcia). Upgrading down under In 2010, the existing New Norcia antenna in Perth, Western Australia, was upgraded for launcher tracking. It was used for tracking not only ATV and Galileo launches but also rockets delivering satellites to 'Sun-synchronous orbits' and onto interplanetary trajectories. "For a decade now, tracking services for both the launcher and the satellite are provided, a unique and important capability during the first, critical moments of a satellite's mission," says Gerhard. ATV Albert Einstein, Europes supply and support ferry, docked with the International Space Station on 15 June 2013, some ten days after its launch from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. In this image, ATV's four solar panel arrays can be seen along with the vertical antenna on top. This antenna is the proximity boom that is used to communicate with the station. ATV Albert Einstein brought 7 tonnes of supplies, propellant and experiments to the complex. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano oversaw the unloading and cataloguing of the cargo, comprising over 1400 individual items. Credit: ESA/NASA Since the closure of Perth station in 2016, its launcher tracking capability has been transferred to ESA's deep space station at New Norcia, also in Western Australia. 100th Ariane 5 launch On 25 September 2018, another important milestone was reached for the Agency, as the 100th Ariane 5 rocket was launched into space. To mark this milestone 100th Ariane 5 flight, ESA is releasing 100 limited-edition t-shirts via the ESAshop. From 2630 September all ESAshop t-shirts are being sold at a 15% discount with the code "ARIANE5". Explore further New launch communications antenna ready for business Credit: CC0 Public Domain Grapevine trunk disease is estimated to cost the Australian wine sector millions of dollars in lost production each year, but now grapegrowers have a new tool to better manage its impact. The University of Adelaide and Wine Australia have joined forces with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) to update the Grape Assess app released in June this year with the latest research on grapevine trunk disease, adding to the existing range of grapevine disease and disorder evaluations within the app. Eileen Scott, Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Adelaide's School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, said the updated app will simplify the assessment and management of grapevine trunk disease. "The Grape Assess update builds on the strength of the app's existing assessment of powdery mildew and other conditions," Professor Scott said. "The update has embedded the latest grapevine trunk disease research in a convenient tool that will help grapegrowers to make an assessment in the vineyard and then email the information, which includes GPS coordinates, to themselves to better target management of the disease." Wine Australia General Manager of Research, Development and Extension Dr. Liz Waters said the update to Grape Assess was undertaken in collaboration with grapegrowers and researchers to strengthen its existing application. "We are delighted with the update to Grape Assess and to see our research community continue to lead the way globally in developing management tools for grapevine trunk disease," Dr. Waters said. "The update is also very timely as growers are moving into the perfect conditions for assessment, which should be done during spring when the grapevine shoots are between 3070cm long and before the canopy gets too big and hides symptoms." Working with grapegrowers and advisors including Warren Burgess from Langhorne Creek and Joe Siebert from DJ's Grower Services in McLaren Vale and Dr. Mark Sosnowski from SARDI, the update will help determine the loss of productive canopy due to the grapevine trunk diseases eutypa and botryosphaeria dieback. Extra fields have been added to Grape Assess to estimate yield impact and reference images for canopy loss have been included. Released in June 2018, Grape Assess also facilitates assessment of multiple grapevine diseases and disorders including bunch rot, downy mildew, insect damage, sunburn and powdery mildew. About grapevine trunk disease Grapevine trunk diseases, caused by fungal infections, are becoming increasingly prevalent in Australian vineyards. One of the more commonly known grapevine trunk diseases is eutypa dieback, which occurs worldwide, particularly in wine regions that exceed an annual rainfall of 350mm. All major grapevine varieties grown in Australia are susceptible to eutypa infection. Botryosphaeria dieback, another common trunk disease, is more prevalent in warmer drier regions. Both diseases result in loss of productive canopy. Grapevines can become infected by eutypa and botryosphaeria through fresh cuts, such as those made during pruning or reworking. Eutypa and botryosphaeria fungi grow slowly, causing stunted shoots and progressively killing spurs, cordons and trunks and eventually the entire affected vine. An Australian-developed Eutypa Dieback Best Practice Management Guide is available on Wine Australia's website. Explore further Revisioned smart phone apps give grape growers more choices 10 hours ago Is It Time To Take A Ride With Lordstown Motors? A Game-Changing Quarter For Lordstown Motors No, Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ: RIDE) did not begin production of the Endurance yet but it is well on track to do so. No, the big news with Lordstown Motors is that is reached a definitive agreement with Foxconn for the production of the Endurance. Read Article Sea-riously impressive: Marine art contest leads the way for the future of marine conservation By Maureen Zeufack September 2018 There are certain things in this life that just feel right together. The classic combination of peanut butter and jelly, the forces of yin and yang, summer weather and ice cream. Harmonious, complementary pairings that we never question or think twice about. Art and science, however, is typically not one of those pairings. The arts and sciences are often seen as separate entities, existing in opposite spheres of thought and requiring different capabilities. However, the intersection of art and science is not as unfathomable as some may believe. Each year, Massachusetts Marine Educators and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary co-sponsor a marine art contest that serves as a prime example of this winning combination. This drawing of a krill and Beroes comb jelly placed first in the High School division of the annual Marine Art Contest. Image: Linda Palominos Two direct goals of the contest are to generate interest in local marine creatures among todays youth, and to provide an activity that teachers can use in their classrooms to supplement traditional marine education, explains Anne Smrcina, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuarys education coordinator and lead on the art contest. With the theme of Exploring Biodiversity in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, students may illustrate any Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary species in any location coinciding with its migratory range. The contest is divided into five divisions: Elementary School, Middle School, High School, Scientific Illustration (all grades), and Computer Graphics & Photography (all grades). Tenth-grader Gabrielle Gu of Westborough High Schools striped sea bass placed second in the High School division. Image: Gabrielle Gu Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuarys nutrient-rich waters, located at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, are home to a plethora of species such as humpback whales, Atlantic puffins, harbor seals, and Atlantic bluefin tuna, among many others, all of which can be used as subjects for the artists research and contest artwork. Over the past decade the contest has grown significantly, now attracting hundreds of entries reaching a record high of 915 entries in 2016. And although the majority of submissions originate from Massachusetts, the contest has received submissions from across 10 states and from several foreign nations including China, France, and Kazakhstan. Antoinette Young, a fifth grade teacher at Eddy Elementary School in Brewster, Massachusetts, heard about the contest around seven years ago from a local high school art teacher. She has since incorporated the contest into her fifth grade art curriculum and worked with her schools administration to implement initiatives to encourage student involvement. Young, the spouse of a commercial lobster fisherman, notes that despite their community and schools proximity to the water, there is a lack of awareness among students about the nearby national marine sanctuary. Most of my students have never heard of Stellwagen Bank and they live on Cape Cod, she points out, emphasizing the contests importance. Fourth-grader Jasmine W. of Lexington, Massachusetts placed first in the Elementary School division. Image: Jasmine W. Not only does this contest work to educate students on marine life and the importance of the conservation of our ocean ecosystems, but it also does so for the general public. The winning art becomes part of a traveling exhibit sponsored by Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. This art travels to a wide array of venues including national parks, federal buildings, nature centers, and museums, where it introduces viewers to the sanctuary and its resources. The images are also featured in a calendar that is published on the web. Student entrants also realize the importance of educating others. Erik Zou is a rising senior at The Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and a six-time returning entrant who placed sixth in the Scientific Illustration division this year. He explains, People can learn more about marine life through my drawings. I think a lot of people see the names of species but have no idea what they look like, and seeing my drawings can show them a creature they never knew existed. Aayan Patel, whose watercolor painting of a humpback whale and her calf placed third in the High School division, reiterates this vein of thought. He says, such contests are very important to keep the citizens aware of the marine life on our planet and hopefully add to the movement of reducing pollution that jeopardizes their habitat. Davidson Academy (Reno, Nevada) ninth-grader Aayan Patel painted this humpback whale mother and calf. This piece placed third in the High School division. Image: Aayan Patel This intersection of the arts and sciences has not gone unnoticed by those involved with the contest. In fact, it is celebrated. Today, I look at the contest as a way of moving STEM to STEAM by bringing art into marine studies and the ocean world into artistic endeavors, says Smrcina. Smrcina is not alone in this belief. Several contest entrants identify themselves as both scientifically- and artistically-oriented. In essence, I believe that [art and science] both express mutualism for one another, explains Patel. The creativity associated with art drives scientific discovery but the rules and perceptions of the world dictated by science help root art into place. Michela Giordano, a contest newcomer who attends Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington, Massachusetts, echoed this sentiment. Giordanos painting of a common loon placed first in the contests Middle School division, and she feels it speaks to her dual interests in science and art. She [loves] to be out in nature and admire various species, yet immerses herself in various media of art. Eighth grader Michela Giordana placed first in the Middle School division with this painting of a common loon. Image: Michela Giordano Smrcina says that The contest is a labor of love. It is one of the most personally rewarding projects of my career. Its evident that this palpable passion from both the staff who facilitate the contest and the students who enter it is what will sustain this contest and the legacy it is creating for itself for years to come. The contest also has significant support through its partners, including New England Aquarium, the Center for Coastal Studies, the Ocean Genome Legacy/Northeastern University, and Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and through the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the South Shore Natural Science Center. The Massachusetts Marine Educators Marine Art Contest has made large strides in educating and ushering in the next generation of environmental stewards. The competition serves as a catalyst for innovative, interdisciplinary thought in young people that we so greatly need in our rapidly changing and technologically advancing world. The gateway this contest opens to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and to marine life and science for students and educators alike is part of a movement of positive change for the worlds future and future conservation efforts. Maureen Zeufack is a volunteer communications intern for NOAAs Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and a senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Education Reporter Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe. Developing country journals face hurdles on the path to free-flowing knowledge. Fatima Arkin reports on efforts to boost quality. Vrushali Dandawate, head librarian at the AISSMS College of Engineering in Pune, India, is a tireless supporter of home-grown open-access (OA) journals. Given the chance, she will impress on anyone she works with librarians, researchers, teachers the many benefits of these journals over traditional ones that keep research papers behind a paywall. She will tell them how they more often publish papers in a local language, making the research accessible to a wider group of people; and how they tend to publish locally useful research, by scientists who may struggle to get their papers accepted by international journals. In June 2016, Dandawate became one of three India-based ambassadors for the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), a non-profit organisation headquartered in the UK that lists over 12,000 vetted scientific journals. The role gave her a bigger platform to spread her message. OA refers to publications that are freely available online to everyone, with minimal restrictions regarding reuse. Its a growing movement, and part of its goal is to democratise access to scientific knowledge. But despite the efforts of advocates around the globe in the past decades, the concept faces many hurdles to adoption in the developing world. Chief among them are finding a sustainable financing model and stiff competition with high-impact traditional publishers that remain attractive to many authors. Although many high-quality journals from the global South are openly accessible on several platforms, they continue to be undervalued, says Leslie Chan, director of Bioline International, an online aggregator of OA journals from developing countries. The use of paper citation metrics as the universal yardstick for assessing research quality in effect means using Northern values and standards to measure research everywhere, according to Chan. This has the effect of undermining local research [and] development needs, he explains. Still, funders continue to push against the traditional publishing model just this month, 11 European agencies announced a radical plan to make all research free to read on publication. And OA interest is growing throughout the developing world, according to DOAJ data. Indian OA journals have submitted 2578 requests since 2014 to be included in the DOAJ; Brazil clocked in at 2,048 requests, while Indonesia ranks first with 3,662 requests. But roughly half of the submissions get rejected, usually because of their low quality, Tom Olijhoek, editor-in-chief of the DOAJ, tells SciDev.Net. Quality seal Indias OA publishers are a case in point they have received more DOAJ rejections than any other countrys publishers in the past four years. The DOAJs criteria span five categories, ranging from the quality of the editorial process to copyright issues. A journal may be genuine but ill-informed about standards, or ill-equipped to meet them. Another, more sinister explanation is that India is home to a growing number of predatory journals exploitative publications that charge authors processing or publication fees, but provide little or no editorial rigour or production services. They simply publish the papers they receive whether they are good research or not, explains Dandawate. As a DOAJ ambassador, she has been educating OA editors and publishers across Southern Asia to tackle these problems, with funding from Canadas International Development Research Centre. The programme started with 15 ambassadors in 11 regions, and continues to this day. The DOAJ has become a reference for other initiatives designed to increase access to quality OA papers such as Research4Life, a public-private partnership between UN agencies, universities and publishers. Since 2015, Research4Life only indexes OA journals if they meet the DOAJs rigorous criteria for journal quality and are included in the directory. It is critical that Research4Life ensures that the journals we link to can be trusted to operate honestly and responsibly, says its director Richard Gedye. DOAJ may stand out for its capacity building and global scope, but is by no means the only open access platform. Other online collections include African Journals Online, the largest online collection of African-published, peer-reviewed scholarly journals, over half of which are OA, as well as SciELO and RedALyC, the two largest Ibero-American OA efforts, and Bioline International, which has existed for 25 years. But different world regions have different needs and varying success launching and running quality OA journals. Latin American pioneers Brazil, for one, has had more success with its homegrown OA journals than India. Less than 40 per cent of Brazilian OA journals are rejected on average, compared to DOAJs overall 50-per-cent rejection rate, according to Olijhoek. Latin American and Caribbean countries are indeed considered pioneers in OA publishing. Governments in the region have heavily invested in it: two-thirds of funding for OA initiatives in the region come from public and international cooperation funds, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). And since the late 1990s, the region has opened access to research results through journal portals and digital repositories such as the referral service Latindex. But the region still has a long way to go to create a sustainable, non-commercial OA model that keeps knowledge as a common good, says DOAJ ambassador Ivonne Lujano, a lecturer in higher education at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico. Lujano has reviewed over 350 journals mostly published in Spanish and Portuguese from ten different countries in the region. She says that many of the issues publishers face are fundamentally tied to inequalities embedded in research and education systems. In particular, editorial staff often lack the digital literacy necessary to use and adapt online systems. In addition, they face language barriers to access concepts and tools that are only available in English Lujano lists several examples, including the DOI and COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines. And then there are staff shortages and budget constraints, symptoms of a system that doesnt offer substantial incentives for editorial work. In many cases the staff of a journal is [made up of] only one or two people multitasking, Lujano says. African buds Meanwhile, countries in Africa have made several advances over the past years. The continents DOAJ rejection rate is low, in part because many African journals are not ready to apply for inclusion. And most of the 200 African journals currently included come from a single country: South Africa. Others are struggling to make the transition from print to online and OA, according to Ina Smith, planning manager at the Academy of Science of South Africa and one of five DOAJ ambassadors on the continent. Smith says that in 2017, the Africa Academy of Sciences launched an OA publishing platform, dubbed AAS Open Research, geared exclusively towards scientists on the continent. Then in March 2018, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Next Einstein Forum and the publishing giant Elsevier which has become a target for preserving what critics consider exploitative business models launched a mega-journal called Scientific African to expand access to African research. Smith says OA advocates on the continent are monitoring these large initiatives and their uptake. I am a bit concerned that both the AAS and Scientific African would over shadow the great work done by individual journals. But she concedes that working with native OA journals is sometimes challenging. Among the hurdles is the fact that OA is not high on the priority list of local researchers as in Latin America, editorial roles are often not rewarded, and the lack of sustainable business models means some journals stop publishing after only a few months. But like all the DOAJ ambassadors that SciDev.Net spoke to, Smith remains steadfast in her resolve to continue promoting open access in the region. Through publishing its own journals, Africa will demonstrate that it is prepared to take ownership and be accountable, and that it plays an important role in contributing to the global knowledge base, she says. Dream jobs rarely appear out of thin air. It takes years of hard work, combined with talent and a fair amount of good fortune at being at the right place at the right time. For Vanessa Marshall, her hard work and talent put in on the path of getting the job that many only dream of: to be a voice over actor working on some of the hottest animated shows. Vanessa not only knows that she scored a dream job, she relishes every second of it. In an exclusive interview, Vanessa talks about the appeal and work that goes into being a voice actor and reflects a bit about two key female roles she is known for in Disney XDs STAR WARS: REBELS and Disney XDs GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. What initially appealed to you about becoming a voice actor? VANESSA: The voiceover community is so loving and kind. I felt like I finally found my people! There are lots of stand-up comedians (like myself) in the community, so we spend a majority of our time cracking each other up and laughing. There is nothing better! How would you describe what it is like to be a voice actor? VANESSA: On a daily basis, I get auditions from my voiceover agency. I record and send them back as soon as possible. If and when I book any of those jobs, I venture out to a voiceover studio in town to officially record them. I also have radio stations all over the world, for whom I am on call. They send me things to read via email, and then I record and send those back as well. When I am not working, I am taking classes. And I always try to keep a work/life balance. I find when my heart is full, my work is better. That is so important. But overall, every day is different. Its an ever-changing adventure! How do you choose your projects? VANESSA: I have yet to find a project that I would choose not to work on! So far, so good. If I book the job, I usually choose to do it. I am grateful for the quality of work my voiceover agency sends to me. Makes it very easy to say yes! What would you say is the trick to successfully landing a voice actor role? VANESSA: I recommend making specific acting choices, having an attitude of humility and gratitude, and taking a lot of classes. I am an eternal student and care deeply about staying connected, current, and nimble. When I focus on what is right instead of what is wrong, I tend to book more work. I try to be positive, be of service, and have an open mind. All of these things help me to care about the process, rather than the results. Ironically, this attitude seems to bring about the best results. Any favorite projects that you have gotten to work on? VANESSA: I was honored to play Hera in STAR WARS: REBELS. As a huge Star Wars fan, that was a dream come true! I also loved being the voice of BIG BROTHER for CBS, as well as the voice of HGTV for many years. It was fun to play a grape in a bunch of Welchs Grape Juice commercials too! What has been one thing you haven taken away from your work on both STAR WARS: REBELS and the animated version of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY? VANESSA: I am very happy to see such strong female characters in animation. Both Hera and Gamora are such powerful role models. I felt very lucky to get to explore those iconic characters and then get to hear fan feedback that that strength translated. It was deeply satisfying. Perhaps all my martial arts training helped me inhabit those roles? I hope so! What is the best part about voicing the character of Hera Syndulla on STAR WARS: REBELS? VANESSA: Getting to connect with the Star Wars fans, most of whom will be my friends forever. What is the best part about voicing the character of Gamora in the animated version of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY? VANESSA: I really enjoy the chemistry between cast members on GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. We goof around a lot in our record sessions, and yet we still get tons of work done. Its awesome. For example, I like to breakdance, while Kevin Michael Richardson (Groot) beat boxes, and I always bring tons of cool food for us to eat (I order us Katzs Deli from NYC). You would think that these things would distract us and waste time, that we would run late, and sessions would take forever, but when the director calls us together to record, we cruise right through the script like magic, and we always finish early. Not on time, but early. Despite all the diversions and silly things we do! I hope the viewers have as much fun as we do when they finally watch the show. What has been the biggest challenge working as a voice actor? VANESSA: Saying goodbye to cast members when shows end. It is inevitable. It is part of the business. Things come and go. The only constant is change. I suppose it makes us all appreciate those moments when we are lucky enough to have them. And we will always be like family! What have you learned from all your years as a working voice actor? VANESSA: How important it is to give back. Dee Bradley Baker is the best example of this. I love his website: www.Iwanttobeavoiceactor.com. He has created an excellent site to try and help others. I admire Dee and try to emulate his generosity of spirit. He is a true pro. Then what has surprised you most about your career so far? VANESSA: How wide a range one can have as a voice actor. One can cross all kinds of lines in terms of gender, age and even race. For example, I played Irwin on the GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY AND MANDY, and I was also shocked to book the voice of the female narrator for JANE THE VIRGIN. At this stage of your career, what do you think you have learned from the amazing variety of roles and projects you have worked on? VANESSA: To never give up. Anything is possible! I have heard it said, Dont quit before the miracle! #Truth Then what are the perks of where you are in your career right now? VANESSA: Getting to talk to Dave Filoni from time to time about all things Star Wars. I will never forget, at the end of a session in season 2 of REBELS, Dave stayed after to discuss the Yoda arc in Season 6 of THE CLONE WARS. I was blown away. It was like he was channeling George Lucas himself. I couldnt believe that this was my life. That was a major perk! If there were one role you would like to revisit, which would it be and why? VANESSA: Mary Jane from THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. Only because I never wanted that show to end! That was another terrific cast and a brilliantly written show. Do any of your characters and the situations they find themselves in ever leave a lasting impression on you? VANESSA: When I played Dr. Strangelove in METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN. Her final death scene still haunts me. Kris Zimmerman was a brilliant director as always! METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN Strangeloves Final Tape: Has there been any great advice you have gotten? What advice would you offer to other upcoming and aspiring voice actors? VANESSA: Again, Dee Bradley Bakers site has given me all the advice I need. I cant recommend it enough. At a time when womens voices are rising to be heard and respected around the country and world, what do you recommend your fans do to lend support in that endeavor? VANESSA: When one person speaks up, it gives others permission to do the same! So, find your truth, speak your truth, and know that you are not alone. That helps us all! In terms of supporting females in the world of voiceover, you can watch our shows, like and follow us on social media, and if there are action figures, you can go buy them! This lets folks know that we have a fanbase and can make an impact! From your view point, what lessons can be gleaned from the MeToo era? VANESSA: Funny you should ask! I am currently writing my third one woman show on that topic. Stay tuned! Do you have any other upcoming projects that you can share that fans should keep an eye out for? VANESSA: STAR WARS: REBELS, The Complete Fourth Season is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. You can continue to watch new episodes of STAR WARS FORCES OF DESTINY on Disneys YouTube Channel, as well as GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY on Disney XD. I was also in the recent TEEN TITANS GO! To the Movies, and you can catch me in episodes of BEN 10 on Cartoon Network and RISE OF THE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES on Nickelodeon. I have all kinds of amazing new video games and cartoons coming soon too. I will announce them as soon as I am allowed. Check Twitter @vanmarshall and Instagram @vanessamarshall1138 for updates. STAR WARS: REBELS Hera Talks About the Clone Wars video clip: STAR WARS: REBELS Kanan Rescues Hera video clip: GUARDIANDS OF THE GALAXY Gamora Strikes video clip: In this article: SINGAPORE, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Singapore fuel oil inventories jumped 15 percent to a 10-week high in the week to Sept. 26, boosted by thin export volumes, official data showed on Thursday. - Singapore's onshore fuel oil inventories surged 2.328 million barrels, or about 347,000 tonnes, to 17.616 million barrels, or 2.629 million tonnes, data from International Enterprise (IE) Singapore showed. - Singapore fuel oil exports totalled just 55,000 tonnes in the week to Sept. 26, the lowest since June 2011. (O-SGEXP-FO) - Low export volumes helped lift net fuel oil imports into Singapore to a two-week high of 966,000 tonnes, up 67 percent from the week before, the data showed. - Singapore fuel oil net imports have averaged 774,000 tonnes per week in 2018. - This week's onshore fuel oil inventories were 24 percent lower than a year ago. - Singapore's net exports of fuel oil to Bangladesh topped the week ended Sept. 26 at 23,000 tonnes, followed by Indonesia at 7,500 tonnes and Myanmar at 10 tonnes. - The largest net imports into Singapore originated from Russia at 274,000 tonnes, followed by Malaysia at 191,000 tonnes, Belgium at 101,000 tonnes and Saudi Arabia at 90,000 tonnes. - Fuel oil inventories in Singapore have averaged 19.166 million barrels, or 2.861 million tonnes, a week since the start of 2018, compared with 23.552 million barrels, or 3.515 million tonnes, in 2017. Week to Sept 26 Total Imports Total Net Imports Exports Fuel oil (in tonnes) BANGLADESH 0 22,960 -22,960 BELGIUM 101,273 0 101,273 BRAZIL 75,578 0 75,578 BULGARIA 8,595 0 8,595 CHINA 0 0 0 GHANA 0 0 0 INDIA 66,243 443 65,799 INDONESIA 0 7,539 -7,539 IRAQ 41,999 0 41,999 KOREA, REP OF 2 0 2 MALAYSIA 214,624 24,008 190,616 MYANMAR 0 10 -10 POLAND 16,091 0 16,091 RUSSIA 273,771 0 273,771 SAUDI ARABIA 89,566 0 89,566 SPAIN 5,955 0 5,955 THAILAND 20,948 0 20,948 TURKEY 87,639 0 87,639 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 16,145 0 16,145 UNITED STATES 2,489 0 2,489 TOTAL 1,020,917 54,960 965,957 (Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) Eight soldiers were killed by a blast in northern Burkina Faso on Wednesday, in the latest blow to the poor Sahel country grappling with jihadism. "I have just learned that eight Burkinabe soldiers died after their vehicle drove over a home-made mine planted by the enemies of our people," President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said in a statement. The convoy had been heading from Baraboule in Soum province to the town of Djibo. "The lead vehicle in the convoy hit the mine" as it was coming off a bridge, a security source told AFP. Kabore expressed his "deepest condolences to the defence and security forces, to the families and relatives of the victims". "These horrible and cowardly attacks will never sap our common resolve to defend our national territorial integrity, to restore peace and security for the happiness and prosperity of the Burkinabe people." - Mounting attacks - In 2015, Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries, joined a string of countries in the Sahel region to come under pressure from jihadists. Rebels began staging cross-border raids in the north of the country from neighbouring Mali. Using classic guerrilla tactics, the rebels aim at police and the military with gun attacks and roadside bombs, target buildings and personnel perceived to represent the state, and abduct individuals. A toll released in April found that 133 people had died in the north in 80 attacks in three years, many of them state officials. Hundreds of schools and town halls have been closed. On Sunday, three miners -- a Burkinabe national, an Indian and a South African -- were seized by armed men between Djibo and a local gold mine. Hours later, three police officers deployed to help search for the trio were killed in a clash with armed men at Tongomael, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) away. In August, 13 people in the north were killed by two improvised bombs, and a customs officer was killed in a raid. The jihadists' strategy in the north has now been adopted in the east of the country. In the centre, the capital Ouagadougou has suffered three terror attacks in two years, leaving 60 dead. - 'Build an army' - On September 8, Kabore said additional security measures would shortly be unveiled "to eradicate the curse of terrorism". But analysts say that, on the ground, the resources needed to roll back jihadism in the north are colossal and they require long-term resolve. Under former president Blaise Compaore, head of state from 1987-2014, the armed forces had a trained and disciplined unit, his personal guard. But this unit was gutted by Kabore, leaving the country "without a military culture", a senior official from France, which is anxiously monitoring the situation in Burkina, told AFP. "They have to build an army worth of the name, and this takes time," the source said. Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute, a Dakar-based centre of research into extreme violence, said political turmoil in Burkina in 2014-15 had been a major factor in delaying the response to jihadism at a critical time. In some parts of the north and east, there was now a "vacuum of the state", enabling the jihadists to offer protection and basic services to the beleaguered population, he said. Using an amorphous, non-centralised command structure, the jihadists find it easy to plant bombs when there is negligible security presence, a former French soldier said. He pointed to the experiences of US forces in Iraq, which lost more men from improvised explosive devices than from actual fighting. - Domino fears - Sambe said the escalating attacks in eastern Burkina were especially worrying, as this could herald an extension of the violence to countries to the south such as Ghana and Ivory Coast, which lie hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the epicentre of jihadist revolt in the Sahel. "In the fight against terrorism, Burkina is a buffer between the Sahel and the coastal countries," Burkinabe Foreign Minister Alpha Barry said. "If it falls, our neighbours will be attacked." Chinas popular dried tangerine peel recalled after high levels of lead found in snack also sold abroad Excessive traces of lead have been found in a popular brand of preserved tangerine peel sold in China, Malaysia, Singapore and other parts of the world including the United States. However, the manufacturer has said the possibility of any overseas contamination is low. Samples of Jiabao jiuzhi chenpi, a brand of the popular Chinese snack, were found to have up to eight times the acceptable level of the toxic metal, the State Administration for Market Regulation revealed last week. Inspections were conducted twice in March and May, the authorities said. The March inspection found traces of lead seven times higher than the accepted levels, while the May inspection found amounts of the metal six times that of the standard, according to the market watchdog. By Chinas standards, amounts of lead found in food products cannot exceed 1mg/kg. The first test showed 8mg/kg while the second was 6.69mg/kg, the authorities said. Lead, a naturally occurring element, is toxic to humans in large amounts and can affect multiple body systems. It is particularly harmful to young children, especially when consumed, attacking the brain and central nervous system to cause coma, convulsions and even death, according to the World Health Organisation. The Jiabao brand of preserved tangerine peel is produced in southern Chinas Guangdong province and is widely available around the nation. It is also sold overseas, including in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and the United States, according to its manufacturing company, Guangdong Jiabao Group. The firm said the two problem batches were made in December and January using orange peel from a one-off supplier. Because it was the Lunar New Year and our regular partner had temporarily ceased supply, we decided to buy the raw material from others, the companys marketing director Liu Chaoliang said on Wednesday. That said, it is certainly our fault to have overlooked the quality problem in our raw material. Story continues The problem batches totalled only dozens of boxes of small packets, each containing 24g of peel, Liu said. He did not say how many packets of peel were contained in each box, but believed the possibility that any from either of the two batches had made it abroad was small. In a statement last week, Guangdong Jiabao Group said it had notified retailers of the problem in April when the first results were known. By mid-May all substandard products which had been recalled and incinerated. The second inspection occurred on May 8, it said. Because the product often goes through several sellers before it reaches the end consumer, we did not manage to recall all of the problematic ones in time after the first inspection [in March], Liu said. The second inspection occurred during our recall and the samples collected happened to be from the same batch. Making preserved tangerine peel involves soaking the peel in brine and alum for two days, rinsing it in hot water and then preserving it in large quantities of salt and plum for another couple of days. The product is then dried and stewed with a substance known as licorice juice, or succus liquiritiae. Guangdong Jiabao said it would purchase its own machines to check for heavy metals in each batch of its products before releasing them to the market in future. The company, which also produces candied fruit, pickles and beverages, does not directly export its goods at present but has vowed to enter the international market. In July, its president Yang Wanru told Guangdong Television that the firm planned to bring good Chinese snacks to the world. We will bring good products to all Chinese people around the world. We will be bolder and develop our market outside China, she said. This article Chinas popular dried tangerine peel recalled after high levels of lead found in snack also sold abroad first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Supplied undated handout image of a thin piece of metal seen among a punnet of strawberries in Gladstone Supplied undated handout image obtained September 14, 2018 of a thin piece of metal seen among a punnet of strawberries in Gladstone. AAP/Queensland Police/Handout via REUTERS (Corrects paragraph 7 to say strawberry dessert, not curry) By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia on Thursday increased the jail term to 15 years for anyone convicted of contaminating foodstuffs as a scare over needles found in strawberries and other fruits gripped the country. Police are investigating more than 100 reports of sewing needles found in strawberries, which have forced farmers to dump fruit as demand plummets, and cast a shadow over an industry worth A$160 million ($116 million). Australia's parliament passed legislation on Thursday to increase the maximum prison term to 15 years from 10 years for anyone convicted of tampering with food, in line with offences such as financing terrorism. It also criminalised hoax claims, making them punishable by up to 10 years in prison. "That's how seriously I take this," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Royalla, a rural town 35 km (21 miles) south of the capital Canberra. The legislation was rushed through in less than day as lawmakers try to repair public trust in the strawberry industry. Politicians across the political divide spent much of the day promoting the industry, with Morrison promising to eat a dessert made with strawberries. Strawberry farmers have welcomed the action, saying they faced financial ruin if demand did not recover quickly. Consumers remained wary, forcing retailers in Australia and New Zealand to pull strawberries from store shelves. Australia supermarket giant Woolworths said on Thursday it had also withdrawn sewing needles from its shelves nationally. "We've taken the precautionary step of temporarily removing sewing needles from sale in our stores. The safety of our customers is our top priority," a Woolworths spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. ($1 = 1.3782 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Darren Schuettler) A US-Israeli consortium leading the development of Israel's offshore gas reserves announced Thursday a deal that would enable the export of natural gas to Egypt. Noble Energy and its Israeli partner Delek, along with Egyptian East Gas Company, bought 39 percent of a disused pipeline connecting the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon with the northern Sinai peninsula. The consortium paid $518 million for the interest in the East Mediterranean Gas Company pipeline. The mainly undersea pipeline will be used to transport natural gas from the Tamar and Leviathan reservoirs to Egypt from as early as 2019, allowing a 10-year $15 billion deal signed in February with Egypt's Dolphinus to move forward, Delek said in a statement. It will be the first time Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, imports gas from its neighbour. Israel had bought gas from Egypt but land sections of the pipeline were repeatedly targeted by Sinai jihadists in 2011 and 2012, and soaring demand meant Egypt could use the gas domestically. Delek chief executive Yossi Abu called the pipeline purchase "the most significant milestone for the Israeli gas market since the discoveries" of the reservoirs. "The Leviathan reservoir is becoming the Mediterranean basin's primary energy anchor, with customers in Israel, Egypt and Jordan," he said. In September 2016, Jordan struck a deal to buy 300 million cubic feet (8.5 million cubic metres) of Israeli gas per day over 15 years, an agreement estimated to be worth $10 billion. Tamar, which began production in 2013, has estimated reserves of up to 238 billion cubic metres (8.4 trillion cubic feet). Leviathan, discovered in 2010 and set to begin production in 2019, is estimated to hold 535 billion cubic metres (18.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, along with 34.1 million barrels of condensate. Exports from Tamar to Jordan began on a small scale last year. They are set to increase significantly at the end of 2019, when a new pipeline connecting Leviathan and Jordan is due to be completed. Jordan is the only Arab country besides Egypt to have a peace deal with Israel, signed in 1994. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israeli public radio that acquisition of the Mediterranean pipeline to Egypt, alongside exports to Jordan, "connects the peace axis states with the shared regional gas infrastructure." Israel has limited natural resources but in the past few years it has discovered major gas fields off its coast and is building the infrastructure needed to tap them. Israel hopes its gas reserves will give the country energy independence and the prospect of becoming a supplier for Europe as well as forging strategic ties within the region. Last week, Cyprus, whose offshore reserves border those of Israel, signed a deal paving the way for construction of an undersea pipeline to liquefied natural gas facilities in Egypt to enable production to be re-exported to Europe. Didi Chuxing, Chinas largest ride-hailing platform, launches its online taxi-hailing service in Osaka on Thursday as it seeks to take a share of the worlds third-largest taxi market, setting up another battle with familiar rival Uber Technologies. The service, a joint venture with SoftBank Corp, will see over 10 local partner taxi companies including Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo, Japans largest taxi fleet operator use Didis artificial intelligence-powered dispatch and fleet management system, the Beijing-based start-up said on Thursday. Osaka, home to 8.83 million people and a popular destination in Japan for Chinese tourists, will become the largest overseas city that Didi operates in. San Francisco-based rival Uber launched a taxi-hailing app in Nagoya earlier this month, and Didis international expansion has also seen it face off against Uber in Mexico and Australia this year. Japan is the worlds third-largest taxi market, where 240,000 licensed taxis transport 1.6 billion passengers annually with a gross merchandise volume of US$13.3 billion. However, the country is one of the few developed markets where ride sharing provided by non-professional drivers to paying customers remains illegal. SoftBanks CEO Masayoshi Son has said Japans regulations stifle innovation, stating in July that a ride-hailing future is inevitable. Chinas Didi Chuxing continues its international push with trial service in Australia Taxi operators will be able to track hires and drivers using heat maps. Didi users from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan will also be able to hail a taxi from their native app, with the aid of real-time text translation and bilingual customer support, in a move aimed at capturing a surge in demand from outbound Chinese tourists, according to the company. To build its global network Didi has been on an acquisition spree over the past few years, investing in Grab and Ola in Asia, Lyft in the US, 99 in Brazil, Taxify in Europe and Careem in Dubai, which together serve a combined 80 per cent of the worlds population, according to an earlier statement. Story continues After a brutal price war, Didi drove Uber out of China in 2016 in exchange for a minority stake, and the Chinese ride-hailing giant counts Apple, Softbank, Alibaba and Tencent among its biggest shareholders. The expansion continues despite the fact that Didi has not made a profit in the six years since its founding, recording a net loss of 4 billion yuan (US$582 million) in the first half of 2018, according to a letter to employees earlier this month from Didi founder and chief executive Cheng Wei. The voluntary disclosure offered a rare glimpse into the financial state of the privately held firm as it tried to shore up public confidence following the alleged rape and murder of a female passenger by one of its drivers, the second in three months. Didi discloses US$585m loss in first half amid safety crisis as founder tells staff were not evil The Beijing-based companys margin is only 1.6 per cent of the gross merchandise volume, while discounts and subsidies for passengers and drivers amounted to 11.7 billion yuan in the first half of the year, according to Cheng. In contrast, Uber drove into the black for the first time in the first quarter this year. After accounting for the value of selling its Southeast Asia business to Grab and its Russian operations to Yandex, Uber turned in a profit of US$2.5 billion. This article Didi drives into Japan, setting up head-on collision with Uber in worlds third-largest taxi market first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. By Raya Jalabi and Ahmed Aboulenein ERBIL/SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - A year after a failed bid for independence, Iraq's Kurds will be voting again on Sunday, this time in a parliamentary election that could disrupt the delicate balance of power in their semi-autonomous region. With opposition parties weak, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are likely to extend their almost three decades of sharing power. But splits within the PUK present the possibility that Masoud Barzani's KDP will take a dominant position in Kurdish politics, both in the regional capital Erbil and in the difficult formation of a federal government in Baghdad. The contentious referendum on independence in 2017, led by Barzani, promised to set Iraq's Kurds on a path to a homeland. Instead, a swift backlash from Baghdad dashed those prospects and diminished the region's autonomy. Speaking on the vote's first anniversary, Barzani, who stepped down as Kurdish president in the aftermath, told thousands of flag-waving men in Erbil: "We will never give up our dignity or honour." But Barzani - still the KDP's leader and main vote-getter - also added that "even 1,000 years of war won't solve the problem". Even though relations with Baghdad have improved, the Kurdish region has lost territory and economic autonomy, and voter frustration is rising. "This is the first time that I'm not voting," said Ahmed Abdullah, a 68-year-old retiree. "The two parties in power steal and lie, and that's how they stay in power. I've stopped believing anything will change." "NOTHING EVER CHANGES" Abdullah had been a supporter of the PUK, the second largest party, led by the Talabani family and based around Sulaimaniya. The PUK and the Erbil-based Barzani clan's KDP together form a dynastic duopoly predicated on patronage in the regions they respectively control. But years of stagnant politics, unpaid salaries and corruption have undermined faith in politics and shrunk the turnout in recent elections. Story continues The situation was not helped by the suspension of parliament between 2015 and 2017 due to in-fighting. "What's the point of voting? Nothing ever changes, whether we vote or not. Things just get worse," said 38-year-old teacher Alan Baram. Senior KDP leader Hoshyar Zebari acknowledged that allegations of Kurdish fraud in May's federal election had undermined public confidence, and said Sunday's vote was "critical to restoring the legitimacy of our institutions". But most major parties say they do not expect more than about 40 percent of the 3.85 million registered voters to go to the polls - below even the record low of 44.5 percent who voted in the federal election. A low turnout could benefit the KDP and PUK, whose voters tend to be more committed, respecting their role in establishing autonomy after the Gulf War of 1991. The KDP also commands some respect for ushering in the referendum, despite the negative consequences for the region, while the PUK has yet to heal the internal rifts that opened when its founder Jalal Talabani died in 2017. ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD Those PUK divisions have not been helped by the decision of Barham Salih to quit the opposition Coalition for Democracy and Justice, which he founded, in order to rejoin the PUK and seek the Iraqi presidency. Salih's former party has all but collapsed and, further clearing the field for the KDP, the main opposition party, Gorran, is still rebuilding after the death of its charismatic leader in 2017. All opposition parties were further weakened by dismal showings in May's federal election, amid multiple allegations - not confirmed in the subsequent recount - of fraud by the two main parties. "If there's widespread fraud again, all opposition parties will be diminished," said Attah Mohammed of the Kurdistan Islamic Group, a sentiment echoed by other opposition leaders. The election will cast a shadow in Baghdad, where the KDP and PUK are competing for the post of federal president, reserved for Kurds ever since a U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Though historically the position has been filled by the PUK, the KDP have fielded their own candidate. Kamal Chomani, non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said that, despite no longer being president of Kurdistan, Barzani hoped to be seen as the pre-eminent Kurdish leader: "He wants all the players to come and see him in Erbil any time they need to deal with the Kurds." Whether that kind of power politics will inspire many to vote appears doubtful. "I only ever voted in the referendum because that was for Kurdistan," said 20-year-old fruit-seller Mostafa Ali in Erbil. "These elections are for the parties, not for Kurdistan." (Reporting by Raya Jalabi in Erbil and Sulaimaniya, and Ahmed Aboulenein in Erbil; Editing by Michael Georgy and Kevin Liffey) By Khalil Ashawi NEAR AL-BAB, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian rebels forced from their towns when government forces retook eastern Ghouta near Damascus are starting over in the far north, aiming to build hundreds of homes for displaced fighters and civilians on opposition-held land near the Turkish border. Jaish al-Islam, one of Syria's most prominent rebel groups, likens the project to a new town for people from eastern Ghouta who have been living in camps since President Bashar al-Assad recaptured their area in April. The project near the city of al-Bab points to preparations for a long stay in northern Syria, though Jaish al-Islam insists that the people displaced from eastern Ghouta will return. It is part of a wider effort by the group to recover in the north. Jaish al-Islam commander Issam al-Buwaydani told Reuters in an interview that his group is reorganising and rearming. Since arriving in the north, it is operating under the "National Army" umbrella - a Turkish-backed effort to unify numerous factions. But civilian affairs are also a top priority: Buwaydani said a mall, a school, a mosque and a clinic would also be built at the construction site some 15 km (10 miles) from al-Bab. "My entire combat group is working today in construction," said Abu Jaafar al-Khouli, 25, one of the Jaish al-Islam fighters working at the construction site. "I took part in many battles in Ghouta against the regime and the Nusra Front. Now, I have returned to my original profession," added Khouli, a carpenter before Syria's civil war. The site, where the goal is to build 1,400 homes, is part of an arc of territory in the northwest at that forms the last major opposition-held area in Syria. The eastern Ghouta rebels defended their stronghold on the Damascus outskirts through years of government siege until earlier this year, when Assad took back the area in a ferocious Russian-backed offensive. When it fell, thousands of people opted to take safe passage to the northwest rather than live under government rule, a pattern seen elsewhere that has left the northwest crammed with anti-Assad fighters and dissidents from all over Syria. Story continues "WE WILL GO BACK" Jaish al-Islam headed to the area north of Aleppo rather than Idlib province because of long-standing hostility towards the jihadist Nusra Front, also known as Tahrir al-Sham, which has a strong presence in Idlib. The housing project is being built on land that officially belongs to the Syrian state. Permission was granted by the opposition-run council in al-Bab, Buwaydani said. Financing is being provided by Ghouta merchants with no foreign funding, he said. He noted that some displaced Syrians had been living under canvass for three or four years, adding: "Our view is that living in tents has a negative impact on society." The first phase of the project will lay foundations for homes. These will then be handed free of charge to Ghouta residents who will complete the construction with financial support from relatives outside Syria, he said. But this does not signal any acceptance that they will not return to Ghouta. "We will go back to our towns. We will liberate them and topple the terrorist tyrant," Buwaydani said, referring to Assad. Buwaydani says his fighters are getting financial aid from Turkey in the form of salaries. He said the group is ready for new battles against the Syrian government or other enemies, including the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia which controls much of northern Syria. Turkey views the YPG as a national security threat, and its intervention in northern Syria has been driven largely by this concern. Though Assad has crushed many areas of rebellion, Buwaydani still believes he can be toppled. "It is not impossible that Assad falls, especially given that the opposition forces are gathered today in one place," he said. "This is a source of strength." (Writing by Tom Perry in Beirut; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping offered the president of Chad a gift box containing US$2 million (HK$15.6 million) in cash around December 2014, US prosecutors have alleged. The accusations by co-defendant turned witness Cheikh Gadio, a former foreign minister of Senegal and an international consultant, were conveyed in a letter from US Department of Justice prosecutor Geoffrey Berman to Hos defence team in May. The letter was disclosed on Monday when Hos lawyers made a fifth bail application to court, arguing the recent dismissal of the charges against Gadio undermined the case against Ho and therefore the previous denials of bail. Less than two weeks ago, the US court granted the prosecutors request to dismiss all charges against Gadio, whom the Post understands agreed to testify as a witness in return. Ho, Hong Kongs home affairs minister from 2002 to 2007, has been behind bars since last November, charged on eight counts: three of money laundering and five of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He is accused of offering US$2.9 million (HK$22.8 million) worth of bribes to government officials to advance oil and development rights in Uganda and Chad for the Shanghai-based CEFC China Energy. Ho was working at the time of his arrest for the China Energy Fund Committee, a Hong Kong research group that receives funds from CEFC. As bribery trial looms, former government official leaves Airport Authority The accounts to which the money was sent were designated to Gadio and Ugandan foreign minister Sam Kutesa. US authorities said Ho met Gadio at the UN in 2014 and later paid him US$400,000 for his influence over Chads president, Idriss Deby. In Bermans letter, Gadio distanced himself from the act of offering cash, saying he had no advance knowledge of the payment and did not advise Ho to pay it. Ho and certain energy company executives provided the [US]$2 million in cash, concealed within a gift box, to the president of Chad in connection with a business meeting in Chad in or about December 2014, read the letter, which did not name the company. Story continues Ho and certain energy company executives provided the [US]$2 million in cash, concealed within a gift box, to the president of Chad in connection with a business meeting in Chad in or about December 2014 Department of Justice letter It said that after Deby said he would not accept the money personally, Ho and the companys executives responded that it had been intended as a donation to Chad. A letter to the president was later drafted by Ho and his colleagues under Gadios assistance, purporting to make a US$2 million charitable donation to Chad, the letter said. Though Gadio said he believed the cash was offered for Ho and the companys interest in doing business in Chad, he claimed to have only learned about the payment shortly after the president opened the gift box. Gadio also denied advising or agreeing with Ho to offer the cash for Debys personal benefit, according to Bermans letter. But according to indictment documents released earlier, Gadio allegedly advised Ho to reward him [the president of Chad] with a nice financial package as an entry ticket in the Chadian oil market and later gas market and other key business in an email sent on November 19, 2014. These documents also revealed Gadio amended Hos drafted letter to Deby, by adding the words at your disposal when the purported US$2 million donation to his administration was mentioned. New Yorks Federal District Court has dismissed all Hos previous bail applications, saying Ho could still be a flight risk considering his powerful connections with China and the weight of evidence presented by prosecutors. But Hos lawyers argued in their latest bail application: Now the government may have accepted at least in part an account that repudiates much of what was alleged in the complaint, seriously diminishing its case against Dr Ho in the process. The defence team requested Ho be released on four conditions: a US$10 million personal recognisance bond secured by US$3 million in cash and unencumbered deeds to homes from Ho and relatives; house arrest in a flat near the court; electronic monitoring; and a global waiver of extradition. Additional reporting by Alvin Lum This article Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho offered US$2 million cash to Chad president Idriss Deby in a gift box, US prosecutors allege first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Kormo claims it creates a persistent connection with the user and takes responsibility for job fulfilment beyond the initial job matching The Kormo team Kormo, an experimental job marketplace app from Googles Area 120 incubator, has been launched in Bangladesh. The app is primarily catering to the informal job market in the country. As per a press statement, the company has been testing out Kormo in Dhaka since mid 2017 and has been able to connect more than 21,000 jobs and serve over 1,000 employers. Also Read: Bangladeshi ride-hailing startup Shohoz raises US$15M pre-Series B funding round There are two parts to Kormo the job seeker app and employer app. Using optimised algorithm, Kormo pairs candidates with available jobs based on a best match model and provides a two-way rating system for employers and employees. Job seekers can sign up, create their CV and get matched to potential jobs. The app also provides curated learning content for skills and personal development. According to Bickey Russel, Head of Kormo, the app is different from job listing or matching sites as it creates a persistent connection with the user and takes responsibility for job fulfilment beyond the initial job matching. This includes tracking job interview attendance, successful selection, certification, and job experience accumulation. Over time, Kormo automatically builds out a users career CV based on completed jobs and skills development. In Bangladesh, over two million young people enter the workforce every year but unemployment and underemployment continue to grow creating new challenges for local people and the economy. With 86 per cent of the labour force employed in the informal job sector, we believe theres room to innovate, said Russel. Also Read: Parking sharing platform Parking Koi wins Seedstars Bangladesh; to compete for up to US$1M in Switzerland The Kormo app is available on Android and for now, only caters to jobs in the capital city Dhaka. Area 120 is an experimental programme within Google ti helps small teams rapidly build new products in an entrepreneurial environment. The incubator build, launches, and iterates on dozens of ideas. The post Kormo, a jobs marketplace from Googles Area 120 incubator, launches in Bangladesh appeared first on e27. Libya, where a new ceasefire was announced Wednesday to end a month of deadly fighting near the capital, fell into chaos with the ouster and killing of strongman Moamer Kadhafi in October 2011. Two rival authorities and a multitude of militias are vying for control of the oil-rich country. The capital Tripoli is the seat of the internationally backed Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Fayez al-Sarraj. A parallel government operates out of the country's east, backed by the self-styled Libyan National Army of military strongman Khalifa Haftar. Here is a timeline of the Mediterranean country's descent into chaos: - Kadhafi killed - Triggered by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, demonstrations erupt in Libya in February 2011. A coalition led by Washington, Paris and London lends its backing. Kadhafi, who has ruled for 42 years, flees the capital. He is killed on October 20, 2011 during a battle for his hometown Sirte, east of Tripoli. Three days later, the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) declares Libya's "total liberation". In August 2012 it hands power to the transitional General National Congress. - Embassies targeted - US ambassador Chris Stevens and three American staff are killed in a September 11, 2012 attack on their consulate in Libya's second city Benghazi. An Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group is blamed. A car bomb in April 2013 targets France's embassy in Tripoli, wounding two French guards. Most foreign delegations withdraw from the country. - Rival governments - Dissident general Haftar, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launches an offensive in May 2014 against jihadist groups in Benghazi. Several military officers from the east join his self-styled Libyan National Army. In June, following legislative elections, the General National Congress is replaced by a parliament dominated by anti-Islamists. In August, after weeks of deadly clashes, Islamist-led militias grouped under the "Fajr Libya" (Libya Dawn) banner storm Tripoli and set up a "national salvation" government. The parliament and government of Abdullah al-Thani, elected in June, take refuge in eastern Libya. The country finds itself with two governments and two parliaments. On December 17, 2015, after months of negotiations, accords signed under UN supervision in Morocco designate a UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). In March 2016 GNA prime minister Sarraj arrives in Tripoli to set up the new government. - Attacks and vote deal - In January 2018 militias attack at Tripoli's only working international airport and at least 20 people are killed. The same month, two car bombings kill nearly 40 people in Benghazi. In May, Islamic State suicide attackers kill 14 people at Libya's electoral commission. In a bid to restore stability, senior Libyan leaders including Sarraj and Haftar commit at a Paris peace conference in May to hold elections on December 10. But the unrest continues. In June, a militia attacks two northeastern oil sites under Haftar's control, through which oil is piped abroad. After days of fighting, Haftar's forces announce they are back in "full control" and have also seized the city of Derna from radical Islamists. - Clashes erupt near Tripoli - On August 27, heavy clashes break out between rival militias on the outskirts of Tripoli, killing dozens over the following days. The UN brokers a ceasefire on September 4 but fighting resumes within days. The capital's airport is attacked with rocket fire on September 12 and rival militias clash nearby on September 18. By Wednesday's announcement of a renewed commitment to the September 4 ceasefire deal, the fighting around Tripoli has left at least 117 dead and more than 400 injured, according to the GNA. Liu Xia talks about Liu Xiaobo, thanks supporters for their concern at New York human rights event Liu Xia, the widow of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, told an audience in New York on Wednesday that even today she is unsure where to start when talking about her late husband, in her first formal appearance since leaving China after eight years of de facto house arrest. Speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation, Liu Xia briefly talked about Liu Xiaobo, who died last July of liver cancer while on medical parole, and thanked supporters for their concern for the couple over the years. Prompted by the moderator, Columbia University Professor Andrew Nathan of the National Endowment for Democracy, to begin the discussion with remarks on her late husband, Liu said: Regarding Xiaobo, I think even today I still dont know what to say. Looking down, she then shared a conversation she had with Liu Xiaobo in his final days. She told him that she had been contacted while he was in jail after co-authoring the human rights manifesto Charter 08. I got a message from the Kafka office in Prague, said Liu, who has often likened her situation to the nightmarish bureaucracies of novelist Franz Kafka. One of the questions they asked was whether one day he would return to the publics sight, and whether he had the power to rally the public and I told Xiaobo that I dont think I can see [that day]. Liu Xiaobo smiled after hearing that. She did not elaborate, but offered a series of thanks to the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation, the attendees, and all of the people that, over the years, worked so hard for Xiaobo and I. As she fell silent, Liao Yiwu, her friend and a Berlin-based Chinese writer in exile, recounted Liu Xiaobos last days, as well as Liu Xias disappearance. Even during Liu Xiaobos last minutes, he didnt have hate in his heart, he said, adding, He wanted Liu Xia to leave [China]. Liu Xia then leaned over to tell Liao, in Chinese, that he should stop speaking about her husband and her experience. Story continues Liu Xia arrives in New York for her first formal appearance Chinese lawyer and dissident Teng Biao was in the audience along with several other signatories of Charter 08 an open petition advocating for political reform in China. It was Liu Xiaobos co-authorship of the charter that led to his 11-year jail sentence. She suffers so much from Liu Xiaobos death and her house arrest. Its hard to talk about, he said. Her brother, Liu Hui, had to remain in China as a condition of her receiving permission to travel to Germany. Teng described him as being held hostage so that Liu Xia would not speak out. The panel was, for the most part, sensitive to Lius wishes. China made absolutely no deals for Liu Xias release, German envoy says For the rest of the discussion, titled The Power of the Powerless in China, Liao instead discussed anecdotes from his books, the influence of Czech writer Vaclav Havel, and certain opinions on the political and human rights situation in China today, which he described as worse than when Charter 08 was written. Liu Xia and Liao Yiwu are in New York for the Vaclav Havel Library Foundations 2018 Disturbing the Peace Award for a Courageous Writer at Risk on Thursday. Liao, this years winner, is receiving the award in recognition of his vocal resistance to the Chinese Communist Party. Liao was jailed for four years for the public recitation of his poem, Massacre, which remembered the Tiananmen Square crackdown of June 4, 1989. Liu Xia was also nominated for this years award. This article Liu Xia talks about Liu Xiaobo, thanks supporters for their concern at New York human rights event first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. More from South China Morning Post: FILE PHOTO: Maldivian president-elect Mohamed Solih arrives at an event with supporters in Male FILE PHOTO: Maldivian president-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih arrives at an event with supporters in Male, Maldives September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Ashwa Faheem/File Photo By Mohamed Junayd MALE (Reuters) - The police and military in the Maldives said on Wednesday they will uphold the result of an election in which opposition leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih beat President Abdulla Yameen. The statements, which boost Solih, come after Yameen's party requested a delay in the publication of final results. Yameen conceded defeat on Monday, a day after the election commission said he lost by more than 16 percentage points. Opposition leader Solih won Sunday's vote by more than 16 percent. Yameen, who will be president until Nov. 17 according to the constitution, has jailed political opponents and cracked down on dissent. Three sources close to Solih told Reuters the request from Yameen's Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) to have the official result delayed beyond the September 30 deadline could be an attempt to have the election result annulled. "PPM has raised some concerns and asked the commission to delay the announcement of the official results," Elections Commission chief Ahmed Shareef said. Shareef said the deadline for issuing final results was Sunday and the Commission had not decided on the PPM request. "The Commission has not been briefed on the nature of the complaints yet but there are allegations of fraud from what I understand," he said. "I do not see any complaint that would affect the outcome of the election but we will have to see what the complaint is," he said. Officials from Yameen's PPM did not respond to requests for comment. In response, the military and police forces said in near-identical statements they would uphold the result. "We were worried but now we feel comfortable (because the) security forces are going to stand with the will of the people," said Ahmed Mahloof, a spokesman for Solih's coalition. PPM spokesman Ahmed Nihan told Reuters it had not requested a delay or decided to challenge the results in court, while spokesmen for the high court and the supreme court said they had not received requests from the PPM to delay results. Story continues The Maldives is best known as a luxury holiday destination and is key to a battle for influence between India and China. It has faced political upheaval since February when Yameen imposed a state of emergency to annul a Supreme Court ruling that quashed the convictions of nine opposition leaders, including former president Mohamed Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader. (Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal in COLOMBO; Writing by Shihar Aneez and Alasdair Pal; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Stripe has raised US$245 million in funding, as it gears toward expansion to new markets globally Entering a new funding round led by Tiger Global Management, along with DST Global and Sequoia, digital payment startup Stripe has grown in valuation to US$20.25 billion, noting a significant surge from its US$9.2 billion valuation in 2016, as reported by Reuters. Also Read: Venturra Capital launches seed investment arm Venturra Discovery, armed with US$15M fund The new fund will be focused toward the companys growth, especially in Southeast Asia and India, where it plans to join the e-commerce bandwagon, particularly to tie-in payments with e-commerce platforms. Specifically, the company said it will open an engineering hub in Singapore, to better address 500 million potential customers across Southeast Asia alone. Stripe makes it easier for companies to accept online payments and bill customers. It currently operates in 25 countries, monetising from the charges it makes on each transaction processed through its platform. Also Read: Digital Finance Innovation Hub aims to support financial inclusion in Malaysia Among its notable customers are fellow Silicon Valley giants like Alphabet Inc.s Google, ride-hailing services Didi and Uber, as well as music streaming service Spotify. Recently, the startup, founded by brothers John and Patrick Collison, partnered with digital payment providers Alipay and WeChat Pay to enable merchants using its platform to accept payments from Chinese consumers. - Image Credit: Stripe The post Recently valued at US$20B, fintech startup Stripe gets ready to enter Singapore appeared first on e27. Two-bedders in Singapores CBD cost about S$1.4 million on average. Two-bedroom condo units in Singapores central business district (CBD) cost approximately 781,000 (S$1.4 million) on average, revealed a study by UK based personal finance website www.finder.com. This amount is the second most expensive in the world, the portal said. More: 88% Of Singaporeans Unhappy Over High Property Prices: PropertyGuru Singapore beats 89 countries Among the 91 countries covered in the research, Singapore was only surpassed by Hong Kong, where two-bedders in the city centre are priced at 1,280,000 (S$2.3 million). This is much higher than Singapores average price by a whopping 64 percent. Price of a two bedder in Singapore The city-state also beat out Australia (12th), where a two-bedroom condo in the CBD costs 246,000. In comparison, the UK (227,000) was ranked 16th, while the US clinched the 35th spot (111,000). Singapores neighbours were also much lower in the rankings. Thailand was ranked 27th (165,000), while Malaysia (98,000) was in 43rd place. The Philippines landed in 65th spot (66,000), while Indonesia (54,000) took the 74th position. Asias London But if Singapore is compared with individual cities, it falls to the third spot and is overtaken by London, where two-bedders in the CBD come with a hefty price tag of 788,000 (approx. S$1.41 million). Nevertheless, the average price of a two-bedroom condo in Singapore is roughly comparable to London. Price of a two-bedder More: Financial Guide On Affordability: TDSR Comparing flat sizes: Singapore vs UK Finder said the data was obtained from Numbeo, a cost of living comparison website. The size of a two-bedroom flat was set at approximately 636 sq ft as this was the median size of such units in the UK. The average size is approximately 653 sq ft. This is slightly smaller than 2-room HDB flats in Singapore, which are available in two sizes; about 387 sq ft or 484 sq ft. But the figured used by Finder is roughly the same as a 3-bedroom HDB flat, which ranges from about 645 sq ft to 699 sq ft. Story continues The size used by Finder was from a 2010 survey conducted by Scott Wilson Group, a global design and engineering consultancy, on behalf of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE). Take data with a pinch of salt However, there are a few questions about the data. First, Numbeo doesnt divulge the exact timeframe when the data was gathered. The second issue is accuracy. While Numbeos figures have been quoted by leading news agencies around the world like The New York Times and BBC, there are doubts on its accuracy as its calculations depend in part on data inputted by ordinary users. Nevertheless, the cost of living website manually gathered data from various sources such as surveys, news articles and government agencies. Can you afford a condo in Singapore? Check your affordability now. Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg A former child soldier holds a gun as they participate in a child soldiers' release ceremony, outside Yambio A former child soldier holds a gun as they participate in a child soldiers' release ceremony, outside Yambio, South Sudan, August 7, 2018. REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu/Files NAIROBI (Reuters) - An estimated 190,000 people have been killed in South Sudan's civil war and when factors such as population displacement, disruption to health facilities and lack of food are included the death toll is at least 383,000, an independent study said. Fighting broke out in December 2013 after a political disagreement between President Salva Kiir and the former vice president he had sacked, Riek Machar. A U.N. official said in 2016 that 50,000 people had been killed and nearly a quarter of the population of 12 million uprooted by the fighting, which has often been along ethnic lines. "About 383,000 South Sudanese have died as a result of the civil war ... The true number may be considerably higher," said the study by researchers at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, released on Tuesday. "While it is plausible that some insecurity would have persisted in South Sudan even without the civil war, we are confident that a large majority of the 190,000 violent deaths were attributable to the war itself," it said. Researchers used to focus on those killed in fighting in estimates of the violence of a conflict, but increasingly they also look at how war has impacted overall death rates by increasing factors such as hunger and infant mortality. The study, which covered the period between December 2013 to April this year, showed that most of the deaths occurred in Jonglei, Unity and the Equatorias states. The rate of deaths from the violence peaked in 2016-2017. Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said he would check government data before making a comment. Kiir signed a peace agreement with Machar and other rebel factions in the Ethiopian capital this month. A previous peace deal signed in 2015 fell apart a year later after clashes broke out between government forces and rebels. In a sign of how fragile the situation is, government forces and the largest rebel group, allied to Machar, clashed in the north of the country on Monday. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Additional reporting by Denis Dumo in Juba; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) A Buddhist temple in Taiwan that had been turned into a base to promote Chinese communism and cross-strait unification is being demolished by local authorities. Wei Ming-jen, a Taiwanese businessman, had converted the 96-year-old Biyun Temple into a much larger building and replaced Buddhist paintings and paraphernalia with Communist Party symbols, propaganda posters and portraits of party leaders such as Xi Jinping, Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. But bulldozers were sent in to the site in Ershui township in central Taiwans Changhua county on Wednesday after a magistrate ruled it was an illegal construction and must be used for its original purpose. Wei, who ran a construction company before he started promoting communism in 2012, was awarded ownership of the temple six years ago in a legal dispute with the previous owners, a group of nuns who had hired him to renovate it. He renamed it Socialism, Nationalism and Patriotism Education Base, and surrounded it with mainland flags. The base proved controversial because of deep-rooted suspicion in Taiwan about the Chinese Communist Party since 1949, when the defeated Kuomintang, or Nationalists, fled to the island from the mainland. The suspicion remains, with Beijing insisting Taiwan is a wayward province to be taken back by force if necessary. Taiwans sixth communist party seeks to forge close ties with mainland China Taiwanese officials said that the self-ruled island was a free society and they would not prevent its citizens displaying a mainland flag, but that additions to the building by Wei had to be demolished because they did not meet safety standards. Announcing the demolition of the illegally built portion on Tuesday, magistrate Wei Ming-ku ruled that the much smaller original temple was a historic monument that could be used only for its original purpose. Nothing, not even a piece of brick, will be left except for the century-old relic, the magistrate said. The next day, the county government sent 55 engineers and workers, along with 17 bulldozers, cranes and other demolition machines, to tear down the new sections of the buildings. Story continues About 600 police officers and 14 fire engines were also deployed after 15 litres of petrol and several containers of gas were found at the site, according to deputy magistrate Lin Ming-yu. Taiwan mulls opening citizenship door to Southeast Asia to cope with cross-strait brain drain He said 5,600 square metres of the temple premises was illegally occupied and demolishing it would take five to six days. Since he began displaying the mainland flag at the site in October 2016, Wei has raised it every morning and lowered it each evening, drawing protests from pro-independence groups in Taiwan. Some have complained to the government of President Tsai Ing-wen, but in vain because Taiwanese law recognises freedom of political advocacy. Weis final flag ceremony, broadcast on local television, took place in front of about 20 supporters, who were led by Wei in shouting slogans such as long live the Chinese Communist Party, long live Mao Zedongs Thought and long live the Peoples Republic of China and the Chinese nation. He had played the mainland anthem earlier that morning. China leaves Mao Zedongs legacy in place, even as Taiwan purges Chiang Kai-sheks When asked what he would do next, Wei said: What we will do is something that we will keep to ourselves, and we will never yield, because the court handed the temple to us and we obtained it legally. We will wait for the best moment to declare our return, and by that time I pledge that the five-star flags will be flying all over the island. One of the Buddhist nuns who now live nearby in a tin-roof shelter said the group felt sad seeing the temple demolished. I hope one day our worshippers can help us rebuild the temple, Master Fa Ming said. This article Taiwan bulldozes illegal communist shrine at Buddhist temple first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. New ticket machines installed in Hong Kongs high-speed rail terminus ahead of tourist influx during golden week holiday New ticketing machines were being installed in the West Kowloon terminus of Hong Kongs cross border high-speed railway on Wednesday as its crowd management will soon be put to the test over the looming golden week holidays. The eight machines are being installed in the ticketing lobby in basement level one, which will be made ready before the expected influx of travellers for the mainlands seven-day holidays starting on October 1. Chief of operations for MTR Corp, Francis Li Shing-kee, said on Wednesday that these machines would allow passengers to redeem tickets they bought on mainland rail operator China Railway Holdings website, 12306.cn, faster. We are supporting China Railways installation and hope it will be done as soon as possible, he said, adding that there were 440,000 tickets sold up to October 25. Passengers had complained of long queues when redeeming those tickets since the 26km Hong Kong section of the HK$84.4 billion Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link opened on Sunday. The queues were so long that it prompted the operator of the railway, MTR Corp, to temporarily allow passengers to travel without printing out online tickets. Li said the ticketing counters for redeeming tickets bought on the 12306.cn website were expanded from five to seven on Monday. The mainland website is one of the two platforms selling high-speed rail tickets, the other is the MTR Corps website. Ticket purchases on the former require a mainland mobile phone number. Crowds and queues had eased markedly on Wednesday compared with the first two days of operation. Traffic at the express rail link did not meet the MTR Corps estimate three days in a row since it opened on Sunday, with 37,820 travellers passing through the immigration checkpoint in the West Kowloon terminus about 53 per cent below the 80,000 daily estimate by the MTR Corp. Lo Wu in the north of the New Territories, remains the most popular checkpoint. Every new railway needs time to build traffic, Li said. It will increase over time. Story continues The travel figures showed more Hong Kong-bound passengers than China-bound with 60 per cent of passengers coming to Hong Kong through the high-speed rail services. There have been long queues seen at restaurants in the terminus. For example, at Chun Shui Tang, a famous Taiwanese cultural tea house which set up its first Hong Kong branch in the form of a takeaway store in the terminus, it took 40 minutes to get a cup of tea after receiving paying. Michelin-star dim sum restaurant Tim Ho Wan was still crowded with queues before and after lunch time during peak hours. This article New ticket machines installed in Hong Kongs high-speed rail terminus ahead of tourist influx during golden week holiday first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. Rising global trade tensions are a symptom of a decade-long failure to address the very same excesses and inequalities linked to the 2008 financial meltdown, the UN said Wednesday. Countries have failed to change their policies to prevent a repeat of the crisis, and have instead allowed financial giants -- and debt -- to grow uncontrolled, the UN trade, investment and development agency (UNCTAD) said in a report. "The immediate pressures are building around escalating tariffs and volatile financial flows," agency chief Mukhisa Kituyi said in a statement. But, he said, "behind these threats to global stability is a wider failure, since 2008, to address the inequalities and imbalances of our hyper-globalised world." The spiralling trade fights between US President Donald Trump's administration and China especially are a symptom of "a degraded economic system" and its multilateral institutions, UNCTAD said. The run-up to the financial crisis was marked by pervasive "complacency", the report said. "What is more surprising still is just how little has changed in its aftermath," it added. Instead of addressing the causes of the crisis, the world has allowed banks to get even bigger and shadow-banking to swell to $160 trillion -- twice the size of the global economy. "The world economy remains on shaky ground a decade after the 2008 financial crisis, with trade wars a symptom of a deeper malaise," UNCTAD said. - 'Walking a tightrope' - The agency said it saw "economic storm clouds gathering", with tepid growth being fuelled by sky-rocketing debt. Global debt stocks have risen to nearly $250 trillion -- three times the world's income and 50 percent higher than at the time of the crisis. "The world economy is walking a tightrope between debt-fuelled growth and financial instability," said Richard Kozul-Wright, head of UNCTAD's globalisation and development strategies division. "What we know from history is that debt-fuelled booms always end badly," he told reporters. Growing indebtedness, he said, was closely linked to rising inequality amid the rising influence of financial institutions and a smaller number of huge firms. "Trade is a big firm game," Kozul-Wright said, pointing out that over half of world trade is run through just one percent of corporations. This is worrying, he said, since "big firms have been a major source of inequality in this highly financialised world." This is particularly true of big tech companies, which he warned are "more prone to monopolisation and rent-seeking behaviour than the old analogue economy." - Erosion of trust - Trust in the system has meanwhile eroded dramatically, the report said, pointing to resentment over the sense that the financial institutions that caused the crisis got away with it -- and have even profited from it. "Trust was sucked out of the financial system with the crisis in 2008, and trust is now being sucked out of the political (system) as a consequence of the failure to deal with these problems," Kozul-Wright said. "The trade war is in many respects a reflection of that lack of trust across the political system." UNCTAD warned that the recent rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs could have "damaging consequences" beyond trade. Kozul-Wright acknowledged that even if Washington slaps tariffs on as much as $600 billion worth of Chinese products, it would barely dent the massive $19-trillion US economy. But he noted that the subprime mortgage market that sparked the 2008 crisis "was only a tiny part of the US housing system, and it made the whole world blow up." "That's what frightens people," he told AFP. "We don't know what the second-order effects will be." By Steve Holland and Parisa Hafezi UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani exchanged taunts at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday with Trump vowing more sanctions against Tehran and Rouhani suggesting his American counterpart suffers from a "weakness of intellect." Trump used his annual address to the United Nations to attack Iran's "corrupt dictatorship," praise last year's bogeyman North Korea and lay down a defiant message that he will reject globalism and protect American interests. But much of his 35-minute address was aimed squarely at Iran, which the United States accuses of harboring nuclear ambitions and fomenting instability in the Middle East through its support for militant groups in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. "Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction," Trump told the gathering in the green-marbled hall. "They do not respect their neighbors or borders or the sovereign rights of nations." Rouhani, addressing the assembled world leaders later, sharply criticized Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran. He said he had "no need for a photo opportunity" with Trump and suggested the U.S. president's pull back from global institutions was a character defect. "Confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength. Rather it is a symptom of the weakness of intellect - it betrays an inability in understanding a complex and interconnected world," he said. Trump's address was met largely by silence from world leaders still not comfortable with go-it-alone views that have strained U.S. relationships with traditional allies worldwide. His speech, while delivered in a low-key fashion, was nonetheless a thunderous recitation of his "America First" policies. He has disrupted the world order by withdrawing the United States from the nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord, and threatened to punish NATO nations for not paying more for their common defense. Story continues "We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy," Trump said, in language popular with his political base. "America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism." Besides calling out Iran, Trump also criticized China for its trade practices but made no mention of Russia's interference in Syria's war or its suspected meddling in U.S. elections. Rouhani was defiant in his speech to the world body. "What Iran says is clear: no war, no sanctions, no threats, no bullying; just acting according to the law and the fulfillment of obligations," Rouhani said. MACRON'S ALTERNATIVE VIEW Offering an alternative view when it was his turn at the podium, French President Emmanuel Macron told the delegates that the law of the survival of the fittest, protectionism and isolationism would only lead to heightened tensions. Defending multilateralism and collective action, he said nationalism would lead to failure and if countries stopped defending basic principles, global wars would return. "I do not accept the erosion of multilateralism and don't accept our history unraveling," Macron told the assembly, at times raising his voice. "Our children are watching." Macron, citing the example of Iran, said that this unilateralism push would lead directly to conflicts. Trump, who begins his political rallies with boasts about his economic record in less than two years in office, used the same rhetoric before the crowd of world leaders and diplomats, telling them he had accomplished more than almost any previous U.S. president. The remark led to some murmuring and laughter in the crowd, taking the president slightly aback. "I didnt expect that reaction, but that's OK," he said. Trump attempted to drive a wedge between Iran's leadership and its people, days after an attack in southwestern Iran on a military parade killed 25 people and unsettled the country. In remarks to reporters on his way to his speech, Trump said he would not meet the Iranians until they "change their tune." Though he held out the possibility of a better relationship in the future, he made clear economic pressure on Iran would not abate. Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, addressing a group called United Against a Nuclear Iran, called the 2015 accord "the worst diplomatic debacle in American history" and had a warning for "the mullahs in Tehran." "If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat, and deceive, yes, there will indeed be HELL to PAY," he said. In May, Republican Trump withdrew the United States from the deal to put curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions. France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union were part of the accord with Iran. Foes for decades, Washington and Tehran have been increasingly at odds since May. The accord with OPEC member Iran was negotiated under Democratic U.S. President Barack Obama. "Additional sanctions will resume November 5th and more will follow and we are working with countries that import Iranian crude oil to cut their purchases substantially," Trump said. He said the United States would help create a regional strategic alliance between Gulf nations and Jordan and Egypt, a move the United States sees as a bulwark against Iran. Trump compared U.S. relations with Iran to what he called improved ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who Trump had met in Singapore in June as part of a still-unfulfilled drive to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons. In his address last year to the U.N., Trump insulted Kim as a "rocket man" bent on nuclear destruction. On Tuesday, Trump praised Kim for halting nuclear and missile tests, releasing Americans held prisoner and returning some remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950s Korean War. The two leaders are trying to arrange a second summit. Trump has said sanctions on North Korea would remain for now. Delivering a harsh message to OPEC members, Trump called on them to stop raising oil prices and to pay for their own military protection. He threatened to limit U.S. aid only to countries that are friendly to the United States. Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said oil prices were driven only by markets, by supply and demand. "These are not things that can be manipulated by a decision here or there," said Gargash, whose country is an OPEC member. Crude oil prices shot to a four-year high on Tuesday, catapulted by imminent U.S. sanctions on Iranian crude exports and the apparent reluctance of OPEC and Russia to raise output to offset the potential hit to global supply. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Parisa Hafezi; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, Jeff Mason, Arshad Mohammed, Yara Bayoumy, John Irish; editing by Yara Bayoumy and Grant McCool) COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Two people were arrested in Copenhagen on Wednesday and charged with attempting to supply Islamic State with drones, which the organization has used to carry out attacks, police said. The two were arrested after police and Danish security and intelligence services carried out raids in Copenhagen, the police said in a statement. The two persons are suspected of being members of a broader network that ships drones and other supplies to Islamic State from Denmark for use in combat, the police said. The police did not release their names or any details about them. They were charged with attempting to collude with terrorism abroad and will appear in court on Thursday, the police said in a statement. Islamic State has increasingly been using drones to carry out attacks in Syria and Iraq. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, editing by Larry King) By Lesley Wroughton NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States is pressing Zimbabwe to change laws restricting media freedom and anti-government protests, the U.S.'s top diplomat for Africa told Reuters on Wednesday amid calls by the country's new leader for U.S. sanctions to be lifted. "The Zimbabweans absolutely understand exactly the U.S. point of view," said Tibor Nagy, who was recently sworn in as U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa. The laws Nagy referred to include the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which restrict media freedoms and bars foreign correspondents from working in Zimbabwe full time. The other is the Public Order and Security Act, which is used by the security agencies to prohibit anti-government protests and arrest pro-opposition activists. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from 93-year-old Robert Mugabe in 2017 after the intervention of the military, has called for U.S. sanctions to be lifted against him, officials from the ZANU-PF ruling party, top military figures and some government-owned firms, imposed during Mugabe's rule for violations of human rights and democracy. His victory in a July 30 election was touted as a crucial step toward shedding the pariah reputation that Zimbabwe gained under Mugabe, as well as securing funding from global lenders like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. "The Zimbabweans are being very positive what they are going to be doing, including that they have a legal process on how to enact measures," Nagy said in an interview on the sidelines of U.N. meetings. He said political reforms would encourage foreign investment. "Taking action on those two (laws) would send a signal ... to investors," Nagy said, adding: "Zimbabwe could go very, very quickly to a middle income status with positive leadership and positive steps, both on opening the political space and also opening up economic fairness." Story continues ETHIOPIA'S REFORM Nagy said political and economic reforms in countries like Ethiopia and Angola were "prime examples" of how visionary leaders could transform countries and attract investor interest. "The lamps are coming back on in an incredibly important region," Nagy said of changes in Ethiopia that have reshaped the political landscape in the Horn of Africa. Since taking office in April, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's ruling coalition has ended a state of emergency and released political prisoners, while also announcing plans to partially open up the economy to foreign investors. In his boldest move, he has restored diplomatic ties and reopened the border with Eritrea, 20 years after the neighbors started a border war that killed an estimated 80,000 people. Nagy said Washington "definitely wants to be partners in Ethiopia's evolution" through technical assistance, financial reforms and investment. Nagy said, however, recent protests in Ethiopia's Somali region and on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa illustrated the delicate nature of political change in Africa's second most populous country. "The prime minister is in an extremely delicate situation because on the one hand if it's too light of a touch and he doesn't respond, then people's lives are lost. If he comes in with too heavy a hand, then there is law enforcement brutality ... that the government has been systematically criticized for now for decades." The government this month lifted a ban on opposition groups that were considered terrorist groups. Elections are due in 2020. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by James Dalgleish) When she began applying for admission to universities in pursuit of a masters degree, Pakistan native Maira Tahir aimed high and far, sending out applications across a huge swathe of the globe. Her requests to be considered for a spot at a top school landed on the desks of admissions officers in the United States, Finland and China. In the end, she accepted an offer of admission from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, an old public research university in China known as The MIT of the East. What helped Tahir make her decision was not just the school's reputation and tradition it was founded in 1896 at the edict of the 10th emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) but something more tangible: a scholarship offer. I thought knowing Chinese language and about the culture would be a bonus to my CV, said Tahir, 23, who will study new media and take required courses in Chinese language and culture at the school. The school has a great reputation, and they gave out a really nice scholarship, Tahir said. I was accepted in the US, but I was not going to get a scholarship. For Tahir, going to the Shanghai university caps off years of watching Chinas influence grow over her home country. Along with the establishment of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in 2015 a US$62 billion collection of infrastructure projects China is building has come a flurry of interest in building business ties and opening Chinese language centres in universities. As Tahir has observed Chinas outward push, she is also a product of Chinas painstaking efforts to draw students to its institutions of higher learning. Just under half a million international students now study across 31 provinces and regions in China, about as many as in Britain. China says plots to undermine its relations with Pakistan wont work And like Tahir, about two-thirds of Chinas international students numbering 317,000 last year hail from countries that have partnered with China in the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijings massive and ambitious US$1 trillion infrastructure plan. Story continues The influx of international students to Chinese schools is part of a carefully conceived but little publicised aspect of the global project: education. The official guidelines for the belt and road educational initiative, released in 2016, include mutual recognition of scholarly degrees between nations and encourage collaboration between nations' universities. But the initiatives impact can largely be felt on Chinas campuses, where scholarship funding and the creation of English-language international departments often with promotional Facebook pages despite that site being blocked in China are beckoning students from across the belt and road and beyond. The initiative marks a slight shift in focus from Chinas long-standing support of international students from developing African countries like Somalia and Sudan, whose numbers have increased rapidly since 2003. Belt and road is the only engine for future world economic growth In the past year alone, enrolment from belt and road partner nations has jumped 12 per cent to 317,000 students. Meanwhile, students are moving away from short-term Chinese language study. Almost half of all international students in China are pursuing bachelors, masters or doctoral degrees, with the number increasing 15 per cent from 2016 to 2017, according to Ministry of Education statistics. Alan Cheung, a professor of educational administration and policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said part of the logic behind Chinas move to attract more international students is to train a workforce that will help it attain the financial, infrastructural and policy goals laid out in the Belt and Road Initiative. All of these goals require very skilled and educated manpower, both in China and in the other countries, Cheung said. There are around 60 countries in the belt and road and some are still so-called developing countries. They need a lot of training, which can be mutually beneficial in the long run. EXTENSIVE FUNDING To drive this educational goal, Chinas government has rolled out an extensive system of scholarship funding for international students. Notably, these students are exempt from taking the gaokao, the gruelling university placement test for local residents. Instead, students from abroad can apply for admission to schools international programmes and for scholarships through a separate system. They can also be placed in programmes via other means. China, Pakistan agree to open economic corridor to other countries This was the case for Biku Maharjan. Growing up in Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, he thought little about China. Ultimately, however, he found himself one of 50 Nepali students selected to study for an expenses-paid bachelors degree in Chinese language and culture at Beijing Normal University, just months after he started taking a Chinese course at a Kathmandu Confucius Institute. Learning Chinese was not a big priority in our country. It never was, said Maharjan, who was offered a place at Beijing Normal after submitting an application to the Confucius Institute. In fact, if I had to pay for the whole course, I wouldnt have applied at all, he said. My family could barely afford it. But coming to China has been an open platform for me to explore my choices. While the authorities have disclosed no official budgetary total for the range of scholarships offered to international students, the number of students receiving central government funding has increased by 70 per cent since 2012, with support ranging from tuition aid to full packages that include monthly stipends of several thousand yuan. Hong Kong university offers new data science programme, eyeing sector boom The government earmarks 10,000 scholarships for belt and road students each year, according to state media. Of the nearly 50,000 government scholarships awarded in 2016, 61 per cent were awarded to students from belt and road countries, the Ministry of Education reported. These figures do not include the array of scholarships offered at the university level, as well as Confucius Institute scholarships, such as the one Maharjan is using to fund his bachelors degree studies. BETTER OPPORTUNITIES While the promise of scholarship money is a big draw for students, so are other sweeteners that intersect with a variety of issues unique to each country. Opportunities to use advanced technologies or apply for China-oriented jobs also heighten the appeal of studying at a Chinese university for students who come from countries that lag China in technology or that have overburdened higher education systems. For Nandar Nyein Thu from Yangon, Myanmar, coming to China was not her original goal. But after her application to the China Scholarship Council for a grant in support of her education was approved, she knew it would be the most feasible way to obtain access to the more advanced laboratory facilities she saw as essential for her doctoral work. If I do research work in my country, it cannot be used in application, because my country is not developed in technology like China, said Nandar, who now is pursuing a doctorate in control science and engineering at Harbin Engineering University. In China, we know the limits of technology, so we can work on very focused areas of research to advance technology. Trumps policies may make it harder for US to find Chinese teachers Nandar set up a Facebook page to help other students from Myanmar who are considering studying in China to navigate the system and adjust to life in the country. She plans to continue the service after she finishes her degree and returns to Yangon, Myanmars largest city, to teach at her local university. Electrical engineering major Saha Pranto said he felt the quality of his bachelor's degree courses would have been roughly the same if he had pursued his studies at home in Bangladesh; but he didnt have the option to do so. The limited number of spaces at his countrys public universities prevented him from receiving a placement in his chosen speciality, he said. I didnt have any plan to study at a private university, so I decided to come to China, he said. Though his scholarship provided just enough funds to cover his tuition, leaving him to pay for his room and board on his own, Pranto, who is now in his third year at the China Three Gorges University in Hubei, said he feels China was his best chance for continuing his education. But some observers say overcapacity at universities elsewhere in the world, rather than an increase in the prestige in Chinese universities, is what is driving Central Asian students to their eastward neighbour. Chinas investment in human capital jumps as US falls behind That is the view of Michal Bogusz, senior analyst at the Centre for Eastern Studies, in Warsaw, Poland. There are more and more students going to China studying, Bogusz said. But it is related to the situation that local universities dont have enough capacity to give placement to all those who want to study there, so these students will go to Europe or go to China. Moreover, Chinas culture and its nascent reputation as a centre for higher learning make it a viable second choice for Central Asia and Eastern European students more culturally oriented towards Russia and Europe, he said. From their perspective it is easier to adapt to local conditions here than in China, he said, referring to study in Europe. Alan Cheung of the Chinese University of Hong Kong also believes that China has a way to go to build the international reputation of its schools up to an elite level. There are some great universities that offer great programmes at the STEM level, but they may have a hard time getting good students, he said. China is competing with other countries for the best and brightest. But Cheung predicts growth will continue from Chinas neighbouring regions, including Central Asia, where China has been increasing its presence since President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative in a speech in Kazakhstan in 2013. Taiwan urged to stem brain drain as Beijing lures top talent Shokhrukh Ashrafi is one student from this region who accepted full government funding for a programme that offered courses specifically related to belt and road projects. The native of Dushanbe, Tajikistan recently began pursuing a masters degree in contemporary Chinese studies at the newly opened Silk Road School, an offshoot institute of Renmin University on the research universitys campus in Suzhou, in east Chinas Jiangsu province. The institution, which was launched in May, strives to recruit students from countries and regions along the belt and road, offering specialisations in Chinese politics, Chinese economy, Chinese law and Chinese culture. Although Ashrafi said he was lured to the school by the opportunity to enhance the Chinese studies he took while earning a bachelors degree in international relations back home, he also is mindful of the larger possibilities tied to studying in China. The bordering countries like Tajikistan and Pakistan, Russia and others, are all of crucial importance to China, he said. Having students that have studied in China that are familiar with China and its people and political culture, I think China may use these people in the future when promoting Chinese interests in these countries, he said. Why Chinas overseas students struggle after coming home He said he has already seen this strategy applied in the business sector in Tajikistan. Nevertheless, he said he was unsure of the extent to which collaboration ultimately would take off and increase the value of knowledge about China in his home country. Although the government supports the Belt and Road Initiative and keeps saying they are ready for these kinds of initiatives, I dont know how useful Tajikistan can be, except for the transportation of goods from China, he said. My country is moving a bit slowly, but I hope this will change. This article Why foreign students along the belt and road are jostling to enrol in Chinas universities first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018. More from South China Morning Post: During Christine Blasey Fords testimony about Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday, C-SPAN invited viewers to call in and comment on the proceedings so far. The invitation resulted in multiple women calling in, some to speak in support of Ford, others to question her motivations. One thing that many of them had in common, however, was a personal experience with sexual assault, which they shared in varying levels of detail. The calls amount to a different kind of testimony, an indication, if anyone still needed one, of just how common encounters like the one Ford has described really are, spanning generations, locations, and political ideology. Advertisement Brenda from Missouri calls C-SPAN "I'm a 76-year-old woman who was sexually molested in 2nd grade. This brings back so much pain. Thought I was over it but it's not. You will never forget it. You get confused & you don't understand it but you never forget what happened to you." pic.twitter.com/uCgroeQ4B5 CSPAN (@cspan) September 27, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite sharing similar experiences, the callers had different takeaways from Fords testimony. Sherri, a 65-year-old Republican from California, recounted how she was attacked by three men when she was 17 years old, men who slugged me in the chest so hard I couldnt breathe and I thought I was going to be raped. Sherri says she felt relief after she was rescued by a passing motorist, and the three men were eventually prosecuted. Advertisement But Sherri used her own story to question the validity of Fords. They laid on her and groped at her, thats horrible, she said. But she didnt get raped, she didnt get any of the further stuff done, but she talks like she was raped. Its a horrible thing to be attacked by anybody, but you get over it, especially if you feel so good that it didnt go any further. You didnt die and you werent raped. Advertisement Advertisement Jessica, a 26-year-old Democrat from Chicago, was audibly emotional and declined to go into detail about her own assault, beyond that it occurred when she was 19 and in college. Its very important, I think, to victims of sexual assault that we take these accusations seriously, she said. And Im disappointed that there hasnt been an FBI investigation, because its 2018, the #MeToo movement has happened, and I think we need to come from a perspective of believing women when they come forward with these stories, because its not an easy thing to do, and I dont think its something anyone would undertake lightly. Advertisement Advertisement Another Democrat, Hillary, said that she was at a college party when someone spiked her drink and then followed her out of the building, at which point she successfully fought off her attacker. I think the Republicans right now are heartless and spineless, she said. And I cant imagine why they are putting a victim of assault or even just a supposed victim of assault up under prosecution. Shes not on trial. And I think they are treating her badly. Advertisement Advertisement Republican Michelle noted that she went to high school in an upper-middle-class area in the New England area around the same time as Kavanaugh. In a particularly difficult story to listen to, she recalled an incident at a friends house during a sleepover when she was 12 years old. Advertisement Around 4:00 in the morning in the dim light of the night light, her 17-year-old brother was hovered [unintelligible] on the other side of the bed with his hands in my underwear and fondling me. And I remember being so frightened and not wanting anybody to be upset with me because I love this family a lot. So I thought I would pretend to wake up, and he backed off and he came back around two more times until my girlfriend started to stir a little bit. Then he left and that was the end. And the only person I told that to was my husband when I first married him a few years later. And a girlfriend since then. That being said, Im still friends with that person, so I would never, ever want to cause harm. Its not worth it. Advertisement She went on to explain that her daughter was similarly molested by a dance instructor as a teenager. But while Michelle said that Fords testimony was credible, she questioned her motivations for publicly accusing Kavanaugh. You dont destroy peoples lives without evidence. Im wondering what she chooses to accomplish. If I was going to do this, it would be if I saw he [had] records of hurting women on the bench on these kind of cases. Then Id see the point of this. But if thats not the case, why? Why would you do this if its not to prevent him harming women on the bench in this particular type of instance of sexual abuse? On Wednesday night, the first trailer for the next installment of the X-Men franchise, Dark Phoenix, premiered during The Late Late Show With James Corden. In the trailer, Sophie Turner reprises her role from X-Men: Apocalypse as Jean Grey, who in previous movies has been played by Famke Janssen and Haley Ramm. Wolverine actually killed Grey in The Last Stand, but her fate was rewritten in Days of Future Past thanks to some time-travel antics. That timeline is a little dizzying to track for non-superfans, but whats clear is that Dark Phoenix will delve into Greys backstory, giving us a chance to understand why she later turns on the other mutants. Professor X, played by James McAvoy, defends his decision to conceal the truth about Greys past from her in the trailer. He tells Mystique, played by Jennifer Lawrence, that he had to protect Grey, to which she responds, From the truth? Theres another word for that. As Grey grows, she becomes aware of her own power and morphs into Dark Phoenix, seeking revenge even as Professor X apologizes for his mistakes. Youre always sorry, Charles, and theres always a speech, and nobody cares, says Magneto, played again by Michael Fassbender. Jessica Chastain also stars as Lilandra, and Nicholas Hoult returns as Beast, in Dark Phoenix, which hits theaters Feb. 14. This article is published through a partnership with New York Medias Strategist. The partnership is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected by New York Media. If you buy something through our links, Slate and New York Media may earn an affiliate commission. My mom, like many other moms in the 90s, attended her share of Pampered Chef parties (if youre unfamiliar, its like Mary Kay, except with kitchenware). She ended up with plenty of ho-hum purchases, but one thing she bought was so nifty, so ingenious, I had to swipe it from her cabinet when I moved into a place of my own. The Measure-All Cup truly does measure all (cooking or baking ingredients). It looks like a standard wide cylinder with a hollow sliding-bottom surface (which itself has a pour spout). Turn it so the slide faces the bottom and you can measure dry ingredients; flip it and you can measure wet ones. It seems so straightforward, but where the Measure-All really shines is for measuring those sticky, kind-of-liquid/kind-of-solid baking ingredients, where precision is paramount but ingredients can be uncompromisingly messy. As a lover of all things peanut butter (its protein, whatever), Ive too often found myself cursing and stabbing at measuring cups with rubber spatulas, trying to get every last swipe of the stuff out of my awkwardly angled measuring cups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But with the Measure-All Cup, I scoop my peanut butter (or molasses, honey, marshmallow fluff, syrup, tahini, margarine, butter, Crisco, or whatever sticky thing I have), then just push up the bottom like a Push Pop. Theres only one flat surface to swipe, no tricky corners or curved walls to contend with, and no nonstick spray to apply. My cookies get maximum peanut-butter impact, my fingers stay clean, and somewhere out there, some 90s mom is smiling. Thankfully, its now also available on Amazon, no network marketingor, indeed, verbal communication at allrequired. BUY: The Pampered Chef Measure-All Cup $18, Amazon More Strategist-Approved Kitchen Helpers Advertisement Wickman is also a fan of this rolling garlic peeler, which enables her garlic obsession: All you have to do is pop the whole clove into the tube on the counter, push the whole thing down with your palm, and roll. The sides of the tube grab onto the skin and rip it off, and out tumbles your perfect little peeled garlic clove. Then all you have to do is rinse the tube, cook your meal, and enjoy your vampire-free life. Simple. Advertisement BUY: Modfacture Garlic Peeler $5, Amazon Advertisement The Benriner mandoline is a favorite of chef Gabriel Kreuther: The setup is very simple: Theres the regular blade on one side, which allows you to get a precise, consistent cut. On the other side, you can add attachments to adjust the size of the cut. Theres one for a julienne, a dice, a chopall in one piece of equipment. I use it for all my garnishes and salads, and no knife has ever created a better julienne. Advertisement BUY: Benriner Vegetable Slicer $24, Amazon Advertisement Advertisement Writer Foster Kamer tipped us off to this Japanese scrubber, which he learned about from artist Jenny Holzer: Its got a rich, century-long history, and its since become one of the most common household objects in Japan. After ten minutes cleaning with it, youll know why. On first glance, its angry little brown fibers look like theyll do more damage to your hands than your pots. But fear not: Those fibers, made of hemp palm, soften under water, enough for you to get a cozy, ticklish hold on. And then they will proceed to absolutely obliterate any grime youll come across, on any surface. They clean easily. BUY: Japanese Tawashi Brush $8, Amazon The Pickle, a food and cooking advice column, was written by The Art of Gay Cooking author Daniel J. Isengart. You can follow all of his work at his website. I have been seeing someone new, and we went on a few dates already, I think mostly to restaurants. I want to invite her over to my bachelors pad for the first time and cook dinner. What should I make? A few weeks ago, a recently married woman told me of her second date with her husband. He had invited her to his place for dinner and served her a delicious, highly elaborate dinner that had completely bowled her over, a prelude to the very enjoyable night that followed. Only months later, well into their dating period (and just short of his engagement proposal) did he admit to her that the food had in fact been prepared by a friendly neighbor, a professional chef who was eager to help him to finally get laid. She might have considered his sly scheme a deal breaker, but she had the smarts to see it for what it wasa daring but somewhat charming trickand forgave him with a wink and a smile. (Its safe to assume he had other endearing qualities and that he only tried to pull off this trick once.) Such a generous reaction is, of course, not guaranteed, and in any case, neighborly outsourcing wouldnt be a viable solution in the long run. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First, find out what your date likes to eat. Dont be too direct about it by flatly asking (with the exception of allergies and pronounced dislikes, which you should inquire about): Rather, observe and remember whatand howshe orders in restaurants, how discerning she is about food in general, and how she reacts to what she is being served. Put all that into consideration for the meal you want to prepare and surprise her with a menu that demonstrates that you have discretely paid close attention to her culinary preferences. Do not underestimate the effect this can have on a budding relationship. In fact, I cannot think of a better way to show ones commitment. Put together a menu that allows you to, again, pay more attention to her than to the food. Make something that will not stress you out and is well within your competence: This is also an opportunity to show confidence (but not cockiness) and that you can fulfill a given task with a level of ease that, once again, allows you to focus mostly on her. And make sure that the kitchen is clean and in order when she arrivesanother way to show that you are a responsible person, or at least try to be. Advertisement Advertisement In terms of cooking strategy, there are two different approaches. You could prepare everything ahead of time so that youll just need to put the last finishing touches on the meal in her presence. There is nothing wrong with a room-temperature meal that is completely ready to serve as is, or, say, a main course that comes out of the oven so that all you need to keep in mind is timing (a whole fish en papillote, a roast chicken, or even a fillet of beef). The first approach could be a green salad (lightly dressed just before serving with a honey-sweetened vinaigrette); halibut fillet baked over a bed of shaved fennel, served with roasted new potatoes and a green sauce of sour cream, chopped dill, a few crushed juniper berries, and finely diced apple and celery; and a dessert of roasted sliced peaches, brushed with olive oil and drizzled with a Balsamico reduction, with biscotti on the side. Advertisement Advertisement Or you could devise a menu where the main course requires some cooking in her presence as you both sip some wine or a cocktail and engage in conversation, which can be very sexy if its done with casual ease. I can imagine a light risotto, slowly stirred, beginning with sauteing diced onions, celery, and carrots until translucent (which you can prep, but not too long ahead of time or the diced onions will turn acrid) before adding a sprig of fresh thyme and the rice. (Carnaroli is best.) Then mix in, little by little, white wine, homemade (!) very lightly salted chicken broth, a few saffron strands, andonce the rice is still al dente but the risotto agreeably wetperhaps some diced zucchini or shredded radicchio, or a handful of peeled and deveined shrimp (all of which will cook within a couple of minutes), a touch of butter, and some grated parmesan. Advertisement Advertisement Resist the much-advertised cliche of serving any of those alleged edible aphrodisiacs. Stay clear of the suggestive Valentines Daystyle menus with their forced, evocative, Champagne-popping, stingy caviar nibbles, chucked oysters, stiff asparagus, ostensibly luxurious lobster tails, and gold-leaf-decorated chocolate concoctions: They point all too directly to the bedroom, and its too early for that in your budding relationship. There is also a list of no-nos in terms of foods with side effects: Be easy on the garlic and omit raw onions altogether, not to mention beans. Furthermore, dont be heavy-handed with the art direction of the evening: No strewn rose petals on the floor; no baroque abundance of candlelights flooding the entire apartment; no heady bouquets of flowers or romantic music. Keep things welcoming and neat (especially the bathroom), but dont be fussy: The only thing worse than a fussy gay man is a fussy straight man. Advertisement Advertisement In some cultures, tradition decrees that a man should appraise a potential wife by her ability to cook a perfect rice dish. While such practices might strike some as archaic or sexist, I think that they should not be dismissed without proper analysis: Cooking a delicate rice dish with the requisite Tahdig (the delicious but easily burned golden crust that forms at the bottom) requires knowledge, experience, focus, and above all, patiencequalities that anyone should wish for in a partner, no matter their gender. I am a great cook with a tiny kitchen. As in, I have about 2 feet of counter space, which is not really easily accessible (i.e., I cant really stand in front of it), my sink, and then my small 4 burner (3 small, 1 big) stove-oven. I have a rolling butcher block where my microwave and toaster oven live that I should use but is currently occupied by my sewing machine and is also out past the fridge. I need a better place to chop than the edge of my sink. HELP ME. How can I best use a tiny kitchen? Advertisement One can work in pretty much any kitchen as long as its well organized. The first thing you should do is get a sturdy wooden chopping board large enough to fit over your sink so that, in a pinch, you can chop things there. But that is neither ideal nor a solution, for you will have to move it and place it somewhere when you need to use the sink. Which means that you need to rethink both how you set up your kitchen and how you operate in it. Back in the late 90s, I lived in a shoebox-size studio with the tiniest kitchen, out of which, one Christmas season, I produced literally thousands of cookiesa dozen varietiesthat I packaged and sold in hand-painted gift boxes. Since then, in my capacity as a private chef, I have cooked in some very large kitchens, with marble-topped islands the size of a bed. The main lesson I have learned from all of this is that one can work in pretty much any kitchen as long as its well organized. On the other hand, no matter how small or large the kitchen, one always ends up doing most of the work (the prep workwhat needs to be done before any actual cooking begins) in one and the same spot. Think of it as the home base or, to be more poetic, the earth spot. The secondary and tertiary spots (representing, as it were, water and fire) are predetermined by the position of the sink and stove. In the logic of this approach, you are the air that connects the other elements, and the sign of a well-designed kitchen is that the former three are not too far from one another, so you can flow with ease from one to the other, like a breeze. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Park the toaster oven on the counter space you cannot stand in front of. As for your microwave: Just get rid of it. Sell it; give it to someone; put it on the street. Trust me, your reheating can be done on a stovetop or in the toaster oven, and generally just as quickly. Another space-saving step might be getting a dish rack that mounts directly onto the wall behind the sink. They come in different sizes, and a small one will probably do for your purpose. That way, washing dishes will not require you to free up precious counter space each time to set them out to dry. More generally speaking, a small kitchen requires vertical organization: Everything you own and use in it should be stackableplates, glasses, cups, pots, pans, bowls, and mixing bowlseven your pantry items. You could get stackable food containers and fill your dry ingredients (rice, pasta, flour, sugar, etc.) into them. You could also create some extra storage space by adding a shelf to the rolling butcher block. (Most of them have only two but are built from a modular system, so adding a shelf should be easy.) Adjust the middle shelf farther down and install the third a few inches below the top and equip it with a cutlery tray for utensils. Advertisement Finally, if it is an option, consider getting a second butcher-block island on wheels. They are very practical precisely because they are not locked into space and can be pushed against the wall somewhere or even moved into another room. After all, the kitchen is not quite the perfect place for sewing clothes. I dont really care for sweets and am not into baking. Do you have any easy recipes for desserts I can whip up when I have friends over for dinner? Advertisement My first inclination was to recommend doing it like the French do when they entertain at home: serving a tarte or individual pastries, proudly procured from a reputed local patisserie. Sadly, it is still a challenge to find an equivalent over here. (American cakes with their inch-thick layers and heavy frostings are more suitable for afternoon birthday celebrations than for a final course after dinner, and pies, well, pies really ought to be homemade.) Advertisement You could break with tradition (or rather, revert to an even older one) and replace dessert with an elegant cheese course. Select a minimum of four cheeses of different textures and flavor profiles, going from mild to sharp, and include cheeses made of all three sources (cows, goats, and sheeps milk). Augment the cheese board with fruitbut please, dont fall into the abominable trend of putting berries onto your cheese board, which I see all over Instagram. (Strawberries and blue cheese? No.) Stick with grapes, pears, fresh and dried figs, plump raisins, and dates (no apricots either, please). Dont go overboard with the nuts, either; a few walnuts will do. You could add a quince confit (it goes well with hard cheeses like manchego), or, if youre willing to put a little bit of work into it, roast some sliced fresh quince with honey and olive oil until caramelized and soft. A little drizzle of chestnut honey can do wonders to a Stilton. Forgo sliced bread (too filling after a meal) and instead set out a well-curated mix of dry flatbreads and crackers, with a ramekin of cultured salted butter on the side. Advertisement Advertisement Another idea is to literally serve just fruit for dessert. But again, dont follow the cliche of putting out mixed berries and whipped cream, especially since berries that actually taste as they should (local, sun-ripened, and in season) are a rarity. You can do better. A few weeks ago, I was served a delightfully understated bowl of halved grapes dressed with nothing but Meyer lemon juice. Perfection. Were past peach season in the Northeast, but sliced peaches macerated in red wine are something to keep in mind for next summer. Finally, remember that dinner should end with small fireworks in your mouththat is, give your guests something crunchy. Quality, store-bought Italian biscotti or Scottish shortbread will do. And naturally, no one will object to a plate of high-end chocolates from a real chocolatieralthough that alone can easily cost you more than an entire cheese platter. As the Senate mulls the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, anti-abortion judges are wasting no time laying the groundwork for the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Earlier in September, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld two abortion restrictions that are patently unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedent. On Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pulled the same trick, affirming the legality of an anti-choice Louisiana regulation thats identical to a law the Supreme Court struck down in 2016. Advertisement The statute at issue in June Medical Services v. Gee, Act 620, is a quintessential TRAP law designed to shutter abortion clinics through stringent regulation. Act 620 compels abortion providers to obtain active admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinics. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles permanently blocked the law in 2017, ruling that it imposes an undue burden on womens access to abortion and therefore violates the U.S. Constitution. DeGravelles explained that, in 2016s Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that foisted the same admitting privileges rule upon clinics in the state. (It even used the same 30-mile measurement.) The court explained that the Texas statute ran afoul of the Constitution because the benefits it bestowed to women were outweighed by the burdens it imposed on them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In blocking Act 620, DeGravelles reasoned that, if a law is unconstitutional in Texas, it must also be illegal in Louisiana. That conclusion is quite sensible. After all, lower courts are bound by the judgment of the Supreme Court, which has held this type of TRAP law to be impermissible. But on Wednesday, in a 21 decision written by Judge Jerry Smith, the 5th Circuit disagreed. Smith did not attempt to argue that the admitting privileges rule benefited women in any meaningful way, since the Supreme Court ruled emphatically that it does not. Instead, Smith held that the burden it imposes on women is less severe than that of SB 2. While the Texas law wouldve shut down most of Texas abortion clinics, he noted, the Louisiana law will only shutter one, at most. And while it will disqualify some doctors from performing abortions, other doctors can pick up the slack. Advertisement Doing some back-of-the-envelope math, Smith calculated that, under Act 620, abortion providers at one clinic would have to work about an extra hour a day to maintain their current pace. At worst, women at this clinic would have to wait roughly an extra hour for their procedures. This delay, Smith concluded, is unlikely to result in an undue burden on women. Therefore, Act 620 passes constitutional muster. Advertisement This analysis is an extraordinary misreading of Whole Womans Health, if not an outright rejection of it. It is also just bizarre, for two obvious reasons. First, HB 2 wouldve brought the total number of Texas abortion clinics down from 40 to 8. In Louisiana, by contrast, there are only three abortion clinics in the entire state. Even if Act 620 doesnt close an eye-popping number of clinics, it stands to close a third of them, creating a huge burden for women who relied on the shuttered clinic. Smith cannot plausibly allege that the analysis in Whole Womans Health hinged upon the fact that Texas tried to close 80 percent of its clinics instead of 33 percent. Advertisement Advertisement Second, Whole Womans Health instructed lower courts to weigh the benefits of an abortion regulation against the burdens. It did not decree that the burdens dont matter if they compel patients to wait only an extra hour, or close only one of three clinics in the state. Since Act 620 creates no benefits for women while imposing real burdens, it must be unconstitutional under Whole Womans Health. (In a fiery dissent, Judge Patrick Higginbotham argued exactly that.) Advertisement Its obvious what Smith is really doing here. Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the decisive fifth vote in Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt to invalidate the Texas law, and he has since retired from the court. He will soon be replaced by Kavanaughor, if his nomination falls through, a similarly conservative appointee. At that point, the new five-justice majority will begin chipping away at the constitutional right to abortion access. Anticipating that shift, the 5th Circuit has already begun disregarding precedent. And it has handed the Supreme Court a vehicle through which to further hobble Roe once a new Republican justice is installed on the bench. Over the past week, Brett Kavanaugh, President Trumps nominee to the Supreme Court, has issued a series of denials about his behavior involving women, parties, and alcohol. Some of his denials have been contradicted by witnesses. Others are at risk of being falsified as additional witnesses come forward. Kavanaugh could be telling the truth. But the weight of testimony against him is becoming too heavy to endure. Kavanaughs first statement, issued on Sept. 14, was a response to a letter from Christine Blasey Ford. In the letter, which Ford sent to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Ford alleged that in 1982, Kavanaugh had pushed her into a bedroom, climbed on top of her, put his hand over her mouth to silence her, and tried to remove her clothes. Kavanaughs statement denied this allegation, leaving open the possibility that he might have engaged in sexually aggressive behavior under other circumstances. But in a statement on Sept. 17, he ruled out that possibility. I have never done anything like what the accuser describesto her or to anyone, he declared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kavanaugh issued brief follow-up statements on Sept. 20 and Sept. 23. But in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 24, he crossed a line. Responding to a second allegationthis time from Deborah Ramirez, who claimed that Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her during a drinking game in collegehe wrote, Once again, those alleged to have been witnesses to the event deny it ever happened. The phrase once again referred to Fords allegation. But Kavanaughs implicationthat the alleged witnesses to the Ford incident had denied it ever happenedput him in conflict with a third woman. That woman, Leland Keyser, was one of the people alleged by Ford to have attended the 1982 gathering. On Sept. 23, the Washington Post reported that Keyser said she did not recall the party but believed Fords account. That doesnt match Kavanaughs characterization in his Sept. 24 letter. Arguably, it says the opposite. Advertisement The next day, Sept. 25, Kavanaugh went further. In an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, he denied any physical contact with Ford. MacCallum asked, You never kissed her, never touched her, nothing that you remember? Kavanaugh replied, Correct. I never had any sexual or physical activity with Dr. Ford. He added, I did not have sexual intercourse or anything close to sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter. And he denied not just the party in question but anything like the house or the scene Ford had described. I was not anywhere at any place resembling that in the summer of 1982, he said. Advertisement Kavanaugh issued a similarly broad denial of Ramirezs story: I never did any such thing. When MacCallum brought up insinuations from attorney Michael Avenatti about additional accusationsthis time involving high school parties where boys had allegedly lined up for sex with women incapacitated by alcohol or drugsKavanaugh denied that, too. MacCallum asked the nominee whether hed ever had any sense of being at a party where women were taken to rooms for sex with multiple men, even consensually. Kavanaugh replied, I never saw any such thing. Advertisement Advertisement In free-floating comments during the interview, Kavanaugh denied that anything like the stories that had been told about him could be true. I didnt do this or anything resembling this, he insisted. Later, he repeated, Ive never, never done anything like this. He also denied ever having consumed alcohol to the point of memory impairment: MacCallum: Was there ever a time that you drank so much that you couldnt remember what happened the night before? Kavanaugh: No, that never happened. MacCallum: You never said to anyone, I dont remember anything about last night? Kavanaugh: No, that did not happen. These statements were risky. If witnesses were to come forward and say that they saw Kavanaugh do any of these things, his credibility would be trashed. The range of acts he denied was considerable: drinking to the point of memory impairment, having anything close to sex in high school, being at any place resembling the alleged 1982 party, and being at any party where women in bedrooms had sex with multiple men. Advertisement Advertisement A day after Kavanaughs interview, another witness, Julie Swetnick, contradicted it. She was the woman whose pending allegations Avenatti had touted. In a declaration signed on Sept. 25, she asserted under penalty of perjury: I have reviewed Brett Kavanaughs recent claim on Fox News regarding his alleged innocence during his high school years and lack of sexual activity. This is absolutely false and a lie. I witnessed Brett Kavanaugh consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women during the early 1980s. The number of accusers is piling up, and some of their stories are converging. Swetnick accused Kavanaugh and his friends of serious offenses. She said she had been raped at a party he attended, and she claimed to have witnessed efforts by [Kavanaughs friend] Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could be similarly attacked. She added, I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their turn with a girl inside the room. These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh. Advertisement Advertisement Skeptics dismissed Swetnicks allegations as bizarre and uncorroborated. But they matched an account given to the New Yorker by Elizabeth Rasor, a former girlfriend of Judge. According to the magazine, Rasor recalled that Judge had told her ashamedly of an incident that involved him and other boys taking turns having sex with a drunk woman. Rasor said that Judge seemed to regard it as fully consensual. Advertisement Beyond these extreme incidents, Swetnick reported other observations that contradicted Kavanaughs denials: On numerous occasions at these parties, I witnessed Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively and engage in highly inappropriate conduct, including being overly aggressive with girls and not taking No for an answer. This conduct included the fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent. I observed Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, grinding against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls clothing to expose private body parts. Advertisement Swetnick claimed to have supporting witnesses. She said that shortly after she was raped, she had told two other people. She asserted that other women had told her about similar conduct by Kavanaugh during the Summer months in Ocean City, Maryland on numerous occasions. And at the conclusion of her allegations, she alleged that she knew of other witnesses who could attest to the truthfulness of each of the statements above. On Wednesday evening, NBC News reported yet another allegation. According to the story, an anonymous woman has told the office of Sen. Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, that Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman he socialized with in the Washington, D.C., area in 1998 while he was inebriated.* The woman who sent the report said Kavanaugh shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually. She added, There were at least four witnesses including my daughter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kavanaugh dismisses this story too. But the number of accusers is piling up, and some of their stories are converging. In a written statement sent to the Judiciary Committee late on Wednesday, Ford offered more details about what Kavanaugh allegedly did to her in 1982. Brett got on top of me, she wrote. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me. That echoed Swetnicks report about Kavanaugh grinding against girls at parties. For Kavanaughs supporters, the bottom line is grim. You can still believe that hes telling the truth. But in order to believe that, youll have to believe that more and more women are lying. During the hearing on Thursday to review sexual assault allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, accuser Christine Blasey Ford explained why she had waited to come forward with her account. Many critics have attempted to discredit Ford by painting the timing of her decision to make her allegation public as opportunistic and partisan. In a statement to investigators, which Rachel Mitchell, special counsel for the Republicans, referred to during the hearing, Ford claims that on July 6, she had a sense of urgency to relay the information [of the assault] to the Senate and the president. When asked if she had made any attempts to reach them on that date, Ford replied that she didnt know how. At that point, Kavanaugh had not been named as the nominee, but he was on President Trumps shortlist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After weighing her options, Ford says that she decided to pursue her civic duty and called the office of her congresswoman, California Rep. Anna Eshoo. Ford also said that she put in an anonymous tip to the Washington Post. Neither the paper nor the congresswoman got back to her before Kavanaughs nomination was made public. Three days later, on July 9, President Trump announced that he had selected Kavanaugh from his list of 25 highly qualified potential nominees. It was on that date that Eshoos office contacted Ford. The next day, Ford again tried to contact the Washington Post via an encrypted messaging service. The Post got her in touch with a reporter, Emma Brown, who would eventually be the first to publish Fords identity on Sept. 16. Advertisement On July 18, Ford met with Eshoos staff and then with the congresswoman a couple days later, during which time she described the incident and her fears about confidentiality. Then, on July 30, Ford sent a letter to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein about her allegations and asked to remain anonymous. Feinstein and Ford spoke over the phone shortly thereafter. The Intercept reported on the existence of the letter on Sept. 12. At that point, Fords identity was still not known to the public, but she says that reporters began hounding her at her workplace. This led her to believe that her identity would eventually be leaked, and so she decided to come forward through a Washington Post story. Ford has subsequently received death threats, and she and her family were forced to move out of her house for their safety. It was this decision to come forward and publicly identify herself that eventually led to Thursdays hearing. Christine Blasey Ford will testify Thursday morning to the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the early 80s. Here is a statement shes prepared in advance. Kavanaughs testimony will follow; his prepared statement is here. Well be updating this post with the latest developments from the hearing, which you can watch above. 7:10 p.m.: Thats a wrap on an extraordinary day and a nomination process that is still far from over. A committee vote is scheduled for Friday morning, whether that happens as planned will be the first substantive indication of how the Republican caucus feels the day shaped up. Advertisement 6:54 p.m.: In the final moments of the days questioning, Republican Sen. Kennedy tried to give Kavanaugh a definitive closing moment to hang his day of testimony on, asking: I am going to give you a last opportunity right here in front of god and country, I want you to look me in the eye, are Dr. Ford allegations true? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre not accurate as to me, Kavanaugh answered. It was not exactly the alley-oop Kennedy likely expected. Ive not questioned that she mightve been sexually assaulted at some point in her life by someone someplace, but as to me, I have never done this. Never, he continued. Done this to her or to anyone else. And I have talked to you about what I was doing the summer of 1982. That I am telling you, I have never done this to anyone, including her. No, senator was probably the answer Kennedy was looking for. Advertisement 6:45 p.m.: President Trump weighs in almost immediately after the conclusion of the days testimony by Kavanaugh. Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement 6:43 p.m.: At the conclusion of questioning by Sen. Kamala Harris, Judge Kavanaugh said he did not watch the earlier testimony of Christine Blasey Ford. 6:05 p.m.: By the way, I think Dr. Ford is a victim and shes been through hell, Republican Sen. Ben Sasse says. The inevitable but is that Sen. Feinstein didnt bring the allegation forward soon enough. He seems to be on board the Kavanaugh train. Advertisement Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, then tried to argue that Judge Kavanaughs innocent description of his yearbook entry Renate Alumnius seemed plainly implausible. What he didnt get to note, maybe because Kavanaugh repeatedly interrupted him, was that Kavanaughs lawyer released a statement saying it referred to date with a former classmate Renate Schroeder Dolphin with whom Kavanaugh shared a brief kiss good night following that event. Dolphin said no such kiss occurred, which I think was maybe meant to be another challenge to his credibility. Advertisement Blumenthal also challenged Kavanaughs earlier testimony that he had never had a drinking episode where he couldnt remember what happened afterwards, noting that he had previously described an incident in which he had to piece things back together after falling of the bus on to the front steps of the Law School at 4:45 a.m. following a night out. Kavanaugh interrupted repeatedly: I know what happened. Then he said that it was a trip of great camaraderie to Fenway Park for a baseball game and that piece things back together definitely [did] not imply that he had recall problems. I assume the point was to demonstrate that its possible Kavanaugh attacked Dr. Blasey Ford without remembering it. Advertisement Advertisement 5:40 p.m.: Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware asked about comments by a former classmate of Kavanaugh, Liz Swisher, in the Washington Post. From the paper: Brett was a sloppy drunk, and I know because I drank with him. I watched him drink more than a lot of people. Hed end up slurring his words, stumbling, said Swisher, a Democrat and chief of the gynecologic oncology division at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Theres no medical way I can say that he was blacked out . But its not credible for him to say that he has had no memory lapses in the nights that he drank to excess. Advertisement Coons then reiterated that if Kavanaugh wanted his name cleared, it seems like he would want a week-long FBI investigation to interview corroborating witnesses. Kavanaugh repeated that his standard for evidence was the statements the witnesses have given to the Judiciary Committee. He also complained that the past week has felt like a lifetime to him, and another week delay would be intolerable. Advertisement 5:35 p.m.: Kavanaugh apologized to Klobuchar, who accepted the apology and stated that children of alcoholics must be very careful about drinking themselves. Sen. Orrin Hatch, meanwhile, asked a series of questions designed to pin blame of Sen. Dianne Feinstein for not bringing this accusations to light sooner. Hatch closed by saying: I think its a disgrace. 5:20 p.m.: Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar pressed Kavanaugh on whether hed ever forgotten about events that took place while he was drinking, to which he responded by asking if that had happened to her. Kavanaugh asks Sen Klobuchar multiple times if she's had alcoholic blackouts. pic.twitter.com/3huBRb2JEo Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 27, 2018 Advertisement In general Democrats seem to be setting up the idea that Kavanaugh is not being honest about his drinking in a way that suggests he might also not be telling the truth about assaulting Fordor that he might have done so and not remembered it. But they keep running out of time in their questioning before actually saying that aloud, in part because they keep talking about their seemingly doomed request for an FBI investigation into Fords accusations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 4:55 p.m.: Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin pressed Kavanaugh on whether he would personally support an FBI investigation into Fords allegation; Kavanaugh declined to answer, saying he would support the committees decision on the matter. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has made his questions into a fiery attack on the Democratic minority, calling it a sham and crap that is intended to destroy Kavanaughs life. Advertisement 4:40 p.m.: Kavanaugh has gone back and forth with Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Patrick Leahy, largely reiterating points he made in his opening statementthat the way the allegations against him have been handled by Democrats is a farce and that the portrait that has emerged of him in the press as a hard-partying frat type is inaccurate. Republicans are still ceding their time to Mitchell, who has asked him questions about Fords allegation and his calendars, to which he has denied assaulting her and said that his detailed calendar-keeping indicates he was never at a gathering like the one she described. 3:50 p.m.: Kavanaughs opening, in addition to the shots at Democrats mentioned earlier, went on to highlight his work for Ken Starr and George W. Bush; he also mentioned the concept of Borking with contempt. Its a very partisan set of remarks for someone whos supposedly being nominated for a nonpartisan institution. Advertisement Advertisement Hes also going into detail on the activities outlined in his recently released 1982 calendars, arguing that Fords account of an alcohol-heavy party in the area of the Columbia Country Club is incompatible with his schedule that summer and the locations of the houses of the people who she remembers being there. Hes become emotional several times in describing specific people he knew from the timeespecially when describing his regret that he made a seeming sexual reference to a woman named Renate Dolphin. (He says the reference was meant to be affectionate and he regrets it.) And hes reading texts and testimonials hes gotten from female friends and acquaintances who say he treated them with respect. Advertisement Advertisement 3:25 p.m.: Kavanaughs opening statement accused Democrats of coordinating a smear effort against him as revenge on behalf of the Clintons (he worked for Ken Starrs investigation of Bill Clinton). This has destroyed my family and my good name, Kavanaugh said, calling the allegations against him a grotesque and coordinated character assassination. Kavanaugh also teared up while describing an incident in which he says his daughter asked his wife, Ashley, about praying for his alleged victim: The other night Ashley and my daughter, Liza, said their prayers and little Liza, all of 10 years old, said to Ashley, we should pray for the woman. We mean no ill will. Advertisement 3:15 p.m.: Kavanaugh has begun his testimony with an aggressive statement that departs from his prepared remarks, loudly denying Fords allegations and condemning the Democratic Party. This confirmation process has become a national disgrace, Kavanaugh said. The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process, but you have replaced advice and consent with search and destroy. Advertisement 2:30 p.m.: Mitchell asked Ford how she knew the individual identified in a (since-disavowed) Twitter thread by right-wing legal activist as a classmate of Kavanaughs who Ford might be confusing for Kavanaugh. Ford said she and the classmate went out, which is new information; the exchange didnt go any further. Mitchell later asked Ford if she was familiar with standard procedure for interviewing a victim of trauma, which she described as involving an initial statement by the victim after which interviewers ask followup questions. Mitchell then suggested that the awkward five-minute increments of questioning shed done of Ford today were not that best way to get Fords version of events, which one could interpret as both a shot at the Republican majority for not conducting a fuller investigation and at the Democratic minority for using Fords account as a political instrument. (Mitchell also brought up the fact that Feinsteins office recommended she contact her attorney Debra Katz, who is a Democratic activist, with the implication being that perhaps they should instead have recommended she contact a trauma professional). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And with that, Fords time in front of the committee is over. Therell be a break and then Brett Kavanaugh will be called. Judging from the instant reaction on TV and online, it seems like most observers (including many at Fox News) found Fords testimony credible and compelling and dont believe Mitchell uncovered any serious inconsistencies in her story. 2:00 p.m.: Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker used his time to praise Ford as a hero in a way that your live blogger found fairly maudlin, but others mileage may very. Mitchell then began asking Ford again about whos paying her legal fees; Fords attorneys interjected that they are working pro bono. Advertisement 1:50 p.m.: Mitchell has gone back to asking about who financed the polygraph, at which point Fords lawyers interjected to say that theyd done it. Mitchell could be laying the groundwork for Republicans to later make hay out of Democratic donors helping reimburse Ford for her legal costs. (Ford says she hasnt figured out how her legal and security costs will be covered beyond having been made aware that some GoFundMe accounts have been set up by others to benefit her.) Advertisement Advertisement 1:35 p.m.: The hearing is about to restart. Mitchells last questions to Ford before the break were about the circumstances of her decision to take a polygraph test (which she passed). It seemed again like Mitchell may have been building up to reveal new information that calls Fords credibility into question, but none has been introduced as of yet. Advertisement 12:50 p.m.: Mark Judges memoir Wasted apparently details the time he spent working at Safeway in 1982, which would seem to in part confirm Fords story about seeing him there after the alleged incident. Advertisement Christine Blasey Ford said that a few weeks after Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her, she encountered Mark Judge at the Potomac Village Safeway where he worked. Judge had laughed during the assault, Ford said. In his memoir, "Wasted," Judge writes about working at the market in 1982. pic.twitter.com/BXb5NdnqAD Peter Maass (@maassp) September 27, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement (Update to the above: The excerpts refer to working at the local supermarket, not specifically Safeway.) 12:25 p.m.: Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons is using his question time to underline a point made by Ford in her statement, which is that she actually contacted the Washington Post and her local congressional representative after Kavanaughs name had been reported as a possible nominee but before he was actually nominated on July 10a timeline that suggests her motivation in coming forward was not to damage the Republican Party broadly but to provide specific relevant information about Kavanaugh. 12:10 p.m.: Mitchell asked Ford a series of questions about what had been described in press accounts as a fear of flying that she developed as a result of claustrophobia related to her assault. Ford acknowledged that flying made her anxious; Mitchell listed a number of locations to which Ford would have had to fly in the past, seemingly implying that her fear of flying had been exaggerated, although its not clear by who or what that has to do with her allegations about Kavanaugh. Advertisement 12 p.m.: Mitchell has brought out a map of Fords childhood home in relation to the Columbia Country Club, which she says was in the area of where she believes her assault took place. (Ford has said she does not remember whose home it took place at.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's a closer look at the map that prosecutor Rachel Mitchell showed during her questioning at the #KavanaughHearing https://t.co/TDoQPnpod9 pic.twitter.com/2Wle7uxnzr Bloomberg (@business) September 27, 2018 Advertisement The implication may be that Ford couldnt have walked home from the party by herself and would have needed someone to drive her who could corroborate or dispute her account, but Mitchell hasnt made that clear. Ford, meanwhile, mentioned for a second time that she recalls seeing Mark Judge six to eight weeks after the assault at a Safeway that he worked at and that finding out when he worked there might help narrow down the time of her alleged assault. Republicans have said they will not call Judge as a witness. Advertisement 11:30 a.m.: A striking exchange between Leahy and Ford. LEAHY: Lets go back to the incident. What is the strongest memory you have? Strongest memory of the incident? Something that you cannot forget? Take whatever time you need. FORD: Indelible into the hippocampus is the laughter. [Ed.: Recall that Ford is a psychology professor.] The uproarious laughter between the two and having fun at my expense. LEAHY: You have never forgotten that laughter, forgotten them laughing at you. FORD: They were laughing with each other. LEAHY: And you were the object of the laughter? FORD: I was underneath one of them while the two laughed. Two friends having a really good time with one another. Advertisement Advertisement 11:15 a.m.: In response to Democratic Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahys question about a far-fetched theory promoted by right-wing activists that Ford is confusing Kavanaugh with a different classmate of his, Ford said that the individual named in the theory 1) is not who attacked her and 2) is actually the person who introduced her to Kavanaugh and Ford. Leahy seemed to suggest that the individual named in the theory has sent a letter to the Judiciary Committee denying any involvement in the attack, which if true is a new piece of information. Advertisement Advertisement 11:05 a.m.: Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, whos been employed by the committee to question Ford, began by telling Ford that the first thing that struck me from your statement this morning is that youre terrified, and Im very sorry. Thats not right. Because Mitchell is technically questioning Ford by using minutes allotted to Republican members, Grassley ended up awkwardly interrupting her questioning of Ford while Ford was mid-answer in order to switch over to questions from Feinstein, the ranking Democrat. Hopefully the committee comes up with a way to keep this from happening every five minutes for the rest of the day. Advertisement Before being cut off, Ford amended two previous accounts shed written of the incident (a WhatsApp message to the Washington Post and her letter to Feinstein) to clarify that more than four people may have been present at the party in question and that an individual named PJ was not a bystander to her alleged attack and that she does not allege that he knew about it. 10:50 a.m.: Ford became visibly and audibly emotional while reading her account of what she described as a violent sexual assault perpetrated by Brett with help from his friend Mark. Advertisement Advertisement Heres the scene in the room: This is what Christine Blasey Ford is looking at as she describes her sexual assault. pic.twitter.com/GGxmuHnNpZ Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) September 27, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Said Ford: I am an independent person and I am no ones pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to be helpful and to provide facts about how Mr. Kavanaughs actions have damaged my life so that you could take [them] into a serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell you the truth. 10:40 a.m.: Ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein spoke after Grassley, outlining Fords biography (shes a professor of psychology), criticizing the majority for not calling Mark Judge (the alleged witness to Fords assault), speaking generally about the prevalence of sexual assault in the U.S., and raising comments that other Republicans have made that imply they plan to confirm Kavanaugh regardless of what Ford says Thursday. 10:25 a.m. Iowa Sen. and Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, who has been complaining for days about how unfair it is to him that Ford has made her allegation against Kavanaugh, opened proceedings with a long series of complaints about California Sen. Dianne Feinsteins handling of the confidential letter in which Ford first made her allegations and comments about the alleged lack of corroboration that the committee has found for Fords claims. Democrats on the committee, Grassley alleges, are using Fords story to obstruct Kavanaughs nomination by any means necessary. During Thursdays hearing, Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor employed by the committee, pressed Ford on the nature of her legal representation, possibly in an attempt to portray her as being guided by more powerful Democrats looking out for the interest of the party. As Ford attempted to address the key points of Mitchells questions, one of her lawyers jumped in. Both of her counsel are doing this pro bono, Michael Bromwich told the committee. We are not being paid. We have no expectation of being paid. Advertisement What Bromwich did not mention was that he not only was not being paid for his time representing Fordhe also left his job at a Washington law firm where he served as senior counsel. According to Bloomberg, Bromwich, 64, resigned from Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber LLP, as some of the partners at the firm had objected to his decision to represent Ford. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bromwich, a Harvard Law graduate and former federal prosecutor, was known before this hearing for assisting the investigation of the Iran-Contra affair and, more recently, for representing former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired in March by Jeff Sessions two days before his scheduled retirement and for whom Bromwich helped crowdfund legal fees. According to Bloomberg, President Obama picked Bromwich to reform the offshore drilling regulations after the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010. Advertisement Bromwich joined Fords legal team late. The attorney sitting to her right at the hearing, Debra Katz, is known for her work representing sexual harassment and abuse victims. Fords appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee ended Thursday afternoon after Ford endured more than four hours of questioning about her allegation of being sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh in the 1980s and the subsequent trauma. During the hearing, Democrats complained about Mark Judges absence in the hearing, emphasized that the hearing should be seen as a job application rather than a trial, and praised Fords bravery. Mitchell pressed Ford for details related to Fords fear of flying, the logistics surrounding the party, her contacts with the press, and who paid for the polygraph test. Ford, for her part, tried to clarify her account and correct any small errors she might have made in any previous statements. She also emphasized that she had come forward in an attempt to be helpful and at a time before Kavanaughs nomination, when Trump could have chosen from other conservative judges. View this post on Instagram This was on as I stood in line for lunch. I couldnt even hear her words but I could feel her pain and her terror as I watched. Then I managed to catch one thing, when asked what she remembers vividly from that night she responded, the laughter. Whats the value of a womans experience against the reputation of a man? In our country its clear to me that our pain means nothing. That it would take the pain of 50 women to hold a flame to the power of one man. I am gutted. #christineblaseyford you are my hero. #stopkavanaugh #kavanaughhearings #ibelieveher #believewomen #metoo On Thursday, the Washington Post published an audio recording of the principal at a D.C. high school belittling a student who was reporting an incident of sexual assault. Aqueelha James, the principal of Roosevelt High School, had been holding a meeting in June of last year with a woman and her daughter, who claimed that a male student had forced her into a bathroom stall and began kissing her forcefully while placing his hand up her skirt. While the girl and her mother were in the conference room with James, the principal indicated that she was concerned about the alleged incident. Im here to support and be of assistance, James reportedly told them. I dont like the idea that your daughter has been assaulted sexually. It is a crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At one point during the meeting, the female student became so upset that she had to leave the room. Her mother followed her out, leaving behind her cellphone, which was recording the conversation. It was during this recess that the principal can be heard in the recording saying, Im sick of her. Im sick and tired of her and her mom. James also states, This is a bunch of bulls and claims that she will contact the police with a long, drawn-out email just so that I can embarrass her. Later on, the principal says, You should see the dress shes got on. The mother and student have now filed a civil rights lawsuit against James and the D.C. government seeking $5 million in damages. The plaintiffs argue that school officials neglected to properly investigate the alleged assault and that James defamed the girl when reporting the incident to the police. Advertisement D.C. Public Schools is conducting an investigation into the matter and released a statement on Wednesday. DCPS does not tolerate sexual misconduct or harassment in our schools. We take the safety and security of all of our students seriously, and while we cannot discuss the specifics of personnel matters, when the issue at Roosevelt was brought to our attention we launched an investigation and took action. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also ordered school officials to review James behavior in light of the recording. A D.C. police report indicates that the alleged incident occurred on June 13, 2017, and that the student brought attention to it a day later. According to the report, the student claims her assailant forced her in the male restroom and into a bathroom stall and kissed her neck causing a passion mark and touched her buttocks without her consent. On the eve of Christine Blasey Fords testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, NBC News reports an anonymous letter outlining another allegation of physical assault against Brett Kavanaugh was sent to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado. The letter describes a more recent instance of troubling behavior from the Supreme Court nominee, when he was in his early thirties, alleging that Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman he socialized with in the Washington, D.C. area in 1998 while he was inebriated, according to NBC News. The sender of the complaint described an evening involving her own daughter, Kavanaugh and several friends in 1998. Advertisement The author of the letter does not appear to have been present at the time of the incident, but recounts what seems to have been relayed by her daughter, who was present. When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh, shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually There were at least four witnesses including my daughter. The writer of the letter provided no names but said the alleged victim was still traumatized and had decide to remain anonymous herself, according to NBC News. During a call with Republican Senate investigators Wednesday, Kavanaugh denied the latest accusation. Even in a Republican Party that has shown disdain for Brett Kavanaughs accusers, U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer stands out for the degree to which he has lashed out at the women in his defense of Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee. Cramer, who is running against Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, first voiced heavy skepticism of Christine Blasey Fords story of attempted rape after she went public with it. Soon after, he called her claim absurd since the alleged assault never went anywhere and because both Ford and Kavanaugh were drunk at the time. (Reminder: I thought he might inadvertently kill me, Ford told the Washington Post. He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.) Then, remarkably, Cramer leaned in furthereven though a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, had come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of thrusting his penis in her face at a drunken dorm party at Yale. (I remember a penis being in front of my face, Ramirez told the New Yorker. I knew thats not what I wanted, even in that state of mind.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even if its all true, does it disqualify him? Cramer told a local TV station in North Dakota on Monday, in reference to Fords specific allegation. It certainly means that he did something really bad 36 years ago, but does it disqualify him from the Supreme Court? It should never happen in our society but what if [theres] 36 years of a record where theres nothing like that again? And what about Ramirez? In Cramers version of reality, her claim is far more suspicious even than the first one, since she is not even really sure what she saw. Cramers campaign did not respond to a request from Slate on Wednesday for comment on the allegations of a third woman, Julie Swetnick, who says she witnessed Kavanaugh engage in repeated nonconsensual sexual conduct when she knew him during his high school years. He did, however, flesh out his argument slightly in a brief interview with Politico, explaining that while the assault wouldnt be disqualifying, lying about it would. If its proven to be true, the issue isnt so much about the [events of] 36 years ago, but whats more concerning to me is that hes been lying about it. Advertisement Advertisement As illogical as Cramers comments are in the real world, theyre arguably just as illogical on the campaign trail. Kavanaughs confirmation, after all, was supposed to be a political weapon Cramer could use against Heitkamp in a state that went for Trump by 36 points two years ago. If Heitkamp votes against confirmation, she risks undercutting the bipartisan image shes running on. But if she votes for confirmation, shell infuriate a significant slice of her liberal base. Heitkamp will have to confront that dilemma if and when the Senate votes on Kavanaughs nomination, but in the meantime Cramers remarks are giving her plenty of breathing room. Advertisement Consider how much Heitkamp has simply tried to remain neutral during the mini-cascade of Kavanaugh scandals. This is a very serious allegation which should be thoroughly investigated, and its up to the Senate Judiciary Committee to do just that, she declared after Ford went public more than a week ago. On Wednesday, after Swetnicks allegations were made public, Heitkamps campaign spokeswoman, Julia Krieger, held the line: Shes going to hear out both sides on this issue. Congressman Cramer has been pretty clear hes made a judgment already; Senator Heitkamp hasnt made one yet. Thats the same type of wait-and-see stance weve seen from a few of the moderate Republican senators, including Arizonas Jeff Flake and Alaskas Lisa Murkowski. Advertisement Advertisement And while Heitkamp waits, her team is doing all it can to keep the spotlight squarely on her opponent. Wednesdays campaign conference call featured several former members of North Dakota law enforcement criticizing Cramer for his comments. When we have statements that diminish the seriousness of attempted sexual assault, my concern is it makes law enforcements job harder, Tim Purdon, a former Obama-nominated U.S. Attorney in North Dakota, told reporters. It makes victims less likely to come forward. And it makes jurors more skeptical of these sorts of allegations. Then, unprompted, Purdon added: This isnt about a nomineethat isnt what Im here to talk about. Heitkamp could say the same. Republican reaction during and after Christine Blasey Fords testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday was largely mixed, with a number of GOP senators urging a wait-and-see approach until after Brett Kavanaugh appears before the panel on Thursday afternoon. One notable exception: Sen. Lindsey Graham, who reportedly is eyeing the judiciary gavel next year. Graham, like his fellow Republicans on the judiciary panel, ceded his time to Rachel Mitchell, a veteran sex crimes prosecutor the GOP had flown in to lead the questioning. But the South Carolina senator made up for lost time after Ford finished, unleashing a four-plus minute screed in front of reporters during which he suggested the hearing was a political charade orchestrated by Democrats to prevent Kavanaughor any other Donald Trump nomineefrom making it to the high court. All I can say is that were 40 something days away from the election, and their goalnot Miss Fords goalis to lay this past the midterms so they can win the Senate and never allow Trump to fill the seat, Graham said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When it comes to where it happened, I still dont know, Graham continued. I dont know when it happened. She said shes 100-percent certain it did happen. I bet you Judge Kavanaugh [says] Im 100-percent sure I didnt do it. The people named say they dont know what shes talking about. She cant tell us how she got home and got there. Thats the facts Im left witha nice lady who has come forward to tell a hard story thats uncorroborated. And [if] this is enough, God help anybody else that gets nominated. Advertisement Advertisement Graham repeatedly took issue with a variety of things he said Ford was unable to explain during her testimonysome of which she and her lawyers did indeed detail. I dont know who paid for her polygraph but somebody did, Graham said, a few hours after her lawyers told the panel that they had paid for the polygraph. She cant tell me the house, she cant tell me the city, she cant tell me the month of the year, Graham added, ignoring that Ford says the assault occurred in suburban Montgomery County and that she also suggested Thursday shed be able to better pinpoint the timing of the incident if someone would just interview Mark Judge. (Ford says Judge was in the room when she was assaulted and that she remembers seeing him working at the Potomac Village Safeway in the days that followed. The dates of Judges employment, then, are crucial. Republicans refused Democrats calls to have Judge testify.) Advertisement Advertisement And what did Graham think of Ford more generally? Very Competent, accomplished lady, Graham declared. Something happened. I dont know what. But youre asking me to say it was Brett Kavanaugh and I dont know when it happened, where it happened, and he said it didnt happen. But I will say this: I thought it was a good suggestion for her to talk to somebody to work through this. Advertisement That was not the only time Graham suggested on Thursday that a woman claiming she was sexually assaulted should talk to someone who is not in the U.S. Senate. A woman just told @LindseyGrahamSC she was raped. He said, as he headed into an elevator, "I'm sorry. Tell the cops." Emma Dumain (@Emma_Dumain) September 27, 2018 Advertisement When Christine Blasey Ford testifies publicly Thursday about her sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee wont ask all their own questions. In what some see as a politically cynical move, the all-male cohort hired an outside female attorney to help interrogate Ford and Kavanaugh. Committee chairman Chuck Grassley announced on Tuesday that he had tapped Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona prosecutor, for the role. Mitchell has been a prosecutor since 1993 and spent 12 years leading the Maricopa County Attorneys Offices sex crimes bureau. She eventually became chief of the offices Special Victims Division, which handles both sex crimes and family violence, and the deputy county attorney. She is currently on leave from these positions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shes reasonable. Shes not the kind of person whos going to attack someone, said Robert Kavanagh, an Arizona attorney who has represented a handful of defendants in cases that Mitchell was prosecuting (and who is not related to the nominee). He said that he believes Mitchell will be professional in carrying out her duties on Thursday. I cant think of anything unethical or inappropriate that was done, he told Slate about his experience opposing her. According to the Washington Post, Mitchell was best known until now for successfully prosecuting a Phoenix priest named Paul LeBrun in 2005 for sexually abusing boys between the ages of 11 and 13. She managed to convince the judge to allow two men from Indiana to testify against LeBrun even though the statute of limitations for their cases had passed. The priest was later sentenced to 111 years in prison. Advertisement According to Grassleys announcement, Mitchell has further won awards for her work from the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Council, the Arizona Childrens Justice Task Force, and former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. Mitchell has used her position to advocate for stronger sexual assault laws and better accommodations to make abuse victims more comfortable when testifying in court. She is a registered Republican. Advertisement For the most part, though, Mitchell has not been especially prominent. She rarely gives extensive comments to the press. In a 2011 interview with FrontLine magazine that multiple outlets have dug up, she discussed her views on the sexual abuse of children. When asked about the anxiety among childrens workers in churches that they may be falsely accused of molestation, Mitchell said, False accusations are very rare. The reality is that the authorities, if they are brought in to investigate, can weed out false accusations and the criminal justice system can do that. Advertisement Advertisement Mitchell faced some criticism in 2003 for questioning the credibility of a quadriplegic woman who accused her husband of physically abusing her after initially denying the allegations. Mitchell further chose not to prosecute the case. She also weathered backlash in 2011 for making a plea deal with a Jehovahs Witness elder who spent only six months in jail on charges of sexually abusing a teenage boy. Grassleys recruitment of a female prosecutor for the questioning has also drawn scrutiny from Democrats, who argue that the senator sought out a woman for the role simply to avoid the damaging spectacle of having the 11 Republican men on the Judiciary Committee probe into Fords personal life. Through her lawyers, Ford herself had requested that the senators themselves ask the questions rather than relying on an outside counsel. Grassley has claimed that he wanted an outside counsels help to establish the most fair and respectful treatment of the witnesses possible. It seems fair to assume that Senate Republicans brought in Rachel Mitchell to undermine Christine Blasey Fords testimony against Brett Kavanaugh to ensure that the Supreme Court nominee gets confirmed. GOP senators asked Mitchell, an Arizona prosecutor, to question both individuals on their behalf, largely because the optics of 11 men interrogating one woman are not ideal. But as Thursdays hearing progressed, it quickly became clear that the optics of anyone trying to poke holes in Fords story are terrible. Mitchells questions devolved into a fishing expeditionan obvious attempt to find something, anything, to discredit Ford. It hasnt worked. Mitchell sounds more like a politician than a prosecutor. And Ford comes across as consistent, competent, and credible. Advertisement Initially, Mitchell approached Ford like a lawyer prepping her own witness to get her story straight before trial. She pointed out minor discrepancies in Fords account of the alleged sexual assault and asked her to clarify them. How many people, exactly, were at the party? How did she get home? What year, precisely, did the incident occur, and how can she be sure? These questions are fair game, and Mitchell delivered them professionally, using friendly language to prod Fords memory. (Let me make sure were on the same page. Does that ring a bell?) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But things took a turn when Mitchell began to quiz Ford about her anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The prosecutor asked whether there are other things that have happened to Ford, aside from the alleged assault, that have also contributed to her disorders. Ford, a psychology professor, gave a perfectly reasonable answer, explaining that there are other risk factors as well as biological predispositions for certain disorders. But the question itself was indefensible. Fords history of trauma is irrelevant to the credibility of her accusation; it might help determine how much Kavanaugh harmed her, but it cannot tell us if he harmed her. Mitchell was merely digging for reasons to discount her memory, to depict her as too damaged to recall the event with necessary clarity. Advertisement It only got worse from there. Mitchell noted that Ford had resisted testifying in D.C. because she lives in California and has a fear of flying. How could that be, Mitchell wondered, given that she has previously flown to Delaware, Hawaii, and Polynesia? Ford had to explain that, with sufficient support from her loved ones, she can get the gumption to fly. Is it truly a surprise that, under the right circumstances, Ford can overcome her phobia? Or that she hesitated to take a cross-country flight to be cross-examined about her trauma? Mitchells questions marked a desperate attempt to impeach Fords veracity, one that only made Ford seem more candid and relatable. Advertisement Mitchell also asked whether Ford talked to a lawyer about Senate investigators offer to interview her in California. That prompted her attorney, Michael Bromwich, to object, noting (correctly) that the prosecutor was wading into privileged conversation between counsel and Dr. Ford. Sensing the direction that Mitchell was heading, Ford told her that she wasnt clear on what the offer was and that if she had been, she would have been happy to speak with you out there. Advertisement Advertisement The strangest colloquy between Mitchell and Ford, however, came when the prosecutor inquired about who had paid for Fords polygraph test as well as her lawyers. Really? Why not just go ahead and ask if George Soros is paying her off? Ford handled the matter well, admitting that she didnt really know the answer, and Bromwich cut in to explain that her lawyers are working pro bono. Mitchells conspiratorial question was an embarrassment, a partisan ploy that almost seemed designed to please our conspiratorial president. Not all of Mitchells questions were objectionableand to her credit, she maintained a courteous, respectful tone even when her inquiries bordered on the absurd. It seems possible that some of her more objectionable questions may have been fed to her by Republican senators. Regardless of whether thats the case, halfway through Thursdays hearing, its still a mystery why she agreed to take this thankless job. She doesnt seem intent on character assassination, yet she also failed to extract any meaningful information from Ford. Before wrapping up her interrogation, Mitchell pointed out that a Senate hearing was a pretty terrible way to get to the bottom of a traumatic event. Ford agreed. Too bad Republicans artificially accelerated timeline mandated this spectacle. The site lies on either side of the Morava river which separates Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled More information about travelling in Slovakia Please see our Please see our Spectacular Slovakia travel guide The construction of a bridge between Moravian Mikulcice and Slovak Kopcany above the Morava river has started. Both the Slovak and Moravian banks of the river will be connected by the 143 metres long bridge suitable for pedestrians and cyclists. Even though the towns are only about 5 kilometres away from each other, there is no straight connection between them at present. The shortest way takes about three and half hours on foot. Josef Viskupic, head of the Trnava Self-governing region said that he views the bridge in three ways as a continuation of the common history of the Czechs and Slovaks, as marking the anniversary of the establishment of the State of Czechoslovakia and as an important project for the development of tourism. The first attempt to build a bridge started in 2006 when the mayors of both towns decided to have a go. I consider the bridge to be an important connection for our two regions, said Bohumil Simek from the Juhomoravsky region, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The current mayor of Kopcany, Dusan Dubecky has held his seat since 1998 and he was the one who first had the idea to build the bridge. It has been 12 years since we first started, hopefully, it will go faster now, he said, as quoted by TASR, adding that cooperation between the regions will be better thanks to the bridge. The place, where the bridge will be, is currently a nesting site for precious the black stork. Therefore, it is impossible to work on the construction for some months, but it should be finished by the end of August 2019. Visitors to Kopcany are usually seeking spiritual monuments such as the Church of Saint Margaret of Antioch but there is also a baroque stud-farm there. The church used to be part of the Slavic fortified settlement, now divided by the Morava River. The main part of the settlement is in Mikulcice, in the Czech Republic. This was one of the main centres of Great Moravia in the 9th and 10th centuries. Apart from the foundation of a counts palace, so far the only uncovered secular stone building from the Great-Moravian era, there are foundations of 12 stone churches, a burial site, the remnants of a massive fortification wall, and bridges. Young Slovaks and politics. Research shows what their perception is. News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Young people are often criticised by other generations that they are not active enough when it comes to politics, that they lack interest and do not participate in the serious issues that concern the nations. Is this criticism justified? Research Central Europe: Youth, Politics, Democracy, which focused on youth from Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, showed how we stand. Dissatisfaction with the current political situation is widespread for young people in Slovakia (63 percent), and the majority are not interested in politics (57 percent). This was not a surprise, but very strong empirical evidence, sociologist Olga Gyarfasova from Comenius University and Institute for Public Affairs, who with other experts conducted the research, told The Slovak Spectator. The research, which represented the Slovak age group between 16 and 29, was conducted by the National Democratic Institute and local partners and sponsored by USAID. A sample survey size consisted of 508 people and was conducted in December 2017. Moreover, three focus groups were held in February 2018. When asked to describe the current political situation in focus groups, young Slovaks overwhelming used negative phrases, such as chaos, extremism, corruption, nepotism, malfunction, arrogance, and unprofessionalism. In Hungary and Slovakia, less than one-third of respondents consider a strong leader who disregards institutions like parliament and civil society as positive. It is very closely related with the deep dissatisfaction, explains Gyarfasova. On the one hand there is a broad consensus that democracy is an ideal mode of government - 81 percent believed that democracy is the best possible political system. Where is Brezova pod Bradlom and why should you visit it in 2018? Listen to our travel podcast to find out. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/505489392&color=%23096f52&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true In October, Czechs and Slovaks will mark 100 years since their first common state, the Czechoslovak Republic, emerged. If you want to learn more about this important historical event and travel back in time, Brezova pod Bradlom is a good place for a trip. Spectacular Slovakia author James Thomson tells listeners why they should go there and explains what one of the peculiar delicacies of Slovak cuisine is all about. Spectacular Slovakia travel podcast is the latest addition to our range of travel-related products. This programme is part of The Slovak Spectator subscription and our readers are receiving it every Thursday morning as part of their subscription. More information: Print+audio: shop.spectator.sme.sk/newspaper Online+audio: www.sme.sk/predplatne-spectator The police operation ended after more than 12 hours. The suspects were reportedly detained thanks to an American satellite. News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled The police operation in Kolarovo (Nitra Region), during which eight people suspected in the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, ended after more than 12 hours. It started in the early morning hours, with police officers from the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) gathering in the town shortly after 04:00. Locals say that the intervention started at 04:27, the Sme daily reported. The media reports suggest that the police detained eight people. Read also: Read also: This is a test of how the state works Read more Roman Kvasnica, lawyer for Kusnirovas mother Zlatica, did not want to comment on the polices actions, Sme wrote. Im in shock, I have no further information, said Zlatica Kusnirova, as quoted by Sme. I know it wont bring our children back to life, but I wish for justice to be served. I hope the police will detain not only the executioners but the ordering parties as well. In the meantime, several world media outlets reported on the arrests, including the New York Times and the Euronews website. Former police investigator allegedly among the detained One of the detained is Tomas S. from Kolarovo, who used to work as a police investigator in Komarno and later for a private security service. According to Sme, he underwent a training course at the European Security Academy, a private company in Poland which offers military training. It takes 10 days and costs 2,200, Sme wrote. The locals told Sme that neither Tomas S. nor his parents have a bad reputation. Besides Tomas S., the police searched the house of Miroslav M., his cousin and former soldier, Sme wrote. American satellite allegedly helped Read also: Read also: We need to know who ordered the murder Read more The police gave out information about the operation on their official Facebook site at 06:30, and later added pictures. They refused to provide more detailed information. The police operation in Kolarovo, where the whole street was closed, took more than 12 hours. At around 13:15 two police officers with a dog entered the house where Tomas S. lived. They put him into a white truck parked in front of the house after 16:00. He later waited for about two hours in the car. The police left the place shortly before 18:00, Sme wrote. The Czech magazine Respekt wrote on its website that the alleged murderer and his accomplices were also reportedly caught thanks to images from an American satellite. It captured a suspect close to the crime scene at the time of the murders. The analysis of the movement of people and cars allegedly helped track the suspects, Respekt reported. Sakova praised the progress The police have heard about 200 testimonies from witnesses, have carried out dozens of expert opinions and many other substantiations concerning the case, said Interior Minister Denisa Sakova (Smer). Read also: Read also: For a Decent Slovakia protests to resume on Friday Read more Although I dont have any specific information about the investigation, I appreciate the significant progress in the case, Sakova added, thanking police officers, witnesses and other people for contributing to solving the murders. She stressed that a proper investigation of the case has been among her priorities. Though Im glad about the progress in the investigation, there is still a long way to go before we reach a valid verdict, the minister continues. Im ready to continue creating all the conditions necessary for the investigation team to do their job properly. Who are Kuciak and Kusnirova? Kuciak was an investigative journalist working for the Aktuality.sk website, dealing mostly with stories concerning tax fraud. He and Kusnirova were killed on February 21 in their house in Velka Maca (Trnava Region). Then-police president Tibor Gaspar said that the motive of the murders could have been Kuciaks work, which was also confirmed by the prosecutor in September 2018, Sme reported. Read also: Read also: Indentikit picture released in murder case of Jan Kuciak may have bourne fruit Read more The protests, organised after the murders, led to the resignation of then-interior minister Robert Kalinak and later ex-PM Robert Fico (both Smer). Ficos government was replaced by the current one led by Peter Pellegrini. The police and the prosecutors office did not offer much information about the investigation. In mid-September, they published an identikit of a person who it was thought might know more about the murders. "A manual" for the festival; organisers have prepared a map, routes and a mobile app to guide visitors and help them get oriented. News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled The multi-genre festival, Biela Noc, or White Night in English, will transform Bratislavas streets into a magical night walk for the fourth time. On the night of September 29, art works, installations and performances by 196 Slovak and foreign artists, performers, musicians and designers will be presented at 44 sites scattered around the city centre. Contrary to previous editions, this year the contemporary art festival will extend into the whole weekend with some attractions available not only during the main night, but on Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 30. Headliners Click here With the festival we want to show the importance of art in the public space and popularise contemporary art in the general public, said Zuzana Pacakova, festival art director. Im very glad that world-renowned names will again come to Bratislava and that many Slovak art works were created specially for this festival. I personally look forward very much to the festival pedestrian zone as well as the extension of the festival throughout the weekend. 1. Where the festival will take place This year the festival will concentrate in the city centre and its Danube embankment with the most remote spots in Panorama Park (just behind Eurovea), the office tower of VUB bank, Hodzovo Square and the River Park on the Danube embankment. The only exception will be Nova Cvernovka at Racianska 78, where the afterparty will start at 22:00. 2. When it will take place Read also: Read also: A cloud takes centre stage at White Night Read more The main programme will ceremonially start at the Razusovo Embankment on Saturday, September 29, 18:30. This day the programme will last from 10:00 until 2:00. Some sites with limited access will be open already on Friday, September 28, 10:00-22:00 and on Sunday, September 30, 10:00-22:00 3. Admission Most sites are accessible free of charge, but for some sites with limited access as well as those opened on Friday and Sunday you need a pass. It costs 8. It is possible to buy it online at www.bielanoc.sk until Thursday midnight, September 27. Afterwards, the tickets will be sold at three locations on Friday 10:00-22:00, Saturday 10:00-2:00 and on Sunday 10:00-18:00: -in front of Stara Trznica, Namestie SNP -Eurovea Square, Pribinova 8 -Park close to River Park, Dvorakovo Embankment 4. Map The festival map, available at the festival website and then at the individual festival sites, contains a detailed map with all the sites. Stars mark the headliners, a ring for sites opened the whole night and a square for Off Programme (accompanying programme). The abbreviation BN is for sites opened on Friday and Sunday. The small red dot marks sites accessible only with the festival pass. 5. Mobile app The festival organisers, in cooperation with the VUB bank, have again created an application, both in Slovak and English, for mobile phones: Biela Noc. It is already available at Google Play and the App Store free of charge. It contains a map, descriptions of the works and their creators as well as photographs, so visitors can better decide whether they want to visit that place or not. The app offers the possibility of creating ones own route and navigating along it as well as opt for already created festival routes. It will also inform its users about possible changes in the programme and organisation of the festival. The organisers recommend having a look at the festival programme in advance and to choose preferred sites. International press organisations welcome the progress in the investigation of the Kuciak and Kusnirova murders, but hope it will continue. News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled International press organisations have already responded to the September 27 reports concerning the detention of eight people suspected of murdering investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova. Reporters without Borders (RSF) welcomed the breakthrough in the investigation, seven months after the murders, but hopes that these arrests are a first step. Read also: Read also: We need to know who ordered the murder Read more The most important thing is the arrest of the masterminds, Pauline Ades-Mevel, RSFs head of the EU-Balkans desk, told The Slovak Spectator, adding that as in the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia almost a year ago, there is a need for full justice. Press freedom, as a core human right, is grounded in the safety of journalists, and justice for crimes against them. Journalists working to expose corruption and money laundering are vital to the anti-corruption movement and any attacks on them undermine democracy and the rule of law, Ades-Mevel added. So today RSF renews its call for full justice for the murder of Jan Kuciak, she said. IPI welcomes the progress Impunity from prosecution for the murder of a journalist is unacceptable, so any progress towards solving the murders of Kuciak and Kusnirova is welcome news, Scott Griffen of the International Press Institute (IPI) commented for the Sme daily. Read also: Read also: This is a test of how the state works Read more But it is important to remember that justice for Jan and Martina is not only about detaining the person or people who pulled the trigger, Griffen added, as quoted by Sme. It is also about finding those behind the murder. The authorities of the world focus more on the executors of a murder, while the ordering parties often remain out of prison. We hope Slovakia will not follow this example, Griffen added. The flight from Bratislava to Dutch Eindhoven is also under threat. News: Receive favorite authors articles by email. Try the new feature and turn on the subscription. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has cancelled two flights between Bratislava and Brussels scheduled for Friday, September 28 due to a strike by cabin crew. As a result, there will be no plane from Brussels-Charleroi airport, scheduled to arrive at Bratislava at 12:25 and no plane to Brussels-Charleroi, scheduled departure from the Slovak capital at 12:50, the TASR newswire reported. The cabin crews strike may also endanger Fridays 18.10 flight from Bratislava to Eindenhoven, Netherlands. Currently the flight is going ahead as scheduled, but Ryanair informed travellers on the routes from Bratislava to Brussels-Charleroi and to Eindenhoven that they could re-book their flights for another day free of charge. Ryanair has given the possibility of the strike and its efforts to minimise any inconvenience that this might cause to its passengers, as the reason. Ryanair has pre-cancelled 190 of its 2,400 scheduled flights on Friday, September 28 due to a strike by cabin crew in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. This will affect 30,000 passengers. Read also: Read also: Ryanair strike will affect flights from Bratislava Read more The low-cost airline labelled these strikes as unnecessary as it has made significant progress in recent weeks with union negotiations, which include pilot and/or cabin crew agreements in Ireland, the UK, Italy and Germany. Ryanair has cancelled hundreds of flights due to strikes by its pilots and cabin crew this summer. Dayglow Coffee could only exist in Los Angeles. Opened in Silverlake on Sunset Boulevard in late 2017, the cafe from Tohm Ifergan, formerly of Portola Coffee Roasters in nearby Costa Mesa, is a neon-bright beacon not so unlike the city itself. A multi-roaster that sources coffees from some of the worlds most notable roasteries, Dayglow is, like LA, at once itself and a component of its parts. Ifergan founded the shop to not only provide customers with unique coffees but a side of information as well. Its interior has a clean aesthetic, with the seating and bar arranged in such a way as to encourage customers to interact with baristas as much as with each other, facilitating conversations about individual coffees, their roasteries, and means to prepare them at home. Dayglows menu is intended to be simple and approachable, whether youre familiar with specialty coffee or not. Its divided into 10 different categories, written in relative plain-speak: espresso, milk, sweetened, signature, tea, filter, handbrew, tonic, funk, and cold coffee. Ifergans experience crafting coffee cocktails is on full display here. One recent run of Signature Series menu items were all named after Wes Anderson movies, and included the Hotel Chevalier, which combined distilled coffee, fresh lime, and coconut cream, all garnished with mint and grated nutmeg. Another option, the Darjeeling Limited, was a mixture of distilled juniper berries, Tanzanian coffee from King State Coffee Roasters, Darjeeling tea, tonic, thyme, and sweet lime. Having a directors cut menu is quintessentially Ifergan. In addition to the Signature Series, at any given time Dayglow carries coffees from between 10 and 20 roasters, half international and half domestic. Ifergan and his staff blind-cup samples to determine their specific offerings for the week, and stock their shelves and online marketplace with a dizzying variety of options as well. They have a robust coffee subscription program that allows customers to sample from the Dayglow stable of roasters, and offers varying tiers depending on how much coffee you go through each month. And these are the coffees you want. Theyve already featured the likes of Koppi Coffee Roasters, The Barn Coffee Roasters, Little Wolf Coffee, Color Coffee Roasters, The Coffee Collective, Drop Coffee Roasters, Hex Coffee, and Madcap Coffee Roasters, to name only a few. But subscribers have access to more than just amazing coffees. Instead, subscribing to Dayglow gives access to in-house training videos, brewing blogs, and a community on Dayglows website who share educational materials on topics ranging from coffee-specific brewing methods to theories on extraction and much more. Dayglows online presence feels more like a publication than a marketplace and acts as both a library for home-brewers as well as a feedback medium for Ifergan and Dayglows use. By sourcing the opinions of their community, Dayglow can alter their menu, brewing techniques, and coffee selection to suit customer taste. This kind of customer feedback loop is second nature for Ifergan, who built his success at Portolas Theorem bar on direct interactions between himself and the people he served. Tasting his coffee there was to have an experience in your taste in coffee, but Theorem itself was intimate and dark and comprised of a handful of seats, a black bar, and a sliding glass door. Dayglow is an evolution of that experience. One that embraces the city it calls home, holds its doors wide open, and lets the light rush in. David Palazuelos is a freelance contributor. This is David Palazuelos first article for Sprudge. When Xiaomi unveiled the Pocophone F1 in Indonesia, the South East Asian region lost their minds and so did we. Not only because of the insane price tag starting from RM1299, but it's also carrying flagship tier tech-specs that effectively makes it the real killer of all flagship killers. But then again, does it perform well in that price range? After using it for a month, it has both pros and cons so read below if you want to know more. Design - What's this, a budget phone? Right off the bat, Xiaomi has already mentioned that design is not part of the focus when manufacturing the Pocophone F1. How else could they have brought down the price so low, right? There isn't much to say about the design, it looks exactly like your typical budget phone and it looks pretty dull but that's not a bad thing. Personally for me, this is perfect for consumers who don't really care how the phone looks like - it's what the inside counts (so cliche lol). Here's how it looks like if you've never seen it online, I believe most people will mistaken it as an iPhone X lol A closer look at the dual rear camera + fingerprint sensor (left) and the infrared camera and infrared light sensor for the Face Unlock + front camera (right) Using USB Type-C (left) and the 3.5mm headphone jack (right) stays on top Not so bulky and slim, just nice Hybrid dual SIM slot The plastic body is solid though with a decent amount of weight, so it does feel somewhat like a premium plastic phone. However, if there's one thing that I kind of dislike, that'd be the curve at the bottom chin. This is a small issue but I just cannot let this slip away as a person with OCD, never mind that the curves at the bottom chin aren't aligned with the top when you hold it in a horizontal position but there seems to also be a problem of incomplete screen integration. So here's a good example, by right if I tap on that home button (photo below) it should bring me to the menu page. But upon pressing that, the tick got highlighted instead so I have to do it slightly on the right. Not only does this happen at the sides, but apparently, the whole screen seems not integrated fully with the actual display. Eh...I'm pressing directly at the home button Some websites won't integrate with the notch when opening from Facebook Then this happened after I switch on the Hide Notch option LOL Anyway, like I said - if you can live with it then it's fine but otherwise... please fix this, Xiaomi! Tech-specs and features - Do not judge the book phone by its cover Here are the specifications of the Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, Adreno 630 6GB of RAM 64GB UFS 2.1 storage (expandable memory available up to 256GB\ Measures 155.5 x 75.3 x 8.8 mm, 180g 6.18-inch IPS LCD display (1080p) 12MP + 5MP AI dual rear camera, 20MP Dual Pixel front camera Feature Face and Fingerprint Sensor, LiquidCool technology, Quick Charge 3.0, Turbocharged Engine, Dirac HD Sound / Dual Smart PA Supports LTE+, dual VoLTE, 2x2 MU-MIMO, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C 2.0 connectivity MIUI for POCO - Based on MIUI 9.6, Android Oreo 4000 mAh battery A bit of a rough start, but not all is lost. The Pocophone F1 is the perfect example of "Do not judge the book by its cover". It features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor with 6GB of RAM, powerful enough to run through any app easily. Face Unlock works like a charm, enough so that I don't bother using the Fingerprint Sensor at all. Quick Charge 3.0 is awesome, AI Camera is not a joke and the LiquidCool technology is a gift for gamers. Need I say more? MIUI for POCO is quite an interesting operating system. You can say that it functions exactly like the original MIUI but it's like a long-lost cousin. Based on the latest Android Oreo, the Full Screen Gesture is my favourite one as it allows me to navigate around seamlessly. It also has a very attractive feature that allows you to manage your apps in either a category or colour segment! That's the dream for people who love arranging their apps based on those, including me, and now MIUI for POCO does it for you automatically. That said, though, it's not really perfect because for some reason, some apps might go missing like the screenshot below. Here's how the colour (left) and category (right) segment looks like. Looks like AoV and Asphalt 9 aren't qualified to be in games category, you also can't drag the selected app to the desired colour or category segment On the other hand, I really like this Full Screen Gesture feature that's similar to the iPhone X. It navigates around the menu faster The security page that's customizable Turning on Silent mode will block incoming notifications when gaming The camera user interface Before and after using AI camera, what a difference! Performance - Hail the master of speed With the SD 845 and 6GB of RAM on board, it's expected that the Pocophone F1 performs without much hassle so that's a green light from us. But the two features that really impressed me was the camera and battery life. Xiaomi also mentioned that there's a Dirac HD Sound pre-installed in the device, but personally, I don't find anything special with the sound particularly for music and videos - it's just alright. The battery packs 4000mAh energy inside and this bad boy can really take a punch when playing PUBG Mobile for a long period of time, thanks to the LiquidCool technology that prevents it from heating up. Moreover, if you leave the phone alone, I think it can actually survive for about a week. I'm saying this because there was one time that I left the phone in the office during one of the long weekend holidays in mid-September, and I was pretty sure it was 100% before I left but when I came back after 4 days, the battery was left with about 70%. It wasn't connected to any WiFi as well, just relying on its 4G connectivity with all the notifications spammed from my social accounts. It's too bad that I don't have anything to prove this, so you will have to take my word for it. Also, it charges up really fast with Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0, all it needs is just one and a half hours (from below 10% to 100%). High spec requirement by default, nice Smooth gameplay and connectivity (used 4G) for around half an hour in one PUBG Mobile game, double nice It's the current top 10 most powerful Android phone according to AnTuTu The 3DMark score is good too, but on average it stays on 35th GPUBench score GPS navigation is good too, so are network calls But sometimes... it isn't too accurate (it's not raining lol). But then again, maybe the AccuWeather page isn't that good Moving on to the camera, the Pocophone F1 really delivers out of my expectations. With just a 12MP + 5MP dual rear camera, it can still produce impressive photos and even more so with AI Camera turned on (just leave it on forever lah, ok?). The front camera is just as good thanks to the Dual Pixel technology but do not think for a second that it's actually on par with those RM3000+ camera-centric smartphones. We actually tested the difference between the Pocophone F1 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (similar specs and camera features) and unfortunately, the latter has a much nicer result. Nonetheless, I'm still happy with the Pocophone F1 camera so I'll let the photos do the talking. Check them out below! Portrait mode, auto Close-up, auto mode Panorama mode Outdoor shot is generally fine With the help of AI camera, some pictures can really turn out amazingly great Evening shot can be a bit grainy, though (see the clouds) Normal selfie shot by Bernard Before and after using Portrait mode in selfie Portrait mode using the rear camera Overall, AI Camera is just great. I don't see any reason for you to turn it off lol Another attempt of a sunset shot, didn't really turn out as "orange-gy" as I wanted it to be Here's nice a night shot Before and after flash mode Conclusion - The real flagship killer... for now Despite the small issues of screen integration and the almost perfect MIUI for POCO OS, the rest of the features are too good to frown on. For either RM1299 or RM1499 (the 128GB model), the fact that it's carrying flagship tier specifications (that perform well) alone destroys the competition and disrupts the rest of the smartphone market. In other words, if you put up the Pocophone F1 against other flagships in terms of pure price to performance, it will just straight out murder them. The cameras are very good and can be excellent if you know what you are doing and the battery life is superb. But then again, the plastic design could also be a deal breaker for some consumers. There are two smartphones that can face the Pocophone F1 squarely though, first is the honor Play which is also RM1299. We are still in the midst of reviewing that but in my opinion, I think the Pocophone F1 still has the edge over it because of the bigger 6GB of RAM, 4000mAh battery, while the LiquidCool technology keeps it cooler than the honor Play. On the other hand, the Xiaomi Mi 8 which is slightly more expensive at RM1599 is a worthy opponent, it features similar tech-specs and both phones' camera performance is a tie breaker for me. Admittedly, both the honor Play and Mi 8 offer better more premium build quality and design but if that doesn't matter to you then that's exactly the reason why you're looking to buy the Pocophone F1. All in all, the Pocophone F1 is a good effort by Xiaomi and I believe the successor next year will be even better (hopefully). We hope updates will fix the bugs too. But what do you think about the review? How many of you have the Pocophone F1 already? Thanks for reading as always and stay tuned for more reviews at TechNave.com. Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship. At the 73rd session of the UN general assembly in New York, world leaders are joined by their partners, including Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel's husband, Gauthier Destenay. In an interview with WWD magazine Destenay stated that while he leaves the politics to his husband, he believes it important for spouses to build relations during these event as well. As for the First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS), Destenay said that the better he gets to know her, the more he sees her as "someone who is really caring, really interested in people." Beyond building relations he is particularly interested in seeing how immigration is discussed in the US during the assembly, as he says it is a "very strong problem" in Europe at the moment and an increasing number of people are "scared about immigration." Destenay further stated that he is also keeping an eye on discussions on climate change, which he finds particularly interesting given that the US is leaving the Paris Agreement. Mountain Shadows in Wayanad is just the place for a dreamy vacation Denise Scott will again host the Screen Music Awards, jointly by APRA AMCOS and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers), the Screen Music Awards in November. The event on Monday 19 November at the City Recital Hall in Sydney, honours music composers across 12 categories, including compositions for documentaries, short films, mini-series, advertising, childrens television and feature film scores. Jessica Wells returns as Musical Director, leading a live orchestra. The 2018 Screen Music Awards is also the first to take place under the leadership of new AGSC President, Caitlin Yeo and APRA AMCOS Chief Executive, Dean Ormston who said, Australian composers and their music soundtracks play a vital role in telling our stories, to local and global audiences. Im looking forward to celebrating both the local and international screen music achievements of our members with the AGSC. Nominees will be announced in mid-October. New US mystery The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair feels very much like a chick flick whodunnit, if told from a male perspective. Ben Schnetzer stars as feted first-time novelist Marcus Goldman whose best-seller netted him fame, money, a swanky New York apartment and the pressure to deliver a killer follow-up. Just one problem: inspiration. So he turns to his former college professor Harry Quebert, a greying Patrick Dempsey now spending his evergreen years in the quiet haven of Sommerdale, Maine. Spending a weekend with his mentor, Marcus inadvertently stumbles onto evidence of a secret Harry is hiding which is subsequently followed by a scandal: Harry has been arrested for the murder of Nola (Kristine Froseth), a 15 year old girl who went missing decades earlier. She appears in flashback form of a woozy, spellbinding writers muse, barely kept at inappropriate distance. The news leaves Marcus torn over his idol protesting his innocence, but potentially delivering the makings of a new bestseller book. Before long Marcus turns small-town investigator, trying to piece together the controversial relationship between Harry and Nola, juxtaposed in flashback. Also in the mix are local detective Sgt. Perry Gahalowood (Damon Wayons Jr.), who acts as something of a foil to our young hero, and attorney Benjamin Roth (Wayne Knight) who largely facilitates his access to all-things-Harry-related. Yet while the romantic setting is inviting and traditional, the directing signposts a lot, and there is little that hasnt been seen before from the genre. The lack of key female characters is also concerning. Not much room for female intuition here. That said Ben Schnetzer is promising in his lead role as a young writer torn between his emotions and his nose for a good yarn. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair makes for a light weekend read if you dont manage to skip to the end to see whodunnit. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair screens on Stan from Friday September 28. A three year deal between US based Scripps Network and SBS Food Network is ending. From November 17 the channel will simply be known as SBS Food featuring a broader range of programming, with a focus on premium Australian content and less reality food. Scripps titles have included Rachael Rays 30 Minute Meals, Giada at Home, Reza: Spice Prince of Vietnam, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Diners, Drive Ins & Dives, and Chopped hosted by Ted Allen. SBS Director of TV & Online Content, Marshall Heald, said: SBS Food provides us with an opportunity to build on SBSs 30 year history in food, and through a refined content strategy, secure a more diverse mix of shows that will give audiences more of what they love to indulge in on the channel. SBS Food will feature more famous Australian and global food personalities including some of SBSs much-loved favourites including Adam Liaw, Poh Ling Yeow, Shane Delia, Peter Kuruvita, Luke Nguyen and for the first time Maeve OMeara, alongside Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver and Kylie Kwong. Were also excited to continue to discover and nurture home-grown talent and develop new programs following the success weve had introducing fresh new local faces to Australian audiences over the last 12 months. SBS Food is less reality food and more real food and will continue our commitment to broadcasting multicultural food-related content, introducing and educating audiences about different cultures, going to the core of SBSs unique purpose, he added. SBSs flagship food programs will continue to air on weeknights at 6pm and Wednesday evenings on SBS. This week is National Eye Health Week (NEHW) (24 to 30 September) and it promotes the importance of eye health and the need for regular sight tests. Sight is the sense we fear of losing the most, and many of us still dont know how to look after our eyesight National Eye Health Week aims are to change that. Regular eye tests are vital for your health and wellbeing because the tests can pick up early signs of eye conditions including cataracts and glaucoma before you're aware of any symptoms many of which can be treated if found early enough. Why vision matters The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), are campaigning to urge Britain to take their eye health seriously and some of their research statistics are mind-blowing. For #NationalEyeHealthWeek we're promoting the importance of eye health and the need for regular sight tests. Pop by the Sainsburys on Cambridge Heath Road, E1 5SD today from 10am-3pm for free advice & info #EyeHealthMatters pic.twitter.com/Vq3Ai2aT2q Tower Hamlets Council (@TowerHamletsNow) September 27, 2018 25 percent of people are not having an eye test every two years as recommended by the College of Optometrists, more than 80 percent of people are not aware that an optician can spot the early signs of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the UK and shockingly a quarter of people who spend more than 50 a year on shoes would not be prepared to pay anything at all for an eye test. Eye tests save lives We spoke to one lucky Londoner who praises his local Specsavers opticians in Putney, London, for identifying a condition that could have permanently damaged his vision. Entrepreneur Julian Sturdy-Morton director of A Bit of TLC a meet-up club that brings like-minded people together, began seeing shapes in his eyes, after two days he began to worry it was something more sinister and booked in for an eye test. After his eye test, the optician became concerned about a tear in Julian right eye and immediately had to refer him to the capital's Moorfields Eye Hospital. Red eyes? Sore eyes? Itchy eyes? Watery eyes? Dry eyes? Take a look at our Happy Eyes leaflet for information on minor eye conditions https://t.co/FBez8hwQOh #EyeWeek pic.twitter.com/iOliNgi3mW Eye Health Week (@myvisionmatters) September 26, 2018 An urgent appointment was made for him at the hospital on the same day, and Julian was informed of the tear in his eye was in danger of becoming a detached retina. He was then rushed in urgent laser surgery treatment. While the sight in his right eye has deteriorated slightly since the surgery, Julian, 65 says that "It could have been a lot worse without the help of his optician. The hospital told me, there was a great danger that I could have lost my vision in one eye," says Julian. Specsavers store director at the Putney branch Sukveer Orjela said, "Sight tests are far more than helping someone the right pair of glasses or contact lenses they are also be used to spot life-threatening illnesses such as Diabetes and Alzheimer's Disease. Regular eye tests, particularly in young children and the over 65s are vital." Specsavers and charity Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) recently published research that revealed one in five people will suffer sight loss in their lifetime despite at least half of all cases being avoidable. The stats also divulge that 300 people in the UK are living with sight loss on a daily basis." For more information on National Eye Health Week visit the vision matters website. The perennial water shortage in Sanguli in the Northern region of Ghana and its environs is affecting economic/academic activities. Sanguli is one of the rural communities in the Saboba District in the Northern region of Ghana with a high poverty rate. The community and the surrounding area have been suffering from a chronic water crisis after the only source dries up between the months of November to June every season. This is an ongoing problem for the population. The people of Sanguli share the dam's source of water with seven other surrounding villages and animals. This water crisis hits the area hard every year during the dry season. Dam is the only source of water for Sanguli The dam built in the 1970's serves seven adjoining villages, it stands as the only source in Sanguli but has not been desilt to deepen and widen the banks to make it more productive. It would not have been difficult to provide the Sanguli area with potable water if the dam was desilted and banks were reshaped to increase its capacity to hold a high volume of water during the rainy season for preservation. In an interview recently the Opinion leader and secretary to the Paramount Chief of Sanguli Mr. James Kojo Baafi advised the women who collect water from the dam to use chlorine to purify water despite the health implications. It is obvious that women and children of school age suffer more, they spend their nights searching for water. They trek over nine kilometers to locate a source of water, children go to school late and are compelled to carry cans to fetch water after school hours. The leadership of Sanguli also stated the several attempts to address the issue with the appropriate authority, has not yielded a positive result but they resort to passing on names on to local government offices in the hope of solving this problem. Water shortage in Ghana is alarming It's doubtful if as a member of the United Nations will achieve goal 6 of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 as targeted. The United Nations Development goal 6 implemented in 2015 in about 190 member States guide countries to ensure universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. The United Nations has cautioned about the effects of water scarcity suffered by more than 40 per cent of people around the world, an alarming figure that is projected to increase with the rise of global temperatures as a result of climate change. The people are appealing to government, non-governmental organisations and humanitarian bodies to urgently intervene to provide Sanguli and the environ with potable water. FILE PHOTO: An employee works outside the factory of Avril Group subsidiary Saipol, where biodiesel under the Diester brand and vegetable glycerin used for numerous industrial applications are manufactured, in Bassens, near Bordeaux, France February 13, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo By Sybille de La Hamaide PARIS (Reuters) - The European Commission has decided not to impose provisional import tariffs on a flood of low-priced Argentine biodiesel until it gathers more information, although it considers the fuel to be subsidised and a potential threat to local producers. The decision, detailed in a document seen by Reuters, comes as a major blow for European producers of fuels made from vegetable and recycled oil. They have been hit hard since the EU scrapped duties last year in response to a ruling by the World Trade Organisation. The Commission had been expected to reinstate provisional duties this month or in October and Argentine sales to the EU had stalled in anticipation. "The Commission's preliminary conclusions are that the Argentinian imports of the product concerned into the Union are subsidised and that there appears to be a threat of material injury to the Union industry," the Commission said in the document. "However, the Commission finds it necessary to collect further information on developments after the investigation period which could further confirm the Commission's preliminary findings in this investigation as well as shed more light on the Union interest," it said. "In view of its findings, the Commission will continue the investigation without the imposition of provisional measures." ARGENTINE PRODUCERS VERY CONFIDENT The Commission said Argentina provided support to its industry through a set of measures, including export duties on soybeans, a biodiesel feedstock, that depressed prices to an artificially low level to the advantage of the downstream biodiesel industry. The EU's removal of duties on low-price biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia last September and subsequent surge in imports has forced European producers to cut production. French biodiesel maker Saipol, the EU's largest producer and part of oilseed group Avril, implemented a six-month plan to reduce production in March, blaming huge Argentine biodiesel imports for exacerbating poor market conditions. Story continues Other major producers such as Bunge and Archer Daniels Midland Co announced they would cut output or close plants in the EU. According to Argentina's official statistics agency INDEC, the country has exported a total of 1.1 million tonnes of biodiesel in 2018 as of Aug. 22, of which more than 900,000 tonnes headed to the EU. Following the WTO ruling, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) launched a fresh challenge and asked the EU for an investigation into the alleged subsidies which was formally opened in January. The final decision is due in February. "We're very confident that this subsidy investigation will finish in the same way: without any kind of duty for Argentina, which we believe in no way should be applied," Luis Zubizarreta, president of Carbio, Argentina's biofuels industry chamber, told Reuters on Thursday. (Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Additional reporting by Maximilian Heath in Bueons Aires and Francesco Guarascio in Brussels; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Elaine Hardcastle) Russian president Vladimir Putin at a meeting on Tuesday: AP Posters on the streets outside described the plans to raise the pension age as genocide. Inside parliament, barrel-chested communist deputies wore white T-shirts claiming their implacable opposition to the reform. And ordinary Russians had shown their disapproval, with a million of them putting their signatures to a petition. In the end, the vote to pass the Kremlins contentious pension bill in its second reading went without so much as a whimper. The tightly controlled State Duma removed the last significant legislative hurdle by 326 to 59, with a proforma third reading scheduled for Thursday. Few will be on the edge of their seats by the time the Federation Council and the president are asked to add their seal of approval next Wednesday. Wednesdays vote followed party lines. The ruling United Russia party voted for; the token opposition voted against. And when it came down to the presidential amendments, everyone was in favour. They were for the president, one deputy argued, but against his reform. There is something we can all agree on, the speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said once the unanimous vote passed. Following the amendments, the pension age will eventually rise by five years, to 65 for men and 60 for women. Rarely has a government policy provoked such rage among Russians. Opinion polls suggest eight out of 10 Russians are against the bill, and over half are ready to join protests. Opponents of the bill say it strikes at the heart of the countrys social contract. In some regions, the proposals take the male pension age beyond the male life expectancy. After the government first presented its plans in the summer, the ratings of both president and ruling United Russia party nosedived by 20 per cent. Performance in regional elections this month was also dire, with voters rejecting hand-picked candidates across the country. In a sign of the Kremlins nervousness, opposition leader Alexei Navalny was twice arrested ahead of protests. Story continues Authorities initially tried to keep the president above the fray. It was a matter for government, not the president, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov would tell journalists. But, eventually, Vladimir Putin was forced to intervene. On 29 August, he made a TV address to the nation, calling for a moderate softening of the bill but describing it as necessary medicine. The Kremlin understood it would take a hit, said Tatyana Stanovaya, founder and CEO of the political analysis firm R.Politik, but it might have overestimated its reserves. And its tactics have contributed to a sense of the president being detached from his people. There is still a huge problem of dialogue, she told The Independent. People are expressing anger at three things. First, they see international politics being handled with far greater urgency than internal economic problems. Second, they dont see any positive agenda, only warnings that if you dont support them, things will get worse. And third, they recoil at the language of ultimatum, the absence of discussion. Sergei Kurginyan, head of the neo-Marxist movement that organised the million-strong referendum against the bill, said he was disappointed, but not surprised, by the outcome. Of course we didnt like the way that the deputies voted, but they are absurdly dependent and act like children around a father, he told The Independent. They committed political suicide today, but they voted for that suicide because they are nothing without the president. Mr Kurginyan said the vote would have broad consequences for the political stability of the country. There was a danger of late-Soviet collapse, he said: There is already a slow, creeping process of disillusionment, but it will become more pronounced. According to Ms Stanovaya, the Kremlin plans to manage the growing public discontent by renewing the regional elite with new faces. By evening, the president had already moved to replace two governors. But this corporate approach did nothing to solve the fundamental problems of distrust in the system and in a president who has lost his magic wand. Sooner or later, the Kremlin will be left with a choice, she said. They can either turn the screws further and risk creating a pressure-cooker environment. Or they can introduce moderate liberalisation, and risk things getting out of control. FILE PHOTO - Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi speaks at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN at the National Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam September 13, 2018. REUTERS/Kham By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian legislators, in a symbolic move, on Thursday voted unanimously to strip Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship in response to crimes committed against the Rohingya minority. The move by the House of Commons lower chamber has no immediate effect because honorary citizenship is conferred by a joint resolution of both the House and the upper Senate chamber and officials say it must be removed the same way. Suu Kyi received hers in 2007. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday that he was open to looking at stripping Suu Kyi of the honour but said doing so would not end the crisis in Myanmar, where more than 700,000 Rohingya have fled a government crackdown. The motion on removing the honorary citizenship was proposed by Gabriel Ste Marie, a member of the opposition Bloc Quebecois party, who told reporters after the vote that "I think it's a great symbol". The House of Commons last week unanimously voted to call the killings of Rohingya a genocide, a move that Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said at the time was significant. "Our government supported this motion in response to her (Suu Kyi's) continued failure to speak out against the genocide of the Rohingya, a crime being committed by the military with which she shares power," said Freeland spokesman Adam Austen. Legislator Andrew Leslie, who serves as Freeland's parliamentary secretary, told reporters "that the machinery of government will chew over the details of what specifically is required to implement" the motion. The Myanmar government was not immediately available for comment. Freeland is among many western politicians who condemned the decision by a Myanmar judge earlier this month to find two Reuters journalists guilty of breaching a law on state secrets. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who had been probing the killing by the security forces of Rohingya villagers, were jailed for seven years. They had pleaded not guilty. A U.S. government investigation last month found Myanmar's military waged a "well-planned and coordinated" campaign of mass killings, gang rapes and other atrocities against the Rohingya. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Clive McKeef) LISBON (Reuters) - Chinese are leading the way among non-European new residents in Portugal, whose investments have helped fuel a property boom under an advantageous "golden visa" scheme that is also creating political tension at home. Interior ministry figures issued on Wednesday showed that the 6,498 non-Europeans granted residency since Portugal launched the scheme in 2012 had generated 3.97 billion euros ($4.7 billion) in investments, mainly in property. The Chinese represented the biggest group with 3,936 residencies granted, followed by Brazilians with 581 and South Africans 259. Turks accounted for 236 and Russians 227. The program has brought criticism from the far left Communists and Left Bloc, two small parties which support the ruling minority Socialist government. But there has been no indication the government intends to end a lucrative scheme which has generated a steady flow of investment particularly into real estate. Portugal's scheme gives access to residency through a property investment of at least 500,000 euros, allowing visa-free travel through Europe's Schengen area. Spain, Malta and Cyprus also have their own golden visa programs. (Reporting By Axel Bugge; Editing by Richard Balmforth) See Also: FILE - This Wednesday, March 7, 2018 file photo shows the submarine UC3 Nautilus of Danish inventor Peter Madsen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Peter Madsen, convicted of torturing and murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall last year, appeared in court Wednesday Sept. 26, 2018, on the last day of his appeal against a life sentence. (AP Photo/Dorothee Thiesing, File) COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) Danish submarine inventor Peter Madsen, convicted of torturing and murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall last year, lost his appeal against his life sentence Wednesday, shortly after he apologized to the victim's family. Madsen listened quietly as judge Jan Uffe Rasmussen read out the ruling by the Eastern High Court. Rasmussen said the high court had reached the same conclusion as the Copenhagen City Court, which sentenced Madsen to life in April after convicting him of murder. In Denmark, a life sentence equates to 16 years on average, but can be extended. Madsen, 47, had wanted a time-limited sentence, not an open-ended prison term. The prosecutor had argued that the life sentence should be upheld, saying the motive was sexual and the crime was planned. Madsen stood up to hear the sentence and was motionless as Rasmussen read out the ruling. Prosecutor Kristian Kirk was satisfied with the ruling. "It is a case of a completely unusual severity," he told reporters. Defense lawyer Betina Hald Engmark told reporters they may appeal to the Supreme Court, although no decision has yet been taken. Madsen apologized to Wall's family before the ruling was read out. "I'm terribly sorry to Kim's relatives for what happened," Madsen said. Ingrid and Joachim Wall, the reporter's parents, were present in court. Defense lawyer Betina Hald Engmark had argued that her client "has a clean criminal record and alone has been convicted for one murder." "In comparable cases, the perpetrator often has committed moral crimes before," she said. Madsen denies murdering Wall, saying she died accidentally inside the submarine, but has confessed to throwing her body parts into the Baltic Sea. The Copenhagen City Court in April convicted Madsen of murder, sexual assault and the dismemberment of Wall. The court ruled unanimously that Madsen had lured Wall, 30, onto his homemade submarine with the promise of an interview. Story continues During the appeals trial, Kirk said Wall "likely had begged for her life" while Madsen carried out "a sadistic, yes inhuman, sexual fantasy." Kirk said violent videos in which women were tortured and killed were found on Madsen's computer, and said he likely filmed the killing. He added Madsen had been planning the murder and "just waited for a victim." "I hope we never will see such a case again," Kirk told the court. No video of Wall's murder has been found. "Kim Wall walked directly into a death trap," Kirk said before looking up at Madsen, who listened with his hands on the table: "I can't see any other sentence than life." The cause of Wall's death hasn't been established. Matteo Salvini says he is 'sad but content' in Instagram response to girlfriend's break-up message Italys interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has been accused of behaving like Pontius Pilate the Roman official who avoided responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Mr Salvini has led a popular crackdown on immigration since assuming office in June, closing Italys ports to migrant and refugee ships travelling from Libya. The policy has placed a strain on the relationship between Rome and Paris and other EU nations. In the latest instance, where Italy refused to let a rescue vessel dock, France, Portugal, Spain and Germany agreed on Tuesday to take in the migrants aboard. Mr Salvini today, hes like Pontius Pilate. Its obscene, Nathalie Loiseau, the French minister for European affairs, told RTL radio. The comments came hours after French president Emmanuel Macron was quoted as saying Italy had decided to no longer follow international law, in particular humanitarian maritime law. Mr Salvini, who is head of the far-right Northern League, accused Mr Macron of hypocrisy on Wednesday, claiming France had turned back more than 50,000 migrants from the Italian border in recent months. We do not accept lessons on rights or humanity from Mr Macron, Mr Salvini said in a statement. Mr Salvini has vowed to work together with fellow far-right politician and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban to obstruct Mr Macrons European agenda on migration. Italy has taken in more than 650,000 migrants over the past five years, which has placed a strain on reception centres and local services. Under European Union regulations, asylum seekers are meant to stay in the first EU country they enter until their application has been processed, which can take several years. But many migrants reaching Italy want to travel swiftly onto richer countries, including France. The French have stopped migrants crossing the borders, saying EU rules have to be respected. Additional reporting by Reuters By Giuseppe Fonte and Angelo Amante ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government has agreed to target next year's budget deficit at 2.4 percent of gross domestic product, party chiefs said on Thursday, ending a tussle between the ruling parties and Economy Minister Giovanni Tria. The move is a concession by Tria, who had wanted a deficit set as low as 1.6 percent, and appears at odds with Italy's promise to the European Union that it would cut the deficit decisively to rein in its high debt. The coalition of the 5-Star Movement and the League had been pushing for a deficit around 2.4 percent of GDP to fund costly policy pledges, while Tria had been slowly shifting his position but trying to hold out for something below 2.0 percent. "There is an accord within the whole government for 2.4 percent, we are satisfied, this is a budget for change," 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio and League chief Matteo Salvini said in a joint statement after meetings with Tria. Italian asset prices may come under pressure on Friday, as financial markets had been betting on Tria to resist the spending push from Salvini and Di Maio, who are both deputy prime ministers. "The good news is that there is a deal, at last," said Francesco Galietti, head of Rome-based political risk consultancy Policy Sonar. "The more complex part, however, is that until today markets had been betting on Tria's capacity to rein in political forces. That assumption is now crumbling." There was no immediate word from Tria, but government sources said he had no intention of resigning. "From now on things will be tough for Italy," said Armando Marozzi, analyst at Medley Global Advisors. "The European Commission will reject this budget and next month ratings agencies are likely to downgrade Italian bonds." The full cabinet began meeting at around 1900 GMT to sign off on the government's economic and financial targets for the next three years. Story continues The ruling coalition had been pushing Tria, an academic not affiliated to either party, to ramp up the fiscal deficit to finance their promises of tax cuts and higher welfare spending. Some coalition voices had publicly told the minister he should quit if he could not back their spending plans. The coalition parties say the priority must be financing policies including a basic income for the poor and a reduction in the minimum retirement age, rather than meeting deficit goals previously agreed with Brussels. "HISTORIC DAY" "Today is a historic day, today Italy has changed," Di Maio posted on Facebook after the deficit goal was announced, as 5-Star parliamentarians and supporters gathered outside parliament waving the movement's flags. Di Maio said it had been agreed that the 2019 budget, which must be presented by October 20, will set aside 10 billion euros for 5-Star's flagship policy of a "citizens' income" of up to 780 euro per month for 6.5 million poor Italians. Salvini said the budget would also allow people to retire earlier, freeing up about 400,000 jobs for the young and cut tax rates for a million self-employed workers. 5-Star which has been overtaken by the League in opinion polls, was particularly keen to present the budget as a political victory. Its ministers gathered on the balcony of the prime minister's residence in central Rome, waving to party supporters in the square below. Financial markets have been nervous since the government took office in June due to fears its spending plans will boost Italy's debt, which is already the highest in the euro zone after Greece's as a proportion of GDP at around 131 percent. A 2.4 percent deficit target remains inside the 3.0 percent ceiling prescribed by EU rules, but Italy had promised Brussels it would cut the deficit decisively to rein in its high debt. The targets form the framework for the 2019 budget, which must be approved by the cabinet by Oct. 20. Tria said on Wednesday the budget would include the parties' flagship policies, including the basic income for the poor and a lower retirement age, though it remains unclear how wide-ranging such measures will initially be and how they will be financed. A 2100 GMT cabinet meeting had been temporarily suspended and there was still no news on forecasts for the public debt or gross domestic product. The League and 5-Star, rivals ahead of an inconclusive election in March, say they will govern together for a full five-year term and phase in most of their policies gradually. (Additional reporting by Massimiliano Di Giorgio and Giselda Vagnoni in Rome and Francesco Guarascio in Brussels, writing by Steve Scherer and Gavin Jones, Editing by Toby Chopra, Jon Boyle, William Maclean) In his leaders speech at the Labour Party conference this year, Jeremy Corbyn made an attempt to show that he cares about the importance of a free press around the world. We must, and we will, protect the freedom of the press to challenge unaccountable power, he said, before going on to cite countries where the press are imprisoned, harassed or sometimes even killed by authoritarian regimes. What a shame his record exposes this as an empty promise. Like Theresa Mays approach to Brexit, cherry picking is Corbyns modus operandi when calling out a lack of press freedom overseas. His historical allies, despite their questionable records, were not on his list. Venezuela is the first name he conveniently excluded. When I stayed in Caracas in 2009, I saw hours and hours of the speeches of former president, Hugo Chavez, on my hotel room television. This was the same year that Chavez shut down 32 radio stations and two television stations. His successor, Nicolas Maduro, has closed a further 46 according to the Venezuelan National Union of the Workers of the Press. Last year, when there were mass protests, the Spanish CNN news channel was taken off air. And its not just professional newscasters who are affected: there have been reports of one government ministry forcing public employees to email their social media names to managers. On Chavezs death, in 2013, Corbyn tweeted: He made massive contributions to Venezuela & a very wide world. Many Venezuelan journalists would beg to differ. Then there is Iran, where four journalists have been killed since 1992 another country Corbyn neglected to mention in his Liverpool speech. Its state-sponsored propaganda TV station, Press TV, is banned by Ofcom, the UK press regulator. A few years ago the Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian was jailed for over 500 days in Tehran due to a dispute with the US. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian national, has been imprisoned on the grounds that she was working as a journalist in Iran, when in fact she was visiting her parents. Only last month, at least seven journalists were given prison terms of up to 26 years, ordered to be flogged publicly and forced into exile on their release. Story continues But this month a Labour party activist organised a live streaming on Press TV of an event where one of the partys MPs, Joan Ryan, lost a motion of no-confidence. Jeremy Corbyn has appeared a number of times on the same channel, receiving 20,000 in the process; he refused to tell Channel 4 this week whether or not he regretted the decision. Finally there is Syria, which has an equally appalling record when it comes to the treatment of journalists. According to Freedom House, in 2015 Syria was one of the most dangerous places in the world to practice journalism. The organisation claims that Bashar al-Assad has killed, injured, abducted or imprisoned dozens of journalists. In his conference speech, Corbyn said that the free press has meant the freedom to spread lies and half-truths. Back in April, he was the one who was suggesting that chemical weapons attack in Douma may not have been perpetrated by the murderous regime of Assad when all evidence pointed the finger towards him. To date he has not explicitly and unequivocally condemned Assad. Corbyn was right to talk about the fact that some countries do not have a fair and impartial media and, yes, some of the stories in our own free press about Labours spy connections are possibly exaggerated. However, by failing to talk about what is happening to the press in Venezuela, Syria or Iran and in one case taking their money Corbyn does nothing to help advance the rights, freedoms or physical safety of journalists worldwide. If he wants to be taken seriously when it comes to press freedom and human rights, it is high time that Corbyn called out the abysmal record of the regimes he has supported for decades. If he failed to do so and then became prime minister, what a terrible message that would send to the rest of the world. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The latest on the United Nations General Assembly (all times local): 8:05 p.m. Iran's foreign minister is deriding as an "arts and crafts show" Israel's visual-aid-enhanced accusation that his country is keeping a secret atomic warehouse. State-run media report that Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday there's nothing to the allegation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made at the U.N. General Assembly. Displaying maps and a photo, Netanyahu said Iran has been keeping tons of nuclear equipment and material in a property near its capital. Zarif notes the International Atomic Energy Agency has certified that Iran is in compliance with its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal meant to keep it from developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. withdrew from the deal this year. In a tweet, Zarif called Netanyahu's presentation an "arts and crafts show" by a country that he says needs to come clean about its own nuclear program. Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal but has never publicly acknowledged it. ___ 7:45 p.m. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is accusing Myanmar of failing to honor a verbal commitment to take back Rohingya Muslims who fled a military crackdown there. Atrocities against the minority Muslims have been documented in U.N. reports and Hasina told the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday that the actions "are tantamount to genocide and crimes against humanity." She appealed for more international support for the 1.1 million Rohingya sheltering in Bangladesh and urged an "early, peaceful solution" to the crisis. Hasina said there have been three bilateral "arrangements" between Bangladesh and Myanmar for the repatriation of Rohingya, but Myanmar authorities have yet to accept them back. Myanmar denies committing atrocities but the top U.N. human rights body is setting up a team to collect evidence of alleged crimes that one day could be used to prosecute suspected perpetrators. Story continues ___ 7 p.m. Vietnam's prime minister has spoken at the U.N. General Assembly as the U.N. flag flew at half-staff to honor his country's late president, who died days before the annual gathering of world leaders. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc took the podium Thursday. He thanked the assembly for holding a moment of silence for President Tran Dai Quang last Friday, shortly after he died in Hanoi at age 61. A government doctor said Quang had a rare viral illness he hadn't revealed. Quang was buried Thursday in his home village. The prime minister asked the gathered nations to support his country's bid for election to the U.N. Security Council for 2020-2021. Vietnam was a member in 2008-2009. ___ 6:50 p.m. Small island nations are using the weeklong gathering of world leaders at this year's U.N. General Assembly to highlight the one issue that threatens their existence: global warming. Speaking shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump whose fiery speech made no mention of climate change Seychelles President Danny Faure said for his country it's already a daily reality. The Indian Ocean nation is one of dozens of Small Island Developing States, or SIDS for short, that are at risk of being washed over as rising temperatures make the oceans rise. Haiti's President Jovenel Moise urged rich countries Thursday to stick to their pledges under the 2015 Paris accord, which includes financial aid for vulnerable nations to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change. ___ 4 p.m. New Zealand's prime minister is highlighting gender gaps in pay and domestic violence as continuing problems as she calls for the world to "recommit ourselves to gender equality." Jacinda Ardern, her country's third female prime minister, was speaking on the third day of debate at the U.N. General Assembly. She says she never grew up believing that gender would stand in the way of her achievements. But she says she'll "never celebrate the gains we have made" for women in New Zealand while women in other nations lack "the most basic of opportunity and dignity." Ardern's remarks Thursday also called for a recommitment to multilateralism both on principle and because, as she said, "In New Zealand, going alone is not an option." And she said that climate change is an important example of why cooperation is imperative. ___ 3:30 p.m. Iranian state television says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allegation of a secret Iranian nuclear warehouse is "ridiculous." The state TV report said Iran is committed to nonproliferation and Iran's nuclear program is under surveillance of the U.N. nuclear watchdog. The response came after Netanyahu's speech Thursday at the U.N. accusing Iran of concealing more nuclear activity from international partners. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Netanyahu's remarks with barely disguised disdain, saying he "annually launches a ridiculous show at the U.N. General Assembly." Israel sees Iran as its biggest threat. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. ___ 1:45 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing European nations of "appeasing" Iran by trying to renew trade despite Iran's nuclear activity. Netanyahu invoked historical European maneuvering in the Middle East while excoriating European leaders for sticking to the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord. It allows for a lifting of sanctions in exchange for curbing Iran's nuclear activities. After announcing what he said is new proof of Iranian secret nuclear activity, Netanyahu asked, "Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?" U. S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 deal but European powers argue it will persuade Iran to be more cooperative and transparent about its nuclear activities ___ 1:30 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exposing what he says is a secret Iranian nuclear weapons storage site. Netanyahu presented maps and photos of what he says is a "secret atomic warehouse" in the Turquzabad district of Tehran, concealed as a rug-cleaning operation. Netanyahu said Israel has shared information about this site with the International Atomic Energy Agency and some intelligence agencies. There was no immediate reaction from Iran, which denies building nuclear weapons. He made the announcement at the U.N. General Assembly, where he spoke out strongly against the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord. Netanyahu claimed it is used for "storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Iran's secret weapons program." ___ 1 p.m. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will chair a vast group of developing countries at the United Nations, in a boost to his efforts for official Palestinian statehood. Members of the Group of 77 formalized the decision to give Palestine the chairmanship of the group in 2019 at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday. Abbas welcomed the decision and urged other world leaders to recognize Palestine as a state. Israel strongly objects to the move. The group promotes the interests of the 135 developing countries it represents at the United Nations, including China. Egypt is the 2018 chair. ___ 12:40 p.m. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is vowing that his people will not revert to violence despite growing anger over Israeli and U.S. policy. Abbas rejected sole U.S. mediation in Mideast peace efforts because of President Donald Trump's decisions to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and withdraw aid funding for the Palestinians. Speaking Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly, Abbas urged Trump to rethink the decisions and urged member nations to support his push for Palestinian statehood. But Abbas pledged not to revert to violence despite his accusations that Israel and the U.S. have not held up promises to the Palestinians. He said, "We are not redundant. Why are we treated as redundant people who should be gotten rid of?" Abbas spoke after months of tensions between Israeli forces and the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza. ___ 12:20 p.m. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has cut to the heart of the Mideast dispute by starting his annual speech at the U.N. General Assembly by saying "Jerusalem is not for sale." Abbas uttered the words as soon as he took the podium Thursday, even before his customary invocation of God and laying out the overall situation for the Palestinians. Abbas spoke from the podium the day after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested for the first time as U.S. president that he "liked" a two-state solution as the most effective way to resolve their conflict. The Palestinians welcomed the offer but remain deeply angry over Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to stop funding for the U.N. agency aiding the Palestinians. Abbas said: "Jerusalem is not for sale and Palestinians' rights are not up for bargaining." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to speak soon after Abbas at the U.N. gathering. ___ 11:20 a.m. Haiti's president says increasingly violent hurricanes are exacerbating problems in extremely poor countries like his and is urging world leaders to do more to tackle climate change. President Jovenel Moise told the U.N. General Assembly that "small island nations ... emit little greenhouse gases but suffer the largest part of the damage caused by more frequent, more violent hurricanes." For example, he said Hurricane Matthew in 2016 caused damage in Haiti equivalent to 32 percent of gross domestic product. He said that aggravates deep poverty and social tensions even as he tries to pull Haiti out of its chronic troubles. He urged countries and companies to follow through on promises made in Paris last year to help vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change. Many world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly also called for more action by rich countries to help poor ones cope with flooding, drought and other extreme weather. ___ 10:35 a.m. Macedonia's president is criticizing top U.S. and EU officials for backing a referendum on changing his country's name. President Gjorge Ivanov urged his compatriots not to vote on Sunday, calling the name change a "noose" and a "flagrant violation of sovereignty." He criticized U.S. and EU officials who have visited Macedonia in recent weeks for suggesting that the name change offers Macedonia's only hope of ever join NATO and the EU. "If you take our hope, what will we be left with?" he asked. U.S. and Europe officials have accused Russia of interfering against the name change. The referendum is on a deal with Greece that would rename their country "North Macedonia" and resolve a long-running dispute over use of the term "Macedonia." Ivanov spoke Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly. ___ 9:55 a.m. The leader of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus is criticizing short-term moves to lock up migrants and is urging world leaders to work together on a global migration strategy instead. President Nicos Anastasiades made his appeal Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly, where many leaders have spoken out about the challenges of mass migration flows. The Cypriot leader said "instead of facing the root causes leading to massive migratory flows ... we content ourselves in setting up immigration detention centers." He called on leaders to set aside conflicting interests and "reverse our policies of political expediency and ... address the root causes that have led to this unprecedented situation" such as hunger and war. He spoke as the European Union is deeply divided over how to deal with migrants coming from Africa and the Mideast seeking asylum or a better life. ___ 8:30 a.m. Israeli and Palestinian leaders are preparing to take center stage within an hour of each other at the U.N. General Assembly. Their speeches come a day after Donald Trump suggested for the first time as U.S. president that he "liked" a two-state solution as the most effective way to resolve their conflict. Also on the docket at the U.N. is a Security Council meeting chaired by the American secretary of state that will focus on North Korea and its nuclear program. Trump met Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told reporters he believes that two states Israel and one for the Palestinians "works best." He has been vague on the topic, suggesting he would support whatever the parties might agree to. Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was hiding nuclear material at the site - Bloomberg Israel has accused Iran of hiding nuclear material at a secret warehouse in Tehran, saying the facility was proof that Iran still holds ambitions to one day develop a nuclear weapon. In a speech before the UN, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said his countrys spies had located a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Irans secret nuclear weapons programme. Mr Netanyahu said Iran had recently moved 15kg of radioactive material from the warehouse and spread it around Tehran in an effort to hide the evidence. He claimed the warehouse at one point may have held up to 300 tonnes of material and equipment. If the Israeli accusations are verified, it could provide proof that Iran is in breach of the 2015 nuclear agreement. Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, denounced Mr Netanyahu as a "liar who would not stop lying," according to Iranian state media. He denounced the Israeli leader's presentation as an "arts and crafts show". No arts & craft show will ever obfuscate that Israel is only regime in our region with a *secret* and *undeclared* nuclear weapons program - including an *actual atomic arsenal*. Time for Israel to fess up and open its illegal nuclear weapons program to international inspectors. Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 27, 2018 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and European countries have consistently said Iran is abiding by the terms of the nuclear deal. Mr Netanyahu accused Britain, France and Germany of appeasing Iran by continuing to uphold the nuclear agreement. Mr Netanyahu has a history of dramatic presentations before the UN "While the United States is confronting Iran with new sanctions, Europe and others are appeasing Iran by trying to help it bypass those new sanctions," he said said. "Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?" Story continues Mr Netanyahus latest salvo against Iran came five months after he revealed that Israel had stolen thousands of documents from an Iranian atomic archive in Tehran, which he said showed Iran was holding onto the know how to make a bomb. His latest allegations are potentially more serious if they show Iran has undeclared nuclear material. He challenged the IAEA to carry out an inspection at the warehouse in the Turquzabad district in southern Tehran. "Since we raided the atomic archive, they've been busy cleaning out the atomic warehouse. Just last month they removed 15 kilograms of radioactive material. You know what they did with it?" he said. "They took it out and they spread it around Tehran in an effort to hide the evidence." The Israeli leader also lambasted Iran's ballistic missile activity, identifying three locations near Beirut airport where he said Lebanon's Hezbollah was converting missiles. "In Lebanon, Iran is directing Hezbollah to build secret sites to convert inaccurate projectiles into precision-guided missiles, missiles that can target deep inside Israel within an accuracy of 10 metres," he said. FARGO, N.D. (AP) The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused in the killing of a pregnant North Dakota woman said Wednesday that testimony from his former girlfriend could be taken as evidence that he had agreed to participate in the crime. William Hoehn, 33, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the August 2017 death of 22-year-old Savanna Greywind, whose baby was cut from her womb. The baby survived. Hoehn's ex-girlfriend, Brooke Crews, testified this week that she hadn't told Hoehn of her plans to kill Greywind and take her baby. But Crews also said that when Hoehn came up on a bloody scene in their apartment, he got a rope and wrapped it around Greywind's neck. After the prosecution rested its case and jurors had been dismissed, defense attorney Daniel Borgen asked Cass County Judge Tom Olson to rule that prosecutors hadn't proven an agreement between Crews and Hoehn to commit murder. In rejecting the motion, Olson cited Crews' testimony about the rope. "To me, that's agreement," he said. Borgen had argued that prosecutors needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Greywind was still alive when Hoehn put the rope around her neck. "They haven't," he said. Olson also denied a motion by prosecutors to exclude testimony of Jennifer Robinson, who's housed in the same North Dakota women's prison as Crews. Robinson has said that Crews told her she strangled Greywind and cut the baby out within a matter of minutes. Crews denied that claim. Prosecutors on Wednesday called two witnesses before resting their case. They started with Phil Swan, the lead detective who summarized a timeline and evidence. That included one new exhibit, a jailhouse call when Hoehn told his mother he was worried about the death penalty. Swan also agreed with characterizations by Borgen and prosecutor Ryan Younggren that both Hoehn and Crews were "skilled liars." The state wrapped up its case with Ashton Matheny, Greywind's longtime boyfriend and the father of her baby. He said he was thinking of asking Greywind to marry him but never got the chance and never told anyone about it. "I just wanted to surprise her," he said. Simon Cowell has donated 25,000 to an animal protection charity to help close a dog meat farm in South Korea. The X Factor boss's contribution to Humane Society International (HSI) means more than 200 dogs and puppies bred for human consumption will now be saved, the charity said on Twitter. "Amazing news!" it said. "Simon Cowell has generously donated 25,000 to our rescue appeal to help us close our 13th #dogmeat farm in #SouthKorea & save 200+ dogs! We are so grateful to Simon and Syco it means the world to us!" Cowell, who has three Yorkshire terriers, has long been a supporter of the charity, backing its #EndDogMeat campaign and telling Good Morning Britain last year that eating dog was "like eating your friend". In 2016, he supported a campaign to ban a dog meat festival in Yulin, China, describing it as "sickeningly cruel". HSI is one of 83 animal charities, including Change for Animals Foundation, the Jane Goodall Institute, Four Paws and Animals Asia, calling for stronger action to tackle "the threat of rabies posed by the brutal and often illegal dog and cat meat trade". While consumption of dog meat in South Korea is in decline, HSI says there are still thousands of factory farms breeding about 2.5 million animals a year. The dogs are locked in small, metal cages, with the methods used to kill them - said to include electrocution and hanging - heavily criticised by welfare campaigners. During the 1988 Seoul Olympics, South Korea banned dog meat by invoking a law prohibiting the sale of "foods deemed unsightly", but this was not strictly enforced. HSI works with dog meat farmers who want to leave the industry and helps them switch to alternative livelihoods. The charity has, to date, permanently shut down 12 dog meat farms, saving nearly 1,400 dogs. An animal rescue team will be flying out to rescue the latest group next week, the charity said. The dogs will then be sent to the US, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands to be rehomed. Claire Bass, HSI UK's executive director, said: "These poor dogs have had the worst lives so far, so we're desperate to get them out of those dreadful cages and show them love, soft beds and loving arms for the first time in their lives." By Harriet McLeod and Gene Cherry CHARLESTON, S.C./RALEIGH, N.C. (Reuters) - The port city of Georgetown, South Carolina braced on Wednesday for flooding touched off by Hurricane Florence, as emergency management officials urged residents to evacuate despite forecasts that scaled back the threat of 10-foot high water. Florence, which crashed ashore two weeks ago as a Category 1 hurricane and killed 46 people in three states, has since dissipated, but the storm's torrential rainfall threatens to swamp the Georgetown as it drains towards the ocean. Forecasts now show floodwaters rising 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 meters) in Georgetown, which sits at the confluence of the Waccamaw, Great Pee Dee and Sampit rivers about 30 miles (50 km) south of Myrtle Beach, considerably lower than initially feared. "Were encouraging people not to let their guard down though, because just as quickly as forecasts change in our favour, they can change against us, said Jackie Broach-Akers, a spokeswoman for the Georgetown County Emergency Management Operations Center. Despite bright sun on Wednesday, Broach-Akers said officials were urging 6,000 to 8,000 residents to leave their homes, with rivers expected to crest in Georgetown on Friday morning and remain above flood stage for four or five days. "(The sunshine) makes it harder to believe that something bad is right around the corner," she said. The North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies said preliminary research suggests that Florence was among the rainiest storms to hit the United States in some 70 years. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said the river flooding caused by Florence, which dropped nearly 20 inches (50 cm) of rain in some places in the state, is something his state has not had to cope with before. 'FULL BATTLE MODE' "This is unprecedented and we are still in full battle mode," McMaster said at a press briefing on Wednesday at Emergency Management Division headquarters in Columbia, the state capital. Story continues Flooding has already destroyed 46 homes in the state, significantly damaged more than 1,000 and forced 11,000 people to flee their homes, including 3,000 in Georgetown, EMD Director Kim Stenson told reporters. In Conway County, where the Waccamaw was already well above flood stage, South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility, said floodwaters stopped rising before inundating a pond that holds more than 200,000 tons of toxic coal ash. The rivers rise has slowed and we think its cresting today, utility spokeswoman Mollie Gore said from the site, where 115 workers had shored up the dam around the pond. We still have a foot between the top of the river and the top of the dam. Santee Cooper said it has removed more than 1 million tons of coal ash, which can contaminate water and harm fish and wildlife, from the site in the past few years. The Waccamaw was expected to crest by late Thursday at 21.2 to 26.4. feet in the upriver communities of Conway and Bucksport, the National Weather Service Southeast River Forecast Center in Atlanta said. This is going to be a very long flooding event," said John Atwell, a weather service hydrologist. Some 1 to 2 inches of rain moving into the central and western parts of the state in a next day or two will prolong the flooding, said meteorologist Rich Otto of the weather service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. Any additional rainfall is just going to filter into those rivers, Otto said. Crews worked to erect temporary dams on either side of U.S. Highway 17, the main coastal route through the area, and National Guard engineers were installing a floating bridge at Georgetown in case the highway is washed out at the river. (Reporting by Harriet McLeod and Gene Cherry; Additional reporting by Peter Szekely in New York, Makini Brice in Washington, Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles,; Writing by Peter Szekely and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Lisa Shumaker) By William James LONDON (Reuters) - With just six months to go until the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union, negotiations are at what Prime Minister Theresa May has called an impasse. If she can clinch a deal with the EU, she will still have to sell it to her divided Conservative Party and win parliamentary approval. If she cannot, the United Kingdom could face leaving without a deal, a national election or even another referendum. Below are significant dates as Britain nears its departure from the EU in March: LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE - Sept. 23 to 26 Britain's opposition Labour Party will vote against any deal May clinches with the European Union and is open to a second referendum with the option of staying in the bloc, Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said on Tuesday. CONSERVATIVE PARTY CONFERENCE - Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 The Conservative Party often holds its annual conferences in a febrile atmosphere. Last year, May gave a calamitous speech in which she lost her voice, was handed a resignation notice by a prankster, and the stage backdrop fell apart as she spoke. This time tensions over her Brexit plan are likely to dominate and rivals, such as former foreign minister Boris Johnson, are likely to use the occasion to make their leadership pitch to grassroots members. Although May will be keen to focus on domestic policy rather than Brexit, the conference will allow her to sound out support for whatever agreement she is hoping to reach with the EU. EUROPEAN COUNCIL - Oct. 18 May meets fellow EU leaders and the European Commission to try to seal deals on the terms of Britain's withdrawal and what kind of relationship it has in the future. Top EU officials have said the meeting will be "the moment of truth" in the negotiations and they will gauge whether talks have advanced enough to formalise a Brexit deal in November. The agreement will have to cover trade and how to prevent a return of border controls on the frontier between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, which will become Britain's only land border with the EU. These are the main areas of disagreement which have caused May's government to step up preparations for leaving without any deal. Story continues Both sides have said that talks could slip into November without endangering the overall timeline. SPECIAL BREXIT SUMMIT - weekend of Nov. 17-18 EU leaders agreed in Salzburg in mid-September to hold a special summit on the weekend of Nov.17-18 to seal a Brexit deal with Britain if it is done. EU COUNCIL - Dec. 13-14 European Union leaders are due at an EU Council meeting on Dec 13-14. If a deal is not struck in November, this summit could be one of the last chances for a deal if parliaments on both sides are to ratify the deal by exit day in March. UK PARLIAMENTARY VOTE ON BREXIT DEAL - Unscheduled If May secures a deal, she has to get parliament to approve it. She would need about 320 votes in parliament to get approval. Her Conservatives hold 316 seats in the 650-seat lower house, and she relies on a Northern Irish party to win parliamentary votes. Labour has indicated it would vote against her deal so unless she can win over her own lawmakers, she could lose a vote in parliament. Failure could trigger a move against her leadership of the Conservative Party, or the government's collapse and an early election. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RATIFICATION - Unscheduled The European Parliament must also sign off on any agreement reached between May and the other 27 EU leaders. If the legislative starts dealing with it in November or even December, it should still be able to complete its elaborate ratification process in time for Brexit day. It could hold a final plenary vote during a plenary session set for March 11-14. But it would be getting busy then with campaigning ahead of European elections next May - in which Britain would no longer take part. EU officials have suggested a further delay may still be possible if negotiators are very close to sealing a deal. But it would just be a few extra weeks at best, as the current EU parliament holds its last plenary session on April 15-18, 2019. That is already beyond the current Brexit date. NO DEAL STATEMENT If there is no deal by Jan. 21, 2019, the British government must make a statement within five days on what the United Kingdom plans to do, according to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act of 2018. May said this week a 'no-deal' Brexit would be better than the EU's standing offer. BREXIT - March 29, 2019 at 2300 GMT. Britain will formally leave the EU. Providing an exit deal is agreed, there will be a transition period during which the bulk of the bloc's rules and regulations continue to apply while the British government formulates and implements replacement policies on issues such as immigration. TRANSITION PERIOD ENDS - Dec. 31, 2020 The transition period, designed to ease the impact on businesses and relieve uncertainty, is due to end. Little has been agreed so far about the new arrangements between Britain and the EU on trade, customs and other major issues. (Reporting by William James, Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Robin Pomeroy) New rules for the AIM market came into effect on Thursday forcing companies to adopt a code of corporate governance. Under the changes, companies on AIM can choose which corporate governance code they wish to apply, as opposed to companies on the London Stock Exchange's main market, who are required under listing rules to adopt the UK Corporate Governance Code. Companies will have to explain how they comply with their chosen code and conduct an annual review. The Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA), which represents small and mid-size quoted companies, said it expected that more than 80% of AIM companies to have adopted its own code. QCA chief executive Tim Ward said good governance should be about creating long-term, sustainable value for shareholders. In order to do this, a company needs to think about its business model, its other stakeholders, its culture and its board performance. If this isn't done effectively then the company will not be able to deliver in the long-term, he said. Oil and gas engineering services business Plexus Holdings announced on Thursday that its Russian licensee, Gusevsky Valves Plant (Gusar), has entered into an initial agreement to supply Gazprom with two sets of its Tersus TRT Mudline Suspension System (MLS) products for the construction of shallow water exploration gas wells on the Kara Sea Shelf in 2019. The AIM-traded company said Gusar was in the process of localising the manufacturing of Plexus' MLS equipment under terms of a licence from Plexus. It said the value of the initial order was in line with similar rates achieved in the UK Continental Shelf. Plexus said the MLS order was the first breakthrough order secured by Gusar for the Russian and CIS market, and was in line with its strategy to establish its best in class equipment in Russia - a top three hydrocarbon producer in the world with significant gas reserves. The order followed the sale by Plexus of its MLS equipment to Gusar in April last year, to assist in demonstrating to Russian operators the benefits and advantages of its proprietary system. It also followed the agreed sale by Plexus to Gusar of two POS-GRIP 18-3/4" rental wellhead sets and associated equipment and tooling for around 1.4m in February, which it said would form the basis of Gusar's POS-GRIP rental exploration wellhead inventory. Following today's announcement, Plexus' MLS equipment will soon be deployed in the huge Russian market which, due to the level of upcoming gas drilling activity, represents a major commercial opportunity for Plexus, and its licensee Gusar, said Plexus chief executive officer Ben Van Bilderbeek. Furthermore, with gas being targeted in the current shallow water campaign, it is clearly imperative that the best equipment is deployed to ensure drilling operations are completed safely and that gas leaks are avoided. Thanks to the superior qualities of our POS-GRIP wellhead and gas-seal technology, which has raised standards in high pressure/high temperature jack-up exploration drilling, we are confident our equipment will play an increasingly important role in this programme. Van Bilderbeek said the Commonwealth of Independent States was a key target market for Plexus. This is not just down to the vast volumes of hydrocarbon reserves it holds and the importance of gas within the country's energy mix, but also because the CIS provides a readymade example of the licensing model that lies at the centre of our strategy post the sale of our jack-up exploration business to FMC Technologies, excluding the CIS. Thanks to our growing suite of POS GRIP- based products, including production wellheads (both surface and subsea), and connector technology for abandonment operations such as our POS-SET Connector, there is scope for Plexus to build a portfolio of licensing agreements with key partners covering specific geographies and products, each generating a revenue stream through royalties earned on equipment rented out or sold. This is an exciting stage in Plexus' development, and I look forward to providing further updates on our progress as we focus on positioning Plexus as the provider of superior enabling technology for the energy sector at a time when there is an increased focus on the need to address for example methane leaks where we believe that metal-to-metal seals are essential and which need to be scientifically proven to have verified integrity. Independent exploration and production company Urals Energy updated the marker on its drilling activities at South Dagi on Thursday, reporting that, further to its announcement on 10 September, it viewed the initial results of the analysis of core samples taken from its first exploratory well as being promising. The AIM-traded firm said it considered that the results provided indications of a potentially significant discovery. It said the analysis of the core samples taken from 950 to 1,500 meters of well number 1 showed that in nine horizons, there were shows of hydrocarbons with good porosity, with total net pay of 154 meters. However, the full testing of the well, which would be required to confirm its significance, would be delayed for at least two months, due to a collector pipe becoming stuck in the well below 1,100 meters during the completion process. Removing this pipe will require special equipment that is manufactured and available in Russia, which is required to be brought to the island, the Urals board said in its statement. The recovery work will then be carried out by the group's own work over rig, so that the group's new rig can be moved from well number 1 to an already prepared site for our second exploratory well, well number 2. In the meantime, Urals said the the workover rig would re-enter well number 12, to establish that well as a water injection well, which would be linked to the earlier well number 7, the results of which were announced on 19 June. Well number 7 had been producing 225 bbls/day from horizons mirroring those of well number 1, and also produced significant water, which had to be separated at Urals Petrosak refinery. The company's intention is to set up a water separation plant at South Dagi, and re-inject the water into well number 12 once the work over is complete. In the meantime, well number 7 has been shut in. French president Emmanuel Macron said he would welcome the UK back into the European Union if voters were to change their minds in a second Brexit referendum. In an interview with Bloomberg at a summit on climate change in New York on Wednesday, Macron said that France was not trying to lure London bankers to Paris. Brexit is about history and not about domestic interests, he said. I did regret this vote for the rest of Europe and for our very special relationship. Although he acknowledged it was not down to him whether to hold another referendum, he maintained that the pro-Leave movement in the UK had lied in their campaign when they promised citizens exiting the EU would be easy: It costs a lot, its much more complicated than they initially thought. Diplomats on both sides have been frustrated at the pace of the negotiations, with EU officials complaining about the UK's refusal to take the EUs red lines of the four freedoms free movement of goods, services, capital and persons into account, leaving both sides . Back in August, Macron told the UK Prime Minister that the EU would not allow the UK to cherry-pick which of these pillars of the single market it could have and which it wanted to drop. Elsewhere on Thursday, Frans Timmermans, the European Commissions vice-president, said Brexit supporters believed negotiations would be easy due to the economic importance of maintaining a common market but had failed to grasp the crucial nature of the single market and the four freedoms for the political, as well as economic, stability of the continent. "In London people were completely flabbergasted that the German car industry did not demand of Mrs Merkel that she should give in to all the demands of the British government, he said in a speech in New York. The German car industry has a clear vision of the necessity of stability in the continent that goes beyond selling cars. For Germany the economy is an instrument in a much wider issue of stability in continental Europe and overcoming the mistakes of the past. On Theresa May's recent rebuff by European leaders at the Salzburg summit, Timmermans added: I can tell you from the bottom of my heart that no one in Salzburg wanted to humiliate Theresa May there was nothing like that on the table. I can also tell you that what was said about Chequers in Salzburg had been said time and time again to the Brits by Michel Barnier and others. So it should not have come too much of a surprise to her. May has ruled out a second referendum or even an extension of Brexit talks, assuring that the UK will definitely leave the EU with or without a deal on 29 March 2019. There were reports from The Times on Thursday that the PM could be losing cabinet support for her no-deal Brexit proposals if the European Union turns down her Chequers plan. Conservative MP Amber Rudd, the former home secretary, also told ITV overnight there were a large number of MPs who would not support a Canada-type trade deal, which is also opposed by the Labour party. US President Donald Trump claimed at an address to the UN on Wednesday that China is working against him attempting to interfere in November midterm elections. "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my administration," Trump said at the UN Security Council. He also said China were meddling in the election because they felt threatened by him, since he is the only president who has ever challenged them on trade. "We are winning on trade. We are winning at every level. We don't want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election, he added. China's representative on the Security Council Wang YI, denied attempts to interfere in US elections and said: "China has all along followed the principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs. This is a tradition of Chinese foreign policy. We do not and will not interfere in any countries' domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, and we call upon other countries to also observe the purposes of the UN charter and not to interfere in other countries' internal affairs." Later on Wednesday, Trump tweeted an image of what appeared to be a recent China Daily-sponsored insert in an Iowa-based newspaper and said: China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. That's because we are beating them on trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over!" A senior administration official who investigated the claim on Wednesday offered no concrete evidence that this activity was taking place. A new round of tariffs on $200bn worth of Chinese goods went into effect this week at Trump's order. The move escalated the trade war between the US and China, and Trump warned he would slap additional tariffs should Beijing retaliate. China did retaliate, with a new round of tariffs on $60bn of US goods that will be on goods such as liquefied natural gas, which some observers said was targeted towards states loyal to the US president. Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal of Milan upheld a 2015 ruling by the Court of Milan, which recognised copyright protection of the concept store of Kiko, the Italian make-up brand, and blocked competitor Wycon from using similar store decor in its shops. IPKat has written about this ruling . However, recently Kikos application for a three-dimensional EUTM was refused for lack of distinctive character. In confirming the refusal, the EUIPO Board of Appeal recalled the CJEUs preliminary ruling in C 421/13 (Apple Inc. vs Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt), according to which a concept store may serve as a trademark if it is capable of indicating commercial origin, particularly if the depicted concept departs significantly from the norm or customs of the economic sector. Shares on the Continent closed higher on Thursday on expectations of a strong Wall Street opening and despite a sharp fall in Italian bank stocks driven by ongoing government budget battles. The pan-Europe benchmark Stoxx 600 was up 0.37% at 386.45 having recovered from earlier losses. Italy's MIB fell 0.65% to 21,505.40, while France's CAC-40, Germany's DAX and the UK FTSE 100 all closed in positive territory. Spain's Ibex closed flat. Overnight, Matteo Salvini, the head of the far-right League party in Italy, reportedly decided to band together with his coalition partner, Luigi di Maio of the Five Star movement, to press for a 2019 debt-to-GDP deficit of 2.4%, versus the 2.0% which the country's economy minister, Giovanni Tria, was proposing. As a result, some observers were speculating that a cabinet meeting in Rome scheduled for late in the evening, to set the budget objectives for 2019, might be postponed. Prior to that, officials at the Quirinale were expected to approve the Update to the Economic and Financial Document 2018 which would include the most recent set of macroeconomic forecasts from the government. Investors were also busy digesting a raft of mostly negative economic data points. The European Commission's economic sentiment index for September declined from August's reading of 111.6 to 110.0 for September, its ninth consecutive month fall and the lowest level in 15 months. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank reported that the annual rate of growth of the Eurozone's money supply slipped from 4.0% in July to 3.5% for August (consensus: 4.1%). In Germany, Thursday's main economic releases were mixed, with the Federal Office of Statistics reporting that on a harmonised basis consumer prices in the Eurozone's main economy had accelerated to a 2.2% year-on-year (consensus: 1.9%) on the back of higher energy prices, after rising by 1.9% during the month before. GfK's consumer sentiment index for Germany on the other hand improved by one tenth of a point to 10.6 for October (September: 10.5). In equities, Italian banks proved a drag anchor on the broader market as UniCredit, Banco BPM and Unione de Banche Italiana were all lower on the day. Cruise company Carnival shares were also lower after the company posted a rise in third quarter earnings but lowered its guidance for the final quarter. Shares in IG Group Holdings slumped 12% after the immediate departure of chief executive Peter Hetherington. Indivior shares also plunged as the pharma company cut its expectations for revenue from injectable opioid addiction drug Sublocade on Wednesday. The company said it had substantially underestimated the delay in getting the drug to patients, Shares tanked as it said Sublocade would generate net revenue of $8m-10m in the 2018 financial year, down from earlier estimates of $25m-50m. H&M Hennes & Mauritz topped the risers with a gain of 10% after reporting a rise in sales and third-quarter profit beat forecasts. UK energy firm Centrica rose after getting a slap on the wrist from the domestic regulator for poor customers services, but avoided a formal probe into its practices. Shares on the Continent have started the session lower following a dip on Wall Street the day before and against the backdrop of the ongoing budget battles in Italy. "Ultimately, the market was doomed to disappointment with the Fed the shift from accommodative to neutral in the statement confirms what we already knew, but there will be more than a few regrets in stock markets as the door finally closes on the post-crisis era of US monetary policy," said Chris Beauchamp at IG. "The Powell Fed is determined to look ahead, and his caution in the press conference about getting bogged down in a discussion of neutral rates is commendable." As of 0945 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was down by 0.43% or 1.64 points to 383.40, alongside a 0.57% or 70.97 point drop to 12,312.53 for the German Dax and a 0.70% or 66.80 point drop on Spain's Ibex 35 to 9,458.0. But the steepest retreat was to be seen on the FTSE Mibtel, which had slipped 1.54% or 328.06 points to 21,318.99, alongside a seven basis point jump in the yield on the benchmark 10-year Italian government note to 2.92%. Overnight, Matteo Salvini, the head of the far-right League party in Italy, decided to band together with his coalition partner, Luigi di Maio, to press the case for a 2019 debt-to-GDP deficit of 2.4%, versus the 2.0% which the country's economy minister, Giovanni Tria, was proposing. As a result, some observers were speculating that a cabinet meeting in Rome scheduled for late in the evening, to set the budget objectives for 2019, might be postponed. Prior to that, officials at the Quirinale were expected to approve the Update to the Economic and Financial Document 2018 which would include the most recent set of macroeconomic forecasts from the government. In the background meanwhile, investors were busy digesting a raft of mostly negative economic data points. First and foremost, the European Commission's economic sentiment index for September declined from August's reading of 111.6 to 110.0 for September, its ninth consecutive month fall and the lowest level in 15 months. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank reported that the annual rate of growth of the Eurozone's money supply slipped from 4.0% in July to 3.5% for August (consensus: 4.1%). Nevertheless, the rate of growth in private sector credit nudged higher, from 3.3% to 3.4%. In Germany, Thursday's main economic releases were mixed, with consumer prices in Saxony accelerating from a year-on-year clip of 2.0% in August to 2.3% for September. GfK's consumer sentiment index for Germany on the other hand improved by one tenth of a point to 10.6 for October (September: 10.5). Profits wilted a little at Saga in the first half of the year as the over-50s services provider kept up investment in new customer acquisition and its insurance business was crimped by the competitive market. While an underlying profit before tax of 106.8m in the six months ended 31 July was down 3.7% on a year ago it was 5% ahead of the average analyst forecast, even though the tougher insurance market contributing to revenue falling 1.7% to 430.6m. With strong cash generation of 89.5m and the investment driving customer numbers back to where they were before December's profit warning, directors approved an interim dividend of 3p per share, in line with the previous year. Customer numbers were driven by a 19% increase in new business from Motor and Home insurance broking, though the more competitive pricing backdrop meant acquiring customers came at a higher cost so this did not translate into profitability. Moreover, investment was poured into new business and improved retention in insurance, balanced by a strong underwriting performance. Retail broking profits were 6.2% lower at 63.4m due to the investment in new business. Growth motor new business helped drive the third-party share of policies to 22.0% from 14.9%, with 67% of new business growth from the sprightly under-65s segment. After a positive first half for home insurance, the company said it was now seeing "upward pressure on net rates" after the adverse weather conditions seen at the start of the year, which is "expected to impact broker revenue and profitability in the second half". Despite this, retention rates for motor and home have recovered from the second half of last year and Saga has been able to continue writing new business on "attractive terms", resulting in total core policies sold being flat yer on year and up 6.8% against the second half. Underwriting PBT of 45.6m was down from 47m a year ago but with reported combined operating ratio of 61.5% versus 61.2% and reserve releases of 38.0m. The travel business delivered flattish PBT of 12.0m but saw "encouraging demand" for the new cruise ship, Spirit of Discovery, with over 64% of sales target for the first 19 cruises already achieved at "attractive rates". Construction is on track, said chief executive Lance Batchelor, with keel laying this summer, ahead of a maiden cruise next year. "The group is benefitting from lower operating expenses across the business, reflecting a more efficient operating structure and investment in our IT systems," he said. After an initial drop, shares in Saga rose 2.3% to 128.9p by late morning. Analyst Nicholas Hyett at Hargreaves Lansdown said Saga was having to fight harder to win customers. "Thats being partly offset by some good cost control, with admin and selling costs down 5%, but price cuts are still denting profits." "Motor insurance is a cyclical sector, and pricing pressure waxes and wanes over time but Saga usually escapes the worst of it thanks to its targeted and loyal customer base of 50+ customers. Its a worrying sign that doesnt seem to be the case this time, although with 44% of Saga customers holding more than one Sag product, it looks like the group still has a hard core of dedicated fans. Analysts at Bernstein said core policy numbers in motor and home were basically in line with its forecast. "We had been slightly worried going into results because of the tough conditions in motor insurance, with Hastings, Direct Line and Esure (prior to the Bain offer) all down 15-20% this year, but these numbers give us reassurance in our thesis." Bernstein said a short-term negative today was the cautious outlook for the second half in the broking business, with Saga reporting increasing margin pressure on net rates in home following the adverse weather in H1, which is "expected to impact broker revenue and profitability in the second half", while Motor also faces a headwind from lower average premium in H2. Broker Peel Hunt said the recent string of new management appointments and improved governance "should put Saga back on track to rebuild what we believe is an attractive and distinct affinity broker model". The shares are undervalued, Peel Hunt believes, trading at 9 times full year EPS and offering a 7% yield. Sirius Minerals updated the market on its progress for the quarter to 30 September on Thursday, reporting that its focus project, the Woodsmith Mine in North Yorkshire, remained on track to deliver first polyhalite and commercial production on time. The FTSE 250 company said procurement had been substantially completed for the major construction packages, which was a major prerequisite for second stage financing. Construction was said to be progressing in line with its 2018 guidance. The largest supply agreement to date, of 2.5 Mtpa peak aggregate volume, was signed during the quarter for key markets in South America including Brazil, taking its peak aggregate contract volumes to 8.2 Mtpa. Stage 1 royalty funding of $250m was received, with Sirius reporting that its capital funding requirement had been expected to increase by between $400m to $600m. The board said it was progressing financing alternatives. The business made excellent progress during the third quarter of 2018, achieving a number of key milestones, said Sirius Minerals managing director Chris Fraser. Procurement is now substantially complete for the major construction packages including the STRABAG AG agreement for the mineral transport system. Fraser said the announcement of Sirius largest supply agreement to date with Cibra, Brazil's sixth largest fertiliser distributor, had enabled it to exceed the target peak aggregate POLY4 take-or-pay volumes intended to support second stage financing, with further agreements expected to be completed soon. During the quarter we confirmed Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world's largest agricultural processors and food ingredient providers, as our North American partner and starch supplier, which serves to underline the confidence that our world-class distribution partners have in POLY4 and its place in the future evolution of the global fertilizer market. The coming months are a pivotal period for the company as we work towards fully financing the construction of our world-class long-life polyhalite project. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates last night and signalled that it would pick up the pace of increases as officials drew the curtain on an era of ultra-loose monetary policy put in place during the financial crisis. The central bank lifted its benchmark lending rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 2 per cent to 2.25 per cent. Thanks to Americas robust economic growth and buoyant jobs market, it anticipates one more rate rise this year, in December, and three increases next year. - The Times US companies have warned Theresa May that a bad Brexit would be a disaster for the UK and could mean that Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister. Steve Schwarzman, the chief executive of Blackstone, told Mrs May that his company was a believer in the UK but he was worried about how bad can things get. - Telegraph Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who has accused the supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, will tell the US Senate judiciary committee on Thursday that she will never forget what happened to her at a Maryland house party nearly 36 years ago. - Guardian Investors have 30 days left to vote on a controversial plan from Unilever that would mean the consumer goods giant leaves the FTSE 100 index. Battle lines are being drawn in the knife-edge poll due on October 26 on its proposals to axe its legal headquarters in London and base itself solely in the Netherlands. - Daily Mail One of the suspects in the Salisbury poisoning of Sergei Skripal was unmasked last night as a decorated colonel in Russian intelligence who was awarded the countrys top military honour by President Putin. Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the alias Ruslan Boshirov to enter Britain before allegedly carrying out the attack in March, was made a Hero of the Russian Federation by decree of the president at a secret ceremony in 2014. - The Times A chaotic Brexit still poses a risk to finance jobs over the long term, an influential City lobby group has warned as new research showed as few as 630 roles have been shifted or created overseas so far. Fewer banking and other finance roles have moved to the European Union to date than initially feared, according to the research by Reuters. - Telegraph Jeremy Corbyn has told Theresa May that Labour MPs will vote against her Chequers plan unless she is willing to accept his proposal to keep Britain in a customs union and protect consumer standards and workers rights after Brexit. The conditional offer came near the end of an hour-long speech at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, in which Corbyn tried to position himself as sitting in the mainstream of British politics, three years after he took control of the party. - Guardian Lloyds blocked police efforts to interview a whistleblower over a massive bank fraud, it is claimed. The lender allegedly ignored a request by investigators to speak to Lloyds staff member Sally Masterton, author of a bombshell report about criminal bankers who were later sent to prison. - Daily Mail Theresa May is losing cabinet support for her plan to revert to a no-deal Brexit if Europe rejects the Chequers proposals, sources have told The Times. Senior ministers are increasingly worried that the prime minister will stick to her promise to force a no-deal Brexit if Europe rejects her plan again next month. - The Times Barclays is contacting tens of thousands of customers it incorrectly told were not entitled to compensation for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). The banking giant admitted some customers who contacted them to check if they had PPI through a claims management company were wrongly told they didnt. - Telegraph Argentina has received the biggest loan package ever from the International Monetary Fund, aimed at shoring up the countrys ailing finances: a whopping $57.1bn that will be disbursed over the next three years. This is the biggest loan in the history of the IMF, said the funds director, Christine Lagarde, on Wednesday as the final loan agreement was announced in New York. - Guardian Motorists have been given brief respite from soaring fuel costs after Asda confirmed on Wednesday that it will cut the price of petrol by up to 2p per litre. The move comes after reports last week showed the wholesale price of unleaded has been coming down since the start of September and retailers were urged to pass these savings on to drivers. - Daily Mail Rupert Murdoch is to exit Sky nearly three decades after launching the British satellite broadcaster, bringing to an end a turbulent era in the history of British television. 21st Century Fox is to sell its 39 per cent stake in Sky to Comcast for 11.6 billion, halting Mr Murdochs ambition to take full control of the broadcaster before he sells a large part of his media empire to Walt Disney. - The Times Uber has agreed to pay $148m (112m) for a data breach that exposed the personal details of 57m users and 600,000 drivers, which the company covered up for more than a year. The transport app reached a settlement with 50 US states and the District of Columbia and agreed to beef up its security practices. - Telegraph The average salary required by a first-time buyer to purchase a home in the UKs biggest cities has risen by 18% in the past three years, above the rate of earnings growth making it harder for young people to get on the housing ladder. In the latest sign that homeownership was becoming an increasingly distant prospect for young adults in the UK, figures from the research company Hometrack showed only three out of 20 major cities had become more affordable since 2015. - Guardian Normally, Jordan Griffin would not drive to the University of North Georgia's Gainesville Campus on a Tuesday morning, especially since her classes are on the Dahlonega Campus. But when the criminal justice major learned a panel presentation on the opioid crisis featured state and local law enforcement figures, Griffin knew she had to go. "This is what I want to do for a living," the 19-year-old from Winder, Georgia, said. "Plus I have an emotional connection to this issue because of family ties with the opioid problem." Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, the first speaker of the five-person panel, pointed out the opioid crisis touches many lives. "The opioid crisis can affect any person's family," Carr said, adding addiction does not discriminate in regards to education, geography, gender, race, ethnicity, or economic status. "Just last year, the epidemic stole 1,043 lives in Georgia." He explained no single solution is going to fix the opioid crisis, which is why "it will take an all-in effort from the brightest people" to find solutions. To accomplish that goal, the state has formed a statewide task force to tackle the problem. "We have a number of folks who are passionate about this issue," Carr said during his presentation. A handful of them attended and spoke at the opioid crisis panel titled "Opioid Problems in Our Community" in the auditorium in the Continuing Education/Performing Arts building. Panelists were Vernon Keenan, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; Jonathan Eisenstat, chief medical examiner at the GBI; Jason Deal, superior court judge and chairman of the Council of Accountability Courts; and Greg Dozier, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections. Each member recounted some of their professional experiences with the opioid crisis. For example, Keenan talked about the over-manufacturing of drugs and pill mills. Eisenstat recounted overdose cases he has seen as medical examiner. Deal recalled four specific addicts he has dealt with in drug court while Dozier revealed the problems of meth appearing in the prison system. Griffin said she appreciated the panel containing a range of perspectives from the criminal justice experts. "I thought it was really amazing," the UNG junior said. "I thought it was just going to focus on one area, but it had officials from the medical, law enforcement and judicial fields." Providing the different views for UNG students was the intended goal, said Dr. Brent Paterline, head of the Department of Criminal Justice at UNG. "It shows that the criminal justice system not only puts people in jail, but about how the system can help people, too," he said. Paterline credited Dr. Tae Choo, professor of criminal justice, with procuring the high-profile officials to speak at UNG. He also admitted he was pleased by the number of criminal justice majors who attended from all campuses. "They had great questions," he said. "I was impressed with what they asked." Carr also appreciated UNG providing him and his colleagues a forum to educate students about the opioid crisis and drug trends. "We appreciate the University of North Georgia for raising awareness and leading change in the northeast Georgia community, he said. Choo said after hearing the speeches he hopes students will apply what they learned in class to the real problems to enhance their critical and analytical thinking. "They would be able to analyze the situation, apply what academic theories are relevant to the issues we have right now and evaluate the policies and strategies to fight the opioid overdose and related problems," she said. About Me William Kelly I am a freelance writer, journalist and historian whose major interests are music and history, with a special emphasis on the assassination of President Kennedy. View my complete profile Blog Archive Jinger Duggar Vuolo has always appeared to have an eye for fashion and putting together stylish looks. Her flair for fashion became self-evident once again while her husband Jeremy Vuolos parents were in Laredo, Texas recently visiting the couple and their granddaughter Felicity Nicole, who is now two months old. During Jingers visit with her in-laws, she shared photos on her social media. She knew how to rock maternity style as good as it gets. She also knows post-pregnancy fashion, looking great and up-to-date with her trendy sense of apparel, yet also not over-the-top, in making a statement that leaves a favorable impression. She paired a cute khaki dress with wedge sandals, as the Celebrity Insider noted on September 26. Social media follower suggests Jinger start a fashion blog Her Instagram account followers wasted no time in offering compliments. While many stated how good they think she looks, one follower, going by the moniker @amyprice_74, wrote, You need to seriously consider starting a fashion blog and maybe even someday design your own line! In addition to fans and her social media followers appreciating Jingers fashion, they also welcomed seeing the additional photos that Jinger shared during the visit that she and Jeremy had with his parents. Along with one of the photos, she pointed out that they had an extraordinary weekend together. Fans think Jeremys brother and Jingers sister could be a match In light of being accustomed to seeing Jingers parents, it was a treat for fans to also get a closer look at Jeremys parents and his siblings, Valerie and Charles. Discuss this news on Eunomia It was Jeremys brother, however, who garnered most of the comments. Many fans and followers mentioned that Charles could be a potential match for Jingers sister Jana, In Touch Weekly reported. A fan offered the suggestion that Jinger and Jeremy steer Charles in the direction of Jana. Many people believe that the couples siblings, respectively Jana and Charles, might really hit it off. Jana is single Quite possibly, now that Janas friend Laura DeMasie announced on Twitter that she and Jana are not dating, people understand that Jingers sister is simply single and will leave the topic of her sexual orientation alone. DeMasie only made the statement on Twitter since people were not accepting Derick Dillards Twitter response when he addressed a fan who asked whether the two are dating. He stated, no. DeMasie has since tweeted the same. The two women are friends. Thats it. Maybe now, Duggar fans and followers can just appreciate things are the way they are and focus on the important aspect of acceptance. Baby Felicity spends time with her grandparents Another feature of Jingers visit with her in-laws was that Felicity was seeing more of her fraternal grandparents. One of the most striking photos that Jinger shared is of her grandmother holding her granddaughter with both appearing to take in as much of the other as possible. Jinger captioned the image, Grandma time. Jeremy also posted very stunning images on his Instagram account. One recent photo most especially is beautiful. Jinger is holding baby Felicity who his pulling on her moms hair. He captioned the picture, stating that Felicity, who the couple nicknamed Lissy, was not very fond of having her photo taken earlier and preferred pulling Jingers hair. Instagram user @diannsandbek remarked, I just love your beautiful family with little Felicity, your precious little angel. Baby girl shares moms expressive ability Fans and followers can see how much Jinger and Jeremy love their baby. On her second-month anniversary after she was born, Jinger also posted a photo to mark the occasion. Felicity most definitely exudes the ability to offer great facial expressions, just like Jinger. Be sure to follow Blasting News for updates and about the Duggars and Counting On, as well as for the latest information. Thomas Ravenel, 56, is the former disgraced South Carolina State Treasurer who turned reality show cast member. He has faced arrest and criminal charges twice in his life. His latest encounter with law enforcement took place on September 25, when he was arrested, booked, and faced a judge during a bond hearing. He stands charged and accused of assault and battery against his formerly employed nanny. The nanny was identified only by the name Dawn. His accuser hopes for justice and his former "Southern Charm" castmates reportedly say he's "toxic," according to People. Before his arrest on September 25, Ravenel appeared unhinged on Twitter, when he launched into a rambling rant against people who appeared closest to him on the Bravo network reality show Southern Charm. He held himself out on Twitter in the highest of self-esteem while belittling cast members Craig Conover, Cameran Eubanks, and Patricia Altschul, who graciously included him in her elegant and exclusive dinner parties. Ravenel unravels on social media While engaged in a circuitous diatribe on social media, he saved the worst of his comments for Conover, along with his ex and the mother of his two young children, Kathryn Dennis, along with his sometimes girlfriend Ashley Jacobs. Ravenel seemed to unravel. He accused Conover of keeping Dennis out overnight while she did drugs, though she has had clean drug tests for a sustained duration. Conover was focused on helping with relief efforts following Hurricane Florence and did not respond to Ravenel's rant. Thomas Ravenel Is Unsupervised And Ranting On Social Media Tonight https://t.co/AXq2QYmmDz via @TamaraTattles cheryl ann burke (@cherylannburke1) September 23, 2018 Additionally, Ravenel told a fan that he does not date people without integrity, meaning Ashley Jacobs. Discuss this news on Eunomia At this time, it is uncertain whether Bravo will invite Jacobs to rejoin the cast of Southern Charm, though she has stated that she very much wants to return to the show. Former stars attack on co-stars was unprovoked A reasonable and logical question that fans and followers might have is whether Ravenel knew or foresaw imminent arrest. If he was aware, that knowledge could have been the tipping point for the vitriol that spewed from his brain to his fingertips when he unleashed his Twitter tirade only three days before he was taken into police custody. Thomas Ravenel Is Out as a Southern Charm Cast Member After Arrest, Bravo Confirms - https://t.co/osyEM7gNwS #GoogleAlerts Patricia Altschul (@Pataltschul) September 26, 2018 Regardless of whether Ravenel or his attorney were apprised by law enforcement that he was slated for eventual arrest, his attack against people he claimed to care about was mean and seemingly unprovoked. Ravenel did not intimate that they might be boring or beneath his ability to articulate on a higher plane, he flat-out posted direct insults on Twitter. Accused faced judge for bond hearing, released on own recognizance Following his arrest, he was booked and taken before a judge for a bond hearing. His bond was originally set at $20,000 yet he was released on his own recognizance. Not so fast, however. The judge ordered the former South Carolina State Treasurer to surrender his passport. Ravenel, after all, disgraced his good name when he was accused and pleaded guilty in 2007 to cocaine distribution. He has a history with the states penal system. Taking no chances, the judge additionally ordered that Ravenel have zero contact with his accuser, the woman who reported to police that she was sexually assaulted and physically injured by him in 2015 while she was working as his nanny. .@CharlestonPD tells us that T-Rav's arrest and assault charge today is related to a forcible rape report from May, but declined to give any other details. Charge listed against Ravenel is 2nd degree assault. https://t.co/jxplT47vqS Sam Spence (@samwithans) September 25, 2018 Accuser Nanny Dawn addresses court, speaks to media The woman identified by People as Nanny Dawn on September 26, told the publication that she was not aware that Ravenel was slated for arrest. When he was actually taken into law enforcement custody she felt unprepared and exhausted. She took the opportunity she was offered in giving the court a victim impact statement. Dawn is a realist. She is hopeful that the court will hold Ravenel accountable for the crimes she alleges that he committed against her yet realizes that statistics reflect the probability that he could go unpunished, People noted. Castmates react to co-stars exclusion from filming In reporting about Dawn, People also published an article presenting his castmates reaction to Ravenel's arrest. The publication relayed information from an undisclosed source. While generally, such reporting might not be viewed as credible as a source going on record, it is understandable why the sources name is not disclosed in light of Ravenels past propensity for unleashing his wrath against people even those believed to be closest to him. I met Thomas Ravenel when he ran for the Senate in 2004. He was the single most irrationally overconfident person I had -- and have -- ever encountered. https://t.co/Qr3Gw3cRxg Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) September 25, 2018 His former co-stars, according to People and its source, consider Ravenel toxic. His former Southern Charm castmates are happy that he is off the show and that the will resume filming the upcoming season without him. Bravo confirmed on September 25 that Ravenel is not returning for the next season. His co-stars were reported disgusted with Ravenel. Be sure to follow Blasting News for updates about Southern Charm and for the latest information. Imagine a world where doctors could prescribe targeted probiotics to pregnant women as a way to prevent autism. Sierrah Travis, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, a second-year student in the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech, spent her summer researching how to do just that. Travis and 11 other first- and second-year veterinary students from colleges across the country participated in the Summer Veterinary Student Research Program (SVSRP), an 11-week annual curriculum designed to expose veterinary students to research best practices and the diverse career opportunities available in the field. During the programs second week, participants visited the nations capital, which was Travis favorite week of the summer. The best experience had to have been when we visited the federal buildings during our trip to Washington, D.C., she said. It was really interesting to see what types of roles are available to veterinarians. While there, they met with various doctors of veterinary medicine in research and policy positions at the National Institutes of Health, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and Walter Reed. She also enjoyed working in the lab of Paul Morton, assistant professor of neurodevelopment and neurobiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology. In the lab, Travis researched the gut microbiota brain axis and how it ties in with autism disorder. In diseased states, she found, the gut can negatively affect the brain. Nine weeks of the SVSRP were devoted to mentor-guided laboratory training in animal models of diseases. Francesa Frere, of Ellicott City, Maryland, also a second-year student at the veterinary college, explained that she has always wanted to do research that can relate back to human medicine. Since this research can go into people as well and affect animals, it is a way for me to look at a virus and how it relates to the environment. Frere hopes to pursue a career in epidemiology. Frere spent her summer working in the lab of Nisha Duggal, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology. There she studied the susceptibility of common birds and mosquitoes to African Usutu virus strains, which is a mosquito-borne zoonotic virus that, while rare in humans, can cause encephalitis. Over time, this transdisciplinary research could lead to a vaccine against the virus for human and animal populations. Mexico native and Purdue University second-year student Roel Becerra has appreciated his ability to work toward a One Health goal with his peers. Everyone has different projects some people were working only with cells; others were working with animals. Whats interesting is that while we were all working on different things, at the end it was to target the advancement of One Health. Working in the lab of Lijuan Yuan, associate professor of virology and immunology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Becerra researched the persistence of norovirus, which affects 21 million people across the United States each year. He studied the norovirus tissue distribution and fecal virus shedding in different types of mice that have specific immune proteins removed to determine how much of the virus was present in the tissue samples. This type of research could potentially uncover a way to mitigate the spread of norovirus. At the end of the 11 weeks, the students each gave a presentation on their research projects. This allowed all participants to interact and see one anothers progress and outcomes. In addition, the students got an opportunity to present their work at the 2018 National Veterinary Scholars Symposium, which was held at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. This national meeting had over 750 participants from across all veterinary colleges in the USA and Canada and select schools from Europe and Mexico, said Ansar Ahmed, associate dean for research and graduate studies and SVSRP director. This is an exclusive meeting of D.V.M. research scholars a one-of-a-kind, which allows D.V.M. students to listen to talks from top D.V.M. scientists around the country, meet other summer scholars, and build a network. The SVSRP not only allows veterinary students to experience in-depth research at a level they likely have not been exposed to before, but it also enlightens them on other types of biomedical research opportunities. Former program participants have used this summer research as a launching pad for their careers. Now in its 12th year, the SVSRP is funded by the National Institutes of Health, Boehringer Ingelheim, and the veterinary college. -Written by Sarah Orren and Leslie Jernegan Russian and Iranian intervention threaten regional stability The Syrian government may be on the march toward victory in that countrys seven-year-long bloody civil war, but the larger geopolitical conflict that the Syrian civil war represents is far from over. The conflict saw a serious escalation this past week, after Russia moved forward with plans to upgrade Syrias air defense. Moscows decision to supply Bashar al-Assads government with S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and satellite navigation-jamming technology follows the downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane earlier this month. Though it was Syrian government forces that shot down the Ilyushin Il-20 airplane, killing 15 crew members on board, Russia blamed Israel for the incident, alleging that Israeli fighter jets had used the Il-20 as cover, while carrying out airstrikes in Syria. Israel blamed Syria for the accident and noted that its jets had returned to Israeli airspace by the time the Russian plane was shot down. According to the Israeli military, Israel has carried out some 200 airstrikes against Syrian targets over the past year-and-a-half to prevent the proliferation of Iranian-supplied weapons to the terrorist organization Hezbollah. The target that Israel struck on Sept. 17 is a facility that Iran is using to stockpile military equipment and weapons components for Hezbollah, according to Israeli and U.S. intelligence. Both the U.S. and Israel are concerned that the Southern Lebanon-based terrorist organization, whose fighters are assisting Syrian government forces, are gaining access to more advanced weaponry that Hezbollah can use to attack Israel in efforts to destroy the Jewish state. By supplying the Syrian government with more advanced anti-aircraft missiles and satellite navigation-jamming technology, Russia is gaining greater influence over Syrias air defense. Iran, meanwhile, is strengthening its foothold in the region by aiding Bashar al-Assad through its proxy, Hezbollah. Moscow and Tehran share expansionist foreign policies that run counter to democratic values and the protection of human rights. Syrian rebel forces may be on the verge of defeat in Syrias civil war, but threats to regional peace and stability remain, due to growing Russian and Iranian intervention. The Sham of "May Issue" Continues Do movie theater security guards need guns? NJ judges say no By George Devinny. September 26th, 2018 It might well be stated yet again that a law abiding person should need no 'permit' to carry a firearm, although there can sometimes be restrictions over places where carry is not permitted. Beyond this is the matter of permit issuance, which in the majority of states is based on "shall issue" - basically, an applicant needs only to be verified as being non criminal and with no prejudicial record to qualify. Sometimes training requirements are stipulated. A few states also have what is commonly described as 'constitutional carry' such as Arizona, Wyoming, Arkansas and Vermont - no permitting requirement. Then we have the infamous "may issue" states and New Jersey is one of those - this process might perhaps be described as 'if we feel like it' or just as likely, 'sorry no permit'. This brings up the thorny question of 'need' when an applicant has to show a good reason. 'Need' is conveniently treated by many as subjective, open to definition, and frequently more than likely dependent on the whim of a sheriff or judge as to whether a case is even allowable. From NewJersey 101.5: A security guard at a local movie theater applied for a carry permit, which was approved by the borough police chief. A Superior Court judge sitting in Elizabeth, however, denied Calvin Carlstrom's application in February -- a decision that was upheld Monday by an appellate court panel. Carlstrom worked as a security guard at an AMC theater and applied for the permit to carry a gun in June 2016. He listed his occupation as a security guard for Global Security Services. He submitted several endorsements, certificates for firearms trainings and a letter from Global Security's director of operations that noted his job duties would include "protection of life, as well as cash transfers in the theaters." The letter from John DeVino also noted that "large amounts of cash" are moved across the theater, and that theaters have been identified as "soft targets" for terrorists by the Department of Homeland Security. Carlstrom's application was approved by the Roselle Park police chief in October 2016, but Judge William A. Daniel denied the application without a hearing. In his denial, the judge noted that Carlstrom did not establish "justifiable need" to carry a gun. "Applicant failed to establish that he, in the course of his described employment, will be subjected to a substantial threat of serious bodily harm and that carrying a handgun is necessary to reduce the threat of unjustifiable serious harm to any person," the judge's decision said. Here we see a case of 'good reason' being what could well be regarded as above the norm while remembering the Colorado Aurora movie theater mayhem. A well qualified security guard wished to be able to carry at work in an AMC movie theater, which these days most certainly could be regarded as a soft target, and yet despite a police chief approval an anti rights judge unjustifiably and cruely overturned that decision. From a Second Amendment point of view 'need' is quite simply the wish to claim the innate right to self defense, based perhaps just on the simple common sense approach of "expect the unexpected" or even "better to have and not need than need and not have'! There should not even be any requirement at all to show 'need' or 'good reason' when rights are respected. Back to Top Anemia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in older adults. Diagnostic cutoff values for defining anemia vary with age, sex, and possibly race. Anemia is often asymptomatic and discovered incidentally on laboratory testing. Patients may present with symptoms related to associated conditions, such as blood loss, or related to decreased oxygen-carrying capacity, such as weakness, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Causes of anemia in older adults include nutritional deficiency, chronic kidney disease, chronic inflammation, and occult blood loss from gastrointestinal malignancy, although in many patients the etiology is unknown. The evaluation includes a detailed history and physical examination, assessment of risk factors for underlying conditions, and assessment of mean corpuscular volume. A serum ferritin level should be obtained for patients with normocytic or microcytic anemia. A low serum ferritin level in a patient with normocytic or microcytic anemia is associated with iron deficiency anemia. In older patients with suspected iron deficiency anemia, endoscopy is warranted to evaluate for gastrointestinal malignancy. Patients with an elevated serum ferritin level or macrocytic anemia should be evaluated for underlying conditions, including vitamin B 12 or folate deficiency, myelodysplastic syndrome, and malignancy. Treatment is directed at the underlying cause. Symptomatic patients with serum hemoglobin levels of 8 g per dL or less may require blood transfusion. Patients with suspected iron deficiency anemia should be given a trial of oral iron replacement. Lower-dose formulations may be as effective and have a lower risk of adverse effects. Normalization of hemoglobin typically occurs by eight weeks after treatment in most patients. Parenteral iron infusion is reserved for patients who have not responded to or cannot tolerate oral iron therapy. Anemia is a common condition in adults 60 years and older. Given the demographic growth of this population and the morbidity and mortality associated with anemia, primary care physicians should be familiar with the evaluation and management of anemia in older persons. Enlarge Print SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE Clinical recommendation Evidence rating References A low serum ferritin level is associated with a diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. C 17 Older patients with suspected iron deficiency anemia should undergo endoscopy to evaluate for occult gastrointestinal malignancy. C 15, 16 Low-dose formulations of iron (15 mg of elemental iron) can be effective for treatment of suspected iron deficiency anemia and have a lower risk of adverse effects than standard preparations. C 27 SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE Clinical recommendation Evidence rating References A low serum ferritin level is associated with a diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. C 17 Older patients with suspected iron deficiency anemia should undergo endoscopy to evaluate for occult gastrointestinal malignancy. C 15, 16 Low-dose formulations of iron (15 mg of elemental iron) can be effective for treatment of suspected iron deficiency anemia and have a lower risk of adverse effects than standard preparations. C 27 Anemia has historically been defined as a hemoglobin level of less than 12 g per dL (120 g per L) in women and less than 13 g per dL (130 g per L) in men.1 These values and reference ranges remained static until recently, when cohort studies such as the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey suggested that this definition needs to be adjusted because of the variability in normal hemoglobin levels with age, sex, and black race (values for different ethnicities are not available). A revised definition that may better reflect these differences has been proposed (Table 1).2 Enlarge Print TABLE 1. Proposed Lower Limits for Hemoglobin Levels Sex Race Age (years) Hemoglobin, g per dL (g per L) Men White 20 to 59 13.7 (137) 60 13.2 (132) Black 20 to 59 12.9 (129) 60 12.7 (127) Women White 20 12.2 (122) Black 20 11.5 (115) TABLE 1. Proposed Lower Limits for Hemoglobin Levels Sex Race Age (years) Hemoglobin, g per dL (g per L) Men White 20 to 59 13.7 (137) 60 13.2 (132) Black 20 to 59 12.9 (129) 60 12.7 (127) Women White 20 12.2 (122) Black 20 11.5 (115) Prevalence Jump to section + Abstract Prevalence Diagnosis Microcytic and Normocytic Anemia: Overlapping Clinical Manifestations Macrocytic Anemia Treatment and Referral References The overall prevalence of anemia is 17% in older adults (7% to 11% of community-dwelling older adults, 47% of those in nursing homes, and 40% in hospitalized patients).3,4 Most of these patients have mild anemia (hemoglobin level of 11 g per dL [110 g per L] or greater), but even mild anemia is independently associated with increased morbidity and mortality.59 A prospective cohort analysis of 3,758 patients 65 years and older found that new-onset anemia and decreased hemoglobin levels with or without anemia are associated with increased mortality (hazard ratios of 1.39 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.15 to 1.69] and 1.11 [95% CI, 1.04 to 1.18], respectively, per 1 g per dL decrease in hemoglobin).5 Common causes of morbidity in these patients are listed in Table 2.5 A 2016 British prospective cohort study of 220 patients with a mean age of 83.6 years found that anemia is associated with increased all-cause mortality one year after hospitalization.10 After adjusting for comorbid conditions, anemia in community-dwelling older adults is associated with functional decline and decreased mobility, balance, and ability to rise from a chair.11,12 Overall, one-third of older patients with anemia have a nutritional deficiency, which includes iron deficiency due to subsidiary causes (e.g., bowel malignancy), one-third have chronic inflammation or chronic kidney disease (CKD), and one-third have an unknown cause.13 Enlarge Print TABLE 2. Morbidity and Mortality Risks Associated with Anemia in Older Persons Increased morbidity Decreased mobility in community-dwelling older persons Decreased quality of life Increased risk of fatigue, depression, dementia, delirium (in hospitalized patients), and falls Increased mortality Community-dwelling older persons Nursing home residents Persons undergoing noncardiac surgery Persons with preexisting heart or kidney disease TABLE 2. Morbidity and Mortality Risks Associated with Anemia in Older Persons Increased morbidity Decreased mobility in community-dwelling older persons Decreased quality of life Increased risk of fatigue, depression, dementia, delirium (in hospitalized patients), and falls Increased mortality Community-dwelling older persons Nursing home residents Persons undergoing noncardiac surgery Persons with preexisting heart or kidney disease Diagnosis Jump to section + Abstract Prevalence Diagnosis Microcytic and Normocytic Anemia: Overlapping Clinical Manifestations Macrocytic Anemia Treatment and Referral References Recognizing clinical signs and symptoms of anemia is an important first step. However, some patients will be asymptomatic, and diagnosis will occasionally be based on incidental laboratory findings. In acute presentations, patients will have symptoms secondary to volume loss, such as lightheadedness, syncope, and hypotension. Chronic anemia may be asymptomatic but in severe cases presents with symptoms related to decreased oxygen-carrying capacity, such as weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, and worsening of comorbid conditions such as angina, heart failure, CKD, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These conditions are more common in older patients and may cause many of the same clinical symptoms as anemia; thus, a high clinical suspicion must be maintained. In addition to clinical manifestations, risk factors for anemia should guide the evaluation. Risk factors that are more common in older patients include chronic alcohol use, malnutrition, CKD, liver disease, myelodysplastic disorders, gastrointestinal bleeding, cancer, androgen deficiency, and age-related decline in stem cell proliferation. The clinical history should focus on identifying these risk factors, as well as symptoms that may suggest a specific condition. Melena, hematochezia, and unintentional weight loss may indicate gastrointestinal bleeding. Recurrent skin infections may be a sign of immunocompromise suggestive of myelodysplastic syndrome.14 The presence or absence of these risk factors should guide further evaluation and treatment. Once anemia is suspected, a complete blood count with differential should be obtained. If the results indicate anemia, further studies are needed to evaluate the underlying cause and to guide treatment. The mean corpuscular volume is used to classify anemia as microcytic (less than 80 fL), normocytic (80 to 100 fL), or macrocytic (greater than 100 fL), and allows for a more specific and tailored evaluation. Microcytic and Normocytic Anemia: Overlapping Clinical Manifestations Jump to section + Abstract Prevalence Diagnosis Microcytic and Normocytic Anemia: Overlapping Clinical Manifestations Macrocytic Anemia Treatment and Referral References Microcytic and normocytic anemias are most common in older adults. Although microcytic anemia is classically associated with iron deficiency, and normocytic with chronic disease or unknown causes, there is significant overlap between the manifestations of these diseases. Iron deficiency anemia occurs in 11% to 57% of patients with colorectal cancer and may be the presenting symptom in 15%.15,16 Therefore, obtaining a serum ferritin level is the first step when evaluating these patients (Figure 1).1519 A level less than 19 ng per mL (43 pmol per L) is highly suggestive of iron deficiency anemia (positive likelihood ratio [LR+] = 41), but this condition can be present in patients with higher levels (LR+ = 3.1 in patients with serum ferritin of 45 ng per mL [101 pmol per L] or less).17 Iron deficiency anemia is less likely in patients with serum ferritin levels of 46 to 100 ng per mL (103 to 225 pmol per L), although it cannot be ruled out. In these patients, the serum transferrin receptorferritin index can be used to distinguish between iron deficiency anemia and other types. (An online calculator is available for registered users at https://online.epocrates.com/medCalc/TransferrinReceptorIndex.htm?activeMedCalcName=Transferrin%20Receptor-Ferritin%20Index%20for%20Diagnosis%20of%20Iron%20deficiency%20Anemia.) An index of more than 1.5 supports the diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia. Fecal occult blood testing should be performed to assess for gastrointestinal blood loss, and endoscopic evaluation should be strongly considered for patients with iron deficiency anemia or in whom occult blood is identified, taking into consideration factors such as patient comorbidities and the risk of complications.18,19 Enlarge Print FIGURE 1. Diagnosis of microcytic and normocytic anemia. (GFR = glomerular filtration rate.) Information from references 15 through 19. FIGURE 1. Diagnosis of microcytic and normocytic anemia. (GFR = glomerular filtration rate.) Information from references 15 through 19. If iron deficiency anemia is excluded, anemia of chronic disease is the most likely cause of microcytic or normocytic anemia. In older patients, anemia of chronic disease is most often caused by CKD, which can be assessed with serum creatinine and the glomerular filtration rate. Further evaluation based on clinical presentation is necessary for patients in whom iron deficiency anemia and CKD have been excluded. Evaluation should begin with a peripheral blood smear and reticulocyte count, with further evaluation based on results of these tests. Macrocytic Anemia Jump to section + Abstract Prevalence Diagnosis Microcytic and Normocytic Anemia: Overlapping Clinical Manifestations Macrocytic Anemia Treatment and Referral References If the serum ferritin level is greater than 100 ng per mL, or if macrocytic anemia is identified, the most likely cause shifts to other etiologies. A peripheral blood smear and reticulocyte count are the first steps in the evaluation of macrocytic anemia. Abnormalities in the peripheral blood smear should prompt consideration of a myelodysplastic syndrome or malignancy, and hematologic consultation is warranted. An elevated reticulocyte count (reticulocyte index greater than 2%) is associated with increased bone marrow production of red blood cells and is associated with hemolysis, hypersplenism, or recent blood loss (Figure 2).5 A low reticulocyte count can occur in patients with vitamin B 12 or folate deficiency. These deficiencies can occur with chronic alcoholism, or they can be the result of malabsorption due to diet or surgery.20 Long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, histamine H 2 receptor antagonists, or metformin can also cause vitamin B 12 deficiency.21,22 Recognition and treatment are important because of the significant impact vitamin B 12 deficiency can have on neurodegenerative disease and cognitive impairment.23 The diagnosis can be made when serum cobalamin levels are unequivocally low (less than 100 pg per mL [74 pmol per L]); elevated methylmalonic acid and homocysteine levels are more sensitive for the diagnosis of vitamin B 12 deficiency in patients with higher serum cobalamin levels.24 Enlarge Print FIGURE 2. Diagnosis of macrocytic anemia. Adapted with permission from Bross MH, Soch K, Smith-Knuppel T. Anemia in older persons. Am Fam Physician. 2010;82(5):484. FIGURE 2. Diagnosis of macrocytic anemia. Adapted with permission from Bross MH, Soch K, Smith-Knuppel T. Anemia in older persons. Am Fam Physician. 2010;82(5):484. It was musical theater that made Linden famous but he never went to the theater when he started out in music, which influences his brilliant phrasing as an actor. I was a classically trained clarinetist and saxophonist, and if Id had the slightest bit of discipline, I probably wouldve spent my life as first chair in some major symphony. I was good, he says. I only slid over to theater accidentally. In 1956, his girlfriend was on Broadway in the musical Bells Are Ringing, whose star, Judy Holliday, would win the Tony for best actress (to go along with her Oscar for 1950s' Born Yesterday), and Lindens lover wangled him an audition for the chorus. The Asian flu hit, I was elevated to the standby, replaced the star, and I a sax player! made my Broadway debut as a leading man. Bells Are Ringing and Funny Girl composer Jule Styne regularly hired him to test out new tunes. But fame eluded Linden until 1971, when Fiddler on the Roof creators Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock wrote him a great signature tune, In My Own Lifetime, in the show The Rothschilds, which got him a Tony for best actor. More fatefully, by an odd chance, producer Danny Arnold needing to entertain his kids during a brief production break on a film caught a matinee performance and was so impressed that he ignored the studios long list of famous actors they wanted him to consider for his new cop show Barney Miller, tailoring the star part of Captain Miller to Lindens gift for droll, deadpan calm as funny chaos erupts around him. Shot before a live audience, the show barely survived at first, but eventually became a hit. The sitcom aired from 1975 to 1982, earning Linden eight Emmy nominations and making him a star, at last, at 44. It was the great writing and the fact that the cast was all actors, not comedians, says Linden, who almost turned the part down to play a New Orleans clarinetist on Broadway in Doctor Jazz. He did reject a role on the smash hit St. Elsewhere. Thats gonna haunt me for the rest of my life, Linden says. If they do a reboot, maybe I can get the part. He figures hes got time. My mother lived to 98, sharp as a tack until the day she died. So I look forward to that. Just now, Linden is looking forward to performing as the narrator in the musical Grand Hotel, which opens in October in Los Angeles. He tried to inject Fuscos film with some of his own upbeat, still-vital spirit. Its a Holocaust story, but we didnt want to make it tragic its about aspiration, Linden says. The hero has succeeded in life. We tried to get as much of a sparkle in his eye as possible. Linden also gives much-raved-about live concerts featuring songs from Its Never Too Late, his first-ever CD, recorded when he turned 80. It contains the very Samuel Project-relevant lyric, Its never too late in life to reach for a childhood dream. He really believes it. There's been a lot of luck in my life. Im not going gently into that good night no, sir! Im still here. Programs help students with disabilities get the job skills they need local A Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office sergeant will likely face charges over a March incident in which he was accused of using excessive force. The Sheriffs Office in a news release Wednesday evening said that District Attorney Raul Torrez has told officials that he will be filing a criminal complaint against Sgt. David Priemazon charging him with aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm. The release says that after a pursuit with deputies, Priemazon used excessive force against the suspect. A deputy at the scene of the March 19 incident reported the case up the chain of command the following day, and two days later Sheriff Manuel Gonzales ordered an internal affairs investigation. During the internal affairs investigation, the elements of the criminal charges became apparent. The internal affairs investigation was suspended, pending a criminal investigation, the release says. The case was then turned over to New Mexico State Police, which submitted the case to the District Attorneys Office. Our office takes these matters extremely seriously. Prosecutors are working closely with BCSO to gather details and have just launched our investigation, said Michael Patrick, a spokesman for Torrez. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time. Sheriffs officials confirmed Priemazon is accused of battering Christopher Lucero, 34. Lucero was arrested March 19 after getting into a chase with sheriffs deputies, who used a pursuit intervention technique, causing the vehicle Lucero was driving to flip three times, according to a criminal complaint. Lucero fled and fell in the street, where deputies used softening techniques to get him in handcuffs, according to the complaint. When Lucero made his first appearance, he appeared before the judge in a neck brace and appeared badly injured, according to news reports. Lucero has filed a claim against the county, which the Bernalillo County Commission discussed Tuesday during a closed meeting about the Lucero claim, and other lawsuits and tort claims, according to the meeting agenda. Priemazon has been with the Sheriffs Office since January 2003. He remains on administrative leave, according to the news release. I expect every law enforcement officer I commission to remain neutral in the performance of their duties, because we are not above the law, Gonzales said in a news release. I have a history of holding my staff accountable at all levels and any violations of law will not be tolerated. I support the reporting deputy for having the courage and integrity to come forward. I am thankful this incident was brought to my attention and I am confident this individual will be held accountable. Its clear New Mexicos foster care system has had its share of problems. Shocking cases, such as the incident where kids continued to be assigned to a foster family despite years of claims of abuse, make that clear. Its also clear the volume of kids removed from homes after findings of abuse or neglect more than 4,000 during fiscal 2017 puts a serious strain on the foster care system. And it goes beyond sheer numbers. Many of these children face mental, emotional and physical challenges, while the good people who step forward to be foster parents often lack the necessary skills or support from the state to deal with these troubled youngsters. Its much less clear the best way to handle the challenge is another agreement where a federal judge essentially takes on running the foster care program administered by the Children, Youth and Families Department. A proposed class-action suit filed by child care advocates last week seeks court intervention, contending the foster care system is broken. (This is separate from a suit filed this week on CYFD child-care subsidies.) Regarding the foster care lawsuit, the state has had enough experience with court oversight agreements in which lawyers and professionals involved have no financial incentive whatsoever to resolve the issues and end their billable hours for this to only be a last resort. The predecessor agency to CYFD was under such an agreement for 25 years aimed at faster adoptions of children in foster care. The city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have been struggling since the mid-1990s to get out from under federal court oversight of the Metropolitan Detention Center. The state is still working to move out from under federal oversight for a disability rights case brought in the 1980s by people released from two state mental hospitals. The city of Albuquerque has entered a federal consent decree to oversee reforms of the police department in which it seems every step forward is accompanied by one back. The foster care lawsuit sets out examples of troubled children being removed from their homes only to be dumped in a system that fails to treat their trauma, and in some cases puts them in overly restrictive housing where they continue their downward spiral. There are allegations of drugging difficult kids, with one residential treatment center accused of threatening booty juice if kids dont shape up. In response, CYFD points to significant improvements. It has added protective services workers in the field and reduced staff turnover. It has opened a kid-friendly receiving center in Albuquerque so kids dont have to sit in a sterile office while awaiting placement, and in December there will be a new $20 million wellness center with cots and mats for children who need to stay overnight before being transferred. The agency says behavioral health clinicians are assigned to each CYFD office to screen children taken into state custody to find the right treatment in the least restrictive environment. And, the agency has bolstered the ranks of foster parents to 1,325, a net gain of 258 over the past three years. On balance, its fair to say there have been improvements, but serious problems still need to be addressed. Lawyers tend to like litigation. And in these cases, litigation spawns its own bureaucracy that can last for decades and cost untold public dollars. So its in the interest of all New Mexicans, especially abused and neglected kids, to work toward a child-centric solution rather than one more adult-centric federal oversight system that takes on a life of its own. Advocates should sit down with legislators and a new administration in Santa Fe to find ways to address legitimate concerns in a reasonable way. That would put kids first. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The mother of a boy who was recently killed, apparently by his stepmother, says she remembers her son as an energetic boy who loved playing outside. Jayden Curtis, 5, was pronounced brain-dead at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center on Saturday and was taken off life support at the University of New Mexico Hospital early Tuesday. His stepmother, 20-year-old Melynie Curtis, has been charged with child abuse resulting in death after admitting to Santa Fe police that she choked Jayden at their Airport Road apartment Saturday afternoon. Jaydens father, Royce Curtis, told police that his son, a kindergartner at Cesar Chavez Elementary, was normally playful but recently had been sitting by himself and not talking to anyone for long periods. Jaydens biological mother, Cristina Cowboy, 22, told the Journal on Wednesday that Jayden was always on the move and that she didnt know why he may have become more reserved recently. He was really energetic with me, Cowboy said. He wouldnt settle down to go to sleep. When he wakes up, hes full of energy. He always wanted to be outside and play. I dont know how he started being quiet all of a sudden. Thats not my son. Cowboy said she was with Jayden when he was pulled from life support. I was just praying, you know, she said. It was really heartbreaking for me. It was just me and my son. Doctors at St. Vincent called the state Children, Youth and Families Department on Sept. 20 after Jayden was taken to the hospital for a broken clavicle, or collarbone. CYFD sent a cross-referral to the Santa Fe Police Department via email, but the officer who receives those emails didnt see it before Jayden was already brain-dead from the choking incident. Police never investigated the clavicle injury. Melynie Curtis has maintained that Jayden received the clavicle injury at school. CYFD spokesman Henry Varela told the Journal on Tuesday that there was a previous CYFD investigation in which Jayden was listed as a household member, but that Melynie and Royce Curtis were not part of that investigation. He would not confirm whether Cowboy was part of the earlier investigation. Cowboy said Wednesday that she didnt know anything about previous CYFD investigations. Cowboy told the Journal that she left her children with Jaydens paternal grandmother because she was having car problems but fully expected to get the kids back. Royce Curtis told Santa Fe police that he took Jayden in about a month ago after his mother no longer wanted to care for him, according to a police report. Its unclear from the report whether Curtis was talking about his own mother or Cowboy, Jaydens mother. Cowboy herself has a recent arrest. She was arrested around 3 a.m. Sept. 18 when a deputy found her sleeping in a car near an Aztec church with drug paraphernalia, but no drugs were found in the car. I discovered numerous used needles and empty plastic bags that appeared to have contained a white powdery or crystal like substance at one point in time, the deputys criminal complaint says. Additionally, I discovered a small digital scale as well as another small make up style bag that contained more empty needles and a large number of small plastic bags, from my training and experience, are used to distribute small quantities of narcotics. Cowboy told the Journal she never used drugs around her children. Melynie Curtis originally told police that she found Jayden unresponsive in the bathtub Saturday, but Jaydens clothes and skin were completely dry when medics got to the apartment and doctors could not find any signs of drowning. A civil rights organization alleged District Judge Lisa Riley made racist comments to Carlsbad High School Principal Adam Amador during a discussion about a student demonstration on school grounds. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), in a letter to Carlsbad Municipal Schools Superintendent Dr. Greg Rodriguez and the Carlsbad Municipal Schools board, alleged a witch hunt against Amador in retaliation for his handling of a student demonstration organized by Rileys son in May. The letter alleged Riley called Amador a dumb Mexican during a May 2 phone conversation, and points to threats made against Amador by others on social media. Riley denied the allegations, claiming others could corroborate her version of the conversation. I have never said anything derogatory in any racial sense at all, she said. That is categorically a lie. They said that I said things that I did not say. As a judge, I have to be impartial, Riley said. They are lies. I have to stop this. If they (LULAC) are saying that, they need to look at whoever told them that, because it is not true. Carlsbad School Board President David Shoup said the board is taking the concerns seriously, but he could not comment further. I just want to make sure the public knows that we take all concerns from the community and parents seriously. We are addressing them within the ability of the law by the State of New Mexico, Shoup said. In this case were dealing with a personnel matter and we cant discuss it publicly, but I do want the public to know that we are looking into it and taking it real seriously. Allegations follow Stand for the 2nd student demonstration Following a Wednesday special meeting held by the school board, Riley said the district failed to respond to her complaints that Amador attempted to disrupt her sons demonstration on school grounds, in support of gun rights. I hoped they would address this in a timely manner, she said. They ignored it, and now we have a worse problem. Will Riley, a former Carlsbad High School senior held the demonstration known as Stand for the Second on May 2, to support gun rights in response to demonstrations held across the country calling for stronger gun regulations in the aftermath of a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Will Riley said he was standing next to his mother during the alleged conversation, at the Rileys home waiting for members of the news media to arrive for an interview following the demonstration. He denied the allegations of racism, and said any hostility came from Amador. It was immediately hostile. He (Amador) repeatedly raised his voice, Will Riley said. He hung up on her while she was still talking. Not only did she not say (racist remarks), but I have never heard her say that before. She never even cusses. He questioned why the allegations were made months after the demonstration, and worried other students might subsequently be afraid to express their views. This is about the First Amendment. Amador believes he can be the arbiter of what views can be expressed in the school. Its clear there is something very wrong. Another senior at the time, Andrew Easley said he was in the living room, while the conversation happened in a nearby kitchen. Easley said he did not hear any hostility from Lisa Riley. I definitely didnt hear that. I know because Im half-Mexican, Easley said. If anything like that was said, I would have known. Its not like Lisa to say something like that. Amador could not be reached for comment. Riley, months after the demonstration, claimed Amador opted to disrupt the 16-minute walkout, and infringed on the students right to free speech. About 100 students participated. I went to Amador so as not to disrupt the education process, Riley said in August. At every step of the way, including in this first meeting, he was immediately hostile and immediately attempted to intimate me. In an Aug. 19 letter to the School Board, his mother suggested that Amador had also warned teaching staff against encouraging or participating in the event. I know that the principal may deny some of these things that my son has stated tonight, and that are in my letter but many of them can be verified by teachers who have concerns and didnt want to risk appearing before the board, she said during an August School Board meeting. LULAC concerned about racial motivations LULAC National Treasurer Paul Martinez said Will Riley was taking calls from the news media during class about the demonstration, and was simply corrected by Amador for disrupting instruction. Officials from Carlsbad Municipal Schools did not immediately return a request for comment from the Current-Argus. Were going to review all of the evidence, all the postings on Facebook, Martinez said. The young man was never denied his civil rights. Now, were concerned Mr. Amador is receiving death threats, and other political statements by those who are partisan in this matter. The judge took it personal and made it political. Its divided almost on a racial line. If Mr. Amador was not Hispanic or of color, it would not have gone this far. In LULACs letter to the District, Martinez said he received numerous complaints from students and faculty regarding the issue. Martinez said LULAC plans to hold an emergency meeting next week at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and could hold a press conference next month in Albuquerque. Our concern is that both Dr. Rodriguez and Mr. Amador are Hispanic and in a protected class, Martinez wrote. They are unequivocally being targeted by this hate group because of their race and ethnicity. The evidence is overwhelming due to what is being posted on Facebook. The Current-Argus was not immediately able to verify what Facebook postings Martinez was referencing. Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter. 2018 the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) Visit the Carlsbad Current-Argus (Carlsbad, N.M.) at www.currentargus.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Albuquerques homegrown point-of-sale software service for restaurants has a new CEO, plus aggressive plans to increase Lavu Inc.s products, services and markets. Lavu Board Chairman Mirza Baig announced Thursday that Saleem Khatri, a serial entrepreneur and former Goldman Sachs and Oaktree Capital Management employee, will become CEO, effective immediately. Saleem is a rare breed of leader whos both a strategic visionary and a great operations manager, Baig told the Journal. He has 17 years of experience in high-growth businesses. Thats critical as Lavu enters a new phase of expansion, Baig said. The company plans to evolve Lavu from its traditional focus on point-of-sale tools for restaurants to conduct daily service operations on mobile devices to a comprehensive business-management option for restaurants with data analytics, workforce oversight and inventory control. Its an expansion of the business mission from a mobile tool to a central command system that broadens the product footprint inside restaurants and transforms our company into an enterprise-like solution for restaurants, Baig said. Albuquerque startup entrepreneurs Andy Lim and Corey Fiala launched Lavu in 2010 with new hardware and software tools for restaurants to manage services on mobile devices in real time on a single, integrated platform. Table servers, for example, can take orders directly on tablets or smartphones, allowing cooks to instantly read them on screens in the kitchen. The meals are automatically logged and processed for payment at a tablet-based register. Under the new central command concept, the system will provide more options for customers on the go to rapidly select and pay for things online, while providing management with data analytics to better control labor and inventory. Owners and managers will be able to control the entire restaurant with our point-of-sale system to monitor who is working on any given day and time and oversee inventory with automatic orders to providers, Khatri said. It will be a smart device that thinks more intuitively. Lim and Fiala built Lavu into a global business with customers in 80 countries, encouraging Washington, D.C.-based Aldrich Capital Partners to invest $15 million in the company in 2015. Since then, Aldrich has established offices in Miami and India and grown sales to 93 countries. We have plans now to rapidly expand into more regions, said Baig, Aldrichs managing partner. Weve identified about two dozen countries where we have strong competitive advantages. Aldrich associate Ohad Johassi has led the companys transition since 2016. He will continue as a special board adviser, Baig said. Lavu remains headquartered in Albuquerque. Its moving from the Theater Block at 1st Street and Central Avenue into the Plaza Building near Civic Plaza. It currently employs 172 people, including 108 in Albuquerque and the rest in Miami and India. The trial of Fabian Gonzales which was supposed to begin in a little over two weeks has been put on hold pending a decision by the New Mexico Court of Appeals about whether some evidence should be allowed or suppressed. The District Attorneys Office filed a motion Wednesday appealing state District Judge Charles Browns earlier ruling suppressing statements made by Gonzales cousin Jessica Kelley, who is also charged in the slaying of Victoria Martens in August 2016, as well as evidence of drug use by both Kelley and Gonzales. On Thursday morning, Gonzales, his attorney and prosecutors appeared before Judge Brown in the 2nd Judicial District Courthouse for a hearing that had been scheduled for them to begin the process of selecting a jury. Instead, Brown postponed the trial since the states motion needs to be decided by the Court of Appeals. That process could take anywhere from 60 days to more than six months, depending on how complicated the issue is, according to the clerk for the Court of Appeals. Brown said he expects the trial to begin as soon as the court makes a decision. Id like both sides to continue working the case, Id like it to get to trial as soon as we receive the mandate, Brown said. In response to the appeal, Gonzales attorney Stephen Aarons filed a motion alleging the state is attempting to gain a strategic advantage. In my demand for a speedy trial, I said it was a frivolous appeal to delay the trial, Aarons wrote in an email. There is nothing to appeal. After two years, they are not ready. Greer Rose, the lead prosecutor on the case, said the state is ready for trial as soon as a decision has been made. She said the DAs office had not received the judges order suppressing the evidence until this week and appealed it as soon as possible because they believe the evidence is vital to prosecuting Gonzales. (Kelley) made some statements that implicated herself and this defendant, Rose said following the Thursday morning hearing. We feel these statements are key in showing this defendants role in the murder of Victoria. Although Gonzales, Victorias mother Michelle Martens and Kelley were all initially indicted in the rape and murder of the little girl, prosecutors now say Gonzales and Martens left the little girl alone with Kelley, who was high on methamphetamine. According to court documents, Kelley has said a man walked into Martens home and killed Victoria in retaliation for threats Gonzales made to gang members. Gonzales is now charged with child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence. Kelley is charged with rape and murder, and her trial is scheduled for January. Rose said the appeal does not change anything for Kelleys trial right now. Martens pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death, and faces between 12 and 15 years in prison with the possibility of getting out early for good behavior. She will be sentenced after the trials have been completed. 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. Srinagar: Three militants, including a militant commander, a civilian and a soldier were killed in two separate gunfights and a search operation in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. A civilian was killed after forces launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Noorbagh area of Qamarwari in Srinagar around 4 am. Locals said the civilian, identified as Saleem Malik, was killed in cold-blood. A police official said that the police was ascertaining the details of the incident. A top militant commander, Asif Malik alias Abu Ukasha of Khahgund Verinag and a soldier were killed in a shootout following an army ambush in Gasigund village of Dooru in Anantnag district. Two more soldiers were wounded in the shootout. The slain soldier was identified as Happy Singh and the injured as Bupinder Singh and Kulwant Singh of 19 RR. Two militants were killed in a gunfight with the government forces in Panzan village of central Kashmirs Budgam district. SSP Budgam Tejinder Singh said a searches are underway at the site of the gunfight which broke out early today following a search operation. Singh said the bodies of the slain militants have been recovered from the gunfight site. A search operation is underway, he said, adding that the identity of the slain militants is yet to be ascertained. SANTA FE The Santa Fe Police Department is investigating the shooting death of Michigan man after he was found wounded on the citys south side Wednesday night. Officers responded to Lucia Lane and Airport Road around 9 p.m. Wednesday and found 64-year-old Richard Milan with a gunshot wound to his leg that was bleeding profusely, an SFPD statement says. Milan later died at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. SFPD spokesman Gregy Gurule said Thursday afternoon that Milan was from Kalamazoo, Mich., and police dont know why he was in Santa Fe. Efforts to reach relatives of Milan in Michigan were unsuccessful. Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said Thursday afternoon that officers were working to identify suspects. This is the fifth homicide in Santa Fe this year. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The district attorney in Las Cruces said Thursday that he will seek a third trial for Tai Chan, the former Santa Fe County sheriffs deputy accused of fatally shooting a fellow deputy after a night of drinking on a 2014 road trip. But this time, District Attorney Mark DAntonio said, he will pursue a charge of voluntary manslaughter, not a murder count. Chan, 32, has been tried twice for murder in the death of 29-year-old deputy Jeremy Martin at a Las Cruces hotel. The two deputies were staying there on their way back from delivering a prisoner to Arizona. Both of Chans trials ended in mistrials after juries couldnt reach unanimous verdicts. After consulting with the family of deputy Jeremy Martin and Las Cruces Police Department, our office has determined that this is the best course of action to take, DAntonio said of seeking a manslaughter indictment. We will make sure that justice is served. Chan maintains he shot Martin in self-defense. This will be the fourth attempt to convict Tai Chan of acting in self-defense after he was attacked in that hotel room, said John Day, one of Chans attorneys, referring to the two mistrials and the case later being dropped by a special prosecutor. In New Mexico, you still have a right to defend yourself, and at least half of jurors in the previous trials understood that. The date for taking the case to a grand jury has not been determined, a news release from DAntonios office said. District Attorneys Office prosecutors will be handling the case. Late last year, DAntonio appointed two lawyers from the fraud division of the state Office of the Superintendent of Insurance as special prosecutors to take over the case. After the two mistrials, he said, fresh eyes would help. In August, one of those appointed prosecutors, Troy J. Davis, dropped the case. In his court filing, Davis said Chan possibly needs to be re-indicted for Voluntary Manslaughter with a firearm enhancement. The case against Chan had taken a blow in May, when state District Judge Conrad Perea ruled against further prosecution of Chan for murder on double jeopardy grounds. Perea found that another judge who presided over Chans second trial had failed to poll jurors to clear up questions about their impasse on a range of charges from first-degree murder to manslaughter. Chans attorneys then filed a motion calling for dismissal, saying the only existing indictment of Chan was for first-degree murder and the judge had ruled against further pursuit of that charge. When special prosecutor Davis dropped the case, he said dismissal and re-indictment of Chan for manslaughter would resolve the legal problems brought up in the defense motion. DAntonio said at the time that he was shocked and dismayed that Davis had dismissed the case. On the night of Oct. 24, 2014, Martin and Chan argued and drank heavily at a bar and then returned to their room at the Hotel Encanto. Martin died after being shot five times in the back and arm. Ten shots were fired from Chans duty weapon. But who shot the gun first and who was the aggressor were disputed at trial. SANTA FE Embattled state Rep. Monica Youngblood could face more legal troubles, as Attorney General Hector Balderas office has found she used her elected position to try to influence police officers during her DWI arrest earlier this year. Youngbood, a three-term Republican legislator from Albuquerque who is seeking re-election in November, was convicted Tuesday of aggravated drunken driving. In a letter sent a day after that conviction, Assistant Attorney General Dylan Lange told Youngblood the AGs Office has been closely monitoring her case and believes she violated the states Governmental Conduct Act. That finding could lead to additional charges being filed against Youngblood, though no such charges had been filed as of Thursday. The AGs Office also said it had submitted a formal ethics complaint with the Legislatures administrative arm, which could trigger an internal review by a legislative ethics committee. After being stopped at a sobriety checkpoint in May, Youngblood told Albuquerque Police Department officers she has introduced bills to protect them at the Roundhouse and stood up for them in response to discrimination claims. I literally fight for you guys, Youngblood told one officer, according to lapel footage released after her arrest. The AGs Office described Youngbloods statements as excessive derogatory language and said the comments captured on lapel cam video show a clear intent on Youngbloods part to use her position to improperly influence officers. It also said Youngblood had violated two provisions in the Governmental Conduct Act. One of the provisions bars New Mexico elected officials from using their office to obtain personal benefits or enrichment, while the other requires that legislators conduct themselves in a manner that justifies public confidence. Anyone convicted of breaking the Governmental Conduct Act is guilty of a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine and up to a year in prison. The state Democratic Party had called on Balderas, a Democrat who is also running for re-election, to investigate Youngbloods actions shortly after she was arrested. We have informed Rep. Youngblood of our finding, in a letter that was also sent to the Legislative Council Service, and are properly awaiting independent review, AGs Office spokesman David Carl said Thursday. We maintain communication with Rep. Youngbloods attorney and cant comment beyond that initial finding. Meanwhile, Paul Kennedy, Youngbloods attorney, was tight-lipped Thursday about the letter sent by the Attorney Generals Office but said he wasnt surprised by the ethics complaint being filed. Youngblood, 42, is scheduled to be sentenced next week after her conviction on the drunken driving charge. First-time aggravated DWI offenders face up to 90 days in jail, along with possible fines and other penalties. AGs letter to Rep. Monica by on Scribd Kerri Mascareno, 39, said she is no longer allowed at her daughters Albuquerque elementary school, because her body odor is making staff ill. Mascareno has Stage Four breast cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment, which she says creates a strong odor. Mascareno is the mother of a third-grader at Tierra Antigua Elementary near Ventana Ranch, and she contends that principal Robert Abney asked her not to come inside the school anymore because she smells. She said the conversation with Abney took place last week on a bench in front of the school. I told him I cant do anything about it, she said. Its my cancer, and I have to take a lot of pills. Albuquerque Public Schools spokesman Rigo Chavez said he did not believe Mascareno was told not to come inside the school. As far as I know, she was not told she couldnt be at the school, Chavez said. There were complaints around the school from staff, but thats all Im going to say. He also said Abney would not speak to the media directly. Mascareno said the principal told her that staff had complained and that the smell caused one staff member to vomit. He told me, I know this will hurt your feelings, but I cant allow you to be come to the school anymore, she said. I asked him why, and he said my cancer had a strong smell and it was so bad it was making his staff ill. To make matters worse, Mascareno said she was initially told she could come to the school for Thanksgiving lunch on Tuesday, but that she would have to eat in the principals office. Chavez said that was true, but that, once Abney learned she was upset, he changed his mind and invited her to eat in the cafeteria. She declined. That is correct that he asked me to go (to the lunch), but Im very hurt at what has been said to me, she said. I think hes gone too far and crossed some boundaries. Mascarenos brother Robert Krzeski, who lives in Los Angeles, said he also spoke with Abney over the phone and the principal told him the same things he told Mascareno. He said Yes. Its true. I told her she could not go into the school anymore, he said. He said she was allowed to run in and out really quick, but that she was making people in the front office sick. Making yet another bold and different move to disrupt advertising norms in the sanitary ware category, American Standard (a part of Lixil) launched its brand campaign that is breaking the marketing category code, conversing with consumers like no brand ever has in this industry ever. Priced in the mass premium segment and offering a wide range of ceramics and fittings products, American Standard has been one of the fastest growing major brands in India ever since Lixil took over three years ago. The secret of its success has been by constantly disrupting established norms in this undifferentiated category. This category has not evolved with the times, says Shubhajit Sen, Head of Strategy, Asia-Pacific. At best, brands focus on building premium imagery and amorphous design differentiation. There is no consumer-centricity at all; and consumers have no way to tell between high and low performing products. Thats why deep discounts rule the market, eroding category value for everyone. With American Standard, we want to change the narrative in this industry. American Standard has already started doing things differently. It has aggressively build a distribution network - penetrating 175 towns with 400+ stores in just 3-4 months - the fastest ramp up in this industry. It has introduced a slew of products with features and functionality uncommon in India, like integrated shower-toilets and automated bidets that Lixil calls spalet; blue-tooth enabled shower systems and other superior functional products. But the biggest disruption yet has been in its translation of the overall business strategy to its communication strategy as seen in its latest campaign. Explaining the thought behind the campaign, Aparna Deshmukh, Senior Director Marketing, Lixil South Asia, said, We want to appeal to upmarket, modern, young urban families. We know that decision making has become more democratised in these families and relationships within the family members have become more friendly, equal and with a lightness of touch. We wanted to appeal to these sensibilities, but marry these insights with the core message of superior functional performance of our products. The communications strategy is visible in American Standards new campaign. It has developed a creative property of an American Standard family - a young, contemporary, premium family that visually holds the campaign together. The 4 TV executions show the family in different situations that explains the functional superiority of American Standard products in a very engaging, humorous manner that is fresh in this industry. The campaign includes a national Front-page jacket print ad, 4 TV executions, outdoors and a strong digital push. The TV campaign includes all major national channels with a particular focus on news channels as well as regional channels. The outdoor campaign is over indexed to tier 1 and tier 2 towns to drive incremental reach. We wanted to create an engaging, approachable and premium brand imagery that drives consumer awareness, store traffic and sales. Judging by the response we have already got, with retail sales climbing over 100% in a category that is growing at 10%, we think we have succeeded. says Aparna Deshmukh. The freshness of approach goes beyond traditional media. For the first time in the industry, American Standard has tied up with Mompresso, a leading blogging site for young mothers where core brand messages of health and hygiene are communicated in an appropriate context. Another first in the industry, American Standard has deployed hundreds of handheld devices at the store level. The devices help the consumer navigate the product portfolio, choose products and place orders at the store. Explaining the rationale, Aparna Deshmukh added, The choices available in this category can be overwhelming for consumers. We have developed a simple tool for consumers to narrow down their choice by design and budget preference. Our tests show this adds real value at the last mile for our shoppers. Radico Khaitan Limited, the largest Indian spirits company, has appointed Jacqueline Fernandez and Kartik Aaryan as the brand ambassadors for their premium brand Magic Moments. The actors will endorse Magic Moments entire portfolio consisting of Magic Moments, Magic Moments Remix, Magic Moments VERVE and Electra range as the brand looks to reinforce its position as the category leader. Managing Director of Radico Khaitan, Abhishek Khaitan said, We are extremely delighted to have Jacqueline Fernandez and Kartik Aaryan representing Magic Moments. With this association we aim to further strengthen our position in the Indian market and take our brand to the next level. Magic Moments is targeted for the youth and those who are young at heart. Jacqueline and Kartik are the perfect embodiment of what we stand for distinctive flavor with a confident and sparkling personality. Speaking on her new role and affinity for the brand, actor Jacqueline Fernandez said, It is exciting to be associated with Magic Moments, a brand that believes in providing unforgettable experiences. It embodies youthfulness, excitement, zeal, free spiritedness and inspires its consumers to live each and every moment. Youth icon and Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan said, As a brand, Magic Moments promises everything that a fantastic life should be like - fun, enjoyment, zest and, above all, zing. Being a part of this brand makes me feel like I am part of everyones magical moments which are being woven together by the Magic Moments Brand. Amar Sinha, COO, Radico Khaitan added, The premium and super premium market is growing in this category in India. Our new communication aims to be a strong youth oriented, represented by trendsetters Jacqueline and Kartik. As part of the brand association, Jacqueline and Kartik will feature in a new Campaign, ahead of the festive season. Centered on the life and writings of Saadat Hassan Manto and directed by Nandita Das , a special screening of movie 'Manto' starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui was hosted by Rajkamal Prakashan Group in Pacific Mall, Anand Vihar. In this film, Manto's life has been shown closely with the lawsuits and other aspects of his personality and few his stories. The purpose of this screening which was held for writers, intellectuals and discerning audiences living in Delhi NCR was to get acquainted with Manto as a writer and a person. Rajkamal Prakashan is also the 'publishing partner' of this film. Along with the film, Rajkamal Prakshan has published a compilation of fifteen selected stories of Manto in Hindi and English, chosen by the director of 'Manto' Nandita Das. This selection is an integral part of Mantos vision and has been published in the joint effort of film production house and Rajkamal Prakashan. Book was also put up for display and sale with films screening. Ashok Maheshwari, Managing Director of Rajkamal Prakashan Samuh said On this occasion it is a matter of pride for us that we are associated with this film made on the life of Manto as a publishing partner. This book will help in understanding the film and Manto more effectively. Rajkamal Prakashan Samuh Marketing Head, Alind Maheshwari said Manto is relevant and representative writer for our time; it is our objective to reach to as many people as possible. This film is a big step in this direction. That is why we have taken this film to the audience. 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. Authority to start rebuilding work After a long gap, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is all set to start the reconstruction of Rani Pokhari that was ravaged by the earthquake on April 25, 2015. Congress just moved a bill that could lead to sanctions on an Iran-backed militia that won several seats in the Iraqi parliament this year. But the State Department isnt on board. The bill requiring the State Department to determine whether Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Asaib Ahl al-Haq are eligible for sanctions cleared the House Foreign Affairs panel unanimously this morning. That latter group won 15 seats in the May elections. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who has aggressively pushed for these sanctions, acknowledged that the State Department isnt on board during a Wednesday hearing. My staff was in Baghdad last month and the embassy staff scoffed at this legislation, saying sanctions would provoke the terrorist militias, said Poe. Ironically, just a few weeks later, these groups launched a mortar attack against the US embassy in Baghdad. Why it matters: While lawmakers are on the same page, the State Departments concerns echo those of Iraqi politicians across the political spectrum. Asaib Ahl al-Haq is part of the pro-Iran Fatah alliance, which is trying to form a governing coalition with Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadrs nationalist Sairoon alliance. Thanks to its electoral gains, Asaib Ahl al-Haq has a shot at a junior cabinet position in the next government. But isnt Trump going after Irans proxies? Yes. Echoing Poes accusation, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has blamed Iran-backed militias for a mortar attack near the US embassy in Baghdad and a similar attack near the US consulate in Basra. No group has claimed responsibility however and the White House has yet to produce evidence to back up its claims. What else is in the bill? The bill that cleared committee also paves the way for sanctions on several Shiite militia leaders, including Asaib Ahl al-Haqs Qais al-Khazali and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujabas Akram al-Kaabi. Kaabi is already under US sanctions. The bill also paves the way for sanctions on two other Shiite militias the Afghan Liwa Fatemiyoun and the Pakistani Liwa Zainebiyoun fighting on behalf of Syrias President Bashar al-Assad. Whats Next? The Trump administration already has the legal authority to sanction all these groups. The bill is Congress attempt to force the administrations hand on Asaib Ahl al-Haq. Know More: For more background on the congressional push and parallel legislation in the Senate, read congressional correspondent Bryant Harris report from earlier this week. And be sure to read Al-Monitor contributor Hamdi Maliks interview with a key militia official for the view from Iraq. - Bryant Harris In a push to advance a multilateral approach to security issues, Iran hosted its first Regional Security Dialogue, on Sept. 26. This was the first meeting of its kind to include the national security and deputy national security advisers from Iran, China, India, Russia and Afghanistan to discuss the issue of terrorism, among other regional threats. Of note, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of Russia, and Ajit Doval, the national security adviser to the Indian prime minister, were in attendance. It was the first time a national security adviser from India had visited Iran to discuss regional security at such a forum. In addition to discussing the issue of terrorism at a Sept. 26 press conference Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, warned against the unilateral approach of the United States. The use of the weapon of sanctions by the US against Iran, Russia, and China is due to the helplessness and sense of feeling left behind by this country with respect to the progress, growth, and increase in power of our countries. Shamkhani also accused Israel of attacking Syrian government and allied forces in Syria fighting terrorism which is how Iran refers to the civil war and warned that a continuation of these attacks would result in a response. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani returned to Tehran on Sept. 27 after three days in New York attending the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. At a press conference shortly after arriving in the Iranian capital, Rouhani boasted to reporters about the number of talks and meetings he had held with world leaders. Whether it was an attempt to put on a brave face despite biting US sanctions that have hurt Irans economy or genuine optimism that the European Union will salvage the nuclear deal that the United States reneged on, the Iranian president and media appear to believe that following the General Assembly, Iran now has the upper hand. The most important issue at the UNGA that I believe was obvious and evident, which we saw in the media and also among world leaders, was the rightfulness of the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation and American bullying, Rouhani said. The primary point is that America has adopted a unilateral path and does not pay attention to international institutions, organizations and regulations. Rouhani added that there was not an issue on which Iran was alone and the world stood against it. Rather, he said, it was the United States that stood on its own with respect to the International Criminal Court, the United Nations Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and international trade agreements, in addition to withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). According to Rouhani, the United States had managed no political or economic achievements at the United Nations, and the world even laughed at US President Donald Trump during his speech, when he boasted of his administrations accomplishments in the last two years. Rouhani also noted that the UN Security Council meeting that the United States called to focus on Iran in fact turned into a session in support of the nuclear deal and highlighted Americas isolation. The daily Iran, controlled by the Rouhani administration, also touted Irans accomplishments. The top story on the front page of todays paper was headlined The World with the JCPOA, Trump in Isolation. The story was accompanied by pictures of Rouhani with world leaders, among them French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Twenty months after the passing of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Moderation camp which the former two-time president symbolized is being undermined by his protege: Hassan Rouhani. Although it officially came into being with Rouhanis first presidential campaign in 2013 choosing "Moderation" as his electoral slogan it was actually founded by Rafsanjani, who passed away in January 2017. Irans conservatives were largely unified until 2005 when then-Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought to try his luck in the presidential elections. His candidacy was announced concurrently with the emergence of several hard-line groups within the camp that had played a significant role in the 2003 city and village council elections, which handed Ahmadinejad the mayorship. Amid his presidential bid, other conservative candidates also went their own way even as the conservatives electoral committee had opted to throw its weight behind Ali Larijani, who presently serves as parliament speaker. This was a turning point as then-candidate Rafsanjani ended up seeing many of his associates support Ahmadinejad, whom he lost to in a presidential runoff. What should not be neglected here is the fact that the disagreement between the conservatives and Rafsanjani dates back to the latters presidency (1989-1997). This gap was gradually widened over the years, reaching its climax in 2005 when the conservative camp and senior clerics stood behind Ahmadinejad. As Ahmadinejad won the presidential runoff, Rafsanjani turned into his most prominent critic on both domestic and foreign policy issues. At the time, moderate conservatives were isolated within the conservative camp, which was led by resurgent hard-liners. Against this backdrop, Rafsanjani moved to distance himself from the camp, with many like-minded conservatives gradually joining him. The Moderation camps approach stems from Rafsanjani's viewpoints, some of which had been shaped during the isolation he faced during Ahmadinejad's presidency. These viewpoints include promotion of engagement with the West including the United States advocacy for greater social freedoms and opposition to the securitization of the political atmosphere in the country. However, before Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's death, Rafsanjani had asked the Islamic Republics founder to resolve the issue of Irans troubled relationship with the United States. This way of thinking was close to the Reformist current and completely opposed to conservatism. As Ahmadinejads presidency came to an end, Rafsanjani unexpectedly registered to run in the 2013 presidential elections but was disqualified by the hard-line Guardian Council, which is tasked with vetting candidates. At the time, Rouhani, who was mostly unknown to the Iranian public, had also registered his candidacy, albeit keeping his campaign on the backburner since his mentor was also running. As the Guardian Council barred Rafsanjani from seeking office, Rouhani then described as the shadow of Rafsanjani entered the race with full force. With his election, Rouhani became the harbinger of the Moderation camp. Having been effectively sidelined from mainstream politics following the disputed 2009 presidential elections, the Reformists backed Rouhani, asking their candidate Mohammad Reza Aref to withdraw in his favor. Thus, as Rouhani entered office, it was clear that he had done so not by himself but rather due to the support of Rafsanjani and the Reformists, including former Reformist President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) both of whom were among the most popular figures in Iran at the time. With Rouhani winning the election, more political figures dared to join the new Moderation camp. Those who were fed up with the hard-liners commandeering the conservative camp included Larijani; Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, the former head of the supreme leaders inspection office; and Ali Akbar Velayati, the supreme leaders foreign policy adviser. These three figures also played an important role in pushing through the approval of the nuclear deal, for which they were loathed by the hard-liners. As prominent figures left the conservative camp for the Moderation current, the former was weakened and gradually came to be seen as defined by its opposition to Rouhani on foreign policy and domestic issues. The idea of "Moderation" was introduced on the political stage as a new approach to governing the country. But this dream started to decline with Rafsanjanis passing in 2017, merely a few months prior to the presidential elections. At the time, many were critical of Rouhani's performance in domestic politics but still stood behind him in order to defeat the hard-line rivals. During his re-election campaign last year, Rouhani gave people encouraging promises and spoke of resisting the hard-liners. But only weeks after securing a second term, he began softening his approach and tone. Today, the president is a different figure than during the campaigning. Not only is he declining to resist the hard-liners, but he has rather on occasion acted on the basis of their diktats. Given this situation, Reformists are criticizing Rouhani for his management of domestic affairs. In parallel, the emergence of US President Donald Trump and his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal has put the Rouhani administration on a dire economic path. With the Moderation camp losing its clout, prominent moderate conservative supporters of Rouhani including Velayati are going back to their old house and parting ways with the Moderation current. The loss of clout is also seen in opinion polls, which show sharply lower approval ratings for Rouhani since his May 2017 re-election. There is still time to reverse course, but it will require immediate and serious action. If Rouhani does not fulfill his campaign promises to confront the hard-liners at home to expand civil liberties and boost the economy and rather focuses on his own future in politics, the Moderation camp will die along with the legacy of Rafsanjani. Such a scenario would not herald a glorious future for Rouhani but rather deprive him of his partisan base while exposing him to criticism and sniping from all sides. As all-women cafes mushroom in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq, womens views are divided whether these are pockets of freedom from sexual harassment or the embodiment of segregation. It is important for us to sit at ease in a calm place, away from the guys [unwelcome] looks and indirect harassment. I am pleased that I can frequently visit such a cafe, Zahraa Saad, one of the patrons of Viola Cafe in Baghdad, told Al-Monitor. Saad, 29, works for an investment company in Baghdad. She sees Viola Cafe, which opened in July, as a place where she and her friends can enjoy some freedom and privacy. Although I do not agree 100% with the idea of segregation as it will further deepen the gender gap, I believe that there should be women-only cafes and restaurants, she said. Choosing to go to such a cafe or restaurant does not mean that I do not want to communicate with my male friends and colleagues. It is however a chance for me to stay away from men and their problems. Women-only cafes and restaurants in Iraq have come at a time when increasingly more women-led cultural activities, such as book clubs, are organized around the country. Womens integration into the society and economic life and womens empowerment are also encouraged through international programs, such as preventing early marriage or securing legal aid for women subjected to domestic violence. Women-only cafes and restaurants have only recently sprung up in various cities in Iraq. Besides Baghdad, various women-only cafes and restaurants opened in Nasiriyah, Erbil and Halabja in the last few years. In fall 2009, an all-women internet cafe, Ishtar Internet Center, opened in Baghdad. However, it closed after several months as the demand proved to be low. Viola Cafe suffered a setback when its owner and manager Rasha al-Hassan, also a well-known beautician, was found dead in her home on Aug. 23. The cafe is still open, but its employees are reluctant to talk to the press. I am happy to have worked at this cafe for over a month. But I have been hesitant [to continue] ever since the owner died, an employee who asked not to be named told Al-Monitor. It seems that for customers like Saad, the owners death is no reason to stop going to the cafe. The employee recounted the first days following the cafes opening in July, describing the place as cosy and customers very responsive. She said, The cafe is hosting an increasing number of female customers and they all welcome its opening. Hassan, the owner of the cafe, had told the press of the niche for women-only cafes and her plans a few months before her death. I love being the person to bring this experiment [of an all-women cafe] to Iraq, as I have seen them in a number of Arab countries," she said. Iraqi families are mostly conservative and not all women are able to go out to mixed-gender places. That's the reason we opened a place where customers can find privacy. Sexual harassment of women in public places is also a motive behind the all-women cafes and restaurants. This is what prompted Tara Mohammed to open on Aug. 28 the first women-only restaurant, Luxury Time, in Erbil. Mohammed herself has been the victim of sexual harassment in the past. She told Al-Monitor that men have attempted to enter the restaurant and that she is planning to hire a security guard. I [wanted to open] a place where women can be at ease without being harassed. This will allow them to have a good time and feel comfortable away from [social] restraints and stares. She added, I hope it is the start for future projects of this kind so that women can enjoy themselves and relax. Saeed Kareem, a researcher for the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, told Al-Monitor, Sexual harassment of women and girls is a reason for women to launch these kinds of projects. This is the right way of thinking it does not restrict the freedom of women and it fends off sexual harassment. He said, Yet eventually we must end sexual harassment; segregation is not a solution to curb sexual harassment. Ongoing dialogue between the sexes in the workplace and in society is a must. Iraqi women are not just patrons of all-women cafes; they actively participate in the restaurant business. In the city of Hilla in Babil province, a group of women currently manages Abjad Center, a family cafe, which also organizes cultural activities. Similarly, Finjan Restaurant that overlooks the Tigris River in Baghdad has employed all-female staff since 2010. In recent days, leaders of Israel's political center-left have managed to generate a measure of public interest in an alternative to the moribund negotiations with the Palestinians. It began with the highly publicized meeting in Paris between former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sept. 21. After the meeting, Olmert said that only Abbas is able to implement the two-state solution. Several days later, on Sept. 25, an opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, also met with Abbas, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, at a New York City hotel. This event, too, generated major headlines in Israel, largely due to Livnis aides, who shared information about the meeting with the press. Livni reportedly implored the despondent Palestinian leader not to walk away from negotiations and encouraged him to resume a dialogue with the United States to push forward the two-state solution to the conflict with Israel. Livni told Abbas that seclusion, one-sided moves against Israel and wanton destruction would be an eternal tragedy. According to Livni, such steps may lead to deterioration on the ground, a loss of control, and the loss of the two-state solution. Livni further urged the aging Palestinian leader to mobilize to resolve the situation in Gaza and return to discussions rather than attacking the United States. She also said the Israeli government should conduct talks with moderate states in the region. Olmert and Livni are among the top leaders of the Israeli center-left. To test the waters of a two-state solution, they left their longtime political home in the Likud in 2005. Along with then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, they established Kadima (Hebrew for forward), which presented a clear vision: two states for two people based on the 1967 borders. It derived its power from its leadership hailing from the Likud. The party eventually crashed, dealing the two-state vision a severe blow. Both Olmert and Livni have at different stages conducted negotiations with the Palestinian leadership, so they know Abbas well. Livni did so as foreign minister in several governments, most recently during 2013-14. During Livni's tenure as justice minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus third government, she represented Israel in talks with the Palestinians led by US Secretary of State John Kerry for the Barack Obama administration. Olmert held talks with the Palestinians during his tenure as prime minister, and in the waning days of his term he proposed far-reaching compromises to the Palestinian leader, including the division of Jerusalem into an Israeli and a Palestinian capital. Since the summer of 2014 when the negotiations led by Kerry and Livni collapsed, and war broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza the two-state option has been severely undermined, including by senior center-left leaders trying to mirror the Likud in a bid to siphon off some of its more moderate voters. This process of delegitimization peaked after Donald Trump became US president and adopted a lenient attitude toward Israeli construction in West Bank settlements. The past few days represent a milestone, no less in the struggle for Israeli public opinion regarding the conflict with the Palestinians. Olmert and Livni, in cooperation with Abbas, are once again moving it toward center stage. No less interesting, of course, are the aggressive reactions from the right. One after another, ministers and Knesset members from the right-wing parties have given interviews, tweeted and written Facebook posts pounding Olmert and Livni with harsh words. Contemptible was the word Tourism Minister Yariv Levin chose to describe the Livni-Abbas meeting in an interview with Israel Army Radio. Deputy Minister Michael Oren, from the center-right Kulanu and a former ambassador to the United States, claimed that Olmert and Livni's actions would have run afoul of the law in any reasonably progressive country for conducting independent policy against their government. Oren also said the Livni-Abbas meeting shows a great deal about the Israeli left: They strive for a meeting with a Holocaust denier, a man who delivers anti-Semitic speeches and funds the murderers of Jews, prosecutes Israel in The Hague and, above all, rejects peace. Livni is simply running after him. On Twitter, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan accused Olmert of serving the interests of the Palestinians against the State of Israel, causing Israel damage in the international arena, and against the United States. The attacks from the right flooding social media have served as proof to the center-left that more than a few Israelis are still conscious of the two-state idea. In fact, the proof is in the disproportionate reactions from the right to meetings with an elected Palestinian leader. After all, Netanyahu himself has negotiated with Abbas on the basis of his landmark 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, in which he officially recognized the two-state formula. The question of who benefits from these attacks against the left is significant given that Israel likely faces an upcoming election campaign ahead of snap elections, possibly as soon as early 2019. The answer, of course, is the Likud and Netanyahu at its head. The center-left has, however, raised its head. It believes that it has proven that Abbas is willing to talk, contrary to Netanyahus mantra that Israel has no partner for peace, signaling to the public that there is an alternative to additional bloodshed. Livni and Olmert lend credibility to this alternative. They are not backbenchers, which is why Netanyahu flexed his muscles and sent his associates to undermine Olmerts move. According to a statement attributed to Likud sources, Olmert who offered Abbas the Western Wall has now turned into his faithful mouthpiece. The reason for his extreme demands is not peace but rather the elimination of the State of Israel. The Likud, especially Netanyahu, can be trusted to take advantage of this moment in time to turn everything upside down, to explain that Olmert and Livni are out of touch with the people and dangerous and irrelevant, whereas he himself knows what is right for Israel. In any case, these days the headlines emerging from Netanyahus visit to New York, on the occasion of the UN General Assembly meeting, are more moderate, with Netanyahu saying he does not oppose a Palestinian state within borders that would serve Israels national interests. This way he presents a tough, but not fanatical, stance and neutralizes the new strategy of the political left. Budget cut compels vigilance centre to trim its activities National Vigilance Centre (NVC) is reducing its onsite inspections of the government offices to check status of service delivery as well as other programmes substantially in the current fiscal year 2018-19 due to the reduced budget. Conspiracy buffs will subscribe to the theory that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the one who crafted US President Donald Trumps Sept. 25 speech to the UN general Assembly. Trump announced that he would not permit a regime that threatens Israels annihilation to obtain nuclear weapons; he promised tighter sanctions on Iran and demanded that Iran be kicked out of Syria. He also patted himself on the back for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and didnt even mention Israels occupation of Palestinian territories and the settlements it built there. Indeed, the speech was surely a source of great pride and satisfaction for Netanyahu, who is also Israels foreign minister. Netanyahu played a leading role in Trumps decision earlier this year to withdraw from the world powers nuclear agreement with Iran. In his May speech announcing the unilateral move, the president said he had formed his decision after seeing the material Israel had stolen from Irans nuclear archives. Trumps decision to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which had been gathering dust in Congress file folders for years, was carried out on Netanyahus watch, too. The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has evaporated and the settlers are once again cheering Netanyahu for this disappearing trick. This is the picture that Netanyahu and many Israeli media outlets are selling the Israeli public. However, the view from the Middle Eastern gallery is far less rosy. Israel is paying a heavy strategic price for the strong alliance that Netanyahu has forged with Trump against Iran. The US withdrawal from the hard-won deal set off a crisis of trust between the United States and its three closest allies France, Germany and the United Kingdom. By walking away from the deal, Trump freed Russia from the weight of international sanctions against Iran and turned the two countries (Russia and Iran) into allies divvying up the loot in Syria. We will never know whether the loopholes in the P5+1 nuclear agreement with Iran would have enabled the Iranians to develop nuclear weapons, as Netanyahu claimed. On the other hand, we do know that the US walkout set off a conventional arms race on Israels borders unprecedented since Cold War days. A troubling indication for Israel in this regard is Moscow's decision announced Sept. 24 to supply the Syrians with advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles and tracking and jamming equipment against satellite navigation, radar systems and jet fighter communications. On Sept. 22, Lebanons Al-Mayadeen TV offered another worrisome indication of trouble when it reported Russias intention to seal off the air space over Syrias territorial waters. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the S-300 supply was meant to cool down the 'hot heads' and keep them from ill-conceived actions threatening our troops. He was apparently referring to the Sept. 17 downing of a Russian military reconnaissance aircraft and the killing of 15 crew members off the coast of Syria (by Syrian defense systems reacting to an earlier aerial attack, allegedly by Israel). Shoigu said Russia and Syria had completed the S-300 deal in 2013, but it was suspended at Israels request. The situation has changed, and it's not our fault, he added. Strategic ties between states with shared interests do not shift overnight over an operational error. The state of Israeli-Russian relations changed when Russian President Vladimir Putin restored Russia to its role of a central actor in the Middle East at the same time that Netanyahu partnered with Trump in the clash with Iran. A few weeks before Trump declared the withdrawal from the Iran deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that he and his Chinese colleague Wang Yi had agreed to block any US attempt to sabotage the nuclear deal anchored in a UN Security Council resolution. In addition to undermining the nuclear deal, of which Russia was one of the sponsors, Netanyahu also pushed Russia and the European Union out of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating arena. The prime minister reacted dismissively to an invitation by Putin to meet in Moscow in October 2016 with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, instead of joining forces with Trump to further undermine the frail standing of the Palestinian Authority. Highlighting his frequent Kremlin visits, Netanyahu has tried to convince folks of his exceptional diplomatic skills. Indeed, many Israelis view the prime minister as a genius who manages to tango at the same time with all the worlds major leaders. A paper published earlier this year by the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya indicates that such acrobatics are not feasible. The think tanks researchers note that over the past two years Russia has been promoting arms deals, some of highly advanced weapons, to Arab states bordering the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Persian Gulf. Russia is also deeply involved in the Syrian and Iranian arenas, with Russia-Iran arms deals (at different negotiation stages) estimated at $10 billion, according to the study. The researchers point out that supplying arms to these states provides Russia with economic benefits and diplomatic influence, helping it establish itself as a global power. These deals could also enable Russia to deploy forces in the countries to which it sells advanced systems, and even to go as far as setting up military bases in places like Egypt, Sudan and Persian Gulf states. Russias military involvement with a growing number of countries in the Middle East, the experts argue, is expected to have implications for US freedom of movement on land, air and sea. The pat on the back that Trump gave himself while standing on the UN podium generated laughter in the General Assembly hall. Trumps clear helplessness in view of the tightening Russian-Iranian-Shiite axis in the Middle East is not funny by any means. The mistake made by the prime minister of Israel, who has decided to prop up his foreign and defense policy on the shoulders of this irresponsible lightweight, will end in tears. The co-chair of the Manbij Legislative Council rebutted claims that Turkish forces will enter the mainly Arab Syrian city under the terms of a road map agreed between Turkey and the United States. Speaking to the pro-Kurdish Hawar News Agency, Farouk Al-Mashi said, What they claim about the road map regarding their entry to Manbij is nothing but baseless allegations. The official stated that the situation in Manbij was stable and that Turkey was seeking pretexts to intervene in the northern Syrian city. Al-Mashi was responding to a Sept. 21 statement by Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin about the implementation of the Manbij road map endorsed in June to pacify Turkish concerns about the dominance of the pro-Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) over Manbij. Kalin claimed that Turkey and the United States were on the verge of launching joint patrols in Manbij, saying, The work on joint patrols in the Manbij area is almost complete. The Turkish Armed Forces coordinates this on the ground with its American counterparts. Those patrols and joint training will begin soon. He added that it was unacceptable that the United States was pursuing its partnership with the YPG. Turkey equates the YPG with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Kurdish rebel group that is fighting for self-rule inside Turkey and accuses the United States of reneging on its promise to evacuate the YPG once Manbij was liberated from the Islamic State in August 2016. Lying to the west of the Euphrates River, Manbij is in Turkish eyes a bridgehead for the YPG to link up the vast swath of territory it controls east of the river with the mainly Kurdish enclave of Afrin bordering Turkey. It is one of the main reasons Turkey invaded northern Syria, seizing control in turn of Jarablus, al-Bab and more recently Afrin. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now threatening to expand Turkish military operations against the YPG east of the Euphrates, as Al-Monitor columnist Fehim Tastekin explained at length. Erdogan repeatedly aired Turkish anger over the continued partnership between the Pentagon and the YPG earlier this week in New York, where he joined world leaders at the inauguration of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Think of our strategic partner engaging in such acts it's wrong, he told PBS Newshour on Wednesday. In an apparent rebuttal of Turkish claims that the YPG continues to run Manbij, Al-Mashi insisted that the people of Manbij still control the administration of their area. He explained, "The Legislative Council, the Executive Council, the Social Justice Council, the youth and women [councils] are all from Manbij city and even the journalists are from the city itself. Al-Mashis tirade reflects the nebulous nature of the road map and Turkeys desire to exploit it. Kalin did not specifically state that any joint patrols would be taking place in Manbij city proper. And the road map, at least as per the Pentagons interpretation of it, precludes such patrols, as stated by Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon in an interview with the Turkish daily Hurriyet. Rather, the joint patrols are supposed to be along the front line between the Turkish-controlled Euphrates Shield zone and Manbij, where the independent patrols carried out in coordination between Turkish and US forces are already taking place. A source familiar with the details of the road map said on condition of anonymity, The point of it is to de-escalate. Echoing Al-Mashi, the source added, There is no need for the Turkish military in Manbij [city] as its already calm. Turkish military in Manbij would likely be destabilizing. But Turkey continues to push for access to the city and may be finding a more receptive audience among the Donald Trump administrations new Syria team led by high-flying former ambassador to Turkey Jim Jeffrey, who has Erdogans ear. Jeffrey is flanked by Deputy Assistant Secretary for Levant Affairs Joel Rayburn, who is also special envoy for Syria, and Senior Adviser for Syria Engagement Richard Outzen. The latter is credited with designing and ramming through the Manbij road map. The trio is said to be prioritizing Turkish interests in northern Syria in a bid to repair strained relations between the NATO allies. But maintaining an indefinite presence in northern Syria with the help of the Kurds in order to defeat IS and roll back Iranian influence while simultaneously promoting Turkish interests are incompatible goals. This will certainly be true for as long Turkey remains at war with the PKK. There is no evidence to suggest that Ankara is interested in resuming the peace talks that collapsed together with a two-and-a-half-year cease-fire amid mutual recriminations in 2015. NEW YORK Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the United Nations today that he and his team tried for a year to engage the Donald Trump administration on the peace process only to have their views rejected in decision after decision. They now are looking to the international community to preserve a two-state solution, Abbas said, bypassing the Trump administration. We have always fully and positively engaged with the various initiatives of the international community that have aimed at achieving a peaceful solution between us and the Israelis, Abbas told the UN General Assembly. We continued on this path with the administration of President Trump from the start of his tenure, with the same positive engagement, and I have met with him numerous times." Abbas said, We awaited his peace initiative with utmost patience, but were shocked by decisions and actions he undertook that completely contradict the role and commitment of the United States toward the peace process. Abbas cited Trumps decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, close the PLO office in Washington, cut off US assistance to the Palestinians and US assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. With all of these decisions, this administration has reneged on all previous US commitments, and has undermined the two-state solution, and has revealed its false claims of concern about the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian people, Abbas said, adding, It is ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the deal of the century. But what is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people? Humanitarian solutions? President Trump, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN Wednesday, said he was inclined to favor a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I like two-state solution, Trump said. Thats what I think works best. Trump reasoned that cutting off aid to the Palestinians would eventually pressure them to come back to the table. And he seemingly offered to reconsider those aid cuts. As you know, we were paying them $550 million a year, Trump said. Now, were paying them nothing a year. But that will start up again, Trump said. So, yeah, theyre absolutely coming back to the table. And they want to come back to the table. But Palestinian officials said they were not impressed with Trumps apparent endorsement of the two-state solution. Every time he [Trump] meets Netanyahu, he repeats the same statement, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said at a press conference here Wednesday night. It is nothing new. Palestinian officials said they feel positive after a meeting on the sidelines of the UN to discuss how to advance a two-state solution that preserves Palestinian rights a meeting that pointedly did not include the United States. Though representatives of some 40 countries and international organizations attended the meeting, including eight foreign ministers, the United States was not invited and did not attend, Maliki said. We are not interested to enter any war with the Americans, Maliki said. We ask the Americans to comprehend we have a just cause. We want to achieve our basic rights. We are producing a diplomatic, legal track in order to achieve that. Trump, for his part, said his administration might reveal its peace proposal in the next two to four months, but said he wanted to get Israeli and Palestinian support for negotiations before unveiling it. I want to have a plan that is solid, understood by both sides really, semi-agreed to by both sides before we start a negotiation, Trump said. I would say over the next two to three to four months that would be the time that Id like to at least release the plan, Trump said. Again, it has to be good for both parties. But neither Israeli nor Palestinian leaders seemed to be counting on Trumps peace plan emerging soon. Abbas, in his UN address, called on countries to recognize the state of Palestine. I thus call upon all the countries of the world that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine to accelerate this long-overdue recognition, he said. Netanyahu, in his address to the world body today, focused not on prospects for peace negotiations, but on making hyped-up charges against Iran. Iran hasn't abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons, Netanyahu told the world body. What Iran hides, Israel will find. And Netanyahu chided Abbas for criticizing Israels Jewish state law as racist. You call Israel racist? This is not the way to peace, Netanyahu said. This body should not be applauding the head of a regime that pays terrorists. The UN should condemn such a despicable policy. ALEPPO, Syria Many residents of Idlib province are breathing a sigh of relief as others are holding their breath now that Russia and Turkey have reached an agreement that has stopped, or at least delayed, a humanitarian crisis. The Turkish-Russian agreement to establish a buffer zone between Syrian regime forces and armed opposition groups in Idlib province received broad acclaim among residents of Idlib, northwest Aleppo province and northwest Hama province, all of which are controlled by the armed opposition. Idlib province is home to 3 million civilians, many of whom sought refuge there after being displaced from various cities by the seven-year-long Syrian civil war. They need protection now that the remaining opposition and extremist groups have been relocated there, making Idlib the largest opposition-held area. Civilians believe the agreement signed Sept. 17 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could help their area avoid the scourge that the regime and its allies were preparing. On Sept. 18, thousands of civilians took to the streets of Idlibs towns such as Binnish, Ftireh and Maar Shurin expressing their gratitude for the agreement. Others wonder, however, how long the deal will hold. The demilitarized buffer zone is to measure 15-20 kilometers (9 to 12 miles) wide between the opposition and regime forces by Oct. 15. The pact also calls for strengthening the Turkish army's observation points in the area and dismantling extremist groups and ensuring Russia's commitment not to attack Idlib. The deal asserts the unity of Syrian territory and stipulates that all extremist armed groups, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), will evacuate the zone. The moderate opposition factions can remain, but are to withdraw all of their heavy weapons and tanks. Media activist Jaber Owayed told Al-Monitor that people in the area mainly are relieved. "Many were concerned about their fate before the agreement was signed. Residents wondered where they would go, whether they would be killed by Russian or Syrian warplanes, whether their families would survive, whether they would find tents to take refuge in or whether they would sleep out in the open, he said. He added, None of these concerns matter now that the agreement was signed. Idlib and its surrounding opposition-controlled areas escaped a disastrous invasion. Owayed noted, The people here in Idlib around northwest Aleppo and northwest Hama are very grateful for Turkeys positive role. They believe the Turkish government is their only savior at a time when all countries of the world have left them as easy prey for the regime and Russia. Civilians in the area fear Russia and the regime would cheat them and threaten to carry out an invasion after all if the agreement is not implemented. Many people worry they can't trust Russia and the regime to honor the deal, and that the extremist groups could throw a wrench into the works. Factions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a Turkish ally, expressed their satisfaction with the agreement. The National Liberation Front (NLF), which includes a large number of FSA factions in Idlib, issued a Sept. 21 statement affirming the agreement is a victory for Turkish diplomacy and stated its readiness to cooperate. However, the statement noted that the FSA factions will remain vigilant to any treachery by the regime, the Russians and the Iranians, especially as those parties said the agreement is temporary. The NLF further stressed that it will not allow these parties to exploit the agreement for their benefit. "[Russia] hasn't respected previous agreements and it has committed massacres and war crimes and forced many of our people into displacement," NLF spokesman Capt. Nafi Mustafa told Al-Monitor. Turkey is making great efforts to prevent an invasion of Idlib by the regime. The popular demonstrations in Idlib are proof of how much our people are holding on to their revolution and demands. We in the NLF want to tell our people and the world that we will hand over neither our weapons, nor our land, nor our revolution. Blood was shed in order for our revolution to achieve its goals and we will achieve them by ousting the regime and granting freedom and dignity to our people. The major obstacles to the implementation of the Turkish-Russian agreement in Idlib are the extremist factions affiliated with al-Qaeda. In the past few days, a number of HTS leaders have said they reject the agreement. The Islamist Guardians of Religion Organization also rejects the deal, noting that it is at odds with all agreements and conferences regarding Idlib. The group considers the pact a major conspiracy. A lawyer from Idlib who goes by the name Ammar Hussein, hiding his identity for security reasons, told Al-Monitor, Jihadist groups will try to stop the agreement from being implemented. However, they will fail since millions of civilians along with FSA factions support the agreement. The few thousand who form these groups will have little to say when it comes to the tens of thousands of FSA fighters whom Turkey will support should they decide to fight them on this. Hussein added, It is still unclear how the groups rejecting the agreement will be handled, but the Turkish army is sending backup to the Syrian borders and strengthening checkpoints in Idlib. FSA factions and civilians will cooperate to put pressure on the jihadist groups and may use force should the latter refuse to withdraw from the buffer zone. One can't help but wonder whether the regime and its allies can truly commit to implementing the agreement, on which the FSA and millions of Syrians in opposition-held areas are basing their hopes. It's possible this could all be a ruse and an attempt to gain time, and the people of Idlib could once again be disappointed. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle called into question America's military role in Syria at a House hearing today, following comments from national security adviser John Bolton that US troops would stay in the war-torn country until Iran left. The two Defense Department officials called to testify before the House Armed Services Committee's oversight panel, Assistant Secretary Robert Karem and Brig. Gen. Scott Benedict, said the United States was not conducting direct military operations against Iran. But they said diminishing the influence of Iran-backed groups active in Syria, such as Lebanese Hezbollah and the expeditionary Quds Force, remained a primary objective of the 2,200 US troops serving there. That sounds to me like were sending our military to Syria to counter Iran, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the panel, said of Bolton's comments. Youre telling these troops when they can come home, Moulton, a veteran of the 2003 Iraq War added in a heated exchange with Karem. The defense official clarified that while the United States had no legal authority to fight Iranian groups directly, it could pressure Tehran by keeping troops in the country longer at bases such as al-Tanf, which sits near a known Iranian supply line. In Syria, chairwoman, our role is to defeat [the Islamic State], Karem told panel chairwoman Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo. Thats it. Hartzler said she was concerned by Karems characterization that countering Iran in Syria would be a main effort for the United States. Despite the growing concerns about US policy, Congress has little bandwidth to deal with Syria at a time when it's consumed with a controversial Supreme Court pick and the midterm elections. Only two House members were present for the beginning of the hearing, which was followed by classified testimony from Karem and Benedict. From the get-go, Karem deferred critical details of the US presence in Syria to the classified hearing, frustrating members who sought to hold the Donald Trump administration to the president's spring promise to take US troops out of Syria very soon. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a federal lawsuit against a Montgomery company for sexual harassment of two female employees. According to the seven-page lawsuit, two employees of Sys-Con, LLC, were subjected to sexual harassment while working in Montgomery's Hyundai plant by their Sys-Con supervisor. Sys-Con employs more than 150 employees and provides facility and building maintenance services for Hyundai. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, alleges that between December 2015 and May 2017, Sys-Con employed a supervisor who "repeatedly pressured two female employees for sex, played pornographic movies on his phone, exposed himself and sexually assaulted one of them." Whitney Brown, representing Sys-Con, said, while the company had hoped it would not be necessary, it "welcomes the opportunity to defend itself before a court of law." "Sys-Con is committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. It firmly denies the allegations of the EEOC's suit and is disappointed by the EEOC's decision to file suit in this matter," Brown said. In the case of one employee, the suit alleges, the supervisor told her to go and clean his apartment, saying his wife and children would be there. When she arrived, no one other than the supervisor was there and he forced her to have sex with him. The suit states the supervisor threatened to have the victims and their spouses terminated if they did not comply with his demands for sex. The supervisor did terminate one of the employees because she resisted his advances, the suit alleges. The EEOC further contends that Sys-Con had no anti-harassment policy, no complaint procedure for employees to report harassment, and had never trained supervisors or employees on sexual harassment or how to report it. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for the victims, including compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief. EEOC said the suit was filed after completing an investigation and first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. "The EEOC will act when employers allow such egregious conduct to take place," EEOC Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson said. This post was updated at 4:33 p.m. Sept. 28 to include comments from an attorney representing Sys-Con. The U.S. Air Force has passed on a project to bring the making of its next-generation training jet to Macon County. A partnership by Boeing and Saab won a $9.2 billion contract to produce at least 351 training jets for the U.S. Air Force, according to reports from Defense News and others. Italian firm Leonardo DRS, an affiliate of the company that builds jet fighter trainers for several of America's allies, was one of the bidders on the project and has chosen Macon County as the plant site if it won the contract. The bid centered on the history surrounding Moton Field and its association with the Tuskegee Airmen. The billion-dollar project would have brought an estimated 750 direct jobs to Macon County, officials said, as well as many associated jobs. Leonardo DRS proposed building the T-100, a new version of a jet fighter trainer it already supplies for Italy, Israel, Poland and Singapore. Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said, though the result wasn't what was hoped for, it did give the region exposure. "While we are disappointed that the Air Force chose an alternate for Leonardo DRS and the T-100 as its next jet trainer aircraft, it's extremely positive that Tuskegee's Moton Field has been recognized internationally as an ideal site for an aerospace project," Canfield said. "Leonardo DRS is a world-class company, and their team has been great to work with throughout the selection process. Additionally, I commend officials at the City of Tuskegee, Macon County and Tuskegee University for their hard work on this project, which has united the community and the region. In particular, Joe Turnham (director of the Macon County Economic Development Authority), who put his heart and soul into the project, deserves special recognition," he said. Wintzell's Oyster House will open a location in Cahaba Heights, possibly as early as next month. Frank Hall, CEO of Hallmark Hospitality, said the restaurant is expected to open within three weeks in the former Fresco Mexican Moderna space in Heights Village, 3144 Village Circle in Cahaba Heights. "We feel like we will be a perfect fit for the Cahaba Heights area and look forward to being a part of the community," Hall said. Hall said that there was very little work to do in the space and that the company planned to start hiring immediately in order to open by mid-October. Hallmark is behind the Wintzell's location in Leeds that was announced earlier this year. Bob Donlon, the president of Wintzell's Franchise Company, said he is "excited to have Hallmark opening a Wintzell's in the Vestavia Hills market." The Cahaba Heights location will feature an oyster bar as well as a patio dining area. The original Mobile Wintzell's location has been open for over eighty years and initially began as a small, six-stool oyster bar. Since then, the restaurant and brand have grown to seven locations open in Alabama. Hall most recently served as vice president of operations for Wintzell's before forming Hallmark Hospitality in late 2017. Australian Evangelist Christine Caine from Hillsong Church, a frequent guest speaker at the Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, has been accused in a lawsuit of plagiarizing another Christian author in two of her most recent books, according to the Christian Post. Christian author Carey Scott filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Michigan in May alleging that Caine based two of her bestselling books on Scott's May 2015 book, "Untangled: Let God Loosen the Knots of Insecurity in Your Life." Scott's book was published by Revell, a subsidiary of the Baker Publishing Group. In May 2016, Caine released her book, "Unashamed: Drop the Baggage, Pick Up Your Freedom, Fulfill Your Destiny," published by Zondervan Publishing, owned by HarperCollins Publishers. Caine also published "Unshakeable: 365 Devotions for Finding Unwavering Strength in God's Word," in October 2017, again through Zondervan. "Ms. Scott contends that her work, Untangled, including exact wording, phrasing, and compilation, along with the book's general thematic message and presentation, is consistently copied, reworded, and derived without authorization within Unashamed and Unshakeable and that there exists proof of direct copying within the book's promotional materials and printed, eBook, and audio forms," the lawsuit says. Caine has spoken at various events at the Church of the Highlands, including worship services and conferences. Before she preached on June 3, 2015, Highlands Associate Pastor Layne Schranz described Caine as "a dear friend of our pastor," Chris Hodges. "We have not a guest speaker, we have a family member here tonight," Schranz said, introducing Caine at a Wednesday night service. "All of you need to know, at every campus, that Christine Caine is dear to Pastor Chris." Caine has been a featured speaker at the 2016 Catalyst One Day conference hosted by the Church of the Highlands, and at the 2017 Motion conference for youth sponsored by the Church of the Highlands at the BJCC Legacy Arena. The lawsuit also alleged that Caine sent out a promotional video for her book "Unashamed" that contained 30 seconds of narration that came directly from Scott's book. "The narration is a verbatim reading of a paragraph on page 55 of Untangled," the lawsuit said. A Center Point man has been federally indicted on nearly a dozen charges alleging he induced 10 different children to perform sex acts for his pornography production. Dennis James Hudson Jr., 28, was indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court, according to a joint announcement by U.S. Attorney Jay Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. Hudson is also known by the names D.J. Zygi Hudson, Zygi Hudson, Tyler Johnson and Brandon McDaniels. The 11-count indictment charges him with 10 counts of persuading a person under the age of 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce an image of that conduct and transmit it over the internet. Hudson is charged with inducing 10 different children to perform such acts between August 2016 and August 2017, according to the indictment. Hudson also faces one count of distributing child pornography between January 2015 and January 2016 using the internet and a file-sharing website. Hudson in 2016 was one of 31 people arrested in an investigation into sexual exploitation of children in Alabama and Georgia. Nearly a dozen of those were arrested in Alabama, including Hudson who was charged by state authorities with four counts of possession of child pornography. Operation Southern Impact was a joint effort by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Alabama Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The law enforcement teams focus on those who possess and distribute child pornography and those who sexually exploit children in other ways using the internet. Nine months later, in August 2017, Hudson was arrested again by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on a new charge of producing pornography with a minor. According to charging documents in that case, Hudson did "willfully and knowingly film, print, record, photograph or otherwise produce an obscene matter, to wit: a digital image of breasts and/or vagina, that contains a visual depiction of a person under the age of 17 years engaged in an act of sad-masochistic abuse, sexual intercourse, sexual excitement, masturbation, breast nudity, genital nudity or other sexual conduct." That same day, prosecutors requested, and were granted, a revocation of Hudson's bond on his 2016 charges. "The internet and social media make it easy for disgusting, sexual predators to find and exploit our children," Town said. "Our law enforcement will continue to vigilantly monitor the internet using every method available to us in order to uncover signs of child exploitation and abuse so that the predators can be arrested by federal law enforcement, indicted by a federal grand jury, prosecuted in a federal court, and, once convicted, sentenced to time in a federal prison. "Our law enforcement cannot do it all," Town said, "so it is incumbent upon parents to protect their children by responsibly monitoring their children's activity on the internet, where there is little left to the imagination." The penalty for producing child pornography is 15 to 30 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The penalty for distributing child pornography is five to 20 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Manu K. Balachandran and Leann White are prosecuting. Congress questions decision on Budhi Gandaki The opposition Nepali Congress has raised serious questions over the governments decision to rope in the China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to develop the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project. An accused serial sexual predator added Thursday to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitive list was believed to have been in Alabama during his past year on the run. Greg Alyn Carlson, a 46-year-old D.C. native, is wanted for his alleged involvement in multiple armed sexual assaults. In making the announcement that Carlson had been added to the Most Wanted, FBI officials said Carlson was spotted in Hoover on Nov. 22, 2017 when he led police on an "erratic, high-speed" pursuit. Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector said on that morning, Hoover police received a lookout bulletin from the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast that Carlson might be in the Hoover area. Officers spotted his vehicle and attempted a traffic stop but he fled. After a brief pursuit, the vehicle was last seen on John Hawkins Parkway near Interstate 459. About an hour later, around 10 a.m., Hoover police responded to an attempted robbery in the parking lot of Fresh Market on U.S. 280. A female told police she was approached by a white male on foot who demanded her vehicle as he displayed a handgun in his waistband. She told the suspect that the keys were inside the vehicle as she quickly walked back inside the market and called 911. When the suspect attempted to enter the vehicle, it was in fact locked and the keys were not inside. The suspect then left the area on foot and he was never located. "Carlson was never identified as the robbery suspect,'' Rector said, "but we believed that it was likely him." Carlson was arrested one year ago in Los Angeles and charged with one count of assault with intent to commit rape. After posting bond and being released on Sept. 26, 2017, he fled to Mount Pleasant, S.C. and later left with a stolen handgun, rental car and significant amount of cash. Greg Alyn Carlson He was next seen in Hoover, and then Jacksonville, Fla. on Nov. 28, 2017, and Daytona Beach two days later. On Dec. 12, 2017, a federal arrest warrant was issued in California against Carlson for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Authorities said Carlson should be considered armed and dangerous, as well as a flight risk. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading directly to his arrest. Anyone with information on Carlson's whereabouts is asked to contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. Alabama has the second highest rate of infant mortality in the United States and Nick Saban wants to do something about it. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health in 2016, 537 infants died in Alabama, resulting in 9.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births compared to the U.S. average of 5.9 infant deaths per 1,000 births. "The loss of even one of these infants is a tragedy we can help prevent. Join the winning team and become a champion for reducing infant mortality in alabama help us help all babies reach their first birthday," Saban said in a video produced by ADPH. The leading causes of infant death in Alabama are birth defects, preterm birth and or low birth weight and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The State of Alabama Infant Mortality Reduction Plan released in June 2018, will focus on nurse visitation programs, safe sleep initiatives and screen mothers to identify substance use, depression and domestic violence. "There are several things the public can do," Janice Smiley, the ADPH paranatal health division director, said. "They can educate themselves, especially women and men of childbearing age about the impact of being healthy before they get pregnant. Also they can understand that once the baby is born that the baby is always sleeping in a safe environment." Smiley said infant mortality is it not only up to the public's individual decisions. In Alabama, black infants die at twice the rate of white infants. Access to adequate healthcare is also a determining factor in infant health. Alabamians who live in rural areas often do not have the same healthcare resources afforded to those who live in urban and suburban areas. "If we can improve birth outcomes, that would be improving Alabama as a whole because for every infant that dies, the families are impacted and the communities are impacted," Smiley said "We are at a point where we can not afford to be the worst state in the nation for infant mortality. We've got to make some changes." A man accused of robbing an east Birmingham CVS has been identified and arrested. Birmingham police on Thursday announced the arrest of Tremayne King. He is 28 and lives in Birmingham. The holdup happened about 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 20 at 7501 First Avenue North. Sgt. Johnny Williams said the suspect entered the business brandishing a gun and demanded money. He fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. No injuries were reported. Police on Wednesday release surveillance video the suspect. He was wearing all black clothing and white gym shoes. He also wore a green sheet around his neck. Warrants charging King with two counts of robbery and two counts of kidnapping. Williams King is charged with kidnapping because he stayed in the business for an extended period of time and held two victims at gunpoint. He is being held in the Jefferson Count Jail on bonds totaling $80,000. Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, has won a major contract to build its new BE-4 engines for the next generation of United Launch Alliance rockets and will build those engines in Huntsville, Ala., officials said today. ULA said Thursday that two BE-4 engines will power the booster stage of the company's new Vulcan Centaur rocket due to take off for the first time in 2020. The upper stage will be powered by engines made by Aerojet Rocketdyne, which is also building a new Huntsville plant. ULA builds its rockets in a plant in Decatur, Ala. The Blue Origin plant will cover 400,000 square feet in Cummings Research Park, employ 400 workers and and represent an investment of $200 million. Groundbreaking is expected in 2-3 months, officials said. "Our new rocket will be superior in reliability, cost and capability - one system for all missions," ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno said in a statement. Blue Origin had said it would build a plant to produce the new engines in Huntsville if it won the contract. Gov. Kay Ivey and U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby praised that decision in statements today. "This is outstanding news," Shelby said. "With Blue Origin's first stage engine work in Huntsville, along with ULA's manufacturing, assembly, and integration in Decatur, most of the Vulcan rocket will be made in Alabama. It is long past time that we build an exclusively American-made rocket, providing our nation with assured access to space." "I am pleased to learn that ULA has selected Blue Origin and new investments will be made in Alabama to expand our growing aerospace industry," Ivey said. "Alabama has a rich history in aerospace and titans of innovation continue to choose Alabama as the place to develop new technology and develop 21st century engines for future space utilization." Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle said the Blue Origin and Aerojet Rocketdyne plants add to the city's Rocket City reputation. "We always knew we needed commercial space," Battle said. "This will add to our portfolio and truly make us the center of rocket propulsion for the world. There will be a lot of Huntsville in that rocket." Blue Origin said it chose Huntsville because of its high-tech aerospace manufacturing workforce and the presence of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, nearly 300 private aerospace and defense contractors, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, a top university for NASA research funding, the governor's office said. The rocket itself will be built in a new plant near Cape Canaveral, Fla. "United Launch Alliance is the premier launch service provider for national security missions, and we're thrilled to be part of their team and that mission," said Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith. "We can't thank Tory Bruno and the entire United Launch Alliance team enough for entrusting our engine to powering the Vulcan rocket's first stage." An Alabama woman was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison today for her role in a scheme to defraud TRICARE, a military and veteran's federal health care benefit program, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. Susan K. Perry, 58, of Grand Bay, pleaded guilty on June 15 to one court of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Perry worked as a nurse practitioner and former owner of a family health clinic in southern Mississippi. Perry was first charged in a 13-count indictment in October 2017. As part of the plea agreement, Perry admitted her role in a scheme to defraud health care benefit programs by prescribing medically unnecessary compound medications to patients who did not need the medications. Some of these prescriptions were written without examining the individuals, according to the DOJ's statement. She also admitted she knew Hattiesburg-based Advantage Pharmacy would submit claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs and that these health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, would pay the claims for compound medications based on prescriptions she signed. From January 2014 to April 2015, TRICARE and other health care benefit programs reimbursed Advantage Pharmacy approximately $1,375,692 based on the claims submitted by Advantage Pharmacy for the compound medications Perry prescribed. The FBI, IRS-CI, DCIS, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and other government agencies investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Kate Payerle and Jared Hasten of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Helen Wall of the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case. The University of West Alabama landed near the top of a national review of 506 public, non-specialty four-year colleges and universities across all 50 states for how well black students can access and be successful in higher education. The review, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California's Race and Equity Center, gave UWA a 3.25 on a scale that researchers equated to a four-point grade point average. That grade was reached by examining four factors related to equity and access for black students: enrollment, completion rate, gender equity, and the ratio of black faculty to black students. UWA was one of only 17 institutions nationwide that earned a 3.25 or better. Three scored a 3.5 and no institutions reached a perfect four. UWA was tied with 13 of the schools at 3.25. The center's executive director, Shaun Harper, told AL.com the review, the first of its kind, was completed to provide a "snapshot" of what is happening with black students at public colleges and universities across the country. That snapshot, Harper said, is clear. "These institutions," he said, "are failing black students---too many of them---across the country." Equity for all students is important, Harper said, but for this report, they wanted to focus uniquely on black students in public institutions. As a state, Alabama earned a 1.95, placing it in the middle of the pack of 50 states. Massachusetts took the top spot with an equity index of 2.81, and Washington came in second with a 2.59. Louisiana took the bottom spot, with a score of 1.18. Results were mixed for most of the 12 Alabama public colleges and universities reviewed by researchers. While UWA took the top spot in Alabama earning A's in two categories, the University of Alabama at Birmingham had the second-highest grade, earning a 2.5 out of four. UAB also earned A's in two categories. In a statement to AL.com,Paulette Patterson Dilworth, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at UAB, said, "This recognition speaks to the collective efforts of our students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni, community partners and friends." "We are moving in the right direction, but there is still work to do, particularly in the areas of representation equity and gender equity. As we forge ahead to expand our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to even higher levels, continued affirmation and recognition of our efforts suggest that we are walking our talk in the right direction." The full set of letter grades and equity index for each institution is below. One of the four factors researchers considered was how closely an institution's undergraduate student body represents the percentage of black 18- to 24-year-olds statewide. Researchers found that black citizens are 14.6 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds across the country, but only 9.8 percent of full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates at public colleges and universities are black. Black students in that age range nationally are under-enrolled relative to their residency in their state in more than three out of four institutions reviewed, researchers noted. In Alabama, 32.3 percent of citizens in that age range in Alabama are black, and 16 percent of the 101,000, or 15,900, of undergraduate students enrolled in Alabama's public four-year institutions in 2016 were black. UWA and Auburn University at Montgomery each received A's for representation of black students in their student bodies---39.7 percent and 37.3 percent of their students, respectively, were black. But in seven of Alabama's institutions, fewer than 20 percent of their student bodies were black, earning each of those seven a grade of 'F'. Harper said stereotypes held by recruiters and admissions representatives are likely to blame for the low percentage of black students enrolled at Alabama's largest public universities. "When people are out recruiting students," Harper said, "they're not thinking that young black people are the kind of student that can be successful, unless they're student-athletes." Another factor considered by researchers was the six-year degree completion rate of black students compared to the same rate for all students. The six-year rather than the four-year completion rate has become a standard measure for researchers. Nationwide, across four graduating classes, 39.4 percent of black students completed their degree compared to 50.6 percent overall. While at four of Alabama's public institutions black students exceeded that national graduation rate, only the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Montevallo earned 'A's on that measure because black students were graduating at near the same proportion that all students were. Researchers cautioned readers to consider all of the metrics in the index, because while some numbers look good, they shouldn't be considered in isolation. For example, at Auburn University, the good news was that 57.3 percent of black students graduated within six years, but when compared to their 71.7 percent rate overall, the 14.4 percentage point difference earned Auburn a 'D' on that indicator. And even though that graduation rate for black students was the highest in the state, only a small portion, 6.7 percent, of its student body is black. At the University of Alabama, 56.7 percent of black students graduated within six years, but the overall graduation rate of 67.1 percent, earning a 'C' because the difference in the rates was smaller than Auburn's. But, again, only 10 percent of students at Alabama are black, meaning only a small number of black students benefited from that higher graduation rate. When asked what impact historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, may be having on black student enrollment in public higher education institutions nationally, Harper said little if any. "Fewer than 12 percent of black students go to HBCUs," Harper said, "which means more than 88 percent go to predominantly white institutions." Alabama has two HBCUs that offer four-year degrees. In fall of 2017, just under 9,250 students were enrolled and more than 90 percent of students at each of the two campuses are black. That means more than half of all black students enrolled in undergraduate programs attend the colleges and universities studied in the report. The other two indicators in the index considered how the gap between the percentage of black women and black men enrolled compared to the national rate and the ratio of black faculty members to black students. Smaller gaps earned better grades. The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Jacksonville State University and UWA all earned A's, while Auburn University at Montgomery earned an 'F' because 75 percent of black students enrolled are women, more than 18 percentage points higher than the 56.3 percent of female students enrolled nationally. Researchers caution that while students play an important role, they believe policymakers and higher education leaders have a larger role to play. "The onus for success is too often placed entirely on students, their families, and K-12 schools they attended," the report reads. Researchers gave a roadmap of recommendations to achieve racial equity in both opportunity and overall success for black students but acknowledge it will take time and real commitment by higher education officials and policymakers to move the needle. Clearly, Harper believes more can be done to help black students be successful at public colleges and universities. He said he hopes the center's findings will provide the hard data needed for decision-makers to improve outcomes for black students. "In all of the work that I've done over the entirety of my career," Harper said, "I have yet to meet a black undergraduate student who actually enrolled at any college or university and said, 'I enrolled but I don't want to succeed there.' I've not met one yet." Here's a look at two of the factors considered in the report. Click here to read the full report from USC's Race and Equity Center. In a special meeting Tuesday night, the Hoover school board approved a $14.2 million bid to renovate a defunct middle school and transition the building to a career center teaching trades and disciplines ranging from culinary arts to information technology. The board unanimously approved the bid from Birmingham-based Stone Building Co., which was the lowest of three developers vying for the project. Hoover City Schools Board President Kathleen Murphy said plans to convert the former Riverchase Middle School were not initially "warmly received," but the concept of the Riverchase Career Connection Center eventually grew on city residents. The school system purchased the school, located at 853 Willow Oak Dr., last year from the Pelham school system for $4.25 million. "I do think it's beginning to resonate with our community, with what a great facility this is going to be and the programs that will be here," she said, adding that teachers at Hoover High School and Spain Park High School were consulted on the plans. "This is a big day in the life of this school district. To start moving this project forward I couldn't be more delighted with where we are." Hoover City Schools board member Craig Kelley said the career center "is going to be the premier place in the state." The Riverchase Career Connection Center, set to open in August, will instruct students in a variety of disciplines, including culinary arts, construction trades, computer science, health science and information technology. The approved bid does not include $28,000 for asbestos removal; removal expected to be finished by Oct. 8. Nor does it include painting, flooring or replacement of the building's heating and cooling system. The school system said it believes it can do that work in-house at a lower cost. Renovations to two of the building's four wings is scheduled to be completed by the end of May with the remaining wings finished by the end of June. The contract includes a $1,500 a day penalty for every day that the project does not meet the June 30 deadline. "This is aggressive, but it can be done and it will be done," said Bob Gray, the project's lead architect. Of the building's 92,000 square feet, renovations will be made to 78,000 square feet, including upgrading all the offices in the building, a 200-space parking lot, new mechanical and electrical systems, space for a fire engine and ambulance for fire safety students and converting the school's gym into an instruction area for culinary science students. This is an opinion column. It would be two hours before Oliver Robinson finally learned the price he'd pay of his egregious sins--33 months in federal prison, $169,191 in restitution for the government's court costs and forfeiture of another $390,000, followed by three years of supervised release. For now, he just wanted to finish, well, let's call it a last meal, of sorts. He must report to prison--which prison, it has not yet been determined--no later than 2 p.m. on Tuesday, November 27, 2018. Our encounter was happenstance. I was at Urban Cookhouse downtown, less than a half-block from the U.S. Courthouse where Robinson would learn his fate from U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon, sharing lunch with a colleague when the disgraced, former state representative and his two attorneys sat at the adjacent table. We exchanged pleasantries, and the trio went about preparing for the end of at least one segment of a saga that began 22 months ago when Robinson suddenly resigned his seat in the Alabama state legislature. By then, Robinson knew he was under investigation by the federal government for accepting toxic money to prevent residents of north Birmingham from getting their soil tested for toxins that might have been generated by a big manufacturing firm nearby. By then, more than likely, he knew he was guilty. Less than a year later he pleaded guilty to bribery, conspiracy and tax evasion and became the star whistle-blower in a case that ultimately saw a coal company executive and attorney at one of the state's largest and most powerful law firms found guilty of being Robinson's instigators and co-conspirators. On Thursday, Robinson said he was "ready for this chapter to end" and begin paying for his sins. He's lost 19 pounds since resigning from public office, he said. Still, on this day, he chose a salad. Later, standing before the court, he said it had been "hard to wake up, hard to eat, hard to sleep". Robinson deserves no one sympathy. Yet as we chatted, he seemed to be a man not merely resigned to a new life behind bars but also at peace with what he's done in the last 22 months to make recompense to people he harmed--including his family and the constituents he represented. Or as many as would hear him. "I'm just sorry and apologized," he said. He called those encounters with citizens "tough." "It's like family, a lot were mad--and deserved to be," he said. "Some, though, talked about the good things I did, too." Robinson did not represent some of the areas of north Birmingham potentially affected by the toxins from nearby manufacturers, so he's yet to meet with them. "I'm truly sorry," he said, a phrase he repeated before Judge Kallon and later as he stood in the rain in front of the courthouse. "To the people of north Birmingham, I am truly sorry." "I've confessed to my charges and ask forgiveness from the people of Alabama," he said in a statement before the court. "Most important I ask forgiveness from God. I look forward to my path to redemption." After Robinson took his seat, the thoughtful Kallon said: It is clear to the court, Mr. Robinson understand the seriousness of his crimes and he will serve his community for years to come." Outside the courtroom, there will be skeptics, of course, those who will not believe the sincerity of Robinson's remorse or apologies. Not ever. Robinson could have gone to prison for up to 63 months, based federal guidelines outlined by the prosecution, with a minimum of 51 months served. He'll lose his freedom for fewer than three years because the people who mattered--prosecutors and Judge Kallon--believe him. And because of his cooperation. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Martin admitted it was "difficult" to take a hardline approach in the sentencing recommendation. He called Robinson "unique", as the first public official he's prosecuted to confess without a fight. Prosecutors usually "send a message" in cases involving public officials by recommending harsh sentences because of the betrayal of public trust--rightly so. On Thursday, Martin said he wanted to send a message that "cooperation would be rewarded." Let's pray the message resonates from Montgomery to the edges of our borders and that further corruptive sins can be more easily exposed. Around 2:30 p.m., Judge Kallon finally told Robinson his fate. The former local hero nodded and thought to himself: "It's time to get this started." Roy S. Johnson's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Hit me up at rjohnson@al.com or/and follow me at twitter.com/roysj or on Instagram at instagram.com/roysj/. Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed Thomas P. Walters to fill the vacant engineer seat on the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, according to the governor's office. The Commission is the appointed board that oversees the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and votes on changes to environmental regulations in the state, and selects and evaluates the performance of the ADEM director. Ivey's spokesman Daniel Sparkman said Walters was appointed on Aug. 22, and will need to be confirmed by the Alabama Senate during the 2019 legislative session. Walters is already listed on the Commission's web site, and is expected to be at the next commission meeting. According to a biography provided by Ivey's office, Walters is a recently retired civil engineer who worked in a number of positions in Alabama for firm CH2M HILL (now Jacobs Engineering Group), a global engineering firm headquartered in Colorado. He has bachelors and masters degrees in civil engineering from Tennessee Technological University and worked extensively on wastewater treatment systems for municipalities during his 37-year engineering career. He is a licensed professional engineer in Alabama and Florida. Wastewater treatment issues have been a point of emphasis for the commission and for several environmental groups who have urged the commission to enact stricter rules regarding sewer overflows that have become recurring problems in many areas. Walters fills a seat that has been vacant since former commissioner Scott Phillips resigned in 2017. Phillips and other members of the commission, as well as ADEM Director Lance LeFleur, faced significant criticism in the wake of the trial of former Balch & Bingham attorney Joel Gilbert and Drummond Coal executive David Roberson, when it was revealed that Phillips had worked as a consultant helping Drummond oppose the addition of a polluted neighborhood in north Birmingham to the EPA's National Priorities List while serving on the commission. John (Jay) Masingill, III was appointed to the Alabama Environmental Management Commission in June 2018. He is the second new commissioner to join the board this year, after John (Jay) Masingill, III was named to fill the AEMC's professional geologist seat in June. Masingill has bachelors and masters degrees in geology from the University of Alabama and served in the military before a professional career working for the Geological Survey of Alabama and the State Oil and Gas Board, as well as in the private sector. He retired from the State Oil and Gas Board in 2010. Both are expected to be on the commission for the Oct. 19 meeting, though their appointments will have to be confirmed by the Alabama Senate in the next legislative session. They may not be the only new members. Three other members of the seven-member commission have their terms expire at the end of this month. ADEM External Affairs Chief Lynn Battle confirmed that Vice-Chair Terry Richardson will not be returning to the commission after his term expires on Sept. 30. Ivey will have to name a replacement for his seat, designated for a biologist/ecologist, but has not commented yet on that process. Ivey's office and ADEM would not comment on whether the other two commissioners whose terms are expiring, Elliott Craig Martin and Mary J. Merritt, will be returning to their seats or not. James Bernard Braddy Police seized 130 pounds of cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate 65 in Saraland Tuesday, Saraland police said. Saraland Police Department's Special Operations Unit stopped James Bernard Braddy of Opa-locka, Fla., for a traffic violation on I-65 north Tuesday. During the stop, a police K-9 found 62 packages of cocaine and U.S. currency concealed inside a 2016 Ford Expedition Braddy was driving, police said. The packages weighed about 130 pounds with an approximate street value of $4.1 million, police said. Braddy was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was being held in Mobile County Jail. Further details about the arrest were not immediately available. Consumer activists reject new laws Consumer rights activists have denounced the government for implementing laws without proper study, lack of surveillance and regulation of health sector and services.The medical fraternity and other stakeholders have criticised the recently implemented Criminal Code and Public Health Act. Trade tensions and a tight labor market have prompted Austria-based Lenzing to ice a $300 million plant expansion that would have brought more than 150 jobs to southwest Alabama. Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield described the decision as "unfortunate and unexpected." Bill Sisson, president and CEO of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber was "very disappointed" and that Lenzing is "a good corporate citizen that provides hundreds of high-paying jobs." Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, who'd celebrated the expansion, said the move showed how "national decisions have local consequences" and that federal trade policy was putting hard-won economic gains at risk. Lenzing operates a factory in Axis, north of Mobile, where it manufactures Tencel, a fiber made from wood for use in textiles. In late 2016 the company announced plans to invest an expected $293 million in an expansion that would use newer, more efficient production methods and would vastly expand capacity. (At the time, Lenzing said it had a worldwide production capacity of 222,000 tons per year and the new plant would add 90,000.) While the company provided few details on new jobs or the construction timetable, a report from the Alabama Department of Commerce said that it would create 163 new jobs and that "plans were to have the plant operating in 2019." But now the company's managing board has decided to "temporarily mothball" the project. According to a company statement, "The rising likelihood of increasing trade tariffs, paired with the potential surge in construction costs due to the buoyant US labor market, have increased the risk profile of this project." The statement makes clear that Lenzing hasn't abandoned its bullish view of the market overall. "Lenzing will put all its effort to readjust the execution of its growth plan to meet strong market demand," the statement says. "This includes an increased focus on the lyocell expansion project in Prachinburi (Thailand)." Lenzing said it would "reassesses this decision on an ongoing basis." The announcement of the expansion in 2016 was celebrated by the state, the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and the Mobile County Commission, among others. Ludgood, whose district includes Axis, said the situation should serve as a warning. Her statement: "The loss of jobs is particularly disappointing for the community. I am also disappointed for the local Lenzing team that worked so hard to bring this expansion to the Axis plant. This is a reminder for us that national decisions have local consequences and for us this means the loss of good paying jobs for the citizens of Mobile County. I sincerely hope the trade issues will be resolved soon, allowing the expansion to resume. "One of the strengths of our local economy is its diversity. That becomes a double-edged sword when we have so many industries that are impacted by current trade policies. Our community has embraced the international aspect of its economy; federal trade policies place at risk all those hard won gains. For the last 20 years companies like Austal, Airbus, Thyssen Krupp, Evonik, SSAB, Singapore Technologies have invested billions of dollars and brought thousands of high paying jobs to this region. Together they have ushered in a resurgence in our manufacturing sector. While this particular occurrence involves Lenzing, we are vulnerable to disruptions throughout our economy. Here at home, it is not about politics, it is about the family purse and how much or how little workers will have to provide for their needs." Sisson, like Ludgood, expressed hope that trade tensions might ease, reducing the motivation for decision such as Lenzing's. "The tariff situation continues to evolve and requires constant attention," he saad in an email. "Our trade team continues to monitor and will report to the business community. Our hope is these issues will soon be resolved with the least amount of impact. "The Chamber's board of directors passed a position statement in April related to trade and tariffs, reinforcing our organization's history of support for fair trade practices and investment agreements that expand access to international markets and reduce trade barriers," Sisson said. It wasn't immediately clear what economic development incentives had been offered for the expansion. Canfield, who was out of the country Thursday on a trade mission, said via email that state officials were taking stock of Lenzing's move. "I can confirm that all state incentives offered were performance based and, as such, the company had not yet reached its performance commitments under our agreement; therefore, no state incentives have been released to date," he wrote. Chamber President Sisson likewise said that the project "qualified for local and state incentives over a 20-year period, except for what is to be paid to education. Our understanding is that the project was in the initial stages, so there will not be much, if any, effect on the incentives." (This story has been updated with comment from Greg Canfield, Merceria Ludgood and Bill Sisson.) Two days after nooses were found hanging in a tree outside the University of South Alabama's dining hall in Mobile, students of all races have raised concerns about how the incident was portrayed and handled. The incident resulted in the suspension of the student responsible and the firing of a member of the contracted dining hall staff who sent an offensive tweet about the situation. However, some students question how university officials responded. "It felt like the university was trying to cover up for what was really going on," said student Dasia Hedrick. "Campus police and the president both said that the rope was used to hang banner sheets, but who uses a thick rope with a loop to hang those? We use string." "It's disrespectful, and maybe it wasn't a noose, but the intentions were clear." The day after the rope was inspected by USA campus police, President Tony Waldrop said in a press release that the "there was no noose at the time officers responded to the scene. According to USAPD, it appeared to officers the rope had held up a banner that was no longer there," the school's original statement read. It was later learned that students from a sorority had removed one noose and loosened one other, according to Dean of Students/Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Michael Mitchell. USA spokesperson Bob Lowry also told AL.com the nooses had previously held up a sheet sign, a common sight on the campus as it's how students campaign to become homecoming queen, for example. Campus police also said the rope had been used to hold a sheet sign the day before. Despite staff at first insisting the noose held a sheet sign, officials on Wednesday said a student admitted to placing what turned out to be two nooses and a bicycle in the tree. He was suspended and banned from campus, according to the school. He has since been escorted off campus and is awaiting a family member to collect him. The student has not been publicly identified by the university. "If it wasn't nooses and just the remnants of a sign why did the school suspend the student?" said Brianna Pickering, a student who was walking near to where the nooses were found. "It doesn't make sense." "I think campus police maybe said that it was not a noose to make sure people feel safe here and don't want it to feel racist, because this is a very inclusive and safe school." An inspection of 10 other sheet banners in the central area of the campus showed that none had the thick rope seen in images taken on Tuesday evening, the night the nooses were discovered. Banner signs displayed around the USA campus are tied with string and not rope. Will Moxim, 18, said that the nooses were aggressive. "I wouldn't call them racist because we don't know who did it or what their motivation was. It was aggressive though." Several students told AL.com that they believed the incident stemmed from a frat prank or pledge as it was apparently initiation week on campus. "I heard that it was a frat thing, but we are also in Alabama where this kind of thing is in its history," said Amere Robinson who was walking near student accommodation Thursday afternoon. Stefan Morris, another student at the school, said "Stuff like this is always gonna be around, racist stuff. It doesn't matter if you accept it or not it will always be around." A USA statement sent to the student body said that the school was still investigating and that "we apologize to the entire University community and everyone who has seen or heard about the insensitive and offensive comment." "We have zero tolerance for any form of racism or discrimination and the employee was fired immediately." During a Q&A session on campus on Thursday, aired by NBC 15, USA Campus Police Chief Zeke Aull said the school would not comment on the ongoing investigation and student suspension as it was not a police matter. He added that the hanging of the nooses did not violate Alabama's hate crime laws and would be dealt with internally. Asked what the student's motivations were, Aull said that student believed he was putting them up for Halloween. "We had a discussion about what that might mean to our African-American community and at that time he teared up and said 'I didn't know what I was doing. I do now." Dr. Mitchell followed up by saying that he had spoken with a group of students and confirmed that they felt safe and secure on campus. He also added that the idea the ropes belonged to banners was accurate at the time of the initial investigation but as different information came to light it was clear that they had been nooses. This is an opinion column. How many of Roy Moore's accusers can you remember by name? One? Two? None? Just over a year ago eight women were under a constant microscope while political pundits and operatives from around the country dug through their individual histories trying to answer one question: why? Why after 30+ years did they come forward and make on the record allegations about the Republican nominee for Senate. Was it politics? Was it fame? Was it money? Was it attention? Well, it's been a year and I bet most of you can't remember their names. I lived and breathed news coverage of the controversy for over a month and -- right this moment -- I can remember three: Leigh Corfman, Beverly Young Nelson and Tina Johnson. And a year later, as far as I know, none of these women have book deals. None have talk shows. None are rich or famous. Tina Johnson had her house burned down earlier this year. And Corfman and Nelson were called everything but a child of God by their neighbors and peers here in Alabama. So why did they do it? My belief is because they finally wanted to be heard and they wanted to be believed. For decades, they'd seen the man who abused them only grow more powerful and -- call it the #metoo movement, call it the Year of the Woman, call it whatever you want -- for some reason they felt like now their voice mattered. And now someone asked. Everyday, the controversy surrounding Brett Kavanaugh reminds me more and more of the experience covering Roy Moore last year. An accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, comes forward with a detailed account about alleged sexual assault from decades earlier and all hell breaks loose. Politicians immediately started worrying about how to spin the story or win the argument. The discussion becomes what the allegations mean politically, not what they mean for the women involved. News outlets kick into gear looking for a pattern of behavior and, ultimately, more women come forward. It becomes the media's role to sort through which allegations can be made on the record and stand up to whatever levels of scrutiny. Last year, my colleague Anna Claire Vollers was able to identify new Moore accusers willing to speak on the record. The idea that there was some sort of coordinated effort by a cabal that included the Washington Post, the Democratic Party, and an AL.com reporter always struck me as ludicrous. It's the type of argument you make because it feels more plausible than it truly is. There are no perfect victims and memories are messy and tricky things. Anna Claire and our editorial team worked for days doing everything we could to vet and corroborate Tina Johnson's story before we felt comfortable publishing it. I have no doubt that the New Yorker's Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow did the same. And just like last year, another woman came forward with an attorney that -- at least from my point of view -- is less than ideal. If you were organizing a coordinated effort to persuade the hearts and minds of people in Alabama, you wouldn't go with Gloria Allred. And if you wanted to persuade people on the Hill, there are few people more unctuous at this moment than Michael Avenatti. I have no idea why Beverly Young Nelson reached out to Allred or why Julie Swetnick chose Avenatti. And these women's stories weren't independently vetted by the press -- though Swetnick did sign a sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury. But we don't get to determine how women decide to tell their stories. We can only determine how we respond to them. And in the cases of Moore and Kavanaugh, the response has been wanting. Each candidate offered varying levels of denial -- though Kavanaugh's have been harsher and more definitive than Moore's equivocation about dating young girls. However, even in their denials, each exhibited a past of morally questionable behavior. And each left potentially damning character evidence in a yearbook. By Kavanaugh's own admission his yearbook entry of "Renate Alumni" refers to Renate Schroeder, a student from a nearby Catholic girls' school. Kavanaugh claims it's a reference to an innocent kiss that he shared with her at a dance -- again putting him at odds with the testimony of a woman as Schroeder denies the kiss ever took place. But several of Kavanaugh's male classmates made similar references to this "alumni" association and it doesn't take a child psychologist to determine that they were likely making crude references to a sexual conquest of Schroeder. Like Moore's disastrous interview with Sean Hannity, Kavanaugh's Fox News interview likely did him more harm than good. While he claimed that his youth was spent focusing on his studies and being a "good friend" to boys and girls, his college roommate and other peers have described him as a stumbling drunk. Like Moore, by repainting his past with a brush of piety, Kavanaugh goes too far in his denial. And if he's willing to lie at least a little about his past, it's his character that should be most thoroughly scrutinized on Thursday. There's little compelling evidence that these three women would upend their successful careers for... what exactly? I'm still confused by what the spin is suggesting. It's not like Brett Kavanaugh is the only pro-life judge left in America. If he is voted down, he'll be replaced by another thoroughly conservative nominee. And maybe we can find someone who didn't attend the same exclusive prep school as the last justice we confirmed? So Occam's razor would suggest the women are motivated by telling their truths. Kavanaugh, however, a creature that was raised and molded in the Swamp of DC has every reason to lie. He's on the verge of gaining his dream job. You can argue over whether or not either political party is using (or ignoring) this scandal for political gain, but you don't have to be that cynical. You don't have to let the politics of the moment distract from the stories of the women at the center of this. I, for one, believe these women. Just like I believed the accusers of Roy Moore. And Harvey Weinstein. And Bill Cosby. And Al Franken. And Bill Clinton. And Donald Trump (for what it's worth, he came to the defense of Moore and Kavanaugh over their accusers). But I'm unlikely to change your mind on his innocence or guilt. So I'd just ask you to remember, this isn't a trial. The Senate doesn't even have to reach a preponderance of evidence threshold. Kavanaugh won't be going to jail for any crime as a result of this Senate hearing. They simply must judge whether Kavanaugh has the temperament and character for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. And they have to decide the message that a vote for a man accused by an increasing number of women sends to young boys and girls around the country. Or the message it sends to other survivors of sexual assault who are wrestling with the decision to report their own abuse. Last year, Alabama voters answered the call and showed the world that we believed Moore unfit to represent our state. I hope that the Senate will do the same with Kavanaugh. Correction: An earlier version of this column misidentified Michael Avenatti's client. It was updated at 9:03 p.m. Gaza Strip Almost six months have passed since the start of a massive wave of protests known as the Great March of Return, organised by the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. They started on March 30, the commemoration of Land Day, which marks the events of March 30, 1976, when Israeli police shot and killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel as they protested against the Israeli governments expropriation of land. {articleGUID} The Great March of Return protests call for the right of return of Palestinian refugees, a right enshrined in international law, and the end of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt for over a decade, which has caused suffering to the Palestinians living there. Around two-thirds of the Palestinians living in the Strip are refugees, more than 80 percent of the population relies on humanitarian aid. According to the UN, the Gaza Strip will be unlivable by 2020. According to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, 194 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since March 30. Of them, 141 were killed during demonstrations, including 28 children, one woman, two journalists, three paramedics and three differently abled people. Another 9,970 were injured, including 1,815 children, 419 women, 114 paramedics, and 105 journalists. Of those injured, 5,645 were hit by live fire, including 919 children and 113 women. One Israeli soldier has died after being shot on July 20, 2018, during the protests. Mohammed Zaanoun, a photographer and videographer, has been documenting the protests since the first day. He was himself injured during a protest when shrapnel penetrated his hands. His brother, who is a cameraman, was also injured by a live bullet while covering the protests. But for him, the most difficult thing to witness is when the sniper shoots at unarmed children for no reason, and then to see the mothers saying farewell to them. Occupying forces also deliberately target journalists, Zaanoun says. There is always a danger, so every Friday I feel that I will not return home. I always think of going for a trip outside the country but this is difficult because of the siege and the closure of the crossings. I feel very sad and I go every day to the sea to lessen the frustration. With my photos, I hope that the world will see the truth about what is happening in Gaza. South Koreas president managed to save talks with North Korea and even got Trump talking about a second summit. After a months-long hiatus following the landmark summit between United States President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, the Korean peace process seems to have been jolted back to life. Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled a planned visit to North Korea amid a festering deadlock over how to implement a peace plan. Trump complained about how he fe[lt] we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This week, however, saw a dramatic change in Washingtons tone, with the US president discussing the possibility of a second summit with his North Korean counterpart later this year. He also welcomed a very warm, very positive letter from the North Korean leader and announced that this administration was already in the process of coordinating another summit. Meanwhile, the White House has also welcomed North Koreas decision to return the remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War and not to ostentatiously display its nuclear capability during a recent military parade as well. Trumps speech came shortly after his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York. In fact, what largely explains this sudden turnabout is the dramatic intervention of the South Korean leader, who has staked his entire political career on bringing about lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Moons efforts to save the talks Earlier this month, Moon visited Pyongyang to hold his third summit with his North Korean counterpart. In some ways, it was a surreal homecoming for the South Korean president, a former Special Forces officer who served at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas in the 1970s. The son of North Korean refugees, who fled to the south during the Korean War, it was both a highly symbolic as well as emotional visit for Moon. But beyond all the symbolism, the South Korean president also focused on making concrete steps with his North Korean counterpart on normalisation of relations. He brought Korean businessmen and top security officials with him to explore concrete mechanisms to enhance economic cooperation and confidence-building measures between the two countries. Infrastructure connectivity and resuscitation of joint industrial zones were on top Moons agenda. The South Korean president hopes to tame North Koreas militaristic passions by wedding it into an integrated regional production network. The support of big Korean conglomerates (Chaebols), which are world leaders in industrial and electronics productions, is crucial to jumpstarting North Koreas integration into the global economy. In economic terms, the Pyongyang Declaration, which was signed during the visit, outlined a number of inter-Korean cooperation projects, including the construction of transnational railways and the resuscitation of the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Not short of ambition, the two sides even discussed the prospect of a joint Olympics bid in 2032, signalling South Koreas commitment to upgrade the basic infrastructure and economy of its impoverished and isolated northern neighbour. Crucially, North Korea agreed to international inspection of its planned dismantling of the missile engine test site and launch platform at Dongchang-ri as well as permanent dismantlement of the Yongbyon nuclear plant. The two sites have served as a key infrastructure for North Koreas burgeoning nuclear weapons capability. Moon has gone all in on the peace process, reasoning that his young North Korean counterpart is also open to, if not desperate for, a fundamental transformation in Pyongyangs external relations for the purpose of domestic economic revival. The denuclearisation challenge Essentially, the South Korean president has been the driving force behind engagement with North Korea. It was Moon, who months earlier convinced Trump to hold the first summit with Kim, arguing that this could earn the American president a Nobel Peace Prize down the road. And it was him again who managed to save the negotiations once again. However, the question is how far he can push for on the denuclearisation issue which is what the US ultimately and solely interested in. One major problem is lack of agreement among them on the exact sequencing as well as threshold for reciprocal cooperation. Pyongyang has insisted on proportional relaxation of sanctions in response to a gradual rollback of and opening of its nuclear infrastructure to international inspections, a position that Seoul seems to support. The Trump administration, however, has taken a tougher line, insisting on full disclosure of the countrys entire nuclear and missile development programme and complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement (CVID) of its nuclear weapons capability. There are signs, however, that Washington is beginning to relax its demands, no longer insisting on expedited dismantlement of North Koreas entire nuclear infrastructure. Instead, its exploring the possibility of a more gradual, step-by-step approach to Pyongyang giving up its nuclear deterrent. In this context, Trumps second summit with Kim will be crucial. It will be an opportunity for the concerned parties to harmonise a mutually-acceptable and logistically realistic timetable for denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, which may take up to a decade if not more. Regardless of what happens when Trump meets Kim again, it will be important to keep the ball of negotiations rolling, minimise tensions and provocative actions, and provide sufficient incentive for both sides to demilitarise and denuclearise the peninsula. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Or why the US cannot have a meaningful national dialogue on race. Americans seem to be holding an awkward and dehumanising national conversation on race on a regular basis. News and social media are constantly drawing attention to racist statements and incidents involving whites and people of colour, in which the former deny that the episode was racist, or declare that they themselves arent racists. Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis monkey this up racist nod towards his black opponent Andrew Gillum being downplayed is just one example of so many in which white people deny, deflect, or defend racism. This dynamic is why the idea of any government-driven public conversation about racism is just a farce, whether its President Donald Trumps proposal of a preposterous race summit with Colin Kaepernick and Kanye West, or President Barack Obamas 2009 beer summit with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and the police officer who arrested him, James Crowley. Even the most well-meaning of leaders tend to feed Americans milquetoast statements about how much racial progress the US has made, if only to appease the white majority uncomfortable with the mere mention of American racism. Usually, this happens in the language of things have gotten better since the days before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but we still have a long way to go. As sociologist Crystal Marie Fleming points out in her book How to Be Less Stupid About Race, stereotypes and self-serving statements on racial progress are the result of living in a racist society, one that socializes us to be stupid about race. For some, though, the stupidity is of the willful kind, one steeped in me-first thinking. Bill Clinton was the last US president who attempted to open a national dialogue on racism. He officially launched his Initiative on Race during a commencement speech at the University of California, San Diego on June 14, 1997. It started with his promise to complete the unfinished work of our time, to lift the burden of race and redeem the promise of America and established an advisory board of experts who were supposed to come up with best practices for racial reconciliation and dialogue. But the boards final report, One America in the 21st Century, was dead on arrival when the White House released it to the public on September 18, 1998. This wasnt just because Clinton was in the middle of a scandal for lying about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. It was because the president and his Initiative on Race followed the well-worn patterns of typical American conversations on racism. It declared victory on racial reconciliation, despite the mountains of data pointing to an intricate web of systemic and everyday racism entangling the lives of Americans of colour. As the late John Hope Franklin wrote in his presentation of the Advisory Boards final report to President Clinton: Many Americans held a widespread belief that there was no crisis, and therefore, no reason to raise issues related to race. {articleGUID} My path to understanding the folly of conversations on American racism initiated by Clinton and other leaders began two weeks before his election in 1992. I was a second-year graduate student in a US history seminar at the University of Pittsburgh. The topic for discussion that day was, Why has black economic mobility, political assimilation and cultural identity differed from other ethnic groups? For two-and-a-half hours, my white classmates contended that poor blacks werent trying hard enough to rise out of poverty. Or, they believed that capitalisms sowing of economic inequality, and not systemic racism, was to blame for the disproportionately more pervasive black poverty. I countered that white people expecting black people to make significant socioeconomic progress after generations of slavery and Jim Crow was really a justification for their racism, for clinging to racial stereotypes like black laziness and intellectual inferiority. One of my classmates, a middle-aged white male, decided to cut off my final point. You should be grateful, to be able to go to an esteemed institution like the University of Pittsburgh, to be able to sit in that chair and get a PhD. If it were 30 years ago, we couldnt stand in the same Dairy Queen line, right here in Pittsburgh, he said, pointing at me as if I was a five-year-old throwing a tantrum. The professor ended class right then and there, cutting off my attempt to respond. I stopped by his office the next afternoon to find out why he interfered. Youre going to have to deal with this anyway, he said while shrugging his shoulders as if, prior to 1992, I somehow hadnt seen or dealt with systemic racism or the racist slights of older white males. As the lone African American in the classroom, no one understood my discomfort with white evaluations of blacks living with poverty because they were effectively assessing me and my upbringing in the process. And given the reactions of my professor and my older classmate, I was sure they didnt care to understand, either. Like them, many white Americans only want dialogue on racism that will make them feel more comfortable with their racial privilege. Really, the racism discussion many Americans crave is one in which whites can pat themselves on the back for being good people without the need to do any anti-racist work at all. Thats why the press focuses more on racial progress statistics like whites marrying blacks and the decline of overt racism among younger Americans, and less on how redlining has led to material inequality for many Americans of colour. Thats why the American press tends to frame each instance of white people calling the police on unsuspecting people of colour for merely existing as isolated and not part of the larger continuum of virulent, everyday racism. Denying and deflecting from attempts to call out systemic and individual racism, all while reinforcing racial stereotypes and inflicting additional pain, was also typical of President Clinton. His policy approaches to dealing with poverty and race made this all too clear. Watching President Clinton crusade for his legacy-defining Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was what helped convince me that his eventual Initiative on Race would be a sideshow. {articleGUID} Its not racist for whites to assert that the culture of welfare dependency, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and absent fatherhood cannot be broken by social programmes unless there is first more personal responsibility, Clinton said in an October 1995 speech at the University of Texas-Austin. He delivered that speech on the day of the Million Man March in Washington, DC. The White House presumably scheduled this event as a way for Clinton to distance himself from Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, who organised the march and who was considered by some to hold anti-white and anti-Jewish views. Clinton used the racist stereotype of lazy blacks on the government dole as justification for morphing social welfare into the welfare-to-work programme known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, even though the majority of welfare recipients were and remain white. He did that all while also promising a mostly white audience a national chitchat on racism and triangulating on racial reconciliation, knowing that registered black Democrats like me had little choice but to support his allegedly pragmatic efforts in the voting booth in 1996. Clintons own words within the Initiative on Race Advisory Boards report 20 years ago, though, revealed to me the impossibility of any US president taking even baby steps to diminish racisms impact. I am a Scotch-Irish Southern Baptist and Im proud of it. But [] I have felt indescribable joy and peace in Black and Pentecostal churches. I have come to love the intensity and selflessness of my Hispanic fellow Americans toward la familia [] I have also revelled in the festivals and the food, the music and the art and the culture of Native Americans Clintons narcissism and racism entitled him to see Americans of colour and their diverse cultures as simply food, song, reproduction and prayer, as mere sources of enjoyment and curiosity. As his words and actions proved two decades ago, its easier to point to superficial racial progress than it is to admit that American greatness has always been contingent on the material and emotional suffering of Americans of colour: on Trayvon Martins and Sandra Blands, on Ferguson and Charleston, on imprisoned and humiliated black and brown migrants, on Puerto Ricans left to drown. We are more likely to see the world arriving at a solution to climate change before theres ever a Rwandan or South African-style Truth and Reconciliation process in the US on its historical and present-day racism. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Dhangadhi locals call strike against proposal to shift provincial capital Normal life was affected in Dhangadi on Thursday due to a strike called by locals against the proposal to shift the provincial capital from Dhangadhi to Godawari in Kailali. Tension rises in disputed region after the death of a young shepherd who was killed in cold blood, says family. The cold-blooded killing of a 26-year-old civilian has sparked fresh protests in Indian-administered Kashmir with Indian authorities placing certain areas under curfew and shutting down mobile internet service. Saleem Malik was killed in the early hours of Thursday and family members told Al Jazeera he was shot dead without any provocation after the Indian soldiers suspected him of being a rebel. He heard some noise and went out to check on his sheep in the shed, said 27-year-old Riyaz Ahmad, a relative of the slain civilian. He was shot dead without any reason. The army did not even fire a warning shot. It was a cold-blooded murder. Anti-India protests and clashes erupted in several places across the region following the murder of Malik who, a senior police official said, was killed in a cross-fire. There was a brief gunfight during the night and two militants fled. The house owner [Malik] was killed in the incident, the official told Al Jazeera. We want freedom Hundreds of people poured onto the streets at several places in downtown Srinagar, calling for the end of Indian rule. They chanted slogans like go India, go back and we want freedom as some of the residents barraged police and paramilitary soldiers with stones. Government troops fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to quell the protests, while authorities restricted movement in old quarters of the city. Even the mourners were not spared. The forces fired tear gas at them, said a resident Gulzar Ahmad. If there was a gun battle, how did the rebels manage to escape in the presence of a large number of forces. There was nothing. Malik was just killed like everyone else is killed in Kashmir. Anti-India sentiment runs deep into the Muslim-majority Kashmir region. The region has witnessed renewed violence after 2016 when a popular rebel commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight. The two-decade-old armed struggle has now been mostly replaced by street protests, generating intermittent tensions in the region. With additional reporting by Rifat Fareed in Srinagar Mexico City Mexicos President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised to reopen the case of the 43 missing students from a rural teachers college in Ayotzinapa, who disappeared after the police intercepted them on their way to a protest four years ago. The case has drawn widespread condemnation, symbolising how the state of corruption and impunity that has become the norm in the country. The government of outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto effectively closed the case a few months after the incident, claiming they had obtained confessions from local drug gang members who said they burned all 43 bodies in a dumpster after being instructed by the police to murder the students. However, international experts dispute that account, pointing to a number of irregularities with the case, including confessions obtained by torture, illegal arrests of key suspects and lack of physical evidence to sustain the arguments. In an unprecedented ruling in July, a court ordered the creation of a special commission to reopen and pursue the case. But a coordinated government effort halted its progress claiming such a commission would be overstepping jurisdictions. Earlier this week another court upheld the creation of the commission. Lopez Obrador, who will be taking office in December, told reporters on Wednesday that he will see to it that the commission moves forward in investigating the case. No matter what, on December 1st, I will issue an executive order to create the investigative commission and set up the procedure to access truth and justice, he said, surrounded by relatives of the missing students. He added that he will open the doors to all international organisations that have been fighting against all odds to prevent this case from closing. Epifanio Alvarez Carbajal, father of Jorge Alvarez Nava, one of the missing students, shared the stage with Lopez Obrador. Parents say theyre hopeful in Lopez Obradors promises [Lucina Melesio/Al Jazeera] We feel great hope, Carbajal said, choking back his tears. If thats not the case [accessing justice], Id rather die. I cant go on watching all these parents in pain. Clemente Rodriguez Moreno, whose son, Christian, also went missing, told Al Jazeera that he feels stronger, stronger, strengthened, because no other president had given us hope before. A cold trail? Mario Patron Sanchez, director of Centro Prodh, a human rights NGO that has been closely monitoring the case and co-organised Wednesdays meeting, told Al Jazeera he believed solving the case four years later is totally feasible. This case is emblematic because it represents the heart of corruption and impunity of the country, and the main challenge is breaking impunity pacts, Patron said. Todays meeting is important because theres a clear expression of political will to solve this case. But not everyone agreed. Francisco Rivas Rodriguez, director of Observatorio Nacional Ciudadano, an NGO that monitors crime and justice, told Al Jazeera he is sceptical that the case can be solved because its been so long time since the incident, local authorities were negligent in handling the case and the federal governments initial reaction was too slow. While he said its good news that the investigation will continue, he is concerned that a politically-motivated promise can cause more pain for the victims. Opening the case does not necessarily mean the case can be solved, he said. This case is iconic and thats why we understand its significance, but in reality these cases are all too common and they rarely are solved. Access to justice is poor in Mexico. Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador poses with relatives of the 43 students of the teaching training school in Ayotzinapa who went missing in 2014 [Alfredo Estrella/AFP] According to Ernesto Schwartz Marin, a forensic anthropologist at Exeter University who co-founded citizen-led forensic database Ciencia Forense Ciudadana in Mexico to help families find their disappeared relatives, Ayotzinapa is just the tip of the iceberg. This case is being pursued because its been on the spotlight, but theres thousands of disappeared that wont access justice unless the system is changed from its roots, Schwartz told Al Jazeera. Morgues are overridden with bodies. Alive they took, alive we want them back Following Wednesdays meeting and press conference, thousands joined the parents of the disappeared students to protest the governments handling of the case. {articleGUID} Protesters chanted alive they took them, alive we want them back. A banner read from Iguala to Los Pinos [the presidential house], prison to the murderers. The entire goddamn system is guilty. At the end of the rally, parents took turns speaking to the crowd. Were very sad four years later, and were very angry at the government, one of the mothers said, contesting the official account of what happened the night the students disappeared. Today we feel hopeful, we see a possibility with Lopez Obrador, a father said. Presidential election campaigning has been packed with drama, with Bolsonaro and Haddad pulling ahead in the polls. Sao Paulo In less than two weeks, Brazilian voters will head to the polls choose a new president. Its been a turbulent contest so far, packed with drama, including an assassination attempt on Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner who continues to lead opinion polls while recovering in hospital. Former Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad of the leftist Workers Party is second, having taken over from ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is serving a 12-year sentence on corruption charges and was barred by the electoral court from running earlier this month. Given that support for Bolsonaro has steadily grown in opinion polls all year and that Haddad has risen rapidly since he took over Lulas candidacy, barring an unforeseen circumstance, its seen as almost certain that these two will make the second round runoff, scheduled for October 28. {articleGUID} According to opinion polls released Wednesday by Ibope, Bolsonaro leads with 27 percent of voting intention, while Haddad has 21 percent and candidates Ciro Gomes and centre-right Geraldo Alckmin trail with 12 percent and 8 percent respectively. If neither candidate gets more than 50 percent during the first round on October 7, the vote will proceed to a second-round runoff. Ibope showed that Haddad would narrowly beat Bolsonaro in the runoff but, for most analysts, the race is still far too close to call. It will come down to a dispute of rejection: who can reduce their rejection the most or increase that of their opponent, said Ricardo Ribeiro, a political analyst with Sao Paulo-based MGM Consultancy. Festival of negative propaganda Bolsonaro has the highest rejection levels of any candidate according to polls, but Ribeiro said that Haddads would likely rise, given Brazils current polarised political atmosphere which is replete with deep anti-Workers Party and leftist sentiment. It will be a festival of negative propaganda from both sides, Ribeiro said of the second round, where both candidates are given equal free television advertisement time. TV time is designated according to party presence in the lower house and, until now, Bolsonaro gets mere seconds of free TV time each day, due to his small coalition in Congress, while the Haddad gets several minutes worth because the Workers Party has 61 congressmen. While equal TV time could help level the playing field for Bolsonaro, the Workers Party has an established history of producing slick, hard-hitting campaign ads. Since he was stabbed, Bolsonaro has been unable to campaign or take part in televised debates, the most recent of which took place Wednesday night. During the debate, Haddad focused on the golden years of the Workers Party, during which tens of millions were lifted from poverty. Under his watch as education minister, places for lower-income students were greatly expanded. Opponents attacked the legacy, blaming the partys corruption scandals and macroeconomic mismanagement for Brazils deep recession, with its rising poverty and high unemployment. On Saturday, thousands are expected to march against Bolsonaro under the banner #EleNao! or not him. The protests are organised by women in response to his history of fiercely misogynistic remarks. Rival demonstrations in support of Bolsonaro are to be held on Sunday in Sao Paulo. For Ribeiro, the political analyst, when it comes to the runoff, most Brazilian elections are won on a candidates ability to moderate their discourse and appeal to the centre. This is something that Bolsonaros team doesnt manage to do so well, he said. Chinas foreign ministry denied Trumps accusation that Beijing is trying to influence the US congressional elections. China has accused US President Donald Trump of slander after he accused Beijing of trying to meddle in upcoming US congressional elections. Trump told a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Wednesday that Beijing was interfering in the November 6 mid-term elections because it opposes his tough stance on trade. They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, said Trump. But, in a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Beijing does not interfere in other countries internal affairs. We advise the US to stop this unceasing criticism and slander of China, said Geng. Stop these wrong words and deeds that damage bilateral relations and the basic interests of both countries peoples. An advertorial bought by the state-run China Daily in an American newspaper was normal cooperation between US and foreign media, Geng said. To describe this as the Chinese governments attempt to intervene in the US elections is purely far-fetched and false. Trump had earlier tweeted a picture of the advertorial taken out in a local newspaper in Iowa, calling it propaganda. Al Jazeeras Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said Trumps remarks at the UNSC had caught the Chinese authorities off guard. The fallout with the United States has pushed China closer to Russia, he said. On many levels now, we are starting to see the relationship between Beijing and Washington gradually unravel. What we are [also] seeing is that Beijing and Moscow are getting closer. Russia and China want closer cooperation, particularly in the area of defence, he said. Deteriorating ties The two countries, already engaged in an acrimonious trade war, continue to butt heads over a list of sensitive issues including the South China Sea and Taiwan. On Thursday, Chinas defence ministry said a recent mission by two US B-52 bomber aircraft over the disputed South China Sea was provocative. China summoned the US ambassador to Beijing on Saturday and postponed joint military talks after Washington sanctioned a Chinese military agency and its director for buying Russian fighter jets and a surface-to-air missile system. Beijing also denied a request for a US warship to visit Hong Kong, the US consulate in the Chinese city said on Tuesday. China has expressed anger after the US approved the sale of spare parts for F-16 fighter planes and other military aircraft worth up to $330m to self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory. What started out as a search engine has turned into one of the most influential companies in the world. Google started out as a simple search engine in 1998 and has turned into one of the most important and influential companies in the world. On Thursday, the company celebrates its 20th birthday, and although searching for something on the internet has commonly become googling, the company itself has become a part of the everyday lives in more ways than one. Google was officially founded in September 1997 but September 1998 is generally seen as the date the company really started its now-ubiquitous search engine. The search engine was created for about $100,000 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, two Stanford PhD students, who wanted to challenge Altavista and Yahoo, the two most popular search engines in the earlier days of the internet. {articleGUID} As its popularity grew, the company expanded to new territories. One of the most important ones, without which it could have never grown to its current size, is selling advertisements next to its search results. Google AdWords, as it became known, was launched in 2000 and soon turned Google into a highly profitable company. Combined with Googles powerful PageRank system of indexing search results, the company grew over the years and went public in 2004, offering investors to buy its shares. The same year, Google launched Gmail, providing internet users with an inbox with 1GB of space, which was unheard of until then. Expansion Over the years, the company expanded into new technologies some successful, some not so much. Two of the most successful Google brands, besides its search engine and Gmail, are probably the video platform YouTube and operating system Android. YouTube, which was launched in 2005 and bought by Google the next year, has become the go-to platform for majority of internet users. It now boasts of more than 1 billions hours watched on the website and app every day by its users. In similar fashion, Googles Android has become the most common operating system around the world. Android became popular because of its open nature, which allows the operating system to run on both expensive as well as budget phones, making it perfect for emerging markets like China, India and Brazil. Criticism Despite changing the internet, and everything that comes with it, Google has also faced much criticism in the recent two decades. Its users are required to give up significant amounts of privacy, so that the company could can tailor ads towards them. Googles Chrome browser knows a users browsing history, its Android phone knows where they have travelled, and their Gmail inbox is scanned for keywords, all to improve advertising. With its huge market share more than 90 percent of all searches on the internet are done using Google the company has come under scrutiny by the European Union, which handed the company a record fine of $5bn for violating anti-trust laws. In addition, since 2016, Google has become part of a discussion around fake news because of the way its algorithm recommends articles and videos on Google News and YouTube to a user. Most recently, Google came under scrutiny for Project Dragonfly, a separate version of its search engine tailor-made for the highly censored Chinese internet. {articleGUID} Rights groups have decried Googles attempts to build a separate search engine, saying freedom of speech and human rights would be at risk because the company would knowingly and willingly keep results deemed dangerous by the Chinese government from showing up. Futuristic Despite these criticisms, there seems to be no stopping Google for the foreseeable future. Currently, the company is working on futuristic projects, including self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, robotics and even attempts at creating an eternal life. To house these different ventures under one umbrella, Google in 2015 officially changed its name to Alphabet, which is one of the top five tech companies in the world and is currently valued at over $700bn. Google itself is now only related to things related to the search engine. But whatever its future holds, chances are it will definitely last for at least another 20 years. Judges set to decide on whether to convict ex-military intelligence chief Jose Mauricio Rodriguez of genocide. Guatemala City Ana de Leon lost everything when Guatemalan military forces arrived in the Maya Ixil region during the countrys decades-long civil war. More than 200,000 people, including de Leons brother and three children, were killed. Another 43,000 were forcibly disappeared. More than 80 percent of victims were indigenous Mayan people. They burned our house, our clothing, and our crops, de Leon told Al Jazeera as she gathered with other survivors outside the Guatemala City court complex, where judges are deciding whether to convict Jose Mauricio Rodriguez of genocide and crimes against humanity. Rodriguez was the head of military intelligence in the early 1980s, when the worst of the atrocities occurred in the Ixil region, 225km northwest of Guatemala City. Rodriguez, along with former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, are accused of carrying out the massacre of nearly 1,800 Ixil civilians and disappearing tens of thousands others. In 2013, Rios Montt, who seized power during the 1982 military coup, was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. It was the first time a former head of state was convicted of genocide using a countrys domestic court system. Rodriguez was acquitted. But the verdicts were swiftly overturned by the countrys Constitutional Court, setting up a repeat of much of the trial. The stop-and-start partial retrial began last October. In 2015, Rios Montt was deemed unfit for court appearances or prison due to dementia. The former dictator died at the age of 91 earlier this year. Genocide has been more than proven Traditional Maya Ixil authority Diego Ceto told Al Jazeera that for the Ixil survivors, the 2013 guilty verdict stands. {articleGUID} For us, Rios Montt died convicted, he said. Ceto said he simply wants justice, to ensure the past is never repeated: We are trusting in the judicial system of Guatemala. Retrial proceedings have been drawn out, with 69 hearings over the course of the past three years, said Edgar Perez, the head of the legal team representing genocide victims. For the witnesses, the purpose has been to come and reconfirm their truth, a truth that has been questioned, Perez told Al Jazeera. Genocide has been more than proven, he said. Ana de Leon lights a candle outside of the Guatemalan Supreme Court during the ceremony commemorating the victims of the internal armed conflict [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera] While many survivors stayed outside in the plaza Wednesday morning to commemorate the victims, others filed into a packed 15th-floor courtroom to hear the defendants final statement to the three-judge panel. Rodriguez took the stand and emphatically denied any involvement. I am sure that I am innocent, he told the court. I did not do or order others to do all the things its said happened. I Ana is convicted. But where were my children taken? Where are my things [that were stolen]? I will never forget what was done.] Wednesdays expected verdict comes while the country is immersed in a constitutional crisis sparked by Guatemalan president Jimmy Moraless measures to shutter a UN-backed international anti-corruption commission. Morales railed against the commission and the UN Tuesday at the UN General Assembly, just hours after his vice president alluded to legal action against the Constitutional Court magistrates who ruled against the government and in favour of the commission. According to Perez, the current political and social situation means that the judicial system is weak, but for him and the survivors he represents have high hopes Rodriguez Sanchez will be found guilty. De Leon was one of the many Maya Ixil witnesses who testified in court against Rios Montt and Rodriguez. She hopes for justice, but said nothing can undo the past. I will be content when [Rodriguez] is convicted, said de Leon. But where were my children taken? Where are my things [that were stolen]? I will never forget what was done. Guatemala City Guatemalan judges have unanimously ruled that the countrys military carried out genocide and crimes against humanity, but in a 2-1 decision acquitted former intelligence chief Jose Mauricio Rodriguez of all charges. According to the decision, handed down late on Wednesday, there was no evidence Rodriguez was involved in or ordered others to take part in the genocide during the countrys decades-long armed conflict. Over the course of the war, which began in 1960 and formally ended in 1996, more than 200,000 people were killed and another 43,000 were forcibly disappeared. More than 80 percent of the victims were indigenous Maya people. The worst of the atrocities took place in the Maya Ixil region, 225km northwest of Guatemala City. Inhuman acts were committed against the civilian population, said tribunal president Maria Eugenia Castellanos. We are moved, she added, referring to the countless survivors testimonies of military forces carrying out killings, massacres, rape, theft of children, bombing, displacement and forced starvation. Dissenting judge Rodriguez, along with former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, was accused of carrying out the massacre of nearly 1,800 Ixil civilians and disappearing tens of thousands others from March 23, 1982, through July 31, 1983. Judge Sara Yoc, the dissenting vote on the Rodriguez ruling, said the former military intelligence commander absolutely would have known that the military was carrying out genocide and crimes against humanity. His role was to monitor and supervise intelligence-gathering from all regions, including information gathered through torture, she added. To me, [Rodriguez] is responsible for genocide, Yoc said. Former Intelligence chief Jose Mauricio Rodriguez greets supporters after being acquitted of committing genocide [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera] Wednesdays verdict came five years after Rios Montt, who seized power during the 1982 military coup, was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. Rodriguez was acquitted at the time. But those verdicts were swiftly overturned by the countrys Constitutional Court, setting up a repeat of much of the trial, which began last October. Rios Montt, who was deemed unfit for court appearances or prison due to his dementia, died at the age of 91 last year. Prior to Wednesdays verdict, Rodriguez denied any involvement. I am sure that I am innocent, he told the court. I did not do or order others to do all the things its said happened. A crime was committed, but no one is responsible Following the verdict, genocide survivors filed out of the building to applause and chants of yes, it was genocide from those gathered outside. Edwin Canil, the president of the Association for Reconciliation and Justice (AJR), said despite the not guilty verdict in Rodriguezs case, the determination that genocide did occur is key. Its huge for this country, Canil told Al Jazeera, adding that the AJR will discuss how to seek justice. A man holds his head in his hands as the court reads their decision to acquit former intelligence chief Jose Mauricio Rodriguez [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera] At the same time, Canil sees the full ruling as somewhat contradictory, in that genocide was confirmed but no one has been convicted. A crime was committed but no one is responsible, he said, describing the tribunals verdict. Womens rights campaigners welcomed the ruling by Supreme Court which said law was discriminatory and unconstitutional. New Delhi, India Indias top court has ruled that adultery is no longer a crime, declaring the colonial-era law that punished the offence unconstitutional and discriminatory. The court ruled unanimously on Thursday that Section 497, a 158-year-old law, perpetuates the subordinate status of women, denies dignity and sexual autonomy, and is based on gender stereotypes. The law criminalised consensual sexual relations between a man and a married woman without the consent of her husband. Under the law, a man convicted could have faced up to five years in prison and women could neither file a complaint nor be held liable for adultery. Section 497 has been criticised by rights groups for depriving women of dignity and individual choice, and treating them as the property of men. With thumping judgements on right to privacy, decriminalising homosexuality&now decriminalising adultery, the Supreme Court has shown its adherance to liberal values& the Constitution. Significant that these rulings come during the most illiberal govt ever https://t.co/hVtUlpzxep Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) September 27, 2018 Adultery can be grounds for civil issues including dissolution of marriage but it cannot be a criminal offence adultery might not be the cause of an unhappy marriage, it could be the result of an unhappy marriage, said Chief Justice Misra while reading out the verdict. The judges deemed the law unconstitutional after Indian businessman Joseph Shine filed a petition last year challenging Section 497. The Indian government had opposed the decriminalisation of adultery, stating in court earlier that this would erode the sanctity of marriage and the fabric of society at large. But womens rights campaigners welcomed the ruling on Thursday. Scrapping it was long overdue and is very welcome, Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Womens Association, told Al Jazeera. Our political class should have decriminalised adultery and homosexuality a long time ago, instead of leaving it to the courts. Despite a string of recent liberal-progressive rulings from Indias Supreme Court, including the decriminalisation of gay sex, Indias conservative and patriarchal attitudes are deeply entrenched. This is precisely why political parties and governments pass the buck to courts, said Krishnan. India is still struggling to balance its deep-rooted traditions with rapid modernisation. {articleGUID} Our society is not ready for this, we do not have to blindly follow western norms, said Ajay Gautam, founder of a right-wing group called Hum Hindu (We are Hindus). Public morality and the social fabric will collapse if extra-marital relations are allowed. We will help the government in drafting a counter to this that can be issued as an executive order to criminalise these immoral acts again. Womens rights campaigners said they hoped the ruling would also encourage national debate in India about other issues, including the criminalisation of marital rape which is not a crime in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modis right-wing government told a court last year that it believes criminalising marital rape could destabilise marriages and make men vulnerable to harassment by their wives. Irans Rouhani claims victory in UN battle against Trump Irans president is claiming a diplomatic victory following his address at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Iraq forces blamed for forced disappearances of many men, boys Human Rights Watch says it has been able to confirm 78 cases of enforced detention that occurred as government cracked down on ISIL fighters and supporters. Dolakha police start fight back campaign in schools On September 22, Police started a 15-day fight back campaigna programme that teaches girls to defend themselves against sexual predatorsin 20 schools of Charikot, Jiri and Singati of Dolakha district. Libya, Italy, Malta, Greece and Turkey will all feel the effects of this sub-tropical cyclone over the next three days. Off the Libyan coast, not far from Benghazi, is a developing threat: a potential Mediterranean cyclone, or medicane. On Thursday, gale warnings were issued for Greeces Crete and southern Italy, including Sicily. For the island of Malta, strong winds and pounding waves were expected. Over the next three days, this medicane will likely strengthen as it moves into the Ionian Sea, across southern Greece and Crete, and then into the southern Aegean making a Sunday evening landfall in western Turkey. Flooding, landslides, wave erosion, thunderstorms and severe gales are all likely for the countries and islands currently under early warning conditions. True hurricanes cannot form in the Mediterranean Sea, for various reasons of physics. However, cyclones with similar characteristics can and do occur occasionally. Indeed, I steamed through one in 1980, encountering giant waves and winds in excess of 100km/h. The start of this cyclone was a series of violent thunderstorms that brought downpours to Tunisia and northern Libya. Flash flooding swept through Nabeul, Tunisia, over the weekend, taking four lives. These thunderstorms repeatedly regenerated as the warm waters of the Gulf of Sirte kept feeding in both energy and water vapour. Even on Wednesday night, 93mm of rain was recorded as falling on Medinine, southern Tunisia, on the main road to Tripoli, Libya. The centre of circulation, as of Thursday, was just off the coast from Benghazi, eastern Libya. The boost came from a rapid cooling of the air above the central Mediterranean. A cold front swept across Eastern Europe on Tuesday, dropping temperatures by up to 14 Celsius at ground level. Although the contrast overland is now fuzzy, the air aloft is much cooler. Warm air rises, the proof being in the clump of thunderstorms now over the coast of Libya. If you cool the air above even more, it rises even more rapidly and (physics again) starts to spin. This ultimately can lead to a sub-tropical cyclone, or medicane, which is what is expected to happen in this case. Duarte was forced from office in 2016 on accusations of money laundering, corruption and mismanagement. A former governor of Veracruz has been sentenced by a federal judge in Mexico to nine years in prison after pleading guilty for the crimes of criminal association and money laundering. The court also fined Javier Duarte 58,890 Mexican pesos ($3,123) on Wednesday and seized 40 properties that, according to authorities, he acquired with resources from the state. The former governor had already been in jail awaiting trial and the court has counted the time he already served towards his nine-year sentence. It is impressive that Mexico is going through this, a huge country as it is, with a strong economy we live in an obscurantism, Lucy Diaz, leader of the Colectivo Solecito of Veracruz, an organisation that works to find disappeared people in Veracruz, told Al Jazeera Duarte served as the governor of Veracruz from 2010 to 2016, was considered a luminary of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), President Enrique Pena Nieto referring to him as an example of a new generation. However, he soon became a symbol of corruption and disappointment. {articleGUID} In October 2016, Duarte was forced from office, two months before the end of his six-year term, on accusations of money laundering, corruption and mismanagement. The party expelled him and a judge issued an arrest warrant. He fled using a government helicopter, which prompted Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant against him. A reward of 15m pesos ($730,000) was also offered for his capture. The governor was captured in Guatemala in 2017 and was extradited to Mexico three months later. During his time in office, gang violence and kidnapping increased in Veracruz and the states debt doubled. Two former state police chiefs were also charged with running squads that allegedly killed opponents during his administration. Veracruz also became one of the most dangerous states for journalists as well as a hub for organised crime. It first became a stronghold for the Gulf cartel and later for the Zetas, who broke away from the Gulf cartel in the late 2000s and moved into the state. Some 3,600 people have gone missing in Veracruz since 2006, and families are still exhuming mass graves to find their loved ones. This is catastrophic, this touches all areas in peoples lives, families have been destroyed, there are grandmothers that have to raise and take care of grandsons after their parents disappeared, said Diaz. When somebody disappears there are no records, there is no death certificate, the chapter is not closed, you are not allowed to touch bank accounts, you are not allowed to move schools. Its a huge puzzle, and takes a great toll on people. Mexicos newly elected government vows to probe disappearances The promise comes as protesters gathered to mark the fourth anniversary of the abduction and suspected massacre which was one of the worst crises during former President Enrique Pena Nietos tenure. Israeli prime minister calls on United Nations nuclear inspectors to carry out work on facilities near Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran on Thursday of keeping a secret atomic warehouse just outside its capital and called on UN nuclear inspectors to carry out inspections. Holding up enlarged images before world leaders at the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said Iranian officials were keeping tonnes of nuclear equipment and material in a warehouse, in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal. He said the materials were meant to keep it from obtaining nuclear weapons. There was no immediate comment from Iran. Netanyahus disclosure which he presented as a big reveal on the international communitys biggest stage came four months after he announced the existence of what he said was a half-tonne of Iranian nuclear documents obtained by Israeli intelligence from a government facility in Tehran. The prime minister said the cache proved Iranian leaders covered up their nuclear weapons programme before signing the nuclear agreement. Iran has not acknowledged the alleged seizure. You have to ask yourself a question: Why did Iran keep a secret atomic archive and a secret atomic warehouse? he asked. The reason Iran did not destroy its atomic archive and its atomic warehouse is because it hasnt abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons, he said. Israel will never let a regime that calls for our destruction to develop nuclear weapons, Netanyahu added. What Iran hides, Israel will find. Not a lot of detail The new site Netanyahu identified sits a short distance from Shourabad district outside the capital, Tehran. There was no immediate official response from Tehran. Irans mission to the UN did not respond to a request for comment. Irans state-run, English-language Press TV channel carried Netanyahus remarks live, but cut away after he made the allegation about the nuclear warehouse. Al Jazeeras senior diplomatic editor, James Bays, said Netanyahus single focus on Iran because Israel is getting what it wants at this stage from the Trump administration on the issue of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bays noted nuclear experts had previously pointed out there was nothing new about Netanyahus presentation in April, adding there is not a lot of detail in his presentation on Thursday. Many centrifuges The 2015 Iran nuclear deal came after years of Western sanctions over the countrys contested atomic program. The West long has feared it could be used to build nuclear bombs. Iran long has denied seeking atomic weapons. Under terms of the deal, Iran is allowed to keep documents and other research. The deal strictly limits how many centrifuges Iran can use and how large of a low-enriched uranium stockpile the country can keep. Netanyahu said the warehouse stored massive amounts of equipment and materiel. He said Israel shared the information with the UN atomic watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Netanyahu noted Israel had long opposed the multi-national agreement with Iran. Israel considers Iran its biggest threat, citing Tehrans calls for Israels destruction, its support for hostile militant organisations such as the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah group, and Irans development of long-range missiles. Arab and EU states expected to increase donations to UNRWA, as $185m required to keep agency running until end of 2018. New York, United States The UN Palestinian refugee agency has welcomed the huge solidarity shown by several countries as the humanitarian organisation seeks to rapidly plug the hole left by the US, which pulled its financial support in August. Several major donors, including Arab and European Union (EU) states, are expected to announce an increase in their contributions to the UNs Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) at a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Thursday in an attempt to fill the $300m gap left by its biggest contributor. UNRWA has raised some additional funds from other contributors in recent weeks but the agencys Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl told Al Jazeera that raising the $185m required to keep operating until the end of 2018 is a very uphill struggle. The size of the cut was very, very significant from the US and therefore we are certainly not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, said Krahenbuhl. The agency was established in 1949 to provide relief and assistance to the 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled or fled from their homeland a year earlier, as well as their descendants. It currently supports five million people in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Financial crisis A total of 677 schools and 143 health facilities, along with tens of thousands of jobs are at risk as the agency battles to survive its worst ever financial crisis, with only enough money in the bank to operate until mid-October. We managed to open our schools on time in August and September for half a million students which was very good news, said Krahenbuhl. Now we need to keep them open, keep our clinics open and keep the other services running, so that requires a lot of work. More than 100 agency staff have been laid off and hundreds more roles have been reduced to part-time positions, while deep pay cuts have been introduced in response to the Trump administrations unilateral decision. These jobs are a lifeline in areas where unemployment rates can reach 40 percent and a loss of earnings could have devastating ripple effects on families and whole communities, Krahenbuhl warned. Loans towards development projects have also been suspended and the provision of mental health services downgraded. In Gaza, where those needs are very severe and very significant, it is wrong to have to reduce in this way because the needs have not gone away, said Krahenbuhl, referring to the dramatic rise in anxiety, depression and suicide in the besieged territory as residents struggle to cope with the severe restrictions imposed by the 11-year Israeli blockade. On Wednesday, thousands of Palestinian school children from refugee camps across the occupied West Bank went on strike, protesting the US cuts. We should not have political disputes settled through cutting humanitarian finding. UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl Krahenbuhl reiterated the fundamental right for Palestinians to return to their homelands, established under UN Resolution 194. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has disputed UNRWAs estimates of the number of Palestinian refugees and criticised the claim that the right of return must be a fundamental requirement of any peace settlement between Israel and Palestine. You can be certain everyone is advocating the right to return of the Rohingya, just as people will advocate for the right of return for Afghan refugees or Syrian refugees, Krahenbuhl said. Why would it be that the only community on the planet that doesnt have a right of return would be the Palestinians? That wouldnt make any sense. Krahenbuhl said the politically motivated withdrawal of support by the US is a matter of great regret. We should not have political disputes settled through cutting humanitarian funding. He also dismissed suggestions that UNRWA was in any way responsible for the political situation in which Palestinian refugees find themselves, a common barb from its critics in the US and Israel. The absence of a political resolution of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is what has perpetuated their refugee status, not the work of UNRWA. Politicians should look more into addressing the root causes of this conflict. US president chaired a session of the UN security council For only the third time since its inception in 1945, a US president has chaired a session of the UN security council. At least two rockets land within 300 metres of where President Ashraf Ghani was meeting local officials. Multiple rockets hit the Afghan city of Ghazni during a visit by President Ashraf Ghani, according to officials and residents of the city which is still struggling to return to normal after it was overrun by Taliban fighters last month. At least two rockets landed within 300 metres of the governors compound where President Ghani was meeting local officials, while a third struck further off, Ahmad Khan Sirat, spokesperson for Ghazni police said. There was no word on any casualties but light and heavy weapons fire could be heard, he said. Ghazni, on the main highway between the capital Kabul and southern Afghanistan, still bears the scars of days of heavy combat last month when hundreds of Taliban fighters stormed the city and overran large parts of the centre. More than 200 civilians were killed and hundreds more wounded during the five-day assault. People were trapped in their homes for five days as thousands of Taliban fighters and Afghan soldiers fought in the streets. The battle left at least 100 members of Afghan security forces dead. The attackers were eventually driven off with heavy losses by Afghan forces backed by US air attacks but the assault caused shock across Afghanistan, underlining the groups ability to mount large-scale attacks on major cities. Ghanis visit to Ghazni, accompanied by his wife, was aimed at assessing the security situation in the city. UN body will collect, consolidate, preserve, and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes. The UN Human Rights Council voted to set up a body to prepare evidence of human rights abuses in Myanmar including possible genocide against the Muslim Rohingya for any future prosecution. The 47-member council voted by 35 votes to three, with seven abstentions, on Thursday in favour of a resolution brought by the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. China, the Philippines, and Burundi voted against the move. A year ago, Myanmar troops led a brutal crackdown in Rakhine state in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on 30 Myanmar police posts and a military base. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled the crackdown and most are now living in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. The resolution sets up a body to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011, and to prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings. The new agency is to work closely with any future prosecution brought by the International Criminal Court, which said earlier this month that it had jurisdiction over deportations of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Unverified accusations Myanmar Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun said the resolution was based on the report of a UN fact-finding mission that his government had categorically rejected, and which was unbalanced, one-sided and encouraged disunity of the country. The draft resolution is based on serious but unverified accusations and recommendations that could even endanger the national unity of the country, he said. Kyaw Moe said the resolutions intrusive language and demands would not contribute to finding lasting resolutions to the delicate situation in Rakhine state. The UN report said Myanmars military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with genocidal intent and called for commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and five named generals to be prosecuted for the gravest crimes. In Thursdays resolution, the council said there was enough information to warrant a competent court to determine their liability for genocide. Chinese diplomat Chen Cheng told the council that Beijing opposed the resolution because it was very likely to exacerbate the tensions. This is in no ones interest, he said. Trump accuses China of interfering in upcoming US election At the first UN Security Council meeting chaired by US President Trump, he called Iran the worlds leading sponsor of terror and surprised many with his harsh words against Beijing. Vietnams late president to be buried in home province Tran Dai Quang, wh died suddenly on Friday from a rare virus, was widely criticised for his crackdown on political dissent. Easy money Many countries have got into trouble after failing to service enticing foreign loans Withdrawal of funding for Palestinian refugees key in UN talks Palestinian, Israeli leaders will be taking the centre stage at the UN General Assembly, as Washingtons role as a mediator in the peace process is in doubt. First woman to accuse Kavanaugh of assault faces backlash The first one to speak out against Trumps pick for Supreme Court is now facing death threats. Gjorge Ivanov says Macedonians are being asked to commit historical suicide in Sundays referendum on name change. Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov called on voters to boycott this weekends referendum on a name change, saying the country was being asked to commit historical suicide. Macedonians vote on Sunday on whether to add North to their countrys official name in an effort to overcome a 27-year-old argument with neighbouring Greece. Athens has refused to recognise Macedonias name since the Balkan country declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, arguing it belongs solely to its northern province called Macedonia. In protest, Greece has blocked Macedonia from NATO and the European Union, although a yes vote should pave the way for entry into both organisations. Voting in a referendum is a right, not an obligation, Ivanov told the UN General Assembly on Thursday. On September 30, I will not go out and vote and I know that you, my fellow citizens, will make a similarly wise decision. Athens has also forced the country to use the name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) at the United Nations. Noose around our necks Speaking on the third day of debate at the annual UN General Assembly meeting, Ivanov whose position is largely ceremonial and is not a member of the governing party said the Macedonian people were effectively being asked to commit historical suicide, likening the referendum to a noose around our necks. This referendum could lead us to become a subordinate state, dependent on another country, he said. We will become a state in name only, not in substance. The referendum comes as a result of an agreement reached between Macedonias Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras in June. Ivanov is a member of the right-wing nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, which has been heavily critical of the deal. The president vetoed the Zaev-Tsipras accord back in June after it was initially voted through by legislators, but he was obliged to approve the referendum the following month after a second vote in parliament. Human Rights Watch documented at least 74 cases of enforced disappearances carried out by by pro-government forces. Dozens of Iraqi men and boys have been forcibly disappeared by Iraqi security forces since 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). In a report published on Thursday, the rights group said 74 mostly Sunni Arab men and four boys had been disappeared between April 2014 and October 2017, often in the context of counterterrorism operations. Since 2014, pro-government forces have carried out operations to find fighters and supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS). The cases are part of a wider continuing trend according to HRW, which says it continues to receive reports of disappearances across Iraq. Families across Iraq whose fathers, husbands, and sons disappeared after Iraqi forces detained them are desperate to find their loved ones, said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at HRW. Despite years of searching, and requests to Iraqi authorities, the government has provided no answers about where they are or if they are even still alive. Iraqi officials did not respond to inquiries from families and HRW about the disappeared. The International Commission on Missing Persons estimates that the number of missing people in Iraq ranges from 250,000 to one million people. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, Iraq has the highest number of missing people in the world. HRW says the enforced disappearances were carried out by a range of military and security entities, but the highest number, 36, were by groups within the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), units under the prime ministers command, at checkpoints across Iraq. In the report, HRW urged Iraqi authorities to establish an independent commission of inquiry. Countries such as the US, UK, Germany and France that have been providing military, security and intelligence assistance to Iraq should suspend their cooperation until the government adopts measures to end the human rights violations, HRW noted. The US-led coalition and other countries have spent billions of dollars on Iraqs military and security entities, Fakih said. These countries have a responsibility to insist that the Iraqi government should call a halt to disappearances and provide support to the victims families. There were no arrests. Olds's property, like 4,000 other white-owned commercial farms in Zimbabwe, was swarmed by squatters and ultimately seized by the state for redistribution to those loyal to the ruling ZANU-PF party. On the morning of April 18, 2000, a Zimbabwean farmer, Martin Olds , mounted a defense of his 12,000-acre holding 400 miles southwest of Harare, after 70 men wielding automatic weapons arrived to lay claim to his land. For two hours, the 43-year-old former Rhodesian soldier used a shotgun and long rifle to fend off the invaders, wounding several while suffering multiple disabling injuries himself. He died there, his body treated indignantly by his murderers communist thugs acting under the auspices of then-president Robert Mugabe. The seizures had predictable results: mass starvation, economic ruin, and citizens fleeing in droves for fruited plains mainly South Africa. But South Africa is on the threshold of an identical plunge, stemming from the push for "expropriation without compensation," which critics characterize as "Zimbabwe 2.0," the culmination of a violent post-Apartheid entropy that's certain to be the linchpin of failed statehood. Commercial farming operations number between 30,000 and 40,000, cut in half from 25 years ago. Boers, or Afrikaners, the minority white population, predominate in the agricultural sector, thanks to forbears who made the arid veldts bloom. South Africa, unlike the balance of its neighbors most prominently Zimbabwe, a one-time breadbasket remains a net exporter of food, and the nation's estimated 58 million residents are dependent on the farming sector for sustenance. The communist African National Congress, S.A.'s governing party for a quarter-century, along with its venomous constituent faction, the Economic Freedom Fighters, is hell-bent on enacting a policy of government-supervised thievery in which white-owned land is redistributed to black hands, superficially to right past wrongs. Taking the private property of those best capable of yielding bounties that feed millions is a prescription not only for a Zimbabwe redux, but a re-visitation of Mao's Agrarian Reform Law that put China on a path to the Great Famine, or Stalin's elimination of landed interests "kulaks" that instigated genocidal starvation in Ukraine. And don't forget Venezuela. Mugabe's land seizures of the early 2000s amounted to nationalization of the ag sector. The race-based villainy had been on the Marxist-Leninist ZANU-PF's agenda since the internationally orchestrated end of Rhodesia and birth of Zimbabwe. As David Wallechinsky observed in his book Tyrants, a decade before the seizures, "Mugabe amended the constitution to allow the government to confiscate land at any price it deemed fair." Including zero. Mugabe made a career of marginalizing whites, particularly farmers. Rhodesian president Ian Smith recalled in his autobiography, The Great Betrayal, how during a public meeting with henchmen in 1993, Mugabe referred to farmers as a "greedy bunch of racist usurpers." He continued his incendiary diatribes to foment popular resentment during the land grabs ("reforms"), calling whites "enemies" and "settlers" and urging supporters to "strike fear in the heart of the white man." The Afrikaner farmers of South Africa, the backbone of the minority "white Africans" there, are on the precipice that Zimbabwean farmers faced. Afrikaners' future was manifest at the incipient stage of ANC rule and the presidency of convicted terrorist Nelson Mandela, who was wedded to a program of land seizures rooted in identity politics and not the least reluctant to join "comrades" in publicly bashing the Boers. As Ilana Mercer details in her book Into the Cannibal's Pot, during a 1992 party rally, Mandela gave the "black power" salute while members of the ANC's enforcement arm, the Umkhonto we Sizwe, or "M.K.," howled their anthem, declaring, "We the members of the Umkhonto have pledged ourselves to kill them kill the whites." Unsurprising that the ensuing years would be fraught with unspeakable crimes against Afrikaners, targeting even children. Farming communities have suffered greatly, with homicides approaching 4,000, according to the campaign Stop Plaasmoorde. Documentarians Jonas Nilsson, Katie Hopkins, and Lauren Southern have laid bare the realities. AfriForum co-founder Ernst Roets has probed evidence of high-level support for farm terrorism in his new book, Kill the Boer: Government Complicity in South Africa's Farm Murders. Public officials and their acolytes regularly engage in vitriol, airing chants such as "Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer" and "One Bullet, One Settler." But given that the S.A. parliament serves as an echo chamber of racially charged rabble-rousing, and the country's president brands land expropriation in tribal terms, calls for carnage seem to fit neatly into the lex non scripta of habitually dehumanizing Afrikaners. Blue-penciling S.A.'s constitution will be a cinch. The ANC and its trucklers have the votes to turn Section 25, the land disposition provision, into whatever they like. Roets told members of Parliament on Sept. 6 they were "drunk on ideology" and that their level of intoxication had blinded them to a "failed policy" of land redistribution that would only invite greater failure. Most poverty-choked Bantu want cash, not commodities that require continuous upkeep, he said. One lawmaker answered with a threat of "war" against white farmers. Two hundred thirty-one years ago this month, the U.S. Constitution came to life. The Fifth Amendment protecting property rights was soon enshrined, eventually buttressed by the 14th Amendment. Despite the courts' interpretational vagaries since, Americans have been spared the agonies facing South Africans. Blackstone named "three great and primary rights" of mankind: "personal security, personal liberty and private property." Without them, there's persecution and serfdom already reality for hundreds of thousands driven to destitution by S.A.'s Black Economic Empowerment regulatory scheme. "A racial spoils system," to quote Mercer. Governmental abuse of power is among the "injuries which nature cannot forgive," in Thomas Paine's words. People either flee from it or fight it. Martin Olds stood his ground, alone, 'til the bitter end. After his, thousands of other farms fell. Zimbabwe is paying a grave price. President Trump's directive for the State Department to investigate the train of horrors perpetrated against Afrikaners and the attack on property rights is noble. But Foggy Bottom's politicization threatens to undermine the process. Ending trade concessions to S.A. under the U.S. African Growth & Opportunity Act and abrogating direct aid will send a message, but they won't prompt a course change. The Chinese are prepared to backfill the loss of Yankee dollars. A show of force, well timed, is not Gadarene. It could save lives and spur opponents of liberty to reconsider their options. The U.S. military's presence in Manda Bay, Kenya is no secret. Exercises could be held much farther south. Elements of the Sixth Fleet could anchor in sight of Cape Town or Durban while on maneuvers. Ronald Reagan averred in a 1980 campaign speech that, although the U.S. "never sought leadership of the free world, no one else can provide it." He added that "military power" sometimes may be the only means to "preserve the peace and protect the realm of freedom." The South African government needs a stern reminder that it exists to serve all citizens equally and must stop afflicting an oppressed, alienated, and desperate minority. The Truth Comes to France French life is changing. Bans on smoking in public places; cuts in the Grandes Vacances, the long school summer holidays; the virtual disappearance of the game of boules; free bicycles around town; fewer holiday tables under the trees in April. Not surprisingly, French politics is changing, if less dramatically, with it. France is still haunted by the memory of things past, by the wounds of the past, its years under Vichy, and its long colonial control of Algeria. The country has found the art of losing hard to master, but opinion is growing among the politically active that it is time to come to terms with its history and acknowledge the truth. Reminders of and re-evaluations of French colonial history have come to the fore, with actions concerning a sensitive issue: the treatment of the Harkis. On September 25, 2018, French president Emmanuel Macron announced he would grant the Legion d'Honneur, the country's top honor, to six Harkis and the cofounder of an organization that has fought for their rights, and also give the Order of Merit to 19 other Harkis. "Harki" is a term that is sometimes used pejoratively, although it denotes a significant group of people. The Harkis are native Algerian Muslims who served as auxiliaries, professionals, volunteers, and officials in the French army during the Algerian War of Independence, 1954-62. An estimated 450,000 Algerians worked for France in some capacity during that period. In that war of independence, there were 1.5 million Algerian victims, according to Algerian sources. French figures suggest that both sides suffered a total of 400,000 casualties in a war characterized by atrocities committed by both sides, the use of napalm and torture by one side, the recourse to assassinations and terror bombings by the other. The figures are not clear or exact, but it is officially stated that 60,000 Harkis were allowed into France after Algerian independence in 1962, while 55,000-75,000 remained in Algeria. Were they brave patriots or traitors? The Harkis acting for France have been unfairly equated with those who were collaborators with Vichy in World War II. Their decisions and actions were rarely, if ever, motivated by ideological factors. Their activity has to be seen in the context of at least two factors. One was the poverty of the Algerian rural population, and therefore the choice of young Algerians to join the French forces to get a job to support their families. The other was that the very violence of some of the mujahideen of the National Liberation Army in killing Algerians loyal to France in addition to attacking French military posts led some to side with the French. The war ended with the Evian Accords on March 18, 1962. About a million settlers, "pieds-noirs," fled Algeria to live in France. But hostilities continued in Algeria and in France. Thousands of Harkis were assassinated by fellow Algerians after the declaration of independence on July 3, 1962. In France, friction remained, including the killing of a number of French police. In response, the prefect of Paris police, Maurice Papon, imposed a curfew, 8 P.M. to 5:30 A.M. on the Algerian community in the Paris metropolitan area. On October 17, 1961, the Paris wing of the FLN, the Algerian National Liberation Front, organized a peaceful demonstration at various places in Paris. The French police massacred many, perhaps 200, of the demonstrators, throwing many of the bodies into the Seine. It is doubly interesting that Maurice Papon was a politically adaptable figure who had started his career as a socialist in 1936. During World War II he was pro-Vichy and a senior official in the prefecture at Bordeaux. There he was responsible for authorizing the deportation of 1,690 Jews, including 22 children, to Drancy, from where they were sent to death in Nazi camps. These activities remained unknown until 1981, when Le Canard Enchaine made them public. He was arrested, and after a long trial delay, he was convicted in 1998 of "crimes against humanity" and sentenced to ten years in prison, from which he was released in 2002. Papon had a successful career as a civil servant, a member of the National Assembly, and minister of the budget. Ironically, President Charles de Gaulle awarded him the Legion of Honor in 1961, the year of the Paris massacre. Papon admitted that many Algerians were killed in Paris but falsely attributed it to fighting among rival Algerian factions. He disclaimed any responsibility for improper actions by the Paris police. In contrast, forty years later, Bertrand Delanoe, socialist mayor of Paris, born in Tunisia, on October 17, 2001, unveiled a plaque near the Saint Michel bridge from which "many" Algerians were thrown into the river on October 17, 1961. It reads, "To the memory of the Algerians, victims of the bloody repression of a peaceful demonstration." There are, as Delanoe commented, parts of Paris's history that are painful but have to be discussed and accompanied by actions. France is gradually coming to terms with its painful past, including the 132 years of colonial rule in Algeria. Changes were gradual. President Valery Giscard d'Estaing was the first French president to visit officially independent Algeria, and that was in 1975. On September 25, 2001, President Jacques Chirac, who at first refused to acknowledge French responsibility for its actions in Algeria, called for a day of national recognition for the Harkis. President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 admitted that the colonial system had committed misdeeds and injustices but refused to apologize or express repentance. However, in April 2012, Sarkozy admitted that France had failed to do its duty and protect the Harkis. His successor, Francois Hollande, in 2012 went farther, saying that for 132 years, Algeria was subjected to a "deeply unjust and brutal" system. In 2017, Emmanuel Macron, the first president born after the Algerian war, was even more extreme, asserting that the colonization of Algeria was a crime against humanity, although crimes and atrocities were committed on both sides. He admitted that in 1956, the French parliament had given the army special powers to restore order and to arrest and detain suspects. On September 13, 2018, he admitted that France had instituted a system that facilitated systematic torture in the 1950s and '60s. Forthrightly, Macron admitted the torture and execution by French soldiers of Maurice Audin, the 25-year-old mathematician and anti-colonial activist abducted from his home on June 11, 1957 during the Battle of Algiers, and never seen again. Audin had since become a symbol of French brutality in Algeria. What is important is that this is the first time a French president broke with the attitude of denial and in a landmark way admitted that France had used torture, a weapon considered legitimate at the time. In the center of Algiers there is a Place Maurice-Audin. It is unlikely there will be a similar street name in Paris, but the logic of recent French actions suggests that the lessons of the past have been drawn, and that the admissions of the truth can help build a better future. Six of them are on mifepristone, the abortion pill. For two of them, Blasey Ford was first author. Dr. Christine Blasey has 21 articles listed in PubMed, the best database for medical research. They cover a variety of topics including rate studies, gender, childhood trauma, depression, therapies like acupuncture and meditation, and chromosomal correlates. The subject of mifepristone, or RU-486, as it was known in the past, has always been politically charged. Some background: Mifepristone was introduced as "The Abortion Pill" mainly in Europe in the 1980s. It works by antagonizing progesterone, a hormone necessary for the maintenance of pregnancy. Early on, it was discovered that mifepristone did not work well enough to expel all of the pregnancy tissue, so a second drug (misoprostol) was added to produce a complete abortion. It was approved in 2000 in the USA as one of the last acts of President Bill Clinton, after many protests. Currently, the abortion drugs have replaced surgical abortion up to ten weeks to some degree internationally. In the USA, 31% of abortions before nine weeks are by pill (not surgery). Senator Barbara Boxer, in a letter to the FDA in 2000, gave a glowing account of mifepristone for abortion, as well as envisioning a broad range possibilities for medical research on issues such as brain tumors. Boxer successfully lobbied to drop "draconian" safety restrictions on mifepristone, including physician hospital privileges and ultrasound to guard against injuries from complications to the mother from taking the pill. This relaxation of medical standards led to several deaths in the USA in the early years after the drug's release. In the USA, mifepristone has restricted availability and can usually be obtained only in abortion facilities or by physicians performing abortions. There has been a decades-long effort to make mifepristone more respectable and available. Blasey Ford's studies were part of that effort, which included experiments in treating brain tumors, Cushing's syndrome, and psychotic depression, as well as other reproductive disorders. The literature shows that mifepristone has some utility against Cushing's syndrome and brain tumors but not depression. The latest part of the effort by do-it-yourself abortion advocates to make mifepristone more available involves not only releasing it to pharmacies by prescription, but even approving the drug for over-the-counter use. Here is the list of Dr. Blasey's mifepristone studies, 2006-2011. 2006, Fourth Author She appears to be coordinator of a multisite study for mifepristone and psychotic depression. It didn't work very well. Mifepristone versus placebo in the treatment of psychosis in patients with psychotic major depression. 2006, Fourth Author The efficacy of mifepristone in the reduction and prevention of olanzapine-induced weight gain in rats. 2009, First Author A multisite trial of mifepristone for the treatment of psychotic depression: a site-by-treatment interaction. Twenty-nine sites, 258 patients. It didn't work very well. 2009, Second Author Mifepristone treatment of olanzapine-induced weight gain in healthy men. 2010, Second Author Mifepristone reduces weight gain and improves metabolic abnormalities associated with risperidone treatment in normal men. 2011, First Author Efficacy and safety of mifepristone for the treatment of psychotic depression. (Conclusion: It didn't work.) Hat tip: Michael Savage Bombshell: I remember Brett Kavanaugh shooting Abraham Lincoln I've always thought, as most people do, that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater on April 4, 1865. But after spending six days talking with lawyers from the Democratic Party to help me refresh my memory, I've come to realize that it wasn't John Wilkes Booth at all, but rather Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I had no memory of this happening as recently as last week, but today, it is as clear as day. I remember Kavanaugh coming up from behind the president of the United States and aiming a pistol at him. Only I'm not sure it was at Ford's Theater. It might have been at Ford's Theater, but it might also have been on the Mall, or in the White House, or on Capitol Hill. I'm a little hazy on the day, too. It might have been April 4, 1865, but it also could have been a few days before or after, maybe even as early as 1864. The problem is that I had a few minor memory gaps. I don't remember what happened right before or right after the shooting. I don't remember exactly who was there and who wasn't. All I remember clearly is that Brett Kavanaugh did it. Trauma experts say it is perfectly normal to remember one detail of a traumatic incident while forgetting everything else. My blackout periods can also be explained by my heavy drinking. I was slurring my speech and was totally passed out at certain points. But I was wide awake and attentive just as Brett Kavanaugh shot President Lincoln. I have even named witnesses who saw this happen. Even though the witnesses do not recall Brett Kavanaugh shooting President Lincoln, it doesn't prove he didn't do it! Unless Kavanaugh can prove he didn't do it, he must be judged to have done it. However unclear I am on the location and timing, I am rock-solid certain that it happened. I even submitted to a lie-detector test. While I can't release the results, I can assure you that everything I said was judged to be the truth. Brett Kavanaugh shooting President Lincoln: true. Brett Kavanaugh steering Titanic into path of iceberg: true. Brett Kavanuagh stealing Neil Armstrong's spacesuit on the lunar module: true. You may be wondering why I waited so many years to come forward and why I told no one. That's because it was a repressed memory. Repressed memories can come out at any time. A day, a year, fifty years, even 150 years later. That explains all of it. If you look at Brett Kavanaugh's calendar from 1864, his guilt is clear. He talks about "getting wasted" with his friends at a beer party. "Wasted" is a term for shooting people. That is clearly a reference to shooting President Lincoln. I would be happy to testify to any and all of this. The only problem is that I live far from Washington, D.C. and would have to come on foot. The trauma of watching President Lincoln getting shot has caused me to be adverse to all horseless buggies and birdless flying machines. So it may take me a while to get there to testify. You can make it all easier simply by voting against Kavanaugh. That's at least what my therapist tells me. Ed Straker is the senior editor of the Newsmachete Twitter Feed. Cruz's response to restaurant attack: Christian, wise, and classy Upon watching the video of Senator Ted Cruz and his wife Heidi being chased out of a Washington, D.C. restaurant, I felt frustrated. I was not frustrated over leftist minions' insane over-the-top attack on Ted and Heidi. Such in-your-face bullying has become the left's new normal since the election of President Trump. What frustrates me is fake news media promoting the hate groups who attacked Cruz (Smash Racism D.C., Resist This, D.C. IWW, D.C. Democratic Socialists of America, anarchists, LGBTQ, and others) as victims. Violent leftist activists have been beating the American people into submission for decades, intensifying under Trump. Leftist violence has elevated to kidnapping and physically assaulting people for expressing support for Trump's agenda and wearing MAGA gear. Yet fake news media, Democrats, and Hollywood continue telling us that enraged leftists attackers are the real victims and that we should be more tolerant and understanding. Fake news media have given deranged leftists a pass to break laws and engage in any depraved behavior they deem necessary because they have the moral high ground. According to the American left, it was honorable for Occupy Wall Street to dump a bucket of feces into the lobby of a public building. It was honorable for a mob of Black Lives Matter minions to march down a New York street chanting, "What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!" It is honorable for leftist enforcers to surround and scream at a U.S. senator and his wife during dinner in a restaurant. Incredibly, Cruz had to push his way through the angry, threatening mob and ask them to please let his wife go free. Outrageous! Applause is in order for the staff of the Fiola restaurant. Rather than allow Ted and Heidi Cruz to be ejected, the staff escorted them to a private room until the blackshirts were run out, then returned them to their table to finish their meal in peace. As chef and owner Fabio Trabocchi said, "[t]he FT Group welcomes all patrons and is proud of its reputation not just of culinary excellence but also of creating a welcoming space for all, irrespective of creed, ideology or opinion." The thugs who attacked Cruz and his wife in the restaurant repeatedly screamed, "We Believe Survivors!" This is a typical tactic of leftists: changing the subject and jumping to extremes. This leftist hit squad attempted to punish Cruz for his righteous commonsense decision to support Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Honest, decent and extremely qualified for the Court, Kavanaugh has successfully jumped over every Democrat hurdle. Kavanaugh has supplied more documents than numerous justices combined. As a Hail Mary to stop Kavanaugh's confirmation, Democrats produced a letter from a woman who claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago. The woman does not have an ounce of evidence. Leftists screaming, "We Believe Survivors!" means they have decreed that Kavanaugh is automatically guilty. Thus, Cruz supporting Kavanaugh means that Cruz supports the abuse and rape of women. Do you see how crazy and unjust that is, folks? Yet fake news media and Democratic talking heads are all over the airwaves, praising their leftist hit squad for "shaming" Cruz. These people on the left are delusional. Cruz was not shamed. Cruz stood tall, kept his cool, and rightfully removed his wife from the dangerous situation. Given that Cruz is a Texan, I suspect that it took great restraint to respond so calmly, watching metrosexual wimps bully his wife. Senator Ted Cruz behaved wisely. Cruz even said, "God bless" truly a Christian and classy response to evil. At every turn, anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-freedom leftist hate groups are allowed to use illegal, immoral, and violent attacks to cram their agenda down our throats. When everyday normal Americans push back in the slightest, we are immediately attacked, branded racist, sexist, and homophobic intolerant haters. It is truly frustrating watching leftists who do not give a rat's derriere about people get celebrated for their superior compassion. In reality, leftists view human beings as mere pawns, acceptable collateral damage in leftists' quest to implement their agenda. The media are celebrating leftist minions' attack on Ted and Heidi Cruz. I believe that Cruz shone, displaying his outstanding character. Please show your support by making a financial contribution to Cruz's re-election campaign at his website. Ted raised only $4 million to Democrats' $23 million (extreme leftist outsider money). My wife Mary and I, along with the Conservative Campaign Committee, are boots-on-the-ground here in Texas, campaigning for Ted Cruz. Please help keep Texas red and Trump achieving remarkable things for America. Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American Help Lloyd spread the Truth: http://bit.ly/2kZqmUk http://LloydMarcus.com Financial aid to family of deceased journo Thapaliya Kantipur Media Group (KMG) management, journalists and other staffers have provided a financial assistance of Rs 1.2 million to the family of late Kantipur journalist Yadav Thapaliya. Russia and Kavanaugh: Evidence, schmevidence Normally, when someone is accused of doing something wrong or nefarious, the accusers have evidence to back up their charges. Such accusations can damage a person's job, family, reputation, and future. Laws exist to protect the accused from libel and slander. Taking accusations farther, the accused is entitled to confront the accuser and whatever evidence the accuser may or may not have. For the accused to be considered guilty of such accusations, the evidence must convince a jury of one's peers "beyond a reasonable doubt." If there is reasonable doubt, then the accused is pronounced not guilty. Granted, this is in a court of law, but the standard should be applied beyond a courtroom. The president, in charge of the executive branch of government, including the FBI and Department of Justice, is the chief legal officer of the United States. The Senate Judiciary Committee, composed of elected senators with law degrees, oversees the appointment of judges to the nation's courts. Is it too much to assume that these branches of government should adhere to the judicial tenets of those they oversee? Or themselves be held to those standards? Yet in the age of Trump, we are seeing anything but. Let's start with the accusation that Trump colluded with the Russians to hack the election and defeat the otherwise inevitable election victor, Hillary Clinton. A bogus and still unproven accusation, this was meant to distract and cover up the Obama administration's unethical and illegal subversive activities. The accusers' first goal was to rig the election in favor of Mrs. Clinton. Then, having failed, they tried to disrupt the Trump transition. When that too failed, the task was to undermine a duly elected president, leading to resignation or impeachment all using the immense powers of the federal judicial and intelligence services. It was all based on manufactured evidence, such as feeding false information to low-level aides Page and Papadopoulos, then "discovering" the planted information and obtaining FISA warrants to spy not only on those individuals, but also anyone within two degrees of separation, meaning the entire Trump campaign and administration. They leaked false stories to the media, who dutifully publish the leaks, attributing anonymous sources and using such news reports to justify the FISA warrant requests and renewals. To this day, there is no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion. The entire premise of a special counsel is bogus. With no crime to investigate, as required by special counsel statute, Robert Mueller was appointed anyway to invent a crime against President Trump. Even high-level insider Lisa Page acknowledged the lack of evidence at the time of Mueller's appointment. John Solomon, writing in The Hill reported, "After nine months of using some of the most awesome surveillance powers afforded to U.S. intelligence, the FBI still had not made a case connecting Trump or his campaign to Russia's election meddling." All they had was the accusation, or "j'accuse." This has become the new legal standard for the left: simply make an accusation with the stipulation that the accused prove his innocence, not that the accuser prove guilt. If Russian collusion wasn't enough, now it is Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation battle falling under the j'accuse legal standard. On the eve of his confirmation vote, Democrat senators and a creepy porn lawyer have pulled an "October surprise" a few weeks early. Judge Kavanaugh, by all accounts, is a "Boy Scout" a brilliant jurist, good family man, active in his community, and an ideal choice for the Supreme Court. But since he believes in the Constitution and adhering to its words, to the left, he is the worst possible type of jurist. He has had a stellar career on the bench, passing six FBI background checks over the years six more background checks than any of his accusers has had. If he had been part of a rape gang, as is being alleged, one would think an FBI background check would reveal that. Such a background check means talking to friends, family, acquaintances, teachers, and the like. Surely, someone would have heard about "rape trains" if they were happening regularly at his high school parties. Never mind, though: it's the accusation that's important. J'accuse. One woman after another is trotted out by Democrat activist attorneys, bristling with indignation and empty accusations. But all are lacking something crucial: evidence. They don't know the details surrounding their accusations. There are no witnesses. Their only "corroboration" is someone corroborating that they made the accusation, not anything Kavanaugh did or didn't do. Evidence, schmevidence. I've heard plenty of people accuse Obama of being a Muslim born in Kenya. I can "corroborate" that these people made such an accusation, but the crucial difference is that I can't corroborate the veracity of their accusation. That's the Kavanaugh accusers' "corroboration." Kavanaugh has, in the course of a week, gone from being a high school groper to the ringleader of a high school rape gang. I attended my share of high school parties back in the day, in a similar socio-economic town to that where a young Brett Kavanaugh attended high school. Monday morning brought plenty of talk of the weekend parties, but never did I hear about anything remotely close to rape. I also went to school with some smart kids like Brett Kavanaugh who went off to Ivy League schools. Nerdy, yes; silly at times, yes; too much to drink on occasion, yes. But this was also the crowd that was intimidated by girls who were better-looking and more sophisticated than the nerdy boys. A successful night for us nerds was hanging out with a girl and talking for a while, not rape trains, something beyond even imagination. Regardless of my experiences, it strains credulity that Brett Kavanaugh was anything other than what he said he was in his contrite and tearful Fox News interview earlier this week. That matters little, however, in the age of j'accuse. The deplorable left thinks nothing of ruining a good man, his family, and his career over leftist political objectives just as leftists have been trying to destroy the Trump presidency, hampering his ability to carry out his agenda as promised to the American people. Both are hoaxes Russian collusion and Kavanaugh as Harvey Weinstein. Evidence be damned, it's the accusation that's important and all that matters. Are there any decent human beings in the U.S. Senate willing to call out this destructive scorched-earth tactic as despicable? A few senators are speaking up, but most are silent. Where are the Republicans? Where are the NeverTrumps? Is their hatred of Trump and his Supreme Court nominee greater than their decency? Where is the chief justice? It's his court, and it's his nominee who is being treated as a serial killer. Where are the media? Basic journalism requires learning the who, what, where, when, and why before reporting. Instead, we have sophomoric so-called journalists repeating the latest salacious accusations, regardless of accuracy, civility, or decency. Is this j'accuse standard what we want for our friends, families, and country? Remember this on November 6. Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. But there's something else going on as these increasingly fantastical charges come out of the woodwork, long after the harsh Senate confirmation hearings were completed, leaving it fairly obvious that Kavanaugh would be confirmed. Basically, it's a desire to paint all men, no matter what their cultural upbringing and values, as uncontrolled pigs with the endorsed morals of the left. The far left really, really, really doesn't want Brett Kavanaugh seated on the Supreme Court. Presumably, that's over his supposed stance on abortion. And the disgraceful delaying tactics from the Democrats are obviously a "hold-ma-beer" bid to put off a vote until after the midterms, by which time they expect they will be running the Senate. The character of these charges is the first clue. It starts with the second accuser: The New Yorker reported on Sunday that Ramirez said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were at students at Yale University in the 1980s. The magazine said she claimed that "he exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away." Then the third accuser: According to the claims, Ms. Swetnick graduated High School in 1980. In 1982, as a college student, she was attending high-school parties where heavy drinking, drug use and gang rapes were occurring with regularity. Ms. Swetnick went to the rape-parties at least ten times. She is reporting this today, through [a] creepy porn lawyer, 37 years later. If these drug and rape parties happened, as Ms. Swetnick claims, there would be dozens of witnesses throughout multiple years along with potential DNA evidence. Additionally, there would be some record, something to substantiate this behavior, from classmates and homeowners. There would likely be police records of these Maryland, DC, rape rings. There would be multiple victims. Forget the nomination, this would be, and would have been a scandal while it was happening. Ms. Swetnick claims that Brett Kavanaugh, as a high-school teenager, was at these collegiate parties, personally spiking drinks so girls would become drunk, and then standing "in line" to participate in the gang rape. Ms. Swetnick claims judge Kavanaugh was at these parties with regularity. She identifies at least ten of them. Then the fourth accuser: An anonymous woman wrote to Sen. Cory Gardner's (R-Colo.) office on Sept. 22 alleging that the Supreme Court nominee shoved another woman "up against the wall very aggressively and sexually" in 1998 after leaving a bar where both had been drinking, the transcript states. Kavanaugh denied any involvement in the events alleged in that complaint, which was first reported by NBC. Then the fifth accuser (since recanted): A Rhode Island man who accused Brett Kavanaugh of raping a "close associate of his" on a boat in 1985 recanted just hours after the claims were made public Wednesday. The accuser, Jeff Catalan, called the office of Representative Sheldon White House of Rhode Island "making allegations concerning a rape on a boat in August of 1985," according to transcripts of a call between committee staff and Kavanaugh released on Wednesday. Each increasingly fantastical tale has the mark of hysteria, similar to the increasingly insane charges children leveled at the McMartin pre-school in the 1980s, before the whole thing was blown apart by Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal. On the other side of the hysteria is the audience, the leftists who don't want Kavanaugh, particularly from the #MeToo movement, who can see no holes in some of these concoctions, no motive for fame, no politics, believing every word and advancing farther to come up with increasingly crazy stuff. It's about more than just discrediting Kavanaugh. It has the look, actually, of a concerted effort to discredit the Catholic Church, and Catholic education in particular. I went to a Catholic college. While I knew of heavy drinking, there sure as heck was never any of that bizarre, kinky, amoral, and despicable behavior directed at women going on. I never knew any Catholic schoolboys who engaged in this kind of garbage. I knew of kids from state schools who did, but I just didn't see it from the Catholics at Catholic schools, because it wasn't the culture. These creepy, weird acts sound more like something from Hollywood's culture. These are things Harvey Weinstein could have done. That brings us to the involvement of the left and #MeToo. Weinstein's takedown, which, interestingly, was the work of Ronan Farrow, who later reported the second accuser's story, was above all an expose of the common morality of the Hollywood left. It led to a chain reaction and extended all through the media, the arts, academia, and even politics, taking down big idols and players like dominos. The overwhelming majority of these takedowns were of leftists, because these leftists were acting out the natural permissive amoral values of liberalism. Brett Kavanaugh's values e.g., virginity were the sort of things Hollywood always scorned and considered likely hypocrisy, based on its own values and experiences. Now we get a chain of increasingly crazy claims about Kavanaugh, which go against all the evidence of his lived life and the sworn word of hundreds who know or knew him. It's as if the #MeToo movement is trying to paint Kavanaugh as crazy as the Hollywood beasts, as a means of saying: All men do it. Every man does it. Right, left, they all do it. But they don't all do it. Leftists live these values, and a number of them were rightly taken down for it. Most conservatives don't even have such grotesque thoughts or acts in their vocabulary, given that it's not in their culture. Oh, you can always find some with Hollywood values. But the prevailing culture, particularly in the religious establishments, such as the Catholic schools, is simply to reject that. Such values, while they may exist, are never openly endorsed. That leaves #MeToo mad that only leftists went down in the scandals. Thus the crazy effort to paint Kavanaugh as not at all different from Weinstein. Everybody does it except that not everyone does it. The left is averse as heck to taking a good look at itself and deciding which values it wants to embrace: respecting women or doing the moral free-for-all? That's why this spectacle is becoming such a strange maelstrom. Image credit: David Shankbone via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Who is the real extremist? Dana Milbank calls Israelis "extremists" in his editorial "America's Jews are watching Israel in horror" (9/23/18). Milbank adapts the perennial straw man approach, this time using his rabbi, whom Milbank brags comes from a long lineage of rabbis. Milbank quotes this rabbi as saying that under right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there is "religious extremism and an upsurge in settler violence." This, one week after an Israeli "settler" Ari Fuld was stabbed in the back and murdered by a 17-year-old Palestinian. The Palestinian would have killed more had it not been for the dying Fuld shooting at him as he went down. Is it really that hard to identify the extremists in this conflict? Milbank claims that "Netanyahu, with President Trump's encouragement, leads Israel on a path to estrangement and destruction." He provides no evidence of this. The Washington Post and its editorial staff have been repeating this apoplectic warning about Israel causing its own demise for decades. Israel has only grown stronger! Netanyahu, according to Milbank, "is dissolving America's bipartisan pro-Israel consensus" along with Trump creating this "division." Is it really Netanyahu and Trump causing the division or those whom Milbank supports? Why am I not surprised that Milbank adds a quote, that he says he agrees with, claiming that Israel "aims to advance its own expansion through seizure of land, violation of international law, exclusion and discrimination"? Israel is 0.1% of the Middle East; it violates no international laws; and it has less discrimination than any country in the region, if not the world. Milbank ends by saying Netanyahu is creating an "ultranationalist, apartheid state" and declares that American Jews cannot and should not sustain support for it. If there is any anti-Zionism out there, it comes from Milbank and his compadres. I wonder why he keeps going to his crystal ball, which has never been right about the future especially regarding Israel. Israel remains the bastion for freedom in the region for gays, Muslims, Christians, Baha'i, and other minority groups despite Milbank's name-calling. Muslims have greater freedom of speech, press, and even religion in Israel than in any Arab country. Israel is the only country in the Middle East with an increase in the Christian population! Classic Israeli-haters and anti-Semites don't come out as strongly against Israel as Milbank. The aircraft carrier is the ultimate symbol of military strength. Enormously large and with a full fleet of combat aircrafts on its deck, they are floating airbases free to move about in the open ocean, ready to engage with enemy states. A nation equipped with an aircraft carrier has the power to project its military might beyond its shores. They are the flagship of a navys fleet. Aircraft carriers are prohibitively expensive which is why very few nations have them. On last count, there was forty-two active aircraft carriers on duty, operated by only fourteen countries of the world. Nearly half of them are operated by the US Navy, of course. Japan and France have four each. Egypt, Italy, and Australia have two. The restRussia, the UK, Brazil, South Korea, India, China, Spain and Thailandoperate one each. Nine more carriers are currently being fitted out and two more are undergoing sea trials. Singapore is going to get one soon, and so is Turkey. Dozens more are being planned. Thaliands only aircraft carrier, HTMS Chakri Naruebet, in the South China Sea in 2001. All these nations have the means and the need for a modern carrier. The US needs them to invade other countries. India, China and South Korea have some bad neighbors. Japan and France still have nightmares from the Second World War. Britain, being an island nation, needs a powerful navy. The exception is Thailand. Thailand has had a functioning navy since the late 19th century, but the country has been involved in global conflict only a handful of times. Then known as the Kingdom of Siam, Thailand played one of the least-known roles in the First World War. It was dragged into battle during the Second World War, and during the Korean War and the Vietnam War, Thailand offered ground forces. That pretty much sums up Thailands military history. There is no reasonit appearsfor Thailand to own a modern aircraft carrier. Yet, it does. Weirder still is the fact that Thailand's lone aircraft carrier, the HTMS Chakri Naruebet, hasn't had any airplanes on it since 2006. The HTMS Chakri Naruebet was procured by the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and put into service in 1997. Built by a Spanish shipbuilder, the relatively small Chakri Naruebet was supposed to conduct search and rescue missions across southeastern Asia. The carrier originally did have a couple of ex-Spanish Harrier aircraft and the RTN planned to have a number of helicopters on the deck as well. But the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis threw cold water over those ambitions. By 1999, only one Harrier was operational because the Thai government didn't have enough money to pay for the upkeep of the planes and the training of personnel. Eventually, the entire fleet was grounded. The carrier itself was confined to the port most of the time. Chakri Naruebet did play its intended role on several disaster relief operations, including in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and in response to flooding incidents in 2010 and 2011. Today, the Chakri Naruebet sails once per month as training exercise, and occasionally ferries the Royal Family of Thailand. Now thats a very expensive Royal Yacht. HTMS Chakri Naruebet (top) with the United States Navy supercarrier USS Kitty Hawk. Notice the difference in size. The Chakri Naruebet is the smallest functioning aircraft carrier in the world. Its flight deck is so short that only the Harrier jet, capable of vertical takeoff, can use the flight deck. In short: Google will be making considerable changes to its Chrome browsers cookie collection and account sign-in behaviors in version 70, the company revealed in a recent blog post. The biggest of those changes is a new toggle called Allow Chrome sign-in that will be found in the browsers Privacy and Security settings. Toggling that off will allow users to opt-out of signing into the browser itself when they sign into a Google website. Along those same lines, dropdown UI for user accounts located in the top-right corner on Google websites will now clearly inform users whether theyre currently syncing their data with Chrome servers across multiple devices from the browser theyre signed into. When not signed in, or when signed in but not syncing, a blue button is being added to indicate that syncing is not active. Finally, Cookie handling is being changed as well. From now on, all cookies will be deleted, the search giant says, and users will be signed out when they clear those. Background: The new version of Chrome is scheduled to be released in mid-October and each of the changes is intended to address recent blowback from users who were upset with changes made in Chrome 69. Namely, users discovered that clearing cookies did not delete all the data stored by Google sites or log them out of the browser. Google says those were saved to allow users to remain signed in after clearing the data but plenty of users were also unhappy that Chrome was signing them in, to begin with. Prior to Chrome 69, users had the option to sign in and sync or not whenever they signed in to a Google service or website in the browser. That changed with Chrome 69, with sign-in occurring as soon as any user logged in to a Google service. The company claimed it didnt affect sync settings at all, but the response was not satisfactory for many who use the browser across multiple devices or accounts. Impact: Whether or not any of these changes sates the tempers of annoyed or concerned end users, it does appear to be a step toward more meaningful transparency for Google. However, as seen in at least one image associated with the above-mentioned UI, there is still no clear way to disable sync without navigating through a plethora of menus. While users now have the option to enable it via their account avatar, the button simply disappears once sync is enabled. The decision to exclude an easy way to stop syncing from the same place as starting it in the UI is most likely going to raise additional questions from users. In the meantime, theres still plenty of time for that to change before Chrome 70 rolls out. I am disappointed with govts performance, says ex-PM Nepal Former Prime Minister and senior leader of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) MadhavKumar Nepal has said that he is disappointed with the governments performance. Lenovo seems to be gearing up for a new press event set to take place in October, and according to a couple of recent teasers shared via Chinese social network Weibo, the OEM might be preparing to unveil a flexible smartphone next month. Specifically, a Weibo user recently published a hands-on video with a flexible Lenovo-branded smartphone, and the official Lenovo Mobile page on Weibo reposted the video with the caption see you in October. Some details might have been lost in translation but the OEM seems to confirm that the flexible smartphone doubles as a wrist device, which makes a lot of sense given the units exterior design. Moreover, the device shown in the recent video closely resembles a prototype flexible smartphone teased by the Chinese OEM at Lenovo Tech World back in the summer of 2016. But while the concept was seen in 3D renders a couple of years ago, the video at hand seems to showcase a working unit equipped with a touchscreen display that functions when the device is both folded in or out. The operating system appears to be based on Android OS, although it seems to feature a custom UI on top of Googles software. Same as before, the device is quite narrow and has an unusually tall image format, along with very large top and bottom bezels. The lower bezel carries the Lenovo branding while the upper one seems to accommodate a loudspeaker and not much else. The back of the device is segmented in various places allowing the unit to be folded into a more cylindrical shape and worn as a wrist gadget. Over the past couple of years, Lenovo also showcased a foldable tablet prototype, but that device hasnt been mentioned in the recent posts on Weibo and its unclear whether the OEM continued to develop the slate alongside the wrist smartphone for a potential October unveiling. Hardware details are also missing so it remains to be seen if this foldable device will adopt high-end internal components or if the OEM had to make some sacrifices in this regard in order to create the flexible design. More details are likely to be shared by Lenovo next month, but as far as a market launch is concerned, only time will tell if the OEM will beat its rivals to the punch and have its first flexible smartphone ready for prime time before the end of the year. October could once again mark the demonstration of a more advanced prototype device, and as yet theres no official word on whether the unit is ready for the market. In short: The Beijing Haidian Court has reportedly accepted a case alleging that a contract was breached between Xiaomi and a man referred to as Mr. Yang. According to the plaintiff, he was promised a hosted meal with company co-founder Lei Jun through a sales promotion run on Xiaomis store website from August 3 to December 31 of last year. Yang claims that he participated in the promotional contest, selling 523 Redmi Note 5A handsets during the period. The contest rules are said to have required participants to sell 300 units or more of that handset. Despite numerous interactions with the company, Xiaomi is alleged to have refused to acknowledge Yang as the winner. Yang is suing for compensation and legal fees which total out to around $3,491 or 24,000 yuan. Background: Historically, Xiaomi has managed to keep itself mostly out of public controversy with a few exceptions. More recently, it has been sued by Coolpad at least twice for patent infringement, although the first of those cases appear to have been settled without help from the courts and the proceedings of the second havent been very widely reported outside of China. However, the company has not faced a large number of cases, if any, brought by self-proclaimed fans of the brand. Bearing that in mind, the lawsuit in question isnt very likely to have any serious consequences for Xiaomi from a financial perspective. Instead, any damage from the case will mostly be relegated to harm in terms of public perception. Impact: If Yang can prove his case and the court determines that it had formed a legally binding agreement through the alleged promotion, then it will ultimately be forced to admit to not upholding its end of the contract. That the plaintiff is a fan of the brand and a consumer, rather than another large business entity, could serve to make matters worse since public trust will have been broken. On the other hand, the case could swing in the other direction as well. Xiaomi may choose to honor the prize and award what would now almost certainly be an awkward dinner or pursue an out-of-court settlement. In short: Media delivery and advertising platform Mobile Posse on Thursday announced Firstly Mobile, a next-generation take on its solution that promises to revolutionize mobile discovery and put an end to the contemporary concept of bloatware, or at the very least make it less annoying. Our goal is to offer a highly differentiated and better device experience that consumers can opt-in to, Mobile Posse SVP Greg Wester told AndroidHeadlines. The service consists of three separate but complementary solutions: unlock agent firstAPP that can deliver personalized content after a user unlocks the screen of their (Android) handset, general-purpose destination discovery tool firstPLACE, and online content discovery platform firstPAGE. As is the case with Mobile Posses previous solutions, one of the main selling points of Firstly Mobile is the fact that the service has been specifically designed for delivering brand-safe content, though its now said to be capable of doing so in an unprecedentedly intelligent manner. Background: The launch of Firstly Mobile is part of a wider strategy that saw Mobile Posse start calling for a smarter phone revolution earlier this year. The Arlington, Virginia-based firm believes existing mobile technologies are currently far from fulfilling their potential in terms of meeting user expectations on quality content discovery, arguing that bloatware could and should be replaced with native content targeted at individual users thats more engaging and less annoying. In an open letter addressing the industry sent this May, Mobile Posse Chief Executive Officer Jon Jackson acknowledged the telecom segment is already on the right path to fulfill this potential but maintained it needs to do so in a swifter manner. Given the companys subsequent activity, AndroidHeadlines understands thats precisely what Firstly Mobile is meant to help wireless carriers and device manufacturers accomplish. Firstly Mobile doesnt force a change in behavior or the phone UI/UX in ways many lock screens or launchers do. It just makes it better and smarter, Mr. Wester explained. Impact: While essentially no industry analyst believes bloatware will ever go away, Mobile Posses solution promises to make such pre-installed content aimed at after-sales smartphone and tablet monetization much more bearable for consumers. Whether that ends up being enough to change the overwhelmingly negative public opinion on forced media discovery remains to be seen but as things stand right now, Firstly Mobile is as good of a chance for the mobile industry to do so as they come. Lets move forward by remembering what weve been through. Sonia Manzano This was the overarching theme throughout distinguished lecturer Sonia Manzanos keynote address at ASUs 2018 E. James Holland University Symposium on American Values this fall. Manzano, an author and best known as Maria from the award-winning childrens series Sesame Street, was one of the first Latina women cast on national television. In her keynote, Latina/o Representation in the Media, Civil Rights and American Values, Manzano reflected extensively about her time on Sesame Street and the impact she had by being one of the first Latina actresses on the show. Sesame Street began in 1969, she said. I came to the show in 1971, at a time when the country was starting to change. I was brought in with Emilio [Delgado] to represent Latino children. A native of South Bronx, New York, Manzanos interest in show business began early. While she had an aptitude for it, she never really saw herself making it a career, instead using it as an avenue to get to college. Attributing her casting as Maria to some good luck and timing, Manzano was just 21 when she landed the part. I was a college student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, she explained. We were doing a show called Godspell, and I came to do Godspell fully expecting to go back to school, but then I got Sesame Street. I always say the most important things happen to you when you really dont expect it. And while she started out as an actress, it wasnt long before Manzano wanted to be more involved with the show. I always say the most important things happen to you when you really dont expect it. Sonia Manzano After six years, I felt like I had contributed all I could as an actor, she said. Unless youre a really big star, its the lowest level of power. I wanted to contribute more to Sesame Street, so I started paying attention to what was going on behind the scenes. Of course I read the scripts because I was acting, she continued. I took advantage of being in the environment and knowing the characters very well (her favorite is Oscar the Grouch), and started writing. Fifteen Emmys, several books and a Lifetime Achievement Award later, Manzano, now retired from Sesame Street, spends her time spreading her message around the country to various audiences. In addition to her keynote address at Angelo State, Manzano spoke with both campus and community guests at dinner events and receptions. She also had a private breakfast with students in the ASU Honors Program. I hope students have a sense of how they impact the world theyre going to inherit, Manzano said. They cannot be passive. They have to vote. They have to participate so theyre not blindsided when theyre 30. I get a lot out of it because I like to hear other peoples points of view, she continued. It kind of opens up my mind and gives me new ideas for everything. It inspires me. It opens up my mind to see the world in a different way. Thats why I love to travel and share my ideas with people its a two-way street. KC warns of fresh hunger strike Anti-corruption crusader Dr Govinda KC has warned of staging his 16th indefinite hunger strike if the National Medical Education Bill was not endorsed by the ongoing session of Parliament. MadridWilly Toledo is one step closer to standing trial for insulting God and the Virgin Mary. Madrids examining court number 11 has ruled that there is sufficient evidence to suggest the actor can be prosecuted for the crime of offending religious sentiment. The judge has therefore ruled against dropping the case, and instead has decided to proceed with a trial at the behest of the Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers, the group who took Toledo to court in the first place. According to the judge, the Facebook posts dating back to July 2017 "contain language which is potentially offensive to Catholicism and practicing Catholics" which isnt protected by the freedom of expression and, therefore, "there are sufficient grounds for prosecution. The Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers has announced that it is hoping to obtain "a guilty verdict", adding that they will ask for "respect, rather than a prison sentence", since it considers that there are "aggravating circumstances and evidence of repeat offences" since the actor "has persisted in his attacks". Toledos lawyer says the actor is "not worried and he wryly remarked that he is forever amazed". He went on to say: "I'm amazed that your views and words could still constitute a crime in this country. Im amazed theres a judge who takes this from a Facebook post and considers it a crime, that the police investigate all of Mr. Toledos other posts, that the judge agrees to rule on the charges, that my client was deprived of his freedom for 20 hours and that now the judge considers it a crime to write two sentences that tens of thousands of people say every day in this country and that tens of thousands more have written on Facebook". He went on to add that "if there are so many people that havent had charges brought against them and its only him, it makes me think that its not about prosecuting what Willy Toledo does but what he thinks". Mr Toledo was arrested on 12 September for failing to appear in court on two occasions, and subsequently released without bail. He appeared before the judge for less than ten minutes and limited himself to answering only questions from his lawyer, who asked him if he agreed with the motion filed before the court asking for the case to be dropped. BarcelonaSpain's Supreme Court has once more rejected an appeal lodged by the legal team of the president of Omnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, asking for his release on bail. In an individual ruling, the court considers, without further clarification, that there have been no changes in the circumstances warranting Cuixarts current status being reviewed, meaning he should continue to be refused bail. It is the second time that the Supreme Court has refused Jordi Cuixarts legal teams appeal for his release. Home Home Breaking Breaking Discover Discover Sections Sections Profile The aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines. The Type Certificate was signed by EASAs Certification Director, Trevor Woods, and handed over by EASAs Head of Large Aeroplanes Certification, Ludovic Aron, to Airbus Head of Engineering for Commercial Aircraft, Jean-Brice Dumont. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification is expected to follow shortly. "The A330neo embodies Airbus spirit of innovation. This new generation aircraft with unparalleled efficiency and flexibility from short to long haul routes has tremendous market potential, said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. We look forward to delivering the first aircraft equipped with the beautiful new Airspace cabin to our launch customer TAP Air Portugal in the coming weeks. In agreement with TAP Air Portugal, its first built aircraft served as a demonstrator for route proving around the world visiting more than 12 countries. Together with the two A330-900 flight test aircraft, the certification flight test campaign was successfully completed in around 1,400 flight test hours in under a year since the first flight on 19th October 2017. The event which is held every two years, is supported by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA), as a strategic partner of this international aircraft technology and operation exhibition, that provides an ideal platform to identify the emerging trends and to learn about the latest technological innovations related to commercial helicopters and in areas of civil defence. The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority has supported the Dubai Helishow as a part of its efforts to strengthen cooperation with the aviation industry leaders and to support efforts to enhance security, safety, and sustainability efforts locally and internationally as a strategic platform that brings together prominent players in the aviation industry from around the world. Mohammed Abdulla Ahli, Director General - Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Navigation Services, emphasised that supporting the Dubai HeliShow reflects the Authoritys keenness to strengthen the fruitful cooperation frameworks with the aviation industry stakeholders, in the interest of achieving security and sustainability, regionally and globally. He highlighted the importance of joint efforts in promoting the growth and prosperity of the helicopter industry regionally and globally, with an emphasis on employment opportunities, keeping pace with the Middle Easts high demand for commercial helicopters. Out of our commitment to contribute to the development of the civil aviation sector as a main constituent of sustainable development, we call on all stakeholders involved in the helicopter industry to participate in the upcoming event to showcase their products, services and technologies in the Middle East, which has the highest utilisation rate for medium and large-scale fleets, confirming its potential as a promising market, said Ahli. Ahmad Abulhoul, Managing Director, Domus Group, organisers of Dubai HeliShow, said: The exhibition is very significant as it is a strategic platform that attracts the elite of decision and policy makers, senior government officials and representatives of the most prominent security authorities and entities in the region and the world. They all will come to review the latest technologies and practices in the helicopters sector, which is crucial to various fields such as tourism, oil industry, medical emergency services, law enforcement authorities, transport and others. The 2018 edition of the event will feature two exclusive conferences - Helicopter Technology and Operations Conference and the Military and Homeland Security Conference. These two conferences aim to highlight important topics such as how to empower police forces with Internet of Things (IoT) tools; the role of women in homeland security; application of robotics in security and helicopters; tackling new patterns in narco-terrorism by integrating intelligence, forensics and response operations; best practices to boost joint inter-agency cooperation between armed forces and homeland security agencies among many others. The Dubai HeliShow 2018 will focus on a number of topics, including the development of aircraft repair and maintenance centers in the region, as well as improved operational efficiencies in command and control, smart computing, surveillance, recovery and e-defense capabilities. The show will also discuss the best ways to have a comprehensive internal security program and deployment of ground-based take-off and landing systems technology, as well as the development of multi-mission helicopters for joint search and rescue operations and the establishment of an integrated helicopter infrastructure in line with the requirements of the approaching Expo 2020 in Dubai. Man arrested for killing spouse in Pokhara A man who was on the run after murdering his spouse at Khudikhola squatters settlement in Pokhara Metropolitan City-32 has been arrested on Thursday. The Aselsan IHASAVAR anti-drone gun is now being operated by the Azerbaijani Air Force, a company representative told Army Recognition at ADEX 2018 exhibition, being held from 25th to 27th in Baku, Azerbaijan. Aselsan's IHAVASAR is now operational with the Azerbaijani Air Force (Picture source Army Recognition) The IHAVASAR system entered service last year, said the representative, without disclosing further details regarding the numbers of anti-drone guns delivered so far. Azerbaijani Air Force is mainly deploying the IHAVASAR system along the disputed border with Armenia to detect and suppress low flying UAVs, Aselsan added. IHASAVAR is a handheld-backpack Anti-Drone Jammer System designed to protect military bases, facilities, high value assets, ceremony/meeting/demonstration areas, checkpoints and VIPs against drone/mini-UAV attacks by jamming the Remote Control Frequencies, GPS/GLONASS Satellites Navigation Frequencies and Data Link/Telemetry Frequencies of Drone/Mini-UAVs simultaneously. Aselsan's IHASAVAR, removes the need for sensor systems to track drones/mini-UAVs and provides a cost-effective solution by giving the ability to security personnel to take down a drone/mini-UAV at the first sight. IHASAVAR, removes the need for sensor systems to trackdrones/mini-UAVs and provides a cost-effective solution by giving the ability to security personnel to take down a drone/mini-UAV at the first sight. The IHASAVARs rifle-like design provides the user with highest ergonomy with its compact architecture, light weight and portability. The system is powered by rechargeable Li-Ion batteries at least for 1.5 hours of continuous operation. The U.S. Army has awarded Raytheon Company a more than $1.5 billion contract for production of Poland's Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System including spare parts, support and training. Announced by the Department of Defense on September 25, the contract calls for Raytheon to build and deliver four Patriot fire units for Poland. "Patriot will enhance Polish, European and NATO security while creating jobs in Poland and the US," said Tom Laliberty, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. Patriot is the backbone of NATO and Europe's defense against ballistic and cruise missiles, advanced aircraft and drones. Fifteen other nations depend on Patriot to protect their citizens and armed forces, including the U.S. and six other European nations: Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Romania and Sweden. This contract is for Phase I of "WISLA," Poland's two-phase medium-range Integrated Air and Missile Defense procurement. Under Phase II, Poland has the potential to acquire additional Patriot fire units and has expressed interest in gallium nitride-based 360-degree active electronically scanning array radars, and SkyCeptor, a low-cost interceptor missile. Raytheon's Patriot is a missile defense system consisting of radars, command-and-control technology and multiple types of interceptors, all working together to detect, identify and defeat tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, advanced aircraft and other threats. Back in 2017, the Government of Poland has requested to purchase phase one of a two- phase program for an Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS)-enabled Patriot Configuration-3+ with Modernized Sensors and Components consisting of four (4) AN/MPQ-65 radar sets, four (4) engagement control stations, four (4) Radar Interface Units (RIU) modification kits, sixteen (16) M903 Launching stations adapted, eighteen (18) Launcher Integrated Network Kits (LINKs) (includes two (2) spares), two hundred and eight (208) Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, eleven (11) PAC-3 MSE test missiles, IBCS software, two (2) future operations IBCS Engagement Operations Centers (EOCs), six (6) current operations-IBCS EOCs, six (6) engagement operations-IBCS EOCs, fifteen (15) Integrated Fire Control Network (IFCN relays, four (4) Electrical Power Plants (EPP) III, and five (5) Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems/Low Volume Terminals (MIDS/LVTs). Also included with this request are communications equipment, tools and test equipment, range and test programs, support equipment, prime movers, generators, publications and technical documentation, training equipment, spare and repair parts, personnel training, Technical Assistance Field Team (TAFT), U.S. Government and contractor technical, engineering, and logistics support services, Systems Integration and Checkout (SICO), field office support, and other related elements of logistics and program support. The total estimated program cost is $10.5 billion. According the website baodatviet.vn, Russia has started the production of first batch of T-90S main battle tanks for the Vietnamese army at the Uralvagzonvad plant in Russia. In July 2017, the Russian News Agency TASS has announced that Russian Company Uralvagonzavod will supply 64 T-90S main battle tanks to Vietnam. Print screen of video footage anout the production line of T-90S at Uralvagonzavod plant (Picture source newdaynews.ru) The T-90S is one of the latest development in the T-90-series of Russian tanks and represents an increase in firepower, mobility and protection. It is in service with the Russian, Iraqi and the Indian Army. Main armament of the T-90S includes one 125 mm 2A46M smoothbore gun, stabilized in two axes and fitted with a thermal sleeve. The gun tube can be replaced without dismantling inside the turret. The T-90S is intended to engage tanks fitted with ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour) as well as low-flying air targets such as helicopters, at a range of up to 5km. The missile system fires either the 9M119 or 9M119M missiles which have semi-automatic laser beam riding guidance and a hollow charge warhead. The T-90S tank is protected by both conventional armour-plating and explosive reactive armour (ERA). The T-90S is fitted with the Shtora-1 defensive aids suite which is produced by Electronintorg of Russia. This system includes infrared jammer, laser warning system with four laser warning receivers, grenade discharging system which produces an aerosol screen and a computerized control system. Switzerland has released a statement on the official website of the Swiss armed forces procurement agency regarding the purchase of a new air defense missile system. A request for bids was sent to three Companies including Eurosam from France, Rafael from Israel and Raytheon from United States. Swiss Bloodhound BL-64 surface-to-air defense missile system (Picture source Internet) A tender has been issued on September 21, 2018, to the Company Rafael for the David's Sling, to France for the Eurosam SAMP/T and to United States for the Patriot. All the Companies will have to send their offers by the end of March 2019. The Swiss army defense procurement agency plans to perform evaluation of radar for each air defense missile system by the end of summer 2019 in Switzerland. Capabilities of other major components such as missiles and control systems will be analysis based on information received in Switzerland or provided by the manufacturer. Currently, Swiss no longer have anti-aircraft missile systems since the retired of the Bloodhound in 1999, named BL-64 surface-to-air missile in the Swiss armed forces. The David's Sling is an Israel Defense Forces military system being jointly developed by the Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the American defense contractor Raytheon, designed to intercept enemy planes, drones, tactical ballistic missiles, medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, fired at ranges from 40 km (24.85 miles) to 300 km (186.41 miles) with speeds of up to mach 7.5. The Patriot MIM-104 is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations. Patriot uses an advanced aerial interceptor missile and high performance radar systems. The Patriot system is modular and highly mobile. A battery-sized element can be emplaced in less than 1 hour. Patriot systems have been sold to Egypt, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates. The PAC-3 MSE is the latest generation in the Patriot missile family, an evolution of the battle-proven PAC-3 Missile. The hit-to-kill PAC-3 MSE provides performance enhancements that counter evolving threat advancements. The enhancements ensure the PAC-3 Missile Segment of the PATRIOT Air Defense System is capable of engaging new and evolving threats. The hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missile is the worlds most advanced, and capable theater air defense missile and defender against the entire threat to the PATRIOT Air Defense System: Tactical Ballistic Missiles (TBMs) carrying weapons of mass destruction, evolving cruise missiles and aircraft. The SAMP/T also called MAMBA in the French army is a theatre antimissile system designed to protect the battlefield and sensitive tactical sites (such as airports and sea ports) against all current and future airborne threats, including cruise missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles in the 600 km range class. The SAMP/T is produced by Eurosam, a 50:50 joint venture between MBDA and Thales. Its key components are the Aster 30 interceptor and Arabel multi-function radar. The maximum speed of Aster 30 missile is 1.4km/sec. Aster 30 has the capability to intercept targets at altitudes from 50 m to 20 km. against aircraft targets flying at altitudes above 3 km, the maximum range of the Aster 30 is 100 km. At aircraft targets with altitudes below 3 km, the range of Aster 30 is 50 km. Turkey on Monday donated military equipment to Gambia at latters military headquarters in the capital, Banjul. Among the donated items were 5,000 sets of uniforms, 1,359 cartridges and belts, 5,000 water bottles, 50 five-man tents and 50 20-man tents. Maj.Gen Yankuba Drammeh, Gambia's deputy chief of staff (left). (Picture source: YeniSafak) Maj. Gen. Yankuba Drammeh, Gambias deputy chief of staff, said the donated items will enhance the operational readiness of the Gambian forces. This is not the first time we have received gifts from the Turkish government and the Turkish Armed Forces [] The gesture spans three decades and the relation is characterized by mutual trust, understanding and high sense of cooperation between our two armed forces and [] two governments [], Drammeh said. It [donation] comes at a time when the armed forces are going through some transformation and these will enhance our operational readiness, he added. Turkish and Gambian armies established relations in the 1980s. In recent years, about 1,500 Gambian military officials received training in Turkey. Ismail Sefa Yuceer, the Turkish ambassador to Gambia, said Turkey is committed to intensifying its support to the Gambian armed forces in the areas of training and logistic support. Within this framework every year, Turkey will provide the Gambian armed forces with logistics assistance, with the exception of arms, Yuceer said. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, said the tests of new Ukrainian weapons and military equipment were held at the military proving ground of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. WB Group FT-5 LOS tactical UAV (Picture source: NSDC) According to Turchynov, the aviation tests of a new operational-tactical unmanned system, "capable of conducting reconnaissance, coordinating fire, providing radio-electronic combat-resistant communications at an operational depth up to 200 km, while in the air for up to 24 hours" were conducted. A combat unmanned system that can carry a powerful high-explosive or thermobaric combat charge and accurately strike targets in the deep rear of the enemy was also tested, the NSDC's press service said. "These unmanned systems were created by Ukrainian gunsmiths in cooperation with our foreign partners," Turchynov said. Lightweight multipurpose helicopters "Scout" and AK1-3 were demonstrated (Picture source: NSDC) In addition, the flight-technical characteristics of Ukrainian lightweight multipurpose helicopters "Scout" and AK1-3 were demonstrated. Turchynov said these helicopters are capable of providing reconnaissance and early reporting to the troops, carrying out border guard tasks, "as well as of ensuring combat missions, striking targets both day and night, in particular, working in the unmanned mode, in complex with modern weapons." Upgraded ZU-23-2 (Picture source: NSDC) The upgraded ZU-23-2 was also tested. "Combining this robust anti-aircraft system with an electronic system for automatic target detection and fire control will securely eliminate air and land targets, including UAVs on Russia's armament," he said. "An important part of this modernization is the ability, thanks to an automatic system, to direct fire from several anti-aircraft systems simultaneously at a distance, from protected positions, without endangering the lives of our servicemen," Turchynov added. Firing of RS-80 missile (Picture source: NSDC) New ammunition of Ukrainian production was also demonstrated and tested at the proving ground, in particular, RS-80 missiles suitable for use in various applications, and a high-explosive fragmenting projectile for the popular MT-12 "Rapira" guns. "All the new tested developments of the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex have demonstrated their high efficiency, and after taking them on armament, they will considerably strengthen our military potential," Turchynov said. Micro-insurance stymied by high transaction costs High transaction costs and lack of trust prevent private micro-insurance companies from extending coverage to the poor despite low premiums, said participants in the 21st general annual conference of the Association of Insurers and Reinsurers of Developing Countries (AIRDC) which concluded on Wednesday. On September 24, 1st Cavalry Division soldiers completed a two-month program field testing the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV). 4th Squadron, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment "Dark Horse," 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team teamed up with the U.S. Army Operational Test Command (USAOTC), the Army's only independent operational test organization. Soldiers from 4th Squadron, 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment "Dark Horse," 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, drive through a low-water crossing in the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) after completing field testing on Fort Hood, Texas, Sept. 24. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army/Maj. Carson Petry, 1st CAV) The Army's primary armored fighting force is the Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT). The AMPV would replace 5 variants of the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier family of vehicles, which have been in service since the Vietnam-era. AMPV variants tested are: Medical Treatment, Ambulance, General Purpose, Mortar Carriers, and Mission Command. "USAOTC allows the Army to have an independent evaluator for equipment that is being tested," said Maj. Jed Zaffke, a test officer with USAOTC's Maneuver Test Directorate's mounted test division. "We're able to provide feedback to senior leaders to make decisions on that equipment which allows further progression of programs as they field and develop new equipment." Providing real-time data to developers is USAOTC's shaping operation for the Army. "USAOTC collects data on the material for doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, and education, personnel, facilities, and policy (DOTMLPF-P)," said Bill McKiernan, deputy director/supervisory senior test manager, Maneuver Test Directorate. "We're the link between readiness and modernization. We get the Soldiers and design realistic combat scenarios in conjunction with unit and training developers to see how the system works with a real unit." USAOTC is the conduit to bring the Army's modernization program to fruition, but not without the Soldier spearheading the effort. The 4-9 CAV was chosen to test the AMPV in a controlled field environment called a limited user test (LUT). "The importance of conducting a limited user test and the process, is it allows the material developer to get feedback from Soldiers in an operational environment," said Zaffke. "It allows them to understand any issues that are negative or positive and be able to refine their platform and provide a better product that meets the needs of the Soldiers going forward." The AMPV LUT gave Soldiers and leaders the opportunity to provide valuable feedback to the Army's senior leaders while conducting realistic training scenarios in an operational environment. "It's an honor to be chosen to test equipment that may be fielded to the wider force," said Staff Sgt. Pedro Villegas, an indirect fire infantryman with A Troop, 4-9 CAV. "To have input with the developers of the equipment is a tremendous opportunity. I take a lot of pride in being able to do that." The extensive training program began with issuing the AMPVs to the crews, classroom instruction on its capabilities, driver training, and multiple field exercises. The troopers gained experience maneuvering a new vehicle before the culmination exercise, a series of field tests. The variants of the AMPV afforded multiple military occupational specialties training time to perfect their battle drills while the headquarters element combined AMPVs to create a mobile mission command center. "We get to mold the Army for the future," said Sgt. Amanda Wilson, a combat medical specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 4-9 CAV. "It's giving us time to integrate the new Soldiers and teach them how to set up the main aid station, forward aid station, how to receive patients and evacuate them." Walking through USAOTC's operations center, the test environment parallels a Combat Training Center (CTC) rotation. Their operations center, filled with subject matter experts and battle track vehicles, sends computer injects through a digital network to create the exercise. Creating realistic scenarios between AMPV operators and the opposing force (OPFOR) gives USAOTC real-time data as Soldiers react according to their tactics, techniques, and procedures. The 1st Battalion, 5th U.S. Cavalry Regiment "Black Knights" represented the OPFOR, giving 4-9 CAV an adversary to oppose on the simulated battlefield. The training program afforded two 2ABCT battalions valuable training opportunities, increasing brigade readiness through wide-ranging tactical simulations. After each day during the field-testing phase, the unit conducted internal after-action reviews to further improve their readiness. The Soldiers and USAOTC personnel then consolidated AMPVs to download test data. Soldiers conducted focus groups and completed questionnaires to aid in the assessment and improvement phase of field testing. "This training does a lot for our readiness," said Villegas. "With a lot of the new guys we have, it's a great opportunity to get hands-on training. You can't get any better than that." The U.S. Army Operational Test Command is based at West Fort Hood, Texas and its mission is about making sure that systems developed are effective in a Soldier's hands and suitable for the environments in which Soldiers train and fight. Test units and their Soldiers provide feedback, by offering input to improve upon existing and future systems with which Soldiers will ultimately use to train and fight. USAOTC's Maneuver Test Directorate tests Armor, Infantry, and robotic systems as well as individual and crew served weapon systems. This includes the accompanying sights, combat uniforms, Soldier load bearing equipment, and personal protective systems for all military occupational specialties. MTD plans and conducts operational tests and reports on Systems-Under-Test in order to inform the evaluation process. Nepal, India petroleum meet deferred The first meeting of Nepal-India Joint Working Group on Petroleum and Gas has been postponed at the last hour. However, the scheduled visit of Indian federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan is on and he will arrive on Friday, said officials. Jami McKeon will serve a second five-year term as chairwoman of Morgan Lewis after the partnership unanimously voted for her re-election. McKeon said that serving as chair of the firm over the past several years has been a privilege and that she is excited to continue to lead the organisation During my 37 years at Morgan Lewis, I have been lucky to have the best of colleagues and the best of clients. I am proud of the things we have accomplished together and optimistic about what we will continue to accomplish in the future, she said. NASA has talked in the past about its goals for the coming decades, but on Wednesday it put them in writing and submitted them to Congress, backed by the Human Spaceflight Act submitted by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX).NASAs plan is a three-point agenda that starts with transitioning from the current model of human space activities in low-Earth orbit, dominated by the government as the main contractor, to a more commercially viable, private sector-funded model.Second on the list is putting Americans back on and around the Moon. Saying that in the 50 years since men first set foot on Earths satellite humanity has spent only 16 days there, NASA now plans to have boots on the ground in 2020, and humans living long-term in Lunar orbit by 2023.Once that is achieved, Mars is up next. The InSight mission is already en-route to the planet, and it will be followed the same year rockets shoot for the Moon by the Mars 2020 mission.Unfortunately, the first manned mission to Mars supported by NASA will not take off before 2030, the document revealed, leaving hopes for a quicker arrival there on the shoulders of private companies.And even though most companies doing business in the field - Blue Origin Virgin Galactic -have capped their efforts to a more commercial approach, by sending tourists and satellites into orbit, SpaceX is actively pursuing a Martian landing, one that would also land it more fame than money.Officially, that is scheduled to take place long before NASAs, sometime in 2023. By the time the first NASA astronauts will get to the Red Planet, Elon Musks Mars Base Alpha would already be up and running.At least thats what he says Were we brought here to just enjoy the view? We wouldn't fault them for that; Australia, after all, has some incredibly picturesque scenery. Were we brought here to just enjoy the food? Australia has some great cuisine, all of which are fresh from their farms, ranches, and seas. Just what are we doing in Australia driving a Navara that seemingly looks the same (sans the accessories) as the one that Nissan has in the Philippine market? Knowing Nissan, a company that knows how to communicate something so very well, all hints point to something more. They wanted to tell us something with the Navara we're behind the wheel of, and Australia, it seems, has the best roads to make that message rise to the surface. - To get the technical stuff out of the way, the D23 is the second Nissan model to carry the Navara nameplate from its long history of tough and durable pickups. We found it strange for Nissan to code back from the D40, as it was preceded by the D22. Initially labeled NP300, a common nomenclature found in Nissan LCV and CV models such as the NV350. But while this looks the same (at least once you remove the accessories), this is actually an updated version. It just so happens that the upgrades weren't made to the body or the interior, but to the mechanical bits and pieces. Nissan brought us here to try out the new Navara which now has an upgraded steering system and a new, dual-rate progressive rear coil spring set up. And we're going to test the enhancements on some pretty incredible roads... paved, or not at all. - Starting off from Perth, we drove south and played in the sand by the coast of Bouvard in Mandurah and further to explore the many forests, and down to Margaret River. We drove on clay, light mud and gravel roads, all to get to a campsite. The new steering update does give the Navara a much better response and feedback, even on the loose surfaces. It does give that extra level of confidence in the various terrain we drove on. The steering feel, a normal Nissan LCV trait, might need a bit of tuning, as it still is on the heavy side. That, it seems, was the common experience we all shared by the campfire at the night. The next day, we took the Navara out by the coastline to the lighthouse of Cape Leeuwin, as we drove along the coastal highway. It is interesting to note that Cape Leeuwin is where two oceans meet (Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean). From the sea, we went up the mountain through a rather rocky and sandy trail better appreciate the toughness of the Navara. The new rear coil springs have managed to deliver on the promise of better comfort and stability. While I was seated mostly in front, or the drivers seat, you could still feel the rear was more attached and stable. Vehicle control was also much better on and off road. There was a very slight improvement of comfort in terms of the ride at the back, but thats because it was already good before the change. However, the biggest improvement on the rear suspension is that it doesnt dip that much anymore with the bed loaded. And this matters a lot for many pickup truck owners who use their vehicle as workhorses or for work and play. On the tricky terrain, we also were able to try out the around-view monitor package, something that has been available in the Philippines since March. The around-view monitor proved to be just as helpful a tool for navigating uncertain terrain (i.e. rocks) with precision as it is for maneuvering into tight spaces. It really is an extra set of eyes; something useful for long vehicles. Although, I was honestly looking for the off-road mode of the around view monitor, as experienced on the Terra. The Navara we drove was also fitted with the 2.3-liter twin-turbo diesel engine, a completely different powertrain from the 2.5-liter Euro-4 turbodiesel that we get. The Euro-6 engine proved to be smooth throughout the rev range, though it did lack a bit of low-end punch off boost; that's something about displacement that you just cant replace. On our last day, we set off from serene and scenic Empire Retreat through some hills down to the coast to see the waves of Yallingup beach which attracted a good number of surfers that morning. After about half an hour, we then set off north to the charming port city of Fremantle. The improvements while seemingly minimal, are quite significant. However, the steering and rear suspension upgrade are currently available only for the Australia and New Zealand markets. Nissan Philippines has yet to confirm whether they will be made available for our market, but having experienced the benefits personally, I really think they should. The driving experience truly exemplified the tough and smart character of the Nissan Navara. A workhorse for the working man and a steed for the occasional woodsman who has a good eye for appreciation of life. Driving pickups across Western Australia imbibed images of sun, surf, and sand. But as it turned out we got a lot more than we bargained for, sans the surfing, on our three-day adventure from Perth all the way down to the southern coastline of this massive continent, all while behind the wheel of the Nissan Navara. When complying with the 2020 ADS-B mandate, youll still need a fully functional Mode A/C transponder. That means a transponder-based ADS-B solution is often the best choice for aging aircraft that havent seen a transponder upgrade since the Reagan era. If the aircraft flies above 18,000 feet, theres no choice but to go with an ADS-B transponder. Montana-based uAvionix now looks to be aggressively pursuing that competitive market with its new 1090nano, a chipset that it says represents the core technology it will use in certified ADS-B transponders for both the GA and UAS markets. The new 1090nano single-chip ADS-B solution is similar to the dime-sized 978 MHz T-UAT ADS-B chip thats used in the companys skyBeacon and tailBeacon low-cost ADS-B exterior lighting fixtures, but the 1090nano uses 1090ES extended squitter transponder transmissions when connected with an approved WAAS GPS. uAvionix already has that technology, too, with its $500, 27-gram TSO-certified FYXnav miniature GPS position source used in UAS applications. uAvionix says its new chipset has a place in both the UAS and GA market because it offers a dual-band ADS-B solution when paired with its existing 978 UAT chip. Both chipsets are capable of transmitting ADS-B broadcasts at extremely low power (0.01-0.25 watts), while the dime-sized footprint means the transponder can be mounted remotely. The companys current ping200Sr Mode C and Mode S ADS-B remote transponder offers a clue as to what the new transponder tech might look like. The device measures roughly 3.5 by 2.24 by 0.66 inches and weighs 76 gramsthats small enough to mount virtually anyplace in the airframe. With uAvionix recently earning TSO certification for its bolt-on skyBeacon ADS-B position light, the new 1090nano chipset announcement comes not a month after the industry learned of a patent infringement lawsuit from Garmin, which alleges that uAvionix copied some of its ADS-B technology. Read the news brief here. In its recent 1090nano chipset media announcement, uAvionix mentioned that much of its latest tech was made possible by two major investors Airbus Ventures and Playground Global. uAvionix was founded in 2015 after it received Series A and Series B investment funding from these firms. For more, visit www.uAvionix.com. Amazon announced it will open a general store in New York City that will sell toys, household goods and some of its other top-selling products, Reuters reports. Why it matters: The e-commerce giant already accounts for nearly 50% of the e-commerce market, with a recent survey showing the reality of Amazon's untouchable advantage against other retail companies. Now, the company is continuing its push to satisfy customers with physical locations. The details: The store, which will be called "Amazon 4-star," will use data on New York customers to help inform what products it carries and will only stock its shelves with items that received 4-star reviews or higher on the site. Nepali team leaves for Malaysia to finalise deal Months of deadlock in migration of Nepali workers to Malaysia is likely to end soon as the government team has left for Malaysia for final rounds of negotiation on resuming labour migration to Malaysia. Republican and Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate released their final opioids package last night, bridging the differences between bills the two chambers passed previously. The big picture: This is a big bill and there are provisions in here that public health experts believe will make a difference. But those same experts say Washington still needs to make substantial investments of money as well as policymaking energy in the treatment system for mental health and substance abuse, in order to bring this crisis under control. What's next: Both chambers are expected to pass the agreement quickly, sending it to President Trump for his signature in a matter of days. The details: The bill is about the same as what we reported previously, and would... Temporarily lift a cap on Medicaid payments for large treatment facilities. States can allow those facilities to receive Medicaid funding, on a limited basis, for all substance abuse treatment. Allow more health care providers to prescribe medication-assisted therapies. The pharmaceutical industry didn't get the Medicare "fix" it had been lobbying for. Go deeper: Read the bill. Indonesia, the third-biggest democracy in the world, will hold presidential elections next April. Since the late 1990s, when the economy crashed, the corrupt Suharto dictatorship collapsed, and the country appeared to be falling into chaos, Indonesia has stabilized and held multiple free presidential elections. Yes, but: Although the country has made enormous progress since 1998, potential dangers remain. Islamist groups, many allied with a Trump-like populist former lieutenant general, have recently gained power, and the elections could put Indonesia on a democratic backslide. The background: Last year, Islamist groups spearheaded a smear campaign and massive rallies to unseat Jakartas Christian, ethnic Chinese governor, who eventually wound up in jail for blasphemy. These same groups may use their growing power in the Indonesian streets, and the threat of a fragile economy, to defeat the current president, Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi. Although a Jokowi win is still the likeliest scenario, he cannot take it for granted. Jokowi has not delivered on many of the promises of his 2014 campaign, during which he was an Obama-like figure of hope for some Indonesians. Corruption and money politics remain problems, strong growth rates have not made a major dent in unemployment, and Jokowi has not fulfilled his vows to improve the human rights climate. Moreover, Indonesia is considered one of the fragile five of developing economies whose currencies, like the Turkish lira, have plummeted against the U.S. dollar, and its high share of foreign-denominated debt could put it at risk in a global financial crisis Jokowis challenger, Prabowo Subianto, seems to relish the idea of ruling as a strongman. A former lieutenant general and Suhartos erstwhile son-in-law, Prabowo has repeatedly suggested rolling back Indonesian democracy. On the campaign trail, he is likely to broadcast a nationalistic platform and possibly stoke anti-minority sentiment, which could easily spread in a country with the fourth-largest number of Facebook users in the world and a long history of violence against ethnic minorities. What to watch: Indonesia is less fragile than countries such as Turkey. But if a global emerging markets crisis hits and investors come hunting harder for Indonesia, and Jokowi and his economic team cannot respond effectively, economic fears combined with Prabowos support from powerful Islamist groups could put the former army man over the top. The bottom line: If Prabowo wins, it might signal that populism, with authoritarian elements, will have started to take over Southeast Asia. Such a shift might make an already combustible region even hotter, and undermine the stability of the anchor of Southeast Asia. Joshua Kurlantzick is Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. The escalation of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo jeopardizes the recent gains made in halting the ongoing Ebola outbreak and could trigger a surge in new infections if health care workers and civilians are not protected, World Health Organization officials warned Wednesday. The perfect storm: Peter Salama, WHO's head of emergency response, said Tuesday they were "extremely concerned" about recent violence that in some areas endangered health officials and halting the Ebola prevention and treatment regimes. "A perfect storm of active conflict, limiting our ability to access civilians, distress by segments of the community, already traumatized by decades of conflict." Peter Salama What's happening now: While violence has been an ongoing issue with certain areas in DRC, there was a recent surge in violence when an attack Saturday in Beni killed at least 21 people and elevated tensions between different sectors there. Per Al Jazeera, the Congolese army blames the Allied Democratic Forces, one of the notorious rebel militias trying to gain control of DRC's mineral resources, amongst other things. Health concerns: As Salama tweeted below, one of the concerns is that public health officials have not been able to reach out to the "contacts" of people known to be infected to ensure they had not been infected themselves. This could mean the infection could spread rapidly without them knowing. Tracking contacts is an important method of controlling the spread of Ebola and also provides an indication of the outbreak status, as it's considered a good sign once all new infections can be traced directly to a known infected patient. Go deeper: Violence in Congo imperils efforts to combat Ebola outbreak (The Washington Post) The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in New York late on Wednesday for fresh talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which official Yerevan described as useful. The three-hour talks between Zohrab Mnatsakanian and Elmar Mammadyarov began in the presence of the U.S., Russian and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group. The two ministers then had a one-on-one discussion. The Armenian Foreign Ministry called the talks a useful exchange of thoughts on how to resolve the Karabakh conflict. The interlocutors agreed to continue the dialogue, including within the framework of the co-chairs upcoming visit to the region, it said in a statement. Mammadyarov made similar comments on what was his second meeting with Mnatsakanian in over two months. It was an interesting and important exchange of views on continuing developments in the conflicts resolution as well as about what needs to be done for establishing a lasting peace in the region, the Azerbaijani news agency Trend quoted him as saying. We agreed to continue negotiations next month, including through the co-chairs visit to the region, added the Azerbaijani minister. Speaking earlier on Wednesday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tigran Balayan, reiterated the official Armenian line that major progress towards a Karabakh settlement requires an atmosphere conducive to peace. In that regard, Balayan pointed to Bakus reluctance to implement confidence-building agreements that were reached by the leaders of the two warring nations in 2016. Those agreements envisage specific safeguards against deadly ceasefire violations along the line of contact around Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Tension on those frontlines seems to have somewhat increased in recent weeks. Karabakhs Armenian-backed army reported that one of its soldiers, Aghasi Mkrtchian, was shot dead by Azerbaijani forces on Wednesday evening. Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanian met in New York the day after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian hit out at Azerbaijan in a speech delivered at a session of the UN General Assembly. Pashinian portrayed Bakus refusal to directly negotiate with Karabakhs ethnic Armenian leader as further proof of its desire to cleanse Armenians from Karabakh. How can Azerbaijan lay claim to Nagorno-Karabakh without even speaking to Nagorno-Karabakh? he said. Is this possible? This is possible only if the Azerbaijani government wants the territory but not its people. The Armenian leader also stated that the Karabakh dispute must be resolved through mutual concessions by all sides. He did not elaborate. Baku was quick to condemn Pashinians remarks. A top foreign policy aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said they could torpedo the peace process. U.S. authorities have unsealed an indictment against a Turkish-American activist charged with lying to congressional investigators regarding a trip by U.S. lawmakers to Azerbaijan five years ago. The indictment, which was handed down in April, was released on September 24, more than three weeks after the Turkish-born man, Kemal Oksuz, was arrested in Armenia on a U.S. warrant. Oksuz, a Houston-based businessman who used to run two organizations -- Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians and the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan -- was charged by the grand jury with lying on congressional disclosure forms regarding the 2013 all-expenses-paid visit to Azerbaijan made by 10 members and 32 staffers of Congress. According to the five-count indictment, the trip was funded with the help by Azerbaijan's state-run SOCAR oil company, which provided $750,000 toward the effort. Armenias Office of the Prosecutor-General, said last week that it has received a formal extradition request from U.S. law-enforcement authorities. Police in Yerevan arrested Oksuz on August 29 and released a video of his police interrogation the next day. In the video, Oksuz said that SOCAR covered the travel expenses of the U.S. officials and gave them expensive gifts in 2013. "That may have been corruption, I don't know," he said. It remains unclear why Oksuz decided to relocate to Armenia, a country that has strained relations with both Turkey and Azerbaijan. Just like other Turkish American activists, he had lobbied the U.S. Congress against recognizing the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. After U.S. news reports in 2015 raised questions about the funding of the trip, several of the U.S. lawmakers returned some of the gifts that they had received as part of the trip to Azerbaijan. By Rashid Shirinov After the revolution led by Nikol Pashinyan in Armenia, the countrys economic and political spheres were gripped by chaos. The prices of foodstuffs have surged, and their decline is not expected in the near future. Armenian experts note that since the new government came to power in the country, about 100,000 farmers went broke, and now the animal husbandry of Armenia is at risk. The price of animal feed has recently increased by some 6 percent, according to the Armenian media, and this hit hard the pockets of rural population. Animal feed cost 10,200 drams ($21.26), but now it costs 10,800 drams ($22.51), the impoverished buyers have recently complained to reporters. Feed suppliers, in turn, said that the rise in prices is seasonal, but they are unlikely to fall. The situation is further complicated by the raising of tariffs on the Georgian railway, but the Armenian authorities, instead of solving these urgent problems, continue to spend all their energy on making populist statements. Car owners remain unemployed, bread gets expensive by 30-40 drams. There is a problem. If this continues, of course, it will rise in price even more. A businessman will not work at a loss, will he? angered suppliers told Armenian reporters. Meanwhile, the price of tomatoes has also tangibly increased in Armenia. Expert on food law David Pipoyan believes that the current situation is the result of incompetent management. In an interview with Armenian media, he stressed that the work of the current agriculture ministry does not differ from its predecessors. Now both farmers and producers are dissatisfied, while food supply should be an integral part of the national security strategy, he noted. The expert stressed that the Armenian agriculture ministry should develop an agricultural policy, otherwise farmers and consumers will constantly complain about the cost of milk, meat and vegetables. Thus, despite the fact that the new leadership of Armenia has been in power for the fifth month, the main problems of the population of the country have not been solved yet. Leading an endless 'war' against his predecessors, Pashinyan forgets to take care of ordinary citizens who brought him to power. This, in turn, may easily lead to another wave of discontent in the Armenian society. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 79 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Sept. 27. Armenian armed forces were using heavy machine guns. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Russian President Vladimir Putins forthcoming visit to Baku clearly testifies that Russia is interested in long and close cooperation with Azerbaijan - the leading strategic and trade-economic partner in the South Caucasus, expert of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies of the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences Farhad Ibrahimov told Trend Sept. 26. Ibrahimov made the remarks on the eve of President Putins visit to Baku. "During the visit, President Putin intends to participate in the Russia-Azerbaijan interregional forum tomorrow, during which several areas of cooperation, namely, military-political, economic and humanitarian, will be discussed, Ibrahimov, who is also Russian political analyst, said. I think that within the economic cooperation, the sides will actively discuss cooperation along the North-South Transport Corridor, he said. I would like to stress that at the meeting with President Putin in Sochi in September, President Aliyev pointed out that cargo transportation along the North-South corridor has grown by 100 times. Moreover, the two countries set a goal to increase the trade turnover up to $10 billion till 2024, Ibrahimov said. In fact, the task is not simple. But taking into account the implementation of large-scale regional and international projects in which Azerbaijan and Russia participate, negotiations and the signing of a number of important documents contributing to the development of Russian business in Azerbaijan, it will be possible to achieve the set goals." In other words, Russia is interested in investing in Azerbaijan, he said. This proves once again that for Moscow, Baku is a political priority and an economic partner, and it is interested in maintaining stability in this region." As for the breakthrough in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict following the visit, not to allow the resumption of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia is the most important thing for Russia, Ibrahimov added. "The military and political issues, in particular, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be discussed during the meetings of the presidents of the two countries," he stressed. This issue remains topical amid the Moscow-Yerevan relations which are not very favourable. Azerbaijan conducts independent and balanced foreign policy, he said. The country has reiterated that it does not intend to join any military alliances, so that Azerbaijan's joining the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) or some other alliance, will depend on initiatives and decision-making by the Azerbaijani leadership. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Sara Israfilbayova It is necessary to simplify the registration and customs clearance of medicines imported into the country, and there is a need to study and apply international experience. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov made the remarks during the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers devoted to simplifying the rules of registration, delivery to the country and registration of medicines at customs points. At the meeting chaired by Ali Ahmadov, the leaders and representatives of relevant state structures held discussions. Addressing the event Ahmadov stressed that the relevant structures came up with a number of new proposals in order to replenish the range of preparations of the drug market in Azerbaijan, providing citizens with quality medicine, and strengthening the control over quality of medicines. The availability of any kind of medicines in Azerbaijan will give impetus to the development of our health care. I believe that access to the drug market is essential. On the other hand, the import of medicines should be based on criteria referring to medicines recommended by WHO, the whole import procedure should be seriously simplified. To this end, the State Customs Committee, based on world experience, should come up with new proposals. At the same time, the Ministry of Healthcare should strengthen the control over the quality of medicines. I am confident that changes in the legislation based on these proposals will serve both to the convenience and health of our citizens, said Ahmadov. Chairman of the State Customs Committee Safar Mehdiyev, Minister of Healthcare Ogtay Shiraliyev and other heads of the relevant structures noted that they will make new proposals in the near future based on the world experience in this field. In late 2015, the government announced that Azerbaijan will create its own enterprises that will manufacture medicines to cease dependence on imports. Today, the local market of medicines is heavily dependent on imports. To this end, the Pirallahi Industrial Park is established by the order of President Ilham Aliyev On Establishment of Pirallahi Industrial Park dated September 14, 2016. Currently, three pharmaceutical plants are being constructed in the Pirallahi Industrial Park. --- Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Sara Israfilbayova There are opportunities to use the potential of the Caspian Sea, which will revitalize tourism with riparian countries and establish close economic relations. A very promising cruise route can be created in the Caspian Sea, which never existed in the history of tourism. Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism of Russia Oleg Safonov, made the remarks speaking at the round table, entitled Development of cooperation in the field of tourism, held within the framework of the 9th Russian-Azerbaijani interregional forum. Safonov went on to say that currently cruise tourism is developing in the world at a very fast pace. The world leaders of cruise tourism are interested in the appearance of new routes, I think that our joint task will be to attract the world's leading cruise tourism leaders, he said. According to him, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran are very positive about this project. Safonov noted that the 9th Russian-Azerbaijani interregional forum promotes active discussion and solution of these most important tasks. In accordance with the signed memorandum, by the end of 2019 sea tours of the Russian cruise ship Peter the Great will begin in Baku. The Memorandum provides for joint activities to study and develop optimal routes for cruise passenger vessels, such as ports of the Black Sea - inland waterways of the Russian Federation - Astrakhan - ports of the Caspian Sea; Moscow-Baku; Astrakhan - Makhachkala - Baku; Baku - Anzali - Nousher - Turkmenbashi - Aktau - Astrakhan and others. Tourism in Azerbaijan is developing rapidly, and to support the flow of foreign visitors, comprehensive activities are carried out. Azerbaijan is engaged in the efforts to diversify the non-oil economy, and tourism industry is one of the promising sectors to contribute to the achievement of this ambitious goal. Thanks to all these, the country has improved its tourism performance in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 released by experts of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The tourism development strategy in Azerbaijan provides for effective use of the potential of all regions of the country in this area. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has prepared a new draft law on tourism, aimed at improving the legal framework for the development of the tourism industry, and is currently in the process of coordinating with the relevant structures, and a strategy for tourism development in Azerbaijan for 2016-2025 has been developed. --- Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz NRB to issue fresh notes from Oct 7 The Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it would be issuing fresh bank notes from October 7 through 22 different branches in the Kathmandu Valley for the upcoming Dashain festival.The crispy paper money goes into high demand as new notes are traditionally given as gifts during the festival. By Trend Shahin Mustafayev, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy and Industry, and Akbar Behnamjoo, the governor of Ardabil, explored ways to enhance trade ties between Baku and the northwestern Iranian province. Mustafayev hailed the current level of trade ties between the two countries, particularly in the sector of transportation. He added that several meetings between the two neighboring countries officials have helped pave the way for enhanced ties between the two nations. CEO of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Saeed Mohammadzadeh and his Azerbaijani counterpart Javid Gurbanov were also present at the meeting. Mohammadzadeh referred to the latest developments around the completion of the International NorthSouth Transport Corridor. Gurbanov, for his part, pointed to the opening of Baku-Astara highway on the Islamic Republic of Iran's border last week and said the length of Baku-Astara road was already 243 kilometers, which by the new highway has been reduced to 204 kilometers. He added the two sides have great potential to boost their transportation ties. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova Art works inspired by the creativity and philosophy of the great poets and thinker of the East Imadaddin Nasimi (1369-1417) have been created by the participants of the 9th Maiden Tower International Art Festival. The festival, being held as part of Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts, and Spirituality, is taking place in Old City, the historical core of Baku. Maiden Tower International Art Festival has been organized since 2010 with the view of the global promotion of the Maiden Tower in Icherisheher, included in UNESCOs World Heritage List in 2000. Participating in the festival, artists from different countries create works reflecting the synthesis of diverse cultures and traditions, having decorated mock-ups of the Maiden Tower in their national style. These unique works will play a significant role in the promotion of the Maiden Tower - an architectural monument of Azerbaijan - being demonstrated in various cities of the world. This year, the festival brought together 17 talented artists. Their art works attract the attention of Baku residents and city's guests. The festival is held in a creative and friendly atmosphere, the participants are happy to talk about the topic of their work, and how they are inspired by the work of the brilliant poet and thinker Nasimi. The participant of the project, artist Narmina Veliyeva is taking part in the festival for the first time. This year the event is part of Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts, and Spirituality, so all artists have the task to create artistic compositions dedicated to Nasimi. The idea of my work is based on one of the most famous creations of the poet Both worlds can fit within me. My composition shows the male and female origin, cosmos, flora and fauna ... the whole world, everything that God created, she said. Through her work, artist Sayali Mammadova showcases the universe. She depicted people floating or flying in the course of time. I created to this work, inspired by the poetry of Nasimi. I wanted to show that people sometimes waste their time, but we need to appreciate every moment of life, she said. Another participant of the project, artist Gunay Baylarova stressed that her work is devoted to ideas, Nasimi's judgments. The idea of artistic composition was formed under the influence of Nasimi's gazelles. She painted her mock-up in different colors in order to show the world of Nasimi through her eyes. The poetry Nasimi has a great influence on the work of Roya Hasanova. Nasimi's poetry has a great influence on my work, I have remained faithful to my convictions until the end, and I agree with many of his views. I sketched my work in advance, but in the process of creation I made some changes. The branches around the hero of my composition symbolize that he absorbed everything - both beauty and greatness, she said. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Laman Ismayilova A closing ceremony of the 10th Uzeyir Hajibeyli International Music Festival was held at Heydar Aliyev Center on September 26. The festival, co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture was held in Azerbaijan on September 18-26. World-famous musicians and ensembles from Azerbaijan, Russia, the U.S., Turkey, Italy and Slovakia mesmerized the audience with their unique style of performing. The closing ceremony was attended by scientists, artists and art figures. People's Artist of Russia, the State Prize laureate, violoncellist Sergei Roldugin, the laureate of international competitions, the famous violinist Pavel Milyukov and the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyli under the direction of the Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, Eyyub Guliyev performed at the concert. The musicians presented rarely performed symphonic and instrumental works - S. Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto, J. Brahms's Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, K. Sen-Sans's 1st Cello Concerto and orchestral works by A. Borodin. The concert was astonishingly performed within an atmosphere that could not have been improved. The international music festival dedicated to Uzeyir Hajibeyli, the founder of the Azerbaijani professional music has been held in Azerbaijan since 2009. Famous musicians, art collectives, soloists and conductors from different countries perform at the festival. It should be noted that the tradition of celebrating the birthday of the prominent composer as a musical holiday was set by great Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev. The birthday of legendary composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli (September 18) is celebrated as National Music Day in Azerbaijan since 1995. The great composer has left an indelible mark in the history of the Azerbaijani people. Uzeyir Hajibeylis outstanding musical talent started a revolution in the Azerbaijani musical timeline. He was the very musician to introduce an extraordinary innovation in the nation's music culture, to constantly refresh it, and adjust to modern tastes. He was a founder of an opera genre not only in Azerbaijan, but the East and created the first Muslim opera in the Islamic world. His unique synthesis of Oriental and Western music significantly promoted the classical music traditions in the East and opened a page of classical music patterns. History recognizes Hajibeyli as an innovator as well as the first to establish a professional music school and Orchestra for Traditional Folk Instruments, to compose the Muslim worlds first opera and operetta, to introduce a woman on stage, to write the countrys national anthem (which is the official anthem of Azerbaijan today), to be awarded the highest artistic title of the Soviet Union. Through his music as well as work as a journalist, teacher, and translator, Hajibeyli played a vital role in the fight against illiteracy and helped usher in a cultural shift, launching a period of enlightenment that transcended Azerbaijans borders and reached many others in the Eurasia region. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend New leadership of Armenia demonstrates reluctance in the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by making contradictory statements, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said. Mammadyarov made the remarks at the Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Upholding the UN Charter and the purposes and principles of the NAM: towards a culture of peace in New York. The established principle of the inadmissibility of the use of force for acquisition of territory and the ensuing obligation of non-recognition of situations resulting from serious violations of international law must be applied and enforced universally and unconditionally, the minister added. Azerbaijans position with regard to this issue is well known, coming from its experience of facing armed aggression, ethnic cleansing and unlawful foreign military occupation, he said. Regretfully, I dont have any good news to share concerning the settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said. New leadership of Armenia demonstrates reluctance in the settlement of the conflict by making contradictory and irresponsible statements, Mammadyarov said. Such provocative approach will definitely not serve for the positive developments in the negotiations process and will only worsen already fragile situation on the ground. We call upon international community to send a strong message to Armenia to act in accordance with international law and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions adopted with regard to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the minister added. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The meeting between the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the sidelines of the UN GA 73rd session was held in New-York, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry said in a message Sept. 27. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Rashid Shirinov The Armenian prime minister confused the streets of Yerevan with the rostrum of the UN General Assembly. He again tried in vain to mislead the international community, Hikmat Hajiyev, Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations Department of Azerbaijans Presidential Administration, told Azertac on September 26. He was commenting on the speech of the Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan at the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Attempts to present his rise to power through a coup and the establishment of ochlocratic dictatorship as democracy look ridiculous. Everyone is well aware of the consequences of populism, political demagoguery and manipulation of the masses in Europe in the 1930-1940s, Hajiyev said. He noted that the Armenian PM, against the topic of general discussions of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, did not voice any facts or figures related to the development of Armenia, implementation of sustainable development goals at the national level or living in peaceful conditions with neighboring states, because they simply do not exist. Armenia, which grossly violated the Article 2(4) of the UN Charter by using force against Azerbaijan and occupying the Nagorno-Karabakh region and adjacent seven regions of Azerbaijan, put forward groundless accusations against Azerbaijan in connection with the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Hajiyev stressed, adding that Armenia committed bloody ethnic cleansing on its territory and in the occupied lands against more than one million indigenous Azerbaijani population. He further noted that the Armenian PM, continuing the policy of his predecessors, with his provocative, military-adventurist steps, contradictory and absurd thoughts serves to paralyze the negotiation process. The entire international community knows very well that the most important obstacle in the settlement of the conflict is Armenias continuation of the military occupation against Azerbaijan and the presence of Armenian troops in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, Hajiyev pointed out. Moreover, the Armenian PM calls for the annexation of the occupied territories in conditions of total disrespect to international law and the UN Charter. The deputy head of the foreign relations department also mentioned that the Armenian PM deliberately remains silent about the UN Security Council resolutions that form the political and legal basis for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In order to achieve progress in the settlement of the conflict in accordance with the requirements of the UN Security Council resolutions, Armenia must withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, not impede the return of internally displaced persons to their native lands and comply with international obligations, Hajiyev stressed. Only in this case, it will be possible to resolve the conflict and ensure sustainable peace and stability in the region. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war began, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years. Until now, Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Rashid Shirinov Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan behaved on the UN rostrum not as a responsible leader of a country, but as the organizer and demagogic leader of street protests and a rally speaker, Azerbaijani political analyst and MP Rasim Musabayov told Day.az on September 27. The expert noted that Pashinyans provocative speech at the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly only confirms that he is not ready to come to the negotiating table on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and come to reasonable compromises in accordance with international law. This man, standing on the UN rostrum, pretended that he is not aware of the four UN Security Council resolutions and two UN General Assembly resolutions prescribing unconditional and immediate withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani regions, normalization of relations with the provision of security measures, opening of communications and return of refugees, and only then, in a peaceful atmosphere, with the participation of representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh, determination of its status, Musabayov stressed. He also noted that Pashinyans ranting, that Bakus refusal to negotiate with the puppet regime in Nagorno-Karabakh means the intention to carry out an Armenian genocide there, is simply absurd. It was the Armenian groups who committed the genocide of Azerbaijanis in Khojaly and ethnic cleansing in the occupied regions, depriving more than 600,000 people of the basic right to live on the land of their ancestors, Musabayov stressed. The expert further noted that unless Pashinyan sobers up from the unexpectedly easy removal of his predecessor Serzh Sargsyan and euphoria from the victory of his supporters in the elections in Yerevan, one should not expect him to have a rational understanding of the situation and show responsible behavior in the negotiations. I am afraid the power of the Azerbaijani Army will have to be used to accelerate this process. I have a growing belief that otherwise it will be impossible to sober Pashinyan up. This is a dangerous and undesirable option, but Azerbaijan may have no other alternative, Musabayov noted. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Naila Huseynli The Azerbaijan-Ukraine relations have reached the level of strategic partnership, said Azerbaijani First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov at an event dedicated to the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence in Baku on September 26. The relations between the two countries are based on friendship and mutual respect. Economic ties are developing rapidly, he said. Eyyubov underlined the role of the Azerbaijan-Ukraine intergovernmental commission in intensification of economic ties between the two countries. Ukrainian ambassador to Azerbaijan Alexander Mishchenko also made remarks at an event, speaking about successfully cooperation of the two countries in many areas. The ambassador stressed that many companies with Ukrainian share work in Azerbaijan. At the same time, he stated that construction of a pharmaceutical plant of Ukrainian company Indar will be launched in Azerbaijan soon. Azerbaijan and Ukraine enjoy sustainable prospects of bilateral relations in political, economic, energy, transport and humanitarian fields. Azerbaijan is one of the main trade partners of Ukraine among the CIS countries. Azerbaijani State Customs Committee reports that trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Ukraine amounted to $343.87 million in January-June 2018, $146.57 million of which accounted for the export of Azerbaijani products. Main goods imported from Ukraine to Azerbaijan are products of metallurgy, machine building, agriculture and chemical industry. Meanwhile, goods exported from Azerbaijan to Ukraine are generally products of fuel energy industry, chemical industry and agro-industry. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen in New York on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said in a message on Sept. 27. Broad exchange of views on the OIC-Azerbaijan relations and further development of cooperation, the OIC Contact Group on the aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan and actions to be taken in this framework, as well as the increasing role of the OIC as an important strategic partner of the UN on maintaining global peace and security were held between the sides. Mammadyarov also met with United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Erlan Abdyldaev and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Honduras Maria Dolores Aguero Lara. During the meetings the sides exchanged their views on the prospects of cooperation development, the issues of mutual cooperation and support within the international organizations, as well as the agenda of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Interested countries can join the North-South energy corridor project, Azerbaijans Deputy Energy Minister Samir Valiyev said. He was speaking at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects for Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum in Baku. We believe that it would be good to build a new power transmission line to strengthen cooperation with [Russia], the deputy minister said. The negotiations are underway in this direction. This project will serve to the creation of a new North-South energy corridor. He reminded that the deputy ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran met to discuss this issue, and a relevant protocol was signed. This is a very promising direction, he added. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz PM Oli, British PM May hold meeting Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has held bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the UN Headquarters on Thursday at the sideline of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly By Trend On October 3-6, Moscow will host a meeting of a special working group on energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, Azerbaijans Deputy Energy Minister Samir Valiyev said. He was speaking Sept. 27 at a round table meeting Industry and Energy: Prospects of Bilateral Cooperation, held as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum in Baku. He noted that the meeting of the working group, which operates under the intergovernmental commission, will be held as part of the Russian Energy Week. Energy is one of the main areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, he added. As successful examples of cooperation, Valiyev mentioned the activities of Lukoil company in Azerbaijan, cooperation as part of OPEC, trade in petroleum products, etc. The 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum started its work in Baku Sept. 27. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries and will become a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says US President Donald Trumps decision to exit the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has isolated Washington as the majority of countries back the historic agreement, Press TV reported. At the UN General Assembly, we witnessed that the great majority of world leaders endorsed the JCPOA as a diplomatic achievement, which means that the US has been left isolated, Rouhani said at a new press conference on Wednesday. He noted that he US decision to withdraw from the JCPOA was not agreed upon by other countries. Except for few countries, others regarded the measure as a political mistake, he said. Rouhani said that the US should either rectify its mistake or continue with this wrong process. But the US will learn from its mistake sooner or later and will return to the deal, he noted. The Iranian chief executive warned that the USs measures were in the interests of neither its own people nor others. Rouhani said that Iran was in contact with its fiends, including the EU, to find channels to keep economic transactions and to support foreign companies doing business in the country. He once again said that Iran will remain in the deal as long as it reaps benefits from it. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend A meeting was held between the Acting Chairman of the Board of Uzbekneftegaz JSC Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov and Senior Vice President, Deputy Regional Executive Director of Mitsubishi Corporation Kazuo Inada, UzDaily reported. During the meeting, Ashrafkhanov noted that the compressor equipment of Mitsubishi Corporation is successfully operated at the Shurtan gas chemical complex for about 20 years, and taking into account the reliability and high performance of the equipment, delivery of compressor equipment within the GTL project has been examined in detail. Uzbekneftegaz acquainted the Japanese partners with the work carried out jointly with Boston Consulting Group to develop a concept for the oil and gas industry, providing for the implementation of investment projects for deep processing of natural gas among priority areas. In turn, the Japanese side expressed interest in participating in the projects implemented by Uzbekneftegaz. Inada also briefed on the possibility of attracting funds of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance the investment projects. The parties agreed to establish a joint working group to develop specific proposals for cooperation in the oil and gas sector. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Kamila Aliyeva Kazakhstans First Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin was on a working visit in Beijing (China), where he held talks with the First Vice Premier of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China, co-chairman of the Kazakhstan-China Cooperation Committee Han Zheng. During the trip, he also held bilateral meetings with the heads of major investment, financial, industrial, construction, transport and logistics corporations, the website of the Kazakh Prime Minister reported. The meetings focused on the implementation of joint investment projects. Thanks to the leaders of the two states - President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Chairman of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping - Kazakhstan and China have achieved a high level of cooperation across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, Mamin said during a meeting with Han Zheng. According to the Kazakh official, China is one of the main trade partners of the republic. The foreign trade turnover between the countries in 2017 increased by more than 30 percent. High dynamics, which is characteristic for 2018, will allow increasing the volume of trade to $ 20 billion. It is noted that to date, Kazakhstan and China are implementing 51 joint projects in the field of industry, transport and logistics for the amount of about $ 28 billion. Successful implementation of these projects will create a number of large-scale productions, whose products will be delivered to the world's leading markets. An agreement was reached on the joint implementation of the new 11 projects worth $ 1.9 billion. Mamin also held talks with the management of the companies CITIC Group, China Xin Xing Group Co., YTO Group Corp., Jiangxi Copper Company, Jiaxin Investment Resources, China Energy Engineering, CSI Solar Power Group, China CAMC Engineering Co., LOVOL HEAVY INDUSTRY , China Energy Engineering Corporation, China General Nuclear Power Group, etc. Also, issues of development of transcontinental transportation and further development of the joint terminal and FEZ Khorgos - East Gate were discussed at the meeting with Head of COSCO Shipping Corporation Huang Xiaowen and Chairman of the Port of Lianyungang. Moreover, issues of cooperation in the financial sector were discussed with Head of China Construction Bank Wang Zuji. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Uzbekistan on Oct. 18-19, Uzbek media reported referring to the message of the Foreign Trade Ministry of Uzbekistan. "The meeting of the heads of Uzbekistan and Russia - Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Vladimir Putin - will be held in Tashkent on Oct. 18-19, 2007. The first Russian-Uzbek forum of inter-regional cooperation will be held within the framework of the official visit of the Russian president," the ministry said. Russia today is one of the leading trade and economic partners of Uzbekistan. The Central Asian state employs over 960 enterprises with participation of Russian capital and, according to experts of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, their number will exceed 1,000 before the end of the year. Uzbekistan itself is active in Russia, and it has already opened over 560 enterprises. Uzbekistan is on the fourth place in terms of commodity turnover with Russia among the CIS countries. At the end of 2017, it amounted to $3.6 billion and increased by 33.9 percent. In January-February 2018, trade turnover increased by 50.2 percent and reached almost $600 million. Russia's exports grew by 59.7 percent, and imports - by 28.1 percent. At the same time, the total volume of investments from Russia to Uzbekistan exceeded $8.5 billion. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend A group of French experts from the world-famous Louvre Museum, headed by Director of the Department of Islamic Art Janik Linz, is on a working visit in Uzbekistan on Sept. 19-28, Uzbek media reported. The delegation also includes Director of the French-Uzbek archaeological mission in Bukhara, archaeologist of the department of Islamic art of the Louvre Rocco Rante and experts-restorers Anna Ligei, Christina Pariselle, Dolphin Eli Lefevre, Geraldi Fray. The main purpose of the visit is to conduct a study in cooperation with experts from Uzbekistan, provide scientific analysis and draw up an expert opinion on the status of the exhibits previously selected in museums of Uzbekistan for the Civilization and Culture on the Silk Road the exhibition, which will be held at the Louvre in 2021. This is the second visit of the French delegation. The first one took place in May 2018. The French experts on restoration and conservation of museum exhibits are carrying out systematic work on the study of cultural heritage items of Uzbekistan. They conduct their research in leading museums and research institutes in Uzbekistan. French archaeologist Geraldi Fray, in order to study the collection, is planning to visit the Karakalpak Scientific Research Institute of the Humanities. French and Uzbek scientists are conducting a large-scale work on selection and study of the preliminary list of exhibits that most fully reflect the ancient and medieval culture of states that existed on the territory of modern Uzbekistan. Based on the results of the joint study, an expert opinion will be given on each selected exhibit and a single list of works of art will be drawn up for the exhibition in the Louvre. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Naila Huseynli Local and foreign tourists will be able to benefit from the services of the State Historical-Cultural and Natural Reserve Yanardag and the State Historical-Architectural Reserve Ateshgah Temple, on September 27. State Tourism Agency said that number of events are planned to be held on the occasion of the World Tourism Day on September 27. A special welcome ceremony will be held at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport for the first time this year on the Tourism Day and each tourist entering the country will be presented with gifts from the national sweets at the border checkpoint. As a continuation of events dedicated to the Tourism Day, the Baku Tourism Information Center will launch 50 percent discount on Baku City Tour buses to visit Baku's main attractions. Buses will depart from the Government House on September 27, from 10 am to 7 pm, every hour, and only in one day. During the day, local and foreign tourists will be able to benefit from the services of the State Historical-Cultural and Natural Reserve Yanardag and the State Historical-Architectural Reserve Ateshgah Temple. Exhibition of carpet-waver, rug-waver, hat maker, carver, jeweler, pottery artists, as well as national musical instruments, arakhchin, embroidery craft samples, and ceramic, clay, miniature artists' handicrafts will be organized, and master classes will be shown in the Fountain Square. Honey and national sweets will be demonstrated during the festival, which will last for four days. Moreover, a live concert will be held at the Fountain Square on Tourism Day. Yanardag is located on the territory of the village of Mohammedi about 30 kilometers away from Baku. The site of the reserve is a hill, at the base of which the flame constantly arises due to the release of natural gas from the earth. The history of the monument is shrouded in mystery, but a local legend goes that a shepherd once accidentally lit a fire there and the hill has been burning ever since. For long period, Azerbaijan's population worshiped the fire. The natural fires of Azerbaijan are considered to have played a crucial part in the creation of a mystical faith centered on ceremonial fire cults - Zoroastrianism, which appeared in the region around 2,000 years ago. Moreover, the history of the Ateshgah temple goes back to the Sassanid Empire, when Zoroastrianism was the main religion in this region. But when the army of the Caliphate broke into the South Caucasus in 643, the Fire Temple fell into decay. In the 15-17th centuries the Indian fire worshipers, who came to the Absheron with trade caravans, began to make pilgrimage to Surakhani. Atashgah, included in the UNESCOs preliminary World Heritage list and considered as one of the most interesting monuments due to its historical value and modern appearance, was built in the 17-18th centuries. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz PM Oli voices faith in fundamental rights, freedom and democracy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has stressed Nepals unflinching commitment to democracy and fundamental freedom saying that the country would make no compromises on democratic norms, values and principles. You can reach Sam Morgen at 661-395-7415 or smorgen@bakersfield.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @smorgenTBC. Adventist Health is moving again to outsource local hospital jobs, saying it will let go of 46 employees in Bakersfield and Tehachapi but that Proposed name for State 7 sparks protest The parliamentary committees proposal to designate Godawari in Kailali as capital of Province 7 has sparked protests in the region, with local people of Dhangadhi, the temporary provincial capital, taking to the streets. The Crazed and Spooky Tales of One Oregon Coast Lighthouse Published 09/26/2018 at 4:44 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff (Cannon Beach, Oregon) - The truth behind this old lighthouse off the north Oregon coast is certainly weirder than fiction itself or any of its ghost tales, for that matter. The Tillamook Rock lighthouse has never been accessible to the public, and thus has always sparked the imagination with its mysterious silhouette lying more than a mile away. (Photos courtesy the Furnish family, circa 1970). As the Halloween season descends upon the Oregon coast, it seems like a prime time to spin the ol' yarns. Construction on this blob of rock began in the 1880s, after initial plans were scrapped to put it on a fog-prone, blind spot area atop Tillamook Head. Things did not get off to a good start. The first man to step on the rock to do some surveying drowned, creating an immediate public outcry that perhaps this wasnt a good idea. After the top was blasted, construction crews had to endure insane conditions, living under soggy tents and enormous waves that constantly knocked at them. The crews lived in rotating shifts on the rock, and there were so many casualties in these conditions that men waiting onshore to work there were actually sequestered away from the public and from talk of what went on there. These robber barons of old in charge of the project went to incredible lengths to keep construction workers away from the truth. They were housed in various places along the southern Washington coast, away from Seaside, and for a while even on a ship anchored just offshore. Once it was built, lightkeepers lived there in shifts too: four of them, usually a few months at a time. It was a brutal existence, and one keeper reportedly went mad from the solitude. A giant winch was used to bring supplies and personnel from visiting ships to the rock, which was a dangerous and unwieldy endeavor under even the best conditions. They were put inside an object called a breeches buoy which is essentially a giant pair of pants encircled by a floatation ring, attached to the cables overhead. Numerous men were lost doing this. The place was ripe for ghost stories. It didnt help that local tribes purportedly said it was inhabited by evil spirits. There are rumors of such paranormal tales over the years, including the claims of voices heard over the din of storms from the lens area and other isolated or dark parts of the lighthouse. Sometimes, stories about ghost ships appearing in the fog and drifting past are associated with the place as well, but usually these have foundations in actual events involving near misses from real ships. Indeed, a ship called the Lupatia nearly hit the lighthouse in dense fog, but was warned away just in time. However, it did soon after slam into Tillamook Head, killing all aboard except the ships dog. One local legend has it that you can sometimes still hear the dog howl in the night near Tillamook Head. Another almost spooky tale from the lighthouse comes from a keeper who felt something brush past his face in the dark while lying in bed. All of a sudden, he heard strange footsteps in the pitch black, and after a time, bolted towards the light switch, arms swinging wildly in an attempt to smack whatever trespasser was there. When he turned on the light, he found only an injured bird that had somehow made its way into his bedroom. The odd footsteps were its broken wing hitting the floor. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1957, with the last keeper, Oswald Allik, proclaiming I return thee to the elements. In the 80s, after numerous failed ownerships, a firm called Eternity at Sea bought the Tillamook Rock lighthouse property, and for a time it served as a columbarium a place for ashes of the dead. Rather comically, that firm ran ads in the early 90s or so offering free satellite TV for life if you reserved your resting place early. Presumably, they figured if you were making such arrangements you wouldnt be around too long. That firm was bankrupt and also deceased by the early 2000s, and no one or nothing is in charge of the old Oregon coast lighthouse now. Lodging in Cannon Beach - 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 Police busted a group of 17 people they say were responsible for a series of brazen Apple store robberies in 19 California counties in which suspects stormed past shoppers and employees to rip merchandise off counters. The robberies, which happened in some Bay Area stores, caused more than $1 million in losses to Apple. The suspects wore hoodies and would enter stores in large groups to snatch products on display in a matter of seconds, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. We will continue our work with local law enforcement authorities to extinguish this mob mentality and prosecute these criminals to hold them accountable, he said. The blitz hits often captured on surveillance footage followed a familiar pattern: A group of suspects would storm into stores as unsuspecting customers browsed items, rip merchandise from tabled chargers and sprint out to a getaway car. Officials on Thursday didnt specify the number of robberies, but at the beginning of the month KGO-TV counted at least 21 grab-and-run thefts since mid-May across the state. Becerra said seven adults were arrested Tuesday and booked in Alameda County jail, and another suspect is in custody in Sonoma County. Charges for conspiracy to commit grand theft were filed against suspects in Fresno, Santa Clara and Alameda counties. Arrest warrants were issued for nine other suspects, Becerra said. The suspects charged in Fresno County were identified as Leo David Smith III, Leo David Smith IV, Yoshua Neshon Barker, Armon Darzell James and Kennith Martin Jr., according to court documents. Prosecutors are charging the five with conspiracy to commit grand theft and grand theft of personal property after officials said they stole more than $25,000 worth of property from the Apple store at Fashion Fair Mall in Fresno on July 7. There were 10 suspects named in Alameda County charging documents, including two who apparently also were charged in Fresno. They were identified as Leo David Smith, Joshua Jamal Cole, Nahom Ephrem Yemane, Cody Stewart, Antoine Derell Johnson, Branson Golden, Yoshua Neshun Barker, Taye Duran Davis, Jeral Wimberly and Jeremi Hanks. Theyre all charged with commercial burglary and second-degree commercial burglary for an alleged Sept. 25 crime in Alameda County. Officials say more than $60,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from an Apple store at that time. The complaint does not list the exact location, but the East Bay Times reported a snatch and grab involving six to eight suspects at an Emeryville Apple store on this date. Apple spokesman Nick Leahy declined to comment on the arrests and referred questions to the state Department of Justice. He wouldnt confirm or deny the companys rumored kill switch, which can supposedly disable stolen devices, or any other antitheft measures. We dont comment on matters of security, Leahy said. Apple thieves hit the Bay Area hard in August, striking stores in Santa Rosa, Walnut Creek, Emeryville and Corte Madera. Just after 8 p.m. on Aug. 29, police said, three men in hoodies ran off with $35,000 worth of electronics from the store in the Santa Rosa Plaza, an indoor mall near the citys downtown. Four days earlier, thieves rushed into Walnut Creeks Apple Store at Broadway Plaza and made off with $30,000 worth of iPhones and laptops from displays in the store, police said. They fled in a black Mercedes-Benz waiting out front. Authorities have not confirmed which stores the suspects are being charged with robbing. The San Luis Obispo Police Department and Oakland Police Department led the investigation, along with the assistance of several law enforcement agencies across the state, officials said. Retail thefts cost California businesses millions and leave them prone to copycat criminals, the attorney general noted. Ultimately, consumers pay the cost of this merchandise hijacking, Becerra said. Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy One teenage girl from Southeast Texas was killed and another injured in a two-car collision near Spurger Wednesday afternoon, according to information from the Department of Public Safety. The wreck occurred at about 2:45 p.m. on FM 1013 in Tyler County when a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix traveling eastbound crossed the center line and hit a 2015 Ford Mustang head-on, the department said. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday joined three other Republican governors in calling on the U.S. Senate to delay a vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh until sexual misconduct allegations against the judge are fully investigated. "The governor believes there should be a full investigation prior to the process moving forward in any way," Hogan's spokeswoman Amelia Chasse said in a statement. She added that Hogan thinks the allegations, which have captivated Capitol Hill and prompted women across the country to reveal their untold stories of sexual assault, should be reviewed by an independent investigator. Govs. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Phil Scott of Vermont and John Kasich of Ohio have also broken with national party leaders and called for caution in proceeding with the confirmation process. A vote is scheduled for Friday. Kasich called a delay "in the best interest of the country" and said in a statement that "without an investigation, and with so many serious issues involved, I can't support this nomination if they choose to move forward," according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Scott - like Hogan and Baker, a Republican governor of a Democrat-leaning state - told the Burlington Free Press "we owe it to Americans to make sure that they get it right. Because this doesn't happen every day." Hogan's call for the Senate Judiciary Committee to delay a vote marks a departure from the governor's traditional reluctance to wade into national politics. Last week, he declined a request from a state senator to direct the Maryland State Police to investigate the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were both teenagers at a Montgomery County house party in the early 1980s. Two other women have also come forward with allegations against Kavanaugh, which the judge - who lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland - has vehemently denied. Eleven Democratic state lawmakers from Maryland have asked the Montgomery County Police to investigate the complaints, provided the victims ask them to. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous said in a statement Thursday that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed. "Our leaders have an obligation not only to believe women when they bring up accusations but to enact systemic change," Jealous said. The Texas voter rolls have grown to 15.6 million people, a new record, Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos said this week. That is nearly a 400,000-person increase since March and a jump of 1.6 million since the last time Texas held a midterm election in 2014, according to election records. And there is still time for more voters to join the rolls before Oct. 9, the final day to register in time to vote in the midterm elections. "Just from people coming in and phone calls, I think it has been extremely busy for a midterm election," said Donna Alford, Orange County's assistant elections administrator. "If you look at the numbers, they are very close to those in 2016, which was a presidential election. And, that to me says something." Just over 5,000 registered to vote in Orange County from January to September in 2016. During that same window this year, 4,963 have filed applications, Alford said. In Jefferson and Hardin County, the registration numbers are relatively flat compared to previous years. In Newton County, Voter Registrar Melissa Burks said there has been a notable increase "the past couple of years since the presidential election." "Now, if only they come out and vote. That would be great," she said. "We still have people coming in and registering, so the number will likely change." Registering to vote and casting a ballot are two different things. Despite having 14 million registered voters in 2014, just 4.7 million people voted about 34 percent of voters. In presidential cycles, voter turnout is much higher, hitting almost 60 percent in 2016 and 2012. To register to vote, Texas residents can fill out an application online or contact their county election administrator's office. The surge of registered voters comes as Texas has one of the nation's hottest U.S. Senate races between Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Democrat Beto O'Rourke, as well as a half dozen close congressional races that could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Home Minister Thapa links police lapses to probe delay Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has blamed multiple lapses during investigation by the district police for the delay in nabbing the culprits in the rape and murder of Nirmala Pant, a teenager from Bhimdutta in Kanchapur. The Harris County Sheriff's Office released the names and mugshots of a dozen people arrested during a drug and sex trafficking investigation last week. Police and federal authorities said they arrested 13 patrons and the owner of El Condor Pool Hall, a bar in north Houston. Harris County police booked 11 people on drug-related charges and one person on a misdemeanor charge of failure to identify. In addition, two persons were arrested on outstanding warrants, although authorities did not specify what the warrants were for. READ MORE: Drug, sex trafficking investigation closes pool hall, 14 arrested A spokesperson for HCSO said Homeland Security was handling the investigation of sex trafficking at the bar and had already interviewed and let go an unspecified number of woman on the premise. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said it had seized several grams of narcotics, including cocaine and heroin at the premise. The agency also said the owner of the bar had agreed to cancel the establishment's alcohol permit. The multi-agency effort to investigate the bar arose from allegations that the bar was serving alcohol after hours and that narcotics were being purchased on the premise. See the names and mugshots of those arrested by Harris County police above. Fernando Ramirez covers Texas news and politics. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. | Fernando.ramirez@chron.com | @fernramirez93 Healthcare data breaches are on the rise, according to public data reported in a research letter and published in JAMA Network. The authors, Thomas McCoy Jr., MD, an orthopedic surgeon, and Roy Perlis, MD, a professor of psychiatry, analyzed all breaches posted to HHS' Office for Civil Rights breach portal between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2017 to determine trends over time. Here are five study highlights: 1. The researchers identified 2,149 breaches comprising a total of 176.4 million records during the seven-year time frame. 2. Individual breaches ranged in size, from exposing as few as 500 records to as many as 78.8 million records. Organizations are only required to report breaches to OCR if at least 500 records are breached. 3. The number of breach reports increased each year, from 199 in 2010 to 344 in 2017, with the exception of 2015. 4. Healthcare providers reported 70 percent of breaches, but only 21 percent of compromised records. Thirteen percent of breaches involved health plans, which accounted for the largest share of breached records at 63 percent. 5. The most common breach sites shifted from laptop and paper or film records in 2010 to network server and email in 2017. This shift coincided with a transition from theft as the No. 1 breach type in 2010 to hacking and unauthorized access in 2017. "As the type of data breached shifted toward electronic records and away from paper records, the nature of the breach likewise shifted toward electronic means, such as hacking," the authors concluded. "Although networked digital health records have the potential to improve clinical care and facilitate learning health systems, they also have the potential for harm to vast numbers of patients at once if data security is not improved." The download the complete research letter, click here. The price of justice With effectual and reliable investigation mechanisms in place, cases like Nirmala Pants would be a lot less in number New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals is accusing UnitedHealthcare of wrongfully denying $40.1 million in bills submitted by the public health system. The $40.1 million which the system seeks to recover through arbitration marks an increase from the original amount alleged by NYC Health + Hospitals. In May, the system accused UnitedHealthcare of wrongfully denying $11.5 million in bills and announced its intent to recover the amount from the insurer. NYC Health + Hospitals said it continues to seek reimbursement for inpatient care provided between July 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2017. It said the larger $40.1 million total reflects more alleged reimbursement denials that were not included in an initial review. One newly added case is a 1-year-old girl hospitalized with an elevated heart rate and a fever related to an abscess, according to the system. The girl required surgery consultation for incision and drainage, as well as IV antibiotics. Other alleged denied claims came from a 25-year-old pregnant woman with a history of miscarriages and a 32-year-old man who was transferred from a psychiatric unit for flu treatment. Arbitration is expected to begin on the initial cases and newly added cases this fall. The New York City Law Department will represent the system in arbitration. "I have read through many of the nearly 4,000 wrongful denials and am appalled to think that UnitedHealthcare truly believes that this baby, or this pregnant woman, or this man with behavioral health challenges did not need the care that we provided," said Matthew Siegler, senior vice president for managed care and patient growth at NYC Health + Hospitals. UnitedHealthcare told Becker's: "We have offered to meet with NYC Health + Hospitals to review their concerns, but they have declined our invitation. We remain willing to meet with them as soon as they are ready to address this issue with us directly." More articles on healthcare finance: This week's 5 must-reads for hospital RCM leaders New healthcare codes to document human trafficking take effect Oct. 1: 4 things to know Using innovation to improve the revenue cycle: 3 experts weigh in Huntsville (Texas) Memorial Hospital has secured a subsidy of up to $2.9 million to help it continue operations, according to a KBTX-TV report. The Walker County District Board of Managers approved the subsidy Sept. 26 after receiving a financial update from the hospital's interim CEO, Michael Morgan. Huntsville Memorial has struggled for months, and it is reportedly behind on payments to vendors and unable to pay rent. The hospital has taken steps to improve financially, such as closing its clinic in Madisonville, Texas, laying off employees and seeking partnership opportunities. However, Mr. Morgan told the district board the hospital continues to face deficits and won't get a $500,000 uncompensated care payment, according to KBTX-TV. The district board eventually voted to give the hospital up to $2.9 million until Huntsville Memorial finds a buyer or another solution is determined, the report states. The hospital is expected to receive the payment starting in November, with conditions. More articles on healthcare finance: NYC Health + Hospitals seeks $40.1M from UnitedHealthcare for alleged wrongful claim denials OSG Billing Services acquires 2 businesses HCA gifts $500K to American Red Cross for Hurricane Florence relief While insurance ultimately covered most of a Utah man's $80,000 bill from an out-of-state emergency room, a review of the bill by two medical billing companies sheds light onto how the hospital's charges were negotiated, according to KSL.com. Here are four takeaways from the report: 1. Richard Wyler required an emergency appendectomy in late June at an out-of-state, though in-network, hospital. Mr. Wyler underwent laparoscopic surgery and the hospital discharged him the next day. 2. The hospital billed $76,081 for the procedure. When including anesthesiologist and other provider expenses, the total grew to nearly $80,000, according to the report. Mr. Wyler's insurance company has a contracted price for the surgery, and said the eligible amount was only $15,384 of the charge. Mr. Wyler is responsible for $3,076 of the bill. 3. Two companies specializing in medical billing advocacy reviewed Mr. Wyler's bill. Victoria Caras, founder of Colorado-based Aspen Medical Billing Advocates, told KSL.com it "doesn't really matter what [hospitals] charge" in response to the nearly $80,000 bill. "They're only going to get the amount the insurance company agreed to." 4. Ms. Caras and Whitney Duhaime, vice president of Denials Management in Salt Lake City, said had Mr. Wyler been uninsured, they would have fought a $13,849 charge for the patient's abdominal and pelvis CT scan. Ms. Duhaime said the scan should only cost between $500 and $2,500. On Healthcare Bluebook, the price range for the procedure was about $300 to more than $6,000. Detroit Medical Center, part of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, has reached a five-year agreement with Troy, Mich.-based Wayne State University Physician Group, which includes more than 300 physicians. Under the agreement, WSUPG physicians will continue to provide clinical care for select services to patients at Detroit Medical Center. The physicians will also fill some medical leadership roles at the hospital. The agreement, which is longer than the previous two agreements between DMC and WSUPG, includes performance-based metrics that include various care and quality indicators. The agreement also establishes a joint operating committee, representing leaders from both organizations, which will provide oversight on decision-making and clinical program strategies. "The new agreement with WSUPG solidifies DMC's family of physicians, joining outstanding doctors in the DMC Medical Group as well as community physicians who provide care at DMC," Detroit Medical Center CEO Tony Tedeschi, MD, said in a press release. "Today's announcement also shows what's possible when two organizations work together for a common good: stronger care for the community." A 13-member team that included physicians representing DMC, WSUPG and Wayne State University School of Medicine negotiated the agreement. The finalized deal came after DMC and WSUPG reached an agreement in principle in late August. At that time, the parties said they were committed to finalizing the deal by late September. More articles on physician integration issues: Ex-New York med school president pleads guilty to illegally padding salary UPMC physician receives Japanese bilateral friendship award Yale strips cardiologist of endowed chair position after public outcry A federal grand jury indicted police officer Roger Then on Sept. 21 for several offenses arising from the assault of a patient at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., according to the Department of Justice. Mr. Then was charged in a five-count indictment with violating an individual's civil rights and other offenses. He was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in May for allegedly assaulting a patient at St. Joseph's Medical Center in March. According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Then and another police officer, Ruben McAusland, responded to an emergency call from a man who tried to take his own life at his New Jersey home March 5. The officers then went to St. Joseph's Medical Center, where the man was taken for treatment. Federal prosecutors said hospital surveillance footage shows the patient, while in a wheelchair, throw an object down the hall. The two officers then physically assaulted the man, according to the complaint. Prosecutors said Mr. Then and Mr. McAusland pushed the patient's wheelchair and punched him in the face. As the man fell, Mr. Then allegedly grabbed him by the back of the neck and pushed him to the ground. A second video, which was allegedly taken by Mr. Then using his cellphone, shows Mr. McAusland put on a pair of hospital gloves and strike the patient, who was lying on his back in a hospital bed, twice across the face. As a result of the assaults, the patient suffered several injuries to his face, including an eye injury that required surgery, according to the DOJ. In June, Mr. McAusland pleaded guilty to depriving the patient of his civil rights. He also pleaded guilty to stealing drugs from a crime scene last year and then selling them. He is awaiting sentencing. More articles on legal and regulatory issues: CHS subsidiary to pay $262M to settle fraud probe Alabama hospital pays $4.25M to settle false billing case 11 latest healthcare industry lawsuits CMS cited the University of Minnesota Medical Center at Fairview Riverside Hospital in Minneapolis for violating a patient's rights who went to the emergency department for mental health concerns the second Fairview hospital to be cited this month for this violation, according to federal records obtained by KMSP. Six things to know: 1. A CMS investigation this month also revealed Edina, Minn.-based Fairview Southdale Hospital violated patients' privacy rights by videotaping them without their knowledge during psychiatric evaluations. 2. At Fairview Riverside, staff took the ED patient to an exam room and asked her to put on rust-colored scrubs. The patient, whose medical history includes rape, anxiety, depression, drug use and post-traumatic stress, refused to change into the scrubs. 3. When the patient refused to change, staff members wrestled the patient to the floor, stripped her clothes off and forced her into the scrubs, and gave her a shot to sedate her. The hospital captured the incident on video. 4. After investigating Fairview Riverside's handling of this incident, CMS cited the hospital for violating the patient's rights. The investigation also found staff used a "show of force" to coerce two other patients to change into so-called "behavioral scrubs" when they initially declined. 5. The agency found the hospital had required ED patients with mental health issues to wear rust-colored scrubs to distinguish them from other patients. Although Fairview said using identifiable scrubs can help identify patients who pose a safety risk to themselves or others, it is now making the use of them voluntary. 6. Fairview continues to use cameras in emergency exam rooms to monitor patients who may harm themselves or others, but now has signs posted and verbally informs patients of the cameras. Patients also must consent to being recorded. Orthobiologics company Kuros Biosciences named its strategic advisory board. The board will work with Kuros' leadership team to guide the company's spine strategy. Board members include: Todd Allen, MD, PhD, orthopedic spine surgeon and spine fellowship director at UC San Diego School of Medicine Alpesh A. Patel, MD, spine surgeon and director of orthopedic spine surgery at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago Kornelis Poelstra, MD, PhD, orthopedic spine surgeon and founder of the Spine Center of Excellence at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla. Andrew A. Sama, MD, orthopedic spine surgeon at New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery and associate professor of clinical surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City Faheem Sandhu, MD, PhD, neurospine surgeon at Columbia, Md.-based MedStar Health, spine surgery director at Washington, D.C.-based MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and neurosurgery professor at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington D.C. R. Walsh, PhD, surgery professor at Sydney, Australia-based University of New South Wales and director of surgical and orthopedic research laboratories at Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, Australia The board will meet for the first time Sept. 27 at the 2018 North American Spine Society Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. The company will present new data supporting its recently launched MagnetOs bone graft product. Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based neurosurgeon Sonjay Fonn, MD, and his fiancee Deborah Seeger were convicted of submitting false claims to CMS and incurred fines of $5.49 million, according to the Southeast Missourian. Here are five things to know: 1. Prosecutors said Ms. Seeger founded DS Medical, a spinal implant distributorship, in November 2008 and Dr. Fonn used the company's implants in most of his surgeries from 2009 to 2012. CMS reportedly paid for 228 of Dr. Fonn's spine surgeries using those devices. 2. When Dr. Fonn used DS Medical implants, Ms. Seeger reportedly received 50 percent commission. According to the report, she used some of that income to "benefit" Dr. Fonn with purchases including home improvements and a yacht. 3. Prosecutors accused Dr. Fonn and Ms. Seeger of violating anti-kickback statute. Initially, a group of Cape Girardeau-based physicians brought a civil case against the couple before the federal government stepped in, and those individuals will receive a percentage of the final award. 4. In 2014, a federal grand jury indicted the couple on one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive illegal kickbacks and three additional counts of violating the anti-kickback statute. 5. The original case alleged Dr. Fonn's practice in Cape Girardeau, Midwest Neurosurgeons, had an "exclusive arrangement" with Ms. Seeger, generating significant profits. NuVasive enrolled the first patients in its study comparing lateral lumbar interbody fusion outcomes with traditional smooth PEEK intervertebral spacers and two NuVasive Advanced Materials Science portfolio implants. Here are three things to know: 1. Patients will undergo a one- or two-level XLIF procedure with smooth PEEK, Modulus 3D-printed titanium or Cohere Porous PEEK implants. 2. The study will also generate level 1 biologic outcome evidence, as each implant group will have randomization between Osteocel Pro and cancellous allograft chips with bone marrow aspirate 3. In this two-year, follow-up study, at least 10 surgeons will assess the fusion progression in approximately 300 U.S. patients. Bakery business McErlain's made a loss of nearly 640,000 in the year to October 2017 before it was put into administration and bought over, it has emerged. The loss compared to pre-tax profits of 484,000 for the year before. As well as producing bread, fresh pastries and cakes under its own Genesis Crafty brand, the company also manufactures under contract for supermarket giants including Marks & Spencer and Waitrose. The Magherafelt company was put into administration last month and sold to investor Paul Allen - also the head of Tayto Group - after facing trading difficulties exacerbated by the rise in raw material costs, including butter. In addition, the company had expanded rapidly, and invested in new machinery and staff. However, profit margins were not as high as expected during the key Christmas period of 2017, leading to losses and cash flow issues. The accounts for the year ending October 29, which were signed off in December, reveal an increase in net sales of 6.3% to 17.2m. However, gross profit margin had fallen from 40% in 2016 to 33.2%. Directors also expressed confidence in the future in the report, writing: "The directors anticipate that 2018 will increase turnover to 23m due to new contracts, new product lines with existing customers in addition to maximising their potential in specific target areas." The report also noted that the directors "also anticipate that an increased gross profit margin of 37.8% will be achieved through a combination of better navigation from their IT system, lean process improvements and stricter procurement procedures". A report by administrators EY, seen by the Belfast Telegraph, confirmed that a creditors' meeting will be held on Monday at the Elk Inn in Toomebridge. There are around 200 unsecured creditors owed a total of 4.3m, with the biggest debt of over 600,000 incurred to dairy company Dale Farm. However, it's not known how many of the unsecured creditors will attend the meeting. Dale Farm, which makes butter as well as other dairy products, is owed 641,052.91, while Andrew's Flour is out 212,230.36. Ready Egg Products in Co Fermanagh, which supplies pasteurised egg products, is owed 170,000, while a smaller egg company in Maghera is owed 12,000. A fruit company in Craigavon is owed 13,000. Speaking at the time of the sale, Brian McErlain said: "This is obviously a time of mixed emotions - sadness that it is now a different family who own the business, but hope for the future and the growt h of the Genesis Crafty brand." The sale rescued 260 jobs at the business. Causeway Coast and Glens mayor Brenda Chivers, David Porter (DfI) and Derry City and Strabane deputy mayor Derek Hussey, cut the first sod on the section Dualling the A6 from Londonderry to Belfast will be a massive boost to productivity, the head of Manufacturing NI has said. The first sod was cut yesterday in the 220m Dungiven to Drumahoe section, which will include the long-awaited bypass around the former. Dualling along other sections of the A6 is already under way. Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, who makes the daily commute between Derry and Belfast, said the new road will save thousands of wasted working hours. He said: "I spent two hours and 20 minutes getting from Culmore in Derry to Stormont, which is a journey that should ordinarily take about 90 minutes. "Instantly this will give me back two hours every day that I travel and that is 10 hours a week - more that a working day. That is repeated thousands of times because there are thousands of cars making that journey every day. "That works out about 20,000 working days per week, never mind the number of people who are in each of the vehicles, so this will be a massive boost to the productivity to the individuals involved. This is to say nothing about the health and well-being of the people involved because this is a massive strain, as anyone who regularly makes this journey knows. "From a business perspective, it finally opens up the west of the province, and the north west in particular, to investors, to traders, to people who want to come and create employment in the area. "Finally, we may see some of the dreadful statistics around Derry's economic performance turned around." The Department for Infrastructure's David Porter said the work will not only cut travelling times, but secure construction jobs. "The A6 is a strategically important route as it connects the north west to Belfast and beyond," he said. "The existing road carries around 15,000 vehicles per day and with traffic levels continuing to grow, this very significant investment will greatly improve road safety and journey times by reducing congestion." Food retailers face a mammoth 9.3bn cost in the event of a no-deal Brexit, new research suggests. According to Barclays Corporate Banking, higher tariffs and customs costs could hit supermarkets and their supply chains hard if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal. The report also warned that shoppers would take on some of the extra cost in the price of their groceries. Without a deal, Barclays said that food and drink from the EU would be slapped with an additional 27% tariff under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, compared to between 3% and 4% on non-food items. "Some products would avoid tariffs, even in a no-deal scenario, but for most goods the effect of an increased tariff burden would be extremely damaging, and cheaper goods would be the hardest hit," said Ian Gilmartin, head of retail at Barclays Corporate Banking. Processed food and drink products, such as orange juice, would attract some of the EU's highest tariff rates of 31%, compared to 29.5% for semi-processed food such as white sugar, and 9.7% for primary products and raw materials like bananas. On top of tariffs, specific duties levied on some products would drastically increase the price of meat, olive oil, and wine. Frozen beef could even face a specific duty of 298%. Leaders in the food and drink industry have previously raised concerns that without a free trade deal, supply chains could be disrupted after Brexit. David Tyler, the outgoing chairman of Sainsbury's, expressed similar concerns to the Barclays report in 2017, warning that tariffs could push up the price of a weekly shop. A brave mum who charted her journey to beat cancer in a heartfelt blog and raised more than 36,000 for research into the disease is calling on people in Northern Ireland to Stand Up to Cancer. Claire Rocks (39) wrote moving posts and made funny fundraising videos as a way of helping her and her family cope with the difficult surgery and treatment that saved her life. Today, just over a year on from the end of her treatment, she's wearing the Stand Up to Cancer wristband to highlight the fact that one person in Northern Ireland - someone just like her - is diagnosed with cancer every hour. This stark statistic is driving the devoted mum to support Stand Up to Cancer, a joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 which is backed by a host of celebrities including Davina McCall, Edith Bowman, Alan Carr and Kirsty Allsopp. Statistician Claire, of Burren in Co Down, who is married to Mark (40), a plumber and has a six-year-old daughter Beibhinn, knows from first-hand experience how important research is in the battle against cancer. By sharing her experience, she hopes to rally everyone to join the fight against the disease and help save more lives. She says: "I'm so grateful for the treatment that saved my life but sadly there are other people in Northern Ireland who are just starting out on that awful journey that comes after diagnosis - 24 people in Northern Ireland find out they have cancer every single day. "Raising money for research is vital - it saves lives. It's that simple. It's why doing what you can for Stand Up to Cancer is so important." Claire was diagnosed with grade three invasive breast cancer in January 2017 after feeling pain in her breast, which is not a usual symptom. The pain led her to find a lump. She had a lumpectomy that same month and then underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy. During her chemotherapy her immune system was so low she had to be admitted to hospital with sepsis, a life-threatening infection. Gravely ill, she spent over a week in hospital, being treated for sepsis, before continuing her chemotherapy and then radiotherapy. She's slowly been building her strength since her last radiotherapy session in August last year and is feeling well enough to gear up for her return to work at the NI Statistics and Research Agency next month. Claire is passionate about raising awareness which is what drove her to publish her blog. Expand Close Claire with husband Mark and daughter Beibhinn / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Claire with husband Mark and daughter Beibhinn She says: "I started writing the blog for myself to get it all out of my head. "When you have a cancer diagnosis you go straight onto the internet looking for stories of people who have been through it to find out what to expect. "I needed hope to know I would survive and I couldn't find anything online to help me. I realised what I was writing would have helped me which is why I decided to turn it into a blog. "Awareness is so important. When you finish treatment people think you are over it and you are not. People don't realise what it is like and awareness is so important for so many reasons - to help people understand, to know your own body, to learn to trust your instinct and to raise funds to try and find why this is happening to so many people." Her own cancer was picked up unusually as a result of a pain in her breast just before Christmas 2016. When sent for tests she went alone as it hadn't entered her mind she could have cancer. She explains: "It was just coming up to Christmas and I felt a pain in my breast, it was like an ache and I rubbed it and felt a lump. About a week later I got a pain in my arm between my elbow and wrist and decided I needed to go to the doctor. "Pain is not usually associated with breast cancer and the consultant told me the pain in my arm had nothing to do with it but it was because of that I went to my GP. I had a mammogram and they did a needle test and ultra sound and told me that there were at the very least pre-cancer cells but that I would need a biopsy. I got that two days later and had the results in a week but I knew by then I had cancer. "I went in thinking I had a cyst and the doctors could tell that the news was going to be a shock. "I couldn't take it in. As a statistician I work with figures for a living, but it took me a while to digest it when the consultant said I had an 80% chance of survival after 10 years. "I thought he was telling me there was an 80% chance I'd be dead in 10 years. That's how scrambled my brain was at everything that was happening. "You worry is it just the breast or has it gone somewhere else? And I thought of my young daughter and how I wanted to see her grow up." Like many women, Claire found that losing her hair was a difficult part of dealing with her treatment, but instead of dwelling on its gradual loss, she decided to take control and asked husband Mark to shave off her long blonde locks when they started to fall out. "I'd seen those clips in films when the cancer sufferer sobs in front of the mirror as their hair falls out. My hair had started to come out in my hands like that but I said to myself 'I'm not going to be that woman'. So I got some drinks in, asked my mum to join us and we all sat in the kitchen as Mark shaved my head. It made it bearable," she says. "As time went on, I got more used to my wig - and then it actually started to take on a bit of a life of its own. First, my daughter wanted to try it on, then I made Mark try it, and then all my friends and family. "We started to take pictures, which we eventually made into a video we posted on YouTube, and before long it became a bit of a running joke. If you came to visit our house, you had to try on the wig. "When you're dealing with cancer, sometimes you feel if you don't laugh, you'll cry. This most definitely made us laugh." Claire will be monitored regularly now that her treatment has finished. She still adds to her blog, www.rockuptocancer.weebly.com, as a way of helping others, and her fundraising mission continues as she supports Stand Up to Cancer. She recently pulled off an amazing fundraising day in her local community at the end of August which has raised over 36,000 to date for Action Cancer and Cancer Research. "Whether you donate or organise your own bake sale or whatever, there are lots of ways to get involved. I really hope as many people as possible will get behind this campaign. Together, we can wipe the floor with cancer," she says. "I'm turning 40 in January and instead of dreading the milestone birthday like a lot of women, I'm ready to celebrate it. I'm so grateful my treatment was a success and I'm embracing all that life throws at me." People in Northern Ireland are being encouraged to take a stand now by requesting a free fundraising pack filled with ideas to help beat cancer. You can also show your support for the campaign in style as a fun range of clothing and accessories for men, women and children is now available online and at Cancer Research UK shops from late September. Laura Davidson, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Northern Ireland, says: "We're so grateful to Claire for leading the charge against cancer and helping to recruit more people to the cause. "The good news is more people are surviving than ever before, but too many lives are still cut short. "Every day our scientists are working tirelessly to beat this devastating disease, but lab research alone won't get us there. "We need cash to speed up breakthroughs from the petri dish into better treatments for patients. "By supporting Stand Up to Cancer, people in Northern Ireland could help to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured," she says. Funding clinical trials and special projects Stand Up to Cancer has raised 38m since it was launched in the UK in 2012. The funding is used for clinical trials and projects which accelerate the development of new cancer treatments and tests, to help patients and ultimately save more lives. This year, Stand Up to Cancer will culminate with a night of live TV on Channel 4, on Friday, October 26. To get involved visit standuptocancer.org.uk. It has been revealed there has been 50 deaths in Northern Ireland prisons since 2007. An investigation by the Detail website found that of those deaths 27 deaths were self inflicted while 21 were by natural causes while the remaining two were not classified. For 20 of those deaths an inquest is still to be held. Currently there are 1,436 prisoners in Northern Ireland jails. The Prison Ombudsman said it was concerned its recommendations from reports on numerous deaths were not being implemented. The Department of Justice said a review into vulnerable prisoners with the Department of Health announced in November 2016, was ongoing and that a draft Improving Health within Criminal Justice Strategy will require ministerial approval before it is published. Queen's University Emeritus Professor Phil Scraton - an expert in criminology and prisons and who investigated the 1989 Hillsborough disaster - was part of a prison reform group for Northern Ireland. He said he was concerned there would be more deaths. He said there needed to be a full independent inquiry across Northern Irelands prisons into mental ill-health, self-harm, deaths in custody, "that takes into account diversity and vulnerability within the prison population," including young people, women, men, older prisoners, long-term, medium term, short-term, sexuality, ethnicity, sectarianism. How 999 emergency calls are managed by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is set to change under new proposals being hailed as the biggest shake-up of the organisation in 20 years. The plan, which goes out to public consultation for the next 12 weeks today, is part of the wider Health and Social Care Transformation Programme Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together strategy, which aims to improve the service. An NIAS spokesman described it as "the most comprehensive proposed change in ambulance services for decades". Under the proposals people will be asked the same question when they are first put through to the Ambulance Service after dialling 999, namely: "Is the patient conscious or breathing?" Currently, callers are asked a series of set questions to ascertain names and addresses as well as the condition of the patient. However, under the new process, if the answer to the initial question is "no", an ambulance will be despatched immediately, NIAS chief executive Michael Bloomfield explained. But if the answer is "yes", more questions will be asked, he said, and then the most appropriate response will be undertaken, including an ambulance if deemed necessary. Mr Bloomfield stressed that further details would continue to be gleaned in line with the current call-handing process and, regardless of the time taken to do this, the NIAS would still endeavour to meet its eight-minute target, set from when a caller dials 999 to an ambulance being despatched. "At present NIAS categorises over 30% of all calls we receive as immediately life-threatening, requiring an eight-minute response," he said. "Evidence from elsewhere and the experience of our own clinical staff indicates that a much smaller proportion of calls require this speed of response." He insisted this new alternative call-handling model would ensure that the most serious life-threatening conditions get the most immediate and appropriate response, while less serious calls would get an appropriate response, which he said would reduce pressures on A&E departments. He warned that the current model "needs reform" in order to achieve a better service for patients, as its target performance for immediately life-threatening calls has declined from 72.7% in 2011/12 to 45.2% in 2017/18, while the target it should be hitting is 72.5%. On top of this, he added the Ambulance Service was facing increasing demands with the number of callouts doubling over the past decade from 108,611 in 2007/08 to 201,508 in 2017/18. Asked whether or not the proposed new model was placing too much responsibility on the public, who may have little medical knowledge, Mr Bloomfield insisted the call handler will "always air on the side of caution". "If the person says that they are not sure, or if there's any doubt or risk, an ambulance will be despatched," he said. The changes require funding of 30m, which would be used to hire and train 300-plus front line staff. The consultation document can now be found at: www.nias.hscni.net Environmentalists are calling for a major policy rethink after statistics revealed the quality of water in our rivers, lakes and coastal areas is declining Environmentalists are calling for a major policy rethink after statistics revealed the quality of water in our rivers, lakes and coastal areas is declining. Northern Ireland was supposed to have 59% of its water bodies classified as being in 'good' ecological condition by 2015 and 70% by 2020. Although the threat of big EU fines after next year is gone, Northern Ireland is still going to fall short of previous water quality standards "by a country mile", according to environmentalists. Currently, only 31.8% of rivers are classified as 'high' or 'good' quality, compared to 32.7% in 2015. Five of Northern Ireland's 21 lake water bodies are classified as 'good' - but 16 are worse, showing no improvement over the past three years. Ten of our 25 coastal water bodies are classified as having 'high' or 'good' status - one more than 2015 - and the remaining 15 are 'moderate or worse' status. The figures emerged from a Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) report. John Martin from Nature Matters NI Coalition said the results were "damning" for the department "but even more so on our government". "There is not enough resource being put into meeting targets, and water quality is actually starting to slide backwards," he said. "At the start of this process the water framework directive team delivered a business case on how the targets were going to be met and cost/benefit analysis showed a 10-fold payback in the future. "But the resources are not in place and we're going backwards and nothing will change with a functioning Assembly." He added: "There is a potential to move farm payments towards incentives for protecting the environment, farmers being paid according to the quality of the water and that's something we have been calling for. "In the medium-term things will get no better and it takes a long term to turn things around. We're going to miss future targets by a country mile." James Orr of Friends of the Earth added that "2015 was supposed to be a defining year but these statistics actually show things are getting worse". "The biggest issue is how the system is managed and the main culprit is agriculture," he said. "The simple solution is to stop polluting, but powerful companies seem to think environmental regulation is contrary to economic growth." DAERA was contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of going to press. An investigation was carried out after an anonymous claim a DUP adviser was using his RHI boiler installation "fraudulently to heat his mansion home at the taxpayers' expense". Stephen Brimstone continued giving evidence to the RHI Inquiry on Thursday. A former DUP Spad and now IT consultant, has a boiler installed that provides heat to both his home and an attached agricultural shed. Read More The inquiry heard how Ofgem - the RHI scheme administrators - were informed he was using the scheme "fraudulently" in May 2016 by an anonymous tip. However after investigations and audits he was cleared as being on the scheme correctly. "He should be on a domestic system," an anonymous letter said. "Mr Brimstone is no more agricultural than the shed... He is heating his mansion house at taxpayers' expense.... ask him where his sheep are. "If he is a farmer where are his tax returns? Where is his land?" the letter added appealing for Ofgem to investigate. Ofgem instigated an audit and suspended payments to Mr Brimstone. Mr Brimstone queried why he was being audited but gave it little thought, he told the inquiry. Mr Brimstone as agricultural as his shed. It heard how he complained that the proposed time of the audit was unsuitable as he was out of the country and he would be better placed to answer questions if he was there at the time. The subsequent audit later found there was "no evidence" of agricultural activity at the shed. However this was later changed to "little evidence" and following a further investigation, Ofgem found Mr Brimstone complied with the scheme's rules and had his payments re-instated. Inquiry chair Sir Patrick Coghlin said it was of "some concern" that an audit found "no evidence" and yet an Ofgem investigation concluded the installation was compliant with the scheme. It was agreed this would be considered in greater detail with an Ofgem official later in the proceedings. The inquiry heard how Ofgem told Stormont's public accounts committee that its interpretation of the non-domestic RHI scheme allowed an applicant to use up to 99% of a boiler's heat production to heat a home. The rules have has since been changed to say at least 50% of the heating use should be for non-domestic puposes. WATCH Conflict of Interest? Brimstone: Timothy Johnston knew I applied for #RHI MacLean : You told Mrs Foster, you told Mr Johnston - and none of the three of you have a discussion about the need to do something formally and withdraw. pic.twitter.com/F301QZ0Rcx Darran Marshall (@DarranMarshall) September 27, 2018 A second complaint - lodged by TUV MLA Jim Allister - was also passed to the police which begun an investigation. Following the second complaint about Mr Brimstone's RHI installation, another audit was carried out and he received another confirmation that he was entitled to be on the scheme. Counsel to the inquiry, Joseph Aiken asked Mr Brimstone: "Did you think that would be the end of it?" Mr Brimstone responded: "(I had) probably given up at that stage thinking whether it was the end or not". Mr Brimstone was asked by panel member Dame Una O'Brien if he thought it "odd" he was on the non-domestic scheme which offered a better incentive when the majority of his use was for domestic purposes. It was a clean break. He explained how had he been on the domestic scheme - because he was using a proportion of the heat for commercial purposes, he was not eligible for the domestic scheme. This was confirmed to the inquiry by Stormont officials. Mr Brimstone also told the inquiry his decision to resign as a special adviser had been planned long before the scandal surrounding the RHI scheme gathered pace. He said he had agreed to stay on after the March 2016 election to help the party for a short period, something Arlene Foster knew of, the inquiry heard. "It was a clean break," he said. He also said he did not discuss proposals to introduce cost controls outside of government officials, ministers or fellow Spads. Sir Patrick also expressed concern over Mr Brimstone's responses to the media when questions arose over a "heated exchange" between Arlene Foster and Jonathan Bell. In December 2016 Mr Brimstone was asked by the BBC's Nolan Show about the incident "in relation to the RHI" scheme. Mr Brimstone was present at the meeting in question, but told the BBC there had not been any heated exchange "over the RHI issue". He told the inquiry that while there had been a heated exchange, it was about a business trip to Canada to Bombardier that Mr Bell had just returned from. Why not just answer it fully? Inquiry chair Sir Patrick Coghlin said he had "great difficulty" Mr Brimstone was not giving a "fulsome response" to the BBC. He said the response was "highly misleading" as it would lead someone to believe there was no heated discussion. "I didn't feel that they needed to know about any other matters that were being discussed at that meeting," Mr Brimstone responded. "They were asking about the RHI scheme. I do believe I answered it accurately." He agreed it was practice in political circles to solely answer the question asked and he believed he had answered the BBC's "accurately". "Why not just answer it fully?" Sir Patrick asked. Pressed further, Mr Brimstone said he felt if he had said any more, it would have "opened up a whole load of other questions". Sir Patrick also queried whether Mr Brimstone's responses were being "carefully monitored" by another DUP spad, Timothy Johnston. "You wanted to make sure that Timothy Johnston was content with your answers which were to be given to the BBC," he said. "In making him content you were answering this question in an untransparent way, in a limited way." Mr Brimstone said at that state he was under "no obligation" to anyone as he had left his special adviser position and the DUP. A victim of fraud. Not a club I ever wanted to be a part of but it's one I found myself in exactly a week ago. A quick lunchtime shopping trip in Belfast city centre led to the discovery that I, like so many others, had been scammed. When police say scams can happen to anyone, they really mean anyone. I just never thought that it would happen to me. Read More Yes I have had friends who have suffered a similar fate and there is probably very little any of us can do about this particular type of scam but it was still a shock. It all started when I tried to pay for some shopping last Thursday but to my surprise my card was declined several times. I thought it was strange so I paid for my items using another card. When I got out of the shop I headed straight to the nearest ATM and tried to take out 100 but my card was spat right back out again. Having been paid only a matter of days earlier, the alarm bells immediately started ringing when I checked my balance. The screen flashed up an available allowance of 10 and that's when I knew I had been done. Straight-away I panicked but as I was in town, I went immediately to the nearest Danske Bank. I can honestly say that the staff at the Donegall Square West branch could not have been more helpful. When they checked my transaction history, a long list of 100 payments to Virgin Games had begun at around 5.50am that morning and continued until my account was cleaned out. That's not a website I would ever visit so I knew it definitely wasn't me making those transactions. The unauthorised access to my account meant that just over 4,000 was gone in the space of a few hours. In my case it turned out that my card details had been stolen from another purchase, the scammers had obtained these and then used my account. But I wasn't alone. Another Danske Bank customer had been in the previous day to report the same issue and staff were sure that I wouldn't be the last case they would deal with. The bank immediately put me on the phone to their fraud team who asked me a series of questions. Once I had assured them that I had been fast asleep in the early hours when the fraud started, they stopped my card - not that there was any cash left to pocket! Luckily all the money was recovered within a few hours. While I'm hugely grateful that the bank was able to get the cash back so quickly, I'm still mortified that this happened to me. The reality is that these scammers, whoever and wherever they are, don't care who they target. We're often told that a common feeling for victims of fraud is embarrassment and frustration that they have been victimised and I now know this to be true. If you believe, that like me and so many others, you have been a victim of crime, report it to your bank immediately and get the necessary help to recover your money. Check your bank balance every day too and keep an eye out for unusual transactions. And remember if you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam. Thomas Cawley is charged with being unlawfully at large. A Belfast man extradited from Spain has been remanded in custody accused of drugs offences and having a knife in public. Thomas Cawley, with an address on the city's Antrim Road, is also charged with being unlawfully at large. The 32-year-old had been detained in Barcelona under a European Arrest Warrant last month. He was brought to Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday following his extradition from Spain. Charges against him include possession of cannabis, diazepam, amphetamine and MDMA. He is also accused of having a steak knife in the vicinity of Doagh Road, Ballyclare in October last year. Allegations that he was unlawfully at large relate to a period in March 2016. Cawley was remanded into custody to appear again by video-link on October 4, the Courts Service confirmed. Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) Firefighters battle a blaze at a block of flats in the Beresford Court area of Coleraine on September 27th 2018 (Photo by Matthew Steele) An apartment block in Northern Ireland was evacuated last night following a suspected arson attack. Around a dozen people had to leave their homes during the fire in Coleraine in the early hours of Thursday, September 27. Up to 30 firefighters attended the blaze at Long Commons which broke out in a second floor flat at around 2am. Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue personnel prevented the fire spreading to other flats. An investigation into the fire has already begun but the NIFRS believe it was started deliberately. Sinn Fein MLA Caoimhe Archibald praised the fire service for their "professionalism and their efforts in suppressing the fire while rescuing people from the building". I will be contacting the Housing Executive and relevant bodies to ensure that steps are being taking to find alternative accommodation for residents whose apartments are no longer fit to live in," he said. He also called on anyone with information about the incident to assist the police in their investigation. The scene of the accident at the junction of Bregagh and Gracehill roads near Armoy The heartbroken widow of an American tourist who died in a road accident near a popular Northern Ireland tourist attraction is being supported by officials from the US Consulate. Tragic honeymooner Michael Munroe (31) from Orange, Connecticut, sustained fatal injuries in a two-car collision on Gracehill Road in Armoy on Tuesday. The road is close to the Dark Hedges - a tree-lined avenue made famous by its appearance in the popular Game Of Thrones television series. It is understood that Mr Munroe's wife, who is in her 30s and suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash, was discharged from hospital yesterday. A US Consulate spokesman said they are doing everything they can to offer support. "The Consulate was made aware of a fatal road traffic accident involving an American citizen in north Antrim and is providing consular support," he said. "Our thoughts are with the individual's family and friends at this difficult time". North Antrim DUP MLA Mervyn Storey expressed his sadness and raised concerns about the safety of the junction where the collision happened. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased and all those involved in this very sad news," he said. "For some time now I have been raising concerns with Road Service about this junction and another one on the same road known locally at Walkers Cross. "This junction is used by tourists visiting the Dark Hedges and would be unfamiliar to visitors." Mr Storey said there have been a number of serious accidents at this crossing and also at Walkers Cross over the last few months. "I will be asking to meet Divisional Roads manager David Porter and the PSNI to see what can be done to make these two particular junctions safer," he said. "Road Service have already agreed to additional signage, however, in light of this accident that will have to be reviewed." Sinn Fein's Cara McShane said the infrastructure around the Dark Hedges needs to be examined as a priority. The councillor said there has been a huge increase in the number of tourists flocking to the area over the past five years, but the infrastructure has not been developed in line with the increase in visitors. "That goes for a huge part of our coastline as well," she said. "It is only a matter of time there will be more accidents unless urgent action is taken. Unfortunately any action has come too late for one family." Meanwhile, police officers are focusing on road safety operations across Northern Ireland today in a bid to highlight the road safety message as the winter nights approach. Chief Inspector Diane Pennington said: "Tragically, so far this year, 39 people have been killed in road traffic collisions and many more have received life changing injuries. "With inattention, excessive speed for the conditions and drink or drug driving, consistently the main causes of the most serious collisions in which people are killed or seriously injured, officers will be running focused operations in hotspot areas to detect road users taking unnecessary and potentially life-changing risks." Ards Town Hall lit up in rainbow colours in tribute to those killed in the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016 Council plans to light up Ards town hall in rainbow colours to mark all future Pride days have been shot down by the DUP. Some members of Ards and North Down Borough Council had been hoping to score an historic first last night by getting the proposal approved. The motion was put forward by Alliance councillors Gavin Walker and Andrew Muir at a committee meeting last month. They proposed affirming that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people be accepted and valued as equal citizens, with the town hall lit up to coincide with Pride. The motion was supported on the committee by six councillors: three Ulster Unionist, two Alliance and one DUP. Five of the six DUP members on the committee voted against it. But Tom Smith, who represents Donaghadee and Bangor East, defied his DUP colleagues to see the motion sent to the full council for approval. However, when it was raised at council last night the DUP proposed an amendment that removed plans for the lighting up of the town hall and any individual reference to the LGBT community, instead making it a general equality motion. Its amendment was carried with 20 members voting for and 16 against, despite Mr Smith defying his party again. Eighteen of the 40 councillors are DUP, but the support of one UUP, one TUV and an independent member allowed the amendment to pass. Four councillors were absent for the vote. In advance of this week's meeting, Free Presbyterian ministers had voiced their dismay at what they called the "offensive proposal". In an open letter to councillors signed on behalf of several congregations, they urged members "to reject this discriminatory motion". Last month there was controversy when DUP members of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council used a procedural mechanism known as a call-in to stop the Pride flag being flown on council premises. In June DUP leader Arlene Foster made headlines by attending a PinkNews event at Stormont, where she told the LGBT community that she looked at them "as my neighbours or my fellow citizens". Speaking just after last night's vote, Mr Muir expressed his bitter disappointment that the motion fell. He said: "This is a real blow to all who believe true equality should not be this hard to achieve in 2018, especially after the recent words of support from Arlene Foster, which have now proven to be very hollow. "This motion was about making a positive difference to the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people across our borough, letting them know they are accepted and valued as equal citizens. "But instead, those who moved to quash this motion tonight have sent a negative signal that Ards and North Down Council is not dedicated to working for all." His party colleague Mr Walker added: "As the father of a gay man, I find it upsetting that some of my council colleagues have taken such a decision - essentially signalling they do not value my son's contribution to our society. "It is completely unacceptable that anyone should be made to feel different, but to be made to feel so by politicians who are supposed to stand up for everyone cannot be allowed to continue. "As a council we had the power to send a strong signal, to make a change that would have brought comfort and support to so many. "All those who voted against this tonight have made an uninformed decision." Green Party councillor Rachel Woods, who backed the move, also voiced her disappointment at the DUP. "Diversity should be celebrated. Time for some to wake up and smell the coffee," she said. Ards Town Hall lit up in rainbow colours in tribute to those killed in the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016 Ards and North Down Borough Council has voted down a proposal to light up the local government building in the colours of the Pride rainbow flag. The proposal had been planned as a show of support for LGBT people in the borough and was passed at committee earlier this month, and would have seen Ards Town Hall lit up in rainbow colours to coincide with Pride Day. Out of the 40 seats on the Council, 18 are held by the DUP. An amendment to the proposal preventing the hall being lit up was voted through with 20 votes in favour and 16 votes against on Wednesday night. DUP councillor Tom Smith broke with his party to vote against the amendment. The proposal was originally brought forward by Councillor Andrew Muir, who served as the borough's first openly gay mayor. Astounded that in 2018 DUP and others decided to block simple motion from @gavinwalkerni and I at @ANDborough affirming that LGBT people be accepted & valued as equal citizens with Ards Town Hall lit up in Rainbow colours one day a year but words of Harvey Milk resonate loudly pic.twitter.com/M3IaoKhucG Andrew Muir MLA (@AndrewMuirNI) September 26, 2018 "This is a real blow to all who believe true equality should not be this hard to achieve in 2018, especially after the recent words of support from Arlene Foster which have now proven to be very hollow," said Councillor Andrew Muir, speaking after the vote. "This motion was about to making a positive difference to the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people across our borough, letting them know they are accepted and valued as equal citizens. But instead, those who moved to quash this motion tonight have sent a negative signal that Ards and North Down Council is not dedicated to working for all. "I am extremely grateful to all those who backed this motion, especially in the wake of intense criticism as others have sought to play politics with people's lives and also to the Rainbow Project and Stonewall for their help in drafting the motion, which included lighting of Ards Town Hall in rainbow colours to coincide with Pride Day." Secretary of State Karen Bradley has been urged to act now and end the "unjust and heartless" PIP benefits assessment system. UUP councillor Robert Foster was speaking after a Belfast father hit out because his cancer-stricken daughter had been turned down for benefits. Tom McWilliams said his daughter Roisin (28) was denied the financial support despite undergoing treatment for stage four Hodgkin's lymphoma. Antrim and Newtownabbey councillor Mr Foster said his call for Mrs Bradley to step in comes from having gone through a similar personal experience. "My mother was diagnosed at 34 with terminal cancer and died at 35, and my father was diagnosed at 59 with terminal Motor Neurone Disease and died at 60," he said. "Had the current rules been applied whilst they were alive they would have had to face an assessment to determine their eligibility for PIP having just been informed they had a terminal illness. "I can only begin to imagine how this must feel for the individuals and the families affected. "There is no dignity, empathy or any degree of humanity applied to people with a terminal illness with life expectancy over six months." SDLP MLA Nichola Mallon claimed the assessment for benefits was "all about cutting the welfare bill". "There are many harrowing cases like this," she said. "If this is called the Personal Independence Payment it's not about the empowerment of people. "The fact that the response from the Department for Communities referred to Roisin, a human being seeking the entitlement she deserves, as a 'customer' tells you everything you need to know. "This is about a business transaction. This is all about cutting the welfare bill and that's why the criteria is so stringent. "It has been over six months since the public submitted its recommendations to the Independent Review of the PIP Assessment Process by Dr Walter Radar, three months since the recommendations were published, yet the Department for Communities has yet to implement any of the recommendations," the MLA added. "How can the harrowing experience of Roisin McWilliams and other PIP claimants not be a compelling reason for the DUP and Sinn Fein to even sit down to try to overcome their differences? "A local Executive could take action to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society, the sick and disabled, are afforded dignity, fairness and protection. Is this not a political priority all political parties can agree on?" Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey called on the department to overturn their "absolutely horrendous" decision. "This is one of the worst cases I have heard of in my time as an elected representative," he said. "The Department for Communities should immediately rectify this decision and provide Roisin with the necessary benefits to meet her needs, along with backdated payments." Chef Roisin, who has a three-year-old daughter, has been unable to work since her cancer diagnosis nine months ago. Despite going through the assessment process, she didn't meet the criteria. A Department for Communities spokesperson said they could not comment on individual cases, but added: "The customer's representative has been in touch with the department and we will be reviewing the case in light of any additional information provided. "In all cases if a person disagrees with the department's decision to not award PIP, they can ask for the decision to be reviewed and we will consider any additional information provided," the spokesperson added. The family of a man stabbed to death in west Belfast are suing five men convicted of offences linked to his killing, it emerged today. A High Court civil action has been brought by relatives of Gerard Devlin, who died in front of his children and partner outside their home in February 2006. They claim they were denied justice after a decision was taken to drop murder charges in the case. Five members of another family subsequently pleaded guilty to lesser offences. Francisco Notarantonio, 31, formerly of Whitecliff Parade in Belfast, was jailed for 11 years after admitting a charge of manslaughter. Four other members of the Notarantonio family pleaded guilty to affray, receiving sentences ranging from a one-year suspended term to two years' imprisonment. Mr Devlin, a 39-year-old father of six, was stabbed with a 13-inch knife in the city's Ballymurphy district. His death sparked a bitter neighbourhood dispute. Writs have been issued on behalf of his children and partner claiming damages against the five defendants. The case was adjourned after coming before the High Court for the first time earlier this week. Lawyers for the Devlin family stressed how they previously brought judicial review proceedings against the Public Prosecution Service over an alleged failure to consult with them before accepting the lesser pleas. That led to a new protocol on communicating with relatives of those killed about prosecution decision-making in criminal trials. Solicitor Kevin Winters, representing Mr Devlin's relatives, said: "Unfortunately, yet again we see a family having to resort to the civil courts to seek justice for the killing of a loved one in circumstances where they feel badly let down by the criminal justice system. "To that end this case replicates what an awful lot of conflict-bereaved are going through." Mr Winters added: "When one part of the legal system fails them then it's up to lawyers and others to try and address that deficit by engaging in other courts. "The family were deprived of a full and open judicial oversight on what happened when Gerard Devlin was killed, and that's a key reason why the case is being taken." ends File photo dated 26/06/18 of Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, who has said she initially did not understand that the countrys nationalists did not vote for unionist parties during elections. Karen Bradley is doing an "excellent job" in her role, the Prime Minister has said, following the Secretary of State's embarrassing admission about her lack of knowledge on Northern Ireland at the time she took up her position. In an interview with the Westminster's The House magazine earlier this month, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mrs Bradley said ahead of taking up her position she was "slightly scared" of Northern Ireland and was not aware that unionist and nationalists did not vote for each other. 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 election within their own community," she said. In an interview with the BBC's Mark Deveport on Thursday, Mrs May said "the job that Karen has been doing" is what should be focused on. "Of course I am disappointed that we still don't have the Executive up and running and the Assembly running as it should be. But every effort is being made to do this," said the Prime Minister. "Karen is also obviously taking on board the need to ensure decisions will be able to be made by the civil service in Northern Ireland while there is no Executive in place." Following Mrs Bradley's remarks earlier this month Theresa May said she "retains confidence" in her Secretary of State. Mrs Bradley took over the position from James Brokenshire in January of this year after he stood down for medical reasons. On Thursday Karen Bradley finished a four-day visit to the United States where she has been speaking to politicians, business leaders, and representatives about the future of Northern Ireland after Brexit. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley met Corporation Counsel Eugene O'Flaherty at City Hall this week, laying out the trade and cultural ties linking Boston and Northern Ireland from innovators like @rapid7 to the @Friendship_Four. Here's to building even more! pic.twitter.com/3uSk0s8zQq UK Consulate Boston (@UKinBoston) September 27, 2018 Ahead of the trip Mrs Bradley said her aim was to build relationships at a "crucial time" for the UK. On Thursday, Mrs Bradley took in stops in Boston and Washington DC. Speaking to the Northern Ireland Bureau in the US capital, she called on Northern Ireland's politicians to restore power-sharing. A DUP councillor made a passionate plea for Ards town hall to be illuminated in rainbow colours to mark Pride - despite his party later voting against the motion. An Alliance motion proposed affirming that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people be accepted and valued as equal citizens, with the town hall lit up to coincide with Pride. However, a DUP amendment proposed removing plans for the lighting up of the town hall and any individual reference to the LGBT community and instead making it a general equality motion. The amendment was carried with 20 members voting for and 16 against, including DUP councillor Tom Smith. Read More At Wednesday evening's meeting DUP councillor Tom Smith said he could not support his own party's amendment. He said he had been contacted by a close relative of a gay man who described being in "floods of tears of joy" knowing his intention to support the Pride motion. He said some of those living in the borough faced discrimination and the fear they could be rejected by their own family should their sexuality be known. "And all of this happens not because they are terrible people," he said, "not because they have done anything wrong, but simply because they are gay, they are lesbian, they are bisexual and they are transgender. "For me this is not a political issue, for me this is about doing what is right. "It is about showing compassion and showing kindess to other people.. about treating others the same way we all want to be treated with dignity and with acceptance ... we do have opportunity to send message to LGBT community.. they need to know this council values them and that together we can create a society that everyone can be accepted for who they are." He said that while the world would not change should the council endorse the Alliance motion, it would provide some in the LGBT community with "hope" they could be themselves without fear of abuse, discrimination or violence. Detectives at Church Street, in Bushmills, carrying out searches in relation to serious crime. Army Technical officers were also at the scene. 27 Sept 2018 A man has been arrested in an anti-terror police and army operation in Northern Ireland. PSNI detective inspector Bob Blemmings said the man, aged in his 60s, was arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act The arrest followed a search at a house in the Church Street area of Bushmills on Thursday, September 27. He has been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite for questioning.," said detective inspector Blemmings. "The policing operation in the area continues and there are no further details at this stage. A Co Fermanagh mother who suffered life-changing injuries in a car crash that left two people dead has been given a suspended prison sentence for assault. Rachel Elliott (25), who remains seriously ill in hospital, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to a woman on April 9. Elliott from Rehal Road, Irvinestown, appeared last month before Enniskillen Magistrates Court, where the case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports. Within days, however, she sustained horrific injuries in the crash in Bundoran in which she was thrown from the back window of the vehicle, damaging her brain, back and pelvis. Of the six people in the car, which hit a wall, two died - Conall McAlleer (20) from Kesh and mother-of-one Shiva Devine (20) from Belleek. Elliott, the mother of a three-year-old boy, may never walk again. Her case has returned to court a number of times. At the most recent sitting a defence lawyer said it was highly unlikely there would be any appearance from her in the near future due to her current condition. District Judge Michael Ranahan decided to proceed with sentencing. The court heard the victim was in a bar shortly before 1am on the date in question when Elliott approached and an altercation occurred. The defendant punched the victim to the right cheek then took hold of her hair. Bar staff intervened and managed to get Elliott to loosen her grip, but not before she pulled out clumps of hair from the victim's head. Police attended and seized CCTV. Elliott was arrested and refused to identify herself in the footage, although she told officers: "She hit me first." On being shown the footage again, she claimed not to see where it showed her pulling the victim's hair out. After being charged, Elliott pleaded guilty at the first opportunity in court. A defence lawyer submitted a Facebook post by his client (left) which showed "significant insight into her actions and how remorseful she was". Judge Ranahan remarked: "It's a pity she hadn't thought of that on the night itself." The lawyer said Elliott accepted she was completely in the wrong and, since then, "things have taken a turn and because of the car accident has sustained life-changing injuries". Judge Ranahan noted a previous record and, referring to a victim impact statement, said: "It's clear physical, emotional and financial damage had been caused as a result of the defendant's attack. I am satisfied the custody threshold is met." He imposed a sentence of five months' imprisonment, but suspended this for two years. In addition, 250 compensation is to be paid to the victim. A police watchdog has been asked to investigate the discovery of surveillance equipment in a van driven by a prominent dissident republican prior to his murder. The family of Tommy Crossan, who was shot dead in west Belfast in 2014, have also asked the Police Ombudsman to establish how much the PSNI knew about those behind previous threats to kill the former leading Continuity IRA member. A preliminary inquest hearing in Belfast yesterday was told by barrister Stephen Toal: "The family is aware that the van the deceased was driving immediately before the murder was found with surveillance equipment," he said. "He took a trip to Limerick just before the murder and when the van was returned from police after the murder, surveillance equipment was discovered in it." It is understood equipment was found in the van's ceiling. Mr Toal said the family was also concerned the police were withholding information related to past threats on Mr Crossan's life. Coroner Patrick McGurgan asked Mr Toal to urge the Ombudsman to give a more definite indication of the timescale of its probe ahead of the next preliminary hearing on November 29. 1. Yes. Losing daily service to Houston could be just the first in a series of service cutbacks. 2. Yes. Being less competitive with Austin and D-FW will hurt the airport in the long run. 3. No. The airport has seen strong passenger numbers. Good marketing can keep it going. 4. No. The airport is still pursuing other service, including a Denver route. Its still a solid asset. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing future airline and travel industry trends. Vote View Results Police officers are required to shave their beard for safety reasons The PSNI is facing an industrial tribunal on whether officers should sport facial hair. One officer is understood to be seeking protection for his facial fuzz with a hearing scheduled in November against the Chief Constable George Hamilton. The rules outlawing beards, and the law-enforcement staple of the moustache, were implemented this year for some units in the PSNI due to health and safety concerns. No PSNI officers have faced suspension for breaching the rules. However, it's believed a number have felt under pressure to comply after being told they would face transfer to another department. Superintendent Patricia Foy from Operational Policy Department said: "Officers and staff within certain roles are required to wear Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) as a means of control to prevent the inhalation of hazardous substances at work. "When worn and correctly used, RPE can prevent serious lung conditions caused by inhaling dust and other contaminants." She continued: "As part of the review of the PSNI's Corporate Appearance and Protective Equipment Standard policy in 2017, cognisance was taken of a range of guidance. A study by the Health and Safety Executive indicated that 'as facial hair is grown, the protection offered by a tight-fitting mask reduces'. "As a result, a change was made in relation to officers and staff who carry out those roles. The updated policy requires that those officers and staff who may be required at short notice to wear RPE must remain clean shaven whilst on duty. "The new policy was developed in consultation with the Police Federation and other key stakeholders." In May this year, an officer from Gloucestershire was hailed as having 'the most hipster beard' in British police. PC Graham Smith's seven-inch facial hair turned heads during his patrol in Stroud. He takes on the title from riot officer Peter Swinger who first achieved viral fame in 2015 when his waxed moustache and beard was spotted as he was helping to control an English Defence League rally in London. In May, PC Smith revealed his beard was inspired by family rather than fashion. "One side of my family are from the Orkney islands, and most of them seem to have beards in one variety or another," he told the Daily Mail. "I don't consider myself to be Britain's newest hipster cop." Pictures shown to the RHI Inquiry of both the interior and exterior of Stephen Brimstones agricultural building Pictures shown to the RHI Inquiry of both the interior and exterior of Stephen Brimstones agricultural building Former DUP special adviser Stephen Brimstone has admitted that he didn't tell the civil servant managing the RHI scheme about his position at Stormont when he phoned him to enquire about getting a boiler registered. The RHI Inquiry yesterday heard how fellow DUP Spad Dr Andrew Crawford had given Mr Brimstone the contact details of Stuart Wightman, the head of the energy efficiency branch in the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Investment (Deti). Read More Asked by inquiry chair Sir Patrick Coghlin if he had told the civil servant managing the scheme that he was a DUP special adviser, Mr Brimstone replied: "I don't believe that I would have." Mr Wightman told the inquiry in June that Mr Brimstone had given his name but hadn't identified himself as a DUP adviser. He said he remembered the call as "quite unusual" because it began: "I believe you're the man to talk to about RHI." The inquiry yesterday heard there were "in excess of 30 lever-arch files" of material relating to the former DUP Spad's application to the RHI scheme and ensuing investigations into it. The scheme's administrator, Ofgem (the Office of Gas and Electricity Market), has confirmed that Mr Brimstone's application was completely valid under RHI rules. The former DUP special adviser's application to the RHI scheme was successful. His brother Aaron is also an RHI claimant. Stephen Brimstone was a Spad in the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) to DUP junior Minister Michelle McIlveen in 2016. Mr Brimstone told the inquiry he first heard about the RHI scheme when he was a Spad in the Department of Social Development for DUP minister Nelson McCausland. He didn't remember how the scheme came to his attention. "In the department, the minister had been faced with increased heating costs, especially in high-rise tower blocks in social housing. We had been looking at pay-as-you-go oil solutions which hadn't existed at that point," he said. The high cost of heating was "a particular issue for those social tenants" relying on the old Economy Seven heating system, so efforts were made to explore alternatives. He recalled a ministerial visit to social housing in Germany where biomass boilers were used. Asked if fellow Spad Dr Crawford had brought RHI to his attention, Mr Brimstone replied: "No, in fairness to Andrew, I don't think I can pin that one on him. I genuinely can't remember how I came across it whether it was a simple internet search or what it was." Mr Brimstone had installed a biomass boiler to heat his home in 2007. He said it had acted up over the years despite his "meticulous maintenance" of it. He recalled sometimes having to take it apart and rebuild it. "Anyone (with) a biomass boiler needs to be prepared to get their hands dirty," he added. Mr Brimstone stated that he had been considering replacing his biomass boiler with an oil boiler. However, he opted to go for another biomass boiler under the RHI scheme. "I wish I had gone back to oil now," he told the inquiry. He also stated that he wished he had never come across the RHI scheme. Mr Brimstone said he never entertained the idea "for one minute" that the boiler would last for the RHI's 20-year lifetime. From his eight-year experience of his old boiler, he believed they needed a lot of maintenance. He applied for the non-domestic RHI scheme because he believed that heating two domestic properties with a non-domestic boiler was allowed under the rules. The inquiry heard that he was not running the boiler to heat his home and shed 24 hours a day. Rather the inquiry had established that it was running four to four-and-a-half hours a day. Mr Brimstone said he knew RHI was a "good" scheme but he never considered running his boiler "100% of the time". He was not "out to milk the system". The former DUP Spad said that maybe it was "naive" of him, but he had "never heard of anyone attempting those means to generate more income". Two site inspections by energy officials were carried out on his installation but it was found to comply with the non-domestic RHI scheme. The inquiry heard that Mr Brimstone's house and shed was built on land gifted to him by his wife and her father. His RHI application was approved in April 2016, when he was in OFMDFM, but he received payments backdated to the previous August when he had applied. Junior counsel to the inquiry Joseph Aiken stated that Land and Property Services had determined in 2008 that for rates purposes the shed was an agricultural building. That was important because under RHI regulations if a boiler was installed in an agricultural building there was likely to be "no question of its eligibility". Sir Patrick questioned Mr Brimstone on what farming work was conducted in the shed. He said it was used for "working on machinery" such as tractors. The inquiry heard that the DUP Spad's original 25kw biomass boiler had been installed in 2007 in the shed with the help of a 3,000 grant from Action Renewables. Mr Aiken noted that Mr Brimstone was an "early adopter" of renewable heating technology. In his evidence, Mr Brimstone said he deeply regretted not withdrawing from a conversation with other DUP Spads about RHI in the summer of 2015. He stated: "I would like to point out that probably next to applying to the RHI scheme, I thoroughly regret not putting my hands up and withdrawing myself from even the initial conversation I had with Timothy Cairns and Andrew Crawford back in July 15 which led this submission being sent to myself and Andrew Crawford. "I think I replied in the correct way back to it but that doesn't excuse me in full knowledge that I had a boiler ordered and was going in on the first week in August. "I should have said, 'Guys I need to step back from this conversation. There is a real perceived conflict of interest here'." Mr Aiken said: "That's what you should have done and you didn't do." Mr Brimstone replied: "Absolutely." Mr Brimstone continues giving evidence today. DUP chief executive Timothy Johnston is due to appear tomorrow. The memorial to the 14 people who died on Bloody Sunday in Derry rises from among the sea of umbrellas as all the families came together in an ecumenical service. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights mark.The service included contributions from Father Michael Canny and Reverend David Latimer, left. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 29.1.12 A memorial to those killed on Bloody Sunday in the Bogside area of Derry Linda Nash carries flowers with the number 14 inscribed during yesterdays annual Bloody Sunday Parade in Derry. Picture Martin McKeown. Inpresspics.com. 29.1.12 The start of a grim day in Derry. Civil Rights marchers make their way through Creggan. They defied a Government ban and headed for Guildhall Square, but were stopped by the Army in William Street. 31/1/1972 JAMES WRAY IN HIS HOME IN THE BOGSIDE DERRY HOLDING THE COAT WITH BULLIET HOLES IN THAT HIS SON ALSO CALLED JAMES WRAY WAS KILLED ON BLOODY SUNDAY A man receiving attention during the shooting incident in Londonderry, which became known as Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday. Funeral. Mrs Ita McKinney, 9 months pregnant cries behind the hearse carrying her husband James from St Mary's, Creggan. 2/2/1972. Alana Burke who was eighteen when she was run over by an armoured personnel carrier on Bloody Sunday. Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery in his room at the Old Bailey as he looks through his report on the "Bloody Sunday" shootings Bloody Sunday: Up to 20 soldiers still face being formally questioned by police for alleged murder, attempted murder or criminal injury during the notorious incident A protest parade in was staged in Londonderry in January to mark the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday Lt Col Derek Wilford, the former commander of the members of the Parachute Regiment involved in the Bloody Sunday shootings Hugh Gilmore (third left) seen clutching his stomach as he is shot during Bloody Sunday. A scene showing a British paratrooper near Glenfada Park in Derry where Bloody Sunday took place. A young Fr Edward Daly carries a blood-soaked hankie as he leads a group of men trying desperately to carry John 'Jackie' Duddy to safety. Duddy (17) was the first fatality of Bloody Sunday after being shot from behind by paratroopers A young Fr Edward Daly carries a blood-soaked hankie as he leads a group of men trying desperately to carry John 'Jackie' Duddy to safety. Duddy (17) was the first fatality of Bloody Sunday after being shot from behind by paratroopers 30th January 1972: An armed soldier and a protestor on Bloody Sunday when British Paratroopers shot dead 13 civilians on a civil rights march. A man shot in the face on Bloody Sunday is to be awarded 193,000 in damages, a High Court judge ruled today. Mr Justice McAlinden ordered the compensation to Michael Quinn for injuries inflicted on him as a schoolboy when soldiers opened fire in Derry in 1972. The payout also includes recognition of a "cloud of suspicion" which hung over him for decades until a major inquiry established the innocence of all those killed and wounded. "The conduct of the servants or agents of the government directly responsible for the deaths and injuries on January 30, 1972, and thereafter perpetuating a lie that at least some of those killed and injured on that day had been engaged in significant wrongdoing, clearly constitute oppressive, arbitrary and unconstitutional conduct," the judge said. Thirteen people were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights demonstration which became known as Bloody Sunday. One of the others wounded on the day died later. In 2010 the Saville Inquiry confirmed all of the victims were innocent, prompting the then Prime Minister David Cameron to publicly apologise for the actions of the soldiers. Mr Cameron described the killings as "unjustified and unjustifiable". Claims have been brought against the Ministry of Defence by those bereaved or wounded. With liability accepted, three test cases have been selected for arguments on the level of damages. Expand Close Bloody Sunday. 30/1/1972 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bloody Sunday. 30/1/1972 Now aged 63 and having forged a successful career in banking, Dublin-based Mr Quinn still bears the scars of what happened to him on Bloody Sunday. In his evidence he recalled being a 17-year-old A-level student who had gone with friends to the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march. But after the army started firing he fled from the Rossville Street area amid growing fears at the unfolding events. Expand Close St Mary's Church, on the Creggan Estate, during the Requiem Mass for the 13 who died on 'Bloody Sunday' in Londonderry. PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp St Mary's Church, on the Creggan Estate, during the Requiem Mass for the 13 who died on 'Bloody Sunday' in Londonderry. He told of seeing a soldier emerge from behind flats, looking in his direction and place a bullet in the breech of his rifle. He then crawled and ran into Glenfada Park North in an attempt to take shelter. While there he saw the body of Michael Kelly, one of those fatally wounded, being carried. Expand Close Bloody Sunday 1972 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bloody Sunday 1972 As others began to surge into the area, shouting that soldiers were coming in, Mr Quinn headed, crouched down towards an alley. He had just made it over a raised area when the bullet hit him. "It felt like someone had given me a very hard punch to the face," he told the court. "Just below my eye I could physically see droplets of blood and bone and skin exploding from my face." He continued: "It felt like slow motion as it was happening, I could see also that someone else was falling beside me. "I saw his head hit the pavement, he hadn't put out his arms to break the fall." That man turned out to be James Wray, another of those killed, who had asked Mr Quinn to help carry the civil rights banner earlier in the day. Mr Quinn managed to stumble on until he was brought to a first aid post and then taken to Altnagelvin Hospital. The scene in the accident and emergency department was described as something he had only previously seen in footage of medical units in a warzone. He told of being "terrified" when a priest was brought over to administer the Last Rites because of the extent of his injuries. Mr Quinn then had to endure the stigma of "guilt by association" until being fully exonerated by Lord Saville's findings. His physical injuries were exacerbated by the insult and humiliation of false military insinuations about those killed or wounded by soldiers in Derry in January 1972, the court heard. Ruling on the claim, Mr Justice McAlinden made awards for general and aggravated damages, as well as injury to his feelings caused by attempts to justify the soldiers' actions on Bloody Sunday. But he resisted calls to also compel the defendant to pay punitive, exemplary damages - based on the cost to the government of funding the Saville Inquiry, its unqualified acceptance of the tribunal's findings, and Mr Cameron's immediate apology. "The need for deterrence has not been established, and the cost to the government represents adequate punishment," he said. The total 193,000 damages plus costs includes 5,000 to cover facial reconstruction surgery Mr Quinn may undergo in future. An ex-gratia payment of 3,400 made to him in 1974, with a current day value of nearly 35,000, is also to be taken into account. Outside court his solicitor, Fearghal Shiels of Madden & Finucane, said: "No amount of money could compensate Mr Quinn for the physical and mental scars that he has carried with him every day since 1972. "This action, and the apology by David Cameron, was an inevitable consequence of the Saville Report and the unambiguus declaration of innocence of all of the victims of Bloody Sunday. "Mr Quinn is relieved that this action is now over." Sinn Fein has strongly denied a claim that the late Martin McGuinness was aware of a whistleblower's warnings about the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The party's deputy leader Michelle O'Neill branded the claim by Arlene Foster as a "disgraceful attack" on the former Deputy First Minister which her party would not let go unchallenged. In her evidence to the RHI Inquiry on Tuesday, the DUP leader said she had told Mr McGuinness in January 2016 about a note claiming financial abuse of the system. Mrs Foster insisted that if she did not give the note to Mr McGuinness, she certainly spoke to him about it. In his written evidence to the inquiry, Sinn Fein adviser Aidan McAteer said the note "was not shared" with the Deputy First Minister "at that time". Speaking yesterday, Ms O'Neill said: "Martin McGuinness set the benchmark for good government and the fair and equal treatment of all citizens. He led by example and any attack on his integrity is spurious, is disgraceful and it will be robustly challenged by our party." She continued: "The comments that were made before the RHI public inquiry that Martin McGuinness had prior knowledge of the whistleblower will be examined by the inquiry. "However, Sinn Fein is confident that our position, and the position of Martin McGuinness, will be fully vindicated. Martin McGuinness is no longer here to defend himself. "I can also tell you that this allegation is subject to an ongoing and separate legal action." It is understood the action relates to comments made by a different DUP member about another Sinn Fein figure's alleged knowledge of whistleblower claims. Mrs Foster told the RHI inquiry: "My recollection is clear, if I didn't show it to the DFM (Deputy First Minister), I certainly spoke to the DFM about it." Mr McGuinness resigned as Deputy First Minister in January 2017 in protest at the DUP's handling of the cash-for-ash scandal. Talks to restore the power-sharing institutions have failed with both parties blaming each other for the ongoing suspension of devolution. A farmer who died in tragic circumstances last Saturday was preparing to announce his engagement to his girlfriend later this year. Hundreds of mourners who gathered at Sixmilecross Presbyterian Church for the funeral of Harry Gibson (26) were told by Rev Norman Smyth that the Beragh man had dedicated his life to his job. Read More Mr Gibson lost his life on the farm as the result of a tragic accident. Addressing the congregation on behalf of Mr Gibson's parents, Mervyn and Susan, twin sister Charlotte and partner Alison, Rev Smyth paid tribute to him. He said: "From the very start. it was evident that Harry was destined to be farmer. "All Christmas and birthday presents related to farming - tractors, silage trailers, little animals and the like. "His farm and his animals meant the world to him. He always put the welfare of his livestock first and thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of farming. "He didn't mind the long, unsociable hours in harsh conditions. Harry didn't want nine-to-five - his lifestyle was more five-to-nine." Expand Close The funeral of Harry Gibson takes place in Co Tyrone / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The funeral of Harry Gibson takes place in Co Tyrone Rev Smyth told the congregation Mr Gibson had his future planned with his girlfriend. He continued: "Alison was to become a permanent companion and soulmate for Harry. "He even invested in wellies and a boiler suit for her very early on. "A more recent investment of an engagement ring during their summer holiday together, though not to be announced to later this year, signalled their love for and commitment to each other and their plans for a long-term future together." Rev Smyth said while Mr Gibson would be sorely missed, he would be remembered with great pride. He added: "Harry had a wide circle of brilliant friends who respected his private ways and understood his dry wit and quirky sense of humour. Expand Close Popular figure: Harry Gibson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Popular figure: Harry Gibson "His friends appreciated that Harry often didn't say much, but when he did, what he had to say was always worth listening to. "Everyone who knew and loved Harry will miss him very much. "He has left us all too soon as the result of a tragic accident. "Harry's family and friends are somewhat comforted by the fact that he did not want to leave them and they will always remember him with great pride and joy." Rev Smyth concluded the tribute by extending the family's thanks to everyone who had helped and supported them in the days since the terrible tragedy including friends, neighbours and the emergency services. Mr Gibson was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery following the funeral service. A DUP councillor has hit out at the "utterly appalling" actions of those who smashed the windows of a school bus in a hate attack in north Belfast. The bus was carrying students from the separate Girls and Boys' Model Schools in the Oldpark Road area of the city on Monday afternoon when the attack happened. It was reported to police shortly after 4.30pm, and is being treated as a hate crime. Local DUP councillor Dale Pankhurst hit out at the perpetrators, and called on nationalist politicians to speak out in condemning the violence. Mr Pankhurst said: "I have spoken to the PSNI regarding this attack and it is being treated as sectarian. It is utterly appalling that in 2018, school children are subjected to attack based on their religious identity. "Those behind these attacks need brought to justice. Throwing an object at a travelling bus is a serious offence that carries the potential for serious injury and, indeed, the loss of life. "I would appeal to leaders within the nationalist community to condemn this attack also and encourage anyone with any information to fully cooperate with the police in their investigations going forward. There can be no place for sectarianism in north Belfast in 2018. Police enquiries are ongoing. Sick leave in the local Civil Service has cost the taxpayer almost 34m in 12 months. Civil servants took an average of 13 days off because of illness in 2017/18. Mental health issues accounted for over a third (36.4%) of all absences, official figures show. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) said the total absence, in salary terms, equated to an estimated 33.8m of lost production, equivalent to around 4% of the Civil Service pay bill in 2017/2018. The 13 days, which works out at two-and-a-half weeks, equates to 6% of the available working days in that 12-month period. Trade union Nipsa blamed the figures on management for piling too much pressure on staff. Figures from NISRA showed the 2017/18 sick rate was the highest since a peak of 15.5 days in 2003/04. Women had 1.5 times as many sick days as men (15.4 days compared to 10.9), with more than half the difference due to gender-specific conditions excluding pregnancy. Less than half of the 23,000 staff (46.6%) had no sick days, but this figure was negatively impacted by a higher than usual spike in cold, cough and flu illnesses. Department of Finance permanent secretary Sue Gray described the figures as "disappointing". She said: "We have good systems in place to support our workforce. "We will keep working hard to improve and promote good health and well-being among all of our 23,000 staff." UUP MLA Steve Aiken said the absence levels would "amaze" those working in the private sector. "I simply cannot understand how on average civil servants in Northern Ireland can be sick nearly twice as much as those in GB," he said. That was a reference to official Cabinet statistics showing an average of seven days' sick leave for civil servants in Britain for the year ending in March 2017. He added: "Previous Northern Ireland Executives miserably failed to tackle the number of lost days so I suspect that failure to act may be a key factor as to why our rates remain so high." But Nipsa's Alison Millar hit out at the annual "witch-hunt" against staff taking sick leave. "After last year's report, we raised with management the need to do more to address in particular the level of illness due to anxiety/stress/depression and psychiatric illness," she said. "We offered to work jointly to see what could be done, in response we were told all that could be done was being done. "This is not the case. Management continue to make cuts, attack terms and conditions, change how people work and pile on more pressure whilst totally failing to address the root cause of the problem." Estimated cost in lost production as civil servants here take average of 13 days sick leave in 2017/18 TUV MLA Jim Allister has branded a warning that Northern Ireland could experience multiple electricity blackouts with the public facing 34% increases in their bills in the event of a no-deal Brexit as "scaremongering". The BBC reports of government preparations for all-island electricity arrangements after Brexit. While it is part of a UK-Ireland arrangement formed in 2007 it is underpinned by both countries ties to the European Union's Internal Energy Market (IEM). Officials, it has been reported, believe the best way to maintain a constant supply is for the UK to remain part of the IEM. However, they believe a no-deal Brexit would be a risk to electricity supply leaving Northern Ireland "insecure and isolated". In a worst case scenario, bills could soar by 34%, there would be multiple blackouts and government would be forced to intervene, the BBC reports. Jim Allister said the issue highlighted "the folly of a Single Electricity Market whose Dublin controlled model ran down generating capacity in Northern Ireland and had no interest in improving NI/GB interconnection. "While EU malevolence may wish such ill upon us, it would also take the Dublin Government to renege on its separate contractual agreement that established the ESM. "A lesson to be learned is that "taking back control" needs to extend to our electricity market, as well as everything else." Boris Johnson described the Chequers proposal as the worst of both worlds (Victoria Jones/PA) Boris Johnson has issued a blistering attack on Theresa Mays Brexit strategy just days before the Conservative Party conference. The former foreign secretary, who sensationally quit the Cabinet in July, described the Prime Ministers Chequers plan as a moral and intellectual humiliation for this country that will cheat the electorate if implemented. Mr Johnson, in a Telegraph op-ed, accused the Government and civil service of a pretty invertebrate performance in negotiations and said there had been a collapse of will by the British establishment to deliver on the mandate of the people. In a 4,500-word column, entitled A better plan for Brexit, Mr Johnson also set out an alternative vision which he says would make Britain rich, strong and free. The Chequers proposals are the worst of both worlds. They are a moral and intellectual humiliation for this country. It is almost incredible that after two years this should be the opening bid of the British governmentBoris Johnson As a priority, the former London mayor urged the Government to ditch Chequers and negotiate a Canada-style free deal which would fulfil the instruction of the people. He said: Overall, the Chequers proposals represent the intellectual error of believing that we can be half-in, half-out: that it is somehow safer and easier for large parts of our national life to remain governed by the EU even though we are no longer in the EU. They are in that sense a democratic disaster. There is nothing safe or pragmatic in being bound by rules over which we have no say, interpreted by a federalist court. The Chequers proposals are the worst of both worlds. They are a moral and intellectual humiliation for this country. It is almost incredible that after two years this should be the opening bid of the British government. Mr Johnson also argues for a new withdrawal agreement which states that the Irish border question will be settled as part of the deal on the future economic arrangements. He further argues that the implementation period should be used to negotiate and bring into force a SuperCanada type free trade agreement and says MPs should not vote to hand over 40 billion to the EU without any such agreement. He adds: This is the time to get it right. This is the approach that allows this country really to exploit the opportunities of Brexit, to diverge and legislate effectively for the new technologies and businesses in which the UK has such a lead. This is an opportunity for the UK to become more dynamic and more successful, and we should not be shy of saying that and we should recognise that it is exactly this potential our EU partners seek to constrain. Mr Johnson concludes by issuing a rallying cry to the Tory base, saying this is the moment to change the course of the negotiations and do justice to the ambitions and potential of Brexit, and warning that future generations will not lightly forgive us if we fail. The intervention comes two days before the start of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham where Brexit is expected to feature heavily. Mr Johnsons comments also come after the current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for calm over the current Brexit impasse claiming there was always going to come a point in negotiations where everyone was looking into the abyss. Mr Hunt also backed the Prime Ministers resolve and warned the EU and doubters in the UK that underestimating Theresa May is one of the biggest mistakes that you could make right now. Mrs Mays Chequers plan was publicly rejected by EU leaders in Salzburg last week and both Labour and Tory Eurosceptics said they would vote against any such proposal. Jeremy Corbyn is set to meet with the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier in a bid to break the current Brexit impasse. The Labour leader will travel to Brussels with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer with the message that no-deal is not acceptable. The visit comes just 24 hours after Mr Corbyn used his Labour Party conference speech to say that his party will vote against Theresa Mays Chequers plan as it stands and oppose a no-deal Brexit. Ahead of his meeting with Mr Barnier, Mr Corbyn said: With just weeks of negotiating time left, its clear that UK-EU Brexit talks are in a perilous state. Time is running out and companies are losing patience with the absence of any clarity from the Government. Crashing out of Europe with no deal risks being a national disaster. That is why Im meeting EU officials today, and I will be urging them to do all they can to avoid a no-deal outcome, which would be so damaging to jobs and living standards in both the UK and EU countries. Expand Close Michel Barnier, EU Chief Negotiator for Brexit, PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michel Barnier, EU Chief Negotiator for Brexit, Mr Corbyn said that Labour would call for a general election if Parliament votes down the deal reached by the Prime Minister and Brussels, and told delegates in Liverpool that all options are on the table if that fails. But Mr Corbyn did also reveal that Labour would back a sensible deal, saying he would support an outcome that features a customs union and no hard border on the island of Ireland. Shadow trade secretary Barry Gardiner, appearing on ITVs Peston show, said the party would be willing to make compromises with the Tories to avoid a no-deal. He said: If it means compromising, if it means you bending your red line to give us a customs union, were prepared to bend our red lines to give, to give this a deal. Former home secretary Amber Rudd, also appearing on ITVs Peston show, revealed that she would absolutely support a second referendum on the UKs membership of the EU over no-deal. She said: I dont think no deal will happen. I think that if we cant get a negotiated deal, that the Prime Minister brings back through Parliament, then I think that were in completely uncharted territory. Expand Close Anti-Brexit billboards on the northern side of the border between Newry in Northern Ireland and Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anti-Brexit billboards on the northern side of the border between Newry in Northern Ireland and Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) I think that one of the outcomes you might get is a Norway style EEA deal, and I know that various colleagues are looking at that. Asked whether she would support a Canada-plus type deal, the likes of which the Tory Brexiteer faction are calling for, she said: No. I think there are a number of people, in fact Ive talked to a few colleagues and I reckon there are conservatively about 40 of us who would not support a Canada type deal. But to be frank there are so many reasons a Canada type deal doesnt work, starting with the Irish border, going on to manufacturing that I think we can make those arguments. But that just reinforces the point that there is an impasse if the two wings of our party face up to the fact that we have these elements that differentiate us but the rebel group need to think again because I think weve only got one shot at a negotiated settlement. By Ritah Kemigisa. Journalists under their umbrella body Uganda Journalists Association have resolved to petition the speaker of parliament this Friday which they have labelled a black day following the continued arrest and torture of journalists in the country. According to a statement from the association president Bashir Mbaziira, the journalists will hold a peaceful demonstration from the constitutional square to parliament demanding the speaker to urgently prevail over security agencies so that they can stop stifling the work of journalists. Mbaziira adds that they want the speaker to compel the security agencies to compensate the destroyed equipment of journalists and foot the bills of those who have since incurred injuries. Just yesterday police arrested a number of journalists during a protest at the UNHCR offices while many were tortured during the Arua by election. A charity consultant has said Syrian refugees who cross the Irish border could be victims of a no-deal Brexit (Niall Carson/PA) Syrian refugee children who use services on both sides of the Irish border could fall victim to a no-deal Brexit, a charity has warned. Youngsters from outside the European Union (EU) or UK and suffering from severe trauma, abuse or substance abuse are cared for at residential homes on an all-Ireland basis to produce economies of scale. They would not be covered by freedom of movement provisions which pre-date the EU and will ensure free passage of most people between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Marchs divorce. A charity consultant, who asked to remain anonymous, said: We are used to being stoical about Brexit. He added: We are concerned about what the future is for cross-border movement for those kinds of service users. He said a number of charities worked with people from Syria, migrants from eastern Europe and families from the Middle East or Africa. If those service users are not EU nationals or UK nationals, when the border comes, does that mean we cannot take someone who lives in the south into the north?Charity consultant Some have mental health issues, have abused substances or suffered other forms of trauma. The consultant added: Charities work on an all-island basis, you send service users across the border to facilities. If those service users are not EU nationals or UK nationals, when the border comes, does that mean we cannot take someone who lives in the south into the north? He added: These are children in crisis and adverse circumstances. Over the last decade the charity has developed an all-island approach, economies of scale in the supply of residential facilities. The first Syrian refugees participating in the UKs Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme arrived in Belfast in December 2015. Hundreds have entered since then. The charity consultant addressed a meeting on Brexit at the offices of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) in Belfast. At @NICVA this afternoon to hear about a very useful #Brexit briefing from Irish Department of Foreign Affairs @dfatirl pic.twitter.com/OEF6wIohxu Inspire (@InspireWBGroup) September 27, 2018 NICVAs head of policy and public affairs Geoff Nuttall said: What happens to services that straddle the border in a no-deal scenario? One of the case studies from Womens Aid (which helps victims of domestic abuse) was talking about, at the sharp end, women seeking help who may be in households that they literally have to leave and go to the nearest support, that support could be over the border, the nearest one. He also raised the prospect of ambulances stopping at the border and patients being picked up at the other side. There are lots of issues around the supply of drugs, licensed drugs, lots of health concerns generally. Environment is the other area that is so bound up with European policy frameworks and enforcement that replacing that is such a major issue, everything from illegal waste to pollution, to how we manage every aspect of the environment is all up in the air. Mr Nuttall said the overall impact of a no-deal Brexit on the economy, cross-border trade and public finances was worrying. There are going to be potentially direct effects on people in our sector who are providing services for the most vulnerable who are already under enormous budgetary pressures. It is the destabilising effect on the economy and on the rights and protections that organisations are highly concerned about. Undated handout file photo issued by the Jo Cox Foundation of Jo Cox, who was killed by neo-Nazi terrorist Thomas Mair in her Batley and Spen constituency on June 16 2016. The family of the murdered MP have thanked the public for their support as they prepare to privately mourn the second anniversary of her death. A square in the centre of Brussels will be named in honour of murdered MP Jo Cox. Jeremy Corbyn will attend the official inauguration of Place Jo Cox alongside her relatives in the Belgian capital on Thursday afternoon. The city decided to rename the square near the town hall in honour of the former Labour Batley and Spen MP in a bid to have more streets and public places named after women. The 41-year-old mother-of-two, who was killed by neo-Nazi terrorist Thomas Mair in 2016, is said to have frequented the Ancienne Belgique concert hall which backs onto the square when she worked in Belgium before being elected to Parliament in 2015. To know that she will have a permanent place where she, and the values she stood by, can be remembered is a comfort and an honourMrs Cox's sister Kim Leadbeater Mayor of Brussels Philippe Close will lead the ceremony alongside Mrs Coxs sister Kim Leadbeater and parents Gordon and Jean. Representatives of the Labour Party and the European Parliament are also expected to attend. Ms Leadbeater said: My parents and I are very pleased to be attending the inauguration of Jo Cox Square and are honoured that the city of Brussels has chosen to remember Jo in this way. She had many happy times living there and made some deep and long-lasting friendships. We visited her on several occasions and have many heart-warming memories of seeing how much she enjoyed being there. To know that she will have a permanent place where she, and the values she stood by, can be remembered is a comfort and an honour and I would like to thank everyone involved. Mr Close said Mrs Coxs investment in womens rights and her love for Brussels were absolutely remarkable. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are to visit West Africa. Brian Lawless/PA Wire The Prince of Wales is expected to acknowledge the slavery past of an historic African fort when he visits the continent with the Duchess of Cornwall. Clarence House has announced Charles and Camilla are to tour the Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria during October and November, countries in a region synonymous with the slave trade. The couples trip comes hard on the heels of the Prime Ministers high-profile visit to the continent just a few weeks ago. Theresa May made a three-nation trade mission to Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria during August and September, in an attempt to bolster Britains post-Brexit fortunes. Just announced: The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit The Gambia , Ghana and Nigeria from 31 October - 8 November. The visits will highlight the importance of the countries Commonwealth ties. pic.twitter.com/rwZqkG58ds The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) September 27, 2018 In Ghana the heir to the throne will visit the 17th century Christiansborg Castle, once a Danish slave fort and later owned by Britain. Scott Furssedonn-Wood, Charles deputy private secretary, said about the princes visit to the site: What we will almost certainly see is an acknowledgement of that site, of the darker side of the forts history and that part of the past, and the story of that region. Until a few years ago the fort, in the capital Accra, was the seat of Ghanas government after independence, and Charles stayed in the building when he visited the country in 1977. Over the centuries the royal family were involved in the slave trade from Elizabeth I, who supported the lucrative dealings of John Hawkins, one of Britains first slave traders, to the Duke of Clarence, later William IV, who opposed slavery abolitionists. Mr Furssedonn-Wood said: Their Royal Highnesses visit will celebrate the UKs historic ties with these three Commonwealth nations, and also our dynamic contemporary partnerships with each of them in areas ranging from business to the arts, defence co-operation to medical research. The tour will also highlight the people-to-people links between our countries and the invaluable contribution they make to our shared prosperity and security. Charles and Camillas trip begins on October 31 with the prince spending nine days in the region, while the duchesss tour ends after seven, following their first day in Nigeria. The royal tour comes a week ahead of Remembrance Sunday commemorations on November 11, which have added significance as this year is the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Did you know the forthcoming visit to The Gambia will be The Prince and The Duchesss first visit to the country? It will also be the first visit to both Ghana and Nigeria for The Duchess. Here is HRH visiting Kano, Nigeria, in 2006. pic.twitter.com/riGFM2qHA5 The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) September 27, 2018 The couple, who will travel by private chartered jet, will recognise the sacrifices made by forces during visits, as a couple or the prince on his own, to Commonwealth war graves in each of the countries. The presidents of the African nations will welcome them to their countries and in Ghana the prince and duchess will be guests of the monarch of the Kingdom of Ashanti when they attend a traditional durbar or procession. The duchess will also carry out a significant number of solo events focusing on her interests in literacy, womens empowerment and the Commonwealth. Jeremy Corbyn attends the inauguration of Jo Cox Square in the centre of Brussels (AP/Francisco Seco) Jeremy Corbyn urged mourners to help build a better world when he spoke at a ceremony to name a square in the centre of Brussels after murdered Labour MP Jo Cox. The Labour leader described Mrs Cox as someone who lived her life to make lives better for everyone else. Expand Close Jeremy Corbyn talks to journalists after the official inauguration of Jo Cox Square in the centre of Brussels (AP/Francisco Seco) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jeremy Corbyn talks to journalists after the official inauguration of Jo Cox Square in the centre of Brussels (AP/Francisco Seco) As plaques were unveiled, he told a crowd of friends and relatives in Place Jo Cox: She always gave this message that we have far more in common that unites us than can ever possibly divide us. The mother-of-two, who was killed by neo-Nazi terrorist Thomas Mair in 2016, frequented the Ancienne Belgique concert hall which backs onto the square when she worked in Belgium. In her memory lets build that better worldJemery Corbyn She lived in the country for six years before being elected to Parliament in 2015. Mr Corbyn thanked the people of Brussels for the truly wonderful gesture to honour the 41-year-old who was so cruelly killed, so young, in such a brutal way. He attended the ceremony with Tracey Brabin, the MP who has taken over Mrs Coxs Batley and Spen constituency, and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer. Mr Corbyn was later heading to meet Michel Barnier, the EUs Brexit negotiator. Shaking hands with Mrs Coxs sister Kim Leadbeater and parents Gordon and Jean Leadbeater, he ended his speech by saying: In her memory lets build that better world. We can change the world, thank you. Expand Close Jo Coxs sister Kim Leadbeater (AP/Francisco Seco) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jo Coxs sister Kim Leadbeater (AP/Francisco Seco) Ms Leadbeater remembered her sisters compassion and kindness but voiced concerns that little political progress had been made since her death. Speaking in the square alongside relatives who each held a single white rose, she said: After Jo was killed it felt like there was a real hope that some things will change. Obviously for us everything changed forever. But beyond that I think a lot of people hoped that the violent assassination of a young mother of two small children on the streets where she grew up would have a profound and long-lasting effect on the political discourse in the UK and beyond. However, over two years after, and despite many people working extremely hard to show that Jos murder was not in vain, Im sadly not at all sure that this was the case. As well as being a celebration of Jos life, I feel that today is also an opportune time to reflect on this. She said she hoped to bring Mrs Coxs children to the square in happier and more settled times. Mayor of Brussels Philippe Close described Mrs Cox as always pursuing the emancipation of the most disadvantaged and dying for her ideas of peace, solidarity and tolerance. He said the city would continue to prevent the poison of hatred to spread and wished, whatever happened in the Brexit negotiations, that the UK will always remain part of Europe. He added: Brussels will continue to welcome UK citizens with a warm heart. And our friendship with the UK will remain as strong as it has ever been. The city decided to rename the square near the Grand Place after Mrs Cox in a bid to have more streets and public places remembering illustrious women. After the speeches, a choir led by close friend Suzy Sumner performed music including an African liberation song in a nod to her work on that continent and a traditional Balkan folksong in memory of Mrs Coxs love for the region. Brexit provides a wonderful opportunity to strike a big and ambitious free trade deal, Theresa May and Donald Trump agreed in talks in New York. The US president said the Prime Minister is doing a very, very good job and is a great friend at the start of the meeting. He told reporters his relationship with the PM had developed over the course of his trip to the UK in July. Mr Trump made a public apology at the time for an explosive interview where he said the PMs Brexit plans would kill off a trade deal with America and predicted Boris Johnson would be a great prime minister. Expand Close Secret Service agents stands next to the vehicle of President Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Secret Service agents stands next to the vehicle of President Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP) But at the start of the discussions on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, he said: Its my great honour to be here with Prime Minister Theresa May. Shes working very hard, like all us, and doing a very, very good job. We spent a lot of time together on my last trip to the UK and I think thats where we can say we got to know each other and it was like meeting after meeting after meeting and I said this is really good. Every meeting became better and better. I will say that we are talking about a lot of different things today, trade, military, security, protection all sorts of things. We have a myriad of things to talk about. I just want to say its great to be with you and its great to have you as a friend. Expand Close The talks took place on the fringes of the UN General Assembly (Evan Vucci/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The talks took place on the fringes of the UN General Assembly (Evan Vucci/AP) The PM and president began their meeting by discussing their mutual desire to form a wide-ranging trade deal, a No 10 spokesman said. They agreed that Brexit provides a wonderful opportunity to strike a big and ambitious UK-US Free Trade Agreement. Mrs May hailed the deep and enduring relationship between the UK and US. She said: The relationship between the US and UK is a really special one, deep and enduring, but theres much for us to talk about as we go forward together, particularly obviously the ambitious and wide ranging trade deal that we want to do between the UK and US, but also our security partnership and defence partnership and those many challenges we are facing around the world and how we can cooperate. Mr Trump added: And we will talk about them and come up with solutions and answers. Expand Close Theresa May addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (Richard Drew/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Theresa May addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (Richard Drew/AP) Ahead of the meeting, Mrs May was asked how she could persuade a sceptical British audience to trust the president and pointed to his action on the Salisbury spy poisoning and his change of heart on the Nato alliance. She added: In relation to a trade deal in the future I would say President Trump and America want to do a good trade deal with us. Its in both our interests to do that good trade deal. And I believe that when we have negotiated that deal that indeed will be put in place. Mrs May told how she copes with the demands of dealing with the Brexit negotiations. She said: Throughout my working career whatever job Im doing, whatever job Im taking on, I take a very simple approach to it that you focus on where you want to get to and then work out how to get there and then just do that and put it into practice. Yes different jobs have different challenges. If you believe in your goal thats how you get there. I believe absolutely in delivering on the peoples vote and doing it in the best way for the UK. Grenfell Tower fire survivors will hear from the head of the London Fire Brigade (LFB) during the public inquiry into the blaze. Commissioner Dany Cotton, the most senior member of the brigade, will stand before those who escaped the block, and the family and friends of those who did not, to give her account of the night of June 14 last year. Numbers of attendees from the local community have dwindled in recent weeks, but a higher turnout is expected to hear Ms Cotton on Thursday. She will be the most senior fire officer to give evidence at the inquiry so far, which is in its 10th week of firefighter evidence. Expand Close Grenfell Tower (Rick Findler/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Grenfell Tower (Rick Findler/PA) The probe has heard how policy went out the window as teams tried to deal with an unprecedented, rapidly spreading fire, with an overwhelming number of calls coming from those trapped inside. Many present said they had never seen fire spread so far, so fast, and that they were not prepared to fight a fire or rescue on such a scale. The brigade has also been criticised for initially telling residents to remain in their flats despite the ferocity of the inferno. The commissioner, a firefighter since the age of 18, arrived at the scene of the fire at 2.29am, the inquiry was told in June. She described the site as alien to anything I had ever seen in a statement to the inquiry, part of which was read out. She said: I have never seen a building where the whole of it was on fire. Expand Close London fire commissioner Dany Cotton marking the one-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire (Gareth Fuller/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp London fire commissioner Dany Cotton marking the one-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire (Gareth Fuller/PA) Nobody has ever seen that. It was incredible. It was so alien to anything I had ever seen. Ms Cotton is said to have been concerned about the large numbers of displaced persons wandering the local area, as well as for the psychological welfare of her fire crews. On Wednesday the inquiry was shown a CCTV image of the commissioner alongside several firefighters in breathing apparatus inside the lobby of the tower. Assistant commissioner Andrew Roe told the inquiry: I remember going in with the commissioner, and I remember thinking at the time the commissioner was putting herself in very considerable danger, and this was an extremely unusual situation to be in when ones own commissioner is running the possibility of being badly injured or killed at an incident. The inquiry is in its first phase, which is looking at the night of the fire, and is being held at Holborn Bars in central London. It will be the turn of survivors, the bereaved and local residents next week when firefighters evidence draws to a close. Jeremy Hunt said he flies the flag for British values when he goes to Saudi Arabia (Peter Byrne/PA) Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that he flies the flag for British values in private meetings with Saudi Arabia. The Government has come under increasing pressure to cease arms sales with the Kingdom in light of the ongoing conflict between Saudi-led coalition forces and Iranian-backed rebels known as Houthis in Yemen. The United Nations estimated that in August alone about 981 civilians, including more than 300 children, had been killed or injured in the conflict. The truth is that we also want to make sure that all countries everywhere behave in a humane and civilised way, and we do everything that we can to try and influence countries like Saudi ArabiaForeign Secretary Jeremy Hunt Mr Hunt, pressed by Sky News on the issue, said: We have a commercial relationship with Saudi Arabia, we have a strategic relationship, there are bombs that have not gone off in the streets of Britain because of the counter intelligence that weve done with Saudi Arabia and were working with them to try and create peace in the region. The truth is that we also want to make sure that all countries everywhere behave in a humane and civilised way, and we do everything that we can to try and influence countries like Saudi Arabia. He added: With countries like Saudi Arabia, countries like China, the way you make the most progress is by talking to them in private. If you talk about these things publicly you lose the access, they say we dont want to deal with you and you put yourself in a position where you have no influence over whats happening. So, when I go to Saudi Arabia, when I go to China, when I go to countries like that, I raise these issues, I fly the flag for British values. Allan Hogarth, Amnesty Internationals UK head of policy and government affairs, hit out at the comments, saying: What wed say to Jeremy Hunt is wheres the evidence that talking privately to Saudi Arabia is making the slightest bit of difference? In Yemen, the Saudi Arabia-led Coalitions bombs continue to kill Yemeni civilians, and at home the Saudi authorities are still cracking down on human rights defenders, including brave womens rights activists who are now languishing in jail. The UK needs a complete overhaul of this failed softly-softly approach when it comes to Saudi Arabia. It should start by immediately suspending any further arms sales to Saudi Arabia where theres any risk theyll be used to commit human rights violations in Yemen. Basildon University Hospital, Basildon, Essex where police are guarding a teenager who was shot in the stomach in Tilbury (Nick Ansell/PA) A teenager shot in the stomach in what police believe was a targeted attack is being guarded in hospital by officers. The 19-year-old victim is believed to have been attacked after he was approached by two men shortly before 7.15pm in Tilbury, Essex Police said. He is currently in a serious condition at Basildon University Hospital, the force said. We are investigating following an incident where a man was shot in #Tilbury. A 19 year-old was taken to Basildon Hospital at around 7.15pm. We believe this was a targeted attack and there is no risk to the wider public. Read more on Facebook: https://t.co/ejGwmI3cY5 pic.twitter.com/9F0gfl6hiO Essex Police (@EssexPoliceUK) September 26, 2018 The area of Raphael Avenue and Sullivan Road where the alleged shooting took place has been cordoned off, while officers are also stationed at the hospital. The police presence at the hospital sparked fears on social media that Basildon Hospital was on lockdown. A spokesman for the hospital said the A&E was open and that members of the public in need of care should turn up as normal. Detective Inspector Stuart Truss, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: This investigation is in a very early stage but were already building up a picture of the circumstances which led up to it. While it is unclear what the motive behind the attack was we believe it was targeted and there is no risk to the wider public. I appreciate this will be concerning for the local community but I want to emphasise incidents like this are very rare. The area where it is thought this incident took place is a busy residential one and I believe someone will have seen something. I particularly need to speak to anyone who saw a small black car in the area at the time of the incident. Anyone with any information on the incident is urged to call 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov, who is claimed to be Russian intelligence officer Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga (PA/MPS) The real identity of one of the men suspected of carrying out the deadly Salisbury nerve agent attack has been disclosed by an online investigative group. Here is what we know so far about the prime suspects. Sent to the UK to kill On September 5, the Prime Minister told MPs that two Russian nationals were suspected of travelling to the UK to murder former spy Sergei Skripal with the nerve agent Novichok. They used the names Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, which police believed to be aliases. CCTV images tracked their movements from arriving in the UK on March 2 until their return to Russia late on March 4, the day of the attack. Evidence gathered by intelligence agencies led the Government to conclude the men were officers from the Russian military intelligence service, also known as the GRU. Expand Close The men are seen at Salisbury train station on March 3 (PA/MPS) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The men are seen at Salisbury train station on March 3 (PA/MPS) Putins denial A week later, Russian president Vladimir Putin publicly denied the men identified by the UK were responsible. He said there was nothing criminal about the pair and said they were civilians. Mr Putin made a surprise appeal for Petrov and Boshirov to appear in public to dispel doubt about their true identity. The interview On September 13, the men appeared on Russian state-funded news channel RT. In a bizarre interview Boshirov said they travelled to the wonderful Wiltshire city to see Stonehenge and Old Sarum after recommendations from friends. He told the interviewer he wanted to see the world-renowned Salisbury Cathedral, which is famous for its 123m spire and historic clock. Boshirov acknowledged they may have been near Mr Skripals house but said they did not know where it was. He said his life had been turned upside down after he was named as a suspect. Bellingcat revelation On Wednesday, online investigative group Bellingcat reported that Boshirovs true identity is Anatoliy Chepiga, a 39-year-old married father-of-one. He is also a highly-decorated colonel in the GRU, the group says. Born in Amur Oblast in far-east Russia, he joined an elite military academy at 18. The group said he graduated with honours and was assigned to a unit under GRU command. The unit played a key role in the second Chechen War and he was deployed to the country three times, Bellingcat said. According to the group he was given his pseudonym at some point between 2003 and 2010. FROM HERO TO ZERO: Now we know who "Ruslan Boshirov" is. https://t.co/xBZ33HGkDV Bellingcat (@bellingcat) September 26, 2018 The presidents man? The group said Col Chepiga was given the Kremlins highest state award, Hero of the Russian Federation, in secret in 2014. The awards are usually handed out by Mr Putin himself, meaning it is highly likely the president would have been familiar with Col Chepigas identity. What he was given the award for remains a mystery. In 2014 there were no military activities in Chechnya and Russia had not engaged in Syria. The only region where Russia is alleged to have been involved was Eastern Ukraine, where any mission would have been classified. Expand Close Anatoliy Chepiga is said to have joined the Russian military at 18 (Bellingcat/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Anatoliy Chepiga is said to have joined the Russian military at 18 (Bellingcat/PA) What has Russia said? A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed Bellingcats claims, and said they were part of an information campaign to distract from the investigation into what really happened in Salisbury. What has the UK Government said? The Home Office said it could neither confirm nor deny the reporting about the suspects real identity. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson briefly appeared to confirm the story, posting and then deleting a tweet that said the true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects has been revealed to be a Russian Colonel. And how about Alexander Petrov? Bellingcats disclosures focus on Col Chepiga, although they say Alexander Petrov is a fake cover persona for an as yet unidentified Russian individual. The group says he is not a civilian, but linked to one of Russias security services. Bellingcat says it has assessed data from the Russian central passport database. The issue numbers on passports used by the men to travel to Britain differed by only three digits, making it implausible that they were issued through regular channels, the group said. Prime Minister Theresa May posing with New York police officers on her official plane (10 Downing Street) Theresa May posed for pictures with three New York police officers as a thank-you for rescuing her aides after they were stranded on the fast lane of the freeway. The Prime Ministers motorcade was heading to the airport when the gearbox went on the car carrying her most senior officials. NYPD officers helped the team whizz through rush-hour traffic to make the PMs flight back to London. But they asked for a picture with Mrs May in return and the grateful PM posed at the door to her RAF Voyager. Gavin Barwell, the PMs chief of staff, had teased the stranded group from the waiting plane, tweeting where is tricky a reference to Mrs Mays aide Richard Jackson adding wheels up soon. The Prime Minister, who had attended the United Nations General Assembly, and No 10 staff cheered on the officials as they finally boarded the plane 45 minutes after it should have taken off. A Downing Street source said: New Yorks finest rescued the PMs team from the side of the freeway and got us to the runway for the flight home. Just another way to deepen the special relationship, and were very grateful for their help. Former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson arrives at the Old Bailey (Yui Mok/PA) Far-right activist Tommy Robinson said he believes the authorities want him in prison for Christmas after a fresh hearing into contempt of court claims was adjourned. The former English Defence League (EDL) leader was greeted by cheers from hundreds of supporters gathered outside court, who chanted his name, and held up Union and St Georges flags. Expand Close Hundreds of Tommy Robinsons supporters gathered outside the Old Bailey (David Mirzoeff/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hundreds of Tommy Robinsons supporters gathered outside the Old Bailey (David Mirzoeff/PA) Once inside the Old Bailey, the 35-year-old smiled and waved to them from a window. Protesters from a smaller counter-demonstration carried placards saying Oppose Tommy Robinson as he was ushered into court amid a large police presence, while photographers and camera operators jostled for position. Expand Close A counter-demonstration to Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A counter-demonstration to Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey (Yui Mok/PA) Asked before the hearing if he was feeling confident, Robinson told the Press Association: Yeah, quietly. He was referred to by his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, throughout the brief hearing and sat behind his barrister, Richard Furlong, in the courtroom, wearing jeans, black trainers, and a grey checked jacket. Expand Close Former EDL keader Tommy Robinson smiles at supporters from a window of the Old Bailey (Yui Mok/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former EDL keader Tommy Robinson smiles at supporters from a window of the Old Bailey (Yui Mok/PA) The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, adjourned the case, saying he would receive written submissions before making a ruling at a later date on whether the contempt of court hearing will take place at the Old Bailey. Speaking to reporters outside court, Robinson criticised the justice system, saying the case had already faced several delays. I believe they want me in prison for Christmas, he said. The laws supposed to be blind, but its not supposed to be deaf and dumb. Im being specifically targeted for who I am. I want closure. I believe they are purposely not giving me closure. Im on trial for speaking into a microphoneTommy Robinson We are in the Old Bailey, the highest court in the land. The rest of the people here are on trial for terrorism and murder. Im on trial for speaking into a microphone. His supporters chanted: We will be back again. Expand Close Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey (David Mirzoeff/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey (David Mirzoeff/PA) Robinson was released from prison last month after three leading judges quashed a finding made at Leeds Crown Court in May, and granted him conditional bail from a 13-month jail sentence. He is alleged to have committed contempt of court by filming people in a criminal trial and broadcasting footage on social media. He could face being sent back to jail if Judge Hilliard finds him in contempt the maximum sentence is two years imprisonment. He was sentenced in May to 10 months imprisonment for contempt of court, which he admitted, and a further three months for breaching a previous suspended sentence. In May last year he faced contempt proceedings over footage he filmed during the trial of four men who were later convicted of gang-raping a teenage girl. Expand Close Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey (David Mirzoeff/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey (David Mirzoeff/PA) A judge at Canterbury Crown Court gave him a three-month suspended sentence and told him his punishment was not about freedom of speech or freedom of the press but about justice and ensuring that a trial can be carried out justly and fairly. Robinson appealed against both contempt findings at a hearing last month heard by Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, Mr Justice Turner and Mrs Justice McGowan. They found that the judge in Leeds should not have commenced contempt proceedings that day. Lord Burnett said no particulars of the contempt were formulated or put to the appellant, and there was a muddle over the nature of the contempt being considered. He added: Where a custodial term of considerable length is being imposed, it should not usually occur so quickly after the conduct which is complained of; a sentence of committal to immediate custody had been pronounced within five hours of the conduct taking place. The judges dismissed Robinsons appeal in respect of the contempt finding at Canterbury Crown Court. Four doctors at NHS Highland have hit out at what they claim is a culture of bullying (PA) The Scottish Conservatives have called for an independent inquiry to investigate allegations of a bullying culture at a health board. Senior clinicians at NHS Highland have raised concerns over a long-standing bullying culture which they allege is damaging patient care claims the boards medical director Dr Rod Harvey said he did not recognise. The four NHS Highland doctors went public with their fears in a letter to the Herald newspaper, accusing bosses of suppressing criticism and creating a culture of fear and intimidation lasting more than a decade. Mr Harvey said the board takes such allegations extremely seriously and any complaints are fully investigated. Tory MSP Edward Mountain raised the issue at First Ministers Questions as he urged Nicola Sturgeon to order an inquiry. We've made clear to health boards that bullying and harassment is unacceptable.Nicola Sturgeon He said: I wonder if the First Minister would agree with me that we need a full, independent inquiry into these serious allegations? As I can tell her, there is no confidence in an internal investigation by NHS Highland. The First Minister replied: The Health Secretary spoke with the chair of NHS Highland, David Alston, this week and made crystal clear her expectation that this issue be addressed thoroughly. We understand that the chair hopes to meet the signatories to the letter to discuss their concerns as soon as possible and has also encouraged other staff to come forward if they have any concerns that they wish to report. Let me make absolutely clear the welfare of staff in our NHS is paramount, everything must be done to eradicate any bullying in the workplace. Weve made clear to health boards that bullying and harassment is unacceptable and we expect them to ensure that any reported incidences are taken seriously and fully investigated. She said legislation is being introduced to set up an independent NHS Scotland whistle-blowing officer before the start of October 2019. Basildon University Hospital, where a teenager is in a serious condition after being shot in the stomach in Tilbury (Nick Ansell/PA) Two men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a teenager was shot in the stomach in what police believe was a targeted attack. The 19-year-old victim is believed to have been attacked after he was approached by two men shortly before 7.15pm on Wednesday in Tilbury, Essex Police said. He is in a serious but stable condition at Basildon University Hospital, the force said. A 36-year-old man from Tilbury and a 40-year-old man from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, are being questioned in custody. The area of Raphael Avenue and Sullivan Road where the incident took place was cordoned off, while officers are also stationed at the hospital. The police presence at the hospital had sparked fears on social media that Basildon Hospital was on lockdown. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following an incident where a man was shot in #Tilbury. The... Posted by Essex Police on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Stoten, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said officers want to trace a black Mazda 3 with the licence plate YH58 LKL which we believe may be linked to this incident. He said people should not approach the vehicle but should call police on 999, and he urged people not to speculate about the incident. The victim was taken for treatment by a member of the public but there was no second incident at the hospital and nobody was shot at there, he said. There was also never a man with a firearm at the hospital. Our officers went there due to the nature of the incident and to ensure the victim was safeguarded. Extra high-visibility patrols will be carried out in the area over the next few days and a mobile police station will be put in place, Essex Police said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police on 101 quoting incident 1114 of September 26, or to email scd.appeals.essex@essex.pnn.police.uk. Alternatively people can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Remarkable footage has captured the moment a sea lion threw a squid at a kayaker. The incredible video was taken off the coast of Kaikoura in New Zealand. Kyle Mulinder was beset upon by the octopus-wielding Sea Lion, in a moment filmed by his friend Taiyo Masada whilst they were out on the water. We were just sitting out in the middle of the ocean and then this huge male seal appeared with an octopus and he was thrashing him about for ages, Mulinder told Yahoo7 News. He thrashed it in mid fight and my face happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was like mate, what just happened? It was weird because it happened so fast but I could feel all the hard parts of the octopus on my face like dum dum dum. Naturally, the moment was also cause for some pun-making from many. That dish does not get the seal of approval. pic.twitter.com/8QZqMasdIk Stuart Parker (@stuparkertweets) September 26, 2018 I said I wanted FRIED calamari! Joe_Surfer (@JoeSurfer2) September 26, 2018 A truly unique sucker punch. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed what he says is a secret Iranian nuclear weapons storage site. Mr Netanyahu presented maps and photos of what he says is a secret atomic warehouse in the Turquzabad district of Tehran, concealed as a rug-cleaning operation. Mr Netanyahu said Israel has shared information about this site with the International Atomic Energy Agency and some intelligence agencies. Expand Close Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons (Oded Bality/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons (Oded Bality/AP) There was no immediate reaction from Iran, which denies building nuclear weapons. He made the announcement at the UN General Assembly, where he spoke out strongly against the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord. Mr Netanyahu claimed it is used for storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Irans secret weapons programme. US President Donald Trump has praised hard working Theresa May and said it is great to have her as a friend as they met for talks in New York. He said: "It's my great honour to be here with Prime Minister Theresa May. She's working very hard, like all of us, and doing a very, very good job. "We spent a lot of time together on my last trip to the UK and I think that's where we can say we got to know each other and it was like meeting after meeting after meeting and I said this is really good. "Every meeting became better and better. I will say that we are talking about a lot of different things today - trade, military, security, protection, all sorts of things. We have a myriad of things to talk about. I just want to say it's great to be with you and it's great to have you as a friend." Earlier, Mrs May attacked Russia for its "desperate fabrication" over the Salisbury spy poisoning at a meeting of world leaders in New York. Britain set out evidence about the prime suspects in the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia while Russia has only sought to "obfuscate", the Prime Minister said. She added: "We have taken appropriate action, with our allies, and we will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure our collective security. Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication." Meanwhile, one of the suspects in the Salisbury poisoning, Ruslan Boshirov, has been identified as Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, a highly decorated officer in the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service. Republican US senator Lindsey Graham has said the Democrats treatment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is the most despicable thing he has seen in politics. Mr Graham said that Democrats sat on allegations against Mr Kavanaugh and then sprung them on the nominee at the last minute in a desperate attempt to prevent his confirmation. Expand Close Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gives evidence (Win McNamee/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gives evidence (Win McNamee/AP) The South Carolina senator said Democrats want to destroy Mr Kavanaughs life and hold the seat open in the hope of winning the White House in 2020. Mr Graham said a vote against Mr Kavanaugh would legitimise the most despicable thing I have ever seen in politics. He also called the Democrats tactics the most unethical sham. .@LindseyGrahamSC has more decency and courage than every Democrat member of the committee combined. God bless him. Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) September 27, 2018 Mr Graham supported Republicans ultimately successful efforts to block action on President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick Garland. The Supreme Court gives binding rulings on subjects such as abortion and same-sex marriage and recent nominations for the panel have been conducted on fiercely partisan lines. President Donald Trump has already successfully nominated Neil Gorsuch for the vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia with his predecessor Mr Obama unable to install his choice. Mr Trumps nomination of conservative Mr Kavanaugh to replace the retiring Anthony Kennedy is yet to be approved. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted in support of Mr Grahams intervention. Ms Sanders tweeted: .@LindseyGrahamSC has more decency and courage than every Democrat member of the committee combined. God bless him. US President Donald Trump has said he has rejected a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the tariff dispute involving the two countries. He is also threatening to place tariffs on cars imported from Canada as trade talks between the two neighbouring countries drag on. Mr Trump said during a news conference in New York that Canada has treated the US very badly during the trade talks. Watch LIVE as President Trump hosts a press conference. https://t.co/EmsdctGWtd The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) September 26, 2018 Canada was left out when the United States and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). The US and Canada are under pressure to reach a deal by September 30. Mr Trump is suggesting he may go forward with a revamped Nafta without Canada. The president says it would be called USM, for the US and Mexico, instead of USMC. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Germany for a visit aimed at reducing tensions between the two Nato allies. It comes at a time when Turkeys economic troubles are causing growing concerns and Europe needs Ankaras support to keep down the flow of migrants. The trip is Mr Erdogans first formal state visit to Germany, which is home to more than three million people with Turkish roots. But the increasingly authoritarian leader is viewed with suspicion across the political spectrum in Germany, which has had difficult relations with Ankara in recent years. Expand Close Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine arrive in Germany (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine arrive in Germany (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP) They escalated in the past year to the point where Mr Erdogan called Germanys mainstream parties enemies of Turkey and accused German officials of acting like Nazis, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to condemn the Turkish presidents words. At the same time, the two countries recognise mutual strategic interests and the two leaders appeared prepared to bury the hatchet ahead of the trip, which runs until Saturday. Turkey is an important partner for us and it is also an important partner for Europe, Mrs Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert said. We have a fundamental interest in an economically and politically stable Turkey, and of course in a Turkey in which democracy is practised, Mr Seibert added. He said that talks with Mr Erdogan will address both common interests and difficult issues. In an opinion piece in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Mr Erdogan said it was time to set aside our differences of opinion and concentrate on our joint interests. Turkeys hope is to develop relations with Germany and other nations as equals on the basis of mutual respect, he wrote. Mrs Merkel championed a 2016 agreement with Turkey designed to halt the flow of refugees and migrants into Europe, which has held up even as relations between Ankara and the European Union soured. And Berlin considers Turkey an important partner in trying to end the conflict in neighbouring Syria. Expand Close People wait for the arrival of Turkeys president near a hotel in Berlin (Michael Sohn/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People wait for the arrival of Turkeys president near a hotel in Berlin (Michael Sohn/AP) But there has been a series of setbacks to bilateral ties. Among the irritants has been a 2016 German parliament resolution labelling the early 20th century killing of Armenians in Turkey as genocide. Turkish officials attempts to rally support among their citizens living in Germany last year in a referendum over whether to expand Mr Erdogans power caused widespread irritation, and several of their public events were cancelled prompting the Nazi jibes from Mr Erdogan. Most damaging was the jailing of Germans amid mass arrests and firings by Turkish authorities following a July 2016 coup attempt. Germanys foreign ministry says 35 were imprisoned on what Berlin considers political grounds. While the most prominent including two journalists have been released, five remain in Turkish custody. In recent months, officials in both countries have sought to thaw relations particularly on the economic front, something that has gained urgency as Turkey grapples with a currency crisis heightened by tensions with the US over the case of a detained American pastor. While Berlin has said the question of German aid for Turkey does not currently arise and emphasised the need for Turkeys bank to be independent, it has made clear that it does not want an economic basket case on Europes doorstep. Mr Erdogan landed in Berlin on Thursday but has the bulk of his public engagements on Friday, when he will meet Mrs Merkel and attend a state banquet hosted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier an event that many German opposition politicians are refusing to attend. Demonstrations against the Turkish leader are expected in both Berlin and Cologne, and Amnesty International called for Mrs Merkel to use her meetings with Mr Erdogan to address the dramatic human rights situation in Turkey. In such a situation, a state visit must be used to advocate clearly for all arbitrarily and innocently imprisoned people, the organisation said. Police in Berlin shut down a large area around the chancellery where Mrs Merkel was to meet with Mr Erdogan, including the airspace and boat traffic on the Spree river. US President Donald Trump has endorsed a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine for the first time since taking office. Mr Trump told reporters as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN, that he believes two states Israel and one for the Palestinians works best. He has previously been vague on the topic, suggesting that he would support whatever the parties might agree to, including possibly a one-state resolution, which might see the Palestinian territories become part of Israel. I like two-state solution, Mr Trump said as he posed for photographs with Mr Netanyahu. Thats what I think works best. Thats my feeling. Now you may have a different feeling. I dont think so. But I think two-state solution works best. Earlier today, President Trump participated in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister @netanyahu of Israel. pic.twitter.com/xtK62W1Vaw The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) September 26, 2018 Mr Trump later told a news conference that reaching a two-state solution is more difficult because its a real estate deal but that ultimately it works better because you have people governing themselves. He added that he would still support Israel and the Palestinians should they opt for a one-state solution, though he believed that was less likely. He said: Bottom line: If the Israelis and Palestinians want one-state, thats OK with me. If they want two states, thats OK with me. Im happy if theyre happy. In his earlier comments, Mr Trump said his much-anticipated but still unreleased Middle East peace plan could be presented in the next two to four months, but was not specific as to timing. Mr Trump has been heavily criticised by the Palestinians for a series of moves that they say show distinct bias toward Israel, starting with his recognition last year of Jerusalem as Israels capital. The Palestinians also claim the holy city as the capital of an eventual state. Earlier this year, Mr Trump followed up on the recognition by moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step that was widely protested by Palestinians and others in the Arab world. His administration has also slashed aid to the Palestinians by hundreds of millions of dollars and ended US support for the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees. Tonight at the White Horse Hotel in Campsie there is an event to reflect on the massive migration of Protestants from the West Bank in Londonderry, across the Foyle, to the East Bank and even further afield. That migration has been described as an exodus and it is estimated that 97% of Protestants fled the West Bank during the Troubles, leaving around no more than few hundred Protestants, mainly in the Fountain estate, in the shadow of the city walls. The number of Protestants who fled could be as many as 15,000. It is part of our troubled history and it is as deserving of consideration as any other, not least because of the scale of the migration and the fact that the late Martin McGuinness was the commander of the Provisional IRA in the city while this was happening. It was therefore especially disappointing that Dolores Kelly MLA, the SDLP spokesperson on policing and justice, accused the DUP organisers of the event of scratching around in the dirt. There was no need to disparage a simple evening of reflection and many folk will view Mrs Kellys choice of words as callous. They will see it as showing no regard and no respect for the victims of republican intimidation. Yet time and again we have seen nationalists and republicans attempting to dismiss or diminish the Londonderry exodus. In March this year the Pat Finucane Centre published a report titled Protestant Migration from the West Bank of Derry/Londonderry 1969-1980, which claimed that direct intimidation was not the main factor in the migration. They suggested that this was an unforced migration, a matter of choice rather than compulsion. At the time Gregory Campbell rightly accused the authors of rewriting history and he was absolutely right. Republicans are devoting much time and energy to rewriting history. Of course that is a term which republicans dislike and recently Sinn Fein MLA Declan Kearney tweeted that they werent rewriting history, they were rectifying history. Presumably that means that they are rewriting history in order to make sure that the dominant narrative aligns with their republican narrative. They are determined to rewrite history in order to demonise the British Army and the RUC, legitimise the IRA and sanitise IRA terrorism; and the mass migration of Protestants from the West Bank, largely as a result of intimidation, exposes the duplicity of the republican narrative. It is true that those who moved across the Foyle to the Waterside were not all directly intimidated. Not all of them were forced out by a gunman at the door. But then that was not how intimidation worked. All that the IRA had to do was make the West Bank a cold house for Protestants. IRA terrorism with its murders, bombings, beatings and sectarian intimidation made the West Bank a cold house for Protestants and that is why 97% of them left. Back in 1972, Jeanette Warke was 28 years old and married with three children when she fled her home in the Fountain for the safety of Newbuildings. She said: Every day we were living through hell. My husband was caught up in crossfire when he came home from work. They were banging on our door and shouting, Get out Orange Bs and Orange scum get out. It is not hard to see why so many Protestants fled from the West Bank. Stanley Wray was a member of the RUC but on Sunday, May 20, 1979 he was off duty. He attended a service in Claremont Presbyterian Church on the Northland Road but as he left the church he was shot dead by an IRA gunman. What impact did this and many other IRA murders have on the Protestant community on the West Bank? What message did it send out about the power and intent of the Provisional IRA? So why then can a senior figure in the SDLP not respect the right of others to reflect on such a terrible wrong that was done on the Protestants of the West Bank in the Maiden City? Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte poses for a selfie following the presentation of the signed "Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao" at Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines, Aug. 6, 2018. In July 2018, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed the long-delayed Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), commencing the long and complicated process to implement the 2014 peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Success of the next step the holding of a plebiscite in which six towns in Lanao del Norte provinces, 29 barangays (villages) in nearby North Cotabato, and the cities of Cotabato and Isabela will have the opportunity to vote on whether to join the new autonomous region is not a foregone conclusion. The plebiscite, which is being organized by the MILF-led 80-man Bangsamoro Transition Commission, is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2019. Failure to pass, all or in part, will not cause the peace process to fail, but it will weaken it. There are seven inter-connected reasons why it might not pass. Seven factors First, there is far more Christian migration to this region than the MILF would care to acknowledge. Indeed, when they began talks with the government in 2003, their original pitch was for 3,878 barangays to be included in the new autonomous region. The government more or less called their bluff and suggested a census to find out how many of the barangays were Muslim-majority. The reality is that Muslims are now a minority in much of what they consider their ancestral domain. Even in the current plebiscite, several of the towns in Lanao del Norte are majority Christian. Second, Mindanao has a particularly endemic culture of vote-buying, especially by the major clans. This plebiscite will be no different. Third, the BOL is not the original Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro reached in 2014. It has been watered down in significant ways beyond the diminished geographical scope that have fueled resentment. In particular, the loss of the right for an internal police force has rankled many, and that in itself may make disarmament and demobilization an even harder task. Funding for disarmament and demobilization is anemic, and without a peace dividend, there are simply too many young men, with few prospects, with guns. Fourth, there are many spoilers to the peace process. In the past month, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fights (BIFF) has perpetrated a spate of deadly bombings. This has prompted heavy handed and counter-productive military reprisals, which have caused civilian casualties, further alienating the population. The Abu Sayyaf group has also stepped up attacks and kidnappings, including their first maritime kidnappings in over a year. These kidnappings serve to raise funds for future attacks. The spate of recent kidnappings portends a new offensive. The pro-Islamic State group Maute has been mobilizing in Lanao del Sur with an armed strength large enough to engage the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a year after the siege of Marawi ended. These groups have every interest in spoiling the peace process and intimidating people not to vote. Pre-plebiscite violence will be high. Fifth, unlike the full-throated public education and information campaign that the respective peace panels waged in 2014 to early 2015, there is very little effort being put into educating the public about the plebiscite. The implementing legislation for the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro (CAB) was stalled in Congress since January 2015 when a botched counter-terrorism raid resulted in a clash with MILF combatants that left 44 police dead just as campaigning for national elections was commencing. Prior to the Mamasapano incident, town hall meetings were held across Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. There are information forums, but far fewer. Too many communities are too remote, too isolated for those public fora, or it's simply too dangerous to go in and wage these public information campaigns. Internet penetration is still very limited in rural areas. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) is doing little in terms of its public information campaigns. Likewise, the MILF continuously overstates its public support and influence. Moreover, there has not been sufficient buy-in from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) communities throughout Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. While the agreement is supposed to be implemented without prejudice to the participation of the Moro National Liberation Front, many MNLF still see the CAB/BOL process as undermining their 1996 agreement with the government. And whether due to donor fatigue, other concerns, or simply being caught off guard by the BOLs passage, the bilateral and multilateral donor community has not been as active or vocal as one might have expected. Whats more, the overall security situation has devolved since early 2015 when the peace process stalled. There has been a proliferation of pro-Islamic state groupings, fragmentation of the MILF and increasing activity by the communist New People's Army across Mindanao. Sixth, while the Philippines has sufficient electoral procedures, one thing that it is really not equipped to handle is the number of people still displaced from the Marawi siege. More than 400,000 people fled. While some are living in camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) which should make voter registration easier the majority are living with extended family outside the immediate area. IDP voting is critical. This population is already seething at what they believe to be the slow pace and the government's mishandling of the reconstruction. These people cannot be disenfranchised. Seventh, Dutertes ultimate goal is the establishment of a federal system. In 2016, he infuriated the MILF when he told them that he was shelving their peace process and forging ahead with federalism. The MILF balked, and Duterte ultimately expended the political capital to get the BOL passed, but reluctantly. If the plebiscite failed, it would not necessarily be on him, and then he could go back with a renewed push for a constitutional amendment to establish a federal system. Expect more violence if plebiscite fails If the plebiscite passes, with high voter turnout, that will be a positive step, and we will then move on to the establishment of new (parliamentary style) political institutions and the regional elections in mid-2019. The failure of local government units to vote for inclusion into prior autonomous regions was an irritant in 1976 and 1996, weakening those peace processes. But it could be worse this time around. If the plebiscite fails, or has such low voter turnout that its legitimacy could be called into question, then we should expect the implementation of the next steps to go less smoothly. We should also expect to see more fragmentation of the MILF, less cooperation between them and the MNLF, and more violence to spoil the fragile peace process. This peace process has the potential to right historical wrongs and bring a degree of peace to a land that has been riddled with pervasive insecurity for over 40 years. And because of the number of armed groups, and amount of weakly governed space, Mindanao has always attracted foreign militants. So what happens there has regional security implications. The peace process matters, and every effort must be made in ensuring its successful implementation. Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and the author of Forging Peace in Southeast Asia: Insurgencies, Peace Processes, and Reconciliation. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College or BenarNews. Activists hold signs and a banner during a demonstration against the Bangladeshi governments proposed Digital Security Act, in Dhaka, Feb. 2, 2018. Journalists on Thursday called off their plan to form a human chain to protest the recently passed Digital Security Act after a government official invited them to meet and discuss their concerns. Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu sent letters to the Sampadak Parishad (Editors Council) and other journalism groups to meet Sunday, according to Saiful Alam, editor of the Daily Jugantor. The journalists are concerned the act would curtail freedom of expression and gag the press. We will attend the meeting, Alam said. As the government has invited us to a talk, we will announce postponement of the human-chain program. The Bangladesh parliament passed the act on Sept. 19 despite opposition from human-rights activists and journalists. It awaits President Abdul Hamids signature and would take into effect after publication in the official gazette. Members of the Editors Council and other journalists had announced they would stage a protest by forming a human chain Saturday in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka. Journalists say multiple sections in the law threaten free speech. The law minister, information and communication technology minister, and information adviser to the prime minister are expected to attend the talks, according to Alam. The new law came a month after mass protests demanding road safety led to criticisms directed at the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Her supporters clashed with the demonstrators, authorities arrested dozens of the protesters and police detained renowned photographer Shahidul Alam. I dont know why our journalists are becoming so sensitive, Hasina told lawmakers this week. Journalism is surely not for increasing conflict, or for tarnishing the image of the country. Inu, Hasinas information minister, told BenarNews that the government has the authority to hold meetings with any stakeholders on any law. The journalists have voiced their concerns. We will listen to them. Actually, we want to know which sections of the law make them concerned, Inu said. We will take the necessary measure to solve the problems of the law, if any, he said. A.M.H. Bazlur Rahman, chief executive officer of the media rights body Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, welcomed the governments offer. I think the talks should be initiated before passage of the law. While late, it is better that the government has offered talks to allay fears and concerns, he told BenarNews. He said all agree on the need to punish cybercrime. But a law passed to penalize cyber criminals should in no way curtail freedom of the press and freedom of expression, Rahman said. Rights groups raise concerns New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has objected to several sections of the Digital Security Act, alleging that it retains the most-problematic provisions of a previous law that has been severely criticized and adds more provisions criminalizing peaceful speech. One section drawing complaints authorizes prison sentences of up to 14 years for spreading propaganda and campaign against liberation war of Bangladesh or spirit of the liberation war or Father of the Nation. Another section carries a sentence of up to three years for publishing information that is aggressive or frightening. HRW pointed out that those terms are not defined in the law. A section carrying a sentence of up to 10 years focuses on information that ruins communal harmony or creates instability or disorder or disturbs or is about to disturb the law and order situation. The same section covers speech that creates animosity, hatred, or antipathy among the various classes and communities. A section updates Bangladeshs Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Act criminalizing online defamation. Unlike ICT, the new section limits defamation to those requirements in the penal code. HRW points out that most nations consider defamation a civil and not a criminal offense. The new Digital Security Act is a tool ripe for abuse and a clear violation of the countrys obligations under international law to protect free speech, said Brad Adams, HRW Asia director. With at least five provisions criminalizing vaguely defined types of speech, the law is a license for wide-ranging suppression of critical voices. On Thursday, officials from the European Union, along with Norway and Sweden, issued a joint statement questioning the act. We reiterate our concerns around several provision of the Digital Security Act which unduly restrict the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media and undermine judicial procedure guarantees, EU ambassadors said. In its current form, the act could be used to suppress and criminalize the legitimate exercise of these freedoms. United Nations Champions of the Earth Award winner Joan Carling meets with an indigenous family in the Philippines. A Filipina environmentalist and human rights campaigner tagged as a terrorist communist leader by the government is among this years recipients of a top UN environmental award, the world body said Thursday. Joan Carling, an activist for the Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development, was named in February to a list of 600 alleged communist insurgents the government is asking a local court to classify as terrorists. Carling received this years Champions of the Earth Award, described as the highest environmental award bestowed by the world body, for lifetime achievement. She joined French President Emmanuel Macron as well as Indian leader Narendra Modi in receiving the award, which was given during the UNs 73rd UN General Assembly in New York. Also on the list was Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, who, like Carling, has denied the accusation and claimed the terror tag has potentially placed their lives in danger. The U.N. has asked the government of President Rodrigo Duterte to remove both women from the list, a request it has so far rejected. I have dedicated my life to teaching about human rights. I have spent much of it campaigning for environmental protection and sustainable development. So, I was surprised to learn that I was labelled as a terrorist, Carling said in a statement. Since being named a terrorist, Carling said she has not been back to the Philippines fearing for the safety of my family and friends. She said that while the red tagging has uprooted her, she is more motivated than ever. I cannot give up the fight for my people. Kankanaey tribe Carling traces her roots to the Kankanaey tribe in the northern Cordillera, a mineral rich northern Philippine region that sits on huge deposits of gold, copper and manganese. The mountainous region, she said, is under threat from mining companies. She estimates that since 2000, more than half of the region was covered by mining permit applications. Mining in the area has led to environmental disasters, including a typhoon-triggered landslide that hit the mining town of Itogon three weeks ago. New Peoples Army guerrillas gather at an undisclosed camp somewhere in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in 2011. (Dennis Jay Santos/BenarNews) Carling spent most of her youth in the mountains and recalled having seen the displacement of about 100,000 members of a tribal community by a huge hydroelectric dam. She said that those who had opposed the dam were jailed, and a tribal leader was killed. What I learned from indigenous communities is this when we destroy our landscape, we destroy ourselves. By defending our land, we also defend our future and the generations to come, she said. Carlin said she earned death threats by saying massive mining operations and dam construction to extract resources were not in the name of development. Mines leave massive toxic waste, and communities collapse. These projects cause mass displacement, worsen poverty and destroy the cultural heritage of our people, she said. Both Carling and Corpuz have been included in the terrorist list because of their alleged ties to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New Peoples Army, which has been waging Asias longest running insurgency since 1969. When Duterte, a self-described leftist, took power in 2016 he immediately invited the CPP-NPA to the peace negotiating table, hoping to end the insurgency that has left thousands dead. He had also named several known leftists to his cabinet. He ended peace talks with the communists in November 2017, saying the guerrillas had reneged on their commitment to peace when members continued with attacks despite a agreeing to a ceasefire. Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte openly acknowledged for the first time Thursday that extrajudicial killings had occurred in his governments anti-drug campaign that has left thousands dead. The admission would likely be used by rights groups that have filed two cases of murder and crimes against humanity against Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands. In a speech before government employees at the presidential palace, Duterte hit out at critics of his anti-drug campaign, challenged the military and police to remove him and blasted an opposition senator who had sponsored a law that exempted children younger than 15 from any criminal liability. I asked the military, what is my sin? Did I steal even one peso? Did I persecute somebody and throw him in jail? Duterte said. My only sin is the extrajudicial killings. He did not explain what he meant, and his spokesman, Harry Roque, did not wish to comment when contacted by BenarNews. However, this marked the first time that Duterte had acknowledged extrajudicial killings had happened during his term. In the past Duterte said that those slain by the police were drug offenders who had pulled the gun on arresting officers. Duterte is facing two complaints before the Hague-based ICC. The first was filed by a former policeman and a self-confessed assassin who alleged that Duterte ordered the killings of criminals and opponents when he was the longtime mayor of Davao city in the south; and the second, filed by relatives of eight people killed in the drug war. According to the national police, 4,500 drug users and dealers have been killed in legitimate gunbattles since Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016. Rights groups have cited a figure that was almost three times as much. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at a military camp in the southern town of Jolo in Sulu province, May 27, 2017. Muslim groups slammed President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday after the Philippine leader awarded medals to soldiers who had allegedly killed seven civilians in what the military had described as a clash with Abu Sayyaf militants. Last week, the military claimed a major clash on the southern island of Jolo, in which seven alleged Abu Sayyaf militants were killed and 23 others, including 17 soldiers, were wounded. But Muslim groups led by Suara Bangsamoro, a local human rights organization, claimed that the fatalities were not Abu Sayyaf fighters but were civilians, 18 to 32 years old. They were reportedly members of a local community harvesting mangosteen, a tropical fruit, in a farm near the town of Patikul, a remote area considered a traditional Abu Sayyaf stronghold. We are enraged that President Duterte has honored the 17 Scout Rangers involved in the Patikul massacre in a ceremony in Jolo, Sulu, said Jerome Succor Aba, the groups leader. This callous maneuver of the government is a desperate attempt to wash the blood off the hands of the offending soldiers, he said. He claimed the army was making heroes out of murderers despite an investigation by the governments rights body that testified to the innocence of the slain civilians. Aba charged that responsibility for the killings fell on Duterte because the entire south is still under martial law. The president placed the south under military control to defeat pro-Islamic State (IS) forces that had taken over the city of Marawi last year. The five-month siege killed about 1,200, most of them rebel fighters, and scarred the formerly scenic city of Marawi, which remains mostly deserted almost a year after the fighting ended. We hold President Duterte accountable for the bloodshed across Mindanao under his dictatorial rule, Aba said. The ensuing violence by state forces against the Bangsamoro is further emboldened by Dutertes martial law in Mindanao. Duterte visited the military hospital on Jolo island last Monday, and pinned medals to the wounded troops. Army Col. Gerry Besana, public affairs officer of the Western Mindanao Command, maintained that those killed in the operation were militants. He said the seven fatalities belonged to the 70-strong Abu Sayyaf force that had clashed with the scout rangers. They could ask the police or local officials on what really happened and not speculate, Besana said. Abdulnasser Badrudin, chairman of the Regional Human Rights Commission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said they were investigating the allegations from Abas group. The Abu Sayyaf is notoriously known for decapitating their foreign and local hostages in the south. A German and two Canadians held captive by the group were beheaded after failing to pay ransom in 2016 and 2017, respectively, officials said. Apart from kidnapping, the Abu Sayyaf is also blamed for the countrys worst terrorist attacks, including bombings. An Abu Sayyaf leader, Isnilon Hapilon, later became the IS leader in the Philippines and led a group in the Marawi attack. Hapilon was killed in October, but his lieutenant, Basilan-based militant Furuji Indama, allegedly planned the bombing at a military checkpoint that left 11 dead in July. Indama and 17 other Abu Sayyaf militants were charged for that attack, although the IS also claimed responsibility for the incident, saying the bomb was a suicide mission carried out by a Moroccan national. U.S. Marshals Service most wanted photo of Daniel Hiers still posted inside the lobby at the Goose Creek Police Department. At times in your life, have you felt that you were all alone and yearned to be with and feel connected to others? I have. This feeling describes the emotion of loneliness. Other words people use to describe loneliness include feeling empty, isolated, excluded or left out. You can feel lonely when you are physically alone and you can also feel lonely in the presence of others. Loneliness is really a reflection of whether or not you feel connected to others. God is a God of relationship and community. That is evident in His very nature. He is the Trinity three in one; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. In the opening chapters of the Bible, God established that Its not good for the man [Adam] to be alone... (Genesis 2:18a, The Message). His solution? God continued, ... Ill make him a helper, a companion (Genesis 2:18b, The Message). He brought Eve to Adam and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24b). We are designed to be in community with God and with one another. Perhaps that is why loneliness hits us the way it does. The Bible has a lot to say about feeling lonely and its opposite, feeling connected. But before we get to that, lets take a closer look at loneliness and the effect it has on us. Signs of Loneliness It may be clear to you that you feel lonelyyou long to feel connected to others, even to be held. But what if its not obvious? Depending on the situation, signs of an underlying state of loneliness may include the following: Feeling bored and/or excessively tired Feeling helpless and threatened Not sleeping well Being physically inactive (including not exercising) While its normal to feel lonely from time to time, ongoing loneliness triggers stress that is so potent it affects everyday life. A person may feel tired and lethargic, and less mentally alert. He or she may experience stomach and digestive problems, and other incidents of sickness and disease. Recent research found loneliness was associated with a risk of early death that is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day and that it was more lethal than obesity. In contrast, people who reported having greater social connections were associated with a 50% reduced risk of early death. Because people who experience ongoing loneliness dont feel well, they frequently engage in behaviors or ingest substances that make them temporarily feel better or numb the pain. The danger is that many of these substances and behaviors are addictive. Common addictions include alcohol, drugs, tobacco, eating, exercise, media (including television, internet, and smartphone use), sex, shopping, and working. Research has found that nearly half of Americans have an addiction to one or more substances or behaviors that have serious negative consequences for their health. In discussions about loneliness, boredom and depression often come up. Feeling bored and feeling lonely are closely related. In both instances, you feel disengaged from tasks (i.e. boredom) and/or people (i.e. loneliness). Depression, though distinct, frequently follows and is co-existent with loneliness as the person who is depressed will often withdraw from engaging with others. Examples of Loneliness in the Bible Gods people are not exempt from the pain of loneliness. David was well-acquainted with it, and his honest cries to God are recorded in the Psalms. As you read Psalm 25:16-21 below, youll see Davids longing to be connected to God and his reliance upon that relationship: Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me! Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in You. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in You. Gods prophets often felt the pain of rejection and loneliness. Consider the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord told Jeremiah not to marry. He had few friends. Scholars refer to Jeremiah as the weeping prophet. God called him to speak out against the sinfulness of Judah and warn of impending judgment unless the people of Judah repented and changed their ways. Jeremiah chapter 15 captures the prophet speaking to God about his loneliness, unending pain, and suffering. Despite his pain, Jeremiah trusted the Lord and followed Gods calling for his life. Scripture tells us that Jesus experienced loneliness. On the cross, He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34). And in Isaiah 53:3, a prophecy about Jesus, we read, He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Jesus can empathize with the pain of loneliness because he experienced it. Scriptures on Loneliness Throughout the Bible, we see that connection with God and other followers of Jesus is good and desirable, and preferable to being isolated and alone. David wrote How good and pleasant it is when Gods people live together in unity! For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore (Psalm 133). Jesus assured His disciples, For where there are two or more gathered in My name, there I am with them (Matthew 18:20). Speaking to the effects on a persons work and enjoyment of life when we are not connected with others, King Solomon observed: "Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 'For whom am I toiling,' he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?' This too is meaninglessa miserable business! Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:7-12). In Ephesians 4:25-27, Paul conveyed a sense of urgency about repairing broken relationships so that we are not alone and weak, thereby giving Satan a foothold to attack the Body of Christ. These and many other verses communicate the message that together we have greater support and strength to resist temptation and idols so that we can continue playing our part in Gods plan to advance His kingdom. When Ive felt lonely, I have found that reading or listening to Scripture being read on one of the Bible apps has been a source of comfort to me. Scripture is supernatural and can help anyone who feels lonely, including lonely singles, lonely married couples and those who are experiencing loneliness and depression. As the foundation, Gods Word reminds us that, despite our loneliness telling us that we are alone, as His beloved children, we are never alone. The following verses are a good place to start: - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me (Psalm 23:4; I recommend reading all of Psalm 23) - Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6) - Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me (Psalm 27:10) - For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39) - Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7) - A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land (Psalm 68:5-6) - See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1a) - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) God's Answer to Loneliness As a follower of Jesus, you are part of Gods Kingdom of priests and you have a role to play. Let me explain. In 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter wrote: you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. The function of priests was to connect the Jewish people with God. The Law was clear that priests were to be from the tribe of Levi (interesting side note: the word levi means connect) and there were strict rules in place about how and when and who could approach God on behalf of the people. Jesus changed that. Marks account of the death of Jesus on the cross includes a curious statement: With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom ( Mark 15:37-38 ). What is the significance of the curtain? This is the curtain that separated the people from the holy of holies. Only certain priests were allowed to step into that sacred space. In ripping open the curtain, God communicated that the old priestly order ended so that now we are the priests and together we are a royal priesthood charged with connecting people with God and empowered by the Holy Spirit for that purpose. Gods plan is for you to proactively live your life as a priestly calling. So when you're sad and lonely, or when you feel so alone, remember that you are called to connect people with God. Intentionally living into your calling will help you overcome chronic loneliness. Being a Kingdom of Priests means that each of us is to connect with God, connect with fellow believers (i.e., our fellow priests) and reach out to connect with people who dont know God. 1. Connect with God through reading Scripture, praying, participating in worship and communion. One practice I enjoy is writing out meaningful Bible verses on index cards, organizing them into topics (e.g. love, the Trinity, service, the Holy Spirit, etc.) and then reading several cards at a time or taking one card and memorizing the verse written on it. Sometimes I will do this as I am preparing to head off to sleep. 2. Connecting with fellow believers includes attending worship services on a regular basis, participating in a Sunday school class, Bible study or small group, enjoying times of fellowship, and serving alongside others at events or out in the community. I recommend you look for a group you can participate in weekly that combines time spent in the Word, sharing prayer requests and praying for each other. Developing trusted friendships in a mens Bible study group at my church has been an enormous blessing in my life. 3. Reaching out to connect with people who dont know the Lord is integral to the Christian life. Get involved in your community by volunteering for social sector organizations and finding ways to humbly love and serve the people you meet. As God puts people on your heart, pray for them then the reach out to connect with them. Your natural inclination when you are feeling lonely might be to pull back and see if anyone will reach out to you. I would encourage you to turn that around. Start by praying for God to help you live out your priestly calling, to fill you with the Holy Spirit, and to give you wisdom about who to connect with in your local church family and community. God is faithful. He will open doors for you to become more connected to your local church family and community. When people come in contact with the Divine connection reflected in you as a priest, John 17 :20b-23 tells us they will see that God loves them. Hear Jesus heart for you and His heart for connection in this prayer to our Heavenly Father: I [Jesus] pray also for those who will believe in Me through their [His followers] message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are oneI in them and You in Meso that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved me. Photo credit: Unsplash/Fabrizio Verrecchia Michael Lee Stallard is an author, keynote speaker and seminar leader on leadership, employee engagement and organizational culture. He is a leading expert in how effective leaders boost human connection in team and organizational cultures to improve the health and performance of individuals and organizations. Michael is the primary author of Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work and primary author of Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Teams Passion, Creativity and Productivity. Sign up for Michaels monthly email newsletter on connection and free resources on connecting at work at this link . Additional articles from Michael Lee Stallard: 3 Factors that Make Costco Americas Best Employer 10 Practices to Create a Workplace that May Lengthen Your Life 3 Ways Connection Provides Protection from Burnout This article is part of our larger Spiritual Life resource meant to answer your questions about the Bible, God and the Christian faith. Visit our most popular questions on What does the Bible say about questions answered by well known Christians and theologians to find more inspiration. Remember that as you read these articles, the Holy Spirit will give you understanding and discernment to make the right decision for your walk with Jesus Christ! If you know others struggling with these faith questions, please share and help others discover the truth on these controversial topics. What Does the Bible Say About Drinking Alcohol? What Does the Bible Say About Gambling? What Does the Bible Say About Dating? What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality? What Does the Bible Say About Marriage? What Does the Bible Say About Sex Before Marriage? What Does the Bible Say About Cremation? What Does the Bible Say About Suicide? What Does the Bible Say About Tithing? What Does the Bible say about Spiritual Gifts? Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, the truth about kids and the COVID-19 vaccine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices For Immediate Release, September 27, 2018 Contact: Sarah Uhlemann, (206) 327-2344, suhlemann@biologicaldiversity.org Chambered Nautilus Given Endangered Species Act Protection Ancient Shellfish, Survivor of Five Mass Extinctions, Threatened by Shell Trade WASHINGTON The National Marine Fisheries Service gave Endangered Species Act protection today to the chambered nautilus, which is threatened with extinction due to overharvesting for the international shell trade. But the agency decided not to adopt curbs on the booming commercial imports of chambered nautilus shells. In response to a scientific petition by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Fisheries Service finalized a threatened listing for the nautilus, whose unique, spiraling shell has made it a popular commodity for collectors in the United States and Europe. Over the past 16 years, nearly 1.7 million nautilus shell products were imported into the United States. Treating nautiluses like tourist trinkets is driving them to the brink of extinction. This decision will help get these beautiful shellfish the protection they desperately need, said Miyoko Sakashita, ocean program director with the Center. Its humbling to share a planet with these ancient creatures, and its our challenge to ensure they dont go extinct on our watch. This listing is a good start. Todays Endangered Species Act protection will benefit nautilus conservation by sending a strong international signal that urgent actions are needed to prevent the animals extinction. However, the Fisheries Service chose not to close or limit the U.S. nautilus import market. Endangered Species Act protection will help, but its disappointing that the Trump administration delayed badly needed protective regulations that would prohibit imports of chambered nautilus shells, Sakashita said. If we dont get rules to rein in this booming commercial trade, itll continue to be a major threat to survival of these shellfish. The Center has also urged U.S. officials to encourage the Philippines, Indonesia and other Indo-Pacific countries to enforce their environmental laws and stop the unsustainable harvest of chambered nautiluses. A relative of the squid and octopus, the chambered nautilus grows to about 8 inches long, with a spiral shell and about 90 tentacles it uses to catch prey. Its often called a living fossil because of its striking resemblance to ancestors that swam shallow seas half a billion years ago. Although nautiluses have survived five major mass extinctions, today theyre threatened with extinction due to excessive overfishing and trade. For example, one population in the Philippines declined more than 80 percent in just 15 years. The future of the nautilus is also threatened by ocean acidification, which can impair the ability of mollusks to build the shells they need to survive. In 2016 the United States joined with Fiji, India and Palau to successfully propose listing the entire nautilus family under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). These CITES protections limit but do not prohibit international trade. The chambered nautilus is being collected and sold into extinction for jewelry, home decor, and other trinkets, Sakashita said. Its a tragedy. The Endangered Species Act has a tremendous track record of preventing extinctions, and it can now play a lifesaving role for these incredible animals. For Immediate Release, September 27, 2018 Contact: Matthew Sandler, Rocky Mountain Wild, (303) 579-5162, matt@rockymountainwild.org Diana Dascalu-Joffe, Center for Biological Diversity, (720) 925-2521, ddascalujoffe@biologicaldiversity.org Alison Heis, National Parks Conservation Association, (202) 384-8762, aheis@npca.org Becca Fischer, WildEarth Guardians, (406) 698-1489, rfischer@wildearthguardians.org Stuart Gillespie, Earthjustice, (303) 996-9616, sgillespie@earthjustice.org Lawsuit Challenges Oil, Gas Lease Sales on Public Lands in Colorado, Utah Development of the Leases Threatens Public Health, Nearby Dinosaur National Monument DENVER Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today for leasing more than 115,000 acres of public land in western Colorado and northern Utah for oil and gas development without adequate environmental protections. These lease sales, offered by the Bureau of Land Management, violate federal environmental laws and will worsen air quality in a region already laden with harmful levels of ozone pollution. Todays suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, aims to invalidate the leases granted to oil and gas companies by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinkes BLM due to the agencys failure to properly analyze risks to public health and the environment, as required by federal laws. Zinkes playing a dangerous game by skipping environmental reviews at the risk of human lives, said Diana Dascalu-Joffe, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Its appalling that hed push for more fossil fuel extraction on public lands and then ignore how much damage fracking would do, particularly to kids with asthma. The Trump administrations drilling and fracking agenda is a disaster for people and wildlife alike. Oil and gas operations are the largest human-made source of air and climate pollution in the Uinta Basin, plaguing this once-pristine region with significant air pollution comparable with densely populated cities like Los Angeles and Denver. Elevated levels of ozone pollution endanger public health, causing asthma attacks, cardiovascular disease and premature death. Its particularly dangerous for vulnerable populations, including children, seniors and people with respiratory conditions. The BLM had a legal duty to analyze and address potential harms to human health and landscapes before leasing the 115,000 acres in December 2017 and June 2018. The agency skipped this analysis, instead prioritizing the interests of oil and gas companies over public health and environmental protection. Todays lawsuit claims these leasing decisions violate the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Prioritizing economic benefits over public health and the environment is wrong, said Matt Sandler, staff attorney for Rocky Mountain Wild. This is especially so when the BLM has failed to comply with the laws that would have ensured the public knew the full impacts of these leasing decisions. The leased area includes land near Dinosaur National Monument, where more than 300,000 visitors a year come to experience the expansive views, untouched landscape and dark night skies. Air pollution from oil and gas drilling in the region already worsens visibility, stunts vegetation growth and harms delicate ecosystems. More oil and gas development in the area will only make matters worse. Our national parks offer millions of people each year the opportunity to connect to the great outdoors and learn about our countrys past, but the protection of our parks can only be assured when their adjacent lands are well-managed," said David Nimkin, NPCA senior southwest regional director. NPCA is deeply concerned about the deteriorating air quality in this region due to oil and gas development that directly affects national parks like Dinosaur National Monument, as well as the health of park visitors, who come here to experience the striking views, dark night skies and exceptional biodiversity of this unique place. As a recent national study found, park visitation drops by at least eight percent when ozone pollution is high a clear indicator that air quality is an important issue for the public and directly impacts their enjoyment of our national parks. Not only are we moving to protect our communities, public health and national parks by addressing ozone pollution head on, were also moving to protect our climate by ensuring that Trump and Zinke account for the cumulative impacts from federal oil and gas leasing, said Becca Fischer, climate guardian for WildEarth Guardians. The federal government has ignored these costs for too long. Todays lawsuit was filed by Rocky Mountain Wild, National Parks Conservation Association, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians. The groups are represented by Earthjustice. This case is about enforcing our environmental laws, which are designed to protect public health, the environment and treasured places like Dinosaur National Monument, said Stu Gillespie, staff attorney with Earthjustice. BLM cannot circumvent these laws in its headlong rush to lease our public lands for oil and gas development. Were asking the court to hold the agency accountable and set aside these illegal leasing decisions. For Immediate Release, September 27, 2018 Contact: Ryan Shannon, (503) 283-5474 x 407, rshannon@biologicaldiversity.org FAA Reauthorization Bill Pushes Pacific Northwest's Killer Whales Closer to Extinction WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives passed a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration Wednesday containing a damaging policy rider that will set back recovery and further imperil already endangered killer whales, salmon and steelhead in Oregon. The bill would allow FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to delay taking any action for three years to address impacts to endangered species from harmful floodplain development subsidized through the National Flood Insurance Program. The rider was inserted at the request of Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.). Southern Resident killer whales and salmon are desperately in need of help, so this provision kicks these animals when theyre down, said Ryan Shannon, staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. FEMA has already stalled on helping killer whales and salmon recovery. More delay will push this beloved orca population closer to extinction. The iconic Southern Resident killer whale population of Puget Sound is down to just 74 orcas, the lowest number in more than 30 years. A main cause of the populations decline is the scarcity of their preferred food, chinook salmon. Theres not enough salmon for the orcas because of severe impacts to their habitat from dams and floodplain development. In a 2016 biological opinion, the National Marine Fisheries Service required FEMA to carry out a series of actions to reduce these impacts. If passed by the Senate, Rep. DeFazios rider will allow the agency to needlessly delay these actions. This provision is little more than a handout to developers seeking to build in the floodplain, Ryan said. Orcas and salmon cant wait for habitat protections. Were especially disappointed that Rep. Defazio would condemn orcas when were already seeing them dying out before our very eyes. The MoU for the pharma sector will explore the possibilities for the production of medicines, including Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in different therapeutic segments in both countries. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Uzbekistan for increased cooperation in the areas of Trade, Industry, and Research & Development of Pharmaceutical products, and health and medical science. The MoU for the pharma sector will explore the possibilities for the production of medicines, including Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in different therapeutic segments in both countries. It will also exchange information on trade and registration procedures, legal and regulatory requirements for export and import of pharmaceuticals products, including APIs. The agreement for health sector includes expanding opportunities for the development of business cooperation in the field of medical equipment, for teaching and research laboratories of institutions of medical education, and pharmaceutical products. It also includes strengthening of primary health care and setting up of health care facilities; medical and health research development, as well as exchange of experience in these areas; exchange of experiences and technologies in the field of telemedicine and electronic-health information systems, maternal and child health protection; development and improvement of the techniques and strategies for epidemiological surveillance and communicable and non-communicable diseases control, regulation of drugs and pharmaceutical products. More than KZT 324 billion has been paid to Kazakhstanis in the form of benefits for disability and loss of a breadwinner since the beginning of the year, Kazpravda.kz reports with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan. From January to October 2021, 257.9 billion tenge was allocated from the republican budget for the payment of state social benefits for disability, and 66.5 billion tenge for the loss of a breadwinner. In October 2021, 25.5 billion tenge was allocated from the republican budget for the payment of state social benefits for disability, and 6.7 billion tenge for the loss of a breadwinner. As of November 1, 2021, the number of recipients of state social benefits for disability is 524.5 thousand people, in case of loss of a breadwinner - 149.7 thousand people. The amount of state social benefits for disability and loss of breadwinner depends on the category and cause of disability, the number of dependents of the deceased breadwinner, as well as on the subsistence level established by the law "On the Republican Budget" for the corresponding financial year. As of November 1, 2021, the average size of state social benefits for disability amounted to 48 690 tenge, state social benefits in case of loss of a breadwinner - 44 793 tenge. Source: Kazpravda.kz This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today. Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION From the academic year, about 2.5 girls started school in a hijab in Kazakhstan, a large number of whom removed headscarves. It was said by Vice Minister of Social Development Berik Aryn at an expanded session of the Committee on Social and Cultural Development. From this academic year, about two thousand girls started school in a hijab within the republic. As you know, a large number of them was in the Turkestan region, in the Firdousi school. However, after examination works held, as of today their number has reduced to 815. Each year we cope with this issue. The Law says that school students and parents should follow the school law. There is the order of the Education Ministry. One should remember that we will in a secular state," said Vice Minister of Social Development of Kazakhstan Berik Aryn at an expanded session of the Committee on Social and Cultural Development and Science while considering a draft law 'On introduction of amendments and additions to some legislative acts of Kazakhstan on religious activities and religious associations'. In addition, according to the Deputy Minister, this year faith-based kindergartens have been revealed in the country. Checks have been conducted in all kindergartens. There were cases when faith-based kindergartens were revealed, particularly in Almaty. As of today, all of them are closed. Such checks are held on a regular basis. As was revealed, such kindergartens were visited by children whose parents were representatives of religious sects," said the Vice Minister. We note on May 16 present year the Majilis of Parliament of Kazakhstan approved amendments to some legislative acts on religious activities and religious associations. The draft law provides for a ban to use and publicly demonstrate attributes and external signs of destructive religious movements, including a ban to wear dress items in public places that prevent facial recognition with administrative responsibility for its violation. Along with the draft law, it is banned those under 16 years old to take part in religious services, rites, ceremonies without being accompanied by a parent. The draft law provides for the introduction of 53 amendments to 12 legislative acts, including 3 codes and 9 laws. PR Newswire WILMINGTON, Delaware, September 27, 2018 WILMINGTON, Delaware, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- RnD64 launches its new age travel guitar Jammy for the Chinese market. Jammy has raised more than 200.000 USD during its Indiegogo campaign and now is about to kick off the mass production. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750154/Jammy.jpg ) What makes the Jammy guitar unique, is its detachable 15-fret neck that allows for the best playability-to-portability ratio. At only 17" (45 cm) long when disassembled, Jammy fits into a backpack and complies with the airlines carry-on regulations. Jammy is a gadget made to impress - it combines cutting-edge technology with the cool nostalgic look. The Jammy digital guitar is equipped with the adjustable tension interchangeable steel strings. It emulates different guitar techniques like bending, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc. Jammy's 1/8" and a 1/4" jacks allow to use it with earphones or an amp. The audio signal is generated and processed entirely on board - a bunch of guitar tones and FX presets are available for the user with Jammy only, no smartphone or tablet needed. Jammy can be used as a sampler or a MIDI controller via USB-C or a Bluetooth connection. It's compatible with GarageBand, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Cakewalk, and other DAWs. Jammy's Auto-Recording feature caches everything the user plays on a special built-in memory unit and allows to retrieve the user's sessions in a 48-hour period - so not a single note will be lost. Although totally autonomous, Jammy can be also used with a free companion app that allows users to use the metronome, switch the guitar type, change the tuning, adjust the FX parameters and configure the FX chain to achieve the desired sound. It also offers a bunch of backing tracks in different genres to jam along to. The company plans on shipping the first batch of the guitars by the end of 2018 at the estimated prices of $349 (guitar, str?p, soft case, USB-C cable) and $399 (guitar, strap, soft case, USB-C cable + detachable frame). The Jammy guitars are available for pre-orders at playjammy.com. Jammy will be presented to the Chinese public for the first time at Music China on October 10-13 and is going to be available for the test-play at the booth #W3G29. To sign up for a demo, please contact [email protected] Find Jammy in Weibo Download Media kit Media contact Olga Grytsenko, PR Manager [email protected] +1(347)709-0951 PR Newswire GUILFORD, Conn., Sept. 26, 2018 GUILFORD, Conn., Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Guardian Jet (guardianjet.com), the Guilford, Connecticut-based business aviation consulting and brokerage firm, is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Garrymore to Vice President-South Central. A highly regarded business and general aviation veteran, Garrymore, in his new position, is leading Guardian Jet aircraft sales in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico. In his role, Garrymore is responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with Guardian Jet's brokerage and consulting clients at the senior-most levels of corporate flight departments and family offices. He also manages vendor relationships and alliances to expand the company's client base. Mike Dwyer, Managing Partner of Guardian Jet, is delighted that Garrymore has joined the company. "Bobby G. is a great boost for Guardian Jet!" he said. "He brings us industry leadership at the highest level, and his experience with both corporate flight departments and high-net-worth customers is second to none. The other reason we're so fortunate to have Bobby is his talent as a builder of great cultures. He certainly shares our DNA of putting the client first." Previously, Garrymore served as President of the Corporate Sales division for Wheels Up. Prior to that, he was President of Executive Jet Management (EJM), a subsidiary of NetJets (a Berkshire Hathaway Company). In addition to his executive role at EJM, Garrymore served in a variety of positions during 15 years at NetJets, including roles in management, sales and operations. Speaking about his new job, Garrymore said, "I feel privileged and honored to be among such smart, dynamic, dedicated and caring people as I am here at Guardian Jet. It says a lot that in spite of the incredible pressure that comes with the growth and success Guardian Jet has achieved, the company and its employees remain committed to a 'client-centric' mission that sets them apart from other companies. I'm eager and excited to help in any way I can to continue this company's leadership and momentum in the industry." In addition to his extensive aviation industry background, Garrymore holds a BA degree from Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. He is a commercially rated pilot and former certified flight instructor. About Guardian Jet Founded in 2002, Guardian Jet, LLC, offers business aviation brokerage, consulting and oversight services for thousands of clients worldwide. The company distinguishes itself with its focus on integrity and industry expertise, and by consistently providing business value to clients. Guardian Jet's core mission has always been to earn the right to buy and sell aircraft on behalf of its clientele by providing great consulting advice, market intelligence and flawless execution. For more information, visit guardianjet.com. SOURCE Guardian Jet PR Newswire NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2018 NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Bloomberg Global Business Forum (GBF) came to a close today, more than 70 heads of state and delegation from six continents and over 200 CEOs came together to discuss shared issues and mutual opportunities including trade, globalization, innovation, and competition, supported by several new public-private partnerships, investment announcements, and global agreements. The record attendance by world leaders made the Forum this year's largest gathering of heads of state outside a formal government summit. Opening the day, Michael R. Bloomberg declared: "This forum is designed to give business leaders a seat at the table, including on an issue where the UN doesn't have a formal role: trade Trade has made the world more peaceful and stable by connecting our nations and aligning our interests. But the benefits of trade have not been distributed as widely as they should be and we must do more to address that." Bloomberg added, "This is a day full of potential. Our success won't be measured at the end of it; it will be measured in the months and years to come." In a keynote address, Theresa May, Prime Minister, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, said: "I have come here to this Bloomberg Forum because we will only succeed if we also work with you, some of the most pioneering business leaders in the world today... It's about listening to business and working in partnership with you. It's about understanding what you need and working together to help us make the U.K. one of the most attractive countries in the world for establishing and growing a business." During the morning plenary session, government and business leaders sat together to discuss partnerships and drivers of growth. James Hackett, President and CEO, Ford Motor Co., said: "In my 20 years as a CEO, I never thought about trade, and now it's top of mind. It needs to be updated. The key to trade negotiations is finding an equilibrium. Invest based on back and forth." Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission, said: "We must make sure that what we do as an authority leaves room for enterprisesIt's not about your flag, it's about the competitive spirit. You're supposed to compete for your business in Europe." Robin Li, CEO, Baidu, later added: "China is a big market, we are a lot of people. And we have tens of millions of users using our service every day. We have data and opportunities to innovate. That being said, we have constraints with tech privacy and how do we make sure the technology does not go out of control and do bad things to mankind. We have things to worry about, but I see more opportunities than threats." Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO, IBM, discussed the benefits of AI, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton moderated a panel on global trade relationships with Ivan Duque Marquez, President of Colombia, Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa. Following the plenary, world leaders and CEOs met in small breakout sessions to discuss new ways to work together across government and business. The breakout sessions covered global finance and the future investment outlook; economic migration, changing demographics, and youth employment; technological issues and opportunities; and major economic issues in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Included in those conversations were Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand; Alain Berset, President of Switzerland; Federica Mogherini, Vice President of the European Commission; Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia; Enrique Pena Nieto, President of Mexico; Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, President of Spain; Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands; and Frans Timmermans, First Vice President of the European Commission; as well as Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management; Jim Coulter, Co-CEO and Founding Partner, TPG; Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock; Kenneth Griffin, Founder and CEO, Citadel; Bill McDermott, CEO, SAP; Heather Ridout, Chairwoman, Australian Super; Feike Sijbesma, Chairman and CEO, Royal DSM; David M. Solomon, President and COO, Goldman Sachs; and Tidjane Thiam, CEO, Credit Suisse. Closing the day, Michael Bloomberg said: "Multilateralism has brought the world unprecedented peace and prosperity and if we work together the future will be very bright." Several partnerships and initiatives were also announced at GBF, including: Today also marked the conclusion of the second One Planet Summit (OPS). Focused on climate action, the Summit was co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim, and United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael Bloomberg. The 2018 Summit reviewed progress made in implementing the 12 international commitments made at the inaugural One Planet event in December 2017. To see the full program and list of speakers, go to www.BloombergGBF.com. Photos from the event are on https://mikebloom.bg/2018GBFPHOTOS. Follow Mike Bloomberg on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and Bloomberg Philanthropies on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter for other GBF news and highlights. For additional questions about the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, please email [email protected] Following the Global Business Forum, Bloomberg's inaugural New Economy Forum will be held in Singapore on November 6-7, 2018. The forum will convene a first-ever gathering of 400 preeminent leaders from the public and private sectors to begin seeking private sector-led solutions in response to the risks and opportunities created by a world in transition, increasingly led by China and India, as well as rising powers in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The forum will produce solutions to important global issues, covering six themes: globalization and trade, technology, finance and capital markets, climate, urbanization and inclusion. "In November, we will continue the constructive dialogue we had today on trade, globalization, and innovation," said Michael R. Bloomberg. "The new emerging world order is creating emerging challenges - issues that the private sector can take steps to ensure global stability and growth, an urgent mission in the face of chronic inaction by governments." About Bloomberg PhilanthropiesBloomberg Philanthropies works in 480 cities in more than 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $702 million. For more information, please visit www.bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/second-annual-bloomberg-global-business-forum-concludes-with-government-and-business-leaders-working-together-to-promote-global-trade-and-investment-300719890.html SOURCE Bloomberg Philanthropies PR Newswire HOUSTON, Sept. 27, 2018 HOUSTON, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawyers with the Securities Law Firm of SHEPHERD SMITH EDWARDS & KANTAS LLP, www.sseklaw.com, are investigating claims involving Mark Kaplan and Vanderbilt Securities, LLC. Kaplan worked as a broker for Vanderbilt from 2011-2018, when he was permanently barred from the securities industry. According to FINRA, Kaplan was barred because he churned an elderly customer out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are also eight publicly reported customer lawsuits which have been filed by some of Kaplan's clients alleging churning of customer accounts or other financial mismanagement. More recently, FINRA also disciplined Vanderbilt for failing to properly establish and utilize supervisory systems. Specifically, FINRA found that, although Vanderbilt acknowledged that frequent transactions in the same security could be unsuitable, they did not provide any guidance for detecting or preventing excessive trading or churning. As a result of these and other supervisory deficiencies, Kaplan's trading of his customers' accounts was not prevented, when otherwise it might have been. Vanderbilt has a legal obligation to properly supervise its registered representatives, like Kaplan, and may be legally liable to customers for failing to do so. Current and former clients of Vanderbilt should carefully review their accounts to ensure that there were not problems. Contact the law firm of Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas LLP for an evaluation of your account to determine if you might have a claim to attempt to recover some or all of your losses. All communications will be kept strictly confidential, and you will not be billed in any way for a consultation. Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP has a team of attorneys, consultants and staff with more than 100 years of combined experience in the securities industry and in securities law. For more than two decades, our firm has represented thousands of investors nationwide to recover losses. We have represented clients in Federal and state courts and in arbitration through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the New York Stock Exchange Inc. (NYSE), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and in private arbitration actions. Contact Info: 866-377-2529 Ryan Cook [email protected] Kirk Smith [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shepherd-smith-edwards--kantas-llp-investigating-claims-involving-mark-kaplan-and-vanderbilt-securities-llc-300720681.html SOURCE Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LLP PR Newswire BEIJING, Sept. 26, 2018 BEIJING, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On the afternoon of September 19th, 2018, Blancpain, the innovation-focused premium Swiss watch brand, announced the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize in Beijing, in association with Imaginist Press, a Beijing-based publishing house. The first literary prize, which aims to create an authoritative, influential, ongoing, international dialogue, was won by Wang Zhanhei, a young novelist of the post-90s generation, for her collection of short stories "Air Canon", which was published in March of 2018. The collection is Wang's first published work. The winner was jointly selected by renowned Chinese author Yan Lianke, Jin Yucheng, Tang Nuo, Xu Zidong and Gao Xiaosong. Xu presented the award on behalf of the judging committee. The commission responsible for the prize awarded Wang the sum of 300,000 yuan (approx. US$43,654), which was donated by Blancpain. The award ceremony was hosted by LEUNG Mantao. Blancpain China brand manager Jack LIAO, and Blancpain China marketing manager Suki ZHANG were also present at the award ceremony. Wang Zhanhei and Air Canon: a novel that takes place on the streets of day-to-day life Wang Zhanghei was born in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province in 1991 and graduated from Fudan University's Department of Chinese Language and Literature. The collection includes eight short stories. The main characters of these novels are members of the generation that preceded her own and who lived on the edge, the "marginal people" as she called them, who neither resonated with today's fast-paced members of the "post-90s generation", nor with the older generation imbued with well-defined traditional values. She describes her unsung "heroes" as "neither very new nor very old" and as "the adherents of yesterday in the 1990s". Unlike many writers of her age, Wang's starting point for creation was not based on the experience of women, but rather on the wider topic of the life that goes on "on the street" and of today's society. The characters in her novels are also notably different from those in novels by writers of previous generations. They do not bear the heavy burdens associated with the earlier generations nor do they verbalize their pain. However, beneath the surface of the characters' jokes and humor, their past experiences are clear. Wang Zhanghei is, at present, the head teacher of a 12th grade class, and she asked for two days leave to attend the awards ceremony. She said that, at the outset she doubted that the topic of "Air Canon" would be that compelling and thought it too unstructured, but during her journey to write about the "street heroes" that she encountered, she began to feel more confident in her creation and in its ability to be an interesting tale and one that would attract a wider audience. Wang explained that the collection derived from a plan that she drafted and called "street heroes," something that she had started and then continued to work on for four to five years. The second volume in the "plan", Street Creek, has recently been published. The Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize: to create a meaningful and tangible way to recognize contemporary young writers The Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize is meant for authors under the age of 45 who have published a novel in Simplified Chinese in mainland China during the past year. During the past six months since the award was launched in March, nearly 100 entries have been submitted. On August 15, the commission of the literature prize announced 13 entries on its shortlist. The final list was announced on September 1st, with five works from young authors Shuang Xuetao, Wang Zhanhai, Yi Ah, Zhang Yueran And Shen Dacheng shortlisted. The commission of the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize said the aim of the award is to identify emerging authors who demonstrate potential and possess an obvious desire to continue to create and contribute, to support talented young authors and to promote contemporary Chinese literature that is both literary yet accessible to a wide audience in terms of readability. "A serious, formal, and ongoing awards program for young writers in China simply did not exist, hence the need for its creation" said Yan Lianke, one of the judges. "I think this award will certainly serve to fill this gap in terms of rewarding literary creation in China and continue to do so. The special situation in the Chinese literary community is that the oldest generation of authors stand in the way of those now entering middle age, while those entering middle aged stand in the way of the younger new entrants. In this respect, this award will not only create a place where young authors can stand and be seen, but eventually help some on the path to becoming great writers." "Great literature increasingly needs a reward system that remains independent of the commercial market, as the content of such literature may run counter to and even be antithetical to market forces," said judge Tang Nuo when talking about his expectations surrounding the award. "At this point, we need another way. Literary prizes can play such a role, saving some books from the increasingly powerful and decisive force of the market." "We see that literature will never lose its vitality and charisma, just as mechanical watches will never be replaced by quartz and digital ones," said Suki ZHANG, the Blancpain China marketing manager, when talking about the original intention of the award and the joint effort that went into getting it created. "Whether in the field of literature, or other creative fields, the young generation in China is coming into its own, and is quite capable of creating meaningful, great works. On the other hand, they are just as capable of appreciating the achievements of others, whether it be a novel or a premium watch. Blancpain hopes to showcase the brand's worldview, values and aesthetics in these modern times, and help talented, ambitious young individuals thrive and shine." View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-first-blancpain-imaginist-literary-prize-awarded-to-young-and-upcoming-author-wang-zhanhei-300719966.html SOURCE Blancpain A distillery in Cork is offering a peer-to-peer mentoring, innovation and support programme to new entrants to the Irish whiskey market. Irish Distillers at Midleton Distillery hosted a major workshop to mark the launch of the Irish Whiskey Associations (IWA) new The Knowledge Still programme. In the last five years, 16 new distilleries have opened in Ireland and a further 29 are in planning or development stage. In this time, the IWA has worked closely with its member distilleries to provide mentoring and support for new entrants to the market. The Knowledge Still programme builds on this work, offering new entrants a structured programme of workshops, seminars and one-to-one support from experienced distillers and industry experts on a range of topics including best practice distilling, innovation in distilling and blending, and health and safety management. The programme seeks to ensure that all Irish whiskey producers, particularly these recent entrants to the market, have access to expert knowledge and guidance from experienced mentors in the industry. "Irish whiskey has witnessed a truly global renaissance in the last decade. Much of this success can be attributed to the exceptional craftsmanship, product innovation and unrelenting ambition of Irelands distillers," said Brian Nation, master distiller at Irish Distillers. As the category continues to evolve, we want to make sure we support one another and build on the high standards and innovative thinking that has served the sector so well to date. We are excited to open the doors to our Midleton Distillery and welcome our peers from 14 distilleries across the country. We are particularly looking forward to welcoming some of the newer entrants to the market. Their passion for their product and entrepreneurial spirit is truly infectious and reinforces our own ambition for the sector." Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing spirits category in the world. 9.7 million bottles of Irish whiskey were sold internationally in 2017, a 10.6% increase on the previous year. "Protecting the high standards of the Irish whiskey industry and promoting innovation is key to the future success of the category," said William Lavelle, Head of the IWA. "Our main goal is to protect and pass on the high-quality standards which have become a hallmark for Irish whiskey. The Knowledge Still programme will ensure that all distillers and producers, both new and established, are following standards of best practice and producing a high-quality Irish whiskey product. "The Irish whiskey industry is already a world leader when it comes to supporting new entrants, and the introduction of this structured programme will only further cement this leadership position. "Our growing global consumer base can be assured of more exciting developments in the Irish whiskey category for years to come." Figures published today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that there has been a growth of 7.8% in overseas visitors to Ireland for January-August 2018. Tourist numbers increased by 7.6% last month alone, with 1,202,100 people visiting the country in August. "Todays figures from the CSO confirm that overseas visitor numbers increased by almost +8% during the January-August period 520,500 additional overseas arrivals when compared with the first eight months of 2017," said Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland. "This was the best ever month of August for Irish tourism, with more than 1.2 million arrivals. "Particularly welcome in todays figures is the continued strong performance from North America, with an increase of +13.2%. "A number of factors are working in our favour, including more airline seats than ever before, from more gateways across the US and Canada. "Weve also seen excellent results from Mainland Europe, up +10.5% on January-August last year, with particularly strong performances from Germany (+21%) and Italy (+13.4%)." He warned, however, that Brexit could impact visitors from the UK. "While we welcome the fact that arrivals from Britain are up almost +2.5%, its too early to say if this represents a turnaround in the long-term trend. The impact of Brexit on outbound travel from Britain, therefore, remains a concern. Read the CSO report here: Ryanair has criticised pilots in Germany for their planned strike action. The strike, which was called by the VC Union, takes place tomorrow. The airline released a copy of a letter sent to the head of the VC Union yesterday, in which Ryanair agreed to arbitration with the VC Union in Germany, agreed to an acceptable arbitrator within seven days, suggested a four or five week arbitration and invited the VC to meet in Dublin to finalise these agreements next Thursday, October 4. The airline apologised to customers affected by the strike. "It is deeply disappointing that some of our customers and our people in Germany tomorrow will have their flights disrupted by an unnecessary strike called at short notice by the Lufthansa controlled VC Union," said Ryanairs chief operations officer, Peter Bellew. "This is another example of a strike being organised in Ryanair by association by a union controlled by competitor airline employees, despite the fact that Ryanair has agreed to arbitration, and at a much faster period of implementation (four/five weeks) than the five months being sought by the VC Union. "Having spent over seven hours in direct negotiations with the VC in Frankfurt on Tuesday, and having provided them with written agreement to their demands within 24 hours, it is deeply regrettable that the VC call another unnecessary strike within five hours of receiving our letter. "This VC organised strike, which will not be well supported by Ryanair pilots or cabin crew in Germany, shows that even when Ryanair makes real and substantial commitments in these union negotiations, they are ignored in favour of repeated strikes. "It is inexplicable that the VC Union cannot explain why they are calling a strike to agree a CLA when Ryanair has already agreed in writing to arbitration in Germany, which will complete a German CLA by the end of October for the benefit of our pilots in Germany. Laws to make abortion legal will be approved by the Cabinet this morning. The Health Minister Simon Harris will also set out a timeline to have the new laws in place by January 1. More than four months after the Irish people voted overwhelmingly to repeal the Eighth Amendment the laws allowing abortion to take place will be approved by Ministers today. The proposals will allow for abortion without restriction for up to 12 weeks into pregnancy and in limited circumstances after that. Minister Harris will say the Government is committed to providing abortions for free when the service comes in. He also wants to bring in safe access zones around areas where women access terminations to prevent them from being harassed or intimidated when going for an abortion. Despite concerns from doctors, Mr Harris believes the new service can be in place by January 1, 2019. The legislation will be introduced into the Oireachtas next week. Update - 12.16pm: Fianna Fail's Education Spokesperson, Thomas Byrne, has revealed that he knows of a second Leaving Cert adding error from this year's exams. Mr Byrne told Today with Sean O'Rourke show on RTE Radio 1 this morning that the mistake was discovered at the start of September. He said: "I am aware of another adding error where the figure was totted up and put on the front of the answer book, where there was a mistake made between the front of the answer paper and the actual Leaving Cert exam sheet. "Now, as I understand it, in that case, the State Examinations Commission treated it as an administrative error and changed the exam sheet almost immediately, certainly within a day. "And I don't know why this particular situation couldn't have been treated similarly, I mean Rebecca Carter, she is a fantastic lady for doing this, but there may be other cases similar to hers out there that didn't go to the High Court." Mr Byrne also outlined his concern over the response of the State Examinations Commission to the judgement in Ms Carter's case. He said: "They haven't actually said that they accept the decision and they will give her the marks. They have left open the question of an appeal." A careers guidance teacher, Brian Mooney, said: "All they are doing is they are saying they have committed now, that her paper will be re-examined and re-corrected by a completely new examiner and that person will give her a grade according to that person's mark. "The presumption is that he will give her as much as she already got, will correct that adding mistake and that result will end up as her getting that extra mark. "But that is not guaranteed, if the new corrector were to decide that the paper had got more than they were entitled to, effectively they could come back and actually reduce it." Earlier: Calls for universities to delay registration dates after Leaving Cert student wins High Court case There are calls for third-level institutions to extend their course registration cut-off dates. It comes after a 19-year-old won her case against the State Examinations Commission over its appeals process. Rebecca Carter was unable to start her chosen course three weeks ago because of a totting up error on one of her exams. A High Court Judge yesterday ordered the SEC to determine her appeal by this Friday instead of mid-October, to allow her to start college next week. Read more: Student who missed out on college place wins case over decision not to re-check Leaving Cert results before mid-October Former President of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, Betty McLoughlin, said universities and colleges need to allow time for the process to be completed. Ms McLoughlin said: "The simplest thing, in my opinion, that would have to move would be that the third-level system would wait, would not close off the entrants into their courses until the process has taken place. "Because I do know the absolute focus when they are doing this process has to be correcting every single error that might have happened through the process of the correcting." A number of charities have hit out at the Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy after it was revealed today that the Department of Housing has removed 1,606 people from its official homeless figures this year. They were taken out of the statistics at the request of the Minister who blamed "categorisation errors". According to the latest figures out today, 9,527 people, including almost 3,700 children, were temporarily living in hotels and B&Bs in August. Mr Murphy has been accused of wanting to keep numbers listed as living in emergency accommodation below 10,000. Without the re-categorisation, the number of people temporarily living in hotels and B&Bs last month would have stood at 11,133. The Minister said: "Earlier this year a number of categorisation errors were identified and corrected in the March and April reports. "These had involved the categorisation of individuals in houses and apartments owned or leased by the local authorities or Approved Housing Bodies as being in emergency accommodation. "I had requested a report on the full extent of this practice. My Department recently submitted a report to me on this matter, which identified further local authorities categorising houses and apartments as emergency accommodation. "The relevant local authorities have amended these categorisations and I am now satisfied that our report correctly identifies the families and individuals who are in emergency accommodation. "My Department will be working closely with the local authorities to support these individuals and families into secure tenancies. Inner City Helping Homeless, which provides services to homeless people, said it had "major concerns" over the removal of people from the figures. In a statement, the group said: "The Ministers statement says that the Department will be working with Local Authorities to move these people into secure tenancies which shows that they havent had their housing needs met, therefore, they should still be included in monthly figures. "We have seen year on year increases across the board from figures issued in August 2017. The overall figure is up 15% on the same time last year. "The number of homeless children is up 21% on the same period, the number of homeless families is up 18%, the number of homeless adults is up 12% and the number of homeless people over 65 years of age is up 28% on August 2017." ICHH CEO Anthony Flynn said the "Ministers abacus is now broken". "These figures just do not wash. I am fully supportive of any reduction within homelessness," he said. "The constant reclassifications by the Department of Housing shows a very disingenuous attempt in reducing overall figures and is cause for serious concern. We cannot rely on or compare these figures, a full review of the changes in categorization is now warranted. "A total of 741 people have been removed from the figures with 251 adults and 490 children. The Minister cannot use these people as political pawns in order to keep the overall homeless figure below 10,000 people. "We must see the National Oversight & Audit Committee (NOAC) now intervene and calculate how many people are actually homeless in the state. Minister Murphy cannot redefine the word homeless at his own leisure," he said. Merchants Quay Ireland, the national homeless and drugs charity, also said that the latest figures do not show the full picture of the homeless crisis. Co-founder of Merchants Quay Ireland Tony Geoghegan said the re-categorisation and exclusion of some homeless people from the figures show that there is "a real lack of credible and reliable data", thereby diminishing "the capacity of organisations and individuals involved in addressing the crisis". We welcome the decrease in the overall number of people homeless; however we must not lose sight of the fact that we still have 9,527 people in emergency accommodation with others still sleeping in laneways and doorways on our streets every night," he said. With the current re-categorisation of homeless statistics, we run the very real risk of losing sight of the real human trauma behind the figures and of homelessness becoming almost an acceptable social norm. The homeless crisis is not unsolvable, but ultimately the solution requires the provision of sufficient social and affordable housing. "The Government has a real moral test to hold to its commitment to deliver the required level of housing needed, while also focusing on the immediate needs of the thousands of men, women and children still caught in homelessness today," he said. June Tinsley, Head of Advocacy at Barnardos Children's charity Barnardos acknowledged the drop in the number of children registered as living in emergency accommodation, which dropped 4.5% from July to August. However, it wished to highlight that the decrease comes alongside Mr Murphy's re-categorisation announcement. June Tinsley, Head of Advocacy at Barnardos said: While we are of course welcoming of the significant drop in the reported number of children in emergency accommodation, it is unclear as to how much of the drop can be attributed to policies working and families actually securing a home instead of the categorisation adjustments that the Minister reported today. "We will need to wait until next months figures to see if a downward trend is emerging. It's too early to tell at this stage. In recent weeks weve heard how rents are continuing to rapidly rise, thousands of homes and properties lie vacant around the country, and a Government scheme set to deliver thousands of homes has only delivered 15. "It is time for the Minister and Government to admit that a serious change in tack is needed to halt this crisis and there is no scope for complacency to set in. "The fact remains that close to 3,700 children continue to live in emergency accommodation, their lives on hold, their health, wellbeing and development stunted, she said. The opening debate of the race for Aras an Uachtarain has seen candidates trade blows and outline their ambitions to be the nation's first citizen. Donors, the president's salary, a border poll, US president Donald Trump and the Irish language were some of the topics raised during the first debate of the contest on RTE radio. Independent Senator Joan Freeman confirmed she had received a loan of 120,000 from a businessman named Des Walsh who lives in Los Angeles. The loan complied with the race rules, she said. She also insisted that she was representing the ordinary voter, as she lived in a semi-detached house, had a mortgage and drove an ordinary car. In contrast, businessmen Peter Casey and Gavin Duffy traded blows over their wealth as well as the level of the president's salary they would draw down. Mr Casey, while also saying he would welcome US president to Ireland, called him a serial womaniser and an abuser. Other candidates said they would raise issues with Mr Trump. Sinn Fein MEP Liadh Ni Riada said she supported the use of the HPV vaccine but also criticised the media for asking if her children would take the vaccine. She called for privacy for them while also saying she was fully in favour of the vaccine after having seen cancer close up. The issue of the border poll for the North prompted different responses from the candidates, with a number saying any support for such a vote should be led by the government of the day. There was also criticism of President Michael D Higgins for not attending the debate as well as businessman Sean Gallagher. Fellow Dragons' Den star Peter Casey said it was disgraceful. Earlier, President Michael D Higgins attended an opening of a students centre in Dublin City University. He used his speech to focus on young people's mental health, the arts and new communities in Ireland. However, due to diary commitments today, the incumbent declined to participate in the RTE debate. Fellow contender and businessman Sean Gallagher also did not participate and said he would only do debates with all candidates. He claimed RTE could have consulted more about planning the debate. By Louise Walsh HSE bosses have dismissed concerns by a locum consultant cardiologist who placed a disclaimer on 2,500 patient reports because of what he says was 'poor imaging' from an alleged 'obsolete' cardioechogram (ECG) machine. Dr Boban Thomas says he first informed the HSE by email over two years ago about the 'problematic' machine, which he claims has led to at least one misdiagnosis at Our Lady's Hospital in Navan, Co. Meath. The HSE, however, say that after a review of 100 of the reports involving a "leading and expert cardiologist", it was "satisfied that there is no requirement to recall patients who had an echocardiogram between 2016 and after a new machine was commissioned at the end of 2017". In a recent email telling HSE bosses that he was bringing the issue into the public domain, Dr Thomas said he had "not been willing to sign off on studies that were performed on such a unit for ethical reasons primarily and other medicolegal issues that may arise eventually "I then instructed for the disclaimer to be placed on reports where neither I nor the technicians were willing to take responsibility for the quality of the studies and the subsequent clinical decisions that may be taken." In a series of older emails from May 30, 2016, to May 2, 2017, the consultant cardiologist asked for replacement machine saying that the continued use of the machine was "morally unethical". At the end of May, he emailed a number of hospital chiefs describing the situation as "critical" and saying: "The echocardiography unit, as you know, has an end of life certificate from March 2016. Suffice to say it has been on life support since then. "The unit has started to shut off spontaneously and we may have to stop doing echocardiograms here and transfer in-patients on ambulances to get echocardiograms elsewhere." An internal email between departments from the HSE on June 13, 2016, and copied to Mr Thomas asks for funding and says the machine was on the "obsolete list". "This equipment was on the register of obsolete equipment. I realise you have already allocated funding to Navan but is there a possibility of funding a replacement for this machine as it is increasingly becoming problematic and is resulting in delayed scans and subsequent diagnosis." In the email of December 2, 2016, Dr Thomas said: "Please do the needful to get us our unit by early January as what we are doing with our current unit is morally unethical. "We are doing studies on patients that are suboptimal and maybe missing things on patients and telling them that something is okay when it is not. "We would not want that with ourselves or our family members and it's unfair to others that we do that." In the latest email, Dr Thomas cites one case of discrepancy where he says the machine in question showed the presence of aortic stenosis (valve disease problem) but missed it in a repeat study. A clarification on a new machine confirmed aortic stenosis. He said: "Therefore, it is my contention that there have been studies that have been substandard that have put the lives of patients at risk." Mr Thomas left his role at Navan after four years in June to take up a senior position in Lisbon in Portugal. Speaking from Portugal last week, he said he put the disclaimer on all reports from April 2016 to August 2017. Most of the patients, he said, were from Meath. Dr Thomas said: "I read more than 4,000 studies internationally from hospitals across the world as a central independent reader based on specific criteria and the studies in Navan would not meet those criteria and that is why I kept ringing those alarm bells "I am absolutely sure that mistakes could have been made in reading patient reports because of very poor imagery. No-one spoke to me or called me into a meeting about my concerns. "I was the only cardiologist there for four years and I couldn't sign off on an exam which could prove dubious. It was also an attempt to put pressure on the HSE to get a new or temporary machine. "I even negotiated for the new machine in the end. This issue was one of the reasons I resigned and I don't intend on coming back to Ireland." "If something happens, it is now the responsibility of the Ireland East group. I don't want my name or reputation blemished." Dr Thomas said he would be contacting both HIQA and the Medical Council on the issue. The HSE said: "Patient safety and quality of care delivered is a key priority in all Hospitals and services provided across the Ireland East Hospital Group. "The Ireland East Hospital Group commissioned a review, in May 2018, of the diagnostic quality of echocardiographic studies in Our Ladys Hospital, Navan over the period between April 4, 2016, and August 16, 2018. "A leading and expert Cardiologist from the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin was tasked with conducting the review. 2213 studies were accessed with 100 of these randomly selected to be personally reviewed by the Cardiologist. "The recommendations from the subsequent report outlined that no full-scale review was required as the diagnostic quality of the studies were of an appropriate standard. That report was then circulated, through the Local Integrated Care Committee, to all local GPs. "An Echocardiogram is a very subjective diagnostic tool and can vary for several reasons depending on the patient being reviewed. All Echocardiograms conducted in Our Ladys Hospital, Navan where anomalies or visual complexities were identified were escalated for enhanced imaging and the referring consultant informed. "The Ireland East Hospital Group and Management at Our Ladys Hospital, Navan are satisfied following a full review of the circumstances surrounding this issue that there is no requirement to recall patients who had an Echocardiogram in the period referenced." Meanwhile, local Sinn Fein TD Peadar Toibin, who initially raised the matter last April, said: "It is deeply worrying when a consultant cardiologist does not have clinical confidence in a key diagnostic machine he is using, especially since problems with the heart are life-and-death issues. "It is beyond worrying when a Clinical Engineering Lead in the HSE states that an echocardioechogram machine is on a register of obsolete equipment for over a year and is still being used to diagnose thousands of patients. "Initially when this came to my attention I was told that hundreds of re-echos would be undertaken to ensure no misdiagnosis. This has clearly not happened. "I urge the HSE to restore confidence and make the results of their testing available or re-echo those who seek it, so that people can be sure of their true medical condition. Given all the scandals that have happened in the Health Service in recent times, as citizens we have no choice but to make sure that we are being treated correctly. "The Minister has a responsibility here. It is clear that the hospital sought funding for a new machine to replace an obsolete machine for over a year but were refused. This is just another example of a disastrous Health service that is broken to the core and an incompetent Minister at sea in his portfolio." Update - 10.12am: Gardai have confirmed that a man in his 20s is to appear at the Criminal Courts of Justice this morning in connection with the incident. Earlier: A man in his 20s has been arrested at Dublin airport this morning, after running out of the terminal onto the tarmac. It comes after a man and a woman arrived late for a Ryanair flight to Amsterdam at around 7am this morning. A passenger was pinned to the ground by police at Dublin Airport this morning after running out of the terminal towards the plane https://t.co/at941vkeK6 pic.twitter.com/CPVCdycDwD BBC News NI (@BBCNewsNI) September 27, 2018 The flight had closed by the time they got to the boarding gate. Declan Harvey, who was watching from the airport, said he could hear the man shouting "Wait!" as the plane taxied to the runway, before he was tackled to the ground by airport staff. Moments earlier hed been inside banging on the window of the terminal asking ground crew to hold the plane. He somehow made it out to the Ryanair aircraft which was taxiing. When police arrived there was a scuffle and he was pinned to the tarmac. 2/... @BBCNewsNI pic.twitter.com/mzEbD6fHyw Declan Harvey (@NewsDeclan) September 27, 2018 In a statement, Ryanair said an individual breached security at the boarding gate, which had already closed, and it is now a matter for local police. An airport spokesperson has confirmed they were engaging with Ryanair staff at the gate and the male passenger was becoming agitated. He was banging on the window to try and get the aircraft to wait and he then broke through a door and made his way onto the apron, trying to flag the aircraft down. A late passenger has been pinned to the ground by @DublinAirport police after running out of the terminal towards the plane pleading and shouting at the pilot to wait. 1/...@BBCNewsNI pic.twitter.com/TJL22qfNCt Declan Harvey (@NewsDeclan) September 27, 2018 He was restrained by Ryanair staff and Airport Police, who had arrived at the scene and arrested him. He was taken to the Airport Police Station and handed over to the Gardai. He has since been taken to Ballymun Garda Station and the plane took off a few moments later with minimal delay. A garda spokesperson said: "Gardai were called to the scene of an incident at Dublin Airport that occurred at approximately 7am today 27th September 2018. "A male in his 20s has been arrested and taken to Ballymun Garda Station were he is currently detained." Patrick Flynn The body of a woman has been recovered from the base of a cliff in Co Clare after she was seen falling to her death yesterday. Naval divers were flown in to assist the Irish Coast Guard with the recovery operation this afternoon. The alarm was raised shortly after 1.00pm yesterday when emergency services received a report of a woman falling from the cliff at the Cliffs of Moher. It is understood the woman is a non-Irish national who had been living in Dublin. The Doolin unit of the Coast Guard was alerted while the Shannon based helicopter Rescue 115 was also dispatched to the scene. Volunteer members of the Kilkee and Killaloe units of the Coast Guard were also sent to the area to assist. The body was located on rocks close to the cliff face making it impossible for the helicopter crew to make a safe recovery. The incoming tide prevented Coast Guard members from recovering the body, an operation that would have taken several hours. A decision was made to secure the body above the waterline beneath the cliff and attempt a recovery today. A team of divers from the Naval Service Diving Section was flown from Haulbowline in Cork to Doolin by the Irish Air Corps. The body was recovered by the divers and members of the Coast Guard and taken to Doolin station. The body was later removed to University Hospital Limerick where a post-mortem will be carried out. Gardai have confirmed that they are treating the death as a personal tragedy and that they will prepare a file for a coroners inquest which will be held at a later date The operation was coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guards marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry. Thursday, September 27, 2018 First the bad -- or at least frustrating -- news. On Thursday, September 27, we received word that Senate Bill 884, the long-awaited legislation providing key reforms of guardianship laws in Pennsylvania, was now "dead" in the water and will not move forward this year. Apparently one legislator raised strong objections to proposed amendments to SB 884, amendments influenced by recent high-profile reports of abuse by a so-called professional guardian who had been appointed by courts in multiple cases in eastern Pennsylvania. The objections reportedly focused on one portion of the bill that would have required both law guardians (typically family members) and professional guardians to undergo a criminal background check before being appointed to serve. The amendment did not condition appointment on the absence of a criminal record, except where proposed "professional guardians" had been convicted of specific crimes. For other crimes or for lay guardians, the record information was deemed important to permit all interested parties and the court to make informed decisions about who best to appoint. What is next? Pennsylvanians will look to new leadership in the 2019-20 session in the hope for a new bill that resolves differences and that can make it through both houses. In the meantime, the courts are already moving forward with procedural reforms, adopted in 2018 at the direction of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. And that leads us to a more positive note about guardianship reform in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Common Pleas Judge Lois Murphy testified this week during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting about the Pennsylvania Courts' new Guardianship Tracking System (GTS). It is now operational in 19 counties (out of 67 total counties) in Pennsylvania, including coming online in the major urban counties for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Judge Murphy reported that GTS is "already paying dividends," and she gave the example of a case in which the reporting system triggered a red flag for an estate worth more than $1 million, much higher than originally predicted, making appointment of different guardian more appropriate. Judge Murphy predicts that as the tracking system becomes operational statewide, it should generate valuable answers, such as how many persons are subject to guardianships at any point in time, how much in assets are under management, what percentages of the pointed guardians are family members (as opposed to professionals), and what percentages of those served are over or under age 60. The hope is that GTS will also permit coordination of information about appointed guardians in state courts with information in the federal system on those appointed as Social Security representative payees, thus, again, providing more comprehensive information about trustworthiness of such fiduciaries. You can see Judge Murphy's testimony, and hear her reasons for criminal background checks and appointment of counsel to represent alleged incapacitated persons, along with the views of retiring Senator Greenleaf and Senator Art Haywood, in the recording of the September 24 hearing recording below. Judge Murphy testifies from approximately the 35 minute mark to the 43 minute mark, and again from 1 hour 33, to one hour 44. Bottom line for the week -- and perhaps the session? You can certainly grow old just waiting for guardianship reform in Pennsylvania. https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/elder_law/2018/09/good-newsbad-news-on-guardianship-reform-legislation-in-pennsylvania.html George Best has left hospital in Belfast after spending 10 days having treatment for pneumonia. He was picked up at the City Hospital by his wife Alex and a number of minders who gave waiting photographers the slip by whisking him away in the back of a vehicle with blacked-out windows. Thursday, September 27, 2018 The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that an applicant may sit for the Bar examination in February 2019 The issue Two members of the Cincinnati Bar Association admissions committee interviewed Wammes in September 2017, and the committee issued a provisional report recommending that his character and fitness be approved. Because Wammes had been adjudicated a delinquent child for conduct that would be a felony if committed by an adult, his application was submitted to the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness for review in accordance with Gov.Bar R. I(11)(D)(5)(a) and I(12). A three-member panel appointed by the board conducted a hearing on January 18, 2018. At the hearing, Wammes testified that in the fall of 2007, when he was 15 years old, he struck a peer after the peer had expressed interest in Wammess girlfriend. The peer suffered a broken jaw. Wammes testified that when he saw the young man bleeding from the mouth, he immediately felt remorse and apologized. Wammes called his parents to confess what he had done. He also spoke to the victims mother on the phone and apologized. Based on this incident, Wammes was adjudicated a delinquent child. He performed community service, completed an anger-management assessment, and served only one year of a three year period of probation before he was released. Now the panel determined that Wammes had met his burden of proving his character, fitness, and moral qualifications for admission to the practice of law and recommended that we approve his registration application. The board unanimously adopted the panels report and recommendation, and there are no objections. Having thoroughly reviewed the record and applicable rules, we agree that Wammes has established that he possesses the requisite character, fitness, and moral qualifications for admission to the practice of law in Ohio. The court found he met his burden of proving that he is "no longer the immature teenager he was 10 years ago." (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/09/the-ohio-supreme-court-has-ruled-that-an-applicant-may-sit-for-the-bar-examination-the-issue-two-members-of-the-cincinnati.html National Australia Bank has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it sold "worthless" credit card insurance to "potentially thousands" of customers as the industry braces for the interim findings of the banking royal commission. Plaintiff law firm Slater & Gordon on Thursday said it had filed proceedings in the Federal Court against NAB and its wealth business, MLC, alleging they had engaged in "unconscionable conduct" by selling insurance to card holders who were ineligible to claim under the terms of their policy. NAB and MLC are facing a class action on behalf of customers sold worthless credit card insurance. Credit:Penny Stephens NAB is the first of the big four banks to face a consumer class action over issues probed during royal commission hearings. Slater & Gordon earlier this month said it was seeking expressions of interest in cases against Commonwealth Bank of Australia-owned Colonial First State and AMP over superannuation rip-offs, and wealth giant AMP is facing five class actions from aggrieved shareholders after admitting during the royal commission that it charged customers for financial advice that was never given. NAB chief legal and commercial counsel Sharon Cook said the bank was yet to be served with any legal proceedings from Slater & Gordon but would "consider carefully any allegations when we receive the claim". The Lion Dairy and Drinks business, which includes famous Australian brands such as Big M, Yoplait yoghurt and Berri juice, could be "a good fit" for beverages giant Coca-Cola Amatil, according to a new report by Citi. With Lions dairy and drinks business now the subject of a strategic review, many onlookers expect the most likely outcome will be that the business will be put up for sale by its Japanese owner, Kirin. (Coca-Cola) Amatil could be interested in parts, primarily flavoured milk, juice and the cold chain supply chain. These assets would plug a number of gaps in Amatil's portfolio, Citi analyst Craig Woolford said in a note to clients. The Lion Dairy and Drinks business, which includes Yoplait yoghurt, could be "a good acquisition" for Coca-Cola Amatil, according to Citi. Credit:Joe Armao Whether a deal can be done depends on Kirin's willingness to break-up the business and the ACCC's (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) view on the change in competition. Both are hard to call, he said. Because everyone calls their pool cleaner a Kreepy Krauly you have people contact us and complain about their broken cleaner. We ask which one they have and go help them and its more often than not, not our product," he said. They all get lumped together and people unfortunately abuse our trademark as well. Sarah said while people might look to the cheaper option, they usually come back. We typically get the third purchase, she said. They bought a Kreepy first, theyve gone down the path of a cheaper option and then they come back. The reduction in pool ownership due to smaller lot sizes doesnt concern Kreepy Krauly either. Kreepy Kraulys have a lot of competition from cheap international knock-offs. According to Roy Morgan research in 2015 Australian pool ownership sat at about 12 per cent. Sarah said houses were getting smaller but there still plenty of pools out there that needed cleaning. People still do love the great Australian dream with a pool, she said. We also get repeat customers. The pools in the ground still need to be cleaned and gone are the days when people do go out there and manually clean it. Andrew said they developed their 'sprinter' cleaner in response to the changing pool market. He said while smaller block sizes was an issue, it wasn't critical and general population and housing growth more than took up the slack. He said FIFO workers had grown into a huge customer base. Clean transition One of the biggest challenges was taking over the business from their father but fortunately the succession has been a successful one. Like many sons and daughters of business owners the siblings had been a part of the business throughout their entire life My parents never believed in school holidays, Andrew said. I could have walked if I wanted to but my school holidays were spent in the factory. During my uni days if I wasnt at uni I was expected to work at the factory. At uni I probably had a lot more context than most people. Sarah said she also worked at the school factory during the holidays, though not as much as Andrew. He quipped this was because she had a social life. It was about understanding the world a little bit more and understanding where hard work came from and how hard work could pay off, Sarah said. Andrew was totally committed from a young age while Sarah got a job outside of Kreepy Krauly as an engineer at a big iron ore miner for a few years before coming back later. It was just something I always wanted to do, Andrew said. I liked the problem solving of running your own business. Its stressful but I think having the chance to steer your own destiny is pretty powerful. I loved the challenge. Sarah said when she left her well paid job running a team of engineers in Perth, her parents asked: "why?" I guess its the fact that I like the problem solving but also you can create change, she said. Its great in big business that you can run multimillion dollar projects and see them through but thats typically through lot of red tape, its many years in the works. Its nice to come in and say I have this idea, can this be realised. Even though the brother and sister directors dont always agree Sarah and Andrew still have a great relationship outside of the office. Uber will pay $US148 million ($204 million) for failing to disclose a massive data breach in 2016, marking a costly resolution to one of the biggest embarrassments and legal tangles the ride-hailing company has suffered. The settlement follows a 10-month investigation into a data breach that exposed personal data from 57 million Uber accounts, including 600,000 driver's licence numbers. Credit:AP The settlement with 50 US states and Washington, D.C. brings closure to one of several high-stakes legal battles Uber is seeking to resolve before an initial public offering next year, while also delivering a national rebuke against Uber's history of flouting laws and basic business ethics. The amount is the largest among attorneys general settlements in privacy cases. By comparison, the multi-state settlement with Target Corp in 2017, over a breach in which 41 million people had their data stolen, was $US18.5 million. The settlement follows a 10-month investigation into a data breach that exposed personal data from 57 million Uber accounts, including 600,000 driver's licence numbers. Uber's new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi disclosed the breach in November, more than a year after the company was hacked under the previous CEO. Khosrowshahi has said the incident should have been disclosed to regulators at the time it was discovered in 2016. The operations boss behind one of WA's biggest lithium mines says the mining job market is warming up but a crippling skills shortage on the same level as the previous boom is not expected. The comments come as the state government revealed 112,000 people were directly employed in WA's mining industry in 2017-18, more than any other time in the state's history. Separate figures revealed a 14.1 per cent year-on-year increase in job ads. Pilbara Minerals Pilgangoora lithium mine. Pilbara Minerals recently completed stage one of its $491 million Pilgangoora Lithium-Tantalum mine and should start stage two by the end of the year. Pilgangoora is part of a new wave of construction in the Pilbara that includes three other multi-billion dollar projects from the major iron ore miners. John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull are among a slew of politicians who confide in journalist Greg Sheridan in his God is Good for You (Scott Morrison's ascent came too late), along with Andrew Hastie, Penny Wong, Mike Baird, Kristina Keneally, Kim Beazley, Peter Costello and others. Five of our past six Prime Ministers, as well as Prime Minister-in-waiting Bill Shorten, have been men who claimed a strong Christian faith that has guided their values if not their political decision-making. It is fascinating to see how they believe faith shaped them, each in different but important ways. Sheridan asks each whether they pray, producing revealing answers. Baring their souls in this way, even carefully, takes courage, as it does for Sheridan himself who goes deep into his own Catholic formation and faith. It takes courage because although people with religious convictions are statistically over-represented in Parliament they are under-represented in the media who report on them, and faith is increasingly unfashionable. Sheridan notes that Australia is on the cusp of becoming, if it is not already, a majority atheist nation (although agnostic would be more accurate), and that will bring profound change. Human beings are formed in a culture, and a culture without God will form different human beings. The loss of Christianity and religion will change us in ways we cannot imagine, and that prospect is one he finds deeply disturbing. We have a lot to lose. Yet although there is certainly rising hostility to religion, indifference and ignorance are far more prevalent Christianity has lost its hold on the culture, for many reasons from clergy sex abuse to affluence. As Sheridan laments, "it's wrong to reject Christianity without having any idea of what it is actually saying. That's what the West is in the process of doing now." Rosalie Ham's new novel is timely in a way she would never have wanted. Her aim was to write about the plight of the farmer and his small rural community in a time of drought and NSW has been crippled by what some are calling the worst drought in 400 years. How's the family farm doing? Ticking along, says Ham, mainly because they have had irrigation since the 1950s. She grew up on the farm at Jerilderie, NSW, that has been in her family since her grandfather bought it in 1923: these days, it's run by two of her brothers and their two sons. It's mostly wheat and sheep, canola and a bit of rice. They've had to acquire more and more land to keep things sustainable. But for anyone farming in the area without irrigation, things are dire. Melbourne author Rosalie Ham. Credit:Eddie Jim Ham never wanted to farm herself, and these days she lives with her husband in Brunswick in Melbourne; but like so many kids from her background, she has golden childhood memories. She lived in town but was always out on the farm at harvest time and shearing time. "It was excellent. Cutting burrs, opening gates, helping out. Swimming, fishing, yabbying in the creek. I was taught to drive as soon as my feet could reach the pedals. I was told to keep that needle there on the dashboard and aim for the horizon." There were darker things going on too. "Every once in a while my dad would bring a sheep home and kill it and we'd stand there and watch. It was just the way it was. Now I couldn't do it. Now, everything hurts." Nor was it just animals: "Solitary reclusive people in town, they all entered my consciousness. Especially when people died, some by their own hand." The two battalions in question were the 2/3rd machine gun and the 2/2 pioneers, both of whom were under the general command of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Blackburn, an Adelaide lawyer who had won a Victoria Cross in the Great War. In the second half of 1941 both groups fought Vichy forces in Syria where they sustained relatively modest losses. But all that was about to change. In early 1942 they were shipped to Java where, together with Dutch, British and American forces, they confronted one segment of the wave of Japanese troops that was moving across south-east Asia. There was fierce fighting in Java but by early March all the Allied forces there had surrendered. The seemingly insatiable market for books on Australian military history has resulted in a number of previously undiscovered corners of this world being now explored by authors. In this vein, Tom Gilling has tracked the experiences of two battalions of the Australian army that largely travelled together between the years 1941 and 1945. The samurai code of bushido that had come to influence the Japanese military in the 1930s supposedly dictated death before surrender, making prisoners a subject of contempt to their captors. The members of both battalions found themselves working on separate sections of the Siam-Burma railroad that was to supply the Japanese army in Burma. It was a massive construction project that had to be carried out without the aid of heavy machinery and over the most difficult of terrain. The conditions under which the prisoners worked have been often described but they are detailed particularly graphically in this book. In retrospect it seems a miracle that any of them survived the combination of strenuous physical labour, malnutrition, constant beatings and diseases such as malaria, dysentery and cholera. There were heros such as the surgeon E. E. "Weary" Dunlop, working on a bamboo operating table in the open and at night with hurricane lamps and a torch for illumination. But there were also tensions between captured Australian officers, who were generally treated better, and other ranks. The book touches very lightly on this question that does not seem to have been the subject of a great deal of discussion in the various works on the fate of Australian POWs in Japanese captivity. The railway was finished in October 1943. More than 2600 Australians had died, together with nearly 10,000 other POWs and perhaps 90,000 native workers. Those survivors from the two battalions considered still fit to work were shipped to Japan in 1944. Some were drowned en route when their ships were torpedoed and others succumbed to pneumonia in Japanese coal mines. A number of those taken to Japan were close enough to the city of Nagasaki to see the sky change colour when an atomic bomb exploded over one of its districts on August 9, 1945. It would be tempting to say that the objections to the use of the bomb do not seem so strong after reading this book but the real issue was the potential loss of lives of an invading Allied army and the decision to use this new weapon can be justified in that context. All in all the two battalions lost 372 members over those years but many of the survivors continued to have severe physical and mental problems for the rest of their lives. There were, of course, some war crimes trials after 1945 in relation to the Pacific region but, like the German military commanders at Nuremberg, the Japanese armed forces on the whole escaped very lightly in the aftermath of the war. Current affairs obey their own drum. Aside from the calendar moments, such as grand finals or Logie nights, news is a lucky dip, most headlines expressing the latest combo of ping-pong balls spilling from the cosmic hopper. Juxtapositions can seem unseemly, as a result. Two Russian emigres succumbed to Novichok the same week Cameron Bancroft stashed a sheet of sandpaper in his jocks. Aretha Franklin waved her final exit hand-in-hand with Kofi Annan. There's no accounting for timing. Henry Winkler as the Fonz in Happy Days. Indeed, history could suggest that Peter Dutton's failed coup of August 22 was triggered by the annual pilgrim to Mecca, where three stone pillars were ritually stoned to slay the devil, yet those two events are merely a wrinkle in the matrix, synchronised by the Greenwich clock. Though sometimes, news rhymes. Last week, a double happiness took place for language nerds. The conflux involved a former biker, a politician, a shark, a trophy and a strawberry. The politician in question was Craig Kelly, the federal member for Hughes, a swing seat in Sydney's south, while the ex-biker was Arthur "Fonz" Fonzarelli. Between September 1976, when they released the ground-shaking debut single (Im) Stranded, and November 1978, when they imploded after releasing three remarkable albums that pushed punk rock beyond its limits, Brisbane band The Saints helped change the course of popular music. When they were done uncompromising guitarist and chief songwriter Ed Kuepper was all of 23-years-old. Thats a young age for a vast legacy. In the four decades since, whether in various groups or a prolific solo career, Kuepper has set the example for musicians dealing with their herculean youth. Initially, he avoided The Saints, which continued under the control of front man Chris Bailey, but with time hes repeatedly taken control of the bands history, recasting it through the lens of his own project, The Aints! The Aints! with Ed Kuepper (glasses, front). Credit:secret service I dont have an issue with The Saints legacy, says Kuepper. I feel quite comfortable with what Ive done since and I dont feel overwhelmed by the records. Im proud of them, but I see it from a detached point of view because it was so long ago. Kuepper launched The Aints as a stripped-down trio in 1991, returning to the ferocity of The Saints but adapting it to his noisy inclinations for three rapid-fire molten original albums. In 2017, with the 40th anniversary of The Saints debut album, also titled (Im) Stranded, Kuepper decided to revisit The Saints by relaunching The Aints! (now with added exclamation mark) for a national tour playing the classics of his youth. A telling moment occurred in January during the making of Wunderbar, the unflinching new album from the Living End. The rock n roll trio were in a Berlin studio with German producer Tobias Kuhn, listening to a new song that was being rifled into shape, and frontman Chris Cheney excitedly pointed out he had the perfect guitar solo for the next passage. Tobias just goes, no, it doesnt need a guitar solo, says Cheney seven months later, a satisfied smile on his face. The grin isnt because Cheney, a fret-board virtuoso, set the wayward producer straight and added his guitar solo. Its because Kuhn made them listen to the song again and the band realised it didnt need the guitar solo. The Living End's Andy Strachan (left), Scott Owen and Chris Cheney. Credit:Daniel Boud Im thinking that were the Living End, its what we do, but Tobias was right, Cheney says as he sits opposite drummer Andy Strachan amid the lunchtime bustle of a busy Melbourne pub. Im proud were at that point because in my mid-20s I would have said that it has to have a guitar solo and every lick. Its cool to be at the point where were a song band. There are plenty of veteran artists who make solid if predictable eighth albums. The Living End are not one of them. Wunderbar is a cohesive commentary from Cheney, Strachan and bassist Scott Owen that addresses their individual and collective situation with a clear gaze and a scrupulously direct sound. The pummelling backbeat, rockabilly rhetoric, and ferocious choruses are still threaded through the bands DNA, but whats new is their appreciation of what they have to offer. Praise is rolling in for New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after her appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During the show, Ardern talked about being stopped for a chat while shopping for maternity bras, and the moment partner Clarke Gayford tripped over at a meeting with US President Donald Trump. Ardern was an invited guest on the show, which has a viewership of four million. She was introduced by Colbert - a Hobbit fan - as the biggest thing to hit New Zealand since "Frodo dropped the ring into Mt Doom". A Googong man has undergone emergency surgery on his eyes after being attacked while checking on a kangaroo he initially thought was dead. Billy Willox stopped on the side of Googong Road, south of Queanbeyan, after seeing something move as a kangaroo lay on the road earlier this month. Bus driver Billy Willox in hospital after he was attacked by a kangaroo. Credit:Facebook. Mr Willox said he thought the movement might have been a stranded joey, but "in a flash", the kangaroo he thought was dead jumped up and went for his eyes. "It was fast, really fast. I didn't even get that close to it and it suddenly just got up," he told The Canberra Times. For 24 years Mel Horne knew her husband's work put him in danger. As a NSW Police officer for the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, then-Senior Constable Mick Horne was often the man between dangerous or drunk drivers, and other innocent users of the road. Long shifts, late nights and fatalities were just a part of the job. Mel Horne and son, Tom, who are in Sydney to commemorate husband and father Mick Horne at National Police Remembrance Day. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer "When they are in the force, it's always in the back of your mind... something might happen one day, something could go wrong," she said. Calling another teenager a "dog" allegedly led to a 19-year-old woman with a "below average learning ability" being kidnapped, burnt, stabbed and thrown, bound and blindfolded, into the Hawkesbury River by four of her former friends. Brooke Browne, a mother-of-one, allegedly stabbed the victim in her right thigh. Credit:Facebook The alleged victim, whom Fairfax Media has elected not to identify, was picked up from a friend's house in Sydney's south-west on Saturday by four of her friends - Brooke Browne, 19, Matthew Leuthwaite, 22, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl who both cannot be named. Police facts seen by Fairfax Media suggest that, on the way to collect her, the foursome allegedly decided to attack her. Well-known eastern suburbs property developer Michael Teplitsky has told a Federal Court examination that he does not know how to use a computer and that he keeps files in his head. Mr Teplitsky was explaining the paucity of documents he had produced in response to a summons seeking documents relating to a series of payments totalling $500,000 which were paid to two of his development companies. Michael Teplitsky outside court on Thursday. Credit:Fairfax Media It now appears that these funds were the proceeds of crime. In May last year Mr Teplitskys Double Bay office was raided by the Australian Federal Police in relation to the alleged tax fraud that resulted in a number of people including Adam Cranston, the son of a deputy tax commissioner Michael Cranston, charged with defrauding the ATO of more than $150 million. It can now be revealed the ibis colloquially known in Australia as the bin chicken - was part of the some of the first debates about evolution in modern science. The debates between rival French biologists came 50 years before Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species was published in 1859. The Australian white ibis at its foraging best. Credit:Peter Rae The French debates included the worlds first tests of evolution but were only uncovered this year by Griffith University researchers led by Professor David Lambert. The Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution evolutionary biologist's work, published in peer-reviewed, open-access journal PLOS Biology on Friday, revealed more than eight catacomb sites in Egypt were the final resting places for millions of sacrificed ibises. Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 348173 09-27-2018 05:13 AM Post: #1 Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Advertisement Seagal has arrived in Primorsky Krai (a type of federal district in Russia) to take part in the Pacific Meridian movie festival, which is currently taking place in the regions capital Vladivostok. When reporters asked the celebrity if he wanted to become the governor, he answered that he represented President Vladimir Putins interests and would take over the gubernatorial seat with pleasure. He proceeded to say that his ancestors on his fathers side came from the Russian Far East, and that he wanted to know more about Primorsky Krai and become its governor. https://www.rt.com/politics/439434-steve...-governor/ Martial arts icon and Hollywood star Steven Seagal has described himself as Vladimir Putins representative, and announced that he wants to become the governor of Primorsky region in the Russian Far East.Seagal has arrived in Primorsky Krai (a type of federal district in Russia) to take part in the Pacific Meridian movie festival, which is currently taking place in the regions capital Vladivostok. When reporters asked the celebrity if he wanted to become the governor, he answered that he represented President Vladimir Putins interests and would take over the gubernatorial seat with pleasure.He proceeded to say that his ancestors on his fathers side came from the Russian Far East, and that he wanted to know more about Primorsky Krai and become its governor. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 253976 09-27-2018 05:14 AM Post: #2 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Execute the Traitor Pasta Lover Registered User User ID: 418981 09-27-2018 05:14 AM Posts: 9,463 Post: #3 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Wouldn't it be crazy if he ended up in charge over there. I don't think that could happen. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 348173 09-27-2018 05:16 AM Post: #4 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 05:14 AM) Execute the Traitor LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 455249 09-27-2018 05:25 AM Post: #5 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi The smartest person in Hollywood he saw this coming Russia is not our enemy....the globalists are. I cannot willingly fire upon other white Christians.... Russia is predominantly white....they hate that They want you to agree to killing white Christians because of......Hillary Loud Sneeze lop guest User ID: 397577 09-27-2018 05:26 AM Post: #6 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 05:14 AM) Execute the Traitor You mean like the Austrians executed Arnold for treason for becoming governor of California? WOMP WOMP You mean like the Austrians executed Arnold for treason for becoming governor of California?WOMP WOMP LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 450018 09-27-2018 05:31 AM Post: #7 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Look at that gut if he dont get u it will.. Beer and Vodka LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 450018 09-27-2018 05:32 AM Post: #8 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Thats his Home Boy Pasta Lover Registered User User ID: 418981 09-27-2018 05:33 AM Posts: 9,463 Post: #9 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 05:31 AM) Look at that gut if he dont get u it will.. Beer and Vodka Judo Gene Labell made Segal poo in his pants. He did some hold or throw. Judo Gene Labell made Segal poo in his pants. He did some hold or throw. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 450018 09-27-2018 05:35 AM Post: #10 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Seagal on Obama and DOJ SevenThunders Registered User User ID: 389315 09-27-2018 05:49 AM Posts: 3,752 Post: #11 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Weird. My ancestors came from that area as well, and I studied aikido for a while as well. Maybe I should be governor LOL. The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? ABCDEF_Jesus Dominios Pizza User ID: 419325 09-27-2018 05:52 AM Posts: 3,332 Post: #12 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi Steven Seagal is a pathological liar and a fraud. He's changed race 3 times. He has never fought martial arts. He doesn't speak more than one language. He sexually assaults teenage girls. He rips pages out of scripts that would exert him. He runs like a homo. He can't play guitar. And he keeps Russian sex slaves on call because his self confidence is a sham. (This post was last modified: 09-27-2018 05:56 AM by ABCDEF_Jesus .) LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 450018 09-27-2018 05:52 AM Post: #13 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi I think Seagal taught Puti a few tricks You dont see our pus s Y Presidents doing that, he was having a good time with that girl got hi, on his knees. Wonder if she is still Alive.LOL LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 450018 09-27-2018 06:00 AM Post: #14 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi ABCDEF_Jesus Wrote: (09-27-2018 05:52 AM) Steven Seagal is a pathological liar and a fraud. He's changed race 3 times. He has never fought martial arts. He doesn't speak more than one language. He rips pages out of scripts that would exert him. He runs like a homo. And he keeps Russian sex slaves on call because his self confidence is a sham. Yeah JUst like Chuck NOrris , Bruce lee,van damme,jackie cha,wesley snipes.. They were all actors with coreography.. Sure van dame could do splits and kick high, bruce did the 1 inch punch had good sound and was fast, chuck norris was good at karate and coreography...Jacky Can about the best at coreography ect.. Search al over you will never find them in a real fight Ive looked every where... Seagal just dances around with his slo mo Akido, Supposedly chuck lost to bruce lee and ended up being a student, Van Damme is a hot Head show off lotta guys want to kick his ass. Made for good movies back in the day, who was that Kung Fu guy that meditated alot?? He probably kick all there asses. Yeah JUst like Chuck NOrris , Bruce lee,van damme,jackie cha,wesley snipes..They were all actors with coreography.. Sure van dame could do splits and kick high, bruce did the 1 inch punch had good sound and was fast, chuck norris was good at karate and coreography...Jacky Can about the best at coreography ect.. Search al over you will never find them in a real fight Ive looked every where...Seagal just dances around with his slo mo Akido, Supposedly chuck lost to bruce lee and ended up being a student, Van Damme is a hot Head show off lotta guys want to kick his ass.Made for good movies back in the day, who was that Kung Fu guy that meditated alot?? He probably kick all there asses. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 441657 09-27-2018 06:01 AM Post: #15 RE: Steven Seagal says he is Putins man, wouldnt mind ruling Russias Far East regi LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 05:25 AM) The smartest person in Hollywood he saw this coming Russia is not our enemy....the globalists are. I cannot willingly fire upon other white Christians.... Russia is predominantly white....they hate that They want you to agree to killing white Christians because of......Hillary He's also a sexual predator. He's also a sexual predator. Advertisement Baited hooks placed in the north Queensland harbour where sharks attacked two tourists last week were removed on Thursday afternoon following the controversial catching and killing of six sharks. The drum lines were removed as victim Justine Barwick sent a message of thanks to her supporters after she was moved from the intensive care unit at the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital, a week after she was bitten. Three drum lines from Cid Bay at Whitsunday Island are being removed after a massive backlash against the Queensland government's shark culling program. Credit: HSI-AMCS-N McLachlan Ms Barwick, who was holidaying from Tasmania, and a 12-year-old Victorian girl, Hannah Papps, were bitten last week in separate incidents, prompting the Queensland government to place the shark hooks in Cid Harbour, off Whitsunday Island. Fisheries Queensland has admitted there is likely no way to confirm if any of the sharks culled were responsible for the attacks on the tourists. Five people are on the run after a Western Australian man was stabbed three times after he was attacked by a group in the Gold Coast. Police said initial investigations suggested the 36-year-old met with four men and one woman around 7pm on Thursday at Surfers Paradise. The tourist was helped by members of the public after he was stabbed in Surfers Paradise. Credit:Robert Shakespeare An argument between the tourist and the group on Leonard Avenue prompted the attack where the man was stabbed in his chest and abdomen, police said. He was helped by members of the public on Watson Esplanade and emergency services were called. Moelis Australia, the investment bank run by Sydney Swans chairman Andrew Pridham and former Nine Entertainment Co executive Jeff Buckets Browne, is meant to make lots of money advising corporate clients. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit: But could the advisory house actually have more in common with migration agents than the likes of Goldman Sachs thanks to the federal governments Significant Investor Visa scheme? The SIV lets wealthy foreigners buy into Australian residency in exchange for a down payment of $5 million in local investments. And Moelis is assiduously cashing in. The Governor Phillip Tower-based firm has even found the perfect way to sanitise the product by describing it as asset management in their accounts. The ABCs corporate leadership is just not good enough to be running our major cultural institution. Its not even good enough to be running the local community theatre project. Over four days, we have seen our most beloved of institutions, the national broadcaster, come under attack, not external Malcontents, but because of the actions of the very people who should be on the barricades protecting the national broadcaster. Former ABC chairman Justin Milne and former managing director Michelle Guthrie. Both lost their positions this week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Former managing director Michelle Guthrie, sacked on Monday for visible reasons; and some invisible ones. By Wednesday, we knew she was not the only one who was not a good fit for the organisation. It was revealed that former chair of the ABC board Justin Milne had emailed Guthrie demanding the sacking of Emma Alberici (to the former managing directors credit, she stood up for the ABCs national economics correspondent). On Wednesday we discovered Alberici was not the only target: Andrew Probyn, Tom Ballard and the Tonightly crew. Im sure there will be more to come. Milnes behaviour disgraced us all. On Thursday he resigned after the ABC Board asked him to step aside during the Department of Communications' internal review of the fiasco. It became clear he would get no support from the Minister for Communication Mitch Fifield, clearly embarrassed at a hastily called press conference on Thursday morning when asked whether Milne should leave the board. He replied: It is a matter for every high office holder to continually assess whether they retain the capacity to effectively discharge the duties of their office. Combustible cladding has been confirmed on five Queensland government buildings, making them fire risks that will cost millions to fix. An audit investigated the extent of combustible polyethylene cladding in Queensland, following the deadly fire at the Grenfell Tower building in London, identifying 172 government-owned buildings for further investigation. Cladding is being replaced on the Queensland Rail building on Edward Street. Credit:Robert Shakespeare Authorities have now confirmed Logan Hospital will require remediation work, which is yet to start. The extent of work at the Logan Hospital and the associated costs were not yet available. Work has begun on a Queensland Rail building next to Central Station in the Brisbane CBD and the former Children's Court building on Quay Street. Queensland Training and Skills Minister Shannon Fentiman could be referred to the parliamentary ethics committee over claims she covered up the number of Commonwealth Games tickets handed out to TAFE Queensland staff and board members. In a letter to Speaker Curtis Pitt, seen by Fairfax Media, LNP shadow minister Fiona Simpson accused Ms Fentiman of deliberately misusing parliamentary procedures to avoid scrutiny. Minister Shannon Fentiman faces more questions over TAFE Queensland's Commonwealth Games ticket allocations. Credit:Tracey Nearmy/AAP Last month, the LNP asked Ms Fentiman to provide a breakdown of recipients of 2148 Commonwealth Games tickets purchased by TAFE Queensland into the following categories: board members, executives and staff, as well as TAFE clients, guests, volunteers and others. At estimates hearings on August 2, TAFE chief executive Mary Campbell revealed that the cost of the tickets purchased was $230,641. In a statement, the CCC said the state government had the right to allocate and withdraw staffing resources from KAP. It found there were no grounds to suspect that anything said or done inside or outside Parliament by Ms Palaszczuk or members of the LNP involved an offence of interfering with political liberty or extortion. Loading CCC chair Alan MacSporran cleared LNP members, including Ms Leahy and opposition leader Deb Frecklington, and said they were acting to hold the government to account. However, the CCC said the information available, if proved, may involve an offence against section 60 - bribery of a member of Parliament - regarding the answer given by Ms Palaszczuk to Ms Leahy. "The Premier's answer allegedly contained an implied threat to withdraw KAP staffing resources with the intent to influence KAP parliamentary members in their vote and opinion upon a question arising in the Legislative Assembly," the statement read. "The Premier's answer could be admitted in proceedings against her to the extent necessary to prosecute an offence against section 60." However, the CCC did not consider section 60 was intended to apply to statements made openly during parliamentary proceedings. "Even though the answer given by the Premier during question time might be considered to be entirely inappropriate and to have exposed her to the prospect of facing a charge of bribery under section 60 of the Criminal Code, the fact remains that there was no objection from anyone present during the parliamentary debate, and no censure from the Speaker [Curtis Pitt]," the CCC's statement said. The motion was passed with an overwhelming majority of MPs and was conducted openly in Parliament, the CCC said. Mr MacSporran said section 60 was designed to prevent and punish conduct which sought to secretly influence the votes of MPs by inducements, threats and intimidation, describing this case as "very unusual". The CCC said there was no reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution and the Queensland Parliament was the appropriate entity to deal with the complaint against Ms Palaszczuk. The CCC also said it was of the view that the process to decide resourcing for ministers and other MPs should be determined by an entity independent of the government of the day, and recommended the Parliament consider the matter. The Parliament, where Labor has a majority, can decide to refer the issue to the Ethics Committee to consider an issue of contempt or refer it to the Attorney-General for prosecution. Mr MacSporran said there should be an independent, bipartisan body within the Parliament to objectively address resources. "The allocation of resources to elected members of Parliament is a fundamental plank in a democratic system," he said. "If you're interfering with the resource allocation it is a very disappointing outcome." Ms Palaszczuk said people made comments "in the heat of question time". "That's the argy-bargy of Parliament," she said. However, Mr MacSporran said robust parliamentary debate was important but there were limits as it was not "open slather". New York: An estimated 383,000 people have died as a result of South Sudan's civil war, according to a new report that documents the extraordinary scale of devastation after five years of fighting in the world's youngest country. A government soldier walks to his post to patrol the border in Kuek, in northern Upper Nile state, South Sudan in 2017. Credit:AP The report, published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and financed by the State Department, revealed that about half the dead were killed in fighting between ethnic rivals as it spread across the country, and the other half died from disease, hunger and other causes exacerbated by the conflict. The number far surpasses earlier estimates from the United Nations and brings into focus the tragedy of a conflict that has received little global attention. The researchers behind the report hope it will be instrumental in understanding the conflict and strengthening humanitarian responses. Latest News Last sub-2% rate goes as ANZ hikes again Second big hike in three weeks at major lender "Significant concern" for Premier as housing affordability crisis looms ABS stats show approvals drop off, with politicians warned of impact down the track Broker groups and associations have gathered with the new federal treasurer at an event in Sydney. Held by Aussie Home Loans at the headquarters in Sydney, industry associations and aggregators met with the Hon. Josh Frydenberg on Wednesday (26 September). The guest list included the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australias (MFAA) CEO Mike Felton, the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) Peter White, as well as senior leaders of broker groups such as Mortgage Choice, Smartline, FAST, AFG, Connective and other. Symond said, Change is the one constant in life and there is no doubt our industry is going through plenty of it. I believe youre either part of change or a victim of it, so it was very important to pull together the major players in the mortgage broking industry to present our views direct to the treasurer. We are a vital part of the home loan and property sectors. It is important our significant contribution to todays competitive mortgage landscape and the benefits our brokers provide to consumers are known by the highest echelons of government. We appreciate the treasurer taking the time to meet with us today on behalf of our brokers and discuss the future of this most important part of the Australian economy. Latest News Last sub-2% rate goes as ANZ hikes again Second big hike in three weeks at major lender "Significant concern" for Premier as housing affordability crisis looms ABS stats show approvals drop off, with politicians warned of impact down the track Just over a year on from its inception, a finance group is reaping the rewards of its hard work. Launched in August 2017, Pivotal Financial won multiple awards at the 2018 Connective Excellence Awards earlier this month. The RE/MAX Australia-owned finance group was represented in five categories in total, with finance specialist Victoria Senethep featuring as finalist for Mercury Hero, Compliance Hero and Best Newcomer. The company also took home the award for Best Marketing. Another finance specialist, Danielle Wilson, was awarded Best Newcomer, which was open to brokers with under two years experience. Wilson said she had established very clear goals on what she wanted to achieve long before she changed her career path and entered the mortgage broking industry. She said, I knew the client types that I wanted to help, the calibre of colleagues I wanted around me and the referral partners I wanted to align with. Partnering up with the right brokering group meant that I was confident in the support I would be getting to equip me with the tools and skills to achieve the goals Id set. General manager Matthew Andrews said, We are thrilled with these wins, and recognition as finalists, in the face of some very tough competition. Connective Excellence Awards winners are chosen for their expertise, integrity and outstanding customer service standards. We are very proud to accept these awards and be recognized amongst the best of the best in Australias mortgage and finance broking industry. Pivotal Financials story began in June 2017, after Andrews was tasked with restructuring the mortgage broking business for RE/MAX Australia. He said he saw an opportunity to create a fresh, appealing brand that was relevant, engaging and modern for the target audiences, the RE/MAX network, mortgage broker partners and customers, and a brand that reflected the core values of the company: integrity, competency, accessibility and amiability. Andrews added, We rebranded and re launched the new business, Pivotal Financial in August 2017, and launched a new marketing program that has helped establish our brand, attract new customers and increase market share in a competitive environment. The result of higher engagement with our broker group, RE/MAX network and customers has resulted in greater productivity. He also said Pivotal Financial has enjoyed building a strong relationship with Connective as its aggregator since last year. Connective is a dynamic and progressive thinking aggregator that leads industry competitors in innovation, technology and diversification, and a valuable strategic partner for Pivotal Financial, which is embracing technology to drive growth and performance, he said. Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Russias Su-57 jet's hypersonic missile can shoot down enemy aircraft 300km awai LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 348173 09-27-2018 05:22 AM Post: #1 Russias Su-57 jet's hypersonic missile can shoot down enemy aircraft 300km awai Advertisement The Su-57 is Russias first 5th-generation aircraft, designed to be a formidable threat to major air powers such as the US. It is normally expected to carry weapons in its internal bays, to reduce radar cross-section and avoid compromising its stealth capabilities. But larger missiles may be carried externally at a hardpoint, and one of those will be the R-37M, a missile with a greater range than anything the US aircraft would have at their disposal. The R-37M variant, which is reportedly in the final stages of development, was given a new guidance system and lost some weight and length to fit on smaller platforms. Boris Obnosov, director of the Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV), confirmed to Interfax on Wednesday that the Su-57 will be among aircraft capable of firing the new missile. KRTV is the parent company of NPO Vympel, the developer of the R-37. The progress with developing the R-37M puts into question the future of another potential very long-range air-to-air missile considered for the Su-57. Called KS-172 and developed by NPO Novator, part of the competing military concern Almaz-Antey, this missile reportedly has an even greater range of over 400km. https://www.rt.com/news/439553-russia-lo...e-missile/ A hypersonic anti-aircraft missile with a range of over 300km will be part of the arsenal of the Su-57, Russias most-advanced multipurpose fighter jet. The weapon is meant to take out high-value targets with impunity.The Su-57 is Russias first 5th-generation aircraft, designed to be a formidable threat to major air powers such as the US. It is normally expected to carry weapons in its internal bays, to reduce radar cross-section and avoid compromising its stealth capabilities. But larger missiles may be carried externally at a hardpoint, and one of those will be the R-37M, a missile with a greater range than anything the US aircraft would have at their disposal.The R-37M variant, which is reportedly in the final stages of development, was given a new guidance system and lost some weight and length to fit on smaller platforms. Boris Obnosov, director of the Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV), confirmed to Interfax on Wednesday that the Su-57 will be among aircraft capable of firing the new missile. KRTV is the parent company of NPO Vympel, the developer of the R-37.The progress with developing the R-37M puts into question the future of another potential very long-range air-to-air missile considered for the Su-57. Called KS-172 and developed by NPO Novator, part of the competing military concern Almaz-Antey, this missile reportedly has an even greater range of over 400km. Pasta Lover Registered User User ID: 418981 09-27-2018 05:25 AM Posts: 9,463 Post: #2 RE: Russias Su-57 jet's hypersonic missile can shoot down enemy aircraft 300km awai I thought they shelved this project for now. If oil prices stay high, they might bring it back. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 448380 09-27-2018 05:26 AM Post: #3 RE: Russias Su-57 jet's hypersonic missile can shoot down enemy aircraft 300km awai Good. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 348173 09-27-2018 05:28 AM Post: #4 RE: Russias Su-57 jet's hypersonic missile can shoot down enemy aircraft 300km awai Pasta Lover Wrote: (09-27-2018 05:25 AM) I thought they shelved this project for now. If oil prices stay high, they might bring it back. I'm curious why they are showing off their new toys, maybe a warning like.... look what we have... I'm curious why they are showing off their new toys, maybe a warning like.... look what we have... beans lop guest User ID: 397554 09-27-2018 05:34 AM Post: #5 RE: Russias Su-57 jet's hypersonic missile can shoot down enemy aircraft 300km awai One of these can wipe out a country... Not to mention... One of these can wipe out a country...Not to mention... Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. 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What neither Mr Ellis nor The Guardian mentioned is the large number of stolen ancient Indian art that remains in private collections as well as museums in Europe and the US, often supplied through ... 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 Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the Friday's meeting with the shareholders of debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Services (IL&FS), according to banking sources. The apex bank had earlier called a meeting with key shareholders of IL&FS, including of India (LIC) and State Bank of India, after the company and its subsidiaries defaulted on repayments of various debt instruments. "Tomorrow's meeting has been cancelled. As a regulator, they want to know what is the course of action and what is the road map that the firm is taking," a source said. " wants details of the plan for future or corrective action which are to be taken," another source said. The next date for meeting has not been decided yet, the source added. IL&FS's annual general meeting is scheduled for September 29 here. LIC and Orix Corporation of Japan are the largest shareholders of with 25.34 and 23.54 per cent stake, respectively, while Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, HDFC, and hold 12.56 per cent, 9.02 per cent, 7.67 per cent and 6.42 per cent, respectively. group is facing serious liquidity crisis and has defaulted on interest payment on various debt repayments since August 27. It has over Rs 910 billion in debt. The company needs an immediate capital infusion of Rs 30 billion and is planning a Rs 45 billion rights issue. At a meeting held earlier this month, the key shareholders of the debt-ridden company, including LIC, and HDFC, had kept a pre-condition for it to raise funds through its assets or non-core businesses, before any additional money could be pumped in. There have been reports that has even put on block its headquarters in the city for around Rs 13 billion. On September 4, it came to light that IL&FS had defaulted on a short-term loan of Rs 10 billion from Sidbi, while its subsidiary has also defaulted Rs 5 billion dues to the development finance institution. On Monday, IL&FS Financial Services also defaulted on repayment of commercial papers due that day. The Reserve Bank will meet the large shareholders of Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services on Friday to discuss a turnaround plan for the crisis-ridden infra major, the central bank sources said. LIC and Orix Corporation of Japan, which have 25.34 and 23.54 per cent stake in the company, respectively, are expected to attend the meeting to which minority shareholders, which include two state-run banks, and have not been called. "The officials concerned will meet the large shareholders of Friday," an RBI source told Earlier in the day, two banking sources said they have been told that Friday's meeting has been cancelled. "Friday's meeting has been cancelled as the regulator want to know what is the course of action and what is the roadmap that the firm is taking," one of the shareholders, said. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, HDFC, and hold 12.56 per cent, 9.02 per cent, 7.67 per cent and 6.42 per cent, respectively in which collectively owe over Rs 91,000 crore to lenders. Meanwhile, IL&FS's annual general meeting is scheduled for September 29. The Group is facing serious liquidity crisis and has defaulted on interest payment on various debt repayments since August 27. It has over Rs 910 billion in debt. The company needs an immediate capital infusion of Rs 30 billion and is planning a Rs 45-billion rights issue. At a meeting held earlier this month, the key shareholders of the debt-ridden company, including LIC, and HDFC, had kept a pre-condition for it to raise funds through its assets or non-core businesses, before any additional money could be pumped in. There have been reports that IL&FS has even put on block its headquarters in the city for around Rs 13 billion. On September 4, it came to light that IL&FS had defaulted on a short-term loan of Rs 10 billion from Sidbi, while its subsidiary has also defaulted Rs 5 billion dues to the development finance institution. On Monday, IL&FS Financial Services also defaulted on repayment of commercial papers due that day. Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda EP Chet Greene on Wednesday (local time) reassured External Affairs Minister of full cooperation in the extradition of Mehul Choksi, a prime accused in the $2 billion Punjab Bank (PNB) scam, who is currently in Antigua. The issue of Choksi's extradition was raised by Swaraj in the bilateral meeting held with the Antiguan Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). When asked if Antigua would help India in extraditing Choksi, Greene told ANI, "I think it is only appropriate if you speak to your Foreign Minister." According to the Ministry of External Affairs, Swaraj, during the bilateral meeting, conveyed to her Antiguan counterpart that there was immense expectation in India regarding Choksi's extradition, as he left the country after committing a massive fraud, to which she was assured of full cooperation. ALSO READ: Special Court gives Mehul Choksi time till Oct 30 to reply to ED plea Apart from the meeting with Greene, Swaraj also held bilateral talks with Fernando Huanacuni Mamani, Foreign Minister of Bolivia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Armenia's Foreign Minister, Karin Kneissl, Austrian Foreign Minister, Isabel Saint Malo, Vice President of Panama, Heiko Maas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, and Roberto Ampuero, Foreign Minister of Chile. The External Affairs Minister was also slated to meet her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the However, after increasing reports of violence on police and army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, the meeting was called off. Apart from participating in the General Debate, Swaraj, during her jam-packed schedule, will hold a total of over 30 bilateral meetings as part of her visit to the United States. The Supreme Court on Thursday declared as unconstitutional the penal provision on adultery, saying it was manifestly arbitrary and dents the individuality of women. A five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in holding Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, dealing with the offence of adultery, as unconstitutional and struck down the penal provision. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such ... The government will relax (FDI) regulations to give a boost to the food processing sector, which has attracted $ 8.7 billion of investment, a senior government official said here. "We have already received $ 8.7 billion of FDI in food processing industry and we are in the process of removing bottlenecks as we see huge FDI investment potential in the sector. The government will relax FDI regulations to give a boost to the sector," ministry of commerce and industry DIPP joint secretary Rajiv Aggarwal told PTI on the sidelines of World of Food India conference organized by MNCs and investors were facing some hurdles, which has now been removed in terms of modifications, harmonisation. They hope to provide ease of doing business in the sector, he added. At present, 100 per cent FDI in is allowed in setting up of manufacturing unit. There is no permission required for wholesale business in the sector too, he said. The government is expected to announce a new industrial policy soon. The proposed policy will encompass the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and IoT which will open new avenues for investments in India. "We need technology and investment in supply chain mechanism to boost the industry," Aggarwal said, adding that the industry faces huge wastages from farm to table. "We only process 7 per cent of perishable goods as compared to 65 per cent in US, 23 per cent in China and 78 per cent in Phillipines," he said. The three-day conference, is being attended by buyers and sellers from 30 countries with 297 exhibitors showcasing the latest technologies and trends in the food and beverage industry and 7,000 scheduled B2B meetings are to be held. Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average 1 2 3 4 5 Page: 1 2 3 China launches crackdown on Christian CULT LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 464583 09-27-2018 12:34 PM Post: #1 China launches crackdown on Christian CULT Advertisement China has already sentenced dozens of followers of Quannengshen, or the Church of Almighty God, since the murder of a woman at a fastfood restaurant by suspected members of the group in 2014 sparked a national outcry. In the latest case, an unspecified number of members of the group have been on trial in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang since July 31, state news agency Xinhua said late on Sunday. The report said, citing local police: Heilongjiang police arrested the leader and some key members of the cult branch in northeast China in June 2017. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/100...mighty-god A CHINESE court has launched proceedings against leading members of the banned religious group "Almighty God", state media reported, the latest crackdown on what the government has labelled a dangerous cult.China has already sentenced dozens of followers of Quannengshen, or the Church of Almighty God, since the murder of a woman at a fastfood restaurant by suspected members of the group in 2014 sparked a national outcry.In the latest case, an unspecified number of members of the group have been on trial in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang since July 31, state news agency Xinhua said late on Sunday.The report said, citing local police: Heilongjiang police arrested the leader and some key members of the cult branch in northeast China in June 2017. pooky Registered User User ID: 451507 09-27-2018 12:38 PM Posts: 6,013 Post: #2 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT (This post was last modified: 09-27-2018 12:39 PM by pooky .) LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 461243 09-27-2018 12:39 PM Post: #3 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT The CPC (Chinese Communist Party) are committing crimes against humanity daily on a massive scale NoContract CENSORED User ID: 450275 09-27-2018 12:52 PM Posts: 2,319 Post: #4 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT Well done , China . Eradicate it . "Well, I'll put it this way: you can certainly say belief in God makes people behave worse. That can be proved beyond a doubt. " Christopher Hitchens Perception is a personal experience , not a universal application LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 442692 09-27-2018 12:54 PM Post: #5 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT NoContract Wrote: (09-27-2018 12:52 PM) Well done , China . Eradicate it . Agreed. Time to start feeding them to the lions again. NoContract CENSORED User ID: 450275 09-27-2018 12:55 PM Posts: 2,319 Post: #6 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 12:54 PM) NoContract Wrote: (09-27-2018 12:52 PM) Well done , China . Eradicate it . Agreed. Time to start feeding them to the lions again. "Well, I'll put it this way: you can certainly say belief in God makes people behave worse. That can be proved beyond a doubt. " Christopher Hitchens Perception is a personal experience , not a universal application LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 464682 09-27-2018 12:56 PM Post: #7 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT If not for the weaponized religious cults, all those factories would still be inn the USA. China dumb dumb commies. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 461073 09-27-2018 12:58 PM Post: #8 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT most of what calls itself christian in china is cultic they are variations of branch davidian/people's temple sh*t with some wack personality claiming to be god on earth LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 464687 09-27-2018 12:58 PM Post: #9 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT This might ruin their plans for a vision china channel. LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 461243 09-27-2018 01:16 PM Post: #10 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 12:58 PM) most of what calls itself christian in china is cultic they are variations of branch davidian/people's temple sh*t with some wack personality claiming to be god on earth Well historically you can look at the Taiping Rebellion to get an idea of what the authorities fear may happen with a massive religious movement Well historically you can look at the Taiping Rebellion to get an idea of what the authorities fear may happen with a massive religious movement LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 464583 09-27-2018 02:01 PM Post: #11 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 12:54 PM) NoContract Wrote: (09-27-2018 12:52 PM) Well done , China . Eradicate it . Agreed. Time to start feeding them to the lions again. I cold heartlessly agree I cold heartlessly agree LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 459996 09-27-2018 02:16 PM Post: #12 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 02:01 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 12:54 PM) Agreed. Time to start feeding them to the lions again. I cold heartlessly agree Making you all members of another religious cult which opposes the Lord Jesus Christ I guess you want to overlook that fact Making you all members of another religious cult which opposes the Lord Jesus ChristI guess you want to overlook that fact LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 464707 09-27-2018 02:28 PM Post: #13 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT Wow...look at the uk trash rag dissemble for the Chinese commie filth, pathetic...China's war on the faithful is old and brutal..and no Christians murdered anyone there...Chinese filth blaming gods children for their own sins LoP Guest lop guest User ID: 464583 09-27-2018 03:13 PM Post: #14 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 02:16 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (09-27-2018 02:01 PM) I cold heartlessly agree Making you all members of another religious cult which opposes the Lord Jesus Christ I guess you want to overlook that fact Jesus Christ was over rated Jesus Christ was over rated Rayne Registered User User ID: 460885 09-27-2018 03:34 PM Posts: 1,914 Post: #15 RE: China launches crackdown on Christian CULT They are going to wipe out a religion whose members kill women? Oh, the horrors. We need some of that here. This is why rape is so acceptable in the US. The woman was not chaste enough. She went to a party. She drank alcohol. She wore sexy clothes. She enjoyed consensual sex. In other words, she was a wanton woman. All of that is tied into religious sh*t. Advertisement The government may ditch its plans to infuse capital into public sector banks (PSBs) based on their performance and reform measures this financial year, as it looks to pump in money to meet regulatory requirements and help grow loan books of the banks. This comes following demands from PSBs, during the annual review meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jatiley on Tuesday, that they may require early funds from the government to help them in lending more to the industry. In its latest move, the government has decided to infuse Rs54.3 billion in the Punjab National Bank (PNB), which ... President Trump on Wednesday accused a foreign power of meddling in an American election: not Russia, but China. The Chinese, Mr. Trump claimed, were trying to damage his political standing before the midterm elections because of his imposition of tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese goods. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, where Chinas foreign minister was also present, he said, They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president to ever challenge China on trade. It was not the first time the president has accused the ... India is committed to buying Iranian oil and continuing the two nations' economic cooperation, the Iranian foreign minister said after a meeting with his Indian counterpart and ahead of US sanctions aimed at halting Tehran's oil exports. US President Donald Trump's May withdrawal from an international nuclear pact with Iran was followed up with plans to impose new sanctions against the third-largest producer among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Washington is pushing allies to cut Iranian oil imports to zero once the sanctions start on ... US President had a handshake with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a luncheon in New York, the said, but Qureshi described it as an "informal meeting" when they discussed bilateral ties. The episode happened on Tuesday at a luncheon on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting. Qureshi in an interview to the official Pakistani media described it as an "informal meeting" with Trump during which, he claimed, they discussed matters relating to bilateral relations. "I met with President Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. I requested him to rebuild the cordial relations that we have enjoyed in the past," Qureshi told Television. Several Pakistani media outlets, including Dawn and Tribune, reported the "informal meeting" citing the PTV report. According to official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, Qureshi received a "positive response" from Trump, who said they intend to "rebuild" the bilateral relations. However, the said only a handshake happened between the two at the luncheon. "It was a handshake at a luncheon with other world leaders," a spokesperson told PTI. Informed sources in New York tracking Trump's engagement confirmed to PTI that Trump had no meeting with Qureshi and that it was never planned. The pool of reporters who follow Trump and report about his meetings with the world leaders did not mention the US president's meeting with Qureshi either. The pool, which covered the luncheon, also did not mention Trump having a long chat with Qureshi, which would have had come to the attention of the reporters. "Spotted: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly approached Trump and shook his hand as Trump stayed seated at the head table just before lunch started," a White House pool report said. "He (Trump) is shaking hands and mingling," it said. The luncheon was hosted by the UN secretary general in honour of the heads of state and government. The lunch kicked off at 1:27 pm (local time), with the secretary general offering the introductory remarks, according to a White House pool report of the luncheon. "Trump sat with his arms crossed and occasionally nodded. Secretary general offered a toast and Trump took a sip of what appeared to be a glass of red wine after the toast. Trump began his remarks at 1:31 pm," the report stated. "I've long said the has great potential...," Trump said according to the report. "His toast ended at 1:33 pm. of South Africa is seated at Trump's table as is Croatia president, others unknown," the pool report stated. India's soymeal exports in 2018/19 could jump as much as 70 per cent from a year ago, buoyed by expected purchases from the world's biggest soybean buyer China, industry officials told Reuters on Thursday. A depreciation in the rupee and a jump in soybean output will help India gain market share in China, which is looking for new suppliers after imposing tariffs on key US farm commodities as part of a Sino-US trade row, they said. "China's market is huge. It is likely to open for India in the next two-three months," said Davish Jain, chairman of the Soybean ... Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her, said that she was 100 per cent certain that the latter did so. Earlier this month, Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University in California, had alleged that Kavanaugh had assaulted her during a party in the 1980s when they were both in high school. She had accused Kavanaugh of groping her and attempting to remove her clothes. Testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ford narrated her ordeal saying, "Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldn't see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me," CNN reported. "I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life," she added. When Senator Dianne Feinstein quizzed Ford on how she was absolutely sure that Kavanaugh had allegedly assaulted her, she replied that "it is the same way that she was talking to here right now and basic memory functions." Responding to a question of mistaken identity from Feinstein, Ford said: "absolutely not." Another Senator, Amy Klobuchar asked Ford to recall the alleged assault, to which she replied, "The stairwell, the living room, the bedroom, the bed on the right side of the room - as you walk into the room, there was a bed to the right - the bathroom in close proximity, the laughter, the uproarious laughter, and the multiple attempts to escape and the final ability to do so." According to a report by the Washington Post, Kavanaugh allegedly covered Ford's mouth with his hand to prevent her from screaming. Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court by US President Donald Trump in July to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least three terrorists were killed by security forces in two different encounters at Anantnag and Budgam districts in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Meanwhile, a civilian also died in a firing incident that took place in Srinagar. Police and security forces launched a search operation at Gazi Gund Dooru village in Anantnag. During the searches, the encounter started off between security forces and terrorists. In the ensuing encounter, a local terrorist identified as Asif Malik, who was operating as commander of a proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed. The terrorist was involved in several attacks on security forces including the killings of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men at Achabal this year and in many other cases of civilian atrocities. A jawan identified as Happy Singh of 19 RR (Rashtriya Rifles) was killed in the encounter. Incriminating material including arms and ammunition was recovered from the site. In the second encounter at Panzan village in Budgam, security forces killed two terrorists identified as Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat and Irfan Ahmad Dar, who were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. Dar was working as a Special Police Officer (SPO) and had deserted a couple of months ago. A joint operation was launched on the input of a few terrorists hiding in Panzan on the intervening night of September 26-27, on being surrounded; the terrorists escaped and took shelter inside a place of worship. Keeping in mind the sanctity of the place and religious sentiments of the people, the troops cordoned off the area and all opportunities were given to the terrorists to not vilify the place of worship and surrender. However, the terrorists chose to engage the troops and brought down a heavy volume of fire from the inside. Maximum restraint was displayed by troops and initially, they did not retaliate. Later, the troops resorted to controlled fire. During the ensuing gunfight, the security forces risked their lives to ensure that no damage was caused to the structure and the two terrorists were killed in the operation. In another incident at Noor Bagh in Srinagar, security forces, acting on a credible input, cordoned a cluster of houses where the hidden terrorists fired indiscriminately resulting in the death of an individual. The police has initiated investigations in all the above cases. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Abu Dhabi Ports and its subsidiary, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), showcased their innovative logistics products at FIATA World Congress this week. The entities are Gold Sponsors for the prestigious event, held during September 26 - 29, which assembles logistics stakeholders across the globe under one roof to create opportunities for developing new relationships. KIZAD, one of the largest industrial zones in the Middle East and a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, showcased its products and services that offer greater efficiencies, connectivity and robust competitive positioning to investors across key markets in India, China, wider Middle East, Russia, Brazil, United States and Europe looking to set up in the region. Among the array of innovative and customer-centric solutions that were presented is the recently-launched KIZAD Logistics City, which offers pre-built warehouses and Light Industrial Units (LIUs). KIZAD's new free zone warehouses will cater to trading and export companies, Third Party Logistics, freight forwarders and distributors while the pre-built and flexible LIUs will serve various light manufacturing businesses and workshops. Due to be completed in October, the modular units are available for pre-booking with early bird incentives and competitive prices. The industrial, logistics and manufacturing hub is integrated with Khalifa Port, one of the fastest growing ports in the world, close to major UAE airports, and seamlessly connected by uncongested highways to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and into Saudi Arabia. "Through our specially tailored logistics and trade solutions that are rapidly growing due to demand, we offer our support in securing businesses' foothold in the Middle East region and ensuring the efficiency and ease of setting up their operations," said Group CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports, Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi. As a testament to our strong performance and the superiority of our solutions and infrastructure, we are proud partners to global giants such as COSCO Shipping Lines, Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company Limited (JOCIC), and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). These partnerships further reflect our outstanding performance and capabilities to provide integrated solutions and world-class infrastructure to companies and investors." KIZAD CEO, Samir Chaturvedi, who will participate in the Region Africa and Middle East panel discussion stated, "We are delighted to be at the FIATA World Congress. This event offers an excellent opportunity for us to showcase our value proposition to growing producers, industrialists, and exporters, eager to explore new target markets. There are enormous benefits on offer today for FDI in Abu Dhabi, especially in the logistics sector. Not only do we offer the benefits of strategic location and seamless integration with a multi-modal transportation infrastructure, but also customer-oriented solutions that are key to unlocking competitive advantages." Abu Dhabi Ports also manage the Fujairah Terminals, the only multi-purpose port on the Eastern seaboard of the United Arab Emirates that is strategically located on the UAE's Indian Ocean coast, close to the east-west shipping routes. Its location offers shipping lines efficient transhipment options and an excellent platform to serve the entire Gulf Region, the Indian Subcontinent, the Red Sea, East Africa and several neighbouring countries. More than 2,000 delegates attended the three-day-event to discuss future projections of the logistics sector, in order to manage its sustainable growth. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Terming the two laws on adultery - Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 497 and 498 -- as unconstitutional and a colonial rule, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the two sections. While decriminalising adultery, the court also struck down section 198 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that allows only the husband of the woman to be considered as aggrieved under IPC sections 497 or 498. Highlights Supreme Court strikes down IPC 497, IPC 498 decriminalising adultery Supreme Court also struck down section 198 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that allows only the husband of the woman to be considered as aggrieved under 497 or 498 The court felt 497 treats woman as a chattel or a property of a man as there is no offence if there is consent of the man Businessman Joseph Shine filed a PIL for Section 497 to be struck down on grounds of being unconstitutional, unjust, illegal and arbitrary. Government in its affidavit said IPC 497 was enacted to safeguard the sanctity of marriage, diluting it would be detrimental to matrimonial bond. In their judgement, passed unanimously, the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, comprising Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra observed that mere adultery cannot be a crime unless it attracts the scope of IPC's Section 306 (Abetment of suicide). However, the court said that it can be a ground for divorce and a person will have civil remedies for it. Section 497 stated that whoever has sexual intercourse with the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery. The said man faces imprisonment of upto 5 years or fine or both. In such cases, the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor. CrPC 198 (2) specifies that no person other than the husband of the woman shall be deemed to be aggrieved by any offence punishable under section 497 or section 498 (enticing, taking away, detaining with criminal intent a married woman who is someone's else wife, from that man with the intention of having illicit intercourse with her). The top court observed that parameters of Fundamental Rights should include the rights of women and that individual dignity is important in a sanctified society. The court felt that the law was against women who had no opportunity to defend themselves in a situation where they are falsely linked to a man on mere suspicion, since a woman cannot be made party to the case under 497 and had no locus standi. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra while reading out the judgement said: "Equality is the governing principle of a system. A husband is not the master of his wife." The apex court said that legal subordination of one sex by another is wrong and considered views of Justice Rohinton Nariman on social progression of women in the Triple Talaq case while passing the judgement. In today's case Justice Nariman observed that adultery violates of Article 14 of the Constitution and cannot be treated as an offence. Justice Chandrachud said sexuality cannot be constituted as a physical attribute and it cannot be disassociated with human psychology. "It is a monumental judgement. I am extremely happy with it. The people of India should also be happy," petition's lawyer Raj Kalliswaram told ANI. The lawyer explained that the court felt 497 treats woman as a chattel or a property of a man as there is no offence if there is consent of the man. Reacting to the judgement, Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson, rekha Sharma said, "I welcome this judgement by Supreme Court. It was an outdated law which should have been removed long back. This is a law from British era. Although the British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it." In August this year, the top court had reserved the verdict in the case while observing: "The idea of imposition of Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code is not to enforce monogamy but to ensure to protect fidelity in the marriage, which is a promise made by both the parties while entering to a marriage." The Apex Court in December last year had issued a notice to the Centre asking why a married woman who is equally liable for the offence of adultery with a married man, who is not her husband, be not punished along with the man. This came after a businessman, Joseph Shine, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for Section 497 to be struck down on grounds of being unconstitutional, unjust, illegal and arbitrary. However, the Centre, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in July, in response to Shine's petition, said that Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code was enacted to safeguard the sanctity of marriage and diluting it would be detrimental to matrimonial bond. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court of India on Thursday while striking down the law on adultery - Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 497 - said that treating it as an offence would tantamount to punishing people who are unhappy in marital relationships. The judges said that a punishment is unlikely to establish commitment in a relationship. "Adultery, in certain situations, may not be the cause of an unhappy marriage. It can be the result. It is difficult to conceive of such situations in absolute terms. The issue that requires to be determined is whether the said act 'should be made a criminal offence especially when on certain occasions, it can be the cause and in certain situations, it can be the result," the judges wrote in their order. "If the act is treated as an offence and punishment is provided, it would tantamount to punishing people who are unhappy in marital relationships and any law that would make adultery a crime would have to punish indiscriminately both the persons whose marriages have been broken down as well as those persons whose marriages are not," the judgement said. The five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra observed that the law on adultery is archaic, has long outlived its purpose, does not square with today's Constitutional morality. Having lost its rationale long ago it in today's age is 'utterly irrational'. The judges gave examples of several countries where adultery is not considered a crime. They said that while adultery continues to be a criminal offence in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, some states of the United States of America, Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Morocco, and some parts of Nigeria, a number of countries have done away with adultery as a crime. These include China, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, Austria, the Republic of Ireland, Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles etc. In South Korea and Guatemala provisions similar to Section 497 have been struck down by the Constitutional courts of those nations. "Adultery as a crime is no more prevalent in China, Japan, Australia, Brazil and many western European countries. The diversity of culture in those countries can be judicially taken note of," the judges said. "The real heart of this archaic law discloses itself when consent or connivance of the married woman's husband is obtained - the married or unmarried man who has sexual intercourse with such a woman, does not then commit the offence of adultery. This can only be on the paternalistic notion of a woman being likened to chattel, for if one is to use the chattel or is licensed to use the chattel by the ?licensor, namely, the husband, no offence is committed," Justice Nariman said. While saying Section 497 is unconstitutional, Justice Chandrachud said that criminal law must be in consonance with Constitutional morality. The law on adultery enforces a construct of marriage where one partner is to cede her sexual autonomy to the other. "Section 497 lacks an adequately determining principle to criminalise consensual sexual activity and is manifestly arbitrary... Section 497 is based on gender stereotypes about the role of women and violates the non-discrimination principle embodied in Article 15 of the Constitution; Section 497 is a denial of the Constitutional guarantees of dignity, liberty, privacy and sexual autonomy which are intrinsic to Article 21 of the Constitution," he said in his order. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Nigerian Army inflicted heavy casualties on Boko Haram when they attacked the Garshigar community of Mobar Local Government Area in Borno on Wednesday. Texas Chukwu, Army Director of Public Relations, disclosed this in a statement released on Thursday in Maiduguri. Chukwu stated that the insurgents, who were in nine gun trucks, were repelled by troops of 145 Battalion deployed for 'Operation Lafiya Dole' following superior power of the vigilant troops. He added that "preliminary battle damage assessment reveals that the overwhelming superior power of the troops devastated the insurgents, inflicting human and equipment casualty on the insurgents which forced them to withdraw in disarray". The Director further said that the gallant troops regrouped after the fierce encounter and dominated the general area of Garshigar and its environs with fighting patrols. "The good people of Mobar Local Government are urged to remain calm and be assured of troops' commitment to providing adequate security in the general area," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The economic sanctions imposed by United States on Venezuela are illegal and amount to economic persecution of the South American nation, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. "This has been economic persecution of us. We have not been able to use the international currency of the US dollar. This has been economic trade persecution of Venezuela. These have been illegal sanctions imposed on us," Maduro said. As Venezuela continued to defy threats and orders from economic "oligarchs" in Washington, major US news platforms such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and Time magazine had reported coup plots being prepared to topple its democratically-elected government, Maduro added. Maduro also said he stands ready to have a dialogue with US President Donald Trump over differences between the two leaders. "President Donald Trump and I certainly have our differences but that is what we have to dialogue about," Maduro said. "I stand ready to talk with an open agenda on everything he might wish to talk about." The US Treasury on Tuesday issued a new set of sanctions against Venezuela adding Maduro's spouse and key cabinet officials to the list of sanctioned individuals. On Tuesday, Trump said Maduro's regime "could be toppled very quickly by the military if the military decides to do that." Venezuela condemned Trump's statement which was aimed at interference in country's internal affairs, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Taking to Twitter, the Venezuelan President said that he is bringing "people's voice" with him to the UNGA. "We are landing in New York to participate in the UN General Assembly. I bring with me the People's voice; I come here with lot of the Homeland's passion to stand for truth," Maduro tweeted as he boarded a plane with his wife in Caracas before heading for New York. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday expressed his confidence of running the Janata Dal-Congress (Secular) coalition government for full five-year term. He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for attempts to destabilise the state government. "In Karnataka, our government is very stable. It will run for five years. That is all rumour (18 Congress and JD(S) Members of legislative Assembly joining BJP). The BJP is trying to destabilise the government," Kumaraswamy said. On September 19, Karnataka Minister and Congress leader DK Shivakumar also accused the BJP of trying to topple the Karnataka government ahead of the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Shivakumar had also alleged that the BJP was trying to bribe MLAs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Govt eyes Lloyds to insure properties posted September 27, 2018 at 08:10 pm by Julito G. Rada September 27, 2018 at 08:10 pm Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III The government plans to engage the services of Lloyds of London and the World Bank for an appropriate insurance protection structure to protect the governments assets and properties. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, during the Philippine delegations visit in London this week, discussed with officials of Lloyds of London and the World Bank the possible insurance structures that could be applied to cover the Philippines expanding roster of government assets and properties.Dominguez said he took the opportunity to meet with executives of Lloyds, the worlds leading insurance and reinsurance market, to learn about global best practices and ways of strengthening the Philippines fiscal resilience to varied risks in the event of disasters and climate-change related incidents.We are embarking on a large infrastructure program and we expect to spend somewhere $150 billion and $170 billion in improving our physical infrastructure. Leaving it and building it without thinking about risk management is irresponsible, Dominguez told Lloyds officials during the meeting. Dominguez said the governments growing list of assets would include underground rails, long-span bridges, light rail and additional railways, airports and seaports under President Dutertes centerpiece program Build, Build, Build. COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section. Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Wipro Limited, Tata Steel, NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation & ONGC spent more than their prescribed CSR budgets in FY 2017-18, according to the India CSR Outlook Report (ICOR) published by NGOBOX at the recently concluded 5th edition of India CSR Summit 2018. In FY 2017-18 Reliance Industries again became the top spender amongst the top 10 performers to spend more than its prescribed CSR budget. "The 2018 report is the 4th such annual publication after 2015, 2016 and 2017 reports which provides an in-depth analysis of CSR spends of big 359 companies in FY 2017-18 which shows Corporate India's social responsibility graph headed up with 49 per cent jump. The report visualizes a few important curves of CSR landscapes in India, entirely based on the actual CSR spending data of these companies, as reported by them in mandatory disclosures", informs Mr. Bhomik Shah, CEO, NGOBOX. The 2-day event was hosted by NGOBOX, UNICEF, NSDC and Goodera. At the inaugural ceremony, India CSR Outlook Report 2018 was released in the presence of Chief Guest Shri. Anant Kumar Hegde, Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India. He shared, "CSR is today's biggest development platform and Skill development is here to stay. Skill development is one such area across all sectors for the future growth of the country." The Keynote address was delivered by Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Union Minister of State-Human Resources Development, and Government of India. Dr. Singh further added, "On this platform of India CSR Summit 2018, I urge the companies to make the right use of their CSR funding by choosing the right partners and help in making the weaker class sustainable". Key speakers at the inaugural was Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, Country Representative, UNICEF India, Mr.Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO, Dalmia Bharat Ltd, Padma Shri Sushil Kumar Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Asian Hotels (West) Ltd. The India CSR Outlook Report (ICOR) threw light on CSR spends of 359 companies, 35 public sector companies 5233 projects implemented. The prescribed CSR Budget of these big 359 companies was 9543.51 cr. The Actual CSR Spend was 8875.93 cr. Actual CSR compliance to prescribed CSR is 93% and Effective CSR Compliance is 89% thus a difference of +2% from last financial year. These 359 companies account for almost 3/4th of the total CSR spend in India, making it a big sample size for any such study and analysis and were short-listed on the basis of INR 1 Cr. or above prescribed CSR in FY 2017-18, Listed on BSE or subsidiary of a BSE-listed company, availability of data by 31st Aug. 2018 and CSR disclosures as per the Companies Act, 2013. Only 27% companies, having unspent CSR fund in FY 16-17, have mentioned categorically about spending the fund in FY 2017-18. Few interesting facts of the India CSR Outlook Report (ICOR) reveals CSR fund deposit in PM Relief Fund has gone substantially down by 80% from FY 15-16 to FY 17-18. Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat together received over 25% of India's total CSR fund. The north-eastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have received lowest CSR funding so far. Public sector enterprises account for over 1/4th of India's total CSR spend which comes to Rs. 2419 cr. Oil, refinery and petrochemicals sector companies command almost 1/4th of the CSR fund of India which is 2092 cr while the lowest is Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals with a CSR compliance of just Rs. 294 cr. CSR funding in education and skill development areas have increased by 50% from FY 15-16 to FY 17-18 which comes to Rs. 3121 cr. Over 1/3rd of the CSR spend is on education and skill development projects while over 1/4th of the CSR spend is on WASH and healthcare projects which is Rs. 2385 cr. Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, requires companies with net worth of Rs. 500 crore or more, or with annual turnover of Rs. 1,000 crore or more, or with a net profit of Rs. 5 crore or more, to mandatorily spend 2 percent of the average net profit of the preceding three years on CSR activities, establish a CSR committee and report CSR activities. Tata Steel Limited won the CSR Project of the Year 2017-18. Swades Foundation bagged the CSR Implementing Agency of the Year 2017-18. ICICI Foundation bagged the CSR Foundation of the Year 2017-18 award for Inclusive Growth. Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) bagged the title in Environment category. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President MK Stalin, underwent a minor surgical procedure in Chennai on Thursday morning. The 65-year-old was admitted to Apollo Hospital last night and went under the knife for the removal of a cyst from his right thigh. The hospital released a medical bulletin on his health and said that he will be discharged later in the day. The statement read, "DMK president MK Stalin was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai late last night. He underwent a minor surgical procedure for the removal of a cyst from his right thigh. He will be discharged this afternoon." He was rushed to the hospital after he complained of discomfort at his Alwarpet house late on Wednesday. Stalin took charge as the president of the DMK on August 28, succeeding his father, DMK supremo Karunanidhi, who passed away on August 7. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump said that he does not want to "play a time game", with regards to talks with North Korea on the denuclearisation deal. Speaking to reporters here, Trump refused to set a timeline for the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and said it won't matter whether it takes five months or three years, as long as nuclear testing comes to an end in North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported. Earlier, the US President, during a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), showed reporters present at the briefing an "extraordinary letter" that he received from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and said that a second summit with Kim would be held "fairly quickly." This comes over a day after the US President, during a joint briefing with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, expressed keenness in organising a second summit with Kim. Moon, who was in the North Korean capital last week for his third bilateral meet with Kim, relayed Trump's wish to hold a second U.S.-North Korea summit to wrap up the denuclearisation process. . The first-ever US-North Korea summit between Trump and Kim was held in Singapore in June. However, Trump said that this time around, the meeting would be held elsewhere. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has refused to comment on actor Tanushree Dutta's recent allegations against Nana Patekar, saying that he is neither Tanushree nor Patekar. "Neither am I Tanushree, nor am I Nana Patekar, so how can I comment on this?" said the 'Sholay' star during a press conference. While Bachchan steered away from the topic, his 'Thugs of Hindostan' co-star Amir Khan gave in a little and said, "Without knowing anything I cannot comment on this. But if something has happened, it is always sad and it is for people to investigate." Dutta on Thursday alleged that Bollywood veteran Nana Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of the film Horn 'Ok' Pleassss in the year 2008. "He was being aggressive and was pushing me around. I complained about him, but it was not heard. They (film crew) were forcing me to do an intimate step. My contract stated that it was a solo dance sequence, and it was not supposed to be a duet. It was a way to manipulate me. This was the whole harassment situation going on," Dutta said. The 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' actor further alleged that she and her family were attacked after she refused to perform the intimate step. She also asserted that before she and her family could reach out to the police to file a case, the film crew had filed a counter FIR. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday reaffirmed India's commitment to the Palestinian cause and said that New Delhi will further develop a partnership to assist in its nation-building and capacity building efforts. "India's deep and abiding commitment to Palestine is a reference point of our foreign relations. Our long-standing friendship with Palestine is built around three core dimensions- solidarity with Palestinian people; steadfast support to the Palestinian cause; and development of a partnership to assist nation building and capacity building efforts. We are proud that this NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Ministerial Committee on Palestine was established under India's Presidency during the seventh NAM Summit in New Delhi in 1983," she said in a statement at Ministerial Committee of the NAM on Palestine, on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Palestine and Israel have been fighting over the Gaza Strip for decades. They were later allotted a large part of Palestine, which they considered their ancestorial land but the Arabs who were already residing in and around the neighbouring countries felt that they have fallen into a pit of injustice and didn't accept the new country. India's support for the Palestinian cause is an integral part of the nation's foreign policy. In 1974, India became the first Non-Arab State to recognize Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. India was also one of the first countries to recognize the State of Palestine in 1988. In 1996, India opened its Representative Office to the State of Palestine in Gaza, which was shifted to Ramallah in 2003. India has always played an active role in garnering support for the Palestinian cause across various multilateral fora. India co-sponsored the draft resolution on "the right of Palestinians to self-determination" during the 53rd session of the UNGA and voted in favour of it. India also voted in favour of UNGA Resolution in October 2003 against the construction of the separation wall by Israel and supported subsequent resolutions of the UNGA in this regard. India voted in favour of accepting Palestine as a full member of UNESCO. In 2012 at the UNGA, Palestine became a 'non-member state' and India had co-sponsored this resolution and voted in favour of it. India supported the Bandung Declaration on Palestine at Asian African Commemorative Conference in April 2015 as well as supported installation of Palestinian flag at UN premises in September 2015. Elaborating further about the initiatives undertaken by India to boost bilateral ties with Palestine, Swaraj said, "India is investing in projects of healthcare, educational infrastructure, women empowerment and a printing press, in addition to other capacity building programmes. We have set up various bilateral institutional consultation mechanisms including Foreign Office consultations and a Joint Commission, which pursues these partnership projects. Development partnership projects worth around US$ 70 million are under implementation during the last five years. These include flagship projects like the super-speciality hospital in Beit Sahour and the India-Palestine Technology Park, which was inaugurated last year in Ramallah." "The number of youth delegates to participate in the youth exchange programme has been doubled this year. We have also substantially enhanced the scholarships made available for Palestinian professionals and students for technical training and higher education from this year," she added. The External Affairs Minister also lauded the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for making efforts to provide aid to Palestine refugees and added that "India have increased our contribution to UNRWA by a factor of four times from a figure of USD 1.25 million to now USD 5 million annually". In her concluding remarks, Swaraj said that an early resumption of talks between Israel and Palestine can move towards finding out a comprehensive resolution of the issue. "A negotiated two-state solution remains the only viable solution to the issue to bring sustainable peace and lasting security. Restraint and moderation are required on all sides. The stagnation since the collapse of talks four years ago and the deterioration in the security situation continues to cause serious concern," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has rejected references made by Pakistan on the Kashmir issue in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting as the matter is internal to India, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Wednesday (local time). "As far as OIC is concerned, we always note with regret that the matter, which is very internal to Indian affairs, was again discussed at OIC. We reject such references to a matter very internal to India. We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on India's internal affairs. We feel that it is completely unwarranted to discuss a matter related to India's internal affairs in any multi-cultural setup," he said at a press conference here. Earlier, India's Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, had called Pakistan a 'one-trick-pony' for raking up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and asserted that India was confident of handling the situation. Responding to a question about the possibility of the neighbour country raking up the issue of Kashmir at the UNGA, Akbaruddin stated that the UN works best on multilateralism, adding that 'single act plays have no resonance in such matters.' On September 21, India had pulled out of the proposed meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UNGA, hours after two Special Police Officers and one policeman in Jammu and Kashmir were kidnapped and brutally killed by terrorists. India's withdrawal also came over Pakistan's move to release stamps glorifying terrorist Burhan Wani, who was killed by the Indian security forces in 2016 in Kashmir. When asked if there will be at least a handshake between Swaraj and Qureshi during the informal meeting of SAARC Council of Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of UNGA, the MEA spokesperson said, "This is something very difficult to predict." On the recently-held 2+2 dialogue with the United States, Kumar said, "Recently we had a 2+2 dialogue with the US where we sensitised them of our concerns, sensitivities, and expectations. We felt there was a bit of understanding from the US side on our position. We're working towards ensuring our energy security and national security." Speaking on the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran, Kumar said that India will remain engaged with all stakeholders who are a part of the process, including Iran. "It was natural the issue of sanctions did come up during the meeting. We shared each others' position about where we stand at this point of time," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israel is ready to open the Quneitra checkpoint -- the only official border crossing point with Syria, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday. "We see Syrian police and customs officers on the opposite side of the border. Work is underway, patrols of the Russian military police are passing... We are ready to bring life back to normal," Lieberman said after visiting the Israeli section of the crossing. "We are ready to open the border crossing point, as it was before, and now the ball is in the Syrian court," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With a mission to provide safe, convenient and fun-filled travel experiences to the visitors and to increase tourist influx into Jammu and Kashmir state, the Tourism Department brought innovations and roped in an award-winning IT company CoRover to virtually connect with tourists while they visit any tourist destination and need any assistance during their forward journey in the state. While launching the CoRover Connect, which is a Software as a Service (SaaS) based platform, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Verma, said that the aim behind the launch of the application is to connect tourists in a particular location with each other, with administrative staff and with the verified/curated service providers to provide a safe and convenient travel & stay experience. The state government is always committed to boosting tourism in J&K that will ultimately generate employment and livelihood avenues for the people, Div Com said and added that it is high time for Tourism Department to bring innovations and attract tourists that will boost the economy of the state in a big way. He also congratulated the CoRover team for their innovative ideas to bring both government and tourists at a common platform to provide an oversight and they also help the government to serve better and enhances trust among tourists. While talking on other features of the application, founder of CoRover Ankush Sabharwal informed that the platform will display all the information about the tourist destinations and the nearby amenities available at a particular tourist spot. "Keeping safety of tourists visiting J&K, we have introduced a 'Panic Button' for visitors to seek help from other visitors in the location, in case of any emergency," Sabharwal said. He elaborated that CoRover is an ISO certified company and a Bangalore based startup, we have collaborated with J&K Government to boost tourism in a similar fashion as we are working with Karnataka Tourism, Israel and other national/international Tourism Boards. COO CoRover, ManavGandotra said that the company is hopeful of getting a good response from tourists and he also thanked Director, Tourism Department, Om Prakash Bhagat, and Deputy Director Sh. S. K. Attri for providing an opportunity to work in collaboration with Tourism Department and hoped that it will increase the tourist influx to the state. He added that the Department has spent significant effort to customize this app for Jammu Tourism. He also assured that the company will upgrade the mobile application from time to time so that we can and provide more facilities under one platform to tourists visiting the State. Director Tourism Department Om Prakash Bhagat, Deputy Director S. K. Attri, CoRover Co-Founder KunalBhakhri along with other dignitaries were also present at the event and they informed regarding the plans of the government to enhance tourism in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and local police, in a joint operation, apprehended a Naxal from Bhelwaghati's Bhatuakura in Jharkhand's Giridih district. The arrested Naxal, identified as Baldev Soren, is known for expertise in bomb-making. Three bundles of cordtex wire (detonating cord), 55 detonators, 175 kg of explosives among other incriminating materials have been recovered from the possession of Soren. The police had been searching for him for a long time. More details awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala cabinet on Thursday announced that the state government would provide a compensation of Rs 50 lakhs to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was arrested in an alleged spy scandal in 1994. The development came as a follow up to the Supreme Court's order in which it had directed the Kerala government to pay a sum of Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the appellant. The scientist was, reportedly, accused of selling vital Indian space technology secrets to Pakistan. The apex court had, however, cleared him of spy charges and termed his arrest as "needless" and "unnecessary". A three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, had also announced setting up of a committee which would be headed by retired Supreme Court judge DK Jain to investigate the role of Kerala police officials in the arrest of Narayanan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. has formed a joint venture with Panda Restaurant Group Inc., Americas largest family-owned and -operated Chinese American restaurant concept, to bring the Panda Express chain of restaurants to the Philippines. Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the 50:50 ownership split, with a starting capital of $5 million, would initially develop five Panda Express restaurants in Metro Manila. We feel fortunate to be partnering with a company that has a history of growing and adding significant value to its new businesses, said Andrew Cherng, co-founder and co-chief executive of Panda Express, said. We look forward to tapping into JFCs market expertise to grow the Panda Express brand into a household name in the Philippines and, more importantly, actioning our shared value of inspiring people to better their lives. Jollbee chairman Tony Tan Caktiong said Panda Express was very much in line with JFC brand portfolio. We are thrilled about this relationship between Panda and JFC. Starting from a single restaurant in a California mall to becoming a restaurant chain of over 2,100 stores, Panda Express is a strong brand with a growing global footprint. Very much in line with JFCs brand portfolio, it has excellent tasting dishes at reasonable price points, Tan Caktiong said. Long-term, Panda Express has a high potential for broad acceptance across the country, he added.The joint venture company will have its own management team ith Jollibee providing support. Jollibee operates the largest food service network in the Philippines, with 2,988 domestic restaurant outlets and 1,336 stores overseas. It also has a 48-percent interest in joint venture 12 Hotpot (China) with 16 stores and an 85-percent stake in Smashburger with 374 outlets, mostly in the United States. Panda Express, Americas favorite Chinese kitchen, is best known for its wide variety of original recipes, including its Original Orange Chicken, SweetFire Chicken Breast, award-winning Honey Walnut Shrimp and Shanghai Angus Steak. Founded in 1983, Panda Express has presence in over 2,100 locations throughout the US, Puerto Rico, Guam, Guatemala, El Salvador, Aruba, Canada, Mexico, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Japan and Russia. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday issued directives on the applicability of the Model Code of Conduct to be followed by a caretaker government, in cases of premature dissolution of a state assembly, till the formation of new government. A press release from the ECI stated that the caretaker government should merely carry on the day-to-day government and desist from taking any major policy situation decision. "The Model Code of Conduct will come into operation with immediate effect in the State concerned and shall continue to be in force till the completion of the election to constitute the new Legislative Assembly," the release read. The ECI further states that the provisions of Part-VII of the Model Code of Conduct, applicable to the party in power, shall apply on the caretaker state government as well as on the central government in so far matters relating to that state, adding that neither the caretaker state government nor the central government shall announce any new schemes, projects, etc. in the state or undertake any of the activities prohibited under the aforesaid Part-VII of the Model Code of Conduct. "All other prohibitions under Part-VII, such as use of official resources for any non-official purposes, combining of official visit with electioneering work, etc. shall apply on all Ministers and other authorities of the caretaker State Government, the Central Government as well as Governments of other States," the release added. The development comes in the wake of the premature dissolution of the Telangana State Assembly by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, who called for early polls in the state. Elections in Telangana were originally slated to be held in June 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first six tourists from different countries entering Nepal from the Gaddachauki checkpoint received a warm welcome at the Gaddachauki transit point on Nepal-India border. Swedish national Medaline Tegeletla, German citizens Maria Gaizeller, Eranast Est Genestewer and David Sibiyak, Australian Jack Cameron and Japanese Fuya Ejiyama were welcomed by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Kanchanpur branch at Gaddachauki on the occasion of the Tourism Day that falls on Thursday. On the occasion, Chief of District Coordination Committee Fairu Tamang and Bhimduttanagar Municipality Mayor Surendra Bista among others feted the first six tourists with traditional Nepali cap Dhaka Topi , shawl and vermilion. The NTB's Kanchanpur section, which is a major checkpoint for the tourists coming to Nepal has been run by an office assistant Thaneshwor Lekhak for the past five years. Lekhak alone prepares pamphlets and other promotion materials and has been briefing the tourists about the various spots in the area. According to his observation, the number of tourists visiting Nepal through this checkpoint is increasing. "So far 183 foreign tourists have entered Nepal via this checkpoint as of now in 2018 while 200 have exited through this checkpoint," Lekhak said. According to NTB Kanchanpur Branch Chief Padam Raj Bhatta, American tourists have entered in highest number through this checkpoint followed by Germany, France and the United Kingdom. A total of 1,745 tourists had entered Nepal through this India-Nepal checkpoint in 2017. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake of media and public reports about increased mortality, researchers found a new drug for treating Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP). Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder. Symptoms generally develop slowly over the years, and typically affect movement, balance and walking. However, cognitive dysfunction, such as PDP, often appears in the later stages of the disease and is a leading contributor to patients being admitted to nursing homes. Scientists at the UC San Diego School of Medicine conducted a retrospective study of qualifying patients, concluding that the new drug, pimavanserin (marketed as Nuplazid), did not pose a statistically significant greater risk of death. PD in itself is not fatal but is associated with serious disease complications, making the condition the 14th leading cause of death. Using anonymised medical records of patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, researchers singled out 676 cases that met the study criteria of having a PD diagnosis and being prescribed pimavanserin, quetiapine (an antipsychotic drug marketed as Seroquel) or both. The Food and Drug Administration approved for PDP after designating it a "breakthrough therapy." The expedited approval followed a single, six-week clinical trial of 199 participants. As the first drug approved to treat hallucinations and delusions associated with PDP, Nuplazid was immediately popular. But lingering concerns about limited clinical testing were exacerbated by reports of increased adverse effects in patients using pimavanserin, "including deaths, life-threatening incidents, falls, insomnia, nausea and fatigue." The researchers did note an increased risk of mortality -- 74 per cent -- in the quetiapine-only group compared with individuals, not on these medications and a trend toward increased risk in the combination therapy group. "It's reasonable to assume, however, that individuals requiring these medications have greater disease severity and are at a higher risk of complications and death," said the study's corresponding author, Fatta B. Nahab. "Our findings provide the largest comparative report of mortality risk in PDP to date," said Nahab, "but there were limitations to our study based on its design and nature. We did not find any new or unexpected concerns about the use of pimavanserin in the treatment of PDP, which may provide some reassurance to clinicians, patients and families. But more work is needed to better evaluate factors like disease severity and cause of death to improve our understanding of the potential risks of treating PDP." The findings appeared in the Journal of Neurology. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Investigative Agency (NIA) on Tuesday busted the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation's (FIF) terror funding module as it carried out searches at multiple locations in New Delhi's Daryaganj, Nizamuddin and Kucha Ghasiram areas. The FIF Terror Funding case was registered by the NIA on July 02 under sections 17, 18, 21, 38 and 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA], 1967. As per the FIR, some Delhi-based individuals were receiving funds from FIF operatives based abroad and were using the same to further the terror activities. During the investigation, it was revealed that a person, identified as Mohammad Salman, had been in regular touch with a Dubai-based Pakistani national, who in turn is connected with the Deputy Chief of Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation, a front-end organisation of proscribed terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The accused person had been receiving funds, sent by FIF operators and associates, through 'Hawala' operators to further the organisation's nefarious activities, create unrest and carry out terror activities in India. On Tuesday, the NIA conducted searches in Nizamuddin, Daryaganj and Kucha Ghasiram and seized Rs 1, 56, 00,000 in cash, Rs 43,000 in Nepali currency, 14 mobiles phones, five pen drives and several incriminating documents. Following the seizure of incriminating material, the NIA has arrested three individuals, the FIF operative Mohammad Salman, a Hawala conduit Mohammad Salim, and a Hawala courier Sajjad Abdul Wani from Delhi. Further investigation is continuing to unearth the larger conspiracy, to collect evidence and to arrest the other accused persons. The FIF is a Lahore-based organization established by Jamat-ud-Dawa. It is a front-end organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a terror organisation proscribed under UAPA. It was founded in 1990 by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who is designated as Global Terrorist by the USA. The FIF is placed on the list of terrorist organisations as per entry 33 in the First Schedule to the UAPA read with Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order 2016. FIF was also designated as a Terrorist entity by the USA in 2010. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After Pakistan's Asia Cup debacle, skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has assured of making required changes in the team while adding that there is no need to press the panic button. The 31-year-old further stated that their disappointing performance in the prestigious tournament has set off an alarm bell for his captaincy as well, but admitted that they need to retrospect, collectively. "Changes will happen but I don't think we need to press the panic button. I accept the mistakes we've done as a team. We have to back these guys. Of course, we will have to look at which players are best suited to which positions and whether there are players outside the team who can play a role," the Express Tribune quoted Ahmed, as saying. "This kind of performance set off alarm bells for me as a captain and for the team overall. We will have to sit down and see what went wrong and try to fix things," he added. Speaking about the team's overall performance, the wicketkeeper-batsman said that a lot of the star performers did not perform well in the tournament, adding that lack of experience in the side was another major reason behind their ouster. "Fakhar is a regular for a year now, but he didn't perform in this tournament. Imamul Haq performed well, but players like Babar Azam, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan didn't live up to the expectations. These are all young players, we have to back them as we will have to go forward with them. We'll also have to look at those on the bench and give them chances accordingly as well," Ahmed said. "Lack of experience also played its part. Since I became captain in 2017, there were no senior players in the team besides Muhammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. Hafeez was in the squad for the last series but we couldn't find a spot for him in the playing XI, whereas Malik is still here with us," he added. Reflecting on his own performance in the tournament, Ahmed admitted that he did not perform up to the mark. "I accept that my performance was not up to the mark as well. I should have performed well as a captain but I didn't and due to that, I believe the team lost," he said. Pakistan had slumped to a thumping 37-run debacle at the hands of Bangladesh in their Super Four clash to bow out of the prestigious 2018 Asia Cup. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on Wednesday accepted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's invitation to visit Pyongyang in October, during which he is slated to lay the groundwork for a second summit between Trump and Kim. "Today, Secretary Pompeo met today with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in New York. Secretary Pompeo accepted Chairman Kim's invitation to travel to Pyongyang next month to make further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearisation of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim," read an official statement issued by the US Department of State. Pompeo, too, confirmed the news on Twitter, saying "Very positive meeting with #DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho @UNGA to discuss upcoming summit & next steps toward denuclearization of #NorthKorea. Much work remains, but we will continue to move forward. @StateDept " The development comes a day after Trump said that a second summit with North Korea is in the offing, during his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the ongoing 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Pompeo was scheduled to visit North Korea in the last week of August to discuss the dismantling of the Pyongyang nuclear weapon programme, along with the US' special representative to North Korea, Stephen Biegun. However, Trump, on August 25, asked Pompeo to cancel his trip to North Korea on grounds of not making significant progress regarding the denuclearisation deal which was agreed upon during his Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday intensified his attack on the controversial Rafale deal by accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of choosing the Reliance Defence over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to benefit Anil Ambani. Gandhi's scion also accused Ambani of having not returned Rs 45,000 crore allegedly taken from the Public Sector Banks. Kick-starting his two-day visit to the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the Congress president at a pubblic gathering here said, "Anil Ambani has not even constructed one aircraft in his whole life so far. He is in debt of Rs 45,000 crore. He has taken money from Public Sector Banks and has not returned Rs 45,000 crore yet. Prime Minister Modi gave Rafale contract to Anil Ambani's firm, instead of HAL." Rahul Gandhi questioned why the Bengaluru-based HAL was denied the contract. He also alleged that the contract was given to Reliance Defence which was set up just 10 days prior to the deal. "HAL was given the Rafale contract to generate jobs. It had 70 years of experience, but later the contract was given to Anil Ambani which had 10 days of experience only," Gandhi pointed out. He further elaborated, "The Government of India said that since Rafale deal was a secret pact the price can't be revealed. When French President was here, I met him and asked if there is a secret pact on the price? He said no, if Prime Minister Modi wants to reveal he can do so. Hindustan ke chaukidaar ne chori kar di (India's watchman has done the theft." Continuing his tirade against the Prime Minister, Gandhi expressed his concern over unemployment in the country and the future of the youth. He said it is a matter of shame that first deputy prime minister of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's idol is being made in China. "Narendra Modi Ji is making Sardar Patel's statue in Gujarat. It will be world's tallest statue but it will be 'Made in China' like our shoes and shirts. It's a matter of shame," he added. Prior to the public rally, Rahul Gandhi offered prayers at the famous Kamta Nath temple in Chitrakoot, a religious town closely associated with Lord Ram. The Rafale controversy took a new twist last week after former French president Francois Hollande claimed that the Indian government proposed Reliance Defence's name as the offset partner for Dassault Aviation. The Congress has been accusing the Centre of irregularities in the high-profile Defence fighter jets contract, alleging that the central government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The Congress has time and again asked the Prime Minister Modi-led government to reveal the price details of the aircraft and how the rate of each aircraft has shot up. However, the government has refused to share the details, citing a secrecy clause of 2008 pact between India and France. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hailing the Supreme Court's verdict on adultery, Raj Kallishwaram, the lawyer of the petitioner in the case, on Thursday said that the top court struck down the penal provision to maintain the human dignity. Briefing the media over the judgement, Kallishwaram said, "The court has said to uphold the human dignity, this colonial law has to be struck down and today onwards there is no Section 497 of the IPC." He further added, "It is a monumental judgement. I am extremely happy with the judgement. The people of India should also be happy." He later explained, "The Supreme Court has today in a very historical judgement done away with both these provisions namely Section 497 of the IPC and Section 198 of CrPC. As the impact of this judgement, nobody in the country can be prosecuted on background of adultery liable in criminal offence." Kallishwaram further said that the apex court has said that the Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is quite archaic and colonial. "The court has said that Section 497 of the IPC is quite archaic and colonial. And it cannot stand the test of times or the test of constitutional principles. The court has said that it discriminates against women directly and indirectly. It takes women as the mere chattel or property of the husband. For the reason, that according to the Sections or its implications, there is no offence of the adultery if the husband gives consent for that. Offence is made only when there is no consent which means that according to the colonial provision, wife is remaining as the chattel or property of the husband which no constitutional court will ever agree with," he added. The Supreme Court today decriminalised adultery by striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), terming it unconstitutional and observed that mere adultery cannot be a crime unless it attracts the scope of IPC's Section 306 (Abetment of suicide). However, the court said that adultery can be a ground for divorce. A Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, comprising Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra passed the verdict. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Korean President Moon Jae-in has called for the support of the community to help North Korea to advance toward denuclearisation and to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Addressing the 73rd United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Yonhap News Agency quoted President Moon as saying, "North Korea has come out of its long isolation on its own to stand before the again. Now, it is time for the international community to respond to North Korea's new choice and efforts." He also recalled the wave of reconciliation between the two Koreas, resulting in Pyongyang's participation in the Pyeongchang Winter Games and holding three inter-Korean summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. President Moon reiterated that Kim is committed to achieving denuclearisation and has dismantled its nuclear testing site in the last few months in the presence of international observers. The South Korean President further said that the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim was historic and unprecedented, adding that the two leaders agreed to jointly work towards North Korea's denuclearisation and resolving their differences through talks. "This is, however, just the beginning. I would like to ask for continued support and cooperation from the member states on our journey towards complete denuclearisation and permanent peace. The Republic of Korea will spare no effort to encourage North Korea's participation in the international community while adhering to the resolutions adopted by the United Nations," President Moon added. Apart from the address, President Moon also apprised Trump and other leaders of the outcome of the recent inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang earlier this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday asserted that after today's verdict of Supreme Court his appeal for 'fundamental right to pray at Lord Ram's birthplace will prevail paving way for construction of the temple'. Swamy had filed a separate petition in the Supreme Court stating that he had a fundamental right to offer hassle-free prayer at the birthplace of Lord Ram. Commenting on the Supreme Court's verdict in which it declined to refer the Ram Mandir- Babri Masjid case to a larger Constitution bench, Swamy told ANI, "I have contested that I have a fundamental right under Article 25 to offer worship at the place where Lord Ram was born. Supreme Court has now cleared the way for me to press for the fundamental right and that will prevail because now with this Ismail Faruqui judgment being upheld, Sunni Waqf Board has no fundamental right and only ordinary right to appeal for the property, so my superior right will prevail and I hope before Diwali, Ram Mandir construction starts." The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to refer the Ayodhya land dispute case to a larger constitutional bench. The top court said that it will begin hearing on Ayodhya matter from October 29, 2018, to decide the suit on merit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Government regulators issued a draft circular, prohibiting existing telecom players from building their own cellular towers. Under the draft joint memorandum circular issued by Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission on common and shared infrastructure in the public telecommunications market, future deployment of all towers should be performed only by the tower companies registered with the NTC. The only exception is when the mobile network operator demonstrates that the tower company is unable, despite request and a lapse of 30 days from request, to provide the necessary facility to the MNO, in which case the MNO itself can build its own towers. Globe Telecom head of corporate and legal services group Froilan Castelo, during the public consultation, opposed the proposal of DICT and NTC to prohibit them from building their own towers in the future. We do not see how an independent tower company can alleviate or ease out the problems that we are fixing. They are private companies, the same as us and they are going to face the same problems. We do not see any reason how this will help us. If we are going to make this exclusive, we do not know and we do not see how this will speed up the rollout, Castelo said. Preventing us from doing that is a violation of our contract and with the constitution. What we right now need is the easing out of bureaucracy in the government, he said. Presidential adviser on economic affairs and ICT Ramon Jacinto said Globe and Smart have lost their moral ascendancy to start building towers. Thats the very reason why you cannot provide the service to the public and now you say you can, Jacinto said. Please dont say that the independent tower company is not successful. It has been successful in other countries. Why dont you give it the benefit of the doubt?, he said.The draft order states that MNOs should providethe TowerCos, through the NTC, network rollout plans and other information that the regulator may deem necessary to facilitate the TowerCos build-out of common tower infrastructure. TowerCos shall be independent of the MNOs and the MNOs shall not own any equity in the TowerCos in order to promote tower sharing, non-discriminatory access, uniformity and transparency in tower leasing arrangements, the draft circular read. To promote the viability of the policy, a maximum of two independent TowerCos will be registered by the NTC in the first four years of the implementation of this policy, it said. After the initial period, the NTC may register new TowerCos if necessary, especially in rural areas. IHS Towers, Telenor ASA, Energy China , ATC India and Frontier Tower Associates requested the DICT to increase the number of tower companies to more than two operators. Acting DICT Secretary Eliseo Rio said the agency was expecting to name the new tower company by November this year. We are considering all suggestions and we will come up [with] a more acceptable policy for all, he said. United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday backed the establishment of a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel to resolve the decade-long conflict between the two countries, in a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I like two-state solution," The Hill quoted Trump, as saying, during the meeting held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. When asked about a possible Mideast peace deal, Trump said he expects to have something in the next "two to three to four months." "We're working along on that, I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term," he said. Trump's comments come in sharp contrast to his remarks in February last year when he had said that the Middle East required a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Multiple steps by the Trump administration have been heavily criticised by the Palestinians as being unhelpful to advancing peace negotiations. The Trump administration's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem had been opposed by the Palestinians, who perceived the move to be a bias for Israel. The US President also faced backlash for the decision to shut the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) diplomatic office in Washington DC, and for scrapping a USD 25 million financial aid allocated for the care of Palestinians in hospitals in East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has expressed hostility to a two-state solution and backed Palestinian settlements, reported The Hill. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump said he turned down a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amid escalating trade tensions between the two countries. Speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Trump said that he was unhappy with Canada's style of negotiations, as well as their representative. "His (Trudeau's) tariffs are too high, and he doesn't seem to want to move, and I've told him 'forget about it,'. We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiation style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," The Hill quoted Trump, as saying. However, Canadian officials, in response to the same, told The Hill that they had not put forth a request for a meeting with the US President. The development comes less than a month after Trump threatened to exclude Ottawa from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between American and Canadian officials if a "fair deal" for Washington was not drafted. Trump had also said that there was no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. Terming NAFTA as one of the "worst trade deals" ever made, the US President had claimed that the country had lost "thousands of businesses and millions of jobs", adding that the deal should have never been signed in the first place. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The of India clarified that it is committed to 100 per cent deployment of VVPATs (Voter-verified paper audit trail) at all polling stations during the upcoming elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. In order to meet the requirement of 100 per cent VVPATs for all polling stations for the upcoming Lok Sabha Election in 2019, the Commission placed an order of 1.74 million VVPATs to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bangalore and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad. Till date, 945,000 units have been produced by the PSUs, it said in an official communication. Both PSUs have assured the Commission that the remaining units (800,000) will be manufactured and supplied to the states/union territories before the end of November this year. "The Commission has been consistently and periodically reviewing the status of production and supply of VVPATs with the CMDs of PSUs, as well as the Technical Expert Committee (TEC), to ensure that the design, production and supply activities of all the units of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and VVPATs is streamlined and completed in a time-bound manner after incorporating the features suggested by the TEC, which is carrying out a rigorous supervision of the production process and product performance." The EC further said that its officers are monitoring the manufacturing and supply of machines on a daily basis in order to ensure timely delivery and pre-poll preparedness. It also said that it has enhanced the requirement of additional VVPATs from 125 to 135 per cent, considering the trend of the failure rate of VVPATs in the past. The Commission has estimated a requirement of 171 per cent ballot units, 125 per cent control units and 135 per cent requirements for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. It may be noted that in case of any error, only is replaced with the reserve one, whereas, in case of any error in the ballot unit or control unit of the EVM, the entire set of ballot unit(s), control unit and VVPAT is changed, resulting in an increase in the requirement of VVPATs. "It is pertinent to mention that learning from the experience of Kairana and Bhandara-Gondiya by-polls held in May 2018 where the errors were mainly caused by excessive exposure to illumination in the polling stations, the Commission has adopted hardware improvement recommended by the Technical Expert Committee to prevent auto shutdown of VVPATs due to excessive light," the EC said. "It is also pertinent to note that comprehensive and systematic preparatory activities for the Lok Sabha Elections, including the detailed First Level Checking of EVMs and VVPATs have already commenced across various States/UTs and will be completed in an efficient, effective and timely manner," it added. The Commission further said that first level check workshops and training of polling officials are being regularly conducted to minimise EVM/VVPAT failures due to human errors. In the wake of a series of sexual assault allegations slapped on United States President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, the former said that he could change his mind regarding the nomination, if the allegations are proved. "They're giving the women a major chance to speak. Now it's possible I'll hear that and say hey I'm changing my mind. Hey, that's possible," CNN quoted Trump, as saying. The US President further said he would follow the hearing between Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused him of sexual assault, slated to take place on Thursday (local time). Trump also said that Kavanaugh's accusers should have reported the alleged sexual assaults as and when they occurred. "I only say this: 36 years, no charge, no nothing, people are going to have to make a decision. Thirty-six years and there's no charge," he said. He then accused the lawyer of an alleged victim, Michael Avenatti, of being a 'con artist'. When asked if he believes any of the allegations against his Supreme Court nominee, Trump said, "These are all false, to me. I won't get into that game. I only tell you this. This is one of the highest quality people that I've ever met. And everybody that knows him says the same thing. And these are all false, to me. These are false accusations in certain cases, and certain cases even the media agrees with that. I can only say that what they've done to this man is incredible." Earlier this month, Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University in California, had alleged that Kavanaugh had assaulted her during a party in the 1980s when they were both in high school. She had accused him of groping her and attempting to remove her clothes. According to a report by the Washington Post, Kavanaugh allegedly covered Ford's mouth with his hand to prevent her from screaming. . (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Receives bids for 72.04 lakh shares The initial public offer (IPO) of Aavas Financiers received bids for 72.04 lakh shares today, 27 September 2018, as against 1.47 crore shares on offer, as per the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) website data at 14:30 IST. The issue was subscribed 0.49 times. The issue opened for subscription on 25 September 2018 and closes today, 27 September 2018. The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 818 to Rs 821 per share. Ahead of the opening of the IPO, the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 24 September 2018, finalised allocation of 63,36,439 equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 821 per share. Aavas Financiers was incorporated in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on 23 February 2011. The retail and affordable housing finance company primarily serves low- and middle-income self-employed customers in semi-urban and rural areas with limited access to formal banking credit. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) were the lowest end March 2018 and assets under management (AUMs) were second-fastest growing in the last three financial years among affordable housing finance companies with AUMs between Rs 2500 crore and Rs 20000 crore. The IPO is to collect between Rs 1729.20 crore by issuing 2.114 crore shares at the lower band of Rs 818 per share (face value Rs 10 per share) and Rs 1734.07 crore by issuing 2.112 crore shares at the upper band of Rs 821 per share. The issue consists of a fresh issue of equity shares (0.487 - 0.489 crore shares) aggregating up to Rs 400 crore and offer for sale (OFS) of 1.62 crore equity shares aggregating up to Rs 1329.20 - 1334.10 crore. The net proceeds of the fresh issue are proposed to be utilized for increasing the Tier I capital base to meet future capital requirement that are expected to arise out of growth of business and assets, primarily housing loans and other mortgage loans, and to ensure compliance with the National Housing Board guidelines. Further, there will be the benefits of listing of the equity shares on the stock exchanges, enhancement of the brand name and creation of a public market for equity shares in India. The net proceeds will be sufficient to satisfy the Tier- I capital requirements for FY2019. Aavas Financiers reported profit after tax of Rs 92.93 crore on total income of Rs 457.25 crore in the year ended March 2018. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Morocco signed an MoU for deepening cooperation between MSME sectors of the two countries in Rabat, Morocco yesterday. The MoU was signed by CMD, National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Ravindra Nath and Director General, Maroc PME, Mr. Rabri Barrazouka. Through this MOU, the NSIC and Maroc PME will work together to enhance cooperation opportunities for MSMEs of both countries. It will facilitate transfer of Indian technologies and products to Morocco. Ms. Alka Arora, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of MSME, who is leading the official delegation along with CMD NSIC to Morocco held bilateral meetings with Mr. Othman El Ferdaous, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Trade and Digital Economy and with other related Departments for enhancing cooperation in MSME Sector. Both sides discussed the ways and means to synergize the strengths of both countries in MSME Sector in terms of capacity building, sharing of experiences, exchange of business delegations for creating linkages, JVs and technology transfers. Morocco mainly relies on its exports of minerals and ores and SERVICE sector. It has very small MSME sector in manufacturing, whereas India has strong MSMeE sector especially in manufacturing. Over the years, India and Morocco have enjoyed cordial and friendly relations and bilateral relations have witnessed significant growth. India is one of the major markets for Moroccan phosphate and its derivatives. An India-Morocco joint venture in fertilizer sector in Morocco, called IMACID, was set up in November 1999. At present, the JV is producing around 430,000 MT per annum of phosphoric acid, nearly all of which is imported by India. The Moroccan phosphate company, OCP, has invested in Paradip Phosphates Ltd. in India. Other main items of export to India are metallic ores and metal scrap, semi-finished products and inorganic chemicals. The main items of India's exports to Morocco are cotton yarn, synthetic fiber, transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, agricultural implements, chemicals, spices and manufactured metals. The balance of trade has been in favour of Morocco because of imports of phosphoric acid and rock phosphate by India. The quantum of bilateral trade, which was US$ 1.63 billion in 2010, reached to US$ 2.04 billion in 2011. However, in 2014, it decreased and stood at $ 1.36 billion. Indian exports to Morocco in 2014 decreased by 21.6% compared to the previous year while Moroccan exports to India registered an increase of 10.2% in 2014. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Intellect Global Transaction Banking (iGTB), the transaction banking and technology specialist from Intellect Design Arena, has appointed Atanu Ganguli who has over 20 years of experience in the transaction banking sector of the Middle East and Africa, to head operations in Continental Europe and steer iGTB's expansion plans in the region. iGTB has concurrently appointed Alvaro Cisneros to head its southern European operations, headquartered in Madrid, and Borna Ljubicic to head iGTB's CEE operations, headquartered in Vienna. While Cisneros was instrumental in driving Banco Santander's growth in the Iberian Peninsula and beyond, Ljubicic steered Unicredit to a dominant position in transaction banking in CEE. iGTB expects to treble its revenue by 2021 by riding the crest of IT spend in Continental Europe, which is expected to grow 6-9% year-on-year due to a renewed focus on digital transformations. iGTB's European ops will also propel the rise of parent company Intellect Design, already the fastest growing fintech company in the transaction banking space, with a CAGR of more than 21%. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Communications has unveiled a new, state-of-the-art Cyber Security Response Centre (CSRC) in Chennai. The Chennai CSRC follows the recent unveiling of Tata Communications' Cyber Security Response Centre in Dubai, and the existing centres in Pune and Singapore. The company will introduce a CSRC in Europe later this year to help its customers comply with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), followed by a US facility in 2019. The move is part of Tata Communications' long-term commitment to offering global security services with deeper local expertise. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An umbrella organization of distillers and bioethanol producers asked the government to allow the importation of molasses as feedstock to enable the industry to meet the annual demand of 500 million liters of bioethanol. Center for Alcohol Research and Development chairman and Absolut Distillers Inc. chief operating officer Gerardo Tee said the importation, if allowed, would only be temporary while the industry was trying to improve its agricultural production. Tee said the governments support, such as allowing the importation of molasses, would help ensure the continued growth of the P30-billion bioethanol industry. The more efficient the farms will be, the more molasses we will have and the more sugarcane. And importing ethanol is not a good idea. [It is] better to import molasses because it will convert to manufacturing and more labor, Tee said. The industry needs the approval of the Sugar Regulatory Administration, which is under the Department of Agriculture, for the molasses importation. The bioethanol industry supplies only about 60 percent of local demand because of feedstock constraint. The limitation is more on the feedstock rather on capacity. We have more than enough capacity. Its an evolution of the law. The law does not allow us to import the feedstock, so thats the main bottleneck of growth. There is not enough feedstock, said George Cheung, Card director and senior vice president of Roxas Holdings Inc. Cheung said the government should allow the importation of molasses as it would improve the capacity utilization of the local industry while creating additional employment. He said this is better than the government allowing the continued importation of finished products or bioethanol.Right now, we have about 300 million of capacity, yet we only have enough in the country for 250 million for feedstock. We need to go up to 500 million in capacity. We dont have the feedstock to reach 500 million, Cheung said. Molasses importation will also help stabilize ethanol prices, Cheung said. Officials said the industry would require around 700,000 metric tons of imported molasses on a phased basis. Major molasses producers are Thailand, India, Pakistan and Indonesia. Card vice chairman Ferdinand Massi assured that they would resort to importation only when the local molasses supply was exhausted to protect the farmers. What we are saying is we will import molasses that is lacking in our capacity. We buy local first, before importing molasses, Massi said. Among the members of Card are ProGreen, Balayan Distillery, Roxas Holdings, Absolut Distillers, Victorias Milling Inc. The revival plan for debt-laden national carrier Air India is going through the government's approval process, an official said on Thursday. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told this to reporters on the sidelines of an event here. Earlier, the government had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) on March 28 this year for disinvestment of Air India, including the national carrier's share-holding interest in the Air India Express Ltd and Air India SATS. But it received no response till May 31, the closing day. Currently, the airline is in a cash-strapped stage. It has also invited bids from banks for a Rs 500-crore government guarantee-backed "short term loans (STLs)". --IANS rv/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) resigned on Thursday following allegations of political interference. Justin Milne resigned from the national broadcaster amid reports he had called for journalists to be fired because their reporting was disliked by the Australian government, the BBC reported. His exit comes after managing director Michelle Guthrie was fired on Monday. In departing, Milne denied any government interference, and said he was leaving to "provide a release valve" for the "firestorm" stirred up by the reports. "Nobody from the government has ever rung me and told me what to do in relation to the ABC," he said. Milne had allegedly told Guthrie to sack two senior journalists whose reports had provoked complaints from the government this year. In one leaked email about economics journalist Emma Alberici, he wrote: "They hate her... Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC, not Emma." In another reported exchange, he directed the managing director to "shoot" the ABC's political editor, Andrew Probyn. These claims and others were leaked to Australia news outlets just a day after Milne, in charge of the ABC board, sacked Guthrie halfway through her five-year term. The ABC is funded by public money, but has its editorial independence protected by a legislated charter, the BBC said. Under its policies, the broadcaster has a legal duty to present news in an impartial manner, free from political bias or influence. In recent years, it has been criticised by the centre-right Liberal National government for allegedly showing bias in some of its stories. Reports that Milne, a former business partner of ex-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, sought to remove journalists behind those stories, prompted wide outrage on Wednesday leading to staff protests across the country. The government has announced an inquiry into the alleged interventions and resolutely denied pressuring the broadcaster over its editorial stance. Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed Milne's exit on Thursday, saying it was time for the ABC to "resume normal transmission". --IANS ksk/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lankan police have arrested three men who were among a group who took semi-nude photos of themselves at ancient Pidurangala Rock, considered sacred by the Buddhists. The young Sri Lankan men posted the images of themselves on their Facebook, the BBC reported. It prompted angry reaction from people who considered them a religious insult. Similar photos were also posted on Instagram by foreigners, who were not arrested. The viral photos taken by foreign travellers were posted on the Cheeky Exploits Instagram page, an account that encourages people to take pictures at famous locations around the world. The arrests came after a complaint by a Buddhist monk who claimed the photos, taken within the sight of the Sigiriya rock fortress, a Unesco World Heritage site, were a religious insult, the BBC report said. Pidurangala is a massive rock in Matale district in Sri Lanka on which Pidurangala Vihara temple was constructed. It is located a few kilometres north of the historical fort Sigiriya. Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also ordered an investigation into the incident, Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror newspaper reported. The reaction to the arrest have been mixed. "When our children are being raped and women being abused, Sri Lankan police do nothing. They only seem to act on nonsensical non-issues like this," a Facebook user said. Others questioned why police only took action against locals, not foreigners. "So law enforcement should only be limited to brown bums? Sri Lanka Police should send several teams around the world to identify the rest," wrote another Facebook user. This is not the first time nude pictures near sacred sites have drawn condemnation from local communities. In June 2015, a group of Western tourists climbing Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia caused massive outrage and a subsequent deadly earthquake was blamed on their disrespect towards the sacred mountain, the BBC said. It was only after court proceedings, a few days in prison and a financial penalty that the tourists were allowed to leave Malaysia. In 2017 a Playboy model took part in a nude shoot on New Zealand's Mount Taranaki, angering Maoris who consider the mountain to be the burial ground of their ancestor. --IANS in/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked the Modi government for insulting India's first Home Minister late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, saying that the statue being built for him in Gujarat is "Made in China". BJP President Amit Shah hit back at him and accused the Gandhi family of "humiliating" and unsuccessfully trying to erase the legacy of Sardar Patel. "Modiji had promised to build the world's largest statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. But later it was revealed that on the back of the statue it was written Made in China," Gandhi said while addressing a public meeting here. Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Congress chief said, "Look how he insulted Sardar Patel. His statue was built, and behind it, it was written Made in China," he said. The Statue of Unity, which is 182 metres from the ground and 240 m from the river base of Narmada, has been completed. The inauguration of the statue will be done on Vallabhbhai Patel's 143rd birth anniversary on October 31 by Modi. Gandhi also said that the Prime Minister had "cheated" the people of the country by making false promises. "Modiji had promised to you that he shall provide employment to two crore youths every year. But what is the condition now?" he asked. Slamming the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state, the Congress leader said, "And this damage has been done in the last four years by Modiji and to people of Madhya Pradesh in last 15 years by (Chief Minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan." "They made false promises. They lied to you. And your right of employment has been snatched," he claimed. Gandhi said that if his party forms the government in the state, then within five years the youth of the state would find Made in MAdhya Pradesh and Made in India written on the back of their phones. After Gandhi's charge, BJP President Amit Shah also hit back accusing his family of humiliating Sardar Patel and unsuccessfully trying to erase his legacy. "Dear Rahul Gandhi, your family humiliated Sardar Patel, unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds. Your lies on the 'Statue of Unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel," Shah said in a series of tweets. "At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand 'Statue of Unity' the Congress President is spreading canards to discredit the project. Shame," the BJP chief added. --IANS aks/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid a political storm over the publication of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is rooting for a similar exercise in Bengal and vowing to drive out illegal Bangladeshi immigrants once the party is voted to power in the state. However, its political opponents see no merit in the saffron outfit's claims. The ruling Trinamool Congress, Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front have dismissed the BJP's stand as a mere ploy to communally polarise the people ahead of the 2019 general elections. Several BJP leaders, including state party president Dilip Ghosh, national secretary Rahul Sinha and state observer Kailash Vijayvargiya have fiercely backed the Assam NRC and repeatedly stressed that it was required in Bengal to drive out all the "illegal settlers" from Bangladesh. During his high-voltage rally in Kolkata last month, BJP president Amit Shah launched a scathing attack on Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool government, accusing it of allowing in illegal infiltrators to use them as vote banks and termed it a threat to national security. "We'll implement NRC in Bengal once we come to power. All those who have entered illegally will be pushed back. The current government in Bengal is too concerned about the rights of infiltrators, but what about the rights and safety of your own people? That's our first priority," Ghosh maintained. Left Front legislature party leader Sujan Chakraborty termed the BJP "anti-poor and anti-Bengali". "There is no chance of BJP coming to power here, let alone publishing the NRC list. It is impossible. The BJP has often tried to disturb the people of Bengal by creating communal tension. They may attempt to do so again, but the people of Bengal will not accept it," Chakraborty, a senior CPI-M leader, told IANS. Trinamool leader and Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim also accused the BJP of dividing communities in the name of the NRC in Assam and warned that given a chance, the saffron outfit would do the same in Bengal. "We don't want the national security of our country to be compromised at any cost. But the way bona fide Indians are being harassed in the name of the NRC in Assam, the way BJP is trying to create a divide between the Hindus-Muslims and Bengali-Assamese there, is condemnable. We fear they would take up the same divide and rule policy here in the name of NRC," Hakim told IANS. "If there are any anti-national elements here, the central agencies are competent enough to pick them up and deport them. We don't need to push so many people into uncertainty by bringing the NRC," he said. Leader of Opposition and Congress veteran Abdul Mannan exuded confidence that the BJP will not succeed in its plans to divide the people of Bengal. According to him, the draft NRC in Assam clearly showed that the exercise was actually aimed at ousting a certain community from the country. "In the name of the NRC, they are undertaking a political activity in Assam. They are trying to turn 40 lakh people into refugees. Even if all those people are accused of being non-Indians they have no responsibility to prove their credentials. It is the government's job. It is evident what they are trying to achieve in the name of the NRC," he added. According to political analyst Udayan Bandyopadhyay, the state BJP's "tall claims" of publishing the much-debated citizen's list in Bengal on the lines of Assam is actually aimed at gaining political mileage among Hindu voters ahead of the 2019 general elections. "They are repeatedly claiming they will deport the doubtful voters to Bangladesh because it would create an impression that most of the infiltrators here are Bengali Muslims. If they can establish this perception, they'd be able to create communal polarisation in Bengal," Bandyopadhyay told IANS. Pointing out that the demand to publish an NRC from Bengal will have more wind in its sail if the BJP returns to power at the Centre after 2019, the analyst claimed it would be "almost impossible" to run such an exercise here as there is no background like the historic Assam accord, which got the ball rolling there. He also claimed that the Centre won't be able to deport the 40 lakh people, whose names have been left out of the Assam NRC, as governments of other countries would never accept them. "Even if they are proved as infiltrators, it is impossible to deport them or isolate them to a certain area. At most, the voting rights of these people will be revoked," Bandyopadhyay added. (Milinda Ghosh Roy can be contacted at milinda.r@ians.in) --IANS mgr/ssp/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Questioning the composition and structure of the Cauvery Water Management Authority, experts say the recently-constituted river basin organisation, dominated by engineers, could fall short in properly governing the basin. Without inter-disciplinary professional strength, the authority wouldn't be able to address the multi-dimensional challenges of the river basin, they said. Acting on the Supreme Court's direction, the Centre constituted the Authority on June 1 to address the dispute between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry on sharing the river's water. A monograph -- "Conflict Over Cauvery Waters: Imperatives for Innovative Policy Options" -- written by Nilanjan Ghosh, Jayanta Bandyopadhyay and Jaya Thakur of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), has argued that the formation of the Authority based on the final award in 2007 of the Cauvery Water Tribunal (CWT) could end up as a missed opportunity. "...by adhering to the CWT-recommended institutional structure and disciplinary competence of the authority, the Centre might miss the opportunity to internalise the holistic and interdisciplinary paradigm of river basin governance," it said. Bandyopadhyay, an ORF Distinguished Fellow and former Professor at IIM-Calcutta, welcomed the formation of the river basin authority, but pointed out the "composition and structure of the board needs to have the interdisciplinary professional strength to respond to multi-dimensional challenges of river basin governance". "The board has a good strength in traditional hydrology and irrigation engineering. But professional diversity has to be brought into its membership. Without this, the basic objective of the board will not be served," Bandyopadhyay told IANS. Echoing him, Ghosh, an ORF Senior Fellow and Head of Economics, said the Cauvery river basin "cannot be governed without professionals from natural and social science disciplines" in the constituted Authority. "The Authority, full of engineers, does not make any sense. A river is defined as water, energy, bio-diversity, sediment (webs) and it serves broader ecological and social functions. It just cannot be treated as a stock of resource for human consumption. "Unfortunately, the composition of the Authority does not recognise that," Ghosh told IANS. The experts said river basin governance does not simply constitute managing the flow of the river or diversion of water for irrigation or services to city people. Apart from the property rights issue in disputes relating to sharing the Cauvery water, Ghosh said there was an economic perspective and the root of the conflict lay "in inherent incentivisation through increased minimum support prices of a water-consuming crop like paddy". According to their study, the Supreme Court order has opened a range of possibilities not only for conflict-resolution over trans-boundary waters, but also for better understanding of integrated approaches to their governance. "The idea behind the ruling appears to be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paula" by reducing 14.75 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water for Tamil Nadu and providing this to Karnataka. Yet, it recognises a bigger global phenomenon of inter-sectoral water conflicts: Agriculture versus urban-industrial water demand," the study said. After allocating water among the southern states, the apex court pointed out that the entire basin and water must be managed in an integrated manner in view of competing use of water by the various stakeholders, said Shashi Shekhar, former Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. "The body has to be multi-disciplinary to ensure efficient use of water. The river has been adequately engineered. Unfortunately, the manner in which the Authority has been created is an engineering approach," Shekhar told IANS. Elaborating, Bandyopadhyay pointed out every river has "to have an allocation for eco-system services which have many uses" and taking out any amount water from its stream "changes the ecological status of rivers". Providing for irrigation and supplying water to the cities has to be derived by taking out from the river flows but it is to be considered that the same water was also performing some other ecosystem services which cannot be maintained at the same level, he said, adding that communities or people who had been depending on those ecosystem services are now deprived. "Environmental flow of the river has been mismanaged. A percentage of the flow of a river left for the ecosystems does not solve the problem and it continues to create the problem of deprivation of communities depending on ecosystem services like fishery or navigation," Bandyopadhyay said. Bandyopadhyay and Ghosh stressed that all stakeholders have to "be brought in to agree on an amount of flow to support ecosystems providing a new level of services in which gaining and losing parties will agree to a particular hydrograph of the river and benefit-sharing methods". (Bappaditya Chatterjee can be contacted at bappaditya.c@ians.in) --IANS bdc/ssp/vm/tb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday executed a man who stabbed nine secondary school students to death and injured 11 others in April in Shaanxi province. Zhao Zewei was sentenced to death in July after a court found him guilty of murder following the April 27 stabbing attack at a high school in Mizhi county, reports Efe news. According to a statement from the Yulin City Intermediate Court, the man confessed that he carried out the massacre to "vent frustration and anger over his misfortunes in life and the bullying he was subjected to while attending the school". The Supreme Court then approved Zhao's death sentence because his motives were "despicable" and the methods used "especially cruel", according to the statement. The attack occurred when the students, aged between 12 and 15 years old, left their classes. --IANS ksk/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday rejected allegations by US President Donald Trump of trying to interfere in the country's upcoming midterm election and warned such "baseless accusations could harm bilateral ties". "China has always committed to the principle of not interfering in other countries' internal affairs. It is a tradition of our foreign policy and the international community has recognized this. The international community is also clear which country interferes most in other countries' affairs," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said. "We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusation against China about meddling in other countries internal affairs. It is pure fiction," he said, according to ABC News. During a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Trump had accused China of attempting to meddle in the November 6 mid-term elections because he was the first President ever to challenge China on trade. "They do not want me, or us (his administration), to win," Trump told the Security Council, "because I am the first President ever to challenge China on trade, and we are winning on trade." Earlier, citing China Daily's four-page advertisement in Des Moines Register -- an Iowa newspaper -- Trump had said China was trying to convince American farmers that US tariffs on Chinese goods would adversely affect them. "China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news," Trump had tweeted. Washington and Beijing are embroiled in an escalating trade war, with $200 billion worth of US tariffs on Chinese goods and $60 billion worth of Chinese tariffs on American goods going into effect this week. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Thursday accused the US of aggravating tension in the region after an American aircraft flew into the airspace over the disputed South China Sea. Blaming Washington for worsening military ties between the two countries, Beijing asked it to be "more mature" and warned of consequences of such actions, Efe news reported. "China opposes military incursions into its territory and will take all necessary actions to safeguard its rights and interests in the South China Sea," the Defence Ministry said. "We demand the US to take a reasonable and mature attitude with sincerity and take actions to improve bilateral relationship. We ask the US to work together with China," said Ministry spokesperson Ren Guoqiang at a press conference, adding that military cooperation could be a stabilizing factor for bilateral ties. Ties between China and the US have been severely strained over an ongoing trade war as well as spiralling military tensions. Apart from the airspace violation, Washington had also imposed sanctions on high-ranking Chinese military officials, and approved arms sales to Taiwan. Ren said the arms sale, valued at $330 million, violated the "One China" principle and was an "interference in China's domestic affairs". --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde here, exchanging views on multilateralism and reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO). During the talks on Wednesday, Wang emphasized China's stance in upholding multilateralism, free trade and international rules and law, reports Xinhua news agency. Wang also called for increased international efforts to safeguard multilateralism. Echoing Wang's views, Lagarde said it was one of IMF's principles to advocate multilateralism and international trade. The international community should firmly protect multilateral trading system and abide by rules and regulations in international trade while addressing disputes through consultations, she said. When discussing issues on the reform of WTO, Wang proposed the reform should be transparent, open and inclusive, since it is related to interests of all its members. Opinions of all WTO members, especially the developing countries, should be considered, said Wang, noting that the global trade body plays a vital role in the development of international trade. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aboitiz Power Corp. acquired a 49-percent voting interest and 60-percent economic stake in AA Thermal Inc., Ayala Groups thermal or coal asset platform in the country, for $579.2 million (P31.4 billion), the two companies said Friday. The sale involves around 500 megawatts of coal capacity out of AC Energy Inc.s total 1,300-MW coal platform. Aboitiz Power and Arlington Mariveles Netherlands Holding B.V., an affiliate of AC Energy, the power unit of Ayala Corp., signed a share purchase agreement on Sept. 26. Aboitiz Power is committed to addressing the countrys energy trilemma of adequate supply, cost of power and protection of the environment. This is part of our strategy to reach our 4,000-MW net attributable capacity by 2020 through our balanced mix strategy. We are happy to be partners with the Ayala Group as we both seek to fulfill the energy needs of the country, Aboitiz Power chief operating officer Emmanuel Rubio said. The parties expect to close the acquisition shortly after obtaining clearance/approval from the Philippine Competition Commission. The AA Thermal platform will initially consist of AC Energys limited partnership interests in GNPower Mariveles Coal Plant Ltd. Co., the owner and operator of an operating 632-megawatt coal plant in Mariveles, Bataan, and in GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co., the developer and owner of a 1,336-MW supercritical coal plant project in Dinginin, Bataan, which is currently under construction. Once completed, the acquisition will increase Aboitiz Powers ownership in the Mariveles coal plant to 78.325 percent and in the Dinginin coal plant project to 70 percent. The Mariveles coal plant has been operating since 2013, while the first unit of the Dinginin coal plant project is scheduled to go online in 2019. AC Energys thermal portfolio, however, will decrease to 800 MW from 1,300 MW.We are delighted to further strengthen our partnership with the Aboitiz group and we look forward to jointly pursue more opportunities in the future, said AC Energy president and chief executive Eric Francia. This transaction enables AC Energy to balance its portfolio and provides capital for our growth initiatives, including our renewable energy projects, Francia said. Aboitiz Power will pay AC Energy a one-time lump sum payment at closing for a total consideration of $579.2 million. ING Bank N.V. acted as the lead financial advisor to AC Energy. BPI Capital also acted as financial advisor, providing transaction support to AC Energy. Standard Chartered Bank acted as the sole financial advisor to Aboitiz Power. AC Energy announced in May that was considering selling as much as 50 percent of its coal assets to balance its portfolio. AC Energys thermal or coal portfolio is at 1,300 MW, accounting for around 80 percent of its attributable energy assets totaling 1,600 MW. The remaining 300 MW capacity includes geothermal, wind and solar power projects. The Congress campaign against the Modi government on the Rafale deal will fall flat and the BJP will win more than 300 seats in the 2019 general elections, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said on Thursday. Accusing Congress President Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly making "baseless allegations" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the fighter jet deal with France, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment claimed that such campaigns will not reap much benefit for either Gandhi or his party as its seats tally in 2019 will not cross 70. "The Rafale issue is being blown out of proportion. Rahul Gandhi is making abusive statements about the Prime Minister. He has even called Modi ji a thief. But if he wants to have people and leaders of other parties by his side, he has to desist from making such baseless allegations," Athawale told reporters here. "The Congress can get close to 60-70 seats in 2019 but their tally will not cross 70. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which won 282 seats in 2014, will get more than 300 seats this time. The NDA alliance will form the government and Modi ji will become the Prime Minister again because the developmental work under this government has been unprecedented," the Republican Party of India (RPI) leader claimed. "The BJP will also win significant number seats in Bengal. The BJP is doing well in Bengal We will continue our alliance with the BJP. My party has good infrastructure in 17 Bengal districts," he added. --IANS mgr/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday called upon the to create awareness among people against use of violence in the country. Launching the Kollam edition of Malayalam daily Janmabhumi at Kollam in Kerala, Singh said: "Print has an extremely important role in safeguarding democracy and democratic processes... It should create awareness among the people that there is no place for violence in a democracy." According to a government statement, he also urged state's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to "deal firmly with political violence in the state". To Keralites, who recently braved the worst floods to hit the state in decades, the Union Minister said the government is committed to help mitigate their sufferings, and to rehabilitate flood victims and reconstruct the state. He said that an inter-ministerial central team has completed its visit to the state and it would soon submit its report for consideration, according to the statement. The Union Home Minister also lauded the role of fishermen who saved hundreds of lives during the Kerala floods. --IANS vn/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the municipal corporation authorities to pay over Rs 27 lakh as compensation to the parents of a 14-year-old boy electrocuted in a park here in 2014. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao ordered the East Delhi Municipal Corporation and the electricity distribution company concerned to pay Rs 27,38,607 along with interest of nine per cent per annum, observing that the accident had occurred due to the "negligence in maintenance of electrical installations" in the park. "We have no hesitation in holding that in the facts and circumstances of the case, both the respondents (MC and BSES) have failed to discharge their public duty in the manner expected of them in law... we find that the respondents have failed in their duty which resulted in the accident. There is no reason as to why compensation should be denied to the victims...," the court said. The court was hearing a plea by Rajeev Singhal for compensation due to the death of his son Akshat, who died of electric shock on July 5, 2014, at Sanjay Park in New Govind Puri. --IANS akk/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A wild elephant has killed a German tourist on a safari in Zimbabwe by trampling her while she was attempting to take photos of it, park authorities said on Thursday. Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said that the 49-year-old woman died of her injuries after the tragic encounter on Wednesday between the tourist group she was part of and a female pachyderm who split from her herd in Mana Pools National Park. "They were walking with a guide. When they entered the park they came across an elephant herd and started to take pictures. I think they wanted to get as close as possible to the elephants," Farawo told Efe news. He added that authorities did not know what had upset the animal and that they were still investigating the incident. "We are always asking people to stay away from wild animals. They should keep a safe distance," Farawo said. The tourist group had entered Zimbabwe from neighbouring Zambia. The woman, who was yet to be identified, received first aid after the attack, but succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital. Mana Pools, located on the banks of the river Zambezi in northern Zimbabwe, is famous for being the only park in the region where tourists are able to freely walk around without being accompanied by a guide or park ranger. Most elephants in the park are comfortable with the presence of humans and some even have been given names. Deadly attacks by elephants on people are relatively uncommon in Africa. They sometimes occur when the tuskers stray away from their habitats and wander into local farmlands. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala government on Thursday announced it will provide free ration for three months to those who lost their livelihood due to the devastating floods. "The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme will also be reworked to provide more number of working days to those who suffered due to the floods," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media here. He also announced various committees headed by senior officials to formulate policies and to speed up rebuilding efforts in flood-hit state. A one-year moratorium has been declared on all agricultural and educational loans. Heavy rains and floods from May-end to mid-August claimed 483 lives and forced at least 14.50 lakh persons to take refugee in over 3,000 relief camps across the state. "To rebuild Kerala, various initiatives are being worked out. In order to help us chalk out schemes, a high-level committee of experts drawn from various fields will be set up. It will include serving officers besides retired ones," Vijayan said after a weekly Cabinet meeting. It was the first Cabinet meeting this month as Vijayan left for the US for medical treatment on September 2 and returned early this week. He said that reconstruction efforts would require building material like sand and stones and that a committee of experts would be set up to explore the use of prefabricated material to minimise the use of traditional building material. "It has also been decided to tap corporates for CSR funds for rebuilding our state in whatever possible ways. Crowd funding and sponsoring of projects also will be taken up. For this, another committee will be set up," the Chief Minister added. Another decision pertained to ways and means to keep the rebuilding cost to the minimim. Efforts will be made to get in touch with companies to procure material from manufacturers. "We will begin talks with such companies to supply at the lowest possible rates," Vijayan said. --IANS sg/tsb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Without giving out much details about Google's reported plan to launch a censored version of its search engine in China, a top company executive told lawmakers in the US that the company would follow its privacy and security controls in case it pursues any interest in China. Appearing before members of the US Congress at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Google's Chief Privacy Officer, Keith Enright, went so far as to confirm that the China search project does exist, The Wired reported. But Enright did not disclose much, leaving the lawmakers disappointed. "My understanding is we are not, in fact, close to launching a search product in China, and whether we would or could at some point in the future remains unclear," Enright was quoted as saying to Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire. The news about Google's plan to build a censored search engine in China broke in August when The Intercept reported that the search platform would blacklist "sensitive queries" about topics including politics, free speech, democracy, human rights and peaceful protest, triggering internal protests among some Google employees. According to a memo on the project, authored by a Google engineer, the search system would require users in China to log in to perform searches, and would share crucial data with a Chinese partner. In the hearing before the Congress, Enright declined to expound upon its purpose, insisting he was "not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of scope for that project." Representative of five other companies, besides Google, also appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. These five companies were - Apple, AT&T, Amazon, Charter Communications and Twitter. Google was, however, not the only company at the hearing to face questions about China. Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, asked the Apple representative whether the company upholds its human rights and privacy standards there, The Wired report said. --IANS gb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government on Thursday said the media report which talked about a senior official putting his objections to the benchmark pricing of 36 Rafale fighter jets "seeks to create confusion through distorted and selective presentation of facts" and maintained that the report suffered from "several factual errors that impact its entire tone and tenor". Referring to the report carried by a newspaper which said that a Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) had raised questions about the benchmark pricing of the jets and put his objections on record, official sources said in making "a lot of certain supposed observations attributed to an individual officer", the report "betrays ignorance of the collegiate process involving due deliberations and diligence at various levels, through which all major government decisions are typically taken". The sources said the process is designed to ensure utmost integrity and transparency while allowing for "opinions to be freely expressed, recorded, discussed and, if necessary, modified". The government has stated earlier that it has followed all provisions laid down in the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) and other relevant guidelines while finalising the deal, and noted that the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) accepted the necessity for the acquisition of Rafale aircraft and mandated the Contract Negotiating Committee (CNC). Following the stipulated process, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) accorded its approval to the acquisition on August 24, 2016, and not in September 2016, as has been erroneously claimed in the media report. The said officer had signed the note considered and approved by the CCS on August 24, 2016. Thereafter, he proceeded in September 2016 for a one-week training programme - and not on leave - for which he had applied in July 2016, the sources said. They said the media report has sought to raise questions about the price of the 36 Rafale aircraft, and noted that not only the price but also other factors including maintenance, training, armament and equipment, etc. were included in the contract for the 36 jets which represented "better terms as compared to the negotiations conducted by the previous government". Parliament has already been informed on July 18, 2018 that the audit of capital acquisition system, including the Rafale aircraft, is being conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, they said. --IANS mak-ps/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has received much appreciation from various industries, but there are sectors that have been terribly impacted after the introduction of the new tax regime. Private security is among the worst hit. The industry, which ensures security to other sectors, is looking rather unsafe and unstable under the taxation pressure. Going by available estimates, around nine million people, both men and women, are employed in India's private security industry (PSI) and it has the potential to employ an additional 3.1 million people by 2022. The livelihood of this large chunk of people is at stake as the industry mainly comprises small and medium security agencies which work on very low margins and often struggle with cash-flow problems. For such SMEs, even distributing monthly salaries to their employees is itself a challenge and the burden of 18 per cent tax on their gross income will worsen their precarious economic condition. In fact, the 18 per cent GST has created cash-flow problems for a majority of private security agencies in the country. Instead, a five per cent GST on their gross income -- or 18 per cent GST only on their commission -- would be a more feasible rate for the industry and the people employed in it. Security companies are liable to pay GST on the 20th of every month, the usual trend in the industry is that their clients clear invoices after only 60-90 days. This imbalance causes a vicious cash crunch in the industry. Though PSI is the second-largest employer in the country after agriculture, many security organisations are compelled to retrench their employees to ward off business closure. The industry veterans have already expressed their concern before the Finance Ministry and the GST Commissioner. Several written requests have been made to Cabinet ministers and government officials, including Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal, but no concrete decision has been taken so far, except for words of sympathy. Unfortunately, sympathy cannot save the livelihoods of millions of people and the future of their dependents. The industry cannot sustain heavy losses for long and expects positive action from the government -- replacing the existing 18 per cent GST with a five per cent levy. According to a joint study of Ficci and management consulting firm BDO, the organised Indian PSI is growing annually at 20 per cent and its total worth is expected to reach Rs 1.5 lakh crore by 2022. Despite knowing its significance in supporting the government machinery in homeland security and realising the fact that PSI is creating jobs for those who have migrated from villages, and retired servicemen, the government seems a bit irrational in levying 18 per cent GST on the industry which safeguards the interests of the whole economy. Moreover, at a time when crime against women is rising in the workplace, the government should take adequate measures to boost the industry rather than adopting discouraging policies. The present tax rate on the industry needs to be revised as PSI is a labour-intensive industry where the biggest component of costs comes under the head of wages. Hence, either the GST rate should be reduced or the compliance obligation must be shifted from the service provider to the service user. These initiatives will definitely help more than 15,000 MSMEs, and millions of guards would be able to secure their jobs. (Vikram Singh is Chairman of CAPSI -- Central Association of Private Security Industry -- India. The views expressed are personal) --IANS vikram/vm/tb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for efforts toward a world free of nuclear weapons. As the only weapons with potentially existential consequences, nuclear weapons pose a grave threat to international, national and human security. The only sure way to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons is to eliminate the weapons themselves, he said. However, the global security environment has deteriorated, making progress in nuclear disarmament more difficult yet also more important, he told a high-level plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Xinhua news agency reported. Guterres asked for leadership from states possessing nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia -- by far the largest possessors of nuclear weapons -- have made enormous progress in the reduction of their nuclear arsenals, he said. "I appeal to both governments to re-engage in the dialogue necessary to maintain their historic track record of bilateral arsenal reductions." As a first step, the two countries should move to extend the New START Treaty (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) by the five years allowed for in its articles and commence discussions that could lead to further agreements on reductions, he said. The two countries should also work together to overcome their dispute on the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, he said. In addition, it is equally important that all states possessing nuclear weapons reinforce the norm against nuclear use, said the UN chief. He asked those states to publicly recommit to the fact that a nuclear war cannot be won and therefore must never be fought; to refrain from developing new and destabilizing nuclear weapons; and to work immediately to fully implement all commitments undertaken on nuclear disarmament, especially under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. At the same time, all states have responsibilities in the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, he said. Non-proliferation is central to the maintenance of international peace and security, and also essential for preserving an environment that is conducive to disarmament. Disarmament remains essential for sustaining nonproliferation. They are two sides of the same coin. Backward movement on one will inevitably lead to backward movement on the other, said Guterres. All states should also work with nuclear-weapon states to bridge divides and seek a return to a common path toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, he said. The time has come to make tangible progress to rid our world of nuclear weapons, he said. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Harshvardhan Rane is looking forward to perform in Colombo on Friday. The "Paltan" actor will enthrall the audience at a dance event, Blockbuster Bonanza. "It's my first dance performance in Sri Lanka. I'm quite excited and humbled to perform there," Harshvardhan said in a statement. He had performed at Colours of India festival in Russia recently and has been taking out time preparing for the new show. "Harshvardhan, who wants to create an impression with his dance act, has been rehearsing for the same taking time from his busy schedule. The actor will be performing on popular Bollywood songs including 'Kheench meri photo', 'Chogada Taara' and 'Hawa hawa'," said a source close to the actor. --IANS rb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 34 Chinese illegally working in Pasay nabbed posted September 27, 2018 at 10:40 pm by Vito Barcelo September 27, 2018 at 10:40 pm Immigration authorities arrested 34 Chinese nationals who were illegally working in a construction site in Pasay City. The arrest of foreign workers is part of the continuing drive of the bureau against undocumented and illegal aliens in the country who have been staying and working in the country without proper documents and working permit. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente has repeatedly warned immigrants to apply for needed documents to legalize their stay in the country.The 34 Chinese were caught working in a construction that was being built at the SM Mall of Asia complex. COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section. Welcoming the Supreme Court's verdict on the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid issue, Union Minister Uma Bharti on Thursday said Ayodhya is a place of Hindus and hoped the construction of a Ram Temple would soon start there. "This is not a matter of religious dispute. Ayodhya is an important religious place for Hindus because it is the Ram Janambhoomi. For Muslims, it is not a religious place. Their important historical religious place is Makkah and Madina and for Christians it is the Vatican City," Bharti said. "This is not a matter of clash between religious faiths," she said. According to Bharti, there are two issues in Ayodhya -- one related to the ownership of the land that can be settled between the two sides outside the court. "The other which is going on since December 6 against L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and me." On the Supreme Court judgement, she said she was happy because "continuous" hearing on the matter would start from October 29. "I believe that the Ram Temple would be constructed there soon." "Any positive thing related to Ayodhya generates excitement in me while negative thing gives me strength. So this is very important day for me today. I welcome the judgement and hope that the hearing will go on expeditiously. I hope that the conclusion of the issue would lead to Ayodhya being a place of goodwill and coordination." --IANS rak/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Located in the hilly and forested terrains of Jhumra Pahar, Sarju village in Garu Tehsil of this district was, till a few years ago, known as a "Maoist citadel". Now it is development that is talk of the area. A multi-pronged approach combining initiatives of the security forces and the Jharkhand government's development policies has instilled hope in the locals. Officials claim the ultra-left Maoist militants are now returning to the mainstream and the villagers, who were their victims, want mobile connectivity, roads to their homes, education, jobs and other developmental measures. In a recent public outreach programme organised by the district administration at the compund of the Sarju school, hundreds of villagers turned up with their demands and complaints. One of them, Mamata Devi, said: "We want jobs. There must be some training centres so that we can earn bread and butter for our family." Taramuni Devi, a mukhiya or village head, complained about poor roads and irrigation problems while a youth raised the issue of lack of educational institutions. "For internet connection, we have to go five km away," he said. Mohammad Saadish talked of unemployment and demanded a ban on liquor. "We have got rid of Naxals (as the Maoists are also called), but liquor and unemployment are still big problems. Most of the youth of the region are drug addicts and do not get employment. The administration needs to address this urgently," he said. Rajiv Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Latehar, assured the villagers that their demands would be fulfilled and issues sorted out. "Who among you have not got gas cylinders? Are your children going to schools? Are you getting vridha (old-age) pension," Kumar asked the villagers, and most of them respond with "Yes". Chorha is the gram panchayat of Sarju village. While the total geographical area of the village is 172 hectares, Sarju has a total population of about 1,000 people. Garu is the nearest town. The CRPF's 214 battalion has made its base camp in Sarju, and with the help of the district administration they are trying to instill hope in the villagers and asking the Maoists to return to the mainstream. Saket Kumar Singh, DIG at Jharkhand Jaguar, a Special Task Force (STF) to counter extremist activities in Jharkhand, told IANS: "The Maoists have no cadres now. The organisations are left with their leaders only. They do not have any specific hideout. They keep roaming from one place to another." Prashant Anand, SP of Latehar said: "Their activities have been restricted to only some pockets. Their splinter groups are active but they don't get villagers' support. Villagers support us and inform us whenever they see any activity (of Maoists)." Speaking about the modus operandi of Maoists, he said that they come in a group of four and five and ask villagers to give four-five youths. "They take them and initially involve them in cooking and other menial work. Later, they train them and push them ahead during an operation. Once their name appears in the police record, the Maoists instill fear in them that if they return, they will be killed. Because of that fear, they do not join the mainstream." Surrendered Naxal Chashma Vikas, who had more than 20 cases against him, including that of murder, attempt to murder and under the Arms Act, had a reward of Rs 25 lakh. He was a member of the Special Area Committee for Bihar-Jharkhand-North Chhattisgarh and had been involved in Naxal activities since 1998. "Due to the new surrender policy I surrendered before the police in 2016," he said. As per the policy, the reward money would be handed over to the surrendered activist. "I came in contact with people belonging to the Maoist ideology during my college days. Influenced by them, I joined MCC and started working with them. I also participated in various pro-people movements in Chatra, Palamu, Latehar and other parts of the state. "In 1996, I went underground as lots of cases were registered against me. Then I joined CPI (Maoist). Till 2016, I worked for the party. Initially, the policies and principles of the party were pro-people. We built several schools in Palamu, Latehar and other regions. "Whatever money we collected was used for public welfare. But later, their policies and principles changed. They started attacking police forces and killing innocents. Also, the levy collected for the movement was distributed among top commanders," he alleged. He said after the Jharkhand government brought out a new surrender policy and the administration contacted him asking to surrender, he refused. "Because I feared that I would be killed or I would have to spend the rest of my life in jail. I insisted that I would surrender if all the cases against me are taken back. They assured me. They even convinced my family members. After all this, I surrendered myself," he said. He said that after his surrender, almost 100 Maoists in the the three states have surrendered. R.K. Mallick, Additional D.G. (Ops), said that in the present scenario the sphere of influence of Naxals has been severely restricted and mainly confined to few pockets in the bordering areas of adjoining states and some interior, inaccessible areas within the state. "The last six months in Jharkhand have been exceptional on the Naxal front. There has been a 24 per cent reduction in incidents of violence, 31 per cent reduction in civilian killings, 100 per cent increase in exchange of fire and 59 per cent increase in arms recovered -- all parameters of operational efficiency. "Till August this year, 40 successful encounters against Naxals took place, in which 24 Naxals were neutralised, including five Naxals who had rewards on their head and four surrendered Naxals. However, nine personnel of the State Police, CAPFs and Jharkhand Jaguar were killed during anti-Naxal operations in the first seven months of 2018," he said. In Jharkhand, 21 out of 24 districts are so-called Naxal-affected. At present, out of the 30 worst Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts in the country, 13 are in Jharkhand. They are Hazaribargh, Lohardaga, Palamu, Chatra, Garhwa, Ranchi, Gumla, Simdega, Latehar, Giridih, Bokaro, West Singhbhum, Khunti. Saraikela, Kharsawa,East Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Koderma, Ramgarh. (Brajendra Nath Singh, who visited Latehar on the initiative of BJP's Good Governance Cell, can be contacted at brajendra.n@ians.in) --IANS bns/vsc/vm/tb/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and China on Thursday reviewed the situation along their disputed border as they discussed the issue at the 12th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs. The Indian side led by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the External Affairs Ministry, told the Chinese side that peace and tranquility on the India-China border areas was an important prerequisite for the smooth development of their bilateral relations. "They discussed ways to effectively manage border areas in accordance with the strategic guidance provided by the leaders of the two countries at the Wuhan Summit and explored various confidence-building measures with a view to further enhance mutual trust and understanding," the Indian Embassy in Beijing said in a late night statement. The Chinese side was represented by Yi Xianliang, Director General, Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was held at Chengdu in Sichuan, which falls in the People's Liberation Army's Western Theatre Command. The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs was set up in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for management of India-China border areas and to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between their border security personnel. The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting at a mutually convenient time. --IANS gsh-ab/mr (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.) Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has reiterated India's support to the Palestinian cause while asserting New Delhi's backing for a two-state solution to the conflict in West Asia. Speaking at a meeting of the Ministerial Committee of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on Palestine here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session on Wednesday, Sushma Swaraj recalled the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Palestine in February, the first by an Indian Prime Minister, and described it as a "historic occasion". "During the visit, the Prime Minister announced a substantial upscaling of our development partnership efforts in solidarity with the Palestinian people," she said. "India is investing in projects of healthcare, educational infrastructure, women empowerment and a printing press, in addition to other capacity building programmes." Sushma Swaraj said that development partnership projects in Palestine worth around $70 million are under implementation during the last five years. "These include flagship projects like the super-specialty hospital in Beit Sahour and the India-Palestine Technology Park, which was inaugurated last year in Ramallah," she stated. She said that India's longstanding friendship with Palestine is built around three core dimensions: solidarity with Palestinian people; steadfast support to the Palestinian cause; and development partnership to assist nation building and capacity building efforts. Sushma Swaraj also mentioned India's increasing of its contribution to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East from $1.25 million to $5 million annually. "A negotiated two-state solution remains the only viable solution to the issue to bring sustainable peace and lasting security," she said. Calling for restraint and moderation from all sides, she stated: "The stagnation since the collapse of talks four years ago and the deterioration in the security situation continues to cause serious concern. We hope for an early resumption of talks between Israel and Palestine that can move towards finding out a comprehensive resolution of the issue." The NAM Ministerial Committee on Palestine was established under India's Presidency during the Seventh NAM Summit in New Delhi in 1983. --IANS ab/ksk/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Citing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's lament that India had missed the industrial revolution, Karnataka IT and Biotech Minister K.G. George said on Thursday that the country should not miss the electronic revolution at least. "I remember Gandhi telling me that we (India) had missed the industrial revolution. Hence, we cannot afford to miss the electronic revolution at this point of time," said George at a preview of the 10th edition of Bengaluru Indian Nano event on December 5-7 here. Assuring the state government's support to the meet, George said that Indian scientists and engineers should catch up with disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, data analytics and nanotechnology, which was gaining recognition worldwide. "As India's IT and Biotech capital, Bengaluru is at the heart of innovation and emerging technologies. We are also witnessing a great deal of change in science over the last two years, with the city becoming a platform for academia, experts and entrepreneurs to build the eco-system," asserted George. Distinguished scientist and Bharat Ratna C.N.R. Rao urged his fraternity to make best use of nano-technology and nano-medicine which enable early detection of cancer. "Extraordinary things are taking place in science, which has become an interesting field to explore more. Advancement in nano-technology has also been tremendous," said Rao. Rao, however, cautioned the stakeholders against losing the excitement of pure science in the pursuit of its applications such as nano-technology and nano-science. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) professor A.K. Sood said about 700 national and international delegates, including 60 Speakers from the world over, would participate in the summit, whose theme is 'Nano for a Better World'. Organised by the Karnataka IT, BT, Science and Technology department along with the industry and academia, the annual event will be flagged in dozen cities across the country for its awareness and participation by other states and stakeholders. The expo will showcase advancements in nano-technology to improve the quality of life. --IANS bha-fb/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Thursday that Congress President Rahul Gandhi was "Made in Italy and has Italian blood in him", scoffing at the latter's remarks that the world's tallest statue of Sardar Patel being built in Gujarat was made in China. Nitin Patel told reporters that the Congress chief was making allegations just for the heck of it without knowing the facts that the complete Statue of Unity in honour of Sardar Patel "is made in India and in Gujarat". He said the government had invited global tenders to build the statue and the lowest bidder, L&T, which is an Indian company, was awarded the contract to build it. "Only 1,700 tonnes of bronze in it was imported from China. Besides this, there are 70,000 million tonnes of iron and 18,500 million tonnes of steel, all sourced from India," the Deputy Chief Minister said. "Hundreds of tonnes of iron waste collected from farmers across the country have been used in it," Patel added. Rahul Gandhi had insulted the sentiments of the people of India, especially of Gujarat, he said. "Rahul Gandhi was himself Made in Italy. He has Italian blood flowing in him," the Deputy Chief Minister asserted. "We have nothing to say here. It is up to the Congress whether they want a President with 100 per cent Indian blood or a mixed breed with Italian blood." The Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family had always tried to erase the legacy of Sardar Patel, he said. "They just cannot swallow any honour being done to Sardar Patel who was even the favourite of Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, they don't want anyone except the Nehru-Gandhi's family to be given credit for the country's independence," Nitin Patel said. He was reacting to Rahul Gandhi's remarks at a public meeting in Satna in Madhya Pradesh on the Sardar Patel statue. "Modiji had promised to build the world's largest statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. But later it was revealed that on the back of the statue it was written Made in China," Gandhi said. The Statue of Unity, which is 182 metres from the ground and 240 metres from the river base of Narmada, has been completed. The inauguration of the statue will be done on October 31 by Modi. --IANS desai/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A passenger was arrested for trying to flag down an aircraft after reaching late at the Dublin Airport on Thursday. According to an airport spokesperson, the man and another woman arrived after the departure gate for a Ryanair flight for Amsterdam had been closed. The spokesperson said that as the two passengers spoke to Ryanair staff at the gate, the man became agitated and started to bang on the window looking out onto the flight, the Irish Mirror reported. He then broke through a door and went out onto the tarmac, shouting at the pilot of the departing plane to wait for him. The passenger made it to the taxiing Ryanair aircraft before being arrested by the police. He did not make it on board and the flight departed 21 minutes behind schedule, according to the BBC. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maharashtra and Mumbai Congress units took out a protest march here on Thursday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmal Sitharaman over the Rafale deal. Congress activists pushed a life-size model of the Rafale jet, carried banners and placards and shouted anti-Modi and anti-Sitharaman slogans as they marched from Mahalaxmi Race Court to the iconic August Kranti Maidan in south Mumbai. The prominent leaders leading the procession were Mallikarjun Kharge, Ashok Chavan and Sanjay Nirupam. "This huge protest is to create public awareness about the Rafale scam and expose the deep-rooted corruption that exists in the Modi government," Kharge said. He reiterated the Congress demand for a CAG and JPC probe into the deal and later led a delegation of senior leaders to Governor C.V. Rao and submitted a memorandum on their demands. --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Maldives' President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend his oath-taking ceremony in November. Solih's spokesperson Mariya Ahmed Didi said on Wednesday that Modi was invited to the ceremony during a telephonic conversation between the two sides following Solih's victory in the presidential elections on Sunday, The Edition reported. Solih, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's candidate, emerged victorious over incumbent President Abdulla Yameen. He will be sworn in on November 17 and his term is expected to continue until 2023. India welcomed the election result and both sides agreed to work closely to strengthen bilateral relations. The spokesperson said Modi had also invited Solih to make an official visit to India, which was accepted by the latter. The atoll nation's relations with India grew strained during Yameen's rule, with tensions peaking after India criticized Male's refusal to enforce a Supreme Court ruling quashing the convictions of nine opposition figures, among them former President Mohamed Nasheed. --IANS soni/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Meghalaya's Congress legislator George Lyngdoh on Thursday demanded swift action against the illegal limestone mining in Nongtalang area near the India-Bangladesh border. However, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said action has been taken against as many as 11 illegal quarries. Moving a calling attention motion on illegal mining in West Jaintia Hills district, the Congress legislator said: "Illegal mining has to stop. If mining has to be done, it should be in a legal manner so that it ensures a planned approach with strong environmental safeguards. We need to ensure that our law abiding families do not lose faith in our democratic system." Alleging that a "handful of illegal miners" were carrying out their activities without caring for the law and environment, Lyngdoh said that there were other miners who have obtained major mineral licenses for limestone mining with statutory provisions to export limestone. Nongtalang village is about 98 km from Meghalaya's capital Shillong in West Jaintia Hills district. Promising to take action against all illegal mining activities, the Chief Minister said the government was looking at different technologies that could be adopted in order to ensure the system was tightened up. --IANS rrk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Probe ordered vs recruiter of NAIA building workers posted September 27, 2018 at 10:50 pm by Joel E. Zurbano September 27, 2018 at 10:50 pm Authorities are investigating the case of some 200 building attendants of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport who lost P740,000 to a recruiter who duped them by promising high-paying jobs in New Zealand. The employees sought the help of the Manila International Airport Authority, the operator of the countrys main gateway, hoping that they would recover their money which they deposited to Medz Remittance Services. In their complaint, they claimed that each of them paid P3,700 for passport processing and medical expenses to a certain Mayan Louise, who promised them good jobs in New Zealand.One of the workers identified as Nelly Britania said Louise told them that one of her co-workers at NAIA was able to work in New Zealand without a placement fee. The words become viral at the airport as many of them (building attendants) tried their luck to seek employment in New Zealand with the help of Louise. COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's political alliance of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) is the most popular party among migrants in the country, according to a study published on Thursday. According to the study by the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR), 43.2 per cent of immigrants residing in Germany said they would vote for the sister parties. The CDU and CSU gained 15.6 per cent in migrants' approval compared to the last SVR survey published in 2016, Xinhua news agency reported. Support among the population with a migration background for the German Social Democrats (SPD) significantly decreased compared to findings of the 2016 study by SVR. Germany's social party lost 15.1 per cent of migrants' support in the current evaluation. Only 25 per cent of migrants said they would vote for the SPD. The decrease in migrants' approval for the SPD was mainly due to the loss of trust in the biggest left-wing party among the Turkish population living in Germany. Their approval for the Social Democrats has been almost halved to 37 per cent since 2016. Although the SPD remained the most popular among the Turkish community in Germany, it was only slightly ahead of the CDU/CSU union. Turkish women in Germany reacted positively to Merkel's government policies in recent years, according to the SVR study. In 2016, just three per cent of Turkish women in Germany expressed sympathy for Merkel's party, compared to 48 per cent in the current study. The study stated that the stable bond between the Turkish community in Germany and the Social Democrats, which lasted for many decades, was fading, said Henriette Litta, co-author of the study. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In what could apply to Telangana now, the Election Commission on Thursday said the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) would come into effect immediately after premature dissolution of a state legislative assembly with caretaker government deprived of all powers to take policy decisions. "The Commission has considered the matter of application of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the cases of premature dissolution of legislative assembly where a caretaker government has been asked to carry on the administration of that state or Union Territory for the purposes of free, fair, transparent, and robust electoral process. "On careful consideration of the matter, keeping the observation of Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai and Others versus Union of India and Others (1994), that the caretaker government should merely carry on the day-to-day governance and desist from taking any major policy situation decision in view," the poll panel said in an order. The direction has implications for Telangana where the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government led by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is continuing as a caretaker government after it dissolved the state assembly around nine months in advance. Accepting the decision, the state Governor had dissolved the Assembly and asked the chief minister to continue in office till the elections. The EC said that in such cases the provisions of Part-VII of the Model Code of Conduct shall come into operation "with immediate effect" in the state concerned and will continue to be in force till the completion of the election to constitute the new legislative assembly. The poll panel in its order said the provisions of the Part-VII of Model Code of Conduct would apply on the caretaker state government as well as on the central government in "so far as matters relating to that state are concerned". "Consequently, neither the caretaker state government nor the central government shall announce any new schemes, projects, etc. in respect of that state or undertake any of the activities prohibited under the aforesaid Part-VII of the Model Code of Conduct," the EC said. In another significant direction, the EC has asked the ministers and other functionaries of the caretaker government to desist from using official resources for any non-official purposes, combining of official visit with electioneering work, etc. "(This) shall apply on all ministers and other authorities of the caretaker state government, the central government as well as the governments of other states," it said. --IANS mak/vsc/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the global community for conferring upon him the United Nations (UN)'s "Champions of the Earth" award and dedicated it to the countrymen and the country's tradition of coexisting with nature. "I would like to express my gratitude to the global community for conferring this honour upon me. This honour is not meant for an individual, but rather for the great Indian tradition, through which for centuries, we have been taught values like co-exisiting with nature," Modi said in a video message. He said he was delighted that "the human race has begun to accept the importance of nature". "This struggle with nature has brought destruction, both on humankind as well as on nature. In this changing situation, all of us are putting emphasis on protecting nature," he said. The Prime Minister's remarks came after the United Nations recognised him with its highest environmental honour in the Policy Leadership category. Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron were recognized in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022. Modi said: "Whether you call it global warming, or whether you call it environment, or whether you call it carbon emissions, whether you are referring to "developed countries" or "developing countries", no matter what phrase you use, ultimately we must all focus on climate justice." Asserting that the poor and the marginalised were the ultimate victims of the climate injustice, Modi said "we need to put the same emphasis on protecting nature as we do on other issues". He also said that in the pursuit of climate change, "India stands with the world, and is ready to march with you, shoulder to shoulder in order to achieve this goal". Modi also congratulated French President, saying that the honour is fitting recognition for his role towards creating a cleaner and greener tomorrow. Beside Modi and Macron, Kerala's Cochin International Airport was also honoured for its entrepreneurial vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. "Delighted that Cochin International Airport's remarkable usage of sustainable energy has been recognised and the Airport is a proud recipient of the UN 'Champions of the Earth' awards," Modi tweeted. "The Airport is an inspiration for several other airports in how we can leverage the power of solar energy for a better tomorrow," he added. The UN Champions of the Earth awards would be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in US' New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly (UNGA). --IANS aks/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to Indian Naval Commander Abhilash Tomy, who was rescued four days after he was seriously injured and stranded in a boat race and said that every Indian is praying for his quick recovery. Modi also complimented the rescue teams who were involved in his rescue. "Spoke to Abhilash Tomy and enquired about his wellbeing. Every Indian is praying for his quick recovery. I also compliment the teams that were involved in his rescue," Modi said. "I have fond memories of my meeting with Abhilash, when he came with the team of INSV Tarini," the Prime Minister said attaching the photographs of the naval officer. The naval sailor-cum-sportsperson participating in the GGR-2018 was caught in a huge storm on last Friday, 5,020 km from Cape Comorin, India, and 3,500 km from Perth, Australia, in the Indian Ocean. His boat, SV Thuriya, had overturned while he was virtually left paralysed with severe back injuries but managed to relay messages to various authorities from his satphone. He was picked up by a French fishing vessel Osiris on Monday, which had responded to a call for a massive joint operation launched by Indian and Australian authorities. --IANS aks/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mounting a fresh attack over the Rafale deal, the Congress on Thursday alleged that the Modi government had shunted a senior official who had raised concerns over pricing and rewarded another official who had overruled him, saying there were "perks" for "pleasing" the government to cover its "corruption tracks." The party also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "betraying" the nation over the deal to purchase 36 fighter jets from France. Congress President Rahul Gandhi led the attack saying in a tweet that the government official who wanted to prevent "theft" was "fixed by the leader of thugs". Party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said the government had shunted a whistle-blower who raised issues concerning the price and paying "300 per cent more" in the deal. "The Modi government shunted the whistle-blower Joint Secretary (Air) who questioned the loss to government treasury by paying 300 per cent extra for 36 Rafale. "Director General Smita Nagaraj, who overruled the joint secretary, was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Perks of pleasing Modi government cover corruption tracks," Surjewala said attaching an Indian Express report along with his tweet. At the party's media briefing, its spokesperson Jaipal Reddy targeted the government stating that the "scam" was getting "thicker and thicker" and "curiouser and curiouser" with every passing day. He also referred to the newspaper report and said that before the deal was formally signed in September 2016, Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) in Defence Ministry had raised his objections. Reddy said the first objection was on the benchmark price of the deal announced by Modi government for purchase of 36 Rafale jets, which had been pegged higher than the benchmark price for the deal negotiated by the UPA government. He said the official also pointed out that Eurofighter, the second aircraft that had qualified in IAF trials, had offered to supply it at 20 per cent price discount and wanted similar discount from Rafale. "What happened. The Joint Secretary Rajiv Verma had to go on leave. There comes a superior officer who overrules the Joint Secretary who went on leave," he said. He said the government should come out with a response contradicting or confirming the report. "Look at the manipulation. After all this, the process of ratification of the agreement was delayed by more than one year. It was ratified in September 2016 whereas the deal was announced in April 2015. It is an order of Rs. 60,000 crores. You are paying Rs. 41,000 crores more and took more than one year to ratify," he said. He claimed that the "scam" is unfolding and added that the Indian Air Force needed 126 aircraft but the government purchased only 36. " "What has happened to the remaining 90 aircraft? How will we be prepared if we are not equipped at the minimum level in respect of 'AF'," he said. Reddy said he was not aware of any major defence commercial pact being ratified after the deal was signed. "After the deal was announced by the head of the government, what option the subordinates were left with?" Targeting Modi, he said "the more you try to run away, the more you get drawn in the morass of this Rafale controversy." "Rafale scam has begun to stink and Modi has begun to sink into the sea of this scandal. There is no way he can get away from it. There is no way we will allow him to get away from it," he said, adding that people will not forgive the government for "betrayal of the nation". Reddy said Modi should answer questions raised by the party and the point raised by former President of France Francois Hollande. He also referred to remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron that he was not in charge when the agreement to buy the fighter jets was signed and said the French leader did not contradict the version of Hollande that the Indian government suggested a particular private firm as offset partner. "As a student of politics, I am not aware of a single example of Prime Minister of India being contradicted by the former President of any responsible major world power in the last 70 years," Reddy said. --IANS rak-ps/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Thursday alleged that the Narendra Modi government has shunted a senior official, who indicated the loss in the Rafale jet deal, and rewarded his boss who overruled him, saying there were "perks of pleasing" that covered "corruption tracks." Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has paid 300 per cent more for the defence deal that was negotiated to purchase 36 fighter jets from France as compared to an earlier price offered by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for 126 jets. "The Modi government shunted the whistle-blower Joint Secretary (Air) who questioned the loss to government treasury by paying 300 per cent extra for 36 Rafale. "Director General Smita Nagaraj, who overruled the joint secretary, was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Perks of pleasing Modi government cover corruption tracks," Surjewala said attaching an Indian Express report along with his tweet. The newspaper report stated that nearly a month before the deal was signed in September 2016 by then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart in New Delhi, then Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who had been part of the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC), raised questions about the benchmark price and put his objections on record. The objections raised delayed the Cabinet note approving the deal and its signing, which only happened after his objections were "overruled" by another senior MoD official, Director General (Acquisition). The government-to-government deal for 36 Rafale aircrafts was announced by Modi during his visit to Paris in April 2015. The proposal for the earlier 126 Rafale jets during the UPA's regime was scrapped. --IANS rak-ps/in/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Revealing its human explorations plans, NASA has told the US Congress that the agency is currently focusing on developing technologies and systems that enable a series of human and robotic lunar missions that are extensible to Mars. The "National Space Exploration Campaign" that NASA submitted to the Congress on September 24 calls for human and robotic exploration missions to expand the frontiers of human experience and scientific discovery of the natural phenomena of Earth, other worlds and the cosmos, the US space agency said in a statement on Thursday. The campaign has five strategic goals, including returning US astronauts to the surface of the Moon to demonstrating the capabilities required for human missions to Mars and other destinations. NASA said it intends to transition from the current model of human space activities in low-Earth orbit to a model where the government is only one customer for commercial services. The US space agency is building a plan for Americans to orbit the Moon starting in 2023, and land astronauts on the surface no later than the late 2020s. A key component of establishing the first permanent American presence and infrastructure on and around the Moon is the Gateway, a lunar orbiting platform to host astronauts farther from Earth than ever before, NASA said. Some elements of the Gateway already are under construction at NASA centers across the United States, including facilities in Ohio, Texas and Alabama, and at commercial partner facilities. The Gateway will be assembled in space, incrementally, using the Orion spacecraft and SLS, as well as commercial launch vehicles. The first element, providing power and propulsion, will launch from Florida in 2022, NASA added in the statement. "The lunar surface will serve as a crucial training ground and technology demonstration test site where we will prepare for future human missions to Mars and other destinations," NASA said, adding that by the late 2020s, a lunar lander capable of transporting crews and cargo will begin trips to the surface of the Moon. NASA said its series of crewed missions to Mars, planned to start in the 2030's and culminating in a surface landing, would be supported by the work it does on the Moon in the coming years. --IANS gb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that he has proof that Iran holds a "secret atomic warehouse" and urged international action against Tehran. During his vehement speech at the UN conference, Netanyahu presented what he said was an aerial photo of a previously unknown nuclear facility in Iran's capital Tehran, saying the 2015 nuclear deal enabled Iran to continue its attempts to build nuclear weapons, Xinhua reported. "The reason Iran did not destroy its atomic facility and warehouse is because it has not finished with them," Netanyahu noted. The Israeli prime minister also urged Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to check the suspected nuclear site. "Do the right thing. Go and inspect. Go and investigate," he said. Netanyahu also warned that Israel will attack Iran if the Islamic republic threatens the Jewish state. "We will act against you in Syria. We will act against you in Iran. We will act against you wherever and whenever," Netanyahu said. Notably, the hawkish Israeli leader admitted that the Iranian nuclear deal "brought Israel and many Arab states closer together than ever before." Israel "deeply values these new friendships" and hopes "the day will soon arrive when Israel will extend a formal peace, beyond Egypt and Jordan, to other Arab nations, including the Palestinians," he said. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The New Zealand Parliament on Thursday approved a law to eject lawmakers who quit or are expelled from their party in a move to prevent members of the House from switching parties mid-term, a practice known locally as "waka-jumping". The Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill was approved with a 63-57 vote in favour, despite a heated debate and fierce opposition from the National Party and ATC New Zealand, Efe news reported. "The Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill is about enhancing public confidence in the integrity of our electoral system. The Bill ensures that it is the voters, not politicians or party leaders, who decide the proportionality of parties in Parliament," Justice Minister Andrew Little said in a press release. The bill was agreed upon between the Labour Party and New Zealand First during the negotiations to form the government last year. The Green Party is the third partner in the ruling alliance led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Five parties are represented in New Zealand's unicameral legislature, with the National Party being the biggest with 56 seats, followed by Labour (46), New Zealand First (9), the Greens (8) and ACT (1). --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former US President Barack Obama on Thursday warned about the problems in the society adapting to technological change. Addressing a business conference in Helsinki, Obama said that technology changes faster than societal and political systems, Xinhua reported. "We meet problems if the gap widens," he said. Obama called for enterprises to adopt a more direct approach to societal matters. He deplored that governments move too slowly and cannot keep up. The former US President said the US-based social media operator Facebook only now begins to realize that it has a major impact on the society. Obama praised the equality in the Nordic societies. "The poorest child in Finland can attend one of the best schools in the world," he noted. He recalled that Finns was defined as the happiest people in the world in a recent survey. Obama talked to some 7,000 paying participants of the Nordic Business Forum at the Helsinki Fair Centre. Local media said around 70 people had purchased attendance in a brief meeting with Obama personally. On the podium, Obama appeared in an exchange of remarks with Niklas Zennstrom, the Swedish founder of the videophonecall system, Skype. There were no encounters with Finnish leaders outside the event, local media reported. While in office from 2009 to 2017, Obama never visited Finland. --IANS ahm/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DOLE revokes deployment ban in Micronesia posted September 27, 2018 at 11:20 pm by Vito Barcelo September 27, 2018 at 11:20 pm The Department of Labor and Employment on Thursday lifted the ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to the Federated States of Micronesia, but deployment ban to Libya remains. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that the governing board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration is set to approve a resolution imposing a total deployment ban to Libya. Bello said POEA Governing Board Resolution No. 5-A, series of 2018 lifted the deployment ban in Micronesia upon the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Vito BarceloOn the basis and recommendation of the DFA, the governing board of the POEA issued a resolution lifting the deployment ban in the Federated States of Micronesia, the labor chief said. The POEA banned the deployment of Filipino workers to Micronesia following reports of alleged abuse and maltreatment on Filipino migrant workers in the Chuuk State Hospital. COMMENT DISCLAIMER: Reader comments posted on this Web site are not in any way endorsed by Manila Standard. Comments are views by manilastandard.net readers who exercise their right to free expression and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the position or viewpoint of manilastandard.net. While reserving this publications right to delete comments that are deemed offensive, indecent or inconsistent with Manila Standard editorial standards, Manila Standard may not be held liable for any false information posted by readers in this comments section. The Odisha government on Thursday deputed a high-level team after Odia students of the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in Tripura were allegedly tortured and harassed. Higher Department's Director B. Parmeswaran and Shree Jagannath Sanskrit University's Vice Chancellor Radha Madhab Dash have been deputed to Agartala. "On Wednesday night, we received information of some untoward incident having taken place at Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan in Agartala where the Odia students complained against some locals harassing them. Our immediate step is to ensure safety and security of the Odia students. We have sent a team for inquiry," said Department Secretary Bishnupada Sethi. Around 90 Odia students along with 10 teachers posted an online video on Wednesday night narrating their ordeal and requesting for help. As per their allegation, the students including girls were attacked by a group of classmates for not participating in a strike during Ganesh Puja celebrations. Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) R.P. Sharma spoke to his counterpart in Tripura over phone and told him to make necessary arrangements to ensure safety and security of the students. "When I got to know of the incident, I spoke with DGP Tripura. Subsequently, the Superintendent of Police visited and has assured of security and help. I am closely monitoring the situation," Sharma said. Meanwhile, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday spoke to Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb about the alleged attack and pleaded for the students' safety. --IANS cd/ksk/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image has been unscathed in the ongoing Rafale fighter aircraft row, a statement the BJP heartily welcomed on Thursday. "There is no doubt in public minds about Modi's intentions in the Rafale deal, that's what I feel," Pawar said in an interview with a Marathi news channel New18-Lokmat, aired on Wednesday. However, concurring with the Congress-led opposition demands, Pawar made it clear that there should be a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Rafale deal in depth to unravel the truth before the public. "When the Bofors deal with signed, the BJP was in the opposition and vociferously demanded a JPC probe which the then ruling Congress conceded. The terms and conditions of secrecy and other aspects are common in both Bofors and the Rafale agreements. So a JPC must be appointed to clear the air on the Rafale issue," Pawar asserted. While the Congress on Thursday terming it Pawar's "personal views" on the sensitive matter, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah grabbed the opportunity by thanking Pawar for "placing national interests above party and speaking the truth". "Dear Rahul Gandhi, you would be wiser by believing your own ally and a leader of Pawar Saheb's stature," Shah said in a mocking tweet. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been calling Modi a "chor" (thief) on the Rafale deal. Attempting a damage control exercise, senior NCP leader and MP Majeed Memon said Pawar's statement was being atwisted out of context. "There is absolutely no question of giving 'a clean chit' to anyone as suggested in some sections of the media," he said. "I wish to make it clear on behalf of Pawar that the JPC should focus on two main issues - the financials of the deal and the pricing of the aircraft, and why Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd was suddenly edged out. The financials are very important and they cannot hide behind the secrecy clause since it's the taxpayer's money," Memon told IANS. Pawar further said that while the technical clause was confidential, there was nothing wrong in revealing the pricing of the deal. He pointed out that during the Bofors controversy, BJP leader and now External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had even wanted the technical aspects revealed. --IANS qn/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An undertrial inmate at the Bhondsi jail here in Haryana died under mysterious circumstances, a family member alleged, but doctors blamed it on tuberculosis (TB). The deceased was identified as Kuldeep Kumar (24), a resident of Vasant Vihar on Pataudi road. Police said he was arrested in July and sent to jail in a theft case. "A total 13 cases of theft and snatching were registered against the accused," said a police officer. Naresh, a family member waiting outside the post-mortem house to receive the body, called it a mysterious death as he feared for his life following alleged threats by other prisoners involved in heinous crimes. Jail officials said the deceased was suffering from fever and his condition deteriorated on Wednesday night. He was referred to the Civil Hospital where he died during treatment. A medical board conducted post-mortem and said Kumar was suffering from TB and both his kidneys were damaged along with other internal organs. --IANS pradeep/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Amyra Dastur, who has joined the cast of "Made In China", says she has to bring her best on the sets of the movie because she finds co-star Rajkummar Rao an extraordinary actor. "I'm really happy with the films I have managed to bag during this year. People are definitely going to see a different side of me in this film as well. All I can say about my look is that my fans and the audience will definitely take a moment or two to recognise me in this film," Amyra said in a statement. This will be the second time Amyra and Rajkummar will be working together. The two will also be seen in "Mental Hai Kya". "Working with Rajkummar again is wonderful and to dress up in our unusual avatars or characters is even better because it is so different from 'Mental Hai Kya'. I still need to bring my best on set because even though there's a comfort level, he's still an extraordinary actor and one has to keep up," she said. The film also stars Mouni Roy and Boman Irani. "I am super excited to work with Boman Irani sir. My family is definitely excited about this fact as well. My crazy Parsi family has always been Boman Irani fans, so when I told them, they were all hoping we would be shooting in Mumbai just so they could come and meet him," she said. Amyra, who has featured in films like "Mr. X", "Kung Fu Yoga", "Kaalakaandi" and "Rajma Chawal", is glad she is finally doing a film in the comedy space and one that carries a powerful social message. "There is a lot of improvisation that takes place while we do the scenes and my father is on speed dial because there are bits of Gujarati words/phrases in our dialogues, so my workshops/preparation for this film is being overseen by my family for once. They're only allowed to speak to me in Gujarati until I wrap for the film," Amyra said. "Made In China" is directed by Mikhil Musale. It is a hilarious take on a struggling Gujarati businessman and the bizarre journey he undertakes to become a successful entrepreneur. The film will hit the screens on Independence Day next year. It is being produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner of Maddock Films. --IANS dc/rb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three rockets fired by Taliban militants hit Afghan's Ghazni city during President Ashraf Ghani's visit on Thursday but caused no loss of life, officials said. Ghani was visiting the city to review the security situation. According to officials, two of the rockets landed close to the provincial government compound, Khaama Press reported. "Three rockets fired by Taliban rebels slammed into Ghazni city today morning but fortunately caused no loss of life," said a government official. The President's spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said that Ghani continued the visit after the attack and met government and military officials as well as religious scholars. The Taliban briefly captured Ghazni city in August, inflicting countless loss of lives and huge property damages to private and public institutions. Ghani had earlier promised Ghazni residents to upgrade the war-torn province administration system and development projects. During his Thursday visit, the President ordered launching a few development projects in the city, including constructing a conference hall and a new hospital, the Presidential Palace said in a media release. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia and signed a memorandum of understanding on implementing a project to build an underwater gas pipeline from Iran to and India, the Russian Energy Ministry said in a statement Thursday. "The memorandum provides for the identification of authorized organisations through which the project will be supported, including during the development of a feasibility study, identification of the resource base, configuration and route of the gas pipeline," the statement said, Xinhua reported. Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky and Pakistan's Ministry of Energy Additional Secretary Sher Afgan Khan signed the document in Moscow. Now Russia will have to inform Iran and India about the signing, after which it expects to sign a similar document with India, Yanovsky said in the statement. The project was frozen in 2013 due to the imposition of sanctions against Iran, but its revival started in 2017. In November 2017, Russia and Iran signed a memorandum that envisaged Russian support for gas supplies from Iran to India. In March, a Russian-Iranian working group on the implementation of the project had its first meeting. According to Yanovsky, Russia and were holding consultations on another project of building the 1,100 kilometer North-South Gas Pipeline (NSGP) between Pakistan's Karachi and Lahore to transport 12.3 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The implementation of an agreement signed in October last year between Russia and Pakistan on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies "can become a promising direction of cooperation," he said. The governments of the two countries were also considering signing an agreement on Russian oil products supplies to Pakistan, Yanovsky said. In addition, Russian electric power industry has shown interest in the Pakistani market, he said. A Russian man accused of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK, is a military officer who received an "honour" from President Vladimir Putin, an investigative website has revealed. Following the attempted poisoning in March, UK investigators identified one of the two suspects as Ruslan Boshirov, the BBC reported on Thursday. Putin had claimed Boshirov was a civilian, and on Russian TV, he himself said he visited Salisbury as a tourist. But according to the British website Bellingcat, Boshirov is actually an intelligence officer by the name of Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. He has served in Chechnya and Ukraine was made a "Hero of the Russian Federation" in 2014. The 39-year-old trained at one of Russia's elite academies and served with a special forces unit under the command of the GRU - Russia's military intelligence service, the website said in a report. He earned more than 20 military awards for his service. He is believed to have transferred to Moscow around 2009, where he was given a false identity as Ruslan Boshirov and has been working undercover for the past nine years, the report added. In December 2014, he was made a Hero of the Russian Federation. The medal, awarded in a secret ceremony, is typically handed out by the Russian President, the BBC quoted the report as saying. However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the new claims, saying there was no evidence. Skripal, who sold secrets to British intelligence agency MI6, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok on March 4. Both Skripal and his daughter survived. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that no coercive action will be taken against makers of upcoming Hindi movie "Love Yatri", produced by film start Salman Khan. Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also asked police across the country not to register further FIRs against them film makers. The bench granting relief to the film makers said that no coercive action shall be taken relating to the content and the name of the movie. Salman Khan Films Pvt Ltd approached the apex court, saying certain elements have threatened the film makers. Several private criminal complaints have been filed against the movie alleging that its name has hurt the religious sentiment of Hindus, said a lawyer appearing for Salman Khan production house. Earlier, the film's name was "Love Ratri" but it was changed to "Love Yatri" because people misunderstood it with the festival "Navaratri". The movie is slated for release on October 5. The film has been cleared by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Despite this, a FIR has been registered in Bihar and a criminal complaint is pending in Vadodara in Gujarat, argued the lawyer appearing for the production house. The court has posted the case for hearing after four weeks. --IANS gt/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed US sanctions against Tehran amidst American President Donald Trump issuing dire warnings at the Security Council against violating the embargo. India and Iran "shared each others' position about where we stand at this point of time" on the sanctions, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters after the Ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here on Wednesday. At the Security Counci, Trump said that the sanctions against Iran will come into full force in November and warned "any individual who fail to comply with these sanctions will face full consequences". Kumar said that India was engaged with all the stakeholders dealing with the sanctions and, therefore, it discussed it with Iran also. Zarif told Sushma Swaraj about Iran's interaction with the European Union (EU) and other countries over the sanctions, according to Kumar. The spokesman said that Iran and India had "civilisational ties" going back in time and the discussions went beyond the sanctions issue. Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Iran signed with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the EU, to end sanctions in return for Teheran stopping nuclear weapons development. The EU and most countries back the nuclear deal and oppose US sanctions and Trump found himself isolated at the Security Council. Washington's allies, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, openly opposed Trump at the Security Council meeting and expressed their support for the agreement with Iran. Kumar declined to comment on foreign media reports that India was going to stop importing Iranian oil. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) --IANS al/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Communications on Thursday unveiled a state-of-the-art Cyber Security Response Centre (CSRC) in Chennai. Inaugurated by Rama Vedashree, CEO, Data Security Council of India and Srinivasan CR, Chief Digital Officer at Tata Communications, the flagship facility would act as an experiential showcase for the company's Managed Security Services. "At DSCI, we believe that cyber security innovation and entrepreneurship are essential to building robust capabilities and strengthening the cyber security posture of the country. The Chennai CSRC follows the recent unveiling of the digital infrastructure provider's similar facility in Dubai. The company will introduce a CSRC in Europe later this year to help its customers comply with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), followed by a US facility in 2019. "We are glad to see Tata Communications making investments to build capabilities to address the global and domestic demand of security services," said Vedashree. The cyber threat landscape continues to evolve rapidly. "Using real-time security analytics allows us to provide customers with advanced intelligence that enables them to keep their Cloud operations secure across all points of access," said Srinivasan. --IANS ksc/na/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Palace on Thursday said it backs the proposal of Senate President Vicente Sotto III to lower the minimum age of criminal liability to 13 years old. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Sottos bill is consistent with President Rodrigo Dutertes order to lower the minimum age to help curb criminality in the country. The President stands firm that the Pangilinan Act is wrong. The age of criminal responsibility must be lowered down, Roque said in a radio interview. Roque explained that minor offenders will be taken under the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development for detention in youth care facilities. So, the reformation of the youth continues, they will not be jailed. But thats because they will be under the custody of the people who can take care of them better, said Roque, pointing out that its the parents fault for not guiding their children properly. If they are only being cared for properly by their parents, then they [minors] will not commit crimes, said Roque. On Monday, Sotto filed Senate Bill 2026, seeking to lower the age of criminal liability from the current 15 years old to 13.This bill will finally give clarity to the true intention of the law. The amendment to the law will institutionalize the criminal liability of teenagers who committed a serious criminal offense, he said in a statement. Sotto presented viral videos of minors committing crimes as he filed the said bill. He also cited a study by the Child Rights International Network, stating that other countries have already implemented a lower minimum age of criminal liability, while some states in the United States have set none. The lawmaker argued that criminal syndicates take advantage of the provisions of Republic Act 9344, or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 by using minors to commit illegal acts as the law authored by opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan, exempts children 15 years old and below from criminal liability. Due to the continuing challenge in the implementation of RA 9344, as amended, the aforesaid law must be further amended to lower the minimum age of criminal liability in order to adapt to the changing times, Sotto said, expressing confidence that Duterte will certify the measure as an urgent bill. Last year, the President called on Congress to lower the age of criminal liability in the country, slamming Pangilinan for creating such a law when it only produced people with criminal minds. Tata Communications Ltd on Thursday launched its cybersecurity response centre (CSRC) here and will come up with one such centre each in Europe and the US in future, a senior company official said. The new CSRC was inaugurated here by Rama Vedashree, CEO, Data Security Council of India, and Srinivasan C.R., Chief Digital Officer, Tata Communications. "The Chennai centre will work on cloud security for medium to large corporates. We had said in 2016 that an investment of $50 million will be made in the CSRCs. We are building CSRCs in Europe and the US also," Srinivasan told the media here. He said that globally the business has about 300 people, with 200 more to be added. Tata Communications earlier had CSRCs in Pune, Dubai and Singapore. The flagship CSRC here will act as an experiential showcase for Tata Communications' managed security services. The centre has interactive visual walls, dashboard displays, 3D object recognition and a Virtual Reality experience that gives a taste of company's offering in this field. Officials said Tata Communications offers cybersecurity as a managed service. According to Srinivasan, 99 per cent of customers does not know how to respond to a cyberattack and the company helps them out to protect their data. He said that the probability of cyberattacks on an organisation increases when it is about to launch something significant. "The cyberattack threat landscape is increasing globally. The growth rate in cybersecurity business is far greater than what is seen in the Information Technology sector," Vedashree said. --IANS vj/tsb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three militants, a soldier and a civilian were killed on Thursday in three separate incidents in the Kashmir Valley, officials said. A local commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, Asif Malik alias Abu Ukasha, and a soldier were killed in a gunfight in Gasigund village in Dooru area of Anantnag district. Security forces had laid an ambush in the village following information about the movement of militants. As news of the LeT commander's killing spread, there was a spontaneous shutdown in Anantnag town, residents said. In another gunfight in Panzan village of Badgam district, security forces killed two militants but their identity was being ascertained. The fighting erupted after the militants entered a mosque. An official said that security forces exercised caution to ensure that the mosque did not get damaged. The crackdown triggered clashes between civilian protesters and security personnel, officials said. Authorities suspended train services between Bannihal and Baramulla towns and also snapped mobile Internet connectivity in south Kashmir and Srinagar as a precaution. A civilian, Muhammad Saleem Malik, was killed in gunfire in Noorbagh locality of Qamarwari area in Srinagar when the security forces were laying a cordon. This too sparked off clashes between the militants and security forces. The slain civilian was buried at the Eidgah Martyrs graveyard, attended by scores of people. --IANS sq/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To drive an all-inclusive digital transformation in the country, it is high time we changed the narrative from creating smart cities to making a smart nation, says a top Cisco India executive. "We are very keen to take the narrative from smart city to smart nation to make it all inclusive," Amit Malik - Managing Director, Public Sector and Services, Cisco India, told IANS. To work towards a smart nation, the need is to make our rural areas smarter, Malik remarked, while speaking on the sidelines of the three-day international conference, "Smart City Expo India 2018", organised here by trade fair institution Fira Barcelona in partnership with Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) and Quantela Inc -- a digital technology solutions provider for smart cities. However smart a city is, it cannot curtail density, which will keep on increasing as more and more people will keep on migrating, Malik said. For sustainable urbanisation, cities need to adopt a framework that is socially equitable, economically viable and environmentally sustainable, according to "Smartest Cities of the Future" report recently launched by Cisco in association with International Data Corporation and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). "While the vision of the government on smart cities is fantastic and is working well, the need, however, is to have a blue print ready about where we want to reach five to 20 years from now," Malik added. With a large population migrating from rural areas to urban, there is tremendous pressure on the existing infrastructure to judiciously use the resources for the benefit of all its citizens. "If you really want to avoid urbanisation, you must bring up the rural areas, make smart villages. "For this to happen, a blueprint inclusive of education, healthcare, and skill development should be developed. Thus, when you are conceiving a smart city you should know where it is going," Malik said. But, a smart nation is not just about building highways and roads but also about building safe and secure Internet highways and a virtual world. It is because the things which improve liveability in the smart cities might also prove a threat for the citizens, Malik said, emphasising that though technology is a great slave to have, it is a dangerous master. Thus, it is imperative "to ensure that every city, infrastructure, digital transformation is formed on the foundation of best cybersecurity solutions," Malik said. He suggested that the key areas to focus for developing a secure intelligent platform are multi-Cloud world, reinventing the network, unlocking the power of data, and creating meaningful experiences. The Narendra Modi government, had on June 25, 2015, unveiled the smart city mission, which was aimed at upgrading 100 cities with affordable housing, integrated multi-modal transport, creation and preservation of open spaces, and waste and traffic management systems, among others. In line with this vision, Cisco has actively partnered with the initiative in more than 20 cities in the states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, among others. "Cisco is involved in 20-22 smart cities with almost 80 per cent share of the total projects," Malik said. To help city planners adopt technologies that will transform their communities globally, Cisco had also announced a $1 billion programme, in November 2017. Among the several projects rolled out till date is the Golden Mile in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Touted as India's longest smart street, the three-kilometre stretch has over 35 WI-FI hotspots providing high speed Internet with 240 smart street lights which could result in savings of over $5.22 million to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation. The street was created by Cisco in collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh government. To foster a culture of innovation among today's youth, Cisco is also working with several educational institutions in Mumbai, Karimnagar, Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam among many other cities to provide digital learning instruments to make education more immersive. Further, Cisco said it aims to train 2.5 lakh students by 2020 through its over 306 Cisco Networking Academies across India. (Rachel V. Thomas is attending the Smart City Expo India 2018 at Jaipur at the invitation of Cisco. She can be contacted at rachel.t@ians.in) --IANS rt/gb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tripura's main opposition tribal party, the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), would soon move the Supreme Court to press for their demand to introduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state, an official said here on Thursday. "We would file a petition before the Supreme Court soon seeking order from it for introducing the NRC in Tripura. We would also hold a sit-in demonstration in New Delhi in November on the similar issue," INPT General Secretary Jagadhish Debbarma told IANS. He said that an INPT delegation would also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram in the national capital. "Currently, the INPT has been campaigning in Tripura in support of five point demands -- withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016; more constitutional power to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council; introduction of inner-line permit in these areas; and inclusion of the Kokborok language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution," Debbarma said. He said that last month the INPT had submitted a memorandum to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India in New Delhi explaining the reasons behind the need of the NRC in Tripura. "To muster support to introduce the NRC in the other northeastern states excluding Assam, we are in touch with the regional parties of Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram." Meanwhile, another tribal party, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), the junior partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led alliance government, is also agitating in support of similar demands. Besides, INPT and IPFT, six other smaller tribal based parties in Tripura are also intermittently organising agitations in support of the demands concerning the tribals, who constitute one-third of the state's four million population. The INPT is one of the oldest tribal-based parties in northeast India. --IANS sc/ksk/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the apex body of Indian Muslims, on Thursday termed as 'murder of democracy' and an 'insult to Parliament' the ordinance brought by the Centre last week making triple talaq a criminal offence. AIMPLB Secretary Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani told reporters here that the government brought the ordinance through backdoor on an issue which was not very important and where there was room for making legislation democratically and through public opinion. Rahmani, who is also the spokesperson of the board, said the legislation was unacceptable for Muslims. He pointed out that Muslim women have already rejected it. On whether the board will challenge the ordinance in the Supreme Court, he said the board's legal committee will look into it as the ordinance will anyway lapse in six months. AIMPLB member and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, who also addressed the news conference, said the ordinance would lapse the moment Parliament meets for the next session. Rahmani said the government tried to bring a bill in Parliament, which was an interference in Shariat and was against the rights of women. He said it was ironic that the government drafted the bill without consulting the community for which the legislation was being made. The government also turned down the demand of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha to refer the bill to Select Committee which would have given an opportunity to the community or its representative organisations like AIMPLB to put forth their view. He claimed that the ordinance was bereft of any logic as it seeks to punish a man for a crime which he has not committed. "The Supreme Court has set aside triple talaq. When you are saying that when a man gives triple talaq, it will not come into effect, then what for you are sending him to jail for three years?" he asked. Rahmani said criminalization of triple talaq would increase the number of women deserted by their husbands. Owaisi said that marriage in Islam was a social contract and to apply penal provisions was unconstitutional. --IANS ms/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US bombers flew from Guam and transited through the South China Sea, an area considered sensitive by the Chinese military. "That just goes on, if it was 20 years ago and had they not militarised those features there it would have been just another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or wherever," Secretary of Defence James Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday when asked about the bomber flight. "There's nothing out of the ordinary about it," Mattis added. On Tuesday, the US B-52s also "participated in a regularly scheduled, combined operation in the vicinity of the East China Sea", Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn told CNN. A US defence official said that the bombers were escorted by Japanese fighter jets and flew in proximity to the Japanese controlled Senkaku Islands which China lays claim to. The bombers also flew into the Chinese military's unilaterally declared Air Defence Identification Zone which extends over the area. The two missions comes amid heightened tensions over a series of issues. In the last week, the Chinese government denied a US Navy warship permission to visit Hong Kong, the US sanctioned a Chinese defence entity over its purchase of Russian-made weapons, the State Department approved a military equipment sale to Taiwan and a high-ranking Chinese naval officer cancelled a meeting with his American counterpart. "We're sorting out obviously a period with some tension there, trade tension and all, so we'll get to the bottom of it but I don't think that we're seeing a fundamental shift in anything, we're just going through one of those periodic points where we got to learn to manage our differences," Mattis said on Wednesday when asked about the tensions. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday appealed to people to embrace 'swakchhata' (cleanliness) of the body and mind. "There is a need to remain cleanl in mind and body. If the body remains clean, then no disease will take place. If mind is clean, there will be no jealousy. And if wealth is clean, one can sleep peacefully," he said at an event here. The Vice President commended the Jharkhand government's commitment for a clean India. He also took part in a cleanliness programme in Lalkhatanga village of Ranchi which was also attended by Chief Minister Raghubar Das and Governor Draupadi Murmu. Naidu said that the cleanliness agenda cannot be achieved by government efforts alone but it needed the participation of all people. He appreciated women groups for spreading the message of the cleanliness campaign in the state. On this occasion, five districts in Jharkhand were declared open defecation free. The Chief Minister said that by 2022, every house in the state would be provided drinking water through pipelines. --IANS ns/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Global retail giant Walmart on Thursday said it will invest Rs 181 crore till 2023 to improve the livelihood of Indian farmers in keeping with the government's ambitious goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022. "Walmart Foundation will invest $25 million to improve farmer livelihoods over the next five years, working beyond our Indian arm's supply chain," said Walmart India in a statement here. The retail giant would also increase its direct sourcing from farmers to 25 per cent of produce sold in its Cash and Carry stores till 2023. "Smallholder farmers are the backbone of the Indian economy, with over 50 per cent of the workforce employed in the sector," said the statement. As the Indian government has set an ambitious goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022, the US-based retail firm hopes its initiative would also improve the country's food security and boost the overall economy. The new funding will expand the company's efforts to develop farmers' organisations to help raise rural incomes. "The fund will be used to support farmer organisations in developing knowledge of sustainable farming practices, share business best practices, add value to primary agricultural commodities and improve access to finance and markets," noted the statement. The Foundation will work with non-government organisations (NGOs) to support farmer producer groups, develop best practices and demonstration sites across the country. "Our aim is to empower multiple farmer organisations and connect them into a nationwide farmer-support network," added the statement. --IANS fb/in/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Global retail giant Walmart on Thursday said it will invest Rs 181 crore till 2023 to improve the livelihood of Indian farmers in keeping with the government's ambitious goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022. "Walmart Foundation will invest $25 million to improve farmer livelihoods over the next five years, working beyond our Indian arm's supply chain," said the US-based company in a statement here. The retail giant would also increase its direct sourcing from farmers to 25 per cent of produce sold in its Cash and Carry stores over the next five years. "Smallholder farmers are the backbone of the Indian economy, with over 50 per cent of the workforce employed in the sector," said the statement. As the Indian government has set an ambitious goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022, the global retail firm hopes its initiative would also improve India's food security and boost its economy. The new funding would expand the company's efforts to develop farmer producer organisations to help raise rural incomes. "The fund will be used to support farmer organisations in developing knowledge of sustainable farming practices, share business best practices, add value to primary agricultural commodities and improve access to finance and markets," noted the statement. The Foundation would also work with non-government organisations (NGOs) to support farmer producer groups, develop best practices and demonstration sites across the country. "Our aim is to empower multiple farmer organisations and connect them into a nationwide farmer-support network," said the statement. Announcing the funding initiative in Lucknow, Walmart International Chief Executive Judith McKenna said the company would create more opportunities for smallholder farmers with more local sourcing of agri-produce for its supply chain and stores across the country. "There are huge benefits for communities and customers when we help farmers learn and expand their access to markets," said McKenna at an interaction with small farmers of Kasimpur village in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli district. The $500-billion Walmart sources 95 per cent of the goods sold in its best price Cash and Carry stores across the country from local firms and offers access to technical assistance and training programmes to improve farming efficiency. Asserting that farmers' incomes could grow and in turn create business opportunities for local entrepreneurs, McKenna said the company would also help improve access to quality produce in their villages and surroundings. "Our game plan is to strengthen the supply chain and local businesses and ensure better life for smallholder farmers and their families," he added. The Foundation invested $2 million in Tanager to implement the farmer market readiness project in Andhra Pradesh in 2017, providing farmers with knowledge, resources and services to enhance their market-readiness and expand their reach. The multinational's funding includes $2 million grant to the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Pattancheru in Telangana's Medak district to help small farmers generate more income. Walmart on August 18 completed its acquisition of 77 per cent equity stake in e-tail major Flipkart for $16 billion (Rs 1,07,662 crore) to create more jobs and business through more supply chains and local sellers, with access to global markets. Employing 23 lakh people in 11,200 stores across 27 countries the world over, Walmart caters to a whopping 265 million customers, with 2.2 million associates, worldwide. --IANS fb/mag/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Nana Patekar on Thursday dismissed an accusation of sexual harassment by actress Tanushree Dutta, saying he may take legal action. In his first response since the allegation re-emerged this week a decade after Tanushree had spoken out about it, Nana told Mirror Now: "What can I do about what one says? You tell me. What does it mean by sexual harassment?" Tanushree, who had first raised the allegation against Nana in 2008, brought the spotlight once again on her unsavoury experience of working with the actor in the film "Horn 'Ok' Pleassss", through a recent interview. Nana told Mirror Now: "We were on the set and there were 200 people sitting in front of us. What I can say?" Asked if he will take any legal action, he said: "I will see what can be done legally. (When asked about any legal action) Let's see. It is also wrong/inappropriate to talk to you (media) since you publish anything." On the allegation that there's a different face to the National Award-winning actor, Nana said: "Let anyone say anything. I will continue to do in my life what I have been doing." Tanushree's allegation is being seen as one that is likely to kickstart Bollywood's own #MeToo movement. She has hit out at Nana and named choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Sami Siddiqui as accomplices in the harassment she faced. Back in 2008, at a press conference to address the "indecent behaviour" allegation by Tanushree, Nana had said he was highly surprised at the charges by the actress, who he said was "my daughter's age". On her part, the former beauty queen has said her voice was suppressed back then by Nana's powerful position. Strong reactions from Bollywood are yet to emerge on the controversy. In fact, Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan on Thursday dodged a question about the news, steering clear from the row. At a film's trailer launch, a mediaperson asked the thespian and superstar Aamir Khan to share their views. Big B said: "Naa toh mera naam Tanushree hai, naa hee Nana Patekar. Kaise uttar dun aapko iss sawaal ka? (Neither is my name Tanushree, nor is it Nana Patekar. How do I answer this question?)" On the other hand, Aamir said: "Without knowing the veracity of something or the details of something, I don't think I can comment. It is not right for me. But I would like to say that whenever something like this does happen, it's really sad. Now if it has happened or not it is for people to investigate." Actress Shruti Seth hopes Tanushree's moment of stepping out and naming and shaming "is the beginning of the end of sexual harassment in Bollywood". "I hope more women find courage to call out their perpetrators. Bravo," she added. Tanushree hopes her story gives "girls a sense of confidence to come out with their story if they are suffering". "Back then, the mainstream media did not pursue the story as actively as it is happening in the present day. Now, it is the right time for all the victims to share their story," Tanushree said. While a string of Bollywood celebrities, including filmmakers and actors have called out casting couch and sexual harassment in the industry, naming and shaming is yet to become a reality, even as Hollywood counterparts have remained outspoken ever since mass allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein came to light. Comedian Bill Cosby has been sentenced upto 10 years in prison and has been branded a "sexually violent predator" by a US court for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004. --IANS rb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Duterte administration is ready to face the threats of kidnapping for ransom by the Abu Sayyaf Group, the Palace said Thursday, following reports members have been regrouping to conduct cross-border kidnappings in Mindanao. After nearly two years of being on the run, the ASG steps again its business of kidnapping for ransom as some of the groups sub-commanders have regrouped. The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, reported the group posed fresh threats in the east coast of Sabah. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the government was prepared to meet the possible trouble brought by the known kidnap-for-ransom group. Well, I can only say that we are ready to face the threat of the Abu Sayyaf. They need to regroup because we already have pulverized them, Roque told a Palace press briefing Thursday.And you can expect that even if they do all sorts of recruitment, our government can easily crush them, he said. The report said the sub-commanders Indang Susukan and Hatib Sawadjan, still alive, were plotting to conduct a cross-border kidnapping, claiming they have received finances from political figures in Mindanao who oppose the Bangsamoro Organic Law. Wooing farmers in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, party President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday promised to waive farm loans within 10 days of coming to power. The Congress chief also said that once his party comes to power at the Centre, changes would be made to GST to reduce rates on items. "You remember that the Congress has waived the farm loans worth Rs 70,000 crore. You saw how we waived the farm loan of farmers in the state within 10 days after coming to power in Karnataka," Gandhi said addressing a public meeting here. "If voted to power, we shall waive the farm loans of farmers within 10 days," he said. Gandhi also said that he could never even think of lying and making false promises to people like depositing Rs 15 lakh in every account. He also said that the Congress after coming to power in the state would change the Gabbar Singh Tax to real GST. "As soon as we come to power, we will change the 'Gabbar Singh Tax' into the real GST. We will implement one tax at lowest rates," he said, adding that the government would use its power to generate employment in the state," Gandhi said, who is on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh, where the elections are slated later this year. Earlier in the day he visited the Kamta Nath temple, dedicated to Lord Ram, which is located in the forested hills of Kamadgiri and performed 'puja'. Gandhi had earlier also made a visit to the state on September 17 and held a road show in the state capital Bhopal. He also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi government over Rafale fighter jet deal and dared him to break his silence in any of his public rallies. "The UPA government started the talks for 126 Rafale fighter jets from France. The UPA government gave the contract to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) so that the youths of the country would have got employment," he said. Slamming the Prime Minister, Gandhi said, "The UPA government negotiated the deal to buy per Rafale aircarft for Rs 526 crore. But then our Prime Minister, who is a chowkidaar (watchman) goes to France and changes the contract. He removes HAL and gives it to his friend who has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore of bank and who has not built a single aircraft in his life." "And few days ago, even the former French President (Francois Hollande) said that the name of the Indian private firm was not taken by French government or the company which manufactures Rafale. But it was said to us by the Indian government and their Prime Minister that the contract needs to be given to the private firm," he alleged. "The watchman let the theft of Rs 30,000 crore happen. The watchman is thief," he thundered. Slamming the Prime Minister for his silence over the Rafale deal, Gandhi dared him to speak up why the offset contract was not given to HAL, why the deal was not discussed with the Defence Minister and why the ex-French President was now accusing him as a thief? Gandhi also accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of speaking "untruth" on the Rafale deal issue. "In Parliament, the defence minister said the price of Rafale fighter plane cannot be disclosed due to secret pact. I met the French president (Emmanuel Macron), who said there is no such pact and the price can be disclosed," he said. Gandhi said that the prime minister spoke for one-and-a-half hours in Parliament but he did not speak on the Rafale issue. He also accused Modi of disregarding the hard work of people of India from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15 when he said "he changed the country in last four years". The Congress chief also charged Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of helping fugitive businessman, Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for defrauding banks to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore escape from the country. "Mallya escapes from country with Rs 9,000 crore. And before escaping the country he meet Finance Minister in Parliament and says to him that I am going to London," he said. "But the Finance Minister did not inform the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate and let Mallya escape from country. And Modi also remains silent on that," he added. --IANS aks/vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, an adultery law dating to the British era, terming it unconstitutional, archaic and manifestly arbitrary, with one judge saying women can't be treated as "cattle". "Mere adultery can't be a criminal offence. It is a matter of privacy. Husband is not the master of wife. Women should be treated with equality along with men," Chief Justice Dipak Misra said. Most countries have abolished adultery as a crime. "It shouldn't be a criminal offence, other people are also involved in it," Misra said, reading out the judgement, also on behalf of Justice A.M. Khanwilkar. Any discrimination shall invite the wrath of the Constitution, the Chief Justice said, adding that a woman cannot be asked to think about the way society desires her to do. Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, reading out his judgement, said: "Women can't be treated as cattle". Justice D.Y. Chandrachud in a concurring but separate judgment said society has two sets of morality in sexual behaviour -- one for women and another for men. Society treating women as embodiment of virtue leads to things like honour killings, he said, adding that the archaic law is against dignity, liberty and sexual autonomy guaranteed under the Constitution. --IANS pk-gt-rak/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new tourist season beginning on World Tourism Day on Thursday has brought little cheer to the tourism sector in the Taj city. Tourism industry leaders say there was nothing much to look forward to as a number of their demands that could spurt growth had been rejected or put in cold storage. The travel trade laments the lack of air connectivity to Agra. "Smaller cities have regular flights but not India's tourist destination number one," says Anil Sharma, spearheading a movement for an international airport at Agra for the past three years. The hotel industry says it has been affected by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the falling graph of visitors staying overnight in Agra. The Supreme Court is seized of crucial issues like declaring Agra a heritage city and imposing restrictions on industrial development. "This has created uncertainty as hotels can neither expand nor open new units in the city because of the ad hoc moratorium on industries," says Agra Development Foundation Secretary K.C. Jain. Tourism organisations in Agra on Thursday organised the ritual welcome of tourists at railway station and at different hotels. But there was little else to commemorate the day. Agra is one of India's top tourist destinations. Yet, it lacks basic infrastructure and thus cannot take advantage of the interest generated in India and its tourist attractions, Sharma added. Leaders in the tourism and hospitality industry complain that there was a lack of vision and of will in the political leadership of Uttar Pradesh. "Even with three world heritage monuments, Agra has not been able to significantly increase the number of visitors. And those who visit often make brief trips. The Yamuna Expressway has made it easier for tourists to return the same day to Delhi," Rakesh Chauhan, President of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association, told IANS. "We need a comprehensive action plan for tourism development for the whole Braj region that includes Mathura, Vrindavan, Bateshwar and several important sites of religious importance," adds Sandeep Arora, a hotelier of Taj Ganj. --IANS bk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Filmmaker Rima Das, who is overjoyed as her Assamese film "Village Rockstars" has been chosen as India's official entry to the Academy Award's best foreign language film category, says she would love to make a Hindi film. Rima spoke to the media here on Wednesday. Asked if she is keen to direct a Bollywood film, Das said: "I came here in Mumbai to become an actor, but destiny had some different plans for me. I have been living here since the last couple of years and somewhere I feel I know Bombay (Mumbai) now, so I would like to make a movie where I know the people, place and culture. "As far as making an entry in Bollywood is concerned, I would love to make film in Hindi. I also like music in films because I feel music is an integral part of Indian films, so why not? I would love to incorporate music in my films as well." Set in Das' own village of Chhaygaon in Assam, "Village Rockstars" is the story of "poor but amazing children" who live a fun-filled life. What made her make a film like this? "It's a very independent film. I started the shooting of this film in 2013 and it took me almost four years to shoot it. When I was doing post-production of my first film 'Man with the Binoculars: Antardrishti', during that time, I met some amazing children from my village. "I saw them performing in a local gathering with fake instruments. I was amazed and inspired to see them. They didn't have resources but still they were celebrating life, so I didn't want to lose an opportunity to make a film on those children. With 'Village Rockstars', I tried to present a universal human emotion and I am very happy that it has touched hearts of people all around the world." The film won the best feature film award, best editing award and best child actor award at the National Film Awards. Das, a self-taught filmmaker, says she was "speechless" when her movie was announced as India's Oscar entry this year. "It's a huge recognition for us. India is a huge country and there are so many films releasing every year and there are many films which compete with each other to get the official Oscar entry from the country. "I shot this film without any crew and cast of the film wasn't trained in acting, so the process to make this film was hard and challenging, but I think it is possible if you have belief in yourself." The film stars Bhanita Das and Manabendra Das in lead roles. --IANS iv/rb/sed (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twelve Lithuanian nationals were detained for violating a ban on trekking inthe hills in the famous temple town Thursday, and later let off, police said. The foreigners, who had come to Indiaon a pilgrimage had climbed the Deepam hills from Skandashramam near Ramanashramam, they said. On receiving information, the forest department officials rushed to the spot and detained the group members, who told the officials that they wanted to visit the sacred hill and were not aware of the banon trekking. However, they were let off after a warning. Forest officials had issued a ban on trekking and also imposed restrictions on the number of people climbing the hill even during Karthigai Deepam festival following reports offoreigners going missing. Twenty-two people of a 36-member team on a trekking expedition were killed in a forest fire in Kurangani hills in Theni district in March last. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 19-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped in a under construction building in Jalpaiguri district, police said Thursday. The incident happened on Tuesday evening at Jahuri Talma in Jalpaiguri Sadar block, when the woman was going to her sister's place, the police said. According to the woman, two youths stopped her cycle, grabbed her and took her to an under-construction building, a police officer said, adding, three other persons were waiting there and she was gang-raped. A local resident went to the spot after he heard the woman crying, the officer said. The accused fled the scene as soon as the man reached the spot, the officer added. The man took the woman to his house and informed her parents, and the woman's father lodged a complaint with the Jalpaiguri Women Police Station on Wednesday, the police officer said. "We have arrested two accused. We hope to arrest the other three soon," the Officer-in-Charge of the police station, Upasana Gurung, said. The accused would be produced before a court Thursday, Gurung said. The woman was sent to Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital for medical examination, a police officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two encounters broke out between militants and security forces on Thursday morning in Anantnag and Budgam districts of Jammu and Kashmir, a police official said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Qazigund of Anantnag district after receiving information about the presence of militants in the area, the official said. The search operation turned into an encounter with militants when the insurgents opened fire on the security forces, he said. In another operation in Panzan area of Budgam district, security forces were locked in a gunbattle with militants hiding in a village, the official said., adding that there were no reports of casualties so far. Authorities have suspended Internet services in Srinagar and adjoining areas without providing any reason. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two powerful Democratic women senators have urged the not to go ahead with its decision to revoke authorisation to immigrants on H-4 visas, a majority of who are Indian-Americans, as doing so would impact about 100,000 women. H-4 visas are issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to immediate family members spouse and children under 21 years of age of the holder of H-1B visa, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals. Senators from California and Kirsten Gillibrand from New York wrote a letter on the matter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and USCIS Director L Francis Cissna. The letter comes after Department of Homeland Security told a US court last week it is going to revoke employment authorisation of holders and a notification in this connection is to be issued in less than three months. The is reviewing the H-1B visa policy that it thinks is being misused by companies to replace American workers. It has said publicly and also in its court filing it wants to revoke work permits to holders, The move will have a major impact on Indian women as they are a major beneficiary of the Obama-era rule. "Rescinding the H-4 rule will result in significant personal hardship to women who will be forced to abandon their professional careers," the two senators wrote in their letter. "Preventing women from engaging in employment can lead to isolation, depression, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and a loss of self-worth. Revoking a wife's ability to work leaves her and her children entirely dependent on her spouse. Increased isolation coupled with complete financial dependence can make leaving an abusive relationship dangerous and, in some cases, impossible," they wrote. Asserting that independence and equal opportunity are fundamental American values, they said an action to deprive spousal holders the ability to continue to pursue their professional careers is antithetical to principles this country is built on. "We urge you to consider the economic, psychological, and personal harms that rescinding the H-4 rule will cause to more than 100,000 professional women, their families, and their American communities," they said. Harris, the first Indian-origin American Senator, and Gillibrand said a revocation of the H-4 rule would "disproportionately target" South Asian women. "In 2017, 94 per cent of H-4 visa holders with work authorisation were women and 93 per cent were from India. Currently, no more than seven per cent of approximately 375,000 family and employment-based green cards issued annually can go to nationals from the same country," they said. "As a result, over 306,000 Indian applicants and 67,000 Chinese applicants whose applications have been approved are currently in line to receive a green card. Because of the backlog, H1-B visa holders and dependent H-4 visa holders from certain countries in the U.S. are forced to wait from 12 years to an impossible 150 years to receive green cards," they said. In the letter, Harris and Gillibrand said requiring professional women to give up their careers to keep their families united will cause serious harm to their children. Many H-1B families live in higher-cost areas such as Silicon Valley or Seattle, where having two incomes is not a luxury but a necessity. "Rescinding the H-4 rule would create a permanent barrier to employment including self-employment for these women, reinforcing a harmful stereotype that women do not belong in the workplace and widening the gender equality gap," the senators wrote. Solicitor General Jose Calida on Thursday threatened to file a libel complaint against Senator Antonio Trillanes, for accusing him of stealing his amnesty application to justify the revocation of the amnesty granted him by the Aquino administration in 2011. The chief state lawyer said it was recorded custodian Lt. Col. Thea Joan N. Andrade, chief of the discipline, Law and Order Division of the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (J1) who issued a certification that there was no available copy of Trillanes application for amnesty in the records. Calida said Trillanes accusation has no basis because he never entered the offices of the J1 or the Personnel Division of the AFP at Camp Aguinaldo. Unless Mr. Trillanes expresses his sincere apology for calling me a thief, I shall be constrained to file a criminal case for libel plus damages against him, Calida said in a statement. Trillanes said he would not apologize to Calida. He is in no position to demand anything. He knows the truth, the whole Philippines knows at this point the truth. Whatever he plans to do, I expect the worse out of him so he can do whatever he wants, Trillanes said. Earlier, Trillanes earlier claimed that Calida stole his amnesty application, citing Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzanas statement to the media that Calida had requested the document. On Thursday, Calida again pointed out that the revocation of the senators amnesty was based on his failure to comply with the two minimum requirements: A formal application for amnesty and an admission of guilt for the crimes he committed. If we follow the convoluted logic of Mr. Trillanes, hes saying that he did not commit the crimes that were covered by the amnesty. If that is what he really means, then he has no need for amnesty because when one applies for amnesty he must expressly admit his guilt to the crimes he committed, Calida said. Trillanes earlier asked the military why it allowed Calida to take his documents from their custody. I am calling on the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense, particularly AFPs J1. They knew that I applied. They knew that I have the documents. Why did they allow Mr. Calida to take it and lose it? the senator said. Trillanes on Thursday met with some members of the Magdalo group that had staged two attempts to oust then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, GMA News reported. No details of the meeting were available, however. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday joined the call of two other senators for the Supreme Court to swifty rule on Trillanes petition to strike down President Rodrigo Dutertes proclamation that revoked the senators amnesty.Trillanes lawyer, Reynaldo Robles, said they opted to postpone the filing of a motion for reconsideration before Makati RTC Judge Elmo Alameda of Branch 150, saying there is still no urgency to do so. Alameda issued a warrant of arrest against Trillanes after it ruled that the senator did not apply for an amnesty and did not admit his guilt for the crime committed in connection with the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. Drilon said it is the Supreme Court that can rule on this issue and it should decide on the case with urgency given its effects on the stability of our judicial system. We maintain that there is no basis in law and in fact for the resurrection of Trillanes cases, Drilon said, saying that decisions in these cases had been handed down by the courts. A former Justice secretary, Drilon said the Supreme Court, as the final arbiter of justice, should rule on the constitutionality of Dutertes Proclamation 572 as soon as possible. I am confident that the Supreme Court will uphold the rule of law and decide against Proclamation 572, Drilon added. Proclamation 572 nullified Trillanes amnesty, which was granted him in 2011 by then President Benigno Aquino III. Earlier, Senators Francis Escudero and Panfilo Lacson called on the Supreme Court to act quickly on Trillanes petition. Also on Thursday, the former dean of the UP College of Law told the ANC news channel that President Duterte violated the separation of powers when he pushed for the revival of the cases against Trillanes, which were obliterated by the amnesty grant. Speaking to ANCs Early Edition, lawyer Pacifico Agabin said complaints filed against Trillanes were already obliterated after President Aquino granted the ex-mutineer amnesty. [Dutertes] proclamation, on its face, is already considered unconstitutional. It is presumed unconstitutional because first it is a violation of the principle of powers. Here is a final decision of the court, which has been voided by a presidential proclamation, which cannot be done under the principle of separation of powers, he said. The President cannot declare a judgment of the judiciary after seven years void because that would be in violation of the principle of separation of powers. Three militants and a soldier were Thursday killed in two gunfights in Anantnag and Budgam districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Qazigund of Anantnag district after receiving information about the presence of militants in the area, an army official said. The search operation turned into an encounter when the militants opened fire at the security forces, he said. One militant has been killed so far. A soldier laid down his life fighting the ultras, the official said. In another operation in the Panzan area of Budgam district, security personnel killed two militants during an encounter, the official said. The identity and group affiliation of the slain militants were not immediately known. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six people have been arrested and 29 booked in connection a clash between two Dalit groups at Nagla Bajurg village here, police said Thursday. SHO BP Singh said security has been tightened and additional policemen deployed in the village as a precautionary measure. A case has been registered against 29 people and six have been arrested in connection with the clash, the SHO said. One person was killed and several injured in a clash between two Dalit groups over a minor dispute in the village Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US-based experts have said that the verdict on biometric system has struck a balance between the need for a foundational ID and measures to limit its required use, but stressed that the government now urgently needs to pass a legislation on and privacy. The project was launched by the previous UPA government, primarily to plug loopholes in delivering benefits of social welfare schemes to intended beneficiaries. The current expanded the ambit of the biometric project. A constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Wednesday upheld the constitutional validity of but restricted the government's push to make it mandatory for services such as bank accounts, mobile connections and school admissions. "The judgement is the culmination of a long and healthy debate on Aadhaar, in the best traditions of a democratic society that India can truly be proud of," Anit Mukherjee from the Center for Global Development told PTI. The Center is a nonprofit think-tank based in Washington. According to the information on its website, the Center works to reduce global poverty and improve lives through innovative economic research that drives better policy by the world's decision-makers. Mukherjee, an expert on digital IDs, however, said much work lies ahead, especially in improving implementation and creating an enabling legal framework for "As the judges observed 'it is better to be unique than the best' but Aadhaar can aspire to be both," he said. The Supreme Court, he explained, has ruled that Aadhaar in its present form as a digital biometric ID with online verification and authentication has been beneficial to improve governance in India, even though challenges of authentication remain. "So, the principle of 'build it first, roll out fast, implement it as scale' has worked," Mukherjee said. He and two other experts from the Center Alan Gelb and Kyle Navis said the verdict builds on the "proportionality" doctrine enshrined in the previous court ruling on privacy. In that sense, the Aadhaar verdict provides an opportunity to review what has been achieved and how we can move forward, building on areas of strength while addressing the challenges of the future, the experts said. Referring to the verdict, Mukherjee said Aadhaar can be mandatory to receive any government benefit or subsidy but voluntary when it comes to banking, mobile services etc. "The big news is that the government can mandate the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN numbers. If you remember, many of the petitions challenging the linking of Aadhaar started when the government asked for Aadhaar holders to link them to their PAN numbers," he said. Through this judgement, the seems to have permitted the government to mandate the use of Aadhaar both on the expenditure and revenue sides of the exchequer, he said, adding, "This is significant." Mukherjee said the government now urgently needs to pass a legislation on and privacy that will take into account the specific requirements of India. Another major feature of the Supreme Court judgement is the direction by the top court that nobody can be denied their entitlements in case their biometric authentication fails. This, he said, has been a major criticism of Aadhaar's implementation, especially in Jharkhand, where PDS beneficiaries have faced problems in obtaining their rations. "The problem seems to be that providers do not use back up options such as iris verification or mobile OTP once fingerprint authentication fails. This needs to be corrected immediately, the government should closely monitor reported cases of denial of rations or non-receipt of pensions, for example," Mukherjee said. Bringing unorthodox subjects on celluloid, Ayushmann Khurrana realised it was time for him to change gears and experiment by challenging himself as an actor. In an interview with PTI, Ayushmann talked about why it was essential for him to pick up Sriram Raghavan's "Aandhadun". "It was a deliberate decision to move away from that space of doing slice-of-life films. I believe you don't have to change yourself with every film, establish yourself in a particular genre and then break the mould. If you are changing with every film then where is the surprise? You will get exhausted as an actor," he said. The actor says he realised that this film offered him the perfect opportunity to break away from the image of playing a middle class boy. "I was ready to do this film as soon as possible. This film would been a game changer for me as I have been doing slice-of-life films and I have established myself in a particular genre successfully. I wanted to break that mould." To Ayushmann's surprise, Raghavan had seen some of his films and liked the kind of work he was doing. "He told me that I am a good actor but he doesn't see me in a thriller space. It will be an interesting casting as nobody expects you in my film. "We shot two scenes. We did certain blind scenes and it was great experience. While I was doing it, he was like let's discuss dates now. I am a guitarist and he was convinced that I would learn piano as I know the chords, and all." Ayushmann, 34, recalled that as a struggler he used to audition for films a lot but once he became an established actor, he stopped doing it. What Ayushmann enjoyed the most, he says, is the way the "Badlapur" director narrated the story of this forthcoming film. "It was a very fascinating narration as he will ask you questions in between like 'what will happen next' as he wants to gauge the reaction of the actor. That keeps you on your toes and you keep thinking, what is going to happen now. "But he is always thinking ten steps ahead of the viewer. His style is amazing. I was excited about his world. I loved 'Ek Hasina Thi', it was a game changer for Saif Ali Khan and 'Badlapur' for Varun Dhawan, now I hope this film works for me." In this genre, Ayushmann feels it is important for actors to do their job earnestly as there is no method to get it right. "One has to own that character and those lines. Whatever the body language is, you have to imbibe that for your role. It is a different zone. Acting in slice-of-life is easier than this as there was no reference point. Playing blind pianist was doubly challenging." Releasing on October 5, "Aandhadun" also features Tabu and Radhika Apte in ivotal roles. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas tore into the Trump administration Thursday, refusing to accept the United States as the sole mediator in the Middle East conflict, a day after Donald Trump promised a "very fair" peace plan. The 82-year-old Palestinian Authority president used his address to the UN General Assembly to lambast the United States for closing the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moving its embassy and slashing Palestinian aid money. Speaking one day after the US president said he favored a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and vowed to unveil a new peace plan within months, Abbas said Trump could not be regarded as a neutral broker. "We will also not accept sole American mediation in the peace process," he said, accusing the former real estate tycoon of being "biased" towards Israel since taking office in January 2017. "With all of these decisions, this administration has reneged on all previous US commitments, and even undermined the two-state solution," Abbas told the world body in a nearly 40-minute speech. "It's really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the 'deal of the century.' "But what is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people? Only humanitarian solutions?" Palestinian leaders have long seen President Donald Trump's administration as blatantly biased in favor of Israel and seeking to blackmail them into accepting their terms. The Palestinian leadership cut off contact with the White House after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last December and the United States has also cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid. "From this august platform, I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees ... in order to salvage the prospects for peace and to achieve stability and security for future generations," Abbas said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani met Wednesday Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to discuss investment possibilities in the state in different sectors, including agriculture, communication, tourism and energy. Appreciating the interest shown by the Adani Group in investing in Uttarakhand, Rawat said the state government's impetus to investments was being appreciated by entrepreneurs across the country who had a big role to play in the economic development of the state and employment generation. Adani, who called on the chief minister at his residencehere on Wednesday evening, was assured of an investment-friendly environment, an official release here said. Rawat expected support from Adani group inaromatic plants and horticulture sectors. Adani showed interest in the construction of the ropeway in Dehradun, Mussoorie, Nainital, Hemkund Sahib, Yamunotri and Kedarnath. Adani saidthe natural beauty of Uttarakhand is important from the point of view of tourism which requires special focus.He also talked about the need for better processing and packaging of local agricultural products and offered assistance in that direction. Apart from this, a comprehensive discussion on various investment schemes for the state was held including the Smart City project, an International Convention Center to be established in Rishikesh and tourism activities in Tehri Lake. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Multilateral lender ADB will provide USD 150 million loan for establishing the first multi-skills park in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 150 million loan to establish the first multi-skills park in India, it said in a release Thursday. The skills park is to be equipped with international training facilities to enhance the quality of Madhya Pradesh's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system. It will create a more skilled workforce that meets the labour market needs of the state, ADB said. "Madhya Pradesh has one of the largest working-age populations in India, with the labour force expected to expand from 48 million in 2016 to 56 million in 2026. However, not a lot of them have the necessary skills and training that can meet the employment needs of the state's emerging sectors," said ADB Principal Social Sector Specialist Sunhwa Lee. ADB's assistance will help open up opportunities to the men and women of Madhya Pradesh to gain high-level skills that increase their employability and capacity to contribute to growth, Lee said. As per ADB, the skills gap in Madhya Pradesh is expected to increase in the next six years, with an incremental demand for skilled workers projected to hit 5.6 million in 2024. More than 55 per cent of the state's workforce is currently in agriculture, while 22 per cent is in industry and 23 per cent in services. The percentage of people in the workforce that has undergone any formal vocational training is just 1.2 per cent. This is exacerbated by the fact that quality and industrial relevance of current TVET programmes in Madhya Pradesh are inadequate, with employers revealing that many graduates of these programs require additional training, ADB said. This new flagship Global Skills Park (GSP) campus will be established in state capital Bhopal from where about 20,000 people are expected to be benefited. The Madhya Pradesh Skills Development Project will also help in modernising 10 industrial training institutes across the state by renovating training infrastructure and upgrading skills courses to align with industry and market needs. ADB said it will also administer a USD 2 million technical assistance grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan. It will help assist in the preparation of the operational guidelines and setting up of the GSP Society as well as in the development of reform initiatives for industrial training institutes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has urged his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani to allot a piece of land near the 'Statue of Unity' so the state government can construct a grand UP Bhawan there, a senior official said Thursday. In the letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Adityanath said a piece of land may alloted near the 'Statue of Unity' at the 'Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat Complex', so that a grand Uttar Pradesh Bhawan could be built, a senior UP government official told PTI. He added that in the letter, Adityanath said Rupani's proposal of allotment of land to various state governments, for the construction of bhawans of various states under the complex was a welcome step. "I congratulate you for this... I would like to inform you that I had taken an initiative in this regard and had requested for allotment of the piece of land," the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said. He also asked the Gujarat chief minister to inform the UP government about the allotment of land so that it could start construction work on a priority basis. The letter was written about two weeks ago, the official said. "The allotment of land to UP depends upon the availability of land (there). A world-class memorial on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is being constructed there. The UP Bhawan would facilitate tourists coming from Uttar Pradesh in their visit to the Statue of Unity," he added. The request of the UP government was being processed, the official said. An iconic 182-metre tall statue, a tribute to the Iron Man of India, is being built at the Sadhu-Bet Island, approximately 3.5 kilometres south of Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in the Narmada district of Gujarat. The total project cost is estimated to be Rs 2,989 crore. On September 9, Rupani had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the statue of Sardar Patel, described by the Gujarat government as the world's tallest, on the birth anniversary of India's first home minister on October 31. On Wednesday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar accepted the proposal of Rupani to set up a 'State Bhavan' at Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Complex' near the Statue of Unity. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Over the last 10 years, he lost custody of his child, was fired from two jobs and suffered huge mental trauma after his wife registered a case against him on charges of adultery. The charges were false, said Ashok Dixit*, and the harassment only too real. On Thursday, when the Supreme Court verdict declared that adultery is not a crime, the 32-year-old IT professional from Pune, who has spent over Rs 4 lakh on legal consultations, said he was relieved but also troubled. "The judgement brings me relief but what about the years of harassment and trauma that I went through," he said. Kumar Ramesh* has a similar story to tell. He said his wife slapped a case of adultery against him when he found out about her affair. "I am happy that finally a gender-neutral decision has been taken but I have gone through so much stress. I wish the decision had come earlier," the 35-year-old doctor from Delhi said. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. The judgement received mixed response from husbands. While some called it empowering, many said it would make their life worse. Dixit and Ramesh welcomed it, but some 'wronged husbands' said the verdict has washed away many years of their work. Like Chaitanya Gowda, who claimed his wife was having an affair and he had been collecting evidence against her and her lover for the last eight years. But that case, which was to have been filed by the lover's wife, is no longer valid with the court decriminalising adultery. The 45-year-old from Bangalore said his wife has accused him of domestic violence and demanding dowry. According to him, the Supreme Court verdict would make life more miserable for people like him. "Earlier at least the wife of the paramour was able to file a case against him but now my wife and her lover will get a free hand to do what they want," he said. Gowda said he has not been allowed to see his child for eight years. Debjyoti Das, 42, who works in the IT industry, said his wife had multiple affairs and he, too, had gathered evidence against her alleged lover for whom she had left him. "The evidence I gathered for a period of over two years have been wasted but it all went down the drain after the judgement on Thursday," Das, who has a 10-year-old son, said. According to Rajesh Vakharia, activist and president of Save the Family Foundation, the apex court verdict was taken in the name of women's empowerment but there is also the issue of family empowerment. "It cannot be one-sided," he said. Kumar Jahagirdar, another activist fighting for the rights of the men, said domestic violence should be made gender neutral and there should be counselling before marriages to check compatibility between couples. The Supreme Court bench also held that adultery would continue to be treated as a civil wrong and can be ground for dissolution of marriage. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home, the chief justice said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." (*Names changed to protect identity). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Almost all stranded persons in Himachal Pradesh's snowbound Lahaul and Spiti district have been evacuated to safer places, officials said Thursday. While a total of 99 stranded persons, including 18 foreigners have been airlifted from various inaccessible areas of Lahaul tehsil, over 1,000 persons were transported to safer places by roads in the last three days, they added. Several roads, including Darcha-Khoksar and Tandi-Thirot, have been cleared of snow by Border Road Organisation (BRO) personnel, they said. These roads are now ready for vehicular traffic after they were closed of due to untimely snowfall and rains. A total of 63 persons, including three German citizens, were airlifted on Thursday by three Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters, a Kullu district official said, adding that the rescued were flown to a temporary helipad in Kullu district. The evacuation operation was coordinated by IAF Wing Commander SK Ahuja. Earlier, five stranded persons had been airlifted on Tuesday, whereas 31 were airlifted on Wednesday, which included 15 foreigners. The 18 foreigners who were evacuated in the last three days include four Danish, three Germans, eight Nepalese, two Norwegians and one Bhutani citizens, the officials said. All airlifted persons have been provided first-aid at the regional hospital in Kullu and most of them were discharged immediately, Kullu Deputy Commissioner Yunus said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ParisChinese officials pulled a tour by the German theater star Thomas Ostermeier when audience members in Beijing shouted slogans demanding free speech, the director told AFP. Ostermeier, one of Europes hottest theater makers, said the Chinese tour of Ibsens An Enemy of the Peoplein which a local doctor fights political corruptionwas abruptly cut short by the authorities because of technical problems. His acclaimed version of the 19th-century classic by the Norwegian playwright, which played at the Opera House of the National Center for the Performing Arts near Tiananmen Square, includes a scene where the actors and audience interact. When the authorities realized [after the first of three planned performances in the Chinese capital] that it included an interaction, they did everything they could so there would be no scandal, Ostermeier told AFP. But the news had spread like wildfire on social media, the director of Berlins famed Schaubuhne Theater added. The authorities moved quickly to censor all mention of the scene, erasing everything that had been said on social media, said Ostermeier, who is in Paris to premiere his new staging of Shakespeares Twelfth Night at the Comedie Francaise. State control of the Internet has been drastically increased in China under President Xi Jinping, with the web regularly purged of criticism of the authorities or content judged politically sensitive. Ostermeier said he was told to cut the scene but instead replaced it with a announcement saying that we would have liked to have a discussion with you, but the actor who was to do it has lost his voice. Has that ever happened to you? Then the whole troupe came on stage and there was two minutes of silence. The audience understood immediately, Ostermeier said of the performance earlier this month. Some started shouting out their support of free speech and individual liberty, he added. The German, who has toured China with his company many times before, said he had been told by fellow directors that it wouldnt be possible to stage An Enemy of the People in the country.The play tells the story of a provincial doctor who discovers that the waters of a spa are contaminated. But when he reveals the scandal he is forced out of his home after being accused of trying to ruin the village. Ostermeier said he thought that by inviting him to stage the play in China, the authorities wanted to show their openness. It was only later that we realized that they had not seen the play in advance, and that from their point of view, there had been an error, he said. Further performances in Nanjing were canceled because of technical problems. The left-wing director has shown his adaptation in some 40 countries after it was the hit of the Avignon festival in France in 2012. Since then he has filmed the scene where the public are invited to speak in every city that it plays for a documentary he is making called Mapping Democracy. The Beijing show was also filmed although the recording was later confiscated by officials. However, Ostermeier revealed that he still has a copy. Its delicate, he told AFP. They wanted to watch it to see who had spoken out. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday directed all state deputy commissioners to immediately release pending compensation to farmers who suffered losses during rains in 2017. Expressing concern at the delay in disbursement of 2017 compensation by the DCs despite them having received the money from the revenue department, the chief minister directed the financial commissioner (revenue) to seek an explanation from the DCs, according to an official release. Chairing a meeting to finalise modalities for the early release of compensation to the people affected by the recent rains, the chief minister ordered that ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh be paid to each family which lost a member in the recent rains. The chief minister was apprised that five deaths had occurred in the state; two in Tarn Taran and one each in Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Moga. The chief minister asked chief principal secretary Suresh Kumar to circulate detailed instructions regarding norms and criteria for assessment and release of compensation among all field officers in order to ensure timely payments. The chief minister was told that a detailed memorandum for seeking financial assistance from the Centre will be prepared after compilation of data on crop damage, property and livestock loss. The chief minister said compensation for the complete loss of crop, which was earlier fixed at Rs 8,000 per acre, should be paid at the enhanced rate of Rs 12,000 per acre. The spokesperson said as per rules compensation of Rs 12,000 per acre will be paid for crop loses ranging between 76 per cent to 100 per cent, Rs 5,400 per acre for losses between 33 per cent to 75 per cent, and Rs 2,000 per acre for 26 per cent to 32 per cent. A compensation of Rs 95,100 will be paid for full or severely damaged houses, and Rs 5,200 for partially damaged ones. In case of loss of livestock (buffalo or cow), the compensation will range between Rs 30,000 to Rs 90,000, and for goat, sheep and pig it was fixed at Rs 3,000. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa and Rajasthan bagged top honours at the National Tourism Awards 2016-2017, which were presented by Union minister K J Alphons on Thursday. The awards were given in various segments of travel, tourism and hospitality industries. The tourism minister also launched the 'Incredible India' mobile app and the 'Incredible India Tourist Facilitators Certification' programme. Andhra Pradesh bagged the top prize for promoting 'Andhra Pradesh Tourism' as a global brand, Kerala came second for comprehensive development of tourism. Rajasthan and Goa shared the third spot. The awardees were chosen on the basis of several parameters including tourist footfall, initiative of the state government and policies implemented to make the state tourist-friendly. A total of 77 awards were presented to the tourism industry stakeholders, state governments, central agencies and individuals. Speaking on the occasion, Alphons said India has made great strides in the field of tourism during the last four years of the Modi government. Today, tourism is the cornerstone of the Indian economy as it is a major source of employment and foreign exchange and in order to tap the full potential of this sector, the industry has to join hands, he said. "The tourism sector needs to improve its hospitality services since it is the hospitality offered which is the distinguishing feature of India and gives it an edge over other countries," Alphons said. It is the responsibility of every citizen to build the image of the country as a safe tourist destination, he added. He also announced that India will be host the World Tourism Day celebrations for the UNWTO in 2019. Speaking about the 'Incredible India' mobile app, the minister said it has been designed keeping in mind the preferences of the modern traveller and follows the trends and technologies of international standards. It will showcase India as a holistic destination, revolving around major experiences such as spirituality, heritage, adventure, culture, yoga and wellness, among others. Alphons said the ministry has also formulated a voluntary scheme for approval of operational motels with effect from September 25, 2018. It is aimed at recognising the motel segment as a component of the overall tourism product and to set standards of facilities and services of motels, he added. Alphons said flood-ravaged Kerala is ready to receive tourists since the hotels and tourist sites are now operational. He said Kerala is rapidly recovering from the disaster and now is the time for the tourism industry to support the state's tourism sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Ashton Kutcher has signed over his LA home to his ex-wife Demi Moore's daughter, Rumer Willis. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the 40-year-old actor had purchased the property for USD 971,500 in 2009. Kutcher and Rumer, the daughter of Moore and her ex-husband Bruce Willis, were listed as the owners. The publication reports that the co-ownership ended last month after Rumer filed documents stating that the proprietorship rights had been terminated and all debt had been satisfied in full. Actor Mila Kunis, Kutcher's current wife, filed a quitclaim deed to sign the rights over to Rumer. Kutcher also filed a grant deed stating the same. However, it is unknown if Willis had to pay Kutcher and Kunis for their share of the home but the property was "sold" for USD 572,500 in August, the same month Rumer filed the documents. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam government has decided to remit jail sentences of 20 prisoners on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The prisoners would be released on October two, an official release said on Thursday. Of the total number of prisoners to be released, five each are from Dibrugarh and Golaghat Central Jails, four from Dhemaji Central Jail, two from Tinsukia and one each is from Jorhat, Barpeta, Tezpur and Nagaon jails, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam which had arisen during the hearing of Ayodhya land dispute. In a majority verdict of 2:1, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence and the previous verdict has no relevance on it. Justice Ashok Bhushan, who read out the judgement for himself and the CJI, said it has to find out the context in which the five-judge had delivered the 1994 judgement. Justice S Abdul Nazeer disagreed with the two judges and said whether mosque is integral to Islam has to be decided considering belief of religion and it requires detailed consideration. He referred to the recent Supreme Court order on female genital mutilation and said the present matter be heard by larger bench. The apex court said now the civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench on October 29 as Justice Misra will retire on October 2 as the CJI. The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when he three-judge bench headed by CJI Misra was hearing the batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided in three parts. A three-judge bench of the high court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) "The Hindu solution of the problem of the conflict of religions is likely to be accepted in the future seems to me to be fairly certain" -- this quote of former President S Radhakrishnan was referred to by the Supreme Court on Thursday on the Ayodhya dispute case. The apex court also quoted the words of King Asoka and two former judges who have heard the issues related to the Ayodhya dispute. The majority verdict by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan on the case quoted Radhakrishnan from his book "The Hindu View of Life", while dealing with the subject of "conflict of religion". "We are also reminded of rich culture and heritage of this ancient country which has always been a matter of great learning and inspiration for the whole world," the bench said. The court said that King Ashok had given several messages to the world which are engraved in rock edicts which shows reverence towards faith of others. Justice Bhushan said that former president has expressed great hope with Hindu view of life. The bench also recalled the words of two judges Justice J S Verma, who authored the majority verdict of Ismail Faruqui case of 1994, and Justice S U Khan, who was part of the bench of Allahabad High Court which pronounced the verdict on Ayodhya dispute in 2010. "We remind us as well as members of both the major communities of this country, Hindus and Muslims, the thoughtful message given by Justice S U Khan in his judgment as well as the words of Justice J S Verma speaking for majority in Ismail Faruqui's case," it said. Quoting Justice J S Verma it said that his judgement had expressed great hope for Hinduism which is a tolerant faith. "Hinduism is a tolerant faith. It is that tolerance that has enabled Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism to find shelter and support upon this land. We have no doubt that the moderate Hindu has little taste for the tearing down of the place of worship of another to replace it with a temple...", said the bench, quoting Justice Verma. Justice Bhushan, quoting Justice S U Khan from his judgement said: "Muslims must also ponder that at present the entire world wants to know the exact teaching of Islam in respect of relationship of Muslims with others. Hostility-peace-friendship-tolerance --opportunity to impress others with the Message -- opportunity to strike wherever and whenever possible or what? In this regard Muslims in India enjoy a unique position..." The bench further said: "We are confident that observations made by Justice S.U. Khan of Allahabad High Court as quoted as well as observations of Justice J S Verma made in the judgment are observations which shall guide both the communities in their thought, deed and action." Justice Bhushan also quoted the King Asoka in 245 BC and said that he had given several messages to the world which are engraved in rock edicts which shows reverence towards faith of others. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A guarded Congress on Thursday stressed that all sides should abide by the Supreme Court judgement on the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid issue, as the apex court paved the way for hearing the main title suit after setting aside a plea to set up a larger bench to relook a 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam". The opposition party also hit out at the BJP, accusing it of conspiring to mislead and befool the people of the country on the Ram temple issue. Congress leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said while the BJP garners votes in the name of Ram Temple, it sends Lord Ram to exile the moment it comes to power. She questioned the BJP for not doing anything on the Ram Temple issue despite being in power and continuing to garner votes in the name of Lord Ram. The Congress leader also accused the BJP of trying to mislead people on Rahul Gandhi's spiritual quest while undertaking the Mansarovar yatra earlier and now Chitrakoot yatra in Madhya Pradesh. "The Congress has always said that whatever the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of Ram Temple-Babri Masjid, all sides should abide by it and the government should implement it. "Unfortunately, for the last 30 years after 1992, the BJP has been conspiring to mislead and befool the people of the country on the Ram Temple issue. BJP is a party which is double-faced on Ram and has "Nathuram" in their hearts," she said, referring to the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. Chaturvedi said after 1999, the BJP governments have ruled for over nine years. "In every election, to garner votes they remember Lord Ram and after coming to power they send him to exile. This double-speak of the BJP is its real face," she alleged. The Congress leader accused the BJP of questioning the devotion that one has for Lord Shiva, saying it raised objections on Rahul Gandhi's Kedarnath yatra. They have also raised a hue and cry on Gandhi's Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. "Now when Rahul Gandhi is undertaking the Chitrakoot yatra, BJP people are worried and tense. They should understand that if they create hurdles in the devotion of God, they will be committing a sin as per ancient saying. I can only pray that may Lord grant you good sense," she said. The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to set up a larger bench for a relook of its 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam" paving the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit from October 29. Ruling that the earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition" during the hearing of the Ayodhya case, the top court in a 2-1 verdict made it clear it was not relevant for deciding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, whose outcome will be eagerly awaited ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gritty Bangladesh set up a final clash with India in the Asia Cup after stunning by 37 runs in the last Super Four match, riding on Mushfiqur Rahim's valiant 99 here. Mushfiqur notched up his 30th half-century, while Mohammad Mithun made 60 to lift Bangladesh to a decent 239 all out from a precarious position after skipper Mashrafe Mortaza opted to bat in the virtual semifinal on Wednesday night. Mushfiqur was unlucky as he fell one short of what could have been his seventh ODI century but did enough to rescue Bangladesh with a 144-run fourth wicket stand with Mithun after they were reduced to 12 for three inside five overs. Later, opener Imam-ul-Haq (83) turned out to be the lone bright spot for as they faltered in pursuit of the modest chase and were restricted to 202 for nine. Bangladesh will now take on India in the title clash in Dubai on Friday. Just like Bangladesh, Pakistan's chase got off to a disastrous start as they were reduced to 18 for three in 3.3 overs. But Imam did not give up the fight and stitched two crucial partnerships with Shoaib Malik (30) and Asif Ali (31) to keep in the hunt. Imam first stitched 67 runs for the fourth wicket with Malik and then shared crucial a 71-run partnership with Ali to keep Pakistan's hopes alive. But the day belonged to Bangladesh as they never gave up hope and fought tooth and nail to stay one step ahead of Pakistan in the match. Pakistan did not have the best of starts as they lost Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed early. Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman (4/43) and off-spinner Mehidy Hasan (2/28) did the early damage for Bangladesh. But the turning point of the match was Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza's blinder of a catch at midwicket to remove Malik off Rubel Hossain's bowling in the 21st over. Mortaza dived full length to his left to latch on to a screamer as Malik went for a chip over midwicket. That was the trigger that Bangladesh needed as they bowled and fielded brilliantly inside the circle to frustrate the Pakistani batsmen. Imam and Ali raised some visions of a victory with their 71-run stand but dismissal of both the batsmen in quick succession derailed Pakistan's chase. Earlier, Bangladesh too were off to a horrendous start as they lost their first three wickets with the scoreboard reading just 12 in 4.2 overs. Left-arm pacer Junaid did the early damage, removing openers Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar in his consecutive overs. One-down Mominul Haque failed once again as he was cleaned up by young left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi (2/47) in the fourth over. But Bangladesh's go to man in crisis situations, Mushfiqur once again came to his side's rescue and in Mithun's company first stabilised the rocking ship and in the process brought up the century stand in 176 deliveries. In dire need of a partnership, the duo started cautiously and grew in confidence as the match progressed. Both Mushfiqur and Mithun punished the bad deliveries that came their way. But just when the partnership was looking dangerous, Pakistan got the vital breakthrough in the form of Mithun who was caught by Hasan Ali (2/60) off his own bowling in the 35th over. Mithun's second fifty of his career came off 84 balls with the help of just four boundaries. Imrul Kayes (9) looked shaky from the onset and didn't last long, falling LBW to leg-spinner Shadab Khan (1/52). The diminutive Mushfiqur, however, went about his business with a calm head and looked set for a well-deserved century but luck was not on his side as he sneaked a good length delivery from Afridi to Sarfraz Ahmed just one short of the three-figure mark. Mushfiqur scored his runs off 116 balls with the help of nine fours. Towards the end Mahmudullah (25) and skipper Mashrafe Mortaza tried to use their long handle to maximum effect to take Bangladesh beyond the 250-run mark. For Pakistan, comeback man Junaid Khan shone with the ball, registering impressive figures of four for 19 from his nine overs. West Bengal Mahila Trinamool Congress on Thursday brought out a procession in the city protesting against alleged anti-people policies of the Narendra Modi-led central government. State Mahila Trinamool Congress president Chandrima Bhattacharya led the procession from Moulali to Esplanade in central part of the city. "We strongly condemn the misrule of the Modi government which is leading the country in wrong direction by dividing people on religious lines," Bhattacharya said addressing the participants at the end of the procession. Bhattacharya, also an MoS for Health and e-governance, alleged the Modi government has failed to rule the country and as a result prices of all essential commodities including petroleum products were rising. "People will give a fitting reply to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled next year by defeating the Modi government," she said. On Wednesday's Bangla bandh called by the BJP, Bhattacharya said, "The BJP failed to make Bangla bandh a success with the help of hooliganism." State's Women and Child Welfare and Social Welfare Minister Sashi Panja, who also took part in the procession, wondered the way attacks and assaults on women were increasing countrywide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The BJP and its ideological parent RSS Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court order on the Ayodhya land case, hoping that it will pave the way for an early final verdict on the contentious issue, while a guarded Congress said all sides should abide by the decision. As the apex court declined to set up a larger bench for a relook at its 1994 verdict which held that a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam", the BJP expressed hope that a final verdict will now come sooner than later. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Hindutva leader Yogi Aditynath said a majority of people want a solution to the case at the earliest as he welcomed the verdict and expressed hope that a final verdict will be delivered quickly. In an apparent attack on the Muslim organisaitons which had urged the apex court to send the matter to a constitution bench -- a plea it declined today, Adityanath said some people wanted to delay the final verdict, and the sooner it comes the better it will be. "Today's verdict is very important. We welcome it," he told reporters. The Congress was cautious in its response and stressed that all sides should abide by the Supreme Court judgement on the issue. The opposition party also hit out at the BJP, accusing it of conspiring to mislead and befool the people of the country on the Ram temple issue. Its leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said while the BJP garners votes in the name of Ram Temple, it sends Lord Ram "to exile" the moment it comes to power. The issue is fraught with political implications, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believes that it can gain from the matter in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. It is on the back of its movement in support of a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya that the BJP became a major national political party in 1990s and formed successive governments at the Centre under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Snagh also welcomed the order and expressed confidence that a just verdict on the case will be reached at the earliest. "Today, the Supreme Court has decided to hold hearing on the...case from October 29 by a three-member bench. We welcome this decision and are confident that a just verdict will be reached over the case at the earliest," the Sangh said in a statement. Its chief Mohan Bhagwat had recently said that a Ram temple should be built at the earliest. BJP leader and Union minister Uma Bharti, who has been a party leader associated with the Ram temple movement, said Ayodhya is a holy place for Hindus, not for Muslims. In an apparent attack on the BJP, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja said some parties have been trying to gain political advantage from the Ayodhya issue ahead of the general election and asked people not to fall "into the trap". In its response, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which had demanded that the matter be sent to a Constitution bench, said it saw "some positive movement" in the Ayodhya land case with the verdict. It said the verdict indicated that the hearing in the case will not be done on the basis of faith. AIMPLB member Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said the AIMPLB had wanted the Supreme Court's 1994 observation that the mosque is not integral to Islam be put before a Constitution bench "so that the matter is resolved permanently". Muslim parties in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute welcomed the verdict, saying it "is in our favour". Khaliq Ahmad Khan, the nominee of one of the litigants in the title suit, said, "The other side always quoted the 1994 judgement that mosque is not an integral part of Islam. Now the court has made it clear that the 1994 judgement was related to the land acquisition...and that it has no connection with the tittle suit. We have achieved our goal as the Supreme Court will hear only the tittle suit." BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said the verdict has paved the way for a final decision, hoping that the construction of the Ram temple should start before Diwali. Another BJP Hindutva leader Vinay Katiyar also welcomed the order while Vishva Hindu Parishad's working president Alok Kumar also expressed his organisation's satisfaction. The Supreme Court Thursday declined to refer to a larger bench the "questionable observation" in its 1994 verdict that "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam", paving the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit from October 29. Holding that the earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition" during the hearing of the Ayodhya case, the top court in a 2-1 verdict made it clear it will not have any bearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute whose outcome will be eagerly awaited ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It may have been a long time coming, but eco-fashion is no longer a hippie pipe dream. Biker jackets made from pineapple leaves and leather tanned with olive extract rather than hugely polluting chemicals are now within reach, experts say. Everyone from young avant garde designers to the big-name brands are racing to hop on the bandwagon, with trainers with soles made from recycled plastic bottles already selling by the million. Last year alone Adidas sold one million of its Parley trainersmade from plastic fished from the oceanand the German sportswear giant is ramping up production of a range of similarly recycled styles. And on Wednesday Yolanda Zobel, the new designer at the futuristic French brand Courreges, did the unthinkable and declared that she was doing away with the space-age vinyl that has been the labels stock and trade since the 1960s. After a final numbered capsule collection called Fin de Plastique (The End of Plastic) that will count down its stocks of vinyl, the German will try to source sustainable or recycled versions of the shiny fabric. Theres no better world coming if we dont take actions today, Zobel said. Attitudes to eco-fashion have totally changed in the last few years, said Marina Coutelan, who helps run Premiere Vision, a hugely influential twice-yearly trade fair in Paris where the movers and shakers of the fashion industry flock in search of new materials and ideas.With the millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) now beginning to call the shots in the fashion industry, we are seeing lots of trendy products from sustainable materials because they have grown up with the idea that we need to be eco-responsible, Coutelan told AFP. A case in point are rising stars Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh, the Dutch pair who have just been headhunted to take over the Nina Ricci Paris fashion house. Sustainable fashion was always talked about, said 28-year-old Herrebrugh. Now it is something we can see. Their own Botter brand makes hats, scarves and jackets from recycled plastic bags and bottles often found in the seaa cause dear to Botter, who was born on the Caribbean island of Curacao. High street chains may still be obsessed with fast, throwaway fashion, but luxury brands are leading the way in trying to rethink the business, said Coutelan. She points to the French giant Kering, which owns Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen among others, as one of the pioneers of sustainability.It has reduced its environmental impact by a quarter and hopes to cut it by 40 percent by 2025, she said. Even so, fashion is still by some measures the second most polluting industry the world. Kering until recently owned a 50-percent stake in Stella McCartney, the label that has pushed the ethical and environmental envelope the furthest, refusing to use fur, leather or feathers. The British designer uses recycled wool and polyester made from plastic water bottles, and intends to stop using virgin nylon entirely within two years and new polyester by 2025. Invitations for her Paris fashion week show on Monday proclaim that Green is the new black and feature a new cartoon where she stars with Minnie The Minx in a story extolling the virtues of regenerated cashmere. McCartney told AFP that she would like to go faster but the technology we need to reach this point is not yet available in a sustainable and circular way. Campaigners say there are multiple ways to make sustainable clothes. The highly rated young French designer Marine Serre is an often brilliant upcyclerturning old bed covers into evening gowns in her latest Paris fashion week show Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Canadian Marie-Eve Lecavalier has made a name for herself with leather knitwear made from leftover ends rejected by luxury brands. It takes a lot of work but the result is great. In North America people waste so much. We have to find another way, she told AFP. With tanning one of the worlds dirtiest trades, leather alternatives like Pinatex, which is made from the fibres of pineapple leaves but is equally supple and strong, are gaining ground. Hugo Boss has already made trainers and Lancel bags from the material, which is being marketed by the British firm Ananas Anam that works with farmers cooperatives in the Philippines. The German group Wet Green has developed a potentially revolutionary line called Olivenleder, biodegradable leathers tanned with an agent made from olive fibers. It is so safe you can even eat it, joked spokesman Thomas Lamparter. For Chantal Malingrey, of Premiere Vision, wholly sustainable fashion is not yet the norm. But such is the pace of innovation, she insisted, that the trend is irreversible. Police Thursday retrieved the body of a partially blind PhD scholar of Ravenshaw University from a drain adjacent to the New PG Hostel of the campus. Kushadhar Bag, a research scholar of political science from Balangir district, was staying there for over a month now, police said. The university authorities said the visually handicapped scholar had fallen from the hostel terrace to his death, members of Blind Association of Odisha alleged that he was murdered by some anti-social elements. The vice-chancellor also ordered an in-house enquiry into the death," University Registrar Maheswar Agasti said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistan Rangers on Thursday handed over the body of a 53-year-old Indian farmer, who was swept away in the gushing waters of Ravi river to Pakistan, to the Border Security Force (BSF) here, officials said. The body of Balwinder Singh was received by his family members at the Attari-Wagah joint check post, they said. Singh fell into the river on Tuesday while working in a field in Ajnala sector and was swept towards Pakistan by the turbulent waters, they said. He was found dead by the Pakistan Rangers. The BSF was informed about Singh during a flag meeting with Pakistan at the international border. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The debate over what is being seen as Bollywood's #MeToo moment snowballed Thursday as Tanushree Dutta reiterated her claim that Nana Patekar had harassed her on the sets of a film in 2008 and the veteran actor laughed off her allegation, asking what he could do about it. A day after Dutta reopened the window on the 10-year-old incident and specifically named Patekar, there was a furious discussion on social media platforms and other media outlets but the film industry itself was mostly silent. Patekar dismissed Dutta's claim that he had misbehaved with her on the sets of "Horn Ok Pleassss" in 2008. In a telephonic conversation with Mirror Now, the 67-year-old actor said he would see if he could take any legal step. "What can I do about it? Tell me? How would I know?" he asked with a laugh. "What does she mean by sexual harassment? There are 50-100 people on the sets with me. Will see what I can do legally," Patekar can be heard saying in Marathi in the audio available on the channel's official Twitter account. Such behaviour, he added, could not have gone unnoticed in a film set with "50-100" people. Rakesh Sarang, director of "Horn Ok Pleassss", backed Patekar. "She misunderstood the enthusiasm of Mr Patekar. There were so many people on the sets. If somebody wanted to do it, why do it in front of everyone?" Sarang told PTI. Dutta, who said she had spoken about her ordeal in 2008 as well, described Patekar's response as a "fear and intimidation tactic". Patekar was "repeating the mistake" that got him into trouble, she said. "I don't even consider him worth commenting on... Dismissing a woman's claim, dismissing her completely. It is fear and intimidation tactic. This attitude to laugh it off, I think he will face a severe backlash. I can see through everything he is trying to do. That is sad," the actor, who is now based in the US, told PTI. Asked about the issue that was trending on social media and was the subject of many discussions all over, Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan evaded a direct answer. "My name is not Tanushree and my name is not Nana Patekar," Bachchan, who shared screen space with Patekar in "Kohram" in 1999, said when asked to react to Dutta's allegations. Khan said it would not be right for him to comment but "whenever something like this does happens it is really a sad thing". The two stars were speaking at the trailer launch of their upcoming film "Thugs of Hindostan". "I don't think I can comment on it... But whenever something like this does happens it is really a sad thing. Now whether such a thing has happened, it is for people to investigate," Khan added. Asked about the evasive reaction, Dutta said she was going to give them time and was hopeful that "people would do the right thing". "They are exposing themselves. This is the response of those who talk about women's empowerment and support the #MeToo movement happening in America... and when that is happening here, this is how they respond," she said. She said she was coming from a compassionate space and was not going to jump to conclusions. "Some humanity will rise and they will say or do something about it. I am still hopeful that people will do the right thing," the actor said. When Dutta had raised the issue in 2008, Patekar denied the claims. Recounting the incident and its aftermath, she said she had tried to escape but the situation went from being a "harassment situation to a mob lynching situation". "When I tried to escape they called the media, they called some people to mob lynch and attack my car. My parents were there inside and even I was inside, it was horrific... "They made sure that we did not escape from the studio, they locked the gates and then the cops came and they got us out... So when we filed the police report, they filed a counter complaint and because of the counter FIR, my dad, hair dresser and spot boy had to go through so much harassment over the next couple of years," she recounted. Dutta's allegations have triggered a furious debate on sexual harassment in the Hindi film industry with many supporting her but others questioning her motives for raising the issue so many years later. The actor, who has featured in films such as "Aashiq Banaya Aapne" and "Chocolate", said she spoke about the issue earlier and no one had the right to say anything to her. "They called me a slut, an unprofessional.. when I spoke about it eight to ten years back. Nobody has right to say anything to me," Dutta said. PTI reached out to Patekar for a comment but there was no response. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Several residential areas in Maharashtra's Pune district were inundated after a breach occurred in a wall of the Mutha canal Thursday morning. No casualty was reported in the incident, the district administration said. However, there was panic in some of the affected areas where residents claimed that several vehicles were damaged in the sudden flooding. A breach of nearly 15 metres in the canal's right bank wall around 11 am resulted in water gushing into the Janata Vasahat locality, Dandekar bridge and Sinhgad Road areas, an official in the irrigation department said. In some areas, water entered into the houses located along the canal, and some roads, including a part of the main Sinhgad Road, were also submerged. "We immediately stopped the discharge of water from the Khadakwasla dam into the canal. We are working on a war footing to stop the water flow from the canal," the official said. Efforts were on to shift residents of the affected areas to safer places, a fire brigade official said. The irrigation department releases water from the Khadakwasla dam, located on the city's outskirts, to the Indapur and Daund tehsils of the district for farming and drinking purposes. The water released from the reservoir flows through the Mutha canal to these places. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday he told Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov during "tough" discussions that Moscow would no longer get away with using chemical weapons. Hunt told Sky he and the Russian foreign minister had a "frank exchange of views" on the margins of a United Nations summit in New York this week. The interview aired one day after the British-based investigative group Bellingcat reported that one of the suspects in the poisoning in England of former double agent Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence (GRU). "It was pretty tough because it is not acceptable for Russia to instruct two GRU agents to use chemical weapons on British soil," Hunt said. The discussions marked the first British ministerial contacts with Lavrov since the March incident. Hunt said the 2006 killing with a radioactive isotope of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko that Britain also blames on Russia, made Moscow think it could get away with other similar crimes. "They feel they got away with (Litvinenko's murder). That's why (British Prime Minister) Theresa May's reaction this time has been very different," Hunt said. Skripal and his daughter Yulia both recovered from the March attack with what Britain says was a Soviet-designed nerve agent called Novichok. But the incident prompted the biggest-ever wave of diplomatic expulsions between Russia and Western allies. Relations between London and Moscow have been effectively frozen ever since. Russia has stiffly denied carrying out either the Litvinenko assassination or the March attack. The Russian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Hunt's comments or give its own account of what the two diplomats discussed in New York. Russian agencies separately quoted an unnamed member of the Moscow delegation as saying Hunt and Lavrov "exchanged opinions" during a working breakfast of the five permanent UN Security Council members earlier Thursday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Council, India Director, Alan Gemmell Obe Thursday said the Council would give scholarship to 500 students from India for academic exchange programme in United Kingdom universities. The British Council will give scholarship to 500 Indian students for academic exchange programme in 44 UK universities this year, he said. Obe said so far 105 women from India including six from North East have already availed scholarship from the council to study at university in UK. "We are hopeful that more students from Arunachal and other states of the north east will avail the scholarships being provided by the Council," the director said. He said over the last few years there was significant increase in visa application by Indian students. "This has clearly indicated that the students from India are more interested to study in UK universities," he added "The year 2018 marks 70 years of the British Council in India. Weve supported the ambitions of millions of young people through our work to train over one million teachers in government schools and by investing in thousands of scholarships and academic exchanges," he said. The British Council director said "our mission is to inspire people in Britain and India to build connections for the next 70-years." The council, which is getting into an agreement through MoU with North Eastern Council (NEC) next month that will allow them to train teachers in English language in the region, is planning to organise a conclave of North East ministers in New Delhi soon in partnership with NEC. "The conclave will provide a platform for the ministers of the region to discuss issues related to the sector and to find out solutions," he said. Obe said, the councils main focus is on English teaching to teachers in government schools and so far trained about one million teachers in the country in the last 10 years. "We believe in the role of teachers in transforming education and we want to develop real expertise working in government schools in North East," he said. On the cultural field, Obe said, the council has been trying to promote artists from North East and accordingly a music video album was created where 12 artists from Northeast including Tashi Lama from Arunachal performed. As part of 70 years celebration in India, the Council has sponsored Nubya Garcia, a London- based saxophonist and composer who will be performing at Ziro music festival. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, met senior EU officials in Brussels Thursday after warning he may oppose any Brexit deal negotiated by the London government. Corbyn, who told his party conference Wednesday that a no-deal Brexit would be a "national disaster", has nevertheless said his party will vote against any accord based on Prime Minister Theresa May's plan. European officials and many EU member state leaders also oppose parts of May's "Chequers" blueprint, but worry Britain could crash out of the bloc if an eventual deal is vetoed by British MPs. Corbyn's answer is to push May to call a general election, in the hope that Labour can win power and then negotiate an exit deal that he says would better protect jobs, trade and workers' rights. He told the Labour conference on Wednesday he would support any "sensible deal" May brings back from Brussels but warned: "if you can't negotiate that deal then you need to make a way for a party that can". There is barely any time for such a plan to bear fruit, however -- under the terms of Article 50 of the EU Treaty, Britain will leave the Union on March 29 next year, with or without a divorce deal. May, meanwhile is in talks with EU negotiator Michel Barnier in hopes of striking a compromise arrangement that would keep Britain in a single market for goods while seeking a broader trade deal. European leaders warn that this deal, which they insist must include special provisions for Northern Ireland that May has rejected out of hand, must be ready before a Brussels summit on October 18. But if a deal is struck, perhaps then or perhaps at an expected extraordinary summit in mid-November, then it would have to be approved by both the British and EU parliaments. This would appear to leave no time for Corbyn's Labour to overthrow May's Conservatives and to negotiate a Brexit in line with his own more worker-friendly vision. Europe is therefore worried, and Barnier took the opportunity of Corbyn's visit to Brussels to attend a tribute to murdered pro-Europe Labour MP Jo Cox to arrange a meeting. Ahead of the talks, EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas refused to comment on reports that the powerful secretary general of the EU civil service, Martin Selmayr, is working on a plan for "no deal". "We work for a deal, without neglecting our duties," he told reporters, denying reports that Corbyn would meet with Selmayr during his one-day Brussels visit. Before heading to the Berlaymont building housing the European Commission, Corbyn and Labour's Brexit pointman Keir Starmer attended a ceremony to name a Brussels square after murdered Labour MP Jo Cox. Cox, a strong supporter of Britain's EU membership, was killed by a right-wing extremist on June 16, 2016, at the height of the country's divisive Brexit referendum campaign. Corbyn, himself previously a long-standing euro-sceptic, has been criticised by the pro-remain camp for not campaigning hard enough for Labour's anti-Brexit stance. Now he is under pressure again from within his own party and the left-leaning electorate to back a second referendum on whatever deal May and the Conservatives come up with. Starmer has said a referendum to reverse Brexit must be an "option", but Corbyn's position is less clear. The Labour leader did not address the issue at Cox's memorial ceremony, but -- as he looked on sombrely -- two political allies paid tribute to the slain MP's support for Europe. "She lived her life to make lives better for everybody else," Corbyn said of Cox, who worked in Brussels for six years as an aide to Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock and for aid agency Oxfam. "She loved her time in Brussels. She loved the spirit and the music, the internationalism, the globalism of the city," he added, without reference to the European Union. But Richard Corbett, head of the Labour MPs in the European Parliament, noted that Cox was murdered "just a few days before we voted in that terrible referendum." And Udo Bullman, overall head of the Socialist group that includes Labour, said: "If we had heard the voice of Jo, this great nation the United Kingdom would stay where it belongs in the heart of Europe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after seven people were killed in the collapse of a five-story "weak" building, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation Thursday discontinued the contract of an engineer, suspended two others and directed officials to carry out a fresh survey to identify dangerous properties. As the three men booked in connection with the building collapse remained at large, policemen in plain clothes were deployed near their houses. Police suspect that the accused own some other buildings in the national capital. According to the last survey conducted by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), 181 buildings were found dangerous as on September 21. The five-storey building collapsed on Wednesday, three weeks after the 20-year-old structure in Sawan Park in west Delhi's Ashok Vihar was "inspected" by a municipal team following complaints. The deceased were identified as Seema (24), her children Ashi (three) and Shaurya (two), her brother-in-law Laxman (25), Munni Devi (35), and two brothers Rajnesh (four) and Sumnesh (12). Five others -- Nisha, Munni Devi's husband Raj Bahadur and their guests Kamla Shankar and Vijay, and Seema's sister Manju -- are hospitalised and their condition is stated to be stable, police said. On Thursday, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) suspended an executive engineer and an assistant engineer and terminated the contract of a junior engineer. NDMC authorities also directed officials to carry out a fresh survey of houses to identify dangerous properties and also asked them to complete the exercise in a week's time. "Under the orders of the competent authority, Rajesh Sharma, Executive Engineer (M)-II/Keshav Puram Zone is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect pending inquiry against him. "Under the orders of the competent authority, Abhay Jain, Assistant Engineer (Civil) presently posted in the office of EE (M)-II Keshav Puram Zone is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect pending inquiry against him," said another order issued by the NDMC's Vigilance Department. The area falls under the Keshav Puram Zone of the BJP-led civic body. Probing the matter, the police questioned family members of the three accused -- Dharmender, his business partner Sachin and the latter's father Roshan Lal. They family members told police that they had no clue about the trio's whereabouts. "They live in the same locality where the incident happened on Wednesday morning. We are also trying to identify their relatives, whom they could have contacted," a police officer said. Sanjeev Gupta, the owner of a shop on the ground floor of the ill-fated building, had filed a complaint online with the civic body about the dilapidated condition of the building in August last year. Gupta had alleged it was only after a year and 13 days that the municipal officials inspected the building and said it was in a bad condition, the officer said. Police have registered a case under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), punishable with a maximum jail term of 10 years, against the trio, who had rented out the building. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and North Delhi Mayor Adesh Gupta had visited the accident site at Sawan Park Wednesday. Gupta had ordered a detailed inquiry into the incident, saying "strict action" would be taken against the guilty. The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. While police have claimed that the building was inspected 20 days ago following complaints to the municipal body that it was in "dangerous" condition, the NDMC had Wednesday claimed that the building was not declared "dangerous" and it had not received any complaint against it. The civic body, however, admitted that the building was about 20-25 years old and its structure was "weak" and in a "deteriorated condition", while asserting that no new construction activity or construction material was found at the site. The BJP-ruled North Delhi civic body has come under fire from the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress after the incident, with Kejriwal, blaming the municipal corporation for not fulfilling its responsibility of safety of buildings. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The special CBI court here granted bail to Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel Thursday in the sex CD case, which purportedly featured a state minister. On September 24, the court had sent Baghel in judicial remand for 14 days. After spending three nights at the Raipur Central Jail, Baghel, who had earlier refused to apply for bail following arrest, filed a bail plea on Thursday. Judge Sumit Kapoor granted him bail on a personal bond and a surety of Rs 1 lakh each, said his lawyer Faizal Rizvi. The Congress leader shall not leave the country without the court's permission, the judge said. The CBI lawyer opposed the bail plea, saying Baghel, being president of the state unit of the main opposition party, can influence witnesses and tamper with evidence. A large number of Congress workers greeted Baghel after he came out of the Central Jail. He proceeded to Rajiv Bhawan, the Congress's office in the city, in an open mini-truck followed by a convoy of vehicles. Speaking to reporters, Baghel alleged that the ruling BJP was targeting him. He said he was falsely implicated in this case as he and other Congress activists had waved black flags at Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter's recent visit here. BJP's state in-charge Anil Jain accused the Congress of working with a "criminal mindset" after realising that it does not have any future in the coming assembly polls. He described Baghel's initial decision to not apply for bail as drama. "No (state) president of a national party had ever circulated an obscene CD publicly. He (Baghel) has not only insulted women but also tarnished the image of the state," Jain said. On September 24, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a charge sheet in the special court here in the sex CD case, naming Baghel and some others as accused. Baghel had told the court during the hearing on September 24 that he was innocent and would not seek bail. Of the other accused, journalist Vinod Verma and Bhilai-based businessman Vijay Bhatia were granted bail on September 24. Kailash Murarka, who was expelled from the BJP two days ago, surrendered on Wednesday and was later granted bail. In October 2017, a controversy broke out in the state after a 'porn video', allegedly featuring Public Works Department Minister Rajesh Munat surfaced following the arrest of Verma from his residence in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) by the Raipur police. A case of extortion was registered at Pandri police station here based on a complaint filed by BJP leader Prakash Bajaj who said he was being harassed over the phone by an unidentified caller who told him that he had a CD of his featuring "master". Munat lodged a complaint against Baghel and Verma at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur for allegedly tarnishing his image through the "fake CD". The Chhattisgarh government later recommended a CBI probe into the case. Verma, Baghel and some others were questioned by the agency in the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following is the chronology of events in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case in which the Supreme Court Thursday declined to refer the issue of reconsideration of its observation that mosque was not integral to Islam, to a larger bench: *1528: Babri Masjid built by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur. *1885: Mahant Raghubir Das files plea in Faizabad district court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure. Court rejects plea. *1949: Idols of Ram Lalla placed under a central dome outside the disputed structure. *1950: Gopal Simla Visharad files suit in Faizabad district court for rights to worship the idols of Ram Lalla. *1950: Paramahansa Ramachandra Das files suit for continuation of worship and keeping the idols. *1959: Nirmohi Akhara files suit seeking possession of the site. *1981: UP Sunni Central Waqf Board files suit for possession of the site. *Feb 1, 1986: Local court orders the government to open the site for Hindu worshippers. *Aug 14, 1989: Allahabad HC ordered maintenance of status quo in respect of the disputed structure. *Dec 6, 1992: Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure demolished. *Apr 3, 1993: 'Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act' passed for acquisition of land by Centre in the disputed area. *1993: Various writ petitions, including one by Ismail Faruqui, filed at Allahabad HC challenging various aspects of the Act. *Oct 24, 1994: SC says in the historic Ismail Faruqui case that a mosque was not integral to Islam. *Apr, 2002: HC begins hearing on determining who owns the disputed site. *Mar 13, 2003: SC says, in the Aslam alias Bhure case, no religious activity of any nature be allowed at the acquired land. *Mar 14: SC says interim order passed should be operative till disposal of the civil suits in Allahabad HC to maintain communal harmony. *Sep 30, 2010: HC, in a 2:1 majority, rules three-way division of disputed area between Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. *May 9, 2011: SC stays HC verdict on Ayodhya land dispute. *Feb 26, 2016: Subramanian Swamy files plea in SC seeking construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site. *Mar 21, 2017: CJI JS Khehar suggests out-of-court settlement among rival parties. *Aug 7: SC constitutes three-judge bench to hear pleas challenging the 1994 verdict of the Allahabad HC. *Aug 8: UP Shia Central Waqf Board tells SC mosque could be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the disputed site. *Sep 11: SC directs Chief Justice of the Allahabad HC to nominate two additional district judges within ten days as observers to deal with the upkeep of the disputed site. *Nov 20: UP Shia Central Waqf Board tells SC temple can be built in Ayodhya and mosque in Lucknow. *Dec 1: Thirty-two civil rights activists file plea challenging the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad HC. *Feb 8, 2018: SC starts hearing the civil appeals. *Mar 14: SC rejects all interim pleas, including Swamy's, seeking to intervene as parties in the case. *Apr 6: Rajeev Dhavan files plea in SC to refer the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement to a larger bench. *Jul 6: UP government tells SC some Muslim groups were trying to delay the hearing by seeking reconsideration of an observation in the 1994 verdict. *Jul 20: SC reserves verdict. *Sep 27: SC declines to refer the case to a five-judge Constitution bench. Case to be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench on October 29. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A civilian was killed during a cordon and search operation by security forces in Noorbagh area of the city on Thursday, a police official said. Security forces had launched a search operation in the area following information about presence of militants there, the official said. Some gunshots were heard during the search operation and later the body of a civilian, identified as Mohd Salim, was recovered, he added. The official said it was not yet clear if Salim was hit by bullets fired by security personnel or the militants. Locals, however, alleged that security forces' firing led to the death. Angry residents resorted to stone-pelting on the forces, the official said, adding the clashes were still going on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma Thursday told the state Assembly that closure notices have been served to illegal limestone quarries in West Jaintia Hills district. He said technological improved challans will be introduced to control illegal mining in the state. "Action has been taken against 11 such illegal quarries identified by the department and GPS coordinates of these locations have been also identified," he said while replying to a call attention moved by Opposition Congress legislator George B Lyngdoh on the last day of the 5-day Assembly session. The chief minister admitted that illegal mining of limestone were going on along the Indo-Bangladesh border and that the government has taken steps to check. The Divisional Forest Officer has also written to the district authorities to invoke Section 144 CrPC in areas vulnerable to illegal mining under West Jaintia Hills district. He said the state government will continue to take action against all such illegal activities. Earlier, George who raised the call attention motion, demanded that illegal mining has to stop and asserted that if mining has to be done, it should be in a legal manner so that it ensures a planned approach with strong environmental safeguards. He also demanded that the government come up with stringent laws to book people involved in the illegal activity and to bring on board the BSF and Customs to ensure only legal export of limestone is allowed. On this, the chief minister informed that the government is looking at different technologies that could be adopted in order to ensure the system is tightened up. "(I admit) we have financial challenges and I think if proper technology, proper administration and all stakeholders would work together I am sure will be able to reduce these kinds of illegal activities that is going on," the chief minister said. "Technology is something we can use to really look into this aspect and control the illegal mining that is taking place and ensure the revenue that is collected by the state also goes up and our is also protected," he added. According to the chief minister, the Mining department had granted 55 mining leases which include 20 mining leases for limestone and 32 mining leases for boulders and 3 mining leases for granite. "I assure that provisions of the Meghalaya Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 2016 will continue to be strictly enforced throughout the state," he said. Apart from this, the department has also granted 103 letters of intent (LoI) for grant of mining leases for limestone and 96 LoI for boulders, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hectic last minute parleys were on in the Congress on finalising its candidate for the election of city Mayor scheduled for Friday even as the party accused the BJP of poaching two independent corporators supporting it and huddled five others in a resort. KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao told reporters the Congress was still confident that the two corporators would support its candidate. With two independent corporators switching loyalties to BJP, the Congress went into a tizzy and deputed its MLAs S T Somashekhar and Munirathna to keep the five other independent corporators under their watch at the resort on the city outskirts. We have with us all the independent corporators except for the two who are learnt to have gone to the rival side. We are confident that they will also come back, Somashekhar told PTI. In the 2015 civic elections, BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council winning 100 seats, followed by Congress with 75 and JDS 15 seats. The Congress and JDS came together and also had the support of seven independent corporators. Under an agreement, Congress got the mayor post while JDS the deputy mayor when they came together to capture power. Though the term of the municipal council is of five years, mayor and deputy mayor have a term of 11 months. The term of present Mayor R Sampath Raj and Deputy Mayor Padmavathi Narasimhamurthy ended Thursday, necessitating the elections. The mayor and deputy mayors are elected by an electoral college comprising corporators and also MLAs, MLCs, MPs, who are voters in the city. The total votes required for a win is 130 out of the total 259. In the electoral college, BJP has 123 votes, Congress 106 votes, and JD(S) has 22 votes. There are eight independents. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress claimed Thursday that a panel supported by the party won the Gram Panchayat election in Union minister Nitin Gadkari's native village in Maharashtra's Nagpur district. Congress-backed panels won at the senior BJP leader's native village Dhapewada in Kalmeshwar tehsil as well as at Pachgaon in Umred tehsil, a village which he has adopted, the opposition party claimed. Gram panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols, though political parties support various panels. Former minister and Nagpur district Congress chief Rajendra Mulak claimed that it was a setback to the BJP as it could not retain power at Pachgaon, a village adopted by Gadkari. The BJP had earlier faced defeats in panchayat polls in the villages adopted by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and district guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule, he said. Congress MLA Sunil Kedar claimed that candidates supported by his party bagged 16 out of 17 gram panchayat seats at Dhapewada village, including the post of sarpanch. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Thursday stepped up attack on the Modi government over the Rafale fighter jet deal, alleging it targeted the official who had reportedly raised "objections" on its price. Staging a protest march in Mumbai, the party demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman submit their resignation to facilitate a free and fair probe into the matter. The opposition party also claimed that French President Emmanuel Macron did not contradict Francois Hollande's claim that the Modi dispensation had suggested the private offset partner, instead of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), for the deal, which was tantamount to the confirmation of his predecessor's claim. The Congress said the Rafale scam has begun to "stink" and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has "begun to sink". Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Modi government for reportedly targeting the Defence Ministry official who allegedly raised "objections" over the price of the Rafale jets. He took to Twitter to take a swipe at Modi with a poem in Hindi alleging that he gave benefits to "crony capitalists" at the cost of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in the Rafale deal. Gandhi also alleged that the officer who raised questions over the deal was penalised, while those who sided with the government were rewarded. He tagged a media report that alleged that the Defence Ministry official who raised objections over the price of the Rafale jets "proceeded" on a month's leave and the 36-Rafale deal was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council thereafter. Citing the same media report, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, in a Tweet, claimed that the Modi government "sent on leave the 'whistleblower'", who questioned the loss to the state exchequer "by paying 300% extra for 36 Rafale". He also alleged that a senior officer, who overruled the official who raised questions over the Rafale jets pricing, was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). "Perks of pleasing Modi Govt cover corruption tracks," he claimed. Gandhi at a poll rally in Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh said, "The man, who claims to be the country's watchman, has himself put Rs 30,000 crore in the pocket of (industrialist) Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal," Gandhi claimed. Describing Anil Ambani as Modi's "friend", the Congress leader alleged that the industrialist has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore. Congress leader Jaipal Reddy said at the AICC headquarters here that India has had a very good relationship with France and "when a former French president says something, this country needs to sit up and take notice". "The Rafale Scam is getting thicker and thicker and curiouser and curiouser with every passing day. Today we will refer to two important developments. Modi is getting caught or sandwiched between international revelations and internal disclosures," he said. "They would not have chosen Anil Ambani's company but for the pressure of the Government of India. So, this non-contradiction by the current President of France is equivalent to an international revelation - international confirmation. Now, Modi stands self-condemned," Reddy alleged. "It is for the first time that the present French president Macron, while answering a specific question, avoided the question. He simply said I was not in-charge at that time. In other words, he did not contradict the version of former French president Hollande," he claimed. The Congress leader said it is "very unfortunate" that the Government of India is involving the serving Chiefs of Air Force, Army on such matters and said, "We don't enter into arguments with the serving chiefs." Reddy said the prime minister owes an explanation to the nation about the statement made by the former President of France on Anil Ambani's company. "So, Modi the more you try to run away, the more you get drawn in the morasses of this Rafale controversy. It has begun to stink and Modi has begun to sink...," he said. "There is no way he can get away from it. There is no way we will allow to get away from it. There is no way the people of India will ever forgive him for there is nothing but betrayal of the Nation...How can the Prime Minister of India refuse to answer the point raised by the former President of France? How can silence be the response of this to our accusations?" he asked. In Mumbai, the party staged a protest march over Rafale deal and demanded a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) or a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry. Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of concealing information regarding the price of the fighter planes. "The government should explain the inflated cost and who is going to benefit by it... The offset contract which is part of the Rafale purchase deal was taken away from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under pressure," he alleged, while addressing party workers at August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid the political slugfest over the Rafale issue, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Congress' agenda is to get the deal cancelled. The defence minister said for arriving at the price for the basic aircraft, the Congress has conveniently picked from their agreement which they did not finalise. She said the Congress' attack started with the price of the aircraft and then it has "moved on to something else". "Today, it will not be far from truth if I tell you that the [Congress'] agenda probably is to have the [deal] cancelled. If indeed you have questions, and charges based on the questions, would you move your goalpost?" Sitharaman said in an interview to The Week magazine. The Congress picked on a base price and is comparing with their base price, which is not the base price at all, the defence minister said. "I do not know where they got those figures. Approximately Rs 526 crore is being compared with Rs 1,600 crore. They are quoting their base price without admitting that their base price was only a starting point in 2007, when they started talking about it," she said. In 2011, after five years of sitting over it, how could it emerge as the L1 [lowest] price, she questioned. "Each year, as the agreement demands, three per cent would have to be added till the first one arrives. Then, towards the second. So, the basic aircraft price which the Congress should at all refer will be somewhere in the range of Rs 787 crore," she said. "We are giving the price of the basic aircraft we disclosed in Parliament, once in 2016, twice in 2018which is at least nine per cent cheaper than the basic price [the UPA] would have arrived at. They are constantly harping on the first basic. Today I am giving the price with the armaments. It is like comparing apples and oranges," she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra BJP president Raosaheb Danve Thursday said that the Congress was trying to "confuse" people against the BJP, but exuded confidence that his party would win more seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls than what it did in 2014. He was speaking at a meeting of BJP MLAs and party functionaries in suburban Bandra. "The Congress tried to convince people against the BJP but failed. Now it is trying to confuse people against the BJP. The Congress has adopted a strategy to confuse people in Maharashtra," Danve said. He said that the agenda of the meeting was to retain as well as increase the party's seats in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls slated for next year. Speaking about the BJP's steady climb in the state's electoral scene, Danve told the gathering that it had won the maximum number of Zilla Parishad, Nagar Panchayats and Municipal Council seats apart from having 5,000 sarpanch in villages across Maharashtra. "The BJP's success in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls were achieved when we had no base in Zilla Parishads and councils. Now we have so much network in the rural areas of the state, we should win more seats in the LS and Assembly polls," Danve said at the party function. "The BJP-led government in Maharashtra has given the maximum farm loan waiver when compared to neighbouring states. Our development programmes have pushed the Congress to the back foot," he claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Chinese military said Thursday that the focus of its 12-day military drill with the Nepali Army is to jointly combat international terrorism. The second edition of the Nepal-China joint military exercise began on September 17 in the Chinese city of Chengdu in southwest Sichuan province and will end on Friday. "The main purpose of this exercise is to jointly fight against international terrorism and the main subject is metropolitan counter terrorism," Chinese military spokesman Col Ren Guoqiang said. Ren said that the drill was within the planned defence exchanges between the two countries. "It is within the planned exchanges between Nepal and Chinese militaries, Ren said, adding that the exercise included building a main command post and close search and rescue operations. He declined to respond a question from the Chinese official media citing reports that China was behind Nepal's decision to withdraw from the military exercises of the BIMSTEC countries which was held for the first time in India recently. "The question should be referred to Nepal," he said. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. The defence forces from Nepal and China have increased their engagement of late. The first such exercise was held in April last year. Nepal has been conducting battalion-level exercises named 'Surya Kiran' with the Indian Army for the last 13 years, engaging some 300 personnel from both the sides. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gauhati High Court Thursday allowed the Mizoram government to disburse over Rs 164 crore funds to 16,400 families selected as beneficiaries of its flagship NLUP-NEDP convergence scheme. The Aizawl bench of Justice S Serto dismissed the interlocutory application of the petitioner and allowed the government to disburse the fund. The government, through ruling party legislators, had selected the beneficiaries for its New Land Use Policy (NLUP) - New Economic Development Policy (NEDP) convergence scheme and Rs one lakh was to be paid to each family before the announcement of the dates of the state assembly polls due by mid-December. P L Thanga, vice chairman of the NLUP Implementing Board, told mediapersons after the verdict that the court allowed the government to disburse the funds after it notifies guidelines in the official gazette. Social activist Vanramchhuangi, popularly known as Ruatfela Nu, had submitted a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Gauhati High Court alleging that the state government was using public money for political gains. The high court had earlier instructed the state government not to go ahead with distributing money without transparent guidelines. Debate over whether the court stayed distribution of money under the flagship program of the present government prompted the counsels for the petitioner submit interlocutory application with a plea for instructing the government not to distribute the money to the beneficiaries before obtaining permission from the high court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Crude oil prices rose 0.83 per cent to Rs 5,255 per barrel in futures trade today as speculators built up fresh positions taking positive cues from overseas markets. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in October went up by Rs 43, or 0.83 per cent to Rs 5,255 per barrel in a business turnover of 476 lots. Likewise, the oil for delivery in November was trading higher by Rs 41, or 0.79 per cent, to Rs 5,262 per barrel in 12 lots. Analysts said fresh positions built up by traders in tandem with a firm trend overseas, lifted by looming US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran, buoyed the sentiment here. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate gained 77 cents, or 1.08 per cent to USD 72.34, while global benchmark Brent rose 71 cents, or 0.88 per cent to USD 81.50 a barrel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UAE and South Africa Wednesday signed extradition and justice collaboration treaties in a move that will allow Pretoria to achieve the return of the Guptas; business tycoons marred in corruption scandals. Ministers of Justice of the two countries, Sultan Saeed Al Badi and Michael Masutha inked the deals in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi. The treaties will enable the two countries to assist each other in the investigation and prosecution of crimes through mutual legal assistance and the extradition of fugitives, the South African government said in a statement. The African country wants UAE to extradite one of Gupta brothers; Ajay, who lives in Dubai and is wanted in South Africa in a graft probe. The South African police declared the businessman as fugitive from Justice. The Gupta brothers known for their influence on the economy and politics of South Africa, have been under investigation for alleged corruption under former leader Jacob Zuma who was forced to relinquish power in February this year over widespread corruption during his nine-year tenure. A former minister, a government and ex-ANC lawmaker have given damning testimonies against the Guptas at the inquiry, reports say. According to The New Arab, two of the brothers have offered to answer the allegations but on condition they give their evidence from Dubai via video link because they feared being arrested if they returned home. Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who heads the probe commission, has turned down the request to comply with the investigation from abroad. In April, UAE authorities arrested a South African man after he filmed Ajay Gupta in Dubai and posted the clip on social media. He was freed a few hours later, The new Arab reports. Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) has entered into an agreement with the Andaman and Nicobar administration to spruce up the operational efficiency of the marine dockyard in Port Blair and ensure faster turnaround of vessels for seamless operations. As part of the MoU, CSL shall take up the 'Operation and Maintenance of the Marine Dry-Dock' at Port Blair. Under the ambit of this Memorandum of Unuderstanding (MoU) signed on September 25, CSL shall assist the administration to set up Ship repair eco-system at A&N slands, for augmentation and modernization of marine dockyard and skill development and training schemes for the islands, a CSL release here said Thursday. The MoU was signed in New Delhi by Madhu Nair, CMD CSL and Ankita Mishra Bundela, IAS, Commissioner Cum Secretary (Shipping), A and N Administration, in the presence of Gopal Krishna, IAS, Secretary to Ministry of Shipping and other officials. CSL has also signed an MoU with Andaman and Nicobar administration in December 2016, for repair of large sea-going vessels owned by them and is already in effect. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, one of the seven union territories of India, are a group of islands at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. The islands have a key position in India's strategic role in the Bay of Bengal and the Malacca Strait. The local population and the islands economy are heavily dependent on water transport. While the bigger ships are capable of traversing the sea to Mainland India for repairs, the remaining ships and vessels are dependent on the facilities in the island for their maintenance and upkeep, which is handled by the Directorate of Shipping Services through its Marine Dockyard Facility at Port Blair. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi-based start-up said it has opened three technology centres in Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh region to service defence equipment in the areas that witness subzero temperatures. Defence tech start-up Cron plans to take the number of such centres to eight by the end of the year, its CEO Tushar Chhabra said Wednesday. However, the locations of these centres were not divulged citing security reasons. "Leh records one of the lowest temperatures in Jammu and Kashmir. Rough winds, scarcity of oxygen coupled with harsh weather makes conditions make Leh not only difficult but also detaches it from the rest of the country," he said. In case of equipment failure, the maintenance gets delayed, especially when the temperatures fall to sub-zero levels, thereby affecting the operations, he added. "So, instead of the taking the equipment out of the state, it can be serviced in our nearby service centres. It will be a win-win situation for the forces as they will get the repairs done in a speedy manner," Chhabra said. Jammu and Kashmir shares borders with Pakistan and China. The company also launched Kavach Z, an advanced perimeter security system that provides a complete 360 degree situational awareness to the forces by detecting objects approaching the perimeter as far as 200 metres away, he said. Chhabra added that Kavach Z has the ability to detect, track and classify objects as threats, providing the defending forces vital information to prepare, intercept and neutralise it. He claimed that Kavach Z was undergoing trials at the Line of Control but declined to give details about the location. The company has also launched the Cron GeoSight, an advanced scanner for surveillance and mapping. Most of the terrains and places where the armed forces are deployed or where their vehicles navigate suffer from zero visibility and lack of mapping information, Chhabra said. "Its robust design makes it capable of providing reliable results in even the most extreme environment conditions, relying on multiple beams that create an accurate 3D visualisation of the surrounding areas," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Congress on Thursday made it clear it will have no alliance with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, after Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel advocated participation of the AAP in the proposed grand alliance of opposition parties to take on the BJP. The Congress leaders and workers are against any alliance with the AAP, whose vote share is "fast eroding", for 2019 Parliamentary elections, Delhi Congress chief spokesperson Sharmishtha Mukherjee and senior leader Chatar Singh said in a statement. "Congress will have no alliance with Aam Aadmi Party in the Parliamentary elections in Delhi in 2019," they said. Referring to Goel's statement, they said there is "no change in the Congress stand" that it will not have any tie-up with the AAP in the Parliamentary elections in 2019. The Delhi Assembly Speaker, on the sidelines of an event, said that participation of AAP in proposed Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) will be in thee interest of Delhi and the country. After a meeting with the district Congress committees on June 2 this year, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken had said that the Congress workers and leaders of Delhi do not want any electoral understanding with Arvind Kejriwal's party in the 2019 Parliamentary elections." Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) that won 67 out of 70 Assembly seats in the 2015 Assembly elections in Delhi, is now "struggling" to keep its flock together as the popularity of the party has been fast "eroding", the Congress leaders claimed. The vote share of ruling AAP came down to 26 per cent in last year's municipal corporation elections while the vote percentage of Congress went up from 9.5 percent to 26 per cent, they said. "Congress graph has been steadily going up since the 2015 Assembly elections. The average vote percentage of the Congress in elections held following 2015 Assembly polls in Delhi had been 26.24 per cent while that of the AAAP came down to 28 per cent from as high as 56-57 per cent," they claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aviation regulator has commenced a special safety audit of domestic airlines following the direction of aviation minister in the wake of a series of incidents, both on the ground and in the skies, a senior official said Thursday. The special audit is currently being conducted on all Delhi-based scheduled air operators, while the exercise on the Mumbai-based airlines will be carried out from October 15, the official told PTI. Of the nine scheduled operators, budget carriers IndiGo and have their AOP (air operator permit) registered in Gurugram, while full-service carrier has Delhi as its registered office. carrier Air India, its subsidiary Express and private operators Jet Airways, JetLite and have their registered offices here. Another budget carrier AirAsia India has its AOP registered in Bengaluru. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is conducting the audit in the areas of flight operations quality assurance, operations and training, the official said. Prabhu had on September 21 ordered a safety audit of all scheduled airlines and airports, amid a number of incidents related to the safety of passengers. "Besides carrying out an audit of airlines' operations and training facilities and programmes, we are also conducing audit of the performance of their crew," the official said. The minister had directed officials concerned to prepare a comprehensive safety audit plan, which involves assessment of safety parameters of all scheduled airlines, aerodromes, flying training schools and MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul organisations) immediately, soon after the Jet Airways Mumbai-Jaipur flight incident. On September 21, at least 30 passengers on a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Jaipur suffered nose and ear bleeding after the crew "forgot" to turn on a switch that controls the cabin air pressure. In recent times, there have been incidents of mid-air engine failures as well, involving the Pratt and Whitney (P&W) engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes being operated by IndiGo and ALSO READ: Aviation authority DGCA to evaluate financial health of Jet Airways Significantly, both Jet Airways and have also gone through a comprehensive financial audit from the recently. In addition, the regulator has only recently concluded an audit into the training programme of the two airlines, which are facing severe cash crunch. The financial audit of airlines is done to assess their fiscal health and ensure that they are not compromising on safety aspects due to financial stress. Telecom gear companies have been given three more months till January 1 to comply with the new norms mandating testing of equipment before selling it in the country, according to a government notification. Some of the equipment like wi-fi access points, satellite equipment, telephone instruments, etc, can be sold only after testing and obtaining certificate from authorised agencies from January 1, 2019 onwards, according to the notification by the engineering wing under the Department of Telecom. "The following telecom equipment imported or sold in India on or after January 1, 2019, shall be subject to testing and certification...," the notification said, adding some of these equipment are telephone instrument, modem, audio conferencing devices, fax machines, etc. Earlier, all telecom equipment used by operators were required to undergo mandatory testing and get certified by authorised agencies as per specified norms from October 1. According the new notification, for mobile base stations, routers, internet of things devices, the date has been extended to April 1, 2019. "The following telecom equipment imported or sold in India on or after April 1, 2019, shall be subject to testing and certification...GPON equipment, DSL equipment...soft switch, mobile devices, BTS, repeater, compact cellular network, router, LAN switch...," the notification said. The rule required any device or equipment that can work on legitimate telecom networks shall have to undergo prior mandatory testing and certification in respect of parameters that will be decided by the Department of Telecom from time to time. "I believe, in six months many of the concerns which we had raised with regard to lack of infrastructure, limited test labs, yet-to-be ready TEC portal and the absence of a single-window certification process will be more or less ironed out," the Mobile Association President Bhawna Kumari said. The notification is in addition to the previous notification on mandatory equipment testing issued on September 6 last year. Telecom operators are barred from using untested and uncertified equipment. The comprehensive order exempts equipment imported for the purpose of research and development, sample for the test and certification or demonstration in the country. It also exempts equipment that personally accompanied on inward foreign travel to India for personal use in the country and are not prohibited under domestic laws. If a telecom operator fails to adhere to the rules, the DoT may take punitive action under the licence norms and also seize the equipment. "While we have been working alongside TEC for this purpose, we strongly feel that the testing infrastructure is extremely inadequate in our country. We should implement only self certification type of regulations with some intervention to audit the integrity of the process," India Cellular & Electronics Association, National President, Pankaj Mohindroo said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) Thursday protested against the proposed tripartite agreement between the HRD Ministry, DU and UGC, saying it is oriented towards commercialisation and undermines the "autonomous grant-based funding decisions of the UGC". DUTA protested outside the vice-chancellors' office while the varsity's Executive Council meeting, which had the tripartite MoU on its agenda, was underway on Thursday. Students and teachers protested against the Tripartite MoU that the Ministry of Human Resource Development wants Delhi University to sign, in order to continue receiving funds from the UGC, said DUTA in a statement. "This MoU undermines the autonomous grant-based funding decisions of the UGC and simultaneously appropriates the entire funding function under the executive authority of the government," the statement said. They alleged through the MoU, the HRD Ministry allows itself the scope to bypass the UGC and set quantified performance targets for DU (as well as other central universities). These targets, set down in tabular form as Annexure to the MoU, are all oriented towards commercialisation, it alleged. "They compel the funds-receiving university to evaluate its own performance in terms of the direct market value of its courses, the percentage employability of its graduates, extra-mural funding for research through corporate sources, internal revenue generation by raising student-fees and through alumni donations, and infrastructural loans through Higher Funding Authority," the DUTA statement said. In DU, approximately 2000 teachers have not been given their due promotions for over a decade. Retired teachers are being denied pensions, it alleged. "Students are enrolled into self-financed professional courses but not given the minimum infrastructure that would guarantee a competent level of professional training. The ongoing student-unrest at the Delhi School of Journalism attests to this callous and indifferent attitude of the government towards the learning-needs of students," the DUTA claimed. The DUTA also protested the way in which the Dyal Singh College governing body chairman, Amitabh Sinha, has chosen to violate the university ordinances, usurp the powers of the Dyal Singh College principal and send him on forced leave without seeking the approval of the vice-chancellor, it said. Sinha also make an unauthorized appointment by ordering the principal of the Evening College to officiate in the absence of the principal. The DUTA asked the university to categorically set-aside all these decisions and removed Sinha from the chairmanship of the Dyal Singh College Governing Body, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday claimed to have busted a multi-crore international hawala racket being run from Rajasthan's capital Jaipur as it seized foreign and Indian currency amounting to Rs 1.30 crore and transaction documents in raids against alleged hawala operators here. After concluding the search operations that were launched Wednesday, the central probe agency said in a statement that it was a global racket "running in crores" across south east Asia, Dubai and Europe. "The searches were conducted in connection with illegal exchange of foreign currencies and international hawala activities by Ghanshyam Haldia, Manish Haldia and Ms Haldia Enterprises Pvt Ltd," the ED said in a statement. The seized foreign currencies include USD 33,175, Euro 17,070, Chinese Yuan 4,850, Pound 1,790, Australian Dollar 1,930, Thai Baht 40, Saudi Arabia Riyal 1,000, Canadian Dollar 1,965, Japanese Yen 1,10,000, South African Rand 100 and Nepali Rupee 5,000, it said. A total of Rs 87 lakh was also seized from the office of the alleged hawala operators and a bank locker has been frozen, the agency said. "A number of incriminating electronic gadgets including hard drives, mobile phones and documents were also found and seized during the search operation. The incriminating paper slips, WhatsApp chats and many other documents have revealed that Ghanshyam Haldia and Manish Haldia are deeply involved in illegal forex exchange and international hawala activities. "It has also come to light from these records that these individuals have dealt in international hawala racket running in crores," the ED said. Hawala is a word used to identify the use of illegal means and skirting legal banking channels to route and launder huge amounts of money within the country as well as abroad. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala government would soon release the Rs 50 lakh compensation to former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan as directed by the Supreme Court in the espionage case and explore possibilities of recovering it from officials responsible for lapses in the probe, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Thursday. A cabinet meeting also decided to nominate former bureaucrat V S Senthil as the state nominee to the committee appointed by the top court to examine the lapses by Kerala police in the investigation in the 1994 case. In its recent landmark verdict, the Supreme Court awarded Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the 76-year-old Narayanan for being subjected to mental cruelty and asked the state government to pay it to him within eight weeks. It also ordered a probe into the role of Kerala Police officers in it. Narayanan had to spend close to two months in jail before the CBI concluded the allegations against him were false. "The state cabinet decided to allot Rs 50 lakh as compensation to Nambi Narayanan as part of implementing the court verdict. The amount will be disbursed soon," Vijayan told reporters here. The Chief Minister also said the cabinet decided to ask the state Law Department to look into the possibilities of collecting the compensation amount from the then investigating officials who were responsible for the lapses. The espionage case, which hit the headlines in 1994, pertained to allegations of transfer of certain confidential documents on Indias space programme to foreign countries by two scientists and four others, including two Maldivian women. The case was first investigated by the state police and later handed over to the CBI, which found the allegations to be false. The scam also had its political fallout with a section in the Congress targeting then chief minister late K Karunakaran over the issue, eventually leading to his resignation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eva Green is on board BBC's new drama series "The Luminaries". The 38-year-old actor, best known for "Casino Royal", will be joined by Eve Hewson and Marton Csokas in the cast, the network said in a press release. The series is an adaptation of Eleanor Catton's Man-Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name. Catton is adapting the novel for the series alongside director Claire McCarthy. Green will portray Lydia Wells in the series, while Hewson will be playing Anna Wetherell. Csokas will essay Francis Carver. "I'm thrilled to be joining Working Title and this wonderful team. Eleanor has written a series of brilliant screenplays. I loved her original novel and it's so exciting that her own screen adaptation reveals yet more exquisite material," Green said in a statement. The novel is set on New Zealand's South Island against the backdrop of the 1860s gold rush. The series will start filming in New Zealand in November. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saudi Arabia Wednesday requested that Canada presented to the kingdom apology before ending the diplomatic dispute, which broke out last month. This came after Canada said Tuesday it wants to thaw ties with Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The two countries fell apart last month after Chrystia Freeland, the foreign minister of the North American country, called on the conservative country to free civic rights prisoners. Saudi Arabia angrily reacted declaring Canadian envoy persona non grata, recalled its ambassador to Ottawa, and announced a series of measures including freeze of contracts and suspension of all flights of the state-own airline to Toronto. Riyadh has rejected mediation into the crisis after it was reported that Ottawa turned to Germany, the UK and the UAE to help defuse the crisis. Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, speaking at an event of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York accused Canada of treating the kingdom like a banana republic. What are we? A banana republic? Would any country accept this? Jubeir said. You owe us an apology. It is very easy to fix apologize, say you made a mistake. The Gulf country is seemingly taking a tougher stance in the crisis, making it clear that it refuses to take reprimands from any country. In another case, the kingdom and Germany Tuesday agreed to warm ties following nearly a one-year silent crisis that was sparked by German accusations in November over Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariris surprising resignation while in a visit in Riyadh. KSA and Germany agreed to restore diplomats after the row which cost dearly to German companies that had been barred from bidding for contracts in the largest Sunni country. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Thursday challenged the opposition Congress-NCP to "sit across" and discuss the work done by his government in four years against what their government accomplished in 15 years. Addressing BJP workers at a party meeting here in suburban Bandra, Fadnavis told them that just reaching out and reminding people about the government's welfare schemes would be enough to retain power. "I challenge the Congress and NCP to sit across and discuss the works we have done, against their performance in the last 15 years," Fadnavis said. "Over 30,000 kilometres of roads have been constructed in the rural areas and 45 lakh hectare land has been brought under irrigation. Export of farm produce has increased and farmers have got Rs 40,000 crore by way of various schemes including loan waiver," Fadnavis said, highlighting his government's work. He said that there are over two crore beneficiaries of state government schemes. "In the last election, the BJP got 1.5 crore votes (in Maharashtra). Now there are over two crore beneficiaries (of government schemes)," he said. Speaking on the Rafale aircraft issue, Fadnavis said that the Congress will be exposed on the matter by a letter it had sent to the CAG. "The secrecy clause for defence deals was implemented during the Congress regime and now they want us to violate the same clause. The Union government cannot violate the secrecy clause," he claimed. While the Centre has, earlier, claimed that a clause in a 2008 India-France pact prevents the government from divulging price details of the Rafale deal, the Congress has said that there was no such clause. "The details of the Rafale deal are now with the CAG. Once the report is out, Congress will fall flat on its face," Fadnavis claimed, adding that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was quoting different prices of the aircraft at different times. Mocking the Congress, Fadnavis said, "I dont think half of the Congress party workers know about Rafale, whether it is a cycle or an aircraft." Commenting on a possible alliance with the Shiv Sena, a restive ally in the state and Union government, Fadnavis said it would take place at the "right time". He added, "We will get more parties as allies and we will win more seats than before. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apex mineral body FIMI Thursday sought government support to open up Karnataka's iron ore-rich mining industry, which cannot export the mineral due to a Supreme Court ruling. In this regard, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) said it has also written letters to Ministries of Steel, Mines, Commerce and the NITI Aayog. India has set up a target to ramp up its steel-making capacity to 300 million tonne (MT) by 2030-31, FIMI said, adding that in order to achieve this aim, the country would also need proportionate quantity of raw materials like iron ore and coal. "Iron ore is abundantly available in India. Going by the latest United Nations classification framework, India has proven reserve of 28 billion tonnes of iron ore... and Karnataka is one of the major iron ore producing states. At present, it (Karnataka) cannot export iron ore due to a Supreme Court ruling," FIMI said in a statement. The body said it requests the government to take immediate steps so that iron ore export can take place. This way Karnataka will also be able to contribute to the 300 million tonne steel production target as most of the steel plants are based out of Karnataka, FIMI said. Even though there is enough iron ore in India, import is still is taking place, the body said, adding that a steel plant in Karnataka is also buying iron ore from outside the state. The low import duty of 2.5 per cent on iron ore is also pushing steel plants to bring in shiploads of iron ore from other countries. "We welcome... the steps taken by the government to limit the fall in value of the rupee against US dollar. FIMI would also like to invite the centre's attention to certain facts requiring urgent remedial measures," the body said in the letter. The import of iron ore is also "non-essential" for the economy since domestic ore production is well in excess if domestic consumption. Export of iron ore from Karnataka can help government in checking current account deficit (CAD), and government must take appropriate steps to encourage export of iron ore from the state, the letter said. FIMI has also demanded an increase in import duty on iron ore and iron ore pellets to 30 per cent to check imports. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school, on Thursday said she opened up about the incident to provide the facts about how US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee's actions damaged her life and it is up to the Senate to decide whether he deserves the post or not. Ford on Thursday testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh's attack on her had left her "afraid and ashamed". Kavanaugh has denied allegations by Ford, along with those of a number of other women. He is also due to testify before the committee. The nine-member Supreme Court plays a vital role in US political life, as it has the final say on US law. President Trump has called the hearing an "important day in the history of our country". The 51-year-old professor Ford spoke for the first time publicly after she made the allegation. Ford detailed her allegation against Kavanuagh which was first made public less than two weeks ago in an interview with The Washington Post. Her voice often cracked as she described both the incident, and how she dealt with its aftermath. In her prepared testimony, Ford said: "I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school." She alleged Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge had locked her in a bedroom during a small gathering at a house in a Washington DC suburb in the summer of 1982 when she was 15 and he was 17. Both men were "drunkenly laughing", she said. "Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details," she said. "My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth," she said. "The sense of duty that motivated me to reach out confidentially to The Washington Post," she said. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, asked Christine Blasey Ford about her "strongest memory" from the alleged assault. Ford said she remembers the "uproarious laughter" between Brett Kavanaugh and his friend Mark, who were "having fun at my expense." Asked how she is sure it was Kavanaugh who assaulted her, Ford said: "The same way that I'm sure that I'm talking to you right now."When asked if there is any chance she has mistakenly identified Kavanaugh, Ford said "absolutely not."Instead of questioning Ford themselves, Republicans hired Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, to question Ford. The hearing marks a pivotal moment in what has become a raucous confirmation process. Kavnaugh's chances, once thought to be assured, have been thrust into uncertainty since Ford came forward. On Thursday, a number of senators who are thought to be critical to Kavanaugh's confirmation vote, have said they will be watching closely. Trump himself, who has called all the allegations false, said Wednesday that he was open to Ford persuading him otherwise. "I'm going to be watching, you know, believe it or not, I'm going to see what's said," Trump said. "It's possible that [Ford] will be convincing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A defiant Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee for the US Supreme Court, angrily denied sexual assault allegations and condemned his bitter Senate confirmation process as a "national disgrace." Kavanaugh's passionate defence on Thursday came after a university professor, Christine Blasey Ford, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago. The allegations against the 53-year-old conservative judge have thrust the Trump administration into the #MeToo movement's harsh glare, and threaten to derail its bid to tilt the nation's highest court to the right for years to come. "I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation by Dr. Ford," said Kavanaugh, whose voice shook with anger during an opening statement that saw him repeatedly shed tears. "I've never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever." "I am innocent of this charge," Kavanaugh thundered. Earlier, during four hours of emotionally-charged testimony, Blasey Ford, 51, said she was "100 per cent" certain Kavanaugh was her assailant and it was "absolutely not" a case of mistaken identify. "I am here today not because I want to be," Blasey Ford said as she recounted the sexual assault which she alleged occurred at a high school party at a suburban Maryland home in 1982. "I am terrified," she said, her voice often quavering. "I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me." Kavanaugh slammed what he called a "grotesque and coordinated character assassination" and a "calculated and orchestrated political hit." "My family and my name have been permanently destroyed by vicious and false accusations," Kavanaugh said. "This confirmation process has become a national disgrace." But he said he would not withdraw his candidacy for a spot on the nine-member Supreme Court. "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," Kavanaugh said. "You may defeat me in the final vote but you'll never get me to quit. Never. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration Thursday announced its decision to attach the properties of 566 gangsters and stop their financial transactions in a major crackdown on criminals in the district. The action has been taken against 150 criminal gangs, including 566 persons who have been booked by the police since May 1, 2017. Also included in the list are mafias, builders involved in cheating, drug lords and cyber frauds, senior officials said, adding they are from all regions of Gautam Buddh Nagar including Noida and Greater Noida. District Magistrate Brajesh Narayan Singh in a joint press conference with police chief Ajay Pal Sharma said thatworking under the Section 14 and 15 of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, the "ill gotten" property, both movable and immovable, and wealth has been attached. "We have written to all departments here including local authorities (municipal), Income Tax, Sales Tax, subdivisional magistrates, police station in charges, CDO and ARTO. We have asked them to stop the financial transactions of these people, in case of movable properties, and sought details within 15 days so that we can take further action against them," Singh said. He said the administration is also sharing the full list of these gangsters with the public and requesting them to share any documentary proof against these people in any case with the officials. "We are asking the public to share with us any documentary evidence that they have so that we can ensure stringent action against them under the law," Singh told reporters. "These gangsters are involved in murders, robberies, dacoities ... Builders who have cheated others including those connected with the twin building collapse in Shahberi where nine lives were lost, we have considered all of them," the district magistrate said. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Pal Sharma said there are various categories of criminals included in this list who were working in gangs. "Outfits like the Sundar Bhati gang, Amit Dujana gang operating in Gautam Buddh Nagar have been included and action will be taken against them," he said. "There are also builders and those involved in online frauds, drugs, sand, land and liquor mafias, against whom the action has been taken," Sharma said. Asked about the need of such action, Singh, who took charge as the DM on April 27, 2017, stressed the administration's efforts to taking action against criminals to its "logical end". "The government has high expectations from the administration in terms of law and order situation, and so has a common man. So, there was a need to escalate (action) and take all these things to a logical end," he said. Asked about the action he proposes against complicity of any government official, the district magistrate said that whatever the procedures are will be followed and their accountability be sought. The SSP, however, said, "a proper investigation will be done against these listed gangsters and action will be ensured against all those who are found helping or supporting them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday urged the people to get out of the colonial mindset and return to the roots -- Indian culture, which is the greatest in the world. Naidu also stressed upon communicating in one's mother tongue at home. "Learning English is not bad, but the English mindset is an ailment and we must come out of it. Think of our nation. It has such great tradition that we must get back to our roots," he said on the opening day of four-day Lok Manthan 2018 programme here. He, however, clarified that he was not against the English language, saying one can learn any number of languages but one should always communicate in one's mother tongue at home as it connects emotions and mind. "We should get back to our roots as the culture and civilisation of India is the greatest," Naidu said. The Vice President said the long colonial rule not only destroyed our political ideals and institutions but also disrupted the natural growth of those systems. "Therefore, it is necessary that our society should develop self-assessment of the history. We should include oral history, folk tradition and local traditions, language, literature, folk arts, etc. as important evidence of our history," he said. Naidu said, "Some leaders and people go out of India and criticise the country. This is wrong. They must understand every Indian believes in 'sarva dharma samabhav' (equal treatment for all religions),". He said several people and organisations spread rumours about India being intolerant on frivolous issues. "If you look at the world you will find that India is the most tolerant country. And secularism is in the DNA of every Indian. We are a great nation. We have such a tradition of sharing and caring and that is the core of Indian philosophy. In our tradition, if we have one bread we distribute it and if a piece remains only then we eat it," he said adding that this is the Hindu way of life. Naidu said it was imminent to study and discard social evils which came into being in the society because of long period of political dominance under the colonial rule. The country's struggle for freedom was not for only political independence but also social reforms such as untouchability and castesism, the Vice President said. He said, "Because of commitment towards people, our Constitution was framed to ensure social, economic and political justice to all the citizens of the country." The Constitution consisted of special provisions for the minorities, the backwards, tribal regions and the deprived classes, Naidu said. He said he recently got an opportunity to attend the 125th anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda's Chicago speech. "Swamiji had said if and when the true history of India is written it will be proved that on the subject of religion and performing arts India had always been world leader," he said. In the next century, India fought against the strongest colonial power of the West through non-violence, and in this movement resurrected old traditions and culture - truth, non-violence, service, community, equality, independence and other values, Naidu said. Naidu said, "I know we are divided today politically, socially and economically. And we are also strongly opposed to each other... but if time and circumstances will favour us then no power of the world can stop this country from being united." "Any country is made of its people, culture and people's aspirations. So, it is necessary to keep alive the discussions and deliberations," the Vice President said. He cited various debates mentioned in the Puranas to prove that debates, communications and discussions are traditions of India. In an oblique reference to disruptions in legislatures, Naidu said, "Legislatures are made to propose, oppose and dispose. They are not meant for disruption. Let us respect the mandate of the people at any cost. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ministers in the BJP-led Goa government put up a united face Thursday by holding a review meeting against the backdrop of the Congress' claim that all is not well among the ruling allies in view of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's absence from office due to ill health. Interestingly, the Opposition Congress Wednesday claimed that there is "discontent" among the members of the ruling BJP-led coalition and a "political earthquake" was expected soon in the coastal state. The formal agenda of Thursday's review meeting was to expedite implementation of the budgetary proposals. However, a minister said they also wanted to send a message that the alliance partners are united and the government is stable. Parrikar is currently undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment. The ministers of the BJP and allies Goa Forward Party (GFP), Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Independents attended the meeting held at the state secretariat here this morning. This is for the first time since July this year that the state Cabinet ministers met jointly on a common agenda. Parrikar had last chaired a cabinet meeting in July before his hospitalisation. The meeting was also attended by newly-inducted ministers Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral -- who were given a formal welcome by their colleagues. Naik and Cabral were inducted into the government Monday, after Parrikar effected a minor reshuffle of cabinet and dropped two ailing ministers of the BJP. An MGP leader said the ministers Thursday resolved to hold a review meeting every Wednesday on implementation of the budgetary assurances given by the chief minister. Parrikar used to hold the cabinet meeting every Wednesday before his health kept him away from office since February this year. "Though Chief Minister is sick, we are working under his guidance. We would implement the assurances given by the government in the state budget (2018-19)," MGP minister Sudin Dhavalikar said. He said the ministers would take stock of funds being allocated to every department and take up proposals accordingly in future meetings. GFP Minister Vijai Sardesai said the meetings to be held every Wednesday are meant to ensure that good governance is delivered. Sardesai said the ministers will decide short and long term goals of each department over the next four months and will make a presentation before the chief minister. Sardesai, who holds Agriculture portfolio, said Parrikar's absence will impact governance. "We are here to reduce that impact. We would act like shock absorbers," he said. Hinting at early Lok Sabha elections, the minister said, "We also have a situation where elections are going to be held and Model Code of Conduct to come into effect. This may happen in the next four months". "The decision to hold the review meeting was not only to show our strength and unity but something else too....This government is stable. It is stable not only on the support of the MLAs of the coalition parters, but we have friends outside too," he said without elaborating. Congress legislators in Goa had last week met Governor Mridula Sinha and demanded floor test by the BJP-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly, in view of Parrikar's absence. Sardesai said the ruling dispensation has numbers. "We can show the numbers without poaching into anybody's camp," he said. BJP minister Mauvin Godinho said stability is of paramount importance for any government. "We wanted to convey that the government (is stable) and that it is a performing government. Everything that we are doing together is on the behalf of the chief minister," he said. Godinho said the Opposition was raising sickness of the chief minister as it has no other issue against the government. "The Opposition is trying to portray that the government is not functional, but we are a stable and performing government," the minister said. In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Congress has 16 seats, followed by the BJP (14). Goa is being ruled by the BJP with the support of GFP (3), MGP (3), NCP (1) and Independents (3). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Goa government and Portugal's Ministry of will sign an MoU Saturday on technical partnership for water supply, waste water management and sanitation in the coastal state, Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said. He informed that the agreement would be signed when Portugal Minister Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes arrives here on September 29. "The main points are water supply operation, energy efficiency and resource valorisation, waste water and sewerage planning, management and technological solutions, asset management procedure and standards, energy management operational work flow, operational data, and information management," Dhavalikar explained. Dhavalikar said that teams from both sides would meet every year to review the works agreed upon in the Memorandum of Understanding. He said that the agreement between Portugal and Goa was the first step towards providing water round the clock to the people of Goa. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government followed all laid down procedures in sealing the Rafale deal, official sources said Thursday, dismissing a media report that a senior bureaucrat in the defence ministry had raised questions about the aircraft's benchmark price. Claiming that the report suffers from several "factual errors", the sources said the deal was finalised following a collegiate process of decision making that allows for opinions to be freely expressed, recorded and discussed. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also rejected the report, saying the official was a signatory to the final note on the agreement which was presented to the Union Cabinet for approval in August, 2016. "The note that was presented to the Cabinet had the signature of the official. At the time of discussions, there may be divergent views which are recorded. But at the end, decision is taken collectively," Sitharaman told India Today channel. The media report said the then Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) in the defence ministry raised objections about price of the jets and put his objections on record which caused delays in preparation of the Cabinet note on the deal. According to the report, the official was part of the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC) for the deal, and signing of the Cabinet happened only after his objections were "overruled" by another senior official in the ministry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after talks with the then French President Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015 in Paris. The final deal was sealed on September 23, 2016. The Congress has been alleging massive irregularities in the deal, saying the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government when it was negotiating the deal. "The government has seen today a report in the media about the procurement of Rafale fighter aircraft, which once again seeks to create confusion through distorted and selective presentation of facts," said an official source. The sources said all provisions laid down in the defence procurement procedure and other relevant guidelines were fully followed in the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft. They said the the Defence Acquisition Council had accepted the necessity for the acquisition of aircraft and mandated the Contract Negotiating Committee to go ahead. Following the stipulated process, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) accorded its approval to the acquisition on August 24, 2016, and not in September 2016 - as erroneously claimed in the media report, the sources said. They said the officer proceeded in September 2016 for a one-week training programme - and not on leave as "mischievously" alleged in the report. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government plans to set up eight special courts under the Company Law Tribunal to handle rising number of cases under the insolvency law, according to a senior official. In recent times, there have been a substantial increase in the number of cases under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which provides for market-determined resolution in a time-bound manner. As many as 6,326 companies had filed cases under the Code with the NCLT till June end. The Corporate Affairs Ministry has proposed setting up eight special courts under the NCLT to deal with the ALSO READ: Govt plans special courts under NCLT by Nov to deal with insolvency cases "These courts are proposed to be set up in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and The proposal aims to reduce the mounting burden on the tribunal despite it is having 11 benches all over India," Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas has said. NCLT handles company law cases and merger and acquisitions, apart from insolvency and bankruptcy cases. "A total of 9,073 cases are under consideration in NCLT as on January 31, 2018, which includes 1,630 cases of merger and amalgamations, 2,511 cases of insolvency and 4,932 cases under other sections of the Companies Act, 2013. "Subsequently, the cases have been increasing i e 6,326 companies had filed cases in NCLT under the IBC till end of June, 2018," he said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Germany to designate the FETO network of his former ally Fethullah Gulen as a terror group, as he prepared to make a state visit to the EU country this Thursday. In an op-ed published on Germanys Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the Turkish leader urged German authorities to renew friendly ties with Turkey following several years of strained ties. Berlin accuses Ankara of totalitarianism while the latter accuses Chancellor Angela Merkels administration of supporting the opposition and terrorist groups, including US-based Turkish cleric Gulens FETO organization. Ankara has accused the organization of being responsible for the 2016 July failed coup. Thousands of people in the military, security forces, public service and universities have been arrested over alleged links with the organization. As he is expected to touch down this Thursday in Berlin, Erdogan wrote in FAZ that he expects Germany to put Gulens FETO on the black list of terror groups. He also called on Germany to help combat the organization which, he claims, uses the EU country as safe haven. It is our responsibility to rationally move our relations forward on the basis of our shared interests, quite apart from irrational fears, the Turkish president wrote in the FAZ op-ed, entitled Expectations of Germany. Erdogan also said he wants both countries to prevent the irresponsible policies of the U.S. from setting off a reckless trade war. The finance ministry and the Reserve bank of India (RBI) are scheduled to hold meeting on Friday to decide about the borrowing calender for the second half of the current fiscal. The borrowing calender for the October-March period will be decided keeping in mind the fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent for 2018-19, sources said. The government had budgeted Rs 6,05,539 crore for 2018-19 Gross G-Sec borrowing. It also intends to use larger inflows from Small Savings Schemes to fund its fiscal deficit during the year. It will borrow Rs one lakh crore from NSSF (National Social Security Fund) as against budgeted amount of Rs 75,000 crore. For the first half of the current fiscal, the government decided to borrow Rs 2.88 lakh crore as compared to Rs 3.72 lakh crore in the same period of FY18. According to the announced plan, the government will complete 47.56 per cent of its the budgeted gross borrowing for the year in the first six months. The government usually tries to complete at least 60 per cent of its borrowing requirements in the first six months. The government borrows funds from money market to bridge the fiscal deficit. The deficit has been pegged at 3.3 per cent of GDP in 2018-19, lower than 3.5 per cent in current fiscal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said changes will be made to the (GST) to reduce rates on items, if his party comes to power. On a visit to various places in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, he also continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter deal, alleging that "the watchman has indulged in theft." Gandhi, who began his two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh, was addressing a gathering after visiting the famous Kamta Nath temple in this religious town associated with Lord Rama. He said the Modi government has "destroyed" small businesses and employment through demonetisation and 'Gabbar Singh Tax', a reference to "As soon as we come to power, we will change the 'Gabbar Singh Tax' into the real tax. We will implement one tax at lowest rates," the Congress leader said. He said all power would be used to generate employment. GST, which brought a one-tax regime in the country, was rolled out last year. Turning to the Rafale deal, Gandhi said, "Hindustan ke chowkidar ne chori kar li hai" (India's watchman has indulged in theft)." His reference was clearly to Modi who had said that he would be the country's 'chowkidar' in his capacity as the prime minister. "The man, who claims to be the country's watchman, has himself put Rs 300 billion in the pocket of (industrialist) Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal," Gandhi claimed. ALSO READ: Cabinet likely to consider converting GSTN into a govt entity today Describing Anil Ambani as Modi's "friend", the Congress leader alleged that the industrialist has a debt of Rs 450 billion. He claimed that Anil Ambani had not manufactured even a single aircraft but was awarded a contract of Rs 300 billion after "snatching" the work from state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). "The 'chowkidar' took out the money from the pockets of the poor, the youth and other people and put it into the pocket of Ambani... This money belongs to the people of the country," Gandhi alleged. Ambani has already rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in the Rafale- manufacturer French company Dassault picking up his company as a local partner. He had written to Gandhi on December 12, 2017, refuting allegations of his Reliance Group lacking experience to get the Rafale fighter jet deal. He had written that Reliance Defence has the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and is currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard. In his speech, Gandhi also accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of speaking untruth on the Rafale deal issue. "In Parliament, the defence minister said the price of Rafale fighter plane can't be disclosed due to secret pact. I met the French president, who said there is no such pact and the price can be disclosed," the Congress chief said. The prime minister also spoke for one-and-a-half hour in Parliament but did not talk about Rafale issue, he added. Gandhi also reiterated his promise of waiving the farmers' loan within ten days, if elected to power in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, he reached Chitrakoot from Allahabad by a helicopter and visited the Kamta Nath temple where he performed 'puja'. The temple is located in the forested hills of Kamadgiri where, according to mythology, Lord Rama stayed during his exile. The 48-year-old Amethi MP was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath, state party campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Ajay Singh. Senior party leader from the state Digvijaya Singh was conspicuous by his absence. The visit is part of the Congress' campaign for the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh due later this year. The Congress has been out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003. During his earlier visit on September 17, Gandhi held a roadshow in Bhopal after performing a puja and taking blessings from 11 priests. A bandh was called Thursday in Halvad town in Gujarat's Morbi district after two Bajrang Dal activists were allegedly attacked by a group of people reportedly belonging to a minority community, police said. Police said that Bhavesh Thakkar and Alpesh Parejiya were attacked in Jungri Vaas, over 80 kilometres from here, late Wednesday night by a group of people with whom the duo had a scuffle two days ago. Even as police was rushed to the area late Wednesday night, a scrap godown was set ablaze by unidentified persons, the official informed. During the "Halvad bandh" called Thursday by the local Bajrang Dal unit, heaps of paper were burnt in some places, the official said, adding that the situation was tense but under control now. "The situation is under control now. We have deployed police personnel across the town to maintain law and order," Morbi Superintendent of Police Karanraj Vaghela said Thursday. A Halvad police station official said that a case of rioting had been registered, based on the duo's complaint, and a probe was underway. The Halvad police official added that no arrests had been made in this connection so far. He said that Thakkar and Parejia had been shifted to Ahmedabad for medical treatment. Some people also protested in Junagadh against the attack, an official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Wading into the Rafale jets controversy, Union Minister Thursday indicated that (HAL) lost on the deal because it quoted 2.57 times more man-hours to build fighter jets. While was to produce 108 fighter jets locally in a joint venture with French firm in the deal for 126 Rafale jets that the previous UPA regime had negotiated. The state-owned firm, however, was left out in the deal as the present government signed to buy 36 fighter jets in 'fly-away' condition from France. Minister of State for Heavy Industries Supriyo, speaking at a conference on public sector enterprises organised by CII here, said quoted "257 man-hours" for a job Dassault said could be done in "100 man-hours". For the production of Rafale fighter jets, "when Dassault said they needed 100 man hours, said they needed 257, so that is indeed a big factor," he said. Stating that there may be political controversies over the issue, the minister said his limited point was about economics. "I am just saying that we need to definitely look into why something that can be made in 100 hours would require 257 hours. Are we faltering somewhere. Can we bring it down? Can we negotiate on that? These are small areas that need to be looked into," he said. "So that is the question that all of us need to answer and that is where the government is trying their very best to support and push those public sector enterprises which need that support by the infusion of funds or the right injection at the right time - be it funds or any R&D." Later speaking to PTI, the minister clarified that his remarks were directed at the PSUs to assess how to match with their private peers in a time of globalisation. HAL is a Bengaluru-based defence public sector unit and does not come under his department. Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav on Thursday threatened to launch an agitation against the BJP-led Haryana government next month if it fails to procure "each grain of bajra" at minimum support price (MSP). Besides, Yadav also demanded that the government fully compensates the paddy, cotton and bajra farmers whose crops was damaged in the recent heavy rains in the state. "Bajra crop has started arriving in mandis but no guidelines have yet been issued by the state government with regard to procurement of the crop. Farmers are still unaware on what conditions their crop will be purchased," Yadav told reporters here. The state's agriculture minister had said in Haryana Vidhan Sabha that each grain of bajra crop will be bought, he said. "But now the government has announced to buy only one lakh metric tonne of the crop at MSP of Rs 1,950 per quintal out of the expected output of 6.20 lakh MT and rest of the crop will purchased under Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana, which is a failed plan," he added. The Swaraj India chief claimed that farmers would not gain much with the purchase of their produce under Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana as the model rate under this scheme had been fixed in such a way that they are paid less. He alleged that by going back on its promise, the government had shown that it was anti-farmer. The current rate of bajra is Rs 1,250 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 1,950 per quintal, Yadav claimed. "If bajra crop is not purchased at MSP starting from October 1, we will launch a state-wide agitation commencing from Rewari and we will shut down the mandis," he warned. Yadav also demanded that directions be issued to insurance companies to compensate the farmers affected by the rains. Most farmers in Haryana are still not aware which are the insurance companies operating in their areas under the Fasal Bima Yojana. Sometimes the claims of farmers are rejected by companies on technical grounds, he said. Yadav also accused Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana government of amending the Land Acquisition Act with regard to provisions of denotification of acquired land. This, he said, would go against the land owners. By amending the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2017, the government can denotify the acquired land if it finds it unviable and seek return of compensation from the land owners, he claimed. Yadav said Swaraj India will take a call on contesting Lok Sabha elections after its national conference on October 3. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bombay High Court Thursday dismissed 176 petitions challenging the Maharashtra government's action of taking over land after declaring it as reserved forests, observing that its anxiety is to maintain forest cover in the state. A division bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and P D Naik dismissed the petitions challenging the government's decision of mutating the names of the petitioners as owners from revenue records under the Maharashtra Private Forest (Acquisition) Act, 1975. Mutation of a property refers to the transfer or change of title entry in revenue records maintained by local civic bodies. "The anxiety of this court is to maintain the forest cover in the state. It would be improper to rely on the one sided version of the petitioners who are but builders and developers," the judgement said. The petitioners had claimed that the government had, in June 1956, issued show cause notices on the predecessors of the petitioners under the Indian Forests Act. "The show cause notices were not acted upon, has lapsed and ceased to have any effect. Therefore, the state government's action of mutating the petitioners' names after four decades is completely arbitrary and unreasonable," the petitioners argued. The state government opposed the petitions and said that their land were deemed as reserved forests in 1975 itself and hence the ownership vested with the government. "Any transaction of sale or purchase after 1975 would not confer any right on the purchaser and the sale cannot be held as valid. The original owners never challenged the notices," government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani had argued. According to Vagyani, the lands concerned in the 176 petitions are spread across the state and measure up to 14,000 hectares of forest land. The bench in its judgement ruled that it confers with the government's arguments and holds that the contentions raised in the petitions were not bona fide. "The petitions seems to have been filed as an afterthought by those having commercial interests and, at their behest, it would be highly unsafe to reopen the matters," the high court said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court Thursday took serious note of the allegations of backing down power generated through windmills by TANGEDCO and directed the Tamil Nadu power secretary and the corporation's chairman to appear before it and explain the power position in the state. Justice Kirubakaran passed the order on a petition by Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association based in Dindigul alleging that Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) was backing down wind energy deliberately. Secretary of Energy Department Mohamed Nasimuddin and Chairman of TANGEDCO, Vikram Kapur were directed to appear before the court on September 28 and explain as to whether there was any shortage of electricity, shortage of coal in thermal power stations in the state. The court also sought to know the steps taken to improve the storage of coal and why wind energy was not fully put to use by the state power utility. "Electricity has become very essential and without power supply, even human life cannot be led and no one can think of life without electricity even for 10 minutes. When such is the position, the government should have been careful enough to see that all precautionary steps have been taken to ensure that the power supply is not interrupted and sufficient power supply is given to the citizens," the judge observed. During the hearing, the petitioner submitted that the interim order passed on July 8, 2015 prohibited the TANGEDCO from backing down wind mill energy. Inspite of the order, the entire wind energy produced has not been infused into the Tamil Nadu grid continuously, he alleged. He further said the thermal energy which is the least in the priority list is given preference over wind energy for unknown reasons. Denying the allegations, the state government submitted that there was no backing down and if at all any, it was only due to unavoidable circumstances, taking the grid safety into consideration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The following are the highlights of the Supreme Court judgment wherein it declined to set up a larger bench for a re-look of its 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam", paving the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit. * A Muslim group had assailed the observations made by a five-judge Constitution bench in 1994 in the Ismail Faruqui case. * In a majority verdict of 2:1, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Ashok Bhushan say earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition". * Observations were neither relevant for deciding the suits nor for deciding these appeals. * No case has been made out to refer the Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in Ismail Faruqui case for reconsideration. * SC says has to find out the context in which the five-judge bench had delivered the 1994 judgement. * Justice S A Nazeer, the third judge, dissented with the majority view. * He said the question whether mosque was essential part of the religion cannot be decided without a "detailed examination of the beliefs, tenets and practice of the faith" and favoured reconsideration of the issue to a larger bench. * Justice Nazeer said the questionable observation of 1994 verdict had permeated into the Allahabad High Court's decision in land dispute case. * He held that the larger bench should decide whether the test for determining the essential practice is both essentiality and integrality. * Civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench from October 29. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hindustan Copper Ltd today said its Malanjkhand copper project in Madhya Pradesh having a capacity of 50 lakh tonnes per annum (MTPA) is progressing well and the plans have been firmed up to begin production from underground mine in the coming financial year. "The company's flagship project, Malanjkhand underground mine of annual capacity 50 lakh tonne is progressing well. Fifty percent of the physical progress has been completed," the company said in a filing to BSE. Likewise, tender has been issued for construction and operations of Chapri-Sidheswar mine, a new project at Ghatsila with a capacity 1.5 MTPA. The current mine expansion plan of the Hindustan Copper, it said, has been enhanced from 12.4 MTPA to 20 MTPA. "Total capital outlay of the above expansion projects is 5,500 crore," it said. Hindustan Copper Ltd had earlier said it has signed an MoU with MOIL for the Malanjkhand copper project with an objective to create long-term business synergy for both the companies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after he accidentally shot himself in his thigh, Vice Chief of Indian Air Force Air Marshal S B Deo was recovering and his condition was stable, official sources said Thursday. The Air Marshal shot himself in his thigh on Wednesday afternoon in a freak accident following which he was rushed to a military hospital where he underwent a surgery, they said. Air Marshal Deo was rushed to the Army's base hospital soon after the incident which took place around 2 PM in his official residence Wednesday. He is recovering and his condition is stable, a senior official said. There was no official comment from the IAF on the incident. It is not immediately clear how the accident took place. Air Marshal Deo had taken over as vice chief of the Air Staff in January last year. He was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the IAF on June 15, 1979 and is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. The Air Marshal is retiring from service later this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Secret Meeting By Levan Khutsishvili On September 22, the prime minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze stated that there was a need of stronger communication with the society while working on the cannabis cultivation initiative, and unless the intensive dialogue is not provided with all interested parties, Government will not Initiate the draft law."We have worked out a very strict regulation of consumption, considering each and every risk that can accompany social life and we have declared that by making these regulations, we set society as the main priority, especially the health of our young generations.Our initiative meant cultivation only for medical purposes and only for export markets. I think that in this part more communication was needed with the public, so, until having an intensive dialogue with all stakeholders, we will not force the initiative, said Mamuka Bakhtadze.The draft law on the cultivation and sale of marijuana in the parliament was postponed on September 16, which was initiated by the government and official reason of it was named by the Chairman of Parliament of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze: Society needs to be better informed."In parliament, was initiated a package of the bill, which deals with the regulation of marijuana consumption in Georgia and the production of hemp. It is important for us to act in accordance with the public mood. The society must be informed about the content of such issues. We need time to inform society and accordingly we have decided to discuss these issues in two parts and if there are questions in the society that this bill can encourage illegal circulation of drugs, in this case, we are ready for consultations and if we will be convinced of it we will withdraw the bill " - said the Chairman of the Parliament.The talks about the withdrawal and cancellation of the draft law started right after the intense protest from the Georgian Orthodox Church. When Government sounded the initiative about the cultivation of marijuana, Patriarch of Georgia distributed preaching, talking about the drug addiction as an illness and asking the government to fight against it. After the preaching, some representatives of Orthodox Church organized a demonstration against the marijuana cultivation, representatives of the church were attending the discussions of the draft law in legal issues Committee of parliament. In the beginning, the government was stressing the topic of economic benefits from marijuana cultivation and export, but the influence of the church is visible. Church speaks by the name of society, and the government needs to obey, especially a month before the elections."The draft law is not about production and export of any drugs. But, in any case, we will never think about the economic benefits if there is the smallest possibility that it will harm society. If we see that the bill brings damage or contains a threat to society, naturally we will put our economy on the side, said Irakli Kobakhidze.These decisions of government and statements from the prime minister and the chairman of parliament are especially interesting when Archbishop Jakob says that he met with a person who makes decisions about the marijuana issues and after this meeting, the government changed its mind. Archbishop Jakob denies that person he met was Bidzina Ivanishvili, so it is questionable, who else has such influence on the government?I think it was a healthy meeting country. You see the result, so it is not important with whom I had a meeting, said Archbishop Jakob. The Idol Wing CID of Tamil Nadu police Thursday recovered antique items including idols and temple pillars from a house here, and said it had strong reasons to believe they could have been stolen from temples. "I have reasonable grounds to believe all these idols and artefacts are all stolen from Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu," Inspector General, Idol Wing CID, AG Pon Manickavel said. Speaking to reporters after overseeing the searches conducted at the house of a businessman here, he said the needle of suspicion pointed to Dheenadayalan, an alleged kingpin behind idol thefts and smuggling who had been arrested earlier. He also said nobody in Tamil Nadu has been given licence to sell antique artefacts including idols dating back to over a century. "None in Tamil Nadu has been given licence to sell antique idols dating over 100 years. But this is happening and we are taking action. Even pillars have been stolen (from temples)," he added. The person from whose premises the idols have been recovered "is a purchaser," and any arrest in this matter will be effected only if any "incrimination" was found on his part, the official said, adding the former had put on display all the artefacts. Idol Wing DSP Ashok Natarajan said a total of 89 items including 56 stone idols, 22 pillars and 12 metal statues were recovered from the house today. The businessman possessed records like registration certificates which showed from whom he had purchased it but there was no record of where these idols were present prior to that, he said. "They have bought some of them from him (Dheenadayalan) and some others from an antique dealer in Kerala and also from Puducherry," he said. Notices will be served to sellers from Kerala and Puducherry as part of further action, he added. The idols will be produced before a local court in Kumbakonam and further action will be taken based on its order, he said. "It is for certain these artefacts have been taken from some Tamil Nadu temples. These were kept for worshipping and they are antique in nature," he added. The Idol Wing CID has recently recovered a number of stolen idols, even as the Tamil Nadu government recommended a CBI probe into the matter citing the need to carry out inter-state and international probe into the matter. However, the Central agency has expressed its inability to take up the probe sought by the government citing shortage of manpower, and informed the Madras High Court in this regard. But, it has assured all assistance to the state police in extradition of the accused or coordination with the Interpol among others. The court had earlier set up a special bench of Justices R Mahadevan and PD Audikesavalu to deal with a batch of petitions. It had also reinstated Manickavel as the Idol Wing chief after he was transferred earlier, and asked him to continue to investigate the theft of idols from temples in the state over a period of time. However, the state government took the decision to transfer the cases to CBI, claiming the idol wing, headed by Manickavel, was not performing satisfactorily. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Group's hospitality arm Indian Hotels Company Thursday said it has signed pact with with R&R Hotels and Resorts to open a new Vivanta hotel in Kathmandu in Nepal. This will be the company's second hotel in Nepal after Meghauli Serai in Chitwan National Park in Nepal, Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) said in a statement. Commenting on the development, IHCL MD and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said: "We are honoured to partner with R&R Hotels and Resorts for this new hotel". Kathmandu is an extremely popular destination and this hotel will help IHCL complete a tourist circuit with Meghauli Serai, its Taj Safari Lodge in Chitwan National Park, he added. "We are delighted to partner with The Indian Hotels Company Ltd. We have had a long standing association with them for a range of hotels in multiple destinations," R&R Hotels and Resorts Director Rahul Chaudhary said. The hotel will have approximately 111 rooms and suites, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Reacting to the crisis at infra lender IL&FS, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor R Gandhi Thursday said the regulator should step-in only with liquidity support for the system and not worry about solvency issues. IL&FS has defaulted on its debt repayment obligations and efforts are on to find a solution, which will focus on bolstering the financial situation of the company. "The contagion has to be contained...the regulator should not step in for solvency problem. For liquidity problem, regulator should step in," he told PTI on the sidelines of a banking industry event here. In a bid to quell concerns over shortage of cash, the RBI Thursday morning said that there is surplus liquidity in the system, and it will ensure durable liquidity by using various available instruments depending on market conditions. Gandhi cited the RBI action on providing liquidity support as the right approach. When asked about the regulatory and supervisory processes and if such a situation could have been avoided, he first said institutions should have the resilience to take the impact of a few bad commercial decisions, and also pitched for allowing institutions to fail if required. "We created that expectation (that financial institutions will not fail) because of the public sector banking system that everything is the government, and its own institution cannot fail. That is a wrong expectation; individual commercial institution if they are failing because of their own fault, let them fail," he said. He added that as the non-bank lenders do not accept deposits, the level of regulatory scrutiny on them is lower. Gandhi said the impact on the larger public if an NBFC like IL&FS were to go down, is limited to the mutual fund investments by the common public, and added that other stakeholders in the company are institutions. The banking system exposure is also limited, he said, asserting that they can bear the reverses caused in case of any event. Gandhi said the systemic trouble will also not be very high if IL&FS were to go down, pointing out that NBFCs constitute only 15 per cent of the overall finance sector, of which, 7 per cent is held by three top companies promoted by the government. When asked if the RBI has become extra vigilant as seen in the cases of curtailing the terms of the chief executives at Axis Bank and Yes Bank, Gandhi said the action is not unprecedented and it rejects names "very often". On the issue of data localisation, he said storing of copies of transaction locally should suffice. "So long as a copy of the transaction is available, any security-related concerns can be easily addressed," he said, adding that if any foreign firm like Whatsapp finds the local requirements onerous, an indigenous alternative offering the same service can emerge. On the Wednesday's Aadhaar judgement by the Supreme Court, he said it will not have any adverse impact on banks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Acting on a tip-off, the Loni police busted an illicit liquor producing unit in DLF Colony here on Thursday and seized empty quarter bottles, plastic tanks, chemical sealing machine, among other items, officials said. Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna said the house of one Jagat Singh was raided in DLF Colony. Surendra, Shobharam alias Jagat singh, and Arvind were arrested at the house, while factory owner Ravi managed to escape the scene. Police seized 44 cartons of ready to sell liquor of Mr India brand and four drums (with capacity of 200 litres each) with the illicit liquor. Bar coding machine, caps with sealing machine, wrappers, and a mini truck were also seized. The police have registered case under Excise Act and sections 272, 273 and 420 of the IPC, the SSP said. On Wednesday, the Noida Police busted an illegal liquor factory running in Ghaziabad and arrested four persons. As much as 15,000 litre of illicit liquor, estimated to be worth Rs 50 lakh, was seized, officials said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It is incumbent to dismantle the support infrastructure of terrorist organisations as their access to funds, finances and technology enables them to carry out attacks with "impunity", India has said as it called for making the UN counter-terrorism mechanism efficient in listing terrorists and their outfits. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's remarks came at the 9th IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Trilateral Ministerial Commission meeting held Thursday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. "Terrorism, non-state actors, and illicit financial flows undermine the very cause of development and prosperity. Terrorist organizations use sophisticated equipment, weapons, and ammunitions that are financed through illicit and illegitimate sources," she said. "Allowing them access to funds, finances, information, weapons, and technology enables them to carry out attacks with impunity. It is incumbent therefore to dismantle their support infrastructure," she said. The IBSA meeting was convened by Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Aloysio Nunes Ferreira Filho and attended by South Africa's Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu. Swaraj said India's proposal on Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism (CCIT) will fill in the significant vacuum to combat the scourge of terrorism. "United Nations' counter-terrorism mechanism should be made efficient in listing terrorists and their outfits. Implementation of FATF (Financial Action Task Force) standards, across all jurisdictions, will strengthen international efforts in addressing terrorism," she said. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on reforming global institutions and his call for "reformed multilateralism, Swaraj said IBSA countries have been at the forefront on initiating reform of global institutions. "However, above all these, we three have to ensure that our collective voice is heard clearly in BRICS and other groups on UN Security Council reforms, since if we don't speak up for our own interest, no else will," she said. Swaraj also reiterated India's willingness to contribute more to Africa, both in security and development cooperation. "We are deeply concerned with continuing tensions on the border between Gaza Strip and Israel. India firmly believes that the dialogue is the only viable option to effectively address the issues in that region," she said. The ministers reviewed IBSA cooperation over last one year and exchanged views on various issues of global significance, including peace, security, countering terrorism, Development Cooperation and South-South Cooperation. Swaraj said the values of democracy, pluralism, multiculturalism, tolerance, social-inclusion, rule-based international order, UN reforms, and shared commitment to 2030 agenda are enshrined deeply in IBSA cooperation. The Ministers also discussed IBSA events planned for 2018-19 to mark the fifteenth-anniversary of IBSA. The Ministers agreed to host these events in all three countries as well as on the margins of multilateral events/ fora. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and China on Thursday held a meeting of a key border mechanism to discuss ways to "effectively manage" border areas as well as confidence building measures (CBMs) to enhance mutual trust. The 12th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held at the Chinese city of Chengdu in Sichuan, according to a statement released by the Indian Embassy. The WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for management of India-China border areas amid the tensions between the two nations due to allegations of incursions by Chinese troops. Thursday's meeting took place amid "rapid" increase in military exchanges between the two nations after the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, putting behind tensions arising after last year's 73-day standoff at Doklam. At the meeting "both sides reviewed the situation along the India-China border areas. They discussed ways to effectively manage border areas in accordance with the strategic guidance provided by the leaders of the two countries at the Wuhan Summit," the statement said. They also "explored various confidence building measures with a view to further enhance mutual trust and understanding," it said. The Indian side emphasised that the peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas is an important prerequisite for smooth development of their bilateral relations, it said. India and China share 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). The two countries so far have held 20 rounds of Special Representatives talks to resolve the border dispute. The 21st round is due to be held this year. The WMCC mechanism headed by senior officials has also become a major platform between the two countries to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between the border security personnel. Ahead of the meeting India's Ambassador to China, Gautam Bambawale said that India-China military exchanges grew rapidly after the Wuhan summit. "After Wuhan, our military exchanges have not merely resumed but grown rapidly. Our military commanders are now talking to each other more frankly and more candidly than ever before," he said at the 5th Dialogue between the Indian Council of World Affairs and the Chinese People's Institute for Foreign Affairs on September 25. Chinese Defence Minister Gen Wei Fenghe had visited India last month during which he met Modi and held talks with his Indian counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman. Chinese Defence Ministry had said after Gen Wei's visit that both countries were discussing a new version of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on defence exchanges and cooperation to improve on the 2006 agreement besides establishing a direct confidential phone line between the two defence ministries and strengthening communications at all levels. Thursday's talks were led by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia), the Ministry of External Affairs and by Yi Xianliang, Director General, Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian refiners will either have to significantly reduce or completely stop importing crude oil from Iran over the next month, increasing their dependence on other Middle Eastern suppliers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Moody's Investors Service said Thursday. US President Donald Trump earlier this week in a speech to the United Nation's General Assembly reiterated sanctions on Iranian oil exports will take effect on November 5 and that the US is working with countries that import Iranian oil to cut their purchases substantially. India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude after China, accounting for about 30 per cent of total crude exports from the Persian Gulf nation during April-August 2018. Indian refineries, which import over 80 per cent of their crude feedstock from overseas, sourced about 14 per cent of their imports from Iran. "We expect Indian refiners will either have to significantly reduce or completely stop importing crude oil from Iran over the next month or so. "As a result, Indian refiners will increase dependence on the remaining Middle Eastern crude oil suppliers (mainly Saudi Arabia and Iraq), aside from Iran," Moody's said. Iranian crude is usually sold at a discount of up to USD 2-4 per barrel to other Middle Eastern crude oil grades. Iran's national oil company, National Iranian Oil Company, also subsidises the freight costs for crude oil delivery and offers extended payment terms to buyers. "Assuming a complete cessation of imports of Iranian crude and USD 3 per barrel negative impact on earnings because of that, on the barrels being substituted, we estimate total decline in earnings for Indian refiners to be USD 400-500 million, against combined EBITDA of about USD 10 billion for the 3 largest state-owned Indian refiners in 2017-18," it said. "Thus we expect the impact on the refiners' credit metrics to be limited." Iranian crude oil is imported into India by refiners including Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), Reliance Industries, Nayara Energy and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). "The sanctions on Iranian oil are credit negative for Indian refiners because their supplier concentration will increase after the sanctions take effect. "The refiners' exposure to oil price volatility will also increase if they turn to the spot market," Moody's said. It said India imported 220.4 million tonne (MT) of crude oil in 2017-18 fiscal, out of which about 9.4 per cent was from Iran. During April-August 2018, India imported 94.9 MT of crude, out of which about 14.4 per cent was from Iran. Exports to India accounted for 21 per cent of Iran's crude oil outbound shipments in 2017-18 and 30 per cent from April to August 2018. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China has allowed imports of non-basmati rice from India and the first consignment of 100 tonnes will be shipped tomorrow from Nagpur, the commerce ministry said Thursday. The consignment will be received by China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) which is a state-owned firm of the neighbouring country, the ministry said in a statement. "After concerted efforts of the government, 19 rice mills and processing units have been registered for export of non-basmati rice from India to China," it added. In June, both the sides inked a protocol on phyto-sanitary (related with plants) requirements for exporting rice from India to China. A major rice market in the world, China so far allowed import of only basmati rice from India. Under the protocol, the shipments will have to comply with the Chinese plant quarantine laws and regulations. India will also have to ensure that processing and storage houses of the rice to be exported to China is free from pests - Trogoderma granarium and Prostephanus truncatus - and live insects. The exported rice will have to be free of soil, seeds of weeds, paddy hull, loose bran and any of plant debris of rice. Non-basmati rice exports from the country during April-February 2018 stood at USD 3.26 billion as against USD 2.53 billion in 2016-17. Export of non-basmati rice assumes significance as India has time and again asked for greater market access for its agri-commodities in the Chinese market. India wants to increase exports to China with a view to bridging the ballooning trade deficit, which has increased to USD USD 63.12 billion in 2017-18 from USD 51.08 billion in the previous fiscal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Issues including tariff reduction to promote trade, setting up of a business council, and expansion of economic relation will be discussed during the upcoming visit of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to India. The first visit of the Uzbek President will take place early next week. "As part of intensification of economic dialogue, we plan to create a joint Uzbek-Indian Business Council, prepare the ground to mutually reduce customs tariffs, implement large-scale projects in free economic zones," Uzbekistan Ambassador Farhod Arziev said. Arziev said Uzbekistan is also interested in expanding cooperation in areas such as innovation, increasing bilateral investments, education, culture, and arts. Mirziyoyev's visit to India will elevate strategic and economic partnerships between the countries, the Ambassador told PTI. Arzeiv said the current volume of bilateral trade and investment between the countries does not correspond to the existing potential. "Expanding trade volumes requires undertaking complex measures. We have started working on establishing preferential trade regime between the two countries, which will boost the bilateral trade. We are also planning to increase the supply of different types of agricultural products to Indian market," he said. The bilateral trade between the countries stood at a meagre USD 235 million in 2017-18. It was USD 155.5 million in 2016-17. Arzeiv said Uzbekistan has enormous potential to supply several products to the Indian markets such as agri goods, fertilisers, non-ferrous and rare metals, textiles, and petrochemicals. "We plan to triple our trade volumes in the coming years," he said. Over 300 business leaders from sectors including automobile, railway, energy, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, leather, and textile are expected to attend the business forum meet. On increasing cooperation to promote innovation, the Ambassador said they are planning to launch Uzbekistan-India Innovation Forum, and Indian Technology Parks in Uzbekistan. Further, he said the Uzbek President will also announce the partnership between Samarkand and Agra, to promote tourism industry. "Daily flights from Delhi and Amritsar to Tashkent connect both countries and by the end of October, we are launching Mumbai-Tashkent air route, which will operate three times a week. I believe this will further increase tourism between India and Uzbekistan and further boost business opportunities," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Best practices related to maritime disaster relief operations were deliberated at the two-day 3rdMeeting of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Working Group on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) which commenced here Thursday. The event was inaugurated at the Maritime Warfare Centre by Eastern Naval Command Chief Staff Officer (Operations) Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh, a Navy release said. Besides the hosts, it is being attended by IONS member nations, including Australia, Bangladesh, France, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Oman and Thailand. The participants shared their experiences gained and lessons learnt during the conduct of various HADRoperations by their Navies and deliberated on best practices that can be imbibed during Joint HADR operations in theIndian Ocean Region, the release said. A "Table Top Exercise" is scheduled Friday simulating a real time scenario of a major disaster in the IOR and working out coordinated efforts and effective Joint HADR operation in the region. The event would culminate with the formulation of guidelinesto render HADR assistance in future, it added. Initiated in 2008 by the Indian Navy, IONS primarily seeks to enhance maritime cooperation amongst navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion on regionally relevant maritime issues and promotes friendly relationship among member nations. It presently has 24 members and eight observer navies, the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former first lady Hillary Clinton will join Andrew Gillum in South Florida next month, the gubernatorial candidate's campaign announced Thursday. "I'm honored to have Secretary Clinton join me in Florida next month," Gillum said in a statement. "Hillary knows just what's at stake in this election -- affordable healthcare, a brighter future for our children -- and that the choice in this election could not be clearer." News emerged Wednesday that Clinton would join the Democratic nominee on the trail. Gillum's campaign said Thursday that the former U.S. Secretary of State will join him in South Florida on Oct. 23. His campaign did not release any further details about the location or time of the event. Clinton reportedly considered Gillum as a running mate during her failed 2016 presidential bid. Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, also spoke at the Democratic National Convention. He was a Clinton delegate, though his decision to campaign during the gubernatorial primary with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton's 2016 primary opponent, has in some ways framed his general election campaign. Chemicals manufacturer Indo Amines said Thursday its board has approved the proposed merger of Core Chemicals (Mumbai) Pvt Ltd (CCMPL) with its wholly-owned subsidiary Key Organics Pvt Ltd. Core Chemicals is another Mumbai-headquartered chemical manufacturer. The merger will be subject to the approval of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and does not involve involve any cash consideration, it said in a BSE filing. The shareholders of CCMPL will be issued 50 shares of Rs 10 each of Indo Amines for every share held in CCMPL, it said. There will be no allotment of equity shares of Indo Amines to the shareholders of Key Organics Pvt Ltd since it is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Indo Amines, it added. After completion of the merger, promoter's shareholding in the Indo Amines is expected to reduce to 70.06 per cent on a post amalgamation shareholding pattern from 74.26 per cent held earlier. Commenting on the merger scheme, Indo Amine Director and CEO Vijay Palkar said: "The amalgamation will strengthen our position, significantly expand our product offerings and sales platform to access a much larger client base and allow for a pooling of resources and know-how." He further said that the merger will act as a strong platform from which the company can embark on the next phase of growth and unlock significant value for the shareholders. The shares of the company rose 0.78 per cent to settle at Rs 116.25 a piece on the BSE today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Injured Indian Navy sailor Abhilash Tomy, who is recuperating at a remote Indian Ocean island after being rescued from storm hit mid-sea early this week, would be brought back to India, a Defence spokesman said here Thursday. "Commander Abhilash Tomy who is recouperating at Amsterdam isle would be brought back to India onboard INS Satpura," he said. The spokesman said the Indian Naval ship is expected to reach Amsterdam isle Friday late in the evening. The ship is expected to reach Indian shores in the later part of the first week of October, he said. The 39-year-old sailor had reached there Tuesday after being rescued by a French vessel. The Navyman got injured when his yacht was struck by a savage storm while he was participating in the Golden Globe Race and was rescued Monday after being adrift for three days. The spokesman said actions required to assist the recovery of his damaged sailing vessel Thuriya from the sea, are also being explored. At present, the vessel is floating in the high seas, he said. On Wednesday, Tomy had said that he survived in the storm hit ocean because of his sailing skills and Naval training. Thanking all those responsible for saving him, the Naval officer had said the sea where his yacht was damaged in a storm last Friday was very rough. "The sea was unbelievably rough. Me and my boat Thuriya were pitched against nature's might. I survived because of my sailing skills, the soldier bit in me and my Naval training cut-in for that fight," Tomy had said. Very thankful to #IndianNavy & all who rescued me", Tomy was quoted as saying in the Indian Navy spokesman's tweet Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Smriti Irani Thursday slammed the TRS government in Telangana for opting out of the PMJAY-Ayushman Bharat, saying it had not understood the importance of the health insurance scheme which provides a cover of Rs five lakh per family annually. Addressing a Mahila Sankharavam women public meeting organised by BJP at Chegunta village in Siddipet district, the Union Minister of Textiles accused the ruling TRS of failure to implement central schemes properly. "I am asking...do we need such (PMJAY) schemes for us ? If you say yes, then ask KCR (chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao) why he opted out of the scheme, she told the gathering. The Telangana government has said it was not joining "as of now" the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana-Ayushman Bharat, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23, citing the state's Aarogyasri scheme which covers nearly 80 lakh families effectively. Irani said the Prime Minister had launched the scheme keeping in view better health of people and it would cover 50 crore people of 10 crore families. "But unfortunately, the TRS government did not understand the importance of this scheme which provides Rs 5 lakh health cover for 1,300 illnesses, including cancer and tuberculosis," Irani said. Referring to the dissolution of the state assembly, the union minister alleged that the Rao was going for early polls with an aim to benefit his family members and protest self interests. Highlighting Centre's welfare schemes, she said for the first time in the country the Modi-led Government had been implementing paid maternity leave of six months for women. The government was now giving cooking gas cylinders to over five crore poor families free of cost under the Ujjwala Yojana scheme, she said. Hitting out at the state government for not celebrating September 17 as "Hyderabad Samsthan Liberation Day," she said some of the political parties were forgetting the glorious history of the region. She said the BJP-led NDA Government was working towards the betterment of women dependent on handlooms. Telangana BJP president K Laxman also spoke. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said Thursday the audit conducted by his department has detected irregularities worth Rs 500 crore in civic bodies of Amritsar and Jalandhar during 10-years of previous SAD-BJP regime. After a surprise visit at the Jalandhar Improvement Trust, he said while irregularities worth Rs 225 crore had been detected in an audit of Amritsar civic body, discrepancies of over Rs 250 crore unearthed in Jalandhar, an official release said. He said during the last 10 years of rule of the SAD-BJP alliance, these civic bodies including the municipal corporations and improvement trusts were transformed into "den of corruption where irregularities and scams were the order of the day". Citing example, the minister said the civic bodies were still following old single entry system. Likewise, he said that in complete violation of the norms, no daily, weekly and monthly cash books were maintained by the civic bodies. Sidhu said prime properties in these cities were either allowed to be encroached or were given on lease to benefit few people at "throwaway prices without any proper agreement". The minister said that the "biggest fraud" was misinterpretation of demarcation made by the state government to benefit affluent people. The minister said this was just tip of iceberg as Rs 500 crore discrepancies pertain to only 40-50 per cent record which was available for the audit whereas the remaining record has not been provided to the audit company, which was undertaking this work. He warned officials who were not submitting the record that stern action would be taken against them if they do not submit the record in coming days. Sidhu categorically said that no one, found guilty for these discrepancies, would be spared at any cost and strict action would be taken against them. Listing measures to be initiated by the state government in checking such discrepancies in future, the minister said that e-governance was the ultimate solution for this. He said that complete satellite mapping of all the buildings in the state was on the cards, adding that all government properties would be computerised very soon. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal CID on Thursday took over the investigation into the Islampur firing that killed two students during a clash between a mob and the police in North Dinajpur district last week, a senior officer said. No arrests were made by the police in the case, though a few persons were detained. Local people have been claiming that the two students died in police firing. However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said the bullets found in the bodies of the duo were not of the police. "We have taken over the investigations into the Islampur firing incident. We are trying to find out what actually happened on that day," West Bengal CID DIG (Operations) Nishant Pervez told PTI. The clash broke out on September 20 during a demonstration over recruitment of Urdu teachers at Dori Bhita High School in Islampur. Rajesh Sarkar, an ITI student, died in the clash, while a third-year college student Tapas Barman, who was injured in the violence, succumbed to injuries on September 21. The BJP called a 12-hour statewide bandh on Wednesday to protest the killings. North Dinajpur Superintendent of Police Sumit Kumar had said the police did not open fire but he admitted that the deceased students received bullet injuries during the clash. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir government Thursday said it has roped in e-commerce giant Amazon for promoting and trading state's exclusive crafts online. "The state's Industries and Commerce Department has embarked on an ambitious and futuristic marketing project for local handicrafts and other products including paintings by roping in e-commerce giant Amazon for promoting and trading J&K's exclusive crafts online," an official spokesman said. The spokesman said a meeting of the state government officials, Amazon executives and local representatives of industry and artisans was held here in this regard. Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce Shailendra Kumar said tying up with Amazon will help promote exclusive JK specific products including handicrafts and handloom items and paintings on the e-commerce platform and will offer global market to the local artisans sitting in any corner of the state. He said the government is holding deliberations with the Amazon to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with them with regard to the marketing and promotion of JK's exclusive products with a tagline of Crafts from J&K. JK's products include Shawls, silk, wool, Handicrafts and other items from local industries are in great demand in the national and international markets and buyers are looking for such exclusive products mostly online, Kumar said adding if these products are made available to the buyers through modern marketing and online business platforms, the artisans will be directly benefited. Kumar said once the MoU is signed with Amazon, the e-commerce hub can also educate, train and enable weavers and artisans to directly sell their products to its customers in India and even in international markets on their online platform. "Without any middleman, an artisan sitting in a remote village of JK will be able to directly sell his/her products to a customer sitting in any part of the world through Amazon thus increasing the reach, profit margin and sales of artisans," he added. He said Amazon will not only provide an online marketplace for marketing but will also engage with weavers and artisans across the State to train them on making the products more attractive, appealing and marketable online. Kumar said the modern marketing techniques will also benefit the start-ups as they can use Amazon as a platform for marketing of their products. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Author JK Rowling has defended the decision to cast Korean actor Claudia Kim as Voldemort's devoted pet, Nagini, in "Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald". In the final trailer of the film, starring Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law and Johnny Depp, Kim is shown transforming into Nagini, who is later revealed to be one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes in Rowling's Harry Potter books. The casting drew the ire of many on social media for being racist, while some called it a classic case of Asian actors playing submissive characters on-screen. A user on Twitter called out Rowling: "Listen Joanne, we get it, you didn't include enough representation when you wrote the books. But suddenly making Nagini into a Korean woman is garbage." Rowling responded, saying Nagini is a Naga, which are "snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology". "They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day," the author added. Calling out the film for showing a subservient Asian to a white man, one of the users tweeted, "You can't be admitted to Hogwarts unless you're English and we don't know if there's any wizarding schools in Asia, home of 4.4 billion people ... (and) a homicidal white man traps an Asian woman inside a snake form and brainwashes her." Author Amish Tripathi, best known for "Shiva" trilogy, pointed out to Rowling that "the Naga mythology emerged from India". "It travelled to Indonesia with the Indic/Hindu empires that emerged there in the early Common Era, with the influence of Indian traders and Rishis/Rishikas who travelled there. Nagin is a Sanskrit language word," he wrote on Twitter. Earlier, Rowling had revealed Nagini is a Maledictus, a female who carries a blood curse from birth which eventually results in them turning into a beast. This is not the first time she has been targeted by the angry fans. The author was previously criticised for not addressing the sexuality of Albus Dumbledore in the films, who she later revealed as gay, as well as casting of Depp, who has been accused of domestic violence. Interestingly, Rowling had received praise for offering support to Noma Dumezweni, a British actor of South African descent, who was cast as Hermione Granger in the London production of the play 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oscar winner JK Simmons, Sienna Miller and Taylor Kitsch have come aboard the cast of police thriller "17 Bridges". The three actors joins "Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman in the project, which will be directed by Brian Kirk, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Boseman, 40, who is also producing the film, will be playing a disgraced NYPD detective, who gets a shot at redemption when he gets involved in a city-wide hunt for a cop killer. STXfilms will back the project alongside filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, who most recently directed Boseman in this year's blockbuster "Avengers: Infinity War". Simmons, 63, won the 2015 Academy Award for best supporting actor for his performance in "Whiplash" and he is currently awaiting the release of Jason Reitman's upcoming political drama "The Front Runner". Miller, 36, starred in Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the West End" last year, and will next be seen in the indie thriller "American Woman". Kitsch, 37, most recently featured in "Only the Brave" and the six-part series "Waco". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran actor Judi Dench has said the firing of Kevin Spacey from the film "All the Money in the World" has set a bad precedent. Director Ridley Scott had last year dropped Spacey from the film in wake of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment against him. Scott later roped in Christopher Plummer to reshoot "House of Cards" star's scenes. According to Variety, Dench, 83, who co-starred with Spacey in 2001 film "The Shipping News", said he was a "good friend" and had been an "inestimable comfort" who "kept me going" after the death of her husband Michael Williams. "I can't approve, in any way, of the fact that - whatever he has done - that you then start to cut him out of the films," she said. "Are we to do what happened when he was replaced with Christopher Plummer? Are we to do that throughout history? Are we to go back throughout history and anyone who has misbehaved in any way, or who has broken the law, or who has committed some kind of offense, are they always going to be cut out? Are we going to extrude them from our history? I don't know..." she added. Dench said she considers Spacey a "most wonderful actor". "I can't imagine what he is doing now," she added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It was the second time that Justice D Y Chandrachud over-ruled the verdict of his father, Chief Justice of India Y V Chandrachud, as he gave his order on the issue of adultery Thursday. The son had done it in August last year too when he had over-ruled another of his father's judgement while delivering the verdict on the issue of privacy. Thirty-three years after his father, the then Chief Justice, had upheld the validity of adultery law, Justice D Y Chandrachud overruled it Thursday saying the earlier view cannot be regarded as "correct exposition" of the constitutional position. In his historic judgement of August last year declaring privacy as a fundamental right, he had termed as "seriously flawed" the 1976 verdict in the famous ADM Jabalpur case in which his father was part of the majority judgement by a five-judge constitution bench. In the ADM Jabalpur case, the five-judge bench by a majority verdict of 4:1, had arrived at the conclusion that Article 21 is the sole repository of all rights to life and personal liberty and when suspended, takes away those rights altogether. Today, in his verdict striking down section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with the offence of adultery, Justice D Y Chandrachud "over-ruled" his father's 1985 judgement on the same subject. The May 27, 1985 judgement by a three-judge bench in Sowmithri Vishnu versus Union of India was penned by then CJI Y V Chandrachud who had dismissed the petition challenging the validity of section 497 of the India Penal Code, which dealt with the offence of adultery. "It is better, from the point of view of the interests of the society, that at least a limited class of adulterous relationship is punishable by law. Stability of marriages is not an ideal to be scorned," the then CJI had said. However, his son Thursday said the decision in Sowmithri Vishnu case dealt with "constitutional challenge by approaching the discourse on the denial of equality in formal, and rather narrow terms". "'Sowmithri Vishnu' fails to deal with the substantive aspects of constitutional jurisprudence which have a bearing on the validity of section 497: the guarantee of equality as a real protection against arbitrariness, the guarantee of life and personal liberty as an essential recognition of dignity, autonomy and privacy and above all gender equality as a cornerstone of a truly equal society," he said. Besides Justice D Y Chandrachud, other members of the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra over-ruled the Sowmithri Vishnu verdict. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The tenth edition of Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) began Thursday with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan emphasising on on safeguarding the ecology of prime destinations and promoting responsible tourism. "The calamity reminds us the need to protect the nature, especially for the growth of tourism in a state where the beauty of nature is the prime attraction," he said. The Chief Minister inaugurated the four-day event that brings entrepreneurs across India and abroad to state's unique tourism products and services. "We are duty-bound to preserve and protect the nature. A place develops itself into a Responsible Tourism centre when the entrepreneurs and the local community join hands," he said, formally declaring open the September 27-30 festival that comes a month after the state faced its worst deluge and landslides in 94 years. The KTM ceremony, which began with a colourful cultural evening that focused on Malabar as a core theme, saw the presence of an array of administrators and bureaucrats besides entrepreneurs and top functionaries from the field of travel and tourism. In his address, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism K J Alphons said the post-flood "resurrection" of Kerala has had no parallels anywhere in the world. "Kerala is again ready to receive tourists. The state should concentrate on Chinese market as we are getting far less number of tourists from that country," he added at the Bolgatty Island function which is a prelude to a string of business meets from Friday for three days that also feature four tourism-related seminars by experts. State Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who presided over the ceremony, said the KTM symbolises Kerala's resilience and the spirit of harmony and togetherness of the state's people. "I thank the tourism trade across the world for standing with us and for being a beacon of hope in our darkest hour," he noted. KTM-2018 features 1,600 buyers, one-third of them from 66 foreign countries. Industrialist M A Yusuf Ali was the chief guest of honour. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kerala government Thursday decided to raise Rs 15,900 crore as loan from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and other funding agencies to rebuild the prime sectors of the state devastated by the recent deluge. A decision in this regard was taken at the cabinet meeting, a government press release said. The amount would be utilised for repairing and reconstruction of roads under Public Works Department, local self government institutions, water supply, flood control and irrigation systems, coastal area protection, rehabilitation of people in coastal stretches, and others chief minister, Pinarayi vijayan told reporters here. It was also decided to tabulate the losses suffered by the agricultural and plantation sectors in the floods and explore the possibilities of raising resources for their reconstruction. For mobilising resources to rebuild Kerala, the state government had approached the World Bank, ADB, other agencies and banks for taking loans and the government had approached the Ministry of Finance. After being informed by the Centre, the WB-ADB team had visited Kerala from September 12-20 and conducted Rapid Damage Assessment and Need Analysis (RDNA) and their report has been received by the state government, the release said. The final report would be submitted by WB-ADB during first week of October. As per the RDNA report, the main sectors of the state had suffered a loss of Rs 25,050 crore. The state also announced a year's moratorium on loans of agricultural and dairy farmers. At least 493 people lost their lives in the rains and floods during the South West Monsoon in Kerala. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CPI-M led LDF government in Kerala Thursday dismissed as "baseless" the opposition UDF's corruption charges in the sanctioning of new breweries and distilleries in the state. The government had nothing to hide on the matter and all the decisions in this regard were taken in a "transparent" manner by following necessary guidelines, Excise Minister T P Ramakrishnan told reporters here. The move was to enhance the revenue of the state and create more job openings but the Congress-led opposition was levelling corruption charges only to help outside state liquor lobbies, the Excise minister alleged. The opposition was trying to create a "smoke-screen" by raising fabricated allegations against the government, he charged. Alleging corruption in the sanction give for three new breweries and a distillery, the opposition UDF Wednesday demanded a probe into it. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala (Congress) had claimed the sanctions were given through the 'back door' without making any changes in the LDF's declared liquor policy. He had also alleged that crores of rupees were taken as bribe to accord sanction for the units and demanded a comprehensive probe into it and sought an explanation from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Countering the charges, the Excise Minister said no distillery, producing liquor, was operating in the state at present. The three breweries and a compounding blending and bottling unit were sanctioned after meeting all necessary guidelines in this regard, he said. The government had given in-principle approval for three breweries in Kannur, Palakkad and Ernakulam districts, he said. "At present, major portion of the beer and foreign liquor sold in the state is bought from outside. It causes huge financial burden to the state," Ramakrishnan added. If the foreign liquor and the beer were produced within the state, its dependency on other states in this regard could be avoided. Besides, employment would be provided to several people, he said adding the state could also garner additional revenue. The government had actually given "thrust to protect the interest" of the state through the decision, he claimed. He also reiterated that the LDF government was not for total ban on liquor but abstinence from liquor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Friday its verdict on a plea by historian Romila Thapar and others seeking the immediate release of five rights activists in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case and an SIT probe into their arrest. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had reserved the judgment on September 20 after counsel for both parties, including senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Harish Salve and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, concluded their submissions. The bench, that also comprised Justices A M Khaniwlkar and D Y Chandrachud, had asked the Maharashtra police to file their case diary pertaining to the ongoing investigation in the case. The five activists --Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha-- are under arrest at their respective homes since August 29. The plea by Thapar, economists Prabhat Patnaik and Devaki Jain, sociology professor Satish Deshpande and human rights lawyer Maja Daruwala, has sought an independent probe into the arrests and the immediate release of the activists. The Maharashtra police had arrested them on August 28 in connection with an FIR lodged following a conclave -- 'Elgaar Parishad' -- held on December 31 last year that had later triggered violence at Koregaon-Bhima village in the state. The apex court had on September 19 said it would look into the case with a "hawk's eye" as "liberty cannot be sacrificed at the altar of conjectures". It had told the Maharashtra government that there should be a clear-cut distinction between opposition and dissent on one hand and attempts to create disturbance, law and order problems or overthrow the government on the other. Senior advocate Anand Grover, Ashwini Kumar and advocate Prashant Bhushan had also alleged that the entire case was cooked up and adequate safeguards should be provided to protect the liberty of the five activists. The apex court had also said that it may order an SIT probe if it found that the evidence has been "cooked up". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on Thursday called for "an alliance of communists, socialists and Dalit outfits" in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to defeat the BJP-led NDA. CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya gave the call at a rally here which was attended by leaders of other Left parties such as the CPI and the CPI(M) besides the RJD and the Loktantrik Janata Dal. The Congress was not invited to attend the rally. Bhattacharya flayed the Narendra Modi government for the soaring prices of petroleum and the crisis faced by banking sector because of non-performing assets worth Rs 10 lakh crore on account of big defaulters like Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya "who have been allowed to flee the country". He also attacked the NDA government over the Rafale scam and alleged that with the BJP in power, "a conspiracy is on to do away with reservation which has been a tool of empowerment for the lower castes". Targeting Lok Janshakti Party chief and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Bhattacharya accused the Union minister of "speaking about Dalits but caring only for his own family". He also criticised Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar for returning to power by contesting elections as part of the "Mahagathbandhan" but switching over to the NDA later on. "The country is in dire need of a credible alternative which could drive out this anti-people government from the country. An alliance of communists, socialists and Dalit groups can offer such an alternative", he remarked. The rally was also addressed, among others, by CPI(M) state secretary Awadhesh, JNU students' union president Sai Balaji, RJD MLA Shiv Chandra Ram and former assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary who is now with the Loktantrik Janata Dal floated by Sharad Yadav. "Many policies of the Congress governments are responsible for the condition in which we find the country today," Bhattacharya told reporters when asked about the reason for leaving out the Congress. He, however, said "We are at present not thinking in terms of elections but highlighting the need for a social movement comprising followers of various ideologies who could come together and pose a credible challenge to the BJP". When contacted, Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha said "Our alliance is with the RJD of Lalu Prasad and HAM of Jitan Ram Manjhi. We have no alliance with the Left. We have no problem if we are not invited to a rally attended by some leaders of our alliance partners. The Mahagathbandhan is firmly intact. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 34-year-old man wanted in connection with 15 cases of sexual assault of minor girls in Mumbai and surrounding areas was arrested, police said Thursday. Rehan Abdul Rashid Qureshi was nabbed Wednesday by the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch from Mira Road area of neighbouring Thane district, the police said. Qureshi was identified through a CCTV footage following two incidents of crime, a police official said. The accused was allegedly involved in at least 15 cases of rape and molestation of minor girls since 2017 in Mumbai and the neighbouring Navi Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts, said Sanjay Kumar, the Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai. Seven of these offences had taken place in Navi Mumbai township, he said. The police identified the accused with the help of his walking style as seen in the CCTV footage, Kumar said. During the probe, the police examined around 500 hours of CCTV footage from the areas where the crimes had taken place, the commissioner added. CCTV cameras at Mira Road railway station and in an area in Navi Mumbai had captured him after he allegedly sexually assaulted two minor girls in separate incidents, Kumar said. On getting information about Qureshi's whereabouts, the Navi Mumbai police laid a trap at Nayanagar in Mira Road area and nabbed him, the official said. The modus operandi of the accused was to approach a girl at her house by telling that her father had called her, he said. When the victim accompanied him believing his claims, the accused would take her to an isolated place and commit the offence, the official said. Qureshi used to tell people he was a salesman, but during the probe, the police found that he was unemployed, Kumar said. He used to carry out reconnaissance of the area three hours before committing the crime, the commissioner added. The accused took care not to use mobile phone while in the area which made it difficult to zero in on him (as data from mobile towers can reveal which mobile number was used from a particular area during a given period), the official said. "As of now, we have found his involvement in 15 cases of sexual assault on minor girls. We suspect his involvement in more cases," Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Tushar Doshi said. Qureshi was booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping) and also under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He was produced before a court Thursday which sent him to police custody till October 6, the officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India Thursday expressed hope that other member states, including the traditional donors, will step in to support the UN agency for Palestinian refugees which is facing serious resource crunch after the US decided not to provide further funding to it. The Trump administration had last month announced that after carefully reviewing the issue it has decided not to make additional contributions to the United Nation Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). "India has supported UNRWA's work since its establishment. UNRWA has been carrying out commendable work for Palestine refugees," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at the Ministerial Committee of the NAM on Palestine held Wednesday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. She said from this year, India has increased its contribution to UNRWA from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million annually, the country's highest annual voluntary contribution to any of the UN's funds and programmes. "We hope other member states, including the traditional donors will also step in to support UNRWA at a time when it is faced with a serious resource crunch," Swaraj said. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert had announced that the US was no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden of UNRWA's costs. "When we made a US contribution of USD 60 million in January, we made it clear that the US was no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden of UNRWA's costs that we had assumed for many years," Nauert had said in a statement on August 31. Swaraj also voiced concern over the deterioration in the security situation in the region, reiterating that a negotiated two-State solution remains the only viable solution to the issue to bring sustainable peace and lasting security. "Restraint and moderation are required on all sides. The stagnation since the collapse of talks four years ago and the deterioration in the security situation continues to cause serious concern. We hope for an early resumption of talks between Israel and Palestine that can move towards finding out a comprehensive resolution of the issue," she said. She said India's continued commitment to the Palestinian cause and earnestness to develop stronger bilateral relations is demonstrated in the successive high level visit in the recent past. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Palestine in a "historic" trip. Swaraj told the meeting that India is investing in projects of healthcare, educational infrastructure, women empowerment and a printing press, in addition to other capacity building programmes. India has also set up various bilateral institutional consultation mechanisms including Foreign Office consultations and a Joint Commission, which pursues these partnership projects. Development partnership projects worth around USD 70 million are under implementation during the last five years, including flagship projects like the super-specialty hospital in Beit Sahour and the India-Palestine Technology Park, which was inaugurated last year in Ramallah, she added. Skills and capacity development for the youth and their enhanced engagement, as an investment in a better future, is also one of the focus of India-Palestine partnership, she said. While the number of youth delegates to participate in the youth exchange programme has been doubled this year, India has also substantially enhanced the scholarships made available for Palestinian professionals and students for technical training and higher education from this year, Swaraj said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The security personnel arrested a militant at Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir Thursday, police said. Arif Hussain Lone was apprehended during a cordon and search operation at Mir Mohalla in Kreeri area of Baramulla, an official said. He said one pistol was recovered from the arrested militant. A case under Arms Act was registered against Lone. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The model code of conduct came into force in Telangana on Thursday as the Election Commission said that states where legislative assemblies have been dissolved prematurely will be immediately placed under the poll code which bars governments from announcing new schemes. This is perhaps for the first time that a state where polls have not yet been announced has been placed under the model code. Telangana is the only state as of today where the assembly has been dissolved prematurely and a caretaker government is in place. In a communique to the cabinet secretariat and all chief secretaries, the EC said the model code will apply to the caretaker state government as well as the central government in matters relating to that particular state. The Telangana assembly was dissolved recently before its term was due to end in June 2019. The model code usually comes into force the day the EC announces polls and remains enforced till the electoral process is completed. "In such an eventuality ... the provisions of Part-VII (Party in Power) of the Model Code of Conduct shall come into operation with immediate effect in the state concerned and shall continue to be in force till the completion of the election to constitute the new legislative assembly," the EC said. It said, consequently, neither the caretaker state government nor the central government shall announce any new schemes, projects in relation to that state or undertake any of the activities prohibited under the Model Code of Conduct. The commission made it clear that all other prohibitions, such as use of official resources for any non-official purposes, combining of official visit with electioneering, will be applicable on all ministers and other authorities of the caretaker state government, central government as well as governments of other states. The EC said its directions are in line with a 1994 Supreme Court verdict which said a caretaker government should merely carry on with the day-to-day governance and desist from taking any major policy decision. The poll watchdog asked the Cabinet Secretariat to bring its directions to the notice of "all concerned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre has always worked for welfare of Jammu and Kashmir, senior BJP leader and MP Jugal Kishore Sharma said on Thursday. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had taken a slew of measures to for the state's welfare and had also agreed to bear the financial burden for these. "Various decisions taken by State Administrative Council (SAC) benefitting large sections of people are proof of it," Sharma told reporters here. He said he and other BJP MPs from Jammu, including Jitendra Singh and Shamsher Singh Manhas, had repeatedly placed the demands of teachers, special police officers (SPOs), West Pakistan refugees (WPRs) and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) before the Centre, particularly during their meetings with Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Sharma also lauded the state administration's decision to grant the SeventhPay Commission benefits to the agitating Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan teachers and to hike the remuneration of SPOs. The BJP-led government also enhanced the ex-gratia for families of martyred SPOs up to Rs 30 lakh, he added. The BJP leader said the party has always been fighting for the rights of WPRs. He welcomed the government's decision to provide a compensation of Rs 5.5 lakh per family of WPRs, at par with that for displaced persons from PoKand Chhamb. Sharma expressed hope that this financial assistance amount would help the affected families overcome their economic difficulties. Speaking about the LAHDC, he said the BJP has been demanding full empowerment of Leh and Kargil councils to enable them to carry out their duties to people's utmost satisfaction. He said with the SAC approving the draft Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018, he hoped that Leh and Kargil councils will be among the most autonomous councils in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moscow has scoffed at a report by a respected investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov was Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the country's top award, the Hero of Russia. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. "There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday. "The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it?" President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "we have seen the report" by Bellingcat but added that the Kremlin stands by its previous assertion that the two suspects named by Britain are "civilians". "Lots of people look like one another," he said when asked about the similarities between Boshirov and the photo of Chepiga published in the report. "I don't know who Colonel Chepiga is and why he was awarded (the Hero of Russia medal)," Peskov added. "We will check this information, we will check the lists of those awarded," he said. Speaking on Wednesday, May attacked Moscow over the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent designed in the Soviet era, in March. "Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication," she said. Bellingcat said Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in the far eastern city of Blagoveshchensk, one of the country's top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine and was bestowed the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for "conducting a peace-keeping mission," a likely reference to the Ukraine conflict. Bellingcat said it was "highly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin knew Chepiga because he personally hands out these awards. Only a handful of such awards are given each year, often posthumously. Citing a former Russian military officer, Bellingcat said it was very surprising that a highly decorated officer holding the rank of colonel was sent into the field. This would imply that "the job was ordered at the highest level", the group quoted its source as saying. This month Putin said that the two men suspected by Britain of poisoning the Skripals were "civilians". In an eyebrow-raising interview with the Kremlin-backed RT channel, Boshirov and Alexander Petrov said they went to Salisbury as tourists, prompting ridicule in Russia and abroad. Some observers have speculated that the two intelligence agents have been hung out to dry by their superiors for failing in their mission. "From hero to zero," Bellingcat said on Twitter as it released its report. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moscow has scoffed at a report by a respected investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov is Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the country's top award, the Hero of Russia. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. "There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday. "The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it?" Speaking on Wednesday, May attacked Moscow over the poisoning Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent designed in the Soviet era, in March. "Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication," she said. Bellingcat said Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in the far eastern city of Blagoveshchensk, one of the country's top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine and was bestowed the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for "conducting a peace-keeping mission," a likely reference to the Ukraine conflict. Bellingcat said it was "highly likely" that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows Chepiga because he personally hands out these awards. Only a handful of such awards are given each year, often posthumously. Citing a former Russian military officer, Bellingcat said it was very surprising that a highly decorated officer holding the rank of colonel was sent into the field. It "would imply that 'the job was ordered at the highest level,'" the group quoted its source as saying. This month Putin said that the two men suspected by Britain of poisoning the Skripals were "civilians." In an eyebrow-raising interview with the Kremlin-backed RT channel, Boshirov and Alexander Petrov said they went to Salisbury as tourists, sparking ridicule in Russia and abroad. Some observers have speculated the two intelligence agents have been effectively thrown under the bus by their superiors for failing in their mission. "From hero to zero," Bellingcat said on Twitter as it released its report. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Muslim parties in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on the matter on Thursday, saying it "is in our favour". Reacting to the verdict, Khaliq Ahmad Khan, the nominee of Maulana Mahfuzur Rahman -- one of the litigants in the title suit, said, "During the hearing on the tittle suit in the Supreme court, the other side always quoted the 1994 judgement that mosque is not an integral part of Islam. Now the court has made it clear that the 1994 judgement was related to the land acquisition...and that it has no connection with the tittle suit. We have achieved our goal as the Supreme Court will hear only the tittle suit." Iqbaal Ansari, another litigant from the Sunni Central Waqf Board, welcomed the verdict and said, "The Supreme Court has made it clear that the case will be heard on merits, on the base of the claims of land ownership... and not on religious beliefs as the high court has done." He said they were "fighting the case for Babri land on the basis of revenue records". "Our claim is that there are no historical facts that any temple was demolished and Babri Masjid was built there," he added. The Supreme Court declined to set up a larger bench for a relook of its 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam", paving the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit from October 29. Ruling that the earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition" during the hearing of the Ayodhya case, the top court in a 2-1 verdict made it clear it was not relevant for deciding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute. The 1994 verdict had said: "A mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and namaz(prayer) by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open." Haji Mahboob, another litigant, said, "The verdict of the apex court is in our favour." Countering the contention that namaz by Muslims can be offered anywhere, Mahboob said, "We can offer our prayer anywhere and it does not mean that mosque is not integral part of Islam as it has been proved by the Quran that mosque is very essential. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) will be hosting an international conclave for small and medium sized enterprises in Kolkata, a first for the city, an official said on Thursday. Nasscom will be hosting its 1st flagship Nasscom International SME Conclave (NISC) on January 10 and 11 next year, Nasscom SME council chairman Kamal Agarwala said here. In the NISC-2019, over 200 companies would showcase their products and solutions, he said. Out of the 2500 members of the Nasscom, 80 per cent is from SME companies. They contribute 20 per cent of the total software exports of the country which was USD 130 billion in 2017, Agarwala said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Madhya Pradesh bagged the Hall of Fame National Award, given to a state for being judged the best one for tourism three years consecutively, at the National Tourism Awards function Thursday. The Union Ministry of Tourism annually presents National Tourism Awards to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. These awards are presented to state governments, Union Territories and other stakeholders in recognition of their performance in their respective fields. MP also won 10 other awards at the function held in Delhi, a state government official said. These include Best Heritage Walk to Indore, Best Heritage City to Mandu, Best Adventure State shared with Uttarakhand, National Award for Swachhata to Indore and Best Airport Award to Indore's Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, the official added. The award was presented by Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) K J Alphons to Madhya Pradesh minister of state for tourism (independent charge) Surendra Patwa and principal secretary of tourism department, Hari Ranjan Rao. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Navy has planned a two-day event starting September 29 in Mumbai and Goa to commemorate the second anniversary of the surgical strike carried out by the defence forces in 2016 to smash terror camps, an official said Thursday. The event, which will take place in the Ballard Pier Cruiser Wharf at Naval Dockyard here under Western Naval Command, will have exhibition stalls and video walls, the Navy official said. The entry for the event venue will be from Tiger Gate, the official informed. "The events will showcase the gallant action of the Army in carrying out the surgical strike on September 29, 2016, and will also remember the sacrifice of Indian soldiers during the Uri incident," the official said. The various events that have been planned include an exhibition showcasing the valour of armed forces, display of ships, submarines, aircrafts, arms and equipment models etc, he said. Ships will be open to public and visits by schoolchildren as well as NCC cadets to ships, submarines and air stations are being planned, he added. Schoolchildren will be encouraged to participate in letter-writing and card and poster competitions to honour valiant soldiers, he said. The Army had carried out surgical strikes on the night of September 28-29, 2016 in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chronic under-funding of tuberculosis research is one of the key reasons why the disease still remains a challenge, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said Thursday while stressing the need to forge new partnerships to eliminate the disease. Nadda also said a National Strategic Plan has been made operational to implement the vision of a TB-free India and asserted that the country has allocated USD 430 million for implementation of the Plan in the current year - an increase of 54 per cent over last year. "Our goal continues to be to achieve the vision of universal access to quality diagnosis and treatment for TB and address the social determinants of TB through a multi-sectoral response," he said. He was speaking at the high level meeting on tuberculosis at 73rd session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) here. The Health Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown personal commitment to tackle TB head-on as India plans to eliminate the disease by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target of 2030, by launching the TB Free India Campaign. "We have adopted a patient-centred and community-based model to end TB. India's National Health Policy 2017 clearly articulates the vision of a TB free India. "To implement this vision, a National Strategic Plan has been made operational. India has allocated USD 430 million for implementation of the Plan in the current year, which is an increase of 54 per cent over last year," he said. According to the World Health Statistics 2018 released by WHO recently, India saw an estimated 211 cases of TB per 1,00,000 people in 2016, better than neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar which recorded 221 and 361 cases respectively in this category. Nadda pointed out that India is making innovative use of digital technology in monitoring and notification of TB cases. "We are also engaging with private sector care providers to improve access to TB care," he said. The Union Health Minister cautioned that chronic under-funding of TB research and development is one of the reasons why TB still remains a "challenge". "Equitable access to medicines, diagnostic tools and technologies remains a concern. We must address all barriers to access to medicines and to new technologies, including through use of flexibility provisions in WTO TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration," he said. He observed that new partnerships need to be forged to eliminate TB. "Successful development of rapid molecular TB tests by using indigenous, affordable technology and new digital X-Ray technology herald the potential that India holds to the future of TB research," he said. He added that India has established its own TB research consortium to accelerate research efforts in TB. The launch of the BRICS TB Research Network is also a promising opportunity, he added. The US and India too have formed an alliance to combat the deadly disease that kills one person every minute in the country. The 'USAID-India End TB Alliance' was announced on Wednesday by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Mark Green at an event here in the presence of Nadda. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists say they have created an inexpensive system, using a smartphone and a lens made with an inkjet printer, that can detect lead in tap water at levels commonly accepted as dangerous. The system, described in the journal Analytical Chemistry, combines nano-colorimetry with dark-field microscopy, integrated into the smartphone microscope platform to detect levels of lead below the safety threshold set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "Smartphone nano-colorimetry is rapid, low-cost, and has the potential to enable individual citizens to examine (lead) content in drinking water on-demand in virtually any environmental setting," said Wei-Chuan Shih, an associate professor at the University of Houston in the US. Even small amounts of lead can cause serious health problems, with young children especially vulnerable to neurological damage. EPA standards require lead levels in drinking water to be below 15 parts per billion, and Shih said currently available consumer test kits are not sensitive enough to accurately detect lead at that level. The latest application incorporates colour analysis to detect nanoscale lead particles. The researchers built a self-contained smartphone microscope that can operate in both fluorescence and dark-field imaging modes and paired it with an inexpensive smartphone with an 8-megapixel camera. They spiked tap water with varying amounts of lead, ranging from 1.37 parts per billion to 175 parts per billion. They then added chromate ions, which react with the lead to form lead chromate nanoparticles; the nanoparticles can be detected by combining colorimetric analysis and microscopy. The analysis measured both the intensity detected from the nanoparticles, correlating that to the lead concentration, and verified that the reaction was spurred by the presence of lead. The mixture was transferred to a polydimethylsiloxane slab attached to a glass slide; after it dried, deionised water was used to rinse off the chromate compound and the remaining sediment was imaged for analysis. The microscopy imaging capability proved essential, Shih said, because the quantity of sediment was too small to be imaged with an unassisted smartphone camera, making it impossible to detect relatively low levels of lead. Building upon the smartphone microscope platform to create a useful consumer product was key, Shih said. "We wanted to be sure we could do something that would be useful from the standpoint of detecting lead at the EPA standard," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Thursday said no political party should support extremist groups, days after the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party batted for the Sanatan Sanstha claiming the right-wing outfit was not involved in killings of rationalists and activists. All India Congress Committee secretary A Chellakumar said his party has always been against creating division in society. "All political parties should keep away from extremist groups, whether they are of religious or any other nature," All India Congress Committee secretary A Chellakumar told PTI. One cannot support any extremist group, said the Goa Congress in-charge. MGP president Dipak Dhavalikar claimed Sunday that there are some people who want to project the Sanatan Sanstha as a "wrong-doer". Police suspect involvement of activists linked to the Sanatan Sanstha in the killings of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh. However, the outfit, which has its headquarters at Ramnathi village in Madkai area of North Goa district, has denied its involvement in these cases. MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar, the brother of Dipak Dhavalikar, is an MLA from the Madkai constituency. The MGP, Goa's oldest regional party, is an alliance partner of the BJP-led government in the coastal state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan Thursday said he broke several bones shooting for action sequences in "Thugs of Hindostan", but he went with the flow to honour director Vijay Krishna Acharya's wishes. In March, his "Thugs" co-star Aamir Khan revealed that the megastar had suffered a shoulder and back injury. "It is not my age to do all this but our director asked us to do so I did it. There is no part of the body that has not been broken and there is no doctor that I haven't met. There is not much improvement," Bachchan, 75, told reporters. He was speaking at the trailer launch of "Thugs of Hindostan". The actor added shooting the action sequences in rains added to his woes. "Had they made me wear normal clothes, it would have been easier but I was made to wear armour. They made me wear leather clothes and it was so heavy, it was about 30-40 kg, then they gave me a sword, turban and long hair. "It took three hours for me to get ready. The most dangerous part was all the action sequences were shot in rains due to which the clothes got all the more heavy," he added. Contrary to popular view, Bachchan believes technological advancement has made the job of an actor more difficult. "After technology has become advanced, people rather look more into detailing. We have to work harder. Don't think because of technology our work has become easy. "To some extent visually, it has become a lot more presentable. But in the old days, we chose large locations, shot at the location and everything was done immediately." There were reports that "Thugs..." is based on Philip Meadows Taylor's 1839 novel "Confessions of a Thug". The film was also compared to Hollywood blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. Acharya rubbished the rumours, saying, "It is not based on any novel. It is a called 'Thugs..' so maybe people felt it is related to a book that came on thugs. But it is not. Whenever we have made period films, we have made it very reverential. "I felt maybe we make a little irrelevant film in which there is a character who is not noble and that might be interesting. It is hard to get people come to theatres and they might come in if there is some spectacle." On comparisons "Pirates of Carribean", Aamir said, "It is an action-adventure film so in that case the genre is similar to 'Pirates...'. But story-wise, there is no similarity between the two films. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A three-member team of the National Security Guard (NSG) arrived here Thursday to investigate the low-intensity blast that took place at the office of a courier company on Wednesday. The blast investigation team of the NSG, accompanied by Senior Superintendent of Police (Moga) Gurpreet Singh Toor, visited the office of the courier company, police said. The team collected various samples from the site, they said. Two people were injured in a low-intensity explosion after a parcel packet blew up at the office of a courier company here Wednesday. Small iron nails were found to be used in the bomb, police said. Notably, four low intensity blasts had taken place at Jalandhar's Maqsudan police station this month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Calling all Rohingya in India "illegal immigrants", Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Thursday state governments have been asked to observe their movements and obtain their personal details so they could be deported to Myanmar. Talking tough on the issue, he said all states including Kerala have been asked to collect data related to Rohingya as they have moved to different parts of the country. Singh, who recently said all Rohingya in India were "illegal immigrants" as none of them had applied for asylum as refugees, asked opposition parties not to make it a "political issue". "I appeal all the political parties not to make the issue of national security a political issue. The presence of Rohingya is confined not only to the northeastern states. They have reached south Indian states including Kerala," Singh told a meeting of the BJP's Kerala state council here. "The Centre has directed the states to be cautious. The states have been directed to observe their movements. They should not get documents that could help them prove they are Indian citizens," the minister said. He said the issue will be taken up with the Government of Myanmar through diplomatic channels after securing complete details from states. Addressing a seminar organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently,Singh had wondered why some people were objecting to the deportation of Rohingya when Myanmar was ready to take them back. "The home ministry has clarified its position through its affidavit (in the Supreme Court) that these are illegal immigrants and they will be deported. The Rohingya are not refugees. "There is a procedure to get refugee status and none of them followed this procedure. No Rohingya has got asylum in India nor anyone has applied for it. They are illegal immigrants," he had said. Hundreds of minority Rohingya have been killed in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar by the military in alleged ethnic cleansing, setting of an exodus with lakhs taking shelter in camps in Bangladesh. Many of them are also living in India. Singh had earlier said India would not be violating any international law if it were to deport Rohingya as New Delhi is not a signatory to the UN Refugees Convention, 1951. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Highly-rated French driver Esteban Ocon conceded on Thursday that Williams are his only realistic option for staying in Formula One next year. Ocon, who has impressed at Force India where he is expected to be replaced by Canadian Lance Stroll, had hoped to move to Renault, but that plan was wrecked when the French team signed Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull. Speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend's Russian Grand Prix, Ocon rejected the suggestion that a move to struggling Williams would be a backward step. " I can't say it is a downgrade," he said, having confirmed that he is in talks with the British team. "Williams is a great team, they have been world champions in the past and they have been fighting with us hard last year. Sure, they have tough times, but all teams have tough times." When he was asked if he felt Williams were his last remaining option for remaining in Formula One, he said: "Sure, I think so." Ocon also rejected any thought of leaving Europe for America to race in Indycar, saying he preferred to be a reserve or test driver in Formula One. "It could be an option to sit on the bench next year," he said. "But even if that is the case, I will be back in 2020 and I will be back stronger and prepared." He said Formula One was his only target. "I am interested in F1 and that is the only thing I want to do. That is my only focus. I like racing, I like cars and I think it (Indycar) is a great series, but the only thing I look at is F1. "It is my only target and my only target is to be world champion one day, and there is nothing else that counts really. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Several students from Odisha, studying at Agartala-based Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, have alleged that they were physically tortured by local students who even threatened to kill them. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Thursday assured full protection to the Odia students who have been studying B-Ed in the institute, a deemed university. The panic-stricken students through a video message to their friends and families have alleged that they were attacked by some students as they did not participate in a strike following some dispute during the 'Ganesh Puja' celebrations. One of the Odia girl student claimed that some local students have beaten them. "They had also asked us to leave the institution immediately, failing which they have threatened to kill us," she alleged. "We have taken admission in the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan after clearing the entrance examination. But here the local students and people are harassing us," she said. "We request the Odisha government to come to our rescue as our life is at stake," some students said. Director General of Odisha Police, R P Sharma twitted that he has spoken to his Tripura counterpart Akhil Kumar Shukla and subsequently the local SP visited the institute and assured security and help to the students. "Closely monitoring the situation & in regular touch with the DGP there," he twitted. The Tripura DGP said, "Officials concerned are looking into the matter. Appropriate actions are being taken." Tripura Chief Minister said in a tweet, "Students from Odisha are Tripura children too. No anti-social activities shall be allowed on the land of Ma Tripursundari. I assure full protection for students from across India in #Tripura." In the tweet, Deb said he also talked to senior BJP leader of Odisha and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on this issue and assured him full safety for the Odia students. The chief minister also directed Minister Ratan Lal Nath to meet the principal of the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Odia students on Thursday night to resolve the issue, official sources said in Agartala. The Odia students alleged that though the incident was reported to the vice-chancellor of the institute on September 20, the authorities have not taken any action so far. They said they did not lodge any police complaint in Tripura. West Tripura district SP Ajit Pratap Singh said, "On receipt of information about tension in the institute, we rushed to the spot and talked to the students and the principal. But all of them said there was no clash there. "However, the students said they were afraid. So we have arranged for 24-hour surveillance and also set up a police picket before the institution," the SP said. Odisha Higher secretary B P Sethi said Director of Higher Department Parmeswaran B would visit Agartala to resolve the issue. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Director General of Odisha Police R P Sharma has talked to his Tripura counterpart to ensure safety of Odia students there after about 100 students from Odisha were allegedly tortured and harassed at Agartala-based Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. The Odisha-based students have been in Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan to pursue their BEd course. "On the 26th, the moment I got to know about some #Odiya students at Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan being harassed at #Agartala, I spoke with DGP #Tripura. Subsequently the SP visited & has assured security & help. Closely monitoring the situation & in regular touch with the DGP there," the Odisha DGP's office twitted Thursday. On Wednesday, the panic-stricken Odia students and teachers through a video message to their friends and family had alleged that they were attacked by some students at the Sanskrit Sansthan for not participating in a strike during the Ganesh Puja celebrations in the second week of September. "The Odisha DGP has spoken to his Tripura counterpart to ensure security of the students. Prof Radha Madhab Dash, Vice Chancellor of Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University Puri and Parmeswaran B, Director of Higher department are visiting Agartala to sort out the matter," Odisha Higher secretary B P Sethi said. "We have taken admission in the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan after clearing the entrance examination. But here the local students and people are harassing us. They have beaten up some of the boys and girl and asked us to leave the institution immediately failing which they have threatened to kill us. We request the Odisha government to come to our rescue as our life is at stake," a girl student said. Though the incident has been reported to the Vice Chancellor of the institute on September 20, the authorities have not taken any action so far, the students claimed. They also said that they did not lodge a police complaint in Tripura. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Odisha government has decided to allot land acquired for South Korean steel major Posco near Paradip to JSW Steel, which has proposed to set up a 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) green field steel plant at an investment of Rs 50,000 crore, a state minister said Thursday. Odisha Industries Minister Ananta Das told PTI that the state government has decided to allot the land to JSW steel. "Since Posco India has not been progressing with its proposed project, the government has decided to allot the land to JSW Steel which is interested to set up a mega steel plant," Das said. The minister said JSW Steel in 2016 had submitted a proposal to the state government to set up a greenfield steel plant. "As we have already acquired 2900 acre of land near Paradip, the state government will allot the land to the new company," the minister said. The JSW Steel has been told to deposit the money towards the acquisition of the land at the earliest, he said. Earlier, Industries Secretary Sanjeev Chopra had said that they (JSW Steel) are now taking approvals from the Government of India for (environment) and forest clearance. The state run IDCO (Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation) had acquired the land for Posco-India. However, the South Korean steel major did not proceed with its project mostly due to lack of mineral linkage to feed its proposed 12 mtpa steel mill. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jabir Moti, allegedly a "top lieutenant" in underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's organised crime syndicate, was denied bail for the second time by a UK court on Thursday, even as the Pakistani government vouched for him as a man of "good character". The letter from Pakistani High Commissioner, Sahebzada Ahmed Khan, was submitted to the judge during Moti's ongoing extradition case hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London in support of an application for his bail, which was denied and he was directed to appear for the next hearing in the case on October 19. Moti has been described in UK court proceedings as a "senior member" and "top lieutenant" of D Company. Mumbai bomb blasts' accused Dawood Ibrahim was not mentioned by name in the UK court but the judge was told that the leader of network was based in Pakistan. Moti, referred to in court as Jabir Motiwala, was arrested from a London hotel last month and is fighting extradition to the US on money laundering and extortion charges. The 51-year-old had already been denied bail at an earlier hearing in August and to back up his second bail application on Thursday, his defence team presented a letter from the Pakistani High Commissioner among the many sureties that he would not jump bail and abscond. "That (Pakistan High Commission) is a pretty unusual and unequivocal support," said barrister James Lewis, representing Moti. He told the court that the letter from the Pakistani High Commissioner supports the application for bail for Moti, who is a "well known and respected businessman" in Pakistan, and confirms that he does not posses any other travel documents besides the Pakistani passport in possession of Scotland Yard. However, Judge Emma Arbuthnot was unconvinced that Moti did not pose a "flight risk" as acquiring travel documents through crime networks was not unheard of and denied him bail. "I accept that you are a man of good character, with this letter from the Pakistani High Commissioner offering you support if granted bail... But this is not a straight forward matter, there is much more to this case," she said. Prosecutor Ben Lloyd, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), had opened the hearing on Thursday by reiterating the summary of the US charges against Moti, which cover allegations of laundering USD 1.4-million of purported proceeds from narcotics smuggling and "conspiracy to collect credit extensions by extortionate means", amounting to around USD 80,000. The charges relate to a period between December 2011 and September 2012, which carry a maximum sentence of 25 years behind bars in the US. "This all has a very bad smell to it," the judge said in reference to a two-day "gambling" visit by Moti to Atlantic City during which one of the undercover FBI operations took place. His defence claimed that the allegations were the result of entrapment and that he had informed the Pakistani police of the instances of laundering and extortion he was being accused of. They also presented a London-based family friend of Moti, Gaffar Khan, as willing to offer him a spare room at his home on Edgware Road in London if he was to be granted bail and also offered to pose as much as GBP 1 million as security. But the judge indicated that she would not consider anything less than GBP 5 million in cash as adequate security in a case like this. Moti, who sat poker faced in the dock during the hearing, has been remanded to custody until his next hearing on October 19, when the judge will consider the US government's evidence relating to his extradition. The extradition request follows an FBI investigation dating back to 2005. The court was once again informed that the accused goes by multiple names, including Jabir Siddiq, as on his Pakistani passport and Jabir Motiwala, as on the provisional arrest warrant on which Scotland Yard had arrested him on August 17. At previous hearings, the court was told that Moti had been under investigation by the FBI as a key aide of D Company, named after the leader of the company based in Pakistan, associated with trafficking and money laundering through international smuggling routes across South Asia that were also linked to terrorist funding. "For a fee, D Company uses the power of violence for debt collection and has a reputation of intimidating members of the family of its debtors in India and Pakistan," the prosecution had said in its case summary. In his interactions with undercover agents in the US and Pakistan, Moti allegedly admitted to being involved with narcotics and dealing with large amounts of cash and the court was told that it is believed he is behind nearly USD 1.4 million laundered to date. His barrister on Thursday disputed the allegations that he was a key aide of D Company as obvious nonsense, describing his client as a man of exemplary character who was a tax paying, prominent businessman based in Karachi and accredited as a stock broker, with a family stock broking business dating back to the 1950s in Pakistan. Moti had arrived in the UK on business on a 10-year visa and was due to leave the UK on August 22 before his arrest. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has raised objections over Pakistan raising Kashmir issue at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, saying it is completely "unwarranted" for the grouping as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to India's internal affairs in any multi-organisation set up. Pakistan raked up the Kashmir issue at the OIC Contact Group meeting held Wednesday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. "We always note with regret that the matter which is very internal to Indian affairs was again discussed at the OIC," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters here when asked about Pakistan raising the issue at the OIC meeting. He said India rejects such references to a matter which is very internal to it. "We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on India's internal affairs" and it is completely unwarranted for OIC as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to India's internal affairs in any multi-organisation set up. When asked about Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also raising the Kashmir issue in his bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kumar said Islamabad has been doing this for a long time. "It is not the first time they are raising the issue in their bilateral meetings. You would note that what they come up with is their side of the story. What they share and what they say has no acceptance anywhere in the international community, he said. He said Pakistan has realised its "falsehood" and what it has been projecting had already been rejected by the international community. On the possibility of any exchange between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Qureshi in the SAARC meeting, Kumar said, "we have made it very clear that it is not bilateral meeting between India and Pakistan, and added that it is "difficult to predict if there will be a handshake" between the two. Swaraj will be attending the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) meeting Thursday. On Wednesday, Swaraj held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Germany, Bolivia, Armenia, Panama, Austria, Antigua and Barbuda, Chile, Iran and with Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. "A relationship like no other! EAM @SushmaSwaraj met the @PM_Nepal K.P Sharma Oli. Positive and friendly conversation on taking our relationship to an even higher trajectory, Kumar tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes will also examine issues like the concept of Creamy Layer in employment for SCs and STs in central government posts and services and PSUs. This was stated by the Social Justice Ministry a day after the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the 'creamy layer' principle, used to exclude the affluent among other backward classes (OBCs) from enjoying the fruits of reservation, can be made applicable to deny quota benefits in promotion to those affluent among the Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes. The Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes headed by Lok Sabha member Ganesh Singh is currently examining the subject "Rationalization of Creamy Layer in employment for OBCs in services and posts under the control of Government of India including Union Territories, PSUs etc." "In this process the committee may inter-alia examine issues like the concept of Creamy Layer in employment for OBCs in posts and services under Government of India including Union Territories, PSUs etc...," a statement by the ministry said. The committee has now sought views and suggestions from individuals, experts or organisations interested in the subject matter. The memoranda submitted to the committee would form part of the records of the panel and would be at the disposal of the committee, the statement stated. The apex court on Wednesday turned down the Centre's plea that overall population of SC/ST be considered for granting quota for them. The court also referred to its another 2006 verdict of a constitution bench in which the then Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan had held that 'creamy layer' principle was "inapplicable" to SCs and STs as it was merely a principle of identification of backward class and not applied as a principle of equality. "We do not agree with Balakrishnan, CJ's statement in Ashoka Kumar Thakur that the creamy layer principle is merely a principle of identification and not a principle of equality," the bench said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is indisposed, officials said Thursday. According to the sources in the Chief Minister's Office, Patnaik has cancelled all his tour programmes for next two days as he is indisposed. "However, the chief minister will attend office in the state secretariat," an official said adding that his tours outside the state capital have been cancelled. Patnaik has cold and fever after his return from Chennai last night, the official said. During the morning hours, Patnaik attended office and sanctioned projects worth Rs 46.78 crore for 10 blocks spread over nine districts under Ama Gaon Ama Bikas programme. So far Patnaik has sanctioned Rs 1034.63 crore under Ama Gaon Ama Bikas programme meant for developmental works in rural pockets of the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday mounted attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of cheating the people of the country by projecting himself as the country's 'chowkidar' (watchman). He said Modi had claimed to be a watchman to protect the country's interests but he "turned out to be a 'chowkidar' of (industrialists) Anil Ambani and Vijay Mallya". Gandhi was addressing a rally at Satna on the first day of his two-day visit to the Vindhya region of Madhya Pradesh ahead of assembly polls due later this year. He began the tour of the state by offering prayers at famous Kamta Nath temple in this religious town associated with Lord Rama. "The prime minister has cheated the people of the country. Modi became prime minister by stating that he will be the chowkidar (watchman) of the country, but he turned out to be the chowkidar of Ambani and Mallya and put the nation's Rs 30,000 crore in the pocket of Ambani through Rafale scam," the Congress leader alleged. Ambani has already rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in the Rafale- manufacturer French company Dassault picking up his company as a local partner. He had written to Gandhi on December 12, 2017, refuting allegations of his Reliance Group lacking experience to get the Rafale fighter jet deal. He had written that Reliance Defence has the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and is currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard. Taking a jibe at Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Gandhi said, "There are two types of machines working in the country. "First is of Modi, who runs a machine of lies and the second one is of Chouhan who operates a machine of making announcements. Because of these machines, they have lost the faith of the people in the country." Earlier, while addressing a public meeting at Chitrakoot, Gandhi said changes will be made to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to reduce rates on items, if his party comes to power. He said the Modi government has "destroyed" small businesses and employment through demonetisation and 'Gabbar Singh Tax', a reference to GST. "As soon as we come to power, we will change the 'Gabbar Singh Tax' into the real tax. We will implement one tax at lowest rates," the Congress leader said. He said all power would be used to generate employment. GST, which brought a one-tax regime in the country, was rolled out last year. In his speech at Chitrakoot, Gandhi also accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of speaking untruth on the Rafale deal issue. "In Parliament, the defence minister said the price of Rafale fighter plane can't be disclosed due to secret pact. I met the French president, who said there is no such pact and the price can be disclosed," the Congress chief said alleging that the price of Rafale fighter plane gone up to Rs 1600- crore from Rs 526-crore. The prime minister also spoke for one-and-a-half hour in Parliament but did not talk about Rafale issue, he added. Gandhi also reiterated his promise of waiving the farmers' loan within ten days, if elected to power in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, he reached Chitrakoot from Allahabad by a helicopter and visited the Kamta Nath temple where he performed 'puja'. The temple is located in the forested hills of Kamadgiri where, according to mythology, Lord Rama stayed during his exile. The 48-year-old Amethi MP was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath, state party campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Ajay Singh. Senior party leader Digvijaya Singh was conspicuous by his absence. The visit is part of the Congress' campaign for the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh due later this year. The Congress has been out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003. During his earlier visit on September 17, Gandhi held a roadshow in Bhopal after performing a puja and taking blessings from 11 priests. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with Naval office Abhilash Tomy who was rescued from high seas following a mishap during a solo circumnavigation sailing tour. The 39-year-old naval officer was left adrift 3,500 kilometres from western Australia with a serious back injury when he was rescued through an internationally coordinated effort on Monday. A solo competitor in the Golden Globe round-the-world race, he was badly injured during a storm that damaged his vessel in the Indian Ocean on Friday. "Spoke to @abhilashtomy and enquired about his wellbeing. Every Indian is praying for his quick recovery. I also compliment the teams that were involved in his rescue," Modi tweeted. The prime minister said he has fond memories of his meeting with Tomy when he came with the team of INSV Tarini. Modi also posted a couple of photographs with the naval officer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The board of (PNB) Thursday approved proposal to seek Rs 54.31 billion capital support from the government. The of Rs 54.31 billion by the Centre would be through preferential allotment of the bank's equity shares at a price determined as per the regulation, PNB said in a filing to stock exchanges. The extra general meeting (EGM) in this regard will be held on October 30, it said. The minister Tuesday committed capital support to after meeting heads of public sector lenders. "Some of them did mention that the PCA (prompt corrective action) guidelines should be revisited because that is indirectly impacting their lending ability and that government should be more upfront in the capital requirement of some of these "I have assured them that we will immediately look at this subject because we are as keen as them, as every Indian is, that this opportunity is not missed because we want the cycle of high consumption, high growth, NPA recoveries, credit offtake really to be utilised to the fullest in order to help economy," he had said. The government infused Rs 28.16 billion as via preferential allotment of equity shares this month to meet regulatory ratios. The government in July decided to infuse Rs 113.36 billion in five state-owned lenders, including PNB, Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank to help them meet regulatory capital requirement. The infusion was part of remaining Rs 650 billion out of Rs 2.11 trillion over two financial years. The government announced Rs 2.11 trillion capital infusion programme October last year. As per the plan, the (PSBs) were to get Rs 1.35 trillion through re-capitalisation bonds, and the balance Rs 580 billion through raising of capital from the market. Out of the Rs 1.35 trillion, the government has already infused about Rs 710 billion through recap bonds in the banks and balance would be done during this fiscal. Besides, PSBs are also planning to tap the markets to raise more than Rs 500 billion this fiscal to shore up their capital base for business growth and meeting regulatory global risk norms. Number of voters in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh has gone up by almost eight per cent to 5.03 crore from 4.66 crore in 2013, state Chief Electoral Officer said Thursday. The Election Commission (EC) in Bhopal published the final voters' list of Madhya Pradesh, where assembly elections are due later this year. "Madhya Pradesh has 5,03,94,086 (5.03 crore) voters in the final list published Thursday. In the 2013 assembly polls, names of 4.66 crore electors were registered. This means there is a rise of about 8 per cent voters in the state since the last assembly elections," state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) VL Kantha Rao told reporters. Of the total registered voters, 2,63,14,957 are males and 2,40,77,719 females. Rao said a toal of 1410 people have registered themselves under the 'third gender' category. He said a total of 1,37,83,383 voters belonged to the age group of 20-29 years, which is the biggest segment. "Names of 5.02 crore voters were published in the list released on October 4 last year. Since then, about 96 lakh applications have been received either for amendments or addition of names. A total of 35.71 lakh applicants had sought removal of names whereas 36.13 lakh applicants wanted their names included in the rolls," he said. Responding to a query, the CEO said the average cost incurred towards conducting electoral process per voter is Rs 50-60. "We have sought a budget of Rs 413 crore for the election expenditure which was Rs 152 crore in the 2013 polls," he said. Rao said Mahobai (104), a resident of Badnapur village under Nepanagar assembly constituency in Burhanpur district, is the eldest registered voter in Madhya Pradesh who will exercise her franchise for the 14th time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Modi government Thursday constituted an eight-member search committee, to be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, to recommend the chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal. The committee, formed despite concerns raised by the Congress, has former chief of State Bank of India (SBI) Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) head A S Kiran Kumar as members. Besides them, Justice Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, former judge of Allahabad High Court; Shabbirhusein S Khandwawala, former Gujarat Police head; Lalit K Panwar, retired IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre; and Ranjit Kumar are the other members of the panel, according to an official order issued by the Personnel Ministry. "The process of Lokpal selection is going as per the guidelines laid down in the Lokpal Act," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh told PTI when asked about the development. The move assumes significance as the government decided to go ahead with the formation of the search committee despite Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the Lokpal selection panel, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior government official said. "The search committee is a major step towards setting up of the Lokpal. The committee will start its functioning soon," he said. The decision to constitute the search committee comes four years after the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, which envisages establishment of anti-graft body Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed in 2013. Kharge had been boycotting the selection committee meeting on the pretext that he is not made a full-fledged member in the panel. He had rejected the invitation extended to him to attend the meetings of the selection committee held this year on six occasions-- March 1, April 10, July 19, August 21, September 4 and September 19 -- as a "special invitee". The eight-member search committee is mandated to recommend a panel of names for the appointment of the Lokpal and its members. Kharge had earlier urged the government to amend the Lokpal Act to include the leader of the single largest opposition party in Lok Sabha in the selection committee and bring an ordinance in this regard. As per the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, only the leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha is a member of the selection committee and since, Kharge does not have that status, he is not a part of the panel. A party should have at least 55 seats or 10 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha for its leader to get the LoP status. The Congress is the single largest opposition party in the Lower House but its leader could not be given the LoP status as it does not have the requisite number to qualify for it, the official said. The Lokpal selection committee headed by the prime minister has as its members the Lok Sabha speaker, leader of the opposition in the lower house, the chief justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the president or any other member. Upon the recommendations of the selection committee in its meeting held on April 10, President Ram Nath Kovind had nominated Mukul Rohatgi, former Attorney General of India as 'eminent jurist' member of the panel against the vacancy arising following the death of senior advocate P P Rao. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday said responsible print media should create awareness among the people to shun violence in a democracy, as he voiced concern over the bloody political clashes in Kerala. Launching the Kollam edition of Malayalam daily 'Janmabhoomi' here, he said the print media had an extremely important role in safeguarding democracy and democratic processes. "It is a matter of concern that democracy is scared by political violence in Kerala," he said, in a veiled reference to the frequent bloodshed among cadres of CPI(M) and BJP-RSS especially in the northern district of Kannur. Singh said he had urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to deal firmly with the violence and assured that centre would provide all help in this regard. Referring to the recent devastating floods in the state, he said the centre was committed to providing all help to mitigate the sufferings of the people, their rehabilitation and the state's reconstruction. The inter-ministerial Central team had completed its visit to the state and its report will be considered as soon as possible once submitted, he said. Singh pointed out that, the centre had already released two instalments of Rs 100 crore and 500 crore each towards immediate assistance to the state. Central agencies like the National Highways Authority of India have been asked to help in the reconstruction of roads in the state. The home minister also lauded the role of fishermen who had saved several lives during the deluge, worst in a century. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The attitude of only one country is hampering the spirit of the SAARC, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday as he accused India of being an obstacle in regional cooperation. Qureshi's comments after he participated in the the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation council of foreign ministers meet here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also attended the meeting but left early. Qureshi said he did not talk to his Indian counterpart. "She left the meeting mid way. May be she was not feeling well," he told reporters after the meeting. "She (Swaraj) talked about regional cooperation. My question is that how is regional cooperation possible if the nations in the region are ready to sit and you are the obstacle in those talks," he said. Qureshi said of the nations want to achieve something from the SAARC forum they need to move forward. "I am not hesitating in saying that for the progress and success of the SAARC and for the connectivity and prosperity of the region, there is only one obstacle. The attitude of only one country is hampering and not letting the spirit of the SAARC and of the founding fathers fulfilled," he said. The remarks came days after cancellation of proposed talks between Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan by New Delhi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi began a two-day visit to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh Thursday with prayers at the famous Kamta Nath temple in Satna district's Chitrakoot town. Gandhi reached Chitrakoot, a religious town closely associated with Lord Ram, from Allahabad by helicopter and stayed in the temple premises for about half-an-hour while performing the 'puja'. The Kamta Nath temple is located on the forested hill of Kamadgiri where, according to mythology, Lord Rama stayed during his exile. Gandhi is likely to address a corner meeting at Chitrakoot before leaving in a helicopter to Satna city, where is scheduled to address a public meeting, party leaders said. The 48-year-old Amethi MP was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath, state party campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Ajay Singh. The Congress chief will leave for Rewa, where he will hold a roadshow, in the evening. On Friday, Gandhi will travel by a bus to address public meetings at Saipur Mod, Baron, Baikunthpur, Lalgaon and Chunari villages spread over Rewa and Satna, party leaders. The Congress has been out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003. During his earlier visit on September 17, Gandhi held a roadshow in Bhopal after performing a puja and taking blessings from 11 priests. He had visited the state after returning from the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, which he undertook to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva. Ahead of Gandhi's last visit, posters were put up in Bhopal, calling him a 'Shiv bhakt' (devotee of Lord Shiva). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that Sardar Patel's mega statue in Gujarat, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was being built by China, evoking stinging reactions from the BJP and the Gujarat government. The 182-meter statue, being built at Sadhu Bet in Narmada district and tipped to be the world's tallest statue, is slated to be inaugurated by Modi on the icon's birth anniversary on October 31. Named as the 'Statue of Unity', the monument is a pet project of Modi who had laid the foundation stone for it in October 2013, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. "The Prime Minister used to say that we will install the statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. It is unfortunate that the iron man's statue will be inscribed with 'Made-in-China' as it is being made by China," Gandhi said at a rally in Satna in Madhya Pradesh. "It is a disrespect to the great nationalist, freedom fighter and the man behind the development of the nation," the Congress leader added. Gujarat Chief minister Vijay Rupani accused Gandhi of "lying shamelessly" while asserting that the statue was made in India. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel went further by saying that Gandhi himself was "Made-in-Italy". "Rahul Gandhi has Italian blood. He is made in Italy. He is a foreigner. But we do not rake up this issue. But, when he is trying to devalue the tallest statue being built here, he should see that he also has Italian blood," Patel said in Ahmedabad. "Though he is having Italian blood he is Congress president. Now it is for the Congress to decide if they want to make a person with mixed blood... having Italian blood as their president or those who have pure blood," Patel said. He said the entire country was feeling proud that the "world's tallest statue" is being built here and asked "why is Rahul Gandhi not feeling proud about it?" The Gujarat government went on to clarify that after the international tenders were floated for erecting the tallest statue of the world of the first home minister of the country Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian company Larson and Tubro (L&T) bagged the contract. It said that 95 per cent making and raw materials of the statue are Indian, while other five per cent parts which were not available in the country were imported from China. Patel said that, L&T being lowest bidder had bagged the contract for building of the statue. "Only some bronze material, for which expertise were not available in India has been imported by the company from China," he added. Senior BJP leader and union minister Uma Bharti said, "The iron for making Sardar Patel's statue was collected from different villages of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rahul Gandhi Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "insulting" Sardar Patel by building his statue in Gujarat which is 'Made in China', evoking a sharp reaction from BJP chief Amit Shah who termed his comments "shameful" and accused his family of trying to erase Patel's legacy. The Congress president was speaking at a public rally in Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh where he also hit out at the Modi government over the unemployment issue. "Narendra Modi ji is making the statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. It is the world's tallest statue, it is a good work, but it is 'Made in China'. This is an insult to Sardar Patel... but Sardar Patel's statue cannot be made in China. Wherever you go and see, it is 'Made in China' and the youth in China are getting jobs for it," Gandhi told the rally in the poll-bound state. Assembly elections are due in the state later this year. The 182-metre 'Statue of Unity', being built at Sadhu Bet in Narmada district, is slated to be inaugurated by Modi on Patel's birth anniversary on October 31. Hitting back, Shah attacked Gandhi for his offensive against the prime minister, saying it was a "shame" that at a time when India is united in paying tributes to the country's first home minister by building a grand 'statue of unity', he is "spreading canards" to discredit the project. It is a very disgraceful statement and the BJP strongly condemns it, he said. The BJP chief also tweeted ,"Dear Rahul Gandhi, your family humiliated Sardar Patel, unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds. Your lies on the 'statue of unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel." During his rally, Gandhi had also claimed while the Modi government is providing employment to 450 people in 24 hours, the Chinese government is providing 50,000 jobs to their youth. "We are pitted against China and the Indian youth are not seeing a way forward. When Indian youth look at Narendra Modi's stage, they say they cannot have faith on him and this man is lying," the Congress chief said adding "He has spoke a lie to farmers, youth, women." In his counter-attack, Shah said the country is away of his hate against India and love for China. "But he will become so blind in his love for China that he will make such disparaging comments against Sardar Patel, is something that is very shameful. The country is hurt with Rahul's shameful remarks," he said. History is full of examples of the Congress insulting Patel, he said. Its governments did not give him "Bharat Ratna", India's highest civilian honour, and did not allow an oil painting of him to be installed in Parliament, he said. Shah alleged that the Congress disrupted even a condolence meeting held to pay homage to him. Reacting to Gandhi's remarks, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani accused him of "lying shamelessly" while asserting that the statue was made in India. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel went further by saying that Gandhi himself was "Made-in-Italy". "Rahul Gandhi has Italian blood. He is made in Italy. He is a foreigner. But we do not rake up this issue. But, when he is trying to devalue the tallest statue being built here, he should see that he also has Italian blood," Patel said in Ahmedabad. He said the entire country was feeling proud that the "world's tallest statue" is being built here and asked "why is Rahul Gandhi not feeling proud about it?" The Gujarat government went on to clarify that after international tenders were floated for erecting the statue, Indian company Larson and Tubro (L&T) bagged the contract. It said that 95 per cent making and raw materials of the statue are Indian, while other five per cent parts which were not available in the country were imported from China. Patel said that, L&T being lowest bidder had bagged the contract for building of the statue. "Only some bronze material, for which expertise were not available in India has been imported by the company from China," he added. Senior BJP leader and union minister Uma Bharti also hit out at Gandhi, saying, "The iron for making Sardar Patels statue was collected from different villages of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Railways has formed joint venture companies with 12 states with equity participation of 49:51 respectively for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects in the country, a senior official of the ministry said Thursday. The first such project under this model was approved by the Cabinet on September 26 in Chhattisgarh where a new broad gauge electrified line of 294.53 route km from Katghora to Dongargarh will provide rail connectivity to unserved areas of the state. "We have started this model with share of 51 per cent for the state and 49 per cent for us. We have formed such companies with 12 states. In this we make the JV and then we tell the states to choose the line. After we are convinced, we decide to go ahead. "If the line is profitable, we take a loan through a special purpose vehicle. Railways will spend only Rs 350 crore out of the total Rs 5950.47 crore. The state will pay Rs 365 crore. There are coal companies which will get benefited that are also part of this. So over all 25 per cent of the cost is through equity and 75 per cent is through loans. We will repay the loan in 20 years," said Mahesh Gupta, Member, Engineering, Railway Board. While the line in Chhattisgarh is primarily for goods trains, two pairs of passenger trains are being envisaged for the state as well. The JVs for other states could be for both passenger or goods trains depending on the needs of the state government. "In this model, the onus is on the state government to determine which line will be beneficial for them in terms of profit. If they propose a profitable line, we are happy to work with them. "This is the model which would mean that the state governments and railways will together share the profits and bear the losses, if any," said Gupta. While Maharashtra is likely to be the second state to get the nod for a proposed line, the other states with JVs are Assam, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha Thursday alleged that an ATS officer was trying to "pressurise" its office-bearers for providing information in connection with ongoing investigation into various cases. A senior functionary of the right wing organisation Thursday filed a complaint against the officer with the Goa ATS chief Karthik Kashyap. Sanstha spokesman Chetan Rajhans claimed that the officer spoke in a "threatening manner" over phone with Virendra Marathe, the managing trustee of Sanstha, recently. Kashyap didn't respond to phone calls for comments. The organisation, with its headquarters at Ramnathi in south Goa, is currently under scanner of the ATS which suspects involvement of activists allegedly linked to the Sanstha in the killings of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh. "An officer of the Goa Anti-Terrorism Squad is trying to pressurise the office-bearers of the Sanatan Sanstha for providing information," Marathe claimed in his complaint. He said the behaviour of the officer concerned could be aimed at pressurising the Sanstha. "Sanatan Sanstha is afraid whether some wrong information about it is being conveyed to the headquarters of ATS in Panaji. Therefore the cognisance of the entire incident need to be taken," Marathe stated. He said the ATS had asked for the details of the persons visiting the Sanstha's ashram at Ramnathi and the organisation has been cooperating with the police. "Despite this, the officer spoke with Marathe in a threatening way," stated the complaint, copies of which were distributed to reporters by Rajhans. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced plans for a luxury tourism destination on its northwestern coast, the latest in a series of mega projects as the oil-reliant kingdom seeks to diversify. The project called "Amaala" would be "a natural extension of the Mediterranean Sea, and dubbed the Riviera of the Middle East", the country's top sovereign wealth fund said in a statement released by the information ministry Wednesday. The development will feature hotels, private villas, an arts academy and a yacht club, PIF added. It did not reveal any timeframe or the size of the investment, saying only that the "initial funding for the project will be provided by PIF". Saudi Arabia has dazzled investors with plans for a series of "giga projects", funded in part by its sovereign wealth fund, but sceptics question their viability. The kingdom has already unveiled blueprints to build NEOM, a mega project billed as a regional Silicon Valley, in addition to the Red Sea project, a reef-fringed resort destination -- both worth hundreds of billions of dollars. "Amaala will sit alongside NEOM and the Red Sea project as part of the giga-projects investment portfolio, helping to... (support) economic diversification," PIF said. Such projects are the brainchild of Prince Mohammed, architect of a sweeping reform programme dubbed "Vision 2030". The reforms stem partly from a motivation to boost domestic spending and attract foreign investment as the kingdom reels from an economic slowdown. Kickstarting tourism is one of the centrepieces of Vision 2030. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said it will begin issuing visas to visitors to attend sporting and cultural events from December, a first for the kingdom as it seeks to lure international tourists. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Declaring that adultery is not a crime, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era anti-adultery law, saying it was unconstitutional, dented the individuality of women and treated them as "chattel of husbands". The judgment was welcomed by activists, who said the archaic law should have been dumped a long time ago to keep pace with the rest of world. The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. The top court, which held adultery as a relic of the past, said the autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices. The National Commission of Women chief Rekha Sharma welcomed the judgement saying it should have been removed long time ago. "This is a law from the British era, although British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it," she said. Her views were echoed by many lawyers and activists. While adultery should not be a criminal offence, the bench held that adultery should continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be grounds for dissolution of marriage or divorce. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home, Justice Misra said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both. The apex court pronounced four sets of concurring judgements to declare penal provision on Adultery and section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional. Justice Misra noted that adultery dents the individuality of women and it is not a crime in countries like China, Japan and Australia. "We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional," said Justice Misra, who wrote the judgement for himself and Justice Khanwilkar, adding that any provision treating women with inequality is not constitutional and it's time to say that "husband is not the master of woman". Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the bench, said Section 497 is clear violation of fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and there is no justification for continuation of the provision. Justice Nariman termed Section 497 as archaic law and concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, saying that the penal provision is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity and is destructive of women's dignity, self-respect as it treats women as "chattel of husbands". Adultery might not be cause of unhappy marriage, it could be result of an unhappy marriage, Justice Misra said. The CJI began reading the judgement by saying the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes "the I, me and you". He said equality is the governing parameter of the Constitution and section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women. Justice Chandrachud said autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices and held adultery as a relic of past. Legislature has imposed a condition on sexuality of women by making adultery as offence, he said, adding that section 497 is denial of substance of equality. The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar said mere adultery cannot be a crime, but if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partner's adulterous relation, then if evidence is produced, it could be treated as an abetment to suicide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Thursday declined to set up a larger bench for a relook of its 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam" paving the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit from October 29. Ruling that the earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition" during the hearing of the Ayodhya case, the top court in a 2-1 verdict made it clear it was not relevant for deciding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute whose outcome will be eagerly awaited ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The RSS and the BJP welcomed the judgement and expressed confidence that a "just verdict" in the case will be reached at the earliest. "We welcome this decision(to start the hearing) and are confident that a just verdict will be reached in the case at the earliest," the Sangh said in a statement. A Muslim group had assailed the observations made by a five-judge Constitution bench in 1994 in the Ismail Faruqui case and had sought reconsideration of its observation that a mosque is not an essential part of Islam on the grounds that it has affected the decison of the High Court in the land dispute. A three judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, by a majority of 2:1 declined the plea of M Siddiq, one of the original litigants of the Ayodhya case who has died and is being represented through his legal heir, that the matter be referred to a larger bench. "We again make it clear that questionable observations made in Ismail Faruqui's case were made in context of land acquisition. Those observations were neither relevant for deciding the suits nor relevant for deciding these appeals," said Justice Ashok Bhushan, who read out the judgement for himself and the CJI. The apex court said now the civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench from October 29 as Justice Misra will retire on October 2 as the CJI. The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by CJI Misra was hearing a batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided into three parts. The three-judge high court bench, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. "In view of our foregoing discussions, we are of the considered opinion that no case has been made out to refer the Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in Ismail Faruqui case for reconsideration," Justice Bhushan said. The 1994 verdict had said: "A mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and namaz(prayer) by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open." Justice Bhushan said it has to find out the context in which the five-judge bench had delivered the 1994 judgement. The court also said all religions have to be respected equally by the State. "All mosques, all churches and temples are significant for the community." Justice S A Nazeer, the third judge, dissented with the majority view and said the question whether mosque was essential part of the religion cannot be decided without a "detailed examination of the beliefs, tenets and practice of the faith" and favoured reconsideration of the issue to a larger bench. He referred to the recent Supreme Court order on female genital mutilation and said the present matter be heard by a larger bench. Justice Nazeer said the questionable observation of 1994 verdict had permeated into the Allahabad High Court's decision in the land dispute case. In this context, he also highlighted the observations of the high court judge S A Khan that mosque is not integral to Islam. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said it is for the country's benefit that the Ayodhya issue is resolved quickly. The majority of this nation wants a solution to this at the earliest," he told reporters in Lucknow. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Evolution of an archaic law which criminalised adultery in India found mention in the Supreme Court during Thursday's historic verdict declaring the penal provision as unconstitutional and striking it down. Justices R F Nariman and Indu Malhotra, who were part of the five-judge constitution bench, discussed in their separate concurring judgements the origin of the now struck-down law in India. Both the judges have termed Section 497 of the India Penal Code, which was formulated in 1860, as "archaic", with Justice Nariman pointing out that the "real heart" of the provision is disclosed when it says that no offence is committed if adultery happens with the consent or connivance of the husband. "In 1860, when the Penal Code was enacted, the vast majority of the population in this country, namely, Hindus, had no law of divorce as marriage was considered to be a sacrament," Justice Nariman noted, adding that a Hindu man could marry any number of women until 1955. Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge in the bench, also pointed out that the Indo-Brahmanic traditions prevalent in India mandated that the chastity of a woman to be regarded as her "prime virtue" which is to be closely guarded to "ensure the purity of the male bloodline". "The objective was not only to protect the bodily integrity of the woman, but to ensure that the husband retains control over her sexuality, confirming her 'purity' in order to ensure the purity of his own bloodline," Justice Malhotra said. Justice Nariman said, "It is, therefore, not far to see as to why a married man having sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman was not the subject matter of the offence. Since adultery did not exist as a ground in divorce law, there being no divorce law, and since a man could marry any number of wives among Hindus, it was clear that there was no sense in punishing a married man in having sex with an unmarried woman as he could easily marry her at a subsequent point in time." He said post 1955-1956, with the advent of the Hindu Code, a Hindu man can marry only one wife and adultery has been made a ground for divorce in Hindu Law. Justice Malhotra in her separate but concurrent verdict said that in the first draft of the IPC released by the Law Commission of India in 1837 did not include adultery as an offence. "Lord Macaulay was of the view that adultery or marital infidelity was a private wrong between the parties, and not a criminal offence. The views of Lord Macaulay were, however, overruled by the other members of the Law Commission, who were of the opinion that the existing remedy for adultery under Common Law would be insufficient for the poor natives, who would have no recourse against the paramour of their wife," she said. Justice Malhotra discussed the debate that took place in order to determine whether adultery should be a criminal offence in India. She noted that in the debate, the then existing laws for the punishment of adultery were considered to be altogether "inefficacious" for preventing the injured husband from taking matters into his own hands. "The Law Commissioners considered that by not treating adultery as a criminal offence, it may give sanction to immorality. The Law Commissioners considered the plight of women in this country, which was much worse than that of women in France and England. 'Note Q' (prepared by the Indian Law Commissioners) records this as the reason for not punishing women for the offence of adultery," Justice Malhotra said. She also said that Colonel Sleeman, who was part of the law commission which debated over the enactment of the penal code, opposed the reasoning of the Law Commissioners on this subject. "The backwardness of the natives to take recourse to the courts for redress in cases of adultery, arose from the utter hopelessness on their part of getting a conviction. He was of the view that if adultery is not made a crime, the adulterous wives will alone bear the brunt of the rage of their husbands. They might be tortured or even poisoned. In his view, offences such as adultery were inexcusable and must be punished," she said. "This debate along with the recommendation of the Law Commissioners was considered by the Indian Law Commissioners while drafting the Indian Penal Code. It was in this backdrop that Section 497 came to be included in the IPC," Justice Malhotra added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The on Wednesday reserved its verdict on cross-appeals of Russia's VTB Bank-promoted firm NuMetal and steel and mining major ArcelorMittal challenging the NCLAT order on the eligibility of the latter to bid for Essar Steel. National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had ruled that NuMetal's second bid for Essar Steel was eligible, but the same by ArcelorMittal would qualify only if it cleared the Rs 70 billion dues of the two firms it was previously associated with. While ArcelorMittal had challenged the order asking it to pay Rs 70 billion to become eligible for the bidding, NuMetal had alleged that NCLAT had "wrongly" applied legal provisions to enable its rival bidder to pay the dues of two debt-ridden firms even after it had bid for Essar Steel. A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Indu Malhotra reserved its verdict after counsel for all the parties, including the Committee of Creditors (CoC), concluded their arguments which continued for eight days. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for NuMetal, said that its second bid was higher than ArcelorMittal's and moreover, it had already said the company would match the offer of its rival bidder. The court, however, said it would only decide the eligibility aspect and the other financial issues would be discussed by the CoC. Rohatgi said Vedanta, the third bidder, was not serious and has not appeared anywhere and there cannot be a situation where there was only one bidder. Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, who represented the CoC, said that debt-ridden Essar Steel, whose resolution process has begun, is a valuable asset and it did not want it to go for liquidation. The counsel for CoC sought eight weeks after the date of judgement to complete the negotiations and the bidding process for Essar Steel. "I am not appearing for Ruias. Numetal has nothing to do with Ruias," Rohatgi said, adding that NuMetal has made it clear by filing an affidavit before the Resolution Professional that it would not sell Essar Steel back to Ruias if it emerges a winner. Moreover, VTB Bank was not barred by laws like like anywhere in the world, nor the new company Numetal is a corporate debtor anywhere, he said. Earlier, the CoC had said the apex court will have to lift the "corporate veil" to test the eligibility of ArcelorMittal and NuMetal, which are bidding for Essar Steel, to ascertain the persons behind them. Rohatgi had said the two brothers of L N Mittal, Pramod and Vinod Mittal, have been associated with firms which were declared non-performing assets (NPAs). ArcelorMittal had said that NuMetal was not eligible to bid for Essar Steel on several grounds, including that it was a "shell company" created by a firm in which Essar group promoters had majority shares. NCLAT had ruled that NuMetal's second bid for Essar Steel was eligible but the same by ArcelorMittal will qualify only if it cleared the Rs 70 billion dues of the two firms, Uttam Galva and KSS Petron, it was previously associated with. The Supreme Court directed Thursday that no coercive action is to be taken in any part of the country against Salman Khan Ventures Pvt ltd, the producer of upcoming bollywood movie 'Loveratri'. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra considered the submission that the movie, slated for all India release on October 5, has been cleared by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and despite this an FIR has been registered in Bihar and a criminal complaint is pending in Vadodara in Gujarat. The bench took note of the plea of the producer and said that no coercive action shall be taken against it relating to the content and the name of the movie. Several private criminal complaints have been filed against the movie alleging that its name has hurt the religious sentiment of Hindus. The film which was earlier named as 'Loveratri' was changed to 'Loveyatri' by the producers keeping in mind that earlier name sounded like 'Navratri'. The movie stars Salman's brother-in-law Ayush Sharma and Warina Hussain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court Thursday declared that adultery is not a crime and struck down the anti-adultery law, saying it was unconstitutional as it dented the individuality of women and treated them as "chattel of husbands". The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery and holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic law which is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both. A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. The top court, which held adultery as a relic of the past, said the autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices. The apex court pronounced four sets of concurring judgements to declare penal provision on Adultery and section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional. "We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional," said the Chief Justice, who wrote the judgement for himself and Justice Khanwilkar, adding that any provision treating women with inequality is not constitutional and it's time to say that "husband is not the master of woman". Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the bench, said Section 497 is clear violation of fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and there is no justification for continuation of the provision. Justice Nariman termed Section 497 as archaic law and concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, saying that the penal provision is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity and is destructive of women's dignity, self-respect as it treats women as "chattel of husbands". The CJI said adultery dents the individuality of women and it is not a crime in countries like China, Japan and Australia. Adultery might not be cause of unhappy marriage, it could be result of an unhappy marriage, Justice Misra said. The CJI began reading the judgement by saying the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes "the I, me and you". He said equality is the governing parameter of the Constitution and section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women. The bench held that adultery can be treated as civil wrong for dissolution of marriage. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home, the CJI said, but added that adultery should not be a criminal offence. The court said adultery can be a ground for civil wrong, a ground for divorce but not a criminal offence. Justice Chandrachud said autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices and held adultery as a relic of past. Legislature has imposed a condition on sexuality of women by making adultery as offence, he said, adding that section 497 is denial of substance of equality. The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar said mere adultery cannot be a crime, but if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partner's adulterous relation, then if evidence is produced, it could be treated as an abetment to suicide. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) by Joseph Manh Hung The 59-year-old jurist with a master's degree in politics has been vice president since January 2016, when the Communist Party Congress reshuffled the country's leadership with the presidency going to Tran ai Quang, a top conservative leader in the Politburo. The mystery surrounding his death is fuelling the rumour mill. Hanoi (AsiaNews) - For the first time in history, a woman is president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Appointed after the death of his predecessor Tran ai Quang, ang Thi Ngoc Thinh (pictured) will be the acting head of state until the National Assembly elects a new leader. Ms Thinh, a 59-year-old jurist with a master's degree in politics, was first elected vice president in January 2016, when the Communist Party held a congress to renew the country's leadership. That same month, Tran ai Quang, a key member of the powerful Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam since 1977, became president. Between 2011 and 2016, he had served as Minister of Public Security. Their appointment signalled the rise of members of the security apparatus inside the Central Committee and the Politburo of the Communist Party, said at the time Prof Carlyle Thayer, a well-known Australian expert on Vietnamese affairs. In Quangs case, it was the first time that a police general became president of Vietnam, a sign that conservatives had the upper hand in a divided party. According to Thayer, Tran ai Quangs appointment has led to greater efforts to fight corruption and pro-democracy activists. During his term in office, he was harshly criticised internationally for cracking down on dissidents, bloggers and journalists. Nonetheless, Quang had worked successfully at improving relations with the United States, especially in relation to Chinese claims in the South China Sea. Daniel Kritenbrink, US ambassador to Vietnam, described the late president as "a friend" of the United States in his message of condolences. The diplomat noted how Donald Trump's visit to Hanoi in November 2017 contributed to "mutual understanding, shared interests, and a common desire to promote peace, co-operation, prosperity and security in the Indo-pacific region. President Quang had been seriously ill for months, but continued to perform his official duties even though he was visibly tired and had lost weight. Following his death, Vietnamese authorities did not reveal the exact nature of his illness, except to mention "a rare virus". The lack of information about the presidents death after only 28 months into a five-year term has fed the rumour mill. A journalist, who prefers to remain anonymous, said I was really surprised. Whilst many of the regimes leaders are healthy or cared for, others like Tran ai Quang, Nguyen Ba Thanh or Pham Quy Ngo suddenly die of strange illnesses. They are all victims ... ". The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said it saw some positive movement in the Ayodhya land case after the Supreme Court verdict Thursday in a related matter. It said the verdict indicated that the hearing in the case will not be done on the basis of faith. Earlier in the day, the apex court had declined to refer to a five-judge constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of its 1994 observation that the mosque is not integral to Islam. Senior AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani said, "We honour the court order and see some positive movement regarding the Ayodhya case." Another AIMPLB member Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said, We respect the court verdict. Mahali said the AIMPLB had wanted the Supreme Court's 1994 observation that the mosque is not integral to Islam be put before a constitution bench so that the matter is resolved permanently." "Two positive things have come from this verdict, he added. First, the Ayodhya matter will not be heard on the basis of faith and will be heard as a title suit, he told PTI. Second, he said, the 1994 observation by court will not make an impact on the case. "We hope that the final hearing of Ayodhya will be completed soon. The Ayodhya hearing should not be linked with the elections," he said, referring to next year's Lok Sabha polls. The issue whether the mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was hearing a batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict. In that judgment, the high court had ordered that the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area should be divided among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court verdict declaring that adultery is not a crime was widely welcomed Thursday with several lawyers and activists saying the striking down of the antiquated, colonial-era law was "a good riddance" and long overdue. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. The offence of adultery entailed a maximum punishment of five years, or with fine, or both. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan termed the verdict a fine judgement that did away with an "antiquated" law. "Another fine judgement by the SC striking down the antiquated law in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery (only of man who sleeps with someone's wife). Adultery can be ground for divorce but not criminal," Bhushan said on Twitter. Congress MP and president of women's wing of the party Sushmita Dev agreed with him. "Excellent decision to de-criminalise adultery. Also a law that does not give women the right to sue her adulterer husband & can't be herself sued if she is in adultery is unequal treatment & militates against her status as an individual separate entity," she tweeted. Her party colleague Priyanka Chaturvedi lauded the verdict, saying there are some laws that need to be changed, modified or removed with time. "It was a 150-year-old law which does not have a place in new India but at the same time we also want to note that adultery is not normal and can be a ground for divorce which in my opinion is a very fair judgement keeping in mind the country we live in and the century we are living in," she said. Kavita Krishnan, Secretary, All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), and a CPI(M-L) Polit Bureau member, said decriminalising adultery is welcome and was long overdue. "Adultery is now grounds for divorce not crime. The law criminalising men for relations with some other man's wife was patriarchal, assumes wife is husband's property and has no autonomy. Good riddance #AdulteryVerdict," she tweeted. The National Commission of Women chief Rekha Sharma, too, welcomed the judgement and said it should have been removed long time ago. "It is a welcome decision and every country in the world has abolished it. It was long due. It is a forward looking judgement," she added. "This is a law from the British era, although British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it," she said. The All India Democratic Women's Association also said it is pertinent to note that most of the countries, including the UK, which formerly treated adultery as a crime, have decriminalised it. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi raked up the issue of triple talaq, saying the Supreme Court decriminalised sections 377 and 497, but it had just "set aside" the practice of instant divorce among Muslims, and the government made it a penal offence through an ordinance. "The Supreme Court didn't say Triple Talaaq is Unconstitutional but set it aside but Apex Court has said 377 & 497 is Unconstitutional will Modi Government learn from these judgments and take back their Unconstitutional Ordinance on Triple Talaaq(sic)," he tweeted. According to social activist Ranjana Kumari, "patriarchal control" over women was unacceptable. "We welcome the judgement by the SC striking down the 158yr old law based on Victorian values, in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery. Patriarchal control over women's body unacceptable," she tweeted. Amnesty International India said on Thursday the Supreme Court's judgement declaring that adultery is not a crime is a "positive" step towards achieving equal rights for all and upholds individual dignity. Some experts, however, sounded a note of caution over the verdict, calling it anti-women and warning that it could give a licence to people to have "illegitimate" relationships. Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal said decriminalising adultery completely is just going to add to the pain of women in the country. "Totally disagree with the Supreme Court judgement on adultery. The judgement is anti-women. In a way, you have given an open general license to the people of this country to be in marriages but at the same time have illegitimate relationships," she said. Social activist Brinda Adige also sought clarity and asked whether the verdict allows polygamy. "Because we know that men very often marry two, three times and there is so much of problem when the first, second or third wife is abandoned. If adultery is not a crime, how is this woman even going to file a case against the husband who might desert or abandon her. It's a concern," she said. Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury agreed with her. "This is like criminalising the triple talaq law. They have done that but now the men will just abandon us or not give us talaq. They will have polygamy or nikah hallala which creates hell for us as women. I am glad it's not a crime anymore but I do not see how it helps. The court should...give us clarity," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court verdict Thursday declaring that adultery is not a crime was welcomed by several people who said it was a good riddance to an antiquated law, though some experts raised concerns over the judgement. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said that every judgement of the SC has to be welcomed because it becomes the law "which we all have to subscribe to. "We have to look at judgements of the Supreme Court with regards to fundamental rights, whether it is equality of either men or women or everyone before the law or it is about right to privacy or it is about freedom of speech and expression. "It has to been seen in context of this evolution. This judgement is a step in that direction. Every judgement of the SC has to be welcomed because it becomes the law which we all have to subscribe to," he said. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi raked up the issue of triple talaq, saying the Supreme Court decriminalised sections 377 and 497, but it had just "set aside" the practice of instant divorce among Muslims, and the government made it a penal offence through an ordinance. "The Supreme Court didn't say Triple Talaaq is Unconstitutional but "set it aside "but Apex Court has said 377 & 497 is Unconstitutional will Modi Government learn from these judgments and take back their Unconstitutional Ordinance on Triple Talaaq (sic)," he tweeted. Reacting to the judgement, social activist Brinda Adige asked if the judgement allows polygamy too? "Because we know that men very often marry two-three times and there is so much of problem when the first, second or third wife are abandoned." "If adultery is not a crime, how is this women even going to file a case against the husband who might desert or abandon her. It's a concern," she said. Congress leader Renuka Choudhary also sought more clarity on the issue. "This is like criminalising the triple talaq law. They have done that but now the men will just abandon us or not give us talaq. They will have polygamy or nikah hallala which creates hell for us as women. I am glad its not a crime anymore but I do not see how it helps. The court should see across the board and give us a clarity," she said. Other activists and lawyers hailed the judgement. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan termed the verdict a fine judgement. "Another fine judgement by the SC striking down the antiquated law in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery (only of man who sleeps with someone's wife). Adultery can be ground for divorce but not criminal," Bhushan said on Twitter. Congress MP and president of women's wing of the party Sushmita Dev agreed with him. "Excellent decision to de-criminalise adultery. Also a law that does not give women the right to sue her adulterer husband & can't be herself sued if she is in adultery is unequal treatment & militates against her status as an individual separate entity," she tweeted. Her party colleague Priyanka Chaturvedi lauded the verdict, saying there are some laws that need to be changed, modified or removed with time. "It was a 150-year-old law which does not have a place in new India but at the same time we also want to note that adultery is not normal and can be a ground for divorce which in my opinion is a very fair judgement keeping in mind the country we live in and the century we are living in," she said. Kavita Krishnan, Secretary, All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) and a CPI(ML) Polit Bureau member said decriminalising adultery is welcome and was long overdue. "Adultery is now grounds for divorce not crime. The law criminalising men for relations with some other man's wife was patriarchal, assumes wife is husband's property and has no autonomy. Good riddance #AdulteryVerdict," she tweeted. National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma, too, welcomed the judgement and said it should have been removed long time ago. "This is a law from the British era, although British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it," she said. According to social activist Ranjana Kumari, "patriarchal control" over women was unacceptable. "We welcome the judgement by the SC striking down the 158yr old law based on Victorian values, in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery. Patriarchal control over women's body unacceptable," she tweeted. The Supreme Court bench held that while adultery should not be a criminal offence it would continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be ground for dissolution of marriage. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home, Chief Justice Dipak Misra said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court verdict declaring adultery a crime was welcomed by many Thursday but some experts sounded a note of caution, calling it anti-women and warning that it could give a license to people to have "illegitimate" relationships. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra unanimously struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal said decriminalising adultery completely is just going to add to the pain of women in the country. "Totally disagree with the Supreme Court judgement on adultery. The judgement is anti-women. In a way, you have given a open general license to the people of this country to be in marriages but at the same time have illegitimate relationships," she said. "What is the sanctity of marriage?" she asked. Social activist Brinda Adige also sought clarity and asked whether the verdict allows polygamy. "Because we know that men very often marry two, three times and there is so much of problem when the first, second or third wife are abandoned. If adultery is not a crime, how is this woman even going to file a case against the husband who might desert or abandon her. It's a concern," she said. Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury agreed with her. "This is like criminalising the triple talaq law. They have done that but now the men will just abandon us or not give us talaq. They will have polygamy or nikah hallala which creates hell for us as women. I am glad it's not a crime anymore but I do not see how it helps. The court should... give us clarity," she said. The Supreme Court bench also held that adultery would continue to be treated as civil wrong and can be ground for dissolution of marriage. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home, the chief justice said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Shiv Sena Thursday appealed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to sack BJP leader Madhu Chavan, the chairman of the Mumbai board of housing development body MHADA, after a case of rape was registered against him by police. Sena is a constituent of the BJP-led Maharashtra government. A case of rape was registered against Chavan at Chiplun police station in Ratnagiri district on Tuesday on the direction of court and a probe into the matter is on, a senior police officer said Wednesday. Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe also requested Governor C Vidyasara Rao to protect the victim, alleging that Chavan has been threatening the woman. When contacted, Chavan, who is a BJP spokesperson, refuted allegations against him and accused the woman of blackmailing him. Gorhe said the victim was an employee of the college owned by Chavan. The Sena leader said the police acted against Chavan only after the Bombay High Court issued directions. "The woman tried to lodge a complaint against Chavan, but the police did not register it," Gorhe alleged. She said the BJP has a long list of leaders "who like serial killers are serial harassers of women and need to be punished". Gorhe said the CM should take resignation of Chavan on the moral grounds the way he did in case of BJP minister Eknath Khadse who stepped down on allegations of corruption. Chavan said the woman was "blackmailing" him because she was repeatedly pulled up by him for "bad behaviour". "The woman had previously lodged similar complaints against me in 2012 and 2017. In 2012, the police had conducted an in-depth investigation and when it was found that there was no substance in her claims, the case was closed," Chavan said. When asked about the HC directions, Chavan said the court has merely ordered an investigation and not stated that the charge of rape be slapped against him. "There is no question of resigning," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP president Amit Shah lauded opposition leader Sharad Pawar on Thursday for saying that people do not doubt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intentions in the Rafale deal, and asked Rahul Gandhi to believe his own ally who has put "national interests above party politics". "I thank Sharad Pawar, a former Defence Minister and veteran MP, for placing national interests above party and speaking the truth. Dear Rahul Gandhi, you would be wiser by believing your own ally and a leader of Pawar Saheb's stature," Shah tweeted. He tagged the Congress president in his tweet which also attached a story on Pawar's comments. At a time when the Congress-led opposition is mounting an attack on the government over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has said people "do not have doubts" over Modi's intentions. In an interview to a Marathi channel, he also said the opposition's demand to share technical details relating to the fighter jet "made no sense". Shah also attacked Gandhi for his dig at the Modi government that Sardal Patel's statue being built in Gujarat will be made in China. "At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand 'Statue of Unity' the Congress president is spreading canards to discredit the project. Shame!" he said. The BJP chief said Gandhi's family "humiliated" Patel and unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds. "Your lies on the 'Statue of Unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel," Shah said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The woman who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault said the incident drastically altered her life and she felt it was her "civic duty" to share her story about what happened to her 36 years ago at the hands of the man nominated by President Donald Trump as the Supreme Court judge. Christine Blasey Ford has alleged that at the age of 15 she was sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in 1982. Both of them were in high school in suburban Maryland at that time. "My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed," she said in a prepared testimony, which will be delivered at a high-profile hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. "It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth," she said. The 51-year-old woman said she had kept the episode a closely-guarded secret, except for sharing it with her husband and few of her friends, till the time it started appearing in the press that Kavanaugh was going to be nominated as a Supreme Court Judge. In early July 2018, Ford said, she saw press reports of Kavanaugh shortlisted for potential Supreme Court nominees. "I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr Kavanaugh's conduct so that those considering his potential nomination would know about the assault," she said. Ford and 53-year-old Kavanaugh are scheduled to testify before Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. "On July 6, 2018, I had a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and the President as soon as possible before a nominee was selected. I called my congressional representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the President's shortlist had attacked me," she said. "I also sent a message to The Washington Post's confidential tip line. I did not use my name, but I provided the names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. I stated that Mr Kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland. This was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I felt I couldn't NOT do it," she said. Giving a detail of the incident, Ford said it happened one evening at a common friends place in Chevy Chase area where they had gathered. "When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark (Judge) were visibly drunk," she said. Ford said she was accosted by Kavanaugh and his friend Mark. They thrust her into an upstairs bedroom at the house and locked the door. "I was pushed onto the bed and Brett (Kavanaugh) got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me...Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes...I believed he was going to rape me," she said. "I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me," Ford alleged. Ford said she was finally able to escape and rushed out of the house with an "enormous sense of relief" that the duo did not follow her. She said that the assault on her "drastically altered" her life. "For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details," she said. Ford said apart from the assault itself, these last couple of weeks have been the hardest time of her life. "I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the shadow of London's Big Ben, members of parliament weary of the endless commotion over Brexit head into a chimney-stacked building to meditate and recharge. The stressed out MPs do not fold themselves into the lotus position on yoga mats but instead sit at desks and breathe inside polished offices. And their special instructors come from a centre in Oxford that promotes "mindfulness" for dealing with mental strain. "It's basically giving you a technique to be able to settle and, you know, pause and get that sense of where you are," Nic Dakin, an MP from England's industrial north, said in a phone interview. "It might only take five minutes or it might take 30." Nearly 200 lawmakers have attended the Oxford Mindfulness Centre's courses this year and anywhere from a handful to a couple of dozen drop by meditation sessions each week. Many are seeking solace from a turbulent time for the UK. Britain's split from the European Union -- a long, bitter and messy process -- appears to often subsume much of London's political life. MPs in the House of Commons take turns firing insults at each other during debates about how to avert economic meltdown once Britain strikes out on its own. The appointed peers from the House of Lords are more philosophical but still bitter in their own discussion about the country's leap into the great unknown. The Oxford centre aims to take MPs and peers to another place. The centre's mission statement sets out to achieve "a world without the devastating effects of depression, where mindfulness enables people to live with awareness, wisdom and compassion." The centre first began offering courses to MPs and peers in 2013 and the Mindfulness All-Party Parliamentary Group -- where Dakin is vice-chair -- was set up a year later. So what exactly is mindfulness? The Oxford centre defines it as "moment-to-moment awareness of one's experience, without judgement". MPs find their solace in mindfulness at Portcullis House -- a building across the street from the Houses of Parliament to which some MP offices were relocated because of a space shortage. "I think it's quite useful for giving you techniques for calm and to settle," said Dakin. But he admitted that Brexit duties took priority for the time being. "It's good for me if I go along. But I'm not good at attending -- the very opposite happens when a busy world interrupts," he said with a laugh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 42 students of a Zilla Parishad school were hospitalised for suspected food poisoning after having their mid-day meal in Maharashtra's Beed district Thursday afternoon, police said. Students at the ZP school at Vangi village complained of vomiting and giddiness after having the mid-day meal, a police official said. They were rushed to the government hospital at Beed, he said. All of them were said to be stable and out of danger, he added. Samples of the meal have been sent to a forensic laboratory for analysis, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Combined Commanders' Conference here on Friday and open an Army exhibition, marking the second anniversary of the surgical strike across the LoC. The Prime Minister will reach Jodhpur Friday morning and inaugurate the exhibition, 'Parakarm Parv', at Jodhpur Military Station at 9 am, before participating in the conference at the Jodhpur Air Force Station. The conference will also be attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the three services chiefs, besides several key military and civil officials of the Ministry of Defence. It is for the third time that the Commanders' Conference is being held outside Delhi. After 2015 in Delhi, it was held in 2016 on the Indian Navy warship INS Vikramaditya and at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 2017. This time, a forward air base on western border has been chosen for the conference owing to the strategic importance and location of the Jodhpur Air Force station, which was the headquarter of the South West Air Command earlier. Before attending the conference, Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate the exhibition, 'Parakarm Parv'. "The Prime Minister will first participate in the wreath laying ceremony at Konark War Memorial at 9 am and then inaugurate the 'Parakram Parv' and open an exhibition, showcasing the might of the Indian Army and its contribution in nation building, said Defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh. The PM himself will walk through the exhibition after inaugurating it, for its review, Ghosh said. Considering the security arrangements, a team of the Special Protection Group (SPG), tasked with the prime minister's "proximate security" has already landed in Jodhpur to take stock of the security measures. The SPG officials also held meeting with the Army and Air Force officials and inspected the areas in the vicinity of the Military and Air Force stations. The prime minister will fly back to New Delhi after completion of the conference in the afternoon. No civil program has so far been laid out for him, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday attended the customary BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session and exchanged views on matters of global political, economic and security significance. BRICS is an association of five major emerging national economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil, Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, chaired the Thursday's meeting, that was also attended by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Lindiwe Sisulu, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi, an official satetement said. Swaraj exchanged views with BRICS Ministers on matters of global political, economic, and security significance. She was briefed on preparations for the upcoming BRICS Chairmanship of Brazil for 2019. Swaraj congratulated South Africa for a successful Johannesburg BRICS Summit in July 2018 and extended India's full support to Brazil for their BRICS chairship in 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Telangana government has decided to build a memorial for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee here, caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Roa said Thursday. Orders have been issued to officials, who are now on the job, he said in the Legislative Council. The former Prime Minister upheld great values in his life, Rao added. "The state government has decided to allocate one acre in Hyderabad to build his memorial building and to instal his statue as per his stature," he said. Rao recalled that BJP member in the Council N Ramachander Rao and other BJP leaders had met him on the issue. He was speaking on the motion taken up by the House to condole the death of Vajpayee who passed away last month. The Council also condoled the death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi and renowned mimicry artist Nerella Venu Madhav, recipient of the Padma Shri award. Venu Madhav, who was also a member of the Council, hailed from Warangal in Telangana. The Upper House also expressed its deep sense of sorrow on the death of more than 60 people in a ghastly bus accident at Kondagattu in Jagtial district recently, and also on the loss of lives in the Kerala deluge. Rao, Leader of Opposition in the Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Deputy Leader of Congress in the House P Sudhakar Reddy, BJP MLC N Ramachander Rao and other members recalled the services of Vajpayee, Chatterjee and Karunanidhi. Council Chairman K Swamy Goud then adjourned the House sine die. The Council met for the day as per the obligation that the House should sit at least once in six months. The Legislative Assembly was dissolved on September six as per a recommendation made by the state cabinet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court in Thailand has convicted a local businessman of fraud for selling fake bomb detectors to the Thai government, five years after a court in the United Kingdom sentenced the British head of the company that supplied them to seven years in prison in a scandal that was worldwide in scale. Thailand's military drew criticism and ridicule in 2010 when the GT200 bomb detectors which were claimed to also be capable of detecting drugs and other substances were exposed as worthless pseudo-scientific instruments. Many millions of dollars of the devices were sold to the Thai army and other security forces around the world. Even after they were proven to be useless, they continued for a time to be used in several countries, including hot spots such as Iraq and southern Thailand, where there is an active Muslim insurgency. The high price of the devices and the fact that prices varied considerably also raised suspicion that corruption was involved in their purchase. The Thai government's Science and Technology Ministry found in 2010 that the detectors had a successful detection rate of only 20 per cent. Nevertheless, then-army commander Gen Anupong Paochinda the interior minister in the current military government denied any corruption and lauded the device's various "successes". Thailand had bought more than 700 of the detectors starting in 2004 at a total cost of about USD 21 million. The current defense minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, defended the military's handling of the affair Thursday, telling reporters the devices had been tested and found working at the time of purchase, so there had been no wrongdoing by the military. Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said Thursday that Thai authorities had stopped using the GT200 devices "ever since foreign governments proved that they are ineffective" and that various military departments are gradually filing lawsuits against companies that sold the fake bomb detectors to them. Sutthiwat Wathanakij, manager of AVIA Satcom Co Ltd, on Wednesday was convicted of fraud for three GT200 sales contracts and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. He had already received a 10-year prison sentence last week for selling the bomb detectors to the Thai army under 12 other sales contracts worth 600 million baht (USD 18.5 million). The GT200 was one of several similar fraudulent devices sold by a loosely connected group of shady, mostly British operators. After Britain banned the export of one of the similar devices in 2010, the scheme started to unravel as independent tests proved the devices were totally ineffective and had no scientific basis. The United Kingdom banned the export of the GT200 devices in 2010 when it accused maker Global Technical Ltd of fraud. British authorities that year raided the offices of Global Technical and two other makers of similar fraudulent bomb detectors. British businessman Gary Bolton, who led Global Technical, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a UK court in August 2013 and ordered to pay over USD 1.6 million. Some officials still defend the GT200. Surasak Kirivichien, a member of the anti-corruption commission investigating officials involved with the procurement of the GT200, recently said it is difficult to assess the value of the device, comparing it to the amulets many Buddhist Thais wear as lucky charms. "This equipment was purchased for soldiers to be used as defensive weapons in a high-risk environment," he said in an interview last month with Thailand's PPTV. "People working in such areas are risking their lives. The equipment, even though it may not be efficient, has a high morale value. It's better than having nothing at all, that's what people at the operational level feel." Wora-at Soontorn-apichart, lawyer for the convicted Sutthiwat, said he would appeal the court's ruling, making the argument that his client could not be blamed because the GT200 devices were turned over to the army as soon as they arrived in Thailand by air, so could not be tested by Sutthiwat's company, which was just selling a device that met the contract's specifications. The court acquitted two co-defendants who were AVIA Satcom company employees. Sutthiwat was released on 900,000 baht (USD 27,745) bail. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The five central stars of hit NBC series "This is Us" are reportedly getting a big pay raise with each of them set to earn USD 4.5 million per season. According to The Hollywood Reporter, lead actors Chrissy Metz, Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K Brown and Justin Hartley have renegotiated their contracts with 20th Century Fox Television and scored significant pay raises for season three. Sources told the publication that after the renegotiations, the actors will see their per-episode salary jump to USD 250,000, once their respective signing bonuses are factored in. Earlier, Ventimiglia (Jack) was raking in USD 115,000 per episode, while Hartley (Kevin) earned USD 75,000. Metz, who was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at last year Emmys, had once said that she had 81 cents in her bank account when she landed the show. She was earlier earning USD 40,000 per episode. It is unclear if co-stars Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Beth, and Chris Sullivan, who essays Toby, also renegotiated their pacts. The show's third season, with 18 episodes, premiered recently. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Six persons, including a soldier and three militants of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were killed Thursday in four anti-terror operations in Kashmir. Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Gazigund area of Anantnag district in the early hours today on a tip off about presence of militants in the area, a police spokesperson said. "During searches, a gunfight began between security forces and terrorists. In the encounter, a local terrorist identified as Asif Malik who was operating as a commander of proscribed terror outfit LeT was eliminated," he said. An Army jawan, identified as Happy Singh of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, too was killed in the encounter, he added. The spokespersons said Malik was involved in several attacks on security forces, including the killings of CRPF men at Achabal this year and in several other cases of atrocity against civilian. The forces also recovered various incriminating material including several arms and ammunition from the encounter site, he added. In another encounter at Panzan in Budgam district, security Forces "neutralised" two militants, he said. The slain militants were identified as Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat and Irfan Ahmad Dar of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. "Dar was working as an SPO before deserting the police force a couple of months ago," he said. The spokesman said the militants fired on a search party from a mosque, prompting the security personnel to cordon off the area. "The local Auqaf Committee was engaged to convince the hiding terrorists to come out. Security forces too appealed the terrorists to come out," said the police spokesperson. But they turned down the offer, forcing the security personnel to launch the operation. The forces carried out the operation "very cautiously", ensuring that the sanctity of the mosque is not breached, he said. In this operation, an Army jawan too sustained bullet injuries and was evacuated to hospital, he added. Another encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Noorbagh on the outskirts of Srinagar city early in the morning. Acting on a "credible input" about the presence of militants in the area, security forces cordoned off a cluster of houses and challenged the militants. "The hiding terrorists began firing indiscriminately, resulting in death of an individual identified as Saleem Malik," he said. The local residents, however, alleged Malik was killed in unprovoked firing by security forces and took to streets in protests, leading to clashes. At least eight persons were injured in the ensuing police action against the protestors. Meanwhile, the separatists called for a day-long strike on Friday to protest against the killing. In yet another incident, an unidentified civilian was allegedly killed in an Army firing in Kupwara district during an ambush with militants, official sources said. The Army had laid an ambush at Syedan Pathra in Kralpora area of Kupwara last night following information about movement of militants through that area, the sources said. The soldiers opened fire upon noticing some suspicious movement in the area, they said, adding the body of an unidentified male was recovered later from the spot. The body has been kept at Kupwara district hospital for identification and other legal proceedings, the sources added. The Army and defence officials did not respond to calls to seek their comment on the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Thursday alleged the ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence is a murder of democracy, and said it will move court against the move. It said the government did not bother to discuss the issue in Parliament and it's an insult to the country's supreme legislative body. "This ordinance is a 'chor darwaza'. It's a murder of democracy and an insult to Parliament. The Parliament session is to start... but the government did not even bother to discuss... We feel it will be harmful to Muslim women," AIMPLB Assistant General Secretary Maulana Khalid Saif Ullah Rehmani told reporters here. He said it's strange that no consultations were held with the community and "you (government ) decided on it yourself. Rather than rendering justice, injustice will be meted out through this ordinance". Asked if the board will move the Supreme Court against the ordinance, Rehmani said, "Our legal committee will discuss and may consider it (legal options)." AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi described the 'triple talaq' ordinance a "fraud" and said it should be challenged in court. "I personally feel there is a need to challenge this ordinance in court... This is a wrong ordinance. It is a fraud... There are mistakes," Owaisi said. According to Owaisi, the ordinance is the Bharatiya Janata Party's "technique" to divert people's attention from the Rafale issue, Nirav Modi, Mehul Chowksi and rising petrol prices. President Ram Nath Kovind had last Wednesday signed the ordinance making instant triple talaq illegal and void. The offence will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. Seeking to allay fears that the law could be misused, the government also included some safeguards in it, such as providing for bail to the accused. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP Thursday lodged a police complaint here against Congress social media chief Divya Spandana over posting an alleged "insulting" tweet against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party leaders said. BJP Tamil Nadu unit Treasurer S R Sekhar and a few other party workers in their complaint to the Cyber Crime Cell here sought immediate and stringent action against the actor-turned politician, who was also a former MP from Karnataka. Talking to reporters, Sekhar alleged Spandana in her tweet had made derogatory remarks against Modi while referring to the Rafale deal. A case had been registered against her by the Lucknow police on a complaint by lawyer Syed Rizwan Ahmed over the tweet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Trade ministers and senior officials of RCEP member countries, including India and China, will hold series of meetings in October to iron out issues hampering negotiations over the proposed mega trade deal, an official said. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement being negotiated by 16 countries, including 10 Asean members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six free trade agreement partners - India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, since November 2012. The mega pact aims to relax norms and significantly cut import duties to boost trade in goods, services, promote investments, technical cooperation, and intellectual property rights. Chief negotiators will meet for a special round of talks in Jakarta from October 6-9, before the meeting of RCEP trade ministers on October 13 in Singapore. After that, the 24th round of meeting will take place in Auckland , New Zealand from 17-24th October. "The special round is a kind of preparatory meeting for the ministerial meet," the official, who did not wish to be named, said. The trade ministers will again meet in November to push the talks. These meetings assumes significance as several domestic industry sectors, including steel, food processing and metals are raising concerns over the presence of China in the group. They have stated that lowering or eliminating duties for China will flood Indian markets with Chinese goods. India already has a free trade agreement with Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations), Japan, and South Korea. And it is negotiating similar pacts with Australia and New Zealand. Besides, India has a trade deficit with 10 countries in this grouping. Trade experts too have expressed apprehensions that eliminating duties for Chinese goods may further impact domestic industries. The trade gap with China, Korea, Indonesia and Australia has increased to USD 63.12 billion; USD 11.96 billion; USD 12.47 billion and USD 10.16 billion in 2017-18. It was USD 51.11 billion, USD 8.34 billion, USD 9.94 billion and USD 8.19 billion, respectively, in the previous financial year 2016-17. "Free trade agreements are not about only giving market access, but also getting that access in other countries. Also, India may not get huge market access in services also," said Biswajit Dhar, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. India is pushing for liberalising norms to promote services trade as the sector accounts for about 55 per cent of the country's GDP. Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu had earlier this month stated that negotiations for the mega-trade deal will continue in 2019 as more rounds of talks are required to sort out issues pertaining to goods and services. The negotiations have dragged on as the member countries want an agreement over the removal of customs duties on the maximum number of products traded between them. However, countries like India have certain reservations on this as the grouping includes China, with which New Delhi has a huge trade deficit. India is looking for a balanced trade agreement as it would cover 40 per cent of the global GDP and over 42 per cent of the world's population. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the first time since taking office, President Donald Trump endorsed a two-state solution as the best way to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as he met at the UN with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump told reporters that he believes that two states Israel and one for the Palestinians "works best." He has previously been vague on the topic, suggesting that he would support whatever the parties might agree to, including possibly a one-state resolution, which might see the Palestinian territories become part of Israel. "I like (a) two-state solution," Trump said Wednesday as he posed for photographs with Netanyahu. "That's what I think works best. That's my feeling. Now, you may have a different feeling. I don't think so. But I think two-state solution works best." Later, Trump told a conference that reaching a two-state solution is "more difficult because it's a real estate deal" but that ultimately it "works better because you have people governing themselves." He added that he would still support Israel and the Palestinians should they opt for a one-state solution, though he believed that was less likely. "Bottom line: If the Israelis and Palestinians want one-state, that's OK with me. If they want two states, that's OK with me. I'm happy if they're happy." In his earlier comments, Trump said his much anticipated but still unreleased Mideast peace plan could be presented in the next two to four months, but was not specific as to timing. Trump has been heavily criticized by the Palestinians for a series of moves that they say show distinct bias toward Israel, starting with his recognition last year of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Palestinians also claim the holy city as the capital of an eventual state. Earlier this year, Trump followed up on the recognition by moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step that was widely protested by Palestinians and others in the Arab world. His administration has also slashed aid to the Palestinians by hundreds of millions of dollars and ended U.S. support for the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees. The Palestinians reacted cautiously to Trump's remarks, noting that a two-state solution has long been the goal of peace efforts, including a broader Arab-Israeli plan that would see Arab states all recognize Israel if the Palestinians got an independent state. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Palestinians remain committed to their demand for a state based on the borders before the 1967 Mideast war and with East Jerusalem as its capital. "Peace requires a two-state solution, where the state of Palestine is based on the '67 boundaries with East Jerusalem as its capital," he said. "This is the Arab and international attitude, and all final status issues need to be solved according to the international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative." Trump and his national security team have defended their position, saying that decades of attempts to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace have failed. He said Wednesday that the embassy move would actually help peace efforts by recognizing the reality that Israel identifies Jerusalem as its capital. But he added that Israel would have to make concessions to the Palestinians in any negotiations. "Israel got the first chip and it's a big one," Trump said. "By taking off the table the embassy moving to Jerusalem, that was always the primary ingredient as to why deals couldn't get done. Now that's off the table. Now, that will also mean that Israel will have to do something that is good for the other side." Netanyahu thanked Trump for his support and his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and said US-Israel relations have never been better than under his administration. On Tuesday, Trump lashed out at Iran in his annual address to the UN General Assembly, accusing its leaders of corruption and spreading chaos throughout the Middle East and beyond. He also vowed to continue to impose sanctions on Iran. "Thank you for your strong words yesterday in the General Assembly against the corrupt terrorist regime in Iran," Netanyahu said. "They back up your strong words and strong actions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) No one laughs at Donald Trump. The president dismissed as "fake news" reports that world leaders laughed at him in the opening moments of his speech to a session of the UN General Assembly. "They weren't laughing at me. They were laughing with me," he declared at a conference Wednesday, the day after counterparts from around the globe audibly laughed as he began the highly anticipated address by reciting U.S. economic gains under his watch. "We had fun. That was not laughing at me," he said. "So the fake said people laughed at President Trump. They didn't laugh at me. People had a good time with me. We were doing it together. We had a good time. They respect what I've done." Trump opened Tuesday's speech by describing the American economy as "booming like never before." He also claimed his administration had accomplished more in less than two years than any predecessor had by this same point in their terms. Just sentences into Trump's remarks, the audience which included many leaders from other countries who were listening to a translation through headphones began to chuckle. Some broke into outright laughter. Trump appeared briefly flustered. He then smiled and said, "I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to present a "very fair" Middle East peace plan by the end of the year and endorsed a two-state solution, apparently confident that the Palestinians would return to talks despite his unwavering support for Israel. Holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, Trump said it was a "dream" of his to bring about a peaceful solution to a conflict that has eluded several of his predecessors. While Trump said he expected Israel to make concessions in any final settlement of the decades-old conflict, the Palestinians said his administration's policies in the Middle East were destroying hopes of peace. Jared Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law as well as a senior advisor in the White House, has been working on a peace plan for more than a year, but there have been few clues to date on what he is expected to propose. "I would say over the next two to three to four months," Trump said, referring to his prospective timetable for presenting a plan. Trump, who met with Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said explicitly for the first time that he backed a two-state solution, saying: "That's what I think works best, that's my feeling." "I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term," added Trump, who was elected to serve four years through January 2021. "Jared, who's so involved, he loves Israel but he's also going to be very fair with the Palestinians," the US president later told a conference. "I think probably two-state is more likely but if they do a single, if they do a double, I'm okay with it if they're both happy. If they're both happy, I'm okay with either. I think the two-state is more likely," he said. Middle East peace efforts effectively stalled when the Palestinians broke off contacts with the Trump administration last year in protest at Trump's landmark decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Palestinian foreign affairs minister Riyad al-Maliki was unimpressed with Trump's remarks, saying the US president chose his tone because he was appearing with Netanyahu. Maliki -- speaking after meeting in New York with representatives from 40 countries but not Kushner or other US officials -- said Trump needed to state clearly that a two-state solution would include a return to borders from before the 1967 Six-Day War and that east Jerusalem is occupied rather than part of Israel. "These are important statements that President Trump has to say in order just to convince anyone that he is committed to real peace in our region," Maliki told reporters. Maliki said that the Palestinians met more than 40 times with Trump's envoys only "to discover that they have opted to open that war against the Palestinians to inflict the most damage." Relations between the Palestinian Authority and the United States plummeted even lower in recent weeks after Washington cut off all funding to a UN agency that helps millions of Palestinian refugees, triggering a budget panic. Trump said, however, that he was in no doubt that the Palestinians would soon return to the negotiating table. "Absolutely, 100 percent," he said. "Lots of good things are happening," said Trump, before adding: "Israel will have to do something that will be good for the other side." Israeli media quoted Netanyahu as saying that Israel must retain security control in any peace deal with the Palestinians west of Jordan to the Mediterranean -- which includes the occupied West Bank. "Israel will not relinquish security control west of Jordan. This will not happen so long as I am prime minister and I think the Americans understand that," he reportedly said. Several of Trump's predecessors have played leading roles in trying to bring an end to the conflict, including Jimmy Carter, who brokered the 1978 Camp David agreement, which saw Egypt formally recognize Israel. Bill Clinton oversaw the Oslo peace accords in 1993 which spelled out the aim of a two-state solution and allowed for the creation of the Palestinian Authority which is meant to rule over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But it left issues such as the borders and status of Jerusalem unresolved. Egypt and Jordan are still the only Arab nations that formally recognize Israel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twenty-seven people were killed in clashes between members of the same Tuareg tribe in Mali's troubled northeast earlier this week, the West African state's security ministry said. Previous reports said 12 people had died in the violence on Tuesday, which took place in a region near the Niger border affected by chronic unrest between local tribes and jihadist militants. "Clashes occurred in the area of Inekar, 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of the town of Menaka, between members of the Idourfane community," a Tuareg tribe, the ministry said in a statement Thursday. "This unfortunate event has unfortunately cost the lives of 27 people, and injured one." Army troops supported by police have been deployed to the region to stabilise the situation and "find out the motive for such a violent outburst within a single community". A local official earlier said that "armed men on motorcycles killed at least 12 civilians," citing a resident of the town who claimed to have seen the bodies. The official, who asked not to be named, added that "for now we do not know exactly who did it. I don't know if it was the result of a dispute between tribes or a terrorist act." About 200 people, many of them civilians from the Fulani and Tuareg tribes, have been killed in the area this year. It has been a violent week for Mali, one of Africa's poorest states, after seven soldiers and a civilian driver were killed in the centre of the country on Wednesday when their vehicle hit explosives. Mali's unrest stems from a 2012 Tuareg separatist uprising which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key cities in the north. The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013. But despite a 2015 peace agreement between the government and the Tuareg rebels, large stretches of the country remain out of the control of Malian, French and UN forces, which are frequent targets of attacks. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south and spilled into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often exacerbating communal conflicts. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected in August after vowing to restore peace to the restive north of the Saharan country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 45 university chiefs on Thursday called on the UK government to ban companies that produce essays for students for a fee. The so-called "essay mills" are known to exist around the world, including in India, offering students the option to pay for bespoke course work that helps them score the right grades. Such companies are already banned in New Zealand, Australia and some parts of the US. British universities now want a similar crackdown in the UK. "Essay mills undermine the integrity of UK higher and are unfair to the vast majority of honest, hard-working students," noted the letter addressed to UK Secretary Damian Hinds. "We are confident that you abhor such cheating as much as we do and encourage you to take the necessary steps to curb these practices, steps which must include a legislative ban on operating or advertising an essay mill," it added. It is hoped that once such services are made illegal, the laws against advertising would also help tackle overseas companies marketing their essay writing or coursework services in Britain. "The market for essays in India has got very sophisticated. Some people work for the big essay writing firms, but there are now a lot of individual writers marketing their services and earning a living," said Dr Thomas Lancaster, a computer science academic and researcher on the subject of "contract cheating". "My background is computer science, so we also see students looking to have more technical assessments done for them, such as computer programming exercises. India is currently a hot bed for technology and there are people out there who will do this for easy money in the evenings after their main job is completed for the day," he said. The Russell Group, which represents the UK's elite universities, is backing the latest call for a government clampdown on all forms of "contract cheating". Russell Group Chair Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli and Chief Executive Dr Tim Bradshaw were among the signatories of the letter. "Legislation will not be a magic bullet; it is, however, a vital part of the broader package of measures," the letter noted. The university chiefs said legislation would, amongst other advantages, shut-down UK-based essay mills and prevent the advertising of their services near campuses and in public places such as the London Underground. Legislation would enable the removal of essay mills from search engine findings and prevent UK-based companies from hosting online advertisements for essay mills, the letter noted. The university vice-chancellors also want the government to support efforts by the Quality and Assurance Agency (QAA), the UK's higher standards body, and the Office for Students (OFS) to tackle the issue. The QAA has previously proposed the establishment of a UK Centre for Academic Integrity with a remit to research and analyse academic misconduct. "Essay mills are a global issue, with companies operating in many jurisdictions. This makes regulation difficult," the QAA had noted. According to Lancaster, the answer also lies in tackling the demand side of the problem. He said, "The big problem we have is that there is a demand for essay writers and assignment providers. Countries like India are just helping to fuel that market. What we need to do is to remove that demand so that students don't contact such workers to have their assessments completed for them." The range of solutions would include assessments that are harder for students to cheat on, using areas like presentations, practical tests, workplace simulations and exams. The UK's universities minister, Sam Gyimah, has indicated that banning such essay mills remains an option alongside other measures. "I expect universities to be educating students about these services and highlight the stiff, and possibly life changing, penalties they face," he said. Under the current rules, students who get caught accessing such essay mills face punishment by their university, including possible disqualification. However, the latest drive by university chiefs is aimed at making it illegal for a company or individuals to offer such a service to the students in the first place. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unidentified miscreants opened fire and hurled a hand grenade on the Meerut residence of BJP MLA Sangeet Som, who is an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots case, in the early hours of Thursday, police said. Nobody was injured in the attack that took place at around 1 am on the Sardhana MLA's residence in the Lalkurti area here, they said, adding that the hand grenade, however, did not go off. The miscreants arrived in a four-wheeler and opened indiscriminate firing on the residence minutes after the legislator had returned home, officials said. The identity of the accused and the reason behind the attack were unknown, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Akhilesh Kumar said, adding that an investigation was launched in this connection. "The residence of MLA Sangeet Som was attacked by unidentified miscreants. They came in a car and opened fire on the house. They hurled a grenade before fleeing, which has been found. The unpinned grenade has been found and it appears to be old. A team of experts is conducting an investigation," he said. The SSP said preliminary investigation did not suggest that it was an act of terror. Soon after the attack, SSP Kumar, SSP Satpal, Superintendent of Police (City) Ranvijya Singh, Intelligence Bureau officials, bomb disposal squad and other top officials of the administration and the police reached the spot. Som, who has a Z-category security cover, said he had no idea who was behind the attack. "Neither did I receive any threat nor had any dispute with anyone in the recent times," he said. The legislator is accused of inciting violence and riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Bank of India has taken fugitive billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi to a court in Hong Kong after two of his companies defaulted on more than USD 5.49 million in credit facilities, according to a media report. The bank claimed in a writ filed at the High Court on Wednesday that the Mumbai-born businessman, wanted over a massive financial scam in his home country, guaranteed two loans made to Firestone Trading Private on October 21, 2011 and Firestar Diamond on November 15, 2011, South China Morning Post reported. The bank is demanding Modi who owns a chain of jewellery shops from Hong Kong to New York -- pay more than USD 5.49 million plus interest, after both firms allegedly defaulted on repayments, the report said. Modi, 47, has been on the run since February after Indian authorities launched an investigation into his alleged involvement in a Rs 13,400 crore scam against the Punjab National Bank (PNB). The Post reported in April that Indian authorities had submitted a request to Hong Kong's Department of Justice for the provisional arrest of the diamond merchant, who was believed to have been hiding in the city before apparently moving to Britain. Modi and his uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi are accused of defrauding banks by raising loans from overseas branches of Indian lenders, using fraudulent guarantees. They have denied wrongdoing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The wife of a lawyer, who has been pursuing a criminal case against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath since 2007, said Thursday her husband has been "framed" in a "fake" rape case and that she will meet the chief minister to seek justice. 64-year-old Pervez Parvaz was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly raping a woman. "If I get a chance, I will meet the chief minister and appeal for justice as my husband has been framed in a fake case," the lawyer's wife Rehana Begum said. "On Tuesday evening, police without uniform, came and took my husband away from Nakhas when he was working in an RO plant. Police took him up to Khalilabad. When the media came to know about it, police brought him to Rajghat police station. "My husband had filed a case against then Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath in 2007 and while he was pursuing the case, some people framed him in a fake rape case in June," she said. Rehana claimed that the police had submitted its final report stating that the case was fake, but later reopened the case. "We went to the high court wherein the co-accused in the case, Jumman, got stay on his arrest, but my husband was arrested by police on Tuesday evening," she said. "Although my husband filed cases against Adityanath, I will meet him and appeal for justice as a chief minister belongs to all citizens of the state," Rehana said. The issue soon took a political hue as Opposition parties alleged conspiracy and demanded justice for the lawyer. The parties demanded a probe in the case by agencies and not the local police. Samajwadi Party (SP) MP from Gorakhpur, Praveen Nishad said, "The government is trying to spread terror in the state and harass people on the lines of religion and caste". SP district president Prahlad Yadav and Congress general secretary of the district, Anwar Hussain demanded a high-level probe, saying the local police cannot be trusted. Dhirendra Pratap, president of Poorvanchal sena, whose members are mostly from Dalit community, charged Adityanath with taking revenge after defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypolls. However, Superintendent of Police (city) Vinay Singh, denied the allegations and said police had sufficient evidence against Parvaz. He said action will be taken against the police officials who investigated the case earlier and submitted report without a proper investigation. According to police, the woman was allegedly raped by Parvaz and another man Mahmood alias Jumman, described as an 'occultist'. The woman was assaulted when she visited Jumman for treatment of some ailment, they said. A medical examination has confirmed rape, police added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US and Brazilian authorities have fined Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras more than USD 853 million for covering up bribes to Brazilian politicians and political parties, the US Justice Department announced Thursday. Petrobras executives at "the highest levels," including board members, orchestrated hundreds of millions in bribes "and then cooked the books to conceal the bribe payments from investors and regulators," US Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement. Brazilian authorities will receive 80 percent of the fine, with the remainder will be collected by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The actions the company admitted to occurred while Petrobras was traded on the New York Stock Exchange, giving US authorities jurisdiction over the alleged crimes, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors say a Petrobras executive directed payments to stop a Brazilian parliamentary inquiry into company contracts. The executive also allegedly funneled bribes from company contractors into the campaign of an unnamed Brazilian politician who had power over where Petrobras could build refineries. Petrobras admitted some executives funneled payments to politicians and political parties, and that the company failed to keep accurate books and records about property and equipment, as required by law. Executives also falsely certified Petrobras financial statements to the US Securities and Exchange Commission even while they were personally involved in the bribery. "According to Petrobras's admissions ... members of the Petrobras Executive Board were involved in facilitating and directing millions of dollars in corrupt payments to politicians and political parties in Brazil, and members of Petrobras's Board of Directors were also involved in facilitating bribes that a major Petrobras contractor was paying to Brazilian politicians," the statement said. As part of the agreement announced Thursday, Petrobras agreed to continue cooperating with in any continuing investigations into the matter, including actions taken by individuals, and to make changes to its internal compliance program. The settlement announced Thursday involved a "non-prosecution agreement," meaning no charges will be brought against the company. Prosecutors may separately take action against individuals. More than 40 countries including the United States have criminalized paying bribes abroad to win business, which authorities say defrauds investors while promoting corruption and political instability. In a related matter, Petrobras agreed to pay USD 933.5 million to the SEC to return ill-gotten gains, but this sum will be reduced by the amount of any payments made in a class action lawsuit by investors filed in New York. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Embassy in Bosnia on Tuesday rejected accusations by Serb nationalist leaders that the United States is seeking interfere in next month's general election. The embassy said in a statement that "the United States is not interfering in the election process and we strongly reject such appalling accusations." Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik, who is pro-Russia, has accused the US and Britain of supporting his opponents and seeking to influence the outcome of the October 7 vote. The election is seen as crucial indicator of whether the country, ravaged by a civil war in the 1990s, will join the European Union and NATO, or continue with bickering between its Serb, Muslim and Croat ethnic groups. Dodik said Thursday that the US and Britain have secured millions of euros to finance various opposition groups in the Bosnian Serb territory. "I will insist that the foreign meddling stops," Dodik said at a press conference. The US Embassy condemned "irresponsible actors" who "drag us into conspiracy theories, unfounded accusations, and, bluntly, lies." "We do not back one candidate or one party over another," its statement said, adding that the US refuses to be part of a pre-election "manipulation."Dodik, who has advocated the secession of the Bosnian Serb autonomous regions and joining Serbia, is running for a Serb seat in Bosnia's three-member presidency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The challenge of tuberculosis cannot be successfully tackled unless special attention is paid to India's tuberculosis epidemic, a top American aid agency official has said as the US and India formed an alliance to combat the deadly disease that kills one person every minute in the country. The 'USAID-India End TB Alliance' was announced on Wednesday by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Mark Green at an event in New York in presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda. Green said the experts in the alliance will offer innovative approaches to combat tuberculosis in India. Alliance members include industry and civil society leaders, academics, scientists, innovators, investors, and members of the diaspora. Two alliance members - Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of the World Health Organisation, and Blessina Kumar from the Global Coalition of TB Activists - were present during the announcement. India accounts for 27 per cent of the world's TB cases, with 421,000 deaths per year, Green said, adding that "We cannot successfully tackle this great challenge unless we pay special attention to India's TB epidemic." That's one person dying every minute, he added. Referring to his visit to India in November, he said he met with a group of TB survivors and their families and learnt about the barriers to testing and treatment they face. "I was especially moved by those who were initially deterred from seeking treatment because of stigma but persevered, and now those same people, mostly women, are working as patient advocates, supporting others who are also struggling with stigma," Green said. "A major reason for hope in India is that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has made an ambitious, but determined commitment to achieve a TB-free India by 2025," he said. The USAID is making an initial USD 30 million commitment, subject to the approval of the US Congress, Green said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vikram Solar, a rooftop solar and EPC solutions provider Thursday announced the installation of 1056 kW rooftop solar project for the Chennai unit of Century Plyboard Ltd. The Century Plyboards' Chennai unit, is spread over 11,000 square metres and has 3,300 modules in operations with a cumulative annual energy yield of 1.536 million units, a company statement said. Similar to the Chennai unit, Vikram Solar said it recently commissioned a 405 kw Rooftop Solar photo-voltaic system for Century Plyboards in Gujarat. "The plant is expected to produce an annual yield of nearly six lakh units which would reduce around 500 metric tonne of carbon di-oxide emissions per year," it said. "Century Plyboards Ltd is a leader in the industry and it was a privilege for us to make their vision a reality in their first step towards the green energy drive..," Vikram Solar MD and CEO, Gyanesh Chaudhary said. "We are proud to have showcased a strategic and technological advantage in conceptualising the project, and upholding our commitment to the client," he said. Currently, Vikram Solar's annual photo-voltaic module production capacity stands at 1GW, the statement added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court has directed police to register an FIR against senior leaders Digvijay Singh, and and an RTI activist on charges of "fabricating evidence" in the case. The special court of Additional District Judge Suresh Singh in Madhya Pradesh issued the order Wednesday in response to a private complaint filed by advocate Santosh Sharma. The judge asked the police to immediately register an FIR and submit its copy before the court, and also sought the investigation report in the case by November 13. The refers to irregularities in exams held by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, also called Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal or Vyapam, for admission in professional courses and state services. Sharma had filed the private complaint in the court Monday, alleging that the leaders and Prashant Pandey, a whistle-blower earlier in the Vyapam issue, were providing false evidence and misguiding the court in this connection. His complaint came after deposed on Saturday in a court in connection with his private complaint seeking criminal prosecution of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Uma Bharti and five others in the Singh had deposed for over two hours before judge Suresh Singh of the special court dealing with cases related to MLAs and MPs. Singh's lawyer had then said that the former had submitted the copy of a document connected with the Vyapam scam in which Chouhan's name figures 48 times. Singh had also submitted documents running into 27,000 pages to accompany his charges, his senior counsel Vivek Tankha had said. Meanwhile, state spokesman Bhupendra Gupta said a new "disturbing" trend has emerged in Madhya Pradesh, ruled by the BJP since the last 15 years, where the complainants in cases were being booked. Walmart Foundation Thursday announced that it will invest about Rs 180 crore (USD 25 million) to improve farmers' livelihoods in the country over the next five years. Separately, Walmart India is also planning to grow its direct sourcing from farmers to 25 per cent of produce sold in its Best Price cash and carry stores over the same period, to accelerate market access improvements and cut transportation costs for producers, the company said in a statement. "We're pleased to help create more opportunities for smallholder farmers in India through Walmart's strengthened commitment to local sourcing and the Walmart Foundation's USD 25 million investment to support local farmer producer organisations," said Judith McKenna, president and chief executive officer, Walmart International. The USD 25-million commitment includes a recently announced grant of close to USD 2 million to support International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics help smallholders generate more income, according to the statement. The new funds will be used to support farmer organisations to develop knowledge of sustainable farming practices, share business best practices, add value to primary agricultural commodities and improve access to finance and markets, it said. The Foundation will work with well-established non-government organisations to support farmer producer groups and develop best practices and demonstration sites that can be shared across the country. "The aim is to eventually empower multiple farmer organisations and connect them into a nationwide farmer-support network," the statement said. According to McKenna, giving farmers opportunities to learn and expand their access to markets have incredible benefits for communities and customers. "Farmers' incomes can grow and they can create new business opportunities for local entrepreneurs and help improve access to high-quality produce in their villages and beyond. All of this adds up to a stronger supply chain, stronger local businesses and better lives for smallholder farmers and their families," she said. Walmart sources 95 per cent of the goods sold in its Best Price cash and carry stores in India from local companies and offers access to technical assistance and training programmes to improve farming efficiency. Reinforcing its presence in the country, the US-based retail giant had last month completed the acquisition of 77 per cent stake in e-commerce firm Flipkart for about USD 16 billion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As part of its initiative to support sustainable livelihood for in India, the Thursday announced investment of Rs 1.8 billion over the next five years in the country. "The Walmart Foundation, working beyond the supply chain, will invest approximately Rs 1.8 billion ($25 million) to improve farmers' livelihood over the next five years," Walmart International CEO Judith McKenna said. She was speaking at a meeting with local in Kasimpur village on the outskirts of the state capital. CEO Krish Iyer, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar and Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal accompanied McKenna when she toured a vegetable farm and evinced keen interest in the cultivation going on there. Walmart Vice President of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs Paul Dyck was also present. The high-level delegation Wednesday discussed with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath various matters related to investment by Walmart in the state. At the meeting, the chief minister spoke about focussing on sourcing, food processing industry and One District One Product (ODOP) to support local traditional art forms. McKenna Thursday said Walmart India will grow its direct sourcing from to 25 per cent of produce sold in its 'Cash & Carry' stores over the same period to ensure more income to them and to cut down the role of middlemen. Besides, it will lead to accelerated market access and reduction in transportation costs for producers, she said. Walmart will also seek to source from a local farmer producer organisation in every state where it has stores. Deepening its commitment to smallholder farmers in the country, she said these farmers are the backbone of the Indian economy, with more than 50 per cent of the total workforce employed in the sector. This, she said, is aimed at bolstering the efforts of the NDA government at the Centre to improve food security in the country and boost the overall economy and to meet the ambitious goal to double farmers' income by 2022. The new funding from the expands its ongoing efforts to develop and scale strong farmer producer organisations to help raise rural incomes. The new funds will be used to support farmer organisations to develop knowledge of sustainable farming practices, share business best practices, add value to primary agricultural commodities and improve access to finance and markets. Krish Iyer said the key to improving the livelihood of farmers and enhancing their income, is to strengthen the entire agricultural supply chain. "A robust supply chain that provides market linkages, logistics support, and helps farmers get fair price for their produce as well as reduces food wastage is crucial to promote sustainable in India," he said. Eliminating the systemic barriers that prevent farmers from increasing their productivity and market access, therefore, must attain priority, which is why the also has been involved in making farmers market savvy by partnering with many organisations since many years. Binny said: "We are very excited to have this partnership with Walmart. Flipkart is currently helping to give market access to many small suppliers and local manufacturing and bringing affordable and high quality products to even remotely parts of the country through our e-commerce marketplace platform." "We have also started grocery business in some cities and as it grows, lot of fresh produce from our farmers and farmer-producer organisations will get on to the marketplace," he said. The Walmart Foundation will work with well-established non-government organisations to support farmer producer groups and develop best practices and demonstration sites that can be shared across India, the US retail major said in a release. The aim is to eventually empower multiple farmer organisations and connect them into a nationwide farmer-support network. McKenna said: "We are pleased to help create more opportunities for smallholder farmers in India through Walmart's strengthened commitment to local sourcing." "There are incredible benefits for our communities and our customers when we help give farmers opportunities to learn and expand their access to markets," she said. Farmers' incomes can grow and they can create new business opportunities for local entrepreneurs and help improve access to high-quality produce in their villages and beyond, the Walmart CEO said. "All of this adds up to a stronger supply chain, stronger local businesses and better lives for smallholder farmers and their families," she said. Walmart sources 95 per cent of the goods sold in its Best Price Cash & Carry stores in India from local and offers access to technical assistance and training programmes to improve farming efficiency. Walmart has stores in 28 countries, employing more than 2.3 million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Wetlands, among the world's most valuable and biodiverse ecosystems, are disappearing at alarming speed amid urbanisation and agriculture shifts, conservationists said Thursday, calling for urgent action to halt the erosion. "We are in a crisis," Martha Rojas Urrego, head of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, told reporters in Geneva, warning of the potential devastating impact of wetland loss, including on climate change. The convention, adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar nearly a half-century ago, on Thursday issued its first-ever global report on the state of the world's wetlands. The 88-page report found that around 35 percent of wetlands - which include lakes, rivers, marshes and peatlands, as well as coastal and marine areas like lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs - were lost between 1970 and 2015. Today, wetlands cover more than 12 million square kilometres (4.6 million square miles), the report said, warning that the annual rates of loss had accelerated since 2000. "We are losing wetlands three times faster than forests," Rojas Urrego said, describing the Global Wetland Outlook report as a "red flag". While the world has been increasingly focused on global warming and its impact on oceans and forests, the Ramsar Convention said wetlands remain "dangerously undervalued". Thursday's report, released in advance of a meeting of the parties to the convention in Dubai next month, stressed the importance of wetlands to all life on Earth. Directly or indirectly, they provide almost all of the world's consumption of freshwater and more than 40 percent of all species live and breed in wetlands. Animals and plants who call wetlands home are particularly vulnerable, with a quarter at risk of extinction, the report said. Wetlands also provide a livelihood for more than one billion people, while mitigating floods and protecting coastlines. They are also a vital source of food, raw materials and genetic resources for medicines. The Ramsar Convention stressed that wetlands are essential to reining in climate change, pointing out that peatlands store twice as much carbon as the world's forests, even though they cover just three percent of all land surface. Salt marshes, seagrass beds and mangroves also store large quantities of carbon. So when wetlands disappear, carbon that has been safely locked in the soil is released into the atmosphere. Climate scientists have long warned of the threat of so-called positive feedbacks - a vicious circle of global warming - but their fears have focused primarily on the potent greenhouse gas methane seeping from thawing Arctic permafrost. The dark swampy peatlands of the tropics are also a major concern, according to Thursday's report, warning that draining soil for farming and development poses a climate threat. Considering wetlands as wastelands is therefore problematic, Rojas Urrego said, lamenting "the perception of swamps as something we need to drain". The Ramsar Convention has been ratified by most of the world's nations, including major polluters the United States, China and India, and since coming into force in 1975 has designated more than 2,300 sites of international importance. But the report stressed the need to do more to develop effective wetland management, including as part of overall national sustainable development plans. Rojas Urrego pointed out for instance that restoring peatlands should be seen as an effective measure to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to live up to commitments made under the Paris Climate Accords. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Director Rima Das, whose film "Village Rockstars" is India's official entry to 2019 Academy Awards, Thursday said will she seek help from the government to promote her movie for the international competition. The filmmaker, who hails from Assam, said the team needs "at least Rs 3 crore" to campaign for the Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars. "The jury has selected my film for the Oscars and I hope they will come forward to help us with necessary fund to campaign for the film at the competitive level. There was a need of at least Rs 3 crore to campaign at the Oscars and to ensure that it makes it to the final nomination for the award," Das told reporters here. "The government and the film fraternity are aware about the journey of the film and also that it is independently made with me as the producer... We will be grateful if we get the final nomination, though the competition is tough. I have realistic dreams and the journey of the film so far has been stupendous," she added. Das thanked Assam government for contributing Rs 50 lakh for the promotion, but said the amount was "not enough". She hopes other government agencies would support the movie, which won 2018's National Film Award for Best Feature Film. On September 22, when the Film Federation of India (FFI) named "Village Rockstars" as the country's official entry to the Oscars, many from the film fraternity offered their support, the filmmaker said. "I am overwhelmed by the response and for me, this is equivalent to receiving the Oscar," she added. Set in Das' village Chayagaon, the film, starring Bhanita Das in the lead role, had its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has toured more than 70 prestigious international and national film festivals. The coming-of-age film also had scored wins in Best Child Artist, Best Location Sound Recordist and Best Editing categories at the 65th National Film Awards. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said his party will urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring a bill in Parliament for reservation in promotions for SCs and STs. His remarks come a day after the Supreme Court paved the way for grant of quota for promotions in government jobs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, holding that the states were not required to "collect quantifiable data" reflecting the backwardness among these communities. "..as the leader of Republican Party of India (Athawale) I will ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce a bill in Parliament to enact a law for reservation in promotions," Athawale told PTI. "There can be no alternative to reservation in promotions..The state governments alone should not decide on the issue and the government of India must pass a bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," he said. He blamed the evil of casteism for atrocities against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. "Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest number of atrocities against Dalits followed by Rajasthan and Bihar. But it is not a question of which government is at the helm in a particular state. Atrocities will end when there will be no casteism, when there will be no division among communities and when the mindset of people will change," the minister of state for social justice and empowerment said. The three states are strictly enforcing the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, to check crimes against the weaker sections, he added. Athawale said the atrocities against Dalits were low in West Bengal. Asked about incidents of lynching of Muslims and other backward communities in the country in the past few years, he said, "I acknowledge there have been incidents of lynching of members of minority communities and that is not a good thing. But you must note that in each and every incident, a strong decision was taken and the attackers have been arrested". He also urged Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ensure that members of the Matua sect, a backward community of migrant Hindus from Bangladesh, with bonafide documents be granted citizenship. The minister interacted with members of the Matua sect in North 24 Parganas district earlier on Thursday. Asked about the demand for an exercise in West Bengal on the lines of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said people who were forced to flee from Bangladesh should not be victimised. "As far as my knowledge goes, the NRC exercise has been carried out in Assam and the situation may not be the same in West Bengal. I think common backward caste people, who were forced to flee from Bangladesh in 1971 or earlier, should not be victimised," Athawale said. He also said the three per cent reservation for the differently-abled people should be increased to four per cent and that they should be granted five per cent reservation in the education sector. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 40-year old woman was beaten in public and forced to wear a garland of shoes by a group of people for allegedly having an extramarital affair with a married man in Gomati district, police said Thursday. The woman, a mother of two alleged that a group of women along with men forcibly picked her up from a paddy field on Wednesday and tied her to a tree and beat her in public, sprayed ink on her face and forced her to wear a garland of shoes, the police said. Additional Superintendent of Police, Navadwip Jamatiya said, "We have recorded her statement as she doesn't know how to write. All the accused persons will be identified and arrested. We have started operations." After receiving information about the incident, a police team rushed to Purba Rangamati village and found the woman unconscious and took her to a local hospital. A case was registered at Birganj Police station, police said. Amarpur, Sub-Divisional Police Office (SDPO), Souvik De Thursday said one woman was arrested in connection with the incident. However, villagers alleged that woman had an extra marital affair with a man and they were found in comprising position by the wife of the man about two weeks ago. The man had a heated altercation with his wife and was reported to have severely beaten her (his wife), who was admitted to Amarpur sub-divisional hospital, the police said quoting the villagers. The man's wife succumbed to her injuries in the hospital on Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An 18-year-old woman was apprehended at a Delhi Metro station for allegedly carrying live bullet rounds in her bag, officials said Thursday. CISF personnel apprehended the unidentified woman, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district, at the Dwarka Mor station late on Wednesday after the X-ray baggage scanner detected the ammunition in her bag, they said. The woman, who was travelling with her family, was handed over to the local police by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel for further investigation, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Carolina MandlSAO PAULO (Reuters) - Petroleo Brasileiro SA will pay an $853.2 million fine to settle U.S. criminal charges that the Brazilian state-run oil company bribed politicians and then sought to conceal the payments, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.Shares in Petrobras, as the company is known, were up 4.2 percent in early afternoon, helped by investors' perception that the pact is another step toward getting past the painful legacy of the landmark "Car Wash" investigation."Executives at the highest levels of Petrobras - including members of its executive board and board ... Joseph Irungu, the main suspect in the gruesome murder of Monica Kimani, at one time made romantic advances on her but she declined. The revelation was made by Monicas brother, George Thiru Kimani, as her family finally found the strength to talk to the media. Her father, Paul Ngarama, said Monica had been living in South Sudan for about seven years but moved back to the country three months ago. She was a hardworking and successful lady who recently bought a car for her mum and who would work extra hard to take care of us, he said. Ngarama said Monica was planning to celebrate her 29th birthday on October 10 and had invited family and friends. Monicas brother revealed that he and Joseph Irungu also known as Jowie, were friends and former college mates. According to George Kimani, they were in Kenyatta University together back in 2012 but lost track of each other after completing their education. They later reunited after Jowie and his sister became friends, a friendship he suspects developed through social media. He further claims that his late sister at one time turned down romantic advances from Joseph Irungu because he was not her type. George indicated that even though Joseph Irungu and Monica hang out several times there was no intimate relationship. Monicas brother was the first to arrive at the scene of the murder at Luciane Apartments on Kitale Lane off Denis Pritt Road. Accompanied by another relative, they knocked on the door several times but there was no response; they then requested permission from the landlord to break down the door. George discovered his sisters body in the bathtub with her hands and legs tied with a white cable and her phone by her side. He said she had a deep cut on her throat and a knife believed to be the murder weapon was next to her body. George also noticed that Monica did not have clothes on below her waist apart from a panty which was torn on one side. The family is preparing for her burial which is scheduled for Friday in Gilgil. A requiem mass will be held today at MKU grounds. Monicas boyfriend, only identified as Mohammed, is also expected in the country for the burial, Monicas mother Millicent said. By Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will wait until November before kicking off full-blown preparations for a possible collapse of Brexit talks, diplomats said, reluctantly accepting that such a scenario would still require some managing. EU envoys of the 27 countries remaining in the bloc after Brexit discussed on Wednesday stepping up contingency planning should no agreement with Britain emerge on how to run the unprecedented process."We will wait for if and when the negotiations with Britain officially fail to kickstart more open work among the 27 on preparing for ... BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission continues to prepare for the possibility that Britain may leave the EU in March without a deal on their future relations but insisted on Thursday that it was working to conclude a treaty.The EU executive's chief spokesman dismissed some media accounts of a briefing on Wednesday for EU states by a senior Commission official on the no-deal preparations as "horror stories", saying there was no significant shift in expectations."We are ready for all scenarios," Margaritis Schinas told a regular news briefing, but insisted the priority was to reach a ... BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday he was working for a Brexit deal and a close economic relationship afterwards. Barnier said after meeting Spain's industry minister in Brussels: "The EU continues to work for an orderly Brexit and an ambitious future partnership with the UK that should include a close economic relationship." (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Hugh Lawson)(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Giuseppe Fonte and Angelo AmanteROME (Reuters) - Italy's government has agreed to target next year's budget deficit at 2.4 percent of gross domestic product, party chiefs said on Thursday, ending a tussle between the ruling parties and Economy Minister Giovanni Tria.The move is a concession by Tria, who had wanted a deficit set as low as 1.6 percent, and appears at odds with Italy's promise to the European Union that it would cut the deficit decisively to rein in its high debt.The coalition of the 5-Star Movement and the League had been pushing for a deficit around 2.4 percent of GDP to ... By Giuseppe Fonte and Angelo AmanteROME (Reuters) - Italy's government has agreed to target next year's budget deficit at 2.4 percent of gross domestic product, a source in the prime minister's office said on Thursday, ending a tussle between the ruling parties and the economy minister.The coalition of the 5-Star Movement and the League had been pushing for a deficit around 2.4 percent of GDP to fund costly policy pledges, while Economy Minister Giovanni Tria had wanted a figure below 2 percent."An accord has been reached at 2.4 percent," the source said, following meetings between party ... ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Economy Minister Giovanni Tria threatened to resign while holding firm against pressure to fix a 2019 budget deficit target of above 1.6 percent of output, a government source from the 5-Star Movement said Thursday. "A battle is underway between us and Tria," the source said. "Tria is holding to the 1.6 pct (of GDP) deficit target (for 2019) and has threatened to resign. We have told him that he can go." "The ruling parties are in agreement," the source added. "It's not necessary to have 2019 deficit target of 2.4 percent (of GDP), but it must be above 2 ... By Richard Lough and Sudip Kar-GuptaPARIS (Reuters) - France has no plans for now to sell its 14 percent stake in Air France-KLM, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday, pressing the group's new chief executive to focus on increasing competitiveness.Le Maire was reacting to a warning from the group's new Canadian boss, Benjamin Smith, to Air France's labour unions that the government was prepared to offload its shares and they should not rely on the state to bail them out.Smith, who took over the group last week, faces the unenviable task of having to overcome union resistance to ... By Chayut SetboonsarngBANGKOK (Reuters) - Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab is in talks to sell "a decent-sized stake" in its Thai business to Thailand's largest retailer, Central Group, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.The size is yet to be determined though discussions have been ongoing for some time, said one of the people, who declined to be identified as the matter was private.Grab said it would not comment on "rumours and speculation". Central did not respond to a request for comment.Grab is interested in doing business with JD Central, a $500 ... By Chayut SetboonsarngBANGKOK (Reuters) - Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab is in talks to sell "a decent-sized stake" in its Thai business to Thailand's largest retailer, Central Group, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.The talks are taking place as Grab faces intensifying competition from Indonesia's Go-Jek, which has plans for a $500 million investment to enter Thailand and other countries in the region.If the deal with Central Group goes ahead, it will expand Grab's existing tie-up with the retailer beyond food delivery to areas such as digital ... Nominated MCA Mary Njambi, whose popularity skyrocketed after her troubles with pepper spray during the forceful eviction of Beatrice Elachi, could be the next Nairobi Woman Representative. The Makadara-based legislator has declared her interest in the seat currently held by Esther Passaris. Njambi, who was at the heart of efforts to evict Elachi, says she is not bothered by the newly acquired fame. In the viral video, she was heard lamenting Elachis use of pepper spray on MCAs after they stormed her office on September 10. How can you be a speaker na unawekea MCA wako mapiripiri kwa macho Si hiyo ni kirimino? Speaking about the incident, Njambi denies any wrongdoing in the incident, saying she was the victim. Navile mnanichapa nyinyi watu wa media, badala nyinyi mnitetee na mliona vile nilipigwa na pilipili, nyinyi mnaona nikama mimi nilikosea, she said. I did not expect it to go viral but I actually do not care that much. None of my family members has asked about the video but for those who have watched it, they laughed and moved on. Speaking about her credentials, Njami said she helps clean the city and ensures schoolchildren do not miss school for lack of fees or uniform. I am a hard worker and its clearly illustrated by the fact that I have been nominated twice, she said. Honestly, I think I will be vying for the woman representative seat come 2022. I have been in the forefront of fighting for women and the youth. One thing, I am a mobiliser who oversees the Ngarisha Jiji initiative. Another thing I pride myself in is that I ensure children dont miss school by using my own money and also sourcing for bursaries and scholarships. Njambi was also proposed to replace Elachi as Nairobi Assembly Speaker but she dropped out of the race to support the eventual acting speaker, Ngara MCA Chege Mwaura. By Fanny Potkin and Venus WuJAKARTA/HONG KONG (Reuters) - For Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent , Southeast Asian domestic helpers in Hong Kong may prove key to their global ambitions in financial services.Both companies recently launched money-transfer services that allow Hong Kong-based workers from Indonesia and the Philippines to send money home cheaply and easily. The moves are a first step in going after a global remittance business that moves more than $600 billion around the world annually. But the initiatives are also part of the firms' broader efforts to take their wildly ... By David LawderUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted Canada over the slow pace of talks over NAFTA, saying he was so unhappy that he had rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's request for a one-on-one meeting.The remarks by Trump, who repeated a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian autos, knocked the Canadian dollar down to a one-week low against the U.S. greenback .The comments also mark a new low in relations between the two leaders. Trudeau spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said: "No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that."The ... HAMBURG (Reuters) - Volkswagen is prepared to agree to a compromise on hardware retrofits for diesel vehicles and to offer further incentives for drivers to swap some older diesel vehicles for newer ones, a person familiar with the matter said.But the carmaker rejects a proposal that carmakers should buy back older diesel vehicles, the person said.Volkswagen declined to comment. (Reporting by Jan Schwartz; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Alex Ratz and Thomas Seythal)(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) HAMBURG (Reuters) - Volkswagen is prepared to support hardware retrofits for older diesel vehicles and offer incentives for drivers to swap some older diesel vehicles for newer ones, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.VW Chief Executive Herbert Diess pledged to back a solution to help fund installing more effective exhaust filters during a conversation with German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer on Wednesday, Germany's Spiegel Online said.The agreement comes as the German government is due to hold a diesel summit on Friday with Scheuer, who has ruled out a taxpayer ... Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Wipro, Tata Steel, NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation & ONGC spent more than their prescribed CSR budgets in FY 2017-18, according to the India CSR Outlook Report. The report was published by NGOBOX which analysed CSR spends of 359 companies. The companies were short-listed on the basis of Rs 1 crore or above prescribed CSR spend in FY 2017-18. BSE-listed or subsidiary of a BSE-listed company were considered. The prescribed CSR Budget of these 359 companies was Rs 9,543.51 crore whereas the actual CSR spend was Rs 8875.93 crore. This accounted for 3/4th of the total CSR spend in India Reliance Industries was the top spender that spent more than its prescribed CSR budget. The top ten 10 companies together spent Rs 3,306 crore as part of their CSR fund, while their prescribed CSR spend was Rs 3,160 crore. There is an increase in the prescribed CSR from 6 per cent to 8 per cent in the actual CSR spend from FY 16-17 and the number of projects have also increased by 25 per cent from the previous year. This indicates a sense of seriousness among companies as they strive to match the prescribed CSR requirements with the actual CSR spends. Some other interesting findings from the report were that CSR fund deposit in PM Relief Fund has gone substantially down by 80 per cent from FY 15-16 to FY 17-18. The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat together received over 25 per cent of India's total CSR fund. The north-eastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have received lowest CSR funding so far. Public sector enterprises account for over 1/4th of India's total CSR spend which comes to Rs 2,419 crore. Oil, refinery and petrochemicals sector companies command almost 1/4th of the CSR fund of India, which is Rs 2,092 crore while the lowest is Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals with a CSR compliance of just Rs 294 crore. CSR funding in education and skill development areas have increased by 50 per cent from FY 15-16 to FY 17-18 which comes to Rs 3,121 crore. Over 1/3rd of the CSR spend is on education and skill development projects while over 1/4th of the CSR spend is on WASH and healthcare projects, which is Rs 2,385 crore. Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013, requires companies with net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or with annual turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or with a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more, to mandatorily spend 2 per cent of the average net profit of the preceding three years on CSR activities, establish a CSR committee and report CSR activities. The Supreme Court today ruled that Aadhaar will be mandatory for obtaining a Permanent Account Number (PAN card) and for filing income tax returns. Put another way, the historic ruling upholds the legality of Section 139A of the Income-tax Act, introduced last year. According to media reports there are nearly 38 cr PAN card holders in the country and in early March, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla had informed the Lok Sabha that 16.65 cr PAN cards had been linked with Aadhaar till then. That means that less than 44% of PANs currently comply with the apex court's latest ruling. So if you have not completed this linkage yet, you'd best get cracking. Back in July, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had extended the deadline for the PAN-Aadhaar linking to March 31, 2019, so presumably this deadline stands till further notifications from the government. You can easily link your Aadhaar with PAN either on SMS or on the income tax department's e-filing portal. In SMS: Just type UIDPAN 12-DIGIT AADHAAR NUMBER 10-DIGIT PAN space and send it to 56161. Through the website: Registered users can log on to https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in using their respective user IDs and passwords. To update Aadhaar, go to the "Profile Settings" tab next. Click on "Link Aadhaar" on the drop-down menu that appears. A new form will be displayed. Enter name, date of birth, and gender as per your PAN records. Then enter your Aadhaar number and name. After you submit the Aadhaar details, a success message will be displayed confirming the linking of Aadhaar with PAN. A confirmation email will also be sent to your registered email ID. If you are a new user, you can register on the portal by entering basic registration details such as PAN card, name, and date of birth. According to India Today, should there be a minor mismatch between the names on your Aadhaar and PAN cards, an OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number for verification. In case of a major mismatch, you'll have to update either your PAN or your Aadhaar details by going to the UIDAI website. The Supreme Court's five-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Dipak Mishra also ruled that there is no need to link Aadhaar with mobile numbers and bank accounts. However, in the case of the latter, the ruling clashes with the Reserve Bank of India's updated master circular on know-your-customer (KYC) norms. In April, the banking regulator had directed that regulated entities will have to obtain Aadhaar number "from those eligible for it" along with their PAN as part of customer due diligence (CDD) while establishing an account-based relationship. Its master direction had added that if an individual does not have an Aadhaar card, "proof of application of enrolment for Aadhaar shall be obtained wherein the enrolment is not older than 6 months and in case PAN is not submitted, certified copy of an OVD [officially valid document] containing details of identity and address and one recent photograph shall be obtained". Currently, residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Meghalaya, who are not yet in the Aadhaar net, need to furnish OVD, which includes passport, driving licence and Voter Identity Card, among others. Significantly, the updated guidelines made it clear that in case customers eligible for Aadhaar and PAN do not furnish the same "within a period of six months from the date of the commencement of the account based relationship", their accounts will "cease to be operational" till the time the above details are submitted. In the case of loan accounts, this will mean only credits will be allowed till the details are submitted. So, in a nutshell, you need at least a PAN card to open a bank account and since PAN-Aadhaar seeding is now mandatory, you basically still need the 12-digit biometric number at the bank. This convoluted logic has the Twitterati on a roll. Pancard mandatory but Aadhaar is not mandatory for bank acc but Aadhaar-pan link is mandatory. #AadhaarVerdict so in layman's terms, pic.twitter.com/oHoFTa3ggf Bank account linked with Pan Card & Pan Card linked with #Aadhaar so indirectly Bank account is linked with #Aadhaar . #AadhaarVerdict pic.twitter.com/Ra0n6xPBFW Pancard mandatory but Aadhaar is not mandatory for bank acc but Aadhaar-pan link is mandatory. #AadhaarVerdict so in layman's terms, pic.twitter.com/oHoFTa3ggf (Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal) The Supreme Court's historic ruling on Aadhaar yesterday, which said that there is no need to link the 12-digit biometric number with mobile numbers and bank accounts, is likely to saddle telecom operators and banks with longer processing time for new accounts and connections. That apart, their customer acquisition costs may go up, too. As per industry estimates, over 80% of new subscribers are being enrolled using the Aadhaar e-verification process. "With enrolment via Aadhaar, we took 30 minutes to get a customer on board and now one will have to wait for 5-6 days for our officers to go to their addresses and verify their details. It seems like we have gone back in time and now enrolment will happen slowly, like the earlier times," a senior executive of a private telco told The Economic Times. Furthermore, telcos' rural expansion drive may take a hit with the inevitable delays in registration. Citing sources, the daily added that the cost of enrolling a new mobile customer could shoot up 10 times. With Aadhaar, the cost was pegged at about Rs 30 per new subscriber. But with verification going back to old ways, the telcos will have to send agents to every household - possibly making multiple trips - so the cost is expected to jump to Rs 250-300. That's a worrying development for the sector that has been battered by price wars over the past two years that eroded profitability and forced consolidation in the space. The Cellular Operators Association of India's (COAI) annual report for FY18 noted that the telecom operators are in "severe financial distress" with a cumulative debt of Rs 7.7 lakh crore and revenue under Rs 2.5 lakh crore. "We are still going through the SC verdict. We will decide on what to do and how to go about things once we have completely grasped the verdict," Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha told the daily. The Supreme Court's ruling will also impact the new small-finance and payment banks that aggressively used Aadhaar to complete the mandatory know-your-customer (KYC) process for new customers in a quick and cost-efficient way. Prepaid payment issuers, too, will face a setback. All these players will now have to figure out alternate ways of on-boarding new customers. Consider Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, which launched operations in February 2017 and has so far on-boarded over 7 lakh customers using tab banking and the Aadhaar network. "This process was quick, automated and cost-efficient," Ujjivan's CEO Samit Ghosh told the daily. "Now, we will have to work out a new manual process which will be costly and will take more than half-an-hour per customer compared to just 10 minutes now." According to these lenders, having to turn to paper-based KYC will not only prove costly and time-consuming for them, but may also throw up security risks. A major rethink is on the cards for the larger commercial banks, too. For instance, Kotak Mahindra's 811 account, SBI's YONO savings account, and Standard Chartered Bank's digital account used the Aadhaar number to open savings accounts instantly. Edited by Sushmita Agarwal In a historic verdict on Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar but struck down a few provisions, including Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, calling it "unconstitutional". This, in essence, nullified the entire fingerprint-based e-KYC model for verification used by telecom companies or banks. Since provision is no longer valid, private telecom companies will not be able to perform the Aadhaar-based e-KYC process. They are likely to go back to the previous process of physical verification of user identity documents. The e-KYC process rid companies from hiring representatives to who would visit a customer's place or verify details on call. It essentially took days before a mobile number was activated. These companies are now expected to go back to this previous process for verification, which could lead to delay in the activation of services. The e-KYC process had also influenced the performance of new entrant Reliance Jio in the telecom sector. In fact, the e-KYC is cited as a major reason behind Reliance Jio's expansion across India in just a few years, especially in rural areas. As mentioned in the UIDAI website, Reliance Jio has performed the most Aadhaar fingerprint authentication with 62 million this month, followed by Airtel with 44 million, Vodafone and Idea. Paytm, on the other hand, has done a total of 98 million Aadhaar authentications. "Though the verdict is not affecting us, we believe that this will be a regressive move for fintech companies as they will eventually move to the traditional mode of verifying individuals and thereby the turnaround time for processing the loan will increase to a considerable extent," Business Standard quoted Bhavin Patel, co-founder and CEO of LenDenClub, as saying. However, experts also suggest Parliament will have to step in and allow its usage in specific cases for private companies. Edited by Manoj Sharma We are not exactly sure how divine intervention will help us in the fight against rampant corruption in Kenya but the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is convinced we need it. The anti-graft agency, together with the Inter-Religious Sector, has launched a Bible Study Guide titled Integrity: A Weapon Against Corruption. The study guide was launched on Wednesday in an event graced by EACC Commissioner Rose M. Macharia and EACC Deputy CEO Mr. Michael Mubea. According to the EACC, The Bible Study Guide is intended to help Kenyans interact with the Bible and discover Gods position on corruption and his direction on living a corruption-free life. The commision noted that every member of the society has an opportunity to contribute to the success of the war against corruption. Regardless of your status in the society, you can make a difference. The Bible Study Guide inspires us to act and to believe our country can be free from corruption. EACC further said the fight against corruption can be won if everyone is committed to a virtuous lifestyle. The fight against corruption is winnable but everyone must commit to live a life that enhances the virtues of integrity, justice, patriotism and love for one another, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission said on Twitter. As expected, the move has not been received well by a majority of Kenyans on Twitter who claim the Bible Study Guide is not a feasible or tangible enough method to impact any meaningful change in the tough war on corruption. Some reactions below. Today @EACCKenya and the Inter-Religious Sector launched a Bible Study Guide for use by Groups and Individuals titled Integrity: A Weapon Against Corruption. The event was graced by EACC Commissioner Rose M. Macharia and EACC Deputy CEO Mr. Michael Mubea. pic.twitter.com/p7iLa64hax EACC (@EACCKenya) September 26, 2018 Even Ruto goes to church every Sunday. Just a reminder Soul Provider (@Jaoko) September 26, 2018 Dumbassery when has religion ever been a solution for anything in this world? Charles K Ndiritu (@CharlesKNdirit1) September 26, 2018 Churches are some of the most corrupt institutions in Kenya Kizazi (@Kole1da) September 26, 2018 Dark days are here indeed! (@kissykennysmatt) September 26, 2018 nonsense mwangi (@mMwangiJ) September 26, 2018 Hahaha now this ?praying away corruption. Al (@Alngumo) September 26, 2018 What is this shit? Dennis Mungai (@Brainiarc7) September 26, 2018 ????kid me not!!!! Njagi Mensler (@NKaraga) September 26, 2018 Are these not the same religious people receiving corruption money in form of church harambees?? Mkenya (@MkenyaWetu) September 26, 2018 What is wrong with you people? Huckleberry (@Tim_Lelei) September 26, 2018 Even satan laughing at this.. ??? El Sudani (@TheMachira) September 26, 2018 While you are at it, go slap uhuruto with a bible, maybe miracles will happen? Wankers! Changer (@Rafielk) September 26, 2018 What nonsense . Do your job and keep religion out of this . We tried religion for years it didnt work . Now either do your job or stay out of the way and let DPP Haji and his team do theirs . Dr Joe Ruturi (@joeruturi) September 26, 2018 I do not believe in the bible study way, coz again Kenya is not religiously homogeneous. However I believe if we told Kenyans how much they will gain , in the long run without corruption and appeal to their moral conscience we could go a long way in controlling it Alex Omondi (@alexomondi3) September 26, 2018 Ruaraka CDF bought and installed 50 units of COi3 HP Desktop computers at a cost of Ksh. 5 million. Yaani 100k per unit. Kenya is an amazing country I tell you. You should be checking all these, instead of engaging in funny cheap PR, nonsense Zachary Sagom (@ZacharySagom) September 26, 2018 Which study guide will be used by Hindus, Muslims, budhhis or pagans? victor nzaro (@vnzaro) September 26, 2018 you guys are ridiculous. billions per year and nothing to show for it what a vulgar waste. mwangi (@mMwangiJ) September 26, 2018 What does @EACCKenya understand about the separation of church and State? About 70% of Swedish citizens are irreligious but it is ranked among the top ten least corrupt countries in the world.Think about that. Evans?Itukot.?? (@OMEVIT5) September 26, 2018 Guess who set up this Bible study. pic.twitter.com/XFOkjJWRH7 naima mungai (@TheAbikus) September 26, 2018 I am a believer, I study and embrace the Bible wholly. BUT lets use it in a appropriate way. What EACC needs to be rolling out is already with them just do the job diligently THE Majani (@ChasiaMJ) September 26, 2018 Somebody remove that Bishop as EACC head, he is just complicating things. Zea Mays (@DeltaFrce) September 26, 2018 Next week will start on a pretty bad note for Indians currently in the US without proper documents. And this is a big chunk of people. A Pew Research Centre study in 2016 claimed that there could be as many as five lakh undocumented Indians in the country - people who either overstayed their visas or entered US borders illegally. Significantly, this figure has reportedly jumped nearly 43% since 2009. The bad news for this population is that from October 1 the US will start implementing a new rule that allows initiation of their deportation process. The development will affect all people whose legal status to stay in America has expired for reasons such as denial of visa extension application or change in status, officials told PTI. However, the federal agency tasked with this claimed that, for the time being, this policy will not be implemented with respect to employment-based petitions and humanitarian applications and petitions. That spells big relief for H-1B visa holders - a majority hailing from India - since applications of visa extension have been denied in recent months. The Trump administration has been gunning for this visa policy claiming misuse by companies to replace American workers. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which oversees lawful immigration to the United States, announced yesterday that they will start taking an incremental approach to implement the new rule from Monday. To begin with, they will issue notices to appear (NTA) to people whose applications regarding visa extension or changes in status have been denied. This is a document that instructs an individual to appear before an immigration judge. NTA, in immigration law parlance, is considered the first step towards deportation of foreign nationals who do not have valid papers to legally stay in the US. USCIS also said that it will send denial letters for status-impacting applications that ensures benefit seekers are provided adequate notice when an application for a benefit is denied. Furthermore, it will provide details on how applicants can review information regarding their period of authorised stay, check travel compliance, or validate departure from the US. "There has been no change to the current processes for issuing NTAs on these case types, and USCIS will continue to use its discretion in issuing NTAs for these cases," the agency said, adding that it will continue to prioritise cases of individuals with criminal records, fraud, or national security concerns. Citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data, The Hindu previously reported that the number of undocumented Indians being deported from the US has been steadily increasing - 460 were deported last year compared to 353 in 2016 and 311 in the preceding year. This development comes even as the Trump administration is desperately trying to roll-back the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has shielded nearly 800,000 young immigrants - including thousands of India-origin - from deportation. This demographic, referred to as dreamers, was under 16 when their parents brought them to the US and, given that they were raised and educated in the country, many consider them to be as American as Trump. Unfortunately, just not in the legal sense. Though the federal courts have refused to halt DACA, many feel that it will eventually go the way of another Obama-era program -Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents ("DAPA"). The policy purported to provide a path for "illegal aliens with a US citizen or lawful permanent resident child" to be considered for deferred action, subject to certain conditions. But last June, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly, after consulting with the Attorney General, signed a memorandum rescinding the memo. According to the Migration Policy Institute, this move would have affected as many as 3.7 million unauthorised immigrants. Clearly, US President Donald Trump's anti-immigration stance is giving plenty of Indian immigrants sleepless nights. 27 Sep 2018, 6:35 PM Cabinet gives nod for new telecom policy; clears path for spectrum price, licence fee review The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new telecom policy that sets an ambitious target of attracting $100 billion investments and creating 40 lakh jobs in the currently debt-ridden sector by 2022 and paves the way for introducing new technologies such as 5G and IoT (Internet of things). Under the new policy, termed the National Digital Communications Policy 2018, the government plans to optimally price spectrum, review levies such as license fees and spectrum usage charges (SUC) as well as M&A rules to ease exits while also taking a fresh look at spectrum sharing, leasing and trading guidelines. Verdict out: Aadhaar is constitutionally valid The ambitious public scheme Aadhaar that uses biometric data to generate unique identification numbers for citizens, has been pronounced constitutionally valid by the Supreme Court. For a record 38 days, the top court heard some 27 petitions. The petitions had called Aadhaar a violation of the right to privacy. Aadhaar means unique, and it's better to be unique than being the best, the court said. It struck down the national security exception in the Aadhaar Act as well as Section 57, which permits private entities to avail Aadhaar data. The court said it isn't mandatory to link Aadhaar to bank accounts or mobile numbers and that telecom service providers can't seek Aadhaar linking, and upheld the passing of the Aadhaar Bill as a Money Bill by the Lok Sabha. Govt hikes customs duty on refrigerators, ACs, aviation fuel To curb imports amid falling rupee and widening current account deficit (CAD), the government on Wednesday hiked customs duty on goods ranging from refrigerators and air conditioners (ACs) to aviation fuel. The 19 'non-essential items' on which import tariffs have been hiked include washing machines less than 10 Kg, speakers, car tyres, cut and polished diamond, gemstone, plastics used in Tableware, kitchenware and other household items, suitcase, travel bags, etc. Cabinet clears Rs 5,500 crore package for sugar industry In third incentive package for sugar mills in four months, the Union government Wednesday announced a Rs 5,500 crore package for the sugar industry, including over two-fold jump in production aid to cane growers and transport subsidy to mills for exports. All measures aim at helping the cash-starved mills clear Rs 13,000 crore they owe currently to farmers before the 2019 general elections. India to have most stringent car safety norms by 2023 India will soon have the most stringent car safety norms, some of them surpassing even the US by 2023, a senior government official said on Wednesday. For one, from October all new cars will have pedestrian safety feature including new design of the bonnet to reduce impact on pedestrians during accidents. Indian roads are the most dangerous in the world and 1,40,000 people die due to accidents every year. Yet, road safety measures, in general, and for vehicles, in particular, have lagged global standards. Arun Jaitley hints at new law after SC bars private companies from using Aadhaar data Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while hailing the Aadhaar verdict, indicated that the provision which allowed private entities to use UIDAI data needs to be backed by law. The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act. The Finance Minister lauded the SC verdict on Aadhaar as historic, adding that the concept of Aadhaar has been accepted after judicial review and the government welcomes the apex court's decision. PNB to seek Rs 5,431-crore capital infusion from government Punjab National Bank (PNB) has said it plans to seek Rs 5,431 crore capital support from the government a day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured state-owned banks of all support from the government. The meeting of the bank's board will take place today for considering infusion of Rs 5,431 crore by the government by way of preferential issue of equity share and fixing date of extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) for obtaining shareholders' approval in this regard, PNB said Compiled by Rashi Bisaria If you had any plans to go on a vacation in the upcoming travel season starting October on a limited budget, maybe its time you reconsider the decision. The airlines, already burdened with the high cost of airline turbine fuel or ATF, will now have to shell out more as the Centre government has imposed give per cent customs duty on ATF. The airline industry is struggling to keep up its revenue in wake of rising fuel cost and the falling value of rupee against dollar. At a time when the airlines were seeking a reduction in taxes and duties, the government's latest decision would hurt their business prospects. And they are likely to pass on the burden on to the customers. The government is in the dock over continuously rising fuel cost and the falling value of rupee, which have inflated the Current Account Deficit. India's forex reserves have also fallen below $400 billion for the first time since November 2017. As part of preventive measures to curb imports, the government on Wednesday hiked customs duty on 19 'non-essential items', ranging from refrigerators and air conditioners (ACs) to aviation fuel. The centre is likely to raise Rs 4,000 crore from the customs duty hike this financial year alone. The customs duty on ATF is coming at a time when the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a grouping of more than 280 airlines, is ruing about "acute pressure on profits". Sharat Dhall, Chief Operating Officer at Yatra.com's B2C, said the decision of the government to impose 5 per cent customs duty on aviation fuel is bound to have a negative impact on the carriers. "However, the silver lining to the situation is that with the peak season kicking in, we are likely to see an increase in prices and strong loads as well, which would provide relief to the airlines," he told PTI. Major carriers like Jet Airways and SpiceJet are already feeling the pinch of rising cost. A fierce competition has added to their woes. Jet Airways has suffered a financial loss of Rs 1,036 crore and Rs 1,300 crore in the quarters ending March and June. On September 10, SpiceJet's Chief Ajay Singh said the airline would increase the prices from October. Meanwhile, the other items on which import tariffs have been hiked include washing machines less than 10Kg, speakers, car tyres, cut and polished diamond, gemstone, plastics used in tableware, kitchenware and other household items, suitcase, travel bags, etc. The changes in the rates of basic customs duty (BCD) will be effective from midnight. The total value of imports of these items in the year 2017-18 was about Rs 86,000 crore, the government said. Edited by Manoj Sharma The crisis-hit Jet Airways has yet again defaulted on the salaries of its employees. The cash-strapped airline has told its employees that some portion of their August salaries will be disbursed on October 9. The latest communication comes after earlier this month the company said it will release the employee salaries in two different instalments -- one on September 11 and the remaining on September 26. The company has paid the first half's salaries to its employees but failed to disburse the remaining part in full. A Jet Airways spokesperson said the airline has released 50 per cent of the second instalment to the employees concerned and would release the remaining part on October 9. UAE's national carrier Etihad holds 24 per cent stake in the debt-ridden Jet Airways. "While we have remitted the first instalment, please note that we shall be remitted 50 per cent of the second instalment today and defer the remaining sum to a later date. The company is committed to honouring its obligations and shall make every effort to release the remainder by October 9, 2018," Jet Airways Chief People Officer Rahul Taneja said in a communication addressed to pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers and senior management on Wednesday, reported PTI. Taneja has also expressed "regret" over the change of plan and inconvenience caused to the employees. The Jet Airways shares also took 5 per cent fall in the early morning trade on Thursday after the airline sought 13 more days to pay the remaining salaries. The share opened at Rs 182.50 only to plunge to Rs 178.90 at 12.45pm. The share closed at Rs 192.05 on Wednesday. Ever since the airline asked its employees to bear a salary cut, only to backtrack it later, the Jet Airways stock has taken quite a beating. Pilots working with Naresh Goyal-led carrier had earlier threatened its management of "non-cooperation" over further delays in the disbursement of their salaries. The airline is facing a deep financial crisis due to high fuel cost and continuously depreciating value of rupee. A fierce competition from local players has also added to its woes, leading to Rs 1,036 crore and Rs 1,300 crore losses in the quarters ending March and June, respectively. Its total liabilities from banks have grown to over Rs 8,600 crore. The airline is on a damage control mode, with a turnaround plan in place, but alleged falsification of accounts and suspicious transactions coupled with its inability to pay salaries in time is causing a hindrance. Last week, the Income Tax department inspected the airline's books and conducted the operations at four of its premises. Banks are getting cagey with handing out more loans to the company; State Bank of India has already put it in stressed accounts watchlist. The public lender reportedly wants details on the airline's future plans and cash flow position as well as sufficient collateral before opening the credit tap. Edited by Manoj Sharma India's largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI) has sold a 4 per cent stake in SBI General Insurance to Axis Asset Management Company (AMC) and Premji Invest for Rs 482 crore. It is part of a pre-offer valuation exercise by SBI General Insurance. This comes ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) in March 2019. SBI General Insurance is a joint venture between the SBI and Insurance Australia Group (IAG) which commenced its operations in 2010 and provides a wide range of insurance products in the retail and commercial space. After the sale, IAG continues to hold a 26 per cent stake while SBI's stake in the venture has come down to 70 per cent, according to a report by the Business Standard.The transaction placed a value of Rs 12,000 cr on SBI General Insurance. According to the Business Standard report, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said, "All our subsidiaries have done exceedingly well. They hold large value waiting to be unlocked. We have plans to unlock that potential in the current as well as in the next year. The insurance segment is still young and nascent in India, it is a highly under-penetrated market, we foresee a significant scope of growth for SBI GI to achieve size, scale and profitability." State Bank also plans to sell a stake in SBI Card and SBI Capital Market, Kumar said. Initially announced by SBI in August, the stake sale had attracted interest from three global private equity investors including KKR, Singapore's Temasek Holdings and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). Pushan Mahapatra, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at SBI General Insurance said, "The company is just 7 years into operations and has already achieved a sizeable scale, making it the 7th largest private general insurance player as of June 2018.The company is present in every district of the country through its own branches, branches of SBI and RRBs with access to 29,500-plus branches. Further, we have a wide and comprehensive product bouquet meeting needs of customers in every segment." But some distance is left to be covered as SBI will have to get approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to complete the stake sale process. Kotak Mahindra Capital were the financial advisors for the transaction, while J Sagar Associates were the legal advisors. The quarter ended 30 June 2018, SBI General posted a 126 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit at Rs 113 crore. If Britain exits the European Union without a deal next March it would cause a "very significant shock," but the Irish economy would still post annual growth in 2019, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. "The figures that I have indicated to date is that a Brexit shock in the form of either a very hard or a disorderly Brexit is equivalent to between 3/4 of a (percentage) point to a full point of national income growth" in one year and between 3 and 3.5 percentage points of growth over several years, he said. (Reuters) Source: www.businessworld.ie Over 5,000 people have registered for Career Zoos recruitment and networking event which is returning to Dublin on Saturday 29th September. Leading employers including Amazon Web Services, Pramerica, EY, Grifols, Huawei, amongst others will be at Career Zoo to hire experienced professionals for senior roles in tech, engineering, finance, biotech, sales, professional services and other areas. Peer to peer networking, employer Research and Development demonstrations and panel discussions with industry leaders will run throughout the day for attendees. This latest Career Zoo event is looking to promote experienced tech roles throughout Ireland, in addition to Dublin with organisations like Letterkenny-based tech giant Pramerica promoting the benefits of moving to the North West for a career. This event comes ahead of a series of events due to take place around the country that will showcase Irelands regional tech opportunities and best tech hubs, starting with Sligo in October. The roadshow will showcase to tech workers the great career opportunities and vibrant tech communities that are thriving outside of Dublin. Career Zoo will take place at the CHQ Building and Dogpatch Labs at 1 Custom House Quay in Dublins North Docklands from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday, 29th September. Admission is free. Speaking this week, General Manager of IrishJobs.ie, Orla Moran said, "In the past, many large employers looking to recruit for high skilled roles may have felt a pressure to locate operations in Dublin in order to meet their resourcing needs. Now they know that workers are willing to move to experience the range of benefits that Irelands other cities and towns have to offer, including shorter commutes, lower housing costs and a higher quality of life. Our data, combined with the emergence of events like Career Zoo are clear evidence of this changing economic landscape." Source: www.businessworld.ie A new survey commissioned by Lero, the SFI Irish Software Research Centre, has found that 39% of Irish adults are worried about robots or artificial intelligence (AI) replacing their jobs. And concerns rise to one in two (49%) adults aged between 18 and 34. The survey of 1,038 adults was conducted for Lero by RED C Research in June 2018. Of those worried about their jobs being taken over, 11% believe that this will occur within the next five years. Twenty five percent expect it to happen within the next six to ten years. One in three anticipate that the robotic arm on the shoulder will occur within the next 11-15 years. While many have concerns over robots replacing their jobs, the Lero study finds that the Irish are divided on whether robotics will safely replace drivers over the next 15 years. Thirty seven percent believe that self-driving cars will be safer but a similar number (39%) believe that software controlled vehicles will be less safe. The Lero report also finds that just over a quarter of the population (26%) work from home at least occasionally. This rises to over a third (38%) amongst those aged 25-34. Commenting on the research, Director of Lero, the SFI Irish Software Research Centre, Professor Brian Fitzgerald said, "The big challenge for Irish education is to prepare our young people to develop the skills and retrain existing workers for jobs of the future. This is particularly challenging as in many cases we dont know today what these jobs will be." Source: www.businessworld.ie A new outbreak of African swine fever has been reported at a slaughterhouse in Chinas Inner Mongolia autonomous region, killing two pigs that had been due for slaughter and infecting two others, the countrys Ministry of Agriculture confirmed Monday. Mondays announcement brings Chinas total number of outbreaks to 20 since the start of August. Seven other regions and provinces, mostly in eastern China, have also been affected. Around 40,000 pigs have been culled in response to the outbreaks. The fever does not affect humans but kills almost all infected animals within days. Authorities in Hohhot, the regions capital and where the slaughterhouse is located, have halted all transportation of pork products out of the affected area and have begun culling pigs and disinfecting the area in response to the outbreak, the ministry said. China is the worlds largest consumer and producer of pork, accounting for over half of global output. The recent outbreaks have caused fears of disruption to the countrys pork supply, and have already contributed to rising prices of consumer goods. You've accessed an article available only to subscribers Subscribe today for just $.99. VIEW OPTIONS (jingxuanteng@caixin.com) For some reader remembrances, emails from Tanta and more, see Remembering Tanta Here is piece from reader sdtfs: She will always be Tanta to me, just as Mark Twain and George Orwell are real, and not merely pseudonyms of Samuel Clemens and Eric Blair. She thought she was just another anonymous pen on the internet, but no one with her talent at writing and complete honesty could be a shallow pale ghost; she was as alive to me as my other literary heroes. 10:29 On October 13 last year , the Supreme Court had referred the Sabarimala issue to a Constitution bench after framing five "significant" questions including whether the practice of banning entry of women into the temple amounted to discrimination and violated their fundamental rights under the Constitution. In its 31-page order, the Supreme Court had asked the following questions: 1. Whether the exclusionary practice which is based upon a biological factor exclusive to the female gender amounts to "discrimination" and thereby violates the very core of Articles 14, 15 and 17, and not protected by morality as used in Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution? The argument raised by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) in restricting the entry of menstruating women is that the deity is a celibate and that women "are not in a position to observe penance for 41 days due to physiological reasons." The Constitutional Bench therefore has to rule upon whether this amounts to discrimination, without bringing morality into question. 2) Whether the practice of excluding such women constitutes an "essential religious practice" under Article 25 (freedom to practice and propagation of religion) and whether a religious institution can assert a claim in that regard under the umbrella of right to manage its own affairs in the matters of religion? In this case, it is the TDB - created by the Kerala State Legislature - is the governing body of the temple. 3) Whether Ayyappa Temple has a denominational character and, if so, is it permissible on the part of a 'religious denomination' managed by a statutory board and financed under Article 290-A of the Constitution of India out of Consolidated Fund of Kerala and Tamil Nadu can indulge in such practices violating constitutional principles/ morality embedded in Articles 14, 15(3), 39(a) and 51-A(e)? RP Gupta, the counsel for the petitioners, submitted in court that there is no religious custom or usage in the Hindu religion specially in Pampa river region to disallow women during menstrual period. According to him, banning entry of women would be against the basic tenets of Hindu religion. He asserted in court that Sabarimala was not a separate religious denomination because there were no distinct religious practices followed in the temple and that temple was performing all pujas akin to any other practice performed in any Hindu Temple. Another point of contention was that Sabarimala temple does not have its separate administration but is regulated by the statutory Board constituted under Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950. The counsel further maintained that "mere attraction of some people for some temple does not make it a separate and distinct religious denomination." 4) Whether Rule 3 of Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules permits 'religious denomination' to ban entry of women between the age of 10 to 50 years? And if so, would it not play foul of Articles 14 and 15(3) of the Constitution by restricting entry of women on the ground of sex? That is, if the Sabarimala devotees are considered a separate denomination, then does this denomination have a right to ban the entry of women and girls? 5) Whether Rule 3(b) of Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965 is ultra vires the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, 1965 and, if treated to be intra vires, whether it will be violative of the provisions of Part III of the Constitution? Basically, are the rules governing the temple entry Act, within or beyond the authority of the Act itself? And if they are within the authority of the Act, are they constitutional - particularly, Rule 3(b), which talks about the entry of women and girls. -- The News Minute. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Kerala Public Service Commission has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Homeopathy Pharmacist. This opportunity is exclusively for the backward classes. The mode of application is online and candidates must complete the one time registration in order to apply. Offline applications will not be entertained. 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 45800. The last date to apply for this government job is Oct 24, 2018. ONGC Recruitment 2018 For Homeopathy Doctors KPSC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Pharmacist (Homeopathy) Organisation Kerala Public Service Commission Educational Qualification SSLC passout with a certificate in nurse cum pharmacist training course Experience Freshers can apply Skills Required Clinical judgement Job Location Kerala Salary Scale INR 20,000 to INR 45,800 Industry Medicine Application Start Date September 24, 2018 Application End Date October 24, 2018 Age Limit: 18 to 41 years Also Read: BEL Recruitment 2018 For Doctors And Engineers How To Apply For KPSC Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for KPSC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1 Log on to the KPSC official website. Step 2 Click on the button that reads, One Time Registration. Step 3 A login screen will appear. Below that, click on the link that reads, New Registration. Step 4 The registration form will open. Enter your details in the fields provided. Step 5 Enter a user ID and password as per your choice. Step 6 Enter the captcha code. Step 7 Click on the declaration checkbox. Step 8 Click Register and complete the registration process. Follow the link - https://www.keralapsc.gov.in/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=41279&Itemid=161 to read the detailed official notification. Andhra Pradesh Primary health centres under the Directorate of Medical Education, Vijayawada (National Health Mission) require 1171 qualified candidates for the post of Civil Assistant Surgeon. This job opportunity is for those who can work full-time on a regular basis for the government hospitals in AP. The details of the job and application procedure are as follows. "Filled in applications shall be submitted on or before 25-10-2018 by 5.30 PM, at O/o Director of Public Health & Family Welfare, A.P., Gollapudi, Vijayawada. The applications received by this office after due date are summarily rejected. The department is not responsible for any postal or other delays," reads the official notification. ONGC Recruitment 2018 For Homeopathy Doctors NHM Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Civil Assistant Surgeon Organisation Directorate of Public Health and Family Welfare, National Health Mission Educational Qualification MBBS Experience Desirable Skills Required Clinical judgement Job Location Andhra Pradesh Salary Scale INR 40,270 to INR 93,780 Industry Medicine Application Start Date September 26, 2018 Application End Date October 25, 2018 Maximum Age Limit 42 years Official Website http://cfw.ap.nic.in/ Also Read: MRB Recruitment 2018 For 1889 Assistant Surgeons How To Apply For NHM Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for NHM Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1 Open the application form from the NHM official website. Step 2 Click on the print icon on the right-top corner of the page to take a printout. Step 3 Fill and send your applications to Director of Public Health & Family Welfare, A.P., Gollapudi, Vijayawada. Note: The total number of vacancies are subject to increase or decrease as per the requirement of the department. Follow the link - http://cfw.ap.nic.in/pdf/DH NOTIFICATION.pdf to read the detailed official notification. The Government has no intention of discontinuing the Christmas Bonus, Fine Gael's Pat Deering has said. Deputy Deering said: I can confirm that Minister Regina Doherty has absolutely no intention of discontinuing the Christmas Bonus for any Social Welfare recipient. I know many people have been concerned in recent days following reports in the media regarding discontinuing the Christmas Bonus. Some newspapers sought to make waves by suggesting that this was under threat, this is absolutely incorrect. "As is always the case, there is currently no provision for a Christmas bonus in the Department of Social Protection's allocation for 2018, the decision to pay a Christmas Bonus is made at budget time every year. I was contacted by a number of concerned constituents on this issue and I am happy to be in a position to clarify that the Government has absolutely no intention of discontinuing the Christmas Bonus for any Social Welfare recipient." The Christmas Bonus is an extra payment for people who are getting a long-term social welfare payment. It was paid in late November or early December in 2017. The Christmas Bonus was 85% of your normal weekly payment in 2017. He added: "The Christmas Bonus was abolished in 2009 by under the Fianna Fail Government. As the economy recovered, I was very pleased to see it reinstated by Fine Gael in 2014 at the rate of 25%. This was increased to a 75% payment in 2015 and further increased to 85% in 2016 and 2017." The 5th generation Audi A6 has been spotted testing in India ahead of a probable mid-2019 launch. Its been around for a while (six months to be precise) and in that time, weve spoken in much detail about the car so here is a short summary to jog your memory. In the photos, this new A6 looks like the larger A8 because good looks run in the family and well, mostly because Audi likes to keep uniformity in its cars. Theres the big grille, a sort of low GT-like stance and of course, that chrome strip that sits on the lower edge of the boot lid. India will get this A6 with both petrol and diesel power and its going to be locally assembled at the Audi facility in Aurangabad. The arrival of this A6 will complete the full cycle of updates for this segment of cars as we already have the latest generations of the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series , Jaguar XF , Lexus ES and Volvo S90 . Source: Thrustzone Audi A6 57.04 Lakh Onwards Audi | A6 | Audi A6 There is a Project Dragonfly, Googles chief privacy officer Keith Enright told a US Senate hearing, but he is not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of the scope for that project. The search engine destined to the Chinese market would be able to censure items deemed sensitive by Beijing. With 802 million internet users, China is the largest online community in the world. Washington (AsiaNews/Agencies) - For the first time, a senior Google official has admitted to the existence of Project Dragonfly, a search engine destined to the Chinese market and able to censure items deemed sensitive by Beijing. There is a Project Dragonfly, Googles chief privacy officer Keith Enright told a US Senate hearing, noting that he was not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of the scope for that project. Project Dragonfly reportedly began in 2017 after a meeting between Google CEO Sundar Pichai and a senior Chinese government official. Pichai himself had talked about the Chinese market in 2016 saying, Google is for everyone. We want to be in China serving Chinese users. For now, the Big G has three offices in China with about 700 employees, even thought its greatest product - search engine - is not available in the country. The search engine, for both computers and mobile devices, can block any online research of items such as human rights and religion. Other issues sensitive for the Communist Party like Tibet, Xinjiang, Liu Xiaobo or Dalai Lama may also be automatically censored. "My understanding is that were not close to launching a search product in China, and whether we eventually could, or would, remains unclear, Enright told US lawmakers. With a population of 1.4 billion people, China is home to 802 million internet users, the biggest online community in the world. Yet, the mainland Chinese market has been off-limits to Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which are blocked in China. Google exited the Chinese mainland in 2010 after clashing with Beijing over censorship of search results. Photo: The Canadian Press Carl DeMaio is leading the Proposition 6 campaign to repeal a recent gas tax increase in California. Worried they would lack big-name candidates at the top of the ticket this November, California Republicans turned to a ballot measure that would eliminate a recent gas tax increase in hopes of exciting conservatives and ensuring they show up to support lower-profile legislative and congressional candidates. A potential similar strategy for 2020 emerged Tuesday, when a conservative radio host who is the public face behind this year's gas tax initiative announced he will pursue another measure this one eliminating the state's beleaguered high-speed rail project. Though it's a presidential election year, California is overwhelmingly Democratic and a Republican hasn't won the state since 2006. Early phases of construction have begun on the train meant to take passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours. But the $77 billion project championed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and his supporters has seen costs spike and the completion date pushed back. "This is a colossal failure of these politicians, and you don't want to throw good money after bad," said Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego city councilman who now hosts a radio show. The 2020 initiative also would change the state Constitution to require all fees related to transportation from the gas tax to taxes on vehicle sales and car insurance be spent only on transportation-related projects. Those dollars could not go to the general fund. It's backed by DeMaio and others behind Proposition 6, which will ask voters this November if they want to repeal a 12-cent gas tax hike and increases in vehicle registration fees approved by lawmakers last year. Proposition 6 was funded in part by California's Republican congressional delegation, including Kevin McCarthy, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House who is seeking to replace Paul Ryan as speaker. It was an unusual intervention by elected U.S. officials in a state political campaign. They gave their support when it looked possible that no Republican would be in the races for governor and U.S. Senate this November. Republicans feared that would depress turnout among conservatives and allow Democrats to win close contests down the ballot, potentially giving them control of the U.S. House. They dodged that scenario, however, when Republican businessman John Cox snagged the second position in California's gubernatorial primary, in which the top two finishers advance to the general election regardless of party. The U.S. Senate race has two Democrats and no Republicans. California's high-speed rail project has become politically fraught. A poll conducted in March by the Public Policy Institute of California found tepid support for rail and overwhelming opposition among Republicans. Forty-six per cent of likely voters said they support the project, with 52 per cent opposed. Among Republicans, just 28 per cent supported it, with 69 per cent opposed. Independents were evenly split, while two-thirds of Democrats supported it. Flying Cement Co awards Loesche VRM contract for Mangowal 27 September 2018 Flying Cement Co of Pakistan has placed an order for the delivery of a further vertical roller mill (VRM) with Germany-based mill specialist Loesche. The VRM will be installed as part of a 7000tpd cement production line under construction in Mangowal, Pakistan. It will grind 600tph of raw materials. The scope of supply also includes a Hurriclon system from ATEC, a member of the Loesche Group, for separating finished material from the gas flow exiting the mill. Compared to conventional cyclone separators, the patented Hurriclon reduces pressure loss by a minimum of 30 per cent. This results in much lower power demand for the mill fan. The very compact construction of the Hurriclon also reduces the space requirement for the equipment. Commissioning is expected to take place at the end of 2018. Published under Vietnamese exports expected to rise 43% in September 27 September 2018 The Vietnamese Ministry of Construction (MoC) has estimated that the countrys cement exports will rise 43 per cent YoY to 2.2Mt in September. The countrys exports from Jan-Sept 2018 are estimated to have reached 23.28Mt, already surpassing the full-year target set by the MoC of 18-19Mt. The countrys cement producers have recorded a cement sales volume of 72.82Mt for the year-to-date period, an increase of 38 per cent YoY, reaching 85 per cent of the full-year target. Domestic consumption came in at 49.54Mt. Published under Lafarge Africa receives shareholder approval for NGN90bn rights issue 27 September 2018 Lafarge Africa has received shareholder approval to raise NGN90bn (US$246.93m) of capital through a rights issue and to restructure its short-term shareholder loan. The additional capital to be raised will further help to deleverage the companys balance sheet and provide head room for the expansion of our business, said Mobolaji Balogun, chairman of the board, Lafarge Africa. Michel Puchercos, CEO, stated that the companys refinancing plan is aimed at preparing for future development in Nigeria. Cement demand has been on the rise since the beginning of 2018. We saw a 22 per cent increase in volume, benefiting from exports to Ghana which began in 4Q17. Earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for our Nigeria operations was NGN19.1bn and EBITDA margin of 32.2 per cent, thanks to robust operational performance and continuous effort to reduce cash costs, said Mr Puchercos. Published under Where you live may have something to do with how good you are with money. In fact, those who live in certain states may have a stronger grasp on financial literacy than others, according to a new study by personal finance resource, WalletHub. Using data from a number of resources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the FDIC, WalletHub compared 50 states and the District of Columbia in four key financial areas. Areas included debt and spending, financial literacy, credit, and saving. Approximately 24 metrics were examined to arrive at which states had the most financially savvy residents. So which states scored at the top and what areas did residents shine? Find out if your state ranked in the top five: 5. Connecticut Connecticut residents have some of the lowest debt levels as compared to their median income and are in the top 10 for saving. However, residents had one of the highest uses of credit, which shows that Connecticut residents are serious about making sure debts are paid. Residents need to be good money managers, as Connecticut was ranked as the eighth most expensive state in the country, according to according to a CNBC study. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk Metro the most expensive cities in the state and the average home costs about $681,279. 4. Minnesota People who live in Minnesota have the highest median credit scores in the union, WalletHub found. One reason residents scores are so high may be that people in this state know how to save. Minnesota residents ranked number three for having the highest percentage of the population with a rainy day fund. Maintaining a rainy day or emergency fund helps you avoid going into debt or dipping into savings to meet lifes unexpected expenses. 3. North Dakota If you live in North Dakota, you probably have a high credit score. The state ranked number two, behind Minnesota for the highest media credit score. One reason why scores are so strong is that people in the state pay their debts on time. North Dakota residents ranked number one for paying mortgages, student loans, credit cards and student loans on time. Homes in North Dakota also had the very lowest rate of foreclosures and one of the lowest percentage of the population spends more money than they earn. Finally, residents in North Dakota had the highest rate of having a rainy day fund too. 2. New Hampshire New Hampshire residents ranked number one for financial literacy and were just behind North Dakota for having a rainy day fund. People in the state also save the most, as New Hampshire ranked number three on debt and spending. However, despite the high rank, New Hampshire didnt fall into any other extremes for being the best (or the worst). 1. Massachusetts The state with the highest rank across the board was Massachusetts. People in this state had one of the lowest total debt as compared to median income ranks. Plus people in the state live within their means. Massachusetts residents ranked number one for having the lowest percentage of the population spending more than they earn. Although this state ranked number one overall, people in Massachusetts still have a hard time saving money. Residents ranked number 17, which may speak to the high cost of living. The state was the third most expensive state in the country according to the CNBC study. Boston is the most expensive city in the state and the average home price is about $604,205. Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! A federal judge has reversed law in Hawaii requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to display information about government contraception and abortion programs. The judge struck down this law after a recent decision was made by the Supreme Court in the case of Natl Inst. of Family & Life Advocates v. Becerra which found a similar statute to be unconstitutional. In the decision document released on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson wrote, In light of the United States Supreme Courts decision in Natl Inst. of Family & Life Advocates v. Becerra, and the parties stipulation for entry of permanent injunction and final judgment in favor of plaintiffs, it is hereby ordered that Hawaii revised statutes 321-561(b)-(c) [are] declared to be unconstitutional under the United States Constitution as applied to plaintiffs with respect to plaintiffs First Amendment free speech claim. In July, A Place for Women Pregnancy Care Center and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates filed suit to challenge the S.B. 501 bill that required all limited service pregnancy centers to display or distribute information that states in part: Hawaii has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services, including, but not limited to, all FDA-approved methods of contraception and pregnancy-related services for eligible women. To apply online for medical insurance coverage, that will cover the full range of family planning and prenatal services, go to [website]. Pregnancy centers were also being required to include websites and phone numbers of places where women can obtain these services. Christian News Network reports that the bill did not explicitly mention abortion as a resource, but many organizations interpreted the phrase pregnancy-related services to included abortion since the first draft of the legislation used the word abortion in place of pregnancy-related services. A Place for Women Pregnancy Care Center which is operated by a local church, joined by the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates challenged the court ruling finding that the bill required their organization to hand out information that directly violated their religious beliefs. The legal complaint read, Thus, Calvary Chapel and NIFLAs other member centers are subjected by the state to a compelled speech requirement from which all other facilities offering an array of similar health servicesbut additionally abortion and contraception, to which Calvary Chapel and NIFLAs other member centers object to providing on religious and moral groundsare exempted. The groups sought a ruling against the bill that would declare that the law was unconstitutional. According to the organization's legal counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Attorney General Doug Chin found that in light of the Supreme Courts NIFLA v. Becerra ruling the law could not stand. In a statement on Friday NIFLA President Thomas Glessner said, Hawaiis law was particularly egregious. Noting that Not only did it force pro-life pregnancy centers to promote abortion, it also compelled a church to promote abortion inside its building, The statement concluded, The state of Hawaii has acknowledged that its attempt to force pro-life centers and churches to advertise its abortion agenda was unconstitutional. This case constitutes a major victory for free speech and freedom of religion. Photo courtesy: Bonnie Kittle/Unsplash It took me 20 years to acknowledge Id been molested in sixth grade. Id always had a memory of the molestation, but it was fuzzy, distant, and I had no category to place it in. Thank God it wasnt worse, I thought, or that could have really messed me up. Eleven years into ministry, I emotionally imploded. My newborn son wasnt sleeping or breastfeeding. My wife had postpartum anxiety, and we fought constantly. My home felt like a scary, overwhelming place, where more was demanded of me than I could provide. I distanced myself from a wife who only wanted a husband who would say, Itll all be okay. Thats typical of sexual abuse survivors: were terrified of emotional threats, and we hide from feelings that overwhelm us. How could I tell her everything would be okay when I was barely keeping the panic in my heart at bay? Things were no better in the ministry I led, where attendance was down and I was receiving confusing messages from my supervisor intimating that the churchs pastoral management team wasnt happy with me. I became defensive and combative, subconsciously afraid everyone would realize what I already knew: I was a failure. There was something wrong with me. Something shameful. I didnt cheat on my wifethank Godbut I got closer than I thought myself capable, and while my marriage survived this near-miss, my job did not. I was fired when my wife was six months pregnant. I experienced daily panic attacks and drastic weight loss, and I was told by a recruiter that my resume now had Scarlet A that would keep me out of ministry for years. For the first time I began to wonder ifunderneath my sin, unwise choices, arrogance, and ignorancethat strange memory from sixth grade had something to do with this. Abuse in the Pastorate One in four women and one in nine men have experienced some form of sexual abuse according to a 2016 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several experts Ive talked to in the past year believe those numbers are underreported. While research on sexual abuse within evangelicalism is scarce, what does exist suggests the problem is just as bad within church walls as without. This data and my own experience prompted a question in my mind: How many pastors are, themselves, victims of abuse? According to a recent study by LifeWay Research, one in five Protestant senior pastors say they personally have experienced domestic or sexual violence. Pastors have been extremely hurt by the myth that sexual predators have most likely been abused themselves, said Jimmy Hinton, a full-time minister in Pennsylvania and a certification specialist with GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment). That has no bearing in reality. But because people believe it, pastors who were abused as children are terrified to let their congregations know. Theyre afraid church members will think they will become abusers. Pastors who were abused as children are terrified to let their congregations know. Theyre afraid church members will think they will become abusers. While I never experienced this sort of stigma, I did find that others tended to minimize my sexual abuse. When I first told people what happened to me in sixth grade, they didnt know how to respond. One person I trusted told me, Its too bad you didnt say something then, because your abuser could have been caught. Another pastor friend implied that connecting my near-affair with past abuse was refusing to accept responsibility for my actions. That wasnt truemy decisions were my own, and Im dealing with the consequences of my actions. Yet this pastors response made me afraid to share about my abuse with others for fear of them thinking I was using it as an excuse. Both of these people meant well but unknowingly reinforced a decades-old lie rooted deep in my heart: It wasnt a big deal. No one cares. Just ignore it and move on. Andrew Schmutzer, professor of biblical studies at Moody Bible Institute, says male pastors hear responses like this in part because the church lacks the capacity to deal with sexual trauma involving men. If abuse is mentioned at all, its not going to be about male victims. This leads to a disenfranchised grief. It is not socially acknowledged, publicly mourned, or homiletically addressed. Pastoring at DEFCON 1 Brian (not his real name) was three years into his role as a college pastor when the woman who sexually abused him called to confess and ask for forgiveness. The abuse had taken place when Brian was around six years old, but with the exception of some brief, confusing flashbacks, he had repressed all memory of it. His abusers confession was shocking, but Brian filed the moment away in his mind and moved on. After all, he and his wife were doing well, and his ministry was thriving. A few years later, trauma began to surface. Brian resented his wifes emotional needs, wishing she would go deal with them on her own. He responded explosively to any of his wifes criticisms, no matter how constructive or kind. And at work Brian was an anxious, conflict-avoidant wreck. At work I had a lot of anxiety and fear in completely normal meetings, Brian told me as we sat in a coffee shop near his church. Brian is a longtime friend and mentor of mine, and he was the first pastor I ever heard share about his own sexual abuse. Ive always known Brian as kind, quick to listen, gentle, and concerned for the marginalized. It surprised me to hear that, in the years I worked closely with him, chaos brewed beneath his calm exterior. I was terrified I might be viewed as incompetent, Brian said. I was always at DEFCON 1; nuclear war could break out at any moment. Looking back, I just didnt feel safe. I was always afraid someone might hurt me. I was a scared kid, pretending to be a grown up. Brians anxiety accelerated to the point where many days hed come home from work and feel like he might throw up. His years-long battle with pornography and masturbation grew worse. And then Brians oldest son turned six, the age of Brians abuse. I began having flashbacks, mental pictures representing abuse where I was sucked into a dark basement with no lights. I had this nightmare where I was stapling my door closed, screaming so no one could get in. Now I think that was a picture of me in relationships, a scared kid blocking out everyone whod want to love me. Thats the sadistic nature of abuseit keeps you from the healing you need. Abuse can also trigger workaholism borne from a belief that no one can be trusted. Scott (not his real name) was raised in an unstable home that forced him to functionally parent his own mother and father. Scott was molested by a relative as a child, starting before he remembers and ending when he was five. The formative experience many of us take as a givenknowing theres at least one trustworthy adult we can depend onwas never a given to Scott. He learned from an early age that others cant be trusted, and that vulnerability only increases chaos. As a pastor, my constant initial impulse is to say, If something important needs doing, Im the one who needs to do it. Trusting others with vision, ideas, or executionletting myself depend on someone elseis an emotional risk. Why would I ever want to do that? I feel a workaholic drive that doesnt stem from I can do it better but from I can never trust anyone. When I told Scott this sounds lonely, he referenced the BBC show Sherlock, based on the famous detective, in which Sherlocks emotionally stunted brother, Mycroft Holmes, says, Im not lonely, and Sherlock responds, How would you know? For Scott, vulnerability with his wife is a daily struggle, a skill hes learning for the very first time. Scott says he is probably lonely, but he cant really tell. Isolation is all hes ever known. Ministry as Self-Medication The average age of abuse is 10, Diane Langberg told me over a recent phone conversation. Langberg is a practicing psychologist with 45 years of experience working with victims of abuse. She specializes in working with clergy. Theres a reason God is the God of the millstone, Langberg said. The damage done to children through sexual abuse is so great youd be better off dead than damaging them. Boys who have been abused grow up to have more addictive personalities, their alcohol and drug abuse rates are 25-to-50 percent higher than average, and they are 12 times more likely to commit suicide and three times more likely to be depressed. Abused people raised in a Christian culture often look for validation of their self-worth in ministry. When their God-given gifts intermingle with untreated trauma, it can create a ticking time bomb. Abuse survivors learn that relationships arent safe, so many abused pastors struggle in their marriages, in building close friendships, or in relating well to their staff. Reflecting back on my own failure, I remember devoting myself to the pastoral care of others, believing that helping them would heal me as well. Underneath all of this is the core motivation that being a pastor will make me feel better about myself. When you are a child, you are the center of the universe, Langberg said, and when children are abused they believe, Something must be wrong with me. Why would the abuser pick me? Fear and shame set in because they believe theyre flawed, and they set out to prove thats not true. But ministry iswellministry not a good place for that, because people chew you up and spit you out. Which only pushes you to find more power, more affirmation, more adorationand when that doesnt workmore self-medication. From Hiding to Healing Many sexual abuse survivors dont identify or seek healing from their abuse until theyre well into adulthood. Because the pain, shame, and emotional complexity of abuse runs deep, dealing with the abuse while pastoring a church is extremely difficult. Schmutzer believes this is why Christian colleges and seminaries must help students press into these areas before entering full-time ministry. Schmutzer, a sexual abuse survivor who recently wrote the book Naming Our Abuse: God's Pathways to Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors, says he now pushes students to explore their pasts while attending his class. I want them to know that, if they need help, thats okay, said Schmutzer. Youre not a loser because you slow down to process what was done to you and what you have done. Our Christian education systems are so focused elsewhere that we havent addressed the formation of a pastors soul, and any abuse survivor who hasnt dealt with their brokenness is a landmine waiting to go off. For a generation of pastors, this advice may have come too late. Sexual abuse is a topic few had words to describe. The best gift they can receive is a supportive elder board or supervisor willing to lean into their journey. Brian was blessed to be at just such a church. As Brians marriage neared crisis mode, his leadership gave him an extended sabbatical to take a break from his pastoral role, and he and his wife connected with a counselor in the area. What he experienced in that setting was not what he had expected. My life is proof that child sexual abuse isnt final or fatal. When I first told my story to our counselor, she got up, sat down on the couch with us, and started weeping with us, Brian said. She told us she loved us, that she was with us. She didnt label me a porn addict; she told me I was a survivor who wanted to be healed and whole. She spoke a new identity into my life, one that gave me hope. Langberg believes moments like that are vital for any pastor who has been abused. For many, simply acknowledging past abuse is an enormous step. From there, pastors will have to face the wounds and lies prompted by abuse. But pastors shouldnt undertake this process on their own because the abuse has made their minds and hearts unreliable narrators. Many pastors who experienced abuse have been living in self-deception for decades. The path to freedom lies along a long road of therapy, where God can speak into the wounded areas of their souls. That said, not all counseling is created equal, and pastors choosing to open up for the first time should seriously explore finding a qualified professional. How, I asked Langberg, can pastors find safe, competent therapists? According to Langberg, a pastor should ask potential therapists the following questions: 1. Are you licensed? 2. How long have you been in practice? 3. How long have you worked with clergy and their spouses? 4. Do you work with abuse and trauma survivors? 5. How long have you worked specifically with abuse and trauma victims? 6. What kinds of trauma have you worked with? For how long? What trainings have you attended? Theres no one right answer to the last two questions, but as with pastoring, theres a world of difference between being trained to do something and having experience doing it. Pastors should find a therapist who is seasoned in this specific area. When I told Langberg that these questions were more detailed than I expected, she quickly responded, Of course they are! Its your most vulnerable place. It would be foolish not to make sure youre trusting a competent person with this area. This advice extends beyond a relationship with a therapist. Schmutzer credits a sexual abuse survivors support group with being the single greatest healing tool in his life. Hearing the stories of other survivors, even those with radically different stories, gave him language for his own experiences. For some pastors, seeking healing may mean telling their spouses about their abuse for the first time or opening up to a trusted, emotionally-safe friend. The unconscious, insidious message sexual abuse survivors believe is that there is something shameful, twisted, and broken about them. The healing process must include hearing others say, Im sorry, and, It wasnt your fault. When I first began processing my sexual abuse, discussing it with my wife was nearly impossible. Now Im writing an article about it for other pastors to read. Shame, in other words, doesnt get the final word on our abuse. Abuse Isnt the Final Word When I asked Scott how, considering his damaged childhood home life, he became a pastor, he became deeply emotional. Scott may have been trapped in a living hell at home, but his church, he said, was always there for him. The church was the only place Scott could imagine that, just maybe, he was okay. It was there for him when his parents got divorced, twice helping him and his mom move. An older church member took Scott out for lunch once a month for no other reason than to just hang out. In the most tangible of ways, the church started his healing. As Scott began processing his abuse in college, he realized he wanted to extend that sort of healing to others. For a long time, church was a place where I could disassociate from my abuse, Scott told me. Thats how I saw God for a long time, as a good person separate from my abuse. But I began realizing God wasnt separatehe was there the whole time. He never left me, and neither did his church. So many churches turn away from peoples pain or lob simple theological answers at them, which is the intellectual equivalent of turning away. But realizing God never turns away became a generative source of compassion, justice, and courage for me. I wanted to meet people in their suffering. I wanted them to know God never turns away. Brian still marvels at the night-and-day difference between the way he pastored before his sabbatical and now. Hes no longer leveled for days by someones disappointment in him. Things that used to send his anger to a 10 now register as a 3. He can make mistakes in his role, feel disappointed or embarrassed, but not feel like a failure. And hes able to share the story of his abuse with others. When I speak publicly, Im able to talk about my journey without fear, Brian said. Im at peace with who I am, and theres a vulnerability I have that gives others permission to be vulnerable too. Thats the real joy: in sharing my brokenness I create a safe place for others who are broken. For many pastors, the key is admitting this isnt a wound that can stay hidden. The pressure pastors face makes repression second naturejust stay busy and power throughbut I often wonder how many of the public moral failures Ive seen through the years started with an abused child, turned seminarian, turned pastor, who needed to be told, Youre okay. Its going to be okay. Its a deep mystery, Brian said, how God can take all this crap that was done to us and make something awesome. Yet God invites abused pastors to trust him, to allow him to heal that part of them, to meet them in that vulnerable place. My life is proof that child sexual abuse isnt final or fatal. I look at my life, and the deep pain has done a deep work. Its now a blessing to my family and the people I pastor. I would say the same. Joshua Pease, a freelance writer living in Colorado, was an evangelical pastor for 11 years. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Last Friday, I spoke to a ballroom filled with fervent young Evangelical students at Family Research Council's Values Voters Summit. I was asked to address the question: Is the Church immune to conflicts over sexuality and gender? Obviously, no. I sensed that a good number of the students had encountered Christians enthusiastically affirming LGBTQ relationships within their Christian communities. But what many of the young Evangelicals in the room did not know is that this leftward drift on sexuality in the Church did not start within Evangelicalism. Here at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, we often encounter Evangelicals unaware of unorthodox trends among Mainline Protestant denominations and their affiliates. Liberal Evangelicals especially tend to think they're the first to, well, compromise on Christian sexual ethics, and then they pat themselves on the back for their perceived innovations. Somehow they overlook the Mainline denominations who took this route years, sometimes decades, beforeand have suffered for it in influence and witness. If you haven't heard the news, Azusa Pacific University, a nondenominational affiliate of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), will no longer ban same-sex relationships for students on campus. Oddly, the college claims to still believe that all sexual behavior is "intended by God to take place only within the marriage covenant between a man and a woman." Azusa Pacific's Evangelical administrators probably think their policy revision on sexuality is ground-breaking too. They are mistaken in that regardnot to mention misleading in their claim to still uphold traditional Christian teachings. "The change that happened with the code of conduct is still in alignment with our identity as a Christian institution," said Azusa's Associate Dean of Students Bill Fiala. "The language changed, but the spirit didn't. Our spirit is still a conservative, evangelical perspective on human sexuality." The decision was seemingly prompted after an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, Brave Commons, aided LTBTQ students on campus to pursue policy changes. However, it is hard to believe LGBTQ activists will be satisfied with this half-way policy change. Likely doctrinal revisions will soon follow. In 1994, the Episcopal Church's oldest seminary, General Theological Seminary (GTS) in New York, revised its policy to permit same-sex couples to live together in married student housing. Eventually, the seminary's policy turned into doctrine. The seminary's current Dean, Kurt H. Dunkle, wrote that he supports the LGBTQ community "without condition," and GTS prepares openly practicing LGBTQ seminarians for ordained ministry within the Episcopal Church. As the unorthodox trend goes, GTS has struggled to avoid possible closure due to declining attendance. In 2015, the IRD's Jeff Walton reported GTS sold or redeveloped property in order to pay down its $40 million in debt. According to data garnered by the Association of Theological Schools, GTS reported only 34 full-time enrolled students during the 2017-2018 academic year. During 1994-1995, GTS educated 141 full-time students. Azusa should take heed. Their decision to compromise on sexuality amidst social pressure is not new, but such decisions are likely to have the same decline results as the capitulating schools before it. Originally posted at IRD's blog. Chelsen Vicari serves as the Evangelical Program Director for the Institute on Religion and Democracy. She earned her Masters of Arts in Government from Regent University and frequently contributes to conservative outlets. Follow her on twitter @ChelsenVicari. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Someone recently posted this comment on the Ford-Kavanaugh controversy in mediaite.com (9/20/18): "PLAYING WITH FIRE. Do we really want to live in a world were ALL THAT IS NEEDED TO CONVICT IS AN ACCUSATION!" [emphasis in the original] Of course, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, nominated to be a justice on the Supreme Court, has been accused by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford of a drunken sexual assault that allegedly occurred when they were both of high school age. The hearings in the Clarence Thomas confirmation have still left a cloud over his reputation. The accusations against him by Anita Hill did not hold water. She followed him around from job to job, although he was supposedly guilty of "a prolonged campaign of sexual harassment," to quote the TIME magazine cover story (10/1/18). Tragically, TIME implies that Anita Hill was right---even though her testimony did not hold up under scrutiny---and, by implication, one should perhaps infer that Kavanaugh's accuser is right too. Christian author Charlie Rodriguez recently paired these two quotes: "This is a circus. It's a national disgrace. And from my standpoint, as a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree." --Justice Clarence Thomas, October 11, 1991. "This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describesto her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday. I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the Committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity." --Judge Brett Michael Kavanaugh, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, September 17, 2018. If accusation equals guilt, then the Bill of Rights is dead. The Sixth Amendment says, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall...be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." [emphasis added] Yet initially Ford demanded that Kavanaugh not even be in the room when she testifies. Gary Bauer noted (9/21/18) how unfair Ford's demands were: "Kavanaugh must testify first; Ford insists on speaking second. But how can Judge Kavanaugh defend himself if he doesn't even know what Dr. Ford is going to say? Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz blasted this demand as 'the most absurd, anti-due process, anti-American concept.'" He also remarked that that's what they did during the Inquisition. I saw Dershowitz on Fox News quote Stalin's right-hand man Beria, who was practiced in the art of drumming up false charges and once said, "You show me the man, I'll show you the crime." A new poll shows support from the American people for Kavanaugh slipping. Well, how could it not when the media keeps picking up on any alleged accusation, even without corroboration? The media has been half the problem in this whole saga. All they do is report the negative stuff, but the ultimate question is: Is it true? Somebody might say, "Well, where there's smoke, there's fire." The same thing happened to Jesus. (Every other human falls short of Him, but it's instructive to see how He was treated.) When He was on trial, the Roman prefect asked of His guilt or innocence, and His accusers said, "If He were not guilty, we would not have brought Him to you." The only perfect human being who ever lived was being described as guilty. We know how that turned out. The Bible also says, "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him" (Proverbs 18:17). When put into practice, wisdom like this can prevent many injustices. Meanwhile, Hollywood liberals who celebrate immorality in their films and in their private lives are declaring Dr. Ford is right and Judge Kavanaugh is guilty. LifeNews.com reports: "Hollywood celebrities came out with a video saying they believe her. Of course, they believe her not because of any fact, but because they don't want a conservative on the Supreme Court." The Left spent decades comparing everything to the McCarthy era, and lamenting the Salem Witch Trials reenacted in our own day. And yet here they stand, "convicting" Judge Kavanaugh on uncorroborated charges. Do you really want to live in an America where an accusation alone is enough to convict you? Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is an on-air host/senior producer for D. James Kennedy Ministries. He has written/co-written 28 books, e.g., The Unstoppable Jesus Christ, Doubting Thomas (w/ Mark Beliles, on Jefferson), and What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (w/ D. James Kennedy) & the bestseller, George Washington's Sacred Fire (w/ Peter Lillback) djkm.org @newcombejerry www.jerrynewcombe.com Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment You've most likely read one of my favorite books of all time: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Even if it wasn't required reading when you were in school, many adults today have read it or at least seen the movie. It's a book I've reread multiple times, and one I particularly hold dear. But despite its popularity as well as the fact that it won the Pulitzer Prize and was made into a successful movie, To Kill a Mockingbird was briefly banned in one Mississippi school as recently as 2017. It's disheartening to discover that others see a book you cherish as offensive. But it's the same way with the Bible. Labeled as "controversial," "unorthodox," and "dangerous," God's Word is the most widely banned Book in the world. In some countries, finding a Bible is impossible. In North Korea, owning one is illegal ... and being caught with one could have you killed. This week is Banned Books Week, a campaign begun in 1982 by the American Library Association in order to fight the censorship of books. Readers and book lovers around the country celebrate America's freedoms by reading previously banned books and promoting authors whose books have been called into question. But people in closed countries don't have that right; if they could even find a banned book, it could mean jail ... or even death. Yet being forbidden makes the Bible even more desirable to many seekers. North Koreans often look for Bibles on the black market because they're intrigued by the contents. They wonder why someone would risk his life to own this Book. As believers, we are encouraged to read the Bible, and we understand that it helps to grow our faith and love for God. But our "required" reading is banned in many places because it speaks a truth some nations don't want their people to discover. The American Library Association states that Banned Books Week "stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them." In a similar way, when you help send Bibles into closed countries like North Korea, you are ensuring access to the Gospel's "controversial" views. Christians can agree that the most widely banned Book in the world is the one everyone needs to read. We need to stand together against the censorship of the Word of God and make sure it is available to all people. Believers in North Korea and other closed countries take a great risk by reading the Scriptures but they're still willing to do anything to hold a copy in their hands. To make their dream become a reality, they first need to have access to Bibles. If I hadn't been given the opportunity to read To Kill a Mockingbird for myself, I'd never have known how much I love Harper Lee and her characters. And if people aren't given the chance to read the Bible, they'll never fully understand the treasure of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The churches of the Book of Revelation hold a spiritual ranking. It's not the order found in scripture. It's an order of the churches most pleasing to our Lord, all the way down to the one He said made Him sick. Let's take a fresh look and see what He sees! Lets prayerfully consider how He might rank our church! The first and the greatest of all the churches on His list, found in Revelation was the church at Smyrna. He starts out by saying in Revelation 2:9 (KJV): "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." Keep in mind that Jesus is not grading these seven churches on a curve of grace. He holds no punches. He tells it like it is. He gives Smyrna an "A." In verse ten He then predicts great persecution leading to death saying: "Be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life." Next is number two is the church at Philadelphia. There is a tiny hint of a correction here, a suggestion that that they had little strength. However, He gives them an "Atta-boy," because they had not denied His name in spite of the persecution of the false Jews in Philadelphia. So we see that although this church does rate not as highly as Smyrna, it is in fact doing very well, in spite of the challenges it was facing. So we could speculate that He gives them an "A-minus." Number three is the church at Ephesus. In Revelation 2:2,3 (KJV) Christ says "I know thy works, and thy labor, and they patience, and how thou canst not bear those which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou has left thy first love." The members at the church at Ephesus pull down a "B" grade because although they were doing some very good things, in the process they made some big mistakes. They let their relationship with their Lord die down. As a result, they were doing good works in their own strength, directed by their own flesh! He does not leave them there in condemnation he says: "To him that overcometh" and then gives a promise as a reward for correcting their issue. Pergamos "bangs in" at number four. Jesus starts out in Revelation 2:13 (KJV) by acknowledging the difficulty and challenges that this church faces. He declares that He knows where they live and that the city of Pergamos is literally the location of "Satan's seat." He tells them that they have "Held fast His name." He then named a martyr, Antipas, who was slain by the persecution of Satan's followers. However, Pergamos was messing up bad. In an obvious step down from Ephesus, Pergamos was allowing the doctrine of Balaam to be taught. They were eating food sacrificed to idols and committing fornication. Christ also lists the "doctrine of the Nicolatanes," which essentially taught that the body could be sinful but the spirit could be clean, giving a pass to immoral sexual behavior. Jesus does not mince words here. He says "which thing I hate." Pergamos, "Assembly of Smog" you get a "C-minus" for your having too much of God to enjoy the world, but too much of the world to enjoy God! The church at Sardis comes dragging in at number five. In Revelation 3:1,2 states: "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful and strengthen those things that remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God." Wow, Jesus goes on to say in verse three "Remember!" How you used to hear me? "Hold fast and repent"! OR ELSE! Wow! What He really is saying is, "Or else you are really going to get it!" Once again, he closes out his exhortations by listing certain promises in verse five: "He that overcometh....." Sardis "Evangelical Blur," He gives you a "D" grade. The members were dead and urgently needed to start seeking Him again whole-heartedly! Thyatira; it's better for you to be at number six than last, but not by much. You seem to be complimented for what must have been works of your own because the Spirit of God would have been grieved out of your services a long time ago. You allowed that Jezebel false prophetess to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. In my opinion, Thyratira receives the strongest judgment Jesus spoke over anyone in the New Testament. To the unrepentant Jezebel in that church, Jesus says "I will kill her children with death." Thyratira in Revelation 2:23a. You get an ugly "D-minus"! Even to you Thyratira Jesus with his undeserved love says "To him that overcometh"... Laodicea, you are last on the list at number seven and you should write a book for the Christian book circuit, "What not to do as a Church!" Jesus has nothing at all good at all to say about you! In Revelation 3:15,16 "I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." Laodicea, "Church of Worldly Pleasure," you get a well-deserved "F" grade. Laodicea you flunk out! Jesus concludes by saying to all churches in verse nineteen: "To as many as I love I rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent!" I often in my preaching ask the question. "Is the Jesus you believe in the Jesus that is in the Bible"? How would the Living Christ grade your church today? Rev Nolan J Harkness is the President and CEO of Nolan Harkness Evangelistic Ministries Inc. since 1985. He spent most of his adult life working in youth ministry. He also felt the calling of Evangelist/Revivalist and traveled as the door was open holding evangelistic meetings in churches throughout the Northeast. His website is www.verticalsound.org. Mission activities that are 'distinctively Christian' have more success in engaging young people - Scripture Union Mission activities that included 'distinctively Christian' elements like prayer, worship and Bible reading were more likely to engage children and young people in the faith than those that tried to introduce them at a later point. That is one of the findings of a major new report by Scripture Union identifying the five most important factors in effective mission among children and young people. The report is the result of a yearlong investigation into over 1,300 Scripture Union mission activities among young people. The report was inspired by figures from church researcher Peter Brierley last year revealing that a staggering 95 per cent of young people in England Wales do not regularly attend church. The figures were released as Scripture Union celebrated 150 years of sharing the Gospel with children and young people in the UK, revealing the scale of the challenge for the years ahead. GET YOUR FREE 2019 CHRISTIAN CALENDAR 'We estimate the 95% statistic equates to around 12 million children and young people who aren't in church, so we all have a huge challenge ahead of us as we seek to share the good news with them,' the organisation said. 'That's why we're committed to finding out and sharing what works, to help facilitate best practice and, ultimately, to ensure more children and young people are given effective opportunities to explore the difference Jesus can make to their lives.' The report identifies five key findings into what makes mission engagement with young people effective. Not surprisingly, prayer was top of the list, with Scripture Union finding that teams with prayer support were more likely to achieve success in meeting their objectives. 'Teams reported that prayer resulted in changes in behaviour and attitudes, and the provision of finances and volunteers. Prayer support was frequently cited as a means of widening the base of people involved in the mission and raising the profile of mission within the Christian community,' it said. The research also found that agreeing on objectives and having a shared vision made it more likely that the teams would achieve these objectives. This was particularly important, it said, because many teams had limited finance and people-power. 'Teams that were well prepared felt more confident about what they were doing and were more likely to report that they had met their objectives,' it said. GET YOUR FREE 2019 CHRISTIAN CALENDAR Another key to successful mission was understanding the local context and responding to the needs of the community. 'The socio-economic status of the area had significant implications on a mission's timings, location, duration and level of parental involvement,' it said. 'Missions that addressed the needs of the families as well as children were often able to maintain long-lasting relationships. Missions that were responding to local needs were also often given opportunities to extend their reach and received support from external agencies.' Tim Hastie-Smith, National Director for Scripture Union England and Wales, cautioned against a one-size-fits-all approach to community engagement and instead advised churches to 'be agile to those in the community'. He said, 'It vital that God is not hidden in the heart of our church buildings. We need to go out into our communities, listen to the real needs of those around us and respond accordingly. 'This research reminds us that prayer is vital to success in God's work, and that programmes and missions are meaningless unless they meet real, felt needs.' The report also emphasised the importance of focusing on building relationships rather than providing an activity-filled programme. This could be done, Scripture Union said, by including a residential event that would allow more quality time together. While large-scale events were enjoyed by the children who participated, the research found that they had their limitations. 'Although these events were memorable, children and young people tended to remember the experience of the event rather than relational encounters,' it said. GET YOUR FREE 2019 CHRISTIAN CALENDAR Lastly, Scripture Union said the most effective mission activities were those that included 'distinctively Christian elements from the start,' like prayer, worship and Bible reading. Groups that included these elements from the get-go created more opportunities for youngsters to explore the faith than those that introduced them at a later stage. 'Missions that had very little or no distinctively Christian content rarely led to opportunities for children and young people to explore faith,' it said. 'Conversely, where practices such as prayer, worship and Bible reading were part of the DNA of the mission, they created a communal rhythm that shaped expectations of participants. 'Witnessing and participating in Christian practice had an impact on participants' attitudes towards Christianity and on their own practice outside of the group.' The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company, with misleading U.S. investors with false financial statements concealing a "massive bribery and bid-rigging scheme at the company." The commission alleged that the company's senior executives worked with its largest contractors and suppliers to inflate the cost of infrastructure projects by billions of dollars. The suppliers and contractors then paid billions of dollars in kickbacks to the Petrobras executives, who shared the money with Brazilian politicians who had helped secure their positions within the company, the SEC alleged. Petrobras falsely recorded those payments as money spent to "acquire and improve assets," which inflated the true value of the company's assets by an estimated $2.5 billion, according to the SEC's allegations. Those false statements misrepresented not only the company's assets, the SEC said, but also the integrity of its management and its relationship with the Brazilian government, ultimately misleading U.S. investors in a $10 billion stock offering completed in 2010. RELATED: Petrobras working to change corporate culture after scandal To settle the charges, Petrobras reached a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department that requires the company to pay an $853 million penalty, as well as $933 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. The company said in a statement that it "accepts responsibility under U.S. criminal law for the acts of certain former Petrobras executives and officers that gave rise to violations of books and records and internal controls provisions." The charges come amid an ongoing investigation known as Operation Car Wash, which has exposed Petrobras' involvement in a widespread corruption scheme among politicians and corporations in Brazil and elsewhere. In the Houston area, the corruption extended to Petrobras' Pasadena refinery about 15 miles east of the city. Brazilian regulators found that Petrobras deliberately overpaid for the refinery as part of the broader kickback scheme that benefited company employees, politicians, contractors and others. The country's federal audit court last year fined two former Petrobras executives millions of dollars for their role in the deal. The company, saddled with debt, put the refinery up for sale earlier this year as part of a plan to offload billions of dollars in assets. The facility has been the subject of multiple lawsuits alleging that its operators consistently flouted Texas pollution laws. In July, Petrobras agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against the refinery by environmental groups. The company will pay more than $3.5 million in civil penalties as well as reduce emissions at the refinery with equipment upgrades and disaster preparedness measures. Petrobras said in a statement that the resolution is in best interest of the company and that of its shareholders. The company agreed in January to pay nearly $3 billion to settle a corruption-related lawsuit brought by U.S. investors. The U.S. has no plans to tap the nations emergency oil stockpile to offset supply losses from Iran, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would have a fairly minor and short-term impact, Perry told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. Following his remarks, oil jumped higher to erase most of the days losses. Analysts have speculated that President Donald Trump could release oil from the reserve to temper the market effects of U.S. sanctions on Irans crude exports, which will take effect Nov. 4. Shipments from the Islamic republic have already fallen 35 percent since April, raising concerns about dwindling global supply. After a meeting this past weekend between OPEC and its allies ended without any pledge to raise production, the international oil benchmark rose above $82 a barrel to the highest in almost four years. EARLIER: Strategic Petroleum Reserve could be next Trump weapon on oil prices Perrys remarks come a day after Trump blamed OPEC for high crude prices. OPEC nations are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world and I dont like it, he said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. Perry on Wednesday downplayed the supply risks, saying other producers can offset losses from Iran. The market has already adjusted, he said. We got some opportunities to fill the void as sanctions go into place in November. The U.S. in August announced it would release 11 million barrels of oil from the reserve in October and November as part of a regular drawdown schedule to raise money for government programs. But that likely wont do much to mitigate the impact of sanctions, which the administration estimates will remove 700,000 to 1 million barrels a day of Iranian crude from the global market by early November. STOCKPILES: U.S. offers 11 million barrels of oil as Iran sanctions kick in Rising oil prices in the runup to U.S. midterm elections in November may boost congressional support for proposed legislation that would open up the cartel to antitrust lawsuits. The House of Representatives introduced a version of the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act bill in May. The Senate has also revived a bill which would amend the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Thats the law used more than a century ago to break up the oil empire of John Rockefeller. 2018 Bloomberg L.P. In between La Grange and Round Rock lies a 10-acre farmhouse made largely from recycled materials that visiting kids call the haunted house. The unique, antique-filled home started as a small two-bedroom 1920s farmhouse and has grown into a 3,000-square-foot home for Amy and Brian Kleinwachter and their two children. MONEY MONEY: This is the salary needed to own a home in these top neighborhoods "Our goal was to try and use 100 percent reclaimed materials, aside from electrical, insulation and the structure's 2 by 4s," Brian told Chron.com in a phone interview. Since the couple first met at an antiques show 18 years ago, they bonded over the love of vintage finds. From their relationship, building a house made totally out of reclaimed materials became a dream of theirs. The home's inspiration came to light after Brian built his children a two-story treehouse made entirely out of reclaimed wood, windows, and frames from their antique business, Old World Antieks. Fernando Gutierrez, Old World Antieks "At first, it was going to be a platform and that thing kind of morphed into a freestanding mini house and a two-story treehouse with all the reclaimed materials," Brian said. "That's where we got the design inspiration for the main home." For three years, the Kleinwachters collected materials and stored their finds in the barn on the 10-acre property. With the help of Mancha Builders, the Kleinwachters were able to build their dream home in six months. The materials include wood from local Texas barns, doors from Victorian homes across America, and other unique pieces from across the world, including Egypt, France, and India. MONEY BACK: Inner-Loop Houston areas where homes are expected to rise in value "We're using materials that were left behind that either was going to be broken, thrown away or recycled," Brian told Chron.com. "The wood we used - if the walls could talk. Who in history was around these materials? We won't ever know, but it's still a warm feeling." Among his favorite pieces in the home include an old sign from The Famous Blue Heaven, which was a supper club in the 1930s, and a swing in the great room. "The swing was my wife's idea and I thought she was crazy, but now I totally see it," Brian said. "There are 14-foot ceilings so you can really get going." Fernando Gutierrez, Old World Antieks If you're wanting a home like theirs, fear not - the Kleinwachters have aspirations to continue building homes like this in the future. "Our next one would probably be better than this one cause we've been through it before," Brian said. "I've been in the antique industry for years and I think building homes is the next chapter of our business." NO BIG DEAL: Dallas mansion with foyer pool headed for auction In the meantime, the couple plan on making tiny-home guest houses on their property with the same goal as their home - to reuse the materials they find through their antique business. San Antonians and butterflies both have places to be but members of the latter group aren't reaching their final destination thanks to members of the first. As swarms of butterflies fly through the city, bumpers and windshields of cars have become graveyards for hoards of the winged insects and San Antonians are airing their remorse on Twitter with memes and apologetic tweets. Late'jah Whittaker has always loved science. She started making robots in the fourth grade. In the fifth grade, she attended her first computer science-based program, learning how to program and make games. In high school, she excitedly registered for an Advanced Placement computer science course. But when she walked into class for the first time, she was shocked. "It was a class of about 30 people, and there were only three girls, and none of them were black," said Whittaker, who is black. "I felt like I needed to prove myself, and to do that I had to work four times harder than anyone else. It was a lot of stress to have." That experience was one of many Whittaker knew she would face throughout the rest of her career in STEM fields, where only 8.6 percent of employees in 2015 were black, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But at the Grace Hopper Conference in Houston Wednesday, Whittaker felt less alone. Put together by AnitaB.org, a group that supports women in technology, the Grace Hopper Conference in downtown Houston is an annual, three-day event that features career fairs, trainings and talks from notable women and women of color in STEM fields. It's one of the largest such gatherings in the world, and attracted over 18,000 people from 81 countries last year. Grace Hopper was a pioneering American computer scientist and U.S. Navy rear admiral. GOOD FOR ALL: The STEM Skills That Turn Engineers Into Entrepreneurs This year, the conference included over 50 young women of color predominantly black and Latina from the Oakland-based SMASH Academy, which trains and supports people of color in STEM fields. "We have this endless debate about what explains the lack of diversity and inclusion (in technology companies)," said Freada Kapor Klein, co-founder of SMASH. "We've got a bunch of biases and barriers that explain both pipeline and technology culture problems, and we oughta see that's a linked problem that programs like SMASH are solving these days." Over the course of 15 years, SMASH Academy has recruited over 850 students over 50 percent of whom are Latino, and over 30 percent black. The three-year academy includes a five-week summer program with rigorous STEM courses, and year-round academic courses and support. All SMASH students have graduated high school, 91 percent graduated college within five years of completing high school, and 64 percent graduate college with a STEM degree twice the national rate. Whittaker, who has attended two SMASH summer programs and is now a second year in computer science at California State University, Northridge, was another SMASH alumnus attending the Grace Hopper Conference. To her, SMASH's rigorous coursework was evidently beneficial. But even more beneficial, she said, was having a community of people who looked like her in her field. "When you go into those communities, you get affirmations when you see people who look like you excelling," she said. "It brings about a bigger sense of confidence , so when you face these situations you know you can do it. I know I'm not inferior. I'm a minority, but I'm not less than." Chris Tomlinson at HoustonChronicle.com: Where the robotics team outnumbers the football team Ingrid Altamirano attended two SMASH summer programs and is now a first year in computer science at University of California, San Diego. While she says she learned how to conduct herself with confidence as a Latina woman in STEM through SMASH, she also felt empowered seeing other women of color at the Grace Hopper Conference Wednesday particularly at the career fair. "There's a connecting between women and women of color, and they'll actually help me," she said. "It's not the same as when it's white males. These women have been through the same things as you, so they try to help you and are there for you. It's motivation that they're there, and I can also be there." For Whittaker, the most empowering moment was the keynote speech Wednesday morning given by Jessica O. Matthews, the Founder & CEO of Uncharted Power. "She embodied who I want to be," Whittaker said. "How she carried herself, the way she talks and acts. I felt at home listening to her, and that's not something I experience a lot in this field." Texas is beefing up its efforts to prevent babies from being born with syphilis, a growing state crisis highlighted Tuesday in a national report. The Texas health department has hired two new staffers, an epidemiologist and a coordinator, to lead efforts studying and attempting to reduce congenital syphilis around the state. It is also at work on a report, due before the end of the year, assessing the value of a 2015 state law requiring pregnant women be tested for syphilis in the third trimester, an addition to a screening at their prenatal appointment. Houston-based Hi-Crush Partners said it is idling one of its Wisconsin sand mining plants because of weakening demand triggered by oil pipeline constraints in West Texas' Permian Basin. The sand mines service hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations in oil and gas wells and the demand for the sand is weakening in the booming Permian until new pipelines start coming online closer to mid-2019. Many companies continue to drill new wells while delaying the fracking operations and leaving the wells uncompleted for now. Oil climbed after the U.S. Energy Secretary ruled out the release of emergency crude reserves, adding to concerns that the loss of Iranian supplies will tighten markets. Futures in New York climbed as much as 1.4 percent. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Wednesday the government isnt planning to tap emergency oil stockpiles to prevent prices from surging when American sanctions on Iranian crude are implemented in early November. Total SAs Chief Executive Officer said prices may be heading for $100 a barrel, but warned this could hurt demand. U.S. crude is nearing four-year highs after OPEC signaled the group is in no rush to boost production to counter losses from Iran, drawing repeated criticism from President Donald Trump. Top trading houses are predicting the return of $100 oil, last seen in 2014, while Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have increased their forecasts. The latest move higher started with the comments of Secretary Perry last night, as some in the market were hoping for an SPR release, said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG in Zurich. Market sentiment is extremely bullish at the moment. For me, the biggest concern is whether Saudi production needs to go into unchartered territory, and how market participants will react. Aiming Higher West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose as much as $1.04 to $72.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $72.28 at 9:45 a.m. in London. The contract settled 71 cents lower at $71.57 on Wednesday. Total volume traded was 9 percent below the 100-day average. Brent for November settlement gained as much as $1.10 to $82.44 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude was at a $9.83 premium to WTI. Releasing oil from the nations Strategic Petroleum Reserve to prevent a price spike would have a fairly minor and short-term impact, Secretary Perry said. Other producers can offset losses from the Persian Gulf state, he said. Strong Words Earlier this week, Trump accused OPEC of ripping off the rest of the world after the group stopped short of promising specific extra volumes of crude. Meanwhile, government data showed that nationwide stockpiles in the U.S. increased by 1.85 million barrels to about 396 million barrels last week, confounding most analysts in a Bloomberg survey who were expecting a decline. Inventories in the key oil storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma also increased for the first time in three weeks. The U.S. using the strategic reserves as an emergency-response tool to control oil prices was a bit of a stretch, given the history of how it was released in the past for war or hurricanes, said Stephen Innes, Singapore-based head of trading for Asia Pacific at Oanda Corp. While the U.S. oil inventory data counts, the fact that the markets could still be underestimating the supply crunch from Iran sanctions has many oil investors running with the bulls. Other oil-market news: U.S. crude production last week surpassed the previous 11 million-barrel-a-day record, government data showed. Iran has sent more crude cargoes under an oil-for-goods deal with Russia ahead of the U.S. crude sanctions that start in November, while Japans imports from Iran declined by more than 30 percent last month from a year earlier. President Trump said Iran will negotiate a new nuclear agreement because its people are already suffering greatly from sanctions. As U.S. sanctions squeeze Iranian oil exports from world markets, Abu Dhabis plans to sell a new grade of crude and boost output capacity at two offshore deposits may help it fill a possible supply gap. Total sees $100 oil on the horizon, but the French energy giant isnt thrilled about it. A proposed plan by the EU, Russia and China to sidestep U.S. sanctions on Iran by using an alternative payment system wont give its oil buyers a free pass to handle Iranian crude. --With assistance from Tsuyoshi Inajima. 2018 Bloomberg L.P. Magellan Midstream Partners Tulsa-based ONEOK said it will invest more than $1 billion on a new natural gas liquids processing plant in Mont Belvieu and on a major pipeline running from Oklahoma to the Houston region. ONEOK said it will spend $750 million on a new Mont Belvieu fractionator that separates out the components of NGLs into ethane, butane, propane and more. The company will invest about $250 million more on an expansion of its Arbuckle II NGL pipeline to the Mont Belvieu storage and processing hub. Dennis Quaid doesn't appear to be hurting for work. His IMDB page suggests the Houston native has a full slate of upcoming film and TV work, including playing Ronald Reagan in a biopic about the president. Music has been a recurring part of the actor's work. "My third cousin was Gene Autry, the original Western movie singing cowboy," he said. "My grandmother played piano and sang songs from the '20s, songs from her youth. My dad played piano and crooned like Bing Crosby and looked a little like Dean Martin." DRAMATIC FACE LIFT: Peek inside Quaid's swanky home Quaid sang an original song in "The Big Easy" 30 years ago, and famously played Jerry Lee Lewis in "Great Balls of Fire." So during the actor's downtime, he's often found himself fronting a band: Dennis Quaid & the Sharks, who have been a regular presence on Texas stages for nearly 20 years. Quaid traced the band back to a Los Angeles gig by actor Harry Dean Stanton. Quaid was invited to sing with the group, and struck up a friendship with guitarist Jamie James. Quaid finally got the Sharks into a recording studio, and they'll release their first album, "Out of the Box," on Nov. 30. Quaid and the band play some originals as well as a few covers of songs by the Doors ("Riders on the Storm," "LA Woman") and Van Morrison ("Gloria"). "Out of the Box" track list: 1. I'm In Love 2. You're So Fine 3. Peaches No. 9 4. Out Of The Box 5. On My Way To Heaven 6. L.A. Woman 7. Riders On The Storm 8. Good Man, Bad Boy 9. What You Got To Say For Yourself 10. Walk With The Angels 11. Slow Down 12. Gloria 13. After The Fall A Friendswood man was arrested and charged Sept. 27 after a six hour standoff with SWAT team members and police. According to a release from the Friendswood Police Department, Donald Lee Hunter, 43, allegedly assaulted his wife at their home off Piney Woods Drive on the evening of Sept. 26. After escaping from her home the victim reported the incident to police at 10 p.m. that same night. Spring Branch Independent School District and its nonprofit partner, Spring Branch Education Foundation, have announced plans to create a student-centered informational dashboard that will improve its current data system and meet the growing needs of students and families for current information. Through this project, SBISD will overhaul its data architecture so that information once inaccessible will now be delivered real-time to educators, learners and parents. A complete view of student progress will enable educators to provide the right support at the right time, according to Christina Masick, SBISD chief information officer. This work has been made possible by a grant to SBEF from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Making secure, real-time information available to educators is absolutely critical to The Learners Journey, said SBISD Superintendent Scott R. Muri, Ed.D. We have created a culture of high expectations for all students, which places increased importance on students to take responsibility for their own learning. Providing students with real-time feedback on their progress will empower them and their families to make data-informed decisions. Building on the Ed-Fi Data Standard, the standard used for exchange of student data that ensures security and privacy, SBISDs IT system will seamlessly connect educational data systems currently siloed. This is foundational work that makes multiple data systems compatible, Masick explained. Our goal is to make all student information available on one dashboard so that students and families have a full-view of the students academic journey. They will be able to measure current progress in order to reach their academic goals. If intervention is necessary, parents will know that. Currently, SBISD houses important student data in many formats, including online and paper files. Searching for online data means logging into multiple programs with limited tools to measure programmatic performance. At the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, we work to help ensure educators have critical data at their fingertips so they can best support the students who need it most, said Lyria Zeh, program officer, Data Driven Education, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Our work with SBISD enables teachers and parents in Spring Branch to use data to help students with the right intervention at the right times. Unifying our data systems positions SBISD to make data more actionable for teaching, learning and operational improvements. This is key to the districts Learners Journey, and we are grateful to the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation for partnering with us to make this possible, said Elliott Witney, SBISD associate superintendent for Academic Design and Performance. About The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (www.msdf.org) is dedicated to improving the lives of children living in urban poverty around the world. Headquartered in Austin, TX, with additional offices in New Delhi, India, and Cape Town, South Africa, the Dell Foundation funds programs that foster high-quality public education and childhood wellness, and improve the economic stability of families living in poverty. The Foundation has committed more than $1.5 billion to global children's issues and community initiatives to date. About Spring Branch Education Foundation Spring Branch Education Foundation is committed to supporting SBISD students and educators. It partners with the district and community to fund programs that enhance education and ?...students for the future. In 2016, Caruthers Institute ranked SBEF 42nd in the nation among 188 K-12 education foundations and in the top 10 of its division of foundations with $1 million to $1,999,999 in revenues. Since 1993, the Foundation has donated more than $13 million to the district. SBEF is a 501(c)3 organization; all donations are tax deductible. About Ed-Fi Ed-Fi securely and seamlessly connects educational data systems. A not-for-profit organization fully funded by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Ed-Fi aims to boost student achievement by empowering educators with comprehensive insight into their students. Founded in 2012, Ed-Fi streamlines data management in school districts and states across the country. By allowing schools to integrate the data previously siloed within disconnected tools and software - and organizing it through a single, secure data standard - Ed-Fi finally solves one of the country's most perplexing educational challenges: how to get a complete, accurate view of individual student achievement. See More Collapse SBISD students and families can expect to see the first iteration of the student-centered dashboard over the course of the next year. Courtesy photo Houston ISD and VLK Architects celebrated the dedication of the new Energy Institute High School on Sept. 19. The ceremony was held at the new campus on Southmore Boulevard in the heart of Houstons Third Ward where students, staff, administration and community members gathered for a unique board cutting ceremony. Harris County Precinct 4 officials are inviting the community to meet civic leaders while enjoying park amenities. The first Harris County Precinct 4 Civic Adventure Day, to be held at Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve in the Cypress Creek area, will bring Harris County Precinct 4 officials and leaders to community members. The event will have food trucks, local education exhibitors and several park activities like canoeing and fishing in Marshall Lake. Landon Reed, Harris County Precinct 4 assistant director of community outreach, said the event was requested by local organizations. Reed said the advantage of the event is to have community leaders in one location and giving them the opportunity to explain their roles and how they work with each other daily. A big component of what we wanted to show is how the commissioner works with city officials, how the commissioner works with the local sheriff and the constable, he said. We also wanted to have state representatives and federal representatives so they could see how that works Most of the public, even when they get to the adult age, they dont know that. Officials attending the event include Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle, as well as representatives from the Harris County Sheriffs Office, Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County Public Library, Harris County Fire Marshalls Office and Harris County Public Health. Were bringing not only [Cagle], but we invited other representatives that would be local entities that we work with, all the way down to judges, Reed said. They would have the opportunity to hear all of those civic leaders. After receiving requests to meet with officials, Reed said Precinct 4 officials wanted to find a better way to meet the communitys need. The event is meant to meet the request of community members wanting to speak with officials while giving Precinct 4 officials the chance to connect with the public, Reed said. Want to go? What: Civic Adventure Day When: Saturday, Sept. 29. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Where: Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve, 20215 Chasewood Park Drive, Houston, TX 77070 Cost: Free See More Collapse Civic Adventure Day came out of requests that we received over and over again from groups like [Boy Scouts of America], Young Rotarians and all of the school districts, Reed said. They would always come in wanting to meet with the commissioner or want a representative of the commissioner to talk, some of them for requirements and some for school projects. All officials who will be present may not stay for the entirety of the event due to other commitments. Boy Scouts can earn their civic badge at the event, and any organizations needing to speak with officials will have the chance, Reed said. We really had good feedback, he said. We were planning on it being an annual event, but after the feedback were definitely looking to do it every year. chevall.pryce@chron.com Dash cam video released Thursday afternoon by the City of Shenandoah shows the early-morning police chase that occurred after an armed robbery at a Denny's restaurant. Police concluded a manhunt for the suspects around 8 a.m. near George Bush Intercontinental Airport, where the suspects led police on a chase after the robbery, authorities said. At the time, no suspects had been caught. Around 8:40 a.m., police found and located one of the suspects near 15000 JFK Boulevard, according to the Houston Police Department. CRASH: Driver injured in wreck with big-rig in Pleasantville The events of the morning began with the robbery at the Denny's at Research and Interstate 45 sometime before 3:45 a.m. Two people entered Denny's, where one held up a server while the other forced the manager into a back room where the safe was stored and forced her to fill a bag with cash. The two then took money from the register, according to the Shenandoah Police Department. Police arrived just as a 1999 white SUV with no headlights fled the scene, according to the Montgomery County Police Reporter. The SUV didnt stop for deputies and led them on a chase down I-45 to the Hardy Toll Road, ending at the airport. The suspects crashed on JFK near Rankin, and then found a Honda parked in a construction area, said Lt. Larry Crowson of the Houston Police Department. They tried fleeing in the Honda and crashed again before running into the wooded area, Crowson said. Police recovered backpacks and a cellphone, Crowson said. Authorities searched until almost 8 a.m. but weren't able to use helicopters because of the weather and proximity to the airport. The Harris County Sheriffs Office and Houston Police Department were assisting. No one was injured at Dennys. The only customers in at the time were a married couple, said Denny's area manager Ahmad Elali, who was not working during the restaurant's first armed robbery. One of the suspects threatened the customers at gunpoint, but they escaped unharmed when the two fled. Employees working Denny's night shift from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. undergo regular safety and security trainings. The manager and employees affected by the robbery followed the standard protocol, but the manager on duty remains shaken up, Elali said. "Someone would have to be really brave to face that," Elali said. A press release from the city stated Shenandoah Police Chief Raymond M. Shaw is confident the remaining suspects will be identified and warrants obtained for their arrests. Yi-Chin Lee contributed to this report. The Conroe City Council took a major step Thursday in helping five Conroe families get new homes. The council awarded a $490,500 construction bid to Spring-based John Kings Group to construct the homes as part of the Community Development Block Grant Housing Reconstruction Project. Director of Community Development Nancy Mikeska said she was pleased with the bid that will complete the project. We are ready to roll, she said. Thats a good price for our five houses. Mayor Pro Tem Duke Coon questioned the price of $6,000 for a four-foot chain link fence for one of the homes. Most of the homes, he added, have six-foot wooden fences for about $1,000. It seems a little excessive, he said. I noticed wood fencing is used on a lot of homes but this is chain link. Im not comfortable with that price for a chain link fence. Mikeska said the city specifies if the fencing for the homes will be wood or chain link. She added it depends on the homes location and what the city is wanting to screen. Coon asked Mikeska to review that cost again. In April, officials with the city, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Congressman Kevin Brady's office took time to meet the homeowners and see the deplorable conditions in which they have been living. The effort to rebuild the homes for the deserving residents is part of the Community Development Block Grant program that provides "decent, safe and sanitary housing" for low- to moderate-income residents by the rehabilitation of existing structures to a condition which, at a minimum, brings the structure into compliance with HUD. This year, the program will rebuild five homes in the Dugan area. Each home will be slightly different but will all be about 1,200 square feet. A timeline of the construction was not available. cdominguez@hcnonline.com While the Muse Building in downtown Conroe sustained catastrophic damage from thunderstorms last weekend, officials with the Crighton Theater Foundation say the roof collapse falls right in line with renovation plans for the historical building. The city of Conroe Building Department posted the building, located at 212 N. Main St., as unsafe Monday, but Crighton Theater Foundation Executive Director Jim Bingham said his organization had already closed the building due to safety concerns. For the safety of anyone who would normally be entering the building, the building is posted as unsafe Do Not Enter by the chief building official, said Director of Community Development Nancy Mikeska. The city has requested that structural engineers be consulted as to how to stabilize the building. The building was built sometime before 1920 and has had many renovations to it over the years. While the State Historic Commission informed the city in 2004 the building was not eligible for inclusion in the National Register for Historic Places, the building is a part of downtown history, Mikeska said. I certainly hope it can be saved, she said. For Bingham, there is no question the building will be renovated. We are going to re-birth the Muse Building, he said. Its not going anywhere. Bingham said the Foundation has planned for some time to remove the roof and replace it with steel. Additionally, the walls were going to be reinforced in order to save the existing exterior structure. Its basically going to be a building within a building, Bingham said. The project, estimated to be about $500,000 to $750,000, will also double the size of the current lobby of the Crighton Theater and add much needed restrooms to the building. Funding will be several methods including fundraising efforts and grants. We believe this is the proper use of the building, he said. We are going to take our time and do it right. Bingham didnt have a timeline on the project but it was originally scheduled to begin in November. Obviously, Mother Nature thought we should start it now, he said. cdominguez@hcnonline.com New Orleans-based McDermott International got the green light from Entergy Texas to build a 993-megawatt natural gas power plant in Willis. McDermott was hired last year by Entergy to design and build the power station. The new power plant is expected to provide electricity to more than 455,000 Entergy customers in 27 counties across Southeast Texas, according to McDermott. "Southeast Texas has some of the fastest growing areas in the nation. Entergy Texas is committed to meeting our customers' energy needs now and in the future. This investment will provide customers a new source of reliable power that reduces costs and lowers emissions, while also benefiting the southeast Texas economy," Sallie Rainer, president and CEO of Entergy Texas, stated in a press release. Last year, Montgomery County commissioners passed a resolution in support of the plant, which will be located west of Willis near the company's existing Lewis Creek substation. The city councils of Montgomery and Willis have also passed resolutions showing their support for the plant. Oak Ridge North, Roman Forest, Woodbranch Village and The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce have also filed resolutions in support of the plant, according to filings with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT). The proposed 993-megawatt power plant would cost an estimated $937.3 million and go into service in 2021 after beginning construction in early 2019. Entergy Texas just filed an application with the state's Public Utility Commission for permission to build the plant. One megawatt powers at least 200 homes on the hottest Texas days. "We are very pleased that this project received support of the parties and over 70 cities in the region. This overwhelming support demonstrates that the Commission and stakeholders recognize the importance of a modern and efficient plant such as this to the region and to Texas," Rainer stated. "We look forward to breaking ground in the first quarter of 2019 and expect to have the unit complete by summer 2021." Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to more than 440,000 customers in 27 counties. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy Texas is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. cdominguez@hcnonline.com Missouri City police have identified the man whose body was found Wednesday morning in the wooded area of a park. Police identified the man as 19-year-old Michael Lee Johnson. He had trauma to his body when he was discovered about 8 a.m. at Buffalo Run Park, 1122 Buffalo Run, according to the Missouri City Police Department. It's possible that the body had been at the park for a couple of days. Texas authorities are searching for a Houston man suspected of shooting and wounding a 65-year-old man earlier this month. On Sept. 3, Rolando Tomas Mendez, 27, shot and critically wounded the 65-year-old man after attempting to open his car door, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Police said Mendez fled the scene with 28-year-old James Ryan Varnell, a suspect believed to have participated in a series aggravated robberies with Mendez prior to the shooting. Varnell was arrested last week on three counts of aggravated robbery, but Mendez remains on the run. On Wednesday, Mendez was added to the "Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives" list by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Up to $7,500 is being offered for tips leading to his arrest. LATEST: UH student was found dead one year after being reported missing Authorities said Mendez is affiliated with the Tango Blast Houstone gang. He is wanted on three counts of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Police said Mendez should be considered armed and dangerous. His criminal history includes burglary of vehicle and theft of property. Anyone with tips or information should call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip through Facebook. See above for other fugitives on Texas' "most wanted" list above. Fernando Ramirez covers Texas news and politics. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. | Fernando.ramirez@chron.com | @fernramirez93 More than 160 students and their benefactors joined the University of Houston at Sugar Land for the 17th Annual Scholarship Banquet. The event, held at the Safari Texas Ranch in Richmond, celebrated the academic accomplishments of 145 students who are studying nursing, technology, social work, education and other areas. This year, students received scholarships from 17 donors and foundations. The event was underwritten by the Fred and Mabel R. Parks Foundation. Stephen Morgan, reporter for Fox 26-TV, served as emcee. We are so proud of our students and we are thankful to our sponsors and donors, said Jay Neal, associate vice president, academic affairs and chief operating officer of UH Sugar Land. Your support in higher education provides the fuel that drives us forward. Sugar Land residents Drs. Kulvinder and Nomita Bajwa spoke about the need to support students in the local area. Nurses are the first to take a step forward to help, Kulvinder Bajwa said. He and his wife have created an endowed scholarship for the UH College of Nursing. Their passion for nursing encouraged one of their colleagues to do the same. Dr. Kulvinder Bajwa is a bariatric surgeon with Memorial Hermann Sugar Land. He is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve serving as the 5th Brigade Commander under the 94th Division in Ft. Lee, Virginia. He served two tours of duty in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and one in Honduras. Dr. Nomita Bajwa is a doctor of pharmacy with a special interest in health promotion and literacy in school age children. She has raised thousands of dollars in health grants for the Fort Bend County area, all with the goal of bringing cutting-edge, evidence-based health information and education to the community. Shes currently the CEO of Wellness Geeks Consultants. Among the attendees were Dean Bob McPherson of the UH College of Education, Dean Anthony Ambler of the UH College of Technology and Dean Kathryn Tart of the UH College of Nursing. The scholarship donors included: The UH Fort Bend Alumni Association Marjorie Akers Hilty Gurasich Scholarship The Michel Miller Memorial Scholarship The Paula M. Short Nursing Scholarship The Mayor Joe Zimmerman Scholarship The Hamill Foundation Scholarship The Rubin Sztajer Holocaust Survivor Scholarship The Good Samaritan Foundation The Gulf Coast Medical Foundation The Hazel H. Montgomery Family Trust Nursing Scholarship The John S. Dunn Foundation The Vivian L. Smith Foundation The Fred and Mabel Parks Foundation Scholarships The George Foundation Nursing Scholarships The George Foundation Scholarships Even by school cafeteria food standards, it was bad: rice full of black worms. Vinegar more than a year out of date. That's what parents say their 5-year-olds were served at a handful of private kindergartens in Wuhu, China, run by the same company. One father told reporters that his son began complaining of stomach aches three days after the school year started. "At first I thought he was making excuses not to go to school," said the man, who gave only his surname, Xi. "But now that I think back, it must have been the spoilt lunches he'd had." A doctor later confirmed that the boy was suffering from a mild stomach infection. After the diagnosis, Xi said, a group of parents asked the government to investigate. "We just want to provide our children with a good school environment. We don't want to pull our son out of school - he was only just getting to know his classmates," he said, according to the South China Morning Post. "But we are also afraid that the government's monitoring will be short-lived and might stop once the outrage over this issue blows over." After the reports were made public, 765 children were given medical checkups, according to the South China Morning Post. About 38 children, or 5 percent, "had shown some ill effects," the outlet reported. The medical exams were funded by the government. Officials have detained the schools' managers, along with the employee who prepped the food. And they say they are launching a broader investigation of school cafeterias. "We will not miss out on inspecting even one school cafeteria," Vice Mayor Chen Shaoguang told reporters, according to the South China Morning Post. "We will not let off anyone responsible for this." Last week, a dozen primary school students got food poisoning. Investigators later found mouse droppings near the food area. At another primary school, parents complained after they discovered that their children were being given only half a bowl of noodles for lunch every day, though the parents had been promised a full meal. The menu that they were given suggested that their kids were eating chicken, rice and three kinds of vegetables. The principal was eventually fired. BEIJING - China is flatly denying President Donald Trump's accusation that it is interfering in November's midterm elections, implying that it is the United States that has a track record of meddling in other countries' business. With an acrimonious trade dispute rumbling on and amid an increasingly fractious security environment, the latest tit-for-tat could worsen the relationship between the world's two largest economies. "I believe the international community knows very well who is most used to meddling in the internal affairs of others," Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters Thursday. He did not name the United States directly but was responding to a question about Trump's assertion Wednesday at the United Nations that Beijing was attempting to influence the midterms. "They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president to ever challenge China on trade," Trump said at a U.N. Security Council meeting, "and we are winning on trade - we are winning on every level." But the president and his top aides offered no evidence or even anecdotes to support the contention that China was meddling. Trump's ire appeared sparked by a four-page supplement that the China Daily, an English-language publication owned by the Chinese government, bought in the Des Moines Register on Sunday. Asked about the newspaper ads, Geng said the idea that they amounted to election interference was "totally far-fetched and fictional." "We advise the U.S. side to stop its unwarranted accusations and slander against China and refrain from wrong words and deeds that might hurt our bilateral relations and fundamental interests," he said. The pages in the Des Moines Register were laid out newspaper-style, with a small note at the top labeling them as a China Daily supplement. The lead headline declared, "Duel undermines the benefits of trade" - exactly the same message that has been plastered across China's state-owned newspapers these last few weeks as the government tries to hammer home the message that the trade war is bad for Americans. Another headline read, "Dispute: Fruit of a president's folly," although there was lighter content, too - about robotics and a fashion entrepreneur and President Xi Jinping's "fun days in Iowa." China, among other countries, has a long history of using ads in newspapers, including in The Washington Post, to get across messages that it would have trouble persuading professional journalists to print. Iowa was the perfect target for China for a number of reasons. For one, its status as the first state to vote during presidential primary season gives it outsize influence over the U.S. electoral process. Second, it has a special status in the bilateral relationship. Long before he became China's president, Xi traveled to Muscatine, Iowa, to learn about agriculture. Third, Iowa, a major grower of soy beans and producer of pork, stands to suffer greatly from an extended trade war. The Iowa governor's race is shaping up to be very close. The latest polls suggest that Fred Hubbell, the Democratic candidate who vows to increase the state's exports, has an edge over the incumbent Republican, Kim Reynolds. "Anyone who knows anything about China could have told Donald Trump that China would look for ways to retaliate," said Paul Haenle, a former China adviser to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. "And now Trump is worried about being blamed if there is a GOP loss in Iowa, so he's trying to get ahead of that," said Haenle, now director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center in Beijing. The Global Times, a nationalist tabloid that often reflects the government's thinking, said Trump's accusations are part of his "creative campaign strategy" to malign China and try to attract more votes for Republicans in the midterms. The paper did not mince its words about the American president's recent rhetoric. "Trump routinely applauds himself for his achievements and has already declared victory over the trade war against China," it said in an editorial. "However, if all of it were true, then Trump wouldn't have worry about China's alleged meddling in U.S. elections." --- The Washington Post's Yang Liu contributed to this report. And what does the title mean? Well, the foreword tells you that too. But you'll have to read it through to the end. It's a fascinating story. I wont reveal any more about this book, which is nearly as old as I am, because the foreword, Unbuckling the haversack, tells you all youll want to know. Hannah and Tom had come across, Under the Atebrin Moon, an anthology of short stories and poems by the soldier members of the New Guinea Writers Club and published by Angus and Robertson in Sydney and London in 1946. To dig your nose between the mottled brown pages of an old book and to soak in the musty aroma that is testament to its age is a treat. And I could tell from the book's ragged cover and well thumbed pages that the reading would be equally so, it had clearly done the rounds. Now Noosa is lacking in second-hand bookshops, thus depriving me of one of my favourite pursuits, so this was a welcome gift indeed. Furthermore, it was about Papua New Guinea and a unique writing initiative introduced during the dark years of World War II. NOOSA Hannah and her boyfriend Tom had come up to the Sunshine Coast from Melbourne and, when they arrived last night to share dinner with the rest of the family, they brought a book for me. Foreword: Unbuckling the haversack By the Editor It is Thursday night somewhere in New Guinea. Light streams from a thatched hut. Inside voices can be heard, a murmur of debate. The New Guinea Writers Club is in session and will be for the next two or three hours. There are about 40 soldiers present all ranks, all writers. All who would like to be writers, all interested in writing anyway. The chairman, an Army education officer, tells visitors they are welcome and may take part in discussions. He also says that qualifications for membership are attendance at one meeting and then submission of a manuscript for reading at another session. Once the manuscript has been read the author is a member. There are no fees. The only levy required is interest. There may be seven stories and two poems on the list any typical Thursday night. Every author reads in turn. At the end of each reading the meeting is thrown open for discussion and soldiers speak up with their ever-ready tongues. Criticism is either oral or written. For the benefit of newcomers written criticisms are handed in to be studied later at leisure. But it is the oral criticism that is the life of the club. No verbal holds are barred, but the chairman keeps a wary ear for personal remarks. You will find no diffidence among these men in uniform, no shyness in expressing an opinion, however unorthodox that opinion may be. In turn you can hear the dogmatic, the witty, the downright, the reasoned, the sympathetic, the offended, the satiric and the cultured. You are a visitor, but you too may say what you like. You will be doubly welcome if your remarks are constructive and encouraging. Rank does not matter in the club all are one in the fraternity of writing. A major and a bombardier may disagree, but the author will smile and learn from both. Very few members wrote before joining the Army. Few had written before coming to New Guinea. In one group alone more than 200 manuscripts have been read. Another group has had an up-and-down attendance for 40 consecutive meetings. Membership varies with the movement of soldiers. There may be 60 present, sometimes only 15, but the average is usually 35 or so. There is a pointer to the post-war world in this club, an idea for those whose work will lie in adult education. Universities and schools have for long had their literary societies to discuss the work of well-known authors and poets. But a writers club as such is something new. These soldiers in New Guinea has proved it can be done, that a club for original work can flourish, that mutual criticism is helpful to authors, that self-expression through the pen can be encouraged, that there is far more interest in talking about and in planning ideas of your own than in dissecting the work of the great. So much interest is taken by New Guinea soldiers that members in their spare time speak of little else but the forthcoming meeting. Is it too much to expect that this successful experiment, begun and improved in New Guinea, cannot spread after the war to every community? The Writers Club was born from an accidental meeting in a Port Moresby education hut of three men an Australian civilian attached in a specialist capacity to the U.S. Forces, an American officer and an Australian lance-corporal. Their talk drifted to authors and writing. They were interested in one anothers ideas. Perhaps others would have interesting ideas too. Why not call a meeting and find out? Australian troops rest during operations in the Finisterre range during World War II An advertisement was printed in Guinea Gold and 27 soldiers attended the first meeting, held in a hut in the grounds of St Johns-on-the-Hill, overlooking the wide waters of the harbour. Old and young, wearing ribbons of the last war and of this, agreed to form a society to stimulate interest in literature and the craft of writing. The movement spread. Another group was formed at Milne Bay, a third at Lae. Army education authorities fostered the idea from the beginning, providing all facilities. As members moved from place to place all soldiers interested in writing heard the news. Later the Moresby group languished and the Milne Bay group died, both through the departures of troops. But the club at Lae flourished. One of the enthusiastic Lae members, a corporal in Army Education, was posted again to Moresby. Soon he expanded the faithful few and now the Moresby group is attended by American soldiers and WAACs, and men of the Australian Navy, Army and Air Force. Who are these soldiers wishing to be writers? They come from every type of unit. In one meeting you can find men from infantry, ordnance, amenities, medical, transport, artillery, headquarters, intelligence, mechanical engineer, workshop, cipher, labour and signal units. Their civil backgrounds are as varied as their military duties. You will find among them doctors, miners, farmers, civil engineers, ministers, teachers, radio writers, journalists, lecturers, commercial travellers and clerks from law, wool and insurance firms. Service in the forces has thrown them together in a common call of duty. In their spare time they are drawn together by a common interest in writing. One of the most successful authors did not write a line before joining the Army. He was an executive in an emporium. Already he has had one book accepted by a London publisher and a second awaiting the readers verdict. After the war he plans to devote his whole time to writing. Another soldier-author, a private, wrote a novel in between landing stores at the docks. A third, a sergeant, has had a detective story published in Sydney, New York and London. At one time or another each member has had an article accepted either in Australia or overseas. Most have just fel the pride of seeing ones work in print for the first time. Others await the agony of first acceptance with impatience. All have found the virtue of writing infectious. Among the soldiers the short-story is the most popular form. So many of these men have rich tales to tell. Memories of the war on many fronts, chance incidents that have occurred on service, and under the aegis of the club they readily set them down. There are poets too, but they are few. Articles and essays are popular, and today there is a trend in a new direction. The one-act play and the radio story. There are always some members handy to give friendly advice, to assist in typing or to tell where best to place a manuscript. Under the Atebrin Moon is a collection of the best work that has been read in a period of six months. Each item is original. None has been published before. Reading the book will reveal a rather unusual fact. It is neither the Army nor New Guinea about which soldiers usually wish to write. True many of these stories have soldier characters, but you will find nothing of battle here, little of jungle. I asked one writer why he did not write about New Guinea. For the same reason I now write about the Middle East distance. In New Guinea we are too close, he replied. If I wrote about New Guinea, I would find my stories overloaded with detail. When I go home again to the mainland and can think in retrospect, discarding the unessential, evaluating the whole, then I think I will be able to write well of New Guinea. But not before. __________ This anthology runs the gamut of mood. You will read here the tender, the savage, the mystical, the realistic, the whimsical, the imaginative and the humorous. Whatever your mood may be, you will find something to match it here, something that has sprung from the minds of men in khaki, thinking and writing in New Guinea under the Atebrin moon. Why atebrin moon? Well, we like the title, and we do not think it a flight of fancy. After the war what will soldiers, veterans looking back, remember in thinking of New Guinea? Will it be the rain and the heat, the mud and the mire and the sweat, the fever and the filth? Yes, undoubtedly all will recall these in a general way, as a background to their thoughts. But it will be the little things that will mostly be remembered. There will be few soldiers from New Guinea who will not place among their outstanding impressions two vivid memories the moon in every phase of her beauty and the daily ritual of taking the small yellow atebrin pill to spite the malarial mosquito. In these two recollections there will lie for them the eternal contrast of the tropics beauty there, and behind beauty always the malevolent. FAIRFIELD Residents in the Southport section of town are concerned about an increase in crime, and a meeting next week is being held to address those concerns and provide tips on crime safety and prevention. The level of crime has really spiked in the Mill Hill section of town over the past several months, and residents are really concerned, according to Michael Herley, R-10, himself a victim of a car break-in earlier this year. Herleys car was rummaged through, but nothing was taken. The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at Mill Hill School, sponsored by the members of Representative Town Meeting District 10 with police in attendance. According to Police Department statistics, there have been 194 cars broken into since the first of the year. Of those, 39 were cars located in the Southport section. In total, there have been 57 automobiles stolen, with eight of them stolen from Southport. Lt. Robert Kalamaras said statistics show that crimes occur in different areas of town, and often in areas that are convenient to major thoroughfares, like Interstate 95, the Post Road and the Merritt Parkway. Several arrests have been of groups of juveniles from Waterbury, Kalamaras said. When arrests are made, he said, the crime stops for a short period of time. While any crime is too much crime, Kalamaras said, the property crimes in Southport are not disproportionate to the crimes occurring in the rest of the town. Mill Hill Meeting The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at Mill Hill School, sponsored by the members of Representative Town Meeting District 10. See More Collapse And almost 100 percent of those property crimes are preventable, he said, if people would remove valuables from their cars, lock them, and take the keys with them. These are crimes of opportunity, so the criminals are going to go where the opportunity is, Kalamaras said. Residential burglaries are down in Southport, Kalamaras said, and since the first of the year, there have been no robberies reported from that part of town. No matter what the numbers say, however, Kalamaras said the department is happy to attend the meeting and provide residents with crime prevention tips and techniques. greilly@ctpost.com; 203-842-2585 Over the past six months, the Nicaraguan government has been accused of human rights abuses and violations of international law for its handling of widespread protests calling for the president to step down. Now, top Nicaraguan officials are sharing their side of the story internationally. In interviews and public appearances in the United States, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Valdrack Jaentschke has painted the protesters as violent extremists seeking to topple the democratically elected government of President Daniel Ortega. In an interview on Tuesday with The Washington Post, Jaentschke described the protests, which began in April, as part of a "coup" attempt. The demonstrations, he said, were part of a "violent effort to overthrow the constitutionally elected government" by political radicals unable to win widespread support through the ballot box. He did not identify those people or describe their political allegiances. The turmoil began with protests against Ortega's effort to raise social security taxes and cut pensions. The police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas, then live ammunition. Much of the early violence is captured on cellphone videos. In the ensuing days and weeks, what began as marches in the capital turned into a nationwide uprising against the government. Activists criticized the four-term president as an autocrat who had undermined Nicaragua's democratic institutions and bent security forces to his will. They called for his resignation and early elections. Activists, some of whom carried weapons, barricaded neighborhoods and university campuses in various cities to prevent security forces from entering. In response, the government increased the pressure, backed by informal pro-government fighters widely described as paramilitaries. In one particularly brutal incident, masked gunmen stormed the campus of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, firing on students who had seized control of the school. They then besieged a church compound where young demonstrators had sought refuge. Two students were killed in the fighting. Jaentschke called the concern over the social security measure an "excuse" by radicals to foment "terror" and "violence." He also took issue with the death toll reported by human rights groups, which have said that more than 300 people had died in the unrest, the majority at the hands of government forces. The minister disputed the allegations, saying that about 200 people have been killed in the violence and that more than half of them were government supporters and security forces trying to keep the peace. "Social media operators" were "promoting widespread violence," he said. "We blame them for every single one of the deaths that occurred." Jaentschke also said that the government stepped in only when the security of the nation was at stake. "Our first concern was to avoid a civil war," he said. Ortega, who won fame in the 1970s as one of the leaders of the left-wing Sandinista revolution that ousted a conservative dictator, has made similar claims in television interviews. Rights groups paint a different picture. They say the government has imprisoned political opponents, engaged in torture and used unnecessary and lethal force against demonstrators. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has said that the Nicaraguan government must "immediately end the repression" by, among other things, dismantling paramilitary groups. In a recent report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the country's treatment of protesters was in "violation of international human rights law." "Although some demonstrations turned violent, the majority of protesters were peaceful," it said. "In cases where protesters were violent, the use of lethal force by authorities against nonlethal threats and the reliance on pro-Government armed elements, also violated international human rights law. This response systematically repressed dissent against the Government." After the report was issued, Ortega expelled the U.N. investigators from the country. The United States, too, has called on Ortega to step aside. "Every additional victim of this violence and intimidation campaign further undermines Ortega's legitimacy," Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in July. "Early free, fair and transparent elections are the best path back to democracy and respect for human rights in Nicaragua." In his interview with The Post, Jaentschke cautioned against foreign intervention, or "meddling," in Nicaraguan affairs. "Since the 15th of July, we have been able to restore peace," he said. "If you protest violently, you will be confronted by the police. That's the situation." Though demonstrations have quieted, violence continues to roil the country. Last weekend, hundreds of demonstrators marched in Managua, calling for the release of imprisoned protesters. They were met by police officers and Ortega supporters, who allegedly opened fire on the crowd, killing one. WASHINGTON - Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's fateful meeting with President Donald Trump over the future of his job will be pushed to next week, the White House announced Thursday. In a statement around 12:30 p.m., the White House said Trump "spoke with Rod Rosenstein a few minutes ago and they plan to meet next week." The statement said the two men did not want to do anything that might affect the ongoing congressional hearing over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. "They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing," the statement said. The move was expected. Trump said at a news conference Wednesday that he hoped to postpone a planned Thursday meeting and keep Rosenstein in his job - even amid news reports that the deputy attorney general last year suggested using a wiretap to monitor the president or invoking a constitutional amendment to force him from office. Rosenstein has disputed those reports - which are based in large measure on what former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe alleged in contemporaneous memos the deputy attorney general had said. Trump has a light schedule Thursday afternoon and is expected to watch the Supreme Court hearings from the White House. He will visit his Trump International Hotel in the evening for a fundraiser. The meeting's postponement marks a dramatic de-escalation of a conflict that Monday seemed certain to end with Rosenstein leaving the Justice Department, injecting uncertainty intothe special-counsel investigation of whether Trump's campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 presidential election. But Rosenstein is still not out of the woods. The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena for McCabe's memos, as well as other materials related to the Russia investigation. Conservative Republicans signaled Thursday that they expected Rosenstein would come to Capitol Hill "soon" to testify before the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees. "I think we're moving in a good direction as far as getting Mr. Rosenstein to come before Congress," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said. Over the weekend, Rosenstein had offered to resign amid the reports about his wanting to wiretap the president, and the Justice Department prepared for a future without him. Matt Whitaker, Attorney General Jeff Sessions' chief of staff, would take over as deputy attorney general, and Noel Francisco, the solicitor general, would take over supervision of the Russia probe. Instead, Rosenstein went to the White House Monday, expecting he would be fired, thenstayed in his job. Some advisers urged the president not to remove him - wary of inspiring Democrats with the midterm elections just a few months away. On Wednesday, Trump declared at a news conference, "My preference would be to keep him and to let him finish up." The president also noted that Rosenstein disputed the accounts describing what he had said, and reiterated his own disdain for McCabe. Trump has frequently criticized McCabe for political contributions his wife, who ran unsuccessfully for state office in Virginia, received from a political action committee of an ally of Hillary Clinton. As a Senate candidate in Virginia, Republican Corey Stewart promised to run "the most vicious, ruthless" campaign, a pledge he has largely kept with a steady stream of caustic social media postings aimed at his opponent, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. But with fewer than 40 days before the Nov. 6 election, with money scarce, his poll numbers low and little support among the GOP establishment, Stewart is struggling to reboot. Aiming to blunt his bombastic image, he is now blaming the abrasive campaign he has run for more than year on bad advice from a top consultant he recently fired. At a debate Wednesday, Stewart presented himself as a pragmatic leader able to bridge differences to get things done in Prince William County, where he chairs the board of supervisors. But Stewart didn't seem able to resist his caustic ways, implying without evidence during the debate that Kaine has been accused of sexual harassment. "Who is the real Corey Stewart?" Mark Rozelle, a George Mason University professor who was on debate panel, asked Stewart. Stewart responded with another attack on Kaine. No matter the answer, Stewart is trying any way he can to gain ground on Kaine, who leads by nearly 20 points in most polls. After outraising Stewart $19.3 million to $1.3 million, Kaine has an advertising budget and logistics operation that have dwarfed the Republican's bare-bones campaign. Stewart said his firing last month of Noel Fritsch - a political consultant who also worked on his unsuccessful 2017 bid for governor - was an effort to steer his campaign away from an angry tone that alienated potential supporters as it curried favor from the extreme right, including white supremacists such as Paul Nehlen. Since then, Stewart has woven into his speeches sober topics such as the gross domestic product and unemployment rates. At a Richmond forum before a predominantly black audience last Wednesday, Stewart didn't mention his previous pledges to preserve Confederate monuments, his past associations with white nationalists or his decision to attack the Rev. Al Sharpton last month as a "race hustler." The audience had warmly greeted Kaine just an hour before. Stewart told the group that his staff questioned his decision to attend. "My advisers were like, 'Never go into a forum unless it's a friendly forum, unless you're absolutely certain people are going to be with you,' " he said. "And I think that that's the problem in America. I think it's the problem in Washington. I think that we have two sides that aren't talking to one another." Earlier in the week, Stewart appeared before environmentalists at a Fairfax County forum that also featured Kaine. The audience nodded in agreement as Kaine argued for cultivating green energy jobs and making it harder to win federal approval for oil and natural gas pipelines. Stewart, who has called the idea of man-made climate change "a hoax" and told the audience that he didn't believe humans caused global warming, prefaced his remarks with an appeal for more bipartisan discussion. "So far, we're just yelling," he said, of national politics. Then he argued that flooding in Virginia's coastal communities is a function of sinking land - not rising sea levels - an assertion that prompted sarcastic laughs from the crowd. Still, Eric Seibold, 44, was impressed that Stewart even showed up. "To come into a lion's den like this?" he said. "I've got to give him at least a little respect." Yet even as he tries to moderate his message, Stewart repeatedly drifts toward the inflammatory approach that helped him win his party's nomination in June, warning about the menace of Latino gangs or ridiculing the allegations of sexual assault facing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as "a bunch of crap." Stewart fired Fritsch, whom he has paid $52,000 since early 2017, after the consultant tweeted, under Stewart's name, that a Michigan Democrat who is Muslim is an "ISIS commie." Stewart's constituents in Prince William County include a large Muslim population. "I was having people come up to me saying: `Your tweets and Facebook posts are angry,' " Stewart said. "I didn't like what the campaign looked like, and it was in my name. And so we made that change and so you're seeing the real guy now." He said Fritsch also encouraged him to forge a relationship with Nehlen, the one-time Wisconsin congressional candidate whom Stewart praised as "one of my personal heroes" in a video made in January 2017, before Nehlen's anti-Semitic views made him an outcast within the Republican Party. Fritsch, who briefly worked for Nehlen, was "out of touch with my voice," Stewart said. But Fritsch, in a telephone interview, characterized Stewart's campaign as "dysfunctional" and called Stewart "erratic." "He's untethered from the claims he had to being a hard-line conservative and warrior for freedom of speech," Fritsch said, accusing Stewart of being lax with fundraising. "He's moderating." With time running out, Stewart is caught between the need to appeal to moderate voters while remaining provocative enough to capture free media attention that helps him reach potential supporters he doesn't have funds to court otherwise, political analysts say. Stewart's dilemma is shared by Republicans in swing districts and states across the country as they navigate a polarized electorate in midterm elections where President Trump's unpopularity could give Democrats control of at least the House, analysts say. "Trying to define yourself, much less redefine yourself, is a real challenge when President Trump dominates the news cycle virtually every minute of every day," said Stephen J. Farnsworth, a political-science professor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. For Stewart, that problem is particularly acute, Farnsworth said. Stewart rose to prominence last year when he almost won the GOP nod for governor by championing Confederate monuments, railing against illegal immigrants, raffling off an assault weapon and attacking moderate Republicans for failing to fully back Trump. In the Senate race, he has shown unyielding support for Trump, boasting that his hard-line approach to illegal immigration in Prince William made him "Trump before Trump was Trump." "If Corey Stewart had presented himself as a more conventional Republican when he first entered statewide politics, he probably wouldn't have been noticed in the way he has as a more aggressive figure," Farnsworth said. "But getting known doesn't mean getting elected statewide. Those are two very different things." Stewart said the image he now wants to cast - "conservative, strong and stern" - can appeal to more moderate voters. At times, that has meant avoiding the kinds of controversies he once sought. This month, Stewart backed out of speaking at a Washington rally to support Trump after learning that several other scheduled speakers harbored white nationalist views. One - YouTuber Vincent James Foxx - has argued that the Trump administration should not hire African-Americans. "During the primary and the gubernatorial primary, we weren't as careful as we should have been with regard to the people who we were associating with," Stewart said. "I'm going to take responsibility for everything that happens in my campaign. The buck stops here. But it really angered me because I was getting in trouble for stuff that members of my campaign were doing." But it's hard for voters to know which Corey Stewart is authentic and which is manufactured, said Quentin Kidd, director of Christopher Newport University's Wason Center for Public Policy. Although he fired Fritsch, Stewart has not severed ties with Rick Shaftan, another adviser, who in his social media posts has called majority-black cities "s---holes" while bemoaning that the South lost the Civil War. "It doesn't say anything that voters should feel comfortable with," Kidd said. "I don't know how a moderated Corey Stewart would make amends for all of the things that the Corey Stewart that you and I know has said and done." The whole thing started with a fight at the Bustin' Loose nightclub. It was a late night, with lots of booze - and whispers of another man involved. When it was all said and done, Marquetta George ended up dead and bloodied on the side of the road. Eighteen years later, on Thursday night, her former boyfriend Daniel Acker was put to death for her murder. He always maintained his innocence but gave no final statement. He took one deep breath and kept his eyes closed the entire time, according to Texas prison officials. The 46-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., 14 minutes after the lethal dose began. Acker's execution was the state's second in as many nights - and the 10th here this year. The Sulphur Springs man was convicted of strangling his 32-year-old girlfriend and pushing her from a moving car, according to court records. But for years, Acker and his defense team have argued that he didn't kill George and that her death was an accident after she jumped out of a moving car. "This is a real tragedy," defense lawyer A. Richard Ellis told the Chronicle earlier in the week. "Daniel Acker is innocent, this was a tragic accident not a homicide, yet the courts are not listening." At the time of the slaying in March 2000, Acker and George were sharing a rented trailer in Hopkins County. The night of George's death, the troubled couple started fighting at the bar - and he bluntly commented that he was going to kill her, according to court records. PRISON GUARD CHARGED: Guard implicated after inmate who spit on him died Later, Acker got kicked out of the club, while George went home with another man, a bouncer named Calico. But in the wee hours of the morning, Acker went out looking for her, scouring the town all night and even stopping at her mother's house. While there, he told the woman's mother that it was OK if she'd stayed out the night alone. But, he added, "if I find out she was with anybody, I'm going to kill 'em." He didn't get back to his trailer till around 10 a.m., and George showed up about an hour later. Acker wanted to find out if she'd cheated, so he violently forced his girlfriend into his truck and tried bringing her Calico's house for a confrontation. But the two never made it. Instead, George ended up on the side of the road dead. Prosecutors argued that Acker strangled her then tossed her from the truck - and a jury agreed. But Acker has consistently said that his girlfriend leaped from the vehicle - as she'd done before - and was killed in the process. Afterward, Acker didn't hide; he flagged down police himself. "From the day he turned himself in, Daniel has said the victim jumped from his truck, and he has consistently expressed remorse for abducting her," Ellis said. "The state has to date had three differing versions of his guilt, the two latest of which are inconsistent with the facts and testimony presented to the jury at his trial." During the appeals process, the state stepped back from the strangulation theory, but still maintained Acker killed his girlfriend. "Acker had no motive to do this," Ellis said. "He didn't have the physical ability to strangle her while he was driving." In appeals, defense counsel brought up claims of earlier bad lawyering and "massively flawed" post-conviction proceedings, and argued that prosecutors used false testimony from experts and repeatedly changed their theory of the crime. This week, the parole board denied his request for clemency. As of Thursday morning, his last hope for reprieve was an appeal in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that he shouldn't be executed based on a theory of the crime abandoned only after his conviction. The state disagreed. "Acker's assertions of innocence dispute only the victim's cause of death, which the jury determined was strangulation, blunt-force injury, or a combination of the two," state attorneys wrote in their response filing. "Acker produces no new evidence showing he did not commit the crime but continues to assert that George's death resulted from her leap from the vehicle a theory rejected by the jury at the time of trial." Acker's scheduled execution comes a day after Troy Clark was put to death by lethal injection. The Tyler man, who maintained his innocence even in his final statement, was convicted of drowning his former housemate and stuffing her body into a barrel of lime. The last time two convicted killers were executed in two days was in 2012, when the state put to death Ramon Hernandez of Bexar County and Preston Hughes, from Harris County. Hughes, who also professed his innocence with his final words, was convicted in the stabbing deaths of two children. As of now, another eight executions are on the calendar in Texas, including two scheduled in early 2019. Improvements at a pair of East End railroad crossings that will allow trains to pass without sounding their horns could take up to two years to finish, according to a plan approved this week by the Houston City Council. The move, nonetheless, puts the city on track to eliminate what has proven a major headache for some residents living along the Union Pacific rail line. A federal rule requires trains to blow their horns as a warning at road crossings, but allows local governments to silence the horns if they install certain safety measures, such as barriers to prevent motorists from driving around lowered railroad gates, to create quiet zones. The councils action on Wednesday gives the green light to use already allocated funds to put in new or upgraded circuitry to warn people of approaching trains at the Canal and Navigation street crossings. Those quiet zones are among eight East End crossings for which City Council appropriated $1.7 million in 2011. "We're excited," said District I Councilman Robert Gallegos. "Being that I was born and raised there in the East End, I hear trains all the time. It's not going to solve the problems of the trains blocking the intersections, but at least we don't have to hear them as often." Circuitry at four of the crossings already has been upgraded or installed: Union Pacific paid for upgrades at the Milby crossing, and a Texas road project funded crossings at Lockwood, Dumble and Altic. The crossing upgrades approved Wednesday cost about $1.1 million. The council this week was to consider funding the remaining $650,000 needed to complete the four jobs, but two of those, for the crossing at Harrisburg and Hughes, were pulled from Wednesday's agenda. Gallegos, who has supported the quiet zone effort since he was a civic club president prior to his 2013 election, said he has been told the work will be completed within two years of the funding being allocated. Jeff DeGraff, a Union Pacific spokesman, said the company works as efficiently as possible, but also has many other projects in the area and must decided where to use its resources. I know sometimes schedules and timelines dont always match up. But we have a lot of things we have to coordinate to get this done, DeGraff said. In this case, Union Pacific expects to finish construction in less than 18 months, DeGraff said. Steve Parker, former president of the Greater Eastwood/Lawndale/Wayside super neighborhood, said he has been working for about the last 20 years to install quiet zones in the area. The Federal Railroad Administration tested the safety of 203 quiet zones established nationwide from 2005 to 2011, and found no significant difference in collisions before and after the zones were established. So far, residents have welcomed the quiet zones that already exist, Parker said. You have four, five, six trains that come through every night, and these are some of the busiest train tracks in this region, he said. Constituents in Eastwood often ask about the third phase of the project and an elderly couple who would benefit from the first phase inquires about it every time he sees them at events, Gallegos said. His office expects the Harrisburg and Hughes crossings will return to the council agenda next week. jasper.scherer@chron.com | Twitter: @jaspscherer Dan Crenshaw and Todd Litton, the Republican and Democratic nominees in Texas 2nd Congressional District, staked out different views on how to reform immigration, health care and gun laws in a Wednesday evening debate that avoided personal attacks but established a gulf in their ideologies. The two hopefuls are seeking to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, a longtime Republican lawmaker, during an election cycle that has seen some Democrats and Republicans move away from the political center. Litton, the former director of an education nonprofit, got behind legislation requiring universal background checks on firearm purchases, rejected President Trumps vision of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and said Texas was leaving billions of dollars on the table by not expanding access to Medicaid. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Fletcher and Culberson go on the attack in Houston congressional race But he rebuffed some issues adopted by many first-time Democratic candidates this election cycle, such as Medicare for All, free tuition at public colleges and the idea of abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL, laid out a vision of staunch fiscal conservatism, and defended Trumps border wall with the caveat that it could not cover every single inch of the border. He disagreed with Littons claim that people would find ways to pass under or over the wall, citing his own experience in the Navy. The debate, hosted by ABC 13 and Univison 45 at the University of Houston-Downtown, included a separate face-off between state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, and Phillip Aronoff, the Republican opposing her in the race for Rep. Gene Greens seat. Green, D-Houston, is retiring after representing the 29th Congressional District since 1993. He won re-election in 2016 by more than 48 perecentage points. The 2nd District includes parts of West Houston, goes to the northern Harris County line and also stretches east to Humble and Atascocita. It is considered a competitive race that generally leans Republican by single digits. Crenshaw and Litton, fielding student questions, disagreed on the impact of universal background checks, with Crenshaw arguing that such a measure is just trying to stop you from transferring weapons to family and friends. He disagreed with Democrats who want to ban assault rifles, too. Todd didnt say this, but some Democrats want to ban AR-15s, Crenshaw said. But will it feel good, or will it do good, when less than 2 percent of gun deaths are a result of ARs? Litton indicated he would be open to compromise on the matter of banning assault rifles, but said the loophole that allows people to buy guns through private transactions without undergoing background checks should be closed. SWING DISTRICT: Rep. Sarah Davis fighting to retain seat again this time against Democrat Allison Sawyer When asked about the issue of college tuition affordability, Litton stopped short of promising free college for everybody, instead offering the idea of expanding access to national service programs like AmeriCorps, which could then fund a year or two of college. Meanwhile, Crenshaw supported putting federally subsidized loans toward vocational training not just college as a way to encourage students to go through programs with proven outcomes. He said he could not support more federal funding to subsidize college in general because its not sustainable. I dont think its responsible for me, as somebody going into government, to tell everybody that were going to pay for all your college, he said. Because then I have to say how Im going to pay for it. And is that really fair? Both candidates agreed they provide a clear choice for voters on most issues. We need to give voters that contrast. I think theres a pretty clear ideological contrast between the current Democrat and Republican Party, Crenshaw said after the debate. He added that Litton has avoided taking stances on things, particularly on how to provide border security. I think Dan and I have very different views on a lot of things. I think voters are going to have a clear choice to make, Litton said, though he added that they found common ground on their desire to secure the border. During the debate, Litton said the border should be secured in a way thats cost effective and makes real sense, with more agents and secure technology. In the race to replace Rep. Green, Aronoff, a consultant who's served in various governmental roles, went on the offensive against Garcia, calling her a "career politician" and accusing her of "cronyism and mismanagement." He said she would have voted against last year's Republican tax overhaul, which he strongly supports. Garcia, touting Green's endorsement, said she's stayed in office "to serve people, not politics, and not profits." She's served as Houston city controller, Harris County commissioner and, since 2013, in the Texas Senate. "My entire career has been about public service because of my passion for helping people," she said. "My biggest priority has, and always will be, about creating jobs." jasper.scherer@chron.com | Twitter: @jaspscherer Investigators with Harris County Precinct 1 Constable's Office have narrowed down one at least possible suspect involved a rash of bike thefts over the last several months in the Midtown area, according to Precinct 1 spokesman Kevin Quinn. RELATED: Copper wire stealing suspect caught on camera in Montgomery County Around 30 of those bike thefts occurred last weekend at the Metro Midtown apartment complex in the 2300 block of Bagby Street, Quinn said. Another 35 were reported over the previous four months in the area, he said. He said some of the bikes have been located at pawn shops. The suspect also used a similar method of operation in the first 35 bike thefts, but police aren't ready to rule out other suspects. "At this point, we don't have any further clarity on that," Quinn said. Multiple residents have posted about the thefts in a Facebook group, "Stolen Bike Search Houston." In surveillance images one person posted on Sept. 10, a man with a goatee and a backpack can be seen stealing a bike from inside a garage. RELATED: Man shot with prostitute in truck during attempted robbery, police say In another earlier post on August 6, a man with a goatee was seen riding away with a bike near Capital and Live Oak. The Precinct 1 Constable's Office is asking bike theft victims to report the crimes to 713-755-5200. Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message. Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com The Houston firefighter who has been charged with sexual assault knew the alleged victim since grade school and dated her at one point, according to a Houston police arrest affidavit. RELATED: Houston firefighter charged with sexual assault Henry Jose Cuellar, 25, was formally charged with sexual assault Monday. He was booked into Harris County Jail the following day, where he posted his $40,000 bond. He had been working for the city's fire department since January, according to department spokeswoman Sheldra Brigham. The department, she said, was conducting an internal investigation into the matter, and he has been transferred out of the emergency operations division. She declined to say where he was transferred to. According to the arrest affidavit, the assault occurred after the victim met Cuellar, her cousin and other friends at a bar Sept. 9 in the 9600 block of North Sam Houston Parkway in Humble. Later than night, someone drove both the victim and Cuellar to the victim's cousin's apartment. There, the cousin placed her in the guest room and shut the door. She had been fully clothed at that point, the affidavit said . The cousin last saw Cuellar sleeping on the couch in the living room next to the guest room where the victim slept, the affidavit said. Later, around 6 a.m., the victim told police she woke up naked and on her stomach. She said she remembers Cuellar on top of her and sexually assaulting her, the document states. She told police she didn't know where she was at first. When she regained consciousness, she blurted out "Where am ? Where's my phone ? Where are my keys?," according to the affidavit. RELATED: Texas Senate waits while UT investigates sexual harassment claims against Sen. Schwertner She then put her clothes on and drove her truck home. The affidavit said she sought a sexual assault examination at a local hospital, where a forensic reporter revealed evidence of a possible sexual assault, the affidavit said. When police met with Cuellar, he said he did not remember leaving the bar that night because he was intoxicated. He said he remembered waking up in his underwear with the woman naked. Cuellar said during a probable cause hearing Wednesday that he was not a U.S. citizen. He said he was from El Salvador, and a court-appointed attorney said he had lived in the area for about 10 years. The judge issued a protective order against Cuellar, ordering him not to contact the victim or go within 200 feet of her home or workplace. Records show Cuellar appeared at an arraignment hearing again Thursday morning. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 19. His case has been assigned to Judge Herb Ritchie's 337th Judicial District Court. Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message. Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com A store clerk accused of possessing illegal gambling equipment is on the run, wanted in connection with a month-long undercover operation north of Houston. Jason Dao, 24, is accused of helping run an illegal gambling parlor inside a business in the 9400 block of North Houston Rosslyn Road. He is currently wanted by law enforcement, according to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office. COURT DOCUMENTS: Houston firefighter accused of raping childhood friend after night at bar Roberta Davis, 42, was arrested earlier this week in connection with the same case after the constable's office's investigation, according to court documents. Deputies received complaints from the public about the illegal parlor in early August, court documents show. An undercover deputy entered the parlor and played a series of video games later that month and again in mid-September. The deputy won $60 during his August trip and $25 on his second trip, according to an affidavit. Authorities were able to secure arrest warrants for both Davis and Dao shortly after the investigation. Davis was arrested and has already bonded out while Dao is still on the run. During a search warrant raid at the business Wednesday, deputies seized nearly 50 illegal gambling devices and more than $5,000 in illicit gambling revenue, according to the constable's office. More Information Suspect sought after illegal Houston-area gambling room raid See More Collapse Both suspects are facing up to a year in jail on a class-A misdemeanor possession of gambling equipment charge. Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com Kristen Anderson milled around a common area at the University of Houston Law Center, joining several students who had just been glued to the TV for the first testimony about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Anderson watched the hearing on her laptop as Christine Blasey Ford testified that she is 100 percent certain that Kavanaugh was the assailant who sexually assaulted her at a gathering in high school. EMOTIONAL: Social media reacts to Christine Blasey Ford's testimony Against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, Fords testimony only gives Anderson hope that sexual assault issues will start to be taken seriously in the public arena, she said. Its uplifting, she said. It shows that this type of behavior isnt always boys just want to be boys, but it can be something that comes back. THE NOMINEE'S PERSPECTIVE: Kavanaugh says Dems' actions have hurt his life Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing looms as he faces several allegations that he sexually assaulted women while he was in high school and college. Ford, a California psychology professor, says that the assault took place 35 years ago, when she was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17. She says they were both at a gathering when he lay on top of her, pressing his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming, and fumbled with her clothes in a drunken attempt to remove them. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, and was set to respond in the hearing at 2 p.m. TWITTER REACTS: Anger at Chuck Grassley dominates Jack DiSorbo, a second-year law student, said he never had an aversion to Kavanaugh before Blasey presented her account. But any vote on Kavanaugh's appointment should wait until these allegations are settled, he said. We just need to clear up whats going on, DiSorbo said. If these allegations come to light and are true, then he shouldnt be on the court. WASHINGTON (AP) It'll be a snapshot of the state of the union. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday turns on the credibility of its two star witnesses, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says he sexually assaulted her. DETAILS: What we know about the Kavanaugh allegations But there is much more electrifying the atmosphere in the cramped hearing room and the nation beyond the cameras. Allegations by other women. Death threats against the witnesses' families and lawmakers considering the testimony. President Donald Trump's Twitter rants. The #MeToo movement and the looming Nov. 6 midterm elections. And a critical question that can't be immediately answered: Can Senate Republicans get a 51-49 majority in Kavanaugh's favor? Even Trump, Kavanaugh's patron, says he could be swayed by Ford's testimony. "We have lit a match," said retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a frequent Trump critic. "Do we appreciate how close the powder keg is?" See a guide to viewing the spectacle in the slideshow above. Testifying to a bitterly divided Senate committee and a transfixed nation, Bay Area professor Christine Blasey Ford said Thursday she is 100 percent sure that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when the two were teenagers 36 years ago an allegation the judge decried angrily as a plot by Democrats and a national disgrace. The daylong hearing was combative, with neither side backing away from their conflicting versions of past events. Republicans said they would hold a committee vote Friday morning though the outcome remained uncertain after a key member expressed doubts following testimony. A full Senate vote could happen early next week. The hearing came as the nation comes to terms with dozens of sex harassment and assault scandals and a #MeToo backlash from survivors who have their own stories. And it brought back memories but also stood in contrast to the 1991 hearings on Anita Hills sexual harassment complaint against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Holding back tears, Ford testified Thursday that she vividly recalls Kavanaugh and a friend drunkenly laughing while she was pinned to a bed. The laughter, uproarious laughter between the two of them and their having fun at my expense is her strongest recollection of the day in 1982, Ford said, her voice breaking at times, that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed while his friend Mark Judge stood nearby. Kavanaugh, who spoke angrily for much of his testimony, also appeared near tears at times as he described the impact of the 11th-hour allegations. My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed, he said. He mentioned the possibility of rejection for a nomination that had seemed assured before Fords allegations surfaced last week. You may defeat me in the final vote, but youll never get me to quit, he told committee Democrats. At stake in the dueling accounts is a critical seat on the closely divided court. Trumps nomination of Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge since 2006, to succeed the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy had seemed to be headed toward confirmation in a Senate with a 51-49 Republican majority before Fords allegations surfaced this month. The next justice could determine the courts direction on issues such as abortion, environmental regulation, minority rights and presidential powers. President Trump tweeted his support for his nominee as the hearing wrapped up: Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote! A potentially significant political development occurred at the end of the hearing, when Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, the only Republican committee member yet to declare his support of the nominee, said that both Ford and Kavanaugh had presented compelling testimony and there was doubt and uncertainty going out of this room. Senate Republican leaders agreed to the one-day hearing after Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University, told her congressional representatives that Kavanaugh had tried to rape her at a gathering of teens in Maryland, when he was 17 and she was 15. At least three other women have since accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in the 1980s and 1990s, but Republicans allowed only Ford to testify and rejected her requests to call supporting witnesses or seek an FBI investigation. In 3 hours of testimony, Ford, 51, said she did not remember every detail of the events but vividly recalled her assailants enjoying themselves. They were laughing with each other. I was underneath one of them while the two laughed, two friends having a really good time, she said. Kavanaugh moved from anger to near tears in a 45-minute opening statement he composed Wednesday, scrapping a brief prepared statement he had released earlier in the day. When Democratic attacks at his first confirmation hearing two weeks ago went nowhere, he said, some of you were lying in wait with a long series of last-minute smears. I am innocent of this charge, and have never had any physical or sexual contact with Ford, a person he does not remember, Kavanaugh said. He said a detailed calendar he has kept of his activities since 1980 contained no indication that he been at a weekend party in the time or place described by Ford. And three people described by Ford as present at the party have declared, under oath, that they recall no such event, Kavanaugh said. Ford, asked about their denial earlier in the hearing, said two of those people, a man and a woman, had not been in the room at the time of the attack she described and had no reason to recall the party, and the third was Judge, Kavanaughs friend and alleged accomplice. Kavanaugh batted away repeated questions about his drinking in high school and college, saying he worked hard in school and sports and got into Yale Law School. He also rejected the notion that he disparaged the name of a girl he knew in high school in his yearbook post. The committees 11 Republicans, all men, avoided the appearance of a male-vs.-female spectacle like the Anita Hill hearings. They delegated questioning of Ford to Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, who chipped away at a few of the accusers details but left her overall testimony unshaken. Questioned by Mitchell, Ford acknowledged saying different things to a Washington Post reporter and her representatives, Rep. Anna Eshoo and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, about when the alleged attack occurred and how many people were at the party. She also said she often travels by plane despite having expressed reluctance to travel to Washington for the hearing because of a fear of flying. She acknowledged that Feinsteins office had recommended one of her lawyers and said someone else may have paid for her lie-detector test, which she passed. But she rejected suggestions by several Republicans, including Trump aides, that she had mistaken someone else for Kavanaugh. Asked by Feinstein, the committees ranking Democratic member, how she could be sure that Kavanaugh was the person who lay on top of her and covered her mouth when she tried to call for help, Ford said, The same way Im sure Im talking to you. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said she found Fords account particularly credible because of her own experience prosecuting sex crimes. Trauma, shame and fear of consequences almost always cause survivors to delay reporting (sexual assaults), if they report at all, Harris said. She called Ford a true profile in courage and noted that Ford, but not Kavanaugh, had urged the committee to call outside witnesses and seek an FBI investigation of the incident. During Kavanaughs testimony, several Republicans attacked Democrats treatment of the nominee. Youre right to be angry, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told Kavanaugh, describing the allegations as uncorroborated and unfair. I cant think of a more embarrassing scandal for the United States since the McCarthy hearings. This is going to destroy the ability of good people to come forward because of this crap, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, opened the hearing by blaming Democrats for prolonging the proceedings and delaying Kavanaughs confirmation vote. He noted that Feinstein received Fords letter on July 30 but did not disclose it until the Washington Post reported it Sept. 13, not mentioning it while the senators met with Kavanaugh in August. Democrats were determined to obstruct (the) nomination by any means necessary, Grassley said. He said the committee could have kept Fords identity confidential while looking into her claims. Feinstein replied that Ford had asked her to keep her letter confidential. She noted that Republicans summoned Ford to a hearing 36 hours after learning about her letter, later agreeing to postpone it by a few days. What I find most inexcusable is this rush to judgment, Feinstein said. Too often womens memories and credibility come under assault. They are put on trial. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelko A brief, handwritten note left for Christine Blasey Ford in the Senate Judiciary Committee room ahead of her testimony Thursday caused some to speculate about its author and potential double meaning. The words, "Good luck, Dr. Ford," could be seen written on Senate stationery placed on the witness table in a photo released by the media Wednesday afternoon. An article and subsequent tweet by ABC News initially attributed the note to Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) after an aide allegedly told a reporter that it was penned by the senator. ALSO: Kavanaugh confronts new allegations while GOP presses nomination Grassley's staffers later followed up with ABC News after photos of the note were posted to social media, and corrected the news organization, saying the note was not written by Grassley. Since that time, no one else has stepped forward to claim authorship of the note. Before Grassley's staffers sent out a correction, however, supporters of Ford took the note to be an intimidating one, given the interactions between the two before Wednesday. Last week, Ford asked for more time to decide on whether she'd testify on her allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, which Grassley granted. The senator then notably complained about the deadline extension on Twitter, writing, "Five times now we hv granted extension for Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w her desire stated one wk ago that she wants to tell senate her story Dr Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear ur testimony. Come to us or we to u." On Wednesday, as new accusations against Kavanaugh came out, Grassley affirmed that the testimony by Ford would continue Thursday as scheduled. ALSO: Trump says his past accusers influence thinking on Kavanaugh Others took the scrawled sentence to be a note of support for Ford, who will be facing intensive questioning over an alleged sexual assault that took place when she and Kavanaugh were teenagers in the early 1980s. In her allegations, Ford stated that during a party, Kavanaugh laid on top of her and tried to undress her, while pressing his hand over her mouth, before another teen, Mark Judge, apparently jumped on them both and allowed Ford a chance to flee the house where the incident took place. Whatever the intent of the letter was may remain a mystery, however, whether it be encouraging or intimidating: The note was later removed. Read Dianne de Guzman's latest stories and send her news tips at ddeguzman@sfchronicle.com. Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news. Express Entry is now the main source of permanent residence applications for economic immigration to Canada Express Entry: How Canadas main economic immigration system has evolved over 100 draws Express Entry is now the main source of permanent residence applications for economic immigration to Canada Express Entry: How Canadas main economic immigration system has evolved over 100 draws Express Entry is now the main source of permanent residence applications for economic immigration to Canada Express Entry: How Canadas main economic immigration system has evolved over 100 draws Express Entry is now the main source of permanent residence applications for economic immigration to Canada Stephen Smith Eman Katem Noah Turner Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A Canadas Express Entry economic immigration selection system has come a long way since its introduction in January 2015. Express Entry manages the pool of candidates for Canadas main economic immigration categories Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class and has now issued more than 213,000 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence over the course of 100 draws, a milestone that it reached this week. Candidates are given a score based on Express Entrys Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and the highest-ranked are drawn from the pool through invitation rounds that take place roughly every two weeks. Those drawn are issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) and have 60 days to submit a complete application for Canadian permanent residence to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). IRCC says 80 per cent of applications are processed in six months or less. The Express Entry pool is now the main source of permanent residence applications for the economic immigration category of IRCCs Multi-Year Immigration Levels Plan, which was introduced in November 2017. Total admissions to Canada through Express Entry (principal applicants and family members) have grown substantially year-over-year since the systems inception, from 9,800 in 2015 to 33,415 in 2016 and 65,420 in 2017. IRCC says Express Entry admissions for the current year stood at 61,710 as of July 31. Canada has a target of 74,900 admissions for 2018 through the three economic immigration categories managed by Express Entry. This target will increase to 81,400 in 2019 and 85,800 in 2020 under the Multi-Year Levels Immigration Plan. To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, fill out a free assessment. Growing focus on human capital Since Express Entrys introduction in 2015, the Government of Canada has introduced a number of important innovations to ensure the system meets the countrys economic immigration priorities. Those changes culminated this year with IRCCs new, more standardized approach to Express Entry invitation rounds. A key indicator of Express Entrys evolution over its first 100 draws are the occupations of those who have received an ITA. In its first two years of operation, Food Service Supervisors and Cooks figured among the top five occupations of those invited through Express Entry. In 2017, Food Service Supervisors dropped to 14th place and Cooks ranked 28th. The top five occupations in 2017 were Information Systems Analysts and Consultants, Software Engineers, Computer Programmers and Interactive Media Developers, Financial Auditors and Accountants and Administrative Assistants. Top 5 occupations of ITA recipients (2015-2017) Rank 2015 2016 2017 1 NOC 6311 Food service supervisors NOC 2171 Information Systems Analysts and Consultants NOC 2171 Information systems analysts and consultants 2 NOC 6322 Cooks NOC 2173 Software Engineers NOC 2173 Software engineers 3 NOC 2171 Information Systems Analysts and Consultants NOC 2174 Computer Programmers and Interactive Media Developers NOC 2174 Computer programmers and interactive media developers 4 NOC 2173 Software Engineers NOC 6322 Cooks NOC 1111 Financial auditors and accountants 5 NOC 2174 Computer Programmers and Interactive Media Developers NOC 6311 Food Service Supervisors; NOC 1241 Administrative assistants This shift in the occupations of those invited through Express Entry corresponded with the Government of Canadas decision in November 2016 to reduce the number of CRS points awarded for a Canadian job offer, from 600 to either 50 or 200 (depending on the position). A job offer is not required in order to be eligible for Express Entry, but the additional points that a candidate receives for one improves their chances of an ITA. In its 2017 Year-End Report on the Express Entry system, IRCC said the reduction of points awarded for a job offer was introduced to rebalance the CRS towards candidates working in higher skilled fields. The change, IRCC noted, now ensures that candidates with qualifying arranged employment need a sufficiently high core CRS to receive an invitation. A candidates core CRS score is based on so-called human capital factors that include age, proficiency in English and French, education, and work experience. Together, these factors can be worth up to 600 points. Candidates in the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) have been the main beneficiaries of this refocusing of Express Entry in favour of core human capital. According to IRCC statistics, ITAs issued to FSWC candidates rose from 8,332 in 2016 to 41,364 in 2017 an increase of nearly 400 per cent. Invitations issued to CEC candidates more than doubled, rising from 15,102 in 2016 to 35,020 in 2017. Prior to the November 2016 modifications to the CRS, 45 per cent of all candidates who received an ITA had a core CRS score under 400. This figure dropped to 11 per cent after IRCCs targeted CRS improvements were introduced. That trend has continued in 2018 with minimum CRS scores for all-program draws ranging from a low of 440 to a high of 456. Of the 20 draws held so far in 2018, 14 have had CRS minimum scores between 440 and 444. Nonetheless, IRCC said earlier this year that it would like to go deeper into the Express Entry pool in order to get at the vast talent with scores below the current cut-offs. IRCC has done so in the past and has reduced the CRS minimum as low as 413. Canadas larger admissions targets for 2019 and 2020 through Express Entry could make this stated desire to go deeper into the the Express Entry pool a possibility, as could IRCCs introduction of large, standardized draws this year. Whereas draw sizes fluctuated wildly over Express Entrys first three years ranging from a low of 750 ITAs to a high of 3,923 IRCC established a base of 2,750 ITAs over the first two draws of 2018 and then ramped up steadily by increments of 250 or 500 roughly every eight weeks, reaching 3,900 ITAs on September 5. To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, fill out a free assessment. Express Entry-linked PNPs offer hope Another development that may give Express Entry candidates with scores under 440 new hope is the expansion of Express Entry-linked immigration options at the provincial level. Nine Canadian provinces and two territories have a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) that allows them to nominate a set number of immigration candidates for permanent residence every year. Each PNP has at least one enhanced nomination stream that is linked to the Express Entry system and allows the province or territory to nominate Express Entry candidates. A candidate in the Express Entry pool who receives a nomination from a Canadian province or territory obtains 600 additional CRS points and is prioritized for an ITA for Canadian permanent residence. Last year, Canada admitted 13,528 Express Entry candidates with a provincial nomination and their family members, an increase of nearly 75 per cent over the previous year. Canadas admission targets through PNPs are set to further increase over the next three years. The roster of Express Entry-linked PNPs has grown this year with the creation of Express Entry streams in Alberta and Manitoba, the addition of Nova Scotias Labour Market Priorities Stream and improvements to Prince Edward Island (PEI)s existing Express Entry Stream. PEIs Express Entry Stream allows eligible Express Entry candidates to submit an Expression of Interest to the province. No job offer and no connection to the province is required in order to receive an invitation to apply for a provincial nomination. Nova Scotias Labour Market Priorities Stream allows the province to recruit Express Entry candidates with specified work experience in areas where local labour shortages have been identified. The streams first invitations were issued August 8 to Express Entry candidates with eligible work experience as early childhood educators and assistants. The Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) says a candidates CRS score is not a selection factor for the Labour Market Priorities Stream. The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) says its new Express Entry Stream targets candidates who have strong ties to Alberta and who can support the provinces economic development and diversification priorities. Manitobas new Express Entry Pathway invites Express Entry candidates with work experience in one of the provinces in-demand occupations and the support of a close friend or family member to submit an Expression of Interest to the province. In another recent development, the province of Ontario announced a new approach to the required CRS minimum for its Express Entry-aligned Human Capital Priorities Stream. Under its previous selection criteria, a minimum CRS score of 400 was required. Now, the minimum score will be determined by the director of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program in accordance with the provinces economic needs and other factors. The change followed a series of invitation rounds through the Human Capital Priorities Stream that saw the CRS minimum drop to 350 for Express Entry candidates with a job offer in Ontario and 351 for those with advanced French language proficiency. To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, fill out a free assessment. The CRS Calculator The CRS Calculator allows you to find out what your score would be under the CRS. Tips for improving your CRS score There are a number of ways Express Entry candidates may be able to improve their ranking. Visit this dedicated page to learn strategies for improving your CRS score. 2018 CICNews All rights Reserved Sanjay Brahmawar spent his first six weeks as CEO of Software AG touring the world to meet colleagues and customers. What he saw convinced him the companys core integration capabilities are key to enterprise digital transformation. On his way from Sydney, Australia, to the companys headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, he stopped in Paris, where CIO.com caught up with him. In the following discussion, edited for publication, Brahmawar talks about why digital transformation is a career-defining opportunity for CIOs, what skills liberal arts graduates can bring to software development, and why one of the hottest internet searches for Software AG is for its Bangalore office address. CIO.com: When Software AG was founded, its name said what it did. What business is it in today? Sanjay Brahmawar: Its interesting you said when Software AG was founded because before I started I went to meet our founder, Dr. Schnell, who is 80 years old now, and he was reminiscing about how when he started the business, and he told me, In 1969, Sanjay, nobody knew what software was, it was all hardware,' and he decided to go where the market was, which was in the U.S., and he was there, driving around going to companies and talking to them about software. I think theres a lot of heritage and a lot of pride we can have in where we started from. I mean, how many companies that started in 1969 working in software are still alive? Theres none, literally. And we are alive because we have a foundation that has a 33 percent stake, and has obviously protected us in some ways, but also the fact that we have been able to reinvent ourselves. ABC chairman Justin Milne has fallen on his sword over his attempts to seek the sacking of ABC reporters whose work had been criticised by the Federal Government. Mr. Turnbull, who has lived in NY since he was ousted as prime minister on August 24, said on Thursday that while he had complained about the two reporters' journalism, he had never asked for them to be fired. "And on the face of it they're very concerning", Mr Morrison said. Senior members of the Coalition government have denied applying political pressure to the ABC leadership. The nearly century-old Australian Broadcasting Corporation is incredibly popular Down Under, with polls showing it is not just the most trusted news organization in the country, but also seen as a national treasure. "And it's clearly not a good thing for everyone to be trying to do their job with this kind of firestorm going on so I wanted to provide a release valve", he said. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said it would determine the facts and restore confidence in the national broadcaster. He said he had raised factual "inaccuracies" in ABC reporting, as with other commercial media, but said those complaints had never extended to pressure to fire a journalist. Milne resigned four days after he announced the sacking of managing director Michelle Guthrie. Questions about independence go to the way appointments are made to the board - a process that has been politicised by both major parties. Staff in Sydney called for Mr Milne to stand down from his chairman role until an investigation concluded. ABC's managing director Michelle Guthrie was sacked on Monday. Mr Milne indicated he "would be cooperating", Mr Fifield said. A statement from the ABC directors says the board would meet to decide on an acting chair. As the ABC itself explains: "The duty of the board is to ensure that the functions of the Corporation are performed efficiently with maximum benefit to the people of Australia, and to maintain the independence and integrity of the Corporation". Her comments come as former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull denied demanding Ms Guthrie sack chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici over her reporting. While Australia slept, Mr Turnbull was interviewed in NY, where he denied pressuring Mr Milne to sack reporters at the national broadcaster. Mr Milne was also said to have ordered Ms Guthrie to fire the broadcaster's political editor Andrew Probyn, telling her "you just have to shoot him", because Mr Turnbull hated him. Mr Turnbull says he did not ask for specific reporters to be axed. "I have never provided instructions that anybody should be sacked". "My concern has been purely about the accuracy and impartiality of news and current affairs reporting on the ABC". But Labor and the Greens are pushing for a Senate inquiry into Mr Milne's conduct, hoping to trigger it before federal parliament resumes in mid-October. "The rest of the board need to consider their positions", she told the ABC on Thursday. Kates fourth child was the one she never talked about. She and her boyfriend were living on the street in a town outside of Cincinnati, shooting heroin daily. We never felt my belly. We didnt talk about what he would look like or what we would name him, Kate recalls, Its not that it wasnt there but we just knew that this baby was not going to be ours. Child services had taken Kates three children from her to live with her mother. Though she had been abusing drugs off and on since her oldest child, now 11, was an infant, it took the state five years to terminate her custody. During that time, Kate was abusing Subutex and heroin, shoplifting and stealing checks from other peoples homes. The question one might ask after talking to Kate is: What took the authorities so long? Melinda Gushwa of the Simmons College School of Social Work worries about the answer to that question. Her analysis of child fatalities shows that child-welfare workers are not paying enough attention to parental substance abuse. The number one reason kids die is because of neglect. Its because the parents are impaired and not providing adequate supervision. Looking at the case notes after a fatality, Gushwa says, she always sees some variation of child was happy, healthy and well cared for. But the caseworker is not asking questions about the parents drug use, or when they last met with a counselor or went to a meeting. And the agencies that are supposed to be providing treatment do little follow-up. My research has shown most CPS (child protective services) workers say a death wasnt preventable, explains Gushwa. But when you go back, you can see all these red flags. Child-maltreatment fatalities have risen significantly in the United States, from 1,589 to 1,700 between 2016 and 2017 alone, according to a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Between one-third and two-thirds of substantiated child-abuse reports involve parental substance abuse. So why arent caseworkers asking more questionsor the right questionsin cases like Kates? And why arent they removing children from these homes much earlier? For some observers, the answer is simple: Kate is white. As a recent article in The Atlantic noted, Todays opioid epidemic presents a mostly-white face to the world, and the larger epidemic of despair tends to target communities in vaunted Middle America, as opposed to inner-city Baltimore and Detroit. . . . Instead of wide-scale carceral panics and schemes to imprison addicted mothers, the country has considered a public-health approach. Its true that child-welfare officials response to the opioid epidemic has differed from how they reacted to the crack epidemic, as reflected in the numbers of kids in foster care. That total reached 567,000 in 1990, during the crack scourge. And while it has climbed significantly during the opioid crisis, it is still only at 437,000 (even as the population of children under 18 rose by 15 percent between 1990 and 2017). But the disparity in reaction may have less to do with race than with a desire not to repeat what is broadly seen as an overreaction to the crack crisis. Martha Grace, retired chief justice of the Massachusetts Trial Courts Juvenile Department, remembers that there was supposed to be a nexus between crack cocaine babies and super-predators. The implication was that social workers should remove these children from their homes before they could become part of a growing wave of violent crime. Some crack-addicted mothers did indeed give birth to babies with severe neurological and organ damage. Such examples were sensationalized in the press, but by the 1990s, researchers became aware of the difficulties in interpreting the effects of crack on fetal development. Multiple factors affected the fetuses and young children of women who used crack, including consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, poor prenatal care, and inadequate nutrition. Isolating these effects from the influence of cocaine was impossible among the relatively small groups of women examined, who self-reported their own drug usage, offering low confidence of accuracy. Almost all reports were retrospective, meaning that only the worst cases came to attention; many crack babies were developmentally normal, though they were born already in withdrawal from the drug. Ideally, researchers would have data on a group of pregnant women followed over several months. In a now-classic 1992 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Yale child psychiatrist Linda Mayes outlined a larger array of interpretive complexities and concluded that there was an apparent rush to judgment about the extent and permanency of specific effects of intrauterine cocaine exposure on newborns. All of these factors have influenced the way that social workers today approach families with substance-abuse issues. But have we taken the lessons of the crack epidemic too far in assuming that kids can stay in homes with parents who abuse drugs? Its helpful to remember that many children of crack-addicted parents experienced direct abuse. Douglas Besharov, the first director of the U.S. National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, says that there was a consensus that crack made many users more violent. Besharov, who also served on the child-fatality review board in New York City during the epidemic, adds that the drug created really violent nasty behavior among many parents. In hindsight, Besharov says, its easy to say it wasnt that bad. Theres a lot of reinventing history. Gushwa notes that the long-term prospects for children in homes where their primary caretaker is abusing drugs or has a history of doing so should make caseworkers pause more often. What the research shows on substance use is that [addiction treatment] often doesnt take the first second or third time. It takes a lot of time to remain sober. And its impossible for many to retain sobriety. While drug use may not be prima facie evidence of child neglect, says Besharov, its not neutral information. Even if babies born exposed to drugs in utero do not have physical birth defects, they are still being sent home with parents who may not be capable of caring for them. These children are not getting the kind of nurturing love essential to proper social and intellectual development. Even worse, their parents may not be paying attention to their safety and well-being. In our quest to make up for past mistakes, we cant ignore these facts. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images Facing competitive races for reelection, several Republican members of Congress from New York have deployed racial critics say racist messages in their campaign ads. Rep. Chris Collins, a Republican incumbent in New Yorks 27th district, who was indicted on insider trading in early August, jumped back into his reelection bid this week with a television ad. Before his indictment, Collins was seen as a safe bet for reelection in his conservative district in the suburbs of Buffalo. Now, with a closer race and the albatross of criminal charges around his neck, Collins has gone negative. His racially-tinged campaign ad featured clips of his challenger Nate McMurray, speaking Korean. The clips of McMurray, whose wife is a naturalized citizen from South Korea, are drawn from a video McMurray released before a June summit between the United States and North Korea. McMurray hoped to show off his language skills and express hope for peace negotiations between South Korea and North Korea. Collins negative ad features captions such as worked to send jobs to China and Korea, while McMurray speaks Korean. However, The New York Times had the video translated and confirmed that McMurray did not mention jobs. The video also showed text accusing McMurray of creating more jobs for China and Korea, while including spliced-in photos of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The trade agreement that Collins is supposedly bashing McMurray for supporting was between the U.S. and South Korea, not North Korea or China. Collins implication that all Asian countries are an undifferentiated mass of sinister enemies was met with swift condemnation. On Monday, McMurray called the television ad xenophobic. On Tuesday, Rep Ted Lieu of California did not mince words when he tweeted at Collins, telling him to Take your racist ad and shove it. You are an embarrassment to the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, a campaign spokeswoman for the Collins campaign, Natalie Baldassarre, doubled down on the claims made in the ad. Another day, another tired and false attack from anti-Trump, liberal Democrats, she said. Nate McMurray and the Democrats are so embarrassed by his radical policies of lobbying to ship American jobs overseas, that they resort to the only tool in Nancy Pelosis playbook label everything you dont like as racist or bigoted. Collins controversial commercial comes on the heels of several other upstate Republicans making ads with xenophobic or other racially-coded appeals. In New Yorks 22nd Congressional District, Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney released a 30-second television advertisement in August featuring footage of large groups of immigrants implied to be crossing the U.S.-Mexican border and menacing images of tattooed Latino men. The ad shows a white mother comforting a young child while the narrator asserts that the Democrats immigration stance is putting families at risk. Love and Rage, a Utica-based activist collective with an alternative news website, argued that the threatening depiction of Latin American immigrants is racist fear-mongering. This is not Tenneys first foray into racially divisive politicking. In 2015, amid a dispute over a Utica hospital, Tenney drew the Oneida Indian Nations ire when she called a representative for the tribe, Ray Halbritter, Spray Tan Ray in a tweet. She justified the statement and claimed she knew for a fact he has a spray tan because she had researched his genealogy. The Oneida Nation said in a statement it was unacceptable for Tenney to use her office to publicly denigrate people on the basis of their skin color. The tribe spent heavily against her campaign in 2016. In April, Tenney renewed the feud with the tribe when she issued a statement that called Halbritter a tax cheat. In July, Tenneys campaign consultant Tim Edson sent a memo to her staff and volunteers warning them about safety concerns related to Tenneys Democratic opponent, Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, who is Italian-American, and his family connections. The memo outlined purported mob ties of Brindisis father. In September, an ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee was condemned online by political observers for using racist tropes about black men to oppose Antonio Delgado, an African-American lawyer running for Congress in New Yorks 19th Congressional District. Matt Bennett, the co-founder of centrist Democratic think tank Third Way called it despicable. The video ad features clips of Delgado campaigning interspersed with clips from a music video Delgado made during an earlier career as a rapper and ends with a photo of Delgado in a hooded sweatshirt. Delgado is running against Republican incumbent Rep. John Faso. In July, Faso told the Times that Delgados lyrics are offensive and inconsistent with the views of the people of the 19th District and America. Faso said, Its his responsibility as a candidate to answer for the controversial views he expressed in his lyrics and whether he continues to hold these views today. New York City Councilman Rory Lancman is officially launching his run for Queens district attorney, promising to bring progressive reforms to an office that has been run by the same prosecutor for more than a quarter century. The next election for the seat is scheduled for November 2019, with the Democratic primary, which is likely to determine the winner in the heavily blue county, in September that year. But there have been rumors for months that Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, who is 85 years old and in ailing health, could step down before the election. At the very least, there is pressure for him not to run for reelection, which would open up the seat for the first time since Brown was appointed in June of 1991. Brown hasnt even faced a challenger, winning a full term later in 1991 getting reelected every four years since then, but the office has come under more scrutiny recently from progressive Democrats in Queens who see criminal justice reforms happening in other boroughs, but not at home. One of the main critics has been Lancman, a 49-year-old city councilman from Central Queens. Lancman hasnt been shy in sharing his interest in the position, talking to a number of local news outlets over the last couple months and even engaging in a public debate with an assistant district attorney in the office over the fate of Rikers Island. Lancman is announcing his candidacy with a one-minute, 42-second campaign video, provided in advance to City & State. All across the country, progressive district attorneys are making real justice happen in their communities the kind of justice we deserve here in Queens, Lancman says in a voiceover of the video. While Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. have seemed to be locked in a competition of who can be the most progressive, instituting conviction review units and declining to prosecute on minor crimes like marijuana possession, the Queens office under Brown hasnt made similar changes sought by criminal justice reformers. Beyond the five boroughs, Lancman has cited newly-elected Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner as the inspiration for the progressive reforms he would institute. Lancman is also launching his campaign with the endorsement of Gwenn Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who was killed on Staten Island in 2014 after being put in a chokehold during an police stop. Carr appears in the video, making a plea to voters: I would tell the Queens community to please vote for Rory, because he stands for issues that we are most concerned about. Carr is black, and Lancman, who is white and Jewish, isnt shy about targeting voters of color. Hes also touting the early endorsement of Valerie Bell, whose son Sean Bell was killed by the NYPD in 2006, and the backing of four black pastors: Rev. Dr. Phil Craig, Rev. Calvin Rice, Rev. Mark S. Kellar and Bishop Erskine Williams. Almost every person who appears in Lancmans video is a person of color as well. I am unapologetic about decrying the racism that permeates the criminal justice system, Lancman told City & State in an interview. And the people who bear the brunt of the broken criminal justice system that I want to fix are people of color. Lancmans early announcement may be an attempt to scare off potential challengers. Queens Borough President Melinda Katz could be interested in the position, as could Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak. Lancman seems well positioned, however he told City & State he had around $1 million in campaign funds. News highlights The Wellcome Trust has reported a data breach to the Charity Commission, the Information Commissioners Office and police after the email addresses of four staff members were compromised. The charity has launched a full investigation and has taken measures to prevent another incident. Read the full story. The amount raised by text donations is less than a third of previous estimates, the phone services regulator admitted, after a new analysis revealed it had made an "overestimation". The Phone-paid Services Authority said in its annual market review for the 2017/18 financial year yesterday that charity donations made by text had actually been only 37.5m in the most recent year, compared to an estimate of 124m. Read the full story. A Labour MP, Neil Coyle, has written to minister for civil society Tracey Crouch criticising the fees JustGiving charges during emergencies. He said the fundraising platform should be pressured to return the 500,000 it picked from the pockets of victims of terror and tragedy last year and that this should form part of discussions about explorations of ways to stop digital giving platforms from taking commission from Gift Aid, as first outlined by Treasury minister Robert Jenrick. Read the full story. Latest partnerships Samaritans and Torchbox Samaritans has appointed Torchbox to overhaul its website. The new site will launch in early 2019 and use the open-source content management system, Wagtail. Katie Colombus, assistant director, digital, brand and engagement at Samaritans, said: We need to deliver the right digital services to people who may be in crisis, are worried about somebody else or who want to learn more about mental health issues and suicide. We are also improving our volunteer recruitment journey and our digital products for potential donors. We will use digital technologies to facilitate better communication and new types of contact for people who need to talk. St John Ambulance and FleetCheck St John Ambulance is to start using fleet management software from FleetCheck to keep track of its 850 vehicles, which include four-by-fours, ambulances and mobile treatment centres. The move is part of a programme to centralise its fleet management to improve consistency across the charity. Mike Moore, national fleet manager, said: What we wanted to achieve was a national standard of legal compliance, and adopting fleet management software is a key element of that strategy. WaterAid and Access WaterAid has appointed Access as its global web development partner to grow the number of websites it runs. The charity operates in 35 countries and wants to expand the number of country sites that are tailored for regional needs from ten to nearly 50. Access will also expand the charitys existing websites. Temina Milovanovic, digital marketing and product lead for WaterAid, said: Our digital platform is a core element of our entire global operation, communicating the vital work we're doing as well as facilitating ongoing fundraising from all around the world. We launched a new Drupal website in the UK in 2017 and more Drupal sites are now being rolled out for the countries in which we work. The next phase is to further enhance the performance of the website, and develop new features that will bring our supporters closer to our work. Central YMCA and BoardPacks Central YMCA has started using BoardPacks software to distribute documents to trustees saving time and money on the costs of printing and posting briefings for trustees. Naomi da Silva, group project and governance manager, Central YMCA, said: It wasnt just cost savings by any means, but also efficiencies such as having a shared space where everyone could securely access the relevant board meeting materials, and how we could make everything more transparent. It has also helped the charity improve data protection. Da Silva added: BoardPacks means we can just direct people to the meetings via the app or the website instead of having to email anything confidential. This avoids all the security issues that can come with email, especially if a trustee is using an external email account, which are more vulnerable to breaches and being hacked. Insights Nominations for this years Social CEOs awards close tomorrow. Zoe Amar has shared some tips from last year's winners. Read her piece here. A data visualisiation competition organised by 360Giving has announced the winning entries, one of which revealed some hidden themes in charity funding. Read more here. Early bird rates for the Charity Technology Conference end tomorrow. For more information and to book click here. Many in the sector, me included, were shocked and saddened by Brexit, and what it would mean not just for ourselves, or the country, but for the causes and people the charity sector is there to serve. Yet with the Conservative government and Labour opposition committed to deliver it, the decision seemed final. Two years on the situation is different and I believe charities around the UK should support calls for a Peoples Vote on the final deal. This is why: We have always believed in evidence-based policy-making. How many times have we argued with national and local governments that they need to consider the evidence before making decisions? There was sparse evidence of what Brexit might mean in 2016. The debate consisted mostly of bold assertions, statements and hypotheses. We may not know all the facts now, but we know a lot more than we did two years ago. And when the final deal is done, people will at the very least have more clarity on what our future relationship with the EU would be. We voted once based on what we knew then; now we should support calls to vote again on what the final deal actually is. As Claire Wilkins from NPC sets out in her blog We Need to Talk About Brexit, the sectors views on Brexit have themselves also changed over the last two years, now identifying many more issues of significant impact. Charity Finance Groups updated Cost Benefit Analysis, suggests that Brexit will be bad for charities and bad for their beneficiaries. Even the governments own figures show the negative economic impact of leaving the EU. And recent research from Warwick Economics also shows a direct link between the areas that voted Leave and the areas that suffered the worst cuts. Cuts that many voluntary and community organisations argued against. Good governance It is good governance. The Charity Commission is clear how decisions should be made: make sure you are sufficiently informed, taking any advice you need take account of all relevant factors ignore any irrelevant factors So if a charity were making the decision, it would not be good governance for trustees to say We made this decision two years ago. We have more evidence now, but we are going to press ahead anyway. Integrity is a value shared across the sector. It is also one of the values set out in NCVOs draft Code of Ethics for charities. Yet we know that both sides played fast and loose with the facts in the referendum, whether the 350m a week on the Vote Leave battle bus, the suggestion that Turkey was about to become a full member of the EU, or the 4,300 a week for every household claim made by Project Fear. No-one can promise no unfounded assertions in a future Peoples Vote, but armed with more evidence, and with a clear deal to vote on, we can surely expect a higher level of integrity in the debate. Speak truth to power Expressing our true views on policies we care about. The new Civil Society Strategy makes it clear the government wants us to speak truth to power. Lets speak that truth. For example, the positive economic impact of migration is absolutely clear. What has become clearer is how reliant we are on European migrants contribution to our society in ways that affect the very social and economic fabric of our lives as nurses in the health service, fruit or vegetable pickers, and highly skilled workers in the tourist, finance, charity or commercial sectors. The views of the communities we work with have changed. With many of these factors becoming clear, views on Brexit are changing. Recent polling suggests that a majority of people would now not vote leave and that views in over 100 constituencies have changed. 'Democracy should be an ongoing process' Julia Unwin reflected previously on research showing the extent that some communities had been left behind, emphasising the need for voices from those communities to be heard, and the role of charities to help that happen. More recently, she made it clear how important it is for communities to be given more control, not just a greater sense of control. Many of these communities voted leave in 2016, but with polling showing those views have changed, organisations based in these areas, working closely with these communities, should get behind the Peoples Vote so that those communities can be heard once again. Democracy should be an ongoing process, rather than reflecting a stagnant moment in time. So with a greater understanding of the issues, ensuring we put out our own values into practice, and with views of communities in many areas of the country changing, I believe we can pursue our charitable objectives and help the communities we serve truly take back control by supporting calls for a Peoples Vote on the final deal. Peter Lewis is chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising. He writes in a personal capacity. Trump didn't offer any evidence during his remarks at the United Nations, but later he tweeted photos of a four-page advertising insert in the Sunday edition of the Des Moines Register that was paid for by China Daily, a Chinese state-run media. Trump, speaking in front of world leaders while chairing the United Nations Security Council for the first time, did not present evidence for his claim, which came amid an ongoing special counsel investigation into Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election and concerns that the November elections could also be vulnerable. Trump also slammed China during his address before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, calling the country out specifically for its trade practices and "market distortions", as he deemed the trade imbalance between the pair of economic powerhouses unacceptable. The US intelligence community concluded that Russian Federation interfered in the 2016 election with a covert social media campaign meant to help Trump win. The official said the activities had reached "an unacceptable level", but, beyond pointing to paid ads targeting districts that had voted for the president, declined to offer specifics on how they amounted to interference in the 2018 midterm elections. China's foreign minister shrugged when he heard Trump's statement via translation at the Security Council. "This is a tradition of Chinese foreign policy". "We advise the U.S. to stop this unceasing criticism and slander of China", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. Despite his tough talk, Mr Trump said he could envision relations with Iran moving along a similar "trajectory" as ones with North Korea. The White House did not identify Brussels as meddling in the elections. Bolton said that Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are the "four countries that we're most concerned about" when it comes to the 2018 elections. It didn't come out of nowhere. Trump was apparently referring to Pillsbury's interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News last month, in which he described Trump as "so smart" and said the USA leader was "playing three-dimensional chess with China". "The Chinese government uses all of the capabilities at their disposal to influence USA policies, spread propaganda, manipulate the media and pressure individuals, including students, critical of Chinese policies", he said. China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers due to their loyalty to me. They've actually admitted that they're going after farmers. President Donald Trump says he has rejected a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the tariff dispute involving the two countries. China has responded to Mr. Trump's tariffs by targeting higher duties on USA farm exports, hitting especially hard at Mr. Trump's GOP base in Midwestern and southern states. The new duties would add to tariffs the U.S. has already imposed on $50bn in Chinese goods as part of that dispute, as well as tariffs that China levied on $50bn in United States goods in retaliation. "Against my administration", he added. Asked if he could provide evidence of Chinese attempts to interfere in the mid-term elections, the president argued there is evidence but that his relationship with China's President Xi Jinping remains friendly. In response, Beijing recalled a navy chief from a visit to the U.S. and postponed military talks. He also called upon other countries to observe the same principle, citing the United Nations charter. Christine Blasey Fords testimony on her alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh, a nominee to the Supreme Court, which she is giving now before the Senate Judiciary Committee, is impressive and upsetting. In her opening statement this morning, she had an important message for reporters: the media had intimidated her into coming forward. Im terrified, Ford said at the start. After recounting the details of her assault, Ford talked about her decision to send a letter to Dianne Feinsteina senator from California, where Ford lives, and the ranking Democrat on the committeeand, anonymously, to The Washington Post. Fords intention was to notify the committee of her experience, in the hope, she said, that it would inform their decision. She aimed to be helpful. Much of what happened next was the product of the media. Reporters appeared at my home and at my job demanding information about this letter, including in the presence of my graduate students, Ford said. They called my boss and coworkers and left me many messages, making it clear that my name would inevitably be released to the media. It was unclear how journalists had identified her. According to the Washington Post story that outed Ford, on September 16, one of them was from BuzzFeed. I didnt want to go the media route, Ford said in the afternoonin response to a question demanding why she didnt give her story to The New York Timesbut the mounting pressure forced her hand. RELATED: NYT and The New Yorker were attacked for recent scoops On Twitter, Irin Carmon, a writer for New York magazine, pointed out that this is entirely ordinary practice in journalism. Indeed, reporters commonly infringe on the privacy of people who have experienced trauma. How many young journalists, having just arrived in their newsrooms, are told that knocking on the doors of shooting victims families and staking out the homes of people in crisis, however uncomfortable, is an essential part the jobeven a moment of professional passage? We are taught to push past the inevitable discomfort, to ignore the triggering of our internal barometers of empathy, and then to wear that feat as badge of honor. This, we are told, is part of what makes journalism not merely a job but a calling. Reporters tracking down Christine Blasey Ford at work and home were doing their job in an ordinary way, and yet when it comes to a sexual assault survivor, it's hard not to question whether ordinary is acceptable. Irin Carmon (@irin) September 27, 2018 Sign up for CJR 's daily email In the case of Ford, that approach contributed significantly to a campaign that pushed a victim of sexual assault to come forward in the most high stakes and public way possible. The impact of normal reporting tactics, twisted by those who wished to discredit her, became too much for Ford to bear. During the hearing, she said that the past two months have been the worst period of her life since she suffered the assault itself. After her name was revealed in the press, Ford found herself at the receiving end of harassment and death threats that came by email and phone. She was called vulgar names. Strangers posted her personal information on the internet. Just two days ago, Ford said, her work email was hacked, and messages were erroneously sent on her behalf recanting her description of assault. Her familyFord is a mother of two boyswas forced to leave their home in the company of security guards. The media is complicit in that response. Today, Ford described the replay of trauma she experienced as she watched her life picked apart on television news programs. As pundits speculated about her motives, they did harm not only to her, but, in their willful ignorance of research that tells why assaulted women do not speak up, an entire population. In particularly bad taste was an avalanche of coverage from right-wing outlets questioning her story before the testimony: everything from A Spectral Witness Materializes from The Wall Street Journal to a Fox News piece that called Fords story an ambush on Kavanaugh. While young women are standing up and saying, No more, our institutions have not progressed on how they treat women when they come forward, Feinstein said in her opening remarks. In essence, they are put on trial and forced to defend themselves, and often re-victimized in the process. RELATED: On the confessions of fallen men Despite the committees insistence that Thursdays hearing is merely a job interview for Kavanaugh, not a trial, it certainly feels like one: Rachel Mitchell, a prosecutor from Arizona, who was introduced by Senator Charles Grassley, the chairman of the committee, as an award-winning advocate of sex crime victims, was brought in to address both Ford and Kavanaugh. Mitchells handling of the senators questionspursuing answers in such extreme detail as to be designed to trip up the respondentfeels distinctly legal. Though she has been repeatedly interruptedGrassley has been a stickler for time limitsshe has managed to deploy classic deposition-style strategies. I have examined many witnesses, deposition style, as this prosecutor is doing now. These ground rules (don't guess, ask me to clarify if necessary) are not to reduce her stress. It's to pin her down. #ChristineBlaseyFord Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) September 27, 2018 Id hoped Rachel Mitchell would act like a prosecutor, but she is 100% acting as the Republicans defense attorney. #KavanaghHearing Allison Leotta (@AllisonLeotta) September 27, 2018 This is the same non-trial trial used by some in the media, formal or not. Early Thursday, for instance, the Times deleted a tweet polling its readers about how they perceived Ford, asking, Do you find her testimony credible? We're sorry for this tweet. In retrospect, a Twitter poll is insensitive in light of the gravity of this hearing. We've deleted it. pic.twitter.com/4CqRhkuCat NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) September 27, 2018 Journalists spend much of our professional lives wading through the justifications for our subjects behavior and asking when has it crossed an ethical line. This hearing shows the urgent need for us to examine our own. For journalists, now central characters in the American political drama, those justifications often arise out of a public misunderstandingor rejectionof our professional practices. But journalists are citizens, too. We ought to be able to explain the how and why of our worknot with a knee jerk defiant response about necessary evils, but with a measure of human decency that wed apply in any other facet of our lives. Ford, though visibly shaken and struggling to recount the details of a violent assault, powered through her opening statement, poised despite her duress. (The request for caffeine as she wrapped her statement, eliciting a nervous chuckle in the chambers, suggested that Ford felt responsible for softening the mood.) And of this, can we be surprised? Women are constantly made to perform, especially when detailing the facts of their trauma; the trials of being a woman make for excellent media training. RELATED: Brett Kavanaugh and where #MeToo reporting goes next Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Alexandria Neason and Nausicaa Renner are the writers of this article. Alexandria Neason is CJR's Staff Writer and Senior Delacorte Fellow. Follow Neason on Twitter @alexandrianeas. Nausicaa Renner is digital editor of CJR. Follow Renner on Twitter @nausjcaa In the year since The New York Timess Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey broke the Harvey Weinstein story that catalyzed the #MeToo movement, a pattern has emerged. Powerful men are credibly accused of sexual harassment or assault, suspensions are levied, investigations are launched, and many of those men lose their jobs. But only occasionally, as in Ronan Farrows reporting on CBS or Irin Carmons speech at the 2018 Mirror Awards, are the institutions and systems that prop up these abusers challenged directly. At times over this period, journalists and observers have questioned whats next for #MeToo, and how the press will address not just the individual actions of a handful of bad actors, but the society that allowed them to get away with their actions in the first place. Coverage of the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh may have provided a window into what those next steps look like. While Kavanaugh has categorically denied the claims by Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick, some of his supporters have argued that the judges behavior over the three decades since college should outweigh anything he did as a young man, even if the allegations are true. But the fact that the claims against Kavanaugh date to his time as a high school and college student, and are described as having occurred in front of other male friends, has allowed writers to move beyond the framework of an influential man at the height of his powers acting with impunity and preying on subordinates. RELATED: Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer drop a Kavanaugh bombshell The awful things Kavanaugh allegedly did only imperfectly correlate to the familiar frame of sexual desire run amok; they appear to more easily fit into a different categorya toxic homosocialitythat involves males wooing other males over the comedy of being cruel to women, writes Slates Lili Loofbourow in her examination of the allegations through the prism of male bonding. In each case the other mennot the womanseem to be Kavanaughs true intended audience. In each story, the cruel and bizarre act the woman describes.seems to have been done in the clumsy and even manic pursuit of male approval. Recognizing, and reporting on, that toxic homosociality is one way for journalists to move beyond the scattershot coverage of individuals and to explore the culture that allowed, and in some cases encouraged, their behavior. As Jia Tolentino writes in The New Yorker: Part of the reason the Kavanaugh news cycle has been such a flashpointis that it illuminates the centrality of sexual assault in the matrix of male power in America. In high schools, in colleges, at law schools, and in the halls of Washington, men perform for one another and ascend to positions of power. Watching it happen is a deadening reminder, for victims of sexual assault and harassment, that, in many cases, you were about as meaningful as a chess piece, one of a long procession of objects in the lifelong game that men play with other men. Sign up for CJR 's daily email On Thursday, the focus will be on a small room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and the concerns will be specific to one mans behavior more than three decades ago. But the discussions launched by the allegations against Kavanaugh go to deeper questions about the society weve built. As the anniversary of the Weinstein reporting approaches, those questions provide one answer to where #MeToo goes next. Below, more on the coverage of Kavanaugh, his accusers, and #MeToo. Opening statements: Here are the prepared testimonies from Kavanaugh and Ford. Here are the prepared testimonies from Kavanaugh and Ford. Gray areas: The next step for #MeToo is into the gray areas, writes Jezebels Julianne Escobedo Shepherd in a piece that touches on issues of emotional abuse, manipulation, and coercive sex. The next step for #MeToo is into the gray areas, writes Jezebels Julianne Escobedo Shepherd in a piece that touches on issues of emotional abuse, manipulation, and coercive sex. A window to 1983: Kavanaughs high school years at Georgetown Prep have come under intense scrutiny, with his 1983 yearbook page serving as a primary source document. The New York Timess Kate Kelly and David Enrich report on one entry on that pagea mention of a girl who attended another area high schooland how it exposes a culture of cruelty and performative masculinity. Kavanaughs high school years at Georgetown Prep have come under intense scrutiny, with his 1983 yearbook page serving as a primary source document. The New York Timess Kate Kelly and David Enrich report on one entry on that pagea mention of a girl who attended another area high schooland how it exposes a culture of cruelty and performative masculinity. Worth watching: If you havent seen Irin Carmons speech at the Mirror Awards, its vital viewing. She says, in part: The stories that weve been doing are actually about a system. The system has lawyers and a good reputation. It has publicists; it has a perfectly reasonable explanation about what happened; it has powerful friends that will ask, Is this really worth ruining the career of a good man?Indeed, the system is sitting in this room. If you havent seen Irin Carmons speech at the Mirror Awards, its vital viewing. She says, in part: The stories that weve been doing are actually about a system. The system has lawyers and a good reputation. It has publicists; it has a perfectly reasonable explanation about what happened; it has powerful friends that will ask, Is this really worth ruining the career of a good man?Indeed, the system is sitting in this room. Coverage plans: TV networks will all have special coverage of testimony by Kavanaugh and Ford. The details, per Politicos Michael Calderone: CBS (Gayle King, Norah ODonnell, John Dickerson and Jeff Glor), ABC (George Stephanopoulos and David Muir), NBC (Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Chuck Todd, Megyn Kelly, and Andrea Mitchell), MSNBC (Stephanie Ruhle and Brian Williams), Fox News (Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum), and CNN (Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper). Other notable stories: Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled Irin Carmons surname. ICYMI: Zuckerbergs death grip on Instagram Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon. New Services Offers to Capture, Store Home Owner Contents Digitally New York-based Law DeskTop, a provider of secure, hosted document management services to law firms and legal departments, announced the launch of a free service called HomeOwners Survey that allows homeowners to manage records of their possessions by texting, emailing or uploading pictures of their belongings to the cloud-based service for safekeeping, including the cost, date of acquisition and approximate market value of each item. The program frees homeowners from having to retain paper records in their homes and avoid the potential loss of the documents in an accidental fire, flood or other catastrophe. By digitally storing the records through the HomeOwners Survey platform, homeowners avert the difficult challenge of recovering lost or damaged pictures and documentation of art, furniture, rugs and home improvements, as may be needed by to their insurance company as part of the recovery process. Partnering insurance companies can offer the HomeOwners Survey to clients as free platform. All possession information can be exported as a spreadsheet, not only benefiting homeowners in case of loss, but also providing their insurance company with an up-to-date document of their belongings. This spreadsheet can then be incorporated into the home documentation and updated periodically during the year if necessary. Additionally, the data can be exported during insurance policy renewals, per insurance company requests to review updated home-related information with their clients. For more information visit www.lawdesktop.com/homeowners Munich Re Offers New Cyber Product for SMBs, Offers Turnkey Approach for Regional Carriers Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. (Munich Re) is now offering a cyber reinsurance solution for regional property/casualty insurance carriers seeking to provide this coverage and associated services to their small and medium-size enterprise (SME) clients. Cyber insurance may provide coverage for a loss resulting from a variety of events, such as a denial-of-service attack, unauthorized access, introduction of malicious code, privacy breach, extortion threat, regulatory proceedings, and/or third-party claims and more. Munich Res cyber solution provides reinsurance capacity for limits up to $15 million, technical expertise, and tools such as a risk management portal and a post-breach services panel to primary insurance carriers that may not have the experience or resources necessary to provide cyber protection to their clients. Insurance carriers participating in Munich Res cyber solution will retain a portion of the risk. Munich Res turnkey solution can include ISOs stand-alone commercial cyber policy or the information security protection cyber policy as well as a primary carriers proprietary cyber product. Munich Res cyber reinsurance product is available in all 50 states to primary property/casualty insurance carriers and reinsurance brokers for their SME policyholders. NetDiligence Announces Strategic Alliance With InfoArmor NetDiligence, a provider of cyber risk assessment and breach response services, announced a strategic alliance with InfoArmor, a provider of employee identity protection and advanced threat intelligence. Uber Technologies Inc. will pay $148 million to settle claims related to a large-scale data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 25 million of its U.S. users. The settlement, spanning all 50 states and the District of Columbia, is the biggest data breach payout in history, and marks the most sweeping rebuke by regulators against the San Francisco-based company, which earned a reputation for skirting rules in its push to dominate the ride-hailing market. The states agreement stemmed from data compromised in 2016 by hackers, who obtained 607,000 U.S. drivers license numbers as well as tens of millions of consumer email addresses and phone numbers, a leak that Uber failed to disclose for more than a year after discovering the attack. This record settlement should send a clear message: we have zero tolerance for those who skirt the law and leave consumer and employee information vulnerable to exploitation, said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood in a statement Wednesday. The penalty comes at a pivotal time for Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi, who is laying the groundwork for a 2019 initial public offering while working to distance the brand from the controversial growth-at-all-costs approach established under his predecessor, co-founder Travis Kalanick. Bloomberg News reported last November that Kalanick learned of the 2016 breach just a month after hackers stole the personal data on 57 million of Ubers customers around the globe, including 25.6 million riders and drivers in the U.S. But the company concealed the breach from authorities and instead paid the hackers $100,000 to delete the stolen data and keep the incident quiet.After the episode came to light, Uber ousted its chief security officer and disclosed the breach to the Federal Trade Commission, which had already reprimanded the company for a similar data breach from 2014. The commitments were making in this agreement are in line with our focus on both physical and digital safety for our customers, as exemplified by our recent announcement of a host of safety and security improvements and our recent hiring of experts like Ruby Zefo as Chief Privacy Officer and Matt Olsen as Chief Trust & Security Officer, Uber Chief Legal Officer Tony West said in a statement Wednesday. The nine-figure settlement will be distributed to the states, rather than directly to those affected in the breach. In Iowa, for example, its $612,950 share of the settlement will go to the states Consumer Education and Litigation Fund. New York is receiving about $5.1 million. As part of the agreement, Uber also promised to improve its security policies and hire an outside party to monitor its data-privacy efforts and regularly report on necessary improvements. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. AKRON, Ohio - Akron City Council has scheduled a special meeting for Monday to address amendments to existing city regulations that propose possible jail time for owners of barking dogs. The meeting is set for noon in the council conference chambers #1, 166 S. High St. The meeting was called by Ward 7 Councilman Donnie Kammer. The proposed changes were introduced last week by Ward 4 Councilman Russel Neal Jr., and supported by Kammer. If approved, Neal's ordinance would increase fines and penalties for owners of barking dogs from a minor misdemeanor with a $100 maximum fine to a fourth-degree misdemeanor with a $250 maximum fine and up to 30 days in jail. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. AMHERST, Ohio -- The Amherst Police Department is investigating after an Amherst Junior High School student made a threat against someone on their "hit list." A staff member at the school for 6th through 8th grade students became aware of an 8th grade student's hit list Wednesday and alerted School Resource Officer Eric Layfield, according to a press release from Amherst police. The student also made a verbal threat toward one of the two students on the list, police say. Officer Layfield arrived at the school within about a minute and a half, Amherst Junior High School Principal Andrew Gibson said, adding that staff and police acted quickly to "neutralize" the situation. Officer Layfield, along with the Amherst Police Department Detective Bureau, spoke with the student and the student's family. The student's family has cooperated with the investigation, police say. Detectives checked the student's home and said the student does not appear to have easy access to firearms, police say. School officials removed the student from school pending the outcome of the police investigation and the school's review of the matter, Principal Gibson said. The investigation is ongoing as detectives make contact with the students on the list and determine any charges, police say. Gibson sent a recorded telephone message to all parents of the about 800 students making them aware of the incident and emphasized that school safety is a priority. To comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comment section. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Rocket Man isn't retiring just yet. Elton John has announced an additional 25 farewell tour shows, including a new Cleveland performance. The "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, John said in early 2018, will ultimately last for three years and consist of more than 300 shows. Two of those shows will take place in Cleveland. He'll arrive on Nov. 3, 2018, for a sold-out show at the Quicken Loans Arena. Then, over a year later, John will perform once more on Nov. 19, 2019. The added shows are the result of high demand, according to a news release on John's website. The tour will see John perform his greatest hits like "Rocket Man," "Tiny Dancer" and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." John was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Tickets to Elton John's show go on sale to the general public on Nov. 16. You can find more information at Elton John's website. (Editor's note: The story previously stated that tickets go on sale on Oct. 8. It has been corrected to state that tickets go on sale on Nov. 16.) RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Two residents of the Loganberry Ridge Apartments spoke at length Tuesday at City Council's Committee-of-the-Whole meeting telling of their displeasure with the state of the apartment complex. The residents, Samuel Adams and Donna Walton, voiced their complaints days after a fire killed one person and injured at least six other residents at the six-building complex, 26720 Whiteway Road. Speaking Tuesday about that fire, which was reported at 4:10 p.m. Sept. 21, Richmond Heights Fire Chief Marc Neumann said its cause is still being investigated. Neumann said the smoke detector was working and alerted the residents of the third-floor fire in building F. "The alarm probably helped alert the people to move to the balconies," Neumann said. Several people were found on balconies, avoiding heavy smoke, when firefighters arrived. The fire was quickly extinguished with help from firefighters from 11 other area fire departments. "Firefighters made entry to the building to find heavy smoke and fire conditions on the third floor," Neumann read to council from the Fire Department's official release on the fire. "The fire originated from an elevator car on the third floor." Adams told council members and city directors about bad conditions such as overcrowding -- "I have six people living above me in a single unit," he said -- and, with Walton agreeing, of tenants being made to pay their monthly rental fee, in cash, at an off-premises site. "We're not allowed to go to the rental office," Adams said. The two residents also complained about dogs in units, clutter and of a lack of security and lighting. "It's worse than the projects," Adams said. Adams said tenants are also made to pay a $10 monthly fire insurance fee as part of their rent. He believes that fire insurance to be worthless. Adams and Walton were concerned about the fact that two fires have recently occurred at Loganberry. Neumann said a fire occurred there on July 20 in building D. Building Commissioner Jim Urankar said he plans to meet later this week at the complex with on-site management. The apartments, which are home to about 380 people, are owned by ROCO Real Estate LLC of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Urankar said ROCO has already been notified of building code and property maintenance violations. Council President Eloise Henry, who had been contacted by the residents, asked them to come and speak at the meeting. Council members were not aware of some of the conditions Adams and Walton spoke of, and Henry promised, "We will investigate." Ward 1 Councilman Barry Hurst, in whose ward the apartments are located, said he has been hearing for months from Loganberry residents. Still, he was surprised to hear about things such as residents -- some elderly -- being made to carry cash to pay their rent off the premises. "I would like to meet with more (Loganberry residents) at the apartment," Hurst said. "This is the first time anyone (from Loganberry) has come to speak to council. "There are multiple building issues there," Hurst said. "It's deplorable. It's a disgrace. The city has to hold this owner's feet to the fire, no pun intended." A call to ROCO Realty for comment was not returned. Scooter legislation Council approved Tuesday, by a 6-1 vote, legislation regulating the use of motorized scooters by children and adults. The legislation comes at a time when ride services such as Lyft and Uber are renting scooters, in which fees can be paid by swiping a credit card at a designated station. In the legislation, a scooter is defined as a motor vehicle that has a maximum speed of 15 mph and which does not have a seat or saddle. The scooter definition does not include bicycles or motorized bicycles. The Richmond Heights law states that no person younger than 12 years of age can operate a scooter on any public sidewalk, public property, or public street or highway. No scooter operator is permitted to take on a passenger. Ward 3 Councilman Jeremy Kumin cast the lone vote in opposition. "I have nothing against regulating commercially rented scooters," Kumin said. "My objection is, while I appreciate the intent of the ordinance, I think we're going way too far to restrain the use of electric scooters by children. "I resent any law that goes into the garage and takes a toy from kids and says you can't use them. "Basically," Kumin said after the meeting, "(the law) says kids can only ride scooters up and down their driveway." Ward 2 Councilman Frank Lentine, who chairs council's Safety Committee, said police need the ordinance so that there is a means to regulate the use of scooters in public places. Scooters covered by the legislation cannot be titled and registered in accordance with Ohio motor vehicle laws. SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- A day after Richmond Heights City Council approved legislation that regulates motorized scooters, South Euclid City Council took up the subject. At its meeting Wednesday, South Euclid City Council heard the first reading of legislation that is nearly identical to that of Richmond Heights. South Euclid Law Director Michael Lograsso said there are similarities because he worked on the legislation with Richmond Heights Law Director Todd Hunt. Scooter legislation seems to be gaining popularity in the area, as ride services such as Uber and Lyft are making the scooters available for rent, so far in larger cities such as Cleveland. Because motorized scooters cannot be titled and registered in accordance with Ohio motor vehicle laws, police departments are seeking a way to regulate their use on public property. Like Richmond Heights, South Euclid's proposed ordinance -- requested by Mayor Georgine Welo -- seeks to regulate scooters that can travel up to 15 mph and that do not have a seat or saddle. The legislation states that people under the age of 12 cannot ride on public streets, sidewalks or public property. Also, no person of any age can ride a motorized or gasoline-powered scooter on a public street or highway. Scooter operators would not be permitted to take on passengers or to structurally alter a scooter from the original manufacturer's design. Before the ordinance is voted upon, City Council's Safety Committee will discuss it at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at City Hall, 1349 S. Green Road. "I'm not opposed to (the ordinance)," said Councilman-at-large Marty Gelfand, who chairs the Safety Committee. "But I'd like to hear from people who might oppose it before we do anything." In the case of children younger than 12, they would be restricted to riding scooters in their driveways. "I don't have a problem regulating it because it's a toy," Gelfand said. "Some toys should be regulated. Shouldn't BB guns be regulated?" The tires are gone City Economic Development Director Michael Love said that the last of the tires that had been illegally dumped at a private property at 4188 Glenridge Road have been removed. Council twice provided money for the cleanup: $24,000 on the first occasion in late July and $25,000 two weeks ago. Despite $49,000 being allocated to hire and pay a company permitted to clean up the potential environmental and safety hazard, Love said the total cost came in at just under $40,000. More money was approved two weeks ago for the cleanup because, upon further inspection, it was found that twice the 5,000 to 10,000 tires originally thought to be on the property were actually there. Civil Rights Review Board At its Wednesday meeting, council approved residents Hank Drake and Julius Benson to serve on the city's now-forming Civil Rights Review Board. Both are Welo appointees. Welo will also make a third appointment to the five-person board. The board will also consist of Welo or her designee, and a council member yet to be named. The review board was formerly known as the Fair Housing Board. Its scope has been broadened to listen to and act on complaints based on the city's anti-discrimination ordinance, passed in April. On Tuesday, Cuyahoga County passed an anti-discrimination ordinance which, like South Euclid's, seeks to protect those in the LGBTQ community. South Euclid Community Services Director Keith Benjamin said that South Euclid's version may be wider in scope than the county's. He plans to provide for council a comparison of the county and South Euclid ordinances. Ward meetings Ward 4 Councilwoman Jane Goodman will hold a meeting for that ward's residents at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at the South Euclid Community Center, 1370 Victory Drive. Councilman Joseph Frank will hold a meeting for Ward 2 residents at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10, also at the community center. Residents of any ward can attend the meetings. Mingle at the Mansion One South Euclid, the city's community development corporation, invites all residents to its first-ever fundraiser, Mingle at the Mansion, to take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 18 at Telling Mansion, 4645 Mayfield Road. The event will feature drinks, light appetizers, music and more. Richard Barone, the South Euclid native who owns the mansion and is converting it for use as the Museum of American Porcelain Art, will speak and give updates on the newly renovated building. One South Euclid board members will be present to meet with attendees. Tickets cost $25 per person. To reserve tickets and to get more information, visit onesoutheuclid.org. MEDINA, Ohio -- Medina's own Judge Judy may not be as well-known or as wealthy as Judge Judy of CBS television fame, but she claims an impressive list of Medina County "firsts." Judith Cross was Medina County's first female assistant prosecutor, Brunswick's first female prosecutor, and the county's first elected female judge. She had hoped to be the first woman to become a United States Supreme Court justice, but Sandra Day O'Connor beat her to that bench. A 52-year resident of Medina County, Cross spent her childhood in a series of very small Ohio towns, beginning in Martins Ferry. Her mother was a librarian -- Cross credits her with her love of reading. Her father was an electrician, but she said, "He wasn't part of my life after I was 7." Cross, her two brothers and her sister Marilyn grew up very, very poor. Cross graduated from Barnesville High School in a class of 99 students. She attended the College of Wooster for one year, then transferred to Kent State University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in pre-law in 1966. Because she needed a job, she moved to Medina to live with her sister. Marilyn told her that the county was so desperate for teachers, "they'll hire anyone who can breathe." So Cross accepted a job teaching fifth grade in the Brunswick City School District. She taught for six years at Applewood Elementary School, then nearly six years at Hickory Ridge Elementary School. While teaching, she attended law school. In 1978, she left the classroom mid-year because the Brunswick teachers went out on strike. Her law professors told her that if she joined the strike and was found in contempt of court, she might not be allowed to take the bar exam. Many of her fellow teachers were found in contempt and went to jail. In support of her fellow teachers, Cross refused to cross the picket line, so she felt her only option was to leave teaching. "One of the strangest days of my life was when the strike was settled and everyone else went back to work," she said. During the previous summer, she had clerked for Larry Courtney in the Medina city prosecutor's office. He hired her in 1978 as a clerk, where she did trial work for his office. She also passed the bar exam that year. In 1981, Cross started to work with Greg Happ as assistant county prosecutor until 1985, when she became city prosecutor in Brunswick. In 1986, she was elected Medina County Common Pleas Court judge, handling civil cases over $10,000 and felony criminal cases. When she started, her court also dealt with divorce and child custody cases; she was delighted when a domestic relations judge was added and those cases left her court. She served for 12 years, then retired in 1998 and served as a visiting judge in neighboring counties for another 12 years. "I loved being a visiting judge. I wasn't a boss and I didn't have to deal with elections or politics," she said. She fully retired in January 2011. In 1990, Cross, with her sister Marilyn and her brother John, started a bookstore specializing in mysteries at the French Market in Columbus. The store, called Foul Play, later moved to a Victorian house in Westerville, with the bookstore on the first floor and John and his wife living upstairs. The store was sold in 2013. Cross is very active in Medina Sunrise Rotary, partly because one of Rotary's major beneficiaries is the Children's Center of Medina County. She admires the work that the agency does with victims of child abuse. "I wish that (the center) had been there when I was prosecuting and when I was on the bench," she said. Almost every room in Cross' home is ringed with tall bookcases filled with books -- mostly mysteries, grouped by author. She reads five or six books a week and is planning a Road Scholar trip to England on the Queen Mary II next spring, during which she and friends will enjoy discussions of mystery novels and will visit locations featured in their favorite books. When she's not reading, she is learning to play mahjongg or visiting a friend who's confined to a nursing home. An avid photographer, she specializes in landscapes and has several of her favorites framed and hanging in her home. There's no sense of what the president may address, but the conference follows Trump's first time as cahir of the U.N. Security Council meeting, where he reiterated his heavy criticism of Iran and accused China of "attempting to interfere" with the 2018 USA midterm elections. In a rare appearance before reporters, he rambled about how founding father George Washington had a "bad past" and could have been guilty of sexual misconduct. The tycoon ended things by compared his news conference to an Elton John concert, where he wanted to end on a high note with a quality question. "I want to watch", Trump said ahead of the hearing featuring Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers. "And I think people are gonna see that in the midterms". As for the accusations, Trump said: "These are all false to me". "People want fame, they want money, they want whatever". It doesn't look like the Democrats' latest attempt to get Trump to withdraw Judge Kavanaugh's nomination will stick. Trump didn't specify which four women, but mentioned an incident on an airplane, which indicated that one of them was Jessica Leeds, cited in one of the Times stories. Later in the event, the president noted that women are "incensed" and "angry" about Ford's accusations. Trump had earlier questioned the accuser and called Brett Kavanaugh a "great man". "I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK", he said. Trump said he was sceptical because he personally had been the target of "false statements" in the past made by various women. "I've had a lot of false charges against me", the president said, " so when I see it, I see it differently than from someone sitting at home". "The United States is a stronger, safer and richer country than it was when I assumed office less than two years ago", Trump declared Tuesday as he defended his "America First" agenda on the global stage. AKRON, Ohio -- Three men broke into a home early Wednesday morning, waking a man and ransacking his bedroom, police say. The 20-year-old resident of the home was not injured in the incident on the 500 block of Noah Avenue in the West Akron neighborhood. Police say the victim was awakened around 1 a.m. by the suspects, who were between 20-25 years old and were wearing black hooded sweat shirts, black pants and black hats. The suspects ran from the home empty-handed, police say. The break-in remains under investigation. To comment on this story, please visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio - A Cleveland man is accused of shooting another man in the stomach and back during an argument in the city's Clark-Fulton neighborhood. David Pagan, 35, is charged with felonious assault in the Sept. 15 shooting on Seldon Court near Clark Avenue, according to court records. He is not in custody but a warrant was issued Tuesday for his arrest. Pagan fired a total of seven shots during the incident, hitting a 35-year-old man twice in the stomach and back, court records say. A witness said he heard the gunshots and someone yell out "someone shot me," police reports say. Cleveland police officers found the 35-year-old man conscious but bleeding in an alley. He identified a man known as "Primo" as the shooter, police reports say. Investigators recovered seven 9mm bullet casings at the scene. Cleveland EMS took the 35-year-old man to MetroHealth, where he underwent surgery. Investigators have not offered a motive of the shooting or said how Pagan was identified as a suspect. Pagan's criminal history includes only misdemeanor and traffic charges, according to court records. To comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio - East Cleveland school officials and lawyers make it sound like they have a clear case to block the state from asserting control over the district after years of poor grades on state report cards. But their case filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court last week is tougher to make than they portray, with many key facts favoring the state. And one major argument of the district relies on the Ohio Supreme Court overruling the legislature, Gov. John Kasich and a state appeals court. "Youngstown also sued on the same grounds, but they lost," said State Sen. Peggy Lehner, chair of the Senate Education Committee. "So will East Cleveland." The district has already lost its first attempt to stop state intervention, after Judge Steven Gall denied last Friday the district's emergency request for an immediate halt. Gall instead scheduled a full hearing for Nov. 26 to hear full arguments from the district and state. The East Cleveland school district is the third district in Ohio to fall under new "academic distress" interventions for struggling schools pushed by Kasich and passed by the legislature in 2015. East Cleveland's overall F grade on state report cards this month mandates creation of an "Academic Distress Commission" (ADC) to take control of the district and take precedence over the elected school board, according to the Ohio Department of Education. Under state law, State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria will appoint three members of that five-person panel by Oct. 13, with the East Cleveland mayor appointing one and the school board appointing a teacher to fill the fifth seat. That process happened in Youngstown in 2015 and in Lorain last fall. But East Cleveland's school board filed suit against the state last Wednesday, claiming the F doesn't qualify for intervention and seeking a court order to block creation of the panel. The board and lawyers from the Pepple and Waggoner law firm make three main arguments against the district having to go under state control: That state law requires districts to receive three straight overall F grades before the state takes control, but East Cleveland has only received one. That the state made math errors in calculating the F grade. That the 2015 law was passed illegally and could be thrown out by the Ohio Supreme Court. The Supreme Court challenge is based on the abrupt passage of the new academic distress laws in 2015, with Kasich and his supporters proposing them and urging passage by the legislature all in a single day. Though Kasich staff and Dick Ross, his hand-picked former state superintendent, had worked on the rules for months, they openly said they wanted to avoid prolonged debate that would delay helping Youngstown children. Youngstown officials challenged the quick passage, saying it violated laws guaranteeing an open legislative process, but a state appeals court rejected that claim in June. They filed another appeal this August with the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the law. The East Cleveland schools have joined the Lorain schools, the Ohio School Boards Association and both statewide teachers unions in backing the appeal. The court has not yet decided if it will hear the case. The district and state differ on the possible grade calculation errors, with the district pointing to some problems and the state saying the examples are minor, explainable and from a preliminary report card issued specifically so districts can flag errors, not from the final report card. The main debate has been over whether the district earned enough failing grades to trigger the state stepping in. The 2015 academic distress laws say districts need three overall F grades in a row to qualify. Since this fall was the first time in several years the state issued overall grades at all, the district says, the district has one F, not the required three. "Defendants' improper interpretations of the relevant statutes places school districts, including the District, under control of an ADC prematurely and without legal authority," the district's lawsuit states. But the same 2015 law anticipated that overall grades could be delayed a few years, so it set rules that lesser grades that were already issued on state report cards - F grades for both the "performance index" and "value-added" components - would count just like an overall F. "ODE was instructed to use equivalencies in place of the overall letter grade in making the ADC determination," a state filing in the case states. Because East Cleveland received F grades on those components in 2015-16 and 2016-17, this year's overall F triggers intervention, the state says. The district also claims that state law granting districts a "safe harbor" and banning repercussions of poor report card grades from 2014 through 2017 prevent earlier years from counting. But the 2015 academic distress law specifically allows some of these years to count. Other repercussions - like whether a charter school can be closed due to poor grades or a school can be declared failing and students would be eligible for private school tuition vouchers - would be delayed, the state says, but not years toward qualifying for academic distress. The Ohio Department of Education took the position that 2015-16 and 2016-17 report cards could count toward academic distress right after the safe harbor and academic distress laws were passed within days of each other in 2015. "The safe harbor for academic distress commissions was not extended," the department told districts that summer. "There was only a one-year safe harbor for commissions. This means that the 2015 report card will not be used as part of the three years... However, the 2016 report card and after will count toward the three consecutive years." CLEVELAND, Ohio - Two robbers on bicycles took a two men's groceries at gunpoint Monday outside a convenience store in Cleveland's Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood. Investigators arrested one of the robbers but are still trying to identify the second man, according to police reports. Wilbert C. Phillips, 59, is charged with aggravated robbery in the incident on East 116th Street near Forest Avenue, according to court records. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing during his arraignment in Cleveland Municipal Court. The case has been bound over to a Cuyahoga County grand jury. He remains in custody at the Cuyahoga County Jail on $50,000 bond. A 60-year-old man and a 42-year-old man were leaving Chillie's Beverage and Deli just before 9:30 a.m. when Phillips approached them and started asking them questions. The two men crossed the street to get away from Phillips, according to a police report. Phillips and another man were on bicycles when they rode up to the 60- and 42-year-old men minutes later. Phillips pulled a gun out of his waistband and threatened them, demanding a grocery bag and everything they had in their pockets, a police report says. Phillips took the grocery bag, which contained a bottle of Mountain Dew and a carton of cigarettes, and $2 in cash before he and the other robber rode away. Cleveland police officers searching the area for the robbers spoke to an employee at the nearby C&G Tire Services. The employee said Phillips frequents the area and tried to sell him a box of cigarettes and Starbucks coffee. Security video showed Phillips carrying the grocery bag near C&G Tire Services approximately a half-hour after the robbery occurred, police reports say. A Cleveland police officer spotted Phillips a short time later riding a blue bicycle on Melba Avenue near East 116th Street. The officer yelled at him to stop, but Phillips rode away through a backyard. The officer saw Phillips pull a gun from his waistband and toss it in a yard, the police report says. The officer then drew his own gun, ordered Phillips to stop and took him into custody. Officers recovered the 9mm handgun Phillips tossed aside as he was riding the bike, police reports say. The two men Phillips is accused of robbing identified him as one of the robbers on bicycles, police reports say. To comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments page. CLEVELAND, Ohio - I finally got hold of George Bilgere, a man I consider America's Greatest Living Poet. I say finally, because he summers in Berlin with his wife and kids. When he's stateside, he teaches poetry at John Carroll University. The guy is a civic treasure. I put him up there with Cleveland poet Hart Crane. Bilgere, 67, is celebrating his seventh collection of poetry, "Blood Pages" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 72 pp., $15.95). It's a humdinger. He continues to establish himself as our literary LeBron. I'm always afraid he's going to take his talents elsewhere. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins said this about his friend and colleague: "Bilgere is that rare poet who can be as funny or as serious as he wants to be -- often at the same time." That's no easy trick, and Bilgere consistently crushes it. He makes it look so easy and effortless, it's as if he's composing these gems while grilling hot dogs and sipping champagne. I asked him what he likes about this new collection. "My effort in 'Blood Pages' is pretty much like what I've been working on in the last five or six books. I'm a (late) middle-aged, middle-class, heterosexual white guy living in Middle America. Nothing too sexy about that, poetry-wise. So, my project is to somehow be able to write interesting poems about an ordinary life. I hope 'Blood Pages' succeeds in doing that." When I read his stuff, I always marvel at his ability to take the events of everyday life and make them transcendently sacramental and at the same time gently hilarious. In his poem "Pancake Dilemma," he agonizes over his morning breakfast when reading about a terrorist bombing in Europe while his wife and child play blissfully in the next room. He feels bad about the victims but is at a loss how to express compassion. He begins eating his pancakes, "trying not to enjoy them too much." It's a sad, accurate slice of life. We've all been there. It involves journalism, frustration, empathy and, ultimately, a ridiculous attempt at redeeming one's connection to humanity. It's tears and laughter swirling in the same heady brew. Bilgere combines what you enjoy about your favorite stand-up comedian with the profound mystery of a somewhat demented Zen master. He's a jolly shaman of the written word. The head, the heart, the soul -- they are all in there to varying degrees of delight and dereliction. Award-winning Bilgere credits Beat poetry founding father Lawrence Ferlinghetti for inspiring his foray into a life of letters. He carried around the City Lights Bookstore owner's "A Coney Island of the Mind" with him everywhere for a year in his youth. "It made me want to do this," Bilgere said, "to write poetry." And what about his kids? Do they inspire his art? "It gives everything a certain urgency, a gravitas," he said. "Before I had kids, I'd read books by my poet friends who had become fathers, and I vowed I would never write what I call the 'beautiful changing of the diapers poem.' And here I am doing it." Keep doing it, George. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Over 13 people died a day on average in Ohio due to drug overdoses last year, a new high as the state battles the opioid epidemic. Gov. John Kasich, who will leave office in January, played defense during a Thursday afternoon news conference where the death tally was announced, emphasizing the work he's accomplished to make some progress in the battle against the drugs - such as heroin and prescription opioid-related overdose deaths decreasing. However, the overall death rate is up because people are overdosing and dying due to fentanyl and Carfentanil being mixed into cocaine and methamphetamine. Democrats have been hitting hard during the election season the theme that Ohio's overdose death rate -- which continues to climb and is among the highest in the nation - is the result of weak GOP leadership. Overdose deaths have risen in recent years. Kasich said the state is spending around $1 billion to fight the drug problem, including $600 million on treatment. In 2014, Kasich expanded Medicaid, which covers many people in treatment. "There is a perception -- and I may be incorrect about this -- somehow this problem of drug abuse in our state is ranging out of control," he said. "That is simply not true. We are beginning to win a number of battles on the war on drug abuse." Prescription-related opioid overdose deaths have reached an eight-year low. Deaths from heroin are at a four-year low, he said. Who is for and against Issue 1? "If it wasn't for what we're doing, the numbers would be higher," he said. What the report says In 2017, 70.7 percent of the drug deaths involved illegal fentanyl and related drugs such as Carfentanil. That's up compared to 58.2 percent in 2016, 37.9 percent in 2015 and 19.9 percent in 2014. Cocaine deaths accounted for just over 30 percent last year. Meth accounted for just over 10 percent of deaths. That's an increase for both drugs. But many of those drugs also contained fentanyl and Carfentanil when people overdosed and died. There was a 31.6 percent decrease in heroin deaths last year. In Cuyahoga County 598 people died last year of drug overdoses, up from 547 the year before. In Summit County, 239 people died last year, down from 298 the year before. In Lorain County, 133 people died in 2017, down from 146 in 2016. The number of prescription opioids overdose deaths decreased to 523 people in 2017, from 724 in 2011 - when Kasich took office. Kasich was credited during the news conference for a number of actions in stemming prescriptive opioids overdoses, including adding information to a prescription drug monitoring database. The database has shed light on which doctors and dentists prescribe high number of opioids, which pharmacies dispense the most, and which patients in treatment are seeking higher doses of opioids. Kasich's remarks When a reporter asked him if he can do more to stop the drug death rate, Kasich mentioned former First Lady Nancy Reagan and her "Just say no," anti-drug slogan. "If somebody can tell me how I can keep somebody from the street corner from buying cocaine from a drug dealer, I'm all ears," he said. He said parents need to tell their children they can't experiment with street drugs, because they can be so deadly these days with fentanyl and Carfentanil. "I don't know what else we can do but warn people about these dangers," he said. Democratic response On the campaign trail, Democrats are blaming Republicans for not doing more to stem the addiction deaths. Steve Dettelbach, the Democrat running for attorney general, called the opioid epidemic a "tragic symptom" of poor GOP leadership. Richard Cordray, who is running for governor, has talked about the issue since a Sunday Columbus Dispatch report looking at preliminary overdose deaths in 2017. He has also blamed Republicans, in particular his GOP gubernatorial opponent, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. The OSAM Drug Abuse Report for 2018 says: "Law enforcement reported that drug cartels have flooded Ohio with fentanyl." All on Mike DeWines watch. His first year as AG, Ohio had 73 deaths from fentanyl. Last year, we had 3,431. We need someone new to clean up this mess. Rich Cordray (@RichCordray) September 25, 2018 However, a spokesman for DeWine's office noted the downward trend in 2017 in month-to-month overdose deaths. In January, 484 people died and by December, it decreased to 318. That's evidence of the hard work of state agencies, including the attorney general's office, and addiction treatment centers, said Dan Tierney, DeWine's spokesman. "Additionally, when you look at the work of prescription drug overdose deaths, they're down 28 percent from 2011," he said. Cordray was Ohio's attorney general in 2011. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Although the 2018 election isn't yet over, a potential 2020 Democratic contender nonetheless made a political pilgrimage to Ohio on Thursday. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock traveled to Cleveland to lend his support to Richard Cordray, the Democratic Ohio governor candidate. Bullock and former Rep. Betty Sutton, Cordray's running mate, led a roundtable discussion on health care at the Cleveland Teachers Union's Downtown headquarters. Cordray and Sutton are running in the November election against state Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon Husted, both Republicans. In the meeting, Bullock and Sutton criticized DeWine for working to overturn Obamacare, which included coverage for pre-existing conditions and funding for expanded Medicaid eligibility. After winning the Republican primary this year, DeWine announced he supports keeping Medicaid expansion with added work requirements for enrollees. Bullock is openly testing the waters for a presidential run, with previous stops this year in Iowa and New Hampshire, the early presidential voting states. His narrow 2016 re-election in a state Donald Trump won by 20 points is part of his pragmatic political elevator speech. Like Cordray, he's a former state attorney general. CNN in August listed him as number 10 on a list of 10 possible 2020 Democratic contenders. (Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan and Sen. Sherrod Brown also are considered Democratic possibilities for 2020, while Republican Gov. John Kasich has explored running, too.) In an interview, Bullock praised Cordray before touting his own work in Montana to promote campaign-finance transparency. He said like Ohio, Montana has a Republican-controlled state legislature, with which he worked to expand Medicaid, increase school funding and create an earned-income tax credit. He also said by focusing on kitchen-table issues like jobs and health care, Democrats can transcend urban or rural politics. In perhaps an indication of his whirlwind tour of the country, he accidentally referred to Ohio as "Iowa" a couple of times. "We need to be focused on how do you help people climb that economic ladder," Bullock said. "If we don't have a jobs and economy message that recognizes not all folks are doing that much better, then we're not giving them a reason to vote for us, as opposed to just against the president or against the local candidate." Others who attended Thursday's roundtable included City Councilman Blaine Griffin and Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke, who are both players in Cuyahoga County Democratic politics. Rotunda Rumblings Brown stays in poll position: Marist College and Ipsos, two respected national pollsters, each dropped polls on Wednesday examining Ohio's U.S. Senate and governor's races, writes cleveland.com's Andrew Tobias. And the results were similar -- the governor's race is a toss-up while Sen. Sherrod Brown holds a double-digit lead over his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci. They also found President Donald Trump is unpopular in Ohio, and that health-care, the economy and immigration are voters' top issues. Revealing news: A Cleveland strip-club owner has flown Renacci to more than a dozen campaign events since July. As Jessica Wehrman of the Columbus Dispatch reports, Renacci's campaign-finance reports show he paid $2,500 combined for plane trips provided by Don Ksiezyk, a licensed pilot who owns the Peek-A-Boo and the Bug-A-Boo clubs. A Renacci spokesman refused to comment on the Wadsworth Republican's relationship with Ksiezyk. Aftab's poll problems: The plot has thickened about whether Democrat Aftab Pureval illegally used money from his Hamilton County clerk of courts campaign to pay congressional campaign expenses. Pureval's campaign has repeatedly claimed that a secret poll paid by donations to his clerk of courts campaign was legal, as it asked both about his 1st Congressional District race and the 2020 clerk of courts race. But Sharon Coolidge of the Cincinnati Enquirer got a copy of the poll - and there's no mention in it of a clerk of courts race. Pureval's side of the story: In a statement read by his attorneys to reporters, Pureval said he conducted the poll to test the waters about whether to run for Congress or run again for clerk of courts. After reviewing the law, he said, he determined to split the cost of the poll between his clerk of courts and congressional campaign accounts. His attorney added that even though the poll included no questions about the clerk of courts job, it was related to that campaign because it helped him decide whether to run for re-election or not. Uber settlement: Ride-sharing company Uber has agreed to pay $148 million to Ohio and other states that sued it for a 2016 data breach, in which it delayed telling drivers and customers. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office has announced people who drove for Uber or applied to be Uber drivers in November 2016 can each get $100. The rest of the $5.6 million in Ohio's settlement will pay for state consumer protection efforts. Carfentanil argument: Keith Faber, a state representative and Republican state auditor candidate, said Wednesday he opposes Issue 1, which makes some drug offenses misdemeanors. He's concerned about people not serving prison time for carfentanil, which can be lethal in even small doses. Carfentanil is 100 times more potent than the deadly fentanyl. Political junkies, this is for you: Rich Exner at cleveland.com has put together a fresh database so you can dig into gubernatorial vote histories going back to 1867, when Rutherford B. Hayes was being elected, all the way up through the last election. Plus, you can dig into the results by county since 1990. Democrats' new deal: Last July, the Ohio Democratic Party became the nation's first state party to recognize a campaign-workers labor union. But it took until Wednesday for the two sides to strike a tentative labor agreement. Cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer has the details on what the party has agreed to offer more than 80 campaign staffers. OH-16 candidates square off: Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican and Susan Moran Palmer, a Democrat, appeared together on Wednesday for an endorsement interview with cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer. Tobias has a recap of the rare joint appearance in a race to fill Renacci's seat. Standing with Jim: Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor was among the fans who spoke at a rally in Washington Wednesday in support of Champaign County Republican Rep. Jim Jordan's bid to become the next U.S. House speaker,cleveland.com's Sabrina Eaton reports. The two-hour rally drew hundreds of hardcore supporters of the Freedom Caucus founder. California love: L.A. mayor and possible 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Eric Garcetti, fresh off a recent tour of Ohio, led a Tuesday night fundraiser that raised $100,000 each for the Ohio Democratic Party and nine other state parties. The Democratic Midterm Victory Fund event featured late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, among others, according to a release. Teamsters split ticket: The Ohio Conference of Teamsters' full list of 2018 endorsements is out, and it includes three - or, should we say, two-and-a-half - Republicans. The union endorsed Brown for U.S. Senate, Rich Cordray for governor, Steve Dettelbach for attorney general, Rob Richardson for treasurer, and Michael Donnelly for Ohio Supreme Court. But the teamsters also backed Republicans Frank LaRose for secretary of state and Mary DeGenaro for Ohio Supreme Court. They also endorsed both Republican Keith Faber and Democrat Zack Space for state auditor. Debate offer: LaRose has challenged Democratic secretary of state nominee Kathleen Clyde to three debates in "key media markets across the state." No word yet on whether Clyde will accept. For outdoors lovers: The Ohio Department of Natural Resources expects autumn leaf colors to peak in mid-October to early November, depending on the region of the state. Rain, sunlight and temperature factor into the brilliance and longevity of leaves. Full Disclosure Five things we learned from Betty Sutton's April 9 financial disclosure. Sutton, a Democrat and former U.S. congresswoman, is running for lieutenant governor with gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray. 1. Sutton reported working as the administrator last year at the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., an organization that works to improve and maintain the waterway connecting the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean for trade and other purposes. She also reported receiving a $190.05 reimbursement for travel associated with the job. 2. She reported income from giving a keynote address at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, stock dividends from North Canton-based Diebold Nixdorf and interest on a Firefighters Community Credit Union savings account. 3. She reported owning a house in Barberton. The Ohio Ethics Commission only asks for Ohio real estate. 4. At some point last year, she owed over $1,000 each to Visa, Chase United and Discover. 5. She has a 457(b) plan with Ohio Deferred Compensation. She has Diebold stock, Thrift Savings Plan mutual funds and an Alliance Bernstein Roth IRA. On The Move State Rep. Kent Smith, a Euclid Democrat, has been elected by the nonpartisan Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus to serve as Ohio's member of the caucus' executive committee. The caucus, part of the Council of State Governments, provides a forum for the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces that border the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River to exchange ideas and information on issues such as algal blooms and invasive Asian carp. Birthdays Rebekah Alt, Buckeye Institute chief external affairs officer Treasurer Josh Mandel Sen. Sandra Williams Rep. Ron Young Straight From The Source "In the best interest of our country and the integrity of the court, the Senate needs to hold on this confirmation. Without an investigation, and with so many serious issues involved, I can't support this nomination if they choose to move forward." - Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in a statement Wednesday urging the U.S. Senate not to rush the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court following multiple allegations of sexual assault. Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free. PARMA, Ohio -- Beginning in the middle of October, two of Parma's proud ethnic areas -- the Polish and Ukrainian villages -- will be receiving facelifts. The current plan calls for F.P Allega to complete the $161,000 streetscape programs for State and Ridge roads, both funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, by Nov. 1. "We're going to start around Snow Road for the first phase," Parma Community Services & Economic Development Director Erik Tollerup said. "We're primarily looking at taking out the old dying trees that are upsetting the sidewalk and the curbs. "We're going to be adding in more new trees, and basically improving the whole right of way from the curb back to the buildings. We'll do stamped brick behind the curb with a new sidewalk to make the business districts and the ethnic districts look nicer," he said. The Polish Village project spans from Dartworth Drive to Pearl Road on Ridge Road, with the Ukrainian Village work going from Grantwood Drive to Tuxedo Avenue on State Road. "We wanted to do something for the businesses," Tollerup said. "This helps take a little cost off the backs of the business people and the property owners in those districts by the city doing these improvements with grant money." Patrick O'Connor, who owns the Schuster-Straker-O'Connor Funeral Home, said the streetscape project has been needed for a while. "I think it's wonderful," O'Connor said. "The concrete curbing was mixed incorrectly a year ago and is just crumbling. This is really a win-win project." Tollerup noted that the city completed similar streetscape projects last year on Pearl Road between Brookpark and Ridge roads. "Also, we've done other improvements the past few years in both the Ukrainian and Polish villages," Mayor Tim DeGeeter said. "We've got flowerpots out in both areas that we've purchased. We find a business to adopt and take care of them. "We're appreciative of receiving these funds from the federal government. I applaud Erik and his staff for having a phased approach where you can see continuous improvement in these areas," DeGeeter said. "We want those businesses to thrive. We want people to make those destination points, spend money in those areas and walk in those areas, as well." KANSAS CITY -- Here is the preview and pitching matchups for the Indians' series against the Royals. Where/when: Kauffman Stadium, Thursday through Sunday. TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio, WTAM and WMMS will carry the series. Pitching matchups and starting times: RHP Josh Tomlin (2-5, 6.44) vs. RHP Glenn Sparkman (0-3, 4.86) Thursday at 8:15 p.m.; RHP Mike Clevinger (12-8, 3.07) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (3-8, 4.59) Friday at 8:18 p.m.; RHP Corey Kluber (20-7, 2.83) vs. RHP Jakob Junis (8-12, 4.42) Saturday at 7:15 p.m. and RHP Carlos Carrasco (16-10, 3.42) vs. LHP Eric Skogland (1-5, 5.40) Sunday at 3:15 p.m. Series: The Indians lead the Royals, 10-5, this year. Overall, the Indians lead the series, 368-333. Hot pitchers: Kluber, who won his 20th game on Monday, is 3-1 with a 3.24 ERA against the Royals this year. Willy Peralta is 14-for-14 with a 1.26 ERA in save situations this year for the Royals. Hot hitters: Yonder Alonso is hitting .387 (12-for-31) with four RBI in his last nine games for the Indians. Rookie Ryan O'Hearn is hitting .421 (8-for-19) with three homers and eight RBI against the Indians this season. Team updates: The Indians have won six of their last 10 games against the Royals. They are 46-25 in the AL Central and 11-12 in September headed into Wednesday night's game against the White Sox. The Royals have lost six of their last 10 games overall and have been outscored by the Indians this season, 80-53. Whit Merrifield took a 15-game hitting streak into Wednesday night's game against the Reds. He's stolen 22 bases since the All-Star break. Disabled list: Indians -OF Leonys Martin (illness), CF Tyler Naquin (right hip), OF Lonnie Chisenhall (left calf), RHP Nick Goody (right elbow), RHP Danny Salazar (right shoulder) and RHP Cody Anderson (right elbow) are on the disabled list. Royals: 3B Cheslor Cuthbert (back), LHP Danny Duffy (left shoulder), RHP Jesse Hahn (right elbow), RHP Nate Karns (right shoulder), OF Jorge Soler (left shoulder) are on the disabled list. Next: The Indians will open the best-of-five ALDS on Oct. 5 against Houston as Minute Maid Park. Trump also vowed to continue to isolate Iran through US sanctions that are being re-instated following his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. Expressing disappointment over reports of the European Union setting up a special payment system to bypass Iranian sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in NY on Tuesday said, "I was disturbed and, indeed, deeply disappointed.This is one of the most counterproductive measures imaginable for regional and global peace and security". Germany, France, the UK, China and Russian Federation say Iran is complying with the nuclear agreement and should continue to do so. But Pompeo said that doing so would allow the Iranian government to solidify its "ranking as the number one state sponsor of terror". John Bolton, Trump's hawkish national security adviser, mocked the European Union for its lack of detail on the planned mechanism. The former USA envoy to the United Nations (UN) delivered the warning while speaking at the United Against Nuclear Iran summit in NY. "We do not intend to allow our sanctions to be evaded by Europe or anybody else", he said. The European Union, has so far failed to devise a workable legal framework to shield its companies from USA sanctions that go into effect in November and that, among other things, seek to choke off Iran's oil sales, diplomats said. "If you cross us, our allies or our partners, if you harm our citizens, if you continue to lie, cheat and deceive, there will be hell to pay". He said: "Banks and financial messaging services such as SWIFT must take a good hard look at their business with Iran and ask themselves whether it is worth the risk". Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani both took to the podium at the United Nations meeting in NY yesterday to condemn each other's actions. Rouhani voiced regret that the deal, negotiated under former president Barack Obama, had become a "toy" of USA domestic politics and accused Trump of seeking to overthrow his government. The system would facilitate oil companies and businesses to continue trading, without relying on the US-led global market and dollar. The French President said the nuclear deal put Western powers in a stronger position to raise other concerns highlighted by Washington including Iran's support of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The crux of the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated over nearly two years by the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama, was that Iran would restrain its nuclear program in return for the relaxation of sanctions that had crippled its economy. While they are likely to pinch, the math remains on Iran's side. Earlier this year, in response to the threat of US sanctions, other major European companies announced they were suspending operations in Iran, including energy giant Total, carmakers Peugeot, Renault, and Daimler, airline companies Airbus, Air France, and British Airways, and German corporate giants Siemens and Deutsche Telecom. In his United Nations address, the president reasserted his tough posture on the Islamic Republic. Trump went on to bash Iran in the speech, and Iran's president later made a speech saying Trump had a "Nazi disposition". "They love that he's honest with them and they've never seen anything like it, so there's respect there", Haley said. Instead, they plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond. He showcased his decisions to engage with the erstwhile pariah North Korea, remove the US from the global Iran nuclear accord and object to United Nations programs he believes are contrary to American interests. Rouhani said it was "quite unusual, unprecedented and amazing" that while presiding over the Security Council as its president Trump also called on the 14 other council members to violate the legally binding resolution endorsing the JCPOA that the council adopted unanimously in 2015 _ including a "yes" vote from the United States. In a meeting with Maduro, Rouhani said that the Venezuelan and Iranian people have always been hit by USA "aggression and sanctions". We'll have more on Trump's appearance at the General Assembly and growing USA threats against Iran after headlines with University of MI professor Juan Cole. "In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than nearly any administration in the history of our country", Trump said, prompting the laughter. Trump's statement somewhat echoes one made yesterday by America's United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who either bravely or naively offered to Fox And Friends that diplomats simply "loved how honest he is". So the United States took the only responsible course: "We withdrew from the Human Rights Council, and we will not return until real reform is enacted". Another example offered by State's Coordinator for Counterterrorism Nathan Sales last week: "On June 30th of this year, German authorities arrested an Iranian official for his role in a terrorist plot to bomb a political rally in Paris". "It illicitly procures sensitive items to advance its ballistic missile program", Trump said, calling on global partners to pressure Iran to end its missile work. In addition to his keynote speech, Trump is to chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council about nuclear proliferation on Wednesday. The ICC does not afford American citizens the constitutional protections to which we are entitled by our own government. Iran's politics have been rife with holocaust deniers and they support Hamas, a foreign group that attacks Israel with flaming kites bearing swastikas meant to burn down fields. You can check out the entire moment below, along with a compilation of some of the many times Trump mocked former President Obama and other leaders for being "laughed at by the entire world". Iranian President Hassan Rouhani predicted Wednesday that the United States would eventually rejoin an worldwide nuclear deal, saying talks this week at the United Nations showed his counterpart Donald Trump's isolation. Additionally, the Iranian president sat down with his Swiss counterpart. "The president delivered a powerful indictment of Iran's destabilizing role in the Middle East, and slammed biased United Nations groups that castigate America and Israel", said Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "It was a speech backed by action over the past year, which made the words more meaningful to the audience". But in this case, unexpected took the form of Trump being mocked with laughter by the leaders of almost every nation on the planet. "This conservative came away happy with that". "By sustaining revenues to the regime, you are solidifying Iran's ranking as the number-one state sponsor of terror", said Pompeo, who quipped that Iran's "corrupt ayatollahs" and elite Revolutionary Guards had to be "laughing this morning". Meanwhile, President Trump called on fellow world leaders to "isolate Iran's regime as long as its aggression continues". Trump told a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Wednesday that Beijing was interfering in the November 6 mid-term elections because it opposes his tough stance on trade. DU.S. House lawmakers passed legislation late Wednesday that would give federal regulators the authority to set minimum standards for seat size and leg room on flights. Tucked inside a 2,000-page funding bill is a provision that gives the Federal Aviation Administration a year to establish minimum pitch, width and length on airplane seats to ensure they are safe for passengers. The legislation, which funds the FAA for the next five years, passed 398-23 in the House and now goes to the Senate. The proposed law is designed to ensure that what have become increasingly cramped planes can be evacuated quickly in an emergency. Current FAA rules require airlines to evacuate in 90 seconds or less. That policy hasn't been updated significantly in almost two decades. Investigators at the Department of Transportation, which oversees the FAA, said in June that they plan to study whether the FAA is ensuring that today's more crowded aircraft meet federal evacuation standards. Commercial airplane cabins have become more cramped as airlines fit more seats on board to increase profits and spread out costs among more travelers. Several carriers have reconfigured their planes to not only include more seats but also smaller lavatories in some cases. Seat pitch, a proxy for legroom, on commercial airplanes measured about 35 inches in the middle of the 20th century, but that's now around 31 inches, according to SeatGuru. Some budget airlines, like Spirit, offer 28 inches of seat pitch. In addition to less pitch, some airlines are adding more seats to their planes. JetBlue is retrofitting some of its Airbus A320s, taking them from 150 seats to 162. American Airlines, the world's largest carrier, is bumping jets that had 181 or 187 seats up to 190, and jets with 160 seats up to 172. "Safety should not take a back seat, especially a shrunken seat, to airline profits," Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said in a statement after the bill passed the House. "Tightly cramped seating on aircraft is a safety issue, and will now be taken seriously. The SEAT Act will ensure that shrinking seats on airplanes are evaluated in the interest of the safety of the flying public." American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said he welcomed any study of whether the carrier's seats pose any safety risk. "We're certain [seat safety risk] isn't an issue at American Airlines today and any sort of study will bear that out," he told reporters at an airline industry conference earlier this week in Boston. The bill also requires a government study of whether airlines' shrinking or reducing bathrooms in favor of more seats on board creates problems for passengers accessing lavatories. Before going to vote, lawmakers scrapped a provision that would determine whether airline fees, such as those to change a travel date, are reasonable. WATCH: It's not just your eyes. Airline seats really are getting smaller. Malaysian businessman Jho Low is considered the mastermind of a multi-billion dollar financial scandal that involves a complex web of offshore shell companies, A-list celebrities, the Middle East and Wall Street. For three years, investigators have examined how funds were stolen from Malaysia's quasi-sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and used to purchase international real-estate, super-yachts and even finance Hollywood films. Money even flowed to the personal bank account of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was recently arrested and slapped with charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power. Low, now 36 years old, is widely believed to have controlled 1MDB's capital. His rise to power and financial exploits have been documented in a new book called "Billion Dollar Whale" that calls Low's fraud one of history's greatest financial heists. In this brief excerpt from the book, authored by Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, the origins of 1MDB's corruption are revealed. Brexit is a cause for concern as negotiations seem close to a no-deal, the former head of the Eurogroup told CNBC on Thursday. The U.K.'s exit from the European Union, scheduled to occur in March, is at a critical moment as negotiators try to conclude talks before November. But deep differences, on issues such as the Irish border, have raised doubts about whether an agreement will be reached. "I am very worried about the outcome of the Brexit process. We seem to be heading towards a no-deal situation," Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who led the group of 19 euro zone finance ministers for five years until January, said. "Even if there is a deal the worst the trade deal is, the more the impact will be on the financial services sector relations between the City (of London) and the EU," he told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche. The U.K. is seeking a trade deal with the EU to ensure that businesses on both sides of the English Channel will not face high tariffs. However, there is no clarity yet as to how financial services will work. The U.K. has proposed to remain part of the EU single market the common area where goods, services and people move freely but only to exchange products, not financial services. The EU has rejected that idea, arguing the U.K. cannot "cherry-pick." "I am worried about the disruption that will come from that in the short-term, I am also worried about the longer-term prospects because we still don't have well-developed integrated capital markets in Europe," Dijsselbloem said. A collapse in Brexit talks could mean that financial services firms based in the U.K. face restrictions in serving EU-based customers. The latest upheavals in the Chinese financial market may bring it one step closer to becoming a developed market. For now, the picture isn't a pretty one: The Shanghai composite has slumped about 15 percent this year, high-profile mainland companies have disappointing in initial public offerings, and many Chinese private funds are struggling after earlier enjoying rapid growth. In fact, the Asset Management Association of China's latest figures released Wednesday showed the number of private funds it has lost contact with continues to grow, reaching more than 180 for the year so far. That's nearly 80 percent of last year's total, according to CNBC calculations, but it doesn't necessarily mean long-term bad news for the industry. Number of private funds in China by quarter (2014-2018) Source: Wind Info analysis of Asset Management Association of China data. "I would say if you look at private equity right now in China, I think that it's a rapidly maturing industry," Joe Ngai, managing partner at McKinsey's Greater China office, told CNBC in an interview last week. He added that a so-called washing out of the less experienced market players will bring to light those who have survived different parts of the economic cycle. Many of the newly formed funds were relatively small, about $500 million to $1 billion in size, Ngai said. "All these guys right now are facing massive headwinds," he said. "I don't think there's any shortcut. ... [There were many] very average companies that were invested [in] at high valuations. If you want to get out, you're just not going to get very high returns." But such market turbulence is often just part of growing pains. The private fund industry in China has grown quickly, with the number of funds multiplying more than eight times to around 66,400 at the end of last year, according to Asset Management Association of China data gathered by Shanghai-based Wind Information. Total assets under management reached 11.1 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion) at the end of 2017 and increased slightly to 12.6 trillion yuan by the middle of this year, the data showed. Despite pressure from rising trade tensions with the U.S. and a slowing economy, Beijing is pushing ahead with financial reform. As part of development of the industry, local governments have created special regions for private funds. Notably, the Yuhuang Shannan fund town aims in the next two years to double assets under management to more than 2 trillion yuan, and support more than 200 public offerings, according to a document shared by a representative. Located south of the famous West Lake in the southeastern city of Hangzhou where Chinese tech giant Alibaba is headquartered Yuhuang Shannan signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2017 with Greenwich, CT, home to many of the largest hedge funds in the U.S. In four years, the Chinese fund town has already grown to 2,758 firms managing assets of 1.12 trillion yuan ($163.2 billion) as of July. Private funds must apply for an office space there, which typically consists of a one or two-story house built in a centuries-old Chinese style located in park-like grounds, with many footbridges and a lake. Christine Blasey Ford says she is sure that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is the person who sexually assaulted her when she was a 15-year-old high school student in Maryland. But during a contentious hearing Thursday, when lawmakers asked how she could be so confident of that assertion which Kavanaugh has categorically denied it was not that 15-year-old high school student who answered, but instead the person who Ford is now: A 51-year-old research psychologist, appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee as her own expert witness. "How are you so sure that it was he?" Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top-ranking Democrat on the committee asked Ford on Thursday. "The same way that I'm sure that I'm talking to you right now, just basic memory functions, and also just the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain," Ford said. "That neurotransmitter encodes memories into the hippocampus, and so the trauma-related experience then is kind of locked there whereas other details kind of drift." Feinstein then asked whether it could have been a case of mistaken identity. "Absolutely not," Ford responded. Ford is a professor of psychology and statistics at Palo Alto University, who has written prolifically about the long-term impacts of trauma, including trauma related to sexual abuse of children. She is the co-author of more than 50 scientific books and publications, according to a Wall Street Journal tally. Later, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked Ford to name her strongest memory of the event, which Ford alleges took place in the summer of 1982. "Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two, and their having fun at my expense," she said. Kavanaugh, who will address lawmakers after Ford on Thursday, is expected to tell the Senate committee that he is "not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time." "But I have never done that to her or to anyone. I am innocent of this charge," he will say, according to his prepared remarks. For her part, Ford said Thursday that she is "100 percent" sure that she was assaulted by Kavanaugh. WATCH: Kavanaugh angrily denies allegations German energy business Innogy has commenced preparation works on Australia's biggest solar project to date. Construction works on the Limondale facility located near the town of Balranald, New South Wales are set to begin in October, with full commercial operation expected by the middle of 2020, Innogy said in a statement Wednesday. The power plant will have a capacity of 349 megawatts peak. Hans Bunting, Innogy's COO for renewables, described the Limondale facility as the company's first utility scale photovoltaic plant in Australia. Innogy's subsidiary, Belectric, will act as the solar farm's engineering, procurement and construction contractor. "Electricity prices in Australia have risen strongly over the past decade and are among the highest in the world," Thorsten Blanke, Innogy Renewables Australia's CEO, said in a statement. "An expansion of renewable energies can contribute towards reducing the energy costs for customers," Blanke added, before describing wind and solar as "cost-effective alternatives in a country with excellent natural renewable resources." Australia is home to the "highest average solar radiation per square meter of any continent in the world", according to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, while more than 2 million Australian households have rooftop solar systems. President Donald Trump answers questions at a press conference on September 26, 2018 in New York City. President Donald Trump's recent comments on trade during a news conference were worrisome, and trading relations just had a real setback, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday. Cramer spoke the morning after Trump held a news conference in which the president addressed a wide range of issues including trade, North Korea and allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanuagh. During the news conference, Trump claimed that he had rejected a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which Canada's government later denied. "Canada's our largest trading partner. Canada can impact things," Cramer said Thursday on "Squawk on the Street." "It was a bit of a throw away." Trump is pursuing new trade deals and concessions from China and other nations to change what he sees as unfair trade practices. The Trump administration is attempting to strike a new NAFTA agreement among the U.S., Mexico and Canada but has indicated it would move on without Canada. Sources told CNBC that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer plans to issue the text of a trade deal with just the U.S. and Mexico on Friday. Cramer also mentioned Trump's comments on China, which he said were "hyperbolic." The president doubled down on his earlier accusations that Beijing was looking to meddle in the midterm elections later this year but did not provide any details. "My total view on this is that trade relations got a real setback," said Cramer, host of "Mad Money." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. WATCH: Trump's economy: Here's where he gets credit, and what could go wrong The CVS Health logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Aetna has reached an agreement to sell its Medicare Part D drug plan business to WellCare Health Plans. The firms did not disclose the financial terms of the deal but said the transaction is contingent on regulatory approval from the Trump administration for CVS Health's $69 billion acquisition of Aetna. The business being sold had about 2.2 million members as of June 30, Aetna said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It said the sale doesn't affect Aetna's individual or group Medicare Advantage, Medicare Advantage Part D or Medicare Supplement products or plans. The divestiture could help CVS and Aetna clear a major hurdle for approval from the Department of Justice, but it's no guarantee. Two years ago, the DOJ blocked Aetna's proposed $37 billion acquisition of Humana despite an offer from the firms to divest part of their overlapping Medicare Advantage businesses covering nearly 300,000 people in a sale to Molina Health. Regulators said the merger would be anti-competitive. In a separate SEC filing, CVS Health said it believes the divestiture represents "a significant step toward completing the DOJ's review of their proposed acquisition." CVS said the companies are continuing "productive" talks with the Justice Department, and expect the deal to close in the early part of the fourth quarter. It also reiterated that it expects the deal to add to its earnings in the second full year after its close and to deliver more than $750 million in cost savings in the second year. For WellCare, the transaction would mark its third deal in just over two years, after buying Universal American in 2017 and completing its acquisition of Meridian Health earlier this month. The insurer has a well-established Medicaid business, serving nearly 3 million people in the government safety net health plan, but it has been increasingly focused on growing its membership in Medicare plans for seniors. The new transaction would triple WellCare's Medicare membership Medicare Drug Plans from 1.1 million to 3.3 million. Under the agreement, WellCare would assume control of the Aetna plans effective at midnight on Dec. 31 if the CVS-Aetna deal is approved. Aetna would continue to provide administrative services on the contract through 2019. Hurdles remain. New York's top insurance regulator has raised objections to the CVS-Aetna merger that go beyond concerns about market concentration in Medicare Part D. The objections were made in comments to Connecticut regulators where a hearing on the deal is scheduled for Oct. 4. "We are concerned with the considerable amount of debt over $40 billion that CVS is taking on to finance this transaction," wrote Maria Vullo, the superintendent of New York State's Department of Financial Services. "The considerable pressure to repay debt would cause the resulting company to repay its substantial obligation before investing in pro-market and pro-consumer measures." The New York regulator also raised concerns that the vertical integration of CVS' pharmacy benefits business with Aetna's insurance plan would put smaller insurers at a disadvantage in the pharmacy benefits manager market. But federal antitrust regulators are not as worried about competition among PBMs. Earlier this month, the DOJ approved Cigna's $54 billion acquisition of pharmacy benefit firm Express Scripts, without concessions. PBMs, including CVS Caremark, control which drugs are covered and negotiate discounts, known as rebates, on branded drugs with manufacturers. Rebates can help manufacturers secure access on the drug formularies offered by insurance companies. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Makan Delrahim said he did not believe that the merger would negatively impact the PBM market and that the deal was "unlikely to result in harm to competition or consumers." CVS' deal involves far more moving parts, with the company's aim of leveraging its retail pharmacies and in-store clinics to provide more integrated care. In response to superintendent's Vullo's letter, CVS told CNBC earlier this week that the company is committed proving that it will work to reduce costs for consumers. "We believe that competition within each of the business segments in which we operate pharmacy benefit management, pharmacies and insurers is fierce and will remain so. We look forward to further discussions with DFS to demonstrate how the combination of our two companies will benefit consumers," said CVS spokeswoman Carolyn Castel. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that CVS Health was selling assets. WATCH: This is what Medicare does and doesn't cover Tesla CEO Elon Musk faces a range of penalties from the civil charges the SEC revealed Thursday if he is found guilty, according to a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. "He can face a number of penalties ... he can have fines imposed against him, he can effectively be barred for a period of time or permanently from serving as a principal officer or a director of a public company," former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt told CNBC's "Closing Bell" on Thursday. "That last element would of course strike a very severe blow to Tesla." The SEC lawsuit alleges that Musk issued "false and misleading" statements and failed to properly notify regulators of material company events. Sources close to the company told CNBC the company was also expecting to be sued, although Tesla was not named as a defendant in the complaint. A criminal probe reportedly opened by the Justice Department earlier this month could lead to even more serious consequences for the outspoken founder if he is found guilty there, according to Pitt. Tesla said the DOJ requested documents last month regarding Musk's tweets about taking the company private. "It shouldn't be forgotten that there's a criminal investigation proceeding. If, in fact, criminal charges are brought and they are brought against Mr. Musk, he could face jail time as well as additional fines," Pitt added. Shares of the automaker fell about 11 percent in extended trading Thursday. The stock is roughly 30 percent below its 52-week high of $387.46. His tweet on Aug. 7 cost investors betting against Tesla about $1.3 billion, according to estimates from financial technology and analytics firm S3 Partners. If federal investigators find that Musk was intentionally trying to cost them money, he could face criminal charges, securities lawyers have said. Musk said in an Aug. 13 blog post that the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund was interested in financing Tesla, only to later shelve any plans to take the company private in a tweet on Aug. 24. WATCH: Elon Musk's big ambitions may be killing Tesla Early in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Trump boasted that his administration had accomplished more than nearly any other in U.S. history, prompting laughter from world leaders and diplomats in attendance. While every comedian on television focused on ripping apart Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's virgin defense against sexual assault allegations, Stephen Colbert, James Corden, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon also found the time to roast Donald Trump for trying to brag that his administration "has accomplished more than nearly any administration in the history of our country". The U.S. president has withdrawn his country from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, accusing the country of destabilizing actions throughout the region and support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah. Trump, who has long claimed that his predecessors' weak leadership prompted other nations "to laugh" at the United States. appeared flustered and responded, "I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK". "He understands that, he understands the scope of that and what that means, he's been very consistent in his commitment in delivering on that promise, we need to find our way forward to achieve that for the world", Pompeo told "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell Wednesday. As assembled global dignitaries started to chuckle, Trump interrupted his prepared remarks and insisted, "So true". The U.N. burst into laughter at this outrageous claim, startling the president. "President Trump, you are a proud American". "I ask all members of the Security Council to work with the United States to ensure the Iranian regime changes its behavior and never acquires a nuclear bomb", he said. "Iran's leaders sow chaos, death, and destruction". "We are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends", he said. Colbert also couldn't help pointing out the Kim Jong Un was the only world leader Trump praised - spiking it with the punchline, "Putin is gonna be jealous!". Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded to Trump's comments at the meeting, saying that China follows a principle of non-interference in other countries domestic affairs. He was unapologetic about his decisions to engage with the erstwhile pariah North Korea, remove the US from the worldwide Iran nuclear accord and object to United Nations programs he believes are contrary to American interests. He also said that the United States will pursue tougher Iran sanctions, "tougher than ever before", and defended re-imposing sanctions on Iran, citing its "malign conduct". Regardless of Rouhani's not so generous offer of dialogue, what can practically come up in the next chapter of relations between Tehran and Washington, depend to a great extent on what will happen at the UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday September 26 which is to be chaired by Trump. The president blasted OPEC for high oil prices, announced new sanctions against Venezuela, and warned the USA will withhold aid from countries that challenge his agenda. Rep. Marsha Blackburn Cameron Costa | CNBC Nevada Democrat Jacky Rosen casts herself as a woman of the people. She worked her way through college as a waitress, worked her way up the corporate ladder as a computer programmer and opened her own consulting business. Now, she is running in a competitive race for U.S. Senator in the state. Her rival, GOP Sen. Dean Heller, tried immediately to raise doubts about her record, a tactic often used to discredit female candidates. Heller ran an ad in July accusing her of lying on her resume. "No computer degree. She made it up," the ad said. It claimed a business Rosen founded "didn't exist." A week later, Rosen disclosed an official transcript and documents to prove her degree in computer science and employment history. "Women running for office often have their qualifications questioned, but Senator Heller's desperate, baseless and over-the-top attacks should not be accepted as politics as usual," Rosen told CNBC. In September, following Rosen's primary win, Heller's campaign was exposed for running digital ads featuring photo shopped images of her eyebrows, a blatant "sexist attack," spokesperson Sarah Abel said. Rosen is one of multiple high-profile candidates striking back against gendered attacks in the 2018 election. While female politicians have historically avoided responding directly to sexism, for fear of backlash over appearing weak or victimized, they are reacting differently this year, experts say. After President Donald Trump's victory in 2016, women's marches and the MeToo movement defined 2017. The mobilization and anger translated to the 2018 election, where a surge of female candidates in both parties are running in battleground territories. And sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have led some female candidates to rip at their opponent's responses favoring Kavanaugh and dismissing accusers. "There's a real heightened sensitivity to sexism and misogyny this year, and more people are calling it out," said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. "For women, it's politically less risky to call out sexism." A record number of women are running for office this year, and many are newcomers with a wide range of backgrounds. The overwhelming majority is Democrats. "Of course these women are calling out sexism," said Jess McIntosh, a Democratic strategist and former Hillary Clinton aide. "They're part of the backlash and movement against electing sexual predators like Donald Trump." Gretchen Whitmer Jose Juarez | AP During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump's accusation that Clinton played the "woman's card" heightened debates on sexism and gender politics. But sexist attacks from Trump garnered little response from Clinton and her campaign, which made a conscious decision to avoid the issue. After her loss, Clinton admitted that she didn't want to appear angry by pushing back for fear of alienating certain voters. "Women are put in a double bind. If she calls out sexism, she looks like a victim. No one wants a victim as a leader. So she ignores it and tries to win anyway," said McIntosh. But fear of appearing angry and weak seems to be dissipating for some women. Even conservative candidates, who have avoided gender in their campaigns, are making the shift. For Republican women, calling out sexism is a calculated risk, said Dittmar, noting that Republicans, especially women who voted for Trump, do not view sexism the way Democrats do. For instance, in the 2016 election cycle analysts argued that gender including Trump's "woman's card" rhetoric and allegations of sexual misconduct waged against him during the campaign would shape voter choice to favor Clinton. But a significant gender gap failed to emerge, particularly among white women who voted for Trump at higher rates than Clinton. GOP candidate Marsha Blackburn, running neck in neck with Democrat Phil Bredesen in Tennessee's highly contested Senate race, has said she doesn't run on the "gender issue." But her campaign has consistently called out sexism. "Anyone who thinks Marsha Blackburn can't win a general election is just a plain sexist pig," Blackburn spokesperson Andrea Bozek told CNBC in February. In September, when Bredesen called Blackburn "a big girl" who could make decisions about missed votes, her campaign said he "should be ashamed for his condescension toward women." And a recent campaign ad shows a 1972 newspaper headline 'Book sellers end sex discrimination' with a picture of Blackburn, as the narrator boasts that she was the first woman hired at her Southwestern book-selling company. "When Blackburn calls out sexism, she might as well wear an 'I'm a hypocrite sign' on herself. She voted to put Trump, a sexual predator, in the White House," said McIntosh. Rep. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev. Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images In her appearance before U.S. senators on Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford was asked how she would pay for the polygraph test that was administered and handle other costs associated with her testimony against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. "I'm aware that there's been several GoFundMe sites," Blasey Ford told Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor who was hired to ask questions on behalf of Republican senators. "I haven't had a chance to figure out how to manage those because I've never had one." GoFundMe, a crowdfunding website that allows anyone to start a fundraising effort, is hosting 13 campaigns related to Blasey Ford, according to a search on the site using her name. Most of them haven't gotten much response, though they picked up after the topic was raised. However, the top two campaigns have reeled in more than half a million dollars for Blasey Ford, a professor of psychology and statistics at Palo Alto University in California. The fundraising effort that's raised the most money brought in over $320,000 from over 6,400 people as of mid-day Thursday, blowing past its original goal of $150,000. The campaign for her "immediate security and personal expenses" is "sponsored by her neighbors and colleagues," and named the Ford family as the sole beneficiary. Blasey Ford is in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to testify, after she came forward to tell her story of being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh as a teenager in 1982. Kavanaugh's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee will follow Blasey Ford's appearance. Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations against him. Death threats Today, Google is an $800 billion tech behemoth with nearly 90,000 employees spread around the world. But, 20 years ago, Google was a fledgling internet company consisting of its two founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, working out of a garage. Now, you can see what it was like for Page and Brin to work out of that cramped garage in 1998, thanks to a new virtual tour posted online by Google on Thursday. Google is celebrating its 20th birthday today (though the company was officially incorporated on September 4, 1998, Google marks its anniversary each year on September 27). The company is marking its two-decade celebration by recreating the Menlo Park, California garage where Page and Brin first launched the website. Google historians can now take a virtual tour of Google's earliest office in new street-view 360-degree images from Google Maps. The images are titled "Susan's Garage," a reference to Susan Wojcicki, who rented the garage of her Menlo Park home to her friends, Page and Brin, when they were Ph.D. students at Stanford looking to get their new company off the ground. Take a look. Senator Mazie Hirono attends a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Christine Blasey Ford to testify about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2018. Erin Schaff | Reuters A Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday blasted her Republican colleagues and the sex crimes prosecutor they hired for treating a woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault like a witness in a criminal trial. Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii chastised the prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, for "asking these questions all to undermine the memory and basically the credibility of" Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh's accuser. And Hirono tried to short-circuit what she suggested was the true goal of Mitchell, who prosecutes sex assaults in Arizona, on behalf of the GOP senators. "I think I know what she's trying to get at," Hirono said. "I'll just ask you very plainly, Dr. Ford, is there a political motivation for your coming forward with your account of the assault by Brett Kavanaugh?" Ford replied: " No." Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., later said to Ford: "You are not on trial. You are not on trial." Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee | Getty Images Kavanaugh, who is a federal appeals court judge, has denied attacking Ford, as well as several other women who have come forward in recent weeks to describe alleged sexual misconduct by him dating to the 1980s. Mitchell's questioning of Ford drew widespread criticism from political observers on social media over her focusing less on Ford's claim of being attacked by Kavanaugh at a private home in the early 1980s, and more on details of what happened afterward. Mitchell, from the start of her questioning, seemed hobbled by the fact that she had blocks of just five minutes of question time and was required to alternate her turns with Democratic senators, who did their own questioning. The career prosecutor spent many minutes laying the foundation for asking questions that seemed designed to chip away at the veracity of Ford's memory, or call into question her motivation. But she seemed unable to deliver a knockout blow to Ford, which even one GOP senator seemed to acknowledge. "I found no reason to not find her credible," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, after Ford finished her testimony. Rachel Mitchell, chief of the Special Victims Division of the Maricopa County attorney's office in Arizona, listens to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testify at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Erin Schaff | Getty Images Eric Wu, founder and chief executive of Opendoor, a start-up company that flips homes, at their San Francisco headquarters, May 18, 2017. SAN FRANCISCO Opendoor, a start-up that flips homes, attracted attention in June when it announced it had raised $325 million from a long list of venture capitalists. The financing valued the four-year-old company at more than $2 billion. That was only an appetizer. Three months later, Opendoor has more than doubled its cash pile. On Thursday, the company said that SoftBank's Vision Fund had invested $400 million in it. The valuation for Opendoor remains the same. The haul is part of a race by investors to pour money into technology for real estate, or what Silicon Valley now calls proptech. Having watched tech start-ups upend old-line industries like taxis and hotels, venture capitalists are casting about for the next area to be infused with software and data. Many have homed in on real estate as a big opportunity because parts of the industry like pricing, mortgages and building management have been slow to adopt software that could make business more efficient. Last year, real estate tech start-ups raised $3.4 billion in funding, a fivefold increase from 2013, according to start-up data provider CB Insights. One firm, Fifth Wall Ventures, is entirely dedicated to proptech. "Tech is starting to make inroads to becoming adopted and it's opening the eyes of investors," said Jeffrey Housenbold, a managing director at SoftBank's Vision Fund. Until recently, the biggest tech innovations to hit the residential real estate market have come from listing sites like Zillow and Redfin. But the new wave of start-ups are tackling a wide range of areas appraisals, building management, financing, co-working, co-living, building amenities and empty retail space. The Vision Fund, one of the most aggressive investors in real estate tech start-ups, has written large checks to Katerra, a construction company; Compass, a high-end brokerage; WeWork, an office rental company; Lemonade, a home insurance start-up; and Oyo Rooms, a hotel company in India. Mr. Housenbold said that SoftBank's deep pockets it has $98 billion in cash to spend may be influencing the market. "Given the vast amount of attention on the Vision Fund, people have become more curious," he said. Opendoor, one of the largest start-ups in the proptech category, gives the Vision Fund an entry into residential housing. The Silicon Valley company was founded in 2014 by venture capitalist Keith Rabois and Eric Wu, who is Opendoor's chief executive. With the money from SoftBank, it has raised more than $1 billion from investors including Khosla Ventures and GGV Capital. Opendoor's goal is to make moving as simple as the click of a button, according to Mr. Wu. While that remains a far-off reality, the company has simplified the process of selling a home. It uses a combination of data, software and a team of 50 human evaluators to assess a home's value. If a customer accepts Opendoor's value for their home, the company will buy the property, charging a 6.5 percent fee on average. The company said it offers sellers certainty many conventional home sales fall through and flexible closing dates, helping them avoid paying double mortgages. It also eliminates the need for a real estate agent. Opendoor employs 100 licensed real estate agents to advise customers if they request it. Opendoor only buys homes built in 1960 or later, worth $175,000 to $500,000, and not in need of major renovations or repairs. Operating in more than a dozen cities, mostly in the South, it bought $316 million of homes in August, up from around $100 million in January. After some light fixes, it sells the homes in an average of 90 days. Before its latest cash infusion, Opendoor planned to expand into one new city a month. Now it plans to double that pace. The company said it expects to be in 22 cities in the United States by the end of the year. Its growth has spawned competitors: OfferPad and Knock offer comparable services to Opendoor, and Zillow and Redfin, which are both publicly traded, have entered the house-flipping market as well. "For awhile, we were literally the only ones doing this because it's complex," Mr. Wu said. Size is an advantage, he said: More transactions means more data to help Opendoor price its offers more accurately, as well as more buying power with local suppliers for renovations. Mr. Wu said he believes reducing the annoyances and costs of moving will entice more people to do it, which will increase the size of the market. "There are a finite number of homes, but if people are moving with more frequency, that increases the liquidity of the supply in the system," he said. Opendoor's business model has not been tested by a major dip in the housing market, causing some skepticism about whether it can work over the long term. "The vast majority of investors who hear about it initially think it's a bad idea," said Stephen Kim, an analyst at Evercore ISI, a market research company. But the skepticism often fades as they realize Opendoor makes money by providing a service to home sellers, rather than on price appreciation, Mr. Kim said. Even if the company breaks even on a sale, the transaction fees are a meaningful business. Jason Childs, Opendoor's chief financial officer, said the company's geographic diversity and 90-day average flips help shield it from a potential housing market crash. In the housing crash a decade ago, the holders of long-duration assets were affected the worst, he said. Opendoor's Phoenix operations are already profitable, excluding the cost of its headquarters in San Francisco, and Dallas is "on the edge of profitability," said Mr. Childs. The company's long-term success relies on its ability to accurately price homes. Half of the people who now get offers from Opendoor sell their home to the company. Opendoor did not provide data on how close its offers were to the ultimate sale price of the homes they did not buy. In recent months, aided by the promise of cash from SoftBank, Opendoor has also expanded into the business of selling homes directly to customers, instead of going through brokers in the traditional way. It acquired Open Listings, a home shopping site, to offer a service it is calling a "trade-in," where Opendoor handles the entire buying and selling process for a person or family. That service is now available in Dallas. It also began offering mortgage and title services to buyers. But Mr. Wu does not foresee one thing going away completely: the job of the real estate agent. Rather, he expects an agent's work to shift to more of an advisory role, instead of an administrative one. "The thing that cannot be automated is this notion of advice what neighborhood, what school district, how much you can afford," he said. "It's important to have someone who is an expert alongside you." Timothy Adams, president and CEO of the Institute of International Finance, told CNBC on Thursday that he believes a North American trade deal won't happen without Canada. The text of trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico is expected to be released as early as Friday, two sources have told CNBC. That text will allow Canada to join into the agreement at a later date, one source said. However, "without Canada as part of the deal, there won't be a deal," Adams said on "Squawk on the Street." He said a bilateral deal between the United States and Mexico will not pass Congress. "The message coming out of Capitol Hill is don't send us a bill Canada isn't part of," said Adams, who was undersecretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush. That's because Canada is the No. 1 U.S. trading partner and is "critically important to 36 states," he said. Adams was in Canada recently speaking with bankers and said the business community thinks it will get done. The Institute of International Finance is the global association of the financial industry. "Ultimately you have to have Canada at the table. Canadians know that," he said. "We're just at the final stages of getting a deal." Meanwhile, the good U.S. economy is helping allay concerns about trade. "We don't see that vibrancy anywhere globally that we see in the U.S.," he said. "The underlying fundamentals of the U.S. are pretty good. The best they have been in a long time." U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during testimony by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Sitting in the same seat before the panel later Thursday, Kavanaugh angrily defended his honor as Republicans aimed to push forward with his confirmation. He denied the accusation and made his own claims about a Democratic conspiracy that raised questions about his political independence. In emotional testimony earlier in the day, college professor Christine Blasey Ford accused the appeals judge of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school in 1982. Her testimony was widely considered sober and credible, and she repeatedly said she had no political motivations. The South Carolina Republican lashed out at his Democratic colleagues and accused them of orchestrating an "unethical sham" against the appeals judge to keep a seat on the top U.S. court open. The remarks, made during an extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, came as Graham has emerged as one of Kavanaugh's most ardent defenders from a sexual assault claim. A sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, Rachel Mitchell, started the day questioning Ford before GOP senators led by Graham took back their time during most of Kavanaugh's testimony. Graham exploded at his Democratic colleagues, alleging that they want to stop the GOP from filling a Supreme Court seat. "What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold this seat open and hope you win [the presidency] in 2020. You said that! Not me," the South Carolina Republican shouted at Democrats. "Boy, y'all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham," he continued. Graham said Ford who says she was sexually assaulted is "as much of a victim" as Kavanaugh is. The senator, who has recently grown closer to President Donald Trump, also challenged his GOP colleagues to support Kavanaugh. "To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, you're legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics," Graham continued. Two GOP senators can sink Kavanaugh's confirmation if they oppose him. Multiple Republican lawmakers have stayed mum on whether they will vote for him as they monitor the testimony from Ford and Kavanaugh. While Kavanaugh's angry denials may appeal to Trump, it remains to be seen whether they win over undecided GOP senators such as Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Democrats have called for the GOP to delay the confirmation process and urged the FBI to reopen an investigation into Ford's allegations. The party's Judiciary Committee members call Ford a serious and credible accuser whose accusations, combined with other sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh, warrants the judge's withdrawal from the confirmation process. The judiciary panel could advance Kavanaugh's nomination as early as Friday. Kavanaugh's high school friend Mark Judge, who Ford says was an eyewitness to the assault, did not testify on Thursday. He has said he did not remember the incident in a statement to the panel. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks to members of the media in the basement of the U.S. Capitol prior to a Senate Republican Policy Luncheon January 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. "I'm really upset that they knew about this in August and never told anybody," Graham told reporters outside the hearing room. "I'm really upset that [Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.] believed this was a credible allegation, [and] that you wouldn't do Mr. Judge Kavanaugh the service of saying, 'I've got this, what's your side of the story.'" The senator, an ally of President Donald Trump 's, excoriated Democrats for "playing a political game" after the first round of the hearing, in which Ford, 51, testified that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, 53, had sexually assaulted her decades earlier. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., emerged from Christine Blasey Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday feeling "really upset" toward his political opponents. Ford sent a letter to California Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo detailing her allegation that Kavanaugh, as a teenager in the early 1980s, had pinned her to a bed and tried to rip her clothes off while drunk at a small party. Ford had requested confidentiality in the letter. The letter was obtained by Feinstein, the Judiciary Committee's ranking member, in late July, but was not revealed to the public until mid-September. By that time, Kavanaugh had already completed public hearings and attended dozens of one-on-one meetings with senators including Feinstein. Kavanaugh denied Ford's allegation, as well as allegations of sexual misconduct from two other women who came forward in September. His testimony was scheduled to follow Ford's on Thursday. "I feel ambushed as the majority," Graham told the reporters after Ford testified. He suggested that Democrats were attempting to push Kavanaugh's nomination beyond the November midterm elections, where they have a chance of taking the majority away from the GOP. "I'm not going to reward people for playing a political game," Graham said. Ford is a "nice lady, who has come forward to tell a story that's uncorroborated," Graham said. But, he added, if "this is enough, God help anybody else that gets nominated." WASHINGTON As the world's two largest economies exchange tit-for-tat tariffs, there are growing suggestions that the trade turmoil has spilled over into military relations. China has canceled friendly engagements with the U.S. Navy, possibly due to the trade dispute. In an interview with CNBC's Morgan Brennan, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, the branch's top civilian, explained the intricate relationship between the two naval forces. "When we look at China, it's a very complex situation to say the least because they are also a great trading power," Spencer said. "We have a major trading power as a competitor," he added, noting Beijing's ambitious military buildup. Spencer's comments come on the heels of reports that China's top naval commander canceled a planned visit this week to meet with his American counterpart and that the U.S. was denied a port visit in Hong Kong for its USS Wasp amphibious ship. "We were informed that Vice Admiral Shen Jinlong has been recalled to China and will not conduct a visit with Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson," Army Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, wrote in an emailed statement to CNBC. "We have no additional information at this time." In regards to the port visit denial, Eastburn noted that while the Chinese government did not approve the USS Wasp visit, the U.S. has "a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong" and that the Defense Department expects that will continue. China, the second-largest economy in the world, links its economic security closely to the hotly contested waterways in the South China Sea, since more than 64 percent of its maritime trade transited through the region in 2016. The South China Sea is also a vital trade artery for Vietnam, Japan and South Korea. Home to more than 200 specks of land, the South China Sea serves as a gateway to global sea routes where approximately $3.4 trillion of trade passes annually. The numerous overlapping sovereign claims to islands, reefs and rocks many of which disappear under high tide have turned the waters into an armed camp. Beijing holds the lion's share of these features with approximately 27 outposts peppered throughout. Beijing's interest in developing the crumbs of land across the South China Sea is by no means new. For instance, China first took possession of Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef in 1988 and has since outfitted the features with deep-water ports, aircraft hangars, communication facilities, administration offices and a 10,000-foot runway. President Donald Trump sits behind his desk as he announces a bilateral trade agreement with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) at the White House in Washington, August 27, 2018. The deal once known as NAFTA could effectively become "HALFTA" assuming the U.S. and Canada don't make any trade negotiation progress over the next three days, according to an analysis of likely outcomes. There are four "endgame scenarios" in the trilateral talks between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, wrote Chris Krueger, managing director at Cowen Washington Research Group. None paint a particularly rosy outcome, with the bleakest outlook one that Krueger called "blow it up and make America an island" as President Donald Trump hardens his desire to reduce the swelling U.S. trade deficit. "There exists the uncomfortable reality of Trump's view of NAFTA and the potential that this all ends in a raging dumpster fire," said Krueger, who titled his note, "Helpless: NAFTA Still HALFTA With AMLO Deadline Looming & 232 Tariffs." Krueger is fond of using musical allusions in his notes, and this one references the song "Helpless" by Canadian folk rocker Neil Young. "Trump has an instinctive hatred for multilateral deals with a special venom reserved for NAFTA first among all others," he added. "If we take Trump literally and seriously, this is the logical outcome that is hiding in plain sight." Trump has made it a priority to re-examine the multinational trade deals in which the U.S. has engaged, and has targeted the pact with Canada and Mexico as one of his least favorites. The administration in August announced that it had reached an accord with Mexico across multiple areas and was hoping Canada would come on board as well. However, there remain deep disagreements about U.S. access to the Canadian dairy market, as well as issues over supply management, steel and aluminum tariffs the White House implemented earlier this year and on autos. Australian landing ship HMAS Choules Lombrum Naval Base 2013 (Australian Defence Ministry) STAFF WRITER | Naval Today CANBERRA - Australia is taking further steps to improve regional maritime security with an $AU5 million upgrade of Papua New Guineas Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island. Wharf and shore-based infrastructure upgrades are to be undertaken by Fletcher Morobe Constructions Limited as part of the Australian governments Pacific maritime security program. The upgrades are interpreted as a response to Chinas interest in redeveloping ports in PNG and gaining a military foothold in the region. The Lombrum upgrades will support the safe and secure berthing of PNGs four new Guardian-class patrol boats, Australian defence minister Christopher Pyne said, announcing the contract. The infrastructure works build upon existing security cooperation between Defence and the PNG Defence Force, including the recently established $2 million communications centre at Lombrum. The economy in the Gaza Strip is "collapsing" mainly due to the 11-year blockade on the coastal enclave in addition to cuts in donor aid, according to a new report from the World Bank. Youth unemployment is at 70 per cent, and every second person is living in poverty. "The Palestinian Authority's decision to reduce the monthly transfer of $30 million to the strip, the elimination of $ 50-60 million that was provided through U.S. aid programmes and cuts to UNRWA's budget", all play a major role in the current crisis that has developed, according to Aharon. "A combination of war, isolation, and internal rivalries has left Gaza in a crippling economic state and exacerbated the human distress", said Marina Wes, the World Bank's director for the region. Six fires erupted, on Saturday, in Israeli communities surrounding the besieged Gaza Strip, caused by flaming objects launched from Gaza. On Thursday, it appeared that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met with Egypt's intelligence minister to discuss possible terms for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. On Friday, one Palestinian was reported killed and at least 312 were wounded as some 10,000 Palestinians protested on the Gaza Strip border, with some throwing explosive devices, rocks, and burning tires, as soldiers responded with tear gas and occasional live fire. Hamas, an Islamist terror group that seized control of Gaza in 2007 and seeks to destroy Israel, has acknowledged that dozens of the Palestinian fatalities were its members. Gaza's economic situation is likely to deteriorate further because of the failed attempts to negotiate an easing of the blockade. Mladenov and Egyptian officials have been seeking to broker a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, but those efforts have stalled in recent weeks. Israel has also closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing in response to the continued arson attacks. Legitimate institutions to govern Gaza in a transparent and efficient manner and reforms to create a positive business environment are also necessary for sustained economic recovery. "You have become hostages of the Hamas regime". Nike's controversial 30th anniversary ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick might not have happened as the sportswear company nearly dropped him, according to a report in The New York Times. Kaepernick was unemployed after leaving the San Francisco 49ers at the end of the 2016 season, having made headlines for kneeling during the national anthem in protest against police brutality towards African-Americans in the U.S., a move that other players replicated. In summer 2017, Nike executives debated dropping their sponsorship, the Times reported. Kaepernick didn't have a team and keeping him on its roster could diminish its relationship with the NFL, of which Nike is a partner. So Nike marketers decided to cancel the contract with Kaepernick, according to a former employee who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity because of a non-disclosure agreement, which CNBC has not been able to verify. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told CNBC on Thursday President Donald Trump won't shut down the government over the lack of border wall funding in a newly passed House spending package. "We've decided to have that discussion after the election," Mulvaney said on "Squawk Box." Hours before Wednesday's House spending bill vote, Trump said, "We're going to keep the government open." Asked if the president can be taken at his word not to close the government, Mulvaney said, "I think so." With passage now in the House and Senate, the president needs to sign the legislation before federal funding lapses at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday. "What you saw this here is a move in the right direction," Mulvaney said. "The House and the Senate actually passed some appropriation bills, ... so it sounds like they learned to govern again." "We still got some stuff to do in the lame duck" session of Congress after the November midterm elections, he added. "There is no money for the border security yet, and that is a problem for us." Before joining the Trump administration, Mulvaney was a congressman from South Carolina who was a member of the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus. Mulvaney, also acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is participating in a White House economic summit on Thursday. Deregulation and tax cuts 2.0 are on the agenda. Mulvaney also reiterated his concerns about student loans. "Student loans still bother me," he said, but stopped short of calling for more regulations. "The entity making the loans is one of the most irresponsible entities that could make a loan, which is the federal government," he said. "Do we need maybe more precise rules on how to do something? Maybe that's a place to start." Earlier this month, Mulvaney said he worries about the "moral" and "financial" consequences of failing to pay back student loans. According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, outstanding education debt in the U.S. has tripled during the last decade and now exceeds $1.5 trillion. LONDON To some people it is just an innocent joke about a man who can't keep his eyes on his own girlfriend. To others, it is a comment on the interchangeability of women. Sweden's advertising ombudsman, an industry body, has gone with the latter interpretation of a widely shared meme, known as the "distracted boyfriend." In a decision published this week, the organization found that Bahnhof, an internet service provider, had broken its rules against gender discrimination by using the image of a man turning to ogle a passing woman as his girlfriend stares in disbelief. The image had been widely shared by the time Bahnhof used it in a Facebook post. In 2017 it prompted one Twitter user to write up the back story of the three characters, and turned the models into celebrities of sorts. The news of the ruling from the Reklamombudsmannen, or Swedish Advertising Ombudsman, even attracted a few memes of its own. Tweet Bahnhof's post, intended to promote job opportunities at the company, labeled the man as "you." The woman who has stolen his attention represented opportunities at Bahnhof, while the girlfriend he is ignoring is labeled "your current workplace." The decision said that using a woman, depicted as a sex object, to represent job vacancies, while showing the man as an individual, was discriminatory. It also said the posts perpetuated a stereotype that women are interchangeable, like workplaces. Discussions about how advertising portrays and targets women have grown as people have started to push back against denigrating images, especially those that have spread rapidly online. The advertising group took up Bahnhof's post after it received 15 complaints contending that the image was objectifying and bore little relation to what was being promoted. Britain last year announced a ban on advertising that promotes gender stereotypes, saying that they could "restrict the choices, aspiration and opportunities" of people who viewed the ads. Companies like Dove and Nivea have attracted criticism for their use of images online. Facebook has been accused of discriminating against women by allowing employers to exclude women from targeted recruitment campaigns. The judgment reflects changing mores across Europe, as well as a shift for the advertising industry, said Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a consumer psychologist at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, Britain. "We have seen across Europe, in terms of consumer advertising, that these messages are not OK," Ms. Jansson-Boyd said. "We're more aware what is correct and what isn't. The idea that you can swap a woman just like a job isn't acceptable." But Bahnhof is unrepentant. Jon Karlung, the chief executive, maintained that the decision which carries no punishment or fine was an overreaction. He pointed out that the meme had been shared with no sexist intent by the head of Bahnhof's communications division, who happens to be a woman. "We will fight fiercely to use memes in any way we feel," Mr. Karlung said. "We will not be subject to censorship in any sense." "People will be annoyed by anything," he added. Still, the decision may make other companies consider more carefully how much benefit they get from using these images, according to Anja Lambrecht, a marketing professor at London Business School who focuses on digital marketing. "We actually know from research that ads perceived as outrageous get more attention, but are not necessarily more persuasive," Ms. Lambrecht explained. Mr. Karlung said that was something that he had weighed: "This ad now has probably been the most published Swedish job ad ever. That was not our plan, and now we have got a lot of attention." "It can be good, it can be bad," he added. The ombudsman depends on self-regulation within the industry and said the ruling was intended to serve as a guide to other businesses. Bahnhof noted in its statement, "If we are to be punished, it's because of using an old and tired meme." The conversation is getting louder. Traditionally, American families have had to go it alone with a new baby. However, paid family leave is starting to gain traction in the U.S. due to employee demand. And one of the biggest negative beliefs about paid family leave that it is a burden on business may not be true. It's one of the most common arguments against widespread adoption in the U.S. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, about 20 million leaves are taken each year and one-fifth of those are used by families with a new child, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. The Family and Medical Leave Act allows new parents to take up to 12 weeks off from a job, but it guarantees only that they'll have a job to return to. The act doesn't mandate any salary during that time. More than half of people surveyed said an unpaid leave for family or medical reasons would mean serious financial hardship, according to a September survey by the National Partnership for Women and Families. It's a critical issue that isn't going anywhere. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses the Indo-Pacific Business Forum at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, on July 30, 2018. America's top diplomat had harsh words for Europe and its fellow remaining members of the Iranian nuclear deal after it was announced they would develop a financial mechanism to bypass U.S. sanctions and continue doing business with Iran. Speaking to the conservative lobbying group United Against a Nuclear Iran during the UN General Assembly meetings, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday he was "disturbed and indeed deeply disappointed" by the European Union's decision to create a "special purpose vehicle" (SPV) designed to allow trade with Tehran in euros, which would eliminate the need for commercial and central banks who fear U.S. penalties. Announced jointly with Russia and China, the mechanism as of yet lacks technical details. "This is one of the of the most counterproductive measures imaginable for regional and global peace and security," Pompeo said. "By sustaining revenues to the regime, you are solidifying Iran's ranking as the number one state sponsor of terror." The initial announcement of the SPV from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini this week came ahead of a second round of U.S. sanctions set to come down on Iran's oil sector on November 4. U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton added to Pompeo's criticism, mocking the EU's resolve and the feasibility of the plan. "The European Union is strong on rhetoric and weak on follow-through," he told the audience. "We do not intend to allow our sanctions to be evaded by Europe or anybody else." The Trump administration re-imposed economic sanctions on Tehran after pulling out of the Iranian nuclear deal in May. The deal, negotiated under the Obama administration, was signed by the U.S., Iran, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China in 2015 and lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits to its nuclear program. When pressed for details during the news conference, Trump called attention to the escalating trade tension between the two countries. Trump earlier told a U.N. Security Council meeting on nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction that China was trying to interfere in the upcoming mid-term elections, without providing any evidence. China immediately rejected the accusation during the same meeting, according to reports. "We have evidence," he said. "It'll come out, yeah, I can't tell you now, but it came it didn't come out of nowhere, that I can tell you. Now they've actually admitted that they're going after farmers, I mean, I think most of you can cover that." Trump also doubled down on his earlier accusations that Beijing was looking to meddle in the U.S. congressional elections later this year, but did not offer any specific details. He said China would like to see Trump lose an election because "they've never been challenged like this." President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that China supposedly respects him for his "very, very large brain," during a news conference where he addressed wide-ranging issues including trade, North Korea and mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. "China now put on $250 billion, and they're paying 25 percent on that. They're paying billions and billions this has never happened to China, and I like China and I like President Xi a lot," he said in response to a question posed to him by CNBC's Eamon Javers. "From what I hear, if you look at Mr. Pillsbury, the leading authority on China ... he was saying that China has total respect for Donald Trump and for Donald Trump's very, very large brain. He said, Donald Trump, they don't know what to do," Trump said. The president was likely referring to Michael Pillsbury, who is senior fellow and director for Chinese strategy at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. Pillsbury told Fox News last month that Beijing viewed Trump as a "superior" president out of the last five or six American leaders that dealt with China and that he was "so smart." "It's refreshing to see this level of respect for the United States, I haven't seen it in 40 years. Usually the Chinese look down on us as not being very bright," the China-watcher had told the network. Prior to taking questions from reporters on Wednesday, Trump also said that the trade relationship between China and the U.S. needed to be a "two-way street, and for 25 years, or longer, was not." The latest round of tariffs targeting U.S. and Chinese goods went into effect on Monday, raising the stakes in an escalating trade spat between the world's two largest economies. The Trump administration levied duties of 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese products that include furniture and appliances, with the rate set to increase to 25 percent by the end of the year. It was Washington's third tranche of China-focused levies and part of a strategy to pressure Beijing into changing trade practices that Trump has claimed hurt American companies. For its part, China said it would impose taxes on American imports worth about $60 billion. Beijing also hit out against the U.S. in a 71-page paper, accusing the U.S. of "trade bullyism practices" that have become "the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy." CNBC's Nyshka Chandran and Reuters contributed to this report. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Brett Kavanaugh's name. Rite Aid said it would overhaul its board of directors Thursday, a month after it abandoned its merger with grocery chain Albertsons. The company said that it is separating the CEO and chairman position. Director Bruce Bodaken will become chairman and John Standley will remain CEO. Additionally, Rite Aid nominated three independent directors Robert E. Knowling Jr., Louis P. Miramontes and Arun Nayar to the board. Shareholders will vote on the proposed changes at next month's meeting. The board changes are not entirely surprising because questions were raised about Rite Aid's structure amid opposition from investors over its planned merger with Albertsons. Critics argued the deal would have provided Albertsons' private equity owner, Cerberus Capital Management, a vehicle to take the company public without rewarding Rite Aid shareholders. Rite Aid announced the changes as it reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that met Wall Street's expectations and revenue that slightly surpassed them. Rite Aid's stock is trading up about 1 percent. The company reported a net loss of $352.3 million, or 33 cents per share. It said it incurred $282.6 million in intangible asset impairment charges related to its pharmacy services segment. When stripping out such one-time events, the company reported a loss $7.9 million or 1 cent per share, which was in line with what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected. The drugstore chain's revenue hit $5.42 billion, slightly above the $5.36 billion Wall Street had anticipated. Same-store sales increased 1 percent from the same quarter last year, including a 1.6 percent increase in pharmacy sales and a 0.1 percent decrease in front-end sales. Rite Aid's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were $148.6 million, compared with $136.9 million from the previous year. Rite Aid reaffirmed the full-year forecast it gave last month. It expects revenues to be between $21.7 billion and $22.1 billion for fiscal year 2019, same-store sales to be flat or increase to 1 percent, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $540 million to $590 million, and capital expenditures to total about $250 million. However, it now expects its net loss for the year to be between $440 million and $485 million, higher than the previously given $125 million and $170 million, because of impairment charges. It now anticipates its adjusted earnings to be a loss of 3 cents per share or earnings of 1 cent per share. "While we have important work ahead of us, we also have full confidence in our strategy, our team and our company to succeed in building significant momentum for the future as we continue to work to meet the evolving needs of our customers and create value for our shareholders," Standley said. The Albertsons deal's collapse came just a year after regulators thwarted Walgreens Boots Alliance's acquisition Rite Aid. Walgreens instead purchased 1,932 of Rite Aid's 4,600 stores for $4.37 billion. This helped Rite Aid pay off some of its debt but left it it with a much smaller footprint than Walgreens and CVS Health. Drugstores are facing pressure as Amazon poaches their so-called front end sales of greeting cards and household goods. The e-commerce giant now enters the prescription delivery space with its acquisition of PillPack. Both Walgreens and CVS have signaled they want to add more health services to their stores to keep customers coming in. CVS is awaiting regulatory approval for its $69 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna, a deal that would create a health-care powerhouse. Walgreens is partnering with a number of companies, including insurer Humana and diagnostic company Labcorp, to test different health offerings in Walgreens stores. Shares of Rite Aid have fallen 35 percent this year to $1.28 per share. The drugstore chain has a market value of $1.37 billion. Walgreens shares are essentially flat this year and are trading at $72.96 per share. The company's market cap is $72.41 billion. CVS' stock is up about 8 percent this year, with shares trading at $78.43. CVS' market value is $79.85 billion. CNBC's Lauren Hirsch contributed to this report Saudi Arabia will quietly add extra oil to the market over the next couple of months to offset a drop in Iranian production but is worried it might need to limit output next year to balance global supply and demand as the United States pumps more crude. The kingdom, OPEC's top producer, came under renewed pressure last week from U.S. President Donald Trump to cool oil prices ahead of a meeting in Algiers between a number of OPEC ministers and allies including Russia. Sources confirmed to CNBC that Saudi Arabia is ready to put as much as 550,000 additional barrels onto the market. The gains will come from about 200,000 barrels per day from its Kurais oil field, as well as resumed capacity from some pipeline issues with the Manifa field. Sources said though that this increased supply is reliant on demand. If demand is apparent, supply will grow accordingly, OPEC insiders told CNBC. But Riyadh decided against pressing for an official increase now as it realized it would not secure agreement from all producers present at the talks, some of which lack spare production capacity and would be unable to boost output quickly. Such a move would have unsettled relations among producers, sources told Reuters, with the Saudis keen to maintain unity among the so-called OPEC+ alliance in case Riyadh wants to change course in future and seek their collaboration on an output cut. "There are only two months left until the end of the year, so why create tensions now between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Russia?" one source familiar with the Algiers discussions told Reuters. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday he was concerned that oil production gains, mainly from the United States, could outstrip a projected increase in oil demand and result in an inventory overhang globally. "There are more demand threats next year compared to supply threats," said the second source, who also has knowledge of the talks. Oil prices rose to their highest since 2014 above $80 per barrel this week on fears that a steep decline in Iranian oil exports because of new U.S. sanctions will deepen an oil deficit, along with production declines in Venezuela. The tariff wars are showing up in a wider U.S. trade deficit, and have taken some of the steam out of third quarter growth that remains formidable. This week, economists trimmed third quarter growth forecasts, after reports of a wider than expected trade deficit and weaker equipment investment. The average third quarter forecast in CNBC/Moody's Analytics Rapid Update survey of economists fell by 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 percent. Trade data and durable goods reports were released Thursday morning, as was the final reading on second quarter GDP, which grew by 4.2 percent. "We saw an acceleration of activity in the second quarter. Exports surged in Q2, and now they've fallen off the table in Q3," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont. Stanley said it appears the export data was impacted by activity around the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods and the anticipated retaliation of tariffs on U.S. exports to China. He cut his forecast for third quarter to 2.8 percent from 3 percent. With the world's two largest economies opening a new front in their multibillion dollar bilateral trade dispute, the risk has risen sharply that the U.S. will eventually slap tariffs on all imports from China, Goldman Sachs said in a recent note. That growing possibility has concerned a number of economy watchers. Economists at J.P. Morgan recently cut their third quarter forecast from 3.5 percent to growth of 3 percent. They said the biggest contribution to their forecast reduction was a widening of the trade deficit in goods to a near record $75.8 billion in August, from July's $72 billion. They expect net exports will subtract about 2.1 percentage points from GDP growth in the quarter. The 1.6 percent decline in exports was due in large part to a 9.5 percent drop in shipments of food, feeds and beverages. While there are not yet specifics, economists expect that could reflect a reduction in soybean exports to China. "The widening in the August trade deficit reflected both a 1.5% decline in exports and 0.7 percent increase in imports. Both of these may have been impacted by the ongoing trade conflict. Soybean exports were reported to be front-loaded ahead of Chinese tariffs earlier in the year and now agricultural exports have been coming off hard the last two months, dragging down overall exports," the JP Morgan economists wrote. "Meanwhile import growth has been picking up lately, which could reflect efforts by importers to get goods in the country before higher US tariffs kick in. The possible stockpiling of imported goods ahead of the tariffs may also be a factor explaining the robust $65 billion estimated annual pace of real inventory accumulation in this quarter," they wrote. The J. P. Morgan economists said that is also why inventories grew more at wholesalers and at retailers than at domestic factories, which saw a 0.4 percent decline. "Pull-forward of imports into warehouses may persist for the duration of the year, as importers may surmise that the trade conflict with China won't be resolved in time to head off the scheduled bump-up in tariffs at year-end," they wrote. Stanley said so far, he doesn't see any evidence that the impact from tariffs will be sustained in the trade flows. He also expects growth to remain strong at about 3 percent for this year. "Consumer and business inestment areas are still quite storng. It's just these inventory and trade swings that have pushed the headline number a bit, but that's not indicative of the underlying health of the economy," Stanley said. "It could be somewhat disruptive but the underlying economy has a tremendous amount of strength." The part of durable goods that most reflects business investment did weaken in August. Core nondefense, ex-aircraft capital goods shipment growth was just 0.1 percent last month, and the closely watched core orders fell by 0.5 percent. "Real business spending on capital equipmentestimated using core capital goods shipmentsappears to be increasing at about a 3.0 percent pace this quarter, the slowest growth since late 2016," JP Morgan economists wrote. "On the plus sideat least for Q3 GDPinventory growth now appears to be adding even more to current-quarter growth, about offsetting the trade drag." "Neither celebrity status nor reputation as a technological innovator provide an exemption from the federal securities laws," she said. "A chairman and CEO of a public company has important responsibilities to shareholders," Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's division of enforcement, said during the press conference. "Those responsibilities include the need to be scrupulous and careful about the truth and accuracy of statements made to the investing public, whether those statements are made in traditional forms such as a press release or an earnings call or through less formal methods such as Twitter or other social media." Among other remedies, the SEC is seeking to bar Musk from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company if found guilty. The SEC complaint alleges that Musk issued "false and misleading" statements and failed to properly notify regulators of material company events. The SEC held a press conference Thursday evening regarding the complaint. Shares of the automaker fell more than 13 percent in extended trading Thursday. The stock is roughly 30 percent below its 52-week high of $387.46. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud, according to court documents filed Thursday . Sources close to the company told CNBC the company was also expecting to be sued, though Tesla was not named as a defendant in the complaint. Musk called the allegations "unjustified" and said he "never compromised" his integrity. "This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed," Musk said in a statement to CNBC. "I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way." In August, Musk tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private, adding, "Funding secured." The tweet spurred a scandal-ridden fall for Tesla and sent the stock see-sawing for weeks. @elonmusk: Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured. Musk later explained that he had been in discussions with the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and felt confident the funding would come through at his proposed price of $420 per share. The SEC, in its complaint, alleged: Musk knew that he (1) had not agreed upon any terms for a going-private transaction with the Fund or any other funding source; (2) had no further substantive communications with representatives of the Fund beyond their 30 to 45 minute meeting on July 31; (3) had never discussed a going-private transaction at a share price of $420 with any potential funding source; (4) had not contacted any additional potential strategic investors to assess their interest in participating in a going-private transaction; (5) had not contacted existing Tesla shareholders to assess their interest in remaining invested in Tesla as a private company; (6) had not formally retained any legal or financial advisors to assist with a going-private transaction; (7) had not determined whether retail investors could remain invested in Tesla as a private company; (8) had not determined whether there were restrictions on illiquid holdings by Tesla's institutional investors; and (9) had not determined what regulatory approvals would be required or whether they could be satisfied. The complaint also alleges Musk tweeted the statement without the input of other Tesla executives. "At 1:00 PM EDT, approximately 12 minutes after Musk published his tweet stating, 'Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,' Tesla's own head of Investor Relations sent a text to Musk's chief of staff asking, 'Was this text legit?'" the complaint says. Tesla's head of investor relations later told an analyst he didn't know whether the funding commitment was written or verbal. The complaint says: After Tesla's head of Investor Relations received another inquiry from another investment bank research analyst at approximately 7:20 PM EDT, he asked whether the analyst had read Tesla's "official blog post on this topic." The analyst responded, "I did. Nothing on funding though?" The head of Investor Relations replied, "The very first tweet simply mentioned 'Funding secured' which means there is a firm offer. Elon did not disclose details of who the buyer is." The analyst then asked, "Firm offer means there is a commitment letter or is this a verbal agreement?" The head of Investor Relations responded, "I actually don't know, but I would assume that given we went full-on public with this, the offer is as firm as it gets." Musk said in an interview with The New York Times that he calculated a take-private price of $420 by rounding $1 up from what would have been a 20 percent upside at the time. "According to Musk, he calculated the $420 price per share based on a 20% premium over that day's closing share price because he thought 20% was a 'standard premium' in going-private transaction," the SEC alleged in its suit. "This calculation resulted in a price of $419, and Musk stated that he rounded the price up to $420 because he had recently learned about the number's significance in marijuana culture and thought his girlfriend 'would find it funny, which admittedly is not a great reason to pick a price.'" In the hours after the initial tweet, Musk doubled down on the proposal in subsequent tweets. The SEC cited those subsequent tweets in the complaint as additional misleading statements. Channel 2 did not provide details as to Netanyahu's proposed "diplomatic initiative", but said the prime minister hoped to return from NY "with a guarantee that the Israeli Air Force would have the freedom to operate in Syrian airspace". Despite American condemnation and the Israeli state of alert with the Russian Defense Ministry announcement on Monday that it will supply the Syrian regime with S-300 defense missiles, it seems that Russia is determined to proceed with its project. "We will overcome it as we have overcome similar challenges in the past, and again, Israel will do everything that needs to be done to ensure that Syria does not become an Iranian outpost for destroying us". The prime minister also urged Russian Federation not to transfer the sophisticated S-300 missile defense system to Syria. In the three years since Jerusalem and Moscow agreed to establish a so-called "de-confliction mechanism" to avoid clashes over Syrian skies, the Jewish State has been "very successful" in curtailing Iran's influence in Syria, Netanyahu said. The Russian deaths last week have forced Moscow to take "adequate retaliatory measures to increase the safety of its military fighting worldwide terrorism in Syria", Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a televised address on Monday. But it blamed Israel for creating unsafe conditions that caused the crash. Israel, which has carried out air strikes in Syria many times during the civil war, said after the incident it would work to improve "deconfliction" of its missions with Russian forces, but would not halt them. The Russian IL-20 surveillance plane crashed near Latakia in northern Syria. A spokesperson for the Israeli army on Monday declined to comment on Moscow's S-300 delivery. The Kremlin said on Monday that the Israeli explanation "differs from the conclusions of Russian Ministry of Defense" and that the actions of Israel's pilots were the "root cause for the tragedy". Basically, he said, it is "to give the Russians a heads-up when you want to bomb Iranians or Hezbollah in Syria so we don't shoot at you, but don't go beyond that target set". He also said that Russian Federation would start to electronically jam aircraft flying in to attack targets in Syria. Mr Putin then sought to defuse tensions, mentioning "a chain of tragic accidental circumstances". The decision to deploy the S-300s comes after a Russian military aircraft was shot down over Syria last week during an Israeli airstrike. Shoigu meanwhile said "we are certain that the realisation of these measures will cool the "hot heads" and will keep them from poorly thought-out actions which threaten our servicemen". 'Russia in this case is acting in its interests only, these actions are not directed against third countries, but towards defending our own military, ' he said. Israel regularly carries out strikes in Syria against Assad's government, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Iranian targets. Russia's stepped-up role in Syria enabled President Assad's forces, which had been losing ground to the armed opposition, to gain the upper hand and reclaim significant territory held by the rebels. Moscow said relations with Israel had been "damaged" by the downing of the plane and the deaths of the 15 personnel aboard. From hydrogen-powered buses to cycle-share schemes and electric taxis, the way we move around our cities and towns is rapidly evolving. A raft of technological developments mean that the potential mass adoption of autonomous cars is no longer the stuff of science-fiction. And in Gothenburg, authorities are looking to turn the Swedish city into an amenable environment for self-driving cars. "As city planners, we realized that around the world there's a huge focus on developing the new technology for autonomous vehicles," Monica Wincentson, an urban planner at Gothenburg's City Planning Authority, told CNBC's "Sustainable Energy." She said that, as of yet, there had not been a "significant collaboration" between car manufacturers and city planners. "In order for autonomous vehicles to work well we absolutely have to work together." Wincentson was positive about what autonomous cars could bring to Gothenburg. "We think the benefits for the city will be safer and more secure transportation the flow of traffic will be more even, smooth and efficient." Nevertheless, there are concerns from some quarters regarding the safety of autonomous vehicles, an issue Wincentson was keen to address. "The safety for both pedestrians and passengers is important, and comprehensive testing of the technology is required," she said. "We will continue to have traffic regulations for vehicles and pedestrians." And what does the future hold for electric cars? "I think we're at a tipping point for electric vehicles, where in the next two or three years you're going to see a large amount of battery production coming online, which is going to make them really much cheaper," Malcolm McCulloch, associate professor in engineering science at the University of Oxford, told CNBC. On the subject of autonomous vehicles being integrated into the streets of old cities, McCulloch was optimistic. "I think they actually can fit in quite well automated vehicles are really good at perceiving their surroundings," he said. "And actually, there are a lot of clues for them to pick up in older cities, so looking at buildings and the like." The real challenge, he said, would be how autonomous vehicles interacted with motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians. "Because quite often we use human cues when we interact and that's where their challenge at the moment is: how do they pick up on the small micro cues." President Donald Trump postponed a scheduled meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday, in order to not distract from congressional hearings for his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. "The president spoke with Rod Rosenstein a few minutes ago and they plan to meet next week," press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters. "They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing." The White House said earlier this week that the purpose of Trump and Rosenstein's meeting would be to discuss the deputy attorney general's future at the Justice Department, amid conflicting reports Monday that Rosenstein was either planning to resign or expecting to be fired. By midweek, however, Trump appeared to have moved away from the idea of firing Rosenstein. "My preference would be to keep him," Trump said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon in New York. "I would certainly prefer not" firing him. Rosenstein's position at the Justice Department is more visible than those of other officials because he is charged with overseeing the special counsel's Russia probe. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the investigation. Trump has effectively gone to war against his own Justice Department in the past year, primarily over the Russia probe, which is run by former FBI Director Robert Mueller. But the president is equally furious over what he sees as a failure by the department to protect him and his allies, and to pursue his political enemies. US Judge Brett Kavanaugh (L) shakes hands with US President Donald Trump after being nominated to the Supreme Court in the East Room of the White House on July 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump expressed support for his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, after a bruising day of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him," the president wrote in a post on Twitter almost immediately after Thursday's hearing concluded. "His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats' search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote!" Read more: Sen. Lindsey Graham accuses Democrats of orchestrating a "sham" against Kavanaugh Furious Brett Kavanaugh rips accusation controversy as 'a national disgrace' Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist, appears before senators as her own expert witness Kavanaugh and a woman who has accused him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, appeared separately before lawmakers on Thursday for nearly nine hours of testimony. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of drunkenly pinning her to a bed and groping her over her clothing at a high school party in the early 1980s. "I never attended a gathering like the one that Dr. Ford describes in her allegation," Kavanaugh told senators Thursday in a an emotional opening statement. "I've never sexually assaulted Dr. Ford or anyone." Trump tweet Allegations of sexual assault have roiled the confirmation process for Trump's second nominee to the high court. Kavanaugh, a 53-year-old conservative federal appeals court judge, was widely expected to be confirmed by the Senate until accusations surfaced earlier this month, thrusting his chances into uncertainty. Appointing young Republicans to the Supreme Court, as well as the nation's lower courts, has been a key pillar of the president's domestic policy. Trump, who has said that the accusations against Kavanaugh are false, had nonetheless left open the possibility that he would withdraw Kavanaugh's nomination during a press conference Wednesday evening. "I'm going to see what happens tomorrow," Trump said, speaking to reporters in New York. "I'm going to be watching, you know, believe it or not, I'm going to see what's said. It's possible that [Ford] will be convincing." WATCH: Key moments from today's testimony President Donald Trump's trade war with China may lead to higher PC graphics card prices this holiday. The Trump administration's latest tariffs of 10 percent on $200 billion of imports from China took effect Monday. Trump, in a Sept. 17 statement, said the tariffs would rise to 25 percent on Jan. 1, 2019. Trump's 10 percent tariff will apply to graphics cards assembled in China, according to two industry sources familiar with the matter. Cards made in Taiwan are not affected by the tariffs, sources said. AMD and Nvidia are the two major chip suppliers for the gaming graphics card market. The tariffs apply to individually sold graphics cards and not cards already inside prebuilt PC systems, one of the sources said. Shrout Research's Ryan Shrout said this is a problem because the "vast majority" of graphics cards are currently made in China. "PC gamers will likely see increased prices on graphics cards with the implementation of this tariff, an unfortunate side affect of the continued policies of the Trump administration," Shrout wrote in an email Monday. "This is unfortunate timing for NVIDIA as it was already under pressure for the prices of its new RTX product family, and it is unlikely that it or its partners will simply absorb the added costs of the tariff." Nvidia's RTX gaming card line was launched last week. Bank of America Merrill Lynch told its clients Monday the Trump tariffs could temporarily raise prices for the company's new RTX cards by 5 percent to 10 percent in the coming months. When contacted by CNBC, several other Wall Street analysts were unaware that the graphics cards would be affected by the tariffs. The gaming graphics business represented nearly 60 percent of Nvidia's sales in its July quarter. RBC Capital estimated the graphics segment generated about one-quarter of AMD's revenue last year. Shrout said gamers will not take any price increases lightly and will "lash out." He expects some graphics card manufacturers to transfer production to Taiwan to avoid the tariffs, but that will take time. When asked for comment, both AMD and Nvidia told CNBC the companies are working with their graphics card manufacturing partners to alleviate the impact of the tariffs on Chinese goods. On Sept. 18, the Office of the United States Trade Representative published the list of Chinese imports affected by the administration's 10 percent tariffs. The listing included multiple product categories with "printed circuit assemblies" and "electronic calculating machines" in the descriptions. It is not clear which product subheader graphics cards are categorized under. The trade office did not respond to a request for comment on whether the graphics cards would face the new tariffs. When asked about the tariffs, AMD sent this statement: "We are working closely with our customers and partners to mitigate potential impacts related to the tariffs on AMD-based products. From all that we know today, we do not expect the US tariffs to have a material impact on our business." Graphics card makers MSI, Gigabyte and EVGA did not respond to requests for comment. An Nvidia spokesperson said its partners are already moving production to other countries in a statement: "There's relatively little direct impact on us. We understand that most of our partners have moved or are moving their impacted assembly work to Taiwan and Mexico, which aren't affected by the tariffs." WATCH: This trade deal may be what Trump needs to take on China President Donald Trump welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House in Washington, June 7, 2018. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images Abe to stay cautious Given Japan's precarious position appease Trump or get hit with duties that target a large chunk of Japanese exports headed stateside Abe's government "will still be cautious when it comes to bilateral talks with the United States," analysts at research firm Stratfor said in a Wednesday note. In a joint statement, Washington and Tokyo said they were aiming for "a United States-Japan Trade Agreement on goods, as well as on other key areas including services, that can produce early achievements." The fact that the statement didn't include the phrase "free trade agreement" is significant, according to Glen Fukushima, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute. "The Japanese side will hesitate using the word FTA because it will make it appear as if they're switching from a multilateral approach to a bilateral approach," he told CNBC. Other experts offered a more optimistic take on Wednesday's news, arguing that talks were not so much a concession as a change of heart on Tokyo's part. Japan now believes it can lead on multilateral pacts like the now-11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership while simultaneously striking a deal with the world's largest economy, said Robert Holleyman, who served as deputy U.S. Trade Representative from 2014 to 2017. "It's good to know that we are moving at least past the notion that it's either one or the another," he continued. In fact, Holleyman said, a U.S.-Japan deal could lead to Washington rejoining the Trans-Pacific trade deal. US to push on agriculture Trump's team led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is expected to push Tokyo hard, especially on agriculture, where U.S. producers have been disadvantaged by high Japanese import duties. For example, American beef entering Japan currently faces a 38.5 percent tariff rate, but Australia, which has a bilateral trade deal with Japan, has a 27.2 percent rate on its beef. And with Canberra's rate set to decrease to 19 percent, the need for Washington to ink its own deal with Tokyo is even more urgent, said Fukushima. Chinese employees working on micro and special motors for mobile phones at a factory in Huaibei, China, on March 7, 2017. Key consumer tech products have so far mostly escaped the heat of the ongoing trade war. But if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to impose tariffs on the full range of Chinese imports into his country, it could hit that sector hard, experts said. Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit, said that products such as mobile phones and smart watches and other wearable devices could be targeted in the next round, while ANZ Greater China Chief Economist Raymond Yeung pointed to mobile phones as well as other consumer goods. "If the US Administration imposes a third tranche of tariff measures on a further USD267 billion of Chinese exports, this will significantly ramp up the economic shock waves to Chinese exporters," Biswas told CNBC in an email. Apple said earlier this month that the tariffs could affect the Apple Watch and AirPods as well as adapters and chargers for a host of products. But according to the latest list of tariffs that kicked in this week, they have been spared so far. Autos is another sector that could continue to be targeted, said Carol Liao, a senior China economist at J.P. Morgan. According to ANZ, key items at stake include consumer goods, which form 45 percent of China's exports to the U.S., and autos, which is at 4 percent. The next round of tariffs, according to Biswas, would likely hit large multinational companies producing goods in China for export, as well as Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises that are part of the global supply chain. Automakers are already feeling the heat, with Trump slapping a 25 percent levy on China-made autos, in July. Ford scrapped a plan to sell its new Chinese-made Focus Active crossover model in the U.S., while Volvo moved the production of its XC60 crossover from China to Sweden. General Motors, meanwhile, sought an exemption for its Buick Envision model, also made in China. Volkswagen is prepared to support hardware retrofits for older diesel vehicles and offer incentives for drivers to swap some older diesel vehicles for newer ones, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. VW Chief Executive Herbert Diess pledged to back a solution to help fund installing more effective exhaust filters during a conversation with German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer on Wednesday, Germany's Spiegel Online said. The agreement comes as the German government is due to hold a diesel summit on Friday with Scheuer, who has ruled out a taxpayer contribution to possible retrofits. Volkswagen has rejected a proposal that carmakers should buy back older diesel vehicles, the person further said. VW agreed to fit older diesel vehicles with better catalytic converters, reversing its position and bowing to political pressure which mounted in the three years since an emissions cheating scandal, Spiegel Online said. German cities have been sued by environmental groups for repeatedly flouting European clean air rules, a step that has led courts to propose banning of older diesel vehicles as a way to cut pollution from particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. Carmakers are now scrambling to avert outright banks of diesel vehicles. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh addressed lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday to deny an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman decades ago at a high school gathering in Maryland. In a tearfully-delivered statement he said he had not shared with anyone except for one of his former law clerks, Kavanaugh denied the allegations against him with more forceful terms than he has used since the accusations first surfaced this month. He told the committee Thursday that he "my family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by vicious and false accusations." Read more: Furious Brett Kavanaugh rips accusation controversy as 'a national disgrace' Kavanaugh accuser Ford describes her alleged attackers' 'laughter' in gripping testimony Kavanaugh sexual assault hearing begins with political sniping between Grassley and Feinstein President Donald Trump's 53-year-old nominee to the high court has said that in high school and college he was focused on athletics and his academic career, though some of his former classmates have cast doubt on his account. Democrats have also pointed to captions in his high school yearbook, in which he wrote that he was "treasurer" of "keg city club." Kavanaugh called the confirmation process a "national disgrace" Thursday. "You have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy," he said. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., later matched Kavanaugh's tone, accusing Democrats of orchestrating an "unethical sham." "What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold this seat open and hope you win [the presidency] in 2020. You said that! Not me," the South Carolina Republican shouted at Democrats. Christine Blasey Ford addressed lawmakers earlier in the day. The California professor teared up and emotionally said "I am terrified" as she began telling the committee about her claim of being sexually attacked as a 15-year-old high school girl. "I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school," said Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University. Ford then detailed her allegation against Kavanaugh, which dates to the early 1980s, but was first made public less than two weeks ago in an interview with The Washington Post. Her voice often cracked as she described the encounter and its aftermath. "I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives," Ford said. "Those who say that do not know me." Democratic senators asked questions directly to Ford. Questions on behalf of Republican committee members were handled by Arizona sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell. "Unfortunately, phishing scams like these are all too common, and the fraudsters can be convincing," said Sarah Grano, a spokesperson for the American Bankers Association. "The best thing to do is trust your gut" and hang up if a call "seems suspicious." The attack marked a more sophisticated variation on older scams and represents a cautionary tale for millions of American consumers. The results of a consumer poll on phone scams and spam issued in April 2018 by Truecaller , a mobile app that helps block unwanted calls, showed that an estimated 1 of every 10 U.S. adults had been victimized by a phone scam during the preceding 12 months, with an average loss of $357 per victim. The attempted fraud was carried out by an unknown male phone caller who had Sasser's Social Security number and appeared to be calling from the security department at Wells Fargo, the bank where Sasser has an account. Cabel Sasser narrowly avoided having his bank account emptied last week by a swindler running an ATM card scam, an escape from a financial nightmare that he recounted in a string of tweets. Sasser, a co-founder of Panic, a software company and video game producer based in Portland, Oregon, said he was not suspicious at first. His cellphone's caller identification system showed the call apparently came from the 800 number listed on the back of his Wells Fargo ATM card. A male caller identified himself as a fraud department agent and said the card had just been used for purchases at a Target store in Minnesota, more than 1,500 miles away from Sasser's home. "It was a very smooth, very authentic-sounding call," Sasser said in a telephone interview. "I've had this happen so many times that I didn't even flinch at the fact that, great, another card got used someplace where it shouldn't be used." Answering questions from the caller, Sasser said he had the card in his possession. The caller had him verify the card's security code. Then, the man read some disclosures related to obtaining a replacement ATM card. The procedure, familiar from previous security calls, "helped with the believability," Sasser said. Tweet Next, the man asked him to key in a different personal identification code for the new card via his cellphone. That raised a red flag. "There were no computer prompts or anything. I was just literally pushing numbers on my phone that he's just hearing on the other end," Sasser said. "I was starting to get a little nervous." Finally, the man asked him to enter his current PIN number into the phone. Tweet2 "That was the moment that pushed me over the edge something is definitely not right here," Sasser said. "I asked him point blank, 'Don't you know my PIN number ... you're the bank?'" The man said he couldn't see the number and then tried to allay suspicion by reading the last four digits of Sasser's Social Security number. Sasser said the numbers were correct, but something was "very wrong." Now all but certain he was being scammed, Sasser nonetheless said he reflexively shied away from being rude. Tweet3 "Somehow, I found the courage to push through that hesitation," said Sasser. "I said, 'I'm sorry ... something about this seems weird. I'm just going to call the number on the back of my card." The man sounded "kind of defeated" as the call ended Sasser said. But a real Wells Fargo representative was anything but crestfallen when Sasser called the bank's security office. Tweet4 "I spoke to a guy who was incredibly happy that I had stopped when I did," because many people don't and lose money, said Sasser. "He definitely said 'there had been no attempted fraud on your card, and that whole story had been totally made up.'" On Wednesday, the government imposed a basic customs duty of 5 percent on jet fuel, or ATF, which effectively raised the prices of the fuel that oil refiners supply to airlines by Rs 2,000 a kilolitre from Thursday. The move is expected to make air travel more expensive as airlines could potentially increase fares. But will air travel get costlier? On the face of it, it appears it will. A 5 percent increase in jet fuel prices is expected to bump up the overall cost of an airline by 2 percent, according to Sharad Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com. Airlines in India have been struggling of late because of the steady spike in crude oil prices and the fierce competition that has prevented them from raising fares consistent with an increase in costs. And jet fuel is an important constituent in costs, accounting for between 30-45 percent of the overall costs of an airline. Yet, airlines are likely to desist from raising fares in a hurry. A senior executive of an airline said fares dont just move like that. By that, he was referring to the increase in ATF prices. Fares are a function of demand and supply and airlines are not a cost-plus business, he said, asking not to be named. Dhall echoed a similar sentiment. He said the three months from October the December quarter are typically peak travel season and gives room to airlines to absorb the cost uptick. Airfares during these months are usually high and give airline higher yields than the September quarter, he said. Look at it this way: people will look to travel in the next three months because of the advent of holidays and festivals; airlines would not want to temper the demand with increased fares. That is not to say fares will continue to remain subdued. Today fuel price is higher than 2013-2014 in rupee terms, rest of the 40 percent of dollar denominated costs maintenance, engine parts etc are also 20 percent higher, excluding inflation thanks to the rupee value decline, and average airfare is 35 percent lower than it was in 2014, the airline executive quoted above said. Something has gotta give. Some airlines will collapse. It was a stark reversal from a year ago, when Mr. Trump made global headlines at the annual gathering of world leaders in NY by deriding Mr. Kim as "Rocket Man" and threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea after a string of provocative missile and weapons tests. The trip would be Pompeo's fourth to North Korea, which was initially planned for August until it got canceled by President Trump as he thought there hadn't been enough progress made on denuclearization. "I'm confident that will happen", Pompeo replied to skepticism expressed by reporters at a news conference Monday alongside National Security Adviser John Bolton and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. "I believe we're doing very well". "Yes, I am a deal guy". Trump said that the United States would have been drawn into a war with North Korea if he had not been elected. Washington and Pyongyang have never established diplomatic relations, a technical state of war persists on the peninsula and North Korea is not believed to have actually taken any promised steps toward giving up its nuclear arsenal. But to set a date certain for North Korean denuclearization "would be foolish", according to Pompeo who stated he expects to go again to Pyongyang to arrange a second summit. Instead the president may listen to South Korean President Moon Jae-in as well as North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Diplomacy has stalled following Kim's vague promise at the Singapore summit to work toward "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for U.S. security guarantees. "As insane as this press conference is, I do much prefer that we not declare a deadline for North Korean denuclearisation", Oba said in a tweet. China would be keen to make sure it had a seat at the table for further talks on the peace process - and to avoid the United States gaining too much influence in the region, observers said. However, sanctions, Trump noted, will stay active until North Korea denuclearizes. "But, unfortunately, to ensure this progress continues, we must enforce existing U.N. Security Council resolutions until denuclearization occurs", Trump said, while complaining that some nations were violating U.N. sanctions. Also, the president said a declaration of war's end could be reversed at any time if necessary while the denuclearization steps taken or will be taken by North Korea cannot. This comes just hours after Pompeo gave an interview to CBS, where he said the U.S.is working to get the conditions right so it can accomplish as much as possible during the second summit. A summit held before the United States midterm elections in November "may be a way for President Trump to score more political points with his key Republican voter base", said James Floyd Downes, a lecturer in comparative politics at Chinese University of Hong Kong. "We will begin removing conflicts in Northeast Asia, starting from the Korean Peninsula", he added. Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. Hi! I am an Assistant City Editor for the education beat, which means I help with breaking news and all things K-12 or higher education. Any tips or story ideas can be sent to me at hlht46@mail.missouri.edu or in the newsroom at 882-5720. Follow this search 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. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today US President Donald Trump is insisting he has evidence that China is attempting to meddle in the US mid-term elections - but that it "respected" his "very, very large brain". While speaking to the U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday, President Donald Trump accused China of attempting to interfere with the upcoming USA midterm elections. Amid a bitter trade war between the two countries, Trump claimed that China has been trying to influence the result as it does not want him to win. We are winning at every level. With the elections less than two months away, USA intelligence officials have said they are not seeing the intensity of Russian intervention registered in 2016 but are particularly concerned about activity by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of attempting to interfere in the 2018 midterms. But his allegation comes as trade tensions soar between Beijing and Washington, which this week enacted new tariffs against China covering another $200 billion of its imports. Iran did not request to speak at the council meeting, but Iranian President Hassan Rohani told a news conference that the United States would eventually rejoin the nuclear deal and pledged Tehran's continued commitment to the accord. The United States and China are embroiled in a trade war, sparked by Trump's accusations that Beijing has long sought to steal USA intellectual property, limit access to its own market and unfairly subsidise state-owned companies. A senior White House official said in a call with reporters on September 26 that the Chinese regime's interference has reached an "unacceptable level". "We don't want them to meddle or interfere in our election". During the Security Council meeting, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded to Trump's accusation by denying any interference. Trump tweeted last month that "all of the fools so focused" on meddling from Russian Federation should "start also looking in another direction, China". The European Union, also hit by US tariffs, has responded with carefully targeted retaliatory tariffs aimed at key political districts, including Wisconsin-made Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon. He made the allegation as he was chairing a United Nations security council meeting on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The President has withdrawn the USA from the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, accusing the country of destabilising actions throughout the region and support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah. A gavel-wielding Trump vowed that reimposed sanctions will be "in full force" and urged world powers to work with the United States to "ensure the Iranian regime changes its behaviour and never acquires a nuclear bomb". "We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism", Trump said. So the fake news said 'people laughed at President Trump.' They didn't laugh at me, people had a good time with me. But I want to open up China to our farmers, and to our industrialists, and our companies. Journalists from American media outlets who are critical of China often have trouble renewing visas and are sometimes booted out. Last year's flu season was one of the deadliest on record, but if recent history is any guide, that won't be enough to compel some people to get the vaccine. If youve been wondering about your Win10 version 1803 or 1709 patches, you arent alone. Looks like we have a completely new Windows patching rabbit hole. Let's start with the latest version of Windows. In the past 15 days, weve had four cumulative updates for Win10 version 1803: KB 4457128 The Sept. 11 Patch Tuesday cumulative update included a host of security fixes that brought 1803 up to build 17134.285. KB 4464218 The Monday, Sept. 17, cumulative update fixed a bug in all of Microsofts Win10 1803 patches since late July, which blew away Microsoft Intune. Build 17134.286. I have no idea why Microsoft released the fix on a Monday instead of a Tuesday. KB 4458469 The Thursday, Sept. 20, dump of dozens of bug fixes brought the build number up to 17134.219. For reasons as yet unexplained, Microsoft stopped pushing KB 4458469 late on Sept. 20 or early Sept. 21, although it remained available for manual download. We never did figure out if the patches were doled out to seekers those who had the temerity to click Check for updates or if they somehow made it into the ecosystem through less nefarious means. A different (but identically numbered) KB 4458469 was released yesterday, Sept. 26. Lets call it KB 4458469 v2. It brings 1803 up to build 17134.320. What is this new KB 4458469? Apparently, KB 4458469 v2 is a Wednesday fix for a botched Thursday kitchen-sink cumulative update, which followed a Monday cumulative update that specifically fixed a bug introduced in the Patch Tuesday patch. Got that? (As I write this early Thursday morning, Microsofts official Win10 Update History page is having a bit of rendering trouble. Perhaps its afraid to show its face. If you want to go to the source, persevere.) The new, improved KB 4458469 v2 article now says: Note This update has been re-released because of a missing solution. If you installed build 17134.319, please install this newer version of OS build 17134.320. And it provides absolutely no explanation of what a solution might be, which one was missing, how v2 improves upon the original v1, how to identify if you have v1 or v2 installed, and why in tarnation Microsoft would re-release a cumulative update when it couldve just pushed a new cumulative update with a different number. Like, you know, how cumulative updates are supposed to work. We also dont know for sure if this patch is available only to seekers, or if its going out through the normal Windows Update/WSUS channels. Poster Arvy on AskWoody adds: A glance at all the files installed under \Windows\System32 and elsewhere with modified dates that are later than the original KB4458469 release suggest that it must have involved numerous and major changes. To top it off, initial reports have it that if youve installed both KB 4458469 v1 and KB 4458469 v2, your Update & security applet's Installed Updates list has two entries, both saying: 2018-09 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems (KB4458469) So Im guessing here you only have KB 4458469 installed if you have two entries saying that its been installed. Thats a great use of cumulative updating, eh? The same time that Microsoft re-released KB 4458469 for Win10 1803 it also released KB 4457136 for Win10 1709. The new Win10 1709 KB 4457136 2 says: Note This update has been re-released because of a missing solution. If you installed build 16299.697, please install this newer version of OS build 16299.699. But wait. The weirdities dont end there. Back on Patch Thursday, Microsoft actually released four huge Win10 cumulative updates: KB 4458469 takes Win10 version 1803 to build 17134.319. KB 4457136 turns Win10 1709 into build 16299.697. KB 4457141 moves 1703 to build 15063.1358. KB 4457127 transforms Win10 1607 and Server 2016 to build 14393.2517. The first two were re-issued/superseded/bumped to v2 yesterday. The latter two havent changed a bit, as best I can tell. Do they, too, lack the missing solution? If so, when will we get another cumulative update to fix the buggy cumulative update? The evolving episode has earned a long-nosed Pinocchio award from Susan Bradley. And it aint over yet. Have any insights? Join us on the AskWoody Lounge. May criticises Putin at the UN Skripal hitman is a decorated Russian colonel The Times as she defies Trump to back the Iran deal Theresa May last night launched a furious attack on Vladimir Putin over the Salisbury poisonings, accusing him of using desperate fabrication to hide the identities of his would-be assassins. With the countrys foreign minister Sergei Lavrov sitting only metres away, the Prime Minister used a UN Security Council meeting on chemical weapons to point the finger of blame of Russia for the reckless nerve agent attack. As details of one of the suspects true identity emerged, Mrs May said the UK had presented detailed evidence against two agents of the Russian state. She added: Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication. Mrs May also used her address to indicate Britain would bomb Syria again if chemical weapons were used against its people. In April last year Britain, the US and France bombed military bases near the capital Damascus and the city of Homs, following a chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma. Daily Mail Theresa May threw her weight behind the Iran nuclear deal at a United Nations security council meeting chaired by President Trump yesterday, underscoring their deep divisions over the landmark agreement. Moments after Mr Trump decried the horrible, one-sided deal, Mrs May insisted it remains the best means of preventing Iran developing a nuclear weapon and we are committed to preserving [it]. Shortly afterwards, she addressed the UN general assembly with a speech celebrating international co-operation and the rule-based international order in direct contradiction to Mr Trumps attack on global governance a day before. Mrs May warned that the natural patriotism that is the cornerstone of a healthy society should not become warped into a dangerous nationalism and that pride in ones own country does not have to be at the expense of global co-operation. She met Mr Trump immediately after her speech. He was expected to renew his demands for Britain to pull out of the Iran deal after earlier announcing the harshest sanctions yet against Tehran. The Times But the Prime Minister still talks up a UK-US trade deal Daily Mail Editorial: Europe should give way in the row over Iran The Times May hits back at the Archbishop of Canterbury Prime Minister losing Cabinet support for a no-deal Brexit Theresa May last night hit back at the Archbishop of Canterbury after he criticised the governments record on helping the poor. The head of the Church of England sparked outrage among Tories this month when he attacked government welfare reforms in a speech to the Trades Union Congress. But speaking to journalists in New York, the PM made clear her disagreement with Justin Welby saying she believed work is the best route out of poverty. Mrs May, the daughter of a vicar and a regular churchgoer, suggested she did not give any extra weight to his views because of his position. She said: The Archbishop and I sometimes disagree on things just as I will disagree with other members of the Church of England on things. Asked if she thought he should stay out of politics, Mrs May defended her record, and pointed to the thriving jobs market. Daily Mail Theresa May is losing cabinet support for her plan to revert to a no-deal Brexit if Europe rejects the Chequers proposals, sources have told The Times. Senior ministers are increasingly worried that the prime minister will stick to her promise to force a no-deal Brexit if Europe rejects her plan again next month. Mrs May said on Tuesday: Ive always said no deal is better than a bad deal, and I think a bad deal, for example, would be something that broke up the United Kingdom. Cabinet ministers are said to be looking at how to prevent Mrs May from locking Britain into a no-deal Brexit. Sources say that those opposed to her strategy include Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, Michael Gove, the environment secretary, and Sajid Javid, the home secretary. They want her to consider a Canada-style free-trade deal if the EU rejects her proposals again at a summit on October 18, giving her a Plan B to avoid a no-deal. The Times Mordaunt is third MP to refuse Chequers plan The Sun Rutley appointed minister to protect food supplies The Guardian More: US firms warn that bad departure could put Corbyn in power Daily Telegraph May insists that Leave vote was not a rejection of multilateralism Daily Mail EU makes contingency plans for no-deal Brexit FT Dorries claims Irish border is being exploited Daily Express No deal would stop farming exports for six months The Guardian It would cause a significant shock to the Irish economy News Letter and could cause blackouts in Ulster News Letter Comment: Brexit is a chance for a genuinely liberal transatlantic deal Daniel Ikenson, Times Red Box Taking Canada off the table leaves the UK facing Brexit or bust Asa Bennett, Daily Telegraph A timeout is Britains best option Philip Stephens, FT >Today: ToryDiary: ConservativeHomes new monthly survey is out. Who should be the next Tory leader? >Yesterday: ToryDiary: Official and significant. The ERG declares that it will vote against Chequers. as Hammond brings forward Budget to avoid clash NHS 20 billion cash boost could be lost to waste The Times Philip Hammond, chancellor, has rushed forward his annual Budget to avoid it becoming embroiled in the endgame of Brexit, naming October 29 as the date for his set-piece economic statement. He is expected to use the Budget to try to reassure financial markets that the UKs public finances are on a solid footing, as Theresa May, prime minister, enters the final stages of Brexit negotiations. The chancellor and Mrs May agreed to bring forward the Budget to avoid it becoming entangled in the current phase of the talks that are set to climax at a special European Council, pencilled in for the weekend of November 17-18, and the likely parliamentary upheaval that would accompany any exit deal. The Budget had originally been expected in late November or early December. With the Budget now set for October 29, Mr Hammond is likely to be cautious. It would be premature to make big economic decisions when you dont know what your trading relations will be with your biggest trading partners, said one government insider. FT Comment: Time for a new wave of female entrepreneurs Greg Clark, Daily Telegraph >Yesterday: Robert Halfon MPs column: Please, please free me from Brexit Groundhog Day Brexit Groundhog Day Brexit Groundhog Day Corbyns Speech 1) He weaponises Brexit in his speech to the partys conference preparing to vote down Mays deal Jeremy Corbyn today threatened to send Brexit into total chaos by voting down any deal that doesnt keep the UK in the customs union. The Labour leader set the stage for a high stakes Commons showdown that could decide the countrys future by demanding Mrs May breaks her crucial red line. In a sign that he plans to use the fraught negotiations with the EU in a bid to seize power, Mr Corbyn said that if the premier does not bow to Labours diktat she must call an election. In his keynote speech to party conference, Mr Corbyn who is meeting Michel Barnier in Brussels tomorrow said his team was ready to take charge and start the work of rebuilding our divided country with a radical left-wing programme. The intervention drew fury from Brexiteers who accused Mr Corbyn of exploiting the situation for his own political ends. Daily Mail EU holds emergency meeting over concerns Labour could torpedo agreement Daily Telegraph Oppositions position in chaos after contradictory messages Daily Mail Labour MP calls for general strike to force an election The Times SNP minister in talks with Peoples Vote campaign The Scotsman Comment: His confused and rambling speech should terrify the Tories Tom Harris, Daily Telegraph I can now almost imagine Corbyn solving Brexit Martin Kettle, The Guardian Corbyns most accomplished conference yet Sebastian Payne, FT Hes got better on style, but substance is thin Philip Collins, The Times The flaw with no deal planning James Blitz, FT A Labour-SNP coalition is not impossible Bill Jamieson, The Scotsman >Today: David Shiels in Comment: Brexit, Northern Ireland, and borders. Why the DUP may yet break ranks with May and force a general election >Yesterday: Left Watch: Corbyn has upped his rhetorical game and he appears to be developing his political savvy a bit, too Corbyns Speech 2) Labour leader will press ahead with press regulation Apps should be inspected by the state, Labour spokeswoman claims The Sun Jeremy Corbyn urged supporters to besiege the media over what he called lies and half-truths. He said Labour members should use social media to challenge the propaganda of privilege, and pledged to give the go-ahead to part two of the Leveson inquiry, which critics fear could lead to draconian curbs on the freedom of the Press. Mr Corbyn said: It turns out that the billionaires who own the bulk of the British Press dont like us one little bit. He added that Labour would protect the freedom of the Press to challenge unaccountable power in places such as Turkey and Colombia, but added: Here, a free Press has far too often meant the freedom to spread lies and half truths. Theresa May, addressing the United Nations in New York, said: I do not always enjoy reading what the media in my country writes about me, but I will defend their right to say it. Independence of our media is the bedrock of our democracy. Daily Mail Comment: A new age of censorship dawns David Aaronovitch, The Times Labour threatens liberal democracy itself Nick Timothy, Daily Telegraph Editorial: Assaults on media freedom are increasing The Times >Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Corbyn Labour is ready to transform Britain Labour admit to hiding billions in their 2017 manifesto which Tories missed Labour chiefs privately admit their hard left 2017 manifesto hid 1 trillion of extra spending with dodgy maths to cover it up, a new book reveals. And they were left gobsmacked when Tories did not spot the gaping black hole in a massive tactical blunder. An explosive tell-all book about last years Election reveals Labour manifesto authors were braced for a blistering assault on their sums, but it never came, in a huge mistake by Theresa May. And leaked internal emails from the run up to the June poll that cost the PM her majority show Labour knew some of the manifesto numbers were implausible or entirely absent. Despite that the opposition party continue to claim the political blueprint was fully costed and would not cripple the public purse During Labours party conference in Liverpool this week, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said he was embarrassed about how mediocre their manifesto had been in terms of spending pledges. The Sun McDonnell draws on international examples for economic inspiration FT Labour cite failure of state-run signals as reason to nationalise trains The Sun What price will be paid for Jezzanomics? The Times Corbyns Peace Minister would retrain Trident engineers in healthcare The Sun Antisemitism: Jewish leaders attack Corbyn for failing yet again to tackle antisemitism Daily Telegraph Leader of the Opposition praises antisemitic poet Daily Mail Comment: We must show that Corbyn is unfit for high office Gisela Stuart, Daily Telegraph Labours bid to hide antisemitism at conference rings hollow Andrew Pierce, Daily Mail Allister Heath: Terrifying truth is that middle England is falling for Labours programme Corbyns childcare plan is too good to be true Sophie Jarvis, Daily Telegraph Khan has worst strike record of any London mayor I have some bad news for you, my dear readers. Corbynomics is actually popular shockingly so to those of us who havent drunk the kool-aid. Its not that the electorate has suddenly caught Marxism: the vast majority of voters still support a mixed economy, want to earn and own more, and distrust Jeremy Corbyn himself. Yet many of his policies resonate, appealing even to some Tory voters and across acquisitive Middle England. Populism is often Left-wing and always popular. Some of this support is frothy: a proper campaign by a proper Tory party would change minds by marshalling fresh arguments that voters actually relate to. But Matthew Goodwin, a brilliant young Brexit Britain expert at the University of Kent, has collated all of the recent psephological evidence, and it is disastrous for supporters of free-markets such as myself. Daily CorbynsTelegraph Sadiq Khan has the worst strike record of any London Mayor it has been claimed despite promising there would be zero walkouts if he took office. Todays industrial action by staff on the Piccadilly Line is the 14th since he entered City Hall in 2016, which the Tories called a shocking failure. They said it proves he is incapable of keeping his promises to Londoners, after putting in his manifesto that he would reduce the number of days lost to strike action. But that is something his office say he has done, claiming the number of days lost to strikes on the tube has been reduced by 65 per cent in the past two years. Mr Khan also said he would maintain better industrial relations as Mayor, but todays Tube strike has been blamed on exactly that. The Sun Head teachers criticised over protest Daily Mail Comment: Phonics is transforming literacy in schools Nick Gibb, Daily Telegraph News in Brief: Interview: Greening Banning the Peoples Vote from the Tory conference handbook is wrong. You dont win a debate by not allowing it to happen. Justine Greening says we need a second EU referendum because the Commons is by its very nature unfit to break the deadlock: It has been like putting diesel petrol in an unleaded car of Parliament. Its like going to a Chinese takeaway and wanting pizza. The former Education Secretary reckons that because Brexit cuts across party politics, Parliament cannot solve it, so the only way to break the gridlock is through another referendum. She describes the Conservative Partys decision to bar Peoples Vote, which campaigns for a second referendum, from the party conference as counter-productive. Greening contends that although her constituents in Putney voted heavily for Remain, it is the minority of Leavers who are most opposed to the Chequers proposals, and who would therefore most like to have another say. She is herself a Remainer, but she describes the Chequers proposals as the worst of all worlds, and wants the second referendum to offer three choices: hard Brexit, soft Brexit and Remain. She dismisses the contention that MPs should instead just implement the result of the 2016 referendum, and says that behind the scenes there is a lot of support from Conservatives for her view, and none at all for trying to break the deadlock by means of a general election. Greening laments that Brexit has supplanted the much more important task of enabling young people to break through the class ceiling which is thought to prevent them from getting the careers they want and deserve: We have to once again be seen to be the party of effort and reward. We need to be seen to be a party that stands for equality of opportunity and lifting people, which was what I felt Margaret Thatcher was talking about in the 1980s. ConHome: Is it right that the party should ban an organisation like Peoples Vote from the Party Conference handbook? Greening: I think its counter-productive, to be honest, I mean its been a brilliant advertising mechanism. No, I think it should be a broad church and they should allow debate. ConHome: Its worse than counter-productive, isnt it? Its really bad if there are Conservatives like yourself who think a second referendum is the right thing to do. One can imagine one might ban the Socialist Workers Party from setting up shop at the Conservative Party Conference. Greening: We never banned people who were wanting to say We should not be in the EU, during all those years we were in and there was no referendum proposed. You dont win a debate by not allowing it to happen. Maybe as Labour are finding out with Keir Starmers speech, you can say somethings not going to be on the ballot paper, but actually fundamentally if people want it then they will have their voices heard eventually. ConHome: Well theyre more likely to, yes, though it took a long time to get the 2016 referendum. You made quite a splash by coming out in July this year for a second referendum. You were the first senior Conservative to do so, and it was a very outspoken piece that you wrote for The Times. You didnt pull your punches. Greening: I did not. Maybe its my blunt Yorkshire roots. ConHome: Well I hope your blunt Yorkshire roots will always be visible in the course of this interview. But is a referendum possible? Labour, despite Keir Starmer, isnt exactly committed to it, and Theresa May is very firmly against it, and so are lots of Conservatives. And as Paul Goodman pointed out in a piece for ConHome after your article came out, the actual legislation would take a long time. The last Referendum Bill took more than six months to pass through Parliament. You have to decide on the franchise, the questions you want a three-way question, is that right? Greening: I decided that rather than just saying we should have a second referendum, I should take responsibility for saying how it could meaningfully happen. And it seemed to me there are practically three options facing us, which are hard Brexit with a clean break, which I think probably is what most Leavers want, they think you should listen to people like David Davis; a soft Brexit; or Remain. ConHome: But werent we told that the previous referendum was binding? Greening: Yes ConHome: Arent people going to be so cross that you will almost undoubtedly get a much bigger vote for a hard Brexit? Greening: I think a lot of people in Britain have totally lost the will to live on Brexit now. Theyre very concerned about what the future holds if we dont find a clear-cut route forward and draw a line under it. A lot of people are very worried about the absolute focus on Brexit. ConHome: Isnt it up to MPs to sort it out? Greening: Well youd have thought so. ConHome: If youve given people a referendum and youve told everyone this is what will happen, however difficult it is, you have to make it happen. Greening: My assessment is that Parliament isnt going to be able to do that. As I said in the summer, its at stalemate. And you can either canter up to that moment and then express faux surprise with no plan, or you actually get ahead of that possibility, which I think is what is going to happen, and today youve heard Labour is going to vote down the Prime Ministers deal, which makes that more likely. So I think you either ignore reality or you actually confront it, and take some responsibility as a Parliament for saying what are we actually going to do about that prospect. ConHome: Surely you dont give up at this point. You exhaust the parliamentary options. Greening: What Im saying is first of all, I feel Chequers is the worst of all worlds, I think thats self-evident. ConHome: Lots of Remainers think that, yes. Greening: Look, Im a pragmatist on Brexit, to be clear. I didnt come into politics to debate Brexit ceaselessly. I came into politics to do other things. What really concerned me about the Chequers deal when I went through the detail of the White Paper was as a former minister, I couldnt actually see it working. I was concerned about the fact you would not be able to keep a common rulebook updated and at times Parliament was most fragile, for example in a minority government, that political instability would transmit through to the economy. But perhaps most fundamental for me was listening to my own community and how unhappy Leavers were. ConHome: What was the vote in Putney? Greening: It was 30 per cent Leave and 70 per cent Remain. But 30 per cent, thats a lot of people who feel that this isnt delivering the Brexit they voted for. As for my Remainers, I think that they just thought theyd lost track of what this was all about. So if you were doing a version of Brexit that the people who wanted it didnt want, then they were all saying we cant really see what the point of this is any more. But the most vociferous people in my community were the Leavers, and I dont think they should be ignored. ConHome: Sorry, they actually want another referendum, these Leavers? Thats very odd, because many people just suspect the second referendum is a device to reverse the first referendum. Greening: I think what they were articulating, and I was articulating on their behalf, is that Chequers was not a deal that delivered on the vote. Simple as that. And again, Im a practical person. ConHome: But thats a practical problem that should be sorted out by the Government and Parliament. And if Parliament cant sort it out, we should elect another Parliament. The traditional solution would be to have a general election. Greening: And of course this is not a traditional political problem. Because its not a party political question. The problem is this is above party politics, it cuts across party politics, and therefore if Parliament is in a gridlock, which it is, then the only way to unblock it is to allow people to unblock it through voting. But a party-political vote doesnt match the question. And the reason were in this predicament is that Brexit doesnt work on party lines. It has been like putting diesel petrol in an unleaded car of Parliament. Its like going to a Chinese takeaway and wanting pizza. ConHome: We got into the Common Market in 1971 because a large number of Labour MPs voted with Edward Heath. Couldnt something like that happen at the end of a parliamentary process? Greening: Well first of all, theres no evidence the Government is planning a free vote, for us all either genuinely to represent our constituencies or our consciences or whatever. But secondly Prime Ministers on these questions I think have understood that they cut across party politics and therefore have to be fought out in a different arena. Its precisely why Harold Wilson had the 1975 referendum. ConHome: Well he had that to keep the Labour Party together. Greening: Well precisely my point! To try to sort out these issues within conventional party lines is very hard for the parties. ConHome: There was a terrible atmosphere during the 2016 referendum and a really low standard of debate as well. I was slightly on the fence because I could see strong arguments both ways. I eventually voted Remain because my wife said shed divorce me if I didnt. Greening: A very practical approach to voting. ConHome: Exactly. But do we want to go through all that again, with neither side listening to the others arguments? It was very divisive. Greening: If I felt that Parliament wasnt gridlocked, it would be a different position. ConHome: The very fact that you want three questions on the ballot paper is a symptom of how complicated it is, and just because its complicated, you cant really expect voters to spend all their time mastering the details of it. Thats one reason why we have a representative democracy. You should go through the process until you find whether it is gridlocked. Greening: My judgment is that all those votes will result in a vote against whatever route forward is being presented to Parliament, and yet Britain does need to go somewhere. ConHome: So its like reform of the House of Lords. There wont be a majority for any of the options. Greening: Correct. I think we should take the responsibility for preparing for what happens in that eventuality. ConHome: So when would the referendum happen? Greening: Well that of course has to be resolved in Parliament. What I do think the British need is for Parliament to grasp the nettle and start planning instead of just putting its head in the sand and hoping everythings going to be OK. ConHome: How much support are you getting among Conservatives for this view? Greening: I think theres a lot of support behind the scenes actually. I cant believe that anyone would think that having a general election to solve something that cuts across party politics, especially given the last election we had, would be in any way a sensible response. ConHome: Your majority fell from 10,180 in 2015 to only 1,554 in 2017. Greening [consulting a framed and signed testimonial presented to her by her local activists in 2015, congratulating her on her third election victory and thanking her for ten years of dedicated service to the communities of Putney, Roehampton and Southfields}: Back in 2015 I had the biggest majority since 1935 and I had the biggest vote share since 1955. Putneys always been a very swing seat, because actually its very mixed. At the same time, its very, very young, and therefore for me it always feels as if youre fighting the election after the one everyone else is currently fighting. Ive got to be almost talking to people who represent our future early. You win in politics by taking peoples priorities and making them your own, and delivering on them. Thats always been my formula. ConHome: Do you think Theresa May will still be Prime Minister in a years time? Greening: Politics is so uncertain at the moment, its impossible to know what will be the situation in a years time or who any of the players will be. Theres a real frustration among many young people that I represent that they dont really have a stake in this country like they want. They dont really have the chance to make the most of themselves like generations before, and that is something they want resolved quickly. They feel thats the urgent issue for government. We have to once again be seen to be the party of effort and reward. We need to be seen to be a party that stands for equality of opportunity and lifting people, which was what I felt Margaret Thatcher was talking about in the 1980s. And I sort of feel at the moment if you asked people they wouldnt talk about that. Yet for me thats at the core of what we stand for. How can we lift up people so theyre not left behind? How can we enable every single person to be the best version of themselves? For me, social mobility has never just been about very gifted people being able to get to the top, even though they started off right at the bottom. Its about everyone being able to do better for themselves on their own terms. More opportunity for more young people is good for all of us. I dont think people should have to accept second best. For me thats why Im a Conservative. ConHome: Do you have policies that can dramatise this? Because obviously the sale of council houses did that after 1979. Greening: Well I will be setting out some initial thinking at conference in my speech on Sunday afternoon, but I think there needs to be reform across the whole of government, starting with Treasury. I think you need to properly start valuing investment in people and how that has a long-term return. In the Department of Education we were starting to value up investment. Its easy enough to do. Its what I spent many, many years in business doing. Otherwise therell always be a road that competes. We do have to get on with a domestic agenda that will make a difference. Lack of opportunity for people and the inequality of opportunity is like this structural deficit in the economy, its something quite structural in terms of how Britain runs. At the Department of Education we had launched our social mobility action plan, which was about really starting in the early years of a childs life to make sure the gaps dont even open up. But what Im doing on the Social Mobility Pledge is working with companies to make sure that talent can get really used by businesses. Talent is spread evenly round our country. The problem Britain faces is that opportunity isnt. Labour constantly says that business is a problem, whereas for me as a Conservative business is the solution to how you fix opportunity, and the more I can get business mobilised to start working with schools or careers and mentoring to open up their doors for work experience and apprenticeships, and to make sure that their recruitment practices really are fair, then the more that investment in education really can find its way through to the economy. Thats better for everybody, and equality of opportunity means that people feel theyve really got a fair shot at getting the career they want, its not just who you know. Theres some really shocking stats around about the percentage of people who still think its who you know, not what you know that matters that theres a class ceiling. I think were better placed to fix it than Labour. Tom Bell is a City Councillor for Peartree in Southampton. He has a background in patent law and is currently a cyber security consultant for a Hampshire-based research company. Across the full spectrum of government activity, technology is absorbing the processes and infrastructure which keeps the country moving. Since 2011, the Government Digital Service (GDS) has sought to promote Government as a Platform a concept whereby the government shares a common set of digital systems, technology, and processes which enable it to develop services fit for the digital age. This has been a huge step towards leveraging the benefits which technology presents in order to make government more effective and more efficient. The Cabinet Office is clearly committed to standing by their digital by default mantra and the transformation to digital at government level has considerable momentum. However, while central government is on the right path, local government needs to follow in its footsteps. In July, the Government Digital Service, alongside the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has published the Local Digital Declaration which provides local authorities with the guiding principles to help them to deliver digital services and platforms that meet the needs of local communities. This is something which I hope every council will soon be signed up to, because it provides the right guidance for transforming local councils to improve services right across the spectrum of council activities, and can facilitate efficiency savings for council budgets in the process. However, as more council services are transferred into cyberspace, the threat of cyber-attacks increases. The Cabinet Office has recently awarded the Local Government Association (LGA) a grant to conduct a comprehensive stocktake of the cyber security strategies of councils across the UK. This is part of the Governments 25 year National Cyber Security Strategy in recognition of the evolving cyber-threats faced by government, local authorities and businesses, and the need for a national plan to respond to this threat. It signals that the Government is concerned that many councils across the country are not taking the necessary steps to secure sensitive data and to protect critical infrastructure from cyber-criminals and terrorists, so-called hacktivists and foreign state actors. This is because local councils present a unique cyber-security threat. The capacity for a malicious attacker to damage or to extract valuable information is particularly high with local councils, simply due to the sensitive nature of the information held. However at the same time, local councils are often not equipped with a commensurate cyber-security strategy. This means that there are unique incentives for certain attackers to target local government. Cyber-attacks on councils could expose them to the loss of personal data of thousands of residents; undermine procurement or legal proceedings by revealing strategic information; and even lead to widespread fraud or theft. There is a near certain chance that councils will be victims of successful cyber-attacks in the future. If the necessary precautions are not put in place, it is only a matter of time before councils could suffer significant loss of revenue as well as damaged trust with the public. This is why, alongside a 7.5 million injection from the Government to assist councils to transform online services, the Local Digital Declaration requires councils to champion the continuous improvement of cyber security practice to support the security, resilience and integrity of our digital services and systems. Through working for several cyber security companies on many public-sector projects, I recognise the risks and the necessary steps that must be taken in order to secure the digital services of local councils. Here are three areas that councils should look at immediately in order to reduce the likelihood of suffering from a breach of IT security, as well to limit the damage of a successful cyber-attack. Responsibility: As with every area of the councils operation, it is important that there is a Cabinet Member who is responsible for the councils cyber security. The Leader of the Council must accept ultimate responsibility, but where another elected Member has experience or interest in this area, there should be a clear scheme of delegation which puts responsibility explicitly in the hands of the front bench. Prevention: An investigation earlier this year found that UK local authorities have experienced more than 98 million cyber-attacks over the past five years. This means that councils need to take the necessary steps to prevent cyber-attacks from being successful. Make sure every council employee undergoes cyber-resilience training; ensure your IT infrastructure is designed to be secure from the ground up; and commission professionals to conduct comprehensive cyber-security tests on a regular basis. Response: Of course, most cyber-attacks are successfully defended against, however more than one in four councils was subject to a serious security breach in the last five years. Your cyber strategy must recognise that a breach is likely and you must design your IT system and response procedure in order to minimise the potential damage of a data breach. It is important that local councils commit to the Local Digital Declaration in its entirety and work with the National Cyber Security Centre as well as the LGA to implement the right design principles in order to ensure cyber resilience. Whether you work in local government or are simply a good member of your local community, all must step up to the plate and hold our council leaders to account. What a shame it would be if all the hard work of Conservative councillors and activists across the country was put to waste by a careless attitude towards cyber security. Instead, Trump criticized China for publicly trying to "convince people to go against Donald Trump" in the November midterm elections because of the US trade war with China. "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November, against my administration", he said. Donald Trump has accused China of attempting to "interfere" in the U.S. midterm elections because they don't want him to win. The two sides have engaged in a fast-escalating trade war, having both implemented tariffs on more than US$250 billion worth of goods. We need a truly great leader, a genius at strategy and winning. President Trump rejected the notion that the UN General Assembly had laughed at his opening statement that his government had been an incomparable "success". But they added they are concerned about activity from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. His four days of choreographed foreign affairs were created to stand in contrast to a presidency sometimes defined by disorder, but they were quickly overshadowed by domestic political crises. Trump's meeting with Netanyahu came, symbolically, just ahead of his chairing a meeting of the UN Security Council about nuclear proliferation. But Trump also called for the enforcement of sanctions, which the United States has spent years building through the Security Council in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests. China's foreign minister Wang Li told Trump to his face when it was his turn to talk, 'We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China'. Asked about the denial of a port visit for the USS Wasp to stop in Hong Kong, Mattis said: "I'm not sure what to make of it right now". USA tariffs have targeted Chinese goods ranging from handbags to toilet paper, while China has hit at US products from soybean and corn to whiskey and cars. Trump, seated at the center of an arc-shaped table, immediately uttered tough words against Iran, saying that a government with Iran's track record "must never be allowed to obtain" a nuclear weapon. Hard-liners in the ruling Communist Party have been eager to highlight the increasingly harsh rhetoric from Trump and his aides as evidence that the United States is seeking to punish China. A day after being greeted with laughter by world leaders still uncertain how to manage his "America First" ideology, Trump explicitly backed Israel, noted the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, and suggested that he saw progress on the horizon for Middle East peace. I think you know why. While Russia's role in manipulating the 2016 election in Trump's favor is the subject of the special counsel's investigation, until recently there were no allegations of Chinese political meddling. President Trump endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also claimed his administration had accomplished more in the less than two years he's held office than any other administration at the same point. On other tense subjects, Trump's criticism of Germany's pursuit of a direct energy pipeline from Russian Federation drew a dismissive headshake from a member of the USA ally's delegation, and his mention of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar all in one breath was received with stone-faced expressions by Saudi officials. Lord Lexden is the Conservative Partys official historian. His website can be found here. This is the text of his address following the unveiling of a statue of Baldwin in Bewdley, his birthplace and constituency, today. Stanley Baldwin loved his native county of Worcestershire, a constant source of inspiration to him, and he loved his country. Large numbers of his contemporaries, sensing his profound, yet gentle patriotism, which threatened no other nation, came quite quickly to regard him with affection after he emerged suddenly at the forefront of public life in the early 1920s. Politicians have to expect mocking or derogatory nicknames. Baldwin escaped them: he was known kindly, and accurately, as Honest Stan. The ranks of his admirers extended far beyond those who belonged to, or voted for, the Conservative Party, which he led to the three greatest election victories in its history during his fourteen years at its head. He had the ability, given to few political leaders, especially in peacetime, to address the nation in language some of the most moving and beautiful language it had ever heard that avoided partisan rancour and bitterness. He had friends in places where most Tory leaders attract only opponents. He enjoyed the company of trade union leaders and gained their trust, which helped bring the General Strike of 1926, one of the most formidable challenges he faced, to a swift conclusion in ten days, and minimised the damage to industrial relations and the economy. The editor of The Times wrote that Toryism, as expounded by him, lost many of its repellent features. His objective, from which he never wavered, was to diminish the class divisions which scarred his country so deeply, and draw people together irrespective of their backgrounds in the service (one of his favourite words) of their country. It was a mission which he told his own Party to pursue with vigour. Addressing a great election victory rally at the Royal Albert Hall in December 1924, he said that Conservatives must dedicate themselves to creating union among our own people to make one nation of own people which, if secured, nothing else matters in the world. In this way he introduced into political life that famous phrase, one nation, which is heard again and again today on the lips of some Labour, as well as of Tory, politicians. Few have worked as hard as he did to make it a reality. Yet he is too frequently denied the credit for devising it. Whenever I come across its mis-attribution in the media, I write in to correct it. It was Stanley Baldwin who made Britain a fully democratic state. In 1928 he brought all women over 21 within it by giving them the vote, finishing what had been begun ten years earlier when the franchise had been conferred on women with property over the age of 30. He said in 1927 that a democracy is incomplete and lop-sided until it is representative of the whole people, and the responsibility rests alike on men and women. This year has brought events commemorating the centenary of the limited enfranchisement of women in 1918. But it was Baldwin who did women as a whole the greatest service ninety years ago. Fittingly, he was asked to unveil the lovely statue of Mrs Pankhurst erected beside Parliament in 1930. By the 1930s many had come to regard Baldwin as the third most famous person in the realm, after their revered monarch, King George V, and the charming Prince of Wales. The gruff, good-hearted sovereign occasionally found it necessary to chide his longest-serving prime minister, who spent nearly eight years in all at Number 10. In a letter to the King in 1925, Baldwin described an all-night sitting in the Commons as resembling St Jamess Park at midday with members lying about the benches in recumbent positions. Royal displeasure was communicated to him. Members of Parliament now include ladies and such a state of things as you describe seems to His Majesty hardly decorous. It was fortunate that other less-than-decorous remarks made by Baldwin did not reach the royal ears. Never stand between a dog and a lamp-post, he once advised his Downing Street staff sensibly enough. He invented proverbs. One, which he said was of Afghan origin, would certainly have bemused the sovereign: He who lies in the bosom of the goat, spends his remaining days plucking out the fleas. He was deluged with letters from retired colonial officials authenticating the proverb, but insisting that it originated in Burma, or Malaya, or Singapore. Baldwin saw the monarchy as the utterly indispensable constitutional linchpin of the nation whose unity and cohesion he sought throughout his career to strengthen. Of the straitlaced George V, he said: we are fortunate indeed to have as our King a man with such a sense of duty. He looked in vain for similar virtue in his successor, Edward VIII. He believed that the interests of the country compelled him to ask the King to choose between the throne and a hard, greedy woman, uninterested in public service, with two former husbands living. His masterly handling of the abdication crisis in 1936, saving the Crown from any lasting damage, brought his career to a triumphant conclusion. His detailed explanation of the crisis in the Commons was described by Harold Nicolson as the best speech we will ever hear in our lives. He retired a few months later. Hensley Henson, the Bishop of Durham, said: he is really a very great man, and a genuine member of the goodly fellowship of the prophets. Not all the countrys historic institutions gained his full-hearted praise. He went reluctantly to the House of Lords on his retirement, saying disarmingly there is perhaps a certain retributive justice in it as I have sent so many others there, hoping I should never see their faces again. This, then, was the much-praised statesman- no lesser term would be appropriate now to be commemorated for ever by this magnificent statue in a place which he knew so well and cared for so deeply as boy and man, sentiments that were amply reciprocated by its people during his long years of association with it, nearly thirty of them as its Member of Parliament. How frequently in the hundreds of speeches he delivered outside Parliament more than any other modern prime minister he referred to vivid memories of Worcestershire which abided with him and to which he gave eloquent expression. Here is an extract from one of them, recalling Queen Victorias Golden Jubilee in 1887 when he was twenty years old: I was walking slowly across a wide common in Worcestershire, waiting for the warning light of the great beacon on Malvern which was to give the signal for the chain of beacons running north to carry the glad news of the jubilee of Queen Victorias reign. How often in our history had these same hills sent out their fiery message, to Briton and Roman, to Saxon and Dane. But this night it was a message of rejoicing and thanksgiving and pride at the appointed hour the first flame shot up on Malvern, and one by one each hill took up the tale, until I stood in the middle of a vast illuminated circle, the nearer fires showing the people attending them, and the remoter dwindling in size until they merely blazed as stars on the horizon. Apart from the power of the language, note the historical resonance which is a recurrent feature of speeches. A country is impoverished when it lacks leaders with a sense of the past, as we do today. Baldwins total lack of self-importance, that besetting sin of politicians, is well illustrated by a famous anecdote. On a train journey during the second of his three premierships, he noticed that another occupant of the compartment was looking at him with some puzzlement. After a time this man lent forward and tapped Baldwin on the knee. You are Baldwin, arent you?, he said. You were at Harrow in 84. Baldwin nodded assent to both propositions. His former school-fellow appeared satisfied. But after a few more minutes he again became puzzled and tapped once more. Tell me, he said, what are you doing now? I had long imagined the story to be apocryphal, but I was heartened to see it in the lovely speech made by his great-granddaughter Bea Grant at Hagley Hall during the fund-raising campaign for the statue. It is well-known that Baldwins reputation plunged precipitously from the astonishingly high point at which it stood when he retired in 1937. The cause is equally well-known: the charge that he failed to rearm Britain in the face of the growing menace of the fascist dictators. How proud he would have been that this wholly spurious accusation, which he himself was too old and infirm to rebut, should have been countered so powerfully, first by his son, Windham, and then by Edward, his grandson. They have been vindicated. Detailed research by modern historians has removed the tarnish from Stanley Baldwins reputation spectacularly so in Professor Philip Williamsons brilliant book, Stanley Baldwin: Conservative leadership and national values, published in 1999, which was followed by a fascinating collection of extracts from Baldwins personal papers, which he produced jointly with Edward Baldwin. What did Baldwin think about Nazi Germany? He detested it. Appalled by the Kristallnacht attack on Jews and their property at the end of 1938, he launched The Lord Baldwins Fund for Refugees. In eight months it raised 522,000, slightly over 34 million in todays values. It helped fund the Kindertransport, and is regarded as the most successful British public appeal of the inter-war years, as Baldwins great- grandson, Simon Russell, Lord Russell of Liverpool, himself a great fund-raiser for the statue appeal, recently told the House of Lords. Baldwin made his last speech as Prime Minister on 18 May 1937 to a packed Albert Hall, filled with representatives of the youth of the Empire and Commonwealth. Much to Baldwins pleasure, they were joined unexpectedly by Your Royal Highnesss father, bearing a message from his brother, the recently crowned George VI. What, asked Baldwin, had made Britain so successful? His answer: Freedom, ordered freedom within the law, with force in the background and not in the foreground; a society in which freedom and authority are blended in due proportion. He told his young audience: It may well be that you will have to save democracyas a number of them would indeed do a few years later. And he added: live for the brotherhood of man. These were the ideals of the great man now commemorated here in Bewdley by the glorious statue that Martin Jennings has created. Ideals like these need to be enunciated once again today, with Baldwins eloquent persuasiveness, in our deeply troubled times when his great aim, One Nation, seems especially elusive. Finally, on this important day, should we not remind ourselves of perhaps the best known words spoken by this remarkable figure, deeply imbued with Christian faith, who cared so strongly about the unity of his country? Tears stood in the eyes of MPs throughout the House of Commons as he concluded his famous speech on industrial relations on 6th March 1925: There are many in all ranks and in all parties who will re-echo my prayer: Give peace in our time, O Lord. Dr David Shiels is a Policy Analyst at Open Europe and also works on contemporary political history. Following last weeks European Council meeting in Salzburg, the question of the Irish backstop remains the major sticking point in the Brexit negotiations. Despite chief negotiator Michel Barniers efforts to de-dramatise the issue, the two sides seem to be as far apart as ever. While Theresa May reaffirmed her opposition to the existing EU proposal (it is something I will never agree to), the European side seems determined to make Northern Ireland the price of a deal. The thinking is that, faced with a choice between no deal or a deal with a backstop, the UK will opt for the backstop. From a British perspective, it seems absurd that Dublin could use its influence with the EU to drive the UK towards no deal the surest way to a hard border. Ireland is becoming an issue in British politics in a way that it has not been for decades, with unhappy consequences for politics in Northern Ireland. The problem from Mays point of view seems to be in persuading her fellow heads of government that her objections to the backstop are genuine. The EU thinks that the British have got themselves into a muddle, and that they are now backing away from something which has already been agreed (although this is disputed by the British side). While the UK has pledged to come up with its own backstop proposal, possibly involving regulatory alignment with the consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly, it remains to be seen whether this will be acceptable to the DUP, whose support May relies on in the Commons. There is certainly a case for saying that the backstop proposals should be put to the Northern Ireland Assembly, but the restoration of the Assembly itself is more difficult in the context of Brexit. Meanwhile, the DUP is coming under increasing criticism from all quarters in Northern Ireland, and its influence over the Government is problematic. Speaking last weekend, Simon Coveney, the Irish Foreign Minister, warned that we cannot allow one party to veto any proposals, implying that the other parties in Northern Ireland would be able to find a solution to the backstop issue. The narrative has taken hold that the British Government is acting in bad faith where Northern Ireland is concerned. The DUP, however, is worried that they will be overruled by the British Parliament, which is precisely why they see Coveneys words as a provocation. As Jeffrey Donaldson explained in a letter to the Belfast Newsletter: This has echoes of 1985 when Dublin persuaded Margaret Thatcher to cut unionists out of negotiations on the Anglo-Irish Agreement which created enormous political problems and greater polarisation. Having attacked rivals in the past for being too close to a Tory Government, the DUP are now themselves vulnerable to the same charge. The Ulster Unionist Party, the DUPs smaller rival, supported Remain in 2016 but are also opposed to the backstop. It is possible they would prefer a softer Brexit for the whole of the UK rather than a Northern Ireland-only solution. But the DUP also has critics on the pro-Brexit side, who are concerned that the Government has already conceded too much on the backstop. Further compromise would be difficult. Although fearful of a government led by Jeremy Corbyn, they would probably prefer to face the electorate rather than agree to the present backstop and Labour could rescue the Unionists with a different negotiating position. An early general election triggered by the DUP is not impossible. All of this puts May in a difficult position. She realises that Brexit has upset Irish Nationalists and wants to avoid a situation where it is necessary to hold a border poll on Northern Irelands future. This is why she has made the commitment on the border in the first place. But she also understands why Northern Ireland remaining part of the customs territory of the EU is unacceptable to the pro-Union community. Just because the province already differs from Great Britain in some ways does not mean that even more divergence is welcome or politically desirable. An arrangement imposed by the EU and Ireland is very different to one which is agreed internally between Westminster and the devolved administrations. There are many ways in which Northern Ireland is not different from the rest of the UK. It is not improper for the British Government to take a view on what has become a debate on the terms of membership of the UK, though it is likely that Parliament would agree to any settlement that had the support of all the parties in Northern Ireland. Were the Prime Minister to agree to the backstop as it currently stands, she risks undermining the Unionist credentials of her own party. She probably realises how poisonous this issue could become. In the end, it is unlikely that the Unionist case will win much sympathy in Ireland or the rest of the EU. Even in Great Britain the DUP is widely disliked and the Unionist case is not understood. Many believe that the DUP has brought problems on itself by supporting Brexit in the first place. There is an argument that the party is inconsistent in demanding separate treatment for Northern Ireland in some areas but refusing to agree to them on customs and regulations. But iut is important to remember that the DUPs share of the vote went up at the 2017 General Election, and retreating from its hard Brexit position would be difficult. Forcing its hand on the backstop could make it even harder to find a way back to power-sharing in Northern Ireland. The DUP cant veto a Brexit deal, but their concerns cant be ignored. Unless there is compromise from the European side, then no deal seems the likeliest outcome. Jade Smith is a Conservative activist in Redcar. She is a former Director of Women for Britain. The Mighty Redcar appears on BBC Two at 9pm tonight. I am proud to call Redcar my hometown. However, things in this town arent always easy; we are told from a young age that if we are to succeed we have to leave. But what sort of town are we leaving behind if all our youngest and our brightest flock the nest at 18, and only come back for Christmas? We need to fight for our town and against the harsh reality of decades of local Labour rule. In 2009, Redcar was hit with the first temporary closure of our steelworks, with over 1,700 jobs disappearing overnight. In 2012, under much more favourable economic conditions, a company called SSI bought the site and revived our steel-making heritage. China then started to dump steel at an astronomical rate, and with poor steel trading conditions continuing around the world the final piece of coke entered the ovens on 28th September 2015. With no more coke entering the ovens, they slowly start to disintegrate and eventually they will collapse in on themselves. Once this process has started, it cannot be undone. Our steelworks have now closed forever. The situation facing the town was unprecedented; hundreds of families had lost their main source of employment. But what we do best in Redcar is pull together in a time of crisis, and that is exactly what we did. A Government-backed taskforce was set up in conjunction with the council, and this in turn set up a group to allow donations of food, money and Christmas presents from the public to help the steelworkers and their families. A desire to help those most in need runs through the veins of the people in Redcar. Labour blame the Conservative Government, saying the present government should have kept the site open but they could not, due to the same EU diktats that had prevented Labour from doing so in 2009. These are the state aid rules, and they prevent us from saving our industry. With no option of future private investment in a failing industry, and no legal way to use state aid, the permanent closure was inevitable. The Government gave 80 million to retrain the workforce; many ex-steelworkers decided to apply for grants to set up their own businesses, which are now benefiting our economy. In 2017, there were 2,830 micro-enterprises in the borough, and I believe that number is closer to 3,000 now. Unemployment is down in the Redcar constituency by 60 per cent compared to 2009. Surely this is proof enough that a Conservative government is the only government that can make a success out of places like Redcar, that have been down on their luck in the past decade. The only barrier to success for young people in Redcar is the fact that Labour brings us all down to the lowest common denominator. We once had a grammar school Labour closed it. We once had a sixth form Labour closed it. As a result, we have no grammar schools, no sixth forms, and very few positive local role models who have made it through an academic route. We have a technical college that offers engineering, hair and beauty, and health and social care B-TECs. If you live in Redcar and want to study A-levels, you have to travel either to Guisborough, which is a 12-mile round trip on college buses, or Middlesbrough, which is an 18-mile round trip. At one point in my life, all I wanted was to go to a Russell Group university and study a Politics degree, but my hometown couldnt offer me a route to this dream. Others are losing out, too. In The Mighty Redcar on BBC Two, we see Kat and her daughter Kaitlyn looking at the fees for RADA, Kaitlyns dream stage school. Kat worries about the fees as her daughters school and careers advisor had failed to explain the student loan system in England and the fact that she wouldnt have to pay out of pocket to go to RADA. If our schools dont explain that there is no barrier to higher education for our most disadvantaged student, why would they have aspirations to go onto further study? However, there is hope on the horizon for the young people of Redcar; Higher Education entry rates have gone up by a quarter since 2010, and it is estimated by the House of Commons Library that, between 2010 and 2015, ten per cent more pupils from a disadvantaged background in Redcar and Cleveland have entered higher education. Resilience is what makes us mighty in Redcar. Its the kids that travel for hours to and from college every day to study for A-levels. Its the kids who have fallen through the cracks but are determined to make something of their lives. Its the mums who once used food banks and are now volunteering in them to help others. And its the steelworkers who never knew a job other than up at the works and now run their own businesses, which are benefiting our economy. The people here that have always voted Labour want change; in the last general election, the Conservatives increased their vote share by 17 percentage points, and more than doubled the number of votes we received. We may be a long way off from taking the seat, but the seas are changing, and Labour is worried. Garvan Walshe is a former National and International Security Policy Adviser to the British Conservative Party. He runs TRD Policy. The European Community does indeed have a political mission. It is to anchor new and vulnerable democracies more securely to freedom and to the West. These are the words of Margaret Thatcher, addressing the Hoover Institution in 1991, shortly after she left office. Under her own steam, and without having to balance civil service interests, as has been alleged about her Bruges Speech in 1988. But when called to this mission by the European Parliaments civil liberties committee, almost all Conservative MEPs betrayed it. The issue was a vote asking the European Council, composed of Europes elected heads of government, to invoke the EUs Article 7 procedure which is there to investigate and correct violations of democratic norms and human rights committed by EU members. The charges against Viktor Orban, Hungarys leader, can be found in a dry report produced by Judith Sargentini, a Dutch MEP. They include: interfering with judicial independence; using taxpayers money for the ruling partys election expenditure; gerrymandering constituencies; breaking EU law by removing judges, and not restoring them to their original posts after being ordered to do so b y the European Court of Justice; unlawful secret surveillance; attempting to expel Hungarys best institution of higher education, the Central European University; excessive and arbitrary definitions of what counts as a church of religious activity; violating the free movement of capital by imposing heavy regulation on civil society NGOs; criminalising charities and NGOs who help refugees and advise them of their legal rights; systematic segregation of Roma children by misdiagnosing them as mentally disabled; imposing arbitrary taxes on organisations holding the wrong political opinions, in this case pro-migration. The excuse given was sovereignty. But this is specious. Orban has deprived Hungarys courts of independence, manipulated the electoral system, taken control of almost all of the media, and turned the state broadcaster into his personal version of The Canary. How can Hungarians get redress from such a rigged system? To see how far the rot has gone, consider that immediately after the European Parliament had censured him, the state broadcaster ran a bulletin pretending he had been feted in Brussels, while Orbans spokesman was claiming the censure was illegitimate because it miscounted votes. Orbans government argued (against the plain meaning of the words, and the advice of the European Parliaments legal service) that abstentions should be interpreted as votes cast in opposition to the censure. If we applied that logic to Hungarys own recent election, where government and opposition each got half of the votes, he would only have support of 38 per cent of Hungarians. Sixty-two per cent would have voted against him. Instead, thanks to a deliberately disproportionate electoral system and gerrymandering, he holds a two-thirds majority in Hungarys parliament. And Hungarys election itself is drowning in murk. The OSCE didnt carry out a full observation mission, believing it unnecessary in an EU country, but Hungary bans civilian election observers counting committee members are allowed but have to be appointed by parties despite a history of allegations of irregularities. There was even, apparently, a case of eight voters registered in a pig sty. On polling day, people were bussed across the border in Ukraine to cast ballots with falsified ID cards. Like in the postal vote fraud in Birmingham, implausibly large numbers of souls, in some cases more than 100, were registered to vote in small family houses. The question is, why does Orban want to win so badly? Hes not unpopular in Hungary and the opposition is hopelessly divided. The answer can be found from these courageous investigations by the Hungarian investigative news site Atlatszo: Here are the castles and hotels owned by Orbans son-in-law, and here is the EU-funded white elephant railway from Orbans home village of Felcsut. Atlatszo operates from an opposition centre called Aurora, which the Government are trying again to buy so the opposition can be evicted. Gerrymandering. EU money for white elephants. Restrictions on religious freedom. Arbitrary taxes on people they dont like. State control of the media. Is this what our MEPs went into politics to defend? Hungary signed the Lisbon Treaty of which Article 7 is a part. If it doesnt like the judgement of its institutions, it is under no obligation to stay in the EU. If he finds its restrictions too onerous, all he has to do is send a letter. With the two-thirds majority Orban confected, he can make all the necessary constitutional changes. But all thats a bit harder if your country is a net recipient of EU money, and your governments weak institutional controls give you great freedom to spend billions of Euros of structural funds. There is also the question of his Polish allies in the erroneously named Law and Justice party, who sit in the same political group as the Conservatives. Law and Justice have conducted a full-scale assault on the Polish Constitution and also turned Polish State TV into a propaganda organ of which the Communist regime would have been proud. Warsaw is also being targeted for Article 7 treatment, and need Budapest to cover their backs. The Leave campaign told us it was the inability of the EU make sure people like Orban spent EU funds honestly which provided a reason for Brexit. Voting against his censure thus betrays Thatcher twice: not only of her commitment to democracy and human rights in Eastern Europe, but also to British taxpayers. British taxpayers money has enriched the Hungarian elite. So why are Conservative MEPs trying to protect that elites leader? McCluskey signals that Labour may endorse Northern Irish candidates Unlike the Northern Irish Conservatives, who have secured at least tepid support from CCHQ but have struggled to build up a serious presence, Labours supporters in Ulster have tended to have the opposite problem. Not only does the Opposition not organise in the Province, directing inquiries instead towards its (nationalist) sister party the Social Democratic & Labour Party, but people had to take the Party to court to force it to allow them to join at all. Yet despite this, its local branch enjoys a base their Tory rivals can only dream of. According to Boyd Black, the local chairman, Labours strength in Northern Ireland comprises fully 2,000 paid-up members, another 1,000 registered supporters, and most importantly of all over 37,000 trades unionists who have voluntarily opted in to pay the political levy. He estimates that this might contribute over 300,000 per annum to Labours coffers. Perhaps thats why Len McCluskey, leader of one of the most powerful affiliated trades unions, said during a fringe event at this weeks conference that Unite are moving towards officially supporting the idea that Labour should contest elections in the Province (h/t the New Statesmans Patrick Maguire for the spot). Whilst advocates of Labours traditional abstention which is intertwined with its historical support for the nationalist position are opposed to the move, there is a strong democratic case to be made that the people of Ulster deserve the opportunity to cast their ballot for both of the parties of government, even if they dont choose to do so. as Leonard rules out Labour support for an independence re-run The leader of Scottish Labour has announced that his party will not support a second Scottish independence referendum only days after Jeremy Corbyn left the door open to the idea. According to The Scotsman, Richard Leonard stated categorically that Labours manifesto for the next election (which, he argues, could be imminent) will clearly commit the party to opposing any push by the Scottish Nationalists for a re-run of the 2014 vote. Since then, Labour have been caught in a vicious electoral squeeze as their old coalition divides along constitutional lines, with many former supporters switching to the SNP after the Yes campaign and pro-UK voters consolidating behind the more muscular unionism of Ruth Davidsons Scottish Tories. Attempts to somehow neutralise the constitutional question with some clever new formulation often called federalism have come to nothing and will continue to do so, this well-argued (if very left-wing) article suggests. But to have any hope of regaining second place its obviously clear to Leonard that he needs to lock in his unionist supporters. In other news, the Chair of Labours National Executive Committee sparked a sectarian row at conference by jokingly suggesting that he might not call a woman who made a Catholic gesture. If you thought this an isolated incident, the Herald reports that Irish tricolour also managed to make it onto a list of flags it might be a criminal offence to wave in a provocative manner north of the border. Welsh Labour brace for Brexit as council leader backs second vote Carwyn Jones has announced that his government will give 6 million to Airbus, Toyota, and Ford to help these huge multinational firms prepare for Brexit as he used his last speech to the UK party conference to warn of industrial carnage in the event of a no-deal departure. The outgoing First Minister hopes that the Welsh Government intended the cash to help set up local sites as favourable candidates for future investment. Elsewhere this week Huw Thomas, the Labour leader of Cardiff Council, announced his support for a second referendum with Remain as an option. It also appears that Mike Russell, the SNPs Brexit minister, has met with the so-called Peoples Vote campaign. In other news, Jones also hinted that he might break his previous policy of abstaining in nominations for the Welsh leadership in order to cast his ballot for Eluned Jones and ensure that a female candidate made it to the membership vote. Scottish Government to fight Salmond in court amidst allegations of secrecy The SNP-led government in Edinburgh has vowed to vigorously contest a legal action being brought by Alex Salmond over its handling of sexual misconduct allegations against him, the Daily Telegraph reports. According to the former First Minister and Nationalist leader, he was not given adequate opportunity to challenge the charges laid against him. Salmond has been criticised for getting the cash for his court action from nationalist activists via a controversial fundraiser. However, Nicola Sturgeons administration has not been spared criticism after it emerged that it has refused nearly all of the 21 Freedom of Information requests tabled regarding Salmonds conduct and the current First Ministers meeting with her predecessor. The Nationalists have been accused of pulling a veil of secrecy over the affair. SD&G, Ontario Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have charged a former South Dundas Township resident following investigation of a suspicious death more than two and a half years ago. On Feb. 6, 2016, members of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SD&G) OPP Detachment and local Emergency Medical Services responded to a call for assistance at a private residence in the Township of South Dundas. A resident 67-year-old Edward Robert Allen was found in medical distress and shortly thereafter succumbed to his injuries. Members of SD&G Crime Unit under the direction of Detective-Inspector Dan Nadeau of the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) commenced a lengthy investigation of the circumstances leading to the victims death. As a result of the investigation, 58-year-old Beverly Rose Thomas of Digby, NS has been charged with First Degree Murder contrary to Section 235 (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada. The accused will be transported to Ontario and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall on Sept. 28, 2018. The OPP gratefully acknowledges the Halifax Regional Police Service and RCMP in Digby, NS for their respective support and assistance with this investigation. US President Donald Trump's administration approved a military sale to Taiwan totaling $330 million (281 million), officials announced on Monday. China views self-ruling Taiwan, an island which has been independent since 1950, as a rebel region that must be reunited with the mainland - by force if necessary. Taiwan has welcomed the move, saying it helps the self-ruled island increase its defensive capability. The possible sale includes the replenishment of standard spare parts and the fix and replacement of spare parts in support of the F-16, C-130, F-5, Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) and other aircraft systems and subsystems, the DSCA statement said. Military experts said the balance of power between Taiwan and China has shifted in favor of China, which could probably overwhelm the island unless USA forces came quickly to its aid. The six assurances, issued by former U.S. president Ronald Reagan in 1982, include the USA pledging not to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, not to hold prior consultations with China regarding arms sales to Taiwan, and not to play a mediation role between Taiwan and China. Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Geng Shuang said that USA arms deals to Taiwan were a genuine breech of worldwide law and harmed Chinese sovereignty and security interests. China has previously warned the USA not to sell weapons to the country or establish close military ties there, the South China Morning Post reported. "As Taiwan faces gradually heightened threats, the U.S. arm sales would. also boost Taiwan's confidence in strengthening self-defence to help maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait", the foreign ministry said in a statement. In a statement on Tuesday, Taiwan's Presidential Office thanked the United States for its support and said the island would continue to "stay in close communication and cooperation" with Washington for issues including security. The tariffs amount to some $250 billion in China's United States exports. The escalating tensions come in the context of China rejecting an invitation for official talks in Washington, with its vice commerce minister, Wang Shouwen saying, "Now that the United States has adopted this type of large-scale trade restrictions, they're holding a knife to someone's throat". Anthony and Russ sit down with Flyers forward Jordan Weal to discuss bouncing between center and the wing, Game of Thrones, Vancouver sports, and the craziest game hes ever played in. The guys also recap roster cuts, news and notes from practice, the Flyers new mascot, Jori Lehteras situation with Finnish authorities, iTunes reviews, and Whos That Flyer?. Please subscribe to the show ([iTunes] [Google Play] [Stitcher] [RSS]), leave a 5 star review, and follow us on Twitter:@AntSanPhilly @JoyOnBroad https://art19.com/shows/snow-the-goalie-a-flyers-podcast/episodes/6485cb77-4da9-4404-99a8-22eb1b90c4f4 We recommend subscribing in Overcast, the best iOS podcast player, and using the Voice Boost and Smart Speed functions, which improve sound quality (for all shows) and speed up small gaps in the conversation. Download Overcast and just search Snow the Goalie to subscribe. If you just want to dabble and check out other great podcasts by category, listen over at TopPodcast.com. If you prefer the more traditional players, here are those links: [iTunes] [Google Play] [Stitcher] [RSS] U.S. President Donald Trump let Canada know how he really feels Wednesday - sharpening his tariff threat, calling out Chrystia Freeland and claiming he denied Justin Trudeau a bilateral meeting, all because of the federal government's hard bargaining on North American trade. "The fact is, Canada is not making concessions in areas where we think they're essential", US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in NY on Tuesday, as quoted by The Hill. "Yeah, I did", he told a news conference in NY when asked by a reporter whether he had rejected a one-on-one meeting with Mr Trudeau. "That's the big one", Trump explained. Trump, during the news conference, reiterated his longstanding grievances against NAFTA and job losses, saying the trade pact had been "great for Canada, great for Mexico, very bad for us". Trump has repeatedly threatened to cut Canada out of a trade agreement if the country does not agree with his terms. The two nations have been locked in negotiations for a year on a rewrite of the 25-year-old continental trade deal that Mr Trump blames for losses of USA jobs and industry. As the relationship between Trump and Trudeau continues to worsen, it's unclear what this could mean for either economy or the trade relationship that connects thousands of companies in both countries. Remaining sticking points concern Canada's state-managed system of dairy production, protections for Canadian cultural industries and provisions for resolving dispute that arise among NAFTA partners, which Trump is seeking to eliminate. Canada imposed tariffs on $12.5 billion of USA goods, including steel, toffee, maple syrup, coffee beans and strawberry jam. "I don't like NAFTA". The White House reached a deal last month with Mexico and informed Congress of the intention to sign a new agreement by the end of November, before the new President takes office in Mexico. The remarks by Trump, who repeated a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian autos, knocked the Canadian dollar down to a one-week low against the USA greenback. Meanwhile, Trudeau is downplaying what some viewed as an awkward handshake with Trump. Speaking to the Globe and Mail, he said: "The United States moving ahead without Canada shows that Canada may be left out altogether". But Trump suggested he may go forward with a revamped NAFTA without Canada. The U.S. president stayed seated as he extended his hand for a cursory handshake. Princess Cruises today announced its 2020 winter program from Australia. The program will see both Sun Princess and Sea Princess sail on 36 itineraries to 90 destinations across 38 countries with roundtrip options from Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Perth (Fremantle) and Yokohama. Highlights include the return of Princess Cruises 77-night Circle Pacific itinerary, back by popular demand following a three-year hiatus, a 106-night World Cruise that touches every continent on the globe with the exception of Antarctica, and a variety of destination rich itineraries ranging from 2-35 night, the company said. Speaking at the launch of the winter program aboard Majestic Princess in Sydney today, Princess Cruises Senior Vice President Asia Pacific, Stuart Allison said: This annual launch event has become the most anticipated booking day in the cruise industry in Australia. In fact maybe its the most anticipated booking day for any travel product. Princess Cruises Director of Marketing and Sales, Nick Ferguson who presented the program added: From short breaks exploring our beautiful coastline to longer voyages travelling to distant lands, our new 2020 program features a fantastic selection of cruises, all designed to give Australian and New Zealand travellers a truly memorable holiday. Also addressing agents and media this morning, Princess Cruises Director of Deployment and Planning, Crystal Morgan highlighted the preparation each itinerary requires, speaking via video link, she said: "A full World Cruise can take 18-months to plan, and were always thinking where can we take our guests next where they havent been before. And, in 2020 were doing just that by taking our guests 14,000 nautical miles from Sydney to Honningsvag to see the northern most point of the European continent. Just think how many people from Australia get to say that they have done that! The Sun Princess 77-night Circle Pacific cruise featuring more calls to Japan than ever before with sailings to Osaka (for Kyoto), Toba, Tokyo (Yokohama) and maiden calls to Hakodate and Kushiro. The itinerary also offers access to seven UNESCO World Heritage sites including Mt. Fuji, and the iconic temples and shrines of Kyoto and Nara. Sailing roundtrip from Sydney on April 15 2020, travellers will be transported through Asia and then north to Alaska on an itinerary showcasing a range of new ports including Alotau in Papua New Guinea, Kodiak and College Fjord in Alaska and Monterey, and Santa Barbara in the US, as well as additional maiden call to Prince Rupert in Canada and 11 late-night calls and overnight stays in Vancouver and San Francisco. Fares for the 77-night Circle Pacific voyage departing Sydney on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. The Sea Princess will embark on a 106-night World Cruise with roundtrip departures available from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland. Calling into the Arctic Circle, guests will literally sail from the bottom of the globe right to the very top, touching on all continents except Antarctica. The global circumnavigation will visit 41 ports across 27 countries and introduce new world cruise contenders including Sibenik in Croatia, Ceuta in Spanish Morocco and Isafjordur in Iceland, as well Bergen and Geirangerfjord in Norway. Disney Cruise Line today announced early 2020 deployment, including its first New Orleans-based program as well as a return to Hawaii. Disney will also return to Puerto Rico for a limited time and continue sailing to "guest-favorite" itineraries to tropical destinations from Florida and California, the company announced. In 2020, the Disney Wonder will embark on a variety of Caribbean and Bahamian cruises from New Orleans the first time Disney Cruise Line will have a home port in Louisiana. N The Disney Wonder will embark on six cruises during this limited-time season from New Orleans, including four-, six- and seven-night Western Caribbean sailings; a seven-night Bahamian cruise; and a 14-night Panama Canal voyage, departing Feb. 7 through March 6. After a five-year hiatus, the Disney Wonder will return to Hawaii in early 2020 for two special cruises: a nine-night voyage to Honolulu from Vancouver, Canada, on April 29, and a 10-night sailing back to Vancouver on May 8, the company said. In addition are two seven-night voyages departing Jan. 19 and 26 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, followed by a five-night Bahamian cruise. Then beginning on March 20, the ship embarks on seven sailings to Baja and the Mexican Riviera, ranging in length from two to seven nights, from San Diego, California. The anti-establishment Five Star Movement said it will block Italy's 2019 budget unless it includes full funding for the party's flagship plan to boost incomes for the poor. Investors shrugged off the threat, judging Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio doesn't have the political weight to back it up. The spread between Italian 10-year bonds and similarly dated German bunds widened by 3 basis points at 9:13 a.m. in Rome. That's the smallest move since Sept. 14. Di Maio told ministers from his party late Tuesday that he is prepared to withdraw support for the budget if his demands aren't met, according to a party official, who asked not to be named discussing private conversations. The Five Star leader is trying to make a mark on the budget process less than 48 hours before the deadline to produce the government's main fiscal targets for next year. Despite leading the biggest group in parliament, 32-year-old Di Maio has been consistently left in the shade by the anti-immigration drive of his coalition partner Matteo Salvini during their four months in office. "It goes without saying that the Five Star Movement will vote for a courageous budget, meaning a budget that keeps our promises," Di Maio, who is also a deputy premier, said Wednesday in an interview on Radio Capital. "People have to notice an improvement, otherwise it's not worth it." With Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in New York to attend the United Nations general assembly, officials have been discussing their key targets for the budget deficit and government debt levels under the supervision of Finance Minister Giovanni Tria. Messaggero daily reported that Tria may settle on a deficit target between 1.9 percent and 2 percent of GDP for next year. La Stampa reported that Di Maio wants as much as 2.5 percent. Conte returns from New York on Thursday morning before a cabinet meeting to agree on the final target. Di Maio and League leader Salvini have been pushing for extra resources to deliver their key election promises -- Salvini's League is aiming to lower income tax while both want to revoke a 2011 pension reform that raised the retirement age. But Italy's 2.3-trillion-euro ($2.7 trillion) debt puts a limit on Tria's ability to fund those policies. Tria has insisted that the coalition's plans will have to be implemented gradually over the five-year parliamentary term. He may provide a further glimpse of what is in store when he speaks at 10:30 a.m. in Rome at a conference organized by the retailers' lobby. Speaking to reporters in New York, Premier Conte said the government is still working on a budget that "will contain measures of social justice and fairness." He seemed to echo Di Maio's remarks on the government's priorities by adding that solutions for Italians in a difficult situation will be at the core of the budget. After cabinet approval, the budget accord will head to Brussels for a strict examination by the European Commission, which has repeatedly warned Italy to get its debt under control. Italy's Parliament must ratify a final package by year end. On Tuesday, Di Maio insisted in a Facebook post that the budget will deliver a lower retirement age and increase the lower pensions to 780 euros a month. That's the same as the minimum income he's aiming to establish for the poor. The coalition partners are trying to get the economy going again after years of underperformance -- the European Union forecasts that Italy will have the slowest growth pace in the 19-nation euro region this year and next. Last year's economic growth was revised up to 1.6 percent last week while the stock of public debt was lowered to 131.2 percent of GDP. The 2017 deficit at 2.4 percent was slightly wider than previously reported, due to lower tax revenue and higher spending. During the first four months of the coalition, Salvini's hardline immigration rhetoric has won more support from voters than Di Maio's anti-establishment approach. A poll released this week by the SWG Institute showed support for Salvini's League rising to 32 percent while Five Star fell to 28.7 percent. In March's general election the League got 17.4 percent and Five Star got 32.7 percent. - - - With assistance from Bloomberg's Kevin Costelloe. South Korean prosecutors indicted the board chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. on charges of illegally cracking down on a labor union, delivering another legal blow to the world's largest chipmaker. Prosecutors in Seoul said Thursday they have charged Lee Sang-hoon with leading an operation to sabotage a newly formed labor union at Samsung's customer-service unit in 2013 when he was chief financial officer. Moroccan foreign Minister Nasser Bourita called at a meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forums 9th Ministerial Plenary Meeting for continuing the fight against terrorism and extremism by addressing the root causes of these calamities. Our approach should remain a strategic one, with a long-term perspective that goes beyond territorial victories to address the core foundations of terrorist and extremist ideologies, said Bourita. The Global Coalition against Daesh, which was formed in 2014 is co-chaired by Morocco and the Netherlands. Bourita called for tackling the threats emanating from the misuse of the internet by terrorist recruiters who use digital platforms to spread extremist narrative. Although the number of terrorist attacks dropped by 20% between 2015 and 2017, some 18,488 people lost their lives because of terrorist acts, he said. Bourita alerted the international community to the dangers posed by ISIS foreign fighters who return to their homelands saying that the MENA region, Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are home to 93% of these fighters. These individuals require extreme and continued vigilance given the risks they pose in terms of incitement and recruitment; expansion of existing terrorist and criminal networks; and planning and execution of terrorist acts, he said. In light of the persisting terrorist threat, Bourita underscored the critical role of the GCTF, which has facilitated the development of effective policies and concrete measures to respond to the threats linked to terrorism and extremism. As automation drives changes in the financial services sector, Shelton-based InsurIQ is looking to expand its business to meet the demand of its industry. The digital insurance solutions firm announced this week it will be doubling the size of its headquarters at 2 Corporate Drive to 6,000 square feet next month. The expansion will also bring in a string of new additions to the firm as executives continue to increase its service options. Strengthening our presence in Shelton bolsters our efforts to deliver a superior digital insurance experience for carriers, agents and ultimately consumers, said InsurIQ founder and CEO Brian Harrigan in a press release. The company develops digital solutions to insurance providers, brokers and carriers nationwide to assist with their transition to a digital format. Since its founding in 2014, InsurIQ has provided clients with opportunities to get their products to market faster, under budget and in compliance, which Harrigan said has long been an obstacle as standards change. Additionally, the company offers automated product administration functions to help clients manage their insurance programs. As the digital age has driven other parts of the financial industry along the same route, Harrigan said insurance has lagged which is where his company comes in. The expansion is the result of the growing demand from the insurance providers to make the transition into automation. Insurance is the last of the big industries in the financial service sector that needs to move to a digital platform, Harrigan said. The trends in the other industries are ... that consumers want to do business a different way. The firms latest expansion brings the companys workforce to 32 employees across its Connecticut and New Jersey locations. Among the new positions, InsurIQ will be adding business analysts, project managers and specialist positions to its team. The expansion in Shelton will be joining companys 5,000-square-foot office in Mount Arlington, N.J. The company also named Alexa Skalandunas as its new senior director of client services. She has more than 20 years in the insurance technology industry through various roles including marketing, product management and client services. The addition of office space and new team members is part of larger growth initiative as the company continues collaboration with industry players. This is the last bastion of paper processing and analog work that will eventually migrate with tech to a digitally distributed and service world, and that is going to take some time, Harrigan said. We have believed that automation and digital transformation would be necessary, and it is in the past few years that the industry has started to embrace migrating to this all-digital world. Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.com BRIDGEPORT The citys Emergency Operations Center is monitoring a potential storm expected to push through the area late Thursday into Friday. With the storm comes the risk of possible flash flooding. The city saw extensive flash flooding on Tuesday when areas of Bridgeport saw between 5 and 7 inches of rain. Several other towns and cities along Connecticuts coastline also saw severe flooding. Though the possible upcoming storm likely would not be as serious as Tuesdays storm, things can change at any given moment and the citys EOC is looking to keep the community ready. Scott Appleby, the director of emergency management and homeland security in Bridgeport, said a low pressure is headed toward Connecticut form the Mid-Atlantic region late Thursday. The pressure system will pass over, or just south of, New York City and Long Island on Friday. Appleby said heavy rain at times is possible from late Thursday into Friday morning. Rainfall totals are expected to hover around 1 inch, with locally higher amounts up to 2 inches possible. The risk of flash flooding was classified as slight for northeast New Jersey, the lower Hudson Valley in New York, southern Connecticut and parts of Long Island. A flash flood watch is in effect. BRIDGEPORT The City Council is considering ousting the majority of board and commission members after learning they failed to comply with residency reporting requirements by the Jan. 31 deadline. Its a little shaming there are so many people that have not adhered to it, Council President Aidee Nieves said Thursday. If we (city officials) dont follow our own ordinances, how do we expect other residents (to)? But long-time Police Commission member Thomas Lyons, whose wife, Michelle Lyons, serves on the council, said Thursday that no one told him to fill out the new form in the Town Clerks office declaring his home address. The council passed that rule last year because of ongoing concerns that elected and appointed municipal officials do not live in the neighborhoods they represent or within city borders, in violation of the municipal charter. Such allegations have dogged many Bridgeport movers-and-shakers over the years, and at least one former state Rep. Christina Ayala faced criminal prosecution four years ago for elections fraud. The residency forms are supposed to be filled out every January and updated during the year if addresses change. But as Hearst Connecticut Media reported Wednesday, of the dozens serving on boards and commissions, only two, John Weldon, head of the school board, and Barbara Freddino, a zoning commissioner, had given their information to the Town Clerk. Meanwhile, most of the council, Mayor Joe Ganim, the Town and City Clerks and Republican Registrar, have complied. When the rule was passed in 2017, the council did not include penalties. So Nieves and Councilman Ernie Newton are drafting a resolution for the council to consider Monday seeking the resignation of anyone who does not fill out the residency form. It shouldnt take a whole year, Newton said. That goes for council people, too. They should lead by example. The mayor nominates board and commission members, his staff screens them, and the council interviews and votes on the candidates. According to the mayors office, candidates sign notarized affidavits stating they reside in the city. But many board and commission members were first appointed years ago and have continued to serve until renominated or replaced without being asked to update their information. Thomas Lyons, who over the summer was reappointed to the police commission, said he knew his wife submitted her address to the Town Clerk, But I was never given any notification of this. Ill make sure he goes down there (to City Hall) ASAP and does that, Michelle Lyons said. Maybe I should have told him. ... Listen, my husband is the most follow-the-rule-guy I know. I dont think any of these people were notified. Chris Taylor, a member of the school board, on Thursday morning said some residency reporting forms might have gotten lost. Taylor told Hearst that he mailed and emailed his missing document to the Town Clerk in February. Separate from Nieves and Newtons effort, Councilman Peter Spain has submitted a resolution seeking the ouster of Eleanor Guedes, long-time chairman of the Civil Service Commission, which deals with various personnel issues. Guedes, who has long-claimed 1425 Noble Ave., her familys construction company, as her residence, was accused in 2009 of living out-of-town at other properties she owns. The City Attorney at the time concluded she could have multiple residences but still declare Bridgeport home, and a Hearst reporter was allowed to tour her quarters on Noble Ave. But as part of Wednesdays story on the residency forms, Hearst also reported that Guedes, from late June 2017 until February 2018, had changed her voting address from Bridgeport to her house at 48 Teller Road, Trumbull. Spains resolution calls on the council to interview and consider removing Guedes, whose voting address is back at Noble Avenue, from office for violating the charter. As of Thursday, Lyons was a co-sponsor and Newton said he, too, was supportive of her removal. Guedes on Wednesday told Hearst that Bridgeport remains her home base, that she has never voted elsewhere, she pays taxes to the city, and that she thought questions about her residency were settled in 2009. BRIDGEPORT Ex-Library Director Scott Hughes has decided to wage the battle to win back the job he held for nearly a decade in federal court. Jury selection in Hughes wrongful termination lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in November, 2016 the month after the Library Board of Directors fired him was scheduled for this week. But on Tuesday that legal action was withdrawn. Hughes and his attorney, Josephine Smalls Miller, have instead opted to pursue their case in the United States District Court, District of Connecticut. Neither Hughes nor Smalls Miller could be reached for comment Thursday. Hughes, a member of Bridgeports Democratic Town Committee, has alleged that he was the target of racial discrimination he is black and unfairly treated because of his increased political activities and support for Mayor Joe Ganim. Before his termination, Hughes had been placed on probation by the library board in February 2016. His critics have charged that he proved to be a poor manager and communicator. Hughes federal lawsuit says his performance and accomplishments were exemplary. In the document, Hughes takes credit for the successful passage of a 2009 referendum requiring more library funding from the city, and for library renovations, expanded hours, the purchase of a book mobile and mobilizing more community support for the library system. Hughes federal legal filing also claims that after he was placed on probation he was never provided written or verbally articulated specific performance criteria ... to objectively measure his performance. Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleges, Caucasian library employees were treated differently by the board. The defendants (the library board) have engaged in a continuous practice and policy of racially discriminatory treatment of African-Americans, concludes the lawsuit. But Hughes complaint does not simply target white board members, but names all of the individuals who were members at the time he was fired, including minorities, at least one of whom Sauda Baraka had opposed getting rid of Hughes. I just find this to be really, absolutely outrageous, Baraka said at the time. It only makes me think its very personal. . Meanwhile another minority board member, William Holden, an African American, voted to terminate Hughes. Holden argued the boards decision was based on nothing other than facts that Hughes performance as director was mediocre. Reached for comment about Hughes moving his lawsuit from state to federal court, Deputy Bridgeport City Attorney John Bohannon said, The Board of Directors of the library continues to deny Mr. Hughes claims in the federal court, just as it did when the action was pending in state court. The change in venue is likely to further delay efforts by his former employer to replace Hughes. As reported in July, the library board, following a nationwide search for a new director, lost its finalist Tracy Allen of South Carolina because of her predecessors ongoing efforts to regain his employment. Part of it was because shes moving from South Carolina up here, Library Board of Directors member Tom Errichetti said at the time. So it was a major shake-up change for her to relocate, which obviously would impact her decision. So the board decided to put its search on hold and turned to finding an interim library director, hiring. Elaine Braithwaite for that job in August. SHELTON With somewhat of a What would the Board of Aldermen Do? mind set, Sheltons Board of Education went with the low bidder for propane bus fuel. In voting Wednesday to approve a three-year, $260,240-a-year contract with Santa Energy, the board expressed uncertainty about the citys thoughts on the matter. We asked, but did not get an answer (from the city), Ed Drapp, the school districts finance director, told the board. The city and school board have locked horns over school buses for nearly a year. The city owns a fleet of propane-fueled buses and expected to take over the operation when a school transportation contract expired at the end of the last school year. The school board, however, went with another firm, claiming the city refused to offer assurance it could do the job. The city sued the board and refused to let the new company use its buses until a court-led settlement led to a one-year compromise. Under that arrangement, Durham School Services is running the operation this year, using city buses, but the district must pay for the fuel. In the past, the city and district shared the cost. Next year, the city plans to run transportation at a price that Mayor Mark Lauretti has repeatedly said will cost the school district no more than it does now. But he said the district will pay for the fuel, going forward. When the city takes over, the district will have to pay for fuel, just like now, Lauretti said late last month. Drapp said that last year it cost $1.18 a gallon for propane fuel. This year, the six bids that came in ranged from $1.30 to $1.62 a gallon. The district runs through about 200,000 gallons a year to fuel 59 school buses. The estimated $260,240 it would cost per year by taking Santa Energys three-year bid is somewhat lower than the $288,000 the district estimated it would have to spend on propane this year. The cost would go down another $5,200 per year if the city were to install larger propane storage tanks to cut down on delivery cost. Drapp said he does not know if the city is of a mind to do that. We tried to discuss that (with the city)and did not get a decision, Drapp said. There was no response. Board Chairman Mark Holden said he knows what he wants. I dont want to pay more, Holden said. I think we should go for the best deal and hope the city will, too. Other board members, however, questioned what would happens if the city were to sell its school buses. They also were leery about accepting a $650 donation from Santa Energy to purchase running shorts and shirts for the Shelton High girls cross country team. I am wondering if it is a conflict of interest, said school board member Kathleen Yolish. Dave Gioiello, another board member, expressed the same concern, suggesting the donation gives the impression there is a pay-to-play element in school board contracts. Why not ask the city Board of Ethics for guidance, Gioiello suggested. A majority of the board agree to do so, but at the same time accepted the donation. They also referred the matter to the boards Policy Committee. Not too long ago, I found myself a single, teen mother. In an instant, my life trajectory changed: Suddenly I was facing an uphill battle when it came to college and a career. I vividly remember getting my first job and, while waiting for my first paycheck, not having enough gas money to get to my office. It was a humbling experience to have to borrow $10 from a new colleague until payday. Related: 'All Moms Are Right' Says the CEO of This Portable Breast Pump Startup When I think about it, I can still feel the pit in my stomach from having to ask for cash that day. So embarrassing! What I didn't realize at the time was all the lessons I was learning -- juggling schedules, problem solving, leveraging outside resources, getting creative. In retrospect, this was a crash course in entrepreneurship. Contrary to what you might think, entrepreneurship can be a natural fit for a single mother. Whereas an ordinary job would likely keep you confined to the 9-to-5 workday, the entrepreneur enjoys considerably more flexibility in her schedule. This can be a boon for a busy mother. And if starting your own business sounds intimidating, you don't have to go it alone -- you could join a fledgling startup or find co-founders. Aside from the flexible schedule an entrepreneur's workday affords, as a single mother you already have a lot of the requisite skills for succeeding at business: You are nimble, a problem solver and are good as asking for help. Related: How I Balance Entrepreneurship and Motherhood Here are a few more benefits of entrepreneurship: 1. You are your own boss. Setting your own hours is just one of the perks of running the show -- you get to set the entire tone of your company. Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary invested in Heather Stenlake, a single mother and founder of Bridal Buddy. As Stenlake told me, she loves that she can put her children first by working during the hours when they are at school (she notes that it is critical that everything get done within that time frame). When they go to bed at night, it's back to work again to tie up loose ends and tend to customers. While it isn't easy, just establish a schedule and stick to it, Stenlake says. Your kids will become accustomed to the routine -- and it works! 2. The sky is the limit. You are not held back by education, management structures and the like. While it's certainly depressing to read a job description for which you lack the necessary education or experience, the same rules do not apply to entrepreneurs. Nor will you have your upward mobility limited as you would with a conventional job. When you start your own business, you set the rules and your success isn't capped by company policy or upper management. Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder, openly talks his lack of a high school education and belief that passion, purpose and personality trump a stack of degrees. Other notable change-makers without college educations include Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Steve Jobs (Apple). Beyond lacking educational requirements, you don't have to deal with a glass ceiling or other barriers that tend to hold back women. Related: 3 Things to Do Today to Achieve Better Work-Life Balance as a Mom Entrepreneur 3. It doesn't have to be high-risk. High stakes accounts of people mortgaging their homes to start businesses might make for an engrossing underdog story, but these are far from typical. What you hear about less often but is far more common are people who seek investor money to start a company -- often from people called angel investors. Angel investors often give startup capital in lieu of equity and bank on your success for repayment. There are also local and national grants and funds that can help you get started. Check out your local Small Business Development Center or university entrepreneurship departments for advice. There are even grants tailored specifically to the female entrepreneur, like the InnovateHER Challenge. Each year, the U.S. Small Business Administration hosts a competition for businesses that positively impact women and families; the competition winner takes home over $30,000 in prize money. 4. It's a real-world MBA. Even if you decide entrepreneurship isn't for you, you'll still bring the lessons you learned and skills you developed to your next job. Though not every business succeeds, compare the cost of a failed business to that of an MBA. The average cost of an MBA is $80,000 and entails two years of simulations and case studies that seldom reflect real-world conditions. In contrast, as an entrepreneur you get to live the MBA course and practice real-world problem solving each day. You'll get practice making pitch decks, doing marketing, understanding financials and selling. Inevitably, when you fail at something, you'll learn from it and you'll learn to take mistakes in stride. Related: How Being a Single Teen Mom Prepared Me for Entrepreneurship How I Balance Entrepreneurship and Motherhood 3 Things to Do Today to Achieve Better Work-Life Balance as a Mom Entrepreneur Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved NEW YORK - President Donald Trump had just announced high-level trade talks between the United States and Japan at a photo op here Wednesday when a reporter shouted a question about the troubled Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. "They are bringing people out of the woods," Trump replied, implying Democrats were encouraging women to make false allegations of sexual misconduct. Glancing at Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seated next to him, the president added with a chuckle: "They could do that to anybody - except Prime Minister Abe, because he's so pure." The awkward joke - which simultaneously minimized the serious allegations against Kavanaugh and unwittingly dragged the leader of an important U.S. ally into the messy affair - neatly illustrated a dynamic that played out here this week as Trump has sought to promote his foreign policy priorities at the U.N. General Assembly. Time and again, world leaders were reduced to bit players and key foreign policy issues were lost amid the daily - even hourly - spectacle of a president battered and consumed by the twin crises swirling around the White House - Kavanaugh and the fate of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who is scheduled to meet with Trump on Thursday in Washington. Trump made news on foreign affairs - leveling new accusations, with little evidence, against China for attempting to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections and ramping up his rhetoric against Iran over its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East. And at a wide-ranging, hour-long news conference to wrap up the day that was focused primarily on Kavanaugh, Trump touched on a number of international issues. He claimed to have rejected a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with whom he is feuding over trade; acknowledged that the pressure of the trade war with China could mean President Xi Jinping is no longer on friendly terms with him; and asserted without evidence that former president Barack Obama was close to starting a war with North Korea. He also said that U.N. delegates who had laughed audibly early in his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday were not showing signs of disrespect. "They weren't laughing at me," Trump said. "They were laughing with me." But unlike last year, when Trump used his first U.N. address to rally the world in a "maximum pressure" campaign against North Korea, the president struggled this week to stay focused on advancing his global agenda as he and his top advisers frantically sought to contain the deepening political problems in Washington. Even in the moments where Trump was focused on his foreign policy agenda, such as his speech Tuesday, analysts said they had difficulty identifying an overarching strategy - other than the vague concept of "American sovereignty," which appeared aimed at putting other countries on notice that the United States would reject global pacts that the Trump administration finds burdensome. "He's basically done a lot of things he wanted to do - pull out of the [Iran nuclear deal] and reach out to North Korea," said Thomas Wright, a foreign affairs analyst at Brookings Institution. "He sort of declared victory without doing much on them. He ticked through everything and he's out of ideas. It's an interesting question of what he's going to do next, because in his mind all these problems are basically solved." Aides had scheduled a busy itinerary for Trump, including bilateral meetings Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as Abe. Trump also chaired a two-hour meeting of the National Security Council to discuss nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. He called on the members of the council in the order dictated by U.N. customs and cleanly managed a couple of unfamiliar pronunciations - Equatorial Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire. The president remained visibly calm when Bolivian President Evo Morales, a firebrand anti-American former union leader, delivered a lengthy complaint against U.S. policies - concluding by denouncing Trump's no-tolerance immigration policy. Morales declared that it is immoral to detain "children in cages." Trump didn't take the bait. "Thank you, Mr. President," Trump replied evenly, moving on to the next speaker. Maybe he was holding his fire for his more formidable adversaries. Within the next hour, Trump had unleashed a broadside on Twitter against Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who represents adult video performer Stormy Daniels as well as two women who have lodged allegations against Kavanaugh. In his tweet, Trump called Avenatti a "third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations" and a "total lowlife!" The missive scored more retweets and "likes" than any of his other social media messages of the day. For Abe, the bilateral meeting with Trump was a high-stakes moment. The Japanese president has as diligently as any world leader tried to appeal to Trump's ego in hopes of winning support on policies - even if Trump has gone against Abe's wishes on trade and engagement with North Korea. The two leaders had dined at Trump Tower on Sunday night and celebrated Abe's 64th birthday, which was two day earlier. Trump announced that the two nations had agreed to open bilateral trade talks, a high-priority for the president, who has sought to force Tokyo to ease restrictions rice, beef and automarkets - something Japanese leaders have long been resistant to. Abe thanked Trump for marking his birthday and made a point to praise the "wonderful view" of New York from the president's penthouse residence in Trump Tower. But before long, the president had turned his focus to attacking Kavanaugh's accusers and his Democratic rivals. "It's a horrible con-game," Trump said. "I think the people are finding it out . . . It's a disgrace what's going on." - - - The Washington Post's Anne Gearan contributed to this report. King Mohammed VI has stressed the key importance of education in combating racism, discrimination and anti-Semitism, noting that these scourges must be countered by building the resilience of young children to extremist ideologies and encouraging the principles of tolerance, openness and co-existence. In a message addressed to a UN high-level panel on The Power of Education in Preventing Racism and Discrimination: the Case of Anti-Semitism, held Wednesday in NY on the sidelines of UN General Assembly, the Sovereign said education must help children to embrace openness and human and cultural diversity. It should foster the emergence of curious, tolerant and enlightened minds that can flourish and thrive in countries like Morocco, where cultural interaction and mutual enrichment are part of everyday life. Morocco perceives the promotion of quality education as the transformative force linking the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, added the Monarch in his message read out by Head of Govt Saad Eddine El Othmani. My country, where Arab-Islamic, African and Judeo-Christian civilizations have long mingled, honors an immutable tradition of moderation, coexistence and mutual understanding, stressed the Moroccan Sovereign, citing in this regard the history of Moroccan Jews. This history, shaped by the Sultans and Kings of Morocco, tells the story of an intertwined destiny and a historical continuity one in which Moroccan Jews have always been considered full-fledged citizens, enjoying the same rights as their fellow Moslems, said King Mohammed VI. In Morocco, Jews and Moslems rub shoulders on a daily basis, mutually enriching one another and learning from their respective upbringing, underlined the Monarch, affirming that religious coexistence is real in the North African country wherein mosques, synagogues and churches exist alongside. This is the image we want to see engraved in our childrens minds. This is the legacy we want to bequeath to them, and this is the message of peace we have come to deliver by giving education the special, rightful place it deserves. The King also deplored the rise of hate speech, fueling racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and many other forms of discrimination which provide a breeding ground for violent extremism and growing insecurity. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was in New York this week trying to rescue the Iran nuclear deal that the U.S. abandoned last spring. In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Rouhani contrasted himself with U.S. President Donald Trump: Iran, he said, abides by its commitments. That's not quite how Hua Qu sees it. Since the summer of 2016, she has written five unanswered letters to Iran's mission at the U.N., pleading the case of her husband, Xiyue Wang. Wang, a doctoral student in history at Princeton, was arrested in August of that year while in Iran doing research in the national archives. He had been scheduled to return to New Jersey in a matter of days. Instead, he is in Tehran's Evin Prison. Like most foreigners arrested in Iran, he was charged with espionage. And, as in almost all of those cases, the charges are trumped up. It's not surprising that Rouhani would rather talk about the nuclear deal than Iran's hostage-taking. Slightly more surprising, perhaps, is that the Europeans would rather talk about the nuclear deal, too. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif this week announced their plans for a new financial instrument that in theory would allow European companies doing business with Iran to evade U.S. sanctions. Although most European businesses have already announced plans to divest from Iran, the EU wants to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive. On the one hand, this strategy is understandable. If Iran decides to go back to stockpiling enriched uranium, or kicks out international inspectors, an already volatile Middle East could boil over. On the other hand, by making the nuclear deal the main topic of discussion, the Europeans are giving Iran tacit permission to continue funneling weapons to militias and terror groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The message is clear if indirect: Don't worry about releasing political prisoners, please just don't enrich more uranium. When I talked to Qu this week, she was painfully aware of this dynamic. "My husband has been used as a pawn for negotiations with the Europeans," she said. "There are dozens of cases like this. They should not tear a family apart for their political interests." Yahya Basha, a Syrian-American medical doctor, would also like the world to focus more on Iran's other malign behavior. In an open letter to Rouhani this week, his organization, Americans for a Free Syria, said that Iran's policies in Syria were responsible for transforming "that which started as a simple protest into a bloody, radicalized and regional war." He pleaded with Iran's president to "listen to your people: stop your military intervention on behalf of Bashar Assad in Syria." U.S. policy is to punish Iran economically for its regional aggression. Trump himself has said he is open to talks with Iran's leaders, but that does not look likely. And while European leaders will make boilerplate condemnations of Iran's interference in Syria and its detention of dual nationals, they have focused most of their diplomatic energies on the nuclear deal. That leaves it to private citizens like Basha and Qu to appeal to the humanity and compassion of Iran's president. The sad truth is that it almost certainly won't work. Even if he wanted to free Wang or other political prisoners, for all intents and purposes Rouhani serves at the pleasure of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And Khamenei, by all accounts, remains the same rigid fanatic he has always been. What will it take to rescue Iran's political prisoners? The same thing it will take to end Iran's support for Syria's dictator: a wholesale change in Iranian behavior. And the best chance for that happening is for Iranians to change their regime. - - - Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI. Credit unions and community banks have an extra year to comply with CECL, Current Expected Credit Losses, compared to financial institutions registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial institutions should take advantage of the additional implementation time. Scurrying last minute to comply may prove problematic when the examiners show up. Financial institutions that have a solid plan in place and are executing against it should be in good shape. These institutions are performing the required due diligence and preparation for the open-ended approach to reserving for loan loss and capital required by CECL. As the head of a company that markets preapprovals and crunches data analytics for portfolio risk management, CECL is a prudent shift and will help stabilize lenders in future downturns. I recently spoke on a panel at the Cornerstone Credit Union League to discuss the impact of CECL with attendees. The session provided a great opportunity to understand how credit unions of all sizes are adjusting their balance sheet and loan mix to prepare for CECL. Many said they didnt expect any changes to their balance sheet nor their approach to lending prior to implementation; they simply see it as a change in accounting practice that will require stronger oversight. But credit unions ability to price loans will be a crucial factor in the aftermath of CECL. One of the most significant impacts of CECL, in my view, is that loans will need to be allowed for from the time they are funded, CEO of an audit firm explained. This means that loan promotions must consider the impact of new loans on the allowance as part of program viability. Pricing will be critical, so, if a loan is inadequately priced loan yield will suffer, and ROA will be reduced. This situation could cause credit unions to rethink the types and grades of loans they are approving and funding. A Southern California credit union CEO shared, My biggest concern is not the implementation of CECL, but rather the documentation and expectation of proof, policies, methodologies, etc., from NCUA, DBO and auditors. I fully expect examiners to ramp up expectations year after year, similar to changes in regulation. I am concerned about the additional bottom line costs, especially in the first year. If this becomes a lingering new challenge to our capital strength efforts (with risk-based capital coming our way also) I may want to consider changing strategies in lending risk. That will be difficult to do because our credit union works a lot with the underserved. A few CPAs I know said it is critical for financial institutions to include their accountants early and often in reviewing their modeling and methodologies. They also shared that its important for the accountants to work closely with the institutions boards to ensure everyone understands the changes, why theyre being made and their impact, as well as the examiners so the financial institution can be assured its forging the right path to compliance. CPAs must be involved from initiation through implementation of the project. My contention is that CECL wont necessarily be as difficult as expected, one credit union CFO said. By definition the ALLL balance is an estimate and we will need to have backup for our calculations but there is no necessarily right answer. A lot of the work will be to understand how you have estimated and be able to convince the CPAs you have a valid estimate and know what you are doing. I believe it will be more important to convince the CPAs than the examiners and I expect examiners will depend on the CPAs. In preparation, financial institutions must ensure they have clean credit data and the right data. Ensuring you have the right team in place is also important, whether outside contractors or adding staff, to make sure you have the necessary expertise. Finally, plan and test and test and test some more. CECL is one of the biggest changes to financial institutions accounting practices in decades, and they cant afford not to be prepared. King Mohammed VI of Morocco has called on all stakeholders in Africa, government, private sector and civil society to spare no effort to consolidate the leading role of women as key drivers of development. Any obstacle to the empowerment of women is in itself a stumbling block, impeding the continents development, said King Mohammed VI in a message to the second edition of the annual Women in Africa Summit, held in Marrakech sept.27-28. The Monarch who focused on the importance of gender equality as a development leverage, pointed out that despite the number of initiatives launched to mainstreaming gender equality in the formulation, planning and implementation of public policies, African women are still suffering from injustice on the ground. Given the injustice African women are still suffering from on the ground, we are all duty-bound to work to promote womens roles and make African women a central element in national plans for social and economic development, thereby strengthening their leading role in society, the King said in his message read out before some 400 participants from 70 countries. As part of its development process, Africa is called upon to leverage all its assets and resources particularly its intangible capital and to develop its human resources, especially highly qualified African women, he said. He insisted that measures aimed at achieving gender equality should be the cornerstone of any viable sustainable development strategy and called for further efforts to promote womens participation in development and decision-making in order to make the most of their ever-growing role as entrepreneurs and business leaders on the continent. Needless to say, in this regard, the government, the private sector and civil society all have a crucial part to play in consolidating the leading role of women as key drivers of development, he said. No country, economy, business or society can tackle todays challenges, nor ensure optimal use of its resources and energies, without the full involvement of women, he added. Therefore, the Monarch noted, African women should be able to help change the situation prevailing in their respective countries and to harness their tremendous potential for the emergence of a strong, united Africa that confidently and resolutely moves forward in its quest for a better future. The King who surveyed in his message, read out by his Advisor Abdellatif Menouni, the initiatives and actions undertaken in Morocco in favor of the promotion of the status of women, reiterated the kingdoms strong and constant commitment to gender equality, which is at the same time a fundamental human right, a requirement as per the law and a necessity for the achievement of socio-economic development. He also expressed Moroccos willingness to share with African sister nations its experience in facilitating the institutionalization of gender budgeting, in order to ensure that African women can effectively contribute to the acceleration of the pace of change in the continent. The Women in Africa Initiative aims to promote competent and talented women leaders in Africa and to highlight the role played by women in stimulating comprehensive development on the continent. This year WIA summit unfolds at the level of two thematic plenary sessions, namely Trust, a prerequisite for inclusive development? and Win the battle of education. The event also features brainstorming sessions and masterclasses. For Subscribers Holiday flight forecasts for Latrobe, Johnstown airports Three of the AAA's forecasted top 10 Thanksgiving travel destinations are served by the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe. Welcome to Jiangyin Quanhuafeng Contents 1.Brief Introduction 2.R D Capability 3.Product manufacturing process 4.Strategic Development Plan 5.QHF Advantage Brief Introduction Exist plant aerial view Profile Location 1 h from Wuxi airport to QHF by road 2 h from Shanghai to QHF by road Guideline for management Quality First Credit First Continuous Improvement Customers Satisfaction Company History Jun.1995 Yongfengprecision Company establishedImported the Swiss mill 200 T630T forging machines Mar.1996 Developed and produced motorcycle gear Dec.2001 QHF establishedjoint-stock enterprise Apri,2002 developed and produced the precision forging gear of the differential for automobile's axle. Jan.2006 Imported high-speed milling center from FIDIA group Italy to develop and manufacture the electrodes and die Sept .2008 Cooperated with Shenyang Huade together and developed PTD gear of the 2nd generation military vehicle for Beijing Auto Co. Sept .2008 Cooperated with Shenyang Huade together developed PTD gear for Beijing Auto 2nd generation military vehicle Feb.2011 Exported to India, Italy, Japan market 2013-2014 Purchased 35 mu land in Jiangyin high-tech zone and built 20,000 M plant Oct.2015 The new plant opened and started production in Oct.2015 Oct. 2016 The first automatic forging production line was in mass production Oct. 2016 The first automatic forging production line was put into use Dec.2016 Successful landing in Jiangsu equity trading center, expert special edition. Aug. 2017 Purchased Germany Zeiss CMM including the measurement software of gear. Organization Chart Products Agriculture Gear Customers Sales Quality System Acquired TS16949 certification in Oct. 2007 R D Capability R&D Software Bevel gear die machining measurement Manufacturing process Workshop Floor Plan Bevel Gear Production Process Chart Equipments Inspection devices Strategic Development Plan Next five years plan Our Advantage Competitive price More Spare Capacity Good Customer Service If you are interested in "Jiangyin Quanhuafeng Precision Forging Co., Ltd." Please email to: wangyq@gasgoo.com I am not a sheep, I have my own mind I have had enough of being told what and how to think Whilst we are still allowed the remnants of free speech, I will speak out. I also reserve the right to discuss less controversial matters should I feel the urge. Utterly cynical, yes, but party spin doctors clearly thought it a clever ruse to defumigate the stench of anti-Semitism by inviting a Jewish victim of the Nazis to address conference. Former Labour MP and now life peer Lord (Alf) Dubs, pictured, 85, is a tireless campaigner against anti-Semitism and he told movingly how he escaped from the persecution of Jews in Czechoslovakia on a Kindertransport train in the summer of 1939, when he was six. He said: I was very tense because parents were all waving their children off. My mother had been refused permission to leave. She eventually got out, but we didnt know it at the time. Scroll down for video Lord Alfred Dubs (pictured on Tuesday) at the Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool When the Jews got to Holland, there was cheering because, he said, we were out of reach of the Nazis. However, this carefully stage-managed appearance clashed embarrassingly with the sight of Jeremy Corbyn outside the conference hall sharing a joke with activist Miko Peled. The controversial Israeli-American author has encouraged people to question whether the Holocaust happened and has said Jews have a reputation for being sleazy thieves. Having a whale of a time Overheard in a conference bar: The beluga whale spotted in the Thames has been named Jeremy Corbyn. Its stuck in murky water, and going round and round in circles, not knowing which direction to travel in. Oops! Diane does it again Tragic to report, but Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has suffered another car- crash TV interview. On BBC2s Newsnight, she was challenged on Labours immigration policy by presenter Emily Maitlis, who asked: Do you worry by saying it [Brexit] is not about immigration you somehow confirm Labour as a middle-class, London-centric, uber-liberal, youth obsessed party that is handing P45s to your MPs in the North. A rattled Abbott retorted: You are reading from a Tory script! To which Maitlis majestically replied: That was from a Labour member who was in the hall. Diane Abbott MP at the Labour party annual conference in Liverpool. At the conference Ms Abbott said a 'false and toxic' rhetoric about immigrants led directly to the Windrush scandal The wrong note There were shrieks of joy from the Labour sisterhood when an all-female team of Guardian journalists took to the stage for a karaoke session. However, the fact they called themselves The Guardian Girls was greeted with derisory snorts of Youre the Guardian women not the Guardian Girls. This sensational revelation the seniority of the would-be assassin and the official state support for the mission shows that the Skripal hit must have been ordered at the very highest levels of the Russian state. The evidence that Vladimir Putin personally ordered the attack grows stronger every day. Indeed, by presiding over one of the most farcically inept cover-ups in memory when the two Russians caught on CCTV here claimed to have been tourists visiting Salisbury cathedral Putin has condemned himself out of his own mouth. Days after British police released dozens of security camera images of the pair on their way from Moscow to Salisbury, Putin appeared on Russian television to defend them as innocent Russian citizens about whom we know nothing. His fingerprints were all over the operation. Bellingcat matched the photos of Boshirov to the real-life Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. Picture released by Bellingcat of Ruslan Boshirov's passport photo from 2009 with do not reveal information stamped on it. The group claim he is is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga The following afternoon, Petrov and Boshirov themselves appeared to air a cock-and-bull story about being turned back from their mission to see Salisbury by slush two days in a row. Before the denials by Putin and by the suspects themselves, it might have been possible to argue plausibly that the botched assassination attempt was some kind of rogue operation by Russias secret services. But Putins personal defence of the suspects and the inept cover-up job by the state-controlled media constitute strong, if wholly unintended, proof of the Kremlins deep complicity. Ruslan Boshirov when he appeared on Russian-state TV with fellow suspect Alexander Petrov to claim they only visited Salisbury to see the famous cathedral spire And now the Bellingcat revelations have added incontrovertible layers of detail to the emerging picture of a top-level GRU assassination squad operating on UK soil. Using mostly open-source data, Bellingcats researchers first unearthed details of the passports the suspects used to enter the UK, published by British police. Petrov and Boshirovs passport numbers, it turned out, varied by just a single digit and were issued by a Moscow office used exclusively for officials travel documents. Even more suspiciously, Boshirovs passport file was stamped Do not reveal information. Then, yesterday, came the clincher. By trawling through the records of GRU academy graduation classes, Bellingcat matched the photos of Boshirov to the real-life Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. Once they had a name, details of Colonel Chepigas secret service popped up all over the internet, in online posts by veterans groups and even written in letters of gold on a stone monument to the decorated graduates of one of the GRUs secret intelligence academies. A photo believed to be of Ruslan Boshirov (ringed) with friends Chepiga served in Chechnya with the Spetznaz, the elite forces of the Federal Security Service, where by some reports he received 20 awards and decorations. In short, Putin has been caught out telling analogue lies in a digital world. Bellingcat became famous for its painstaking investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing over Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, collecting photos from social media and intelligence data showing the hour-by-hour progress of the Buk missile system which downed the plane, from a military base inside Russia into Eastern Ukraine and back again. Russias vehement denials of involvement were shown to be false. Now, with Bellingcats dozens of detailed revelations about the true identity of one of the would-be Skripal assassins, another of the Kremlins brazen lies has been carefully picked apart. Perhaps the most terrifying part of the whole tragic story of the Skripal poisoning, which resulted in the death of an innocent British bystander, is the shocking combination of the Kremlins deadly intent and utter incompetence. Putins personal defence of the suspects and the inept cover-up job by the state-controlled media constitute strong, if wholly unintended, proof of the Kremlins deep complicity Instead of quietly disposing of a traitor, Chepiga and his as-yet-unnamed accomplice succeeded in contaminating parts of Salisbury, murdering an innocent woman, and revealing themselves to the whole world as bungling idiots. Attempting extra-judicial execution on British soil is bad enough. But to spread deadly nerve agent around a cathedral city is irresponsible bungling on an epic scale. The question now, of course, is what the response of the West will be to this damning revelation. Will Theresa May call for renewed sanctions? Will America ratchet up their rhetoric? We shall have to wait and see in the coming days. What is clear is that the Kremlin and its henchmen have been revealed for what they are not just a bunch murderous liars, but terrible at both. Jeremy Corbyn spent much of his childhood in a lovely corner of Shropshire, which happens to be the county of my birth. He was fortunate to live close to the idyllic spot where P.G. Wodehouse located his fictional Blandings Castle. I like to imagine the young Jeremy scampering out from his agreeable family home, Yew Tree Manor, to collect conkers or pick blackberries. I see him innocently enjoying the bucolic delights in the Eden where fate had generously set him down. There are 7,100 onshore wind turbines in Britain, and just under 2,000 off shore. Corbyns plan, unveiled in a briefing note at Labours Party Conference, is to double the number of turbines on land. He also intends to add a further 12,000 offshore turbines, amounting to an almost sevenfold increase So far as I know, the part of Shropshire where he grew up has been spared the blight of wind turbines, although there are some hideous pylons carrying electricity to the great conurbations of the West Midlands. Now, however, there is a possibility that Jeremys childhood patch will be covered with wind turbines if he should ever become prime minister. Labour could perhaps start by placing them on top of the Wrekin, a nearby hill celebrated by the poet A. E. Housman in A Shropshire Lad. There are 7,100 onshore wind turbines in Britain, and just under 2,000 off shore. Corbyns plan, unveiled in a briefing note at Labours Party Conference, is to double the number of turbines on land. He also intends to add a further 12,000 offshore turbines, amounting to an almost sevenfold increase. The country will be carpeted with wind farms if Corbyn gets his way. One of the best things that can be said about this Government is that the removal of lavish subsidies in 2016 for erecting onshore wind farms dramatically reduced the number of new unsightly turbines. How can anyone who claims to care about the environment not mind when these monstrous, alien structures are plonked down in beautiful places? (Above, turbines in the Lake District) Labour threatens to reverse all that. Note that modern turbines are at least twice as tall as the first-generation ones, which were hardly minuscule. These days a typical turbine towers at over 400 feet, which is more than twice the height of Nelsons Column in Trafalgar Square. What is Corbyn up to? Notwithstanding his early years of pastoral bliss as he roamed through fields and along hedgerows, he seems intent on doing his best to despoil the English countryside. Without doubt he wants to appeal to green-minded young voters, who generally love the idea of wind farms while remaining oddly oblivious to their environmental menace (especially to birds) and the noise made by these infernal machines. Most of all, they are blind to their grotesque ugliness. This last oversight staggers me. How can anyone who claims to care about the environment not mind when these monstrous, alien structures are plonked down in beautiful places? But the justifiable fear of climate change, and Labours consequent pledge to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050, override all other considerations and good sense flies out of the window. My objections are not merely aesthetic. While it is true that the cost of producing electricity from wind turbines has fallen in recent years, they still have inevitable limitations because the wind does not always blow. During the Beast from the East storm in March, turbine blades were whirring merrily. On one particularly stormy day, wind power accounted for 35 per cent of Britains electricity far ahead of gas on 20 per cent, nuclear on 17 per cent and coal on 12 per cent. Yet during the hot summer, when the lightest breeze was a godsend, the turbines were often at a standstill. On the first Sunday in June, wind power accounted for just 1.8 per cent of all the electricity consumed. A couple of weeks ago, the energy company SSE disclosed that, largely because of the wind drought during the summer, profits would be substantially lower than expected. About 17 per cent of the electricity generated by SSE last year came from wind. What this means is that too great a reliance on wind power is perilous and costly, too. Because of the vagaries of the wind, suppliers are paid to switch off wind turbines when they are not needed, or when they stand idle. Last year, for example, 68million was doled out by the Government to switch off turbines between January and August. The cost is passed on to the customer, who is expected to stump up green taxes, which are said by British Gas to add more than 200 to an annual bill. Despite these idiotic subsidies, wind turbines have a useful role as part of a general mix. But lets have them off shore, where they present less of an eyesore, though sometimes not a negligible one. And that brings me to the gaping hole in Labours plans. Neither in its briefing note, nor in Jeremy Corbyns speech yesterday in which he extolled his green revolution, was there any mention of fracking. That is because, for almost all green-minded people, fracking for oil and gas is the work of the Devil. They dont care that more than half of Americas oil output is now supplied by fracking, or that it is responsible for a considerable fall in U.S. carbon emissions. Nor is there any evidence that fracking carries the lurid dangers invoked by its militant opponents. Although it obviously has some environmental impact, this pales into insignificance when compared to wind farms with their colossal turbines, not to mention unsightly pylons erected to carry electricity. To increase by such a massive amount our dependence on wind farms ugly, over-subsidised and unreliable while refusing to investigate the prospects of fracking is as good an example of Labours blinkered thinking as you will find. Like every other plan announced over the past few days, Jeremy Corbyns green revolution comes at a price 12.8billion to be precise. This enormous sum includes the 1.3billion project for a tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay, recently abandoned due to ruinous costs. Electricity produced by this vanity project would almost certainly be even more expensive than subsidised offshore wind farms, and far more costly than the prospective new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. Nevertheless, Swansea Bay is embraced by profligate Labour because it is carbon neutral and eminently green. Why fret about the cost when you are already dreaming of spending hundreds of billions of pounds on all kinds of projects! After three days of proposals aimed at emasculating wealth creators, Corbyns green revolution, and in particular his desire to cover England with wind turbines, may seem less damaging than some of his other more obviously daft ideas. I dont believe it is. By the way, his plans relate specifically to England, because the Labour administration in Wales and the SNP government in Scotland are already doing their utmost to desecrate their countries with new onshore wind farms. Do we really want Labour to do the same in England? Corbyns Labour Party, if elected, could harm this country in all sorts of ways. But there would be a chance of it being thrown out after five years, leaving the usual economic mess for the Tories to clear up. A new plague of gigantic wind turbines would not be so easily dealt with. They would stand for decades, a monument to Jeremy Corbyns lack of feeling for England and its countryside. Children are taught not to scribble in books, but for grownups it can sometimes prove rewarding. A copy of Lady Chatterleys Lover, full of scribbles and underlinings, is soon to be put up for auction. It belonged to Sir Lawrence Byrne, the judge at the 1960 obscenity trial at which the prosecuting counsel famously asked: Would you approve of your young sons, young daughters because girls can read as well as boys reading this book? Is it a book that you would have lying around in your own house? Is it a book that you would even wish your wife or your servants to read? As it happens, Sir Lawrences wife, Lady Dorothy, had not only read the book, but had marked the sexually explicit passages, so as to make things easier for her husband. D.H Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Fan, used by the judge who presided over the famous obscenity trial in 1960, is being sold at auction The idea is that he got her to read it before the trial so that he would know where the dirty bits were, explains Gabriel Heaton, a specialist in books and manuscripts at Sothebys. Nor had she rested there, adding her own terse comments, such as lov making or coarse. Nearly 60 years later, this defaced copy of Lady Chatterleys Lover is expected to sell for up to 15,000. Lady Dorothys scribbles have been well-rewarded. Given time, even the most ribald graffiti can turn, as if by magic, into a valuable objet dart. Currently on show at the fascinating I Object exhibition at the British Museum is a piece of obscene graffiti carved in ancient Egypt, which aimed to poke fun at the pharaohs. Back then, it would have been seen as depraved and disgusting. But now it sits in pride of place at a special exhibition at the British Museum. Something similar happened to various books taken from the Islington Library in 1962. They were defaced with obscene pictures and writings. For instance, the title of one book, Night Must Fall, was altered to Knickers Must Fall. The total damage came to 450 and the two perpetrators were sentenced to six months in jail. Fast forward 50 years, to 2011, and these very same books were the subject of a special exhibition at the Islington local history museum. This was because the miscreants Joe Orton and his boyfriend Kenneth Halliwell were now figures of historic importance, Orton for being one of our funniest post -war playwrights, and Halliwell for having murdered him. If it is perpetrated by a grandee rather than a vandal, defacing a book can add greatly to its value. Wrong! Nonsense! No! These furious scribbles are visible in the margin of a biography of Edward Heath, the Tory Prime Minister. In normal circumstances, they would render the book worthless , but they were scribbled by the great man himself, in a bate at having his reputation besmirched. Like Edward Heath, the second President of the United States, John Adams, would of ten reach for his pen when a book displeased him. A barbarous theory! he wrote in the margin of his copy of The French Revolution by Mary Wollstonecraft. This volume, with corrective scribbles on virtually every page, now sits in pride of place at the John Adams Library in Boston. Princess Margaret, the subject of my recent biography Maam Darling, would scribble in the margin if she objected to some thing she was reading. Princess Margaret was written about in Noel Coward's diary. He said that backstage she drank champagne and foie gras sandwiches. Years later, she corrected: 'I dont like foie gras In 1982 , she bought a copy of the just published diaries of the late Noel Coward. To her face, Coward had always been a great sycophant, telling her how beautiful she was, and how talented. So she might reasonably have expected any mention of herself to be laced with flattery. But no. On June 1, 1954, Coward had attended a theatrical evening which the 23-year-old Princess had co-directed. On the night, he had been full of praise, but in his diary he was very bitchy. One of the most fascinating exhibitions of incompetence, conceit and bloody impertinence I have ever seen in my life... he wrote. The entire cast displayed no talent whatsoever. He went on to note that, backstage afterwards, he found Princess Margaret drinking champagne and tucking into foie gras sandwiches. Reading this, 30 years on, the Princess could be forgiven for feeling hurt. Her copy of the Coward diaries comes annotated with the grumpy correction: I dont like foie gras. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton lived down to his reputation in a fiery speech in New York. Photo: Andrew Harrer While his boss was in town to address the U.N. General Assembly, his national security advisor, John Bolton, reinforced Trumps well-do-as-we-see-fit message to the world in an speech to a handpicked New York audience of people hostile to the Iran nuclear deal. As the Times of Israel reports, Bolton was about as subtle as a daisy-cutter bomb hitting a nuclear facility: US national security adviser John Bolton warned Iran of hell to pay and serious consequences if it defies the US, using some of the most aggressive language employed by administration officials in recent decades The Iran deal was the worst diplomatic debacle in American history, he continued in the speech, which coincided with the annual UN General Assembly. It did nothing to address the regimes destabilizing activities or its ballistic missile development and proliferation. Worst of all, the deal failed in its fundamental objective: permanently denying Iran all paths to a nuclear bomb. In case Tehran had gotten behind in its paperwork and did not know it, Bolton wanted to give notice there was a new sheriff in town: The United States is not naive. We will not be duped, cheated, or intimidated. The days of impunity for Tehran and its enablers are over. The murderous regime and its supporters will face significant consequences if they do not change their behavior. Let my message today be clear: We are watching, and we will come after you. Even in an administration led by Donald Trump, and even on the day when the president redundantly expressed his contempt for any multilateral institutions or endeavors, Bolton still stands out in his bristling bellicosity. As Daniel Larison observed, it was a classic performance by a classic wild man: Bolton loathes diplomacy. That is the key thing to understand about him, and it helps explain almost everything he has done in his career. He regards any successful diplomatic agreement as something of a debacle because it involves striking a compromise with another government, usually an adversary or rival, and because it means that the other side wasnt forced to give in to our every demand If Bolton considers something to be the worst diplomatic debacle of our entire history, that tells us that the agreement required very little of the U.S., that it reinforced habits of multilateral cooperation, and that it successfully resolved an outstanding dispute that Bolton wished to resolve through regime change and war. Boltons position in the Trump administration is especially dangerous because he represents a particularly loud voice in the internal debate between the presidents determination to win by military intimidation, and his reluctance to undertake actual interventions. It remains something of a mystery how a president who just last week called the Iraq War the worst single mistake in the history of our country can employ as his national security advisor such a relentless cheerleader for that undertaking, who said as recently as 2016: Iraq today suffers not from the 2003 invasion, but from the 2011 withdrawal of all US combat forces. What strengthened Irans hand in Iraq was not the absence of Saddam [Hussein], but the absence of coalition troops with a writ to crush efforts by the ayatollahs to support and arm Shiite militias. When US forces left, the last possibility of Iraq succeeding as a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional state left with them. Dont blame Tony Blair and George W Bush for that failure. Blame their successors. Perhaps Trump keeps Bolton around to frighten his adversaries, like a Rottweiler unleashed in the yard to scare off potential intruders. But in terms of Americas relationships with friends as well as enemies, Boltons bite is as real as his bark. With the nation's food trends ever-evolving some of Britain's most retro dishes are falling out of favour - and therefore off restaurant menus. According to research by online reservation site OpenTable, classics such as bubble and squeak, jelly and ice cream and quiche could become extinct in fine dining establishments. The top ten meals on the Endangered Dish List include coq au vin, stroganoff (mushroom or beef), steak Diane, peach Melba, and pork medallions. Quiche is very rarely seen on the menu at high-end restaurants and is in danger of becoming extinct according to research by OpenTable which found several endangered dishes that no longer appeared on menus A childhood classic jelly and ice cream is not sophisticated enough for some chefs and diners and is falling foul of fancy desserts A dish made of filleted and pounded chicken then rolled around cold garlic butter before being coated in breadcrumbs, foodies are calling for a return of the chicken Kiev The research also revealed which old-school meals diners would like to see making a return to restaurant menus. The survey of 2,017 adults also found that many UK diners are feeling nostalgic for simpler dishes, and longing for the return of favourites like gammon, egg and chips, Arctic roll, quiche and garlic mushrooms. However, while throwback dishes like bubble and squeak may be nostalgic for some, two-thirds of 16 to 24-year-olds - generation Z - admitted they had never tasted the traditional British breakfast recipe. The survey proves that diners have a craving for nostalgic, home-comfort meals when dining out, with a 23 per cent voting for gammon, egg and chips to make a comeback and 27 per cent stating they would be more likely to visit a restaurant if the dish was on the menu. Whereas French dessert, Crepe Suzette, has had its day with less than eight per cent of the UK willing it to make a return. Bubble and squeak may be nostalgic for some, but two-thirds of the UKs Generation Z audience, those aged 16-24, admitted they had never eaten the traditional British breakfast recipe of fried roast leftovers The survey of 2,017 adults also found that many UK diners are actually feeling nostalgic for simpler food eras with calls for the return of their favourites like gammon, egg and chips Top 10 retro dishes Brits want back 1. Gammon, egg and chips 2. Arctic Roll 3. Chicken Kiev 4. Bubble and squeak 5. Jelly and ice-cream 6. Garlic mushrooms 7. Stroganoff (mushroom or beef) 8. Quiche 9. Steak Diane 10. Beef bourguignon Advertisement Top 10 Endangered Dishes 1. Jelly and ice cream 2. Bubble and squeak 3. Quiche 4. Arctic Roll 5. Coq au vin 6. Stroganoff (mushroom or beef) 7. Steak Diane 8. Peach melba 9. Chicken Kiev 10. Pork medallions Advertisement The arctic roll was the staple of many fridge-freezers, a simple dessert of ice cream coated in jam and rolled in cake sponge Despite certain dishes falling off restaurant menus, the UK is still keen to get their retro fix in their own kitchen. Across the country gammon, egg and chips was the most popular throwback meal that Britons cook at home - except for Londoners who voted for chicken Kiev. Most recently the nostalgic food trend has been inspiring restaurants in London and across the UK to reinvent dishes from the 70s to noughties. OpenTable is hosting an Endangered Dishes dinner in London to give nostalgic diners a taste of old school comfort food. OpenTable and chef Andrew Clarke are bringing the UKs Endangered Dishes to life on Wednesday 10th October at First Option Studio, Shoreditch. Reserve your spot at Endangered Dishes on via OpenTable today From the moment I step inside Annies bedroom I know. All I have to do is inhale and I am transported back to childhood, sitting in our family car wishing my dad would open the window as he puffs away on yet another Marlboro. I detested the smell of cigarettes then, and I loathe them again now I have a 17-year-old daughter who is clearly smoking. And shes not the only one. Of my four children, the three oldest Flo, whos 19, Annie, and now even 15-year-old Monty are all smoking. Annie admitted the other day that she had her first puff at 13. Thirteen! That was before she even had her ears pierced! Only my youngest, Dolly, is nicotine-free and shes eight. Neither my husband Keith nor I smoke, and having three children who do makes me furious. I want to physically shake them, force them to look at photographs of tar-clogged lungs, and personally picket the tobacco industry, and whatever newsagents have sold them these cigarettes over the years, enabling them to get hooked. Whatever it takes to make them stop. Shona Sibary's three oldest children (pictured left to right: Flo, 19, Monty, 15, and Annie, 17) all smoke. She shared her despair as she tries to convince them to stop It truly breaks my heart. I carried these three around for nine months, following all the rules, happily depriving myself of brie and alcohol to create a perfect, healthy human being. I put up with the pain of cracked nipples from breastfeeding, then spent hours pureeing organic vegetables while they were being weaned. And then, 13 years down the line, they light a fag and mess up all my hard work. But what do they care? Theyre teenagers. They believe theyre going to live for ever. Recently, in desperation, I changed tack and used the vanity card, warning them about wrinkles, yellow teeth, nicotine-stained fingers. That got their attention...for about five minutes. How can it be that I am seemingly powerless to stop this madness? Everything I say falls on deaf ears. I think Ive been a pretty good mother over the years, disciplined when Ive needed to be, careful not to sweat the small stuff. But this is one battle I wasnt expecting and Ive gone into it wholly unprepared for how devious teenagers can be and how addictive nicotine is. Someone who starts smoking at 15 is three times more likely to die from cancer than someone who starts smoking in their mid-20s, NHS figures show. Man up, I hear you cry. Get a backbone. Theyre under your roof, so tell them its your way or the highway. All of which makes perfect sense until you try to put it into practice. My eldest, Flo, took up smoking when we relocated from the home counties to Devon in 2013. She was 15 and moving from a very strict, all-girls school in Surrey to a less strict private school in Bideford, where smoking was apparently rife. If she did enter the house with baccy, she hid it in her bra. Short of body searching her every time she went through the front door, there was little I could do. It took me a few months to realise the full extent of the problem. By the time I did, it was too late. She was not only addicted, but also highly accomplished at smoking on the sly. Of course, we stopped giving her money. But then she got a waitressing job and earned her own. Shona says trying to stop her daughter Flo from smoking was damaging their relationship so she surrendered (file image) Was I supposed to take all her wages away to stop her buying cigarettes? Ill never forget one morning finding a packet of cigarettes under Flos bed when I went in to wake her for school. They were obviously the first things she reached for, because when she realised Id taken them she hit the roof. Such was her fury, she upended the kitchen bin all over the floor and hid the car key, effectively rendering me hostage until I handed back her stash. It was at this point that Im ashamed to say I thought: Your lungs, your life. I know parenting isnt supposed to be easy, but trying to stop Flo from smoking was ruining our relationship and causing such stress in the house that I decided surrender was the best option all round. Ive no idea who gave Annie her first cigarette, but Ive since learned that around this time she took to crawling into her sisters bedroom once Flo was asleep and stealing cigarettes from under the bed. Shed keep one for herself and give one to Monty to flog at school to a wealthy older boarder prepared to pay a tenner for a forbidden treat. I cannot understand it. Why my teenagers? I assumed it was considered very much passe for their generation. The latest research from charity Ash (Action on Smoking and Health), shows smoking among 11 to 15-year-olds has been falling since the late Nineties, while Cancer Research UK suggests only one in five 18 to 24-year-olds is a smoker. It was one in four in 2010. Shona wishes her children could remember how her grandmother who spent her life smoking was crippled by emphysema (file image) Children who live with smokers, including siblings, are up to three times more likely to start, which goes some way to explaining Monty and Annie, but not Flo. The kids tell me its just something everybody they know does, no matter where they live. Monty has now moved with me back to West Sussex and goes to a local state academy. Our house is in the centre of town. Friends tell me they have seen him sitting on the roof outside his attic bedroom window, smoking. So now I find myself skulking behind lampposts, trying to catch him in the act so we can at least start the conversation about how to give up. Its degrading and ridiculous, but I am at my wits end. Friends with teenagers tell me I should back off, let them get on with it. Yet aside from wanting to protect them, I also feel such a sense of shame. Its an awful thing to say, but I wish theyd been old enough to remember how my grandmother ended her days. She loved them so, her first great-grandchildren. I would take them to visit and she would rise, wheezing, from her armchair to embrace them. The emphysema that crippled her, after a lifetime of smoking, was so advanced that hugging them took everything out of her. This is why I refuse to back off. It might give me a nervous breakdown, but I will continue to berate them and pat them down like an over-zealous customs official. Because, quite frankly, if thats what it takes to get them to quit this revolting habit, it will have been more than worth it. We often hear from the women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, but we dont always appreciate just how deeply this disease can affect their nearest and dearest. How does a husband cope with the sense of helplessness he feels when he sees his wife suffering? What is it like to be a little girl whose mum has just told her she has cancer? How do you comfort a friend who is facing a mastectomy? Today, pictures of six women diagnosed with breast cancer will be unveiled on billboards in Marks & Spencer stores across the country the faces of the M&S Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign for 2018. Alongside them are the loved ones who have supported them on their journey. Here, they speak to Rachel Halliwell about what this has felt like for them These six women are about to become the faces of the M&S Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign for 2018. Pictured alongside them are their loved ones who have supported them along the way. Here, they speak to Rachel Halliwell about what this has felt like for them THE DAUGHTER WITH A LOVING CUPPA Lois Holness was in her second term of secondary school when her mother Zoe Matthews, 46, a business manager, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March this year. She lives in St Albans, Hertfordshire, with her parents. Lois says: No matter how poorly my mums been feeling, she has made sure I know shes always there for me. Wed just finished our evening meal when Mum first told me she had breast cancer. Dad was there, too, and I remember she didnt cry. She said yes, this was sad, but that we should be happy because it had been found early enough for the doctors to fix it. And when she later had to go into hospital overnight for an operation, I knew this would help her get better, so I wasnt scared. She was tired afterwards, but she was the one asking me questions about how I was. She wanted to know what my day had been like and that helped me feel like I still very much had her around. Through all of this, shes answered my questions honestly and Ive always felt shes still been there for me. Ive never felt like I needed to turn to anyone else for comfort or support. Im so proud of her. I hope she knows that Im always here for her, too. I try to do what I can to support her I tell her how much I love her and make her cups of tea. They may seem like little things, but I know they mean a lot to my mum. Lois Holness was just 12 when her mother, Zoe Matthews, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although Zoe makes sure her daughter is spared most of the anxiety by acting calm and serene, Lois does what she can to support her by telling her how much she loves her, and making her cups of tea Zoe says: Ive felt determined to spare Lois as much anxiety as possible throughout my illness. Putting her needs first got me out of bed each morning, no matter how low I felt. Being 12 is hard enough Lois was in her first year of secondary school so keeping life normal for her became a positive focus for me. Thankfully, Ive only spent one night in hospital so far when I had a wire-guided local excision to remove problem cells and a border of healthy tissue around them. I have what is known as ductal carcinoma in situ, where abnormal cells are found in the lining of the breasts milk ducts. Ive since been advised to have risk-reducing surgery. Ive become like the proverbial swan: calm and serene on the surface for my child, no matter how I might feel underneath. LAUGHTER WILL GET US THROUGH Best friends Michelle Llewellyn, from Bridgend, Wales, and Keeli Morgan, from Cwmbran, are both 43 and met at work ten years ago. Keeli discovered she had the disease three months after Michelles diagnosis and they have since comforted each other. Michelle is group engagement co-ordinator at a housing association, where her partner, Shaun McGregor, 48, also works. She has two sons Gethin, 20, Carwyn, 18. Michelle says: When Keelis number flashed up on my phone I thought she was ringing to see how I was. I was still off work recovering from a double lumpectomy and waiting for my chemotherapy to start. But the second I answered she blurted out: Youll never guess, and then told me her diagnosis. I couldnt believe it. We joked about how she couldnt let me do anything on my own. And from then on, laughing in the face of cancer is how weve coped. While Id never have wished cancer on my best friend, Im so grateful to be sharing this experience with her. Its deepened what was already a wonderful friendship and Ive been able to prepare Keeli for the things the doctors dont tell you, like the worry after having a lumpectomy as you wait to hear if the cancers spread. My treatment has been gruelling. Ive had a bi-lateral lumpectomy, six lots of chemotherapy and 20 of radiotherapy. I still have to have a hysterectomy and will be on hormone therapy for the next decade. Best friends Keeli Morgan (left) and Michelle Llewellyn are so close that when the pair were diagnosed within three months of each other, they joked that they couldn't do anything without each other. Although they get through the hard times with laughter, they also rely on each other to have more difficult 'what if' conversations they may want to spare their close family from having In preparation for my next operation, Im on a drug that causes huge emotional mood swings. Im not a weepy person, but there are days when I start sobbing and have no idea why. Keeli turns up with a box of tissues and I end up laughing and crying at the same time. For all our joking, I also share the more difficult what if conversations with Keeli that I dont want to have with my close family because it would be too upsetting for them. Its somehow easier with Keeli because were in the same club. She also instinctively knows when Im having one of those days when I dont want to be someone with cancer. I just want to be me. Keeli, a maintenance surveyor, lives with her partner, Nick Hilton, 53, a retired police officer and their son, Tomos, seven. Keeli says: Michelle is the one person I dont have to tiptoe around these days. Going from supporting my friend with breast cancer to, a few months later, discovering I had it, too, was surreal. You might think wed have cried over the news, but far from it. Typical you, Michelle laughed. You always want what Ive got. But however much we made light of it, it was still a terrible shock. At the same time, though, it was also strangely comforting to know that we were in this together. Our families worry about us in ways that we dont about each other. They might be concerned that were overdoing it if we spend a day out shopping, while we know that kind of normality is exactly what we both need. My treatment has finished, while Michelle has another operation ahead of her. But this will always feel like a shared experience. LOVE MEANS NOT SEEING THE SCARS Sam McGimpsey, 44, is living with incurable breast cancer, kept under control with chemotherapy every three weeks. Sam is a kitchen designer and her husband Jason, 43, a financial adviser. They live in Chester. Jason says: When Sam said she thought she had cancer following a biopsy, I tried to stay rational, trying to convince myself and her that it was unlikely. After all, more often than not these procedures show there is nothing to worry about. But she was right. After her diagnosis, I remember being bombarded with so much technical information. At one point, her oncolgists gave us the impression they thought surgery might not be appropriate. We were relieved when it was agreed the operation would go ahead. It felt like a turning point. A double mastectomy is always going to be difficult for a woman. But for me it was uncomplicated: they were killing her and so saying goodbye to them for me was a blessed relief. Afterwards, Sam didnt seem embarrassed or self-conscious about letting me see her scars when she was getting out of the shower or undressing. I always insisted Id rather have you than them, which was easy to say because it will always be true. Sams breast cancer is treatable but incurable: it will always be part of life for us now. But that means there isnt a day that passes when we dont feel deep gratitude for the life we continue to share. After Sam McGimpsey had a double mastectomy, her husband Jason comforted her by insisting 'I'd rather have you than them'. Sam's cancer is incurable and kept under control by chemotherapy, but she claims its brought the pair even closer together as a couple, and inspired them to live life to the full Sam says: My bodys endured so much, that I havent had my breasts reconstructed. This wouldnt be lifesaving surgery so I dont want to put myself through it. I was surprised how much losing them affected my confidence at first. No one warns you about that I suppose it seems secondary when youre trying to save someones life. But Ive overcome it, largely thanks to Jasons constant reassurance, which has helped me accept a body without breasts. And thanks to lifeline treatments I have a sense of a future again. Im off work at the moment because my treatment is ongoing. But looking ahead is easier when I remind myself that no one knows what the future holds. Booking nice things into the diary helps it means theres always something positive to look forward to. Breast cancer brought Jason and I closer as a couple and its truly inspired us to to live life to the full, which we do, every day. FAMILY REALLY DOES MATTER Gurveer Cheema, 41, a medical sales executive, lives in London with wife Sal and their sons Suraj, 13, and Amar, ten. Sal, 41, a clinical researcher, was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago. Gurveer says: Sal found a lump in her right breast just as I was about to go away for a weeks training, having recently started a new job. She insisted there was nothing to worry about and that I couldnt let my new bosses down. But things moved quickly when her doctor said this lump seemed suspicious and ordered tests. On hearing that, I walked out of a training session and came straight home. I needed Sal to know that she would always come first. We sat the children down together and explained that Mummy has cancer, but that they didnt need to be frightened because she was going to be OK. At each stage, I talked the kids through what was happening. It meant that when chemotherapy caused Sal to lose her hair they were already prepared for it. There were days through Sals treatment when a sense of helplessness weighed heavily on me. But I didnt want to share those negative feelings Sal had enough to deal with without me dragging her down. Doing all I could around the house and looking after the children seemed such little things compared to all Sal was going through. But the boys gave me a sense of purpose, and thats what I needed. We also said yes to every offer of help from family and friends. Weve always been close to our families, but this experience pulled us even tighter together. After Gurveer Cheema's wife Sal was diagnosed with breast cancer, he made sure all her needs came first and looked after the kids by talking them through what was happening at each stage of her treatment. In doing so, he removed a layer of worry for Sal that meant she could focus on herself Sal says: I had no idea how much Gurveer coming straight to my side would mean until he did it. After that, whenever he said that my needs came first I always believed him. When I was diagnosed I was so very scared; I had no clue what this meant for me or whether I would live or die. There is a sense of loneliness and sadness that comes with cancer. It never leaves you. But I have to make a conscious effort to put that, and the nagging fear cancer has left me with, to one side so I can carry on enjoying life. Did you know? Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer - one person is diagnosed every ten minutes. Advertisement The boys always knew I had cancer, but they didnt really understand what that word meant. Gurveer protected them from the worst of it by keeping them occupied on bad days. But he also made sure they saw that I was OK on the days that I was. His attitude knowing he was doing everything for them when I couldnt somehow gave me permission to concentrate on myself; to give in to how exhausted my treatment left me, while he took care of everything else. It removed a layer of worry for me, which helped me emotionally as much as everything that was done for me medically. A UNITED FRONT FOR OUR BABY SON Tom Fowles, a 26-year-old travel co-ordinator, lives with his partner Rebecca Hampton, 38, in Lichfield, Staffordshire. The couple have a baby son and Rebecca was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring. Tom says: Our baby boy, Jimmy, was just a month old when Becky was told that the hard lump in her breast wed presumed was a blocked milk duct was actually a tumour. Learning shed lose the breast she was still using to feed our son was devastating. But Becky was determined not to dwell on that loss, focusing instead on the future: getting through her treatment and being able to see our little boy grow up. I need you to do the same, she told me at the outset and so, of course, I did. But maintaining that ever-positive front was harder than I expected. I felt helpless because I couldnt share the physical burden of cancer treatment, which Becky had to go through while still a very new mum. Meanwhile, the stress of constantly worrying about her was exhausting. That had the knock-on effect of making me feel completely lost and powerless, and I wasnt even the one with breast cancer. But then I began to see that Becky was struggling emotionally, too. Shed snap at me for no apparent reason, and I could see it wasnt me she was mad at it was the situation. Rebecca Hampton found out she had breast cancer just a month after giving birth to her son Jimmy. Her partner Tom Fowles made sure she could cling on to her identity even after she lost her hair and her body changed from surgery by taking her out to buy new clothes and encouraging her to love her body Encouraging her to open up about how hard she was finding everything helped me to be more honest about my own struggles, too. Admitting I couldnt fix this for her, and that I felt somehow ashamed for finding things hard helped her to say: I dont recognise myself any more. Her body had changed, first from having a baby and then the surgery; chemo meant she lost her hair, too. She had lost her sense of identity. Little things, like taking her out to buy new clothes encouraging her to love the body that has changed became something useful I could do. We discovered together that communicating how we felt, instead of swallowing it back down, became one of the most important things we could do for ourselves and each other. It made us stronger and gave us a sense that we were facing her breast cancer together. Rebecca says: However useless Tom might have felt at times, Ive only ever seen him as my rock. I dont look like the woman I did before I had breast cancer, but Tom has helped me to appreciate that I am far more than the sum of my parts. Yes, my body has changed, and he doesnt try to pretend otherwise. But he does keep reminding me that it hasnt altered who I am or how he feels about me. They are only words, but they mean the world. I look to the future now with mixed emotions: theres the excitement of raising our little boy and sharing that with Tom. But also fear that the cancer could come back, which I have to try not to dwell on. Tom and I only ever planned to have one child, and Im just so thankful we had him before I became ill. Its possible that my cancer is hormone related, which means another pregnancy could be dangerous. I dont want to risk putting the family we have through more heartache by trying to have another baby. The women are modelling clothes from the M&S pink lingerie and sleepwear ranges. From today until the end of October, 20 per cent of sales from selected M&S pink lingerie and sleepwear will be donated to Breast Cancer Now to help fund vital research. Breast cancer affects one in eight women in the UK. Through its partnership with Breast Cancer Now, M&S aims to raise 13 million over five years with the aim that this initiative will prevent 9,000 cases a year by 2025. With the name Barty Middelbosch this is a nine-year-old you won't soon forget. The chirpy Gold Coast local isn't like other influencers today as he's already wildly successful despite his young age. Barty, who has 28,500 Instagram follows, is with an agency and has already had some exposure with extra work in movies such as Thor and Aquaman. He had also done work for Pine O Clean, Stocklands, MovieWorld and Bean Bags R Us. His parents, Shelly and Bart, set up a profile for him to support his career and soon afterwards it took off. With the name Barty Middelbosch this is a nine-year-old you won't soon forget - especially since he has 28,500 Instagram followers 'We took a few photos and posted them with a couple of hashtags and they did really well,' Shelly told FEMAIL. 'From there, we continued to post photos and expand on the hashtags and it was really incredible how quickly the followers started happening.' Although Barty isn't paid for posts yet, he could be, as according to Stuff people with 25,000 to 50,000 followers could bring in between $200 and $450 for each post. This isn't to say he isn't reaping the rewards of having an overwhelming amount of followers. The chirpy Gold Coast local isn't like other influencers today as he's already wildly successful despite his young age Barty is with an agency and already had some exposure with extra work in movies such as Thor and Aquaman 'It isn't about the money. However, we haven't entered the paid posts yet. Payment comes in different forms such as products and opportunities,' Shelly explained. She said that the family make sure that the products they endorse are aligned with Barty before he becomes a brand ambassador. They have said no to brands that they thought wasn't the right fit and brands that Barty wasn't passionate about. Shelly said that not a lot of planning goes into the photos they post as it depends on how Barty is feeling on the day. Although Barty isn't paid for posts yet, he could be, as according to Stuff people with 25,000 to 50,000 could bring in between $200 and $450 for each post 'If it is a beach kind of day, then we will take some photos at the beach. Otherwise, we will schedule some time to take some photos when we are out,' she said. 'It's not unusual to take many photos to just get one good one for Instagram. Barty has also had professional photographs done by local amazing photographers which definitely gives us different photos to use over a period of time.' She said that they post more on 'Your Story' than they used to as they've realised it's a good way to engage with followers and shows a more 'real' version of who Barty is. She said that the family make sure that the products they endorse are aligned with Barty before he becomes a brand ambassador Shelly said that not a lot of planning goes into the photos they post as it depends on how Barty is feeling on the day She said that they post more on 'Your Story' than they used to as they've realised it's a good way to engage with followers and shows a more 'real' version of who Barty is These days most of Barty's photos are taken on an iPhone by his mum, dad or auntie, as the camera isn't always near. 'In saying that, his best photos have been captured by professionals, particularly Luke Marsden and Charmian Adamson,' she said. 'This does take time - choosing different locations, theme and creating a difference with the photos. 'You need to create a difference in the photos to retain engagement.' Shelly explained that the account is monitored by her and her husband, meaning Barty doesn't actually see any of the messages. These days most of Barty's photos are taken on an iPhone by his mum, dad or auntie, as the camera isn't always near He receives a lot of message and this is monitored daily. 'He knows he has 28,000 followers but other than taking photos and having fun, this is not something that Barty does just yet. We will hand this over to him when he wants to do this,' she said. Although the family have been really fortunate with lots of support and positive vibes, there has been some negativity. 'Of course there is some negativity because we live in a world where people have the right to their own opinions,' Shelly said. 'We just don't allow those opinions down our driveway. We would also shield Barty from any of it happened.' Although the family have been really fortunate with lots of support and positive vibes, there has been some negativity For Barty, the only thing he pays attention to his the fun he has taking photos and the goodies he gets sent from brands For Barty, the only thing he pays attention to his the fun he has taking photos and the goodies he gets sent from brands. 'My favourite part is when my ex- school teacher followed me on Instagram. It made me feel really happy,' he said. 'She likes to see what I am doing. My other favourite part was when mum showed me somebody had even set up a fan page.' He also loves the products that get sent to him and he finds it exciting to open up packages. 'I have shoes, clothes, shirts, hats, oh and these really awesome backpacks that you can change the picture on every day if you want, awesome wrist bands for my whole class and even gumboots,' he said. 'I really want to be an ice sculptor so maybe this can earn me the money to be able to train to be that.' Piper Seymour isn't like most of the other Instagram influencers you'll find on social media today Shelly said that the family will support Barty doing this for as long as he is enjoying it and it something that he wants to do. Piper Seymour isn't like most of the other Instagram influencers you'll find on social media today either. The cheerful youngster from Brisbane, who boasts a following of 52,600 people, stands apart because she's already wildly successful despite being just four years of age. Her mother, Kerry, helped set up a profile for her when Piper was six months old, jumping on the adorable 'baby' accounts that fans flock to. The cheerful youngster from Brisbane, who boasts a following of 52,600 people 'My eldest daughter was 16 years old at the time and had seen other baby accounts and suggested it,' Kerry previously told FEMAIL. 'At first I thought she was crazy but she showed me some other accounts and actually started Piper's Instagram for me and took the first few photos.' The main focus of the account settled on all things fashion because Piper was a natural in front of the camera. 'Brands wanted to send her clothes and hair accessories right from the age of six months old. We have evolved into a lifestyle account but fashion will always be important. Plus Piper does love receiving her clothes in the mail,' Kerry commented. 'My eldest daughter was 16 years old at the time and had seen other baby accounts and suggested it,' Kerry told FEMAIL The profile @pipersienna didn't become a viral sensation overnight but took a steady stream of daily uploads and lots of attention before she hit the big time The profile didn't become a viral sensation overnight, but a steady stream of daily uploads saw her eventually hit the big time. But the effort was worth it, with the young star earning up to $550 per sponsored post. 'Offers like $550 don't come around every day,' Kerry admitted. 'Offers can range from $200 upwards.' 'Not all our posts are sponsored, a lot of them aren't, because I get a bit sick of seeing some accounts always 'selling' something. 'Offers like $550 don't come around every day,' Kerry admitted. 'Offers can range from $200 upwards' At the moment Piper's audience is women aged between 22 and 52 who are interested in all things children and family 'Our page is a collection of our life and what we do and I would prefer to connect with our followers rather than sell to them all the time. 'I turn down a lot of cosmetic products, food we don't eat, or things that just don't sit right with my views or it's something I'm just not into. I have to love it to take the time to want to photograph it!' At the moment Piper's audience is women aged between 22 and 52 who are interested in all things children and family. Fans are becoming more intrigued with the rest of the family, including Piper's older brother Josh, and what they do in their day-to-day life. Fans are becoming more intrigued with the rest of the family, including Piper's older brother Josh, and what they do in their day-to-day life Beyond blogging, Piper enjoys the 'normal four-year-old stuff' like dinosaurs, My Little Ponies and The Lion King 'With Piper being my third child obviously I'm classed as an older mother, so I find I'm pretty comfortable and confident in my parenting now and I've made a few changes to our lifestyle that I would have been too scared to make with my first child in case I screwed it all up,' Kerry said. Beyond blogging, Piper enjoys the 'normal four-year-old stuff' like dinosaurs, My Little Ponies and The Lion King. 'Her days are usually spent drawing or getting her hands on the craft bag. She plays outside or down at the beach a lot usually with her brother as he's home,' Kerry explained. 'Her days are usually spent drawing or getting her hands on the craft bag. She plays outside or down at the beach a lot usually with her brother as he's home,' Kerry explained Piper's opportunities to travel the world and work alongside adorable clothing brands is a major perk of the job 'Plus she loves it when we travel... she's always happy to be away exploring something new, both kids definitely get itchy feet if we are home too long and start asking where we are going next.' Piper's opportunities to travel the world and work alongside clothing brands is a major perk of the job, and that's exactly what Kerry hopes it is for her daughter in the future: a blessing. 'I would just like it to keep giving her what it already does; the opportunity to travel the world and see places that we wouldn't have been able to afford to show her and give her a voice when and if she wants one.' For women around the world, finding suitable footwear to wear at work can be tricky territory to negotiate. Office shoes must be many things: comfortable but stylish, smart and sophisticated yet seamlessly adaptable from business to pleasure wear for after work drinks on Friday evenings. San Francisco-based fashion brand Everlane, a favorite with A-listers including Angelina Jolie, Sienna Miller, and Meghan Markle, spotted a clear gap in the market for chic, but sensible, heels, and went on to create a versatile option beloved by women everywhere so beloved, in fact, that the style developed a jaw dropping waiting list of 28,000 people within hours of launching last year. Popular! The Everlane Day Heel (pictured) costs $207 (US$150) and is renowned for its comfort, stylish design and versatility Plenty of options: The Day Heel is available 16 colours, and fashion fans are also able to choose either 100 per cent Italian leather or suede Since then, the Day Heel, which is priced at $207 (US$150), has continued to garner a cult following thanks to its fashion forward, easily wearable and reasonably priced design. After initially launching in just a handful of colors, the range has been expanded to include two different core styles - the original Day Heel, and the Day High Heel - and a wide variety of colour options. The Day Heel currently available in 16 different colours, as well as two different materials - 100 per cent Italian leather or suede. Everlane also offers a new 'stacked' version of the shoe, which comes with a black block heel and a different colour shoe. The Day High Heel, meanwhile, is a newer addition to the brand's line-up, and is currently available in four different colors, all of which are made from Italian leather. But while those in search of a slightly more glamorous look might be delighted to add the higher version of the shoe to their closet, it is the original Day Heel that has proven the most popular with fashion fans around the world. Described as 'a heel you can walk in all day', the shoe comes with a sturdy, two-inch heel and a malleable, elasticated back with a 'ballet-inspired silhouette'. Going, going, gone! The shoe sold out less than 24 hours after launching in 2017 and rapidly generated a waiting list of 28,000 people Stylish: Style influencers have also gone gaga for the Day Heel, showcasing how it can be worn with a casual outfit like jeans or dressed up with a stylish ensemble After initially launching in April 2017, the Day Heel sold out within 24 hours and rapidly generated a waiting list of 28,000 people. Since then, the shoe has racked up a 4.4 star rating on the brand's official website, as well thousands of customer reviews praising the versatility and comfort of the style. New York-based writer Lisa Przystup called the shoe 'an Italian-made heel that lifts and lengthens, without killing our feet', while one customer praised the Day Heel's soft materials, writing: 'I just love how the leather of this shoe molds to my foot the soft elastic keeps it in place without any pinching.' 'I love The Day Heel I have wide feet and they fit perfectly. They look great with a casual outfit and jeans or dressed up,' another said. Others who gave the shoe a winning five star review declared them to be 'worth the hype' and worth far more than what they paid. 'Amazing product. I run a restaurant and wanted something that looks nice, but withstands the demands of my 12 hour days. 'This shoe does the job and then some I need it in all colours!' A number of customers recommended choosing a half size bigger than your normal fit. Thousands of women descended on the new Sephora store at Parramatta on Thursday for a chance to get their hands on free makeup worth $550. The Parramatta store is the ninth in Sydney and opened its doors on September 27 after overwhelming demand from customers. 'We lined up around 5am, received it around 11am. Some crazy lady was there at midnight! I was number 99, my friend 100,' one person said. Thousands of women descended on the new Sephora store at Parramatta on Thursday for a chance to be one of the first to shop at the eagerly anticipated beauty hub World renowned make-up artist and beauty influencer Hrush Achemyan (centre) exclusively flew into Australia for the event The first 100 guests received a coveted Sephora Collection Lip Vault worth a staggering $550 as well as a range of other freebies. 'That would have been us if people didn't push in,' one disgruntled customer said. 'Yeah, it's so unfair. We've been here since 5am. Security should have handed out the bands from 6am,' said another. World renowned make-up artist and beauty influencer Hrush Achemyan exclusively flew into Australia for the event. 'We lined up around 5am, received it around 11am. Some crazy lady was there at midnight! I was number 99, my friend 100,' one person said This was after the brand had teased that they were flying in an international celebrity that was 'one of the biggest names in beauty'. Other popular bloggers, such as Jenny Do, Chloe Morello and Cartia Mallan, were also there to help celebrate. 'Since opening in 2014 we have been inundated with daily phone calls, emails, Facebook messages and Instagram comments about opening in Parramatta,' Sephora Australia country manager, Libby Amelia, said according to Ragtrader. 'It's been four years of scouting the perfect locations, and finally we have it.' The first 100 guests received a coveted Sephora Collection Lip Vault worth a staggering $550 as well as a range of other freebies 400 customers are set to receive a bespoke Sephora Collection Concert Kit valued at $106 The event included a DJ and live band, a host of beauty samples and tasty treats as well as Sephora's free coffee cart. And even if people didn't arrive in time for a sought-after Lip Vault, the next 400 customers in line received a bespoke Sephora Collection Concert Kit valued at $106. General Manager of Sephora Australia Libby Amelia previously said the brand 'always aims to open with a bang' and the Parramatta launch will be no exception. 'We're excited to give back to our clients who have supported us over the years,' she said. The event included a DJ and live band, a host of beauty samples and tasty treats as well as Sephora's free coffee cart 'Since opening in 2014 we have been inundated with daily phone calls, emails, Facebook messages and Instagram comments about opening in Parramatta,' Libby Amelia, said Sephora's first Australian store opened on Sydney's Pitt Street in December 2014 with much pomp and ceremony. A confetti canon signalled the official opening of the flagship shop with store director Danielle Hill telling Daily Mail Australia she had 'never seen such a huge turn-out'. The arrival of Sephora in Oceania was welcomed by beauty enthusiasts around the country who had previously been forced to make pilgrimage to Europe and the US to shop at the renowned brand. A father-of-two has defied the odds of survival after miraculously beating cancer twice and overcoming a life-threatening heart condition. Guillaume Zigan, originally from France but now lives in Melbourne with his family, was first diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015. After fighting against the disease, he underwent a bone marrow transplant in 2016 - but three months later, he relapsed, 7News reported. Following further treatment, Mr Zigan was given the all-clear - but in 2017, the family were left reeling once again when he required an emergency open heart surgery after he was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm. An aortic aneurysm is a swelling of the aorta, the main blood vessel that leads from the left side of the heart pumping oxygenated blood around the body. Scroll down for video Father Guillaume Zigan (pictured with his wife Julia and children) has defied the odds of survival after miraculously beating cancer twice and a life-threatening heart condition 'It was very very tough,' Mr Zigan said. But against all odds, the father has made a remarkable recovery after fighting three serious conditions within three years. 'I've been given more than a second chance. I'm very lucky,' he explained. 'I've got great support around me, my wife Julia, the kids, my family and my friends... they've been incredible through the journey.' His wife Julia added: 'We always said he was a stubborn French man, and really his stubbornness worked in his favour because he was just like "nope, nothing will get me".' Against all odds, the father has made a remarkable recovery after fighting three serious conditions within three years The father (pictured with his wife) was first diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015 before he underwent a bone marrow transplant a year later Astonishingly, the father has been training so he could compete in the triathlon at the Australian Transplant Games on the Gold Coast next week. By sharing his story, he wanted others to draw hope from his experiences as he's now on a mission to live life to the fullest. 'If you fight and if you are one of the lucky ones, you can get there,' he said. A 92-year-old widower has been inundated with birthday cards after his daughter made a very special request on social media. Miriam Dunn, from Canada, put a heartwarming call out on Twitter earlier this week asking people to send mail to her recently widowed father Gerard. The woman explained she simply wanted her father to have something to look forward to since the tragic death of her mother. Gerard Dunn has been inundated with birthday cards after his daughter Miriam made a heartwarming plea on social media Earlier this year, Gerard's wife of 60 years died at the age of 82 (pictured together on his 80th birthday). Since then, Miriam said her father has been struggling to cope with her death 'ATTENTION FRIENDS: Since Mom died this past spring, my 92-year-old dad waits for mail every day. Listens for the squeak of the mail slot opening,' she tweeted. 'His birthday is October. Please mail a note, card, picture, map or story to Gerard Dunn... Sydney, Nova Scotia.' Six months ago, Gerard's wife of 60 years died at the age of 82. Since then, Miriam said her father has been struggling to come to terms with her death. Hoping to cheer her grieving father up, Miriam explained the family initially tried to send him things in the mail just to keep his mind occupied. 'Dad really does wait for the mail every day, so the last couple of months, the siblings have been trying to send him a card or a newspaper clipping. Something small just to have something arrive in the mail,' she told Global News. 'I thought maybe I could get a few strangers on the internet to send him something that would really please him. I anticipated five or 10 people would say, "I will do that", but I certainly did not anticipate this.' Miriam Dunn put a call out on Twitter earlier this week asking people to send mail to her recently widowed father Gerard so he has something to look forward to everyday The father has been overjoyed at the hundreds of letters flooding his mailbox since his daughter made the public appeal And much to their surprise, the Twitter post has since gone viral, with more than 21,000 retweets, 44,500 'likes' and over 23,000 comments. Schoolchildren and kind strangers from around the world are rallying behind the man to brighten up his day by penning him uplifting letters. Speaking to Yahoo Be, Ms Dunn said her father has been overjoyed after recieving hundreds of letters flooding his mailbox since his daughter made the public appeal. 'Dad is growing increasingly excited as he realises the full extent of this. And the media attention makes him shy but also energised,' she said. The elderly man - who used to work as a postal supervisor - has been bombarded with hundreds of letters, birthday cards, and even a fruit and cheese basket. People have also offered to gift him whiskey, wine, original art and socks - but Gerard has kindly asked them to instead 'donate to their favourite charity in his name'. A journalist has called for a ban on workplace romances in the age of Me Too. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Harriet Minter told workers to 'keep it in your pants', because workplace romances cross the line into inappropriate behaviour in the office. The Me Too movement has sparked a global conversation around consent and sexual harassment in the workplace, and Ms Minter argued that there would be no confusion around where 'the line' between harmless flirting and harassment fell if dating colleagues was simply not an option. The TV debate came in the wake of news that one in 20 company bosses believe it's safer to ban work place romances altogether, to avoid drama between their employees. But GMB viewers disagreed with her comments, with many saying they met their own spouses at work. Harriet Minter called on ban on workplace romances because of the movement to end sexual harassment, calling on workers to 'keep it in your pants'. Pictured: Ms Minter on Good Morning Britain The calls to ban workplace romances have come after hundreds of women across the world shared their experiences of sexual harassment and assault under the Me Too hashtag on social media. Ms Minter said companies banning relationships between employees is a clear way of showing people there is a line that shouldn't be crossed at work. She explained: 'It comes from all these conversations we've been having over the last couple of years of people going ''Where's the line?'' Now you know. HR are drawing it for you. 'They're saying don't flirt with your colleagues, don't date your colleagues, please don't try and sleep with your colleagues, keep it in your pants when you're at work.' GMB viewers disagreed with her comments on Twitter (pictured), with many saying they met their own spouses at work She also argued that it would be impossible to keep their relationship out of the office as if they'd had an argument that would be brought into work with them both being there. She explained: 'I have seen people who are couples at work and they've been very good at being colleagues but they're not strictly colleagues. If you have a row at home in the morning you can't not bring that into the office with you. 'I think what we're talking about is this idea that if you see somebody at work and you're quite attracted to them you have to act on it, no, there are hundreds of other places to meet people nowadays.' Ms Minter said bans on romances at work are an example of companies showing their employees where the line between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour in the office is. Pictured: Ms Minter (right) with matchmaker Lara Aspry (left) Good Morning Britain viewers took to Twitter to criticise her arguments. One tweeted: 'I wouldn't have my lovely wee family now if we had adhered to that rule!!! Keep it professional in the office if you are having a relationship we are all adults...' Another posted: 'I met my husband at work and we have been together for 32 years and we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary next year. Would do it all again in a heartbeat.' Ms Aspry (pictured on GMB) said that workplace romances can't be stopped because people spend so much time with their co-workers A third agreed: 'Met my wife in the workplace been together 25 years married 19 years would never have met anywhere out of the workplace.' Ms Minter debated with matchmaker Lara Aspry, who said workplace romances happen because people spend so much time with the people they work with. She said: 'People spend so much time at work, people are working hours and hours and hours and spending most of their time in the office. 'You can't stop it happening.' Prince William has revealed that Kate is 'immensely jealous' of his trip to Africa - as he'll finally get a good night's sleep away from his 'wonderful children'. The Duke of Cambridge, 36, admitted he was particularly looking forward to a 'few good uninterrupted nights' sleep' while attending a reception in Windhoek, Namibia. Addressing guests on Tuesday night, he said that he was 'delighted to be visiting Namibia for the first time', adding 'I am only sorry that my wife Catherine is not able to join me.' The Duchess of Cambridge, 36, has stayed at home to look after the couple's young children Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, three, and Prince Louis, who is just five months old. Prince William (pictured meeting rangers in Namibia) has revealed Kate is 'immensely jealous' of his trip to Africa - as he'll finally get a good night's sleep away from his 'wonderful children' The Duke of Cambridge, 36, said he was 'sorry that my wife Catherine is not able to join me' while addressing guests at a reception in Namibia. Pictured is Kate on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the RAF centenary in July William arrived in Namibia on Monday and is now in Tanzania, where he is finding out more about measures being taken to combat the illegal wildlife trade. He will also visit Kenya later this week, where he proposed to Kate, before returning to the UK on Sunday. Kensington Palace says the royal is making the 'private working trip' as president of the United for Wildlife group and patron of Tusk, another conservation organization. The prince has campaigned against the killing of elephants, rhinos, pangolins and other species. William (above, in Namibia) admitted he was particularly looking forward to a 'few good uninterrupted nights' sleep' during his trip to Africa The Duchess of Cambridge, 36, has remained at home to look after the couple's young children Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, three, and Prince Louis, who is just five months old. They are pictured at Louis' christening in July He has also noted that poaching has a human toll when rangers are killed, communities lose the benefits of wildlife tourism and criminal networks flourish. Shortly after arriving in Namibia, he attended a reception at the residence of the British High Commissioner to Namibia, where he addressed guests. 'Im delighted to be visiting Namibia for the first time. I'm only sorry that my wife Catherine is not able to join me she is immensely jealous,' he said. 'Particularly as I'm looking forward to a few good uninterrupted nights' sleep this week away from my wonderful children!' William is currently visiting Africa to promote conservation efforts. He met with members of the local community in Kunene, Namibia (above) The Duke of Cambridge set off with a dedicated team of rangers to track a black rhino in Kunene, Namibia William looked in very high spirits as he greeted rangers working on the conservation initiatives in Namibia The Duke of Cambridge said he was 'humbled by the dedication of the rangers who protect the unique population of desert rhino from poachers' Explaining why he was visiting the country, he continued: 'My visit to Namibia this week is focused on conservation. This is an issue very close to my heart, and I know is a matter of deep pride to you all as well. 'Your country is famous for its beautiful environment and wildlife. This is the reason why so many tourists, including tens of thousands of Brits, visit every year. 'Tourism continues to grow year on year and in 2017 accounted for 100,000 jobs with the potential to add many more. Protecting Namibia's wildlife is crucial to realising this potential.' William added: 'I have been very lucky to see first-hand today in the Kunene region some outstanding conservation work. During his trip, William met with members of the local community involved in the Kunene People's Park Initiative The Duke of Cambridge also viewed the work of Save the Rhino in Kunene, in his role as patron of conservation organisation Tusk The royal set off with a dedicated team of rangers to track a black rhino in the Kunene region of Namibia on Tuesday William later posed with those involved in the conservation efforts in Kunene (above), before returning for a reception in the Namibian capital of Windhoek 'This is being undertaken with the support of the charity Tusk, of which I am patron, by both Save The Rhino Trust Namibia and IRDNC.' During his trip to Namibia, William viewed the work of Save the Rhino in Kunene, before later meeting members of the local community involved in the Kunene People's Park Initiative. Following a 5am start, he set off with a dedicated team of rangers to track a black rhino, spotting a number of other animals along the way. In his speech, Williams said he was 'staggered by the beauty and sheer remoteness of this incredible landscape', and 'humbled by the dedication of the rangers who protect the unique population of desert rhino from poachers.' Prince William was greeted by Tanzania's president John Magufuli after arriving in Tanzania for the next stop of his African tour The Duke of Cambridge, 36, also attended a reception in Dar es Salaam (above) on Wednesday night, where he met with people working in conservation Prince William visited the port in Dar es Salaam (above) to witness some of the challenges faced in combating the illegal wildlife trade CFPB policy director Eric Blankenstein. Photo: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Trump administration official in charge of monitoring financial discrimination questioned if using the n-word made someone racist and doubted the veracity of most hate crimes on his blog more than a decade ago, the Washington Post reports. Eric Blankenstein, whose job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau involves ensuring lenders dont discriminate against racial minorities, kept a political blog called Two Guys Chatting: In a 2004 post, Blankenstein wrote that a proposal at the University of Virginia to impose harsher academic penalties for acts of intolerance was racial idiocy. He questioned how authorities could know the motivation of someone using a racial slur. Fine . . . lets say they called him n , he wrote, spelling out the slur. . . . would that make them racists, or just a-? Blankenstein also wrote that hate-crime hoaxes are about three times as prevalent as actual hate crimes. Though Blankenstein only posted under the alias egb3r, the Post identified him via a slew of personal details he left on the site. When they asked him about the incendiary remarks, he admitted he made them but denied they were relevant to his current position. The insight to be gained about how I perform my job today by reading snippets of 14 year old blog posts that have nothing to do with consumer protection law is exactly zero, he said. The need to dig up statements I wrote as a 25 year old shows that in the eyes of my critics I am not guilty of a legal infraction or neglect of my duties, but rather just governing while conservative. In one blog post, Blankenstein, who is one of the highest paid people in government, making $259,500 a year, railed against policies that mete out harsher punishments for hate crimes. Shouldnt we be more concerned that the crime happened period? Does it matter that someone got beat up because they were black, or does it matter that someone got beat up? he wrote. Perhaps none of this should come as a surprise from Mulvaneys CFPB. Earlier this year, Mulvaney moved to strip the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity of its enforcement powers, a move that one activist said at the time sends a signal to the financial services industry that they can operate without fear of repercussions for discriminatory policies, practices, and products. A grandmother has revealed how she became a dominatrix following her divorce - and gets middle-aged men to clean her house while wearing French maid outfits. Sherry Lever, 67, from Swindon, explained how she has transformed her conservatory into a 'fetish playroom' and charges men 120 an hour to be her slave. The retired chef, who goes by the name Mistress Sophia, said she enjoys life through her alter ego, including dressing up in her daring PVC outfits. Sherry described how she began as a phone sex operator at first, and insists that her adult children are 'supportive' of her dramatic career change. Sherry Lever, 67, from Swindon, (pictured wearing one of her racy PVC outfits) has revealed how she became a dominatrix after her marriage of 25 years broke down Sherry (pictured wearing another sexy outfit) says she enjoys life through her alter ego, Mistress Sophia The grandmother-of-one said: 'Just because Im in my sixties doesnt mean I cant make a living off dominating men while I wear PVC outfits. 'Most ladies my age have retired, but my life has only just started!' Sherry explained how she decided to reinvent herself after watching a documentary about phone sex when her marriage of 25 years fell apart in 2012. 'After my divorce, I felt worthless with no money or confidence. I started working daily as a phone sex operator. My daughter Amy, 30, thought it was a great idea,' she said. Sherry (pictured with one of her clients) explained how she gets her middle-aged clients to clean her house while wearing French maid outfits Sherry, who charges men 120 an hour to be her slave, said she enjoys dressing in PVC and towering heels After deciding she wanted to reinvent herself as a dominatrix, Sherry equipped her conservatory with leather whips, gimp masks, blindfolds, handcuffs and maid outfits 'I realised that I was good at it and, within a week, men were begging me to scream at them and belittle them. I did it, and it was such a thrill.' Three months later, Sherry decided to take her new career further, inviting one of her clients to come to her home. She says: 'I secretly scribbled down a phone sex client's number and texted him to come to my house. 'The next day, he appeared at my front door clad in a suit. Before I knew it he changed into a pink-and-white French maid outfit and patent stiletto heels. Sherry (pictured in one of her outfits) described how she began as a phone sex operator at first, following her divorce Sherry (pictured at home in Swindon) said she decided to reinvent herself after watching a documentary about phone sex Sherry said her daughter Amy, 30, (pictured together) thought it was a 'great idea' when she became a phone sex operator 'As soon as I saw him, I was so excited. I locked him in the spare room and released him two hours later. 'Then I whipped him on the bottom and demanded he clean my kitchen. Watching him mop, I never felt so alive.' Sherry continued: 'Afterwards, he paid me 250. It was so much money - I couldn't believe it. 'And I loved being dominating, so I decided to do it fulltime.' Sherry (pictured at the age of 45) said that although many women her age have now retired, her life has 'just started' The mother-of-two (left at the age of 40, and right aged 29) explained how she decided to reinvent herself following her divorce The following day, Sherry dominatrix goodies, including leather whips, gimp masks, blindfolds, handcuffs and maid outfits. She says: 'Then I transformed my conservatory into a fetish playroom where my men stay. 'I hung up all the black leather whips and chains from the ceiling. 'I put a bed inside. There's a metal cage underneath where I lock my slaves if they stay overnight.' Sherry explained how she transitioned from a phone sex operator to a dominatrix after inviting one of her clients over to her home Sherry explained how the client quickly changed into a pink-and-white French maid outfit and patent stiletto heels. Pictured is one of her clients in a French maid outfit cleaning her kitchen Sherry also has a cage in her conservatory, where she locks up her clients while wearing PVC outfits and gimp masks (above) Over the last six years, Sherry has built up a wide range of clients, aged between 19 and 84. 'I've punished everyone from barristers to surgeons,' she said. 'Over the years my stuff has become worth 9000 from myself and generosity of my slaves. 'Men visit me because they need de-stress, they just want to let off steam. For some it is their sexual fantasy, but for others they find pain relaxing. 'I provide a professional service and men love what I do for them. Some of my submissives are even married but I never feel guilty, because we aren't having sex.' Sherry (pictured at home in her kitchen) insists that her adult children are supportive of her career as a dominatrix Sherry (pictured in a school uniform) has built up a wide range of clients over the past six years, aged between 19 and 84 However, Sherry admits that other people often do have misconceptions about her career. 'I also hate people believing that I take money off men for nothing, I'd never do that. And I'm not a prostitute, these men never touch me,' she said. 'Although sometimes they pay for foot worship which is when they play with my feet.' Sherry explained how her clients have even dressed as pigs and polished her floors while dancing to the Nutcracker soundtrack. Sherry (dressed as a policewoman) admitted that many people do have misconceptions about her career as a dominatrix Sherry describes how she provides a 'professional service', adding that 'men love what she does for them' Sherry has transformed her conservatory into a 'fetish playground' for her clients, complete with a cage, whips and handcuffs She also dressed another client as a dog with a puppy mask over his face. Sherry says: 'It was my most outrageous session, I walked a man to the park dressed in latex on all fours with a lead around his neck. 'I threw a ball for him to fetch, but a dog chased it at the same time. People were giving us funny looks; it was during school hours as I'm cautious of who sees. 'But the embarrassment turned him on. No one dared say anything to us, they must have been afraid. 'Afterwards I tied him to the swing and made him eat dog food out of a dog bowl. It was incredibly fun.' Sherry told her family about her unconventional career but, to her surprise, they supported her. She says: 'My son even brought his friends over to show them my fetish playroom. I am over the moon that my family are so supportive, if they weren't i wouldn't do it. 'I try my best to keep my submissives in the conservatory, but my kids don't seem to mind the sissy maids that clean around the house. 'I have helped numerous women in their 60s whose husbands have left them see the light again, and have inspired them to embark on dominatrix work. 'I can't imagine my life without my submissives now, I love being able to punish men. Even if I won the lottery, I'd still do it. 'There's no greater feeling than getting my whip out and making a man wince.' Prince William looked in high spirits as he arrived in Tanzania for the next stop of his African tour. The Duke of Cambridge, 36, attended a reception in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday night, where he met with people working in conservation. He also had a meeting with Tanzania's president John Magufuli after flying to the country from Namibia. Earlier today, William visited the port in Dar es Salaam to witness some of the challenges faced in combating the illegal wildlife trade. Prince William was greeted by Tanzania's president John Magufuli after arriving in Tanzania for the next stop of his African tour The Duke of Cambridge, 36, also attended a reception in Dar es Salaam (above) on Wednesday night, where he met with people working in conservation The Duke of Cambridge is in Tanzania to raise awareness of the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference taking place in London in October, and to learn more about the conservation work taking place in the country. Kensington Palace says the royal is making the 'private working trip' as president of the United for Wildlife group and patron of Tusk, another conservation organization. The royal has already visited Namibia, after landing in the capital on Monday. He will visit Kenya, where he proposed to the Duchess of Cambridge, before flying back to the UK. While in Namibia, William revealed that Kate is 'immensely jealous' of his trip to Africa, as he will finally be able to get a good night's sleep away from his children. Prince William visited the port in Dar es Salaam (above) to witness some of the challenges faced in combating the illegal wildlife trade The Duke met with port workers to see how the UN Office on Drugs and Crime is working to stop the illegal exportation of poached animal products such as ivory and rhino horn Kate, 36, has stayed at home to look after the couple's young children Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, three, and Prince Louis, who is just five months old. Addressing guests at a reception in the country's capital, William said: 'Im delighted to be visiting Namibia for the first time. I'm only sorry that my wife Catherine is not able to join me she is immensely jealous. 'Particularly as I'm looking forward to a few good uninterrupted nights' sleep this week away from my wonderful children!' He added: 'My visit to Namibia this week is focused on conservation. This is an issue very close to my heart, and I know is a matter of deep pride to you all as well.' During his trip to Namibia, William viewed the work of Save the Rhino in Kunene, before later meeting members of the local community involved in the Kunene People's Park Initiative. William flew to Tanzania from Namibia, where he viewed the work of Save the Rhino (above) She is one of Europe's tallest royals and Queen Maxima added extra height to her stature in the form of a statement hat on Thursday. The Queen of the Netherlands stepped out in an enormous piece of millinery as she arrived in Enschede for the National Loneliness Congress this morning. The oversize straw hat will be familiar to Maxima fans as the Queen has worn it on several occasions in the past and owns it in several colours. The mother-of-three paired her bold headgear with a more muted ensemble for her engagement today. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands showcased her love of millinery in a statement straw hat as she attended the National Loneliness Congress in Enschede The 47-year-old wore an elegant nude dress with a delicate lilac embroidery decorating it paired with a simple pair of tan court shoes. She added a little bling to her outfit with a pair of purple earrings, believed to be from Van Cleef & Arpels. She swept her golden locks into a low chignon and opted for a soft neutral makeup palette this morning. The Argentinian born royal was met by rapturous applause as she arrived at the Grolsch Veste in Enschede today. The 47-year-old wore an elegant nude dress with a delicate lilac embroidery decorating it paired with a simple pair of tan court shoes The oversize straw hat will be familiar to Maxima fans as the Queen has worn it on several occasions in the past and owns it in several colours Hundreds of well-wishers had lined the streets in anticipation of her arrival and one was kind enough to present the queen with a bouquet of fresh flowers. It's been a busy week for the Dutch royal who on Tuesday joined Ivanka Trump at the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative. She and the First Daughter joined other entrepreneurs for the initiative that primarily focused on better financing for female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Maxima has three daughters, Catharina-Amalia, 14, Alexia, 13 and Ariane, 11, with husband King Willem-Alexander, 51. The Dutch royal was greeted by a rapturous applause and even surprised with a bunch of flowers upon her arrival Maxima has endured a difficult few months, recently flying to Buenos Aires for the funeral of her younger sister, Ines Zorreguieta. Ines took her own life at the age of 33 following a lengthy battle with depression. Maxima pulled out of several state visits in the wake of Ines death in June, bravely returning to work two weeks later. Later that month, during a visit to a hospital in Groningen, she appeared to fight back tears as she gave a short speech. Harry and Meghan will finally visit their dukedom next week when the couple embark on a short tour of Sussex. The newlyweds, who officially became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex following their wedding on May 19, are set to visit some of the county's famous landmarks during their whistlestop tour on Wednesday 3 October. Harry and Meghan will kick off their first joint visit to the county at Edes House, located at the heart of Chichester in West Sussex. There, California native Meghan will be shown the rare Sussex copy of the American Declaration of Independence. Scroll down for video Sussex bound: Harry and Meghan (pictured in Loughborough on September 24) are set to visit some of Sussex's most famous landmarks in a whistlestop tour of the county on Wednesday During their visit of Sussex next week, Harry and Meghan will travel along the coast to the vibrant seaside city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex (file photo) The document is one of only two contemporary handwritten ceremonial manuscript copies, the other being the signed copy housed in the National Archives in Washington D.C. The couple will then travel along the coast to Bognor Regis where they will officially open the University of Chichester's Engineering and Digital Technology Park. The cutting edge Technology Park has been designed to offer practical experiences in partnership with local industry. Harry and Meghan will then take their departure from West Sussex and travel along the coast to the vibrant seaside city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex. Harry and Meghan's first stop in Brighton next Wednesday will be the iconic Royal Pavilion (pictured). Starting its life in the mid 1780s, the Royal Pavilion was built by the Prince of Wales Harry and Meghan will kick off their first joint visit to the county of Sussex at Edes House (pictured), which is located at the heart of Chichester in West Sussex Their first stop in Brighton will be the iconic Royal Pavilion. Starting its life in the mid 1780s, the Royal Pavilion was built by George, Prince of Wales, who later became the Prince Regent. The royals will tour several of the Pavilion's rooms, learning more about the building's history and the impact that it had on the social development of Brighton in the 18th century. The couple will then walk to Survivors' Network, a charity that supports survivors of sexual violence and abuse in Sussex. They will have the opportunity to talk to service users, volunteers and staff. Travelling eastwards, their final engagement of the day will be a visit to JOFF Youth Centre in the coastal town of Peacehaven. During their visit next week, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured in Dublin in July) will meet young people from youth groups across East Sussex to hear their strategic plans and priorities around mental health and emotional wellbeing Busy schedule: The newlyweds (pictured at Buckingham Palace in June) are racking up their public engagements and will also tour Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga next month The centre is a community hub that offers a range of positive activities, a chill out area and music practice room. At the centre, the royals will meet young people from youth groups across East Sussex to hear their strategic plans and priorities around mental health and emotional wellbeing. Their discussions are part of Takeover Challenge day, which is a national initiative that encourages organisations to put young people into real life decision-making positions. A former Marine turned Maxim cover girl has posed in a sexy military calendar, showing off her body in revealing camo outfits. Shannon Ihrke, 29, from Minnesota, joined the military aged 19 and served on active duty for four years. She's one of the stars of Thomas Prusso's Military Glamour Calendar 2019 and previously cut her teeth as a model when she was featured as a Maxim cover girl. Veteran: Shannon Ihrke, 29, from Minnesota, joined the military aged 19 and served on active duty for four years Striking a pose: She's one of the stars of Thomas Prusso's Military Glamour Calendar 2019 Career: Shannon previously cut her teeth as a model when she graced the cover of Maxim Process: Shannon was an administrative specialist in the forces, became a sergeant, and after the Marines, turned her ambitions to modelling 'As a female in the Marine Corps you have to work twice as hard as the men in order to feel like their equal,' Shannon said. 'A lot of the Marines initially thought that I might not be able to keep up physically, or that I somehow wasn't "as strong" as them so I made it my mission to prove them wrong. 'I came in guns blazing in order to show that I wasn't someone that could be pushed around, brushed off, or not taken seriously. It was hard but it was also completely necessary.' Shannon was an administrative specialist in the forces and says her time there made her smarter, faster, and stronger. 'I pushed my body harder than I could have ever imagined and I learned to remain calm and collected in the mist of chaos,' she said. 'I became part of something that was bigger than myself and I loved it.' Academia: Thanks to the GI Bill, earned a science degree from Elmhurst College in Illinois Past: Shannon said she had to come in 'guns blazing' to earn the respect of her male peers as a Marine Looking back: 'I became part of something that was bigger than myself and I loved it,' she said of her time in the force Decisions: Shannon said that if she hadn't wanted to pursue other dreams, she would certainly have re-enlisted Changes: 'In the modelling world you really have to push yourself to success because no one is going to do it for you, you have to go out and get it yourself,' she said Shannon became a sergeant, traveled the world and, thanks to the GI Bill, earned a science degree from Elmhurst College in Illinois. After leaving the Marines, Shannon turned her ambitions to modelling. 'In the military I was always concerned about being the best I could be for my brothers and sisters in arms,' she said. ''In the modelling world you really have to push yourself to success because no one is going to do it for you, you have to go out and get it yourself.' She added: 'I owe the Marine Corps my life, hands down. It gave me a reason to wake up, push myself, set goals, and to push myself even harder when things got tough. Progress: Shannon's modelling career is clearly flourishing - in addition to being a cover girl, she has 105,000 loyal Instagram followers Meaning: 'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But the Marines don't have that problem,' she said Committed: Shannon said that even though she's no longer on active duty, she will always 'bleed green' Efforts: Shannon said that as a Marine she pushed her body harder than she could ever have imagined Mind: The former Marine also learned how to remain 'calm and collected in the mist of chaos' during her time in the force Grateful: 'I owe the Marine Corps my life, hands down,' Shannon said Audience: Shannon has 105,000 followers on Instagram, where she shares snapshots of her life as well as some modeling photos 'Had I not had other dreams I still wanted to accomplish in my life I would have re-enlisted without hesitation... and although I am no longer on active duty, I will always bleed green. 'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But the Marines don't have that problem.' Shannon's modelling career is clearly flourishing - in addition to being a cover girl, she has 105,000 loyal Instagram followers. On her account, she shares pictures of her Midwest life riding horses as well as snaps from her glamorous bikini and lingerie shoots, including behind-the-scenes shots from Thomas Prusso's calendar. In one post, she wrote of her veteran co-stars: 'These girls are all kind, funny, genuine, and just as beautiful inside as they are outside. I can honestly say that I love each one of these girls!' The calendar's creator, who is based in San Diego, California, describes himself as a military glamour photographer and was, himself, in the air force for six and a half years. Resilience: Shannon said being a Marine 'gave me a reason to wake up, push myself, set goals, and to push myself even harder when things got tough' Determined: According to Shannon, a lot of Marines initially thought she wouldn't be able to keep up physically, and she vowed to prove them wrong Show of force: 'As a female in the Marine Corps you have to work twice as hard as the men in order to feel like their equal,' Shannon (pictured at a shooting range) said Evolution: Shannon decided to dedicate herself to modeling after leaving the force Following a cancer scare that turned her breasts into a 'ticking time bomb' this woman decided to get a double-mastectomy and has since decided to embrace her look and raise awareness of the BRCA1 mutation. Mad Monkey Hostels marketing manager, Kelly Iverson, 25, from Kansas came from a family history of cancer fighters and because of this was encouraged to get tested for the BRCA1 mutation. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are genes linked to a high breast cancer and ovarian cancer risk as well as a risk for prostate cancer. In January, after getting tested for the mutation because her dad found out he had it and while she was away in Thailand, she was given the devastating news over the phone that she had the BRCA1 mutation. Fighter: Kelly Iverson, 25, from Kansas found she had the BRCA1 mutation, which increases the risk for breast and ovarian cancer Decisions: After finding she had the mutation, she discovered three benign tumors in her breasts Change: Kelly decided to undergo a double mastectomy because of her increased chances of getting breast cancer. Pictured is Kelly after she underwent the surgery She visited a local hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, and her doctor felt a lump in her breasts. An MRI scan revealed that she had three tumors, so this prompted her to book an ultrasound appointment and was recommended an MRI breast biopsy. After trying six different hospitals, she finally found one that had the equipment to do the MRI breast biopsy. By the time she had the test done, she was aware that two of the tumours in her left breast were benign and it was revealed that, to her relief, the third tumour in her right breast was also benign. Proud: Before the surgery, Kelly decided to document her body as it was The scare then convinced her to get a preventative mastectomy, but before her surgery she decided to professionally document her breasts to appreciate them. In July 2018, she underwent the double-mastectomy and her breasts were replaced with implants. She has since displayed her new body on social media to inspire others to love their bodies whether they have breasts or not. 'I was tested for the mutation after my dad found out that he had it. His sister pushed him to be tested because their mother died of breast cancer and she also had breast cancer several times,' Kelly said. 'I felt pretty crushed. At the time, I wasn't too sure what it meant, so it felt like a death sentence. I am so happy that my sister does not have the mutation. 'I have a much higher chance of getting breast cancer and ovarian cancer, especially because of my family history, so I am choosing to be a previvor. 'I've seen what women have to go through once they have breast cancer; I can't see a reason to not take my health into my own hands and make sure that never happens.' Sad: 'At the time, I wasn't too sure what it meant, so it felt like a death sentence' Moving on: Kelly received breast implants after the double mastectomy Happy: She decided to use her platform on social media to raise awareness about the genetic mutation for other people Advocate: 'There are days where I hate my body, but these days become fewer and fewer as life goes on,' Kelly said She continued: 'Of course, there is a very small chance of getting breast cancer even after the mastectomy. Rare, but it can happen. 'I anxiously awaited the results of my second biopsy in Phnom Penh. I tried to enjoy my new role and team members but was very distracted. 'I finally called the hospital a few weeks afterward and was told that my results were in and had been for a few days, but that I would need to fly to Bangkok for the doctor to tell me what those results were. 'I immediately believed I had breast cancer; why else would I need to fly to a different country to get my results? 'It was incredibly stressful. I also felt that the language barrier made it difficult to ever feel at ease. Getting the biopsies was very difficult, and the waiting afterward was just as bad. 'Either way, the doctor was not in until Monday. I essentially threw a very large fit and whoever I spoke to finally agreed to send me the results via email: it was benign. 'I had already decided by then that I wanted the preventative mastectomy, so I had my double mastectomy on July 6, 2018.' BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two examples of genes that raise your cancer risk if they mutate. Having a variant BRCA gene increases a woman's chance of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Angelina Jolie had preventative breast cancer surgery in 2013 following an ovarian cancer surgery. Pain: The reason why Kelly first got tested for the BRCA1 mutation was because her dad found he had it first Living life: Kelly, pictured with a friend after her double mastectomy, admitted her new breasts will take getting used to because she cannot feel them Kelly then explains how the mastectomy had changed her life. 'I am a very active person. In Thailand and Cambodia, I do Muay Thai and workout in my free-time. One of the most difficult aspects of the surgery was not being able to do any of that,' she said. 'I still haven't fully grasped that I no longer have my own breasts - I do have my own nipples. These new ones will definitely take some getting used to. 'I cannot feel them, but I do have strange sensations; sometimes my breasts itch but obviously I can't feel myself scratching. It is very strange. 'The mastectomy has changed my life in that my risk of ever getting breast cancer goes from over eighty percent to less than one-percent. In comparison to that number, any other changes seem pretty minimal. 'I want to become an advocate for those who have the BRCA mutation and help advocate for all things breast cancer related. 'I also want to note how amazing my colleagues and boss were in allowing me to work remotely during this time. I'm still in the United States as I await a second surgery. They have been nothing but supportive in all aspects.' Despite some days when she hates her body, she has learned to accept herself for who she is and this has made her change her perspective. Positive: Although there are rough days since the surgery, Kelly is focused on staying healthy and moving on from the tumors she found Forward thinking: Kelly's father was supportive of her decision because his mother died from breast cancer Important: She wants other women to know they are not alone in dealing with breast cancer scares 'There are days where I hate my body, but these days become fewer and fewer as life goes on,' Kelly said. 'Sometimes, I cry at the loss of my breasts and others, I am delighted at how my new ones are so perky and full in comparison to my real ones. It really depends on the day. 'My family were supportive of my decision. My mother specifically was worried about my decision to have a mastectomy; she mostly wanted me to keep in mind that there is still a chance I might not ever get breast cancer. 'She came around eventually. My dad was very supportive because he watched his mother die from breast cancer. 'My advice would be to find FORCE. They are an advocacy group for all things BRCA related and will give you plenty of information to help you make whatever decision is best for you. 'For me, getting a mastectomy was the only option, especially living in Cambodia. For others, this is not the case. Just be sure to do your research and thoroughly consider all options. 'Also you are not alone. Find a support group vent near you or online that will help you get through this.' The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are to follow in the footsteps of Theresa May with a major tour of Africa next month, it has been announced. Charles and Camilla will travel on the heels of the Prime Minister, who made a high-profile visit to the continent just a few weeks ago. The prince and duchess will tour the Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria over nine days from October 31, Clarence House said on Thursday. The couple will return to London just in time for Prince Charles' landmark 70th birthday on November 14. Scroll down for video The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall (pictured in Canada, June 2017) are set to embark on a major royal tour this autumn when they visit the Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana, one of the three Commonwealth countries Charles and Camilla are set to visit during their nine-day tour of Africa in November (file photo) However the Palace has previously indicated that the various birthday celebrations for the heir to the throne will take place throughout the year. They will set off on the day the Duke and Duchess of Sussex return from their two-week tour of Australia, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga and New Zealand - meaning the two couples are likely to miss each other. Theresa May made a three-nation trade mission to Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria during August and September, in an attempt to bolster Britain's post-Brexit fortunes. Scott Furssedonn-Wood, Charles' deputy private secretary, said the couple were visiting the three countries at the request of the British Government. Ships in the night: Charles and Camilla will embark on a major visit to Africa on the day Harry and Meghan (pictured in Loughborough on September 24) return from their own royal tour He added: 'Their Royal Highnesses' visit will celebrate the UK's historic ties with these three Commonwealth nations, and also our dynamic contemporary partnerships with each of them in areas ranging from business to the arts, defence co-operation to medical research. 'The tour will also highlight the people-to-people links between our countries and the invaluable contribution they make to our shared prosperity and security.' The Oscar-winning American actress Reese Witherspoon has revealed how she 'fell under the spell' of the 'deeply compassionate' Duchess of Cambridge when they met. The star, 42, met Kate, 36, at the launch of Tusk Trust's U.S. Patron's Circle during the royal's visit to Los Angeles in 2011, where they were snapped apparently getting along famously. And now Reese's new book, Whiskey in a Teacup, confirms her admiration for Prince William's wife, as she recalls how she 'screamed' upon receiving an invitation to the event the Duchess was also scheduled to attend, and rose at 4am on the day to give herself time to get ready. The actress writes of Kate: 'She was just lovely and warm, elegant and composed she also told a joke, and I immediately fell under her spell.' Reese Witherspoon, 42, has spoken about her joy at meeting the Duchess of Cambridge, 36, in her new book Whiskey in a Teacup. They met at launch of Tusk Trust's U.S. Patron's Circle in Los Angeles in 2011 (pictured) In her book she explained that she'd never been much of a royal fan until she met Kate, according to a report on the Royal Central website. She writes: 'The scream that issued from the lips upon receiving [the invitation] you would have thought I was going to die.' Reese was among a host of US stars to meet Kate and the Duke of Cambridge at the star-studded event, and she took her preparation seriously. She continued: 'I wake up early, mind you, but on that day, I was up at 4 a.m. doing my hair. That's early, even for me.' Reese said she had 'screamed' when she got the event invitation and got up at 4am to get start getting ready. Pictured: Reese at a red carpet even in Hollywood in August Reese said she 'immediately fell under Kate's spell' at the event, after the royal cracked a joke and was 'warm' to everyone she met. Pictured: Kate and Reese shake hands at the event Reese writes that she was thrilled that Kate turned out to be approachable and friendly. 'She's just as magnificent as she seems to be. She's a very compassionate, socially conscious, deeply caring person.' Reese has now been converted and is a big fan of the royals, and is 'in awe' of Kate in particular for giving up her life before to become a full-time royal. The actress said she is in awe' of Kate in particular for giving up her life before to become a full-time royal. Pictured: Kate and Reese mingle at the event Reese has spoken about her admiration for Kate in the past, saying in 2012 that she wanted them to become best friends. Pictured: Kate at the National Portrait Gallery in London last year Reese continued: 'It takes a very special person to decide to commit to that kind of life, to choose to be under public scrutiny every moment. 'Now that she's in that position, her entire life is in service, forever. I am so in awe of that dedication.' This isn't the first time Reese has expressed her admiration for Kate as back in 2012 she said she was determined to make the royal her new best friend. Speaking on Ellen, Reese said: ''I don't know, maybe we can be friends. I would like to hang out. I'm not sure she wants to hang out with me. I could see that happening.' Former First Lady Laura Bush happily donned a white bathrobe and hair rollers while enjoying a day of pampering with her twin daughters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush. Jenna, 36, took to Instagram on Thursday morning to post a snapshot of herself posed with her sister and mother, who was holding Reese Witherspoon's new book Whiskey in a Teacup. The comfy robe is a far cry from the tailored suits Laura, 71, is known for wearing, and Jenna proudly revealed that her mom puts her hair in rollers every morning. Spa day: Laura Bush (center) donned a robe and hair rollers while reading Reese Witherspoon's new book Whiskey in a Teacup with her twin daughters Jenna (left) and Barbara (right) All done up: The former first lady and her two daughters are pictured sporting their usual hairstyles in 2017 In Reese's book, the actress advises getting into a car and driving around while they set. Although it's unclear if Laura followed that particular step, she and her daughters appeared to be having a great time going through the book together. When posing for the family photo, Jenna and Barbara were also wearing white robes and their hair was piled on the top of their heads. 'Yall, @reesewitherspoonwrote this book about strong southern women, one weve never needed more,' Jenna captioned the image. 'Im leaving my ladies and coming for you, Reese! X PS: my mom does her hair like this EVERY am!' Interestingly enough, Laura isn't the only one who has proudly posed for a photo with her hair in rollers in recent weeks. Longtime fan: Jenna, a correspondent at the Today show, traveled to Dallas to interview Reese and get a tour of her Draper James store in 2016 Now that's friendship! Earlier this month, Jennifer Garner, 46, shared a video of herself wearing hot rollers on a school run while trying out the hair trick featured in Reese's book Fan club: Model Camila Alves, who is married to Matthew McConaughey, was inspired by Jennifer's post and shared a similar video of herself earlier this week In honor of her pal's new book, Jennifer Garner, 46, took to Instagram earlier this month to share a video of herself putting her hair in hot rollers and wearing them to pick her children up from school. Model Camila Alves, who is married to Matthew McConaughey, was inspired by Jennifer's post and shared a similar video of herself trying out Reese's trick. 'I am going to be driving everywhere with rollers in my hair,' the 36-year-old gushed. Laura and her daughters were all born and raised in Texas, so it should come as no surprise that they are fans of Reese's book about her southern heritage. Beauty routine: Jenna revealed that her 71-year-old mother puts her hair in rollers every morning to achieve her bouncy 'do Memories: Jenna joined her family in paying tribute to her late grandmother Barbara Bush at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Texas on Monday Just a few years ago, Jenna, a correspondent at the Today show, traveled to Dallas to interview Reese and get a tour of her Draper James store. On Monday, Jenna and her family spent the evening celebrating the legacy of her later grandmother Barbara Bush at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Texas. In addition to her mother and sister, Jenna was joined by her father, former President George W. Bush, and some of her cousins as they paid tribute to their beloved relative. While honoring her grandmother, Jenna praised her love of reading among other things. 'It's remarkable to know what kind of maverick and adventurer she was. And that goes with reading,' she said. 'There's no greater adventure than to lose yourself in a book.' Family photo: 'It's remarkable to know what kind of maverick and adventurer she was,' Jenna said of Barbara (bottom right) Missing home: While in Texas, Jenna posted a snapshot of her daughters Mila, five, and Poppy, three, to say that she misses them Jenna's cousin Pierce Bush described how their grandmother inspired them to help others, while reminding them about the immense privilege that was bestowed upon their family. 'Our grandmother never let us take the fact that our grandparents were president and first lady for granted,' he explained. 'Yes, we might grow up in this unique set of circumstances, but you should use that to better the lives of others.' When George W. took the podium to speak about his mother, he noted that she was 'funny' and 'could be blunt.' 'She was a very compassionate person and always loving. We all miss her,' he said. His wife, Laura, added: 'I come from a family of strong women, including my mother-in-law, Barbara Bush. Barbara Bush led our country and our family with grace and quick with.' Nasty Gal has come under fire after releasing a new collection billed as a step 'toward size inclusivity' that only goes up to a size 18 an unsatisfying range for some shoppers who still don't feel represented by retailer. The online boutique, which is based in Los Angeles and was founded in 2006 by Sophia Amoruso, announced on Tuesday that it would be 'finally joining the party' by releasing a capsule collection featuring extended sizing. The collection includes 'transitional pieces' for the beginning of fall in sizes 0 to 18 a significant expansion from its usual size range, which typically stops at a size eight or a large. But plus sizes typically go up to a size 24, meaning some customers feel that Nasty Gal has fallen short in its first foray into extended sizes. Launch: Nasty Gal has come under fire after releasing a new collection billed as a step 'toward size inclusivity' that only goes up to a size 18 Nasty Gal admitted it was 'overdue for a change' when it announced the launch of the new range on Tuesday. 'So here's the thing confidence, fearlessness, and individuality make up the core of who we are, but size inclusivity was not always part of the conversation,' the retailer said in a press release. 'Safe to say, we were overdue for a change. Which is why we're excited to finally introduce our new fall capsule a super rad lineup of transitional pieces, available in sizes 0-18. You read that right, we're finally joining the party.' Several customers were unimpressed with the announcement and took to Twitter to tell the company as much. 'F**k all the way off @NastyGal. Y'all still don't like fat people,' one person wrote. 'If you did, you'd realize that fatness is above a size 18 and bad fatties deserve clothing, too. No matter how much you hate them. Oh and fatness is a party BUT YOU'RE NOT INVITED.' Changes: The collection includes pieces in sizes 0 to 18 a significant expansion from its usual size range, which typically stops at a size eight or a large Feedback: Plus sizes typically go up to a size 24, meaning some customers feel that Nasty Gal has fallen short in its first foray into extended sizes 'Not inclusive!' Several customers were unimpressed with the new collection and took to Twitter to tell the company as much Reaching out: One person asked Nasty Gal to extend its sizing range to a 28 or 30, pointing out that she can't give the retailer her money as long as it doesn't carry her size One person cited Target as an example of size inclusivity. The chain's plus-size clothes are typically available up to a size 4X, which amounts to about a size 30 for most designs. 'When Target sells their ranges in sizes up to a US 28 / 30, it's just lazy to think US 18 is enough,' the Twitter user wrote. Another person bashed the tag line attached to the new collection, 'We're finally joining the party', asking: 'Why isn't the tag line "We're finally jumping on a band wagon we don't actually care about"?' One person asked the retailer to extend to larger sizes, pointing out that she can't shop at Nasty Gal as long as it doesn't carry her size. Global: Some commented from the UK, where a US size 18 translates to a size 22 Slogan: One person bashed Nasty Gal's tag line for the new collection, 'We're finally joining the party' Remark: One Twitter user suggested the tag line should read 'We're finally jumping on a band wagon we don't actually care about' instead Retailer: A person cited Target as an example of size inclusivity. The chain's plus-size clothes are typically available up to a size 4X, which amounts to about a size 30 for most designs Positive: Some, however, still praised the retailer for launching a more inclusive collection, such as one person who tweeted: 'So Nasty Gal is up to an US 18 now. That's a start' Excited: 'Guys @NastyGal have extended their size range and now do plus sizes,' someone else tweeted. 'Yasssss be part of the revolution or get left behind!!!!!' 'Hey @NastyGal so glad to see plus size on your site but... any chance of extending the size range to 28 / 30? (My size),' she wrote. 'I love the ruffle blouse! But I can't give you $ if you don't have my size #makemysizeplease.' Some commented from the UK, where a US size 18 translates to a size 22. 'Screaming @ their tagline! "WE'RE finally joining the party" but anyone over a UK 22 isn't invited!' one person wrote. Some, however, still praised the retailer for launching a more inclusive collection, such as one person who tweeted: 'So Nasty Gal is up to an US 18 now. That's a start.' 'Guys @NastyGal have extended their size range and now do plus sizes,' someone else tweeted. 'Yasssss be part of the revolution or get left behind!!!!!' Nasty Gal told DailyMail.com in a comment: 'Nasty Gal is excited to offer customers a new capsule collection with extended sizes up to 18 as its first step toward creating more inclusive sizing options. Please stay with us as we hope to introduce an even greater range of sizes in the near future, allowing everyone to enjoy our brand.' Blame China. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images Chairing a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York on Wednesday, President Donald Trump alleged that China has been meddling in Novembers midterm elections in an attempt to punish the Republican Party electorally for Trumps anti-China trade policies. They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, we are winning at every level, Trump said. We dont want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election. The U.S. may be winning the trade war the Trump administration launched against China this year, in the sense that Trump has more Chinese imports to tax than Beijing has targets for retaliatory tariffs. So far, however, China has not made any of the concessions the administration is demanding, so the presidents declaration of victory may be characteristically premature. In the Security Council, the Chinese delegation vociferously denied the accusation. We did not and will not interfere in any countrys domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said. Trump did not give any evidence of Chinas alleged election meddling at the meeting, which was supposed to focus on preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The only concrete example Trump gave of Chinese election interference came via Twitter later on Wednesday, when Trump tweeted an image of a four-page insert in Sundays Des Moines Register placed by The China Daily, a state-owned Chinese media outlet. China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. Thats because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over! the presidents tweet read. The Register responded by saying it was not surprising that China would advertise in their paper, as the Register is Iowas largest news organization and Iowa farmers are disproportionately affected by Chinas tariffs. Foreign organizations and governments placing advertising, op-eds, or sponsored content in U.S. media to promote their interests is nothing new; countries Trump approves of such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel do this all the time. Of course, none of this is to say that China isnt meddling in U.S. elections. Later on Wednesday, a senior administration official told reporters that the Chinese Communist Party and the government it leads employ a whole of government approach using political, economic, commercial, military and informational tools to influence public opinion in the U.S., and that these activities had reached an unacceptable level. China has been identified as a major source of cyberthreats to the U.S. for years, but there is no evidence that it has used its considerable capabilities to interfere in the midterms. It would make perfect sense, however, for China to target election infrastructure or attempt to influence the outcome of U.S. elections through disinformation especially since Russias election interference campaign in 2016 was such a smashing success. Speaking of which: Trump didnt mention Russian meddling in the Security Council meeting. In comments to reporters later, he said his administration would not let China or Russia meddle in our elections, but when asked to compare the alleged threat from China with Russias well-documented activities, he said: Well, I think its different. Its certainly different in the sense that Trump has repeatedly taken Russian president Vladimir Putins word for it that Moscow did not meddle in the 2016 elections, despite a literal embarrassment of evidence to the contrary and against the nearly unanimous assessment of his own intelligence and national security agencies. This is a pattern weve seen before from this administration, which is perfectly comfortable denouncing any foreign cybercrimes except that one in particular. Trumps claim that he is committed to protecting U.S. elections from foreign interference (or at least that which might help elect Democrats) rings even more hollow in light of recent moves by his administration and the GOP. Just a month ago, the White House helped kill a piece of bipartisan legislation that would have strengthened the integrity of our elections by setting new standards for cybersecurity and mandating audits after federal elections; in July, his party blocked federal funding for states to strengthen their election security. So if the idea that Trump cares about the integrity of U.S. elections in general is so transparently false, what is this accusation really about? Its possible the speech was intended to help build a narrative about the midterms in which whatever losses his party incurs can be blamed on foreign meddling. This is not some wild conspiracy theory: He has already been doing this with regard to Russia, which he claimed over the summer was pushing very hard for the Democrats. There have indeed been suggestions that Russia has been attempting to influence the midterms. The full extent of these activities is not publicly known, but the two candidates that have been identified as targets of Russian hacking attempts this year have both been Democrats: Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill and Tabitha Isner, a candidate in Alabamas Second Congressional District. Intelligence agencies do not customarily launch cyberattacks on people they are trying to help. Trumps claims about Russian and Chinese assistance to Democrats plant seeds of doubt about the upcoming elections that he and other Republicans can harvest if and when they suffer a drubbing in November thanks to Trumps multifarious ethical scandals and the failure of their tax cuts to help anyone other than wealthy investors. Whether they will be brazen enough to do so remains to be seen. It was announced this week that American designer Michael Kors is buying fashion brand Versace for $2.12 billion but designer Donatella Versace wants fans to know she isn't going anywhere. News of the sale made waves in the fashion community on Tuesday, but Donatella, who has been Creative Director since the late 90s, is now reassuring admirers that it doesn't mean she is exiting the company. The 63-year-old released an official statement on social media this morning, promising that she's staying put and the brand won't change. Here to stay! Donatella Versace released a statement today reassuring fans that the sale of the Versace brand to Michael Kors doesn't mean she's leaving the company 'Ciao a tutti! You all know how I love the interaction that I have with all of you here,' she said in the message, which was posted on Twitter and Instagram. Designer forever: She will be staying on as Creative Director 'First of all, I wanted to let you know that I am NOT going anywhere, so for those who wanted to get rid of me, well... it ain't happening! 'I also wanted to reassure you that Versace will remain ITALIAN, Made in Italy and that it will keep its GLAMOUR, DARING and INCLUSIVE attitude that have made you all love it. 'This is just the beginning of an exciting, new adventure that I hope you will live together with me!' she concluded before signing off. On Instagram, several models liked the post and commented on it, sharing support for Donatella. 'LOVE YOU QUEEEEEN,' wrote Gigi Hadid. 'Love you,' wrote Karlie Kloss. 'So excited for you and all that is ahead int his next chapter!' Love it! Famous fans applauded her, including Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, Yolanda Hadid, Irina Shayk, makeup artist Pat McGrath, and designer Christopher Kane Next chapter: Lindsay Lohan and Anastasia Beverly Hills commented, too Hollywood fans: Selma Blair was another star to comment, in addition to Megan Pormer, Caroline Vreeland, and designer Pier Paolo Piccioli You go, girl! Model Amber Valletta left hearts and stars 'We never let u go anywhere but red carpets and Maldives,' wrote Irina Shayk. 'Love u queen D.' Changes: It was announced this week that American designer Michael Kors is buying fashion brand Versace for $2.12 billion She also received support from a huge number of other celebrities, including Yolanda Hadid, makeup artist Pat McGrath, designer Christopher Kane, Lindsay Lohan, makeup brand Anastasia Beverly Hills, Selma Blair, Amber Valetta, Megan Pormer, Caroline Vreeland, and designer Pier Paolo Piccioli. With the announcement of the deal earlier this week, it was also revealed that the Michael Kors company will change its name to Capri Holdings, inspired by the 'iconic, glamorous and luxury' Italian island, which has long been used as favorite summer getaway for A-listers like Taylor Swift, Cara Delevingne, and Kate Upton. 'The acquisition of Versace is an important milestone for our group,' Michael Kors CEO and chairman John Idol said in a statement. Donatella added: 'It has been more than 20 years since I took over the company along with my brother Santo and daughter Allegra. Family affair: Versace was started by Donatella's brother Gianni in 1978 (pictured 1996) 'I am proud that Versace remains very strong in both fashion and modern culture. Versace is not only synonymous with its iconic and unmistakable style, but with being inclusive and embracing of diversity, as well as empowering people to express themselves.' Donatella took over Versace after her brother, founder of the line, was murdered in 1997. Gianni founded the company in Milan in 1978. 'We believe that being part of this group is essential to Versace's long-term success. My passion has never been stronger,' Donatella said of the purchase. The Versace family, which currently owns 80 per cent of the fashion house via a holding company called Givi, will receive 150 million euros of the purchase price in Capri shares. Prince Harry is usually perfectly poised when meeting celebrities and dignitaries - but it seems that even royals aren't immune to the occasional faux pas. The Duke of Sussex is reported to have made an 'embarrassing' blunder when he first met Malala Yousafzai in 2014. Harry was speaking at the We Day assembly at the Wembley Arena when Craig Kielburger, the co-founder of the event, introduced the pair back stage. While introducing Malala, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived being shot by the Taliban while advocating for the education of women, Prince Harry placed his arm around her for a photo. But her mother shouted at him from the corner of the room to warn him that he could only touch the Nobel peace prize laureate if he married her, reports Hello!. Prince Harry made an 'embarrassing' faux pas when he first met Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived being shot by the Taliban, back at an event in 2014 (pictured at said event) While meeting Malala back stage at the Wembley Arena in London during the We Day assembly he placed his arm around her for a photo. Pictured: Malala speaking at the event Craig told the magazine: 'Prince Harry put his arm around Malala for a photo and very loudly in the corner Malalas mother in Urdu shouts "No, no no", which translated to "Not unless you marry her can you touch her". 'The Prince was so red in his face at that moment and he was clasping his hands in the front, Malala was so embarrassed.' They then successfully posed for a photo together - with Prince Harry firmly ensuring they weren't touching. Craig added: 'Every young womans dream, and I dont think the Prince had ever been told that he cant put his arm around someone.' MailOnline has contacted Kensington Palace for a comment. During his speech at the event, Prince Harry emphasised the need for young people to get involved with volunteering. Malala's mother shouted from the corner of the room to say 'not unless you marry her can you touch her' - leaving Harry, pictured earlier this month, incredibly embarrassed He said: 'If each of you could get just one more friend to help someone else, you will have started changing the lives of 20,000 people. 'Some people dont think it's cool to help others; personally I think its the coolest thing in the world!' Malala used her speech to talk about the importance of using your voice. She said: 'When I say these words, these words will appear very common: We should be kind to each other. We should be friendly to each other. We should love each other. 'In my opinion, this is a very short life. A very short life. We can hardly live up to 80, 90 years. In this short life, why do we hate each other? 'Why dont we love each other? Because the fact is that lets enjoy this life.' The women's rights campaigner, 20, is currently studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University. She started the course last October, and is treated like any other Fresher, according to her friends. Malala was shot by the Pakistan Taliban in 2012. Mullah Fazlullah, who ordered the attack on her, was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan in June last year. A New York-based vegan bakery is offering city dwellers the chance to chill out by indulging in some delicious cannabis-infused treats at one of two CBD cafe pop-ups over the next two weeks. Feelz by Chloe was created after the vegan brand tested a CBD-laced brownie - appropriately named the Daily Hit Brownie - on April 20th this year. The sweet was such a success for the brand that it decided to launch 25 treats for people to purchase at two of the By Chloe restaurants in New York City. In collaboration with Toast, a CBD brand, and weed-focused start-up Nice Paper, By Chloe created plant-based treats all infused with varying levels of CBD oil. Sweet high: By Chloe is launching two pop-up shops at its NYC locations that will feature a range of CBD-infused sweets Psychedelic: The pop-up shops are decorated with 70s memorabilia and accents Delicious: Included in the launch are 25 sweats ranging from cookies to mini pies to even dog treats for people's animals Tasty: The pop-up shops officially launched on Thursday at the Greenwich Village and Seaport District locations in NYC To celebrate the launch of the tasty sweets, By Chloe is transforming its two locations in Greenwich Village and Seaport District into a two-week long, 70s-inspired cafe starting on Thursday. Eat up! By Chloe's new Feelz by Chloe range was carefully curated by weed-focused start-up Nice Paper Consumers who visit the pop-up stores will see dessert display cases featuring granola, mini pies, push pops, beverages, rice krispies treats, popcorn and dog treats. The selection was created in collaboration with CBD start-up Toast, which provided the CBD for the delicious treats, while the spaces themselves, and the range of tasty items on offer, were curated by Nice Paper, a weed-focused start-up founded by New Yorkers Marta Freedman and Charlotte Palermino. 'I am a big believer in the benefits of CBD and the potential of this ever-expanding industry,' Samantha Wasser, Co-Founder and Creative Director of By Chloe, said. 'After seeing the overwhelming positive response we received from the Daily Hit Brownie earlier this year, I was inspired to create a full line of CBD-infused sweets for our By Chloe customers.' Groovy: By Chloe decided to launch the pop-up stores after the company first introduced a CBD-infused brownie on April 20 Success: The popularity of the brownie encouraged the company to pursue other sweets infused with the oil for future ventures Well-rounded: Included in the sweets, the company is also selling CBD-infused beauty products for purchase Bright: After the two-week launch of the pop-up stores, the company will also launch a selection of the sweets around the US and UK Exciting: The pop-up stores around the US and UK will officially launch on October 15 and run for six weeks in stores The two locations are experiencing a 'psychedelic' makeover with 70s-themed memorabilia, lighting and metallic accents. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THC AND CBD Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are both derived from the cannabis plant. Together, they are part of the cannabinoid group of compounds found in hashish, hash oil, and most strains of marijuana. THC is the psychoactive compound responsible for the euphoric, 'high' feeling often associated with marijuana. THC interacts with CB1 receptors in the central nervous system and brain and creates the sensations of euphoria and anxiety. CBD does not fit these receptors well, and actually decreases the effects of THC, and is not psychoactive. CBD is thought to help reduce anxiety and inflammation. Advertisement 'Chloe and Toast share a common goal to unlock the myriad of benefits that comfort the mind, body and soul through mindfully sourced ingredients and plant-based products,' Punit Seth said, CEO of Toast. 'Feelz by Chloe is a perfect brand to offer a fun yet sophisticated experience that consumers have come to expect from the Toast brand.' CBD is the strain of the marijuana plant that differs from THC - the element that provides the 'high' that many people get from marijuana; instead, CBD works to relax the body and has commonly been used for those with severe headaches or injuries. Although the ability to sell edibles laced with THC is illegal in New York City, and most places in the US, CBD oil is allowed. Included in the CBD-infused sweets for the pop-up launch will also be a CBD boutique onsite for anyone looking to implement the oil in their own beauty routines. Following the launch of the two pop-up stores in New York City, the sweets brand will also roll out a selection of the new treats in shops around the US and UK. These stores will launch on October 15 and run for six weeks in stores to 'keep the good vibes going' with delicious treats. Paramedics should treat more patients at the scene and not just automatically whisk them away to A&E, a report claims. Lord Carter of Coles, who led the review, estimated the move could save the cash-strapped health service around 300 million each year. The Labour peer also argued treating patients roadside would alleviate pressure on over-stretched casualty departments and hospitals across the UK. In a scathing attack on the standard practice in the NHS, he said: 'An ambulance is not a taxi to A&E'. Lord Carter of Coles, who led the review, estimated the move could save the cash-strapped health service around 300 million each year Lord Carter added: 'Too many patients are being unnecessarily taken to A&E by ambulances, putting further pressure on hospital services already on the back foot. 'Not only is this financially costly, but it takes up staff's time and means patients are having to spend time waiting in A&E when they should be recovering at home. 'Modern technology means that patients can often be treated at the scene. But an ageing ambulance fleet means that this is not always possible.' The report calls for ministers to invest in up to 3,300 new ambulances in the next five years to ensure staff can care for patients at the scene. Lord Carter's recommendation was based on examinations of 10 ambulance trusts in England, highlighting where they could save money. He claimed the NHS could save a further 200 million a year until 2021 by improving the infrastructure of ambulance trusts and staff productivity. And the non-executive director at NHS Improvement said the NHS fleet should be updated to allow paramedics better access to patient records and the best technology. Frontline staff should also be given better information about other health services they can refer patients to rather than A&E. CAN PARAMEDICS NOW GIVE OUT PRESCRIPTIONS? Advanced paramedics can now prescribe medications to people who do not require hospital treatment, MailOnline reported in April. Under UK laws, paramedics who have or are working towards a master's in their specialty, are now able to issue drugs without delay or such patients being required to visit their GP. Up to seven in 10 people seen by advanced care paramedics require assistance but not hospital treatment. Around 700 paramedics were due to be trained to make them qualified to issue prescriptions. Previous Nice recommendations to train more staff to become advanced paramedics claimed such a move could reduce hospital admissions by 13 per cent. It was hoped the development would free up A&E doctors to treat more needy patients. Advertisement Most staff currently unable to find out valuable medical information to make informed decisions about care, the report said. Lord Carter's report also suggested improvements in assessing patients over the phone during 999 calls would ease the strain on ambulance crews. The 72-year-old said: 'Paramedics and other staff have worked incredibly hard as demand for ambulances has soared. 'It is now vital that improvements are made in the infrastructure of the wider NHS to help frontline staff work as efficiently as possible.' The time an ambulance spends at hospital has increased from 27 minutes on average per patient to 35 minutes over the last decade. Delays during the NHS winter crisis, when ambulances were seen queuing outside A&Es with patients, cost trusts nearly 50 million. Miriam Deakin, deputy director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, urged chiefs to invest money into other areas of the health service. Commenting on the report, she said: 'We must recognise the role ambulance services often play as the 'front door' for patients. 'To be able to realise the levels of savings identified, we must address pressures in other parts of the health and care system. 'Reducing unnecessary trips to hospitals in ambulances could save money, but it will require investment in other areas.' The ambulance service has the highest sickness absence rate in the NHS, at an average of 20 days per person per year, the report also found. Ms Deakin said the workforce is at 'full stretch' and that the significant shortage of paramedics must be tackled urgently. Martin Flaherty, managing director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, said the body welcomed Lord Carter's report. NHS Improvement is set to consider the recommendations in a public board meeting today. A woman who suffered for eight years with such bad acne she says people called her a 'spotty freak' has banished her blemishes by taking the cannabis extract, CBD oil. Emily McClarron, from Rayleigh in Essex, was at her wits' end after trying various medicines and home remedies but failing to find anything that helped. She became so upset about her appearance she didn't want to be seen in public and turned down trips to the pub and meals out with her boyfriend. But since starting CBD oil capsules a legal herbal remedy made from the marijuana plant she says the sore, red spots have calmed down and she's taken her life back. Miss McClarron is now comfortable enough to go out in public without make-up and said: 'There may not be many scientific studies on it, but it's certainly worked for me.' So convinced by how well they work, she has begun her own business selling the capsules to other people across the UK. Emily McClarron, 25, had such severe acne she says people called her 'pizza face' and a 'spotty freak', and she suffered with the embarrassing skin condition for eight years Cruelly dubbed 'pizza face' and 'a spotty freak' during her battle with severe acne, Miss McClarron had become so self-conscious she didn't want to leave the house. When persistent, angry spots first erupted on her cheeks and chin at 17, she began a tireless trawl through every skin treatment she could find. 'It was awful,' she said. 'I tried everything, but nothing seemed to help. 'I'd try and cover up the spots with make-up and just felt so down and depressed about how I looked. All I would see when I looked in the mirror was the acne.' Back and forth to her doctor over the years Miss McClarron, who works as a stock controller, was prescribed everything from antibiotics to gels in a bid to reduce her livid red skin, but nothing worked. After years of trying everything from antibiotics to homemade face washes, she started taking CBD oil capsules. Cannabidiol, shortened to CBD, is a legal herbal remedy made from the cannabis and does not contain the outlawed ingredient which makes people high, THC. Miss McClarron said: 'The cannabis capsules make me feel more relaxed and stress was a huge trigger for my skin-breakouts. Miss McClarron, pictured recently with her partner of nine years, Connor Lepine, 27, says CBD oil capsules have cleared up her skin so well she now feels confident enough to go out without make-up on, after her past skin problems had made her too anxious to go out WHAT IS CBD OIL AND IS IT LEGAL IN THE UK? Government advisers made it legal to buy CBD supplements in 2016 CBD oil is a legal cannabinoid that can be sold in the UK. CBD contains less than 0.2 per cent of the psychoactive substance THC. Although the oil has been thought to have some medicinal properties, including relieving inflammation, pain and anxiety, there is no conclusive science. Suppliers in England and Wales have to obtain a licence to sell CBD as a medicine. Manufacturers are able to avoid the strict regulation by selling it as a food supplement - ignoring the lengthy process of gaining a medicinal licence. CBD products comes in many forms, the most popular being an oil - which users spray under their tongue - or gel tablets which melt slowly in the mouth. Government advisers at the MHRA found that CBD has a restoring, correcting or modifying effect on humans. Cannabis oil, which is different to CBD oil because it contains THC - the compound that gives users a 'high' - is illegal under UK laws. Billy Caldwell, from Castlederg, Northern Ireland, made headlines last April when he became the first Briton to be prescribed it on the NHS. Cannabis oil, which reportedly has no side effects, influences the release and uptake of feel good chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. Advertisement 'I read online that cannabis oil can help relieve inflammation, provide pain relief and reduce anxiety. 'There may not be many conclusive scientific studies on it, but it's certainly worked for me.' The successful CBD oil treatment came as a huge relief for Miss McClarron, who has been dating plasterer Connor Lepine, 27, for nine years, after she was struggling to see results from other therapies and the condition was affecting her social life. 'I had bad reactions to everything,' she said. 'I had a rash all over my body and my face swelled up like I had been stung by a wasp. 'With one gel I even felt like the top layer of skin had burnt off. 'I begged my doctor to refer me to a dermatologist, hoping they would be able to suggest something else. 'I was at my wits' end. My skin was so bad, strangers asked me "What's wrong with your skin?", called me a "spotty freak" and "pizza face" which hurt a lot.' Miss McClarron suffered with acne for eight years after first developing the painful red spots when she was 17 she tried various antibiotics and skin treatments but nothing worked for her The stock controller from Rayleigh, Essex, turned down the powerful anti-acne drug Roaccutane because it can cause depression and she was already unhappy because of her skin Finally referred to a specialist earlier this year, after eight years of suffering, Miss McClarron was offered the powerful acne drug Roaccutane. 'I knew I didn't want the drug as, even though it works for a lot of people, it does come with a lot of bad side-effect warnings, including depression and mood changes,' she explained. WHAT IS CBD? CBD cannabidiol is a concentrated extract of the cannabis plant which usually comes in oil form. It doesn't contain the chemical known as THC, which is what gives people a high and makes cannabis illegal in the UK. CBD isn't known to cause psychoactive effects so is attractive to people who believe there are other benefits to cannabis. Although not much scientific research has been done, people use the oil because they believe it helps conditions such as acne, pain, Alzheimer's disease and cancer, and for apparent benefits to learning and memory. Cannabis-based drugs have also shown promise in treating epilepsy. In 2016, Forbes reported CBD products are expected to be a $2.2 billion (1.6bn) industry by 2020. Source: Live Science Advertisement 'I was already really down, because of my skin and didn't want to risk feeling any worse.' Both her mental health and her social life suffered because of her acne. Miss McClarron continued: 'My fella would ask me to go out to the pub, or for dinner, but I wouldn't want to leave the house. 'My anxiety got worse, as I was so insecure about how I looked. Connor would tell me I looked gorgeous, but I didn't believe it.' Feeling helpless, she turned to her kitchen cupboard and started making her own skin care products. 'I didn't want to put a really strong drug into my body, but didn't know what else to do,' she said. 'So, I started researching how to treat acne online and read that honey and turmeric can help. 'I was honestly at the point where I would have tried anything.' Mixing the two ingredients together, Miss McClarron started using her concoction as a face mask, then making a face wash from honey, jojoba oil, evening primrose oil and lavender oil. Noticing a change in her skin, but not a transformation, three months ago she discovered cannabis capsules and began taking one 10mg tablet every day. Containing CBD oil, which does not make people high and is legal, she started to notice her stress levels a trigger for her acne plummet. After trying to make her own homemade face masks, Miss McClarron (pictured with Mr Lepine) started taking one 10mg CBD capsule each day and quickly saw an improvement in her complexion Miss McClarron said the CBD hasn't cured her but has got her acne totally under control, and she is so convinced of its benefits she has begun selling the capsules to others online She continued: 'Since I started taking the capsules, combined with homemade skin products, people have told me how amazing my skin looks. 'When I tell them it's down to cannabis capsules they ask if it's legal, which of course it is. 'Before this, if I was feeling anxious, I'd have a really bad break-out if but the tablets have made me feel much calmer so I am not getting the terrible acne I was. 'The cannabis hasn't cured me, but it has helped take control of my severe acne once and for all.' Now Miss McClarron is even looking into selling her homemade skin products to help others, and already sells cannabis oil capsules across the UK. She said: 'Now my skin is 99 per cent better. 'I still have some scarring, but now I have been able to have treatment to help them, and even finally feel confident to go out without make-up on, which I never did before. 'I have got to the point where I don't care what people think, I feel so happy with the way I am.' Social withdrawal After a life trauma many people avoid the contact of others. As seen in prisoners-of-war, they may also struggle to show emotion and become indifferent to other people's suffering. This can be a way of coping because it allows them to disengage from their feelings in order to be more emotionally stable, according to Dr Leach. But, if it persists, they may struggle to gather enthusiasm or interest for anything. Apathy This occurs when a person is no longer interested in looking after themselves and may even lack the motivation to shower, Dr Leach said. The Italian chemist Primo Levi, who survived the Holocaust, said: 'After only one week of prison, the instinct for cleanliness completely disappeared in me. For some, 'the smallest task begins to feel like the mightiest eort, according to an Englishman who was held in a Russian prison between 2003 and 2005. A person can pass away in as little as three days after a traumatic life event if they believe they cannot overcome it, according to an academic from the University of Portsmouth (stock) Aboulia If apathy goes unchecked, it can lead to aboulia - the inability to take initiative or make decisions. 'Many inmates ceased to wash. This was the rst step to the grave,' a concentration camp victim said. 'It was an almost iron law: Those who failed to wash every day soon died.' People with aboulia may withdraw deeper with themselves and struggle to even speak. Often, people at this stage continue to look after others, such as their children, but become less and less motivated to care for themselves. 'An interesting thing about aboulia is there appears to be an empty mind or a consciousness devoid of content,' Dr Leach said. 'People at this stage who have recovered describe it as having a mind like mush, or of having no thought whatsoever. 'In aboulia, the mind is on stand-by and a person has lost the drive for goal directed behaviour.' Psychic akinesia Psychic akinesia can occur when a person's motivation drops so much they may even become incontinent and lie in their own waste. Also at this stage, many prisoners-of-war have become unaware of pain and may not even flinch during beatings. In Dr Leach's research, he describes a 19-year-old woman diagnosed with psychic akinesia who suffered second-degree burns while on a beach. Although likely in extreme pain, she was not motivated enough to cover up. Psychogenic death The final stage of 'give-up-itis', Dr Leach describes psychogenic death as someone totally losing the will to live. 'They might be lying in their own excreta and nothing - no warning, no beating, no pleading can make them want to live,' according to Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and survivor of the Holocaust. In concentration camps, people who reached this stage were often known to be near death when they started smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes were highly valuable in camps and could be traded for food. 'When a prisoner took out a cigarette and lit it, their campmates knew the person had truly given up, had lost faith in their ability to carry on and would soon be dead,' Dr Leach said. Before passing away, someone may even show a flicker of life, such as enjoying a cigarette. 'It appears briefly as if the "empty mind" stage has passed and has been replaced by what could be described as goal-directed behaviour,' Dr Leach said. 'But the paradox is that while a flicker of goal-directed behaviour often takes place, the goal itself appears to have become relinquishing life.' But death does not have to be inevitable in a person suffering from give-up-itis. Exercising and realising you do have at least some control over your life both trigger the release of the feel-good hormone dopamine, according to Dr Leach. 'Reversing the give-up-itis slide towards death tends to come when a survivor finds or recovers a sense of choice, of having some control, and tends to be accompanied by that person licking their wounds and taking a renewed interest in life,' he said. 'We all knew that if we didnt get our minds o dying that any one of us would be next,' a prisoner-of-war added. A mother-of-one has defied the odds and is walking again after a motorcycle accident left her with a debilitating nerve condition. Amberly Lago was riding her Harley in Los Angeles, California, in May 2010 when she was accidentally hit by an SUV and flung 30 feet down the street. Lago landed on her right leg, which left it crushed beyond repair. But in the weeks that followed the accident, even the slightest touch left her in severe pain. That's when doctors diagnosed the 46-year-old with a rare nerve condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). The condition allegedly causes the most pain a human can endure and has come to be known as 'suicide disease' because of how many people take their own lives following a diagnosis. Amberly Lago, 46, from Los Angeles, California, has defied the odds and is walking again after a motorcycle accident left with a debilitating nerve condition. Pictured: Lago in the hospital in 2010 with her daughter She was hit by an SUV and flung 30 feet down the street. Lago spent three-and-a-half months in the hospital following her accident and underwent 34 surgeries. Pictured: Lago in the hospital 'I remember every detail from the moment I realized the SUV didn't see me, the impact and how it felt to be crushed, how it felt to slide across the pavement,' Lago, a personal trainer, said. 'I felt my flesh being ripped off and I saw my leg in pieces.' Lago was rushed the hospital where doctors, despite the initial recommendation to amputate, saved her leg. After a couple of weeks, as her leg remained purple and swollen, she was diagnosed with CRPS. According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, CRPS usually develops in an arm or a leg and after an injury, a surgery, a heart attack or a stroke. Symptoms include a burning sensation in the affected extremity; sensitivity to touch or cold; swelling; and changes in skin temperature, skin color and skin texture. The cause of CRPS is not well-understood but is believed to be due to the peripheral and central nervous systems being injured. Currently there is no known cure although there are a number of therapies used to manage symptoms including oral and topical pain relievers, nerve-blocking medications and behavioral management therapy. Lago was also diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a rare condition that causes her to skin to feel like it's burning She has undergone multiple treatments including massages, spinal cord stimulation and spinal blocks, which involves narcotics or an anesthetic being injected with a needle, in an attempt to block the pain. Pictured, left and right: the difference between Lago's legs There are fewer than 200,000 CRPS patients in the US with the disease affecting two to five percent of people with peripheral nerve injuries. 'At first I lived in denial and pretended nothing was wrong,' Lago said. 'Everything I read about CRPS left me feeling hopeless. Arriving at a place of acceptance was a path through darkness and self-doubt.' LIVING IN PAIN: WHAT IS CRPS? Complex Regional Pain Syndrome usually develops after an injury, often a minor injury. The pain is often unconnected to the seriousness of the injury and can be out of all proportion from what the sufferer would expect. The condition is little-understood, but some medical experts think it is caused by damage to the nervous system, which causes nerves to misfire in some way, triggering pain. If left untreated the pain can spread to other parts of the body too. Some sufferers have repeated episodes of pain followed by stretches of pain-free remission. It can be treated by physiotherapy, to prevent muscle wasting, certain types of painkillers and counselling to help people cope with the chronic pain. Advertisement Lago spent three-and-a-half months in the hospital following her accident, undergoing 34 surgeries and having plates and pins inserted into her leg. During the early phases of her recovery, she said didn't like showing her leg because it was heavily scarred. 'My first step was readjusting my attitude towards my leg and learning to love it again despite the fact that it was scarred, didn't work properly and gave me pain,' Lago said. She said she faced discouragement from the medical professionals who treated her. 'I had one doctor tell me I would probably never wear shorts again because of how my leg looked,' Lago said. 'Another doctor said after my thirtieth surgery it would have been better to have just amputated it.' But she persevered and worked to regain her mobility. 'It took me four months to stand again and I walked with crutches some of the time and was in a wheelchair the rest of the time,' she said. 'I was told I would need to stay in my wheelchair for the rest of my life and would always be disabled.' After two years, Lago was finally able to no longer rely on a wheelchair, which motivated her to start running again and training at the gym. She still deals with the effects of CRPS and says she has tried multiple treatments including massages, spinal cord stimulation and spinal blocks, which involves narcotics or an anesthetic being injected with a needle, in an attempt to block the pain It took Lago (left and right) four months to stand again but she still had to rely on a wheelchair. After two years, she no longer had to rely on a wheelchair started training at the gym again Lago is now working as a personal trainer again and has even written a book, True Grit and Grace: Turning Tragedy Into Triumph, about her journey after the accident. Pictured: Lago's leg shortly after the accident 'Pretty much anything or anyone who claimed they could get me out pain I was willing to give it a try,' she said. Lago is now working as a personal trainer again and has even written a book, True Grit and Grace: Turning Tragedy Into Triumph, about her journey after the accident. 'Working with people is a gift and has given my life purpose, it pulled me out of depression. I have a different mindset now because helping others is the key to happiness,' she said. 'My story illustrates the possibility of enjoying life despite living with chronic pain, I encourage everyone to start where they are, be grateful for what they have and be gentle to themselves.' Marcia Cross is recovering from anal cancer, a disease that mainly affects women in their late 50s and 60s. Cross, 56, posted a picture on Instagram last week revealing she is 'so grateful and happy to be alive but sad that my hair fell out'. She then clarified that she is 'post cancer' and feeling healthy. Anal cancer is the same disease that killed Farrah Fawcett at the age of 62 in 2015. Nonetheless, after Cross's post, Google searches rocketed for anal cancer, which is fairly rare and is often confused with other cancers of the colon and rectum. What is the difference between colon, rectal and anal cancers? While all are distinct, it is possible to have combinations - such as colorectal cancer or anorectal cancer. Colon cancer and rectal cancer both start internally. They arise from glandular tissue. The big difference with anal cancer is that it's external, starting in the squamous cells (i.e. flat cells that are mainly skin cells). Anal cancer is the only one of the three that is linked to HPV. This is the picture Marcia Cross posted last week revealing her cancer battle. She captioned it saying she was happily post-cancer but sad to have lost her hair through treatment Most anal cancer cases are caught late, as was the case for Charlie's Angels star Farrah Fawcett (center), who died of anal cancer at the age of 62 in 2015 How common is anal cancer? Anal canal carcinoma affects 7,270 Americans a year. Around 1,200 people die a year of anal cancer. Roughly two thirds of sufferers are women, and 80 percent of them are in their 60s. What causes anal cancer? The biggest risk factors for it are anal intercourse and HPV, the most common sexually-transmitted disease in America which affects most adults and is linked to a variety of cancers. Things that dampen the body's immune system are also major risk factors. Smoking, for example, weakens the body's ability to keep HPV at bay. Those who have HIV, which cripples the immune system, have a higher risk, too. Having an anal fistula also increases a person's risk. What are the symptoms? Around half of anal cancer cases are detected in the earliest stages. As a result, though it is treatable, the survival rate is relatively low: 67 percent live five years after their diagnosis. One in five patients do not show symptoms. Those who do, likely experience one of the following: Bleeding from the anus or rectum Pain in the anal area A mass or growth in the anal opening Lingering itch in the anal area Change in bowel habits Narrowing of stools Discharge from the anus Swollen lymph glands in the anal area Cross said she is 'so grateful and happy to be alive but sad that my hair fell out'. She then clarified that she is 'post cancer' and feeling healthy How is it treated? Anal cancer can be treated with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. For stage 0, before it has spread anywhere, surgery can be a first option, to remove the cancerous cells. For stage 1 and 2, if the tumor is small (smaller than one-and-a-half inches), surgery is an option, followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. If that can't be done without harming the anal sphincter, radiation therapy is the first option for most. Past stage 2, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are recommended. The Department of Health and Human Services is investigating the use of fetal tissue in medical research across the US, the agency said this week. Already, HHS has cancelled a contract between the Food and Drug Administration and the company that has been supplying it with a small amount of human tissue its own drug testing. Fetal tissue has long been a divisive and highly-politicized issue in the US. The biomedical industry has relied on the malleable cells for groundbreaking research, but the use of fetal tissue has raised questions of morality and ethics throughout its history. Some, too, have argued that stem cells provide a less controversial replacement for fetal tissue. Daily Mail Online spoke to an expert who broke down the differences between and respective values of stem cells and fetal tissue, and why they both still play important but controversial roles in medicine. Stem cells (pictured) can be gathered from adult human bone marrow, but they are not a substitute for fetal tissue that the Trump administration is investigating the use of, experts say In accordance with the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) standards, fetal tissue is obtained from human embryos that died in the womb, were still born or aborted. Embryonic and stem cells are fundamentally different from other human tissues in that they are in a state of flux. After the embryonic stage, the human body is composed of four different types of tissue cells: connective tissues, muscle, nervous tissue and epithelial tissues that line the organs and much of the body cavity. But embryonic cells have not yet been differentiated - though they are more distinguished than stem cells - into these distinct component tissues. This means that scientists can manipulate these cells into any kind of tissue. Then, they can study human medical problems without inflicting them upon humans: the development of all manner of diseases, how a vaccine affects human tissue and more. Some day, cell samples taken from live newborns that scientists 'rewind,' so to speak - back to their undifferentiated states - and stem cells taken from adult blood or bone marrow may be able to take the place of fetal tissue in research. But we're not there yet, according to Dr Emmanuelle Passegue, director of Columbia University's Stem Cell Initiative. Fetal tissues are still malleable, but not quite as undefined as stem cells, which are what scientists call 'very pluripotent,' and therefore harder to predict and control. Scientists can also 'induce a pluripotent state' in cell samples from newborn babies, or slightly differentiate stem cells to get them to a comparable stage, so they can study diseases that affect babies, embryos and adults, Dr Passegue says. 'It works but it still has a lot of problems, and we cannot understand the problem with this approach and refine it if we don't compare it to real fetal tissue.' Fetal tissue comes from fetuses that do not survive to childbirth. Some of these samples come from stillbirths and miscarriages, which present less of an ethical quandary in a nation split over abortion. But there are only an estimated 26,000 stillbirths a year in the US. Between 15 and 20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriages, but many occur before a woman knows she is pregnant, and often outside of hospitals in unsanitary environments, making tissue collection unlikely. On the other hand, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 650,000 legal abortions are performed each year in the US. Before scientists gain access to this tissue, the woman undergoing the abortion must give her consent that the aborted fetus be donated. 'It's not frequent, and that's a big limitation,' says Dr Passegue. These arrangements, including those that several universities have with Planned Parenthood are not money-making endeavors, Dr Passegue insists. 'But the attack made by the anti abortion group is cannot sell piece of human fetus is in very political context,' she says. Universities like Columbia often collect these samples through partnerships with their affiliated or partner hospitals, 'but you get a really limited number of samples,' she adds. 'You need strong proof when you do medical research, so you need to strong proof and enough samples to do that. To really conduct the medical research you need to do, you turn to companies to establish this collection,' says Dr Passegue. In fact, the US government itself, vis-a-vis the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did just this. The FDA had a contract with Advanced bioscience Resources in California, which provided fetal tissue for the agency's research. About $15,000 a year went to the company for samples used to create 'humanized mouse models' for studying vaccine and medication reactions. 'When you look at the numbers, it's really not an enormous contract,' Dr Passegue says, particularly for samples that are 'expensive to collect.' 'And it's a very important part of the whole biomedical enterprise. 'Human experimentation is the last stage in the development of a drug. To develop a treatment, you need to be able to ... make mice more human, and you can only do that by creating a more human-like mouse.' Such research is not just key to studying diseases of age that affect adults or the safety of vaccines for us all - studying fetal tissue is key to reducing the number stillbirths and miscarriages and number of babies born with birth defects. 'We are study the actual disease tissue, too. Our understanding of microcephaly, for example, has only been possible because of fetal tissue,' says Dr Passegue. 'By this day and age it should be obvious why fetal tissue is absolute essential: we have to be able to understand the beginning of life and how to treat it.' Dr Passegue notes that parents watching their children in the neonatal intensive care unit are 'not the ones arguing we shouldn't do this ... if we don't know the disease we don't know the treatment,' she says. 'I hope that that will balance this kind of dark-age of science that is happening where the anti-abortion and pro-life movement have more of a say in the direction of science than previously. 'We are using tissue coming from voluntary of abortion to get to this stage, and its for the good of humanity; its not to destroy babies.' Health officials are monitoring anyone who came into contact with the UKs third monkeypox victim for the virus' deadly symptoms. A hospital worker has become the third person in the UK to be struck down with deadly monkeypox. The unnamed mother-of-two, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, is thought to have caught the potentially life-threatening virus while changing bedding at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Her 50-year-old husband is also believed to have got the disease after his face broke out in spots - the tell-tale sign of the disease. Although monkeypox has no vaccine, the smallpox jab is thought to be 85 per cent effective against the disease. Health officials are monitoring anyone who came into contact with the UKs third monkeypox victim for the virus' deadly symptoms (stock) A hospital worker who became the third person in the UK to be struck down with deadly monkeypox has blamed 'pathetically small' NHS gloves for failing to protect her (stock) A spokeswoman for Public Health England said: We are following up with close contacts of the third case to provide advice and monitor their health. 'We are adopting a highly precautionary approach to minimise the risk of additional cases and are tracing anyone who had contact with this individual 24 hours before they noticed a rash. Following an assessment of their exposure to the case, we have been asking contacts to monitor their own health each day for 21 days after exposure. They are asked to report any symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, rash, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion to their designated PHE team. 'The group with higher level of exposures will also be offered vaccine. The mother-of-two, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, is thought to have caught the possibly fatal virus while changing bedding at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. The previous two victims caught the virus in Nigeria before travelling to the UK The healthcare worker has blamed 'pathetically small' NHS gloves for failing to protect her against monkeypox. She said: 'The gloves were too short to cover my arms and left my skin exposed while changing the bed. I think that's how I got infected'. The mother-of-two, who has not been identified, developed flu-like symptoms after working at the hospital, where one of the previous victims had been. Fear of the virus spreading is high among the public, with some questioning how many patients the health worker may have treated before she was diagnosed. Public Health England has already ordered smallpox vaccines to give to health workers treating the first two patients. The woman also told The Sun: 'They told us we weren't at risk but that's obviously nonsense. I'm terrified about what may happen to me and my family.' She is the first person to catch monkeypox in the UK. The mother-of-two is now being treated by doctors in isolation at the specialist unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle. The previous two victims caught the virus in Nigeria before travelling to the UK. Officials have confirmed they are both also still in isolation at different hospitals. PHE warned patients remain infectious for up to three weeks - until the rash has scabbed over and the scabs have dropped off. It is thought nurses and doctors are wearing respirator masks, eye protection and disposable gowns, gloves and shoe covers to provide care. Newer antivirals may be also used. PHE revealed the unnamed medic had treated the second patient at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. However, officials on Wednesday said she had come into contact with the patient before they were confirmed to have monkeypox. PHE had repeatedly claimed the risk of infection was low, and staff, patients and visitors were safe. However, it has since said the new case was 'not wholly unexpected'. It comes after PHE issued an urgent monkeypox warning in the wake of the first two cases, declaring it could be spread through bedding. Monkeypox - often caught through handling monkeys - is a rare viral disease that kills around 10 per cent of people it strikes, according to figures (stock) The mother-of-two is thought to have caught the possibly fatal virus while working as a healthcare assistant and changing bedding at Blackpool Victoria Hospital (above, file photo) DIDN'T THEY WARN IT COULD BE SPREAD THROUGH BEDDING? Health chiefs issued an urgent monkeypox warning earlier this month telling doctors and nurses to avoid touching suspected cases with their bare hands. Public Health England (PHE) gave out the official guidance after the second patient was struck down with the killer virus in the UK. Officials revealed monkeypox can be spread through contact with clothing or linen, such as bedding or towels, used by an infected person. They said medics must wear gloves when touching patients who could be infected and practise good hand hygiene because the disease can spread between people via a rash which develops into skin lesions which later scab and fall off. PHE released the guidance in a document called 'Monkeypox: information for primary care'. Advertisement In guidance aimed at doctors and nurses, the Government agency urged them to avoid touching suspected cases with their hands and to always wear gloves. PHE said the health worker was following standard guidance because the patient they were treating had not been confirmed to have monkeypox. Commenting on the third case, Dr Nick Phin, deputy director of the National Infection Service at PHE, said: 'This healthcare worker cared for the patient before a diagnosis of monkeypox was made. 'We have been actively monitoring contacts for 21 days after exposure to detect anyone presenting with an illness so that they can be assessed quickly. 'It is therefore not wholly unexpected that a case has been identified. 'This person has been isolated and we are taking a highly precautionary approach to ensure that all contacts are traced.' Andy Welch, medical director of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We are currently treating a patient who has been diagnosed with monkeypox. The medical professional is being treated by doctors in the specialist unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle (pictured) WHAT IS THE PROTOCOL AT BLACKPOOL VICTORIA HOSPITAL? A practice nurse whose colleague contracted monkeypox from a patient said the hospital have specific procedures for dealing with sufferers of infectious disease. The nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, said a patient with an infectious disease would usually be moved to a separate ward in Blackpool Victoria Hospital to be isolated. The nurse said: Usual procedure with a patient you believe doesn't have an infectious disease, you would give them some water or coffee without wearing any gloves. In the case [of someone who has an infection], that person would be on [a separate ward] to prevent the infection. They would be in a side room, isolated with double doors so when you open one, the one behind you closes and locks. That would be usual for an infected patient. When we know or there is a query of an infectious disease the person goes to that separate ward. It is a small ward with only around eight side rooms. In case we can't do that, the patient gets transferred to another ward with a side room. The patient would have a trolley which tells [the nurse] whether they have an infection. The nurse would wear a different apron to other nurses, it is yellow [if they have been infected]. The nurse said staff within the hospital have spoken about their concerns this morning [Sep 27] after reading about the case in the media. He added: People have spoken about it [within the hospital]. For the policies of the hospital we are very concentrated and focused on being careful. ' Advertisement 'The patient is in isolation and being cared for by specialist and highly trained staff who are experienced in dealing with a variety of infectious diseases. 'There is no risk to other patients and visitors and we have robust procedures in place to ensure our patients and staff are protected. In order to maintain patient confidentiality we will not release any further information.' William Thirtle, from Newcastle, was being treated at the RVI for a problem with his eyesight. The 53-year-old labourer said: 'You aren't going to want to come in to here when all you hear on the news is about this deadly and contagious disease that's here. 'I know that the woman concerned is in isolation, but who has she been in contact with? 'She contracted it because she is a nurse - so how do you know her patients she treated before she was diagnosed haven't contracted it.' He added: 'It's worrying because these are vulnerable people. It's just awful. I am diabetic, but am here today for a problem with my eyesight. 'I wasn't sure about coming, but I thought I'd rather come and risk it then lose my eyesight. 'I have to come back here in two weeks, but if things haven't died down by then I might have to go elsewhere.' The viral disease was recorded for the first time in the UK on September 7 in a Nigerian national staying at a naval base in Cornwall. The patient was transferred to the expert infectious disease unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London the following day. A second person was then confirmed to have been struck down with the virus on September 11. The unidentified patient first went to Blackpool Victoria Hospital with symptoms, before they tested positive for monkeypox. WHAT IS MONKEYPOX? Monkeypox - often caught through handling monkeys - is a rare viral disease that kills around 10 per cent of people it strikes, according to figures. The virus responsible for the disease is found mainly in the tropical areas of west and central Africa. Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958, with the first reported human case in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970. Human cases were recorded for the first time in the US in 2003 and the UK in September 2018. It resides in wild animals but humans can catch it through direct contact with animals, such as handling monkeys, or eating inadequately cooked meat. The virus can enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract, or the eyes, nose or mouth. It can pass between humans via droplets in the air, and by touching the skin of an infected individual, or touching objects contaminated by them. Symptoms usually appear within five and 21 days of infection. These include a fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. The most obvious symptom is a rash, which usually appears on the face before spreading to other parts of the body. This then forms skin lesions that scab and fall off. Monkeypox is usually mild, with most patients recovering within a few weeks without treatment. Yet, the disease can often prove fatal. There are no specific treatments or vaccines available for monkeypox infection, according to the World Health Organization. Advertisement They were then sent for treatment at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, a specialist centre. Further information on the state of the first two patients has not yet been released. Officials believe both the first two patients caught the virus, often spread through handling monkeys and proves fatal in 10 per cent of cases, in Nigeria before flying to England. Nigeria was hit hard by a virulent outbreak of monkeypox last September, with 89 people infected and six deaths recorded in March. The country had not previously reported a case of the disease since 1978. The most recent government figures, released last year, estimate there are 190,000 people that were born in Nigeria who currently live in the UK. Monkeypox is a rare viral infection that was first discovered in monkeys in 1958. While similar to smallpox, it is not as deadly. The first case in a human was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, and since cases have been reported in central and west African countries. Initial symptoms include fever, headache and chills. As the illness develops large welts can appear over the face and body. Monkeypox resides in wild animals but humans can catch it through direct contact with animals, such as handling monkeys, or eating inadequately cooked meat. It can pass between humans via droplets in the air, and by touching the skin of an infected individual, or touching objects contaminated by them. Most people who contract the disease recover within a few weeks, but in up to 10 per cent of cases it is fatal. The virus was recorded for the first time in the UK on Friday, September 7 in a Nigerian national staying in Cornwall, who is now being treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London (pictured) It comes after an eminent virologist earlier this month told MailOnline monkeypox infects 10 per cent of people who come into contact with sufferers. Professor Earl Brown, at the University of Ottawa, said hospital staff treating the patient at are particularly at risk of catching the deadly virus. Thirty-seven people were confirmed to have been struck down by monkeypox in an outbreak in the US in 2003. It was the first time the disease, which had been confirmed in five states, had been reported in humans outside of Africa. Monkeypox was two years ago named as one of 37 viruses that pose a potential threat to populations around the world. University of Edinburgh listed the virus among MERS and two strains of Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever responsible for a brutal pandemic in 2014. Not built Ford tough. Photo: Tom Williams - Pool/Getty Images Every once in a while, Donald Trumps mouth outruns his lies and historys most mendacious president becomes its most helplessly honest one. Wednesday afternoon was such an occasion. On the eve of Christine Blasey Fords testimony to the Senate, the president (momentarily) forgot to disguise his indifference to the merits of her allegation. Rather, Trump told reporters that Senate Republicans could have pushed Brett Kavanaughs nomination through two and a half weeks ago, and you wouldnt be talking about it right now, which is frankly what I wouldve preferred. This was also what the GOPs Senate leadership preferred (until Jeff Flake, and Susan Collins forced it to pretend otherwise). And on Thursday morning, it wasnt hard to see why Republicans had hoped to avoid the hearing because, throughout the spectacle, it wasnt hard (for a national television audience) to see their partys bad faith. Chuck Grassley couldnt it make it through his opening remarks without suggesting that he was more outraged by the inconvenient timing of Fords allegations than he was interested in ascertaining their veracity. The committee chairman framed the very concept of an extended investigation into Fords claims as a kind of dirty trick, lamenting, Some of my colleagues, consistent with their stated desires to obstruct Kavanaughs nomination by any means precisely by any means necessary, pushed for FBI investigations into the allegations. The panels other (universally male) Republicans cowered behind the female prosecutor theyd hired to do their clumsy cross-examinations for them. Meanwhile, if Fords testimony wasnt so harrowing, it would have been almost comical in its competence. A woman alleging sexual assault should not have to be an expert in the psychology of trauma to have her account taken seriously. But Fords academic expertise empowered her to account for the discrepancies in her memory in pristine, scientific terms that her inquisitors were ill-equipped to contest. Asked how she could be sure that it was Brett Kavanaugh who had assaulted her at that party 36 years ago (even as she has failed to recall other details of the night in question), Ford replied: The same way that Im sure that Im talking to you right now. Just basic memory functions and also just the level of norepinephrine and the epinephrine in the brain that as you know encodes that neurotransmitter that codes memories into the hippocampus and so the trauma-related experience is locked there, whereas other details kind of drift. While Fords expertise lent authority to her words, the audible anxiety in her voice as she related them discredited the far rights attempts to portray her as a camera-hungry fabulist. Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes prosecutor whod been drafted into the proceedings, did her best to poke holes in Fords account and raise questions as to her credibility. But the GOP had given her precious little material to work with. And, as many conservatives lamented, the bizarre format of the interrogation did Mitchell no favors. This is an awful process. If you're going to have an evidentiary hearing, it's not fair to the witness or conducive to the goal of getting to the bottom of things to disjoint hearing with 5-minute rounds rather than let each side have time to develop lines of inquiry. Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) September 27, 2018 The prosecutor ended up spending inordinate energy exposing the fact that even though Ford claimed to have a fear of flying (and requested the hearing be delayed to enable her to travel from California by ground transportation) she nevertheless has traveled by plane at least several times in the past. Professor Ford responded by noting that her anxiety about flying was less intense when her destination was a vacation in Hawaii than it was this week, when she was headed to a nationally televised Senate hearing, where she would be interrogated about the most traumatic evening of her life. This was, apparently, the closest Republicans got to damaging Fords credibility. Related? The flying bit is flashing atop Breitbart pic.twitter.com/C2sVPqzBqj Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) September 27, 2018 On the other hand, the hearing gave Ford and the committees Democrats the opportunity to air two facts that are deeply inconvenient to the GOP. First, that Ford reported her allegation to her congressional representative in June, before Kavanaugh was nominated (a fact that undermines the notion that she is acting as a sociopathic partisan hellbent on keeping a conservative off the court). And second, that even as they complain about the lack of corroboration of Fords account, Senate Republicans have refused to compel testimony from Mark Judge, an alleged third-party eyewitness to the attack in question. All of which is to say: In trying to expose Fords fraudulence, Senate Republicans only exposed their own. GOP officials and operatives might contest that assessment. But theyre in near unanimous agreement that Fords testimony was a disaster for Kavanaugh and quite possibly, for their party. After watching Fords performance, President Trump told allies he was furious that WH aides didnt have advance knowledge of how credible Ford would seem, according to Vanity Fairs Gabriel Sherman. The presidents closest advisers which is to say, the talking heads on Fox News at any given moment were similarly impressed with Ford. Judge Andrew Napolitano called Kavanaughs accuser extremely credible, adding Rachel Mitchell is not laying a glove on her. This was extremely emotional, extremely raw, and extremely credible, Chris Wallace opined. This is a disaster for the Republicans. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn whod previously argued against allowing Ford to air her allegations in a public show trial told reporters, I found no reason to find her not credible. One might find such an about-face from a staunch Kavanaugh defender surprising. But Lindsey Graham deftly illustrated the political hazards of standing by the nominee in the wake of Thursday mornings hearing. Unable to discredit her testimony on its own terms, Graham was forced to express indignation at the absence of supporting evidence which leads, inevitably, to the question of why he and his party oppose an extended investigation into the matter. And Graham has no satisfying reply to that inquiry. Because the honest answer is that any further delay could jeopardize the GOPs capacity to put another far-right judge on the bench and, at the end of the day, Republicans would much rather have a serial sex offender whose jurisprudence pleases the pro-life movement and corporate America than a personally puritanical jurist who evinces no hostility to abortion or labor rights. Which is an understandable position, but not one a political party interested in improving its numbers with college-educated woman would wish to broadcast. GRAHAM: We don't even know what house this happened in! Or what day specifically! REPORTER: Isn't that an argument for an FBI investigation? G: Why didn't Dems call for one in August? R: That doesn't answer the Q. G: Well, the FBI wouldn't have told us anything useful anyway. pic.twitter.com/XeKXD509qm Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2018 And yet, on Thursday, that is precisely what the Republican Party did. A days-old baby boy contracted HIV from his father after coming into contact with fluid leaking from a lesion on his skin, a report has concluded. The child, who is now nine years old, has been the subject of a lengthy investigation since being diagnosed amid fears of sexual abuse, because his father is HIV positive but his mother is not. Researchers across Portugal, and a phylogenetics expert in the US, performed physical and genetic analyses, mapping out HIV samples from both father and son, who have not been identified. They concluded that the boy had no signs of sexual abuse, and his virus appeared to have entered his system within the first few days of his life, before the father had been diagnosed with HIV. By process of elimination, they concluded that the father must have passed the infection to the boy via fluid from an open blister on his skin. Researchers say the incredibly unusual case is hardly something the general public should fear, but it reminds the scientific community that the virus can be transmitted in unexpected ways. In an almost unheard-of case, a baby boy caught HIV from his father days after his birth in Portugal. After years investigating, scientists say the baby caught it from pus seeping from his dad's arm (file image) 'It's a very unusual case,' Dr Thomas Leitner, the only US scientist on the case told DailyMail.com. 'It shows us that it's not something that will have a large impact on the HIV epidemic but it does show us that there are unusual ways of transmission.' Dr Leitner, of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, is a phylogenetics expert, trained in tracing the evolutionary history of organisms. It's not the first time he's been co-opted by Nuno Taveira, a microbiologist in Lisbon, to help out on a criminal investigation before. But this was unique. The child was diagnosed with HIV at the age of four in 2013. By that point, the father had been knowingly HIV positive for years, but his mother was HIV negative. HIV is a virus that infects the blood so it is typically transmitted sexually, via a needle, coming into contact with HIV-infected blood from an open wound, or gestationally if the mother is HIV positive. Mapping out samples from the boy and his father, Dr Leitner and his Portuguese colleagues were able to essentially age their viruses. The boy seemed to have been infected days after his birth in 2009. His father, it seems, had contracted HIV shortly before. At the time of the boy's birth, the father was being treated for chicken pox and syphilis, which had developed to such an extent that he had blisters on his body. It was a perfect storm. The early stage of HIV is a critical point, when it is duplicating and spreading at such a rapid rate, ravaging a new immune system. It means the traces of the virus that leaked from his blisters were highly infectious. 'Although this type of father-to-son HIV transmission event is rare, it is important that the general public realize that HIV is present in most bodily fluids and can be transmitted in atypical and unexpected ways,' says Thomas Hope, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses and Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. 'In this case, the circumstances of fluids leaking from skin blisters with the high amount of HIV present in the first months of HIV infection led to the unfortunate infection of a newborn child.' Since he had not been aware of his infection, and was cleared of sexual assault claims, the father was not charged with any crimes. BOOK OF THE WEEK WALLY FUNK'S RACE FOR SPACE by Sue Nelson (The Westbourne Press 14.99, 272pp) This was the fateful telegram of September 1961, sent to the female astronaut candidates of the Mercury 13 women in space programme: Regret to advise arrangements at Pensacola cancelled probably will not be possible to carry out this part of program. Signed: W. Randolph Lovelace II, MD. The funding had been pulled from a visionary, privately funded programme which aimed to beat the Russians to sending the first woman into space. The 13 candidates, who had passed all the rigorous physical and psychological tests up to that moment, were left reeling from the shock and disappointment. It was all over. One of those women was Wally Funk. Yes, thats her real name: Mary Wallace (Wally) Funk, born 1939, daughter of Mr and Mrs Funk, who ran a five-and-dime store in Taos, New Mexico. Sue Nelson examines Wally Funk's (pictured when she was a flight instructor aged 21) quest to visit space in a new book. Wally who is now aged almost 80 was among 13 candidates for a mission to send the first woman to space in 1961 If you read this extraordinary, quirky book, youll get to know Wally: one of the brashest, loudest, most unselfconscious women Ive ever come across in non-fiction. Now aged almost 80 and as physically fit as ever, she is still, 57 years after the arrival of that telegram, hoping to fly to space. Earth does indeed seem too constricted for this Texas-based female force of nature. She drives around this plain old planet in her camper van, using her knee to control the steering wheel and refusing to wear a seat belt, and has kept herself occupied as a pilot and an air-accident investigator, taking part in air-races to avert boredom. She still has her eye, though, on the off-planet prize. The good news is she does have a ticket for space. In 2010, she paid $200,000 for a flight on Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo. The bad news is the Virgin Galactic space flights are still being tested theyre always about to happen next year rather than this, it seems. Wally is also quite far down the waiting list there are 650 people on it, including Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, and Virgin Galactic wont bump her up. Once the flights start, theyll accommodate just six passengers at a time and go (at the very most) monthly. Recently, Wally was pretty unimpressed to discover that someone had paid $1 million at an auction to be on the same flight as Leonardo DiCaprio. Was this person going to be a queue-jumper? The Virgin Galactic tragedy of 2014, when one of their spaceships broke up on a test flight killing one pilot and seriously injuring the other, set the programme back by years. Will Wally get to space before its too late? She fears her time is running out. Reading this book, I wanted to shout: Get on with it, Branson! Your future astronauts are tired of being invited on tantalising trips to the Spaceport in New Mexico and being fobbed off with a silver Virgin Galactic spaceplane-branded water bottle! Wally (pictured aged 61 training in Russia) who paid $200,000 for a flight on Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo is currently an interviewer on a radio programme about women in space that Sue is producing The books author, Sue Nelson, a former BBC science correspondent, is a bit of a space boffin herself and shares the corny sense of humour of all space-addicts. The area telephone code for Cape Canaveral, she tells us, is 321. She notices the sticker on Wallys camper van saying We Have Friends In High Places. Sues excuse for spending a great deal of time with Wally, and thus for writing this book about her and about the story of womens space travel, is that shes producing a radio programme about women in space, for which Wally herself is the interviewer. The two women embark on a global Thelma and Louise-style adventure, visiting space-related headquarters, from the European Space Agency to Cape Canaveral, where Wally (famous in her own right as an aviator) asks the questions. As the two women drive, the cars persistent beep-beep-beeping at Wallys refusal to wear a safety belt drives Sue half-mad. Its a great story, even though theres not yet a conclusive ending, and it throws fascinating light on the story of female space travel. To qualify for the Mercury 13 programme in 1961, Wally and her 12 co-candidates had to undergo gruesome tests. The women were treated as medical guinea pigs and subjected to rectal and gynaecological examinations and barium enemas. Wally (pictured in the late 1950s) passed a series of gruesome tests with flying colours that space candidates has to undergo during the Sixties. Now, 61 women have flown to space and the tests required have become steadily less invasive They had iced water squirted into their ears to induce vertigo, cycled to the point of exhaustion with electrodes stuck to their bodies and floated in a tank of water in the dark for ten-and-a-half hours the ultimate sensory deprivation test. Wally passed it all with flying colours. She proved women were every bit as good as men at surviving such ordeals and sometimes better when it came to psychological stamina. All the usual Sixties taunts were thrown at them: they were dubbed the astronettes, and one of them, Jerrie Cobb, was described as a little astronaughty. That was only to be expected; but the candidates felt particularly betrayed by the woman who had funded the programme (and who had been the first woman to break the sound barrier), Jackie Cochran. She withdrew her funding, saying: I dont want to see a woman fall flat on her face. At a three-day congressional hearing challenging the decision to terminate the programme, the astronaut John Glenn testified: The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order. WALLY FUNK'S RACE FOR SPACE by Sue Nelson (The Westbourne Press 14.99, 272pp) That hurt. Lyndon B. Johnson, vice-president at the time, wrote these optimistic words in a letter to Nasa: I know we are grateful for the desire to serve on the part of these women, and look forward to the time when they can. But at the bottom of the letter, he scribbled: Lets stop this now! Those were his true feelings. So the women had to sit by and watch while a Russian woman, Valentina Tereshkova, became the first woman in space in 1963. She, too, was subjected to taunts and described as an absolute basket-case and hysterical in space, when in fact she had been clear-headed on realising she was about to be pulled into a higher orbit and would thus circle the Earth until her slow demise from starvation: a fate she managed to avert. So far, 61 women have flown to space, and the tests for female astronauts have become steadily less invasive. But in order to be an astronaut today you need to be overwhelmingly qualified: the typical modern astronaut has a degree in astronomical sciences and a Masters degree in mechanical engineering, is a qualified diver and pilot, already speaks five languages and is learning Mandarin in order to be a global player. But do these highly qualified astronauts have the same pioneering spirit as those early candidates, who left jobs and even marriages to try to fulfil their dream? I fear not. Come on, Virgin Galactic! Get Wally Funk into space. Households have seen 43 energy price rises from 30 suppliers so far in 2018 - a rate of one per week - totaling a collective 840million a year, data suggests. As colder weather has begun to bite, analysis shows 12million households on standard variable tariffs have been hit by price hikes so far this year, according to uSwitch. Rik Smith, energy expert at the comparison website, said: 'Rising wholesale costs have put serious pressure on energy companies in 2018. 'They have responded by raising the price of their SVTs at the record-breaking rate of more than one a week - adding 70 a year to bills on average.' Energy blow: There have been 43 bill hikes by 30 different suppliers so far in 2018 Energy customers may face further price increases despite an impending energy price cap by regulator Ofgem. Earlier this month, Ofgem announced that 11million more households on poor value default tariffs would be protected from being overcharged. This follows Parliament passing the Government's Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Act, which became law on July 19. It gives Ofgem a duty and the powers to put the price cap in place. It's expected that Ofgem will have the price cap in place by the end of the year. But this may not save some customers already struggling with their energy bills and who are at risk of paying even more. Price increases announced so far have added an average of 70 onto bills. Most of the 'Big Six' energy suppliers have been ruthless with their hikes. British Gas has had two price rises to its SVT adding 9.5 per cent, or 104, adding a collective 416million to the bills of around four million households. Scottish Power increased prices the most this year at 9.5 per cent (109). Npower customers in London and the North East saw the smallest overall price rise this year at 56. The largest - EDF Energy's 120 rise in London took bills for affected customers up to 1,284. British Gas: It has added a collective 416m to the bills of around four million households Meanwhile, smaller suppliers have also raised prices substantially. For example, while Economy Energy boasts on its website that it is the 'smart, friendly low cost answer to gas and electricity' it was singled out by uSwitch as forcing on the largest average increase from all suppliers. Economy Energy customers will see prices upped 38 per cent, or 311, on 7 October. Some regions have be affected more than others by price hikes. For instance, EDF Energy customers have seen the greatest regional differences, with price increases ranging from 59 in northern Scotland to 120 in London. Back in August, British Gas and Scottish Power said bills would increase for standard variable customers by a further 45 on average from October this year. When all the Big Six price rises apply, the East Midlands will still be the area with the cheapest bills on average at 1,196, which is five per cent lower than those in the South West where the price increases will push bills to an average of 1,252 per year. Regional comparison: How much each area pays for energy on an SVT on average Price hikes are not the only thing that customers need to be wary of. In the past, web savvy customers have benefited from online discounts but some energy providers have scrapped these. E.ON, for example, removed its online discounts worth 30 back in April and more recently OVO Energy removed its online discount to push bills up by an extra 30 from October, while announcing a 6.5 per cent - 75 - price rise at the same time. However, many households have refused to take these price increases lying down and have voted with their feet in record numbers to switch to cheaper deals. According to Energy UK, to the end of August 2018, more than three million customers had already moved supplier in 2018 and saved around 482 in the process. Just under half a million customers switched supplier in July alone, up nearly a quarter when compared to July 2017. The Government's proposed cap on standard energy tariffs is expected to be in place by the end of 2018, but households stand to gain far more by switching away from these poor value plans than relying on the cap. This cap will change every six months and will be set at a higher level if wholesale energy costs continue to rise. For the third consecutive month, British car manufacturing posted substantial declines in August, industry figures reveal. Total production for the month fell 12.9 per cent year-on-year, with just 89,254 vehicles rolling off assembly lines compared to 102,438 in August 2017, data from the industry body show. The biggest fall in demand for British-built cars came from the home market, with production for UK new-car orders plummeting by 38.8 per cent. Nosedive: Shrinking demand for new cars in the UK saw production of cars for the home market fall by almost 40 per cent last month The worrying statistics were revealed on Thursday morning by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which blamed a change in emissions regulations introduced on September 1 for the nosedive in production. Mike Hawes, its chief executive, said the 'quieter summer months' can be subject to reduced outputs as manufacturers conduct annual maintenance and re-tooling preparations for new models. He said this was 'exacerbated' in August by the introduction of the new WLTP emission-measurement requirements, which saw the industry 'racing' to get cars recertified so they could continue to sell them as new models across Europe. The stricter measurements have seen many manufacturers forced to cull models from their range. Porsche this week announced it would no longer sell diesel models because they only make up a small percentage of sales, though it was also reported that it struggled to make some cars adhere to the new emissions regulation. While orders from UK drivers were down, export demand wasn't hit quite so hard. A total of 72,983 cars were built for the overseas market last month, which is just 3.8 per cent down on outputs on the same month a year ago. More than four in five cars built in the UK are now destined for an overseas market It's the third month of vehicle production declines and the biggest year-on-year fall in a single month recorded so far in 2018 It means that - in August alone - more than four in five of vehicles made in UK factories are built for export. Hawes said this statistic underlined the importance of a Brexit agreement to safeguard trade, something he and a delegation from the SMMT discussed with representatives from EU countries in Brussels last week. 'For our sector, "no deal" is not an option,' he reiterated. The drop in August production is the biggest dive in a single month. In July, production for the home market fell 35 per cent, with overall outputs down 11 per cent. SMMT executive Mike Hawes said the figures underlined the importance of a Brexit agreement to safeguard trade As a result, year-to-date figures show a total downfall in production of 5.2 per cent, with 18.6 per cent fewer cars built for the domestic market in the first eight months of 2018. Earlier this month, Jaguar Land Rover - which is the biggest car maker in the country - confirmed it would be reducing the working hours at one of its factories until Christmas. Employees at a Jaguar plant in the Midlands will only work a three day week from October until December, as the British marque looks to manage a fall in demand for its cars. In a statement, the car maker - owned by Indian firm Tata - said: 'In light of the continuing headwinds impacting the car industry, we are making some temporary adjustments to our production schedules at Castle Bromwich.' BMW has also confirmed it will close the Mini factory in Oxford for several weeks immediately after Brexit for 'annual maintenance' but also to avoid any part-supply disruption as part of the UK's divorce from the EU. Doubt has been cast over the viability of the proposed merger between Sainsbury's and Asda today as the competition watchdog revealed the extent of its concerns about the landmark 14billion deal. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which launched an in-depth probe of the merger earlier this month, warned that a merger could lead to a 'substantial lessening of competition' in 463 local areas where the two supermarket giants trade. Sainsbury's and Asda, the UK's second and third largest supermarkets, are proposing to join forces in a deal that would create a grocery giant bigger than market leader Tesco, with 330,000 employees, 2,800 shops, and sales of around 51billion. Sainsbury's - the UK's 2nd biggest supermarket - is hoping to merge with Walmart owned Asda The competition watchdog is investigating how the merger will impact competition The retailers, amid a wave of consolidation in the squeezed grocery sector, have pledged to lower prices while putting the squeeze on larger suppliers. However the CMA has now revealed it found potential competition issues for 225 Sainsbury's stores and 238 Asda stores. The CMA said: 'At a local level, the parties' stores overlap in several hundred local areas across the UK. 'The CMA believes that the merger may give rise to a realistic prospect of an SLC (substantial lessening of competition) in many of these local areas if Sainsbury's and Asda are insufficiently constrained by other local competitors.' The revelation means that a large chunk of Sainsbury's and Asda stores may have to be sold off to competitors, such as Morrisons and Tesco, before the deal is given the green light. Responding to the findings, the supermarkets pointed to the rapid rise of the discounters - Aldi and Lidl - and a market that is 'more competitive than ever', urging the CMA to take this into account in its investigation. A spokesperson for Sainsbury's and Asda said: 'We welcome the start of the Phase 2 process. The grocery market has changed significantly in the last decade and is more competitive than ever, with the rise of discount formats, online grocery and food delivery businesses. 'We look forward to working with the CMA on the Phase 2 inquiry, where we expect it to conduct a full review of the market and take these changed market dynamics into consideration. 'Customers will be the big winners from this combination. By bringing the two businesses together, we will be able to invest further in more convenient ways of shopping while lowering prices and reducing the cost of living for millions of UK households.' Grocery analysts discuss the findings on Twitter, questioning the CMA's methodology Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said 'Sainsbury's is being taken to the checkout by the CMA'. 'It's a given that the CMA will demand disposals if it does approve the merger, but this is already factored in by both Sainsbury's and Asda. The question is how many stores they need to lose - too many could break the deal. 'There's a very good chance they won't get approval, in which case you have to ask: where is Sainsbury's left? It's losing market share to discounters and has no credible plan except this merger. All Sainsbury's eggs are in one basket,' he said. The CMA's initial inquiry into the merger raised concerns of lower supply chain standards, reduced quality of products and the potential to force some suppliers to go bust. Thousands of ordinary shareholders are being denied full voting rights in Unilever's battle to abandon the UK. Investors face a crunch vote on whether it should ditch its British legal headquarters and base itself in the Netherlands alone. In what is expected to be a knife-edge decision, Unilever which produces dozens of households name brands, such as Marmite and PG Tips needs the owners of 75 per cent of shares listed in London to back the move. Thousands of ordinary shareholders are being denied full voting rights in Unilever's battle to abandon the UK But it also needs a majority of voting shareholders to approve. This means, in theory, the opinion of an investor with just one share counts for as much as that of an institution such as a pension fund with billions of pounds of stock. But many savers with cash in Unilever hold their shares in so-called nominee accounts through brokers, rather than owning them outright. Unilever has said that giant brokers such as Hargreaves Lansdown will only count as a single shareholder when the votes are counted, even though they look after the stakes of huge numbers of people through nominee accounts. Hargreaves alone has 20,000 Unilever investors on its books enough to swing the vote but this will be ignored when the tally is counted. Unilever produces dozens of households name brands, such as Marmite and PG Tips Gavin Oldham, chairman of fellow broker The Share Centre, has written to Business Secretary Greg Clark to complain about Unilever's treatment of ordinary investors. Cost of having your say Investors who want to be counted as an individual shareholder in the Unilever vote must have a share certificate. Getting one is an expensive and lengthy process. The fees are far higher than buying and selling over the internet a minimum of 40 for every trade, according to Hargreaves Lansdown. This is nearly four times as much as it would cost to buy shares with Hargreaves online, where the charge is 11.95 per deal. Oldham said: 'It is unacceptable. Time is of the essence, as a large number of nominee shareowners are already casting their vote. 'We will continue to work with other interested parties to ensure that Unilever recognise the very large numbers of personal investors taking an active interest in the future of their company.' The only way for a nominee shareholder to be counted as an individual voter is to apply for a paper share certificate, a long process which involves paperwork and is expensive. Unilever says on its website: 'PLC shareholders who hold all their shares through a broker or other nominee arrangement will not be directly counted towards the majority in the number test.' Oldham has urged Clark to intervene. He warns that laws introduced in 2006 require listed firms to recognise individual shareholders who own stock through a nominee account. Oldham says the situation at Unilever would 'deny members who hold their shares through nominees their entitlement to exercise a shareholder right'. Gavin Oldham, chairman of fellow broker The Share Centre, has written to Business Secretary Greg Clark to complain about Unilever's treatment of ordinary investors He writes: 'Time is of the essence if we are to avoid the interest of nominee shareholders of Unilever being frustrated.' However, a Business Department spokesman said that the issue is deemed to be a commercial matter and so it would not be commenting. Unilever must also win support from investors who collectively own 75 per cent of its London-listed stock. The votes of investors who hold shares through a nominee account will still count towards this total, meaning there is still a reason for them to vote. Some of the City's biggest names are opposed to Unilever moving. Columbia Threadneedle, Lindsell Train, Aviva Investors and M&G Investments have expressed concerns. Unilever said: 'Under English company law the person entitled to vote is the member on the register, which may be a single nominee holding on behalf of multiple investors. We would encourage all of our shareholders to vote on our proposals for simplification, which we believe bring clear benefits for all shareholders. 'Those holding through nominee or broker arrangements should contact their nominee or broker directly for further advice.' The bailed-out owner of Natwest is hoping to shift a million customers on to a new mobile phone-only bank called Bo. Royal Bank of Scotland, which has closed 1,423 branches since it was rescued by taxpayers a decade ago, will run Bo over the internet. Bosses say no one will be forced to move on to it. The bailed-out owner of Natwest is hoping to shift a million customers on to a new mobile phone-only bank called Bo Around 100 staff working on the project were told the name yesterday, according to Sky News. RBS is the latest big bank to try to push customers on to the web, enabling them to shrink their branch networks and cut costs. The biggest players face a threat from new online-only rivals such as Monzo and Revolut. It is thought that Bo, which is overseen by Mark Bailie, former chief operating officer of RBS, will use artificial intelligence to help customers manage their financial affairs better. Chapel Down is planning to open a 5,000 sq ft gin bar and restaurant in central London England's biggest wine producer, Chapel Down, is planning to open a 5,000 sq ft gin bar and restaurant in central London. Chapel Down, which supplies sparkling wine to 10 Downing Street, has expanded its field of products in the past two years with a beer and cider brand Curious, as well as launching a range of spirits, including the popular Bacchus Gin last year. Chapel's chief executive Frazer Thompson said the gin works in King's Cross would build on the success of the company's Bacchus brand and 'celebrate the very best English food and drink'. Mining veteran Peter Hambro Mining veteran Peter Hambro has rejoined Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk after being ousted by shareholders last year. He co-founded the firm in the 1990s but was ditched last year amid a row over a strategy backed by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's Renova Group. He will be president and a senior adviser. His co-founder Pavel Maslovskiy and ex-UK ambassador to Russia Roderic Lyne returned to Petropavlovsk's board earlier this year following a second shareholder revolt. The glory days of the 'pound store' could be behind us as a new, five-times-the-price, breed of discount store starts to put down roots on the Britain's troubled high street - the 5 store. One of these is Only5Pounds.com, which started life online in 2015, selling home, DIY and kitchen products for 5 each. But this week, the fixed-price retailer opened its first physical store and revealed plans to go head-to-head with bargain giants B&M and The Range by opening at least another 100 shops over the next three years. Only5Pounds has opened its first bricks-and-mortar store in Northampton (pictured above) Only5Pounds mostly sells home and DIY products as well as some electricals and toys The first Only5Pounds shop is up-and-running in Northampton, selling most of the same products it does online as well as some store-exclusive food and drink items - around 2,400 items in total. The business hopes to target other areas in the south such as Harrow, Luton and Watford in the near future, before venturing into the Midlands next year. It told This is Money that it is making a beeline for the shops that were left vacant by Poundworld when it sunk into administration earlier this year. The collapse triggered around 5,000 job losses and left 350 UK stores up for grabs. Managing director Vinod Chopra said: 'The aim is for people to feel that they are getting good value for money. 'We want to bring online prices to the high street so everyone can benefit from the savings.' While the move into physical stores may seem counter-intuitive, Only5Pounds is not the first online business to make the shift from 'clicks to bricks'. Online furniture firm Swoon has set up shop inside Debenhams stores, Made.com continues to open showrooms across Europe and even Amazon has touched down on the High Street with its own book shops and the acquisition of Whole Foods. The retailer said its stock will 'always remain at 5', but the fixed-price model has proven a bind to some retailers in the past. Poundworld, for example, was stung by the falling value of sterling in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. As well as being guilty of over-expanding, Poundworld was wed to its 1 price point for too long, which meant it had very little wiggle room and its margins suffered. Fixed price retailers like Poundworld have struggled to manage the falling value of the pound However, Chopra insisted that the model keeps it 'simple and consistent for the customer'. He added that by buying products directly from the factory, the business will be able to offer low prices even when it has additional costs associated with stores business rates and rents, for example. The Only5Pounds shops will double as click-and-collect points so shoppers can order online and pick up in store. Another website also sells products entirely at a 5 price point - everything5pounds.com - which specialises in fashion. So far the questioning of Christine Blasey Ford has shown Democrats illustrating sympathy for the witness, while Republicans look like they are hiding from her. Photo: Pool/Getty Images A lot of Democrats, in California and elsewhere, have had issues with Senator Dianne Feinsteins lofty position in the Senate and as ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee. But they are very fortunate today that she is where she is, because the senator was able to set the tone for her partys handling of the hearing on Christine Blasey Fords sexual-assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at the very beginning. After Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley began the hearing with a petulant series of complaints about Fords allegations coming to light relatively late in the process, Feinstein deftly turned GOP treatment of the accuser into an illustration of historic male insensitivity to victims of sexual assault: .@SenFeinstein: Too often womens memories and credibility come under assault. In essence, they are put on trial and forced to defend themselves and often revictimized in the process. https://t.co/005BvMqW3Y pic.twitter.com/dyAmi2YPK1 Fox News (@FoxNews) September 27, 2018 Fords visibly terrified visage, shown in split screen on many networks as Grassley and Feinstein spoke, quite literally illustrated the fundamental point her senator was making. But this wasnt the only example of Feinstein quickly turning the tables on Republicans: Before she delivers her testimony, Dr. Ford becomes visibly emotional as @SenFeinstein recounts allegations of other accusers. Watch live now at https://t.co/C1HQVzyH32 pic.twitter.com/2WkRU4MLIS errol barnett (@errolbarnett) September 27, 2018 This was a quick reminder that Republicans have refused to accept an FBI investigation of the allegations, or even call other witnesses before the committee both those that were germane to Fords testimony (like Mark Judge), and others like Kavanaugh accusers Debbie Ramirez and Julie Swetnick. In that context, Grassleys whining about Feinsteins handling of the Ford letter seemed both ridiculous and insensitive. Feinsteins own questioning of Ford reinforced the impression of Democrats expressing sympathy for Ford and quiet indignation against her Republican tormenters. The senator got right to the key point of how Ford knows it was Kavanaugh who assaulted her: .@SenFeinstein: How are you so sure that it was he? Dr. Ford: The same way that I'm sure I'm talking to you right now: basic memory functions... Feinstein: So what you are telling us is this could not be a case of mistaken identity? Ford: Absolutely not. #BelieveSurvivors pic.twitter.com/X2SSJx1alR CAP Action (@CAPAction) September 27, 2018 The contrast between Feinsteins questioning, and the image of 11 Republican men who had an obscure prosecutor interrogate Ford because they werent sure they could control themselves, was really powerful. Other Judiciary Committee Democrats appeared to be following Feinsteins lead. Pat Leahy, who often seemed like a crotchety old man in his previous questioning of Kavanaugh, came off as a protective grandfather when speaking to Ford. And he was able to challenge Grassley directly with the shame of the Judiciary Committees handling of Anita Hill back in 1991, in which both of these men participated. And Dick Durbin continued the theme of Fords being the victim not just of Kavanaugh in 1982, but of Republicans attacking her currently. .@SenatorDurbin: No one should face harassment, death threats and disparaging comments by cheap shot politicians, simply for telling the truth. https://t.co/005BvMqW3Y pic.twitter.com/LWtB11eQRx Fox News (@FoxNews) September 27, 2018 Trapped by the strange procedure they have adopted for questioning Ford, and ceding the airwaves to Democrats, Judiciary Committee Republicans are stumbling badly so far. And this time around, Democratic complaints about the GOPs rush to confirm Kavanaugh have the resonant feeling of righteous lawmakers seeking to provide justice to the aggrieved, not just wrangling over paperwork and deadlines. Turns out, it matters that Judiciary Committee Republicans had no women in their own ranks to interrogate Ford, while Democrats had several, including Feinstein. IMPORTANT UPDATE: HMRC later changed its stance on the credit transfer time limits explained below. Find out about its current rules on transfers IMPORTANT UPDATE: HMRC later changed its stance on the credit transfer time limits explained below. Find out about its current rules on transfers Lost pension: Nandia Needham, pictured with husband Martin, could be thousands of pounds out of pocket in retirement Today, This is Money launches a campaign to battle the unfairness of parents ending up with a smaller state pension because they failed to fill in a form. Thousands are facing a poorer retirement as a result of innocent mistakes made over paperwork after their children are born, in a scandal recently highlighted by This is Money. We have heard from many parents who stand to lose tens of thousands of pounds in old age and are calling on the Government to address this unjustice. Nandia Needham, pictured right with husband Martin, has lost four years of credits towards her state pension, and could be left nearly 20,000 out of pocket if she lives for 20 years after retirement. Like many other parents, she discovered the Government would only backdate credits by three months when she tried to correct the record. This is Money is calling on the Government to give parents back all the state pension credits they are entitled to in full. If it refuses, the current admin fiasco will only get bigger as more parents are being caught in this trap each year. For those who are being penalised but haven't realised yet, the number of credits they are losing is also going up with each passing year, creating an ever bigger hole in their future state pension. The trouble stems from a controversial overhaul of child benefit in 2013, which reduced the entitlement for those earning 50,000-plus a year or wiped it out entirely for those earning 60,000-plus. Snared by the child benefit trap Our sister publication Money Mail has revealed how parents were sent threatening demands after wrongly receiving child benefit payments. Read more here. But parents who earn too much to qualify for child benefit still have to apply for it so that they receive state pension credits. Those who failed to sign up when the new rules began could have lost six years of state pension credits by now. People who earn less and do qualify for child benefit are also losing state pension because the forms are so complicated it is easy to make a mistake and there is little forbearance for anyone who does. A common problem is when the 'wrong' partner signs up for child benefit, because they are working so the credits are worthless to them. So, This is Money is also asking the Government to sort out the shambles that couples currently face when trying to get the taxman to transfer credits between them retrospectively. We are calling for the following: - Full backdating of state pension credits for those who claim child benefit late; - A review of how credits are awarded, including the feasibility of signing up when registering a birth not through the child benefit system; - An overhaul of credit transfers between couples following mistakes on child benefit forms, to remove red tape and to drop the time limits on applications made for years after 2010. We asked the Government to respond and it said it has always urged families to claim child benefit to help protect their future right to the state pension. It added that it changed the form and guidance notes last spring to stress further the importance of this and that it continuously considers ways to improve communications at the birth of a child and for existing child benefit claimants. Read the Government's full response below. Why are we campaigning for parents to get lost state pension credits back? Parents who take time out to look after children are currently entitled to National Insurance credits that mean they shouldnt receive a stingier pension in old age. Why is it so important to claim child benefit? Those who sign up get valuable credits towards their eventual state pension, providing they are not working and building up their National Insurance record that way. Each credit missed could cost you 1/35 of the value of the state pension around 244 per year or 4,880 over the course of a typical 20 year retirement. Four years lost works out at 19,520. It's crucial a parent who is not working is the one named on the form to get the child benefit, as these credits are worthless to someone employed and already paying enough NI. You can apply to transfer it later, but couples report being refused this option for reasons they don't understand and HMRC has so far failed to explain. Meanwhile, new parents - predominantly women - who fail to sign up because they don't qualify for the payments can end up losing many years' worth of credits they can't get back. This is because if they discover their mistake and belatedly sign up, HMRC will only backdate their records for three months. Nobody disputes they are intended to get these credits, yet many are still losing out due to the convoluted way parents must apply to keep their state pension records intact. Parents who do not register for child benefit, because one earns too much to receive the payments, are still expected to register but not take the money. The main way child benefit forms are distributed to new parents is via bounty packs handed out in hospitals, which are otherwise full of promotional leaflets and discount vouchers. That means these vital documents are often overlooked in the hectic weeks after children are born. The mess is potentially depriving tens of thousands of people - mostly but not only women - of future state pension, which currently stands at 164.35 a week. Yet, many grandparents taking on childcare duties are also thought to be unwittingly losing credits towards a state pension - but unlike parents, their entitlement is fully backdated whenever they come forward. The Government lets grandparents claim for years all the way back to 6 April 2011, when the policy of giving them credits was introduced. But bizarrely, it sees nothing wrong with imposing much harsher rules on parents. Many mums and dads have contacted This is Money after reading our stories of people getting ensnared in child benefit red tape to tell us their own experiences. We highlight some of them below. Child benefit forms lost among 'coupons for nappies and nipple shields' Ruth Jones (not her real name) lost four years of state pension credits after not claiming child benefit because her husband's pay was over the earnings limit. A chartered accountant aged 41, who lives in the south of England, she sharply criticises the current policy of slipping such an important form into 'a bounty pack full of coupons for nappies and nipple shields'. After she gave birth, Ruth didn't see the point of claiming child benefit when she wouldn't receive the payments, but insists the consequences were never explained to her or she would certainly have done so. Have you lost state pension by not signing up for child benefits or filling form in wrong? If this has happened to you, contact tanya.jefferies@thisismoney.co.uk and tell us your story. She and her husband only discovered she should have registered when he happened to read an article in the press about it years later. Ruth says: 'I've been caught out by this loophole. 'Shoving the form in the bounty pack at a new mum who's not had any sleep with a bunch of money off leaflets is ridiculous. 'It should be linked to birth certificate registration. 'I'm not entitled to child benefit but I must still claim and then tick the box to say I don't want payment. It's a ridiculous system and one which needs to be rectified. 'You wouldn't think you need to go through child benefit to get your state pension. I have nothing against them not giving child benefit to high earners. I agree with that but now they are discriminating against women. 'I used to be a high rate earner as well. What if I get divorced? What if I have a tight husband who won't share his pension with me?' Three months backdating is 'arbitrary' cut-off point Nandia Needham has also lost four years of state pension credits, after only belatedly realising she should sign up for child benefit despite husband Martin's pay being over the earnings limit. The former retail worker, 42, had her first child at around the time the changes axing payments for higher earners were introduced in 2013. Martin, 52, a company director, says they therefore assumed there was no reason to claim. The couple, who live in South Yorkshire, feel let down by a system which means Nandia will potentially miss out on thousands of pounds in retirement. 'When my wife decided to look after our daughter I didn't see any reason to claim. 'Nothing was said at the hospital and there was nothing in the media highlighting this particular issue,' says Martin. 'I never gave a thought to the link between child benefit and the state pension. 'It's extremely disappointing to say the least that we have lost a significant proportion of my wife's state pension. 'It's clear she is entitled to it so I don't know why there is this arbitrary three months backdating.' What should you do if you think you've lost state pension credits? Call the taxman's child benefit helpline on 0300 200 3100, and sign up using the form here. You can then get both child benefit payments and state pension credits backdated for three months, and going forwards. However, you can opt to simply register for child benefit but not receive the actual payments. That means you get the state pension credits - backdated and in future - but can avoid having to sign up for tax self-assessment and paying what is called a High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC). Theres another advantage to registering even if you dont qualify for payments, which is that your child will automatically get a NI number when they are 16. If you signed up for child benefit but the working partner mistakenly made the claim, find out how to transfer credits or their forerunner HRP (Home Responsibilities Protection) between couples here. You can find out your current state pension forecast using the Governments online Check my State Pension service here. Official information on National Insurance credits and how to apply for them is available on Gov.uk here. Why are we asking for a simpler system for couples to transfer credits? Couples who try to transfer credits between them have been left confused and frustrated by the shambolic process. We have previously reported how they are being blocked from transferring state pension rights between them when the 'wrong' partner signs up for child benefit, and are in the dark about why HMRC has refused them. HMRC has admitted that baffling letters sent to claimants, saying they had to reach state pension age between April 2008 and April 2010 to qualify for transfers, were incorrect and apologised. Shambolic system: We are calling on the Government to overhaul the credit transfer system to remove red tape It confirmed the condition is you must reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2008, and that the bungle will be sorted in future decision letters. But it has failed to explain whether earlier rejections will now be reversed, and if not why it is standing firm on them. Raina Thurgood and Martin Ryott from Essex were refused a transfer of two years of Home Responsibilities Protection - the forerunner to state pension credits - from 2008 to 2010 from her name into his one. They protested to the taxman, but were left in limbo for months as their letter went unanswered, while This is Money's attempts to get an explanation were also ignored. Martin, 50, a production editor who stopped working in 2008 to look after the couple's three children, has lost HRP and state pension credits for 10 years in total. There are time limits on transferring credits from 2010 onwards. After This is Money's most recent attempt to get a response on their behalf, HMRC contacted Martin to say a decision on his case was 'pending'. We are now calling on the Government to overhaul the credit transfer system to remove red tape and to drop the time limits on applications, so that couples who make simple errors are no longer penalised. Who else is trying to help couples over lost state pension credits? A recent government drive urging parents to claim child benefit to avoid losing state pension prompted a call to fix the current 'administrative mess' by mum and campaigner Emma Maslin. She says the Government should 'do the right thing' and give parents their missing state pension credits back, while also overhauling the current system to prevent more people falling into the same trap. Maslin, who lost four years of credits in a case we have previously highlighted, has tried to raise awareness and warn other parents on her Money Whisperer personal finance blog. She reckons the official alert telling parents they 'may inadvertently be missing out on retirement income' missed the point. Emma Maslin: The Government should 'do the right thing' 'Why are people missing out? Credits are available to all who have a child under 12 and yet there is a need to actively opt in to receive them. 'There are surely far easier ways to ensure parents are registered than the current system which is seeing thousands of eligible parents missing out. 'Why not link registration for state pension credits to the registration of a child's birth which everyone has to do? Or re-format the form which is required to be filled in - make it an application for state pension credits (available to all) with an opt-in for child benefit (not available to everyone).' Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is also calling on the Government to fully relax the backdating rules. He welcomes the Government's recent attempt to promote the value of National Insurance credits towards getting the state pension, but says instead of one-off initiatives it should proactively target people using its lists of those who might be affected. 'In some cases the Government knows with some precision the exact people who are missing out on these NI credits and it should be contacting them personally and directly. 'For example, the new mothers who have not claimed child benefit will have registered the birth of their child. 'The Government could easily compare the birth register with the child benefit register and contact the families who are missing out. This would have a much bigger impact than generalised publicity, however well-intentioned.' This year, Webb, who is now policy director at Royal London, has answered two reader questions on the issue in his pension column for This is Money. He highlighted problems faced by one woman who mistakenly put her husband's name first on the child benefit form, and another who failed to register because she wasn't eligible for the payments. Nicky Morgan MP: Chair of the Treasury committee has pushed the Government and HMRC to look into the issue of parents losing state pension Separately, Nicky Morgan MP, chair of the Treasury committee, has also expressed worries and asked the Government and HMRC to look into the problem of parents losing state pension. This summer, the committee published Morgan's exchange of letters pressing the issue with these departments. She said at the time: 'It's concerning that parents who haven't registered for child benefit for fear of the higher tax rate charge may be forgoing part of their future state pension.' And in response to the recent government alert to parents, she pledged: 'The Treasury Committee will continue to challenge the Government to ensure that no-one misses out on these National Insurance credits.' What did the Government say in response to our campaign? A spokesman said: 'No-one should miss out on their full State Pension entitlement and the government has always urged families to claim child Benefit to help protect their future right to the state pension. 'The child benefit claim form and guidance notes were updated in April 2017 to stress further the importance of making a claim. 'Child Benefit claimants on a high income can opt not to receive payments in order to avoid having to pay back their child benefit through the High Income Child Benefit Charge. 'But they should still complete the claim form in order to qualify for National Insurance Credits and thus build qualifying years towards the State Pension. 'Parents are advised to do this on the child benefit claim form (which is available in the bounty packs that go to new parents), through the HMRC helpline, online at gov.uk and through partners such as Citizens Advice. 'We continuously consider ways in which communications can be improved further, both at the birth of a child and for existing child benefit claimants.' Pub tycoon Justin Hemmes has been seen at the auction for a $6.5million mansion, apparently vying to buy it for his former partner Kate Fowler. Hemmes, 45, was one of seven registered bidders going after the luxury home in Sydney's eastern suburb of Bellevue Hill on Saturday afternoon. Raising his paddle about ten times, Hemmes matched every raise until the eventual winner, GDI Property Group founder Tony Veale, placed a $6.55million bid. Pub baron Justin Hemmes (pictured with ex-girlfriend Kate Fowler and daughter Alexa) has been spotted bidding on a $6.5million luxury mansion It's understood Hemmes was hoping to buy the five-bedroom home for Fowler after earlier saying they would continue to live together on his $90million estate (pictured) It's understood that Hemmes was hoping to buy the five-bedroom home for Fowler, 28, who is his ex-girlfriend and mother to his two daughters. The home was placed on the market by News Corp boss Michael Miller, with an asking price of $5.5million. This price tag was quickly surmounted, going on to be sold under the hammer for $6,575,000, Domain reports. Veale is believed to have been buying on behalf of someone else as well. In this instance, his step-daughter, who is expecting her first child. The home sold for $6.575million to GDI Property Founder Tony Veale, buying it for his step-daughter The winning bid on the luxury home surmounted the seller's asking price of $5.5million It's believed Hemmes was purchasing the home for Fowler, following their split in July. At the time, the millionaire confirmed the news to the Sydney Morning Herald, telling the publication they now share a 'platonic' relationship. 'At the beginning of 2018, Kate and I decided our friendship and respect for family life would become the focus of our relationship,' he said. 'We love our children dearly and for now continue to live together happily in our family home.' That family home is known as The Hermitage, Hemmes' heritage-listed harbour front Vaucluse home worth as much as '$90 million'. Hemmes and Fowler publicly split in July, but continue to live in their $90million home According to Justin, both he and the model will remain in the same home (pictured), which has 'interconnected' wings allowing them to have individual quarters According to Hemmes, their home has 'inteconnected' wings, which allows them to have individual living quarters in the massive home. The couple have two daughters together, Alexa, two, and Saachi, one. Following the pair's break-up, Hemmes treated himself to a $40million Bombardier Challenger private jet to celebrate his 45th birthday. Justin Hemmes' representatives have declined to comment. Notable events in the U.S. involving bump stocks, the device used in last year's Las Vegas massacre to allow guns to fire like fully automatic firearms: - 1990: California bans "multi-burst trigger activators," which include bump stocks. - Nov. 3, 2017: Massachusetts enacts ban on bump stocks. - Dec. 19: Columbia, South Carolina, enacts ban. - Jan. 15, 2018: New Jersey ban signed into law. - Jan. 22: Denver City Council bans bump stocks. - March 6, 2018: Washington state enacts ban. - March 9: Florida enacts ban along with host of other gun-control measures. - March 23: President Donald Trump tweets: "Obama Administration legalized bump stocks. BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period." - March 26: Lincoln, Nebraska, enacts ban. - March 29: The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seeks public comments on a proposed change to federal regulations on bump stocks. - April 11: Vermont enacts ban. - April 18: Slide Force Solutions, the leading manufacturer of bump stocks, announces it is shuttering its business and will stop taking orders as of May 20. - April 24: Maryland enacts ban. - May 31: Connecticut enacts ban. - June 1: Rhode Island enacts ban. - June 14: Delaware enacts ban. - June 27: The comment period on the proposed ATF rule change closes. - July 9: Hawaii enacts ban. - July 27: RW Arms, a Texas-based company, announces it will start selling the leftover stock of bump stocks from Slide Force Solutions. A woman says she picked up a hitchhiker the night a Mississippi cheerleader Jessica Chambers was burned to death - in a development that could be critical in solving who killed her. Sherry Flowers told her alleged killers' trial that she picked up a man not far from where Chambers was found dying. She said the man asked to be taken to the house of a relative of the man currently on trial for killing her - but said she can't remember if it was the defendant Quentin Tellis, 29. Ms Flowers has been brought forward by the prosecution as a new witness - after not coming forward with the information until after Tellis first trial, which ended in 2017 with a hung jury. Scroll down for video Sherry Flowers, who picked up a mystery hitchhiker on the night of Jessica Chamber's death, testifies on the second day of the retrial of Quinton Tellis on Wednesday morning Jessica Chambers was set on fire in Mississippi back in 2014 and died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries Tellis is accused of having sex with Jessica Chambers before setting both her and her car on fire. Flowers told the court that the hitchhiker asked to be taken to the home of Julia Chambers, who is a distant relative of Tellis. Mrs Chambers also testified and claimed Tellis had never made it to her home - but confirmed the fire department had been called to her house on the evening of Jessica's death because of a microwave fire. Flowers described the hitchhiker as black and in his 20s and said she initially pulled over because she believed it might be her cousin - but realizing her mistake agreed to give the man a lift as she knew Julia Chambers. But Julia Chambers claimed that it has 'been a while' since she saw Tellis and he never appeared at her home the night of the murder. Flowers refused to identify Tellis as the hitchhiker and agreed with a prosecutor that she didn't know who she picked up. Quinton Tellis is being re-tried over the death of Chambers after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in 2017 Lead prosecutor John Champion speaks during the retrial of Quinton Tellis in Batesville on Wednesday Ben Chambers, father of Jessica Chambers, breaks down during testimony as details of daughter Jessica's death are heard Still, prosecutors seek to connect the ride's timing to Chambers' death. Prosecutors have said Tellis left Chambers' car before returning to set it and her on fire. The defense disputes the timing. A firefighter who was on the scene on December 6, 2014, told the court yesterday that the 19-year-old's body was completely covered in burns and 'almost looked like shoe leather. 'Her face itself...she was unrecognizable,' the first responder said from the stand. 'There was black charring.' According to the witness, when another firefighter asked Jessica who did this to her, she responded with what sounded like 'Eric' or 'Derek, but it was a struggle for her to speak. Ben Chambers, Jessica's father, began sobbing in the courtroom while listening to the gut-wrenching testimony. A medical examiner says Chambers' death was a homicide from soot and smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Lead prosecutor John Champion speaks to a colleague on the second day of the retrial on Wednesday Lisa Daugherty, mother of Jessica Chambers, recently took part in a documentary on her daughter's death The court also heard yesterday morning from two Panola County Sheriff's deputies, who both testified that when they asked the victim to name her attacker, she said what sounded like 'Eric.' Chambers could not say the man's last name but indicated that it was not her boyfriend. When asked whether the assailant was black or white, she responded with what sounded like 'black,' according to one of the deputies. The defense has previously emphasized that multiple emergency workers heard the dying Chambers say someone named 'Eric' attacked her, calling the prosecutions evidence 'speculation' or 'unreliable.' Tellis faces another murder indictment in the 2015 stabbing death of another woman in Monroe, Louisiana. Hes already pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of her debit card. The 29-year-old defendant is currently serving a prison sentence in Mississippi on an unrelated burglary charge. Prosecutors say cellphone locations, video, DNA on a keychain and Tellis statements link him to Chambers death. 'Once you hear all the evidence the state offers, youre going to have plenty of evidence to convict him of capital murder,' Panola County Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale told jurors in his opening statement Monday. Judge Gerald Gerald Chatham (right) listens as lead prosecutor John Champion (center) questions witness Lt. Edward Dickson (left) Defense attorneys Darla Palmer (left) and Alton Peterson (right) chat with Deputy Prosecutor Jay Hale (center) during a recess Defense attorney Darla Palmer urged jurors in her opening statement to disregard evidence about cellphone locations that she said cant prove Tellis and Chambers were in exactly the same place. Tellis has always insisted that he is innocent, telling police in the interrogation room, even after being threatened with the death penalty if it went to trial: 'I told the truth. I didn't kill Jessica. It ain't even in my heart to kill nobody.' His family claim that the police are simply looking for someone to blame in the case, which has become a highly charged racial issue after Tellis, who is black, was arrested for the death of the pretty, white cheerleader. During the investigation, police interviewed several people called Eric or Derek, but none were charged. After Tellis was arrested, prosecutors told the court last year that Jessica may have been trying to say another name but her throat and mouth were so badly burned that it only appeared to sound like 'Eric' or 'Derek.' Prosecutor John Champion said during the first trial that Tellis thought he suffocated Chambers while they were having sex before he drove her car to a back road. Prosecutors also showed a number of text messages, which appeared to show Tellis, who was from the same neighborhood as the victim and attended her high school years earlier, pestering Jessica for sex. After he believed he'd choked her to death, Champion said that Tellis ran to his sister's house nearby, jumped in his sisters' car, stopped to pick up gasoline from a shed at his house and torched Chambers' car and her. Panola County Sheriff's Deputy Chuck Tucker described the brutal nature of Jessica's wounds when he attended the scene Lt. Edward Dickson was another of the first responders who described the scene as they found Jessica Spanky and Pippin are literally party animals in the Los Angeles nightlife scene. The Nigerian Dwarf goats are professional party-goers, bringing their special brand of magic to city celebrations and starry soirees. So-called goat mom Scout Raskin, a lifelong animal lover and former child actor, set up Party Goats LA in early 2017 and charges $99 an hour to bring her goats to a party or event. One of the most popular interactions with the goats at parties is to have them jump onto revelers backs while they kneel on all fours. Student Torian Mylott, 20, said the experience was fun and therapeutic. A goat stands on a woman's back during a party in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday The Nigerian Dwarf goats are professional party-goers, bringing their special brand of magic to city celebrations and starry soirees So-called goat mom Scout Raskin, a lifelong animal lover and former child actor, set up Party Goats LA in early 2017 and charges $99 an hour to bring her goats to a party or event Before hitting the town, Raskin dresses the goats in purple, lace-cuffed velvet jackets and neckbands and wraps their horns in brightly colored tape, for decoration and safety The goats are unfazed by loud music and crowds of people, Raskin said 'They're so friendly and they're just so nice to be around, because you can definitely tell they love humans and they are just a lot of fun,' she said. Despite being the same breed and age, the goats have very different personalities, Raskin says. 'Usually people at parties have their favorites. Some people love Pippin because he's really cute, but he's the cute dumb one,' Raskin said. 'And then some people really like Spanky because he's more chill and quiet and they feel like they can connect with him more.' 'They're so friendly and they're just so nice to be around, because you can definitely tell they love humans and they are just a lot of fun,' Raskin (above) said Raskin's business has become a word-of-mouth success story The goats are unfazed by loud music and crowds of people, Raskin said. 'We've been to parties with DJs where there's loud music and I myself was concerned about how they would react to it. Pippin fell asleep and was totally calm and chill and fine in that environment, and it didn't really seem to hurt their ears or anything like that,' she said. Before hitting the town, Raskin dresses the goats in purple, lace-cuffed velvet jackets and neckbands and wraps their horns in brightly colored tape, for decoration and safety. And then theyre ready for the party you've just got to goat to. Uber Technologies Inc will pay $148 million for failing to disclose a massive data breach in 2016, marking a costly resolution to one of the biggest embarrassments and legal tangles the ride-hailing company has suffered. The settlement with 50 US states and Washington, DC brings closure to one of several high-stakes legal battles Uber is seeking to resolve before an initial public offering next year, while also delivering a national rebuke against the company's history of flouting laws and basic business ethics. The amount is the largest among attorneys general settlements in privacy cases. By comparison, the multi-state settlement with Target Corp in 2017, over a breach in which 41 million people had their data stolen, was $18.5 million. The settlement follows a 10-month investigation into a data breach that exposed personal data from 57 million Uber accounts, including 600,000 driver's license numbers. Uber will pay out $148million in a settlement after the rideshare company was sued by all 50 states, and Washington DC Uber's new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi disclosed the breach in November, more than a year after the company was hacked under the previous CEO. Khosrowshahi said the incident should have been disclosed to regulators at the time it was discovered in 2016. The cover-up, widely seen by states as violating data breach reporting and data security laws, drew the ire of authorities across the United States and also in the United Kingdom, Australia and the Philippines. About half of the data breach victims lived in the United States. The settlement terms include changes to Uber's business practices aimed at preventing future breaches and reforming its corporate culture. Uber will be required to report any data security incidents to states on a quarterly basis for the next two years, and implement a comprehensive information security program overseen by an executive officer who advises executive staff and Uber's board of directors. 'We know that earning the trust of our customers and the regulators we work with globally is no easy feat,' said Uber Chief Legal Officer Tony West. 'We'll continue to invest in protections to keep our customers and their data safe and secure, and we're committed to maintaining a constructive and collaborative relationship with governments around the world.' In November 2016, Uber paid the hackers - who included a 20-year-old Florida man and a hacker in Canada - $100,000 to destroy the stolen data, using its 'bug bounty' program, which is designed to reward security researchers who report flaws in a company's software. 57 million accounts were hacked in 2016, and 600,000 driver's license numbers were stolen Uber then chose not to report the matter to victims or authorities. 'Uber's decision to cover up this breach was a blatant violation of the public's trust,' said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. 'Consistent with its corporate culture at the time, Uber swept the breach under the rug in deliberate disregard of the law.' California, one of lead states in the settlement effort, will keep $26 million, to be split between the state Attorney General's Office and the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, a spokeswoman for Becerra's office said. Khosrowshahi fired two of Uber's top security officials when he announced the breach, and other members of that team have since departed. The company recently hired a chief privacy officer and chief security officer. It still faces lawsuits from riders, drivers and the cities of Chicago and Los Angeles over the data breach. Saudi Arabia will turn its northwestern Red Sea coast into a luxury tourism resort to rival the French Riviera, its Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced Wednesday. The Amaala development would be 'a natural extension of the Mediterranean Sea, and dubbed the Riviera of the Middle East', according to the country's top sovereign wealth fund. Located in the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nature Reserve, the resort will feature hotels, private villas, an arts academy and a yacht club. Located in the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Nature Reserve on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Coast, the Amaala development will seek to attract domestic and international tourists to boost its oil-reliant economy Amaala guests will be able to enjoy the 'unspoilt coral reefs' and 'beautiful mountain backdrop' Amaala will is the latest addition to the northwestern Red Sea coast, along with NEOM and the Red Sea Project The new destination is a natural extension of the Mediterranean Sea, and dubbed the Riviera of the Middle East. The PIF says it will be an all-year-round destination that utilizes its unique heritage and geological points of interest It is the latest in a series of 'giga projects' designed to pull the ailing Saudi economy away from oil and towards tourism. PIF said Amaala, along with NEOM and Qiddiya - Saudi Arabia's answer to Silicon Valley and Disneyland - will form a portfolio of ultra-projects and create a 'tourism ecosystem' to underpin a strong economy and boost employment. Due to be completed by 2028, the Amaala resort will span three sites in the nature reserve and cover an area exceeding 3,800 sq. km. It will be accessible via a dedicated airport. While the initial funding will be provided by PIF, partnership and investment packages will open up to the private sector as the project progresses. Developers hope Amaala will provide a hub of art will rely on 4 key design elements: contemporary art, a Riviera-lifestyle colony of artists, immersive artistic moments, and sculpture 'A vision beyond all others': Amaala will focus on 'wellness, healthy living and meditation' as well as ecological preservation and sustainability The ambitious project will take 10 years to complete and aims to attract 2.5 million 'top leisure' tourists Meanwhile, Wednesday also marked the inauguration of the Kingdom's Haramain (two mosques) high-speed rail linking Mecca, Medina and Jeddah. The 450-km (280-mile) multi-billion dollar railway will carry an estimated 60 million passengers annually, many of them Islamic worshippers, hundreds of thousands of whom complete the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages every year. It will cut journey times between Islam's most sacred cities - Mecca and Medina - in half. Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) about to enter a train at Jeddah Central Station, during the inauguration of a new high-speed railway linking Mecca and Medina, Islam's holiest cities Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz boarding a train on the Haramain high speed railway. Described by local officials as the biggest transportation project in the region, it will transport Muslim pilgrims and regular travellers along a distance of 450 kilometres from Mecca to Medina via Jeddah In Amaala, the PIF hopes to attract a new brand of conscientious modern tourist with what they say is an 'all-new concept for ultra-luxury tourism focusing on wellness, healthy living, and meditation.' Saudi Arabia has dazzled investors with a series of highly ambitious, billion-dollar schemes all funded in part by its sovereign wealth fund but sceptics question their viability. In addition to NEOM and Qiddiya, the kingdom has unveiled a blueprint for the Red Sea project, a reef-fringed resort destination which includes a nature reserve and heritage sites on about 50 islands. The reforms stem partly from a motivation to boost domestic spending and attract foreign investment as the kingdom reels from an economic slowdown Participants watch a movie advertising Saudi Arabia's Red Sea project in 2017, another 'giga project' in the series funded in part by its sovereign wealth fund Such projects are the brainchild of Prince Mohammed, architect of a sweeping reform programme dubbed 'Vision 2030', which looks to modernise and open up Saudi society. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said it will begin issuing visas to visitors to attend sporting and cultural events from December, a first for the kingdom as it seeks to open its society up and attract international tourists. At present, foreigners travelling to the conservative Muslim country are largely restricted to resident workers and their dependents, business travellers, and Muslim pilgrims who are given special visas to travel to holy sites. Plans to admit significant numbers of tourists from abroad have been discussed for years, only to be blocked by conservative opinion and bureaucracy. But the crown prince has curbed the power of conservative and other dissenting voices, and says he wants to take Saudi Arabia in a new direction. Amaala will be developed over three sites located within the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Natural Reserve on the pristine north-western coast of Saudi Arabia. The development area of Amaala will exceed 3,800 sq. km and will be easily accessible via a dedicated airport The relationship between former ABC chairman Justin Milne and former managing director Michelle Guthrie reportedly broke down over the way he would refer to her and other females while staff were present. Ms Guthrie was sacked from her $891,000-a-year job by Mr Milne on Monday, just halfway through her five-year term - and Milne stepped down himself on Thursday. Mr Milne is alleged to have referred to Ms Guthrie, the ABC's first female managing director, as 'the missus' while other staff were present, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. A media executive has also claimed the ABC chairman had called female staffers 'babes' and 'chicks', according to the report. ABC chairman Justin Milne (left) is alleged to have referred to former managing director Michelle Guthrie (right) as 'the missus', The Sydney Morning Herald reported Ms Guthrie (pictured) reportedly advised those close to her language used by Mr Milne had contributed to her broken relationship with him The publication reported it was understood Ms Guthrie thought the language Mr Milne had used was inappropriate. She advised those close to her it contributed to her broken relationship with Mr Milne, according to the publication. But Kerry Schott, a non-executive director on the board of the National Broadband Network alongside Mr Milne, said he was 'respectful' to women. 'Justin wouldn't have done this (sacked Ms Guthrie) on the basis of anything to do with gender and I would be sure about that,' Ms Schott said. Ms Guthrie has threatened legal action following her dismissal and has now hired barrister Kate Eastman SC of New Chambers and employment lawyer Ruveni Kelleher of commercial law firm JWS. But a legal source quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald said it would 'be a stretch to say (the language could be) part of an unfair dismissal claim'. Kerry Schott, a non-executive director on the board of the National Broadband Network alongside Mr Milne (pictured), said he was 'respectful' to women ABC staff are pictured holding a meeting outside their offices in Ultimo, Sydney, on Wednesday, where they called for 'no political interference' in the public broadcaster The allegations come amid Mr Milne reportedly ordering Ms Guthrie to fire a top political journalist to appease then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, saying 'you just have to shoot him'. As the crisis of editorial independence further engulfs the national broadcaster, it has now been revealed Mr Milne told the then managing director to fire political editor Andrew Probyn because the PM 'hated him'. Ms Guthrie told an ABC board meeting on Friday that Mr Milne told her if she didn't pull the trigger she would be putting the ABC at risk of losing millions of dollars in government funding, the Daily Telegraph reported. She claims he told her 'you just have to shoot him'. Those revelations came a day after reports Mr Milne called for star reporter Emma Alberici to be stood down, sparking mass staff protests at the ABC's Sydney headquarters and calls for Mr Milne to be removed from his post. Mr Milne and seven other board members had sacked Ms Guthrie following a clash over its direction, low-levels of staff engagement and a series of controversial calls. Ms Guthrie (right) was sacked by Mr Milne (left) as the ABC's managing director on Monday Mr Milne had said Ms Guthrie's removal as managing director was about 'our commitment to deliver best possible outcomes for our loyal audience'. 'In resolving to seek fresh leadership, the board's foremost consideration was the long-term interests of our own people and the millions of Australians who engage in ABC content every week,' Mr Milne said on Monday. In a statement following her sacking, Ms Guthrie said that 'at no point have any issues been raised with me' about her staffing changes. 'I am devastated by the board's decision to terminate my employment despite no claim of wrongdoing on my part,' Ms Guthrie said. 'I believe there is no justification for the board to trigger that termination clause.' Prosecutors were last night accused of failing rape victims after a sharp fall in the number of suspects taken to court. Despite a 15 per cent increase in incidents reported to the police, there was a 23 per cent slump in defendants charged. Last year 2,822 people investigated for rape were charged, compared with 3,671 the year before. The proportion charged fell to 47 per cent the lowest since 2010-11. Rape case referrals from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service were also down, as were prosecutions and convictions. Sexual violence charities said the trend was deeply troubling. Last year 2,822 people investigated for rape were charged, compared with 3,671 the year before. The proportion charged fell to 47 per cent the lowest since 2010-11 But Alison Saunders, the outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions, said offenders were being brought to justice wherever possible. The figures come from the annual Violence against Women and Girls report, which covers offences including domestic abuse, rape, stalking and sexual abuse. They come against a backdrop of rising disquiet after a string of rape cases collapsed because the authorities failed to pass on texts and photographs which undermined an accusers story. Four years ago Mrs Saunders announced a major shake-up of investigations into sex offences in a bid to halt the decline in rape convictions. Critics warned her drive to secure more guilty verdicts, and a raft of new guidance, risked undermining the principle of innocent until proven guilty. The report revealed that rape case referrals from the police to the CPS dropped by 9 per cent from 6,611 to 6,012. Prosecutors said this contributed to a fall in the number of suspects charged. A record 1,307 cases, or one in five, were closed when police stopped their inquiries after advice from prosecutors or because a suspect went missing. Katie Russell, of the campaign group Rape Crisis, said that while victims and survivors were being praised for speaking out, the criminal justice system was not only failing to keep pace but diminishing. Alison Saunders, the outgoing Director of Public Prosecutions, said offenders were being brought to justice wherever possible She said: This shift is both surprising and deeply troubling given the unprecedented and increasing numbers of victims. Sarah Green, of the End Violence Against Women coalition of activists, called for an independent review into the issue. She said: Behind these figures lie real lives and decisions to seek justice for one of the most serious crimes on the book. This is a collapse in rape justice and we need to know why this has happened and what those in charge of the justice system are going to do about it. Mrs Saunders said: Our focus is on making sure the right person is prosecuted for the right offence, and bringing offenders to justice wherever possible. Bones believed to be those of a woman whose son was jailed for her murder have been found at her former home. Tradesmen installing a swimming pool at Ah Bee Mack's former family home on Fairfield Street in Mount Hawthorn, Perth made the grim discovery on Wednesday. Ms Mack was last seen alive in 2008 but the 54-year-old's body has never been found. Her autistic son, Brent Donald Mack, was later jailed for her murder in 2013. Police Commissioner Chris Dawson confirmed that the skeletal remains had been uncovered, and police (pictured), pathologists and forensics were at that scene Skeletal remains believed to be those of Ah Bee Mack (pictured), whose son was jailed for her murder have been found at her former home Tradies installing a swimming pool (pictured) at Ah Bee Mack's former family home in Fairfield Street in Mount Hawthorn made the grim discovery on Wednesday Police now believe the unearthed skeletal remains could be those of Ms Mack and are currently at the Perth residence conducting their investigation. Police Commissioner Chris Dawson confirmed police, pathologists and forensics were conducting their inquires at that scene, 9 News reported. 'I think it's now a situation where we believe those skeletal remains may be connected to the disappearance of Miss Ah Bee Mack, Commissioner Dawson said. Ms Mack's son was sentenced to life with a 20-year minimum after he was found guilty of her murder but her body was never recovered, ABC News reported. At the time, Mr Mack allegedly told police his mother committed suicide in the shower and, after leaving her body under running water for a week, he then buried her at Lake Gwelup. But Supreme Court Justice John McKechnie found that Mr Mack murdered his mother in order to obtain her money, and there was no causal link between his autism and his crime. Commissioner Dawson told 9 News identifying the skeletal remains may finally solve the mystery of what happened to Ms Mack. 'We'll be seeking to establish the identity of the skeletal remains but they are believed to be the person I just referred to,' he said. Brett Kavanaugh returns to the Senate for another round of questions on Thursday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images With Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford hours away from testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a bombshell dropped Wednesday afternoon. The committee released the transcript of a call between GOP staffers and the Supreme Court nominee that included two new allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. The dam, it appeared, had broken. But the claims quickly drew skepticism, largely because they were made anonymously, unlike the first three allegations made against Kavanaugh, in which Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick went on the record to tell their stories of Kavanaughs alleged sexual misconduct. One of the new claims came in the form of an anonymous letter sent to the office of Colorado senator Cory Gardner. It said that in 1998 Kavanaugh assaulted a woman he was dating in Boulder while he was working for Ken Starrs investigation into Bill Clinton. Its ridiculous. Total Twilight Zone. And no, Ive never done anything like that, Kavanaugh told staffers when he was asked about the story. The other allegation arose from a phone call made to the office of Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse. The man making the call said a friend of his was sexually assaulted on a boat in 1985 by men she referred to at the time as Brett and Mark. After seeing a picture of a high school-aged Kavanaugh on TV, the man said he realized he was looking at the same Brett from 33 years ago. No, Kavanaugh said when asked about this story, which also implicated his childhood friend Mark Judge. I was not in Newport, havent been on a boat in Newport. Not with Mark Judge on a boat, nor all those three things combined. So why would GOP staffers bring up these two flimsy allegations about Kavanaugh? One theory is that theyre trying to muddy the waters and discredit all of the accusations against him. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee said themselves that the letter from the person in Colorado was useless. We have no reason to assign the letter credibility, and even if we did, wed have no way to investigate the allegation as it was made anonymously and cannot be corroborated, they said. So why question Kavanaugh about it at all? Then there was the odd choice of asking Kavanaugh about several tweets from the man who called Whitehouses office. One of the tweets called for President Trump to be overthrown. Another asked the Pentagon to save my country from the parasite that occupies the White House. The staffers asked Kavanaugh if he was aware of these tweets. He said he wasnt, of course. The decision to ask Kavanaugh about the tweets seems less about his answer and more about the eventual publication of the transcript. GOP staffers knew Kavanaugh wasnt aware of the tweets, but they wanted to make public an accusation of sexual misconduct that came from a Trump hater with an egg avatar. On Wednesday night, the man recanted his story in another tweet. If Republicans are in fact trying to discredit all of Kavanaughs accusers, there are early signs that its working. Breitbart is blaring bright red headlines about a flood of anonymous discredited accusations, while The Federalist is highlighting the off-the-wall tweets of the man in Rhode Island. Democrats, for their part, seem to be seeing through this gambit. One senior Democratic aide told Politico reporter Elana Schor that Republicans are releasing anonymous allegations in an effort to make all allegations look frivolous. Were focusing on the ones that have names attached. A man has given evidence in court against his younger brother, one of three men accused of plotting a Christmas Day terror attack in Melbourne. Ibrahim Abbas, 24, is the brother of 23-year-old Hamza Abbas who is standing trial alongside Ahmed Mohamed, 25, and Abdullah Chaarani, 27, accused of conspiring to 'wage violent jihad' in the city in 2016. Mr Abbas is giving evidence for the prosecution. Co-accused Hamza Abbas (pictured) is the younger brother of Ibrahim, who gave evidence in court about a Christmas Day terror plot planned in Melbourne Ahmed Mohamed (pictured) is one member of the group accused of conspiring to 'wage violent jihad' in the city in 2016 Hamza Abbas, 23, is standing trial alongside Ahmed Mohamed, 25, and Abdullah Chaarani (pictured), 27 He took the Supreme Court stand on Wednesday recalling joining the men as they purchased machetes and chemicals. Mr Abbas revealed he had suggested Federation Square 'is a place where a terrorist attack could occur' and told the men to 'just picture a terrorist attack over here'. The conversation on December 20, 2016 happened when Mr Abbas and the three accused men decided to visit the city and maybe get some ice cream, but stopped first to talk about life and girlfriends in the square. 'In the middle of the conversation I said 'you know, it's not that hard to kill someone',' Mr Abbas said. CCTV footage was played in court showing Mr Abbas making a slicing motion across Mohamed's neck. 'And then I said "you know what, if you slice someone in the neck they die, it's a very easy way to kill someone",' Mr Abbas told the court. He earlier outlined his intention to 'do a terrorist attack' and wanted it to be on a day like Christmas Day or New Year's Eve when crowds would be gathered and casualties would be higher. 'The bigger, the more terror is achieved, and that's the point,' he said. On December 21 the same year he said he joined Mohamed shopping and they looked at knives. Mr Abbas revealed he had suggested Federation Square 'is a place where a terrorist attack could occur' and told the men to 'just picture a terrorist attack over here' The court was told Mr Abbas and some of the accused took a trip to Chemist Warehouse earlier in December to buy hydrogen peroxide He left the store and Mohamed followed a few minutes later with two machetes he purchased, claiming they were for clearing bushland. Later that day a covert listening device in Mohamed's car captured a conversation between the two, discussing Mohamed's wife being strapped with an explosive device. Mr Abbas raised concerns about that alleged plot. 'What if it doesn't blow up on her, she gets caught? See, it's different if we get caught ... if she gets caught, her what's-it-called, her honour, is gonna get touched,' he said on the recording, played to the court. 'If I get caught, my honour is not gonna get touched, I'm a man. What are they going to touch, my butthole? Female, that's serious, bro.' The court was told Mr Abbas and some of the accused took a trip to Chemist Warehouse earlier in December to buy hydrogen peroxide, which they planned to use to distil water and extract an explosive chemical. He said in a discussion later Mohamed told him something to the effect of 'what we tried to do didn't work'. The trial before Justice Christopher Beale and a jury of 14 continues. Headteachers were accused of setting a poor example to pupils by taking a day off to protest in Downing Street over a school funding crisis. An unprecedented 1,000 school leaders will march in Westminster tomorrow and deliver a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond, urging him to provide more cash as schools are under enormous duress. They say cuts to school budgets have led to the scrapping of subjects and extra-curriculum activities, rising class sizes and staff cuts. Teacher plan to deliver a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond, urging him to provide more cash as schools We cannot sit idly by, as the children and families that we serve receive such an unsatisfactory deal from the Government, the letter adds. Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, accused headteachers of being hypocritical. He said: Headteachers expect children to attend school. They too should attend school. The Department for Education said: There is more money going into schools than ever before, rising to a record 43.5billion by 2020 50 per cent more in real terms per pupil than in 2000. Russian lies over the Salisbury poisonings were exposed last night with the dramatic unmasking of one of the assassins. Only a few weeks ago, Vladimir Putin went on television to claim that two suspects captured on CCTV were civilians and not GRU military intelligence officers. But yesterday one of them was revealed to be a special forces colonel whose real name is Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. He had come to Britain under the alias Ruslan Boshirov. President Putin gave the 39-year-old, who had served in Chechnya and Ukraine, Russias highest bravery honour in 2014 under his real name. Painstaking examination of public military records, leaked resident databases and passport files by online analysts from Bellingcat led to his identification. Online investigations group Bellingcat published what it says is the real identity of Ruslan Boshirov (left), a suspect in the Salisbury poising plot. The group say he is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga (pictured right) The real identity of one of the two assassins, named by police as Ruslan Boshirov, is reportedly Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. He is said to appear in this photo (circled) with a group of fellow military graduates in Chechnya Chepigas life and official documents are marked top secret but have been leaked to journalists The Kremlin was branded shameful last night for claiming Chepiga and his unknown accomplice, who used the alias Alexander Petrov, were holidaymakers. Boris Johnson tweeted: Utterly predictable news that GRU is behind Skripal atrocity. The former foreign secretary added: What have you got to say, Putin? The two Russian agents were charged over the poisonings by the Crown Prosecution Service earlier this month. But they later appeared on Russian TV to insist they were visiting Salisbury for its cathedral. As the bungled attack that left one dead and three seriously ill took another twist: It emerged that Chepiga fought for a feared Spetsnaz unit for 17 years and worked undercover for at least nine. Chepiga's name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001 Ruslan Boshirov when he appeared on Russian-state TV with fellow suspect Alexander Petrov to claim they only visited Salisbury to see the famous cathedral spire Picture released by Bellingcat of Ruslan Boshirov's passport photo from 2009 with do not reveal information stamped on it. The group claim he is is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga Sources said the soldiers high rank the same as his intended victim, Colonel Sergei Skripal suggested the attack was sanctioned at the highest level. Senior politicians queued up to accuse the Russians of being seriously dishonest and lying about their complicity. Salisbury assassin is colonel in Putin's brutal special forces army Spetsnaz have a terrifying reputation, built in recent years while conducting seek-and-destroy missions. In modern times many have become jihadi hunters tracing and murdering extremists who committed atrocities against Russian troops in Syria and Chechnya. There were reports Spetsnaz were behind the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine because a GRU officer was linked to the 'procurement and transport' of the weapons used. Their elite soldiers are trained fight on ground, in the air and even under water. The feared batallions is based in a headquarters nicknamed The Aquarium on an airbase near Moscow and is very large, deploying six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR. These are typically embedded in Russian embassies as military attaches and work on recruiting foreign double agents as well as monitoring military installations and new weapons systems. In 1997 it was estimated to have 25,000 Spetsnaz soldiers under its command. Their legend has trickled down through the agency, with many desk-bound agents claiming to have a special-forces background even if they do not. Many agents do have a military background, though, such as Sergei Skripal, who was recruited after serving in the Soviet army and ended up passing secrets to MI6. There is also a large signals intelligence branch (like our GCHQ) with about 130 satellites orbiting the Earth and a corresponding branch that analyses the resulting visual images. There are also specialist sub-departments for sophisticated cyber warfare, which recruit from Russia's top universities. Advertisement The identity of Chepiga was uncovered by investigative organisation Bellingcat, best known for its insight into the fighting in Ukraine. It found that Chepiga has won more than 20 awards and a Hero of the Russian Federation medal during his illustrious military career. Born in the isolated village of Nikolayevka, on the Russian-Chinese border in 1979, he is married with a teenage son. In 2001 he graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy before being deployed to Chechnya three times. Its website states: Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation by order of the president of the Russian Federation. His name appears under a gold star honour list on a monument to academy alumni at a base near the Chinese border. The medals are normally awarded by the president personally, and are given only to a handful of people each year. Unlike most recipients there is little public information about Chepigas life and official documents are marked top secret. The secretive nature of the award, combined with its timing in 2014, suggests it was for actions in Ukraine. His Spetsnaz unit was pictured on the eastern Ukraine border. Investigators also found documents that trace Chepigas movements around Russia and Europe. He pops up at a remote military unit and in Moscow where he is likely to have studied at the Military Diplomatic Academy, or GRU Conservatory. The GRU was betrayed by Mr Skripal before he was jailed and sent to the UK in a spy swap. He and his daughter were poisoned in March in Salisbury. Chepiga and Petrov are also accused of murdering Dawn Sturgess, who was inadvertently poisoned when she discovered a perfume bottle filled with the deadly novichok nerve agent used on the Skripals. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: It is confirmation of what we have known for a long time that Russia is serially dishonest in its foreign affairs and has again lied about its complicity. These guys are amateurs. Their cover couldnt even survive investigation by newspapers. The Russian embassy in London made no comment This undated image is alleged to show Chepiga (circled) posing with fellow members of the Russian military The dark star of Russia's elite special forces school: Colonel who signed up at 18, was honoured at gaudy memorial to military and then sent to kill Skripal The highly-decorated spy blamed for the Salisbury poisonings was a veteran of Russias elite special forces and had trained at one of the countrys top military academies, it emerged last night. The man behind the alias of Boshirov was unmasked by the investigative website as Colonel Chepiga - a GRU intelligence officer bestowed with Russias highest state award. His military career began at the age of 18 when he enrolled in a top military school just 25 miles from his tiny home village of Nikolaevka, near the Russia-China border. Col Chepiga studied at the Far Eastern Military Command Academy in Blagoveschensk, an elite training ground for Spetsnaz special forces officers. His name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001, he was assigned to Russias 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, based in the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk. Dawn Sturgess (left) died after spraying Novichok on her wrists thinking it was a perfume. Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, (right) fell critically ill but recovered Spetsnaz units are responsible for highly-secretive missions and are equivalent to the British SAS. Under the command of the GRU, Russias military intelligence agency, his brigade played a vital role in the second Chechen war and was also spotted near the Ukrainian border in late 2014. The information was revealed by investigative website Bellingcat, which had conducted a painstaking investigation into his background. It said that his unit had deployed three times to Chechnya, where Russia was carrying out what it called a counter-terrorist operation. The website of a state-run military volunteer organisation claims that Col Chepiga received more than 20 military awards and decorations in the course of his service. And his former military school proudly boasts on its website that he was bestowed his homelands highest honour, Hero of the Russian Federation, in 2014. The award is often presented by Vladimir Putin himself. This map shows the progress of the spies' assassination plot, as police managed to piece together using CCTV The two men chose a hotel in east London, 127 miles from Salisbury, despite heading to the city twice in three days While the achievements of his fellow award-winners are detailed extensively, Col Chepigas simply says it was awarded by decree from the Russian president. Bellingcat speculated that he could have been given the award for operations in Eastern Ukraine where Russias military was secretly operating in 2014. Senior Russian military officials have since said that so-called little green men soldiers wearing uniforms with no insignia were in fact members of Russias Spetsnaz deployed secretly to Ukraine. The Bellingcat website also found an undated photograph of graduates from the Far Eastern Military Command Academy on assignment in Chechnya. It pointed out that the man on the far right looks strikingly similar to the man named as Boshirov by the Metropolitan Police although it said it could not prove conclusively it was the same person. They came across the photograph after sources said the school was a likely place for a Russian military officer with a specialism in Western European operations to have trained. CCTV image issued by the Metropolitan Police of Russian nationals Ruslan Boshirov (left) and Alexander Petrov (right) in Salisbury at around 1pm on March 4 Sergei Skripal (right) and his daughter Yulia eating at a restaurant. Both were critically ill after the Novichok attack in Salisbury After further digging, they came across the mysterious Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. Address databases link him to the Military Unit 20662 code for the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade. The logo of the brigade is a black bat with a yellow parachute behind it. It was formed in the 1960s and has been under the command of the GRU for much of its history. According to Yuri Shvets, a former KGB agent, GRU officers were referred to as boots tough but unsophisticated. Once a member of the GRU, it is believed to be exceptionally difficult to leave. And those who do so to join foreign agencies are punished savagely. Viktor Suvorov, a GRU officer who defected to Britain in 1978, said new recruits were shown a video of a traitor from the agency being burned alive in a furnace as a warning. The GRU has become adept as using so-called non-linear warfare, which uses a combination of covert special forces operations, spying, cyber attacks and internet trolls to destabilise enemy nations. It started as an intelligence-gathering agency for Trotskys Bolshevik Red Army, and Lenin insisted it remain separate from the other intelligence organisations. Today it still sits apart from the SVR, the external spying service, and the domestic FSB (the equivalents of Britains MI6 and MI5), which were created when the notorious KGB was split in 1991. How will the West react to proof Putin lied? Commentary by Owen Matthews THIS sensational revelation the seniority of the would-be assassin and the official state support for the mission shows that the Skripal hit must have been ordered at the very highest levels of the Russian state. The evidence that Vladimir Putin personally ordered the attack grows stronger every day. Indeed, by presiding over one of the most farcically inept cover-ups in memory when the two Russians caught on CCTV here claimed to have been tourists visiting Salisbury cathedral Putin has condemned himself out of his own mouth. Days after British police released dozens of security camera images of the pair on their way from Moscow to Salisbury, Putin appeared on Russian television to defend them as innocent Russian citizens about whom we know nothing. His fingerprints were all over the operation. The following afternoon, Petrov and Boshirov themselves appeared to air a cock-and-bull story about being turned back from their mission to see Salisbury by slush two days in a row. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the two suspects were just civilians and not members of the GRU Before the denials by Putin and by the suspects themselves, it might have been possible to argue plausibly that the botched assassination attempt was some kind of rogue operation by Russias secret services. But Putins personal defence of the suspects and the inept cover-up job by the state-controlled media constitute strong, if wholly unintended, proof of the Kremlins deep complicity. And now the Bellingcat revelations have added incontrovertible layers of detail to the emerging picture of a top-level GRU assassination squad operating on UK soil. Using mostly open-source data, Bellingcats researchers first unearthed details of the passports the suspects used to enter the UK, published by British police. Petrov and Boshirovs passport numbers, it turned out, varied by just a single digit and were issued by a Moscow office used exclusively for officials travel documents. Even more suspiciously, Boshirovs passport file was stamped Do not reveal information. Then, yesterday, came the clincher. By trawling through the records of GRU academy graduation classes, Bellingcat matched the photos of Boshirov to the real-life Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. Once they had a name, details of Colonel Chepigas secret service popped up all over the internet, in online posts by veterans groups and even written in letters of gold on a stone monument to the decorated graduates of one of the GRUs secret intelligence academies. Chepiga served in Chechnya with the Spetznaz, the elite forces of the Federal Security Service, where by some reports he received 20 awards and decorations. In short, Putin has been caught out telling analogue lies in a digital world. Counter-terrorism police released images of two suspects in connection with the Salisbury attack and named them as Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov (circled right) Bellingcat became famous for its painstaking investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing over Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, collecting photos from social media and intelligence data showing the hour-by-hour progress of the Buk missile system which downed the plane, from a military base inside Russia into Eastern Ukraine and back again. Russias vehement denials of involvement were shown to be false. Now, with Bellingcats dozens of detailed revelations about the true identity of one of the would-be Skripal assassins, another of the Kremlins brazen lies has been carefully picked apart. Perhaps the most terrifying part of the whole tragic story of the Skripal poisoning, which resulted in the death of an innocent British bystander, is the shocking combination of the Kremlins deadly intent and utter incompetence. Instead of quietly disposing of a traitor, Chepiga and his as-yet-unnamed accomplice succeeded in contaminating parts of Salisbury, murdering an innocent woman, and revealing themselves to the whole world as bungling idiots. Attempting extra-judicial execution on British soil is bad enough. But to spread deadly nerve agent around a cathedral city is irresponsible bungling on an epic scale. The question now, of course, is what the response of the West will be to this damning revelation. Will Theresa May call for renewed sanctions? Will America ratchet up their rhetoric? We shall have to wait and see in the coming days. What is clear is that the Kremlin and its henchmen have been revealed for what they are not just a bunch murderous liars, but terrible at both. Jeremy Corbyn was condemned last night after he used his conference speech to praise an anti-Semitic poet and an activist who compared a top Israeli politician to Hitler. After a week dominated by rows over anti-Semitism in the party, the Labour leader declined to use the opportunity to apologise for the hurt it had caused the Jewish community. Instead he hit out at Tory hypocrisy and spoke about his plans to recognise unilaterally a Palestinian state if he enters No 10. He also quoted the 19th century poet and Chartist protest leader Ernest Jones, whose biographer describes him as anti-Semitic. Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at Labour's conference yesterday) hit out at Tory hypocrisy and spoke about his plans to recognise unilaterally a Palestinian state if he enters No 10 The Labour leader stopped short of making a full apology to the Jewish community as has been demanded but said he hoped to 'draw a line' under the toxic row And he praised his late Israeli friend Uri Avnery, who wrote an article which accused politician Moshe Yaalon of peddling an anthem of fascism and compared him to Adolf Hitler. Last night Conservative MP Andrew Percy said: You couldnt make it up. As long as Jeremy Corbyn is a leader, it seems anti-Jewish racism will be given a free pass in the Labour Party. The row came a day after Labour deputy leader Tom Watson said a failure to tackle the anti-Semitism crisis risks eternal shame for the party. Speaking at the Labour Friends of Israel reception on Tuesday night, he condemned party members who make grotesque parallels between the Jewish state and the Nazis and those who call for boycotts of Israeli goods. Susan Pollack, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who lost 50 relatives in the Nazi genocide, called on Mr Corbyn to say unfounded attacks on Israel are not acceptable. In his speech, Mr Corbyn read out a verse by Ernest Jones, who campaigned for the vote for all working men as a leader of the Chartists. But, according to Mr Joness biographer, he was a racist bigot. He wrote: Even if the conversations of romanticism required Jones to blur fact and fiction, he still emerges at times as duplicitous and unpleasant in short, a liar, a cheat, an anti-Semite, a racist bigot, an absent father, and a neglectful husband. Later, Mr Corbyn devoted a long part of his speech to the Palestinian tragedy. He said: As my great Israeli friend Uri Avnery, who died this year, put it, What is the alternative to peace? A catastrophe for both peoples. But it emerged last night that in an article in 2009, Mr Avnery had criticised former chief of staff of the Israeli defence forces, Moshe Yaalon, for promoting views similar to the knife in the back theory expounded by Adolf Hitler. He said: The knife in the back legend was a stepping stone to power for Adolf Hitler. The German army stood up to the enemy and had victory in its sights, when the politicians, the Jews, socialists and the other November criminals stuck a knife in the back of the heroic fighters. He accused Mr Yaalon of depicting political opponents as a virus just as the Nazis had portrayed the Jews as rats spreading disease. Mr Avnery also wrote a piece called The fallacy of rising anti-Semitism. The Labour leader mentioned the anti-Semitism crisis in his speech but declined to apologise. He told supporters: Being anti-racist means we must listen to those communities suffering discrimination and abuse. I believe we are all stronger from listening and learning from each other. The Jewish people have suffered a long and terrible history of persecution and genocide. I was humbled to see a memorial to that suffering two years ago, when I visited the former Nazi concentration camp at Terezin. The row over anti-Semitism has caused immense hurt and anxiety in the Jewish community and great dismay in the Labour Party. But I hope we can work together to draw a line under it. I say this to all in the Jewish community this party, this movement, will always be implacable campaigners against anti-Semitism and racism in all its forms. We are your ally. And the next Labour government will guarantee whatever support necessary to ensure the security of Jewish community centres and places of worship, as we will for any other community experiencing hateful behaviour and physical attacks. We will work with Jewish communities to eradicate anti-Semitism, both from our party and wider society. And with your help I will fight for that with every breath I possess. Mr Corbyn, watched by his Mexican wife Laura, then went on to link the anti-Semitism crisis to the Conservatives because their MEPs did not vote for sanctions against Hungarys Right-wing government. We wont accept it when were attacked by Tory hypocrites who accuse us of anti-Semitism one day, then endorse Viktor Orbans hard-Right government the next, he said. Or when they say we are racist, while they work to create a hostile environment for all migrant communities. Last night Euan Philipps, of Labour Against Anti-Semitism, said: This year the anti-Semitism is no longer on the fringes but at the core of the conference itself. Balinese authorities are banning western holiday-makers using sacred religious temples as aesthetic backgrounds for saucy social media snaps. The move follows a steady increase in tourists visiting the island, known for being a cheap and paradise-like holiday destination. Disrespectful behavior from the growing number of foreign tourists visiting sacred places of worship have sparked anger among the masses, PerthNow reported. A bikini-clad woman performed the downward dog yoga position in front of a Balinese temple Balinese authorities look set to ban western holiday-makers using sacred religious temples as aesthetic backgrounds for social media snaps Gusti Ngurah Sudiana, chairman of the Bali-based Indonesia Hindu Society said: 'We've seen cases of tourists playing the guitar, stealing artefacts and even engaging in immoral conduct at temples.' 'Such insolent behaviour is an insult to Hindus and must not happen again.' He claims western tourists have been seen sitting on holy shrines, with a Danish tourist drawing outrage earlier this month for sharing a photo of himself sitting on the Linggih Padmasana shrine. Authorities in Bali are planning on stopping tourists from posing in bikinis in front of sacred temples - after criticising the 'quality of tourists' visiting the Indonesian island (pictured tourist posing in front of erupting volcano) The proposed crackdown follows a move by Cambodian authorities in 2016 to stop tourists from wearing skimpy clothing The shrine is reserved for Balinese Hinduism's most important deity, and it is considered offensive for tourists to sit on it. Mr Sudiana said a group of government representatives and Hindu religious leaders had been established to draft new rules relating to the operation of Hindu temples. 'Temples that are primarily used for worship will always be locked (when there are no prayer sessions), and those wishing to enter to pray will have to ask the guardian,' he said. In 2016, a picture of a bikini-clad woman performing the downward dog yoga position in front of another Balinese temple provoked criticism on social media. And in 2017, pictures flooded social media of tourists posing in front of Bali's Mount Agung volcano as it spewed black ash and threatened to erupt. The island has become one of south-east Asia's most popular tourist destinations for westerners in recent years, and attracted more than five million visitors in 2017 alone. And while the surge in popularity is great for the nation's economy, the lack of awareness and understanding of the masses religion and spirituality is detrimentally impacting the way people practice their faith in areas inundated with tourists. It comes only days after Balinese authorities proposed implementing a law similar to that of Cambodia, where people are banned from wearing offensive or skimpy clothing in the midst of sacred temples. The proposed crackdown would see bikinis banned near temples, whereas Cambodia's 2016 law included a ban on clothing which exposed knees and shoulders. Although Labour has unveiled a raft of big policies to delegates, Jeremy Corbyn failed to detail how he'd pay for them in his speech yesterday. Here we tally the cost: CHILDCARE Labour would make 30 hours a week of free childcare available to all children aged two to four. It is estimated that this dramatic expansion of provision would cost 7.5billion a year. On top of this, Mr Corbyn promised that poorer parents would get additional free hours, but he did not specify how many. A new national pay scale for all early-years workers starting at 10 an hour would further increase costs. Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) yesterday threatened to send Brexit into total chaos by voting down any deal that doesn't keep the UK in the customs union ENVIRONMENT Homes across the country will be made energy efficient through a five-year insulation programme. Property owners on low incomes and those in social housing will have their homes insulated for free, while others will be able to get zero- interest loans. Labour says the 12.8billion needed to pay for the scheme would come from Shadow Chancellor John McDonnells 250billion borrowing splurge. RENATIONALISATION Labour has repeatedly refused to cost its plans to nationalise the water companies, energy providers, railways and Royal Mail. Experts believe the bill would be at least 176billion. This would represent around 10 per cent of the national debt, or nearly 6,500 for every household in the country. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell (pictured yesterday) listens as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn delivers a keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool SHARE GRAB The most contentious policy announced during the partys conference was Mr McDonnells threat to hand 10 per cent of shares in all large UK companies to worker-controlled boards. The profits would be split between employees and the taxman. Workers would get up to 500 a year each in dividend payments, with an estimated 2billion being paid into the Treasurys coffers. However, business leaders have warned that the raid would lead to lower wages and less investment. RENTERS UNIONS A 20million fund would be used to help the 11.5million tenants in the private rental sector to unionise. Labour says a network of renters unions would control costs and improve conditions. However, the groups could discourage landlords from letting out property and cut investment in housing stock, ultimately pushing prices up. Heinz has announced it will not be renaming Salad Cream after it received huge backlash from the public. The name of the popular condiment was set to be renamed Sandwich Cream as part of a rebrand, as Heinz said it no longer 'fairly represents' how most people use it. In a video released yesterday, Heinz chiefs admitted they were wrong. Heinz initially had plans to rename Salad Cream to Sandwich Cream, but have now decided against the rebrand In the tongue-in-cheek clip, Heinz's apparent head of feedback, Jenny Lettuce, apologsised for the mistake. She said: 'We can't ignore the will of the people after all. Salad Cream is here to stay' - before she then takes a bite out of a sandwich. She is also seen demonstrating a number of other bizarre uses for the cream. What are the ingredients in Heinz's Salad Cream? Spirit Vinegar, Rapeseed Oil (25%), Water, Sugar, Mustard, Pasteurised Egg Yolks (3%), Modified Cornflour, Salt, Stabilisers - Guar Gum and Xanthan Gum, Colour - Riboflavin. Salad cream is always based on an emulsion of about 2550 percent oil in water, emulsified by egg yolk and acidulated by spirit vinegar, Advertisement Lettuce then claimed the cream is an 'essential part of my skincare routine for years', rubbing the sauce into her face. The clip finishes: 'You spoke. We listened. Thank you.' When Heinz were weighing up their decision to change the name, they said that only 14 per cent of buyer's dress salads with the sauce, as it's now much more popular to use it as an accompaniment to tuna, ham or cheese in sandwiches as an alternative to mayonnaise. Parent group Kraft Heinz said it was working with brand design specialists Jones Knowles Ritchie on overhauling one of Britain's longest running kitchen staples, which launched in 1914. A spokesman for Heinz told trade journal The Grocer the name no longer 'fairly represents the product's ingredients or usage occasions'. According to The Grocer, it is considering the name 'Sandwich Cream' to represent its appeal to 'younger shoppers.' UK sales of the brand dipped 5.4 per cent to 28.8 million last year. Heinz Salad Cream was first launched in 1914 but could now change its name for the first time to Sandwich Cream The Heinz spokesman added: 'As a market leading business, Kraft Heinz continues to audit its portfolio in order to meet the needs of consumers. 'There are consumers now who haven't grown up with the brand in the household and just don't know about the iconic zingy flavour or what to eat it with.' The consultation process means the earliest a new name will be introduced is in September. In 1999, it was revealed that Heinz were about to ditch the brand but once the leak was published it led to a major protest by shoppers and it saved the brand. The publicity helped sales and Heinz took advantage by relaunching Salad Cream in new-look packs and putting the price up. A mother was conned out of her 161,000 savings by fraudsters posing as bank staff. Jan Dean was able to send 50,000 with three transactions without NatWest checking whether anything was amiss. The 62-year-old had rarely made payments of more than 300 in the past. The criminals also tricked her into moving a 51,000 pension payment into the account they had set up to steal her cash. The medical receptionist lost a further 60,000 from accounts at Halifax. Experts say it is one of the biggest transfer fraud losses they have seen. The banks found some of the stolen money but, 18 months on, Mrs Dean is still fighting for 91,000 to be refunded. NatWest said they did not have to reimburse her because she explicitly approved the transfers. A mother was conned out of her 161,000 savings by fraudsters posing as bank staff. Jan Dean (above) was able to send 50,000 with three transactions without NatWest checking whether anything was amiss Money Mail this week launched a campaign for fairer treatment and compensation for victims of so-called 'authorised push payment' fraud. Figures published this week revealed that around 145million was lost in the first six months of the year. A code of conduct that spells out what steps banks must take to protect customers from fraud was to be launched by the payments regulator today, but is now not expected until tomorrow. The rules may include timely warnings and rapid action where banks notice suspicious activity on an account. But the watchdog is expected to stop short of making compensation mandatory for all victims. Mrs Dean has fought to recover her life savings since May last year. She had been looking after her elderly mother who had been taken ill in hospital when she received a text message that appeared to come from NatWest. It claimed there had been suspicious transactions on her account. When she called the number given in the text message a man called 'David' with a Scottish accent answered and said he was from the bank's fraud department in Edinburgh. A headline from Tuesday's Daily Mail. Money Mail this week launched a campaign for fairer treatment and compensation for victims of so-called 'authorised push payment' fraud He told her that criminals were trying to steal money from her account and take out loans in her name. David then said she must act quickly to move her money to 'safe' accounts. When Mrs Dean questioned how she could know he was genuine, David said he would call her back on her mobile and she would see that the number he was dialling from matched the same one on the back of her bank card which it did. Reassured, she made three payments totalling 50,000. At no point did the bank call her to challenge the transfers, she said. Mrs Dean was also expecting 51,000 from her pension fund that week. The crook phoned her the next day and persuaded her to ask her employer to transfer this to the fraudulent account as well. A day later, David told her to move her money out of her Halifax cash and investment Isas. He told her the bank's branch staff were under investigation for fraud so she should not let them talk her out of moving the money. I'd worked 30 years and been careful with money to enjoy a comfortable retirement, just to see it taken away from me. Jan Dean Mrs Dean went into her local branch in York and transferred 15,000, then phoned to ask for her 45,000 investment Isa to be moved as well. The married mother of two went on holiday that afternoon believing everything was in hand. But she became suspicious when she returned home a week later and started speaking to friends and family. She informed NatWest and Halifax, but most of her money was already gone. 'I was completely numb with shock, speechless,' she said. 'It felt like the bottom had dropped out of my life. I was just empty. I'd worked 30 years and been careful with money to enjoy a comfortable retirement, just to see it taken away from me. 'I'm only speaking out because I don't want this to happen to anyone else. My husband and family have been so supportive of me. If it hadn't been for them goodness knows what would have happened to me.' The banks involved have managed to recover around 70,000 of Mrs Dean's money after some of the fraudsters' accounts were frozen. But she is still 91,000 out of pocket. A Halifax spokeswoman said: 'We have rigorous security procedures in place to protect our customers and transactions are monitored using industry leading systems. 'Sadly, it appears Mrs Dean was the victim of social engineering in 2017 and was persuaded by a criminal to provide false information to our staff. 'She then transferred funds into accounts that were controlled by the fraudsters. 'While we sympathise with Mrs Dean's situation, as the payments were made in accordance with her authorised instructions it was not possible to provide a refund.' Martyn James, of the complaint website Resolver, said: 'This is one of the biggest fraud losses I've heard of. It's a staggering amount of money to lose and it's heartbreaking to think how many hours it would have taken to earn that money compared to how long it took for it to be stolen.' A NatWest spokesman said: 'We sympathise with Mrs Dean and appreciate this has been a very distressing experience. We have been unable to refund the customer for her loss as she explicitly authorised the payments. 'The bank provides clear guidance on these scams, including warnings across our channels.' Jeremy Corbyn urged supporters to besiege the media over what he called lies and half-truths. He said Labour members should use social media to challenge the propaganda of privilege, and pledged to give the go-ahead to part two of the Leveson inquiry, which critics fear could lead to draconian curbs on the freedom of the Press. Mr Corbyn said: It turns out that the billionaires who own the bulk of the British Press dont like us one little bit. Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) pledged to give the go-ahead to part two of the Leveson inquiry, which critics fear could lead to draconian curbs on the freedom of the press He added that Labour would protect the freedom of the Press to challenge unaccountable power in places such as Turkey and Colombia, but added: Here, a free Press has far too often meant the freedom to spread lies and half truths. Theresa May, addressing the United Nations in New York, said: I do not always enjoy reading what the media in my country writes about me, but I will defend their right to say it. Independence of our media... is the bedrock of our democracy. Australian taxpayers have been slugged with a $19,000 bill for a private trip by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. During their Commonwealth Games visit in April, Charles and Camilla made a brief detour to see an old friend, billionaire hedge-fund owner Sir Michael Hintze, at his secluded homestead in Gundagai, 400km south-west of Sydney. The three-day visit was not part of the Prince of Wales's official itinerary and a royal spokesperson said at the time it would come at 'no cost to the taxpayer'. But on Wednesday, it was revealed the Australian Government did in fact foot the bill for the couple and their 13-person entourage, who stayed in nearby Wagga Wagga. A trip by Prince Charles (pictured) and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall resulted in a $19,000 tax bill for the Australian taxpayer The royal couple were visiting Australia in anticipation of the 2018 Commonwealth Games (pictured is the Duchess of Cornwall) Sir Hintze hosted them at his $19million estate, the Deltroit Station in Gundagai (pictured) A freedom of information request made by independent journalist and blogger William Summers, resulted in the release of receipts for meals, drinks and transport. A massive $18,916 was spent by the entourage, including for 13 of Prince Charles's staff to stay in a hotel while the royal couple stayed at Sir Hintze's sprawling $19million Deltroit Station, which covers 2,500 hectares. The biggest expenditure was almost $11,000 spent on chauffeur-driven cars, with nine separate journeys costing more than $1,000 each. Hundreds of dollars worth of alcohol and pub meals were spent during the three-night stay, as well as bills for dry-cleaning and trips to Woolworths. WHAT THE VISIT COST TAXPAYERS $10,940 on chauffeur-driven cars to and from regional New South Wales $134 on food and drinks at 'Que Restaurant and Nightclub' in Wagga Wagga including a Scotch fillet steak, chicken parmigianas and 'Bangers and Mash' $5,407 to stay at the Mercure Hotel Wagga Wagga including various meals and a $31.90 bill for dry cleaning $1,353 for car hire $107.50 for lunch at Long Track Pantry, Jugiong NSW $48 on Coca-Cola and water from Woolworths in Wagga Wagga $71.35 for breakfast and coffee at Coffee Club Wagga Wagga $276.40 on food and drinks at the Duke of Kent Hotel in Wagga Wagga including scallop dinners, salmon fillets and a bottle of sauvignon blanc $140 on petrol $436.40 on food and drinks at the Wagga Waggas Union Hotel including steaks, salmon, pints of VB and bottles of wine Source: Freedom of Information request by William Summers Advertisement Thousands of dollars worth of food, drinks, accommodation and travel were charged to the Australian taxpayers, as revealed in receipts produced during the royals' stay (pictured) Nearly $500 of food and drinks were charged to the taxpayer at the Union Club Hotel in Wagga Wagga (pictured) Their brief visit to billionaire hedge fund baron Sir Michael Hintze (pictured, right) was kept a secret leading up to the tour Hedge fund billionaire Sir Michael Hintze hosted the royal pair at the $19million Deltroit Station. Sir Hinzte and the Prince have been friends for years, with the hedge fund billionaire having founded his global fund manager CQS during his time living in London. He has an estimated net worth of $1.3billion, and spent as much as $3million renovating his estate in anticipation of the royal visit. But despite improvements made to the 2500hectare property, the 13 support staff were still forced to find lodging almost half-an-hour away. 'When Prince Charles visited Australia this year we got a preview of what a "King Charles" will be like,' Australian Republic Movement national director Michael Cooney said in response to the release of the invoices. 'What was it like? The Australian people paid for two of the world's richest men to have a sleepover and the costs were kept secret for months.' Australian taxpayers paid more than $1000 for three days worth of boozy lunches and dinners (pictured is Prince Charles during his April visit to Australia) Mr Cooney questioned how much work would have been done by support staff during the brief retreat, though the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet insists the spending follows guidelines. 'A small number of support staff from Clarence House and the Australian Government accompanied Their Royal Highnesses on this portion of the program,' their statement reads. 'These support staff were responsible for transport and accommodation arrangements, as well as final preparations for the official elements of the visit. 'All costs for official visits are expended in line with Australian Government procurement guidelines. 'The Australian government did not pay for accommodation or meals for their royal highnesses during this portion of the program.' The total cost for the royal visit is believed to have topped $1million, including an estimated $100,000 on Royal Australian Air Force flights. Do you believe me? Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images In the law, the burden of proof and the burden of persuasion are related but distinct concepts that apply to the weight of evidence needed to make your case in court. The former is the more familiar one: beyond a reasonable doubt is the popular standard of proof that applies to the accused in criminal cases, while the lesser clear and convincing or preponderance of the evidence standards each apply in various civil contexts. Because Supreme Court confirmation hearings arent trials in a court of law, none of these burdens of proof really apply to Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trumps embattled nominee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee and partisans who at one point chanted Lock her up would rather convince the American public todays hearing is akin to a courtroom: Give Kavanaugh due process. Hes innocent until proven guilty. Let the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, be the prosecutor of her own case, which she must prove by removing any reasonable doubt that the judge, as a drunk teenager, attempted to sexually assault her at a party in 1982. This is nonsense. All spin aside, and Republicans have been spinning, the reality is that senators can decide for themselves what evidence about him, and how much of it, matters for his elevation. Without considering Kavanaughs recent controversies, for example, red-state Democratic senator Claire McCaskill said last week shed be voting no on his nomination the chief concern in her mind were Kavanaughs extreme views on campaign finance and the role of money in our elections. And that was that. Her colleagues are just as unbound by legal rules. In fact, very little, if anything, of the American legal system translates to the crucible of a Senate confirmation, where nominees can be weighed and grilled about embarrassing episodes without regard for due process or rules of evidence or procedure a nominee cant even consult with his or her attorney if a question appears to be unduly prejudicial or beyond the scope of the proceeding. Its a political process, so pretty much anything goes. And the nominee must answer accordingly. So must Ford. Therein lies the trouble for the all-male Republican caucus in the committee, and the reason theyve enlisted, as Mitch McConnell inartfully put it, a female assistant to do the work for them: Rachel Mitchell, a sex-crimes prosecutor from Arizona, has been handpicked to undermine Fords credibility and possibly boost Kavanaughs innocence claims. Which underscores the farcity of Republicans legalistic gambit: Mitchell wont be there to look out for the alleged victim, like any other normal sex-crimes prosecutor, but instead will grill Ford to atone for the optics of not having a single female senator in a committee faced with a credible allegation of sexual misconduct. This is gender politics all the way down. It is the extralegal nature of Thursdays session, without a doubt a watershed moment in the #MeToo era, that Chuck Grassley, the committee chairman, can get away and get away he has with lots of things. Not calling for an impartial, nonpartisan FBI investigation. Or declaring that letters from high-school buddies or acquaintances of Kavanaugh suffice to rebut Fords detailed accusations. Late on Wednesday, with only hours to go before the hearing, the Judiciary Committee began releasing transcripts of interviews Kavanaugh had with Senate investigators looking into other allegations since Ford went public including those of Kavanaughs Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez and of Julie Swetnick, who threw gasoline on the judges troubles on Wednesday by coming forward with a sworn declaration that he had witnessed and participated in the equivalent of a gang-rape ritual. As in his Fox News interview, Kavanaugh claimed innocence, and with respect to Swetnick, he said her accusations seemed taken from the Twilight Zone. The same goes with the Republican release of other anonymous claims, dating back to the 80s and 90s, which no doubt are meant to cast aspersions on all allegations against Kavanaugh, including Fords. Desperation seems to be setting in. None of these tactics would ever fly in the courtroom, let alone be admissible to prove anything. Less so in the case of Ford, who has provided enough details to at least prompt the committee to dig deeper such as subpoenaing Mark Judge, Kavanaughs Georgetown Prep classmate and someone who has gone into hiding since Ford came forward. Republicans incuriosity about him speaks louder than a thousand Kavanaugh denials; theyve accepted the risk that this and other investigatory steps arent necessary, and the voting public, in due time, can make them pay for that choice. Which brings me back to a concept that I have yet to explain: the burden of persuasion. Rather than determine someones guilt or liability, all this burden does is establish which side carries the responsibility of convincing the factfinder. Heres where, unlike a trial, the tables again should be flipped: It is not Fords duty to make her case to the American public about Kavanaugh. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court, she wrote in prepared testimony ahead of todays hearing. My responsibility is to tell the truth. In view of Kavanaughs credibility deficit thus far not just with respect to his proclaimed past as a choirboy and champion for women, but on a host of controversies that have called his integrity and capacity for truthfulness into question he is the one who has a long credibility gap to bridge. The burden of persuasion is his to bear. So as you gird to witness this important moment in history for the country, for the Supreme Courts future, for Washingtons greatest reckoning with sexual assault since Anita Hill was disbelieved and maligned keep in mind that this political nontrial is not Fords to lose. It is Kavanaugh who has a lot of convincing and explaining to do. A stepfather terrorised his young stepdaughter for a year after she refused his sexual advances when she was in Year 8. The man from Nambour, 100km north of Brisbane, abused, stalked and violently threatened the young girl, her family, friends and any boys she was in contact with. He was convicted of seven sexual offences against the girl and maintaining a sexual relationship with her for eight-years - starting when she was just five years old. A stepfather went on a terrifying campaign to hurt his stepdaughter who rejected his sexual advances once she began Year 8 (stock image) The man was found guilty of all offences last year, but appealed in the Queensland Supreme Court in May. During the appeal the terrifying onslaught of abuse came to light. From October 2012 to January 2014 the man embarked on a campaign to exact 'revenge' on the girl for 'ruining his life' when she began to withdraw from him. After his access to the girl was limited after splitting up with the victim's mother in 2009, the man was sent into a spiral of rage. In late 2012, he approached the girl after seeing her walking with friend and one male to a party, calling the group 'sluts' and accused her of trying to 'hook up' with the boy. Months later in March, the stepfather appeared in the girl's friends' yard as she stayed over at her house, calling the girls 'lesbians' and suggested the friends' father was 'perving' on them. Over the following months, the man flooded the girl's mother's phone with increasingly aggressive texts asking invasive questions about the daughter's sexuality and calling her saying her daughter was a 'slut'. One evening he even appeared at the girl's bedroom window demanding she admit to sleeping with boys from school. The Nambour man was convicted of seven sexual offences against the girl between January 2009 and December 2011 last year-but appealed in the Queensland Supreme Court (pictured) in May In October 2013, he accused her neighbour constantly of being a 'paedophile', and suggesting the mother was paying off her daughter for sex, saying 'I bet she loves it, f****g w***e'. The man then admitted that he 'couldn't help' but watch her undress through her window. A month later, the man told the girl's mother that she had 'ruined my life when she decided not to have anything to do with me'. He then added: 'I'm going to make sure I ruin her life'. In December, he threatened to purchase a gun and hunt down and kill a man, kill himself but not before tracking down the girl to 'get his revenge'. Judge Fraser, from the Supreme Court, ordered the appeal be dismissed on the grounds that the harassment evidence aligned with an 'ongoing sexual interest' in the girl rather than over a protective parent. Judge Gotterson and President Sofronoff also agreed with the reasoning and the court dismissed the appeal on September 14. Just one in five paedophiles caught downloading child abuse images is jailed. Official figures show 3,609 were convicted last year of possessing obscene material, almost always videos or pictures of youngsters being raped or molested. But only 755 were put behind bars. At 21 per cent, this is the lowest custody rate for a decade. Official figures show that of the 3,609 paedophiles convicted last year of possessing obscene material only 755 were put behind bars Those who are not locked up are given community sentences, suspended jail terms and conditional discharges. Twenty escaped with a fine, according to analysis of Ministry of Justice statistics. Peter Saunders, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said the offences were not soft crimes. We mustnt deflect from their seriousness and the reality that kids lives are utterly devastated in order to make these images, he added. To view such images is akin to carrying out the physical act itself. David Spencer, of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: The revelation that downloading child porn does not see offenders being sent straight to jail will sicken the British public. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: Online child sexual exploitation is sickening and offenders who take or distribute indecent images already face ten years in prison with record numbers given prison sentences in 2017. Four people have now been arrested after a young woman was allegedly kidnapped, bundled into the boot of a car, driven to a historic Sydney bridge and thrown into the Hawkesbury River on the weekend. Three of those behind bars have been charged with attempted murder and other offences including aggravated kidnapping. The 19-year-old victim has told police she was driven to the seven-metre-high Windsor Bridge in the early hours of Sunday before a group of people threw her into the river below. The 19-year-old victim (pictured) was allegedly kidnapped and tortured on Saturday night The incident began at Ambervale on Saturday night and the victim was driven 60km to Whalen and then to Windsor Bridge, northeast of Sydney. She was transported to the bridge in the boot of the car before she was thrown into the Hawkesbury River, police will allege. She managed to swim to safety where she then alerted police on Sunday about 6am, and was taken to Nepean Hospital for treatment. Officers seized a Holden Commodore at a property in Whalen and it was examined by forensics. She was transported to the bridge in the boot of the car before she was thrown into the Hawkesbury River, police will allege Police will allege the injured woman was transported from Campbelltown to Windsor in the boot of a car. On Tuesday, a 19-year-old woman was charged with attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and robbery with wounding. She was refused bail and will face court on November 23. Just after 2pm on Wednesday, a 17-year-old girl was also arrested at the police station and is due to appear at a Children's Court on Thursday facing the same charges. A 22-year-old man was also arrested on Wednesday where he was refused bail and is due to appear in Penrith Local Court on Thursday. He was charged with attempted murder, detain for advantage in company, aggravated robbery and wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. A 16-year-old boy was the fourth person arrested about 9am on Thursday, and he was taken to the police station. The boy was charged with attempted murder, detain in company with intent to get advantage occasioning actual bodily harm, aggravated robbery, and wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He was refused bail to appear before a childrens court on Friday. No further arrests are expected and all five are expected to be known to each other, police said. Police inquiries are continuing and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. President Donald Trump raised the stakes on his engagement with North Korea as he concluded a trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Trump claimed at a news conference that if it weren't for him millions of people would be dead, because the United States and North Korea would be in a bloody conflict. 'They said, "Oh, Trump is saying these horrible things. Hes going to get us into a war. You were going to have a war - if I wasnt elected, you'd be in a war,' he asserted. 'And President Obama essentially said the same thing. He was ready to go to war. You would have had a war and you would have lost millions, not thousands.' President Donald Trump raised the stakes on his engagement with North Korea as he concluded a trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly A nuclear conflict would wipe out the nearby populous of Seoul, which is just across the border from North Korea, he said. 'You would have lost millions of people. Seoul has 30 million people, 40 miles and 30 miles from this very dangerous border. 'If I wasnt elected, you would have had a war. President Obama thought you had to go to war,' he said, digging in. 'You know how close he was to pressing the trigger for war?' Trump said he deserves more credit for suspending the North Korean nuclear threat than he typically gets. 'Millions of people,' he said, coming back to the hypothetical death toll. 'With me, nobody is talking about that.' Highlighting his overtures to Kim Jong-un, who he has become pen pals with since their Singapore summit, Trump said, 'He likes me, I like him. We get along. He wrote me two of the most beautiful letters.' The U.S. leader said that Japanese prime minister could attest to the 'groundbreaking' nature of their correspondence. 'I showed one of the letters -- just one -- to Prime Minister Abe,' he said. Gushing about the latest letter, Trump said, 'Its a beautiful piece of art. And I think were going to make a deal.' 'In the meantime, and I have said it -- I dont want to bore you. No rockets, no missiles, no nuclear tests. You know, for over a year.' HE ALMOST TOOK US TO WAR: Trump at a news conference claimed, 'You were going to have a war if I wasnt elected, you would be in a war,' he asserted. 'And President Obama essentially said the same thing. He was ready to go to war. You would have had a war and you would have lost millions, not thousands.' Trump has been boasting all week that thanks to him 'missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction' from North Korea and the remains of American soldiers have been returned. 'We have engaged with North Korea to replace the specter of conflict with a bold and new push for peace,' he told attendees of his United Nations address on Tuesday. He said later, as he sat down with the newly-elected Colombia president that the good vibes with North Korea are 'far greater than the media understands or knows' because it's all taking place through private communication. 'Letters have been going back and forth, and conversations have been happening,' he said. Trump pointed out that 'if you look at just last year, at this exact time, my words were slightly different having to do with the events taking place in North Korea' in his remarks before the United Nations. 'But theres been a tremendous difference if you look at from one year to the next,' he said.'A tremendous difference. And again, far greater than anybody really would understand, because we know whats happening behind the scenes.' President Trump said missiles are no longer flying from North Korea but economic sanctions will remain in place until denuclearization occurs He acknowledged that 'much work remains to be done' as his administration follows through on a pledge to set up another meeting with Kim. But he said nothing had been lost in the course of his conversations because the United States still has sanctions on Pyongyang. 'The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs,' he said in his United Nations' address. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been in negotiations with Pyongyang and plans to make another trip there next month. He accepted a new invitation to visit this week at a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho. Trump bragged about his accomplishments with North Korea in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday Trump said Monday his next summit with Kim should happen 'quite soon' and will 'most likely' take place in a 'different location' than it was before. He seemingly ruling out Singapore out as an option with the announcement. Mongolia and Vienna were previously seen as the runners-up. Trump said his second summit with Kim will be similar to the format they had before at a 'location to be determined' that will be 'announced within a fairly short period of time.' 'We are in no rush. There's no hurry. We got back three months ago or so,' he said of their summit in June. 'We've made more progress than anybody's made in - ever, - frankly, with regard to North Korea.' Donald Trump says his next summit with Kim Jong-un will be 'most likely in a 'different location' than it was before, ruling out Singapore out as an option North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In walk at the Samjiyon Airport earlier this month The U.S. president declared that 'in some ways' he has an 'extraordinary' relationship with Kim. 'I really believe North Korea has tremendous economic potential, and I believe that Chairman Kim and the people of North Korea want to see that potential arrived at, and we'll help them to that end,' he said as he met with the South Korean president. 'The relationship is very good. in fact in some ways it's extraordinary. we'll see what happens. But we will be having a second summit in the not too distant future.' He also boasted that his administration has made 'tremendous progress' in the dispute with North Korea in the year since he called Kim Jong-un 'Rocket Man' and placed heavy sanctions on the isolated regime for its illicit nuclear activities. He said on his way into the United Nations that talks were 'moving very well' with the hermit nation and 'the relationships are very good.' 'We have many things in store, looks like we will have a second summit quite soon,' he said. 'Since we got here, it was a different world. That was a very dangerous time. This is one year later, a much different time.' Trump also boasted Monday that his administration has made 'tremendous progress' in the dispute with North Korea in the year since he called Kim Jong-un 'Rocket Man' and placed heavy sanctions on the isolated regime for its illicit nuclear activities MAN OF THE HOUR: President Trump is seen here departing a counter-narcotics event at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday Trump talked briefly about the 'critical steps to combat the global drug problem' that the U.S. and its allies are taking at the televised session President Trump confers with U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley during the 'Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem' event at the United Nations this morning. He has an open afternoon before he meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in 'We have many things in store, looks like we will have a second summit quite soon,' Trump said on his way into the UN. 'As you know, Kim Jong-un wrote a letter - beautiful letter - and asking for a second meeting, and we will be doing that' Pompeo said later, at a White House briefing, that he expects to make his next visit to Pyongyang before the end of the year and a meeting with Trump is likely to follow. 'Lord willing, Ill be traveling before the end of the year,' he told reporters The president briefly spoke to press about North Korea on his way into the United Nations on Monday for his first meeting of the day, a U.S.-led forum on counter-narcotics efforts around the globe. Pompeo said later, at a White House briefing, that he expects to make his next visit to Pyongyang before the end of the year and a meeting with Trump is likely to follow. 'Lord willing, Ill be traveling before the end of the year,' he told reporters. He declined to detail 'reciprocal action' to DailyMail.com that the U.S. would be willing to take to secure a nuclear deal during the briefing while asserting that sanctions will stay on Pyongyang until it completely and verifiably ends its nuclear program. 'Were not going to talk about the state of the negotiation it would be inappropriate for us to do that or our North Korean counterparts to talk about particular deal points, things were working on,' he stated. 'But the fundamental principles remain the same. We expect the full, complete, verified denuclearization of North Korea,' Pompeo added. 'And until such time as that occurs, the economic sanctions the sanctions that have been put in place by the United Nations Security Council will remain in place.' Trump said that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured, center right) will work out a time for him to meet with Kim Jong-un again soon Trump is meeting later on Monday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to get a readout of his meeting last week with Kim TALK TO THE HAND: President Trump refused to answer questions about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on the way into the United Nations. He commented on the sexual assault allegations against on the way out A year ago at the general assembly gathering, Trump derogatorily referred to Kim as 'Rocket Man' in comments that critics of the new president's in-your-face style worried would start a nuclear war. He introduced tough new sanctions on North Korea at the conference, as well, and vowed to keep maximum pressure on Kim's government until it stopped building nukes. In a major turnaround, Kim and Trump signed an informal pact for North Korea to completely and verifiably end its nuclear program in Singapore. 'Prior to my coming into office, a lot of people thought we were going it was inevitable we were going to war in North Korea. And now were the relationships, I have to tell you, at least on a personal basis, theyre very good. Its very much calmed down,' Trump asserted last week at the White House. So far, the tete-a-tete has not produced significant results on the nuclear front, although North Korea has not conducted missile or nuclear tests since and followed through on a pledge to return the remains of American soldiers. Talks reached a total standstill in late August as North Korea failed to make good on its promises to Trump at the nuclear summit. They were considered back on track by the administration this month after North Korea opted not to use its founder's day parade to show off its arsenal as it had done in year's past. 'The fact that the two leaders in Korea both shook hands and said they want to denuclearize and they want peace, that's no small thing. I think the fact that their parade, they didn't show off nuclear weapons for the first time is a major accomplishment,' U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley told CNN on Sunday. Trump otherwise received a letter from Kim that he says revealed the 'tremendous progress' the nations have made in the past year. His senior aides like Haley and Pompeo are optimistic yet cautious of the overtures from Kim. 'Look, we are far from reaching the end of this,' Haley said Sunday. 'We have to both make sure that North Korea knows what we mean by denuclearization. We have got to make sure we enforce sanctions, because that's what brought them to the table in the first place.' Her comments echoed State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert's proclamation on Thursday that 'in order to get to the denuclearization of North Korea, sanctions must be enforced. We cannot let our foot off the gas.' In New York, Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is fresh off his own summit with Kim. The leaders of the two Koreas clasped hands victoriously, shared hugs and announced a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics at the conclusion of a meeting last week in Pyongyang. Kim credited Trump for generating regional stability at the finale of his three-day summit with Moon, their third set of talks since South Korea hosted the Winter Olympics in February. The countries' athletes entered the arena under one flag at the Opening Ceremony. Moon and Kim agreed at the summit to new steps that the North would take to denuclearize, specifically the closure of the Tongchang-ri facility, which the U.S. says would be independently supervised. Kim said he would be willing to close a second site, at Yongbyon, if Trump takes 'reciprocal steps' that were left unspecified but are assumed to be referring to sanctions. Moon reported after the summit that Kim is eager to meet with Trump again. The woman who says she witnessed Brett Kavanaugh drugging girls in order to rape them with groups of boys at high school parties has a history of financial troubles, according to federal and state tax records. And her estranged father said he was shocked by the allegations she has leveled against Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee. Julie Swetnick, 55, who was the third woman to come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault, allegedly failed to pay over $100,000 in taxes and fees in Maryland and to the Internal Revenue Service since 2015. The state of Maryland filed a $62,000 tax lien against her home in Washington, D.C. in October 2015, claiming she owed $32,000 in back taxes dating to 2008, and the additional amount in interest. The case was settled in 2016. Her attorney- Michael Avenatti - said she paid off all her debts in full. Swetnick also allegedly owed $40,303 to the IRS stemming from unpaid 2014 taxes, resulting in a federal tax lien on her home in October 2017. That lien was resolved in March of 2018. Money troubles: Documents show that Julie Swetnick had a trail of unpaid taxes. She was photographed at a singles event in the past. Swetnick, an IT consultant who owns a company called International Business Solutions, says in an online resume that she has worked for the State Department, the Department of Justice, and other federal agencies. Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, said his client currently holds a federal security clearance. He told DailyMail.com: 'They have been fully paid and are irrelevant to her claims. Why are you digging up dirt on and attacking a sexual abuse victim?' Swetnick stepped forward on Wednesday to claim in the early 1980s she witnessed Brett Kavanaugh and his high school classmate Mark Judge drug and sexually assault girls during high school parties. Swetnick wrote in an affidavit that she met Kavanaugh and Judge at a party in 1980 or 1981. Swetnick, who graduated from Gaithersburg High School in 1980, was three years older than the boys at the time. She also attended a public high school, while the two boys attended the elite Washington prep school Georgetown Prep. Kavanaugh, who has so far denied all of the sexual assault allegations against him, said he has never met Swetnick. 'This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone,' he said on Wednesday. 'I don't know who this is and this never happened.' Swetnick's parents Martin and her late mother Elaine were both government workers. Father: Martin Swetnick said he had little insight into her high school years as he had been traveling a lot and added: 'She lived her life. We didn't discuss it.' Her father worked for NASA as a lunar scientist and her mother Elaine was a geologist with the Atomic Energy Commission. He told the Washington Post that he was shocked at the allegations, but had been almost entirely estranged from his daughter for 10 years. He said she was a 'typical girl', and added: 'She was not shy. She was a good-looking girl.' But he said he had little insight into her high school years as he had been traveling a lot and added: 'She lived her life. We didn't discuss it.' She had failed to complete college and later became a web developer, gaining government contracts. 'She never went to college, but she bootstrapped herself and became a computer expert,' her father said. ' She's a sharp woman.' Swetnick said in an affidavit that she attended at least 10 parties with Kavanaugh and Judge between 1981 and 1983. She claims she witnessed them spiking 'punch' drinks with drugs and alcohol in order to get female partygoers incapacitated and run group sex 'trains' on them. Swetnick said she witnessed groups of boys raping the intoxicated girls, and saw boys lining up outside bedrooms to wait their turn to have group sex with the young women. Different pasts: Brett Kavanaugh's description of his teenage years is entirely at odds with the picture painted by his third accuser, Julie Swetnick, who graduated three years before him from a different, public school - while he went to an elite Jesuit-run Catholic high school Allegations: Christine Blasey Ford will testiy Thursday about her attempted rape claim, but Debbie Ramirez is not being called 'I also witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could be 'gang-raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys,' she said in her affidavit. 'I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room,' she added. According to Swetnick, she saw Kavanaugh and Judge waiting in line during these group rape episodes. Swetnick said she was also gang-raped at one of these parties in 1982 after having her drink spiked with what she believes was Quaaludes. She said Kavanaugh and Judge were also at this party, but did not specify whether the two boys participated in assaulting her. 'In approximately 1982, I became a victim of one of these 'gang' or 'train' rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present,' she said. 'During the incident, I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me.' Swetnick attended Montgomery County Community College after graduating from high school in 1980. She later took IT certification courses, according to her online resume. She lives at an apartment complex in Washington, D.C. She did not answer her door on Wednesday. DailyMail.com has contacted her attorney for comment. WEDNESDAY'S KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BRETT KAVANAUGH DRAMA A McDonald's worker has been caught on camera throwing a wrap at a drive-thru customer. The shocking Snapchat footage - which appears to be filmed by a co-worker - captures the moment the fed-up worker lashes out at a hungry customer. In retaliation, the customer takes the keys out of the car's ignition and holds up the drive-thru queue. The shocking Snapchat footage - which appears to be filmed by a co-worker - captures the moment the fed-up worker lashes out at a hungry customer The ordeal escalates to complete mayhem as the fast-food workers and the customers yell obscenities through the take-away window at the New Zealand store. 'B**** you ugly,' the McDonald's worker said to the customer after she throws the large cup. 'You ugly as hell,' the worker repeats. The McDonald's employee as well as the customer continue to hurl insults at each other as a long-line of cars grow. An impatient customer from the growing queue gets out of the car to confront the stubborn driver, but the female motorist still won't move. Riled up by the wait, the young male then attempts to push the car from the drive through. Ten minutes after the beginning of the scuffle, police are called-in to intervene on the drive-thru pandemonium. The minute-long video posted to the Bro Hub Facebook page asks the question, who was in the wrong? The McDonald's employee as well as the customer continue to hurl insults at each other as a long-line of cars grow Julie Swetnick, Kavanaugh's third accuser, has come under attack from the President's son for claiming she was raped at a high school party when she was a college student With just hours to go until Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces public questioning in regards to historical sexual assault claims made against him, the President's son has weighed in. Speaking to followers through his Twitter account, Donald Trump Jr. publicly questioned the veracity of Kavanaugh's third accuser's account. Julie Swetnick released a sworn statement through her attorney Michael Avenatti on Wednesday saying Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge were there as she was abused by a 'train' of teenage boys at a party in 1982, two years after she graduated high school. Trump Jr said he found it unbelievable Swetnick would attend high school parties as a college sophomore. 'Odd,' he wrote. 'I wonder how many of you went to high school parties repeatedly after you were in college? 'Im pretty sure its safe to speak for me and my friends that the number hovers around 0.' The businessman also shared comments from Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who had earlier slammed Swetnick for continuing to attend parties where women were allegedly assaulted. 'I have a difficult time believing any person would continue to go to according to the affidavit ten parties over a two-year period where women were routinely gang raped and not report it,' Graham said. Trump Jr said he found it hard to believe Swetnick attended high school parties as a college student, and that she continued to attend despite knowing women were being assaulted In an account Kavanaugh denies, Swetnick said she was drugged at one party 'using Quaaludes or something similar' which had been put in her drink. She further alleged Kavanaugh and his friends would spike 'punch' at parties with grain alcohol or drugs to 'cause girls to lose inhibitions and their ability to say "No".' Kavanaugh has denied the new bombshell charges. 'This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone,' he said in a statement released by the White House. 'I don't know who this is and this never happened,' he said. In a phone call between the nominee and some judiciary members on Tuesday afternoon, Kavanaugh described one of the allegations made against him as 'an orchestrated hit', and made multiple references to the idea someone was trying to take him down. Speaking about his second allegation, where Debbie Ramirez, who attended a college party where she claims Kavanaugh put his penis in her face, the nominee ranted about the allegations being 'not fair'. Christine Blasey Ford (left), Kavanaugh's first accuser, will testify against him on Thursday but Debbie Ramirez, the nominee's second accuser, is not being called Kavanaugh has referred to one allegation as an 'orchestrated hit' Ramirez reportedly contacted former Yale classmates to ask if they recalled the incident and told some of them that she could not be certain it was Kavanaugh. 'It's not appropriate for people to be dredging up uncorroborated stories and trying to refresh other people's recollections, and then stoke the media and create a feeding frenzy and destroy my family and destroy my reputation and take me down,' he said. 'This is not right. It's an outrage.' Kavanaugh's troubles began earlier this month when prominent psychologist Christine Blasey Ford alleged the nominee had pulled her into a bedroom, pinned her down on a bed and covered her mouth with his hand as he tried to rip her swimsuit off. The pair had both been at a high school party, but Kavanaugh says he has no recollection and has denied the charge. Both Kavanaugh and Ford will testify to the senate judiciary committee on Thursday. A photo of one of French President Emmanuel Macron's former security aides who was fired for posing as a policemen to beat up protesters shows him pointing a Glock pistol at a waitress. The picture of 27-year old Alexandre Benalla, who who had no known authorisation to be armed, was taken during a campaign stop amid France's 2017 election. Its publication by French investigative website Mediapart raised new questions about Benalla, his role in Macron's campaign and in the presidency itself. The same aide was identified in July in an online video as the man beating a protester during France's May Day protests. A photo of Alexandre Benalla (left), one of French President Emmanuel Macron's former security aides, shows him pointing a Glock pistol at a waitress Benalla's association with Macron has triggered the French leader's biggest political crisis. He was subsequently fired after the May Day beating and has been handed preliminary charges for violence. But critics wondered how someone so close to the country's leader could beat up a protester and get off initially with light treatment. The president's top aides had suspended Benalla for only two weeks at the time, firing him only after an explosion of public outrage. Late on Monday, Mediapart published a photo of Benalla and two other security guards posing with a waitress. Benalla is seen holding a gun. France has strict gun control laws and the picture with the waitress seems to contradict several claims by Benalla. The picture's publication raised new questions about Benalla, his role in Macron's campaign and in the presidency itself. Pictured, Benalla with Macron on March 1 last year In July, Benalla told the newspaper Le Monde that he wasn't armed during the French presidential campaign last year. Last week, Benalla told a Senate investigative committee that he was never Macron's bodyguard, even during the presidential campaign, but just a person who organised outings. He appeared to be one, however, seen often at Macron's side, ever-watchful and clearing a path for the candidate in crowds. Asked in the Le Monde interview whether he carried a gun before Macron became president, he replied 'No' because he had no permit. Police headquarters accorded him a permit but 'only in (campaign) headquarters,' he said. Benalla's association with Macron has triggered the French leader's biggest political crisis. Pictured, Benalla with the French President, right, on April 12 When asked if he ever carried the gun outside, he said, 'No, never,' citing a risk to Macron's reputation. But Mediapart printed a photo dating from a late-night dinner in Poitiers after a campaign stop on April 28 last year showing a waitress, her face blurred, posing in the midst of three security guards, including Benalla - who holds a pistol pointed inward to the group. It said the selfie was taken by the waitress in an alcove where they ate. Another photo showed the waitress with Macron, who dined in another closed alcove. Benalla told the waitress there was a 'surprise' in the selfie, according to Mediapart, which also reported that she told her boss of the incident and he asked her not to share the photo. Mediapart said the weapon was apparently a Glock, the kind Benalla was authorized to carry only inside campaign headquarters. Benalla told a Senate investigative committee in Paris last week he was never Macron's bodyguard Mediapart did not identify the waitress or say how it obtained the photo. Mediapart said Benalla denied the whole thing in a text message, calling it 'another fake news' event. He said he didn't carry a weapon outside campaign headquarters and 'I never had a photo taken with any kind of arm during the campaign.' According to the police chief's former top aide, Yanne Drouet, Benalla was only authorized in October 2017 to carry a weapon after failed previous requests. Drouet, told the Senate investigative commission the gun permit for Benalla was authorized 'in the framework of his mission.' That contradicted Benalla's own testimony to the commission - he said it was for his own protection, 'a guarantee for my own safety.' Benalla refused to explain to the Senate panel any potential threats to himself, saying the question was off-limits because it overlapped the judicial investigation. Senate investigators questioned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh about two new claims of sexual misconduct, including one from an anonymous Colorado tipster who says Kavanaugh shoved an unnamed woman up against a wall 'aggressively and sexually' in 1998. That corresponds to a period of time when Kavanaugh was working for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, investigating then-President Bill Clinton's illicit sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Colorado accusation took up one moment in an hour-long phone interview between Kavanaugh and Judiciary Committee lawyers on Tuesday. They also asked him about a separate claim that he and longtime friend Mark Judge sexually assaulted a woman on a boat near Newport, Rhode Island in 1985. The man who leveled that charge recanted it publicly Wednesday night. Kavanaugh denied both allegations, calling them 'made up,' 'ridiculous' and 'total Twilight Zone.' He is set to testify Thursday in a hearing where senators will also question Christine Ford, the California woman who claims that he sexually assaulted her during a beer-soaked high school party. The future ideological balance of the United States Supreme Court, the Trump administration's credibility, and the politics of November's congressional elections all hang in the balance. Brett Kavanaugh was a staff attorney for the Bill Clinton-hunting Independent Counsel Ken Starr in 1998 (pictured) when, according to an anonymous person who wrote to a Democratic lawmaker, the future Supreme Court nominee 'sexually' pushed a woman up against a wall after getting drunk The letter, sent to Democratic Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, left no clues about its author It was mailed in Denver on Saturday but included no return address; Senate aides say they aren't taking it seriously but asked Kavanaugh about it as a matter of course The Colorado accusation came in a letter to Democratic Sen. Cory Gardner, postmarked Saturday but bearing no name, signature or return address. Kavanaugh, a federal judge on the D.C. Circuit, has been beseiged by sexual misconduct claims since becoming President Trump's high court pick 'I will remain anonymous, but I feel obligated to inform you of this 1998 incident involving Brett Kavanaugh. When he was the author of the Starr Report, my daughter (from Boulder, Colorado) occasionally socialized with Brett Kavanaugh,' it reads. Describing an alleged 1998 incident outside a Washington, D.C. bar, the author writes that his daughter's friend was dating Kavanaugh at the time. 'When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually,' the letter continues. 'There were at least four witnesses including my daughter.' Kavanaugh said it never happened, according ot the call transcript, labeling the charge 'crazy town' and 'a smear campaign.' 'We're dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend. It's ridiculous. Total Twilight Zone. And no, I've never done anything like that,' he told investigators. Senate staffers told Kavanaugh that another uncorroborated claim, that he and his friend Mark Judge once raped a woman on a boat off the coast of Rhode Island, came from a person whose Twitter profile matches this one, owned by a man named Jefferey Catalan Catalan recanted his claim publicly on Wednesday night, putting to rest one accusation that Kavanaugh insisted was false to begin with Kavanaugh was a staff attorney in 1998 working for INdependent Counsel Kenneth Starr as he investigated Bill Clinton's illicit affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky Judiciary Committee spokesman Taylor Foy said late Wednesday that Republican aides 'have no reason to assign the letter credibility, and even if we did, wed have no way to investigate the allegation as it was made anonymously and cannot be corroborated.' The other new accusation surfaced Monday morning in a call to Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's office. Kavanaugh had been told about it before Tuesday's question-and-answer session. By Wednesday night the claim had been retracted. The caller alleged that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge, while 'heavily inebriated,' had committed a rape on a boat on a Sunday morning in August 1985. 'The event took place on a 36-foot maroon and white boat in the harbor at Newport, Rhode Island, after the three had met at a local bar,' according to a summary from Whitehouse's office that investigators read to Kavanaugh. The caller also claimed to have physically confronted both Kavanaugh and Judge, who would have been in their early 20s, and said he left them 'with significant injuries.' Kavanaugh insisted he 'was not in Newport, haven't been on a boat in Newport, not with Mark Judge on a boat, nor all those three things combined.' (left to right) Christine Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick have all accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct; he has flatly denied all the charges 'This is just completely made up, or at least not me. I don't know what they're referring to,' he said. Aides quizzing Kavanaugh on Tuesday told him that the Rhode Island tipster runs a Twitter account whose profile matches one owned by a man named Jefferey Catalan. Attempts to reach him late on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Catalan's Twitter account has just three followers, one of which is the office of Democratic Congressman David Cicilline. He tweeted Wednesday evening: 'Do [sic] everyone who is going crazy about what I had said I have recanted because I have made a mistake and apologize for such mistake.' Kavanaugh has already issued unqualified denials of claims by three women that he engaged in behavior ranging from drunken groping to gang-rape. President Donald Trump said during an afternoon press conference on Wednesday that while he sees the flurry of attacks on his Supreme Court nominee as a 'con job' pushed by his Democratic opponents, he's keeping an open mind about the first accused, Christine Ford, until he hears her testimony on Thursday. If I 'thought he was guilty of something like this,' Trump said, he would consider withdrawing the nomination. A miracle baby girl was born via emergency C-section on Sunday after her abusive father allegedly shot her mother dead. Delashon Jefferson, 21, had been involved in a domestic dispute with her spouse, Lagarius Rainey, 25, at the family home in Dallas, Texas, before the physical fight turned deadly, police said. The expectant mother was just four weeks from her due date when she was shot in the home and died later in the hospital. The baby, who survived the traumatic incident, suffered seizures due to lack of oxygen, doctors said. Scroll down for video This miracle baby girl survived the murder of her mother Sunday while still in the womb The baby, named after her mother Delashon, was born via emergency C-section in a Dallas, Texas hospital Delashon Jefferson (L) had been involved in a domestic dispute with her spouse, Lagarius Rainey, (R) at the family home in Dallas, Texas, before the physical altercation turned deadly and he allegedly shot her in the back, police said. She died in the hospital The infant's aunt, LaJoyce Robertson, said in a statement to CBS Dallas - Fort Worth that her niece's birth is 'a blessing'. Robertson was in another room at the time she overheard the fight in a bedroom and rushed in to intervene. She said she attempted to pull Rainey off of Jefferson, which made matters worse. Rainey then allegedly pulled out a gun out and fired shots. 'He started shooting everywhere,' Robertson told the news station. Robertson's fiance, Daveron Sanders, who also attempted to intervene, was shot twice in the chest, but survived thanks to the help of a neighbor. Marsha Ford told the station: 'I was the one who applied pressure to keep him from bleeding out.' The infant's aunt, LaJoyce Robertson, (above) said in a statement to CBS Dallas - Fort Worth that her niece's birth is 'a blessing' The victim's mom, Sharon Jefferson, (above) rushed to be by her daughter's side at the home before 911 came Neighbor Marsha Ford (above) helped save Robertson's fiance, Daveron Sanders, who was also shot twice in the chest The victim's mom, Sharon Jefferson, rushed to be by her daughter's side at the home while the family awaited 911. 'They were doing CPR on her as we were going to the hospital,' the mother told CBS Dallas - Fort Worth. The pregnant woman died at the Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. Her baby was born via emergency c-section after. The family named the child after her late mom. Robertson told CBS that she will 'tell [her niece] all about her mother' who 'loved to smile' was 'always quiet' and 'never bothered anybody'. Rainey previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against his wife twice. Court records said he struck her 'with a firearm' and threatened her with 'imminent bodily injury' in early 2016. Rainey admitted to police Sunday that he punched Jefferson before the shooting. He has been charged with murder. Rainey was booked to the Dallas County Jail on $350,000 bond. Rainey (R) pleaded guilty in 2016 to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against his wife twice (L) Whitaker. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Last weekend, the White House believed that Rod Rosensteins time at the Justice Department was up. Following reports that the deputy attorney general had once discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office and (jokingly?) suggested that he could prove the president was mentally unsound by wearing a wire to his next meeting with the commander-in-chief Rosenstein reportedly told Chief of Staff John Kelly that he intended to resign. The administration wasted little time in preparing a replacement. On Saturday morning, Kelly called Jeff Sessionss top aide, Matthew G. Whitaker, and informed him that he would soon be deputy attorney general, according to the New York Times. But Rosenstein changed his mind. Or at least, he decided that he did not wish to resign without assurances he was doing so on amicable terms with the president. And while Trump has signaled his strong desire to replace the man who launched the Mueller investigation with someone more willing to degrade Justice (both the department and concept) on his behalf, hes also suggested that he would rather clean house after the midterms (best not to make a naked grab for unchecked power while Democrats are still campaigning as a check on your naked power grabs). So, for the moment, Matthew Whitaker is still, merely, Jeff Sessionss chief of staff. But by the Times account, it is quite likely only a matter of time before Whitaker ascends to the second-most powerful post in the Justice Department one that will empower him to oversee the nations federal prosecutors, including the investigations of Mr. Trumps former personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, the Trump Organization and the business run by the father of Mr. Kushner. And while direct supervision of the Mueller investigation would fall to Solicitor General Noel Francisco, as deputy AG Whitaker could take steps to protect the president from investigation, to seal records, withhold funding from Mueller, and otherwise slow the work of the special counsel to a crawl, according to CNBC. Whitaker is a former U.S. Attorney and 2014 Senate candidate in Iowa, who. joined the Justice Department last fall. Here are a few things that he has publicly claimed to believe: Robert Mueller has no legitimate authority to investigate the Trump Organizations finances, and if he does (which, he has), then this would raise serious concerns that the special counsels investigation was a mere witch hunt. Donald Trump was right to fire James Comey because James Comey should have prosecuted Hillary Clinton: Comeys announcement last July that he would not recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton for violations of the Espionage Act were a shock to many in law enforcement both inside the FBI and out[H]is pronouncement that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case was just wrong, and I said so publicly at the time. I was a federal prosecutor for five years and was proud to serve in the Department of Justice, and I wouldve brought that case. Clinton set up an entire secret, unsecured communications structure outside of the government she was charged with serving at the highest level; she was the Secretary of State. Classified information that, in the wrong hands, could potentially bring harm to our country and many in service to our country was available to be appropriated. (Whitaker has never called for any investigations into let alone, prosecutions of the Trump administrations many, many, many violations of information security protocol.) All federal judges should be people of faith who take a biblical view of justice. The Supreme Court is supposed to be the inferior branch of our three branches of government, and has claimed far too much power for itself. Specifically, Whittaker says that Marbury v. Madison the case that gave the court the power to strike down duly enacted laws was wrongly decided, as the Supreme Court should not be final arbiter of constitutional issues. But if theres one thing Whitaker hates more than the Supreme Court striking down laws it regards as unconstitutional, its when unelected judges refuse to strike down laws that conservatives dont like: Unelected judges are deciding many of the issues of the day. There are so many (bad rulings). I would start with the idea of Marbury v. Madison. Thats probably a good place to start and the way its looked at the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of constitutional issues. Well move forward from there. All New Deal cases that were expansive of the federal government. Those would be bad. Then all the way up to the Affordable Care Act and the individual mandate. There shouldnt have been an independent counsels investigation into Russian interference because there wasnt such an investigation into the Obama administrations many scandals: Calls for an independent counsel or commission to investigate allegations that Russia tried to interfere with our elections ring hollow when similar calls for special counsels during the scandals of the Obama administration were dismissed out of hand by the same people making these demands now. So, clearly, Matthew Whitaker would make a sober, fair-minded, and trustworthy overseer of the Justice Departments transformation into Donald J. Trumps private detective agency. A violent criminal linked to at least three shootings and murders is believed to have left Australia before police could have him fitted with a monitoring anklet. Bilal Haouchar, 31, from Merrylands in Sydney has a history of drug and assault-related offences, and in 2003 he took part in both an armed robbery and a home invasion in which his accomplice shot a victim. The Sydney-born Lebanese man is believed to have left Australia six weeks ago after he was released from jail in June on a good behaviour bond when a murder charge against him failed. Haouchar pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of accessory after the fact and shooting with intent to murder. Mugshot of Bilal Haouchar, violent thug involved in shootings, who didn't attend court Tuesday NSW Police applied to the NSW Supreme Court for a detention order to put him back in jail, but the application failed. They then applied for an extended supervison order. Haouchar was supposed to be in court on Tuesday but failed to appear, despite reportedly telling authorities he would be back in Australia on September 14. Justice Robert Hulme issued a two-year extended supervision order allowing police and corrections officers to electronically monitor him with an ankle bracelet. The order, seen by Daily Mail Australia, directed Haouchar not to leave NSW without the approval of the authorities or attend any premises where he knows outlaw motorcycle gang members or associates might be. He must also appear at the Blacktown Corrections Office by 4pm on Friday or he will be in breach of the order. Bilal Haouchar may have joined his associate and former Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle overseas, where he is said to be living between Turkey and Dubai, the Daily Telegraph reported. Haouchar has been reported to have been aiming to take 'the scalp of an Ibrahim' on his release from jail. A toddler born in Syria when her radicalised Muslim convert father travelled there to fight for ISIS should brought up by a non-Muslim grandmother, a High Court judge has decided. Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court, had been told how the girl's parents had left England for Syria, where she was born. Her father, who had been raised as a Christian and converted to Islam, had gone to Syria to engage in 'terrorism-related activity' and her Muslim mother had an 'extremist ideology', the judge heard. Both had been detained in Turkey. The High Court Family Division heard the case of a toddler who was born in Syria when her radicalised Muslim convert father travelled there to fight for ISIS The man had been charged with terrorism-related activities, and was the subject of an 'on-going criminal process', mother and child had been deported back to Britain, the judge heard. Council social services bosses had then asked Mrs Justice Knowles to make decisions about the girl's future. The girl's mother wanted to care for her. Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court, had been told how the girl's parents had left England for Syria, where she was born But Mrs Justice Knowles concluded that the little girl, who is approaching her second birthday, would not be safe in her mother's care. She said the woman might radicalise the girl or take her to an 'unsafe location' abroad. The judge decided that the youngster should instead live with her father's mother, who is not a Muslim. She had analysed the case at a private hearing in London and has published a written ruling explaining her decision. The man's mother said she had struggled to come to terms with his behaviour. She had told Mrs Justice Knowles that she would not 'impose any religious beliefs' on the girl. Mrs Justice Knowles said the girl could not be identified and did not name anyone involved in her ruling. Advertisement For the 40 whale-watchers on the banks of the Thames in Kent yesterday, it was an utterly thrilling sight. Armed with binoculars and cameras, and having travelled from far and wide, they suddenly saw the still waters erupt as the gleaming white, elegantly curved back of a beluga whale broke the surface. An Arctic whale! In Gravesend! The habitat of this magnificent creature is in far chillier waters close to the North Pole, evading polar bears, battling killer whales and diving to depths of 2,300ft. And yet here it was, some 2,000 miles away from home, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and feeding on crustaceans in sight of the seaside resorts of Canvey Island and Southend-on-Sea. A beluga whale breaches in the river Thames close to Gravesend, Kent, Concerns were growing for a beluga whale spotted in the River Thames estuary But despite initial fears the 'very lost' mammal's life could be in danger, the RSPCA assured watchers Benny (left) has moved out towards the estuary, 'which is a good sign'. Pictured right is a stock image of a beluga whale Nicknamed Benny, although its sex is unknown, the whale that popped up in the river this week is a rare treat for wildlife enthusiasts. There are 150,000 belugas, but theyre usually found near Greenland, Russia and North America. Yesterday, Benny had moved several miles upstream from where it was first spotted on Tuesday by ecologist Dave Andrews, on the other side of the river, by Coalhouse Fort in Essex. We watched in breathless silence as the whale breached one to three times every four minutes. We saw its spiracle, or breathing hole, on the back of its huge, bulbous melonhead and the ridge along its 5ft back. Benny spent the morning feeding around three barges belugas are partial to cod, octopus, squid and herring while moving slowly down towards the estuary, towards freedom and the Arctic Circle. The whale can feel the cold, saline water of the incoming tide which it prefers to the warm, fresh water of the Thames, said Clare Dew, of the RSPCA. The whale doesnt know where it is in relation to the North Pole, but with luck it will navigate home using temperature as a guide. For the moment, Benny seems safe enough but must be lonely. Belugas are sociable creatures and travel in pods of ten or more. In summer, they gather in groups of hundreds or even thousands. A boat from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue - an organisation dedicated to the rescue and well-being of marine animals in distress around the UK - circled the barge close to where the whale keeps surfacing Benny was thousands of miles from the white species' natural home in Arctic waters An RNLI crew watch from their rib as a beluga whale swam in the Thames They are capable of 11 noises cackles, squawks, trills and whistles to talk to each other. Benny is also likely to be stressed. This is one of the busiest shipping channels in the world and on the Essex side lies the port of Tilbury. Exactly why Benny has strayed so far from home is a mystery, said Miss Dew. It might have been in a small pod that was following a food source, but got thrown off course by Hurricane Florence. Then this whale may have followed a separate food source. Whatever the circumstances, the whale-watchers were delighted. I saw it first on Tuesday next to the barges, said Adam Brown, 34, a keen fisherman. I knew it was something special. Wildlife enthusiasts look at beluga whale swimming in the River Thames near Gravesend in Kent Solita Herrera-Jorge, who came with Jose Morhino, said: We sat and waited and then we suddenly saw it and then we kept on seeing it, six or seven times. The hospital receptionist added: Its very white and I could see it puffing. It was so exciting. Mr Morhino, a retired boatbuilder who worked on the Thames, recalled seeing the northern bottlenose whale that became stranded near Battersea Bridge for two days in 2006. Sadly, the whale died from convulsions. Im worried this whale will get tired, said Mr Morhino. Its been there two days and its isolated. A spokesman for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue said whale rescue pontoons were in place to refloat Benny if it gets stranded in shallow water, while whale-watchers are being encouraged to enjoy the views from the shore and not from boats. Like those assembled on the banks, I feel privileged to have seen Benny but like them, Im praying for its safe return home. Jeremy Corbyn delivered a Brexit ultimatum to Theresa May yesterday in his keynote party conference speech. The Labour leader said he wanted to reach out to Mrs May and offer her Labours support provided she keeps Britain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit. But Mr Corbyn, whose party is racked by divisions over Brexit, faced accusations of hypocrisy after he warned he would side with hardline Eurosceptics to defeat the Chequers deal unless she accepts his terms. The gambit came as Mr Corbyn set out the most Left-wing agenda adopted by any major party in decades and declared he was ready to be prime minister. He claimed Labour had defined the new common sense and become the new political mainstream with an alternative to the politics of austerity, of social division and of international conflict. Jeremy Corbyn delivering a keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. He claimed he was ready to be prime minister and urged Theresa May to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit In an hour-long speech, he: Complained he had endured a tough summer of criticism over his handling of the anti-Semitism crisis but offered no apology to Britains Jews; Defended Labours new plan to force firms to hand over 10 per cent of their dividends and shares to workers and the state, which critics say will lead to a collapse in investment; Announced plans to extend free childcare for pre-school children; Finally admitted that Russia was responsible for the Salisbury attack, after months of denial; Taunted second home owners, saying they would be forced to contribute millions to a new solidarity fund for those without a home; Smiled as Labour activists booed Tory plans to cut corporation tax; Launched a bitter attack on Britains free Press for its scrutiny of him and his policies; Confirmed plans for a green jobs revolution that will clear the way for the erection of another 20,000 wind turbines in the UK. Attacked Israel and Saudi Arabia, and said Labours first act would be the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Labours conference has been marred by divisions over Brexit, with shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer squabbling publicly over whether the party should keep alive the option of staying in the EU in a second referendum. Mr Corbyn, a lifelong Eurosceptic, made no mention of a second referendum. Instead, he spread more confusion about the partys stance. On Tuesday, Sir Keir said Labour would oppose any deal Mrs May brings back from Brussels. But yesterday, Mr Corbyn appeared to abandon the six tests set by Sir Keir as the benchmark for any deal. Instead, he said he was prepared to back Mrs May if she signs up to a customs union and pledges not to use Brexit to lower standards and workers rights in the UK. He mocked Eurosceptic Tories, saying they unite the politics of the 1950s with the economics of the 19th Century. However, he said Labour would vote with them in the Commons to defeat the Chequers deal unless Mrs May backs down. Corbyn (pictured) claimed Labour had defined the new common sense and become the new political mainstream with an alternative to the politics of austerity, of social division and of international conflict As it stands, Labour will vote against the Chequers plan or whatever is left of it and oppose leaving the EU with no deal, he said, adding that it would be a piece of cake for Labour to negotiate a deal with Brussels. In a direct message to Mrs May, he said: If you deliver a deal that includes a customs union and no hard border in Ireland, if you protect jobs, peoples rights at work and environmental and consumer standards then we will support that sensible deal. The move is designed to reassure Labours Brexit supporters that the party has not betrayed them, despite opening the door this week to a second referendum. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith last night said it was a cynical move that could never be accepted by Mrs May. Mr Duncan Smith said: This is designed to confuse people into thinking Labour supports Brexit. He knows very well she is not going to sign up to the customs union. The customs union allows EU nations to trade with each other without tariffs on goods and to impose common tariffs on those from countries outside their union. Mr Corbyn said he would demand a general election if the Brexit talks collapse, calling the idea of a no deal exit inconceivable. To terrace-style chants of Oh, Jeremy Corbyn, he said he would deliver a real alternative a radical plan to rebuild and transform our country. He denounced what he called greed-is-good capitalism, which led to the financial crash of 2008. Mr Corbyn described privatisation as a disaster zone and said cuts to local government amounted to social vandalism. But he made no mention of the crippling deficit left behind by the last Labour government. Today Mr Corbyn will travel to Brussels for talks with the EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis said: Jeremy Corbyn has shown at every turn he is unfit to govern. All he offers are failed ideas that didnt work in the past and would leave working families paying the price with higher taxes, more debt and more waste just like last time. A Missouri school district agreed to settle a lawsuit for $423,000 with a former student who sued after she said she was seriously injured when she was stomped on in a mud pit during a back-to-school event. Megan Taylor, a graduate of Kickapoo High School, filed a lawsuit in 2015 against the Springfield school district alleging that a muddy pit used for a school event in August 2010 was not properly supervised. She also said school officials failed to provide her with emergency aid after she was pushed down into the mud and then stomped on by classmates. Taylor, who was 17 at the time, fractured her collarbone and injured her heart and the surrounding tissue, according to the Springfield News-Leader. She also suffered four strokes that resulted in permanent brain damage, severe dementia and temporary blindness in one eye that lasted weeks. Megan Taylor suffered four stokes and was left temporarily blind in one eye after she was trampled in a back-to-school mud pit activity. She is pictured in the hospital in 2010 Taylor said she was pushed from behind and fell face down into the mud as students stomped on her. Pictured are students participating in the 2010 mud pit activity She filed a lawsuit claiming she lost consciousness repeatedly and felt herself getting crushed under the weight of her classmates. Teen are lifted into the air during the 2010 mud pit event Taylor said in her lawsuit that she was pushed from behind and fell into the mud on her face. 'I started screaming, telling them to get off because I was feeling really crushed. And I felt like everything was kind of just getting squished,' she said during a 2017 deposition. 'And then I felt my shoulder pop.' Taylor repeatedly lost conscious while face down in the mud before she was dragged out by another student. Several teens described the pit as a 'mosh pit'. Photos from the event showed teens in 'There will be mud' t-shirts and packed into the mud pit while others were lifted into the air by their classmates. Taylor missed two months of school following the incident and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the suit. Some students described the mud pit (pictured) as a 'mosh pit'. The activity was held in August 2010 as a back-to-school activity for students Taylor, a graduate of Kickapoo High School, said the school did not properly supervise the mud pit and did not provide her immediate aid. Students are pictured at the 2010 mud pit activity for the high school The school settled the lawsuit agreeing to pay Taylor $423,106 but the district did not admit liability. Several students are pictured at the 2010 event The school district did not admit any liability but agreed to settle the suit for $423,106. Under the terms of the settlement, Taylor agreed to dismiss the lawsuit and it cannot be refiled. A spokesperson for the school district released a statement saying they are 'pleased' the case has been resolved and wish Taylor the best. 'The safety and well-being of our students will always be our first priority. We are committed to their best interests always,' he said. 'Any time one of our students is injured, our hearts go out to them, we seek opportunities to provide support, and we work to prevent future injuries from occurring.' Taylor, who wanted to be a physician before the incident, graduated from Kickapoo in 2011 and is now a student at Missouri Southern State University. The ABC's embattled chairman Justin Milne has quit after an urgent crisis meeting. At a meeting on Thursday - where Mr Milne was not present - the public broadcaster's board asked the chairman to step down while a government investigation is underway. He resigned after that recommendation, and the board will meet at noon on Thursday to decide who will become the acting chairman. Mr Milne said the week of turmoil had been a 'firestorm', and hoped his resignation would be a 'release valve'. ABC chairman Justin Milne (left) is alleged to have referred to former managing director Michelle Guthrie (right) as 'the missus' Mr Milne had emailed Ms Guthrie demanding she 'get rid' of chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici (pictured) to appease the government 'Clearly there is a lot of pressure on the organisation, and as always, my interests have been to look after the interests of the corporation.' he told 7.30. 'It's clearly not a good thing for everybody to be trying to do their job with this kind of firestorm going on.' He said his resignation was not an admittal that he failed to safeguard the ABC's editorial independence. 'There was absolutely no interference in the independence of the ABC by the government. Nobody from the government has ever rung me, and told me what to do in relation to the ABC. 'When there is an issue of editorial independence and accuracy it's appropriate for the chair to be involved - it's the chair's job. '(But) I have never sent an email to Michelle Guthrie or anybody else, which says you must sack Emma Alberici or Andrew Probyn or anyone else.' He commented on 'a piece of an email' he sent to Ms Guthrie, defending the conversation. 'You can't go around irritating the person who's going to give you funding again and again if it's over matters about accuracy and impartiality,' Mr Milne said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said both the board and Mr Milne had 'made the right call'. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull had been angered at Ms Alberici's analysis slamming company tax cuts, a Liberal Party policy 'Time for the ABC to resume normal transmission, both independently and without bias,' he tweeted. 'That is what Australia's taxpayers pay for and deserve.' In a statement, Mr Milne said the decision to resign was made in 'the best interests of the ABC'. 'I have only ever acted with the interests of the ABC at heart,' he said. 'I have always and continue to respect editorial independence as a bedrock principle of the ABC.' ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie was sacked from her $891,000-a-year job by Mr Milne on Monday, just halfway through her five-year term. Mr Milne allegedly asked Ms Guthrie to fire star economics reporter Emma Alberici and political editor Andrew Probyn after pressure from friend and then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. He is also alleged to have referred to Ms Guthrie, the ABC's first female managing director, as 'the missus', and called women staffers 'babes' and 'chicks'. Ms Guthrie told an ABC board meeting on Friday that Mr Milne told her if she didn't fire Mr Probyn she would be putting the ABC at risk of losing millions of dollars in government funding, the Daily Telegraph reported. Ms Guthrie claims Mr Milne told her 'you just have to shoot him' because Mr Turnbull hated him. Mr Turnbull has denied calling for any ABC staff to be fired. In an email leaked from the chairman to Ms Guthrie in May regarding Ms Alberici, Mr Milne reportedly wrote: 'I think it's simple. Get rid of her. We need to save the ABC not Emma. There is no guarantee they [the Coalition] will lose the next election.' ABC staff are pictured holding a meeting outside their offices in Ultimo, Sydney, on Wednesday, where they called for 'no political interference' in the public broadcaster Mr Turnbull had complained to Mr Milne about a controversial report by Ms Alberici on corporate tax, which had angered the Coalition. Hundreds of ABC staff protested at the ABC's Sydney headquarters and called for Mr Milne to be removed from his post. Mr Milne had said Ms Guthrie's removal as managing director was about 'our commitment to deliver best possible outcomes for our loyal audience'. 'In resolving to seek fresh leadership, the board's foremost consideration was the long-term interests of our own people and the millions of Australians who engage in ABC content every week,' Mr Milne said on Monday. In a statement following her sacking, Ms Guthrie said that 'at no point have any issues been raised with me' about her staffing changes. 'I am devastated by the board's decision to terminate my employment despite no claim of wrongdoing on my part,' Ms Guthrie said. 'I believe there is no justification for the board to trigger that termination clause.' A media executive has claimed Mr Milne called female staffers 'babes' and 'chicks', the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The publication reported it was understood Ms Guthrie thought the language Mr Milne had used was inappropriate. Ms Guthrie has threatened legal action following her dismissal But Kerry Schott, a non-executive director on the board of the National Broadband Network alongside Mr Milne, said he was 'respectful' to women. Ms Guthrie has threatened legal action following her dismissal and has now hired barrister Kate Eastman SC of New Chambers and employment lawyer Ruveni Kelleher of commercial law firm JWS. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has ordered his department secretary Mike Mrdak to run an inquiry and report back within days. Labor leader Bill Shorten said Mr Milne's position was untenable after he 'allowed himself to be bullied' by the government. 'More concerning for the nation is how the Liberal Party seeks to interfere with the ABC's independence, cut its funding and eventually look to sell it off,' Mr Shorten tweeted after the resignation. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for the full ABC board to be overhauled to give the broadcaster a 'fresh start'. ABC executives will appear before a Senate estimates committee in October. The Colorado man who allegedly killed his pregnant wife and two young daughters has only just discovered that his case has become an international media sensation. Sources close to Chris Watts, who is currently on suicide watch at the Weld County Jail, said he has become 'frustrated' with the coverage surrounding him. The lurid details of Watts' case immediately made him headline news, with the pregnancy and an alleged affair bringing to mind the famous Scott Peterson case. It was quickly revealed that Watts, 33, was reportedly having an affair with a co-worker when he allegedly killed wife Shanann, 34, and daughters Bella, four, and three-year-old Celeste. 'He's very frustrated,' one source told People. 'He didn't know that everyone knows about this case.' Chris Watts, who allegedly murdered his wife and two daughters, is reportedly 'frustrated' that his case has become international news It was quickly revealed that Watts, 33, was reportedly having an affair with a co-worker when he allegedly killed wife Shanann, 34, and daughters Bella, four, and three-year-old Celeste Watts has remained mostly isolated from the outside world since he was arrested on August 15 and charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The prisoner currently spends 23 hours a day in his cell, barred from any television or reading material. Watts is only given one hour a day to spend in the common room, where he can read a communal newspaper. While Watts knew his case was big in his own Colorado town, he only recently learned from guards and fellow prisoners how much it had blown up around the world. 'He feels like no one understands him, and nobody knows what happened,' the source told People. Watts has remained mostly isolated from the outside world since he was arrested on August 15 and charged with three counts of first-degree murder 'He thinks if they did understand, they'd realize that he's not the monster everyone says he is.' Watts has claimed to police that he only strangled Shanann after watching her kill their daughters when he told her he wanted a divorce. The father-of-two reportedly confessed to police after having a heart-to-heart with his father, it was also revealed last week. Watts had changed his story multiple times after Shanann and their daughters disappeared on August 13, two days before his arrest. He originally denied knowing where his family was, telling authorities he and his wife were involved in a 'civil' and 'emotional' conversation before she disappeared. However, when confronted with evidence that he was having an affair, Watts reportedly told officers he 'would tell the truth after speaking with his dad'. After the pair spoke, he confessed to killing Shanann but still insisted she killed the pair's children. Watts has claimed to police that he only strangled Shanann after watching her kill their daughters when he told her he wanted a divorce Watts said that after he told his wife he wanted to separate, he watched as she strangled Celeste while Bella was 'blue', her lifeless body in a bed nearby. He then allegedly buried Shanann in a shallow grave 35 miles from their home and dumped his two daughters into a tank filled with crude oil. 'The theory that Shanann did it doesn't hold any water,' one source close to the investigation told People. 'There is absolutely no evidence that Shanann killed her children.' Meanwhile, a judge has denied Watts' request to keep the names of his jail visitors under seal. On Monday the court denied Watts' request barring the prosecution and members of the public from learning who was visiting him in jail. On Monday the court denied Watts' request asking that the prosecution and members of the public not be allowed to learn who was seeing him in jail Watts is also currently objecting to demands from the prosecution to turn over prints from his hands and feet. He is arguing that the prosecution has not stated why they need the prints and thus he cannot make out the 'government's need' for such evidence. The prosecution, meanwhile, is doing all it can to keep the autopsy reports under seal. 'Shanann Watts, Bella Watts and Celeste Watts were murdered and their bodies moved from the initial crime scene,' wrote the prosecution in a motion submitted last week. 'There is a great deal of interest surrounding this case and at this time, the cause of the deaths has not been made public. Consequently, the observations and findings contained in the coroner's autopsy report will be critical evidence at trial.' The judge is expected to rule on that motion, as well as the requests for Watts' prints, this week. Adrian Cross, 12, was killed in a house fire on Monday night when he ran back to help his siblings escape A young Wisconsin boy died in a house fire while trying to save his siblings, unaware that they had already escaped the burning home. Adrian Cross, 12, died on September 24 when he became trapped on the second floor of the burning home in Milwaukee late Monday night. The boy went inside to get his brothers not realizing that his family had made it out and were safe. 'He went in to get his brothers. That's what he was trying to do,' his grandmother, June Cross, told Fox6. 'All of a sudden, (the family) started screaming,' she said. Authorities said the fire broke out downstairs and quickly spread upstairs. Cross said the flames were 'intense'. 'It was like it wasn't giving up,' the grieving woman told the outlet. The fire broke out late Monday in a downstairs room in the house and quickly spread upstairs Family said Adrian became trapped on the second floor after he ran back inside the house. The little boy did not know his family had already escaped Milwaukee Fire Chief Mark Rohlfing said firefighters were on the scene three minutes after receiving the call, but 'the fire was too far along'. Authorities are now investigating to determine what sparked the fire. According to the Wichita Eagle, six adults and four kids managed to escape the blaze. Fire officials did not find working smoke detectors in the home. During a press conference on Tuesday, Rohlfing urged residents to make sure they had a fire evacuation plan in place. Fire officials also went door-to-door asking residents if they had working smoke detectors. 'Talk about, "how do I get out of a room if there is a fire. What are my two ways out?" Think about having a meeting place outside,' Rohlfing said. Cross said she and her family are leaning on their faith to get them through this difficult time. The boy's grandmother, June Cross, said she and her family are relying on faith to get them through Fire officials said working smoke detectors were not found in the home the night the fire broke out killing Adrian (pictured ) 'Through God, because that is the only strength we've got,' Cross said. 'I know God has better plans for all of us.' In a Facebook post honoring her grandson, she wrote: 'I would like to Thank the Lord for Blessing us with our grandson Lil Adrian our loss is knowing He in your hands.' None of the other family members were injured in the fire. The Red Cross is assisting the family. Four people have been charged in the death of a teenager who disappeared in Milwaukee last year and is now presumed dead. The body of Jovanny Puga, 18, has yet to be found, but authorities believe he was beaten and thrown into the Milwaukee River in an act of revenge. Milwaukee County prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against Brandan Guyton-Denn, 19, Shawn Leitner, 19, Jaleel Schultz, 19. All three have been charged with first-degree reckless homicide. Emma Brud, 19, is charged with harboring or aiding a felon by hiding physical evidence. Jovanny Puga, 18, went missing in February 2017 and his body hasn't been found Brandan Guyton-Denn, left, Shawn Leitner, (right) and Jaleel Schultz, (not pictured), all 19, were charged with first-degree reckless homicide Tuesday Puga, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, last contacted his mother in February 2017 before disappearing. Emma Brud, 19, is charged with harboring or aiding a felon by hiding evidence About six months later, investigators say they began receiving tips regarding the case. 'Someone was overhearing another person talking about it,' Green Bay Police Department, Detective Brad Linzmeier said. 'That something significant happened to the victim.' Court documents show that Brud told investigators that Guyton-Denn, who she was dating at the time, wanted revenge because Puga had beaten a 15-year-old friend of his. Guyton-Denn allegedly asked Brud to take the victim to a home in Milwaukee so he, Leitner and Schultz could beat him up. The men allegedly stomped on Puga's face before making him undress and giving him a choice of swimming in the Milwuakee River or continuing to be beaten. Guyton-Denn told police that Schultz and another unnamed suspect tossed Puga into the River. The victim allegedly tried to get out of the water when Schultz forced him back in. The teens then left him there and returned to the home of the beating. Green Bay Press Gazette reports the men divided Puga's clothes, backpack, cellphone and necklace between them. Brud then took Puga's bloody clothes to burn. Last week, Leitner led authorities to where the group left Puga but his body has still not been recovered. 'I spoke with his mother on the day these arrests were made,' Linzmeier said. 'I think there was some relief for her. Obviously, not total closure - she has a loved one where she doesn't know where he is.' Mystery surrounds the discovery of a secret cliff tunnel hidden beneath a Sydney lighthouse. Stunning drone images have emerged for the first time of the tunnel's entrance, which lies below the Macquarie Lighthouse at Vaucluse, in the city's east. But while the entrance has been uncovered, it is not yet clear where the tunnel leads to or for what purpose it was used for. The incredible find came through a partnership between Macquarie University and the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust in the lead up to the 200th anniversary of the Lighthouse, which will be marked on November 30. Stunning 3D imagery created from drone footage has captured the entrance to a secret cliff tunnel hidden beneath a Sydney lighthouse The cliff tunnel lies below the Macquarie Lighthouse, in Vaucluse, in the city's east 'We've been doing a project of creating some 3D visualisations of the Lighthouse for the 200th anniversary,' Macquarie University senior learning designer Michael Rampe told Daily Mail Australia. 'They told us about the tunnel on the cliff and said that it existed. At that stage we decided to make it a bit of a focus of what we were doing and our technology. We went looking for it and to image it a bit better. 'We took some ground penetrating radar with one of our academics from earth sciences to see if we could find the entrance. 'What they were really after was the entrance because the entrance has been lost.' The drone images were used to create a 3D reconstruction of the tunnel entrance using new technology developed by Macquarie University. With the entrance found, albeit with a collapsed concrete roof, Mr Rampe and his team are now working through the radar data obtained. It was thought the tunnel, which has some electrical cabling to the right of the entrance, was an abandoned WWII emplacement - but that thinking has changed. 'Working with a historian, we assumed it was from WWII and everyone thought it was from WWII but anecdotally since the story broke there's been a few citizen history stories and people that have contacted us that allude to it existing pre-WWII,' Mr Rampe said. This year marks the 200th anniversary since the Macquarie Lighthouse (pictured) was built 'Whether it was in placement or not, we don't know but certainly the story isn't finished, let me put it that way. 'Part of the good thing we do here in history is by getting stories like this out there, we then find the eyewitness accounts. We're talking eyewitness accounts of things people remember from their grandmother 60 years ago.' Mr Rampe said some of those eyewitness accounts related to being able to venture inside the tunnels and see ships as they approached Sydney Harbour. The Lighthouse will be a focal point of this year's Sydney Open event, with those lucky enough to snare a ticket to a tour of the facility able to undertake a 'Virtual Reality experience of the stunning Vaucluse cliff face and panoramic city views'. The Lighthouse, which was designed by convict architect Francis Greenway and built in 1818, still acts as a beacon for sailors entering Sydney Harbour. Ian Buruma. Photo: Simone Padovani/Awakening/Getty Images Today The New York Review of Books is going to press with a blockbuster follow-up to its controversial essay by accused sexual abuser Jian Ghomeshi: a letter from 109 contributors to the Review (partially leaked on Tuesday but published here in full) objecting to the forced resignation of editor Ian Buruma, and calling it an abandonment of the central mission of the Review, which is the free exploration of ideas. Their objections were echoed by PEN America, in a statement to Intelligencer, as well as by the president of the Association of University Presses the coalition of crucial Review advertisers that was rumored to be a factor in Burumas dismissal. The editors departure was confirmed last Wednesday. The proximate cause was clearly his decision to publish the article, in which Ghomeshi minimized the accusations made against him. But in the absence of a full explanation or timeline, theories of what went on among the small editorial staff proliferated online. Maybe it had more do with Burumas own tone-deaf and minimizing interview in Slate, saying not only of Ghomeshis exact behavior, I have no idea, nor is it really my concern, but claiming hed had the full support of his staff, prompting an open revolt. Owner and publisher Rea Hederman would later confirm both concerns, saying that only one (male) editor was consulted on the piece, in defiance of the Reviews long tradition of careful and collaborative editing. Its possible that this wasnt Burumas first time breaking with that tradition, and the revolt had been brewing for some time. Arising from this muddle or perhaps resulting from it, in the absence of better facts a groundswell of support has formed for Buruma outside the Review, at least among its older writers and readers, many of whom believe that his dismissal was a panicked and damaging overreaction. Their sense of injustice animates the letter, which suggests that Buruma, personally innocent of #MeToo atrocities if perhaps, at 66, generationally guileless and blithe about them, might be the movements first real casualty-by-association, and therefore a complicated sort of martyr. The day after his departure, a Dutch magazine published an interview with Buruma that had taken place in the uneasy purgatory between a difficult conversation with Hederman and his formal resignation. Buruma spoke with detached fatalism of how hed been convicted on Twitter, a victim of the Reviews capitulation to social media and university presses. He said Hederman had told him university press publishers, driven by campus politics, were threatening a boycott. The suggestion that Buruma had been sandbagged by Twitter and academia drove his defenders to the barricades. The contributors letter of protest, which was meant to stay an internal matter, per one signer, was drafted last weekend before being sent out for signatures on Sunday by a core group of 15 signatories: Edmund White; David Rieff; Janet Malcolm; Ian McEwan; Luc Sante; Tim Weiner; James Fenton; Larry Rohter; Thomas Nagle; Eva Hoffman; Margaret Scott; Ahmed Rashid; Lisa Appignanesi; Aryeh Neier; and John Ryle (with Ryle as the point person for the Review). All are over 60. No one currently on the staff responded directly to interview requests.* Whatever the dynamics inside the Reviews paper-cluttered downtown headquarters, there could have been no revolt without the older man in charge Hederman. He released his own statement about the dismissal on Monday afternoon, after most contributors had signed the opposition letter but before it was sent off to the magazine. Hederman acknowledged failures in the editing of Ghomeshis essay, such as allowing him to say that several women had made accusations (there were 20) and more broadly in ignoring their usual editorial practices. And so the controversy seems to have unfolded along an existing fault line at the magazine between the culture as it existed under its legendarily exacting founding editors, Bob Silvers and Barbara Epstein, and the one that presided under Buruma. In his statement, Hederman specified that the piece was not shared with four particular editors who had worked personally with Silvers and Epstein. Silvers died in March 2017 and Buruma succeeded him in the fall of that year. But Silverss younger editors had been helping run the magazine for years, and after he died the idea was even floated of having two of them co-edit the Review. The virtues of continuity and heritage remain deeply ingrained. Following Hedermans Monday-afternoon note, which went at least some distance toward explaining the in-house thinking, the opposition letter from outside writers was sent around again for reconfirmation to make sure that those who had signed it still wanted their names attached. Per a source, only one author had their name removed while five more signed on. Yesterday evening the Review emailed the protesting contributors, forwarding Hedermans statement (in case they missed it), informing them that several more names have dropped out and in, and requesting any last-minute changes before 10 a.m. this morning. Fear of protest from university presses may have played a part in Hedermans decision, but it seems unlikely to have been the driving force. When we asked Review publicist Nicholas During whether they had indeed faced a boycott, he relayed some pushback from Hederman: He told Ian [last] Wednesday morning that he didnt think a boycott would happen. He said the reason for his departure was not because of any controversy or risk to advertising revenue but because there were serious flaws in the editorial process under Ian. And Jennifer Crewe, an associate provost at Columbia and the current president of the Association of University Presses, says that there wasnt even really a threat: While some presses had expressed concerns about the Ghomeshi piece, which she had relayed to the Reviews advertising department, only one press brought up the idea of ending its relationship, and it wouldnt have made much difference to the bottom line. (The Review is rare among publications for being both highly prestigious and profitable, thanks in part to academic publishers less beholden to the profit motive.) In fact, far from being satisfied with the outcome, Crewe was personally dismayed by Burumas departure. I thought it was a really unfortunate end to this, she says. I was pleased with the direction he was taking [the Review]. He was bringing in more writers, he was covering more areas, more topics. It was being enlivened, and so it was kind of a shock that he was out. Other readers privately say theyve been less impressed with Burumas tenure a perception which may also have played some role in the staff resistance. One of the signers whose mind wasnt changed at all by the statement was Laura Kipnis, who decried the firing in an op-ed for the New York Times on Tuesday. Another was Andrew Solomon, the author and former president of PEN America. He felt it was unfortunate that Buruma had been made to resign, even if he also found the essay itself objectionable: I didnt agree with the decision that Ian made to publish Ghomeshis essay without adequate scrutiny. (The letter to the Review notes that many signers found the piece repellent.) I thought, Do I really want to get in the middle of all this? But the honorable thing to do to was to question the way he had left. Back at PEN, Solomon was once on the receiving end of a protest petition, when 35 writers objected to the free-speech organizations decision to honor the often-offensive French magazine Charlie Hebdo (even after most of its staff was murdered). But this time he sided with petitioners. Im concerned in general that publications are so frightened of being tried in the court of public opinion, he says. I think its important for there to be freedom to publish things that provoke angry responses and freedom to publish angry responses too. PEN America, now led by Jennifer Egan, also worries about the firing. They offered Intelligencer a statement acknowledging that there may have been other concerns with Burumas leadership, but these have not been thoroughly elucidated. Instead, the timing of his resignation left the impression that the publication was bending to pressure in pushing out an editor based on a single editorial call that attracted a lot of opposition. PEN requested a more thorough explanation, without which other editors might conclude that risky or hotly debated editorial choices may put their jobs in imminent jeopardy, narrowing the range of ideas that can be explored in our discourse. The relative stability of The New York Review of Books, which has 150,000 subscribers and a 55-year history, belies its precarious place in that publishing universe. Buruma was brought in to chart a course honoring the Reviews legacy of both meticulous editing and righteous flame-throwing. But how does that volatile mix work in a marketplace that pits the two against each other, and a cultural environment that pits free-speech crusaders against campus protesters? Buruma talked excitedly about the Ghomeshi piece in the months leading up to it. Perhaps he thought he was carrying on a noble tradition and reviving its contrarian roots at the same time. Some (particularly older) contributors seemed to agree. Others evidently thought he was betraying both impulses. But the idea of firing an editor over one misfire felt to many observers like an unprecedented shot across the bow of all such publications. As in other times of civil conflict, the divide has even split families. Ben Moser, who signed the protest letter, was surprised to find himself disagreeing about the issue with his sister, Laura Moser, who recently ran for a House seat in Texas. She and I never ever disagree about anything politically, he said. But he has long admired Buruma, whom he considers a friend, and was dismayed to see his name appear in the same sentence as Brett Kavanaugh on social media. He also noted that Burumas disastrous Slate interview seemed to be a case of a writer expressing himself infelicitously about a many-sided question: Writers often think out loud, and that sometimes doesnt translate well into print. Moser adds that the Review has always been incendiary, as when Silvers and Epstein published Molotov-cocktail instructions on the cover in 1967. As fuddy-duddy as people like to pretend it is, he says the Review has always been very political and unafraid of open debates on controversial issues and unafraid to be wrong about things. In 2018, its just as easy to get it wrong, and maybe harder to survive it. Below, the statement the Review will publish, followed by the current list of signatories: As contributors to the New York Review of Books we are writing to express our dismay at the departure of Ian Buruma from the editorship of the Review. Ian Buruma has proved to be an outstanding editoras accomplished in this role as he was as a writer for the Review. Under his guidance the NYRB has maintained the highest intellectual standards, extended its range, and expanded its body of contributors. We find it very troubling that the public reaction to a single article, Reflections from a Hashtagrepellent though some of us may have found this articleshould have been the occasion for Ian Burumas forced resignation. Given the principles of open intellectual debate on which the NYRB was founded, his dismissal in these circumstances strikes us as an abandonment of the central mission of the Review, which is the free exploration of ideas. Gini Alhadeff Anne Appelbaum Lisa Appignanesi John Banville Geremie Barme Louis Begley Richard Bernstein Alfred Brendel Simon Callow Louisa Chang Joel E. Cohen Henri Cole Linda Colley Robert Cottrell Robert Darnton Janine di Giovanni Morris Dickstein Ariel Dorfman Freeman Dyson Carl Elliott James Fenton Darryl Pinckney Orlando Figes Frances Fitzgerald Tim Flannery Roy Foster Ian Frazier Jonathan Friedland Linda Greenhouse Max Hastings Jacob Heilbrunn Lindsey Hilsum Adam Hochschild Arlie Russell Hochschild Eva Hoffman Alan Hollinghurst Stephen Holmes Michael Ignatieff Sidney Jones Daniel Kevles Laura Kipnis James Kirchick Enrique Krauze Jill Krementz Jackson Lears Hermione Lee Mark Lilla Perry Link Phillip Lopate Alison Lurie Janet Malcolm James Mann Avishai Margalit Ruth Margalit David Margolick Ian McEwan Edward Mendelson Lorrie Moore Benjamin Moser Anka Muhlstein Thomas Nagel Andrew J. Nathan John Nathan Aryeh Neier Fintan OToole James Oakes Joyce Carol Oates Tim Page Robert Paxton Caryl Phillips Ahmed Rashid Jonathan Rauch David Rieff Max Rodenbeck Larry Rohter James Rubin Leo Rubinfien John Ryle Luc Sante T.M. Scanlon Margaret Scott James Shapiro Adam Shatz Harry Shearer David Shulman Elisabeth Sifton Timothy Snyder Andrew Solomon George Soros Alessandra Stanley Andrew Sullivan Sam Tanenhaus Dina Temple-Raston Colm Toibin Helen Vendler Edward Vulliamy Michael Walzer Marina Warner Rosanna Warren Alexander Waugh Lawrence Wechsler Steven Weinberg Tim Weiner Geoffrey Wheatcroft Edmund White Sean Wilentz Simon Winchester James Wolcott Robert Worth *An earlier version of this story misread a tweet from poetry editor Jana Prikryl as an objection to the contributors letter of protest. She was, instead, addressing an Op-Ed by Laura Kipnis. The most expensive property in Australia has been sold to Atlassian founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes who is set to move next door to his co-founder, Scott Farquhar. Mr Cannon-Brookes confirmed he and his wife Annie had purchased the $100million Point Piper property, named Fairwater, which was formally owned by Lady Mary Fairfax. Mr Farquhar purchased the neighbouring home for $71million in 2017 and it was later reported he had paid for the property entirely in cash. Atlassian founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes (left) is set to move next door the company's co-founder, Scott Farquhar (right) Between them, both tech genius' have spent $171million on the two Point Piper properties. Mr Cannon-Brookes confirmed he and his wife Annie had purchased the $100million 'Fairwater' 'We are delighted with the purchase of Fairwater for our young family and look forward to continuing the legacy of this beautiful Sydney home,' the Cannon-Brookes told the Australian on Thursday. 'We love the idea of raising our four young children in this historic property, filling the house and gardens with love and laughter through the years,' the couple added. Atlassian has a worth close to $5.8 billion and the company is listed on the Nasdaq, It is also known as one of the Australia's brightest technology stars. The waterfront Sydney estate is now the nation's most expensive property bought in the country - smashing the previous record by almost $30 million. The Point Piper estate had been in the Fairfax family since 1901 and is the largest block of privately held prime harbourside land left in Sydney. Christie's International were appointed by the trustees to sell the property after the death of Lady Mary Fairfax aged 95 last September, Domain reported. Ken Jacobs of Christie's International confirmed they would sell the 1.12 hectare property, dispelling rumours the significant site would be left to the people of NSW. 'It is remarkable that an estate offering such rare and unrepeatable features still exists in Australia today; this opportunity will not come again,' Mr Jacobs said, according to Domain. A 1.2hectare property (pictured) in Sydney's harbour is set to become the first Australian home to sell for more than $100million Mr Farquhar purchased the neighbouring home for $71million in 2017 and it was later reported he had paid for the property entirely in cash The most expensive propery in Australia has sold, with the estate once owned by Lady Mary Fairfax (pictured) believed to have fetched $100million The current Australian record for a single residential property is the neighbouring Elaine, which fetched $71 million when it was sold last year, but Fairwater is considered much more valuable. 'When Fairwater's sister property Elaine came to the market, it set a new benchmark, yet Fairwater is over 4100 square metres larger. They are truly the golden girls of Sydney Harbour,' Mr Jacobs said. The adjacent property, known as Elaine, was sold for $71 million last year to billionaire Scott Farquhar, who is a founder of software company Atlassian, and is about 60 per cent smaller in size. Both properties front New South Head Rd and back onto Sydney Harbour, however, Fairwater has better views from its more northern position. The property last sold for 5350 in early 1901 when Sir James Oswald Fairfax bought the two-storey house. It has been in the Fairfax family ever since, with Sir Warwick Fairfax inheriting the property. The New South Wales government stands to make about $6.9 million in stamp duty from a $100 million deal. The home has been in the Fairfax family for more than a century, up until Lady Mary Fairfax (pictured) died at the age of 95 last September A police officer who crashed into a luxury Mercedes driven by the wife of a prominent racing figure has been charged over the incident. The senior constable, 40, was driving more than 50km/h over the speed limit with no flashing lights or sirens before colliding with 58-year-old Gai Vieira in Cronulla, in Sydney's south, on September 5. The wife of millionaire horse owner Bert Vieira suffered severe injuries, including broken bones, punctured lungs and remains at St George Hospital in a coma in a critical but stable condition, more than three weeks after being hit by the police car. Scroll down for video Gai Vieira (pictured) suffered extensive injuries as a result, including broken bones, punctured lungs and remains at St George Hospital in a coma Mr Vieira (pictured) said Sydney police should stop chasing drivers for minor crimes, and reserve pursuits for serious matters Her family say it's taken too long to charge the senior constable behind the wheel and they want him fired from the force. Police confirmed the officer was travelling at a speed of 124 km/hr in a 70km/hr zone when the crash happened. The officer is expected to face court in November after he was issued a Future Court Attendance notice for dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm. His duty status is now also under review. Bert Vieira's wife Gai is in a coma after her black Mercedes-Benz was hit by a highway patrol car during a chase in Cronulla, south of Sydney last Wednesday Mrs Vieira is the wife of a prominent racing figure and is pictured here at a racing event Mrs Vieira took the impact of the crash while her three-year-old grandson who was sitting in the backseat escaped uninjured. The Vieira family remains positive she will wake up and says she responds when she hears the voice of her grandson, Tyler, who was in the car at the time of the crash. 'She makes a move with her toes every time she hears Tyler's voice,' Mr Vieira told reporters outside St George Hospital. The male senior constable driving the patrol car suffered facial injuries as a result of the collision. Mr Vieira said Sydney police should stop chasing drivers for minor crimes, and reserve pursuits for serious matters. He claimed eyewitnesses told him the patrol car had no flashing lights or blaring sirens as it performed a U-turn to chase another driver using their mobile phone. 'I'm asking the Premier of New South Wales, I want the [police] minister, someone to take responsibility, to own up for what they have done, to authorise this kind of chase,' Mr Vieira said. Bert Vieira speaks to the media outside St George Public Hospital in Sydney on Thursday 'Other states have banned all this chasing because it has cost lives.' Mr Vieira called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison - a Cronulla resident and the local MP for the Cook electorate - to take action. 'Morrison, when he was in charge of Cook, now he's the PM, for God's sake wake up,' he said. Attorney-General Mark Speakman said the government had to get the balance right. 'Anyone who is injured or who loses someone, it is always an incredibly distressing situation, police though have to do their job,' he told reporters on Thursday. Mrs Vieira took the impact of the crash while her three-year-old grandson who was sitting in the backseat escaped uninjured 'We've got to get the balance right between, on the one hand, keeping the safety of the community, avoiding injuries and deaths on occasion to people but making sure that criminals don't think they can get away as soon as a police car siren goes off.' Mr Vieira said the charge provided 'no satisfaction at the moment' because he doesn't blame the officer personally but rather 'the one who asked him to do it [the pursuit]'. 'That's the person I want,' he said. Nevertheless, Mr Vieira does think the 40-year-old senior constable should be sacked from the police force. 'My wife is in hospital. I want him to lose his job. I want every other constable who drives like that idiot to lose his job. I don't want anyone to pursue.' Mr Vieira said the charge was a step in the right direction but added: 'It would have been fantastic if they had charged him the first day or the second day - not the 22nd day.' The family is planning on pursuing civil action against NSW Police as they fight to have high-speed pursuits of minor offenders banned in the state. The officer is due to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday 12 November 2018. This is the harrowing moment an Uber driver is verbally abused, punched in the face and then spat on by a furious passenger. Asim Zulfiqar, picked up his passenger outside a Kings Cross bar, in Sydney, over the weekend. Dashcam footage shows a furious woman getting into the car and Mr Zulfiqar claimed she was already swearing at him. Asim Zulfiqar, picked up his passenger outside a Kings Cross bar, in Sydney, over the weekend When the female lunges at Mr Zulfiqar he puts his hand up and pushes her back in what he claims to be self-defence The inaudible footage shows the woman exchanging words with the driver before she leans over and violently pushes Mr Zulfiqar, punches him in the face and spits on him. She then appears to try to get out of the vehicle but then lunges again at the driver who then puts his hands up and pushes her back in what he claims to be self-defence. 'All I wanted to do was get her away from me,' Mr Zulfiqar told Nine News. 'When she pulled my shirt and spat on me all I thought was she was trying to hit me again and my reaction was to push her away.' During the horrific three-minute ordeal Mr Zulfiqar was also called a 'piece of s***,' and a 'moron'. Mr Zulfiqar had already informed the woman that she was being recorded. She eventually leaves the car and fearing that she would damage his car, Mr Zulfiqar followed her but said he was pushed to the ground by someone nearby, causing his phone to fall. The woman then grabbed his phone and 'threw it into a shop window'. The attack has left Mr Zulfiqar with a sore eye and he is 'very upset' that this sort of thing happened to him The attack has left Mr Zulfiqar with a sore eye and he is 'very upset' that he had to experience the attack. 'I don't expect anything like this. I'm trying to earn some money and bring it back to my family.' He has since reported the incident police, but no arrests have been made yet. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Uber for comment. We've all been guilty of doing it or seen someone else in the act. But did you know that throwing an apple core or other fruit waste out of a car window is against the law and can result in a hefty fine and the loss of demerit points? Despite their ability to biodegrade, disposing of fruit and food waste is considered littering in all of Australia's states and territories. The act of throwing of apple cores out the window (stock image) is regarded as littering The state with the biggest fine is Queensland, where the crime of 'dropping injurious matter on a road' will cost you $353 and two demerit points. Victoria is the next highest, where you will be slugged $322 by state's Environmental Protection Authority if you're caught in the act. In New South Wales, anyone caught throwing discarded fruit out of a vehicle window faces a $250 fine. Littering when behind the wheel is against the law (stock image) 'Though biodegradable, items like apples still pollute; compost them or put them in the bin,' the NSW EPA website states. 'If no bin is at hand, you must keep your rubbish until you find a bin. You cannot rely on other people to clean up your litter.' The fine in South Australia is $210 while across the Nullarbor, expect to be fined $200 in Western Australia. Throwing any unwanted organic material out of a car window is littering, according to Keep Australia Beautiful Western Australia. The penalty for throwing discarded fruit (stock image) out of a car window varies from state to state 'Apple cores and fruit skins take a number of months to break down, and is unsightly like other litter. This litter can attract vermin and if littered in the bush can attract wildlife to the roadside which creates danger for drivers and hazards for native wildlife,' the website states. If occurs in Western Australia, the motorist may still be fined if the litterer can't be identified. 'In cases of littering from vehicles, where neither the litterer nor the driver of the vehicle can be identified, the person responsible for the vehicle (usually the registered owner) will be deemed to have committed the offence and will have to pay the fine unless they can identify the offender,' the Keep Australia Beautiful WA website states. Apples cores can attract vermin and if littered in the bush can attract wildlife to the roadside which creates danger for drivers and hazards for native wildlife, according to Keep Australia Beautiful WA In the Australian Capital Territory, littering a small item in a public place incurs a $60, which increases to $200 for 'litter that escapes or likely to escape into public place.' In the Northern Territory, a EPA spokeswoman said the littering falls under the local councils. Only two Australian universities have made it onto the World University Rankings list top 50 for 2019. According to Times Higher Education (THE), the prestige of Australian tertiary education seems to be slipping, with just nine universities making it into the top 200 in the world. Budget cuts and increased competition from Asian universities seem to be playing a role in the rapid decline. The University of Melbourne (pictured) topped the list again coming in at 32nd, the highest Australian placement on the list for the second year in a row Australian National University (pictured) also just made it into the top 50, coming in at 49th- slipping one spot from last year The University of Melbourne topped the list again, with the highest Australian placement, coming in at 32nd for the second year in a row. Canberra's Australian National University also just made it into the top 50, coming in at 49th- slipping one spot from last year. Ellie Bothwell, global rankings editor at THE expressed concern despite some Australian Universities showing progress. 'The national picture is a cause for concern, with many universities declining or remaining stagnant,' she told The Herald Sun. The University of Sydney (pictured) managed to climb two places to 59th but just missed out on the top 50 by 9 places 'As funding cuts take hold and pressure mounts to cap international student numbers combined with intensifying competition from Asia Australia's universities could well face an uphill struggle in the coming years.' But while Australian universities slip down the list, those in Asia continue to rise. Tsinghua University in China climbed eight places to 22nd in the world, overtaking world-renowned institutions such as Princeton, Yale and MIT. The University of Sydney climbed two places to 59th while the University of Queensland and Monash University also managed to stay inside the top 100 in the world. AUSTRALIA'S TOP 9 UNIVERSITIES 2019 #32 - University of Melbourne #49 - Australian National University #59 - University of Sydney #69 - University of Queensland #84 - Monash University #96 - University of New South Wales #134 - University of Western Australia #135 - University of Adelaide #196 - University of Technology, Sydney Source: THE World Ranking List Advertisement The University of New South Wales plummeted eleven places to 96th and the University of Western Australian fell spectacularly 23 places to 134th. The Federal Government announced measures to freeze funding for bachelor courses resulting in $2.2billion savings for taxpayers. Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said Australia's world class standing was at risk unless cuts were reversed. 'Funding cuts are bad for local and international students. They threaten quality,' she said. Oxford University took out first place in the world for the third year in a row with University of Cambridge coming in second and Standford placing third. Two die-hard footy fans have displayed a serious level of commitment to their respective teams in the lead up to Saturday's AFL grand final. Collingwood fan Dyllan and West Coast supporter Eric have both been inked with 'Premiers 2018' tattoos live on Melbourne radio three days out from the end of season premiership decider at the MCG. The pair had the optimistic work done on Wednesday morning by Collingwood rising star Jaidyn Stephenson, who away from the footy field is a budding amateur tattoo artist. Collingwood fan 'Dyllan' with his 'Premiers 2018' tattoo ahead of Saturday's AFL grand final Magpies supporter Dyllan opted for an ink design on his left ankle in the Gold 104.3 Melbourne studio, part of a daring radio promotion on the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show. Eagles tragic 'Eric' went a step further, choosing to have a permanent tattoo reminder on his backside. It was closely supervised by professional Andy Morris from nearby Industrial Tattoo Co. Dylann told the live audience his new body addition 'didn't feel too bad' and it 'was much better than I thought it would be.' Mr Stephenson said he 'admired both blokes for coming in and getting tattoos' before adding the tattoos had a 'nice home feel.' Saturday's AFL grand final between West Coast and Collingwood at the MCG will draw just under 100,000 spectators. Action begins at 2.30pm. Eagles super fan ' Eric' opted for a more daring 'Premiers 2018' tattoo on his backside ahead of the 2018 AFL grand final on Saturday A Florida Taco Bell is under investigation after a local sheriff's deputy consumed two burritos that tasted of bleach. The Lee County officer, who has only been identified as 'Deputy Brown', ordered four burritos from the Taco Bell drive-through in Lehigh Acres on Sunday. Brown was on the way to a call for service when he ate two of the four burritos and suddenly noticed something odd. A Florida Taco Bell is under investigation after a local sheriff deputy allegedly consumed two burritos that tasted of bleach (file photo) The burritos tasted foul and his tongue began to feel 'numb and tingly'. Brown then decided to inspect the two remaining burritos and the paper bag they had been wrapped inside. That's when he realized that the bag smelled of bleach, according to WXYZ. Brown immediately notified law enforcement and an investigation has since been launched. The Lee County officer, who has only been identified as 'Deputy Brown', ordered four burritos from the Taco Bell drive-through in Lehigh Acres (pictured) on Sunday Taco Bell has also released a statement saying the franchisee who owns and operates the Lehigh Acres chain is investigating as well. 'We take food safety very seriously and are deeply appreciative of the men and women who serve and protect our communities and our country,' the statement reads. Meanwhile, Brown is now concerned for his health after consuming the burritos. An update has not been released on his condition. An Illinois father who filmed himself putting his three-year-old son in the trunk of his car claimed the incident was all part of a social experiment that went horribly awry. Boguslaw Matlak, 28, and his partner, Laura Quijano, were seen in their own video recording as they spoke about the experiment before Matlak acted upon it in front of witnesses outside the Panera Bread in Norridge on September 2. 'You're gonna play a game... you're gonna go in the trunk and you're gonna play like daddy is mad - but he's not really mad,' the mother told her son in the clip obtained by NBC Chicago. The smiling child then got out of his seat as he told his mother: 'I'm so excited!' Dad Boguslaw Matlak was arrested and charged with child endangerment September 2 after he recorded himself putting his three-year-old son in his trunk Matlak, however, claims the incident was all part of a social experiment The incident happened in front of witnesses outside the Panera Bread in Norridge, Illinois It wasn't long before police were called and Matlak was arrested Matlak stood behind the car parked in the lot of the Panera as his son walked his way. Matlak placed the child in the trunk as concerned witnesses walked by the vehicle. It wasn't long before police were called. When police arrived, Matlak told them the child was not in danger and the incident was for an experiment to see how the public would react to child endangerment. But the explanation didn't spare him. The father was arrested and charged with one count of misdemeanor child endangerment as a result. The incident further resulted in the pair losing custody of their three-year-old. They are also under investigation of child services. Mom Laura Quijano spoke to her child about the experiment beforehand 'You're gonna play a game,' the mother told the child in the clip The father explained his intentions for the video while speaking to NBC this week. 'I was thinking... maybe I should do a video, to show people, maybe they should do something about it when they see something wrong,' he said. Matlak said he was 'in shock' when he got arrested. He is seen above in his mugshot Matlak added that he didn't expect the outcome and was 'in shock' when he was arrested. The child is now in custody of a relative. Mom Quijano told NBC: 'We have provided them with all of the proof that this was not real, that my son was not in danger. 'They are hurting my son emotionally at this point. He is not home with his parents - who love him very much.' The couple's attorney, Rina Infelise, also said: 'Anybody can make a poor decision. 'Every error in judgement made by a parent doesn't equal abuse and neglect.' Matlak will appear in court Friday to answer to the single charge against him. The ex-boyfriend of the woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh of drugging girls in order to gang rape them at high school parties claims she is 'not credible' at all. Richard Vinneccy said that he does not believe Julie Swetnick, who said she was assaulted at one such party attended by Kavanaugh, is telling the truth at all. 'I have a lot of facts, evidence, that what she's saying is not true at all,' Vinneccy told Politico on Wednesday. But Vinneccy refused to disclose any such evidence, instead saying he 'would rather' speak to his attorney first before saying more. Instead Vinneccy, 63, disclosed details about his own relationship with Swetnick, who he filed a restraining order against after they broke up in 2001. The ex-boyfriend of Julie Swetnick, the woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh of drugging girls in order to gang rape them at high school parties, claims she is 'not credible' at all Vinneccy filed a restraining order against Swetnick at the Miami-Dade County Court in 2001. The case was dismissed just 13 days later after an affidavit of non-ability to advance fees was filed. 'Right after I broke up with her, she was threatening my family, threatening my wife, and threatening to do harm to my baby at that time,' the registered Democrat claimed. 'I know a lot about her. She's not credible at all. Not at all.' Martin Swetnick said he had little insight into her high school years as he had been traveling a lot and added: 'She lived her life. We didn't discuss it' Michael Avenatti, Swetnick's attorney, has hit back at Vinneccy's claims and called them 'complete nonsense'. Avenatti said he knew nothing of a restraining order and claims Swetnick caught Vinneccy using her own resume to apply and obtain jobs for himself. 'Complete nonsense. No truth to this at all,' Avenatti said. 'Why are you all attacking a sexual assault victim?' Vinneccy's claims come hours after Swetnick's father said he was shocked by her allegations against the Supreme Court nominee. Swetnick, 55, was the third woman to come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault. She stepped forward on Wednesday to claim in the early 1980s that she witnessed Kavanaugh and his high school classmate Mark Judge drug and sexually assault girls during high school parties. Swetnick wrote in an affidavit that she met Kavanaugh and Judge at a party in 1980 or 1981. Swetnick, who graduated from Gaithersburg High School in 1980, was three years older than the boys at the time. She also attended a public high school, while the two boys attended the elite Washington prep school Georgetown Prep. Different pasts: Brett Kavanaugh's description of his teenage years is entirely at odds with the picture painted by his third accuser, Julie Swetnick, who graduated three years before him from a different, public school - while he went to an elite Jesuit-run Catholic high school Kavanaugh, who has so far denied all of the sexual assault allegations against him, said he has never met Swetnick. 'This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone,' he said on Wednesday. 'I don't know who this is and this never happened.' Swetnick's parents Martin and her late mother Elaine were both government workers. Her father worked for NASA as a lunar scientist and her mother Elaine was a geologist with the Atomic Energy Commission. Martin told the Washington Post that he was shocked at the allegations, but had been almost entirely estranged from his daughter for 10 years. He said she was a 'typical girl', and added: 'She was not shy. She was a good-looking girl.' But he said he had little insight into her high school years as he had been traveling a lot and added: 'She lived her life. We didn't discuss it.' She had failed to complete college and later became a web developer, gaining government contracts. Allegations: Christine Blasey Ford will testiy Thursday about her attempted rape claim, but Debbie Ramirez is not being called 'She never went to college, but she bootstrapped herself and became a computer expert,' her father said. ' She's a sharp woman.' Swetnick said in an affidavit that she attended at least 10 parties with Kavanaugh and Judge between 1981 and 1983. She claims she witnessed them spiking 'punch' drinks with drugs and alcohol in order to get female partygoers incapacitated and run group sex 'trains' on them. Swetnick said she witnessed groups of boys raping the intoxicated girls, and saw boys lining up outside bedrooms to wait their turn to have group sex with the young women. 'I also witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could be 'gang-raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys,' she said in her affidavit. 'I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room,' she added. According to Swetnick, she saw Kavanaugh and Judge waiting in line during these group rape episodes. Swetnick said she was also gang-raped at one of these parties in 1982 after having her drink spiked with what she believes was Quaaludes. She said Kavanaugh and Judge were also at this party, but did not specify whether the two boys participated in assaulting her. 'In approximately 1982, I became a victim of one of these 'gang' or 'train' rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present,' she said. 'During the incident, I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me.' Swetnick attended Montgomery County Community College after graduating from high school in 1980. She later took IT certification courses, according to her online resume. The IT consultant, who owns a company called International Business Solutions, says in an online resume that she has worked for the State Department, the Department of Justice, and other federal agencies. Avenatti said his client currently holds a federal security clearance. It was revealed on Wednesday that the state of Maryland filed a $62,000 tax lien against Swetnick in October 2015, claiming she owed $32,000 in back taxes dating to 2008 and the additional amount in interest. The case was settled in 2016. Avenatti said she paid off all her debts in full. He told DailyMail.com: 'They have been fully paid and are irrelevant to her claims. Why are you digging up dirt on and attacking a sexual abuse victim?' WEDNESDAY'S KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BRETT KAVANAUGH DRAMA A house with a rainbow roof painted by a devastated widower as a touching tribute to his late wife has failed to sell at auction. The San Souci home was listed for sale after its late owner, John Hall, died last year, but the property failed to reach its $3million asking price at auction on Saturday. While the home was passed in just shy of its asking price at $2.9million, Raine & Horne Kogarah director Michael Pyliotis told Daily Mail Australia it's not over yet. John Hall (pictured) died last year and now his Sans Souci, south of Sydney, property (pictured) will go under the hammer Mr Hall painted the tiles so that wife Berta 'can look down and see how much I love her' 'The property didn't sell on the day ...but we now have a party that has offered the amount that the trustees are happy with,' Mr Pyliotis said. 'We've done sales advice and the two solicitors are talking to each other, trying to exchange the contract, and fingers crossed it could happen in the next few days.' Since Mr Hall's death last year the property has been under the care of the New South Wales Trustee & Guardian, who listed the property. Raine & Horne Kogarah agent Enzo Puopolo told Domain that prospective buyers at auction were more interested in the property's development potential. He added, 15 parties had registered for the auction but on the day there were only four active bidders. Mr Hall painted every tile on the roof of his fibro home, one at a time, back in 1997 in a touching tribute to his late wife. He painted the tiles so that the house could 'be seen from heaven so (wife) Berta can look down and see how much I love her', he said at the time. Mr Hall lifted each roof tile of the Riverside Drive home and painted it one of four colours before he replaced it. Mr Hall lifted each roof tile of the Riverside Drive home and painted it one of four colours before he replaced it On the anniversary of her death, October 18, he would have a poem placed in the memoriam column of The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader (pictured) The couple married in 1942 and first lived in the side verandah in Berta's family home Mr and Mrs Hall met as children, married in 1942 and first lived in the side verandah of Berta's family home. The couple bought the home 16 years before the Kogarah woman died and after she had a double kidney transplant. 'Berta had 16 years enjoying life here, looking out over the water,' Mr Hall said, according to the publication. There was a sign outside the home that was knocked down because of wind that read 'our Berta's corner'. On the anniversary of her death, October 18, he would have a poem placed in the memoriam column of The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader. 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Please email to: wangyq@gasgoo.com Trump seemed to be enjoying himself at his press conference, while baffling everyone else. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images In a long, strange press conference in which he changed topics frequently sometimes mid-sentence President Trump repeated his con job characterization of the accusations of sexual assault and other misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. What was more remarkable was his tendency to identify Kavanaughs accusers with the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct in the past. At the same time, however, he left the door open to withdrawing his nomination, depending on what happens at tomorrows Judiciary Committee hearing. Trump plans to watch the hearing, and has postponed his momentous meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in order not to distract attention from the show. Heres CNNs summary of the exchanges in which Trump made it clear he viewed the accusations against Kavanaugh through the lens of his own experience: President Trump, speaking at a press conference in New York, said allegations against Brett Kavanaugh effect him because he has had similar allegations [made] against himself many times. People want fame. They want money. When I see it, I view it differently, Trump said. Its happened to me many times. Ive had many false charges. When you say does it [a]ffect me? Absolutely. Because Ive had it many times, Trump said regarding the allegations surrounding Kavanaugh. I was accused by, I believe it was four women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me, Trump said as he continued to blast the media for repeating the allegations. In reality, at least 17 women have accused Trump of sexual assault. Ive had a lot of false charges against me, Trump said. Despite his interest in watching tomorrows hearing, Trump at other points indicated a closed mind about the allegations against Kavanaugh, calling them all false, and a fabrication by evil Democrats. Asked why he didnt support an FBI investigation of the allegations, he replied: There was nothing to investigate. And then there was this strange tangent: President Donald Trump: "If we brought George Washington here ... the Democrats would vote against him." "And he may have had a bad past, who knows ... George Washington would be voted against one hundred percent by Schumer and the con artists," he adds https://t.co/H9Yha41RJr pic.twitter.com/ln8SRr4QNj ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 26, 2018 There were two particular moments where Trump seemed to be really out of touch with the way the Kavanaugh saga is playing out publicly. Asked about how women felt about his dismissal of the allegations against Kavanaugh, he claimed that women are so angry about how the judge is being treated, citing the narrow majority of women (actually, just white women) who voted for him in 2016. This on a day when fresh polling showed Kavanaugh and Trump himself losing ground rapidly with Republican women. Similarly, at the very end of the press conference, Trump was given the opportunity to talk about the message his comments on Kavanaugh might send to young men you know, young men who hear the president of the United States identifying with and defending someone accused of sexual assault even as the #MeToo movement unveils decades of predatory behavior. His response was remarkable: Trump Gives Wild Answer When Asked the Effect His Comments Have on Teenage Boys. pic.twitter.com/VCGC7qqWOE Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 26, 2018 Agreeing that this was a historic moment, Trump thought it was all about the damage wreaked on men whose accusers were believed despite insufficient corroborating evidence. Watch out, boys! he seemed to be saying to teenagers: these lying women will say anything to bring you down. Asked very directly if he ever gave women the benefit of the doubt in situations like Kavanaughs, Trump tossed out one of the most incoherent word salads since Andrew Johnson showed up drunk at his inauguration as vice president: QUESTION: To follow up on a question that a colleague asked as well about the benefit of the doubt that you have given to people like Roy Moore, to Roger Ailes, to Bill OReilly, to Brett Kavanaugh. Theyre all men. Why is that? (CROSSTALK) TRUMP: Its not a benefit of the doubt. I (CROSSTALK) QUESTION: Has there ever been an instance when youve given the benefit of the doubt to a woman? TRUMP: Ive known them Hallie (ph), Ive known them for a long time and a lot of these people. A lot of people. And some Ive been disappointed with. I have been disappointed with some others like you know, there are charges that are pretty weak. But Ive known people for a long time. I never saw them do anything wrong. I never saw them do anything wrong. And theres some that probably I agree. I can tell you theres some that I Ive been watching for a long time. And in a couple of cases they werent Republicans, and a lot of cases they were not. They were exactly the opposite. But Ive been watching them for a long time and I knew for a long time these were not good people, and they were never brought up. Its hard to imagine the president did Brett Kavanaugh much good in this bizarre performance; instead, he publicly put the judge on notice that he might dump him tomorrow if he doesnt look good on television. Timothy J Mackley, 58, was charged with murder after allegedly killing an elderly woman and driving around with her body in the trunk of his car A registered sex offender has been charged with murder over the 'violent' death of Marcine Herinck, 89, who had been missing since last week. Timothy J Mackley was identified as a person of interest on Monday, after an initial investigation into Herinck's disappearance suggested there was no foul play. Police received information that suggested something had gone awry on Monday, and quickly identified Mackley, 58, as a suspect. Mackley was pulled over by officers soon after, and Ms Herinck's body was found in the trunk of his Toyota Camry. Mackley was charged and is being held without bail at the Multnomah County Jail. When he appeared in court on Wednesday, Mackley pleaded not guilty. Police and medical examiners have not been able to positively identify Ms Herinck in an official capacity, but the woman's family have been notified of her death, and officers say the body is 'likely' hers. The Medical Examiner determined the woman died of 'homicidal violence'. Herinck was volunteering at Portland Adventist Community Services before she disappeared earlier this month, and workers at the service center say this may have been where she first came into Mackley's sights. The elderly woman had logged more than 1,900 hours stocking shelves in the attached thrift store since she began working there in 2014, Oregon Live reported. Marcine Herinck, 89, disappeared last week after finishing her shift at a charity thrift store. Herinck had logged more than 1,900 hours stocking shelves there, and it's believed she met Mackley on the day she went missing Courtesy of KOIN She is believed to have met Mackley that day, and authorities suspect the 58-year-old followed her home after her shift. When she first disappeared, her son Josh told KATU News he had gone to see his mother and found the house empty - with no sign she was planning to leave. Josh said the front door and the garage door of the home was open, and Herinck had left behind her wallet, cell phone and keys. In her microwave sat a cup of cold coffee. A Facebook page set up to help find Ms Herinck was turned into a memorial page on Tuesday night, and family announced her body had been found. 'It is with deepest sorrow that we share with you that the beloved Marcine has been found and is no longer with us,' a statement posted to the page read. 'On behalf of the family, we would like to thank all those that spent countless hours searching and praying to bring her home. 'Marcine will be remembered for her soft, gentle spirit and the life she lived dedicated to others. 'Thank you for your love, support, and continued prayers. Please respect the familys request for privacy at this time.' People could face up to five years' in jail if they do not give their laptop password or mobile phone PIN to the authorities under proposed changes to the law. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton introduced the new laws to the Parliament, saying they are needed to help police and spies catch criminals who are hiding behind encryption technology. But civil libertarians say the changes go too far. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said encryption hurt national security and hid crime 'The bill is a draconian measure to grant law enforcement authorities unacceptable surveillance powers that invade Australians' civil rights,' said Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm in an emailed statement to Daily Mail Australia. 'It appears that people who are not even suspected of committing a crime can face a fine of up to $50,000 and up to five years' imprisonment for declining to provide a password to their smart phone, computer or other electronic devices.' The penalty unit fine is actually more than $50,000 as the value of a penalty unit has recently been increased to $210. Civil libertarians are worried the new laws go too far towards making Australia a police state Anybody who refuses to help the authorities crack a computer system when ordered will face up to five years jail. If the crime being investigated is terrorism, the penalty for non-compliance is increased to 10 years' jail or $126,000. If Parliament passes the bill, tech companies will have to help authorities crack the encryption on users devices when told to help - or face up to $10 million in fines. If anybody at the company tells anybody that they have been told to do it, they will face up to five years' in jail. This will give authorities access to your protected online information in the event of an investigation. Under the legislation, foreign countries can also ask Australia's Attorney General for police to access data in your computer to help them investigate law-breaking overseas. A 46-year-old British-Australian software developer had his password-protected laptop and phone seized and inspected by Australian Border Force officers at Sydney Airport last month For the bill to become law, it has to pass through three readings in the federal Parliament. It is now on its second reading. More than 14,000 submissions of concern about the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 have been received. Submissions are open until October 19 so there is still time for you to have your say. If anybody refuses to help the authorities crack into a computer system they face up to 5 years' jail or 10 years' if they are investigating a terrorism offence. As the Australian Government grapples with new technology challenging law enforcement and national security, lawmakers have passed increasingly tough legislation affecting individual rights over the past five years. Some in the community have become concerned about the risk of the authorities having too much power. 'This is another extension of powers which goes well beyond what is reasonable and necessary in a democracy,' said NSW Council of Civil Liberties vice president Lesley Lynch. If you don't give your mobile PIN or password when directed, you could face five years' jail There is also reportedly a potential conflict between Australia's legislation and tough new data privacy laws passed in Europe. A 46-year-old British software developer had his password-protected laptop and phone seized by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers earlier this year as he traveled through Sydney Airport. The ABF would not say whether any files had been copied, but did inspect his devices. Nathan Hague told The Guardian he believed the ABF had cracked his laptop password and inspected his files. He said this potentially compromises his business, putting it in breach of Europe's tough new GDPR data privacy laws and he would have to give privacy breach notifications to his clients. A police officer is now in an induced coma and in a critical condition after he was mowed down while laying traffic spikes to stop an allegedly stolen car in a chase. Queensland Police Service confirmed that the officer is 24-year-old Peter McAulay. The officer from Goodna Police Station was trying to lay down the spikes when the car struck him and dragged him several metres down the road. He was immediately rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital with a critical head wound and other serious injuries, including broken bones and fractures. He has since received surgery and remains in the intensive care unit. It is understood that Mr McAulay was trying to lay down traffic spikes in an Ipswich suburb when he was allegedly struck and dragged several metres down the road A male constable is fighting for life after he was struck by a allegedly stolen sedan (pictured) west of Brisbane. Two people are currently assisting police with their inquiries Police were pursuing the allegedly stolen sedan on Brisbane Road in the Ipswich suburb of Booval, west of Brisbane at around 5am on Thursday morning. Police located the vehicle on nearby Vowels Street a short time later and later arrested a teenage boy and girl, who are assisting police with inquiries. Acting superintendent Mel Adams told reporters that her thoughts were with the seriously injured police officer. 'Our thoughts are with this officer and his family. We would ask people to say a prayer for him.' Police have since reopened Brisbane Street. A Michigan boy who anticipated a congratulatory letter from President Trump after he became an Eagle Scout received a note regarding the late Barbara Bush instead. Twitter user Indivis Northville shared contents of the letter earlier this week to social media. The note, signed by Trump, read: 'I appreciate you taking the time to send your thoughts and suggestions. Melania and I join the Nation in celebrating the life of Barbara Bush.' Twitter user Indivis Northville shared this letter signed by Donald Trump to an Eagle Scout. The letter was a note regarding the late Barbara Bush The Twitter user who shared the letter said her friend's son had recently received it The note said further: 'As a wife, mother, grandmother, military spouse and former First Lady, Mrs. Bush was an advocate of the American family. 'Amongst her greatest achievements was recognizing the importance of literacy as a fundamental family value that required nurturing and protection. 'She will long be remembered for her strong devotion to country and family, both of which she served unfailingly well. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mrs. Bush.' The former first lady passed away April 17 following her battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Trump signed the letter addressed to the Eagle Scout with the message that said: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mrs. Bush' The former first lady passed away April 17 following her battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease The Twitter user who shared the letter said her friend's son had recently received it. The boy reached the rank of an Eagle Scout - the highest achievement in Boys Scouts. 'It's traditional for the President to send congratulatory letters to boys who have reached the rank of Eagle Scout,' the Twitter user said. 'Parents or troop leaders request these letters. It's routine. Here is the letter my friend's son received from Donald J Trump.' Several people commented in the thread. A man, named Noah Foxson, said he also had a bizarre experience when he became an Eagle Scout. 'I became an Eagle a full year after Trump became president, but because the administration was so disorganized, the letter I got on behalf of the government still had Obama's signature,' Foxson wrote in the comments. A female driver who refused to give a saliva sample after being pulled over said it was because she had recently given her boyfriend oral sex, police claimed in court. The woman from Port Kembla, about two hours south of Sydney, was stopped because she was not displaying P-plates and driving an unroadworthy vehicle in July. On Wednesday in court the woman denied police claims she refused to participate in the drug test because she had recently given her boyfriend oral sex because she didn't 'want to get done for anything he has been taking'. The woman from Port Kembla, about two hours south of Sydney, was stopped because she was not displaying P-plates and driving an unroadworthy vehicle in July (file picture) Appearing at a sentencing hearing the woman's defence lawyer, Paul Cramer, said his client was 'deeply embarrassed' to see the claims in the police fact sheets. He said his client had refused to take the drug test because she had been convicted of a drug-driving offence in Wollongong court in November last year and believed she was 'conned by the system.' Mr Cramer sought leniency for his client saying that she was studying physics at university and on a limited income and was currently 18 weeks pregnant with her second child, according to the Illawarra Mercury. The woman initially was given a roadside breath test for alcohol which returned a clear reading but she refused to give a roadside drug test because police claim that she told them it was 'not in the Constitution' and that officers were 'picking on her'. Magistrate Peter Thompson agreed to reduce the fines as a result of the woman's financial situation and the embarrassment caused. The woman was given three fines totalling $1200 and disqualified the woman from driving for six months. SNP's David Linden and Drew Hendry (pictured circled left and right, respectively) told health workers they were double jabbed and did not need to be swabbed after landing in Gibraltar, according to a witness. The pair, whose vaccine QR codes apparently stopped working, were 'rude' towards staff and warned they will 'get them into trouble' with Governor of Gibraltar David Steel (inset left) when urged to take a test. Under current regulations, anyone arriving in Gibraltar (inset) is required to take a test in a booth outside the airport and provide proof of any vaccinations. However, after initially refusing, the pair eventually took the tests before leaving with Ministry of Defence staff, it is reported. The duo, alongside Labour's Charlotte Nichols (right), were accused of drinking heavily before arriving in the British Overseas Territory with the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme - with one apparently having to be taken out of the airport in a wheelchair. But Ms Nichols, who said she had fewer than five drinks, blamed her medication after she was said to be too incapacitated to attend the welcome party on arrival. She has since returned home two days early. Australians are using a secret technique to save money on fuel, as petrol prices hit ten-year highs. A new survey recently asked over 1,000 drivers to reveal their sneaky tips on how they reduce what they spend on petrol. With the average litre now costing $1.55 motorists are resorting to drastic measures to try and keep their fuel costs down. Australians are resorting to drastic measures to try and combat ever-increasing petrol prices (stock image) The survey conducted by finder.com.au asked participants to choose a series of multiple choice answers to show how they maneuvered around high petrol prices. One in twelve Australians (eight per cent) have handed in their keys, completely abandoning their vehicles and opting to walk or cycle instead. A huge 13 per cent aim to fill up their tanks mid-week, which is when prices are lowest, and four per cent use apps to help them hunt down the cheapest petrol. And four per cent have found that ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Taxify have been more financially beneficial for them. Worryingly, seven per cent chose to stay at home and miss their events or appointments rather than pay for expensive petrol. Kate Browne, Personal Finance Expert for Finder, isn't surprised by the penny-pinching, saying petrol prices are starting to impact the daily lives of many. The survey, which was conducted by finder.com.au , asked participants to choose a series of multiple choice answers to show how they maneuvered around high petrol prices (stock image) 'With the public holiday in Victoria on Friday, in New South Wales, ACT, Queensland and South Australia on Monday and school holidays, many families may be forced to reconsider their getaway plans after they've factored in the cost of fuel,' she said. HOW TO SAVE ON FUEL Use an app to find the cheapest petrol: MotorMouth, PetrolSpy, GasBuddy and FuelCheck can find the cheapest petrol near you. Remember to also try to fill up mid-week when prices are generally be cheaper. Opt for ride-sharing services: Booking an Uber, or using a vehicle from GoGet are simple and affordable alternatives to using your own car - and best of all, you don't need to fork out for the petrol used. Make the most of petrol credit cards or vouchers: A petrol rewards card can help you minimise fuel costs while also earning rewards points. However, just be mindful of a higher annual fee that may apply. Get your car serviced regularly: Staying up to date with car services can prevent mechanical problems from developing. Maintaining your cars top notch condition means it will run smoothly and consume less petrol. Advertisement Ms Browne also gave some tips herself, saying that motorists shouldn't stop at the first petrol station they see but instead download a cheap-petrol app and seek them out. She also mentioned that trading in your 'petrol-guzzling' vehicle for a more economic, fuel-efficient car could save Australian' a lot of money in the long run. Ms Browne also encouraged people to make use of public transport as much as they can. 'Opting for public transport or ride-sharing services to get you from A to B could be kinder on both your hip pocket and the environment,' she said. Sydney and Hobart residents seem to pay the most for fuel meaning price hikes will affect these drivers the hardest. According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum data analysed by finder.com.au, the national average price of unleaded petrol rose 0.6 cents last week to 152.8 cents a litre. This comes after the price of petrol has surged dramatically across the country in recent days. In Melbourne, the price has surged to $1.70 a litre, a ten-year high. Christine Blasey Ford's full opening statement for the Senate Judiciary Committee has been released Christine Blasey Ford's full opening statement for the Senate Judiciary Committee has been released. In the statement Ford describes, in vivid detail, her recollection of the night she alleges Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party. 'I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to,' Ford writes. 'But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult.' Ford also reveals in the letter that the weeks since she has come forward have been the 'hardest' of her life as she has received death threats and been forced to move homes with her family a number of times. 'I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me,' she added. 'I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no one's pawn. 'My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed.' 'It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth.' Here is Ford's opening statement, as prepared for delivery, in its entirety: Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein, Members of the Committee. My name is Christine Blasey Ford. I am a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University and a Research Psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina and earned my degree in Experimental Psychology in 1988. I received a Master's degree in 1991 in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. In 1996, I received a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California. I earned a Master's degree in Epidemiology from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2009. I have been married to Russell Ford since 2002 and we have two children. I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. I have described the events publicly before. I summarized them in my letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, and again in my letter to Chairman Grassley. I understand and appreciate the importance of your hearing from me directly about what happened to me and the impact it has had on my life and on my family. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. I attended the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1980 to 1984. Holton-Arms is an all-girls school that opened in 1901. During my time at the school, girls at Holton-Arms frequently met and became friendly with boys from all-boys schools in the area, including Landon School, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga High School, country clubs, and other places where kids and their families socialized. This is how I met Brett Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me. In my freshman and sophomore school years, when I was 14 and 15 years old, my group of friends intersected with Brett and his friends for a short period of time. I had been friendly with a classmate of Brett's for a short time during my freshman year, and it was through that connection that I attended a number of parties that Brett also attended. We did not know each other well, but I knew him and he knew me. In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent almost every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland swimming and practicing diving. In the statement Ford describes, in vivid detail, her recollection of the night she alleges Brett Kavanaugh tried to sexually assault her at a high school party when she was 15 years old One evening that summer, after a day of swimming at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Chevy Chase/Bethesda area. There were four boys I remember being there: Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth, and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. I remember my friend Leland Ingham attending. I do not remember all of the details of how that gathering came together, but like many that summer, it was almost surely a spur of the moment gathering. I truly wish I could provide detailed answers to all of the questions that have been and will be asked about how I got to the party, where it took place, and so forth. I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult. When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark were visibly drunk. Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldn't see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me. I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They both seemed to be having a good time. Mark was urging Brett on, although at times he told Brett to stop. A couple of times I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not. During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. The last time he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room. Directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. I ran inside the bathroom and locked the door. I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairs, pin-balling off the walls on the way down. I waited and when I did not hear them come back up the stairs, I left the bathroom, ran down the stairs, through the living room, and left the house. I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I had escaped from the house and that Brett and Mark were not coming after me. Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened. Over the years, I told very few friends that I had this traumatic experience. Ford reveals in her opening statement of how she thought she was going to die when Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth while she screamed for help during the assault I told my husband before we were married that I had experienced a sexual assault. I had never told the details to anyone until May 2012, during a couples counseling session. The reason this came up in counseling is that my husband and I had completed an extensive remodel of our home, and I insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand. In explaining why I wanted to have a second front door, I described the assault in detail. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the US Supreme Court and spoke a bit about his background. My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh. After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety. Occasionally I would discuss the assault in individual therapy, but talking about it caused me to relive the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it. But over the years, I went through periods where I thought about Brett's attack. I confided in some close friends that I had an experience with sexual assault. Occasionally I stated that my assailant was a prominent lawyer or judge but I did not use his name. I do not recall each person I spoke to about Brett's assault, and some friends have reminded me of these conversations since the publication of The Washington Post story on September 16, 2018. But until July 2018, I had never named Mr Kavanaugh as my attacker outside of therapy. This all changed in early July 2018. I saw press reports stating that Brett Kavanaugh was on the 'short list' of potential Supreme Court nominees. I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr. Kavanaugh's conduct so that those considering his potential nomination would know about the assault. On July 6, 2018, I had a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and the President as soon as possible before a nominee was selected. I called my congressional representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the President's shortlist had attacked me. I also sent a message to The Washington Post's confidential tip line. I did not use my name, but I provided the names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. I stated that Mr Kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland. This was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I felt I couldn't NOT do it. Over the next two days, I told a couple of close friends on the beach in California that Mr Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted me. I was conflicted about whether to speak out. On July 9, 2018, I received a call from the office of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo after Mr Kavanaugh had become the nominee. I met with her staff on July 11 and with her on July 13, describing the assault and discussing my fear about coming forward. Later, we discussed the possibility of sending a letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, who is one of my state's Senators, describing what occurred. My understanding is that Representative Eshoo's office delivered a copy of my letter to Senator Feinstein's office on July 30, 2018. The letter included my name, but requested that the letter be kept confidential. My hope was that providing the information confidentially would be sufficient to allow the Senate to consider Mr Kavanaugh's serious misconduct without having to make myself, my family, or anyone's family vulnerable to the personal attacks and invasions of privacy we have faced since my name became public. In a letter on August 31, 2018, Senator Feinstein wrote that she would not share the letter without my consent. I greatly appreciated this commitment. All sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves whether their private experience is made public. As the hearing date got closer, I struggled with a terrible choice: Do I share the facts with the Senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight? Or do I preserve our privacy and allow the Senate to make its decision on Mr Kavanaugh's nomination without knowing the full truth about his past behavior? Ford also reveals in the letter that the weeks since she has come forward have been the 'hardest' of her life as she has received death threats and has been forced to move homes with her family a number of times. Kavanaugh is also expected to testify on Thursday I agonized daily with this decision throughout August and early September 2018. The sense of duty that motivated me to reach out confidentially to The Washington Post, Representative Eshoo's office, and Senator Feinstein's office was always there, but my fears of the consequences of speaking out started to increase. During August 2018, the press reported that Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation was virtually certain. His allies painted him as a champion of women's rights and empowerment. I believed that if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. By the time of the confirmation hearings, I had resigned myself to remaining quiet and letting the Committee and the Senate make their decision without knowing what Mr Kavanaugh had done to me. Once the press started reporting on the existence of the letter I had sent to Senator Feinstein, I faced mounting pressure. Reporters appeared at my home and at my job demanding information about this letter, including in the presence of my graduate students. They called my boss and coworkers and left me many messages, making it clear that my name would inevitably be released to the media. I decided to speak out publicly to a journalist who had responded to the tip I had sent to The Washington Post and who had gained my trust. It was important to me to describe the details of the assault in my own words. Since September 16, the date of The Washington Post story, I have experienced an outpouring of support from people in every state of this country. Thousands of people who have had their lives dramatically altered by sexual violence have reached out to share their own experiences with me and have thanked me for coming forward. We have received tremendous support from friends and our community. At the same time, my greatest fears have been realized and the reality has been far worse than what I expected. My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable. These messages, while far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying to receive and have rocked me to my core. People have posted my personal information on the internet. This has resulted in additional emails, calls, and threats. My family and I were forced to move out of our home. Since September 16, my family and I have been living in various secure locales, with guards. This past Tuesday evening, my work email account was hacked and messages were sent out supposedly recanting my description of the sexual assault. Apart from the assault itself, these last couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no one's pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth. I understand that the Majority has hired a professional prosecutor to ask me some questions, and I am committed to doing my very best to answer them. At the same time, because the Committee Members will be judging my credibility, I hope to be able to engage directly with each of you. At this point, I will do my best to answer your questions. A Brisbane man has avoided a conviction after bizarrely attempting to insert his finger into a police officer's mouth. Socsareth Lam, 30, spotted the on-duty cop yawning as she walked down Orchid Ave in Surfers Paradise just before 2am on May 19. For reasons only Mr Lam would know, he approached the policewoman and attempted to put his finger in her mouth. Socsareth Lam approached a police officer and attempted to put his finger in her mouth when she was yawning earlier this year on a night out at Surfers Paradise (stock image) Demolition and asbestos removalist Socsareth Lam was arrested on the Gold Coast after inserting his finger into the mouth of a policewoman when she was yawning (stock image) The demolition and asbestos removalist was promptly handcuffed and arrested before he could finish his daring 'game.' On Thursday morning, the Southport Magistrates Court heard Mr Lam's actions were part of a prank he often plays with his family and friends. He pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in the vicinity of a licenced premises, with Magistrate Mark Howden fining him $300. 'It's very strange,' he said. 'You may have thought it was a game, but the police officer did not.' Mr Lam described his actions as 'out of character', before adding he used to put fingers in other people's mouths 'all the time.' Southport Court House where Socsareth Lam was fined $300 for assaulting a police officer in the vicinity of a licenced premises in May (stock image) Defence lawyer Ross Oden revealed her client has since written an apology to the police officer for his offensive conduct. 'This was a game he played,' she said. 'When you see people yawn and put their finger in their mouth, they can't close their mouth. 'It is a childish prank.' New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has spoken candidly on a US late-night television show about the awkward moment her husband met President Donald Trump. The New Zealand PM appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as part of her US tour to push global cooperation with climate change, inequality and trade. Ms Ardern spoke frankly on a range of topics with the talk show host, but it was the subject of President Trump that Mr Colbert was keen to discuss. The PM is only the second female world leader to give birth while in office, which has sparked huge fascination. Scroll down for video New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has spoken candidly about Donald Trump and the embarrassing gaffe her husband made on US late-night television Ms Ardern attracted worldwide attention when she brought her four-month-old baby Neve into the UN for her maiden speech this week. One of the questions Colbert was keen to get answered was how the PM's husband, Clarke Gayford, ended up tripping over while meeting US President Donald Trump. The PM told the talk show host she was having a brief conversation with President Trump when the clumsy gaffe took place. She explained how they were discussing tariffs when, 'There was a slight distraction, [and] my partner knocked over a flag pole,' News Now reported. She said as the flag pole went down, she turned around to find her husband standing there holding a 'long metal prong' in his hand, Stuff reported. 'I'm surprised no one leapt on it at that point because it looked like a weapon,' she said. The talk show host then quizzed the PM on what she thought about world leaders laughing at President Trump during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly. When he asked, 'What did you experience?', Ms Ardern replied by asking the talk show host, 'Are you trying to create a diplomatic incident?' She added: 'There was a little laugh and he said I didn't expect that response and there was a bigger laugh then people laughed with him.' Ms Ardern was quizzed on what she thought about world leaders laughing at President Dondald Trump's (pictured) speech to the U.N General Assembly Colbert praised the PM for her skillfully worded reply and commented on how her response suggested a war between the US and NZ was highly unlikely. The conversation then steered away from politics, when Colbert confessed his love of Lord of the Rings - a fact the Prime Minister knew and used to her advantage. As the host admitted his love for all things Hobbit related, the PM presented him with a mug from the tourist attraction and an offer to make him an official citizen of Hobbiton. 'The official calligrapher who did the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit wrote up your official invitation so come to New Zealand and we'll make the ceremony official,' she said. The pair concluded the interview by jovially discussing how Ms Ardern's current home used to be a pre-school and dental hospital. Colbert finished with a joke, saying the White House had once been an ice cream shop. Ford being sworn in. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call,Inc. Those who watched Christine Blasey Ford testify about her sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on TV saw either a single shot of Ford, or a split screen of her and a senator. What the networks didnt show is what Ford was looking at while she shakily read from her prepared remarks, then responded to questions from sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who examined Fords testimony in place of Republican senators. But journalists attending the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing tweeted out images of what it looked like inside the Senate chambers from Fords perspective. This is what Christine Blasey Ford is looking at as she describes her sexual assault. pic.twitter.com/GGxmuHnNpZ Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) September 27, 2018 Republicans listen to Ford speak. pic.twitter.com/Gz5ibXcAog Mary Clare Jalonick (@MCJalonick) September 27, 2018 You tell me how this looks: Sitting below the 11 white Republican men on the Senate Judiciary Committee is the female they hired to ask their questions to Blasey Ford. #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/smoVn0as1l Lynn Sweet (@lynnsweet) September 27, 2018 This visual: 11 male Republican senators watching as a female outside counsel theyve chosen questions Christine Blasey Ford. pic.twitter.com/hJmcAX9o4c MJ Lee (@mj_lee) September 27, 2018 When a picture is worth a thousand words. ( Tom Williams / Pool) pic.twitter.com/HFa6tYPlxL Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) September 27, 2018 As TV cameras zoom in on Ford and those questioning her, remember that they are cropping out much of the room and the true scope of what Ford is facing. The California surfer who vanished in Mexico earlier this month and was later seen running shirtless and barefoot along a highway has been found dead, his sister said on Wednesday. The sad news was announced one day after Briana D'Esposito pleaded for help finding her 39-year-old brother Adam Francis D'Esposito, a well-known surfer in California. 'It is with great sadness and the deepest sorrow that we have confirmed the death of my brother,' she posted on her Facebook page. 'Our hearts are heavy as we come to terms with the fact that he is no longer with us. He was a very charismatic person with a big heart, passionate personality and a deep love for surfing.' California surfer Adam Francis D'Esposito, 39, was found dead after he disappeared in Mexico over two weeks ago His sister announced the D'Esposito's death on Facebook on Wednesday. The surfer is pictured on the far right with his family Briana said details of his death are still being sorted out and thanked everyone for their support Appeal: Surf legend Kelly Slater posted this missing person poster three days ago as the search for D'Esposito continued Briana said details of her surfer's death are still being sorted out. D'Esposito disappeared in Baja Malibu on September 8 driving his father's silver Volvo station wagon. The nomadic surfer, who often frequented Baja Malibu, leaves behind a six-year-old daughter. Briana said her brother had a 'huge heart' for his daughter and enjoyed 'spending so much time with her'. 'The impact that he had on so many was incredibly evident to my family through your support, love and efforts to help us during a highly stressful & worrisome time,' she wrote. 'We thank all of you from the bottom of hearts. We will notify everyone about memorial services and paddle outs to honor my brothers life as we confirm the dates and details. D'Esposito vanished in Baja Malibu, Mexico earlier this month after taking his father's car D'Esposito was the father to a six-year-old girl who his sister said he loved spending time with D'Esposito's sister said the last known person to see him was the owner of surf shop who said the 39-year-old father looked in bad condition and was scared. D'Esposito is pictured above with his daughter Briana said the last known person to see D'Esposito was the owner of a surf shop. The owner described him as being in 'bad condition' and said he was soaking wet in clothes, barefoot and looked scared. 'He just kind of said he was in a very bad state of mind. Very paranoid,' she told Fox 5 earlier this week. Video captured by a passerby shows D'Esposito running southbound on a highway shirtless and without any shoes on. Briana confirmed the man in the video is her brother. His family believes he drove down to Baja Malibu before vanishing. Briana told the outlet that her brother, known as Biff to the surfing community, was diagnosed as bipolar in February and thinks his mental illness could have played a role in his disappearance, but said he has never been out of touch from his family for so long. D'Esposito's other sister Mary Theresa posted on Facebook that he borrowed their father's car in Rosarito, Mexico and said he would be right back, but that was the last time they heard from him. Megan Bradley (pictured outside court on Wednesday) left her victim scarred for life in what a judge described as a 'reckless act' A trainee teacher has avoided jail for glassing a man in the face during a Christmas Eve row over a scarf. Megan Bradley left Julian Beranger scarred for life in what a judge described as a 'reckless act'. But the 19-year-old, who had been drinking wine, cocktails and vodka during a pub crawl, was allowed to walk free as her act of violence was 'completely out of character'. Bradley used the glass 'as a weapon', picking it up and throwing it at the victim's face when he tried to retrieve his scarf from her friend who was refusing to hand it back. The attack happened just before closing time at Platform 5 bar in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, on Christmas Eve last year. Prosecutor Tom Sherrington told Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court that Ms Bradley's had picked up the scarf and put it on, causing the victim to ask for it back. The court heard how the victim is now 'very nervous in groups and social situations' following the incident. At the time Bradley had been on a teaching training course at Leeds Beckett university and had worked for two years in a primary school as a volunteer Patrick Harris, defending, told the court how Bradley had left her university teacher training course because of the conviction and her ambitions now lay in tatters. She has now taken up a new job at an agency which provides intensive driving courses. Mr Harris pointed out that a pre-sentence report prepared by the probation service had 'reflected that this woman was of previous good character'. The barrister described his client, who dreamed of being a primary school teacher, as 'industrious with a very good work ethic'. Bradley (pictured left and right) used the glass 'as a weapon', throwing it at the victim's face when he tried to retrieve his scarf from her friend who was refusing to hand it back Judge Bernadette Baxter said the argument was 'something and nothing over a scarf' that her friend had refused to return to its owner. She told Bradley: 'You had a glass in your hand and you threw it at (the victim). I accept that was a reckless act. 'You threw it towards him but not as an act to defend your friend but in the aggression of the moment.' Bradley said: 'I was talking to someone I know through friends of friends and he found a scarf and just put it on. 'Julian grabbed the scarf from around his neck and that's when the altercation started. 'I went over to try and break it up. I was quite sober to be honest, everyone was just jolly because it was Christmas Eve. 'Another girl was also trying to pull Julian off. I got in between them and got an elbow to the face. 'The fight was getting worse so I grabbed my glass and threw it towards them both. I thought that the liquid would hit them and make them stop. 'I threw the contents of my glass, hoping that the contents of the glass would hit the men to stop them fighting. Julian Beranger (pictured) was left his lacerations on his face and had to spend Christmas morning in A&E 'I did throw the glass, maybe I thought that the glass would smash on the floor to distract them and stop them from fighting - but I did not think that it would smash.' Mr Beranger, a customer relations officer had to be taken to hospital and treated for lacerations to his face. He spent the early hours of Christmas morning in A&E and his wounds had to be stitched up and glued together. He added: 'This has completely changed my life. It has just affected me a lot more than I thought it would. I have suffered with panic attacks. I struggle going to busy places. 'I had to be moved at work because I was getting scared when people were coming up behind me. So it has not just affected my social life but my work life as well. It has left scaring to my face.' The judge accepted that the defendant had not intended to cause her victim serious injury but it caused cuts to his face 'which have left him with permanent scars'. He said: 'You must know as an intelligent girl this is a serious matter. You used that glass as a weapon. You threw that glass. The judge said the fact she pleaded guilty 'at the first opportunity' and that she was 'a respectable girl from a respectable family' was 'powerful mitigation'. Judge Baxter accepted the attack was 'completely out of character' but added: 'Nevertheless there must be consequence.' She handed Bradley a suspended 12-month jail sentence and ordered her to pay 350 compensation to her victim. Bradley, of Cheadle, admitted a single charge of wounding. Confronting footage has emerged of a nurse man-handling a critically ill patient and shoving a pillow underneath his head. The hospital in Bangkok was forced to issue a public apology after one of their staffers aggressively handled an elderly patient who was in a coma. Distressing footage shows the nurse launching the pillow at the man and pulling the comatose patient across to her. Scroll down for video The hospital in Bangkok were forced to issue a public apology after one of their staffers aggressively handled an elderly patient who was in a coma The nurse, whose name has been withheld, then lifts up the patient's head and shoves the pillow under his neck. The sickening mobile phone footage has been viewed more than eight million times since yesterday and was posted on Facebook by Pawarana Ketpan, Coconuts Bangkok reported. 'My father was once extremely sick, but my mother was always there with him at the hospital. But if she hadn't been, would he have been treated like this too,' the Facebook post read. 'Is this what the code of conduct for nurses tell them to do? Or it's just this one particular individual?' The 90-year-old patient at Buddhachinaraj Phitsanulok Hospital was being treated for emphysema. Since the video went viral, the hospital has issued a public apology and moved the nurse to 'other duties that don't require interactions with patients'. Dr. Visith Sathienwantanee, the hospital's deputy director said the hospital will investigate the matter further Dr. Visith Sathienwantanee, the hospital's deputy director said the hospital will investigate the matter further. 'Right now, what we want to tell the public is that we're not neglecting the incident, and we'd like to apologize for it. We'll investigate what really happened and will find the proper measures to handle it,' Dr Sathienwantanee said in a statement. He also said the hospital maybe have to establish a disciplinary board. A telemarketing company has been smacked with a record $285,600 penalty for calling numbers on the Do Not Call register. Lead My Way were forced to pay the hefty fine after numerous caller complaints led to a watchdog investigation. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigated the Melbourne-based business after citizens complained of persistent calls promoting energy deals. Telemarketing firm Lead My Way in Melbourne (office pictured) has been fined a record $285,600 for ringing people on the do-not-call list The company states on its website that it puts recruits 'through a rigorous process to ensure honesty, ethics, and industry experience'. Lead My Way's business is based on cold-calling unsuspecting members of the public and gauging their interest in their clients' services. The ACMA was first tipped off when numerous complaints came through from people who received calls despite being on the Do Not Call list. They found that while the company had the register, the numbers weren't being cross-checked. Businesses that make marketing phone calls are required to check their databases against the lists every 30 days to ensure no numbers on the register are called. ACMA's head of unsolicited communications Jeremy Fenton, confirmed that the infringement was enforced to Lead My Way due to them making phone calls to numbers on the 'Do Not Call' list over a nine-day period. 'It's simply unacceptable,' Mr Fenton told The Age. ACMA has the ability to find a company who has breached unsolicited call requirements within hours of a complaint. The register, which was established in 2006, enables individuals and businesses to register their landline and mobile numbers to stop unwanted calls from telemarketers. A Danish policewoman who was photographed hugging a woman in a niqab in Copenhagen last month is under investigation. The incident took place during a demonstration against Denmark's ban on face veils, which came into force last month. The photo, taken on the day the ban took effect, shows the protester crying while being embraced by the policewoman. Investigation: Danish MPs filed a complaint about this photograph, which shows a policewoman hugging a protester during a demonstration against the face veil ban Members of the anti-immigrant Venstre party, which is the biggest in government, reported the photograph to the police complaints body, arguing the officer should not have been involved. 'The photo has made the police an involuntary actor in a very sensitive political debate which they should not participate in,' said Venstre MP Marcus Knuth. 'The police's job is to enact the law, not to hug people who are against it,' he said. The officer's lawyer, Torben Koch, said the officer felt she had handled the situation appropriately within her role as a 'dialogue officer', a role specifically created to ease tension during protests. 'It is complete nonsense. As my client said, if it had been any other person in the same situation she would have done the same, so it has nothing to do with her wearing the niqab,' Koch said. Anger: The photograph was taken during this demonstration in Copenhagen at the beginning of August, when the ban came into effect The ban has exposed deep divisions in Danish society, with some arguing it upholds secular and democratic values and others that it infringes on freedoms of religion and self-expression. Elsewhere in Europe, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and the German state of Bavaria have all imposed some restrictions on full-face veils in public places. Knuth said it was not clear if the protester was hugged out off sympathy or because she had been taken ill. The officer who embraced her, whose name has not been made public, is white and Danish. Copenhagen police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Paul Gascoigne's nephew died from an accidental drugs overdose, a coroner has ruled. Jay Lennon Gascoigne, previously known as Kerrigan, was found dead in his girlfriend's Gateshead flat in April 2016, having suffered mental health issues from the age of 13. South Tyneside Coroner Terence Carney ruled the 22-year-old took a fatal cocktail of drugs despite repeated warnings from health professionals in his last months, but that his death was accidental. Paul Gascoigne's nephew Jay Kerrigan, pictured with sister Harley in Portugal in 2013, died in April 2016 aged 22 Gascoigne carried the coffin at Mr Kerrigan's funeral in Gateshead in May 2016 The hearing was told how Mr Gascoigne suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) from childhood which caused him anxiety and distress, with intrusive thoughts, when he was growing up. He used drugs and alcohol and became dependent, sometimes buying substances off the internet. His mother Anna Kerrigan said in a statement to the hearing that he was self-medicating his mental health problems. Her evidence was that her son 'seemed to fall between the crack of mental health and drug services'. The coroner was told that mental health services needed him to be free from drugs to be able to clearly diagnose his condition as an adult. But drug services required his ongoing mental health issues to be addressed in order to help him, the court was told. The coroner rejected that there were systemic failures which contributed significantly to his death. Mr Kerrigan's family have attended his inquest in Hebburn this week. Pictured (right) is his mother Anna, who is the sister of Paul Gascoigne Mr Carney said Mr Gascoigne 'presented with a complex medical profile', which included OCD and 'poly-drug use'. He said: 'I am not satisfied that he deliberately intended to self-harm, I question whether he fully understood or appreciated, despite the number of times he would be told, the real dangers that he faced.' Mr Carney expressed his condolences, saying: 'To lose a child at such a tender age, against a background of such intensive management care by the family, and particularly mum, must be heart-rending in the extreme.' Mrs Kerrigan did not comment immediately after the inquest. Her brother Paul, who was not at the hearing, has previously said in an interview how he wanted to help others going through the same ordeal. He said: 'I want to support anyone that is suffering like my nephew did.' For confidential support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See samaritans.org for details. Hundreds of Christian conservative women are expected to rally in Washington on Thursday to support Brett Kavanaugh as he testifies before the Senate. Concerned Women for America, a Christian organisation, are putting on buses to bring women from around the country to support Trump's Supreme Court nominee. Among them are expected to be dozens of female students from evangelical Christian college Liberty University, who are being bussed in from Virginia. Conservative women will gather on Capitol Hill on Thursday in support of Brett Kavanaugh as he goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee Kavanaugh will testify in this room alongside Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s, in the hopes of being confirmed to the Supreme Court Students say that while the allegations against Kavanaugh are serious, they want him to be granted the presumption of innocence. Victoria Belk, president of the Liberty chapter of Concerned Women, told USA Today: 'This could be our brother, our dad, our boyfriend and we strongly believe in our justice system and you're innocent until proven guilty.' Overall the 'I Stand With Brett' rally is expected to attract hundreds of marchers, organizer Penny Nance said. It will take place alongside counter-rallies in support of Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her. Students from Yale university have already begun holding rallies denouncing Kavanaugh at their campus in Connecticut. A dozen students were pictured crossing campus holding signs reading 'Kava-nah' and 'Kava-nope'. Ford was the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault, but since then four more women have come forward to accuse him. Among those rallying to support Kavanaugh will be students from evangelical Christian college Liberty University who are being bussed in from Washington The rallies in support of Kavanaugh will take place alongside counter-rallies in support of Ford, as students have already begun marching on Yale campus Students march against Brett Kavanaugh at Yale University on Wednesday, ahead of his hearing before the Senate on Thursday Deborah Ramirez claims he exposed himself to her at a frat party in the 1980s, while Julie Swetnick has accused Kavanaugh of being present at a party where she was drugged and raped by a 'train' of men. Swetnick further claims that Kavanaugh and his friends would spike drinks with alcohol or drugs to 'cause girls to lose inhibitions and their ability to say "No".' Two further anonymous accusers say Kavanaugh 'aggressively and sexually' pushed a woman again a wall in 1998 and tried to assault a woman on a boat in 1985. The man who made the last allegation has already withdrawn his claim. Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations against him. A vote on Kavanaugh is scheduled for Friday, though Republicans have been unable to guarantee they have the numbers to get him on to the Supreme Court. There are fears that two female GOP senators may not vote for him and Arizona's Jeff Flake may also vote him down. Everything now rests on his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee today, and whether he can win over his doubters. Ford (left) has accused Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her at a party in the 1980s, while Deborah Ramirez (right) says he exposed himself to her at a party around the same time A woman pretended she was pregnant for nine months - then staged her own abduction on the day she was supposed to give birth before claiming a gang had cut the baby from her womb. Colombian, Antonela Milena Padilla, 37, reportedly used a cushion to fool her husband into believing she was pregnant in a bid to convince him not to leave her. As the months went by she increased the size of her belly by filling the cushion with rags, and printed off an ultrasound scan from the internet to show to family and friends, according to reports. Scroll for video Antonela Milena Padilla (centre) was taken to the hospital by her family, after they grew increasingly concerned for her health Incredibly, her husband never suspected anything was wrong and as the day of the birth neared, became increasingly excited at being a father for the first time. But the elaborate scam spectacularly unravelled on Saturday (22), the day she was due to give birth by C-section at a local hospital. Ms Padilla, from Barranquilla, northern Colombia, reportedly left home at 10am and headed to the clinic, but later said she had been kidnapped by a gang in a red van who bundled her inside and later drugged her. She claimed she woke up at 7pm that evening outside a supermarket in another part of town, and realised the baby was no longer in her womb. Ms Padilla reportedly called home and told her husband and other family members that an organ trafficking gang had cut the baby from her belly in order to sell the baby's body parts. Worried about her health, her family took her against her will to the local Nino Jesus de Soledad hospital, where shocked medics called police, who launched a massive operation to track down the alleged kidnappers. But officers quickly began to doubt the woman's story, especially after a hospital evaluation found she had suffered no knife injuries consistent with a 'back street caesarean'. A further blood test found she had never been pregnant, and found no traces of any sedatives in her body. Ms Padilla's mother-in-law, who wasn't named, told Colombia's Al Dia newspaper that the woman continued to insist she had been pregnant. Blood tests found that the woman had never actually been pregnant She said: 'They did the tests, and she still tried to convince them she had been expecting. But the gynaecologist confirmed she had never been pregnant.' She added that her son, Ms Padilla's husband, who shared a home with her in the San Salvador district of the town, never went with her for her pre-natal check-ups and preferred to wait for her at the entrance to the hospital. She said: 'She had a belly, it was small, but it never raised suspicions. My son lived with her, they slept together. But he never touched her belly or tried to bond with the baby. The house in Barranquilla, northern Colombia, which Ms Padilla shared with her husband 'We never suspected anything because although her belly was small, some pregnant women don't have big bellies so we didn't think anything was strange. 'I have to speak with my son so he can tell me what was going on. He has had various relationships but never had children. There is no need, no reason for her to do this.' Police commander Mariano Cotero Coy said yesterday that an investigation had been launched and Ms Padilla had been called to provide a declaration. He said she could be charged with wasting public resources. He said: 'In the hospital, we see people lying down in queues, from 5am waiting for an appointment, and this lady feigning her pregnancy meant that she was attended to before others who really needed it.' Ms Padilla's husband had never been with her for pre-natal check ups He added: 'The woman went around showing an ultrasound scan that she had taken form the internet, she simply modified it and deceived her sentimental partner. But at the hospital she took a test which showed she had never been pregnant.' Ms Padilla reportedly fled the hospital at 3am on Sunday morning, two hours after blood tests confirmed she had not been pregnant, and her whereabouts are still unknown. Brexit pressure on Theresa May is mounting as Cabinet ministers urge her to shift towards a Canada-style deal if the EU rejects her Chequers plan. Senior figures including Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab are said to harbour doubts over the PM's insistence that no deal is the only alternative to her blueprint. They are keen to avoid a situation where the EU rejects the Chequers proposal at a crunch summit next months and negotiations essentially collapse without a 'Plan B'. However, the group have not presented any new solutions to the issue of the Irish border, according to The Times. Theresa May (pictured at the UN in New York yesterday) has said a Canada-style deal is worse than no deal because it does not solve the Irish border issues Senior figures including Sajid Javid (left) and Jeremy Hunt (right) are said to harbour doubts over the PM's insistence that no deal is the only alternative to her blueprint The political problems facing Mrs May have also been underlined after ex-Home Secretary Amber Rudd warned that at least 40 Tory MPs are ready to vote against a Canada-style agreement. The latest wrangling within government emerged as Jeremy Corbyn moved to exploit Mrs May's woes. The Labour leader used his conference speech to insist Mrs May must call a general election unless she is prepared to drop her red line against joining a customs union with the EU. Mr Corbyn couched his demand as 'reaching out' to the PM to get a 'sensible deal' through parliament - but it was denounced by Tories as a naked attempt to gain power. Accepting a customs union would almost certainly spell the end of Mrs May's time in Downing Street and plunge the Tories into turmoil. Mrs May said this week that a Canada-style deal was worse than no deal because it would not solve the Irish border issues. She has flatly rejected EU calls for Northern Ireland to stay in its jurisdiction for customs, saying that would effectively break up the UK. At a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, no ministers spoke out against her Chequers plan or in favour of a Canada-style arrangement. Mrs May told her team that her blueprint was the only one 'on the table' that protected trade and prevented a hard Irish border. The latest wrangling within government emerged as Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at Labour conference yesterday) moved to exploit Mrs May's woes The political problems facing Mrs May have also been underlined after ex-Home Secretary Amber Rudd (file picture) warned that at least 40 Tory MPs are ready to vote against a Canada-style agreement. Mrs May insisted she remained 'confident' that there would be agreement with the EU, but the Government was 'sensibly planning for no deal'. However, some ministers including Mr Hunt have pointedly refused to rule out shifting to a Canada-style model. The prospect would not go down well with many MPs on the Remain wing of the Tory party. Ms Rudd told ITV's Peston last night: 'I've talked to a number of colleagues, and I think conservatively there are about 40 of us who would not support a Canada-style deal.' Julian Assange has stepped down as editor-in-chief of Wikileaks - as Ecuador tries to strike a deal with Britain to let him leave the country's London embassy without being arrested. The computer engineer, who published thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails before the US election, will hand over the reins of his website to Icelandic journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson. He will remain the publisher. Wikileaks released a statement last night explaining the switch was due to Assange being cut off from the world after Ecuador stopped his access to the internet. Russian diplomats hatched a daring plot to extract Julian Assange (pictured) from London but cancelled the plan just days before because it was too risky, it has been claimed Wikileaks released a statement last night explaining the switch was due to Assange's 'arbitrary detention' Assange has been holed up the in Ecuadorian embassy for six years, fearing if he leaves he will be arrested by UK police for breaking bail conditions. Hrafnsson, formerly WikiLeaks spokesman, said in a statement: 'I condemn the treatment of Julian Assange that leads to my new role. But I welcome the opportunity to secure the continuation of the important work based on WikiLeaks ideals.' Assange was 'given a role at Ecuador embassy in Moscow' In December 2017 Assange was given a diplomatic role as a councillor in Ecuador's embassy to Russia, sources told The Guardian. The move was part of an aborted Russian plan to get him out of the UK. The alleged plot involved smuggling the WikiLeaks founder in a diplomatic vehicle from the Ecuadorian embassy and moving him to another country by boat or plane. The extraction was scheduled for Christmas Eve 2017 and was to be overseen by the head of Ecuador's intelligence agency who arrived in London on 15 December, it was claimed. But the British government refused to give him diplomatic status so the plan was cancelled. Advertisement It comes amid reports that in December 2017 Assange was given a diplomatic role as a councillor in Ecuador's embassy to Russia. The move was part of a Russian plan to get him out of the UK - but the British government refused to give him diplomatic status and the plot was aborted, reported The Guardian. In March Assange fuelled suspicious that he was in league with the Russians by tweeting that he doubted the Novichok assassination attempts in Salisbury were carried out by Russia. In response, the centrist Ecuadorian President, Lenin Moreno, cut off his access to the internet. Moreno on Wednesday said that he was negotiating with Britain to find a way for Assange to leave the embassy without being arrested. He said Assange's lawyers were aware but declined to provide more details because of the sensitivity of the case. Assange initially went into the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 to avoid being extradited to Sweden on sex assault allegations. The charges have been dropped but Assange fears he will be arrested by UK police for breaking bail conditions by entering the embassy in the first place. He fears he could then be extradited to the US, where high-level officials have spoken about prosecuting him for stealing classified information. Moreno said his country will work for Assange's safety and the preservation of his human rights as it seeks a way for him to leave the embassy. 'Being five or six years in an embassy already violates his human rights,' Moreno said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 'But his presence in the embassy is also a problem.' Ecuador's previous left-leaning administration gave Assange asylum in 2012, saying it feared his life was in danger for publishing thousands of diplomatic cables that put US officials in a difficult position. But Assange's relationship with the Ecuadorian government has soured since the centrist Moreno became president. Over the past two years Assange's access to the internet was suspended on several occasions, as he continued to hack politicians from different countries and made controversial statements on his social media accounts. Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy (pictured) in London since 2012 'I understand that currently he has no access (to the internet) to stop him from doing that again,' Moreno said. 'But if Mr Assange promises to stop emitting opinions on the politics of friendly nations like Spain or the United States then we have no problem with him going online.' Ecuador's government has said Assange's activities in the embassy, including the publishing of thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails prior to the 2016 election in the US, have compromised its relations with other countries. 'I don't agree with what he does,' Moreno said. 'To see someone violating people's right to communicate privately makes me feel uncomfortable.' Assange has long argued that he is simply monitoring the actions of some of the world's most powerful politicians and exercising his right to free speech. "That has been something that he has said a few times", the Prime Minister said during a news conference at the United Nations General Assembly in NY. However, the Prime Minister's Office said in an email to CBC News that "no meeting was requested", and that it had no comment beyond that. "Our desire is to try and find a way in which we can get this agreement done where he can, in his own way, declare victory - to have some kind of a win for what he said he wanted to achieve". President Trump's trade czar signaled the US and Mexico are ready to leave Canada behind in the North American Free Trade Agreement-and move ahead with a new version of the deal in days. Markets and business groups are openly fretting about the damage that a collapse could provoke. But they also predicted new talks with Canada in another attempt to settle outstanding issues before the signing with Mexico, which would be set for November 30. "Yeah I did", Trump said. But Freeland's spokesman, Adam Austen, said Canada would only sign a good deal. Earlier on Wednesday, Trudeau shrugged off USA pressure to quickly agree to a deal and indicated it was possible the three member nations might fail to conclude a new pact. The US made a deal with Mexico in August, but stakeholders on both sides of the border have urged for the US to make it a three-way deal and include Canada. Real Madrid round-up: Isco, Ramos, Figo, Modric and Rivaldo Real Madrid midfielder Isco has been ruled out of the Madrid derby after being diagnosed with appendicitis, the club have announced. "We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada". The chief US trade negotiator is scheduled to meet with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in NY. Earlier Wednesday, Canada's USA envoy David MacNaughton, who has taken part in the Washington talks alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, pegged the likelihood of a new trade deal by Sunday's congressional deadline at a "five" on a scale of one to 10. The Trump administration has previously set at least four deadlines to conclude NAFTA talks, only to miss all of them and then continue negotiating. "If Canada comes along later, then that's what will happen", he said. He has repeatedly said he is ready to walk away from the talks rather than sign a document he thinks is bad. Trudeau was asked about USA trade ambassador Robert Lighthizer's recent glum assessment of the talks, which remain deadlocked over issues like dispute resolution, access to Canada's dairy market and the so-called Section 232 tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. USA business groups, alarmed by the potential disruption to the three increasingly integrated economies, have lobbied the White House to keep NAFTA as a trilateral deal. It is possible that Congress, which strongly prefers an agreement involving Canada, would allow Canada to be added to the U.S. -Mexico text at a later date. However, if anything that might add more pressure on the USA, which has squeezed a good deal out of Mexico. One of the key Senate Republican swing votes ahead of the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has reportedly taken private meetings to voice her concerns about the accusations against him. Senator Susan Collins told colleagues she was 'troubled' by the allegations of sexual misconduct made against Kavanaugh by three women, New York Times reported. The Maine senator reportedly asked why Kavanaugh's high school friend Mark Judge, who has been mentioned in two of the allegations, had not been subpoenaed. Maine senator Susan Collins reportedly asked colleagues why the high school friend of Kavanugh, who has been mentioned in two of the three allegations had not been subpoenaed Despite reports that Senate Republicans do not have the votes to confirm Kavanaugh, GOP leader Mitch McConnell is projecting confidence. 'We're going to be moving forward. I'm confident we're going to win. I'm confident he will be confirmed in the very near future,' McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning. Republicans hold a 51-seat majority, meaning they can only lose one senator, if all Democrats vote no on Kavanaugh. And several Republican senators are closely watching how the allegations against Kavanaugh play out. Republican Senators Bob Corker of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are considered the votes to watch. But Corker says there are more doubting lawmakers out there. GOP leader Mitch McConnell is projecting confidence that Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed Brett Kavanaugh leaving his home on Wednesday 'I know the media keeps characterizing three or four people, but I feel like it's a large number of them that want to see firsthand the accusation and the rebuttal, and again, will be looking at it in a very sober way,' he told NBC News. 'So I think it's much larger than you think.' Sen. Jon Kyl, who was appointed this month to replace the late Sen. John McCain, was Kavanaugh's guide through the confirmation process. He supports Kavanaugh but acknowledged some senators are struggling. 'I don't doubt this accusation complicates the equation for folks considering his nomination,' Kyl said. That adds to the pressure on Kavanaugh on Thursday when he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Not only will the eyes of the world be watching how he handles the allegations against him, so will the lawmakers who decide his fate. Flake is on that committee. Corker, Murkowski and Collins are not but have all said they've cleared their calendars to watch it. Christine Blasey Ford will also testify on her allegation against Kavanaugh. Republican leadership has been closely watching the four for signs of what they might do. Flake, Collins and Corker have been some of the most vocal in saying they want Ford to be heard. Bob Corker said more senators have doubts than saying Sen. Susan Collins has met with McConnell about her concerns Collins told that directly to McConnell. And after Murkowski told reporters Tuesday morning an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh would 'sure clear up all the questions,' she had a 30-minute meeting in McConnell's office. Flake is the most worrisome. He is retiring after this year and has no qualms about going against the president, whose political threats against him played a part in his decision to retire. He took to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon and said lawmakers must have open minds. 'I do not believe that a claim of sexual assault is invalid because a 15-year-old girl didn't promptly report the assault to the authorities, as the President of the United States said just two days ago,' he said. 'We have to have open minds. We must listen. We must do our best to seek to the truth in good faith. That is our only duty,' he noted. 'My colleagues, winning at all costs is too high a cost,' he said. McConnell is pressuring GOP senators to toe the line even taking to the Senate floor to complain of a 'smear campaign' against Kavanaugh. Adding to the pressure points, McConnell told his senators they should expect to work through the weekend to move toward a confirmation vote on Kavanaugh. That line could work on Collins, who is up for reelection in 2020 and could face a primary challenger. It's less of a problem for Murkowski, who's also up for reelection in 2020 but her state has a large independent vote population and Murkowski won her last race running as an write-in candidate after she lost the GOP primary. She had no help from the party in that contest and prevailed in a race where voters had to write in her name - and spell it correctly. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is one to watch Sen. Jeff Flake is the most worrisome for the GOP McConnell's confidence among growing GOP doubts came before the latest bombshell allegation against President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee - a charge of gang rape against Kavanaugh and his high school pals from Georgetown Prep. Julie Swetnick, his new accuser, released a sworn statement through her attorney Michael Avenatti saying that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge were there as she was abused by a 'train' of teenage boys. She said she was drugged 'using Quaaludes or something similar' which had been put in her drink - and that Kavanaugh and his friends would spike 'punch' at parties with grain alcohol or drugs to 'cause girls to lose inhibitions and their ability to say 'No'.' 'This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is and this never happened,' Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House. Judge was the teenage boy Christine Blasey Ford charged with being in the room when Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh also has denied her charge and a second allegation from Debra Ramirez, who claims the Supreme Court nominee exposed himself and thrust his penis in her face, forcing her to touch it when she pushed him away at a college party when they were at Yale. Trump is sticking by his nominee and said Senate Republicans should have pushed through his confirmation two weeks ago so people wouldn't be talking about the sexual allegations against him right now. 'They could've pushed it through two-and-a-half weeks ago, and you wouldn't be talking about it right now, which is frankly what I would've preferred, but they didn't do that,' the president said at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday. That time frame would have Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court before the allegations against him came to light. Trump called Kavanaugh an 'absolute gem.' A Ryanair passenger who was arrested this morning for trying to chase his plane down the tarmac at Dublin Airport has been granted bail. Patrick Kehoe, 23, from Raheenaskeagh in County Wexford, dashed past news photographers and then dropped his trousers and mooned at them after the hearing at Dublin District Court. Earlier today, Kehoe had caused chaos on the tarmac when he became agitated having missed a flight to Amsterdam with his girlfriend. Patrick Kehoe leaving the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin with this luggage after being charged with criminal damage after chasing the plane he missed down the tarmac It is understood the man became upset after he and his girlfriend were too late to board a flight to Amsterdam After being granted bail, Kehoe, 23, dashed past news photographers and then dropped his trousers and mooned at them after the hearing at Dublin District Court After airport staff told him that the gate was closed, he began banging on the window before sprinting past them and running onto the tarmac, shouting at the pilot to wait. Garda were called just after 7am and Kehoe was detained and taken to Ballymun Garda Station. He was later brought to appear before Judge Bernadette Owens at Dublin District Court, charged with criminal damage to a magnetic door lock at Gate 106 at Dublin Airport. Dressed in a grey padded jacket, grey tracksuit bottoms and runners, Kehoe grinned awkwardly as he stood before the judge who asked him if was working, to which he replied, 'No'. Ryanair passenger Kehoe was arrested around 7am this morning after he sprinted onto the tarmac at Dublin Airport in a bid to chase down his flight when it left without him. Pictured: The plane the man tried to chase He had the same answers when the judge asked him if he had a solicitor. 'I don't know any of them, do you want to chose me one?' he then said. The judge said assigned solicitor Peter Connolly to act for the accused. Garda David Cahill told the court he arrested Mr Kehoe at Dublin Airport at 7.50am and brought him to Ballymun station. 'He made no reply to the charge after caution,' Garda Cahill said. There were no objections to bail but Garda Cahill sought a bail condition banning the accused from Dublin Airport unless he had 'legitimate business' there. However, this was successfully resisted by Mr Connolly. He was released on his own bond of 200 subject to good behaviour and ordered to appear again on November 8 Judge Bernadette Owens did not ban him from the airport but imposed the statutory bail terms - to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. He was released on his own bond of 200 and ordered to appear again on November 8. Garda Cahill said it was possible that there would be 'further charges'. Mr Kehoe has not yet indicated how he will plead. Mr Kehoe, with his luggage in tow, left the court with a woman shortly after the hearing. A 20-year-old woman who threw soft drink cans and an EFTPOS machine at KFC staff during an angry tirade has avoided jail. Jarrah Ladner appeared at Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday where she pleaded guilty to seven charges including assault, aggravated assault on police and property damage. Ms Ladner, who has been bullied on social media for the outburst, was handed a good behaviour bond. Scroll down for video Jarrah Ladner (pictured) appeared at Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday where she pleaded guilty to seven charges including assault, aggravated assault on police and property damage The court heard Ms Ladner entered the fast-food outlet in Hindley Street, Adelaide, at about 9.30pm on a Friday evening in May. She ordered food but was too intoxicated to pay and became restless. CCTV captured Ms Ladner throwing an EFTPOS machine and screaming at staff during the outburst. In the video, Ms Ladner, who was wearing Dr Martens boots and a black puffer jacket, was seen ripping off Eftpos machines from the counter and then throwing them at employees and signs in the store. A woman can be heard saying: 'You don't have anything else'. 'You're holding us hostage.' 'She's made great efforts at rehabilitation, as I said in court, you can only try to put right what you've done wrong,' said Defence lawyer Michael Woods (pictured) CCTV captured Ms Ladner throwing an EFTPOS machine and screaming at staff during the outburst Police were called to the fast-food outlet to try and control the young woman. Ms Ladner spat in an officers face and managed to slip out of her handcuffs, according to Seven News. 'She's made great efforts at rehabilitation, as I said in court, you can only try to put right what you've done wrong,' Defence lawyer Michael Woods said. He said Ms Ladner also suffered 'significant embarrassment' after the outburst was captured on video and shared to social media. The incident was a 'blessing in disguise' as it forced the young woman to stop drinking. Ms Lander was handed an 18-month good behaviour bond and made no comment to reporters when she left court. KFC is seeking about $5000 in damages but an order has not been made During a court appearance in June, Deputy Chief Magistrate Dr Andrew Cannon agreed to review her bail conditions, which could allow Ms Ladner to be within at least 50 metres of the fast food outlet, instead of the initial 200 metres. On Thursday Magistrate Brett Dixon acknowledged Ms Ladner had lost control but suspended her three-month sentence. Ms Lander was handed a 18-month good behaviour bond and made no comment to reporters when she left court. KFC is seeking about $5000 in damages but an order has not been made. Moscow today smeared compelling evidence that one of the Salisbury assassins is a colonel in Putin's feared special forces army as it was revealed the President personally made him a 'Hero of Russia'. The Kremlin said top secret documents and photographs unmasking Ruslan Boshirov as highly-decorated spy Anatoliy Chepiga are 'pure nonsense'. Vladimir Putin has been on state TV this month to claim that two suspects captured on CCTV in Salisbury were civilians while the novichok assassins appeared on RT 24 hours later to claim they were tourists admiring the city's cathedral spire. But yesterday one of them was revealed to be a special forces colonel whose real name is Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga who came to Britain under the Boshirov alias with fellow hitman Alexander Petrov. Painstaking examination of public military records, leaked resident databases and passport files by online analysts from Bellingcat led to his identification. Experts believe Colonel Chepiga may have known Skripal and personally wanted to kill him because of the GRU's entrenched hatred of traitors. Online investigations group Bellingcat published what it says is the real identity of Ruslan Boshirov (left), a suspect in the Salisbury poising plot. The group say he is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga (pictured right) The real identity of one of the two assassins, named by police as Ruslan Boshirov, is reportedly Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. He is said to appear in this photo (circled) with a group of fellow military graduates in Chechnya Chepiga's life and official documents are marked 'top secret' but have been leaked to journalists Putin gave 39-year-old Chepiga, who had served in Chechnya and Ukraine with the Spetsnaz batallion, Russia's highest bravery honour in 2014 under his real name - suggesting that the President may know him personally. Timeline: The rise of Putin's 'Hero of Russia' who fluffed Salisbury murder mission May 5, 1979: Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga is born Nikolaevka close to Russia's border with China, 5,000 miles from Moscow. 1997: 18-year-old is signed up to join Russia's Army in its far-eastern headquarters and graduates with honours four years later. 2001: Chepiga joins the Spetsnatz Brigade - Russia's feared secret service Army often compared to the SAS three years before Sergei Skripal's arrest for treason. 2001-2008: He spends three long periods fighting in Chechnya and handed 20 medals 2009: Chepiga's transition to GRU spy begins when he is handed the alias Ruslan Boshirov and the documents to back it up. 2014: Putin makes Chepiga a 'Hero of Russia' - the country's highest award - for an unnamed mission referred to in records as 'peacekeeping' 2016: Chepiga travels abroad for the first time as Boshirov, under the guise as a businessman with Salisbury partner Petrov and the pair criss-cross Europe. 2018: The men turn up on Salisbury to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia by smearing Novichok on his front door. But they bungle the operation and flee back to Russia. Advertisement But foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova today branded the revelations a 'series of fibs' and state-sponsored press including Pravda have claimed the document leak is part of a western conspiracy cooked up by 'traitors'. Ms Zakharova said today that Britain has 'no evidence and that is why they continue the information campaign the goal of which is distract attention from the key question: what did really happen in Salisbury?'. But yesterday Defence Secretary tweeted a link to the Bellingcat research and said it showed the 'true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects' - only to delete it seconds later. Moscow today pointed this out as proof Britain is not sure - and retired FSB major-general Alexander Mikhailov - a former spokesman for the FSB secret service - said: 'It is pure nonsense. How could secret documents happen to be publicly accessible? He said: ' I can draw a dozen such pictures with Theresa May photograph. 'And, seriously, these days the British media with the help from traitors will blow lots of smoke'. Meanwhile, pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) pointed to alleged mistakes in the Bellingcat claims. Citing a serving but anonymous Russian military source, the newspaper said the photograph of Chepiga 'really looks like' a picture of the young Boshirov. But researchers claim the 'first mistake' is in claiming that Chepiga graduated from military college in the Russian Far East are four years. 'It just can't be true, the course was years long at that time,, and he had to graduate in 2002. 'And it is strange why he went to study at 18 what was he up to for a full year, when he finished his school at 17?' Chepiga's name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001 Ruslan Boshirov when he appeared on Russian-state TV with fellow suspect Alexander Petrov to claim they only visited Salisbury to see the famous cathedral spire Picture released by Bellingcat of Ruslan Boshirov's passport photo from 2009 with 'do not reveal information' stamped on it. The group claim he is is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga The source claimed that British-based researchers in Bellingcat claimed Chepiga's address from 2003 to 2005 was in the city of Khabarovsk and the same as army unit known as the 14th GRU brigade. Mystery of Defence Secretary's deleted tweet: Gavin Williamson hails revelation of Salisbury suspect's 'true identity'... then hastily removes post Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson last night confirmed that the Salisbury assassin was a Russian colonel - only to delete his tweet seconds later. Mr Williamson has not commented on. his confirmation He briefly confirmed the story on social media and wrote: "The true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects has been revealed to be a Russian Colonel. I want to thank all the people who are working so tirelessly on this case." But withing a minute it was gone. The Ministry of Defence said Mr Williamson's social media profile was personal and it did not know why the tweet was deleted. Scotland Yard declined to comment. Advertisement 'But this is not true. This army unit at that time was based in Ussuriysk 670 km away from Khabarovsk', he said. He was also reported to have attended the Military-Diplomatic Academy of Defence Ministry known in the secret services as the 'music academy'. Here, it is claimed, he got his second identity as Boshirov. 'Next time Chepiga's name comes out in December 2014 when he got his Hero of Russia award for performing some peacekeeping mission,' said KP. 'According to the researchers, the 14th brigade - where Chepiga was still listed for some reason - was spotted near Ukrainian border at the end of 2014.' The Kremlin was branded shameful last night for claiming Chepiga and his unknown accomplice, who used the alias Alexander Petrov, were holidaymakers. Boris Johnson tweeted: 'Utterly predictable news that GRU is behind Skripal atrocity.' The former foreign secretary added: 'What have you got to say, Putin?' The two Russian agents were charged over the poisonings by the Crown Prosecution Service earlier this month. But they later appeared on Russian TV to insist they were visiting Salisbury for its cathedral. As the bungled attack that left one dead and three seriously ill took another twist: It emerged that Chepiga fought for a feared Spetsnaz unit for 17 years and worked undercover for at least nine. Salisbury assassin is colonel in Putin's brutal special forces army the Spetsnaz Brigade Spetsnaz have a terrifying reputation, built in recent years while conducting seek-and-destroy missions. In modern times many have become jihadi hunters tracing and murdering extremists who committed atrocities against Russian troops in Syria and Chechnya (pictured). There were reports Spetsnaz were behind the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine because a GRU officer was linked to the 'procurement and transport' of the weapons used. Their elite soldiers are trained fight on ground, in the air and even under water. The feared batallions is based in a headquarters nicknamed The Aquarium on an airbase near Moscow and is very large, deploying six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR. These are typically embedded in Russian embassies as military attaches and work on recruiting foreign double agents as well as monitoring military installations and new weapons systems. In 1997 it was estimated to have 25,000 Spetsnaz soldiers under its command. Their legend has trickled down through the agency, with many desk-bound agents claiming to have a special-forces background even if they do not. Many agents do have a military background, though, such as Sergei Skripal, who was recruited after serving in the Soviet army and ended up passing secrets to MI6. There is also a large signals intelligence branch (like our GCHQ) with about 130 satellites orbiting the Earth and a corresponding branch that analyses the resulting visual images. There are also specialist sub-departments for sophisticated cyber warfare, which recruit from Russia's top universities. Advertisement Sources said the soldier's high rank the same as his intended victim, Colonel Sergei Skripal suggested the attack was sanctioned at the highest level. Did Salisbury hitman have a personal vendetta against Skripal? Would-be assassin 'may have poisoned ex-spy for being disloyal to the GRU' Experts believe Colonel Chepiga may have known Skripal and personally wanted to kill him because of the GRU's entrenched hatred of traitors. Both men were highly decorated veterans of Russia's wars and followed similar paths to the higher echelons of Russia's military secret services. The GRU was betrayed by Mr Skripal before he was jailed and sent to the UK in a spy swap. He and his daughter were poisoned in March in Salisbury. GRU recruits are shown videos of traitors being burned alive as part of their training to instill an entrenched hatred of them. It is possible that Chepiga was handpicked for the job - or even volunteered - to ensure Skripal received the 'ultimate punishment'. Chepiga was made an elite special forces soldier in 2001 - three years before Skripal's arrest for treason - so it is possible the men may have men. Advertisement Senior politicians queued up to accuse the Russians of being 'seriously dishonest' and lying about their complicity. The identity of Chepiga was uncovered by investigative organisation Bellingcat, best known for its insight into the fighting in Ukraine. It found that Chepiga has won more than 20 awards and a Hero of the Russian Federation medal during his illustrious military career. Born in the isolated village of Nikolayevka, on the Russian-Chinese border in 1979, he is married with a teenage son. In 2001 he graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy before being deployed to Chechnya three times. Its website states: 'Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation by order of the president of the Russian Federation.' His name appears under a gold star honour list on a monument to academy alumni at a base near the Chinese border. The medals are normally awarded by the president personally, and are given only to a handful of people each year. Unlike most recipients there is little public information about Chepiga's life and official documents are marked 'top secret'. The secretive nature of the award, combined with its timing in 2014, suggests it was for actions in Ukraine. His Spetsnaz unit was pictured on the eastern Ukraine border. Investigators also found documents that trace Chepiga's movements around Russia and Europe. He pops up at a remote military unit and in Moscow where he is likely to have studied at the Military Diplomatic Academy, or 'GRU Conservatory'. The GRU was betrayed by Mr Skripal before he was jailed and sent to the UK in a spy swap. He and his daughter were poisoned in March in Salisbury. Chepiga and Petrov are also accused of murdering Dawn Sturgess, who was inadvertently poisoned when she discovered a perfume bottle filled with the deadly novichok nerve agent used on the Skripals. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'It is confirmation of what we have known for a long time that Russia is serially dishonest in its foreign affairs and has again lied about its complicity. 'These guys are amateurs. Their cover couldn't even survive investigation by newspapers.' The Russian embassy in London made no comment This undated image is alleged to show Chepiga (circled) posing with fellow members of the Russian military The dark star of Russia's elite special forces school: Colonel who signed up at 18, was honoured at gaudy memorial to military and then sent to kill Skripal The highly-decorated spy blamed for the Salisbury poisonings was a veteran of Russia's elite special forces and had trained at one of the country's top military academies, it emerged last night. The man behind the alias of Boshirov was unmasked by the investigative website as Colonel Chepiga - a GRU intelligence officer bestowed with Russia's highest state award. His military career began at the age of 18 when he enrolled in a top military school just 25 miles from his tiny home village of Nikolaevka, near the Russia-China border. Col Chepiga studied at the Far Eastern Military Command Academy in Blagoveschensk, an elite training ground for 'Spetsnaz' special forces officers. His name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001, he was assigned to Russia's 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, based in the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk. Dawn Sturgess (left) died after spraying Novichok on her wrists thinking it was a perfume. Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, (right) fell critically ill but recovered Spetsnaz units are responsible for highly-secretive missions and are equivalent to the British SAS. Under the command of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency, his brigade played a vital role in the second Chechen war and was also spotted near the Ukrainian border in late 2014. The information was revealed by investigative website Bellingcat, which had conducted a painstaking investigation into his background. It said that his unit had deployed three times to Chechnya, where Russia was carrying out what it called a 'counter-terrorist operation'. The website of a state-run military volunteer organisation claims that Col Chepiga received more than 20 military awards and decorations in the course of his service. And his former military school proudly boasts on its website that he was bestowed his homeland's highest honour, Hero of the Russian Federation, in 2014. The award is often presented by Vladimir Putin himself. This map shows the progress of the spies' assassination plot, as police managed to piece together using CCTV The two men chose a hotel in east London, 127 miles from Salisbury, despite heading to the city twice in three days While the achievements of his fellow award-winners are detailed extensively, Col Chepiga's simply says it was awarded 'by decree from the Russian president'. Bellingcat speculated that he could have been given the award for operations in Eastern Ukraine where Russia's military was secretly operating in 2014. Senior Russian military officials have since said that so-called 'little green men' soldiers wearing uniforms with no insignia were in fact members of Russia's Spetsnaz deployed secretly to Ukraine. The Bellingcat website also found an undated photograph of graduates from the Far Eastern Military Command Academy on assignment in Chechnya. It pointed out that the man on the far right looks strikingly similar to the man named as Boshirov by the Metropolitan Police although it said it could not prove conclusively it was the same person. They came across the photograph after sources said the school was a likely place for a Russian military officer with a specialism in Western European operations to have trained. CCTV image issued by the Metropolitan Police of Russian nationals Ruslan Boshirov (left) and Alexander Petrov (right) in Salisbury at around 1pm on March 4 Sergei Skripal (right) and his daughter Yulia eating at a restaurant. Both were critically ill after the Novichok attack in Salisbury After further digging, they came across the mysterious Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. Address databases link him to the Military Unit 20662 code for the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade. The logo of the brigade is a black bat with a yellow parachute behind it. It was formed in the 1960s and has been under the command of the GRU for much of its history. According to Yuri Shvets, a former KGB agent, GRU officers were referred to as 'boots' tough but unsophisticated. Once a member of the GRU, it is believed to be exceptionally difficult to leave. And those who do so to join foreign agencies are punished savagely. Viktor Suvorov, a GRU officer who defected to Britain in 1978, said new recruits were shown a video of a traitor from the agency being burned alive in a furnace as a warning. The GRU has become adept as using so-called 'non-linear warfare', which uses a combination of covert special forces operations, spying, cyber attacks and internet trolls to destabilise enemy nations. It started as an intelligence-gathering agency for Trotsky's Bolshevik Red Army, and Lenin insisted it remain separate from the other intelligence organisations. Today it still sits apart from the SVR, the external spying service, and the domestic FSB (the equivalents of Britain's MI6 and MI5), which were created when the notorious KGB was split in 1991. How will the West react to proof Putin lied? Commentary by Owen Matthews THIS sensational revelation the seniority of the would-be assassin and the official state support for the mission shows that the Skripal hit must have been ordered at the very highest levels of the Russian state. The evidence that Vladimir Putin personally ordered the attack grows stronger every day. Indeed, by presiding over one of the most farcically inept cover-ups in memory when the two Russians caught on CCTV here claimed to have been tourists visiting Salisbury cathedral Putin has condemned himself out of his own mouth. Days after British police released dozens of security camera images of the pair on their way from Moscow to Salisbury, Putin appeared on Russian television to defend them as 'innocent Russian citizens about whom we know nothing'. His fingerprints were all over the operation. The following afternoon, 'Petrov' and 'Boshirov' themselves appeared to air a cock-and-bull story about being turned back from their mission to see Salisbury by slush two days in a row. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the two suspects were just civilians and not members of the GRU Before the denials by Putin and by the suspects themselves, it might have been possible to argue plausibly that the botched assassination attempt was some kind of rogue operation by Russia's secret services. But Putin's personal defence of the suspects and the inept cover-up job by the state-controlled media constitute strong, if wholly unintended, proof of the Kremlin's deep complicity. And now the Bellingcat revelations have added incontrovertible layers of detail to the emerging picture of a top-level GRU assassination squad operating on UK soil. Using mostly open-source data, Bellingcat's researchers first unearthed details of the passports the suspects used to enter the UK, published by British police. Petrov and Boshirov's passport numbers, it turned out, varied by just a single digit and were issued by a Moscow office used exclusively for officials' travel documents. Even more suspiciously, Boshirov's passport file was stamped 'Do not reveal information'. Then, yesterday, came the clincher. By trawling through the records of GRU academy graduation classes, Bellingcat matched the photos of 'Boshirov' to the real-life Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. Once they had a name, details of Colonel Chepiga's secret service popped up all over the internet, in online posts by veterans' groups and even written in letters of gold on a stone monument to the decorated graduates of one of the GRU's secret intelligence academies. Chepiga served in Chechnya with the Spetznaz, the elite forces of the Federal Security Service, where by some reports he received 20 awards and decorations. In short, Putin has been caught out telling analogue lies in a digital world. Counter-terrorism police released images of two suspects in connection with the Salisbury attack and named them as Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov (circled right) Bellingcat became famous for its painstaking investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing over Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, collecting photos from social media and intelligence data showing the hour-by-hour progress of the Buk missile system which downed the plane, from a military base inside Russia into Eastern Ukraine and back again. Russia's vehement denials of involvement were shown to be false. Now, with Bellingcat's dozens of detailed revelations about the true identity of one of the would-be Skripal assassins, another of the Kremlin's brazen lies has been carefully picked apart. Perhaps the most terrifying part of the whole tragic story of the Skripal poisoning, which resulted in the death of an innocent British bystander, is the shocking combination of the Kremlin's deadly intent and utter incompetence. Instead of quietly disposing of a 'traitor', Chepiga and his as-yet-unnamed accomplice succeeded in contaminating parts of Salisbury, murdering an innocent woman, and revealing themselves to the whole world as bungling idiots. Attempting extra-judicial execution on British soil is bad enough. But to spread deadly nerve agent around a cathedral city is irresponsible bungling on an epic scale. The question now, of course, is what the response of the West will be to this damning revelation. Will Theresa May call for renewed sanctions? Will America ratchet up their rhetoric? We shall have to wait and see in the coming days. What is clear is that the Kremlin and its henchmen have been revealed for what they are not just a bunch murderous liars, but terrible at both. Dr Christina Blasey Ford's opening statement, as prepared for delivery, in its entirety: Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein, Members of the Committee. My name is Christine Blasey Ford. I am a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University and a Research Psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina and earned my degree in Experimental Psychology in 1988. I received a Master's degree in 1991 in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. In 1996, I received a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California. I earned a Master's degree in Epidemiology from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2009. I have been married to Russell Ford since 2002 and we have two children. I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. I have described the events publicly before. I summarized them in my letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, and again in my letter to Chairman Grassley. I understand and appreciate the importance of your hearing from me directly about what happened to me and the impact it has had on my life and on my family. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. I attended the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1980 to 1984. Holton-Arms is an all-girls school that opened in 1901. During my time at the school, girls at Holton-Arms frequently met and became friendly with boys from all-boys schools in the area, including Landon School, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga High School, country clubs, and other places where kids and their families socialized. This is how I met Brett Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me. In my freshman and sophomore school years, when I was 14 and 15 years old, my group of friends intersected with Brett and his friends for a short period of time. I had been friendly with a classmate of Brett's for a short time during my freshman year, and it was through that connection that I attended a number of parties that Brett also attended. We did not know each other well, but I knew him and he knew me. In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent almost every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland swimming and practicing diving. One evening that summer, after a day of swimming at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Chevy Chase/Bethesda area. There were four boys I remember being there: Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth, and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. I remember my friend Leland Ingham attending. I do not remember all of the details of how that gathering came together, but like many that summer, it was almost surely a spur of the moment gathering. I truly wish I could provide detailed answers to all of the questions that have been and will be asked about how I got to the party, where it took place, and so forth. I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult. When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark were visibly drunk. Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldn't see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me. I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They both seemed to be having a good time. Mark was urging Brett on, although at times he told Brett to stop. A couple of times I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not. During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. The last time he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room. Directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. I ran inside the bathroom and locked the door. I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairs, pin-balling off the walls on the way down. I waited and when I did not hear them come back up the stairs, I left the bathroom, ran down the stairs, through the living room, and left the house. I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I had escaped from the house and that Brett and Mark were not coming after me. Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened. Over the years, I told very few friends that I had this traumatic experience. I told my husband before we were married that I had experienced a sexual assault. I had never told the details to anyone until May 2012, during a couples counseling session. The reason this came up in counseling is that my husband and I had completed an extensive remodel of our home, and I insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand. In explaining why I wanted to have a second front door, I described the assault in detail. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the US Supreme Court and spoke a bit about his background. My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh. After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety. Occasionally I would discuss the assault in individual therapy, but talking about it caused me to relive the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it. But over the years, I went through periods where I thought about Brett's attack. I confided in some close friends that I had an experience with sexual assault. Occasionally I stated that my assailant was a prominent lawyer or judge but I did not use his name. I do not recall each person I spoke to about Brett's assault, and some friends have reminded me of these conversations since the publication of The Washington Post story on September 16, 2018. But until July 2018, I had never named Mr Kavanaugh as my attacker outside of therapy. This all changed in early July 2018. I saw press reports stating that Brett Kavanaugh was on the 'short list' of potential Supreme Court nominees. I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr. Kavanaugh's conduct so that those considering his potential nomination would know about the assault. On July 6, 2018, I had a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and the President as soon as possible before a nominee was selected. I called my congressional representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the President's shortlist had attacked me. I also sent a message to The Washington Post's confidential tip line. I did not use my name, but I provided the names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. I stated that Mr Kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland. This was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I felt I couldn't NOT do it. Over the next two days, I told a couple of close friends on the beach in California that Mr Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted me. I was conflicted about whether to speak out. On July 9, 2018, I received a call from the office of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo after Mr Kavanaugh had become the nominee. I met with her staff on July 11 and with her on July 13, describing the assault and discussing my fear about coming forward. Later, we discussed the possibility of sending a letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, who is one of my state's Senators, describing what occurred. My understanding is that Representative Eshoo's office delivered a copy of my letter to Senator Feinstein's office on July 30, 2018. The letter included my name, but requested that the letter be kept confidential. My hope was that providing the information confidentially would be sufficient to allow the Senate to consider Mr Kavanaugh's serious misconduct without having to make myself, my family, or anyone's family vulnerable to the personal attacks and invasions of privacy we have faced since my name became public. In a letter on August 31, 2018, Senator Feinstein wrote that she would not share the letter without my consent. I greatly appreciated this commitment. All sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves whether their private experience is made public. As the hearing date got closer, I struggled with a terrible choice: Do I share the facts with the Senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight? Or do I preserve our privacy and allow the Senate to make its decision on Mr Kavanaugh's nomination without knowing the full truth about his past behavior? I agonized daily with this decision throughout August and early September 2018. The sense of duty that motivated me to reach out confidentially to The Washington Post, Representative Eshoo's office, and Senator Feinstein's office was always there, but my fears of the consequences of speaking out started to increase. During August 2018, the press reported that Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation was virtually certain. His allies painted him as a champion of women's rights and empowerment. I believed that if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. By the time of the confirmation hearings, I had resigned myself to remaining quiet and letting the Committee and the Senate make their decision without knowing what Mr Kavanaugh had done to me. Once the press started reporting on the existence of the letter I had sent to Senator Feinstein, I faced mounting pressure. Reporters appeared at my home and at my job demanding information about this letter, including in the presence of my graduate students. They called my boss and coworkers and left me many messages, making it clear that my name would inevitably be released to the media. I decided to speak out publicly to a journalist who had responded to the tip I had sent to The Washington Post and who had gained my trust. It was important to me to describe the details of the assault in my own words. Since September 16, the date of The Washington Post story, I have experienced an outpouring of support from people in every state of this country. Thousands of people who have had their lives dramatically altered by sexual violence have reached out to share their own experiences with me and have thanked me for coming forward. We have received tremendous support from friends and our community. At the same time, my greatest fears have been realized and the reality has been far worse than what I expected. My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable. These messages, while far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying to receive and have rocked me to my core. People have posted my personal information on the internet. This has resulted in additional emails, calls, and threats. My family and I were forced to move out of our home. Since September 16, my family and I have been living in various secure locales, with guards. This past Tuesday evening, my work email account was hacked and messages were sent out supposedly recanting my description of the sexual assault. Apart from the assault itself, these last couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no one's pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth. I understand that the Majority has hired a professional prosecutor to ask me some questions, and I am committed to doing my very best to answer them. At the same time, because the Committee Members will be judging my credibility, I hope to be able to engage directly with each of you. At this point, I will do my best to answer your questions. Holidaymakers in Benidorm have been filmed floating down flooded streets on lilos after the resort was hit by torrential rain. They were seen running and jumping onto their inflatables and splashing around in puddles in the middle of the road as they refused to let the horrid weather ruin their holiday. Some tourists were even spotted using an upside-down table as a makeshift surfboard to skid around on the slippery strip. Holidaymakers have been filmed floating down flooded streets in Benidorm despite severe weather warnings Tourists were seen running and jumping onto their inflatables on a strip in the party resort And despite sever weather warnings being issued across Spain, the defiant people in the video were seen wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and flip-flops. Some wore bright fluorescent swimwear as they floated across pedestrian crossings on their lilos, with vehicles having to carefully dodge around them. The Spanish Met Office, AEMET, put 14 of the country's provinces on yellow weather warning alerts for heavy rain, thunderstorms, winds and high tides today. Some were even spotted using an upside-down table as a makeshift surfboard to push each other around on the slippery streets One man takes a run up before flinging himself onto his inflatable crocodile lilo in the middle of the road A man in wearing fluorescent shorts and a hat sprints down the street to join in on the fun with his matching lilo Benidorm, Xabia and Las Marinas were the three regions most affected by the downpours, according to The University of Alicante's Climatology Laboratory. It warned tourists to be extra vigilant as jellyfish could be washed up on beaches. In the UK, Brits have been basking in balmy weather as the surprise Indian summer continues to warm the south, with highs of 2C (72F) expected. Police in Ukraine have vowed to charge the parents of six young girls who took part in a 'lingerie for children' fashion shoot. The girls, aged eight to 14, were photographed wearing lacy underwear and shawls as part of a promotional campaign for fashion label Alla Frenkel's new line. Frenkel's, which is based in Odessa, published the images on its website where they were branded 'sickening' for sexualising children. Police say they intend to charge the parents of six girls who took part in a photo shoot for a range of 'children's lingerie' made by Ukrainian fashion designer Alla Frenkel (centre) The images were uploaded to Frenkel's online shop where they caused a huge public backlash for 'sexualising children' User's took issue with both the products the girls were modelling and the 'adult' facial expressions and body poses they pulled Frenkel was also planning a catwalk show featuring the same girls, though its future is now in doubt. Following the backlash police chief Larisa Zub, head of the juvenile department of the National Police of Ukraine, said she intends to charge the girls' parents. 'We will for sure charge the parents with an administrative crime in this regard the improper performing of their parental duties,' she said. 'Such photographs may attract attention of people with mental problems. 'They may want to trace the address of the child's family and to follow the child.' The police have called for experts to give their opinions on the pictures before a final decision is taken over the type of legal action - and who is prosecuted over the case. One critical comment asked: 'Aren't they too little for such facial expressions and body poses? Are you advertising paedophilia, or what?' All of the girl were aged between eight and 14, and the photo shoot was supposed to be followed up with a catwalk show, though the future of this is now in doubt Frenkel also makes adult lingerie collections and often appears in photo shoots alongside her models, as demonstrated here Another posted: 'Where are the parents? What are you doing? These are girls, not underage prostitutes.' A critic wrote: 'I am not at all a member of moral police but this is just too much.' One commentor warned: 'You will end up in court this is sexualisation of underage children. 'This is the dream of a pedophile coming true. It is just horrible from an ethical point of view.' 'This is sickening. Whoever deigned this should be punished - and so should the parents of these exploited models'. Frenkel has indicated she sees 'nothing wrong' with the shoot while posting a message online which read: 'Poke your nose into clever books, not into other people's lives.' Alongside the images, an advert in Frenkel's shop said: 'Nowadays, young ladies can afford to wear elegant and attractive lingerie! Frenkel has indicated that she sees 'nothing wrong' with the pictures, and has told her critics to 'poke your nose into books, not into other people's lives' 'Delicate lace, comfortable natural fabrics, exotic decorations all these features in the new collection of lingerie for children! 'The lingerie in which your daughters will sleep like princesses.' Frenkel, who also produces adult lingerie, is pictured with the child models who are dressed in her skimpy lace products. Frenkel has a daughter the same age as some of her models, it was reported. Odessa model agency Playfashion has advertised for young models to take part in Frenkel's fashion show in the city on 20 October. This is due to be part of Odessa Fashion Week. The advertisement reads: 'We are inviting girls aged eight to 14 to take part in the Alla Frenkel collection presentation on 20 October at 8 pm at Odessa Fashion Week.' However, following the involvement of police it is unclear this will go ahead as planned. This is the shocking moment police reportedly drag a couple to the ground and arrest them at a supermarket checkout after a row over how much water they were allowed to buy. Customers watched in alarm as the man and his wife were alleged to have been wrestled to the floor at a Tesco's in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, before being hauled away. The couple, Nasir Hussain and Mahira Hussain, both of Oldham, were charged with assault following the incident, according to Greater Manchester Police. Greater Manchester Police say they have since received a complaint to their Professional Standards Branch following the incident. Customers watched in alarm as the man and his partner were allegedly wrestled to the floor at a Tesco superstore in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, before being arrested. The couple were charged with assault following the incident, according to Greater Manchester Police The couple, Nasir Hussain (pictured) and Mahira Hussain, both of Oldham, were charged with assault following the incident, according to Greater Manchester Police The scenes followed claims that staff had refused to let them buy more than 20 bottles of mineral water when they brought a trolley-load of flavoured Volvic up to the counter, allegedly leading to an argument with a security guard. Following a reported dispute between the young man, a Tesco's employee and a police officer, the woman filmed her partner being restrained by the officer. The woman was then hauled to the floor herself and arrested after allegedly trying to intervene, while a Tesco employee stood in the way of the camera. Video filmed by the man's partner appears to show how the scenes unfolded with the pair standing next to trolley full of bottled water at the checkout. Speaking to the camera, the man says: 'So, we're in Tesco, Rochdale, and for some reason they've got a different policy to every other Tesco up and down the country. Every other Tesco we managed to get these Volvic bottles, as many as we want. A security guard steps in and asks them to stop filming, saying it is forbidden on private property 'We're not retailers, we're not wholesalers, we just want them for our home but unfortunately in this Tesco we've been told that we're only allowed ten bottles each.' A security guard steps in and asks them to stop filming, saying it is forbidden on private property. The woman tells him: 'At the end of the day, we just wanna buy the water. We buy it in every store.' A police officer then approaches and asks what the problem is. When he realises he is being filmed he turns his back to the camera and asks the couple to switch it off - which they do. But the woman resumes filming moments later as the officer is trying to lead her partner towards the store exit. He stands his ground and tells the officer: 'I was already walking. You didn't need to escort me. Can you just clarify something for me?' But the officer refuses to discuss the matter any further and grabs the man. The footage shows the couple being arrested as customers watch on alarmed. A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: 'Two people have been charged with assaulting a police officer. 'Nasir Hussain and Mahira Hussain both of Oldham, have been charged with assault of a constable and have been bailed to appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 30 October 2018. 'Around 7pm on Tuesday 25 September, while responding to another incident at Tesco on Silk Street, Rochdale, an officer was alerted to a disturbance in the store. 'The officer spoke to both parties involved before asking a man to leave. The officer was assaulted and suffered injuries to his face.' A Tesco spokesperson said, 'We are aware of the incident at the Rochdale Superstore and will assist with the investigation.' As of this morning, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said there had been no referrals to them regarding the incident, while Mr Hussain told MailOnline he intended to file a complaint following his arrest for 'excessive force'. Jeremy Corbyn emerged from his Brexit talks with Michel Barnier tonight insisting he had a 'useful' discussion on his threat to vote down Theresa May's deal. A bouyant Labour leader travelled to Brussels fresh from his party conference where he set out his determination to block a deal which does not meet six tests in a bid to force an early election. Both Mr Corbyn and Mr Barnier insisted the talks were not a negotiation and just an update on the current talks while the Labour leader was in Brussels. The meeting got off to an embarrassing start as Mr Corbyn's aides were left scrambling for euros to pay for his taxi to the EU Commission. As Mr Corbyn and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer walked into the building, aides were left scrambling to settle the fare. One said plaintively: 'Has anyone got any euros?' The incident - caught on camera by waiting journalists - came after Mr Corbyn threatened to throw Brexit into chaos by voting down any deal that does not include a customs union. Ahead of his meeting the Labour leader boasted that his talks with the EU's negotiator show he is ready to take over the task of thrashing out a deal - but insisted after it was 'we are obviously not negotiating - we are not not in government'. Following his meeting - which both sides agreed was not a negotiation - Jeremy Corbyn (pictured talking to reporters after the talks) said he had set out his six tests for Brexit and listened to Mr Barnier's position A bouyant Labour leader (pictured at the Commission today) travelled to Brussels fresh from his party conference where he set out his determination to block a deal which does not meet six tests in a bid to force an early election As Jeremy Corbyn walked into the EU Commission today aides were left scrambling to settle the fare. One said plaintively: 'Has anyone got any euros?' With just weeks left to break the deadlock in negotiations, Mr Corbyn said he would be urging the Eurocrat and his team to do 'all they can' to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The EU side apparently requested the meeting after learning that Mr Corbyn was coming to Brussels to attend the naming of a square after murdered Labour MP Jo Cox. Following the difficulties with the taxi, the Corbyn aide joked on Twitter that the party had a new demand for the Brexit negotiations. Brussels square is named in honour of murdered MP Jo Cox Jeremy Corbyn attended the official inauguration of Place Jo Cox alongside her relatives in Brussels today. The city decided to rename the square near the town hall in honour of the Labour MP for Batley and Spen. The 41-year-old mother-of-two, who was killed by neo-Nazi terrorist Thomas Mair in 2016, frequented the Ancienne Belgique concert hall which backs onto the square when she worked in Belgium before being elected to Parliament in 2015. Mayor of Brussels Philippe Close led the ceremony alongside Mrs Cox's sister Kim Leadbeater and parents Gordon and Jean. Ms Leadbeater said the family was 'honoured that the city of Brussels has chosen to remember Jo in this way'. 'She had many happy times living there and made some deep and long-lasting friendships,' she said. Advertisement 'Brussels taxis accepting card payments just became Labour's seventh Brexit test and must now be at the heart of any future deal,' they said. The talks in Brussels today will raise anxiety among Brexiteers that Mr Corbyn is plotting with the EU to frustrate the UK's departure. Following his meeting - which both sides agreed was not a negotiation - Mr Corbyn said he had set out his six tests for Brexit and listened to Mr Barnier's position. At a press conference alongside Sir Keir, Mr Corbyn said: 'We've had an interesting, useful discussion with Mr Barnier. 'We have set out the views of the Labour Party surrounding Brexit following the conference speeches made by Keir Starmer and myself. 'We are obviously not negotiating. We are not in government, we are the opposition. 'But he was interested to know what our views are and the six tests we have laid down by which we will hold our government in future.' The veteran left-winger used his party conference speech yesterday to insist Mrs May must call a general election unless she is prepared to drop her red line against joining a customs union with the EU. Mr Barnier (pictured in Salzburg last week) apparently requested the meeting with Mr Corbyn amid increasing concern that any Brexit agreement will be blocked by the UK parliament Mr Corbyn couched his demand as 'reaching out' to the PM to get a 'sensible deal' through parliament - but it was denounced by Tories as a naked attempt to gain power. Mrs May says a customs union would deny Britain the opportunity to strike trade deals around the world. Accepting the idea would almost certainly spell the end of Mrs May's time in Downing Street and plunge the Tories into turmoil, making an election and Corbyn government much more likely. Labour has set six tests for a Brexit deal - including securing the 'exact same benefits' - that seem designed to be impossible to pass. Mr Corbyn (pictured in Brussels at the naming of a square in honour of murdered MP Jo Cox today) said he would be urging Michel Barnier and his team to do 'all they can' to avoid a no-deal Brexit The conference also agreed that if the party cannot force an election, the option of holding a referendum should be kept 'on the table'. Meanwhile, Mrs May is under mounting Tory pressure over her Chequers plan, with Cabinet ministers urging her to shift towards a Canada-style deal if it is rejected by the EU. Senior figures including Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab are said to harbour doubts over the PM's insistence that no deal is the only alternative to her blueprint. They are keen to avoid a situation where the EU rejects the Chequers proposal at a crunch summit next months and negotiations essentially collapse without a 'Plan B'. Theresa May (pictured at the UN in New York yesterday) has just weeks left to strike a Brexit deal with the EU However, the group have not presented any new solutions to the issue of the Irish border, according to The Times. Speaking ahead of his visit today, Mr Corbyn said: 'With just weeks of negotiating time left, it's clear that UK-EU Brexit talks are in a perilous state. 'Time is running out and companies are losing patience with the absence of any clarity from the government. 'Crashing out of Europe with no deal risks being a national disaster. 'That is why I'm meeting EU officials today, and I will be urging them to do all they can to avoid a 'no-deal' outcome, which would be so damaging to jobs and living standards in both the UK and EU countries.' Shameless begging gangs are making children as young as three hug strangers in the street until they hand over cash, MailOnline can reveal. Shocking footage, obtained by MailOnline, shows the youngsters targeting wealthy shoppers along London's Oxford Street. They hone in on well-dressed members of the public and fling their arms around the waists of their startled victim in the hope they will be given money to go away. Any cash given to them is immediately handed over to an adult guardian. These modern day Fagin-style gangs operate a half a mile stretch of Oxford Street between Marble Arch and Bond Street tube station entrances, focusing on the world-famous Selfridges department store. Shameless begging gangs are making children as young as three hug strangers in the street until they hand over cash, MailOnline can reveal. Picture: A young boy targets a shopper Shocking footage, obtained by MailOnline, shows the youngsters targeting often wealthy shoppers in London's Oxford Street. Picture: A boy aged around seven clamps himself around stunned tourist Shanice Braithwaite for nearly 20 seconds as she waits to cross the road A young girl wearing red trousers is pictured approaching a female shopper sat on a ledge on Oxford Street after she has made a purchase at Primark and asks her for money A woman pushing a pram is pictured begging for money from a male shopper along with her school-age children. Kids were filmed hugging their victims and asking for their cash Each child is accompanied by two or three adult women who walk slowly behind, watching for police, security guards and other potential targets. Often they approach the person who is being cuddled and gesture for them to be given money to feed the child. Some victims are so desperate to be let free they give the children 50 notes just to get rid of them. The gangs, who arrive into central London early in the morning apparently from Ilford in Essex, can make as much as 100,000 a year begging, police say. The MailOnline filmed one group target two smartly dressed tourists walking between Marks and Spencer and Selfridges. In the footage a boy of school age, around seven-years-old, clamps himself around stunned tourist Shanice Braithwaite for nearly 20 seconds as she waits to cross the road. A woman with a pushchair hovers beside him and holds out an open palm for money. Afterwards, Shanice, 28, who is visiting London with her friend from Barbados, said: 'This little boy came up to me and put his arms around my waist and asked if I had any spare change. In footage obtained by MailOnline, an angelic blonde-haired girl of about five or six-years-old approaches accosts a wheelchair-bound woman victim wearing a full veil who warns her off The woman victim in a wheelchair brushes the girl away as she is pushed by a little girl. Traders say the gangs, who reportedly come in from Ilford in Essex, spend all day accosting shoppers 'I told him that I don't normally have cash and pay for most things by card. 'He kept his arms around me for a while and I wondered what was going on. Nothing was stolen because I checked straight away. 'His mother, or a woman looking after him, asked for money too but I had nothing on me to give.' About an hour earlier a little girl, aged no more than three-years-old, had been made to try the same trick. She had been ordered to approach shoppers sitting on a small ledge outside the Primark clothing store on Oxford Street. The girl then reaches out and tries to hug one woman, but is shooed away. She tries again and hugs another woman sitting nearby, who is chatting on the phone, but again ends up empty-handed. Like with the young boy, a woman flanks her throughout with a pushchair holding her hands out pleading for money. Further down Oxford Street towards Debenhams, they order an angelic blonde-haired girl of about five or six-years-old to approach Middle-Eastern customers. She tries to stop two men in their stride by pleading for spare change, tugs at a woman's mobile phone and accosts a wheelchair-bound woman wearing a full veil who warns her off. Watching the begging gang as they approach Selfridges, one of the department store's doormen, who asked not to be named, said: 'They are around here every day and they are now so brazen. 'We've nicknamed them 'hugger muggers' because they come out of nowhere, start hugging someone and won't let go until they hand over some cash. 'I've seen people give these kids 20 and 50 notes, either out of pity or to make them leave them alone. 'So for the gangs manipulating these youngsters, it can be a real money-spinner. 'They usually target Muslim or Arab shoppers, particularly those who look like they have a lot of money. Shanice Braithwaite (pictured in green), who was targeted by a boy and his mother in a head scarf, said: 'This little boy came up to me and put his arms around my waist and asked if I had any spare change' The same boy, who is of school age, approaches another shopper on the busy street in the hope of being given some money. Victims often pay the children, who refuse to let go The beggars (pictured) and their children youngsters are part of a professional criminal network who are controlled by ringleaders, claims one Oxford stall holder 'They'll speak a little Arabic to them to try and charm their victims into parting with their money. 'But it's very unsavoury seeing little children put in that position by adults who are looking after them.' Speaking on the guarantee of anonymity, an Oxford Street stall holder told how the youngsters were part of a professional criminal begging network, which also includes men pretending to be disabled. The businessman said: 'I spoke to one of the beggars once and asked why they did it. 'She said that they come to London for a few months and are then sent somewhere else. 'But it's not right because some of the children they use should probably be in school but are instead dragged up and down Oxford Street all day long to beg in all weathers. 'And sometimes they're not just hugging people to beg for money, we've had people approach the stall asking us if we've seen their purse or phone and its usually after they've given money to one of these youngsters. 'Yet if you challenge them, the adults in the gangs can turn really nasty. 'We've tried to move them away from begging around the stall and it's resulted in us being spat at, sworn at and pelted with bits of food and other missiles. 'They must feel invincible though because little is ever done about the problem and they get away with it time and again.' The stall holder added: 'They are part of a big group of beggars, who include two men who hobble around on crutches pretending to have uncontrollable shakes. 'Yet as soon as they've got enough money, they'll turn a corner and walk off normally. It's all a big scam.' The Metropolitan Police say they are aware of reports of anti-social behaviour and begging on Oxford Street. A spokesman said: 'In order to deter criminality, officers in Westminster deploy a number of tactics including high-visibility patrols as well as plain-clothes operations, whilst offering crime prevention advice to residents, visitors and local businesses. 'We would always encourage anyone who believes that they are a victim of crime to report it to police.' US First Lady, Melania Trump, will embark on her first extended solo global mission to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt in October. Mrs Trump said the trip will be organised with the U.S. government's worldwide aid agency and would be part of her Be Best campaign, which aims to improve child welfare, especially when it comes to online behaviour and addiction to opioids. Speaking during the United Nations General Assembly held in New York, Melania stated that she will visit Kenya in October on her first major global solo trip. She offered no details on her activities in each country, and did not say when she would be returning to Washington. The first lady revealed her plans at the United Nations Wednesday as President Trump chaired the Security Council meeting for the first time. Mark Green, chief of the global development agency, said its maternal and child health programs have helped save the lives of 4.6 million children worldwide, a lot of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Green was a volunteer teacher in Kenya before he was elected to represent Wisconsin in the House and served as USA ambassador to Tanzania. Bill Cosby accuser Janice Dickinson speaks out after his sentencing When he got to prison, Cosby was "in good spirits last night", said Lisa Durand, spokesperson for SCI Phoenix, according to CNN . On Tuesday, Judge Steven O'Neill handed down the sentence and denied a request for bail by Cosby's lawyers. Her husband has yet to travel to Africa in office, and fanned major controversy at the start of the year for allegedly disparaging "sh*thole" countries on the continent. Trump denied using the racist slur. While killings of farmers have been taking place for more than 20 years and are widely seen as part of South Africa's high crime rate, experts say white farmers have not been the target. Trump said earlier Wednesday that he and his wife "love Africa". In Ghana, she said USAID programs have focused on healthcare; in Malawi, on education as key to combating poverty; and in Kenya on programs including early childhood education, wildlife preservation and HIV prevention. Mrs Trump has always been open about her love for Africa and was always clear that her first solo global trip will definitely be to the continent. Melania Trump has also accompanied the USA president on visits to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. There were chaotic scenes at Heathrow Airport today as information screens failed, leaving passengers unable to find their flight information. Staff at the UK's busiest airport resorted to writing flight updates on whiteboards as the technical failure affected every terminal. Passengers were asked to use phones or tablets if possible to find out which gate their flight was leaving from. Sarbjeet Johal wrote on Twitter: 'Monitors in whole Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport weren't working. Humans had to jump in by writing flight information with hands' Heathrow posted a message on Twitter at 7am stating: 'Our flight information screens are inactive this morning.' It led to an outpouring of anger on social media, as stricken passengers described scenes of 'chaos'. Passenger Legio Patria Nostra wrote: 'Absolute joke at Heathrow. All screens down. Just landed from Abu Dhabi after three months away working. Ground staff don't have a clue and can't tell me what gate my flight to Glasgow is.' Sarbjeet Johal wrote on Twitter: 'Monitors in whole Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport weren't working. Humans had to jump in by writing flight information with hands.' Legio Patria Nostra from Grangemouth in Scotland tweeted: 'Absolute joke at Heathrow all screens down, just landed from Abu Dhabi after 3 months away working, ground staff don't have a clue and can't tell me what gate my flight to Glasgow is.' The information screens failed at Heathrow Airport this morning, with staff forced to write flight updates on whiteboards Extra staff were deployed in terminals to help people get where they needed to go before the airport issued a statement at 9am which said the situation had been resolved. A Heathrow spokesperson said: 'A connection issue temporarily affected some of our flight information screens at Heathrow this morning. Our teams worked quickly to resolve the issue and screens are now working as normal. We apologise for any inconvenience caused this morning.' An international animal welfare activist has branded designer dogs such as Labradoodles as 'Frankenstein' animals created by ruthless breeders and criminals. Madeline Bernstein, head of an animal welfare charity in Los Angeles, has written a book which she says is 'an expose into the lurid and very often criminal world of cross breeding'. The designer dogs have become incredibly popular because thy have attracted the attention of celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Tiger Woods and Christie Brinkley. Madeline Bernstein, pictured with her dog Mocha, has condemned the popularity of so-called designer dogs claiming many come from the 'lurid and criminal world of cross breeding' The Labradoodle, pictured, is a cross between a Labrador and a Poodle Australian dog breeder Wally Conron, pictured, created the first Labradoodle in the late 1980s after a blind woman contacted her and said she needed a guide dog which would not cause problems for her husband who had serious pet allergies Supermodel Elle MacPherson was one of the first celebrities with a labradoodle when she bought Bella in 2004. Graham Norton and Jeremy Clarkson have also owned designer dogs. Australian dog breeder Wally Conron 'invented' the Labradoodle in the late 1980s, when he crossed a Labrador and a Poodle. At the time, he was working as the breeding manager for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia when he received an unusual request from a woman in Hawaii. She said she had sight problems but her husband suffered allergies and could not live in a house with a normal guide dog. As a result, he started experimenting with two prize winning canines. In an earlier interview with Associated Press, he said: 'I've done a lot of damage. I've created a lot of problems. 'Marvelous thing? My foot. There are a lot of unhealthy and abandoned dogs out there. 'I was very, very careful of what I used, but nobody wanted Labrador crosses. I had a three-to-six-month waiting list, but everyone wanted purebreds. So I had to come up with a gimmick. Other designer dogs include the Schnoodle - a cross between a schnauzer and a poodle The Puggle, pictured, is a cross between a Beagle and Pug and is another popular designer dog The Maltese Shih Tzu is a cross breed between a purebred Maltese and a Shih Tzu. It is one of the few designer dogs not to involve a poodle 'We came up with the name "Labradoodle". We told people we had a new dog and all of sudden, people wanted this wonder dog.' Mr Conron even wrote to the then US President Barack Obama when he was considering buying a Labradoodle as the 'First Pet'. He said there are 'horrific' puppy farms where unhealthy or unwanted dogs are killed. He continued: 'Instead of breeding out the problems, they're breeding them in. For every perfect one, you're going to find a lot of crazy ones.' Ms Bernstein said people are being ripped off by paying large sums for dogs which are essentially mutts He added: 'You can't walk down the street without seeing a poodle cross of some sort. I just heard about someone who wanted to cross a poodle with a rottweiler. How could anyone do that? 'Not in my wildest dream did I imagine all of this would happen. That's a trend I started.' Ms Bernstein outlines her concerns about dogs such as Labradoodles in her book 'Designer Dogs: An Expose: Inside the Criminal Underworld of Crossbreeding'. She said: 'When I was a kid, the only dog that was an acceptable dog to have as a pet was Lassie and I wanted Lassie too. But my father brought me home a mutt instead. That dog, who we named Lucky, became my soulmate. These are the types of things we all experience. We all want the dog in the movies, we all want the dog in a celebrity handbag. But these designer dogs are just a big con. They dont provide magic things like hypoallergenic qualities. They arent healthier than normal dogs. Everybody who is interested in the welfare of animals and the welfare of designer dogs, needs to know where they come from, how they are being conned and what the real story is underneath. After you read this book, I guarantee you go to your local shelter to adopt your next dog. Speaking to The Times, she said: 'For the past 20 years its been out of control. Its a worldwide epidemic. The dogs are being manufactured all over the world and transported here.' 'It drives me nuts that people are paying this kind of money for a dog that is essentially a mutt.' She added: 'If you want to have the most unique, unusual, one-of-a-kind designer dog just go to the dog shelter. The original designer dog is the shelter dog because no two are identical. And they are already here.' Locals have been left puzzled by Chris Hemsworth's Byron Bay mega mansion development, with some saying it has taken the shape of a shopping centre. Hemsworth, 35, and his wife Elsa Pataky, 42, began construction on their massive new digs late last year, quickly becoming the talk of the town in the process. Photos from above the sprawling property positioned in the outskirts of the 'hippie' New South Wales town show a large square multi-level building. Locals have been left puzzled by Chris Hemsworth's (pictured with wife Elsa Pataky) Byron Bay mega mansion development, with some saying it has taken the shape of a shopping centre The huge construction has received mixed reactions from the public, with many accusing the couple of being hypocritical, given their environmentally conscious reputation. Critics took to social media to voice their concerns, with someone writing 'Looks like the new Woolies' in a Byron Bay community group. Another thought the power couple were up to something more than building a new home for them and children India Rose, 5, and twin boys Sasha and Tristan, 3. 'What the hell is he building..that's more than just a house,' someone wrote. The huge construction (pictured) received mixed reactions from the public and many accused the couple of being hypocritical given their environmentally conscious reputation Another social media commentator lashed out over the amount of land that was cleared for the Hollywood stars' mammoth abode. 'Way to live minimally. I wonder what the environmental footprint s like,' they wrote. The building itself boasts enough space to accommodate every luxury the Hemsworth-Pataky family would desire, including an enormous rooftop infinity pool. A large patch of vegetation next to the home has also been cleared, possibly to make way for a garage space. The couple received some tough criticism from locals on their multi-million development on a Byron Bay Facebook community group The architecturally-designed estate is estimated to be costing the Avengers star more than $8million to build. It is expected to feature a gym, steam room, large swimming pool, luxury spa, media room and games room, as well as vast outdoor spaces and six bedrooms. In 2016, the Gold Coast Bulletin first reported that Chris and Elsa were getting ready to splash out on the renovation of their Byron Bay estate. Crowds lined the streets outside the Old Bailey today for the latest court hearing of former EDL leader Tommy Robinson. The far-Right activist could be sent back for jail for contempt of court after his online videos were alleged to have endangered criminal trials. His case has attracted a large following and hundreds turned out for his latest court appearance this morning. The case was adjourned to a later date while the judge decides whether a full hearing is needed. Robinson was bailed and is expected to return to the Old Bailey on October 22 or 23. Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, arrives at the Old Bailey today to hear whether he'll be sent back to prison for breaching contempt of court laws Crowds of supporters protested as Robinson went before one of London's most senior judges Speaking after the case, he said: 'I believe they want me in prison for Christmas... I want closure. I believe they are purposely not giving me closure.' The far-Right activist was originally jailed for filming people involved in a criminal trial in Leeds and broadcasting the footage on social media. His actions were illegal as they breached strict rules in Britain on what can be reported about ongoing trials on which a jury will have to decide. Robinson was then released from prison last month after three appeal judges quashed a finding made at Leeds Crown Court in May, and granted him conditional bail from a 13-month jail sentence. The appeal court heard the hearing in which he was jailed was 'muddled' and 'rushed' and held five hours after his arrest. Robinson, 35, appeared under his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, to face a fresh hearing over the allegation today. He has already served the equivalent of a four-month sentence. Earlier today, he posted a video online in which he branded the case a 'crock of s***'. Earlier today, Robinson posted a video online in which he claimed the case was 'a crock of s***' Scores of supporters of the far-Right activist have gathered outside London's Old Bailey A man in a Union Hack three-piece suit was among the crowds outside the court today Robinson is alleged to have committed contempt of court by filming people in a criminal trial and broadcasting footage on social media. Robinson left HMP Onley in Rugby on August 1 but could face being sent back to jail if the judge finds him in contempt - the maximum sentence is two years imprisonment. He was jailed in May after filming people involved in a criminal trial and broadcasting the footage on social media, and has already served the equivalent of a four-month sentence. There was a large police presence outside the court as supporters gathered this morning Robinson was already on a suspended sentence when was he was jailed for 10 months' imprisonment for contempt of court, which he admitted, and a further three months for breaching the previous suspended sentence. In May last year he faced contempt proceedings over footage he filmed during the trial of four men who were later convicted of gang-raping a teenage girl. A judge at Canterbury Crown Court gave him the three-month suspended sentence for that offence and told him his punishment was not about 'freedom of speech or freedom of the press' but about 'justice and ensuring that a trial can be carried out justly and fairly'. Robinson appealed against both contempt findings at a hearing last month heard by Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, Mr Justice Turner and Mrs Justice McGowan. They found the judge at Leeds should not have commenced contempt proceedings that day. Supporters holding posters and waving flags stood on the pavement outside the London court A counter-demonstration was also held outside the court, branding Robinson a 'racist' Lord Burnett said 'no particulars of the contempt were formulated or put to the appellant', and there was 'a muddle over the nature of the contempt being considered'. He added: 'Where a custodial term of considerable length is being imposed, it should not usually occur so quickly after the conduct which is complained of; a sentence of committal to immediate custody had been pronounced within five hours of the conduct taking place.' The judges dismissed Robinson's appeal in respect of the contempt finding at Canterbury Crown Court. A plus-size model claims she was advised not to bring 'too many' curvy friends on a birthday night out at a London club. Kaisa Henriika is a UK size 18, weighs 15 stone, and works as a model in the capital. She was trying to organise a birthday celebration and got chatting to promoter 'Guestlist-Vip-Birthday-Tables' on Instagram. But when the club promoter asked her who would be attending, he wanted to check she would not be bringing 'more than three' plus-sized friends - for fear they would not get in. Kaisa Henriika is a UK size 18, weighs 15 stone, and works as a plus-size model. She was told not to bring 'more than three' plus-size friends to a London nightclub for her birthday for fear they wouldn't get in Ms Henriikka posted the conversation to her Instagram story, which showed messages saying: 'Ok one last question - are all the guests plus size models, we are not trying to be rude but we know for a fact some clubs can be funny and we do not want to send you there. 'If it's two to three girls in your group that is fine, hope you understand.' Shocked Ms Henriikka then replied: 'So you only want skinny people in your clubs?' The promoter, who represents celebrity nightspots including Cafe de Paris, Cuckoo Club, 18 Soho and the Maddox Club, then claimed it is a request made by the clubs and not them. The club in question was unnamed. He added: 'Not us I am just telling you what they told us as a company we do not want to send you there and you not get in.' In an effort to reassure the model after the exchange, the promoters commented on her old pictures with comments such as 'lovely', 'beautiful if you need access to clubs hit us up' and 'wow.' Guestlist-Vip-Birthday-Tables claims to offer tables at Tonteria, the nightclub which was run by Prince Harry's friend Guy Pelly, and Drama in Park Lane. Ms Henriikka (pictured) weighs 15 stone, is a 43DD bra-size with a 39-inch waist and 48 inch hips and wears a UK size 16 to 18 The plus-size model posted the bizarre exchange between her and the club promoter on Instagram After Ms Henriikka shared the conversation with her 21,000 followers, she was flooded with messages of support. Style and Curve Magazine re-posted Kaisa's conversation along with the caption: 'THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO ADDRESS THE FAT SHAMING ISSUE!!! 'THINKING OF HOW MANY PLUS SIZE WOMEN DON'T DARE ENJOY THEIR LIFE BECAUSE THEY ARE SCARED OF GETTING FAT SHAMED.' Rachel Spencer, an social media influencer that has built her following on teaching self-love re-posted the image saying: 'WTF??? Only 2-3 plus sized girls per group are allowed at party at London finest nightclubs!!! I am furious!' Pictured: Kaisa Henriika, who is a UK size 18, and works as a plus-size model in London In an effort to reassure the model after the exchange, the promoters commented on her old pictures with comments such as 'lovely', 'beautiful if you need access to clubs hit us up' and 'wow.' She said: 'I am literally getting messages every 5 mins from all over the world, the support for me fighting for plus size women is insane!!!' Ms Henriikka is originally from Finland but now lives and works in London. She weighs 15 stone, is a 43DD bra-size with a 39-inch waist and 48 inch hips and wears a UK size 16 to 18. The Instagram account Guestlist-Vip-Birthday-Tables has been contacted for comment. Victoria station was evacuated when as escalator broke down causing a huge crowd swell during a 48-hour Tube strike. Thousands of commuters were left angry and stranded amid chaotic scenes in London this morning, as travellers complained of being trapped in the station. Transport bosses closed the station to prevent overcrowding as the crowd swell threatened to cause injury at 9.25am today before reopening at 9.40am. Thousands of commuters were left angry and stranded amid chaotic scenes in London this morning, as travellers complained of being trapped in the station One commuter, Nina Mataz, said people had become 'trapped on platforms', while children were being 'crushed'. Another commuter urged others to 'avoid [the station] at all costs' and said there was 'zero communication on the ground'. Transport for London has since apologised for the overcrowding at Victoria, which they said was caused by an escalator fault. The crowded scenes at Victoria was branded a 'danger' by one customer. One commuter, Nina Mataz, said people had become 'trapped on platforms', while children were being 'crushed' Another suggested he was 'about to have a panic attack' due to the overcrowding Another suggested he was 'about to have a panic attack' due to the overcrowding. The station closed at 9.25am but opened again at 9.40am. A TfL spokesman said: 'I apologise to customers at Victoria who had their journeys disrupted this morning. 'We had to close the station due to an escalator fault, causing crowding on platforms. The escalators are now running again and the station was reopened after around 15 minutes.' Thousands more commuters are facing severe disruption after the entire Piccadilly line shut down from midday on Wednesday. The staff at a Washington DC restaurant where Senator Ted Cruz and his wife Heidi were hounded by anti-Kavanaugh protesters earlier this week are receiving 'death threats'. As well as the employee's receiving threats to their lives, members of their family have also had intimidating warnings from protesters. The protest group which targeted Cruz at the event demanded to know his position on Brett Kavanagh, following his sexual assault allegations, and he was later threatened with messages like: 'You are not safe'. The owner of Fiola, Fabio Trabocchi, took to Twitter to post a statement commending his employee's 'remarkable grit and calm' in the wake of the event on Monday night. Demonstrators surrounded Ted Cruz and his wife Heidi in Fiola, an Italian restaurant near the US Capitol, shouting 'We believe survivors', which prompted them to leave on Monday night In the statement, he said: 'Personally, I am blessed to work with the staff who have handled the harassment and life-threatening messages we and our families have received in the wake of the event. 'They have shown remarkable grit and calm, It is scary to hear anger directed at you and those you love -- I am lucky to work with brave people who respect our work.' 'We did our best Monday night to show DC what it means to live, love and work in a city where all voices are welcome and quite necessary to make a republic work,' the statement read. Fabio Trabocchi has commended his staff at the Washington DC restaurant where Cruz and his wife Heidi were hounded by anti-Kavanaugh protesters earlier this week who are receiving 'death threats' The protest group which targeted Cruz at the event demanded to know his position on Brett Kavanagh as he entered the restaurant (pictured), following his sexual assault allegations, and later threatened him with messages like: 'You are not safe'. 'It takes everyone, Just like any family. It requires respect, listening, and sometimes a little etiquette, like keeping your elbows and politics off the dinner table.' Trabocchi added that although he is not in the 'business of hospitality or public safety' he has since implemented safety measures since the incident. They were made up of activists from Smash Racism DC and a handful of other left wing organizations and ambushed Cruz and his wife at the Italian restaurant near the White House. The owner of Fiola, Fabio Trabocchi, took to Twitter to post a statement commending his employee's 'remarkable grit and calm' in the wake of the event on Monday night They proudly shared videos of their stunt on Twitter afterwards and threatened Cruz, the president and 'any the rest of the racist, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic right-wing scum' by saying ominously: 'You are not safe. We will find you. 'We will expose you. We will take from you the peace you have taken from so many others.' At the start of two videos uploaded by Smash Racism DC on Monday after the stunt, Cruz and his wife are seen making their way to their table as the protesters chanted: 'We believe survivors! We believe survivors!' A handful of protesters stood back and filmed the chaos as other diners watched One of the protesters held his middle finger up in Cruz's face while others screamed at him as he tried to leave Afterwards, Smash Racism DM, a group of activists which formed last year, posted a thread taking responsibility for the stunt and making this threat to Cruz, the president and other Republicans Smash Racism DC would not answer questions about how its members knew where Cruz would be on Monday night when contacted. A spokesman said the organization was 'gathering' media requests and would respond at a later date. In the clip Cruz's wife Heidi stared at the group incredulously then made her way to her seat. The senator told one of the women: 'God bless you ma'am,' then took his seat next to his wife. They were seated for only a few seconds while helpless waiters and restaurant managers tried to control the group before the couple got up to leave. As they left, a woman in the group shouted: 'I deserve to know your position on Brett Kavanagh Senator.' The couple was let out a side door by one of the smartly dressed waiters. The door was closed on the protesters afterwards. They marched out through the front, continuing to shout as they left She earlier described herself as a 'constituent' and taunted the Cruz's by saying: 'I know you're good friends with Kavanaugh.' Brett Kavanaugh has angrily denied claims of drugging a high school girl and taking part in a gang rape leveled at him Wednesday. Julie Swetnick, his new accuser, released a sworn statement through her attorney Michael Avenatti saying that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge were there as she was abused by a 'train' of teenage boys. She said she was drugged 'using Quaaludes or something similar' which had been put in her drink - and that Kavanaugh and his friends would spike 'punch' at parties with grain alcohol or drugs to 'cause girls to lose inhibitions and their ability to say 'No'.' The senator came face to face with a man who stood in his way and asked him firmly: 'Excuse me' The harassing began as Cruz and his wife Heidi (pictured) made their way to their table. Heidi stared back at the protesters incredulously then took her seat without answering them Kavanaugh denied the new bombshell charges. 'This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone,' he said in a statement released by the White House. 'I don't know who this is and this never happened,' he said. The testimony is a fresh blow to Kavanaugh, already accused of two sexual assaults by named women Christine Blasey Ford, who claims Kavanaugh groped her and covered her mouth at a high school party, and Debbie Ramirez, who claims he exposed himself to her at a Yale dorm party. Kavanaugh denies the charges by all three women - and called the latest from 'the Twilight zone', while Donald Trump accused Avenatti of being a 'low-life' who brought false accusations. As footage of the incident spread online, the group tweeted that they had decided to 'interrupt.' 'Noyou cant eat in peaceyour politics are an attack on all of us Youre votes are a death wish. Your votes are hate crimes. Kavanaugh, , went on national television on Monday to deny any inappropriate sexual behavior, telling Fox News that he 'always treated women with dignity and respect' 'Tonight Senator Ted Cruz arrived at Fiola, an upscale restaurant mere steps from the White House, to enjoy a hearty Italian dinner. 'He could have dined on a lavish four course meal for only $145 while millions of Americans struggle to buy groceries. He might have sampled from the top shelf wine list as migrant children languish in cages. 'Hed have laughed with his wife while women and members of the LGBTQ community collectively gasp in horror as Senator Cruz pushes forward on Bret Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination. At least he could have had activists not interrupted his evening just as he was being seated. 'Instead, activists from Smash Racism DC, Resist This, DC IWW, members of DC Democratic Socialists of America, Anarchists, women, sexual assault survivors, and members of the LGBTQ community interrupted Ted Cruzs peaceful meal.' They went on to say that their interruption 'does not compare in scale to the interruptions his actions as a Senator have had on millions of American lives.' 'We hope that it reminds Cruz and others like him that they are not safe from the people they have hurt. 'This is a message to Ted Cruz, Bret Kavanaugh, Donald Trump and the rest of the racist, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic right-wing scum: You are not safe. We will find you. We will expose you. 'We will take from you the peace you have taken from so many others. 'Sincerely, Some Anti Fascist Hooligans. We demand a world free of sexual violence, and state violence. We want a world without prisons, borders, or capitalism,' they said. They signed off by posting the phone number of right-wing activist Gavin McInnes. Smash Racism is part of a coalition of 'anti-fascist' groups known as Shut It Down DC. A toddler had to be rescued after getting her neck trapped in a fence in south-west China. The two-year-old girl was playing with the metal bars at a bus stop in Zunyi city when her neck got stuck between the narrow gaps of the rail. The girl's mother and grandmother were beside her but took their eyes off her for a brief moment. A team of seven firefighters were alerted to the scene on Wednesday and were able to free the girl in five minutes. The child did not sustain any injuries. The two-year-old girl was playing with the metal bars at a bus stop in Zunyi city, south-west China's Guizhou province when her neck got stuck between the narrow gaps of the rail Video of the incident on Wednesday shows the girl appearing in pain as she waited to be freed Video footage of the incident in Guizhou province shows the girl appearing in pain as she waited to be rescued, with her desperate mother propping her head up to relieve the pressure off her neck. Rescuers were alerted to the scene at 1:30pm and came up with a plan to cut the metal bars with a hydraulic tool, according to local media news site Duocai Guizhou. The girl was freed in five minutes and did not suffer from any serious injuries. Seven firefighters were alerted to the scene and were able to free the girl in five minutes Road fences are a safety hazard to many pedestrians in the country The Fire Services Department would like to remind parents to always keep an eye on their children to prevent similar accidents in the future. Road fences are a safety hazard to many pedestrians in China, often causing injuries and even death in some cases. Last month, an elderly man in Xiangyang city, Hubei province had to be rescued after he passed out in the middle of the road and got his neck stuck in a fence. In February, a young woman suffocated after tripping over her luggage and getting her neck stuck in a Fence in Hankou city, also in Hubei province. Police in Japan have arrested a 22-year police officer after he was caught filming up a woman's skirt. A passer-by caught the suspect, Manato Naruse, using his smartphone to film up the woman's skirt on the stairs at Nipponbashi subway station in Osaka, Japan. According to police, the incident occurred at around 5.45pm on September 9 in Osaka City's Chuo Ward, Japan Today reported. The incident took place at the Nipponbashi subway station in Osaka, Japan (above) The suspect, Naruse, who is known to work and live in Wakayama City as a prefectural police officer, was warned by a 29-year-old who noticed him trying to film up the woman's skirt. The man called out to Naruse, who then tried to get away. Naruse and the man scuffled, before the passer-by fell to the ground, injuring his elbow. Upskirting has become common place in Japan, where there are currently no set laws banning it Police said Naruse has admitted to the charge, and quoted him as saying, 'I was caught filming secretly and just wanted to get away.' Naruse has also been charged with violating an anti-nuisance ordinance. The clicking of cameras is never far away in Japan, as surreptitious filming or taking of pictures up the skirts of high school females has long made headlines throughout the country. Up-skirting in Japan has been particulary rife in in places such as Kyoto. In October 2012, a male teacher at a Kyoto city junior high school was caught taking pictures under girls' skirts. Kyoto police could not make an arrest for illegally filming and had to arrest him on another charge. But the incident sparked local interest in expanding the definition of the ordinance, which had been limited to 'public places and transport.' Upskirting is already illegal in Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and some US states. In Japan, all camera phones make a noise when a picture is taken that cannot be turned off, in the hope of discouraging covert photography. Earlier this year, a Japanese man accused of taking pictures up a woman's skirt stabbed two police officers as the verdict in his sex pest case was being delivered. Seiji Yodogawa, 30, reportedly yelled 'what a rotten justice system', as he lunged at the two officers standing in the court gallery and slashed them on their face and back with a hidden knife. He had been charged over allegations he secretly took pictures under a female train passenger's skirt in Sendai, a coastal city north of Tokyo. The incident was filmed in a public building in an unspecified location in the Philippines and uploaded to social media where nearly one million people have viewed it The act of upskirting has also become prominent in the Philippines, where earlier this month a man was caught upskirting a woman while pretending to talk on the phone after the flash went off. The man sat next to the victim on a stairwell, while he pretended to talk on the phone he was seen to place the phone beneath the woman, attempting to take photos. He tries to take another photo of the woman, but the camera flashes, the woman shuts her legs and the man then walks away. Theresa May has furiously dismissed questions about whether her husband Philip has an influence over her policies as a 'sounding board'. The Prime Minister said the question would not have been asked of a male PM in a pre-party conference interview. The clash is potentially embarrassing for the Tories as the interviewer was party deputy chairman and MP James Cleverly. Mrs May infamously made the decision to call a disastrous snap general election last year after a walking holiday with Philip in Snowdonia. Theresa May has furiously dismissed questions about whether her husband Philip (pictured together in Maidenhead on Sunday) has an influence over her policies as a 'sounding board' The clash is potentially embarrassing for the Tories as the interviewer was party deputy chairman and MP James Cleverly (right with the PM after being appointed) Asked about his influence, she told the House magazine: 'I don't think he is part of my decision-making process, he's my husband.' The Prime Minister added: 'I just wondered when you asked me about Philip's role, whether if I was a male Prime Minister, you would have asked the same question about their wife?... 'I'm just raising the question as to whether actually there are those out there who think that because it's a female Prime Minister, therefore there must be a man somewhere.' Mrs May launched a staunch defence of female colleagues and 'nastiness' that has entered politics via social media. She said it was a 'real problem' for politics and could put women off. The PM said: 'It doesn't in terms of me personally, it doesn't distract me. 'But I am conscious that there are some of my female colleagues, across the House it isn't a party thing but across the House, colleagues have really suffered online and continue to suffer online. Obviously we've had some instances investigated by the police and so forth. 'But it is a real problem that this nastiness, this sort of vicious streak has entered into our politics. I think that will put women off. Mrs May also used the interview to reflect on teasing about her dancing on the recent trade mission to Africa (pictured) after Mr Cleverly asked whether she should show her 'irreverent side' more 'It's so important that we ensure we have different views in politics. 'People have come from different points of the political spectrum, but we should be able to debate those, argue them out and do it in a reasonable way, and not resort to this sort of attack that takes place.' Mrs May also used the interview to reflect on teasing about her dancing on the recent trade mission to Africa after Mr Cleverly asked whether she should show her 'irreverent side' more. She said: 'I was tempted to say that there are some people who would say that maybe the dancing in Africa was a side that they haven't seen before but there have been differences of opinion as to whether that was a good thing to do!' But Mrs May added: 'I'm not a stand-up comedian. I am Prime Minister.' While South Africans celebrate Heritage Day on home soil on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa will extend the country's historic legacy by unveiling a statue of late president Nelson Mandela at the United Nations headquarters in NY. "At 1.8 metres tall the Nelson Mandela Statue is the only life-size statue at the United Nations headquarters signifying the role he played in unifying the world under the banner of peace and conflict resolution" the Presidency said. The day-long summit, with almost 160 scheduled speakers, set the stage for Tuesday's opening of the General Assembly's annual meeting of world leaders, where conflicts from Syria to South Sudan, rising unilateralism, and tackling a warming planet and growing inequality are among issues expected to be in the spotlight. eNCA's Khayelihle Khumalo is there. He challenged us to work together, and to do better. The African National Congress had its headquarters in Zambia's capital Lusaka, and the country as one the Frontline States actively contributed towards ending the apartheid minority rule in South Africa leading to the eventual release of Nelson Mandela. Member states at the summit adopted the first resolution of the General Assembly's 73rd session, "committing to demonstrate mutual respect, tolerance, understanding and reconciliation in (their) relations". "Great statesmen", Rouhani said, "tend to build bridges instead of walls". Childish Gambino Postpones Concert Amid Foot Injury! The Dallas concert was the ninth stop on Gambino's This Is America tour , which started September 6 in Atlanta . Childish Gambino's This Is America tour has been postponed after reportedly going through a foot injury. He said none of us should be satisfied or at peace if others were struggling for their very survival. Others, like Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, made decidedly unsubtle references to U.S. President Donald Trump. "It is an occasion for addressing real challenges and dire conditions faced by victimized human beings and communities around the world", he said. But close USA allies are also continuing to express unease with Trump's approach to global affairs. "We are proud to call him a Bharat Ratna- a Jewel of India", she added. Trump will address the General Assembly on Tuesday, when heads of government begin taking turns in addressing that forum on pressing global issues. Trump announced Monday he will likely hold a second summit with Kim "quite soon", to seek progress in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula that he and Kim committed two at a summit in Singapore in June. Sculpture on his Twitter page showed the current President of South Africa Cyril of Ramaphosa. The beluga whale spotted in the River Thames three days ago has been sighted again heading towards London, sparking concerns about the animal's wellbeing. Experts today said the beluga - nicknamed Benny - could remain in the Thames for weeks or even months if it is 'happy feeding'. Concerns have been made about the whale's safety as it makes its way up towards the narrower stretches of the Thames. A boat from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue - an organisation dedicated to the rescue and well-being of marine animals in distress around the UK - circled the barge close to where the whale keeps surfacing Concerns had been growing for the beluga whale spotted in the River Thames estuary Conservationists have expressed fears it could fall ill by eating plastic in the river. The pearl-white mammals hump could be seen rising to the surface close to a jetty near Gravesend, Kent just after 10.30am this morning. How beluga whales are common in the Arctic Belugas, also known as white whales, are known for having rounded foreheads and no dorsal fin. The marine mammals feed feed on fish, crustaceans, and worms. Ranging from 13ft to 20ft in length, the whales are common in the Arctic Ocean's coastal waters. But they migrate southwards in large herds when the sea freezes over. The whales, whose scientific name is Delphinapterus leucas, have an average life span in the wild is 35 to 50 yaers, and weigh around a tonne. A beluga whale was last seen in the UK three years ago off the coast of Northumberland, and sightings in Britain are said to be very rare. Advertisement The rare sea creature arched its body clear every couple of minutes to whoops of delight from onlookers, who had gathered on the banks to catch a glimpse of the now-world famous Beluga - nicknamed Benny. The whale had moved several hundred metres up river towards London from where it was spotted throughout Wednesday. A patrol boat from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) spent three hours monitoring the whale on Wednesday. Experts have allayed fears the whale could be in danger, assuring people that it is in good health and is returning to the same area to feed. Director Geoff Hammock and Thames region coordinator Sam Lipman used a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) to get close to the Beluga whale. The whale appears to be 'fine' said Mr Hammock, who added: 'It is as well as can be expected. We think it is feeding.' But Ms Lipman said the whale could stay in the Thames 'for weeks or months if he or she is happy feeding'. An RNLI crew watch from their rib as a beluga whale swam in the Thames The beluga whale breaches in the river Thames close to Gravesend, Kent She added: 'They are aware, they understand who they are and what they are. It means they make their own decisions. It will be down to him or her to make up their mind. 'We are looking at body condition and behaviour. We are just going on what we can observe. 'It looks like it could be a sub-adult, it has grey tinges. There have only been about 20 reports in British waters so it is a really rare occurrence. 'If you have to get in the water don't get too close. Watch from land respectfully, but if anybody is too loud it can affect them.' The beluga whale swimming in the Thames near Gravesend, Kent Despite initial fears the 'very lost' mammal's life could be in danger, the RSPCA has assured watchers Benny has moved further down the Thames out towards the estuary, 'which is a good sign' A boat from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue continues to monitor the whale Beluga whales are quite often inquisitive, said Mr Hammock, who said the BDMLR's task was to monitor the whale and see how it is behaving. He said: 'We think that if there was not any food it would have been looking for food. It keeps coming back to the same point.' The whale is believed to be up to three metres long. It was first near Tilbury Docks on the River Thames, 30 miles from the sea, on Tuesday. Emmanuel Macron insisted Britain would 'for sure' be allowed to reverse the Brexit decision today as he resumed his attack on Eurosceptic 'lies' in the referendum. The French president risked wading back into UK politics by saying leaving the EU was more 'complicated' than voters had thought. The intervention will heap fresh pressure on Theresa May as she desperately struggles to find a way through the Brexit impasse. The PM is facing calls from within Cabinet to consider a Canada-style trade deal with the EU if her Chequers plan fails. Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn has issued an ultimatum that Labour will oppose any agreement that does not include a customs union - a red line for Mrs May. Emmanuel Macron (pictured right chatting with Theresa May, centre, and Belgian premier Charles Michel in New York last night) said the UK would 'for sure' be welcomed back into the EU if it reversed the Brexit decision At a UN meeting in New York last night, Theresa May and Mr Macron were seen exchanging kisses of greeting despite tensions over Brexit Mr Macron - who led a brutal assault by EU leaders on Mrs May's Chequers plan at last week's Salzburg summit - launched his latest salvo in an interview with Bloomberg. Merkel warns surging nationalist politics is splitting Europe Surging nationalist politics is undermining the unity of Europe, Angela Merkel warned tonight. In remarks that will be seen as a coded attack on both Brexit and Donald Trump, Mrs Merkel told fellow conservatives at an event of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin that the European Union and Germany were facing a watershed moment. Her speech comes two days after President Trump rejected globalism and touted 'America First' in a United Nations speech. It is also a week after a disastrous EU summit which saw Brexit talks sink to a new low. Mrs Merkel said: 'Perhaps the most threatening development for me is that multilateralism has come under such pressure 'Europe is facing attacks from the outside and from the inside.' Advertisement Speaking at a climate meeting in New York, he was asked whether the bloc would 'have the UK back' if it decided not to go ahead with Brexit. 'For sure,' he replied, while stressing that it was not an issue for him to decide whether Britain changed its position and he 'respected the choice' of voters. Pressed whether abandoning Brexit would mean giving up the opportunity of luring London bankers to Paris, Mr Macron said: 'This is about history, not about domestic interests... 'I did regret this vote for the rest of Europe and for our very special relationship (with Britain).' Mr Macron also resumed his assault on the Leave campaign 'lies' during the referendum two years ago. 'It costs a lot, it's much more complicated than they initially thought,' he said. The remarks will heighten tensions amid claims senior Tories including Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab harbour doubts over the PM's insistence that no deal is the only alternative to her blueprint. They are keen to avoid a situation where the EU rejects the Chequers proposal at a crunch summit next months and negotiations essentially collapse without a 'Plan B'. Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at Labour conference yesterday) moved to exploit Mrs May's Brexit woes by demanding a customs union with the EU Senior figures including Sajid Javid (left) and Jeremy Hunt (right) are said to harbour doubts over the PM's insistence that no deal is the only alternative to her blueprint However, the group have not presented any new solutions to the issue of the Irish border, according to The Times. Chink of light for May as DUP dismisses rival Brexit blueprint DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson The DUP has delivered a much-needed boost for Theresa May by dismissing a 'vague and contradictory' rival plan for Brexit. Sammy Wilson of the Northern Ireland party - which is propping the PM up in power - said a Canada-style blueprint was 'not something we could support'. Boris Johnson, David Davis and Jacob Rees-Mogg were among the Tory Brexiteers who endorsed the plan put forward by the free-market Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) last week. The paper urged a 'clean break' from Brussels with a 'basic' free trade agreement for goods. It warned that Britain would squander an 'historic opportunity' to broaden its horizons if Mrs May stuck to her proposals. But DUP Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson told the Belfast News Letter that the proposals were 'inconsistent'. 'I am not sure if this report is deliberately vague or just not very well thought out,' he said. 'It talks about the goods which are regulated differently in EU member states, and uses the phrase 'of which there are many'. 'Are they saying that the UK government would commit to, or the NI Executive would be required to commit to, copying all of the EU regulations in relation to that myriad number of goods? That is not clear.' Advertisement With just weeks left to break the deadlock in negotiations, Mr Corbyn is also holding talks Michel Barnier in Brussels amid mounting fears anything that emerges will be blocked by Parliament. Mr Corbyn said he would be urging Mr Barnier and his team to do 'all they can' to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The EU side apparently requested the meeting after learning that Mr Corbyn was coming to Brussels to attend the naming of a square after murdered Labour MP Jo Cox. The encounter will raise anxiety among Brexiteers that Mr Corbyn is plotting with the EU to frustrate the UK's departure. The veteran left-winger used his party conference speech yesterday to insist Mrs May must call a general election unless she is prepared to drop her red line against joining a customs union with the EU. Mr Corbyn couched his demand as 'reaching out' to the PM to get a 'sensible deal' through parliament - but it was denounced by Tories as a naked attempt to gain power. Mrs May says a customs union would deny Britain the opportunity to strike trade deals around the world. Accepting the idea would almost certainly spell the end of Mrs May's time in Downing Street and plunge the Tories into turmoil, making an election and Corbyn government much more likely. Labour has set six tests for a Brexit deal - including securing the 'exact same benefits' - that seem designed to be impossible to pass. The conference also agreed that if the party cannot force an election, the option of holding a referendum should be kept 'on the table'. There was a glimmer of light for Mrs May today as it emerged the DUP has dismissed a 'vague and contradictory' rival plan for Brexit. Sammy Wilson of the Northern Ireland party - which is propping the PM up in power - said a Canada-style blueprint was 'not something we could support'. Boris Johnson, David Davis and Jacob Rees-Mogg were among the Tory Brexiteers who endorsed the plan put forward by the free-market Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) last week. The paper urged a 'clean break' from Brussels with a 'basic' free trade agreement for goods. It warned that Britain would squander an 'historic opportunity' to broaden its horizons if Mrs May stuck to her proposals. But DUP Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson told the Belfast News Letter that the proposals were 'inconsistent'. 'I am not sure if this report is deliberately vague or just not very well thought out,' he said. 'It talks about the goods which are regulated differently in EU member states, and uses the phrase 'of which there are many'. In a Bloomberg interview in New York (pictured), The French president risked wading back into UK politics despite facing a furious backlash over his meddling at last week's Salzburg summit 'Are they saying that the UK government would commit to, or the NI Executive would be required to commit to, copying all of the EU regulations in relation to that myriad number of goods? That is not clear.' Mrs May and Mr Macron looked to have buried the hatchet at a UN meeting in New York last night after their explosive fallout over Brexit. The two leaders were seen exchanging kisses of greeting before laughing and joking alongside Belgian premier Charles Michel. EU says it will 'keep calm and keep negotiation' on Brexit The EU commission says it will 'keep calm and keep negotiating' despite growing fears over a no-deal Brexit. Spokesman Margaritis Schinas dismissed 'horror stories' that the bloc is ramping up contingency planning in case negotiations collapse. He told journalists at a regular briefing that although the commission was getting ready for all outcomes, the focus was still on getting an agreement. 'Keep calm and keep negotiating,' Mr Schinas said. Diplomats later said the EU will wait until November before kicking off full-blown preparations for no deal. EU envoys from the 27 member states held talks yesterday on stepping up contingency planning. 'We will wait for if and when the negotiations with Britain officially fail to kickstart more open work among the 27 on preparing for a no-deal,' a senior diplomat said. 'We've given ourselves until November.' Advertisement The warm scenes were a million miles from the Salzburg summit last week - when Mr Macron led a brutal assault on Mrs May's Chequers plan for Brexit. The PM had hoped to get a signal from her EU counterparts that they were close to a deal on the future relationship. But instead the Frenchman pushed his colleagues into issuing a blunt statement that Mrs May's blueprint 'will not work' as it would undermine the single market. He then flouted diplomatic convention by wading into UK politics, delivering an extraordinary rant about how the British public had been tricked by 'liars' during the referendum in 2016. The backlash left Mrs May visibly shaken in Salzburg, before she regrouped and made her own defiant statement from No10 accusing her colleagues of lacking 'respect' for the UK. Despite the more cordial tone of their encounter in New York yesterday, there is little sign that Mr Macron is minded to back down in his condemnation of Mrs May's blueprint - which would effectively keep Britain in the single market for goods. He is said to have threatened to boycott a looming summit in November that could seal a deal unless the the PM bows to demands over the Irish border. The EU insists Northern Ireland must stay within its customs union to avoid a hard border - but Mrs May says this is totally unacceptable as it would split the UK. A woman who threatened to commit suicide by jumping off her third-floor flat in east China was saved by firefighters. In a video of the rescue released by police, the distressed woman was seen sitting on the windowsill of her flat in Wenzhou city, Anhui province, with one leg dangling over the ledge. A fireman was seen pushing the woman back inside the home with a long rod while another rescuer used a high-pressure water cannon to blast her back inside. The dramatic rescue happened over a span of 10 seconds. A woman who tried to commit suicide by jumping off her third-floor fat in Wenzhou city, east China's Anhui province was saved by firefighters on Wednesday in a dramatic rescue A rescuer used a high-pressure water cannon to blast the suicidal woman back into her flat Firefighters and police officers on scene on Wednesday failed to talk the woman out of hurting herself after 30 minutes of negotiations. Acting swiftly, the rescuers decided to first approach her from her neighbour's flat. Wearing a safety harness, a firefighter was filmed climbing out of the adjacent window and reaching the woman with a rod. He pushes her back inside with the rod, but she reappears back at the window right away. Acting swiftly, the rescuers decided to first approach her from her neighbour's flat Wearing a safety harness, a firefighter was filmed climbing out of the adjacent window and reaching the woman with a rod. When that failed, they deployed the water cannon on her Fearing she might jump, firefighters on the ground deployed the water hose on the woman. The pressure of the water forced her back inside the flat, where other officers were then able to restrain her. Five minutes later, she was taken to hospital for a checkup, according to the Anhui Fengtai county public security bureau on their official Weibo account. The authorities have not disclosed the reasons behind her suicide attempt. For confidential support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. A new mother whose baby was decapitated during a botched delivery today revealed how a 'lovely' doctor reattached his head so she could kiss and cuddle him for the first time. Laura Gallazzi, 24, was just over 25 weeks pregnant when her baby Steven died at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee in March 2014. Today, while stroking the blue teddy containing her son's ashes, she told how she heard a stomach-churning 'pop' as the infant's legs, arms and torso became detached, leaving his head inside her womb. She then underwent a Caesarean section to remove the head and it was sewn onto the tragic infant's body so that she could say goodbye. Earlier this year, a tribunal cleared gynaecologist Dr Vaishnavy Laxman to go back to work, despite finding her culpable of medical failures during the 2014 procedure. Miss Gallazzi, 34, told the BBC her baby's head was sewn back on by another medic so she could spend time with his body - but she initially said: 'I don't want to see him - don't bring him in here'. But she added: 'The doctor, she was really lovely. She said, "it's alright". Her words were "I've fixed him".' I couldn't hold him properly but I was able to look at him, and kiss him and smell him. But it wasn't the same, it's not the same as what it should have been.' Laura Gallazzi's son Steven died after he was decapitated during a botched delivery by Dr Vaishnavy Vilvanathan Laxman and the bereft mother revealed a differenr doctor sewed his head back on so she could cuddle him Laura Gallazzi was just over 25 weeks pregnant when her baby was delivered She had expected to have a caesarean as the baby was in breech position but Dr Laxman proceeded with a regular delivery. The baby's head became trapped during the birth and various techniques were tried to free it, but during this his 'head became detached from his body', a medical tribunal found. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MTPS) panel said he had died before this happened. Laura would later a blue teddy and Steven's cremated ashes were placed inside. Stroking the teddy she told BBC Scotland's Kaye Adams said: 'I felt a pop' - and initially looked at a ring on her hand believing it had snapped during labour. She said: 'I'm thinking to myself, "well, what was that?" "I felt nothing between my legs, so I thought 'I've done it. I've done it. My son's here'. "I didn't hear him crying but I wasn't too worried about that because I knew he was so small. "Then the room went into absolute chaos. "People were rushing about. There was a guy who tried to go out the room. I caught his gaze. "He kind of stopped, kind of turned back on himself and sort of continued doing what he was doing. "The next word I heard was 'right push again'. And I'm thinking to myself 'why am I pushing again? I've done it'. "I thought I'd done it. Then a couple of minutes later, it's 'oh, you're going to be put to sleep'." Ms Gallazzi has now launched a petition calling for stillborn babies to be given a legal identity Ms Gallazzi said she was 'absolutely distraught' when she was told that her son had died A heartbreaking card written by Ms Gallazzi to her 'darling little boy', who was named 'Steven' Ms Gallazzi added that when she first arrived at the hospital midwives helped her prepare for a premature birth and all seemed well. She told BBC Scotland: 'I was told my baby was OK. 'They wanted to keep him in my belly for as long as possible because he was in the best possible place - and I was in the hospital so I was in the best place.' When she felt a tightening around her stomach she was moved to the labour suite as a precaution but the next day the umbilical cord emerged from the womb and medical staff sprang into action. She told the broadcaster: 'I started screaming, panicking and shouting, hitting the buzzer and all these midwives came in. 'I was taken to the first available room, put on the bed, wheeled through to theatre, put on another bed. 'I heard something about being only being two to three centimetres. My son's heart rate was dipped but it was there. 'I was thinking to myself 'You have to stay calm, you have to stay calm for your son. You're in the right place, all these people know what they're doing. Just trust them'.' 'The doctor said 'Push' - and I'm thinking to myself 'No, I'm not in labour, I don't feel like I need to push'.' Attempts to deliver the baby, named Steven, continued for another 20 to 25 minutes. Ms Gallazzi said she was 'absolutely distraught' when she was told that her son had died. The MTPS panel cleared Dr Laxman of serious misconduct. It said her fitness to practise was not impaired and ruled that she could return to work. Ms Gallazzi has now launched a petition calling for a change in Scottish law to give stillborn babies a legal identity. German neo-Nazis have thrown a 'family-friendly' folk festival in central Germany in an attempt to broaden their appeal amid a rise in support for the far-Right. The annual Eichsfeld Day celebrations, organized by self-described neo-Nazi party the NPD, typically take the form of a rock festival featuring extremist lyrics. But this year the party opted instead for calmer folk music alongside a bouncy castle, face-painting and children's games in an attempt to attract families. Self-described neo-Nazi party the NPD held an annual far-Right festival in Germany earlier this month, but changed the music from rock to folk in an attempt to broaden their appeal Activities included face-painting, sack races, a bouncy castle and other children's games in order to encourage families to attend Rene Schneemann, the deputy head of the NPD in Eichsfeld, explained to the New York Times that it was all part of an effort to connect with everyday people. 'We wanted to be closer to the people,' he told reporter John Eligon, who attended the festival despite being black. 'The people dont necessarily like this far-Right rock music. So it is better to do something that appeals to families.' Sack races were another feature of the festival, while families were also encouraged to attend in colourful or traditional outfits. But between the children's games stalls advertised albums labelled with 'White Power', while another showed an offensive caricature of a black man with his arms around a white woman and the slogan: 'Guess who's staying for breakfast?' Despite the festival's attempt to attract more people, only around 200 turned up out of a typical attendance of around 800, the Times reported. There is rising support for the far-Right across Europe but particularly in Germany where it has been fuelled by fears over mass migration Chemnitz, in eastern Germany, has been the scene of far-Right protests after a man was stabbed to death by two Middle Eastern suspects (pictured, a sculpture of a Nazi-saluting wolf which has been erected there in recent weeks amid the unrest) However, that could perhaps be chalked down to another far-Right rally happening in the town of Chemnitz - a focal point of racial tensions in recent weeks - happening on the same day. In fact there were 289 far-Right events in Germany last year, the most of any year since 2005 and marking a steady increase from 2014. That coincides with rising support for the far-Right across Europe, and in Germany in particular, largely fueled by fears over migration. At the last general election, the AfD - described by some as neo-Nazi, though they refute the label - won almost 13 per cent of votes and gained seats in parliament for the first time in six decades. Germany accepted almost 1million migrants after Chancellor Angela Merkel threw open Germany's borders in 2015 amid a crisis in Europe. Racial tensions increased dramatically after Angela Merkel's decision to open Germany's borders to almost 1million migrants in 2015 A 22-year-old German man was also stabbed to death, allegedly by two Afghan men, in the town of Koethen, also in eastern Germany At the time she promised the country could 'handle it', hoping to prove how far Germany had come from its Nazi history, but instead inflamed racial tensions. Since then she has been forced to take a much tougher line on migration after her poll numbers fell to an all-time low, almost toppling her from power. Meanwhile the EU has also been promising action on migration and border security, pledging to make the issue its top priority in new budget documents. But that has not stopped protesters taking to the streets, including in Chemnitz, where far-Right activists gathered after a German man was stabbed to death, allegedly by an Iraqi and a Syrian. Hundreds of people took to the streets, throwing banned Nazi salutes and allegedly chasing foreign-looking people through the streets. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has voiced support for the #MeToo movement in a striking statement on the eve of a high-stakes Senate hearing into allegations of sexual misconduct by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Addressing first-year law students at Georgetown University in Washington, Justice Ginsburg said she was 'cheered on' by the fact that #MeToo had encouraged victims to speak about sexual harassment and assault. The 85-year-old, known to fans as the Notorious R.B.G, said all women of her generation had suffered sexual harassment, but had not thought anything could be done to stop it. Iconic: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she had been 'cheered on' by the #MeToo movement 'Every woman of my vintage has not just one story but many stories, but we thought there was nothing you could do about it - boys will be boys - so just find a way to get out of it,' Ginsburg, 85. Ginsburg, whose life will be chronicled in the new biopic 'On the Basis of Sex' starring Felicity Jones, said that the #MeToo movement showed women coming together in numbers. 'So it was one complaint and then one after another the complaints mounted. So women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior.' Notorious R.B.G.: The 85-year-old Supreme Court judge said all women of her generation had suffered some form of sexual assault or harassment, but had not thought there was anything that could be done to stop it Ginsburg did not mention Kavanaugh or the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, but her remarks came in the eve of his crucial appearance before the Senate judiciary committee Ginsburg - who was confirmed 96 to three in 1993 - did not mention Kavanaugh or the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. During a Senate hearing on Thursday, one accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will testify about an alleged 1982 incident in which she said Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both of them were in high school. Two other women have come forward with allegations. Kavanaugh, who was named by Trump to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired in July, has denied the allegations. The Supreme Court's 2018 term officially begins on October 1st. A United Airlines flight attendant caused outrage after telling a mother her 18-month-old child was 'not allowed to cry for more than five minutes'. Krupa Patel Bala, her husband, and 8-month-old son were flying Tuesday from Sydney to San Francisco when the incident took place. According to an emotive post on Krupa's Facebook while they were still on the flight, the young mom claimed the flight attendant told her it was 'absolutely unacceptable' for her child to cry. 'I'm traveling with my husband and 8-month old son and we purchased business class seats with a bassinet for the baby,' Krupa said in the post. Krupa Patel Bala (right) was with her husband and eight-month-old child at the time of the incident Facebook-employee Krupa (right) pictured meeting former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama last year 'After about 5 minutes of the baby crying in the bassinet, Linda (the flight attendant manager who is also our server and the purser) came over and *yelled* at my husband it was 'absolutely unacceptable' for the baby to cry.' Krupa, who works for Facebook, said she was told by the flight attendant that United Airlines official rules state that babies aren't allowed to cry for more than five minutes. She was then allegedly pulled aside by the hostess who asked why she hadn't given the child his bottle back and said the infant had 'really stressed the crew out'. 'Parents of newborns have it hard enough already traveling with a baby and we certainly don't need CREW MANAGERS piling on when we are doing our best to ensure we're containing our children and their cries,' Krupa continued. The startled mother later said that the plane's captain had come over to her with the flight attendant to apologize, but only he actually said he was sorry. United Airlines later apologized and offered the passengers a refund over the incident on Tuesday Krupa said she was told by the flight attendant that babies on United flights aren't allowed to cry for more than five minutes After the incident was brought to light United Airlines released a statement saying: 'We've been in touch with our customer via social media and United representatives met the family upon arrival to apologize, offer a refund and make clear that the experience she relayed doesn't reflect our commitment to serving our customers, including our youngest customers. 'Young families are welcome on our flights, including in business class. We are continuing to review the incident internally and the flight attendant is being held out of service pending the investigation.' United Airlines is no stranger to controversy having caused a storm over the treatment of a passenger who was dragged off a flight after refusing to give up his seat. The story was widely published and hotly debated after passengers were filmed screaming as Dao was brutally forced from the plane. He was also pictured covered in blood after the incident which prompted an outpouring of sympathy and widespread condemnation of the airline's handling of the incident. Dr David Dao pictured covered in his own blood and being dragged off the United Airlines flight in April last year Alysia Smedley, of Warsop, Nottinghamshire, admitted engaging in sexual activity with three girls, who were all under the age of 16 A 22-year-old woman believed to be one of the youngest female paedophiles in Britain has been jailed for a string of sex offences against young girls. Alysia Smedley, of Warsop, Nottinghamshire, admitted engaging in sexual activity with three girls, who were all under the age of 16. A court heard she was already a registered sex offender after receiving a suspended sentence in October 2016 for sexual activity with a child. Smedley, then 20, was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order which she then breached on several occasions by making contact with young girls. On one occasion she had arranged to take one of her victims to spend the night in a wood but she changed those plans when it started raining. She instead took the girl to her friend's house and kept her away from her family home for 24 hours while her worried mother reported her missing. During the night Smedley kissed her victim and touched her naked breast beneath her clothing as they camped out on the friend's floor. Smedley admitted 12 offences at Nottingham Crown Court (file picture) and was sentenced Smedley pleaded guilty to 12 offences, including one count of sexual assault and four of sexual activity with a child at Nottingham Crown Court. She also admitted one count of child abduction as well as breaching the terms of her court order on seven occasions by being in contact with five girls. Smedley was jailed for three years and given a five year restraining order banning her from contacting three of the victims on Tuesday. She appeared in court alongside her former partner Katie Hicken, 22, who admitted to one charge of sexual activity with a child. Hicken, also of Warsop, was handed a conditional discharge for the offence which involved her kissing a young girl and giving her 'love bites'. 'Smedley is a dangerous individual that has preyed on young girls and this has had a significant impact on their lives Detective Constable Louisa McGregor Detective Constable Louisa McGregor, of Nottinghamshire Police, said afterwards: 'Smedley is a dangerous individual that has preyed on young girls and this has had a significant impact on their lives. 'We'd like to thank the victims and their families for their commitment in this case and for putting their trust in us. It has been a lengthy investigation and we are pleased they can now put this behind them.' An NSPCC spokesman told MailOnline: 'The abuse inflicted by predators like Smedley can cause immense pain and suffering that takes years for victims to overcome. 'We would urge anyone concerned about a child to contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 as it could save them from serious harm.' Carlos Mejia, 43, allegedly attacked the woman outside his hotel room after being denied a cigarette A hedge fund manager has been arrested for slashing a bride with a sword and threatening to kill her on her wedding day on Saturday. Carlos Mejia, 43, allegedly attacked the woman, whose name is being withheld due to the nature of the charges, outside his hotel room after being denied a cigarette. He had been arguing with her and members of the wedding party at the Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg, New Jersey, reports the New Jersey Herald. The bridge sustained a laceration to her left arm and was rushed to Newton Medical Center, however her injuries were not thought to be life-threatening. Mejia, from New York, was arrested by Hardyston police and charged with assault and terrorist threats. He is believed to work in the city and has been employed by the firm he works for more than a decade before opening an office in his native Colombia. The accused was thought to be staying as a guest at the hotel for a work-related event, said First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller. During his stay he approached the bridal party and asked if he could have a cigarette, according to the affidavit from Mejia's arrest. The affidavit states that either they did not have one to give him, or refused to, resulting in a verbal dispute. He had been arguing with her and members of the wedding party at the Crystal Springs Resort (pictured) in Hamburg, New Jersey, reports the New Jersey Herald Mejia then began yelling at the bride and the rest of the group before heading back to his hotel room, witnesses report. Police have added that he was wielding the sword at the bride while threatening to kill her, before slicing her arm with it. Although a witness called police as Mejia made a bid to leave, he had to be stopped by several guests and detained by security until they arrived. Mejia was also spotted wandering around the hotel holding the sword prior to the attack. During his interview, which was 'inconclusive', it was decided that Mejia appeared to be 'under the influence of drugs or alcohol' during the events. Mejia is charged with third-degree aggravated assault with bodily injury, third-degree terroristic threats, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and a disorderly persons offense of harassment. The businessman was reportedly booked into the Sussex County Jail and released, pending a court appearance. Advertisement A tiny baby albino squirrel is being hand reared at an animal hospital after being blown out of a tree. The four-week-old baby - who weighs just 49 grams and fit into the palm of his carer's hand - was found by a passer-by and taken for treatment. He arrived at Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital in Salisbury 'shaken up' but had not suffered any broken bones. He is thought to be one of just 25 albino squirrels living in the UK. Scroll down for video Omo the albino squirrel, pictured, is one of 25 of the creatures suffering the skin pigmentation condition in Britain The four-week-old baby was handed into Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital in Salisbury having been blown out of a tree by high winds The little squirrel is being bottle-fed kitten milk formula to help build him up from his current weight of only 49 grams The baby squirrel, whose carers have name him 'Omo', is now being bottle-fed kitten milk formula and a mix of beech nuts and hazelnuts during his recovery at the hospital. Care supervisor at the animal charity, Marilyn Korkis, said: 'We have never had an albino squirrel before - we've had an albino hedgehog but never a squirrel. 'The little chap was very cold and shaken up but wasn't suffering from any injuries. 'He is still very young but we don't treat him any differently to any other young squirrel - he eats the same food and acts exactly the same, the only difference is that he is albino. 'He is very playful and energetic, he doesn't stay still for very long.' It is believed the young squirrel was blown out of its tree in Hampshire during high winds. Experts believe he could not have fallen further than five metres because he did not sustain any broken bones. The pink-eyed baby will not be released back into the wild until at least the spring as it is uncertain whether he would be able to survive on his own. The odds of a squirrel having the gene mutation and being born as an albino are thought to be one in 100,000 Carers will keep Omo at the wildlife centre over the winter as he would struggle to survive in the harsh conditions Albino animals lack melanin - a dark pigment occurring in the hair, skin, and iris of the eye - it is responsible for the tanning of skin when exposed to sunlight Ms Korkis added: 'Squirrels in our care won't have the same eating habits as they do in the wild so they could starve if they were released. 'He will spend the winter with us and we'll wait until the spring and get some advice from experts in the field about what to do next.' There are estimated to be 25 albino squirrels living in the UK - the odds of a squirrel being born albino are thought to be one in 100,000. Albinism is due to gene mutations that affect the production of pigmentation - the natural colouring of animal tissue. Albino animals lack melanin - a dark pigment occurring in the hair, skin, and iris of the eye - it is responsible for the tanning of skin when exposed to sunlight. The budget airline announced yesterday that 190 flights would be cancelled because of industrial action by staff in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and Germany. These comprised 600 cancelled flights at the end of July - again due to a cabin staff strike; and 400 cancelled flights in August, due to pilot strikes. The canceled flights make up 8 percent of Ryanair's 2,400 flights planned for September 28. Ryanair released a statement telling those affected that it "sincerely regrets these unnecessary customer disruptions", which it blames on agitation from competitor airlines. Workers based in countries other than Ireland are unhappy that Ryanair has been employing them under Irish legislation. Ryanair must also provide 35% of flights within the peninsula where the alternative overland route is less than five hours, and 59% of flights where the overland alternative is longer than five hours. Oculus Won't Lock You Out Of Games With Future Headsets The device features positional inside-out tracking, as well as tracking for the hand controllers. The fifth Oculus Connect developer conference is underway in San Jose, California this week. The Irish airline says this will affect 30,000 passengers, who have been notified by text and email. "Over 90% of Ryanair's 2,400 flights and 450,000 customers on Friday will be unaffected by these unnecessary strikes". When contacted by Luxembourg Times, LuxAirport could not confirm whether any Ryanair flights in or out of Luxembourg would be affected by the strike. Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair's chief marketing officer, said the airline apologized for the strikes, "which we have done our utmost to avoid, given that we have already offered these unions recognition agreements, Collective Labour Agreements, and a move to local contracts/law in 2019". "When we can successfully do deals with unions in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Italy, why are some unions in Belgium, Holland and Spain not doing similar deals?" Oxford University students have blasted bosses after a 25million halls of residence was not finished in time for the start of term. Undergraduates say their Freshers' Week has been 'ruined' after their move-in date was delayed by four days while builders finish work on the HB Allen Centre. Second and third year students at Keble College have been told to 'postpone their arrival in Oxford' by four days to October 4. Builders are still finishing work on the HB Allen Centre for students at Oxford University Second and third year students at Keble College have been told to 'postpone their arrival' Undergraduates say their Freshers' Week has been 'ruined' after the move-in date was delayed The college planned to house 120 students in the building, but many are staying in temporary accommodation because fire safety checks were not carried out in time. Letters have now been sent out to scores of students telling them to stay at home until the building is deemed ready. College warden Jonathan Phillips told student newspaper Cherwell: 'We have managed to book some hotel accommodation, but this is the busiest week of the year and there are hardly any rooms available.' He said students with 'a compelling reason' would be able to move in on the previously planned date of this Sunday. The college planned to house 120 students there, but many are in temporary accommodation Letters have been sent out to students telling them to stay at home until the building is ready But he added that 'we cannot accept as a compelling reason the fact that the only time you can be brought to college is at the weekend.' Students at Keble have expressed their anger at the delays, claiming it will 'ruin' their Freshers' Week celebrations. A third year historian at Keble affected by the changes said: 'Following on from the mind-numbingly stupid decision to renovate hall during term-time and not the vac, Keble's latest construction-related announcement adds further to student's woes. 'Weeks of carefully planned collections revision is now in flux and most importantly, Freshers' Week, the pinnacle of any second year's university career, has been totally and spectacularly ruined.' An artist's impression of how the university hopes the HB Allen Centre will look once finished The ground floor plan for the new HB Allen Centre for Keble College at Oxford University The Oxford skyline is pictured, with the Radcliffe Camera and All Souls College visible Students who have been forced to change their move-in date will have the rent deducted from their termly bill. Famous Keble alumni include former American president Ronald Reagan, Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and ex-shadow chancellor Ed Balls. Neither the university nor the college wished to comment when approached by MailOnline today. Singapore's largest supermarket-chain operator has stopped importing strawberries from Australia amid the nation's fruit contamination crisis. NTUC FairPrice confirmed on Thursday they had stopped importing strawberries from Australia after there were at least 100 reports of tampered fruit across the country. As a 'precautionary measure', the operator halted their strawberry imports from Australia on Monday. Singapore's largest supermarket-chain operator NTUC FairPrice has stopped importing strawberries from Australia amid the nation's fruit contamination crisis (pictured) 'We continue to monitor the situation closely, and our food safety protocols and procedures are also in place should we need to recall any products, in compliance with the authorities advisories,' a FairPrice spokesperson told AFP. The food retailer added that strawberry sales declined by 10 per cent following reports of the sabotage crisis. Sheng Siong, another supermarket in Singapore, has requested that suppliers use metal detectors to ensure the fruit hasn't been sabotaged, the Straits Times reported. The crisis began on September 9 when a Brisbane man was rushed to hospital after eating a punnet of strawberries containing a needle. Customers continued to find needles in their strawberries in the days following the first reported incident. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Australian shoppers to support the farmers, who are suffering from the contamination crisis. Mr Morrison outlined several government-backed measures to restore confidence in the industry on Thursday. This included funding to review tamper-proof packaging options and the introduction of X-rays and shrink wrapping on exports. As a 'precautionary measure' the Singaporean operator halted their strawberry imports from Australia on Monday (stock image) 'There's work also being done to support communications up through the supply chain into our international markets,' he told reporters at a farm in the northeast state of Queensland. The additional screening measures were prompted by a string of incidents and reports the crisis had spread overseas. Last week a needle was found in a punnet of Australian strawberries in New Zealand. 'Whoever the idiot was who started this, his idiocy has been completely and totally overwhelmed by the good nature of the Australian people who have stood with our strawberry farmers,' Mr Morrison said. Several cases of strawberry contamination have been confirmed as hoaxes shared to social media as well as copycat offending. Canberra has notified international markets that since September 19 Australian exporters are required to give assurance that their strawberry shipment is free of metal contaminants before they are granted a permit. Two teenage boys had to be rescued from the side of a mountain on Thursday after one of them dropped their iPhone. Ambulance Victoria's rescue helicopter was sent to Cathedral Range Park, in Victoria's north east, after receiving reports that two schoolboys had become trapped. The boys are believed to have gotten stuck after trying to climb down the side of a cliff to retrieve the iPhone, 9 News reported. Two teenage boys had to be rescued from the side of a mountain after one of them had dropped their iPhone (pictured) Ambulance Victoria's rescue helicopter was sent to Cathedral Range Park, Taggerty in Victoria's north east after reports two school aged boys were trapped on Thursday One of the boys had to be taken to The Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne with minor injuries to his ankle and shoulder. The other boy did not have to be admitted into the hospital. The fixed fee for a helicopter rescue in Victoria is $26,197, according to Ambulance Victoria. There is a variable charge of $11,005. A variable charge means general patients will continue to pay the variable component only for rotary transport. Pictures showing a rare snow leopard stumbling across a camera and 'posing for selfies' have been revealed. British wildlife photographer and conservationist Terry Townshend set up the camera in a remote area of north-west China's high mountains, not expecting the remarkable snaps. The full sequence of three photographs shows the curious big cat approaching the camera to investigate the object that was placed in its habitat 16,000 feet (4,900 metres) up on the Tibetan Plateau. Pictures showing a rare snow leopard stumbling across a camera in north-west China's high mountains and 'posing for selfies' have been revealed on Tuesday The big cat, sporting a grey-white spotted fur, was prowling a track through the Tibetan Plateau when it had spotted the camera and posed perfectly for a close-up Townshend, the 48-year-old founder of Birding Beijing, captured the images six weeks ago while working in Qinghai province in an area known as the Valley of the Cats. He wrote on Birding Beijing's Twitter account on Tuesday: 'I placed a camera trap high up on the mountains. Yesterday I retrieved it. Look what I found.' The big cat, sporting a grey-white spotted fur, was prowling a track through the mountains when it had spotted the camera and posed perfectly for a close-up. It then gets even closer to the lens, which captured two more incredible shots of one of the world's rarest and most mysterious big cats. 'I am overwhelmed with joy,' Townshend told MailOnline. 'I never thought I could get a picture of a snow leopard looking straight into the camera like this.' Photographer Terry Townshend captured the images six weeks ago while working in Qinghai province in an area known as the Valley of the Cats. He did not expect to capture the wild cat British wildlife photographer Terry Townshend said he was overjoyed by the remarkable snaps There are only 4,000 snow leopards in the wild, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature Known as 'ghosts of the mountains' in some parts of the world, the snow leopard have evolved to live in some of the harshest conditions across countries such as Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia. Their population has been dropping as they face increasing threats including habitat loss, climate change, poaching and illegal trading. The snow leopard is a Class-A protected animal in China, while the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as 'vulnerable'. There are as few as 4,000 snow leopards in the wild, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. Early this month, the Chinese government has pledged to boost the protection of snow leopards and their habitats by increasing funds and establishing nature reserves. DUP Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson The DUP has delivered a much-needed boost for Theresa May by dismissing a 'vague and contradictory' rival plan for Brexit. Sammy Wilson of the Northern Ireland party - which is propping the PM up in power - said a Canada-style blueprint backed by Tory Eurosceptics was 'not something we could support'. The stance is a glimmer of light for Mrs May as she struggles to keep her Chequers proposals alive in the face of fierce resistance from her own MPs and the EU. But it also underlines the difficulty of getting any deal thrashed out with Brussels through Parliament. Up to 80 Tory MPs have said they will not support Mrs May's model if it comes to a Commons vote - but ex-Home Secretary Amber Rudd has warned that at least 40 would oppose a Canada-style agreement. Boris Johnson, David Davis and Jacob Rees-Mogg were among the Tory Brexiteers who endorsed the plan put forward by the free-market Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) last week. The paper urged a 'clean break' from Brussels with a 'basic' free trade agreement for goods. It warned that Britain would squander an 'historic opportunity' to broaden its horizons if Mrs May stuck to her proposals. What did the IEA's Brexit plan propose? Ministers should seek a 'basic' free trade agreement for goods and pursue 'regulatory freedom and trade independence'. In order to ensure there is no return of a 'hard border' between Northern Ireland and the Republic, there should be 'cooperation mechanisms' to enable trade 'formalities' between the two jurisdictions to be completed away from the border. Food and animal health regime in Northern Ireland should be aligned with the EU, with suitable powers devolved to the Government of Northern Ireland to enable local politicians to fully cooperate and coordinate with the Irish authorities, in accordance with the Belfast Agreement. Advertisement But DUP Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson told the Belfast News Letter that the proposals were 'inconsistent'. 'I am not sure if this report is deliberately vague or just not very well thought out,' he said. 'It talks about the goods which are regulated differently in EU member states, and uses the phrase 'of which there are many'. 'Are they saying that the UK government would commit to, or the NI Executive would be required to commit to, copying all of the EU regulations in relation to that myriad number of goods? That is not clear.' Mr Wilson also raised doubts about laws for some goods being specific to Northern Ireland rather than the whole UK. 'What does that do to the government's guarantee that we would not be divorced from our main market in GB?' he said. The East Antrim MP - who has also condemned Mrs May's Chequers plan -added: 'It talks about checks being done away from the Irish border, and I have no difficulty with that. 'But why would checks need to be done if there was a guarantee that all the regulations would be similar? There would be no need.' Mr Wilson said the rival Brexit plan 'is not something we (the DUP) would support'. David Davis (left) and Jacob Rees-Mogg attended the launch of the IEA report last week Theresa May (pictured at the UN in New York yesterday) has said a Canada-style deal is worse than no deal because it does not solve the Irish border issues The political problems facing Mrs May have also been underlined after ex-Home Secretary Amber Rudd (file picture) warned that at least 40 Tory MPs are ready to vote against a Canada-style agreement A Halloween decoration hanging in the window of a North Dakota home is so scary that it prompted calls from concerned neighbors and at least one plea for police assistance. The sign reading 'Help Me,' which appears to be written in blood, is part of Becky Muhs' display for her favorite holiday at her West Fargo home. Muhs and her husband began getting messages from neighbors over the weekend asking if they were OK, and one neighbor even dialed 911, leading to a visit from a police officer. This sign reading 'Help Me,' which appears to be written in blood, is part of Becky Muhs' display for her favorite holiday at her North Dakota home. One neighbor even called 911 Her neighbor talked about why was concerned to local station WDAY. 'I look across the street and I see in my neighbor's window, the sign that says help me,' Jay Thomas said. 'That window has always had the curtains drawn. So I'm like, "what's going on in here?"' She then told WDAY that Thomas spoke to her after he'd called 911 Muhs has loved Halloween since childhood, and in addition to celebrating her wedding anniversary on Halloween her birthday is October 29 When neighbor's called 911, the window was the only one of her now many Halloween decorations that was up 'I didn't answer and 15 minutes later, he's like, "are you okay are you okay, are you at home." And then I said, "what?" He said, "a sign, you have a sign on your window, help me."' Muhs says Halloween has always been her favorite holiday since childhood, and it's also her wedding anniversary. Her birthday is October 29. They had only started with the family Halloween decorating, so the Help Me sign was the only thing on display when the concern arose. Muhs says the incident ended in a laugh and that the responding police officer didn't ask her to take the sign down. A New York City woman is warning others to be alert after she was followed into her building by a creepy stranger. Alex Araujo was returning home to her apartment in University Heights, in the Bronx, at around 4am on Sunday, when she realized a man had sneaked into the building behind her. Surveillance footage captured the stalker, who is seen leaving the shadows and following Araujo after she got out of her Uber. A New York City woman is warning others to be alert after she was followed into her building by a creepy stranger (pictured) Alex Araujo (pictured) was returning home to her apartment in University Heights, in the Bronx, at around 4am on Sunday, when she realized a man had sneaked into the building behind her 'I didn't bother turning around, didn't feel anyone coming,' she told News 4 New York. 'You think you're home, you're safe.' The chilling footage showed the man, whose face was covered by a scarf and hood, step in behind her as she opened the door to her building. She didn't realize anything was wrong until she glimpsed the stranger, in the lobby's mirror. Surveillance footage captured the stalker, who is seen leaving the shadows and following Araujo after she got out of her Uber Araujo was seen entering her apartment building at around 4am The chilling footage showed the man, whose face was covered by a scarf and hood, step in behind her as she opened the door to her building Surveillance footage shows the man standing in the vestibule, with his foot propping open the inner door, and staring at Araujo for at least ten seconds Surveillance footage shows the man standing in the vestibule, with his foot propping open the inner door, and staring at Araujo for at least ten seconds before she spotted him and ran back to slam the vestibule door shut. The man did not immediately flee but remained in the vestibule, covering his face with his arm after he noticed the cameras. But Araujo remained where she was and eventually the stranger left. Araujo was heading up the stairs when she spotted him and ran back to slam the vestibule door shut The man did not immediately flee but remained in the vestibule, covering his face with his arm after he noticed the cameras Araujo remained where she was and eventually the stranger left Araujo (left and right) is now warning other women to be more cautious when coming home Shaken, she immediately called the police but so far, no arrests have been made. Araujo is now warning other women to be more cautious when coming home. 'I keep replaying the incident over and over, thinking of the many factors that could've caused a different outcome; me dropping my keys or stopping to look for them in my bag, being drunk and taking my time walking in, being distracted on my phone.' 'As women we always worry about falling victim to situations like these, but I let my guard down because I was home. I just thank God and his angels, my angel, for being with me that night,' she tweeted. Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 27, is charged with murder in Sunday's attack Newly released audio of a mayday call to the Coast Guard has revealed the immediate aftermath of a fishing boat attack, in which a Mexican national living in the US illegally is accused of killing his shipmate with a hammer and injuring two others. Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez, 27, is charged with murder in the Sunday attack on board the Captain Billy Haver, which was trawling the waters about 55 miles off Massachusetts. 'Mayday mayday mayday!' the Virginia-based vessel is heard calling. 'We have a man gone crazy here on the boat!' The captain relays his position and continues: 'We have one man, I don't know if he's dead or what. But one of the crew members went crazy and he started hitting people in the head with a hammer.' 'I got three men that's injured right now, one I can't wake him up. I don't know if he's dead or not.' The captain said that the assailant had fled up onto the ship's mast: 'He's in the rigging. Now he's already cut those [unintelligible] off.' First to arrive in response to the call was the German cruise ship Mein Schiff 6. Two of the victims were brought aboard the massive cruise ship for medical treatment, and one was pronounced dead by the ship's doctor. A Coast Guard vessel also responded to the scene, escorting the Billy Haver and Mein Schiff into port in Boston, where Vazquez was taken into federal custody. Prosecutors say that the Billy Haver had seven crew members on board, including Vazquez, when he charged at a shipmate wielding a hammer in one hand and a knife in the other. One victim told investigators said that he fought Vazquez off and then looked down to see another shipmate lying on the deck in a pool of blood. Vazquez allegedly struck a third crew member before scaling the ship's mast in a bid to escape as the crew tried to subdue him. A crew member on the Captain Billy Haver (above) says that Vazquez charged at him wielding a knife and hammer, before climbing the mast in a bid to escape He was living in the US illegally, but had previously sought protection from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. Vazquez was granted DACA protection on November 30, 2013, but his renewal request request was denied for abandonment in 2015, meaning he failed to file required paperwork, according to documents cited by Fox News. At the time of Sunday's attack, Vazquez was free on a $20,000 bond in a recent domestic violence case. On March 9, Vazquez was arrested in Newport News, Virginia on a charge of forcible abduction. An ICE spokesman says an immigration judge had granted Vazquez bond despite ICE objections and he was released from custody in April. German cruise ship Mein Schiff 6 (above) was the first to respond, and took on two victims for medical treatment before the ship's doctor declared one of them dead Lindsay McDannald, Vazquez's mother-in-law, told WCVB that he is a heroin addict and had attacked her daughter. She said that he 'assaulted her, strangled her and held her against the wall.' 'I think it's a travesty, I think that the court system failed and that they should do a better job in terms of releasing these people,' McDannald said. Vazquez is charged with one count of murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the US, and one count of attempted murder within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the US. If convicted on all counts he faces a sentence of up to life in prison, and would be subject to deportation upon release. A federal judge in Boston ordered Vazquez held without bail on Wednesday. Vazquez's federal public defender requested a probable cause hearing, which was tentatively scheduled for next week, but had no comment to reporters outside the courtroom. Tiring of sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell's dry approach, Senate Republicans benched their star surrogate on Thursday and asked their own questions of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee were pilloried for weeks for not having any women among the members trying to discern the truth of a 'he said, she said' situation. They chose a female expert to grill Kavanaugh's sex abuse accuser instead of playing their own brand of hardball. The gambit backfired, and shortly after Kavanaugh took his seat in the hearing room, Mitchell's day was over. 'She was not exactly a rock star,' one Republican Senate aide told DailyMail.com. 'We would have been better off doing just about anything else.' The aide said two Republican committee members grumbled to chairman Chuck Grassley during a hearing recess about Mitchell's soft-glove approach. While a line of Democrats drew a stream of emotional memories out of Christine Ford, Mitchell drew consistent sneers from Kavanaugh partisans for her dry questions and seemingly pointless digressions. Ultimately Mitchell thanked Ford for taking part in the exercise and shook her hand ending the session more colleague than adversary after never once directly challenging her recollection of being groped and pinned to a bed at a high school party in 1982. Rachel Mitchell, a prosecutor from Arizona, quizzed Christine Ford on Thursday but didn't land a punch; shortly after Brett Kavanaugh took his place at the witness table, committee Republicans took over the questioning themselves President Donald Trump heard little other than bad news from allies after the hearing's morning session, hearing from friends and fellof GOPers that Mitchell was a dud Judge Brett Kavanaugh was quizzed largely by Republican senators, who had by then stopped deferring their time to Mitchell Mitchell came back for a few 5-minute rounds of Q-and-A with Kavanaugh, but her day was quickly ended. The president fielded phone calls in the White House residence from outside allies while watching the hearing, a White House official told DailyMail.com, and most of the calls left him feeling pessimistic. 'The consensus wasn't good,' the official said. Ford, observed Fox News Channel legal expert Andrew Napolitano, 'is extremely credible and Rachel Mitchell is not laying a glove on her.' Donald Trump has praised Napolitano for his on-screen analysis in the past. With Trump almost certainly watching, the former judge said: 'The president cannot be happy with this.' What Trump saw on his White House television was a dais of his Republican allies sitting silently and not defending Kavanaugh while Mitchell carried on a superficial line of questioning. 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace, too, gave Mitchell a thumbs-down during a break in the hearing. 'This is a disaster for the Republicans,' Wallace said. 'She is treating this like a deposition, like a court hearing.' Unlike in a courtroom, Mitchell was not permitted to grill Ford at length. Instead she had disjointed five-minute segments, the slices of time alloted to her by Republicans who chose not to interrogate her themselves. With President Trump watching, Fox News Channel host Chris Wallace pronounced Mitchell's portion of the hearing a disaster for Republicans Fox legal expert Andrew Napolitano (top right) also slammed Republicans for letting Mitchell have control of the hearing Mitchell shook Ford's hand after questioning her in a forum that allowed her no chance to build momentum That kept her from building momentum and gave Ford consistent intermissions to soak in praise from Democrats who invited her to describe her decades of psychological pain. One rare positive for Mitchell came when she established that Ford chose to fly to Hawaii, Costa Rica and French Polynesia on vacations. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee had postponed a hearing last week because Ford said one effect of her sexual-assault trauma was a fear of flying. But most of the prosecutor's work consisted of finding minor inconsistencies in Ford's story. She focused on Ford's description testimony about the distance between home adolescent home and the house that hosted the party, and her lack of a driver's license at the time. The veiled suggestion was that whoever drove her home after her alleged sexual assault might not remember events the way Ford does. But with only intermittent chances to swing daintily at her, Mitchell never drew blood. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley made the decision to punt male Republicans' questions to Mitchell, and watched as it backfired In her last five-minute back-and-forth, Mitchell seemed to complain about how the hearing's format put her at a disadvantage. Talking about the standard practices for people who interview trauma survivors, she said that no study shows 'that this setting, in five-minute increments, is the best way to do that.' Instead she recommended having 'a trained interviewer talk to you one-on-one in a private setting, and to let you do the talking' at greater length. 'That makes a lot of sense,' Ford replied. Mitchell noted that Ford had turned down such an interview proposed near her California home. Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill agreed that Mitchell was likely doomed from the start, but said she would have little chance of tripping Ford up no matter the format. 'She has a tough job,' McCaskill told reporters during a hearing recess. 'I cant imagine doing either a direct examination or a cross examination in five minute increments.' 'And,' the Missouri Democrat added, Mitchell is 'not used to cross examining people who tell the truth.' An 11-year-old Syrian girl has been filmed studying and writing in a notebook on top of a pile of rubbish, while out collecting trash to support her family after they were forced to flee to Turkey. Dedicated student Halime Cuma was enduring the stench of several bins, when a horrified on-looker took the footage, which has since led to her being offered a place in a Turkish school. The incident took place in the Arnavutkoy area of Istanbul on the European side of the western Turkish major city, earlier this week. Scroll for video The 11-year old (pictured above) was filmed studying on a heap of rubbish Halime (right) now has a place at a Turkish school and is pictured attending class Halime's life changed forever when the footage of her diligently writing into a notebook, while sitting among rubbish was uploaded to social media, causing outrage. Turkish education authorities stepped in and found the young refugee a place at a school. Halime was out in the rubbish, as she was trying to support her family by collecting waste paper to be recycled, according to the Turkish Education Ministry. Halime Cuma's life changed when the footage was posted to social media The 11-year-old started her education on 26 September. According to local media, Halime arrived in Turkey from Syria with her mother and father about a year ago. She was originally unable to attend school due to a documentation error. The eldest of six children, she currently lives with her parents and six brothers and sisters in Arnavutkoy. Reports said that only the youngest child, Hamide has been attending school before her sister was filmed studying in squalor. Council officials have confirmed that the municipality will pay for Halime's school costs. The incident took place in the Arnavutkoy area of Istanbul on the European side of the western Turkish major city Meanwhile, the bright 11-year-old said that she was 'excited' that she will have 'access to so many books' at the institute. Her father Abdulrezzak Cuma told local media: 'I wanted my kids to go to school and was very upset that most of them could not. 'Halime started her new school today and I am over the moon. Now she will be able to progress in life. Next, I hope all our children will have access to public education.' Military experts said the balance of power between Taiwan and China has shifted in favor of China, which could probably overwhelm the island unless USA forces came quickly to its aid. China's Defense Ministry has said it would recall navy chief Shen Jinlong from a visit to the United States and postpone planned talks in Beijing between Chinese and USA military officials that had been set for next week. The U.S. State Department has approved a proposal to sell arms worth US$330 million to Taiwan to upgrade Taipei's defensive capabilities, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said Monday. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting unification, and is deeply suspicious of the island's relations with the US. "We urge the US side to. immediately withdraw this armed sales plan and stop military contact with Taiwan lest it should cause severe damage to US-China relations, cross-straits stability and peace, and our cooperation in other important areas", he said. Washington remains Taipei's most powerful unofficial ally and its main arms supplier despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. As such, China opposes USA military sales to Taiwan. Elton John sets Edmonton 2019 date The tour started in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 8 and previously only planned concert dates for eastern Canada. Earlier this year, 70-year-old musician announced that his upcoming world tour would be his last. Taiwan has welcomed the move, saying it helps the self-ruled island increase its defensive capability. He said the latest weapon sales can also help boost the island's confidence in facing security challenges from Beijing, and strengthen the island's ability to ensure cross-strait and regional peace and stability, thereby improving cross-strait relations. Taiwan's presidential office said the island's government would continue to increase its defence investment and "maintain close communication and cooperation" with the U.S. on security issues. China's defense ministry issued a similar statement, saying the sale had "interfered in China's internal affairs and harmed China's sovereignty and security interests". China's Defense Ministry said the US had no right to interfere in Chinese military cooperation with Russian Federation and demanded the sanctions be revoked. China's Defense Ministry, in a separate statement, also condemned the planned sale, adding that the Chinese military had a "firm and unshakable" resolve to protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. In a further sign of retaliation, China turned down a request for an October port call in Hong Kong by the U.S. Navy's amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, according to the U.S. Consulate in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The dead body of a 'severely autistic' woman weighing just 45lbs was discovered locked in a squalid room lying on a feces-smeared mattress. Kaylina Anderson was just 18 when she was found dead on March 10, in the Mesa Verda, California home where she lived. Her mother Jill Williams, 36, and stepfather Steven Williams, 40 have been charged with murder in her death. Mother Jill Williams, 36, and stepfather Steven Williams, 40 have been charged with murder and abuse in the death of their 'severely autistic' daughter on March 10 The body of Kaylina Anderson, 18, was found on March 10 in her Mesa Verde, California home. She weighed just 45lbs and was lying on an air mattress smeared with feces Horrific details of Anderson's confinement and treatment were revealed in a brief court appearance for her parents on Wednesday. Riverside County deputies responded to an unattended death call after midnight on March 10, 2018 and discovered Anderson's body locked away in the grimy room where she lay on an air mattress that was also covered in feces. 'It appears she was confined to the room 24 hours a day,' Lisa DiMaria, a Riverside County deputy district attorney said to the Desert Sun of Palm Springs. Investigators said Anderson suffered 'severe mental disabilities requiring her to have full-time care and supervision'. Cops say Anderson was a 'severely autistic' teenager who required constant care and supervision Victim: Her body was found in a feces-filled room and lying on a filthy mattress Her mother, right, and stepfather were arrested four days after she was found and charged with murder, abuse of a dependent adult, and child endangerment. They pleaded not guilty to the charges in March Her parents were arrested on March 14 and were also charged with abuse of a dependent adult and child endangerment. They're being held on $1million each in Riverside County Jail. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges in March. They're due back in court on November 5 for a felony settlement conference. Cops also found three boys under the age of six living in the home, according to the police report. Riverside County Child Protective Services took over custody of the children. Cops noted that the boys did not bear any visible bruises or injuries. A GoFundMe page has been set up for Anderson in her memory. 'In recent events in Blythe, California, Kaylina was murdered and charges of homicide have been lodged against her Mother and Step-Father. She was Severely Autistic and could not talk or care for herself. She was Abused and Starved too death!' the page says. 'At this time I am setting up this Campaign on behalf of my Nephew and his family in order to raise money for Kaylina to be laid to rest and to get my Nephew TJ Anderson to Blythe, California to attend Preliminary and Sentencing proceedings as he is currently living out of state with his parents. We are devastated,' it adds. A shameless daughter who pocked 120,000 of her elderly mother's care home fees before splashing the cash on living a life of luxury has been jailed for two years. Alison Rice, 51, was made power of attorney after her father passed away in 2015 and briefly looked after her 87-year-old mother Joyce Jones. Her siblings agreed the family home would be sold and the 130,000 proceeds would be put to one side to pay for their mother's ongoing care home costs. But Rice used the money to fork out thousands on two trips to the USA, including one to Las Vegas where she spent 1,878 on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. Alison Rice (pictured on holiday with her husband John) used the money to fork out thousands on two trips to the USA, including one to Las Vegas where she spent 1,878 on a helicopter tour The bank worker also purchased Northampton Saints Rugby Club season tickets, costing in excess of 3,000, as well as a brand new car for her husband. She also bought high value retail items, petrol, shopping and car insurance and a total of 10,500 was withdrawn from cash machines. Rice, a risk assessor at Barclays, was rumbled when the level of savings in the account dropped below a certain threshold and the local authority intervened. The money was meant to cover the fees until autumn 2019 but the level of savings dropped below the 23,000 threshold in early 2017. Rice (pictured again with her husband John) wept in the dock as she was jailed for two years at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday Prosecutor Andrew Peet said: 'Because the money had been run down to such an extent, there was a time where her mother's place at the care home was in jeopardy.' Rice, of Wellingborough, Northants, plead guilty at an earlier hearing to fraud by abuse of position and theft. She wept in the dock as she was jailed for two years at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday. Sentencing His Honour Judge Michael Fowler said: 'The fact that some of the money went towards your son's university debts is something that was chosen by you. 'But it seems to me that the expenditure on what are clearly expensive and luxury items is something that cannot be ignored.' Prosecutor Andrew Peet said Rice was entrusted by her siblings due to her experience at work. The bank worker also purchased Northampton Saints Rugby Club season tickets, costing in excess of 3,000, as well as a brand new car for her husband John (pictured in rugby shirts) He said: 'Her siblings must have thought she was good with money. She told the probation officer she did not expect to be caught until her mum died.' Mr Peet read out in court impact statements by two of her brothers. One read: 'Mum is a decent lady. I cannot believe she has done this to her.' He added that their father would be turning in his grave. Another brother said: 'The worst thing is that we all trusted Alison.' James Smith-Wilds, defending, said his client had made a repayment of 5,400 and regretted her actions. He said: 'She does appear to be genuinely remorseful. She got deeper and deeper and deeper into the desperate situation she found herself in. 'It would be fair to use her own words in that she is devastated by how she has behaved and deeply ashamed.' A New Mexico judge sentenced a paramilitary religious sect leader Wednesday to more than seven decades in prison after her conviction in a child sex abuse case that authorities say involved a victim who was taken from Uganda as a baby. Deborah Green's 72-year sentence followed emotional testimony from the victim, who told the judge she had 11 surgeries for broken bones suffered during years of abuse. She also said she has yet to recover emotionally and physically from what she described as torture by Green. On Tuesday, a jury found Green, 71, guilty of kidnapping, criminal sexual penetration of a minor and child abuse. A New Mexico judge sentenced paramilitary religious sect leader, Deborah Green, to 72 years in prison for a child sex abuse case that police say involved a victim who was taken from Uganda Green's (left) 72-year sentence followed emotional testimony from the victim, who told the judge she had 11 surgeries for broken bones suffered during years of abuse Authorities said Green (left) and her husband, James Green (right), who is also a leader of the corps, attempted to hide children after the raid of their commune, and both conspired with another person to commit tampering with evidence 'A weaker person would not have survived,' Judge James Sanchez told the victim, according to KRQE-TV. 'That means you can continue on being strong.' Last year, authorities raided the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps' secluded Fence Lake compound in western New Mexico after a two-year investigation into concerns about child abuse. Authorities said Green and her husband, James Green, who is also a leader of the corps, attempted to hide children after the raid of their commune, and both conspired with another person to commit tampering with evidence. The couple has said they've done nothing wrong. Former sect members said the abuse dated back years, while Cibola County Undersheriff Michael Munk said the former members described leaders treating followers like slaves and physically beating children. On Tuesday, a jury found Green (pictured in 2017), 71, guilty of kidnapping, criminal sexual penetration of a minor and child abuse He also said the sect had evaded law enforcement by moving and operating in seclusion. In Green's defense, her attorney said the accusations against her had stemmed from the vendettas of former sect members, and that the victim in the case had changed her story over the years. At the sect's compound, some members called Green 'mom' or 'general,' according to authorities. She also was known among followers as the 'Oracle of God'. When members complained, Green would hold 'trials' against them for questioning her authority, which Green asserted came directly from God, said Julie Gudino, who joined the organization in 1984 in Sacramento, California. She was a member for 20 years, and was among those who testified this week. In closing arguments Tuesday, the prosecutor told jurors that the victim had been taken from Uganda, according to the Gallup Independent. It was Green's daughter who went to the African country in 1997, but Green who ordered that the child be 'obtained' by deception, Assistant District Attorney Brandon Vigil said. Green still faces a second trial in the death of 13-year-old Enoch Miller. Authorities said he died at the compound in 2014. She has been charged with child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence. The jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday in that case. The Cibola County Sheriff's Office began the investigation after Enoch died from a probable infectious disease. Authorities said the trustees of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps own thousands of acres of land and benefited from a wealthy high-ranking member who aided them in avoiding law enforcement agencies by hiding children. Those holdings and regular deceptions by leaders, authorities said, made it difficult for the small Cibola County Sheriff's Office to investigate allegations of child abuse that former members say went on for years. Last year, authorities raided the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps' secluded Fence Lake compound (pictured) in western New Mexico after a two-year investigation into concerns about child abuse After the raid, deputies arrested four more members in two vans filled with 11 children. Victoria River, Amos River, Ruth River and Timothy River were arrested after deputies stopped the two vans leaving the compound After the raid, deputies arrested four more members in two vans filled with 11 children. Amos River, Victoria River, Ruth River and Timothy River were arrested after deputies stopped the two vans leaving the compound. The sheriff's office said the members, under investigation for not reporting the birth of children, were seeking to flee to the sect's Colorado location. A number of members face various charges ranging from child abuse to bribery and not reporting a birth. All have pleaded not guilty. The Greens opened Free Love Ministries in 1982 with four communal houses in Sacramento, California. The Greens had little ministry training but attracted about 50 members and operated a military structure like the Salvation Army. Maura Alana Schmierer, a former member, later sued the group for locking her in a shed without a toilet and for forcing her to give up legal custody of three of her children. A judge in 1989 awarded her $1.08million. But the group fled California for Oregon and later resurfaced near El Paso, Texas, and then in western New Mexico. The Southern Poverty Law Center has listed the sect as a hate group after it published anti-Muslim and anti-gay stories in pamphlets and on its website. A 'violent and unpredictable' traveller organised crime gang which operated through 'fear and notoriety' has been jailed for more than 35 years. The gang - believing they were 'untouchable' - perpetrated offences including ATM thefts, drug supply, robberies and firearms incidents. In the months prior to a targeted police probe the gang became increasingly dangerous - with incidents of overt violence, knife attacks and firearms discharges. Tommy Lee Smith (pictured), 38, of Doncaster was jailed for 12 years alongside eight others who wreaked terror across South Yorkshire while being involved in heroin dealing, weapons, robberies and violence In the months prior to a targeted police probe the gang became increasingly dangerous - with incidents of overt violence, knife attacks and firearms discharges After reports of ATM thefts, drug supply, robberies and firearms incidents within the South Yorkshire area police set up targeted inquiry Operation Railbird. The probe led to a series of arrests between January and October 2016 which saw handguns and ammunition seized from a prominent traveller site in the area. Nine members of the gang were jailed yesterday (Weds) at Sheffield Crown Court Eight pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin while a ninth admitted supplying cannabis. Detective Inspector Lee Fletcher said: 'The behaviour of this group was incredibly dangerous and linked to feuding with a rival OCG. 'But the escalation of violence experienced in late 2015 posed a significant risk for serious harm and even death within local communities. Stacey Jane Bowman (pictured), 37, of Doncaster was jailed for six years, while Jack Daniel Pye (pictured right), 27, of Doncaster was jailed for four years for their role in the drug dealing ring Eight pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin while a ninth admitted supplying cannabis 'Our investigation into this OCG began with some targeted work around organised crime in Doncaster. 'Covert policing enabled us to identify locations and relationships of interest - with the intention being to disrupt this organised and violent criminality. 'Our early activity quickly identified that the main funding stream into the group was that of Class A drugs.' Lee Thomas Hodgkinson, 41, of Doncaster was jailed for two years and eight months and Yogi Winsper (pictured right), 22, of Blackpool, Lancashire, was jailed for two years and eight months After reports of ATM thefts, drug supply, robberies and firearms incidents within the South Yorkshire area police set up targeted inquiry Operation Railbird Det Insp Fletcher said factories were found in residential homes in Doncaster - where massive amounts of heroin were mixed and prepared. During the operation 'multiple kilogrammes of heroin' were seized while around 100 bladed weapons including machetes were seized. An Uzi-style machine gun, two revolvers, two semi-automatic guns and ammunition were also uncovered - many of these weapons found at a travellers' site in Doncaster. Around 115,000 in cash from another travelling site in Armthorpe, Doncaster. Jonathan James McAvoy, 38, of Doncaster, was jailed for five years. Michael Scholey (pictured right), 42, of Doncaster, was given a two-year suspended sentence An Uzi-style machine gun, two revolvers, two semi-automatic guns and ammunition were also uncovered - many of these weapons found at a travellers' site in Doncaster. Around 115,000 in cash from another travelling site in Armthorpe, Doncaster Detective Inspector Fletcher said: 'As a result of our proactive and targeted policing hundreds of dangerous weapons are now off the streets and an OCG is behind bars. 'We will continue to work alongside forces across the region to disrupt and dismantle any criminal groups who are causing harm to our communities.' Eight defendants admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, namely heroin. Tommy Lee Smith, 38, of Doncaster was jailed for 12 years. Stacey Jane Bowman, 37, of Hennessey Court, Doncaster was jailed for six years. Jacqueline Joan Williams, 39, of Doncaster, was given a two-year suspended sentence. Jonathan Stray, 40, of Doncaster, admitted conspiracy to supply cannabis and was jailed for two years. Detective Inspector Fletcher said: 'As a result of our proactive and targeted policing hundreds of dangerous weapons are now off the streets and an OCG is behind bars Jack Daniel Pye, 27, of Doncaster was jailed for four years. Lee Thomas Hodgkinson, 41, of Doncaster was jailed for two years and eight months. Yogi Winsper, 22, of Blackpool, Lancashire, was jailed for two years and eight months. Jonathan James McAvoy, 38, of Doncaster, was jailed for five years. Michael Scholey, 42, of Doncaster, was given a two-year suspended sentence. Jacqueline Joan Williams, 39, of Doncaster, was given a two-year suspended sentence. Jonathan Stray, 40, of Doncaster, admitted conspiracy to supply cannabis and was jailed for two years. Jeremy Corbyn thanked Brussels for a 'wonderful gesture' today as the city re-named a square after the murdered MP Jo Cox Jeremy Corbyn thanked Brussels for a 'wonderful gesture' today as the city re-named a square after the murdered MP Jo Cox. The Labour leader led tributes in the Belgian capital as members of Mrs Cox's family joined with dignitaries for the official unveiling. Her sister Kim Leadbetter said she hoped to return with her late sister's children in 'more settled times' to remember their mother. Brussels mayor Philippe Close said Mrs Cox died for a 'universal ideal'. She was murdered by far right extremist Thomas Mair in June 2016. Mrs Cox lived in Brussels before being elected to Parliament and Place Jo Cox is close to her favourite concert hall the Ancienne Belgique. Mr Corbyn said: 'She always gave this message: that we have far more in common and far more that unites us than ever could possibly divide us. 'So she treated people as they should be treated: with respect, wherever she worked; in Congo, in other parts of Africa, and other parts of the world, always trying to bring people together and bring about peace. 'I think it's a wonderful gesture that you, the mayor and the council of Brussels have decided to name this square in her memory.' The Labour leader led tributes in the Belgian capital as members of Mrs Cox's family joined with dignitaries for the official unveiling of the new street sign (pictured) Mr Corbyn joined the Cox family and Belgian dignitaries for the official event marking the name change in Brussels Her sister Kim Leadbetter (centre today) said she hoped to return with her late sister's children in 'more settled times' to remember their mother Jean and Gordon Leadbeater, Mrs Cox's parents, were also at the ceremony in Brussels today (pictured) Ms Leadbeater said she hoped to be able to bring her late sibling's children to the square in 'more settled times' to remember their mother. 'After Jo was killed it felt like there was a real hope that some things would change. 'Obviously for us everything changed forever, but beyond that I think a lot of people hoped that the violent assassination of a young mother of two small children on the streets where she grew up would have a profound and long-lasting effect on the political discourse in the UK and beyond.' Mr Close said: 'Jo Cox died for her ideals: ideals of peace, solidarity, which translated into a humanitarian commitment in Bosnia, Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then a political commitment in the House of Commons and in her constituency of Batley and Spen: always pursuing the emancipation of the most disadvantaged. 'I wish for the name of Jo Cox that from now on will be preserved in the heart of Brussels to be associated with the idea in which so many of us believe.' Russian secret services were today accused of influencing staff inside the British embassy to secure visas for the two men they sent to kill Sergei Skripal with novichok. Investigators say they have evidence the Kremlin 'manipulated people' working for the UK's consulate in Moscow to ensure their assassins were handed UK business visas for their Salisbury murder mission. Roman Dobrokhotov, one of those working for Bellingcat, said today that even basic searches show the men masquerading as sport nutritionists have 'no business history' in Russia. He said: 'Our theory is that Russian security services obtained some access to the British embassy. 'It's not just manipulation in that they changed their documents somewhere, it is direct influence that Russian security services had on those people who were participating in this scheme of making visas.' The investigators who have outed Ruslan Boshirov, left, and Alexander Petrov, right, as Army officers today claimed Russia manipulated the British visa system to get them into the UK in March The real identity of one of the two assassins, named by police as Ruslan Boshirov, is reportedly Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. He is said to appear in this photo (circled) with a group of fellow military graduates in Chechnya Chepiga's life and official documents are marked 'top secret' but have been leaked to journalists Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov entered Britain unchallenged in March carrying enough novichok to kill 4,000 people in a perfume bottle before fleeing the country 55 hours later having smeared it on Skripal's front door. Last night suspect Boshirov was outed as Anatoly Chepiga, a colonel in Putin's feared special forces army who the President personally made a 'Hero of Russia' for missions in Chechnya and Ukraine. The Kremlin said today it was looking into the reports. 'Many people look alike, but I cannot tell you who this citizen who was pointed out in this investigation is,' spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Residents of Chepiga's home town in Russia's far east have since told Russian media they suspected he worked for the secret services because not even his family were told where he was posted. Petrov is believed to be a GRU Army captain travelling under his first name but on an alias surname and passport handed to him by Kremlin spymasters two years ago. Mr Dobrokhotov said of Chepiga: 'He went to Britain with a business visa and that is very difficult to make. 'You have to have a lot of papers proving that you really have business and he didn't have any business. 'Our theory is that Russian security services obtained some access to the British embassy and the next part of our investigation will be directed at this topic; how Russian security services managed to manipulate the British embassy to make their agents get to British ground.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'We reject these claims entirely. Applications of this type would be decided by a visa officer in the UK and not in the British Embassy in Moscow.' The British Embassy is Russia is a grand tower block building on the banks of the River Moskva But visa applications are initially handled at one of five external centres, including this one in Moscow. The Home Office insists the application would be handled in the UK President Putin (pictured today meeting zerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev) denied the would-be assassins were working for the Russian government Experts believe Colonel Chepiga may have known Skripal and personally wanted to kill him because of the GRU's entrenched hatred of traitors. Moscow today tried to smear the compelling evidence and said top secret documents and photographs unmasking the men were 'pure nonsense'. The Russian Embassy in London also suggested that British-based Bellingcat, whose investigators found the men by examining military records, leaked resident databases and passport files, is actually sponsored by MI6. Putin gave 39-year-old Chepiga, who had served in Chechnya and Ukraine with the Spetsnaz batallion, Russia's highest bravery honour in 2014 under his real name - suggesting that the President may know him personally. Timeline: The rise of Putin's 'Hero of Russia' who fluffed Salisbury murder mission May 5, 1979: Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga is born Nikolaevka close to Russia's border with China, 5,000 miles from Moscow. 1997: 18-year-old is signed up to join Russia's Army in its far-eastern headquarters and graduates with honours four years later. 2001: Chepiga joins the Spetsnatz Brigade - Russia's feared secret service Army often compared to the SAS three years before Sergei Skripal's arrest for treason. 2001-2008: He spends three long periods fighting in Chechnya and handed 20 medals 2009: Chepiga's transition to GRU spy begins when he is handed the alias Ruslan Boshirov and the documents to back it up. 2014: Putin makes Chepiga a 'Hero of Russia' - the country's highest award - for an unnamed mission referred to in records as 'peacekeeping' 2016: Chepiga travels abroad for the first time as Boshirov, under the guise as a businessman with Salisbury partner Petrov and the pair criss-cross Europe. 2018: The men turn up on Salisbury to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia by smearing Novichok on his front door. But they bungle the operation and flee back to Russia. Advertisement But foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova today branded the revelations a 'series of fibs' and state-sponsored press including Pravda have claimed the document leak is part of a western conspiracy cooked up by 'traitors'. Ms Zakharova said today that Britain has 'no evidence and that is why they continue the information campaign the goal of which is distract attention from the key question: what did really happen in Salisbury?'. But yesterday Defence Secretary tweeted a link to the Bellingcat research and said it showed the 'true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects' - only to delete it seconds later. Moscow today pointed this out as proof Britain is not sure - and retired FSB major-general Alexander Mikhailov - a former spokesman for the FSB secret service - said: 'It is pure nonsense. How could secret documents happen to be publicly accessible? He said: ' I can draw a dozen such pictures with Theresa May photograph. 'And, seriously, these days the British media with the help from traitors will blow lots of smoke'. Meanwhile, pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) pointed to alleged mistakes in the Bellingcat claims. Citing a serving but anonymous Russian military source, the newspaper said the photograph of Chepiga 'really looks like' a picture of the young Boshirov. But researchers claim the 'first mistake' is in claiming that Chepiga graduated from military college in the Russian Far East are four years. 'It just can't be true, the course was years long at that time,, and he had to graduate in 2002. 'And it is strange why he went to study at 18 what was he up to for a full year, when he finished his school at 17?' Chepiga's name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001 Online investigations group Bellingcat published what it says is the real identity of Ruslan Boshirov (left), a suspect in the Salisbury poising plot. The group say he is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga (pictured right) Ruslan Boshirov when he appeared on Russian-state TV with fellow suspect Alexander Petrov to claim they only visited Salisbury to see the famous cathedral spire Picture released by Bellingcat of Ruslan Boshirov's passport photo from 2009 with 'do not reveal information' stamped on it. The group claim he is is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga The source claimed that British-based researchers in Bellingcat claimed Chepiga's address from 2003 to 2005 was in the city of Khabarovsk and the same as army unit known as the 14th GRU brigade. Mystery of Defence Secretary's deleted tweet: Gavin Williamson hails revelation of Salisbury suspect's 'true identity'... then hastily removes post Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson last night confirmed that the Salisbury assassin was a Russian colonel - only to delete his tweet seconds later. Mr Williamson has not commented on. his confirmation He briefly confirmed the story on social media and wrote: 'The true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects has been revealed to be a Russian Colonel. I want to thank all the people who are working so tirelessly on this case.' But withing a minute it was gone. The Ministry of Defence said Mr Williamson's social media profile was personal and it did not know why the tweet was deleted. Scotland Yard declined to comment. Advertisement 'But this is not true. This army unit at that time was based in Ussuriysk 670 km away from Khabarovsk', he said. He was also reported to have attended the Military-Diplomatic Academy of Defence Ministry known in the secret services as the 'music academy'. Here, it is claimed, he got his second identity as Boshirov. 'Next time Chepiga's name comes out in December 2014 when he got his Hero of Russia award for performing some peacekeeping mission,' said KP. 'According to the researchers, the 14th brigade - where Chepiga was still listed for some reason - was spotted near Ukrainian border at the end of 2014.' The Kremlin was branded shameful last night for claiming Chepiga and his unknown accomplice, who used the alias Alexander Petrov, were holidaymakers. Boris Johnson tweeted: 'Utterly predictable news that GRU is behind Skripal atrocity.' The former foreign secretary added: 'What have you got to say, Putin?' The two Russian agents were charged over the poisonings by the Crown Prosecution Service earlier this month. But they later appeared on Russian TV to insist they were visiting Salisbury for its cathedral. As the bungled attack that left one dead and three seriously ill took another twist: It emerged that Chepiga fought for a feared Spetsnaz unit for 17 years and worked undercover for at least nine. Salisbury assassin is colonel in Putin's brutal special forces army the Spetsnaz Brigade Spetsnaz have a terrifying reputation, built in recent years while conducting seek-and-destroy missions. In modern times many have become jihadi hunters tracing and murdering extremists who committed atrocities against Russian troops in Syria and Chechnya (pictured). There were reports Spetsnaz were behind the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine because a GRU officer was linked to the 'procurement and transport' of the weapons used. Their elite soldiers are trained fight on ground, in the air and even under water. The feared batallions is based in a headquarters nicknamed The Aquarium on an airbase near Moscow and is very large, deploying six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR. These are typically embedded in Russian embassies as military attaches and work on recruiting foreign double agents as well as monitoring military installations and new weapons systems. In 1997 it was estimated to have 25,000 Spetsnaz soldiers under its command. Their legend has trickled down through the agency, with many desk-bound agents claiming to have a special-forces background even if they do not. Many agents do have a military background, though, such as Sergei Skripal, who was recruited after serving in the Soviet army and ended up passing secrets to MI6. There is also a large signals intelligence branch (like our GCHQ) with about 130 satellites orbiting the Earth and a corresponding branch that analyses the resulting visual images. There are also specialist sub-departments for sophisticated cyber warfare, which recruit from Russia's top universities. Advertisement Sources said the soldier's high rank the same as his intended victim, Colonel Sergei Skripal suggested the attack was sanctioned at the highest level. Did Salisbury hitman have a personal vendetta against Skripal? Would-be assassin 'may have poisoned ex-spy for being disloyal to the GRU' Experts believe Colonel Chepiga may have known Skripal and personally wanted to kill him because of the GRU's entrenched hatred of traitors. Both men were highly decorated veterans of Russia's wars and followed similar paths to the higher echelons of Russia's military secret services. The GRU was betrayed by Mr Skripal before he was jailed and sent to the UK in a spy swap. He and his daughter were poisoned in March in Salisbury. GRU recruits are shown videos of traitors being burned alive as part of their training to instill an entrenched hatred of them. It is possible that Chepiga was handpicked for the job - or even volunteered - to ensure Skripal received the 'ultimate punishment'. Chepiga was made an elite special forces soldier in 2001 - three years before Skripal's arrest for treason - so it is possible the men may have men. Advertisement Senior politicians queued up to accuse the Russians of being 'seriously dishonest' and lying about their complicity. The identity of Chepiga was uncovered by investigative organisation Bellingcat, best known for its insight into the fighting in Ukraine. It found that Chepiga has won more than 20 awards and a Hero of the Russian Federation medal during his illustrious military career. Born in the isolated village of Nikolayevka, on the Russian-Chinese border in 1979, he is married with a teenage son. In 2001 he graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy before being deployed to Chechnya three times. Its website states: 'Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation by order of the president of the Russian Federation.' His name appears under a gold star honour list on a monument to academy alumni at a base near the Chinese border. The medals are normally awarded by the president personally, and are given only to a handful of people each year. Unlike most recipients there is little public information about Chepiga's life and official documents are marked 'top secret'. The secretive nature of the award, combined with its timing in 2014, suggests it was for actions in Ukraine. His Spetsnaz unit was pictured on the eastern Ukraine border. Investigators also found documents that trace Chepiga's movements around Russia and Europe. He pops up at a remote military unit and in Moscow where he is likely to have studied at the Military Diplomatic Academy, or 'GRU Conservatory'. The GRU was betrayed by Mr Skripal before he was jailed and sent to the UK in a spy swap. He and his daughter were poisoned in March in Salisbury. Chepiga and Petrov are also accused of murdering Dawn Sturgess, who was inadvertently poisoned when she discovered a perfume bottle filled with the deadly novichok nerve agent used on the Skripals. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'It is confirmation of what we have known for a long time that Russia is serially dishonest in its foreign affairs and has again lied about its complicity. 'These guys are amateurs. Their cover couldn't even survive investigation by newspapers.' The Russian embassy in London made no comment This undated image is alleged to show Chepiga (circled) posing with fellow members of the Russian military The dark star of Russia's elite special forces school: Colonel who signed up at 18, was honoured at gaudy memorial to military and then sent to kill Skripal The highly-decorated spy blamed for the Salisbury poisonings was a veteran of Russia's elite special forces and had trained at one of the country's top military academies, it emerged last night. The man behind the alias of Boshirov was unmasked by the investigative website as Colonel Chepiga - a GRU intelligence officer bestowed with Russia's highest state award. His military career began at the age of 18 when he enrolled in a top military school just 25 miles from his tiny home village of Nikolaevka, near the Russia-China border. Col Chepiga studied at the Far Eastern Military Command Academy in Blagoveschensk, an elite training ground for 'Spetsnaz' special forces officers. His name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001, he was assigned to Russia's 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, based in the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk. Dawn Sturgess (left) died after spraying Novichok on her wrists thinking it was a perfume. Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, (right) fell critically ill but recovered Spetsnaz units are responsible for highly-secretive missions and are equivalent to the British SAS. Under the command of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency, his brigade played a vital role in the second Chechen war and was also spotted near the Ukrainian border in late 2014. The information was revealed by investigative website Bellingcat, which had conducted a painstaking investigation into his background. It said that his unit had deployed three times to Chechnya, where Russia was carrying out what it called a 'counter-terrorist operation'. The website of a state-run military volunteer organisation claims that Col Chepiga received more than 20 military awards and decorations in the course of his service. And his former military school proudly boasts on its website that he was bestowed his homeland's highest honour, Hero of the Russian Federation, in 2014. The award is often presented by Vladimir Putin himself. This map shows the progress of the spies' assassination plot, as police managed to piece together using CCTV The two men chose a hotel in east London, 127 miles from Salisbury, despite heading to the city twice in three days While the achievements of his fellow award-winners are detailed extensively, Col Chepiga's simply says it was awarded 'by decree from the Russian president'. Bellingcat speculated that he could have been given the award for operations in Eastern Ukraine where Russia's military was secretly operating in 2014. Senior Russian military officials have since said that so-called 'little green men' soldiers wearing uniforms with no insignia were in fact members of Russia's Spetsnaz deployed secretly to Ukraine. The Bellingcat website also found an undated photograph of graduates from the Far Eastern Military Command Academy on assignment in Chechnya. It pointed out that the man on the far right looks strikingly similar to the man named as Boshirov by the Metropolitan Police although it said it could not prove conclusively it was the same person. They came across the photograph after sources said the school was a likely place for a Russian military officer with a specialism in Western European operations to have trained. CCTV image issued by the Metropolitan Police of Russian nationals Ruslan Boshirov (left) and Alexander Petrov (right) in Salisbury at around 1pm on March 4 Sergei Skripal (right) and his daughter Yulia eating at a restaurant. Both were critically ill after the Novichok attack in Salisbury After further digging, they came across the mysterious Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. Address databases link him to the Military Unit 20662 code for the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade. The logo of the brigade is a black bat with a yellow parachute behind it. It was formed in the 1960s and has been under the command of the GRU for much of its history. According to Yuri Shvets, a former KGB agent, GRU officers were referred to as 'boots' tough but unsophisticated. Once a member of the GRU, it is believed to be exceptionally difficult to leave. And those who do so to join foreign agencies are punished savagely. Viktor Suvorov, a GRU officer who defected to Britain in 1978, said new recruits were shown a video of a traitor from the agency being burned alive in a furnace as a warning. The GRU has become adept as using so-called 'non-linear warfare', which uses a combination of covert special forces operations, spying, cyber attacks and internet trolls to destabilise enemy nations. It started as an intelligence-gathering agency for Trotsky's Bolshevik Red Army, and Lenin insisted it remain separate from the other intelligence organisations. Today it still sits apart from the SVR, the external spying service, and the domestic FSB (the equivalents of Britain's MI6 and MI5), which were created when the notorious KGB was split in 1991. How will the West react to proof Putin lied? Commentary by Owen Matthews THIS sensational revelation the seniority of the would-be assassin and the official state support for the mission shows that the Skripal hit must have been ordered at the very highest levels of the Russian state. The evidence that Vladimir Putin personally ordered the attack grows stronger every day. Indeed, by presiding over one of the most farcically inept cover-ups in memory when the two Russians caught on CCTV here claimed to have been tourists visiting Salisbury cathedral Putin has condemned himself out of his own mouth. Days after British police released dozens of security camera images of the pair on their way from Moscow to Salisbury, Putin appeared on Russian television to defend them as 'innocent Russian citizens about whom we know nothing'. His fingerprints were all over the operation. The following afternoon, 'Petrov' and 'Boshirov' themselves appeared to air a cock-and-bull story about being turned back from their mission to see Salisbury by slush two days in a row. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the two suspects were just civilians and not members of the GRU Before the denials by Putin and by the suspects themselves, it might have been possible to argue plausibly that the botched assassination attempt was some kind of rogue operation by Russia's secret services. But Putin's personal defence of the suspects and the inept cover-up job by the state-controlled media constitute strong, if wholly unintended, proof of the Kremlin's deep complicity. And now the Bellingcat revelations have added incontrovertible layers of detail to the emerging picture of a top-level GRU assassination squad operating on UK soil. Using mostly open-source data, Bellingcat's researchers first unearthed details of the passports the suspects used to enter the UK, published by British police. Petrov and Boshirov's passport numbers, it turned out, varied by just a single digit and were issued by a Moscow office used exclusively for officials' travel documents. Even more suspiciously, Boshirov's passport file was stamped 'Do not reveal information'. Then, yesterday, came the clincher. By trawling through the records of GRU academy graduation classes, Bellingcat matched the photos of 'Boshirov' to the real-life Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. Once they had a name, details of Colonel Chepiga's secret service popped up all over the internet, in online posts by veterans' groups and even written in letters of gold on a stone monument to the decorated graduates of one of the GRU's secret intelligence academies. Chepiga served in Chechnya with the Spetznaz, the elite forces of the Federal Security Service, where by some reports he received 20 awards and decorations. In short, Putin has been caught out telling analogue lies in a digital world. Counter-terrorism police released images of two suspects in connection with the Salisbury attack and named them as Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov (circled right) Bellingcat became famous for its painstaking investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing over Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, collecting photos from social media and intelligence data showing the hour-by-hour progress of the Buk missile system which downed the plane, from a military base inside Russia into Eastern Ukraine and back again. Russia's vehement denials of involvement were shown to be false. Now, with Bellingcat's dozens of detailed revelations about the true identity of one of the would-be Skripal assassins, another of the Kremlin's brazen lies has been carefully picked apart. Perhaps the most terrifying part of the whole tragic story of the Skripal poisoning, which resulted in the death of an innocent British bystander, is the shocking combination of the Kremlin's deadly intent and utter incompetence. Instead of quietly disposing of a 'traitor', Chepiga and his as-yet-unnamed accomplice succeeded in contaminating parts of Salisbury, murdering an innocent woman, and revealing themselves to the whole world as bungling idiots. Attempting extra-judicial execution on British soil is bad enough. But to spread deadly nerve agent around a cathedral city is irresponsible bungling on an epic scale. The question now, of course, is what the response of the West will be to this damning revelation. Will Theresa May call for renewed sanctions? Will America ratchet up their rhetoric? We shall have to wait and see in the coming days. What is clear is that the Kremlin and its henchmen have been revealed for what they are not just a bunch murderous liars, but terrible at both. Horrified students have slammed university advice on how to take drugs 'safely' - which gives them detailed instructions on how to ingest class A substances. Information on the Sheffield University website tells students to take drugs with friends and never inject alone as well as giving students instructions on how to prepare drugs such as MDMA. But students have branded the policies 'dangerous' and claim the advice normalises drug culture as the university. College students in Sheffield have been given a guide on how to reduce the chance of having an adverse reaction to taking drugs - including starting with a low dose Sheffield University, pictured, insisted it did not condone drug taking but accepted that some students will experiment while in college and said the guide was intended to reduce the risk Final year Spanish student Sab Jones said: 'How can they write "if you are injecting drugs, never inject alone" - it's like an oxymoron. 'That is basically saying "t's dangerous but do it with a friend". 'It means not only putting yourself at risk, but someone close to you also at risk. I'm ashamed that this policy is real and on their website.' Drama student Bliss Hunter added: 'I think it's a bizarre thing to tell students, it's dangerous and it advocates taking drugs which is completely wrong. 'The student union should be looking at protecting students and deferring them away from the drug scene, not encouraging them to take them. 'We've seen rises in cases of deaths by party drugs and these seem to be the case in university students. 'The university needs to offer support and advice to students who are tempted by drugs, and should be highlighting the negative effects the drugs may have.' The information on the university's website states 'we understand some students may try drugs during their time at university. Whilst we don't condone this, we want to ensure that if you do choose to take drugs, you are as informed as possible'. The site goes on to suggest ways to stay safe will taking drugs such as staying with friends, looking out for those who may be on their own, take small amounts of the substance and waiting in between - as well as how to prepare crystallised MDMA to dab the 'average' amount onto the tongue. It also suggests splitting pills into smaller amounts, drinking plenty of water, not mixing different drugs and to avoid taking substances on consecutive days. Another page states 'if you are injecting drugs, never inject alone,' and to take drugs 'with friends'. A University of Sheffield spokesperson said: 'The University and its Students' Union does not condone substance misuse in any shape or form and the safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance to us. 'We do however understand some students may try drugs during their time at University. 'With this in mind, we think it is important to ensure that, while we cannot condone this, if a student does choose to take drugs, they are as informed as possible, and take steps to take all reasonable precautions.' Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, collapsed on a BA flight from London to Nice in July 2016 A coroner has demanded to know why flight attendants failed to use a defibrillator as a 15-year-old girl who died after eating a Pret A Manger sandwich. Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, collapsed on a BA flight from London to Nice in July 2016 after suffering a fatal reaction to a Pret sandwich. At an inquest into her death today, Dr Sean Cummings said he was 'struggling' to see why the full range of medical kit on the British Airways plane was not offered. He also said he does not find it 'entirely logical' that there was a defibrillator at the back of the aircraft but other medical equipment at the front. Natasha had been on her way to a four-day break in France with her father and best friend when she bought an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette as they passed through Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. The inquest at West London Coroner's Court heard the on-board defibrillator was not used in-flight as it was situated at the back of the plane and it would have been 'too dangerous to get it from the other end of the aircraft' when Natasha went into cardiac arrest minutes before landing. Hearing evidence from Clare Durrant, learning and development manager in crew learning at British Airways, Dr Cummings said: 'I'm struggling a little bit with why the full range of kit wasn't made available to Dr Pearson-Jones or why he wasn't made aware of it.' Thomas Pearson-Jones was a junior doctor on the flight. The coroner added: 'That sounds to me like a quantum leap in terms of the judgments that your crew are being asked to make. That doesn't sound safe to me.' Coroner Dr Sean Cummings said he was 'struggling' to see why the full range of medical kit on the British Airways plane was not offered and said crew were asked to make 'a quantum leap in terms of the judgments' The coroner asked Ms Durrant if she was saying that, even though Natasha, was 'blue, not breathing, unresponsive', the defibrillator was not fetched due to one of the crew members making a judgment or the plane being close to landing. Ms Durrant said crew members could not move through the cabin at that stage, the inquest was told. The teenager suffered from numerous allergies and allegedly reacted badly to sesame seeds 'hidden' in the bread The family's lawyer, Jeremy Hyam QC, asked Ms Durrant to describe 'agonal breathing'. She described it as 'not normal breathing', and Mr Hyam said: 'The evidence I have is that she was in severe distress ... isn't that agonal breathing?' He later added: 'How can it be a safe system to wait for cardiac arrest to arrive?' Ms Durrant said that until that happens, a defibrillator would not have been used, but Mr Hyam pointed out that it would have been there for the doctor to use when the time came. The teenager, from Fulham, south-west London, suffered from numerous allergies and allegedly reacted badly to sesame seeds 'hidden' in the bread, which caused her throat to tighten and vicious red hives to flare up across her midriff, eventually triggering cardiac arrest. Her father jabbed two epipens were into her legs, but the symptoms did not abate and she was declared dead the same day at a hospital in Nice. Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, and wife Tanya arriving at West London Coroners court for the fourth day of the inquest in to the death of her daughter British Airways cabin crew have already been questioned over their response after the inquest heard that the on-board defibrillator was not used in-flight. Mario Ballestri, who helped Dr Thomas Pearson-Jones as he performed CPR on Natasha, said it would have been too dangerous to get the device from the other end of the aircraft when she went into cardiac arrest minutes before landing. Head of cabin crew John Harris was also asked why BA staff had not got the defibrillator. Mr Harris said: 'Without sounding harsh, the coverage of doors takes priority.' He explained that it was a formal requirement of his training to ensure cabin crew were in position on landing so they could get passengers off the aircraft in case of an emergency. 'There were only five cabin crew on that particular flight and the aircraft had four sets of doors, totalling eight doors, and one cabin crew member was out of action. 'So we literally had the minimum number of crew to cover those doors,' he said. The inquest heard that a defibrillator was used on Natasha after landing when Nice paramedics arrived. Natasha, 15 (pictured), died of a severe allergic reaction after she bought the artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette from a shop at Heathrow Terminal 5 but was feeling ill within minutes Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, his son Alex and wife Tanya (pictured today) arrive at the inquest of Natasha, 15, whose mother sobbed today as she heard how BA crew tried to save her Pret didn't have to list sesame on sandwich ingredients because it was made in store Pret, one of the country's biggest food chains, did not have to list sesame seeds as an ingredient in the 3.45 sandwich. Pret products do not have to be individually labelled with allergen or ingredient information. This is because Pret sandwiches are freshly prepared in store. The loophole is supposed to free small, independent sandwich shops and cafe chains from onerous regulations applied to factory packaged foods. Instead, signs on shelves and by tills in Pret stores tell customers with allergies to speak to a manager who is trained to give allergen advice. Before hearing of the case, Pret had started to improve the allergen information it offers customers, but the inquest will explore whether more should be done. Pret's website now carries a list of allergens in its food and drinks, including highlighting sesame in the artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette Advertisement Expert witness consultant allergist Dr Alex Croom said in a report to the coroner: 'My opinion is that Natasha died as a result of anaphylaxis triggered by something she ate in the airport.' Giving evidence, Dr Croom said: 'I think if it has been anything she ingested before she arrived at the airport she would have developed earlier symptoms.' He added: 'She had very classic symptoms.' The inquest heard that Resuscitation Council guidelines suggest 25mm is the best needle length for an injection treating an anaphylactic reaction, and that Natasha's epipens were just 16mm. Asked if she thinks a standard prescription should have a 25mm length, Dr Croom said: 'Yes, really.' On the subject of whether earlier application of a defibrillator would have helped, she said: 'I think it's unlikely that it was an abnormal (heart) rhythm that needed corrected.' The inquest heard from Ms Durrant that British Airways cabin crew get three days of medical training, and that they know a defibrillator is the 'priority piece of equipment' to collect if someone is unconscious or not responding. Ms Durrant said the crew is there 'primarily for safety'. She told the inquest they would only call on the defibrillator if someone was unconscious and not breathing. The inquest is due to last until Friday. The creator of a controversial 'wonder drug' made from human blood is facing jail for making millions from selling it illegally. David Noakes, 65, is the CEO and beneficial owner of Macro Innovations Ltd, which made pills with GcMAC in them that contain human blood. He marketed the products claiming they could cure illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV and autism. But he and his ex-wife Loraine Noakes, 58, sold the pills without the proper licence, meaning they could have posed a significant health risk. The couple appeared at Southwark Crown Court to admit charges relating to the manufacture, possession and sale of products including the drug. David Noakes, 65, (pictured left) and his ex-wife Loraine, 58 (right) have both admitted manufacturing and selling a controversial wonder drug made with human blood without a licence Mr Noakes, of Waldershare, Dover, admitted two counts of manufacturing a medicinal product without a manufacturer's licence, two of selling or supplying medicinal products without market authorisation, and one count of money laundering. A single count of possessing an unauthorised medical product, which he denied, will lie on file. Mrs Noakes, of Ringwood, Hampshire, admitted two counts of selling or supplying medicinal products without market authorisation. Dr Rodney Smith, a scientist and director of MACRO, previously admitted two counts of manufacturing a medicinal product without a manufacturer's licence, two of selling or supplying medicinal products without market authorisation and one of possessing an unauthorised medicinal product without market authorisation. He was involved in sourcing starting products to be used in the manufacturing process, the manufacture of unlicensed medicinal products and their onward supply ready for distribution to customers. Their sentencing will take place at Southwark Crown Court on 22 November following a two-day hearing. Three people have been arrested in an historic market town after the discovery of human remains in a stone cottage which was once part of an aristocratic estate. Roofers were busy working on the house in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, when they were struck by a foul smell as they removed tiles and coping stones. Police were called in and the remains of an adult were discovered inside the terraced cottage, which has been occupied for over 20 years by a reclusive family, who locals say were originally from Japan. A 46-year-old man and 51-year-old woman - who locals believe are brother and sister - were arrested along with a 75-year-old woman who also lives at the property, once part of the Duncombe Park estate owned by Baron Feversham. Forensics officers searched the front garden of a cottage where a body was discovered The man and woman were often seen walking around the quaint market town. Locals said an elderly woman rarely left the house and only a few people who saw her face at the window. A young girl is also thought to have lived at the address with the family for a period of time. Penny Bradley, who works at the local petrol station, said they believe the man is a writer who lives at the property with his sister. Ms Bradley, 51, said: 'Although they speak broken English they both write it perfectly and neatly. I know that because they would write letters of complaint about staff in Costcutter at the time I worked there. 'As far as I knew there were just the two of them living in the house, I didn't realise there was an older lady living there, you never see her. 'They don't appear to work but the rumour is that he is an author, he certainly writes English very well.' A body was discovered after workmen arrived to fix the roof of this cottage in North Yorkshire A former neighbour said that when the family moved into the house in 1998 there were five members, including a young girl. She said: 'When they moved in there was the man and woman, who people thought at the time were married but it's since turned out they're brother and sister according to most people in town. 'There was an older man and woman and a little girl. The girl would only have been around four or five and was very small, she suffered some kind of disability I was told. 'I saw her outside the house a couple of times and I'd also see her looking through the window, peering out through the pot plants. 'It's been years though since anyone saw her or the older man, everyone assumed they had left, maybe to go back to Japan. It was around 20 years ago so she'll be an adult now.' Police are now investigating and have arrested three people, who have since been bailed A neighbour in the cottages said: 'In all the time they have lived here I have never had so much as a word from them, in fact they avert their gaze when you meet them so as to avoid contact. 'I have seen the old lady from time to time but only a face at the window or sometimes at the door when she lets the younger pair back in. For some reason they always knock instead of using a key. 'They've been here for over 20 years and I believe bought the house from the Duncombe Estate. 'A neighbour of theirs was having some work done on a roof and then about two weeks ago scaffolding went up outside their home as well. 'The roofers were at work when they noticed a dreadful smell. I don't know what they uncovered but the police were called in and the body was found. 'It's chilling, people are shocked and horrified that such a things has happened here. Helmsley is your typical Yorkshire market town, you don't get much to talk about from one year to the next.' The property now being search was once part of the Duncombe Park estate in Yorkshire A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said the family had been released on bail under investigation. She said: 'Following a report by a member of the public, officers located the remains of an adult body at a property on Bondgate in Helmsley at around 6pm on Tuesday 25 September 2018. 'The 75 year-old woman, 46 year-old man and 51 year-old woman who were arrested in connection with the incident have all been released on conditional bail. Enquiries are continuing to determine the circumstances around the incident. India's Supreme Court has struck down a colonial-era law that made adultery illegal, calling it arbitrary and saying it is unconstitutional because it "treats a husband as the master". In simple words, Section 497 of Indian Penal Code means sexual intercourse by a man with a married woman without her husband's consent amounts to adultery, and the man shall be held liable for the crime. A petitioner, an Indian businessman, had challenged the court to strike down the law, describing it as arbitrary and discriminatory against women. A five-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R.F. Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. "Being antithetical to the constitutional guarantees of liberty, dignity and equality, section 497 does not pass constitutional muster", Justice Chandrachud said. The law was used as a blackmail tool to keep women in unhappy marriages or prevent them from claiming alimony in divorce proceedings. In our intervention application before the Court, we relied upon different grounds to suggest why this section should be made gender-neutral. Woman has sexual autonomy within marriage. The court also observed that "adultery as a ground for divorce can be viewed as ground for reasonable restriction". Search for Maddox Ritch comes to tragic end The park employee who made the initial 911 call spoke out, saying he didn't believe Maddox was ever at Rankin Lake Park . If you were at Rankin Lake Park on Saturday, police need your help to put together a timeline to help solve the case. In Somalia, Islamist Shabaab militants often carry out stonings of women for adultery. He, therefore, struck down the provisions criminalizing Adultery as violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. Women having affairs could not be prosecuted, but they also couldn't file a complaint against cheating husbands. "You exact fidelity from a woman but not from a man?" "A woman's "purity" and a man's marital "entitlement" to her exclusive sexual possession may be reflective of the antiquated social and sexual mores of the nineteenth century, but they can not be recognised as being so today", he said. However, the matter was referred to a Constitution Bench in January 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing government told a court past year that it believes criminalising marital rape could destabilise marriages and make men vulnerable to harassment by their wives. It has been said that in order to prove adultery, two elements would be necessary- the intention to be adulterous and the opportunity to gratify such an intention. Raj said the law has been widely misused even if it has rarely ended up in a jail sentence. The offence of adultery entailed a maximum punishment of five years, or with fine, or both. The next two rulings upheld the law to protect the sanctity of marriage. In fact, Indonesia is drafting laws that prohibit all consensual sex outside the institution of marriage. Adultery is prohibited in Sharia or Islamic Law, so it is a criminal offence in Islamic countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia. "Women can not be asked to think and do according to the will of society", he added. A headless corpse that was discovered stuffed inside a fish tank has finally been identified as, Brian Egg (pictured), 65, who had been missing for months A headless corpse that was discovered stuffed inside a fish tank has finally been identified as a California man who had been missing for months. The San Francisco medical examiner confirmed Wednesday that the body found in the tank with no head and no hands was 65-year-old Brian Egg. Egg's body was found on August 15, a few weeks after he was reported missing in late July. Family and friends grew concerned about Egg after they hadn't had contact with him since June. By early August, police had visited Egg's home twice and left after each visit when no one answered the door, police Commander Greg McEachern said. There were no signs of foul play, he added. 'We don't make entry into people's homes just because there's a missing person's report,' McEachern said. On August 7, Egg's sister filed a missing persons report and police went to the home again. When no one answered the door, the officers left once again. But it was a neighbor's phone call that prompted the police visit on August 15 after they spotted Egg's apartment with crime scene tape around it and a private crime scene cleaner and a stranger outside. Egg's body was discovered inside a fish tank at his San Francisco home (pictured) on August 17 Responding officers reported a strong decaying odor and cleaning supplies inside and arrested the stranger, Robert McCaffrey, 52, on suspicion of homicide, identity theft and other charges. Investigators returned the next day with a search warrant and dogs trained in finding bodies, McEachern said. Egg used to work as a bartender at the gar bar, The Stud, and he would often let homeless people stay at home After two days of searching the house, they found the body stuffed in a fish tank 'in a concealed part of the home,' McEachern added. Police also arrested Lance Silva, 39, who was also booked on suspicion of homicide and identity theft, he said. Neither have been charged after the San Francisco district attorney's office said it required more evidence to charge the men, but both remain 'people of interest'. McCaffrey has been released from jail, while Silva was transferred to Alameda County jail, where he is being held on an alleged probation violation. Police are confident they can arrest McCaffrey if the district attorney files charges, McEachern said. Egg, a former bartender in legendary gay bar The Stud who neighbors described as 'eccentric', would often let homeless people stay in his San Francisco home. Both men police arrested in connection with Egg's murder were reportedly living in his home after his death and told police, during their visits, that he was on vacation. Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein, Members of the Committee. My name is Christine Blasey Ford. I am a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University and a Research Psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina and earned my degree in Experimental Psychology in 1988. I received a Master's degree in 1991 in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. In 1996, I received a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California. I earned a Master's degree in Epidemiology from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2009. I have been married to Russell Ford since 2002 and we have two children. I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. I have described the events publicly before. I summarized them in my letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, and again in my letter to Chairman Grassley. I understand and appreciate the importance of your hearing from me directly about what happened to me and the impact it has had on my life and on my family. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. I attended the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1980 to 1984. Holton-Arms is an all-girls school that opened in 1901. During my time at the school, girls at Holton-Arms frequently met and became friendly with boys from all-boys schools in the area, including Landon School, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga High 2 School, country clubs, and other places where kids and their families socialized. This is how I met Brett Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me. In my freshman and sophomore school years, when I was 14 and 15 years old, my group of friends intersected with Brett and his friends for a short period of time. I had been friendly with a classmate of Brett's for a short time during my freshman year, and it was through that connection that I attended a number of parties that Brett also attended. We did not know each other well, but I knew him and he knew me. In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent almost every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland swimming and practicing diving. One evening that summer, after a day of swimming at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Chevy Chase/Bethesda area. There were four boys I remember being there: Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth, and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. I remember my friend Leland Ingham attending. I do not remember all of the details of how that gathering came together, but like many that summer, it was almost surely a spur of the moment gathering. I truly wish I could provide detailed answers to all of the questions that have been and will be asked about how I got to the party, where it took place, and so forth. I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult. When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark were visibly drunk. Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldn't see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me. I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They both seemed to be having a good time. Mark was urging Brett on, although at times he told Brett to stop. A couple of times I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not. During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. The last time he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room. Directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. I ran inside the bathroom and locked the door. I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairs, pin-balling off the walls on the way down. I waited and when I did not hear them come back up the stairs, I left the bathroom, ran down the stairs, through the living room, and left the house. I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I had escaped the house and that Brett and Mark were not coming outside after me. Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should just move and just pretend that it didn't happen. Over the years, I told very few friends that I had this traumatic experience. I told my husband before we were married that I had experienced a sexual assault. I had never told the details to anyone until May 2012, during a couples counseling session. The reason this came up in counseling is that my husband and I had completed a very extensive, very long, remodel of our home, and I insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand. In explaining why I wanted to have a second front door, I described the assault in detail. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke a bit about his background. My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh. After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety. Occasionally I would discuss the assault in individual therapy, but talking about it caused me to relive the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it. But over the years, I went through periods where I thought about Brett's attack. I confided in some close friends that I had an experience with sexual assault. Occasionally I stated that my assailant was a prominent lawyer or judge but I did not use his name. I do not recall each person I spoke to about Brett's assault, and some friends have reminded me of these conversations since the publication of The Washington Post story on September 16, 2018. But until July 2018, I had never named Mr. Kavanaugh as my attacker outside of therapy. This all changed in early July 2018. I saw press reports stating that Brett Kavanaugh was on the 'short list' of potential Supreme Court nominees. I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr. Kavanaugh's conduct so that those considering his potential nomination would know about the assault. On July 6, 2018, I had a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and the President as soon as possible before a nominee was selected. I called my congressional representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the President's shortlist had attacked me. I also sent a message to The Washington Post's confidential tip line. I did not use my name, but I provided the names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. I stated that Mr. Kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland. This was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I felt I couldn't NOT do it. Over the next two days, I told a couple of close friends on the beach in California that Mr. Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted me. I was conflicted about whether to speak out. On July 9, 2018, I received a call from the office of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo after Mr. Kavanaugh had become the nominee. I met with her staff on July 11 and with her on July 13, describing the assault and discussing my fear about coming forward. Later, we discussed the possibility of sending a letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, who is one of my state's Senators, describing what occurred. My understanding is that Representative Eshoo's office delivered a copy of my letter to Senator Feinstein's office on July 30, 2018. The letter included my name, but requested that the letter be kept confidential. My hope was that providing the information confidentially would be sufficient to allow the Senate to consider Mr. Kavanaugh's serious misconduct without having to make myself, my family, or anyone's family vulnerable to the personal attacks and invasions of privacy we have faced since my name became public. In a letter on August 31, 2018, Senator Feinstein wrote that she would not share the letter without my consent. I greatly appreciated this commitment. All sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves whether their private experience is made public. As the hearing date got closer, I struggled with a terrible choice: Do I share the facts with the Senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight? Or do I preserve our privacy and allow the Senate to make its decision on Mr. Kavanaugh's nomination without knowing the full truth about his past behavior? I agonized daily with this decision throughout August and early September 2018. The sense of duty that motivated me to reach out confidentially to The Washington Post, Representative Eshoo's office, and Senator Feinstein's office was always there, but my fears of the consequences of speaking out started to increase. During August 2018, the press reported that Mr. Kavanaugh's confirmation was virtually certain. Persons painted him as a champion of women's rights and empowerment. I believed that if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. By the time of the confirmation hearings, I had resigned myself to remaining quiet and letting the Committee and the Senate make their decision without knowing what Mr. Kavanaugh had done to me. Once the press started reporting on the existence of the letter I had sent to Senator Feinstein, I faced mounting pressure. Reporters appeared at my home and at my workplace demanding information about this letter, in the presence of my graduate students. They called my bosses and coworkers and left me many messages, making it clear that my name would inevitably be released to the media. I decided to speak out publicly to a journalist who had originally responded to the tip I had sent to The Washington Post and who had gained my trust. It was important for me to describe the details of the assault in my own words. Since September 16th, the date of The Washington Post story, I have experienced an outpouring of support from people in every state of this country. Thousands and thousands of people who have had their lives dramatically altered by sexual violence have reached out to share their experience and have thanked me for coming forward. We have received tremendous support from our friends and our community. At the same time, my greatest fears have been realized and the reality has been far worse than what I expected. My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats and I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable. These messages, while far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying and have rocked me to my core. People have posted my personal information and that of my parents online on the internet. This has resulted in additional emails, calls, and threats. My family and I were forced to move out of our home. Since September 16, my family and I have been living in various secure locales, at time separated and at times together, with security guards. This past Tuesday evening, my work email account was hacked and messages were sent out trying to recant my description of the sexual assault. Apart from the assault itself, these last couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me. I am an independent person and I am no one's pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to be helpful and provide facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh's actions have damaged my life, so that you can take into a serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell you the truth. I understand that a professional prosecutor has been hired to ask me questions, and I am committed to doing my very best to answer them. I have never been questioned by a prosecutor and I will do my best. At the same time, because the Committee Members will be judging my credibility, I hope to be able to engage directly with each of you. At this point, I will do my best to answer your questions. And I request some caffeine. [Some Coke or something?] That sounds great. Thank you. Australian jihadi Neil Prakash has lost his bid for freedom as a judge has ordered he remain behind bars in Turkey while he waits to face trial for terrorism charges. Prakash, 27, applied for bail after a judge denied a request for the Melbourne-born jihadi to be extradited to Australia, News Corp reported. In a court on the Syrian border, Prakash, who has already spent almost two years in jail in Gaziantep, was told he would have to remain behind bars after being charged with domestic terrorism offences. Australian jihadi Neil Prakash (pictured) has lost his bid for freedom as a judge has ordered he remain behind bars in Turkey while he waits to face trial for terrorism charges He is facing a sentence between seven and 15 years if convicted. The 27-year-old previously admitted he was a solider for Islamic State, but denied having a leadership role. When he was arrested in October 2016 while trying to cross the Syrian Turkish border, police said he was an 'emir' or senior Islamic State figure. In acknowledgement of his senior status, it is understood he was given two wives. Prakash moved to Syria in 2013, where recruited for the terrorist group and shared online propaganda. The Australian Federal Police wants Prakash to be extradited to Australia to face charges related to being a member of a terrorist organisation and engaging in hostile activities. Prakash, 27, applied for bail after a judge denied a request for the Melbourne-born jihadi to be extradited to Australia (stock image) Moments after a prosecutor began plans to organise the extradition Judge Ismail Deniz decided Prakash should not be sent back to Australia. The Australian Government cannot appeal the decision but can lobby the Turkish Government for an appeal. Prakash, an Islamic convert, previously told the court in September last year he was a 'new Muslim and didn't have the knowledge,' News Corp reported. 'All I wanted to do was follow the religion,' he said. 'I am sorry for all the trouble I have caused in the world.' Prakash was due to appear in the Kilis Criminal Court on Wednesday night to present his defence for the new indictment. Jeremy Hunt pointed the finger of blame at Vladimir Putin over the Salisbury nerve agent attack today. The Foreign Secretary revealed he had a 'frank' meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in New York - diplomatic code for a blazing row. He told Sky News that while Britain had been careful to only assign specific blame where it is proven, Putin had to accept responsibility for the Kremlin's activity. Britain has identified the two Russian spies to blame for the novichok attack on Sergei Skripal, which left innocent British civilian Dawn Sturgess dead. Theresa May named Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov as the assassins earlier this month - both of which were thought to be aliases. Secret documents and photographs last night unmasked Boshirov as highly-decorated spy Anatoliy Chepiga are 'pure nonsense'. Jeremy Hunt pointed the finger of blame at Vladimir Putin over the Salisbury nerve agent attack today (the Foreign Secretary is pictured today in New York) The Foreign Secretary revealed to Sky News (pictured) he had a 'frank' meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in New York - diplomatic code for a blazing row Online investigations group Bellingcat published what it says is the real identity of Ruslan Boshirov (left), a suspect in the Salisbury poising plot. The group say he is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga (pictured right) Moscow today smeared compelling evidence despite it being revealed the President personally made him a 'Hero of Russia'. Mr Hunt said he had a 'frank exchange of views' with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov over the Salisbury nerve agent attack. Mr Hunt, who is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, said he had made clear to Mr Lavrov there would be a 'price to pay' for its actions. 'It was pretty tough because it is not acceptable for Russia to instruct two GRU agents to use chemical weapons on British soil. 'Our message to Russia is very straightforward: 'If you do this the price will be too high.'' Mrs May focused on the threat from chemical weapons in her speech to the UNGA last night. She called on Russia to rejoin the international consensus against the use of chemical weapons and said there should be no doubt of the global community's determination to take action if it did not. Mrs May focused on the threat from chemical weapons in her speech to the UNGA last night (pictured) She said: 'We cannot let the framework be undermined today by those who reject the values and disregard the rules that have kept us safe. 'It will take collective engagement to reinforce it in the face of today's challenges. And in this, as has always been the case, the UK will play a leading role.' Chepiga was identified following painstaking examination of public military records, leaked resident databases and passport files by online analysts from Bellingcat. Experts believe Colonel Chepiga may have known Skripal and personally wanted to kill him because of the GRU's entrenched hatred of traitors. The real identity of one of the two assassins, named by police as Ruslan Boshirov, is reportedly Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. He is said to appear in this photo (circled) with a group of fellow military graduates in Chechnya Chepiga's life and official documents are marked 'top secret' but have been leaked to journalists Putin gave 39-year-old Chepiga, who had served in Chechnya and Ukraine with the Spetsnaz batallion, Russia's highest bravery honour in 2014 under his real name - suggesting that the President may know him personally. Timeline: The rise of Putin's 'Hero of Russia' who fluffed Salisbury murder mission May 5, 1979: Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga is born Nikolaevka close to Russia's border with China, 5,000 miles from Moscow. 1997: 18-year-old is signed up to join Russia's Army in its far-eastern headquarters and graduates with honours four years later. 2001: Chepiga joins the Spetsnatz Brigade - Russia's feared secret service Army often compared to the SAS three years before Sergei Skripal's arrest for treason. 2001-2008: He spends three long periods fighting in Chechnya and handed 20 medals 2009: Chepiga's transition to GRU spy begins when he is handed the alias Ruslan Boshirov and the documents to back it up. 2014: Putin makes Chepiga a 'Hero of Russia' - the country's highest award - for an unnamed mission referred to in records as 'peacekeeping' 2016: Chepiga travels abroad for the first time as Boshirov, under the guise as a businessman with Salisbury partner Petrov and the pair criss-cross Europe. 2018: The men turn up on Salisbury to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia by smearing Novichok on his front door. But they bungle the operation and flee back to Russia. Advertisement But foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova today branded the revelations a 'series of fibs' and state-sponsored press including Pravda have claimed the document leak is part of a western conspiracy cooked up by 'traitors'. Ms Zakharova said today that Britain has 'no evidence and that is why they continue the information campaign the goal of which is distract attention from the key question: what did really happen in Salisbury?'. But yesterday Defence Secretary tweeted a link to the Bellingcat research and said it showed the 'true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects' - only to delete it seconds later. Moscow today pointed this out as proof Britain is not sure - and retired FSB major-general Alexander Mikhailov - a former spokesman for the FSB secret service - said: 'It is pure nonsense. How could secret documents happen to be publicly accessible? He said: ' I can draw a dozen such pictures with Theresa May photograph. 'And, seriously, these days the British media with the help from traitors will blow lots of smoke'. Meanwhile, pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) pointed to alleged mistakes in the Bellingcat claims. Citing a serving but anonymous Russian military source, the newspaper said the photograph of Chepiga 'really looks like' a picture of the young Boshirov. But researchers claim the 'first mistake' is in claiming that Chepiga graduated from military college in the Russian Far East are four years. 'It just can't be true, the course was years long at that time,, and he had to graduate in 2002. 'And it is strange why he went to study at 18 what was he up to for a full year, when he finished his school at 17?' Chepiga's name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001 Ruslan Boshirov when he appeared on Russian-state TV with fellow suspect Alexander Petrov to claim they only visited Salisbury to see the famous cathedral spire Picture released by Bellingcat of Ruslan Boshirov's passport photo from 2009 with 'do not reveal information' stamped on it. The group claim he is is actually Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga The source claimed that British-based researchers in Bellingcat claimed Chepiga's address from 2003 to 2005 was in the city of Khabarovsk and the same as army unit known as the 14th GRU brigade. Mystery of Defence Secretary's deleted tweet: Gavin Williamson hails revelation of Salisbury suspect's 'true identity'... then hastily removes post Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson last night confirmed that the Salisbury assassin was a Russian colonel - only to delete his tweet seconds later. Mr Williamson has not commented on. his confirmation He briefly confirmed the story on social media and wrote: 'The true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects has been revealed to be a Russian Colonel. I want to thank all the people who are working so tirelessly on this case.' But withing a minute it was gone. The Ministry of Defence said Mr Williamson's social media profile was personal and it did not know why the tweet was deleted. Scotland Yard declined to comment. Advertisement 'But this is not true. This army unit at that time was based in Ussuriysk 670 km away from Khabarovsk', he said. He was also reported to have attended the Military-Diplomatic Academy of Defence Ministry known in the secret services as the 'music academy'. Here, it is claimed, he got his second identity as Boshirov. 'Next time Chepiga's name comes out in December 2014 when he got his Hero of Russia award for performing some peacekeeping mission,' said KP. 'According to the researchers, the 14th brigade - where Chepiga was still listed for some reason - was spotted near Ukrainian border at the end of 2014.' The Kremlin was branded shameful last night for claiming Chepiga and his unknown accomplice, who used the alias Alexander Petrov, were holidaymakers. Boris Johnson tweeted: 'Utterly predictable news that GRU is behind Skripal atrocity.' The former foreign secretary added: 'What have you got to say, Putin?' The two Russian agents were charged over the poisonings by the Crown Prosecution Service earlier this month. But they later appeared on Russian TV to insist they were visiting Salisbury for its cathedral. As the bungled attack that left one dead and three seriously ill took another twist: It emerged that Chepiga fought for a feared Spetsnaz unit for 17 years and worked undercover for at least nine. Salisbury assassin is colonel in Putin's brutal special forces army the Spetsnaz Brigade Spetsnaz have a terrifying reputation, built in recent years while conducting seek-and-destroy missions. In modern times many have become jihadi hunters tracing and murdering extremists who committed atrocities against Russian troops in Syria and Chechnya (pictured). There were reports Spetsnaz were behind the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine because a GRU officer was linked to the 'procurement and transport' of the weapons used. Their elite soldiers are trained fight on ground, in the air and even under water. The feared batallions is based in a headquarters nicknamed The Aquarium on an airbase near Moscow and is very large, deploying six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR. These are typically embedded in Russian embassies as military attaches and work on recruiting foreign double agents as well as monitoring military installations and new weapons systems. In 1997 it was estimated to have 25,000 Spetsnaz soldiers under its command. Their legend has trickled down through the agency, with many desk-bound agents claiming to have a special-forces background even if they do not. Many agents do have a military background, though, such as Sergei Skripal, who was recruited after serving in the Soviet army and ended up passing secrets to MI6. There is also a large signals intelligence branch (like our GCHQ) with about 130 satellites orbiting the Earth and a corresponding branch that analyses the resulting visual images. There are also specialist sub-departments for sophisticated cyber warfare, which recruit from Russia's top universities. Advertisement Sources said the soldier's high rank the same as his intended victim, Colonel Sergei Skripal suggested the attack was sanctioned at the highest level. Did Salisbury hitman have a personal vendetta against Skripal? Would-be assassin 'may have poisoned ex-spy for being disloyal to the GRU' Experts believe Colonel Chepiga may have known Skripal and personally wanted to kill him because of the GRU's entrenched hatred of traitors. Both men were highly decorated veterans of Russia's wars and followed similar paths to the higher echelons of Russia's military secret services. The GRU was betrayed by Mr Skripal before he was jailed and sent to the UK in a spy swap. He and his daughter were poisoned in March in Salisbury. GRU recruits are shown videos of traitors being burned alive as part of their training to instill an entrenched hatred of them. It is possible that Chepiga was handpicked for the job - or even volunteered - to ensure Skripal received the 'ultimate punishment'. Chepiga was made an elite special forces soldier in 2001 - three years before Skripal's arrest for treason - so it is possible the men may have men. Advertisement Senior politicians queued up to accuse the Russians of being 'seriously dishonest' and lying about their complicity. The identity of Chepiga was uncovered by investigative organisation Bellingcat, best known for its insight into the fighting in Ukraine. It found that Chepiga has won more than 20 awards and a Hero of the Russian Federation medal during his illustrious military career. Born in the isolated village of Nikolayevka, on the Russian-Chinese border in 1979, he is married with a teenage son. In 2001 he graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy before being deployed to Chechnya three times. Its website states: 'Anatoly Vladimirovich Chepiga was awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation by order of the president of the Russian Federation.' His name appears under a gold star honour list on a monument to academy alumni at a base near the Chinese border. The medals are normally awarded by the president personally, and are given only to a handful of people each year. Unlike most recipients there is little public information about Chepiga's life and official documents are marked 'top secret'. The secretive nature of the award, combined with its timing in 2014, suggests it was for actions in Ukraine. His Spetsnaz unit was pictured on the eastern Ukraine border. Investigators also found documents that trace Chepiga's movements around Russia and Europe. He pops up at a remote military unit and in Moscow where he is likely to have studied at the Military Diplomatic Academy, or 'GRU Conservatory'. The GRU was betrayed by Mr Skripal before he was jailed and sent to the UK in a spy swap. He and his daughter were poisoned in March in Salisbury. Chepiga and Petrov are also accused of murdering Dawn Sturgess, who was inadvertently poisoned when she discovered a perfume bottle filled with the deadly novichok nerve agent used on the Skripals. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'It is confirmation of what we have known for a long time that Russia is serially dishonest in its foreign affairs and has again lied about its complicity. 'These guys are amateurs. Their cover couldn't even survive investigation by newspapers.' The Russian embassy in London made no comment This undated image is alleged to show Chepiga (circled) posing with fellow members of the Russian military The dark star of Russia's elite special forces school: Colonel who signed up at 18, was honoured at gaudy memorial to military and then sent to kill Skripal The highly-decorated spy blamed for the Salisbury poisonings was a veteran of Russia's elite special forces and had trained at one of the country's top military academies, it emerged last night. The man behind the alias of Boshirov was unmasked by the investigative website as Colonel Chepiga - a GRU intelligence officer bestowed with Russia's highest state award. His military career began at the age of 18 when he enrolled in a top military school just 25 miles from his tiny home village of Nikolaevka, near the Russia-China border. Col Chepiga studied at the Far Eastern Military Command Academy in Blagoveschensk, an elite training ground for 'Spetsnaz' special forces officers. His name features on a memorial wall at the school under the Gold Star honour list. After graduating from the school with honours in 2001, he was assigned to Russia's 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, based in the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk. Dawn Sturgess (left) died after spraying Novichok on her wrists thinking it was a perfume. Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, (right) fell critically ill but recovered Spetsnaz units are responsible for highly-secretive missions and are equivalent to the British SAS. Under the command of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency, his brigade played a vital role in the second Chechen war and was also spotted near the Ukrainian border in late 2014. The information was revealed by investigative website Bellingcat, which had conducted a painstaking investigation into his background. It said that his unit had deployed three times to Chechnya, where Russia was carrying out what it called a 'counter-terrorist operation'. The website of a state-run military volunteer organisation claims that Col Chepiga received more than 20 military awards and decorations in the course of his service. And his former military school proudly boasts on its website that he was bestowed his homeland's highest honour, Hero of the Russian Federation, in 2014. The award is often presented by Vladimir Putin himself. While the achievements of his fellow award-winners are detailed extensively, Col Chepiga's simply says it was awarded 'by decree from the Russian president'. Bellingcat speculated that he could have been given the award for operations in Eastern Ukraine where Russia's military was secretly operating in 2014. Senior Russian military officials have since said that so-called 'little green men' soldiers wearing uniforms with no insignia were in fact members of Russia's Spetsnaz deployed secretly to Ukraine. The Bellingcat website also found an undated photograph of graduates from the Far Eastern Military Command Academy on assignment in Chechnya. It pointed out that the man on the far right looks strikingly similar to the man named as Boshirov by the Metropolitan Police although it said it could not prove conclusively it was the same person. They came across the photograph after sources said the school was a likely place for a Russian military officer with a specialism in Western European operations to have trained. CCTV image issued by the Metropolitan Police of Russian nationals Ruslan Boshirov (left) and Alexander Petrov (right) in Salisbury at around 1pm on March 4 Sergei Skripal (right) and his daughter Yulia eating at a restaurant. Both were critically ill after the Novichok attack in Salisbury After further digging, they came across the mysterious Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. Address databases link him to the Military Unit 20662 code for the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade. The logo of the brigade is a black bat with a yellow parachute behind it. It was formed in the 1960s and has been under the command of the GRU for much of its history. According to Yuri Shvets, a former KGB agent, GRU officers were referred to as 'boots' tough but unsophisticated. Once a member of the GRU, it is believed to be exceptionally difficult to leave. And those who do so to join foreign agencies are punished savagely. Viktor Suvorov, a GRU officer who defected to Britain in 1978, said new recruits were shown a video of a traitor from the agency being burned alive in a furnace as a warning. The GRU has become adept as using so-called 'non-linear warfare', which uses a combination of covert special forces operations, spying, cyber attacks and internet trolls to destabilise enemy nations. It started as an intelligence-gathering agency for Trotsky's Bolshevik Red Army, and Lenin insisted it remain separate from the other intelligence organisations. Today it still sits apart from the SVR, the external spying service, and the domestic FSB (the equivalents of Britain's MI6 and MI5), which were created when the notorious KGB was split in 1991. How will the West react to proof Putin lied? Commentary by Owen Matthews THIS sensational revelation the seniority of the would-be assassin and the official state support for the mission shows that the Skripal hit must have been ordered at the very highest levels of the Russian state. The evidence that Vladimir Putin personally ordered the attack grows stronger every day. Indeed, by presiding over one of the most farcically inept cover-ups in memory when the two Russians caught on CCTV here claimed to have been tourists visiting Salisbury cathedral Putin has condemned himself out of his own mouth. Days after British police released dozens of security camera images of the pair on their way from Moscow to Salisbury, Putin appeared on Russian television to defend them as 'innocent Russian citizens about whom we know nothing'. His fingerprints were all over the operation. The following afternoon, 'Petrov' and 'Boshirov' themselves appeared to air a cock-and-bull story about being turned back from their mission to see Salisbury by slush two days in a row. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the two suspects were just civilians and not members of the GRU Before the denials by Putin and by the suspects themselves, it might have been possible to argue plausibly that the botched assassination attempt was some kind of rogue operation by Russia's secret services. But Putin's personal defence of the suspects and the inept cover-up job by the state-controlled media constitute strong, if wholly unintended, proof of the Kremlin's deep complicity. And now the Bellingcat revelations have added incontrovertible layers of detail to the emerging picture of a top-level GRU assassination squad operating on UK soil. Using mostly open-source data, Bellingcat's researchers first unearthed details of the passports the suspects used to enter the UK, published by British police. Petrov and Boshirov's passport numbers, it turned out, varied by just a single digit and were issued by a Moscow office used exclusively for officials' travel documents. Even more suspiciously, Boshirov's passport file was stamped 'Do not reveal information'. Then, yesterday, came the clincher. By trawling through the records of GRU academy graduation classes, Bellingcat matched the photos of 'Boshirov' to the real-life Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. Once they had a name, details of Colonel Chepiga's secret service popped up all over the internet, in online posts by veterans' groups and even written in letters of gold on a stone monument to the decorated graduates of one of the GRU's secret intelligence academies. Chepiga served in Chechnya with the Spetznaz, the elite forces of the Federal Security Service, where by some reports he received 20 awards and decorations. In short, Putin has been caught out telling analogue lies in a digital world. Counter-terrorism police released images of two suspects in connection with the Salisbury attack and named them as Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov (circled right) Bellingcat became famous for its painstaking investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing over Eastern Ukraine in July 2014, collecting photos from social media and intelligence data showing the hour-by-hour progress of the Buk missile system which downed the plane, from a military base inside Russia into Eastern Ukraine and back again. Russia's vehement denials of involvement were shown to be false. Now, with Bellingcat's dozens of detailed revelations about the true identity of one of the would-be Skripal assassins, another of the Kremlin's brazen lies has been carefully picked apart. Perhaps the most terrifying part of the whole tragic story of the Skripal poisoning, which resulted in the death of an innocent British bystander, is the shocking combination of the Kremlin's deadly intent and utter incompetence. Instead of quietly disposing of a 'traitor', Chepiga and his as-yet-unnamed accomplice succeeded in contaminating parts of Salisbury, murdering an innocent woman, and revealing themselves to the whole world as bungling idiots. Attempting extra-judicial execution on British soil is bad enough. But to spread deadly nerve agent around a cathedral city is irresponsible bungling on an epic scale. The question now, of course, is what the response of the West will be to this damning revelation. Will Theresa May call for renewed sanctions? Will America ratchet up their rhetoric? We shall have to wait and see in the coming days. What is clear is that the Kremlin and its henchmen have been revealed for what they are not just a bunch murderous liars, but terrible at both. A young bartender whose arm was blown off when an over-pressurised beer keg exploded is suing the bowling club and brewery he believes are responsible. Jye Parker, then 23, was off the clock when the keg exploded while he was helping a friend at Bar Beach Bowling Club in Newcastle, two hours north of Sydney, in 2014. He has since pursued legal action in the Supreme Court against the club and Carlton United Breweries, claiming each breached its duty of care, Daily Telegraph reported. A young bartender (pictured) whose arm was blown off when an over-pressurized beer keg exploded is suing the bowling club and brewery he believes is responsible. Jye Parker is pictured in costume at a Halloween party a few years after his injury Jye Parker, then 23, was off the clock when the keg exploded on him while helping a friend at Bar Beach Bowling Club (pictured) in Newcastle, two hours north of Sydney, in 2014 'The injuries, loss and damage sustained by the plaintiff were a result of the negligence (of Bar Beach and Carlton),' Mr Parker alleged. He claimed the keg exploded because it didn't have a gas regulating device fitted - which he believed was a significant and foreseeable risk. Both companies 'failed to give any consideration to the pressure hazard' or provide any training, he claimed. The club and Carlton United have denied responsibility, having brought counterclaims against each other. He has since pursued legal action in the Supreme Court against the club and Carlton United Breweries, claiming each breached a duty of care (pictured at time of incident) Bar Beach claimed Mr Parker 'failed to take reasonable care for his own safety' and 'any damage or loss was caused by the plaintiff's own negligence'. Mr Parker, an avid surfer and guitarist, worked nearby at Hotel Delaney at the time and offered to help his friend because they were having trouble getting beer to flow. Carlton United claimed the club said it would supply its own gas bottle, gas lead hoses and pressure regulating systems for the beer. The brewing company denied Mr Parker's injury was 'causally connected' to any wrongdoing on its part. The case will be heard in court in October. Advertisement Soldiers from the Coldstream Guards came together today to commemorate two of their finest comrades who were honoured with Victoria Crosses 100 years ago. Captain Cyril Frisby and Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson showed remarkable bravery during the First World War in the face of fearsome odds and devastating machine gun fire. Lance Corporal Jackson lost his life after charging a trench in Canal du Nord, France, where he had shouted 'come on boys!' before killing the first two soldiers he met and then succumbing to gunshot wounds. Captain Frisby recommended him for the Victoria Cross. His Victoria Cross citation reads that he displayed 'Great Valour'. Soldiers from the Coldstream Guards came together today to commemorate two of their finest comrades who were honoured with Victoria Crosses 100 years ago. Captain F N G Russell (left) and Lance Corporal Amos Hannan of the Coldstream Guards, hold the Victoria Crosses of Captain Cyril Frisby and Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson respectively, prior to a Drumhead Service at Victoria Barracks, Windsor today Captain Cyril Frisby (left) and Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson (right) showed humbling bravery during the First World War in the face of fearsome odds and machine gun fire Captain Cyril Frisby and Lance Corporal Thomas Jackson showed humbling bravery during the First World War in the face of fearsome odds and machine gun fire Richard Frisby (left) and his son Henry (right), great nephew and great great nephew of Captain Cyril Frisby, pose alongside Lance Corporal Hodgkinson The anniversary of their heroics was commemorated with a Regimental Drumhead Service at 11am at Victoria Barracks Windsor, with regimental music from the Band Of The Coldstream Guards. The Army said descendants of both men, former commanding officers of the regiment and community leaders were in attendance. Lance Corporal Jackson was buried with full military honours in Sanders Keep Military Cemetery, Graincourt-les-Havrincourt, France. Jackson's award was published in the London Gazette on 26th November 1918. His fiancee Daisy Flatt, from Kenley, Surrey, and his sister Charlotte were presented with his Victoria Cross by the King on Saturday 29th March 1919. Meanwhile Captain Frisby oversaw the successful capture under heavy fire of a machine gun that was pinning the Coldstream Guards back. Captain Frisby recommended him for the Victoria Cross. His Victoria Cross citation reads that he displayed 'Great Valour'. He died with the rank of Lance Corporal Lance Corporal Jackson was buried with full military honours in Sanders Keep Military Cemetery, Graincourt-les-Havrincourt, France Jackson's award was published in the London Gazette on 26th November 1918. His fiancee Daisy Flatt, from Kenley, Surrey, and his sister Charlotte were presented with his Victoria Cross by the King on Saturday 29th March 1919 Calling for volunteers, Captain Frisby dashed forward with three other ranks, the first to offer being Jackson, who was a young non-commissioned officer, and had shown bravery ever since the battle began. Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regiment in the Army, with origins that date back to the English Civil War. Coldstream Guards are infantry soldiers who specialise in light role operations: performing reconnaissance, operating machine guns and mortars, and engaging enemy troops on foot and in light vehicles. Coldstream Guards also have a ceremonial role as protectors of the royal palaces, including Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. The Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards is one of the oldest and best-known military marching bands in the world. Advertisement The two soldiers along with two other Coldstream Guardsmen climbed down into the canal under intense machine-gun fire and captured the post with a dozen men and two machine-guns. In this swift successful enterprise Captain Frisby was wounded in the leg by a bayonet, but he remained at duty, and having restored the situation, led the attacking companies. He was gazetted for the VC on 27th November 1918. After the war he spent much of his time tuna fishing. He was once described as Britain's most famous tuna fisherman. Hundreds of Guardsmen attended the memorial service today in full military regalia honouring the bravery of the two soldiers. A service was held and relatives of Captain Frisby attended as honoury guests where they were pictured alongside Lance Corporal Hodgekinson who was holding the Victoria Cross. Commanding Officer Lieutenant Ed Launders said: 'The Coldstream Guards is fortunate to have many tales of bravery in its history, but this day is a very proud one for the whole Coldstream family. 'While we pay tribute to the heroes of the past, their stories serve to inspire the actions of our young soldiers that serve today, who are themselves preparing to deploy overseas on operations in service of their country.' Meanwhile Captain Frisby oversaw the successful capture under heavy fire of a machine gun that was pinning the Coldstream Guards back Calling for volunteers, Captain Frisby dashed forward with three other ranks, the first to offer being Jackson, who was a young non-commissioned officer, and had shown bravery ever since the battle began The two soldiers along with two other Coldstream Guardsmen climbed down into the canal under intense machine-gun fire and captured the post with a dozen men and two machine-guns A rogue landlord stuffed a filthy and dangerous three-bedroom house - with 26 mattresses. Officers found more than 20 men living in 'appalling and unsafe' living conditions and could barely enter the house because mattresses were 'jammed up against the doors'. The house, which is in Kingsbury, in north west London was described Brent council said as 'one of the worst' illegal HMOs it has ever uncovered. This is the scene inside an overcrowded house in Brent, north west London where a rogue landlord was renting out his three-bedroom house to 20 men at a cost of 1,000 a week Every room in the property - apart from the kitchen and bathroom had at least one bed The landlord had even fitted a ladder into the loft so additional people could sleep in the space Police are now hunting the rogue landlord, who was taking home 1,000 a week from his despicable racket. Every room in the illegal HMO, except for the kitchen and bathroom, contained bed spaces - including the 'tiny, windowless' loft space. Police and Brent's enforcement team raided the three-bedroom semi-detached house in Kingsbury, north west London, in the early hours of this morning. The raid was prompted by complaints from residents about the number of men seen coming and going from the house in the suburban street of Princes Avenue. The disgusting conditions, for which the men were paying between 30 and 50 to live in, also had faulty smoke alarms, poor ventilation and fire hazards. Police raided the property on Princes Avenue in Kingsbury, London. Pictured: The street where the raid took place Police joined Brent Council on this morning's dawn raid in Kingsbury, north west London Brent Council officials conducted a dawn raid on the property early this morning The bathroom, pictured, was one of the only rooms not to have a bed installed The men had a make-shift living area set up outside in the back garden, pictured A spokeswoman for Brent Council said it was 'one of the worst' illegal HMOs it has uncovered. She said: 'Aside from seeing rodents or cockroaches it is one of the worst we have seen. 'The loft was just appalling - really awful conditions.' Councillor Eleanor Southwood, cabinet member for housing and welfare reform, said: 'We have a zero tolerance policy against landlords who exploit tenants by housing them in slum-like conditions. According to council officials the house was infested by rodents and cockroaches Each of the men were paying between 30 and 50 a week in rent to the landlord Some of the furniture from the house had been removed to the garden to make room for beds 'No tenant in Brent should believe that they are powerless against a landlord who takes their money in exchange for squalor. 'We are here to help tenants fight back against rogue landlords by taking them to court.' From October 1, any property that is rented out to five or more people who are not all related will require a mandatory licence. The men were forced to try their clothes from washing lines erected across the living room Councillor Eleanor Southwood, cabinet member for housing and welfare reform, said Brent Council had zero From October 1, houses rented to more than five people who are not all related have to be registered with the local authority and hold a mandatory licence The house's bathroom was covered in discarded clothes and rubbish Some of the mattresses were crammed into corners of rooms without any sheets or blankets Officials said tenants living in such conditions should report their landlords to the council Interior designer Ashley Hicks has split from one of his pregnant ex-wife Kata de Solis's best friends shortly after they began a relationship, it has been claimed. Mr Hicks, who is Prince Philip's godson and Prince Charles's second cousin, has allegedly already ended his brief liaison with Martina Mondadori Sartogo. Miss Sartogo, who is the godmother of Mr Hicks and Miss de Solis's seven-month-old son Caspian, was apparently trolled online after news of their relationship emerged. Ashley Hicks and Kata de Solis married in 2015 in what was dubbed an 'Instagram wedding' A source told Page Six: 'Things have turned nasty for the new couple. She was in love with Ashley until she realised everyone was going to hate her.' Mr Hicks, 55, wed Miss de Solis, 36, in 2015 in what was dubbed society's first ever 'Instagram wedding' after the couple met through the social media site. However, they are now divorcing - and a friend told the Daily Mail last week: 'He's left her but he is hoping they will be able to have a good relationship. Miss de Solis, an American, had recently announced online that she was expecting a second child born within 12 months of Caspian, saying: 'Uh-oh, here we go again.' Mr Hicks, 55, and Miss de Solis, 36, got engaged just one month after meeting on Instagram Miss de Solis is no longer living at Mr Hicks's home in Oxfordshire and has told friends she is extremely stressed at being deserted, the Mail reported. 'It is a huge worry for Kata with Ashley having run off, but she knows she will somehow just have to cope,' the friend added. Mr Hicks, who is son of the late designer David Hicks, and grandson of Earl Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, married Miss de Solis at his family home. They got engaged just one month after meeting on Instagram, having been introduced online by illustrator Donald Robertson, who was also best man. Martina Mondadori Sartogo is a good friend of Mr Hicks's former wife Kata de Solis (right) The nuptials were attended by Mr Hicks's daughters from his first marriage to designer Allegra - Angelica and Ambrosia. Also present at the wedding was his mother, Lady Pamela Hicks, and sister India, a bridesmaid at Lady Diana's wedding in 1981. Last year Miss de Solis revealed how she was struggling to bond with her stepdaughter, who is just 11 years younger than her. 'I get on with the younger one (Ambrosia, 21), but not the older one,' Miss de Solis said at a party in Mayfair. Mr Hicks (left) is Prince Philip's godson and the second cousin of Prince Charles (right) 'She lives in New York and I think that's better for us, because we don't see each other that often.' She also revealed tensions over her choice of bedroom for Caspian, saying: 'We didn't want to have problems with the stepchildren. 'If we gave Caspian the largest room in the house, they wouldn't be happy, even though they don't live with us. They're already not super-thrilled about the kid.' MailOnline has approached Mr Hicks's representatives for comment today. The news of his split with Miss Sartogo was confirmed by her publicist to Page Six. A quick thinking police officer in Texas manage to grab a woman away from a vehicle right as another crashed into it on a rainy road. In a very blurry video, Officer Brandon Blair can be seen making his way towards Meghan Herriera in Anna, Texas, on September 7. The woman had crashed her own car and was waiting on the side of the road, which was very clearly wet from rainfall. In a very blurry video, Officer Brandon Blair can be seen making his way towards Meghan Herriera in Anna, Texas, on September 7 When a truck comes speeding toward them, the officer quickly grabs the woman and the two avoid getting hit A truck can be seen speeding along the road and looks to lose control. The officer grabs the woman and the two run off right as the truck slams into the car. 'It was literally like "Final Destination," like in movies when you see people grab and run,' Herriera explained to KTEN. The two manage to not get hit by either car or debris and the officer looks to check to make sure that the woman is okay. The officer uses his radio to inform dispatch of the accident and checks to make sure that the woman is okay 'It's something that you can't see in the video, but it was seconds -- within seconds -- I could have been gone,' she added. 'I feel like if the scenario was different... if it was on a different road, or one of our major highways, I felt like we wouldn't have been able to get out of the way. 'I'm very thankful and humble that we were able to avoid getting struck by another car and I was able to return home to my family.' As the clip comes to a close, the officer uses his radio to inform dispatch of the accident. A Vietnam veteran with terminal cancer has been holding yard sales and selling his possessions in a bid to raise $15,000 for his own funeral. Willie Davis, 66, hoped to raise enough money to be buried next to his parents in Culpeper, Virginia, after he was diagnosed with skin cancer. During one of his sales at his home in Brownstown, Davis, originally from Cambria Country, Pennsylvania, was approached by a man who asked whose funeral he was raising money for. After Davis replied 'mine', David Dunkleberger bought a few things and headed back to the car tell his friend, Ed Sheets. A U.S. Navy veteran with terminal cancer has been holding yard sales and selling his possessions in a bid to raise $15,000 for his own funeral Willie Davis, 66, hoped to raise enough money to be buried next to his parents in Culpeper, Virginia, after he was diagnosed with skin cancer (pictured left with Dunkleberger) Sheets told WJAC: 'It broke your heart, hearing the story, and we just decided we had to do something to try and help him, try to make his life a little bit easier.' After the yard sale the two men set up a GoFundMe page with the aim of raising $5,000 towards funeral costs to help Davis, who served in the Navy from 1970-76 during the Vietnam War. 'He's done a lot serving our country, so we wanted to kind of return the favour to him so that, again, his last days could be a little less hectic, a little more peaceful for him. During one of his sales at his home in Brownstown, Davis, originally from Cambria Country (pictured), Pennsylvania, was approached by a man who asked whose funeral he was raising money for Initially Dunkleberger and Sheers set the target for Davis' funeral at $5,000 but are thought to have exceeded the limit and raised $27,000. The GoFundMe campaign reached its goal of $15,000 early Thursday, and the person who put the fundraiser over the top posted: 'I saw that $20 was needed to reach the goal and was honored to be the person to reach the finish line and ensure this Navy Veteran can know that his final expenses will be covered. 'Thank you for your sacrifices in defending the freedoms we still enjoy, sir. God bless you.' The two men wrote that any leftover money would go to help another veteran in need after exceeding the limit and setting a new target of $40,000. Davis is suffering from squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common form of skin cancer, which is an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells arising from the squamous cells in the epidermis, the skin's outermost layer. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shrugged off US pressure to quickly agree to a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and indicated it was possible the three member nations might fail to conclude a new pact. He also said he is still willing to put a "motherload" tariff on Canadian auto parts, which could affect $200bn of Canadian exports to the US. The Canadian government had no immediate reaction to Trump's attack on Freeland Wednesday night, other than to say it has not requested a meeting between Trump and Trudeau while both were in NY for United Nations meetings. However, Cameron Ahmad, a spokesman for Trudeau, rejected the assertion that a meeting was ever requested, saying: "No meeting was requested and we do not have any comment beyond that". "We don't have any comment beyond that". Canada is not making concessions needed to reach a deal with the United States for a trilateral NAFTA pact and is running out of time before Washington proceeds with a Mexico-only agreement, a top USA official said on Tuesday. Markets and business groups are openly fretting about the damage that a collapse could provoke. The trade agreement, which took effect in 1994, removed most trade barriers between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, leading to a boost in trade, but it encouraged U.S. automakers and other manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of low-wage Mexican labour. "His tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move, and I told him forget about it", Trump said. "That's the big one". Earlier on Wednesday, Trudeau shrugged off U.S. pressure to quickly agree to a deal and indicated it was possible the three member nations might fail to conclude a new pact. "Yeah, I did", Trump said when asked whether he rejected a meeting with Trudeau on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. ABC reporter takes aim at chairman Justin Milne after leaked emails Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young released a statement saying that Milne "must go" . One ABC reporter called the claims "chilling". That appeared to be a reference to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, a former journalist and careful tactician whose star turn in Trudeau's government has earned her deep respect in the Liberal caucus and beyond. He also urged Congress not to "interfere" with negotiations "or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off". Freeland was hand-picked by Trudeau to act as the political lead for Canada's negotiating team and is the direct counterpart to Lighthizer. Trump has said "a few times" that a new deal would mitigate the tariff issue, Trudeau said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that the United States is finding NAFTA talks tough because Canadians are tough negotiators. He has repeatedly said he is ready to walk away from the talks rather than sign a document he thinks is bad. "We are continuing to work on getting to a right deal for Canada, a right deal for Canadians, and that involves, obviously, feeling confident about the path forward as we move forward - if we do - on a NAFTA 2.0 and the ... lack of punitive tariffs that we consider are unjust". The three nations' auto industries are highly integrated, and tariffs on Canadian-built cars would be hugely disruptive. Trump called Mexico "great" as the two countries have come to a trade deal agreement. "In Canada, the export is very focused historically on the US, so it's a little bit bigger step to try to get accustomed to the European Union system". A man who had sex for the first time at the age of 45 after being fitted with a 50,000 bionic penis collapsed unconscious at home just a few days later and has been rushed back to hospital. Andrew Wardle, who was born with a congenital abnormaility, is in hospital in Manchester undergoing keyhole surgery on his gall bladder. It is the latest in a string of operations for Andrew, who was born with bladder exstrophy: his lower abdominal wall had not formed properly. His terrified girlfriend Fedra found him on the floor and took him to hospital where he remained unconscious for five days The couple had booked a romantic break to Amsterdam for his birthday but did not wait for the break for Andrew to lose his virginity. Andrew Wardle, who had sex for the first time at the age of 45 after being fitted with a 50,000 bionic penis, collapsed unconscious at home just a few days later and had to be rushed back to hospital His terrified girlfriend Fedra (pictured) found him collapsed at home and took his to hospital where he remained unconscious for five days Andrew Wardle, who was born with a congenital abnormaility, is in hospital in Manchester undergoing keyhole surgery on his gall bladder. Pictured during his penile transplant operation His publicist Barry Tomes told the Mail Online: 'He had a fever for days and was vomiting. They thought he had a neurovirus. 'He was supposed to be catching a train down to London to do an interview with This Morning. 'But Fedra rang to say she had found him unconscious. She was terrified. She has no family here to rely on. 'They spent the next five days in limbo. He was so ill they couldn't do any scans. They even tested for pancreatic cancer but thankfully it wasn't. 'It's been quite terrifying. Their biggest worry was that the damage had been caused by having sex. 'But it was a gall bladder issue. He is having keyhole surgery on his gall bladder this afternoon.' Mr Tomes said Fedra was now by Andrew's bedside and they would wait to find out whether he needs any further treatement. It is now three months since Andrew underwent the third stage of his 50,000 phalloplasty or penile implant at University College London's Hospital. He had an erection for ten days before the implant was deflated and had sex for the first time earlier this month. Andrew has spent his life in and out of hospital but it was only in 2012 when he was 39 that he was finally thrown a lifeline. His publicist Barry Tomes told the Mail Online: 'It's been quite terrifying. Their biggest worry was that the damage had been caused by having sex. But it was a gall bladder issue' It is now three months since Andrew underwent the third stage of his 50,000 phalloplasty or penile implant at University College London's Hospital He had an erection for ten days before the implant was deflated and had sex for the first time earlier this month Urologist Dan Wood, of UCLH, built him a new bladder while David Ralph, a fellow urologist and specialist in genital reconstruction, created his penis Andrew (pictured as a child) has spent his life in and out of hospital but it was only in 2012 aged 39 that he was finally thrown a lifeline Urologist Dan Wood, of UCLH, built him a new bladder while David Ralph, a fellow urologist and specialist in genital reconstruction, created his penis. He had his first operation to remove his urostomy bag his urine had been diverted into a specially-converted stoma in February 2014. He now has a Mitrofanoff or catheter to enable him to go to the lavatory. Then, in November 2015, Mr Ralph operated on Andrew, building the penis from the skin, muscles and nerves in his left arm and the vein in his right leg. He had his third operation last December, when Mr Ralph inserted the reservoir component of his penile implant into his abdomen and capped it off. He and his team also sculpted the head of his penis. Then, in June, he was back on the operating table for two hours to have his phalloplasty completed. Three months later, he had sex for the first time. Speaking about the experience he told The Sun: 'Fedra had booked a romantic trip to Amsterdam for my birthday, but I felt that would have been too much pressure. 'I had to test out the function every morning and night and leave it erect for 20 minutes. So, one morning, two days before we went away, it just happened. It was nice and natural and that's how I wanted it to be. 'After what Fedra and I have been through, it's the cherry on the cake.' Pictured: Aaron Ali, 40, is accused of ramming three people with his mobility scooter in two incidents in Kent and London This disabled man is accused of using his mobility scooter to ram into two pensioners and ambush another while they were out shopping. Aaron Ali, 40, is standing trial for reversing over Doris Collins, 88, and Joan Benjafield, 90, while they were out shopping in Welling, Kent. The two pensioners were waiting at a bus stop outside South East Models shop on June 14 this year when they were allegedly run over by Ali, a court heard. Ali is also accused of ambushing 72-year-old Michael Gibson in another random attack in nearby Woolwich High Street on January 2. Ali, who qualified as a nurse in 2001, told jurors at Southwark Crown Court he was left disabled for life after being attacked by a patient while working at Shaftesbury House in Ealing, west London. Ms Collins and Ms Benjafield were waiting to get on a number 96 bus when the ramp came down and Ali rode off on his scooter. Ali told the court that he making his way to Lidl to buy some food when he passed the elderly women outside Southeast Models. Giving evidence he said he was the midst of a diabetic crash and was feeling drowsy after his daily morphine intake. Ali told the court: 'That day I was not feeling well. I was having a diabetic crash. That was what was happening. Basically, I am on morphine, a 116 milligrams a day. 'Sometimes you would be moving and you would feel like you are sitting. I would knock thing over. It makes you clumsy like a drunk. 'I am feeling like I am going to pass out, I know my blood sugar level. I am having a diabetic crash, that is what happened. 'When I went past the ladies on the right they were not underneath the bus shelter. I thought they were not close to me. 'I hit something twice. It was plastic, metal and glass altogether. It was a "clonky" sound. 'The first time it hit the bus bench I looked back to see if anyone was behind me. There was nobody. 'Then I turn to see what he was looking at and I see two ladies on the floor. I was not sure if I hit them or I hit the bus stop and they fell or they pushed each other. Aaron Ali, 40, allegedly reversed over Doris Collins, 88, and Joan Benjafield, 90, while they were out shopping in Welling, Kent 'I was not thinking at that point, I was just scared. I knew my wheelchair had some thing to do with it and I was driving. 'I was scared people were going to attack me thinking I had done it on purpose. I drove in the opposite direction I was going in.' Ali said he then had an energy drink and ate some sweets to restore his blood sugar levels. Ms Benjafield was left with bruises to her calf and ribs while Ms Collins suffered some abrasions to her knee. Ali also denied attacking 72-year-old Michael Gibson in nearby Woolwich High Street on January 2 and claimed the pensioner assaulted him. Mr Gibson got up and saw Ali making his way at speed down the road and turning the corner. He ran after Ali in hot pursuit and caught up to him. The two pensioners were waiting at a bus stop (pictured) outside South East Models shop on June 14 this year when they were apparently run over by Ali He said that Ali kept looking ahead and refused to answer him. 'He was in a wheelchair so I left it at that,' said Mr Gibson. Mr Gibson said he lit a cigarette after the incident and part of his front tooth came off. 'I've only got three teeth so I did not need to lose another one,' he said. My face was swollen up and hanging down. After I was just on soups and things like that.' Ali said Gibson came running at him with a trolley. 'He was coming towards me he was pulling a trolley on his left side. He was literally running behind someone, He was running to catch up with somebody I believe. Ali is also accused of ambushing 72-year-old Michael Gibson (pictured outside court) in another random attack 'There were people here, people everywhere. There a bollard here and a bollard there. The pavement is about a metre either way. 'There were people walking on both sides of me and the bollards. He was coming around the corner. He was coming straight towards me. 'He is coming past the market in front of the Chinese shop. He came running round the corner at some speed. 'My arm was, I think, on the handle, my left arm was controlling the wheel chair. He is coming straight to my right leg and my right arm and he is not slowing down. 'He is not side-stepping he is coming straight towards me as he is chasing someone. I am trying to slow down at that first place you have got to gradually slow down. 'I had my hand up to brace and I braced for impact. He was literally over me. I thought he was going to crash into me. 'I had my arm up to brace my face.' Ali, of Thamesmead, south east London denies three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one of common assault. The trial continues. Almost half of young Japanese people are virgins because they don't have time to date and prefer alternatives such as pornography and sex robots, a documentary has found. Some 44 per cent of unmarried women and 42 per cent of unmarried men in Japan admitted they were virgins in The 2015 National Fertility Survey. The study also found 60 per cent of women and 70 per cent of men aged 18-34 said they were single. Now, as the government battles to increase the birthrate, a TV documentary by The Feed titled Sex in Japan: Dying for Company has attempted to answer why young people are having less sex. Almost half of young Japanese people are virgins because they don't have time to date and prefer alternatives such as pornography and sex robots, a documentary has found (stock image of Tokyo) Some 60 per cent of women and 70 per cent of men aged 18-34 said they were single. Pictured: Magazines at a sex shop in Japan One main reason was that people said they are working increasingly long hours with low job security, meaning they are struggling to find time to date. City worker Taiyo Hashimoto, 26, told the show: 'I'm supposed to finish work at 7pm but I work overtime basically every day.' He said he regularly stays at work until the last train home at midnight and when he rarely does socialise, he attends drinks with his boss. 'I have to keep up with him, which is hard on me. He has a drink. So do I. He asks for another, so do I. That's what you're expected to do,' he said. With full-time work declining for those aged 18-34, it is thought many Japanese people are worried about getting married and having children without long-term job security and sound finances. Hashimoto also explained that the abundance of alternatives to sex means there is less urgency to find a girlfriend. people said they are working increasingly long hours with low job security and poor prospects for higher pay, meaning they are struggling to find time to date (stock image) Japan has multibillion-dollar sex industry made up of hostess bars, fetish clubs, masturbation clubs, and more. Pictured: Neon lights in the red light district of Kabukicho in Shinjuku, Tokyo Japan has multibillion-dollar sex industry made up of hostess bars, fetish clubs, masturbation clubs, love hotels, sex shops, maid cafes and a rapid rise in the popularity of increasingly realistic sex dolls and robots. 'Men go to brothels or massage parlours, fuelled by after-work drinks with their colleagues. That sort of thing is common,' Hashimoto explained. Relationship therapist Ai Aoyama added: 'There are lots of places for men to have fun. Men don't have to bother having a girlfriend.' It has long been know that people's reluctance to enter relationships is affecting the county's birthrate. In May, statistics revealed the number of children in Japan has fallen for the 37th consecutive year despite the country's efforts to offset its ageing population. A sign at a sex shop in Tokyo There were 15.53 million children under the age of 14 in Japan as of April 1, 2018. This is a decrease of 170,000 from the previous year and continues the downward spiral which started in 1981, according to the data by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The decline in numbers also isn't likely to end soon as older children made up the largest section of the category, with 3.26 million 12 to 14-year-olds. Only Tokyo showed an increase in the amount of children compared to the previous year, despite efforts by the Shinzo Abe government to encourage adults to have more youngsters. Children made up just 12.3 per cent of Japan's total population of 126 million - in contract to the US's 18.9 per cent and China's 16.8 per cent, report CNN. Japan wishes to increase its fertility rate - the average number of children a woman in the country has in her lifetime - by 0.35 to 1.8 by the end of 2025, according to the Japan Times. The government is aiming to reach this goal through one time cash payments. Unlike many other industrialised countries who have been struggling with low birth rates, Japan has failed to increase its population through immigrants. Foreigners made up 1.3 per cent of Japan's population in 2013 compared to seven per cent for the US, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A projection by the Japanese Health Ministry suspects that Japan's population will plunge to 86.74 million by 2060 - leaving the country's economy with a problem. The steady decline in numbers will mean less workers paying taxes to support an ever ageing population in need of pensions and healthcare. An angry mother has claimed a flight attendant yelled at her repeatedly because her eight-month-old son cried for five minutes during a long-haul flight. Krupa Patel Bala, her husband and their son were travelling business class to San Francisco from Sydney on United Airlines when the alleged incident occurred. The mother, who works at Facebook, made an emotional post on her social media account claiming a flight attendant yelled at her husband that it was 'absolutely unacceptable' for their baby to cry. 'I'm traveling with my husband and 8-month old son and we purchased business class seats with a bassinet for the baby,' Krupa wrote. Krupa Patel Bala (pictured), her husband and their son were travelling business class to San Francisco from Sydney on United Airlines when the alleged incident occurred The distraught mother claimed a flight attendant yelled at her husband that it was 'absolutely unacceptable' for their baby to cry (stock image) 'After about 5 minutes of the baby crying in the bassinet, Linda (the flight attendant manager who is also our server and the purser) came over and *yelled* at my husband it was "absolutely unacceptable" for the baby to cry.' At one point, she claimed the attendant called her to economy class to school her on how she could have avoided the crying by changing the baby's bottle and nap time. Ms Bala managed to use the business class WiFi to share live updates to Facebook as the tense situation unfolded. 'Now, I don't really know what's wrong with my baby, but he tends to cry from time to time,' she wrote. 'I hear that's common with newborns but this is my only child, so I could be mistaken. 'Parents of newborns have it hard enough already traveling with a baby and we certainly don't need CREW MANAGERS piling on when we are doing our best to ensure we're containing our children and their cries.' She said the situation 'really stressed out' the rest of crew, who later told her the crying had not worried them at all and they barely even noticed it. 'Babies are not allowed to cry for more than five minutes,' the chief flight attendant allegedly yelled at the parents, adding it was 'part of the rule book' As they were leaving, she said the captain apologised for the attendant's behaviour, and when they arrived at the airport they were greeted by United Airlines staff. The company offered the family a refund and removed the crew member from service while it investigated the incident. 'Young families are welcome on our flights, including in business class. We are continuing to review the incident internally and the flight attendant is being held out of service pending the investigation,' the airline said in a statement. Ms Bala thanked United for their cooperation but was still waiting on an apology from the crew member in question. A Minneapolis boy stabbed to death by his 12-year-old brother has been identified as Sebastian Harris, a junior at Hopkins High School, Principal Doug Bullinger confirmed Wednesday. He confirmed the sad news in a note to students and their families calling it a 'tragic event that has torn a family apart'. The 16-year-old victim was reportedly killed with a kitchen knife to the chest Saturday night after having an altercation with his younger sibling who has not been named. Scroll down for video Sebastian Harris, a junior at Hopkins High School, was killed Saturday night Principal Doug Bullinger confirmed Wednesday According to a police statement, the victim and suspect's parent was at their home in Minnetonka, Minnesota when the homicide took place around 8.15pm. He was pronounced dead at North Memorial Hospital, reports ABC5. 'We know there was some sort of an altercation between the two boys,' Star Tribune reported Minnetonka Police Chief Scott Boerboom said at a news conference Sunday. 'The mother and other family members were home at the time of the incident.' a police statement read. It added that they were working with the family to determine what led to the 'sharp-force injuries' as described by the Medical Examiner's Office. While the suspect was initially taken to hospital for an evaluation, charges were later filed against him at Hennepin County juvenile court but specific details have not been revealed due to his age. The victim's school principal confirmed his identity Wednesday and friends of the student as well as their families were heartbroken. The student, 16, (top left) was a big karate fan and a good role model to younger classmates In a GoFundMe page created by Josette Jollief, Harris is affectionately described as 'Snugdoody' and commented on how they remember him fondly and were lucky to have known him. 'Sebastian always stood up for the underdog and did what he thought was right. He had a contagious sense of humor and an incredible imagination,' Jollief wrote. 'His life ended too soon, though his spirit will live on in all the lives he touched with his warm heart and gentle spirit. The trauma of losing someone is something a family member can never be prepared for, especially when a parent loses a child.' The family friends asked followers to dig deep to help fund a memorial or funeral for the teenager. 'In addition to grieving, the inevitable expenses that follow are overwhelmingly astronomical,' she added as they hope to gather $10,000. 'Sebastian's family needs us to come together and give what we can to make his funeral/memorial happen. He was reportedly killed with a kitchen knife to the chest Saturday night after having an altercation with his 12-year-old sibling while their parents were home 'Whether you knew Sebastian as a friend from school, karate, somewhere in the community, or you just feel like doing the right thing, please graciously consider donating what you can toward this cause.' A link to the crowdfunding page was shared by mother and fellow karate student Lanica Klein who described him as a great role model who helped guide people younger than him and spread joy among his community. 'I can't believe I'm posting again about another lost child...Sebastian was a beautiful part of our Karate family. He looked after the boys, helped keep them on course, and was always smiling,' Klein shared on Facebook. 'He was a leader through example...never expecting anything in return. I looked forward to seeing what he would do with his life...the possibilities for him were endless. 'Now, he is one of my angels that remind me to spread joy into the world, how to move through the challenges of teaching, that every child is important...and that every day is precious. You will be missed...every day!' Police in Benidorm have arrested a man accused of stealing 17 of the type of mobility scooters used by Madge Harvey in the critically-acclaimed sitcom named after the famous Costa Blanca resort. Officers say he watched hotels and kept track on holidaymaker users to build up a pattern of their movements, before choosing vehicles he could pinch with a master key. The mobility scooters he allegedly stole have been valued at more than 20,000. Only seven of the 17 mobility scooters taken have been recovered (file photo) Police say the 46-year-old Spaniard, who has not been named, put stickers on them afterwards so they would not be recognised as the ones stolen. Only seven of the 17 mobility scooters taken have been recovered. Police have not revealed how he managed to get hold of a master key for the vehicles. Many of the tourists whose mobility scooters were stolen are believed to be British. A spokesman for the National Police in Alicante confirmed: 'Police have arrested a man who stole mobility scooters with the intention of selling them. 'The investigation began seven months ago when police were informed by different rental firms and members of the public about the theft of 17 of these vehicles valued at 23,000 (20,500). 'Investigators were able to determine that the suspect used a very specific modus operandi. The mobility scooters he allegedly stole have been valued at more than 20,000 (file photo) 'He would loiter around hotels looking for scooters he could take with the key he had.' Revealing the alleged thief would always escape on the stolen vehicles, the force added in a statement: 'Once the thefts had taken place, the suspect would hide them in different residential areas but manipulate their external appearance by putting stickers on them to make it more difficult for their lawful owners to identify them. 'He would subsequently leave them in public areas of the residential estate he lived in with for sale signs on them in a bid to find buyers. Police have not revealed how he managed to get hold of a master key for the vehicles (file photo) Sheila Reid as Madge in the famous ITV show Benidorm 'Seven of the vehicles have been recovered and the 17 thefts in Benidorm solved.' Officers also confirmed the suspect had been released on bail pending an ongoing criminal investigation and trial after a court appearance behind closed doors. Chainsmoking Madge Harvey, played by Scottish actress Sheila Reid, gained fame as the acid-tongued OAP in Benidorm who was always on her mobility scooter despite being able-bodied. Freda Jackson, the tourist who hit the headlines earlier this year after reportedly moaning Benidorm had too many Spaniards, was one of the many British holidaymakers using a mobility scooter while in the resort. Jenny McDonagh, 39, pictured at Isleworth Crown Court in West London today, was branded 'beyond contempt' by one survivor A council finance manager who stole 62,000 meant for Grenfell survivors today admitted also defrauding the NHS of more than 35,000. Jenny McDonagh, 39, who was branded 'beyond contempt' by one survivor, splashed out on expensive holidays, hair appointments, Marks & Spencer products and Ann Summers lingerie. Today, the disgraced finance manager pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position while working at Medway NHS Foundation Trust from January to May 2016 before the fatal fire in June 2017. McDonagh was charged with the offence when she appeared for sentencing for defrauding victims of the Grenfell Tower blaze in West London while working at Kensington and Chelsea Council. She showed little emotion in the dock as she was remanded in custody to be sentenced for both frauds tomorrow. Survivor Edward Daffarn told Isleworth Crown Court: 'It is a reopening of wounds that they are desperately trying to heal. 'The fact that this individual stole money that was meant to assist vulnerable members of our community to fund lavish holidays and a gambling habit is truly beyond contempt. 'On a personal level it disgusts and sickens me that a fraud against our community has been perpetrated by someone who was employed by the local authority. McDonagh admitted fraud by abuse of position while working as a finance officer in the NHS 'Instead of showing empathy to the victims of the fire this individual saw our predicament merely as a chance for personal financial profit. 'The actions of a few criminals paints our community in a negative light and deflects away from the real issues that we need to deal with.' Today, McDonagh admitted fraud by abuse of position while being employed as a finance officer at Medway NHS Foundation Trust. Ben Holt, prosecuting, said: 'She set up a bogus company called Tresdoor Ltd which bore her own bank details. She altered the details of a registered supplier of the NHS to Tresdoor.' A Santander bank card with the same bank details as the company was found in her home. It was found after she was arrested at her office at the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington, West London, over the Grenfell fraud in August. The house of disgraced finance manager McDonagh in Abbey Wood, South East London The court heard McDonagh, who has 'destroyed her marriage', was investigated for defrauding the museum but was not charged after it was shown she did not steal any funds. McDonagh, of Abbey Wood, South East London, had admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position, one of theft by employee and one of converting criminal property while she was a finance manager for the Grenfell survivors' fund. The Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington, West London, in June 2017 claimed 72 lives Mr Holt said: 'The defendant was employed by the council at a time of crisis. She was specifically hired to deal with an on-going delicate and sensitive situation. 'Employees were working seven-days per week to get the work done. The prosecution simply say she took advantage of that. 'The offences were only stopped by the suspicions of the council and the police's involvement. Indeed, even then, the defendant continued to offend by withdrawing funds from one of the accounts. 'The expenditure is heavy and frequent, considerable sums are spent at high street stores, for example Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's. 'The money is spent on days out - evidenced by trips on the Thames Clipper and regularl visits to restaurants. 'The money is spent on frivolous items; for example, 48 spend at Ann Summers on May 31. These are not everyday essentials - far from it.' Survivors of the fire, which claimed 72 lives last year, could opt for cash payments into their bank accounts or pre-paid cash cards which could be used to spend the money. McDonagh was arrested in August - but continued to use the cash cards after her release In total she took about 62,000 from pre-paid cash cards meant for Fadumo Ahmed, Sacha Salaabi, Christos Fairburn, Marlyn Lopez and Edward Daffarn. McDonagh was arrested in August and quizzed about the crimes - but continued to use the cash cards after her release. Neil Ross, defending, said McDonagh apologised to her victims and added: 'She found herself so lost that this frivolous spending caused by her serious offending was her escape. 'She has destroyed her marriage her husband has now moved out of the home they shared. Because he's a decent man he's come here today, devastated by what's happened. 'She's destroyed her own future. In effect has brought this down and all of this down on herself. She is, I would say, a pathetic woman now and in the original meaning of that word. 'She is now back on anti-depressants, she was on them before, she's trying to seek counselling, contacting her GP and will of course have a long time to think about her actions to come.' Judge Robyn Johnson remanded her in custody to be sentenced for all charges at the court tomorrow. A police chief was stabbed to death in broad daylight by a man in the southern French city of Rodez this morning. The victim, Pascal Filoe, was Director of Prevention and Public Security in Rodez, which is 120km northeast of Toulouse, and had previously worked in city hill. He was killed near the city hall building in the city centre by a man who was angry that his category 1 unregistered dog had been confiscated, reported French radio network France Info. Forensics work on the site where Pascal Filoe, head of the municipal police, was stabbed to death in the center of Rodez, southern France on September 27 Pascal Filoe was stabbed three times at around 10.00am local time and died of his injuries in hospital a short while later. Owing to the fact he didn't have a license for the category 1 dog, the animal had been taken from the suspect a week ago, causing him to threaten the mayor and the police chief, France Info reported. The Rodez press office said the man was known to police because he had defaced a patio door at city hall earlier this year. The town square was cordoned off by police after the man was arrested and placed in custody. Mr Filoe was stabbed three times at around 10.00am local time and died of his injuries in hospital a short while later. Police stand on the site where Pascal Filoe, head of the municipal police and an ex city hall worker, was stabbed to death One witness told La Depeche.fr (in French) that the suspect was chased by an employee and hid in a nearby shop before his arrest M. Pascal FILOE chef de la Police Municipale de la @VilledeRodez a perdu la vie dans des circonstances intolerables dans le cadre de ses fonctions. Toutes mes pensees a ses enfants, son epouse, ses proches et ses collegues #policemunicipale pic.twitter.com/nNz8o6IPQc Patricia MIRALLES #Vaccinee (@MIRALLESMP) September 27, 2018 Christian Teyssedre, The Mayor of Rodez, said Mr Filoe was a father of three children. Officials said any members of staff affected by the stabbing would receive emergency psychological support. One witness told La Depeche.fr that the suspect was chased by an employee and hid in a nearby shop before his arrest. Patricia Miralles, a member of the National Assembly, posted a picture of Mr Filoe on twitter, saying he had 'lost his life in intolerable circumstances in the course of his duties'. The German Catholic Church vowed Thursday a thorough look at its practices including the issue of celibacy, in a shakeup of the system following a damning child sex abuse scandal. In the latest of a series of sex assault scandals to rock the Catholic Church worldwide, the German institution this week published a study showing that at least 3,677 minors were abused by clergy between 1946 and 2014. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who heads the German Bishops' Conference, apologised to the thousands of victims and promised to leave no stone unturned in dealing with the problem plaguing the church. Speaking at the close of a three-day meeting of top clergy in Fulda, Marx stressed that 'no topic would be taboo'. Archbishop of Munich and Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference (left) and Trier Bishop Cardinal Reinhard Marx give a press conference to present the results of the study on 'Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests, Deacons and Male Religious' The German Catholic Church said on Thursday it would be looking through its practices, including celibacy. Pictured: The opening mass at the German Bishops' Conference on Tuesday Rather, he promised a broad discussion that would also examine questions on celibacy and the church's sexual morals. With allegations battering the Church from the United States to Chile to Australia, voices calling on Pope Francis to abolish celibacy for priests have grown louder. A five-year inquiry in Australia into the widespread child sex abuse affecting 15,000 people recommended that celibacy among Catholic priests should be voluntary to help curb abuse. Pope Francis has said that 'celibacy is not a dogma', and that the church may consider ordaining married men to work in areas faced with a shortage of priests. But the Vatican does not yet seem ready to take the step of ending the practice. In Germany, the researchers from three universities who carried out the study on the extent of sexual misconduct by priests said the true scale of the abuse was far greater, as many documents had been 'destroyed or manipulated'. Prof. Dr. Harald Dressing (left) shakes hands with Bishop Dr. Stephan Ackermann as the report is handed over on Tuesday Journalists queue to receive copies of the report, prior to Cardinal Reinhard Marx press conference on the presentation of the study They have also warned that 'sexual abuse is a persistent problem' in the Catholic Church and presumably ongoing, 'not a historical problem'. Predator priests were often transferred to other parishes that were commonly not warned about their criminal history. Only about one in three were subject to disciplinary hearings by the Church, and most got away with minimal punishment. Only 38 percent were prosecuted by civil courts. The pope said the Catholic Church should not be judged by modern standards over sexual abuse scandals as he refused to answer awkward questions in a carefully choreographed press conference on board the papal plane on Tuesday. Heading home from a four-day tour of the Baltics, the pope's spokesman said Francis would only take questions about the trip despite the bombshell report from Germany. After the report was published the pope said the Catholic Church should not be judged by modern standards over the sexual abuse scandal Pope Francis speaks with the media onboard a plane during his flight back from Tallinn He did eventually get to the thorny topic and admitted that historic abuse by clerics in several countries was 'monstrous.' But he insisted the Church should not be judged by modern standards because attitudes towards abuse, which he said happens not just in the Church but in society generally, have changed dramatically over the years. 'In olden times, these things were covered up, they were even covered up in homes, when an uncle raped a niece, when a father raped his children,' he said. 'It was covered up because it was an enormous shame. That was the mentality in the last century. He cited the example of the death penalty, which the Vatican applied until the late 19th century: 'Then the moral conscience grows,' he said. Earlier in the conference, an Austrian journalist who tried to ask about the shocking abuse in Germany was shut down. Pope Francis told him: 'I will respond, but first questions about the trip. This is the rule. But, it will be the first question after the trip.' But when questions about the tour were over, the pope avoided being quizzed by announcing: 'I would like to tell you some things on some points of the trip that I have experienced with a special strength.' The Pope said instances of abuse dropped in recent years because the Church took action against perpetrators. Earlier in the conference, an Austrian journalist who tried to ask about the shocking abuse was shut down Abuse victims slam German Church over 'ridiculously small' payouts A damning report released in Germany on Tuesday showing that almost 3,700 minors - mostly boys - were assaulted between 1946 and 2014. The German Catholic Church apologised for the abuse, saying the perpetrators must be brought to justice. But campaigners and victims have been left furious by 'ridiculous' payouts. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference and Trier Bishop gives a press conference to present the results of the study Matthias Katsch, who was sexually abused when he was 13, said he was outraged that the German Church - the richest in the world because it takes eight per cent of German Catholics' incomes - was only paying each survivor an average of 2,600 as a 'recognition fee'. He said: 'The Church paid me a recognition fee of 5,000 euros, he said. 'They don't call it compensation. And I don't call it compensation either.' 'They call it a recognition fee? Well, thank you very much, but that's not what I want. I want justice.' Advertisement Referring to a damning report last August by a US grand jury on sexual abuse of children by priests in Pennsylvania over a 70-year period, he noted that the incidents of abuse diminished toward the end of the years covered in the report. 'In more recent times the number went down because the Church realised that it had to fight in a different way,' he said. 'Look at the proportions (in the Pennsylvania report) and you will see that when the Church started becoming aware of this, it spared no effort,' he said. Pope Francis, in his Popemobile, greets the crowd as he arrives at the Liberty Square Pope Francis (pictured in Estonia today) admitted that sexual abuse scandals are driving faithful people away from the Catholic Church - as a report revealed 3,700 children were assaulted in Germany He added: 'Priests are supposed to take children to God, not to destroy them.' If just one priest abuses a child, it's monstrous.' The Catholic Church has been rocked by a fresh wave of devastating claims of sexual abuse committed by clergy across the globe. Scandals in Australia, Europe, and North and South America have involved widespread claims of abuse - and cover-ups - by clergymen and lay members with one Vatican archbishop describing it as the church's 'own 9/11'. But the pope declined to answer a question about a damning report released in Germany on Tuesday showing that almost 3,700 minors - mostly boys - were assaulted between 1946 and 2014. Vatican cardinal slams Pope as an 'ice-cold, cunning Machiavellian' Pope Francis has been branded an 'ice-cold, cunning Machiavellian' and a 'liar' by one of his cardinals, a German magazine reports. The anonymous cardinal made the comments in a bombshell interview with Der Spiegel for its 19-page report on the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal. He said: 'The pope preaches mercy, but in reality he is an ice-cold, cunning Machiavellian, and, what is worse he lies.' The cardinal was referring to claims that Francis knew about sexual abuse allegations against US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick long before he admitted he was aware of them or took any action. Pope Francis has been called an 'ice-cold, cunning Machiavellian' and a 'liar' by one of his cardinals who spoke to German magazine Der Spiegel (pictured is the front cover) A report from a high-ranking cardinal in August claimed the pope knew about McCarrick in 2013 - but still employed him as a consultant in naming new American bishops until his resignation in July this year. The pope declined to comment. The report was the main item in this week's Der Siegel magazine which featured a picture of the pope on the front and was titled Du Sollst Nicht Lugen (Thou Shalt Not Lie). The report criticised the pope's handling of abuse allegations generally, stating: 'He often speaks at inopportune moments, yet in important moments remains silent.' Advertisement The German Catholic Church apologised for the abuse, saying the perpetrators must be brought to justice. But campaigners and victims have been left furious by 'ridiculous' payouts. Matthias Katsch, who was sexually abused when he was 13, said he was outraged that the German Church - the richest in the world because it takes eight per cent of German Catholics' incomes - was only paying each survivor an average of 2,600 as a 'recognition fee'. He said: 'The Church paid me a recognition fee of 5,000 euros, he said. 'They don't call it compensation. And I don't call it compensation either.' 'They call it a recognition fee? Well, thank you very much, but that's not what I want. I want justice.' China's first #MeToo case is heading to the court - but with an unexpected twist. A former TV station intern who accused a prominent host of molesting her and kissing her by force in the dressing room has found herself in the defender's seat. The accuser, 25, has been sued by the renowned male anchor Zhu Jun, 54, for defamation after her post of the alleged event became viral online this summer, igniting a social media storm in the country. Zhu Jun (file photo) is one of China's most high-profile TV hosts. He has sued a former intern who accused her of groping her and kissing her by force in the dressing room four years ago The former intern told Reuters she had been informed on Tuesday by a court in Beijing's Haidian district that she was being sued in a civil case for damaging Mr Zhu's reputation and mental wellbeing. Also named in the suit was Xu Chao, a friend who had been championing the case online. At her request, Reuters is withholding the name of the accuser and identifying her by her online name, Xianzi. Zhu is demanding that the two women, Xianzi and Xu Chao, apologise online and in a national newspaper, pay compensation of 655,000 yuan (72.537) and cover the costs of legal fees for the case, according to a copy of the filing seen by Reuters. Descriptions of Zhu forcibly kissing and groping Xianzi were 'pure fiction' and had caused 'grave damage' to Zhu's public image and his mental health, according to the filing, which was dated September 18 and is not available to the public. In response, Xianzi applied to file her own civil suit against Zhu on Tuesday for 'infringement of personality rights', she told Reuters. Personality rights is a broad term used within Chinese law to refer to personal dignity rights, but does not specifically mention sexual harassment. 'I decided that you have to use the law to prove what you said happened,' Xianzi said on Wednesday. Women in China have made several allegations of sexual abuse against powerful men as of late But the lack of a clear definition of sexual harassment entrenches a 'culture of silence' in China. In the file photo, a woman uses her mobile phone at the entrance of an underpass in Beijing Zhu, 54, whose lawyers have publicly denied the allegations, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Zhu's lawyer issued a statement earlier this month saying he had sued the two women. Reached by telephone, Xu confirmed the filing of the lawsuit. China's justice and public security ministries did not respond to requests for comment. China does not have a law that specifically prohibits sexual harassment. However, on August 27 China's parliament announced that it was considering adding provisions to a civil code, expected to be passed in 2020, that would allow a victim to file a civil suit against someone who uses words, actions or exploits a subordinate relationship to sexually harass them. The changes would also require employers to take measures to prevent, stop and handle complaints about sexual harassment. In recent months, women have made several allegations of sexual abuse against powerful men, including prominent university professors, the head of China's Buddhist association, and leading figures in the media and at non-governmental organisations, which have reverberated across social media in China. That intensified with the arrest and release by U.S. police last month of Richard Liu, chief executive of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, on a rape allegation. Liu has not been charged and through a lawyer has denied any wrongdoing. Richard Liu (pictured), chief executive of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, was arrested this month during a trip to the United States on accusations of criminal sexual misconduct Richard Liu, 45, and his Zhang Zetian, 24, are a powerful couple in China. They are pictured at JD Group's launching ceremony of Equity-based Crowd-funding on March 31, 2015, in Beijing Up to now, vague laws, patchy implementation and a lack of understanding among lawyers, judges, police and the public have hampered attempts to handle cases through the courts, and deterred many victims from filing suits, according to activist groups. The lack of a clear definition of sexual harassment, or an agreed upon standard for addressing complaints, entrenches a 'culture of silence', according to the Beijing Yuanzhong Gender Development Center, a non-profit. The group said that while workplace sexual harassment is widespread in China, only 34 specific cases have been logged in the official court case database since 2010. Xianzi was a 21-year-old intern at the state broadcaster CCTV when she said she met Zhu, who is famous across China for hosting an annual spring festival extravaganza, one of China's top-rated programs. Abbot Xuecheng (middle) has been accused of sexually harassing nuns and coercing them into having sexual relations with him. The monk has resigned from the Buddhist Association In an interview with Reuters, Xianzi said that she had been alone in a dressing room with Zhu when he asked her if she wanted to work for the channel after her internship, before trying to take her hand on the pretext of reading her fortune. Despite her protests, Xianzi said, Zhu groped her under her skirt before pulling her head and forcibly kissing her, only stopping when interrupted by knocking on the door. CCTV did not respond to requests for comment. Xianzi said she was moved to act after reading accounts of sexual assault and harassment posted on Chinese social media by women emboldened by the country's fledgling #MeToo movement. In July, Xianzi, now a screenwriter, wrote about her own experience on WeChat, sharing it with a small circle of friends. When Xu, her friend, shared the post on the Weibo platform, it went viral. On Tuesday, Xianzi returned to social media. 'Still a bit angry, this is Xianzi, hello everyone, I'm getting ready for a fight,' she wrote on Weibo, attaching a picture of a smiling self to the post. "Mr Trump is trying to seriously reduce exports of Iran's oil and also ensure the price of oil does not go up, but these two can not happen together", Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency, as quoted by Reuters. Earlier, oil prices had surged on worries about global supply after USA sanctions on Iran's oil exports take effect Nov 4. Earlier on Monday, Oil prices rose by nearly 2 percent as the USA sanctions restricted Iranian crude exports, which helped tighten the total global supply. But he did concede that Seoul hasn't bought any Iranian oil "for three continuous months". At its 2018 peak, Iran exported around 3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, equivalent to 3 percent of global consumption. The price of Brent crude oil has reached its highest since November 2014 and could strengthen further amid concerns that the world's major oil producers would struggle to increase output, as called for repeatedly by US President Donald Trump, even if they wanted to. India's daily import rate past year alone stood at 4.4 million barrels, and it has grown since then. Even so, oil prices briefly subsided, helped by what some called a "surprising" build in US oil inventories as estimated by the American Petroleum Institute. Iranian crude oil is now trading at $72.02, roughly up by 1.72%. "As a result, Indian refiners will increase dependence on the remaining Middle Eastern crude oil suppliers (mainly Saudi Arabia and Iraq), aside from Iran", Moody's said. Search for Maddox Ritch comes to tragic end The park employee who made the initial 911 call spoke out, saying he didn't believe Maddox was ever at Rankin Lake Park . If you were at Rankin Lake Park on Saturday, police need your help to put together a timeline to help solve the case. The SPR now holds about 660 million barrels of mostly sour grade crude in underground caverns in Texas and Louisiana. Ben Luckock, who is the co-head of oil trading at fellow merchant Trafigura also said that crude oil prices could hike up to $90 per barrel by Christmas and $100 by the start of New Year as the markets tighten. In addition to ripping USA foes such as Iran and Venezuela, President Donald Trump took direct aim at America's Gulf allies during his speech at the UN General Assembly meeting today. This puts pressure on other nations to lessen crude imports from Iran as well. Crude oil prices touched new four-year highs yesterday as Brent crude - the worldwide benchmark for crude oil - touched $82.20 a barrel. President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly that Iran's leaders "sow chaos, death and destruction". The U.S. President spoke against the backdrop of rising oil price, which rose Monday to a four year-high at $81 per barrel and to $82 per barrel yesterday. The 33-year-old mother from Indiana whose daughter was repeatedly raped by the mother's boyfriend, resulting in a baby, has pleaded guilty to charges of neglect, aiding child molesting and assisting a criminal. Her boyfriend Nicholas Deon Thrash, 34, was sentenced to 160 years imprisonment on last Thursday on ten counts. On Tuesday she accepted a 20 year prison sentence, to be followed by five years of probation. DailyMail.com has chosen not to name the mother in order to protect the identity of her daughter. The mother of a girl who was impregnated by the mother's boyfriend Nicholas Thrash took a plea deal in court on Tuesday. She knew her boyfriend had raped her daughter, yet continued to live with him. When she learned she was pregnant, she told her daughter to lie and say a classmate was the baby's father Her daughter, now 12, gave birth in 2017 when she was 11 to a baby boy who was placed for adoption. She admitted in court that her daughter told her that was being molested by Thrash, yet she kept them living him and didn't report anything to the authorities. Thrash, 34, was sentenced to 160 years imprisonment on Thursday She told her daughter to lie and say a classmate had impregnated her when she discovered her growing bump as she tried on dresses for a school dance. She also moved from Georgia to Indiana with Thrash and kept living him. Prosecutors were pleased with the plea deal as it meant the girl was spared the the emotional and psychological toll of having to testify against her own mother during the trial, which would have started in a few weeks. The daughter currently lives in foster care. Thrash was found guilty of 10 counts of molestation against his girlfriend's daughter in August this year and sentenced last week. Thrash lied throughout his trial that he did not impregnate her and claimed her mother artificially inseminated her own daughter with his sperm. Thrash (pictured in Facebook images posted before his May 2017 arrest) tried to deny raping the girl and even said that her mother had artificially inseminated her with his sperm He was arrested after another member of the family discovered that the girl was five months pregnant. Earlier this year, during his trial, the rapist had to be removed from court after shouting lies about the victim to the jury. At one stage, the girl testified against him. She clutched a stuffed animal to her chest as she told the jury how he had attacked her at least 15 times. The cover of suspected spy Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga was blown further apart today when he was identified by villagers in the remote hamlet where he grew up some 4,000 miles east of Moscow. Locals in Berezovka, population 3,139, recognised Chepiga from pictures of his alias Ruslan Boshirov taken on his trip to Britain when police say he poisoned Sergei Skripal with a chemical weapon. 'This is him,' confirmed a former female schoolfriend to Kommersant newspaper. 'One hundred percent him. Eyes almost black,' said the ex-classmate who refused to be identified, as did other locals, fearing reprisals from the FSB secret service. The father and mother of alleged Salisbury hitman Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga. His father, Vladimir Maksimovich, had a role in a local military unit and his mother was an accountant, but her name is not known Locals in Berezovka (pictured) recognised Chepiga from pictures of his alias Ruslan Boshirov taken on his trip to Britain when police say he poisoned Sergei Skripal with a chemical weapon The locals know him as 'Tolya' short for Anatoliy, and say he is a married father of two. They also recognised his voice from his TV appearance on RT channel when he claimed to be Boshirov and said he was merely a tourist with an avid interest in Salisbury cathedral. The friend was quoted as saying Chepiga was 'very smart, good guy, smart, articulate, studied well. 'I can say only positive things about him. Did not drink or smoke, he wasn't involved into bad groups ever. I remember his birthday is in early April.' His mother worked as an accountant, it was reported, while his father, Vladimir Maksimovich was the director of a mobile construction brigade called Ivanovskaya before taking up a role in a local military unit. Anatoliy Chepiga left the region after attending a local military high school, while the rest of his family moved to the city of Blagoveshchensk a few years ago. Chepiga is pictured on a RT interview in September, (left) when he claimed to be an innocent tourist, and in a passport photo from 2003 (right) The village of Berezovka (pictured) was where Chepiga grew up before leaving to begin his military career Villagers heard that he and his family had been recently assigned a four-room apartment in Moscow. 'We knew about him being on secret service in hot spots,' said a source. 'His mum cried, the family did not know exactly where he was,' said the resident of Berezovka which is close to Nikolayevka where he was born. 'His wife lived and waited in Khabarovsk. I last saw him about ten years ago, when he visited his relatives.' Chepiga and a fellow GRU spy using the code name Alexander Petrov are accused of orchestrating the March nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, before fleeing back to Russia. Chepiga and a fellow GRU spy using the code name Alexander Petrov are accused of orchestrating the March nerve agent attack. Pictured: A building in Berezovka President Putin (pictured today meeting zerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev) denied the would-be assassins were working for the Russian government He used the codename Ruslan Boshirov, but was unmasked yesterday after a painstaking analysis by investigative website Bellingcat. Both Chepiga and Petrov were charged with attempted murder under their codenames by the Crown Prosecution Service. They are also charged with murdering Dawn Sturgess, a local woman who found Novichok three months after the attack and sprayed it on her wrist believing it was Nina Ricci Premier Jour perfume. Her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, fell critically ill but recovered. The Kremlin said today it was looking into the Bellingcat report. 'Many people look alike, but I cannot tell you who this citizen who was pointed out in this investigation is,' spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. A Mexican illegal immigrant claims Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents beat him because he refused to rat on other undocumented foreigners in a bid to save himself from deportation. Now Carlos Rueda is suing ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for $750,000 for battery, assault and false imprisonment. Rueda, 28, who emigrated from Mexico, fell under the surveillance of immigration officials after he was pulled over during a traffic stop by cops in Sacramento, California, on March 3, 2017 as he was on his way to his job as a roofer. Instead of being arrested, Rueda was placed under an order of supervision by ICE and was required to meet with the immigration authorities on a monthly basis. Carlos Rueda filed a lawsuit in a Sacramento court claiming ICE officials beat him after he failed to continue to snitch on other undocumented immigrants so he couldn't be deported During a scheduled visit with the immigration agents, he was given two uncomfortable options: snitch on others that have entered the country illegally to avoid his own deportation or be banned from the country. 'Well at that moment I was scared. I wanted to get out,' Rueda recalled in a chat with Univision outside a Sacramento courthouse Wednesday. 'I wanted to return to my family. I told them, 'yes,' I would be coming every month.' Rueda, a married father-of-three, agreed before he decided to stop providing any names of other undocumented immigrants that were involved in criminal acts or who had previously been convicted of breaking the law in September 2017. According to his lawyer Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, the desperate ICE federal agents used the extreme measures of asking Rueda to simply report additional immigrants suspected of committing crimes. But Rueda refuse to continue. Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, who represents Carlos Rueda, a Mexican immigrant allegedly beaten by ICE, says agents got desperate by having his client name drop other immigrants Carlos Rueda spent six months in 2017 visiting ICE agents in Sacramento, California. He was ordered to snitch on other undocumented migrants or risk deportation to Mexico On September 26, 2017, immigration agents detained the Mexican immigrant during his monthly office visit and was informed he would be processed for deportation for failing to own up to his end of the bargain. Rueda recalled being held for a number of hours before he was taken to another office and told his family would also be deported. 'They told me that if I did not sign, they were going to go after my family and that they knew where my family lived,' Rueda said. While in the room with three ICE agents, court documents detail Rueda was ordered to sign an English language document, but the immigrant refused because he was not fluent. The court document revealed Rueda refused and two agents with black gloves twisted his arms behind his back. A third ICE official grabbed Rueda's head and slammed it against a table, and another joined in an attempt to take his fingerprints. Rueda again returned to the office the following day and some of the agents from the day prior once again tried to coerce him into signing off his deportation. His head was once again slammed against a table and other agents drove their knees into his ribs and sides. His fingerprints were there placed on the voluntary deportation order. 'Carlos was put in an impossible situation where he had to choose between himself and his family and other immigrants,' Savalza told the Sacramento Bee. Ruedas deportation order was stayed based on the claim of the false fingerprint. A French rapper who caused outrage by calling for white babies to be killed in a music video said he was just trying to show what 'really happened to black people'. Nick Conrad defended his video - which shows a white man being tortured, shot and hanged from a tree - saying it was 'a message of love, rather than hatred'. In one scene from 'PLB', short for 'Pendez Les Blancs' or 'Hang Whites', the little-known rapper and an associate drag their victim along the pavement and kick him in the head. The video - which controversial black comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, a convicted anti-Semite, linked to on his Facebook page on Saturday - was viewed thousands of times on YouTube before being taken down yesterday. In a scene from 'PLB' - short for 'Pendez Les Blancs', or 'Hang Whites' - rapper Nick Conrad and a friend drag their white victim along the pavement and kick him in the head In an interview with French radio network RLT, Conrad said: 'I was not looking for the buzz, this clip is supposed to get us thinking and not stay on the surface. I do not understand people who do not go in depth.' He added: 'It's a fiction that shows things that from the beginning to the end really happened to black people, all the elements that are cited in the song, one by one, really touched and marked black people on their flesh.' Conrad claimed he wanted to underline the problem of violence against black people by reversing roles. The rapper admitted that he understands those who are concerned but denies being racist. He explained: 'Eighty percent of the people on the team that made the clip are white, my white friends support me.' The rapper says, 'I walk into creches, I kill white babies, catch them quick and hang their parents' The attack in the video appears to be a reference to a famous scene from the film American History X, in which actor Edward Norton plays a neo-Nazis who stamps on the head of a black man as he lies face down on the pavement. A gun is also forced down his throat and he is ordered to 'suck it'. The lyrics evoke the killing of adults and children and advocated killing 'white babies' and 'hanging their parents'. The rapper sings: 'I walk into creches, I kill white babies, catch them quick and hang their parents.' As the victim is about to be strung up, Conrad asks him, 'show me that you're a wizard, that white people have that magical DNA'. He faces court action for inciting racial hatred for the incendiary lyrics and the graphic video, which appears to show him torturing a victim, whose teeth are broken before he is then hanged. The video was taken off YouTube four days after its official release. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux condemned the 'hateful, nauseating lyrics in the strongest possible terms' as did Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who slammed the video's 'abject remarks and ignominious attacks'. The Paris prosecutors office opened an inquiry, with the rapper likely to face charges of incitement to hatred under France's strict hate speech laws. Conrad, who is in his 20s, was born and grew up in suburban Paris, but describes himself as an 'Afro-French' citizen. He regularly uses his Facebook account to call for 'a mutiny' against France, which he accuses of still being a 'colonising nation'. Bruno Retailleau, of the opposition Republicans party, said the song was 'a call to murder', adding: 'It's intolerable. There are things that should not be allowed because they incite racial hatred. This is a provocation to a crime.' One scene in which he appears to attack a white man appears to be a reference to American neo-Nazi film American History X, starring Edward Norton Anti-racism organisation LICRA, which filed a formal police complaint, also hit out at the rapper, saying his artistic freedom 'is not the freedom to call for whites to be hanged because of the colour of their skin'. Until becoming the subject of nation-wide media coverage on Wednesday, Nick Conrad was a virtual unknown, with only 40 monthly listeners on the music streaming platform Spotify. The nine-minute video, which was uploaded onto YouTube on September 17, presents the action as taking place in the eastern Paris suburb of Noisy-le-Grand. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb criticised the rap video It contains references to a speech by US black nationalist Malcolm X. On his Twitter account Conrad, who is of Cameroonian origin and has in interviews claimed to be influenced by American hip-hop, had presented it as his 'first short film'. Gerard Collomb, Minister of the Interior of France, tweeted this evening: '#NickConrad : I condemn unreservedly these abject remarks and ignominious attacks. 'My services work for the immediate withdrawal of the content broadcast. It will be up to the judicial authority to give appropriate follow-up to these hateful appeals to hatred.' Comedian Dieudonne M'bala Mbala was banned from the UK because of his hate-filled act. Dieudonne, who is also from a Cameroonian background, has convictions for a number of hate crimes, including anti-Semitism. Two US Air Force bomber flights flew into areas considered to be sensitive to Chinese military, adding to the increased tension between the two governments. Earlier this week, US B-52 bombers flew through the South China Sea from Guam. China has increased its military presence in the area of the last few decades. 'That just goes on, if it was 20 years ago and had they not militarized those features there it would have been just another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or wherever,' Secretary of Defense James Mattis said at the Pentagon Wednesday, according to CNN. Earlier this week, US B-52 bombers flew through the South China Sea from Guam Japanese fighter jets were said to have been escorting the bombers as they flew over Senkaku Islands 'There's nothing out of the ordinary about it.' On Tuesday, the bomber flights also 'participated in a regularly scheduled, combined operation in the vicinity of the East China Sea,' Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn explained. Japanese fighter jets were said to have been escorting the bombers as they flew over Senkaku Islands. The island is controlled by Japan but China also lays claim there. The island is controlled by Japan but China also lays claim there 'That just goes on, if it was 20 years ago and had they not militarized those features there it would have been just another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or wherever,' Secretary of Defense James Mattis said at the Pentagon Wednesday about the flight missions The US B-52 aircrafts also flew into the Air Defense Identification Zone that was declared by the Chinese military. The flight missions add to the increased tension between the two governments which has been spilling over since last week. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump accused China of trying to interfere with the 2018 US elections. The two countries have also been in an intense trade battle for months. 'We're sorting out obviously a period with some tension there, trade tension and all, so we'll get to the bottom of it but I don't think that we're seeing a fundamental shift in anything, we're just going through one of those periodic points where we got to learn to manage our differences,' Mattis stated. The case of a man accused of killing a pregnant woman and stealing her baby was rocked when a female inmate testified that the man's ex-girlfriend confessed to her that she strangled the expecting mother. The trial for William Hoehn, 33, was shaken Thursday in Fargo, North Dakota, when inmate Jennifer Robinson told jurors he was not involved in the August 2017 murder of 22-year-old Savanna Greywind, despite being charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Hoehn's ex-girlfriend, Brooke Crews, testified earlier that she cut the baby girl from Greywind and then Hoehn tied a rope around Greywind's neck after he arrived at the scene. Hoehn has denied it. However, Jennifer Robinson, who's incarcerated in the same New England prison as Crews, claimed Crews confessed to her she 'choked Savanna with a rope, drug her into the bathroom,' and cut her baby out of her womb within a matter of minutes. Crews denied that claim but the judge denied a motion by prosecutors to exclude Robinson's testimony. Inmate Jennifer Robinson is in the same jail as Brooke Crews and said Crews confessed to her she strangled Greywind and cut the baby out within a matter of minutes William Hoehn enters the courtroom on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, in Fargo, North Dakota during his trial on a charge of conspiring to murder Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, whose baby was cut from her womb Hoehn's ex-girlfriend Brooke Crews testified that he pressured her to get a baby and has already pleaded guilty to murdering Savanna Greywind, 22, last year Cass County prosecutor Leah Viste pointed out conflicting stories that Hoehn told police after he and Crews were arrested. Hoehn acknowledged that, but when Viste suggested that Hoehn and Crews would do anything for each other, Hoehn said there were 'boundaries'. Greywind (above) was eight months pregnant Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Judge Tom Olson denied a defense motion for a mistrial at the end of Hoehn's testimony. Hoehn said his former girlfriend is responsible and that her claim he put a rope around the victim's neck is wrong. He testified Thursday that the rope was around Greywind's neck when he entered the bathroom of their apartment. When Hoehn's attorney asked him whether Greywind was breathing, Hoehn said he didn't think so. Hoehn earlier pleaded guilty to helping Crews cover up the crime. Crying and sniffling throughout her testimony Tuesday, Crews told the court that she lied to Hoehn saying she was pregnant in order to save their relationship, which she described as as rocky, violent and fueled by booze and drugs. After a breakup in December 2016, Crews went so far as to email him a phony positive pregnancy test and sonogram photo. In early August, Hoehn told Crews he didn't believe she was pregnant and said she needed 'to produce a baby.' Crews said she believed this was 'an ultimatum.' 'I took that to mean I better have a baby, no matter how it happened,' Crews said. Savanna Greywind (left and right) was eight months pregnant and living next door to Crews and Hoehn when she was murdered in August 2017 This undated evidence photo shows a rope in connection with the August 2017 death of 22-year-old Savanna Greywind, who was pregnant when she was killed Greywind's boyfriend Ashston Matheny is seen with their daughter Haisley Jo, who survived the ordeal of being cut from the womb and is being raised by him now Greywind lived next door to the couple, and Crews said that Hoehn remarked on how pregnant she was - a remark Crews said she interpreted as a signal that they should take Greywind's baby. Nevertheless, Crews admitted that Hoehn appeared surprised when he came home to discover she had sliced the child from the womb of Greywind, who was eight months pregnant. 'What the f**k?' Hoehn said, asking if Greywind was still alive, according to Crews. 'I don't know. Please help me,' Crews said she responded. Crews said Hoehn then retrieved a rope and tightened it around Greywind's neck, saying: 'If she wasn't dead before, she is now.' Crews said the couple kept ropes around the house because Hoehn liked to tie her up during sex, including tying one around her neck. Greywind's disappearance sparked massive searches, and Crews testified that that during one police search of the couple's apartment, Greywind's body was in the bathroom closet and the baby was covered up next to Hoehn on a bed as cops walked right by. Crews (left) said that she and Hoehn (right) hid Greywind's body in a closet, which police walked right by as they were searching the couple's apartment Ashton Matheny, boyfriend of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, testifies on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 She says Hoehn eventually moved Greywind's body to a hollowed-out dresser and the two of them took it out of the apartment. Crews originally told police that Greywind had given her the child. She later told police they had argued and that she pushed Greywind down and knocked her out before cutting her open. A medical examiner testified Monday that there was no evidence of any head injuries. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy, Dr. Victor Froloff, testified Monday that he isn't sure whether Greywind died from blood loss or strangulation . Crews pleaded guilty to murder and is serving life in prison without parole. She said she has no agreement with prosecutors for a lesser sentence in exchange for testifying. Hoehn has pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping the baby and providing false information to law enforcement, but has denied he was part of the plot to kill Greywind. The baby, a girl named Haisley Jo, is healthy and being raised by Greywind's boyfriend. The White House said Thursday that a planned meeting between Donald Trump and Rod Rosenstein has been postponed, leaving the fate of his deputy attorney general up in the air while a high-stakes Supreme Court confirmation hearing heated up on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. 'The President spoke with Rod Rosenstein a few minutes ago and they plan to meet next week,' White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters in a statement during the lunch hour Thursday. 'They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing.' Trump had said Wednesday during a press conference that he would rather keep Rosenstein than fire him, and hinted that he might delay Thursday's scheduled meeting. 'I would much prefer to keep Rod Rosenstein,' the president told reporters near the United Nations in New York, although 'many people say I have the right to absolutely fire him.' He added that he might call Rosenstein 'and ask for a little bit of a delay to the meeting' so it wouldn't 'compete' for the media's attention with a high-stakes Supreme Court confirmation hearing 16 blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue. As of Wednesday morning, Trump hadn't decided whether to keep Rosenstein, who was accused in a New York Times story of proposing to secretly record the president in chaotic moments and use a quirk of the U.S. Constitution to kick him out of office. President Donald Trump won't have a much-anticipated meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday, leaving the fate of America's no. 2 lawman in doubt The White House said the president wanted to avoid interferingwith a tense Supreme Court confirmation hearing that pitted Judge Brett Kavanaugh (left) against Christine Ford (right), a woman who claims Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago Trump said Wednesday that he's open to letting Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein keep his job because he doesn't believe stories about him plotting to secretly record their conversations to amass evidence to justify ousting him from power Rosenstein was expected to quit or be fired on Monday but now a White House insider says President Donald Trump's mind is still split on whether to keep him 'Weve had a good talk,' Trump said in the afternoon. 'He says he never said it, he doesnt believe it, he gets a lot of respect from me. Hes very nice, and well see.' Just two days after Rosenstein told White House Chief of Staff John Kelly that he was ready to resign, it now looks like he could remain at his post at least through the November midterm elections. One White House official told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that the Rosenstein situation is 'very much up in the air, and it could go either way.' Trump will be 'is in listening mode' when he meets with Rosenstein on Thursday, the official added, and 'he'll probably hear some reasons to maintain things as they are.' Leaving Rosenstein in his job would keep him in charge of overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's expansive Russia probe, which Democrats hope will find evidence that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with the Kremlin to meddle with the presidential election. But Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and other conservative Republicans who have long claimed Rosenstein is an anti-Trump schemer smell his blood in the water and are demanding he appear before a committee to explain himself. House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters on Wednesday that he won't step in the middle of the controversy. Tea Party Patriots chair Jenny Beth Martin wrote Tuesday in The Hill that 'Rosenstein was not on Team Trump from the very beginning of his tenure.' Trump is 'genuinely conflicted' about what to do, according to one source close to him who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. 'Hes got an open mind about whether Rod really tried to orchestrate this.' Some in the Republican Party believe former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe planted the stories as payback for his firing this year. Establishment Republicans like George W. Bush-era White House press secretary Ari Fleischer believe stories about Rosenstein plotting against President Trump were planted Some in the GOP say the New York Times stories about Rosenstein discussing secretly taping Trump and plotting for his ouster look like a hatchet job by fired former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe Attorney General Jeff Sessions, once thought to be teetering on the edge of quitting, now looks like a comparatively stable part of the Justice Department heirarchy Former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer sounded that alarm on Twitter. 'The last thing POTUS should do is fire Deputy AG Rosenstein,' Fleischer tweeted. 'That story about the 25th amendment/wearing a wire read like Andy McCabe trying to get revenge for being fired. I hope POTUS doesn't fall for it.' Congressional Republicans are also planning to issue subpoenas for memos McCabe wrote after a meeting where Rosenstein reportedly talked about recording the president. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, told reporters on Tuesday that he might issue a subpoena as soon as Thursday. That's when Rosenstein is scheduled to meet with President Trump at the White House to untangle the mess. The 25th Amendment allows a majority of the Cabinet, along with the vice president, to engineer a soft coup by certifying to Congress that the sitting president is incapable of fulfilling his duties. Rosenstein has denied everything, saying that he 'never pursued or authorized recording the president and any suggestions that I have ever advocated for the removal of the President is absolutely false.' But on Monday he was so certain he would be fired that a Justice Department press aide drafted a farewell statement for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to issue. 'Rod Rosenstein has served the Department of Justice with dedication and skill for 28 years. His contributions are many and significant. We all appreciate his service and sincerely wish him well,' it read. Republican senators have signaled that they are inclined to believe Rosenstein's denials, hinting that they want him to remain atop the Mueller probe as a steady hand who operates as independently of the Oval Office as a Justice Department official can. 'If theres any attempt to fire or force out Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, that would be a huge red flag and very problematic,' Main Sen. Susan Collins told The Wall Street Journal. Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy also downplayed the controversy, calling it 'just another sideshow in the circus.' Sessions has recused himself from the Russia probe, to Trump's great frustration, and left the duties of overseeing the investigation to Rosenstein. After Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel to take over the investigation. Rosenstein is acting in Sessions' place to oversee the probe and has the power to fire Mueller. Special Counsel Robert Mueller (pictured) answers to Rosenstein, and there are fears that a new deupty AG wouldn't understand the Rusia probe as well and might not be able to withstand political pressure to wrap it up Rosenstein makes nearly all the pivotal decisions in the Mueller investigation, including signing off on indictments. In an investigation kept decidedly out of the public spotlight, it has been Rosenstein, not Mueller, who briefs the president and stands before microphones when indictments are announced. If Rosenstein were to depart, Mueller and his investigators would be losing the oversight of an official who has protected their work despite the relentless attacks of Trump and his congressional allies. There is little likelihood that a successor would be nearly as familiar with the specifics of the Mueller investigation as Rosenstein has been from Day One. There is also no guarantee that Rosenstein's successor would be able to withstand political pressures and be similarly supportive and protective of the work of Mueller's team. Developers are planning to 'wipe out' a huge area of landscape that inspired Thomas Hardy to write his classic novel The Mayor Of Casterbridge. Campaigners are fighting plans to build 3,500 homes in the rural idyll that inspired the 1886 book set in a fictional Dorset town. The plans to build over the picturesque area have set town and county council at loggerheads. More than 1,000 residents have signed a petition set up to oppose the development north of Dorchester. One of the 'preferred options' in West Dorset District Council's local plan is to build 3,500 new homes and make obsolete the ancient Roman boundaries of Dorset's famous county town. Planning chiefs have earmarked a vast area of unspoilt landscape surrounding the Victorian writer's beloved Dorchester for the massive housing development Wolfeton House has a gatehouse thought to date back to the 1350's is just 200 yards from the proposed development The eastern edge of the proposed site is a stone's throw from Hardy's birthplace and the Dorset village where he went to school. His famous 1886 novel, the Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy described the very same land that is under threat But Dorchester Town Council's response to the county authority's local plan calls for development to be more fairly shared across the district to deliver sustainable growth and help retain dwindling services in villages. The area's water meadows act as a flood plain and campaigners fear the development could exacerbate the risk of flooding in the town. Thomas Hardy was born in the village of Stinsford, around two miles from the planned development. Dorchester Town councillor Alistair Chisholm - the town crier and a member of the Save The Area North of Dorchester (Stand) campaign - said: 'This is the biggest issue the county town has faced. 'It is on a monumental scale. What we are trying to protect is of international importance. 'This northern boundary isn't only the last remaining Hardyean countryside edge, it's the Roman edge of Dorchester that hasn't changed for nearly 2,000 years, and we are in danger of throwing it away. 'If we don't fight now as hard as we can we'll be failing not only those we represent today but generations to come.' Councillors question whether the plan's 35 per cent affordable housing will be delivered and argues that 20 per cent below market value is still out of reach of most young workers and families. The historic Grade I listed Elizabethan manor, Wolfeton House, that inspired Thomas Hardy is under threat from plans to build 120 houses in a neighbouring field The developers plans show the area north of Dorchester that 3,500 homes are listed as a 'preffered option' to the county council's local plan Plans on display at Charminster village hall that could 'wipe out' the countryside that inspired author Thomas Hardy by building 3,500 new homes The authority also urges West Dorset council to consider a discount nearer 50 per cent for it to be genuinely affordable. David Taylor, the mayor of Dorchester, said: 'In The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy describes Dorchester as 'a chessboard on a green table cloth'. 'This close connection between town and countryside is an important part of our heritage and landscape. 'This plan would destroy Hardy's literary landscape. We don't accept ours should be the generation that fails to pass on a valued legacy to future generations. 'Our community is shouting from the rooftops, they will not win.' The River Frome separates Dorchester from the proposed site so, unlike the Prince of Wales's Poundbury - which is fully connected to the rest of Dorchester - it would become a separate community, both physically and psychologically. Earlier this year plans for 120 homes just 200 yards the 16th century Wolfeton House in the village of Charminster, six miles north of Dorchester, were revealed. Thomas Hardy aged 19 (left) and Downton Abbey creator Lord Julian Fellowes who has added his voice to campaigners trying to stop a development in the area that inspired on of his novels Wolfeton House's current owner, retired army officer, Captain Nigel Thimbleby (with his wife Katharine), is a direct descendant of the Trenchard family that inspired one of the main characters in The Mayor of Casterbridge Downton Abbey creator, Lord Julian Fellowes, joined the fight by campaigners to stop developers building the housing estate next to the Elizabethan manor, which is also said to have inspired Thomas Hardy. The manor house is still owned by the Trenchard family, whose name provided the inspiration for the main character in The Mayor of Casterbridge - the Henchards. In 2016 the writer also wrote to planners opposing Prince Charles' Duchy of Cornwall Estate and its plans to build a housing estate behind Thomas Hardy's former home, a Grade I listed Max Gate in Dorchester. Ian Gardner, West Dorset council's portfolio holder for planning, said: 'There is a real need for the development of further homes in Dorchester, highlighted by the Planning Inspectorate in their comments on our current local plan. 'The town has significantly more jobs than economically active residents with many workers commuting into the town by car on a daily basis. 'One of the challenges for this local plan review is to try and improve the balance between housing and jobs in this area. 'We believe this new 'urban extension' to the north of the town would help improve this balance and provide a number of benefits for local residents once complete. 'Failing to include suitable development sites for Dorchester could mean that the overall local plan might not be approved. 'This would mean the council have a reduced say on applications, including what infrastructure is provided.' Elizabeth Wilkins, 23, arriving at Plymouth Crown Court in Devon today, where was found guilty of attacking her baby son A mother has been found guilty of repeatedly attacking her baby son - leaving him with brain damage. Elizabeth Wilkins, 23, fractured the tot's ribs, causing bloodshot eyes, and fractured his skull during the first three months of his life, the court heard. Hospital staff were shocked at how little emotion Wilkins - who was a law student at Plymouth University at the time - had shown while her child fought to stay alive. She stunned nurses by saying she was a fan of BBC medical drama Holby City so didn't mind watching staff drill into her son's bone marrow to insert a drip. Sister Sophie Brock, the nurse in charge of the section of the A&E department which admitted the boy, said Wilkins was asked to leave during the 'distressing' procedure. 'Her reply was that she watched Holby and 24 Hours in A&E, which was a little bit of a strange thing to say,' she said. After a three-week trial at Plymouth Crown Court, Wilkins was found guilty of one count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on September 22, 2016. She was also found guilty of assaulting the baby causing actual bodily harm between August 31 and September 3. The court heard she had been working as an escort in recent months in a bid to pay for therapy she was told she needed to win custody of her son. The court heard Wilkins had been working as an escort in recent months in a bid to pay for therapy she was told she needed to win custody of her son Prosecutors dropped assault charges against the boy's father, 30-year-old student Erick Vanselow (pictured) During the trial, prosecutors dropped assault charges against the boy's father, 30-year-old student Erick Vanselow. He was found not guilty of allowing the child to suffer serious physical harm. Wilkins had denied shaking and striking her baby's head against a hard surface in August and September 2016 in their old maisonette in Plymouth, Devon. The baby's injuries were only discovered on his third visit to Derriford Hospital in September 2016. He is expected to have developmental problems as he grows up. Wilkins will be sentenced on November 9. Critics have compared the GOP's female sex crime prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to A Handmaiden's Tale's evil Aunt Lydia character after her tough grilling of alleged sexual assault victim Christine Blasey Ford. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who are all white men, reportedly hired Mitchell because they feared the optics of an all-male panel questioning a woman who claimed she was sexually abused. But critics have blasted their choice of Mitchell, a veteran prosecutor with decades of experience, for her probing of Ford's claims she was assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Thursday. The GOP's female sex crime prosecutor Rachel Mitchell (left) is being compared to A Handmaiden's Tale's evil Aunt Lydia (right) Some have even compared the prosecutor to A Handmaiden's Tale's cruel Aunt Lydia, played by Ann Dowd - who helps enslave American women and tortures those who do not comply. 'Rachel Mitchell - the GOP's very own Aunt Lydia,' tweeted Claudia Lamb, after viewing the morning session of Kavanaugh's nomination hearing. Others were outraged that the prosecutor appeared to be putting an alleged sexual assault survivor on trial. 'Seriously, did the Republicans think hiring Aunt Lydia to question Christine Ford would make them look more human? SHE IS NOT ON TRIAL #CancelKavanaugh,' added Aimee Allison. Others warned that having 'an Aunt Lydia character' grill the alleged victim, alternating with 'intelligent, compassionate Democratic senators' is a 'disaster' for the GOP. The committee's Democratic senators, four of whom are women, are questioning Kavanaugh and Ford themselves. Others compared Mitchell to Dolores Umbridge - the cruel, belittling teacher in Harry Potter who made staff and students lives hell - and even the terrifying Ms Trunchbull in Matilda. They include Dianne Feinstein of California - who Ford first approached with her allegations - Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Kamala Harris of California. On Thursday, questioning was turned over to Mitchell, as Ford fought back tears as she recalled the horrific alleged assault. Mitchell, a career prosecutor of sex crime cases, began her questioning with an apology. She noted Ford said she was terrified to be here. 'I just wanted to let you know that I am very sorry,' she said. At one point, Feinstein asked how she could be so sure that Kavanaugh was her attacker. 'The same way that I'm sure that I'm talking to you right now. Basic memory functions and also just the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain that sort of as you know encodes - that neurotransmitter encodes memories into the hippocampus so the trauma related experience then is kind of locked there whereas other details kind of drift.' Feinstein: 'So what you are telling us is this could not be a case of mistaken identity?' Christine Blasey Ford looked emotional during a tense Senate hearing on Thursday where she testified that Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 when she was 15 Mitchell had been brought in to question Ford on behalf of Republicans 'Absolutely not,' Ford replied. When asked her degree of certainty it was Kavanaugh, Ford leaned down into the microphone and said: '100 percent.' Ford's morning began with her own testimony, where, over deep, shaky breathing, she said Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge had been 'extremely inebriated' on the summer 1982 night. Her voice quavered as she described her trauma. Ford held back tears as she described the teenage party where she claims Kavanaugh attacked her as his friend Mark Judge watched. 'I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to,' she said. 'But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult.' 'I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming,' she recalled. 'This was what terrified me the most and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me.' Mitchell's questioning focused on the facts surrounding Ford's story. She tried to pin down how Ford came to the conclusion the party happened in 1982. 'I can't give the exact date and I wish I could,' Ford said. She added she used her memories to narrow down a year. 'I'm just using memories when I got my drivers' license,' she said. 'I did not drive to or home from that party and once I got my driving license I liked to drive myself.' Mitchell, a Republican, has been a prosecutor since 1993, and leads the Special Victims Division in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix - where she would have worked with the county's controversial sheriff, Joe Arapaio, until he was voted out of office last year. She supervises attorneys who handle cases involving child molestation, sexual assault and computer crimes against children in Arizona's most populous county. Ford's attorney's have repeatedly objected to an outside counsel, insisting that the senators themselves must conduct the questioning. Democrats on the Judiciary Committee also blasted the move to hire an outside counsel, with a spokesperson for ranking member Dianne Feinstein telling DailyMail.com that it would 'create a trial-like atmosphere' in the hearing. As a prosecutor in Maricopa County, Mitchell would have worked closely with Arpaio, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump last year for ignoring a court order to cease 'rounding up' people suspected of immigration violations. The county prosecutor's office is separate from the sheriff's office, however. In 2011, Mitchell was tasked to a unit that investigated why hundreds of sex crimes had gone unresolved or were not adequately investigated by the sheriff's office. The crimes dated from 2007 back to 2005, the year that Mitchell was first appointed as head of the Special Victims Division in a controversial shakeup. Rachel Mitchell gestures to a map as she examines Ford during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing A 2016 audit also found some 4,000 untested rape kits in Maricopa County, a backlog that investigators are currently working through. Advocates blame a lack of funding for the backlog, and say that it is police, not prosecutors, who are typically responsibly for testing rape kits. Mitchell, who has decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes, 'has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity,' committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said in a statement Tuesday. Prior to leading Maricopa County's Special Victim's Division, Mitchell spent 12 years running the bureau in the Division responsible for the prosecution of sex-related felonies, including child molestation, adult sexual assault, cold cases, child prostitution and computer-related sexual offenses. In a 2012 interview with FrontLine, Mitchell explained that she had never planned to become a sex crimes prosecutor until, while working as a law clerk, she assisted in the prosecution of a youth choir director accused of abuse. 'It struck me how innocent and vulnerable the victims of these cases really were. When I became an attorney with the office I prosecuted other kinds of cases, but I was drawn back to this area,' Mitchell said. Mitchell also spoke about the frequent reluctance of young sexual assault victims to come forward - a topic that will surely be raised on Thursday given Ford's 36 years of silence about the assault that she alleges took place when she and Kavanaugh were both in high school. Corridors of power: Rachel Mitchell was also spotted in the Capitol last Thursday 'People think that children would tell right away and that they would tell everything that happened to them. In reality children often keep this secret for years, sometimes into their adulthood, sometimes forever,' Mitchell said. She also said that the 'largest misconception' about sexual offenses is 'that 'stranger danger' is the rule rather than the fairly rare exception', adding that 'about 90-95 per cent' of victims know the offender. In 2015, Mitchell prosecuted a 13-year veteran of the Mesa Police Department who groped two women, one of whom had passed out. Her tenure in Maricopa County has not been entirely without controversy, however. In 2003, Mitchell declined to prosecute a husband accused of beating and neglecting his quadriplegic wife, the Phoenix New Times reported. The prosecutor said that the woman had changed her story and that there was not enough proof to bring the case to trial. In 2011, Mitchell's office drew criticism by proffering a plea deal for six months in prison to a Jehova's Witness elder who had admitted to sexually abusing a teenage boy in the 1990s. The victim came forward some 30 years after the abuse occurred - but Mitchell said that it was difficult to be sure what age the victim had been when he was abused, which can dramatically affect sentencing guidelines. However, Mitchell has also brought other successful prosecutions against sex offenders even though decades had passed since the the crimes. In 2005, she won a conviction against former Catholic priest Paul LeBrun, who had been accused of molesting six boys between the ages of 11 and 13 in the 1980s and early 90s. LeBrun was sentenced to 111 years in prison. Last year, the county attorney's office introduced a sex crimes protocol - the first in its history. Shoigu did not say that this was meant to prevent Israel from reaching target areas in Syria and disrupting its missiles or bombs, but it is clear that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) planes and its precision munitions are the target of the measures. "The Israeli crews, who knew perfectly well the situation in the air, found cover behind the Russian airplane, which led to its destruction and the deaths of 15 members of the service", Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defence minister, said. Speaking to reporters before boarding a flight to NY to address the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu vowed that Israel would continue to fight Iran's efforts to establish a permanent military presence in Syria. "These data were taken from the radars of the command and control post of the S-400 missile system deployed at the Hmeymim airbase", Konashenkov said. "The Russian side proceeds from the fact that the actions by the Israeli air force were the main reason for the tragedy", a statement said. Putin last week had adopted a more conciliatory tone and said the downing was the result of "tragic accidental circumstances". The move came in line with Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah's call for the "need to stop Israel's arrogance" while blasting the Jewish state's attack on the Syrian city of Latakia that destroyed an ammunition storage depot. The claims elicited fear in Russia that Assad, under the influence of the Iranians, may eventually thank the Russians for their help and politely ask them to leave Syria, damaging Putin's economic and geopolitical interests. The Russian government announced Monday that it would be sending Syria an S-300 surface-to-air missile system. "Israel has no choice but to keep striking in every possible way at Iranian positions in Syria", Michael Oren, Israel's deputy minister for diplomacy, warned Tuesday. Panthers sign former 49ers safety Eric Reid Hurney and Co. signed free agent safety Da'Norris Searcy this offseason to fill the spot previously occupied by Kurt Coleman. The Carolina Panthers have signed former 49ers safety Eric Reid to a one-year contract. Russian President Vladimir Putin looks through the porthole while aboard the presidential plane on December 11, 2017, during the approach to the Russian air base in Hmeimim in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia. Russian Federation will also jam the electronic communications of aircraft attacking targets in Syria, he said. Peskov said the new measures were only to boost the security of its troops in Syria. 'According to information of our military experts, the reason (behind the downing) were premeditated actions by Israeli pilots which certainly can not but harm our relations, ' Peskov told journalists. In recent months, the government recaptured many areas that were controlled by the opposition. "Russia has kept hinting that it will supply these missiles to Damascus since 2011, but never went through with it", Lund said, even though with the two-week deadline, it is declaring much "louder and clearer" its intention to complete the transfer. There may be some misunderstanding, in Israel as there sometimes seems to be in the United States, about that last dimension, involving Russian-Iranian relations. "We think introducing the S-300s to the Syrian government would be a significant escalation by the Russians... and something that we hope, if these press reports are accurate, they would reconsider". "The Israelis have a legitimate right to self-defense against this Iranian aggressive behavior", Bolton said,"that's why the president has spoken to this issue and why we would regard introducing the S-300 as a major mistake". President Donald Trump tuned into his favorite network Fox News for coverage of Christine Ford's bombshell testimony about Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh where network commentators called the accuser 'exceptionally credible.' Ford raised her hand and swore to tell the truth, then answered question after question about a party where she alleges Kavanaugh climbed on top of her, groped her, and covered her mouth. She repeatedly revealed her own anxiety, but never strayed from her story and won over a critical constituency who hold sway with Trump: Fox on-air personalities. 'The more hesitant, the more fragile she becomes the more credible she becomes,' said Brit Hume, a senior presence on the network. President Donald Trump waves as he enters the White House in Washington DC on September 27, 2018, after returning from the United Nations General Assembly. The White House confirmed he tuned in to coverage of Christine Blasey Ford's testimony 'All of us agree that this witness is exceptionally credible and Ms Mitchell has not laid a glove on her,' said judge Andrew Napolitano, another frequent Fox contributor. 'The court of public opinion if our colleagues is an adequate sample of it is that she was extremely credible and not only is Rachel Mitchell not laying a glove on her, and in my view is only helping her credibility by the gentility with which these questions are being asked and the open ended answers that the witness is being permitted to give,' he said. 'The president cannot be happy with this,' he added. Trump flew back to Washington Thursday as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's fate hung in the balance. He indicated during a rambling Wednesday that he would be watching and that he planned to evaluate Ford. Fox News commentators called Christine Blasey Ford 'exceptionally credible' President Donald Trump boards Air Force One in New York September 27, 2018 on his way back to the White House in Washington, DC. Fox commentator Andrew Napolitano ripped the performance of lawyer Rachel Mitchell, who asked questions on behalf of the all-male Senate Republican panel members He even put off a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein so he could focus on it. The White House confirmed Trump was watching Ford testify during part of the flight. A pool reporter who accompanied the president said all the TVs she could see were turned to Fox News coverage of the event. The White House set up channels on the presidential aircraft so that CNN is not available. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas tore into Donald Trump's administration, accusing it of undermining efforts towards a two-state solution. Abbas declared that his people's rights 'are not up for bargaining' in an address to the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York on Thursday. The 82-year-old Palestinian Authority president refused to accept the United States as the sole mediator in the Middle East conflict, a day after Trump promised a 'very fair' peace plan. He used his address to the UN General Assembly to lambast the US for closing the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving its embassy and slashing Palestinian aid money. Scroll down for video Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas accused Donald Trump's administration of undermining efforts towards a two-state solution Speaking one day after the US president said he favored a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and vowed to unveil a new peace plan within months, Abbas said Trump could not be regarded as a neutral broker. 'Jerusalem is not for sale,' Abbas said to applause as he began his speech. 'The Palestinian people's rights are not up for bargaining.' He said Palestinians would never reject negotiation, but that 'it's really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the 'deal of the century.'' 'We will also not accept sole American mediation in the peace process,' he said, accusing the former real estate tycoon of being 'biased' towards Israel since taking office in January 2017. 'With all of these decisions, this administration has reneged on all previous US commitments, and even undermined the two-state solution,' Abbas told the world body in a nearly 40-minute speech. He said the Trump administration 'has revealed its false claims of concern about the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian people.' He added: 'It's really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the 'deal of the century.' 'But what is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people? Only humanitarian solutions? The Palestinian leader declared his people's rights 'are not up for bargaining' in an address to the United Nations 'We are not redundant. Why are we treated as redundant people who should be gotten rid of? 'From this august platform, I renew my call to President Trump to rescind his decisions and decrees regarding Jerusalem, refugees and settlements ... in order to salvage the prospects for peace and to achieve stability and security for future generations,' Abbas said. Last February, Abbas called for an international conference to re-launch the peace process under a new mediator to replace the United States, in an address to the UN Security Council. On Thursday, he said there could be no peace without an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, calling on countries around the world to recognize the state of Palestine. 'We are not against negotiations,' the Palestinian leader added. 'We will continue to extend our hands for peace. Palestinian leaders have long seen Trump's administration as blatantly biased in favor of Israel and seeking to blackmail them into accepting their terms. The Palestinian leadership cut off contact with the White House after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last December and the US has also cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid. 'Jerusalem is not for sale,' Abbas said to applause as he began his speech on Thursday He used his address to the UN General Assembly to lambast the US for recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving its embassy and slashing Palestinian aid money Palestinians have said a pending US peace plan will be dead on arrival because of that and other recent US moves that Palestinians see as favouring Israel. The last Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014 and there are doubts Trump can secure what he has called the 'ultimate deal' since he recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December and moved the US Embassy there in May. The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured those territories in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally. Israel regards all of the city as its eternal and indivisible capital. Palestinians were infuriated, and many Israelis were thrilled, by a series of decisions Trump has made within the last year, starting with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Palestinians also claim the holy city as the capital of an eventual state. Earlier this year, Trump followed up on the recognition by moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step that was widely protested by Palestinians and others in the Arab world. His administration has also slashed aid to the Palestinians by hundreds of millions of dollars and ended US support for the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees. Trump and his national security team have defended their position, saying that decades of attempts to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace have failed. The World Bank warned Tuesday that Gaza's economy is in 'free fall,' with a 6 percent contraction in the first quarter of this year and unemployment standing at over 50 percent. A report from the bank urged Israel and the international community to take action to avoid 'immediate collapse.' It attributed the downturn to a combination of factors, including Israel's decade-long blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory, budget cuts by the rival Palestinian Authority and a reduction in international aid, particularly from the US. It comes a day after Trump suggested for the first time in office that he 'liked' a two-state solution as the most effective way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Meanwhile, Trump has equivocated on whether he supports the idea of a two-state solution, with one for the Israelis and one for the Palestinians, a plank of US policy for decades. On Wednesday, in his administration's clearest support for the idea, he said 'I like a two-state solution. That's what I think works best.' Trump made his comment about the two-state solution while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. The U.S. president told reporters he believes that two states - Israel and one for the Palestinians - 'works best.' He has been vague on the topic, suggesting he would support whatever the parties might agree to, a message he also recapped Wednesday. 'If the Israelis and Palestinians want one state, that's OK with me. If they want two states, that's OK with me. I'm happy if they're happy,' he said. But later in the day, he backed off, saying he would also support a one-state solution if both sides wanted it. Netanyahu is to address the UN General Assembly later on Thursday, in a speech likely to focused on Israel's main enemy Iran, particularly its presence in neighboring Syria. The speeches fell on the same day that members of a vast UN developing-countries group formalised their decision to give the Palestinians the chairmanship in 2019. Although known as the Group of 77, it promotes the interests of 135 developing nations. The Palestinians' upcoming chairmanship stands to boost their aspirations for official statehood but angers Israel. Hours before Netanyahu's scheduled speech, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman expressed indifference to Trump's remarks, saying that the Israeli interest is 'a safe Jewish state.' A Palestinian state 'simply doesn't interest me,' Lieberman said. Netanyahu had reluctantly accepted the concept of Palestinian statehood but has since backtracked. A top coalition partner is threatening to topple his government if it returns to the agenda. The two sides in one of the world's most high-profile and volatile conflicts are always forceful voices at the UN. and its annual General Assembly, but their leaders are speaking after a particularly eventful year in their relations. The Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza has led protests for months along the border with Israel, aiming partly to draw attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. At least 137 Palestinians, mostly unarmed, have been killed by Israeli fire since the border protests began on March 30. During that time, a Gaza sniper killed an Israeli soldier. Hamas and Israel came close to serious conflict earlier this summer as violence soared along the border. Gaza militants bombarded southern Israel with mortars and rockets, and Israel struck Hamas targets in Gaza. Israel says it is defending its border against attempts by Hamas, a militant group sworn to its destruction, to infiltrate and carry out attacks. But Israel has faced heavy international criticism over the large number of unarmed protesters who have been killed or wounded. Israel has also been struggling to deal with near-daily fires caused by kites and balloons rigged with incendiary devices launched by Palestinians in Gaza. The blazes have destroyed forests, burned crops and killed wildlife. Egyptian mediated cease-fire talks have hit a deadlock, and Hamas is now intensifying its campaign with more protests. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened action against Iran after accusing the regime of hiding nuclear-related material at a warehouse in Tehran. He claimed Iran had a 'secret atomic warehouse' in Tehran in an address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, which he said proved it had not abandoned its nuclear weapons programme. Netanyahu held up a map and a photograph of an outwardly innocuous looking in the Turquzabad district of Tehran, which he said was concealed as a rug-cleaning operation. Iran 'hasn't abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons,' Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly, where his annual appearance has frequently focused on Israel's chief enemy, the Islamic republic. 'Israel will never let a regime that calls for our destruction to develop nuclear weapons. Not now, not in 10 years, not ever,' he said. 'Israel will do whatever it must do to defend itself against Iran's aggression. What Iran hides, Israel will find.' Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed what he says is a secret Iranian nuclear weapons storage site Netanyahu's disclosure - which he presented as a big reveal on the international community's biggest stage - came four months after Israel announced the existence of what it said was a 'half-ton' of Iranian nuclear documents obtained by Israeli intelligence in the Shourabad neighborhood near Tehran. Israel said the cache proved that Iranian leaders covered up their nuclear weapons program before signing the nuclear agreement. Iran hasn't acknowledged the alleged seizure. 'You have to ask yourself a question: Why did Iran keep a secret atomic archive and a secret atomic warehouse?' he asked. 'What Iran hides, Israel will find.' The Israeli leader also lambasted Iran's ballistic missile activity, identifying three locations near Beirut airport where he said Lebanon's Hezbollah was converting missiles. 'In Lebanon, Iran is directing Hezbollah to build secret sites to convert inaccurate projectiles into precision-guided missiles, missiles that can target deep inside Israel within an accuracy of 10 metres (yards),' he said. He accused Hezbollah of 'deliberately using the innocent people of Beirut as human shields.' Netanyahu added: 'Israel know what you are doing, Israel knows where you are doing it, and Israel will not let you get away with it.' Speaking about Iran's 'secret atomic warehouse', he said: 'In May we exposed the site of Iran's secret atomic archive. Today I'm revealing the site of a second facility, Iran's secret atomic warehouse. 'Iran has not abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons.... Rest assured that will not happen. What Iran hides, Israel will find,' he added. 'Today I am disclosing for the first time that Iran has another secret facility in Tehran, a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Iran's secret nuclear programme. He claimed Iran had a 'secret atomic warehouse' in Tehran in an address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday Netanyahu said Israel has shared information about this site with the International Atomic Energy Agency and some intelligence agencies 'Since we raided the atomic archive, they've been busy cleaning out the atomic warehouse. 'Just last month they removed 15 kilograms of radioactive material. You know what they did with it?' he said. 'They took it out and they spread it around Tehran in an effort to hide the evidence.' Netanyahu said Israel has shared information about this site with the International Atomic Energy Agency and some intelligence agencies. He called on the UN's atomic agency to carry out immediate inspections at a location known to Israel. There was no immediate reaction from Iran, which denies building nuclear weapons. He called on the UN's atomic agency to carry out immediate inspections at a location known to Israel A aerial photograph released by the Israeli Prime Minister's office pinpoints the location of the warehouse in the Turquzabad district of Tehran The Israeli leader also lambasted Iran's ballistic missile activity, identifying three locations near Beirut airport where he said Lebanon's Hezbollah was converting missiles Netanyahu in April unveiled what he said was a pile of archives that showed a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program ahead of the US decision to pull out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. He said Iranian officials had started cleaning out the atomic warehouse, but still had a lot of work to do because they 'have had at least 15 ship containers, they're gigantic, 15 ship containers full of nuclear-related equipment and materials stored there,' he said. 'This means that this site contained as much as 300 tonnes - 300 tonnes - of nuclear-related equipment and materiel,' he said. France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia have stayed in the deal, vowing to save it despite the restoration of US sanctions on Iran. Netanyahu noted that Israel had long opposed the multinational agreement with Iran and accused the European powers of appeasing Iran. 'Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?' he said. Israel considers Iran its biggest threat, citing Tehran's calls for Israel's destruction, its support for hostile militant organizations like Hezbollah and Iran's development of long-range missiles. Netanyahu's revelation came shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (above) took Israel and the US to task in his own speech US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the nuclear deal in May, and his administration has been re-imposing sanctions on Iran. Israel applauded Trump's decision, but many other nations lamented it as jeopardising what they saw as the best chance for keeping Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed power. 'Instead of coddling Iran's dictators,' other countries should support the sanctions, Netanyahu said to applause. The 2015 Iran nuclear deal came after years of Western sanctions over the country's contested atomic program. The West long has feared it could be used to build nuclear bombs. Iran long has denied seeking atomic weapons. Under terms of the deal, Iran is allowed to keep documents and other research. The deal strictly limits how many centrifuges Iran can use and how large of a low-enriched uranium stockpile the country can keep. Netanyahu's revelation came shortly after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took Israel and the US to task in his own speech, declaring that his people's rights 'are not up for bargaining' and that the US was undermining the long-discussed two-state solution. But Netanyahu devoted less attention to his country's long-running conflict with the Palestinians. Abbas halted ties with Trump's administration in December after the US recognised contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Palestinians have said a pending US peace plan will be dead on arrival because of that and other recent US moves that Palestinians see as favouring Israel. Donald Trump's former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, confirmed that Gary Cohn took a trade-related document from the president's desk that ended up in Bob Woodward's bombshell book. McMaster said Tuesday that he knew about the incident 'and that was wholly appropriate for Gary Cohn, who was a wonderful public servant and a great colleague, to do'. He had just been asked about whether or not removing papers from the desk the president fits the role of a civil servant during an appearance at Perry World House in Philadelphia. The letter stolen from Trump's Oval Office desk by his top economic adviser, Cohn, was reportedly done in order to stop the president from ending a trade deal with South Korea, according to Woodward's book, Fear. Woodward also obtained a copy of the astonishing note that Trump wrote in the margins of a speech he was poised to deliver: 'TRADE IS BAD.' The president never uttered the words, but Woodward says the phrase is the 'truest expression' of Trump's 'protectionism, isolationism and fervent American nationalism'. Scroll down for video Donald Trump's former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster (main), confirmed that Gary Cohn took a trade-related document from the president's desk that ended up in Bob Woodward's bombshell book Former director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn (pictured) is described in Woodward's book as swiping a letter from Trump's desk that would start a pullout of a trade deal The letter stolen from Trump's Oval Office desk by his top economic adviser, Cohn, was reportedly done in order to stop the president from ending a trade deal with South Korea, according to Woodward's book, Fear Woodward obtained a copy of the astonishing note that Trump wrote in the margins of a speech he was poised to deliver: 'TRADE IS BAD' Trump planned to make the assertion during a speech that Woodward says he was working on en route to the US from the G20 summit in 2017. It's not clear from the book why he never did, unlike the formal notification to South Korea that Trump was unilaterally ending its trade deal, which Cohn and ex-staff secretary Rob Porter are said to have kept away from the president. The unsigned letter to South Korea and the note Trump made about trade, in what appears to be his handwriting, are included in Woodward's book in an astonishing breach of White House security. Woodard's new book hit shelves earlier this month on September 11 Woodward uses the documents to bolster the narrative that aides were engaged in an elaborate campaign that is outlined in the book to sometimes shield information from Trump and at other times keep the president from doing things his aides thought would be disastrous. Cohn has been silent since Woodward named him in an excerpt of his new book as someone who tried to thwart the president from within. The White House ignored a request for comment on the revelations. Woodward's book, which officially hit shelves on September 11, includes a draft copy of a memo withdrawing the US from its trade agreement with South Korea that the president never signed. That's because Cohn 'stole it' off the president's desk, Woodward writes. Cohn is said to have boasted to a colleague: 'I stole it off his desk....I wouldn't let him see it. He's never going to see that document. Got to protect the country.' Trump told a news outlet earlier this month that no one removed anything from his desk. 'Thats false,' Trump said of the document removal excerpt. 'Its just made up.' He told The Daily Caller flatly: 'There was nobody taking anything from me.' A copy of the book obtained by DailyMail.com includes a scan of the letter; however. And the White House did not immediately slap it down as a faked document. The documents stated that the current trade deal was 'not in the overall best interest of the United States economy'. The letter provides notice of the president's desire to 'terminate the agreement' in 180 days, the required amount of notice. He committed in the letter to negotiating a new trade deal with the close, security ally of the United States. Sarah Sanders said in a rebuttal of Woodward's book that a damaging characterization of the White House as 'crazytown' and the president as 'unhinged' can't possibly be true It contained lines for salutations by Trump and trade representative Robert Lighthizer but was left unsigned. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders did not respond to a request for comment via email on the document that was dated September 5, 2017. The date of the letter indicates that it was drafted just before Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met for bilateral talks at the United Nations. At the summit the president also called North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un 'Little Rocket Man,' escalating tension between South Korea and its autocratic neighbor. Porter told an associate, according to Woodward's book, that there were multiple iterations of the letter, because Trump kept coming back to the topic. 'I'm tired of these arguments!' Trump said in one meeting. 'I don't want to hear about it anymore. We're getting out of KORUS.' Trump made his distaste for the trade deal with Korea, a key US ally, in a White House meeting. The president ordered son-in-law Jared Kushner to draft the order. The book describes a scene where Kushner took dictation. Porter heard about what Kushner was up to, and later told him: 'Send me the draft. If we're going to do this, we cannot do it on the back of a napkin. We have to write it up in a way that isn't going to embarrass us.' They prepared a draft, but it was described as part of a 'subterfuge' tactic. After a formal meeting on the topic, and following a debate, Trump asked for changes. 'Well, let's keep working on the letter,' Trump said. 'l want to see the next draft.' Cohn and Porter didn't produce a follow-up. The issue disappeared for a while. Porter and Cohn are depicted as ignoring Trump's orders to submit additional drafts, with the president's former economic adviser roping in Pentagon head James Mattis. 'We're teetering on the edge,' Cohn told Mattis. 'We may need some backup this time. Cohn (right), the former Goldman Sachs boss, is also quoted in the book stating privately: 'It's not what we did for the country. lt's what we saved him from doing' Mattis, for his part, told Trump: 'Kim Jong Un poses the most immediate threat to our national security. We need South Korea as an ally. It may not seem like trade is related to all this, but it's central.' Trump ultimately saw things his aides' way and did not shred the trade agreement. Woodward calls it part of a widespread 'administrative coup d'etat,' with Cohen recalling: 'A third of my job was trying to react to some of the really dangerous ideas that he had and try to give him reasons to believe that maybe they weren't such good ideas.' Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs boss, is also quoted in the book stating privately: 'It's not what we did for the country. lt's what we saved him from doing.' The globalist whose worldview clashed with the president's left the White House earlier this year. Despite his run-ins with Trump, the president maintained that they had a good relationship until the end. He even suggested that Cohn could return one day in a higher-level position such as Cabinet secretary or chief of staff. Trump's spokeswoman had said that the Woodward book, which included damaging characterizations of the White House as 'crazytown' and the president as 'unhinged,' couldn't possibly be true when asked it about it at the White House at the time. 'I don't think you can have the type of success that we've had in this White House under this president if that book was an accurate reflection of what is taking place,' she told reporters after blasting the book on two morning shows. The book follows the January release of author Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury, which led to a rift between Trump and Bannon, his former chief strategist, who spoke with Wolff in terms that were highly critical of the president and his family. Wolff's book attracted attention with its vivid anecdotes but suffered from numerous factual inaccuracies. Woodward's work also comes weeks after former White House aide and 'Apprentice' contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman published an expose on her time in the West Wing, including audio recordings of her firing by Kelly and a follow-up conversation with the president in which he claimed to have been unaware of Kelly's decision. While White House aides have become increasingly numb to fresh scandals, the latest book still increased tensions in the West Wing, especially given the intimate details shared and the number of people Woodward appeared to have interviewed. An Afghan married woman has been arrested for allegedly appearing in a viral sex tape with a self-proclaimed mullah. The married woman, a police officer in the northwestern province of Faryab, was detained after she was identified by colleagues. The videos have been widely circulated on social media and she could face jail if convicted of the crimes. The moral section of Afghan law prohibits adultery. The married woman, a police officer in the northwestern province of Faryab, was detained after she was identified by colleagues (stock image) Mullah Rasool, a traditional healer, is now on the run after Muslim leaders in the province ordered his death by stoning, with the provincial governor offering his own car as a reward for information leading to Rasool's capture. Another female police officer has also been arrested for allegedly encouraging the woman to see Rasool for her fertility problems. She is alleged to have helped Rasool film the sexual encounters and used the videos to blackmail women into have sex with 'multiple men', including a traffic police officer, who has also been detained. The female police officer suggested she may have been drugged after she claimed she was 'not in a normal condition' when she had sex with the mullah. She added she did not know she was being filmed. Local officials said other females who also appeared in the videos, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on Facebook and YouTube, have not been found. While they have not been identified, there are fears they could be targeted by their own families in so-called 'honour killings'. Women's affairs department Sharifa Azimi said the women had been 'tricked' and told religious leaders to tell worshippers they are 'innocent victims, not bad women'. Traditional healers are revered in the countryside, where illiteracy levels remain high and conventional health services scarce. The videos have been circulated widely in Afghanistan, where sex is still treated as a taboo subject and with women sometimes treated as second-class citizens. A mass brawl at a secondary school was sparked by a canteen row that saw a girl's headscarf ripped off by another pupil, it has been claimed. Police with dogs swarmed Fir Vale School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, to break up the riot involving 100 people at lunchtime on Tuesday. The building was placed on lockdown following the violence, which was described by onlookers as 'like World War Three'. The mass brawl at Fir Vale School in Sheffield on Tuesday lunchtime involved more than 100 pupils and had to be dealt with by police Pupils were seen trying to escape the fracas by clambering over tables as teachers struggled to break up the fight Students were seen grappling and throwing punches at each other in footage from inside the school. Other pupils were captured on camera trying to escape the fracas by clambering over tables as teachers struggle to break up the fight. Parents say the brawl broke out because a female pupil's headscarf was torn off the day before. Arfan Abbas, 42, has daughters in Year 9 and Year 11. He said: 'The day before the riot there was an incident between a Yemeni girl and a Eastern European girl and her headscarf was ripped off.' Amjad Yasin, 40, who has two boys aged 13 and 14 at the school, claimed it was a girl from Somalia who was involved in the alleged fight with an Eastern European girl, before 'one girl's headscarf was torn off'. The fight in the canteen moments before police with dogs swarmed the school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire Footage showed about 100 people outside the school gates after the violence erupted in the canteen. Police officers swarmed the site, when a girl was seen being pinned to a car bonnet by officers. Another pupil was bitten by a police dog as an officer held them on the ground. The school, which has about 1,000 pupils, had to close for the rest of the afternoon and re-opened the next day with police stationed outside. Officers said they had not made any arrests. Ambulance crews treated two patients for minor injuries. South Yorkshire Police said: 'We are continuing to support and work alongside the school in relation to yesterday's incident. 'Officers are working with staff to review CCTV footage and speak to witnesses to understand exactly what led to the altercation inside the building. 'As enquiries continue, we will of course look to investigate any offences that are made apparent or that are disclosed to us.' Fir Vale School have been contacted by MailOnline for comment. An Ohio woman used an 11-year-old girl to have sex with a man so that she could get her hands on heroin. April Corcoran cleaned homes and businesses for Shandell Willingham throughout 2014. The woman struggled financially, living in the backyard of her parents. According to prosecutors, the girl was said to have been raped, sodomized and forced to perform oral sex by Willingham at his Camp Washington home. April Corcoran (right) cleaned homes and businesses for Shandell Willingham (left) throughout 2014 Some of the acts were recorded, and all occurred between February and June, Cincinnati.com reports. Corcoran was said to have set up 'multiple meetings' that were 1-on-1 with Willingham. The now 45-year-old Willingham pleaded guilty to rape, sex trafficking and a child pornography charge on Monday at the Hamilton County Common Pleas Couty. According to prosecutors, the girl was said to have been raped, sodomized and forced to perform oral sex by Willingham at his Camp Washington home He was sentenced to 30 years in prison by Judge Leslie Ghiz after accepting a plea deal. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison by Judge Leslie Ghiz after accepting a plea deal 'I have not seen a worse case,' Ghiz asserted. 'Thank your lucky stars for this plea deal. It makes my stomach turn. I can barely look at you.' Ghiz accepted the plea deal, stating that the girl was 'struggling to be here for trial.' She added that she didn't feel it was wise for the teen to have to endure the trial, If she would have testified, prosecutors would have sought to have her do so via a video in another state. Willingham is serving a 24 year stint in an Indiana prison on unrelated drug and child pornography charges. Both sentences are being served at the same time. Ghiz sentenced Corcoran to 51 years to life in prison back in 2016. The woman admitted that she gave the girl heroin as a reward, on occasion. Expressing guilt and remorse, Corcoran added that the child puked each time she was given the illicit drug. The teenager is still experiencing PTSD from the assaults and has been through medical care. As Dr Christine Blasey Ford sat through hours of questioning during a tense Senate hearing, several celebrities took to social media to stand in solidarity with the Brett Kavanaugh accuser. Alyssa Milano was one of the first to offer words of encouragement to Ford. The actress traveled from Los Angeles 'to show support for Doctor Ford, to stand in solidarity with other women, other survivors that have been through similar experiences'. Milano, who has been a leading voice in the #MeToo movement, was soon followed by Ellen DeGeneres, Mia Farrow, Ashley Judd and several others. 'Dr. Ford, I am in awe of your bravery,' DeGeneres tweeted. Farrow also shared her thoughts on Twitter 'Deepest gratitude to you #DrChristineBlaseyFord You told us that you are terrified - but today you embody courage,' Farrow wrote. As Dr Christine Blasey Ford (pictured) sat through hours of questioning during a tense Senate hearing, several celebrities took to social media to stand in solidarity with the Kavanaugh accuser Alyssa Milano was one of the first to offer words of encouragement to Ford. The actress traveled from Los Angeles 'to show support for Doctor Ford, to stand in solidarity with other women, other survivors that have been through similar experiences' Milano, who has been a leading voice in the #MeToo movement, was soon followed by Ellen DeGeneres (pictured), Mia Farrow, Ashley Judd and several others Farrow shared her thoughts on Twitter: 'Deepest gratitude to you #DrChristineBlaseyFord You told us that you are terrified - but today you embody courage,' Farrow wrote. Actress Ashley Judd, who was one of the first women to come forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, shared her thoughts on the Kavanaugh hearings. 'I do NOT know how I got home after I was raped at 15. No memory of it. Neither does she [Ford],' Judd wrote. Judd followed that twee with: '100% certainty. She identifies #Kavanaugh I'm weeping.' Busy Philipps also revealed that she was raped when she was just 14. She shared her story on Instagram while Ford testified that she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford said that during an alleged attack when they were both in high school in 1982, she feared Kavanaugh would rape her. Her accusations have thrown into disarray what had previously been seen as an easy confirmation for Trump's pick to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been a key swing vote on the high court. On Thursday, Ford was called 'credible' and thanked for her testimony. In emotional testimony, Ford, 51, came close to tears as she said repeatedly that she knew Kavanaugh was the man who tried to rape her. 'No and I would like to reiterate again that I was trying to get the information to you while there looked to be a list of other credible qualified candidates,' she told senators when asked to clarify if she came forward for political reasons. Ford said earlier in her testimony that she wanted to get information about her allegation to the White House before Trump formally nominated Kavanaugh, 53, to the high court but she was unsure how. Actress Ashley Judd, who was one of the first women to come forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, shared her thoughts on the Kavanaugh hearings Busy Philipps (pictured) also revealed that she was raped when she was just 14. She shared her story on Instagram while Ford testified that she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee She said she contacted her local member of Congress Democratic Rep Anna Eshoo and The Washington Post's tip line. Ford, a research psychologist and professor at Palo Alto University, said Eshoo's office contacted her on the day Trump nominated Kavanaugh, which was July 9th. Ford, who was questioned personally by the 10 Democratic senators on the panel while all 11 Republican senators deferred their time to sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, addressed questions of her credibility, her belief that it was Kavanaugh who was behind the attack, and her motive in coming forward so many years after the incident in question took place. Ford said it was 'absolutely not' possible she mistook another teenage attacker for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, saying she was certain he was the man she says sexually assaulted her in 1982 when she was 15. Dismissing claims of a 'Kavanaugh lookalike,' she told Senators he was certainly her attacker at age 17 - 'very much so'. And when asked her degree of certainty it was Kavanaugh, Ford leaned down into the microphone and said: '100 per cent.' Committee Republicans have suggested that someone else, not Kavanaugh, groped and tried to disrobe Ford 36 years ago, and they have interviewed at least two men who believe it might have been them. But Ford dismissed that idea. Ford ended almost three hours of testimony with even Republican senators saying her testimony was credible. A visibly angry Kavanaugh spoke to the Senate shortly after Ford. 'My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed,' he said 'I found no reason to find her not credible,' GOP Senator John Cornyn said. Her credible testimony and shaking questioning from the lawyer hired by Republicans to do their questioning for them left Kavanaugh with a tough task ahead of him. 'His reputation is on the line, his career as well,' Cornyn said of Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has also been accused of exposing himself to a classmate, Deborah Ramirez, during an alcohol-fueled Yale University party a few years later. On Wednesday, a third woman, Julie Swetnick, came forward with explosive allegations, saying she witnessed sexually abusive behavior by Kavanaugh when he was a teenager and claimed she had been drugged and gang-raped at a party he attended in approximately 1982. A visibly angry Kavanaugh spoke to the Senate shortly after Ford. He demanded senators to think about the facts and his willingness to testify in the wake of the allegations against him as they weigh whether or not to confirm him to the Supreme Court. Practically shouting into the microphone, Kavanaugh blasted the Senate Judiciary Committee for waiting 10 days to let him give his side of the story, noting he denied the allegations as soon as they were made public. 'My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed,' he said. 'You have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy,' he added. 'This whole two week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit,' he said. Kavanaugh vowed to stay in the confirmation process no matter what. 'You may defeat me in the final vote but you'll never get me to quit not ever,' he said. 'I'm here today to tell the truth. I have never sexually assaulted anyone not ever.' 'I have never done this to her, not to anyone,' he noted. An ailing California woman's years-long quest for a kidney has come to an unexpected conclusion thanks to a sign posted on her van and a stranger's extraordinary act of kindness inspired by her faith. Teri Sampson, of Linda Vista, underwent a successful transplant surgery earlier this week, more than a year after she put up a sign on the rear window of her white KIA Soul SUV parked at a Costco. The written plea read: 'I Need a Kidney (B-) to donate, please email. Scroll down for video The writing on the KIA: In her desperate search for a kidney, Teri Sampson put up this sign on the back of her KIA Soul a year ago Sampson has a rare genetic blood disorder affecting her kidneys, and a rare B-negative blood type that had complicated her search for a matching donor kidney Sampson has been battling a rare genetic blood disorder that had caused both of her kidneys to fail, requiring daily trips to a dialysis center. Her three-and-a-half-year search for a kidney had exacerbated by the fact that she has a rare B-negative blood type, which only 2 per cent of the country's population has, reported Fox 5 San Diego. The average wait time for a kidney among people with that blood type is more than a decade, Sampson said. Luckily for Sampson, a woman named Susan Fox, who also happens to have a B-negative blood type, was shopping at the same Costco one day in September 2017 and noticed the sign on Sampson's vehicle. She continued walking towards her car, but she said the 'Holy Spirit' made her turn around and give the sign a second look. Match made in heaven: A year ago, Susan Fox (right) )was a Costco parking lot when she saw the sign on Samspon's SUV. She said the Holy Spirit made her pause and take a second look Fox ended up donating one of her kidneys to a stranger, who on Monday underwent a successful transplant surgery 'I can only explain it as this wind, this really strong wind rushed through my body and actually physically made me turn around, she told the station. And at that point, I then noticed the blood type B negative. I hadnt noticed that before. And I thought, "Wow, thats my blood type, and that's unusual." Fox decided to donate one of her kidneys to Sampson, who was a stranger to her at the time. On Wednesday, after Sampson's surgery, the two women met face-to-face for the first time. Here we are today, a couple days after surgery, and Im just very humbled by what God started and what hes finishing, Fox said. I just wish her the best with her life, that shes healthy and well. Sampson said she does not know if she could ever properly express her gratitude to Fox for saving her life, but she began by putting up a new sign on the back of her KIA Soul that now reads: 'I [love] my Kidney Donor. Thank you. She said she hopes her story would inspire others to become organ donors. Every soldier in the regular Russian army is issued with a saperka, a short-handled spade with three sharp edges that is is used by the infantry for digging foxholes and other defensive earthworks. Recruits to the Spetsnaz Russias famed special forces units are also issued with the saperka. But the Spetsnaz dont do static defence, only attack. For them the spade, like any other hard, portable object, is a lethal weapon. In training they are taught how to kill with it, whether launched at an opponent like a tomahawk or in hand-to-hand combat. There are few limits in this training. One account even told of individual recruits being locked in a windowless room with a maddened dog. The soldier is armed only with his vicious little shovel. The brief: kill or be killed. Recruits to the Spetsnaz Russias famed special forces units have to undergo extreme training to graduate The rabid dog is just one of several brutal tests the salagi or small fry are said to undergo, as they are blooded in the realities of irregular warfare, Spetsnaz-style. As a weapon, novichok is some distance removed from the saperka. But at least one of the men who used the nerve agent against Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in March was a veteran Spetsnaz operative, we are now told. The suggestion is that it was a revenge hit against a traitorous comrade Sergei Skripal was an officer of the Spetsnazs parent organisation when he defected to the West. And so a new chapter is added to the already lurid Spetsnaz legend; one of half-crazed supermen carrying out impossible missions that would make even SAS troopers wilt. Spetsnaz is a composite word, a contraction of the Russian phrase spetsialnoye nazhacheniye, meaning special purpose. As Mark Galeotti says in his 2015 book on them, their specialness is not so much to do with the high calibre of the individual soldiers, as in Western special forces, but in the particular roles their units perform. The rabid dog is just one of several brutal tests the salagi or small fry are said to undergo, as they are blooded in the realities of irregular warfare, Spetsnaz-style Though the Spetsnaz formally came into being in 1950, their history can be traced back to World War II, when airborne shock troops were deployed to fight and disrupt the enemy far behind their front lines. This was the raison detre of the SAS too. Yet the Spetsnaz is not a stand-alone unit of the regular army like the celebrated British regiment, but part of the GRU Russias military intelligence directorate. In the Cold War, the Spetsnazs job would have been to infiltrate and attack key targets and individuals in the West, shortly before or after conventional warfare had begun. Natos tactical nuclear weapons were a priority. This entailed a good deal of preliminary subterfuge. In West Germany in the 1980s we used to find them driving around in articulated lorries with a [Russian] general in the passenger seat, one former UK special forces officer recalls. Of course they were doing reconnaissance for war. I remember one time we picked up one of the divisional commanders of the Soviet Third Shock Army in a lorry supposedly delivering sausages. He had a Spetsnaz driver, of course. As Soviet fortunes waned, so did those of the Spetsnaz. In the wars in Chechnya and Afghanistan they were often used as regular infantrymen. But with the ascendance of President Putin, the Spetsnaz units have had a renaissance. Today they are at the heart of the new Russian form of warfare, based on speed and deception rather than the old Soviet tactic of mass formations of dubious quality. Spetsnaz have deployed under false flags in Ukraines civil war and were the little green men the un-badged, unidentified and deniable but well-equipped soldiers who were the military face of Putins annexation of the Crimea in 2014. Recruits are asked to do nearly physically impossible things with repeatable accuracy. This particular training exercise forces recruits to do a flip over a barbed wire fence while throwing a hatchet at a target They are a presence, of course, in Syria in Aleppo I met tough guys in Syrian Army uniforms who spoke to locals in heavily Russian-accented English. They were Spetsnaz. They are even on Britains streets. Disruption in the enemy heartland remains a key role. How good are they really? Of the 15-17,000 Spetsnaz officers and men currently serving, as many as 30 per cent are still conscripts, rather than the ruthlessly hand-picked volunteer professional soldiers of the SAS or American Delta Force. Only a tiny fraction of the Spetsnaz are likely to be comparable in quality to their Western special forces counterparts. Nevertheless, the Spetsnaz units get the pick of the military draft and all recruits have to pass gruelling tests in endurance the ability to evade a numerically superior enemy on foot is a key to their role aggression and intelligence in order to be accepted. A three-kilometre run has to be completed in 12 minutes, for example; a five-kilometre cross-country run in 26 minutes and the 100 metres in 13 seconds. There are standard fitness tests. For the cameras, recruits will also run over burning coals, smash wooden blocks and show off in other extreme ways. But there are also more baroque psychological tests which are less well publicised by the Spetsnaz PR people. Initiation rituals are common. Former Soviet officer Victor Suvorov, who defected to the West, wrote of the first night on base of some Spetsnaz recruits towards the end of the Cold War: All the young recruits would get beaten. And they would be beaten on the following nights. They would be driven out into the mud barefoot, and made to sleep in the lavatories (standing up or lying down, as you wish). They would be beaten with belts, slippers and spoons anything suitable for causing pain. Then there were the alleged methods to familiarise recruits with killing. The Spetsnaz have their own martial art called Sambo (another contraction, of samooborona bez oruzhiya, meaning self-defence without weapons). Originally inspired by judo and jujitsu, it is a vicious form of no-holds-barred street fighting in which recruits are trained to use anything from broken bottles to street signs. Sergey Badyuk, a Spetsnaz instructor, recalled: Our motto is something like only idiots are fighting with their bare hands. In addition to the usual training we also practise a lot of exercises on boldness. For example, a large rat was driven into the bath and a naked fighter was pushed in after it. When a rat is cornered, it will attack. If you can kill a rat with your bare hands, then you are not afraid of humans any longer. He added: During the practice of hand-to-hand combat, there is always blood, sergeants intentionally cause injuries. The fighter must get used to the blood. Suvorov wrote of one particularly gory test in which recruits were chased by an attack dog into the cellar of a ruined house. Young soldiers are put through a harsh series of exercises, from taking full-force punches in the chest from their commanding officers without flinching, to getting burning cinderblocks broken over their stomachs with a sledgehammer The whole group running at full tilt rushes straight into some sticky liquid, he alleged. A blinding light flashes on. Its not water they are in its blood. Blood up to the knees, the waist, the chest. On the walls and the ceiling are chunks of rotten flesh, piles of bleeding entrails. There is only one way out: through the blood. Where could they get so much blood? From the slaughterhouse. On another occasion, he wrote, Spetsnaz recruits loaded with weapons and equipment were forced to jump off a bridge in training, then try to swim to an island. There was no one on hand to rescue anyone in difficulty. What if one of them drowns? he asked a Spetsnaz officer. If he drowns it means hes no good for Spetsnaz, was the reply. An excellent place to get to know and to overcome oneself is the Devils Ditch that has been dug at the Spetsnaz central training centre, Suvorov wrote. It is a ditch with metal spikes stuck into the bottom. The narrowest width is three metres. From there it gets wider and wider. This ditch is simply there as an obstacle for recruits to jump over, though nobody is forced to jump it. But if someone wants to test himself, let him go and jump. You start jumping at the narrow part and gradually move outwards. If you make a mistake, trip on something or dont reach the other side, you land on the spikes. A lot of this tough talk is treated with an element of disdain by our own special forces. The Spetsnaz is a blunt instrument; they are thuggish but efficient at what they do, says one ex-SAS officer. In my experience they are more like paratroopers than real special forces. Another was more damning. The Spetsnaz are thugs, he said. They have no capacity for ethical or moral action. If you look at SEAL Team 6 or the SAS, they have an objective, then they find a method. Spetsnaz are told exactly what to do and how to do it, with little or no room for initiative. He added: Theyre not really clandestine, they are there to intimidate. Some people are confused by the ragged way they operated in Salisbury. But thats absolutely their modus operandi. India will overtake Japan to become the world's third-biggest economy by 2030, according to a recent report by the HSBC Holdings Plc, which conducted a study of total 75 nations to understand global growth. China will clinch the top spot from the United States to become the world's largest economy at $26 trillion, way higher than the $14.1 trillion economy it is today, the study found. The report, shared with Bloomberg, says India will outclass Japan to become the third biggest contributor to the world's economy. Earlier this year, India edged past France and snatched the tag of the world's sixth-largest economy, as per a World Bank report. India's gross domestic product (GDP) stood at $2.597 trillion at the end of last year while the French economy was valued at $2.582 trillion. Against US President Donald Trump's claims that China has lost track and will not be able to dethrone the US any time soon, the HSBC report says the US GDP rise will be slower compared to China. The US would also see growth touching the $25-trillion mark by 2030 but the pace of development would be slower than China. The report also says the "global output could be 40 per cent higher than in 2017 as world growth of just below 3 per cent looks sustainable". Also, emerging markets would play a major role in countries growth. The ageing population of countries like Japan and Australia and Norway would become a major hurdle in their progress. "Austria and Norway will fall out of the top 30 due in part to their small, ageing populations Bangladesh will rise 16 positions to 26, while the Philippines will climb 11 slots to 27," says the report. With advancement in technology and stellar growth, China will have lesser number of working age people than Africa, says the report. As per the latest estimates of the World Bank, the US remains the world's largest economy with a GDP of $19.39 trillion, followed by China ($12.23 trillion), Japan ($4.87 trillion), Germany ($3.67 trillion) and the United Kingdom ($2.62 trillion). Edited by Manoj Sharma Two people have died and two have been seriously injured in a devastating private jet crash in South Carolina. The private jet landed at 1.40pm on Thursday at the Greenville Downtown Airport, but instead of coming to a stop it ran off the runway and crashed into a fence, breaking the aircraft into two. The Greenville Police Department says there were four people on board, three men and one woman. Two were pilots and the two passengers were a married couple. Greenville City Fire spokesman Tristan Johnson confirmed that the two people who died in the crash were the pilot and the co-pilot of the plane, according to WSPA. Two people have died and two have been seriously injured in a devastating private jet crash in South Carolina on Thursday afternoon At 1.40pm a Dassault-Breguet Falcon 50 plane holding four people sped off a Greenville Downtown Airport runway and crashed into a nearby fence In the fast crash the plane broke into two pieces and fuel gushed out into the nearby field The passengers are in the hospital in critical condition. The victims are yet to be named. The Coroner's office said that officials are working on notifying next of kin. They say the pilots died from the blunt force of the crash. One crew member 'died at the scene of the crash and the other at the hospital', according to Deputy Coroner Jeff Fowler said to WYFF-4. Only three people were taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital following the crash as first responders worked on pulling the fourth from the wreckage. At first one individual was reported to be seriously injured. Later Thursday afternoon a coroner confirmed two of the people on board had died. Police reported that there were four people on board - two pilots and a married couple as passengers. A coroner confirmed Thursday afternoon that the two pilots died as a result of the crash - one on the scene and one later in the hospital Police are not sure why the plane didn't stop. It landed but continued to run off the runway and into the grass, until it came to a violent crash at the fence 'For some reason, we're not sure why, [the plane] was not able to stop, went off the end of the runway, and crossed to the grass on the runway, that's about another 200 feet, then down an embankment and finally came to rest at the airport road,' police spokesman Donnie Porter announced after the crash. 'I believe that one of the pilots, not sure which, was either temporarily unconscious or what not but was leaning on the throttle,' he added. It's not clear where the plane was coming from, but it intentionally landed at the Greenville Airport, cops believe to pick up more passengers. According to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) website, the plane - a Dassault-Breguet Falcon 50 - is registered to Global Aircraft Acquisitions LLC of Lewes Delaware. According to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) website, the plane - a Dassault-Breguet Falcon 50 - is registered to Global Aircraft Acquisitions LLC of Lewes Delaware Police say it's not clear where the plane was flying from, but it intentionally landed in South Carolina. A police press conference from Thursday afternoon pictured above The plane fits between nine to 19 people. Locals were warned to stay away from the airport as workers attended to the damaged plane that was leaking fuel as officials called it a Hazmat situation. Officials also scrambled to turn off a still-running engine, that was successfully shut down by evening. Greenville County Fire Department and EMS are on the scene, and officials are taking control the leaking fuel that could 'contaminate nearby streams'. It's not clear how much fuel leaked from the craft. Police spokesman Porter said that this was the biggest accident the airport has seen in a long time. By Thursday evening the FAA was en route to take over the investigation. One hundred years ago a third of the global population some 500 million people became infected with 'Spanish flu'. Up to 50 million of them died in the 1918 pandemic. Ever since, scientists have been alert to the possibility of another super-virulent influenza virus. Today, with more than seven billion people on the planet, numerous densely-populated mega-cities, and the ease of modern air travel, the death toll from such a virus could be unimaginably higher. A 40-year-old woman was rushed to hospital on Tuesday by staff wearing biohazard gear. The disease started from animals in Africa Monkeypox has spread from wild animals in Africa to humans - three in the United Kingdom Now, the emergence of a disease called monkeypox in Britain, has raised another scenario in which the next killer pandemic isn't the flu virus at all. Instead, it is a highly infectious agent that has jumped the species barrier, spreading from wild animals in Africa to humans. Initially, it would infect people locally, but while spreading and evolving, intermingling its genetic material with other human viruses and even human DNA, it would become ever more contagious until it could be transmitted merely by a cough or a sneeze. Infectious disease experts have long warned of the possibility. Yesterday, the third confirmed case of monkeypox, in a female hospital healthcare assistant, heightened such fears. The 40-year-old woman was rushed to hospital on Tuesday by staff wearing biohazard gear. She is being treated in isolation at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, 150 miles from her home in Fleetwood, Lancashire. Family members and colleagues of the hospital worker are reportedly waiting to be vaccinated, while public health officials are tracing anyone she may have had contact with in the 24 hours before she fell ill. So how worried should we be? Monkeypox is caused by a close relative of the smallpox virus, but is less infectious and usually causes a mild illness, with a fever, headache and a rash that turns into chickenpox-like blisters. However, in some West African outbreaks ten per cent of cases an alarmingly high number for an infectious disease have proved fatal. Smallpox was eradicated in 1980 following a global immunisation campaign led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), but some scientists are now suggesting that monkeypox virus may be mutating to fill the lethal vacancy. Symptoms of one of the first known cases of the monkeypox virus are shown on a patient's hand in 2003 A US department of health three-way image of the Monkeypox virus on a child's body The first two British cases, one in Cornwall and another in Blackpool, were diagnosed in people believed to have become infected in Nigeria where a large outbreak started last year the first cases in the country for 40 years. It is the third case that has triggered questions about the virus's contagious power. The healthcare worker at Blackpool Victoria Hospital is not believed to have had any direct contact with the infected traveller from Nigeria, but may have become infected while changing the patient's bedding. She has said she was wearing gloves that were too short to cover the skin on her arms. According to the WHO, monkeypox is spread only by close contact with an infected person's spit, blood or pus. But has a mutation in the virus rendered that guidance perilously out of date? Could it have already evolved into a strain that can spread more easily between humans. Scientists at Public Health England are urgently analysing samples of the virus to determine its genetic makeup. They will then compare it with samples collected in Central and West Africa, where cases of the disease have risen 20-fold since the 1980s. Monkeypox is believed to have originated in sooty mangabey monkeys and rope squirrels, and first infected humans who consumed them as 'bushmeat' more than 50 years ago. Viruses that can 'jump' from animals to humans are called zoonoses. The Black Death, AIDS/HIV and Spanish flu the world's three biggest known pandemics are all zoonoses. Ebola which first struck in Zaire in 1976 and killed as many as 90 per cent of those infected in the 2014 epidemic, is another zoonotic disease, carried by bats in central Africa. Could monkeypox be the next one? Our first inkling of monkeypox's existence came in the 1950s, when doctors in Africa noticed the emergence of a viral infection in their patients that seemed similar to smallpox but was less contagious. Since then, the virus has become steadily more infectious. Nigeria is currently experiencing the largest documented epidemic of human monkeypox with 152 cases reported and seven deaths so far confirmed. Certainly, the WHO is taking it seriously. They are warning that 'the emergence of monkeypox cases is a concern for global health security'. A leading British authority on epidemics, John Oxford, emeritus professor of virology at Queen Mary, University of London, believes that the world is currently due a very large animal-originated pandemic. A hospital worker who became the third person in the UK to be struck down with deadly monkeypox has blamed 'pathetically small' NHS gloves (file picture) However, he's playing down fears that monkeypox could be the one. He explains that this is because monkeypox is a DNA virus its genetic material is made up of a chemical known as deoxyribonucleic acid. 'These viruses don't mutate rapidly, they are stable . . . ' he says. By contrast RNA viruses, which have ribonucleic acid as their genetic material, are far less stable and can mutate into more dangerous forms very quickly. Often they do this by 'co-opting genes' from other human viruses present in the infected individual. This gene-swapping effectively enables viruses to 'learn new ways to be contagious. RNA viruses include Ebola, SARS, rabies, the common cold and influenza. That's not to say monkeypox may not prove to be an alarming exception to this rule. One leading scientist who has studied monkeypox in Africa for 15 years disagrees with Professor Oxford. Professor Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, warns that despite being a 'stable' DNA virus, it is possible over time that monkeypox may be mutating into more contagious versions. However, nothing about this current outbreak suggests that this is the case. Chillingly, an investigation she co-authored in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases warns that monkeypox 'is adapting for efficient replication in a novel ecological niche humans'. 'The global effects of the emergence of monkeypox strains that are highly adapted to humans could be devastating,' the report adds. Because of 'the apparent rapid evolution of this virus, health authorities in presently unaffected areas should become vigilant and actively prepare to take immediate action', it concludes. But, 'We are unlikely to see the virus evolving a major change in only one outbreak event,' she says in an email to the Daily Mail. 'It is not uncommon to see a few secondary cases of monkeypox occur in close contacts, in particular, care takers.' So what defensive action could we take if a mutant monkeypox virus is unleashed in Britain? Well, it seems we are at least well prepared and have Tony Blair to thank. After 9/11, the former Prime Minister ordered 80 million worth of the vaccination for use in a 'smallpox plan', to protect the population in the event of a terrorist attack that used the virus as a germ-warfare weapon. At the time, the initiative was condemned as a waste of money, not least because one of Blair's chief political donors Lord Drayson owned the company that manufactured the inoculations. Monkeypox, thought to have been spread by prairie dogs, was detected in the US in 2003 Now however Blair's controversial move may prove an unwitting masterstroke of forward planning, because all the available evidence shows the smallpox vaccine may effectively protect people against infection from monkeypox, too. Indeed, it the smallpox vaccine that will be given to contacts of the healthcare worker in Blackpool. Furthermore, the majority of Britons aged over 50 could well already be protected, as they were already vaccinated in childhood against smallpox. By sheer chance, we appear to be well-positioned to deal with any monkeypox 'apoxcalypse'. But it's only a matter of time before the next virus emerges. In his book Spillover, the award-winning American natural-history writer David Quammen warns that the human race faces a viral 'doomsday' if deadly infections learn the contagious trick that flu and cold microbes employ spreading in coughs and sneezes. 'If an infection such as HIV could be transmitted by air, you and I might already be dead,' Quammen says. 'If the rabies virus another zoonosis could be transmitted by air, it would be the most horrific pathogen on the planet.' We have been warned. Nashville Officer Andrew Delke, 25, is accused of breaking the law when he shot Daniel Hambrick on July 26, according to District Attorney Glenn Funk Criminal homicide charges have been filed against a white police officer who fatally shot a black man in Tennessee. Nashville Officer Andrew Delke, 25, is accused of breaking the law when he shot Daniel Hambrick on July 26, according to District Attorney Glenn Funk. Delke shot Hambrick while he was running away during a foot chase, hitting the 25-year-old twice in the back and once in the back of his head. An affidavit states that Delke gave verbal commands for Hambrick to stop, News Channel 5 reports. When Hambrike did not stop, the officer 'decided to use deadly force.' A magistrate judge had decided earlier on Thursday that their wasn't enough evidence to charge Delke, but General Sessions Judge Michael Mondelli signed off on the charges just before noon. Delke shot Hambrick while he was running away during a foot chase Hambrick was hit the 25-year-old twice in the back and once in the back of his head 'I find probable cause,' Mondelli said, according to the Tennessean. Delke was booked into jail on Thursday after surrendering to authorities. According to his lawyer David Raybin, Delke was in the process of paying his $25,000 fine by midday. He has also been decommissioned from the force, according to Chief Steve Anderson. Nashville police officer Andrew Delke is seen after being booked on a homicide charge in the death of Daniel Hambrick The District Attorney's office released a statement that said: 'This morning I requested TBI Special Agent in Charge Russ Winkler to obtain a warrant charging officer Andrew Delke with criminal homicide. The decision to institute charges by warrant as opposed to presenting the matter directly to a Grand Jury allows this case to be presented in open court in as transparent a manner as possible, because Grand Jury proceedings are secret and not open to the public. As this is a pending criminal case, I will have no further extrajudicial comments.' The adoptive brother of Erica Parsons, whose adoptive parents are accused of killing her, has reportedly been charged with having two wives. James Parsons, 25, allegedly married a woman in June while he was still married to another woman, according to the Charlotte Observer. Authorities with North Carolina's Rowan County Sheriff's Office charged him with bigamy on Tuesday. Erica Parsons' adoptive parents were indicted earlier this year in the child's death and dismemberment. James Parsons (left), 25, the adoptive brother of Erica Parsons (right), has reportedly been charged with having two wives. Erica Parsons' adoptive parents are accused of dismembering and murdering her Authorities with North Carolina's Rowan County Sheriff's Office charged James Parsons (pictured) with bigamy on Tuesday Sandy and Casey Parsons were charged with murdering the 13-year-old girl, whose cut-up body was found in 2016 in South Carolina. A grand jury indicted the Parsons on counts of first-degree murder, felony concealment of death and obstruction of justice. The pair are already serving sentences on fraud convictions for accepting federal benefits for Erica after she went missing. In 2015, James Parsons testified that he and other children in the family abused Erica. At the time, he claimed that his mother would often urge him to abuse Erica and that he once broke her arm. Erica Parsons' (pictured) adoptive parents were indicted earlier this year in the child's death and dismemberment Sandy and Casey Parsons (both pictured) were charged with murdering the 13-year-old girl, whose cut-up body was found in 2016 in South Carolina Mutilated: The indictment alleges that the adoptive parents tried to conceal 13-year-old Erica's death by dismembering her body and removing some organs Erica was reported missing in 2013. She had last been seen alive in 2011, when she was 13. She would have turned 20 in February. In 2016, Sandy Parsons led authorities to Ericas body in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. An autopsy showed she had broken bones all over her body. The indictment does not list a specific cause of death for Erica, other than to say that she died of homicidal violence'. The charging document also alleges that Sandy and Casey Parsons did destroy and dismember human remains of Erica Lynn Parsons...including removing body parts and otherwise obliterating any portion thereof'. It's been a long time in coming, Sheriff Auten said at the time of the indictment. There are people who think that the Parsons should have already been hung on the square. Theyll have their day in court and well let the jury decide their fate, reported WBTV. According to a graphic autopsy report that was released last month, the disabled 13-year-old girl was malnourished and had broken bones all over her body. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh in January concluded that Erica died of 'homicidal violence of undetermined means,' having been unable to determine the exact cause and manner of death due to the level of decomposition. The report said fractures in various stages of healing were found in the teenager's nose, jaw, upper right arm, nine ribs and several vertebrae. Erica may also have had an untreated infection, sepsis, renal failure or poisoning, all of which could have resulted in her death. Citing the child's 'history of physical abuse,' the medical examiner has not excluded a terminal blunt force injury, suffocation or strangulation as possible causes of death. Her smaller than normal, low-density bones showed a growth deficit consistent with malnourishment, according to the report. Authorities searched the home of Erica's adoptive parents after she was reported missing (pictured), uncovering signs of foul play Erica's remains were discovered in the Pageland Mount Croghan area of Chesterfield County, South Carolina, in 2016 The child's skull and bones were found by detectives in a shallow grave in the Pageland Mount Croghan area, not far from where Sandy Parson's mother lived, in October 2016. The adoptive parents were arrested in 2014 and found guilty the following year of fraud for accepting $12,000 in federal benefits for Erica after she went missing. Sandy Parsons, 44, is serving eight years in a federal prison in Michigan and Casey Parsons, 43, is serving 10 years in a federal prison in Florida. Casey Parsons, Erica's uncle, and his wife took in the disabled child when she was five months old and adopted her in 2000. Her birth mother, Carolyn Parsons, told the Charlotte Observer she had no money to raise her and did not want her to be in foster care. Erica was reported missing from the Parsons' household in Salisbury on July 30, 2013, by a young relative who said she had been missing since December 2011, when she was reportedly sent to live with her biological grandmother, Irene 'Nan' Goodman, according to the report and previous media coverage. An investigation was launched and attempts to locate the grandmother and child were unsuccessful. Several family members later came forward claiming that Erica was subjected to persistent physical and emotional abuse by her adoptive parents. Sandy and Casey Parsons (both pictured), spoke to Dr Phil about Erica's disappearance in 2013, are already serving time in federal prison for fraud The developmentally disabled, malnourished girl was reportedly beaten with a belt buckle that broke her skin, was choked and thrown to the ground, had her hand slammed in a door, was forced to sleep in a closet and fed dog food. The report mentioned instances in which her fingers were bent all the way back and one episode in which her tooth was knocked out. At another time, the report states, her arm was fractured and a homemade cast was applied to avoid seeking medical attention, as a result of which the limb never healed properly. There were other children in the home, but none of the other children were subjected to this treatment, the documents stated. A review of medical records revealed that Ericas last visit to a pediatrician was when she was six years old, at which time the doctor expressed concern for her poor growth'. A week before her disappearance in 2011, her siblings described her as looking grey with sunken eyes, smelling bad with open, oozing cuts, very weak and complaining of not being able to breathe, the report stated. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh apologized to a female fellow student who showed up repeatedly in his and other prep school students' yearbook entries but denied the mentions were shaming her by suggesting sexual involvement. But during contentious questioning about it, Kavanaugh would not say specifically what he was apologizing for specifically denying he was apologizing for having made any 'boast' about sexual conquest. 'For one thing, our yearbook was a disaster,' he said, bringing up the issue during his emotional Senate Judiciary Committee appearance after media reports about the youthful entry that includes references to a female classmate. It also references drinking and partying. He addressed the yearbook after the New York Times contacted Renate Schroder, who Kavanaugh testified is the girl described in the entry that calls him 'Renate Alumnius.' 'The media interpreted that it was related to sex,' Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee but said that wasn't the case. 'For one thing, our yearbook was a disaster,' said Brett Kavanaugh, who apologized to classmate Renate Dophin 'As high school students, we sometimes did goofy or stupid things. I doubt we're alone in looking back at high school and cringing at some things. For one thing, our year book was a disaster,' Kavanaugh said. 'I think some editors and students wanted the year book to be some combination of "Animal House", Caddie Shack" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," which were all movies in that time,' Kavanaugh said. 'Many of us went along with the year books at times to the point of absurdity,' he explained. He said he and a friend 'cringed when we read about it and talked to each other.' Renate Dolphin, who signed a letter in support of US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, learned there was a running joke 'about hooking up with her' in his high school yearbook; Kavanaugh's personal page in the yearbook is shown here with 'Renate Alumnius' 'One thing in particular we were sad about, one of our good female friends who we would admire and went to dances with, had her name used on the year book page with the term alumnus,' he said. 'But in this circus, the media has determined the team was related to sex. It was not related to sex. She and I never had any sexual interaction at all. So sorry to her for that year book reference,' he said. 'This may sound a bit trivial given all that we are here for, but one thing I want to try to make sure of in the future is my friendship with her. She was and is a great person,' Kavanaugh said. Without identifying her full name, he was speaking of Renate Schroeder, who The New York Times identified earlier this week. Dolphin is pictured here in a photo from her senior yearbook from 1983 at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland The yearbook contains 14 references to 'Renate,' including Kavanaugh's. 'It was not related to sex,' Kavanaugh said. 'I'm so sorry for her for that yearbook reference,' he choked up again as he added: 'She was and is a great person.' Later, questioned by Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Kavanaugh said the entry did not relate to sex. ' 'I'm sorry how that's been misinterpreted and sorry about that,' he said. 'She's a good person and to have her name dragged through this.' 'I can't begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue,' Dolphin said, shown here in an undated, recent photo He said of Schroder: 'She was a great friend of ours. A bunch of us went to dances with her. She hung out with us as a group.' He went after Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal when he went back at the issue. '"Renate alumni" clearly implied some boast of sexual conquest. And thats the reason that you apologized to her correct?' Blumenthal asked. 'Thats false. Speaking about the yearbook. She said she and I never had any sexual interaction. So your question - your question is false ' he replied. 'Your question is based on a false premise and really does great harm to her. I dont know why youre bringing this up, frankly,' he bristled. He kept going after Blumenthal, saying he was 'doing great harm to her by even bringing her name up here is really unfortunate.' Blumenthal responded: 'Well calling someone in an alumnus in that way interpreted by some of your football friends at the time as boasting of sexual con thats the reason that Im bringing it up.' 'Youre implying that,' shot back Kavanaugh. 'Look what youre bringing up right now about her? Dont bring her name up. Shes a great person. Shes always been a great person. We never had any sexual interaction. By bringing this up youre just dragging her through the mud. Its just unnecessary,' he said. Kavanaugh was one of 13 graduating seniors who reportedly mentioned Dolphin in some way in the yearbook. One former student, Michael Walsh, wrote a poem in his yearbook that said: 'You need a date / and it's getting late / so don't hesitate / to call Renate.' According to a person close to Dolphin, she was aware of the poem being recited by her former classmates and requested that they stop saying it. Dolphin, who attended an all-girls high school near Georgetown Preparatory School, the all-boys high school Kavanaugh attended in North Bethesda, Maryland, only recently learned of multiple 'Renate Alumnius' references in Kavanaugh's senior yearbook. 'I learned about these yearbook pages only a few days ago. I don't know what 'Renate Alumnus' actually means,' Dolphin said in a statement to the New York Times. Democrats quizzed Kavanaugh about his yearbook entry, including references to a female classmate and to apparent binge drinking 'I can't begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue. I pray their daughters are never treated this way. I will have no further comment.' Whitehouse also questioned the nominee about the 'Beach Week Ralph Club' entry. Whitehouse tried to pin Kavanaugh down on whether he or a high school editor was responsible for the content of the entries. 'I don't know if they changed things or not,' Kavanaugh said. 'Have at it if you want to go through my yearbook,' he said. Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been mocked by social media users for his emotional testimony and his comments about his tendency to drink beer. The Supreme Court nominee nearly broke down in tears multiple times during his emotional opening statement to senators on Thursday, as he furiously described the effect of the allegations against him on his family. Visibly angry, he repeatedly stopped to blow his nose and drink water as he unleashed against the Democrats on the committee, accusing them of making him the victim of a smear campaign. He also reiterated his claim he made in a Fox News interview on Monday that he was a virgin in high school and for years afterward. Scroll down for videos Judge Brett Kavanaugh was mocked on Twitter for his emotional testimony and his comments about his tendency to drink beer 'I never had sexual intercourse of anything close to it during high school or for many years after that,' he said. Kavanaugh further admitted he liked beer and still likes beer, but added: 'I never drank beer to the point of blacking out and I never sexually assaulted someone.' However, many social media users had no sympathy for the judge and were quick to mock him for his composure and comments. Twitter was quickly flooded with memes and soon 'beer' was trending on the social media site. User Molly Jong-Fast wrote: 'Beer is great, the Brett Kavanaugh story.' Katy Waldman added: 'The funny part is that even if Kavanaugh never attacked any of these women, his performance today is utterly disqualifying for the position he wants. 'A partisan, weaselly, disgraceful harangue/tantrum with a starring role for his love of beer.' Brian Krassenstein tweeted: 'I drink beer. I like beer. I drank beer in college. I drink beer by the pool. I drink beer at dinner sometimes. 'BUT... I have NEVER EVER had a woman accuse me of sexual assault.#KavanaughHearings' Laura Sieling also chimed in: 'I think the most compelling thing I learned about @BrettKavanaugh during the Committee Hearing is that he liked beer. 'He drank beer. His FRIENDS drank beer! HE LIKED BEER!' Others shared a variety of memes that pictured Kavanaugh at the hearing wearing photoshopped drinking hats and sipping from several pints. Traditional GP surgeries are facing an unprecedented threat from the rise of firms providing online appointments on smartphones, a doctors' leader warns today, The private companies offering these consultations are 'luring' away both medical staff and patients, warns the head of the Royal College of GPs. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard says doctors are quitting already understaffed surgeries to work from home for much higher salaries. She said of the online firms: 'They can afford to pay above the market rates, they're looking after their staff really well and so [doctors] are saying I'm going to resign from my already hard-pressed general practice to go and work for them.' Traditional GP surgeries are facing an unprecedented threat from the rise of firms providing online appointments on smartphones, a doctors' leader warns today GP practices are left underfunded and at risk of closure when patients decide to move to a firm that provides online appointments round the clock. This is because surgeries receive a set amount from the Government based on the number of patients on their books. The professor said she was 'anxious' that online consultations were being rolled out without being rigorously tested. Earlier this year, Britain's care watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, warned that four in ten online GP and pharmacy firms were unsafe, with many found to be handing out addictive painkillers and antibiotics too freely. Professor Stokes-Lampard is so concerned for the future of traditional surgeries that she has written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock. Mr Hancock has heavily endorsed the country's largest online firm, Babylon Health, and in particular its GP At Hand app which he uses. But Professor Stokes-Lampard's letter warns that this model 'risks financially destabilising general practice' and could force many surgeries to 'close their doors'. She also points out that it would create a 'two-tier' system in which healthy patients could see a GP quickly online, whereas the sick and elderly would wait for a face-to-face appointment. 'We have serious concerns about the unintended impact on wider primary care,' her letter concludes. GP surgeries are already in crisis due to a shortage of GPs, combined with the growing pressures of the ageing population. An average of one in seven GP posts is unfilled. Professor Stokes-Lampard said many were leaving to work for Babylon and other firms where they could earn up to 120,000 a year. Others had cut down on their surgery hours to do a few sessions for these private firms a week, working from home, she said. 'It's the higher salaries, the ability to work from home and that they look after people, in terms of the training and perks and benefits. They're paying above what the NHS pays.' Babylon Health offers patients ten-minute consultations via smartphones or computers for 25 a time. It provides these appointments free to patients who live or work in London if they de-register from their existing GP surgery and sign up with its practice in west London. A total of 32,000 patients have joined since its launch in November, including Mr Hancock, who described the service as 'revolutionary'. The firm is planning to expand to Birmingham and Manchester over the next few months. A current job listing offers GPs a salary of 100,000 a year to work from home or 120,000 a year if they are based in the west London practice or one of four other London hubs. It promises doctors 'no home visits ever', 'no paperwork' and 'no never-ending duty days'. This is where GPs have to remain on surgery premises to see emergency patients. Professor Stokes-Lampard is also concerned that the safety of online consultations has not been properly tested in a clinical trial like a new drug. She will challenge Mr Hancock's endorsement of Babylon at a fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham next Monday. A Babylon spokesman said: 'The Royal College is absolutely right to highlight that practices all too often do not have enough GPs. Technology is the solution, not the problem.' Jacob Rees-Mogg will accuse Theresa May of doing nothing to support traditional families in a major intervention at the Tory conference. The leading backbencher will tell party activists that successive governments including the current one have encouraged family breakdown with perverse welfare and tax policies. Writing in the Daily Mail today, he says that under David Cameron and Mrs May, the Tories have been unwilling to abandon the metropolitan, Blairite approach to social policy. The result, he argues, is that government policies are making commitment less likely. His comments will be seen as a pitch to the Tory Right and the start of positioning for a future leadership contest. The intervention came as senior Tories descended into infighting over how to respond to Jeremy Corbyns populist attacks on business. MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said that under David Cameron and Theresa May, the Tories have carried on implementing the metropolitan, Blairite approach to social policy Universities minister Sam Gyimah said the Tories were in danger of talking business down, and urged the Prime Minister to mount a full-throated defence of capitalism at next weeks conference in Birmingham. He also took a swipe at Boris Johnson, who responded to Brexit fears from big business by saying: F*** business. Mr Gyimah told The House magazine: When we Conservatives veer between talking business down, ignoring voters concerns, and telling businesses to shut up or worse, it is a clear sign we have lost our way. When it comes to our relationship with business, we must unscramble our compass to stand any chance of defeating the hard Left. Whichever side you are on in the Brexit debate, we need to realise that if we are not the party of business then we are nothing. Former Cabinet minister Priti Patel urged the PM to cut taxes and red tape on business, saying a clear Conservative vision was needed to tackle Mr Corbyns hard-Left agenda. Jacob Rees-Mogg will accuse Theresa May of doing nothing to support traditional families Miss Patel told The House: Gone are the days of flagship policies giving millions the chance to own their own home, start their own business, become share owners, and offer choice in public services. Now we are showcasing taxes on coffee cups. But former education minister Robert Halfon said the Tories had to respond to the issues highlighted by the Labour leader, adding: The Corbyn description of what is going on resonates with millions of people. Deep social and economic problems remain. We are stuck in the political rhetoric of the past, rather than providing a proper Tory vision for the future. 'Its why even with the most Left-wing leader in the history of mankind, Labour remains pretty high in the polls. They are speaking to the problems faced by many. We too often speak only for the few. Mr Rees-Mogg will use a fringe event run by the Centre for Social Justice think-tank to call for a major change of social policy next week. Mr Rees-Mogg says the role of the Government is not 'to tell people how to live their lives' Drawing a link between broken homes and social problems such as drug addiction, criminality and rough sleeping, he will say the State should encourage parents to stay together instead of breaking up. Politicians consistently say how important the family is, but then do nothing to support it, he will say. Family breakdown is shown to make life harder. It affects children throughout their adult lives, reducing their chances of success. 'The State consistently fails to support families in spite of the costs, both personal and financial, this can lead to. It is more a question of benign neglect than an aggressive power grab. Polling for the Centre for Social Justice shows huge support for policies to stem family breakdown. Three quarters of those asked said it was a serious problem, and 85 per cent said family stability was important, the Com Res poll showed. The polling also showed one in four people directly link family breakdown and poor school exam results. Former Cabinet minister Priti Patel urged Theresa May to cut taxes and red tape on business, saying a clear Conservative vision was needed to tackle Jeremy Corbyns hard-Left agenda Also speaking at the meeting will be Lord Farmer, a former Tory Treasurer and a donor to the party and the Leave campaign, who will highlight devastating levels of family breakdown. In parts of Britain, he will say, three quarters of children are brought up by single parents. He will add: Our exceptionally high rates of family breakdown drive and entrench social problems and rack up massive costs. 'The welfare system picks up the pieces when relationships crumble because people who were dependent on each other become dependent on the state. It's time the mighty State put the British family first By Jacob Rees-Mogg Family policy does not have a good name in the United Kingdom. For many, its synonymous with John Majors ill-fated Back to Basics and a resentment about hypocritical do as I say not as I do politicians. In the past, governmental approach has been too judgemental and unsympathetic to personal circumstances. Single parents, 90 per cent of whom are women, often battle against considerable difficulties and need both support and understanding. It is not the role of the Government to tell people how to live their lives or to determine that one way is better than another, but it is reasonable to help people lead the lives they want to lead. This highlights the divide between Socialism and Conservatism. MP Jacob Rees-Mogg with his wife Helena and their six children (left to right) Thomas Wentworth Somerset Dunstan; Alfred Wulfric Leyson Pius; Peter Theodore Alphege; wife Helena Anne Beatrix Wentworth Fitzwilliam de Chair; Sixtus Dominic Boniface Christopher; Mary Anne Charlotte Emma; and Anselm Charles Fitzwilliam The Left wants to tell people, in the interests of the collective, how to behave and to direct their actions. For its part, the Right understands that individual decision-making is preferable and wants to remove obstacles from peoples paths, allowing them to determine their own way, and this has crucial implications for family policy. This is not about telling them how to live but helping them do what they want to do anyway. I fear that, currently, public policy discriminates against the family and encourages it both to break down or not to form in the first place. Official statistics show that only two thirds of British children live with both parents until the age of 14, compared with the OECD average of 84 per cent. Such a figure is one of the worst in the western world. Inevitably, theres an effect on mental health, with more than half of the cases that arise being linked to family problems. According to the Centre for Social Justice, seven out of ten criminals come from broken homes. Also, single-parent families are twice as likely to live in poverty. There are other social problems, too, such as drug addiction. It is not only in this country that these factors arise they are evident, also, for example, in the United States. Not all statistical relationships show cause and effect, but it is hard to argue against these stark figures which, I am convinced, are, to an extent, the fault of the State. The fact is that there is an inherent tension between the Family and the State. Those who favour the collective know that its most powerful opponent is the family, which will guard its interests against the authoritarian centre. Jacob Rees-Mogg says the current tax and benefits system 'does not help families', especially single parents In Scotland, the SNP shows how real this tension is through its plan to have a state-appointed adult to monitor every child. There is no need for this sinister policy. The vast majority of children are well cared for by considerate and loving parents. Only a tiny proportion need, for example, to be taken into care. Yet the ever-mighty State wants control and the easiest way to get this is by not supporting the Family. That way it creates more dependence and therefore a greater ability to interfere in peoples lives. This is not from evil intent but because of a conviction that the collective knows best. It is entirely the opposite of where Conservative policy ought to be but the tragedy is that the Conservatives have not really been willing to move away from the metropolitan, Blairite approach. The tax and benefits system does not help families. It pushes marriage towards being a luxury for the better-off because single-person benefits are more generous. Indeed, it makes commitment less likely as families that would naturally form do not because of the high cost. Also, it encourages a lack of openness with the Department of Work and Pensions because couples have a strong incentive not to admit that they are co-habiting. In turn, this causes people to drift apart because of their need to maintain a veneer of credibility with the Welfare System. Some may suggest that people are reluctant nowadays to make family commitments because of the potential financial consequences, but in past centuries they have. This is where the Tory Governments role ought to change from being harmful to the family to being supportive. The welfare benefits system treats single-parent families and couples equally fairly. Housing policy needs to treat people fairly, too. However, current policy encourages high-density developments whereas we all know its better for families to have more space both inside and outside. This is, of course, compounded by a shortage of available and affordable housing. True, there is no magic wand. But what is needed is for ministers to bear in mind the effect on families of policies ranging from taxation, welfare benefits, housing and health to education. Of course, it is not the role of government to tell people how to live it is simply about removing obstacles for people in the choices they want to make. It is an ineluctable truth that society benefits from strong families even if it reduces the power of the State. Whats more, individuals are happier and loneliness is reduced. We must never forget, either, that family-friendly government policies are popular with 75 per cent of people wanting more done to help families. Theres no time to lose. At birth, Mollie Perrin was so tiny her hand could fit through her fathers ring with room to spare. Born 13 weeks early weighing just 1lb, she faced a colossal battle to survive, doctors warned her parents. But despite the dire predictions, she fought on and has just started school. We cant believe shes done this well, said her mother Stephanie. When she had her first day at school it was such a proud moment. She has come so far. The ordeal began at Mrs Perrins first scan when doctors said Mollie would be expected to live for just three weeks. Molly Perrin has just started school after being one of the smallest babies in Britain (left) and when she was in hospital and weighed just 1lb (right) Festive fun: Mum Stephanie Perrin with daughter Mollie at Christmas We both just broke down, said Mrs Perrin, 38, who lives with husband James, 41, in Hull. Mollie was suffering from intrauterine growth restriction, meaning she was not growing at a normal rate in the womb. Every week she fell behind in size. It was devastating, Mrs Perrin said. Mollie was delivered by emergency caesarian section on April 27, 2015 after Mrs Perrin had been in hospital for two weeks under observation. Weighing just 1lb 1oz, she was so small her arm could slip through Mr Perrins wedding ring. But Miracle Mollie hung on and slowly gained weight. When she was 25 days old, her parents were finally able to hold her. And by the end of August that year, they were allowed to bring her home. But even by Christmas she still weighed only 8lb. Little Mollie defied the odds to stay alive after being born 13 weeks premature Mollie getting ready for her big day at school with parents James and Stephanie Perrin James and Stephanie Perrin with Mollie at Christmas when she was a baby Mrs Perrin said: Ever since she was born, she did so well, she was such a little fighter. Mollie, now aged three, started preschool earlier this month and she is loving every minute of it. Her delighted mother said: Shes so strong and independent its hard to believe she had such a traumatic start in life. Shes certainly making up for it now and seeing her in her school uniform now, its lovely to see how far she has come. When she was born everyone called her Miracle Mollie and she still is. A DC woman who attended the Brett Kavanaugh hearing on Thursday said in a series of tweets that she was dismissed by Republican senator Lindsey Graham when she tried to tell him that she is a sexual assault survivor. Activist Robyn Swirling said she approached Graham in the lobby of the Capitol basement after he criticized Christine Blasey Ford for not remembering the exact date she was allegedly assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Swirling, wearing a 'Trust Women' t-shirt, told the South Carolina senator that she was raped 13 years ago and doesn't remember the date, but that doesn't make her less credible. 'So would you believe me?' she asked Graham. She said he told her: 'I'm sorry', but then made an inconsiderate remark as he scurried into the elevator. Activist Robyn Swirling said she told Senator Lindsey Graham she is the victim of sexual assault and he told her she 'needed to go to the cops' Swirling confronted Graham during a break in the testimonies of Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford 'You needed to go to the cops. Go to the cops,' Swirling and others accused Graham of telling a rape survivor. Graham is pictured Thursday during Kavanaugh's testimony Outside #KavanaughHearings: Woman: Senator, I was raped 13 years ago. I dont remember the exact date...Do you believe me?@LindseyGrahamSC: You need to go to the cops pic.twitter.com/O2BynKg3cj Paul P. Murphy (@murphy) September 27, 2018 'You needed to go to the cops. Go to the cops,' he said in video posted by CNN. Swirling said Graham's comment to her was 'cruel, dismissive and insensitive'. 'If Graham had paused to talk with me, instead of rushing into the elevator, I'd have told him the cops can't do anything about it now, but that doesn't make it any less true and doesn't make me any less credible,' she tweeted. Swirling, who founded the anti-sexual harassment organization Works in Progress, said she stopped by the hearing to confront Graham and other senators and to urge them 'to care about the experiences of sexual assault survivors and to believe us'. Before his encounter with Swirling, Graham told reporters that Ford's testimony was not convincing and her 'hiring a lawyer and taking a polygraph makes me more suspicious'. Christine Blasey Ford (left) is pictured during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. She accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh )right) of sexual assault 'What happened to her, I don't know. Why don't you believe (Kavanaugh)? What is it about him you don't want to believe?' Graham said, according to the Huffington Post. 'They've tried to destroy this guy's life with one accusation after another.' He also seemed to threaten the Democrats future Supreme Court nominees, saying: 'Let me tell my Democratic friends: If this is the new norm, you'd better watch out for your nominees.' Ford accused Kavanaugh of attempted rape, telling the Washington Post that he pinned her down on a bed and tried to take her clothes off at a party when they were in high school. She said he covered her mouth when she tried to scream. Ford said there are details she does not remember but believes she was 15 at the time of the alleged attack. Ford and Kavanaugh testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The pundits were universal in their praise of Dr Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday after her testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but opinion was divided when it came to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. On CNN, Kavanaugh got praise from Margaret Hoover, a former White House staffer who worked in the George W. Bush administration and some very vocal disdain from Symone Sanders, who served as the national press secretary for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. That is also what played out on Fox News, with Maria Harf not sure Kavanaugh was taking the best approach given the accusations that were made by Dr. Ford, while Bret Baier thought he was striking the perfect tone. Scroll down for video Unhinged: The pundits were split on Brett Kavanaugh, who some found to be gut-wrenching while others perceived him as 'unhinged' (Kavanaugh above during his testimony) Gut-wrenching: 'And you can understand why there was that level of emotion coming from him because of the absolute slander that he and his family have had to endure,' said Margaret Hoover on CNN (Kavanaugh above during his testimony) 'Not only do I find him very credible and moving. He was clearly emotional. Clearly indignant. Clearly angry,' said Hoover on CNN. 'And one can understand if he believes every word he's saying in his story justifiably.' She then noted: 'So you have two people who have come and told their best version of the truth and now it's up to people like us to try to determine what is that truth?' Hoover went on to state that she was eager to hear what Kavanaugh would say given his close ties to the Bush White House, with the former president nominating him for his current position on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 'I've been a supporter of the #MeToo movement. I've always said that I have believed Professor Ford, but I've also had the sense that I wanted to hear from Brett Kavanaugh because this is not the sense of the character that I have of the kind of person he was,' said Hoover. 'And you can understand why there was that level of emotion coming from him because of the absolute slander that he and his family have had to endure for these two works and one would want to justifiably clear his name.' Sanders had a much different reaction. 'It wasn't believable. He told non-truths. He lied about things I don't think he needed to lie about, but perhaps he felt he could not give any ground because he didn't want to be found culpable for anything,' said Sanders. 'The most striking thing was his anger. I understand if you have, if you believe you have not done something wrong and you are upset and you are angry, but the way portrayed himself at the hearing, he looked unhinged. He looked dismissive.' She continued: 'He also took direct aim at Democratic senators. You are auditioning for a job, sir, and it's the senators' job to advise and consent.' She then labeled Kavanaugh 'a Republican operative,' saying he came out 'swinging, punching and hitting.' Opinion was also divided over on Fox News, with Maria Harf saying that Kavanaugh's anger worked against him given the accusations. 'I think that would be smart because think about the accusations, not just Dr. Ford, but the others that have come out,' said Harf. 'They all involve some sort of aggressive behavior, being angry, especially when drunk. I think, again, I get why he's angry but it sort of reinforces the narrative when he is this hot that maybe there is an aggressive or angry side of him that maybe might come out when he drinks those beers he keeps talking about.. She continued: 'I think he needs to end this much calmer, not interrupt Democratic senators even though they are going to go after him. If he wants this job, he needs to find a way to calm down a little bit.' Bret Baier disagreed with this, and seemed to believe Kavanaugh should continue on as he had been thus far in the hearing. 'I don't know. There is all of this, he needs to be indignant. He needs to stand up and be emotional,' said Baier. 'Now he has done that now, and wait a second. Hold on. He has to dial it back and be a judge again. Which one is it?' Savannah Guthrie was in Kavanaugh's camp on NBC, admitting she was moved by his emotional testimony. 'This was a no holds bar. This is leave everything on the court, everything on the table, dont wait for someone to come and defend you,' said Guthrie. 'He put it all out there, made a political argument, legal argument, personal argument. How could you as a human not watch that and feel gut-wrenched.' Guthrie added: 'Same by the way with Dr. Ford and her testimonyif youre watching at home, if youre an American, you just think your stomach turns.' Andrea Mitchell found the entire process upsetting however, and a sign of the fractured state of American politics. 'Clarence Thomas turned a corner when he came back after Anita Hills testimony and said, "This has been a high-tech lynching,"' said Mitchell. 'Angry and furious and that really did turn the corner. The difference is that he didnt cry. He was emotional and angry but he was as emotionally raw as the subsequent testimony so its a roll coaster here.' She observed: 'You dont know how that is going to play.' Broadcasters will ask potential new staff about their parents jobs, it has emerged. Bosses at the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV all agreed with communications regulator Ofcom to question job candidates on the subject. The questions are said to be an attempt to ensure more diverse backgrounds among those working in broadcasting but critics will view them as social engineering which could exclude some of the best candidates. In recent months all new recruits have been asked: Please tell us about the occupation of your main household earner when you were aged 14. Scroll down for video The broadcasting industry has long been known for its dynasties and famous siblings. Radio 2 host Zoe Ball (right), 47, is the daughter of presenter Johnny Ball (left), 80 A report by Ofcom, released yesterday, said of the decision: There was consensus that the best single indicator was found to be the question which asks the individual what their parental occupation was when they were aged 14. The regulator said details of parents jobs would be a key indicator which would help to collect data on a persons social and economic background. Companies will report back on their findings by next year and Ofcom says it will assess whether this has helped to ensure people from more diverse backgrounds are getting into broadcasting. The broadcast dynasties The broadcasting industry has long been known for its dynasties and famous siblings. The Dimblebys are household names with David, 79, host of BBC Ones Question Time while brother Jonathan, 74, chairs Radio 4s Any Questions? The pairs father Richard was a broadcaster who became the BBCs first war correspondent. Meanwhile, Channel 4 newsreader Jon Snow, 70, is the cousin of BBC presenter Dan Snow, 39. Victoria Coren Mitchell, 46, host of Only Connect, is the daughter of Alan who was a panellist on The News Quiz. Her brother Giles Coren, 49, is also a journalist. And Radio 2 host Zoe Ball, 47, is the daughter of presenter Johnny Ball, 80. Advertisement Its boss Sharon White warned there was a long way to go before broadcasters truly represented the people of Britain. As part of the drive, the BBC has been conducting one-to-one interviews with employees from low-income backgrounds to understand their career progressions and experiences in the industry. The report, titled Diversity and Equal Opportunities in Television, also found that more than half of staff at the BBC described themselves as not religious. In 2016, 39 per cent of workers at the Corporation said they were not religious. For 2017 to 2018, the figure jumped to 54 per cent. This was partly due to the fact that more information was collected. It also looked at the issue of ethnic minorities, but found that since last year, there has been no improvement on hiring from those groups at senior levels. The BBCs workforce is 13 per cent made up of ethnic minority groups , compared to 18 per cent at Channel 4 and 15 per cent at Sky. ITVs figure, at 9 per cent, is the lowest. And there has been just a small increase of women in top jobs, despite heightened scrutiny on the issue. Broadcasters now have 41 per cent of women at a senior management level, below the UK average. Ofcom said: TV viewers want to see programmes that authentically portray their lives, reflecting the UKs diverse communities, nations and regions. A crucial means of meeting those expectations is for broadcasters to ensure their workforces reflect the UKs society. Hardi N, as he is being named in the Dutch media, was said to have belonged to a group of Arnhem jihadists, some of whom went to Syria in 2013. Those who stayed in the Netherlands transferred money to the members who successfully made the crossing to the worn-torn region. One of the jihadis who travelled to Syria is the Arnhem rapper Marouane B and another from the city called Abdelkarim el A. The rapper is thought to have been killed by Bashar Assads forces in December last year. He sent a video via Facebook from the battlefield in which he called for a 'firm deed against the Dutch government' because the Netherlands supported America in the fight against ISIS. According to police, 'the group would like to commit an attack on a major event in the Netherlands and want to make many victims'. In Arnhem and Weert, seven men were arrested today in a coordinated strike by the police in which three men from Arnhem, a man from Huissen, two men from Rotterdam and a man from Vlaardingen were taken into custody. There was controversy about the case of Hardi N because he was free in 2014 while awaiting his appeal and walked the streets with just an electronic tag. He told his judges that he was going to help orphans in Syria that were in the hands of Jabhat al-Nusra but judges did not believe his excuse. This was partly because of evidence showing the men sending messages on WhatsApp saying, 'then I see you on the battlefield'. They also made a 'shopping list' for the trip including - 'Create Facebook, Create a Skype, Have WhatsApp, renew your passport/ID card, apply for a job as stolen/lost, unsubscribe from the municipality, and put a stop to the sickness insurance fund, take diarrhoea pills, a sturdy winter coat, boots, pants, smartphone, ibuprofen, paracetamol, Nivea cream, thermo clothing, lots of money'. Tensions in the Netherlands have risen in recent months as far-tight politician Geert Wilders launched a cartoon competition for people to submit drawings of the prophet Muhammad. Mr Wilders reacted angrily when Hardi N, an Iraqi-born jihadi alleged to be the ring-leader of the foiled plot, was freed in 2014 on his return to Holland from Syria and was set free by the Dutch courts. Judges allowed the suspected jihadi to walk the streets and be monitored with an electronic tag. Last month an Afghan aged 19 with a German residence permit stabbed and injured two American tourists at Amsterdam's busy Central Station before being shot. Dutch prosecutor said he had chosen the Netherlands for the attack believing Islam to be frequently insulted in the country. The Amsterdam attack came after a Taliban call for attacks on Dutch troops after Mr Wilders organised the Prophet Muhammed cartoon competition as many Muslims consider images of the prophet to be blasphemous. The likelihood of a terror attack in the Netherlands remained substantial, the Dutch anti-terror agency NCTV said last week, with terror threat levels remaining at level four out of five. The day before the attack on August 31, Mr Wilders cancelled the competition following death threats and large-scale protests in Pakistan. The arrests today came three months after two men were arrested in Rotterdam on suspicion of preparing attacks in France and in the Netherlands. Prosecutors said earlier this month they were close to launching their attack but there has been no mention of what the target in France might have been. In the Netherlands the pair arrested in July are said to have staked out and identified several possible targets in Rotterdam, including a police station and the Erasmus Bridge, the country's second largest. Saudi Arabia has unveiled its 6 billion ($7.87 billion) high-speed rail service that will run between Mecca and Medina. Mecca is the site of an annual pilgrimage for millions of Muslims as part of a sacred journey known as Hajj. The 280-mile (450-kilometer) railway will slash travel time between Mecca, the spiritual heart of Islam, and Medina, its second most sacred site, in half. The Haramain Railway is one of the largest transport projects in the Middle East and will target 60 million passengers a year. Scroll down for video Saudi Arabia has unveiled its 6 billion ($7.87 billion) high-speed rail service that will run between Mecca and Medina. The 280-mile (450 kilometres) railway will slash travel time Mecca, the spiritual heart of Islam, and Medina, its second most sacred site in half WHAT IS HAJJ? Hajj is the annual pilgrimage of millions of Muslims to the city of Mecca. The word Hajj is an Arabic word, meaning 'to intend a journey'. Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and is often a deeply meaningful and spiritual experience for muslims. Pilgrims comprise the bulk of Saudi Arabia's 20 million annual foreign visitors. More than two million came for this years haj and 6.5 million performed umrah in 2017. Umrah is the lesser pilgrimage which occurs year round. Advertisement 'The journey between the Haramain (two holy mosques) is now shorter and easier than at any time before,' Transport Minister Nabil al-Amoudi told dignitaries gathered at the Jeddah station this week. 'The project highlights the kingdom's commitment to serving Islam and Muslims.' Officials believe the improved transport links between the holy cities will boost tourism revenue in the country as the nation seeks to shed dependence on oil exports. The holy pilgrimage for Muslims is the backbone of a plan from the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the economy. Hajj is one of the fundamental pillars of Islam and is a journey every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must perform at least once in a lifetime. The mass migration to the ancient city is regarded as a deeply spiritual and profound experience but the pilgrimage is also big business for Saudi Arabia. Hajj, and the year-round lesser pilgrimage known as umrah, generate billions of dollars in revenues from worshippers lodging, transport, gifts, food and fees. The new rail link was built by a Spanish-led consortium and financed by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. Project manager Mohammed Fallatah said the train would offer fast and reliable transportation to pilgrims as well as Saudis and foreign residents. 'The traveller will be comfortable. He can read books or magazines or enjoy watching the screens in business class, have a coffee or a light meal,' he said. The project, known as the Haramain Railway, is one of the largest transport projects in the Middle East and will boost tourism revenue in the country by targeting 60 million passengers a year Hajj, and the year-round lesser pilgrimage known as umrah, generate billions of dollars in revenues from worshippers lodging, transport, gifts, food and fees. The new rail link was built by a Spanish-led consortium and financed by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund The authorities hope the train will also stimulate growth of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), a massive business zone that was initiated under the previous ruler but remains relatively empty. It will eventually link up with a new terminal at Jeddah airport, which has already started serving select domestic routes and will take over all flights by early next year. Mr Fatallah said further expansion could include connecting to a planned east-west train between the capital Riyadh and Jeddah. Pilgrims comprise the bulk of Saudi Arabias 20 million annual foreign visitors, apart from workers and business travellers. More than two million came for this years haj and 6.5 million performed umrah in 2017. The authorities hope the train will also stimulate growth of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), a massive business zone that was initiated under the previous ruler but remains relatively empty Pilgrims comprise the bulk of Saudi Arabias 20 million annual foreign visitors, apart from workers and business travellers.Pilgrims comprise the bulk of Saudi Arabias 20 million annual foreign visitors, apart from workers and business travellers. Officials aim to increase the number of umrah and hajj pilgrims to 15 million and five million respectively by 2020, and hope to double the umrah number again to 30 million by 2030. Saudi Arabia is also heavily investing in mega-hotels and a Grand Mosque restoration in Mecca with tens of billions already pledged to the project. The Faisalia project, running from the edge of Mecca towards the Red Sea, aims to attract visitors to coastal getaways and Islamic research centres. Mecca governor Prince Khalid al-Faisal, a nephew of the king and one of his closest advisers, anticipates that the initiatives will contribute to social and cultural development alongside economic growth. 'We do not seek only to expand and develop. We want to expand and develop with distinction,' he said in an interview. 'We want to begin from the point that others have already reached, not the point from which they began.' A Japanese startup has signed a deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to send a spacecraft to the moon in the 2020s. Private lunar exploration company ispace said it would blast a lander and rovers towards the moon on a SpaceX rocket on two separate missions. The spaceware will first orbit the moon in mid-2020, followed by a moon landing attempt set for mid-2021. It comes a week after SpaceX confirmed Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be the first man to fly around the moon on a SpaceX rocket as early as 2023. Scroll down for video A Japanese startup has signed a deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX to send a spacecraft to the moon in the 2020s. Private lunar exploration company ispace said it would blast a lander and rovers towards the moon on a SpaceX rocket on two separate missions 'We share the vision with SpaceX of enabling humans to live in space, so we're very glad they will join us in this first step of our journey,' ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said in a statement. Hakamada also told reporters the company chose SpaceX as it is 'highly credible' and 'capable'. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement that the company is 'proud to have been selected by ispace to launch their first lunar missions'. 'We are entering a new era in space exploration,' Shotwell said. The mission, dubbed HAKUTO-R, gets its name from Japanese folklore about a rabbit on the moon. The name translates to 'white rabbit.' The Japanese firm hopes to send two missions to the moon, first to lunar orbit and later landing a rover on the surface Hakamada said he could not reveal costs for lunar programmes. The company has already collected nearly $95 million from investors. ispace, which now has more than 60 employees, competed as one of five finalists in the Google Lunar XPrize, which offered $30 million in prizes but ended with no winner. SpaceX confirmed its first moon tourist earlier this year, revealing it had selected billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for its groundbreaking mission. The entrepreneur has a passion for modern art and splashed a record sum for Basquiat's 1982 'Untitled', a skull-like head in oil-stick, acrylic and spray paint on a giant canvas. Maezawa founded the Contemporary Art Foundation in Tokyo and was on the 2017 list of 'Top 200 Collectors' of the ARTnews magazine based in New York. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement that the company is 'proud to have been selected by ispace to launch their first lunar missions'. File photo WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT SPACEX'S PLANS TO FLY TOURISTS AROUND THE MOON? SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launched for the first time five years later than planned SpaceX has announced it will send a tourist to the moon aboard its upcoming Big F***ing Rocket (BFR). CEO Elon Musk has previously promised the BFR would carry cargo ships to Mars as early as 2022, with manned flights scheduled for 2024. It's an ambitious project - one that could ultimately make or break SpaceX - but Musk's company stands to make billions if it can pull it off. However, Musk has a history of underestimating how long his ambitious projects will take to get off the ground. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which launched for the first time to great furore in February, undertook its initial test flight five years later than planned. Musk admitted in July 2017: 'It actually ended up being way harder to do Falcon Heavy than we thought. 'Really way, way more difficult than we originally thought. We were pretty naive about that.' The BFR has yet to undergo any engine tests - which typically take place over the course of several months - and that's before the unmanned flight tests SpaceX will need to carry out long before it can safely transport passengers. It is unlikely the rocket will fly tourists until at least the late-2020s. Other space tourism firms, such as Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, are set to launch civilians into space ahead of SpaceX - though these flights will not breach Earth's orbit. Both firms are expected to take tourists into space before 2025. Advertisement Art was high on his mind when he announced he would blast into space on a SpaceX rocket in 2023, saying he would invite six to eight artists from around the world with him. 'They will be asked to create something after they return to Earth. These masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us,' he told reporters. He has already shown his appreciation for Musk's space programme, tweeting his congratulations for the successful launch of Falcon Heavy in February. 'I am moved that I shared the historic moment on the scene. I am so thrilled and encouraged I can't put it into words,' his tweet said. Google has been forced to backtrack on an automatic login feature in its Chrome browser after a massive user backlash. Until recently Google Chrome users have been able to use the browser without logging in. However, now when people log into a service such as Gmail they are automatically logged in without their consent. Scroll down for video For years Google Chrome users have been able to use the browser without logging in. However, now when people log into a Google service such as Gmail they are automatically logged into Chrome without their consent According to cryptographer and Professor Matthew Green who wrote a blog post 'Why I'm done with Chrome', Google quietly made these changes several weeks ago. Professor Green revealed that people could mistakenly activate 'sync', which means the firm can log users' behaviour and access their data without them knowing. Professor Green warned that the development has 'enormous implications for user privacy and trust'. Google today addressed the complaints. 'We recently made a change to simplify the way Chrome handles sign-in. 'Now, when you sign into any Google website, youre also signed into Chrome with the same account.,' Google said. 'We want to be clear that this change to sign-in does not mean Chrome sync gets turned on. 'Weve heardand appreciateyour feedback. Were going to make a few updates in the next release of Chrome (Version 70, released mid-October) to better communicate our changes and offer more control over the experience.' Google said it will add a control that allows users to turn off linking web-based sign-in with browser-based sign-in. For users that disable this feature, signing into a Google website will not sign them into Chrome. The firm said it would also update the browser to make it clearer whether a user was syncing data, and also ensure all tracking cookies are deleted and you will be signed out. 'We deeply appreciate all of the passionate users who have engaged with us on this.' Professor Green revealed that people could mistakenly activate 'sync' which means the browser can log users' behaviour and access their data without them being aware of it A Google spokesperson previously directed MailOnline to a Twitter post by Chrome engineer Adrienne Porter Felt who explained that users still have to consent to have their data synced. 'I want to share more info about recent changes to Chrome sign-in', she wrote. 'Chrome desktop now tells you that you're "signed in" whenever you're signed in to a Google website. 'This does NOT mean that Chrome is automatically sending your browsing history to your Google account!', she wrote. A Google spokesperson directed MailOnline to a Twitter post by Chrome engineer Adrienne Porter Felt who explained that users still have to consent to have their data synced She also said that the Chrome privacy notice was being updated 'ASAP' to make the syncing option more clear. Last month a study from Vanderbilt University gave a look at the just how much data Google is harvesting from its users. Researchers examined how the search giant collects information from Android mobile devices, Chrome browsers, YouTube and Photos, among other Google products. But the most surprising revelation gleaned from the study is likely to be that Google continues to collect data even when users are browsing in incognito mode. Google collects data in 'active' ways, such as when users sign into an application, as well as 'passive' ways that users are less likely to be aware of. In this scenario, an application is designed to gather information on users when it's running, sometimes without the user's knowledge. Last month a study from Vanderbilt University gave a look at the just how much data Google is harvesting from its users 'The extent and magnitude of Google's passive data collection has largely been overlooked by past studies on this topic,' according to the study, which was published last month. Most people assume that their browsing history is hidden from Google when they use incognito mode. However, the study explains that Google can still link the data from incognito browsers to a specific user. That's because if a user logs into a Google account while a private browser is open, cookies left behind on the incognito window can identify them. If they close out of the incognito window before logging into a Google account, then the data will be erased. HOW DOES GOOGLE TRACK ITS USERS' LOCATIONS OUTSIDE OF 'LOCATION HISTORY'? A new investigation led by the Associated Press found that some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking - even when you've paused Location History. The investigation found, for example: Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you open its Maps app Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint where you are each time the forecast is refreshed Simple searchers, such as 'chocolate chip cookies,' or 'kids science kits,' pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude accurate to the square foot - and save it to your Google account This information is all logged as part of the 'Web and App Activity feature, which does not specifically reference location information in its description. This is enabled by default, and stores a variety of information from Google apps and websites to your Google account. When paused, it will prevent activity on any device from being saved to your account. Leaving 'Web & App Activity' on and turning 'Location History' off only prevents Google from adding your movements to the 'timeline,' its visualization of your daily travels. It does not stop Google's collection of other location markers. Advertisement 'While such data is collected with user-anonymous identifiers, Google has the ability to connect this collected information with a user's personal credentials stored in their Google Account,' the study says. What's more, even if you avoid using Google services on an iOS device, the firm can still collect data on users. Visits to non-Google webpages still registered a 'surprisingly high' number of communications with Google servers. 'The number of times such Google services are called from an iOS device is similar to an Android device,' the study noted. 'In this experiment, the total magnitude of data communicated to Google servers from an iOS device is found to be approximately half of that from the Android device.' Researchers were most concerned by the amount of 'passive' data collected via third-party networks and advertisers that aren't owned by Google. Google 'learns a great deal about a user's personal interests' during a day of typical phone use - things like their location, routes taken, items purchased and music listened to,' the study explained. The Russian Ministry of Defence has been keen to promote a range of new super weapons currently believed to be in development. President Putin unveiled a catalogue of doomsday weaponry as part of his annual 'State of the Nation' speech in March 2018. However, questions remain about the true nature of their capabilities, how far into development the weapons truly are, and when they will be combat-ready. RS-28 Sarmat ICBM The RS-28 Sarmat is intended to replace the Soviet-designed SS-18 Voyevoda, the world's heaviest ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). It is known as 'Satan' in the West and carries 10 nuclear warheads. Sarmat can unleash ten large thermonuclear warheads, 16 smaller ones, or a combination of both, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence. Each warhead is purportedly capable of taking aim at a different target. The hypersonic glide vehicle, dubbed Avangard, launches atop an intercontinental ballistic missile (IBM) before sailing on top of the atmosphere toward its target. Russia tested its latest IBM, the Sarmat missile, for the first time last year (pictured) The (ICBM) weapons can strike targets via both the North and South poles. TV broadcaster Zvezda, which is run by the Russian Ministry of Defence, has previously claimed the missile will be capable of wiping out areas the size of Texas or France. It is also capable of carrying up to 24 of Russia's new Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, designed to sit atop of an ICBM. Putin says both weapons will be combat-ready in 2020. Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Russia is also believed to be developing a hypersonic weapon that can breach even the world's most advanced missile defence systems. The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle purportedly travels at 20 times the speed of sound and can hit targets anywhere in the world within half an hour. The vehicle launches atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, before gliding on top of the atmosphere toward its target. It is loaded with advanced countermeasure systems that allow it to skirt around the latest-generation of missile defence systems, Russia claims. The vehicles are equipped with onboard countermeasure systems capable of dodging even the most advanced missile defence systems. This artist's impression shows how the glider could manoeuvre at high speed to bypass missile defences The gliders are also highly unpredictable thanks to their manoeuvrability, making them almost impossible to track using conventional systems. Each weapon could be loaded with a nuclear warhead, however military experts say the sheer speed of the vehicles means they could do damage even without an explosive payload attached. Putin described his hypersonic arsenal as 'invincible' during a state-of-the-nation address in March 2018. He claimed Avangard strikes 'like a meteorite, like a fireball' and was capable of reaching targets at 20 times the speed of sound. At this speed the weapon could circle the Earth in just over half an hour. Speaking to MailOnline, Neil Gibson, senior weapons analyst for Jane's by IHS Markit, said: 'I think the ability of hypersonic systems to defeat air-defence system is highly exaggerated. 'They have advantages and disadvantages as per any other weapon system. 'The fact is, the vast majority of ballistic missiles are already hypersonic anyway, it's the controlled flight when still hypersonic that we are talking about here. 'If nuclear armed, they just come under 'mutually assured destruction' style posturing. Using them is always possible of course. 'Conventionally-armed versions are more likely to be used, though any confusion with what they carry - nuclear or conventional warhead - could start an exchange of nuclear weapons if it is mistaken for a nuclear attack.' Kinzhal Hypersonic Air Launched Missile Another new missile, the hypersonic Kinzhal, travels at ten times the speed of sound, Putin says. It is currently undergoing tests in southern Russia. The hypersonic Kinzhal missile is launched from a high-altitude MiG-31 fighter jet and can be fitted with either nuclear, or conventional weapons. This still shows the hypersonic Kinzhal, which travels at ten times the speed of sound and is currently undergoing tests in southern Russia It has an effective range of 1,250 miles (2,000 km), although Putin claims its total range is actually 'unlimited'. Russia has already conducted some 350 training missions with the military unit tasked with testing the Kinzhal. Putin claims the new missile would be capable of striking 'anywhere in the world', and that its high speed and manoeuvrability allowed it to pierce any missile defence. However, despite Putin's major promises, the missile has still not been able to stay airborne for more than a few minutes, according to US intelligence sources. The new missile has purportedly been tested four times between November and February and crashed every time. Burevestnik nuclear powered cruise missile The burevestnik, or thunderbird, nuclear propulsion system for Russian cruise missiles aims to give them 'unlimited range and unlimited ability to manoeuvre', according to Sergey Pertsev, a developer. Ministry of Defence officials said in July, 2018, that work on the unlimited-range missile is going according to plan. Footage purported to show the missile in action, although it is unclear whether it was being powered by nuclear or conventional fuel. The 'Burevestnik' nuclear propulsion system for Russian cruise missiles, pictured, is said to have 'unlimited range and unlimited ability to manoeuvre' 'Launching systems are also being designed, while technological processes to manufacture, assemble and test the missile are being improved,' an official said at the time. However, experts have criticised the missile, including Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He told Vice's Motherboard: 'The nuclear-powered cruise missile is newand bats**t crazy.' Poseidon Drone Submarine The Poseidon drone submarine is a sister project to burevestnik. It is essentially a giant, nuclear-capable torpedo capable of carrying a two megaton nuclear warhead capable of obliterating military ports. The Kremlin's Poseidon torpedo sub is designed to destroy 'enemy navy bases' and will be able to travel up to 70 knots (80 miles per hour), it claims. Russian state news agency TASS says it has not been able to confirm details of the weapon. The Poseidon drone submarine - with a miniature nuclear propulsion system - is shown undergoing a static test However, it quoted a military source as saying: 'It will be possible to mount various nuclear charges on the 'torpedo' of the Poseidon multipurpose seaborne system, with the thermonuclear single warhead similar to the Avangard charge to have the maximum capacity of up to two megatonnes in TNT equivalent.' With its nuke, the weapon 'is primarily designed to destroy reinforced naval bases of a potential enemy,' the report added. Peresvet Combat Laser System Named after a medieval warrior monk, very little is known about this system. Many believe Peresvet is a jamming system carried on the back of military lorries, which can be used to 'blind' optical electronic equipment inside enemy vehicles using a laser beam. According to ex-Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov the 'combat laser systems' that Putin addressed in his State of the Nation speech back in March had already been delivered to the nation's armed forces last year. Many believe Peresvet is a jamming system carried on the back of military lorries (pictured), which can be used to 'blind' optical electronic equipment inside enemy vehicles using a laser beam Once found only in works of fiction, Mr Borisov said such devices were now a very real and necessary tool of modern warfare. 'We can talk a lot about laser weapons and movies were made about them a long time ago and fantastic books have been written, and everyone knows about this,' Mr Borisov said in comments translated by the state-run Tass Russian News Agency. But the fact that these systems have started entering service is indeed today's reality.' Divers have discovered the wreck a Chinese warship a century after it was lost to the depths of the Yellow sea. Researchers had been hunting for several years before they found the incredible 'time capsule' of a wreck. It was identified thanks to a gold-gilded wooden plaque with Jingyuan written on it. It went down in the Yellow sea during the first Sino-Japanese war in September 1894, with only seven out of 270 crewmen surviving. Experts managed to pinpoint the site by looking through historical documents and photographs taken by a a Japanese sailor before it sank. WHAT WAS THE JINGYUAN WARSHIP? The ship was built in a German shipyard called Vulkan and then incorporated into a Chinese fleet in the late 1880s. Jingyuan was referred to as a 'gunboat' by its German designers but was referred to as a cruiser by the Chinese, despite the fact it had large calibre guns. The ship went down in the Yellow sea during the Sino-Japanese war in September 1894, with only seven out of 270 crewmen surviving. Experts say there are more than 500 relics on the ship including old weapons, ceramics and leather goods. Advertisement The ship was built in a German shipyard called Vulkan and then incorporated into a Chinese fleet in the late 1880s. Jingyuan was referred to as a 'gunboat' by its German designers but was referred to as a cruiser by the Chinese, despite the fact it had large calibre guns. Researchers led by China's National Cultural Heritage Administration say that the ship is 39 feet (12 metres) below the surface. Experts say that there are more than 500 relics on the ship including old weapons, ceramics and leather goods, writes CNN. It went down during a conflict between the Qing Empire which ruled China until 1912 and the Empire of Japan. The ship is resting upside-down, experts say. 'It's like a time capsule sealing history inside,' Jiang Bo, an archaeologist at the National Centre of Underwater Cultural Heritage in China told Pickle. Jingyuan, which had a sister ship called Laiyuan, was divided into 66 waterproof compartments that were filled with cork. The ship's main weapon was a eight-inch (20cm) Krupp cannon with two six-inch (15cm) Krupp guns on either side of the deck. 'Even the German navy didn't have a ship with so many cutting-edge technologies', Dr Bo said. 'It's a crucial reference for us to better understand the world's naval history.' The ship (pictured) was built in a German shipyard called Vulkan and then incorporated into a Chinese fleet in the late 1880s. It went down in the Yellow sea during the first Sino-Japanese war in September 1894, with only seven out of 270 crewmen surviving Researchers had been hunting for several years before they found the ship, which was identified thanks to a golden plaque with Jingyuan written on it Researchers led by China's National Cultural Heritage Administration say that the ship is 39 feet (12 metres) below the surface Jingyuan was referred to as a 'gunboat' by its German designers but was referred to as a cruiser by the Chinese, despite the fact it had large calibre guns (remains, pictured) The ship also had two 1.8-inch (5cm) long guns, five 1.5 inch (4cm) Hotchkiss guns and two torpedo tubes. When Jingyuan and Laiyuan arrived in China in 1888 they were assigned to the Beiyang Fleet. Both ships were in the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894. Early on in the battle, the captain of Laiyuan moved in agressively against the Japanese squardron but was severely damaged as a result. Pictured are soldiers from the Imperial Japanese Army firing their Murata Type 22 rifles in 1984. The first Sino-Japanese War was between 25 July 1894 and 17th April 1895 When Jingyuan and Laiyuan arrived in China in 1888 they were assigned to the Beiyang Fleet. Both ships were in the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894 Experts say that there are more than 500 relics on the ship including old weapons, ceramics and leather goods The Japanese flying squadron, led by Admiral Tsuboi Kozo, fired at Jingyuan for more than an hour and at 16:48 the ship burst into flames. After a large explosion it rolled over and sank, reports say. The first Sino-Japanese War was between 25 July 1894 and 17th April 1895. The Qing Empire and the Empire of Japan were mainly fighting for influence over Korea and after more than six months of fighting the Qing government initiated the peace process. It was the first time that regional dominance in East Asia was shifted from China to Japan. Fake social media accounts posing as celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen are duping fans out of millions of dollars, it has emerged. Social media users have reportedly been falling for scams in which bogus celebrities ask fans to send them money via gift cards for services such as iTunes. One woman, going by the name of Mary, said she had sent $11,500 to a fake Springsteen after exchanging 'flirty' messages with him. Celebrities and officials have warned fans to be vigilant and not 'engage with these people or send them money', CBS Chicago reported. Fake social media accounts posing as celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen (pictured) are duping fans out of millions of dollars, it has emerged. One woman, going by the name of Mary, said she had sent $11,500 to a fake Springsteen after exchanging 'flirty' messages with him The Federal Trade Commission apparently said so-called impostor scams had cost customers some $328million last year. A series of accounts show up on Facebook under the name Bruce Springsteen or similar, although it is not suggested they are all scam accounts. Mary, one of the victims, said she had commented on a Facebook post and received a message back purporting to be from the American rock star. The person posing as Springsteen reportedly told her he was divorcing, sent 'flirty' messages and asked for money using iTunes gift cards. The scammer allegedly asked her for money after showing her a picture of a stash of gold in Dubai, saying he needed help shipping it. She said: 'I sent him ITunes up to maybe four, five, six-hundred bucks, little by little every week. 'I was vulnerable at the time, but you know it hurt, it hurts and you feel so stupid.' Other financial schemes have involved social media scammers posing as SpaceX founder Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. A series of accounts show up on Facebook under the name Bruce Springsteen or similar, although it is not suggested these particular accounts are run by scammers One tweet from a user posing as tech tycoon Elon Musk purported to offer the cryptocurency ethereum while another scammer pretended to be President Donald Trump The genuine Facebook page for Springsteen, 69, is marked with a blue tick and has more than five million followers. He is not divorcing his wife, Patti Scialfa. In July Twitter announced it was cracking down on cryptocurrency scammers who were posing as tech tycoon Elon Musk. The social media giant has been auto-blocking any users who set their display name as the SpaceX boss. One tweet from a user posing as Musk purported to offer the cryptocurency ethereum while another scammer pretended to be President Donald Trump. The FTC said: 'Before you get too excited, are you sure its that person? Really sure? Weve heard reports that scammers, who will try just about anything to separate you from your money, are now posing as celebrities on social media. 'Theyre asking fans to send money for all kinds of supposed reasons like claiming a prize, donating to a charity, or giving help of some kind. 'Some celebs do raise money for legitimate causes. But you want to be sure the causeand the person asking you to support itare real.' A fake account posing as President Donald Trump purported to offer cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin to social media users in another online financial scam A Scottish entrepreneur behind a range of hydrogen vans is planning a 400-mile drive from Glasgow to London to show off the green-energy vehicles. Emil Rangelov's fleet of futuristic H2Vans are designed to drive for hours without refuelling and their only exhaust will be will be drinkable water from vapour. The planned cross-country trip in the summer of 2019 - without stopping to refuel - is intended to launch a green transport revolution. The van will be able to drive for up to 500 miles on just one tank of hydrogen, and can be refuelled in just six minutes. Emil Rangelov's fleet of futuristic H2Vans are designed to drive for hours without refuelling and their only exhaust will be will be drinkable water from vapour An artist's impression of the driver's cab in one of the Scottish tycoon's goods vehicles which will be capable of travelling up to 500 miles without needing to stop for refuelling Emil Rangelov, of HVSystems in Glasgow, is developing a fleet of hydrogen powered trucks to be built in Scotland. His planned cross-country trip in the summer of 2019 is intended to launch a green transport revolution 'This will be the first commercial vehicle with a carbon chassis frame on the market - lightweight, durable, sustainable, recyclable, and with many advantages that current vehicles don't have,' Mr Rangelov said. 'We're trying to build sustainable vehicles on the emissions side of things but also the way the vehicles are designed and built, with significant safety advantages compared to current vehicles on the market. ''If you look at a battery-powered electric vehicles they're usually quite heavy so that reduces the payload, but with a hydrogen system, you don't have that problem.' Mr Rangelov hopes that the trip will promote the feasibility of hydrogen-fuel technology, with no other green vehicle of its size currently capable of travelling such a distance without having to recharge. The H2Van uses a fuel cell that converts hydrogen and oxygen into water during a process that produces electricity to power the engine. The only other by-product is heat and the vehicle can travel up to 500 miles in one journey and can be refueled in just six minutes. The company said that 139 public hydrogen refuelling stations have opened across Europe. But hydrogen infrastructure is lacking in the UK, with Scotland's only refuelling station in Aberdeen and service station sites at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire and Cobham in Surrey. They are also planning to set up private refuelling spots for companies who use the hydrogen-powered vans. HV Systems are also working on a fleet of heavy goods vehicles called HV Trucks, with a range up to 800 miles even with loads of 44 tonnes. The company said on its website: 'Hydrogen is the simplest, smallest and most abundant substance in the universe. 'It is clean, safe, colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and non-poisonous. 'H2Van will allow small and large businesses to significantly reduce their carbon emissions and make our roads much safer places to be. 'Short, medium and long wheel-bases will allow it to cover applications from three to eight tonnes. 'A side door allows access to both the driver's cabin and the good storage area. The aerodynamic shape will increase fuel efficiency.' A diagram of one of the trucks shows the hydrogen tanks which only need refuelling every 500 miles in a process which takes only six minutes CGI of a truck developed by Emil Rangelov, of HVSystems in Glasgow, and his partner Abdul Waheed, which use hydrogen. The company said that 139 public hydrogen refuelling stations have opened across Europe, including in the UK Currently, hydrogen is harnessed through steam reforming natural gas and electrolysis, and Mr Rangelov believes hydrogen can be vital in offsetting fossil fuel consumption and provide energy independence. He said: 'We all talk about being energy independent but currently compressed natural gas (CNG) is supplied by countries like Norway, Russia and the US. 'Currently our wind, solar and tidal power have a significant overproduction that we cannot store and utilise - this is a big problem. 'When you store hydrogen, unlike electricity, it can offer energy independence to the whole country. 'You can use hydrogen fuel for transportation and heating for homes - we can use the exact same piping network.' Although hydrogen is highly flammable, notorious for the Hindenburg airship disaster in 1937, Mr Rangelov insists the technology is safe, having had the H2Vans carbon fibre fuel cylinders bulletproof tested, crash tested and fire tested. Hydrogen has attracted widespread interest in the Far East, with China, Japan and South Korea interested and companies such as Hyundai and Toyota investing in fuel cell technology. Mr Rangelov has been invited by the Chinese government regarding hydrogen fuel and is set to visit the country next month, while his company has teamed up with fuel cell developer Ballard and cylinder giant Luxfer. He said: 'Hydrogen's starting to get traction and is a silent revolution, it's the ultimate energy carrier which produces zero emissions.' Scientists have discovered a new species of giant, plant-eating dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago. The enormous herbivore has been named Ledumahadi mafube, which means 'a giant thunderclap at dawn' in Sesotho, one of South Africa's 11 official languages. The beast was a relative of the Brontosaurus, and twice the size of a large African elephant, weighing 12 tonnes and standing around 13 feet (4m) tall at the hips. Scientists say it was the largest land animal alive on Earth at the time and may have been an 'evolutionary experiment'. Scroll down for video The enormous herbivore has been named Ledumahadi mafube (pictured), which means 'a giant thunderclap at dawn' in Sesotho, one of South Africa's 11 official languages An international team of scientists, led by paleontologist Professor Jonah Choiniere of South Africa's Witwatersrand University, described the new species in the journal Current Biology. Professor Choiniere said: 'The name reflects the great size of the animal as well as the fact that its lineage appeared at the origins of sauropod dinosaurs. 'It honours both the recent and ancient heritage of southern Africa.' They estimate that the specimen was a fully grown adult when it died, with the team calculating lived to be round 14 years of age. Scientists were able to establish the animal's age accurately by looking at growth rings in the fossil's bone tissue. 'We can tell by looking at the fossilised bone microstructure that the animal grew rapidly to adulthood,' Dr Jennifer Botha-Brink from the South African National Museum in Bloemfontein said. 'Closely-spaced, annually deposited growth rings at the periphery show that the growth rate had decreased substantially by the time it died.' Dr Botha-Brink said that indicates that the animal had reached adulthood by the time it died. Researchers believe Ledumahadi mafube is one of the closest relatives of sauropod dinosaurs and presents an interesting transitional period in sauropod evolution. The research team say the fossil of the Ledumahadi mafube tells a fascinating story of its individual life history, geographic history of where it lived, and of the evolutionary history of sauropod dinosaurs as they went from bipedal to quadrupedal (pictured) Sauropods are a group of dinosaurs which included the well-known Brontosaurus and other animals which weighed up to 60 tonnes. All sauropods ate plants and stood on four legs, with a posture similar to modern elephants. Ledumahadi evolved its giant size independently from sauropods, and although it stood on four legs, its forelimbs would have been more crouched. That caused the scientific team to consider Ledumahadi as an evolutionary 'experiment' with giant body size. Study lead author Dr Blair McPhee said: 'The first thing that struck me about this animal is the incredible robustness of the limb bones. SAUROPODS: LONG NECKED AND SMALL BRAINED DINOSAURS Sauropods were the first successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs, dominating most terrestrial ecosystems for more than 140 million years, from the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous. They had long necks and tails and relatively small skulls and brains. They stretched to 130 feet (40 metres) and weighed up to 80 tonnes (80,000kg) - 14 times the weight of an African elephant. Sauropods were the first successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs, dominating most terrestrial ecosystems for more than 140 million years, from the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous They were widespread - their remains have been found on all the continents except Antarctica. They had nostrils high up on their skulls - rather than being located at the end of the snout like those of so many other terrestrial vertebrates. Some fossils shows that these nostril openings were so far up the skull that there were very close to the eye openings. Sauropods such as the Diplodocus began to diversify in the Middle Jurassic about 180 million years ago. Source: University of California Museum of Paleontology Advertisement Closely spaced growth rings at the periphery of the fossil (pictured) show that the animal is an adult. Scientists estimate that the specimen was a fully grown adult when it died, with the team estimating the dinosaur was 14 years old 'It was of similar size to the gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, but whereas the arms and legs of those animals are typically quite slender, Ledumahadi's are incredibly thick. 'To me this indicated that the path towards gigantism in sauropodomorphs was far from straightforward, and that the way that these animals solved the usual problems of life, such as eating and moving, was much more dynamic within the group than previously thought.' Measurements of the fossil's 'arms' and 'legs' revealed that Ledumahadi walked on all fours, much like the sauropods which came to exist millions of years later, The new method developed by the team unpicked dinosaur locomotion and allowed scientists to conclusively prove that many early sauropods stood on all fours. Professor Roger Benson, of Oxford University, said: 'Many giant dinosaurs walked on four legs but had ancestors that walked on two legs. Analysis of bone fragments (pictured) allowed scientists to understand the age and properties of the new species. The new method developed by the team unpicked dinosaur locomotion and allowed scientists to conclusively prove that many early sauropods stood on all fours Ledumahadi lived in the area around Clarens in South Africa's Free State Province. It is currently a scenic mountainous area, but looked much different at that time, with a flat, semi-arid landscape and shallow, intermittently dry streambeds 'Scientists want to know about this evolutionary change, but amazingly, no-one came up with a simple method to tell how each dinosaur walked, until now.' Professor Choiniere claims the finding requires a change in how scientists think about the evolution of these giant dinosaurs. He said: 'It shows us that even as far back as 200 million years ago, these animals had already become the largest vertebrates to ever walk the Earth. 'The evolution of sauropods isn't quite as straightforward as we once thought. 'In fact, it appears that sauropodomorphs evolved four-legged postures at least twice before they gained the ability to walk with upright limbs, which undoubtedly helped make them so successful in an evolutionary sense.' Ledumahadi lived in the area around Clarens in South Africa's Free State Province. The partial foot of the fossil (pictured) shows the size of the animal. It lived 200 million years ago and stood 13 foot (four meters) tall at the hips It is currently a scenic mountainous area, but looked much different at that time, with a flat, semi-arid landscape and shallow, intermittently dry streambeds. Dr Emese Bordy said: 'We can tell from the properties of the sedimentary rock layers in which the bone fossils are preserved that 200 million years ago most of South Africa looked a lot more like the current region around Musina in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, or South Africa's central Karoo.' Ledumahadi is closely related to other gigantic dinosaurs from Argentina that lived at a similar time, which Professor Choiniere said reinforces that the 'super-continent' of Pangaea was still assembled in the Early Jurassic. He said: 'It shows how easily dinosaurs could have walked from Johannesburg to Buenos Aires at that time.' This fascinating video reveals how a swarm of bees can stick together and move in unison when their nests are rattled. Harvard University researchers spent months shaking and rattling swarms of thousands of honey bees to understand how the insects can work together to keep their swarm in one piece. They discovered that bees can sense the direction their neighbours are moving in - similar to a blindfolded game of 'Ring a Ring o' Roses' - and follow the movements of their fellow insects. Their research also shows that bees can collectively maintain the temperature of a swarm by sensing each other's movements to prevent overheating or overcooling. A swarm of bees comes together when a queen bee strikes out to form a new colony, bringing a large group of worker bees. While scouts look for a new nest location, the colony forms a living, breathing structure, made of their own bodies, on a nearby tree branch, researchers said. Researchers simulated the same process by attaching a caged queen bee to a moveable board, and waiting for worker bees to cluster around her. Once the cluster was formed, the researchers simulated windy conditions by shaking the board from side to side, watching as the bees moved in unison. As the swarm was shaken the bees spread out across the bottom of the 'cone' they had formed, before returning to their original shape when the rattling stopped. The new paper's authors compared the bees' behaviour to a 'playing Ring a Ring O' Roses' blindfolded. They said: 'You dont know which direction everyone in the circle is moving, but you do know the direction your neighbour is moving because youre holding their hand. 'You dont know when everyone falls down, but you know when to fall down because your neighbour falls down. Researchers simulated windy conditions by shaking a board from side to side, watching as the bees moved in unison. The video reveals how a swarm of bees can stick together when their nests are rattled A swarm of bees comes together when a queen bee strikes out to form a new colony, bringing a large group of worker bees. Researchers simulated the same process by attaching a caged queen bee to a moveable board 'Like bees in a swarm, you follow the cues associated with the local strain from your neighbour.' Jacob Peters, one of the paper's co-authors, said individual bees can tell the direction of the strain based on how their neighbours are reacting. Peters said: 'Because the strains on the swarm are highest at the top of the swarm, where its connected to the branch - or in this case, board - they know to move up. 'All the bees move up together, because they're influenced by this gradient, so it leads to a coordinated movement. 'When we build machines or materials, we use simple control algorithms that are top down, where you have a centralized command that controls all of the moving parts in the machine.' 'But in this system, the bees are achieving this coordinated change in shape without a central controller.' Senior author L. Mahadevan said: 'Our study shows how living systems harness physics to solve complex problems on scales much larger than the individual. 'We demonstrated that bees can harness the physicality of the environment solve a global mechanical stability problem by using local sensing and action.' One of the authors of the study said the research shows how living systems harness physics to solve complex problems on scales much larger than the individual A former employee of Google has warned of the web giant's 'disturbing' plans for a search engine in China which could help Beijing monitor its citizens online. Jack Poulson wrote in a letter to the US Senate's commerce committee that the proposed Dragonfly website was 'tailored to the censorship and surveillance demands of the Chinese government'. In his letter he also claimed that discussion of the plans among Google employees had been 'increasingly stifled'. Mr Poulson was a senior research scientist at Google until he resigned last month in protest at the Dragonfly proposals. A former employee of Google has warned of the web giant's 'disturbing' plans for a search engine in China which could help Beijing monitor its citizens online What is China's internet crackdown? While China is home to the world's largest number of internet users, a 2015 report by US think tank Freedom House found that the country had the most restrictive online use policies of 65 nations it studied, ranking below Iran and Syria. But China has maintained that its various forms of web censorship are necessary for protecting its national security. It has cracked down on VPNs after the passing of a controversial cybersecurity bill last November that tightened restrictions on online freedom of speech and imposed new rules on service providers. Since the regulation took effect this June, authorities have closed dozens of celebrity gossip blogs and issued new rules around online video content to eliminate programmes deemed offensive. Advertisement In his letter, which has been published in full by Business Insider, Mr Poulson told lawmakers about the 'disturbing' plans for Project Dragonfly. He said they included software to allow a Chinese joint venture company to search for a given user's search queries based on their phone number. An alleged list of search terms which could trigger censorship included the English term 'human rights' and the Mandarin for 'student protest' and 'Nobel prize'. Mr Poulson also claimed that air quality figures would be manipulated by the Chinese government so only selected data would appear in search results. He said: 'Each of these details was internally escalated by other employees to no avail, and many of them were discussed extensively on internal mailing lists 'I understand that such discussion has since been increasingly stifled. 'I cannot speak for those who escalated these concerns, but I share their fear of the possible consequences.' Mr Poulson said the proposals were contrary to a set of principles on artificial intelligence released by Google in June this year. Jack Poulson (pictured in an interview with Bloomberg) wrote in a letter to the US Senate's commerce committee that the proposed Dragonfly website was 'tailored to the censorship and surveillance demands of the Chinese government' He pointed to a commitment made by Google not to design 'technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights'. Last month a letter to Google from human rights groups including Amnesty International said the new search engine would be 'an alarming capitulation by Google on human rights'. 'Google risks becoming complicit in the Chinese government's repression of freedom of speech and other human rights in China,' the letter read. More than 1,000 Google employees, six U.S. senators and at least fourteen human rights groups have written to the company expressing concern about its China ambitions. Company employees said in their letter they had only learned about Project Dragonfly through news reports in early August. Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube are blocked in China, but Microsoft's Bing search engine continues to operate. A letter penned by Galileo in the 17th century showed he did tone down his anti-religious beliefs to fool the Catholic Church. In the letter, which had been lost in the Royal Society's library for 250 years, Galileo Galilei set down his argument against the church's belief that the sun orbits the Earth. It was written to a friend on 21 December 1613 and provides the strongest evidence yet that Galileo toned-down his scientific claims to fool the Inquisition and escape jail. The letter has parts crossed out and new words added as Galileo attempted to soften his arguments, scientists have revealed. Scroll down for video A letter penned by Galileo in the 17th century and lost in the Royal Society's library for 250 years showed he toned down his anti-religious beliefs to fool the Inquisition. Pictured is the first and last page of Galileos letter to his friend Benedetto Castelli Galileo is known for discoveries he made using one of the earliest telescopes as well as for fighting with the Catholic church about the position of the sun and the planets. His studies convinced him that Nicolaus Copernicus had been right 100 years earlierthe Earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around. However, after he published a paper titled 'Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,' in 1632 the Inquisition sentenced him to house arrest for the final nine years of his life. The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat public heresy. However, a letter that was written 19 years earlier to Benedetto Castelli, a mathematician at the University of Pisa shows that Galileo had initially toned down his beliefs to dupe the church. This letter was found by Salvatore Ricciardo of the University of Bergamo in the Royal Society library. The letter, which was written to a friend on 21 December 1613, provides the strongest evidence yet that Gelileo toned-down his scientific claims to fool the Catholic Church WHO WAS GALILEO? Galileo, who was born in Pisa in 1564, is considered one of the fathers of modern science. He became an enemy of the Catholic Church, of which he was a member, by challenging its teachings. Clerics eventually denounced him to the Roman Inquisition in 1615 over his support of a heliocentric, or Sun-centered, view of the universe. Although he was cleared of any offence at that time, the Church condemned his belief as false and contrary to Scripture and Galileo promised to stop publicising it. But in 1632, when he defended his views in his most famous work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, he was again tried by the Inquisition. It found he was vehemently suspect of heresy and Galileo was forced to recant and spend the rest of his life under house arrest. However, following his death, evidence for a heliocentric universe became so overwhelming that the Vaticans opposition gradually buckled. In 1737 they finally allowed his body to be buried in consecrated ground and he now lies in Florences Santa Croce church, opposite the tomb of Michelangelo By now because he was so revered, it was decided that parts of his body should be removed and preserved for posterity. Advertisement The letter is significant because it offers proof of an attempt by the scientist to play down his arguments regarding controversial astronomy ideas. In the letter he spelled out his views regarding the placement of the sun and planets and his belief that certain sections of the Bible regarding the place of the Earth in the universe should not be taken literally. For the first time Galileo said that scientific research should be separate from theological doctrine. The letter made it into the hands of a Dominican friar named Niccolo Lorini who passed a copy of it to church authorities. Galileo, who was born in Pisa in 1564, is considered one of the fathers of modern science. He became an enemy of the Catholic Church, of which he was a member, by challenging its teachings Worried that the letter might get him into trouble, Galileo edited certain sections of the original letter to make it more palatable and sent it to a church official, claiming that Lorini had doctored his note. However, the original edited letter was lost to history. Without it, historians have never known whether Galileo tried to prevent trouble by diluting his arguments. Now, that argument seems to have been settled with the discovery of the original letter. 'I thought, 'I can't believe that I have discovered the letter that virtually all Galileo scholars thought to be hopelessly lost,' Dr Ricciardo told the journal Nature. 'It seemed even more incredible because the letter was not in an obscure library, but in the Royal Society library.' While it might be common to assume that Earth rotates around a fixed axis, scientists say that isnt quite the case. Our planet drifts and wobbles as it spins, shifting roughly four inches per year in a phenomenon known as polar motion. But, according to new research, climate change may be making the effect more extreme. A NASA study has found that the 7,500 gigatons of Greenland ice that melted into the ocean during the 20th century played a major role in pushing Earths spin axis. In addition, the researchers found that glacial rebound and mantle convection contribute to the motion too, providing fresh insight on the mass changes that cause our planet to wobble. Scroll down for video Our planet drifts and wobbles as it spins, shifting roughly four inches per year in a phenomenon known as polar motion. The influence of Greenland ice loss (blue), postglacial rebound (yellow) and deep mantle convection (red) are shown Over the course of the 20th century, Earths spin axis drifted more than 11 yards (10 meters). In the past, scientists have attributed polar motion entirely to the effects of glacial rebound, the researchers explain. Glacial rebound is the phenomenon in which the land slowly bounces back to its original position after glaciers melt. But, the new work shows that melting ice particularly that from Greenland has a significant impact on Earths drifting axis. The traditional explanation is that one process, glacial rebound, is responsible for this motion of Earths spin axis, said lead author Surendra Adhikari of NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab. We assembled models for a suite of processes that are thought to be important for driving the motion of the spin axis. We identified not one but three sets of processes that are crucial and melting of the global cryosphere (especially Greenland) over the course of the 20th century is one of them. The team analyzed data spanning the entire 20th century, during which Greenlands ice decreased by about 7,500 gigatons. Given Greenlands location, this has no small effect. A NASA study has found that the 7,500 gigatons of Greenland ice that melted into the ocean during the 20th century played a major role in pushing Earths spin axis. File photo SEA LEVELS COULD RISE BY UP TO 4 FEET BY THE YEAR 2300 Global sea levels could rise as much as 1.2 metres (4 feet) by 2300 even if we meet the 2015 Paris climate goals, scientists have warned. The long-term change will be driven by a thaw of ice from Greenland to Antarctica that is set to re-draw global coastlines. Sea level rise threatens cities from Shanghai to London, to low-lying swathes of Florida or Bangladesh, and to entire nations such as the Maldives. It is vital that we curb emissions as soon as possible to avoid an even greater rise, a German-led team of researchers said in a new report. By 2300, the report projected that sea levels would gain by 0.7-1.2 metres, even if almost 200 nations fully meet goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Targets set by the accords include cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero in the second half of this century. Ocean levels will rise inexorably because heat-trapping industrial gases already emitted will linger in the atmosphere, melting more ice, it said. In addition, water naturally expands as it warms above four degrees Celsius (39.2F). Every five years of delay beyond 2020 in peaking global emissions would mean an extra 20 centimetres (8 inches) of sea level rise by 2300. 'Sea level is often communicated as a really slow process that you can't do much about ... but the next 30 years really matter,' said lead author Dr Matthias Mengel, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in Potsdam, Germany. None of the nearly 200 governments to sign the Paris Accords are on track to meet its pledges. Advertisement There is a geometrical effect that if you have a mass that is the 45 degrees from the North Pole which Greenland is or from the South Pole (like Patagonian glaciers), it will have a bigger impact on shifting Earths spin axis than a mass that is right near the Pole, said co-author Eric Ivans, of JPL. Instead of just one thing driving the shift, researchers say there are three factors to be considered. Mantle convection, which describes the circulation of material in the mantle caused by the Earth from Earths core, also contributes to the wobble. The researchers say the newly identified contributors could help us assess how long-term processes are affecting polar motion and now climate change may be accelerating it. Unsettling new footage captured in the Amazon last year just might have you double-checking the insect screens on your windows tonight. An ecologist working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research has documented the disturbing moment a moth slurps tears straight out of a sleeping birds eye, using its long proboscis to pry the eyelids open. And, while its rare to witness, scientists say this behaviour isnt all that uncommon. Ecologist Leandro Moraes captured the moment in November 17 while working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil. It might seem odd behaviour, but the expert says drinking tears can help moths to get nutrients they might be lacking The unnerving encounter shared by Science last week is the subject of a new paper published this month in the journal Ecology. In the brief clip, a black-chinned antbird can be seen snoozing on a branch, unaware of the moth perched atop its head. While it at first appears little more than an innocuous insect using the bird as a place to rest, a closer look reveals something much, much creepier. In the 19-second clip, the moth probes around the birds eye with its straw-like appendage, at times even pulling the sleeping animals eye wide open. But, the snoozing antbird never wakes up to realize whats going on. Ecologist Leandro Moraes captured the moment in November 2017 while working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil. An ecologist working with the National Institute of Amazonian Research has documented the disturbing moment a moth slurps tears straight out of a sleeping birds eye, using its long proboscis to pry the eyelids open In the brief clip, a black-chinned antbird can be seen snoozing on a branch, unaware of the moth perched atop its head While its only been recorded twice before, the researcher managed to spot a second such interaction just 45 minutes after seeing the first, according to Science. The vertebrate tear-feeding on birds by moths is a rarely documented event, with only two known records from Madagascar and Colombia, Moraes explained in a new paper about the encounter. In these events, the moths insert their morphologically adapted proboscis on the target species ocular area to feed on their tears. Similar behaviour has been seen in a number of different animals, with butterflies known to even sip from the eyes of basking crocodiles. HOW DO YOU STOP MOTHS FROM INFESTING YOUR HOME? English Heritage has drawn up a guide to stopping moth infestations based on 20 years of experience protecting historic collections from insect pests. The top tips for preventing clothes moth infestations include: - Check for moths in the creases, folds and behind labels of clothing - Keep your items in vacuum bags to stop clothes moths reaching them - Take out items from the wardrobe and give them a good shake at least once a month to disturb the moths - Failing that, declutter your wardrobes of any clothes you dont wear regularly - Moths hide in dark and hidden areas, so vacuum every nook and cranny, including inside wardrobes, when you clean the home - Avoid buying second-hand furniture, clothes and upholstery is they can contain moths or their larvae - Moths like warm spaces: Turn off the radiators in your home once it gets warm in summer and open all the windows regularly to allow air to circulate Advertisement But, since birds are fast-moving targets, moths take the opportunity to swoop in once theyve settled down to sleep. It might seem odd behaviour, but the expert says drinking tears can help moths to get any nutrients they might be lacking. Although one currently known moth is an obligatory lachryphagous species, most of them feed on tears as a supplementary method to obtain nutrients, mainly sodium and protein, Moraes explains. And, though its unsettling to watch, the bird doesnt seem all that disturbed. Advertisement Stunning new maps covering over 2,000 square kilometers of northern Guatemala have revealed the site of an ancient Maya mega-city hidden in the dense tropical forest. Researchers uncovered more than 61,000 ancient structures at the site using LiDAR technology, which relies on laser pulses to map out the topography. Evidence from the exhaustive survey supports earlier suspicions that upwards of 11 million people lived in the Maya Lowlands from the year 650 to 800 CE. The experts also say the discovery shows the ancient people modified the wetlands for their agricultural needs, and even created networks of roadways to connect distant cities and towns. The researchers have now published the results of what they say is the largest LiDAR survey to date, months after first revealing their remarkable discovery. The sprawling 'megalopolis' found beneath the forest canopy in northern Peten includes pyramids, palaces, and causeways created by a massive pre-Columbian civilization. The discovery suggests that Central America supported a civilization that was, at its peak 1,500 years ago, more advanced than ancient Greek and Chinese cultures. The landscape may have been home to up to 15 million individuals and the abundance of defensive walls, ramparts and fortresses suggests that warfare was rife throughout their existence and not just at the end. Stunning new maps covering over 2,000 square kilometers of northern Guatemala have revealed the site of an ancient Maya megacity hidden in the dense tropical forest. Researchers uncovered more than 61,000 ancient structures at the site using LiDAR technology Evidence from the exhaustive survey supports earlier suspicions that upwards of 11 million people lived in the Maya Lowlands from the year 650 to 800 CE. The sprawling 'megalopolis' found beneath the forest canopy in northern Peten includes pyramids, palaces, and causeways created by a massive pre-Columbian civilization The exhaustive survey relied on LiDAR technology, which uses laser pulses to map out the topography and land cover in 3D. This allowed them to peer through the dense forest cover 'I think this is one of the greatest advances in over 150 years of Maya archaeology,' Stephen Houston, Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology at Brown University told the BBC earlier this year. 'I know it sounds hyperbolic but when I saw the [Lidar] imagery, it did bring tears to my eyes.' Scientists made the discovery using Lidar technology, which is short for 'light detection and ranging.' Aircraft with a LiDAR scanner produced three-dimensional maps of the surface by using light in the form of pulsed laser linked to a GPS system. This technique allowed researchers to map outlines of what they describe as dozens of newly discovered Maya cities hidden under thick jungle foliage centuries after they were abandoned by their original inhabitants. While the heavily forested environment conceals much of the Maya Lowlands, the LiDAR survey has allowed researchers to map and characterize the structures hiding throughout the region The Maya lowland city of Tikal seen from above the dense trees. The experts also say the discovery shows the ancient people modified the wetlands for their agricultural needs, and even created networks of roadways to connect distant cities and towns The experts also say the discovery shows the ancient people modified the wetlands for their agricultural needs, and even created networks of roadways to connect distant cities and towns As well as previously unknown structures, the images show raised highways that linked together urban centers and quarries. They also found advanced irrigation and terracing systems that supported agriculture in for a civilisation that was one of the most advanced to arise in Mesoamerica. Mayans are known for their sophisticated mathematics and engineering that allowed it to spread throughout present-day Central America and southern Mexico. 'Now it is no longer necessary to cut through the jungle to see what's under it,' said Marcello Canuto, one of the project's top investigators. 'The fortified structures and large causeways reveal modifications to the natural landscape made by the Maya on a previously unimaginable scale,' said Francisco Estrada-Belli of Tulane University. Newly released images have revealed a stunning look at the site of an ancient Mayan 'megalopolis' in Guatemala, which now lies buried beneath the jungle foliage. Using LiDAR technology, the researchers are able to probe the dense jungle foliage to accurately map out the structures hidden beneath, as seen above The team of archaeologists surveyed more than 810 square miles (2,100 sq km) of the Peten jungle which borders Mexico and Belize. They found some 60,000 structures were found over the past two years These findings are a 'revolution in Maya archaeology,' said Dr Canuto. The team of archaeologists surveyed more than 810 square miles (2,100 sq km) of the Peten jungle which borders Mexico and Belize. They found some 60,000 structures were found over the past two years. The new discoveries include urban centres with sidewalks, homes, terraces, ceremonial centres, irrigation canals and fortifications. Their findings revealed a pyramid in the heart of the ancient Maya city of Tikal, a major tourist destination in northeastern Guatemala. Their findings revealed a pyramid in the heart of the ancient Maya city of Tikal, a major tourist destination in northeastern Guatemala. The new discoveries include urban centres with sidewalks, homes, terraces, ceremonial centres, irrigation canals and fortifications Aircraft with a LiDAR scanner produced three-dimensional maps of the surface by using light in the form of pulsed laser linked to a GPS system. As well as previously unknown structures, the images show raised highways that linked together urban centers and quarries LiDAR remote sensing technology allows archaeologists to hunt for sites of interest from a distance LiDAR (light detection and ranging) is a remote sensing technology that measures distance by shooting a laser at a target and analysing the light that is reflected back. The technology was developed in the early 1960s and uses laser imaging with radar technology that can calculate distances. It was first used in meteorology to measure clouds by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The term lidar is a portmanteau of 'light and 'radar.' Lidar uses ultraviolet, visible, or near infrared light to image objects and can be used with a wide range of targets, including non-metallic objects, rocks, rain, chemical compounds, aerosols, clouds and even single molecules. A narrow laser beam can be used to map physical features with very high resolution. This new technique allowed researchers to map outlines of what they describe as dozens of newly discovered Maya cities hidden under thick jungle foliage centuries after they were abandoned by their original inhabitants. Aircraft with a Lidar scanner produced three-dimensional maps of the surface by using light in the form of pulsed laser linked to a GPS system. The technology helped researchers discover sites much faster than using traditional archaeological methods. Advertisement Also discovered in Tika were a series of pits and a 14 kilometre-long wall. The pyramid measures nearly 100 feet (30 meters) tall and was previously thought to be a small mountain. The earliest Maya settlements were constructed around 1,000 B.C., and most major Maya cities collapsed by 900 A.D. The civilisation reached its height in what is present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras between 250 and 950 AD. Researchers now believe that the Maya had a population of 10 to 15 million, which is 'much higher' than previous estimates, Dr Canuto said. The cause of the collapse remains the focus of intense academic debate. 'The LiDAR images make it clear that this entire region was a settlement system whose scale and population density had been grossly underestimated,' Thomas Garrison, an Ithaca College archaeologist and National Geographic Explorer told National Geographic. The earliest Maya settlements were constructed around 1,000 B.C., and most major Maya cities collapsed by 900 A.D. They found some 60,000 structures were found over the past two years WHAT CAUSED THE COLLAPSE OF THE MAYAN CIVILISATION? For hundreds of years the Mayans dominated large parts of the Americas until, mysteriously in the 8th and 9th century AD, a large chunk of the Mayan civilisation collapsed. The reason for this collapse has been hotly debated, but now scientists say they might have an answer - an intense drought that lasted a century. Studies of sediments in the Great Blue Hole in Belize suggest a lack of rains caused the disintegration of the Mayan civilisation, and a second dry spell forced them to relocate elsewhere. The theory that a drought led to a decline of the Mayan Classic Period is not entirely new, but the new study co-authored by Dr Andre Droxler from Rice University in Texas provides fresh evidence for the claims. The Maya who built Chichen Itza came to dominate the Yucatan Peninsula in southeast Mexico, shown above, for hundreds of years before dissappearing mysteriously in the 8th and 9th century AD Dozens of theories have attempted to explain the Classic Maya Collapse, from epidemic diseases to foreign invasion. With his team Dr Droxler found that from 800 to 1000 AD, no more than two tropical cyclones occurred every two decades, when usually there were up to six. This suggests major droughts occurred in these years, possibly leading to famines and unrest among the Mayan people. And they also found that a second drought hit from 1000 to 1100 AD, corresponding to the time that the Mayan city of Chichen Itza collapsed. Researchers say a climate reversal and drying trend between 660 and 1000 AD triggered political competition, increased warfare, overall sociopolitical instability, and finally, political collapse - known as the Classic Maya Collapse. This was followed by an extended drought between AD 1020 and 1100 that likely corresponded with crop failures, death, famine, migration and, ultimately, the collapse of the Maya population. Advertisement Researchers have found complex irrigation and terracing systems that suggest there was intensive agriculture in the area which could have fed masses of workers. At its peak in the Maya classic period (around 250 AD to 900 AD) the civilisation covered an area twice the size of medieval England, researchers say. The causeways are also connected, suggesting they were heavily trafficked and used for regional trade. The survey is the first part of the PACUNAM LiDAR Initiative that will eventually map more than 5,000 square miles (14,000 square kilometres) of Guatemala. Lost Cities of the Maya: Revealed will be aired on Sunday 11th February at 8pm on Channel 4. For as long as I can remember, Ive been waiting for the chance to travel on Black Watch and discover why it is such a firm favourite with Fred. Olsen fans. The ship was built in Finland in 1972 and named the Royal Viking Star. It was rated at the time as one of the five most luxurious ships in the world. She joined the Fred. Olsen fleet in 1996, when she became Black Watch. Just like Cleopatra, it seems that age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety. Glorious: Geirangerfjord - one of the stunning spots that passengers experience on the cruise I have sailed many times south from the UK, usually from Southampton to the Mediterranean, but this was my first venture northbound, leaving from Liverpool. Its only when you sail to the very top of the UK that you begin to realise how little of our own country we know or have visited. Liverpool may be described as a Northern city, yet it is barely at the midpoint. (As the crow flies, Liverpool is 270 miles from Southampton, but 480 miles from Wick at Scotlands northern mainland extremity.) As I bade farewell to the home of the Liver Birds, I hurried below to begin my explorations. This nine-night sailing was the perfect chance to get the measure of a much-loved vessel. Fred. Olsen has not been resting on its laurels. Black Watch enjoyed a substantial, multi-million-pound refurbishment two years ago, which gave the ship a new, yet traditional look. The public areas have been redesigned and updated, and all 423 cabins have been refurbished. From Liverpool it takes two days to reach the coast of Norway plenty of time to explore the ships various nooks and crannies. This serene couple of days offered a calm before the sightseeing storm. I had explored the coastal charms of Alaska but I would have to say they are small beer in comparison with the epic splendours of Norway. The stunning Seven Sisters Waterfall. Doreen says: 'All you can do is stand in open-mouthed astonishment' A scenic appetiser is served with a gentle cruise of glorious Geiranger-fjord en route to Hellesylt and the chance to gape at the spectacular Seven Sisters waterfall: all you can do is stand in open-mouthed astonishment. On arriving in Hellesylt I explored the surrounding mountains, valleys and trails the Hellesylt waterfall is unforgettable: also worth a look are the Tystigen glacier and Hornindalsvatnet, Europes deepest lake. So the pattern is set for each day of discovery: Sunnylvs- fjorden, Olden, Nordfjord, Hornelen and my favourite Flam with a glorious train ride up the sunbathed mountains to visit another spectacular waterfall. So after calling at Naeroyfjord and Bergen, we were homeward bound, alas. There was one more treat in store: we called at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, one of the highlights of the trip. Now Ive discovered the magic of Black Watch and Ive joined the club of devoted fans! Go with the flow and let a floating hotel bring the sights to you. Whether it's seeing Vienna or cruising down to rivers of Vietnam, you can see it all without moving far. Heres our pick of some of the best river cruises to book now... Let a top chef show you Vietnam and Cambodia A cooking cruise on the Mekong from Vietnam to Cambodia takes in locations such as Ho Chi Minh City, pictured Australian chef Luke Nguyen will host a cruise on the Mekong from Vietnam to Cambodia next year. He will guide you around Old Saigon, where his parents used to live, then teach you some of his favourite dishes at his cookery school. On board luxury AmaLotus, he will take charge of the galley to create a welcome dinner. Over the next seven days youll see the differences between busy Vietnam and slower-paced Cambodia, exploring ashore on foot, in rickshaws and ox carts. Seeing the sun rise behind Angkor Wat is a special occasion, so champagne corks will pop for a toast to the dawn. The 16-day trip, including a seven-night cruise and three-night hotel stay in Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap starts on November 28, 2019. (aptouring.co.uk, 0800 046 3002). France is simply Gorge-ous The Pont d'Arc in Ardeche Gorge in France. It's one of the stunning sights on a seven-night cruise around France that starts in Lyon Starting in Lyons, where the Rhone and the Soane rivers meet, a Treasures Of Burgundy & Provence cruise takes you wine-tasting in Beaune and to see the Ardeche Gorge, the Grand Canyon of Europe. A man-made wonder, almost as eye-popping, is the Pont du Gard, the soaring Roman aqueduct near Avignon. A walking tour will take you to the spots where Van Gogh set up his easel in Arles. Amadeus Provence sails round-trip from Lyons for seven nights on April 4, 2019. (amadeus-rivercruising.co.uk, 0800 035 6411). Discover Ancient Egypt With the help of expert guides youll learn to read hieroglyphics at the temples of Luxor, pictured, on a cruise of the Nile in Egypt Explore the temples and tombs of the Ancient Egyptians on a cruise on the Nile. With the help of expert guides youll learn to read hieroglyphics at the temples of Luxor and Karnak, and discover the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. In Aswan youll visit the High Dam and take a ride in a white-sailed felucca you can also join a trip to see the rock temples of Abu Simbel. The holiday starts with three nights in Cairo to see the treasures of Tutankhamun at the Egyptian Museum and visit the Great Pyramids at Giza on a camel, if you dare. The 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids tours including a one-week Nile cruise which departs in August, November and December 2019 and January 2020. (vikingrivercruises.co.uk, 0800 319 6660). Oh Vienna... and Budapest Inside the Mosque of Pasha Gazi Kasim in the centre of Budapest, Hungary Take a cruise on the Lower Danube to the less-visited countries bordered by the second-longest river in Europe. Youll embark in Vienna, where you can take a bike tour of the sights before you set sail for a one-week cruise to Belgrade. You will head eastwards, first to dock in the centre of Budapest, with hilly old Buda on one bank and flat, more modern Pest on the other. In Pecs, the domed Mosque of Pasha Gazi Kasim a few minutes walk from the Romanesque St Peter and St Paul Cathedral is a reminder that Hungary was under Ottoman rule for 150 years in the 16th and 17th Centuries. In Osijek youll meet a Croatian family over a home-cooked lunch, and in Serbias capital, Belgrade, you can go behind the scenes at the magnificent National Theatre. A seven-night Lower Danube Waltz cruise on Emerald Dawn sails from Vienna to Belgrade on August 3, 2019. (emeraldwaterways.co.uk, 0808 115 6269). A French Loire fairy tale The Loire Valley is a favourite destination for Britons holidaying in France with a car. But now you can hand the driving over to the captain of the Loire Princesse, which has special paddle wheels so it can navigate the rivers shallow waters. On the only hotel boat on the Loire, youll sail from Nantes, with its own giant, mechanical elephant striding along the waterfront, to Saint- Nazaire. Sailing back upstream, you can visit Angers castle to see the Apocalypse Tapestry, and some of the enchanting chateaux of the Loire, including Chateau dUsse, inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Six-night cruises aboard Loire Princesse sail round-trip from Nantes from April to October 2019. (croisieurope.co.uk, 020 8328 1281). See the Rhine on fire Cruise passengers can see the Rhine on fire while sailing through Koblenz in Germany The Rhine in Flames is a spectacular festival famous for its flotilla of lit- up boats. And when the sky above Ehrenbritstein Fortress, high above Koblenz at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle, bursts into colour with fireworks, you can have the best view from the deck of your boat. The cruise will also take you to the German towns of Boppard, Rudesheim and Mannheim. Depart on August 9, 2019, travelling by train to Strasbourg for the four-night round-trip cruise. (shearings.com, 0344 874 8220). Garonne gastronomy There will be a new ultra-luxury boat sailing from Bordeaux on the Garonne, Gironde and Dordogne rivers next year. The former River Royale will emerge from a transformation as SS Bon Voyage. There will be classes in French cookery and wine as well as lunches with local cheeses and charcuterie by the new pool. The gastronomic theme continues with wine-tasting at great chateaux. Brilliant Bordeaux, seven-night cruises aboard new SS Bon Voyage start on April 14, 2019. (uniworld.com, 0808 149 4722). The EU has ordered Ryanair to respect its workers' rights ahead of another strike on Friday that will see 150 flights cut. The Dublin-based no-frills carrier said that it would cancel six per cent of flights on Friday amid walk-outs by cabin crew in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Ryanair pilots in Germany will also walk out in a strike that trade unions have claimed will be the biggest strike in the carrier's history. It comes after the European Commission ordered the airline to give workers contracts in the country they live in rather than in Ireland, where its planes are registered, adding 'respecting EU law is not something workers should have to negotiate'. The EU has ordered no-frills airline Ryanair to respect its workers' rights ahead of another strike tomorrow that will see 150 flights cut Ryanair staff have been seeking higher wages and an end to the practice of working as independent contractors without the benefits of staff employees. They also claim that not being employed in their home countries creates huge insecurity for them, blocking their access to state benefits. EU Social Affairs Commissioner Marianne Thyssen said that air crews should be employed under contracts from the country where they work. Speaking after a meeting with Ryanair's combative CEO Michael O'Leary, she said: 'The internal market is not a jungle; it has clear rules on fair labour mobility and worker protection. This is not an academic debate, but about concrete social rights of workers.' She said she had made this very clear to Mr O'Leary. Mr O'Leary countered the argument by saying that the demand was 'irrelevant' as the company had already written to unions in all EU countries offering to move staff to local contracts. But Belgian union CNE said that while the airline had agreed to follow local employment law, it wanted to do so from March 2020 and it added that this change would only affect about half of its workers. Mr O'Leary said: 'The issue of applicable law is irrelevant in Ryanairs case since Ryanair has already written to the unions in Belgium (and all other EU countries) offering to agree the implementation of local (Belgium) law, social taxes and court jurisdiction by agreement with the national unions.' Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, who met with EU social affairs commissioner Marianne Thyssen But Ms Thyssen added in a statement: 'Respecting the law is not something over which workers should have to negotiate and not something that can be postponed to a later date.' Ryanair said in a statement that the vast majority of its 2,400 flights on Friday 'will be unaffected by these unnecessary strikes and will operate as scheduled'. All affected customers received email and text message notifications on Tuesday to advise them of cancellations and options, Ryanair said. 'We sincerely apologise to those customers affected by these unnecessary strikes on Friday which we have done our utmost to avoid,' it said. At a press conference O'Leary called for the cancellation of the strike, threatening to shrink Ryanair's fleet at two Brussels airports if it went ahead. Last month, Ryanair pilots across Europe staged a co-ordinated 24-hour strike to push their demands for better pay and conditions, plunging tens of thousands of passengers into transport chaos at the peak of the busy summer season. In July, strikes by cockpit and cabin crew disrupted 600 flights in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, affecting 100,000 travellers. This week, Ryanair signed deals with cabin crew unions in Italy to provide employment contracts under Italian law. And on Wednesday the airline said it had submitted a complaint to the European Commission citing 'anti-competitive behaviours' over the fact that employees of other airlines were involved in calling strikes in several countries across Europe. It called on the Commission to investigate the 'collective campaign,' which it said included the European Cockpit Association and the International Transport Workers' Federation. 'Ryanair's business is being damaged by unnecessary strikes and disruptive interference in our bona fide union negotiations, promoted and coordinated by competitor airline employees, their unions and lobby groups,' the airline said in a statement. Unions have said union members from other airlines have been assisting Ryanair staff due to the fact that they have a number of years of experience in dealing with union negotiations, while most Ryanair staff have very little. Advertisement Billionaires, cheque books at the ready - because the best superyachts in the world in 2018 have been recognised at the Monaco Yacht Show. An awards ceremony that took place on Tuesday evening at Le Meridien Beach Plaza Hotel in Monte Carlo handed out gongs for three categories - 'best interior design', 'best exterior', and 'environment'. The winners all have eye-watering price tags - up to 133 million ($175 million) - and have jaw-dropping features, including state-of-the-art gyms, helipads and interiors resembling five-star hotels. Scroll down and feast your eyes on them. Interior design award - Illusion Plus, 110.3 million ($145 million) Illusion Plus, from the Chinese shipyard Pride Mega Yachts, took home the Monaco Yacht Show interior design award The interiors were fashioned by Netherlands-based Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design, with fine woods and polished natural stone used throughout One of the lounge areas boasts sweeping panoramas, neutral interiors and soft lighting The vessel, which is on sale for $145million (110million), can accommodate 12 guests and 25 crew Illusion Plus, from the Chinese shipyard Pride Mega Yachts, took home the Monaco Yacht Show interior design award. With an impressive volume of 3,642 gross tonnes, she is the largest yacht ever built in Asia. The interiors were fashioned by Netherlands-based Sinot Exclusive Yacht Design, with fine woods and polished natural stone used throughout. Other standout features of the slick boat include a state-of-the-art gym, two Jacuzzi pools, a touch-and-go helipad and a spa. The vessel, which is on sale for 110.3million ($145 million), can accommodate 12 guests and 25 crew. Exterior design award - Dar, 133.1 million ($175 million) The jaw-dropping megayacht Dar, built by the Dutch shipyard Oceanco, took home the award for having the best exterior design and another for being the finest new build on the market The 295-foot-long vessel, which is valued at $175 million, took home the award for having the best exterior design and another for being the finest new build on the market The jaw-dropping megayacht Dar, built by the Dutch shipyard Oceanco, won two gongs on Tuesday evening. The 295-foot-long vessel, which is valued at 133.1 million ($175 million), took home the award for having the best exterior design and another for being the finest new build on the market. Her top speed is 20 knots and her power comes from two diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 12 people with 31 crew members. Dar was designed by Miami-based Luiz De Basto, while the interiors were created by Nuvolari Lenard from Italy. Environmental award - Solo, weekly summer charter price of 578,496 ($760,000) Genoa-based Tankoa Yachts' 236-foot superyacht Solo made her debut at the Monaco Yacht Show after launching last month The boat, which has a weekly summer charter price of 578,496 ($760,000), took home an environmentally focused award established by the Italian classification company Rina Genoa-based Tankoa Yachts' 236-foot superyacht Solo made her debut at the Monaco Yacht Show after launching last month. The boat, which has a weekly summer charter price of 578,496 ($760,000), took home an environmentally focused award established by the Italian classification company Rina (Registro Italiano Navale). It boasts underwater catalytic exhausts to reduce emissions. This design feature also means the outdoor decks are smell and smoke free. She can accommodate 12 guests and 18 crew members, with a stateroom and master suite on offer. Other perks of the vessel include a sauna, swimming pool, helipad, massage room and gym. During sea trials Solo reached top speeds in excess of 17 knots. People could be banned from carrying alcohol around the streets of Venice in the latest bid to crackdown on rowdy tourists. The Italian city is said to be considering fining anybody carrying booze after 7pm - even if it is in a sealed shopping bag. It comes after complaints that tourists are becoming drunk in Venice's squares and public places. Fines would be handed out to those without a 'justifiable reason' for carrying alcohol. People could be banned from carrying alcohol around the streets of Venice in the latest bid to crackdown on rowdy tourists According to the Italian ANSA news agency, Venice police commander Marco Agostini said the new proposal would not stop anybody leaving a supermarket with alcohol. However, he added that it would target people who 'go around drunk and has a bag with three bottles of beer inside'. News of the proposal comes just a week after it was revealed tourists visiting Venice may also be banned from sitting on the ground, in a bid to rid the city of 'boorish' visitors. Authorities in the Italian holiday hot spot are proposing fining people between 50 and 500 euros (44 and 443) if they are caught sitting or lying on the floor. Authorities in the Italian holiday hot spot are proposing fining people between 50 and 500 euros (44 and 443) if they are caught sitting or lying on the floor But some residents groups have hit back at the proposal saying there are so many rules in Venice now that they're impossible to police. Florence, too, has been policing its image fairly heavily - it has introduced fines of up to 450 for eating in the street. In the capital Rome there has also been a crackdown on unruly tourists and authorities have even considered fencing off the celebrated Spanish Steps to protect them from 'barbarian' hordes of sightseers. Last year, the city considered barring tourists from stopping next to the Trevi Fountain to crack down on illegal swimming there. And in Milan earlier this year, visitors were banned from taking pictures with selfie sticks. Advertisement These fascinating photos show how British Airways uniforms for pilots and cabin crew have changed over the decades. They include the very latest look, which won't be around for too much longer because Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng has just been commissioned to design the national flag carrier's new uniform. It will be revealed next year to coincide with BA's centenary. The images here show how the BA look has changed from a safari-style pilot's uniform that was worn in the 1930s to the sleek skirts, jackets and hats worn by cabin crew today. The British Airways uniforms from across the decades. Pictured from left: (1) Julien Macdonald 2003 flight crew; (2) Julien Macdonald 2003 cabin crew; (3) Paul Costelloe 1993 cabin crew; (4) Roland Klein 1985 cabin crew; (5) Roland Klein 1985 cabin crew; (6) Roland Klein 1985 summer dress version 1 cabin crew; (7) Roland Klein 1985 summer dress verson 2 cabin crew; (8) Baccarat Weatherall 1977 cabin crew; (9) BEA Hardy Amies 1972 cabin crew; (10) BOAC Clive Evans 1970 cabin crew; (11) BOAC Clive Evans 1970 cabin crew; (12) BEA Hardy Amies cabin crew 1967 cabin crew; (13) Paper dress 1967 BOAC for cabin crew flying from New York to the Caribbean; (14) BEA John Cavangh 1960 cabin crew; (15) BEA 1954 to 1960 cabin crew; (16) BOAC Maurice Helman 1946 cabin crew and (17) an Imperial Airways pilot uniform from the 1930s. BEA and BOAC merged in 1974 to create British Airways. Imperial Airways merged into BOAC in 1939 The carrier had three predecessors - Imperial Airways (1924 to 1939), British Overseas Air Corporation (BOAC - 1940 to 1974) and British European Airways (BEA - 1946 to 1974), which over time all merged into becoming BA. Imperial pilots wore a khaki-coloured jacket with matching shorts and long socks pulled up to the knees. As air travel grew in the 1950s and 60s, cabin crew uniforms changed drastically with the BOAC and BEA uniforms consisting of a smart skirt with a fitted jacket and small hat. In the late 60s, the outfits experimented with colour and in 1967, BOAC introduced a floral paper dress that flight attendants wore when flying to and from the Caribbean. Two of the flight crew uniforms from across the ages. Pictured left is the current BA pilot uniform while right is the uniform worn by pilots of Imperial Airways in the 1930s And in the 1970s, BOAC crew wore bright blue and pink short shift dresses. British Airways launched in 1974 and its first new uniform took to the skies in 1977, designed by the Baccarat Weatherall Fashion House. The cabin crew uniform consisted of a dark-blue pinstripe suit along with a small brimmed hat. The next re-design came in 1985 when French designer Roland Klein was picked to revamp the outfits, which included red, white and blue striped dresses. In 1993, Irish-American designer Paul Costelloe created cabin crew uniforms - again which included long patterned dresses and navy blue jackets. And then 10 years later Julien Macdonald, best known for creating evening wear for the likes of Kylie Minogue, designed the current BA uniforms. Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng, who has also been the creative director at Givenchy Homme. He has been commissioned to design the new BA uniforms His designs have been described as sharp navy-blue retro style suits which, according to BA, hark back to the pioneering days of aviation. Mr Boateng is known for bringing a modern contemporary twist to the classic British institution of tailoring - so the fashion world will no doubt be very excited to see what he comes up with for the airline's 32,000 employees. He started his career in fashion in 1986 and became the first tailor to host a catwalk show at Paris Fashion Week. As well as being the youngest tailor to open a store in Savile Row, Mr Boateng was the creative director at Givenchy Homme from 2002 to 2006. The tailor will be working closely with the airline's employees throughout the development process, from shadowing them to understand their roles and how the uniforms need to perform, to design, testing and final delivery. He said: 'I am really excited about creating this new uniform for British Airways. It is important for me to create something that makes all of British Airways' 32,000 uniform-wearing employees across the world excited, at the same time as enabling me to really demonstrate my skills as a designer. 'British Airways is investing 4.5 billion over the next five years and the uniform I design will form part of that, so I'm looking forward to taking a uniform and refining it into a collection.' Somewhere between Made In Chelsea: Croatia and the new 16th series, four cast members on the hit E4 reality show have either popped the question or had the question popped to them. As the show prepares to return to screens on October 8, regular stars Louise Thompson and Ryan Libbey will be back as a betrothed couple, after Ryan popped the question over the summer. Meanwhile, Ollie Locke's boyfriend Gareth popped the question on Sunday - and will make a brief cameo in the forthcoming series. Betrothed in Chelsea: MIC returns for a 16th season in October - and will follow the aftermath of Croatia, as well as the newly engaged Ollie Locke [pictured R with fiance Gareth], Louise Thompson and Ryan Libbey [L] and Oliver Proudlock Oliver Proudlock also returns having asked his girlfriend Emma Connolly to marry him in August. The latter pair have been together for years, but Emma - who is a model - has forgone any appearances on the series. Louise and Ryan, however, will likely feature the run-up to their big day - and hopefully the day itself - on the show. Although they are not expected to tie the knot this year. This is the first string of engagements to actually take place on the show. Since MIC's inception, the likes of Millie Mackintosh and Hugo Taylor have got together and wed, but they left the series in seasons five and three respectively. He put a ring on it: Proudlock returns having asked his girlfriend Emma Connolly to marry him in August A couple of couples: Fans will be hoping for a wedding worthy of Heidi and Spencer Pratt from The Hills, when it comes to Louise and Ryan. And with that should bring back familiar faces from the past Love is love: Louise and Ryan will likely feature the run-up to their big day - and hopefully the day itself - on the show. Although they are not expected to tie the knot this year Fans will be hoping for a wedding worthy of Heidi and Spencer Pratt from The Hills, when it comes to Louise and Ryan. And with that should bring back familiar faces from the past. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast will be settling back into normality as they know it in London, after their intense two months in Croatia together this summer. The story is set to pick up after Harry Baron and Sam Thompson seemingly ended their long-standing friendship, over a ruckus with 'Vegas Diana'. Loved up: Ollie's boyfriend Gareth popped the question on Sunday - and will make a brief cameo in the forthcoming series. Proudlock's other half Emma has forgone any appearances on the series, however Back to London: The cast will be settling back into normality as they know it in Chelsea, after their intense two months in Croatia together this summer Bringing the glam: Fashionista Sophie Hermann will also be returning, as she helps Miles Nazaire kickstart a career as a model, with the help of fitness fanatic Proudlock Sam and on/off flame Sophie 'Habbs' Habboo were last seen rekindling their romance, much to the chagrin of Sam's sister, bride-to-be Louise. But a teaser at the end of last season suggested this will go south as soon as they touch back down in London. Things also came to an end between Olivia Bentley and Digby Edgley, after a rocky few months of trying to salvage their damaged dalliance. And it seems Digby is enjoying the single life a little too much, too soon. The series also sees a return by on/off cast member Emily Blackwell, who was last seen on the show a year ago. It's unknown precisely what drama she brings with her this time - although last year it mostly centered around Harry, who is now living with girlfriend Melissa Tattam. Feud: The story is set to pick up after Harry Baron [L] and Sam Thompson [R] seemingly ended their long-standing friendship, over a ruckus with 'Vegas Diana' They're back: [L-R] Victoria Baker Harber and Olivia Bentley will grace screens once again in season 16 The only cast member to feature in the show since episode one, Mark Francis Vandelli, will also be back, along with pal Victoria Baker Harber. Glamorous fashionista Sophie Hermann will also be returning, as she helps Miles Nazaire kickstart a career as a model, with the help of fitness fanatic Proudlock. A show source also promised that 'there may also be a surprise appearance or two along the way...' MIC producer Kelly Lynn said of the latest season: 'What happens in Croatia certainly doesnt stay in Croatia and with the full cast back together, the drama is at an all-time high. 'Im excited for viewers to tune in and catch-up with the gang on familiar territory, and with three Chelsea engagements, there is even more reason to celebrate.' Made In Chelsea returns to E4 on Monday 8 October at 9PM. Monika Radulovic and Alesandro Ljubicic waited four years to say 'I do' to each other. But after the couple exchanged their vows in March this year, their time to enjoy wedded bliss was cut short as the former Miss Universe Australia was whisked away to Samoa to film Australian Survivor. The 28-year-old told Who magazine that she often jokes that being on the show was her 'solo honeymoon'. 'I went away to a tropical island without my husband': Monika Radulovic says being on Survivor was 'her honeymoon' as filming began just one month after her wedding to Alesandro Ljubicic Solo honeymoon! The 28-year-old jokes that being on the show was like her honeymoon 'I went away to a tropical island without my husband,' she said. While the newlyweds could not speak to each other over the telephone while Monkia was away on the island, Alesandro made the brunette beauty several videos and played them to her upon her return. 'When I got home I saw how much I am a big part of his life. He made me videos while I was away,' she explained. 'I went away to a tropical island without my husband': Filming for Australian Survivor began a month after the couple's wedding. Former Miss Universe Australia in Bali 'If he was out and about or came home from work ... he recorded what he would say to me if I was there. It was amazing.' Monika met her artist husband in 2012 on social media. She told Vogue Australia: 'We chatted online for about two days until Alesandro asked if I wanted to go to the movies with him as he had been given some free tickets. 'I politely declined saying I was busy. One of my girlfriends was having birthday drinks the night after though, so I invited Alesandro along thinking it would be the perfect way to meet in person and with my friends around so I could give them "the look" to save me in case we didnt get along.' Plans for the future? Monika has said in the past that she is keen to grow her family with her man, but for now will stick with a puppy But she has since described that first in person meeting as 'love at first sight'. They fell in love were engaged for four years before tying the knot in March this year. Monika has said in the past that she is keen to grow her family with her man. But she said that the pair aren't ready for children just yet, but want to get a puppy soon. 'We're focusing on our careers and just enjoying being together, but I would love a dog though, that would be the dream,' the model told The Daily Telegraph in August. Billy Slater and his wife Nicole were ruthlessly trolled on social media after they stepped out at the Dally M Awards in Sydney on Wednesday night. Nicole arrived at NRL's night of nights looking very bronzed in a Jason Grech gown alongside her champion fullback husband, who was recently found not guilty of a shoulder charge against Sharks winger Sosaia Feki. The mockery began shortly after photos of the couple surfaced online, with trolls questioning whether the Melbourne Storm star had 'shoulder charged his partner into the tanning booth'. 'Did he shoulder charge her into the tanning booth?' NRL star Billy Slater (left) and his wife Nicole (right) were ruthlessly trolled on social media after she arrived at the Dally M Awards in Sydney on Wednesday looking VERY bronzed 'Did he shoulder charge her into the tanning booth?' one anonymous Instagram user asked, before another wrote: 'Surprised he didnt shoulder charge her to be in the photo alone.' Nicole was also criticised for her 'horrible' gown and 'off' fake tan, with one person writing: 'What the actual f**k?' Meanwhile, a social media user even vowed to 'boycott the grand final' if the retiring champion received an award. That's not nice! The mockery began shortly after photos of the couple surfaced online, with trolls (above) questioning whether the Melbourne Storm star had 'shoulder charged his partner into the tanning booth' before the ceremony Bold: Nicole wore a statement gown by Jason Grech while attending the Dally M Awards 'Horrible dress! It makes her look like a giant and the fake tan is off': Nicole was also criticised for her 'horrible' gown and 'off' fake tan, with one person writing: 'What the actual f**k?' 'If this peanut gets an award, I'm boycotting the grand final': Meanwhile, a social media user even vowed to 'boycott the grand final' if the retiring champion received an award However, there were supporters who came to Nicole's defence and lashed out at the barrage of online trolls. 'I hope you never hear somebody say that to your beautiful partner with so much venom and hate,' wrote a fan. '[If you] don't like her dress [or] her tan, fair enough. But what you wrote about her personally says slot more about you as a person than them.' Fans also described Nicole, who has been married to Billy for almost nine years, as a 'stunner'. 'What a good looking couple': However, there were supporters who came to Nicole's defence and lashed out at the barrage of online trolls Defenders: 'I hope you never hear somebody say that to your beautiful partner with so much venom and hate,' wrote a fan, responding to an online troll Billy escaped a suspension for his shoulder charge against Sosaia Feki during Melbourne Storm's win over the Cronulla Sharks on Friday. He would have missed the Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday if he was found guilty. Nicole and Billy share two children together - Tyla Rose, 10, and Jake, eight. The Bachelor's Dasha Gaivoronski was a fan favourite on the show before Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins booted her out of the mansion on Wednesday night. And now the Russian beauty has slammed the ex-Wallabies star, implying he was 'fake' and told the girls 'whatever they wanted to hear.' Speaking to Now To Love, Dasha didn't pull any punches when it came to the offering her take on the curly-haired Casanova. Scroll down to video 'He was just saying whatever they wanted to hear': The Bachelor's Dasha Gaivoronski calls Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins 'fake' and says he was 'completely different to all the girls' on the show 'I think when he spoke to each of the girls, he was saying whatever they wanted to hear,' the 32-year-old said. 'To me, he seemed like a completely different person to what he came across to all of the other girls,' she added. Dasha, who was nicknamed the 'dark horse' of the competition, said Nick would tell some girls he wanted to settle down, while to others he said he wanted to travel. Too busy? The exotic beauty added that she didn't like Nick telling the girls he was on a really 'tight schedule' And the exotic beauty added that she didn't like Nick constantly telling the girls he was on a really 'tight schedule' when it came to spending time with him at the cocktail parties. On Wednesday night, prior to her elimination, it appeared the pressure was starting to get to Dasha who burst into tears during the episode, revealing she missed her young son. During a 1950s speed-bowling date, the single mum sobbed over her five-year-old boy Leon, who she left behind in Adelaide so she could appear on the show. 'I feel so exposed': Dasha failed to get a rose from Nick on Wednesday, after she collapsed from during their 1950s-style speed bowling date. Dasha revealed she missed her son Leon, five Dasha had to be consoled by a producer as she sat with her head in her hands while on the date. 'I feel so exposed!' she said as she cried in a corner. The busty personal trainer was later eliminated by Nick. Fading into the background: In August, a number of fans took to social media to question why the Russian-born beauty wasn't appearing on the show Dasha, who made an X-rated entrance on the show when she did crunches while hanging around Nick's shoulders, had somewhat faded into the background before she got the boot. In August, a number of fans hit out at on social media after Dasha was nowhere to be seen for several episodes during the month. The Bachelor continues with only four contestants left: Brooke Blurton, 23, Cassandra Wood, 24, Brittany Hockley, 30, and Sophie Tieman, 25. She's in Paris to support her model daughter Kaia Gerber, 17, during Fashion Week. But Cindy Crawford gave the runway stars a run for their money on Wednesday as she left her city hotel in a jaw-dropping ensemble. The Nineties supermodel, 52, flashed her figure, and her bra, in a racy sheer shirt as she headed to another glam Fashion Week bash. Stunning: She's in Paris to support her model daughter Kaia Gerber, 17, during Fashion Week. But Cindy Crawford gave the runway stars a run for their money on Wednesday Cindy dazzled in her glittering batwing top, with the sheer fabric showing off her black lace bra, She teamed the statement top with classic black trousers and strappy heels. Hoop earrings and a dash of bold bronze eye colour completed the gorgeous look as the top model worked her poses for the cameras. Daring: The Nineties supermodel, 52, flashed her figure, and her bra, in a racy sheer shirt as she headed to another glam Fashion Week bash Cindy's daughter Kaia has showed no signs of slowing down after storming all of the hottest runways during Milan Fashion Week just days ago before hitting Paris. Kaia joined forces with modelling queens and heavenly sister duo Gigi and Bella Hadid as well as Keeping Up With The Kardashian star Kendall Jenner on the various runways. The rising star has been making the most of the city of love since touching down in the French capital and often joined by her supermodel mum Cindy for her fun-filled days out. Work it: Hoop earrings and a dash of bold bronze eye colour completed the gorgeous look as the top model worked her poses for the cameras Stunning: Cindy showed off her modelling prowess when she attended the YouTube cocktail party in Paris later that evening Cindy has enjoyed a long-lasting career that has stood the test of time in the modelling spheres after she was signed to Elite Models aged 17. The mother-of-two confessed retirement wasn't on her mind after walking away from the modelling industry in 2000 and returning to the scene just eleven years later in 2011. She explained to DailyMailTV: 'I think it depends on what I'm doing.' To me, if I'm getting my picture taken, it's modelling, even if it's for my own brand.' She is starring alongside her real-life husband Javier Bardem in new psychological thriller Everybody Knows. And Penelope Cruz looked chic in a blue and white chiffon gown as she attended the Personality Of The Year awards at Royal Theatre in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday. The glamorous garment flowed to the floor, ensuring that the Oscar-winning actress, 44, would most certainly turn heads as she walked the red carpet. Stylish: Penelope Cruz looked chic in a chiffon gown as she attended the Personality Of The Year awards in Madrid on Wednesday The striking outfit had a plunging neckline to show off a glimpse of her cleavage, as part of the fabric was pulled back to her shoulders for an extra eccentric flair. Penelope boosted her height in a pair of silver open-toe heels, while wearing no accessories so that she didn't distract from her ensemble. The Vicky Christina Barcelona star brushed her chocolate brown locks into a sleek, straight style, while her fringe framed her face well. Looking good: The Vicky Christina Barcelona star brushed her chocolate brown locks into a sleek, straight style, while her fringe framed her face well Turning heads: The striking outfit had a plunging neckline to show off a glimpse of her cleavage, as part of the fabric was pulled back to her shoulders for an extra eccentric flair Standing tall: Penelope boosted her height in a pair of silver open-toe heels, while wearing no accessories so that she didn't distract from her ensemble Also attending the event was Salma Hayek, 52, who cut an elegant figure in a black gown which had detailed sequinned rose patterns across the front. The chic ensemble also featured lace sleeves for a glamorous flourish, as she wore several rings and pearl earrings for an extra glittering touch. Salma's raven tresses were styled with a side parting, which then cascaded over her shoulders in loose waves. Stunning: Also attending the event was Salma Hayek, 52, who cut an elegant figure in a black gown which had detailed sequinned rose patterns across the front Glamorous: The chic ensemble also featured lace sleeves for a glamorous flourish, as she wore several rings and pearl earrings for an extra glittering touch Busy schedule: Penelope and her husband have spent the past few months promoting their new drama, directed by two-time Academy Award winner Asghar Farhadi Penelope and her husband have been busy promoting their new drama, directed by two-time Academy Award winner Asghar Farhadi. In the layered, psychological film Penelope plays Laura, a mother who travels with her young son and teenage daughter to her sister's wedding. Having left her husband Alejandro (Ricardo Darin) in Argentina, tensions begin to rise as feelings for her old boyfriend Paco (Javier) resurface when they cross paths. But things take a dramatic turn when the power cuts out during the wedding, and Laura finds that her daughter has gone missing when they come back on. Blossoming romance: As for their own romance story, the couple fell madly in love with each other when they starred in the Woody Allen-directed 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' in 2008 Great role: Penelope scooped an Academy Award for playing Javier's emotionally unstable love interest in the movie As for their own romance story, the couple fell madly in love with each other when they starred in the Woody Allen-directed 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' in 2008. Penelope scooped an Academy Award for playing Javier's emotionally unstable love interest in the movie. The married lovers tied the knot during the summer of 2010 in a private ceremony at a friend's home in the Bahamas. They raise their five-year-old daughter Luna and seven-year-old son Leo at their home. Drama: In the layered, psychological film Penelope plays Laura, a mother who travels with her young son and teenage daughter to her sister's wedding and meets her ex boyfriend (Javier) China-Pakistan will not change,regardless of circumstantial changes: Shah Mehmood BEIJING: Any plots to sow discord in Chinas ties with Pakistan will not prevail, the Chinese governments top diplomat has said, as Beijing fends off criticism of its economic projects in Pakistan and an alleged clampdown in the Xinjiang region. China has pledged $57 billion to build power stations, major highways, new railways and high capacity ports along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a key part of Chinese President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road initiative to further tie China to Eurasia. China welcomes the good start made in its all-weather partnership with Pakistan following the election of the new government under Prime Minister Imran Khan, State Councillor Wang Yi told Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. But any conspiracies attempting to incite disharmony or interfere in China-Pakistan relations will not prevail, he said, according to a statement released by Chinas foreign ministry on Wednesday. China and Pakistan should continue to make all-out efforts to promote the economic corridor, expand trade and reduce poverty to bring more benefits to the ordinary people of Pakistan, he added. The relationship between China and Pakistan will not change, regardless of circumstantial changes, Qureshi told Wang, according to the statement. The corridor is extremely important to Pakistan and has brought deep impact for jobs, development and livelihood, he said, adding that Islamabad will take effective measures to ensure the security of the entire route. Separately, at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said both India and Pakistan are important countries in South Asia and that both should settle their bilateral disputes through peaceful means. Maintaining the steady development of India-Pakistan relations is of significance to the peace and development of the region and the world at large. We sincerely hope that the two countries can enhance communication and dialogue, properly handle differences, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability, the spokesperson said. To a question about Sino-US trade war, the spokesperson said Chinas position and attitude on the matter have been very clear. Regarding the latest statement from the US, the spokesperson said, First the large trade deficit between the United States and other countries, and the loss of domestic manufacturing jobs, which is the result of insufficient savings in the United States, international division of labour and production of multinational companies. The result of the change in layout is the result of the US dollar as the main international currency, and an objective reflection of the complementary advantages of the United States and other countries. Earlier in the week, it was announced her show, Survival Of The Fittest, would not be returning for a second season. But this didn't seem to faze Laura Whitmore, who stepped out looking gorgeous in burgundy on Wednesday evening to attend the Raindance Film Festival's opening gala in London. The TV presenter, 33, looked stunning in the maroon number, which featured an off-the-shoulder top, adorned with regimental gold buttons and matching slacks. Stylish: Laura Whitmore stepped out looking gorgeous in burgundy on Wednesday evening to attend the Raindance Film Festival's opening gala in London The top plunged into a V-shapre and featured velvet sleeves, with Laura completing the ensemble with a pair of wedges, hidden by her slacks' flared tailoring. She matched the colour of the outfit with a similar plummy shade of lipstick and swept her eyes with a dash of mascara. The TV host wore her blonde mane loosely around her bare shoulders as she posed for snaps on the red carpet. She was flying solo to the event, without her boyfriend Iain Stirling, famed for being the hilarious Love Island narrator. Maroon one: She was flying solo to the event, without her boyfriend Iain Stirling, famed for being the hilarious Love Island narrator Blonde ambition: The TV host wore her blonde mane loosely around her bare shoulders as she posed for snaps on the red carpet Striking: She matched the colour of the outfit with a similar plummy shade of lipstick and swept her eyes with a dash of mascara Laura's cancelled show Survival Of The Fittest aired last February, and was intended as a winter version of Love Island, to fill the void. However it was revealed on Sunday that it won't return to screens thanks to its ambitious budget and less-than-brilliant ratings. Meanwhile, others attending the same event as Laura on Wednesday included Absolutely Fabulous star Julia Sawalha who looked a far cry from her sitcom character Saffy Monsoon in a long black dress, pinstripe jacket and her chestnut locks styled into a wavy 'do. Axed: Laura's cancelled show Survival Of The Fittest aired last February, and was intended as a winter version of Love Island, to fill the void Meanwhile: Others attending the same event as Laura on Wednesday included Absolutely Fabulous star Julia Sawalha A far cry from Saffy: She wore a long black dress, pinstripe jacket and her chestnut locks styled into a wavy 'do A merry dance: Michael Flatley and Niamh O'Brien were also both at the event Perfectly poised: Former EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth arrived in a simple jade gown, jazzed up with a retro orange belt around the waist Making a statement: She added eye-catching velvet ankle boots in a russet shade and slicked some rouge onto her pout Night at the flicks: [L-R] Sienna Guillory and Oris Erhuero Other guests included Lord Of The Dance legend Michael Flatley and Niamh O'Brien, who cosied up on the red carpet. Former EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth arrived in a simple jade gown, jazzed up with a retro orange belt around the waist. She added statement velvet ankle boots in a russet shade and slicked some rouge onto her pout. Chizzy Akudolu and Christian Vit attended the event held at Vue West End, as well as Catherine McQueen, Gillies MacKinnon, Sienna Guillory, Oris Erhuero and Judith Shekoni. Film fanatics: Chizzy Akudolu and Christian Vit attended the event held at Vue West End All smiles: The pair seemed delighted to be at the opening event, which kicks off the annual film festival He's the high-flying international model who jetted into the City of Love this week. And on Tuesday, Australian star Jordan Barrett met the changing season in Paris, France, wearing a suave autumnal ensemble. The 21-year-old star smouldered in a hazel brown outfit, consisting of a sweater and a pair of loose-fitting trousers, as he arrived at the ritzy Hotel George V in Paris. Stepping into season! 'It' model Jordan Barrett smouldered as he slipped into a brown autumnal ensemble on Tuesday in Paris, France Jordan was dressed in wardrobe essentials from husband-and-wife luxury lifestyle brand, A R J E. He continued the bronzed display, stepping out in a pair of dark brown formal lace-up shoes. The model tied his seasonal look together by loosely slinging a brown leather belt around his waist. Jordan also adorned his svelte physique with oodles of gold accessories. Gold details: Jordan (pictured) adorned his svelte physique with oodles of gold accessories It is understood Jordan jetted into Paris to attend the exclusive Chanel show and shoot the latest campaign for high-end jewellery brand, Chrome Hearts. Jordan's Paris jaunt comes after the hunk spoke about the gender pay gap in the modelling industry. He told The Courier Mail: 'It is kind of one of the only industries where women are paid more than men.' Luxury: Jordan was dressed in wardrobe essentials from husband-and-wife luxury lifestyle brand, A R J E However, he wasn't concerned because models' pay reflects the fact women's fashion is a much more profitable industry. 'Sales in men's and women's products are completely different, it is obvious and fair that women make more money in modelling,' he explained. 'It is basically a women's industry. More women buy makeup, hair products and clothing than men. It is just simply that. Guys aren't generally out there buying tonnes of hair products. Girls buy more clothes than guys.' She is a devoted single mother to her daughter Sunday. Yet Ferne McCann took some time off mummy duties when she headed home from her night on the tiles as she left Bacaro, in Liverpool on Wednesday. The former TOWIE star, 28, nailed her edgy vibe with a leather jacket and trousers to make up her racy evening ensemble. Feeling fantastic! Ferne McCann nailed an edgy vibe in a leather jacket and tight trousers as she partied the night away in Liverpool on Wednesday Blonde bombshell Ferne threw her jacket over her shoulders in a trendy fashion, ensuring she kept the cold away as the evening air was cooler in the city centre. The television personality gave onlookers an eyeful of her cleavage in the scooped neckline of her GUESS top. Ferne styled her golden locks in a crimped fashion and she defined her features by adding heavy make-up to her looks. Lady in leather! The former TOWIE star, 28, nailed her edgy vibe with a jacket and trousers to make up her racy evening ensemble Blonde bombshell: Ferne threw her jacket over her shoulders in a trendy fashion, ensuring she kept the cold away as the evening air was cooler in the city centre Ferne has been letting her hair down in recent weeks including a fun-filled trip to the city of love and a night out in Manchester with pals. The reality star is the devoted single mother to her daughter Sunday who she welcomed into the world 10 months ago. Ferne shares her baby with jailbird ex Arthur Collins who was handed a 20-year prison sentence for a London nightclub acid attack in April last year. Standing tall: The reality star elevated her height in her killer stiletto boots which really gave her outfit an edge Bust-ing out: The television personality gave onlookers an eyeful of her cleavage in the scooped neckline of her GUESS top Ferne spoke to OK! magazine about the day-to-day dilemmas she faces without the baby's father around. She said: 'While I was pregnant, I knew I was going to be a single mum, but it didn't hit me until I actually had Sunday... 'That was tough to deal with - realising I really was totally on my own. I don't have another person to confer with. I don't have another person to discuss my day-to-day decisions with - like choosing what food she has. It's tough.' Letting her hair down! Ferne styled her golden locks in a crimped fashion and she defined her features by adding heavy make-up to her looks Time off: Ferne has been letting her hair down in recent weeks including a fun-filled trip to the city of love and a night out in Manchester with pals The star moved back in with her own mother within just four months of moving into her own home last year. After welcoming her baby, she now shares her own Brentwood home with just Sunday and is adjusting to life as a single parent. After welcoming the baby, she now shares her own Brentwood home with just Sunday and has adjusted to life as a single parent. She's enjoying her first Fashion Week in a year after emerging back into the spotlight. And Lindsay Lohan, 32, has made her Paris trip a family affair, hitting the town with her younger brother, model Dakota, 22, on Wednesday. The Parent Trap star looked gorgeous in a sparkling mini dress, which comes a day after the siblings bagged FROW seats at the YSL show on Tuesday. We are family: Lindsay Lohan, 32, has made her Paris trip a family affair, hitting the town with her younger brother, model Dakota, 22, on Wednesday during Fashion Week Lindsay showed off her legs in her thigh-skimming mini, which she layered under an oversized black blazer. A pair of red tipped ankle boots added a pop of colour, matching her bright lipstick. Dakota meanwhile was looking dapper in a white print shirt layered under a leather jacket. Lindsay's younger brother has been making a name for himself in the modelling world. She's in fashion: The Parent Trap star looked gorgeous in a sparkling mini dress The IMG-signed model has posed for Vogue China, Vogue Italia and Interview magazine and began walking runways when he was just nine-years-old. Meanwhile, Lindsay has been hard at work this year on her Lohan Beach House resort. The new venture came after she proceeded to slam sexual assault accusers in a recent interview with The Times earlier this year, claiming many of them are simply speaking out for 'attention'. Party time: Lindsay layered a sparkling mini under an oversized black blazer for her night out Fashionista: A pair of red tipped ankle boots added a pop of colour, matching her bright lipstick Addressing the #MeToo movement in Hollywood, Lindsay slammed those who did not report their experiences to the police, and make it into a 'real thing'. She said: 'I'm going to really hate myself for saying this, but I think by women speaking against all these things, it makes them look weak when they are very strong women. 'You have these girls who come out, who don't even know who they are, who do it for the attention. That is taking away from the fact that it happened.' However, she added: 'I can't speak on something I don't live, right? Look, I am very supportive of women.' Jeff Bridges was snapped in Los Angeles on Wednesday promoting his new film Bad Times At The El Royale. Bridges, 68, wore a navy blue jacket over a Haspel button-up blue patterned shirt with navy blue slacks as he appeared at the press conference in support of the upcoming mystery-thriller. The Academy Award-winning Crazy Heart actor sported a grey beard and had his hair slicked back as he posed for photographers at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles. Scroll below for video Leading man: Jeff Bridges, 68, was snapped at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles on Wednesday promoting his new film Bad Times At The El Royale The film is centered around the El Royale, a Lake Tahoe hotel where seven strangers congregate. The stellar cast flanking Brides includes Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo and Bill Pullman. Earlier this week, the actor told Variety that he decided to do the motion picture based off the script penned by Drew Goddard, the director of the film. His co-star Jon Hamm told the outlet he made the movie with 'such a truly inspiring group of folks to work with,' singling out Bridges as someone he strived to working with for decades. 'Especially in the case with Jeff, people I've wanted to work with since I was in college or even younger,' Hamm said. 'So to get that opportunity, you gotta jump with both feet.' Dapper: The Oscar winner wore wore a navy blue jacket over a button-up blue patterned shirt by Haspel with navy blue slacks Ensemble: Bridges appears in the upcoming movie alongside Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo and Bill Pullman Goals: His co-star Hamm said he had 'wanted to work' Bridges since he was 'in college or even younger' Erivo, a Broadway standout, echoed similar sentiments, saying, 'I heard Jeff was part of it, and I was like, well okay, I'm definitely doing it.' Bridges told Variety he would be amenable to a sequel to his 1998 cult classic, The Big Lebowski, assuming he's in the film. He told the publication that he had a number of vivid memories making the lauded Coen brothers film, in which he played the listless slacker known as 'The Dude.' Bad Times At The El Royale opens in theaters October 12. The Dude abides: Bridges said he would be amenable to a sequel to his 1998 cult classic, The Big Lebowski Cameramen are a heartless bunch. They followed Joanna Lumley into a lavish shopping mall in Tehran, to see her purchase a silk headscarf, the most expensive on display. Christian Lacroix, sweetie, murmured La Lumley. Women in Iran, even Western visitors, must cover their heads by law. The penalties for disobedience are harsh. Joanna, with this diaphanous wisp of gold thread around her bonce, was making the best of it. The cruel crew told her she looked like Coronation Street charwoman Hilda Ogden. For the rest of the trip she had just the hint of a sulk. Joanna is so polite, of course, that its practically impossible to tell whether shes truly peeved or just mildly miffed. She has that old-fashioned and perfectly English knack of conveying disapproval by saying the opposite of whatever shes thinking. Joanna Lumley in Tehran with contributor Rejhane Tavarati as her journey on the Silk Road journey takes her to the Islamic Republic of Iran Motoring across the Iranian desert in the third part of her Silk Road Adventure (ITV), on her way to Kashan, birthplace of the biblical Three Wise Men, she took a gulp from a bottle of warm, pulpy fruit juice thickened with rancid lumps of coconut. Very nice, she declared, though she looked like Patsy in Ab Fab, swigging from a bottle of Bolly only to discover its Blue Nun. Most of this hour was filled with happier surprises. We rarely see Iran on TV, except in snatches of mobile phone footage shot at anti-government demos. Access to Western documentary crews is almost always denied: some Grand Pooh-Bah in Tehran must be a secret fan of Joanna in The New Avengers. She took full advantage, visiting the crumbling ruins of Persepolis, the Shahs palace with its mosaic ceiling of sapphires and rubies (Its like being in a jewel box, she gasped) and the vast square at Isfahan, a city that 400 years ago was bigger than London. It was a reminder that Iran is one of the oldest civilisations on earth: Once the centre of the known world, Joanna mused, it feels like a hidden state. Viewers have endured so many superficial, snide travelogues this year, fronted by comedians who are too full of themselves to reveal much about the countries they visit. Romesh Ranganathan has been the worst offender. This was refreshingly different. Little about the Swedish crime thriller Alex (C4), though, was different from anything weve seen countless times before. From the opening shots of a grim industrial landscape, blighted with graffiti and peopled with drug addicts, this was familiar Scandi-noir territory. Joanna Lumley in Khiva, Uzbekistan with Shokir a man whose family have made Khivaa's distinctive sheepskin Chugirma hats for centuries A grinding synthesiser soundtrack was punctuated by drums, battering away like a persistent headache. We met a corrupt cop, humanised by his affection for his disabled teenage son, and the cops new partner a lesbian trying to live up to the expectations of her policeman father. The villain is a chilling psychopath in a prison cell, who passes the time by smashing the fingers of informers with a hammer. Similar characters have cropped up before, in serials such as the gritty Spiral from Paris and the nihilistic 13 Commandments, made in Belgium. The first few times we encountered them were sensational, but repetition risks making their lives look formulaic. The story perked up with a Starsky-&-Hutch-style chase which saw idealistic detective Frida Kanto (Rakel Warmlander) throwing herself off buildings to land on car roofs. But the best twist came at the end, as dirty cop Alex Leko (Dragomir Mrsic) discovered the true cost of turning his back on corruption. Gangsters took his wife hostage and forced him to watch a mock execution. Now its livening up. She showed off her obvious baby bump in racy lingerie while walking the runway for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty fashion show minutes before going into labor. Now, two weeks later, and model Slick Woods is flaunting her post-baby body. And amazingly she already looks like she's ready to hit the catwalk and rock her long and lean 5ft 10in self. Defies gravity: Model Slick Woods showed off her lean and tone post-baby body, two weeks after giving birth to her her first child 'Out w lil daddie,' Slick wrote in the picture that shows a stroller in the background. The 22-year old can be seen wearing green military fatigues with a flame-patterned tube top that showcases her toned abs and body ink. She matched the look with a pair of black military boots and a black visor hat over her signature close-cropped dyed blonde hair. 'Pulled up w my roof gone,' she joked in another picture of her cropped hair and topless hat. Cheeky: The 22-year old showed a sense of humor by showcasing her visor hat and close cropped blonde hair Keeping it real: Woods also paid homage to family in her latest Instagram story To put things in perspective, Woods revealed that she was hand-picked by Rihanna to walk in her fashion show September 12. Despite being very pregnant, she made a splash in a revealing outfit that consisted of straps and pasties. Then, as soon as she came off the stage, she was rushed to the hospital. Woods' Instagram account exploded after the event -- she now has more than 824K followers and she's been heavily searched online. The model confirmed she gave birth to son Saphir, with boyfriend Adonis Bosso, by sharing some photos from the fashion show. 'A lewk, 14 hours of labor, and A king is born,' she wrote in the caption. 'This is the face of a WOMAN IN LABOR, we hold sh** down most of us dont even know how much were going through, Im here to say I CAN DO WHATEVER THE F*** I WANT WHENEVER THE F*** I WANT AND SO CAN YOU.' Gaining momentum: The model now has more than 824K Instagram followers Life changer: Woods came to fame two years ago when she modeled for Marc Jacobs Turns out she didnt know she was with baby until five months into her pregnancy -- partly because of an incorrect diagnosis of infertility when she was young. I was really, really, really sick in London, but thought it was because of travel, so a doctor gave me pills for flu, ' she said in an interview with Elle. 'Went to Paris: more pills for flu. And then I went to LA, and they tried a sonogram, and I saw my babys face and heard his heartbeat, she said. Tears of joy. Woods came to fame two years ago when she modeled for Marc Jacobs. Making a statement: Woods walked the runway for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty fashion show September 12 She was spotted on a date with a mystery man in West Hollywood on Tuesday, who turns out to be just a good friend, according to TMZ. But on Wednesday, it seemed as if the only thing on Kourtney Kardashian's mind was her son Mason, 8, who the reality star was photographed taking to an art class in Calabasas, California. The mother-of-three, who has made plenty of headlines regarding her love life in recent weeks, appeared camera-shy as she exited her vehicle and headed toward the building where the art class was being held. What a surprise! Kourtney Kardashian didn't seem to expect to be greeted by photographers as she hid her face while taking her son Mason to an art class in Calabasas Kardashian opted to wear black sweatpants with a correlating $35 bodysuit of the same color from Meshki - the Eliza bodysuit. Her apparel also included low top Converse Chuck Taylor All Star shoes, which added a little contrast to her all-black ensemble. The Armenian socialite hid her face while her son, who sported a colorful shirt, Nike shorts, and Adidas socks with sneakers of the same brand, appeared gleeful upon the duo's arrival. Not in the mood for photos: Kardashian appeared nonchalant after stepping out of her vehicle while Mason managed to give off a slight smirk In August, it was reported that Kardashian had ended her relationship with Younes Bendjima. The 25-year-old was left devastated by the breakup, sources told Us Weekly that same month. Weeks after their split, the publication claimed that Younes was 'still bitter about their breakup,' before adding that the model's short temper had made it hard for him to move on from the TV personality. While the on-again-off-again couple reunited at a sushi restaurant in Malibu earlier this month, Kardashian would go on and be seen getting cozy with 20-year-old fashion model Luka Sabbat. Mommy duties: The TV star looked happy and healthy while attending the art class with her son Just a little under two weeks ago, the twosome flew out to Chicago to celebrate the opening of TAO nightclub and it this point, it appeared as if Kourtney was full-on embracing her alleged romance with Sabbat. 'They are having fun,' a source told PEOPLE. 'She finds Luka very charming and she is definitely interested. Everyone seems to have a very positive attitude about him.' Fast forward to Tuesday and Kourtney makes an outing in West Hollywood with yet another mystery man, who she enjoyed a casual date at a nearby juice bar with. New lover? Kourtney was seen with yet another mystery man on Tuesday in West Hollywood 'Matcha makes me happy': Kourtney grabbed breakfast with Kim on Wednesday morning Picture perfect: The Kardashian snapped a sultry car selfie While her relationship with the unidentified male remains unknown, fans were quick to mention that he shared a strong resemblance to Younes. The reality star didn't address rumors concerning a supposed date with the mystery man. Fans have since taken to social media, convinced they will uncover the truth to the 39-year-old's love life in forthcoming episodes of KUWTK. Married At First Sight filmed its first 'wedding' for the upcoming sixth season in Sydney's Centennial Park last week. And on Wednesday, another couple were spotted saying 'I do' during an idyllic beach ceremony in Byron Bay, New South Wales. In exclusive pictures obtained by Daily Mail Australia, the bubbly bride couldn't wipe the smile off her face after meeting her tall, handsome suitor at the altar. Married At First Sight EXCLUSIVE: Radio presenter Heidi Latcham 'wed' a handsome mystery man during a beach ceremony in Byron Bay, New South Wales on Wednesday Meeting as complete strangers, the two singletons laughed awkwardly in front of their family and friends before sharing a passionate kiss. The bride, who has been identified as Townsville radio presenter Heidi Latcham, was seen walking through the sand in a pair of white high heels before her big moment. She looked simply radiant in a strapless, knee-length dress with a long veil train, and walked purposefully despite her rather impractical footwear. No runaway bride here! The bride, who has been identified as Townsville radio presenter Heidi Latcham, was seen walking through the sand in a pair of high heels before her big moment Liking what she sees? In exclusive pictures obtained by Daily Mail Australia, the bubbly bride couldn't wipe the smile off her face after meeting her tall, handsome suitor at the altar A vision in white! She looked simply radiant in a strapless, knee-length dress with a long train Heidi has seemingly ended her hosting duties on Star 106.3's breakfast program alongside Brady Ellis in order to accommodate the MAFS filming schedule. And while the media personality's Instagram profile was once public, it has since been changed to private - perhaps at the request of producers. She appeared full of excitement on her wedding day and was seen laughing off the understandable awkwardness of the ceremony. Do you know this man? The tall groom, who is believed to be named Michael, was pictured talking intently to producers in the moments before his 'wedding' Is that a love poem? The groom was pictured reading his vows as the celebrant (right) smiled Ring-a-ding-ding! The mystery man gazed sweetly at Heidi while they exchanged vows, before he placed a wedding ring on her finger She looked absolutely stunning in her figure-hugging wedding dress, and styled her long hair in voluminous curls. Her face lit up when she saw her handsome suitor for the first time and it seemed there was a definite physical attraction between them. The tall groom, who is believed to be named Michael, was pictured talking intently to producers in the moments before meeting Heidi. Maybe they'll be a good match? Despite each marrying a total stranger, the bride and groom appeared to click almost immediately as they smiled and laughed together Looking good! The 'husband' wore a suave black suit with a skinny tie and appeared to be joined by two groomsmen, who offered emotional support You may now kiss the bride! After being prompted by the celebrant, the couple shared a romantic kiss while the guests cheered and applauded He wore a suave black suit with a skinny tie and appeared to be joined by two groomsmen, who offered emotional support. Despite each marrying a total stranger, the bride and groom appeared to click almost immediately as they smiled and laughed together. The mystery man gazed sweetly at Heidi while they exchanged vows, before he placed a wedding ring on her finger. After being prompted by the celebrant, the couple shared a romantic kiss while the guests cheered and applauded. Now it's time to party! Heidi beamed as she raised her hands to the sky, clearly delighted with how things were going The happy couple! The pair will head on a honeymoon together in the coming weeks The groom placed his arm around Heidi's waist as they embraced and, at that moment, it seemed as if any awkwardness between them drifted away. Heidi beamed as she raised her hands to the sky, clearly delighted with how things were going. She then took off her tulle veil and held her partner's hands as they walked out of the ceremony together as (non legally binding) newlyweds. Fancy seeing you here! As the couple met for the first time, they shared a friendly kiss What a gentlemen! The TV 'husband' showed off his chivalrous side by holding Heidi's hand to keep her steady while they strolled through the uneven sand See ya! Waving at the guests as they applauded, the pair said a quick goodbye to their loved ones before heading off to film their reception nearby When's the honeymoon? Heidi appeared on cloud nine as she departed the ceremony Bridal beauty: Heidi was attended to by producers and makeup artists as she arrived at a nearby venue to film her reception The TV 'husband' showed off his chivalrous side by holding Heidi's hand to keep her steady while they strolled through the uneven sand. Waving at the guests as they applauded, the pair said a quick goodbye to their loved ones before heading off to film their reception nearby. They were then ushered to a nearby hotel venue to continue filming. Ready for their close up! The couple were briefed on their entrance by a senior producer Husband and wife: The newlyweds arrived at a nearby hotel venue for an intimate reception Her perfect match! The glamorous DJ smiled at her new 'husband' as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders A very warm reception! A jubilant Heidi leaped into her partner's arms and kissed him Will it last? While MAFS doesn't have a great track record for forming lasting relationships, Heidi and her suitor appeared to be off to a flying start What's going on her? Clutching a microphone, Heidi put on a lively display at her reception Yummy! The elaborate, four-tier wedding cake was a sight to behold It all went well! The reality TV lovebirds held hands while leaving their wedding reception Straight back to the hotel room? Later in the evening, the couple were spotted getting into a car before driving off Married At First Sight first launched in Australia in 2015. Back then, the show featured just four couples and had only six episodes. Since then, it has become one of the most popular programs on Australian TV - with season five featuring 11 couples and 32 episodes. Despite the show failing to create many long-lasting relationships, the consistent controversies have resulted in sky-high ratings for Channel Nine. Over two million people watched the MAFS season five finale earlier this year. Too hot to handle? One elderly guest was given a chair and water by crew members during the outdoor wedding Pretty in pink: Heidi's bridesmaids appeared to wear matching bright pink dresses She's ready! Heidi didn't appear nervous before her big day, smiling excitedly while talking with a female producer Her late father Michael Hutchence was one of Australia's most famous musicians. And now the INXS star's 22-year-old daughter Tiger Lily has fallen for an Aussie rocker. Daily Mail Australia can exclusively reveal that Tiger Lily has been dating Perth native and former Tame Impala band member, Nicholas Allbrook, 30, for over a year now. EXCLUSIVE: All loved up: Michael Hutchence's daughter Tiger Lily, 22, left, is quietly dating Australian musician Nicholas Allbrook, 30, right On August 31, the musician commemorated their one year anniversary on Instagram with a joyful clip of Tiger dancing. He captioned the post: 'A year since my favourite person came shnufflin into my life.' On July 14, Nick posted an image of his girlfriend on the beach, writing: 'Dream gal.' Friends of the couple have confirmed their relationship status to Daily Mail Australia. 'Dream gal': On July 14, Nicholas posted this picture of his girlfriend on the beach with a cute caption 'A year since my favourite person came shnufflin into my life,' Nicholas wrote alongside a video of Tiger Lily dancing to commemorate their one year anniversary on August 31 Going public: Nicholas has recently shared plenty of sweet captions about his girlfriend Tiger Lily's new love comes after she was previously linked to Deliveroo driver Charles Creseatian last year. Nicholas, otherwise known as Nick, grew up in Perth's port city of Fremantle. Australians may best know Nicholas from the psychedelic rock band, Tame Impala. He played guitar, synthesizer and bass for the group between 2010 and 2013, before committing to fellow Perth based group Pond as a vocalist. Aussie lad: Nicholas, otherwise known as Nick, was born in the capital of Western Australia and grew up in the port city of Fremantle before moving back to Perth Rocker: Nicholas provides vocals and a string of instruments for band Pond - with Tiger Lily believed to be joining them on their current UK tour Nicholas has been listed as a 'revolving member' of the group since 2008. As well as singing, he is listed as playing guitar, keys, bass, flute, slide guitar and occasional drums for the band. Pond are currently touring England where Tiger Lily is believed to have joined them. Famous family: Tiger Lily is the daughter of British star Paula Yates and INXS frontman, Michael Hutchence. Pictured here at London Heathrow airport in 1997 Tiger Lily, real name Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence Geldof, is the daughter of British star Paula Yates and INXS frontman, Michael. Following Michael's tragic death in 1997, her mother Paula was found dead at her London home from an accidental heroin overdose in September 2000. She was 41 at the time. An orphan at just four-years-old, Paula's first husband Bob Geldof was granted custody of Tiger Lily. She was formally adopted by The Boomtown Rats star in 2007. Tiger has mostly shied away from the showbiz scene and has opted for a quiet life in London alongside her adopted father and half-siblings. She is also close friends with the son of Australian musician Nick Cave, Earl. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nicholas, Tiger Lily and Bob's rep for comment. Democracy needs support from non-democratic forces: Sardar Akhtar Mengal ISLAMABAD: President of his own faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) Sardar Akhtar Mengal has said that disunity among politicians has taken the country to controlled democracy, regretting that in Pakistan democracy (always) needs support from non-democratic forces. Taking part in the budget debate in the National Assembly here on Wednesday, he said the details of foreign assets of retired judges, army generals and bureaucrats should be made public. He also called for disclosing the details of their citizenship status so that the nation could know as to which nationality they had acquired after their retirement. You will find no retired general talking against his colleague. No bureaucrat will ever present any evidence against his colleague. But we the politicians always remain active in maligning each other, he said. Mr Mengal, whose party is supporting the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), said they would keep on witnessing rigged elections after every five years if the elected representatives did not get powers to formulate foreign policy and not bring controlled democracy under their control. In his hard-hitting speech but in a soft tone, the BNP chief also demanded that the government open and present the agreements regarding the development of Gwadar before parliament for a debate. He said nobody knew if these projects would be carried out through investments or loans. If these are investments, then what will be the equity and what benefits the local people will gain? If these are loans, then who will pay them back? What is the share of the people of Gwadar in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)? Why Gwadar agreements are being kept secret? he asked. Every government uses the Balochistan card to safeguard its own interests. Regretfully, the rulers of Pakistan do not even know about the geography of Balochistan, he said while highlighting the sufferings of the people of the countrys largest and most backward province. He said the province was only getting 600MW electricity against its need of 1,800MW. He claimed that there was no power project under the CPEC for Balochistan. We are declaring Gwadar an international city whereas its residents do not even have drinking water. Mr Mengal warned against massive influx of foreigners in Gwadar, saying there was no check on their movement and activities. He alleged that Chinese were busy in extracting gold, silver and copper from the province and there was no mechanism to monitor and check the quantities of the extracted minerals. We have closed our eyes and given everything in the hands of the Chinese, he alleged. They've been rumored to be a couple for more than a couple of weeks. And on Wednesday Nicki Minaj and Lewis Hamilton further stoked the storyline when they went on an ATV date in Dubai together. The duo appeared on each other's Instagram accounts just the two of them riding through the desert on a single four-wheeler. Cosy: Nicki Minaj and Lewis Hamilton further stoked the romance rumors as they enjoyed desert ATV date in Dubai this week The looked super cosy too, as the rapper sidled up to sit between the F1 champs legs, while they both flipped off the camera. 'Caribbean tingz what I on,' Nicki captioned her snap with the Trinidad And Tobago and Grenada flags. 'Me & Lewis gettin paper like what ink dry on. #Versace' Close: The duo appeared on each other's Instagram accounts just the two of them riding through the desert on a single four-wheeler Earlier this month, Nicki was spotted once again cozying up to Lewis at the show for his new Tommy Hilfiger collaboration. The Barbie Dreams hitmaker, 35, fairly busted out of a very low-cut black dress as she posed up a storm on the red carpet with the 33-year-old racing driver. The pair even headed out for a dinner date together that same night. Are they or aren't they? Earlier this month, Nicki was spotted once again cozying up to Lewis at the show for his new Tommy Hilfiger collaboration Lewis has been previously romantically linked whether confirmed or not to the likes of Nicole Scherzinger, Rita Ora, Sofia Richie, Winnie Harlow, Rihanna and Kendall Jenner. The date happened earlier in the week, as Nicki had arrived in Sao Paulo by Wednesday night to perform her first ever Brazilian show. 'Thanks Brazil! I love you so much!' the Trinidad-born, beauty gushed as she landed. She will soon welcome her second child. And on Wednesday, a heavily pregnant Hilary Duff ran errands in West Hollywood draping her large baby bump in a flowing butterfly-themed dress. The Younger star, who's 30, was spotted gassing up her SUV after a shopping trip to upscale store Fred Segal. Baby number 2: Heavily pregnant Hilary Duff ran errands in West Hollywood on Wednesday, draping her large baby bump in a flowing butterfly-themed dress Her short-sleeved dress fell to mid-calf and had an empire waist that sat above her blossoming belly. She stepped out in a pair of brown suede ankle boots. Hilary left her long blonde hair loose and accessorized with a pair of large pendant earrings. Blooming: The Younger star's short-sleeved dress fell to mid-calf and had an empire waist that sat above her blossoming belly Baby on board: The actress, who already has a son Luca, six, from her marriage to Mike Comrie, is expecting a girl this time around. She announced her pregnancy in June Looking lovely: Hilary left her long blonde hair loose and accessorized with a pair of large pendant earrings. She stepped out in a pair of brown suede ankle boots The actress, who already has a son Luca, six, from her marriage to Mike Comrie, is expecting a girl this time around. She announced her pregnancy in June and the baby's father is her musician boyfriend Matthew Koma. The former Lizzie McGuire child star and her beau have already picked out a name for their new arrival but so far they're keeping mum about what it is. 'It was the very first thing [we picked],' Hilary said in an interview with People. 'We've known her name for a really long time. Her name starts with a B, and I keep calling her baby B,' she explained. Running errands: Hilary's older sister Haylie, 33, was also out and about in LA Wednesday Hilary's older sister Haylie, 33, was also out and about in LA Wednesday. She wore a low-cut black top that showed off her ample cleavage. She added a khaki green rainjacket and blue jeans with frayed hems and wore blue sneakers with white laces. Haylie is also a mom; she has two daughters with her fiance Matt Rosenberg - Ryan Ava, three, and Lulu, almost four months. Haylie wore a low-cut black top that showed off her ample cleavage. She is mom to two daughters - Ryan Ava, three, and Lulu, born in early June Casual: She added a khaki green rainjacket and blue jeans with frayed hems and wore blue sneakers with white laces. She sported reflective sunglasses Eddie Murphy's pregnant girlfriend Paige Butcher was spotted wearing what appeared to be a huge engagement ring on Wednesday, sparking speculation that the couple are set to marry. Paige, 39, who is due to give birth in December, was seen shopping at the HomeGoods homewares store in Los Angeles, and sporting a massive sparkler on her wedding finger. The giant rock stood out against the black short-sleeved top and matching leggings the blonde bombshell was wearing. Scroll down for video Is Eddie Murphy engaged to his pregnant girlfriend? Australian model Paige Butcher was seen wearing a diamond sparkler while cradling her blossoming baby bump in LA on Wednesday Paige's growing baby bump was on display as she protectively rested her hand on her stomach and slung a cross-body Gucci bag over her shoulder. The Australian-born model appeared to be shopping for furniture in preparation for the birth of her second child, who will be Eddie's tenth overall. It was recently revealed that the child will be a boy. Paige already shares a two-year-old daughter, Izzy Oona Murphy, with the American comedian. Getting ready for the baby! Paige, 39, who is due to give birth in December, was seen shopping at the HomeGoods homewares store The actress was spotted leaving the store with a large roll of carpet balanced on top of a shopping trolley, which she wheeled to her car. No doubt the plush item will make the living room floor a comfortable crawling area for her and Eddie's newborn son. A hands-on mother, Paige was seen lifting the sizable carpet roll into her black SUV by herself. And... lift! A hands-on mother, Paige was seen carrying the carpet roll into her SUV by herself Paige and Eddie, 57, have been dating since 2012 and their daughter Izzy was born in May 2016. Eddie welcomed his first child, Eric, in 1989 with then-girlfriend Paulette McNeely. His second child, Christian, was born a year later in 1990 from a different girlfriend, Tamara Hood. Murphy then had five children with his wife Nicole Mitchell - Bria, Myles, Shayne, Zola and Bella - before the couple divorced in 2005. He had another child, Angel, with former Spice Girl Mel B in 2007. Growing family! It was recently revealed that Paige's child will be a boy. She already shares a two-year-old daughter, Izzy Murphy, with Eddie. Pictured together last year in Beverly Hills Paige has had small film roles in Big Momma's House 2 and Something's Gotta Give, but is best known for her work as a model. Eddie hasn't made a movie since 2016's Mr. Church, but is currently filming the American biopic Dolemite Is My Name. There have also been rumours that he will star in Triplets, a sequel to the 1988 comedy Twins, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Nasser Sultan has won a defamation case against The Daily Telegraph. The Married At First Sight star, 51, was granted an undisclosed financial settlement from the newspaper after it printed a 'damaging' article about him on August 31. Speaking about his success to Daily Mail Australia, Nasser said: 'I felt violated, embarrassed and I had to take these steps to protect my brand that was damaged.' Scroll down for video EXCLUSIVE: 'I was inspired by Rebel Wilson to take action': MAFS' Nasser Sultan has claimed a legal victory after receiving a financial settlement from the newspaper that defamed him The newspaper falsely claimed in that Nasser's 'desperation had hit an all-time low' after he 'gatecrashed an A-list event' in Sydney. The scathing article alleged that the popular TV star had 'begged' security to allow him entry to a party hosted by MTV Australia. However, a leaked email from MTV's publicity team proved that Nasser was in fact on the guest list for the live session with electronic music duo Peking Duk. Inaccurate: The Daily Telegraph falsely claimed in August that Nasser's 'desperation had hit an all-time low' after he 'gatecrashed an A-list event' - despite him being on the guest list Discussing his victory further, Nasser said: 'This isn't just a win for me, it's a win for celebrities all around the world. There's no place for fake news! 'I was inspired by Rebel Wilson to take action and I hope she will join me for a celebratory drink once the money comes in.' In September 2017, Rebel was awarded $4.7million in a defamation trial over a series of magazine articles that made her out to be a liar. Several months later, she was ordered to return $4.1million of the payout she received from Bauer Media after an appeal. 'This isn't just a win for me, it's a win for celebrities all around the world. There's no place for fake news,' Nasser told Daily Mail Australia following his win with legal firm Redenbach Lee As well as the financial settlement, The Daily Telegraph also printed an apology to Nasser in its September 26 edition. The apology stated: 'An August Sydney Confidential item reported Nasser Sultan had gatecrashed an MTV event. 'In fact, Mr Sultan was on the guest list but was temporarily denied entry as the venue was at full capacity when he arrived. The Daily Telegraph regrets the error.' TV star: The newspaper also printed an apology to Nasser on September 26. Pictured: Nasser with his Married At First Sight 'wife' Gabrielle Bartlett In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Nasser's lawyer, Keith Redenbach, a partner of Redenbach Lee, said: 'It is always a pleasure to help our clients. 'On this occasion, the nice guy came out on top and justice was done for Nasser.' As a result of Nasser's legal victory, donations were made to the Broken Hill City Fire Brigade and the Perfect Light Film Festival. Nasser's win follows his success in Network Ten's Trial By Kyle earlier this year, which saw him go up against Sydney paparazzo Jayden Seyfarth. Following a dispute over staged photographs, 'judge' Kyle Sandilands awarded Nasser $1,200 to buy himself a new mobile phone. Australian-born model Abbey Lee Kershaw is no stranger to the runway. And the 31-year-old debuted perhaps her most risque look yet on Tuesday, when she stormed the catwalk for Saint Laurent at Paris Fashion Week. The statuesque blonde exposed her nipples below a sparkling sheer top as she modelled a particularly racy, avant-garde ensemble. It's farrrshun, darling! Abbey Lee Kershaw debuted perhaps her most risque look yet on Tuesday, when she stormed the catwalk for Saint Laurent at Paris Fashion Week Abbey Lee looked perfectly poised as she strutted purposefully down the runway, pairing her see-through top with tailored trousers. She accessorised with a black, wide-brim hat and matching scarf, and completed her look with eye-catching snakeskin boots. The outdoor runway, which was constructed under the Eiffel Tower, was covered in rainwater and Abbey Lee had to tread carefully to avoid slipping over. Crikey! The statuesque blonde exposed her nipples below a sparkling sheer top as she modelled a particularly racy, avant-garde ensemble Daring display: Abbey Lee looked perfectly poised as she strutted purposefully down the runway, pairing her see-through top with tailored trousers Later on, she rocked a second look consisting of a black sequinned swimsuit with asymmetrical cut-outs across the midsection. Styling her long blonde hair in a wet look, Abbey Lee paired the dazzling one-piece with shiny stiletto heels. Abbey Lee's triumphant return to the runway (she last appeared in 2015), comes after she launched a career in Hollywood by starring in Mad Max: Fury Road. Avant-garde: Later on, she rocked a second look consisting of a black sequinned swimsuit with asymmetrical cut-outs across the midsection Rising star: Abbey Lee's triumphant return to the runway (she last appeared in 2015), comes after she launched a career in Hollywood by starring in Mad Max: Fury Road Meanwhile her latest film, US thriller Elizabeth Harvest, was released last month. Earlier this year, she spoke about gender inequality in the movie business, claiming there is still 'one female to every 10 men' getting roles. Speaking to The Herald Sun, she said: 'For every script I get, a male actor friend will get five. 'Every script with a female, there's one female to every 10 men. On top of that, there's the gender pay gap issue that's a huge problem worldwide. 'In my workplace, I get paid less purely for that fact I am a female.' Brandi Redmond cried at her own fashion line pop-up shop party on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Dallas. The 40-year-old former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader bawled after Cary Deuber took credit for her decision to retract a raunchy gift intended for Kameron Westcott. Cary during the Brandiland clothing event was confronted by Kameron who accused her of failing to protect her from Brandi during their Beaver Creek, Colorado trip. Pop-up shop: Brandi Redmond cried at her own fashion line party on Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives Of Dallas Their spat nearly got out of control as they both pointed fingers at each other. Cary later brought up that she prevented Brandi during the trip from gifting her with Stressticles, which are stress-relief balls shaped as testicles. 'I don't think so. Wrong,' Cary was shown saying in a flashback as she took full credit for it. Kameron then gave her a hug for sticking up for her. Fashion line: The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader wore a dress from her line that she designs herself Pointing fingers: Cary Deuber and Kameron Westcott pointed fingers at each other while arguing Stephanie Hollman shortly later saw downtrodden Brandi at a clothes rack. She told the mother-of-three that she was proud of her and then noticed that Brandi appeared sad. 'I'm good,' Brandi lied before downgrading her mood to 'good'. Floral print: Stephanie Hollman changed into a floral print dress from Brandi's line at the event She then admitted that Cary told Kameron that she stepped in and stopped the gift. 'It's not true,' Brandi said. She then broke down crying as Stephanie rushed to console her. Not true: Brandi told Stephanie that Cary made her look bad to Kameron 'You're going to crash and burn, Brandi. You're not sleeping,' Stephanie warned her. Stephanie said she remembers the hard 'baby stage' and feeling 'so tired and exhausted'. 'It's OK to ask for help, too,' Stephani told her. Holding hands: Stephanie consoled Brandi after she broke down and held hands with her Brandi during a confessional said that she's been focused on newly adopted baby boy Bruin and felt like she was neglecting her two daughters and husband. 'Sorry,' Brandi said as she burst into tears again. The episode opened with Stephanie and her assistant Trey preparing her spa day at her luxurious home. Getting emotional: Brandi grew emotional as she talked about focusing on her adopted baby boy Bruin lately Stephanie invited Brandi over as she auditioned models for the upcoming spay day. They encouraged the men to take off their shirts and they gladly obliged. Brandi and Stephanie squealed with delight as another model auditioned along with his baby kangaroo. Model auditions: Stephanie invited Brandi over as male models auditioned for her spa day Shirt off: The models gladly took their shirts off for Stephanie and Brandi Holding on: Brandi was lifted up by one of the models Stephanie decided to hire them all. 'I've never had that much fun,' Brandi said. LeeAnne Locken meanwhile starred in a photoshoot for new dress that could be worn 175 different ways. Baby kangaroo: A baby kangaroo also auditioned Loving it: Brandi and Stephanie loved the baby kangaroo Multiple looks: LeeAnne Locken took part in a photoshoot for her dress that can be worn 175 different ways Kameron showed support at the photoshoot and complaine that Cary was playing both sides. Brandi was then shown with her sister-in-law Megan as they prepared for Brandiland. 'We're doing it,' Brandi said enthusiastically as they rushed to get ready. Pop-up shop: Stephanie celebrated with Brandi at her pop-up shop Brandi said that she designs her own pieces. 'I wear it and love. I hope other people like it, too,' she said. She dressed Stephanie when she got there and found a lovely green dress for tall Kameron. Green dress: Brandi picked out a green dress for Kameron Kameron admired Brandi for being a working mother. 'I'm hoping to do this with Sparkle Dog one day,' Kameron said of her premium dog food line. LeeAnne refused to change and said she has a different design aesthetic. Long dress: Kameron looked lovely in the long, flowing dress 'It's cute,' said LeeAnne who added that she wasn't going to share her 'real opinion'. D'Andra Simmons at the fashion show scolded LeeAnne for insinuating that she was broke and only had $200 to her name. LeeAnne said that she cried about it. Broke rumor: D'Andra Simmons scolded LeeAnne for spreading a rumor that she was broke 'Hurting you made my heart break. I will never do it again. I am so sorry. I would rather hurt myself than hurt you,' LeeAnne told her as tears flowed. D'Andra in a confessional seemed unimpressed. 'LeeAnne has a wonderful ability to create crocodile tears,' she said. Crocodile tears: The reality star said LeeAnne has a 'wonderful ability to create crocodile tears' Stephanie at her spa day welcomed the women with tea sandwiches, white whine and monogrammed robes. Men in white togas formed the welcoming outside and crowns were placed on their heads inside. Stephanie provided massages and nail pampering and the baby kangaroo. Warm welcome: The male models wore togas as they welcomed the women to spa day Hot tub: Stephanie's home featured a $45,000 hot tub with jets and waterfall LeeAnne was unimpressed and asked its owner Chase if Callie-Roo had papers. 'I am 100 percent sure this ain't legal,' LeeAnne said. Brandi during a nail session talked to Cary about the 'Stressticles thing'. Big hit: The kangaroo was a big hit at the party Lone dissenter: LeeAnne believed the kangaroo was there illegally 'You made me look bad to Kameron and maker yourself look good,' Brandi said. Cary admitted that she was defending herself and said she was sorry it was at Brandi's expense. 'Thank you,' Brandi said. Nail session: Cary and Brandi talked it out during their nail session She later badmouthed Kameron and accused her of being under the influence of LeeAnne. 'Kameron doesn't have a voice of her own, let's be honest,' Brandi said. Cary was reluctant to hear it. Harsh words: Brandi started badmouthing Kameron in front of Cary 'Don't do it, girl. Don't tell me secret s***,' Cary said in a confessional after ealier warning the women that she wasn't keeping anyone's secrets. Kameron was shown telling husband Court about the Global Pet Expo and the busy traffic at ther Sparkle Dogs booth. 'Every single minute. I couldn't even bend down to get gum. I couldn't even get water. Not even a snack. I couldn't go to the bathroom,' she told Court. No secrets: Cary earlier warned everyone that she was not going to keep anyone's secrets Court reminded her that the goal was to find a distributor and someone to help license the product. Kameron said she had some leads and was determined to prove she could do it. 'The overall dream is mom, the second is entrepreneur,' Kameron said. RHOD will return next week on Bravo. SBS is set to axe their Food Network content, as its three-year deal with US based Scripps Network and SBS Food Network comes to an end later this year. From November 17, the channel will simply be known as SBS Food and will focus on local Australian content and less of what they call 'reality food' shows. Some of the cooking programs which will no longer air include the Scripps Network's Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals, Chopped hosted by Ted Allen and Giada At Home. Lost their appetite? SBS set to AXE Food Network content... with favourites Rachael Rays (pictured) 30 Minute Meals and Chopped among shows getting the flick Others that won't be returning that fall under the same umbrella are Reza: Spice Prince of Vietnam, Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern and Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. The SBS director of TV and online content, Marshall Heald said: 'SBS Food will feature more famous Australian and global food personalities.' Much-loved Aussie favourites, Luke Nguyen and Poh Ling Yeow will remain, and Maeve OMeara will join the network. They're back: SBS is set to axe their Food Network content, as its three-year deal with US based Scripps Network and SBS Food Network comes to an end later this year. Pitcured: Poh Ling Yeow Also featuring on the redeveloped network are world-renowned names such as Nigella Lawson, Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver, Anthony Bourdain and Kylie Kwong. 'Were also excited to continue to discover and nurture home-grown talent and develop new programs following the success weve had introducing fresh new local faces to Australian audiences over the last 12 months,' Marshall said. He added the network will continue their 'commitment to broadcasting multicultural food-related content, introducing and educating audiences about different cultures, going to the core of SBSs unique purpose.' However, foodies shouldn't be too alarmed as the network will still be airing its flagship food programs on weeknights at 6pm on SBS. Their wedding has caused sparks all around the showbiz world. So Love Island stars Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen have been keen to give fans an insight into their nuptials, as they invited both OK! Magazine and TLC Olivia And Alex Said Yes - with a new teaser showing the emotional groom. Former scaffolder Alex was clearly overcome with emotion as Olivia arrived at the ceremony as a clip for their show showed the hunky star fight back tears while turning to see the stunner walk up the aisle. Adoring: Love Island stars Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen have been keen to give fans an insight into their nuptials, as they invited both OK! Magazine and TLC Olivia And Alex Said Yes - with a new teaser showing the emotional groom Olivia and Alex tied the knot in an idyllic Essex ceremony earlier this month yet kept the details of their nuptials shrouded in secrecy, ahead of the release of the show. The happy couple could barely contain themselves at the wedding as Olivia ran to the window to watch as Alex made his arrival in a helicopter. As she showed her bridesmaids her shaking hands, the scene then shot to Alex who was standing alongside his sunglasses-clad groomsmen before breaking down. Away from the big day, Olivia was seen discussing the cost of the day as she said: 'The original quote is for 20,000', before shocked Alex said: 'What? For flowers!?' Love of my life: Former scaffolder Alex was clearly overcome with emotion as Olivia arrived at the ceremony as a new clip for their show showed the hunky star fight back tears while turning to see the stunner walk up the aisle Shaking: The happy couple could barely contain themselves at the wedding as Olivia ran to the window to watch as Alex made his arrival in a helicopter Elsewhere the newlyweds revealed the ins and outs of the long-awaited day as they announced all in OK! Magazine, including details of their outlandish arrivals, extremely boozy antics and romantic personal moments. As Love Island's first ever marriage, having met on the second season of the show in 2016, the couple gushed over their love while also flaunting their lavish nuptials - complete with gold thrones and a surprise helicopter. Olivia and Alex could not contain their glee in their post wedding chat, in which the revealed all about their idyllic Gosfield Hall nuptials, where they revealed they had added an opulent touch with the golden thrones. Wow! Olivia and Alex tied the knot in an idyllic Essex ceremony earlier this month yet kept the details of their nuptials shrouded in secrecy, ahead of the release of the show Shocking: Away from the big day, Olivia was seen discussing the cost of the day as she said: 'The original quote is for 20,000', before shocked Alex said: 'What? For flowers!?' In a unique touch, the duo named their tables after places they have visited around the world - including Majorca, where they first met on Love Island, and New York, where Alex proposed to Olivia in 2016. The couple shunned a top table, as Olivia explained: 'We decided against having a top table - I wanted our first dinner as a married couple to be just us'. After admitting they had drunk in excess, Olivia revealed the next day that she was forced to go on a McDonald's run, as she said: 'We were so hungover when we woke up, so we got a McDonald's on our way home... 'My hair was everywhere, I had no make-up on, no bra on and I came downstairs clutching champagne glasses. I was just like: "Where am I?"' Rock on: In a unique touch, the duo named their tables after places they have visited around the world - including Majorca, where they first met on Love Island, and New York, where Alex proposed to Olivia in 2016 It appears Nick Cummins may be a firm believer in legalising marijuana in Australia. The Bachelor star, 30, previously shared a series of links to controversial articles on Facebook relating to issues surrounding the use of cannabis. Most of the articles shared by Nick were to scientific studies which claimed cannabis treatment can 'annihilate' cancer. Scroll down for video Should it be legalised? The Bachelor's Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins shares controversial posts supporting use of marijuana for recreational and medicinal reasons Nick shared the links throughout 2015. 'Study shows marijuana 114 times safer than drinking alcohol,' one of the posts read. Another of the posts claimed the drug could 'heal broken bones' and 'annihilate cancer' while one stated it 'helped an Autistic 9-year-old speak for the first time.' Although there is nothing to suggest the former rugby union player participants in drug use, the posts suggest he is passionate about the subject. Scientific study: Most of the articles shared by Nick throughout 2015 were to scientific studies which claimed cannabis treatment can 'annihilate' cancer Dividing opinion? A seventh posted shared by Nick linked to an article celebrating American state Oregon legalising use of the drug A seventh posted shared by Nick linked to an article celebrating American state Oregon legalising use of the drug. Although recreational cannabis use is illegal in Australia, many politicians have addressed the issue in recent years. An on-going issue: Australia legalised medicinal cannabis at the federal level in February 2016 Senators and representatives from both majority sides of the cabinet have been "throwing their support behind the legalisation of medical cannabis,' Wiki report. Australia legalised medicinal cannabis at the federal level in February 2016. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nick's rep and Network Ten for comment. She inspired fans when she returned to work just six weeks after the birth of her first child. And NRL Footy Show host Erin Molan made motherhood look effortless on Wednesday, while doting on her adorable three-month-old daughter Eliza Emily Ogilvy. The 35-year-old shared a glamorous photo on Instagram which looked like part of a photo shoot and she was pictured dressed to the nines in a black ball gown and cradling her baby. Oh baby! NRL Footy Show host Erin Molan makes motherhood look effortless as she dotes on adorable daughter Eliza while wearing a glamorous outfit Erin, who was dressed up for the Dally M Awards in Sydney, had her hair and makeup professionally done in the tender snap. She displayed her post-baby body in the floor-length gown, which featured a thigh-high split and daring cut-outs. Despite the picture-perfect snap, Erin told 9Honey in March that her pregnancy was far from perfect. Candid: Erin told 9Honey in March that her pregnancy was far from perfect 'It hasn't been one of those ideal pregnancies. I'm still pretty sick, but I think I'll just accept that I'm one of those women who'll just be sick throughout,' she told them at the time. Erin also collapsed while she was at work and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. The fall was due to low blood pressure combined with an early start and she and her unborn bub were okay. Eliza is the first child for Erin and her police officer fiance Sean Ogilvy. Formor CJP son-in-law arrested from Dubai Former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhrys son-in-law Murtaza Amjad, a key suspect in a private housing fraud case, has been arrested from Dubai, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday. The ex-CJPs son-in-law has been arrested for questioning over a case involving a private housing scheme, Eden Housing, Chauhdry said, while speaking to the media in Islamabad. He said a big breakthrough had been made in the investigation of the Eden Housing case, adding that Murtaza was arrested by a team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from Dubai on warrants issued by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The information minister maintained that Amjads father was the owner of the housing scheme, which is why Iftikhar Chaudhry had heard the cases pertaining to the housing scheme himself and granted them relief. Chaudhry continued that 200 to 300 families were affected by the fraud, and thousands of people invested their hard-earned money in it but were cheated. He said, The ex-CJPs son, Arsalan Iftikhar, his daughter and his son-in-laws father are also accused in the case. Vowing that all the accused would be arrested, the information minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had summoned a final report in the case within 24 hours. Advertisement She's just moved into her new home with her former Made In Chelsea co-star and now husband, Hugo Taylor and Millie Mackintosh has been sharing pictures of their new abode. The reality TV star, 29, has uploaded pictures of their lavish dining room which is decked out in neutral tones and has been polished to perfection with an interior design makeover by Ventura Interior Design. Cream curtains outline floor-to-ceiling windows, while a long dining table is swamped in white floral centrepieces, including peonies, orchids and tulips. Stunning: Millie Mackintosh has been sharing pictures of the marital home she has just moved in with Hugo Taylor on Instagram Settling in: Millie shared this snap of herself when all the work was finished in the room, sitting in front of a picture of herself on the wall One floral display sat neatly in a glass surround against a backdrop of French doors, while silver floor lamps added a retro feel to a modern room. Millie also shared another snap of herself modelling a crop top and leggings as she posed in front of a hall of mirrors, the perfect place to try out some of her designer looks. The couple gave a glimpse into another angle of her living space when Millie shared a picture of her love sitting on a taupe coloured sofa, resting his feet on a matching footstool. Getting comfortable: Millie shared a picture of her love sitting on a taupe coloured sofa, resting his feet on a matching footstool, (left), while she posed in her grey dressing gown as removal workers delivered yet more chairs to the property Witness the fitness: Millie poses in her workout gear in another snap which shows off her hall of mirrors Interiors envy: The former Made In Chelsea star later took to her Instagram stories to show off her brand new, luxurious looking bed, while displaying another look in her 'hall of mirrors' A tranquil picture of a mountainous view was propped against the wall, while the rest of their furniture lay wrapped up in plastic still. The couple are keeping their location under wraps but they previously lived in a smaller flat together in West London - a location they moved into in around early 2017. Millie and Hugo, 32, married in Chelsea Town Hall in June, before celebrating their nuptials with a lavish ceremony Whithurst Park in West Sussex. Watching TV never looked so good! Millie and Hugo now are the proud owners of a grey fabric pouffe, which houses a tray featuring a candle, decorative plat, drinks mats and a handy box to keep the television remotes out of the way Stunning: Millie and Hugo enlisted the help of an interior design company to furnish the new property and the results are already looking amazing The wedding was said to be attended by 200 guests and boasted a dazzling drinks reception followed by a sit-down dinner and party. Millie and Hugo became engaged during a romantic trip to Greece in August last year, after one year of romance. The wedding is Millie's second marriage following her love affair with rapper Professor Green before splitting in 2016. The couple have known each other since they were 16 and enjoyed a fiery six-month relationship in 2011, during their time on Made In Chelsea. Supermodel Naomi Campbell took a pass on Wednesday when asked to comment on Kendall Jenner and her modeling career on Watch What Happens Live. The 48-year-old English beauty was asked by a caller about her views on Kendall, 22, being the 'highest-paid model' while admitting she 'cherry picks' jobs and 'could never do 30 shows in a season'. 'Next question,' Naomi told host Andy Cohen, 50. Original supermodel: Naomi Campbell was asked about Kendall Jenner during her appearance on Wednesday on Watch What Happens Live Fellow chat show guest Cuba Gooding Jr, 50, leaned in and made a funny face at the remark. Naomi was one of the six original supermodels of the late 1980s and 1990s. She wore a pink one-shoulder Brandon Maxwell dress to the show. Naomi revealed that designer Brandon, 32, came to her house in the rain and put the dress on her. Top model: Kendall, 22, is shown last week on the runway during the Moschino show in Milan, Italy as part of Milan Fashion Week Bravo clubhouse: Andy Cohen welcomed Naomi and Cuba Gooding Jr onto the Bravo show Next question: Naomi asked for the next question when a caller asked for her views on Kendall The Star actress will co-host the Global Citizen Festival this weekend in New York City. The event will feature performances by Janet Jackson, The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, Cardi B and Janelle Monae with special guest John Legend. Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness will be the main hosts. Funny face: Cuba leaned in and made a funny face after Naomi asked for the next question Tickets are free for Global Citizens who have taken a series of actions to create change around the world. Naomi also is hosting and producing a Global Citizen concert in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 2. Cuba was on the show promoting his new drama Bayou Caviar scheduled for release on October 5. They renewed their wedding gowns in a romantic beach ceremony last month after nine years of marriage. And Salma Hayek looked in the throes of love as she cuddled up to her husband Francois-Henri Pinault, 56, at Vanity Fair's Personality Of The Year Awards at the Royal Theatre in Madrid on Wednesday night. The actress, 52, oozed sophistication as she took to the red carpet in a black gown with full-length laced sleeves. Smitten: Salma Hayek looked in the throes of love as she cuddled up to her husband Francois-Henri Pinault, 56, at Vanity Fair's Personality Of The Year Awards in Madrid on Wednesday The gown sheathed over Salma's hourglass physique and was embellished with sequinned flowers across the bust. The model accessorised the look with a black velour clutch and wore several rings and pearl drop earrings to complement the show-stopping dress. Salma's raven tresses were styled with a side parting, which then cascaded over her shoulders in loose waves. Looking sharp! The actress, 52, oozed sophistication as she took to the red carpet in a black gown with full-length laced sleeves, while Francois sported a navy suit with black lapels Happily married: The couple renewed their wedding gowns in a romantic beach ceremony last month after nine years of marriage Gorgeous: The gown sheathed over Salma's hourglass physique and was embellished with sequinned flowers across the bust All eyes on her: The chic ensemble also featured lace sleeves for a glamorous flourish, as she wore several rings and pearl earrings for an extra glittering touch The Mexican beauty finished off her evening ensemble with black eye-liner, blush-swept cheeks and a magenta pink lip. Meanwhile, Francois cut a dapper figure in a navy suit with black lapels and a matching bow tie. The happy couple beamed as they posed for photos on the red carpet before heading into the star-studded award ceremony where they were joined by Penelope Cruz. Gentleman: Meanwhile, Francois cut a dapper figure in a navy suit with black lapels and a matching bow tie as he led Salma into the Royal Theatre Salma and Francois married on Valentine's Day in 2009 and have daughter Valentina together. The Grown Ups star revealed on social media back in August that she was tricked into believing she was going to have a spa day, but ended up being surprised with the intimate beach vow renewal. Wearing a red dress and flip flops, Salma celebrated nearly a decade of marriage with her French businessman husband as their daughter Valentina, 10, served as a witness. 'The summer is coming to an end and my best moment was when my husband surprised me with a vow renewal - it was not what I would have chosen to wear to my wedding but I was told I was going to the spa!' Salma gushed on Instagram. Stunning: The Mexican beauty finished off her evening ensemble with black eye-liner, blush-swept cheeks and a magenta pink lip The actress admitted several years ago she was 'desperate' to find the one before meeting Francois, and ended up dating some men she shouldn't have. 'I wish I knew [when I was younger] that I was going to fall crazy in love with the perfect man. I was so worried, and I dated some people I shouldn't have dated,' she told Allure. 'You get desperate, and you start seeing wonderful things in, like, the wrong guys. I also found some pretty good guys. 'But I wish I could say to myself: "Hey, chill out. You're going to get a great husband that's going to adore you,"' she added: 'I would have saved myself a lot of personal drama.' Cara Delevingne has revealed she decided not to report sexual harassment because she 'felt ashamed and didn't want to publicly ruin someone's life.' The model and actress, 26, took to Twitter on Wednesday to join thousands of women sharing their stories of abuse and sexual harassment using the hashtag WhyIDidntReport. Cara wrote: 'Because I felt ashamed of what happened and didn't want to publicly ruin someone's life, even though they privately ruined mine #WhyIDidntReport (sic)' Shocking: Cara Delevingne has revealed she did not report being sexually harassed because she 'felt ashamed and didn't want to publicly ruin someone's life' The Vogue coverstar did not name her alleged attacker in her post, but in October 2017 publicly accused disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. In a lengthy statement posted on Instagram, the star said that after meeting Weinstein, who is new facing rape charges in New York, at a hotel lobby he asked her to come up to his room, where another woman was waiting for the pair. Weinstein then told the two women to kiss, which Delevingne said that she got out of by suddenly breaking into song. Then, when she announced that she had to leave, Weinstein tried to kiss her on the lips as she prepared to walk out the door. Brave: The model and actress, 26, took to Twitter to join thousands of women sharing their stories of abuse and sexual harassment using the hashtag WhyIDidntReport She said that she still got the part in the film, and has felt guilty about it ever since. The actress has filmed two movies for the Weinstein Company, including her breakout role in their 2015 picture 'Paper Towns' and the recently released 'Tulip Fever.' In a lengthy message on the photo-sharing website, she said: 'As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. 'He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. Speaking out: The Vogue coverstar did not name her alleged attacker in her post, but in October 2017 went public with allegations against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein 'When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. 'After singing I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room. (sic)' She added: 'I was so hesitant about speaking out....I didn't want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. 'I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.' #WhyIDidn'tReport has risen to prominence in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's nominee for the US Supreme Court. Alleged: In a lengthy statement posted on Instagram , the British model-turned-actress said that after meeting Weinstein, who is new facing rape charges in New York, had made advances towards her in a hotel room Kavanaugh has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by at least two women, and is due to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The alleged offences happened decades ago and President Trump questioned why charges had not been filed immediately, 'if the attack... was as bad as she (the alleged victim) says'. Cara joins celebrities including Padma Lakshmi, Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd who have tweeted their experiences of alleged sexual assault using the hashtag. Presenter Padma said she was raped when she was 16 but did not come forward because 'the victim is treated like the perpetrator'. Mira said she reported an alleged assault when she was a teenager but 'nothing came of it' and she later felt 'I wasn't important enough to make a big deal over'. Weinstein has denied allegations on non-consensual sex. Movement: Cara joins celebrities including Padma Lakshmi, Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd who have tweeted their experiences of alleged sexual assault using the hashtag She starred as Sarah Connor alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original Terminator time-travelling movie which was released in 1984. And Linda Hamilton, 62, reunited with the action star, 71, 34 years later on set of Terminator 6 for a set photo - they've been filming together since June. Linda did appear in the sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day, released in 1991, but was killed off in the third movie, 2009 Terminator Salvation - only her voice appeared. Then and now: Arnold Schwarzenegger, 71, and Linda Hamilton, 62, reunite on Terminator 6 set for a as the actor wishes her happy birthday... 34 years on from the original On Wednesday, Arnie shared a throwback picture of the pair from the second film, alongside the current picture of the two recreating the pose. He captioned the image with the words: 'Happy birthday to my dear friend Linda Hamilton. One of my favorite co-stars, a true badass, and a wonderful human being. 'Im pumped to be back together again.' She's back! Linda, now 62, (right) has reprised her role for the sixth instalment of the film, despite her character being killed off in the third movie Linda was first seen back in character as Sarah Connor for the Terminator reboot when she was spotted in Spain in the summer. This movie redo - which will be released in November 2019 - also stars newcomers Mackenzie Davis, Diego Boneta, Gabriel Luna and Natalia Reyes. This Terminator film is directed by Deadpool's Tim Miller. There she is! Linda was pictured on set of the film back in June as she comes back from the dead A step back in time: Linda as Sarah Connor in the 1984 original Stunner: The star reappeared in the second instalment of the film as a reprogrammed Terminator becomes her comrade to help protect her son - they had previously been enemies The first was directed by James Cameron who Linda was married to from 1997 until 1999. James is now wed to his Titanic star Suzy Amis and they have three children. Cameron is now a producer on the reboot. The movie, which was initially meant to come out July 26 2018 but was recently bumped to that November 22, will feature Mackenzie as an assassin. Her character will have time-traveled from the future to the setting of the film. Davis is a Canadian actress who made her film debut in Smashed, and later appeared in Breathe In, That Awkward Moment, The Martian, Blade Runner 2049, and The F Word. The new Terminator will be played by Luna. Pals: Linda and the Austrian-born actor Arnold by a pool in Cannes, France back in 1991 He is best known for starring as Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider on the ABC action superhero series Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Cameron has not talked the plot details yet for the Terminator reboot. Asked whether Arnold might portray 'a human character,' James theorized to TheArnoldFans.com about a 'prototype' for Arnold's original 1984 character T-800 'that they grew the organic outer layer that they grew the Terminator from.' James mulled the T-800 origin story to the website last year: 'Yeah, you got to ask yourself: "Why did they make these characters look and sound like Arnold?"' Action figure: Arnold was pictured walking around Milan on a shopping trip on Wednesday, looking much younger than his years Love: His girlfriend Heather Milligan, 43, was with him on his stroll He explained, 'There has to be a reason. So yeah, it has flashed through my mind that there has to have been a prototype. There has to have been a guy whos DNA was harvested from - that they grew the organic outter layer that they grew the Terminator from...and that presumably was a real person at some point.' On a roll, James said: 'Now, the question is, did that person have some sort of meaning to Skynet on WHY they chose that one (Arnold)?' Alternatively, it could have been 'like a whole rack of Terminators and the one that happened to be the Arnold model just happened to be closest to the door going out to the time displacement center and all the others looked different?' Sweet gesture: Arnie put a protective arm around his pretty girlfriend Hunk: He looked every inch the movie star in his designer shades as the couple left designer store Hermes She's currently filming the third series of Netflix drama The Crown. And Helena Bonham Carter, 52, enjoyed a well-deserved break as she transformed from one style icon to another as she stepped out in an ensemble inspired by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo on Wednesday. The Harry Potter actress made sure to command attention as she placed two statement floral hairpieces in her brunette tresses, which mimicked the famed portrait painter's iconic look. Inspired: Helena Bonham Carter, 52, enjoyed a well-deserved break as she transformed from one style icon to another as she stepped out in an ensemble inspired by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo on Wednesday The acclaimed screen star donned a floral maxi dress for the outing, which showcased her silk trainers and black socks. The chiffon garment boasted a lavish rose print across the chest which aided the ditsy print underneath. A warm September day, Helena draped her black statement wool coat over her forearm and sported a leather tote across her body. Aside from her statement 'do, she worked a natural beauty look while she ran errands alongside her pal. Out and about: The chiffon garment boasted a lavish rose print across the chest which aided the ditsy print underneath Her appearance comes after it was reported that she hired a psychic to contact the late Princess Margaret before playing her in The Crown. The actress enlisted the help of a clairvoyant to speak to Queen Elizabeth's sister, who died in 2002 aged 71, from beyond the grave to ensure she researched the role with 'as much depth as possible'. Speaking to The Sun, a source said: 'She always likes to research her roles with as much depth as possible - and is always prepared to go that extra mile. 'So if that means using someone with supernatural powers to speak to a character who is now on the other side then Helena has no problems with doing that.' Relaxed: The acclaimed screen star donned a floral maxi dress for the outing, which showcased her silk trainers and black socks Statement: Aside from her statement 'do, she worked a natural beauty look while she ran errands alongside her pal Walk this way: A warm September day, Helena draped her black statement wool coat over her forearm and sported a leather tote across her body Reports: Her appearance comes after it was reported that she hired a psychic to contact the late Princess Margaret before playing her in The Crown The Harry Potter star, who will appear alongside Olivia Colman, who will replace Claire Foy as the queen, in the third series of the Netflix drama, is said to have received 'positive feedback' from the princess. The TV insider added: 'She is naturally spiritual and open-minded and is delighted shes had such positive feedback from the late royal.' Helena is set to take over the role from Vanessa Kirby, who played Elizabeth's sister in the first two seasons of the show, and admitted she and her co-stars Olivia and Tobias Menzies - who will replace Matt Smith as Prince Philip - are feeling the pressure to follow on from the 'successful' first two series. She told Variety on the Ocean's 8 red carpet: 'I think we're all ... we're completely terrified. Siblings: Queen Elizabeth pictured Princess Margaret at the Horseguards Parade in 1993 Royal role: Princess Margaret was last played by Vanessa Kirby, with the second series seeing her tie the knot with Anthony Armstrong-Jones, or Lord Snowdon Hope and glory: The third series will also see Olivia Colman take on the role of Queen Elizabeth II, a role previously played by Claire Foy (right) 'I think also because the first two seasons were such a success, we have the onus of inheriting the responsibility of doing justice to all these genuinely famous people, and then on top of it, inheriting them from this previous generation of actors who've done such good jobs. 'None of us look at all like our previous generation. We don't actually look like our real people either. I don't look like Margaret. I don't think Olivia looks particularly like the queen, but it's interesting. We just have to try and create some sort of essence.' The first series of The Crown was one of the most critically acclaimed dramas of 2016 - winning two Golden Globes and two SAG awards, and being nominated for four BAFTAs. Additionally, the first two seasons have collectively bagged a whopping 26 Emmy nominations over the last two years. Handing it over: Tobias is taking over the role of Prince Philip from Doctor Who star Matt Smith, who played the part for the show's first two series Suave: Ben Daniels has taken over the part of Lord Snowdon from Matthew Goode, with the third series set to document his and Princess Margaret's turbulent marriage The show, which has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, is the most expensive television series ever made - with the first series costing $100million to produce. The second series dealt with the scandal surrounding Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, as well as swirling affair and divorce rumours between Elizabeth and Phillip. The third is thought to focus on the 1970s, and will introduce Camilla Parker Bowles to the cast, after her first meeting with Prince Charles in 1971. The new series is expected to land on the online streaming site in 2019. Advertisement She has been one of Paris Fashion Week's most in-demand models, having stormed the runway for a string of leading designers. And Kaia Gerber showed no signs of slowing down as she took to the catwalk for Chloe's showcase of their upcoming spring/ summer collection on Thursday. The daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, 17, worked her magic on the runway, modelling a burnt orange jumpsuit and sleeveless rose embroidered coat. Runway queen: Kaia Gerber showed no signs of slowing down as she took to the catwalk for Chloe's showcase of their upcoming spring/ summer collection on Thursday Kaia, who arrived in Paris with Cindy, 52, ahead of fashion week, confidently strutted in the striking crimped jumpsuit which sheathed over her statuesque frame, with it cinching her in at the waist with a rope belt. In keeping with Chloe's signature style, the model of the moment showcased the pale pink jacket which was embellished with a intricate floral design. The teenager also showed off the designer's tan leather bag, clutching it in one hand and complemented her chic Boho ensemble with gold and blue tassel earrings. Strutting her stuff: The daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, 17, worked her magic on the runway in a burnt orange jumpsuit and sleeveless rose embroidered coat '70s inspired: Kaia, who arrived in Paris with Cindy, 52, ahead of fashion week confidently strutted in the striking crimped jumpsuit which sheathed over her statuesque frame, while cinching in at the waist with a rope belt Strike a pose! The teenager also showed off the designer's tan leather bag and complemented her chic boho ensemble with gold and blue tassel earrings Versatile: Her brunette locks were slicked back off her face, with Kaia looking world's away from her usual minimal make-up look as she rocked a grungy black eye and matte red-lip for the catwalk show Kaia looked world's away from her usual minimal make-up look as she rocked a grungy black eye and matte red-lip for the catwalk show and sported a slicked backed hairstyle. Cindy has been taking a step back from the runway to allow her daughter to follow in her footsteps as a model but has proved to be her biggest supporter, sitting front row for a whole host of designer shows. The pair recently arrived in Paris, days after having soaked up the festivities surrounding Milan Fashion Week, with Kaia walking for top designers at hot-ticket shows in both cities. Number one fan: Proving to be her biggest supporter, Cindy proudly led Kaia out of their hotel ahead of the show The one to impress: Anne Wintour was spotted on the front row and showed off her sartorial flair in a deep purple leather jacket and floral dress Fashion lover: The famed Vogue editor appeared in high spirits as she clutched a coffee and prepared to take a seat Leading ladies: (L-R)Director Deniz Gamze Erguven, model Dree Hemingway, actress Isabelle Huppert and Lou Doillon all made an appearance Fashion pack: (L-R) Caroline Daur rocked a purple dress while Rowan Blanchard and Kelela opted for polo-neck jumpers from the designer On with the show! (L-R) Actresses Lolita Chammah, her mother Isabelle Huppert and Augustin Trapenard posed for a snap as they took their seat Cindy proved to be Kaia's bigger supporter as they headed to the show together. The supermodel looked as glamorous as ever, rocking a green leather jacket which she layered atop of a simple white t-shirt and denim jeans, while Kaia was casually-clad in an all-black ensemble and converses. Since making her runway debut back in September 2017 for Calvin Klein when she was just 16, Kaia has since walked for various brands including iconic fashion house, Chanel. The American beauty donned a pair of black shades and opted for a radiant make-up look for the show's showcase. Signature style: The catwalk was awash with vibrant prints, handkerchief hemlines and floral patterns Sophisticated: Models also showcased sheer ruffle blouses and pale yellow skirts of varying lengths on the catwalk Feeling inspired: The fashion pack had their phones out as they watched the string of models showcase the autumn/ winter collection Like mother, like daughter: Cindy looked as glamorous as ever, rocking a green leather jacket which she layered atop of a simple white t-shirt and denim jeans Supermodel: Cindy donned a pair of black shades and opted for a radiant make-up look for the show's showcase Trend-setter: Kaia was casually-clad in an all-black ensemble, rocking bootcut jeans, a black t-shirt and converses Discussing how she juggles life as a student and international model, Kaia told Harper's Bazaar in January: 'I usually use the afternoon to catch up on homework. 'I'm completing my diploma at Malibu High through an online program, and it's difficult to get much done during the week, as the Wi-Fi on planes is really annoying. 'My favourite class this year is AP Calculus because I just like math. It's definitely super hard to teach yourself derivatives, though!' Fashion maven: Kaia later changed out of the designer's ensemble and showed off her love for all things noughties in a pair of oversized denim jeans and a black leather jacket as she headed to her hotel after the show True professional: Despite only being 17 and jet-setting across the globe, the teenager showed no signs of exhaustion as she exited her chauffeur-driven car Taron Egerton's heroic transformation from beaten war veteran to masked outlaw has been teased in the latest trailer for the action-packed Robin Hood. The British actor can be seen training to be the arrow-bearing theif known by most in the mythical tales, as he is mentored by Jamie Foxx as Little John. The preview's non-stop action also shows glimpses of the Merry Men eventually going to battle against the Sheriff of Nottingham's armed forces, with Jamie Dornan also seen as Robin's half-brother Will Scarlet. Amazing: Taron Egerton's heroic transformation from beaten war veteran to masked outlaw has been teased in the latest trailer for the action-packed Robin Hood The trailer begins with a slow-motion sequence of Hood among an epic battle under the shadow's of war, with imagery bearing much similarity to a modern day ambush in the deserts of Afghanistan. Shot by an arrow Hood is left powerless as the opposition charge forward with their swords at the read, with a voiceover from the titular character saying: 'Four years ago I marched off to fight a liars cause. I came home to nothing. I was Robin of Loxley now I really don't know what I am.' The trailer goes onto explain that Hood's home has hit dark times since his departure, with the Sheriff of Nottingham and his forces taking full charge in an escalating war. Tough time: In the preview, Taron's version of the masked crusader can be seen struggling to survive in the middle of a warzone Brutal: As the opposition charges forward, they're armed with their own swords and bows and arrows Dramatic: But the protagonist is left helpless, as his comrades pull him away from the scene after being shot by an arrow Angry: His experience seems to have hardened Hood from a committed solider to an embittered war veteran Irate: In a voiceover he can be heard saying: 'Four years ago I marched off to fight a liars cause. I came home to nothing. I was Robin of Loxley now I really don't know what I am' Brutal: In typical anti-hero fashion Hood seems to drown his sorrows with the bottle before being turned into the mythical legend so well-known Ever the embittered soldier, Hood originally insists it's not his problem, before meeting Little John, played by Foxx. He tells Hood: 'I've never seen anything like it. Men of power taking more power from the blood of innocents. You're only powerless if you believe you're powerless.' In a more comedic scene Hood then struggles to pronounce John's distinctive real name, before they both settle on using the English version. Sinister: The trailer also shows glimpses of the film's main villain The Sheriff of Nottingham, played by Ben Mendelsohn Threatening: In typical fashion, the Sheriff is seen intimidating his minions using the justification of God Getting there: In a brief appearance Fifty Shades Of Grey star Jamie Dornan is seen as Hood's brother Will Scarlet Meeting: Jamie Foxx also commands the scenes as Little John, who becomes Hood's mentor and helps to transform him into the masked hero Involved: Sharing his choice word Foxx said: 'Men of power taking more power from the blood of innocents. You're only powerless if you believe you're powerless' Progressing: In a scenes that would look at home in a film such as Rocky, Hood gets into shape as the film's main man who will 'steal from the rich and give to the poor' as the lore says The training then commences, with Hood finally picking up the bow and arrow which have made him so famous in folklore. A voiceover from John adds: 'One thing keeps him in power. The money we steal it. This won't be like any way you're used to. You need a street weapon.' A montage of Hood showcasing his arrow skills then cuts to his full transformation, complete with a more modern version of his famous green feathered hat and tights look. Important: A voiceover from John adds: 'One thing keeps him in power. The money we steal it. This won't be like any way you're used to. You need a street weapon' Plotting: The picture's scheme is also revealed as Hood and John plan to rob the Sheriff of his wages Ringing true: As the newly assemble Merry Men march into battle with masks about their face, in a scene that wouldn't be out of place in a modern-day film about gang violence Explosive: The big budget film is heavy on pyrotechnics and explosions, as Hood and John ride into (or away from) battle With a rock-heavy soundtrack, the trailer then cuts to a chaotic montage of scenes showing some of the film's most epic action sequences, cut among some steamier scenes between Hood and Maid Marian (Eve Hewson). As the newly assemble Merry Men march into battle with masks about their face, in a scene that wouldn't be out of place in a modern-day film or documentary about gang violence. It than closes with one a brief glimpse of Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan as Hood's half-brother Will Scarlet, where a close conversation between the two siblings sees him tease 'we're just getting started.' This new look at the period piece comes just weeks ahead of the film's November 21 release date, which coincides with the US Thanksgiving holiday. Feisty: Eve Hewson takes the film's female lead role as Maid Marian, and the trailer even gives a glimpse of some of her steamy scenes Jaw-dropping: With a rock-heavy soundtrack, the trailer then cuts to a chaotic montage of scenes showing some of the film's most epic action sequences We love it! When the moment comes that sees Hood finally bear his bow and arrow, he's able to fire at a target without even looking Take that! His signature hood is on full display in one epic scene which sees Hood leap from a building's edge as he shoots an arrow Nearly here! This new look at the period piece comes just weeks ahead of the film's November 21 release date, which coincides with the US Thanksgiving holiday Sensational: The horse and carriage race and pursuit may remind many film fans of the 1959 classic Ben Hur An official synopsis for the film reads: 'A war-hardened Crusader and his Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown in a thrilling action-adventure packed with gritty battlefield exploits, mind-blowing fight choreography, and a timeless romance.' This is the latest in a long line of incarnations of the legendary character, with some of the most famous being the Walt Disney animated version (1973), the big-budget Kevin Costner version (1991) and a much darker adaptation starring Russell Crowe (2010). The film is directed by BAFTA winner Otto Bathurst, who rose to fame following his work on the BBC period series Peaky Blinders. Robin Hood will be released in the UK and US on 21st November 2018. New face: The film is directed by BAFTA winner Otto Bathurst, who rose to fame following his work on the BBC period series Peaky Blinders Hard at work: The picture is also packed with stunts as Hood leaps to catch his target in the epic battle scenes His hairline set tongues wagging when he attended a promotional event in Hong Kong three days ago, displaying a thicker head of hair. So it perhaps comes as little surprise that David Beckham, 43, covered up his head with a hat when he was pictured arriving in Paris by Eurostar on Thursday. The sportsman teamed the grey knitted accessory with a pair of 90s shades as he prepared to meet up with his wife Victoria, who is already in Paris for Fashion Week. Hide and seek: David Beckham hid his hair under a hat as he arrived in Paris on Thursday, (left) his thicker hairline sparked transplant rumours when he stepped out in Hong Kong on Monday, (right) While his camp have previously declined to comment on whether or not the handsome chap has had a hair transplant, his new look certainly garnered attention. Dr Asim Shahmalak, from Crown Clinic in Manchester, said: 'David Beckham's hair does appear to be thicker than in the pictures of him in Miami a couple of weeks ago when he was showing clear signs of male pattern baldness. 'It is impossible to say for certain but it does look like he has been using thickener in his hair to give the impression of having a fuller hairline. Doing a Posh: David failed to raise a smile as he arrived in Paris looking cool in his get-up Giving him a hand: He had a pal in tow, who appeared to be carrying one of his bags for him Jovial: David put on a chipper display - but inevitably attracted a crowd - as she headed through the station Out and about: After exiting the station David was seen heading to his lavish hotel in the French city Covered up: The star did manage to crack a smile as he exited his vehicle, sporting the same casual look 'Lots of male stars use these temporary products to hide hair loss. Wayne Rooney is a good example of this trend. I think David Beckham is borrowing a trick from Rooney, he has dyed his hair darker which gives the impression of greater thickness. 'The effect of these measures is to make his hair look much thicker all over and disguise what is likely to have been an earlier hair transplant.' Beckham himself once suggested he wouldn't be tempted. 'There is definitely nothing wrong with doing that,' he said in 2012, 'but I don't think personally I would. If I do start showing signs of going bald, then I will shave it off.' Making his own rules: The sportsman teamed the grey knitted accessory with a pair of 90s shades as he prepared to meet up with wife Victoria, arriving at St Pancras hours earlier Could it be? While his camp have previously declined to comment on whether or not the handsome chap has had a hair transplant, his new look certainly garnered attention Denial? Beckham himself once suggested he wouldn't be tempted by surgery, saying: . 'There is definitely nothing wrong with doing that,' he said in 2012, 'but I don't think personally I would. If I do start showing signs of going bald, then I will shave it off' Touching down: The ever-busy sports star was set to reunite with wife Victoria ahead of the star-studded Paris Fashion Week It's you! Later he was seen leaving the Christian Dior buildings in the city, when he reunited with a colleague Friendly: Sharing an embrace with his pal, David seemed to be preparing his looks to head to the runway Vacation: David's hairline earlier this month (L) as he soaked up the sun in Miami when rumours surfaced - he perhaps dyed his locks when he was in Hong Kong this week (right in Paris) Hair transplant surgeon Dr Bessam Farjo, meanwhile, says there is no way the star could have had a transplant that resulted in a head of new hair in the space of a few weeks. 'Transplanted hair takes about three months just to break through the skin,' says Dr Farjo. He adds, however, that this doesn't mean Beckham hasn't had a transplant at some earlier stage. David kept his head down earlier in the day as he arrived at the Eurostar terminal at London's St Pancras wearing a chic navy jacket and jeans. His love: David is on his way to meet wife Victoria in Paris - she was pictured stepping out earlier in the day during fashion week Shady: She hid her eyes behind a pair of designer shades as she stepped out in the capital Wow thing: Posh looked stunning in her outfit as she left her office in France He carried an expensive Louis Vuitton holdall in hand as he made is way out of his taxi. While David prepared to head to the French capital, his lawyer arrived in court to fight his speeding fine on his behalf. High-profile celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, famously nicknamed 'Mr Loophole', arrived at The Court House, in Wimbledon where the ex-England captain will stand trial. Beckham was allegedly caught driving a 200,000 Bentley at 59mph in a 40mph zone in January. Mr Freeman told the court earlier this month it was 'admitted' Beckham was behind the wheel and broke the limit. He indicated a not guilty plea on his behalf because he claimed legal papers about the offence were not served on time. At the hearing on September 4, he said the car was a 'loan vehicle' from Bentley so a notice of intended prosecution was sent to the manufacturer instead of Beckham after it was clocked speeding. But the letter was not received until more than the legal time limit of two weeks after the alleged offence on January 23, Mr Freeman said. Beckham allegedly broke the limit while driving on the A40 flyover in Paddington. She's in Paris for Fashion Week and has been busy working on her own collection there. And on Thursday, Victoria Beckham, 44, looked incredible as she left her office in the French capital wearing a black peplum dress from her eponymous range. The number cinched her in at the waist and had two silver poppers as accents at the front. Chic: Victoria Beckham was a fashion hit as she left her office in Paris wearing a peplum dress from her own collection with contrasting blue bag and heels during PFW Shady: She hid her eyes behind a pair of designer shades as she stepped out in the capital Wearing her hair in loose waves, the pretty brunette added a splash of colour to her look with a bright sky blue clutch bag and matching heels. No doubt Victoria is looking forward to seeing her husband David, who was pictured arriving at the Eurostar station in London as he made his way to her. David's outing comes as he has been accused of having a hair transplant, a claim he has remained silent on. Wow thing: Posh looked stunning in her outfit as she left her office in France Anticipation: No doubt Victoria is looking forward to seeing her husband David, who was pictured arriving at the Eurostar station in London as he made his way to her Putting her best foot forward: Victoria has been juggling motherhood with her multi-million pound fashion empire He stepped out wearing a hat following the rumours, on the day in which his lawyer headed to court to fight his speeding fine. High-profile celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, famously nicknamed 'Mr Loophole', arrived at The Court House, in Wimbledon where the ex-England captain will stand trial. Beckham was allegedly caught driving a 200,000 Bentley at 59mph in a 40mph zone in January. Hide and seek: Earlier, husband David hid his hair under a hat as he arrived at Eurostar on Thursday, (left) his thicker hairline sparked transplant rumours when he stepped out in Hong Kong on Monday, (right) Could it be? While his camp have previously declined to comment on whether or not the handsome chap has had a hair transplant, his new look certainly garnered attention Mr Freeman told the court earlier this month it was 'admitted' Beckham was behind the wheel and broke the limit. He indicated a not guilty plea on his behalf because he claimed legal papers about the offence were not served on time. At the hearing on September 4, he said the car was a 'loan vehicle' from Bentley so a notice of intended prosecution was sent to the manufacturer instead of Beckham after it was clocked speeding. But the letter was not received until more than the legal time limit of two weeks after the alleged offence on January 23, Mr Freeman said. Beckham allegedly broke the limit while driving on the A40 flyover in Paddington. Pakistan support comprehensive reform of UNSC to make it more democratic: Shah Mehmood UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Wednesday said Pakistan supported a comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council to make it a more democratic, representative, transparent and accountable body. Bad reform is no reform. We dont want to sign up for regression in the name of reform, he told a ministerial-level meeting of Uniting for Consensus, which opposes additional permanent members in a restructured UN Security Council (UNSC). An inclusive and transparent process within the framework of Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) was essential to that end. Anything less would be counter-productive, for the members know all too well that any divisive or non-consensual approaches with a view to artificially pace the process have only served to accentuate existing differences instead of bridging gaps in respective positions, he said. The Security Council reform cannot become an instrument to further narrow self-serving interests of a few, who seek permanent seats at the expense of the wider UN membership, Qureshi told the annual meeting held to review the stalled reform process and to chart a progressive way forward. Full-scale negotiations to restructure the Security Council began in the General Assembly in February 2009. Despite a general agreement on enlarging the council, as part of the UN reform process, member states remain sharply divided over the details. Known as the Group of Four, India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have shown no flexibility in their campaign to expand the Security Council by 10 seats, with six additional permanent and four non-permanent members. On the other hand, Italy/Pakistan-led Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group say that additional permanent members will not make the Security Council more effective and also undermine the fundamental principle of democracy that is based on periodic elections. The Security Council is currently composed of five permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States and 10 non-permanent members. Qureshi, in his remarks at the meeting held on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, said given its strategic importance for member states, it was imperative that all views and perspectives must be taken on board. Taking note of the principled position of the UfC for a more representative and democratic Security Council, he said only a solution that calibrated interests of all member states small, medium and large would be able to garner the widest support of the membership. Expressing satisfaction at the constructive role played by the UfC during the 72nd session of the General Assembly, the meeting undertook to broaden existing efforts with a view to gain further traction and support. Earlier, talking to Indian media here in the city, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said two sentences can worsen the situation between India and Pakistan but he does not wish for the tensions to exacerbate. He said Pakistan desired peace and, therefore, wants improvements in the bilateral ties. The foreign minister also held an unscheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump when he was officially welcomed to the UN headquarters in New York, wherein the latter reiterated his intention to reset the US-Pakistan relations. The two leaders exchanged thoughts on resuming bilateral talks, with Qureshi noting that Trumps approach seemed to be positive. He also held a discussion with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, although their official meeting is scheduled for October 2. Nick Cummins broke Cass Wood's heart when he chose not give her a rose on Thursday's episode of The Bachelor. But it seems the tables will turn for the international rugby player in next week's episode. A sneak peek of next week's episode shows Nick looking distraught and struggling to speak after one contestant drops a bombshell and unexpectedly leaves. 'I can walk you out': The shocking moment Bachelor Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins is left heartbroken as Brooke Blurton drops a bombshell and dramatically LEAVES the show early 'I can walk you... I can walk you out,' he tells the beauty while looking down at his feet. As he shuts the car door for the departing beauty, Nick kicks the gravel in frustration. The lady leaving Nick is believed to be fan-favourite Brooke Blurton and earlier this week, Woman's Day claimed the Indigenous youth worker will dramatically leave the show unexpectedly. Dramatic: A sneak peek of next week's episode shows Nick looking distraught and struggling to speak after Brooke Blurton (pictured) drops a bombshell and unexpectedly leaves 'Brooke left because she was just not falling for him,' an insider told the publication. 'She was rejecting his advances and realised her feelings weren't as strong as his,' they said. 'Given this, she felt it was fair that she took herself out of the equation,' the source added. But before any hearts are broken, the preview shows Nick taking the remaining three ladies; Sophie, Brittany and Brooke out each on steamy solo dates. Sad: Heartbroken and shattered, he shuts the car door for the departing beauty And she's off! Nick appears downcast as Brooke is driven away Brooke, who shares a passionate kiss with the athlete says, 'You're the most decent guy I've met in a long time.' Brittany reveals, 'If you're wondering where I'm at, I'm all in.' Meanwhile Sophie tells Nick, 'I am very clearly falling head over heels for you.' With all these declarations, Nick admits 'I'm in love with all of these girls.' The Bachelor Australia continues Wednesday, on Channel Ten at 7.3pm Steamy: Brooke, who shares a passionate kiss with the athlete says, 'You're the most decent guy I've met in a long time' Romantic: Brittany reveals, 'If you're wondering where I'm at, I'm all in' She's one of the most sought after models in the world - and Karlie Kloss looked incredible when she stepped out in Paris on Thursday. The 26-year-old is in the French capital for Fashion Week and was seen leaving trh Royal Monceau Hotel in a nude floor-length gown. The dress had an asymmetric neckline, held in place with double grey straps and she shunned heels for comfortable backless flats. Looking amazing: Karlie Kloss was pictured leaving the Royal Monceau hotel in Paris on Thursday wearing a nude asymmetric gown Magical: The model is in the capital for Fashion Week and looked flawless as she headed out She carried a patchwork bag by Dior in her hand and wore her blonde locks in an elegant up-do as she headed to her next destination. Clearly happy to be doing what she loves best, she threw her arms up in the air. On her wedding finger sat the diamond engagement ring from Joshua Kushner's proposal back in July. The couple began dating in 2012. Loving life: Clearly happy to be doing what she loves best, she threw her arms up in the air Putting her best foot forward: She shunned heels for sensible backless flats for her outing It has been reported that they plan to wed in New Jersey in 2019 in front of a small group of family and close friends. Joshua's family includes his older brother Jared, 37, who is married to President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, 36. Karlie also recently spoke candidly about how her modelling career almost came to an end, after birth control caused her to go from a US size zero to a size four to six. Happy news: It has been reported that Joshua and Karlie plan to wed in New Jersey in 2019 in front of a small group of family and close friends Well connected: Joshua's family includes his older brother Jared, 37, who is married to President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, 36 Dressed to impress: Later in the day Karlie was also seen leaving her Paris hotel in a completely different outfit Sensational: Flashing a hint of her toned abs the fashion star looked amazing in a high-necked striped jumper and flared burgundy leather trousers Fashion star: Teaming the quirky look with comfortable flat black shoes, Karlie had her blonde tresses pulled back into a simple up-do as she continued the chat on her phone She told Vogue: 'I started losing jobs; I wasnt getting booked for the runway; designers stopped working with me. It felt as if my world had been turned upside down.' Karlie admitted that she used to measure herself against Gisele Bundchen, but she realized the constant comparison to the famous model wasn't productive. 'Thats when I had a breakthrough: I realized it was time for me to do me, to embrace the things that make me who I am,' she said. She's taken the role as President Of The United States after her husband Francis Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, was killed off. And Netflix gave fans their first look at Claire Underwood in the top spot while grieving the loss of her husband. The latest promo ahead of the show's sixth and final season which will debut in November sees 52-year-old Robin Wright take on the Presidential role while proclaiming: 'The reign of the middle-aged white man is over'. It's her time to shine! Netflix gave House Of Cards fans their first look at Robin Wright as Claire Underwood in the top spot while grieving the loss of her husband, Francis - played by Kevin Spacey on Thursday 'My first 100 days as President have been difficult,' Claire's head saying during a press conference. 'I lost my husband. We were about to celebrate 30 years together.' And while Francis' death seemed to have ruffled some feathers with deals falling through, the new President made it clear she had nothing to do with them and they would no longer be enforced. Grieving: 'I lost my husband. We were about to celebrate 30 years together' No longer valid: 'Here's the thing, whatever Francis told you the last five years, don't believe a word of it' 'Here's the thing, whatever Francis told you the last five years, don't believe a word of it'. The promo also sees Claire take lead and kick fellow members of parliament out of her home. 'I'm not going to be told what to do anymore,' she says to which one replies: 'You sound like a gangster Madam President.' It's her way or the highway: 'I'm not going to be told what to do anymore,' she says to which one replies: 'You sound like a gangster Madam President' Standing up: The promo also sees Claire take lead and kick fellow members of parliament out of her home The final shot hears another character claim that the President 'scares' them and that they have to get rid of her. As she's driving along in the back seat of a car, a gunshot is fired through the window. House Of Card's eight-episode sixth and final season will be the first without former top-billing star, Kevin Spacey. New chapter: House Of Card's eight-episode sixth and final season will be the first without former top-billing star, Kevin Spacey Stay tuned! It's unknown how Kevin's character Frank will be killed off Returning cast members include: Constance Zimmer, Michael Kelly, Jayne Atkinson, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Cecil, Campbell Scott and Boris McGiver. A-list stars Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear will also join the series as siblings Annette and Bill Shepherd - the leaders of Shepherd Unlimited. And while it's unknown how Kevin's character Frank will be killed off, the 59-year-old was fired from the series last November over allegations of sexual misconduct from over a dozen men. Let go: The 59-year-old was fired from the series last November over allegations of sexual misconduct from over a dozen men (pictured: on set in 2013) The claims against the Oscar-winning star began when actor Anthony Rapp, who said he was 14 when Kevin then 26, made aggressive advances on him in 1986. In the wake of the scandal, Spacey announced that he was gay. This proclamation didnt sit well with members of the LGBTQ community, who felt he was blaming his horrific behavior on his sexuality. He has since checked into rehab. In addition to cutting Kevin out of House of Cards, Netflix made the decision to scrap an upcoming film theyd made with him called Gore. Newsweek later revealed that his ouster from the network was a costly one - costing about $39 million in the form of abandoned projects, including the Gore Vidal biopic he starred in. The stars have been lining up to attend the lavish fashion event. And Olivia Palermo was showing off her quirky sense of style in a chic fur-lined ensemble on Thursday as she left her hotel for Paris Fashion Week. The 32-year-old entrepreneur teamed the fluffy top with a matching taupe midi skirt as she headed to the latest runway in the fashion showcase. Chic: Olivia Palermo was showing off her quirky sense of style in a chic fur-lined jumper on Thursday as she left her hotel for Paris Fashion Week Never one to shy away from a daring look, Olivia looked incredible in a taupe jumper which had a line of diagonal striped fur across the chest. Giving the illusion that she was wearing a dress, the fashion star teamed the top with a matching knitted midi skirt with matching fur-lined pockets. Olivia added some extra glamour to her look in the form of stylish accessories, including black buckled loafers, a cream skinny belt and leopard print clutch bag. She shielded her eyes from the sun with wide-framed sunglasses, pulling her brunette tresses into a low up-do. Fashion forward: The 32-year-old entrepreneur gave the illusion that she was sporting a taupe midi dress, by teaming a jumper and skirt together, with both decorated with a fur lining Since finding fame on Whitney Port's spin-off series The City in 2008, Olivia has established herself as an established front-row regular on the fashion circuit, attending the world's most prestigious events. Still going strong and four years ago now, she was happy to marry the love of her life and model Johannes Huebl, 40, in Bedford, New York. Discussing the secret to the couple's happy marriage, Olivia previously told Harper's Bazaar Australia they are rarely apart. She told the publication: 'We try not to ever be separated more than seven days. Its just something we have always done.' Well-endowed: Olivia accessorised her look with flat black buckled shoes, a leopard print clutch and wide-framed sunglasses Olivia was also showing off her sartorial sense of style the previous day as she attended the Paris Fashion Week Rochas Show. The stunning beauty teamed a ruse orange fine knit jumper with a matching tangerine skirt, accessorising with heeled taupe leather boots. Olivia also oozed glamour with her brunette tresses in loose waves, adding some drama with a bronze smoky eye and nude lip. She has been sashaying around the globe amid Fashion Week season. And Kendall Jenner took a moment to sample the culture when she tucked into a crepe while she strutted her stuff in a barely-there mini dress on Thursday. The 22-year-old model looked stunning when she peeled off her boxy blazer to reveal her mini dress which made the most of her svelte figure. Keeping Up With The culture! Kendall Jenner indulged on crepes as she peeled off her boxy blazer to unveil her daring mini dress during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday Kendall proved just why she is a top model as she sashayed along the Parisian streets in her stunning ensemble which made the most of her lithe frame. She pulled her brunette tresses off her face to best exhibit her make-up free face which was protected from the sun with small glasses. The model didn't walk in any shows during New York Fashion Week, which wrapped up earlier this month but did walk in London and Milan. Kendall has said in the past that she's very choosy about which runway shows she wants to appear in, and that she's unlikely to spend Fashion Month walking on dozens of catwalks. Delicious! The catwalk queen took a moment to sample the culture when she tucked into a crepe while she strutted her stuff in a barely-there mini dress Trendy: Kendall accessorised with micro-sunglasses as she kept up with the fashionable trends from the catwalk Treat! The model treated herself to the tasty snack while she made the most of her time in the French capital In an interview, Kendall told Love Magazine she was once 'on the verge of a mental breakdown' and detailed her approach to scheduling fashion shows. 'Since the beginning we've been super selective about what shows I would do,' she told the publication in August. 'I was never one of those girls who would do like 30 shows a season or whatever the f**k those girls do. More power to 'em. But I had a million jobs, not only catwalks but everything else. Fashionable parade: The style icon looked astonishing when she made her way down the steps out in the streets of the city of love Svelte: Kendall stepped out in Paris looking sensational in a barely-there mini dress which she paired with a stylish boxy blazer which highlighted her frame further Suited and booted: She looked chic in her two-piece which she paired with a Christian Dior clutch bag 'The whole combination was very overwhelming and I started to freak out a little bit and needed to take a step back.' During New York Fashion Week, Kendall ended up flying to Paris, France before shows had wrapped up. She landed a week ago in the French capital, where she had model work booked, a source close to the model told DailyMail.com. Prior to that, she was seen at a Harper's Bazaar soiree on September 7 at the Plaza Hotel, and on the next day, attended the Longchamp show in New York City. Leggy: The 22-year-old looked stunning in the mini dress which made the most of her svelte figure while also injecting a fashion forward feel Chic: The model didn't walk in any shows during New York Fashion Week, which wrapped up earlier this month but did walk in London and Milan TOWIE stars Pete Wicks and James Lock were showing off their toned shirtless physiques on Thursday as they took part in a mental health awareness shoot in Newcastle. The two Essex boys joined several of the ITVBe show's co-stars in stripping down to their swimming shorts bearing signs recalling their own issues with mental health. It comes after Yazmin Oukhellou was reported to have pulled out of filming to jet to a holistic retreat in Marbella, with sources telling MailOnline she's been struggling with 'severe depression.' Important: TOWIE stars Pete Wicks and James Lock were showing off their toned shirtless physiques on Thursday as they took part in a mental health awareness shoot in Newcastle The messages written by Pete and James on their boards proved candid, with both beginning with the statement I Cry Because. Pete's read: 'I cry because I feel like nobody understands,' while James' read: 'I cry because I can't always make the people I love happy.' They were also joined on the beach by Bobby Norris, Liam 'Gatsby' Blackwell and Tommy Mallet, who bore their own touching messages about mental health troubles. Incredible: The two Essex boys showed off their gym-toned physiques as they ran along the beaches, and through the inevitably chilly waters Open: As part of the shoot, both Pete (L) and James bore cards with a message about their own mental health struggles, beginning with the words 'I cry because' Frolicking: Showing off every inch of his tattooed body, Pete made a speedy dash through the cold ocean waters Chilly! The star appeared to be battling with the ice cold ocean waters, as he dashed through the water in just a pair of shorts Sleek: He had his dark long tresses tumbling down his back for the short, as he put on a playful display for the camera Truthful: Meanwhile James had on a pair of tiny black speedos as he took part in the awareness shoot, bearing a card with: 'I cry because I can't always make the people I love happy' United: Both he and Pete were joined by (mid-right) Bobby Norris, Tommy Mallet and Liam 'Gatsby' Blackwell Up in the air: Joined by some of their glamorous female companions, the boys proceeded to toss their cards to the air Me first! They then made a mad dash into the ocean, barely bothered by the chilly waters The stars of TOWIE have never hidden away when speaking about their struggles with mental health. It comes after Yazmin Oukhellou was reported to have pulled out of filming to jet to a holistic retreat in Marbella, with sources exclusively telling MailOnline she's been struggling with 'severe depression.' The source said: 'Its true that Yazmin has gone to Holistic Bootcamp in Marbella to escape her troubles. Things have just got too much for her on the show and issues with various cast members have really got her down. Shes a very normal girl with no ego and she doesnt need that negativity in her life. Shes been treated for anxiety there but its not been revealed that shes also being treated for severe depression that has been debilitating to the point where she hasnt wanted to get out of bed. Wrapping: Struggling against the windy conditions, James eventually had to wrap up in a towel after the photoshoot Glamour girls: Bringing some extra style to the shoot were TOWIE girls Georgia Kousoulou (R) and Saffron Lempriere A bit warmer: Sporting thick coats they were dressed far more warmly for the photoshoot, but were still there to offer the boys their support Sensational: Georgia put on a chic display in a taupe midi dress and matching sheepskin coat, adding a quirky accessory in the form of heeled snakeskin boots Cosy: Pete were for a muted all-black look with a grey tweed flat cap Circle of honesty: As they all shared their own prior troubles, it seemed many of the TOWIE stars were getting involved in the campaign Jovial: There was a comical element to the showcase as the pals shared a laugh in between the photoshoot United: Pete and Jack even showed their close friendship as they strolled along the beach hand-in-hand Flying out to Spain to work with Rob Hisee was the only answer for her. James (Locke) her boyfriend is behind her 100% and like her friends and family, just wants her to back to her old self and well again. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Yazmin Oukhellou for further comment. And Yazmin finally broke her silence on the struggles in a reflective Instagram post on Thursday. She wrote: 'Thank you all so much for the lovely messages and support. Taking time out has really given me the chance to reflect on myself & life.' Amazing: Saffron was also looking chic in a black dress and coat which she teamed with a Gucci-style scarf Sweet treat: The blonde also enjoyed a cheeky indulgence in the form of an ice-cream as she and Georgia perched on the beach's decking Low-key: Despite the windy coastline, Georgia was still putting on a glamorous display, teaming the dress, coat and boots combo with a dramatic dark lip Struggling: Pete looked as if he was battling against the freezing cold climes as he headed out of the sea following the photoshoot That's better: Clothes in hand, James looked far happier to be wrapped up in a towel as he exited the water Amazing: Hopefully the photo-shoot will strive to raise awareness of mental health struggles, after Tommy Mallet spoke about his battles with depression earlier in the series Jokers: But still the fun-loving lads couldn't resist a dash through the water in their underwear This comes as Yazmin was seen breaking down in tears after arriving at the Spanish retreat over the weekend, with a member of staff comforting her as she took a break from the sunshine. The star had appeared melancholy as she arrived at London's Stansted airport last week following another week of Essex drama. Tension had been brewing between the brunette and fellow TOWIE star Amber Turner, which fans saw play out on Sunday night in an explosive fall-out when their boyfriends got involved. But when Yazmin tried to apologise for the insults she threw at Amber, the blonde beauty wasn't ready to forgive her former pal, branding her 'disgusting' and 'pathetic.' Open book: During a chat with girlfriend Georgia Kousoulou over breakfast in Sardinia, Tommy spoke about his own battles with depression Hardships: He said: 'I woke up one morning I just sat there and looked at a wall. I couldn't leave the house. I know it was only a few days but still. It was scary' On the edge: Tommy went onto add: 'I feel like I need to do something to people. I need to sort myself out first more than anything but I'd like to try and help people' Lauded: For his words Tommy was praised by fans for being so open about his struggles Earlier in the series Tommy also spoke openly on the show about the times he struggled with depression, in a chat with girlfriend Georgia Kousoulou over breakfast in Sardinia. Talking about his darkest moments, Tommy explained: 'I woke up one morning I just sat there and looked at a wall. I couldn't leave the house. I know it was only a few days but still. It was scary.' Having experience some of his darkest moments alongside her beau, Georgia responded: 'That's why I called your dad, it was awful.' Chilling out: Joined by Clelia Theodorou (middle) the girls enjoyed a cheeky treat or two as they perched on the beach's edge Chic: Amber Turner was also putting on a stylish display as she strolled through Newcastle on the same day Working hard: The blonde sported a matching taupe jumper and tracksuit bottoms, accessorising with a leather jacket and black sliders With emotions starting to bubble up, Tommy admitted: 'I feel like I need to do something to people. I need to sort myself out first more than anything but I'd like to try and help people, because it can be naughty. 'Young men if you're going through something and you don't talk about it, it can f*** you.' Breaking down in tears following his heart-wrenching confession, Georgia comforted her hunky beau, telling him: 'I think you're being really brave, I think you're doing really well'. The emotional moment clearly struck a nerve with many viewers, who took to Twitter to share their thanks for Tommy's openness, with fans hoping his brave actions will lead others to get help. For help and advice regarding mental health please contact MIND at mind.org.uk She was recently seen storming the runway as she displayed her modelling prowess during Milan Fashion Week just a few days ago. And Emily Ratajkowski found herself commanding attention once again on Thursday afternoon, when she made an eye-catching arrival at Paco Rabanne's Spring/Summer '19 presentation at Paris Fashion Week. The 27-year-old beauty turned heads as she arrived at the City of Light's Grand Palais in a yellow crop top, which she teamed with perilously low-slung grey trousers allowing her to proudly show off her toned abs in all their glory. Passion for fashion: Emily Ratajkowski was spotted attending Paco Rabanne's Spring/Summer '19 presentation at Paris Fashion Week on Thursday afternoon Standing tall in a pair of red strappy heels, the brunette beauty wore her locks in long, glossy waves, while she hid her eyes behind a pair of oversized cat eye shades. And while all eyes were on her Paco Rabanne ensemble, her glittering new double diamond ring from husband Sebastian Bear-McClard also battled for attention. Emily's outing comes after she revealed people often criticise her for flaunting her physique, which she says has apparently given the impression that she's vain. Wow: The 27-year-old beauty turned heads as she waltzed through the bustling streets of the City of Light in a yellow crop top, which she teamed with perilously low-slung grey trousers Abs: London-born Emily's outfit allowed her to proudly show off her toned abs in all their glory Shades: The model hid her eyes behind a pair of oversized cat eye sunglasses for the big event 'It's literally just my body... For women, it's such a huge part of our identity,' she told Pop Sugar in July. I'm a human, and no one out there is perfect. You're not going to love yourself every f**king day - that's too much. 'I definitely have those issues and deal with it where I look in the mirror and I'm just like, "Oh, God. Not today. Please, not today." Finding a way to kind of get past that and love yourself and give yourself a break. I love that I am imperfect.' Meanwhile, Emily recently got married to her beau Sebastian Bear-McClard, exchanging vows in a secret City Hall ceremony in New York in February. Storming the runway: The star was recently seen storming the runway as she displayed her modelling prowess during Milan Fashion Week just a few days ago Models: As she made her way into the event, she posed for a shot with model Jordan Barrett Ring: She sported her glittering double diamond ring from husband Sebastian Bear-McClard The low-key nuptials left fans shocked, coming just weeks after it was speculated that she and long-time boyfriend Jeff Magid split. Aside from her booming modelling career, Emily is also making a name for herself in the world of film and television. Since her breakout role as Andie Fitzgerald in 2014's Gone Girl, Emily has landed quite a handful of acting roles in Hollywood. Mixed patterns: The hot ticket presentation featured an array of mixed patterns and textures Captured: A host of VIP guests captured the action on their mobile phones during the show Silhouettes: A variety of bold silhouettes filled the runway as the models displayed the designs Grand designs: The presentation took place at the City of Light's stunning Grand Palais She's expected to star alongside Lisa Kudrow and YouTube personality Lilly Singh in the upcoming NBC comedy Bright Futures. According to Deadline, Emily will play girl-next-door type Sarah, a woman who can 'just as easily bro out with the guys as she can be the girliest girl.' The pilot is not expected to premiere until 2019. An official release date has yet to be announced by the network. Backlash: Emily's outing comes after she revealed people often criticise her for flaunting her physique, which has apparently given the impression that she's vain She is the Bachelor star who is not shy when it comes to putting her ample assets and slender figure on show. And Simone Ormesher has showcased her trim physique in a saucy black wrap dress at the Bondi Sands Liquid Gold Foam Launch Party in Melbourne, on Thursday. The 26-year-old's thigh-skimming frock featured a plunging neckline that offered a glimpse of her cavernous cleavage. A bombshell in black! The Bachelor's Simone Ormesher flaunts her toned physique and busty cleavage in a wrap dress at Bondi Sands event But she kept it covered to stop the wind from sweeping her skirt up and causing a potential wardrobe malfunction. The Manchester-born stunner elevated her look with a pair of black platform heels that accentuated her toned stems and accessorised with statement earrings. For makeup, she kept it simple with lashings of mascara, subtle pink blush and peach-toned lipstick. Saucy: The 26-year-old's thigh-skimming frock featured a plunging neckline that hinted at her cavernous cleavage Meanwhile, Simone styled her blonde locks in messy, loose waves for a voluminous look. She took to her Instagram to share a selfie in which she flaunted her trim pins in sky high pumps. A source recently told Woman's Day that the busty blonde was spotted getting cosy with Married At First Sight's Telv Williams. Leggy lady! Simone looked to be in high spirits as she posed for snaps at the Melbourne bash 'They're really into each other,' the 'friend' told the publication in August, adding that they met at Bond nightclub in Melbourne. 'They've been inseparable since their first date at the nightclub two weeks ago,' adding the unlikely union had the potential to turn into a 'strong love'. Telv, who only recently split with girlfriend Maddie Carolan, was snapped putting on a flirty display with Simone, who announced her own split with hunky Apollo Jackson back in April. Real Housewives Of Cheshire newbie Perla Navia has defended her co-star Dawn Ward after she received backlash from a heated conversation they had over lunch. The Colombian yoga instructor was filmed during a fiery exchange with the reality star, 45, in which the latter claimed her clashes with the other women were 'down to a language barrier'. Taking to her Instagram, Perla, who branded her English 'perfect' during the lunch, said she was ready to move on from the drama in a lengthy statement. Defend: Real Housewives Of Cheshire newbie Perla Navia has defended her co-star Dawn Ward after she received backlash from a heated conversation they had over lunch It read: 'I have lived in the UK for many years and I consider this country to be my home. 'After living in many countries I speak five languages and I'm aware that at times it can be difficult for the recipient to understand the intention when someone is not speaking in their first language. 'I'm a passionate creative and sometimes my Latino background rears its head. Shock: The Colombian yoga instructor was filmed during a fiery exchange with the reality star, 45, in which the latter claimed her clashes with the other women were 'down to a language barrier' Moving on: Taking to her Instagram, Perla, who branded her English 'perfect' during the lunch, said she was ready to move on from the drama in a length statement 'On this occasion, I did not feel personally attacked by Dawn Ward's comments.' Dawn, known for her acerbic rants and fall-outs, stunned viewers when she had the lunch with Perla to try and iron out the trouble surrounding the newcomer. After Rachel discovered her husband John was secretly attending 'attractive' Perla's yoga classes, the girls turned against her due to Rachel's woes. The centre: After Rachel (pictured) discovered her husband John was secretly attending 'attractive' Perla's yoga classes, the girls turned against her due to Rachel's woes Happy days: Naturally viewers weighed in on the situation as a host of fans were left divided over Dawn's behaviour In her attempt at burying the hatchet, Dawn invited Perla to lunch where she said: 'I also think, without being rude, your language barrier is all over the show', to which Perla replied: 'By the way, my English is perfect'. Dawn stunned fans as she said: 'No, it's not love, it's far from perfect', while Perla insisted this was not true as they were having a conversation however Dawn pushed: 'We are but I'm taking you the wrong way'. Off-camera, Perla said: 'I don't think it's trouble with my English. I think it's trouble with how I deliver what I have to say'. Dawn then went on: 'You say your English is perfect, it's not perfect. You're getting a bit sharp.' While the episode concluded with the duo forming a friendship and agreeing to disagree, viewers still weighed in on the situation with a host of fans being left divided over the scenes. She enjoyed a trip to Australia in November last year, when she celebrated the launch of her fragrance Rose Rush. And now American heiress Paris Hilton is reportedly considering another trip Down Under in November, to promote her new perfume. According to The Daily Telegraph, the 37-year-old socialite has been asked by promoters to consider coming to Australia again. That's hot! Paris Hilton is considering coming to Australia in November to launch her new perfume (pictured in Sydney in November last year) Her latest perfume is called Platinum Rush. On her last trip Down Under, Paris also took in the local sights and made a trip to Sydney's Taronga Zoo with her fiance Chris Zylka. At the time, the pair were not engaged and she hinted to Daily Mail Australia that an engagement was on the horizon. Playing tourist! On her last trip Down Under, Paris also took in the local sights and made a trip to Sydney's Taronga Zoo (pictured) with her fiance Chris Zylka Smitten: At the time, the pair (pictured) were not engaged and she hinted to Daily Mail Australia that an engagement was not far off 'He makes me feel like the most special girl in the world,' Paris said at the time. 'He's always making me feel more confident and compliments me every second,' she added. 'Watch this space!' Lovebirds: The pair - who went public with their romance in February last year - got engaged earlier this year The pair - who went public with their romance in February 2017 - got engaged earlier this year. He proposed during a trip to Aspen, Colorado, and presented her with a $2million, 20-Carat ring. According to Page Six, the pair 'were all set to get married in November, but they have pushed it to May' as Paris 'wanted more time to plan'. Practice of triple talaq is punishable deed: CII Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz said on Wednesday that the authority supported making the practice of triple talaq a punishable. The chairman was addressing media after a CII session, where he said that triple talaq was a major issue and it should dealt with in a timely manner. He said that the punishment regarding this will be discussed with religious scholars and also on making a consolidated paper on divorce. Dr Ayaz said a session will be summoned on the issue of triple talaq soon. The CCI chair also announced that the body discouraged marriages of minors. On November 3, Dr Ayaz was appointed as the chairman of the CII for a period of three years. He replaced Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, a politician from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, who held the post for six years. The CII was set up in 1962, during the years of General Ayub Khans military-led government. Its mandate is to assist the government in Islamising laws. She's been setting the fashion world alight and has played a pivotal role in New York, London, Milan and Paris' fashion week. And Bella Hadid made yet another bold style statement as she headed to the Off-White runway during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday. The model, 21, went retro as she rocked a 90s-looking ensemble outside her hotel in the French capital. Retro: Bella Hadid made yet another bold style statement as she headed to the Off-White runway during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday Bella wore a pair of wide-leg bleached denim jeans with rips on the knees and a white Chanel vest top, with the logo in black on the front. Dressing for the autumnal weather, she layered the ensemble with a patterned clear vinyl trench coat and a matching bucket hat. Giving a node to her supermodel status, she accessorised her look with designer accessories in the form of a black Prada handbag and white trainers. 90s: The model, 21, went retro as she rocked a 90s-looking ensemble outside her hotel in the French capital Glamorous: Bella wore a pair of wide-leg bleached denim jeans with rips on the knees and a white Chanel vest top, with the logo in black on the front Bella styled her brunette locks into a blow-dried loose hairdo, she added a slick of glamorous make-up. The in-demand model appeared in good spirits as she stopped to greet fans and take selfies in the street. Bella has been making the most of her time in the City of Love after she enjoyed a night on the tiles with her closest pals including Kendall Jenner at the Chrome Hearts bash. Bold statement: Dressing for the autumnal weather, she layered the ensemble with a patterned clear vinyl trench coat and a matching bucket hat Details: Giving a node to her supermodel status, she accessorised her look with designer accessories in the form of a black Prada handbag and white trainers Chic: Bella styled her brunette locks into a blow-dried loose hairdo, she added a slick of glamorous make-up The supermodel is happier than ever after rekindling the flames of her romance with The Weeknd in recent months. Bella and The Weeknd began romancing once again, some 18 months after their relationship had ended. Speaking about the break-up, Bella told Teen Vogue: 'As an outsider, you might think I handled it so well, but it's always in your heart, and you always feel it very heavily.' Popular: The in-demand model appeared in good spirits as she stopped to greet fans and take selfies in the street Pals: Bella has been making the most of her time in the City of Love after she enjoyed a night on the tiles with her closest pals including Kendall Jenner at the Chrome Hearts bash She added: 'It'll be hard for a while. Love hurts, but you have to pull through.' After their split, The Weeknd dated Selena Gomez from January 2017 to October of the same year. Bella, meanwhile, reunited with her ex, Justin Bieber, who is now engaged to his on-off lover, Hailey Baldwin. Meanwhile, Bella was linked to Drake earlier this year, although she has denied dating him. Her sitcom The Good Place premieres its third season Thursday night. And Kristen Bell was a busy bee that day, heading over to the Empire State Building to light the structure for the Women's Peace And Humanitarian Fund. The glowing 38-year-old flashed her signature megawatt smile, sweeping her blonde hair tightly back into a bun. The night before the star read off some of Donald Trump's tweets in her Gossip Girl voice while on the Late Night With Seth Meyers. Having a ball: Kristen Bell was a busy bee Thursday, heading over to the Empire State Building to light the structure for the Women's Peace And Humanitarian Fund 'We feel as though a lot of Donald Trump tweets feel very gossip-y,' host Seth, 44, explained. 'And so we have asked if you wouldnt mind reading a few of them with the classic Gossip Girl send-off.' On Thursday, she slipped into a glistening dull gold turtleneck, tucking it partly into her high-waisted pair of wide-set white slacks. Kristen not only pulled the lever to light the building, but also posed with a small figurine of the New York City landmark. Mrs Dax Shepard was glimpsed stepping out in Manhattan wearing the same outfit, albeit with a few stylish accessories to up the glam factor. Radiant: The glowing 38-year-old flashed her signature megawatt smile, sweeping her blonde hair tightly back into a bun Snazzy: She slipped into a glistening dull gold turtleneck, tucking it partly into her high-waisted pair of wide-set white slacks Miniature: Kristen not only pulled the lever to light the building, but also posed with a small figurine of the New York City landmark The Frozen star wore orange-tinted sunglasses, keeping warm in a neon yellow leather jacket that featured a bit of fur trim. Presumably the fur was faux, as Kristen told Racked last year: 'Im okay with purchasing and wearing leather, but I dont wear fur or skins of any kind.' Kristen, who matched her pants to a pair of white shoes, rounded off her look on Thursday with a sleek tan handbag flung over her left shoulder. City stroll: Mrs. Dax Shepard was glimpsed stepping out in Manhattan wearing the same outfit, albeit with a few stylish accessories to up the glam factor Tres chic: The Frozen star wore orange-tinted sunglasses, keeping warm in a neon yellow leather jacket that featured a bit of fur trim The Good Place, which stars Kristen amid a cast that includes Ted Danson, William Jackson Harper and Jameela Jamil, premiered in September 2016. Kristen leads the cast as a dead woman in the afterlife who mistakenly wound up in the Good Place instead of the Bad Place and must now fake it till she makes it. Dax and Kristen welcomed their daughter Delta in March 2013, married that October after California legalized same-sex marriage, and had their daughter Lincoln in 2015. Just a guess: Presumably the fur was faux, as Kristen told Racked last year: 'Im okay with purchasing and wearing leather, but I dont wear fur or skins of any kind' He and his wife Natasha excitedly welcomed twins Walt and Boo into the world last week, celebrating the birth by hitting the town all night with the newborns. And it seemed Chris Evans' sleepless nights were catching up with him, as he covered up in a beanie and sunglasses while leaving the BBC Radio 2 studios on Thursday. The father-of-four, 52, also opted for comfort in his work attire, donning a relaxed pair of velour tracksuit bottoms and trainers. Sleepless nights getting to you? New dad Chris Evans, 52, hid his fatigue in shades and a beanie as he stepped out in London one week after his twins were born Holding a shopping bag, the radio presenter wrapped up in a grey zipped-up hoodie as he left home to head back to Natasha and the newborns. Clearly still as elated by the baby news as ever, Chris appeared cheery and upbeat, flashing a smile at the cameras as he headed home. The new father's outing comes after he gushed about the tots before revealing they had 'wet the babies' heads' the night they were born. Chris, who dubbed the babies Ping and Pong throughout the pregnancy, and Natasha emerged from hospital last Thursday afternoon after welcoming their new twins - shortly before making the unconventional decision to hit the town. Keeping it casual: The father-of-four, 52, also opted for comfort in his work attire, donning a relaxed pair of velour tracksuit bottoms and trainers Speaking on the show, hours later, the DJ said: 'Good morning from myself and the team and from Team Evans back at home. Everyone up already... We've been up all night. We did go out to celebrate last night and we took the newborns with us... No doubt shocking viewers, Chris then revealed the couple had hit the town to celebrate - despite Natasha's labour of the twins, who were born using IVF. He went on: 'So we went out last night, had a house full, I fell asleep on the sofa, woke up on the sofa. I think this is going to happen quite a lot more... 'We're expecting more people over tonight, I might not even get the sofa actually but thats Ok. Mum doing very well, babies splendid, sparkling we are beyond blessed.' Wrapping up: Holding a shopping bag, the radio presenter wrapped up in a grey zipped-up hoodie as he left home to head back to Natasha and the newborns Having confused fans with the nicknames Ping and Pong shortly before, he asked his team: 'Boo and Walt - Are you happy with these?... 'We were talking last night about names weren't we and you can judge whether you've nailed the names or not by the reaction of people when you say the names and I just told you their names and it was a great reaction... 'We've got to say good morning to Tash, we've all been up all night not because the babies have been crying, more because they haven't been crying.' 'When you have your first baby you think: "Oh my goodness me is it still breathing etc etc" but this time it's because we're massively over excited.' Earlier in the day during his first announcement, he revealed the birth of the tots live on his radio show as he called in to guest host Sara Cox to say: 'Ping popped her head out at 2210, Pong popped his head out 12 minutes later at 22 minutes past 10'... Exciting! Chris and Natasha welcomed twins Walt and Boo last week. Pictured with the newborns and their sons Noah, nine, and Eli, six Hitting the town: Chris, who dubbed the babies Ping and Pong throughout the pregnancy, and Natasha emerged from hospital last Thursday afternoon after welcoming their new twins - shortly before making the unconventional decision to hit the town Chris went on: 'Both healthy, strong, happy and blessed, as was mum throughout... Infinite thanks to the amazing team at Frimley Park Hospital, amazing people, amazing professionals, helping dreams come true. Thank you.' Chris' stand-in presenter Sara said on air: 'Huge congrats, beautiful news. It sounded like a night to remember.' He announced his wife's pregnancy on his Radio 2 Breakfast Show in April, after revealing that she was undergoing IVF in a bid to have a 'fourth ankle-biter'. The couple already have two sons, Noah, nine, and Eli, six, and the DJ has a daughter Jade, 32, with his former fiancee Alison Ward. They made their return to the showbiz world with a red carpet appearance at the star-studded Monte Carlo Gala after welcoming their son into the world in May. And Chloe Green squeezed in some romantic time with her love Jeremy Meeks as they cuddled at Club Monaco, in Monaco after taking a dip in the sea on Thursday. The Top Shop heiress, 27, displayed her astonishing post-baby body in a skimpy pink and white string tie bikini, just three months after giving birth to their son Jayden. Wow! Chloe Green exhibited her breathtaking post-baby body in a scanty bikini THREE months after giving birth as she cuddled Jeremy Meeks during Monte Carlo break on Thursday New mum Chloe looked sensational as she left little of her figure to the imagination in the halterneck bikini as she emerged from the cool sea. Protective Jeremy put his arms around his ladylove and brought her into his arms, showing the pair were inseparable since becoming parents. Basking under the golden Monaco sun, the tattooed hunk doted on his blonde lover as he helped her dry off following their dip in the sea. Must be love: Protective Jeremy put his arms around his ladylove and brought her into his arms, showing the pair were inseparable since becoming parents The appearance comes after Jeremy claimed the daughter of Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green had to chase him around Cannes and gatecrash his dinner parties before he fell madly in love with her. He boasted: The third time we met, designer Philipp Plein threw a dinner for me and Chloe was there. 'I didnt put her on the guest list and I still dont know who invited her but I am happy she was there, and after that we fell in love. Going strong: Basking under the golden Monaco sun, the tattooed hunk doted on his blonde lover as he helped her dry off following their dip in the sea Feeling hot, hot, hot: New mum Chloe looked sensational as she left little of her figure to the imagination in the halterneck bikini as she emerged from the cool sea The 'Hot Felon' mode also has a nine-year-old son, who he shares with ex-wife Melissa Meeks. It's been reported that Jeremy has been given custody of his nine-year-old son so he can bring him to the UK to be with his girlfriend Chloe. The convict-turned-model was reportedly originally only given 30 per cent custody of Jeremy Junior when he split up with his mother Melissa. But he has managed to reverse the original divorce settlement, bagging 70 per cent custody in the hope of bringing him to Britain, reports TMZ. Jeremy has been warmly welcomed into the Green family since he began romancing Chloe. Good together: The couple squeezed in some romantic time together as they took time off parenting duties to their son Jayden Picture of love: The duo enjoyed a dip in the sea together during their sun-drenched Monaco break The smitten couple took to Instagram in June to reveal that their first child together, a baby boy called Jayden Meeks-Green, had been born on May 29th. Chloe had kept her pregnancy under wraps until June, when she unveiled her baby bump during a holiday on her father Sir Phillip's super yacht in Monaco. Meanwhile, more recently, the loved-up duo have sparked rumours they're engaged after the socialite was spotted flashing a jaw-dropping diamond ring on her wedding finger. Together: The pair often enjoy a string of luxurious holidays together all across the globe are rarely seen apart Val Kilmer is being sued by an artist who claims the actor ripped off his golden tumbleweed sculpture. In 2016, Kilmer was selling a tumbleweed he dipped in gold for $150,000, but now artist Bale Creek Allen has accused the actor of copying his own sculpture after visiting his New Mexico gallery, according to TMZ. The artist says he has been producing the tumbleweed pieces for years, and claims in his lawsuit that Kilmer, 58, is now passing off the artwork as his own idea, even though the sculpture was Allen's inspiration and idea. Lawsuit: Val Kilmer, pictured 2013 in Santa Monica, is being sued by an artist who claims the actor ripped off his golden tumbleweed sculpture In his lawsuit, Allen says the actor expressed interest in buying his 3-D golden tumbleweed sculpture, and even asked him questions about his methods. Kilmer ended up not buying the piece because it was too expensive, according to TMZ. Allen says he has a copyright on the pieces, and insists he never gave Kilmer permission to create the replicas. The artist is suing Kilmer for damages and wants him barred from producing anymore tumbleweed sculptures. Nearly identical: Bale Creek Allen claims Kilmer ripped off his golden tumbleweed (L) and created his own replica (R) Kilmer's artwork is entitled Tumbleweed, and was put for sale in 2016 for $150,000. The actor bronzed and dipped the real-life tumbleweed into 22k of gold, and was symbolic of Kilmer's life as a child in New Mexico, according to TMZ. Kilmer, meanwhile, will be back on the big screen soon. Back for more: The actor will be reprising his role as Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in the upcoming Top Gun sequel The actor will be reprising his role as Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in the upcoming Top Gun sequel. In a recent interview with Extra, his Top Gun co-star Tom Cruise gave a quick update on Kilmer, who has recently overcame throat cancer. 'He's doing really well,' he told the outlet, before also commenting that it was 'special' getting to work with Val again. The sequel, titled Top Gun: Maverick, is currently filming for a 2019 release. Amal Clooney was without superstar husband George as she headed home after attending UN meetings in New York City on Wednesday evening. The human rights lawyer looked typically stylish in a black and white polka dot dress while making her way back to a car following another day in the office. Amal, 40, added to her look with a pair of conventional black stiletto heels, while a matching leather handbag rounded things off. Chic: Amal Clooney looked typically stylish in a black and white polka dot dress as she headed home after attending UN meetings in New York City on Wednesday evening As always the lawyer, who welcomed twins Alexander and Ella with Hollywood star George in June 2017, looked toned and trim as she made her exit from the New York office. Drawing attention to her naturally pretty features, Amal opted for soft touches of make-up selected from a natural colour palette, while her brunette hair was effortlessly styled with a simply side-parting. Amal previously told Vogue how her romance with George, 56, came about after she attended a party at his house on Lake Como. Looking good: As always the lawyer, who welcomed twins Alexander and Ella with Hollywood star George in June 2017, looked toned and trim as she made her exit from the New York office After, the pair exchanged emails, with George taking on the guise of his dog Einstein, pretending he was in need of legal rescue. She said: 'I was 35 when I met him. It wasnt obvious that it was going to happen for me. And I wasnt willing or excited about the idea of getting married or having a family in the absence of that. George had previously said that they went on a safari with friends and he took a photo of some giraffes that had come up to a smiling Amal - and in that moment, he had an epiphany that he should propose. Opening up: Amal previously told Vogue how her romance with George, 56, came about after she attended a party at his house on Lake Como Amal also told Vogue that their 10-month-old twins Ella and Alexander have already said their first words and climb in bed with the couple both between six and 8am. (Amal won't take calls before then). She said coyly: 'Weve had some "Mamas" and "Dadas." George was very careful to ensure that "Mama" was the first word.' She noted that their routine is easier now than when they were first born as the bed was full of 'weird cushions and pillows and machines,' at that time. Cara Delevingne revealed on Wednesday that she decided not to report sexual harassment because she 'felt ashamed and didn't want to publicly ruin someone's life.' And the 26-year-old model seemed unfazed after making her shocking confession, as she looked relaxed while leaving her hotel in Paris on Thursday for another busy day at the city's Fashion Week. Cara was the picture of sophistication as she stepped out in a black jeans and a matching top, which she offset with an open white shirt. Outing: Cara Delevingne looked sophisticated in Paris on Thursday... after admitting she didn't report sexual harassment as she 'felt ashamed and didn't want to publicly ruin someone's life' Keeping a low profile with a pair of circular tinted shades, the actress brushed her blonde locks in a side swept style to frame her face well. Cara wore a natural palette of make-up to accentuate her pretty features, and wore gold hoop earrings and a large silver necklace to offset her dark attire. The supermodel completed her look with a chic black jacket, matching Chelsea boots and a large handbag which she carried over one shoulder. Chic: Keeping a low profile with a pair of circular tinted shades, the actress brushed her blonde locks in a side swept style to frame her face well Cara's outing comes after she joined thousands of women sharing their stories of abuse and sexual harassment using the hashtag WhyIDidntReport on Twitter. Cara wrote: 'Because I felt ashamed of what happened and didn't want to publicly ruin someone's life, even though they privately ruined mine #WhyIDidntReport (sic)' The Vogue coverstar did not name her alleged attacker in her post, but in October 2017 publicly accused disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. Not letting it get to her: Cara's outing comes after she joined thousands of women sharing their stories of abuse and sexual harassment using the hashtag WhyIDidntReport on Twitter In a lengthy statement posted on Instagram, the star said that after meeting Weinstein, who is new facing rape charges in New York, at a hotel lobby he asked her to come up to his room, where another woman was waiting for the pair. Weinstein then told the two women to kiss, which Delevingne said that she got out of by suddenly breaking into song. Then, when she announced that she had to leave, Weinstein tried to kiss her on the lips as she prepared to walk out the door. Brave: The model and actress, 26, took to Twitter to join thousands of women sharing their stories of abuse and sexual harassment using the hashtag WhyIDidntReport She said that she still got the part in the film, and has felt guilty about it ever since. The actress has filmed two movies for the Weinstein Company, including her breakout role in their 2015 picture 'Paper Towns' and the recently released 'Tulip Fever.' In a lengthy message on the photo-sharing website, she said: 'As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. 'He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. Speaking out: The Vogue coverstar did not name her alleged attacker in her post, but in October 2017 went public with allegations against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein 'When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. 'After singing I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room. (sic)' She added: 'I was so hesitant about speaking out....I didn't want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. 'I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.' #WhyIDidn'tReport has risen to prominence in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's nominee for the US Supreme Court. Alleged: In a lengthy statement posted on Instagram , the British model-turned-actress said that after meeting Weinstein, who is new facing rape charges in New York, had made advances towards her in a hotel room Kavanaugh has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by at least two women, and is due to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The alleged offences happened decades ago and President Trump questioned why charges had not been filed immediately, 'if the attack... was as bad as she (the alleged victim) says'. Cara joins celebrities including Padma Lakshmi, Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd who have tweeted their experiences of alleged sexual assault using the hashtag. Presenter Padma said she was raped when she was 16 but did not come forward because 'the victim is treated like the perpetrator'. Mira said she reported an alleged assault when she was a teenager but 'nothing came of it' and she later felt 'I wasn't important enough to make a big deal over'. Weinstein has denied allegations on non-consensual sex. She works as a producer on the documentary series Scientology And The Aftermath - after quitting the church in 2013 after 30 years. And now Leah Remini has opened up about her formally close friendship to Katie Holmes, giving her thoughts on why it fizzled out after the Dawson's Creek star divorced Tom Cruise in 2012. Speaking to LaPalme Magazine, the 48-year-old claimed that if Katie even had a meal with her, she could lose custody of her daughter Suri, 12. Scroll down for videos Truth: Former Scientlogist Leah Remini revealed on Thursday that if she caught up with Katie Holmes, whom she used to be close with, she could lose custody of her 12-year-old daughter 'I keep wondering - why haven't Katie Holmes or Nicole Kidman spoken out?' she rhetorically asked. 'I assume they were forced to sign prohibitive documents. Trust me, Katie's not allowed to have a meal with me and we used to be close friends.' Leah added: 'She could lose custody of Suri. It's quite sick, really.' Nicole was married to action movie star Cruise for 11 years between 1990-2001. During that time, the couple adopted children Isabella, 25, and Connor, 23. Following the divorce, the children opted to live with Tom. Speaking out: Raised as a member of the Church of Scientology from childhood, Leah quit in 2013 and began publicly criticizing the organization The Australian beauty later married country star Keith Urban in 2006 and welcomed two daughters Sunday Rose, 10, and Faith Margaret, seven. Tom also remarried in 2006, with Katie becoming his third wife. They had just welcomed their daughter, Suri, now 12. After their public 2012 divorce, the Dawson's Creek alum was granted primary custody of their daughter and later relocated to New York City. Leah further spoke out about Scientology in her interview with LaPalme Magazine, revealing that her family members as well as people who work on her documentary series are 'harassed constantly' by the church. Broken relationships: Leah says she and former friend Katie Holmes no longer talk, despite both women having left the controversial religion 'People on our show are harassed constantly, especially me,' said the 48-year-old comedian. The Kevin Can Wait actress told the magazine, 'Members of the Church go to my mother's restaurant, confront my little sister, and my step kids in San Francisco, trying to intimidate us.' She added, 'These abusive scare tactics are what they call a religion!' fighting freedom: Speaking to DailyMailTV, LaPalme magazine's Creative Director Derek Warburton said of the star: Leah Remini is a modern day version of Robin Hood, but instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor she is fighting against oppression and fighting for freedom ' She'll be back: Her A&E documentary series will return for a third season in 2018, says Leah Hug it out: Leah with LaPalme creative director Derek Warburton The celebrity's Emmy Award-winning A&E show exposes the church beloved by Tom Cruise and other Hollywood stars, created by the late science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, who died aged 71 in 1986. Raised as a member of the Church of Scientology from childhood, Leah quit in 2013 and began publicly criticizing the organization that many regard as a cult. Her A&E documentary series will return for a third season in 2018, says Leah. 'Season three of my show is dedicated to the IRS and their religious' tax-exempt status. 'Hey, call yourself a religion - I don't give a f**k! They should NOT have tax-exempt status. 'They only got it because they fair gamed' the IRS bullied them, harassed them. 'The Mafia has more integrity!' Her mini-me: Tom wed actress Katie Holmes in 2006 and welcomed Suri that same year. The pair split in 2012 and the Dawson's Creek alum was given primary custody of their daughter (pictured: 2018) Former Scientology member: Nicole was married to action movie star Tom Cruise for 11 years between 1990-2001 and adopted children Isabella, 25, and Connor, 23. She married Keith Urban in 2006 and welcomed daughters Sunday Rose, 10, and Faith Margaret, seven Speaking to DailyMailTV, LaPalme magazine's Creative Director Derek Warburton said of the star: Leah Remini is a modern day version of Robin Hood, but instead of stealing from the rich to give to the poor she is fighting against oppression and fighting for freedom. America sees Leah as the girl next door and I wanted to show another side of her. We all know her from being on our TV screens as the star of King of Queens and I wanted to show the world that she has huge range and can be as glamorous as any of her contemporaries. I had the most incredible experience with her. Throughout the day she would touch my face and say thank you, that is real appreciation, love and she showed how grateful she was for all of our assets.' In response to Remini's claims, the Church Of Scientology issued a statement. '[Leah Remini] continues to incite waves of anti-religious hate crimes. Ms. Reminis incessant hate speech has required increased security and law enforcement resources spent to protect lives she puts at risk. 'Ms. Reminis ridiculous rants are unending, and the myths and tales she and her co-producer spread are growing more bizarre by the day... 'It is sad that a network like Walt Disney Co.s A&E are making a buck selling hate and bigotry. They hire producers to rehash tired, preposterous myths invented and spread by the same handful of former Scientologists motivated by greed and anger. 'The reality is the star of this production is a narcissistic self-promoter obsessed with losing her relevance in Hollywood. Ms. Remini is attempting to continue to support her lifestyle through the coffers of hate. They have huge fanbases thanks to their work as actresses. And now Kate Hudson and Hailee Steinfeld have united to front a charity campaign, for their designer friend Michael Kors. The two are promoting the Watch Hunger Stop campaign, collaborating with the UN World Food Programme. 'It is not just that WFP feeds children. They also work to support families and education and local economies,' said Kate, 39, according to Us Weekly. Fabulous: Michael Kors is doing its Watch Hunger Stop campaign for the fifth year running, collaborating with the UN World Food Programme, co-starring Kate Hudson The mother of two, who has a third baby on the way, said: 'I really do believe that if we work together at this, we will see an end to world hunger.' Hailee, who was nominated for an Oscar as a child, said: 'All children deserve to have their basic needs met in order to fulfill their greatest potential.' The film star, who joined the Pitch Perfect franchise and is playing Emily Dickinson on an upcoming series, said: 'If we band together, we can end hunger for good.' Though Hailee is debuting as a Michael Kors Watch Hunger Stop campaigner, Kate has been involved with the the brand's charity work before. For the kids: Hailee Steinfeld, who is Kate's co-star in this new campaign, said: 'All children deserve to have their basic needs met in order to fulfill their greatest potential,' per Us Weekly In aid of last year's Watch Hunger Stop, Kate starred in a promotional video for the campaign in the Cambodian province Siem Reap. This new collection's Runway Watch is a unisex number retailing for $275, and every time one of them sells, 100 meals will go to the World Food Programme. Similarly, 100 meals will go to the World Food Programme each time someone buys one of the Watch Hunger Stop T-shirts, which sell at $40 apiece. Swanky: This new collection's Runway Watch is a unisex number retailing for $275, and every time one of them sells, 100 meals will go to the World Food Programme Whenever someone uploads a social media photo of themselves wearing the shirt and the caption includes: '#WatchHungerStop,' the WFP gets 100 more meals. The design on the T-shirt was a collaboration between Michael and the artist Eli Sudbrack, who divides his time between the United States and Brazil. Eli said: 'When I was invited to this project, I was so happy to finally do something where I could reach out and help peoples lives in a very concrete way.' His press release shared: 'I come from a country that has a lot of issues with hunger and education. If you can solve those two problems, the world would be different.' She branched out into a sky-rocketing career in television after starting out as a busty model and Page 3 girl. And Melinda Messenger, 47, proved her beauty stood the test of time on arrival at the Apollo Victoria Theatre to celebrate 12 years of Wicked, in London on Wednesday. The former glamour model and Page 3 girl looked youthful in her canary yellow midi dress which gave the stars at the bash a good sneak peek at her legs. Blooming lovely: Melinda Messenger, 47, looked youthful in her summery yellow midi dress as she joined Charlotte Hawkins, 43, at the Wicked bash, in London on Thursday Flowers in blue and pink were scattered across the flowing number which picked out the shade of her peep-toe heels. Melinda enhanced her modelesque good looks with heavy defining touches of make-up and a slick of red lipstick. Treading the red carpet, the busty TV host displayed her slender hourglass shape in the figure-hugging dress. Looking magical! Charlotte Hawkins looked out of this world in her star-print dress with a sweeping neckline to accentuate her ample bust Beautiful blonde! Melinda enhanced her modelesque good looks with heavy defining touches of make-up and a slick of red lipstick Charlotte Hawkins looked out of this world in her star-print dress with a sweeping neckline to accentuate her ample bust. The Good Morning Britain star accessorised with a stone coloured clutch bag and lace-up stilettos in the same shade. Wicked is a retelling of the famous story Wizard Of Oz which re-imagines the evil witch in the original as the heroine Elphaba of the adventure. How to accessorise: The Good Morning Britain star accessorised with a stone coloured clutch bag which picked out the colours of the stars on her dress Dramatically different: Suzi Perry looked stunning in her scarlet midi dress as she joined Claire Sweeney, who power dressed in her mustard suit A few months ago, the now-47-year-old revealed she regrets getting a breast enhancement in her twenties. The TV presenter and former Page 3 girl went from a C cup to a DD cup aged 24 in a bid to 'feel more like herself' but now wishes she'd realised she did not need surgery. In July, Melinda also questioned why breasts hold 'so much power' in society during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live. Waltzing onto the red carpet! Ore Oduba beamed on arrival as he mingled with a whole host of stars at the glittering event Dazzling diva: Lara Asprey caught the eye in her sparkling sequinned blouse which she teamed with her straight-legged trousers and heels The mother-of-three was speaking about young people and body image in the wake of the Love Island finale after the series sparked a row about cosmetic surgery. Reflecting on her own experiences in the light of Love Island, she recalled: 'I wasn't known at the time, I wasn't doing it for anyone other than myself. 'It was so personal I didn't tell anyone. I needed to make an adjustment to feel more like myself. Now me at my age looking back, there's a bit of me that thinks I wish I'd recognised I was fine as I was and it wasn't necessary. 'But in actual fact, maybe it was a bridge of confidence that I needed. How do breasts have so much power? This is insane.' He's back! Love Island voiceover star Iain Stirling looked casually cool on arrival in his leather jacket and pristine white trainers They recently returned from a sun-soaked family holiday in Sardinia. But Samantha Faiers and her partner Paul Knightley brushed the holiday blues aside as they attended the Childline Ball in aid of the NSPC in London on Thursday. The former TOWIE star, 27, dazzled in a plunging sequin dress as she cosied up to her businessman boyfriend at the star-studded bash. Cute couple: Samantha Faiers and her partner Paul Knightley cosied up as they attended the Childline Ball in aid of the NSPC in London on Thursday Sam channeled her inner Bond girl in the dress, which featured an Eighties-style ruched skirt and accentuated shoulders. Letting the statement dress do all the talking, she added height with a chic pair of barely there heels. Styling her ombre-hued tresses in a sleek side-parting, she swept her hair off her face in a wet-look ponytail. The Mummy Diaries star plumped her pout with a vampy slick of purple lipstick and framed her eyes with false lases. Vixen: Sam channeled her inner Bond girl in the dress, which featured an Eighties-style ruched skirt and accentuated shoulders Turning heads: The former TOWIE star, 27, dazzled in a plunging sequin dress as she cosied up to her businessman boyfriend at the star-studded bash Killer footwear: Letting the statement dress do all the talking, she added height with a chic pair of barely there heels Paul, meanwhile, cut a dapper figure in a black suit as the couple enjoyed a night away from their two kids - Paul, two, and 10-month-old daughter Rosie. Sam moved on from TOWIE by starring in the successful parenting show with her sister Billie and their broods; Paul, Sam, baby Paul and Rosie were the original features of the show. Meanwhile, sister Billie raises her daughter Nelly, aged four, and Arthur, 16 months old, with her fiance Greg Shepherd. The mane attraction: Styling her ombre-hued tresses in a sleek side-parting, she swept her hair off her face in a wet-look ponytail Glam: The Mummy Diaries star plumped her pout with a vampy slick of purple lipstick and framed her eyes with false lases The Faiers and Shepherd clan are currently filming season four of The Mummy Diaries, which is set to include Billie and Greg's upcoming wedding in The Maldives. Just weeks ago, Sam ended her feud with former BFF Ferne McCann after they famously fell out over rival ITV2 programmes documenting motherhood. They put their problems aside on attending Billie's bridal shower and the former pals managed to heal the rift in their friendship. Sam told The Sun: 'We were both at my sister's bridal shower - Ferne was there. It was fine. It was nice. We were just catching up on the babies really. So we are fine.' Suited and booted: Paul, meanwhile, cut a dapper figure in a black suit Parent duties: The couple have two kids together - Paul, two, and 10-month-old daughter Rosie He's the former Law & Order actor who now plays disgraced alcoholic police detective Nick Sax in the hit show Happy! And filming scenes for an upcoming season two episode, Chris Meloni was spotted in New York City with no pants and a nude colored Spanx covering his private region. The 57-year-old star didn't appear to be too happy while being attacked by three individuals dressed in jumpsuits and Hilary Clinton masks. Scroll down for video Keeping modest: Filming scenes for an upcoming season two episode of Happy, Chris Meloni was spotted in New York City with no pants and a nude colored Spanx covering his private region Chris was dressed in a dirty white singlet underneath a green button-up shirt that had tigers on it. His bare look was completed with long socks and brown combat boots. One photo saw the actor try to run away from the three matching individuals with his bare behind on show in nude spandex briefs. Bare ensemble: Chris was dressed in a dirty white singlet underneath a green button-up shirt that had tigers on it Dressed to impress: His bare look was completed with long socks and brown combat boots Too slow: One photo saw the actor try to run away from the three matching individuals with his bare behind on show in nude spandex briefs Too slow: While he attempted to put on and pull up his blue trousers, Chris appeared to be held at gunpoint While he attempted to put on and pull up his blue trousers, Chris appeared to be held at gunpoint. And it's not the first time the star has been seen without clothes on set. Over on his Instagram account, Chris shared some other behind-the-scenes shots from his adventures of season two. Common occurrence: It's not the first time the star has been seen without clothes on set Hard at work: The screen star still had boots on as she strolled through the street to film the dramatic scenes Describing the show: 'It is a Christmas carol if Quentin Tarantino had done it while on acid,' he described the Syfy series Revealing: Chis flashed a hint of his bare behind during filming for the scenes, as he hid his skin-coloured underwear underneath the shirt Great day! 'Finding a lil "Me" time on the set of #HappySeason2,' he captioned as well as: 'A boy and his toys in the tub' 'Finding a lil "Me" time on the set of #HappySeason2,' he captioned as well as: 'A boy and his toys in the tub.' The actor appeared on Harry Conic Jr.'s talk show earlier in the year to open up about what's to come for his character Nick. 'It is a Christmas carol if Quentin Tarantino had done it while on acid,' he described the Syfy series. Chris, who starred as Julia Robert's fiance in Runaway Bride, is best known for his role as Elliott Stabler in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She was spotted hanging out with rumored boyfriend Lewis Hamilton in Dubai over the weekend. But on Thursday, Nicki Minaj returned her focus to the music when she performed at the Tidal concert in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 'Hard White' female rapper flaunted her voluptuous curves in a turquoise and orange one-piece ensemble, which had a mixture of symbols attached to its straps and to her ample assets. Dangerous curves: Nicki Minaj returned her focus to the music when she performed at the Tidal concert in Sao Paulo, Brazil Following the show, the 35-year-old took to her official Instagram account, telling her fans how much she loved them while accompanying a video of her live performance to her social media page. 'Obrigado Brazil- I love you so much #TidalXVivo,' Minaj captioned her post. Nicki's show in Brazil is not part of her forthcoming NICKIHNDRXX TOUR, which boasts of an entirely different set when it kicks off its European leg in Munich, Germany with rapper Future in February. Grateful: Following the show, the 35-year-old took to her official Instagram page, telling her fans how much she loved them while accompanying a video of her live performance on her social media Putting on a show: Following the show, the 35-year-old took to her official Instagram page, telling her fans how much she loved them while accompanying a video Meanwhile, rumor has it that the Super Bass star is dating Lewis Hamilton. The two, who publicly acknowledge each other as friends, were seen enjoying a ride in the Dubai desert. And though they had separate quad bikes, photos lifted from their Instagram shows that the duo even shared rides together. In another video, Hamilton can actually be seen recording Minaj while she shows off her curvy figure in a custom Versace ensemble. Just last week: Nicki enjoyed a brief vacation out to Dubai with Lewis Hamilton Do you spot him? In the Instagram video, fans said they could see Lewis in the reflection of the mirrors as he recorded Nicki's flaunting her Versace attire It goes without saying that fans are refusing to believe that the Hollywood duo are nothing more than friends. Regardless of what her love life may look like, Minaj is still embroiled in her heated feud with Cardi B. The female rappers squared off at the Harper's Bazaar Icon party during New York Fashion Week earlier this month. Cardi had claimed that Minaj allegedly uses evil tactics to suppress other women in the industry, including her notable rival Remy Ma. Her rap rival: Meanwhile, Cardi B attended the ETAM Fashion Show during Paris Fashion Week; clearly not letting her feud with Nicki bother her What a night: Nicki is seen leaving the Harper's Bazaar Icon party after the brawl earlier this month. The Trinidadian confirmed via social media on Tuesday that she was eager to make a return to her Queen Radio show on Apple. 'Chile people crack me up,' the Young Money artist started off by saying. '(I forgot to say this after I saw more lies the other day). has broken Apple's records on EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. Every. Single. Episode.' 'So thankful to you guys for tuning in. I have so much fun. The next episode will be VITAL. trust.' Nicki's last episode saw her address the infamous feud, but apparently, there's more to the situation that fans have yet to hear about. America was transfixed on Thursday as Dr. Christine Ford testified about her alleged sexual assault at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Among those watching was Modern Family star Sarah Hyland, who was inspired to share her own tale of assault, which she says also happened at a party during her teenage years. The now 27-year-old wrote: 'He was a friend. It was New Year's Eve my senior year of high school. Everyone was drunk. He broke in to the bathroom I was in. I hoped it was a dream but my ripped tights in the morning proved otherwise.' Speaking out: Sarah Hyland revealed on Thursday that she was sexually assaulted in high school. The 27-year-old actress was spotted out and about in Los Angeles just hours later 'I believe her': Sarah Hyland shared her story in light of Dr. Christine Ford's testimony about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh She continued: 'I thought no one would believe me. I didn't want to be called dramatic. After all I didn't say no. Shock can do that to a person.' Sarah, who shared her tale on Instagram stories, tagged her post: '#believe women #metoo #Ibelieveher #whyididntreport.' On Thursday, Dr. Ford claimed that at a high school party in 1982, a drunk Kavanaugh held her down on a bed, tried to take her clothes off, and covered her mouth when she screamed. Casual chic: Sarah donned a graphic tee and denim while running errands Statement piece: Hyland was later seen carrying a denim jacket that said: 'the future is voting' Ford, a research psychologist and professor at Palo Alto University, said she was '100 percent' certain that Kavanaugh was the man who sexually assaulted her at the age of 15. Following her testimony, many celebrities took to Twitter to share their support. Alyssa Milano was one of the first to offer Christine a few words of encouragement. The actress traveled from Los Angeles 'to show support for Dr. Ford, to stand in solidarity with other women, other survivors that have been through similar experiences.' Speaking out: Dr Ford, a research psychologist and professor at Palo Alto University, said it was 'absolutely not' possible she mistook another teenage attacker for Judge Brett Kavanaugh Milano, who has been a leading voice in the #MeToo movement, was soon followed by Ellen DeGeneres, Mia Farrow, Ashley Judd, and several others. 'Dr. Ford, I am in awe of your bravery,' DeGeneres tweeted. While Farrow wrote: 'Deepest gratitude to you #DrChristineBlaseyFord You told us that you are terrified - but today you embody courage.' Victim: Sarah Hyland as a teenager in the show Lipstick Jungle Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first women to come forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, shared her thoughts on the Kavanaugh hearings. 'I do NOT know how I got home after I was raped at 15. No memory of it. Neither does she [Ford],' Judd wrote. Ashley added: '100% certainty. She identifies #Kavanaugh. I'm weeping.' Busy Philipps also revealed that she was raped at 14. 'It's taken me 25 years to say those words,' she said on Instagram. 'I wrote about it in my book. I finally told my parents and sister about it 4 months ago. 'Today is the day we are silent no more. All of us. I'm scared to post this. I can't imagine what Dr. Ford is feeling right now.' She gave birth less than a month ago to her second child. And Claire Danes is already back to regular mom duty with her eldest son Cyrus, five, who she was spotted out with on Thursday. The 39-year-old looked casual in blue jeans and a patterned blouse and layered on a light black coat. New York living: Claire Danes was on the go with her son Cyrus, five, on Thursday The star made a sprint for it across the street holding her son's hand while clutching some papers in her hand. Claire and husband Hugh Dancy welcomed a second son on August 27. The couple, who have yet to reveal the name of their newborn, are celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary this month. They married in France in a secret ceremony in September 2009 after meeting in 2006 when they played lovers in director Lajos Koltai's Evening. Quick! The 39-year-old actress dashed across the road holding her sons hand Claire previously confessed her eldest son had mixed emotions about being an older brother to the new baby. She said: 'He's mostly enthusiastic about it. There was a little wobble a couple months ago, where he was saying, "You're gonna love the baby more than you love me," and then I was gonna love everybody more than I love him! 'Anybody who walked through the door, he'd say, "You love that person more than you love me!" But he's come around, We've moved through that and he keeps kissing my stomach ... It's very sweet, but I'm sure it'll go back and forth ... feelings of excitement, and dread, and resentment.' Off duty style: The Homeland star wore jeans and a patterned blouse with black loafers And Claire is no doubt pleased to have given birth as she recently revealed she finds flying whilst pregnant 'complicated'. She shared: 'Everything's just a little more complicated when you're knocked up. I have to wear compression stockings. I should be wearing them all the time, but I definitely have to wear them when I fly. 'And theyre dreadful. So there's a lot of pressure on the lower extremities right? So it interferes with circulation, so it's harder for the blood to get back up to the heart. Anyway, so I hate these things and so I refuse to wear them until it's entirely essential.' Lip Sync Battle color commentator Chrissy Teigen escorted her daughter Luna Simone to pre-school classes in Los Angeles on Thursday while hauling seven copies of her second cookbook. The 32-year-old mother-of-two's 256-page tome Cravings: Hungry for More (co-written by Adeena Sussman) was published by Clarkson Potter on September 18, and she's been attending signings. The half-Thai beauty flashed a hint of her black lacy bra beneath a black blazer, blue jeans, and sandals; while her two-year-old princess donned a chiffon tutu with a sleeveless top and purple leggings. Gifts for teachers? Lip Sync Battle's Chrissy Teigen escorted her daughter Luna Simone to pre-school classes in Los Angeles on Thursday while hauling seven copies of her second cookbook Seconds? The 32-year-old mother-of-two's 256-page tome Cravings: Hungry for More (co-written by Adeena Sussman) was published by Clarkson Potter on September 18 Chrissy went make-up free for the mother-daughter outing, and she supportively carried little Luna's $980 Gucci 'GG Fawns' backpack. Teigen - who boasts 31.1M Twitter/Instagram followers - later Insta-storied a video of her big girl bringing a take-out lunch bag to her electrician 'Grandpa' Ron Teigen Sr. Meanwhile, her four-month-old son Miles Theodore was with her husband John Legend, who live-tweeted the hearing of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Little ballerina: The half-Thai beauty flashed a hint of her black lacy bra beneath a black blazer, blue jeans, and sandals; while her two-year-old princess donned a chiffon tutu with a sleeveless top and purple leggings Heavy load: Chrissy went make-up free for the mother-daughter outing, and she supportively carried little Luna's $980 Gucci 'GG Fawns' backpack 'What a good job!' Teigen later Insta- storied a video of her big girl bringing a take-out lunch bag to her electrician 'Grandpa' Ron Teigen Sr. The wisecracking presenter and the 39-year-old EGOT champ - who met on the 2007 set of his Stereo music video - celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary on September 14. 'We met on set and he was ironing in his underwear and my first words were, "You do your own ironing?" And then, "Yeah,"' Chrissy recalled on Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop podcast on Thursday. 'I think everyone always loves to ask like, "Oh my god, do you just die? Is everything just so sexy? Does he sing to you all the time?" And I'm like, "No, and I don't want it to be that way."' 'I believe Dr. Ford': Meanwhile, her four-month-old son Miles Theodore was with her husband John Legend, who live-tweeted the hearing of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (pictured Sunday) Met on the 2007 set of his Stereo music video: The wisecracking presenter and the 39-year-old EGOT champ celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary on September 14 Chrissy said of her marriage on Thursday's Goop podcast: 'I love watching TV with him. I love watching Housewives. I love making a meal with him. I love seeing him interact with our kids. I love every part of seeing him happy' Teigen added: 'I love watching TV with him. I love watching Housewives. I love making a meal with him. I love seeing him interact with our kids. I love every part of seeing him happy.' On Thursday, First We Feast teased the Hotel Transylvania 3 actress' appearance on the seventh season of spicy weekly talk show Hot Ones, which starts streaming next week on YouTube. Meanwhile, the R&B belter has been putting the finishing touches on his debut Christmas album, which will include a cover of Stevie Wonder's 1967 chestnut What Christmas Means To Me. NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is expected to confirm he has backed down from a bitter pre-selection battle with a cabinet colleague Multiculturalism Minister Ray Williams will remain in his seat of Castle Hill after a deal was struck to move Mr Perrottet from the seat of Hawkesbury to Epping, several media outlets reported on Monday night. Epping, the electorate where Mr Perrottet lives, is held by Liberal backbencher Damien Tudehope, who will reportedly take the upper house seat soon to be vacated by the retiring David Clarke. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had warned Mr Williams he faced the axe if he continued to push a spill motion against the treasurer. A party room meeting is expected on Tuesday. Mr Perrottet had argued his reason to contest pre-selection for Mr Williams' seat was to balance work and family commitments while giving the people of Hawkesbury the representation they deserve. He is a former member for Castle Hill but swapped seats with Mr Williams at the 2015 election. "This is not a decision I have taken lightly and comes after a great deal of reflection and discussions with my family and colleagues," he said in a statement. Mr Williams however had refused to budge and said he would continue to work hard on behalf of his local community. "Given Dominic is challenging myself as both a fellow member of parliament and a ministerial colleague I believe it is untenable for him to remain as the deputy leader," he said on Friday. The equality of Australian women and men will be under the microscope in a new release of data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics will on Tuesday release the latest Gender Indicators report, which compares outcomes for men and women across various aspects of life such as pay, education, health, safety and leadership roles. The average female wage was 89 per cent of the average male wage, the most recent ABS gender data shows. Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer says the pay gap has hit a record low of 14.5 per cent, according to reporting by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Over the past decade, the pay gap peaked at 18.5 per cent in November 2014. The minister is scrutinising the effectiveness of Labor's election commitment to force companies with more than 1000 staff to publicly disclose how much they pay women compared to men. The ABS data will also highlight the number of men and women in leadership roles in both the public and private sector, and in parliament. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has recently ruled out quotas to boost the number of Liberal women in federal parliament, but concedes the party needs to recruit more women Less than a quarter of federal Liberal MPs are women compared to almost half of Labor representatives. The most recent gender data also showed women were much more likely to be working part-time, with almost half of employed women holding part-time roles compared to 16 per cent of men. After spending more than two days in the remote southern Indian Ocean, an injured Indian sailor is receiving medical treatment after being rescued. Abhilash Tomy was "conscious and talking" and in a stable condition on Monday night after he was located about 3000km southwest of Perth by a French fisheries patrol boat. The 39-year-old had been taking part in an around the world solo sailing competition - the Golden Globe race - when his yacht Thuriya lost its mast in a storm on Friday. Mr Tomy was taken to Ile Amsterdam, a tiny island in the southern Indian Ocean which has a small hospital but no airport big enough to take a fixed-wing aircraft. Given the extent of the sailor's injuries he is likely to spend time on HMAS Ballarat, which will get there on Friday and can take him back to Perth. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority took to Twitter to thank those involved in the efforts. "FPV Osiris has successfully located and rescued Abhilash Tomy who is reported to be in a stable condition," AMSA wrote on Monday evening. An uninjured Irish sailor, whose yacht also lost its mast in the race, was reportedly also picked up by the French fisheries patrol boat. It's taken more than a decade for a Melbourne mother to be able to speak about her son's murder. Liep Gony was 18 in 2007 when he was attacked by two Caucasian youths in Noble Park and left to die at a train station. "My son is gone because someone wanted to kill blacks," his mother Martha Ojulo told AAP on Tuesday. Clinton David Rintoull and Dylan Giuseppe Sabatino were jailed for 20 and 10 years respectively for the crime. The family fled South Sudan after family members were tortured and spent years in a refugee camp before they arrived in Australia. Ms Ojulo was at home when she got the call her injured son had been found at the train station and rushed to his aid, flanked by his brother, sister and cousin. But despite getting her son to hospital, he died a day later. "They (his killers) will both have the opportunity to restart their lives, move on," Ms Ojulo said. "And now I have to live with the fact that my son is gone forever." A memorial walk will be held in Melbourne on Wednesday to mark the 11th anniversary of Mr Gony's death. Jamas nos callaran Fisica y culturalmente Nec plus ultra, nec variatur Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript. 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Por culpa de Chavez Cerveza Polar Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar Translate LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares? Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano... Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos: Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias. Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera. No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje. En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio. Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida. Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella. Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal. Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista. Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen. Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che? Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio. Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora. Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo. Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo. Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania. No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar. Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga. Alguna duda? Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia. OZ1 OZ2 OZ3 OZ4 Homenaje a Jason Galarraga La Victoria de Samotracia Odalisca Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008 La Sierra Nevada de Merida Nuestro precioso Churum Meru Homenaje a Picasso Autoretrato Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola? La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar. Mi profesion? Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos. Sal en la Coca Cola? A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar. De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla: Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido) azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa) Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas Mucha Cafeina Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja. Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos. Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja. En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero). Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma. La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate. Bebidas Light? Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal. Publicado por loretahur En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina: 1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias. 2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina. 3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard. 4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos. 5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla. 6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos. Ahora... sobre la margarina: 1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) . 2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias. 3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno). 4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer. 5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna. 6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo. 7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina. Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas: * No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo). * No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!! No a la guerra, Si a la Paz Misterios de la ciencia... Los costos de la guerra medicos y capitalismo... Capitalismo... medicos (2) Quien educa a nuestros hijos? Los Medios... Sin Palabras... Chistes feministas - Cual es el problema, Eva? - Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas. - Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas... - Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti. - Que es un hombre? - Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente. - Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente. - Cual es el truco?. - Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion. - Cual? - Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer. Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Ellas... Ellas (2)... Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1 Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije: -Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro. Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria. Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre? -Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa! VENGANZA NUMERO 2 Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris. A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita: - Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!! Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta. La mujer paso quince dias en Francia. El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla. Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es: - Y amor me trajiste mi francesita?? - Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina. VENGANZA NUMERO 3 El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion. - No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo. - Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz. Te quiero confesar algo. - Esta bien, esta bien. Habla! - He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga. - Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!! machismo y cibernetica Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston. -Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide. -Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!. .Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos. Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco. Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas Gol !!!! Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso! Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy! Staff at the ABC have called on chairman Justin Milne to stand aside while an independent inquiry examines his actions in calling for a senior journalist to be sacked to appease the government. Employees of the national broadcaster passed the motion at a meeting in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon stating an investigation was needed to protect the ABC's independence. An explosive email has revealed Mr Milne instructed former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie - who was sacked by the board earlier this week - to fire the broadcaster's chief economics correspondent, Emma Alberici, in May. Two Melbourne housemates who held down and beat an Airbnb guest during a sustained assault that killed him have been jailed. Ryan Charles Smart, 38, and Craig Jonathon Levy, 37, each pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ramis Jonuzi, who died last October. Smart was jailed for nine years with a minimum of six years, while Levy was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years with a minimum of four-and-a-half years. Mr Jonuzi, 36, was renting a room in the pair's Brighton East home on Airbnb but was asked to leave the day he died after not paying a $210 bill. An argument erupted about the unpaid money after Mr Jonuzi packed up to leave. It was allegedly started by a third man, Jason Colton, who is due to stand trial for Mr Jonuzi's murder next year. During a sustained assault, the victim was kicked and punched in the living room until he lost consciousness. Levy then helped to carry him outside where Smart held Mr Jonuzi in a leg lock. Levy used his phone to have Mr Jonuzi check his bank account and confirm it contained just $6, before the attack continued. After noticing neighbours watching, Levy went inside to call the police while Smart continued to hold down Mr Jonuzi who at times was crying and yelling and other times appeared unconscious. "For some of the attack Mr Jonuzi was unconscious on the ground, for all of it he was helpless," Justice Andrew Tinney said, jailing the pair in separate hearings in the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday. He said Levy was actively involved from the beginning and far from being a mere observer. Smart had ample opportunity to assist Mr Jonuzi and try and bring the attack to an end but failed to do so. The judge accepted both men were remorseful and noted they could benefit from time in custody. Mr Jonuzi's family wiped away tears while Levy's sisters offered him words of support as he was taken from court. Australia is "deeply disappointed" with United States President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on China and worried about his approach to global order. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says Australia is committed to free trade and opening up markets. "We're deeply disappointed by the fact that the US administration has applied unilaterally tariff measures that go against those established rules," Senator Birmingham told ABC radio on Wednesday. "Just as we are concerned by actions of other countries in terms of industrial subsidies that they might apply in different ways." President Trump used a speech at the United Nations to trumpet his America-first vision. "We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism," Mr Trump said. Senator Birmingham said the United States' approach is threatening the global trade order that Australia, as a middle power, relies on. "We are worried about the actions and policies of the US administration in so far as they're disruptive to the effective operation of the World Trade Organisation," he said. "They are disruptive in terms of some of the dispute resolution mechanisms that Australia relies upon quite heavily. "Any semblance of trade disputation between the US and China with competing tariffs and subsidies going backwards and forwards has the potential to slow global economic growth." The trade minister said he raises those concerns directly when he meets with US representatives, as does Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Mr Trump was speaking to a domestic audience with his UN comments. But Senator Wong said increased tension between the US and China wouldn't help Australia. "I think Australia stands to lose economically in the world as well as obviously increased competition and tension isn't conducive to a more secure world," she said. A man who murdered his partner by repeatedly kicking her in the head and stomach then leaving her in a West Australian shopping centre car park has been sentenced to life in prison. Les McLarty, 21, was drunk when he murdered 23-year-old Ms Chapman, whose first name is not used for cultural reasons, in Broome in March last year. McLarty and Ms Chapman had sex behind a bottle shop then argued, the WA Supreme Court heard on Wednesday. He repeatedly kicked his partner of six years and jumped on her, then left her semi-clothed to die. Defence counsel Tony Hager described it as a tragedy, saying it was a very sad example of the poisonous effects of alcohol. He said McLarty did not appreciate the seriousness of Ms Chapman's injuries at the time but accepted she was a vulnerable victim. "Through his own actions, he lost the person he loved the most in life," Mr Hager said. Justice Lindy Jenkins said McLarty left his partner in a degrading position to be found by passers-by. "You were very angry with the deceased for an unknown reason," she said. "You left her injured and dying on the ground." Justice Jenkins said if McLarty had been sober he would have realised Ms Chapman needed medical assistance. In a victim impact statement, Ms Chapman's mother said she was sad her daughter would not have the opportunity to have children of her own. Justice Jenkins noted McLarty had a troubled background of substance abuse and a history of violence against his partner. "Drinking alcohol (and) using cannabis has got you into a lot of trouble in your life," she said. "You are going to be in prison for a long time but when you get out you still have to stay away from those things because they are only going to get you into more trouble." Justice Jenkins acknowledged McLarty had a disadvantaged and deprived background, and accepted his time in prison would be more difficult because he would be away from his community. She also commented that domestic violence against indigenous women was far too common. McLarty must serve at least 17 years behind bars before he can be eligible for parole. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 A 71-year-old farmer who murdered "the love of his life" in Western Australia drove straight to police and confessed, saying he was "guilty as sin" but carrying out his wife's wishes. Kevin John Keath and Kerrie Ann Keath, 68, had been married for 34 years when he cut her throat after she took a sleeping tablet in their home near York on March 8. Defence counsel Karen Farley said he immediately went to police and reported what he'd done. He described her as the "love of his life" and said he was carrying out their long-standing suicide pact, but didn't end his own life because he wanted to ensure her body was handled with dignity. She said the couple believed their lives had become intolerable due to a combination of financial hardship, depression and ill health. The Supreme Court court heard Keath, who did two stints in the army and later held high positions in the mining industry, retired from farming because injuries he'd suffered over the years, including in a car crash, left him unable to continue the physical work. The couple lost "pretty well" their life savings after a company they invested in collapsed. "It appeared they were going to lose the farm," Ms Farley said. "Sometimes even food was tight." While Ms Keath didn't suffer a terminal illness, she suffered depression and also debilitating arthritis that was sometimes so bad she couldn't hold a bottle or make dinner, which drove her to tears. Ms Farley said the loving couple had an "ongoing agreement" they would end their lives when they felt it was no longer worth living, rather than become a burden on others, and had tried before. "He genuinely believes he had no choice in the matter but to assist her," the lawyer said. "He is of the genuine view he carried out his wife's wishes. "He misses his wife every day." Justice Bruno Fiannaca will hand down his sentence after viewing a video of Keath's police interview, which Ms Farley described as one of the most full, frank and candid she'd ever seen. Lifeline 13 11 14 beyondblue 1300 22 4636 NRL's biggest stars are usually upstaged by their partners on the Dally M Awards red carpet but regular showman Sam Thaiday had different ideas. Arriving in a navy blue blazer adorned with colourful flower patterns, the retiring Broncos forward made sure he was noticed in his final appearance as a player at the end-of-season ceremony. Thaiday was adamant he wasn't trying to draw attention away from wife Rachel, who also turned heads with what she described as a "beautiful jumpsuit with a cape". "She's trying to out-do me," he said. "You've gotta get it right!" Rachel said her husband's decision to go with a red pocket square inspired her custom-made red satin frock. The pair have been matching outfits since their high school formal 16 years ago and Thaiday had come a long way, Rachel said. "The shirt was much tighter around the neck and, instead of doing the square, he decided it would be an amazing canary yellow shirt to match my dress," she said. "It wasn't his best colour." Rachel Thaiday said her beautiful red satin one-piece had been created in little over a week by Brisbane boutique Toscano. "They're just a beautiful little Brisbane team," she said. South Sydney star Greg Inglis also pushed boundaries, ignoring the black-tie dress code with an open-neck white shirt after getting, what he said, was some style advice from a fashion expert. Nicole Slater, wife of Melbourne fullback Billy, turned heads in her Jason Grech-designed pale blue and gold ball gown featured scorpions in its pattern. "I feel like a princess," she posted online. Meanwhile, Newcastle poster boy Kalyn Ponga's date was equally the most nervous and proud of the ceremony. "I'm just enjoying the night," mum Adine Ponga said. Australians could save up to $6 per script with more than 20 medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme to become more affordable, the health minister says. Greg Hunt says the price changes will occur from October 1 and save consumers $344 million. The medicines include neuropathic pain reliever pregabalin, which Mr Hunt says will be about $6 cheaper per script to $33. The price per script of dorzolamide, eye drops used by glaucoma patients, will be reduce by about $3 to $19. "By law, pharmaceutical companies must reveal to the government the prices at which they sell multi-branded PBS medicines to wholesalers and pharmacies," Mr Hunt said in a statement on Thursday. "If the government is paying a significantly higher price, this is reduced to bring the PBS price closer to the general market price." The government is subsidising all drugs recommended by independent medical experts, the minister says. The 24 medicines with increased subsidies are sold as 226 brands. Labor and the Greens are pushing for a Senate inquiry into the conduct of ABC chairman Justin Milne, amid increasing pressure for him to resign. Labor's communication spokeswoman Michelle Rowland spoke to Mr Milne about revelations he told former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie to fire chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici in May. "They [the government] hate her," he wrote in an email to Ms Guthrie obtained by Fairfax Media. Ms Rowland says she had "more questions than answers" after the pair spoke. "I do not believe that after discussing the allegations in Fairfax, the explanation he gave was satisfactory," she told the ABC on Wednesday. "I had a sense there was more information that I needed to know." There are also reports Mr Milne complained about two other journalists who upset the government, political reporter Andrew Probyn and radio broadcaster Jon Faine. Mr Milne is also said to have tried to stop Triple J's Hottest 100 song countdown being moved from Australia Day. Communications Minister Mitch Fifield announced his department secretary will run an inquiry into the matter and report as soon as possible. "It is important for the community to have confidence in the independence of the ABC," he said in a statement. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the two parties will attempt to trigger the Senate inquiry before federal parliament resumes in mid-October. ABC executives will appear before a Senate estimates committee on October 22 and 23, with both sides of politics expecting to know more about why the board sacked Ms Guthrie. The broadcaster's staff on Wednesday unanimously voted for Mr Milne to step down while the departmental investigation takes place, but the board has confidence in him to continue in his job. Former ABC managing director David Hill says Mr Milne "has no choice" but to step down given the circumstances. Those hoping to replace Malcolm Turnbull in the former prime minister's blue-ribbon seat have until midday to officially throw their hat in the ring. The close of nominations at midday on Thursday comes 24 days out from the by-election for Wentworth, the eastern Sydney seat which the Liberal Party has never lost. Liberal candidate Dave Sharma is expected to reveal how he wishes voters to direct preferences in the coming days after saying he would wait until the final list was sorted. High-profile independent candidate and local doctor Kerryn Phelps poses one of the biggest threats to Mr Sharma, Australia's previous ambassador to Israel. A loss for the Liberal party in Wentworth will mean the end of the Morrison government's one-seat majority. While Mr Turnbull has pledged support for the Liberal candidate, his son Alex has thrown his support behind Labor's Tim Murray, the co-founder of a China-focused financial research company. The Greens have put forward Waverley City Councillor Dominic Wy Kanak while Angela Vithoulkas, one of Ms Phelps' colleagues on the Sydney City Council, is also running as an independent. All up, 13 people have publicly announced their candidacy. The Australian Electoral Commission is expected to declare the nominations on Friday. Polls open for early voting on Tuesday. People watch as black smoke rises during twin jihadist attacks targeting the French embassy and Burkina Faso's military headquarters Jihadist strikes on Burkina Faso have shed light on West Africa's Achilles' heel, experts say. They point to a country whose security apparatus has been battered by the ouster of a dictator with military roots, and where poverty and unemployment provide jihadists with fertile ground for recruitment. Audacious twin attacks on Friday in the capital Ouagadougou targeting the military headquarters and the embassy of former colonial ruler France, sent shockwaves through the region. The strike on the military HQ appears to have been aimed at a scheduled meeting of the so-called G5 Sahel -- a French-backed group of five countries fighting jihadism in the volatile Saharan region. Burkina Faso is the "soft underbelly" of the region, Paul Koalaga, a professor of geopolitics and security expert said. "Burkina Faso has been fighting terrorists since 2015 -- a commitment that has been strengthened by the G5 Sahel -- and a riposte was just waiting to happen," he said. The country has been the target of jihadist attacks since 2015. On August 13 last year, two assailants opened fire on a restaurant on the capital's main avenue, killing 19 people and wounding 21. No one has so far claimed responsibility. On January 15, 2016, 30 people -- including six Canadians and five Europeans -- were killed in a jihadist attack on a hotel and restaurant in the city centre. A February 21 attack near the border with Niger left two French soldiers dead and a third injured in an area which is believed to shelter jihadists. Koalaga said Burkinabe authorities had failed to address the threat, and now are trying "to deflect attention by accusing officials from the old regime" -- a reference to Blaise Compaore, ousted in 2014 in a popular uprising after 27 years of iron-fisted rule. - Soldiers involved? - Burkinabe authorities say some disgruntled soldiers may have been involved in the latest attacks "There are jihadist sleeper cells in African capitals and the radicalisation of youths is spreading, especially in the poor suburbs of Ouagadougou which have very high unemployment rates," he said. Sources in Ougagadougou said that the attackers were almost all from Burkina Faso. Eight assailants and eight soldiers were killed and 85 people were injured, according to an updated government toll issued on Tuesday. Sixty-one of the injured were soldiers and 24 were civilians -- the first time that civilian casualties have been mentioned.. "Burkina Faso's intelligence system fell apart after the fall of Blaise Compaore", Koalaga said. "In Burkina Faso, the intelligence system did not rest on an institution but on the shoulders of one man, General Gilbert Diendere," said Rinaldo Depagne, a West Africa expert from the International Crisis Group. Diendere, Compaore's right-hand man, is currently being held and tried for a failed coup in 2015 aimed at bringing his boss back to power. Depagne said he did not rule out the possibility of some soldiers being involved in the latest attack, an accusation levelled by some Burkinabe authorities. "We know that some of the 566 soldiers sacked after the (anti-Compaore) riots of 2011 have joined jihadist groups," he said, adding that the dissolution of an ultra-loyalist presidential praetorian guard had fuelled "lots of frustration among soldiers." The latest attack shows that the militants are changing tack and now targeting troops instead of civilians, said Nicolas Desgrais from the University of Kent in southeastern England, who is an expert on security issues in West Africa. Depagne said extremist violence in the region had flared since France and Mali launched a crackdown on the jihadist Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) in Mali's vast lawless desert north. Koalaga said the GSIM, which claimed Friday's attacks in ouagadougou, staged a revenge strike in Burkina Faso because it was vulnerable. GSIM said it was a response to the deaths of some of its leaders in a French army raid in northern Mali in February in which 20 jihadists were either killed or captured, according to French military sources. Depagne, for his part, suggested Ouagadougou would have to negotiate with jihadist groups or risk an "interminable war, as in Somalia which has lasted for 27 years." Father Daniel Hagos holds morning confession at the Lideta Mariam Catholic Church in the village of Alitena -- part of a tight-knit community that now fears being split by resolution of the border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia "This place is definitely Ethiopian," said farmer Haise Woldu, 76, gesturing to a church with an ornate brick facade in Engal, set to a backdrop of a jagged mountain range. His town Engal lies along the arid frontier between Ethiopia and Eritrea, whose exact border has been a subject of debate for over a century and the cause of a deadly war between the two nations which ended last week. A breakneck speed peace process between the former foes over the past six weeks hinges on Ethiopia's vow to finally abide by a 2002 United Nations ruling on the frontier, which states that Engal is in fact Eritrean. This means Haisie's minority ethnic Irob community, spread across the region, could be rent in two, with some ending up in Eritrea while others remain in Ethiopia. "This decision will divide the population," said Daniel Hagos, a Catholic priest in Alitena, an Irob town 10 kilometres northeast of Engal. Residents of Alitena fear their minority Irob community could be split, with others in a nearby village officially falling in Eritrea "If brothers are divided, that will be a problem. I don't think peace will come." Other leaders of the Irob community, which speaks the Kushitic Saho language, want peace but warn that changing the status quo could wreak havoc with their way of life. They have warned transferring land in the rugged Irob region to Eritrea would also force visitors to Ethiopia's Irob areas to pass through Eritrea. In the past 150 years, Eritrea has passed through the hands of the Ottomans, Egyptians, Italians, British and Ethiopians which annexed it in 1952 after a brief period of autonomy. The tiny Red Sea nation -- which comprised Ethiopia's entire coastline -- went on to fight a bloody independence war before successfully leaving after a 1993 referendum. The resulting border was never properly defined leading to a dispute that sparked clashes and escalated into all-out war that claimed 80,000 lives between 1998 and the signature of a peace deal in 2000. - 'Disintegrate the Irob' - Eritrea captured the Irob areas early in the conflict and held the territory for almost the duration of hostilities. The region is one of the few centres of Ethiopian Catholicism, introduced in the 19th century by Italian saint Justin de Jacobis. It is dotted with Catholic and Orthodox churches perched on cliffs and hills. Peace hinges on Ethiopia abiding by a 2002 UN ruling on the frontier which splits some border areas home to ethnic Irob between both countries, who fought a war costing some 80,000 lives between 1998 and 2000 Ethiopia's rejection of a 2002 UN ruling on the demarcation of the border threw Addis Ababa's relations with Asmara into deadlock, prompting Eritrea to seal its borders. The stalemate appeared destined to continue indefinitely until Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April, announcing an aggressive reform agenda -- and stunning observers by agreeing to respect the boundary ruling. Huge crowds turned out in Asmara to welcome Abiy and in Addis Ababa to greet Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. But in the Irob district, accessed by a narrow dirt track dotted with military checkpoints, residents protested Abiy's announcement. Irob people guard their rights jealously and fear the return of the Eritreans who abused them during the occupation, according to district administrator Niguse Hagos. "This decision will disintegrate the people of Irob," he warned, adding that the land ruled Eritrean by the UN is home to one-third of the district's 33,000 people. No land appears to have changed hands yet and an AFP correspondent saw Ethiopian tanks deployed to the area with their barrels facing Eritrea. Some Irob people hope that peace between the neighbours could improve their situation. The nearby Eritrean market town of Senafe would become accessible, potentially stimulating trade in the impoverished region. - 'We want peace' - Other locals hope warming relations will help them learn what happened to the 96 Irob people who disappeared during Eritrea's occupation. Abrahet Niguse, a trader and mother of nine, is hoping her husband, abducted by the Eritrean government 18 years ago after the war broke out for allegedly giving food to Ethiopian soldiers, will return "Ever since the news, we've all been glued to the television," said Abrahet Niguse, a trader whose husband was taken by Eritrean troops for allegedly giving food to Ethiopian soldiers. "If the two countries make peace, maybe my husband will come back again." Eritrea, once vocal in demanding the land awarded to it by the UN, has toned down its appeals in recent weeks. During his visit to Addis Ababa last week, Isaias hugged and joked with Abiy -- but did not mention the issue. The bond between the two men could make the exact demarcation of the new border irrelevant, according to Mammo Muchie, a professor at Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa. "The border should be secondary now. The relationship is most important," he said. "(Borders) will always create problems." Men of the ethnic Irob community sing and dance during a marriage ceremony -- but border politics are now muscling their way into daily life Many Irob people yearn for the era before the war when they could cross between their now artificially divided valleys. "We want peace," said Girmay Abraha, a driver born in the area. "But we believe it shouldn't come by giving away land." Moscow will send a new S-300 air defence missile system, pictured in St. Petersburg in 2014, to Syria to protect Russian troops Moscow on Monday announced new security measures to protect its military in Syria, including supplying the Syrian army with an S-300 air defence system and jamming radars of nearby warplanes following the downing of a Russian plane last week. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said President Vladimir Putin ordered additional security measures after a Syrian Soviet-era S-200 missile shot down the Russian surveillance plane by mistake last week, killing 15 in an accident Moscow blames on Israel. "This has pushed us to adopt adequate response measures directed at boosting the security of Russian troops" in Syria, Shoigu said in a televised statement. "(Russia will) transfer the modern S-300 air defence system to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks." The accident was the deadliest friendly fire between Syria and its key backer Russia since Moscow's game-changing 2015 military intervention on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. Putin and Assad discussed the additional measures and delivery of the S-300 system on the phone Monday, the Kremlin said. - Putin blames Israel - Putin also told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he disagreed with the Israeli version of events and pinned the blame on the Israeli military. The Kremlin chief had taken a more conciliatory tone last week when he described the downing as the result of "tragic accidental circumstances". "The information provided by the Israeli military... runs counter to conclusions of the Russian defence ministry," the Kremlin said of Monday's call between Putin and Netanyahu. "The Russian side proceeds from the fact that the actions by the Israeli air force were the main reason for the tragedy," the Kremlin added. Defence minister Shoigu said the Syrian military had already been trained to use the S-300 system, which was set to be sent over in 2013 but held up "at the request of Israel. "In regions near Syria over the Mediterranean Sea, there will be radio-electronic suppression of satellite navigation, on-board radar systems and communication systems of military aviation attacking objects on Syrian territory," he said. At the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis slammed Moscow's move. "Any additional weapons going in to support Assad right now keeps him in a position of threat to the region -- and the threat is refugee flows coming out of the region, it's murder of his own people," Mattis told reporters. "Anything like this puts (Assad) in a position, basically, to be more of an obstruction to resolving and ending this fight." Moscow says Israeli F-16 planes which struck Latakia in western Syria last Monday later used the landing Russian Il-20 surveillance plane as "cover," which resulted in the larger Il-20 being hit by a Syrian missile. The Russian military has said that Israel's air force informed its command in Syria via the established de-confliction hotline, but only one minute before the air strikes -- and gave the wrong target location. Because of this, Moscow claims that the Russian air force could not keep its plane safe. - 'Fired recklessly' - A Russian IL-20 plane similar to the one shot down on September 17 Israel regularly carries out strikes in Syria against Assad's government, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Iranian targets. An Israeli military delegation travelled to Moscow last week to share information about the incident. An Israeli official said the information showed that the Russian plane was shot down because Syrian batteries had "fired recklessly, irresponsibly and unprofessionally, long after our planes were no longer there". He said the warning time before the strike was "much longer than one minute". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned earlier Monday the accident would affect relations between the two countries. "According to information of our military experts, the reason (behind the downing) were premeditated actions by Israeli pilots which certainly cannot but harm our relations," Peskov told journalists. Military analyst Vladimir Sotnikov said that despite putting in place the new security measures Moscow would want to avoid a direct military clash with Israel, a key US ally. "I don't think that the decision to send an S-300 to Syria would significantly worsen ties with Israel," he said, ruling out an escalation of the Syrian conflict. Peskov reiterated Moscow's stance that the new measures were only to boost the safety of its troops in Syria. "Russia in this case is acting in its interests only, these actions are not directed against third countries, but towards defending our own military," he said. A spokesperson for the Israeli army declined to comment on Moscow's S-300 delivery. Rod Rosenstein plays a key role in overseeing the probe into alleged collusion between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, which the president calls a politically motivated "witch hunt" President Donald Trump said Monday he will meet with his deputy attorney general to seek "transparency" over reports Rod Rosenstein once suggested removing him from office, after a day of speculation that the official who oversees the Russia probe was about to be FIRED. Rosenstein's job has looked untenable since bombshell reports appeared last week, but a decision on his fate was apparently pushed back to Thursday, when the White House said the president would talk face-to-face with his Justice Department number two. Speaking from the annual United Nations General Assembly, Trump confirmed he had spoken with Rosenstein and that they would continue their conversation upon his return to Washington. "We'll be meeting at the White House and we will be determining what's going on. We want to have transparency. We want to have openness. And I look forward to meeting with Rod at that time," Trump said. As deputy attorney general, Rosenstein plays a key role in overseeing the high-powered investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which Trump calls a politically motivated "witch hunt." His departure -- which would give the president an opportunity to replace him with a loyalist -- would dramatically rock the probe into whether Russia conspired with Trump's campaign to aid his 2016 shock presidential election victory. Rosenstein was received early Monday for a meeting at the White House by the chief of staff, John Kelly, with US media initially reporting that this might be the moment when he stepped down or was forced aside. A statement subsequently issued by the White House neither confirmed nor put to rest the rumors, saying only that Rosensenstein and Trump had an "extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories." Those reports said Rosenstein suggested secretly recording Trump for evidence of White House dysfunction. The White House said the two would meet Thursday, at Rosenstein's request. Even prior to last week's hugely embarrassing reports -- which Rosenstein denies -- Trump had frequently criticized him. - Trump vs Justice Department - In a highly unusual policy for a US president, Trump regularly attacks the Justice Department and the FBI, claiming that they are biased against him in the Russia probe. Just last Friday, Trump referred in a speech to supporters to a "lingering stench" at the Justice Department that he would soon eradicate. Allies of the president say he is angered and frustrated by Mueller's probe, which has resulted in multiple prosecutions and convictions of people close to Trump -- with the prosecutor's targets inching ever higher up the chain. The rancor between Trump and his own law enforcement bodies took an extraordinary turn last week with reports that Rosenstein suggested gathering evidence for use in removing Trump from power under a constitutional amendment for cases when a president is unfit for office. The New York Times and Washington Post reports were based on secret memos by a former FBI director. Amid ever deepening paranoia and partisan division in Washington, some speculated the notes were leaked as a trap for Trump -- challenging him to oust the official in charge of the Russia probe. His presidency is already overshadowed by a book by White House chronicler Bob Woodward that depicts Trump as so chaotic and capricious that aides even swipe controversial orders from his desk before they can be signed. - Red line - But others speculated that the story about Rosenstein had been planted to undermine both the deputy attorney general and Mueller, thereby giving Trump an excuse to go on the attack. Democratic opponents and also many from his own Republican Party have warned Trump not to take any action that could be seen as attempting to weaken or even dismantle the Russia probe. Many have predicted that Rosenstein would have to go as a result of the reports on his supposed plot. But if this were followed by an attempt to get the new deputy attorney general to fire Mueller, that would be a red line for many in Congress. With November midterm congressional elections rapidly approaching -- and Trump's Republicans fearing a battering -- analysts say there would be considerable risk for the party if the White House is even seen as trying to interfere in the investigation. This booking image obtained September 10, 2018 shows Dallas Police Department officer officer Amber Guyger, who was fired after shooting a black man in his own apartment The white Texas cop who shot dead an unarmed black man in his own apartment after claiming she mistook it for hers was fired Monday for "adverse conduct," the Dallas Police Department said. The shooting sparked protests and became emblematic of the racially-charged police brutality controversies that blight the United States, as criticism swirled over investigators' handling of the case. Police Chief U. Renee Hall terminated officer Amber Guyger's employment during an administrative hearing. The 30-year-old is charged with manslaughter for killing Botham Shem Jean, an immigrant from the Caribbean nation of Saint Lucia. "An Internal Affairs investigation concluded that... (Guyger) engaged in adverse conduct when she was arrested for manslaughter," the department said. "Officer Guyger was terminated for her actions." Guyger told investigators she mistakenly walked into the 26-year-old's apartment, one floor above her own, when she returned home from work on the evening of September 9. She fired two shots after seeing a silhouette of a figure who didn't respond to verbal commands, police said. - 'Attempts to smear' - Jean family attorneys Lee Merritt and Ben Crump said in a statement that the police chief informed the family Sunday of the impending firing, explaining that it was delayed because of concerns that acting earlier could have "compromised the criminal prosecution." "We see it as an initial victory -- well received on the day Botham Jean is laid to rest in his native country," the attorneys said. They added that the family wanted the officer to face "a proper murder indictment" and reaffirmed that they were preparing a wrongful death lawsuit against Guyger and the city of Dallas. "Our office continues to conduct its parallel investigation," they said. There has also been criticism of media reports that police found marijuana in Jean's apartment. The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States joined in Monday, saying they were "dismayed by the despicable attempts by some to smear the character of Botham Shem Jean." "It is an undeniable fact that Botham Shem Jean was shot and killed while in the sanctity and comfort of his own home," the OECS said in a statement. Jean emigrated from Saint Lucia to attend a private Christian college in Arkansas. He had been working at the accounting firm PwC, also known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Dallas. Guyger, who could face additional charges depending on the outcome of a criminal investigation, had the right to appeal her firing, police said. Palestinian demonstrators and paramedics carry a wounded man on a stretcher during a protest calling for an end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza, on a beach in Beit Lahia near the maritime border with Israel, on September 24, 2018 A Palestinian was shot dead Monday by Israeli soldiers in new clashes along the border of the Gaza Strip, the health ministry in the enclave said. Mohamed Abu Sadek, 21, was shot in the head in the northwest of the strip, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra ministry said. The spokesman added that 10 other Palestinians also suffered gunshot wounds. A Palestinian demonstrator uses a slingshot to throw stones during a protest calling for an end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza, on a beach in Beit Lahia near the maritime border with Israel, on September 24, 2018 Several hundred Palestinians gathered Monday in the northwest of the Gaza Strip in the latest protests since a major wave of demonstrations along the border with Israel began in late March. At least 187 Palestinians have been killed since then, most in protests and clashes near the frontier. One Israeli soldier has been killed in that time. Israel accuses Islamist group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, of orchestrating the protests and has denied accusations its troops use excessive force. Israel has maintained a crippling blockade of Gaza for more than a decade it says is necessary to isolate Hamas. Andre Gantois and Allen Henderson, seen at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, had the same GI father who landed near Omaha Beach as part of the 1944 "D-Day" landings but knew nothing of each other's existence before recent DNA tests A Frenchman who spent his whole adult life searching for his American father, a soldier who fought in Europe during World War Two, said he was "bowled over" after coming face-to-face with a previously unknown half-brother on Monday thanks to a chance DNA breakthrough. Andre Gantois, now aged 72, was told he was asking for the impossible when he began his search for his dad aged 20 at the American embassy in Paris, knowing only that his late mother had fallen pregnant shortly after the end of the war. She had revealed the existence of her American lover on her deathbed, when Gantois was 15, but did not share his name or any other details. "They told me that what I was asking for was like looking for a needle in a haystack," the retired postal worker from the Lorraine region of eastern France told AFP. Undeterred, Andre continued to research US military and legal documents, but the breakthrough only came when his sister-in-law suggested he approach a popular American DNA company MyHeritage which specialises in family research. "I didn't expect anything. I'd come to the conclusion that I'd die without knowing my father," he added. Instead, after sending off a couple of swabs from his mouth, the group informed him that he had a match: a half-brother from South Carolina called Allen Henderson, who was seven years younger. Henderson had also approached MyHeritage weeks' before "on a whim just to see where I'm from" after seeing the company advertise its geneological research services on the Fox News channel. "He had no idea that we were here and, of course, I wasn't looking for him, because I had no idea that he was there," Henderson told local US channel 7News at the end of August. The discovery of his half-brother softened what was a blow for Gantois: his father had died in 1997, apparently without ever knowing he had a son in France because Gantois' mother Irene had never told him she was pregnant. On Monday, having already exchanged photos by mail, they came face-to-face on the same windswept beach in northern France where their father landed along with hundreds of thousands of Allied forces in June 1944 to liberate France from its Nazi occupiers. The two men share a clear physical resemblance, have a black cat and both like plaid shirts. "People around me say it's incredible how much we look like each other. You'd really say we are brothers," Gantois told AFP. Furthermore, having seen some of Henderson's pictures, "my father is the spitting image of me, the same smile, everything." Sadly, for the time being, neither of them speaks the other's language, meaning an interpreter is needed at all times. "I'll need to start studying English now," said Gantois, who has also gained a half sister, Judy, 70. The half-brothers look on as the US flag is raised in the grounds of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer where their father landed 74 years ago As for his father, though he never met him Gantois says he has already visited his grave in a military cemetary in Los Angeles. The number of children born in France to American servicemen is unknown, a local historian Emmanuel Thiebot told AFP. There were an estimated 200,000 children born to Germans, according to official figures. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow in July 2018 From a honeymoon in the years after Israel's founding, to strained ties after the mistaken downing of a Russian plane in Syria, relations between Israel and Russia have gone through several periods of tensions. These have mainly revolved around disagreements on Middle Eastern issues. - One of the first to recognise Israel - In November 1947 the Soviet Union's government accepts the plan to split Palestine into two states, one Jewish, the other Arab. It becomes one of the first countries to recognise the State of Israel after its creation in May 1948. In May 1949 Moscow votes in favour of Israel's admission to the United Nations. - 24-year rupture - In May 1967, the Soviet Union breaks off relations with Israel during the Arab-Israeli war. Moscow goes on to arm and fund Arab countries for several decades. A rapprochement starts in August 1986, with a first official contact in Helsinki between Israeli and Soviet consular delegations. In October 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev reestablishes diplomatic relations, two months before the collapse of the Soviet Union. He authorises Jews to emigrate freely. Over a decade more than one million of them emigrate to Israel. In April 1994, the official visit of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to Moscow, the first by an Israeli head of government, enshrines the full normalisation of bilateral relations. - Meetings - In September 2001, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly in Moscow condemn "terrorism", of which both countries say they are victims. Traditionally closer to Arab nations, Russia co-sponsors with the United States the Middle East peace process. The positions of the Kremlin and the Israelis have come closer since the Russian offensive in its separatist republic of Chechnya, where Moscow says it is fighting terrorism. Sharon, for his part, says the violence of the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, amounts to a terrorist campaign. In April 2005, Putin makes an historic visit to Israel, against the background of a disagreement over Moscow's sale of anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. In October 2006, the nuclear programme of Israel's arch enemy Iran dominates the first visit to Moscow of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. - Cooperation - In June 2008, Russian giant Gazprom says it is examining possible deliveries of gas to Israel. In September 2010, the Russian and Israeli defence ministers sign in Moscow an accord on military cooperation. This cooperation had already manifested itself in 2009 in the sale to Russia of Israeli drones. Israel regularly expresses concerns over Russian arms sales, notably to Iran and Syria. Contacts have since been stepped up, with Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting three times since the beginning of 2018. - Coordination "mechanism" for Syria - In September 2015 Netanyahu meets Putin in Moscow. The Israeli government says the two countries have agreed on a mechanism to coordinate their military action in war-torn Syria, so as to avoid "misunderstandings" between their forces. On September 30, the Russian air force launches a campaign of air strikes in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces are struggling against rebels. In October Russia says a hotline had been set up with Israel to ensure there will be no clashes between their air forces. Israel, which intends to keep its distance from the Syrian conflict, while defending its interests, has since 2013 regularly carried out strikes against the Syrian government, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Iranian targets. - Russian plane downed - On September 17, 2018 Syrian air defences down by error a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 military plane over the Mediterranean, killing all 15 crew members, as Israel is carrying out a raid on a Syrian army facility. A day later during a telephone call, Netanyahu expresses to Putin his "sorrow" at the downing. Putin says it was the result of "tragic accidental circumstances". On Sunday, Russia's military blames "misleading" information from the Israeli air force for the incident. A day later, Moscow says it plans to supply the Syrian army with a new S-300 air defence system and jam radars of nearby warplanes. Putin tells Netanyahu he rejects the Israeli version, blaming "the actions by the Israeli air force". Netanyahu says he is confident of the Israeli account and warns Putin against "transferring advanced weapons systems" to Syria. Hinrichs said there was no business case for exporting autos to China with tariffs now reaching 40 percent Ford is looking at speeding up plans to build more Lincoln models in Chinese plants amid the growing trade war with the United States that has made US exports less attractive, a senior executive said Monday. Joseph Hinrichs, Ford's executive vice president for global operations, said he did not see any easy resolution to the trade dispute between the United States and China. President Donald Trump on Monday imposed tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods, prompting swift retaliation from Beijing on $60 billion in US products. "I believe this US-China discussion will go on for a while," Hinrichs said. With tariffs on vehicles exported to China now reaching 40 percent, there is no business case for exporting vehicles from the United States, he said. "China is a very important market for us," he said. "You're talking about two very powerful economies so we're going to have to plan accordingly." Hinrichs also said he hoped a breakthrough on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement could be achieved this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to keep Canada in the continental trade pact. "We need a three-way auto agreement," Hinrichs said, noting that the deal struck last month between the United States and Mexico could serve as a basis for a more complete agreement that includes Canada. "I'm worried a little bit that time will catch up with us," he said at a luncheon, noting that he has spent more time in Washington DC working on trade issues than ever before. US and Canadian negotiators have spent more than a month trying to resolve remaining differences after Washington sealed a tentative deal with Mexico City which they intend to sign by December 1, when a new government takes office. The auto industry is key to NAFTA and the free trade deal is critical to the North American supply chain. Hinrichs said that while "the language of US-Mexico trade agreement should work for Canada" in the auto sector, the remaining sticking points center on other topics like lumber, dairy and cultural issues. US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis speaks to reporters at the Pentagon Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday that the US military is adjusting tactics in Afghanistan as the Taliban continue to inflict heavy casualties on local forces. The Taliban are killing hundreds of Afghan army and police forces each month. The New York Times said the death toll is making it harder to recruit new soldiers. "So far, they have taken hard casualties over the last year," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon. "But they have continued to fight, and we are adjusting tactics. We're bringing more support in certain areas," he added, declining to go into further detail. In terms of overall violence -- impacting soldiers and the citizenry alike -- the Afghan conflict could overtake Syria as the deadliest conflict in the world this year, analysts say. The grim assessment suggests President Donald Trump's much-vaunted strategy for Afghanistan is -- like those of his predecessors -- failing to move the needle on the battlefield. Guns were used in three quarters of all murders in 2017, according to the FBI The United States saw a 0.2 percent fall in overall violent crime in 2017, returning to a long-term trend of decline after two years of increases, according to data published by the FBI on Monday. The bureau recorded almost 1.25 million cases of violent crime in 2017, which included nearly 18,000 homicides, or a murder rate of 5.3 for every 100,000 inhabitants in its report, "Crime in the United States, 2017." That represents a drop from 6.3 per 100,000 people in 1998, but is still higher than the 2014 level of 4.4, the report added. The information was reported to the FBI by more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. The leap in violence in 2015 was a result of a surge in seven major US cities: Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Washington. In comparison, Brazil saw 30 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016, Russia had 11, while France, Italy and Germany had one, according to World Bank figures. Guns were used in three quarters of all the murders, the FBI said. While violent crime fell overall, assaults rose one percent and rape rose from 2.5 to 3 percent, according to the updated definition used by the FBI. The report also showed there were 7.7 million property crimes (which includes burglaries, robberies, arson and so on), a drop of three percent compared to 2016. John Pfaff, a criminal justice professor at Fordham University, said it represented a "impressive decline," down 30 percent since 1998 and 40 percent since peaking in 1991. Property crimes resulted in estimated losses of $15.3 billion. 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 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said any summit with North Korea would be devoted to resolving a decades-old row over its abductions of Japanese civilians Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a longtime hardliner on North Korea, said Tuesday he was willing to meet Kim Jong Un after the once reclusive leader's historic summit with US President Donald Trump. Abe, who one year ago warned at the United Nations that the window for diplomacy with North Korea was closing, took a more open but still cautious tone in his latest address to the world body. But he said that any summit would be devoted to resolving a decades-old row over North Korea's abductions of Japanese civilians -- a deeply emotive issue for much of the Japanese public on which Abe built his political career. "In order to resolve the abduction issue, I am also ready to break the shell of mutual distrust with North Korea, get off to a new start and meet face to face with Chairman Kim Jong Un," Abe said in his UN address, while stressing that nothing was yet in the works. "But if we are to have one, then I am determined that it must contribute to the resolution of the abduction issue," he said. North Korea kidnapped scores of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train the regime's spies in Japanese language and culture. Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi traveled twice to Pyongyang to seek a new relationship with the current leader's father Kim Jong Il and was told by North Korea that remaining abduction victims were dead -- a stance adamantly rejected by Japanese family members and campaigners. Speculation has been rising that Abe could meet with Kim, who reportedly told Trump during their summit in June in Singapore that he was willing to talk to arch-enemy Japan. With South Korea's dovish President Moon Jae-in also courting Kim, fears have risen in Japan that it could be shut out of any ultimate resolution on North Korea if it refuses dialogue. Trump in his own UN address earlier Tuesday pointed to his "bold and new push for peace" and saluted Kim's courage. It was a far cry from a year ago, when Trump stunned assembled leaders by threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea and belittling "rocket man" Kim. Despite Trump's optimism, many analysts are skeptical on how much North Korea has changed, saying the regime has already conducted the tests it needed to build its nuclear and missile programs. Vietnam is home to just 80 elephants left in captivity and about 100 in the wild In a village in Vietnam's "elephant kingdom", a vendor holds up a severed, dried tail dotted with coarse hairs she promises will bring good luck -- a grim new trade that is endangering the country's few remaining elephants. "I'll cut a hair off right in front of you here, so you can be sure it's not fake," said the saleswoman in Tri A village in the country's forested central highlands. A fondness for rings and bracelets embedded with elephant hairs is fuelling a worrying fashion fad in a country notorious for its illicit wildlife trade, from rhino horns to pangolin scales, tiger teeth and bear bile. The fad leaves the animals without the crucial appendage used to swat flies and keep their backsides clean The trend is putting a strain on the few surviving elephants in Vietnam whose hairs are plucked or tails cut off by poachers, leaving the animals without the crucial appendage used to swat flies and keep their backsides clean. "The tail is very much a part of body hygiene, so by plucking the hairs out... or cutting the entire lower tail off, you're putting a handicap on your elephant," Dionne Slagter, Animal Welfare Manager at Animals Asia, told AFP. With just 80 elephants left in captivity and about 100 in the wild -- down from as many as 2,000 in 1990 -- Slagter suspects most of the tails are being smuggled in from neighbouring countries or as far afield as Africa. A fondness for rings and bracelets embedded with elephant hairs is fuelling a worrying fashion fad The appetite for elephant parts is a cruel trend familiar to much of the region. In nearby Myanmar elephants are killed to feed a growing demand at home and in China for their skin, believed to cure eczema or acne. Loss of habitat and poaching has also badly dented elephant numbers in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, where they were worshipped for centuries. In Vietnam too, the M'nong and Ede ethnic minorities in Dak Lak province -- dubbed the "elephant kingdom" for the large herds that once roamed its forests -- hold a deep spiritual reverence for the animals. Dak Lak province was dubbed the "elephant kingdom" for the large herds that once roamed its forests As legend goes, finding a tail hair by chance on the forest floor was considered good luck -- local lore that has been peddled in recent years by shop owners selling the strands, along with ivory jewellery and Buddha statues that can fetch up to $900. But actively cutting off tails or plucking hairs was never part of the tradition. "They loved and considered elephants part of their family so they wouldn't do anything to hurt them," according to Linh Nga Nie Kdam, a researcher on Ede culture. "They never sold their hair." All eight of the people Ji allegedly researched were naturalized American citizens who were born in Taiwan or China, according to authorities A Chinese national who came to the US on a student visa and later enlisted in the army reserves was arrested Tuesday in Chicago and accused of helping Beijing attempt to recruit American scientists and engineers. Ji Chaoqun was allegedly tasked with providing Chinese intelligence with biographical information about eight American citizens -- some of whom were US defense contractors. The 27-year-old, who first arrived in Chicago in 2013 to study electrical engineering on a student visa, was charged with one count of knowingly acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the US Attorney General. According to a court affidavit, Ji was working at the direction of a "high-level intelligence officer" in China's Ministry of State Security, which "handles civilian intelligence collection and is responsible for counter-intelligence and foreign intelligence, as well as political security." All eight of the people Ji allegedly researched were naturalized American citizens who were born in Taiwan or China, according to authorities. The targets either currently worked or were recently retired from a career in the science and technology industry. An affidavit filed in federal court by an FBI investigator specializing in espionage, claims among the people targeted was an engineer at one of "the world's top aircraft engine suppliers for both commercial and military aircraft." After one of Ji's handlers was arrested, he met with US undercover agents in April and May, and admitted to his work, which included collecting background checks, the affidavit said. He allegedly told the undercover agents: "They just wanted me to purchase some documents on their behalf. Their reason was just because it was inconvenient for them to make payments from China." Ji enlisted in the army reserves, according to the US Attorney's office, but failed to disclose his foreign contacts to the military. US forces near the village of Yalanli, on the western outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Manbij last year Six months after President Donald Trump said he wants US troops out of Syria, his top officials are hammering home what has become increasingly obvious: the US isn't going anywhere. Trump administration members say there can be no troop pull-out until the Islamic State is permanently defeated -- a subjective metric for a stubborn insurgency where the jihadists have shown tenacity in clinging to their last pockets of terrain. The US military has been involved in Syria since late 2014 and now has more than 2,000 troops in the country, mainly working to train and advise local Kurdish and Syrian Arab fighters. With broad gains on the battlefield and the defeat of IS looking inevitable, Trump in March said he wanted US troops out of Syria "very soon," later adding the mission would come to a "rapid end." But Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned that quitting Syria too fast would be a "strategic blunder" and James Jeffrey, the US special representative for Syria engagement, this month said the US was "not in a hurry" to leave the war-torn nation. "Getting rid of the 'caliphate' doesn't mean you then blindly say okay, we got rid of it, march out, and then wonder why the 'caliphate' comes back," Mattis told Pentagon reporters this week. "This is not a conventional war where you raise a flag over the enemy's capital and they sign a peace treaty. It's not that kind of an enemy." - 'Perpetual' war - Then on Monday, Trump's national security advisor John Bolton, a long-time Iran hawk, pushed the idea of a US withdrawal even further off, tying such an event to Iran's actions in Syria. "We're not going to leave (Syria) as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders," he told reporters. "That includes Iranian proxies and militias," he added. With war still raging in Afghanistan 17 years since the US-led invasion, and thousands of US troops stationed in Iraq after the US invaded in 2003, the prospect of a yet another open-ended engagement worries some. "US policy is now to stay in Syria as long as Iran stays, and Iran doesn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, and there is the chance for escalation, or accidents, involving Russian forces," Andrew Parasiliti of the RAND Corporation told AFP. On September 17, Syrian air defenses accidentally shot down a Russian military plane over the Mediterranean, killing all 15 crew members, as Israel was carrying out a raid on a Syrian army facility. Moscow has blamed Israel for the incident, saying its pilots used the Russian plane as "cover" while conducting the air strike. France on Monday warned that the Middle East risks endless war unless a peace agreement can be reached in Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and "those who support him have a responsibility to work for a political solution," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters at the United Nations. "If not, we risk heading toward a sort of perpetual war in the area," he said. Prayut Chan-O-Cha defended his 2014 coup saying he wanted to end corruption in Thai politics Thailand's junta leader has appointed the scion of a notorious political clan to run the country's money-spinning 'Sin City' of Pattaya, as he woos allies ahead of an anticipated run in next year's elections. With its beaches, myriad hotels and raucous nightlife, Pattaya is a lucrative tourist hub and the heart of Thailand's massive sex industry. Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who leads the ruling junta, booted out the current mayor of the free-wheeling resort and installed Sonthaya Khunpluem to the influential post, an announcement in the Royal Gazette said. Pattaya also serves as the administrative centre of the multi-billion-dollar Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), the country's biggest ever investment project. "It is necessary to have a high potential, experienced, and competent Pattaya city administrator in order to benefit and support the activities in the EEC," the Royal Gazette announcement said late Tuesday explaining the sudden personel change. Sonthaya is the frontman for an independent political party in Chonburi -- one of the three provinces covered by the EEC. The Khunpluems are led by patriarch Somchai, dubbed the "godfather of the East" of Thailand, a shadowy, powerful businessman with vast land and construction interests. He was jailed in 2013 for murder and corruption convictions after a decade on the run, but freed late last year by Prayut's government on health grounds. His family were formerly alligned to the Shinawatras -- the political dynasty who have won all Thai national elections since 2001 -- but whose party was toppled by a 2014 coup. Prayut toppled that Shinawatra-led civilian administration, accusing the family of graft and toxifying Thai politics with populist policies and crony-government. The promotion of a Khunpluem to the Pattaya mayoralty points to a "deal" between the clan and junta, according to Paul Chambers, an expert on Thai politics at Naresuan University. Pattaya is renowned for its lucrative tourism and sex industries It gives the ruling junta "political and economic power in eastern Thailand" in exchange for political support at the next election, Chambers told AFP. Prayut earlier this week stopped short of declaring a much-anticipated run in an upcoming election, slated for February. The junta has recently eased some restrictions on political activity after silencing all debate with the coup. On Wednesday the former lawmakers toppled Pheu Thai party met at their Bangkok headquarters in the largest opposition gathering in over four years. They met in front of banner vowing to "never surrender to dictatorship". The party hierarchy will choose a new leader in coming months to spearhead the election campaign. Yameen is accused of delaying freedom for high-profile political prisoners Outgoing Maldivian strongman Abdulla Yameen is delaying freeing high-profile political prisoners despite calls by his successor for their release, the opposition said Wednesday. Shortly after his shock defeat in the presidential election on Sunday, Yameen freed five prisoners. But scores of others -- including Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his estranged half-brother and former president -- remain incarcerated. "We expected president Gayoom to be freed on Monday. Courts brought up administrative issues and put off his release for Tuesday and yet nothing happened," a spokesman for his DRP party said. "We understand reliably that he (Yameen) is mounting pressure on the Correctional Services not to release the political prisoners," the spokesman added. There was no immediate comment from the government. The DRP spokesman said Yameen was unwilling to give up power without a fight and appeared determined to hold political prisoners till his presidential term ends on November 17. Yameen, who jailed or exiled most of his rivals during a turbulent five-year term, was unexpectedly beaten by opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Solih, who struggled to gain coverage from a media cowed by Yameen, immediately urged the ousted president to free all dissidents. Opposition lawmaker and former police chief Abdulla Riyaz and four others were released by the Criminal Court in the capital Male on Monday. They had been held indefinitely following an alleged plot to impeach Yameen in February that saw dozens detained. Gayoom, the country's longest-serving leader, was among several political prisoners brought to Male from their prison on the dreaded Maafushi island to lodge appeals against their sentences. But they were turned back. Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives for 30 years before its transition to democracy in 2008, was among those arrested during the February crackdown in the Indian Ocean nation. He was sentenced to 19 months in prison for obstructing an investigation into an alleged plot to oust Yameen. Yameen, suspecting a plot to impeach him, in February declared a state of emergency, arresting top judges and a host of others. The UN called the purge an "all-out assault on democracy". Gayoom also faces a separate charge of terrorism, along with Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed. That case is still pending. Solih had the backing of a unified opposition, including Gayoom's DRP. The president-elect garnered more than 58 percent of the popular vote in the archipelago nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims, a popular tourist haven known for its white-sand beaches and pristine waters. Yameen's rule dented its image as a honeymooners paradise and attracted alarm abroad. The US and EU had threatened financial sanctions unless the presidential poll was free and fair. Cardinal Joseph Zen, former Bishop of Hong Kong, has consistently spoken out against any agreement between the Catholic Church and China Hong Kong's firebrand Cardinal Joseph Zen warned Wednesday the Vatican would abandon official ties with Taiwan after sealing a historic accord with China. Zen, the former Bishop of Hong Kong, is well-known for his vocal opposition to political suppression and his support for democratic reform. He has consistently spoken out against any agreement between the Catholic Church and China, saying it would be a betrayal of the persecuted unofficial church on the mainland. Zen said the new deal, announced Saturday, indicates the Vatican is willing to break ties with Taiwan, its only ally in Europe. "The Holy See, the Vatican, is ready to abandon Taiwan," he told reporters at a press conference at the Salesian House of Studies, a training school for clergy, where Zen lives. "I'm afraid the people in Taiwan may not understand because it looks like a betrayal of a friend." Beijing demands any country that has relations with China must forfeit recognition of self-ruling Taiwan, which it sees as part of its territory to be reunified. Taiwan officials say the Vatican has assured them the agreement will not affect diplomatic ties as Beijing makes a concerted effort to poach their dwindling allies. Zen added the deal had also caused "spiritual suffering" in China's underground church. "They fear that the Holy See is betraying the faith and that they want them to join this betrayal," he said. The landmark accord centres on the appointment of bishops in China in what could pave the way for the normalisation of ties between the Catholic Church and the world's most populous country. China's roughly 12 million Catholics are divided between a state-run association whose clergy are chosen by the government and an unofficial church which swears allegiance to the pope. The Chinese Communist Party is officially atheist and religious groups are tightly controlled by the state. Churches have been destroyed in some Chinese regions in recent months, and there has been a clampdown on Bible sales. Crosses have been removed from church tops, printed religious materials and holy items confiscated, and church-run kindergartens closed. "In a situation of increased repression of religion, how can you think you have a good deal with them?" Zen asked. Soon after the deal was announced, Pope Francis recognised seven bishops who had been ordained in China without the Vatican's approval. The pope said Tuesday he would have the last word on naming bishops, but admitted members of the underground church would suffer because of the deal. Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic relations in 1951 and although ties had improved as China's Catholic population grows, they had remained at odds over the designation of bishops. Building collapses are common in India, where construction standards are low and there is a shortage of urban homes for a growing influx of city dwellers Five people were killed Wednesday when an apartment block collapsed in New Delhi, crushing residents beneath mountains of concrete, in the latest building accident to hit India. Rescuers combing the wreckage with sniffer dogs in Delhi's north pulled out at least a dozen people who were trapped beneath the rubble. "We can confirm the deaths of five people. Rescue teams at the site are still clearing the debris," local police official Sarat Chandra Nirmal told AFP. An AFP photographer at the scene saw the bodies of two children being pulled from the rubble. The block was located in a cramped, middle-class neighbourhood where many buildings share common walls. The Press Trust of India quoted an unnamed local official saying the building was 20-years-old and structurally unsound. Other local media reported the fourth floor of the block was illegally constructed. It is just the latest in a string of deadly building collapses in India. In July, a six-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of Delhi, killing nine. Last year, a wall collapsed onto guests celebrating a wedding in Rajasthan state, killing two dozen people. A massive influx of people to cities in search of jobs and a shortage of cheap housing has fuelled the construction of illegal buildings across India. Many are built with sub-standard materials. Millions also live in dilapidated old buildings, many of which are susceptible to collapse during rain. The government of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (C) was enraged by last month's massive protests A Bangladeshi university lecturer has been suspended and detained for making allegedly derogatory remarks on Facebook about the prime minister, his lawyer said Wednesday. A ruling-party activist filed a case against Maidul Islam under Bangladesh's notorious internet laws, which critics say are aimed at stifling dissent. The assistant sociology professor at Chittagong University posted the comments last month during massive protests over road safety that enraged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government. "He was sent to jail on Monday after he surrendered at a court in Chittagong," his lawyer Vulon Lal Bhowmik told AFP in the southeastern port city. On Tuesday he was suspended by the state-run university, the lawyer and an official of the school said. The arrest triggered protests by leftist groups who said they would organise a demonstration on Saturday. It came weeks after a top Bangladesh photographer and activist, Shahidul Alam, was arrested and denied bail over charges he made false and provocative comments during the protests in August. Alam had told Al Jazeera that the protests were the result of pent-up anger at corruption and an "unelected government... clinging on by brute force" that had looted banks and gagged the media. He is also being investigated for allegedly violating Bangladesh's internet laws, enacted in 2006 and sharpened in 2013 in the country of 165 million people. Alam -- whose work has appeared widely in Western media and who founded the renowned Pathshala South Asian Media Institute -- faces a maximum 14 years in jail if convicted, along with others detained during the protests. Bangladesh's parliament has since ratified a new digital security law, stipulating harsher punishment, despite widespread criticism by journalists and rights groups. Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said the law strikes a blow to freedom of speech, retaining the most problematic parts of the internet law and adding more provisions criminalising peaceful speech. In April, Bangladesh's most prestigious university suspended a professor for writing a column critical of Hasina's father and Bangladesh's first post-independence president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Morshed Hasan Khan was "suspended until further notice" from Dhaka University after he allegedly defamed Rahman, in an article published in a Bengali daily. Teachers have been punished in the past for stances critical of the former president. In August last year 13 high-school teachers were detained and remanded in custody ahead of a trial after being accused of sedition for remarks about him. Pope Francis has sought to improve relations with China since he took office in 2013, but previous attempts foundered over Beijing's insistence that the Vatican give up recognition of Taiwan Pope Francis called Wednesday for all Chinese Catholics to reconcile, while admitting that a historic deal with Beijing on nominating bishops may have caused "confusion". "I now invite all Chinese Catholics to work towards reconciliation," the pope wrote in a message to Roman Catholics in the world's most populous country. Saturday's deal has paved the way for rapprochement between the Vatican and the Communist country, despite the fears of some in the persecuted underground Church. "Some feel doubt and perplexity, while others sense themselves somehow abandoned by the Holy See," the pope wrote. "I am aware that this flurry of thoughts and opinions may have caused a certain confusion and prompted different reactions in the hearts of many." Shortly after the deal, Francis recognised seven clergy appointed by Beijing, which has not had ties with the Vatican since 1951. On Wednesday he called on the bishops to publicly reunite with the Vatican. "Regrettably, as we know, the recent history of the Catholic Church in China has been marked by deep and painful tensions, hurts and divisions, centred especially on the figure of the bishop," he wrote. "I ask them to express with concrete and visible gestures their restored unity with the Apostolic See." - 'Wounds of the past' - A poster of the pope in a church in China, where some there has been a recent clampdown on Catholic material There are an estimated 12 million Catholics in China, divided between a government-run association whose clergy are chosen by the Communist Party and the unofficial church which swears allegiance to the Vatican. Pope Francis has sought to improve relations with China since he took office in 2013, but previous attempts foundered over Beijing's insistence that the Vatican give up recognition of Taiwan and promise not to interfere in domestic religious issues. The Holy See is one of only 17 countries that recognise Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, instead of having diplomatic ties with Beijing. "I hope that a new phase can be opened in China, which helps to heal the wounds of the past," the pope wrote. The agreement's aim is "to reestablish and preserve the full and visible unity of the Catholic community in China." The deal was signed as churches have been destroyed in some Chinese regions in recent months, and there has been a clampdown on Bible sales. Crosses have been removed from church tops, printed religious materials and holy items confiscated, and church-run kindergartens closed. The Vatican cut ties with Beijing two years after the founding of the communist People's Republic. - 'Vatican ready to abandon Taiwan' - Cardinal Joseph Zen, former Bishop of Hong Kong, has consistently spoken out against any agreement between the Catholic Church and China Some have warned that China could use the accord to further crack down on Catholic faithful, and Hong Kong's firebrand Cardinal Joseph Zen warned on Wednesday that the Vatican would abandon official ties with Taiwan. Zen, the former Bishop of Hong Kong, is well-known for his vocal opposition to political suppression and his support for democratic reform. "The Holy See, the Vatican, is ready to abandon Taiwan," he told reporters in Hong Kong. Taiwan officials say the Vatican has assured them the agreement will not affect diplomatic ties as Beijing makes a concerted effort to poach their dwindling allies. Zen added the deal had also caused "spiritual suffering" in China's underground church. "They fear that the Holy See is betraying the faith and that they want them to join this betrayal," he said. The Chinese Communist Party is officially atheist and religious groups are tightly controlled by the state. Asked for more information about the agreement on Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry said it had "no future details" beyond what was set out in a statement on Saturday. "China is sincere about wanting to improve our relations with the Vatican and we have taken steps to achieve this," the ministry's spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing. "We will continue to maintain friendly dialogue with the Vatican to boost mutual understanding, lower mistrust and continue to move forward the improvement of our relations." Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Meqdad has said Russia's delivery of the advanced S-300 air defence system, pictured here in St. Petersburg in 2014, will force Israel to "think carefully" before carrying out any more strikes in the country A top Syrian official has said a new air defence system from ally Russia will force Israel to "think carefully" before carrying out any more air strikes in the country. Moscow announced on Monday it would deliver the advanced S-300 air defence system, a week after the Syrian military downed a Russian plane by mistake following an Israeli air strike. Russia has blamed the friendly fire on Israeli pilots using the larger Russian plane as "cover". Late Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Meqdad said Damascus welcomed the delivery of the advanced S-300 system promised to arrive within two weeks. It replaces Syria's existing Russian-built S-200 system, which dates back to the Soviet era, in a move that had been due to take place in 2013 but was held up by Russia at Israel's request. "I think that Israel, which is accustomed to carrying out many attacks under different pretexts, will have to think carefully about attacking Syria again," Meqdad said. In recent years, Israel has carried out repeated air strikes in war-torn Syria against Iranian targets and what is says are advanced arm deliveries to Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah are allies of President Bashar al-Assad in the seven-year civil war. "Let the Israelis try, we will defend ourselves as we always do," the state SANA news agency quoted Meqdad as saying. The downing of the Russian plane late Monday last week killed all 15 soldiers on board, after an Israeli plane targeted a military position in the northwestern province of Latakia. A Russian IL-20 plane similar to the one shot down on September 17 The accident was the deadliest friendly fire between Syria and Russia since Moscow's game-changing military intervention in the war in 2015. More than 360,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. Jewish worshippers perform prayers during the holiday of Sukkot (the Feast of the Tabernacles) at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on September 26, 2018 Tens of thousands of Jews gathered at Jerusalem's Western Wall on Wednesday for a special blessing that takes place twice a year at one of Judaism's holiest sites. The "priestly blessing" was part of the weeklong holiday of Sukkot, or Feast of the Tabernacles, which in antiquity was a time of pilgrimage. Thousands of male priests raised their hands and chanted the words of the blessing in the ceremony attended by those from the Cohanim priestly caste. The blessing involves the raising of hands in a form similar to the "Vulcan salute" Leonard Nimoy borrowed from Judaism for his "Star Trek" role as Mr Spock. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which oversees the holy site, estimated that 100,000 people attended two ceremonies in the morning. They included US ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who is a Jew and a member of the priestly caste. "It's my opportunity to bless the people of Israel," he told reporters ahead of the services. Friedman also used the opportunity to praise US President Donald Trump's "excellent" speech on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly. "I thought he laid out a very clear vision," he said. "It's consistent with what he's been saying since he's been the president about how he thinks the United States relates with the rest of the world." The blessing is part of daily prayers chanted in synagogues worldwide, but mass gatherings have been held since the early 1970s twice a year evoking the biblical dictum of pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem on certain holidays. The other gathering occurs during Passover. The Western Wall is a remnant of a supporting wall of the Second Temple complex, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Above it lies the plaza where the temple once stood and which now houses the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam. It is the holiest site to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Jews are allowed to visit but not pray at the Al-Aqsa compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem to avoid provoking tensions. Israel occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community. "Mr Trump both tries to decrease Iran's oil exports significantly and also wants prices not to go up. These two can't happen together," oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said US President Donald Trump is the "main culprit" to blame for a recent surge in oil prices, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Wednesday. "The main culprit of the price hikes... and the destabilisation of the market is Mr Trump and his disruptive and illegal policies," Zanganeh said on state television, after the US president hit out at OPEC accusing it of "ripping off the rest of the world". "Mr Trump both tries to decrease Iran's oil exports significantly and also wants prices not to go up. These two can't happen together," Zanganeh said, alluding to US sanctions on Iran's oil sales set to take effect in November. Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May, and his administration imposed a round of sanctions on the Islamic republic in August. Zanganeh said if Trump wants prices to ease then he has to "stop his unwarranted interference... in the Middle East and not prevent Iran's production and exports". "It's interesting that Mr Macron also explicitly pointed to this," Zanganeh said, referring to comments by French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters after addressing the UN General Assembly, Macron said Iran should be allowed to keep selling oil and called for dialogue as he rejected a US push to isolate the clerical regime. "It would be good for the price of oil for Iran to be able to sell it," the French leader said. "It's good for peace and it's good for the shape of the international price of oil." US President Donald Trump tells the UN Security Council that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants 'peace and prosperity' but sanctions are still needed to ensure denuclearization US President Donald Trump on Wednesday heaped praise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the United Nations but called for strict enforcement of sanctions for now. Chairing a special session of the UN Security Council on non-proliferation, Trump said to expect "very good news" in the coming months and years from North Korea after his landmark summit with the young strongman in Singapore in June. "Kim Jong Un, a man I have gotten to know and like, wants peace and prosperity for North Korea," Trump said. "Many things are happening behind the scenes away from the media which nobody knows, but they are happening nevertheless and they are happening in a very positive way." But Trump also called for the enforcement of sanctions, which the United States has spent years building through the Security Council in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests. "Unfortunately, to ensure this progress continues, we must enforce existing UN Security Council resolutions until denuclearization occurs," Trump said, reading form a prepared text. "However, we have detected that some nations are already violating these UN sanctions. This includes illegal ship-to-ship transfers which must end immediately," he said. "The safety of the Korean peninsula, the region and the world depends on full compliance." US First Lady Melania Trump said that Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt have worked alongside USAID in making progress towards overcoming development challenges US First Lady Melania Trump on Wednesday announced that she would visit Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt on her first major international solo trip to promote child welfare and education. Trump, 48, made the announcement at a reception welcoming spouses of visiting heads of state and other foreign delegations on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "October 1 will mark the first day of my solo visit to four beautiful and very different countries in Africa: Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt," she said. Trump said all those countries had worked alongside USAID in making progress towards overcoming some of their biggest challenges. "I am so proud of the work this administration is doing through USAID and others, and look forward to the opportunity to take the message of my 'Be Best' campaign to many of the countries and children throughout Africa," she added. The US first lady rolled out her signature awareness campaign to help children earlier this year. The mother of one and Slovenian-born former model has previously travelled alone to Canada and joined her husband on several foreign visits. Her trip to Africa will focus on good-deed projects. The US president has yet to travel to Africa since taking office, and sailed into controversy at the start of the year for allegedly disparaging "shithole" countries on the continent. Earlier on Wednesday, Donald Trump trailed his wife's announcement, saying "we both love Africa. Africa is so beautiful." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accepted an invitation from North Korea to return to Pyongyang in October 2018 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signaled Wednesday that he will return to North Korea next month to push forward denuclearization talks as President Donald Trump predicted breakthroughs soon. Pompeo met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session with his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, and agreed to pay his fourth trip to the longtime US arch-enemy. Pompeo accepted an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to return to Pyongyang in October to move ahead on efforts for "the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK," the State Department said, referring to the North by its official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Pompeo will also try to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim, whose meeting in June in Singapore was the first ever between leaders of the two states. Trump has hailed his initiative with North Korea as a signature foreign policy success and heaped praise on Kim. His speech came just one year after he mocked Kim as a "rocket man" at the United Nations and threatened a forceful military response. Critics question how much North Korea has actually changed. The regime, considered by human rights groups to be among the world's most repressive, has carried out six nuclear tests and says it has missiles that can hit the United States, although many analysts doubt its boasts. - A man 'I know and like' - "Kim Jong Un, a man I have gotten to know and like, wants peace and prosperity for North Korea," Trump told a special session of the UN Security Council on non-proliferation. Trump said to expect "very good news" in the coming months and years from North Korea. "Many things are happening behind the scenes away from the media which nobody knows, but they are happening nevertheless and they are happening in a very positive way," the president said. But Trump also called for the enforcement of sanctions, which the United States has spent years building through the Security Council in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests. "Unfortunately, to ensure this progress continues, we must enforce existing UN Security Council resolutions until denuclearization occurs," Trump said, reading from a prepared text. "However, we have detected that some nations are already violating these UN sanctions. This includes illegal ship-to-ship transfers which must end immediately," he said. "The safety of the Korean peninsula, the region and the world depends on full compliance." - Striking diplomatic shift - North Korea counts on China as its main economic and political backer. The startling diplomatic developments have largely pleased China as well as South Korea's dovish President Moon Jae-in, who earlier this month paid his latest visit to Pyongyang. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who rose to political prominence as a hardliner on North Korea, told the United Nations on Tuesday that he too was willing to meet Kim. But Abe said the focus of any summit would be to resolve the fate of Japanese civilians kidnapped by Pyongyang's spies in the 1970s and 1980s. Pompeo, in an interview broadcast Wednesday with CBS News, said he believed that North Korea would allow international inspectors to verify any commitments. "We're not going to buy a pig in a poke," he said. "We're going to get this right, we're going to deliver on this commitment that Chairman Kim has made to the world, and then there's going to be a brighter future for the North Korean people, and there'll be a more peaceful world." The diplomatic drive comes as Trump pursues a very different path on Iran, ramping up economic pressure and threatening tougher action after withdrawing from an international denuclearization agreement. The UN says nearly 37 million people worldwide are infected with HIV which, if left untreated, can lead to AIDS Scientists in the US said Wednesday they have discovered a way to suppress HIV in patients for months at a time using a twin dose of antibodies that could revolutionise how the disease is treated. Globally, a record number of people receive antiretroviral drugs to manage HIV, but they must follow strict medical regimes to stay healthy, typically taking pills every day for the rest of their lives. Now researchers say a combination of two proteins known to counteract the effects of HIV were able to suppress the virus in patients for up to 30 weeks at a time, providing hope that an alternative treatment to daily drug dosing may be on the horizon. "A safe, reliable, antibody-based treatment regimen would open new possibilities for people living with HIV," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US state of Maryland. "This represents an important, early step towards that goal." In twin studies published Wednesday in the journals Nature and Nature Medicine, researchers recruited 15 volunteers who had been treating their HIV with antiretroviral drugs. After stopping their medication, they received infusions of two antibodies found naturally in people whose bodies can control HIV without medication. The antibodies target proteins on the outside of the virus and use the patient's own immune system to combat infection. The proteins were administered in tandem to prevent the HIV developing immunity -- something that had hampered previous antibody-based studies. The trial patients received further infusions after three weeks, and again after six. Scientists found that the volunteers maintained "safe" suppressed levels of HIV for an average of 15 weeks -- and two patients managed as many as 30 weeks. "This has been tried in the past with antibodies that were far less potent and it did not work," Michel Nussenzweig, professor of molecular immunology at Rochester University, told AFP. "Our idea is to modify them to make them even longer lasting so that people can receive therapy a couple of times a year instead of pills every day." - 'Drugs holiday' - The UN says nearly 37 million people worldwide are infected with HIV which, if left untreated, can lead to AIDS. Advances in antiretroviral therapy (ART), which limits the virus but does not kill it, mean that more people than ever are able to live full lives despite being HIV-positive. But while ART works almost perfectly in the lab, in real life patients sometimes neglect to take their meds, or lose access to health coverage. When they don't keep up with their medication, the virus is uncontrolled, and the risk of passing it on to other people increases. Many ARTs also come with unpleasant side effects. Nancy Haigwood, from the Oregon Health and Science University which did not take part in the study, told AFP that the biggest potential benefit of the new treatment would be to provide HIV-positive patients a "drugs holiday" from ART. "Antibodies can be used as a safe, new treatment to allow people to go 'off' of drugs for several months," she said. Researchers say while the results of Wednesday's study are encouraging, more trials are needed to lengthen the amount of time the antibodies remain effective. Although AIDS-related deaths have fallen by roughly half in the last decade, UN data shows that 1.8 million people contracted HIV in 2017. The year saw 940,000 deaths from the virus. Iranian soldiers take cover beside a street at the scene of an attack on a military parade in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz on September 22, 2018 The Islamic State jihadist group on Wednesday threatened to carry out new attacks in Iran, days after it claimed a deadly shooting at a military parade in the country's southwest. Iran is "flimsier than a spider's web, and with God's help, what comes will be worse and more bitter", the group said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Iranian authorities have blamed "jihadist separatists" for the assault Saturday in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, which killed 24 people including a four-year-old child and other civilians. The attack targeted a parade in Khuzestan province, commemorating the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. The border region, home to a large ethnic Arab community, was a major battleground of the conflict and saw ethnic unrest in 2005 and 2011. Iranian officials initially blamed Arab separatists, who they claimed were behind previous unrest, for the attack, saying they were backed by Gulf Arab allies of the United States. This version was bolstered when a movement called "Ahwaz National Resistance", an Arab separatist group, claimed responsibility shortly after the assault. But the Islamic State group (IS) was also quick to claim responsibility and later posted a video of men it said were the attackers. In a three-minute audio recording released Wednesday, the Sunni jihadist group's spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir said Iran "had not recovered from the fearful shock, which God willing will not be the last". Shiite-dominated Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Monday linked the attackers to Iraq and Syria, where IS once had major strongholds. "This cowardly act was the work of those very individuals who are rescued by the Americans whenever they are in trouble in Iraq and Syria and who are funded by the Saudis and the (United) Arab Emirates," Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website. On June 7, 2017 in Tehran, 17 people were killed and dozens wounded in simultaneous attacks on the parliament and on the tomb of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini -- the first inside Iran claimed by IS. Appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh (L) on July 9, 2018, the day President Donald Trump announced his nomination for the Supreme Court US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh condemned as "ridiculous" Wednesday the latest allegation that he was involved in sexual abuse as a teen, saying he did not know the accuser. "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is and this never happened," he said in a statement issued by the White House. The statement came after Julie Swetnick released a sworn statement saying she witnessed abusive behavior by Kavanaugh at parties in the early 1980s. She also said she had been gang-raped at a party around 1982 that Kavanaugh attended. In a separate statement prepared for a crunch Senate Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Thursday, Kavanaugh again denied a previous allegation by California professor Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. "Over the past few days, other false and uncorroborated accusations have been aired," he said. "These are last minute smears, pure and simple." Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale classmate, has also accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her during a party in the 1980s. The three accusations raised fresh doubts over whether Kavanaugh's nomination to the high court will survive. The Washington federal appeals court judge, 53, had been expected to easily win confirmation until 10 days ago when Blasey Ford went public with her story. Blasey Ford was expected to testify on her allegations at Thursday's hearing, which will be televised live. Neither of the other two women have been invited to testify, leading to Democratic calls for a halt to the hearing while the women's accusations are thoroughly investigated. "Republicans need to immediately suspend the proceedings related to Judge Kavanaugh's nomination," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday after Swetnick's declaration was released. "I strongly believe Judge Kavanaugh should withdraw from consideration. If he will not, at the very least, the hearing and vote should be postponed while the FBI investigates all of these allegations." In his prepared statement, Kavanaugh admitted he drank alcohol as an under-age student, but never did anything like what he is accused of. "I was not perfect in those days, just as I am not perfect today. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now," he said. However, he added, "What I've been accused of is far more serious than juvenile misbehavior. I never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes." "The record of my life, from my days in grade school through the present day, shows that I have always promoted the equality and dignity of women." Mexico's Port of Veracruz, with vehicles assembled for shipment Mexico is prepared to advance a bilateral trade agreement with the United States that Canada could join within the next few weeks, a top Mexican negotiator for the North American Free Trade Agreement said Wednesday. Kenneth Smith Ramos said there had been "progress" on some key issues between the United States and Canada and that "we're simply hopeful that whatever gaps can be resolved in the next days, if not weeks." Ramos told AFP that Mexico was prepared to release the text of the agreement with the United States on Friday, the next step in advancing the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. "We don't know if there could be some last minute announcement this week between the US and Canada, but we are in any event preparing for the situation where we release the text bilaterally and that Canada may join over the next few weeks," he said. Mexico and the US announced a bilateral agreement on August 27, leaving Canada out of the rewrite of the 24-year-old deal that set up a regional trading zone. Mexico has consistently said it wishes for a trilateral agreement, an outcome that Ramos suggested was still likely. However, the country also aims to have the new deal signed by November 30 before Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office the following day. "It could take a little more time. We are hearing that there is progress on some of these key issues," he told AFP. "They're still working on some of these key core issues and some of these issues take time." Ottawa and Washington remain at odds over a handful of issues, including Canada's managed dairy sector, and the dispute resolution provisions in NAFTA. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, at a New York news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, says the US is isolated in its withdrawal from a 2015 accord that curbed Tehran's nuclear program Iranian President Hassan Rouhani predicted Wednesday that the United States would eventually rejoin an international nuclear deal, saying talks this week at the United Nations showed his counterpart Donald Trump's isolation. "The United States of America one day, sooner or later, will come back. This cannot be continued," Rouhani told a news conference. "We are not isolated; America is isolated," he said. Rouhani pointed to a session of the Security Council chaired by Trump earlier Wednesday, where the leaders of Britain and France backed the nuclear deal, as well as a statement by European powers who say they will find ways to continue business with Iran and evade impending sanctions. "We do hope with all the law-abiding and multilateral-oriented countries that we can ultimately put this behind us in an easier fashion than it was earlier anticipated," Rouhani said. The elected Iranian leader said that his government would stay in the 2015 agreement, under which Tehran sharply scaled back its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. "Until such time that we keep reaping the benefits of that agreement for our nation and people, we shall remain in the agreement," he said. "Should the situation change, we have other paths and other solutions that we can embark upon," he said. Rouhani downplayed the sharp words from the US administration, including a warning Tuesday by Trump's national security advisor, John Bolton, that Iran would have "hell to pay" if it crosses the United States. "During the past 40 years we have been subjected to that type of language many times," he said. "In this American administration, unfortunately, the language has been said to be somewhat unique and they speak with a different style, presumably because they are new to politics," he said. Moroccan authorities are investigating an "emerging phenomenon" that has seen smugglers switch from inflatable dinghies to "go-fast" speedboats Moroccan authorities are probing the phenomenon of people smugglers using high power speedboats, as favoured by drug traffickers, to transport migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe, a top official said Wednesday. On Tuesday, Morocco's navy opened fire on a "go-fast" speedboat off the coast of the North African nation, killing one person onboard and wounding three others. The authorities said they detained a Spanish citizen who was driving the boat. Khalid Zerouali, head of immigration and border surveillance at the interior ministry, told AFP that authorities were investigating an "emerging phenomenon" that has seen smugglers switch from inflatable dinghies. "These powerful motor boats were until now used for trafficking of drugs in the Mediterranean," Zerouali said. Zerouali said that footage posted on social media appeared to show traffickers offering to take people to Europe for free. He said the smugglers could be seeking to lure victims onto the boats to take them hostage or that drug-runners might need the passengers to add weight and stabilise their vessels. Morocco said this month it has foiled 54,000 bids so far in 2018 by illegal migrants to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. Zerouali said the authorities had dismantled 80 smuggling networks this year, including 23 in August alone. Patriot missiles seen during an exercise in Poland in 2015 The Pentagon is pulling Patriot missile systems from three countries in the Middle East as part of a "rebalance" away from the region, a US official said Wednesday. The move comes as the United States switches its focus towards countering Russia and China in an era of "great power competition." Speaking on condition of anonymity, the US official told AFP that the Pentagon is pulling a total of four Patriot missile systems from Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain. The missiles will be returned to the US "in the next month or two" for a refit and modernization, the official said, noting that the countries have access to other defensive capabilities so will not be left vulnerable. Patriots are designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and other airborne threats. The redeployment of the missiles, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is happening at a time of increased tension between the US and Iran, which President Donald Trump and his national security advisor John Bolton this week assailed at the United Nations. The official said the decision to pull the Patriots was made before current tensions with Tehran, which US officials say has large stockpiles of missiles that threaten neighbors. "This is part of a rebalance away from the Middle East, and that decision was made long before the current back and forth with Iran," the official said. When approached by Pentagon reporters, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declined to comment on the matter. Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich said that due to operational security "we're not going to discuss the movement of specific capabilities into and out of the US Central Command area of responsibility." President Hassan Rouhani defended Iran's military support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran was not seeking conflict with the United States in the Middle East and questioned why US forces remained in the region. President Donald Trump's administration has withdrawn from a nuclear deal with Iran, slapped back sanctions and vowed to roll back the Shiite power's role in the region including in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Attending the UN General Assembly, Rouhani defended Iran's military support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is a member of the minority Alawite sect, as a bulwark to defeat the Islamic State extremist group. "Our presence in Syria will continue for such time that the Syrian government requests our presence," Rouhani told a news conference. "We do not wish to go to war with American forces anywhere in the region. We do not wish to attack them; we do not wish to increase tensions. "But we ask the United States to adhere to laws and to respect national sovereignty of nations," he said. The Trump administration enjoys close relations with Iran's regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel and has warned Tehran that it is closely watching its actions. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, addressing a pressure group on Tuesday, vowed to act "swiftly and decisively" to any Iranian action that damages US interests in the region. Rouhani quipped: "When the secretary of state says we will be held to account, why have they gone to Iraq in the first place?" US President Donald Trump convened the UN Security Council meeting to discuss three of his favorite foreign policy topics -- Iran, North Korea and Syria US President Donald Trump proved a good apprentice of a different kind Wednesday, bringing to the UN Security Council good manners and sticking to protocol, with none of the "you're fired" swagger of his reality TV days. His debut outing as chair of the august world body, where the United States holds the monthly rotating presidency, had fanned anxiety he might indulge some of the made-for-television antics infamous on "The Apprentice" show. But in the end -- apart from a tardy arrival time -- the session passed off smoothly, even going so far as to disappoint one or two diplomats who might have secretly hoped for fireworks. Trump himself convened the meeting to discuss three of his favorite foreign policy topics -- Iran, North Korea and Syria. The time was set for 10:00 am. Except the minute hand came and went, and there was no US president in sight. In the solemn chamber, 14 leaders waited and waited and waited -- for more than 20 minutes around the vast polished table in the form of a horse shoe. French President Emmanuel Macron chatted to the likes of British Prime Minister Theresa May and European leaders against the backdrop of artist Per Krohg's mural symbolizing the promise of peace and individual freedom. They greeted UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who was called to attend as an observer. In the room were four presidents, of France, Poland, Equatorial Guinea and Bolivia, one vice president, from the Ivory Coast, two prime ministers (Britain and the Netherlands) and seven foreign ministers. Contrary to previous fears of trouble ahead, one diplomat present in the hall told AFP that there was "no particular tension." - Approving nod - Delayed by talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump finally arrived and the room fell silent. The president swiftly got down to business by announcing the agenda, bringing down the gavel and calling the meeting to order. While not strictly against the rules, Trump opted as host to go first rather than the more customary last, denouncing Iranian aggression, condemning Russia over Syria and accusing China of interfering in upcoming US elections. His UN ambassador Nikki Haley sitting right behind him, Trump brought down the gavel again and gave the floor to Macron. The French head of state's praise for North Korea aroused an approving nod from the 72-year-old American, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put the finishing touches to his own speech. One after another the world leaders followed suit, making their speeches with an implacable Trump in the chair. Russia, China, Bolivia -- all were politely thanked even if they took swipes at the United States, overtly or subtly. Before it ended, Trump slipped out, as did Macron, allowing Haley to slip back into the US hot seat to listen to Kazakhstan and Sweden. "In the end Trump was very well behaved," conceded one diplomat on condition of anonymity, almost disappointed that the meeting had gone smoothly without meltdown, hiccup or scandal. On Tuesday, Trump aroused laughter from world leaders for boasting in his address to the UN General Assembly that his administration had already achieved more than "almost" any other in history. Global dignitaries started to chuckle, Trump ad-libbed with a "so true" and the laughter grew. "They weren't laughing at me, they were laughing with me," the US president insisted at a news conference later on Wednesday. A school damaged in a 2017 air strike during fighting between the Saudi-backed government forces and the pro-Iranian Huthi rebels in the Yemen city of Taez. A Yemeni activist who was held and allegedly tortured for months by Huthi rebels this week criticised the UN-backed peace process for his country as "naive", warning against "humanising" his captors. Hisham Al-Omeisy, an outspoken activist, journalist and political commentator, was arrested in August 2017 after speaking out against restrictions and corruption in rebel-held areas of the war-ravaged country. Omeisy, who has also harshly criticised the actions of the Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the rebels since 2015, says the Huthis accused him of being an American and Saudi spy. "I was tortured in prison... They employed barbaric measures," he told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. He warned that UN officials trying to bring both sides to the table to hammer out a peace deal were being "played by the Huthis". Omeisy was finally released in January after an international campaign to secure his freedom. He lives in Cairo but says he still follows the situation at home. Yemen's war pits forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014. Some 10,000 people have died since the conflict escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition entered the conflict to support the government. - 'Overly simplistic' - A Shiite Huthi rebel fighter stands guard as supporters wave flags and shout slogans during a rally in Sanaa commemorating the fourth anniversary of their takeover of the Yemeni capital A Shiite Huthi rebel fighter stands guard as supporters wave flags and shout slogans during a rally in Sanaa commemorating the fourth anniversary of their takeover of the Yemeni capital Mediator Martin Griffiths tried earlier this month to organise the first negotiations between Yemen's warring sides in two years, but the Huthis failed to show up in Geneva. Omeisy said the rebels refusal to come should not have been a surprise, and questioned whether those trying to broker peace sufficiently understand the complexities of the conflict. "The process came off as very naive and overly simplistic," he said. A major mistake, he said, was trying to "humanise" the Huthis. Omeisy said he knew from his time in Huthi custody how brutal they were. "They would hang me from the wall, beat me up. I had cuts and bruises all over my body," he said, displaying scars on his wrists from metal cuffs and a stab-wound on the back of one hand. He also had pictures of big, red scars on his back and thigh. His interrogators demanded that he confess on video to being a spy, but Omeisy said he refused, pointing out that if he had given in, "I know I would have been executed". He said he was held alone in a tiny concrete cell with no light and no toilet, and was often denied food and water. "They dehumainise you," he said, adding that he knew of at least 16 journalists who were held in his block and was haunted by their screams. - 'Syria on steroids' - Yemenis dig graves last month for children who were killed when their bus was hit during a Saudi-led coalition air strike The UN insists there is no military solution to Yemen's conflict, but Omeisy insisted it would be preferable to go in quickly to retake the areas under Huthi control, instead of allowing the conflict to drag on. The impression on the ground, he said, is that "the international community, and especially the Saudis, are willing to fight this war to the last Yemeni". He described the Yemen conflict as Syria "on steroids". While Syria's war has been raging for more than seven years, he warned that Yemen's conflict could "drag on for 70". The UN process was "flawed", he said. "You need something beyond just good intentions. You need a solid strategy, and you need a solid implementation." Omeisy meanwhile said he strongly supported the work of a group of investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council a year ago to probe violations in Yemen. In a report presented to the council Wednesday, the investigators said there was reason to believe that all sides in Yemen's conflict had committed "war crimes". The council is due to determine this week if the probe can continue for another year, but Saudi Arabia and others are opposed to extending its mandate. The investigators "are independent" and enjoy "enormous credibility on the ground", Omeisy said, adding that it was "extraordinarily important that it continues its work". Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will brief the 15-member UN Security Council on how the US hopes to nail down its efforts to persuade North Korean to renounce its nuclear ambitions once and for all America's top diplomat will brief the UN Security Council Thursday on fast-moving North Korea denuclearization efforts while still seeking to convince world powers that it is too early to ease sanctions. Days before he is due to fly to Pyongyang to push ahead with what would have been an unimaginable project a year ago, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will portray his boss Donald Trump's unconventional diplomacy as the main reason for a dramatic turnaround. Trump and Pompeo are leading the US delegation at the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York, which has seen Washington sharply at odds with friends and foes alike on a raft of issues in the first two days. With Trump due to head back to Washington on Thursday, it will be left to Pompeo to brief the 15-member Security Council on how the US hopes to nail down its efforts to persuade Kim Jong Un's regime to renounce its nuclear ambitions once and for all. On Wednesday, Pompeo met on the sidelines of the General Assembly with his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, to discuss plans for his fourth trip to Pyongyang. He accepted an invitation from Kim to return to Pyongyang in October to move ahead on efforts for "the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK," the State Department said, referring to the North by its official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Pompeo will also try to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim, whose meeting in June in Singapore was the first ever between sitting leaders of the longtime enemy states. Trump has hailed his initiative with North Korea as a signature foreign policy success and heaped praise on Kim. Just one year earlier, he mocked Kim as a "rocket man" at the United Nations and threatened a forceful military response. Critics question how much North Korea has actually changed. - 'He likes me, I like him' - The regime, considered by human rights groups to be among the world's most repressive, has carried out six nuclear tests and says it has missiles that can hit the United States, although many analysts doubt its boasts. Trump announced Wednesday that Kim sent him a new, "extraordinary" letter and said he expected the second summit to take place "fairly quickly." "We have a very good relationship. He likes me, I like him," he later told a press conference in New York. "I really believe he wants to get it done. He wants to make a deal, I want to make a deal." Trump said that the United States would have been drawn into a war with North Korea if he had not been elected. "If I wasn't elected, you would have had a war," Trump said before adding that "nobody is talking about that" anymore. But Trump also called for the enforcement of sanctions, which the United States has spent years building through the Security Council in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests. He said the United States accused "some nations" of violating sanctions, including through illegal ship-to-ship transfer of oil to North Korean tankers at sea. Pompeo could well encounter some pushback at the Security Council from two permanent members, China and Russia, that are the home of businesses that have run afoul of the sanctions. - Mideast on agenda - In a Security Council meeting on Wednesday dedicated to non-proliferation, both countries locked horns with the US -- notably over its decision to pull out of an internationally brokered nuclear deal with Iran. The General Assembly is also expected to hear addresses from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmud Abbas, the veteran president of the Palestinian Authority who decided to cut off contacts with the Trump administration over its decision last year to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Trump said on Wednesday that he expected to unveil a peace plan by the end of the year to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But while he said he himself favored a two-state solution, he gave no details about what would be in the plan being drawn up by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, whom many Palestinians have denounced as being biased towards Israel. A file picture taken on September 21, 2018 shows Israeli soldiers taking aim at Palestinian protesters following a demonstration against the expropriation of Palestinian lands in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near Nablus in the occupied West Bank Clashes broke out overnight as hundreds of Israelis visited a religious site in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army and Palestinian sources said Thursday. Around 1,500 Jewish Israelis visited the Joseph's Tomb site near Nablus in the northern West Bank late Wednesday, protected by Israeli soldiers, the army said. "At the entrance of the city of Nablus a violent riot was instigated during which Palestinians hurled rocks and firebombs," a spokeswoman told AFP. She said the army had used "riot dispersal means" to break up the protest. More than 20 Palestinians were injured, including two journalists, a Palestinian medical source said. An Israeli army bulldozer caught fire after Palestinians apparently threw Molotov cocktails at it, videos published by local media showed. The army said no soldiers were injured. The tomb is holy to Jews but is deep inside the West Bank, territory that is supposed to form a key part of a future Palestinian state. It has been the scene of repeated clashes and was torched in October 2015 before being repaired later. The Israeli army regularly carries out raids inside Nablus and other Palestinian cities. Niger has faced recurring floods in recent years, including in the desert areas of the north Forty-two people have died in flooding in Niger since the start of the rainy season in June, most of them in northern desert areas, according to a UN report released Thursday. Nearly 205,000 people have been affected by the floods, which have destroyed 16,992 houses, said the report by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Some 31,130 head of cattle and 7,579 hectares of crops have been lost in the floods as of September 16, the report said. The UN's last assessment on August 28 reported 36 dead. The rainy season, which lasts up to three months, is almost over. The West African's country's capital Niamey was almost completely spared from the floods this year, which some residents put down to the construction of dams that spared thousands of residents from the worst of the River Niger bursting its banks. Last year, around 20 people died in the capital during the rainy season. MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Marijuana aficionados lined up at pharmacies across Uruguay on Wednesday to be among the first in the South American nation to legally buy pot as a law regulating its sale took full effect. Customers sniffed pungent green buds and grinned as they showed off blue-and-white envelopes containing the plant, which is now available as part a 2013 measure that made Uruguay the first nation to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. Santiago Pinatares, a 35-year-old construction worker, braved freezing temperatures in the capital, Montevideo, as he waited outside one of the 16 pharmacies authorized to sell marijuana. He said he has been smoking pot since age 14 but had no choice but to buy on the black market until now. Paula Mussio smells legal marijuana after buying it from a pharmacy in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) "To be able to buy it legally is a huge breakthrough," he told The Associated Press. "Uruguay is at the forefront of the world on this." Some customers declined to comment saying they didn't want their families or employers to know they were buying marijuana. Authorities say nearly 5,000 people have registered as consumers allowing them to buy up to 40 grams per month using fingerprint recognition. About two-thirds of them live in Montevideo. The price is set at the equivalent of $1.30 per gram, with 90 cents of that going to the two businesses chosen to cultivate marijuana. The rest is split between the pharmacies and the government, which will use its share to fund prevention programs. The marijuana comes in packages emblazoned with a seal of authenticity and warnings about the drug's effects. Uruguay became the first country to regulate a national marijuana marketplace in an effort to fight rising homicide and crime rates associated with drug trafficking. The law also lets licensed individuals grow marijuana plants and form clubs. The country's marijuana plan was widely applauded globally and seen as going beyond marijuana legislation in the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington, but polls showed that most Uruguayans opposed it. Most of the country's estimated 1,200 pharmacies also decided not to register to sell, stoking a debate over how the drug should be distributed. Experts attributed delays in the implementation of the pioneering plan to the fact that no other country had attempted such an ambitious endeavor. "There was a lot of hard work to finally come to this day," Drug czar Diego Olivera said. "It is a challenging and complex project, and today we have taken a step forward." People line up outside a pharmacy selling legal marijuana in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) Martin smokes legal marijuana he bought at a pharmacy in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) Luisina Mezquita opens a bag of marijuana and shows its content after she bought it legally at a pharmacy in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) Diego Zas shows two bags of legal marijuana he just bought at the Antartida drugstore in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) A pharmacy customer has his fingerprint read by a machine to identify himself as a consumer previously registered to buy legal marijuana in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) A pharmacy customer has his fingerprint read by a machine to identify himself as a consumer who previously registered to buy legal marijuana in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) A woman holds her bag of legal marijuana and "mate" herbal drink, outside the pharmacy where she bought the marijuana in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) A pharmacy employee registers the sale of two bags of legal marijuana for a customer in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) Paula Mussio lets a journalist smell her package of legal marijuana, after she bought it at the pharmacy in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) Luisina Mezquita shows a joint made of legal marijuana she just bought at a pharmacy in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) People line up outside a pharmacy selling legal marijuana in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) A man smoking marijuana waits outside a pharmacy to buy legal marijuana in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) Luisina Mezquita smokes a joint of legal marijuana she just bought at a pharmacy in Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Marijuana is going on sale at 16 pharmacies in Uruguay, the final step in applying a 2013 law that made the South American nation the first to legalize a pot market covering the entire chain from plants to purchase. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico) FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - At the end of the 1991 movie "Thelma & Louise," the two leading ladies - fugitives cornered by authorities in the Grand Canyon - decide against surrendering and instead drive off a cliff. One of cinema's most iconic endings wasn't filmed in the national park in Arizona, but not for lack of trying. "We didn't want to encourage people coming into the canyon doing what was done in the movie, so we declined it," said Maureen Oltrogge, a longtime spokeswoman for the national park who retired in 2014. Nevertheless, Oltrogge said at least two people took their own lives by driving over the rim of the Grand Canyon after the movie was released, thinking it was filmed there. The landscape in and around one of the world's seven natural wonders has a long history of stunts being staged - or turned down. An acrobat, a magician and overall daredevils are among those who have approached Grand Canyon National Park over the years with visions of a made-for-TV moment. The latest planned feat comes Tuesday, when actor Will Smith celebrates his 50th birthday by bungee jumping from a helicopter. While it's been billed as a leap "in the heart of the Grand Canyon," it actually will take place over a smaller gorge on the Navajo Nation, a tribe whose reservation borders the east rim of the national park. File - In this Dec. 13, 2017, file photo, Will Smith arrives at the U.S. premiere of "Bright" in Los Angeles. When Smith turns 50 on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, he will jump head-first into the big milestone. The "Fresh Prince" plans to bungee jump from a helicopter over a gorge just outside Grand Canyon National Park. His birthday activity is the latest in a vast history of outrageous stunts staged in and around one of the world's seven natural wonders. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) Getting permission to film or stage something in the Grand Canyon means meeting a lot of criteria. Among the outrageous proposals the park has declined was in the 1990s, when now-deceased artist Ron Nicolino collected thousands of bras that he wanted to string across the Grand Canyon. The park said no. Grand Canyon spokeswoman Kari Cobb said Smith did not approach the park for the bungee jump, but it wouldn't be allowed anyway. She said the park is responsible for protecting its assets. "It's everything relating to safety, impacts to visitors and impacts to the resources," she said. Oltrogge said other filming projects were turned down because of their size, the impact to tourism and because they didn't align with the park's educational values. The park also has rejected requests for ride-along criminal justice programs, and to launch jet engines from rim to rim. Todd Berger, author of "It Happened at Grand Canyon," says the earliest-known publicized stunt he can recall from his research of the Grand Canyon was an airplane landing near Plateau Point in the early 1920s. Ellsworth Kolb and a swashbuckling pilot took off from the plateau below the South Rim and "spiraled" up and out of the canyon in front of large crowds and cameras. The Grand Canyon is alluring for promotional purpose because it's "world-famous, spectacular and scary to most people," Berger said in an email. In 1999 and 2011, Robbie Knievel, the son of stunt performer Evel Knievel, and Swiss aviator Yves Rossy, respectively, approached Grand Canyon National Park with requests to jump part of the canyon and soar over it in a jet suit. After being rejected, both men went to the Hualapai Tribe, whose reservation stretches 100 miles (160 kilometers) along the Grand Canyon's west rim. The tribe agreed, and both successfully completed their feats. The Hualapai also allowed illusionist Criss Angel in 2010 to be shackled and locked inside a crate that was suspended over the edge of the Grand Canyon. The tribe is best-known for its Grand Canyon Skywalk, a horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that juts over the canyon overlooking the Colorado River. The tribe's Grand Canyon Resort Corp. said any event must be respectful of Hualapai culture and consistent with its brand. "Our Tribal Council would need to approve any proposal, and that's a high bar," CEO Colin McBeath said in a statement. "We want to protect the canyon and the businesses we have worked so hard to establish and grow." Robert Bravo Jr., a tribal member who has served as the corporation's chief executive and as a member of its board, said the stunts had been a way to showcase to the tribe to the world. Special permission for filming and photos also is needed. "They were necessary to really promote what we have and who we are," he said. "But now that we're on the map, it's not as much of a necessity." One request the Hualapai declined was when aerial artist Nik Wallenda wanted to walk a tightrope over the canyon in 2013. Bravo said it was too risky. "The canyon is very sacred and very spiritual to the Hualapai people, and God forbid something happen to him while he's out there," he said. Wallenda ended up getting permission from the Navajo Nation to walk a 2-inch-thick (5-centimeter-thick) steel cable 1,476 feet (450 meters) over the Little Colorado River gorge, just east of Grand Canyon National Park. The roughly 22-minute act was broadcast live on the Discovery Channel. That is where Smith will be making his big leap. Navajo Nation spokesman Mihio Manus said any stunt or filming project in the tribe's Little Colorado River park requires a special permit. Applicants outline their plans and fill out paperwork. If a department manager approves, they talk about the scope of the event and location. Environmental and wildlife officials also weigh in before a permit can be issued and a fee assessed. Manus declined to comment on Smith's jump. The "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" actor teamed up with charity website Omaze to make his bungee jump a fundraiser. The site launched a lottery for a fan to be chosen to witness the jump and meet Smith. Attempts to reach Smith were unsuccessful. ___ Tang reported from Phoenix. FILE - In this June 23, 2013, file photo, daredevil Nik Wallenda crosses a tightrope 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. When actor Will Smith turns 50 on Tuesday, he will jump head-first into the big milestone. The "Fresh Prince" plans to bungee jump from a helicopter over a gorge just outside Grand Canyon National Park. His birthday activity is the latest in a vast history of outrageous stunts staged in and around one of the world's seven natural wonders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) FILE - In this June 23, 2013, file photo, daredevil Nik Wallenda crosses a tightrope 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River Gorge, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. When actor Will Smith turns 50 on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, he will jump head-first into the big milestone. The "Fresh Prince" plans to bungee jump from a helicopter over a gorge just outside Grand Canyon National Park. His birthday activity is the latest in a vast history of outrageous stunts staged in and around one of the world's seven natural wonders. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) File - In this April 29, 1999, file photo, Robbie Knievel leaves his jump sight on the Hualapai Reservation in Ariz., after deciding not to make the Grand Canyon Death Jump due to high winds and cold weather. When actor Will Smith turns 50 on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, he will jump head-first into the big milestone. The "Fresh Prince" plans to bungee jump from a helicopter over a gorge just outside Grand Canyon National Park. His birthday activity is the latest in a vast history of outrageous stunts staged in and around one of the world's seven natural wonders. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch, File) CHICAGO (AP) - A defense expert in the trial of a white police officer charged with murder in the death of Laquan McDonald on Wednesday criticized the official autopsy results in testimony that seemed to contradict what video of the 2014 shooting shows. Forensic pathologist Shaku Teas testified that she believes at least 12 of the 16 shots fired by Officer Jason Van Dyke on Oct. 20, 2014, hit McDonald before the 17-year-old was on the ground. Prosecutors told the jury last week that the video shows McDonald hitting the ground less than two seconds after the first shot was fired. Twelve more seconds of gunfire then follows, they said. Under intense questioning by prosecutors, Teas seemed to contradict her own testimony, saying she had no opinion on whether five of the shots hit the teen before he fell. She then stated that she didn't know how many shots hit McDonald before he fell. Earlier, Teas had criticized the work of Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County's chief medical examiner, who testified last week that it was impossible to determine the exact order of McDonald's wounds. Teas said she believes a wound to McDonald's neck was the result of the first or second shot and was fired when he was still standing. Teas said she believes the fourth shot hit McDonald's right chest and "caused him to die rapidly." She said the wound was consistent with McDonald being turned toward the officer when at the time, and that the bullet inflicted such massive injuries that she believes that the teen was dead within five minutes. Squad car video shows Van Dyke opened fire as McDonald veered away from police with a small knife in his hand. Van Dyke's attorneys have argued that he was afraid for his life and acted according to his training. Prosecutors have stressed that no other officers who encountered McDonald opened fire. Prosecutors rested their case Thursday. Chicago Police Officers stand guard as protesters rally outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago during the Officer Jason Van Dyke murder trial, Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Later Monday, Van Dyke's attorneys turned to another key component of their strategy: McDonald himself. They called witnesses to testify about the teen's history of violent behavior. Miguel DeJsuus, who works at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, tols jurors of an incident in which McDonald told him he was on drugs before striking him. Joseph Plaud of the Cook County's Sheriff's Department testified about seeing McDonald "yelling, screaming, swearing" while he was in the juvenile court lock-up a little more than a year before the shooting. But both witnesses along with another man who worked in the lockup acknowledged that they never spoke to Van Dyke about McDonald before the shooting - admissions designed to tell the jury that Van Dyke knew nothing about the teen's past when he shot him. A big question remaining for the trial is whether Van Dyke will testify. He isn't obligated to testify, but he has the right to take the stand to give his version of what happened. Another question is which - if any - other officers at the scene the defense will call to testify. Prosecutors called several last week, but others, including two charged with trying to cover up what happened to protect Van Dyke, have not testified. Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke listens during the fourth day of his first degree murder trial for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. (Antonio Perez/ Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool) Chicago Police Officers stand guard as protesters rally outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago during the Officer Jason Van Dyke murder trial, Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Chicago Police Officers stand guard as protesters rally outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago during the Officer Jason Van Dyke murder trial, Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Chicago Police Officers stand guard as protesters rally outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago during the Officer Jason Van Dyke murder trial, Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Chicago Police Officers stand guard as protesters rally outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse during the Officer Jason Van Dyke murder trial, Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018. | Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Protesters rally outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago during the Officer Jason Van Dyke murder trial, Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Protesters rally outside the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago during the Officer Jason Van Dyke murder trial, Monday morning, Sept. 24, 2018. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) UNITED NATIONS (AP) - President Donald Trump raised hopes at the United Nations on Monday that a second meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un could occur "quite soon," striking a conciliatory tone one year after he used his debut at the U.N. to deride the autocrat as "Little Rocket Man" and threaten to "totally destroy North Korea" if the U.S. were forced to defend itself or allies. Trump praised Kim as "very open" and "terrific," despite the glacial pace of progress toward denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. officials defended Trump's strategy of engagement with the erstwhile pariah state as the president embarked on a week of meetings with world leaders. The softer tone toward North Korea - once threatened with "fire and fury" - has been replaced by rosy optimism, with Trump reserving tough rhetoric for another potential nuclear aspirant and strategic foe: Iran. "It was a different world," Trump said Monday of his one-time moniker for the North Korean leader. "That was a dangerous time. This is one year later, a much different time." Trump began his second visit to the U.N. with a brief meeting on the global drug trade before sitting down with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who delivered a personal message to Trump from Kim after their inter-Korean talks last week in Pyongyang. "You are the only person who can solve this problem," Moon said to Trump, relaying Kim's words. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In at the Lotte New York Palace hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Trump, for his part, said: "We are in no rush. We are in no hurry" to bring about a nuclear agreement. U.S. officials are insisting that economic sanctions remain in place against the North until it eliminates its nuclear program. Trump said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been tasked with bringing about the second summit, despite an assessment by U.S. officials that the North has not followed through on its commitments to take steps toward denuclearization. Pompeo defended Trump's decision to seek another meeting despite the slow progress. "We've been at this the other way an awfully long time and failed," he said, adding: "We tried to do details. We tried to do step for step. We tried to do trade for trade. Each of those failed." "We're bringing the two senior leaders, the individuals who can actually make the decisions that will move this process forward," in hopes they can make a breakthrough, he said. Trump said the location for the second summit is still to be determined, but officials have said the U.S. leader is holding out hope it could take place on American soil. Such a move would itself present a complex political and logistical challenge for the North Korean leader. His trip to Singapore in June for the inaugural summit was anything but trivial. Trump has often fondly invoked the Singapore summit, a made-for-TV event that attracted the world's media attention and largely received positive marks from cable pundits - reviews that were not repeated for his summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Helsinki the following month. Trump and Moon on Monday were signing a new version of the U.S.-South Korean trade agreement, marking one of Trump's first successes in his effort to renegotiate economic deals on more favorable terms for the U.S. Even so, some U.S. officials worry that South Korea's eagerness to restore relations with the North - known as its "sunshine policy" - could reduce sanctions pressure on Kim's government, hampering efforts to negotiate a nuclear accord. The nuclear threat also was on the agenda at Trump's first meeting in New York, a dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday night. Abe stands first among world leaders in cultivating a close relationship with the president through displays of flattery that he has used to advance his efforts to influence the unpredictable American leader. Trump is set to address the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday morning and will chair a meeting of the Security Council Wednesday on counter-proliferation. In both venues, U.S. officials say, he is expected to offer a contrast between the path of negotiation chosen by North Korea and that of Iran. Trump earlier this year bucked allies and removed the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, citing Iran's malign influence in the region and support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah. The next round of tough sanctions on Iran is set to go into effect in November. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is in New York to attend U.N. meetings. U.S. officials said Trump is not seeking a meeting with the Iranian leader, but is not opposed to talking if Iran requests a session. Rouhani, appearing on NBC on Monday, cited the threat of more U.S. sanctions in stating, "There is no such program for a meeting." In keeping with his "America First" pronouncements, Trump's return tour to the annual diplomatic summit was eclipsed before it began by domestic political crises. The fate of Trump's second Supreme Court nominee was cast into doubt over the weekend amid new allegations of sexual misconduct. Drama also swirled Monday around the status of his deputy attorney general. Rod Rosenstein was revealed last week to have floated the idea of secretly recording Trump last year and to have raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Rosenstein has denied the reports. Trump said he will meet with Rosenstein on Thursday upon his return to Washington. ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Miller at http://twitter.com/@zekejmiller President Donald Trump talks to Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, at the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, left, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, right, listen as President Donald Trump speaks during the "Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem" at the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stands with President Donald Trump before the start of the "Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem" at the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) President Donald Trump, center, talks with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, left, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley looks on during the "Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem" at the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, left, talks with President Donald Trump during the "Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem" at the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress is set to pass a crucial spending bill that averts a government shutdown, but there's one potential obstacle: President Donald Trump. Neither party wants the government to close ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, but Trump has made clear his frustration at the lack of additional money for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He says it is "ridiculous" the wall has yet to be fully funded. With less than a week before a Sept. 30 deadline for a partial shutdown, Republican leaders hope they can get Trump to set aside his frustration about the wall and sign legislation that funds the military and a host of civilian agencies for the next year. The bill also would provide a short-term fix to keep the government running through Dec. 7. The Senate easily approved the measure last week, with only seven senators voting no. The vote in the House is expected to be closer, with House conservatives voicing displeasure that money is included for Planned Parenthood but not the wall. Separate spending bills being considered in the House and Senate provide funding for the wall, and GOP leaders have said they prefer to resolve the issue after the Nov. 6 elections. "You want to stanch a blue wave" of Democrats in the midterms? asked Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. "Then keep your promises - and one of those promises is to build the wall." House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, in Washington. Behind him are House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., right. Ryan is rejecting President Donald Trump's assertion an official government death toll for last year's hurricane in Puerto Rico is wrong. The Wisconsin Republican says he has "no reason to dispute" a study that found nearly 3,000 people on the island died from Hurricane Maria last year. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Trump himself raised the possibility last week that he may not sign the measure unless wall funding is included. "Where is the money for border security and the wall in this ridiculous spending bill?" Trump said Thursday on Twitter. Republicans "must finally get tough" against Democrats he said are obstructing law enforcement and border security, he added. But it seems only Trump can stop the spending legislation from becoming law. Biggs and other conservatives admit they don't have the numbers to defeat the spending bill in the House, given that leaders from both parties support the legislation. "I expect it to pass. The votes are going to be there," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee who is among the best vote counters in the Capitol. "There's substantial support" for the bill in both parties, Cole said. He emphasized that the measure increases defense spending - including the largest pay raise for the military in nearly a decade - and boosts funding for a range of domestic programs, including a 5 percent increase for the National Institute of Health, a priority of both parties. "I think we're in pretty good shape," he said. Still, many conservatives are unhappy. "This bill funds things we said we wouldn't, like Planned Parenthood, but doesn't fund things we said we would, like the border security wall. That's unacceptable," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a leader of the conservative wing of the GOP who has made himself a candidate to lead House Republicans after the midterm elections. "Republicans need to actually do what we said," Jordan said. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., defended the bill, saying it fully funds the military while providing "historic" spending to fight the opioid epidemic, which takes the lives of more than 100 people in the U.S. every day. "These are top priorities for the country, and we are ready to get this bill into law soon," Ryan said last week. Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other GOP lawmakers met with Trump earlier this month to plot strategy and urge the president not to force a shutdown. Trump's stance has zigzagged. At times he has said he won't allow a shutdown before the midterm elections. At other times, he's mused that closing the government may be good for him politically. "If it happens, it happens. If it's about border security, I'm willing to do anything," Trump said during a meeting with top Republican lawmakers this month. McConnell insists there is "zero" chance of a shutdown and says a battle over the border wall should wait until after votes are cast in November. A bill being considered in the Senate allocates $1.6 billion for Trump's wall next year, far short of the $5 billion that Trump is seeking. A bill approved by a House committee includes $5 billion for physical barriers and associated technology along the U.S. southern border. Ryan, for his part, said GOP leaders "have a very good understanding with the president that we want to get our appropriations done. I'm confident our understanding will stick." House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., center, accompanied by Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., center left, walks to the House chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, in Washington, for vote on a stopgap spending bill. As a potentially catastrophic hurricane takes aim at the Carolinas, Congress is trying to head off a legislative disaster that could lead to a partial government shutdown weeks before the November elections. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) MOSCOW (AP) - Immediately after being released from jail at the end of a 30-day sentence, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained again on Monday and ordered to spend 20 more days behind bars. Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most visible opponent, has served numerous jail sentences for spearheading a series of unsanctioned protests across Russia. Just as he walked out of a detention center in Moscow for organizing an unauthorized rally earlier this year, a police officer took him away. The Simonovsky District Court later sentenced him to 20 days in custody on charges of staging another rally earlier this month that caused bodily harm to police officers and damaged a patrol vehicle. Navalny denied the allegation, saying that as he was serving the 30-day jail sentence he couldn't have organized the unsanctioned rally. Navalny's further detention comes amid a wave of popular discontent against an increase in the retirement age, an issue that angered Russians across the political spectrum. A drop in approval ratings for Putin and outrage at the changes in the pension system have weighed heavily on Kremlin candidates running in regional elections in Russian regions. Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny stands in a court room as he waits for a session in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. Navalny was released from jail on Monday at the end of a 30-day sentence for staging an unsanctioned protest - and then immediately detained again on staging another past protest. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov) Early results from runoff votes in Sunday's gubernatorial elections in two Russian regions see opposition candidates beating Kremlin incumbents. A week earlier, an opposition candidate for governor in the Far East mounted protests following widespread reports of vote-rigging in favor of the Kremlin candidate. Several days later, election authorities canceled the results of the elections and called a new vote. Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny stands in a court room as he waits for a session in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. Navalny was released from jail on Monday at the end of a 30-day sentence for staging an unsanctioned protest - and then immediately detained again on staging another past protest. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov) WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans mounted a combative, coordinated drive Monday to salvage Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination as they fought to keep a second woman's allegation of long-ago sexual misconduct from derailing his confirmation. President Donald Trump leapt to his defense, the Senate's top Republican accused Democrats of a "smear campaign" and an emotional Kavanaugh declared, "I'm not going anywhere." In the run-up to an appearance by Kavanaugh and his main accuser at a dramatic Senate hearing, the Republicans embraced their newly aggressive stance with his nomination dangling precariously. The similar tones and wording they used suggested a concerted effort to undermine the women's claims, portray an image of unity among GOP senators and press ahead to a confirmation vote. Trump called the accusations "totally political" and among "the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., angrily accused Democrats of slinging "all the mud they could manufacture." Unintimidated, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, retorted, "If you really believe they are a smear job, why don't you call for FBI investigation?" Schumer accused the Republicans of "a rush job to avoid the truth." Trump has made clear he won't order an FBI investigation of the allegations. And McConnell said that Thursday's Judiciary Committee hearing would proceed and that full Senate consideration would follow "in the near future," though he mentioned no date. In a letter to the committee, which plans the climactic hearing featuring Kavanaugh and his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, the nominee accused his opponents of launching "smears, pure and simple." Brett Kavanaugh, with his wife Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, answers questions during a FOX News interview, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Washington, about allegations of sexual misconduct against the Supreme Court nominee. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) In an unusual strategy for a Supreme Court nominee, Kavanaugh, 53, now a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, also sat for an interview along with his wife late Monday on the conservative-friendly Fox News Channel. Careful not to assail Ford but firm in his denial, he said, "I am not questioning and have not questioned that perhaps Dr. Ford at some point in her life was sexually assaulted by someone at some place, but what I know is I've never sexually assaulted anyone." "I'm not going to let false accusations drive us out of this process and we're looking for a fair process where I can be heard and defend my integrity, my lifelong record," he said in an excerpt released by Fox before the telecast. "My lifelong record of promoting dignity and equality for women starting with the women who knew me when I was 14 years old. I'm not going anywhere." On Sunday, The New Yorker magazine reported that Deborah Ramirez described a 1980s, alcohol-heavy Yale dormitory party at which she said Kavanaugh exposed himself, placed his penis in her face and caused her to touch it without her consent. Despite the forceful rhetoric by Kavanaugh and his GOP supporters, it remained unclear how three moderate Republicans - Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Arizona's Jeff Flake and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski - would react to the latest accusation. With the GOP's Senate control hanging on a razor-thin 51-49 margin, defections by any two Republican senators would seal his fate if all Democrats vote "no." Proceeding with Kavanaugh seems to give Republicans their best shot at filling the Supreme Court vacancy - and giving the court an increasingly conservative tilt - before November's elections, when GOP Senate control is in play. Even if Republicans lose their Senate majority, they could still have time to confirm a nominee in a post-election lame duck session, but the GOP has not indicated that is under consideration. Delaying Kavanaugh's confirmation could give time for doubts about him to take root or for any fresh accusations to emerge. Pushing forward with Kavanaugh has risks of its own, besides an embarrassing defeat for Trump and the GOP. His nomination and the claims of sexual misconduct dating from his teenage years have stirred up women and liberal voters whose antipathy to Republicans has already been heightened by Trump's policies and his own fraught history of alleged sexual transgressions. Dozens of people protesting Kavanaugh were arrested Monday outside Collins' Capitol Hill office. Many wore black "Be A Hero" shirts and chanted slogans including, "We will not be silenced." A week ago, Ford told the Washington Post that at a high school house party in the early 1980s, a drunk Kavanaugh forced her into a bedroom where he pinned her on a bed, tried removing her clothes and muffled her mouth to prevent screams before she escaped. With increasing intensity, Republicans have attacked the credibility of both women's accounts. They note that neither the accusers nor news organizations have found people willing to provide corroboration, even though Ford and Ramirez have both named people who they said were present at the alleged incidents. Ramirez, who told The New Yorker that she had been drinking at the time, was initially reluctant to speak publicly "partly because her memories contained gaps," the magazine said. After "six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney," she felt confident enough to go public, the report said. The Associated Press tried reaching Ramirez at her home in Boulder, Colorado. A sign posted on her front door indicated she would have no comment. White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway held a conference call with supporters Monday morning during which, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private call, she said there was a "vast left-wing conspiracy" to prevent Kavanaugh from winning confirmation. Also jumping into the fray was the attorney who represents porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal fight with Trump. Lawyer Michael Avenatti said he was representing a woman with information about high school-era parties attended by Kavanaugh and urged the Senate to investigate. Avenatti, who has said he's considering a 2020 Democratic presidential bid, told the AP that he will disclose his client's identity in the coming days and that she is prepared to testify before the committee, as well as provide names of corroborating witnesses. ___ AP reporters Mary Clare Jalonick, Catherine Lucey, Jonathan Lemire, Kevin Freking, Padmananda Rama and Matthew Daly contributed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., returns to his office after speaking on the Senate floor about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Brett Kavanaugh looks at his wife Ashley Estes Kavanaugh at the start of a FOX News interview with Martha MacCallum, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Washington, about allegations of sexual misconduct against the Supreme Court nominee. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Protesters march from the Supreme Court to Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. A second allegation of sexual misconduct has emerged against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, a development that has further imperiled his nomination to the Supreme Court, forced the White House and Senate Republicans onto the defensive and fueled calls from Democrats to postpone further action on his confirmation. President Donald Trump is so far standing by his nominee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Two Republican politicians will serve as temporary justices on the West Virginia Supreme Court after a group of judicial stand-ins on Monday rejected petitions challenging their appointments to replace two departed justices. The court turned back challenges by two lawyers to the appointments of U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins and ex-House speaker Tim Armstead. The court said "there is no clear right to the relief sought." The actions come as the state's high court has been roiled by impeachments and resignations. Democrats have called the impeachments of four justices an unprecedented power grab by the West Virginia GOP. One of the petitions heard Monday said the choice of Jenkins and Armstead violated "the clear will of the voters" who elected Democrats to their spots on the bench. Also on the November ballot is attorney William Schwartz, whose petition sought to stop Jenkins and Armstead from temporarily serving on the court. His petition asserted Jenkins was ineligible because he hasn't actively practiced law recently. The state constitution requires justices to be admitted to practice law for at least 10 years prior to their election. A second petition, filed by attorney Wayne King and heard by the court Monday, also challenged Jenkins' name on the Nov. 6 ballot on the same 10-year grounds. King lost a 2016 race for the Supreme Court seat won by Beth Walker and had sought the temporary seat given to Armstead. King did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Judge Paul Farrell, left at rostrum, presides over the Senate as senators are sworn in during a pre-trial impeachment conference for four impeached Supreme Court justices in the West Virginia State Senate chambers at the Capitol in Charleston, W,Va., Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018. Trial dates have not been set. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Jenkins and Schwartz are seeking to serve the remainder of retired Justice Robin Davis' term through 2024, while Armstead hopes to finish the term of retired Justice Menis Ketchum through 2020. Both Davis and Ketchum were elected as Democrats. Ketchum resigned before the Republican-led House voted to impeach the remaining four justices. Davis then resigned in time to trigger an election for the remainder of her term. Davis and three others await Senate impeachment trials next month: Allen Loughry, who is suspended, and Margaret Workman and Walker, who recused themselves from hearing these petitions. Temporary Chief Justice Paul T. Farrell then appointed circuit judges Russell Clawges, Timothy Sweeney, Charles Carl and Craig Tatterson to hear the challenges. According to Schwartz's petition, Jenkins voluntarily placed his West Virginia law license on inactive status in 2014 after he was elected to the U.S. House. But Jenkins said he's been admitted to practice law in the state for more than three decades. According to the bylaws of the State Bar, an inactive status means members are admitted to practice law but aren't taking clients or providing legal counseling. During Monday's hearing, Clawges questioned whether Jenkins should be punished for essentially becoming a congressman and not practicing law. "If you allow this to be political appointments and political favors ... and ignore the aspect of the job and the competence that's required, you're going to create absurd scenarios in the future," attorney Teresa Toriseva, representing Schwartz, told the court. Armstead said the challenge to his candidacy was "legally unfounded." He said he was an in-house counsel for a natural gas company from 2001 to 2016 and remains licensed to practice law. He did not serve with a law firm his last two years as House speaker. Noting Schwartz's candidacy for the same seat in November, Jenkins said the petitions "are simply an effort to cover up for the outrageous spending and misuse of taxpayer money we're all mad as heck about and to score political points for another candidate's own campaign simply trying to get his name in the news." The impeachment case targets spending on renovations to the justices' offices that raised questions about corruption, incompetence and neglect of duty. Schwartz's petition also argued that Armstead's vote in June on a House resolution to investigate all members of the Supreme Court for impeachable offenses helped create the court's vacancies. The state constitution bars existing delegates from being appointed to a state office that has been created. The temporary justices pointed out Monday that Armstead did not create the office itself. YAUHANNAH, S.C. (AP) - More than a week ago, pastor Willie Lowrimore and some of his congregants stacked sandbags around their South Carolina church to protect it from the fury of Hurricane Florence. They moved the pews to higher ground and watched anxiously for days as the nearly black, reeking water from the swollen Waccamaw River rose, even though the hurricane was long gone. Finally, before dawn Monday, the water seeped around and over the sandbags, flooding the sanctuary. "I'm going to go one day at a time," Lowrimore said as he sat in a rocking chair listening to the river rush by, ruining the church he built almost 20 years ago. "Put it in the Lord's hands. My hands aren't big enough." Ten days after Florence came ashore, the storm caused fresh chaos Monday in Yauhannah and elsewhere across South Carolina, where rivers kept rising and thousands more people were told to be ready to evacuate. Authorities urged up to 8,000 people in Georgetown County, on the South Carolina coast, to be prepared to flee from potential flood zones. A "record event" of up to 10 feet (3 meters) of flooding was expected to begin Tuesday near parts of the Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers, county spokeswoman Jackie Broach-Akers said. Places along the waterfront in Georgetown were predicted to flood for the first time since record keeping began before the American Revolution. Pastor Willie Lowrimore of The Fellowship With Jesus Ministries talks about the flooding of his church in Yauhannah, S.C., on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. The church is on the bank of the Waccamaw River which has already risen above its record crest and is expected to keep rising for several days, forcing thousands of evacuations in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. (AP Photo/Jeffrey S. Collins) "We are still getting phone calls from people who don't know what is going on," said Georgetown County Emergency Management Director Sam Hodge. In North Carolina, where Florence made landfall, Gov. Roy Cooper said the state was moving from an emergency response mode to full-time recovery from the storm. "Florence is gone, but the storm's devastation is still with us," Cooper said at a news conference. About 400 roads across the state remained closed due to the storm that has claimed at least 46 lives since slamming into the coast Sept. 14. But there was some good news: Interstate 95 was reopened to all traffic Sunday night for the first time since the floods, and Cooper announced Monday that a previously closed portion of Interstate 40 had reopened sooner than expected. Power outages and the number of people in shelters were also declining. Around 5,000 people were without power, down from a peak of about 800,000. About 2,200 people were in shelters, compared with a high of around 20,000, the governor said. On Monday, Republican education leaders in North Carolina announced planned legislation to assure teachers at still-shuttered schools they will get paid without using vacation time. The proposal was part of broader disaster funding that the General Assembly will consider in an anticipated special session. The full impact of Hurricane Florence on North Carolina's public high schools and grade schools was still unclear. North Carolina Public Schools spokesman Drew Elliot said the unofficial estimate was that 1.2 million of more than 1.5 million public school students in the state missed classes because of the storm. Officials sent a survey to schools to get a better sense of Florence's full effect and hope to have better data by the end of the week, Elliot said. In Washington, lawmakers considered almost $1.7 billion in new money for disaster relief and recovery, even as they face a deadline this week to fund the government before the Oct. 1 start of the new budget year. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said the money would be available as grants to states to help rebuild housing and public works and to assist businesses. GOP Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey called it "a first round" and said lawmakers were ready to act quickly if the federal disaster relief agency also needs more money. The economic research firm Moody's Analytics estimated that Florence has caused around $44 billion in damage and lost output, which would make it one of the 10 costliest U.S. hurricanes. The worst disaster, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, cost $192.2 billion in today's dollars. Last year's Hurricane Harvey cost $133.5 billion. ___ Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson and Alex Derosier in Raleigh; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; and Sarah Brumfield in Washington contributed to this report. ___ For the latest on Hurricane Florence, visit https://www.apnews.com/tag/Hurricanes Shawn Lowrimore, Pastor Willie Lowrimore of The Fellowship With Jesus Ministries', son, wades into water near the church in Yauhannah, S.C., on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. The church is on the bank of the Waccamaw River which has already risen above its record crest and is expected to keep rising for several days, forcing thousands of evacuations in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. (AP Photo/Jeffrey S. Collins) Barricades block a flooded road near Georgetown, S.C., on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. Officials in Georgetown County have asked for thousands of people to evacuate as the floodwaters from Hurricane Florence make their way to the ocean. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins) This Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, photo provided by the North Carolina Department of Transportation shows fish left on Interstate 40 in Pender County in eastern North Carolina after floodwaters receded. Thousands of coastal residents remained on edge Sunday, told they may need to leave their homes because rivers are still rising more than a week after Hurricane Florence slammed into the Carolinas. (Jeff Garrett/N.C. Department of Transportation via AP) David Covington jumps from a porch railing to his canoe along with Maura Walbourne and her sister Katie Walborne in Conway, S.C., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. The three paddled a canoe to Covington's home on Long Avenue on Sunday to find it flooded and the floor boards floating. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) Coastguardsmen and Conway Police help Denise Fulmer from her flooded Busbee Street home on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, where she would be relocated to a shelter at Conway Recreation Center. The Sherwood Drive area of Conway, S.C., began to look like a lake on Sunday as homes were submerged deeper than ever in flood waters that have already set historic records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) United States Coastguardsmen navigate an inflatable boat up Sherwood Drive in Conway, s.c., checking on residents on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) Kayaks are paddled up Long Avenue past flooded sections of the Sherwood Drive community of Conway, S.C., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 as homes were submerged deeper than ever in flood waters that have already set historic records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) Floyd Boyd is reflected in floodwaters as he measures the water in his car port and finds it inches from entering his home on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 in Conway, S.C. The Sherwood Drive area of Conway, S.C., began to look like a lake on Sunday as homes were submerged deeper than ever in flood waters that have already set historic records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) David Covington moves floating floor boards out of his path inside his flooded Conway, S.C. home on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. The Sherwood Drive area of Conway, S.C., began to look like a lake on Sunday as homes were submerged deeper than ever in flood waters that have already set historic records. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP) DOVER, Del. (AP) - A former Dover Air Force Base reservist who impregnated a 14-year-old girl has been sentenced to four years in prison on child rape charges. Thirty-four-year-old Staff. Sgt. Byron White received the minimum mandatory sentence Monday after pleading guilty in July to two counts of third-degree rape. White was the fourth Dover airman to face child sex abuse charges in the past year. An investigation began last December after someone complained on a Division of Family Services hotline. White was arrested at the military base in February on nine counts of third-degree rape and continuous sexual abuse of a child. Authorities said White had been in a sexual relationship with his victim since May 2017. PARIS (AP) - Humanitarian groups operating the sole private rescue ship near the deadly central Mediterranean human trafficking route have asked French authorities to allow 58 refugees to disembark in the southern port of Marseille. Medecins Sans Frontieres and SOS Mediterranee are also urging European countries to intervene in order to secure the vessel's future after Panama yanked the ship's registration. France's government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux tweeted on Monday that the solution will come from "cooperation with our European partners." "Humanity is to make the ship land in the closest and safest port," he wrote, reiterating France's position on the issue. Panama's maritime authority said it has begun procedures to remove the registration of Aquarius 2 after Italy complained that the ship's captain failed to follow orders to return rescued migrants to Libya. The charities described Panama's move as shameful. Francis Vallat, the head of SOS Mediterranee France, asked European countries on Monday to "find a solution, whichever it is. We can't stop, we don't want to stop. We will only yield to force and constraint." FILE - In a Aug. 15, 2018 file photo, the Aquarius rescue ship enters the harbor of Senglea, Malta. Spain's maritime rescue service said Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018 that it rescued more than 400 people from 15 small boats, most of them off the country's southern coast, while humanitarian groups lamented that the sole private rescue boat operating near the deadly central Mediterranean human trafficking route risked being put out of action by Italy's anti-migrant leaders. (AP Photo/Rene Rossignaud, File) "We never did anything which was not authorized by Italian authorities," Vallat said, adding that the Aquarius 2 rescued 58 refugees last week in two separate operations, including 17 women and 18 minors. Vallat added that the refugees come from Libya, Pakistan, Ivory Coast, Syria, Sudan, Algeria and Palestinian territories. According to Vallat, SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres' refusal to return migrants to Libya was in compliance with maritime law because Libya doesn't meet international standards for safe harbor. Malta and Italy refused to let the ship dock on their shores, and the charities made a formal request to France to welcome the ship in Marseille. Last month, the ship spent days in Marseille after Gibraltar maritime authorities took Aquarius 2 off its registry. The boat resumed its operation after acquiring a Panama flag. SOS Mediterranee said it has asked Panama to backtrack on its decision while urging the "international maritime community" to find another flag for the boat if needed. ___ Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report. NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (all times local): 15:23 p.m. President Donald Trump is declining to say whether he plans to fire his Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, but says he hopes a Thursday meeting will help him figure out "what's going on." The White House announced earlier Monday that Trump will meet with Rosenstein Thursday amid breathless and sometimes conflicting reports anticipating his imminent departure. Trump tells reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that, "We'll be determining what's going on. We want to have transparency, we want to have openness." But he's declining to say whether he still has confidence in Rosenstein following reports Rosenstein discussed possibly secretly recording the president and raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. FILE - In this July 13, 2018 file photo, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington. Rosenstein is expecting to be fired, heading to White House Monday morning.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Rosenstein is the top Justice Department official overseeing the Trump-Russia investigation. ____ 3 p.m. The House Judiciary Committee's top-ranking Democrat says President Donald Trump could add to a case of obstructing justice if he were to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Rep. Jerry Nadler did not specifically mention impeachment in a CNN interview on Monday. But Nadler also said he would not rule out any legal option were he to become Judiciary chairman if Democrats win a House majority in November. Nadler's statements come amid signs that Rosenstein's job could be in jeopardy after news reports that the deputy attorney general raised the possibility of secretly taping Trump and of invoking the 25th amendment to have Cabinet officers remove Trump from office. Rosenstein denies the reports. Rosenstein oversees the special counsel's Russia investigation. The White House says Trump and Rosenstein will meet Thursday. ___ 1 p.m. The White House says President Donald Trump and his embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein spoke on Monday and will meet Thursday at the White House amid uncertainty about Rosenstein's fate. Thursday is the same day that Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and a woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, are set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump and Rosenstein had "an extended conversation" Monday "to discuss the recent news stories" at Rosenstein's request. Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia election meddling, had been expecting to be fired Monday following after critical comments he made about Trump. Trump is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, so the two will meet Thursday "when the President returns to Washington, D.C." ___ Noon Former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe says that if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein leaves his post, it puts the special counsel's Russia investigation "at risk." The Associated Press has confirmed that Rosenstein is heading to the White House with the expectation that he will be fired. Rosenstein oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia election meddling and has been the probe's chief public defender. The development comes just days after reports that in the days after the firing of FBI Director James Comey, Rosenstein had raised the idea of secretly recording President Donald Trump and of invoking the 25th Amendment to have the Cabinet remove the president from office. McCabe says in a statement that he had "no role" in providing information of "any kind" for those news reports. ___ 10:50 a.m. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expecting to be fired Monday at the White House, after critical comments about President Donald Trump. That's according to a source familiar with his thinking who wasn't authorized to speak on the record and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. It follows reports Friday that Rosenstein floated the idea of secretly recording Trump last year and that he raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump as unfit for office. Rosenstein has denied the reports. ___ 10:40 a.m. President Donald Trump has not decided whether to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for reportedly questioning the president's fitness to serve. Trump told Geraldo Rivera in an interview aired Monday that he's looking at what, if anything, to do about Rosenstein's reported actions. The New York Times first reported that in 2017, Rosenstein had proposed secretly recording Trump and suggested his removal from office. Trump laid blame for the controversy at the feet of his attorney general. "He was hired by Jeff Sessions," Trump said in the interview, which was aired on "Fox & Friends." As for Rosenstein's future, Trump says, "We will make a determination. It's certainly a very sad story." Rosenstein issued a pair of denials, saying The Times report is inaccurate. MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The founders of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Bernie Sanders' home state are putting their ice cream expertise to work to support seven congressional candidates in the midterm elections who they call progressive. Vermont's Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, known for their clever marketing and quirky flavors, are working with political action committee MoveOn to create ice cream flavors that reflect the values of each of the candidates. They are seeking the public's help in naming the flavors. After picking winners, Cohen says he will make about 40 pints of each flavor by hand in his kitchen to be raffled off to support the candidates. "We need a Democratic majority to check President Trump's unrestrained power. And we also need to send progressive champions to Congress who will fix our healthcare system with Medicare for All, protect clean air and water, and get big money out of politics," the duo said in a press release on MoveOn.org. The candidates are Jess King in Pennsylvania, Lauren Underwood in Illinois, Aftab Pureval in Ohio, J.D. Scholten in Iowa, Ammar Campa Najjar in California, Stephany Rose Spaulding in Colorado and James Thompson in Kansas. The flavors will be announced on a rolling basis starting on Oct. 7 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, according to a consultant working with Cohen and Greenfield. People can sign up starting Oct. 1 to enter the raffle to win the limited edition pints. Winners will be announced Nov. 1 and the ice cream will be shipped by mid-November. Scholten's campaign in Iowa wasn't notified of the ice cream challenge. "It's fantastic," said Irene Lin, his campaign manager. "We're very, very grateful," she said, adding that supporters are having fun trying to come up with flavor names and ingredients. It's not the first time the ice cream makers have tried to sweeten a candidate's campaign. Cohen created "Bernie's Yearning" in 2016, during Sen. Sanders' run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. The ice creams are not associated with the company, Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. ___ This story has been corrected to show in the headline that it's Ben & Jerry's founders, not the company, who are creating the flavors. DETROIT (AP) - The Latest on a food service worker at a Detroit ballpark videotaped allegedly spitting on a pizza (all times local): 1:15 p.m. A food service worker at Comerica Park in Detroit has been arrested after a video was posted online allegedly showing him spitting on a pizza. Detroit police officer Dan Donakowski told The Associated Press on Monday that the 20-year-old was taken into custody Sunday, two days after security officials at the ballpark reported the incident. WXYZ-TV reports the video was visible on Instagram over the weekend. It shows someone spitting on a pizza intended for customers. WWJ-AM reports officials at the home of the Detroit Tigers determined the video was recorded Friday, when the team hosted the Kansas City Royals. Detroit Sportservice, which provides food service at the ballpark, said in a statement that it "immediately closed that food stand and disposed of all the product." Spokeswoman Maria Miller said Monday that the Wayne County prosecutor's office is reviewing possible charges against the man. ___ 11:15 a.m. A food service worker at Comerica Park in Detroit has been fired after a video was posted online allegedly showing him spitting on a pizza. WXYZ-TV reports the video was visible on Instagram over the weekend and shows an employee spitting on the pizza intended for customers. WWJ-AM reports officials at the home of the Detroit Tigers determined the video was recorded Friday, when the team hosted the Kansas City Royals. Detroit Sportservice, which provides food service at the ballpark, said in a statement that it "immediately closed that food stand and disposed of all the product." It says food safety is the "top priority" and that it will take any appropriate action to protect guests. Spokeswoman Maria Miller said Monday that the Wayne County prosecutor's office is reviewing possible charges against the man. ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Tax authorities say they have used surveillance drones in Greece for the first time to spot violations on Santorini, where tourists were allegedly being taken on boat tours of the island's sea-filled volcanic crater without getting receipts. Greece's Independent Authority for Public Revenue said Monday that the one-day operation last week involved surveillance of nine tour boats, and that the violations recorded in a follow-up inspection were worth 25,000 euros ($29,400) in lost revenue. In response to a request from The Associated Press, an authority official didn't provide further details. Tax authorities say they have increased inspections at holiday resorts over the summer this year. More than 27 million tourists visited Greece in 2017, up nearly 10 percent from the previous year, according to the Bank of Greece. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Gaza's Health Ministry says a Palestinian was killed and 10 others wounded by Israeli fire during a protest near the perimeter fence. Thousands of Palestinian protesters gathered Monday on a beach in northern Gaza near the frontier, burning tires and hurling rocks toward Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and live fire. Fishing boats waving Palestinian flags circled nearby. Hamas has led regular protests since March aimed in part at lifting a decade-old Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed when the Islamic militant group seized power in 2007. Israeli fire has killed 136 Palestinians during protests since March. A Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli soldier last month. ATLANTA (AP) - Former Vice President Joe Biden is putting off a campaign trip on behalf of Georgia governor hopeful Stacey Abrams. Biden had planned to come Thursday to Georgia. The Abrams campaign says he will reschedule for October. Abrams would be the first black female governor in U.S. history. Biden already has endorsed her. The campaign didn't cite a reason for the change, but it may help Biden and Abrams avoid competition for attention. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Thursday from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford on her allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when he was in high school. Separately, the White House says President Donald Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will meet Thursday amid indications that Rosenstein's job is in jeopardy. CHICAGO (AP) - A judge has vacated the convictions of 18 more men investigated by a corrupt Chicago police sergeant. Cook County State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx apologized to the men and shook their hands after the judge approved the exonerations Monday. A total of 42 convictions linked to then-Sgt. Ronald Watts have been tossed since 2016. Watts and his crew of tactical officers allegedly shook down drug suspects and framed some people if they didn't pay the officers. Authorities arrested Watt and another officer in 2012 after they shook down a drug courier who turned out to be an FBI informant. Watts received a 22-month sentence. One man cleared Monday, Martez Wise, spent four years in prison. He told reporters he's "happy" he can "move forward" with his life. TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A registered sex offender who was indicted this month in the slayings of two Arizona girls who disappeared and were later found dead years ago faced arraignment Monday on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a minor. Christopher Matthew Clements, 36, had been in a Phoenix jail for more than a year on burglary charges when the indictment in the case of the killings was issued earlier this month. Tucson police have not said how the girls died and what led to them investigate Clements in the killings of 6-year-old Isabel Celis and 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez - except that the FBI learned in 2017 that Clements might have information about Celis' death. Clements later provided information to authorities that led them to find the 6-year-old girl's remains, Police Chief Chris Magnus has said. Investigators later discovered more unspecified evidence. Isabel Celis went missing from her Tucson home in April 2012 and her body was discovered in what was described as a rural southern area in March 2017. Maribel Gonzalez never came home after going to visit a friend in June 2014. Her body was discovered a few days later near Tucson, not far from where Celis' remains were discovered three years later, according to authorities. FILE - This undated file photo released by the Tucson Police Department on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 shows Christopher Matthew Clements, 36. Clements, a registered sex offender will appear in a Tucson court for the first time to face charges in the deaths of two girls. Clements is scheduled for arraignment Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Pima County on multiple counts, including two of first-degree murder and kidnapping. The 36-year-old, already serving time in Phoenix for burglary charges, was indicted earlier this month on 21 counts. Tucson police have not said what led to them investigating Clements in the killings of 6-year-old Isabel Celis and 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez. (Tucson Police Department via AP, File) Clements does not yet have an attorney but is expected to be assigned one at the arraignment. According to a search warrant, Clements has criminal history dating back to when he was a teen. Investigators said he was arrested at age 15 and convicted of molesting a 4-year-old girl. WHAT'S HAPPENING? The Trump administration and China's government have imposed taxes on a big chunk of each side's products in an escalation of a trade war between the world's two biggest economies. On Monday, the Trump administration made good on its threat to apply 10 percent tariffs to 5,745 Chinese imports - from fire alarms to Christmas-tree lights - that are worth about $200 billion a year. Within hours, China retaliated by collecting taxes of 5 percent to 10 percent on 5,207 American goods, from honey to industrial chemicals, worth about $60 billion a year. China and the United States had earlier imposed 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of each other's goods. Combined, the tariffs now cover nearly half the goods and services China sells America and nearly 60 percent of what the United States sells China. Beijing has especially targeted U.S. soybeans in a shot at President Donald Trump's supporters in the U.S. farm belt. ___ WHAT'S NEXT? Trump has threatened to retaliate against China's latest retaliation by targeting an additional $267 billion in Chinese imports. This move would extend the Trump tariffs to just about everything China sells the U.S. Beijing is running out of U.S. imports to tax. But it can still find ways to inflict economic pain on American companies. China reportedly is forcing U.S. companies to undergo slower customs approvals and tougher inspections by environmental and other regulators. A former finance minister has called for China to clamp down on exports of goods that American companies rely on. ___ THE BACKDROP Behind the trade dispute are U.S. allegations that China uses predatory tactics in a relentless drive to overtake American technological dominance. These tactics, the U.S. charges, include cyber-theft of U.S. companies' trade secrets and a requirement that foreign companies hand over proprietary technology as the price of access to the Chinese market. Trump has also complained repeatedly about America's gaping trade deficit with China, which amounted to $336 billion last year. In May, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Vice Premier Liu He appeared to have reached a cease-fire built around China's promises to narrow the U.S. trade gap by buying many more American soybeans and liquefied natural gas. But Trump backed away after being criticized for being soft on China. The two countries haven't held high-level talks since June. ATLANTA (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence has rescheduled a stop in Georgia with Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp that was pushed back by Hurricane Florence. Meanwhile former vice president Joe Biden has postponed a stop with Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams set for Sept. 27 because of scheduling conflicts. Pence will headline a GOP "victory dinner" for Kemp on Oct. 11 in Atlanta. It will be Pence's second appearance of the campaign, after joining Kemp for a stop in Macon in July. The fundraiser had been scheduled for Sept. 13 but was moved because of concerns about the hurricane. Abrams' campaign says Biden's visit will be postponed until October. The VPs are acting as campaign surrogates for their respective presidents; former president Barack Obama endorsed Abrams in August after President Donald Trump endorsed Kemp in July. YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. (AP) - A race by U.S. tech companies to build a new generation of powerful "quantum computers" could get a $1.3 billion boost from Congress, fueled in part by lawmakers' fear of growing competition from China. Legislation passed earlier in September by the U.S. House of Representatives would create a 10-year federal program to accelerate research and development of the esoteric technology. As the bill moves to the Senate, where it also has bipartisan support, the White House showed its enthusiasm for the effort by holding a quantum summit Monday. Scientists hope government backing will help attract a broader group of engineers and entrepreneurs to their nascent field. The goal is to be less like the cloistered Manhattan Project physicists who developed the first atomic bombs and more like the wave of tinkerers and programmers who built thriving industries around the personal computer, the internet and smartphone apps. WHAT'S A QUANTUM COMPUTER? Describing the inner workings of a quantum computer isn't easy, even for top scholars. That's because the machines process information at the scale of elementary particles such as electrons and photons, where different laws of physics apply. "It's never going to be intuitive," said Seth Lloyd, a mechanical engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "At this microscopic level, things are weird. An electron can be here and there at the same time, at two places at once." This Feb. 27, 2018, photo shows a seven cubit quantum device is seen at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Describing the inner workings of a quantum computer isn't easy, even for top scholars. That's because the machines process information at the scale of elementary particles such as electrons and photons, where different laws of physics apply. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Conventional computers process information as a stream of bits, each of which can be either a zero or a one in the binary language of computing. But quantum bits, known as qubits, can register zero and one simultaneously. WHAT CAN IT DO? In theory, the special properties of qubits would allow a quantum computer to perform calculations at far higher speeds than current supercomputers. That makes them good tools for understanding what's happening in the realms of chemistry, material science or particle physics. That speed could aid in discovering new drugs, optimizing financial portfolios and finding better transportation routes or supply chains. It could also advance another fast-growing field, artificial intelligence, by accelerating a computer's ability to find patterns in large troves of images and other data. What worries intelligence agencies most about the technology's potential - and one reason for the heightened U.S. interest - is that a quantum computer could in several decades be powerful enough to break the codes of today's best cryptography. Today's early quantum computers, however, fall well short on that front. WHERE CAN YOU FIND ONE? While quantum computers don't really exist yet in a useful form, you can find some loudly chugging prototypes in a windowless lab about 40 miles north of New York City. Qubits made from superconducting materials sit in colder-than-outer-space refrigerators at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center. Take off the cylindrical casing from one of the machines and the inside looks like a chandelier of hanging gold cables - all of it designed to keep 20 fragile qubits in an isolated quantum state. "You need to keep it very cold to make sure the quantum bits only entangle with each other the way you program it, and not with the rest of the universe," said Scott Crowder, IBM's vice president of quantum computing. IBM is competing with Google and startups like Berkeley, California-based Rigetti Computing to get ever-more qubits onto their chips. Microsoft, Intel and a growing number of venture-backed startups are also making big investments. So are Chinese firms Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, which have close ties to the Chinese government. But qubits are temperamental, and early commercial claims mask the ongoing struggle to control them, either by bombarding them with microwave signals - as IBM and Google do - or with lasers. "It only works as long as you isolate it and don't look at it," said Chris Monroe, a University of Maryland physicist. "It's a grand engineering challenge." WHY DOES QUANTUM COMPUTING NEED FEDERAL SUPPORT? Monroe is among quantum leaders from academia and industry who gathered in Washington on Monday with officials from the White House science office. Some federal agencies, including the departments of defense and energy, already have longstanding quantum research efforts, but advocates are pushing for more coordination among those agencies and greater collaboration with the private sector. "The technology that underlies this area comes from some pretty weird stuff that we professors are used to at the university," said Monroe, who is also the founder of quantum startup IonQ, which floats individual atoms in a vacuum chamber and points lasers to control them. But he said corporate investment can be risky because of the technical challenges and the long wait for a commercial payoff. "The infrastructure required, the hardware, the personnel, is way too expensive for anyone to go in it alone," said Prineha Narang, a Harvard University assistant professor of computational materials science. By investing more in basic discovery and training - as the House-passed National Quantum Initiative Act would do - Narang said the U.S. could expand the ranks of scientists and engineers who build quantum computers and then find commercial applications for them. WHAT ARE THE INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS? The potential economic benefits have won bipartisan support for the initiative, which is estimated to cost about $1.3 billion in its first five years. Also pushing action on Capitol Hill is a belief that if the U.S. doesn't adopt a unified strategy, it could one day be overtaken by other countries. "China has publicly stated a national goal of surpassing the U.S. during the next decade," said Texas Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House science, space and technology committee, as he urged his colleagues on the House floor to support the bill to "preserve America's dominance in the scientific world." Smith said he expects the Senate will pass a companion bill before the end of the year. This Feb. 27, 2018, photo shows electronics for use in a quantum computer in the quantum computing lab at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Describing the inner workings of a quantum computer isn't easy, even for top scholars. That's because the machines process information at the scale of elementary particles such as electrons and photons, where different laws of physics apply. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) This Feb. 27, 2018, photo shows a quantum computer, encased in a refrigerator that keeps the temperature close to zero kelvin in the quantum computing lab at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Conventional computers process information as a stream of bits, each of which can be either a zero or a one in the binary language of computing. But quantum bits, known as qubits, can register zero and one simultaneously. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) This Feb. 27, 2018, photo shows wires used to communicate with a quantum processor are seen in the quantum computing lab at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Describing the inner workings of a quantum computer isn't easy, even for top scholars. That's because the machines process information at the scale of elementary particles such as electrons and photons, where different laws of physics apply. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) In this Feb. 27, 2018, photo a man works in the quantum computing lab at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Describing the inner workings of a quantum computer isn't easy, even for top scholars. That's because the machines process information at the scale of elementary particles such as electrons and photons, where different laws of physics apply. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) This Feb. 27, 2018, photo shows a quantum computer, encased in a refrigerator that keeps the temperature close to zero kelvin in the quantum computing lab at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Describing the inner workings of a quantum computer isn't easy, even for top scholars. That's because the machines process information at the scale of elementary particles such as electrons and photons, where different laws of physics apply. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) This Feb. 27, 2018, photo shows a seven cubit quantum device is seen at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Conventional computers process information as a stream of bits, each of which can be either a zero or a one in the binary language of computing. But quantum bits, known as qubits, can register zero and one simultaneously. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) SAN DIEGO (AP) - The opponent of California's Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter has released a TV ad aimed at conservative voters in the deeply red District 50 as the indicted congressman made his last court appearance before midterm elections. The narrator of the 30-second spot by Ammar Campa-Najjar's campaign that started airing Monday says the Democrat will put "country over party." It contends Hunter blamed his wife for spending donor money on family vacations and "drunken parties." The couple has pleaded not guilty to charges of misusing more than $250,000 in campaign funds. Hunter told Fox News in August his campaign made mistakes and his wife was his campaign manager. The couple appeared Monday before a judge, who set a status hearing for Dec. 3. Hunter's campaign did not respond to requests for comment. KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - Kansas' troubled child welfare system was beginning to make progress after months of issues when rape allegations were made public last week involving a teen in the state's custody. A 13-year-old was allegedly raped by a young man who was also in the state's care while at an Olathe child welfare office in May. The 18-year-old was charged with assault in the case earlier this month. Both were waiting to be placed in a foster home or facility, the Kansas City Star reported. The sexual assault occurred at the KVC Behavioral Healthcare, where children have been kept overnight because of a shortage of foster-care beds. Having children sleep in offices was one of several issues that led the Kansas Department for Children and Families to make changes, as well as missing runaways and high-profile deaths. "It's tragedies like that that folks have been deeply worried was going to happen," said Benet Magnuson, executive director of Kansas Appleseed, an advocacy group that serves vulnerable and excluded residents. "It's one of these moments: if this doesn't shake us and get us to take action at the deep level that's needed, I don't know what will." The state Department for Children and Families investigated the sexual assault and cited KVC Behavioral, one of the state's two private contractors to provide child welfare services. The lack of supervision at the office was unacceptable, said DCF Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel. "I think we all in the system feel disappointed this happened," she said. "But absolutely there are things going right. There is movement happening. It's good movement." Meier-Hummel said she's been working on a plan to cut down the number of kids staying in offices and to keep more families together. The system has added 150 residential beds in recent months, and another 50 beds are expected by the end of the year. Only five children have stayed overnight in KVC offices since May 18, Meier-Hummel said. The department is also focusing on placing more families with relatives. Meier-Hummel's staff has initiated an effort with Risk Removal Staffing Teams to evaluate neglect cases and identify resources in order to keep families together, when possible. "We're not leaving kids at risk," Meier-Hummel said. "We are talking about putting real services in place to help families." ___ Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com NEW YORK (AP) - Prosecutors want a judge to keep lawyers for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (wah-KEEN' ehl CHAH'-poh gooz-MAHN') from using President Donald Trump's negative comments about government cooperators to help defend the notorious Mexican drug lord. A recent filing by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn only refers to Trump as a "government official." But it cites his well-publicized comments that he might like to see what he called "flippers" outlawed because they lie to protect themselves. Several cooperators are expected to testify at Guzman's drug-trafficking trial later this year. The president made the remarks after the guilty plea by his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen has since sought to cooperate in the Russia investigation. There was no immediate response to a request for comment from defense lawyers on Monday. BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland's attorney general is delving into confidential records of the Roman Catholic Church as part of an investigation into child sex abuse allegations in the Baltimore archdiocese. In a Monday letter to Catholic clergy, Archbishop William Lori writes the archdiocese was informed by Attorney General Brian Frosh of "an investigation of records related to the sexual abuse of children." Unlike other U.S. states that have announced sweeping investigations into clergy sex abuse, Frosh's office will only say it doesn't confirm or deny the existence of any investigations. However, Frosh recently called for victims of abusers "associated with a school or place of worship" to come forward. Ryan Sattler, leader of the Catholic reformist group Call to Action Maryland, says it's time for the archdiocese "to be totally and painfully honest." FRANCONIA, N.H. (AP) - Authorities say a Connecticut man who spent the evening camping atop a waterfall fell 250 feet (76 meters) to his death in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says 23-year-old Zachariah Peterson, of Jewett City, Connecticut, was killed just before midnight Saturday. Authorities say Peterson and a friend were camping on Cannon Mountain, about a quarter mile along Tram Brook. Police say Peterson slipped and fell the entire length of the waterfall. Peterson's friend rushed down the trail and pulled Peterson from the brook. The friend was able to stop a car to call for help; emergency personnel arrived just after midnight. Police say alcohol may have been a factor in the fatal accident. The brook runs adjacent to the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tram. WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a Florida woman wrapped her small dog in a trash bag and left it to die in a trash bin behind an apartment complex. The Polk County Sheriff's Office says in a statement that 41-year-old Shawkimo Anderson was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated animal cruelty. Deputies responded to the Winter Haven complex after two people heard the Chihuahua and pulled it from the bin. The dog's microchip led deputies to Anderson, who initially told them she'd given Diamond away. The report says Anderson eventually acknowledged dumping the dog, which died shortly after being found. The woman told deputies she could no longer afford caring for the dog, which she had for four years. Anderson was released from jail on $1,000 bail. Jail records didn't list an attorney. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Women who visit inmates at Virginia prisons will be barred from wearing tampons or menstrual cups under a new policy stemming from concerns about contraband, the state Department of Corrections said Monday. A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections said the policy set to become effective next month is aimed at preventing contraband - including drugs -from being smuggled into prisons. "If someone chooses to visit a Virginia Department of Corrections inmate, he or she cannot have anything hidden inside a body cavity," spokeswoman Lisa Kinney wrote in an email. Kinney said that after the DOC consulted with the state Attorney General's Office, "it was decided that facilities would offer pads to women who are wearing tampons while visiting a prison so the tampons don't appear as possible contraband on a body scan." Inmate advocates sharply criticized the policy, saying it violates the privacy rights of female visitors. "That's such a violation," said Jana White, a co-founder of the Virginia Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth who makes regular visits to see an inmate at Sussex II State Prison in Waverly, Virginia. "I can't understand why we, the loved ones, have to go through this," said White. Kinney said that when potential contraband is seen on a body scan, visitors are offered the choice of a strip search or leaving the prison without visiting with an inmate. She said the new policy "aims to help visitors avoid that altogether." "Offenders in Virginia have died of drug overdoses while inside our prisons. It's our job to keep the offenders and staff as safe as we can," she wrote. In a Sept. 20 letter sent to visitors and inmates at the Nottoway Correctional Center, Warden David Call said the policy stems from concerns that the feminine hygiene products could be "an ideal way to conceal contraband." The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia urged DOC Chief Harold Clarke to reverse the policy. "A policy like this one that requires those who wish to visit people who are incarcerated to set aside their dignity and health is simply unacceptable," the ACLU said in a statement. In March 2017, the nation's largest private prison operator reached an agreement with two women in Tennessee who sued after they were ordered to remove tampons or sanitary pads to prove they were menstruating and not trying to smuggle in contraband. The woman sued Corrections Corp. of America, now named CoreCivic, and officers at South Central Correctional Facility, alleging that guards made them expose their genitals. The company had argued that it can require women to replace their tampons or pads if they reasonably suspect visitors are bringing in contraband. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - The Latest on a man charged with killing two Arizona girls who disappeared years ago (all times local): 2 p.m. A convicted sex offender has pleaded not guilty to killing two Arizona girls who went missing years ago. Christopher Matthew Clements entered the plea Monday afternoon during his first appearance in a Tucson courtroom following a 22-felony count indictment that includes charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual exploitation of a minor. Authorities say the 36-year-old led them to the remains last year of 6-year-old Isabel Celis, who went missing in April 2012. They also say he is accused of killing 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez, whose body was found in June 2014 three days she went missing. Media outlets report family members of both victims were present in court. FILE - In this April 25, 2012, file photo, Sergio Celis, wearing a shirt with a picture of his missing 6-year-old daughter, Isabel, gets a hug from a volunteer near their home in Tucson, Ariz. A registered sex offender will appear in a Tucson court for the first time to face charges in the deaths of two girls. Christopher Matthew Clements is scheduled for arraignment Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in Pima County on multiple counts, including two of first-degree murder and kidnapping. The 36-year-old, already serving time in Phoenix for burglary charges, was indicted earlier this month on 21 counts. Tucson police have not said what led to them investigating Clements in the killings of 6-year-old Isabel Celis and 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez. (A.E. Araiza/Arizona Daily Star via AP, File) Clements' lawyer Nikolas Forner did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. Clements is currently jailed in Phoenix on burglary charges. ___ 9:20 a.m. A convicted sex offender will appear in a Tucson court for the first time to face charges in the deaths of two girls. Christopher Matthew Clements is scheduled for arraignment Monday afternoon in Pima County on multiple counts, including two of first-degree murder and kidnapping. The 36-year-old, already serving time in Phoenix for burglary charges, was indicted earlier this month on 21 counts. Tucson police have not said what led to them investigating Clements in the killings of 6-year-old Isabel Celis and 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez. Celis went missing from her home in April 2012. Her body was discovered in March 2017 in a rural area. Gonzalez' body was discovered in June 2014. Clements does not yet have an attorney but is expected to be assigned one at the arraignment. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal appellate panel has overturned an order that the nation's largest public utility must unearth and remove a Tennessee power plant's coal ash. A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision Monday says the Clean Water Act does not address leaks from Tennessee Valley Authority's Gallatin plant coal ash ponds through groundwater into the Cumberland River. In dissent, Judge Eric Clay said the ruling lets polluters escape Clean Water Act liability by moving drainage pipes a few feet from riverbanks. DJ Gerken of the Southern Environmental Law Center said his group is determining next steps. The state has its own lawsuit over Gallatin's pollution. TVA spokesman William Scott Gureck said the ruling provides clarity. He said TVA will correct any impacts state regulators identify at TVA's Tennessee ash ponds. BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A federal appeals court has blocked a lower court ruling expanding the kinds of proof of identity that voters can use in North Dakota elections. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday stayed an injunction that would have required the state to accept forms of identification and supporting documents that included a current mailing address, such as a post office box, instead of requiring a current street address. Street addresses aren't always assigned on American Indian reservations, so members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa sued the state, alleging its ID requirements discriminated against Native Americans. A district court judge agreed in April. But a three-judge appeals panel backed the state, which objected because a voter's mailing address could be in a different precinct from their residence. DETROIT (AP) - A hearing has been scheduled in federal court on the status of an Albanian man seeking sanctuary from deportation in a Detroit church. U.S. District Court records show a Nov. 13 hearing on the government's request to dismiss Ded Rranxburgaj's petition to stop a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement order for removal after his legal status expired. Rranxburgaj has taken refuge since January at Central United Methodist Church. He came to the U.S. with his wife 17 years ago. He says he was granted temporary humanitarian status after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis more than a decade ago. His wife depends on his care. ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls has said that Rranxburgaj currently is considered a fugitive after not reporting to ICE as instructed. BOSTON (AP) - A Los Angeles man has pleaded not guilty to making a series of phone calls threatening to kill journalists at The Boston Globe. Robert Chain made his first appearance in Boston's federal court Monday. Chain was arrested last month in California and indicted by a federal grand jury last week. Prosecutors say Chain was upset because the Globe editorial board led a nationwide campaign condemning President Donald Trump's attacks on the press. WBUR reports that Assistant U.S. Attorney George Varghese said prosecutors are investigating whether Chain also made threats to The New York Times and the NFL. Chain's lawyer, former acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney William Weinreb, declined to comment. Chain was freed from custody last month after agreeing to pay $50,000 if he violates any terms of his release. GRASS LAKE, Mich. (AP) - Several garbage trucks participated in a funeral procession to honor a sanitation worker who was killed on the job in southern Michigan. Modern Waste Systems, Emmons Service Inc. and Phelps Towing Inc. were among the companies that paid tribute to 27-year-old Justin Pratt on Sunday, The Jackson Citizen Patriot reported . Pratt was struck by a vehicle while working from a Modern Waste refuse truck Sept. 18, according to the Columbia Township Police Department. Pratt was pinned between the two vehicles before he was taken to a hospital, where he later died, police said. Pratt had worked at Modern Waste for about 90 days, said company President Phil Duckham. "He was a good person, a good employee, good family guy," Duckham said. "He was well-liked. We all appreciated the fact he was a veteran. He used his military training to make himself a great employee really quick." Pratt served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years after graduating from Tecumseh High School in 2009. In this Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, photo the hearse carrying Justin Pratt proceeds past sanitation trucks during the funeral procession to honor the sanitation worker in Grass Lake, Mich. (Nikos Frazier/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP) Modern Waste Systems contributed about half of the 30 vehicles that participated in the procession, Duckham said. The companies want to raise awareness of roadside hazards and encourage state lawmakers to create roadside worker safety laws, he said. "We've got 85 people working right now for us at Modern Waste and we've been in business for 23 years," Duckham said. "This is the first time something like this has happened to us. We want to make it the last." The male driver and female passenger of the vehicle that struck Pratt were transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Alcohol and drugs don't appear to be a factor in the crash, police said. The driver said sunlight hindered his vision, police said. ___ Information from: Jackson Citizen Patriot, http://www.mlive.com/jackson In this Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, photo refuse trucks drive by Grass Lake Federated Church before the funeral service for the sanitation worker Justin Pratt in Grass Lake, Mich. (Nikos Frazier/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP) In this Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, photo refuse trucks drive by a row of American flags during the funeral procession for sanitation worker Justin Pratt in Grass Lake, Mich. (Nikos Frazier/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP) In this Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, Modern Waste employees stand as they watch the funeral for sanitation worker Justin Pratt in Grass Lake, Mich. (Nikos Frazier/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP) WASHINGTON (AP) - Engineers inspecting the wreckage of a Washington, D.C., public housing complex gutted by fire five days ago have found a 74-year-old tenant inside, alive and well. The Arthur Capper Senior Public Housing complex caught fire last Wednesday, and the flames eventually caused the building's roof to collapse. Firefighters, assisted by a group of Marines from a nearby barracks, combed the burning building to evacuate all tenants. The Washington Fire Department is examining how exactly the rescuers missed the 74-year-old man. Engineers assessing the building's structural integrity Monday heard the man shout and pried open his jammed apartment door to find him calmly sitting inside unharmed. The man appears to be uninjured and remains hospitalized for observation. NEW YORK (AP) - Ernst & Young has been slapped with a second sexual harassment complaint in less than year describing a culture of discrimination and lewd behavior toward women at the accounting firm. Karen Ward, a former partner with EY, says her supervisor routinely commented her breasts, suggested she should accompany him to strip clubs and texted her at 2 a.m. while on a work trip asking her to meet him for drinks. In a complaint filed Monday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Ward says she faced retaliation after complaining to senior executives, including one who warned her to "be careful." Ward was fired this month after five years with the company. EY, a U.K.-based company with 260,000 employees worldwide, calls Ward's claims "unfounded and baseless." BELOIT, Wis. (AP) - The Wisconsin museum that holds the record for the world's largest collection of angels is closing. Joyce Berg, who helped start The Angel Museum 20 years ago with her personal collection, says it is shutting down due to lack of funds, membership, corporate sponsors and volunteers. Berg and her late husband, Lowell, started collecting in 1976 and now hold the record for 13,165 angels. The museum also has 600 African-American angels donated by Oprah Winfrey. Berg estimates that at least 180,000 people have made it through the museum in Beloit, which was a former church. The last day is Saturday. The 87-year-old Berg says the closing is "bittersweet." She plans to keep some angels but has hired an auction company to sell most of them. She says she hopes the angels can stay together. In this Sept. 13, 2018, photo, Joyce Berg talks about her angel collection at The Angel Museum in Beloit, Wis. The museum's final day will be Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. Berg and her late husband hold a Guinness World Record, with more than 13,000 angels. Berg said they are closing after 20 years due to insufficient funds, membership, corporate sponsors and volunteers. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger) This Sept. 13, 2018, photo shows a sampling of angels at The Angel Museum in Beloit, Wis. The museum's final day will be Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. Berg and her late husband, who helped start the museum, hold a Guinness World Record, with more than 13,000 angels. Berg said they are closing after 20 years due to insufficient funds, membership, sponsors and volunteers. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger) In this Sept. 13, 2018, photo, Joyce Berg stands in The Angel Museum in Beloit, Wis. The museum's final day will be Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. Berg and her late husband hold a Guinness World Record, with more than 13,000 angels. Berg, one of the museum's founders, said they are closing after 20 years due to insufficient funds, membership, sponsors and volunteers. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger) WASHINGTON (AP) - On Thursday morning, a psychology professor from California will sit before lawmakers to accuse a Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault - while all of Washington, and much of the nation, watches it live. It's a high-stakes, high-drama moment with the power to sink Judge Brett Kavanaugh's chances of winning a seat on the high court and to shift the dynamic in the upcoming midterm elections. How will Kavanaugh and Ford prepare for the make-or-break event? Here's a look at what it takes to get ready for a public grilling. REHEARSAL SESSIONS First, they will practice. Both Kavanaugh and Ford have undoubtedly spent time with lawyers and other experts in the art of mounting a strong public defense. These sessions can be nasty, merciless and rough - often called murder boards. They're designed to squeeze frustration or even anger out of a nominee before the public hearing. Better that it come out in private than in front of the cameras, the thinking goes. Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor all underwent this grilling before their confirmation hearings. So do presidential candidates ahead of televised debates. Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, for example, played Democrats Al Gore and Barack Obama in mock debates with George W. Bush and Mitt Romney to help the Republicans withstand anything that might throw them off-stride. FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh listens to a question while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) Kavanaugh spent hours at a time in the White House complex last week preparing for the upcoming hearing. He was joined by a team of officials including White House counsel Don McGahn and members of his staff, officials from the Justice Department, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, deputy press secretary Raj Shah and communications director Bill Shine. Shine's presence was noteworthy, since he was ousted from his previous job at Fox News in part due to his handling of sexual harassment claims at the company. ___ TEST THE MESSAGE Kavanaugh had a dry run of sorts with his Monday night interview with Martha MacCallum of Fox News Channel. With wife Ashley at his side, the appellate court judge denied at least six times ever sexually assaulting anyone. He said 15 times that he wants a "fair" hearing. He refused to speculate on Ford's motives for making such an accusation. He volunteered that he was a virgin throughout high school and for years afterward. Kavanaugh, 53, even seemed emotional - not necessarily a bad thing, according to Josh Kroon, a Washington-based expert in crisis communications for the firm Levick International. "I think it played well for the people at home," Kroon said of the glimmer of Kavanaugh's frustration. "I think he's going to have to expand on the language. He has to get away from 'fair process' and 'I didn't do it.'" Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to President George W. Bush, said, "The challenge for Brett will be conveying the expected emotion that would come with a full-throated denial. His nature is to be quiet, buttoned-down and studious, and if I'm accused of something I didn't do, I get a little hot, I get a little emotional." Dan Pfeiffer, former aide to President Barack Obama, suggested that Kavanaugh came across as insincere and the product of elite society. "He seemed entitled," Pfeiffer said. "He left a lot of additional ground for the Senate to cover on Thursday." After the interview aired, the sense in the West Wing was relief that Kavanaugh was able to present an image to counter the allegations. Yet there remained concern among aides, and Trump himself, as to how Kavanaugh, who appeared shaken at times during the interview, would hold up facing far fiercer questioning from Senate Democrats on Thursday, according to a White House official not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. As for Ford, 51, she and her team have said nothing about how she's preparing for the hot lights to which she is even less accustomed than Kavanaugh. She works as a psychology professor in a consortium between Stanford and Palo Alto University. ___ PREPPING THE QUESTIONS Senators and their staffs are preparing, too, for a hearing that they may see as unavoidable. Ahead of the hearing, they're honing strategies, questions and follow-ups, all while laboring to avoid an election-year spectacle like the 1991 confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas with his accuser, Anita Hill. This time, the all-male Republican members of the Judiciary Committee are hiring an outside female counsel to, in effect, cross-examine Ford. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale University, said Thursday's hearing is unprecedented. "This is different from all others," he said. "We don't have a press for comity the way we did for Anita Hill, with a lot of senators trying to avoid a partisan mud-throwing situation. Here, we're almost already there." Fleischer said there is pressure on Republican senators to not appear too harsh when they interview Ford, but he said there's also pressure on Democratic senators interviewing Kavanaugh. "If they come off looking like they have their fingers in Brett's chest, lecturing him ... they risk riling up half the nation," Fleischer said. ___ Bauder reported from New York. Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire, Juliet Linderman and Eric Tucker and researcher Jennifer Farrar contributed to this report. ___ For more coverage of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, visit https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost says she hopes she can inspire other women to sign up with the agency, which has just one female agent for every 20 men. Provost tells The Associated Press in an interview, "If you're a woman in law enforcement, I don't care where you're at, you're a minority." Provost joined the agency in 1995 and became its acting chief in April 2017. She took over last month as the first female chief in its 94-year history. The Border Patrol and its 19,000 agents have been under a constant spotlight and faced sharp criticism for its policies. Curbing immigration remains at the top of President Donald Trump's priorities, and the administration plans to add 5,000 Border Patrol agents. WASHINGTON (AP) - A conservative judge's nomination to the Supreme Court is suddenly jeopardized by graphic allegations of a sexual nature. A Republican president says his nominee has been smeared but vows he will prevail. The accuser and the accused face off in a dramatic showdown on Capitol Hill. There are clear echoes of Anita Hill's accusations against Clarence Thomas in 1991, as the Senate Judiciary Committee plans a pivotal hearing Thursday at which both Brett Kavanaugh and his chief accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, are due to testify separately. The cases are different: Ford alleges Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were high schoolers, while Hill alleged Thomas made unwanted sexual advances and lewd remarks while he was her employer. Yet, there are more parallels. Like Kavanaugh, Thomas denied he had acted inappropriately. In both cases, the allegations became public only after the nominees had gone through their initial confirmation hearings. Both accusers initially sought to stay anonymous but later changed their minds. The Thomas-Hill hearings riveted Americans, and the same is expected for Thursday's Kavanaugh-Ford hearing. Here is AP's story from the day of Hill's testimony on October 11, 1991. FILE - In this Oct. 11, 1991 file photo University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington. Hill testified that she was "embarrassed and humiliated" by unwanted, sexually explicit comments made by Thomas when she worked for him a decade ago. The Thomas-Hill hearings riveted Americans, and the same is expected for the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo, File) ______________ Hill Accuses Thomas in Vivid Detail; He Denies Wrongdoing By JAMES ROWLEY, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Anita F. Hill testified in graphic, lurid detail Friday of the sexual harassment she says she suffered from Clarence Thomas, who swore it wasn't true. Thomas told investigating senators that not even a seat on the Supreme Court was worth the prying he's faced into his personal life. Thomas said he would answer questions about the harassment allegation but nothing else because "I will not provide the rope for my own lynching." At an extraordinary hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thomas testified under oath that "I cannot imagine anything that I said or did to Anita Hill that could have been mistaken for sexual harassment." Nor, Thomas said, did he ever ask her for a date. Then, after a bitter argument between committee Democrats and Republicans about what could and could not be asked of Thomas in his leadoff testimony, the nominee left and Hill was dramatically summoned. After the accused and the accuser traded places, she recounted a series of episodes in which she said Thomas asked her for dates, bragged of his sexual prowess and told her - in the face of her obvious discomfort and objections - of X-rated movies of women engaging in sex acts with animals. "I felt that implicit in the discussion about sex acts was the offer to have sex with him," Hill testified. Her words and his were flatly contradictory; there was no room for suggestion that one or the other had misinterpreted an innocent remark. Early on, after Thomas completed his opening statement, a heated exchange broke out over how he might be questioned. Before that sequence was settled, an enraged Republican senator threatened to quit the committee when Democrats tried to prevent GOP members from using Hill's statement to the FBI in their questioning. Her statements to FBI agents were made during a secret, two-day inquiry last month. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., the chairman, ruled the statement out of bounds until she could testify, saying, "Professor Hill says that she wants to tell her story." "He has a right to face the accuser and everything that accuser says," retorted Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, his voice throbbing with anger. "And if he doesn't then I'm going to resign from this committee today. I'm telling you, I don't want to be on it." It was the leak of Hill's allegations that triggered the public investigation of her charges of harassment a decade ago, when she worked for Thomas at the Education Department and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Until those accusations were publicly disclosed, in reports by Newsday and National Public Radio, the Senate was poised to confirm Thomas to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, divided but with a majority on his side. In the tumult that followed, the confirmation vote was delayed for a week and the committee hearing reopened. "This is not a trial, this is not a courtroom," Biden said. "There will be no formal verdict of guilt or innocence." It was daytime television like none before. President Bush watched as Thomas delivered his opening statement, calling it "very powerful and convincing" and saying his nominee had been smeared. "In my view, he will be confirmed," Bush said at the White House. "And in the end, he will get his good name back." Hatch said at a midday break that Hill would face further questions about why she did not feel compelled to report Thomas at the time of the alleged incidents and how she could continue to work for him. Of her allegations, he said, "If I thought that it was the truth, it would be terribly devastating." Thomas said in his opening statement that if any words of his had been misconstrued by Ms. Hill or anyone else as sexual harassment, he was very sorry and wished he had known, because he would have stopped it immediately. Hill said she told him, more than once, that she didn't want to go out with him and didn't want to talk about the sexual matters he raised. In failing to make a formal complaint at the time, she said, "I may have shirked a duty," may have used poor judgment. But she said she feared for her career, felt helpless, and didn't want to burn all bridges to the EEOC even after she left the job with Thomas in 1983 to become a law instructor at Oral Roberts University. She now is a professor at the University of Oklahoma. Another woman, Angela Wright, now an editor at The Charlotte Observer, has said Thomas tried to date her when she worked for him at the EEOC in 1984 and 1985, asked her breast size, and came to her apartment uninvited. She said she asked him in, and they talked for about two hours. Ms. Wright, who has been summoned to testify before the committee, said she didn't consider it sexual harassment, but annoying, obnoxious behavior. Hill said that about three months after she went to work for Thomas at the Education Department in 1981, "he asked me to go out socially," and persisted although she said she didn't want to date the boss. "I was very uncomfortable with the idea, and told him so," she said. But she said he kept asking, and then started using work situations to talk about sex, sometimes in his office, sometimes at lunch in the cafeteria. "His conversations were very lurid," she said. "On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess." Hill said such behavior stopped and she, wanting the job, moved on to the EEOC with Thomas. But in the fall and winter of 1982, she said, the sex talk resumed and he again asked her out, not to specific events but in general terms, saying that they ought to see each other socially and pressing for an explanation of her refusals. Hill said he told her that he had a large penis and described the pleasure he had given other women with oral sex. One day in his office, she said, he was sipping a Coca-Cola, put the can down to do something else and, when he went back to it, asked her: "Who put pubic hair on my Coke?" She said she was most embarrassed and humiliated when he talked about large-breasted women engaging in sex acts with animals and men. Under questioning, first by Biden, then by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, she repeated her accounts, and her explanation of the later contacts with Thomas. "These are not mere allegations to me," she told Specter. "These comments are the truth to me." Thomas said he had come to clear his name and that his statement answering Hill's accusation was not the work of advisers but his alone. He then denied her charge, said it had been his job and his personal commitment to combat sex harassment - and seemed on the brink of withdrawing as Bush's nominee. He said the honor of the nomination had been crushed by 103 days of prying, innuendo, rumors and dirt. "Enough is enough," Thomas said. He said had come to respond to allegations of sex harassment in the workplace, but not "to be further humiliated by this committee or anyone else, or to put my private life on display for prurient interests or other reasons." Thomas said he had dealt with segregation, bigotry and racism, but "this is worse than any obstacle or anything else that I have ever faced. ... "No job is worth what I have been through, no job," Thomas said. "No horror in my life has been so debilitating. "Confirm me if you want. Don't confirm me if you are so led. But let this process end." Thomas said he never asked to be nominated and would be comfortable returning to his work as a judge on the court of appeals. "I will not provide the rope for my own lynching or for further humiliation," he said. "I am not going to engage in discussions nor will I submit to roving questions of what goes on in the most intimate parts of my private life or the sanctity of my bedroom. "These are the most intimate parts of my privacy, and they will remain just that, private," he said. ___ For more coverage of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, visit https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination FILE - In this Oct. 11, 1991 file photo, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, questions Professor Anita Hill in Washington during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. From left to right are Senators Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., Hatch, and Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. The Thomas-Hill hearings riveted Americans, and the same is expected for the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/John Duricka, File) FILE - In this Oct. 15, 1991 file photo, demonstrators on Capitol Hill yell toward the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, in support of then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, as the Senate debated Thomas' nomination following allegations made by Anita Hill alleging Thomas made unwanted sexual advances and lewd remarks while he was her employer. The Thomas-Hill hearings riveted Americans, and the same is expected for the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File) FILE - In this Oct. 11, 1991 file photo, Anita Hill testifies in the Russell Caucus room on Capitol Hill in Washington where the Senate Judiciary Committee was hearing testimony on the nomination of Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court. Hill alleged Thomas made unwanted sexual advances and lewd remarks while he was her employer. The Thomas-Hill hearings riveted Americans, and the same is expected for the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson, File) Like everything else in 2018, business has an emotional and often polarizing effect in our society. There are, of course, legitimate stories of business behaving badly. One high-profile example: the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica debacle that thrust the social media giant into the spotlight with a data breach affecting 87 million users. Cronyism remains alive and well, as witnessed by the Foxconn deal in Wisconsin. Cities are clamoring to win the coveted second headquarters location for Amazon, offering corporate welfare handouts at eye popping amounts. But then there are stories that have less to do with bad business practices and more to do with identity economics. Consider the New Yorker piece written about the creeping infiltration of Chik-fil-A into Manhattan (expertly unpacked by Hunter Baker here on the Power Blog.) Or the emotional plea to Save Barnes and Noble hat tip to Actons Dylan Pahman for explaining that theres no need to get government regulators involved in a bookstore bailout. It seems like the only thing that unites us is the general agreement that business matters. What we need is specificity on why it matters and how to ensure business continues to play its historic role in sustaining free and virtuous societies. To address this broad chasm in understanding the role of business, youre invited to participate, in person or online, in Actons upcoming conference on October 18, 2018 Business Matters: Meaningful Work in the Modern Age. Weve pulled together a slate of influential business leaders and entrepreneurs to address topics such as: The theological underpinnings of work The meaning and dignity of work The role of the entrepreneur How innovation makes business better How businesses help move people from poverty to prosperity During this conference, well also be debuting the newest episode in The Good Society short film series, focused on entrepreneurship. To get a flavor for the conference, two of our guest speakers have also appeared on Radio Free Acton, the official podcast of the Acton Institute. Listen in on those conversations by following the links below: Phil Sotok, Founder of DPMC North America, discusses purpose, fulfillment, and ethics in the workplace Missy Wallace, Executive Director of the Nashville Institute for Faith + Work, discusses the connection between faith and work To register for the full conference experience, including all sessions, food, and networking, visit the Business Matters registration page. Or join us remotely with the free livestream of the event. Sign up here and well notify you when we go live at 9:00 a.m. ET on October 18, 2018. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's victory helped give rise to the #MeToo era. Now, as it threatens his latest pick to the Supreme Court and his party's electoral majorities in Congress, Trump is taking aim at the movement that has spurred a national reckoning around gender equity and sexual consent. Arguing that "false accusations of all types are made against a lot of people," Trump defended Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday against allegations of decades-old sexual abuse. Eyeing the Kavanaugh nomination fight through the prism of his own experiences with sexual assault allegations, Trump asked: "Who is going to want to go before the system to be a Supreme Court judge or to be a judge, or to be even a politician?" The backdrop for the president's fervent defense of Kavanaugh is his belief that men can be ruined by false accusations. He told one associate in recent days that he believed the media was always inclined to give credence to an accuser's lies - as happened with his own accusers during the 2016 campaign, according to a Republican close to the White House who was not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations. While Trump has repeatedly weathered allegations from women, the Kavanaugh controversy presents the biggest challenge yet for Trump in the #MeToo moment. And it reveals a Republican Party - and a president - struggling with issues of gender equity and sexual consent just weeks before midterm elections in which women already were leaning toward Democrats by lopsided margins. Kavanaugh, who is defending himself against allegations from two women who accuse him of sexual misconduct in the 1980s, sat for an interview on Fox News on Monday, an unusual move for a nominee to the high court. His cautious performance reassured some White House officials, but also left lingering concerns about how he would stand up under questioning from Democrats at a Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, where one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, is expected to appear. In this Sept. 24, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In at the Lotte New York Palace hotel in New York. Trump's victory helped give rise to the #MeToo era. Now, as it threatens his latest pick to the Supreme Court and his party's electoral majorities in Congress. Trump is taking aim at the movement that has spurred a national reckoning around gender equity and sexual consent. Arguing that "false accusations of all types are made against a lot of people," Trump defended Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday against allegations of decades-old sexual abuse.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) After initially showing caution with the accusations against Kavanaugh, Trump has grown increasingly frustrated, viewing the process as a political plot against his efforts to advance a long-sought conservative makeover of the high court. For a time, Trump told confidents that he did not need to wade into the specific allegations since they did not involve him, although they did evoke sexual misconduct allegations against him. But late last week Trump became convinced the allegations were a Democratic scheme to undermine his pick. On Friday, he fired off a tweet challenging Ford directly. That tweet - he questioned why Ford did not report the alleged assault at the time - drew a fiery response from women online, with many posting first-person stories about their experiences with the Twitter hashtag #WhyIDidntReport. Trump's skepticism was only bolstered by a piece published in The New Yorker on Sunday recounting a second allegation against Kavanaugh, this time about college-era sexual misconduct. Trump spoke to advisers inside and outside the White House on Sunday about the report and it did not shake his support for Kavanaugh, said a person with knowledge of the conversations who was not authorized to speak publicly. Trump's dismissal of the claims against Kavanaugh echo his past defenses of his own behavior. More than a dozen women have accused him of sexual misconduct, which he denies. In the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape that repelled many Republicans when it became public during the 2016 election, Trump can be heard boasting of grabbing women by their genitals and kissing them without permission. Trump apologized but also defended himself, dismissing his comments as "locker-room talk." In Bob Woodward's recent book about the Trump administration, he writes that Trump once told a friend who had acknowledged treating women badly: "You've got to deny, deny, deny and push back on these women. If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you're dead." Trump has demonstrated he's not averse to deploying the potent politics around the issue to his own advantage. During the 2016 campaign, after threatening to use Bill Clinton's sexual history against his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, Trump did just that. Before an October debate, he met publicly in a hotel conference room with three women - Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey - who had accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances - even rape in Broaddrick's case. Kathy Shelton, a fourth woman who appeared with Trump, was a 12-year-old Arkansas sexual assault victim whose alleged assailant was defended by Hillary Clinton. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway acknowledged the perilous moment, saying on CBS this week that "there's pent-up demand for women to get their day, women who have been sexually harassed and sexually assaulted." She added: "I personally am very aggrieved for all of them, but we cannot put decades of pent-up demand for women to feel whole on one man's shoulders." ___ Lemire and Miller reported from New York. ___ For more coverage of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, visit https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination TOKYO (AP) - The monumental imperial throne for the coronation of Japan's new emperor has arrived in Tokyo from an ancient imperial palace in Kyoto more than a year ahead of time, officials said Wednesday. Crown Prince Naruhito will become Japan's next emperor on May 1 of next year, the day after his 84-year-old father, Emperor Akihito, abdicates. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony in October 2019, when Naruhito formally announces his succession. Naruhito will ascend to the elevated, octagonal structure to proclaim his enthronement before selected guests from around the world. The 6.5-meter-high (21-foot-high) canopied structure, decorated with lacquerware, gold and other ornaments, has been used for coronations and other key imperial rituals since around the eighth century, according to the Imperial Household Agency. It was last used by Akihito in 1990 and has since been stashed away at the Kyoto palace. The structure was taken apart for its delivery to Tokyo, where it will be repaired, fine-tuned and reassembled by March, the palace said. It comes with a similar structure for Naruhito's wife, Masako, the next empress. Together, the structures are made up of 3,000 parts. The 58-year-old Naruhito will be the 126th emperor of one of the world's oldest monarchies. He will be Japan's first emperor born after World War II. This April 17, 2018, photo shows Takamikura throne, left, and Michodai, a curtained platform, placed at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto, western Japan. The special imperial throne for the coronation of Japan's new emperor arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, from the ancient imperial palace in Kyoto more than a year ahead of time. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony in October 2019 when Crown Prince Naruhito formally announces his succession. (Kyodo News via AP) The current structure was built for his great-grandfather Taisho's coronation in 1915 and was also used for his grandfather Hirohito, who was revered as the god of Shinto until the end of World War II, which Japan fought in his name. At the time of Akihito's coronation, the throne had to be airlifted by a Japanese Self-Defense Force helicopter in a highly secretive operation amid protests by extremists who said the throne's use in a state ceremony violated the constitutional separation of state and religion. ___ Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi Find her work at https://www.apnews.com/search/mari%20yamaguchi This April 17, 2018, photo shows Takamikura throne, left, and Michodai, a curtained platform, placed at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto, western Japan. The special imperial throne for the coronation of Japan's new emperor arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, from the ancient imperial palace in Kyoto more than a year ahead of time. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony in October 2019 when Crown Prince Naruhito formally announces his succession. (Kyodo News via AP) FILE - In this Nov. 12, 1990, file photo, Japan's Emperor Akihito reads an address on Takamikura throne as he formally ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The special imperial throne for the coronation of Japan's new emperor arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, from the ancient imperial palace in Kyoto more than a year ahead of time. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony in October 2019 when Crown Prince Naruhito formally announces his succession. (Kyodo News via AP, File) In this Aug. 20, 2018, photo, Takamikura throne, left, is disassembled at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto, western Japan, to be transported to Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The special imperial throne for the coronation of Japan's new emperor arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, from the ancient imperial palace more than a year ahead of time. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony in October 2019 when Crown Prince Naruhito formally announces his succession. (Kyodo News via AP) In this Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, photo, packs containing parts of Takamikura throne are loaded onto a truck at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto, western Japan, to be transported to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The special imperial throne for the coronation of Japan's new emperor arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, from the ancient imperial palace in Kyoto more than a year ahead of time. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony in October 2019 when Crown Prince Naruhito formally announces his succession. (Kyodo News via AP) In this late Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, photo, trucks carrying parts of Takamikura throne leave a gate of the Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto, western Japan, for the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The special imperial throne for the coronation of Japan's new emperor arrived in Tokyo Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, from the ancient imperial palace more than a year ahead of time. The Takamikura throne will be used at a ceremony in October 2019 when Crown Prince Naruhito formally announces his succession. (Kyodo News via AP) UNITED NATIONS (AP) - As Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un stand on the brink of a widely expected Summit No. 2 to unstick deadlocked nuclear diplomacy, a crucial but often overlooked question looms: Is North Korea actually a nuclear power? Kim and his well-amplified propaganda specialists certainly say it is. And most casual observers, after watching last year's run of increasingly powerful weapons tests, would probably agree. But Washington has always refused to accept that as fact. It is wary that doing so would allow Pyongyang to follow the path of India and Pakistan and a handful of other outliers who have built illicit nuclear programs outside the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president whose tireless shuttle diplomacy has made Trump-Kim Part II possible, is working this week to explain the results of his own recent summit with Kim to Trump and other world leaders gathered at U.N. General Assembly meetings. At the same time, the debate over whether to treat North Korea as a de facto nuclear power could influence whether fragile diplomacy continues or Northeast Asia returns to the threats of nuclear strikes that had many fearing war just last year. The AP takes a look: President Donald Trump hands a pen to South Korean President Moon Jae-In during a signing ceremony for the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement at the Lotte New York Palace hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) ___ ACCEPT REALITY The technical state of North Korea's closely guarded nuclear program is unclear, but experts believe that Pyongyang can probably arm its short and midrange missiles with nuclear warheads. However, its ability to accurately fire longer range nuclear missiles at targets on the U.S. mainland - the benchmark for any viable nuclear arsenal - is probably not perfected. Despite the uncertainties, some argue, North Korea is a nuclear power that will never relinquish its bombs. These experts have studied the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and watched the fate of late Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, who was lauded by U.S. officials for giving up his nuclear development program in 2003 before being killed in 2011 during a revolution. They say the North will never relinquish the weapons that are the only way to make to make sure the Kim family dynasty lives on. Kim "presumes that no great power would risk attacking a nuclear state or sticking a hand into its internal strife," according to Andrei Lankov, a North Korea specialist at Kookmin University in Seoul. "And so North Korean leaders are determined to stick to their nuclear development, and see nuclear weapons as the major guarantee of their security. There is no form of pressure that can convince them to budge on this, no promise that will seduce them into compliance. They believe that without nuclear weapons, they are as good as dead." Accepting North Korea for what it is could then allow negotiators to push for a freeze or a scale-back or a permanent test ban. But the old dream that had guided so many U.S. negotiators intent on getting the North to abandon all its nukes? Not going to happen, at least not in the current scenario. "It is possible to manage the nuclear program and put some cap on its further development, provided the Kim family still feels it has the deterrent value it needs," Lankov wrote, though he added that North Korea "will expect generous concessions for any freeze, and might not stick to it even then." At the next expected summit between Trump and Kim they'll likely focus on North Korea's demand for a declaration formally ending the Korean War, which still technically continues. Washington wants Pyongyang to list the contents of its nuclear program - widely seen as the first step in showing a true willingness to disarm - before the Korean War declaration. Even within the Trump administration, however, there's "a profoundly skeptical view of the possibility of achieving 'final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea,'" the stated U.S. goal. That's what Daniel Sneider, a specialist in international policy at Stanford University who recently met with senior administration officials dealing with North Korea, wrote last month. "The only possible exception," he wrote, "is the president himself." ___ STAND FIRM Washington has always refused to give North Korea the title of nuclear power. Any diplomacy, multiple U.S. administrations have said, must have as its endgame the total abandonment of all North Korean bombs. That means treating the North's nuclear program as temporary, not permanent. Trump should declare that Washington won't sign a peace treaty with a nuclear-armed North Korea and won't support an end of Korean War declaration until Pyongyang takes significant disarmament steps, according to Evans Revere, a former State Department Asia specialist. "The president should state publicly that the U.S. goal is and will remain nothing less than the end of North Korea's nuclear weapons program," Revere wrote, and not fall into North Korea's trap of trying to "draw Washington into an endless arms control negotiation, thereby legitimizing Pyongyang's possession of nuclear weapons." North Korea's acceptance as a nuclear state could also rattle the decades-long Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty and trigger a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia by leading many in Seoul and Tokyo to question the American guarantee to protect its allies. South Korea may find it politically impossible to accept North Korea as a nuclear state after decades of animosity and occasional bloodshed, said Cheon Seong-whun, a presidential secretary during Seoul's previous conservative government. If the current round of nuclear diplomacy derails, Seoul and Washington must develop strategies to manage the threat while pursuing denuclearization as a long-term goal, Cheon said. Those include strengthened sanctions and stronger South Korean efforts to undermine Kim's leadership, such as increasing the North Korean people's access to outside information. The allies should also consider bringing back the tactical nuclear weapons that the United States withdrew from South Korea in the 1990s to increase pressure on the North and create conditions for mutual nuclear disarmament, Cheon said. "South Korea can't wage a war with North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons. It can't surrender its statehood to the North either," Cheon said. "We will have to learn to confront and manage the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons over a long period of time." ___ Foster Klug, AP's bureau chief for South Korea, has covered the Koreas since 2005. Follow him on Twitter at @APKlug. AP writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report from Seoul. MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - An Australian judge has sentenced two men to prison over the fatal beating of their Airbnb guest who owed rent. The guest, Ramis Jonuzi, was killed at a rented house in a Melbourne suburb in October last year. Housemates Ryan Charles Smart and Craig Jonathon Levy each pleaded guilty to manslaughter after murder charges were downgraded. Smart was sentenced Wednesday to serve a minimum six years of a nine-year sentence. Levy was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison and must serve at least 4 1/2 years. A third housemate, Jason Colton, stands trial next year for Jonuzi's murder. He faces a potential life sentence if convicted. Jonuzi was renting a room in the trio's home and was beaten after failing to pay 210 Australian dollars ($153) in owed rent. PARIS (AP) - The first paying guests to the ground-floor studio flat newly posted on Airbnb were innocuous enough: A family, come to experience the joys of Paris, like many millions of others. Franck Briand, who lives in the apartment directly above, now looks back on that moment as the start of what he calls his Airbnb "nightmare." The ensuing four years, he says, have been an incessant carousel of late-night parties, drunken revelers and the rattle of newly arrived groups, sometimes 15 at a time, dragging wheeled suitcases across the cobbled courtyard. "I want to leave," Briand says. While welcoming tourist revenue, many Parisians and City Hall officials want to fight back against what they see as Airbnb's negative effects: driving away locals with higher prices, higher rents and sheer inconvenience. In this Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 photo, a cleaning lady works in an apartment located on Airbnb in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018 photo, a view of rooftops in downtown Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018 photo, Paris Deputy Mayor Ian Brossat, in charge of housing, poses for a photo in his office during an interview in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 photo, an inspector of Paris' town hall in charge of checking locations for tourists makes a door to door inspection, in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 photo, an inspector of Paris' town hall in charge of checking locations for tourists makes a door to door inspection, in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 photo, a cleaning lady works in an apartment located on Airbnb in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 photo, an inspector of Paris' town hall in charge of checking locations for tourists makes a door to door inspection, in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 photo, a cleaning lady works in an apartment located on Airbnb in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) In this photo taken on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, candles and information leaflet are displayed in an apartment located on Airbnb, in Paris. The spectacular growth of Airbnb in Paris, the top worldwide location for the internet giant is also raising alarms in the French capital. Some Parisians and officials at City Hall blame the site for driving Parisian families out of the city center, leading to school closures and concerns that the French capital is losing its life and charms. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) LONDON (AP) - British police have made an unusual arrest of a man accused of stealing a cat. Scotland Yard said Wednesday a 22-year-old man is being questioned at a north London police station in connection with the theft of a cat in August. The cat is a large Siberian Forest ginger cat called Mr. Muk. He has been returned to his owner. Police say the man was arrested late Tuesday night in the West Hampstead neighborhood in north London. He has not been identified or charged. VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis urged Chinese Catholics on Wednesday to trust him and make concrete gestures of reconciliation following a landmark deal over bishop appointments that is aimed at ending decades of estrangement between the Vatican and Beijing. In a letter to the Chinese faithful, Francis also called for greater dialogue between local priests and government authorities to ensure that ordinary church activities can be carried out, while encouraging the opening of "a new chapter" in official bilateral cooperation. He said the aim is to "initiate an unprecedented process that we hope will help to heal the wounds of the past, restore full communion among all Chinese Catholics, and lead to a phase of greater fraternal cooperation." The letter follows the deal signed Saturday governing the naming of bishops in China, an issue that has vexed relations for decades. The agreement regularizes the status of seven bishops who had been appointed by Beijing over the years without papal consent, and sets out a process of dialogue going forward to name new ones. Francis says he, not Beijing, ultimately will name new bishops. While the deal addressed a crucial aspect of church governance in China, it didn't address more pastoral issues of unifying split communities, which the letter published Wednesday aims to do. "The Catholic community in China is called to be united, so as to overcome the divisions of the past that have caused, and continue to cause great suffering in the hearts of many pastors and faithful," Francis wrote. "All Christians, none excluded, must now offer gestures of reconciliation and communion." Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) China's estimated 12 million Catholics are split between those belonging to the government-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is outside the pope's authority, and an underground church loyal to the pope. Underground priests and parishioners are frequently detained and harassed. Francis - and before him Pope Benedict XVI and St. John Paul II - had tried to unite the two communities, including a letter Benedict penned to the Chinese faithful in 2007. Years of negotiations kicked into high gear over a year ago, culminating in the deal signed Saturday. Unlike Benedict's 2007 letter, which labeled the Patrotic Association "incompatible" with Catholic doctrine and took a hard line in asserting the exclusive right of the pope to name bishops, Francis' tone was far more conciliatory and focused on moving past previous differences. He didn't even name the Patriotic Association or insist on his right to name bishops. He has told reporters, however, that after a period of dialogue he would ultimately name new leaders of the church. The letter provided some detail of the process involved, which includes ordinary priests and lay faithful taking part in the nomination process. That lay participation is unknown in the West, where such nominations are put to the Vatican for consideration by the local hierarchy and the local Vatican ambassador. Francis urged the Chinese faithful "to join in seeking good candidates" who are not mere functionaries but are "authentic shepherds ... committed to working generously in the service of God's people, especially the poor and the most vulnerable." A member of the faithful is baptized during a mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a government-sanctioned Catholic church in Beijing, Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018. The Vatican announced on Saturday that it had signed a "provisional agreement" with China aimed at defusing tensions over the appointment of bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that for decades had been a major stumbling block between the Holy See and Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Chinese bishop Joseph Li Shan, left, arrives for a mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a government-sanctioned Catholic church in Beijing, Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018. The Vatican announced on Saturday that it had signed a "provisional agreement" with China aimed at defusing tensions over the appointment of bishops, a breakthrough on an issue that for decades had been a major stumbling block between the Holy See and Beijing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) BEIRUT (AP) - A Syrian official says Israel should think carefully before attacking Syria again once it obtains the sophisticated S-300 defense system from Russia. Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said late Tuesday that the S-300 should have been given to Syria long ago. He says Israel, "which is accustomed to launching many aggressions under different pretexts, will have to make accurate calculations if it thinks to attack Syria again." Russia said Monday that it will supply Damascus with the defense system after last week's downing of a Russian plane by Syria forces responding to an Israeli airstrike. The Russian Il-20 military reconnaissance aircraft was downed by Syrian air defenses that mistook it for an Israeli aircraft, killing all 15 people on board. ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's state-run news agency says police have detained at least 39 people, including military officers, over their suspected links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016. Anadolu Agency said the suspects were detained Wednesday in simultaneous raids in 23 provinces. Police were acting on warrants for the arrest of a total of 71 people, including former or serving officers from Turkey's land, air and gendarmerie forces, Anadolu said. Turkey regularly carries out such operations as part of a large-scale government crackdown on Gulen's movement. Some 77,000 people have been arrested and around 130,000 others - including teachers, judges, prosecutors and police and military officers - have been dismissed from state jobs since the attempted coup. Gulen denies involvement in the attempt. Shortly after last year's shooting massacre on the Las Vegas strip, Ohio Gov. John Kasich convened a working group to explore possible reforms to state gun laws. A Republican, Kasich appointed panel members who supported the Second Amendment and came from across the political spectrum. Their work accelerated after the Valentine's Day slaughter at a high school in Parkland, Florida. They eventually produced a legislative package that included what Kasich called "sensible changes that should keep people safer." The legislation was introduced by a Republican lawmaker in the GOP-dominated Legislature. It went nowhere. Among other objections, the Republican leadership raised constitutional concerns about a provision allowing courts to order that weapons be seized from individuals showing signs of violence. "The way we put it together, the fact that you had people on both sides of the issue - I would have thought something would have happened," Kasich said. "But the negative voices come in unison and they come strongly." FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018 file photo, David Hogg, center, a survivor of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla., addresses a rally in front of the headquarters of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson in Springfield, Mass. The rally was held at the conclusion of a 50-mile march meant to call for gun law reforms. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) The Ohio experience is not unusual. An Associated Press review of all firearms-related legislation passed this year, encompassing the first full state legislative sessions since the Las Vegas attack, shows a decidedly mixed record. Gun control bills did pass in a number of states, but the year was not the national game-changer that gun-control advocates had hoped it could be. Even in a year that included yet another mass school shooting and an unprecedented level of gun-control activism, state legislatures across the country fell back to largely predictable and partisan patterns. "It's exactly what happened after Newtown: The anti-gun states became more anti-gun and the pro-gun states became more pro-gun," said Michael Hammond, the legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, referring to the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six educators. The major exceptions were Florida and Vermont. Both states have Republican governors and long traditions of gun ownership. Lawmakers passed sweeping legislation after the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 14 students and three staff members and after a foiled school shooting plot in Vermont days later. The law signed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott banned bump stocks, raised the gun buying age to 21, imposed a three-day waiting period for purchases and authorized police to seek court orders seizing guns from individuals who are deemed threats to themselves and others. The latter provision has already been used hundreds of times. But no other Republican-dominated state followed Florida's lead, the AP review found. The Parkland shooting did slow momentum for additional gun rights bills in some Republican-led states, but others pushed forward with pro-gun policy agendas. They widened the definition of who can legally carry a weapon in public, allowed more concealed weapons in schools, churches and government buildings, and strengthened legal protections for people who claim they shot someone in self-defense. In Tennessee, county commissioners were granted the ability to carry concealed handguns in their workplaces. Oklahoma approved a bill allowing permit holders to carry handguns while scouting. Nebraska lawmakers enacted a long-sought bill shielding all documents related to gun permits from the open records law. In South Carolina, where a state senator was killed in the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, lawmakers rejected a simple bill requiring court clerks to enter convictions and restraining orders in a timely fashion to strip gun rights from people who have been disqualified from possessing firearms. The most significant policy development, the review found, was the enactment of so-called "red flag laws" in eight states. Those laws allow police or relatives to seek court orders to seize guns from people who are showing signs of violence. Five Republican governors signed those laws, which have been used to seize guns from hundreds of individuals already this year. Supporters say the laws are proven to save lives, and they were a rallying cry amid reports that the suspected Parkland high school gunman, Nikolas Cruz, was deeply troubled yet allowed to own guns. Nine states also approved laws this year to ban bump stocks, the rapid-trigger devices that a gunman used as he shot hundreds of people at the music festival in Las Vegas, including 58 who were killed. But often, the debate over public safety and the reach of the Second Amendment played out in statehouses with familiar results. In Colorado, a state rocked by the 1999 Columbine High School and 2012 Aurora theater mass shootings, lawmakers in the divided Legislature refused to compromise. The Democratic-controlled House passed bills to ban bump stocks and enact a red flag law that had the support of many police officers and prosecutors. But the Republican-controlled Senate quickly assigned those to a "kill" committee and defeated them. "To me, the Second Amendment and individual rights demand the highest respect. That's the basis of where I come from," said Republican Sen. Tim Neville, one of the capitol's most ardent gun rights activists. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Anderson in Denver, Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont, contributed. ___ Follow Ryan Foley at https://twitter.com/rjfoley FILE - In this July 20, 2012 file photo, Tom Sullivan, center, embraces family members after losing his son, Alex, in the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. As the start the trial of the shooting spree defendant James Holmes approached, Sullivan said that before the shooting, "I didn't know it was anything that I needed to worry about. But I was wrong. ... Someone else's son having a mental problem, having easy access to weapons, all of a sudden became my problem.'' (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez, File) Tom Sullivan, a candidate for a Colorado State Senate district, confers with his campaign manager Kris Grant while making campaign calls from Sullivan's home in Centennial, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. Sullivan, whose son Alex was killed by James Holmes as he celebrated his 27th birthday in the Aurora theater, said he is encouraged that the state has maintained the post-Aurora ammunition limits and is calling for further gun control as he runs for a Colorado state House seat. Sullivan sees long-term promise in gun-control efforts by Parkland students and survivors of other mass shootings. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Tom Sullivan, right, a candidate for a Colorado State Senate district, talks to LeAnn, center, and Kory Benz outside the couple's home as Sullivan canvasses a neighborhood for votes near his home in Centennial, Colo., on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. Sullivan, whose son Alex was killed by James Holmes as he celebrated his 27th birthday in the Aurora theater, said he is encouraged that the state has maintained the post-Aurora ammunition limits and is calling for further gun control as he runs for a Colorado state House seat. Sullivan sees long-term promise in gun-control efforts by Parkland students and survivors of other mass shootings. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) FILE - This October 2017 photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows the interior of Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas after the Oct. 1, 2017 mass shooting. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP, File) FILE - In this Wednesday, April 11, 2018 file photo, gun rights activist Deserae Morin, with seven-year old daughter Maple, facing center, shouts as Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott speaks before signing the first significant gun restrictions bills in the state's history during a ceremony on the steps of the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter) FILE - In this March 21, 2018 file photo, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, speaks at the first New Way California Summit, a political committee eager to reshape the state GOP, at the Hollenbeck Youth Center in Los Angeles. Kasich says gun-control groups are simply not as unified as the pro-gun lobby. "And so you have disparate groups going against a force that totally knows what it wants." (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) The gunman in the Las Vegas mass shooting was armed with 23 AR-style weapons, 14 of them fitted with "bump stocks" that allowed them to mimic fully automatic fire. The devices were little-known before they were used in the Oct. 1 rampage, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. And in the immediate aftermath, there were calls from a wide spectrum of lawmakers and advocates on firearms issues to have them banned. Here's what has happened with the devices since the attack that left 58 dead: LEGISLATIVE ACTION In the shooting's immediate aftermath, there appeared to be a growing desire to ban the sale and possession of bump stocks, which federal authorities previously deemed legal and not subject to the same tighter restrictions reserved for fully automatic firearms. Most notably, President Donald Trump vowed to ban the devices, which attach to the stock end of an AR-style firearm, greatly increasing the rate of fire so it mimics a fully automatic long gun. FILE - This Oct. 4, 2017 file photo shows a device called a "bump stock" attached to a semi-automatic rifle at a gun store and shooting range in Utah. What's happened to bump stocks in the year since Las Vegas? There were growing calls to ban the devices in the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting on the Las Vegas strip. Some succeeded, but others did not. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) Trump in March tweeted: "Obama Administration legalized bump stocks. BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period." The government determined in 2010 that bump stocks couldn't be regulated unless Congress changed the law. But as with many restrictions on firearms in recent years, more action has taken place at the state level than by the federal government. Ten states and three cities have enacted bans on the devices. California made bump stock-style devices illegal there decades ago. ___ WHAT HAS HAPPENED AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL? Trump expressed support for banning the devices and directed the Justice Department to rewrite the federal regulations. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this spring sought public comment on a proposal to reclassify bump stocks, but no action has been taken. The proposed rules drew more than 35,000 comments. THE COMPANY Slide Fire Solutions, America's largest bump stock manufacturer, closed its website in June and stopped taking orders. However, its remaining stock of the devices is now being sold by another company, RW Arms, based in Fort Worth, Texas. The devices were originally intended to help people with disabilities and were little-known until the Las Vegas shooting. Gun owners and enthusiasts frequently call bump stocks a novelty item. Gun dealers said very few of the devices were sold before the Las Vegas shooting, but demand soared afterward amid concern they might be banned. ___ Find complete AP coverage of the Las Vegas mass shooting here: https://apnews.com/tag/LasVegasmassshooting VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Latest on the agreement between China and the Catholic Church on the appointment of bishops (all times local): 12:15 p.m. Pope Francis is urging Chinese Catholics to trust him and make concrete gestures of reconciliation following a landmark deal over bishop appointments aimed at ending decades of estrangement between the Vatican and Beijing that had split the church. In a letter to the Chinese faithful published Wednesday, Francis urged Chinese Catholics to help "initiate an unprecedented process that we hope will help to heal the wounds of the past, restore full communion among all Chinese Catholics, and lead to a phase of greater fraternal cooperation." He also called for greater dialogue with local government authorities to ensure that ordinary church activities can be carried out. The letter follows the deal signed Saturday governing the naming of bishops in China. ___ 10:45 a.m. Pope Francis is urging Chinese Catholics to overcome past divisions and open a new phase of faith following a landmark agreement over bishop nominations aimed at ending decades of estrangement between the Vatican and Beijing that had split the church. Francis announced Wednesday that he had written a letter to the Chinese faithful aimed at encouraging them to "heal the wounds of the past and re-establish and maintain full communion." The letter was to be released later Wednesday. The letter follows the deal signed Saturday governing the naming of bishops in China. The agreement regularizes the status of seven bishops who had been appointed by Beijing over the years without papal consent, and sets out a process of dialogue going forward. Francis says that ultimately it will be he who names bishops, not Beijing. CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's Coptic church said Wednesday that prosecutors are investigating the death of a monk who had until recently served in a monastery northwest of Cairo where the abbot was killed in July. In a brief statement, the Coptic Orthodox Church said the cause of monk Zeinoun al-Maqari's death, at the al-Muharraq monastery in southern Egypt, remained unknown. It said he was transferred there following the July death of Bishop Epiphanius, abbot of St. Macarious monastery. That suggested Zeinoun may have been involved in a now-publicized disciplinary dispute between Epiphanius and several monks at St. Macarious. Epiphanius' killing has shaken Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, and opened a window onto its cloistered world. The church introduced monasticism to the faith, but its monastic desert traditions had largely vanished before being revived over the past century. The July killing took on added significance because two monks - one of whom was defrocked - are the main suspects. Both are on trial for killing of the abbot. The case has exposed a side of the church that few in Egypt - Muslim or Christian - knew existed, including the growing power and independence of monks in remote monasteries who appear to be at odds with Pope Tawadros II, the church's spiritual leader, and its central leadership. This undated photo released by the Coptic Orthodox Church, shows Coptic monk Zeinoun al-Maqari, in Egypt. Egypt's Coptic church said Wednesday, Sept, 26, 2018, that prosecutors are investigating the death of al-Maqari who had until recently served in a monastery northwest of Cairo where Bishop Epiphanius, abbot of St. Macarious monastery was killed in July. In a brief statement Wednesday, the church says the cause of monk Zeinoun al-Maqari's death, at the al-Muharraq monastery in southern Egypt, remained unknown. (Coptic Orthodox Church via AP) Security officials said Zeinoun was dying when monks went to his cell in the small hours to fetch him for vespers. He was rushed to the monastery's infirmary but died before he arrived there, they said. A photo of him released by the church suggests he was in his early 30s. Investigators were looking into suspected foul play, including possible suicide, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Zeinoun was among six monks who were transferred in August out of St. Macarious monastery as part of efforts to instill greater discipline. At the time, the church suspended admission of novices to its monasteries for a year, threatened to expel monks found to have established "illegal" monasteries and gave monks a month to shut down social media accounts. It also forbade unauthorized media interviews. JUBA, South Sudan (AP) - South Sudan's civil war has caused nearly 400,000 "excess deaths" since fighting erupted in late 2013, a new report funded by the U.S. State Department said Wednesday after years of uncertainty. The report by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine estimates that "violent injuries" caused about half of those 382,900 deaths. Increased risk of disease and reduced access to health care contributed to others, it said. The civil war's death toll has long been unknown, with estimates in the tens of thousands. "To our knowledge this is the first comprehensive estimate of how many people have died because of the war," Francesco Checchi, a lead investigator on the study, told The Associated Press. "Every day that goes by, hundreds more lives may be lost." "I think this figure is much more realistic than the 50,000 which has been used for so long," Klem Ryan, a former official with the United Nations mission in South Sudan who later served as coordinator of the U.N. panel of experts monitoring sanctions on the country, told the AP. Counting the dead in the civil war is difficult as so much occurs in remote locations, Ryan said. "However, that's not justification for not compiling what we did know and pointing to the gaps." FILE - In this Sunday, Jan 12, 2014 file photo, a South Sudanese government soldier chants in celebration after government forces on Friday retook from rebel forces the provincial capital of Bentiu, in Unity State, South Sudan. South Sudan's civil war has caused nearly 400,000 "excess deaths" since fighting erupted in late 2013, a new report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin, File) The new report, based on statistical modeling and not peer reviewed, says the deaths appeared to peak in 2016 and 2017. Fresh fighting broke out in the capital, Juba, when a peace deal collapsed in July 2016 and the violence spread into other regions. Most of the deaths occurred in the country's south and northeast and among adult males, the report says. The striking new estimate comes weeks after the warring sides signed what the government called a "final final" peace deal. It returns rebel leader Riek Machar to his role as vice president to President Salva Kiir, a situation that sparked the conflict when their supporters clashed along ethnic lines. Machar fled the post again during the 2016 fighting. The United States and others have expressed skepticism that this new peace deal will hold and some fighting has been reported, with each side blaming the other. A government spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, told the AP that he could not confirm or deny the new estimated death toll and blamed killings on the armed opposition. "You can't collect the data." South Sudan's civil war also has sent more than 2 million people fleeing in Africa's largest refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The new report calls for a stronger humanitarian response in one of the world's most dangerous countries for aid workers. The U.N. has repeatedly called on the government to allow more access. The report "should also spur warring factions to conduct war according to its rules, instead of attacking civilians and humanitarian actors," Checchi said. One South Sudanese organization has taken on an even larger, perhaps more dangerous, task: Identifying every person killed in the civil war by name, as well as those killed in various conflicts dating back to 1955. "This is a war of revenge, hate and anger and we have to address this. We are trying to humanize the loss," Anyieth D'Awol, who is involved with the Remembering the Ones We Lost organization, told the AP. The group started collecting names in 2014. So far, it has 6,677. One day, it hopes to set up monuments to the dead. ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014 file photo, a small cross made of sticks and a religious blanket lie on top of the grave of a small child who was wounded during recent fighting between government and rebel forces in Bor but who died after fleeing by river barge across the Nile river to the town of Awerial, South Sudan. South Sudan's civil war has caused nearly 400,000 "excess deaths" since fighting erupted in late 2013, a new report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 file photo, a displaced child holds clay model toys of a peacekeeper and a rifle, in the United Nations camp for displaced people in the capital Juba, South Sudan. South Sudan's civil war has caused nearly 400,000 "excess deaths" since fighting erupted in late 2013, a new report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Jason Patinkin, File) MOSCOW (AP) - The lower house of the Russian parliament has given its preliminary approval for a controversial bill that raises the eligibility ages for pensions, which has caused an outrage in Russian society. The government's plan to raise the retirement ages for men and women by five years has irked Russians from all political factions. Older Russians fear they won't live long enough to collect benefits while younger generations are worried that keeping people in the workforce longer will limit their own employment opportunities. The State Duma on Wednesday voted to adopt the second reading of the bill, raising the pension age to 65 years for men and 60 years for women. The bill still has to pass a third reading, go to the upper house of parliament and get signed by the president. Demonstrators hold a poster that reads: "We are against the raising of the retirement age" during a protest against the government's plans to raise the retirement age, in front of the Russian State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. The State Duma is expected to vote on the second reading of the bill that could raise the retirement age for the old-age pension by five years. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) Communist party supporters hold red flags during a protest against the government's plans to raise the retirement age, in front of the Russian State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. The State Duma is expected to vote on the second reading of the bill that could raise the retirement age for the old-age pension by five years. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) A demonstrator holds a book of Russian constitution and a poster that reads: "No raising of the retirement age", during a protest against the government's plans to raise the retirement age, in front of the Russian State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. The State Duma is expected to vote on the second reading of the bill that could raise the retirement age for the old-age pension by five years. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) Russian opposition activist Sergey Udaltsov holds a poster with a portrait of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that reads: "Enemy of People", during a protest against the government's plans to raise the retirement age, in front of the Russian State Duma, the Lower House of the Russian Parliament in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. The State Duma is expected to vote on the second reading of the bill that could raise the retirement age for the old-age pension by five years. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) CINCINNATI (AP) - A bank executive says she urged first responders to a deadly Cincinnati shooting attack to save her life for her two small children. Thirty-seven-year-old Whitney Austin survived 12 gunshots Sept. 6. She recounted her ordeal in a taped interview that aired Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." The gunman shot her as she entered the bank lobby and fired her into her fallen body several more times. She then played dead. Austin was initially in critical condition after the shootings in which the gunman killed three people and wounded another man before police killed him. She was released Sept. 11 from University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Police aren't sure why 29-year-old Omar Enrique Santa Perez opened fire inside the Fifth Third building where Austin was a vice president. PARIS (AP) - French President Emmanuel Macron has sidestepped a question over a controversial multi-million dollar deal to sell 36 fighter jets to India. In a news conference at the United Nations in New York, Macron said Tuesday he was "not in charge" when the deal was signed in 2016 through "a government-to-government discussion." Indian main opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Narendra Modi's government of buying the aircraft from France's Dassault at a highly inflated price. Gandhi also accused Modi's government of favoring the company owned by industrialist Anil Ambani in choosing a partner for Dassault. The controversy has intensified in recent days following comments by former French President Francois Hollande suggesting France had no say in the choice of the Indian company. India's government has denied any wrongdoing. COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - The Latest on the appeal of convicted murderer Peter Madsen (all times local): 3 p.m. Danish submarine inventor Peter Madsen, convicted of torturing and murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall last year, has lost his appeal against his life sentence. The 47-year-old sat quietly as Judge Jan Uffe Rasmussen read the ruling by the Eastern High Court. The prosecutor had argued that the life sentence should be upheld, saying the motive was sexual and the crime was planned. In Denmark, a life sentence is on average 16 years, but can be extended if necessary. Madsen wanted a time-limited sentence, not an open-ended prison term. Prosecutor Kristian Kirk talks to the media as he arrives at the Eastern High Court in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday Sep. 26, 2018. Danish inventor Peter Madsen, convicted of torturing and murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall last year, appeared in court on the last day of his appeal against a life sentence. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP) ___ 9:40 a.m. Danish submarine inventor Peter Madsen, convicted of torturing and murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall last year, has appeared in court on the last day of his appeal against a life sentence. Closing remarks had been adjourned Sept. 14 after a juror collapsed. The hearing resumed Wednesday. Madsen listened quietly at the Eastern High Court where the prosecutor demanded life, saying the motive was sexual and the crime was planned. In Denmark, a life sentence is on average 16 years, but can be extended if necessary. Madsen, 47, wants a time-limited sentence, not an open-ended prison term. It is unclear when the verdict will be announced. Madsen denies murdering Wall but has confessed to throwing her body parts into the Baltic Sea. Defence attorney Betina Hald Engmark arrives at the Eastern High Court in Copenhagen, Denmark, Wednesday Sept. 26, 2018. Danish inventor Peter Madsen, convicted of torturing and murdering Swedish reporter Kim Wall last year, appeared in court on the last day of his appeal against a life sentence. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP) JOHANNESBURG (AP) - While Nelson Mandela is celebrated at the United Nations, two prominent South African lawyers say his greatness lay partly in his ordinary qualities and recognition of his own mistakes. Former judge Albie Sachs recalls how Mandela, as president after apartheid's 1994 end, pushed in vain for the new constitution to allow South Africans aged 15-17 to vote. Sachs says Mandela referred to himself as proof that "a president can be wrong" when, years later, he lobbied his successor to drop AIDS "denialism" and furnish medication to the sick. Lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said Tuesday that Mandela was "normal" in many ways and his example shows "how much power lies in each and every one of us." A statue of the anti-apartheid leader was unveiled at the U.N. General Assembly this week. NEW YORK (AP) - A white supremacist accused of stabbing a black man to death on a New York City street told police he wanted to purge the Earth of black people. According to his videotaped confession, James Jackson told investigators after his arrest in the March 20, 2017, stabbing of Timothy Caughman that blacks were "inferior" and should be "exterminated." The New York Post reported that Jackson's confession was played at a pretrial hearing in Manhattan on Tuesday. Authorities say the 30-year-old Jackson traveled from Baltimore to New York to kill black men. The 66-year-old Caughman was stooped over a pile of trash when he was attacked from behind with a sword. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to murder as a hate crime and murder as an act of terrorism. ___ Information from: New York Post, http://www.nypost.com BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Ion Ficior, an ex-prison commander in Romania who was incarcerated for the deaths of 103 political inmates while in charge of a communist-era labor camp, has died. He was 90. Ficior died Wednesday at Jilava prison hospital, according to Bianca Filote, spokeswoman for the Institute for Investigating the Crimes of Communism. He was serving a 20-year sentence there for crimes against humanity. Ficior, who was imprisoned in March 2017, denied wrongdoing and said he was merely following orders. Ficior was commander at the Periprava labor camp from 1958 to 1963. During his trial, former detainees accused him of beatings, a lack of food and medicine, overwork and unheated cells. Romania had about 500,000 political prisoners under the Communist regime, about one-fifth of whom died while in detention, according to historians. MOSCOW (AP) - Two regions in Russia's North Caucasus have signed a land swap deal, triggering protests. About 100 people rallied on Wednesday in the capital of Ingushetia against authorities' decision to exchange a piece of land for one in neighboring Chechnya. Local police in the city of Magas said on Wednesday that they had to disperse an unsanctioned rally of 100 people there, and local media reported that police charged at the protesters with batons. The Leaders of Chechnya and Ingushetia signed an agreement on Wednesday to swap what they described as small plots of agricultural land. Ingush leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov told the Tass news agency that the protesters' fears that Ingushetia would be giving away inhabited land to Chechnya were unfounded. DALLAS (AP) - The family of a 26-year-old black man who authorities say was fatally shot by a white Dallas police officer after she mistook his apartment for her own intends to file a federal lawsuit claiming excessive use of force. Attorney Lee Merritt said Wednesday that Botham Jean's family will name Amber Guyger and the city of Dallas as defendants in the lawsuit. Merritt didn't say when the lawsuit will be filed. Guyger told investigators she had just ended her shift Sept. 6 when she returned to her apartment complex, but she went to the wrong unit. The door was ajar and swung open to reveal a figure in the dark apartment. Investigators say Guyger drew her service weapon moments later and fired twice, striking Jean. Guyger was fired Monday. FILE - This March 24, 2014, file photo provided by Harding University in Searcy, Ark., shows Botham Jean, speaking at the university. The Dallas police officer accused of fatally shooting Jean inside his own apartment has been dismissed, the police department announced Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. The Dallas Police Department fired Officer Amber Guyger weeks after she fatally shot 26-year-old Jean inside his own apartment on Sept. 6. Court records show Guyger said she thought she had encountered a burglar inside her own home.(Jeff Montgomery/Harding University via AP, File) RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A former Rapid City dentist and city councilman convicted of medical fraud has been ordered to pay $12 million to victims, with his cohorts adding nearly another million. Larry Lytle, 83, was sentenced in April to 12 years in prison for using bogus claims to mislead more than 3,000 people into buying laser devices he said could treat hundreds of medical conditions, including diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and AIDS. A restitution order was filed Monday in federal court against Lytle and two co-conspirators who pleaded guilty earlier to conspiring with him, the Rapid City Journal reported . Ronald Weir, 39, of Rapid City, was ordered to pay about $802,000 and Irina Kossovskaia, 63, a Canadian citizen, about $92,000. Weir earlier was sentenced to two years in prison and Kossovskaia was sentenced to a year and three months behind bars. Lytle admitted to selling the so-called QLasers for about $4,000 each from 2005 through 2015. The case has been described by prosecutors as one of the largest fraud schemes ever handled in federal court in South Dakota. Both Lytle and Weir have questioned the restitution amounts and have been given until Oct. 5 to produce documents supporting their requests for reductions. Lytle's plea agreement required him to start making restitution earlier this year, and he has paid nearly $673,000. Whether any more can be obtained from him is unknown. Prosecutors have alleged that he transferred many of his assets to family members as his legal situation deteriorated, and a judge earlier this summer said Lytle "appears to be nearly devoid of assets." Victims will receive proportional shares of whatever restitution is collected. ___ Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) - Tea party favorite Chris McDaniel nearly dethroned a Mississippi political icon four years ago. He never conceded his Republican primary loss to longtime U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in the state's most bitterly fought election in a generation. Now, McDaniel is running again for the same U.S. Senate seat, but money is harder to come by. He didn't receive the appointment to temporarily serve in the U.S. Senate when Cochran retired in April. In a special election to finish the term Cochran started, McDaniel lost another coveted prize: President Donald Trump's endorsement. The appointment, the endorsement and the fundraising advantages all belong to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Gov. Phil Bryant appointed her to serve temporarily when Cochran retired in April. Hyde-Smith, McDaniel and two others are competing in a November special election. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on congressional hearing on privacy (all times local): Noon Internet companies are hoping to avoid a patchwork of state laws on consumer data privacy. They are supporting a federal proposal that could negate those state laws, including a recently enacted one in California. Executives from Google, Amazon, Twitter, Apple and AT&T were asked at a Senate hearing Wednesday if they'd support federal privacy protections that pre-empted "inconsistent" state laws. All said "yes," with a few qualifications. Bud Tribble, Apple's vice president of software technology, says the bar would have to be "high enough in the federal legislation" to provide meaningful consumer protections. The Senate Commerce Committee is considering a new national privacy law. FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2018, file photo, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks with reporters after the Republican's policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration is hoping Congress can come up with a new set of national rules governing how companies can use consumers' data that finds a balance between "privacy and prosperity." "Consumers deserve clear answers and standards on data privacy protection," Thune, who heads the Commerce panel, said in a statement. By hearing from the companies, lawmakers will be able to assess "what Congress can do to promote clear privacy expectations without hurting innovation," he said. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File) Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz says it won't have bipartisan support if it's just to replace California's strict new protections with a "non-progressive federal law." ___ 11:05 a.m. Amazon is warning Congress to avoid California's model as federal lawmakers work on crafting a new consumer data privacy law. Andrew DeVore, Amazon's vice president and associate general counsel, told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday it should consider the "possible unintended consequences" of California's approach. For instance, he says the state law defines personal information too broadly such that it could include all data. California's law will compel companies to tell customers upon request what personal data they've collected, why it was collected and what types of third parties have received it. The California law doesn't take effect until 2020 and applies only to California consumers, but it could have fallout effects on other states. He's among executives from companies including Google and Apple testifying to the Senate Commerce Committee about consumer data. ___ 10:45 a.m. A Senate panel is considering ways to govern how companies can use consumer data for targeting ads and other tasks. Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who heads the Senate Commerce Committee, said in opening a hearing Wednesday that there's a strong desire by both Republicans and Democrats for a new data privacy law. Senior executives from AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter and Charter Communications are expected to testify and explain their privacy policies. Privacy scandals at Facebook and other companies have stoked outrage among users and politicians. But the approach to privacy legislation being pondered by policymakers and pushed by the internet industry leans toward a relatively light government touch. That's in contrast to stricter EU rules that took effect in May. ___ 3 a.m. A Senate panel Wednesday will consider ways to develop national rules governing how companies can use consumer data to target advertising and for other business purposes. Executives of a half-dozen internet titans are due to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee to explain their privacy policies. Senior executives from AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter and Charter Communications are expected to testify at the hearing Privacy scandals at Facebook and other companies have stoked outrage among users and politicians. But the approach to privacy legislation being pondered by policymakers and pushed by the internet industry leans toward a relatively light government touch. In April 2017, President Donald Trump scrapped Obama-era privacy rules that sought to limit how broadband providers like AT& T, Comcast and Verizon use and share customer data. CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on the murder trial of a white Chicago police officer (all times local): 12:30 p.m. A Chicago police officer has told jurors at the trial of a white officer charged with murder in the shooting of Laquan McDonald that he once told officers to beware of people possibly carrying guns disguised as knives. The testimony came Wednesday as defense attorneys sought to bolster their argument that Jason Van Dyke legitimately saw McDonald as a threat before shooting him 16 times as he walked away carrying a knife. William Shield said he raised the prospect with officers in 2012, two years before McDonald was killed, about knives specially fashioned to shoot bullets. The implication was that Van Dyke could have imagined McDonald had such a device. But Shield said in cross-examination that neither he nor any officers he knew ever came across such a device. Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke listens during his first degree murder trial for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. Lawyers for the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot the black teenager presented an animated video to jurors on Tuesday that was intended to show the officer's perspective during the shooting and support his claim that he feared for his safety. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool) Truck driver Rudy Barillas testified McDonald tried to stab him with the knife earlier on the night he was killed. ___ 11 a.m. A Chicago police officer has told jurors at the trial of white police officer charged with murder in the 2014 death of black teenager Laquan McDonald that McDonald looked menacing when she arrived at the scene earlier and she thought he could have had a gun. Leticia Velez was the first witness Wednesday for lawyers for the accused Chicago officer, Jason Van Dyke. Velez had arrived in the area before Van Dyke arrived and shot McDonald 16 times as he walked away carrying a knife. McDonald didn't have a gun. She testified that when she saw McDonald he was holding his side. She told jurors she thought that might mean he had a gun. She also said that McDonald "looked deranged." The defense is seeking to establish that Van Dyke had a reasonable fear that McDonald posed a threat. Prosecutors have stressed that no other officers fired at McDonald. ___ 11:25 p.m. The trial of a white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the death of black teenager Laquan McDonald resumes with the defense presenting evidence for a third day. Jason Van Dyke's lawyers haven't said who will testify first Wednesday. The focus Tuesday was on an animated video produced for the defense purporting to show Van Dyke's perspective as he shot McDonald 16 times. The animation sought to establish the officer had a legitimate fear for his life. A dashcam video of the 2014 shooting is from a different angle, behind McDonald. It's the centerpiece of the state's case . Van Dyke could testify. But his attorneys may see the animation as a substitute for his testimony. If the 40-year-old officer testifies, that would expose him to potentially blistering cross-examination. Lead defense attorney Daniel Herbert gestures at an animated video portraying Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and Laquan McDonald as it's shown to the jury during the first degree murder trial of Van Dyke for the shooting death of McDonald at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. in Chicago. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool) Jason Fries, an expert in video reconstruction, testifies during the first degree murder trial of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in Chicago. Lawyers for the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot the black teenager presented an animated video to jurors on Tuesday that was intended to show the officer's perspective during the shooting and support his claim that he feared for his safety. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool) Jason Fries, an expert in video reconstruction, testifies during the first degree murder trial of Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. in Chicago. Lawyers for the white Chicago police officer who fatally shot the black teenager presented an animated video to jurors on Tuesday that was intended to show the officer's perspective during the shooting and support his claim that he feared for his safety. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool) UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The same day that Russian diplomats struck a deal with Turkey over a demilitarized zone in Syria's last rebel-run region, dozens of Russian businessmen were flying home from Damascus, contracts in hand for trade with a postwar Syria. Whatever happens to the rebels in Idlib province, Russia is determined to keep Syria solidly anchored in its sphere of influence over the long term - both as a foothold in the Middle East and as a warning to the U.S. and its allies against future interference. "Russia wants ... a new Mideast security order," said Emile Hokayem, Middle East security expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. While Russia is blamed for widespread death and destruction as it supports Syrian President Bashar Assad, its forces have proven decisive in the international struggle against the Islamic State group, giving Moscow a credibility that Western powers lack. "Their intervention yielded much better returns than anyone expected," Hokayem said. Now the central challenge facing U.S. and other Western diplomats huddling about Syria this week at the United Nations is how to stay relevant. U.S. President Donald Trump claimed credit Wednesday for saving Idlib from a Russian-backed offensive - yet nearly everyone else says the credit goes to the presidents of Russia and Turkey for the accord they reached last week staving off a big battle. FILE - In this March 4, 2016, file photo, a Russian military police officer stands guard at the Russian air base in Hemeimeem, Syria, with an Il-20 electronic intelligence plane of the Russian air force in the background. Russia is determined to keep Syria solidly anchored in its sphere of influence over the long term - both as a foothold in the Middle East and as a warning to the U.S. and its allies against future interference. Russian forces proved decisive in the international struggle against the Islamic State group, giving Moscow a credibility that Western powers lack. (AP Photo, File) One by one, diplomats at U.N. meetings on Syria hailed the agreement, and expressed hope it holds despite persistent uncertainty over Idlib's fate . Russia basked in the praise. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dashed from one meeting to the next in the U.N. headquarters, stressing Russia's concerns about Syria with the top diplomats of Iran and Turkey, and with U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura. The EU hosted its own Syria gathering at the U.N., and France is hosting a meeting Thursday of the "Small Group" that's trying to weigh in on Syria's future, despite years of failed efforts to back the Syrian opposition. Even as Russia flaunts its diplomatic success, it's also securing a military future with Syria. Russia announced Monday it's selling S-300 missile systems to Syria. A longtime client of Russian weapons manufacturers since well before the war, Syria also was a reliable trading partner. And Moscow is furthering that relationship by rebuilding roads, pipes and skyscrapers wiped out by seven years of war - including destruction wrought by Russia's own weapons. A group of 38 Russian companies took part in the Damascus International Fair earlier this month. It was at least the fourth event in the past year aimed at reviving Russian trade with Syria - and Russian companies are heading back to Syria in early October for a conference on rebuilding the country. Syria's neighbors are similarly active, notably close ally Iran. But in Russia's case, analysts say, the economic activity is closely linked to its influence strategy. Russia, for example, wants to rebuild Syria's train network. "Russia built it in the first place, and wants to rebuild this and strategic economic ties," said independent Russian analyst Vyacheslav Matuzov. Russian companies are seeking a diverse trade base, with food, farming and energy deals, according to the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Among the most vocal proponents of renewed trade with Syria is Georgy Muradov of Crimea. Chamber Vice President Vladimir Padalko described "the firm intention of Russian business not just to restore past trade cooperation between our countries, but also actively move forward." But Russia doesn't want to foot the bill for the huge cost of reconstruction, so it is seeking Western help, notably in Lavrov's meetings at the U.N. "Russia wants to rebuild Syria not just for egotistical reasons, but sees it as the responsibility of the international community," Matuzov said. Hokayem said prospects of that are low, but Russia is still "in the driver's seat" in Syria. "Russia is always a step ahead, and has a higher tolerance level" for ups and downs in the Syria war because Putin doesn't face serious domestic opposition. Russia's so-called Astana peace process with Iran and Turkey has been so much more successful than previous U.N. or Western-led efforts, Hokayem said, that "the U.N. envoy has adopted (it) as his own." The next few weeks will be critical for Syria - and for Russia's footprint. U.N. envoy de Mistura told The Associated Press that October is going to be "a very important month" both for Idlib and for his efforts to move toward peace. ___ Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed. In this photo provided by the United Nations, Sergey V. Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, during the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters. They are standing behind a collection of books by Yevgeny Primakov that Lavrov is donating to the UN library. (Evan Schneider/The United Nations via AP) Syria's United Nations Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, center, listens as President Donald Trump address the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday Sept. 25, 2018 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) A key dissenter in the decision to reinstate Russia's suspended drug-fighting operation says athletes must be better heard to restore the World Anti-Doping Agency's credibility. Linda Helleland, vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, cast one of two "no" votes in last week's 9-2 decision to reinstate RUSADA. In an interview with The Associated Press, Helleland says, "If athletes don't believe us, we need to really consider how to get them more involved." She is in Washington this week, attending meetings with U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart to discuss the fallout from the decision. Helleland, who is the Minister of Children and Equality in Norway, is a candidate to replace Craig Reedie as WADA president next year. She says she's more certain than ever that she voted the right way. CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A group of alumni is calling on a prominent New Hampshire prep school to more thoroughly investigate decades of sexual misconduct at the school. The call from the Phillips Exeter Alumni for Truth and Healing follows a report released by the school last month, in which 11 former staffers are accused of sexual misconduct involving students. The report also found that school administrators failed to act on complaints of abuse and, in several cases, never recorded the complaints in personnel files. The group is calling on the school to hand over all evidence collected in the investigation to an independent third party, investigate cases of student-on-student abuse and provide more details of administrators who failed to properly handle abuse claims. The school said it would review the group's concerns. Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly might not be obvious picks to play brothers, but French director Jacques Audiard made an inspired choice by casting them as such in "The Sisters Brothers ." By the end, it's obvious that these two seasoned vets of both absurdist comedy and drama are in fact the only two actors who could have made sense of the skilled but simple assassins, Charlie (Phoenix) and Eli Sisters (Reilly) at the center of this unconventional Western. Based on a novel by Patrick deWitt, "The Sisters Brothers" ambitiously mixes humor, drama, action and art house serenity into a vexing but strangely compelling whole that keeps you guessing till the end. Set in 1851, at the height of the gold rush, these two middle-aged siblings are a team, born of violence into a violent world. Eli and Charlie are not sophisticated, but they are very good at what they do - killing people before they kill them. As Eli explains at one point, once you kill one man, they've got a father, friends, cohorts and any number of people who will then try to hunt you down. And the cycle of killings continue. They work for a shadowy figure they call the Commodore who gives them jobs and they take care of it. You get the sense this time that it's a little more complicated than usual, though, as the Commodore has enlisted a scout, John Morris (played by Jake Gyllenhaal who has the interesting distinction of being the only one in the cast attempting to affect a period appropriate accent) to track down a chemist Hermann Kermit Warm (a very empathetic Riz Ahmed) who will then be turned over to the Sisters brothers to ostensibly torture. Warm has discovered a chemical formula that makes finding gold easier, which he is a little too loose-lipped about and thus has found himself the target of some dangerous men who would like to steal his idea. But the story doesn't quite go as expected, and tenuous friendships and bonds are formed between the men. It makes for some interesting conversations, moments and a truly horrifying climax. The most surprising thing about "The Sisters Brothers" is the humor. There is a running joke where Charlie comes to hate Morris because of the pretentious words he uses in his letters (Phoenix is so good at nailing befuddled rage), and a visual gag with Eli and a toothbrush, which he's just discovered. This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix, right, and John C. Reilly in a scene from "The Sisters Brothers." (Magali Bragard/Annapurna Pictures via AP) In this almost dumb and dumber pairing, Eli is the slightly smarter one, the one who wishes for stability, a wife and peace. His prized possession is a red scarf that was given to him by a woman he loves. Charlie teases him mercilessly about this. Charlie is the drunk, the violent one and the one that Eli has resigned himself to protecting because of an incident in their childhood. You might be surprised by how much you end up caring about Eli and Charlie over the course of this journey, and, again, it's all because of Phoenix and Reilly who excellently manage all the various tones in the film. And of course, as expected in any Western, the landscapes and set design are all beautiful and transportive. "The Sisters Brothers" takes a bit of getting used to at the start, but the rewards are worth it. "The Sisters Brothers," an Annapurna Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "violence including disturbing images, language, and some sexual content." Running time: 121 minutes. Three stars out of four. ___ MPAA Definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix, left, and John C. Reilly in a scene from "The Sisters Brothers." (Magali Bragard/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix, left, and John C. Reilly in a scene from "The Sisters Brothers." (Magali Bragard/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Riz Ahmed in a scene from "The Sisters Brothers." (Magali Bragard/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from "The Sisters Brothers." (Shanna Besson/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from "The Sisters Brothers." (Magali Bragard/Annapurna Pictures via AP) This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Riz Ahmed, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from "The Sisters Brothers." (Magali Bragard/Annapurna Pictures via AP) CLEVELAND (AP) - The Latest on the release of names of abusive priests (all times local): 1:50 p.m. Another Roman Catholic diocese in Ohio plans to make public the names of priests who have been accused of sexual abuse. The Catholic Diocese of Columbus said Wednesday it intends to release a list within the next few months that will include priests who've been credibly accused of abuse, both living or dead. The diocese says in a statement that the diocese understands it's an important step to restore confidence in the church and its clergy. The announcement comes as the Steubenville diocese said this week that it will make public the names of abusive priests by the end of October. FILE - In this Sept 12, 2012, file photo, Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey Monforton speaks in Steubenville, Ohio. The Associated Press has learned the diocese plans to become the second in Ohio to release a list of priests who have been removed from parishes because of sexual abuse and misconduct allegations. (Michael D. McElwain/Herald-Star via AP, File) Three of Ohio's six dioceses now say they will release new lists in the wake of a Pennsylvania grand jury report that listed more than 300 clergy. ___ 8:50 a.m. A second Roman Catholic diocese in Ohio says it will release a list of priests who have been accused of sexual abuse and misconduct in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that named more than 300 clergy and detailed their abuse. A spokesman for the Steubenville diocese in southeast Ohio has told The Associated Press that it will release a list by the end of October. Steubenville diocese spokesman Dino Orsatti says Bishop Jeffrey Monforton wants the names of abusive priests made public in the interests of transparency and accountability. He estimated the list will include between 12 and 20 names after the diocesan review. The Diocese of Youngstown announced earlier this month that it would release its list of abusive of priests sometime in the coming weeks. FILE - In this March 28, 2007, file photo, Bishop George Murry celebrates mass at Saint Columba Cathedral in Youngstown, Ohio. The Roman Catholic diocese was the first in Ohio to announce that it would release a list of priests who have been removed from parishes because of sexual abuse and misconduct allegations. Now The Associated Press has learned that a second Ohio diocese, Steubenville, plans to release a list. (Michael Semple//Tribune Chronicle via AP, File) ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Federal officials say a 26-year-old man wanted for the attempted murder of a police office in Puerto Rico has been captured in western New York. The U.S. Marshals Service says its fugitive task force received information from Puerto Rico that Norberto Morales-Ferrer might be staying with a friend in the Rochester area. Marshals say Wednesday that they were able to arrest him without incident with the help of state and local law enforcement agencies. Officials say Morales-Ferrer and another man were traveling in a vehicle that was pulled over in Puerto Rico on Feb. 10. Authorities say as the vehicle stopped, both men opened fire at the police officer and managed to escape the scene. The other man was arrested soon afterward. Morales-Ferrer is being held a Rochester jail pending extradition to Puerto Rico. UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The latest on the United Nations General Assembly (all times local): 8:05 p.m. Iran's foreign minister is deriding as an "arts and crafts show" Israel's visual-aid-enhanced accusation that his country is keeping a secret atomic warehouse. Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a state TV interview Thursday that there is nothing to the allegation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made at the U.N. General Assembly. Displaying maps and a photo, Netanyahu said Iran has been keeping tons of nuclear equipment and material in a property near its capital. Zarif notes the International Atomic Energy Agency has certified that Iran is in compliance with its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal meant to keep it from developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. withdrew from the deal this year. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters a meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) In a tweet, Zarif called Netanyahu's presentation an "arts and crafts show" by a country that he says needs to come clean about its own nuclear program. Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal but has never publicly acknowledged it. ___ 7:45 p.m. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is accusing Myanmar of failing to honor a verbal commitment to take back Rohingya Muslims who fled a military crackdown there. Atrocities against the minority Muslims have been documented in U.N. reports and Hasina told the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday that the actions "are tantamount to genocide and crimes against humanity." She appealed for more international support for the 1.1 million Rohingya sheltering in Bangladesh and urged an "early, peaceful solution" to the crisis. Hasina said there have been three bilateral "arrangements" between Bangladesh and Myanmar for the repatriation of Rohingya, but Myanmar authorities have yet to accept them back. Myanmar denies committing atrocities but the top U.N. human rights body is setting up a team to collect evidence of alleged crimes that one day could be used to prosecute suspected perpetrators. ___ 7 p.m. Vietnam's prime minister has spoken at the U.N. General Assembly as the U.N. flag flew at half-staff to honor his country's late president, who died days before the annual gathering of world leaders. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc took the podium Thursday. He thanked the assembly for holding a moment of silence for President Tran Dai Quang last Friday, shortly after he died in Hanoi at age 61. A government doctor said Quang had a rare viral illness he hadn't revealed. Quang was buried Thursday in his home village. The prime minister asked the gathered nations to support his country's bid for election to the U.N. Security Council for 2020-2021. Vietnam was a member in 2008-2009. ___ 6:50 p.m. Small island nations are using the weeklong gathering of world leaders at this year's U.N. General Assembly to highlight the one issue that threatens their existence: global warming. Speaking shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump - whose fiery speech made no mention of climate change - Seychelles President Danny Faure said for his country it's already a daily reality. The Indian Ocean nation is one of dozens of Small Island Developing States, or SIDS for short, that are at risk of being washed over as rising temperatures make the oceans rise. Haiti's President Jovenel Moise urged rich countries Thursday to stick to their pledges under the 2015 Paris accord, which includes financial aid for vulnerable nations to adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change. ___ 4 p.m. New Zealand's prime minister is highlighting gender gaps in pay and domestic violence as continuing problems as she calls for the world to "recommit ourselves to gender equality." Jacinda Ardern, her country's third female prime minister, was speaking on the third day of debate at the U.N. General Assembly. She says she never grew up believing that gender would stand in the way of her achievements. But she says she'll "never celebrate the gains we have made" for women in New Zealand while women in other nations lack "the most basic of opportunity and dignity." Ardern's remarks Thursday also called for a recommitment to multilateralism - both on principle and because, as she said, "In New Zealand, going alone is not an option." And she said that climate change is an important example of why cooperation is imperative. ___ 3:30 p.m. Iranian state television says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allegation of a secret Iranian nuclear warehouse is "ridiculous." The state TV report said Iran is committed to nonproliferation and Iran's nuclear program is under surveillance of the U.N. nuclear watchdog. The response came after Netanyahu's speech Thursday at the U.N. accusing Iran of concealing more nuclear activity from international partners. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported Netanyahu's remarks with barely disguised disdain, saying he "annually launches a ridiculous show at the U.N. General Assembly." Israel sees Iran as its biggest threat. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. ___ 1:45 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing European nations of "appeasing" Iran by trying to renew trade despite Iran's nuclear activity. Netanyahu invoked historical European maneuvering in the Middle East while excoriating European leaders for sticking to the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord. It allows for a lifting of sanctions in exchange for curbing Iran's nuclear activities. After announcing what he said is new proof of Iranian secret nuclear activity, Netanyahu asked, "Have these European leaders learned nothing from history? Will they ever wake up?" U. S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 deal but European powers argue it will persuade Iran to be more cooperative and transparent about its nuclear activities ___ 1:30 p.m. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exposing what he says is a secret Iranian nuclear weapons storage site. Netanyahu presented maps and photos of what he says is a "secret atomic warehouse" in the Turquzabad district of Tehran, concealed as a rug-cleaning operation. Netanyahu said Israel has shared information about this site with the International Atomic Energy Agency and some intelligence agencies. There was no immediate reaction from Iran, which denies building nuclear weapons. He made the announcement at the U.N. General Assembly, where he spoke out strongly against the 2015 Iranian nuclear accord. Netanyahu claimed it is used for "storing massive amounts of equipment and materiel from Iran's secret weapons program." ___ 1 p.m. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will chair a vast group of developing countries at the United Nations, in a boost to his efforts for official Palestinian statehood. Members of the Group of 77 formalized the decision to give Palestine the chairmanship of the group in 2019 at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday. Abbas welcomed the decision and urged other world leaders to recognize Palestine as a state. Israel strongly objects to the move. The group promotes the interests of the 135 developing countries it represents at the United Nations, including China. Egypt is the 2018 chair. ___ 12:40 p.m. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is vowing that his people will not revert to violence despite growing anger over Israeli and U.S. policy. Abbas rejected sole U.S. mediation in Mideast peace efforts because of President Donald Trump's decisions to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and withdraw aid funding for the Palestinians. Speaking Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly, Abbas urged Trump to rethink the decisions and urged member nations to support his push for Palestinian statehood. But Abbas pledged not to revert to violence despite his accusations that Israel and the U.S. have not held up promises to the Palestinians. He said, "We are not redundant. Why are we treated as redundant people who should be gotten rid of?" Abbas spoke after months of tensions between Israeli forces and the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza. ___ 12:20 p.m. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has cut to the heart of the Mideast dispute by starting his annual speech at the U.N. General Assembly by saying "Jerusalem is not for sale." Abbas uttered the words as soon as he took the podium Thursday, even before his customary invocation of God and laying out the overall situation for the Palestinians. Abbas spoke from the podium the day after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested for the first time as U.S. president that he "liked" a two-state solution as the most effective way to resolve their conflict. The Palestinians welcomed the offer but remain deeply angry over Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to stop funding for the U.N. agency aiding the Palestinians. Abbas said: "Jerusalem is not for sale and Palestinians' rights are not up for bargaining." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to speak soon after Abbas at the U.N. gathering. ___ 11:20 a.m. Haiti's president says increasingly violent hurricanes are exacerbating problems in extremely poor countries like his and is urging world leaders to do more to tackle climate change. President Jovenel Moise told the U.N. General Assembly that "small island nations ... emit little greenhouse gases but suffer the largest part of the damage caused by more frequent, more violent hurricanes." For example, he said Hurricane Matthew in 2016 caused damage in Haiti equivalent to 32 percent of gross domestic product. He said that aggravates deep poverty and social tensions even as he tries to pull Haiti out of its chronic troubles. He urged countries and companies to follow through on promises made in Paris last year to help vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change. Many world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly also called for more action by rich countries to help poor ones cope with flooding, drought and other extreme weather. ___ 10:35 a.m. Macedonia's president is criticizing top U.S. and EU officials for backing a referendum on changing his country's name. President Gjorge Ivanov urged his compatriots not to vote on Sunday, calling the name change a "noose" and a "flagrant violation of sovereignty." He criticized U.S. and EU officials who have visited Macedonia in recent weeks for suggesting that the name change offers Macedonia's only hope of ever join NATO and the EU. "If you take our hope, what will we be left with?" he asked. U.S. and Europe officials have accused Russia of interfering against the name change. The referendum is on a deal with Greece that would rename their country "North Macedonia" and resolve a long-running dispute over use of the term "Macedonia." Ivanov spoke Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly. ___ 9:55 a.m. The leader of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus is criticizing short-term moves to lock up migrants and is urging world leaders to work together on a global migration strategy instead. President Nicos Anastasiades made his appeal Thursday at the U.N. General Assembly, where many leaders have spoken out about the challenges of mass migration flows. The Cypriot leader said "instead of facing the root causes leading to massive migratory flows ... we content ourselves in setting up immigration detention centers." He called on leaders to set aside conflicting interests and "reverse our policies of political expediency and ... address the root causes that have led to this unprecedented situation" such as hunger and war. He spoke as the European Union is deeply divided over how to deal with migrants coming from Africa and the Mideast seeking asylum or a better life. ___ 8:30 a.m. Israeli and Palestinian leaders are preparing to take center stage within an hour of each other at the U.N. General Assembly. Their speeches come a day after Donald Trump suggested for the first time as U.S. president that he "liked" a two-state solution as the most effective way to resolve their conflict. Also on the docket at the U.N. is a Security Council meeting chaired by the American secretary of state that will focus on North Korea and its nuclear program. Trump met Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told reporters he believes that two states - Israel and one for the Palestinians - "works best." He has been vague on the topic, suggesting he would support whatever the parties might agree to. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Seats marked for Iran in the General Assembly Hall, upper left, appear empty as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows an atomic warehouse in Teheran during his address the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Haiti's President Jovenel Moise arrives to address the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Macedonia's President Gjorge Ivanov addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) MEXICO CITY (AP) - A Guatemalan court has absolved the late dictator Efrain Rios Montt's former intelligence chief of 1980s civil war rights abuses for a second time. In a 2-1 decision, the tribunal ruled late Wednesday that Jose Mauricio Rodriguez will not see prison for genocide and crimes against humanity. It found that the abuses were committed by the military, but it was not proven that Rodriguez gave the commands. Prosecutors had argued that the 73-year-old ex-military officer knew about and ordered the killings of 1,771 indigenous Ixil Guatemalans by the army during Rios Montt's 1982-1983 regime. Rodriguez Sanchez proclaimed his innocence. Rios Montt died April 1 of a heart condition while under house arrest. Former director of military intelligence, Jose Rodriguez Sanchez leaves a courtroom after his statement in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. Rodriguez Sanchez awaits a new sentence for the crime of genocide, for which he was previously tried along with the late former dictator Efrain Rios Montt in 2013. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) According to a U.N. truth commission, about 245,000 people were killed or disappeared during Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war. President Donald Trump and his embattled deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein have spoke on Monday and will meet on Thursday at the White House amid uncertainty about Mr Rosensteins fate. Thursday is the same day that Mr Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and a woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, are set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Statement on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: pic.twitter.com/yBgAydv9oR Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) September 24, 2018 White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump and Mr Rosenstein had an extended conversation on Monday to discuss the recent news stories at Mr Rosensteins request. Mr Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russia election meddling, had been expecting to be fired on Monday following critical comments he made about Mr Trump. President Donald Trump talks to Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations (Evan Vucci/AP) Mr Trump is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, so the two will meet on Thursday when the President returns to Washington, D.C.. The latest move comes after a New York Times report of Mr Rosensteins comments in 2017. That report and an unsigned opinion piece by a senior official in the Republican administration played to some of the presidents concerns about a secret Deep State trying to undermine him from within the government. The administration official, whom Mr Trump has called for a federal investigation to unmask, wrote that there was a group of officials working to safeguard the country from the presidents most dangerous impulses. A former press secretary for the Northern Ireland Executive has denied a claim he called an ex-minister a monster who had to be put to sleep. Ex-Stormont enterprise minister Jonathan Bell made the claim to a public inquiry into a botched green energy scheme earlier this month. David Gordon has now given a statement to the RHI inquiry insisting his words were misinterpreted. Mr Bells allegation is based on a misinterpretation of an email sent by me on 18/12/16 to a special adviser, Mr Gordon said in his statement to the inquiry, which was published on its website on Monday afternoon. It contained a Frankenstein metaphor/joke in connection with a possible public statement by former first minister Peter Robinson, the man who had appointed Mr Bell to ministerial office. Having asked if Mr Robinson was going to comment on Mr Bells claims, I added: Isnt it time Frankenstein put the monster he created to sleep? Jonathan Bell addresses the media at Parliament Buildings in Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA) Clearly, an attempt at humour in a private email does not remotely constitute evidence of briefing against Mr Bell, let alone a conspiracy. Metaphors are not meant to be taken literally. I was not suggesting that Mr Robinson had fathered Mr Bell or created him in a lab. Nor was I proposing that the former first minister or anyone else should actually put him to sleep. Similarly, I was not claiming or briefing that Mr Bell was actually a monster. A media briefing along the lines imagined by Mr Bell would frankly have been ridiculous. I cannot imagine a journalist taking any such monster suggestion remotely seriously. It would have been met with derision, and rightly so. Mr Gordon also responded to claims made at the inquiry by former DUP special adviser Andrew Crawford that he had been involved in media briefing against him. Dr Crawford claimed Mr Gordon was very much involved in media briefing to enable the DUP to blame him for delays in the introduction of cost controls to the RHI scheme. If there was a media briefing operation to place blame on Dr Crawford, I had no knowledge of it or involvement in it, Mr Gordon said in his statement. The RHI inquiry is probing how costs spiralled in a scheme to encourage the use of eco-friendly heat systems over fossil fuels. Labour will scrap the free schools programme and end academisation, the shadow education secretary has announced, as she unveiled proposals to shake up the sector. Angela Rayner said she would allow academies to return to local authority control and vowed to put a stop to the fat cat salaries of some executives at large academy chains if her party came to power. She said Labour would immediately end the Tories academy and free schools programmes, saying they neither improve standards nor empower staff or parents. Instead, Ms Rayner pledged to bring all publicly funded schools back into the mainstream public sector, with a common rulebook and under local democratic control. In a warmly-received address at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, the frontbencher also announced plans to introduce a new national Substitute Teacher Register to end the spiralling cost to schools of hiring supply teachers. Ms Rayner said: At a time when our schools have to ask parents to give extra money for books and classroom essentials, its crazy were spending half a billion pounds a year just on agency fees. That money should be spent on teachers and the badly needed resources our children need to get a world class education, and under a Labour government it would. Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Our straightforward, simple and proven policy will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year and help schools find the talented teachers they need. While the Tories obsess over damaging and unnecessary changes to the education system, Labour will keep on producing sensible policies that will save our schools money and give our kids a better education. Cheers from delegates as Angela Rayner tells #LabourConference2018 her party will immediately end the Tories academy and free schools programmes Harriet Line (@HarriLine) September 24, 2018 She told delegates that Labours proposal to create a National Education Service was about both educating and empowering people. She said it would not only reverse the cuts but tackle the inefficiency of the Tories school system and take power from corporations and hand it to communities. Well start by immediately ending the Tories academy and free schools programmes. They neither improve standards nor empower staff or parents. Instead, theyve been shut out and cut out by Tory ministers in Whitehall. Angela Rayner at Annual Conference 2018 Angela Rayner is now LIVE at Annual Conference, with our plan for education. Watch along at home Posted by The Labour Party on Monday, September 24, 2018 Ms Rayner, who received a standing ovation for her speech, criticised the current academy system in which councillors are left responsible for school places but without the power to create them. So we will allow them to build schools, create new places and take back control of admissions from academy trusts. Well also tackle the problem of trusts that fail, leaving schools stranded outside the system. Imagine being in an organisation facing a crisis but with no leadership or direction. Youd think Tory ministers would know the feeling, she said. Yet thats what theyve inflicted on an ever increasing number of schools. So well allow academies to return to local authority control. Well end the scandal of individuals and companies profiting from schools they are involved in, stopping fat cat pay for bosses and restoring fair pay for staff. Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, welcomed the speech, saying: The commitment by Labour to curtail the academies and free schools programmes and to give the role of providing school places and building new schools back to local authorities will be welcomed up and down the country by the many parents, carers, teachers and school staff who have been failed by the current system. Judge Brett Kavanaugh has said he will not be intimidated into withdrawing his nomination for the US Supreme Court after allegations of sexual misconduct. Mr Kavanaugh, nominated by President Donald Trump, and his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will give evidence to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. A second woman, Deborah Ramirez, has told The New Yorker that Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her in college. Mr Kavanaugh denies both allegations which have surfaced since he was nominated for the body that has the ultimate say on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Protesters sit and chant against Judge Brett Kavanaugh (Alex Brandon/AP) In a letter to the Judiciary panel, Mr Kavanaugh said: These are smears, pure and simple. He called the allegations grotesque and obvious character assassination and says they could dissuade others from entering public service. Mr Kavanaugh says threats of violence against his family and the coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive him out. The US Congress (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) Several Senate Republicans have called the allegations smears and urged a vote on Mr Kavanaugh after Thursdays hearing. Earlier, Mr Trump has staunchly defended his embattled Supreme Court nominee against a new allegation of sexual misconduct. Mr Trump, at the United Nations for his second General Assembly meeting, called the allegations unfair and unsubstantiated, made by accusers who come out of the woodwork. He also questioned the political motivations of the lawyers representing the women, saying you should look into the lawyers doing the representation. On Mr Kavanaugh, Mr Trump stressed: I am with him all the way. The new accusation in a report from The New Yorker came just a few hours after negotiators had reached an agreement to hold an extraordinary public hearing on Thursday for Mr Kavanaugh and Ms Blasey Ford. Ms Ford accuses Mr Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers. He denies the accusation. Presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway told CBS that the accusations against Mr Kavanaugh sound like a vast left-wing conspiracy, using rhetoric that echoed Hillary Clintons 1998 description of allegations that her husband, President Bill Clinton, had had affairs. Mr Trump is suggesting the timing of the New Yorker article is further evidence of what he has been saying privately for days: that the Democrats and media are conspiring to undermine his pick. Donald Trump (Jane Barlow/PA) The second claim against Mr Kavanaugh dates to the 1983-84 academic year, which was his first at Yale University. Ms Ramirez described the alleged incident after being contacted by The New Yorker magazine. She alleged that Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party. In a statement provided by the White House, Mr Kavanaugh said the event did not happen and that the allegation was a smear, plain and simple. Mr Trump has a second opportunity to shape the Supreme Court with his nomination of Mr Kavanaugh to replace the departing Anthony Kennedy. He has already successfully installed Neil Gorsuch on the bench to replace the late Antonin Scalia. An 11-year-old girl who had been missing since Sunday has been found safe and well. Emma Sutherland failed to return to her home in Edinburghs Oxgangs Row on Sunday evening after being out with a friend. MISSING GIRL FOUND #Edinburgh 11 year old Emma Sutherland has been found safe and well. Thank you to the public for assisting with this enquiry. EdinburghPolice (@EdinburghPolice) September 24, 2018 Her disappearance prompted a police appeal for information as concern grew for the youngster. In an update issued on Monday evening, Police Scotland confirmed the girl has been traced. The forces message posted on social media said: 11 year old Emma Sutherland has been found safe and well. Thank you to the public for assisting with this enquiry. President Donald Trump has said his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will unfold much like their first meeting, except for the location. Mr Trump says it will happen in the not too distant future but they will not meet in the same place. He said details will be announced pretty soon. President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Evan Vucci/AP) The president and Mr Kim met in Singapore in June to discuss denuclearising the Korean Peninsula. Mr Trump commented in New York during an appearance with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Mr Moon recently met with Mr Kim and brought a message from the North Korean leader for Mr Trump. Mr Trump also says he is excited to be signing a new trade deal with South Korea. He said the deal is great for both countries. A Labour government would recognise an independent state of Palestine as soon as we take office, Jeremy Corbyn has said. The opposition leader threw his support behind a two-state solution to Middle East peace, saying he wanted a secure and viable Palestine alongside Israel. Addressing the Labour Friends of Palestine conference fringe event he attacked Donald Trump for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and cutting funding for the UN Refugee Agency. He also called for a sustainable, just peace with Israel after 51 years of occupation. But peace cannot be achieved with the existence of settlements, human rights abuses, and a disregard for international law by the current Israeli government, like last Sundays demolition of the Palestinian village of Khan Al Amar, he continued. The security of one country can never be achieved at the expense of another and Britain has historic responsibility towards Palestinian people. Jeremy Corbyn was speaking at a fringe event held by Labour Friends of Palestine (David Cheskin/PA) We will continue to stand up for Palestinians, we will recognise an independent state of Palestine as soon as we take office. Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry echoed the party leader saying an independent Palestine was needed while there is still some Palestine left to recognise. She also highlighted the toll the conflict was taking on children both in Israel and Palestine. Almost a third of the worlds oceans should be protected by 2030, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has urged. The UK Government is backing calls to treble internationally-agreed targets to protect sea life and habitats by the end of the next decade, as countries meet at the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss ocean conservation. Less than 10% of the worlds seas are currently designated as marine protected areas (MPAs), which can conserve sea life and habitats from damaging activities such as mining and destructive fishing. Countries have agreed a target of designating a tenth of the seas and coastlines as protected areas globally by 2020, under the UNs Convention of Biological Diversity. Michael Gove is calling for a target to protect 30% of the worlds oceans by 2030 (Victoria Jones/PA) At a meeting in Egypt in November, negotiations begin on a new target, and the UK Government is backing calls by campaigners including endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh for 30% of the oceans to be protected by 2030. Campaigners warn the oceans and their wildlife are under increasing threat from problems such as climate change, plastic pollution and overfishing. Mr Gove said: Protection of our oceans is a global challenge which requires global action. The UK has already safeguarded vast swathes of precious marine habitats, but we must go further. Only by working together can we protect our shared home and ensure our marine life continues to be a source of awe and wonder for future generations. Mr Pugh recently completed a 328-mile (528 km) swim along the length of the English Channel, calling for more ambitious ocean protection targets that would see 30% of the oceans fully protected by 2030. He said the pain of my 49 days swim has quickly disappeared in light of the announcement the UK Government was backing the plan. It took my breath away. If this is supported by other nations and followed through, it will be the most important moment for ocean conservation in history. But he added: While we welcome this landmark decision, we need to focus not only on the number but the nature of the protection. Fully protected MPAs is what it takes for these oceans to fully recover. Without this a protected area is like a frame without a picture. Ministers said 36% of Englands waters are already safeguarded as MPAs, with recent proposals for 41 more marine conservation zones to protect species such as the short snouted seahorse and peacocks tail seaweed. Environmental campaigners have welcomed the plans but warned the Government must afford real protection to the seabed and fragile habitats in British waters, with Mr Pugh saying only a fraction was fully protected. Across UK Overseas Territories, the Government has also pledged to safeguard more than four million square kilometres of ocean by 2020. Callum Roberts, professor of marine conservation at the University of York, said protecting areas of the ocean could boost fisheries to benefit people as well as wildlife. If you stop fishing an area, the fish quickly become bigger and more abundant, producing many times more offspring. These eggs and young fish spill into fishing grounds and increase catches. This means that by fishing less, in time it is actually possible to catch more fish, at less expense from more prolific stocks, he said. Joan Edwards, director of Public affairs and living seas at The Wildlife Trusts, said: The Wildlife Trusts completely support Mr Goves call for 30% of the worlds oceans to be designated as Marine Protected Areas. But designation is only the start. If MPAs are to be effective and allow our oceans to recover, they must be well managed damaging activities, such as destructive fishing techniques, must be banned. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have signed the first major agreement of Mr Trumps trade agenda. The leaders signed an update to an existing US-South Korea free-trade agreement in New York. Both leaders are attending an annual UN gathering. The leaders sign the deal (Evan Vucci/AP) Mr Trump called it a very big deal and said the new agreement makes significant improvements to reduce the trade deficit between the countries and create new opportunities to export American products to South Korea. He said US cars, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products will gain better access to Korean markets. Mr Moon said companies from both countries will be able to do business under more stable conditions. The South Korean leader also said he hopes the revised agreement with the US will help solidify their cooperation in other areas. World leaders must do more to hold Russia and Syria to account for their use of chemical weapons, Theresa May has warned as she heads to New York for two days of talks at the United Nations. The despicable attacks in Salisbury and rebel-held Syrian areas recently are a threat to the international system, the Prime Minister said. Action must be taken to prevent further use of chemical weapons as well as deal with previous incidents, she added. The PM will issue a warning when she addresses the UN Security Council on Wednesday. Global problems need global solutions. The UN is the place to find them. Look forward to welcoming world leaders this week at #UNGA. pic.twitter.com/DOGX4dW8eR Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 23, 2018 On the first day of her visit, she will hold a series of meetings with international counterparts, including Irans President Hassan Rouhani, and will raise the case of charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been jailed in Tehran on spying charges. Mrs May is also hosting an event with Emmanuel Macron on improving education for girls. The French President last week called Brexit campaigners liars and said leaving the bloc was not without costs as EU leaders rejected the PMs Chequers plan. A meeting with US President Donald Trump has been scheduled for Wednesday evening and discussions will also be held with businesses including Google. Britain accused Russia of obfuscation and lies after the prime suspects in the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia claimed they visited the UK as tourists. Alexander Petrov (left) and Ruslan Boshirov were identified as the suspects in the Salisbury nerve agent attack (PA) Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were identified by the UK as members of the GRU, Russias military intelligence service, but made widely mocked claims that they only made the trip in early March to visit the wonderful town of Salisbury and its famous cathedral. Speaking ahead of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) visit, Mrs May said: As we meet in the UN Security Council this week the red lines around the use of chemical weapons are being eroded. The Syrian regime has repeatedly used these appalling weapons against its own people while the Russian state has deployed them on UK streets. Attacks such as Salisbury and Ghouta are despicable in their own right, but they are also a threat to the wider international system. Each time we fail to challenge the use or development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) it erodes the framework of treaties we have built up so painstakingly over the past few decades. We worked closely with our allies on a co-ordinated response to Russias use of chemical weapons in Salisbury, resulting in 28 countries as well as Nato joining us in expelling a total of over 150 Russian intelligence officers, the largest collective expulsion ever. But the international community needs to do more together, both to prevent future chemical weapons use and to ensure those who use them are held to account, but also to tackle the range of other threats to global security, including the proliferation of WMD. I'm at #UNGA in New York this week for talks with leaders on Burma, Syria, Yemen and Russia. If youve got questions about these issues, please send them in a tweet and I will do my best to answer you whilst I am here pic.twitter.com/FObm5PL7O5 Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) September 24, 2018 Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt are also attending UNGA. Ms Mordaunt announced new protections for vulnerable children at risk of falling prey to traffickers. A Unicef project backed by the UK will provide up to 400,000 girls and boys in Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan at risk of slavery with birth registration documents to help stop them being dragged into forced labour and under-age marriage. Labour is preparing to vote down Theresa Mays EU withdrawal deal in Parliament, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed. The move leaves the Prime Minister brutally exposed to a rebellion by restive Tory backbenchers, with fewer than a dozen able to fracture her fragile control of the Commons in the upcoming vote. Addressing Labours conference in Liverpool, Sir Keir will warn that Tory division, chaos and failure over Brexit is putting the countrys future prosperity at risk. The party that once promised to fix the roof while the sun was shining now seems intent on burning the whole house down, he will say. His warning comes as Labour delegates at a gathering which has been dominated by wrangling over Brexit prepare to vote on a compromise motion to keep the option of a second EU referendum on the table. Campaigners for a so-called Peoples Vote who staged a march in Liverpool on the conferences opening day have welcomed the motion, which states that if Labour cannot force an early general election it will support all options remaining on the table, including campaigning for a public vote. But they voiced concern after shadow chancellor John McDonnell indicated that the leadership envisage any vote would be on the terms of a Brexit deal, with no option to remain in the EU. With a Commons vote expected in the next few months, Sir Keir is set to say that Labour will oppose any deal which fails the partys six tests, including delivering the exact same benefits of single market and customs union membership. While stopping short of an absolute commitment to vote down Mrs Mays plans, he will tell delegates that it is highly unlikely any deal based on her Chequers blueprint could meet Labours tests. And he will pledge not to back a blind Brexit, under which MPs would be asked to approve the 40 billion withdrawal agreement without being given a clear outline of future relations with Europe. Sir Keir is expected to say: Just when we need a strong government, what do we see from the Tories? Division, chaos and failure. No credible plan for Brexit. No solution to prevent a hard border in Ireland. And no majority in Parliament for the Chequers proposals. A Tory civil war that has gone on for years now threatens our future prosperity. And he will issue a message to Mrs May: If your party wants to tear itself apart, thats fine, but youre not taking our country with you. Organisers said around 5,000 people joined a march in Liverpool demanding a Peoples Vote (Peter Byrne/PA) Setting out Labours approach to the upcoming Commons vote, Sir Keir said: If Theresa May brings back a deal that fails our tests and that looks increasingly likely Labour will vote against it. No ifs, no buts. And if the Prime Minister thinks well wave through a vague deal asking us to jump blindfolded into the unknown she can think again. You cant meet Labours tests by failing to provide answers. We will vote down a blind Brexit. Let me be clear: this isnt about frustrating the process. Its about stopping a destructive Tory Brexit. Its about fighting for our values. And about fighting for our country. Sir Keir released an analysis of the Brexit blueprint agreed by the Cabinet at Mrs Mays country residence, which he said showed it failed to pass Labours six tests. The tests demand: a strong and collaborative future relationship with the EU; the exact same benefits as single market and customs union membership; fair management of migration; defence of rights and protections; protection for national security; and delivering for all regions and nations of the UK. Brexit minister Robin Walker said: Labour seem determined to take us all back to square one by rejecting a deal out of hand then trying to delay Brexit and re-run the referendum. Labour promised to respect the referendum result, but are just playing political games and trying to frustrate it. This Conservative government is negotiating the right deal for the UK, one that promotes jobs and protects security and the precious Union between the four nations of the UK. Theresa May will make a personal plea for the release of a jailed charity worker in Tehran during talks with Irans president. The Prime Minister will raise serious concerns about the detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and urge Hassan Rouhani to free her on humanitarian grounds. The British-Iranian mother was sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying by Tehrans Islamist regime, a charge she vehemently denies. Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says goobye to her young daughter Gabriella as she is forced to return to prison. Mrs May is expected to meet Mr Rouhani for talks in New York on Tuesday, where she is attending the United Nations General Assembly. A senior Government official said: The PM will express serious concern at Nazanins on-going detention and call for her to be released upon humanitarian grounds. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was detained at Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016. Last month she was granted a three-day release from Evin prison but her request for an extension was denied and she was forced to say goodbye to her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, and return to jail. Husband Richard Ratcliffe wrote an open letter to Irans foreign minister Javad Zarif calling the short release a cruel game. All our thoughts and prayers with Nazanin and her family today. Unbearable suffering to be apart from daughter with her hopes raised then dashed. We must redouble efforts to find a way to get her home #FreeNazanin Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) August 29, 2018 Jeremy Hunt pledged to do everything possible to secure Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes release after he became Foreign Secretary. It followed criticism of predecessor Boris Johnsons handling of attempts to free the mother-of-one. Director of Amnesty International UK, Kate Allen, said: This is a step in the right direction, and we welcome the news that the Prime Minister will personally address Nazanins plight tomorrow. Nazanins detention has gone on far too long, and its time for her full and unconditional release. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a prisoner of conscience who should never have been jailed in the first place. She should be freed once and for all and allowed to travel back to the UK to be with her young daughter Gabriella. US president Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the 2015 deal that relieved sanctions on Tehran in return to an end to Irans military nuclear ambitions is also expected to feature heavily in discussions across the UN. Britain and its European allies responded with dismay to Washingtons withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Theresa May will push for a strong trade deal with the US after Brexit when she meets Donald Trump in New York. The Prime Minister is holding talks with the president on Wednesday on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly and will focus on future trading relations. Ahead of the meeting, Mr Trump is chairing a UN Security Council session on counter-proliferation where Mrs May will speak about tackling the increased use of chemical weapons. Theresa May will be talking trade with Donald Trump Buckinghamshire (Stefan Rousseau/PA) The one-to-one meeting later that evening will also include discussions on foreign affairs. Mrs May told American reporters ahead of the visit that she did trust Mr Trump. Well, yes, she told CBS This Morning. I mean, we work together. We have a special relationship. This is two people reflecting as leaders of their two countries the relationship that those two countries have and have built up over a number of years. And as we work together let me give you a very good example. You know, I spoke to President Trump after the Salisbury attack took place. He said he would expel Russian intelligence officers. He did it. Mr Trump publicly apologised to Mrs May when he visited London in July after giving an explosive newspaper interview saying the PMs Brexit plans would kill off a trade deal with America and predicting Boris Johnson would be a great prime minister. The president also gave Mrs May advice on how to handle Brexit, urging her to sue the EU rather than go into negotiations. Their meeting is one of the final engagements on Mrs Mays schedule during the two-day trip. A senior government official said: They both have a strong commitment to securing a strong UK-US free trade agreement once we have left. There is work on-going already in relation to technical talks with the US and a host of other countries. A Scottish Conservative MSP has been cleared of sexual harassment following a hearing by the partys disciplinary committee. Miles Briggs faced accusations that he made persistent unwanted advances to a female worker from another party on the evening of a parliamentary social event in February. The Lothian MSP was cleared of any wrongdoing on Monday when the panel found his account of events to be credible and it dismissed the complaint. Mr Briggs described the allegations as completely false and said he had been through a living hell. The complainant said she was gutted by the outcome and hit out at the complaints process. Mr Briggs spoke to the media at the conclusion of the hearing (Jane Barlow/PA) Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said she has confidence in the partys disciplinary procedures. The private hearing centred around events on February 10 when the MSP and the complainant attended a reception and later a house party in Edinburgh, where Mr Briggs said he and the woman had an argument. The woman formally lodged a complaint with the Conservatives in July, alleging conduct which she claimed had made her feel extremely intimidated, uncomfortable and humiliated. The MSP denied the complainants version of events and he was cleared by the disciplinary hearing in Edinburgh. The report of its findings, later released, said: We found the respondent (Mr Briggs) to be credible in his version of events. The committee was unanimously of the view that this complaint should be dismissed. Following the hearing, Mr Briggs said: The last two months have been a living hell for me and my family as I have had to face these false allegations of sexual harassment made against me. Damage has clearly been done to my character, especially among those who dont know me, and I hope I have the chance to address that in the coming weeks and months. He said he was made aware of the allegations earlier this year, co-operated with the investigation and kept the matter confidential. The MSP added that he was grateful to the SNP parliamentary researchers who were among those who supported my case. He continued: I would like to put it on record that I believe it is vital for women and men to bring forward complaints of harassment, and for those complaints to be considered with care and confidentiality. I believe the party has done that in this case. The charity Rape Crisis Scotland posted a statement from the woman, which said she was sad and angry that the disciplinary hearing process was so terrible. Our response to the Miles Briggs judgement pic.twitter.com/l0UameMBFe Rape Crisis Scotland (@rapecrisisscot) September 24, 2018 The charity said it had significant concerns over how the process was dealt with. The woman in this case faced a process which was intimidating and inappropriate, it said in a statement on Twitter, adding that it could not advise her to attend the hearing. In our view the Scottish Conservatives need to urgently change their approach to investigating sexual harassment complaints, the organisation said. In a statement on Twitter, Ms Davidson said: This has not been an easy process, but the party is committed to ensuring that women and men are able to report allegations of sexual harassment to us, and maintain their anonymity as they do so. I have confidence in the robustness of the disciplinary process the party has put in place, that those procedures have been followed in this case, and stand by the thoroughness of its impartiality. Scientists say they have found a groundbreaking way to target the toxic particles that cause Alzheimers disease. Academics at the University of Cambridge and at Lund University in Sweden have devised a strategy to go after particles that destroy healthy brain cells, leading to hope that new drugs could be developed to treat dementia. Professor Michele Vendruscolo, one of the scientists who led the research, hailed it as a world first. The research was carried out by an international team of scientists that also included Professor Sir Christopher Dobson, Master of St Johns College, University of Cambridge, at the Centre for Misfolding Diseases (CMD) which was co-founded by Sir Christopher. The research paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Prof Vendruscolo said: This is the first time that a systematic method to go after the pathogens the cause of Alzheimers disease has been proposed. (Yui Mok/PA) Until very recently scientists couldnt agree on what the cause was so we didnt have a target. The pathogens have now been identified as small clumps of proteins known as oligomers and we have been able to develop a strategy to aim drugs at these toxic particles. Sir Christopher said: This interdisciplinary study shows that it is possible not just to find compounds that target the toxic oligomers that give rise to neurodegenerative disorders but also to increase their potency in a rational manner. It now makes it possible to design molecules that have specific effects on the various stages of disorders such as Alzheimers, and hopefully to convert them into drugs that can be used in a clinical environment. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary ramped up pressure on Iran to release a charity worker jailed in Tehran during talks in New York. Theresa May told Iranian president Hassan Rouhani she had serious concerns about the jailing of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The British-Iranian mother was sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying by Tehrans Islamist regime, a charge she vehemently denies. In talks of the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Mrs May called for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffes release. It came after Jeremy Hunt demanded rapid action to secure her freedom in his first face-to-face meeting with Irans foreign minister. The Foreign Secretary told Javad Zarif that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe must be returned home quickly. Jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella (Family Handout/PA) During talks on the UNGA sidelines, he said: I again pressed for Nazanins swift release she deserves to be back at home with her family, Mr Hunt said in a statement. It is also absolutely essential the Iranian government take steps to ensure the release of a number of detained dual nationals, he added. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was detained at Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016. Last month she was granted a three-day release from Evin prison but her request for an extension was denied and she was forced to say goodbye to her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, and return to jail. Husband Richard Ratcliffe wrote an open letter to Mr Zarif calling the short release a cruel game. Mrs May also used her meeting with President Rouhani to underline the UKs commitment to the Iran nuclear deal. Britain and its European allies responded with dismay to US president Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that relieved sanctions on Tehran in return for an end to Irans military nuclear ambitions. President Donald Trump has lashed out at Iran, with national security adviser John Bolton also warning there would be hell to pay if Tehran crossed the US. Speeches by the president before the UN General Assembly and by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mr Bolton at a New York City hotel marked an escalation of rhetoric. Mr Trump blasted what he called Irans corrupt dictatorship and accused its leaders of enriching themselves through embezzlement and raiding state coffers to spread mayhem. Mr Trump also vowed to continue to isolate Iran through US sanctions that are being re-instated following his withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. The next round of sanctions will take effect in early November. He later predicted that the pressure from renewed sanctions would force Iran back to the table to negotiate. Irans leaders sow chaos, death and destruction, the president told the UN General Assembly in a 34-minute speech that was more critical of Iran than any other country. They do not respect their neighbours or borders or the sovereign rights of nations. Instead Irans leaders plunder the nations resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far beyond. In an even more fiery to a group opposed to the Iran deal, Mr Bolton went further. If you cross us, our allies, or our partners; if you harm our citizens; if you continue to lie, cheat and deceive, yes, there will indeed be hell to pay, he said. The murderous regime and its supporters will face significant consequences if they do not change their behaviour. Let my message today be clear: We are watching, and we will come after you. National security adviser John Bolton, leftl arrives ahead of President Donald Trumps address to the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (Mary Altaffer/AP) Mr Pompeo also spoke at the event hosted by United Against a Nuclear Iran, being held to coincide with UN General Assembly. In his speech, Mr Pompeo unveiled a long list of Iranian misdeeds, from its support of Syrian president Bashar Assad and Houthi rebels in Yemen to sponsoring or plotting attempted terrorist attacks in Africa, Asia, Europe and beyond. It is truly an outlaw regime, he said. There can be no question Iranian destructive activities are truly global in scope. It is therefore incumbent on every country to join our efforts to change the regimes lawless behaviour. The ongoing, multi-national, multi-continental nature of Iranian malign activity leaves no room for inaction or indecision. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, who also addressed the UN, launched a scathing attack on Mr Trump and his administration for abandoning international norms and imposing sanctions that amount to economic terrorism. He accused the United States on Tuesday of trying to overthrow his government. The United States understanding of international relations is authoritarian, Mr Rouhani said. In its estimation, might makes right. Its understanding of power, not of legal and legitimate authority, is reflected in bullying and imposition. Recently, #Iran-supported militias in Iraq launched rocket attacks against the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and our consulate in Basra. Well hold #Irans regime accountable for any attack on our personnel or facilities, and respond swiftly and decisively in defense of American lives. pic.twitter.com/nqbmogbeCA Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 25, 2018 Mr Trump and his aides, meanwhile, stepped up their attacks on the nuclear deal, which was a signature foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration. Mr Trump called it horrible and maintained that many Middle Eastern countries had supported the decision to withdraw. In fact, only Israel and Gulf Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates enthusiastically backed the move. The other parties to the deal, under which Iran agreed to curbs on its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, remain in the agreement and met on Monday in New York to reaffirm their support for it. Aside from Iran, the other participants are Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union. After that meeting, the top diplomats from those countries and the EU agreed to establish a financial facility in the European Union to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports including oil, a key move sought by Tehran as it attempts to fight back against the re-imposed US sanctions. They said in a joint statement that the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle will assist and reassure economic operators pursuing legitimate business with Iran. Mr Pompeo harshly criticised those countries for attempting to subvert US sanctions. This is one of the most counterproductive measures imaginable for regional and global peace and security, he said. By sustaining revenues to the regime, you are solidifying Irans ranking as the number one state sponsor of terror, enabling Irans violent export of revolution and making the regime even richer while the Iranian people scrape by. A rare goat-antelope which escaped from a zoo has returned home after being on the run for nearly two days. The young female West Caucasian tur jumped a fence and fled into woods behind Paignton Zoo in Devon on Monday. The mountain-dwelling animal was spotted by keepers near the zoo on Tuesday and was tempted home with food. *UPDATE*: We're pleased to say that the tur is now back safe with her herd. She was finally tempted by a little food and walked back in, none the worse for her brief time in the woods. Staff are delighted she is back and thank the public and media for their concern and support. Paignton Zoo (@PaigntonZoo) September 26, 2018 Zoo spokesman Phil Knowling said: Staff are pleased to say that the West Caucasian tur is back safe with her herd. She was finally tempted by a little food and walked back in, none the worse for her brief time in the woods. Staff are delighted that she has returned. A West Caucasian tur (Miriam Haas/Paignton Zoo/PA) Devon and Cornwall Police had warned the public not to approach the horned beast as it could be dangerous if startled. The West Caucasian tur is a mountain-dwelling goat-antelope found in the Caucasus Mountains range between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The wild population is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,000. Indias top court has upheld the governments policy of issuing a 12-digit identification number to every citizen. But the Supreme Court said it cannot be made mandatory for services such as bank accounts, mobile phone connections and school admissions. In a 4-1 decision, the court said that the government could use the scheme for tax purposes and providing benefits under welfare schemes such as subsidised food items and cooking fuel. Lawyer Prashan Bhushan said private organisations could not ask for the number because of privacy concerns. The Indian government has enrolled more than 90% of the countrys 1.3 billion people since it launched the scheme in 2010 linking fingerprints, iris scans and photos of citizens to the unique 12-digit number. A man gets his retina scanned (Bikas Das/AP) Banks, mobile operators and the government itself started to require identification numbers to access various services. Rich Indians generally possessed passports, drivers licences or credit cards that establish who they are. But the poor were often forced to rely on electricity bills, ration cards, voting cards or letters from local officials. The government policy was aimed at making a citizens identification number override all other prior identity proofs. Justice AK Sikri, reading out the majority judgment, said the government should put a robust data protection regime in place as early as possible, noting that the attack on the government scheme by petitioners was based on violation of constitutional rights which they felt led to a surveillance state. Judge Sikri, however, said there was no possibility of a person obtaining a duplicate identification number because an adequate defence mechanism was in place. Justice DY Chandrachud said the collection of data could lead to individual profiling of citizens and the data could be misused by a third party and private vendors without the consent of an individual. An investigation has been launched after a man was found dead outside a hotel in Manchester city centre and another was found dead in a room of the same building. Greater Manchester Police said they were called to Portland Street shortly after 5.30am on Wednesday following reports that a man had fallen from a building. The man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are responding to an incident on Portland Street in the city centre. Shortly after 5.30am this morning police were called to reports that a man had fallen from a building. A man sadly died at the scene. There are road closures in place. Enquiries are ongoing. Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) September 26, 2018 Officers gained entry to a room in the Britannia Hotel and found another man, who also died at the scene. A forensic tent was put up at the back of the hotel on Silver Street, which remains closed. Detective Chief Inspector Amber Waywell, of Greater Manchester Polices Major Incident Team, said: We are currently working to establish exactly what happened to lead to the death of both these men. A police forensic tent in Manchester city centre (@Whammertime2/PA) We have a team of officers at the scene and Silver Street in the city centre will remain closed as we carry out our investigations. David Hockney has unveiled a stained glass window tribute to the Queen at Westminster Abbey saying, I hope shell like it. Spanning over eight metres high, the new work is the 81-year-olds first in stained glass. Designed on his iPad and set in Hockneys Yorkshire birthplace, it reflects the Queens love for, and connection with, the countryside. The Queens Window (Victoria Jones/PA) Hockney was commissioned to create the window to celebrate the Queens reign. The brightly-coloured abstract window of yellow, red, blue, pink, orange and greens, features hawthorn blossom and stands out in its historic setting. Hockney told the Press Association that the iPad was a natural thing to use because it is back-lit like a window. The much-loved artist, who recently broke his own auction record with a 21.1 million painting, said that designing his first stained glass window was a challenge adding: Ive learnt something about glass. David Hockney at Westminster Abbey, home to his new stained glass window pic.twitter.com/e3VSovlz7O Sherna Noah (@showbizsherna) September 26, 2018 He said of wanting to depict the countryside: Landscape is nature. The previous window put up in here was also nature, lilies. I chose the hawthorn which is (for) four days (like) the moment when champagne looks as though its been poured over all the bushes. Its a rather celebratory thing. Its the height of the spring and summer. The artist said of the windows Westminster Abbey home: I know this is a historic place and I know its going to last. Hockney once said that he turned down the chance to paint the Queen because he was very busy painting England actually, her country. Asked whether he had any response to the window from the monarch, who has not yet seen the finished result, he said: Not yet, but I hope shell like it. Im sure she will. David Hockney in front of The Queens Window (Victoria Jones/PA) Hockneys new work, The Queens Window, stands just next to Parliament. But he said of British politics: I dont really know that much about it actually, I dont care that much. There are always crisis. Theres always this, theres always that. Im sure its going on now. But Im staying out of it. Hockney, famous for both his Yorkshire landscapes and paintings of Californian life, was inspired by Matisse, Chagall and a few other people for the new work. He was asked to design something symbolic or representational, rather than a figurative design. Westminster Abbey said that the result reflects the Queen as a countrywoman and her widespread delight in, and yearning for, the countryside. The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall told the Press Association: Im excited by it. I think theres absolutely no harm at all in having something which is particular and vibrant and different. Some of the glass here is not very good. Some of it is not too bad, but this has a wonderful, beautiful, easily accessible vibrant colour. I think people will enjoy it. He added: Its going to be here until the end. I mean, who knows whats going to happen in the future! The Abbeys only been here just over 1,000 years. Itll be thousands more. He said of the Queen: Shes obviously seen a sketch but shell see it in person when shes here in November. You wouldnt necessarily get very much reaction out of the Queen. She absorbs things. But shes also I think quite trusting. Barley Studio, a stained glass studio based in York, created the window using traditional techniques. Nominations for Irelands presidential election have officially closed. There are six candidates in the running including the incumbent Michael D Higgins. All six candidates have submitted nomination papers at Custom House in Dublin in the last few days. The home of the Irish president in Phoenix Park, Dublin (Niall Carson/PA) Businessman and star of Irelands Dragons Den Gavin Duffy became an official candidate after securing the support of Waterford, Meath, Carlow and Wicklow councils. Sean Gallagher was backed by Roscommon, Leitrim, Mayo and Wexford councils, while Senator Joan Freeman received four nominations from Cork City, Galway County, Fingal and Galway City. Businessman Peter Casey was backed by Kerry, Clare, Limerick and Tipperary councils. Sinn Fein selected MEP Liadh Ni Riada as its candidate last week. Mr Higgins nominated himself to run for re-election. In keeping with precedent for the nomination of a sitting president, his nomination papers were submitted by his representative Art OLeary, secretary general to the president, who was accompanied by the presidents election agent Conor Power. The president will formally launch his re-election campaign later on Wednesday. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail backed Mr Higgins for re-election, and did not field their own candidates in support of his campaign. The election will take place on Friday October 26, with the winner inaugurated on November 11. Remarkable timelapse footage shows how a bridge over one of the UKs busiest stretches of motorway was removed. The 150-tonne centre section of the bridge above the M6 in Staffordshire was pushed into the air by a machine before being taken away on a 90ft (27.4m) specialist transporter. The motorway was closed for 11 hours in both directions between Junctions 14 and 15 during the Highways England operation on Saturday night. Creswell Home Farm bridge, north of Stafford, was not in use and was too small to allow capacity to be increased on the heavily congested motorway below, which is a key north-south route. The smart motorway project involves converting the hard shoulder into an extra traffic lane on a 17-mile (27.4km) stretch of the M6, as well as installing new technology to help smooth the flow of vehicles. Highways England smart motorways project sponsor Peter Smith said: This was a big and complex job that took a lot of planning. A section of bridge is removed from above the M6 in Staffordshire (Highways England/PA) Im delighted to say that all paid off and Id like to thank everyone whose journeys were affected for their patience. The remaining sections of the bridge, which was 250ft (76.2m) long, will be removed later. The upgrade to the M6 is due to be completed by March 2022. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has no intention of calling a confidence vote, her spokesman said, after her party ousted a close ally as head of its parliamentary group. Mrs Merkels conservative Union bloc voted out Volker Kauder as head of its parliamentary group, a key post for securing the passage of government legislation. It was the latest wobble for Mrs Merkels fourth-term administration following two coalition crises since it took office in March. Volker Kauder (Markus Schreiber/AP) The surprise defeat for Mr Kauder, who had held the job since Mrs Merkel became chancellor in 2005, was a blow to her authority in conservative ranks. Opposition figures called on her to hold a confidence vote in parliament. Asked whether she plans to do so, Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said the answer is a clear no. Jeremy Corbyn paid a heartfelt tribute to his Mexican wife, describing her as my strength and my support in her native Spanish as he addressed the Labour Party conference. As Laura Alvarez and his children looked on, Mr Corbyn said his whole family gave him help and advice, raising a laugh by adding: there is actually always a great deal of advice being given. He followed the joke by praising his third wife, saying: In particular I would like to say a big thank you to my wife Laura. Tu eres mi fuerza y mi apoyo. Gracias Laurita. The Spanish phrase translates as you are my strength and my support. Ms Alvarez, a human rights activist, was pictured with a broad smile as the cameras turned to her after his praise. They married in 2013, three years before he became Labour leader. She has kept a low profile since his election, although she has appeared in the audience at major speeches, often flanked by Mr Corbyns grown-up children from an earlier marriage. Mr Corbyn paid tribute to his Mexican wife in Spanish (Jonathan Brady/PA) After he was elected Labour leader she told Vice News in a rare interview her husband was not very good at housework, but hes a good politician. Ahead of the 2017 General Election Mr Corbyn hit out at media intrusion into his family life, saying it was not right and not fair for them to be subjected to the scrutiny. Two decades Mr Corbyns junior, Ms Alvarez first encountered her future husband in 1999 when he was helping her sister, whose child had been abducted by her estranged husband. After being introduced by her sister at a Latin American support group in a north London pub, the pair kept in touch by email after Ms Alvarez returned to Mexico, where she worked at a bank for poor rural communities. The long-distance relationship developed into a love affair and the couple married in a country estate outside Mexico City. Since moving to London to be with her husband, Ms Alvarez has run a fair trade company importing coffee from Mexico. Mr Corbyn, 68, first married fellow Labour councillor Jane Chapman in 1974 but they divorced five years later, reportedly after his wife tired of his devotion to politics. He then married Chilean Claudia Bracchitta in 1987 and they had three sons, but the relationship reportedly foundered over a disagreement about whether to send one of their children to a grammar school. Two people have gone on trial accused of murdering a woman who has allegedly not been seen for more than 18 years. Margaret Fleming was reported missing in October 2016 from her home in Inverkip, Inverclyde, but it is claimed she has not been seen since December 1999. Edward Cairney, 76, and Avril Jones, 58, are accused of her abduction and murder, and of fraudulently claiming 182,000 in benefits by pretending she was still alive. The couple, who deny all charges against them, went on trial before Lord Matthews at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday. Cairney and Jones are on trial at the High Court in Glasgow (PA) It is alleged Cairney and Jones abducted Ms Fleming at her home at Seacroft, Inverkip, locked her in a room, assaulted her, cut her hair and bound her arms and wrists with tape on various occasions between November 1, 1997 and January 5, 2000. The pair are accused of murdering Ms Fleming, who would now be 37, by unknown means at some point between December 18, 1999 and January 5, 2000. It is alleged that between December 18, 1999 and October 2016 they pretended to Department of Work and Pensions officials that Ms Fleming was alive, and claimed state benefits, obtaining 182,000 by fraud. The pair also face two charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice. It is alleged they disposed of, destroyed or concealed the remains and personal effects of Ms Fleming between December 18, 1999 and October 26, 2017. They are also accused of trying to board a train to London at Glasgow Central Station on October 25, 2017 while carrying 3,500 and the keys to a safe deposit box at a bank in London which contained 27,000. It is alleged they planned to travel and evade police and prosecutors. Lord Matthews told the jury the trial could last eight weeks. Cancer warning labels will be included on alcohol products in Ireland once new drink laws are introduced, the health minister has confirmed. Simon Harris said he saw no harm in putting warnings on alcohol. It is very appropriate that the risk between alcohol and tobacco would be highlighted, Mr Harris said. The measure is included in the Governments Public Health Alcohol Bill. Simon Harris (Brian Lawless/PA) The proposed legislation, which aims to reduce alcohol consumption in Ireland, has been subject to considerable criticism from lobbying groups. It was first proposed more than three years ago. Last weekend a number of cross-party backbenchers pushed for warning labels to be omitted from the legislation, arguing they would damage the alcohol industry when it comes to international competitors. There was speculation that Mr Harris would listen to them and drop the labelling policy. Speaking ahead of a debate in the Dail on the law changes, Mr Harris said it had always been the intention to put the warning notices on labels because alcohol can contribute to cancer. He said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, as health minister in 2015, had talked about the need for such warnings. Ive consistently said it, Mr Harris said. The question was how best do you achieve it. The health minister said he hoped the landmark legislation would be passed by the Dail after 1,000 days of vested interests working day and night to beat this bill. Mr Harris said similar legislation relating to tobacco had been successfully introduced in the past. Lets use that model that we know works in relation to alcohol, like we have done with tobacco, he said. The bill is scheduled to be debated in the Dail on Wednesday. If passed, it would be the first time in the history of the state that public health legislation relating to alcohol has been introduced. It would lead to the introduction of minimum unit pricing and the separation of alcohol products from other items in supermarkets. The minister said if it passes the Department of Health will begin the process of designing the label. It would then have to be approved by the European Commission. Flights between Ireland and the United Kingdom could be grounded if there is no Brexit deal, the head of Irelands aviation authority has warned. Michael McGrail, the chair of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), said that if the UK crashes out of the EU next March there would be a practical danger that flights to the UK would come to a halt. In his evidence to Irelands transport, tourism and sport committee on Wednesday, Mr McGrail spoke of the challenges the aviation industry faces in the wake of a hard Brexit saying the implications would start from midnight on March 29, the date the UK leaves the EU. An Aer Lingus flight leaves Dublin airport (Niall Carson/PA) The new head of IAA, who took up his role earlier this month, told TDs that the Department of Transport is carrying out a number of scenarios to ensure minimal negative consequences. Given the apparent impasse between the UK and the EU, a satisfactory withdrawal agreement, transition period and then future relationship is in doubt, he said. Apart from the disruption for aviation and the travelling public, a hard Brexit would have a significant negative impact on our wider economy. The Department (of Transport) is carrying out scenario planning to ensure minimal negative consequences and the IAA is working in close collaboration with the department and other agencies in this regard. He was further probed about the practical implications for the public and whether a no-deal Brexit would result in flights coming to an abrupt end. If there is a hard Brexit, then the UK becomes a third country and therefore both the air traffic management and air safety regulations that currently govern, not only the UK but the rest of Europe, would fall away. Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) There obviously would be immediate practical issues I suppose from midnight on March 29. Having said that we know the Department is working on practical solutions to that and they have a number of scenarios they are looking at and we are working closely with them to see how those scenarios would actually work. The IAA nor the Irish Government can control this. Its very much the EU. When asked if there is a practical danger that flights to the UK would halt, he said there would be. He referred to a report produced by British government officials earlier this week which also stated that fights will be grounded if no deal is struck between the UK and the EU. Theres a lot to be done between now and then and I dont think it would be in anyones interests for that to happen, he added. Under the EUs Open Skies agreement, airlines operate within a single aviation market which covers regulations relating to safety. Mr McGrail said there was a general passporting of traffic and safety within all of Europe, and if a member leaves they therefore leave the passporting approval process. He added that he was particularly aware of the importance of the UK in the aviation industry because Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Boeing all have substantial facilities in the country that supply the sector with parts. He added: It will be forming part of the discussion we will have with the department in terms of hopefully avoiding a hard Brexit. Rupert Murdochs 21st Century Fox is to sell its 39% stake in broadcaster Sky to Comcast. Fox said that following Comcasts victory in a 30 billion bidding war over the British broadcaster, it would either accept the US cable giants offer or sell its stake at the offer price of 17.28. It means that the Murdoch family will relinquish their holding in Sky. Sky boss Jeremy Darroch paid tribute to the Murdochs following the news. He said: Nearly 30 years ago Rupert Murdoch took a risk to launch Sky and in the process changed the way we watch television forever. His vision and belief has enabled us to grow in to Europes leading direct to consumer media business and I would like to personally thank him, (son) James and 21CF for their consistent support as shareholders, board members and friends. Rupert Murdochs Fox is selling its holding in Sky to Comcast (PA) On behalf of all our employees I would also like to thank James for his chairmanship as we have transformed Sky over the past decade. With 21CF announcing its intention to sell its shares to Comcast we close one chapter while simultaneously opening another. Our aim is to make the next 30 years as exciting for customers, colleagues and all our stakeholders. Comcasts victory means that Mr Murdoch has failed for a second time to gain full control of Sky. But since Fox made its first bid nearly two years ago, it has agreed to sell a major chunk of its business including its existing 39% Sky stake to Walt Disney, which has rubber stamped the sale to Comcast. Offloading the stake will net the firm around 11.6 billion. Comcast boss Brian Roberts had said he was prepared to jointly own Sky, but Foxs decision clears the path for the US firm to seize full control of the pay-TV giant. On Saturday evening, Comcast won the long-running battle for control of the broadcaster, beating Foxs 15.67 per share offer after the auction went to the maximum three rounds. Comcast owns NBC Universal and is the largest cable operator in the US. With the Sky takeover, Comcast will become the biggest pay-TV provider in the world, with around 52 million customers after adding Skys 23 million subscribers. Ukips former deputy chairman has resigned, accusing leader Gerard Batten of moving the party further and further to the right. MEP William Dartmouth, who has sat in the European Parliament as a Ukip MEP for South West England since 2009, said in his resignation letter that the party had come to be associated with outlandish people and extreme right-wing groups. The former Tory peer hit out at Mr Batten, accusing his fellow MEP of having hijacked the UK Independence Party. He said: At a time when our founding cause of leaving the EU is at risk, you have chosen instead to campaign against Islam as a religion. You associate yourself, and therefore Ukip, with outlandish people and extreme right-wing groups. He added: The work of all those who worked so hard in their support of Brexit is being devalued. To put it simply, you have hijacked the UK Independence Party. Ukip leader Gerard Batten during the annual conference in Birmingham (PA) That is not the Ukip that I joined. It is not the Ukip that nearly four million people voted for in the previous general election. Dartmouth said he could not in good faith continue to be a member of a party whose leader makes abusive and offensive comments on Islam and the prophet Mohammed. Mr Batten has courted controversy for his repeated description of Islam as a death cult. Asked about calling Islam a death cult on his personal blog, he previously stated: It was propagated by invasion, by violence and intimidation. And if you look at every continent in the world where you have this belief, then you have violence. It glorifies death. Dartmouth said that he would continue to sit in the European Parliament as an Independent MEP representing the South West and Gibraltar. Mr Battens office has been contacted for comment. A Cambridge University college where staff and visitors have been bombarded by pigeon droppings has gained permission to install measures against the birds. The 15th Century Kings College reported a problem with pigeons roosting and nesting in the ornate gothic stonework near its entrance. Deputy clerk of works Adam Gardner said in an application to Cambridge City Council that pigeon droppings were causing mess and coming into contact with college staff that are posted at the gates throughout the day as well as visitors and paying customers. Kings College chapel in Cambridge. The college has gained permission to install `pigeon prevention measures. (Chris Radburn/ PA) The council granted permission on Tuesday for plastic discs to be fixed to part of the college entrance as pigeon prevention measures. Application documents state the discs would be fixed within closed crowns, painted a dark colour and would not be visible due to being in deep shadow. Nests would be cleared from the crowns and the discs are designed to stop the pigeons from accessing the void again. If the measures do not work the authority said they should be removed with no damage or alteration to the stonework of the gateway, designed by William Wilkins in 1824. Local charity Cambridge Past Present and Future said in a letter to the council that it did not support the plans. Stacey Weiser, of the group, wrote that the strategy does not address the long-term aims as it will only move the birds onto another building, or to a different part of the same building. Kings College was founded in 1441 by Henry VI and is world-famous for its chapel and choir. A no-deal Brexit would be a significant shock to the booming Irish economy, the finance minister warned. Paschal Donohoe said if the UK crashed out of the EU the Republics productivity would continue to grow, but only by 2-3% rather than 3-4%. Ireland would also face exceptional swings in the value of sterling, which would cause many difficult consequences for trade, the minister added. Irelands well-developed financial sector would be impacted in areas like money flow and insurance contracts by a disorderly Brexit, he said. Mr Donohoe warned: It would be a very significant shock for our economy. The UK is Irelands main trading partner. Around a third of the Republics exports head there. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has predicted a significant reduction in the rate of economic growth if the UK exits the EU without a deal (Oireachtas TV/PA) The future of trade across the Irish land border with Northern Ireland and the position of the backstop if no deal can be struck is one of the most vexed issues still facing EU and UK negotiators ahead of next Marchs Brexit. Mr Donohoe gave evidence to the Irish Parliaments select committee on budgetary oversight. He repeated his estimation that the impact of a no-deal Brexit in the medium-term could be worth 3-3.5% of growth points over the coming years. The minister added: It is likely that our economy would still grow but at a significantly lower rate. He predicted major structural change in Irelands economic relationship with the UK after the divorce, adding: There will be many new obligations on Irish, European and British companies. He repeated that more customs and agriculture officials will be required. The minister said the risk of a more adverse Brexit outcome than expected was one of the principal reasons that the Government has put in place prudent measures in the case of a failure to reach any agreement. Minister @Paschald is currently in front of the Budgetary Oversight Committee. Read his opening statement here. https://t.co/lHeoSMdAQ7 pic.twitter.com/UUUMwwt93w Department of Finance (@IRLDeptFinance) September 26, 2018 These include: Targeting a balanced budget, including using windfall receipts to reduce public debt Measures to rebuild fiscal buffers, including the establishment of a rainy day fund Increasing capital expenditure to enhance the productive capacity of the economy Measures to support small and medium-sized businesses, as announced in previous budgets Irelands budget 2019 will be published early next month. Mr Donohoe added: Reducing our public debt and its servicing costs remains a key priority. Our current debt level equates to 42,000 euro per capita and is the third highest in the developed world. This Government is steadfast in its commitment to the pursuit of sound budgetary policy. On Tuesday the Government survived a Sinn Fein no-confidence motion linked to its handling of homelessness. Mr Donohoe recognised housing supply and affordability constraints and outlined a range of measures previously taken to address the issue. At the end of August, 32.4 billion euro tax revenues were collected up 1.6 billion euro (5%) on the same period last year, and broadly on target. The minister said that highlighted that the fiscal position was continuing to improve. Two people have gone on trial accused of abducting and murdering a woman who has allegedly not been seen for more than 18 years. Margaret Fleming was reported missing in October 2016 from her home in Inverkip, Inverclyde, but it is claimed she has not been seen since December 1999. Edward Cairney, 76, and Avril Jones, 58, are accused of her abduction and murder, and of fraudulently claiming 182,000 in benefits by pretending she was still alive. The couple, who deny all charges against them, went on trial before Lord Matthews at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday. Cairney and Jones are on trial at the High Court in Glasgow (PA) It is alleged Cairney and Jones abducted Ms Fleming at her home at Seacroft, Inverkip, locked her in a room, assaulted her, cut her hair and bound her arms and wrists with tape on various occasions between November 1, 1997 and January 5, 2000. The pair are accused of murdering Ms Fleming, who would now be 37, by unknown means at some point between December 18, 1999 and January 5, 2000. It is alleged that between December 18, 1999 and October 2016 they pretended to Department for Work and Pensions officials that Ms Fleming was alive, and claimed state benefits, obtaining 182,000 by fraud. The pair also face two charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice. It is alleged they disposed of, destroyed or concealed the remains and personal effects of Ms Fleming between December 18, 1999 and October 26, 2017. They are also accused of trying to board a train to London at Glasgow Central Station on October 25, 2017 while carrying 3,500 and the keys to a safe deposit box at a bank in London which contained 27,000. It is alleged they planned to travel and evade police and prosecutors. The first witnesses to give evidence in the trial were scene examiners who took photographs of Seacroft cottage. William Ward, 61, and Petra Sharp, 48, documented the property and surrounding area. Mr Ward was at the scene on the evening of November 1, 2016, while Ms Sharp carried out work from November 2, 2016 until March 2017. Their photographs, which were shown to the jury, showed a house which was full of clutter. Thomas Ross QC, representing Cairney, asked Ms Sharp whether it was possible to exit the building from the front and rear to get to the nearby road, as well as to the foreshore, and she agreed that it was. Lord Matthews told the jury that the trial, which continues on Thursday, could last eight weeks. Melania Trump has said she will promote child welfare in Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt in October on her first extended solo international mission. The US first lady detailed her plans at a reception on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly. Mrs Trump said she looks forward to spreading the message of her domestic child welfare initiative throughout Africa. Donald and Melania Trump at UN headquarters (Craig Ruttle/AP) She is travelling without President Donald Trump, who raised ire across Africa this year after his private complaint about the continents shithole countries was leaked to journalists. Mr Trump will be in the midst of campaigning for the November elections. He said that he and his wife love Africa. The first ladys only other solo international foray was a September 2017 day trip to Toronto to join Britains Prince Harry for an event. MI5 chose not to investigate Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood despite him having contact with a number of terrorists including a key figure in a major plot. The extent of the fanatics connections with various suspects being monitored by the security service, including one of the fertiliser bomb plotters and members of banned group al-Muhajiroun, was laid out at the inquests into the attack victims deaths on Wednesday. A senior MI5 officer gave evidence amid tight security at the Old Bailey, shielded from the sight of everyone in Court One, including the coroner, by green curtains fastened together with bulldog clips. He told the court that the decision in 2010 to class Masood as someone who did not pose a risk to national security was sound. Westminster terrorist Khalid Masood (Metropolitan Police/PA) Identified as Witness L, he said that the atrocity could not have been stopped. There simply wasnt enough intelligence for us to work on that would have allowed us to identify his plot and work with the police to frustrate it, he said. Amid strict security measures, with no one other than lawyers and court transcription staff allowed to use phones and computers during his evidence, he told the Old Bailey: Masood engaged in attack planning on his own. Its very difficult to make a decision as to when he decided to mount the attack. The court heard how Masood came to the attention of MI5 in 2004, when his number was found in the phone of Waheed Mahmood, one of a group of terrorists who plotted to plant fertiliser bombs. He also had contact on a number of occasions between 2004 and 2009 with another terrorist suspect under investigation by MI5. CCTV of Westminster terrorist Khalid Masood driving along Westminster Bridge (Metropolitan Police/PA) The suspect had his address, email addresses and phone numbers. In February 2010 there was a vague and uncorroborated report of someone called Khalid Masood, an extremist based in Saudi Arabia, helping a UK terror cell plan to travel to Pakistan to receive training from al Qaida. As part of the investigation into the cell, Masood was initially classed as someone who posed a threat to national security, but then was downgraded to someone who may pose a threat the following month, when MI5 investigators discovered he was not involved in the plan. In December that year a review found that as Masood was not involved in facilitating travel or in any other aspect of the plot, he could be downgraded again. Witness L told the Old Bailey: He was downgraded to a target who was not considered to be a risk to national security. No record was made at the time of the reasons why the decision was taken. Counsel to the inquest Jonathan Hough QC read from a written statement by Witness L that said: We have reviewed the decision to close Masood (as a person of interest) with the benefit of hindsight and we conclude the decision was sound. Victims of the Westminster Bridge terror attack (left to right) Pc Keith Palmer, Aysha Frade, Leslie Rhodes, Andreea Cristea and Kurt Cochran (Metropolitan Police/PA) The officer went on: It was logical, necessary and proportionate to consider him a closure. Between December 2010 and October 2012 Masood was associated with a number of subjects of interest to MI5 and there was an indication that he consumed extremist material, the court heard. For the next four years he appeared intermittently in connection with a number of other subjects of interest, including some linked to banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun, but at no stage was there considered to be enough information to justify investigating him further. The officer said that even though Masood had a history of violent offending, had been linked to multiple terror suspects, and in 2013 expressed satisfaction that the September 11 attacks had drawn people to Islam, the decision not to investigate him was a sound one. Witness L said: None of these indicators were enough to say that he was involved in activities of significant concern to us. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick attended the inquest (PA Wire) At the time of the attack in 2017 the service was facing an unprecedented scale of work, with around 500 investigations into Islamist terrorists, 3,000 people considered subjects of interest (SOIs) and 20,000 who had previously been classed as SOIs. Mr Hough read Witness L a conclusion from a report by former terror watchdog David Anderson after the atrocity that said: Not everything can be stopped, there will always be a danger of a determined attacker getting through. The officer replied: Im afraid thats true. He also gave his condolences to relatives of those who died. On behalf of both myself and my service I offer my profound sympathies to the families of those who were killed in Khalid Masoods attack, those who were injured in the attack and anyone else who was affected by it. Everyone in my service comes to work every day to stop attacks. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick and Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, a senior counter-terrorism officer, were in court as Witness L gave evidence. Masood, 52, ploughed a hired SUV into pedestrians Kurt Cochran, 54, Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Andreea Cristea, 31, on Westminster Bridge on March 22 last year, before stabbing Pc Keith Palmer, 48, to death near the Houses of Parliament. Gareth Patterson QC, for the families of the four civilians killed in the attack, said: I suggest a proper investigation would have been likely to have revealed not only his extremist views, which were there to be discovered, but the danger that he posed. Witness L replied: I believe that such a hypothetical investigation would have exposed his extremist views, I dont believe it would have exposed his attack planning. President Donald Trump has accused China of attempting to interfere in the upcoming US congressional elections, claiming the Chinese are motivated by opposition to his tough trade policy. Mr Trump was speaking in front of world leaders while chairing the United Nations Security Council for the first time. His accusation comes amid the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russias attempts to interfere in the 2016 US election to help him and concerns that the November elections could also be vulnerable. Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, Mr Trump said. They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade. Asked later what evidence he had, he replied plenty of evidence but did not provide any. He alleged again: They would like to see me not win because this is the first time ever that theyve been confronted on trade. And we are winning and were winning big. And they cant get involved with our elections. A Chinese delegate shrugged when he heard Mr Trumps statement via translation in the General Assembly. China later denied Mr Trumps accusation. We do not and will not interfere in any countries domestic affairs, said foreign minister Wang Yi at the United Nations. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi (Evan Vucci/AP) We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, and we call on other countries to also observe the purposes of the UN charter and not interfere in other countries internal affairs. There is extensive evidence linking Russia to attempts to penetrate US elections systems and to influence US voters. But with the elections less than two months away, US intelligence and election protection officials have not cited any specific, credible Chinese efforts. Officials say Chinas cyber-espionage operations targeting US defence and commerce have been formidable, however. And Mr Trumps claim comes amid an escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing, spurred by their growing trade dispute. Each imposed tariff increases on the others goods on Monday and Beijing accused the Trump administration of bullying. A Chinese official said China cannot hold talks on ending the trade dispute while the US holds a knife to Beijings neck by imposing tariff hikes. US intelligence officials have said they are not now seeing the intensity of Russian intervention registered in 2016 and are also concerned about activity by China, Iran and North Korea. Theresa May attacked Russia for its desperate fabrication over the Salisbury spy poisoning as she addressed world leaders in New York. Britain has set out detailed evidence about the prime suspects in the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia while Russia has only sought to obfuscate, the Prime Minister said. She told the United Nations Security Council: We have taken appropriate action, with our allies, and we will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure our collective security. Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication. Theresa May addresses the United Nations Security Council (Craig Ruttle/AP) Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were identified by the UK as members of the GRU, Russias military intelligence service, but made widely mocked claims that they only made the trip in early March to visit the wonderful town of Salisbury and its famous cathedral. Mrs May called on Russia to rejoin the international consensus against the use of chemical weapons and said there should be no doubt of the international communitys determination to take action if it did not. She said: We cannot let the framework be undermined today by those who reject the values and disregard the rules that have kept us safe. It will take collective engagement to reinforce it in the face of todays challenges. And in this, as has always been the case, the UK will play a leading role. Mrs May took a swipe at Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. The PM praised the US president, who was chairing the security council, for the leadership he had shown over North Korea by meeting dictator Kim Jong Un for talks over Pyongyangs nuclear programme. But she said the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) had taken collective leadership. She added: For many years, the scale and nature of Irans nuclear programme raised serious international concerns. The JCPOA was an important step forward in addressing these. It remains the best means of preventing Iran developing a nuclear weapon, and we are committed to preserving the JCPOA as long as Iran continues to abide by its obligations in full. Iran must ensure they implement their obligations fully. And to monitor Irans compliance, we strongly support the IAEA using inspections and other monitoring provisions of the JCPOA to their full. Three protesters jailed for causing significant disruption when they clambered on to lorries during a four-day protest outside a fracking site saw members of the public as collateral damage, a judge said. Judge Robert Altham told Simon Blevins, 26, from Sheffield; Richard Roberts, 36, from Putney, London; and Rich Loizou, 31, originally from Devon, they remained motivated by unswerving confidence that they are right about the perils of fracking. He explained he could not suspend the 16-month jail terms for Blevins and Roberts, and the 15month sentence for Loizou, because the length of their stand-offs with police at Preston New Road in Little Plumpton, Lancashire, had vastly increased their culpability and the harm caused. They were all convicted by a jury of causing a public nuisance but a fourth defendant, Julian Brock, 47, from Torquay, did walk free from court after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the same offence and received a 12-month jail term, suspended for 18 months. The protest cost energy firm Cuadrilla an estimated 50,000 but the judge said it heavily impacted on local residents and businesses who depended on using the surrounding busy main road. Jailing the trio at Preston Crown Court, he said: In this case the defendants caused costs and disruption to Cuadrilla but their other victims were the many members of public who were nothing to do with Cuadrilla and were viewed by these defendants as necessary and justified collateral damage. Relatives and friends of the defendants, along with fellow environmental campaigners, later criticised the jail terms. Blevinss mother, Rosalind, said she did not believe the sentences were of benefit to society, while Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said: Ministers have changed laws, taken away homeowners rights and distorted the planning process to make way for the shale industry, yet its four peaceful protesters that get punished for climbing on a lorry. Dave Timms, head of political affairs at Friends of the Earth, said: This historic sentencing is disproportionate and harsh. Our thoughts are with these protesters who acted out of conscience to protect the planet. Rich Loizou, who has been jailed over the protest (Anna Vickerstaff/PA) Roberts, a piano restorer, got through a police cordon set up on the morning of July 25 last year as Cuadrilla expected a convoy of seven lorries to deliver specialist drilling equipment. He clambered aboard one of the lorries and was seen to blow kisses to a police officer as they gathered evidence when filming him. The other defendants followed him as police ruled out taking them off by force and decided to negotiate. Loizou, a teacher, came down after 45 hours because he said he was tired, wet and needed the toilet, while Blevins jumped off after 73 hours. The judge noted that Blevins, a soil scientist, told jurors without a trace of irony that he came down because he needed to be at work the following Monday. While under investigation for the Preston New Road incident, Blevins went on to climb on top of another lorry at a similar protest in Yorkshire. Roberts came down after 84 hours and told the court it was a Friday and he did not want to spend another week on top of the vehicle. The court heard Blevins, of Andover Street, Sheffield; Roberts, of Upper Richmond Road, Putney; Loizou, of Platt Lane, Manchester; and Brock, of Ellacombe Church Road, Torquay, all arrived independently of each other at Preston New Road. After the sentences were handed down the defendants hugged each other and blew kisses to the public gallery before they were led from the dock. Some supporters in the public gallery began singing what they later described as a native tribal song of power. Cuadrilla, which has received Government consent to extract shale gas at two wells at Preston New Road, has said fracking is likely to start in the next few weeks. Irish President Michael D Higgins has launched his reelection campaign in Dublin on Wednesday as the first sitting Irish President in 52 years to face a contest for re-election. The 77-year-old independent candidate set out his vision for the next seven years for a republic of equality, sustainability and possibility. My campaign will be modern, energetic and inclusive, drawing on the enthusiasm of thousands of supporters from all walks of life in communities across Ireland. I am asking for your support on October 26th. All my life I have campaigned, argued and fought for a real Republic. This is about our shared future - Michael D. Higgins #MichaelDforPresident #Aras18 pic.twitter.com/owavw8EZaj Michael D Higgins (@MichaelDHiggins) September 26, 2018 It will be a dignified and respectful campaign in which my supporters and I will work to sustain the dignity of the office of President, which belongs not to any individual, but to the present and future citizens of Ireland, he said. He highlighted four themes which would shape his future Presidency, including widening participation in society and institutions while addressing exclusion, isolation and inequality. President Michael D Higgins at the launch of his re-election campaign (Niall Carson/PA) He would encourage and engage with communities to strengthen social fabric, and respecting the environment. As President, he says he would bring respect, honesty, inclusion and understanding to the period of commemorations. Addressing Brexit, the President says he would ensure that Ireland remains a principled and powerful voice on the international stage, while deepening connections with the diaspora. We are in very difficult waters, there are real economic concerns as well as concerns regarding cross border traffic. President Michael D Higgins at the launch of his re-election campaign (Niall Carson/PA) However Brexit is resolved you still need to speak to your nearest neighbour, I have worked very strongly at that. In fact when the Brexit decision was taken, East-West relations were probably never better. When asked about the reunification of Ireland post-Brexit, the President said it was very hypothetical, and important not to rush something that could be divisive, adding that he had spoken to many communities in Northern Ireland about many issues. In regards to claims over the summer that the President stayed in a 3,000 euro a night hotel in Geneva, the President said travel arrangements are made by the Department of Foreign Affairs and nothing to do with him. And were off! Michael D Higgins with his campaign staff and supporters after the official campaign launch #michaeldforpresident #aras18 pic.twitter.com/0a0fA7RJRG Michael D Higgins (@MichaelDHiggins) September 26, 2018 Ive never asked to stay in a particular hotel, Ive stayed in hostels, Ive stayed in tents in refugee camps in Somalia, Ive stayed in difficult circumstances all over the world. To be frank, I couldnt care less if I stayed in a tent. There are six candidates in the running including Mr Higgins. When asked about recent comments made by other candidates about his age, expenditure and whether a recent security breach at Aras an Uachtarain was a stunt, Mr Higgins said he found it unhelpful. I dont think its useful at the very beginning to be accusing your opponents of fabrication. He added that he no longer smoked or drank and had a yoga teacher. Im in great shape now for a second term. He added that those who said they would forgo the Presidential salary were sending out the wrong message, that only those who have made personal fortune should be contesting the highest representative post in the country, an opinion he said he did not agree with. More than 4,000 people have already registered as supporters of Mr Higginss campaign in the last week, and the campaign already has 31,000 Twitter followers and 13,300 Facebook followers. The election will take place on Friday October 26, with the winner inaugurated on November 11. The DUPs director of communications has branded a former minister a liar over claims that he tried to delay cost controls for a botched green energy scheme. John Robinson said the claims by Jonathan Bell led to his family being undeservedly catapulted into the media spotlight. In January 2017, Mr Bell, a former enterprise minister in the Northern Ireland Executive, made a statement to the Assembly over the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), a scheme aimed at encouraging the use of green energy. It hit the headlines in late 2016 after it emerged that costs of running the scheme had spiralled due to over-generous subsidies. The RHI Inquiry has been tasked with probing what went wrong. Mr Bell said during his January 2017 speech to the Assembly that that senior DUP staff had sought to block curbs to the RHI scheme because of extensive interests in the poultry industry, and named Mr Robinson and special adviser Timothy Johnston. The DUP at that time described Mr Bells claims as outrageous, untrue and unfounded. In written evidence to the inquiry, Mr Robinson said he regretted not declaring earlier that his father-in-law was a recipient of the RHI scheme, but he insisted he had no financial interest in his relatives business, adding: At no time was my judgment conflicted. In his witness statement to the inquiry, the father-in-law, Hugh Rutledge, said Mr Robinson had no role in his RHI application. Mr Rutledge told the inquiry Mr Robinson had nothing to do with the RHI scheme in 2015 or 2016 when there were discussions over introducing cost control measures and later closing the scheme. Asked why Mr Bell would name him, Mr Robinson replied: Only he can answer that question. Former DUP minister Jonathan Bell arrives at the RHI inquiry at Stormont Parliament buildings in Belfast (Rebecca Black/PA It was incredibly hurtful for me on a personal level, my family were catapulted into a media spotlight which they didnt deserve, he told the inquiry. They are hard-working, honest people. It impinged on not only my integrity but the integrity of my family. And, as we will come on to, my wifes family. You feel a sense of guilt for that. Jonathan told lies, he knows he told lies. Mr Robinson was then special adviser to DUP economy minister Simon Hamilton, at the department which was then running the RHI scheme. He said Mr Bells allegation led to him being told some within the DUP thought he should resign. He told the inquiry DUP leader Arlene Foster and special adviser Timothy Johnston spoke to him during the same phone call about the matter. Mr Robinson said he felt that to resign would lend weight to allegations being reported about him, and insisted: I had done nothing wrong I was accused on the basis of a lie. Mr Robinson added that the phone call was not hostile. He said he later spoke to Mr Hamilton who assured him he had confidence in him. Mr Robinson said he stepped away from involvement with the RHI scheme in the department. Meanwhile, outside of the inquiry proceedings, Sinn Feins deputy leader Michelle ONeill responded to a claim by Arlene Foster that the late deputy first minister Martin McGuinness was aware of a whistleblower warning about the RHI scheme. Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle ONeill addresses media over allegations made during the RHI Inquiry on Monday about Martin McGuinness (Rebecca Black/PA) Mrs Foster told the inquiry on Tuesday that she made the Sinn Fein veteran aware of the whistleblower allegations when she received them in January 2016. Reading out a statement in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings on Wednesday, Mrs ONeill said: Martin McGuinness set the benchmark for good government and the fair and equal treatment of all citizens. He led by example and any attack on his integrity is spurious, is disgraceful and it will be robustly challenged by our party. The comments that were made before the RHI public inquiry that Martin McGuinness had prior knowledge of the whistleblower will be examined by the inquiry. However, Sinn Fein is confident that our position and the position of Martin McGuinness will be fully vindicated. Martin McGuinness is no longer here to defend himself. I can also tell you that this allegation is subject to an ongoing and separate legal action. It is understood the action relates to comments made by a different DUP member as to another Sinn Fein figures alleged knowledge of whistleblower claims. The Prince of Wales is expected to acknowledge the slavery past of an historic African fort when he visits the continent with the Duchess of Cornwall. Clarence House has announced Charles and Camilla are to tour the Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria during October and November, countries in a region synonymous with the slave trade. The couples trip comes hard on the heels of the Prime Ministers high-profile visit to the continent just a few weeks ago. Theresa May made a three-nation trade mission to Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria during August and September, in an attempt to bolster Britains post-Brexit fortunes. Just announced: The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will visit The Gambia , Ghana and Nigeria from 31 October - 8 November. The visits will highlight the importance of the countries Commonwealth ties. pic.twitter.com/rwZqkG58ds The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) September 27, 2018 In Ghana the heir to the throne will visit the 17th century Christiansborg Castle, once a Danish slave fort and later owned by Britain. Scott Furssedonn-Wood, Charles deputy private secretary, said about the princes visit to the site: What we will almost certainly see is an acknowledgement of that site, of the darker side of the forts history and that part of the past, and the story of that region. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are to visit West Africa. Brian Lawless/PA Wire Until a few years ago the fort, in the capital Accra, was the seat of Ghanas government after independence, and Charles stayed in the building when he visited the country in 1977. Over the centuries the royal family were involved in the slave trade from Elizabeth I, who supported the lucrative dealings of John Hawkins, one of Britains first slave traders, to the Duke of Clarence, later William IV, who opposed slavery abolitionists. Mr Furssedonn-Wood said: Their Royal Highnesses visit will celebrate the UKs historic ties with these three Commonwealth nations, and also our dynamic contemporary partnerships with each of them in areas ranging from business to the arts, defence co-operation to medical research. The tour will also highlight the people-to-people links between our countries and the invaluable contribution they make to our shared prosperity and security. Charles and Camillas trip begins on October 31 with the prince spending nine days in the region, while the duchesss tour ends after seven, following their first day in Nigeria. The royal tour comes a week ahead of Remembrance Sunday commemorations on November 11, which have added significance as this year is the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Did you know the forthcoming visit to The Gambia will be The Prince and The Duchesss first visit to the country? It will also be the first visit to both Ghana and Nigeria for The Duchess. Here is HRH visiting Kano, Nigeria, in 2006. pic.twitter.com/riGFM2qHA5 The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) September 27, 2018 The couple, who will travel by private chartered jet, will recognise the sacrifices made by forces during visits, as a couple or the prince on his own, to Commonwealth war graves in each of the countries. The presidents of the African nations will welcome them to their countries and in Ghana the prince and duchess will be guests of the monarch of the Kingdom of Ashanti when they attend a traditional durbar or procession. The duchess will also carry out a significant number of solo events focusing on her interests in literacy, womens empowerment and the Commonwealth. The global democratic order could not have asked for more. The Maldivess surprising electoral outcome that was widely speculated to be rigged in favour of the incumbent regime has come as a breath of fresh air for the tottering liberal democratic order. Time to say goodbye. (Source: Yameen's office) In an unprecedented move, Maldives voters on Sunday night ended President Abdulla Gayoom Yameens five-year controversial tenure. The winner is the united opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Is he the breath of fresh air the Maldives needs? (Photo: Reuters) Sundays election, which was closely watched by key South Asian neighbours and the international community, was made into a sort of referendum on democracy versus authoritarianism. With the incumbent president quickly conceding defeat and assuring a smooth transfer of power in November, the Maldivess fragile democracy can hope for a new lease of life. Sundays election holds significance for a number of reasons. First, the incumbent president had invested everything at his disposal from repressing democratic institutions such as the electoral commission and judiciary, restricting media freedom, selectively targeting the countrys vibrant civil society to conducting police raids on opposition headquarters before the day of elections to hold on to power. It must be recalled the election was conducted in the background of an extraordinary situation in which President Yameen had recently declared a state of emergency and ordered the arrest of two judges to force the Bench to its earlier order that was against his government apart from imprisoning his half-brother and former president Maumoon Gayoom. Second, the presidential poll saw a complete polarisation of the countrys political space: Yameen versus the rest. After former president Mohamed Nasheed pulled out of the race as the countrys poll body barred him from contesting, the entire opposition, including arch-rival the Islamist Adhaalath Party, backed the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)s contestant Solih. Former president Nasheed wasn't contesting. But he was still in the politics around the polls. (Source: Reuters) Third, the election witnessed the massive use of money and muscle power largely sourced from generous Chinese support. It needs to be mentioned that Yameens five-year tenure saw the tiny island abandoning its long-time pro-India approach to a pro-China policy. Not only have Chinese companies invested in big ways in major tourism projects, the island nation has taken further its embrace with the dragon by signing a free trade agreement. With China owning 70 per cent of the country's debt, the Maldives is now into serious debt trap. Finally, the election witnessed the unprecedented resurgence of civil society that has lately come under heavy attacks from the incumbent government. Human rights activists, journalists and political watchdogs have done everything to expose Yameens authoritarian measures to turn the country into an autocracy. A more notable development was the extraordinary mobilisation of voters with a record 90 per cent voting that braved restrictions and state coercion to boot out the regime. A Tumultuous Road Ahead The president elect who is expected to take office in mid-November now has his task cut out. He has to wield a long and arduous battle to get a real grip over the civil and military administration that have proven loyalty for Yameen. Apparently, many officials of the election commission were openly cheering for Yameen. Thus, Solih has to salvage the countrys democratic institutions, especially the judiciary and election commission that have turned complete rubber stamps for the current regime. Life is not a beach for new president Solih who faces huge challenges ahead. (Photo: Twitter) The second and most difficult challenge that Solih would face is keeping coalition partners together. The fact is the united opposition is an unholy coalition that includes two fierce rivals, Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed, both former presidents as well as two unlikely parties, the Adhaalath Party, a pro-Islam religious party with its radical agenda, and the Jumhooree Party, run by a business tycoon, Qasim Ibrahim. Ironically, the same combination helped Yameen defeat Nasheed in the 2013 polls. The third and most difficult task is managing the countrys relations with two Asian giants India and China. With 70 per cent debt exposure to China and several big ticket projects underway from the same country, Solih will struggle to fulfill his promise of cutting down Chinese influence. India's Role The Maldivess election outcome is seen as a second shot at democracy, the first being the 2008 election that saw a young, rookie political activist Mohamed Nasheed easily defeating the long-time dictator Abdul Gayoom. India, the regions biggest democratic powerhouse and the Maldivess closest ally, gets its second big opportunity to shepherd the island nations democratic journey. At the moment, India maintains excellent rapport with opposition parties and enjoys wide approval among Maldivian society for its positive role, particularly in the last one year that witnessed a 45-day emergency in February and widespread repression by the incumbent government. India did the right thing by not succumbing to a growing chorus of security and strategic community for military intervention during the national emergency that would have handed Yameen a clear anti-India card to exploit. Delhi seems to have learned a lesson from its bitter experience during the undeclared blockade in Nepal which caused much damage to its goodwill among the Nepalese population. The 2015 blockade left a bitter taste in India-Nepal relations. (Photo: Indiatoday.in) Sundays outcome should not prompt Delhi to read it as a verdict against China either. The Sri Lankan experience should remind India that given its economic and strategic heft, China will continue to be an influential player in the region, including in the Maldives. Rather than getting obsessive about keeping China out of this strategic archipelago of the Indian Ocean, India should work with other powers, particularly the United States (US) and European Union to ensure that the Maldives transition to democracy remains on smooth course. It should be emphasised that all through his authoritarian turn, Yameen was strongly countered and exposed by the combination of India, the US and EU. The US had come closer to levying economic sanctions. Therefore, the election outcome offers a rare opportunity for India to work in tandem with the US and EU to help the Maldives navigate its democratic transition. In short, as rightly pointed out by a noted analyst, India needs to aid Maldivess democratic transition, not just get overzealous about its strategic and security interests. Also read: Happy But Watching: Why India must observe the Maldives with care With the objective of providing safety cover to submarines in case of a mishap, the Indian Navy will acquire two diving support vessels(DSV)indigenously manufactured by a public sector company. These vessels facilitate operations like rescue of submarines, under water inspection salvage and recovery of ship and aircraft lost at sea. The total cost of the contract is more than Rs 2,500 crores. The Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Vishakhapatnam, will manufacture the DSVs to augment the Indian Navys submarine support operations on either coast. The first vessel to be built over a 36 month period would be followed by the second, six months later. The vessels to be based at Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai respectively, would be of 118 m in length and of weigh approximately 7,650 tons, navy officials said here on Wednesday. Explaining the significance of having DSVs, they said in addition to operating submarines to secure our waters, the Indian Navy undertakes diving operations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This necessitates extensive diving operations to facilitate various activities such as submarine rescue, under water inspection, testing or salvage, and recovery of objects like ship and aircraft lost at sea. As these activities involve diving operations with divers remaining underwater for prolonged durations, it requires a suitable platform for their launch and recovery, as well as for carriage of related tools and equipment. The DSV is also equipped with a Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV), which significantly enhances its Submarine Rescue Capabilities. Contract for procurement of two sets of non-tethered DSRV, capable of effecting submarine rescue up to depths of 650 meters was earlier signed with a UK firm, M/s James Fisher Defence, in March 2016. The first DSRV was delivered at Mumbai in April this year and the second DSRV slated for Vishakhapatnam is expected by end December. While a submarine is a significant strategic asset, it is also vulnerable to action damage, requiring extensive diving for undertaking Search and Rescue (SAR) operations that demand the availability of a credible and suitably equipped platform. Induction of DSVs equipped with DSRV, will go a long way in enhancing the Indian Navys capability and reach of submarine rescue operations in the IOR, they said. Meanwhile, in the series of meetings of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium(IONS)Working Group(IWG) on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), the third meeting is scheduled at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command, Vishakhapatnam for two days starting Wednesday. Indian Navy played the lead role in shaping IONS in 2008 and it is 21st centurys first significant international maritime security initiative. It provides a forum for discussion of regional maritime issues and promotes friendly relationships among member nations in the Indian Ocean region. The IONS, at present, has 24 members and eight observer navies. Participants from the IWG member nations including Australia, Bangladesh, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Oman and Thailand, will be participating in the two day event. The Guidelines on HADR for IONS nations, prepared by the Indian Navy will be validated by conduct of a Table Top Exercise as part of the meeting. The participants will also exchange lessons learnt during the conduct of HADR operations by respective navies with special reference to galvanising the IONS efforts to respond in a faster and coordinated manner, officials said. The RSS and the BJP welcomed the Supreme Court judgment that declined to set up a larger Bench for a relook of its 1994 verdict which held a mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam. The RSS expressed confidence that a just verdict in the case will be reached at the earliest. We welcome this decision (to start the hearing) and are confident that a just verdict will be reached in the case at the earliest, the Sangh said in a statement. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said it is for the countrys benefit that the Ayodhya issue is resolved quickly. The majority of this nation wants a solution at the earliest, he said. During the three-day lecture series of the RSS this month, its chief Mohan Bhagwat had said not just Hindus, but others too called Ram the Imam-e-Hind and construction of Ram Temple would remove the major source of tension between Hindus and Muslims. He said, A grand mandir for Ram should be built at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya as soon as possible. Many communities across religions look up to Ram as their ideal. For some he is Imam-e-Hind. As a Sarsanghchalak, I think it is only right that a grand mandir should be built there. The building of Ram mandir will end a major issue of friction between Hindus and Muslims. And if it is done amicably, it will automatically silence those who point fingers at the Muslim community. Vishwa Hindu Parishad also expressed satisfaction with the judgment. I am satisfied that this impediment has been defeated. The way is now clear for the hearing of Ram janmabhoomi appeals, tweweted VHP working president Alok Kumar. Union Minister Uma Bharti said Ayodhya is an important holy site for Hindus, not for Muslims, for whom that place is Mecca. Bharti was reacting to questions on the Ayodhya dispute after the Supreme Court ruling in the case. This isnt a matter of religious dispute as Ayodhya is an important religious place for Hindus because it is the Ram Janmabhoomi (the birthplace of Lord Ram) but for Muslims, it isnt a religious place. For them it is Mecca, said the 59-year-old Minister, who has always been a vocal champion of a Ram temple at Ayodhya. BJPs Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy said he will move the Supreme Court on Friday to request for expedited hearings in the case. He said he will move his plea on the grounds that his fundamental right to practice and propagate his religion supersedes the Sunni Waqf Boards ordinary right to property. Welcoming the judgment, Swamy said it paved My fundamental right to pray where Ram was born. Road to final verdict cleared, right to pray superior to property rights, said the BJP MP. The Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for taking up the politically sensitive Ayodhya title suit without further delay by declining to refer to a Constitution Bench its 1994 judgment which held a mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam. The apex court said now the civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly-constituted three-judge Bench from October 29 as Chief Justice Dipak Misra will retire on October 2. The Muslim parties now have the option of filing review petition. The courts ruling has come as a big boost for the protagonists of the Ram temple as also to the BJP, which hopes that the construction of the temple at Ayodhya before the next years general election could considerably brighten its electoral prospects. However, Muslim parties also welcomed the judgment in view of the certain clarifications made by the court about the applicability of the 1993 judgment in the present case. A three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, by a majority of 2:1 declined the plea of M Siddiq, one of the original litigants of the Ayodhya case who is no more and is being represented through his legal heir, that the matter be referred to a larger Bench. Justice Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer were other members of the Bench. Justice Nazeer dissented with the majority view and said the question whether mosque was an essential part of the religion cannot be decided without a detailed examination of the beliefs, tenets and practice of the faith and favoured reconsideration of the issue to a larger Bench. The majority ruling said the observation about Islam and mosque in the celebrated Ismail Farooqi case was made in the limited context of land acquisition during the hearing of the Ayodhya case and made it clear it was not relevant for deciding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute. We again make it clear that questionable observations made in Ismail Faruquis case were made in context of land acquisition. Those observations were neither relevant for deciding the suits nor relevant for deciding these appeals, said Justice Ashok Bhushan, who read out the judgment for himself and the CJI. The Muslim parties see the SC clarification that made in the 1994 case were not relevant for deciding the suits as a positive takeaway from the verdict even as the RSS and the BJP have said that the courts ruling has removed a big hurdle in early disposal of the Ram temple case. Reacting to the verdict, Khaliq Ahmad Khan, the nominee of Maulana Mahfuzur Rahman one of the litigants in the title suit, said, During the hearing on the title suit in the Supreme Court, the other side always quoted the 1994 judgment that mosque is not an integral part of Islam. Now the court has made it clear that the 1994 judgment was related to the land acquisition...And that it has no connection with the title suit. We have achieved our goal as the Supreme Court will hear only the title suit. Iqbaal Ansari, another litigant from the Sunni Central Waqf Board, welcomed the verdict and said, The Supreme Court has made it clear that the case will be heard on merits, on the base of the claims of land ownership... And not on religious beliefs as the high court has done. He said they were fighting the case for Babri land on the basis of revenue records. Our claim is that there are no historical facts that any temple was demolished and Babri Masjid was built there, he added. The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when a three-judge Bench headed by CJI Misra was hearing a batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Courts 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided into three parts. The three-judge High Court Bench, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. In view of our foregoing discussions, we are of the considered opinion that no case has been made out to refer the Constitution Bench judgment of this court in Ismail Faruqui case for reconsideration, Justice Bhushan said. The 1994 verdict had said: A mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and namaz (prayer) by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open. Justice Nazeer said the questionable observation of 1994 verdict had permeated into the Allahabad High Courts decision in the land dispute case. In this context, he also highlighted the observations of the High Court Judge SA Khan that mosque is not integral to Islam. Reacting to the SWC verdict, senior AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani said, We honour the court order and see some positive movement regarding the Ayodhya case. Another AIMPLB member Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said, We respect the court verdict. Mahali said, Two positive things have come from this verdict. First, the Ayodhya matter will not be heard on the basis of faith and will be heard as a title suit. Second, he said, the 1994 observation by court will not make an impact on the case. We hope that the final hearing of Ayodhya will be completed soon. The Ayodhya hearing should not be linked with the elections, he said, referring to next years Lok Sabha polls. There are 3,140 electors who are above 100 years of age in Chhattisgarh, State Chief Electoral Officer Subrat Sahoo informed on Thursday. A total of 3,66,384 electors have been added in the special electoral revision conducted in the State and the final publication of the electoral roll has been done as per schedule of Election Commission of India, he said. Addressing a Press conference here, Sahoo said as per the final publication there are 92,95,301 male electors while females number 92,49,459 and third gender voters are 1,059. Similarly, the service voters have also registered increase of 1,317 now totalling 14,093 voters. Now the eligible electors who could not submit the application form can submit it online in specified format through nvsp.in. Sahoo added 1,11,620 Persons With Disabilities (PWD) have been identified as voters while there are 3,140 electors who are above 100 years of age. The maximum number of electors are in Raipur and the least are in Narayanpur district. There is one overseas elector. On providing Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), Sahoo said that the new electors would get it free of cost, while those having made necessary amendment, mainly correction in names and other details would have to apply through the tehsil/sub-tehsil office after submission of necessary fees. The monitoring of election expenditure (EEM) for upcoming Assembly polls would be undertaken on daily basis as per the directives of the ECI. The list of standard rate would be fixed on different heads like vehicle, light, mike, tent, decoration, food, publicity materials and would be provided to districts and all political parties and candidates. The suspicious transaction of Rs 1 lakh in NEFT/RTGS would also be monitored even that of close relatives of candidates whose bank account details have been provided by candidates. Similarly, the Excise Department team would be working to prevent distribution of liquor and storage among other activities including illegal transportation. All incidents would be videographed. Sahoo added that all efforts are being made to create awareness under SVEEP programme and second round would also commence soon. The main aim is to link the eligible voters in electoral roll and then motivating them to use their right to vote. There is no target set for it. The Delhi Police has arrested two accused who last week had allegedly choked and robbed a 77-year-old retired railway employee who was on an evening walk in a residential colony of Delhis Janakpuri area. The accused have been identified as Naseem (22) and Nikesh (22). They were released from jail a month ago in connection with a robbery case. The incident took place on September 20 and after registering a case suo-moto, the two accused were arrested, said Monika Bhardawaj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), West district. We were informed regarding the incident by the locals. The team had rushed to the spot but the accused had fled away. During interrogation, it was learnt that earlier the accused were also apprehended in a case of theft when they were minors. Further investigation is underway, said the DCP. A CCTV footage of the incident which has went viral on social media that shows an elderly man walking on the street being grabbed by his neck from behind by a man who dragged him to a corner of the street and tried to strangle him. By then, another man joined the accused. The duo robbed the elderly man of his cell phone and cash. Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) is on move to excavate coking coal trapped in the mines by using Chinese technology. The excavation work will start from PB (Putki-Balihari) Area by using Aqua Pack technology, informed AK Singh CMD BCCL. First time in India, this technology (Aqua Pack) is going to be used by BCCL to excavate trapped coal inside the mines, added Singh. The Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) has prepared the details of the project which is waiting for the Board of Directors nod, he said. According to an estimate about 3000 MT coal trapped in different mines belongs to BCCL in form of coal pillars. For the safety point of view pillars were left inside the mines during production or digging the coal, said Singh. It (pillars) also protect from cave-in (roof) of the mines, so its very essential to left pillars in the mines, he added. According to the mines experts, during mining (of the coal) about 60 per cent of the coal becomes trapped inside in the form of pillars. If we will try to excavate them land subsidence will start at that place, he said. Most of the mines belong of BCCL has the reserve of steel grade coal or coking coal which has the huge demand in the steel industries. Now, we have decided to excavate the trapped coal with the help of Aqua Pack technology, using this technology China is excavating such coal very easily from their mines, he said. Explaining the process Singh said using this technology water pillars would be erected which will later be replaced with coal pillars in the mines; for this, we will utilize mines water to erect the pillar. Water will be loaded in a pillar-like structure first and later we will mix the Chinese chemical in that water which immediately changed the water into a solid pillar (inside the structure kept) which will equally provide support to the mines roof. Later coal pillar would be replaced with this water pillar, he added. The BJP would begin a week-long campaign from September 30 in the State to involve people in the Ayushman Bharat programme of the Central Government, informed party State president Basant Panda at a Press conference here on Wednesday. Panda said party workers would collect signatures from people interested in getting enrolled in the Ayushman Bharat programme. A massive awareness campaign would be initiated against the BJD Government for going against peoples interest by not accepting the Ayushman Bharat. Party workers will move door to door and collect signatures to put pressure on the State Government to involve people in Central programme, said Panda. Stating that the Ayushman Bharat provides for free health services upto Rs 5 lakh to poor people, Panda said the Odisha Government has hindered Odisha people from getting the benefit. He alleged that the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana is only meant to hoodwink people. Among others, BJP Legislature Party Leader KV Singh Deo, State vice-president Sameer Mohanty, general secretary Bhrugu Baxipatra and Anant Nayak and State secretaries Kalandi Samal and Dillip Mallick were present. Red-tape rut The propensity of Babudom to make simple things complex and enmesh things in the messy system is well- known. The fondness of the Babus for the same has come up again as regards the recently launched Ayushman Bharat Yojana, touted as Modi Care on the lines of Obama Care by the over-zealous followers of PM Modi, hoping that the mega health insurance scheme would act as a game changer for BJP. In Uttarakhand, CM Trivendra Singh Rawat has declared that all the families of the state would be covered under the scheme. Things sound simple, but the Babus are not happy. They have rolled out an elaborate and tangled plan for identification of the beneficiaries through multi-layered surveys. One wonders over the efficacy of the mammoth and costly exercise when a simple thing like making sure that the patient is a resident of the state at the time of hospitalisation can perfectly serve the purpose. Clueless Congres The Congress state president Pritam Singh may pat himself on his back on what he lauded as a splendid performance of the party lawmakers in the recently concluded monsoon session. But the fact that the Congress legislature party presented itself as a confused team, sans clarity about its role, can hardly be wished away through triumphal drum beating. Many say and rightly too that the team has inadvertently played a friendly opposition despite having multiple issues to bare fangs on the government. The lack of coordination was glaring on the last day when the Congress legislators boycotted the assembly proceedings on issue of Lokpal. What happened is that a Congress MLA from Purola, Raj Kumar attended the post- lunch session while others of his camp were absent. When the party brass realised things they rushed emissaries to the solitary party MLA, asking him to immediately come out of the House. For an impartial observer, the partys lack of verve to tear into the government on issues given to them on a platter is unmistakable. Their failure to latch on to the daring daylight murder of a trader which happened in the CMs constituency when the house was in session tells the tale. Quirky fortune Some people frequenting the corridors of power in the Himalayan state are deriving sadistic pleasure from the plight of the two IAS officers suspended in the multi- crore NH- 74 compensation scam. The spectacle of the once mighty officers making frantic rounds around the state secretariat to get hold of certain documents which they hope would help them in the tough legal battle ahead is indeed delectable. What is more, the quirky change of fortunes has made some officers- who till yesterday were delighted to supinely do the bidding of the IAS duo- to thwart their desperate attempts to get hold of the documents. Their woe has been compounded further as their attempts to get some papers through Right to Information (RTI) Act too have fallen flat. The once mighty, now embattled Babus are now understanding the predicament of the common people who are used to making futile rounds along the serpentine alleys of the Babudoms edifice to get simple things done. A day after the State Government suspended six Fire Services personnel for negligence in their duties, the indefinite cease-work agitation by the Fire Services employees was called off on Thursday. Around 5,000 Firemen and Havildars engaged in 341 different fire stations had embarked on the strike from September 24 demanding fulfilment of their six-point charter of demands. Their demands included equal pay at par with Odisha police Havildars and Constables, Government recognition, regularisation of contractual workers, pension and retirement benefits for retired personnel, eight working hours and filling of vacant spots. Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has recommended departmental action against 35 gazzetted officers and 41 non-gazetted officers in eight inquiries and criminal case against three private persons in two inquiries, in the month of July. Giving details, a spokesman of the Bureau said that the Bureau has caught eight officers and officials red-handed while accepting illegal gratifications ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1,00,000, recently. Cases have been registered against them under Prevention of Corruption Act. Sanjay Sharma, sales tax inspector, Bahadurgarh, district Jhajjar was caught red-handed while taking bribe of Rs 1,00,000 along with two private persons, Sunil Sharma and Anil Sharma of Gohana. In another case, Ram Lakha, clerk in the office of Tehsildar (sales) Faridabad and Hari Ram (Private person) was caught taking bribe of Rs 20,000 while Kanwar Pal, assistant of Latesh Kumar, Patwari Halqa Syaroli, district Palwal was caught taking bribe of Rs 16,000. Nikesh Rohilla, sub-inspector, Food and Supply Department, Gurugram has been caught taking bribe of Rs 10,000 and in another case, Vinok Kumar, Patwari, Halqa village Tikli, district Gurugram and Tarun Kumar (private person) were caught taking bribe money of Rs 5,000. In separate cases, Surender, Clerk in the office of SDE, UHBVN, Sub Division Bahalgarh, district Sonipat was caught taking bribe of Rs 4,000, Harbans Singh, Patwari, Halqa, Karamgarh, district Sirsa caught taking Rs 2,000 and Sonu, Computer Operator posted at e-Disha, Tehsil Uchana, district Jind caught taking Rs 500. The Vigilance police on Thursday raided the houses and office of Jharigaon Large Area Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (LAMPCS) Managing Director Mansai Panka on the charge of acquisition and possession of property disproportionate to his known sources of income. Officials of the anti-corruption wing raided Pankas residential house and paternal house at Bharandiparam under the Jharigaon police limits, a single-storied building at Umarkote and his office at Jharigaon in the district. Sources said the search operation was conducted as per a warrant issued by the Jeypore Special Vigilance Judge. The total amount of disproportionate assets possessed by the LAMPCS MD would be ascertained only after completion of the search drives, sources said. Now, the dreams of the thousands of students aspiring to become engineers and make a career in the field of science will take wings as the Delhi Government on Wednesday inaugurated a new technical university with 12,000 seats. The varsity is the extension of Netaji Subhash University of Technology (NSUT) which catered to only 3700 students. Netaji Subhash University of Technology (NSUT) was launched by the Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and it will prefer students of the national Capital. The varsity will provide Bachelors in Technology (B.Tech) and Masters in Technology (M.Tech) along with Masters in Sciences (MSc) courses. It is a matter of happiness for Delhi to get a new technical university and now the responsibility of making this university world class lies with the students, faculty and the Vice Chancellor. The Government has done its job by creating the university, now it is over to you, said Sisodia. Whenever a new Government takes over, concerned officers of the department make a presentation of the ongoing and pending projects. Meeting held between from 14th February and 13th March 2015, with the officers of the Education Department placed vision, but I felt that it was one-sided since he spoke and others listened. It was a monologue, Sisodia said Thus, to change the situation, the Education Minister along with the other senior officers decided to meet at a village near Raipur in Chattisgarh on 2nd April 2015, in an institute working on education. We stayed there for a week and discussed what we thought about education. It was there that we visualized the NSUT dream and in August 2015, the Delhi Cabinet approved the draft bill for creation of NSUT, said Sisodia. However, after the Delhi Assembly passed this Bill, it took two and a half years for the 'Central Government' to approve the NSUT'. The technical varsity will adopt research and study programmes via flexible and adoptive academic curriculum and Industry Institute partnership for better redressal of community issues. Incubation centers will be set up to bridge the gap between academics and industry. Further, the varsity will create special divisions in selected areas such as management, architecture, medical sciences, applied sciences, energy, environmental studies and nanotechnology. NSUT also eyeing on to introduce Post-Doctoral fellowships, Post-Doctoral research programmes with suitable compensation, freedom and traveling grant. Periodic advertisements for the above mentioned programs would be carried out time to time as per the need. Postgraduate student's curriculum and research will be in tune with employers need for their better placement, said an official. Further the departments will have separate placement cell besides the central placement cell. It is very happy news for the students community especially who wishes to become engineers in future because if government will provide such course because very les government college provides engineering courses, said a class 12 students. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has underlined the importance of peoples aspirations for the cause of nation building while stressing over continuous discussions and discourses which have been an integral part of Indian culture and civilization. Citing the famous philosophical discussion taken place between Lord Krishna and Arjuna during Mahabharta the Vice President drew attention to the outcome which enriched the human civilization. Discourse between Krishna and Arjun is the root of the entire Gita. That helped a lot in building the nation and civilization what we are today. Important to note that participants from different walks of life including women had chipped into this and contributed, said Naidu during his address at the inaugural session of Lok Manthan programme organised under Pragya Pravah on Thursday at Khelgaon. He added that the exchange of idea like this would strengthen the idea of India through exploration of cultural richness and heritage of the country while blaming the neglect it had to meet during colonial period. No matter how high one goes, never forget your parents, your motherland and mother tongue. These values should always be respected. Language and sentiment go together, said the VP who also talked at length about unity in diversity of the country. Naidu on the occasion recalled the teachings of Shankaracharya, Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Geandhi who unanimously stressed over openness to the ideas coming in and accepting dissents with free mind. The great luminaries never were in favour of building a walled society. If their teachings are written properly and followed then India would become Vishva Guru in real terms. Younger generations should be aware of it and encouraged to learn about our glorious and prosperous past. That self realization is also the need of the hour, said the VP stressing over non-imperial record and secular credentials of Indian culture. Also present on the occasion was Chief Minister Raghubar Das who said that the event would bring laurels to the State. Jharkhand is feeling proud by hosting so many noted personalities. This land belonged to great sons of the soils since 1857 and before. This occasion be utilised in sending out the message to reinstate the statues of Vishva Guru to India, said the CM. Also present on the occasion was J Nand Kumar who presented preface of the second edition of the Lok Manthan and said it would help developing idea of India among the masses. Governor Droupadi Murmu, Culture Minister Amar Kumar Bauri, Manmohan Vaidya of RSS and other Ministers of the State Cabinet also attended the four-day function. To support the State Governments initiative to promote a new variety of potato, the Pepsico is planning to establish its potato chips unit in Koraput. An MoU is going to be signed between the State Government and Pepsico soon to set up a potato chips factory in Koraput, informed Director of Horticulture Bijay Ketan Upadhyaya. The Government has started producing a new variety of potato Chipsona on experimental basis since Kharif season in Koraput. The potato chips variety has been cultivated in 800 hectare for making chips in the district, the official said. The key feature of the potato variety is that it will be produced in Kharif season instead of Rabi season and the hilly area of Koraput district is suitable for Chipsona potato. If the new variety of potato becomes successful in Koraput, the farming would be done in other tribal districts including Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj, Upadhyaya said. Pepsico will make its future plan clear after reviewing the harvesting of Chipsona potato variety in Koraput. Besides, sweets and snacks manufacturer Haldiram is also seeking to promote Odisha farmers if the Chipsona farming would be successful in Koraput, he said. Besides, the Government is also planning to produce another variety of potato Ashok in the State, Upadhyaya said. The Supreme Court on Thursday restrained the Orissa High Court Bar Association and other connected associations from going on strike and asked the striking lawyers to resume the court work so that no impediment is caused in the right of access to justice of any litigant. This order from the apex court came when a three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was adjudicating a writ petition filed by a New Delhi-based journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra, who has been booked by the Odisha police recently for his disparaging comments over the famous Konark temple. Contd P4 When the Supreme Court learnt from Mitras counsel that his clients liberty is being affected and he is not able to move the High Court of Orissa, where the lawyers are on strike for about a month now, the apex court ordered the lawyers to resume court work so that the petitioner as well as other litigants are able to approach the courts for protection of their liberty. Taking note of the rift between the Odisha police and the lawyers over certain pending criminal cases against some policemen and an advocate, the Supreme Court directed the State DGP to transfer the investigation of these cases to the IGP of Crime Branch, who shall personally investigate the cases. The Bench also expressed the hope that the IGP shall conduct the investigation with all sincerity, concern and objectivity. Meanwhile, following the receipt of a communication from the Registrar General of Orissa High Court along with the Thursdays order of the Supreme Court, the Orissa High Court Bar Association secretary convened a meeting of all the bar associations of Cuttack in the High Court Association hall at 9.30 am on Friday. After ensuring that Swami Ramdev and his Patanjali family would throw full weight behind the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the high-stake 2019 general election, the BJP president Amit Shah presided over the inauguration of the newly constructed building of Acharyakulum located along the National Highway on Thursday. Among others the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat was present during the programme. What happened before it was a give and take. While Shah assured full support to Swami Ramdev in all his Swadeshi projects and formation of the proposed Vedic Education Board the latter by way of reciprocal gesture left no one in doubt that he and his followers would go all-out in lending support to Shahs party at the upcoming hustings. While Swami Ramdev likened Shah to Chanakya and King Chandragupta for his political sagacity and statesmanship a Sanskrit verse was chanted by the students of Acharyakulum on the stage which prayed for the triumphal march of the BJP president. An overwhelmed Swami Ramdev announced that the Vedic Education Board would be set up soon as was clear from the assurance and determination of Shah. He declared that the time is not far-off when glory of Takshshila and Nalanda would return to the ancient land as a result of which the Macaulay system of education would sink into oblivion. Though we have not much of resources we are all set to usher in a revolution in the realm of education with the support of one and all, he said. While addressing the inaugural function at Yog Bhawan of Patanjali phase 2, packed with saints, students, volunteers of Bharat Swabhiman and camp participants, the BJP president said, The inferiority complex set deep into the mind of the youths of India about their culture and education as compared to the Western education will soon vanish. The Acharyakulum founded by Swami Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna pioneered the holistic education system which blends modern and ancient gurukul tradition of education with the accompaniment of technology. He said, A nation can hardly progress unless its education system is in sync with its culture, Shah said. He said that the works done by Swami Ramdev to the cause of Yoga and Swadeshi are exemplary. Both Acharya and Ramdev worked on the principle of trusteeship espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. The focus of the nation is now trained on Swami Ramdev as to the expected revolution in the education system. The government on its part is standing solidly behind him in his noble crusade for the revival of our glorious tradition, he said. Shah further said that founding Acharyakulum with target of 10,000 students this year and one lakh in the near future is itself a herculean task. Earlier, the RSS executive head Suresh Bhaiyyaji said that the whole nation is expectantly looking forward to Patanjali Acharyakulum elevating India to the status of Vishwaguru. India during her history has never wanted to gain the status of Vishwaguru by imperial power but through spirited propagation of peace and welfare of all and sundry, he said. While Acharya Govind Dev invoked ancient India, saying that once every village had gurukulum the head of Juna Akhada Mahamandaleshwar Awdheshanand Giri said that Bharat was already on the path to become Vishwaguru. To buttress his point, he mentioned two recent declarations- International Yoga Day by United Nations and Kumbh Mela as heritage by UNESCO. SECI offers to establish 100-MW units in 2 reservoirs In view of Odisha having huge potential to produce solar power, the State Government is now mulling to set up Floating Solar Photo Voltaic (FSPV) projects in major water reservoirs. Reservoirs like Hirakud, Chipilima, Upper Kolab, Balimela, Indravati and Rengali can have such projects with techinical support of European Union (EU), said a senior official. Recently, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) offered to set up 100 MW FSPV projects in Hirakud and Chipilima reservoirs. Solar panels would be set up in these reservoirs for solar power generation in big scale. Importantly, solar power generation is non-polluting and the system would lessen evaporation loss of the reservoir, said experts. As the SECI has planned for 10 giga watt (GW) solar power through FSPV, it has taken interest in Odisha, which is blessed with huge water bodies, where these projects can be landed. The SECI has also requested the State Government to make a feasibility study for 100 MW solar project in Hirakud and Chipilima. The SECI is also eager to take Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (GEDCOL) as its partner for developing the floating solar projects. A similar offer has also been made to the Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC). Floating Solar Projects have advantage of not asking for any land, acquisition of which is a big problem for the State Government. Secondly, by setting FSPV projects on the reservoirs, huge revenue can be generated as the project proponents will be going for long term lease, opined officials. And these projects can come within a short period of time. In view of these, the State Government has shown interest in roping in EU support for technical support. While several rounds of meeting have already been conducted, officials said they would chalk out a road map for this purpose soon. They too stated that environment and social impact would be assessed before taking a final decision in this regard. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) has suspended two engineers while the contract of another engineer terminated with immediate effect in connection with the residential building collapse in Sawan Park area in Ashok Vihar of North West Delhi, claiming seven innocent lives. A senior NMC official said Executive Engineer Rajesh Sharma, Assistant Engineer Abhay Jain and Junior Engineer Kapil Yadav (Contractual employee), posted in Keshav Puram zone have been placed under suspension. The letter issued by the Vigilance Department of the corporation also stated that both the permanent engineers will keep receiving subsistence allowances during suspension period as admissible by rules. Earlier on Wednesday, residents of Ashok Vihar where the incident happened claimed that the deaths of innocent are a result of callous apathy of the civic agencies. "These lives could have been saved had the authorities acted on the complaint that was lodged with them on August 16, 2017, they said. Though North Corporation officials visited the area only three weeks ago and did make a report about the structure that was struggling to hold up but did nothing and tragedy struck the innocent commoners, said a resident. "Building owner didn't listen to complaints about its poor condition, and neither the civic agency officials," said victims' kin. As per the latest survey of all the three civic agencies is to believe, there is not even a single building that has been marked "dangerous" under South and East Corporations. However, North Corporation identified 118 houses that are on the verge of collapse and as declared them dangerous. Ironically the building collapsed on Wednesday was not declared dangerous by the NMC. South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) claimed there are no dangerous buildings in their jurisdiction. The civic body claimed to have surveyed 93, 8,353 houses out of the total 10.13 lakh and found zero structures in dilapidated conditions. A senior SDMC official said engineers inspect the buildings and notices are issued to the owners in case of structures found bent or developing cracks. A senior North civic agency official said there are 7,23,295 buildings in its area and in which 6,06,514 buildings were surveyed. The Congress reiterated that it will not have any electoral alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi for the upcoming Parliamentary elections in 2019. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee and senior leader Chattar Singh said the party will not have any electoral alliance with the AAP. Their statement came in the backdrop of Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel statement who while addressing a function at the Old Secretariat said that the AAP might have alliance with the Congress in Delhi for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. They said Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken and AICC in-charge of Delhi PC Chacko had clarified on more than one occasion that the Congress will not have any electoral alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. It may be recalled that after a meeting with the District Congress Committee at the DPCC office, Rajiv Bhawan, on June 2, 2018, Ajay Maken had said that the Congress workers and leaders of Delhi do not want any electoral understanding with Kejriwalsparty in the 2019 Parliamentary elections. Maken had then said that in 2012-13, during the Anna Hazare movement, with the backing of RSS and BJP, Kejriwal had hoisted the demon of Narendra Modi, to work against the Congress party by raising the bogey of corruption. Sharmistha Mukherjee and Shri Chattar Singh said that AAP is now on a downward journey as people have lost faith and confidence in the party, which was clearly evident from the recent Punjab ZilaParishad and Block Samiti elections. Wonder why Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CGPCC) President Bhupesh Baghel is creating so much of drama even after being held as accused for releasing an objectionable CD, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary and In-charge of Chhattisgarh Dr Anil Jain said on Thursday. Bhupesh Baghel is a responsible chief of a political party and he should not have indulged in such an act , he said while addressing a press conference at BJPs divisional office Ekatma Parisar in Raipur. The law will take its own course. One of our BJP leaders being an accused in the CD case had said that everything would emerge out slowly who is responsible for it; but Bhupesh Baghel had been making a political drama, Jain said. The Congress party does not have any issues at local and national level, as they do not have any developmental plank to fight polls; so it is working on spreading lies and trying to convert lies into truth, he said. Regarding poll preparations in Chhattisgarh, Dr Jain said polls are a period of challenge for the workers and the result of election reflects the performance of party workers. It is a matter of team spirit and challenge is before all. This time the partys target is 65 plus seats in Chhattisgarh, he said. Dr Jain denied of any infighting among the party leaders resulting in alleged Sex CD scandal. He said the Congress would not work as BJP which has worked for the poor and reached them through different welfare schemes launched by both the Central and State Government sponsored schemes. On Rafale aircraft deal, Dr Jain said Congress party had stated lies inside Parliament during debate on no-confidence motion. They are relying on same Mr Hollande whom they had earlier on raised objection and who had now changed his statement, he said. The French Government has said that it is an agreement between two nations, Dr Jain said. On rising oil prices, he said that it is due to reduction in production of oil internationally and sanctions on Iran because of which a situation has arisen. He said that the government is working to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel and soon an announcement would be made. On question of Supreme Court decision on Ram Temple construction, Dr Jain said the case would now go to the constitutional bench where hearing would commence. A youth hailing from Chitugram village of Siyari panchayat in Gomia block of Bokaro district,died in a high tension tower mishap in Vishakhapatnam. According to reports the victim, identidied as Umesh Ganju (25) of Gomia block of Bokaro district had gone to Vishakhapatnam in August 2018 with local contractor of Tatijharia in Hazaribag. "We have received the news about his death,when he was on job and in high tension tower and suddenly came in contact with high voltage current. The entire family is in deep shock," said family sources of Umesh. The local administration has contacted to the Vishakhapatnam authority to help in sending home the body of the victim at the earliest. Since the family is poor, the consulate was requested to bear the expenditure for transporting the body. Umesh Ganju was working with local contractor in high voltage tower in Vishakhapatnam. Sources said the high voltage tower in which he was working along with his co-workers on Tuesday had met with an accident in Vishakhapatnam and died on the spot. "This is the initial information that we have received," he said. As many as two or three people reportedly injured in the accident.As information provided by local residents of his village,the body of Umesh Ganju has reached his village late in the afternoon and it will be criminated in the evening. US President Donald Trump had a handshake with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a luncheon in New York, the White House said, but Qureshi described it as an "informal meeting" when they discussed bilateral ties. The episode happened on Tuesday at a luncheon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Qureshi in an interview to the official Pakistani media described it as an "informal meeting" with Trump during which, he claimed, they discussed matters relating to bilateral relations. "I met with President Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. I requested him to rebuild the cordial relations that we have enjoyed in the past," Qureshi told Pakistan Television. Several Pakistani media outlets, including Dawn and Pakistan Tribune, reported the "informal meeting" citing the PTV report. According to official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, Qureshi received a "positive response" from Trump, who said they intend to "rebuild" the bilateral relations. However, the White House said only a handshake happened between the two at the luncheon. "It was a handshake at a luncheon with other world leaders," a National Security Council spokesperson told PTI. Informed sources in New York tracking Trump's engagement confirmed to PTI that Trump had no meeting with Qureshi and that it was never planned. The pool of reporters who follow Trump and report about his meetings with the world leaders did not mention the US president's meeting with Qureshi either. The White House pool, which covered the luncheon, also did not mention Trump having a long chat with Qureshi, which would have had come to the attention of the reporters. "Spotted: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly approached Trump and shook his hand as Trump stayed seated at the head table just before lunch started," a White House pool report said. "He (Trump) is shaking hands and mingling," it said. The luncheon was hosted by the UN secretary general in honour of the heads of state and government. The lunch kicked off at 1:27 pm (local time), with the secretary general offering the introductory remarks, according to a White House pool report of the luncheon. "Trump sat with his arms crossed and occasionally nodded. Secretary general offered a toast and Trump took a sip of what appeared to be a glass of red wine after the toast. Trump began his remarks at 1:31 pm," the report stated. "I've long said the United Nations has great potential...," Trump said according to the report. "His toast ended at 1:33pm. Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is seated at Trump's table as is Croatia president, others unknown," the pool report stated. Moscow has been the most searched destination among Indians in 2018, followed by Istanbul, according to a trend report which says offbeat destinations are on top of people's mind. According to travel search engine KAYAK, Moscow saw a huge jump in its ranking with a 115 per cent year-on-year increase in searches, read a statement. In 2017, Moscow was at number 70 and this year it has been holding the 46th position in overall popularity ranking of international destinations to visit for Indian travellers. Apart from Moscow and Istanbul, the other destinations which have made their place in the list are Raleigh-Durham, Prague, Munich, Vancouver, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Detroit and Seoul. The trend report also pointed out the Asian Pacific (APAC) regions which are in the bucket list of Indian travellers nowadays. Russia is at the top of the list of 'next 10 up and coming APAC destinations', with a 154 per cent year-on-year increase in searches, while Taiwan holds the second rank with a 104 per cent increase in searches. Places like Busan, Chiang Mai, Dubai and Gold Coast are a part of the list too. Abhijit Mishra, Director of India and Middle East, KAYAK, said: "Everyone enjoys visiting their favourite destinations often, but there are many other destinations around the world whose beauty is still unknown to most. Indian travellers have never shied away from exploring new and unconventional destinations. "From this year's results, an increasing number of Indians are willing to travel outside their usual favourites and discover places in Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic and Vietnam amongst others." OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- The second suspect sought in a murder at an Ocean Springs bar is in custody in Illinois, Ocean Springs police said Wednesday. Deshaude L. Jones was taken into custody by the Lake County (Ill.) Warrants Division shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Ocean Springs Police Capt. Chuck Jackson. Jones is being held in the Lake County jail in Waukegan, Ill. He is schedule to appear in court Friday, at which time he will inform the court whether or not he agrees to waive his right to an extradition hearing. If he waives the hearing, the process to return Jones to Ocean Springs to face the murder charge will begin immediately. If he does not waive his right, the court will be forced to schedule an extradition hearing. Jones is the second suspect in the murder of Ocean Springs resident Troy Taylor, which occurred behind Kahuna's Bar & Grill shortly about 12:39 a.m. Sept. 15. Police responding to a call of shots fired at the U.S. 90 bar found Taylor in the rear parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics attempted to resuscitate Taylor, but he was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene. Jones, initially identified by witnesses only as "D.J." was named as a person of interest in the case, along with a woman, Malinda Marie Tennort. Tennort, 36, of Ocean Springs, turned herself in at the Ocean Springs Police Department later that same afternoon after learning she was wanted for questioning. Despite claiming no involvement in the shooting, investigators had gathered enough evidence to warrant charging Tennort with murder. After taking Tennort into custody, police classified Jones as a suspect wanted for murder. Ocean Springs Police Chief Mark Dunston said investigators won't have a clear picture of what motivated the shooting until Jones returns from Illinois for questioning. Jackson said they are not release additional details yet, including the weapon used, whether Tennort or Jones (or both) were the shooters, or how many times Taylor was shot. The U.S. Marshals office assisted in the hunt for Jones, Jackson said. NGL Energy Partners LP is an energy partnership that transports, treats, recycles, and disposes of produced water generated as part of the energy production process. It also transports, stores, markets, and provides other logistics services for crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons. The firm operates through the following segments: Water Solutions, Crude Oil Logistics, Liquids Logistics, and Corporate & Other. The Water Solutions segment transports, treats, recycles, and disposes of produced and flow back water generated from oil and natural gas production. The Crude Oil Logistics segment purchases crude oil from producers and marketers and transports it to refineries or for resale at pipeline injection stations, storage terminals, barge loading facilities, rail facilities, refineries, and other trade hubs. The Liquids Logistics segment conducts supply operations for natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products and biodiesel to a range of commercial, retail and industrial customers across the United States and Canada. The Corporate & Other segment include corporate expenses that are not allocated to the reportable segments. The company was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in Tul Read More The following companies are subsidiares of American International Group: AGC Life Insurance Company, AIG APAC HOLDINGS PTE. LTD., AIG Advisors S.r.l., AIG Aerospace Insurance Services Inc., AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd., AIG Asset Management (Europe) Limited, AIG Asset Management (U.S.) LLC, AIG Assurance Company, AIG Australia Limited, AIG Brazil Holding I LLC, AIG CIS Investments LLC, AIG Canada Holdings Inc., AIG Capital Corporation, AIG Capital Services Inc., AIG Claims Inc., AIG Egypt Insurance Company S.A.E., AIG Employee Services Inc., AIG Europe (Services) Limited, AIG Europe Holdings S.a.rl., AIG Europe S.A., AIG Federal Savings Bank, AIG Financial Products Corp., AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., AIG Global Asset Management Holdings Corp., AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., AIG Global Reinsurance Operations, AIG Holdings Europe Limited, AIG Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, AIG Insurance Company China Limited, AIG Insurance Company JSC, AIG Insurance Company of Canada, AIG Insurance Company-Puerto Rico, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited, AIG Insurance Limited, AIG Insurance Management Services Inc., AIG Insurance New Zealand Limited, AIG International Holdings GmbH, AIG Investments UK Limited, AIG Israel Insurance Company Ltd, AIG Japan Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha, AIG Kenya Insurance Company Limited, AIG Korea Inc., AIG Latin America I.I., AIG Latin America Investments S.L., AIG Lebanon SAL, AIG Life Holdings Inc., AIG Life Insurance Company (Switzerland) Ltd, AIG Life Limited, AIG Life South Africa Limited, AIG Life of Bermuda Ltd., AIG MEA Holdings Limited, AIG MEA Limited, AIG Malaysia Insurance Berhad, AIG Markets Inc., AIG Matched Funding Corp., AIG PC Global Services Inc., AIG Philippines Insurance Inc., AIG Property Casualty Company, AIG Property Casualty Inc., AIG Property Casualty International LLC, AIG Property Casualty U.S. Inc., AIG Re-Takaful (L) Berhad, AIG Resseguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Brasil S.A., AIG Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., AIG Shared Services Corporation, AIG South Africa Limited, AIG Specialty Insurance Company, AIG Technologies Inc., AIG Travel Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., AIG Travel Assist Inc., AIG Travel Assist Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., AIG Travel EMEA Limited, AIG Travel Inc., AIG Uganda Limited, AIG Vietnam Insurance Company Limited, AIG WarrantyGuard Inc., AIG-FP Pinestead Holdings Corp., AIG-Metropolitana Cia. de Seguros y Reaseguros S.A., AIGGRE EOLA LLC, AIGGRE Europe Real Estate Fund I GP S.a r.l., AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I GP LLC, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund I LP, AIGGRE U.S. Real Estate Fund II GP LLC, AIU Insurance Company, AM Holdings LLC, Ageas Protect, AlphaCat Managers Ltd., American General Corporation, American General Life Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Co. Ltd., American Home Assurance Company, American Home Assurance Company Escritorio de Representacao no Brasil Ltda., American International Group Inc., American International Group UK Limited, American International Overseas Association, American International Overseas Limited, American International Realty Corp., American International Reinsurance Company Ltd., American International Underwriters del Ecuador-Holding S.A., American Security Life Insurance Company Limited, Arthur J. Glatfelter Agency Inc., Avondhu Limited, Blackboard Customer Care Insurance Services LLC, Blackboard Insurance Company, Blackboard Services LLC, Blackboard Specialty Insurance Company, Blackboard U.S. Holdings Inc., Chartis Takaful Enaya B.S.C. (c), Commerce and Industry Insurance Company, Crop Risk Services Inc., Eaglestone Reinsurance Company, Ellipse, Fortitude Group Holdings LLC, Fortitude Life & Annuity Solutions Inc., Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd., Franklin Life Insurance Company, Fuji Fire and Marine, Glatfelter Insurance Group, Globe and Rutgers Insurance Group, Grand Isle SAC Limited, Granite State Insurance Company, Group Risk Services Limited, Group Risk Technologies Limited, Illinois National Insurance Co., Jefferson Eola Venture LLC, Johannesburg Insurance Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Laya Healthcare Limited, Lexington Insurance Company, MG Reinsurance Limited, Mt. Mansfield Company Inc., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pa., National Union Fire Insurance Company of Vermont, New Hampshire Insurance Company, PT AIG Insurance Indonesia, Pine Street Real Estate Holdings Corp., Private Joint-Stock Company AIG Ukraine Insurance Company, Risk Specialists Companies Insurance Agency Inc., SA Affordable Housing LLC, SAFG Retirement Services Inc., Service Net Warranty LLC, Stratford Insurance Company, SunAmerica Affordable Housing Partners Inc., SunAmerica Asset Management LLC, Talbot Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Holdings Ltd., Talbot Underwriting Ltd., Thai CIT Holding Company Limited, The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, Travel Guard, Travel Guard Group Canada Inc./Groupe Garde Voyage du Canada Inc., Travel Guard Group Inc., Tudor Insurance Company, VALIC Financial Advisors Inc., Valic Retirement Services Company, Validus Holdings, Validus Holdings (UK) Ltd., Validus Holdings Ltd., Validus Reinsurance (Switzerland) Ltd, Validus Reinsurance Ltd., Validus Ventures Ltd., Volunteer Firemen's Insurance Services Inc., Western World Insurance Company, and Western World Insurance Group Inc.. Centrica plc operates as an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, North America, and internationally. The company operates through British Gas, Energy Marketing & Trading, Centrica Business Solutions, Bord GAis Energy, and Upstream segments. It supplies gas and electricity to residential customers, as well as offers energy-related services; and generates power from combined cycle gas turbines and nuclear assets. The company also provides installation, repair, and maintenance services for domestic central heating, plumbing and drains, home electrical, and gas and kitchen appliances; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, as well as offers breakdown services. In addition, it is involved in the procurement, trading, and optimization of energy; procurement and sale of LNG; and supplies energy efficiency solutions and technologies to residential customers. Further, the company produces and processes gas and oil; develops new fields to maintain reserves; constructs, owns, and exploits infrastructure; and engages in the social enterprise investment fund activities. Additionally, it provides vehicle leasing, commercial, and insurance services, as well as energy management products and services; and operates a gas storage and franchise network. The company was formerly known as Yieldtop plc and changed its name to Centrica plc in December 1996. Centrica plc was incorporated in 1995 and is based in Windsor, the United Kingdom. Read More Gerresheimer AG, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells specialty glass, plastic products, and drug delivery-devices and solutions primarily worldwide. It operates through three divisions: Plastics & Devices, Primary Packaging Glass, and Advanced Technologies. The Plastics & Devices division offers drug delivery systems, including inhalers, pen systems, and injection systems; sterile and non-sterile syringe systems for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries; and disposables for various analysis systems that are used in laboratories and medical practices, quick tests for patients in medical practices or hospitals, skin-prick aids and lancets for diabetics, disposables, and components for dialysis machines, and catheters and surgical devices. It also provides containers for the delivery of tablets and powders, liquid dosages, ophthalmic and rhinological applications, parenteral packaging applications, oral prescription medications, and cosmetics. The Primary Packaging Glass division offers glass primary packaging for pharma and cosmetics industries, such as ampoules, cartridges, vials, syrup and dropper bottles, tablet jars, and wide-neck jars, as well as injection, infusion, and transfusion bottles; flacons and pots for fragrances, deodorants, and care and decorative cosmetics; and bottles and jars for spirits and food. The Advanced Technologies division develops drug delivery products and platforms, such as micro pumps, which are used to self-administer medication for heart failure or Parkinson's for pharmaceutical and biotech customers. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in DAsseldorf, Germany. Read More Boliden AB, a metals company, explores for, mines, smelts, and recycles metals. It operates in two segments, Business Area Mines and Business Area Smelters. The company mines for zinc, copper, lead, gold, silver, nickel, and tellurium deposits. It operates the Aitik, the Boliden Area, and Garpenberg mines in Sweden; Tara mine in Ireland; and Kylylahti and Kevitsa mines in Finland. The company also produces zinc and lead ingots, copper cathodes, and gold bars and silver granules; sulphuric acid, zinc clinker, sulphur dioxide, and palladium concentrates; copper, lead, nickel, and zinc concentrates; and by-products comprising copper sulphate, zinc clinker, iron sand, copper telluride, selenium, nickel matte, crude nickel sulphate, and platinum group metal concentrates. In addition, it recycles copper and precious metals from electronic scrap; lead from used lead-acid batteries; and metals from waste products. Further, Boliden AB extracts silver from zinc concentrates. The company sells its products principally to industrial customers, as well as to base metal dealers and international metal stocks, such as the London Metal Exchange in Sweden, other Nordic region countries, Germany, the United Kingdom, other European countries, North America, and internationally. Boliden AB was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. 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 Greene King plc operates as a pub retailer and brewer in the United Kingdom. The company operates through three segments: Pub Company, Pub Partners, and Brewing & Brands. Its brands include Greene King Local Pubs, Hungry Horse, Flaming Grill, Farmhouse Inns, and Chef & Brewer. The company is also involved in brewing, marketing, and selling beer under the Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, and Belhaven Best brands. In addition, Greene King plc engages in the employment, financing, pension trustee, and property businesses. As of April 30, 2018, it operated 2,855 managed, tenanted, leased, and franchised pubs, restaurants, and hotels. Greene King plc was founded in 1799 and is headquartered in Bury St Edmunds, the United Kingdom. Read More Whitbread has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock. According to analysts' consensus price target of GBX 3,715.56, Whitbread has a forecasted upside of 16.1% from its current price of GBX 3,200. Whitbread has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.90, and is based on 9 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings. 4.7 Community Rank Outperform Votes Whitbread has received 821 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Whitbread has received 346 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Whitbread has received 70.35% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Whitbread and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe WTB will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe WTB will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend Fund's stock was trading at $39.21 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, DGS shares have increased by 36.0% and is now trading at $53.31. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc., ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics. The following companies are subsidiares of 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. Albert Technologies Ltd. provides autonomous cross-channel artificial intelligence marketing platform in Israel and internationally. The company offers artificial intelligence-based software to brands and advertising agencies using a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. It develops and deploys algorithmic solutions to provide marketers with a self-driving solution for cross-channel campaign execution, testing, optimization, analysis, and insights. The company was formerly known as Adgorithms LTD and changed its name to Albert Technologies Ltd. in July 2017. Albert Technologies Ltd. was founded in 2010 and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Read More CNA Financial Corp. operates as an insurance holding company. Its products primarily include commercial property and casualty coverages, including surety. The company's services include risk management, information services and warranty and claims administration. The firm operates through Property & Casualty Operations and Outside Property & Casualty Operations. The Property & Casualty Operations comprises of three segments: Specialty, commercial and international. The Specialty segment provides professional, financial and specialty property and casualty products and services. The Commercial segment includes property and casualty coverages sold to small businesses and middle market entities and organizations primarily through an independent agency distribution system. The International segment underwrites property and casualty coverages. The Outside Property & Casualty Operations consists of two segments: Life & Group and Corporate & Other. The Life & Group segment includes the results of the individual and group long term care businesses that are in run-off. The Corporate & Other segment involves in the corporate expenses, including interest on corporate debt, and the results of Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Barnes Group: AS Monterrey S. de R.L. de C.V., Adval Tech - Foboha Mold Making Business, Associated Spring (Tianjin) Company Ltd., Associated Spring (UK) Ltd., Associated Spring Asia Pte. Ltd., Associated Spring Corporation, Associated Spring Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Associated Spring Raymond (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Associated Spring Raymond GmbH, Associated Spring do Brasil Ltda., Barnes Airmotive Malaysia SND. BHD., Barnes Financing Delaware LLC, Barnes Group (Bermuda) Limited, Barnes Group (Delaware) LLC, Barnes Group (Germany) GmbH, Barnes Group (Scotland) Limited, Barnes Group (Thailand) Ltd., Barnes Group (U.K.) 2 Limited, Barnes Group (U.K.) Limited, Barnes Group Acquisition GmbH, Barnes Group Canada Corp., Barnes Group Finance Company (Bermuda) Limited, Barnes Group Finance Company (Delaware), Barnes Group Holding LLC, Barnes Group Luxembourg (No. 1) S.a r.l., Barnes Group Luxembourg (No. 2) S.a r.l., Barnes Group Spain S.R.L., Barnes Group Suisse Industries GmbH, Barnes Group Switzerland GmbH, Barnes Industrial Group India Private Limited, Barnes Korea Ltd., Barnes Molding Solutions (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., Blitz F16-34 GmbH, Curtis Industries, Curtiss Industries (U.K.) Limited, Di-Dro Manifold System Product Line, Euro Stock Springs & Components, Foboha (Germany) GmbH, Foboha Holding GmbH, Forward Industries LLC, GF Controls GmbH, Gammaflux, Gammaflux Controls Inc., Gimatic, Gimatic Automation Engineering (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Gimatic Automation India Pvt Ltd. , Gimatic Automation Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Gimatic Balkan d.o.o. Beograd Savski Venac, Gimatic Czech Republic s.r.o., Gimatic France S.a.r.l., Gimatic Japan Limited, Gimatic Korea Limited, Gimatic Nordic A.B., Gimatic Otomasyon Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Gimatic Polska sp. z o.o, Gimatic S.r.l., Gimatic Sisteme RO SRL, Gimatic Sistemi industrijska avtomatizacija d.o.o., Gimatic Spain S.L., Gimatic Vertrieb GmbH, Gimatrade S.r.l., Heinz Haenggi Gmbh Stanztechnik, Industrial Gas Springs, Industrial Gas Springs Group Holdings Limited, Industrial Gas Springs Inc., Industrial Gas Springs Limited, Kar Products, Kratz-Wilde Machine Co, MTM S.r.l., Manner Hong Kong Limited, Manner USA Inc., Orflam - Nitropush Product Line, Otto Manner, Otto Manner GmbH, Otto Manner Immobilien GmbH, Otto Manner Innovation GmbH, Premier Farnell - KENT Division, Priamus System Technologies, Priamus System Technologies GmbH, Priamus System Technologies LLC, Raymond Distribution-Mexico S.A. de C.V., Resortes Argentina S.A., Ressorts SPEC SAS, Seeger-Orbis GmbH & Co. OHG, Service Plus Distributors, Sign Holdings Limited, Spectrum Plastics Molding Resources, Stromsholmen AB, Synventive Acquisition B.V., Synventive Acquisition GmbH, Synventive Acquisition Inc., Synventive Acquisition UK Ltd., Synventive Acquisition Unlimited, Synventive B.V., Synventive Fertigungstechnik GmbH, Synventive Holding B.V., Synventive Holding Limited, Synventive Holding SAS, Synventive Molding Solutions, Synventive Molding Solutions (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Synventive Molding Solutions B.V., Synventive Molding Solutions Canada Inc., Synventive Molding Solutions Co. Ltd., Synventive Molding Solutions GmbH, Synventive Molding Solutions Inc., Synventive Molding Solutions JBJ Private Limited, Synventive Molding Solutions K.K., Synventive Molding Solutions LDA, Synventive Molding Solutions LLC, Synventive Molding Solutions LTDA., Synventive Molding Solutions Limited, Synventive Molding Solutions Pte Ltd., Synventive Molding Solutions SAS, Synventive Molding Solutions SL, Synventive Molding Solutions s.r.o., Synventive Parent Inc., Teledyne Fluid Systems, The Wallace Barnes Company, Thermoplay, Thermoplay Brasil Sistemas de Injecao Ltda, Thermoplay Deutschland GmbH, Thermoplay France S.a.r.l., Thermoplay Hot Runner Systems (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Thermoplay India Private Limited, Thermoplay Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Thermoplay S.p.A., Thermoplay U.K. Ltd., Toolcom Supplie, Windsor Airmotive Asia Pte. Ltd., and manner Japan Co. Ltd.. 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 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 Canadian Western Bank provides personal and business banking products and services primarily in Western Canada. The company offers current, savings, cash management, US dollar, and chequing accounts, as well as organization, strata solution/condo, general trust, and trust fund investment accounts. It also offers commercial lending and real estate, and equipment financing and leasing products; loans and mortgages; secured and unsecured lines of credit; registered retirement savings plan; consolidation, vehicle, and recreation vehicle loans; and credit cards. In addition, the company offers cash management services; life and disability insurance products; and ATM, mobile, and online banking services, as well cheque order services. Further, it provides investment products comprising guaranteed investment certificates, registered retirement income funds, tax-free savings accounts, registered education savings plans, and mutual funds, as well as personal and business planning services. Canadian Western Bank has a strategic partnership with Temenos AG to support small and medium sized enterprises with financial decision-making and enhancing their businesses. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada. Read More CMC Markets plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online retail financial services to retail, professional, stockbroking, and institutional clients in Australia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company provides its clients with the ability to trade contracts for difference and financial spread betting on a range of underlying shares, indices, foreign currencies, commodities, and treasuries through its trading platform. It also offers Australian clients the opportunity to trade Australian and selected international instruments, including shares, options, managed funds, warrants, and exchange traded funds. In addition, the company provides its clients a range of education opportunities through weekly and monthly webinars and seminars, as well as Trader Development programme, which provides a range of in-platform, on-demand education, and tailored market commentary. CMC Markets plc was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of BlackRock: Acero Cooperatief U.A., Acero Holdings I B.V., Amethyst Merger Sub LLC, AnalytX Hosting LLC, AnalytX LLC, AnalytX Software LLC, Aperio, Aperio, Aquila Heywood, Asia-Pacific Private Credit Opportunities Fund I (GenPar) Ltd., BAA Holdings LLC, BFM Holdco LLC, BLK (Gallatin) Holdings LLC, BLK SMI LLC, BR Acquisition Mexico S.A. de C.V., BR Jersey International Holdings L.P., Beijing eFront Software Company Limited, BlackRock (Barbados) Finco 1 SRL, BlackRock (Channel Islands) Limited, BlackRock (Luxembourg) S.A., BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., BlackRock (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco II Pte. Ltd., BlackRock (Singapore) Holdco Pte. Limited, BlackRock (Singapore) Limited, BlackRock AP Investment Holdco LLC, BlackRock Advisors (UK) Limited, BlackRock Advisors LLC, BlackRock Advisors Singapore Pte. Limited, BlackRock Alternative Advisors GP Holdings LLC, BlackRock Alternatives Management LLC, BlackRock Argentina Asesorias Ltda., BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Deutschland AG, BlackRock Asset Management International Inc., BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Ireland Limited, BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited, BlackRock Asset Management Schweiz AG, BlackRock Asset Management UK Limited, BlackRock Australia Holdco Pty. Ltd., BlackRock Brasil Gestora de Investimentos Ltda., BlackRock Cal 1 Investor LLC, BlackRock Canada Holdings LP, BlackRock Canada Holdings ULC, BlackRock Capital Holdings Inc., BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors LLC, BlackRock Capital Management Inc., BlackRock Cayco Limited, BlackRock Cayman 1 LP, BlackRock Cayman Capital Holdings Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco 3 Limited, BlackRock Cayman Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay Finco Limited, BlackRock Cayman West Bay IV Limited, BlackRock Cayman Z Limited, BlackRock Channel Islands Holdco Limited, BlackRock Chile Asesorias Limitada, BlackRock Colombia Holdco LLC, BlackRock Colombia Infraestructura S.A.S., BlackRock Colombia SAS, BlackRock Company Secretarial Services (UK) Limited, BlackRock Corporation US Inc., BlackRock Delaware Holdings Inc., BlackRock Enterprise Management Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Europe Development Management Limited, BlackRock Execution Services, BlackRock Finance Europe Limited, BlackRock Financial Management Inc., BlackRock Finco LLC, BlackRock Finco UK Ltd., BlackRock First Partner Limited, BlackRock France SAS, BlackRock Fund Advisors, BlackRock Fund Management Company S.A., BlackRock Fund Managers Limited, BlackRock Funding International Ltd., BlackRock Funds Services Group LLC, BlackRock Germany GmBH, BlackRock Group Limited, BlackRock HK Holdco Limited, BlackRock Holdco 2 Inc., BlackRock Holdco 3 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 4 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 5 LLC, BlackRock Holdco 6 LLC, BlackRock Hungary Kft, BlackRock Index Services LLC, BlackRock Infrastructure Management I LLC, BlackRock Institutional Services Inc., BlackRock Institutional Trust Company National Association, BlackRock International Holdings Inc., BlackRock International Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Australia) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Dublin) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Korea) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Investment Management (Taiwan) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, BlackRock Investment Management Ireland Holdings Limited, BlackRock Investment Management LLC, BlackRock Investments LLC, BlackRock Japan Co. Ltd., BlackRock Japan Holdings GK, BlackRock Jersey Finco 2 Limited, BlackRock Latin America Holdco LLC, BlackRock Latin American Holdings B.V., BlackRock Life Limited, BlackRock Lux Finco S.a r.l., BlackRock Luxembourg Holdco S.a r.l., BlackRock Mexican Holdco B.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura I S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Infraestructura III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager II S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager III S. de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Manager S de R.L. de C.V., BlackRock Mexico Operadora S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, BlackRock Mortgage Ventures LLC, BlackRock Niagara LLC, BlackRock Operations (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., BlackRock Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BlackRock PC Holdings LLC, BlackRock Pensions Limited, BlackRock Peru Asesorias S.A., BlackRock Property Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BlackRock Property France S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Lux S.a.r.l., BlackRock Property Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., BlackRock Realty Advisors Inc., BlackRock Saudi Arabia, BlackRock Scale Holdings LLC, BlackRock Services India Private Limited, BlackRock Singapore III Pte. Ltd., BlackRock Slovakia s.r.o., BlackRock Strategic Investors GP LLC, BlackRock Strategic Investors LP, BlackRock Trident Holding Company Limited, BlackRock UK (Alpha) Limited, BlackRock UK (Beta) Limited, BlackRock UK (Delta) LP, BlackRock UK (Gamma) Limited, BlackRock UK (Sigma) Limited, BlackRock UK 2 LLP, BlackRock UK 3 LLP, BlackRock UK 4 LLP, BlackRock UK A LLP, BlackRock UK Holdco 2 Limited, BlackRock UK Holdco Limited, Blackhawk Investment Holding LLC, CIE Automotive, Cachematrix Holdings, Cachematrix Holdings LLC, Cachematrix Integrations Private Limited, Cachematrix Software Solutions LLC, Cachematrix UK Limited, FutureAdvisor Inc., Glass Mountain Pipeline, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Advisors LLC, Global Energy & Power Infrastructure II Advisors LLC, Grosvenor Alternate Partner Limited, Grosvenor Ventures Limited, HLX Financial Holdings LLC, MGPA (Bermuda) Limited, MGPA (Exec) Limited, MGPA Limited, Mercury Carry Company Ltd., Mercury Private Equity MUST 3 (Jersey) Limited, Object Capital Technology Inc., Phoenix Acquisition B.V., Phoenix Acquisitions Holdings LLC, Portfolio Administration & Management Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios Integrales BlackRock Mexico S.A. de C.V., SVOF/MM LLC, St. Albans House Nominees (Jersey) Ltd., State Street Research & Management, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tennenbaum Capital Partners LLC, Tlali Acero S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Trident Merger LLC, eFront, eFront, eFront (Jersey) Limited, eFront DMLT Holdings LLC, eFront DMLT Holdings S.R.L, eFront DR S.R.L, eFront Do Brasil Solucoes Informaticas Para Sistemas Financeiros Ltda., eFront FZ-LLC, eFront Financial Solutions Inc., eFront GmbH, eFront Holding II SAS, eFront Holdings SAS, eFront Hong Kong Limited, eFront II SAS, eFront Kabushiki Kaisha, eFront Ltd, eFront SAS, eFront Singapore Pte. Ltd, eFront Software Luxembourg S.a r.l., eFront Solutions Financeieres Inc., eFront d.o.o. Beograd, iShares (DE) I Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, and iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC. Zayo Group Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides bandwidth infrastructure solutions for the communications industry in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company operates in six segments: Fiber Solutions, Transport, Enterprise Networks, Zayo Colocation (zColo), Allstream, and Other. The Fiber Solutions segment provides dark fiber, and fiber-to-the-tower and small cell mobile infrastructure services for carriers and other communication service providers, Internet service providers, wireless service providers, media and content companies, large enterprises, and other companies. The Transport segment offers lit bandwidth infrastructure solutions comprising wavelength, Ethernet, wholesale IP services, and SONET services through its metro, regional, and long-haul fiber networks for carriers, content providers, financial services companies, healthcare, government entities, education institutions, and other medium and large enterprises. The Enterprise Networks segment provides connectivity and telecommunications solutions comprising Internet, wide area networking products, managed products, and cloud based computing and storage offerings to medium and large enterprises. The Zayo Colocation (zColo) segment offers data center infrastructure solutions consisting of colocation space, and power and interconnection services to a range of enterprise, carrier, cloud, and content customers. The Allstream segment provides cloud VoIP and data solutions, such as voice offerings; and unified communications, as well as telecommunications services, including Ethernet, and IP/MPLS VPN solutions. The Other segment provides network and technical resources to customers in designing, acquiring, and maintaining their networks. Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Colgate-Palmolive: 887357 Ontario Inc., COLGALIVE S.A., CP GABA GmbH, CP International Holding C.V., CP West East Investment Limited, Cleaning Dimensions Inc., Colgate (BVI) Limited, Colgate (Guangzhou) Company Limited, Colgate (U.K.) Limited, Colgate Business Services of the Americas S.C., Colgate Flavors and Fragrances Inc., Colgate Global Business Services Private Limited, Colgate Holdings, Colgate Inc., Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals Inc., Colgate Palmolive Ghana Limited, Colgate Palmolive Holding S.Com.P.A., Colgate Palmolive Nouvelle Caledonie Sarl, Colgate Palmolive Tanzania Limited, Colgate Sanxiao Company Limited, Colgate Venture Company Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (America) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Asia) Pte Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive (Blantyre) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Brunei) Sdn Bhn, Colgate-Palmolive (Central America) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Central America) Inc. y Compania Limitada, Colgate-Palmolive (Centro America) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (China) Co. Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive (Costa Rica) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (Dominica) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Dominican Republic) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (East Africa) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Eastern) Pte. Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Egypt) S.A.E., Colgate-Palmolive (Far East) Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive (Fiji) Pte Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Gabon) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (Guyana) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (H.K.) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Hellas) S.A. I.C., Colgate-Palmolive (Hong Kong) Holding Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Kazakhstan) L.L.P., Colgate-Palmolive (Latvia) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive (Middle East Exports) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Myanmar) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (New York) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive (Proprietary) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Research & Development) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Romania) SRL, Colgate-Palmolive (Thailand) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (UK) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Uganda) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Vietnam) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Zambia) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Zimbabwe) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive A.B., Colgate-Palmolive A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Adria Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Argentina S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Treasury Services Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Belgium S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Bolivia Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Canada Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Caricom Service Co. Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Central European Management Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Chile S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Cia., Colgate-Palmolive Comercial Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Commercial (Hellas) SP LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Commerciale S.A.S., Colgate-Palmolive Commericale S.r.l., Colgate-Palmolive Compania Anonima, Colgate-Palmolive Company Distr. LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Company GmbH, Colgate-Palmolive Cote dIvoire S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Cyprus Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Development Corp., Colgate-Palmolive East West Africa Region (Pty) Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive Enterprises Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Espana S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Europe (Holdings) Sarl, Colgate-Palmolive Europe Sarl, Colgate-Palmolive Finance (UK) plc, Colgate-Palmolive Global Trading Company, Colgate-Palmolive Holding Argentina S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Holding Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Hungary Kft Limited Liability Company, Colgate-Palmolive IHQ Services (Thailand) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Inc. S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Industrial Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Industriel S.A.S., Colgate-Palmolive International Holding LLC, Colgate-Palmolive International LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Investment Co. Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (BVI) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (PNG) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (UK) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Investments Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Israel Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Italia S.r.l., Colgate-Palmolive JSC, Colgate-Palmolive Lanka (Private) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Latin America Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Manufacturing (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive Maroc S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Mocambique Limitada, Colgate-Palmolive NJ Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Nederland B.V., Colgate-Palmolive Norge A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Participacoes e Investimentos Imobiliarios Lda., Colgate-Palmolive Peru S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Philippines Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Pty Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive Retirement Trustee Limited, Colgate-Palmolive S.A. de C.V., Colgate-Palmolive S.p.A., Colgate-Palmolive Senegal S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Services (Hellas) LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Services (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive Services CEW GmbH, Colgate-Palmolive Services S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Slovensko s.r.o., Colgate-Palmolive Support Services, Colgate-Palmolive Temizlik Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticart S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Transnational Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Ukraine LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Unipessoal Lda, Colgate-Palmolive de Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Colgate-Palmolive de Puerto Rico Inc., Colgate-Palmolive del Ecuador S.A.I.C., Colgate-Palmolive del Peru (Delaware) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Eeska republika spol. s r.o., Colpal CBS S de R. L. de C. V., Consumer Viewpoint Center Inc., Cotelle S.A., Dimac Development Corp., Dominica Coconut Products Limited, EKIB Inc., ELM Company Limited, Elta MD Holdings Inc., Elta MD Inc., EltaMD, Filorga Americas Inc., Filorga Asia Limited, Filorga Benelux SA, Filorga Cosmetiques Polska, Filorga Middle East DMCC, Filorga Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Filorga RU Limited Liability Company, GABA Europe Holding GmbH, GABA International, GABA International Holding LLC, GABA Schweiz AG, GABA Therwil GmbH, Gamma Development Co. Ltd., Global Trading and Supply LLC, Hamol Ltd., Hello Products, Hello Products LLC, Hills Funding Company, Hills Pet Nutrition (NZ) Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Asia Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Canada Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Denmark ApS, Hills Pet Nutrition Espana S.L., Hills Pet Nutrition GmbH, Hills Pet Nutrition Holding B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Indiana Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Italia S.r.l., Hills Pet Nutrition Korea Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Manufacturing B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Manufacturing s.r.o, Hills Pet Nutrition Norway AS, Hills Pet Nutrition OOO, Hills Pet Nutrition Pty. Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition S.p.A., Hills Pet Nutrition SNC, Hills Pet Nutrition Sales Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition South Africa Proprietary Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition Sweden AB, Hills Pet Nutrition Switzerland GmbH, Hills Pet Nutrition Taiwan Ltd, Hills Pet Nutrition Trading (GZ) Co. Ltd, Hills Pet Nutrition de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Hills Pet Nutrition de Puerto Rico Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition s.r.o., Hills Pet Products (Benelux) S.A., Hills Pet Products Inc., Hills Veterinary Companies of America Inc., Hills-Colgate (Japan) Ltd., Hopro Liquidating Corp., Hygiene Systemes et Services SA, IES Enterprises Inc., Inmobiliaria Colpal S. de R.L. de C.V., Inmobiliaria Hills S.A. de C.V., Innovacion Creativa S.A. de C.V., Kolynos Corporation, Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques Espana S.L.U., Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques Italia S.R.L., Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques S.A., Laser Brand Toothpaste, Lournay Sales Inc., Mennen Company, Mennen Interamerica Ltd., Mennen Limited, Mennen South Africa Ltd., Mennen de Chile Ltd., Mennen de Nicargua S.A., Mission Hills Property Corporation, Mission Hills S.A. de C.V., Norwood International Incorporated, Olive Music Publishing Corporation, PCA SKIN, Paramount Research Inc., Penny LLC, Pet Chemicals Inc., Physicians Care Alliance LLC, Productos Halogenados Copalven C.A., Purity Holding Company, Purity Music Publishing Corporation, Refresh Company Limited, Samuel Taylor Holdings B.V., Sanex, Sanxiao Company Limited, Services Development Co. Ltd., Societe Generale de Negoce et de Services (GENESE) S.A., The GDN - The Global Distributive Network SAS, The Lournay Company Inc., The MPDP - The Medical and Pharmaceutic Distributive Platform SAS, The Murphy-Phoenix Company, Tom's of Maine, Toms of Maine Holdings Inc., Toms of Maine Inc., Veterinary Companies of America Inc., Vipont Pharmaceutical Inc., and XEB Inc.. innogy SE operates as an energy company in Europe. The company operates in two divisions, Grid & Infrastructure and Retail. The Grid & Infrastructure division is involved in the operation of gas distribution network in Croatia, as well as electricity distribution network in Poland and Hungary; and water business. The Retail division sells electricity and gas. The company serves residential, commercial, industrial, and corporate customers, as well as distributors. innogy SE has a strategic partnership with Nordex. The company was formerly known as RWE International SE and changed its name to innogy SE in September 2016. innogy SE was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Essen, Germany. innogy SE is a subsidiary of E.ON Verwaltungs SE. Read More The Bank of New York Mellon pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.30%. The Bank of New York Mellon does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of The Bank of New York Mellon is 34.61%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, The Bank of New York Mellon will have a dividend payout ratio of 30.22% next year. This indicates that The Bank of New York Mellon will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. View The Bank of New York Mellon's dividend history. There is not enough analysis data for Northstar Realty Europe. 4.5 Community Rank Outperform Votes Northstar Realty Europe has received 195 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Northstar Realty Europe has received 89 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Northstar Realty Europe has received 68.66% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Northstar Realty Europe and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe NRE will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe NRE will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next NovaGold Resources Inc. explores for and develops gold mineral properties in the United States. It primarily owns 50% interest in the Donlin Gold project consisting of 493 mining claims covering an area of 71,420 acres located in the Kuskokwim region of southwestern Alaska. The company was formerly known as NovaCan Mining Resources (1985) Limited and changed its name to NovaGold Resources Inc. in March 1987. NovaGold Resources Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Vancouver, Canada. Read More Oasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, focuses on the acquisition and development of onshore unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through Exploration and Production(E&P), and Midstream segments. The E&P segment engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties. The Midstream segment offers midstream services, such as natural gas gathering, compression, processing and, gas lift supply; crude oil gathering, terminaling, and transportation; produced and flowback water gathering, and disposal; and water distribution. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 401,766 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin; and 24,396 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin, as well as approximately 152.2 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. The company sells its crude oil and natural gas to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to pipeline and rail facilities. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Read More There is not enough analysis data for Quinsam Capital. 4.8 Community Rank Outperform Votes Quinsam Capital has received 74 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.) Underperform Votes Quinsam Capital has received 30 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.) Community Sentiment Quinsam Capital has received 71.15% outperform votes from our community. MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Quinsam Capital and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe QCA will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe QCA will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days. Previous Next Randgold Resources Limited is engaged in gold mining, exploration and related activities. The Company's activities are focused on West and Central Africa. The Company operates through the gold mining segment. The Company operates various mines, such as Morila, Loulo, Gounkoto, Tongon and Kibali. The Company is exploring in African countries, such as Mali, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Company also holds an interest in the Massawa project. The Company holds Morila Limited, which holds interests in the Morila mine in Mali. As of December 31, 2016, Morila mine has produced 122,370 ounces (oz) of gold. The Company holds a controlling interest in the Loulo mine, located in Mali, through Societe des Mines de Loulo SA (Loulo). The Loulo mine is mining from over two underground mines. As of December 31, 2016, Loulo mine has produced 350,604 oz of gold. It has a controlling interest in the Gounkoto mine through Societe des Mines de Gounkoto SA. Read More Varian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services medical devices and software products for treating cancer and other medical conditions worldwide. It operates through Oncology Systems and Proton Solutions segments. The Oncology Systems segment offers hardware and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, artificial intelligence based adaptive radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, as well as quality assurance equipment. Its products include linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment accessories, and quality assurance software; and information management, treatment planning, image processing, clinical knowledge exchange, patient care management, decision-making support, and practice management software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, physicians' offices, medical oncology practices, radiotherapy centers, and cancer care clinics. The Proton Solutions segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services products and systems for delivering proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The company has a strategic agreement with McKesson Corp. to supply treatment delivery systems and planning, services, and radiotherapy information system solutions to its U.S. Oncology Network and Vantage Oncology affiliated sites of care; and a strategic partnership with Siemens AG to represent Siemens diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics in the United States and other select markets. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Read More Yext, Inc. is an emerging growth company engages in software development. It offers a cloud-based digital knowledge platform, which allows businesses manage their digital knowledge in the cloud such as financial information, resources and performance of these resources on a consolidated basis and sync it to other application such as Apple Maps, Bing, Cortana, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Instagram, Siri and Yelp. It offers the Yext Knowledge Engine package on subscription basis, which has an access to Listings, Pages, Reviews and other features. The Listing feature provides customers with control over their digital presence, including their location and other related attributes published on the used third-party applications. The Pages feature allows customers to establish landing pages on their own websites and to manage digital content on those sites, including calls to action. The Reviews presence enables customers to encourage and facilitate reviews from end consumers. The company was founded by Howard Lerman, Brent Metz, and Brian Distelburger in 2006 and is headquartered in New York, NY. Read More AVX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, supplies, and resells various electronic components, interconnect devices, sensing and control devices, and related products worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Electronic Components; Interconnect, Sensing and Control Devices; and Kyocera Electronic Devices Resale. The Electronic Components segment primarily offers surface mount and leaded ceramic capacitors, RF thick and thin film components, surface mount and leaded tantalum capacitors, surface mount and leaded film capacitors, ceramic and film power capacitors, super capacitors, EMI filters, thick and thin film packages of various electronic integrated components, varistors, thermistors, inductors, and resistive products. The Interconnect, Sensing and Control Devices segment provides automotive sensing and control devices and automotive, telecom, and memory connectors. The company serves various industries, such as telecommunications, information technology hardware, automotive electronics, medical devices and instrumentation, industrial instrumentation, transportation, energy harvesting, defense and aerospace electronic systems, and consumer electronics industries. It markets its products through its direct sales force and independent manufacturers' representatives to multi-national original equipment manufacturers, independent electronic component distributors, and electronic manufacturing service providers. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. AVX Corporation is a subsidiary of Kyocera Corporation. Read More Entertainment MUMBAI : Kindness is the act that can change the perspective of any person. Bollywood budding actress Jyoti Saxena who is soon going to make her Bollywood debut shares her share of experience of the act of kindness. Jyoti Saxena: When we talk about kindness the first name that comes to my mind is Sonu Sood Lower house of Russian parliament backs pension reform RIA Novosti, Vladimir Fedorenko 13:30 27/09/2018 MOSCOW, September 27 (RAPSI) The State Duma adopted in the third and final reading on Thursday a bill on pension system change. On Wednesday, lawmakers passed amendments proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the pension initiative. Thus, the age of 65 years would be set as retirement age for men, and 60 years for women. Moreover, mothers with many children would gain a right to retirement at 50-57 years. A labor experience term enabling to retire on a pension earlier would be lowered, from 45 to 42 for men, and from 40 to 37 for women. Unemployment allowance is to be increased for persons nearing retirement age starting 2019. On July 19, the State Duma passed the pension system bill in the first reading. Initially, the document, which was suggested in mid-June by the government, provided a gradual increase in the retirement age of up to 65 years for men and up to 63 years for women. The President issued a set of suggestions on the pension system change on August 29. Putin proposed to lower the womens retirement age to 60 years. Moreover, he made several proposals aimed to strengthen guarantees for persons nearing retirement age, in particular to protect them from discrimination and dismissal without a valid reason. On September 25, the State Duma adopted in a final third reading a presidential bill on punishment for unjustified denial of employment and dismissal of persons nearing retirement age. Moreover, several other bills to protect soon-to-retire persons are pending in the State Duma. Regional authorities have additionally supported a presidential proposal on retention of a right to benefits for preretirement citizens. FOXBOROUGH -- A season-high 11 players were listed as limited on the Patriots' first practice report ahead of their Week 4 matchup Sunday against Miami. Tight end Rob Gronkowski (ankle) and wide receiver Josh Gordon (hamstring) led a group that consisted mostly of names found on prior injury reports. The first-timers were defensive linemen Danny Shelton (elbow) and Geneo Grisson (ankle). Gronkowski appeared on last Thursday's report with an ankle injury but was quickly removed from the final report Friday before New England traveled to Detroit. Others listed Wednesday included offensive lineman Marcus Cannon (calf), safety Patrick Chung (concussion), cornerback Keion Crossen (hamstring), safety Nate Ebner (hip), defensive lineman Trey Flowers (concussion), tight end Jacob Hollister (chest) and cornerback Eric Rowe. Chung, Flowers, Hollister and Rowe were ruled out in the 48 hours prior to the Patriots' 26-10 loss at the Lions last weekend. Hollister did not practice last Friday. For the Dolphins, former Patriots wideout Danny Amendola missed practice for a non-injury reason. Defensive end Cameron Wake sat out with a bad knee and safety Reshad Jones was limited with a shoulder injury. New England and Miami will kick off 1 p.m. Sunday inside Gillette Stadium. Chairman of Russias Human Rights Council favors torture prevention idea RIA Novosti 16:59 27/09/2018 MOSCOW, September 27 (RAPSI) Chairman of the Presidential Council of Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov has supported a proposal made by Russian ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova on creation of a national mechanism for prevention of torture, the advisory bodys website reads. According to Fedotov, creation of such national mechanism is in line with the optional protocol for the United Nations Convention against Torture. He added that public supervisory commissions established in Russia back in 2008 could become an important part of this mechanism. The Councils Chairman noted that it would be preferable if the federal ombudsman could appoint members of the commissions after receiving applications from organizations protecting human rights. While talking about recent torture scandals in Russian prisons, Fedotov stated that penitentiary facilities must be examined in a complex manner as they have to organize a system of video recording for violations committed by prison staff and inmates. He also said that the penitentiary system in general must be subjected to public control and members of the Council should be allowed to visit penal colonies and detention centers at any time, just like human rights commissioners. Itanagar : Director of British Council Alan Gemmel and Council Director of East and Northeast Dr Debanjan Chakrabarti on Thursday called on Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein. The Chief Minister congratulated the British Council on completing 70 years of their service in India. He said the state govt is looking forward to Councils expertise in teaching English, which would improve soft skills of students and give them the edge for employability. Khandu also requested the council for support to the youths of the state in the field of education, music, culture and sports. Gemmel informed the Chief Minister that the Council is getting into an agreement through MoU with North Eastern Council in a week that will allow them to train teachers in English language in the Northeast. Dhangadhi, Nepal: Dhangadhi, the capital city of the province number 7, remains tense on Thursday as well after local staged protest against of the suggestions made for permanent capital and name of the province. As the special recommendation committee led by lawmaker Tara Lama Tamang had submitted a report to the state assembly suggesting that the permanent province capital be located in Teghari of Godavari Municipality and that the province be named Sudurpaschim, the local have been protesting the suggestion. The locals have a demand that existing temporary capital of the province should be fixed as the permanent capital arguing that newly suggested Godavari lacks necessary infrastructures. Hundreds of thousand locals have taken to the streets since the early morning chanting slogans against the province government. All the market area, factories, transportation, and educational institutions have remained closed due to the strike. Here are seven things you should know before you consider booking one yourself: Ford will be launching the facelifted version of the 2018 Aspire sub-compact sedan next week and dealers are already taking bookings for the same. But while we wait for the final prices and details, here are seven things you should know before you consider booking one yourself: 1) New powertrain on offer The 2018 Ford Aspire will now be offered with the new 1.2-litre petrol unit that was introduced in the Ford Freestyle. The 3-cylinder Dragon Series engine in the Freestyle is tuned to produce a maximum of 96PS of power and 120Nm of torque, both figures higher than the Aspires current performance numbers. 1.2l Ti-VCT (Old) 1.2l Ti-VCT (New) Engine 1196cc 1194cc No. of cyl 4 3 Power 88PS 96PS (+8PS) Torque 112Nm 120Nm (+8Nm) Transmission 5-speed 5-speed 2) There will be an automatic variant as well Given the growing popularity of automatic transmissions, Ford is likely to offer a variant of the new Aspire with the same 3-cyl 1.5-litre petrol engine that produces a maximum output of 123PS and 150Nm paired to the 6-speed torque converter combo found in the facelifted EcoSport. 3) Updated infotainment system We know for certain that Ford will equip the new Aspire with the latest SYNC 3 infotainment system, which features a 6.5-inch touchscreen display that supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This replaces the older non-touch SYNC AppLink system on the pre-facelift Ford Aspire. However, it is possible that the SYNC 3 unit that that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto may only be limited to the top variants. The lower variants will still feature the new touchscreen display with in-built navigation, like in the Ford Freestyle. Facelifted Ford Aspire Pre-facelift Ford Aspire 4) More features Apart from the new touchscreen infotainment system, the facelifted Ford Aspire will also get two USB sockets accompanying the 12V socket just in front of the gear lever. It will also get the engine start/stop button on the left of the steering wheel while the beige-black colour theme seems to remain unchanged for the interiors. 5) Updated aesthetics Its a facelift and so the Aspire has received a few tweaks to its looks. Minor changes have been made to the front grille, bumpers and the headlamps, all of which look similar to the design tweaks seen on the Figo sedan specced for South Africa. The biggest aesthetic change perhaps would be the new 15-inch multi-spoke alloys for the top variants, up from the 14-inch alloys previously offered on the Titanium and Titanium+ trim levels. 6) No change in diesel option In case the new 1.2-litre petrol unit or the 1.5-litre petrol unit with the autobox isnt for you, you can still have the new Aspire with the tried and tested 1.5-litre diesel that is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and produces a maximum of 100PS and 215Nm of torque. 7) Price difference & stiff competition Were still waiting for Ford to announce the price difference for the new facelifted Aspire, but we expect the starting prices to drop. While the pre-facelift model starts at Rs 5.72 lakh, the new one should start around Rs 5.5 lakh, ex-showroom. This American-branded sub-compact sedan will compete against rivals like the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, VW Ameo, Honda Amaze, Tata Tigor and Hyundai Xcent in the Indian automotive market. Words: Sonny Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho. 1 What is e-Residency? E-Residency is a government-issued digital identity that gives you the freedom to run a global, EU-company online from anywhere in the world. As an e-Resident, you not only join a global network of entrepreneurs, but also gain access to the e-services that have helped to power the e-governance platform of the Republic of Estonia for decades. The government of Estonia has launched this initiative in December 2014 and has so far attracted more than 45,000 e-residents from 160 countries. 2 Why should Indian entrepreneurs look forward to taking e-Residency? India is an entrepreneurial country. Companies, especially those in software development & technology can leverage from Estonia since we pioneer in ICT technologies, especially in e-governance. e-Residency can provide Indian entrepreneurs with the opportunity to open and run a global EU company fully online while being in India and gain access to the European market of 500 million people. Indian entrepreneurs can now grow their micro-businesses with Make in India & Sell in Europe. India also has the worlds largest freelance workforce. We are also inviting the freelancer community to build their businesses and prosper through the e-Residency programme. Europe is one of the key markets for them owing to its huge demand. By bringing the freelancers under the e-Residency umbrella, we aim to provide them with a platform whereby they can further flourish their businesses. 3 Will Estonia help Indian entrepreneurs with access to capital? E-Residency can definitely be an avenue for e-residents to explore opportunities to access capital in Estonia and across the European Union member states. As businesses grow, they can also physically grow their presence in Estonia, hire or contract local experts and move towards finding investors. Indian startups like Velmenni have successfully achieved this in the past while remaining remote across the world and in India. In fact, we have realized that once a business starts to globalize using e-Residency, the opportunities for them to access capital even back home in India rise significantly. 4 How many Indian e-residents do you have currently? We have over 1,910 e-residents from India and 227 of them have created a company registered in Estonia thanks to e-Residency. 5 Which industries have better prospects? The European Union is a huge potential market for startups working in e-commerce, IT, business / technology consulting, digital transformation but also in more specific sectors such as e-health, for instance. There are also plenty of R&D facilities which are available in Estonia which could further augment the businesses of the Indian entrepreneurs. 6 How can Estonia help India in terms of e-governance? Estonia is probably the only country in the world where 99 per cent of the public services are available online 24/7. Thanks to a safe, convenient and flexible digital ecosystem, our country has reached an unprecedented level of transparency in e-governance. Estonia saves over 800 years of working time annually as a result of its digital ecosystem and has become a hassle-free environment for business and entrepreneurship, while serving as an exemplary model of governance for countries around the world. Responses by Mr Varun Sharma, Head of Partnerships, e-Residency | Republic of Estonia Earlier, Ram Charan had announced that he would do anything to ensure the success of his film. The Sye Raa team is presently in Georgia shooting for a big war episode of the period drama. Chiranjeevi is playing the lead role of freedom fighter Uyyalavada Narasimha Reddy while his son Ram Charan is the producer. Earlier, Ram Charan had announced that he would do anything to ensure the success of his film. Now, according to a source, he is spending `54 crore on this ongoing war episode that is being shot in Georgia. It will appear in the climax and runs for eight minutes, but it costs nearly `54 crore, says a source. Nearly 150 people travelled to Georgia from Hyderabad for this shoot along with hundreds of costumes. The team also hired nearly 600 local artistes to participate in the war episode. The makers apparently found a big open space to shoot the sequence in Georgia, which has become a preferred destination for many South films. Meanwhile, the Sye Raa team will stay there for nearly five weeks. Newlyweds return from honeymoon to find their house wrapped in pink plastic. (Photo: Pixabay) A couple returned from their honeymoon to discover their house wrapped in pink plastic, the Daily Mail reported. The surprised newlyweds from Alsager, Cheshire (UK), had just returned from Cancun, Mexico when they spotted their home in a hot pink mess. 25-year-old Jenny and 24-year-old Jonathan Minger, had to even use a pen-knife to get inside. The Daily Mail quotes Mrs Minger, who works at the Royal Stoke University Hospital: "We were shocked, it was a big surprise. We weren't expecting it at all "We only moved in three months ago. I was like 'Oh my goodness!'. They couldn't have chosen a better colour to wrap it with. "It's actually the plastic that Jonathan uses on the farm to promote breast cancer awareness." The groom's friends were the masterminds behind the epic prank. Thankfully, it all ended with a laugh as everyone, including neighbours found the entire thing funny. Bengaluru: An MBA graduate and a business development officer, along with his aide, was arrested by the South-east division police for issuing fake educational certificates. They were running an academy in Koramangala, which issued fake marks cards and educational certificates to help unemployed youth get jobs. According to police, Arjun (30), from Rangapally district in Andhra Pradesh came to Bengaluru around five years ago after completing his post-graduation. He joined a private firm in Koramangala as business development officer. However to make easy money, he opened Good Guide Academy near Jyothi Nivas College in Koramangala and employed on Harish (28), hailing from Bihar. They started searching for their prospective customers from Naukri.com and other job sites, the police said. Preliminary investigation revealed that they targeted those who had completed PU. They would scan their bio-datas and contact them and offer them mark cards and degree certificates without joining any institution or appearing for any examination. The duo then would then give them fake certificates, in order to help them get jobs. Arjun used to charge Rs 40,000-50,000 per certificate, a senior police officer said. The police said Arjun has been running the academy for three years and issued at least 300 educational certificates and had earned Rs 1.2 crore, the police said. Many of his customers have even secured jobs in the city with these certificates, the police added. The police have seized around 150 mark cards with names of educational institutions such as Periyar University, Chhattisgarh University and Geetham University printed on them with their logos. The police have also seized 50 degree certificates and answer sheets belonging to Mangalore University. Hyderabad: Privacy of healthcare data took a toll as over-enthusiastic as one minister and a top health officer shared the medical data of people who were admitted in the Ayushman Bharat scheme on social media. The patient data was shared in the form of screenshots of Excel sheets. Deputy CEO of Ayushman Bharat, Dr Dinesh Arora, shared screenshots of Excel sheets with patients names, aliments and assigned doctors. Dr Arora in his tweet said, Five patients admitted in Ranchi Institute of Medical Sciences for urology and cystoscopy. Privileged to be part of the team implementing this mission (sic). Likewise, Assam health minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, shared names of about 20 patients and their health packages. Mr Sarma said, Its heartening to share that within 24 hours of its launch, we have given the benefits of Ayushman Bharat to 21 needy patients across different hospitals in Assam. Likely rise in numbers from Tuesday. Many vented their ire over the sharing, calling it breach of privacy. Data for such a big initiative being tracked in Microsoft Excel has also come into question. Many citizens pointed out, The people might be from the lower strata of the society but that doesnt mean their data can be published without consent. It may be mentioned here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) or Ayushman Bharat on Sunday. Security researchers opine that medical data has often been taken easily by agencies and people do not understand that it is breach of privacy. While there are two legislations, namely Digital Information Security in Healthcare Act (DISHA) and Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 to protect privacy, they are yet to become law. Advocate Sumit Batra said, Data privacy and security play a pivotal role in protecting and governing the source and transmission of data. Health data is more susceptible to breaches considering its highly personalized nature. While two legislations are already in nascent stages, much more is required to protect sensitive and personalized data due to constant threat of the constantly evolving and transforming digital economy. Measures provided under the proposed legislations like establishment of National and State eHealth authorities, including health information exchanges, provide too little safeguards. He pointed out that the need of the hour was a strict and robust legislation which provided for adequate governing, administrative and security mechanisms to ensure complete privacy and confidentiality of information. The Disha Bill has been temporarily stalled as the government wanted it to go along with the Data Protection Bill. Mr Srinivas Kodali, independent security researcher, said, It is not just about any healthcare data. The officials in charge are clueless about what they are dealing with. The responsibility is on the doctor and the government to inform them that healthcare data is private data and comes under medical ethics. Disha will take updates from data protection, as it cannot be different from the data protection Bill and is likely to be introduced along with same bill in Parliament. Meanwhile, since there is no data protection bill in place, people can reach out to courts citing that there is no law and sue them seeking damages. The employees even gave the management a notice on an upcoming strike but the company paid no heed, they say. Chennai: Close to 4,000 workers of three automobile manufacturers have been on strike for several days, demanding timely increments, better wages and welfare unions. Workers of Yamaha India, Myoung Shin Automotive India Pvt Ltd and Royal Enfield, three large automobile manufacturers have been on strike since early September demanding that their managements fulfil a set of requirements. About 700 employees of Yamaha India have been on strike at the Yamaha plant in Oragadam since September 20 after two employees were fired by the company on September 20. The employees say that no reason was cited for their firing. The two employees attempted to form workers unions and the company did not like this, they allege. The workers also alleged that the Sriperumbudur's assistant commissioner of labour called Yamaha's management for talks four times since September 20, but the management did not appear for any negotiations with workers. Around 140 workers of Myoung Shin Automotive India Pvt Ltd (MSI), an automotive component maker, have also been on strike inside the factory premises for the last 20 days, demanding increment as stipulated by law. Meanwhile, workers in the Royal Enfield plant in Oragadam are on strike since September 24. They allege that they are only demanding wages according to the Payment of Bonus Act. There was no response from the company on the same. The employees even gave the management a notice on an upcoming strike but the company paid no heed, they say. On Tuesday, Royal Enfield issued a statement, stating that they hope to arrive at a mutually beneficial decision on the issues highlighted by the workers. The other two companies have not responded yet. In Noorbagh, an area on the outskirts of Srinagar, a gunfight broke out after security forces launched an operation following inputs that some terrorists could be taking shelter at a house in the area. (Photo: Twitter | ANI) Srinagar: Security forces launched three encounters against militants in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning. An Army soldier, a civilian and a terrorist were killed in the encounter, reports NDTV. "Operation was launched based on specific information. We have lost one soldier and one terrorist has been killed in the operation," a senior police officer was quoted by NDTV as saying. As a precautionary measure, internet service has been suspended in Anatnag, Srinagar and Budgam districts where the encounter broke out. In Noorbagh, an area on the outskirts of Srinagar, a gunfight broke out after security forces launched an operation following inputs that some terrorists could be taking shelter at a house in the area. According to reports, the owner of the house was killed during the operation. Soon after the encounter broke out, terrorists escaped from the house and are believed to be hiding in a nearby place. A search operation is underway to track them down, police said. The second encounter was at Dooru Shahabad in Anantnag district of the Kashmir division. According to reports, security forces have gunned down one militant. The firing has stopped and a search operation is on. In the third encounter, security forces are engaging three terrorists who have taken control of a religious place in Budgams Chadoora after they fled from a house where they were taking shelter. "We have called local elders to persuade the terrorists to come out of the religious place. There was a brief exchange of firing," a senior police officer was quoted by NDTV as saying said. CJI Dipak Misra said that Section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women. (Photo: File) New Delhi: Decriminalising the 158-year-old adultery law, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously struck down Section 497 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which penalises adultery. The apex court added that without a shadow of doubt, it can still be grounds for divorce. Chief Justice Dipak Misra called the Victorian adultery law arbitrary, adding that it is time to say that husband is not the master of woman. Three judges out of five-judge Constitution bench held that making adultery a crime is retrograde and would mean "punishing unhappy people". Most countries have abolished law against adultery, the court added. "Any system which affects individual dignity, equity of women in a civilised society invites wrath of the Constitution," CJI Misra said. "Any provision treating woman with inequality is not constitutional," Justice Misra added. CJI Misra said, the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes "the I, me and you". He said, "Equality is governing parameter of the Constitution. Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." A five-judge constitution bench headed by CJI Justice Dipak Misra on August 8 had reserved its verdict after Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, concluded her arguments. The hearing in the case by the bench, which also comprised justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, went on for six days and had commenced on August 1. The Centre had favoured retention of penal law on adultery, saying that it is a public wrong which causes mental and physical injury to the spouse, children and the family. "It is an action willingly and knowingly done with the knowledge that it would hurt the spouse, the children and the family. Such intentional action which impinges on the sanctity of marriage and sexual fidelity encompassed in marriage, which forms the backbone of the Indian society, has been classified and defined by the Indian State as a criminal offence in exercise of its Constitution powers," it said. The top court had questioned the government how the law preserved the "sanctity" when the extramarital affair becomes non-punishable if the woman's husband stands by her. "Dichotomy is manifest (in Section 497)" as "husband can only have control over his emotion and cannot ask wife to do this or that", the constitution bench had told the government. On January 5, the apex court had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the plea challenging the validity of the penal law on adultery. The court had taken a prima facie view that though the criminal law proceeded on "gender neutrality", the concept was absent in Section 497. Earlier, the Supreme Court upheld the law against adultery thrice. Last year, the apex court said the laws on adultery treat a woman as her husband's subordinate and time has come for society to realise that a woman is as equal to a man in every respect. 'Departmental inquiry is underway. Their act in the video is also being investigated. Further action will be taken following findings of investigation,' the Meerut Superintendent of Police said. (Photo: Screengrab) Meerut: A departmental inquiry has been initiated after a video of police officials in Uttar Pradesh abusing and assaulting a Hindu woman, allegedly for her 'relationship' with a Muslim man went viral. "Departmental inquiry is underway. Their act in the video is also being investigated. Further action will be taken following findings of investigation," the Meerut Superintendent of Police said. The 29-second video showed male police officers asking why she was in a relationship with Muslim man when there are so many Hindu men around. A female constable was also seen in the video, slapping the woman repeatedly and removing the scarf used by the woman to cover her face. Speaking to news agency ANI on Thursday, the woman who was assaulted said that the duo had been sitting and studying when members of Bajrang Dal came, locked her in a room and beat the man up. She added that she was asked for an ID and that they were taunted about their different religions. "How will you get married? He's Muslim,you're Hindu", they were told. When the police reached, the two were rescued and put in separate vehicles for transfer to the police station. "They (the police) misbehaved with me. In the police station, a woman asked me to file a rape complaint against him. My family and I refused," she added. Following the incident, the Meerut SP had said that the officials involved in the incident, Head Constable Salek Chand, Constable Neetu Singh, lady Constable Priyanka had been suspended. A report regarding Home Guard Sainserpal was also sent to District Commandant Home Guard. "Such behaviour shall never be tolerated," he had said. OP Singh, the Director General of Police in UP also tweeted on the incident on Thursday, calling it an "act of gross imprudence". "The Meerut incident is an act of gross imprudence by few errant cops. Irresponsible and insensitive behaviour by UP cops would not be tolerated. A job of a policeman is to maintain highest standards of probity which must be upheld at all times. Corrective action is being taken," he wrote. On Wednesday a sedition case was filed against Divya Spandana in Lucknow for referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a 'thief'. (Photo: Facebook | AP) Mumbai: Despite a sedition case against her and criticism, Congress digital communication chief Divya Spandana on Thursday continued her tirade on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal. Spandana once again took to Twitter on Thursday and posted a still from the just-released trailer of Thugs of Hindostan where Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is seen delivering a punch line Dhoka Swabhaav hai mera (Betrayal is in my nature), with the caption PM Modi to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. (Screengrab | Twitter | @divyaspandana) On Wednesday a sedition case was filed against Divya Spandana in Lucknow for referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "thief". In her tweet, Spandana posted a photoshopped image of PM Modi painting the word 'chor' (Hindi for thief) on the forehead of his wax statue. It also bore the hashtag: #ChorPMChupHai. (Screengrab | Twitter | @divyaspandana) Following her tweet, a FIR was filed against Spandana and a copy of the complaint was tweeted by the complainant, Syed Rizvan Ahmed, who identifies himself a lawyer and social activist. Lucknow police have charged Spandana under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (sedition) and Section 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act on the basis of the complaint. The complaint accuses Spandana of defaming a democratically elected leader and ridiculing India on the global arena. Thanking the Uttar Pradesh police for registering his complaint, Ahmed tweeted that PM Modi and his team should be more active in stopping those who abuse them. "I and my friends on Twitter got the FIR registered because you are the Prime Minister of the entire country, and not any single party," he wrote. "Her tweet was derogatory. The PM represents our sovereignty and republic. It is a disgrace to our nation, and is a contempt. An FIR has been registered," news agency ANI quoted Ahmed as saying. On Thursday morning, the 36-year-old actor-turned-politician -- better known in southern India as Ramya, took to Twitter again to thank those who extended her support. She said India should do away with the sedition law. It's archaic and misused. To the folks who filed the FIR -- #PMChorHai." (Screengrab | Twitter | @divyaspandana) The tweet from the Congress digital communication chief comes amidst ongoing controversy over India's Rafale aircraft deal with France, wherein party president Earlier, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has accused the Modi government of altering the multibillion-dollar contract to favour industrialist Anil Ambani. Supreme Court bench held that while adultery should not be a criminal offence it would continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be ground for dissolution of marriage. (Representational Image) New Delhi: The Supreme Court verdict on Thursday declaring that adultery is not a crime was welcomed by several people who said it was a good riddance to an antiquated law, though some experts raised concerns over the judgement. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said that every judgement of the SC has to be welcomed because it becomes the law "which we all have to subscribe to. "We have to look at judgements of the Supreme Court with regards to fundamental rights, whether it is equality of either men or women or everyone before the law or it is about right to privacy or it is about freedom of speech and expression. It has to been seen in context of this evolution. This judgement is a step in that direction. Every judgement of the SC has to be welcomed because it becomes the law which we all have to subscribe to," he said. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi raked up the issue of triple talaq, saying the Supreme Court decriminalised sections 377 and 497, but it had just "set aside" the practice of instant divorce among Muslims, and the government made it a penal offence through an ordinance. The Supreme Court didnt say Triple Talaaq is Unconstitutional but set it aside but Apex Court has said 377 & 497 is Unconstitutional will Modi Government learn from these judgments and take back their Unconstitutional Ordinance on Triple Talaaq Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 27, 2018 Reacting to the judgement, social activist Brinda Adige asked if the judgement allows polygamy too? "Because we know that men very often marry two-three times and there is so much of problem when the first, second or third wife are abandoned." "If adultery is not a crime, how is this woman even going to file a case against the husband who might desert or abandon her. It's a concern," she said. Congress leader Renuka Choudhary also sought more clarity on the issue. "This is like criminalising the triple talaq law. They have done that but now the men will just abandon us or not give us talaq. They will have polygamy or nikah halala which creates hell for us as women. I am glad its not a crime anymore but I do not see how it helps. The court should see across the board and give us clarity," she said. Other activists and lawyers hailed the judgement. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan termed the verdict a fine judgement. Another fine judgement by the SC striking down the antiquated law in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery (only of man who sleeps with someone's wife). Adultery can be ground for divorce but not criminal https://t.co/hVtUlpzxep Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) September 27, 2018 Congress MP and president of women's wing of the party Sushmita Dev agreed with him. Excellent decision to de-criminalise adultery. Also a law that does not give women the right to sue her adulterer husband & cant be herself sued if she is in adultery is unequal treatment & militates against her status as an individual separate entity. https://t.co/kx4rvkwxxd Sushmita Dev (@sushmitadevmp) September 27, 2018 Devs party colleague Priyanka Chaturvedi lauded the verdict, saying there are some laws that need to be changed, modified or removed with time. "It was a 150-year-old law which does not have a place in new India but at the same time we also want to note that adultery is not normal and can be a ground for divorce which in my opinion is a very fair judgement keeping in mind the country we live in and the century we are living in," she said. Kavita Krishnan, Secretary, All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) and a CPI (ML) Polit Bureau member said decriminalising adultery is welcome and was long overdue. Decriminalising of #Adultery is welcome and long overdue. Adultery is now grounds for divorce not crime. The law criminalising men for relations with some other man's wife was patriarchal, assumes wife is husband's property and has no autonomy. Good riddance #AdulteryVerdict Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) September 27, 2018 National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma, too, welcomed the judgement and said it should have been removed long time ago. "This is a law from the British era, although British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it," she said. According to social activist Ranjana Kumari, "patriarchal control" over women was unacceptable. "We welcome the judgement by the SC striking down the 158yr old law based on Victorian values, in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery. Patriarchal control over women's body unacceptable," she tweeted. The Supreme Court bench held that while adultery should not be a criminal offence it would continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be ground for dissolution of marriage. There can't be any social licence which destroys a home, Chief Justice Dipak Misra said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC said: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." Francis D'Souza alleged that 'few leaders' in the BJP were trying to get him removed from the party since 2012. (Photo: File | ANI) Panaji: Ailing Goa BJP legislator Francis D'Souza, who was recently dropped from the Manohar Parrikar-led Cabinet, said on Thursday he would resign from the state party's core committee once he returns from the US. Dismissing rumours of resigning from the post of MLA as a mark of protest, D'Souza, who is admitted at a hospital in the US for an undisclosed ailment, said this is his fight for "self-respect". Parrikar, who is admitted in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi because of a pancreatic ailment, had on Monday dropped BJP ministers D'Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar from his Cabinet. BJP MLAs Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral were inducted in their places. D'Souza, who headed the Urban Development Department, was unhappy over his removal from the state Cabinet and had asked if this was the reward given to him by the party for his 20-year-long loyalty. Also Read: 'Reward for 20 yrs of loyalty': BJP MLA 'unhappy' on being dropped from Goa cabinet "I will resign from the Goa BJP unit's core committee once I am back on October 15. I don't want anything from the party in the future. Even if offered, I will not take up any government position," D'Souza told news agency PTI over the phone. The core committee is the BJP's key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Union minister Shripad Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others. "I am fighting for my self-respect. If you can't respect that, then I don't want anything from you. It's all over," said D'Souza, who got elected on the BJP ticket from Mapusa constituency in North Goa district for the past two decades. Asserting that he would not quit as an MLA, he said, "I have been elected by my voters for five years, so there is no question of resigning as legislator. If I resign, I would be disrespecting my voters. He said it was the chief minister's right to keep or drop him from the Cabinet. "Nobody can interfere in the chief minister's right. There is no role of the party high command in my dismissal from the cabinet," he said. However, criticising Parrikar's style of functioning, he said the chief minister does not take advice from anyone, including the party high command. D'Souza alleged that "few leaders" in the BJP were trying to get him removed from the party since 2012. "Maybe they felt that I overstayed in their party. Usually, any guest should not overstay. I have been there for too long in the BJP," he said. Claiming that he had joined the BJP on Parrikar's request, D'Souza said he would not advise his son, who is aiming for a political career in Mapusa, to join the party. An advocate alleged that Congress leaders and Prashant Pandey, an RTI activist and whistle-blower earlier in the Vyapam issue, were providing false evidence and misguiding the court in this connection. (Photo: File) Bhopal: Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and an RTI activist were booked Thursday on charges of "fabricating evidence" in the Vyapam scam case, police said. A case was filed against them after a court here gave such a direction to the police. The Vyapam scam relates to irregularities in exams held by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, also called Vyavasayik Pareeksha Mandal or Vyapam, for admission in professional courses and state services. The scam, which created ripples in the politics of Madhya Pradesh, had come to light in 2013. The special court of Additional District Judge Suresh Singh issued the order Wednesday in response to a private complaint filed by advocate Santosh Sharma. Sharma had alleged that the Congress leaders and Prashant Pandey, an RTI activist and whistle-blower earlier in the Vyapam issue, were providing false evidence and misguiding the court in this connection. "An FIR has been registered against them in compliance with a local court's order," Inspector Anand Tiwari of Shyamla police station told PTI Thursday. "They have been booked for forgery, forgery for cheating, forgery for harming reputation, using genuine as forged document, making or possessing counterfeit seal, knowing the document to be forged and intending to use it genuine, and criminal conspiracy under sections 465, 468, 469, 471, 472, 474 and 120 (b) of IPC," Tiwari said. Judge Singh, in his order Wednesday, had told police to immediately register an FIR and submit its copy before the court. The court also sought the investigation report in the case by November 13. Sharma's complaint came after Digvijay Singh deposed on Saturday in connection with his private complaint seeking criminal prosecution of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister Uma Bharti and five others in the Vyapam scam. Singh's lawyer Kapil Sibal had then said that the former had submitted the copy of a document connected with the Vyapam scam in which Chouhan's name figures 48 times. Singh had also submitted documents running into 27,000 pages to accompany his charges, his senior counsel Vivek Tankha had said. Meanwhile, state Congress spokesman Bhupendra Gupta Thursday said a new "disturbing" trend has emerged in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, where the complainants in cases were being booked. SRINAGAR: The security forces on Thursday killed three more militants including a top commander of outlawed Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) in their sustained campaign against separatist militants in Jammu and Kashmir. With these killings, the number of militants neutralised in counterinsurgency operations in the restive Kashmir Valley during the past week has risen to sixteen. The slain include two senior commanders of the LeT and another of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), the officials said. They termed these killings as a major breakthrough against separatist militants in the state. During a series of operations carried out on Thursday, an Army jawan and two civilians were also killed and three security personnel were injured. The killing of a Srinagar resident triggered protests and clashes in parts of the summer capital and by students on the campus of the University of Kashmir in Citys Hazratbal area. The witnesses said that the security forces fired teargas canisters to break up the funeral procession of slain civilian Muhammad Saleem Malik, a resident of Citys Noorbagh area. Later during the day, irate crowds clashed with police and Central armed forces at several places. New Delhi: Thanking Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar for his purported remarks favouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Rafale jet deal, BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday asked Rahul Gandhi to believe his own ally who has put national interests above party politics. At a time when the Congress party has been trying to put the government on the mat over alleged the deal, the NCP supremo and former Union minister Sharad Pawar was quoted as saying that he do not have doubts over Mr Modis intentions. In an interview to a Marathi news channel, Mr Pawar also said the oppositions demand to share technical details relating to the fighter jet made no sense. I thank Sharad Pawar, former defence minister and veteran MP, for placing national interests above party politics and speaking the truth. Dear Rahul Gandhi, you would be wiser by believing your own ally and a leader of Pawar Sahebs stature, Mr Shah tweeted on Thursday. Vijayawada: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said that the state had achieved progress in several sectors for the past four years by utilising the state bifurcation crisis as an opportunity. He said AP would be developed as the number one state in the country by 2029. Mr Naidu said AP had achieved 10.52 per cent growth rate for the past four years. Efforts were on to develop the state the No. 1 in the country, by achieving a 15 per cent growth rate. He was addressing a session on Governance in the Age of Technology, at Columbia University in New York on Thursday. HYDERABAD: Welcoming the Supreme Court ruling on the Ayodhya case, RSS prachar pramukh Shyamji said that he was confident that a just verdict would be reached over the Ayodhya case at the earliest, thus realising the dream of every devout Hindu. With fast tracking of the hearing from October 29, the road to Ram Mandir at Ayodhya was close at hand, he said. On Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam. Mr Nagendranath, an advocate, said that the most important implication of the SC order on the 1994 ruling could be speeding up of the title case. Many believe a judgement in favour of the Hindu parties before the 2019 general elections could go in favour of the BJP which had promised the construction of the Ram Temple in its manifesto, he said. Chilkur Balaji head priest S. Rangarajan, who has been fighting the cause of Hindu temples in several courts, said the essentiality of religious practices were best determined by saints, moulvis and clergy not political leaders and absolutely not the judiciary. The law and the state cannot and should not tell us what is essential or non-essential in religion. The judiciary should not take over the role of the clergy, he said. He said that in the Ayodhya case, of the three judges hearing the matter, Justice Abdul Nazeer dissented from the majority judgement. That the questionable observations in Ismail Faruquis ruling have permeated the Allahabad HC verdict of 2010, he said adding that the Ismail Faruqui judgment needed to be brought in line with the Shirur matt case. The state has the power to regulate secular activities associated with religious practice. The question is how to decide whether an activity is religious or secular, he added. KOZHIKODE: Haritha Kerala Mission targets fundraising to rebuild Kerala, scientific management of chemical waste and creation of awareness among students with its Haritha Sparsham - Njanum Ente Vidyalayavum campaign. Kudumkuzhi Government Higher Secondary School on Thursday turned the venue for the district-level launch of the project in association with the local administrations and the deputy directorate of education. District panchayat vice-president Shantamma Philip inaugurated the programme and district education deputy director Dr Gireesh Cholayil was the chief guest. Mr Cholayil said the schools must initiate activities to bring together students, teachers, parents, various clubs, Students Police Cadets, National Service Scheme volunteers, scouts and guides, Red Cross volunteers, public libraries and youth clubs like Yuva Kendra. They can collect waste and make money out of it which would be useful in supporting the Chief Ministers Relief Fund and also clearing out the non-organic wastes from the households. As part of the project, District collector conducted a meeting with the scrap dealers, to promote people who bring scraps, which could be later recycled in various forms by these people. The district collector also requested them to give a maximum amount for the scraps, which would indirectly go to the CMDRF. All the schools have been directed to form Haritha clubs to initiate these activities. Karnataka High CourtBBMP advocate submitted the first report regarding the fixing of potholes to the court. He informed that potholes in 22 wards, including in Malleswaram and Yelahanka, were filled up. Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court which is hearing petitions relating to poor condition of roads, especially regarding potholes, and another about poor maintenance of storm water drains (SWDs) in the city, on Thursday observed that the roads in the city should be as smooth as butter. The court also felt that it was high time the civic agencies changed their attitude and make Bengaluru a shining example of cleanliness. It stressed the citizens also have an important role in making a better Bengaluru. Senior advocate Aditya Sondhi informed the court of the meet headed by Chief Secretary and submitted that during the meeting, issues concerning the growth and development issues facing Bengaluru was discussed. The representatives of various departments of the government and civic bodies were present in the meet, he said. Sondhi informed the court that only one meeting has been held and there was need for discussions on several issues. He also said that there was need to come up with programmes that encourage development. Since Mr. Sondhi was an independent member of the committee, the court said that he should appraise the court of issues discussed and decisions made following which it would then decide on them. B.N. Rao, the advocate representing BWSSB, said that there were several complaints regarding pipelines laid by the board affecting the maintenance of city roads. BBMP advocate submitted the first report regarding the fixing of potholes to the court. He informed that potholes in 22 wards, including in Malleswaram and Yelahanka, were filled up. The complainant stated that she has asked the studio owner to hand over copies of the photographs when police requested Kochi: The office of the Inspector General of Police (Kochi Range) came under a cloud in the wake of the sister of the nun who has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of raping her filing a complaint in the police seeking a probe into circumstances of photographs of a private function in her family attended by the Bishop being circulated in social media. In a complaint filed in Kalady police station on Thursday, sister of the aggrieved nun expressed apprehensions about the bishop and his supporters tampering and misusing the photographs to denigrate her family. The complainant stated that she has asked the studio owner to hand over copies of the photographs when police requested. The request was made through telephone call from the number 9497998992 which was later found to be used by Ernakulam Range IG. She also sought the police to take action against the persons circulating the picture. In the complaint registered with police the woman has pointed out that the photographs were taken when the Bishop came to her house for the first communion of her child. The function was held a day after the bishop first sexually assaulted the nun on May 5, 2014. The complainant also pointed out that counsel for the bishop has presented the photographs in the high court on Thursday during the hearing of the bail petition of the bishop. The complainant also said PC George MLA, openly working for the bishop, is also in possession of the photographs. KOLLAM: Mata Amritanandamayi celebrated her 65th birthday here in Amritapuri on Thursday announcing a slew of charity for flood victims. In her birthday message, the Mata said the increase in extreme weather and natural disasters that the world is experiencing are due to the abuse of the environment. She urged everyone to stop their boundless selfish exploitation of nature.When the rain beat down incessantly, flooding the rivers and starting landslides, turning Kerala into an ocean of disaster, people here forgot all divisions, she added. Separations of caste, creed and religion disappeared. Thoughts of rich and poor, high and low, all vanished. Party politics faded away. All thoughts and actions flowed in one direction, toward a single goal. Due to this, people had no difficulty in understanding and supporting one another. Moreover, they found the strength to overcome all obstacles. Hearts came together as one, and only compassion flowed. Actually, it overflowed, and we saw a second ocean rising from the floodsan ocean of compassion. Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan, leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, K.C. Venugopal, MP, and SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan greeted her at the venue. She gave RS 1 lakh each to ten fisher families who had died at sea during the last one year and others while rescuing flood victims. The money saved by the members of Amrita Sree self-help groups was sourced to the Math for its continued flood relief-and-rehabilitation efforts. The Math also gave away certificates for free surgeries at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi. Free weddings were performed, and free saris given to some 400,000 women as part of birthday celebrations. Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India has directed the caretaker Telangana state government to desist from taking any major policy decision and to only carry out day-to-day government activities. The Election Commission also said that the model code of conduct will come into operation with immediate effect in the state and will continue to be in force till the completion of the elections to constitute a new legislative Assembly. The Election Commission issued a circular on Thursday to the Cabinet secretary of the Union government and to the Chief Secretaries of all state governments regarding the applicability of the model code of conduct in cases of premature dissolution of a legislative Assembly, followed by a caretaker government which will be in position till the formation of the new government after fresh elections. The principal secretary of the Election Commission of India, Narendra N. Butolia, in the circular said that the Election Commission has considered the matter of application of the model code of conduct in the cases of premature dissolution of a legislative Assembly where a caretaker government has been asked to carry on the administration of that state for the purpose of free, fair, transparent and robust electoral process. He said after careful consideration of the matter, keeping the observation of the Supreme Court in S.R. Bommai and others vs Union government in 1994 in mind, the caretaker government should merely carry on the day-to-day government duties and desist from taking any major policy decision. According to the judgement, the model code of conduct shall come into operation with immediate effect in the state and shall continue to be in force till the completion of the election to constitute the new legislative Assembly. Also, the provisions of the aforesaid judgement that the model code of conduct shall apply on the caretaker state government will be applicable on the Central government also as far as matters relating to that state are concerned. Consequently neither the caretaker state government nor the Central government shall announce any new schemes, projects in respect of that state or undertake any of the activities prohibited under the model code of conduct. All other prohibitions such as use of official resources for any non official purposes, combining of official visit with electioneering works shall apply on all ministers and other authorities of the caretaker state government, the Central government as well as governments of other states. Losses have been driven by megatrends such as climate change, population increase, urbanisation, particularly of coastal zones and river deltas, and changing consumption patterns. Kochi: Wetlands, the most economically valuable and among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, are disappearing three times faster than forests. A new report by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands warned of severe consequences for the future unless urgent action is taken to ensure their survival. Approximately 35 per cent of the worlds wetlands were lost between 1970-2015 with annual rates of loss accelerating from 2000, according to the first-ever Global Wetland Outlook of the Ramsar Convention, a global treaty ratified by 170 countries to protect wetlands and promote their wise use. The report shows every region is affected. Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes, part of the famous backwaters of Kerala and Sasthamkota lake come under the Ramsar Convention in the state Wetlands, which include lakes, rivers, marshes and peatlands as well as coastal and marine areas such as estuaries, lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs, are currently estimated to cover over 12.1 million sq km. Between 13-18 per cent of them are on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, which are protected sites. Wetlands are critical to human and planet life. Directly or indirectly, they provide almost all of the worlds consumption of freshwater. More than one billion people depend on them for a living and 40 per cent of the worlds species live and breed in wetlands. They are a vital source for food, raw materials, genetic resources for medicines and hydropower; they mitigate floods, protect coastlines and build community resilience to disasters, and they play an important role in transport, tourism and the cultural and spiritual well-being of people. Studies show the economic value of services provided by wetlands far exceeds those of terrestrial ecosystems. Inland wetlands, for example, have a total economic value five times higher than tropical forests, the most valuable terrestrial habitat. Wetlands are also essential to efforts to regulate the global climate. Peatlands store twice as much carbon as the worlds forests despite accounting for just three per cent of the worlds land surface, with salt marshes, sea grass beds and mangroves also carbon-dense ecosystems. However, wetlands produce 20-25 per cent of global methane emissions and rising temperatures from climate change are expected to increase greenhouse gases from wetlands, particularly in permafrost regions. Despite this, wetlands remain dangerously undervalued by policy and decision-makers in national plans. An inexplicable omission given the pivotal role wetlands play in delivering global commitments on climate change, sustainable development, biodiversity and disaster risk reduction, with wetlands contributing to 75 indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) alone. The persistent and growing threat to the worlds remaining wetlands from water drainage, pollution, unsustainable use, invasive species, disrupted flows from dams and sediment dumping from deforestation and soil erosion upstream is detailed in the GWO, released ahead of the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP13) in Dubai, UAE. Water quality trends are worsening with nearly all fresh water sources in the world compromised to some extent. Water pollution and nutrient loading from fertilizers are among the biggest challenges. According to the UN, more than 80 per cent of waste water is released into wetlands without adequate treatment while fertilizer use in 2018 is likely to be 25 per cent higher than in 2008, exacerbating excessive wetland plant growth and levels of decomposition resulting in oxygen starvation for flora and fauna alike. The biodiversity crisis is just as alarming. More than 25 per cent of all wetlands plants and animals are at risk of extinction. The IUCNs Red List Index which assesses survival probability using available data has identified negative trends for wetland mammals, birds, amphibians and corals, an indication they are heading for extinction. Coral reefs are declining fastest due to rising sea temperatures, while amphibians have the lowest numbers and are the most threatened. Wetland fish, reptiles and large mammals are also vulnerable with every turtle species globally threatened and a third critically endangered. The Global Wetland Outlook is a wake-up call - not only on the steep rate of loss of the worlds wetlands but also on the critical services they provide. Without them, the global agenda on sustainable development will not be achieved, says Martha Rojas Urrego, Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. We need urgent collective action to reverse trends on wetland loss and degradation, and secure both the future of wetlands and our own survival at the same time. The Parties to the Ramsar Convention have committed to the conservation and wise use of all wetlands. Although they have designated more than 2,300 sites of international importance so far, making the Ramsar List one of the worlds largest networks of protected areas, designating new sites for protection is not enough. The GWO emphasizes the necessity of developing effective wetland management plans and integrating wetlands into the planning and implementation of national plans on sustainable development, climate change and other key global commitments. The report also stresses good governance and effective institutions at local, national and regional levels as a crucial factor in preventing, ending, and reversing trends in wetland loss and degradation. More accurate data on wetland extent and wetland inventories is needed to help countries identify priority sites for restoration. Indigenous and local knowledge as well as citizen scientists are already invaluable resources on the state of wetlands and can be used more. Drawing on successful examples across the world, the report recommends using existing funding mechanisms to apply economic and financial incentives for communities and business to protect wetlands through tax benefits. Perverse incentives for farmers and business such as subsidies to agriculture that encourage wetland conversion or pollution should be ended. Additional recommendations include identifying solutions for wise use of wetlands that draw upon all expertise, ranging from hard science to traditional knowledge, to secure wide engagement on wetland protection and wise use and ensure sound decision-making. The GWOs findings are expected to inform discussions and decisions at the Ramsar COP13 (21-29 Oct). There is a slow awakening to the value of wetlands. Across the globe, legislative bodies need to integrate wetlands into policy programs and make investments into their sustainability. We need to educate the world on the critical importance of this most rapidly disappearing ecosystem. Without the worlds wetlands, we all hang in the balance, asserts Rojas Urrego. Motorists wait on the side as CMs motorcade makes its way from HAL airport to JP Nagar on Thursday Bengaluru: A day after Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Dr G Parameshwar defended traffic curbs for VIP movement and got trolled on the social media, the city traffic on Thursday evening was thrown out of gear due to Chief Ministers motorcade. The VIP movement has become a bane for Bengaluru residents as they have to wait for long durations to ensure zero traffic for their netas and other VIPs. Chief Ministers motorcade affected traffic flow in the eastern and central parts of the city. The worst affected areas were HAL, Old Airport Road, Lower Agram and Richmond Road. According to an official, The traffic was stopped due to the Chief Ministers movement from HAL Airport to J.P. Nagar, his home. The traffic was halted from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. This had a cascading effect on the adjoining roads from HAL Airport to J.P. Nagar and left the commuters fuming. A harried motorist, Rahul Jain, a bank employee, said that the traffic in the city is already bad and VIP movement adds to our misery. The government is not doing anything to solve traffic problem and they expect us to suffer during such VIP movements, while they have hassle free rides, he said. For Soumya, a final year student, said the ministers should get a taste of traffic gridlocks in the city. I take this route on a daily basis and I need at least 30 minutes to cross this area. With this rainy weather and the VIP movement, it is very annoying to wait for hours while these ministers get to enjoy smooth drive. It may be recalled that former home minister Ramalinga Reddy had refused to use this privilege while in office. It is important to remember that a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court led by then Chief Justice J.S. Khehar had on August 24, 2017 had declared that privacy is a fundamental right under Article 21 in what can be called the first Aadhaar case. The petitioner in this case was former Karnataka judge K.N. Puttaswamy, the first chairperson of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, Magsaysay award winner Shanta Sinha and some others. It should also to be remembered that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had argued that privacy was not an inviolable fundamental right. In its second Aadhaar judgment by 4-1, led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, the court held in a majority view that the right to privacy had to be balanced with the right to food, which is part of Article 21s right to life with dignity, and as Aadhaar is a means to provide targeted subsidy, benefit and service to the needy, it does not to that extent violate the right to privacy. They have applied the principle to proportionality to assess the validity of Aadhaar. And it is on the same principle of proportionality that the court had rejected the requirement of Aadhaar to open, or to continue to operate, a bank account as a way of checking money-laundering, or for a mobile phone connection. It, however, agreed to allow connecting Aadhaar to the PAN card to prevent a person getting more than one PAN card. The majority view had also accepted that the Aadhaar Act passes the test of a money bill, which did not require the approval of the Rajya Sabha, but retained the courts right to judicial scrutiny of the Lok Sabha Speakers decision to declare a bill as a money bill, and it reiterated that the Rajya Sabha is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The court has declared that private corporations and individuals cannot access Aadhaar data. It also asserted that Aadhaar is not mandatory. It remains a voluntary act of the citizen. The lone dissenting judge, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, held the Aadhaar Act as unconstitutional because it was treated as a money bill because he held that it does not qualify to be a money bill. And therefore, the provisions under the act become null and void. He saw through the political game played by the Narendra Modi government to overcome its lack of majority in the Upper House by making the Aadhaar Act a money bill which did not need the Rajya Sabhas approval. By implication, Justice Chandrachud did not reject the provisions of the Aadhaar Act per se, but demanded that it be passed as a separate law which should be passed by both Houses of Parliament. This is an issue that casts a long shadow on the constitutional morality of this government, though it does not affect it because it is part of a minority judgment. The claims of finance minister Arun Jaitley and law and justice and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the September 26 verdict validating the Aadhaar Act should be taken with a pinch of salt. The governments wings have been clipped in more ways than one. It cannot run amok with Aadhaar and spread the dragnet of collecting information about citizens. Ideologically, all political parties in power want to maximise state control, and Aadhaar has become a handy instrument in the process. But the basic confusion as to what Aadhaar should be remains unresolved even after the two major verdicts of the Supreme Court. It is this: If Aadhaar is meant as a way of targeting subsidies, benefits and services to the poor, then why is the whole population being covered by Aadhaar? It cannot be the case that the whole population of 1.3 billion is a beneficiary of subsidies, benefits and services of the State. The subsidies, benefits and services meant for the poor are limited in scope and they do not overlap with the universal rights that a citizen can rightfully demand from the State. Aadhaar, as conceived by UPA-1 in 2006, was aimed at identifying people below the poverty line. It was quietly transformed into an identity marker. The court in its September 26 judgment did not object to Aadhaar being used for purposes other than getting subsidies, benefits and services for the poor. It has, however, demarcated lines, making the extension of Aadhaar for PAN cards legal, but its mandatory extension to the opening of bank accounts as a way checking black money as illegal. It seems that Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced Aadhaar with the zeal of a neophyte he was opposed to it when he was Gujarat chief minister because he saw the scope of spreading the tentacles of the State in the service of the national interest. The court in its majority judgment has made it clear that the government cannot extend the uses of Aadhaar indiscriminately. The Prime Ministers initial motto of maximum governance, minimum government has been turned on its head and it has now become the famous Orwellian doublespeak, where the government, and not governance, is everywhere. The Supreme Court judgments should not be viewed as a closure of the national debate over Aadhaar. The government and those who support Aadhaar as a technological blessing have to clarify whether Aadhaar is the Indian equivalent of Americas social security number, or is it limited to identifying the beneficiaries of government subsidies, that is the poor. Using Aadhaar as the equivalent of a social security number appears rational, but it needs to be stated clearly. And then too, Aadhaar cannot be used as a weapon of state surveillance. In a split 2-1 verdict Thursday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra gave the go-ahead for hearing of the title suit on the disputed site in Ayodhya from the week beginning October 29. This can potentially open the floodgates for intense politics and social disturbance on this inflammatory issue. The apprehension is hard to dispel in light of the coming election season and observations made earlier this month by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the end of his public outreach in New Delhi. Mr Bhagwat was categorical, responding to questions, that while he favoured dialogue, the final decision rests with the Ram Mandir Samiti, which has spearheaded the Ram Mandir construction campaign. He made no reference to the title suit before the Supreme Court. The hearing on ownership of the disputed land in Ayodhya begins at the end of October/early November. That is the time when electioneering for Assembly polls Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana is likely to be in high gear. One hopes the law and order authorities will be on alert and prevent mischief arising from any quarter on the Ayodhya issue in this period. In Uttar Pradesh, too, where actual preparations for temple building are likely to be in full swing with the mobilisation of various Hindutva outfits, Yogi Adityanaths government will be expected to maintain the status quo, and not permit communal tensions to get out of hand, and deal firmly with anyone seeking to whip up religious frenzy as the Ayodhya hearing progresses in the Supreme Court. It may have a salutary effect if the Supreme Court instructed state governments and the Centre to remain watchful. This is especially needed as preparations for the next Lok Sabha poll have actually begun in effect, if the shrillness of the political discourse is any indication. The Supreme Court will examine the validity of the 2010 verdict by the Allahabad high courts Lucknow bench, that has been challenged by 13 different parties. This judgment divided Ayodhyas disputed site equally among the so-called Muslim side, the so-called Hindu side, and Ram Lalla (Ram the Beloved) in effect giving Hindus, as it were, two-thirds of the area occupied by the demolished Babri Masjid. In a case like this, there is much scope to inflame religious sentiments, no matter what the verdict is, and even if it came well before the next parliamentary election. Our values are our own moral compass. They are our most trusted allies when it comes to keeping our head, heart and life clear and easy. An individuals character is made up of these values; they give ones life direction, meaning and depth. Beliefs are learned, usually from others or our own experiences. They are self-fulfilling prophecies, but we have the power to change them. Values are internal. They are who we are deep down. Values are intrinsic to our lives. They add to the strength of our character and the righteousness of our beliefs. They constitute the inner sense of whats right and wrong based not on laws or rules of conduct but on who one is. They include such traits as integrity, honesty, courage, fairness and generosity which arise from the hard choices we have to make in life. So wrong is simply in doing wrong, whether or not we are caught in doing a wrong. To live our lives by worthwhile values, we need to be able to differentiate between right and wrong. This is not the kind of understanding that we are inherently born with. We learn as we go along. Institutions such as ones family, school and neighbourhood, help form our values. In turn, our values act as a binding gel for our families and societies. They help a child become a good adult, go on to become a good spouse and a good parent. Strong values lead to strong families. These eternal values fortify our character as we seek clarity and coherence in a confusing world. They provide a moral compass that reminds us that our principles are good for all reasons and good for all ages. Many have come to believe that the only elements of success are talent, energy and personality. But history has taught us that over the long haul who we are, is more important than who we appear to be. Until about 150 years ago, almost everything in the literature of success and self-help focused on what could be called the character ethic. Such eminent figures as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson made clear their belief that we can only experience true success and happiness by making character the bedrock of our lives. Since the late 19th century and after world wars the basic view of success shifted to what we could call the personality ethic. Success became more a function of charm, skills and techniques that, at least on the surface, lubricate the process of human interaction. Rather than struggle with thorny issues of right and wrong, we turned to making things run smoothly. Some of that philosophy expressed itself with harmless but superficial maxims such as smiling wins more friends than frowning. According to the Greek poets, hubris, the insolence of pride, is the root of all tragedy, personal as well as national that we are the chosen people called upon by providence to educate others to our way of life. It is the nemesis of pride that brought down the pharaohs of Egypt, the rulers of Greece, the emperors of Persia, the caliphs of Baghdad and the popes of Medieval Rome. Our loss of sense of values can be summed up in three lines from T.S. Eliot: Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? The Partition of India is replete with many tragic ironies but these tragedies pale before the incident that great short story writer Saadat Hasan Manto picks on as a metaphor for the mayhem Toba Tek Singh. When the newly-formed governments of the two countries completed the identification of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistans mental asylums and Muslims left in such institutions in India, the governments decided to transfer them to the countries they were now deemed to be citizens of. When Bishan Singh, a Sikh in a Pakistani asylum, was being transferred to India under police escort he learns that his hometown, Toba Tek Singh, has been left in Pakistan. Bishan Singh begins to walk in the opposite direction. The last scene shows him lying in no-mans land. Let Manto end the story in his own words: There, behind the barbed wire, on one side, lay India and behind more barbed wire, on the other side, lay Pakistan. In between on a bit of earth, which had no name, lay Toba Tek Singh. This is just one of the Manto stories Nandita Das weaves effortlessly into her film Manto. Thanda Gosht, or Cold Meat, another Manto masterpiece, becomes one of the films supporting columns. It provides occasion for a court drama where Manto defends himself against charges of obscenity. Faiz Ahmad Faiz, as a witness in the case, exposes the earliest fissures in the Progressive Writers Movement with which Manto too had flirted. In his testimony, Faiz describes Thanda Gosht as not the highest form of literature but clearly not obscene either. The backdrop, once again, are the riots following Partition. A well-built Sikh, Ishwar Singh, has returned with jewellery after joining the looters. In fact, he has even murdered five men with his kirpan (sword). But when he is unable to make love to the passionate Kalwant Kaur, she, in a moment of suspicion and jealousy, slits his throat with the very same kirpan, demanding that he tell her who he has been with. The storys final climax is it has many when a dying Ishwar Singh confesses that yes, he lifted a very beautiful girl from a house, but when he laid her down, he realised to his horror that she was dead. Thanda Gosht. It is a metaphor about so much, including the post-Partition dehumanisation and frenzy when even the distinction between dead and alive gets blurred. Faiz probably found it too melodramatic, but then it is supposed to be based on a true story. An effort to critique Nandita Das film has involuntarily meandered past the brilliant short stories which many readers must already be familiar with. There is a simple reason for my diversion. The succinct, vivid, picturisation of so many of the stories have made them more intimately accessible. Those who have read Manto will be enriched. And her selection of stories is uncanny. When a doctor asks his helper to open (kholdo) the window to allow some light, Sakina (recovered from a riot-affected area) gropes for the string of her salwar in a daze and loosens it. She has developed a Pavlovian response to the sound kholdo, so repeatedly has she been raped in captivity. There is a disturbing Mantovian irony attending the end. On this occasion, the instruction kholdo is for the window to be opened so that Sakinas distraught father, who has spent days searching for her, can see her face. I can go on and on. The extraordinary directorial success lies in what Nandita Das has avoided. Despite the worlds finest short stories at her disposal, she has refrained from creating a catalogue of Manto masterpieces, however seductive the idea may have been. The stories are in the service of the directors primary purpose to bring out the multi-layered life of a genius, struggling to keep the wolf from door, a difficult proposition when tight-fisted publishers buy a short story only for `20 against Mantos demand for `50. He accepts the humiliation because he is in desperate need for money for his childs medical treatment. To be proud, sensitive and constantly in need is a lethal combination. Initially, Manto copes with the humiliation. He reminds me of Majaz Lucknowi. Banyeen sael e gham a sael e Hawadis/ Mera sar hai ki ab bhi khum naheen hai (A gathering storm of tragedy and pain approaches/ But I have not bowed my head the struggle continues). Eventually, on a cold December night, Majaz was found in a coma on the terrace of a Lucknow country liquor shop. He died the next morning in Balrampur hospital, surrounded by comrades who happened to be in Lucknow for a Conference of Progressive Writers Ismat Chughtai, Sardar Jafri, Sahir Ludhianvi. Manto also dies of alcoholism, but his is a slow end, by attrition. Both died in their 40s. One of the films arresting passages is the celebration of Independence Day, exactly on August 15, 1947. The cameo is a recreation of the evening exactly as it happened. The legendary songstress Jaddanbai sings for the occasion. Her teenaged daughter Nargis is standing behind her. Anyone with the slightest recollection of Nargis will find the resemblance uncanny. This is superb casting. There are so many characters one can recognise K. Asif, for instance, the producer of Mughal-e-Azam, gruff and coarse. The films other attraction is the portrayal of an era along two distinct tracks. One is the post-Partition mayhem, the breakdown of friendships relationships, Mantos parting with friends like actors Ashok Kumar and Shyam. Even more evocative are the occasional references to the Progressive Writers, Indian Peoples Theatre, all given considerable boost by the innovative secretary-general of the Communist Party of India, P.C. Joshi. It was under his spell that the progressive writers moved to Mumbai where many like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi and Sardar Jafri changed the character of film lyrics. Mantos realism clashed with the idealism of the Progressives. This was another pain he carried all his life. When a user sign into any Google website, they will be automatically signed into Chrome with the same account. Breaking away from the worry of having Google websites linked even after logging out on shared devices, the company has announced nifty new features for Chrome 70. Google announced through a blog post that the way Chrome handles sign-in has been simplified by turning off web-based sign-in with browser-based sign-in. When you sign into any Google website, you will be automatically signed into Chrome with the same account. This also means, when you sign out directly from Chrome or any other Google website, you are completely signed out of your Google account, saving you the task of manually exiting other websites. However, Google clarifies that with the seamless sign-in process, the Chrome syncing does not get triggered by default. If you want your browsing history, passwords, and bookmarks available on other devices, you will be required to turn on sync on the right panel in the Chrome UI. Chrome 70 will further delete all cookies when you sign out. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. The bombshell new claims come after two women came forward to accuse the judge of assaulting them in the 1980s. (Photo: AP) Washington: A new woman claimed on Wednesday to have witnessed sexually abusive behaviour by Brett Kavanaugh and said she was gang-raped at a party in the early 1980s attended by the Supreme Court nominee. Julie Swetnick said in a statement released by her lawyer that the events took place at parties she attended while a high school student in suburban Maryland. She said she saw Kavanaugh behave as a "mean drunk" at such parties and witnessed him "engage in highly inappropriate conduct" that included the "fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent." "I observed Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behaviour towards girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, 'grinding' against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls' clothing to expose private body parts," Swetnick said. "I likewise observed him be verbally abusive towards girls by making crude sexual comments to them that were designed to demean, humiliate and embarrass them," she said. Swetnick said Kavanaugh's claim of "innocence" and lack of sexual activity in high school was "absolutely false and a lie." Swetnick, who has worked extensively for the US federal government, also said she was drugged and gang-raped at a party in approximately 1982 at which Kavanaugh was present. She did not claim that Kavanaugh took part or was aware of her rape but she claimed that he and other boys in his circle engaged in similar behaviour. She said she had witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh to "'target' particular girls so they could be taken advantage of." The bombshell new claims come after two women came forward to accuse the judge of assaulting them in the 1980s, in a scandal that has tripped up what was expected to be an easy confirmation process for the conservative judge. At a crunch Senate hearing on Thursday, California university professor Christine Blasey Ford will detail allegations that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a high school party when they were both teenagers. Kavanaugh also stands accused of exposing himself to a classmate, Deborah Ramirez, causing her to touch him without consent, during an alcohol-fuelled Yale University party a few years later. Kavanaugh was handpicked by Donald Trump for the lifelong post on the Supreme Court, and has continued to enjoy the US president's steadfast support despite the allegations against him. Swetnick's statement was released by her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, who has claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump. Trudeau spokeswoman Eleanore Catenaro said in response: 'No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that.' (Photo: PTI) Washington: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he rejected a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the trade dispute involving the North American neighbours and renewed his threat to slap tariffs on cars imported from Canada as negotiations drag on. Trudeau spokeswoman Eleanore Catenaro said in response: "No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that." In an extraordinary rebuke of America's northern neighbour, Trump vented his frustration with Canada during a news conference along the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between two allies who share a border. "His tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move and I've told him forget about it," Trump said of Trudeau. "And frankly, we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada. That's the mother lode. That's the big one." "We've very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," Trump said in an apparent reference to Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, who has been negotiating with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Canada, the United States' No. 2 trading partner, was left out when the US and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. The US and Canada are under pressure to reach a deal by the end of the month, when Lighthizer must make public the full text of the agreement with Mexico. But Trump suggested he may go forward with a revamped NAFTA without Canada. The president said it would be called "USM," for the US and Mexico, instead of "USMC," and offered blunt criticism of the Canadian team engaged in the talks. "Canada has a long way to go. I must be honest with you, we're not getting along at all with their negotiators. We think their negotiators have taken advantage of our country for a long time," he said. Any push by Trump to slap a 25 per cent tariff on imported autos and auto parts from Canada might help American workers but could also inflate car prices, make US manufacturers less competitive and generate retaliation. Roughly four in five cars assembled in Canada are exported. The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association has warned that the auto tariffs could affect billions of dollars' worth of exports and lead to the loss of more than 100,000 jobs across the country. Relations between the two neighbours have been strained since Trump assailed Trudeau at the G-7 meeting in June, calling him a "weak" and "dishonest" back-stabber. Canadian leaders have objected to Trump's decision to impose tariffs on Canadian steel, citing national security. The trade talks have been deadlocked over issues such as Canada's high dairy tariffs and US efforts to shield drug companies from generic competition. Trump, during the news conference, reiterated his longstanding grievances against NAFTA and job losses, saying the trade pact had been "great for Canada, great for Mexico, very bad for us." The trade agreement, which took effect in 1994, removed most trade barriers between the US, Canada and Mexico, leading to a boost in trade, but it encouraged US automakers and other manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of low-wage Mexican labour. 'I can always be convinced,' Trump said on the eve of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring one of Kavanaughs accusers. (Photo: AFP) Washington: US President Donald Trump praised his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday but said he would be open to withdrawing his nomination if he finds sexual assault allegations against him to be credible. I can always be convinced, Trump said on the eve of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring one of Kavanaughs accusers. If I thought he was guilty of something like this, yes, sure, Trump said at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Its possible Ill hear that, and Ill say, Hey, Im changing my mind. I want to watch, Trump said ahead of the hearing featuring Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers. I look forward to what she has to say, Trump said. I also look forward to what Judge Kavanaugh has to say. I think its going to be a very important day in the history of our country. In prepared testimony released on Wednesday, the 51-year-old Blasey Ford said she feared Kavanaugh would rape her during the attack, which she said occurred in the summer of 1982. A third accuser has also surfaced Blasey Ford said the incident left her drastically altered, but it was her civic duty to tell lawmakers what happened. Kavanaugh also has been accused of exposing himself to a classmate, Deborah Ramirez, during an alcohol-fuelled Yale University party a few years later. And on Wednesday a new woman came forward with explosive allegations, saying she witnessed sexually abusive behaviour by Kavanaugh when he was a teenager and claiming she was gang-raped at a party he attended in the early 1980s. Trump described Kavanaugh as a great gentleman and a great intellect and said he believed the accusations against the conservative judge were false. Big, fat con job Trump said he was sceptical because he personally had been the target of false statements in the past made by various women. Ive had a lot of false charges made against me, he said. People want fame, they want money, they want whatever. Trump slammed his Democratic opponents over the handling of the Kavanaugh nomination, accusing them of being con artists and destroying the 53-year-old judges reputation. Its a big, fat con job, he said. Its a very dangerous period in our county and its being perpetrated by some very evil people, some of them are Democrats. The Kavanaugh nomination has turned into a political firestorm ahead of congressional elections in November and is threatening to derail Trumps push to get a conservative-minded majority on the top court ahead of the vote. Democrats on Wednesday demanded that Trump withdraw Kavanaughs nomination or order an FBI investigation after the third woman came forward with allegations against the judge. He is asking for a lifetime appointment to the nations highest court where he will have the opportunity to rule on matters that will impact Americans for decades, the 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a letter to the president. Julie Swetnick said she saw Kavanaugh engage in sexually abusive behavior as a teenager and claimed she had been gang-raped at a party he attended in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh strongly denied the allegations by Swetnick, 55, who has worked extensively for the federal government including for the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone, he said in a statement. I dont know who this is and this never happened. Swetnick said she attended more than 10 parties along with Kavanaugh while growing up in suburban Maryland. Physically aggressive behaviour Swetnick said she saw Kavanaugh behave as a mean drunk at the parties. I observed Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior towards girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, grinding against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls clothing to expose private body parts, Swetnick said. Swetnick also said she was drugged and gang-raped at a party in approximately 1982 at which Kavanaugh was present. She did not specifically claim Kavanaugh took part or that he was aware of her rape, but said that he and other boys in his circle engaged in similar behaviour. She said she saw efforts by Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be gang raped in a side room or bedroom by a train of numerous boys. I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their turn with a girl inside the room, she said. These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh, she said. Judge is a boyhood friend of Kavanaugh who has written a book describing the debauchery of his high school years. Kavanaugh, in prepared testimony released on Wednesday, repeated his denial of Blasey Fords allegation and said this effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. These are last minute smears, pure and simple, he said, adding that while he was not perfect in high school he never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes. British security services in September named Boshirov and Alexander Petrov as suspects in the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia using a nerve agent called Novichok, but said these were likely to be aliases. (Photo: AP | File) Moscow: A suspect in the nerve agent poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in Britain in March is a colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, investigative website Bellingcat alleged on Wednesday. Bellingcat, a Britain-based team of investigators that specialises in trawling through online data to expose Russia's involvement in foreign conflicts, said the man identified as "Ruslan Boshirov" by Britain is in fact named Anatoly Chepiga. British security services in September named Boshirov and Alexander Petrov as suspects in the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia using a nerve agent called Novichok, but said these were likely to be aliases. After they were identified, two men using these names appeared on Russian television to insist they were mere tourists to the English city of Salisbury. "Boshirov" denied working for the GRU. The new report says Chepiga is a highly-decorated GRU officer with the rank of colonel, who assumed the identify of Ruslan Boshirov for his undercover mission in Britain. The report included a passport photo of Anatoly Chepiga from 2003. It resembles a younger version of the photo of "Ruslan Boshirov" provided by British authorities. British Prime Minister Theresa May has said that the men suspected of the poisoning were members of Russian military intelligence acting on orders from a "high level." Chepiga was born in 1979 in the village Nikolayevka in the Russian Far East and finished a prestigious military academy in the region, said Bellingcat. He then served in the special forces of the GRU. A regional branch of the paramilitary organisation DOSAAF states on its website that Chepiga went on three tours in Chechnya while in the special forces, and was awarded the Hero of Russia award in 2014. There is no official record of him receiving the award, traditionally issued by the Russian president, suggesting it was for a classified mission. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this month he knew who the two suspects were, and that they were "civilians, of course." The civic workers of KR Market area staged a protest against the delay in remitting salary and sought action against contractors harassing them. On Wednesday, about 50 workers gathered near the BBMP headquarters and demanded that their wages be released. They also against a contractor whom they charged with harassing women workers. Pushpamma, a worker, said: I have not received my salary for the past five months now. The contractor abuses me at work and does not pay my salary. She also said contractor Subramaniam was working as a supervisor to manage auto tippers and would harass workers every day. Despite complaints, the BBMP has not taken any action, she added. The workers also alleged that Shashikumar, an assistant executive engineer, had joined hands with Subramaniam and had been harassing workers. Dhanalakshmi, another worker, showed her bank passbook details for not receiving the salary for the past few months. Mayor R Sampath Raj assured the workers to resolve the issue soon. The state government and the Forest Department must stop mining and quarrying activities around the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP), veteran freedom fighter HS Doreswamy has said. Speaking to reporters at a conference organised by United Bengaluru, a non-governmental organisation, he said the authorities must safeguard the eco-sensitivity of the wooded area as notified by the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The apex court has ordered maintaining a 10-kilometre default buffer zone around the national park until the ES is defined. Doreswamy accused the state government and its agencies like the Forest Department, the Department of Mines and Geology and the Bengaluru Urban district administration of doing nothing to protect the wooded area and its surroundings. Mining activities around the forest affected the nearby villages and the agrarian communities, he said. He invited Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Bengaluru Development Minister G Parameshwara to visit the forest area. Suresh N R from United Bengaluru and tree activist Vijay Nishanth were also present on the occasion. Volunteers of United Bengaluru said they would hold an interactive meeting on September 29 at Indiranagar Club on the proposed revamping of the BDA complex. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday the United States had nothing to show for its appearance at the U.N. General Assembly this week, extending an exchange of insults with Tehran's arch-adversary. President Donald Trump used his annual address to the General Assembly on Tuesday to denounce Iran as a "corrupt dictatorship" whose leaders "sow chaos, death and destruction", and told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that Washington was pursuing further sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Rouhani, in his General Assembly speech, suggested Trump suffered from a "weakness of intellect" after having withdrawn the United States from big powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, a move that dismayed European allies of Washington. At a news conference on Thursday following his return to Tehran, Rouhani said of the annual U.N. gathering, "The Americans had no achievements in this public assembly. "When Mr Trump was speaking and at the beginning of his speech bragged a lot about the accomplishments of his two-year-old administration, everyone laughed," Rouhani said. "What's important is that today, other than one or two countries, no one is supporting America," he said. "It's a historic political isolation that is rare for America." Separately, Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami said that Iran would not bow to intensifying U.S. economic pressure. Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran in August, targeting its trade in gold and other precious metals, purchases of U.S. dollars and its car industry. Trump has said the United States will issue another round of tougher sanctions in November aimed at crippling Iran's oil sales and banking sector. "The Americans say that by imposing sanctions they want to pressure the government of Iran but in reality with this method they deprive the people of their welfare and right to life," Hatami said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. "America and the Zionist regime (Israel) are trying to block the people of Iran from their revolutionary path and movement with economic pressure and cruel sanctions. But they should know that today we are self-sufficient and independent with regard to military products and have no dependence on any power in the world," Hatami said, as quoted by IRNA. Trump denounced the 2015 nuclear deal, signed before he took office, as flawed in Iran's favour and for not also curbing its ballistic missile programme or role in regional conflicts, and he used the Security Council session to defend his decision. "The Syrian regime's butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran," Trump said with respect to Syria's civil war. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the apex body of Indian Muslims, termed the Triple Talaq ordinance a "murder of democracy" and an "insult to Parliament" on Thursday. The ordinance, brought by the Centre last week, made triple talaq a criminal offence. Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, AIMPLB secretary and spokesperson Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said the NDA government has brought the ordinance through the backdoor. "This is not a very urgent issue and there was ample room for making the legislation democratically after seeking public opinion," he said. He further added that Muslim women have already rejected the ordinance and it was not acceptable to the Muslim community. Answering a question on whether the board will move court against the legislation, he said that board's legal committee will look into it. Rahmani called the legislation an interference in the Shariat and said the government drafted the bill without consulting the community. "The government also rejected the demand for referring the bill to a select committee, which would have given an opportunity to the community or its representative organisations, such as the AIMPLB, to put forth their point of view," he said. Rahmani said the ordinance punishes men who have not committed any crime. He asked why when a man's Triple Talaq pronouncement will not come into effect anyway he has to be sent to jail for three years. He said the the criminalisation of Triple Talaq will increase the number of women deserted by their husbands. "Consider the condition of a woman who is neither divorced nor supported financially by her husband. This will deny her an opportunity to start life afresh," he said. AIMPLB member and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the ordinance will anyway lapse in since six months. He said the Supreme Court, in its verdict on the Triple Talaq issue, did not ask the government to bring legal provisions. Owaisi said marriage in Islam is a social contract and applying penal provisions is unconstitutional and a violation of fundamental rights. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the concept of creamy layer shall be applicable in reservation in promotions for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. A five-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ruled that a constitutional court is empowered to strike down any reservation for creamy layer among the most backward classes. Justice Rohinton F Nariman, who authored the judgement on behalf of the bench, said the Presidential Lists under Articles 341 or 342 of the Constitution may include any group or community as SC or ST but the principle of creamy layer can be applied by a court on the touchstone of equality within the same group or sub-group. The whole object of reservation is to see that backward classes of citizens move forward so that they may march hand in hand with other citizens of India on an equal basis. This will not be possible if only the creamy layer within that class bag all the coveted jobs in the public sector and perpetuate themselves, leaving the rest of the class as backward as they always were, the bench said. When it comes to the creamy layer principle, it is important to note that this principle sounds in Articles 14 and 16(1), as unequals within the same class are being treated equally with other members of that class, the bench added. No tinkering It pointed out that when a court applies the creamy layer principle to SC and ST, it does not in any manner tinker with the Presidential List. It is only those persons within that group or sub-group, who have come out of untouchability or backwardness by virtue of belonging to the creamy layer, who are excluded from the benefit of reservation," the court said. The court did not agree with a contention of the central government that the concept of a creamy layer cannot be applied to SC/ST grouping. Applying the principle of harmonious interpretation, the court said Parliament will have complete freedom to include or exclude persons from the Presidential Lists based on relevant factors. But the constitutional court would be within its jurisdiction to exclude the creamy layer from such groups or sub-groups, the court said. The court said it does not agree with the views of former CJI K G Balakrishnan in Ashoka Kumar Thakur's case that the creamy layer principle is merely a principle of identification and not a principle of equality. The bench also turned down the plea to refer the 2006 M Nagaraj judgement to a seven-judge bench for reconsideration in so far as it laid down various conditions. The court maintained that while the previous judgement was absolutely right in laying down the concept of creamy layer among SC/ST groups, it was incorrect to prescribe a test of backwardness. The court said that states would no longer require to collect quantifiable data to determine backwardness of these groups as it was contrary to Indira Sawhney judgement (Mandal) by a nine-judge bench. Efficiency must However, the bench affirmed the other two conditions laid down in M Nagaraj's judgement - quantifiable data on the inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency. The court also declined a plea by the Union government that reservation for SCs and STs should be in proportion to their total population in promotional posts. A number of recent incidents have exposed the poor safety standards and procedures in Indias aviation sector. There was no loss of life in any of the incidents but they caused health problems, discomfort, anxiety and tension for many passengers. Last week, the pilots of a Jet Airways Mumbai-Jaipur flight forgot to switch on the air pressure mechanism in the aircraft after its take-off and it led to many passengers suffering from nose bleeds, ear pain and headaches. The crew were apathetic to the passengers plight and did not know how to handle the situation. The plane had to return to Mumbai. Earlier this month, an Air India Delhi-New York flight suffered multiple systems failure and had to make an emergency landing in New Jersey. There have also been cases of near collisions, wrong landing, tyre bursts and other scary happenings in many parts of the country. The seriousness of these incidents may be realised from the possibility that some of them could have led to accidents that cost lives or caused greater inconvenience, monetary losses or other problems. They point to the need to improve the systems and processes relating to operations and attitudes and habits relating to work and service in the industry. The airlines industry has grown fast and passenger traffic has shown rapid growth. This may have led to a situation where airlines found themselves wanting in many respects. Competition may have made things worse. Aircraft are not always maintained and serviced well and may be subjected to overuse. There may be shortage of staff and personnel and their training may be inadequate. They are known for indifferent and callous attitudes and behaviour. The finances of the industry are not very stable and there may be a tendency to save money or cut corners even on essential matters. This is wrong because safety is the most important factor in travel by any mode. The infrastructure and services at the airports also need to be improved. They have an important role in ensuring air safety. A survey by the International Civil aviation Organisation (ICAO) has found that Indias aviation safety score is very low and is even below that of Bangladesh. Indias airlines are behind 160 other airlines in the world in respect of safety. It showed that the performance of the regulator, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is lacklustre. The civil aviation ministry has now ordered an audit of airlines, airports and flying schools. The ministry and the DGCA must take steps to ensure that the best safety standards are implemented and lapses and violations of norms are dealt with strictly. Buying medicines online can be very risky as the quality of the drugs may be compromised and there is no system in place to monitor the medicines ordered online through prescription and its delivery to consumers, says the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD). The organisation is protesting against the Centres move to register online pharmacies and legalise them. The opposition has come to the fore after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued draft notifications on August 28 to register e-pharmacy websites and invited objections to the notifications. Rajiv Singhal, general secretary, AIOCD, said the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, says only registered pharmacists can deliver medicines as per prescription by a qualified medical practitioner. He said buying drugs online violate the rule. While buying medicines online, there is no methodology to check if the prescription is genuine or not and whether the person responsible to ship the medicines is a qualified pharmacist. It is usually a delivery boy who drops the medicines at the doorstep, he added. Singhal gave examples of how online drug purchase led to misuse by college students in Maharashtra, where abortion pills were bought without medical advice. In Punjab, forged prescriptions were uploaded to purchase drugs causing sedation, he added. Further, he said the quality of drugs could also be compromised as the consumer may not be aware enough to check the expiry date. Singhal said online pharmacies provide discount of medicines upto 20% when regular medical shops struggle to provide 12% discount. We are just amazed how the online pharmacies are able to provide such huge discount and who are their suppliers selling drugs at such cheap rates? he said. He said online retails also threaten the privacy of customers. Gangadhar V Yavagal, president, Karnataka State Pharmacy Council, said all medicines must be issued by a registered pharmacist. But in online pharmacy, the Council is not very sure whether this happens or not. The AIOCD has written to the prime minister about the drawbacks of legalising e-phamacy, where it is difficult to check the misuse of drugs. Singhal said they were planning an indefinite strike if the government doesnt change its stand. SALT LAKE CITY UPS is looking to hire more than 1,500 seasonal employees in the Salt Lake area to support the anticipated increase in package volume during the Christmas season. Currently, UPS is hiring at its regional hub, 380 S. 6400 West, and at its Salt Lake City hub, 2040 W. Parkway Blvd. The full- and part-time seasonal positions primarily package handlers, drivers and driver-helpers have long been an entry point for permanent employment at UPS. Tractor-trailer and package car driver jobs start at $18.75 per hour. Pay for package handlers and for driver-helpers starts at $10.35 per hour. Interested job seekers must apply online at UPSjobs.com. Videos featuring employees describing their work experience at UPS are also available at the UPS jobs website. Permanent UPS jobs including part-time jobs offer health care and retirement benefits. At many UPS locations, part-time employees in college are eligible to receive up to $25,000 in tuition assistance through the companys Earn and Learn program. In a rare solo presser on the eve of what will be a Throwdown Thursday President Donald Trump takes the mic today at 3:00 pm MDT. President Trump is expected to field questions from the media regarding his visit to the U.N. General Assembly, Judge Brett Kavanaughs confirmation and the accusations leveled against him, and the fate of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Updates and live analysis from the Deseret News opinion team will follow. 2:54 p.m. Before taking to the podium, the president would be wise to reflect on Sen. Jeff Flakes speechhe gave on the Senate floor today as well as our opinion editors recent column: Boyd Matheson: The Supreme Court is too political, and it's Congress' fault. 3:05 p.m. Trump starts the press conference from New York with a rundown on trade. Declaring victory in his negotiations with world leaders, the real question across America will be if the effects are positive for Main Street or Wall Street. Some industries already are expressing concerns over tariffs. Farmers, technological sectors and the car industry are among those hit early with pressure from increasing prices. 3:10 p.m. A Fox News reporter interestingly asks why the White House didnt investigate reports immediately when allegations came out, citing the example of the Justice Clarence Thomas hearings. The president declares its simply a con job that the media has bought into. He says because Kavanaugh had gone through so many background checks, it all appears to be obstruction from Democrats. Just as sweeping generalities in allegations are dangerous, so too are sweeping dismissals of accounts that clearly need to be fully pursued. 3:20 p.m. Trump hints that he could see this nomination not working out and infers that a female nominee could face similar allegations. The fact that Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing one of Kavanaughs accusers, is entering the fray actually provides the president a foil and adversary to go against that is easier to attack than the accusers. Whether Avenatti is earnest or opportunistic (he is a front runner as a potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate), he is not helping his client he is weaponizing a victim. This is part of the politicization of the Supreme Court that is absolutely wrong. 3:30 p.m. Trump claims he doesnt want to do anything that will conflict with tomorrows hearing with Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. Having a solo press conference and devolving into campaign rally-style rambling answers to questions from the media is an interesting way to show it. Having a solo press conference and devolving into campaign rally-style rambling answers to questions from the media is an interesting way to show it. 3:40 p.m. President Trump launches into a long explanation of his history of North Korea negotiations. He tells reporters he doesnt want to play the time game on denuclearization. Many question whether North Korea will truly and fully take steps to denuclearize as it has a pattern of promising and not delivering. 3:45 p.m. A Sky News reporter questions whether his choice of words as president of the United States, including the phrase con job, is sending a bad message to woman around the world. While it is the presidents prerogative to disagree with words or actions of Democrats and reporters, words do have meaning, and that meaning matters. Discounting or dismissing the experiences of victims is not helpful to a critical conversation the nation must continue to have. 4:05 p.m. This is no laughing matter: President Trump charges the fake news for the reaction of delegates at the U.N. assembly yesterday as he listed the many accomplishments of the U.S. economy. The president is clearly more comfortable in campaign mode than he is in governing mode. While defending his economic accomplishments, he may also be demonstrating the true art of the filibuster or he may have mastered circular breathing. Sadly, after all is said and done today, much more will be said than done. 4:10 p.m. The president spent time reviewing many of Judge Kavanaughs qualifications for the bench. It is odd that all of his praise and accolades were centered in talent, intellect and qualifications, but he did not mention character. The hearing tomorrow will be centered in the Senates role to assess the character and temperament of someone who could receive a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. Character counts. The president restated that he will watch the proceedings with an open mind and could be persuaded in his opinion. Every member of the judiciary committee should also keep an open mind. The hearings to this point have focused heavily on Kavanaughs talent and qualifications tomorrow, character takes center stage. 4:30 p.m. The final question may have been the most thoughtful. While most of the questioning centered on the message the Senate and the White House are sending to the young woman of the world, one reporter asked, What message are you sending to the young men of the world? It is vitally important young men are taught to be real men respectful and compassionate. The president failed to answer this character question. Yes, the accused must have the opportunity to state their case. Yes, the victims must always be heard. Yes, the young men of this country should be expected to transcend the image that they are dumbed-down, video game-playing, beer-drinking, sex-seeking neanderthals. The president had the opportunity to challenge young men to live up to the best of what American men should be and missed badly. While this character conversation is separate from what will take place in the hearing tomorrow, it may be one of the most important conversations the country could have as it seeks to remedy a culture of toxic masculinity. That remedy begins with leaders leading with higher expectations for young men in America. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina World leaders today share a growing list of complex problems, and yet the leaders seem to be getting worse, not better, at working together, according to Rowan Williams, the former head of the Church of England. "What we see is not a movement toward greater justice but greater fear, division and inequality," he said during the opening day of the G20 Interfaith Forum, an international gathering of religious leaders and faith-based social activists from the world's 20 leading economies. Faith communities can help reverse this trend, Williams and other religious leaders said, addressing how to be more unified in the face of issues like climate change and the global refugee crisis. Ahead of the G20, or Group of 20, annual meeting in Argentina later this year, they're asking secular politicians to pay more attention to people of faith. At a time when our politics becomes more and more divided and polarized, when the defense of national boundaries literally and metaphorically becomes the one thing that many political leaders care about, our religious traditions say we are not permitted by the holy God we serve to forget about any portion of the human race, Williams said. The G20 Interfaith Forum is aimed at bridging the gap between faith groups and political leaders, speakers said. Participants hope to help policymakers choose hope over fear and to showcase what's possible when people in different religious communities and countries work together to care for those in need. "We all have much to learn from each other, whatever our religious or ethical motivations for serving," said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Christofferson and Williams were among the world faith leaders asserting their strong commitment to morality and human dignity, values that are sometimes missing from secular policy debates. Why religion matters The fifth annual G20 Interfaith Forum features three days of panel discussions during which speakers share their on-the-ground experiences addressing issues like starvation and violence, as well as their suggestions for G20 political leaders. This year's discussion topics include environmental protection, religious freedom law, women's rights and workplace policies. The gathering is an opportunity to showcase the powerful contributions that can be made when people and organizations from across political, national and religious boundaries work together to address pressing challenges, explained Brian Adams, one of the conference organizers, during his opening remarks. It's also a chance for faith leaders to refocus policy debates on people in need, noted Pope Francis in his letter to forum participants, which was read Wednesday morning by another Catholic leader. READ MORE: Elder Christofferson presents at G20 Interfaith Forum on relieving suffering worldwide We should offer a new way of looking at men and women and at reality, not with a view to manipulate or dominate but with respect for their own nature and creation as a whole, he said. Religious leaders who spoke Wednesday morning didnt claim to have the perfect policy solutions for issues like human trafficking, terrorism, climate change and the refugee crisis. They focused on the need to push for solutions to those problems across all facets of society and religious leaders' special ability to unify people across lines of difference. Religious traditions have a unique reach across the world. They are to be found everywhere, said Williams, who is now the chairman of Christian Aid, a charity in the United Kingdom. If we wish to see people motivated for positive change towards justice, then we need to connect that motivation with a religious vision. Already, faith groups help with the implementation of secular policies around the world, whether theyre aimed at increasing gender equality or reducing poverty rates, said Abdullah Al Lheedan, from Saudi Arabias cultural exchange program. For example, in his country, Muslim leaders have been working with government leaders to address the outcry stemming from the end of the ban on women drivers. Religious institutions work hand-in-hand with the government to moderate attitudes toward these issues, he said. Faith groups are skilled at speaking up for the people who sometimes get lost in secular policy debates, said Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, a leader in the Eastern Orthodox Church. We as a church have a responsibility to take care of the most vulnerable and to stand together with minorities and help them when needed, he said. Taking action Although most faith groups share an interest in protecting the vulnerable, its not always easy for them to coordinate their efforts to help those in need. Theological differences can lead to unhealthy competition and even violence, said Claudio Epelman, executive director of the Latin American Jewish Congress. Religions have faced a lot of tensions and strife, he said. Participants in the G20 Interfaith Forum dont deny those challenges. But theyre trying to create a space where people learn from diversity instead of rejecting it. Were celebrating our singularity and our own identity, Epelman said. As Elder Christofferson described some of his churchs successful social programs around the world, he noted that it wasnt his intention to brag. He spoke about providing hygiene kits to people affected by hurricanes or earthquakes and job training through the churchs Self-Reliance Initiative in the hopes of inspiring more such programs. That we may strive together, working side by side in our own ways according to our own faith and values, is my hope and prayer, he said. Striving together is what will change the world and solve crises like climate change and forced migration, said Kiran Bali from India, who serves as global chair for the United Religions Initiative. Actions speak louder than words. Our collective action will have a much more powerful impact on issues that we are dealing with today, she said. SALT LAKE CITY A small electric scooter fire forced several classes in a University of Utah building to relocate Wednesday, officials said. About 12:40 p.m., a student's personal scooter was parked in a hallway on the third floor of the James E. Talmage Building when it caught fire, according to a news release from the university. About 140 people who were in the building at the time safely evacuated and the Salt Lake Fire Department quickly extinguished the fire, the release states. Seven afternoon classes were moved, including math and chemistry classes. The fire caused minor damage to some floor tiles, officials said. A cleanup company was clearing the smell of smoke from the building. U. Fire Marshal Clint Haymond said the fire appeared to have been caused by the scooter's lithium ion battery system. It was not being charged when it caught fire, according to the release. Officials said the building will be re-evaluated Thursday at 8 a.m. and asked students to check for updates about classroom locations on the university's website, attheu.utah.edu. While seeking Betsy DeVos approval for its federal Every Student Succeeds Act plan, Florida ventured that the states English-only laws would provide it cover from a new federal push on English-language-learner education. The gamble paid off. Florida, home to an estimated 300,000 English-learners, will not translate its state tests into Spanish or any other language. For some states, developing tests in languages other than English could prove costly. Language in ESSA, the federal education law, directs states to make every effort to develop statewide tests in students first languages if they constitute a significant portion of the student population. The law, however, does not explicitly require the native-language assessments, which would measure students knowledge and understanding of state academic content standards in that primary language. Until winning U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos endorsement this week, Floridas accountability plan was the last of any state and U.S. territory to get her stamp of approval. The Education Department had rejected five previous iterations of Floridas plan, but the native-language tests were apparently not the snag. Floridas plan meets the requirements of the law, so I am pleased to approve it, said Secretary DeVos in a statement. As we move into the next phase, we look forward to working with states as they bring their plans on paper to life and use the flexibilities afforded in ESSA to innovate and improve educational opportunities for all students. Callie Kozlak, field campaign manager for the Education Policy Project at UnidosUS, criticized DeVos decision, calling it a disappointment. Not only did Floridas ESSA plan bypass the laws requirement for native-language tests, Kozlak and other English-learner activists argued, it also set up a separate accountability system for considering English-language proficiency, instead of incorporating it into the states larger accountability system. Kozlak said that UnidosUs and other groups will closely monitor whether the states ELLs receive the support and resources they need. Florida was not the only state where concerns about the treatment of ELLs have been raised. An analysis conducted by Achieve and UnidosUs determined that more than half of states ESSA plans intentionally set lower academic goals for English-learners , at least six others state plans bypassed key provisions of the federal education law, and nearly 20 percent of the plans allow schools to earn high ratings even if English-learners are struggling. UnidosUs and other groups will closely monitor whether educators in Florida and the other states provide the support and resources that English-learners need, Kozlak said. While recent research from the Migration Policy Institute has found that using an English-learners home language in school can be beneficial , Florida has adopted a different approach. In its ESSA plan, the state maintains that giving assessments to students in their native languages would impede their ability to demonstrate their knowledge of English. Because the content is taught in English, the mostindeed, the onlyvalid and reliable assessment of the students proficiency of the content must also be conducted in English, the states ESSA plan reads. In sum, Florida, which has one of the largest populations of ELLs, has found that it can best serve its population of non-native English language students through a comprehensive program of teaching, assessing, and, where necessary, providing additional assistance to such students in an English-language environment. Florida is one of at least seven states that opted not to offer native-language assessments, with some making the argument that the costs of the tests would outweigh any potential benefits. But none of them have as many English-learners as the Sunshine State, where more than 10 percent of all K-12 students are classified as English-learners. In certain parts of the state, including south Florida, English-learners are a much larger portion of the student population: One in four students in the Miami-Dade County school system, the largest district in the state and one of the 10 largest in the country, are ELLs. Heres a look at Floridas plan . Details about the states stance on native-language assessments begins on page 7. Related Stories English-Learners Are a Diverse Group. How Can Schools Meet Their Needs? Some States With English-Only Laws Wont Offer Tests in Other Languages Thousands of English-Learners Fall Short on Test of Language Skills SALT LAKE CITY Utah State University piano department faculty member Dennis Hirst has been relieved of his teaching duties for the remainder of the fall semester and reassigned to work from home, following a lawsuit filed by a former USU student, alleging Hirst sexually assaulted her when she was a 17-year-old freshman in 1994. Hirst will work remotely coordinating events, including the Wassermann Festival and Fry Street Quartet Summer Chamber Music Festival, according to a letter from Cindy Dewey, head of the Department of Music at USUs Caine College of the Arts, addressed to Hirst and dated Sept. 26. The change is neither a sanction nor a punitive action, Dewey wrote. I am making this change in teaching assignments in order to address department needs and to carry out the educational mission of the piano program. Hirst, an associate professor of music, did not return to calls for comment Wednesday. In an April Deseret News story that mentioned a 1994 police report filed by a former student, Hirst denied allegations of sexual assault. No charges were filed. The police report was based on allegations by Jaime Aikele Caliendo, a former Utah State University student who sued Hirst in state court on Sept. 17, seeking more than $300,000 in damages for alleged sexual assault, sexual battery and other claims. Caliendo alleges Hirst sexually assaulted her while she was a 17-year-old freshman in 1994, according to the civil lawsuit filed in 1st District Court in Logan. Hirst, then 23, was employed as a music teacher with the USU Youth Conservatory, the lawsuit states. The Deseret News usually does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but Caliendo, now 41, agreed to be identified and is named as the plaintiff in the lawsuit. University spokesperson Tim Vitale explained the decision to reassign Hirst was made in the interest of students. Details contained in the recent lawsuit disrupted our students lives both personally and in their ability to pursue their coursework," said Vitale. "The allegations that arose are affecting students directly. That's where our priorities lie, with our students. Current USU piano student Lexie Hansen, 22, has studied privately with Hirst for the past four years and shared how recent allegations have rattled her and her classmates. I think (Hirst being reassigned) is the right thing, said Hansen. I shouldnt have to sit in lessons wondering if the allegations are true or not. Thats not fair to students. Hansen said she has never felt unsafe around Hirst. She said he is a great teacher and is grateful for the mentorship he has provided during her time at USU. It sucks. Hes been a father figure to me for the last four years. However, Jaime deserves to be heard, she said. The controversy surrounding Hirst and the university's music program has affected faculty, as well. Jason Hardink, visiting professor of piano at USU since 2017, resigned Tuesday because he was not satisfied with the timeliness of the university's response to allegations against Hirst, which were made public in the lawsuit filed last week. "This news created a crisis for the music department from the moment the lawsuit became public knowledge. There could have been an immediate response from the university," wrote Hardink in an e-mail to the Deseret News. "They can claim to 'take allegations of sexual misconduct seriously,' but waiting over a week to do or say anything does not convey the attitude that the safety and well-being of your students is your No. 1 priority." Vitale said the school does in fact have a zero tolerance policy towards sexual assault. "But as a public institution we have to recognize everyone's constitutional rights to due process," said Vitale. "We've been working diligently and carefully on this extremely complicated situation." According to Vitale, USU launched a Title IX investigation involving Hirst several weeks ago, after new information came to light following an April investigation into a culture of discrimination and sexual harassment within the universitys piano program. Mary Ann May from Parr Brown Gee & Loveless in Salt Lake City has been hired to conduct the Title IX investigation involving Hirst. We have an investigation underway which we expect to have completed within four to six weeks. Right now, Hirst is facing these allegations that we are taking seriously, but we are also taking into consideration his due process rights, said Vitale. When that investigation is complete, we'll have a more clear picture of any steps we have to take given the conclusions that come to us. USU hired outside counsel Snell & Wilmer of Salt Lake City to conduct an independent investigation on Feb. 16 after several women claimed in Facebook posts that they had been mistreated by music department employees. Caliendo identified herself to the Deseret News as former student 10 in the report, released in April, which reflected interviews with 60 witnesses and hundreds of pages of documents. The report stated that between 1994 and 2012, students or parents complained of a series of incidents involving sexual harassment by four members of the faculty. According to former student 10, the Title IX Office declined to do anything about this complaint, the report reads. The report also recommended Hirst be removed as interim coordinator of the piano program, but did not recommend any other specific sanctions. In a letter of reprimand addressed to Hirst dated July 3, 2018, USU Interim Provost Laurens H. Smith made no mention of Caliendos claims but referenced the reports findings that Hirst enabled or ignored piano department head Gary Amanos discriminatory acts against female students for a period of years. The letter also outlines expectations for Hirst, including participation in a training program on sensitivity behavior and anti-discriminatory conduct. As far as I know, I did not contribute to a psychologically abusive environment, although I was employed as a faculty member in the piano program directed and defined by Gary Amano, wrote Hirst in a letter of response. Hirsts reassignment is the latest in a series of faculty changes in the Utah State University music department following Snell & Wilmers investigation earlier this year. In April, USU President Noelle Cockett announced the resignation of Amano and sweeping changes to the school's Title IX office. Later that month, Cockett said Stacy Sturgeon had been removed from her position as Title IX coordinator. SALT LAKE CITY Uber is paying out $900,000 to Utah as part of a settlement over a data breach that happened two years ago, officials said Wednesday. In November 2016, hackers got access to personal data, including driver's license information, of about 600,000 drivers across the U.S. About 2,500 of those drivers were from Utah, according to a news release from the Utah Attorney General's Office. Uber later found the hackers and "obtained assurances that the hackers deleted the information," according to the release. State law required the company to notify Utah residents who were affected, but Uber waited a year to report the breach, officials said. "I'm a fan of Uber, but that doesn't keep us from doing our job. Protecting Utahns, their data, and identities is one of the top priorities of my office. Working with the Utah Department of Commerce and colleagues from other states, we were able to achieve a fair resolution without protracted litigation," Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said in the release. In all, the ride-sharing company will pay $148 million to 50 states and the District of Columbia, and will strengthen its "corporate governance and data security practices to prevent similar occurrences in the future," the release states. SALT LAKE CITY Government scrutiny of big tech companies continues to ratchet up as officials from around the country, including Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, rallied with the U.S. Department of Justice this week to explore how to potentially moderate the growing power of innovation titans. Leaders from Google, Twitter and Facebook were all asked to testify before Congress in recent weeks, and some GOP leaders continue to level accusations of a left-leaning bias among tech giants. President Donald Trump took to Twitter late last month claiming Google "rigged" search results to feature links to "bad" news reports and promising the issue "would be addressed." U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who hosted the "listening session" along with a team of officials from the DOJ, indicated in public comments ahead of the meeting that bias as it relates to how some tech companies manage political speech would be a focus topic. But Reyes told the Deseret News that while bias issues did come up briefly during the meeting Tuesday morning that included a bipartisan group of attorneys general and deputy attorneys general from 14 states, discussions mostly focused on consumer-centric issues. "We were primarily looking at market and competition, privacy and data security issues," Reyes said. "We spent very little time discussing bias." Reyes said a number of companies came up in the meeting, including Google, Twitter and Facebook, but that the conversations were not limited to those three and that the group's concerns extend to a number of "big data handlers." In 2016, Reyes, a Republican, joined Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine, a Democrat, in calling on the Federal Trade Commission to reopen an investigation into Google and potential antitrust violations. The commission concluded an earlier investigation in 2013 that did not result in a complaint against the company. Reyes said the request he and Racine made stemmed from evidence that reflected Google was favoring search returns that featured links advancing their own products, rather than just "best" results. Reyes said the FTC declined to investigate. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch revisited the issue this summer in a letter he sent to the commission on Aug. 30 in which he cited, among other things, a May "60 Minutes" story that included allegations of unfair search manipulation that also favored Google products. Hatch called on a newly confirmed slate of FTC commissioners to "consider the competitive effects of Google's conduct in search and advertising." Google officials did not respond to a Deseret News request for comment on the matter. Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder of consumer review website and mobile app Yelp, told "60 Minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft that Google had evolved away from its founding principal of providing only the best, unbiased results to a user's search query. "The initial promise of Google was to organize the world's information," Stoppelman said. "And ultimately that manifested itself in you expecting that the top links, the things that it shows at the top of that page are the best from around the web. The best that the world has to offer. And I could tell you that is not the case. That is not the case anymore." Reyes said he continues to agree with that assessment and is also concerned about how Google, and other big data gatherers, are collecting and repurposing data it harvests from its users. While he declined to weigh-in on whether or not there was a consensus Tuesday among the gathered state and federal officials on launching an investigation into big data-handling companies, he did note that the process was ongoing and that he'd be working with other state attorneys general, and the Justice Department, in continuing to look at these companies and their processes. "When you have all of these state and federal offices represented, there are a lot of different efforts underway," Reyes said. "Some may be investigating particular aspects already and some may not. What I can say is that we're assessing and examining information that could potentially lead to more formal processes." Reyes, who worked in the tech industry before making the move to public service, said that he believes the solution to protecting consumers' data and privacy involves a careful balance of rules and enforcement and cautioned against those who might see the solution as simply instituting broader digital privacy regulations, like rules adopted this year by the European Union and a set of California laws set to implement in 2020. "I would not entirely endorse, or condemn what the E.U. or California have done," Reyes said. "I think there are some helpful lessons there, but there are a number of things that give me pause." SALT LAKE CITY If you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the Salt Lake Valley without driving your own personal vehicle, here's your chance to try using other modes of transportation to get around. Next month, Salt Lake City is partnering with rideshare company Lyft, the Utah Transit Authority and GREENbike to offer a group of Salt Lake City residents the opportunity to park their cars and try the carefree, environmentally friendly life of the new transportation age. Ditch with Lyft is a multimodal pilot transit program being launched in 36 cities nationwide from Oct. 8 through Nov. 6. In Salt Lake City, the program will challenge 50 randomly selected residents to ditch their car for 30 days in lieu of rideshare and public transit, explained Jeremy Neigher, market manager for Lyft in Utah. Each participant will receive more than $417 of transportation credit during the one-month challenge to use a variety of available transit options, he said. Salt Lake City residents can register at ditchwithlyft.com/SLC for the opportunity to receive credit toward Lyft, GREENbike and the UTA Hive Pass. "We want to push the envelope," he said. "We want people to try something new and get out of their comfort zone." He noted that as urban environments become more densely populated and more traffic congestion is created, people will be looking for transportation alternatives. "For someone who might want to give (rideshare and mass transit) a shot, they may think, 'Maybe I don't need that second car or maybe I can save a bunch of money the next time I go to the airport,'" Neigher said. As more people to consider how a "multimodal" future can have a positive impact on cities like Salt Lake and others around the country, their attitudes may shift. Ridesharing has already changed the way Americans depend on owning a car and how people get around cities but now is the time to take an even bolder step toward creating a new future of mobility, he added. Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said, if successful, the partnership could change the way people in the metro area travel throughout the valley. "Part of what we're trying to do is get people excited about using public transportation (and rideshare)," she said. "Residents in Salt Lake City can ditch their car and try out and all of these different multimodal ways of getting around the city and see if they can do it." She said that while the trial period isn't especially long, "30 days can create habits and we're hoping that it creates habits for the 50 people that use it." If some of the participants are persuaded to continue the new transit pattern, others could likely be persuaded to follow, she said. On average, it costs about $9,000 each year to own and operate a car, according to a news release. The Hive Pass is $42 for one month of unlimited trips on the UTA bus, TRAX and streetcar services. An annual membership for GREENBike is $75. Salt Lake City residents can save thousands of dollars by riding with Hive, GREENBike and ridesharing services like Lyft, the mayor said. "Salt Lake City is constantly looking for ways to give residents more affordable transportation choices, especially ones that reduce emissions and improve our air quality," Biskupski said. "We hope this partnership with Lyft will show it is possible to get around Salt Lake City without owning a car." The GREENbike program has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 3.6 million pounds, removed 3.9 million vehicle miles from local roads, while burning 60 million calories in the process, said GREENbike founder and executive director Ben Bolte. "This is a nice way to get people to try something new," he said. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, UTA interim executive director Steve Meyer said the pilot program could serve to remove barriers some people may have when it comes to making the decision to stop driving their car and use other forms of transportation. "We're giving people multiple choices about how they choose to commute and what their options are," he said. "We're going to provide you the mobility, hopefully at an equal level to having your own car." SALT LAKE CITY The third official meeting of the Utah Inland Port Authority Board marked a change of pace for the powerful state entity tasked with creating what's expected to be the state's largest-ever economic project. Since even before its controversial creation during the 2018 Legislative session, state leaders have pushed a sense of urgency to build a successful global trade hub in northwest Salt Lake City sooner rather than later. But Thursday, the inland port board seemed to pump its brakes slightly, taking little action on issues including the authority's nearly $2 million budget, and discussing a longer-than-hoped timeline for the hiring of an executive director. Although state statute set a Nov. 1 deadline for the authority to hire an executive director, board members said it's likely that deadline will not be met, since it will take months to finish the search. The board also re-voted on last month's decision to negotiate a tax deal with the rail car manufacturer Stadler Rail, after the vote last month was not included on the meeting's agenda. Wednesday's meeting came amid persistent controversy of the port authority's process thus far, from transparency concerns regarding closed-door subcommittee meetings on issues including tax incentive deals and budget to outcry over lack of detail on how the port would spend nearly $2 million in state funds. After taking public input on the draft budget, the board continued the public hearing to next month's meeting to take more time on the budget. Board members also briefly discussed addressing critics' concerns with transparency and the aim to have as few closed-door meetings as possible. Board member Ben Hart, who is deputy director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said none of the port authority's three subcommittees met over the past month except for a brief meeting for the committee tasked with finding an executive director for the port. "But the feeling is we're not going to do subcommittees, and we're just going to have these discussions in open meetings," Hart told the Deseret News after Thursday's meeting. Hart said the executive director search is likely going to remain confidential for personnel reasons, but other issues including budget and tax increment "need to be done in the public setting." "I think the feeling is let's push these conversations to the full board meeting, let's have them here, then we don't have to worry about any confidentiality," he said. "Speaking as one board member, I'm much more in favor of having the conversations here." Hart said the subcommittees have been characterized "wrongly," and the intent of the board has been to have "general" discussions on what could be considered staff work ahead of the full board meetings issues that "we weren't afraid to have in the public." The board's aim now is to "dispel some of this suspicion and do these conversations in a public meeting now," he said. "That's just a better way to go about doing this." The day before Wednesday's budget hearing, inland port critics blasted the port authority's draft budget for lacking specificity and Wednesday they brought those criticisms directly to the port board. "Words mean something," said Richard Holman, a member of the Rose Park Community Council and co-chair of the Westside Coalition. "It's absolutely essential that when we put a budget together, we're clear in exactly what we mean by the terminology we use. Holman pointed to a $300,000 line item in the draft budget labeled only "community engagement," and he questioned what that meant whether it would fund "meaningful" community focus groups or a P.R. stunt. "I hope that when you do that, you actually engage the public in what community engagement means to us," he said. "Because I'm certain it means something different to us than it does to you." Others including Jonny Vasic, executive director of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, called for funding to specifically be set aside for a study on how an inland port would impact the surrounding environment and the Salt Lake Valley's air quality. "An environmental health impact study needs to be done, and the money from this budget needs to be allocated for it. If you're not doing that, then you really haven't considered us, the residents of this valley whose lives and health it will impact," Vasic said. Derek Miller, chairman of the inland port board and president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, listened in on Wednesday's meeting by phone. He thanked members of the public for providing feedback on the budget, and noted he believed community engagement is "critical" to the port being a successful project. He also pointed out "all of the environmental issues that were brought up needing study are part of the economic development plan" that is expected to come before the full board in future meetings. "I would continue to say we're on step probably three or four now of a 100-step process, so I know there are a lot of questions and many members of the public who are eager to get to step 35, 50, 99, so we'll take it one step at a time," he said. Hart said although some question the draft budget's meaning of "community engagement," the board's intent is not to create a "P.R. campaign." "I can promise you there is no belief on our part that we could ever brainwash any members of this community," Hart said. "That's not what we're trying to do here I think what we're talking about here is how do we engage the community and make sure that we're all on the same page." Deeda Seed, a former Salt Lake City Councilwoman and campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity who has helped spearhead pushback on the inland port, credited board members for slowing down to address concerns. "The way the meeting was conducted today was clearly in response to all the work the community members have been engaged in trying to get them to open things up," she said. "So it was a tiny step forward." However, Seed said critics are still wary of how the port authority will be handling future tax increment deals, particularly after board members mentioned that other companies not just Stadler have been interested in the project area. "All of those things we continue to be concerned about," she said. "This is just a really crazy way to do what's supposed to be the biggest project in Utah history." The Senate Judiciary Committees assessment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh shifts today from a review of the qualifications of the candidate to the character and credibility of the candidate. Follow the Deseret News opinion team's live analysis of the proceedings. Who to watch Sen. Jeff Flake His vote is in question following the several allegations against Kavanaugh. He gave a passionate speech yesterday urging everyone involved to not strip Christine Blasey Ford or Kavanaugh of their humanity. Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell. Utah's senators Both sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. Cory Booker He tried several times during Kavanaughs initial hearing to delay or obstruct the proceedings. He also is considering a Democratic run for president in 2020. Sen. Kamala Harris Her actions have so far mirrored Sen. Bookers. Sen. Dianne Feinstein She first gave the account of Ford national attention and delivered the details to the FBI. Read: Jeff Flake: We cant forget Ford and Kavanaugh are human beings What to watch Will the special prosecutor be aggressive, trying to undermine credibility? Or will she be compassionate and coax out Ford's story? Will GOP senators refrain from jumping in during their "time"? Will Sen. Booker and Sen. Harris continue to make this hearing about their 2020 ambitions? Will GOP senators come across as uncaring, harsh or dismissive of Ford? Will Democrat senators overreach in their questioning of Judge Kavanaugh? How credible will Ford be? How credible will Kavanaugh be? The latest: 4:00 p.m. The Democrats line of arguments around the need for an FBI investigation have been rebutted and flipped by Republicans who are now calling out Sen. Feinstein, the ranking member of the committee, for not being honest or forthright in pursuing the truth. There is now a full-court press by Republicans against the credibility, motives and actions of Sen. Feinstein. None of this advances the reason for the hearing getting to the truth and assessing the character and temperament of the nominee. 3:00 p.m. What for the most part has been an intense, but somewhat respectable hearing has exploded into partisan accusations. Sen. Lindsey Graham unleashed a verbal torrent against his Democratic colleagues. He focused on the fact that Sen. Feinstein had the allegations and had suggested to Dr. Ford a particular law before meeting with Judge Kavanaugh but did not disclose it to him. It is important to note that neither side has made any argument or provided any evidence to change the dynamic of the underlying charges and denial. 2:20 p.m. Sen. Feinstein picked up on the Democrats line of positioning by asking why there wasnt an FBI investigation. Kavanaugh fired back that he had asked for a hearing the following day to clear his name. He then questioned how Democrats have allowed the stream of baseless accusations to be dumped into the public square. Many Americans are responding that Kavanaugh is also credible and compelling. The proceedings have yet to create any clarity on the issue at hand. 1:50 p.m. Kavanaugh offers emotional testimony as he describes a comment in his high school yearbook which the media took as a sexual reference. He choked back tears as he asserted the yearbook note showed the girl was part of the group. He declared that this woman was and is and will continue to be his friend. 1:35 p.m. The fiery and escalated tone from Judge Kavanaugh clearly grabbed the attention of members of the committee, but he should be careful that sustaining that level will become difficult and even undermine his need to be compelling and credible. This hearing is an opportunity for the committee to assess Kavanaughs character and determine if his temperament and judicial history are fit for the bench. How Judge Kavanaugh responds this afternoon will determine whether he will get a vote in committee or on the Senate floor. 1:20 p.m. Judge Brett Kavanaugh leads the second half of todays proceedings with a fiery opening statement. He accuses politicians and outside groups of doing anything to blow me up and take me down, and he warns this circus will have consequences extending long past his nomination. This further emphasizes the erosion of the Supreme Court as an independent body. 1:15 p.m. As Judge Kavanaugh takes his place in the committee room, the pressure on his performance is mounting. If he is unable to be equally credible and compelling as Dr. Ford, his nomination will be in serious jeopardy. It is important to remember that the accused must also be heard. 12:20 p.m. The take away from Dr. Fords testimony is simply that she is a compelling and credible witness with whom the nation sympathizes. While Democrat senators offered little to advance Dr. Fords testimony or lay out additional facts or insight, they did not inhibit her credibility or impede her testimony. It would have been helpful to actually hear from Republican senators rather than abdicating the questioning to Mitchell. How Judge Kavanaugh responds this afternoon will determine whether he will get a vote in committee or on the Senate floor. 11:40 a.m. Entering the final scheduled 30 minutes of the hearing, rumblings from Capitol Hill are that it is going to be increasingly difficult for senators to vote yes for Judge Kavanaugh based on the compelling and credible testimony from Dr. Ford. It is possible that members of the committee will justify voting yes, saying that Kavanaugh deserves an up or down vote by the full senate. Kavanaugh will have a very high bar to clear going into his hearing this afternoon. 10:50 a.m. The hearing is in recess for 30 minutes. Clarity is elusive, and theres a great deal of confusion around the Republicans strategy. Many are scratching their heads as to what will happen with the time allotted to the last three Republicans, (15 minutes total time). 10:35 a.m. Dr. Ford is highly credible. She has made a compelling case on her own without anything of real support from Democrats on the committee. The most troubling part of this hearing is that no evidence, corroboration, witness or opposing accounts have come forward, leaving Dr. Ford alone. Heading calls for Mark Judge to be subpoenaed may be the only way to have additional witnesses and information come forward. It would be sad if at the end of these hearings the nation is left with one more he said, she said moment. 10:05 a.m. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is the first senator to use his entire allotment of time without asking a question. He continued the Democrats strategy of reinforcing Dr. Fords credibility and issuing a call for an FBI investigation while deriding the process of the proceedings. Chairman Grassley took time dispute the allegation that investigations hadnt been done by the committee. Emotions from committee members seem to be rising. Perhaps its because neither side has done anything to advance or dispute what Dr. Ford said in her opening statement. The most troubling part of this hearing is that no evidence, corroboration, witness or opposing accounts have come forward, leaving Dr. Ford alone. 9:25 a.m. Sen. Patrick Leahy calls for an FBI investigation into all of the allegations against Kavanaugh. He commended Dr. Ford by saying, Bravery is contagious. The Democrats are spending a great deal of their allotted time bolstering the credibility of Dr. Ford. She is credible on her own. It remains unclear what the Republicans, through Rachel Mitchell, are attempting to do. One-third of the questioning time has been used without anything critical emerging. 9:05 a.m. Republicans on the committee may not have properly strategized their use of prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to ask their questions. In her initial five minutes (which were Sen. Grassleys five minutes), Mitchell used a very common approach in such questioning by working to establish rapport and trust with Dr. Ford. This simply cannot be done in five minute increments. In her career field, Mitchell is likely used to having unlimited time for lines of questioning. (This can be helpful for victims to be able to share their story.) It is not likely to be as effective in the alternating five-minutes-at-a-time pattern of this hearing. 8:55 a.m. For the first time, members of the committee and the general public have heard the voice of Dr. Ford. Her voice is not her voice alone, but carries the credibility and weight of countless victims across the country. She strongly stated that victims have the right to choose when and how to share their stories. Her description of the treatment she and her family have experienced is a sad indication of the politicization of this process and the dehumanizing contempt that is plaguing the nation. 8:35 a.m. Sen. Feinstein in her opening statement reminded members of the committee that this was not to be a trial of Dr. Ford but a job interview for Judge Kavanaugh. Will the members of the committee demonstrate civility ... or will politics prevail? 8:20 a.m. The call for open minds has been loud from all sides leading into this mornings hearing. Scott Rasmussen, who has been tracking public views on the current proceedings said this morning, While most political figures appear to have firmly made up their mind to back either Judge Brett Kavanaugh or Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, voters are less committed. "Among all voters, 54 percent have not yet formed a strong opinion of Kavanaugh. But 19 percent have a 'Very Favorable' opinion and 27 percent a 'Very Unfavorable' view. "As for Ford, 50 percent either don't know who she is or don't know enough to form an opinion. Another 22 percent don't have a strong opinion of her. Eleven percent have a 'Very Favorable' opinion and 17 percent a 'Very Unfavorable' one. "This openness among the nation's voters adds to the high stakes for both at today's Judiciary Committee hearings. 8:10 a.m. This may be the first Judiciary Committee hearing ever to begin with an apology. Chairman Grassley apologized to both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh for the sad incivility shown to them both. Will the members of the committee demonstrate the civility Grassley has called for, or will politics prevail? SALT LAKE CITY An angry Sen. Orrin Hatch said U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is not the "monster" he's being made out to be in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. "I hate to say this but this is worse than Robert Bork. I didn't think it could get any worse than that. This is worse than Clarence Thomas. I didn't think it could get any worse than that. This is a national disgrace the way you're being treated," the Utah Republican said. Christine Blasey Ford, a Palo Alto University professor, accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both in high school in 1982. Kavanaugh and Ford spent hours before the committee Thursday. During a break in Ford's testimony, Hatch called Ford "attractive" and a "nice person" in a hallway exchange with reporters. Neither Hatch nor Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked Ford questions during her testimony. .@OrrinHatch finally speaks at Kavanaugh hearing. "This man is not a monster," he says. Hatch says committee treated Ford fairly and should treat Kavanaugh farily. #utpol DNews Politics (@DNewsPolitics) September 27, 2018 Like all the Republicans on the committee, they let Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell question Ford. The committee retained Mitchell to allow the panel's 11 Republicans all white men to avoid the appearance of grilling Ford in the nationally televised hearing. Mitchell also questioned Kavanaugh for GOP senators early in his time before the committee, but they abandoned that strategy to rail on Democrats and defend the judge. His voice rising several octaves, Hatch lamented the committee looking back at Kavanaugh's high school and college years. That Kavanugh drank in high school and college doesn't make him guilty of the accusations leveled against him, he said. "He was an immature high schooler. So were we all," Hatch said. "That he wrote or said stupid things sometimes does not make him a sexual predator." Hatch said Kavanaugh is a well-respected judge and law professor who is loved by his colleagues and students. "This man is not a monster nor is he what has been represented here in these hearings," he said. .@orrinhatch now asking Kavanaugh about how Ford's allegations came to his attention, while at the same time attacking Democrats for not raising the issues earlier. "I think it's a disgrace," Hatch says. #utpol DNews Politics (@DNewsPolitics) September 27, 2018 Lee criticized Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committee's ranking member, for holding on to Ford's allegations for weeks, saying she had a "moral duty and obligation" to report them to the FBI. "That could have been handled in such a way that didnt turn this into a circus," he said. .@SenMikeLee now questioning Kavanaugh in Judiciary committee hearing. Says Kavanaugh has cooperated with every investigation. #utpol DNews Politics (@DNewsPolitics) September 27, 2018 Lee said it's ironic that Democrats repeatedly called for an FBI investigation during the hearing, while being in the middle of a conversation with Kavanaugh. "If you have questions for Judge Kavanaugh, ask him. Hes right here. If thats really what you want is the truth, ask him questions right now. If you have questions of other witnesses, then for the love of all that is sacred and holy, participate in the committee investigations that have been going on," Lee said. .@SenMikeLee extends "most profound sympathies" to Kavanuagh and Ford and their families for the way the situation being handled. #utpol DNews Politics (@DNewsPolitics) September 27, 2018 Over a lunch break in Ford's testimony, Hatch told reporters "its too early to say" if she is credible. "I dont think shes uncredible. I think she's an attractive, good witness," he said. Asked by a CNN reporter what he meant by attractive, the senator said, in other words, shes pleasing. Hatch said he thinks the committee would be prepared to vote tomorrow. When asked if hes learned anything new, Hatch said no I havent, at least I cant think of anything. He told reporters he doesnt have a strong impression so far. "I'll say this, shes attractive and shes a nice person, he said heading to an elevator. Hatch spokesman Matt Whitlock later tweeted: Hatch uses attractive to describe personalities, not appearances. If you search his past quotes youll see hes used it consistently for years for men and women he believed has compelling personalities. Hatch chimed in a couple of other times during Kavanaugh's testimony. As Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pressed Kavanaugh on whether he's the Bart OKavanaugh referred to in one of his friend Mark Judges books. Leahy was looking for a yes-or-no answer, but Kavanaugh said, "No no no no I'm going to talk about my high school record if you're going to sit here and mock me." "Let him answer," Hatch interjected. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, intervened a few minutes later saying Kavanaugh should be treated as fairly as Ford was during her testimony. "I'll say," Hatch said. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., pressed Kavanaugh to call for an FBI investigation and asked him if he was afraid that the FBI would find that he was lying. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. was heard over his microphone saying "please," while Hatch added "gee whiz." As the hearings concluded, reports circulated that Hatch, Lee and Graham had been "doxed" during the proceedings, as their Wikipedia pages were updated to include personal information, like phone numbers and addresses. Matt Whitlock, Hatch's spokesman, confirmed the incident and expressed his anger Thursday evening. "It's shocking that someone would post Senator Hatch and other Judiciary Committee Republicans' home addresses online, putting their families at risk. That it happened as they were asking questions in a Supreme Court confirmation hearing is just another indication of how broken this process has become." WEST JORDAN A 42-year-old woman was in critical condition Thursday after being hit by a pickup truck while trying to help her husband turn his semitractor-trailer around. About 6:30 a.m., a husband and wife from Idaho Falls drove their big rig into a strip mall near 7800 South and 3000 West and needed to turn around, but soon realized the area was too small, said West Jordan police detective Scott List. The driver had his wife get out of the semi to stop traffic so he could back into the street, List said. But shortly after getting out of the semi, the wife was hit by an oncoming vehicle, he said. The area was very dark at the time, he said, and the driver told police he did not see the woman until it was too late. After the woman was hit, the husband jumped out of the semi to help her. But the semi was left in neutral and rolled 10 to 15 feet, hitting a steel pillar surrounded by cinder blocks that was holding up an awning, List said. Damage to the structure, which was in front of a vacant building, was minimal, he said. Thursday's incident marked the fourth critical auto-pedestrian accident in Utah this week and at least the seventh in the past 2 1/2 weeks. Wednesday, an 82-year-old man was struck and killed while in a crosswalk in Provo by a Honda Civic heading north. Police identified the man Thursday as Rodolfo Blanco. Investigators originally believed the man was in his 60s. Tuesday morning, Carol Lee Hambleton, 66, of Taylorsville, was walking her bicycle across a crosswalk on 700 East at 3300 South in South Salt Lake when she was hit and killed by a southbound vehicle, said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller. Monday night, Tammy Colton, 47, of West Valley City, was crossing 4700 South at 1463 West in Taylorsville when she was hit and killed by two vehicles, according to Unified police. On Sept. 15, a 9-year-old girl was chasing her dog into the street when she was hit by an SUV near 1465 W. and 500 North. The girl, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to a local hospital where she died from her injuries, according to Salt Lake City police. Several hours after the Sept. 15 incident, a 2-year-old girl ran into the street at 1785 W. 400 North and was hit by a suspected drunken driver. The girl was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. On Sept. 11, a 3-year-old girl was seriously injured as the girl's family was leaving a park at 300 North and 1100 West. The girl broke away from her family and ran into the street where she was hit, according to police. KANAB, Kane County A 37-year-old man was killed in an all-terrain vehicle crash this week near Navajo Lake, the Kane County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday. The body of David Montoya, of Salt Lake City, was discovered Tuesday morning near his wrecked ATV, according to Sheriff's Chief Deputy Alan Alldredge. Investigators believe Montoya was riding Monday night on the North Fork Road when he failed to make a turn and crashed into a large rock, Alldredge said. "The ATV flipped on its side fatally injuring Mr. Montoya. He also had a dog with him that was not injured," he said. Investigators believe Montoya was staying at a nearby cabin, but he was staying in the cabin by himself, even though he knew people in other cabins, Alldredge said. Because of that, no one was aware Montoya was missing. It wasn't until the next morning that passers-by spotted the wreck, he said. The crash remained under investigation Thursday. SALT LAKE CITY Prosecutors are looked to as the people who are supposed to keep their communities safe by ensuring criminals are found guilty in court and sentenced to jail or prison. But the job of a county or district attorney has become more involved than that in recent years, according to Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. While the overall mission to seek justice hasn't changed, today prosecutors must make sure they are locking up the right people by considering factors such as mental health and drug addiction. On Thursday, attorneys from across the nation began a two-day conference at the Little America Hotel focusing on the topic of "Best Practices for the 21st Century Modern Prosecutor." "The role of the public prosecutor and of leadership has really become a much broader responsiblity. It's about fiscal management, it's about recidivism rate, it's about developing collaborative partnerships that are really trying to answer the ills of our society which are far more than simple prosecution," Gill said. Prosecutors need to meet the needs of all demographics of their communities, including minorities and those in poverty, he said. A roundtable discussion was held Thursday morning with the county attorneys of some of the largest jurisdictions in the U.S., including Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey; Denver District Attorney Beth McCann; Maricopa County, Arizona, Attorney William Montgomery; Arlington County, Virgina, Commonwealth Attorney Theo Stamos; and New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance. Lacey concurred that the role of prosecutors has "changed dramatically" over time, but the overall mission remained the same. Prosecutors today need to examine the root causes of crime and know data like recidivism rates and the racial demographics of crime victims. She also said the modern prosecutor needs to not be apologetic for holding those who victimize people accountable. "We've got to regenerate that spirit of pride that caused each of us to leave maybe a more lucrative lifestyle and dedicate our lives to making sure our communities are safe," she said. McCann talked about the need to reform juvenile justice in her community, and finding better ways to deal with juveniles who commit violent crimes such as shootings, rather than locking them up in adult prison for 20 years to life. "I really struggle with what is the appropriate thing to do with a 14-year-old who shoots and either kills someone or permanently maims that child for life?" she said. "I do belive that adolescent brains are not fully developed, and the areas that control impulse and judgment are the ones that are not fully developed." Vance said while violent crime has dropped dramatically in New York City, advances in technology have created other opportunities for criminals. "I simply don't think we have a clue on how to deal with cybercrime at the national level," he said. "Cybercrime is going to continue to explode. I believe we are not getting the national leadership from the federal government on how they can help us work in collaboration with them to address these massive cyberissues. "I used to think when I was a young prosecutor that all I had to care about was Manhattan, downtown, uptown," he continued. "Today our defensive perimeter is in Europe. It's in Singapore. This is where people are attacking us from. So today, in our office, we have to think completely differently about how we defend Manhattan." Montgomery said he is disturbed by a growing trend of politicization of the prosecution's function. "I don't believe that there is progressive justice or conservative justice. There's no such thing as Republican justice or Democrat justice," he said. While the prosecutors gathered at the conference may have differences of opinion on some topics, "I venture to say that when it comes to criminal justice issues, that there isn't much daylight between any of us, regardless of whether you have a particular party affiliation or run in a partisan election," he said. Montgomery noted that criminals don't play politics or check voter registration cards before victimizing people. All prosecutors agreed that another important aspect of their offices moving forward was establishing a connection with their communities and educating them on the job of prosecutors, as well as remain transparent with how decisions are made. They said they must let the public know about the good proactive work they're doing in addition to the people they are locking up. DREAMer and Texas A&M University PhD student Jose Luis Zelaya talked to students and the community at Texas Lutheran University as part of Latinx History Month on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Rabbi Sergio Bergman, a Jewish leader and Argentinian government official, is fed up with the way the world talks about climate change. Policymakers and concerned citizens get caught up debating emissions standards or new scientific research and don't answer ethical questions about how to better care for the planet and those who live on it. "It's like holding a conference on thermometers to (measure) people's fevers," he said. "Come on! The problem is we're ill. We're sick." During this week's G20 Interfaith Forum in Argentina, Rabbi Bergman and other speakers urged faith groups to lead the way to a more meaningful discussion about environmental degradation. People of faith can talk about our moral obligation to protect the environment, replacing facts and figures with the faces of those who are suffering, like farmers in South America or people who live on the flooded coast of Japan. Climate change impacts "vulnerable groups, groups that cannot decide to move elsewhere, to change regions or go to higher plateaus," said Lorena Echague, a member of Argentina's national justice and peace commission. READ MORE: Elder Christofferson presents at G20 Interfaith Forum on relieving suffering worldwide Many clergy members have already chosen to present global warming as an ethical crisis, including Pope Francis of the Catholic Church in his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si', and Patriarch Bartholomew, who leads Eastern Orthodox Christians. This approach helps cut through political divides, uniting conservatives and liberals around a desire to care for God's creation, as the Deseret News reported in 2014. Faith leaders need to be even more forceful with their ethical messages moving forward, especially when meeting with people in power, Rabbi Bergman said. "Its better for us to charge in and have somebody say no than to stay sitting down and wait for an invitation," he said. Religion and politics Climate change was one of the main topics discussed at the G20 Interfaith Forum, just as it will be in the spotlight at the secular G20, or Group of 20, meetings between leaders of the world's major economies, which begin in two months. Environmental trends influence global agriculture, immigration patterns and extreme weather events, so politicians and religious leaders alike care about the issue. In general, political and religious leaders approach the topic quite differently, noted Maria Eugenia Di Paola, who serves as coordinator of the environment and sustainable development program for the United National Development Program. Politicians typically seek solutions with their own interests in mind, worrying about how new emission-related regulations will affect their country's energy industry. Faith groups, on the other hand, focus on helping the vulnerable populations most affected by climate, rather than helping themselves. Religious communities recognize "the need to come together and work together," Di Paola said. Faith leaders also are more concerned about people's attitude toward the environment, although they do share politicians' interests in addressing people's problematic behaviors, too, said Cardinal Pedro Barreto, a Catholic leader and environmental activist based in Peru. "Faith offers a light that allows us to see with greater quality that (the earth) is our common house, a gift given by God for all men and women," he said. Religious leaders need to be aware of those different approaches and acknowledge that prayers or statements filled with quotes from religious texts aren't very convincing in the political sphere, noted Rabbi Bergman and others. Research has shown that even committed believers aren't strongly influenced by faith-based environmental activism. Knowing someone's religious background doesn't tell you as much about their views on climate change than their political interests or ethnicity, according to Pew Research Center. As participants in the G20 Interfaith Forum pass on their wisdom to the politicians who will attend the secular G20, they need to make a stronger case for inclusive, interdependent and human-focused responses to climate change, Di Paolo said. "The truth is that, in the global (environmental) crisis, these values are often endangered," she said. Shared crisis, shared response This year's G20 gatherings come at a time when crafting a more effective response to environmental climate change is more important than ever before, Cardinal Barreto said. "Climate change is moving quicker than the human response to it," he said, noting that the United Nations General Secretary recently said we only have two years left to address global warming before it becomes a "runaway" problem. It's already too late for the hundreds of thousands of coffee growers in Peru who lost their crops and can't repay their loans, as well as for the animal species that have gone extinct, he added. Climate change threatens entire ways of life, not just certain types of crops or habitats, Di Paola said. Cities along coastlines, like Osaka, Japan, where summer storms flooded its airport, or communities that thrive next to rivers could disappear. Climate change represents "a degradation not just of nature, but also of humans, cities and cultures," she said. In addition to reminding people of what they're called to do for their neighbors, faith groups can offer hope that even small steps undertaken by each of us can add up to powerful protections for the environment, said Cardinal Barreto, who is the vice president of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network of the Latin American Episcopal Council. "The flow of the Amazon River, which travels 6,700 kilometers and has several kilometers of width, starts with small rivers," he said. "We can be those small rivers that converge into a big Amazon river." And we'd better get started flowing, since God didn't give us two earths, Cardinal Barreto added. "We dont have a spare house or a holiday apartment. This is it! This is what we have, this is where were born, where we live, where we die," he said. IAF completes pre-induction flight tests of Astra BVR air-to-air missile India on Wednesday successfully completed the pre-induction flight test of the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra, completing a series of trials. The missile, test fired by an Indian Air Force Su-30 aircraft from Air Force Station, Kalaikunda, successfully engaged a manoeuvring target with high precision meeting the mission objectives. In the series of trials held to date, Astra has been launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope. Astra is India's first all-weather, beyond-visual-range, air-to-air missile developed by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation. The missile features mid-course inertial guidance with terminal active radar homing, and is designed to be capable of engaging targets at varying range and altitudes from 20 km to 80 km. The latest flight test assumes significance as it was part of the series of final pre-induction trials, a defence ministry release stated. Astra is the best in class weapon system and has undergone more than twenty developmental trials, it added. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman lauded the efforts of Indian Air Force, DRDO and associated team members involved in the mission and said India has attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of advanced weapon systems. India set to ship first consignment of non-basmati rice to China China has allowed imports of non-basmati rice from India and the first consignment of 100 tonnes will be shipped tomorrow from Nagpur, the commerce ministry said today. The first consignment of non-basmati rice (white rice 5 per cent broken) of 100 tonnes is to be shipped to China from Nagpur tomorrow. The consignment will be received by China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) which is one of China's state-owned food processing holding companies, according to the commerce ministry release. After concerted efforts of the Government of India, 19 rice mills and processing units have been registered for export of non-basmati rice from India to China. In 9 June this year, the General Administration of Customs of the Peoples Republic of China and Indias Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare signed a new protocol on phyto-sanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China. The protocol, signed at Qingdao, China, during the visit of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amended the earlier protocol on phyto-sanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China to include the export of non-basmati varieties of rice from India. A major rice market in the world, China so far allowed import of only basmati rice from India. Under the protocol, the shipments will have to comply with the Chinese plant quarantine laws and regulations. India will also have to ensure that processing and storage houses of the rice to be exported to China is free from pests - Trogoderma granarium and Prostephanus truncatus - and live insects. The exported rice will have to be free of soil, seeds of weeds, paddy hull, loose bran and any of plant debris of rice. Non-basmati rice exports from the country during April-February 2018 stood at $3.26 billion as against $2.53 billion in 2016-17. While India has for long been seeking market access in China for non-basmati rice, it is for the first time that Indian exporters are allowed to access the Chinese market. India wants to increase agri-commodity exports to China with a view to bridging the ballooning trade deficit, which has increased to $63.12 billion in 2017-18 from $51.08 billion in the previous fiscal. UN honours PM Modi, France's Macron with `Champions of Earth Award' The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has honoured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron with the Champions of the Earth Award for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded with the UN's highest environmental honour, bestowed upon five other individuals and organisations, for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single use plastic in India by 2022. Macron and Modi have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action PM Modi was honoured with the Champions of the Earth Award for his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and pledge to eliminate single use plastic in India by 2022. French President Emmanuel Macron has also been recognised for the Global Pact for the Environment. The award recognises six of the world's most outstanding environmental changemakers with the Champions of the Earth Award. This years laureates are recognised for a combination of bold, innovative and tireless efforts to tackle some of the most urgent environmental issues of our times, the UN Environment Programme said. Cochin International Airport has also been honoured this year with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. Cochin is showing the world that our ever-expanding network of global movement doesnt have to harm the environment. As the pace of society continues to increase, the worlds first fully solar-powered airport is proof positive that green business is good business, UNEP said. The winners of the 2018 Champions of the Earth Awards include Joan Carling, recognised with the lifetime achievement award for her work as one of the world's most prominent defenders of environmental and indigenous rights. Carling has been at the forefront of the conflict for land and the environment for more than 20 years. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are jointly recognised in the Science and Innovation category, for their revolutionary development of a popular, plant-based alternative to beef, and for their efforts to educate consumers about environmentally conscious alternatives. China's Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Programme is awarded for Inspiration and Action for the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams in East China's Zhejiang province. This exceptionally successful eco-restoration programme shows the transformative power of economic and environmental development together. In a world of uncertainty, this is certain: We will not solve the extraordinary challenges our world faces today without extraordinary talent, new thinking and bold ideas, said Head of UN Environment, Erik Solheim. The Champions of the Earth Award and Young Champions of the Earth Prize recognise those not afraid to chart unknown waters or be the voice of the voiceless. These people are changing our world today for a better tomorrow. The awards will be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly. The gala, hosted by actor and environmental activist Alec Baldwin and model, actress, producer and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza, will bring together a cross section of world leaders and influencers to celebrate momentum for change in defense of our planet. The Champions of the Earth award is the UN's highest environmental recognition, celebrating exceptional figures from the public and private sectors and from civil society, whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment. Past laureates include: Afroz Shah, who led the world's largest beach cleanup (2016), Rwandan President Paul Kagame (2016), former US Vice-President Al Gore (2007), Ocean Cleanup CEO Boyan Slat (2014), scientist-explorer Bertrand Piccard, and developer of Google Earth Brian McClendon (2013). RBI eases SLR rules for banks to enhance liquidity Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to use government bonds equivalent to an additional 2 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) thereby helping them to tap increasingly into their statutory liquidity reserves to meet their liquidity needs. The central bank said that banks could carve out up to 15 per cent of holdings under SLR to meet their LCR requirements, compared to 13 per cent earlier. The measure will help reduce the need for statutory bond requirements of banks, and increase funds available for lending to their clients. This should supplement the ability of individual banks to avail of liquidity, if required, from the repo markets against high quality collateral. This in turn will help improve the distribution of liquidity in the financial system as a whole. At present, the assets allowed as the Level 1 High Quality Liquid Assets (HQLAs) for the purpose of computing the LCR of banks, inter alia, include government securities in excess of the minimum SLR requirement and government securities to the extent allowed by RBI under Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) within the mandatory SLR requirement forming 2 per cent of the bank's NDTL and 11 per cent of NDTL under the Facility to Avail Liquidity for Liquidity Coverage Ratio (FALLCR). RBI said effective 1 October banks will be permitted to reckon government securities held by them up to another 2 per cent of their NDTL, under FALLCR within the mandatory SLR requirement, as Level 1 HQLA for the purpose of computing their LCR. This takes the SLR under FALLCR to 13 per cent and the total carve out from SLR available to banks to 15 per cent of their NDTL. For the purpose of LCR, RBI said, banks may continue to value such government securities reckoned as HQLA at an amount not greater than their current market value (irrespective of the category under which the security is held, ie, HTM, AFS or HFT). RBI said it has also provided a liberal infusion of liquidity through term repos in addition to the usual provision via the Liquidity Adjustment Facility. As of 26 September, banks have availed of Rs1,88,000 crore through term repos from the RBI. As a result of these steps, the system liquidity is in ample surplus. Besides, RBI said it stands ready to meet the durable liquidity requirements of the system through various available instruments. The RBI and capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India on Sunday said they were closely monitoring activities in the financial markets and ready to take appropriate actions, if required. The statement followed concerns that tight liquidity conditions, along with a trust deficit towards non-bank lenders, could lead to a liquidity squeeze. Banks and mutual funds have turned nervous about lending to non-banking financial companies after Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and its subsidiaries started defaulting on debt securities, despite having strong ratings until recently. Cabinet approves buyout of private stake in GST Network The union cabinet has approved an increase in government ownership in Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) to 100 per cent and a change in the existing structure with transitional plan whereby the government will hold 100 per cent in the GST backbone. A cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the acquisition of the entire 51 per cent equity held by non-government institutions in GSTN equally by the centre and the state governments and allow GSTN board to initiate the process for acquisition of equity held by the private companies. The restructured GSTN, with 100 per cent government ownership will have equity structure between the centre (50 per cent) and the States (50 per cent). The cabinet also approved a change in the existing composition of the board of GSTN by inducting three directors from the centre and the states and three other independent directors to be nominated by the board of directors and one chairman and the CEO. Thus the total number of directors will be 11. The GST Council, chaired by Jaitley and comprising state finance ministers, had in May agreed to a proposal to make GSTN a government company, with the centre owning 50 per cent stake and states together holding the remaining 50 per cent. Currently, the centre and the states together hold 49 per cent stake in the company, which provides the IT backbone to the indirect tax regime. The remaining 51 per cent is held by five private financial institutions HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NSE Strategic Investment Co and LIC Housing Finance. The stake of the private companies will be acquired by the centre and the state governments. GSTN was incorporated as a private limited company on 28 March 2013, under the previous UPA government. It is a not-for-profit entity. There had been criticism about allowing private companies to hold a majority stake in GSTN and demands to change its structure. However, it was then felt that private sector participation in the company would provide it with flexibility in hiring and operational freedom. GST, which replaced multiple state and central taxes with a single levy, was rolled out across the nation on 1 July last year. GSTN also faced widespread criticism after the portal crashed several times and businesses found it difficult to file returns. With the portal stabilising, the government said the time was right to change the ownership. The words of the educator a doctor and anthropologist by training were already cast onto a very international stage. Montessori clearly established a concept later shared by the cutting edge of 20th-century design culture and that can be summed up today in the question: how can design, in its broadest sense, positively change teaching and learning? Some answers to this question may be found on a visit to Tauberbischofsheim, not far from Wurzburg, in Germany. Since 1924, it has been the home of VS, a manufacturer of school and office furnishings, successor of the old P.J. Muller in Berlin. Here, in an old industrial shed beside the factory and showroom designed about ten years ago by Gunter Behnisch, visitors encounter an impressive collection of school furnishings dating from the late 19th century to the present day. Driven by an interest that very quickly exceeded professional needs, Thomas Muller (the creator and tireless feeder of the collection) has over the years and with the precious assistance of Romana Schneider painstakingly contextualised the pieces within the broader issue of designing educational spaces. [...] The examples displayed are from all over Europe, the United States and Brazil, but the main focus is, of course, on Germany, a country that from the very first staked its money on education, making it one of the strong points of its success. Leading hoteliers in Donegal have warned that jobs will be lost in the hospitality sector with an expected increase in the VAT rate combined with the effects of the uncertainty over Brexit. Terry McEniff of Letterkennys Mount Errigal Hotel has warned that a fear of the unknown in the British market means potential overseas customers are just not spending. Meanwhile, Deirdre McGlone of Harveys Point Hotel said a proposed VAT increase of 4.5 per cent will have serious implications for those in the industry here. To be perfectly honest we have only consolidated our reputation in the last few years as being a good value destination on both the international and domestic markets, she said. The implications are serious. We have been investing in our product both in marketing and physical terms and we now have to sit down and re-evaluate our plans.We are now looking at a predicted 4.5 per cent increase in tax. Many people might think that hotels are going through boom times. Yes, we have enjoyed increased business but in the off season, there are many empty bedrooms in Donegal with a lot of fixed costs. The proposed VAT increase is yet another blow to rural Ireland. Terry McEniff said hotels here are facing a double whammy with the uncertainty caused by Brexit on top of the increase in VAT. Donegal is now the most exposed area in Europe, with Brexit only months away, as a destination that is highly dependent on business from both the UK and Northern Ireland. There is a great fear of the unknown in the UK market and it is just plain and simple, they are simply not spending. I am not being alarmist but I can see jobs being lost across the sector, particularly in rural Ireland. Mr. McEniff added, I think that the Government should consider the introduction of a City Tax on hotels where the demand far exceeds the supply and the yield per room is much greater. This is not unprecedented. It exists in the US and in most European capitals and I strongly feel that it would be a much better alternative to the blanket increase. Forced to close Donegal hotels simply cannot afford it and many could be forced to close. We have already lost wedding reservations because of the weakness in sterling and we are now looking at tax increases. With all due respect the demand far exceeds the supply in the city hotels, but in the winter many of our hotels are de-facto seasonal hotels. Their doors may be open but their rooms are empty. He added: We have finally established ourselves as a strong tourism destination. We do not want to go back to the old days. With Brexit in the melting pot now also, it clearly is a time for serious concern for many business groups here. The event will be jointly held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and The Rice Trade Magazine. It will be joined by the Vietnam Food Association, and a number of rice companies and international experts.With the participation of foreign rice importers, distributors and merchants from major markets such as China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Africa, Europe and Mexico, the conference presents an opportunity for Vietnam to promote its rice industry and exports and showcase the achievements in improving the quality and added values of Vietnamese rice products.It aims to promote the countrys rice production industry and also helps to raise the image of Vietnamese rice as the country focuses on building an international brand and improving the quality of rice while implementing a rice export market development strategy and a new legal framework for rice export activities, according to the MOIT.The conference is expected to see the attendance of 500-600 delegates from key rice exporting and importing countries, large rice trading companies and rice experts.In the first eight months of 2018, Vietnam exported 4.4 million tonnes of rice worth 2.2 billion USD, up 6.8 percent in volume and 22.1 percent in value compared with the same period of last year. Vietnamplus This October will see the One4all Design a Gift Card competition return, and the 2018 judging panel is on the lookout for Louths up and coming creatives, hoping to give them a head start with their career. Now entering its sixth year, the annual competition gives artists and designers across the country the incredible opportunity to gain national exposure for their work, with the winning design being turned into a gift card and sold in An Post outlets nationwide and online at One4all.ie in 2019. The One4all Design a Gift Card 2018 judging panel consists of some of Irelands top creatives. These include internationally renowned fashion designer and printmaker Helen Steele, popular photographer Damien Broderick, CEO of Tweak.com, Jerry Kennelly and Rachel Delaney, Group marketing manager at One4all. The judges will be looking for standout artistic talent in all its forms from Louth, from painting to photography, illustration and more. This year, One4all is calling on budding designers to create a unique gift card design inspired by the theme of happiness. Not only will the winners see their gift card design sold through One4alls retail network, but they will also win an incredible trip to Barcelona to explore the city and attend IAM Weekend 2019, a forward-thinking design and digital conference - a inspirational event for any creative out there. The top five runners-up will each receive a 100 One4all Gift Card of their design. The Design a Gift Card competition is open for entries from Wednesday 3rd of October and closes on Friday the 16th of November 2018. For further information on how to enter the competition and specific guidelines, visit One4all.ie/design. Dundalk Railway Heritage Society have chosen next Saturday, September 29, to celebrate an event that many Dundalk families recall as 'The End of the Line' for Dundalk as a Railway Town. It is almost exactly 60 years to the day since the G.N.R. Locomotive Works at Ardee Road closed with 750 men receiving redundancy notices. This is a bitter, sweet, memory for many Dundalk families and some may ask 'why bother to celebrate or even remember it at all'? The answer was given me by an old Railway Works man some years ago when he remarked 'when we are gone, there will be nobody around who know as it was like to be part of that community!' I knew exactly what he was talking about because, although I had never worked for the railway myself, I had lived in the town where the railway was part of its very existence! The story of the Dundalk Railway Works goes back more than 100 years prior to that closure in 1958. It begins with the coming of the railways to Dundalk during the 'Hungry Forties' of the nineteen hundreds. The railway had saved Dundalk and its surrounding areas from the worst effects of the Great Famine and was a way of life and secure employment for many during times when much of the rest of the country were forced to emigrate to survive. The Locomotive Works themselves had been constructed shortly after the earlier railway companies had joined together in 1875 to form the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) company. The idea was that Dundalk should become the hub of the railway network between the two cities of Dublin and Belfast. For a time it worked and Dundalk became a centre of excellence for railway engineering skills and the economic prosperity of the town grew more rapidly than many other similar towns in the 32 counties of Ireland. The dream came began to fade with the start of the Great War in Europe in 1914 and the subsequent events in Ireland which led to the setting up of the Free State and the creation of a Border between us and Northern Ireland. Even these events, however, did not bring about the end of railway engineering technology in Dundalk. It was more the Second World War shortages of fuel and other materials began the final decay. For a short time after the war the railway companies north of the Border continued to enjoy a measure of prosperity. The G.N.R. used the improvements in its revenues to invest in new rolling stock, ordering fifteen steam locomotives and a fleet of twenty railcars from the English firm AEC. Another important innovation was the launching of the Enterprise Express between Dublin and Belfast in August 1947 which, in itself, brought some engineering work to Dundalk. It could not last as the competition from the road freight service made the railways on both sides of the Border uneconomic and both Governments refused to continue to carry the burden of subsiding the railways. Dundalk railway workers saw it coming and did their best to stem the tide, holding a great protest march throught the streets of Dundalk in which over one thousand G.N.R. employees took part in December of 1957. It was all in vain, however, as the railway company slid into liquidation which brought the closure of their Works in Dundalk. It was not all bad news, however, as the skills which workers had learned at the Ardee Works served them well in obtaining work in other budding industries around the town and even abroad. Many of them went to work for the booming automoblie industries in England and other engineering employment. Some got jobs at the nationalised C.I.E. railway works at Inchicore but this proved a great hardship as they had to be away from their homes in Dundalk for most of the week and they were not repaid for their travelling expenses. Photographic exhibition To get back to the Railway Heritage Society's commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary, they had planned to hold a parade from the old works buildings but this proved impractical and they decided to settle for a photographic exhibition and lecture at the County Archives Centre at the old Gaol at the Crescent on Saturday afternoon. This will be open from 2.30 pm but you should try to be there early as there is sure to be great interest in both. The photographic exhibition in itself was a great achievement on the part to the Committee under Chairman Patsy Duffy. Much of these images of the past have been gathered by Brendan Harmon, Margart Mallon and Seamus Murphy. They include many photographs and short films that may never have been seen in public previously. It will afford old railway workers and their descendants an opportunity to get together over a cup of tea or coffee, to discuss the people who appear in them and may be forgotten to all but a few! The lecture The lecture on the Closure, which is due to commence at 3 pm, will also be an event which should not be missed. It will be delivered by Charles Friel, Belfast, one of Ireland's foremost railway historians who will be well known to many Dundalk steam railway enthusiasts. He has previously conducted tours of the old Railway Works and delivered several lectures in Dundalk which had been highly regarded. In particular Charles delivered a memorable lecture at the 'Northern Haven Centre' at Barrack Street on the old Railway Goods Yard at Barrack Street on the occasion of unveiling a plaque there by the present Lord Roden, Viscount Robert Jocelyn, whose ancestor (the Third Earl) turned the first sod for the railway tracks in Dundalk in October 1845. Mr. Friel also produced an excellent book which contains the memories of Dundalk people who were connected with the old railway system, launched in 2012. He is currently working on a second volume. This book, called 'Across the Tracks', contains many historic photographs and maps. A few copies are still available and will be on sale at next Saturday's Exhibition and Lecture. Writing on the book of condolences after paying tribute to the Vietnamese leader at the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore, Lee affirmed that "President Quang dedicated his life to serving his beloved country, improving the lives of Vietnamese and raising Vietnam's standing in the world." He supported closer cooperation between our countries and will be remembered as a good friend of Singapore. Our thoughts are with the people of Vietnam in their sorrow," Lee wrote. On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, State and people and the family of President Tran Dai Quang, Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tao Thi Thanh Huong thanked PM Lee Hsien Loong and Singaporean people for their sympathy. She confirmed that the bilateral strategic cooperation has received special attention and been nurtured by President Tran Dai Quang and other Vietnamese Party and Government leaders. The Singaporean PM recalled his meetings with President Quang, most recently at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi from September 11-13. He said he was impressed by the working style of the President who was devoted to the nation. He showed his hope that the Vietnamese Government and people will overcome the great loss to continue boosting the bilateral relationship which is developing intensively and extensively in all fields. On the same day, foreign ambassadors, representatives of the diplomatic missions, foreign friends and Vietnamese people living in Singapore also paid tribute to President Tran Dai Quang at the Vietnamese Embassy. The Vietnamese embassy has the funeral book opened on September 26 and 27. President Tran Dai Quang passed away at 10:05am on September 21 in Hanoi at the age of 62 due to serious illness. The respect-paying ceremony started at 7am on September 26 at the National Funeral Hall at No. 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street, Hanoi. The memorial service will be held at 7:30am on September 27 at the National Funeral Hall. The burial ceremony will take place from 3:30pm on the same day in the Presidents home village in Quang Thien commune, Kim Son district, Ninh Binh province.VNA A quick guide to macroprudential policies 24 May 2017 What does macroprudential mean? The prefix macro indicates that the policies or actions relate to the whole or significant parts of the financial system rather than individual financial institutions. Supervisory or regulatory policies for individual financial institutions, by contrast, are known as microprudential policies. Prudence is another word for caution involving forethought, and prudential policies relate to actions that promote sound practices and limit risk-taking. So macroprudential policies should help ensure that everyone takes a cautious approach to risks that could become systemic, that is, risks related to the whole financial sphere. What are macroprudential policies and why do we have them? Macroprudential authorities monitor the financial system and identify risks and vulnerabilities. Policies addressing such risks and vulnerabilities can be put in place and limit them from building up further and spreading across the financial system. In other words, the policies can be put in place to prevent risks from affecting the financial system more broadly, or becoming systemic. If systemic risk were to materialise, the provision of necessary financial products and services by the financial system could be impaired, even to a point where economic growth and peoples well-being was significantly affected. These effects were seen in the financial crisis which began in 2007, with recessions affecting a number of countries in Europe and many banks needing to be shored up. So, in essence macroprudential policies are there to promote financial stability. If we have a stable and sound financial system we are better placed to withstand shocks and avoid the worst effects of financial crises. Examples of risks that could lead to systemic risk The building-up of asset price bubbles. When the prices of assets, such as houses, increase far beyond their intrinsic value, the risk of a sudden fall in those prices creates dangers Excessive risk-taking by banks Excessive corporate or household debt What action do the authorities take based on these policies? The authorities (often, central banks) can take a range of actions designed to directly address the risk. For example, financial institutions (typically, banks) may be required to set aside extra capital to deal with unforeseen events and shocks and these capital buffers may vary over time and be greater for some types of institution. This might especially be the case for institutions that are systemically important, i.e. their failure would cause a significant ripple effect across the financial system. Alternatively, macroprudential policies may place restrictions on financial institutions activities by, for example, setting mortgage lending conditions. For example, a limit could be placed on the amount house-buyers can borrow compared with the cost of a house or their income. These caps can be used to cool a housing market with rapidly increasing house prices and associated mortgage debts. Who are the macroprudential authorities in the EU? The European Central Bank The European Systemic Risk Board The national designated authorities typically central banks or financial supervisory authorities of the 28 Member States. At a glance: what is the financial system? A web of interactions The financial system features a complex web of dependencies and interactions between different actors. Banks and insurance companies Banks and insurance companies act as intermediaries by directing funds from those willing to lend or invest to those who want to borrow. Markets Financial markets such as bond and money markets also directly bring together lenders and borrowers. Payment systems Meanwhile, payment and securities settlement systems, the plumbing of financial markets, ensure the safe flow of money and financial assets. Governance The T2S project is owned by the Eurosystem. It is run by four Eurosystem central banks those of France, Germany, Italy and Spain with the ECB coordinating. The groups below support the Eurosystem in running T2S as part of the governance framework. Market Infrastructure Board (MIB) The Market Infrastructure Board manages the day-to-day running of T2S and the other TARGET Services. It also liaises with market stakeholders through the T2S governance structure. AMI-SeCo The Advisory Group on Market Infrastructures for Securities and Collateral (AMI-SeCo) brings together market participants and the Eurosystem, allowing them to engage in active dialogue on issues related to the clearing and settlement of securities and to collateral management. It took over the responsibilities of the T2S Advisory Group. Market and technical groups The Market Infrastructure Board and AMI-SeCo are supported by the following market and technical groups: Newark, Del. Its no secret that American workplaces are becoming more reliant on technology. But what may surprise the countrys K-12 educators and policymakers is how work at nearly every rung of the employment ladder is becoming more digitized. Often, the skills needed to succeed have less to do with computer programming than what experts call digital literacy"the ability to interpret, create, and strategically use digital information. Everyones job is changing, said Mark Muro, a senior fellow and policy director at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. The ability to read and then conduct first-order analysis of digital information is highly valued in almost all work environments. To better understand the central role of digital literacy in the workplace, Education Week took a deep look at four occupations in the Christiana Care Health System. Its the largest private employer in Delaware, with 11,600 employees and an expected 1,500 new hires this year. In Health Care, A Wide Range of Jobs Are Becoming More Digital Researchers gave occupations a digital score on how much computer knowledge is required to perform the job, and how central computer use is to the position. The scale is 0-100, with 100 representing fully digital and 0 representing not digital at all. Occupation 2002 2016 Janitor/cleaner 3 18 Cooks 4 31 Registered nurse 38 55 Medical Record/Health Information Technician 59 59 The newspaper got to know: Bobbie Wells, an entry-level service assistant responsible for cleaning and disinfecting patient rooms; Dante Pozzi, a production supervisor in the hospitals massive kitchen, which churns out 2,500 meals a day; Brianna Buzzuro, a registered emergency-room nurse; and Stefanie Brumberg, who helps oversee the health systems massive flow of digital data from her perch as corporate director of health-information-management services. Across the board, said Neil Jasani, Christiana Cares chief people officer, digital literacy is critical to getting your foot in the doorand advancing. The ability to create digital content, consume it, act on it, communicate it, share it, find itall that is tied to patient care, Jasani said. Those skills are emphasized more as one rises up the career ladder. How can schools build a strong foundation for the digital-literacy skills that are required in real jobs? Following are profiles of the four employees visited. Bobbie Wells, 28 Service Assistant, Environmental Services Bobbie Wells workdays start at 7 a.m., when she begins cleaning patient rooms according to a detailed plan designed to stop the spread of infection. Her entry-level job requires only basic digital-literacy skills, centered on using mobile apps for communications and task management. I work off the iPhone, Wells said. I get phone calls from management, and thats how I know which room to go to, which patient has been discharged, and what needs to be cleaned. Learning the apps was easy, she said, akin to what she sees her older two children, ages 10 and 6, already learning on their school-issued iPads. I think theyre preparing them at least for the simple stuff we do, Wells said. But even at the beginning rung of Christiana Cares environmental-services department, new technology is becoming more prevalent. Wells and her colleagues now regularly use a high-tech, ultraviolet-light cleaning system, which is digitally operated and requires extensive training. And for entry-level workers who want to advance, digital literacy is key. For service assistants like Wells, the most common next step is becoming a patient-care technician. That position involves interacting with patients and taking their vital signs, and it requires an expanded comfort level with computers and software, as well as the ability to enter and read digital information. For Muro of the Brookings Institution, that reality holds a vital lesson for schools. Its not enough to assume that so-called digital natives are developing the digital-literacy skills theyll need in the workplace by surfing YouTube and playing video games, he said. Nor should schools assume that every student will need to learn to code in order to have a good-paying job. What is needed is broad exposure to basic office and productivity software, Muro said. Its the difference between being able to get a job in a stable industry and make it into the middle class, or being locked into the truly bad strata of American jobs. Dante Pozzi, 43 Production Supervisor, Food and Nutrition Services Whats the most efficient way to make hundreds of gallons of gravy a week? In the lower levels of Christiana Hospital, Dante Pozzi initiates the process via technology, using a digital touch screen to program a massive kettle. Food service is no different than any other industry, he said. Tech is changing everything. That sentiment is backed up by Brookings recent nationwide analysis of the digitalization of work. Looking at federal data, researchers sought to determine the extent to which the day-to-day tasks required for hundreds of occupations are performed digitally. They assigned each occupation a digital score of 1 to 100, then tracked how much that score changed over time. Between 2002 and 2016, the amount of computer-based work required of cooks in institutional cafeterias increased nearly 700 percent, with the occupations score rising from 4 to 31. In Christiana Hospital, patients place thousands of meal orders a day via iPads. Software aggregates the information into a report for the kitchen. Adjusting recipes is done by software. So is purchasing, plus processing the massive orders that are delivered to the kitchen each day. Production supervisors even have to review some basic predictive analyticsfor example, if the software suggests the hospital should order 300 pounds of turkey for the following week, does that make sense? Fortunately, Pozzi said, he has some background in technology. About a decade ago, he took classes to become certified by Microsoft and Cisco, leading him to work for several years installing computer systems at area restaurants. And now, Pozzi said, his future plans revolve as much around computers as food: Hes currently taking online classes at Wilmington University, hoping to earn a bachelors degree in business administration and move up into management. I think theres a connection between food and technology, Pozzi said. Being able to do both is really exciting. Brianna Buzzuro, 26 Registered Nurse In Brianna Buzzuros four years as a nurse, her job has changed dramatically. All of our documentation used to be on paper, Buzzuro said. Now, every moment Im not with a patient, Im on the computer. In the bustle of the Wilmington Hospital emergency room, that means interacting with multiple software programs at a time: Buzzuro uses one system to enter notes and patient assessments. Two separate software systems are used for moving and locating patients. Others control ordering medications, entering blood work, and examining X-rays. And it all could change again soon. Im the chair of the [Nursing] Technology and Innovations Council at Christiana Care, Buzzuro said. Were looking at what we have now and how to improve it. High on the priority list: a hands-free option for managing communications, such as a smartwatch, that would add a new interface and information dashboard for nurses to become familiar with. The fast-paced digital work environment, combined with the rapid pace of change, can be difficult for some nurses, said Buzzuro. Recent college graduates who grew up using laptops and smartphones tend to grasp the new systems more quickly than their more veteran counterparts, she said. But even for millennials, theres still a lot of on-the-job software training. Thats why part of K-12 schools responsibility now is to teach students to read and discern text, images, data, and other digital information in a variety of online environments, said Hiller Spires, a professor of literacy education at North Carolina State University. The whole mindset has to be developing the capacity to adapt and learn and relearn constantly evolving technologies, Spires said. Jasani, who oversees the hiring and training of Christiana Cares employees, agreed. If I were to give advice to high school students, he said, it would be to get very comfortable finding your way around various digital platforms. Stefanie Brumberg, 47 Corporate Director, Health Information Management Services Stefanie Brumberg views herself as a hub, connecting Christiana Cares direct-care providers and information technology staff. Im on conference calls most of the day, usually about the best way to capture the information we need to capture, she said. Theres just so much content to synthesize. Both the variety of challenges and the pace of change are staggering. A full 60 percent of the hospitals 4,200 discrete health record forms are now administered digitally. Since 2014, Christiana Care has cut its annual medical-transcription budget by 90 percentthe result of rapid adoption of digital speech-to-text systems that automatically transcribe notes as they are dictated by physicians. Currently, some of Christiana Cares primary-care doctors are part of a new project: During patient visits, they wear Google smart glasses that livestream audio and video of the encounter to remote medical scribes, who document the visit directly into the patients electronic medical record, to be reviewed by the physician later. It dramatically increases the amount of information recorded in each visit, Brumberg said, while freeing up doctors to focus on their patients without distractions. And the near future holds even more disruption, especially for Christiana Cares dozens of medical coders. According to the Brookings analysis, their jobs have long been highly digital. But the health system is in the midst of implementing a computer-assisted coding environment, driven by artificially intelligent software. Instead of being collectors and locators of information, the medical coders will have to adapt to becoming validators of what the software recommends, making sure the system has not missed anything important and allowing the department to take on more work. For Brumberg, it will mean yet another flow of new digital information that will need to be fit into a very complicated puzzle. The takeaway for the nations K-12 schools? The ability to synthesize digital information across multiple sources, pull it all together in a meaningful and engaging way, and share it with others is the key to the corner office of the future, Spires said. Schools absolutely need to be teaching these skills, she said. If they arent digitally literate, people will be left behind. The Infineon headquarter Campeon Infineon generates 25% of its sales in China. In an exclusive interview with DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK, CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss spoke about German industrial policy and a bag of potatoes that used to be delivered to Siemens and Bosch, while today the menu is created by Google or Alibaba. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Dr. Ploss, you have sold your HF power business to Wolfspeed, which should work the other way around. How do you want to play along with the 5G issue in the future? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: We didn't say goodbye to high-frequency technologies, which extend from radar to mobile communications. Wolfspeed would have given us access to the substrate production of gallium on silicon carbide, GaN-SiC for short, which is used in mobile radio base stations. Nevertheless, we have not terminated products based on gallium nitride on silicon. On the contrary, this technology will become more attractive for mobile devices if a higher integration density is achieved, because GaN-SiC is not required due to the much lower performance. The technological future of the high frequencies from 10 GHz onwards, as soon as the 5G roll-out gains momentum, could still offer some opportunities that are not yet clearly discernible today. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: You have just argued with the high frequencies in the context of the planned purchase, haven't you? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Power was a central area. There we have now independently put on our feet what we wanted to get from Wolfspeed: We are currently ramping up SiC power technology. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Since you worked very well together with the last federal government and were in China several times with Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Gabriel, among others, I would like to ask you what are your first experiences with the new Groko? Has there been any change or even improvement in political support? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Even if it is still a little early for long-term results: Industry 4.0 emerged as an interdepartmental cooperation between the Ministry of Economics and the Ministry of Research. During the last legislative period, I personally found these two ministries to be very efficient. We are experiencing good cooperation with the relevant State Secretaries and we have also addressed other issues very successfully. For example, in the era of Mrs. Wanka, a platform Learning Systems was created, which I consider to be very important in order to make progress in artificial intelligence. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Why the latter in particular? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Digitization brings mechanics and electronics together. Of course, we must not lose sight of developments in the field of computers. There are similar efforts at the European level, where our Austrian boss Sabine Herlitschka is very successful and enjoys a high reputation due to her research history. (Editor's note: In February Herlitschka took over the chairmanship of ECSEL, an EU public-private partnership programme to strengthen innovation, research and development for electronic components and systems from Europe). DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: When I hear you, it all sounds like peace, joy, pancakes ... Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Well, I'm already expecting further steps in digitization, together with politicians. Things are not going that badly. But does the progress meet our expectations? Certainly not. Germany has never completely internalized the topic of digital technology. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Is that a political failure? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Politics cannot dictate to the economy: Make a new Microsoft! or Be Amazon Web Services! The industry has to do that itself. Companies in Germany, however, are often a bit slow in combining German engineering with American software competence. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: What do you expect from Interior Minister Seehofer? In the Bavarian state government he has pushed the subject of IT ... Dr. Reinhard Ploss: I have great hopes that he will continue to support the topic of cybersecurity. I see a huge potential here. Politicians must have the courage to support this: For antitrust reasons, political support is needed so that industry-wide cooperation is possible, and cooperation is absolutely necessary, because we don't need individual solutions, but a functioning overall system. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: If you could wish for three steps or political activities in the near future, what would they be? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: First of all, Ecsel should definitely be transferred to the second phase, i.e. Ecsel II. A lot has already happened here - and the considerations that have been made public in Brussels so far are quite encouraging. In addition, I would like to see a cross-ministerial initiative on digitisation that looks into the question of where we can do more - both in terms of basic principles and, above all, implementation. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Do we need more funding there? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Europe and Germany must do even more to support the efforts of industry. The industry is already investing immense amounts. We need to catch up, as you can see, for example, in China and its 120 billion euro sovereign wealth fund. I therefore consider it necessary to provide risk capital support and to define new priorities, such as autonomous driving. "We sometimes think in small terms and put obstacles in our way. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Who should primarily benefit from these funds, just start-ups or also large corporations? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: I am a big fan of synergetic promotion, from which industry, small and medium-sized enterprises and small businesses profit. We can not only live from niches, but also have to deal with fundamental issues. Digitisation makes demands on a large scale. Productive 4.0 in Dresden shows that it's possible: there we coordinate a large number of smaller companies that - on their own - would be overwhelmed by digitization. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: In China there is the China 2025 program - where do you see effects on Europe and Germany? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: China definitely has long-term plans. However, there are also projects in Europe that are planned to extend beyond a legislative period. Nevertheless, we need to internalise the industrial policy perspective even more. We sometimes think in small terms and thus put obstacles in our way. Industrial policy as a long-term project would do us good; in many places in this country we are discussing things that serve a slightly different purpose. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Let's get to the popular subject of shortages of skilled workers. What is your view on this? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Well, the question arises: Do we get enough young people excited about mint-related tasks? We have to convey to them the enormous relevance for our common future. In the environmental movement, for example, many young people have seen their mission; such a similar enthusiasm would benefit the technology sector. After all, we at Infineon can fill our vacancies well - perhaps because we talk about the importance of our topics instead of complaining - but I don't want to talk small, shortage of skilled workers is an essential topic for Germany as an industrial location. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Isn't it already missing in school education? Reinhard Ploss: Of course - the fascination for these contents already begins in primary school, and we need teachers to teach them. You can't have two company visits and expect the companies to please trigger a Mint enthusiasm among the 14-year-olds, that's completely unrealistic. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: In China, you recently established a joint venture with the car manufacturer SAIC and gave it the unpronounceable name SIAPM - SAIC Infineon Automotive Power Modules. With SIAPM you want, among other things, to serve the huge e-automotive market in China. Nevertheless, you keep stressing that cooperation with German and European car manufacturers is the key to success. Why do you think that, given the comparatively small market in this country? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Despite all the prophecies of doom, I dare say that the German automotive industry is a technological leader, and we are developing solutions for this. German manufacturers are extremely present in China, and that has a major impact on technological development. There will be a lot going on in Germany when it comes to autonomous driving and the fundamentals of electric mobility. On the other hand, China will certainly set the pace in terms of cost reduction and further development of electric driving. Nevertheless, we like to distinguish between the technological core competence and the countries where sales are generated. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: That sounds like there is no innovation in China itself? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Of course, there are topics on which Chinese companies are very confidently moving across the floor - take our cooperation with Baidu, for example. (Editor's note: In the so-called Apollo program, Baidu brings its expertise in AI and autonomous driving and Infineon its expertise in automotive electronics.) As a global company, we are naturally dependent on addressing the competence pools of this world. Nevertheless, when it comes to autonomous driving, we see the decisive strengths for the convergence between functional safety and IT in Germany. "We take great care to maintain our lead in know-how. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Aren't you afraid of losing know-how in China and other regions? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: We have a clear focus on protecting our differentiating know-how. This applies to every kind of cooperation - whether with Chinese, Koreans or Americans. Like all our competitors, we have nothing to give away. We take great care to maintain our lead in know-how. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: How do you intend to do that with a 49 percent stake in a joint venture like SIAPM? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Our main focus was on introducing a well-established technology with mature modules into the joint venture, while SAIC's participation will provide better market access. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Does this also apply to production? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Of course, module production is also part of the joint venture. Infineon will continue to own the production of the chips and the development of new module generations that are not yet within the scope of the joint venture. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Will the new joint venture have an impact on your location in Warstein, from where you have previously supplied China exclusively? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Not at all. The growth potential of electric mobility is gigantic. Rather, we have to consider - detached from the joint venture - how we can also expand our production capacities for other types of construction. Germany as a development and production location is essential in this context. Warstein can concentrate fully on managing the ramp of local production and driving innovation forward. Relevante Anbieter DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK editor in chief Frank Riemenschneider met Dr. Reinhard Ploss in his office at Campeon, Infineon's headquarters, in Neubiberg near Munich. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: At the Mobile World Congress you presented a speech recognition solution. Is this a first result of your participation in XMOS? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Speech recognition has a long history with us when you think of silicon microphones. At first, we wanted to go it alone. However, cooperations - such as those we have with XMOS and others - are mutually beneficial. In addition to pure speech recognition, we also need a technology that supports it, such as our very low-noise silicon microphones. Software is also important, and XMOS is very well positioned. And finally, with our radar solution, it's radar that comes into its own: in addition to our components, you always need someone who thinks about how best to use them in the system. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: The world has changed considerably in your market appearance, right? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: That's right. I used to go to Siemens or Bosch and ask: What do you need? Then they said, "One bag of potatoes, and we delivered it. Today we're talking to people who think about the menu, like Google, Alibaba and others. It's not trivial. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: How come not? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: For example, we have a 3D camera that is technically really great. But the question is: Do manufacturers and users recognize the added value? How much should be achieved in speech recognition at the device level? How much should be pre-processed? Each of the well-known large corporations does it differently. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: So your cooperation with XMOS and Co. continues? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Yes, the alliance goes far beyond XMOS and we will continue to expand the cooperation. Our Infineon Innovation Center in Silicon Valley, which we are successively expanding, is one of the pillars of this cooperation. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: When it comes to Industry 4.0, I still sense a great deal of reluctance on the part of small companies and large parts of the SME sector. What needs to be done to spark more enthusiasm there for the opportunities arising? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: The question is always: How is value created for the end user and next how can the supplier benefit? An intelligent grinding wheel can be practical, but it only helps to develop the next generation to a limited extent. I think it is important to talk about marketplaces and exchange platforms, for example with medium-sized companies, in order to show what is possible. Unfortunately, many people are still stuck in old ways of thinking today. The successful thinking of the past is the problem for the future. We have a strategic approach in the company from product to system, with which we want to counter a similar phenomenon. That's why I like to say: Put the pencil aside, and then we won't look: What is the next possible technological step? Instead, the perspective changes: Where is the greatest benefit - for the customer and for our company? DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: It can't be your job as a chip manufacturer to convince companies of the opportunities industry 4.0 offers them. Who do you see as responsible there? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Associations, chambers of industry and commerce or the BDI have a clear role here. But even the large clusters, such as those in Dresden, can make a difference. I am not a friend of setting up an institute anywhere in the world. A lot is already here the question is how to get closer. One principle that I personally like, for example, is: concentrate on the low hanging fruits; in other words: try, learn, try, learn, try. We do the same in the company, even though we are already a half-digitized company. How do you anticipate the end of a story that you write together? This is not possible without openness and agility. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: You can see a clear trend towards standardization in the industry like arm. You still have various proprietary architectures such as TriCore on offer, how do you see your path there in the medium and long term? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: TriCore is important because of its high real-time performance, but here too we will consider how to use arm cores, for example complementarily on the compute side. There's no point in putting competition to arm. On the other hand, we are likely to see more and more powerful peripherals to process the signals or establish AI instances. At Aurix, for example, we installed FFT machines for the radar. We will certainly continue to adapt arm. But at Aurix we will continue to emphasize our competence, for example with regard to functional safety, so that he can continue to serve as a supervisor in the various ADAS platforms, for example. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: How long can you shrink your flash memory? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: Well, structures as small as 28 nanometers should definitely be possible, and then we'll see. The large computing platforms for autonomous driving by Nvidia or Intel, for example, use external flash memory with their large programs anyway. Probably the car architecture will be divided into host and client. We are prepared for this. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Mr. Mayrhuber left you last February as head of the Supervisory Board, what do you owe him? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: When I became CEO, I had the problem of setting up a network outside Infineon. Mr. Mayrhuber helped me a lot with his overview. I believe that it will also be extremely important for the next generation of CEOs to receive network support. This is not trivial on a global level. But this is just one example, there are more aspects where he supported me. But I am pleased that Mr. Eder, as a new member of the Supervisory Board, is contributing his expertise in areas such as organisational development and on the international stage. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Organizational development is a good keyword: You want to grow by an average of nine percent per year in the future, what will Infineon look like in ten years' time? "In ten years, for example, there will no longer be a Ploss talking to almost every developer. Dr. Reinhard Ploss: The organizational form will no longer be the same today; for example, there will no longer be a Ploss that talks to almost every developer. And that's a good thing. Just imagine, we'll have 10,000 developers, that won't be possible any more. We have to think very differently than we do today. The only important promise I made to the company was: if I go, you'll be able to reinvent yourself. The company has that ability. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: You are a big fan of long-term thinking, which can certainly be attested to Mr Mayrhuber with his background in the aircraft industry as well as to Mr Eder. Can you give me an example of where Infineon's approach - not maximizing returns every quarter, but planning for the long term - has proven its worth? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: At Infineon, you cannot think in terms of two-year periods. Take our production facility in Dresden: initially, many people said, what are you doing there? Now everyone is saying, ohhh, Dresden - great what you are doing! In such cases, you can't ask what the return will be tomorrow? You have to think seven to ten years ahead - without losing sight of the current quarter. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: The composition of the Supervisory Board has certainly not become easier thanks to corporate governance... Dr. Reinhard Ploss: We can safely say that our corporate governance with an infinite set of rules has not made life easier at that point. Because of course it is clear that no competitors should be brought into the Supervisory Board. There is also an age limit. Furthermore, a member must not be an active CEO and must not have more mandates than fixed. But we have to be careful that the corset does not get too tight and that we can hardly get the well-connected people with vision we want. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: What are you actually doing on 1 October 2020? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: As usual: getting up in the morning - why do you ask? DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Your contract expires on 30.9.2019 ... Dr. Reinhard Ploss (laughs): You have to ask the Supervisory Board. Basically, everyone is replaceable. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Do you still make one day CTO per week? Dr. Reinhard Ploss: That depends, sometimes I also do it on two days. I still enjoy the job of the CTO a lot. Nevertheless, we should soon have 40,000 employees, and in the sense of an agile organization our goal is to transfer more and more responsibility to the responsible units. Sometimes it makes more sense to allow parallel developments than to discuss them for two years and thus save resources but be too late on the market with a solution. We have to be present at the customer and not in the meeting room. DESIGN&ELEKTRONIK: Dr. Ploss, thank you very much for your time! The Iseled alliance is developing hardware and software for a new LED lighting concept in vehicles. 2 Mbit/s are available for LED control. The Italian automotive supplier Olsa and the Belgian semiconductor manufacturer Melexis have joined the Iseled alliance. The now nine alliance members develop and market hardware and software for a new interior lighting technology that goes beyond the possibilities of the LIN bus. The key product for this is an intelligent digital RGB LED in a compact 3 mm housing. An integrated controller performs control tasks that would otherwise be outsourced to a microcontroller. This approach significantly simplifies LED control and extends the control options for LED lighting in automobiles. A total of up to 4079 of these digital LEDs can be arranged via a differential 2-wire bus with a data rate of 2 Mbit/s and controlled by an external controller such as NXP's S32K series. The data rate goes well beyond the 20 kbit/s of the LIN bus and should enable lighting effects at video speed, according to the alliance. Relevante Anbieter Iseled alliance expects more members The first Iseled products and a development kit are now available. The goal of the partners is to develop a complete ecosystem of hardware and software. The alliance was founded in 2016 by the German fabless semiconductor manufacturer Inova Semiconductors together with the Malaysian LED manufacturer Dominant Opto Technologies, NXP, the University of Pforzheim und TE Connectivity. Lucie Labs, Valeo, Olsa and Melexis have now joined as additional members. Talks with other companies are currently underway. Inova Semiconductors Managing Director Robert Kraus said that he would soon be able to welcome the next members. He already did this after the Olsa Group joined the alliance one day later Melexis announced its membership. David Rahusen, CEO of Stackforce GmbH, gives the tutorial emb::6 at the Wireless Congress 2018. Five questions to David Rahusen from Stackforce GmbH about his tutorial "emb::6" at the 15th Wireless Congress 2018 on November 14 in Munich. With emb::6, an IPv6 implementation for IEEE802.15.4 in ANSI C was developed at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Reliable Embedded Systems and Communication Electronics (IVESK). The goal of the work was to design a protocol stack that can be easily ported. Additionally emb::6 offers a high flexibility to developers: It can be used to transfer IPv6 packets via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and emb::6 has also been extended by Thread. ? Mr. Rahusen, what is emb::6? ! David Rahusen: emb::6 is an open-source implementation of a 6LoWPAN protocol stack, i.e. an IPv6 implementation for IEEE802.15.4 and other lower layers. It is based on the open source Contiki-project, but has been converted to an OS independent library, enhanced by a truly modular, extensible and parameterizable approach. ? For which applications was emb::6 developed? ! Rahusen: IPv6-based is application agnostic and is suitable for all kinds of IoT applications, that are not real-time critical, but that ask for scalability, high flexibility, and security. ? Who supports emb::6? 14-15 November 2018Munichwww.wireless-congress.com ! Rahusen: Emb::6 is an open-source project being available at https://github.com/stackforce/emb6. It is supported by Elektronik through several articles and has found a nice developer community contributing to its further improvement. ? How can a designer use emb::6? ! Rahusen: Just download the source code for any of the available hardware platforms. Then integrate it into your IoT application. Select your specific parameters through the flexible APIs. Otherwise: no OS requirements. Pure ANSI-C. ? What will you show in your tutorial at Wireless Congress 2018 and who are you addressing? ! Rahusen: The integration process is straightforward and will be demonstrated by a hands-on. A sample IoT-application will be implemented. The tutorial will be addressing mostly firmware developers and system architects. Wireless Congress: Systems & Applications Tutorial 3: emb::6 14 November 2018, 16:30 18:00 Munich www.wireless-congress.com David Rahusen, CEO of Stackforce GmbH Dipl.-Ing. (BA) David Rahusen started as a development engineer and project manager in the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Embedded Design and Network. He has been involved in various embedded and connectivity projects. In 2012 he decided to switch to Conductix Wampfler. Here he was responsible for the development of new communication protocols. In 2013 he returned to the Steinbeis Transfer Center as deputy director and has now been employed as managing director of Stackforce GmbH since its foundation. david.rahusen@stackforce.de Daniel Jackle, Stackforce GmbH Daniel Jackle, B. Eng., M. Sc., initially studied information technology with a focus on network and software technology at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University in Lorrach. He then completed a master's degree in computer science at the University of Freiburg. He has been working at Stackforce GmbH since January 2015 and is in charge of the development of the LoRaWAN protocol stack on a full-time basis. As project manager Jackle is responsible for the openD project and he is involved in further 6LoWPAN-oriented activities. daniel.jaeckle@stackforce.de Patrick Weber, Stackforce GmbH, pflegt den emb::6-Stack. Patrick Weber, B. Eng., M. Sc., studied electrical engineering at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences and subsequently completed a master's degree in information technology. He joined Stackforce GmbH in September 2017 and is significantly involved in the implementation and maintenance of the openD project as well as in various 6LoWPAN activities. His tasks also include the maintenance of the emb::6 stack. patrick.weber@stackforce.de Council Leader 'sickened' over Glen vandalism Sickening thats how the leader of Douglas Council has described the latest incident of vandalism in Summerhill Glen. Over last weekend damage, was caused to the fences, trees, and small features installed by children at the Glen. The attraction has been targeted several times in the last few years, leading to the installation of CCTV. David Christian has issued a warning to all those who wilfully damage Council property, insisting the authority will seek prosecutions where possible. Under its new vandalism policy, the Council says it will even ask for compensation from the Department of Health and Social Care if those in care are found to have cause the damage. The Glen has only recently reopened after works were undertaken to improve the footpaths. Mr Christian explained to Local Democracy Reporter Ewan Gawne why the Council is prepared to take a hard-line on vandals: Media Cllr David Christian on Glen Vandalism This is the first visit to HCM City by New Zealands navy force this year, marking the 43rd anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the Oceanic nation.Lieutenant Colonel Lisa Hunn, Commanding Officer of Te Mana, said the visit forms part of the defence cooperation between the two countries, and thus contributing to the partnership between their militaries in general and navies in particular.Speaking at the welcome ceremony for the NZ guests, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Ngoc Anh, deputy head of Brigade 125 of Naval Zone 2, said the visit offers the two sides a chance to share experience and explore each others land, people, and cultures.During their stay in HCM City, the New Zealand officers and crew members, including 38 women, are scheduled to pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his statue in one of the citys parks and pay courtesy calls to officials of the municipal Peoples Committee and the Military Zone 7 High Command.They will also engage in a friendly volleyball match with their colleagues of Naval Zone 2, provide equipment and help repair local schools, in particular the Nguyen Dinh Chieu School for Children with Visual Impairment, and visit several landmarks around the city. Vietnamplus Female Scammer arrested Police say a woman has been arrested in connection with a string of attempted scams on local businesses. Officers from the Central Neighbourhood Policing Team says local traders have reported an individual failing to pay for goods and services in recent weeks. The force have confirmed a woman has been arrested and is helping with enquiries. Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Headquarters. Manx Labour Party - One man and his dog? David Cretney MLC - Manx Labour's only politician The Manx Labour Party is far from a one man band, according to the partys secretary. Sara Maltby is keen to dispel the assumption that her father, and party leader David Cretney MLC is the sole driving force behind the organisation. The party has seen its membership double in the last year to forty-five members. They meet regularly to conduct party business, form policy and plan for elections. Mrs Maltby says members play a key role in charting the direction of the party, with some taking the lead in many areas, including the development of a new policy document. The party is keen to boost its membership and recruit potential candidates to stand ahead of the local authority election in 2020 and the general election in 2021. It follows a series of informal sessions held around the Island where the MLP has sought the publics views on a range of issues to help develop its stance. Local Democracy Reporter Ewan Gawne spoke to Mrs Maltby about the assumption that Manx Labour is simply one man and his dog: Media Party Secretary Sarah Maltby Despite their being banned for decades, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) threaten the long-term viability of more than 50% of the planet's killer whale population, reports a new model-based study. To reach this sobering conclusion, its authors used data about PCB levels in killer whales around the world, as well as whale population size estimates and data on whale reproductive responses to PCBs. The results provide a clearer picture of the fate of this marine mammal, the tissues of which collect a higher concentration of select contaminants than any other. Toxic, carcinogenic and persistent in the environment, PCBs impact both reproduction and immune function in mammals. While the production of PCBs was banned in the United States in 1978, their widespread industrial use led to ubiquitous global distribution. Killer whales, one of the largest marine predators, are particularly sensitive to PCB contamination due to bioaccumulation and to the chemicals' ability to be transferred from mother to calf. As a result, PCB concentrations are exceedingly high in the tissues of killer whales, which may be contributing to observations of population declines. Compared to marine mammals such as dolphins, however, little is known about the extinction risk from PCBs to killer whales, in part due to challenges in monitoring this highly mobile species. Here, to get a better handle on the potential impact of PCBs on global killer whale populations, Pierre Desforges and colleagues developed a risk assessment model capable of forecasting the effects of PCB exposure on these creatures in all the world's oceans, and over the next 100 years. The model combines data on blubber PCB concentrations from 351 killer whales around the world and the chemicals' known toxicological effects, and it simulates both accumulation of this chemical in whale tissue and its transfer to offspring. The results of the researchers' model simulations show that concentrations in killer whales are closely tied to proximity to PCB production and use, and that high levels of the chemical have a significant impact on both population size and sustainability. According to the model, whale populations in the Arctic and Antarctic, where PCB concentrations are low, will continue to grow, or only be modestly reduced, in years ahead. However, according to Desforges et al., in regions where concentrations are highest - Japan, Brazil, the northeast Pacific, the Strait of Gibraltar and the U.K. - killer whale populations could be headed for a complete collapse within the next century. The status-quo efforts to protect killer whales from conservation threats are likely to be impeded because PCBs have remained at problematic levels, the authors add. ### Where do pesticides and their degradation products go once they enter the soil? And how long does it take them to get to groundwater or drainage systems? That depends on a number of factors, but researchers at Aarhus University have come a step closer to finding quick answers. For the first time ever, they have used visible/near-infrared spectroscopy to predict the transport of dissolved chemicals through intact soil. The ability of soils to transport dissolved chemicals depends on the soil's texture and structure. Tracking the travel time of these solutes is usually carried out in the laboratory by measuring breakthrough curves, where the application of a solute at the soil surface and its appearance over time at the bottom are recorded. Obtaining breakthrough curves from laboratory studies is extremely expensive as well as time consuming and labour intensive, so the team of scientists from Aarhus University and Aalborg University decided to think out of the box and use visible/near-infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy to predict breakthrough curves - for the first time ever. Applying technology in new way Vis-NIR spectroscopy is well recognised for its measurement speed and its low data acquisition cost. It can be used for quantitative estimation of basic soil properties such as clay and organic matter. The team of scientists used vis-NIR spectroscopy to predict the breakthrough curves of the solutes on a large variety of intact soil columns from six representative fields in Denmark. Averaged across the individual field, the new technology estimated the breakthrough curves with a high degree of accuracy. - We found that we could measure the mass transport of dissolved chemicals quite accurately with vis-NIR spectroscopy. Our findings can pave the way for next-generation measurements and monitoring of dissolved chemical transport by spectroscopy, says Professor Lis Wollesen de Jonge, one of the scientists on the team and co-author of their article in Nature's Scientific Reports. Understanding chemical leaching through the soil is important The intensification of agricultural production to meet the growing demand for agricultural commodities is increasing the use of chemicals. The extensive use of agrochemicals causes pollution of water resources. This, in turn, poses serious threats to aquatic ecosystems, human health, and the environment. The occurrence of agrochemicals and their degradation products above the permissible limits in drinking water wells has forced numerous wells to be shut down and the implementation of strict regulations on the use of agrochemicals in the EU. Understanding the leaching of solutes to groundwater and being able to measure and model their transport times are therefore important for our health and the environment. Soil plays an important role in this regard because of its many functions. Soil is fundamental for agricultural production, for its ability to filter nutrients and pollutants, and for storing and recycling organic material. Soil is also the most important transport pathway for agrochemicals to groundwater. The soil's ability to filter dissolved agrochemicals is dependent on the soil's properties and the interaction between the dissolved solutes and the soil properties, and is influenced by how soils are used and managed. Soil structure is a very dynamic property since it is influenced by basic soil properties such as texture, organic matter, carbonates and metal oxides, climate, and land use and management practices. Depending on the soil structure, at close to saturation, water and dissolved chemicals can either be transported evenly through the soil, or rapidly through specific pathways in the soil with various degrees of mass exchange between the soil matrix and the transporting pathways. Future avenues for exploration Various solute transport models have been developed to account for different transport processes and facilitate the prediction of the transport of dissolved chemicals through soils. - Major challenges when it comes to risk assessment are obtaining an accurate estimation of a range of parameters which are used as input in solute transport models and to accounting for the spatial differences in those transport properties, Lis Wollesen de Jonge explains. Even though there is a slight underestimation of the within-field variances with vis-NIR spectroscopy, the efficiency of this technology in terms of cost and speed of measurement may outweigh expensive and precise measurements using conventional methods of soil properties that usually have large spatial variability. In order to hone the technology, approaches for reducing the estimation error resulting from differences in soil structure that cannot be captured by vis-NIR spectroscopy should be investigated. Another avenue of exploration in order to improve the prediction accuracies could be integration of vis-NIR spectroscopy with other readily available information, such as soil structure information based on soil surveys or quick field tests. Many migrant children separated from their parents at the U.S. border, some of them very young, have landed in shelters where they often experience stress, neglect and minimal social and cognitive stimulation. The latest findings of the long-running Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), involving children in Romanian orphanages, tells a cautionary tale about the psychiatric and social risks of long-term deprivation and separation from parents. BEIP has shown that children reared in very stark institutional settings, with severe social deprivation and neglect, are at risk for cognitive problems, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. But BEIP has also shown that placing children with quality foster families can mitigate some of these effects, if it's done early. The latest BEIP study, published this week by JAMA Psychiatry, asked what happens to the mental health of institutionalized children as they transition to adolescence. Outcomes at ages 8, 12 and 16 suggest diverging trajectories between children who remained in institutions versus those randomly chosen for placement with carefully vetted foster families. Researchers led by Mark Wade, PhD, and Charles Nelson, PhD, of the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, studied 220 children of whom 119 had spent at least some time in institutions. Of the 119, half had been placed in foster care. Over the years, teachers and caregivers completed the MacArthur Health and Behavior Questionnaire, which includes subscales on depression, overanxious, social anxiety/withdrawal, oppositional defiant behavior, conduct problems, overt aggression, relational aggression and ADHD. The surveys revealed that children who were placed early in quality foster care, compared with those who remained in institutions, had less psychopathology, and in particular fewer externalizing behaviors such as rule-breaking, excessive arguing with authority figures, stealing or assaulting peers. Differences began to emerge at 12 years and became significant at 16 years. While conditions at Romanian orphanages aren't the same as those in U.S. immigration detention systems, the researchers think the findings underscore the importance of keeping families together. "Our results add to a growing literature on what might happen to a child's long-term psychological development when they experience separation from a primary caregiver early in development," says Wade. "Although this picture is very complex, we now know that many children who experience early neglect are at risk for an array of mental health problems later on. The good news is that if they are placed in high-quality homes with good caregiving, this risk is reduced. Yet they still tend to have more difficulties than their peers who never experienced this form of deprivation. So what we really need is policies and social programs prevent separation from primary caregivers in the first place." ### Read more stories on the BEIP study. About Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital, the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center. Its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. Today, more than 3,000 scientists, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 members of the National Academy of Medicine and 11 Howard Hughes Medical Investigators comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's is now a 415-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. For more, visit our Vector and Thriving blogs and follow us on social media @BostonChildrens, @BCH_Innovation, Facebook and YouTube. (Boston)--Artificial intelligence (AI) driven by machine learning (ML) algorithms is a branch in the field of computer science that is rapidly gaining popularity within the healthcare sector. However, graduate medical education and other teaching programs within academic teaching hospitals across the U.S. and around the world have not yet come to grips with educating students and trainees on this emerging technology. "The general public has become quite aware of AI and the impact it can have on health care outcomes such as providing clinicians with improved diagnostics. However, if medical education does not begin to teach medical students about AI and how to apply it into patient care then the advancement of technology will be limited in use and its impact on patient care," explained corresponding author Vijaya B. Kolachalama, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). Using a PubMed search with 'machine learning' as the medical subject heading term, the researchers found that the number of papers published in the area of ML has increased since the beginning of this decade. In contrast, the number of publications related to undergraduate and graduate medical education have remained relatively unchanged since 2010. Realizing the need for educating the students and trainees within the Boston University Medical Campus about ML, Kolachalama designed and taught an introductory course at BUSM. The course is intended to educate the next generation of medical professionals and young researchers with biomedical and life sciences backgrounds about ML concepts and help prepare them for the ongoing data science revolution. The authors believe that if medical education begins to implement ML curriculum, physicians may begin to recognize the conditions and future applications where AI could potentially benefit clinical decision making and management early on in their career and be ready to utilize these tools better when beginning practice. "As medical education thinks about competencies for physicians, ML should be embedded into information technology and the education in that domain," said Priya Sinha Garg, MD, associate dean ad interim for Academic Affairs at BUSM. The authors hope this perspective article stimulates medical school and residency programs to think about the progressing field of AI and how to use it in patient care. "Technology without physician knowledge of its potential and applications does not make sense and will only further perpetuate healthcare costs." These findings appear as a perspective in the journal NPJ Digital Medicine. ### Funding was provided by the American Heart Association through a Scientist Development Grant (17SDG33670323); the Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering at Boston University through a Research Award; the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through BU-CTSI Grant (1UL1TR001430); the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University School of Medicine through a pilot grant award. We will head for home on Sunday, so I thought Id share a few last Dublin moments. That would be Molly Malone there with her cockles and mussels. People rub her bosoms for good luck, thats why they are all shiny. I keep telling you these folks love their beer. Not sure if these kegs are coming or going. The Irish also love their flowers. For every French woman in Paris with a baguette in her tote bag, I swear we saw an Irish woman carrying a bouquet home with her. My husband and I love cemeteries and had to make a visit to Dublins famous Glasnevin. It was so beautiful. We were on an organized tour, which was so informative. We wandered along wide shaded paths and thoroughly enjoyed learning about Irelands troubled history and all the souls who found Glasnevin their final resting place. Some of Irelands most prominent national figures are buried here, including Michael Collins, the nationalist leader who died in the Irish Civil War for Independence in 1922. He is much beloved and it is said that 500,000 people attended his burial. Thats our cute tour guide telling us about the life and untimely death of hero Michael Collins. Just prior to us arriving at his grave something rather extraordinary happened. See the the man standing second on the right next to the lady in the red jacket? We were at the memorial of the forgotten ten, a group of ten young members of the Irish Republican Army who were executed by the British in 1920. There was one young man named Kevin Barry who has become a huge hero, largely based on a popular song that was composed about him. This song is close to the hearts of many Irish, particularly the older generation. Kevin was a medical student who was conducting a mission that ended unsuccessfully. He was captured by the British and hung at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin with nine other rebels. That is the backstory. What happened on our tour was, the gentleman in blue stepped up to the graveside and began to sing the entire Kevin Barry ballad in the most exquisite tenor voice. He sang all the verses and by the end we were all in tears. So moving. In Mountjoy jail one Monday morning High upon the gallows tree, Kevin Barry gave his young life For the cause of liberty. Just a lad of eighteen summers, Still there's no one can deny, As he walked to death that morning, He proudly held his head on high. Chorus Shoot me like an Irish soldier. Do not hang me like a dog, For I fought to free old Ireland On that still September morn. These are just some of the lyrics. Go ahead and Google "Kevin Barry Ballad" and read the entire thing. It is very full of feeling. And just imagine that man's perfect tenor voice ringing out in that quiet sacred place. Chills. We have found the Irish to be passionate, sentimental, and fiercely proud of their hard worn independence. I feel we have in this visit, managed to get a real feeling for the Irish and what matters to them. Hope you enjoyed my little travelogues! Columbia Engineers make white paint whiter -- and cooler -- by removing white pigment and invent a polymer coating, with nano-to-microscale air voids, that acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint New York, NY--September 27, 2018--With temperatures rising and heat-waves disrupting lives around the world, cooling solutions are becoming ever more essential. This is a critical issue especially in developing countries, where summer heat can be extreme and is projected to intensify. But common cooling methods such as air conditioners are expensive, consume significant amounts of energy, require ready access to electricity, and often require coolants that deplete ozone or have a strong greenhouse effect. An alternative to these energy-intensive cooling methods is passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC), a phenomenon where a surface spontaneously cools by reflecting sunlight and radiating heat to the colder atmosphere. PDRC is most effective if a surface has a high solar reflectance (R) that minimizes solar heat gain, and a high, thermal emittance (?) that maximizes radiative heat loss to the sky. If R and ? are sufficiently high, a net heat loss can occur, even under sunlight. Developing practical PDRC designs has been challenging: many recent design proposals are complex or costly, and cannot be widely implemented or applied on rooftops and buildings, which have different shapes and textures. Up to now, white paints, which are inexpensive and easy to apply, have been the benchmark for PDRC. White paints, however, usually have pigments that absorb UV light, and do not reflect longer solar wavelengths very well, so their performance is only modest at best. Researchers at Columbia Engineering have invented a high-performance exterior PDRC polymer coating with nano-to-microscale air voids that acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint on rooftops, buildings, water tanks, vehicles, even spacecraft--anything that can be painted. They used a solution-based phase-inversion technique that gives the polymer a porous foam-like structure. The air voids in the porous polymer scatter and reflect sunlight, due to the difference in the refractive index between the air voids and the surrounding polymer. The polymer turns white and thus avoids solar heating, while its intrinsic emittance causes it to efficiently lose heat to the sky. The study is published online today in Science. VIDEO: https://youtu.be/8lTdZ-U0Qm8 The team--Yuan Yang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering; Nanfang Yu, associate professor of applied physics; and Jyotirmoy Mandal, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in Yang's group (all department of applied physics and applied mathematics)--built upon earlier work that demonstrated that simple plastics and polymers, including acrylic, silicone, and PET, are excellent heat radiators and could be used for PDRC. The challenges were how to get these normally transparent polymers to reflect sunlight without using silver mirrors as reflectors and how to make them easily deployable. They decided to use phase-inversion because it is a simple, solution-based method for making light-scattering air-voids in polymers. Polymers and solvents are already used in paints, and the Columbia Engineering method essentially replaces the pigments in white paint with air voids that reflect all wavelengths of sunlight, from UV to infrared. "This simple but fundamental modification yields exceptional R and ? that equal or surpass those of state-of-the-art PDRC designs, but with a convenience that is almost paint-like," says Mandal. The researchers found their polymer coating's high solar reflectance (R > 96%) and high thermal emittance (? ~ 97%) kept it significantly cooler than its environment under widely different skies, e.g. by 6?C in the warm, arid desert in Arizona and 3?C in the foggy, tropical environment of Bangladesh. "The fact that cooling is achieved in both desert and tropical climates, without any thermal protection or shielding, demonstrates the utility of our design wherever cooling is required," Yang notes. The team also created colored polymer coatings with cooling capabilities by adding dyes. "Achieving a superior balance between color and cooling performance over current paints is one of the most important aspects of our work," Yu notes. "For exterior coatings, the choice of color is often subjective, and paint manufacturers have been trying to make colored coatings, like those for roofs, for decades." The group took environmental and operational issues, such as recyclability, bio-compatibility, and high-temperature operability, into consideration, and showed that their technique can be generalized to a range of polymers to achieve these functionalities. "Polymers are an amazingly diverse class of materials, and because this technique is generic, additional desirable properties can be conveniently integrated into our PDRC coatings, if suitable polymers are available," Mandal adds. "Nature offers many ways for heating and cooling, some of which are extremely well known and widely studied and others that are poorly known. Radiative cooling--by using the sky as a heat sink--belongs to the latter group, and its potential has been strangely overlooked by materials scientists until a few years ago," says Uppsala University Physics Professor Claes-Goran Granqvist, a pioneer in the field of radiative cooling, who was not involved with the study. "The publication by Mandal et al. highlights the importance of radiative cooling and represents an important breakthrough by demonstrating that hierarchically porous polymer coatings, which can be prepared cheaply and conveniently, give excellent cooling even in full sunlight." Yang, Yu, and Mandal are refining their design in terms of applicability, while exploring possibilities such as the use of completely biocompatible polymers and solvents. They are in talks with industry about next steps. "Now is a critical time to develop promising solutions for sustainable humanity," Yang notes, "This year, we witnessed heat waves and record-breaking temperatures in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It is essential that we find solutions to this climate challenge, and we are very excited to be working on this new technology that addresses it." Yu adds that he used to think that white was the most unattainable color: "When I studied watercolor painting years ago, white paints were the most expensive. Cremnitz white or lead white was the choice of great masters, including Rembrandt and Lucian Freud. We have now demonstrated that white is in fact the most achievable color. It can be made using nothing more than properly sized air voids embedded in a transparent medium. Air voids are what make snow white and Saharan silver ants silvery." ### About the Study The study is titled "Hierarchically Porous Polymer Coatings for Highly Efficient Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling." Authors are: J. Mandal1 , Y. Fu1 , A. Overvig1 , M. Jia2 , K. Sun1 , N. Shi1 , H. Zhou3 , X. Xiao3 , N. Yu1, Y. Yang1 Affiliations: 1 Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia Engineering. 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia Engineering. 3 Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemony, IL 60439, USA The study was supported by startup funding from Columbia University, the NSF MRSEC program through Columbia University's Center for Precision Assembly of Superstratic and Superatomic Solids (Y.Y. DMR-1420634), AFOSR MURI (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) program (N.Y. grant # FA9550-14-1-0389), AFOSR DURIP (Defense University Research Instrumentation Program) (N.Y. grant # FA9550-16-1-0322), and the National Science Foundation (N.Y. grant # ECCS-1307948). A.C.O. acknowledges support from the NSF IGERT program (# DGE-1069240). We acknowledge support from the Advanced Photon Source in Argonne National Laboratory (under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357) and .Brookhaven National Laboratory (under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.) The authors have no competing interests. The authors have filed a provisional patent application with Columbia Technology Ventures for this study. LINKS: Paper: http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aat9513 VIDEO: https://youtu.be/8lTdZ-U0Qm8 http://engineering.columbia.edu/ http://www.sciencemag.org/ https://engineering.columbia.edu/faculty/yuan-yang http://apam.columbia.edu/materials-science-and-engineering-0 https://engineering.columbia.edu/faculty/nanfang-yu http://apam.columbia.edu/ http://innovation.columbia.edu/technologies/CU15297_versatile-bio-inspired-systems-for https://engineering.columbia.edu/news/staying-cool-saharan-silver-ants Columbia Engineering Columbia Engineering, based in New York City, is one of the top engineering schools in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the nation. Also known as The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School expands knowledge and advances technology through the pioneering research of its more than 250 faculty, while educating undergraduate and graduate students in a collaborative environment to become leaders informed by a firm foundation in engineering. The School's faculty are at the center of the University's cross-disciplinary research, contributing to the Data Science Institute, Earth Institute, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Columbia Nano Initiative. Guided by its strategic vision, "Columbia Engineering for Humanity," the School aims to translate ideas into innovations that foster a sustainable, healthy, secure, connected, and creative humanity. Agreement focuses on further enhancing generic antibiotics and increasing access for children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) Development will target heat-stable, pediatric formulations such as dispersible tablets against bacterial infections - a leading cause of death in under-fives Partnership will leverage knowledge and share expertise between Sandoz, the Novartis generics division, and GARDP Basel / Geneva, September 27, 2018 - The Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) and Novartis are joining forces to accelerate the development and availability of generic antibiotic treatments for children in low- and middle-income countries. The strategic partnership responds to the call from the World Health Organization for affordable, improved and adapted antibiotic formulations and regimens for this vulnerable population, for which treatment options are limited. The agreement will leverage knowledge and expertise sharing between Sandoz, the Novartis generics division, and GARDP to drive incremental product innovation. It will also leverage the know-how and partner network of Novartis Social Business in areas such as supply chain, capacity building, and measurement and evaluation to improve availability of medicines, in particular in remote and underserved areas. Significant progress has been made in recent years to improve child health globally, including a 50 percent reduction in child mortality since 1990. However, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major barrier to further reducing childhood mortality. Infectious diseases, including serious bacterial infections such as pneumonia and sepsis, are a leading cause of child morbidity and mortality with more than three million deaths reported in 2013, nearly two million of which occur in sub-Saharan Africa.(1) The estimated 214,000 deaths of newborns each year due to drug-resistant infections pose a great concern.(2) "Children are not small adults and require treatments that are adapted in terms of regimen, dose and formulation. However, challenges around conducting clinical trials in children have led to lack of evidence-based treatments available for them. And lack of evidence hinders the development of treatment guidelines for their care," said Dr Manica Balasegaram, Director of GARDP. "This partnership not only has the potential to reduce the number of preventable deaths in children, but also to help tackle AMR through addressing the over-use and misuse of antibiotics." The two groups plan to improve and adapt existing generic antibiotic formulations and dosing regimens for newborns and children. In particular, they plan to develop heat-stable pediatric formulations against diseases that represent the leading causes of death in under-fives in lower-income countries. This work will also help determine future collaboration opportunities between both organizations. "New treatment formulations are needed to address the unmet needs of children in lower-income countries," said Harald Nusser, Global Head of Novartis Social Business. "Yet, medicines by themselves are not sufficient; they also need to be affordable and accessible for patients. A very important part of our role will therefore be to work with partners on the ground to ensure these medicines reach patients, and in particular those living in remote and underserved areas." In addition to improving and adapting generic antibiotics, both organizations are committed to embedding access and stewardship measures on the appropriate use of antibiotics, limitation of indications, and clearly defined distribution channels to ensure that children living in resource-constrained environments receive the antibiotics they need. ### About GARDP GARDP is a not-for-profit research and development organization that addresses global public health needs by developing and delivering new or improved antibiotic treatments, while endeavouring to ensure their sustainable access. Initiated by the WHO and the Drugs for Neglected Disease initiative (DNDi), GARDP is an important element of WHO's Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance that calls for new public-private partnerships to encourage research and development of new antimicrobial agents and diagnostics. GARDP is incubated by DNDi, which currently provides GARDP's governance. http://www.gardp.org About Novartis, Sandoz and Novartis Social Business Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, cost-saving generic and biosimilar pharmaceuticals and eye care. Novartis has leading positions globally in each of these areas. Sandoz is the Novartis generics division and the world's largest provider of affordable, high-quality antibiotics. Sandoz is committed to driving practical, scalable solutions that deliver meaningful impact in the field of AMR. The total Sandoz portfolio includes approximately 1,000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas. In 2017, Sandoz products reached well over 500 million patients. Operationally managed by Sandoz, Novartis Social Business offers commercial solutions to support public health needs and increase patient reach in lower-income countries. The unit includes Novartis Access, the Novartis Malaria Initiative, the Novartis Healthy Family programs, SMS for Life, and Sandoz NGO Supply. In 2017, Novartis Social Business provided more than 30 million medicines against infectious and chronic diseases, and reached over 7.5 million people with health education. socialbusiness.novartis.com References (1) Liu, L. et al. (2015). Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2000-13, with projections to inform post-2015 priorities: an updated systematic analysis. The Lancet; 385: 430-40. (2) Laxminarayan, R. et al. (2016). Antimicrobials: access and sustainable effectiveness 1. Access to effective antimicrobials: a worldwide challenge. The Lancet: 387; 168-75. Media Contacts Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership (GARDP) Susan Frade +41 79 640 0099 (mobile) sfrade@dndi.org Novartis Global Media Relations +41 79 723 3681 (mobile) antonio.ligi@novartis.com Novartis Social Business +41 79 682 1326 (mobile) nadine.schecker@novartis.com Jena (27 September 2018) The Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) was granted funding for one Cluster of Excellence. As the Excellence Commission announced today in Bonn, Jena's proposal for the cluster 'Balance of the Microverse' is among the 57 selected consortia which will be funded by the German Excellence Strategy for the following seven years. In the Cluster of Excellence 'Balance of the Microverse', the University cooperates with its University Hospital and external research institutions. After having been among the winners with its Graduate School 'Jena School for Microbial Communication' in 2007, this is the first Cluster of Excellence for Jena. "That is great news for the University, for the research location Jena, and the Free State of Thuringia," the President of the University, Walter Rosenthal, is thrilled with the decision. "It proves that middle-sized universities may also belong to the most outstanding German institutions of higher education." According to him, the decision acknowledges the profile that the University has developed over the past few years -- with the motto 'Light, Life, Liberty'. The President is certain this success ultimately puts the scientific and economic region Jena on the global map. "Firstly, I would like to thank my colleagues for the strong commitment on which this very success is based. Secondly, I also thank the Free State of Thuringia for its intensive support." "This is the major breakthrough for Jena as an internationally significant scientific centre," says the Thuringian Minister of Science Wolfgang Tiefensee. "Jena is now part of the 'Champions League' of the German research centres." Cluster of Excellence "Balance of the Microverse" Society is currently facing huge challenges: pathogenic microorganisms being resistant to antibiotics and polluted soils, to mention but a few. The researchers of the Cluster of Excellence 'Balance of the Microverse' in Jena can significantly contribute to solutions for those. Nature is full of complex microbial communities -- the microbiota. These may have a stabilizing influence on living creatures and the environment, for instance, on the health of human beings, animals, and plants as well as on the fertility of soils or the water quality. While there is a wide knowledge about the composition of such microbiota available, the functions and dynamics of such systems still have to be examined. The objective of the research activities is therefore to find out the general principles on which microbial communities interact with each other. The crucial questions are what factors may stabilize such systems and how humans may intervene with target-oriented measures to repair a microbial community which lost its balance. The research programme should advance the thematic and methodological scope of the Graduate School 'Jena School for Microbial Communication' and of four existing Collaborative Research Centres. "We are absolutely pleased about the fact that our commitment of the past years has been given the label of excellence and we thus rank among the top research institutions," says the spokesperson of the Cluster, Professor Axel Brakhage. As he says, all participating disciplines and institutions have evolved into a fantastic team. "The elucidation of the function of microbiota would provide completely new preventive measures and therapeutic approaches to diseases and the environmental protection." In the new research network, researchers from several of Jena's faculties are involved: Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, and Faculty of Medicine. The University cooperates with external partner institutions, too: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the Leibniz Institute of Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Hans Knoll Institute), the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technologies, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering, the Helmholtz Institute, and the DLR Institute of Data Science. Light, Life, Liberty -- Connecting Visions Led by the motto 'Light, Life, Liberty -- Connecting Visions', the Friedrich Schiller University Jena will advance its profile in the upcoming years. In this context, the successful Cluster of Excellence 'Balance of the Microverse' has a vital role. A cluster of the universities in Jena and Wurzburg with other partners, which was not granted the funding within the Excellence Strategy, represents another focus of the University. The joint cluster 'Enlightening the Receptome' is about to systematically research the receptome and its diversity as a whole. Both clusters thus play a central part in developing the University's profile lines 'Light, Life, Liberty'. In cooperation with the University Hospital, external research institutions, and research-oriented companies, the researchers of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena will take on global challenges, for example, climate change, a sustainable energy supply, ageing, personalized therapies, social change, or the struggle against infectious diseases. "Being the only Thuringian institution of higher education supported by the Excellence Strategy, we want to fulfil great expectations," emphasizes the President Walter Rosenthal. ### For further information on the Cluster of Excellence, please visit: http://www.microverse-cluster.de. The rapid emergence and global spread of antibiotic resistance demands a new approach for developing novel ones. A study published in The FASEB Journal uncovers a novel approach to combatting the fast spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Most antibiotics kill bacteria by targeting regions of their essential proteins that lie on the surfaces of these folded molecules. When mutations modify these surface sites, resistance to antibiotics develops. Rather than targeting the surfaces of proteins, researchers in this study targeted the tightly packed structural core buried behind the protein surfaces, an approach that makes it less likely for bacteria to develop resistance. "These findings present an exciting new paradigm in antibiotic discovery," said Yaoqi Zhou, PhD, a professor at Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics in Queensland, Australia. "The results of this study could lead to a new set of tools in the ongoing battle against antibiotic-resistant infections that affect millions of people worldwide each year." To target this structural core, Zhou and colleagues used structure-disrupting, self-derived peptides. They first studied KFF-EcH3, a peptide derived from an essential protein of E. coli and linked with a cell-permeating peptide. Researchers proved that KFF-EcH3 was indeed able to inhibit the growth and survival of E. coli -- in both laboratory and clinical, multidrug-resistant strains. Significantly, the study did not detect any resistance developed against KFF-EcH3 over a 30-day period. The research team used the same approach to introduce another structure-disrupting, self-derived peptide, KFF-NgH1, to target an N. gonorrhoeae essential protein. In the experiment, the peptide inhibited bacterial growth and also treated a gonococcal infection in a human cervical epithelial cell model in vitro. "This study was based on a rational idea and the results are encouraging. We must always conceptualize biology in 3-D," said Thoru Pederson, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. ### This research was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province. The FASEB Journal is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The world's most cited biology journal according to the Institute for Scientific Information, it has been recognized by the Special Libraries Association as one of the top 100 most influential biomedical journals of the past century. Receive monthly highlights for The FASEB Journal; subscribe at http://www.faseb.org/fjupdate.aspx. FASEB is composed of 30 societies with more than 130,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. Our mission is to advance health and well-being by promoting research and education in biological and biomedical sciences through collaborative advocacy and service to our societies and their members. A new generation of broadly neutralising antibodies provides a novel approach to treating HIV infection. The research group of Prof Florian Klein, Director of the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital Cologne and scientist at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), has collaborated with scientists at the Rockefeller University in New York and the University Hospital Cologne to investigate the impact of combining such antibodies in HIV-infected patients. Two articles on the results of this clinical trial have now been published in Nature and Nature Medicine. Antiretroviral drugs are the critical component for effective management of HIV infection. Because of the rapid development of viral resistance against single agents, these drugs need to be administered in combination. While the currently approved drugs are highly active inhibitors of viral replication, they require daily and life-long dosing. Compared to antiretroviral drugs, broadly neutralising antibodies have longer half-lives and can directly target the virus. In previous clinical trials conducted with participation of the University Hospital Cologne, two of these antibodies, called 3BNC117 and 10-1074, were administered individually. Both antibodies were well tolerated and resulted in significant reductions of the viral load. However, similar to treatment with classical antiretroviral drugs, the administration of a single antibody had only transient effects on the viral load and was associated with the development of viral resistance. In the current study, the scientists investigated the administration of the combination of the antibodies 3BNC117 and 10-1074 in a total of 30 HIV-infected individuals. Antibody infusions, administered up to three times per individual, were well tolerated by all study participants. In the group of HIV-infected participants who were not taking antiretroviral drugs at the start of the trial, the antibody combination resulted in substantial reductions of the viral load. In a second group, the antibody combination was administered to individuals who paused their previous treatment with regular antiretroviral drugs. While this interruption usually results in a rapid return of HIV to the blood, no viremia was detectable in many study participants for several months after the last infusion of the antibody combination. "The results of this clinical trial highlight the potential for antibody combinations to maintain long-term control of HIV," says Dr Henning Grull, co-first author of both publications and resident physician at the Institute of Virology of the University Hospital Cologne. Based on the results of the current study that was conducted in collaboration with the Rockefeller University (Prof Michel Nussenzweig; Prof Marina Caskey), novel approaches for antibody-mediated therapy of HIV infection are under consideration that could allow for long-term control of the virus without the need for daily medication. "The success of these studies at the University Hospital Cologne is also a result of the close collaboration with the Infectious Diseases Research Group (led by Prof Gerd Fatkenheuer) and the Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic (led by Dr Clara Lehmann). We are delighted that we were again able to safely and rapidly translate findings from basic research into clinical application", says Florian Klein, principal investigator of the study in Germany. Further clinical trials investigating additional approaches to using broadly neutralising antibodies in HIV infection are currently being conducted at the DZIF site in Cologne. ### DETROIT - Cardiologists at Henry Ford Hospital performed the first implantation in the United States of a device approved for use in Europe for hard-to-treat angina. The Neovasc Reducer was successfully implanted in a middle-aged, Detroit-area man on June 19. Henry Ford Health System cardiologist Gerald Koenig led the procedure, with support from cardiologists Ryan Gindi and Janakkumar Kansagra, and cardiac electrophysiologist Claudio Schuger. "Angina affects millions of people in the United States," said Dr. Koenig, research director for the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Henry Ford Hospital and catheterization lab medical director at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. "Unfortunately, bypass and medical intervention provides little relief to some. So we are hopeful that this procedure can be of some benefit." Angina - slight to debilitating chest pain - is thought to be caused by a lack of blood flow to certain areas of the heart. Bypass, stenting and certain medicines help many by improving blood flow to affected areas. But those options have little or short-lived effects for others. The "reducer" is a stainless steel, hourglass-shaped mesh that is 3 millimeters in diameter at its smallest point. Through a catheter inserted in the patient's groin area, the reducer is placed inside the heart in a minimally invasive procedure similar to implanting a coronary stent. The procedure typically takes about 20 minutes. Within six to eight weeks, tissue then grows over the mesh, narrowing the passageway. The procedure attempts to address angina by creating a backflow pressure into the heart by narrowing the area of the heart where blood flows out, the coronary sinus. That backflow pressure pushes blood into areas that need additional oxygenation. The idea originated in the 1950s with Dr. Claude S. Beck, prior to the development of heart bypass surgery or the use of stents, Dr. Koenig said. In an open heart surgery, Dr. Beck stitched the coronary sinus to a narrower 3 mm. "They saw a dramatic improvement in a vast majority of patients," Dr. Koenig said. "Seventy percent of patients had some relief of their angina." Prior to the Henry Ford patient's procedure in June, he told his doctors he could walk about two blocks before experiencing angina, which he rated a 7-8/10 on a pain scale. He also used nitroglycerin two to three times per week to alleviate symptoms. At an Aug. 12 follow-up appointment 12 weeks after the procedure, he reported walking several miles without any symptoms and taking nitroglycerin one or two times per month. He said he was rarely experiencing chest discomfort, and any chest pain was rated at a 3/4. Doctors had stopped using the procedure with the development of heart bypass in the 1960s and coronary stenting in the 1980s. But it drew interest again as a non-invasive approach in the early 2000s. The device has been commercially available in Europe since 2015, according to the Canadian manufacturer, Neovasc Inc. The product is still in development in the United States, and U.S. trials are pending. In the case of the Henry Ford Hospital patient, Henry Ford administration and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) permitted the device to be used as a "compassionate use" case. In those situations, there are no other medically viable, commercially approved options available for the patient. "We participate in trials and strive to work with patients who have been told they are out of options," said cardiologist Henry Kim, medical director of the Edith and Benson Ford Heart & Vascular Institute at Henry Ford Health System. "At Henry Ford, we're continually working to advanced science in the field of cardiology to provide the best care available to our patients." ### To make an appointment with a Henry Ford cardiologist, call 844-725-6424 or visit http://www.HenryFord.com/hvi. To take an online heart quiz to check your own cardiovascular health, please visit http://www.HenryFord.com/hearthealth. About Henry Ford Health System Henry Ford Health System is a six-hospital system headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the nation's leading comprehensive, integrated health systems, recognized for clinical excellence and innovation. Henry Ford Health System provides both health insurance and health care delivery, including acute, specialty, primary and preventive care services backed by excellence in research and education. Henry Ford Health System is led by President & CEO Wright Lassiter III. Visit HenryFord.com to learn more. MEDIA CONTACT: Tammy Battaglia Tammy.Battaglia@hfhs.org 248-881-0809 cell/text Researchers at Johns Hopkins report that a novel analysis of more than a thousand patients adds to evidence that hospitalization, critical illness and major infection may diminish brain structures that are most commonly affected by Alzheimer's disease. Results of the study, published Sept. 24 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, suggest -- but do not prove -- that critical illness and major infection can promote such brain structure changes and accelerate the process of cognitive decline, the researchers say. "There's long been evidence that critical illness severe enough to require hospitalization is linked with subsequent negative neurological outcomes such as dementia, but we believe our study is one of the first to look specifically at how both critical illness and infection might promote brain changes that set the stage for late-life cognitive decline, and serve as independent risk factors for dementia," says Keenan Walker, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study's lead author. Walker cautions that the findings may be limited due to undetected or misclassified billing codes that define diagnosis in the medical records; a lack of information about potentially relevant comorbidities such as delirium; and the "observational" nature of the study, which was not designed to -- and cannot -- determine or prove cause and effect. But, he said, "The findings do indicate that hospitalization, infection and critical illness may well influence changes in brain regions that underlie dementia." He went on to say that "in order to maintain brain health in older adulthood, it is important to maintain bodywide health. Some of the events that can land you in the hospital may serve as risk factors for dementia." To explore whether critical illness and infection were associated with brain structure changes underlying cognitive decline and dementia, the research team used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), which included MRI scans showing brain structure, as well as social, demographic and hospital information for a large cohort of participants followed over a 24 year period that included five medical exams and structured interviews. The study originally enrolled nearly 16,000 participants ages 45 to 64 from Washington County, Maryland; Forsyth County, North Carolina; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Jackson, Mississippi. Using this dataset makes the team's study especially rigorous, Walker says, because of the long follow-up period that allowed the research team to capture hospitalization events over many years. This is important, he notes, because the process of Alzheimer's disease evolves over the course of decades and takes time to diagnose. For its analysis, Walker's team focused on a subset of ARIC subjects who received a brain MRI during the final medical exam in the study to look at evidence of atrophy and damage to so-called white matter -- the part of the brain responsible for transmitting messages. Damaged white matter appears superwhite on a scan, similar to overexposure on a photograph, Walker explains, and was measured using an automated program. All participants who received this brain MRI were included in the analysis. Data on hospitalization frequency was collected from five in-person exams, annual telephone contact with participants and a survey of medical records from hospital admissions throughout the ARIC study. The research team identified critical illness using internationally defined classification of disease codes, or ICD-9 codes, used for insurance billing purposes. Critical illness included shock, severe sepsis (blood infections), acute respiratory failure, hypotension, respiratory or cardiac arrest, and the need for cardiopulmonary resuscitation orprolonged ventilation. The team then also identified the number of major infections, including septicemia, other bacterial infection and pneumonia, the same way. Of the 1,689 participants included in the analysis, 1,214 (72 percent) were hospitalized, 47 (4 percent) had a critical illness and 165 (14 percent) had a major infection. The participants' age at the first visit was 52.7 years, 60 percent were women, 28 percent were African-American and 5 percent met criteria for dementia. The research team found that hospitalization during the follow-up period, regardless of the reason, was associated with 9 percent greater white matter hyperintensity volume and significantly lower integrity of white matter microstructure. Among the 1,214 hospitalized patients in the analysis, those who had one or more critical illness had a 3 percent smaller brain volume in brain regions such as the hippocampus that are implicated in Alzheimer's disease. Major infection was associated with both smaller brain volume in regions vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease (2 percent smaller) and 10 percent larger brain ventricle volume. Although infection can, in some instances, cause critical illness, the research team found that infection alone (without critical illness) was associated with reduced brain volume later in life. Walker and the research team say they plan to examine how each hospitalization event relates to inflammation in the brain and systemic inflammation. They suspect, based on a growing body of research, that events such as critical illness and infection can cause brain inflammation, which leads to the observed reduction in brain volume. Together, these brain changes are thought to set the stage for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, which is estimated to occur in one in every three older adults in the U.S. ### Other authors on this paper were Rebecca Gottesman, Aozhou Wu, David Knopman and Charles Brown IV of Johns Hopkins; Thomas Mosley Jr. of University of Mississippi Medical Center; Alvaro Alonso of Emory University and Anna-Kucharska-Newton of the University of North Carolina. Funding for this study was provided by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute contracts (grant numbers HHSN268201100005C, HHSN268201100006C, HHSN268201100007C, HHSN268201100008C, HSN268201100009C, HHSN268201100010C, HHSN268201100011C and HHSN268201100012C). Neurocognitive data collection is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (grant numbers U01 HL096812, HL096814, HL096899, HL096902, HL096917), with previous brain MRI examinations funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (grant number R01-HL70825). This study was also supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (AG027668 to Keenan Walker) and (AG052573 to Rebecca Gottesman. Support for the statistical analysis was provided by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health (grant number 1UL1TR001079). MAYWOOD, IL - Loyola University Chicago and Loyola Medicine have announced plans to become the first Chicago center to produce cancer-fighting CAR-T cells to treat leukemia and lymphoma. CAR-T cell therapy has been shown to be remarkably effective in treating cancer patients who have failed standard treatments, but it is expensive and can cause severe side effects. Loyola is planning on producing a more purified CAR-T cell product that potentially could reduce toxicities and costs. The Leukemia Research Foundation is supporting the research with a lead gift of $250,000 to Loyola University Chicago. CAR-T therapy harnesses the patient's immune system to fight cancer. In the Loyola clinical trial, T-cells will be collected from the patient and sent to Loyola's clean lab. There, the cells will be genetically modified to target and kill cancer cells. Millions of these engineered T-cells then will be infused back into the patient. (T-cells play an essential role in the immune system. They flow through the bloodstream to fight viruses, bacteria and other foreign invaders. CAR-T is short for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell.) Loyola is among the Chicago centers that have treated patients with CAR-T cells developed by pharmaceutical companies. Now Loyola will be the first Chicago center to produce its own CAR-T cells. The cells will be made available to other centers in Chicago and beyond once initial testing is completed. "We're working to develop a more pure CAR-T product that would lessen toxic side effects and potentially increase the number of eligible patients," said Patrick Stiff, MD, Loyola's director of hematology/oncology research and division director of hematology/oncology. Dr. Stiff is directing Loyola's CAR-T research, along with Michael Nishimura, PhD, program director of immunologic therapies. Kevin Radelet, executive director of the Leukemia Research Foundation, said supporting CAR-T research "directly aligns with our mission of funding medical research and enriching the quality of life of those touched by these diseases." The Leukemia Research Foundation, based in Northfield, Illinois, has awarded $30 million in research grants to more than 500 researchers and more than 200 research institutions in 13 countries. The Foundation also is providing $1.67 million in "New Investigator" grants to 12 young researchers during the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Loyola University Medical Center participated in a groundbreaking clinical trial of CAR-T therapy published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The multi-center study included patients with certain types of large B cell lymphoma who had failed standard treatments. Forty-two percent were in complete remission after 15 months - a remarkable result since most patients had exhausted all other treatment options. The study found that 95 percent of the patients experienced at least one severe side effect. By producing a less toxic product, it may be possible to move the expensive inpatient therapy to an outpatient setting. This could allow many more patients to be treated, including Medicare patients who comprise approximately 50 percent of the lymphoma population. The CAR-T cells will be produced in the McCormick Tribune Foundation Center for Cellular Therapy in Loyola's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center. The center provides a super-clean environment to produce pure cell populations free of contamination from fungi, microbes, etc. Loyola's cellular center complies with strict standards set by the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health. Loyola has used the cellular center to produce cancer-fighting immune cells for clinical trials in melanoma and ovarian cancer patients, and other trials are planned. Also, Dr. Nishimura is producing immune cells for an NIH clinical trial on an experimental treatment for kidney cancer. Loyola initially will test its CAR-T cells on patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia and B-cell non-Hodgkin's' lymphoma who have failed standard treatments. A Phase 1 trial will determine the effectiveness and toxicity of the CAR-T cells. Then, a Phase 2 trial will determine the effectiveness of the CAR-T cells in a larger patient sample, consisting of patients from throughout the Chicago area. Loyola will offer CAR-T cells to other medical centers in this region, across the country and even globally to advance the science more quickly. The Leukemia Research Foundation's support of Loyola's CAR-T research arose out of a casual conversation Dr. Stiff had with foundation officials about Loyola's CAR-T research. "We realized there were synergies between our goals and the foundation's goals," Dr. Stiff said. Mr. Radelet added, "We are thrilled to be able to support this groundbreaking research in Chicago, where the Leukemia Research Foundation has a large footprint." ### A study by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers - collaborating with a team at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden - has documented for the first time widespread inflammation in the brains of patients with the poorly understood condition called fibromyalgia. Their report has been published online in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity. "We don't have good treatment options for fibromyalgia, so identifying a potential treatment target could lead to the development of innovative, more effective therapies," says Marco Loggia, PhD, of the MGH-based Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, co-senior author of the report. "And finding objective neurochemical changes in the brains of patients with fibromyalgia should help reduce the persistent stigma that many patients face, often being told their symptoms are imaginary and there's nothing really wrong with them." Characterized by symptoms including chronic widespread pain, sleep problems, fatigue, and problems with thinking and memory, fibromyalgia affects around 4 million adults in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Previous research from the Karolinska group led by Eva Kosek, MD, PhD, co-senior author of the current study, suggested a potential role for neuroinflammation in the condition - including elevated levels of inflammatory proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid - but no previous study has directly visualized neuroinflammation in fibromyalgia patients. A 2015 study by Loggia's team used combined MR/PET scanning to document neuroinflammation - specifically activation of glial cells - in the brains of patients with chronic back pain. Hypothesizing that similar glial activation might be found in fibromyalgia patients as well, his team used the same PET radiopharmaceutical, which binds to the translocator protein (TSPO) that is overexpressed by activated glial cells, in their study enrolling 20 fibromyalgia patients and 14 control volunteers. At the same time, Kosek's team at Karolinska had enrolled a group of 11 patients and an equal number of control participants for a similar study with the TSPO-binding PET tracer. Since that radiopharmaceutical binds to two types of glial cells - microglia and astrocytes - they also imaged 11 patients, 6 who had the TSPO imaging and 5 others, and another 11 controls with a PET tracer that is thought to bind preferentially to astrocytes and not to microglia. At both centers, participants with fibromyalgia completed questionnaires to assess their symptoms. When the MGH team became aware of the similar investigation the Karolinska group had underway, the teams decided to combine their data into a single study. The results from both centers found that glial activation in several regions of the brains of fibromyalgia patients was significantly greater than it was in control participants. Compared to the MGH team's chronic back pain study, TSPO elevations were more widespread throughout the brain, which Loggia indicates corresponds to the more complex symptom patterns of fibromyalgia. TSPO levels in a structure called the cingulate gyrus - an area associated with emotional processing where neuroinflammation has been reported in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome - corresponded with patients reported levels of fatigue. The Karolinska team's studies with the astrocyte-binding tracer found little difference between patients and controls, suggesting that microglia were primarily responsible for the increased neuro-inflammation in fibromyalgia patients. "The activation of glial cells we observed in our studies releases inflammatory mediators that are thought to sensitize pain pathways and contribute to symptoms such as fatigue," says Loggia, an assistant professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School. "The ability to join forces with our colleagues at Karolinska was fantastic, because combining our data and seeing similar results at both sites gives confidence to the reliability of our results." ### The co-lead authors of the Brain, Behavior and Immunity report are Daniel Albrecht, PhD, MGH Martinos Center and Department of Radiology, and Anton Forsberg, PhD, Karolinska Institutet. Support for the study includes U.S. Department of Defense grant W81XWH-14-1-0543; National Institutes of Health grants R01 NS094306-01A1, R01 NS095937-01A1 and R21 NS087472-01A1; an International Association for the Study of Pain Early Career Award, and funding from the Stockholm County Council the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Rheumatism Association and the Fibromyalgia Association of Sweden. Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $900 million and major research centers in HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, genomic medicine, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, photomedicine and transplantation biology. The MGH topped the 2015 Nature Index list of health care organizations publishing in leading scientific journals and earned the prestigious 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service. In August 2018 the MGH was once again named to the Honor Roll in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals." Mathematicians at the Higher School of Economics have developed a model that explains how cell specialization arises in the context of resource constraints. The results are published in PLOS ONE journal. The division of labour and the functional specialization of cells are manifested at different levels of organization of life. Even in simple multicellular organisms (e.g., cyanobacteria, mycobacteria, multicellular yeast), specialization of two types can be observed: somatic, when cells are responsible for viability, and reproductive, when cells are responsible only for reproduction. The question of how the specialization of cells occurs is of interest not only for biologists, but also for mathematicians who build models of biological processes. However, many models of specialization used in evolutionary biology to describe the processes that take place in the simplest multicellular organisms have a number of shortcomings. For example, they do not take into account the influence of the environment on the system. In the article 'Modeling functional specialization of a cell colony under different fecundity and viability rates and resource constraint,' scientists from the Higher School of Economics and the University of Quebec in Montreal proposed a model that explains the conditions under which cellular specialization arises under resource constraints. One of the most common models today belongs to Richard Michod. It assumes that identical cells demonstrate the same degree of viability and fecundity. 'This ideal distribution of cells is difficult to imagine in living systems. In addition, the system cannot exist in isolation because it is always influenced by the environment,' notes Fuad Aleskerov, Professor at the Higher School of Economics. 'Our model shows that in terms of resource constraints, specialization happens so as to help the entire body be more efficient under current environmental parameters.' Researchers considered a model in which a different amount of resources is required to perform somatic and reproductive functions (for simplicity, sunlight is treated as a resource). - Suppose that in order to perform a somatic function, the body needs 1 joule (J) while to perform the reproductive function 5 J are necessary. The input from the external environment is 4 J. In this situation, the cells will specialize in such a way that ensures that the entire system works effectively. The number of cells responsible for viability will increase since they need less energy. To what extent this model corresponds to reality remains a question for biologists to verify. - In addition to considering general resource constraints, the proposed model takes into account other aspects of the biology of protozoan multicellular organisms, says Denis Tverskoy, a postgraduate student at the Higher School of Economics. In particular, the model considers the parameters of the importance of reproductive and somatic functions for the effectiveness of organisms. Biological experiments show that in some types of environments the somatic function may be more important than in others. In addition, the model allows for the possibility of initial differentiation of cells, which occurs at the stage of embryonic development as a result of the work of special regulatory genes or external chemical stimuli. ### Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on September 27 2018/09/27 Q: According to reports, at a meeting of the UN Security Council on September 26, the US leader accused China of trying to interfere in the upcoming US mid-term elections in retaliation for the US government's trade policies on China. What is your comment? A: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi already made clear China's stance in his immediate response to such accusation at the UN Security Council. As a diplomatic tradition, China has been committed to the principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs. The international community knows that already. The international community also knows who is so used to frequently interfering in other countries' domestic affairs. We urge the US to stop its unwarranted accusations and slandering against China and stop doing or saying anything to hurt bilateral relations and the fundamental interests of the two peoples. Q: The US leader said that China Daily placed propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers which were made to look like news, because they want to influence American farmers. What is your response? A: According to US laws, foreign media could have various forms of cooperation with US media. China Daily putting up a paid piece on the Des Moines Register is just one of those forms, as I understand. Many foreign media do that. It is absolutely far-fetched and fictitious to paint such normal cooperation as the Chinese government trying to interfere in the US election. Q: Is President Trump lying or mistaken when he accused China of interfering in the mid-term elections? A: Like I said just now, as a diplomatic tradition, China has been committed to the principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs. The international community knows that already. The international community also knows who is so used to frequently interfering in other countries' domestic affairs. We urge the US to stop its unwarranted accusations and slandering against China and stop doing or saying anything to hurt bilateral relations and the fundamental interests of the two peoples. Q: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday. The DPRK agreed that the foreign ministries of the two countries should maintain close communication and coordination. Do the foreign ministries of China and the DPRK have the plan for mutual visit soon? A: As friendly neighbors, China and the DPRK maintain normal exchanges and cooperation. The foreign ministries of our two countries also remain in effective communication and coordination. If there is any important exchange between our foreign ministries, we will issue relevant information in a timely manner. Q: It is reported that the US fighter jets recently flew over the South China Sea and East China Sea. Do you think that this has anything to do with President Trump accusing China of interfering in the US mid-term elections? A: We have noted relevant reports. We will further verify the relevant situation. What needs to be pointed out is that China respects and upholds the freedom of navigation and overflight all countries enjoy under international law, but firmly opposes the relevant country impairing the sovereignty and security of the littoral countries and disrupting regional peace and stability under the pretext of freedom of navigation and overflight. Alaska has a near-pristine marine ecosystem--it has fewer invasive species in its waters than almost any other state in the U.S. But that could be changing. With help from local volunteers, biologists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and Temple University have reported a new invasive species in the Ketchikan region, the invertebrate filter-feeder Bugula neritina, and documented the continuing spread of three other non-native species. Ketchikan, a town of about 8,000 people on the southern tip of Alaska, is a gateway to more remote Alaskan waters in the north. It sits fewer than 100 nautical miles from British Columbia, so invasive species travelling from southern ports are likely to appear in Ketchikan first. But detecting marine invasive species is a constant challenge, even in a single harbor. By collaborating with citizen scientists from Ketchikan, Smithsonian researchers were able to document these new invasive species hopefully as soon as they arrived. "It's really important to know when new non-native species show up. They may be tiny invertebrates, but they can create big problems," said lead author Laura Jurgens, who was a SERC postdoc at the time of the study. "Early detection means you have a better chance of controlling them before the populations get established. In other places, like California, Oregon and Washington, these organisms have displaced local marine animals or had economic impacts by fouling boats, fishing or aquaculture gear." The research focused on invasive "fouling organisms," animals that live their lives glued to hard surfaces, filtering food from the water. To find the species, the scientists hung hard plastic squares from local docks and waited to see what grew on them. Between visits from the researchers, citizen scientists tended the squares, corresponding with SERC scientists to identify the animals growing there. The new invader, B. neritina, is what is called a branching bryozoan. Like coral, bryozoans are colonies of tiny animals that together resemble undersea lichen, and are sometimes referred to as moss animals or sea lace. B. neritina had been observed all across California, but never as far north as Alaska. "It's a really obvious bryozoan species," said Jurgens. "It's the only purple thing in a forest of brown. So when you see it, you kind of gasp." The other species found in the study are tunicates, leathery invertebrates that are prolific in southern waters. Two of these tunicate species, the golden star and chain tunicates, seem to be spreading in Ketchikan. The discoveries, published Sept. 27 in BioInvasions Records, are the culmination of years of observation by scientists from the Smithsonian, Temple University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, as well as local citizen scientists. The project was hosted locally by the University of Southeast Alaska. In 2003, a group of scientists from SERC conducted an initial survey of Ketchikan, and noticed the chain tunicate, native to the western Pacific. In 2007, SERC established a citizen-science monitoring program called Plate Watch. Local citizen scientists--including a teacher and students from a nearby high school--have documented the chain tunicate's spread ever since. One of these citizen scientists was the first to notice the arrival of the golden star tunicate in Ketchikan waters in 2010. When scientists returned to Alaska in 2016, they found that the golden star and chain tunicates had become much more abundant than a decade earlier. They also noted the arrival of Bugula neritina, and the appearance of another tunicate, the solitary sea squirt Ciona savignyi, not seen in Alaska since 1903. "One of the great things about this was that citizen scientists originally found the star tunicate," said Jurgens. "We were then able to complement their work with intensive surveys for rare species." If these species become established in Ketchikan, scientists worry they could rapidly spread to other Alaskan waters. Since they spread largely by boat traffic, Ketchikan harbor, a hub for ships travelling north, could be a launching site for more invasions. Ketchikan is the first stop in Alaska for many cruise lines. Invasive species in its harbors will likely hitch rides further north, disturbing remote ecosystems. "There are four or five cruise ships here every day in the summer," said Gary Freitag, a coauthor of the study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "It doubles the town's population." The scientists do not think there is a particular reason the species are arriving now. It is an inevitability in a region with heavy boat traffic. "There's always been a lot of potential for invasive species to show up," Freitag said. Climate change might also speed up the process: Warming means new arrivals are more likely to survive in once-cold waters. And as Arctic ice melts, more ship traffic will head north to take advantage of an open Arctic Passage. That makes it even more important to keep an eye on Ketchikan, said Jurgens. Observing invasive species in real time helps scientists understand how invaders spread and establish themselves. "If we know when they arrive, it also helps us study what factors, like climate warming and human activities, might exacerbate their spread, so we can better predict when and where they might show up next," she said. The next step, according to SERC scientist Linda McCann, is to extend the reach of the citizen science network. "Education and prevention go together," said McCann, who also acts as regional coordinator for Plate Watch. "We can't be everywhere, and it's incredibly valuable to have local eyes on the ground. It's much more likely that management works if we detect invasive species early." ### The full text of the paper is available at https://doi.org/10.3391/bir.2018.7.4.02. For images or to speak with one of the scientists, contact Philip Kiefer at (206) 235-5616 or kieferp@si.edu or Kristen Minogue at (443) 482-2325 or minoguek@si.edu. At the Cluster of Excellence CeTI, scientists from the fields of electrical engineering, communication technology, computer science, psychology, neuroscience and medicine are working together with researchers from TU Munich, the German Aerospace Center, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, as well as international scientific institutions, to pursue this goal. They take an interdisciplinary approach to investigating key areas of human control in the cooperation between man and machine, software and hardware design, sensor and actuator technologies and communication networks. The research forms the basis for novel applications in medicine, industry (Industry 4.0, co-working) and the 'Internet of Skills' (education, rehabilitation). The success of digitalisation continues resolutely, while devices and processes become ever more interconnected. In the foreseeable future, our daily lives will be shaped by robotic support. The scientists in the Cluster of Excellence CeTI at TU Dresden want to actively influence this transition, thereby establishing Dresden as a recognised research hub in this promising field of the future. "Now that the internet has fundamentally changed our access to information, the next step will be for the Tactile Internet to enable more people to participate equally in society and to acquire skills -- regardless of age, physical limitations, cultural background, etc. To achieve this, functional interaction between man and machine is essential," explains Professor Frank Fitzek, spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence. So-called intelligent and adaptive systems are crucial for successful, real-time communication. They are not bound to a particular device and can adapt to changing environments. To ensure success in this endeavour, CeTI will pursue unique and interdisciplinary research with six central goals. The development of an intelligent network, which links people by continually adapting and learning, and furthermore guarantees a hardly noticeable time delay while being highly reliable The transfer of psychological and medical insights from the human learning process to machines The creation of extensions for the human mind and body using novel sensor and actuator technologies The development of haptic coding schemes to cope with the deluge of information stemming from the large number of sensors The design of flexible, fast and reconfigurable electronics The transfer of new developments to applications in robot-assisted medicine, in cooperations between man and machine, and in the field of innovative teaching and learning CeTI creates an international, open and flexible environment, in order to educate the next generation of exceptional researchers and to bolster their careers. Through facilitating this technology transfer, CeTI will accompany this fundamental technological change, whilst taking into account the associated social questions in the development process. ### Further information available at: http://www.ceti.one At a moment when boundaries of religious rights are in conflict and prominent in American conversation, Andrew Lewis looks at perspectives often unconsidered. Lewis, a University of Cincinnati political scientist and award-winning author, focuses his research on the nexus of American politics and religion and sees a potential shift in Christian conservative political strategies, especially for religious rights advocacy. To get an accurate picture of hot-button religious freedom issues and their broad cultural implications, Lewis surveyed a random but equal sampling of 1,100 men, women, liberals and conservatives across all demographics and political affiliations in 2018. He presented the results of this research titled, Reciprocity and the Politics of Religious Liberty in the U.S. at the American Political Science Association conference in September. The primary objective was to understand whether the general public is more receptive to evangelicals claim for religious freedom exemptions if they see evangelicals supporting Muslims religious freedom exemptions, says Lewis. As part of the survey, we presented the story of two Muslim truck drivers in a discrimination case. At the end of the story we asked participants to state whether they support the right of the truck drivers to refuse to deliver beer based on their religious beliefs or the companys right to fire them. Overall, Lewis found only 28 percent of participants indicated support for the Muslim mens religious freedom claim while 48 percent claimed support for the business. The rest were unsure. The way the results lined up, however, provide insight for current battles over religious freedom . Religious liberty for all? Among the results there were clear partisan differences, says Lewis. While Democrats are still more likely to oppose religious freedom rights in general, they were much more supportive of those rights for the Muslim truck drivers than Republicans were. The takeaway here is that most of the movement toward increased tolerance for the Muslims was on the liberal left," adds Lewis. More than a third of the support for the mens religious freedom came from Democrats and only a quarter of the support from Republicans. As a result of his research, Lewis is considering a follow-up to his 2017 book The Rights Turn in Conservative Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars. As the cultural politics of religious freedom explodes, a portion of Americans, particularly white Christians, view their religious freedoms as threatened, says Lewis. In fact, recent polls find that evangelicals now believe they face higher levels of discrimination than Muslims in the U.S., and Republicans see both whites and Christians facing more discrimination than blacks, immigrants and other minorities. Since evangelical Christian conservatives no longer view themselves as the moral majority, Lewis says they have turned to successful political tactics often adopted by the liberal left. Those strategies have worked. One example involved the legal case of Hobby Lobby v. Burwell for religious exemptions for corporations, and another Supreme Court win required religious freedom claims to be respected when considering whether a Colorado baker had the right to refuse service for a same-sex marriage. But does this mean religious freedom in this country is just for evangelical Christians who claim it or does the support of religious liberty apply more broadly? Evolving perspectives To look at the possible trajectory of religious liberty claims in the U.S., Lewis survey presented the case of two Muslim truck drivers in Illinois, who were suddenly required to deliver beer and alcohol on their trucks. The drivers refused based on their religion, which forbids drinking or working with alcohol, and were subsequently fired for not participating. After claiming they should have been given accommodation for their religious views, the men took their case all the way through the court system. In fact, the Obama administrations Equal Employment Opportunity Commission actually supported these truck drivers and said they should have had more protection from being fired. Whats fun about this case is that it turns some of the traditional arguments on their head, says Lewis. Here you have a liberal who is asking for a religious exemption. Survey participants received the story with varying degrees of details. They either got the story by itself or a version with an addendum at the end of the story from either the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) or the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian legal advocacy group both wielding support for the mens religious rights but from their own perspectives. Respondents were asked whether they support the truck drivers or the company. They were also asked whether they favor or oppose allowing a small business owner to refuse products or services to gay or lesbian customers if doing so violates their religious beliefs. Ultimately, we found it tough for Republicans to support the Muslim truck drivers no matter which story version they read. Even after their ADF allies supported the men, the Republicans werent willing to bend, says Lewis. Evangelical Christian conservatives, however, can become primed to be more supportive when they see the issue in comparison to the same-sex marriage exemptions. As he expected, Lewis found greater support for the truck drivers coming from liberals. What he found more remarkable, however, is how Democrats or liberals are less opposed to the Christian same-sex marriage exemptions once they see the issue through the perspective of the Muslims religious freedom case. So liberals are essentially saying, Oh, I hadnt thought about that in this context. Its not just about the Christians, now it applies to all groups, says Lewis. The implications of this finding for current politics is apparent. "If Republicans want to garner support for religious freedom rights from the left and others outside evangelical Christian conservative groups, they may need to increase their tolerance for all religious freedoms. Inclusive solutions When asked how they rank their favorite constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech, religious freedom, protections against cruel and unusual punishment, freedom from discrimination and others, Republicans and evangelicals ranked religious freedom lower after reading about the Muslim case. Seeing the issue from the others point of view made them less supportive of that right, claims Lewis. While most of the increased tolerance was reflected on the left, Republicans and Independents basically stayed the same and were less willing to support the truck drivers religious freedoms, even though they were campaigning for the same rights, says Lewis. In fact, when groups like the ACLU supported the Muslim religious freedoms, the right becomes less supportive of religious freedoms in general. Going forward, it would be in the rights best interest to tie in the freedoms for all religions to gather more effective support from the left and those outside the evangelical Christian conservative groups, asserts Lewis. While the religious freedom rights issue will get highly publicized and problematic in the upcoming election, a pluralistic solution where we tolerate other groups would be ideal and is possible but difficult. ### It is a major boost to cutting-edge research in Freiburg: in the current Excellence Strategy competition, scientists at the University of Freiburg have been granted two Clusters of Excellence, CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies, and livMatS - Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems. With these successful full proposals, up to 100 million euros will, over the next seven years, go towards Biological Signalling Studies and Bioinspired Materials Research, which are two of the University of Freiburg's profile fields. Funding for the new Clusters of Excellence will begin on January 1, 2019. "I am delighted by this announcement, and I congratulate our outstanding researchers, whose extraordinary dedication over the past few months has made our new Clusters possible," says Prof. Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg. "I would also like to thank all the staff in the university administration who have provided such great support to our Cluster Teams. This success is due to all of you, and true to our motto 'Connecting Creative Minds' proves what is possible when we transcend the borders between scientific disciplines and work together to develop new ideas. I am confident that in the coming years the two Clusters - with their creativity and passion - will bring their promising research programs to fruition and produce groundbreaking insights and innovations." With this result, Freiburg has fulfilled the requirement to apply for the second funding line of the competition as a University of Excellence. The application must be submitted by December 10, 2018. The decision on the future Universities of Excellence will be announced on July 19, 2019. "Our new Clusters have delivered and have thereby bestowed the University of Freiburg with a 100 percent success in the first funding line. We are delighted about this ideal result, which also spurs us to take on the next step. We are confident that we are also well-positioned in the competition for the title of University of Excellence," says Schiewer. Rankings such as the Funding Atlas of the German Research Foundation (DFG) that was published in July 2018 document the outstanding research performance of the University of Freiburg: they show that in relation to the number of professors and range of subjects it offers, the University of Freiburg is by far the most successfully funded university in Germany. Statements on the Cluster decision Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber, CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies: "We are elated that we now have the opportunity to put our creativity into effect. With the granting of CIBSS, we are reaping the fruits of long-term strategic planning on the part of the University and the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics. Through the appointment of colleagues in complementary, forward-looking research fields and through the systematic development of an outstanding research infrastructure, we have been afforded perfect starting conditions to obtain a comprehensive, integrative understanding of biological communication processes. We are full of enthusiasm to enter this new frontier together and to develop innovative solutions for pressing challenges in medicine and in the sustainable production of crops." Prof. Dr. Jurgen Ruhe, Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS): "We are delighted that our concept livMatS was chosen as a Cluster of Excellence and that we can now realize our vision of entirely novel materials systems. Now it's full steam ahead with work on developing materials systems that can adapt their characteristics to their environment like living beings and also use clean energy, which they harvest from their environment. Our team will combine natural and engineering sciences and the humanities in transformative research, and further develop Freiburg's strong position in materials research." Prof. Dr. Gunther Neuhaus, Vice-President for Research: "The success of our Clusters of Excellence is further evidence that Biological Signalling Studies and Bioinspired Materials Research at the University of Freiburg are gaining an outstanding position both nationally and internationally. My thanks go to both Cluster teams and the administrative staff who support them. We have all worked intensively in the past few months. I am extremely delighted that we have now achieved our shared goal - it's a great day for all those involved and for the entire university." CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies Biological signalling research examines the biological communication processes that are fundamental to life and health. It explores how cells sense and react to diverse conditions and cues, and how they communicate with one another to form and maintain a functioning organism - whether it be human, animal or plant. While knowledge about individual signalling processes has expanded greatly in recent years, it is still unclear how the plethora of signals are coordinated and how they are intertwined with other fundamental biological processes such as metabolism. It is the goal of the Excellence Cluster CIBSS - the Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies to gain a comprehensive understanding of signalling processes. CIBSS will study the integration of different signalling processes across scales - from individual molecules and cells, to tissues and entire organisms. An important element for such a comprehensive understanding of signalling is how signalling processes and metabolism influence each other. CIBSS aims to take on a pioneering role in this emerging research field, termed Metabolic Signalling. Based on this knowledge, CIBSS will use methods from synthetic and chemical biology to develop tailor-made molecular tools to precisely control signalling processes. This will not only accelerate research but will also enable CIBSS to develop innovative strategies to address key challenges - from the treatment of cancer with new immunotherapies to the development of strategies for the sustainable and resource-preserving growth of crops. The success of CIBSS is founded on the University of Freiburg's strong tradition of excellence in biological signalling research, which is currently funded in several Collaborative Research Centres and the BIOSS Excellence Cluster. Building on this collaborative research, Freiburg's modern research infrastructure, and an innovative research program, CIBSS aims to establish Freiburg as an international hub for integrative signalling research. Looking into the future, CIBSS is implementing new strategies to empower the next generation of signalling scientists and to promote cross-border scientific collaborations. International collaborations will be supported within the framework of a new trinational network, as well as the Freiburg Research Collaboration (FRESCO) program. CIBSS will also be a core member of the Freiburg Network on Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of Science and Technology (FELSA), which is a new university-wide platform for interdisciplinary research and open dialogue on the far-reaching implications of science and technology. Scientists from the University, the University Medical Center and the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics jointly developed the CIBSS Research Proposal. The interdisciplinary team of spokespersons includes Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber (Faculty of Biology, Synthetic Biology), Prof. Dr. Carola Hunte (Faculty of Medicine, Biochemistry and Structural Biology), and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Driever (Faculty of Biology, Developmental Biology). More information can be found on the Excellence Portal of the University of Freiburg: http://www.exzellenz.uni-freiburg.de/de/exzellenzstrategie/clusterinitiativen-freiburg/cibss Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) The Cluster Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) develops bioinspired materials systems that autonomously adapt to different environments and harvest clean energy from their environment. Present-day materials have characteristics that are imprinted on them during the production process and that do not change over time. For instance, they have a specific strength, hardness, transparency or conductivity that - apart from inevitable aging - hardly changes during the lifespan of the material. This enables the use of such materials for everyday purposes, but also under extreme conditions that are hostile for living beings, e.g. in the deep sea, in the desert and even in outer space. In contrast, all living beings ranging from single-cells to multicellular organisms are never static, and constantly adapt to the environment. The key to the survival of all living beings is the maximum degree of adaptability to an indifferent, sometimes hostile environment. However, the ability to adapt to changed environmental conditions comes at a price: adapting to the environment costs energy, which must be obtained from food or sunlight. The vision of livMatS is to combine the best of both worlds: the world of nature and the world of technology. The materials systems developed by the livMatS Cluster adapt their characteristics to changes in the environment and 'harvest' the necessary energy from this environment. Life-like characteristics such as these are not generated by a single 'miracle material', but can only be realized as complex systems. Even though livMatS is mainly focused on fundamental research, there are numerous potential applications for these systems. Examples include helmets, back protectors or prostheses that can adapt to the wearer automatically and without batteries - for instance by using body heat, packaging materials that automatically strengthen under a load, or building facades that compensate for temperature differences and prevent overheating, for instance. In order to make this vision a reality, livMatS has brought together scientists from six faculties in an interdisciplinary team. This team builds on the established research foci of the University of Freiburg in the fields of energy research, polymer science, biomimetics and microsystems engineering, and combines them with sustainability research, behavioral sciences and philosophy. The livMatS Cluster is based in the Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies (FIT) and reinforces the strategic alliance of the University with the Freiburg Fraunhofer Association institutions. The Cluster is represented by an interdisciplinary team of speakers, consisting of Prof. Dr. Jurgen Ruhe (Faculty of Engineering, spokesperson), Prof. Dr. Anna Fischer (Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, vice spokesperson), and Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck (Faculty of Biology, vice spokesperson). ### More information can be found on the Excellence Portal of the University of Freiburg: http://www.exzellenz.uni-freiburg.de/de/exzellenzstrategie/clusterinitiativen-freiburg/living-adaptive-and-energy-autonomous-materials-systems-livmats Contact: Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber CIBSS - Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies / Institute of Biology II University of Freiburg Tel.: +49 761 203-97654 cibss@mail.uni-freiburg.de Prof. Dr. Jurgen Ruhe Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) / Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) University of Freiburg Tel.: +49 761 203-7160 ruehe@imtek.uni-freiburg.de 35 children out of every 10,000 are in social care, with the equivalent for England, Wales and Scotland being 52, 62 and 82 NEW research has uncovered massive differences in children's social care between the four countries of the UK, with Northern Ireland emerging as the territory where young people are much less likely to be fostered or taken into residential care. This is despite the fact that the province has the UK's biggest percentage of children living in deprived areas. Now the researchers - headed by a University of Huddersfield professor - are investigating the reasons for Northern Ireland's lower rates and the lessons that can be learned. Policy makers should be profoundly interested in the findings, states Paul Bywaters in a new online article. He is Professor of Social Work at Huddersfield and a leader of the Child Welfare Inequalities Project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and involving experts based at seven UK universities. They include Professor Brid Featherstone, who is Head of the Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences at the University of Huddersfield. Latest outputs from the project include a co-authored article titled Child welfare inequalities in the four nations of the UK that appears in the Journal of Social Work. Professor Bywater has also written Country matters: inequalities in children's social care, appearing on the CommunityCare website for the social work profession. The article, includes statistics which show that in Northern Ireland, 48 children out of every 10,000 living in the most deprived areas are looked after in foster or residential care. The equivalent figures for England, Wales and Scotland are 112, 135 and 188 respectively. Figures also indicate that children in Northern Ireland are more likely to be on the child protection register - meaning they stay with their families - than to be looked after away from their homes. "We don't yet understand the reasons for these large differences, which do not seem to be the focus of government interest. It is clear that within each country family economic circumstances and ethnicity are the most significant factors, but between the four UK countries other factors must be at work," writes Professor Bywaters. Children's social care - variations Professor Bywaters analyses different legal and social care systems around the UK - including Scotland's Children's Hearing system - but adds that "there may be something different about the strengths of families and communities in the four countries, with local solidarity and resistance to state involvement in family life perhaps greatest in Northern Ireland." Professor Bywaters writes that the UK's cross-country inequalities mostly matter because "decisions to separate children from their families or keep them together reverberate through the rest of their lives and the lives of their siblings, parents and grandparents." "Partly in response to our findings, Glasgow has embarked on a radical culture change which is already significantly reducing the numbers of children in residential and foster care and rebalancing services towards family support," continues Professor Bywaters, adding that there are also economic reasons why policy makers and professional leaders should want to understand the inequalities. "We estimate that if other countries had Northern Ireland's rates... there would be around 40 per cent fewer looked after children in England, 50 per cent fewer in Wales and 60 per cent fewer in Scotland. In England, this equates to around 1.6 billion per year, which could be available to spend on keeping families safe and together, just under 20 per cent of the total children's services budget." The Child Welfare Inequalities team is now examining whether practice on the front line in Northern Ireland and the family and community context is significantly different from that in the other countries and it aims to report on this by end of the year, writes Professor Bywaters. But he adds that: "Cross country comparisons are bedevilled by inadequate data systems which do not easily transfer across national borders. So it is the four UK governments that need to take a lead." ### Bacterial wilt devastates major food crops world-wide; so far farmers had to wait for mature plants to observe resistance to the disease. Now a new approach promises to forecast cultivar resistance much earlier than was possible before: at seedling stage Bacterial wilt devastates food crops all over the world. It destroys major crop plants such as tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, ginger and pepper. It occurs in many countries and attacks over 200 plant species. The bacterium which causes the disease lingers in soil, seeds and plant material for years. It can infect water and farming equipment as well. Plant breeders and farmers would like to know how resistant a cultivar is to the bacterium as early as possible. But so far they have had to plant - and then wait for mature plants to observe resistance in the fields. Now research shows a possible way of saving time and reducing risk significantly for farmers and plant breeders. A new approach promises to forecast cultivar resistance much earlier than was possible before. Researchers can now analyse cultivar resistance at seedling stage for a range of threats. They use plant metabolomics and statistical modelling to decode the plants' chemical defences. Combined with genetic methods, the approach will be useful to identify resistance which depends on several genes, a long-standing challenge in plant breeding. Farmer's dilemma "When farmers buy seed, they need to think about the threats the plants will have to survive. A farm may have drought and heat, for example. If the soil is already infected with Ralstonia solanacearum bacteria that cause wilt, the farmer has two choices, says Prof Ian Dubery. He is the Director of the Centre for Plant Metabolomics Research at the University of Johannesburg. "First, don't plant crops that get attacked by bacterial wilt. Two, choose plant cultivars that are more resistant. If there is drought and heat and bacterial wilt, the farmer wants a cultivar that is resistant enough to all three threats." This may look simple in the age of full-genome DNA sequencing. Analyse all the genes of the cultivars, and pick the ones with the right genes for the threats on a particular farm. But a plant's resistance may not work like that. For one threat, a single gene may switch resistance on or off. For another, several genes may be involved. "It is difficult to see which cultivars are resistant to bacterial wilt. Resistance to Ralstonia solanacearum is a multigenic trait - it depends on many genes - and these are not well understood yet. It will take time before science knows how it works," adds Dubery. Relying on what plants look like can be deceptive as well. When plants are young, it may be possible to tell that a cultivar is unable to defend itself against a threat - that it is susceptible. But eliminating susceptible cultivars doesn't reliably leave you with resistant ones, says Dubery. In plant immunity, susceptibility and resistance can be heavily influenced by environmental factors. With the current situation, farmers risk seedlings dying in infected soil. Mature plants can also turn out less resistant than expected. Plant breeders risk time on improving cultivars which turn out unsuitable for agriculture. Chemical tomato defences For the research article, then-Honours student Dylan Zeiss studied four tomato cultivars. The cultivars show medium to high resistance to Ralstonia solanacearum in commercial agriculture. He took bits of leaves, stems and roots from healthy plants of each cultivar and mashed them up. Then he analysed these mixes for chemicals that the cultivars make to defend themselves. "Plants can develop resistance to threats, such as bacteria, viruses or environmental stresses. But unlike animals, they do not have circulating immune cells in support of acquired immunity," says Zeiss. "Plants use the innate resistance encoded by their genes. They also synthesize a variety of anti-microbial chemicals to counter threats. For each threat, a plant needs to make a different chemical 'cocktail'. The needed cocktail can vary, depending on location, weather and other stresses," he says. Zeiss analysed 41 of these chemicals, called secondary metabolites, from the tomato cultivars. He used liquid chromatography coupled with high definition mass spectrometry. This showed which cultivars made what metabolites, and how much. Then the researchers ran the raw data through a statistics engine to do multivariate analysis. Better than genetics alone Plants 'notice' what is attacking them in their environment. Some cultivars are better at noticing several threats at once, and making all the chemicals needed to defend themselves. If a cultivar has stronger resistance against a threat, it will make more of the chemicals needed. These chemicals appear as strong peaks on the analyses. If the cultivar doesn't have much resistance against that threat, it either doesn't make the chemical, or in much lower quantities. The researchers compared the chemical composition of the cultivar 'cocktails', and correlated this with the known resistance of the cultivars to bacterial wilt. In the process, they found a 'metabolite fingerprint' for tomato resistance to wilt. "In principle, we can use this approach for any plant-pathogen interaction. The likely resistance of a cultivar can be forecast at seedling stage," says Dubery. "If a cultivar has the genetic ability to develop resistance to a threat, it will synthesize the chemicals to defend itself. In this way, we can 'see' plant resistance much better than just looking at them. "And we can do this when the seedlings are only a few weeks old, rather than waiting months to see if mature plants are resistant," he says. In future, plant breeders can select food crop cultivars more resistant to heat, drought, bacteria and viruses, by combining metabolomics with gene-based technology, says Dubery. ### The Centre for Plant Metabolomics Research at the University of Johannesburg focuses on fundamental and applied research on plant stress conditions, using metabolomics tools and approaches. Ongoing projects include phytochemical aspects of plant-microbe interactions, inducible defense responses and innate immunity. The South African National Research Foundation supported the research with grant number 95818 and fellowship support to co-author Msizi Mhlongo. The University of Johannesburg provided fellowship support to Dylan R. Zeiss and Fidele Tugizimana. Starke Ayres Pty. Ltd. provided seeds from their tomato breeding program. For broadcast interviews, contact Ms Therese van Wyk, +27 71 139 8407 (mobile) or +27 11 559 6332 (office) or theresevw@uj.ac.za in Johannesburg, UTC + 2. For email questions, contact Prof Ian Dubery at idubery@uj.ac.za. Download high-resolution images available for commercial use from https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gssFDqgXiUn7G3ucubVLvzp-RoMrVP4j No logins or registration needed. University of Otago scientists have unravelled the 3D structure of two proteins, potentially providing answers as to why some people may be at risk of developing specific cancers. In new findings published today in leading journal Nature Communications, the team of researchers led by the Department of Biochemistry's Dr Peter Mace, has solved the structure of two proteins - which in humans are called BAP1 and ASXL1 - that control DNA packaging. DNA is normally wrapped around proteins and packaged for efficient storage and to control which genes are active. Many proteins help to manage this packaging process and when it is disrupted, cancer can occur. Dr Mace explains that mutations in these proteins occur in many different cancers including melanomas, mesothelioma, renal cancers and leukaemia. BAP1 mutations are particularly common in mesothelioma, which is a cancer that is rare in the general population but is induced by asbestos exposure and is very hard to treat. The new structure helps to understand how the two proteins co-operate to remove DNA-packaging markers in normal cells and how their function is disrupted in tumours. "Continuing work will help us understand the network of changes that occur during cancer development," Dr Mace says. This is the first structure of these proteins to be captured, which the researchers achieved by working on fruit fly versions of the proteins that have the same important parts as the human proteins, but are slightly less complicated. "This is the best model we currently have for how the human proteins work," Dr Mace explains. "The next step is to fully understand the added complexity of the human proteins." ### The lead author of the work is Dr Martina Foglizzo a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Mace Lab at the University of Otago with collaborators from the University of Canterbury and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne. Access to high-intensity X-rays at the Australian Synchrotron was essential for several aspects of the work and was supported through the New Zealand Synchrotron Group. A Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and a research grant from the University of Otago supported early stages of the research, which is now funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. For further information, please contact: Dr Peter Mace Department of Biochemistry Tel +64 3 479 7845 Mob + 64 22 394 0704 Email peter.mace@otago.ac.nz Liane Topham-Kindley Senior Communications Adviser Tel +64 3 479 9065 Mob +64 21 279 9065 Email liane.tophamkindley@xtra.co.nz A new species of a giant, plant-eating dinosaur has been found in South Africa's Free State Province, and described by a team of international researchers in Current Biology A new species of a giant dinosaur has been found in South Africa's Free State Province. The plant-eating dinosaur, named Ledumahadi mafube, weighed 12 tonnes and stood about four metres high at the hips. Ledumahadi mafube was the largest land animal alive on Earth when it lived, nearly 200 million years ago. It was roughly double the size of a large African elephant. A team of international scientists, led by University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) palaeontologist Professor Jonah Choiniere, described the new species in the journal Current Biology today. The dinosaur's name is Sesotho for "a giant thunderclap at dawn" (Sesotho is one of South Africa's 11 official languages and an indigenous language in the area where the dinosaur was found). "The name reflects the great size of the animal as well as the fact that its lineage appeared at the origins of sauropod dinosaurs," said Choiniere. "It honours both the recent and ancient heritage of southern Africa." Ledumahadi mafube is one of the closest relatives of sauropod dinosaurs. Sauropods, weighing up to 60 tonnes, include well-known species like Brontosaurus. All sauropods ate plants and stood on four legs, with a posture like modern elephants. Ledumahadi evolved its giant size independently from sauropods, and although it stood on four legs, its forelimbs would have been more crouched. This caused the scientific team to consider Ledumahadi an evolutionary "experiment" with giant body size. Ledumahadi's fossil tells a fascinating story not only of its individual life history, but also the geographic history of where it lived, and of the evolutionary history of sauropod dinosaurs. "The first thing that struck me about this animal is the incredible robustness of the limb bones," says lead author, Dr Blair McPhee. "It was of similar size to the gigantic sauropod dinosaurs, but whereas the arms and legs of those animals are typically quite slender, Ledumahadi's are incredibly thick. To me this indicated that the path towards gigantism in sauropodomorphs was far from straightforward, and that the way that these animals solved the usual problems of life, such as eating and moving, was much more dynamic within the group than previously thought." The research team developed a new method, using measurements from the "arms" and "legs" to show that Ledumahadi walked on all fours, like the later sauropod dinosaurs, but unlike many other members of its own group alive at its time such as Massospondylus. The team also showed that many earlier relatives of sauropods stood on all fours, that this body posture evolved more than once, and that it appeared earlier than scientists previously thought. "Many giant dinosaurs walked on four legs but had ancestors that walked on two legs. Scientists want to know about this evolutionary change, but amazingly, no-one came up with a simple method to tell how each dinosaur walked, until now," says Dr Roger Benson. By analysing the fossil's bone tissue through osteohistological analysis, Dr Jennifer Botha-Brink from the South African National Museum in Bloemfontein established the animal's age. "We can tell by looking at the fossilised bone microstructure that the animal grew rapidly to adulthood. Closely-spaced, annually deposited growth rings at the periphery show that the growth rate had decreased substantially by the time it died," says Botha-Brink. This indicates that the animal had reached adulthood. "It was also interesting to see that the bone tissues display aspects of both basal sauropodomorphs and the more derived sauropods, showing that Ledumahadi represents a transitional stage between these two major groups of dinosaurs." Ledumahadi lived in the area around Clarens in South Africa's Free State Province. This is currently a scenic mountainous area, but looked much different at that time, with a flat, semi-arid landscape and shallow, intermittently dry streambeds. "We can tell from the properties of the sedimentary rock layers in which the bone fossils are preserved that 200 million years ago most of South Africa looked a lot more like the current region around Musina in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, or South Africa's central Karoo," says Dr Emese Bordy. Ledumahadi is closely related to other gigantic dinosaurs from Argentina that lived at a similar time, which reinforces that the supercontinent of Pangaea was still assembled in the Early Jurassic. "It shows how easily dinosaurs could have walked from Johannesburg to Buenos Aires at that time," says Choiniere. South Africa's Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane says the discovery of this dinosaur underscores just how important South African palaeontology is to the world. "Not only does our country hold the Cradle of Humankind, but we also have fossils that help us understand the rise of the gigantic dinosaurs. This is another example of South Africa taking the high road and making scientific breakthroughs of international significance on the basis of its geographic advantage, as it does in astronomy, marine and polar research, indigenous knowledge, and biodiversity," says Kubayi-Ngubane. The research team behind Ledumahadi includes South African-based palaeoscientists, Dr Emese Bordy and Dr Jennifer Botha-Brink, from the University of Cape Town and the South African National Museum in Bloemfontein, respectively. The project also had a strong international component with the collaboration of Professor Roger BJ Benson of Oxford University and Dr Blair McPhee, currently residing in Brazil. "South Africa employs some of the world's top palaeontologists and it was a privilege to be able to build a working group with them and leading researchers in the UK," says Choiniere, who recently emigrated from the USA to South Africa. "Dinosaurs didn't observe international boundaries and it's important that our research groups don't either." ### The artwork that illustrates Ledumahadi was done by Wits M.Sc. student (Palaeontology), Viktor Radermacher, who is fast becoming recognised as both a palaeoscientist and palaeoartist. His work has been on display earlier this year in international publications on Shartegosuchus as well as the recent publication on Chinese alvarezsaurs, another international collaboration involving Choiniere. September 27, 2018 - In low-resource countries without well-developed screening programs, expanding access to human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination is the best means of preventing cervical cancer and other diseases caused by HPV infection, according to an editorial in the October special issue of the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease, official journal of ASCCP. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "For countries without screening and treatment, HPV vaccination offers the best and possibly only opportunity for protection against HPV-related neoplasia," write Herschel W. Lawson, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and Mona Saraiya, MD, MPH, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Their editorial introduces a special collection of papers focusing on anogenital and HPV-related diseases in medically underserved populations. Papers Highlight Burden of Lower Genital Tract Disease in Underserved Populations Since the mid-twentieth century, there has been remarkable progress in reducing the burden of cervical and other lower genital tract cancers - first by cervical cytology screening (Papanicolaou test) and then by identifying HPV as the main cause of cervical cancer. Current HPV vaccines can reduce the risk of cervical cancer by preventing infection with "high-risk" types of HPV. The World Health Organization recommends universal HPV vaccination for girls aged 9 to 14 years. "Unfortunately, the application of this great health benefit has not been universal," Drs. Lawson and Saraiya write. The special issue of JLGTD presents 15 research papers, with a focus on extending effective screening and prevention for cervical cancer to underserved populations, in the United States and around the world. Underserved women, both in the United States and in low-resource countries around the world, face barriers to healthcare due to a wide range of geographic and socio-economic factors. T. Clark Powell, MD, MPH, and colleagues of University of Alabama at Birmingham looked at racial, geographic, and socioeconomic risk factors for advanced-stage cervical cancer among women in Alabama. More than half of women had advanced cancer at diagnosis - indicating "ample opportunities for improvement in both prevention and early detection," the researchers note. Black women were more likely to have advanced cervical cancer at diagnosis, regardless of age, insurance, and geography. For white women, insurance status and age were significant risk factors. "Disparities in cervical cancer are multifactorial and necessitate further research into socioeconomic, biologic, and systems causes," the researchers write A study by Meheret Endeshaw, MPH, Dr. Saraiya, and other CDC researchers found that foreign-born women living in the United States were twice as likely as US-born women to have never received cervical cytology screening (17% versus 7%). Women from Mexico, South America and the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia were least likely to have had this recommended screening test. Endeshaw and colleagues also noted that foreign-born women living in the United States fewer years of their lives were less likely than others to have had cervical cytology screening. "These findings may inform cervical cancer screening efforts targeting foreign-born women," the researchers conclude. While cervical cytology screening can reduce the incidence and mortality from cervical cancer, this intervention isn't accessible to most women living in low-resource countries. Given the barriers to effective screening in less-developed countries - including the need for coordinated follow-up testing and treatment for patients with abnormal screening tests - HPV vaccination is the most promising approach to lowering the rates of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases worldwide, Drs. Lawson and Saraiya believe. They conclude, "Clearly, applying sustainable funding sources, and vaccine delivery systems, newer screening, management and prevention technologies in a culturally sensitive fashion is important for those communities where access and resources are highly limited." ### Click here to read the October issue of the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease. About the Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease The Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease?is the source for the latest science about benign and malignant conditions of the cervix, vagina, vulva, and anus. The Journal's mission is to promote excellence in the healthcare of people with anogenital and HPV-related diseases, to enable healthcare professionals to be well informed, to promote the exchange of ideas, to help advance standards in the conduct and reporting of health research, and to contribute to improving health of people worldwide. About ASCCP ASCCP is a professional society for an interdisciplinary group of healthcare professionals including physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, midwives and researchers, who are focused on improving lives through the prevention and treatment of anogenital and HPV-related diseases. For more information visit http://www.asccp.org. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the health, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer, headquartered in the Netherlands, reported 2017 annual revenues of 4.4 billion. The company serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students with advanced clinical decision support, learning and research and clinical intelligence. For more information about our solutions, visit http://healthclarity.wolterskluwer.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth. In a paper published in NANO, a group of researchers from Anhui University of Science and Technology have synthesized PANI/Zn ferrite composites which have shown excellent microwave absorption performance. How to reduce electromagnetic pollution? How do these materials attenuate electromagnetic waves? A group of researchers from the School of Chemical Engineering at Anhui University of Science and Technology have synthesized Fe ferrite/PANI composites as efficient microwave absorbers to reduce or eliminate microwave pollution. PANI/Zn ferrite composites were synthesized by a two-step hydrothermal and in-situ polymerization method. Zn ferrite was used to adjust the impedance matching and improve PANI magnetic loss capability. The synergy of fluffy structure, dielectric loss, magnetic loss, interfacial polarization and phase cancellation effect lead to the attenuation of microwave energy. Furthermore, the fluffy structure enhanced the microwave transmission path and attenuation efficiency. These factors make this composite a good microwave absorber and an ideal material in the electromagnetic wave absorption field. Microwave absorption materials with reflection loss (RL) values less than -10 dB represent that 90% of microwave was absorbed. The minimum RL values of this composite can reach -54.4 dB with coating thickness of 1.4 mm. The bandwidth about RL below -10 dB was 4.8 GHz at 1.6 mm. The excellent microwave absorption performance of PANI/Zn ferrite composites suggested that it can be used as an excellent absorber with thin coating thickness, strong absorption and broad bandwidth. Microwave absorption materials have been studied by many workers to reduce or eliminate microwave pollution. Because of rapid popularity and development of electronic devices, especially mobile phones, computers and wireless routers, microwave pollution has been intensified in recent years. These materials have great potential applications in information security, healthcare, electronic countermeasures and so on. The functional materials of PANI/Fe ferrite with lightweight, thin coating thickness, high efficiency and broadband absorption properties are also easy to synthesize, which is beneficial to industrial mass production. ### This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 51477002) and Graduate Innovation Fund Project of Anhui University of Science and Technology (Grant 2017CX2105). The corresponding authors of this study are Ye Liu (2546155996@qq.com), Zhenfeng Liu (1051665829@qq.com), Huan Wang (805939917@qq.com) and Hanxiao Jia (2672460085@qq.com). For more insight into the research described, readers are invited to access the paper on NANO. IMAGE Image credit: Honglong Xing Caption: A schematic diagram of phase cancellation and microwave attenuation process. The fluffy structure of PANI/Fe ferrite composite can highly increase the transmission path of microwave, and the multiple reflections can enhance the microwave attenuation efficiency of the absorber. Thus, the microwave attenuation capability of PANI/Zn ferrite composites mainly comes from the enhanced effect of fluffy structure, multiple reflections, interfacial polarization, magnetic loss and dielectric loss. Moreover, if the relationship between the coating thickness and the frequency of incident microwaves matched well with the quarter-wave thickness criteria, the incident microwaves would vertically enter the absorber inside, as shown in this figure. NANO is an international peer-reviewed monthly journal for nanoscience and nanotechnology that presents forefront fundamental research and new emerging topics. It features timely scientific reports of new results and technical breakthroughs and publishes interesting review articles about recent hot issues. About World Scientific Publishing Co. World Scientific Publishing is a leading independent publisher of books and journals for the scholarly, research, professional and educational communities. The company publishes about 600 books annually and about 135 journals in various fields. World Scientific collaborates with prestigious organizations like the Nobel Foundation and US National Academies Press to bring high quality academic and professional content to researchers and academics worldwide. To find out more about World Scientific, please visit http://www.worldscientific.com. For more information, contact Tay Yu Shan at ystay@wspc.com. The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. Scientists have uncovered why very few of the many mutated cells in our skin go on to eventually form cancer Normal skin contains a patchwork of mutated cells, yet very few go on to eventually form cancer and scientists have now uncovered the reason why. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge genetically engineered mice to show that mutant cells in skin tissue compete with each other, with only the fittest surviving. The results, published today (27 September) in Cell Stem Cell suggest that normal skin in humans is more resilient to cancer than previously thought and can still function while a battle between mutated cells takes place in the tissue. Non-melanoma skin cancer in humans includes two main types: basal cell skin cancer and squamous cell skin cancer, both of which develop in areas of the skin that have been exposed to the sun. Basal cell skin cancer is the most common type of skin cancer, whereas squamous cell skin cancer is generally faster growing. There are over 140,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer each year in the UK*. However, every person who has been exposed to sunlight carries many mutated cells in their skin, and only very few of these may develop into tumours. The reasons for this are not well understood. For the first time, researchers have shown that mutated cells in the skin grow to form clones that compete against each other. Many mutant clones are lost from the tissue in this competition, which resembles the selection of species that occurs in evolution. Meanwhile, the skin tissue is resilient and functions normally while being taken over by competing mutant cells. Professor Phil Jones, lead author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge, said: "In humans, we see a patchwork of mutated skin cells that can expand enormously to cover several millimetres of tissue. But why doesn't this always form cancer? Our bodies are the scene of an evolutionary battlefield. Competing mutants continually fight for space in our skin, where only the fittest survive." In the study, scientists used mice to model the mutated cells seen in human skin. Researchers focussed on the p53 gene, a key driver in non-melanoma skin cancers. The team created a genetic 'switch', which when turned on, replaced p53 with the identical gene including the equivalent of a single letter base change (like a typo in a word). This changed the p53 protein and gave mutant cells an advantage over their neighbours. The mutated cells grew rapidly, spread and took over the skin tissue, which became thicker in appearance. However, after six months the skin returned to normal and there was no visual difference between normal skin and mutant skin. The team then investigated the role of sun exposure on skin cell mutations. Researchers shone very low doses of ultraviolet light (below sunburn level) onto mice with mutated p53. The mutated cells grew much faster, reaching the level of growth seen at six months in non-UV radiated clones in only a few weeks. However, despite the faster growth, cancer did still not form after nine months of exposure. Dr Kasumi Murai, joint first author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "We did not observe a single mutant colony of skin cells take over enough to cause cancer, even after exposure to ultraviolet light. Exposure to sunlight continually created new mutations that outcompeted the p53 mutations. We found the skin looked completely normal after we shone UV light on the mice, indicating that tissues are incredibly well-designed to tolerate these mutations and still function." Dr Ben Hall, senior author from the MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge said: "The reason that people get non-melanoma skin cancer is because so much of their skin has been colonised by competing mutant cells over time. This study shows that the more we are exposed to sunlight, the more it drives new mutations and competition in our skin. Eventually the surviving mutation may evolve into a cancer." ### Notes to Editors: *Non-melanoma skin cancer statistics taken from CRUK: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/non-melanoma-skin-cancer#heading-Zero Publication: Kasumi Murai et al. (2018) Epidermal tissue adapts to restrain progenitors carrying clonal p53 mutations. Cell Stem Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2018.08.017 Funding: This research was supported by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome. Selected websites: About the Medical Research Council Cancer Unit: The Medical Research Council (MRC) Cancer Unit undertakes world-leading research into the earliest steps in cancer development that can be translated into clinical practice to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancers. Its research programmes encompass a range of areas including the BRCA2-related forms of inherited cancers and the role of genomic instability in cancer progression, linkages between cancer and metabolism, cancer stem cells, the role of the tumour microenvironment in cancer development and cancer of the oesophagus. The Unit is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and is part of the University of Cambridge. http://www.mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk About the Medical Research Council: The Medical Research Council has been at the forefront of scientific discovery to improve human health. Founded in 1913 to tackle tuberculosis, the MRC now invests taxpayers' money in some of the best medical research in the world across every area of health. Twenty-two MRC-funded researchers have won Nobel prizes in a wide range of disciplines, and MRC scientists have been behind such diverse discoveries as vitamins, the structure of DNA and the link between smoking and cancer, as well as achievements such as pioneering the use of randomised controlled trials, the invention of MRI scanning, and the development of a group of antibodies used in the making of some of the most successful drugs ever developed. Today, MRC-funded scientists tackle some of the greatest health problems facing humanity in the 21st century, from the rising tide of chronic diseases associated with ageing to the threats posed by rapidly mutating micro-organisms. http://www.mrc.ac.uk About the University of Cambridge The mission of the University of Cambridge is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. To date, 98 affiliates of the University have won the Nobel Prize. Founded in 1209, the University comprises 31 autonomous Colleges, which admit undergraduates and provide small-group tuition, and 150 departments, faculties and institutions. Cambridge is a global university. Its 19,000 student body includes 3,700 international students from 120 countries. Cambridge researchers collaborate with colleagues worldwide, and the University has established larger-scale partnerships in Asia, Africa and America. The University sits at the heart of the 'Cambridge cluster', which employs 60,000 people and has in excess of 12 billion in turnover generated annually by the 4,700 knowledge-intensive firms in and around the city. The city publishes 341 patents per 100,000 residents. http://www.cam.ac.uk The Wellcome Sanger Institute The Wellcome Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. To celebrate its 25th year in 2018, the Institute is sequencing 25 new genomes of species in the UK. Find out more at http://www.sanger.ac.uk or follow @sangerinstitute Wellcome Wellcome exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. We're a global charitable foundation, both politically and financially independent. We support scientists and researchers, take on big problems, fuel imaginations and spark debate. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk this news is not available The Fed raised rates as expected in Wednesdays meeting. Some minor tweaks to the statement and economic projections, but overall this was a hawkish meeting. China make some concessions on trade and lower tariffs, but it is unlikely Trump will back down ahead of the mid-terms. Wednesdays Fed meeting went pretty much as expected by the markets. Rates were raised 25bp to 2.00-2.25% and the overall message was mostly unchanged. Focus will now shift towards a hike in December, which is already over 70% certain according to the CME Fedwatch tool. Obviously data between now and then will be the decider, but the US economy is showing strength and it is unlikely the Fed back down now. As for the statement, there were no real dovish concessions in light of the problems with Emerging Markets and the trade war. Perhaps the most significant tweak of language was the omission of the sentence that described the Feds monetary stance as accommodative. Yet there was no replacement and perhaps now the word will simply slip from use. The Fed continues to expect that further gradual increases in the policy rate will be required. This likely means hikes in December, March and June, which would take the rates to around 3%. This path was given added weight by the upward revised projections, explained here by ING, The Fed has updated is economic projections though, with an extra dot in the form of new Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida. GDP growth expectations for 4Q18 have been upped to 3.1% from 2.8% in June while the 2019 forecast has been raised a tenth of a percentage point to 2.5%. The forecast range has been extended to 2021, which is expected to see growth of 1.8%, down from 2% in 2020. This 1.8% figure is in line with the Feds longer-run growth expectation. These projections are broadly in line with our own forecasts. This was good news for the US dollar, and it has recovered from last weeks low of 93.8 to trade back above 94.5. The market has not priced in more than one rate hike next year so the growing prospect of three hikes will give the USD a boost, even if they are still a long way off. Trade Concessions While President Trump was busy making accusations against China at the UN this time not about trade, but suggesting they are meddling in the mid-term elections - China actually made some concessions on trade. They announced lower tariffs on a range of imports effective from November which should shift the average tariff rate to 7.5% from 9.6%. Good news, you may think, but it is perhaps too little too late and is unlikely to halt an escalation and more tariffs by Trump in the lead in to the mid-terms. The trade war is popular with Trumps core voters and he is likely to take advantage of this as the elections draw closer. Risks Diminishing European currencies and markets have been plagued by two overhanging risks: Brexit and the Italian budget. While the former is likely to rumble on for many more months, the latter should be resolved today, and in a satisfactory way for the markets. The big event today will be Italy publishing growth, debt and deficit projections for 2019. We expect 2019 to land somewhere between 2.0-2.4% of GDP, i.e. not violating EU rules. The budget is likely to include some kind of tax reforms and citizen income, but policies are likely to be phased in only gradually or implemented by tweaking some already existing schemes in order to avoid the deficit breaching EU rules, reported Danske Bank. This news was broadly expected after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pledged last week to keep the budget deficit below 2% of GDP. Expect the near-term effect on the Euro to be muted, but at least it is one less risk to be concerned about. 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. Bruce Vilanch is a very funny guy. He penned the catchy quips for 23 Academy Awards showsalong with dozens of Emmy, Tony, Peoples Choice, SAG and American Comedy Awards broadcastand took home six Emmys for himself in the process. Vilanch is probably best known as the zinger on the Hollywood Squares game show, where he also served as head writer. On Oct. 5, he will be bringing his new one-man show to the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. Its not standup comedy, I call it sit down comedy. Its topical, but also stories from my ridiculous career in show biz, writing 23 Oscars shows and working with Bette Midler for 150 years, the blond-maned writer explained in a telephone interview with SFGN. He would later admit that he really hadnt worked with Midler for 150 years (It just seemed like 50), but remained tightlipped when it came to any of the material he had lined up for the appearance in South Florida. There were no jokes, however, when the conversation turned to current events and specifically, his nemesis President Donald Trump. The LGBT activist was surprisingly circumspect: Its funny on the face of it, but tragic in the effect (Trumps dysfunction) has on our country and society. It just cant be happening, but it is happening and thats what gives it its dimension. In comedy, you never know who youre playing to, somebody in an audience always says aww, when you make a joke about (Adolph) Hitler, Vilanch said. The entire conundrum civil society faces is promulgated by social media, which the writer refers to multiple times as narcissism central. Social media has given a voice to people who would be in the wilderness, the whole twatpardon metweet culture. Anyone can become headline news and people are articulating stuff they might have never said aloud, Vilanch elaborated. Its sad and certainly not funny. Vilanch would like to get off the grid, so to speak, but is frank about his hobbies. When doesnt porn figure into any of that? he replied. Its too late not to be honest. Ive always been a reader and Im totally caught up in the arts, reading something, going somewhere, seeing something. Im not following the NFL, sorry. About 150 years ago, he estimates, even before he started working with Midler, Vilanch got his start writing for the Miami Herald. His ties to South Florida are deep: his grandparents had a home on Miami Beach and his mother resided in Boca before her death. Would he consider retiring here, too? Ill have to push some Russian oligarch out of his apartment, he said with a throaty chuckle. And what advice would he offer a young Bruce, given the chance (or other young LGBTQ people)? I wouldnt speak to young Bruce hes not my type, he said with another laugh. Im so old, I was out before you came out. Coming out didnt happen before Stonewall, and I was a grown person in college when Stonewall happened. I was always sort of out. I was bisexual and realized that what I wanted was a boyfriend. I wouldnt want a woman who I liked that much to have to deal with me not being exclusively hers. Plus, I was in a field where eccentricity and flamboyance were prized. And they still are and Bruce Vilanch still is, luckily for us. Bruce Vilanch will appear at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 N.E. 188th St. in Aventura on Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $36.50 at AventuraCenter.org. We take the hassle out of health insurance: these two health insurance companies provide international medical and dental insurance for expats in the Netherlands. Get quick simple quotes, and check out our list of FAQs to select the best health coverage plan for you. Expats health insurance quotes in The Netherlands The American health services company serves expats and globally mobile individuals in more than 200 international jurisdictions. Cigna Globals policies are easily customised to coverage and cost requirements and customers can pick from three coverage levels, modular plans and several cost-share options. Get a quote The Munich-headquartered financial services company offers international health insurance plans for expatriate students, couples, professionals, and families living in the Netherlands. Depending on the policy, Allianz Care covers everyday medical expenses, emergency treatment, dental, maternity, surgery, and outpatient fees. Get a quote Healthcare in the Netherlands What do I need to receive healthcare in The Netherlands? All Dutch residents including expats require health insurance to access the healthcare system. Individuals can choose from a range of health insurance providers that offer basic packages and they can also choose to top up with private or international health insurance to extend their coverage in the Netherlands as well as provide coverage overseas. Read more in our guide to the Dutch healthcare system Do I need private health insurance in the Netherlands? Basic health insurance in the Netherlands is mandatory but many residents including expats choose to top up their healthcare coverage with private health insurance plans. This enables them to access additional treatments, extra services such as private hospital rooms, and avoid lengthy waiting times for appointments and treatment. Read more in our guide about Dutch health insurance FAQ: Health insurance in the Netherlands If you decide to shop for private health insurance in the Netherlands, its advisable to shop around and look carefully at individual packages and offers to find the one thats right for you. Questions you might want to ask include: 1. Does the package cover family members? Dutch public health insurance covers children, although you have to inform your insurer if you need a child covered. Standard private policies only cover individuals so youll need to ask about family coverage options if you have others you want to include. 2. Are there any restrictions, limitations or exclusions on the policy, e.g. relating to age or pre-existing conditions? Private firms place higher premiums according to age and medical history. If you have pre-existing conditions, you may be refused coverage or required to pay high costs. Shop around for the most comprehensive coverage. 3. Whats a coverage gap and could I be affected? Whereas with private health insurance you can take out a policy before moving or traveling to the Netherlands, public schemes have to be applied for within four months of arriving in the country. This can leave some new arrivals exposed and having to cover costs out of their own pocket. 4. An I covered while I travel? Public health insurance and some private insurance will only cover you for treatment within the Netherlands or elsewhere in the EU/EEA. For medical coverage when traveling elsewhere, an expat-friendly international health insurance plan is recommended. 5. What treatments are covered? Public health coverage in the Netherlands is quite extensive and covers most costs for GP treatment, specialist treatment, hospital care, maternity care and medication as well as some mental health treatment and complementary therapies. Private insurance can be used for treatment not covered such as dental care, physiotherapy and specialist mental healthcare as well as accessing private hospital rooms. 6. How straightforward is the process for making a claim? The claims process in the Netherlands varies from insurer to insurer. Some will take care of bills directly on your behalf while others require you to pay and then send off for a reimbursement. If youre worried about having to initially cover costs, look for a provider with a simplified claims process who will pay on your behalf. SAVE, Miamis longest serving LGBT rights group, partnered with Human Rights Campaign and Equality Florida to host Andrew Gillums rally on Monday, Sept. 24 at the CIC in Miami. All three organizations announced their endorsement of Gillum. Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign spoke first, We need his leadership in the state of Florida, especially at the center of a national epidemic of violence targeting transgender women, mostly transgender women of color. He noted that Ron DeSantis has spent the majority of his congressional career attacking LGBT rights, whereas Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has been a steadfast ally and advocate for Floridas LGBT community. He fought to expand domestic partner benefits for city employees when he was a city commissioner. Griffin added, DeSantis is leading a campaign that [spreads] hate and fear, but let me be clear today. The days of attacking LGBTQ people to stir up votes is over! DeSantis has continued to score terribly on the HRCs congressional scorecard a way to track Members of Congress voting history for pro-equality policies. The Human Rights Campaign is so proud to endorse today, Andrew Gillum for the next governor of Florida! [Gillum] is the only candidate that will boldly lead this state forward and leave no one behind, Griffin said. It is now my honor to introduce the next Governor of this great state of Florida, Andrew Gillum. Gillum, who is an eloquent speaker, exudes charisma and has a winning smile. My brother, who I was closest to growing up came out to our family, and had to literally move across the country before he could feel accepted again. Hes in the state of California now, and I will tell you that it was a difficult time for all of us, to see my brother leave us. But I want you to know something were going to create a state where people dont have to flee to feel important and accepted. We are going to create a state where you can be in your own skin, love who you want to love, be welcomed, be supported and be protected under the color of the law. The room exploded into a roar of approval and excitement. Unfortunately, here in the state of Florida, we still dont have all the protections that we deserve for all Floridians. It is still legally allowed in state of Florida to fire someone because of who they love, how they identify, and given the fact that this state is one of the most richly diverse [states] around, that kind of policy has no place in the state of Florida. And when we win this race for governor, we are going to pass the Florida Competitive Workforce Act to make sure that we protect all people here! Nadine, CEO of Equality Florida was the last to speak. Ron DeSantis has embraced the anti-LGBT extremist agenda of Donald Trump, and Gillum stands with us to protect marriage equality and secure statewide nondiscrimination protections. In Florida, elections are won or lost by 100,000 votes or less. We intend to deliver that margin for our champion, Andrew Gillum. The election will take place Novembe 6. From: American Evaluation Association (AEA) For Immediate Release: Dateline: Washington , DC Thursday, September 27, 2018 We, Gunter Rochow (coordinator, located in Canada), and Josette Arevalo (collaborator, located in Ecuador) are in the process of finalizing the Spanish version of the VOPE Toolkit ( Left to right: Pablo Rodriguez-Bilella, Josette Arevalo, Gunter Rochow, Jennifer Bernal. Rad Resource: The Toolkit comprises five sections: (1) setting up a VOPE (Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation); (2) institutionalizing a VOPE; (3) carrying out VOPE work; (4) EvalPartners Network Resources; and (5) the professionalization of evaluation. The first three of these have already been published in Spanish (see the above link), and we are currently preparing the Spanish version of the fourth section. The fifth one will follow as soon as possible. We were motivated to translate the VOPE Toolkit to Spanish since it is a powerful tool that can be used by evaluators who wish to create new evaluation networks and for current VOPE leaders to strengthen their networks. Cool Trick: The Spanish version of the Toolkit will allow Spanish-speaking evaluators both to contribute their experience to the wider professional evaluation community and to learn from the experiences of others. The Spanish version of the Toolkit will also benefit AEA members who undertake evaluation projects in Spanish-speaking countries by becoming aware of Spanish-speaking experts as well as of the resources which they have contributed. Hot Tip: ReLAC (Red de Seguimiento, Evaluacion y Sistematizacion en America Latina y el Caribe), i.e. the Latin-American Monitoring and Evaluation Network, will make every effort to encourage evaluators living in its member countries to make their professional insights and experiences available through the Toolkit for the benefit of the wider evaluation community. Leason Learned: As Silvia Salinas M., President of ReLAC indicated, a study conducted by ReLAC found that VOPE leaders in Latin America have a need to strengthen their networks; thus there is a great potential for the use of the Toolkit among Latin American VOPEs. She also informed that ReLAC was formed in 2004 by three National Networks (Peru, Colombia and Brazil). Currently there are 20 associated national networks of countries in South America, Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. The mission of ReLAC is to contribute to the strengthening of the culture and practice of monitoring, evaluation and systematization as a fundamental social and political process for improving policies, programs and projects, in an environment of greater transparency and citizen participation. The 2018-2019 Executive Committee has defined as one of its priorities the strengthening of national networks, seeking to enhance their positioning, legitimacy and role in each of the countries, as well as their regional and global participation and contribution. About AEA The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association and the largest in its field. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products and organizations to improve their effectiveness. AEAs mission is to improve evaluation practices and methods worldwide, to increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. For more information about AEA, visit www.eval.org. AEA365 Curator note: Please enjoy this article, part of a 5-part miniseries on VOPEs Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation.We,(coordinator, located in Canada), and(collaborator, located in Ecuador) are in the process of finalizing the Spanish version of the VOPE Toolkit ( https://vopetoolkit.ioce.net/es ) in collaboration with two other Spanish-speaking evaluators (Jennifer Bernal in Venezuela, and Pablo Rodriguez-Bilella in Argentina).The Toolkit comprises five sections: (1) setting up a VOPE (Voluntary Organization for Professional Evaluation); (2) institutionalizing a VOPE; (3) carrying out VOPE work; (4) EvalPartners Network Resources; and (5) the professionalization of evaluation. The first three of these have already been published in Spanish (see the above link), and we are currently preparing the Spanish version of the fourth section. The fifth one will follow as soon as possible.We were motivated to translate the VOPE Toolkit to Spanish since it is a powerful tool that can be used by evaluators who wish to create new evaluation networks and for current VOPE leaders to strengthen their networks.The Spanish version of the Toolkit will allow Spanish-speaking evaluators both to contribute their experience to the wider professional evaluation community and to learn from the experiences of others.The Spanish version of the Toolkit will also benefit AEA members who undertake evaluation projects in Spanish-speaking countries by becoming aware of Spanish-speaking experts as well as of the resources which they have contributed.ReLAC (Red de Seguimiento, Evaluacion y Sistematizacion en America Latina y el Caribe), i.e. the Latin-American Monitoring and Evaluation Network, will make every effort to encourage evaluators living in its member countries to make their professional insights and experiences available through the Toolkit for the benefit of the wider evaluation community.As Silvia Salinas M., President of ReLAC indicated, a study conducted by ReLAC found that VOPE leaders in Latin America have a need to strengthen their networks; thus there is a great potential for the use of the Toolkit among Latin American VOPEs. She also informed that ReLAC was formed in 2004 by three National Networks (Peru, Colombia and Brazil). Currently there are 20 associated national networks of countries in South America, Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. The mission of ReLAC is to contribute to the strengthening of the culture and practice of monitoring, evaluation and systematization as a fundamental social and political process for improving policies, programs and projects, in an environment of greater transparency and citizen participation. The 2018-2019 Executive Committee has defined as one of its priorities the strengthening of national networks, seeking to enhance their positioning, legitimacy and role in each of the countries, as well as their regional and global participation and contribution. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- You can now safely dismiss any supporters of Donald Trump who tell you that the presidents crusade against immigration is only directed at the illegal variety. In a recent proposed rule change, Trump would bar legal immigrants who use a variety of government benefits from obtaining green cards or renewing their visas. The rule, if passed, and if it holds up in court, would translate into a huge reduction in legal immigration to the U.S. all without requiring any act of Congress. In order to get a green card or many types of visas, immigrants now have to show that they are not likely to become a public charge, according to a law that has been on the books since 1882. Since 1999, a public charge has been defined as someone who is primarily dependent on cash assistance, such as the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. Of course, the government doesnt know who will eventually need welfare, so it uses a variety of indicators to make a decision about each prospective immigrant. In recent years, only about 3 percent of applicants have been turned away under this rule. The new Trump policy would change that dramatically. It would expand the definition of public charge to include anyone who receives even a small amount of Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or low-income subsidies for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D. All that would be necessary in order to be denied under the new policy would be for immigration officials to decide based on a complex formula stipulated in the 447-page proposal that a prospective immigrant would be likely to ever use one of these benefits. Household income, assets and other financial resources would also be taken into account. This would dramatically reduce legal immigration to the U.S. The Migration Policy Institute estimated that 47 percent of immigrants would be vulnerable to exclusion under an earlier draft of the rule. The current rule is somewhat less stringent, and some immigrants would be able to avoid the rule by scrupulously avoiding the use of government benefits, but this would still probably represent a dramatic expansion of the number of legal immigrants excluded from or forced to leave the country. On its surface, the new proposal looks like an effort to shift U.S. immigration toward high-skilled workers. That is a policy I have long recommended, and it has many economic and social benefits. But there are several reasons why Trumps new rule won't accomplish this goal, and would worsen the quality of American immigration policy. First, the proposal would probably exclude a lot of skilled immigrants. Many smart, talented people come to work in the U.S. without many financial resources. Instead of dollars in the bank, their true asset is their human capital the talent, grit, work ethic and ambition to make good in their adopted country. The classic example is Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate who came to the U.S. from Scotland desperately poor at age 12, and ended up establishing the company that eventually became U.S. Steel. His is not the only such story. Andrew Grove, one of the founders of semiconductor giant Intel, started out poor after fleeing from Hungary. These stories are exceptional, but the pattern is a common one study after study finds that immigrants have strong levels of intergenerational mobility. Trumps new rule would prevent many future Andrew Carnegie types from coming to America. You cant have rags-to-riches stories if you kick out anyone who comes to the U.S. in rags. Immigrant entrepreneurs could no longer use food stamps as they struggle in shabby garages to create the company that becomes the next Google or the next Intel. Since immigrants tend to be much more entrepreneurial than the native-born, the new rule could deal a heavy blow to American economic dynamism: The second problem with Trumps proposal is that complex administrative rules are a terrible way to make policy. The byzantine system under consideration by the administration will be hellish for any immigrant, even a high-skilled one, to navigate. Most would probably just stop using any sort of government assistance a move that will please some conservatives but will have damaging effects on immigrant kids. More problematic, many prospective immigrants, including high-skilled ones, would see the new thicket of rules and simply decide not to try coming to the U.S. in the first place. This chilling effect, as the Migration Policy Institute calls it, could rob the country of a lot of talent. Finally, if increasing the skill level of U.S. immigration is the goal, the policy is unnecessary. During the past few years, as mass low-skilled immigration from Latin America has dried up, the education level of the average U.S. immigrant has risen rapidly: So Trumps new rule change wont help recruit the best and the brightest for the U.S. workforce instead, it will keep many of them out. The result will be a less dynamic, poorer country and the dulling of the U.S.s reputation as a place where talented people without money in the bank can come, work hard, and pull themselves up by their bootstraps. To contact the author of this story: Noah Smith at nsmith150@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Noah Smith is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion. 2018 Bloomberg L.P. WASHINGTON For decades the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has attempted to manage the worlds oil markets, raising and lowering oil production to try to reduce the chances of wild price swings that can bankrupt oil producers and wreak havoc on energy-based economies. Now, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is raising the prospect of bringing federal charges against OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Nigeria, claiming they are violating the same U.S. anti-trust laws used to break up oil John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil empire a century ago. Called the NOPEC Act as in No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels the bill would authorize the attorney general to file lawsuits against foreign countries deemed to be working together to affect the price of oil, natural gas and petroleum-based fuels such as gasoline. Its terra incognita. Weve never been here before, said Bob McNally, president of the Rapidan Group, an energy consultancy in Washington. Given how politically sensitive gasoline prices and how much political support suing OPEC would have, it interjects enormous risk into oil markets. The legislation has kicked around the Capitol for more than a decade, at times attracting the support of powerful figures such as Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. But its passage was blocked by presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who promised to use their veto power to protect U.S. diplomatic relationships in the Middle East. That political dynamic, however, appears to be changing with the ascendance of President Donald Trump, who in a 2011 book urged Congress to pass the legislation. Trump has made OPEC a regular target of his Twitter feed, writing last week, They continue to push for higher and higher oil prices! We will remember. The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now! For NOPEC supporters, Trump represents an opportunity to rein in a powerful international cartel that has driven up prices on American motorists for decades and force the global oil sector to operate under the same free-market principles that govern other industries. Whats different about oil? Theres a whole bunch of commodities you could [control prices on], from grain to coffee to rare earth metals we use in cell phones, said Seth Bloom, a Washington anti-trust attorney who championed the legislation a decade ago while general counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust. If the free markets available, it will control swings in price. The legislation has gained enough momentum that it is beginning to worry officials in Saudi Arabia, who last month hired Washington attorney Ted Olson to lobby against the bill. Olson is a former solicitor general who argued the Supreme Court case that put Bush in the White House. But the legislation has some powerful opponents in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute, which argue that U.S. companies operating abroad could face retaliatory action by OPEC members. Among the aggrieved are Texas oil producers, who are the beneficiaries of OPECs willingness to act as swing producer, raising and lowering production to influence prices even when it is not in their short-term financial interests. OPECs decision in late 2016 to curtail production helped lift prices and spur a recovery in the oil and gas industry and the Houston economy. OPEC has kept oil prices from going too low. In 2017 oil probably would have gone to less than $20 a barrel without them. And it has helped us from having higher spikes too, said Cactus Schroeder, owner of Chisholm Exploration, an Abilene-based oil company. Sometimes there has to be a governing body, even if you dont like it. OPEC follows in the lineage of the Texas Railroad Commission, which between the 1930s and 1960s largely set global oil prices through quotas on oil field production in Texas. As production from the Middle East grew, the Railroad Commission it was eventually displaced by OPEC as the arbiter of oil prices. OPEC copied many of the commissions protocols. Now, the prospect of the worlds largest oil consumer alienating the worlds foremost swing producer in Saudi Arabia is spooking energy economists, who maintain oil markets are inevitably prone to wild price fluctuations without a body controlling production. Under the legislation, the United States could seize the U.S. assets of state-owned oil companies such as Saudi Aramco and PDVSA of Venezuela. Pipelines, storage tanks and other infrastructure could all be seized, along with big-name assets such as the Motiva refinery, which is owned by Aramco. The refinery, located in Port Arthur, is the largest in the United States. Likewise, Qatar Petroleum has a controlling stake in the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Sabine Pass. Roger Diwan, vice president of financial services at the research firm IHS Markit, said if the NOPEC legislation became law, it would change the relationship between the United States and Gulf producers and undermine the mechanisms that bring some stability to global markets. For example, industrialized nations depend on Saudi Arabia to maintain a production cushion that allows it to kick up production if supplies grow short. NOPEC creates a level of uncertainty and fear, Diwan said. I dont know how it will change [the relationship] but it will have consequences over time. We cant ask Saudi Arabia to have 2 million barrels a day of spare capacity and then accuse them of manipulating markets. For now, no vote is scheduled for the legislation. A bill sponsored by Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, while the accompanying House bill has already passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is awaiting a floor vote. When it does the legislation is expected to pass easily. When another NOPEC bill came up for a vote in the House in 2007, it passed 345-72. But so far Republican leadership has shown little inclination to bring the legislation to the floor. Among those dissenting in 2007 were House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. and a number of Texas lawmakers, including Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Woodlands, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Im pretty sure [Republican] leadership is opposed, said McNally of the Rapidan Group. They do not like it at all. But it has strong bipartisan support and if theres a presidential tweet, who knows. Famed inventor Dr. Julio Palmaz and other insiders of the failed San Antonio medical technology company that bore his name have settled disputes involving allegations of fraud and securities-law violations. Terms of the settlement with former Palmaz Scientific Inc. shareholders and a trustee are confidential, but a bankruptcy judge recently approved settlement payments from two insurers who provided directors and officers liability insurance coverage for Dr. Palmaz and other insiders. The two policies had $8 million in combined coverage. It couldnt be determined if the plaintiffs collected anything directly from company insiders. Calls to Jason Davis, Dr. Palmazs lawyer, attorneys for other company officials and trustee Milo Segner Jr. were not returned Wednesday. Palmaz Scientifics directors included Phil Romano, the restaurateur who founded national chains Romanos Macaroni Grill and Fuddruckers. RELATED: Dallas Fed: Texas manufacturing activity expands, but tariffs increase uncertainty Ryan Steinbrunner, a Dallas attorney who represents a group of about 12 shareholders, said he was limited in what he could say because of the confidentiality agreement. I can tell you that the clients we represent are happy to have this all behind them, he said. Justin Bryan, a Dallas lawyer for about 40 investors, didnt respond to a request for comment. State District Judge Maricela Moore in Dallas County dismissed the parties claims including those by Dr. Palmaz and two other insiders Sept. 13 after they were resolved, court records show. Palmaz Scientific was started about 10 years ago by Dr. Palmaz, who in the 1980s invented a heart stent credited with saving millions of lives. The stent, developed at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, helps prevent blood vessels from collapsing after a balloon angioplasty opens clogs. Johnson & Johnson bought the rights to the stent in 1988, reportedly paying about $500 million. Palmaz Scientific set out to develop the next generation of arterial stents, but those efforts flopped despite raising roughly $40 million from investors. In a 2015 letter to shareholders, Dr. Palmaz disclosed the company had been unable to partner with large medical device manufacturers and was running out of money. It had little success commercializing its technology. About a month after the letter, some investors sued Dr. Palmaz, the company chairman, and CEO Steven Solomon for fraud, negligent misrepresentation and other claims. Investors alleged that Palmaz Scientific concealed that it consistently operated at a loss and had no audited financial statements. They also accused Dr. Palmaz and Solomon of funneling investor contributions to themselves personally or other entities they owned personally. Investors also claimed Palmaz Scientific never revealed that Solomon had filed for bankruptcy and didnt graduate from college. RELATED: CPS Energy's downtown San Antonio headquarters to be sold, could be worth more than $40 million Palmaz Scientific ultimately collapsed into bankruptcy in early 2016. Dr. Palmaz, who is an honorary professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and Solomon resigned just before the Chapter 11 filing. The company said its ability to attract capital investment and continue its business operations has been seriously impaired by a negative campaign of false information disseminated by certain individuals. It said the information was provided to investors, potential business partners, the news media and even federal authorities. Among those the company alluded to was Austin investment banker Susan Harriman, who alleged she had uncovered material omissions in Palmaz Scientific offering documents. Harriman and company officials have sued each other. Those disputes have yet to be resolved. Substantially all of Palmaz Scientifics assets were sold at a bankruptcy auction in 2016. Vactronix Scientific Inc., a company headed by Dr. Palmazs wife, Amalia Palmaz, submitted a $22.6 million bid to acquire the assets. The assets primarily consisted of 256 issued patents and 182 pending patents. The couples son, Christian Palmaz, is now Vactronixs president and CEO. The company has been awarded various patents, according to news reports. A year after Palmaz Scientifics Chapter 11 filing, the trustee representing the companys bankruptcy estate sued company insiders for allegedly enriching themselves at shareholders expense, treating money raised from investors as operational cash flow and stripping the company of its intellectual property prior to the bankruptcy. The company was dominated and controlled by a group of insiders who sold out the corporate enterprise, Segner, the trustee, alleged in his lawsuit. He has overseen a trust created as part of the bankruptcy to pursue potential legal claims. In that role, he was given access to the companys books and records. RELATED: San Antonio-based armored car manufacturer expanding to Honduras Dr. Palmaz and Solomons actions were particularly egregious, taking excessive compensation and awarding themselves large stock grants at a time when the company had no revenue and nothing in the development pipeline capable of generating sales, Segner added in his lawsuit. Palmaz Scientific operated with no coherent business plan and without any oversight from its board of directors. Directors went six years without meeting before they finally woke from (their) deep slumber, Segner added. Named in the suit, besides Dr. Palmaz and Solomon, were directors Romano, Christopher Banas, John Asel and Eugene Sprague a UT Health San Antonio professor. Dr. Palmaz, Solomon and Asel, in counterclaims, said the allegations made by shareholders and Segner were baseless and a byproduct of the delusional and malicious campaign of economic terrorism by Harriman against Palmaz Scientific. A quarter of households in San Antonio lack Internet access, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas a roadblock to applying for jobs and financial aid, online education, starting a business and being part of the increasingly digital economy. It makes social mobility more difficult and affects business investment in communities, said Jordana Barton, senior adviser at the Dallas Fed. The underlying assumption is that its a luxury, she said. But its like electricity and water. Barton and representatives from city government, the San Antonio Housing Authority and Goodwill discussed San Antonios digital divide and how to close it at an event Tuesday at the University of Texas at San Antonios downtown campus. The forum was hosted by San Antonios Digital Inclusion Alliance, Tech Bloc and the UTSA College of Public Policy. The Federal Reserve is interested in the issue because microeconomics affect macroeconomics, said Barton, who serves on the steering committee for the digital inclusion alliance. The group has around 30 members. RELATED: BCSO debuts new 'lifesaving' robot for SWAT situations The gap may only grow wider as jobs and industries change and it becomes more difficult to move into the middle class, Barton said. She cited automation within manufacturing and e-commerce within retail. Digital inclusion is economic inclusion, Barton said. The people who are left out need what everyone else has. They dont need something less than. Addressing the issue starts with empathy and understanding the challenges, not trying to fix a problem with a new gadget, said Craig Hopkins, San Antonios chief information officer. The governments job is to create open access to services, he said. With that in mind, the city will be prototyping technologies like autonomous vehicles and fiber Internet with residents in three designated innovation zones: Brooks, a former Air Force base that is being redeveloped into a mixed-use community on the Southeast Side, the South Texas Medical Center and the downtown corridor. San Antonio is part of a nationwide Smart City initiative aimed at improving peoples quality of life and access to services, Hopkins said. Local partners for SmartSA include VIA Metropolitan Transit, CPS Energy, the San Antonio Water System, UTSA and the San Antonio River Authority. RELATED: Refiners poised to save billions as they upgrade to digital tech Hopkins also highlighted the 311 mobile app, which allows residents to submit requests for pothole repairs, graffiti removal and other services. They are also looking at how people use Wi-Fi in places like city parks and libraries. Still, apps dont solve issues, he said. People do. SAHA was awarded $100,000 Tuesday from Mozilla and the National Science Foundation for a project aimed at delivering free Wi-Fi to about 1,800 residents of Cassiano Homes, a community on the West Side. The organization will use inexpensive solar panels to help power a network for residents, said Jo Ana Alvarado, SAHAs director of innovative technology. The equipment cost less than $1,000, she said. SAHA was also among 28 locations chosen in 2015 to participate in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments ConnectHome program, an initiative that helps provide Internet access to residents of public housing. Speakers at the forum stressed the need for education and digital literacy alongside access. Many of the people who come to Goodwill San Antonio for career assistance dont understand how to use a computer, said chief mission services officer Steven Hussain. Without Internet availability and understanding, its difficult to succeed in a 21st century economy, he said. Education and training are crucial. Access to the digital world is just as important as housing, food and transportation, Hussain said. Its inherent that we get ahead of this. As a small child, the sights and earsplitting sounds of airplanes taking off inspired David Gonzales, now 17, to set his sights on a career as a military pilot. I thought it was pretty cool, said Gonzales, a junior at Southwest High School. Starting this year, he and 23 other Southwest High students will have the chance to build their own small aircraft as part of a new aeronautical science, technology, engineering and math program. It will run from pre-kindergarten through high school, supported by a grant from The Dee Howard Foundation. Southwest Independent School District administrators unveiled it at a Wednesday news conference at Bob Hope Elementary School, where all fifth-grade classes will be given drone assembly kits. Wayne Fagan, president of the foundation, said for years hed dreamed of starting an aviation program that would span students 14 years through secondary school. Hes looked all over the country and hasnt found another one that includes an aircraft built in high school. San Antonios aviation heritage makes the program a natural, he said. The foundations namesake, Dee Howard, a pioneer of modern business and commercial jet design who died in 2009, started his business here in the late 1940s. The first U.S. military flight took place in 1910 at Fort Sam Houston. Katherine Stinson, who in 1915 became the first woman to become an airmail pilot, called San Antonio home. Charles Lindbergh, the first to fly nonstop to Europe, was in the Army here. You guys are part of a tradition, here in San Antonio, of developing cutting-edge innovative technology related to aviation, Fagan told students from three SWISD schools. But this time its in education and the whole world is watching. Yet despite this history and a major Air Force presence, there is not currently a strong pipeline of local workers trained in building and maintaining aircraft. Aviation industry tenants at Port San Antonio, at the former Kelly AFB, recruit workers from other cities and states. Southwest ISD is near the Port. It has been developing a strong science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM program and this year opened CAST STEM, a career-themed high school offering specializations in advanced manufacturing and engineering, where students will continue a district tradition: building and racing alternative-fuel cars. Weve taken to the street and now we want to take to the sky, Superintendent Lloyd Verstuyft said. The Dee Howard funding will pay for training a high school aviation teacher and eventually for drone kits for every fifth-grade class districtwide, said Jay Battles, the school districts coordinator of STEM and career and technical education. The district will pay for its own airplane kits, to the tune of about $17,000 for the first three, Battles said. The program will start in the fifth grade this year, but the district will work on age-appropriate ways to expand it down to pre-kindergarten, Battles said. There is already an aviation class at Resnik Middle School, but very few girls take it, so a girls aviation club will be launched with foundation money, to expose members to such places as the Scobee Planetarium and National Aeronautics and Space Administration facilities. The district also plans to expand the clubs to its three other middle schools. The initiatives culmination is the airplane build, which could move to CAST STEM, a school open to students all over Bexar County. Southwest ISD is applying for the Texas Education Agency to recognize its aviation program as a career and technical education pathway, deeming students who complete it workforce-ready. It will bolster the districts partnership with the Alamo Colleges, through which students can earn college credit and aircraft mechanic certifications. This is geared toward a specific need in San Antonio, Battles said. 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 Professing his innocence till the end, an East Texas man convicted of drowning his former housemate and stuffing her body into a barrel of lime was put to death in the first of two consecutive executions scheduled in the Lone Star State. Now, if Thursday's punishment goes through as planned, it'll be the first time in six years that Texas has put to death two prisoners in two nights, a grim milestone that comes amid a slight uptick in executions here this year. Now Playing: Here are 5 facts to know about the Texas death penalty. Video: Houston Chronicle "I'm not the one that killed Christina, so whatever makes y'all happy," Troy Clark said in his last words. "I love ya'll. I'll see you on the other side. Y'all be good. OK Warden I'm ready. " He chuckled before giving his final statement. The lethal dose began at 6:15 p.m., according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman. "I feel it," he said as the drugs began to flow. He was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m. The Tyler man was sentenced to die in 2000 for killing Christina Muse out of fear the young mother would snitch on him for his drug use, according to court records. He was convicted in part due to the testimony of his then-girlfriend Tory Bush, who admitted to the crime then fingered Clark - even though there was no physical evidence connecting him to the murder. The May 1998 slaying came just after Muse moved out of the Smith County home where Clark and Bush lived and sold meth. One day when Muse stopped back at the home to visit, she and Clark started talking and at some point in the conversation, according to court records, he used a stun gun to take her down, then duct-taped her arms and legs and left her in a closet for hours. Then, he moved her into the bathtub and ordered Bush to get a board so he could beat the bound woman. After drowning Muse, according to court records, Clark ordered his girlfriend to go get lime. When she got back, he dumped the slain woman's body in a blue barrel filled with lime, cement mix and water. Later, according to the state's theory, Clark and some friends loaded the barrel into a truck and ditched it in a remote spot on his landlord's property. When authorities found the gruesome remains, they also discovered the body of Tracy Mize - another possible victim - decaying in a septic tank on the same property. Clark has consistently denied any involvement in Muse's death, saying he wasn't at home at the time of the slaying, and that he was out delivering drugs. No physical evidence linked him to the crime, defense lawyers pointed out. In the years since he was sent to death row, Clark has argued that he suffered bad lawyering, didn't get to show evidence rebutting claims he would be a future danger to society, and that his girlfriend's testimony was self-serving and unreliable - especially considering she once confessed to the crime herself. "Clark's death sentence is the product of the largely uncorroborated testimony of an incentivized co-defendant and a trial attorney whose performance was abysmal," attorneys David Dow and Jeff Newberry wrote in a clemency petition, alleging the trial team failed to present evidence of Clark's traumatic childhood and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder. In the days leading up to Clark's execution, the case attracted attention from actress Susan Sarandon, author Mary Buser and renowned death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean. "Texas plans to execute Troy Clark on Wednesday but there are some serious problems with his case," Prejean tweeted. "Troy has always maintained his innocence. Someone else made a detailed confession and then completely changed her story in exchange for a reduced sentence." A day after Clark's scheduled date with death, Daniel Acker is slated for execution. The Sulphur Springs man was sent to death row in 2001 after he was convicted of strangling his girlfriend and pushing her from a moving car - though the state abandoned the strangulation theory after trial. Like Clark, he's consistently maintained his innocence, and defense lawyers have argued Marquetta George jumped from the car on her own, making the death possibly manslaughter but not capital murder. The last time two convicted killers were executed in two days was in 2012, when the state put to death Ramon Hernandez of Bexar County and Preston Hughes, from Harris County. Hughes, who also professed his innocence with his final words, was convicted in the stabbing deaths of two children. This time around neither of the executions is out of Harris County, the erstwhile "capital of capital punishment." Last year, the Lone Star State executed seven men, nearly one-third of the nation's 23 total. This year, the death house in Huntsville has now seen nine executions, and another seven are scheduled in the remainder of the year. Two more - including a cop-killer from Harris County - are on the calendar in early 2019. Despite the slight uptick in Texas this year, national numbers are likely to hold fairly steady by year-end, according to Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center. And even that uptick in the nation's busiest death chamber, he added, isn't necessarily indicative of any change in the long-term waning of capital punishment. "Executions look as though they will remain near generational lows this year and to the extent that there is any difference," he said, "that difference will be Texas." More than two years after the deadliest hot air balloon crash in U.S. history killed 16 people near Lockhart, the House of Representatives approved new legislation Wednesday that would mandate medical exams for commercial balloon pilots. The vote moves the measure a step closer to becoming law. The U.S. Senate will now consider the legislation. Health screenings for balloon pilots arent required by the Federal Aviation Administration, and the agency has resisted calls for stricter oversight after a large commercial balloon piloted by Alfred Skip Nichols struck high-voltage power lines on July 30, 2016, killing Nichols and all of his passengers. Federal investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the crash on Nichols poor judgment; his myriad health ailments and medications; and the FAA's policy of exempting balloon pilots from mandatory medical exams. RELATED: Federal lawmakers approve measure to mandate medical exams for hot-air balloon pilots The FAA is considering a recommendation by the NTSB to require exams for commercial balloon pilots but so far hasnt taken any action. The bipartisan legislation approved Wednesday in the House would force the FAA to revise federal regulations within 180 days to require annual screenings. Introduced by Texas congressmen Lloyd Doggett, Will Hurd and former U.S. Rep Blake Farenthold, the measure was attached to a much larger bill to fund the FAA that lawmakers overwhelmingly supported. Had the pilot in this crash been required to obtain a medical certificate, the NTSB believes he would not have been flying that morning, Doggett said in a written statement. This is a victory for the victims families in Bexar County and elsewhere who petitioned for this action. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced a similar amendment in the Senate. Patricia Morgan, an outspoken critic of the FAA whose daughter and granddaughter from San Antonio died in the balloon crash, said shes waited a long time for the federal government to do something anything to protect balloon passengers from troubled pilots like Nichols. Morgan said shes not sure whether the new legislation goes far enough, and she wouldnt be surprised if something happened to derail it from becoming law. RELATED: New legislation targets balloon pilots after Lockhart crash Until I see it until I know it is actually signed by the president I wont believe it, Morgan said. The Balloon Federation of America, an industry trade group, opposed the legislation, arguing that voluntary measures can better improve balloon safety. A message left with board president Cheri White wasnt returned Wednesday. To obtain a medical certificate from the FAA, pilots must undergo a physical exam, disclose any ailments, and grant the FAA permission to check their driving record for any alcohol or drug-related offenses. Nichols had a string of DWI infractions on his record and wasnt legally allowed to drive a vehicle. The fatal crash in Texas devastated families of the victims and orphaned children. Morgans daughter and granddaughter, Lorilee and Paige Brabson, had bought the balloon tickets for a belated Mothers Day celebration and both left behind children. Other passengers on the flight included Brian and Tressie Neill, who lived in Helotes. They were celebrating their wedding anniversary and had two daughters. Matt and Sunday Rowan were a San Antonio couple who had married five months earlier. They were devoted to Sundays 5-year-old son, Jett. RELATED: Officials investigating Lockhart balloon crash blame it on pilot, FAA An investigation by the NTSB concluded that Nichols decided to fly despite warnings that the weather would worsen with clouds and fog, limiting visibility. On the morning of the balloon ride, Nichols was on a cocktail of prescription medications such as Valium, Prozac and the painkiller oxycodone, according to the NTSB. One muscle relaxant he was taking warned users not to operate heavy machinery. Nichols suffered from ailments that included depression, chronic pain and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder which might have raised red flags at the FAA if he had been required to go through a medical exam like pilots of other types of aircraft, according to the NTSB inquiry. The Bexar County Sheriffs Office debuted a new robot Wednesday that it says could assist the agency in future SWAT situations. The roughly $78,000 remote-controlled device has a mounted camera and is capable of traversing stairs and opening doors. Sheriff Javier Salazar said he was surprised to learn, during a standoff earlier this year, that the agency didnt have such a device already. In that situation, the BCSO borrowed a robot from San Antonio police to look inside the building. The perpetrator shot the robot, which Salazar said is the point a robot was shot, not a deputy. Fourteen people have applied for a possible three-month judgeship in Bexar County, seeking to replace County Court-at-Law No.1 Judge John D. Fleming until the winner of the seat in Novembers election assumes the post in January. The possibility of the unusual appointment was created by Flemings resignation last week. He remains on the ballot because he resigned after the deadline. The only other name on the ballot is that of Bexar County prosecutor Helen Petry Stowe, a Democrat. Shes one of the applicants for the temporary appointment. On ExpressNews.com: Judges about-face puts him back in the race Bexar County commissioners are hoping to decide how to address the vacancy at their meeting on Tuesday. Im not sure what the court will do, County Judge Nelson Wolff said. I will keep an open mind. Wolff said he is inclined to have the court appoint someone as a cost-saving measure. The county is currently paying $500 a day for a visiting judges to handle Flemings caseload. The base salary for the county court-at-law position is listed as $157,000, or $13,083 per month, which would be more expensive than the rate for visiting judges unless the court selected someone already on the county payroll. Of the 14 candidates, county officials confirmed five are current employees: District Court Magistrate Jeb D. Lock and prosecutors Woodrow Halstead, Alfredo Ramirez, Daryl Harris and Stowe. Wolff said there is a compelling argument to appoint Stowe, since she will likely be the November winner and she wants the job, as he put it. It gives her time to start the job early, he said. Stowe currently makes just under $85,000 as a prosecutor, according to a salary database maintained by the Texas Tribune. If appointed, Stowes raise would cost the county roughly $6,000 a month, whereas it currently costs about $11,000 per month to pay visiting judges. The most economic choice would be Halstead, who currently makes about $153,000 as first assistant criminal district attorney, because his raise would be considerably less. Commissioner Kevin Wolff, the lone Republican on the court, said he believes his colleagues will likely appoint Stowe. From a partisan standpoint, sure I might take some issues with it but I dont think our judges should be running on a partisan basis in the first place, he said. From an efficiency standpoint, I see it as cleaner to wait until after the election, Wolff said, since Fleming could still win the election in November, which would really throw things into turmoil. On ExpressNews.com: Fleming submits his resignation again Flemings resignation last week culminated a confusing chain of events that started when he submitted his first resignation in mid-August. The Republican leadership rejected his resignation they would have had little time to find a replacement on the November ballot so he was back in the race, then he changed his mind and said he would retire at the end of his term in December. But he reversed course again last week and vacated the seat immediately, again citing his health as one of the reasons for his departure. Nine other people have applied for the job: Bill White, former county court-at-Law judge; and private practice lawyers Edward Pina, Ernest Acevedo Jr., Gabe Quintanilla, Leslie Herbst, Leslie Sachanowicz, Liza McGinn, Lynette Boggs and Robert Gebbia. Dylan McGuinness covers local politics and the Bexar County government for the Express-News. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | dylan.mcguinness@express-news.net | Twitter: @DylMcGuinness Two city boards will consider a plan to transform Alamo Plaza in two weeks, possibly setting up a pivotal City Council vote on Oct. 18. City officials discussed the latest tentative timeline after a Planning Commission work session about proposed street closures in the plaza and a lease with the Texas General Land Office. The city would lease to the state 1.4 acres of right of way in the historic footprint of the 1836 Alamo and 1700s Mission San Antonio de Valero. The plan will be considered at a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and Historic and Design Review Commission, which will vote on conceptual approval, at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in the Development and Business Services Board Room, 1901 S. Alamo St. The meeting will include public comments. On the same day, a City Council work session also is tentatively set for 2 p.m. in the B Room of the Municipal Plaza Building, 105 Main Plaza. Councilman Robert Trevino on Wednesday compared the limited space devoted to the story of the mission and 1836 battle to a hot dog stand, where visitors only spend a few minutes. He said visitors and locals who often do not realize they are in the heart of the battlefield. To better orient them to the site, sections of Alamo, Houston and Crockett streets need to be closed to traffic, he said, and part of the plaza that was once enclosed by mission walls should be lowered by 18 to 20 inches. They dont really know where to go and how to experience the space, Trevino said, describing the plan for an outdoor museum to complement an indoor museum that will be built on the west side of the plaza. He noted that the city, Land Office and nonprofit Alamo Endowment are commissioning a study to determine the historic and cultural significance of three state-owned buildings, and the feasibility of repurposing them as a museum. Preservationists have said the building facades should be kept intact. But since the outline of the mission-forts west wall extends about 20 feet into the buildings, some Alamo enthusiasts support demolishing the structures. Planning Commissioner June Kachtik sought assurance that the building shells would be preserved. Trevino said the design team does not want to get rid of any history, but he cautioned against being too prescriptive in setting parameters for an architect to be hired to design the museum, once a plan is approved by the council. Final designs associated with the plan would later be reviewed by the HDRC. The Texas Historical Commission also has oversight of excavations, building alterations and the relocation of the Cenotaph, which would be moved 500 feet south, bringing it closer to the Menger Hotel. Mayor Ron Nirenberg has not co-signed a resolution to move the plan forward but has appeared more receptive to a faster timeline for council consideration, after saying the council would not likely take action on the plan until December. The mayors office said the City Council could vote on the plan after a public hearing Oct. 18 if a lease agreement is negotiated by then. Some local residents oppose the street closures and placement of 42-inch-tall fences or landscaping around the plaza. Pedestrian access to the historic mission-fort site will be limited to one entryway during daytime museum hours. Asked about the potential change in the timeline, the mayor said in a statement that the plan is going to move through its natural course through the Planning Commission, HDRC and the council. Nothing has been decided, Nirenberg said. Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who serves with Nirenberg on a two-member executive committee overseeing the Alamo plan, signed the resolution on Sept. 12. Bryan Preston, Land Office spokesman, said the agency is happy to see the city processes moving forward and getting us closer to the day we restore reverence to the Alamo. Scott Huddleston is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA The former president of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club told a federal judge Wednesday that hes a family man who went to Catholic school and was an altar boy, insisting hes not a vicious criminal. But Jeffrey Fay Pike, 63, will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years for eight rackeeting-related crimes, including directing murder and beatings as the leader of one of the countrys largest outlaw biker clubs. After pronouncing the sentence, Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra allowed Pikes family to approach him in the courtroom for a last tearful hug before he was taken away in chains. The sentence was less severe than the one Ezra handed Pikes vice president, John Xavier Portillo, 59, on Tuesday. Portillo, of San Antonio, got two consecutive life sentences plus 20 years on similar charges; he had 13 charges compared to Pikes eight. The differences in sentencing are largely symbolic, however, because neither man has the possibility of parole. Pike and Portillo were convicted in May by a San Antonio jury that heard two very different sides during a three-month trial. On ExpressNews.com: Jury finds Bandidos leaders guilty In addition to the life sentence plus 10 years, Ezra sentenced Pike to terms ranging from five years to 20 years for the other crimes. Those sentences will run concurrently with the life sentence. The federal judge told Pike, as he told Portillo on Monday, that he didnt believe he belonged in a supermaximum security prison. He is, personally, not a violent person, Ezra said of Pike. He is charged with ordering things, but not charged with having a gun and shooting someone. ... I will recommend against his placement in such an institution. Ezra added that Pike conducted himself appropriately during the trial, did not make any outbursts or faces at the government witnesses, even when he was unhappy about some of their testimony. The judge also noted that about Portillo at his sentencing Monday, saying Portillo behaved like a gentleman during the trial. On ExpressNews.com: Judge sentences Bandidos VP to life in prison plus more Before Ezra handed down his sentence, Pike read a statement that decried the testimony of former fellow Bandidos who Pike said lied about him in order to avoid lengthy sentences of their own for crimes he didnt know about or sanction. Pike described himself as a family man who attended Catholic school in California and was an altar boy before moving to Texas and joining the Bandidos in 1979. While he understood the violent reputation the Bandidos had, Pike claimed he tried to change the club when he took the reins in mid-2005 to make it more like what he argued it is: a brotherhood of family-oriented men who enjoy motorcycles, riding the open road and having a good time. Pike said he couldnt comprehend how someone could shoot another person in the head, in front of his family, then blame Pike for it. He was referring to the racketeering murder by San Antonio-based Bandidos in 2006 of Anthony Benesh, who witnesses said was trying to start a chapter of the Hells Angels in Austin. A former member of the Bandidos national chapter, Johnny Romo of San Antonio, testified at the trial that Portillo passed down orders from Pike for the hit to prevent the Hells Angels from planting roots in the Bandidos backyard. The hit was assigned to Romos brother, Robert Romo, who gained full-patch status for firing the round that fell Benesh outside an Austin restaurant, in front of his girlfriend and his two children. Johnny Romo, using a walkie-talkie from another car, gave Robert Romo instructions before he pulled the trigger, according to testimony at the trial. On ExpressNews.com: Ex-Bandidos enforcer identifies brother as killer gunman In his statement Wednesday, Pike said he didnt even know Johnny Romo had a brother, and that he learned during the trial that Bandidos in San Antonio had apparently hung on to the clubs violent past, despite Pikes attempts to change the organizations ways. He said because of his upbringing, he knew the difference between right and wrong, and would never have sanctioned the violence shown by some Bandidos. He apologized to Beneshs family for the death. They murder and rob and beat like they have no conscience, like its still the Wild West, Pike told the judge. This is not the motorcycle club that I know. Pikes lead lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, bristled at his clients conviction. I do not, I cannot and I will not accept the verdict of the jury, DeGuerin told the judge. It seems to me that Jeff Pike was convicted not because of what he did, but because of the position that he had. The entire Bandidos Motorcycle Club (was) demonized throught the trial, not for the acts of all, but for acts of certain individuals. It was guilt by association. He also decried the laws that largely prevented Ezra from using much discretion in sentencing Pike. The murder charge alone carried a mandatory life sentence. The draconian sentencing scheme that you are constrained by failed to take into account the paucity of the evidence, DeGuerin told Ezra. Once theres a conviction, there seems to be no way under the sentencing scheme for the court to take into consideration the sorry type of evidence that this jury heard from people clearly guilty of terrible acts trying to avoid their just punishment by blaming someone else, and in this case Jeff Pike. But prosecutors argued that DeGuerin and Pike misconstrued the evidence the jury considered, and that Pikes family bit is a veneer to hide his true character. They asked the judge to sentence Pike to two consecutive life terms, but, in the end, Ezra opted for just one. He wasnt just a figurehead, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Fuchs told the judge. When he took over the presidency, he took a step up from vice president. He knew his predecessor was sent to prison for RICO (racketeering) charges. He did not go blindly into this role. Soon after he took over, the Bandidos became arguably more violent. According to the feds, Pike ran one of the worlds largest criminal syndicates with an iron hand, setting up his leadership in a way that underlings for years shielded him from arrest for the extortions, beatings and killings he ordered them to carry out against rival bikers or wayward Bandidos. On ExpressNews.com: Prosecutors describe mafia on two wheels In short, the prosecutors say Pike led the mafia on two wheels. They presented a case that included wire taps on Portillo and the testimony of the Romos and other former Bandidos, some of them national officers like Pike and Portillo, who painted a picture of the club similar to some episodes from Netflixs Sons of Anarchy, a series about an outlaw motorcycle club. Orders for club business were compartmentalized and important information or orders disseminated on a need-to-know basis, according to Fuchs and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gibson. Jurors sided with the government, and convicted Pike and Portillo of racketeering conspiracy and related crimes that included attacks and murders by other Bandidos to keep rival bikers from putting down roots in Texas, the clubs turf and homeland. The prosecutors said Pike issued secret orders to Portillo about assaults and murders he wanted carried out to maintain control of the clubs territory and profits in rackets that included drug-trafficking and prostitution, and that Portillo whom Pike picked as his second-in-command in 2013 obliged. At times during the trial, it seemed Portillo ran the Bandidos, but the prosecutors claimed he was acting at Pikes direction, in a way that helped Pike deny involvement. On ExpressNews.com: Jury hears Bandidos leader declare war on Cossacks By their verdict, jurors also believed Pike authorized a war on the Cossacks, a smaller Texas-based motorcycle club. The war culminated in Texas deadliest biker shootout, the May 17, 2015, gun battle involving Bandidos, Cossacks, their allies and police at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco. The shootout left nine bikers dead, most of them Cossacks, 20 injured and some 200 arrested on state charges of participating in organized crime. Neither Pike nor Portillo were at the shootout, and none of the federal charges were for the Waco incident. But they were convicted for, among other things, conspiring with fellow Bandidos in attacks on Cossacks before and after the Waco shootout happened. The pair denied ordering, authorizing or sanctioning the criminal activity of their fellow Bandidos, and Pike claimed local Bandidos chapters were autonomous and didnt act on orders of national leaders. As part of his sentence, Portillo forfeited his Harley, guns and $17,000 in cash, but Ezra denied the governments request to also take his Southeast San Antonio home. The judge also denied a request from the government to take the two-story home Pike built himself on a 5-acre spread near Conroe, north of Houston, because it would deprive Pikes wife, Heather, of a place to live. After sentencing, the judge allowed Pike to say goodbye to his family. His wife, grown children, three grandchildren and in-laws crowded around him as they hugged and he dabbed tears from his eyes. Ezra gave Portillo the same opportunity Monday, but Portillo declined to avoid having to see his family members cry. When Pike took the helm in mid-2005 from his predecessor, George Wegers who was sent to prison for racketeering Pike oversaw an international organization that had 5,000 members in 210 chapters, located in 22 countries. Under his leadership, Pike brought the Bandidos headquarters back to Texas from Washington state, and split the Bandidos in the Western Hemisphere from those in Europe and Australia. Testifying in his own defense at his trial, Pike said he pursued the split because he did not like some of the ultra-violent acts by some international chapters, like the massacre of eight Bandidos in Canada in 2006 and all-out biker wars involving Bandidos in Scandinavia in the 1990s and the recruitment by some chapters of members with suspected terrorist ties in Australia. He also said he tried to instill reforms, including halting members from referring to women as property. Pike also testified that he wanted the Bandidos to attract more mainstream and family-oriented members different, younger people, more settled, I guess you would say. But he said he was not the dictator-like ruler of Bandido Nation the feds claimed. I didnt really lead them at all, Pike said. I just set an example, and if they chose to follow me, they did. Guillermo Contreras covers federal court and immigration news in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland A 3D printer could one day produce a tiny device that would be injected into the body, deposit a drug in a specific location, such as a tumor, then disappear. Such technology is the focus of research by a team in San Antonio that is developing prototypes now. The implant would be about the size of a pen tip and made of a biodegradable polymer. Once injected, it would slowly release drugs as bodily fluids dissolve it, said Priya Jain, the project lead and a biomedical engineering graduate student at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The device could target cancerous cells directly, dispersing a drug for up to two to three weeks. One application would be immunotherapy a treatment that boosts a persons immune system to combat cancer but other uses could be possible. Were developing the vehicle to deliver the drug so it can be adjusted to several different kinds of treatments and drug types, Jain said. Since 2016, when the idea was first conceived, Jain has been working on designs and prototypes with Lyle Hood, a UTSA assistant professor whose research specialty is medical device design and development; and Albert Zweinder and Kreg Zimmern, two engineers at the Southwest Research Institute. UTSA students Joshua Gale and Austin Schoppe have been among the students who have made substantial contributions to the research. The team has submitted a provisional patent for the technology and recently received a $125,000 grant to further their research from UTSAs Connecting through Research Partnerships program. Most of the prototypes made so far are cylindrical, but the researchers are experimenting with other shapes, such as spirals. Varying the shape will give the researchers control over the dosage, the types of drugs that are released, and the speed at which those drugs are released, Hood said. Think of like an outer shell with a little hole in it, he said. (Body) fluid will infiltrate the device through the hole. There will be a different polymer inside with the drug in it. How much of that polymer is exposed to (fluid) coming through the hole will be correlated with the rate of release. Unlike most pills and other treatment methods, the implant will be injected directly into the problem area, minimizing the amount of drug dosage needed and the side effects, Hood said. Because the device is so small, a doctor could put as few as one into a tumor or as many as 10 in and around it, Jain said. And because it is 3D printed, the device can be custom-made for each patient. The San Antonio researchers foresee a time when doctors and pharmacists will have 3D printers to make devices like that in their labs. Every single person coming in with a disease is different, Hood said. Nobody breaks their arm the same way. No two breast cancers are exactly alike also. So doctors need versatile tools . . . that they can with their knowledge and experience and training use to treat their patients best. By altering a few settings on the printer, doctors and pharmacists would be able to print devices of varying sizes, shapes and capabilities, Jain said. David Volk, a faculty member at the Center for Precision Biomedicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, lauded the researchers use of 3D printing technology to create the implant. Currently, 3D printers primarily make devices for use outside the body, such as casts for broken bones, he said. I think this will be a great advancement in precision biomedicine, that we can have slow release of a drug and it can be customized to the particular patient, Volk said. Customization is a more costly approach, at least initially, Hood said, but it has the potential to reduce future costs. By using the tiny drug delivery device, patients would not need additional surgeries following the injection and would use smaller dosages of treatment, both of which could help balance the extra cost. Personalization is more expensive in the short term, but it may have long-term cost benefits and also the benefit of saving more lives, Hood said. With a good tailwind and downhill, the device could be widely available in the next 10 to 15 years, Hood said, but a lot of that depends on factors outside their control. If other research teams can develop similar technologies and get them approved by the Food and Drug Administration first, that will make it easier for the San Antonio researchers to push their device through the regulatory process as well. We're here to push human health and medicine, Hood said. (We) hope that if we're not able to make this work, some other group will." sarah.chavey@express-news.net The Go Vote No campaign has launched a high-dollar television ad campaign on network and cable television that is designed to drive voters to learn more about the charter amendments theyll see on the November ballot. Meanwhile, the campaign announced in an email Wednesday that Mayor Ron Nirenberg has accepted an invitation from KSAT television for an hourlong debate with union President Chris Steele, who backed out of a San Antonio Express-News-University of Texas at San Antonio town-hall forum last week. It was unclear Wednesday whether Steele would participate in the debate. The TV ads are part of a full-court press against the measures placed on the ballot by Steele and the San Antonio Professional Fire Fighters Association that address the referendum process, the city manager position and how fire union contracts are negotiated. The two political advertisements are 30 seconds and 60 seconds, respectively. The shorter one opens with a close-up shot of a handshake superimposed over a black-and-white shot of downtown. A slightly ominous voice warns of trouble. Its a con job the special-interest union propositions, the voice says. Theyre a shell game, and youre gonna get taken. The narrator quickly explains the referendum proposition, which would lower the threshold for overturning council decisions from 10 percent of registered voters currently about 69,500 to 20,000 and extend the amount of time a group would have to collect those signatures. Proposition A: unlimited ballot elections, California-style special-interest rules that will raise taxes, cut services and hurt San Antonios AAA bond rating, the voice says. We just voted for streets, drainage, sidewalks it could all go away. If the propositions win, you lose. Go vote no. Christian Archer, the Democratic political strategist whos running the Go Vote No campaign with longtime friend and Republican counterpart Kelton Morgan, said the goal of the advertisements is to intimate feelings and emotions because theres not enough time in 30 seconds to fully explain what opponents see as so damaging about the propositions. Theres hardly time to communicate a message, he said. So youve got to communicate a feeling. And that feeling is that Steele has sowed chaos in San Antonio, he said. Steele did not respond to a request for an interview. The minute-long spot goes a bit deeper and features several community leaders, from a restauranteur to the CEO of the areas Economic Development Foundation. Archer said he expects that the Go Vote No campaign, backed by the Secure San Antonios Future political action committee, will run other advertisements leading up to the Nov. 6 election. But its just part of the media blitz that local voters here will see. Archer said the campaign will include direct-mail pieces, a robust social-media campaign and other elements. Though the union and its San Antonio First campaign have yet to launch a broadcast blitz, sources have said the International Association of Fire Fighters the umbrella organization over local fire unions has spent about $70,000 on a cable television advertising campaign and may have embarked on some radio advertising as well. Copies of those ads were not available Wednesday. The campaign has also hired the GOP consulting firm Murphy Nasica, though it was not involved with the advertisements currently airing. Josh Baugh is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbaugh@express-news.net | Twitter: @jbaugh Catch Digital Strategy describes itself as a creative online marketing agency that focuses on spreading conservative messages online. Its clients attest to its mission. According to its website, the Austin-based firm has done work for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the New Jersey Republican Party, including a page for the latter that urges visitors to support Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the embattled Supreme Court nominee of President Donald Trump who is facing an onslaught of sexual misconduct allegations this week. Catchs latest client: the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association. A few days ago, the firm launched approvedbycitizens.com, a website that seeks to persuade voters to support the fire unions campaign to amend the City Charter on Nov. 6. That should jar anyone who took at face value an announcement last week at Bexar County Democratic Party headquarters that the union had earned the support of the BCDP. RELATED: Charter amendment town hall canceled after Steele backs out at last minute Like the uniform worn by fire union President Chris Steele at the press conference, that support is a sleight of hand. Steele presided over the announcement in a fake San Antonio Fire Department dress uniform, an apparent attempt to circumvent a city policy that prohibits employees from wearing a city uniform at political events. Likewise, the passage last month of a BCDP resolution in support of the unions campaign was carefully orchestrated by the partys former chair Manuel Medina, a slippery figure who once attracted a contingent of conservative allies in his failed bid for mayor last year. He personally made calls to get precinct chairs out to the event, said Steve Price, a deputy chair of the party and a former loyalist to Medina. He stood in the back of the room, so arrogantly, when they called the vote. Price added, Manuel has a history of calling in a crowd to get what he wants. And even though hes no longer the chair, hes still doing it. I am no longer loyal to Manuel and I am quite upset at the way he has been manipulating the party and using these people to break the rules. The partys new chair, Monica Alcantara, appears to be pushing back as well. In a statement last week, Alcantara noted that the partys endorsement of the unions campaign had created serious concerns among Democratic elected officials and candidates. She added the partys support was particularly troubling considering the union itself had endorsed a slate of Republican candidates, including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton. The BCDP will revisit its endorsement of the charter amendments at a meeting next month, Alcantara added. RELATED: Fire union alleges email from council staffer is illegal The proposed amendments would make it easier to use referendums to challenge council decisions; cap the salary of future city managers; and give the union unilateral power to decide when contract negotiations would be taken to binding arbitration. Ive written already that the unions purportedly populist campaign is an endeavor actually more in sync with the anti-government tea party than any other movement. The involvement now of Catch Digital Strategy is only further confirmation of this. On the web site the firm created for the union, Betty Eckert is quoted as a lifelong Republican. These three reforms will benefit all San Antonio residents, Eckert is quoted as saying. San Antonio city government has gotten off-track in their spending priorities. These reforms will bring things back in line. Eckert is no mere Republican. In 2013, she was a vocal supporter of an effort to recall then-Mayor Julian Castro and the seven city council members who passed an updated nondiscrimination ordinance that year. Were doing recall on the mayor and all the council people who voted wrong, Eckert told me then. Were concentrating on the guy who wrote the ordinance. Were going to take him out first, the mayor second, and then were going to go one by one. Were going to try to help those districts to take out the ones that didnt know how to vote. Is it any wonder Eckert now supports a campaign that would erode representative government? As I wrote then, conservatives such as Eckert believe they know how democratically elected officials should vote, and what the proper punishment is when they vote wrong. The charter amendments are Eckerts revenge, not to mention Medinas and Steeles. Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza. Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres. The past is not dead. Its not even past. William Faulkner Thirteen years ago, I anxiously sat next to a sobbing 17-year old, who Ill call Maria, in the hallway of a Santa Clara County courthouse. A supportive rape crisis advocate consoled Maria while holding her shaking hand, between trips to the restroom to allow her to vomit. Minutes later, I walked into the courtroom and called Maria to the witness stand to ask questions about her assault a date rape that occurred a year before. In response to both my questions and the defense attorneys questions, she had to explain why she had accepted the 22-year-old mans invitation into his apartment, why she would allow herself to take an alcoholic drink from a man she barely knew, and why she waited a year to recount the attack to police and only after her mother discovered the account of the assault in Marias diary. If she declined to answer those questions, the jury would acquit her rapist. He would walk free, knowing where she lived. His acquittal would substantiate Marias friends and familys doubts about her account, intensifying her traumatic humiliation. My experience as a criminal prosecutor in San Jose lends me no unique access to the truth. I dont pretend to know whether a teenaged Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford three decades ago at a party. Nor do I have any special insight into the veracity of the more recent claims that have come to light. I do know one thing, however: Most sexual assault victims do not report the crime to the police. Id long assumed that this fact was widely acknowledged, but I was proved incorrect by President Trumps recent pronouncements. On Sept. 21, he tweeted: I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents .... and then subsequently, ... Why didnt someone call the FBI 36 years ago? These are not merely the rantings of an individual who has faced his own allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Many perfectly law-abiding Americans continue to believe that true rape victims always call the cops; indeed, the presidents tweet was liked and retweeted more than 100,000 times, presumably not merely by Russian bots. As a criminal prosecutor, I learned quickly that the veracity of allegations by a sexual assault victim has nothing to do with whether she or he called 911. This conclusion does not emanate from some glandular response of the politically correct coastal elite, but from hard experience of police, criminal prosecutors and criminologists. According to a 2013 U.S. Department of Justice report authored by Michael Planty and Lynn Langton and others, approximately two-thirds of sexual assault survivors never report the crime to the police. About 20 percent of non-reporting victims told researchers that they feared reprisal from the assailant, who knew them prior to the assault in about three-quarters of the cases. Many reasons make victims reluctant to report. Some feel too emotionally overwhelmed to even discuss the experience; unsurprisingly, an estimated 94 percent of sexual assault victims suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Others worry for good reason that they wont be believed, because their traumatic experience may allow only fragmented recollection, and they fear their inability to remember every detail will make them less credible. Even if they do clearly remember what happened, some fear they may not prevail in a battle of he said, she said, and victimization becomes only more excruciating and isolating if doubted by family or friends. Still others express some sense of shame or responsibility for whatever they believe they did to make themselves vulnerable to attack. For these reasons, and for all the fears rushing through Marias shaking body, sexual assault victims often do not tell their parents. Or teachers. Or friends. Or spouse. Criminal prosecutors routinely put psychologists on the stand to explain this phenomenon to juries, to disabuse them of their misconceptions. If we could only do the same for the current occupant of the White House. I commend those who urge we not rush to judgment, but that restraint should apply fairly not just for Christine Blasey Fords sake, but for all victims of sexual assault. Sam Liccardo is the mayor of San Jose, Americas 10th largest city, and a former criminal prosecutor. Greece's largest carrier Aegean Airlines will launch flights between Athens and Skopje on November 1, resuming services between the two capital cities after more than a decade. Flights will run twice per week, each Tuesday and Thursday, and will be operated by its regional subsidiary Olympic Air, which will deploy its 48-seat ATR42 turboprop aircraft on the route. Skopje Airport's name posed as one of the main obstacles for Aegean to resume operations between the two capitals over the past few years. Formerly known as Alexander the Great, the airport was renamed in March. Skopje was Aegean's first scheduled international destination back in 2003, however, flights were discontinued in 2007 as relations between Macedonia and Greece deteriorated. The Greek carrier initially planned to resume its Skopje service this June, but delayed its return to the Macedonian capital until the "resolution of certain contentious issues". Greece's Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs, Georgios Katrougalos, recently said, "We see these flights as a positive development, like every measure that promotes economic cooperation between our two countries". Skopje becomes the airline's seventh destination in the former Yugoslavia. It currently serves Belgrade and Zagreb on a year-round basis, and Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Podgorica during the summer. Furthermore, the carrier will introduce flights to Sarajevo on June 13, 2019. Tickets for the new Athens - Skopje service are available for purchase through the airline's website. Aegeans passenger traffic will grow to over thirteen million this year from just 8.8 million in 2013 when it acquired state-run Olympic Airlines. The carrier expects to carry around fifteen million passengers a year by 2023. Flights between Athens and Skopje will be operated by Olympic Air's ATR42 The Greek carrier has also outlined its plans for the former Yugoslav markets during the 2019 summer season, which begins on March 30 next year. Apart from the new Sarajevo service, Aegean will increase frequencies to Belgrade from three to five per week, Split from four to five per week and Zagreb from three to four per week during the high season, with the latter two to be maintained by Olympic Air's Dash 8 aircraft. Flights to Zadar, which were launched on a seasonal basis this summer, are currently unavailable for booking next year. The airline recently said, "Demand for these routes remain strong as passengers are able to travel to Athens and beyond. Our performance is satisfactory on this market, as is the cooperation we have with partner airlines in the region". FAIRFIELD The Board of Selectmen said the $200,000 or so it will cost to do schematic drawings of three different sized Mill Hill Schools will be money well spent. The Mill Hill Building Committee was at the selectmens meeting Wednesday to give it update on their progress on the expansion and renovation project. Theyve been instructed by the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance to come up with cost estimates for three different capacities 380 students, 440 and 504. The Board of Education wants a 504 school at that site. We thought it would be a good idea that everybody voting for this realized what this would cost, Thomas Quinn, building committee chairman, said. Bottom line, well march off into any direction this body tells us to. Selectman Chris Tymniak asked the cost to do to schematics for just one size, and Quinn said it was probably about $90,000 to $120,000. Im starting to come to the belief the town needs to hear all three and better make a rational judgment for the building size, Tymniak said. Theres a high side and a low side, and I think stopping the flow of information could be detrimental to getting it moving forward. Selectman Ed Bateson agreed that the town should keep its options open for the near term. The building committee, while still in its search for an architect, should ask potential firms to look at the topography of the site, and whether the three different sized buildings can fit into the site, First Selectman Mike Tetreau said. And one of the first things we do is engage a traffic consultant, Tetreau said. The consultant, he said, needs to look at the impact o more students and buses on the site and the surrounding neighborhood. The other elementary schools are in their own little area, Tetreau said. We need to take it from being anecdotal stories to being real data. Bateson said it makes sense to find out if the site, or neighborhood, cant tolerate a much larger school. greilly@ctpost.com; 203-842-2585 Many governments and donor agencies, as well as the private sector work to solve the myriad of challenges smallholder farmers in Africa face every day, including, but not limited to, access to markets and agronomic support. More progress could be made, however, if the farmers themselves were invited to play a role in tackling their own problems and mobile technology could be a way to make this happen. While industries such as the financial market, transport and fast-moving consumer goods are capturing relevant data from huge data sources and turning it into real-time and actionable insights, the agriculture sector is stuck in the physical realm with low volumes of data being generated. Yet, in an era where the phone penetration rate around the world is at an all-time high, farmers no longer have to be disconnected from each other, or from the rest of the world. The solution to their problems could literally be in their hands. The headache for ag-tech companies in emerging markets is the lack of primary farmer level data, such as exact geolocation, size of farm under production, production dates etc., which is essential to creating robust systems to get farmers in emerging markets closer to precision agriculture. Of course, concerns about data privacy and security do not make it easy for farmers to reach out for their gadgets and freely share information. However, the reward they get from confidentially sharing their data with ag-tech companies that are committed to transform the industry for the greater good outweighs these concerns. Better planning and collective action Farmers in most emerging markets rely on rain-fed agriculture, which forces everyone in the same region to plant around the same time and, in most cases, farmers from the same region plant the same thing. This therefore drives down prices during the harvest season due to oversupply of the same commodity in the same region. If farmers were to share what they are planting, how much they are planting and the specific date they are planting, the oversupply could be avoided as farmers could get production volume predictions for certain crops in their region. Imagine a farmer texting I want to plant half a hectare of potatoes in Arusha and within seconds receiving advice back: 1,000 farmers within a 30 km radius have planted potatoes this season. We predict the prices will be very low. However, only 100 farmers are planting tomatoes and we predict the prices to be high. Would you like to plant tomatoes instead or delay your planting date by a week? This kind of system will only work if a critical mass of farmers are sharing their information and if they do not misuse it to drive out the competition. This approach could also be beneficial to farmers during the harvesting period, enabling them to collectively sell produce by informing them who is selling what, when and where. Efficient farm management Farming is science and business combined and no matter how experienced a farmer might be, they dont always have all the answers. Technology can therefore enable farmers to tap into detailed data about how their farms operate, which particular area needs more fertilisation, which fields to irrigate and when, and which pests and diseases to look out for based on weather patterns. Access to such information allows farmers to lower their cost of production and gives them maximum yields while minimising their risks. A few years back, farmers would look at the sky and know what the weather would look like. Now, the weather patterns are so erratic that farmers are unable to properly plan. Most smallholder farmers exact location is unknown making it harder for companies with solutions to help address this particular issue. Recently, Wefarm and the Danish Refugee Council worked together to disseminate weather data to farmers in Turkana, a county in north-western Kenya, which has recently been plagued by drought and famine. The weather data these farmers received was generic county level information that had less impact on individual farms. If smallholder farmers share their exact geolocation, however, it will enable companies like Wefarm to create more customised services for individual farmers to better deal with climate shocks. This list is by no means exhaustive and opportunities to improve the agriculture sector through data shared by farmers themselves is endless and key to transforming the sector. The caveat is that ag-tech companies should be prepared to not only come up with smart ways of encouraging farmers to share data, but also work hand in hand with them to come up with suitable data agreements between the farmers and the service providers. iShares MSCI Netherlands ETF's stock was trading at $27.57 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, EWN stock has increased by 92.3% and is now trading at $53.03. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. iShares Latin America 40 ETF's stock was trading at $22.49 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, ILF shares have increased by 14.2% and is now trading at $25.69. View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19. During a 1916 Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco, someone exploded a bomb. A prominent Socialist labor leader named Tom Mooney was tried, convicted and sentenced to death (later changed to life imprisonment) for the crime in a questionable trial. The week of July 4, 1919, workers around the country struck to protest Mooneys imprisonment. The coal miners around Belleville, Illinois, joined the strike and, in accordance with the union contract, were docked next payday for the wildcat protest. Strike The coal miners had many additional grievances and again walked out. The strike quickly spread in spite of the United Mine Workers unions efforts to stop it. The strike dragged on into winter and coal became scarce, this at a time when most folks heated with coal and factories relied on steam for power and light. The shortage of coal became acute, with folks huddling under blankets to keep warm in their homes, factories shutting down, and some towns without power. The federal government curtailed the use of coal for light and power and diverted the fuel thus saved to domestic uses. A 1919 U.S. Government survey reported, In not a few places where temperatures were below zero, a fuel famine existed. In the emergencies, much volunteer coal mining was attempted. College and university students went into the surface mines in Kansas. In Montana, on the other hand, it was reported that federal troops were used to drive miners to work. The secretary of war announced that such an action was inconceivable, but its unclear what actually occurred. In North Dakota, Gov. Frazier took over the mines under martial law, and the union miners returned to work under the auspices of the state government. A December 1919 story in Tractor World magazine tells of the problems and how some resourceful business leaders managed to stretch their government allotted coal rations. It points out that the Midwest was particularly hard hit because industries there had long relied on continuous coal supplies and hadnt found it necessary to accumulate large coal reserves. The 1919 article continues, Most of the companies manufacturing tractors and agricultural implements felt the fuel reduction keenly, and not a few of them utilized tractors as power plants and were able to continue, some of them producing light from temporary generators. Each plant was an individual problem that the executives studied and dealt with according to their resources. The Avery Co. at Peoria, Illinois, by installing tractors, was able to develop 450 horsepower for its different shops. One concern is credited with using no less than 30 tractors in its works and many of the companies used smaller numbers. Where the power needs were small a single tractor was adequate for power, as at the Lansing, Michigan, plant of the Briscoe Devices Co. where a tractor was placed in the powerhouse and drove the plants machinery as well as an electric generator. Truck and tractor engines were set up whenever possible and trucks were often driven into the shops with pulleys rigged on the rear axle or the uncoupled main drive shaft and belted to the factory overhead line shafts. Sometimes the engines needed auxiliary cooling apparatus. The article points out that, while the makeshift power was more expensive, it did make possible operation so far as light and power was concerned and reduced the need for coal to that used for heating alone. Although not related to the coal shortage, an October 1919 story told of several unusual uses for tractors. Tractor uses Here are a couple of them that were obviously provided by the Cleveland Tractor Co.: In the town of White Deer, Texas, a Cletrac is used for generating electricity for lighting the town. [In 1920, White Deer had a population of around 200 people, so it wasnt a huge task]. The tractor is geared to 800 RPM and the generator 1800. The machine is on the job from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m., and during the day it is used for operating a grain elevator in the town. Another instance of the use of this type of tractor for generating electric power is reported at Elgin, Illinois, where it has been operating a 25-horsepower generator for a number of weeks, averaging 12 to 14 hours a day. In another example, we read, The three-story building of the Lincoln Collar factory at Lincoln, Illinois, was recently destroyed by fire, but some of the walls were left standing and were a menace to street traffic. The fire department tried to pull down the walls with a large truck but was unsuccessful. It next tried dynamite but after three charges the wall would not budge. The fire chief then decided to try a tractor and chose the Cletrac, which is sold in Lincoln by Wilson & Coddington. The walls were finally leveled, after a cable was broken six times and a heavier one twice. A still heavier cable was used and the tractor could than make its power effective. During the teens and 20s, a time when the new-fangled contraptions were looked at skeptically by most American farmers, tractor power was heavily promoted by power and farm publications such as Tractor World, a monthly published in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Any story about an unusual use for a tractor was eagerly pounced upon by these magazines and published in the hopes of converting a few more horse farmers to tractor power. LEXINGTON, Ky. A University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment research trial studying the feasibility of growing plants used to treat malaria was successful in its first growing season. In March, the colleges Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center personnel signed a memorandum of understanding with officials from ArtemiFlow, a German-based company, to grow artemisia plants. UK researchers grew three varieties on a little more than an acre at UKs Spindletop Farm in Lexington. The abundance of rainfall this season can be attributed to the crops success, as it negated the need for any irrigation. We expect to collect 1,000 to 1,750 pounds of dry weight biomass per acre, maybe higher, we dont know, said Patrick Perry, KTRDC field research coordinator. Harvest time The artemisia will be harvested around flowering time when the artemisinin compound in the plant is the highest. The researchers will then analyze the crop for its chemical compounds. We cant say definitively how these plants are doing right now, until we get the data back at the end of the year after our chemical analysis, Perry said. ArtemiFlow officials visited Lexington recently to see the crop for the first time and were excited about what they saw. We looked at where it could be grown, said Peter Seeberger, founder of ArtemiFlow. It has to be grown in a certain area and it turns out that Kentucky is about a perfect spot to do it. Seeberger, and business partner Kerry Gilmore, started ArtemiFlow. Seeberger and Gilmore, who are scientists, have developed an inexpensive and efficient process to take the compound from the artemisia plant and create a pharmaceutical. ArtemiFlow is able to do this process on a large scale to Food and Drug Administration standards. We needed a way to produce these raw materials; we needed to standardize and industrialize this process, Gilmore said. Thats when we were lucky enough to end up here in Kentucky and start talking to the KTRDC, and they figured out how to grow this crop here. Serious disease Malaria is a disease that affects up to 200 million people a year. It is an easily treated disease with the medicine made from the artemisia plant, but people die every year because they dont have access to the medication. There is a huge black market for the medicine in Africa and Southeast Asia. There are only two ways to fix the problem. Inject more money into the system and buy more medicine that is out there, or we can produce these medications more cheaply and efficiently. That is what we want to do, Gilmore said. ArtemiFlow s goal is to make Kentucky the worlds leading producer of artemisinin-derived medicines by combining the efficiency and cost savings of the chemical manufacturing technology with area farmers. HARRISBURG, Pa. Dr. Alan McCauley, DVM, of Mount Cory, Ohio, was honored with the Image Award during the exhibitor appreciation dinner at the 55th All-American Dairy Show, held Sept. 15-20, at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg. The Image Award is presented annually to an individual who has enhanced the image of the All-American Dairy Show with significant contributions to its reputation, prestige and welfare. Alan has steered the All-American Dairy Show for five years with grit and determination, said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. His commitment to setting the show on a path to continued success makes him an obvious choice for the Image Award, and we congratulate and thank him for his service not only the show but to the dairy industry as a whole. McCauley will step down after five years as chair of the Pennsylvania Allied and Industries Association, the volunteer board of directors that governs the All-American Dairy Show. Its so rewarding to see the show succeed through a variety of challenges and secure the continued support of the industry, said McCauley. Im glad to see the show click along, and I know Im just a small part of a great team effort. Volunteer effort He recognized the many volunteers who help keep the show running and praised last years Image Award winner, Barbara Ziemba, for her fundraising efforts and strong relationships with sponsors and exhibitors for much of the shows success. A native of western Pennsylvania, McCauley began his veterinary career path at Penn State University and graduated in 1969 from the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. After several years in practice, he established Em Tran, in Elizabethtown, Pa., and Em Tran West in Turlock, California, a leader in embryo transfer and genetics. He is now retired and spends time with his family. Algeria, Sept 27, 2018 (SPS) the Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel has affirmed that Algeria is committed to a political, just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the parties to the conflict which allows the Saharawi people to exercise its right of self-determination, The head of the Algerian diplomacy has also stressing that this solution can only be the result of direct negotiations without conditions and in a good faith between the parties to the conflict Frente POLISARIO and the Kingdom of Morocco. In this regard, Abdelkader Messahel held talks with the UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler, the Algerian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. During the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, Koehler briefed him on his efforts and various activities to facilitate the resumption of negotiations between the parties to the conflict, Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO. In this context, the Algerian minister renewed Algeria's support for the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy SPS 125/090/TRA The Government has announced further measures for farmers struggling to access animal feed due to this summer's dry weather. New flexibility from the EU Commission has been secured, which will help farmers increase the amount of feed they can grow for their livestock. Farmers will now be allowed to grow grass and other edible forage in areas that are not usually allowed for grazing, the new measures announced this week highlight. This is after the a derogation was secured from the EUs Ecological Focus Area (EFA) winter crop requirements, which stipulates that certain areas must be left fallow or sown with crop mix that cannot be grazed. The measures follow complaints by farmers earlier this month, criticising the government for announcing "little action" since an emergency summit took place on August 1. The sustained dry weather in summer has meant many farmers have not had enough pasture to graze their animals on, with some having to break into their winter feed supplies early. Flexible water licences The new measure follows other solutions to help farmers affected by the dry weather, including the Environment Agency granting farmers 89 flexible water abstraction licenses to safeguard food production and animal welfare. Defra published guidance for 40 Countryside Stewardship options which can be adjusted for this year without penalty if agreement holders notify Natural England by the end of 2018, and waiving penalties for farmers who fail to establish EFA catch crops by 20 August. Defra Secretary Michael Gove said the UK has experienced one of the driest summers since modern records began in 1961. "It is only right that we do what we can to support farmers who have been placed under the most pressure," Gove said. "I am pleased that the flexibilities announced today will offer some help to livestock farmers by opening up new sources of fodder ahead of the winter." Although August has seen dry periods interrupted by bouts of wet weather, the Met Office 3 month outlook for September to November forecasts that above average temperatures and slightly lower than average rainfall are likely. The National Drought Group (NDG) has confirmed that water restrictions will be likely in spring 2019 if winter rainfall is below average. Labour's Shadow Defra Secretary has said she recognises the role food production and food security plays within the farming industry. During a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference, Sue Hayman addressed the importance of food security in her speech to the room. She was part of a panel, which also included Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Chief Executive Ian Wright CBE and Professor Tim Lang from City University. Journalist Philippa Hall chaired the debate What should the UKs future food policy look like after Brexit. The NFU, who hosted the event, emphasised the importance of the Agriculture Bill having food production and farming at its heart at the fringe event. There was a clear focus on food security during the debate, with all the panellists recognising its importance to the nation. The Shadow Secretary of State spoke of the importance of improving food security in the Agriculture Bill while also doing more to enhance the environment for all. The FDFs Ian Wright said during the session that producing our own food is a matter of national security. 'At the heart' Commenting on the event, NFU Deputy President Guy Smith said he is "pleased" to hear the Shadow Secretary of State recognising the role of food production. From farmer and the supply chain to a member of the shadow cabinet, its importance was bought up time and time again, he said. This is why farming and food production needs to be at the heart of the Agriculture Bill. British farmers and growers are proud to produce safe, traceable and affordable food for the nation, all while caring for our countryside. Mr Smith added: Profitable, productive and progressive farms are best played to deliver this and it is vital a new policy provides the right environment for farmers to do what they do best producing food for the nation. Last year, the Shadow Defra Secretary explained that Labour can be the "party of farmers". The Workington MP was appointed her role by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn in February 2017. It is unclear what impact Brexit will have on the free-range egg industry, but as 29 March 2019 looms closer and a deal is yet to be struck, possible implications are starting to arise in the event of a no-deal situation. The Government insists that a no-deal scenario is unlikely, however it has drafted together a number of papers that are meant to detail how things will operate should the situation arise. In the free-range sector Brexit has few implications on farm payments and government funding, but trade, labour, regulation and feed costs could all be directly or indirectly affected. As far as life after Brexit goes, the good news is that the egg industry is likely to be least affected of all agricultural sectors, whether a deal is reached or not. Free-range and organic producers are not going to be as badly hit by Brexit as the other agricultural sectors, explains Robert Gooch at BFREPA. This is mainly because they have very little trade with the EU as a proportion of total output and the sector is not really affected by subsidies so its relatively immune. However, Robert feels that Brexit will be bad overall, with a no-deal the worst case scenario. This is mainly because of the effect it will have on the economy - the Brexit deal that takes us furthest away from the EU will hit the UK economy most. Pundits have so far estimated that the economy will lose 5% of its GDP growth as a result of Brexit, he explains. So premium, free-range and organic eggs - which are more expensive for consumers will see less potential on the market as customers will want to buy lower value eggs. Tom Keen at the NFU anticipates that the EU is likely to act tough; and as our biggest trading partner, this is going to change things. Trade and egg prices Working with the British Egg Industry Council, the NFU estimates that 55% of eggs sold are shell egg for retail, 23% shell eggs for wholesale and 23% are egg products, such as powder and liquid eggs. There are a lot of retailing commitments on this, particularly for free-range, says Tom. Although the UK imports some shell eggs from the Netherlands and Belgium, this is in relatively small amounts. Producers selling retail shell eggs - particularly free-range - are therefore quite insulated from changes in trade and tariffs. Retailers want UK shell eggs, says Tom. However, its a little bit different for wholesale eggs as more of them are imported. Realistically, the only place that shell eggs can come from is the EU, because any further and it is a bit tricky when it comes to transport and meeting UK standards. Processed eggs can be sourced from anywhere in the world and powder is already imported. If tariffs are dropped there would be price drops in those imported products. So there are winners and losers depending on what situation we end up in, explains Tom. But every outcome of Brexit is likely to make trade more expensive with the EU, he adds. A no-deal Brexit could mean that WTO tariffs are implemented on all imports, which would raise the price of all egg products coming into the UK, explains Robert. Therefore, everything could be leveraged up a level as it would be more expensive to bring anything in. However, a no-deal would also mean the Government could choose any level of tariffs it wants, he says. If high tariffs were introduced on imported food, then food prices would go up, which would be good for egg prices but production costs would also go up. This also seems unlikely given the Governments policy for cheap food. The impact will depend on what market you are producing for, says Tom. Free-range egg producers are the least exposed of all producers and changes in the value of Sterling are likely to have more impact than tariffs. What is really important is retail and processor commitments. Labour According to Tom, labour is the most impactful aspect of Brexit, affecting the cost and availability of staff. A lot of labourers working in agriculture are not from the UK. The value of the Pound and immigration policies are likely to impact this; producers may well have already seen changes and have had difficulty recruiting. Around 35-40% of staff working on integrated egg farms are from the EU27 countries, he says. Thats quite a significant number of staff. There is a reliance on these people if they were told to leave, there would be a problem, so we need to think about that. However, though its already clear that Brexit has affected labour coming in from the EU, its not clear if a no-deal situation would make things worse or not than a Chequers deal, says Robert. Immigrant labour is very important for packers and this could have a knock-on effect on the whole industry, he adds. A lot of farms also employ migrant labour, but the packers and processors will be most affected. One of the biggest things for producers to think about is the cost that drawing in labour could incur, explains Tom. Across all agricultural sectors, if we started paying the same as construction and manufacturing to attract people, we would have to increase wages by about 52%, he highlights. But you have to pay more to be able to attract people. This could be the main driver that affects a farmers income in the years ahead. So the labour issue is absolutely crucial. Even if you have positive effects on your income because trade tariffs are up, you will be paying more for your labour, he says. Labour is really one of the deciding factors in the fortunes of egg producers going forward and is something for everyone to be thinking about. Domestic policy and farm payments UK agricultural policy will change, and we have more details about that now the Agriculture Bill has been published. However, while this will have an impact, its likely to have the smallest ramifications for poultry producers, compared to the rest of the sectors. According to the Farm Business Survey, poultry producers and specialist poultry farms dont get too much from public payments. On average poultry producers derive around 14% of their income from from BPS and 2% from agri-environment schemes however, producers should treat these figures with caution as the Farm Business Survey lumps poultry meat and eggs together and the sample size is small, warns Tom. Producers may also have another part of the business that draws in a subsidy payment. On the whole poultry producers will be less reliant on public support, he adds. The reality is, at the minute it matters how much land you have, but direct payments are being phased out so any payments will be reduced. Rather than seeing this as a negative, he suggests that it could provide opportunities to invest. What can you do with your land or business as a result of this? Though producers are seeing minimal effects from changes to agricultural policy in terms of their current financial gain, it doesnt mean that changing environmental and welfare standards wont have an impact. Regulation and standards Regulation has a cost. Whether Brexit ends in a deal or not, questions are likely to be asked about whether standards can or should be improved and if doing so is worth it, says Tom. Will we see this reflected in the price we get for our eggs? The other issue of a no-deal situation is that there would be no agreement in place with an equivalence of standards, explains Robert. No framework on what is deemed as free-range or organic could affect how and where products can be sold. Even though there is no vast inter-trade with the EU currently, this would be bad news for trade or even the potential to trade. We would have to create new rules, and these may not be the same as EU rules or even the rest of the world, he adds. Feed Trade will also affect input costs but by how much? According to Tom, the industrys average feed use comprises 72% wheat, 11% barley and 17% soymeal. Now this is why trade matters. The UK has a small import requirement of wheat, so higher trade tariffs could increase feed costs, he says. However, the UK exports barley, so the price of this might fall if tariffs were introduced. We import soymeal and there are no tariffs on it anyway - unless the UK decides to put a tariff on it, but again this is unlikely, he explains. Overall, NFU analyses found that feed prices would only change by a few percentage points because of tariffs and the costs of trade. Most cereals are traded on world markets with no tariffs and there are maximum tariffs that can be applied, giving an indication of the worst case scenario WTO tariffs, says Tom. So feed prices are probably not going to change too much because of trade. What really matters is exchange rates and this will arguably change the cost of feed more. Import tariffs Tariffs could also impact on housing and equipment that is sourced from EU countries, explains Robert. A lot of these inputs are imported from the EU. There is uncertainty about how these would be treated in the instance of a no-deal. If we had a Chequers-type deal with no tariffs on these products, then we would know where we stand. But if theres no deal, we could have higher WTO taxes on imports. Though this will most certainly have implications for the industry, the full extent and cost of it is not known. The only appropriate response from producers is to get the business into the best place possible, suggests Robert. We just dont know what the outcome will be. Its very hard to predict and therefore very hard to plan, as we export so little of our free-range egg products. But the strength of the Lion scheme and the small amount of imports means that the market to a certain extent is protected, unlike other sectors, he adds. The most important thing will be the public backing British farming, Tom points out. Its probably more important than ever that consumers are buying British food and that politicians know everything that farming is doing for its local areas and the countryside and the economy. As a sector, poultry is fairly well placed as it is already pretty self-reliant and forward thinking. Slurry legislation changed in Scotland to cut emissions Changes to way that slurry & digestate is stored 2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning -- 4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS. We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover. We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. Summary Company Announcement Date: September 23, 2018 FDA Publish Date: March 17, 2020 Product Type: Food & Beverages Nuts & Nut Products Foodborne Illness Reason for Announcement: Recall Reason Description Due to a potential contamination of Escherichia coli (E. coli) Company Name: Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation Brand Name: Brand Name(s) Mauna Loa Product Description: Product Description Macadamia Nuts Company Announcement KEAAU, HI (September 24, 2018) Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation is voluntarily recalling all of its products produced at the Keaau facility between Sept. 6 - 21, 2018 due to a potential contamination of Escherichia coli (E. coli). The recall was initiated due to E.coli being detected in the well water and distribution system that supplies the firms operations. No illnesses related to the water have been reported to the state. Mauna Loa is voluntarily recalling their products out of an abundance of caution under the advisement of the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH). E. coli bacteria can exist in tropical, sub-tropical and temperate soil and may persist in soil for a number of years. E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems. On Sept. 21, 2018 DOH notified Mauna Loa that a water sample in their distribution system was positive for E. coli. It was thought that a possible reason for contamination was the result of a disinfection system malfunction. Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation took immediate action to notify employees and the public within 24 hours of receiving notification from DOH of the possibility of contamination. It was advised that the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Water System consumers and employees NOT drink/consume the water while investigations continued. Subsequent test samples remained positive for E.coli and the State DOH has advised Mauna Loa to recall its products as an additional safety measure. The firm has been closed since Sept. 21, 2018 and will remain closed until the water clears State DOH drinking water standards. The DOH has been in constant communication with Mauna Loa regarding the issue to ensure all safety standards are being met. The products, produced between Sept. 6 - 21, 2018, and listed on the following pages are being recalled due to possible contamination with E. coli. Product Recall Information: Product UPC Lot# Size Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04003-6 NOCNCTK, NOHCCTK, NONECTK 4.5 oz. Roasted Salted Can Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04016-6 NOCACTK, NOCOCTK, NOHNCTK, NOCRCTK 27 oz. Roasted Salted 6 Pack Cans Box Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04031-9 NOCACTK, NOCHCTK, NOCOCTK, NOCRCTK, NOCSCTK, NOCTCTK, NOCCCTK, NOCNCTK .5 oz. Roasted Salted Pouch Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04122-4 NOHCCTK 13.5 oz. Roasted Salted 3 Pack Cans Box Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04170-5 NOCCCTK, NOCHCTK, NOCNCTK 1.15 oz. Roasted Salted Pouch Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04200-9 NOCHCTK, NONECTK 10 oz. Roasted Salted Bag Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04201-6 NONECTK, NONSCTK 10 oz. Roasted Salted Bag Mauna Loa Honey Roasted Macadamias 0-72992-04205-4 NOCACTK, NOHCCTK, NONSCTK 10 oz. Honey Roasted Bag Mauna Loa Maui Onion Garlic Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04210-8 NOCNCTK 10 oz. Maui Onion Garlic Bag Mauna Loa Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04350-1 NOCRCTK 10 oz. Dark Chocolate Bag Mauna Loa Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-04355-6 NOCRCTK 10 oz. Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Mauna Loa Honey Roasted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-05320-3 NOCOCTK, NONECTK, NONSCTK 4.5 oz. Honey Roasted Can Mauna Loa Honey Roasted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-05321-0 NOCSCTK, NOCOCTK, NOCTCTK 27 oz. Honey Roasted 6 Pack Cans Box Mauna Loa Maui Onion Garlic Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-05322-7 NOCCCTK 4.5 oz. Maui Onion Garlic Can Mauna Loa Maui Onion Garlic Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-05327-2 NOCACTK, NOCHCTK, NOCOCTK, NOCRCTK, NOHCCTK, NOHNCTK .5 oz. Maui Onion Garlic Pouch Mauna Loa Honey Roasted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-05361-6 NONECTK, NONLCTK, NONSCTK 1.15 oz. Honey Roasted Pouch Mauna Loa Chocolate Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-05463-7 NONECTK, NONSCTK .6 oz. Milk Chocolate Pouch Mauna Loa Shortbread Cookies 0-72992-05766-9 NOCACTK, NOCNCTK, NOCSCTK, NONRCTK, NONSCTK 10 oz. Chocolate Dipped Mac Nut Shortbread Cookie Box Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-06122-2 NOCHCTK 13.5 oz. Assorted 3 Pack Cans Box Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-06126-0 NOCSCTK, NOCTCTK 29 oz. Assorted 3 Pack Cans Box Mauna Loa Roasted Salted Macadamia Nuts 0-72992-34156-0 NOCHCTK 25 oz. Roasted Salted Bag The above products were packaged in Keaau, Hawaii and sold only in retail stores in Hawaii. Consumers who have purchased the recalled products should discard the products immediately or attempt to return them to the store where purchased. Mauna Loa is committed to the highest industry standards and is working diligently to determine the cause of the contamination. The facility has multiple safeguards in place to ensure safety and quality and is reviewing its process thoroughly to avoid any future contamination issues. Mauna Loa utilizes the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) management system as one of the ways it addresses food safety. It is also fully compliant with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act). General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1(800) 426-4791. If you have any questions, please call 1(844) 344-5444, Monday Friday, 8am-4pm HST. This is a toll-free number. News media with specific inquiries should contact, Mia Noguchi via email mia@lotuspondcomm.com or phone at (808) 551-1649. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category New York, Sept 27, 2018 (SPS) the President of Zimbabwe of the Republic of Zimbabwe, H.E. Mr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, has called his call on the Security Council to insist on the holding of an independent referendum for the Sahrawi people without delay, in compliance to the relevant decisions of the African Union and the resolutions of the United Nations. On the African continent, it is equally disheartening that the people of Western Sahara are yet to exercise their inalienable right to self determination. We call on the Security Council to insist on the holding of an independent referendum for the Sahrawi people without delay, in compliance to the relevant decisions of the African Union and the resolutions of the United Nations. the President of Zimbabwe asserted in his speech Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, went on saying that it is imperative and urgent for the Council to work tirelessly to strengthen its cooperation with the African Union Peace and Security Council in the search for a just and fair solution to the issue of Western Sahara. SPS 125/090/TRA The #MeToo movement brought out the ugly side of Hollywood and led to the downfall of several powerful men, but Tanushree Dutta says such a thing should happen in Bollywood, so that she can get justice for an incident that she claimed happened in 2008. In a recent TV interview, Dutta reiterated her claim that a veteran actor had misbehaved with her on the sets of a film. During the interview, she also alleged that the actor had the tacit support of the film's makers. "They called me a slut, an unprofessional.. when I spoke about it eight to ten years back. Nobody has right to say anything to me," Dutta told PTI. Recounting the incident and its aftermath, she claimed, "When I tried to escape they called the media, they called some people to mob lynch and attack my car. My parents were there inside and even I was inside, it was horrific. So from harassment situation to a mob lynching situation..." "They made sure that we did not escape from the studio, they locked the gates and then the cops came and they got us out... So when we filed the police report, they filed a counter complaint and because of the counter FIR, my dad, hair dresser and spot boy had to go through so much harassment over the next couple of years." An Eye Witness EXPOSES Nana Patekar! Dutta said there is social stigma and character assassination that a person goes through when she talks or tries to talk about such incidents. The actor said she wants to spread a message through her story, so that the other women get encouraged to share their stories. "This is not for me. I live In America, I am busy with life. My approach is like an American in a way, so I am okay with talking about it. This is for the benefit of others... Here is a person who spoke ten years ago, taking names and shames, doing it now also. This is like providing strength. Like to see justice done, for example for rest of the country, like stop working with these actors." "I am not doing it for hidden agenda. These things are happening so it is like encouraging others. This I hope encourages people," Dutta said. She lamented that the impact that #MeToo had in Hollywood was not felt in Bollywood, as actors have packaged themselves as "saints" here. "These film actors in our country know the technology of how to package and present themselves so they come across as saintly and people don't know what is happening behind their back. People keep mum because of this ideology that this person had a name so how do we speak against this person," she said. Prithviraj would rightly be a busy man. He has donned the director's hat for the upcoming big movie Lucifer and, at the same time, the actor-director has his next big release 9, in the pipeline, which has been slated to hit the theatres in the month of November. 9 is also the debut production venture of Prithviraj productions. As you all know, the previous schedule of Lucifer was held in Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, it was a couple of weeks ago that the release date of 9 was announced. Now, Prithviraj has come up with the latest updates regarding the next schedule of shoot of Lucifer as well as the post-production works of 9. The actor-director has expressed his happiness on directing the legend himself in Lucifer. Meanwhile, he has also mentioned that the trailer of 9 will be out soon. Prithviraj's Facebook post regarding the same read as, "A week more to the next schedule of L. It's been an absolute privilege to have legends in frame and direct them, and it's the most intense learning process in cinema that I've been part of in my career. Post production of #9 is in progress..and the trailer will soon be out. We hope to bring you a wholesome, new and totally entertaining cinematic experience." - (sic) Lucifer has been scheduled to hit the theatres in the month of March next year. At the same time, 9, directed by Jenuse Mohammed, will come out in the theatres on November 9, 2018. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 26, 2018 / Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York will be an exhibiting sponsor at this year's Ascent Conference on October 3rd and 4th in New York City. CONFERENCE OVERVIEW AND STRUCTURE Ascent is a 2-day Conference October 3rd and 4th focused on bringing together senior leaders in the East Coast Tech community to learn, collaborate, and build the relationships needed to drive meaningful change. We've curated an experience that the industry needs, focused on education and networking that will help accelerate innovation. 2,000+ VCs, Founders, and Decisions Makers 1,000 Meetings, 200 Demos, 70 Roundtables, and 50 Talks all Curated for VCs and Founders 2 Private After Parties, Fun Pub Crawls, And A Taste of NYC's Best Food 1 FounderConnect App For Networking Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York A unique and powerful platform connecting the leadership and management expertise of Harvard Business School and its alumni with the vital, creative, and dynamic community of New York City. AGENDA For our most updated agenda, please go to our website ( www.ascentconf.com ) PLATINUM SPONSORS WeWork Oracle EXHIBITING SPONSORS TriNet Managed by Q Revthority Bedrock Wealth Strategies Vettery ProspectCloud BlindData ConnectAndSell Scrum.org Topcoder LeadIQ General Assembly Bunker Labs Techstars Citrin Cooperman News Compliments of ACCESSWIRE FOR MORE INFORMATION Please visit: www.ascentconf.com Or, contact Anna Patela at anna@ascentconf.com : Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/512868/Harvard-Business-School-Club-of-New-York-is-Partnering-with-The-Ascent-Conference-to-host-NYCs-Preeminent-Tech-Conference-on-October-3rd-and-4th-in-New-York-City-at-Pier-36 Data-driven technology designed to improve patient outcomes, reduce misdiagnoses New food allergy diagnostics company, AllerGenis, LLC., recently launched for the purpose of bringing innovative, precision diagnostic solutions to food allergy clinicians, with the goal of improving patient outcomes through highly accurate and safe diagnostic tools. The market for food allergy diagnostics is substantial, with 15 million Americans reportedly having food allergies, including eight percent of all children. Moreover, one in 13 children in the U.S. are at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis. Yet, current food allergy diagnostics have very low accuracy, and as many as 60 percent of patients may be misdiagnosed. AllerGenis has developed its technology using data-driven machine learning and next-generation multiplex immunoassay technology to more precisely diagnose and monitor patients with food allergies. It will be one of the first non-oncologic, precision medicine tools to help providers better diagnose, assess, and manage patients with food allergies. "We are excited to launch our technology as an alternative to current food allergy diagnostics, which haven't improved in nearly thirty years," said Jim Garner, CEO and board member of AllerGenis. "Our mission is to provide physicians with clinically actionable information utilizing up-to-date technology, allowing for a safer diagnosis of food allergy and disease severity, without exposing patients to test-inflicted health risks." AllerGenis' diagnostics next-generation technology uses a proprietary epitope mapping platform developed by Hugh Sampson MD, of the Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The platform is a high-throughput, peptide-bead assay, which subdivides allergenic proteins into smaller peptides -- called epitopes -- and measures the reactivity of a patient's IgE/IgG4 levels to these epitopes. Each patient will have a reactivity profile, known as an epitope signature, guiding providers with information to better assess and manage patients' food allergies. Dr. Sampson and his team have already created a database of nearly one thousand epitope signatures to refine the algorithms underlying the technology's precision. "In the near future, as we build our repository of epitope signatures and phenotypes into a larger epitome database similar to the Human Genome Project we'll be able to better indicate likely allergy outcomes," said Dr. Sampson. "Also, we'll be able, over time, to get a much better understanding of how the human immune system actually deals with different food proteins. Hopefully, that will inform us on potential therapeutic avenues to follow." The first product to be launched using this proprietary technology platform will be the company's peanut allergy assay, which will be available in the fall of 2019. Moving forward, AllerGenis plans to develop a pipeline of assays across food allergens. In its full development, the goal of AllerGenis' technology program will be the ability to: Diagnose patient food allergy and associated severity (including anaphylaxis) without the risks associated with direct exposure to the allergen Distinguish between sensitivity and allergic disease, and who will naturally outgrow Assess, manage and monitor progress of therapy (ex. desensitization) Determine therapeutic efficacy (ex. Tolerance threshold) AllerGenis is interested in pursuing business development opportunities/partnerships which have a clear strategic fit with our portfolio and commercial capabilities. For more information visit www.allergenis.com. About AllerGenis Established in 2017 and located in Hatfield, PA, AllerGenis develops precision, data-driven diagnostics to help healthcare providers more accurately and safely diagnose, assess and monitor patients with food allergies. The company was founded out of a collaboration between Genisphere, a provider of the 3DNA platform for targeted drug delivery, and Hugh Sampson MD, of the Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. It leverages Genisphere's Luminex bead-based immunoassay technology, which is used to make life science and diagnostics tests more sensitive. AllerGenis' proprietary epitope mapping technology is based on immunological research by Dr. Sampson. AllerGenis is creating the largest food allergy knowledge base populated by individual patient epitope signatures derived from epitope mapping, clinical history, and patient-reported outcomes to gain clinical insights. For more information, visit www.allergenis.com. About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News World Report's "Best Medical Schools," aligned with a U.S. News World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 13 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in six other specialties in the 2018-2019 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology and 44th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. For more information, visit www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926005672/en/ Contacts: Media contact Joseph Salerno, MS 312-506-5241 HDMZ joseph.salerno@hdmz.com or Investment contact Russ Fein 646-572-0421 Corporate Fuel Partners russ@corporatefuel.com Select Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of the 344-room niu Air Frankfurt Hotel from GBI AG, Germany's largest hotel developer. Ideally located at Rebstock Park on Frankfurt's Leonardo da Vinci Allee, the hotel is scheduled for completion in Q4,2019. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926005723/en/ Situated at the gateway to the much frequented exhibition grounds, the hotel will feature an innovative and open Living Lobby as a gathering place not only for hotel guests but also for locals. Catering to the modern traveller, all rooms are equipped with bluetooth boxes, numerous sockets, USB ports, smart flat screens and high-speed Wi-Fi. An Instagram wall and background beats throughout the building are additional distinctive features of the brand. Commenting on the purchase, Rahail Aslam, Group Chief Executive Officer, Select Group, stated: "We are very pleased with the addition of 'niu Air Frankfurt' to Select Group's growing hospitality portfolio. This acquisition is in line with our strategy to invest in core European markets with a sound growth potential. The combination of GBI AG's credible track record of delivery, Novum Hospitality Group's expertise in hotel operations and the hotel's strategic location, being in close proximity to major demand drivers such as the Frankfurt Messe and airport, will certainly place niu Air Frankfurt as a destination of choice for the discerning consumer and a great showcase for the exciting 'Niu' brand." Reiner Nittka, CEO of GBI AG, considers the deal with Select Group a significant achievement. "This is an impressive endorsement of how attractive the hotels developed by GBI AG in Germany have become for real estate companies operating worldwide. Choosing us from a global selection speaks for a high real estate and investment quality." "The thriving hotel market in Frankfurt with its steadily rising demand was decisive for our commitment to this transaction," explains Uwe Hellendahl, Managing Director, Duxton Capital the transaction advisors for this acquisition. "According to PwC's European Cities Hotel Forecast, room revenues in Frankfurt increased by 3.7 per cent to EUR 85 in 2017. Revenues are forecast to continue rising over the next two years and for the first time Frankfurt recorded over nine and a half million stays." Like all hotels of the niu brand, the name of this hotel is also inspired by its location and surroundings. niu Air Frankfurt is located at the Leonardo da Vinci Allee. Hence, the epithet is 'Air' which refers to aviation and is a tribute to the aviation pioneers who have also been the godparents of the street names close-by. The air theme continues and is also reflected in the contemporary interior design that is inspired by the first aviation experiments, including Zeppelin Co. *Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926005723/en/ Contacts: Select Group Afaf Burki, +97143683355 pr@select-group.ae or GBI AG Ludwig Medien Kommunikation Wolfgang Ludwig, +4922129219282 Mobile: +491719335134 mail@ludwig-km.de LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Surgery will integrate award-winning surgical simulations with the Microsoft HoloLens, bringing immersive experiences into the Operating Room (OR) Digital Surgery, a health technology company shaping the future of surgery, announced today its designation as an official Microsoft Mixed Reality Partner (MMRP). The partnership allows Digital Surgery to create mixed reality solutions to improve the delivery of surgical care, as part of the Microsoft Mixed Reality Program. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750656/Digital_Surgery.jpg ) Studies show that nearly one in seven patients hospitalized for major surgical procedures are readmitted within 30 days of discharge, with financial implications for the health system and clinical implications for patients. Digital Surgery will utilize this partnership, together with other demonstrated capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), to power a radical shift in surgical care. Digital Surgery was in the headlines recently, when the company announced the first live demonstration of its surgical artificial intelligence (AI) system for the operating room. Dr. Jean Nehme, CEO, outlined the strategic importance of the partnership in the company's mission, saying "The Microsoft recognition is truly an honor and sets the stage for our larger mission, which is to deliver safe surgical care for all. With our AI technology and database of digital surgical processes, we've trained a computer to understand surgical procedures and predict what happens next. With HoloLens, we open the exciting opportunity to use the system's integrated camera as the visual recognition system to deliver even more immersive experiences for the entire surgical team. This collaboration is a critical part of our strategy to partner with the world's best technology firms, especially providers of breakthrough hardware, to support the delivery of safer surgery. I am excited to see what we can accomplish together." Leila Martine, Product Director, Mixed Reality, Microsoft, says, "We are delighted to have Digital Surgery accredited as a Mixed Reality Partner. Given the pace of technological change, it is key that customers can access partners who understand mixed reality potential and have the proven ability to deliver transformative solutions. It's great to see Microsoft HoloLens being added to Digital Surgery's impressive content catalogue, and help us jointly shape the future of surgery and improvements in patient outcomes." Dr. Manish Chand, Consultant Surgeon, University College London Hospitals, believes that, "Augmented reality and mixed reality models are going to be the future of surgery. They're going to help us [in the OR] to plan and execute. We've already completed a live demonstration of this technology, and we saw that the entire surgical team was better coordinated as a result of having access to this technology. Recently, we published a study in the Annals of Surgery that further highlights the benefits of Digital Surgery's AR and AI technologies in the OR." According to the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, more than five billion people do not have access to safe surgical care, with operative knowledge being one of the critical factors that has yet to scale globally. Addressing this problem will require innovative technologies like the HoloLens platform, bolstered by intelligent operating systems like Digital Surgery's. Quotes from leading surgeons "Digital Surgery's vision for improving surgical care is quite amazing. They have built a technology that allows me to render a fistula in 3D., one of the most challenging cases for a general surgeon, with a 50 percent success rate globally. By having a patient-specific 3D render, I'm able to visualize these complex structures and formulate a better plan for treatment. I look forward to having these scans processed by Digital Surgery's AI and then deployed onto the HoloLens, superimposed on the patient. This will, without a doubt, assist us in improving fistula care." -- Dr. Kapil Sugand, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust "I've been able to leverage mixed reality technology in an orthopedic training environment. By using Digital Surgery's mapped procedure of an external fixator, we can get a team together and mutually view the appropriate care protocol for these challenging cases and align as a team. Our initial research supports this new approach as equal to or greater than the typical tools the OR staff would have to train from." -- Sam Oussedik , Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon - Head of Education Centre, University College London Hospital About Digital Surgery Digital Surgery, founded by surgeons for surgeons and healthcare professionals, believes safe surgical care should be accessible for all. Co-founders Dr. Jean Nehme and Dr. Andre Chow set out to shape the future of surgery by building a digital ecosystem that sits at the intersection of surgical expertise and technology. The company is based in London with teams around the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.digitalsurgery.com. Zurich to become the largest foreign P&C insurer in Indonesia Transaction reinforces Zurich's strategy of achieving positions of scale in target markets Acquisition includes long-term strategic cooperation agreements with two of Indonesia's leading financial institutions The transaction includes two separate long-term strategic cooperation agreements with Bank Danamon, Indonesia's fifth-largest bank by market capitalization, and with Adira Finance, the country's second-largest motorcycle and auto financing solutions provider. The total consideration amounts to IDR 6.15 trillion (approximately USD 414 million) with potential future incremental payments subject to business performance. With this transaction, Zurich will become the largest foreign P&C insurer in Indonesia. "Zurich has earmarked Asia Pacific to be a major engine of growth for the Group, and Indonesia is a key market for us. Today's transaction demonstrates our commitment to Indonesia and is an excellent opportunity to expand our regional business, enabling more customers to fulfill their insurance needs," said Jack Howell, Zurich's Chief Executive Officer for Asia Pacific. "We are excited to join forces with Bank Danamon and Adira Finance. Both are well-established brands and have an extensive distribution network. Together with Zurich's international expertise, best-in-class underwriting and risk management capabilities, we are confident in the long-term success of the business." Indonesia is one of the world's most attractive insurance markets. It is Southeast Asia's largest economy with a strong growth trajectory and a rapidly expanding middle class. These factors, coupled with low levels of insurance penetration, present significant upside potential for the insurance market. Established in 1996, Adira Insurance generated gross written premiums of USD 158 million in 2017. This was driven by a diversified P&C product offering and strong distribution capabilities. Adira Insurance has leading market positions in motor and takaful insurance in Indonesia. The parties expect the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, to be completed within the next six months. Following completion, Zurich will hold an 80% stake in Adira Insurance, and Bank Danamon will hold a 20% stake. Further information For further information on this transaction please see the investor presentation (https://www.zurich.com/_/media/dbe/corporate/docs/investors/zurich-adira-investor-presentation.pdf?la=en&hash=A618C1512377BDAC8DBA0B861A18A0DB8D980B7E). News release September 27, 2018 (206.83 KB/PDF) (https://www.zurich.com/_/media/dbe/corporate/docs/news-releases/2018/2018-0927-01.pdf?la=en&hash=E663185CCCCF7705A3EE662E53762FAF838F0163) Media Relations Zurich Insurance Group Austrasse 46 8045 Zurich Switzerland 8045 Zurich Switzerland +41 44 625 21 00 media@zurich.com @Zurich (https://twitter.com/zurich) Investor Relations Zurich Insurance Group Austrasse 46 8045 Zurich Switzerland 8045 Zurich Switzerland +41 44 625 22 99 +41 44 625 36 18 investor.relations@zurich.com Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) is a leading multi-line insurer that serves its customers in global and local markets. With about 53,000 employees, it provides a wide range of property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in more than 210 countries and territories. Zurich's customers include individuals, small businesses, and mid-sized and large companies, as well as multinational corporations. The Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1872. The holding company, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (ZURN), is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and has a level I American Depositary Receipt (ZURVY) program, which is traded over-the-counter on OTCQX. Further information about Zurich is available at www.zurich.com (https://www.zurich.com/en). Zurich Indonesia serves customers in the Life and P&C insurance segments. Both PT Zurich Topas Life (ZTL) and PT Zurich Insurance Indonesia (ZII) are headquartered in Jakarta and employ a multi-distribution strategy. ZTL provides comprehensive protection and financial planning products through a network of agents and distribution agreements with banks, while ZII offers P&C solutions to individual customers, SMEs and corporations. European DataWarehouse (ED) today announced it has launched a new reporting solution that will enable interested parties to prepare and submit ABS loan-level data, investor report data and relevant documentation in compliance with the disclosure requirements of Article 7 of the Securitisation Regulation (EU) 2017/2402, which applies from 1 January 2019. The reporting solution is integrated into EDitor, ED's web application for the seamless analysis and upload of loan-level data (LLD). EDitor was initially built to enable users to pre-screen and analyse LLD files and upload them in accordance with the European Central Bank's (ECB) ABS loan-level initiative. The new reporting solution and related enhancements of EDitor mark a transition towards the new regulatory environment. The first release of the reporting solution will be available starting 1 October 2018 and will enable users to create test deals and upload test files in line with the requirements outlined in the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) templates published on 22 August 2018 as part of the Securitisation Regulation (EU) 2017/2402. The first release of the reporting solution supports testing for ABS deals with automobile exposures. European DataWarehouse is dedicated to publishing further templates once ESMA releases the final XML schemata. In a previous announcement, ED announced its intention to become registered as a securitisation repository authorised and supervised by ESMA. Christian Thun, CEO of ED stated: "European DataWarehouse is determined to become the first securitisation repository under the regulatory framework. The launch of our reporting solution will help the industry prepare for the new regulation months before it will apply. We're dedicated to ushering our clients into this new regulatory environment with as much guidance and support as possible. The changes between the ECB LLD templates and those outlined in ESMA's Final Report (ESMA33-128-474) are significant, and it is important that the market has time to prepare with a reporting solution such as this". About European DataWarehouse GmbH European DataWarehouse (ED) is the first and the only centralised data repository in Europe for collecting, validating and distributing detailed, standardised and asset class specific loan-level data for Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) and private whole loan portfolios. ED stores loan-level data and corresponding documentation for investors and other market participants. Operating as a market infrastructure and designated by the Eurosystem, ED aims to increase transparency and restore confidence in the ABS market. Through ED's data, users are able to analyse underlying portfolios and compare portfolios on a systematic basis. ED was established in 2012 as part of the implementation of the ECB ABS loan-level initiative. Since its inception as an initiative by the leading participants of the European securitisation market, ED has collected LLD and relevant documentation for more than 1,200 transactions. For the latest updates from European DataWarehouse, please visit www.eurodw.eu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926005058/en/ Contacts: European DataWarehouse GmbH Diane Wathen Marketing Communications Manager Tel. 49 (0) 69 50986 9326 Email: diane.wathen@eurodw.eu 56% increase in sales revenue compared to H1 2017 19.2 million in cash available at June 30, 2018 2018 operating loss similar to that of 2017 Regulatory News: BALYO (FR0013258399, Ticker: BALYO, eligible for the PEA-PME plan), a technological leader in the design and development of innovative robotic solutions for material handling trucks, announces its results today for the first half of the 2018 fiscal year, as approved by the Board of Directors on September 26, 2018. Fabien Bardinet, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "The increase in sales revenue in the first six months of 2018 confirms the dynamic sales performance of our solutions. Our teams have been bolstered thanks to the hiring of 25 additional employees since the beginning of the year and the recent appointment of a Chief Manufacturing Officer, who is a specialist in the development and industrialization of robots. We are therefore now able to accelerate the production and deployment of our solutions as of H2 2018. As we encountered difficulties with deliveries in the first half of the year, we will not be able to reach our goal of reducing our operating loss. We now forecast an operating loss in 2018 that will be similar to that of 2017. The work performed by Balyo's teams is exceptional; our range of products is unique in terms of both substance and geographic availability, and my confidence in terms of our development prospects has never been so high." In millions of euros June 30, 2018 June 30, 2017 Sales revenue 9.71 6.23 Cost of sales -7.56 -4.28 Gross margin 2.15 1.95 Gross margin ratio 22.1% 31.3% Research and development -3.17 -1.95 Sales and marketing -2.71 -2.07 Overhead -3.37 -1.77 Payments in shares -0.76 -0.46 Operating loss/gain -7.86 -4.30 Financial income 0.16 -0.33 Net loss/gain -7.70 -4.63 Cash position 19.2 42.3 Financial results for the first half of 2018 As announced when the half-year sales revenue was published, revenue totaled 9.7 million, a 56% increase compared to the first half of 2017, and a clear indication that the Company's dynamic performance continues. BALYO's market success is also illustrated by an increase in orders placed: 20.2 million at June 30, 2018 a 50% increase over the previous year. The decline of the gross margin -22.1% over the period results from difficulties encountered in deploying our solutions on site. The new composition of our growing teams along with the implementation of new-generation robots had a major impact on the installation time lines, which were much greater than the Company's initial forecasts. These problems were progressively corrected and the Company is confident in its ability to improve the gross margin in the second half of 2018. Furthermore, in light of the delays referred to above, the Company launched a number of structural initiatives leading to a significant rise in R&D and Sales and Marketing expenditure, and increased its staff. The Company's workforce grew from 111 employees on June 30, 2017 to 181 as at June 30, 2018. In parallel, the Company is pursuing its international development strategy, mainly in the United States and Southeast Asia, and expanding its product range with its two industrial partners, as well as developing tools to support its growth. The increase in these expenses boosts BALYO's growth, but led to a deterioration of its operating income: -7.9 million, compared to -4.3 million one year ago. After taking into account balanced financial income of 0.2 million, net financial income totals -7.7 million compared to -4.6 million in the first half of 2017. Cash available as at June 30, 2018 totaled 19.2 million. Significant events in H1 2018 and post-closing In the second quarter of 2018, the Company reached a record level of business activity, with 7.5 million in new orders and without any grouped order. Sustained demand for BALYO's innovative solutions continues quarter after quarter, as also illustrated by the steady deployment of our robots. Indeed, at the end of H1 2018, the number of robots installed and in service totaled 296, representing a solid growth (96%), compared to the 151 robots installed as at June 30, 2017. With deliveries stepping up in the second half of the year, a portion of the first half-year's delays should be rectified. In parallel, BALYO's teams are managing more than 120 projects on three continents. The robots installed at BALYO's customers move hundreds of thousands of pallets every month, covering more than 10,000 km every day. Strategy and outlook BALYO is continuing to implement its development plan and the integration of its technological solutions among leading international industrial groups thanks to structural investments that are necessary to ensure market growth. The Company continues to work towards its objective of 200 million in sales revenue by 2022 and an operating margin rate of 20% over the medium term. The half-year financial report is available on the Company's website under the "Investors" heading: https://www.balyo.fr/Societe/Investisseurs. Next financial release: sales revenue for the third quarter on October 31, 2018, after the market closes. ABOUT BALYO BALYO transforms standard forklift trucks into standalone intelligent robots thanks to its breakthrough proprietary Driven by Balyo technology. The geoguidance navigation system developed by BALYO allows vehicles equipped with the system to locate their position and navigate autonomously inside buildings. Within the automated handling vehicle market, BALYO has entered into two strategic agreements with Kion Group AG (Linde Material Handling's parent company) and Hyster-Yale Group, two major operators in the material handling sector. BALYO is present in three major geographic regions (Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific). Its sales revenue reached 16.4 million in 2017. For more information, please visit our website at www.balyo.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926005863/en/ Contacts: BALYO Stanislas Piot Financial Director investors@balyo.com or NewCap Financial Communication and Investor Relations Louis-Victor Delouvrier/Thomas Grojean Tel: +33 1 44 71 98 53 balyo@newcap.eu TORONTO, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc. ("CellCube" or the "Company") (CSE CUBE) (OTCQB CECBF) (Frankfurt 01X) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Enerox GmbH, has been selected as the long-duration energy storage system solution for E.ON Energidistribution AB's project in Simris, Sweden. The village of Simris, located in the region of Scania in southern Sweden, is supplied 100 percent by locally produced renewable energy on an annual basis. This community microgrid showcases energy supply entirely by sun and wind. The energy for approximately 150 households is being generated from wind turbines with installed capacity of 500 kilowatts (kW) and photovoltaic panels with 440 kW, and will now be supported by a CellCube energy storage system with 1,800 kWh usable energy capacity. The CellCube system will serve to overcome renewable intermittency and act as a buffer between demand and supply of energy. At Simris, the CellCube system is performing energy-centric, electricity storage functions of providing continuous energy out of solar and wind for energy delivery. This is a natural fit for its vanadium redox flow batteries where long duration, reliable base load support is required. Enerox's CellCube vanadium redox flow battery will be the backbone storage technology within the Simris project. http://www.eon.com/press-release/2017/eon-implements-a-stand-alone-grid-solution-in-sweden "The Simris project has been a success story for E.ON where we have successfully proved that a local energy system is a technically viable alternative to the large-scale power system in providing clean, renewable energy to our customers," says Demijan Panic, Innovation Manager, E.ON Decentral Energy Systems / Energy Networks. "We are now taking it one step further by increasing the energy storage capacity of the local energy system through a CellCube storage system, thus making sure we can utilize even more of the renewable energy produced on site. We are very happy with our collaboration with Enerox during this part of the project." "The installation slated for Fall of this year marks CellCube's first project in Sweden and is seen as an important step for supporting future grid scale and decentralized storage system additions in the Scandinavian electricity markets," says Stefan Schauss, President of CellCube. "We are pleased with E.ON Innovation's decision to select our largest energy capacity CellCube unit for this pioneering project. The move reflects our Company's vision to build an integral part of modern energy infrastructure solutions. The Simris project demonstrates how distributed renewable energy combined with energy storage can support quality power for distribution." The companies entered into an agreement for the sale of the CellCube flow battery system and its associated services, including the logistics, installation, control integration, and ongoing operational maintenance and services of the CellCube energy storage system. About E.ON Energidistribution AB E.ON Energidistribution AB is the Swedish wholly-owned subsidiary of E.ON SE an internationally operating, publicly traded energy supplier based in Essen, Germany, and has approximately 43,000 employees. With a clear focus on three strong core businesses-Energy Networks, Customer Solutions, and Renewables-E.ON aims to become the partner of choice for energy and customer solutions.* *http://www.eon.com/en/about-us. About CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc. CellCube is a Canadian public company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (symbol CUBE), the OTCBB (symbol CECBF), and the Frankfurt Exchange (Symbol 01X) focused on the fast-growing energy storage industry which is driven by the large increase in demand for renewable energy. CellCube supplies vertically integrated energy storage systems to the power industry and recently acquired the assets of Gildemeister Energy Storage GmbH, now Enerox GmbH, the developer and manufacturer of CellCube energy storage systems. CellCube also recently acquired EnerCube Switchgear Systems Inc. (formerly Jet Power and Controls Ltd.) and Power Haz Energy Mobile Solutions Inc. (formerly HillCroft Consulting Ltd.). It has also invested in an online renewable energy financing platform, Braggawatt Energy Inc. CellCube develops, manufactures, and markets energy storage systems on the basis of vanadium redox flow technology and has over 130 project installations and a 10 year operational track record. Its highly integrated energy storage system solutions feature 99% residual energy capacity after 11,000 cycles with the focus on larger scale containerized modules. Basic building blocks consist of a 250kW unit family with 4, 6 and 8 hours variation in energy capacity. This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts which address events, results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects to occur; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "can", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Certain material assumptions regarding such forward-looking statements are discussed in this news release and the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis filed athttp://www.sedar.com. Except as required by the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. On behalf of CellCube Energy Storage Systems Inc., Mike Neylan, CEO, Director For more information: Glenda Kelly, Investor Communications Telephone: +1-800-882-3213 Email: info@cellcubeenergystorage.com http://www.cellcubeenergystorage.com Ste 10 - 8331 River Road Richmond, BC V6X 1Y1 65 Queen St West, Suite 520 Toronto, Ont. M5H 2M5 +1-800-882-3213 CSE CUBE 12g3-2(b): 82-2062 OTCQB CECBF Frankfurt 01X http://www.cellcubeenergystorage.com One of the most recognizable names on Ontarios B track circuit this season is Colin Kelly. The 25-year-old Maritime native has enjoyed a career year with over $1.2 million in earnings and 183 wins. The young reinsman began his driving career in his home province of Nova Scotia at age 19 before making his way onto the Ontario circuit just a few years ago. As a matter of fact, its just Kellys second full year in the province and he was recently named Grand River Raceways leading driver for the recently-concluded meet. Ive had a great season and very fortunate with the quality of horses Ive been able to drive, Kelly said. Obviously my success comes from the trainers and owners putting me on good horses and giving me the confidence. Its translated quite well. Kelly admits that he didnt predict his early success. Its actually taken off faster than I originally thought. Ive had to adapt to the Ontario circuit and make the necessary adjustments, he said. It comes with experience and just trying to put horses in the right spots and take advantage of certain situations. The resident of Guelph, Ont. has his sights set on bigger goals going forward. I think any driver wants to advance himself [to Woodbine Mohawk Park] and hopefully that time comes eventually, he said. Obviously Id love to go there right now for a drive or two, but for now, Im more than happy with the work that Im getting. Its been a great ride. Kelly hopes his success continues on Monday when The Raceway at Western Fair District gets its season underway. London has been good to me this year. I always enjoy going there, Kelly said. I was able to pick up a lot of work earlier in the year while racing there and that translated into more work at Flamboro, Grand River and Georgian Downs. Im looking forward to heading back to London for the fall. The Raceway will kick off another exciting season of live racing beginning on Monday (Oct. 1). The weekly fall schedule features racing every Monday and Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. and Friday nights at 6:55 p.m. The popular wagering menu will once again feature a trio of guarantee wagers. The Pick-3 will consist of a $2,500 guarantee, while a pair of $5,000 guaranteed Pick-4 pools and a pair of Super Hi-5 wagers will be offered; all are 15 percent takeout wagers. The Super Hi-5 races will be contested at the distance of one and one-sixteenth miles. Customers can also enjoy a fantastic promotion at the Top Of The Fair restaurant. Every Friday in October: Two can dine for the price of one just $39.99. Grand Opening festivities are slated for next Friday (Oct. 5) and will feature the Dachshund Dash wiener dog races, draws and giveaways (including a 40 Flat Screen TV) and food specials throughout the night. For more details on the upcoming meet, visit westernfairdistrict.com. To make reservations at the Top Of The Fair, email [email protected] or call 519-438-7203 (Ext. 252). (The Raceway at Western Fair District) LYON, France, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Merieux Equity Partners, a management company created by Merieux Developpement,announces the first closing of its third generation fund, Merieux Participations 3, focusing on growth capital within the healthcare and nutrition sectors. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750636/Merieux_Equity_Partners_Logo.jpg ) Dedicated to partnering with fast-growing companies in the health and nutrition sectors, Merieux Participations 3 was launched in July 2018 with a fundraising goal of more than 300 million euros. Only two months after the commercial authorization by the French Market Authorities (AMF), a first closing has been completed with an initial amount of 200 million euros (or 235 million USD). In addition to the Merieux family holding, this 3rd generation fund is backed by renown investors, such as the Dassault Holding (GIMD), Credit Agricole Centre-Est, Credit Agricole Assurances and Compagnie Financiere La Luxembourgeoise, representing more than 60% of the commitments to-date. Merieux Participations 3 will focus on growth equity investments, in support of small- to mid-cap companies operating within the healthcare and nutrition sectors and located in Western Europe or North America. With a typical ticket size ranging from 20 to 40 million euros per company, this new fund will operate MBO / LBO transactions as well as traditional growth equity deals, targeting fast growing companies with a clear potential to become market leaders at a global level. Merieux Equity Partners has already completed its first majority investment into STIplastics Healthcaring. The investment will allow this fast-growing company, located near Grenoble (France) and specialized in the development and manufacturing of plastic solutions for laboratories within the pharmacy and nutrition sectors, to strengthen its industrial platform and broaden its product offering over the coming years. Through Merieux Participations 3, Merieux Equity Partners also intends to broaden its scope of activity into the nutrition sector. The firm recently took a minority equity position in Biobest, a Belgian company commercializing a range of integrated biological control solutions for the pollination and natural crop protection market. Merieux Equity Partners will help Biobest become the global leader in this rapidly growing market segment. "We are confident about the success of our investment platform, in response of the growing demand from entrepreneurs for strongerand more specialized investors, offeringtailor-made financing solutions." said Francois Valencony, CEO of Merieux Equity Partners. "The commitment of prestigious investors to Merieux Participations 3,alongside the Merieux family, reflects the growing interest in our value proposition, both entrepreneurial and sector-specific, supported by a unique team." "Investing in tomorrow's medicine and supporting emerging market leaders internationally, are prioritiesfor Institut Merieux and a genuine component of the entrepreneurial approach of our family". said Alexandre Merieux, President of Merieux Developpement. Alongside the creation of Merieux Equity Partners and with the support of family holdings that share our long-term vision, we intend to strengthen our action in areas with major public health challenges." About Merieux Equity Partners-http://www.merieux-partners.com About MerieuxDeveloppement-http://www.merieux-developpement.com Contact communication - Merieux Equity Partners S.A.S. EUROPE: Aurelie BOULLERAY - communication@merieux-partners.com NORTH AMERICA: Alix SIPAHI - communication@merieux-partners.com The Retail Marketing Platform That Works with More Than 400 Global Retailers Hires Marketing Technology Veteran to Accelerate the Growth of its International Business. Bluecore, the retail marketing technology company that more than 400 retailers rely on to launch highly personalized campaigns at scale, today announced the expansion of its International business with headquarters in London. The company's International operations will be led by newly-appointed Vice President and General Manager, International, Mike Harris, who, in 2012, launched Monetate Europe and drove significant year-over-year growth for the subsequent five years. The London office brings Bluecore closer to its existing International customers -including the two Perry Ellis International brands, Original Penguin and Farah-and other extensions of existing global retail brands. Bluecore's international expansion is driven by demand for a solution that will help European and global retail brands increase revenue growth without the use of third-party consumer data or cookies. For brands that advertise and sell directly to European consumers, there is continued urgency to activate first-party customer data, enhance engagement with customers and build new audience targeting models. Bluecore offers these retailers the ability to deploy personalized campaigns based on opt-in email identities, a deep understanding of how product and customer interactions predict shopper actions and shoppers' onsite behaviors. Bluecore has demonstrated its command over first-party user data across its U.S. customer base, for which it currently manages more than 500 million unique customer IDs and a cumulative product set larger than Walmart and rivaled only by Amazon. "Over the last four years, the Bluecore Retail Marketing Platform has provided value for global marketers in 65 countries," said Rob Holland, COO of Bluecore. "Mike brings extensive EMEA experience to Bluecore. This will be invaluable to our rapid expansion outside of North America and will give us a strong foundation upon which to further support our existing European customers." "UK retailers have historically led the way in Europe when it comes to adopting innovative marketing and personalization technologies," said Harris, who will report directly to Holland. "I'm very excited to be leading Bluecore's launch in the UK, a market that understands the importance of using first-party data to drive personalized experiences". "Perry Ellis International has worked with Bluecore since 2014 across 6 of our lifestyle apparel brands. This partnership has significantly evolved our customers' experience and enhanced our interaction with each individual shopper that comes to our brands' e-commerce sites", said Justin Roisman, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing of Perry Ellis International. "We look to Bluecore for more than technology; we consider them partners on campaign strategy. It will be valuable to have their team on the ground in the UK so we can further strengthen our relationship with our UK and EU consumers." News of Bluecore's global expansion is yet another milestone for the company, who not even a month ago was listed #241 on the Inc. 500 and has grown 2002% in the last three years alone. ABOUT BLUECORE Bluecore is a retail marketing company that empowers marketers to launch any personalized campaign in 60 seconds through a single platform that connects real-time product and customer data. More than 400 retail brands, including Staples, Tommy Hilfiger, Perry Ellis, Teleflora and Best Buy Canada, use Bluecore to deploy triggered communications across email, social media, search and display. Bluecore's AI-driven decisioning engine determines the timing and content for the next-best communication based on insight into individual shoppers' onsite behaviors and how specific product shifts influence their actions. All of this drives relevance for shoppers and increased revenue with less effort for brands. Learn more at www.bluecore.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005259/en/ Contacts: Bluecore Kieran Powell kieran.powell@bluecore.com Paris, September 27, 2018 - Atos (https://atos.net/en/), a global leader in digital transformation, announced today that it has signed a contract with mobilcom-debitel, one of Germany's largest network-independent mobile phone providers, to manage 4,300 of its devices to help create a modern digital workplace. Headquartered in Budelsdorf, mobilcom-debitel is the mobile subsidiary of the listed provider freenet AG. The contract runs until 2021 and includes device management, support and trouble-shooting both locally and remotely across mobilcom-debitel's sites, as well as a managed antivirus service. Mobilcom-debitel and Atos will work together over the coming years to build a digital workplace that is sustainable for the future. Atos' digital workplace services help employees improve collaboration, mobility and productivity at the workplace, with modern tools that move with them across devices, so that that they are able to work from anywhere and on any device. "In addition to the professional, industrialized operation of terminal equipment management by Atos, we were particularly impressed by the strategy for our individual Digital Workplace. This perspective opens up new productivity potential in IT support and workplace solutions", said Andreas Jurgensen, CIO mobilcom-debitel GmbH. "We are pleased to welcome mobilcom-debitel as a new customer and we will bring our many years of experience in transition and transformation projects to this partnership. Our holistic portfolio for the workplace of the future has proven successful and enables our customers use new initiatives while keeping a high level of security", said Ursula Morgenstern, CEO Atos in Germany. Atos Digital Workplace (https://atos.net/en/solutions/atos-digital-workplace) is a true end-to-end solution to transform the employee experience, delivered through an enhanced partnership ecosystem. Atos is recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Workplace Services, Europe and a Global Leader in Digital Workplace Services by ISG (https://atos.net/en/2017/press-release/general-press-releases_2017_06_30/atos-recognized-global-leader-digital-workplace-services-isg). *** About Atos Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with approximately 100,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of around 12 billion. European number one in Big Data, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing and Digital Workplace, the Group provides Cloud services, Infrastructure & Data Management, Business & Platform solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry. With its cutting-edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, Atos supports the digital transformation of its clients across various business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Energy & Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications and Transportation. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, Unify and Worldline. Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index. Press contact: Laura Fau | laura.fau@atos.net (mailto:laura.fau@atos.net) | +33 6 73 64 04 18 | @laurajanefau (https://twitter.com/laurajanefau) Click here for the pdf version (http://hugin.info/143359/R/2218011/866841.pdf) This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients. The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: ATOS via Globenewswire HYDERABAD, India, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mordor Intelligence today announced the launch of its Intelligence Center on the Diabetes Care Drugs Market. The platform at its core is a web of data points meticulously curated to help enterprises of all sizes in the domain of Diabetes Care Drugs. Such information is available at present only sporadically and is mainly geared towards bigger players in the industry. With the launch of this Intelligence Center, Mordor Intelligence aims to bridge the gap of available information for the industry. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/715894/MORDOR_Intelligence_Logo.jpg ) Speaking to the press on the occasion of the launch, Bharadwaj Reddy, CEO of Mordor Intelligence, said, "Over the years we've observed the need for a platform that offers an exhaustive coverage of various markets in the Healthcare space. Our Diabetes Care Drugs IC positions itself as a cornerstone for organizations in this space - no matter how big, or small. A key takeaway for subscribers of our Intelligence Center is the agility it offers them in setting direction in addition to, taking and executing strategic decisions." Mordor's Intelligence Center on the Diabetes Care Drugs Market is a one-stop shop offering data spanning 15 segments under 4 categories and covering 25 counties from 5 regions and is backed by brand share information of 33 brands with an R&D pipeline. A key differentiator of this platform in comparison to similar services is the accuracy and timeliness of the data. This Intelligence Center is updated every quarter with significant changes reflecting real-time information. In addition, the platform is extremely user friendly and offers a seamless, intuitive experience. The company is offering a free trial account set up to organizations and individuals to allow them to easily explore the Intelligence Center. This limited time Free Trial can be set up here: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/free-trial/diabetes-care-drugs The coverage offered is as listed: Categories & Segments: Insulin Basal Insulin Bolus Insulin Human Insulin Human Insulin Inhaled Non-Insulin Injectables Amylin Analogue GLP-1 Agonist Oral Antidiabetic Drugs Alpha - Glucosidase inhibitors Biguanides Dopamine -D2 receptor agonist DPP-4 Inhibitors Meglitinide SGLT-2 Inhibitors Sulfonylureas Combination Drugs Insulin Combination Oral combination Regions & Countries: - Asia Pacific Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines South Korea Thailand Vietnam - Europe France Germany Italy Russia Spain United Kingdom - North America Canada United States - Latin America Brazil Mexico - Middle East Egypt Iran Oman Saudi Arabia South Africa Brands: 1. Afrezza 2. Apidra 3. Basaglar 4. Bydureon 5. Byetta 6. Cycloset 7. Farxiga/Forxiga 8. Galvus 9. Generic 10. Humalog 11. Humulin 12. Insuman 13. Invokana 14. Janumet 15. Januvia 16. Jardiance 17. Lantus 18. Levemir 19. Lyxumia 20. Novolin/Human insulin 21. Novolog/NovoRapid 22. NovoMix 23. Onglyza 24. Ryzodeg 25. Suglat 26. Symlin 27. Toujeo 28. Tradjenta 29. Tresiba 30. Trulicity 31. Victoza 32. Vipidia/Nesina 33. Xultophy Mordor Intelligence, LLP. operates in the business of industry analysis & consulting, helping clients shape their strategic decisions. Founded in 2013, and fully revenue-funded, Mordor is based out of Hyderabad, India. The company offers custom market intelligence and advisory services along with syndicated reports to help customers gain edge over competition. Mordor caters to over 500 clients across the globe in various industries. Annual Competition Honors Designers Who Offer Solutions That Advance Sustainable Development In Construction Machinery Industry XUZHOU, China, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- XCMG, China's leading construction machinery manufacturer, is now accepting applications for the second XCMG Cup Green Innovation Design Competition ("XCMG Cup"), in which entrants submit design concepts that create efficiencies in the manufacturing or operation of heavy construction equipment. Students and other interested parties from around the world are welcome to upload their designs online now until Dec. 1st . Launched in 2016 and hosted on XCMG-Cloud, an industrial data and information hub that is a joint project with Aliyun, the focus of this year's competition is finding new energy solutions for the R&D of hoisting and excavating machines. Submissions will be judged by a panel of leading experts from the areas of mechanical engineering, smart manufacturing, industrial design and more. Winners will have the chance to receive investment from XCMG and see their designs to become reality. "We are excited to once again see innovative designs from around the world," said Xiaohui Xu, GM Assistant of XCMG. "The first XCMG Cup was a resounding success and we look forward to evaluating new concepts that will help us enhance the convergence of industrial design and reduce our impact on the environment." "College students often think very actively and creatively, so the XCMG Cup is a great platform for students to offer solutions to some of the problems of the industry with their excellent ideas. The win-win opportunity that this competition offers will also enable the company to advance manufacturing techniques for the entire industry," said Li Wei, Professor at the School of Mechatronic Engineering and Director of the Innovative Training Center at the China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT). The XCMG Cup is one of XCMG's 14 precisely positioned global public welfare projects that focus on green and environmentally-friendly technologies and encourage young talent to push forward the green and sustainable development of the industry. Project entries in English can be submitted at http://www.xcmg-cloud.com/require?goindex&rc. About XCMG XCMG is a multinational heavy machinery manufacturing company with a history of 74 years. It currently ranks sixth in the world's construction machinery industry. The company exports to more than 182 countries and regions around the world. For more information, please visit: www.xcmg.com, or follow XCMG Group on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750851/Green_Innovation.jpg NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Infortrend Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495) today announces EonStor GSc. Hybrid Cloud Storage Appliance is an indispensable device for Enterprises to avoid cloud vendor lock-in. Migrating data to the cloud can bring a multitude of benefits, such as increased agility and flexibility. But if something goes wrong with the cloud service after the migration or costs grow higher than expected, moving data to another cloud vendor or back to local storage may incur hefty costs, additional technical problems, and more. GSc is the one-stop solution to the above issues. Enterprises can move their data between multiple cloud services and to local storage transparently, and they can adjust the storage resources dynamically for an optimal balance between cost and benefit. In addition, GSc allows optimization of storage performance with advanced cache policy features. With all these features, enterprises can speed up the cloud data access by caching the frequently-used blocks or files in the local storage while saving rarely-accessed data to the cloud. GSc provides connectivity to major cloud services such as Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure, Openstack Swift, and Alibaba Cloud, and offers a spectrum of availability in performance, connectivity, and form factors that fit for all types of enterprise's demands. "With GSc, enterprises no longer need to worry about vendor lock-in. They can either store data in the cloud or local storage freely at any time. Each company can adopt its own storage strategy that best suits their needs", Said Thomas Kao, Senior Director of Product Planning. Click here for more details about EonStor GSc Hybrid Cloud Storage Appliance Family About Infortrend Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more Information, please visit www.infortrend.com Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc., other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. FOCUS Brands looks to continue expanding international presence with beloved brands Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon across Europe ATLANTA, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FOCUS Brands, Inc., franchisor and operator of over 6,000 bakeries, restaurants, cafes, and ice cream shoppes, announced today a milestone in the company's international growth with the opening of its 1,500th international store last month, an Auntie Anne's in Liverpool, United Kingdom. This opening continues FOCUS Brands' strategic expansion into international markets with now over 1,500 international locations of its restaurant properties, including Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, Carvel, Jamba Juice, Schlotzsky's, Moe's Southwest Grill, and Seattle's Best Coffee in certain international markets. "We are thrilled that our new Auntie Anne's opened in Liverpool One Shopping Centre. It's the largest outdoor shopping mall in the United Kingdom, and the perfect place to enjoy everyone's favorite soft pretzel brand," said Robert Burton, Auntie Anne's Licensee. "Since we opened with our sub-franchisee Pretzel Perfect Ltd in August, we have seen strong initial sales and heard great customer feedback. We look forward to continuing our development journey with our sub-franchise partners in the United Kingdom and Ireland." "We are really excited to celebrate the opening of our 1,500th international location, an important milestone as we continue to expand our global presence," said Kagan Sanli, VP, Managing Director - EUMEA at FOCUS Brands International. "The unique and delicious product range of our well-known brands and strong partnership with our exceptional franchise network have been key to our rapid international growth and success. We are delighted to see Auntie Anne's being very well received in the United Kingdom, and we look forward to bringing our other popular brands, such as Cinnabon, to this market." Auntie Anne's first international location opened in Indonesia in 1995 and its largest international presence is in South Korea. Cinnabon's first international store opened in 1988 in Canada and looks forward to building its presence in the United Kingdom. FOCUS Brands currently enjoys an international presence in more than 55 countries and regions, including locations in the Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East & South Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company has already opened more than 100 new international locations this year. For more information, visit www.focusbrands.com . About FOCUS Brands Inc. Atlanta-based FOCUS Brands Inc., through its affiliate brands, is the franchisor and operator of more than 6,000 ice cream shoppes, bakeries, restaurants and cafes in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and over 50 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel, Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, Jamba Juice, Schlotzsky's, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli, as well as Seattle's Best Coffee on certain military bases and in certain international markets. Please visit www.focusbrands.com to learn more. Media Contact: Ashley Kraynak Allison+Partners 646-619-0619 AuntieAnnes@allisonpr.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/743730/Focus_Brands_Logo.jpg PORTLAND, Oregon, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Increasingpenetration of smartphones&tablets and risingincidence of chronic diseases are expected to boost the growth of the global digital therapeutics market Allied Market Research published a report, titled, Digital Therapeutics Market by Application (Diabetes, Obesity, Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVD), Central Nervous System (CNS) Disease, Gastrointestinal Disorders (GID), Respiratory Diseases, Smoking Cessation, and Others), Product Type (Software and Devices), and Sales Channel (Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumers (B2C)): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025. The report offers an in-depth analysis of the industry by closely monitoring the market trends, drivers & opportunities, top investment pockets, key growth strategies, and competitive landscape. According to the report, the global digital therapeutics market was pegged at $1.75 billion and is expected to reach $7.83 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 20.5% from 2018 to 2025. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg ) Rapid penetration of smartphones & tablets and high prevalence of chronic diseases drive the growth of the global digital therapeutics market. In addition, increasing awareness about the benefits of digital therapeutics such as low healthcare expenditure, improved patient & doctor communication, and efficient management of patients' health supplements the market growth. However, concerns regarding privacy of patients' data hamper the growth of the industry. On the contrary, high growth potential in the emerging markets is expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the market players. Request Sample Report at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2117 Obesity segment would manifest fastest growth through 2025 Obesity segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 23.1% during the forecast period, as patients spend a copious amount of money to treat obesity. However, the diabetes segment would hold the largest market share, i.e., about 25% share of the total market by 2025. The report discusses applications such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), central nervous system (CNS) disease, gastrointestinal disorders (GID), respiratory diseases, and smoking cessation, and others. Software segment would remain dominant through 2025 In 2017, the software segment contributed about two-thirds of the market share and is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 20.6% during the study period. This is attributed to the increased utilization of software for transmiting patients' data from wearable devices to physicians via different electronic devices. The report also includes in depth analysis of the devices segment. Major sales channels in the market The report includes an in-depth analysis of the major sales channels of the global digital therapeutics market including business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). In 2017, B2C segment garnered more than one-third share of the total market, owing to staggering sales of smartphone applications, online programs, and wearable devices. However, the B2B segment would grow at the fastest CAGR of 17.5% through 2025, as products are sold indirectly to customers through intermediaries such as Google Play and iOS app store, which in turn creates more profitable opportunities. For Purchase Enquiry:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2117 Asia-Pacific: the fastest growing region Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the market by 2025, owing to rapid improvements in healthcare infrastructure and increase in penetration of smartphones in developing countries such as India and China. However, North America would remain the dominant segment throughout the study period, contributing more than 41% of the total market share due to large number of new product launches and favorable reimbursement scenario in the U.S. The other regions explored in the study include Europe and Latin America, Middle East and Africa (LAMEA). Leading players active in the industry The key market players analyzed in the report include Proteus Digital Health, Inc., WellDoc, Inc., Livongo Health, Twine Health, Inc., Noom Inc., Omada Health Inc., 2Morrow, Inc., Propeller Health, Canary Health, Inc., and Medtronic Plc. These companies have adopted several strategies such as product launches, partnerships, mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, and others to gain a strong foothold in the industry. Access KNOWLEDGE TREE (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/knowledgetree Knowledge tree is a cloud-based intelligence platform that offers more than 2,000 selective, off-the-shelf reports on niche markets to enable our clients gain deep insights on the latest trends, dynamic technologies, and emerging application areas. Similar Reports: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018 - 2025 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017 - 2023 About Us Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: Shriram Dighe 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1?855?550-5975 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Positive trend for orders of new homes and strong growth in the renovation activity The Board of Directors' meeting of MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT, held on September 18th, 2018, has approved the accounts for the first half of 2018. These consolidated accounts have been reviewed by its Statutory Auditors. Consolidated (M) 30.06.2018 30.06.2017* Var. in % Sales 410.7 368.2 +11.5% Operating Income 19.1 18.2 +4.9% Operating margin 4.7% 4.9% - Financial Income - - - Net income 13.0 11.8 +10.2% Net margin 3.2% 3.2% - *accounts restated under the IFRS15 accounting standard First half 2018 sales up by 11.5% and net income up by 10.2% Maisons France Confort Group's turnover for the 1st half of 2018 reached 410.7M, up by 11.5% compared to last year. This good level of production reflects the unprecedented sales performances recorded during 2017. At constant scope, half year growth reached 9.7%. The BtoC and BtoB renovation activities represent a total turnover of 50M. The operating income has increased by 4.9% to 19.1M and includes: an operating income of the home building activity increased by 17% standing at 20.5M mainly due to an increase in the contribution margin. The operating margin for this activity thus stands at 5.7% against 5.3% for the first half of 2017; an operating income of the renovation activity of -1.4M mainly due to the development of the BtoB renovation activity. The latter is indeed turning towards larger contracts that are more exposed to production time lags and with lower contribution margins in relative value. This context, combined with a classic seasonal effect for this type of activity (H2 production generally higher) and a necessary increase in fixed costs to ensure future development (booked orders up by 83% at end of August), explain this level of income. For the year as a whole, results for the renovation activity will prove very profitable with a second half in line with the Group's objectives. The net income is up by 10.2% at 13.0M in comparison with the 11.8M of the first half of 2017. Net profitability is at a good level and represents 3.2% of sales. The Group's financial structure is stong. Group equity stood at 168.5M at June 30th, 2018, the cash position at 106.5M and debt at 75.7M. The cash position net of debt thus stands at 30.8M. The Group continues to gain market shares and renovation is recording strong growth The home building sales remain dynamic after a record 2017 financial year and despite the disappearance of a number of government subsidies (interest-free loans less favorable for zones B and C and withdrawal of the "APL accession" housing benefit disqualifying the most modest households from bank loans), leading to a 14.9% market downturn in the 1st half of 2018 (Source Markemetron). Orders are gradually recovering, recording 4,589 sales at the end of August. This represents a turnover of 543.7M (taxes excluded), down by 8.7% in number of sales and 4.8% in value in comparison with 2017 and thus demonstrates the ability of the Group to outperform the market. At the end of August 2018, the orders recorded for the renovation activity amount to 96.9M. The BtoC activity has reached 36.0M up by 10% versus August 31st, 2017 and the BtoB activity has progressed by 83% to 60.9M. Growth and continued good profitability expected in 2018 For 2018, given the visibility generated by the order backlog and the level of production in progress, the MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT Group is expecting a new organic growth in sales with a healthy operating profitability. The group strategy, that has consisted over the last few years in becoming a housing generalist by developing related activities (Services, Renovation, Property development) and its real ability to gain market shares allow the MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT Group to be fully confident in its short- and medium-term route plan. Next press release: 2018 3rd quarter Sales, on November 6th, 2018, after stock exchange closing. ABOUT MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT: Founded in 1919, MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT is the oldest home building company in France and the main actor on the French market (individual plots). Already leader in home building, MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT became the French No. 1 in house renovation in 2015. The Group operates in all 12 regions in France, with over 375 sales offices. Staff at June 30th, 2018: 1,990 people. MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT equities are eligible for PEA-PME equity savings plan. MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT is listed on the Euronext Paris - Compartment B. ISIN Number: FR 0004159473 - Index: CAC Small, CAC Mid & Small, CAC All-Tradable, CAC All-Share Commercial site: www.maisons-france-confort.com - Financial site: www.groupe-mfc.com CONTACTS: MAISONS FRANCE CONFORT Patrick Vandromme Chairman and Managing Director Tel +33 (0)2 33 80 66 61 Email pvandromme@maisonfc.fr ACTUS Amalia Naveira Analyst/Investor/Press relations Tel +33 (0)4 72 18 04 90 Email anaveira@actus.fr Jean-Christophe Godet Chief Financial Officer Tel +33 (0)2 33 80 66 61 Email finances@maisonfc.fr Marie Claude Triquet Press relations Tel +33 (0)4 72 18 04 93 Email mctriquet@actus.fr GLOSSARY: Gross order intake: a contract is recorded in gross order intakes on signature by the client and acceptance by our sales administration departments (control of documents and validity of the project's financing plan, return of the field survey, verification and acceptance of the selling price). The amount recorded corresponds to the pre-tax turnover generated on this contract Order backlog: all recorded orders which have not been cancelled or transferred to "production in progress". Production in progress: all orders for which the conditions precedent to begin work have been met (building permit and client financing obtained, client ownership of the land) and which have not been accepted by the client (delivered). Evolution of sales at constant scope: evolution of sales of periods to be compared, recalculated as follows: In the event of an acquisition, the turnover of the acquired company that has no correspondence in the comparison period is deducted from the current period, In the event of transfer, the turnover of the transferred company that has no correspondence in the current period is deducted from the comparison period B2B (business to business): refers to transactions conducted between two companies. B2C (business to consumer): refers to transactions conducted between the company and consumers. Net contribution margin: corresponds to the difference between the sales generated by contracts and the costs directly related to these contracts (construction costs, sales or broker commissions, taxes, insurance, etc.). Cash position: includes cash on hand and demand deposits. Debt: includes all current and non-current financial debts. Cash net of debt: available cash less debt. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-55205-mfc-180918-rs18-gb.pdf HAMBURG, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / September 27, 2018 / Topas Therapeutics GmbH (Topas), a Hamburg, Germany-based private platform company leveraging the natural tolerance induction capabilities of the liver, today announced that the Company will participate at the following conferences this fall: Meet with Topas at the following industry events: Sachs 18th Annual Biotech in Europe Forum October 4-5, 2018 Basel, Switzerland Timm Jessen, CEO of Topas Therapeutics, will participate in the Autoimmune & Inflammatory Diseases Panel on October 4th at 11:30 AM CET. He will also give a corporate presentation on October 4th at 3:30 PM CET, and the Company will host 1X1 meetings at the event. To request a meeting with Topas, please sign up through the event's meeting system. The Sachs Forum attracts approximately 650 delegates interested in investing and partnering in the biotech and life science industry. This highly transactional event draws together an exciting cross-section of early-stage/pre-IPO, late-stage and public companies with leading investors, analysts, money managers and pharma licensing executives attending. More information on the event can be found here. BIO-Europe(R) 2018 November 5-7, 2018 Copenhagen, Denmark Topas will host 1X1 meetings at this event. To request a meeting with Topas, please sign up through the event's partneringONE meeting system. The 24th annual global life science partnering event is expected to bring together over 4,000 executives from 2,200+ life science companies spanning an estimated 60+ countries to engage in one-to-one partnering. For more information, please click here. Meetings around JP Morgan 36th Annual Global Healthcare Conference January 8-11, 2019 San Francisco, CA, USA During the week of the JP Morgan Global Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Topas will meet with investors, potential partners and other interested parties. Please contact Timm Jessen (jessen@topas-therapeutics.com ) if you are interested in meeting that week. Learn more about the Topas Particle Conjugates (TPC) technology platform at these upcoming scientific conferences: Immunology of Diabetes Society Congress 2018 October 25-29, 2018 London, United Kingdom The Company will attend this scientific conference. The conference is for researchers with an interest in the immunology of diabetes and autoimmunity as well as those interested in gaining a greater understanding of the disease and the development of new therapeutic strategies. For more information, click here. Antigen-Specific Immune Tolerance Europe Conference December 10-12, 2018 London, United Kingdom Timm Jessen will give a talk entitled, "Liver Based Immune Tolerance Induction," on December 12th at 9:30 AM GMT. Tackling key R&D challenges, such as antigen identification, animal model predictability, translation and clinical design, this conference is the first European centric, dedicated platform that brings key decision makers together to successfully translate ground breaking science into a novel class of therapies to treat autoimmunity. Please click here for more details about the event. About Topas Therapeutics Topas Therapeutics GmbH is a private Hamburg, Germany-based biotechnology company focused on developing products to address areas of major unmet need, including autoimmune diseases, allergies and anti-drug antibodies. Topas' technology platform induces antigen-specific immune tolerance by harnessing the liver's natural immunology capabilities. The Company has several proprietary programs; the lead one is in an orphan disease and is expected to enter the clinic in 2019. Topas has a research and option agreement with Eli Lilly and Company focused on antigen-specific tolerance induction, a multi-year agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to collaborate in the field of anti-drug antibodies and a co-development agreement with Evotec for a Type 1 diabetes program that is currently in pre-clinical testing. Topas' investors include: Epidarex Capital, Gimv, EMBL Ventures, Evotec and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. For additional information, please visit: www.topas-therapeutics.com. Contacts: Foiled Again, the richest horse in harness racing history, will head to Virginia's scenic Shenandoah Valley this Saturday (Sept. 29) in search of victory number 104. The 14-year-old Dragon Again gelding is the early 4-5 favorite in the fourth race, a $10,000 Invitational Pace at Shenandoah Downs in Woodstock, VA. Foiled Again will leave from post five with driver Chris Shaw in the sulky. The Ron Burke trainee comes to Virginia with 321 starts, 103 wins, 68 seconds, 46 thirds and purse earnings exceeding $7.6 million. He had a three-race win streak snapped last start when he finished fourth at Batavia Downs. "I am extremely grateful and excited to have the opportunity to drive the greatest horse of all time," said Shaw, who was the second leading driver at Shenandoah in 2017. "Mark Weaver texted my brother on Wednesday to ask if I'd be interested in driving the 'GOAT' (Greatest Horse of All Time)," added Shaw. "I said I'd be more than happy to and I'd find a way to clear my schedule," he joked. As far as expectations go, Shaw was diplomatic. "It's a horse race and anything can happen. We'll just have to see when the gate opens and the race unfolds. He's got a big heart and seems able to do what he wants to do most often." Chris Page drove Foiled Again twice in August, to respective first and third-place finishes. "He's a war horse and the greatest horse to ever wear a harness," said Page. "He loves his job." Four other foes will try to prevent Foiled Again from accomplishing his goal including a pair of other 14-year-olds -- B Blissful and Go Easy On Me. The former is a Jimmy Viars trainee who has won 10 races from 21 starts the past two years. He will be driven by Chuck Perry, the meet's leading driver, and comes into the Invitational on a four-race win streak. The latter is a Camtown Fella gelding who will be driven by David Swaney. The field also includes Best Dream Seeker, a 12-year-old Cambest gelding that will be driven by Corey Braden, and 10-year-old Highland Hellion, who authoured a 1:55.1 winning mile in Woodstock last year. After the race, a temporary stall will be set up outside the grandstand entrance where fans can enjoy a Meet & Greet with Foiled Again and his connections. Post time Saturday is 2:00 p.m. and the fourth race is expected to go off around 3:00 p.m. A total of 11 races have been carded including a pair of $7,000 Open Handicap events for pacers and trotters. Parking and admission are both free. The races are streamed live at shenandoahdowns.com. (with files from Shenandoah Downs) BRUSSELS, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Gunther Meyer as senior counsel in the firm's Intellectual Property Group in Brussels. With nearly 20 years of experience, Meyer will advise clients on intellectual property rights, transfer of technology and trade secrets (including knowhow protection). He joins the firm from Eversheds Sutherland, where he led the Brussels Intellectual Property Practice. "Gunther's experience in Belgian, EU, and international IP and regulatory matters, especially in the life sciences sector, will further strengthen our practice," said Kristof Roox, co-managing partner of the firm's Brussels office and a leader of that office's IP team. "He deepens our bench to advise companies in several sectors, including pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as manufacturers of medical devices, on contentious and non-contentious IP matters. He will also strengthen our trademark and licensing practice." Meyer handles Belgian and cross-border disputes and litigation, including complex patent cases. He has also been involved in many landmark patent/SPC litigation cases and matters relating to parallel import of medicines in Belgium. At the non-contentious level, Meyer advises clients on negotiating and drafting licensing, R&D, consortium, and other types of IP collaboration agreements. He advises both national and multinational clients in a variety of sectors. "Crowell & Moring is a leader in IP law," Meyer said. "I am excited to join the firm and look forward to working with the firm's lawyers to expand our capabilities in Europe." Meyer is a member of several national and international professional organisations in his field of practice. He is also a member of the editorial board of Revue de droit intellectuel - L'ingenieur conseil/Tijdschrift intellectuele eigendom - Intellectual Property. Meyer obtained his Lic. Jur. from KU Leuven, his D.E.S. from Universite libre de Bruxelles, and his master in IP rights from KULeuven- KUBrussel. Meyer is the latest notable practitioner to join the Brussels office, following the arrival of leading privacy and cybersecurity senior counsel Maarten Stassen, an authority on the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and senior counsel Jules Stuyck, a recognized antitrust and advertising lawyer. Crowell & Moring's Intellectual Property Group Crowell & Moring's IP Group helps clients both across the United States and in Europe realize the full value of their intellectual property and defend it against unauthorized use. The vast majority of our lawyers have extensive courtroom and trial experience and present complex ideas in straightforward terms that appeal to judges and juries. The U.S. lawyers appear regularly before district courts across the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and other courts and government agencies. The Brussels lawyers represent clients at all levels of the local civil and criminal court system, up to and including the Court of Justice of the European Union. They also act before all the relevant administrative bodies. Nearly half of the group's lawyers have technical degrees. The group publishes the Trade Secrets Trends blog (crowelltradesecretstrends.com). Crowell & Moring LLP Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with more than 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, London, and Brussels. Contact: An Pham Manager, Media PR & Communications +1 202.508.8740 apham@crowell.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/175008/crowell_and_moring_llp_logo.jpg VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrated Cannabis Company, Inc. (CSE: ICAN) (OTCQB: ICNAF) ("Integrated Cannabis"), is pleased to announce the completion of a Letter Agreement (the "Agreement") to collaborate on X-SPRAYS products for the Canadian market with GTEC Holdings Ltd ("GTEC") (TSXV: GTEC, OTCPK:GGTTF), a Canadian License Producer under Health Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR). The Agreement allows for the co-development and marketing of novel spray products, utilizing proprietary nanotization technology containing both Cannabidiol (CBD) and/or Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for distribution in the Canadian medicinal and recreational markets. The Agreement is subject to the implementation of federal legislation in Canada and corresponding provincial and territorial legislation that permits the distribution and sale of certain formats of cannabis products, including without limitation sprays. Over the coming weeks the companies will engage with their science, marketing and distribution teams to streamline the logistics of developing and ultimately introducing products to the Canadian marketplace. "Partnering with a Canadian Licensed Producer has been a major goal of ours in order to facilitate the expansion of our product line into legal, established marketplaces. The GTEC team is an ideal partner given their status as a LP and their tenure in the cannabis industry and provide a great alliance for our innovative product line," said Mr. John Knapp, CEO of Integrated Cannabis. "We are very excited to be working with Integrated Cannabis and their superb line of the X-SPRAYS products. As we continue to push towards positioning ourselves as a preeminent cannabis company it is critical to diversify our product offering with formulations that are both novel and offer alternative delivery methods," said Mr. Norton Singhavon, CEO of GTEC. The companies aim to have a definitive agreement in place by October 31, 2018. About GTEC Holdings Ltd. GTEC was founded in 2017 to capitalize on opportunities in the nascent and rapidly growing legal cannabis industry. GTEC is focused on growing premium quality craft cannabis in purpose-built indoor facilities. The Company also has a number of retail cannabis initiatives in Western Canada. GTEC currently holds a 100% interest in GreenTec Bio-Pharmaceuticals Corp., Tumbleweed Farms Corp., Falcon Ridge Naturals Ltd., Alberta Craft Cannabis Inc., Grey Bruce Farms Inc., Zenalytic Laboratories Ltd. and Spectre Labs Inc. GTEC is a publicly-traded corporation based in Kelowna, British Columbia. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and OTC Pink Sheets. About Integrated Cannabis Company, Inc. Integrated Cannabis Company, Inc. is comprised of dedicated scientists and product engineers who are passionate about health and creating health and lifestyle products utilizing advanced delivery systems and formulations. For more information, please visit the company's website at: http://www.x-sprays.com . ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "John Knapp" Chief Executive Officer The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. For further information, please contact: Telephone: 778-403-3358 Website: http://www.X-SPRAYS.com Joint Venture for Final Phases of Established Project in Renhuai, China BEIJING and DALLAS, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Century Bridge Capital announced today that it has invested $11.7 million in a middle-income, residential project in Renhuai, China. The investment will be made through a joint venture with Guizhou Chuangmeng Real Estate. Commenting on the investment Century Bridge CEO, Tom Delatour, noted, "The investment represents the opportunity to invest in the final three residential phases of an established existing project which will include more than 1.1 million total square meters of residential, retail, hotel and office when completed. Given the successful sale of approximately 90% of the 404,553 square meters of residential area in the development's previous four residential phases, we are confident that our development partner will continue to draw on their knowledge of the submarket in developing attractive residential units for the last three phases." Century Bridge President, Wei Deng, commented, "Our development partner, Guizhou Chuangmeng Real Estate, began the project in 2012. Their proven ability to develop residential units that are designed and priced to meet the upgrade housing market in Renhuai has supported successful sales results in the earlier phases of the project. Our China-based team looks forward to working with the Guizhou Chuangmeng Real Estate team as we move forward with them to complete the final three residential phases of this development." KEY FACTS Renhuai - Located on the border of Guizhou and Sichuan Provinces, approximately a 2.5 hour drive from Guiyang , the capital city of Guizhou , a 4.5 hour drive from Chonqing, and a 5 hour drive from Chengdu , Renhuai is a county level city of Guizhou Province . Renhuai is known as "the city of Baijiu" in China for being home to the world's most valuable liquor brand - Kweichow Moutai. and Sichuan Provinces, approximately a 2.5 hour drive from , the capital city of , a 4.5 hour drive from Chonqing, and a 5 hour drive from , Renhuai is a county level city of . Renhuai is known as "the city of Baijiu" in for being home to the world's most valuable liquor brand - Kweichow Moutai. Residential demand driver - As of 2017 there were 2,811 baijiu production companies in Renhuai. According to trade reports, the baijiu industry sustains approximately 54,000 jobs directly and over 100,000 jobs indirectly. As residential development is restricted in Moutai Town to protect its water and farmland, Renhuai is the housing demand destination for most of the employees of this fast-growing industry. Central downtown location - The site is located in central downtown Renhuai 1,500 meters southwest of City Hall and 500 meters from the entrance to Rongzun Highway, connecting Renhuai with Zunyi and Guiyang . . Amenities and transportation - Amenities will include 40,000 square meters of landscaping, 1,000 meters of walking trails, as well as a kindergarten and elementary school. Personal Income Growth - Average per capita disposable income grew at an annual rate of 11% from 2011 to 2016. During the period from 2014 to 2018, housing prices increased at a slower rate of 4.4%, resulting in improved housing affordability. Joint Venture Partner - The project is being developed by a joint venture of Century Bridge and Guizhou Chuangmeng Real Estate. Development - The $178 million project includes above-ground, gross buildable area of 234,891 square meters/2,528,366 square feet on a site of 71,816 square meters/773,024 square feet. project includes above-ground, gross buildable area of 234,891 square meters/2,528,366 square feet on a site of 71,816 square meters/773,024 square feet. Residential - Will comprise approximately 200,459 square meters/2,157,741 square feet, representing approximately 85.3% of above ground, gross buildable area. Century Bridge is a private equity firm with offices in Beijing, China and Dallas, Texas. The firm is focused exclusively on investment in the middle-income, residential real estate sector in China's growing Tier 2 and 3 cities. www.centurybridge.com PRESS CONTACT: COMPANY CONTACT: Guy Lawrence Jeff Tucker Ross & Lawrence Century Bridge Capital 212-308-3333 214-270-2149 gblawrence@rosslawpr.com jtucker@centurybridge.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/749528/Century_Bridge___Development.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/348507/century_bridge_capital_logo.jpg PALM BEACH, Florida, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Financialnewsmedia.com News Commentary The medicinal cannabis space continues to be overtaken by CBD as consumers gravitate toward alternative medicines. Cannabidiol (CBD) has become a popular choice to treat issues including anxiety, inflammation and other common ailments. This rising rate of usage is pushing the overall cannabis market to new heights as Arcview Market Research estimate over $9 billion was spent in 2017. As legalization continues to advance around the globe, markets such as CBD continue to enjoy the benefit of increased consumer awareness. Revenue growth is not anticipated to slow anytime soon, especially as investment into research and development in the space continues to rise. Active cannabis companies in the markets this week include Integrated Cannabis Company, Inc. (CSE:ICAN) (OTC:ICNAF), Namaste Technologies Inc. (OTC:NXTTF) (TSX-V:N), PUF Ventures Inc. (CSE:PUF) (OTC:PUFXF), FSD Pharma Inc. (CSE:HUGE) (OTC:FSDDF), Crop Infrastructure Corp. (CSE:CROP) (OTC:CRXPF). Integrated Cannabis Company, Inc. (CSE:ICAN) (OTCQB:ICNAF) BREAKING NEWS: Integrated Cannabis Company is pleased to announce the completion of a Letter Agreement (the "Agreement") to collaborate on X-SPRAYSTM products for the Canadian market with GTEC Holdings Ltd (TSXV: GTEC) (OTCPK:GGTTF), a Canadian License Producer under Health Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR). The Agreement allows for the co-development and marketing of novel spray products, utilizing proprietary nanotization technology containing both Cannabidiol (CBD) and/or Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for distribution in the Canadian medicinal and recreational markets. The Agreement is subject to the implementation of federal legislation in Canada and corresponding provincial and territorial legislation that permits the distribution and sale of certain formats of cannabis products, including without limitation sprays. Over the coming weeks the companies will engage with their science, marketing and distribution teams to streamline the logistics of developing and ultimately introducing products to the Canadian marketplace. "Partnering with a Canadian Licensed Producer has been a major goal of ours in order to facilitate the expansion of our product line into legal, established marketplaces. The GTEC team is an ideal partner given their status as a LP and their tenure in the cannabis industry and provide a great alliance for our innovative product line," said Mr. John Knapp, CEO of Integrated Cannabis. "We are very excited to be working with Integrated Cannabis and their line of the X-SPRAYSTM products. As we continue to push towards positioning ourselves as a preeminent cannabis company it is critical to diversify our product offering with formulations that are both novel and offer alternative delivery methods," said Mr. Norton Singhavon, CEO of GTEC. Read this and more news for ICAN athttp://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-ican Other recent developments in the cannabis industry include: PUF Ventures Inc. (CSE:PUF.CN) (OTCPK:PUFXF) recently announced signed an Equity Participation and Earn-In Agreement which provides for up to $40 million in investment at a price of $2.24 per PUF share for the development of a large-scale, commercial medical cannabis cultivation operation in Delta, British Columbia . The proceeds of the subscriptions shall be used exclusively to develop the Delta propagation facility (the "Delta Facility") consisting of 2,200,000 sq. feet of illuminated greenhouse space and 1,700,000 sq. feet of "ebb and flood" irrigation space. This is an arm's length transaction and no finder's fees are to be paid. Derek Ivany, President & CEO of PUF, commented: "On behalf of our entire team, I am extremely pleased to announce the achievement of this marquee milestone for PUF. We have constantly strived to deliver shareholder value and I believe this significant financial commitment in support of our state-of-the-art greenhouse project in British Columbia demonstrates the tremendous value of this endeavour. In comparison to other existing large-scale cannabis cultivation facilities, the finalization of this project catapults PUF into the upper echelon of participants in the space." Mr. Ivany continued, "This sizeable financial commitment will provide enough capital to allow us to focus the majority of our strategy on high quality cannabis flowering while also still advancing the propagation service aspect of our business thus creating a more diversified revenue mix." Namaste Technologies Inc. (TSX-V:N.V) (OTCQB:NXTTF) recently announced it has signed a medical supply agreement with RMMI Corp.'s subsidiary, Rocky Mountain Marijuana Inc. Namaste Technologies Inc.'s wholly-owned subsidiary Cannmart Inc. will purchase medical cannabis from Rocky Mountain to offer in its online medical-cannabis marketplace. The medical cannabis supply agreement contains standard rights and obligations by each of Cannmart and Rocky Mountain including termination rights by either party. "We are extremely pleased to have been chosen as a supplier to Cannmart. RMMI's goal of supplying the highest organic-quality cannabis products by "Blending Science with Nature" and using aeroponics cultivation systems, complements Namaste's approach to employing advanced technology to best serve its rapidly-growing customer base," said Earl Connors, President and CEO of RMMI. "RMMI looks forward to exceeding Cannmart's expectations and expanding its relationship with Namaste." FSD Pharma Inc. (CSE:HUGE.CN) (OTCQB:FSDDF) earlier this week announced that the Company has received its first delivery of manufacturing equipment at its Cobourg plant from Canntab Therapeutics Limited (CSE: PILL) ("Canntab"), a leader in the rapidly growing cannabis pill market. The manufacturing equipment consists of a fully GMP High output Tablet press capable of pressing more than 1,500,000 tablets per day, as well as blending machinery, large scale process and drying equipment and packaging equipment. Mr. Jeffrey Renwick, Chief Executive Officer of Canntab, stated, "With this first delivery of manufacturing equipment at the Cobourg plant, we can begin the process of setting up our manufacturing space in collaboration with FSD Pharma. We expect manufacturing of our suite of novel cannabis oral dose delivery platforms, including gel capsules and tablets to begin in earnest." Zeeshan Saeed, EVP and Director of FSD Pharma, added, "We are thrilled that Canntab is moving so quickly to set up its manufacturing facility at our Company. We too are moving quickly to build out our own 220,000 square feet of additional manufacturing capacity in Cobourg in collaboration with Auxly. This is truly an exciting time at FSD Pharma." Crop Infrastructure Corp. (CSE:CROP.CN) (OTCPK:CRXPF) recently announced its subsidiary Elite Ventures Group LLC has signed a joint venture agreement with The Hempire LLC of Nevada (the "Tenant") to purchase a 100% interest in an 1,000 acre Esmeralda County agricultural cannabis project tenanted with a suite of cannabis licenses including medical cultivation, medical production and with adult use recreational cultivation & production conditional licenses as well as an option to acquire a retail dispensary application assigned to a strategic location on highway 95 on route to Las Vegas . CROP has agreed to loan up to $4,250,000 USD over a period of the next 6 months to acquire 100% of the initial 10 acres of real estate and associated infrastructure with the additional 1,000 acres being paid for at a cost of $4,500,000 over a 20-year amortization period at 6% interest with a 3-year balloon payment. CROP will receive preferential payback on the project at a rate of 60% of the net profits from Elite. Esmerelda County is one of the only jurisdictions in Nevada where climate and zoning allows for greenhouse or outdoor growing. This will be significant for our tenant growers and brand licensee to be able to provide high quality product on a large scale at the lowest cost possible, keeping with CROP's strategy. DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates Financialnewsmedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated twenty five hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by Integrated Cannabis Company, Inc. by a non-affiliated third party. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE. This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected," "anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company's annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Media Contact: editor@financialnewsmedia.com +1(561)325-8757 Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - White Metal Resources Corp. (TSXV: WHM) ("White Metal" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the important channel sampling program campaign has been completed on priority targets on its Gunners Cove Gold Property (the "Property") in Newfoundland. (Please see the Company's press release dated August 24, 2018). All channel samples have now been submitted to Eastern Analytical Laboratories in Springdale, Newfoundland (the "Lab") reporting to the following zones on the Property: Bazooka Island - 354 samples Gunners Main - 109 samples Gunners East - 172 samples Gunners Hidden Pit - 89 samples Stephen Zone - 9 samples The Lab has reported to the Company that, "The channel samples are all in the prep stage and are continuing through the process." The Company will report results when available and analysed. Given the very large number of samples, this process is expected to take several weeks. Jean-Pierre Colin, President & CEO of White Metal, stated, "I trust that White Metal exploration parties have had two productive expeditions since last August at Gunners Cove, in Newfoundland, whereby our crews have proficiently collected the best channel samples they could identify and using their best available modern techniques. To my knowledge, this is the first time such a comprehensive programme of this kind has ever been attempted in that area and I am very proud of the such large number of samples that our team has collected in the field, in such a very short interval, by using their own professional judgement in real time when proximate to interesting geology. We are looking forward to results and will report shortly when relevant information becomes available. Our current plan is that details of any promising wide-ranging follow-up drill programmes would depend entirely on the full and thorough professional analysis of our geologists once the channel sampling assay data is received and scientifically understood and would be announced as soon as the Company has made any definitive decisions regarding such possible and anticipated expenditures." Technical personnel for the Company have designed the channel sampling program as the best way to properly evaluate the gold tenure and continuity on the various gold zones as well as assist in the delineation of targets for a future diamond drilling program. The Gunners Cove Gold Project is a new unexplored gold system that has now been traced intermittingly for 18 km along strike (N-S) and from 1.3 to 3.0km in width (E-W). To date, 15 new areas of gold mineralization have been discovered of which seven have been identified as high priority targets. Since the initial gold discovery in September 2017, the Company has had excellent success not only in making new discoveries, but extending the area of gold mineralization substantially at the Gunners Cove Gold Project. Evaluation of the geological controls of the known gold mineralization can be summarized as follows: Anomalous and moderate grade gold assays are associated with pyrite nodules, discontinuous stringers, fragments and cubic crystals.. The gold zones are hosted in a geological distinctive unit of chaotic, multi-lithic breccia with a predominately graphitic and mudstone matrix. This unit is interpreted to be associated with regional thrust faulting and is referred to as a melange. The higher pyrite content appears to be associated with well-foliated (sheared) graphitic melange. This melange can be mapped over horizontal widths of up to 1.3km, however the full extent of the melange is not understood at this time. The unit appears to be located at the base of a sedimentary-ultramafic package and has been extended as a discontinuous unit over an area measuring approximately 18km by 3km. Anomalous silver, copper and molybedinum are also associated with the gold mineralization. Technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Scott Jobin-Bevans (P.Geo.), Vice President Exploration and a Director of White Metal, who is a Qualified Person under the definitions established by the National Instrument 43-101. For more information with respect to the Gunners Cove Gold Property please visit the Company's Web Page at www.whitemetalres.com. About White Metal Resources Corp (TSXV: WHM): White Metal Resources Corp. is a junior mineral exploration company exploring for gold in Canada. On behalf of the Board of Directors of White Metal Resources Corp. "Jean-Pierre Colin" Jean-Pierre Colin, President, CEO and Director NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projection For further information contact: Jean-Pierre Colin President, CEO & Director White Metal Resources Corp. (416) 573-4300 Jpcolin.whitemetal@gmail.com or Michael Stares Director White Metal Resources Corp. 684 Squier Street Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, P7B 4A8 Phone: (807) 628-7836 Fax (807) 475 7200 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ParcelPal Technology Inc. ("ParcelPal" or the "Company"), (CSE: PKG) (FSE: PT0) (OTC: PTNYF) - is pleased to announce they have signed an agreement for Cannabis distribution with Vancouver, BC based Choom Holdings, Inc, ("Choom") (CSE:C HOO) (OTC: CHOOF) Canada's leading cannabis retailer. Further to the marijuana strategy announced on September 13, 2018, ParcelPal has made their first footprint into the marijuana industry through signing an agreement with Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE: CHOO). The Company received the agreement from Choom for the establishment of distribution from various retail outlets in Canada. The initiative will consist of: Distribution: ParcelPal and Choom will jointly develop the optimal roadmap for distribution within various provinces for adult use cannabis. Accessibility: Using Choom's and ParcelPal's platform to enhance user experience and accessibility to products offered. Compliance: ParcelPal and Choom will ensure that all products will be delivered will be within the parameters set forth by all regulating bodies in Canada . Safety: ParcelPal and Choom are dedicated to public safety by enabling safe access to product for consumers through an instant delivery channel; eliminating impaired driving. President and CEO Kelly Abbott States, "We are extremely pleased and excited to have this agreement from Choom and fully intend to utilize other partnership opportunities to forward our national cannabis distribution and delivery strategy. Our contemplation is to be the Uber of cannabis for Canada and grow our revenues exponentially through this vertical." Abbott continued, "Current options, such as Canada Post or other antiquated courier services are expensive, may take up to 7 days and are fraught with service interruptions such as strikes. With ParcelPal, consumers can get their requested product easily and safely within an hour. Our innovative technology enables seamless integration with any retail outlet for cannabis." President and CEO Chris Bogart from Choom states, "We recognize the importance of utilizing the existing technology of ParcelPal's mobile app in concert with their outstanding track record of home delivery execution. We believe this will provide an exceptional customer experience and we are excited to offer this to our valued customers upon the upcoming rollout of our retail strategy." About Choom Holdings Inc. The Choom brand is inspired by Hawaii's "Choom Gang" - a group of buddies in Honolulu during the 1970's who loved to smoke weed-or as the locals called it, choom. Evoking the spirit of the original Choom Gang, our brand is synonymous with cultivating good times with good friends. Choom is focused on delivering an elevated customer experience through our curated retail environments, high-grade handcrafted cannabis supply, and a diversity of brands for the Canadian recreational consumer. Find more about Choom from their website: http://www.choom.ca About ParcelPal Technology Inc. ParcelPal is a technology driven logistics company that connects consumers to the goods they love. Customers can shop at partner businesses and through the ParcelPal technology receive their purchased goods within an hour. The Company offers on-demand delivery of merchandise from leading retailers, restaurants, medical marijuana dispensaries and liquor stores in Vancouver and soon in major cities Canada-wide. ParcelPal Website: http://www.parcelpal.com The Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") or any other securities regulatory authority has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release that has been prepared by management. CSE - Symbol: PKG FSE - Symbol: PT0 OTC - Symbol: PTNYF Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward looking statements relating to the Proposed Transaction, and the future potential of ParcelPal. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "intends", "anticipates", "expects", "plans" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risk that the Proposed Transaction will not be completed due to, among other things, failure to execute definitive documentation, failure to complete satisfactory due diligence, failure to receive the approval of the CSE and the risk that ParcelPal will not be successful due to, among other things, general risks relating to the mobile application industry, failure of ParcelPal to gain market acceptance and potential challenges to the intellectual property utilized in ParcelPal. There can be no assurance that any forward looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company cannot guarantee that any forward looking statement will materialize and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will only update or revise publicly any of the included forward looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities laws. Contact: Peter Hinam, Director-Investor Relations - peter@parcelpal.com , +1-604-710-8331 CHICAGO, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Blockchain in Agriculture Market (and Food Supply Chain), Application (Product Traceability, Payment and Settlement, Smart Contracts, and Governance, Risk and Compliance Management), Provider, Organization Size, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is estimated to be valued at USD 60.8 million in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 429.7 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 47.8% during the forecast period. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) Don't miss out on business opportunities in Blockchain in Agriculture Market (and Food Supply Chain). Speak to our analyst and gain crucial industry insights that will help your business grow. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=55264825 The Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Market is driven by factors such as an increase in demand for supply chain transparency, the rise in cases of food fraud in the emerging economies of the Asia Pacific, and growth in concerns toward food wastage. According to the Congressional Research Service, as of 2014, food fraud cases had cost the global food industry an estimated USD 10.0 billion to USD 15.0 billion, annually. According to the World Health Organization estimates, in October 2017, about one in every 10-people become ill every year by eating contaminated food; about 420,000 people die every year, resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years. Nowadays, the global food supply has grown so complex that it has become difficult for food manufacturers and retailers to guarantee the provenance of their products. The food fraud cases in the past, including the horsemeat scandal of the UK in 2013 and pork mislabeling debacle in China in 2011, have affected the trust of consumers in these products and their manufacturers. Hence, companies are investing in blockchain technology, which would enable them to provide their customers with transparency. Browse and in-depth TOC on "Blockchain in Agriculture Market (and Food Supply Chain)" 52 - Tables 47 - Figures 145 - Pages View more detailed TOC @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/blockchain-agriculture-market-and-food-supply-chain-55264825.html Based on organization size, the small and medium-sized enterprises segment of the Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Market is projected to grow at the higher CAGR during the forecast period. Based on organization size type, the Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Market has been segmented into large enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. The small and medium-sized enterprises segment is projected to grow at the higher CAGR during the forecast period. The growing investment by the SMEs with the support of the government and the increasing number of start-ups in this market across the globe for the adoption of blockchain technology are the key factors that are driving the small and medium-sized enterprises segment in the Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Market. Request for Free Sample Report @https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsample.asp?id=55264825 Based on provider, the application and solution provider segment of the Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Marketis projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Based on provider, the Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Market has been segmented into application and solution provider, middleware provider, and infrastructure and protocol provider. The application and solution provider segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The introduction of technologically advanced blockchain solutions has witnessed high adoption in the agriculture and food supply chain industry, which has fueled the overall market growth. The Asia Pacific region is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the 2018-2023. The Asia Pacific region is the fastest growing region in the Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Market. Asia Pacific is one of the leading producers of agricultural produce and food. This means that the probability of food contamination and fraud cases in the supply chain is higher in this region. Most of the countries in Asia Pacific export their food products to other countries. For instance, most of the Asian countries export fruits & vegetables to the European countries, as the highest requirements for food traceability are witnessed in this region. The food industry in the Asia Pacific region is exploring the blockchain technology to comply with the traceability requirements of importing companies. This report includes a study of the development strategies adopted by leading companies and their product portfolios. It includes major players such as IBM (US), Microsoft (US), SAP-SE (Germany), Ambrosus (Switzerland), Arc-net (Ireland), OriginTrail (Slovenia), Ripe.io (US), VeChain (China), Provenance (UK), ChainVine (UK), AgriDigital (Australia), and BlockGrain (Australia). These players are focusing on expansions, funding, partnerships and collaborations, and new product developments to strengthen their customer base and market position in the Blockchain in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Market. Browse Adjacent Markets @Food and Beverage Market Research Reports & Consulting About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledgestore" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight @https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/blockchain-agriculture-market-and-food-supply-chain.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / September 27, 2018 / Timberline Resources Corporation (OTCQB: TLRS; TSX-V: TBR)("Timberline" or the "Company") today announced results for the first hole drilled at its Elder Creek porphyry copper-gold project in the Battle Mountain Mining District of Nevada. Reverse circulation (RC) drill hole RCEC18-01 (Figure 1) intersected 110 feet (34 meters) of 0.44% copper. The entire 500 foot (152 meters) hole averaged 0.21% copper, and bottomed in mineralization at 500 feet due to depth limitations of the rig (Table 1). It contains multiple intervals of anomalous gold, silver, and pathfinder elements. The hole was designed to test the grade and continuity of mineralization intersected in five shallow vertical holes drilled in 1967 when copper prices were $0.38/lb. These holes intersected continuous copper mineralization grading 0.2% to 0.3% from surface to their maximum depths of 200 to 300 feet. Steven Osterberg, Timberline's President and CEO commented, "We are encouraged that our first drill hole at Elder Creek intersected a thick and consistently mineralized section of copper mineralization. The results confirm discovery of a large porphyry copper-gold system resulting from purposeful compilation and insightful interpretation of fifty years of exploration data. The results are similar to the historic drilling in copper oxide mineralization, and show anomalous multi-trace element signatures consistent with such a system. The mineralization remains open laterally and at depth." Hole RCEC18-01 Assay Results RCEC18-01 was collared in heterolithic breccia of the Harmony Formation, and also intercepted oxidized arkosic quartzite, and a quartz-bearing porphyritic intrusion with strong potassic (biotite) and silica alteration over its 500 foot (152 meters) depth. The hole was sited within a zone of porphyry-style quartz veining (Figure 1), and over a strong magnetic donut encircling a non-magnetic core to the system (Figure 2); no indicators have been recognized in the drilling results to explain the strong magnetic signature, which suggests a deeper source. Assay results in RCEC18-01 are summarized as follows (Table 1): Figure 1. Geology, Alteration, and Copper Geochemistry of the Elder Creek Porphyry Copper-Gold Prospect A diamond core drill rig has been mobilized to deepen the second drill hole of the program (RCEC18-02) which was terminated at 840 feet (256 m) due to depth limitations of the reverse circulation rig. The hole is targeted to test a flat-lying chargeability/resistivity (IP/Resistivity) anomaly identified in historic data. Encouragingly, to date the hole has intercepted intensely altered (biotite and silica) quartz feldspar porphyritic intrusive rocks, and Harmony Formation quartzite. Assays results are pending. Figure 2. Elder Creek Airborne Total Field Magnetics with Alteration Zoning The Elder Creek copper/gold system lies approximately 11 miles (18 km) north of Newmont's Phoenix mining complex. Exploration data compiled from over 40-plus years of exploration on the property includes only limited shallow, historic drilling in the pronounced magnetic low, and only shallow drilling along the north and northeastern magnetic zone targeted primarily at gold. Geologic and geophysical characteristics, and rock geochemical sampling results evident at Elder Creek (see press release dated June 18, 2018 at http://timberlineresources.co/press-releases/) are common to major porphyry copper deposits. Timberline has the right to acquire a 65% interest in the 16 square mile (41 km2) property by spending US$5.1 million over 6 years through an earn-in joint venture agreement with McEwen Mining Inc. (see new release dated May 24, 2018 at http://timberlineresources.co/press-releases/). Further technical details of the Company's Elder Creek project may be viewed at: http://timberlineresources.co/projects/ElderCreek/. Sampling Methodology, Chain of Custody, Quality Control and Quality Assurance Collection of Reverse Circulation percussion drill samples was completed under the supervision of a Company representative. Quality control is monitored by the insertion of numerous blind certified standard reference materials and blanks into each sample shipment. The samples were collected on-site by ALS USA Inc. (ALS) and were transported to Elko, Nevada for sample preparation. Drill samples were assayed by ALS in Reno, Nevada for gold by Fire Assay of a 30 gram (1 assay ton) charge with an AA finish (ALS code Au-AA23). Samples were also assayed for a 48 multi-element four acid ICP-MS (code ME-MS61) geochemical suite in Vancouver, B.C. Steven Osterberg, Ph.D., P.G., Timberline's President and Chief Executive Officer, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this release. Mr. Osterberg is not considered independent of the Company as defined in Section 1.5 of NI 43-101. Drill intercepts are reported as drill thicknesses; true widths of intercepts are unknown. About Timberline Resources Timberline Resources Corporation is focused on advancing district-scale gold exploration and development projects in Nevada. These include its 23 square-mile Eureka property, comprising the Lookout Mountain, Windfall, and Oswego projects which lie along three separate structural stratigraphic trends defined by distinct geochemical gold anomalies, as well as being operator of both the Paiute joint venture project with a subsidiary of Barrick Gold, and the Elder Creek joint venture with McEwen Mining. All of these properties lie on the prolific Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend. Timberline also owns the Seven Troughs property in Northern Nevada, which is one of the state's highest-grade former producers. Timberline has increased its owned and controlled mineral rights in Nevada to over 43 square miles (27,500 acres). Detailed maps and NI 43-101 estimated resource information for the Eureka property may be viewed at http://timberlineresources.co/. Timberline is listed on the OTCQB where it trades under the symbol "TLRS" and on the TSX Venture Exchange where it trades under the symbol "TBR". Forward-looking Statements Statements contained herein that are not based upon current or historical fact are forward-looking in nature and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's expectations about its future operating results, performance and opportunities that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the advancement of projects, and exploration potential. When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "upcoming," "plan," "target", "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to Timberline Resources Corporation, its subsidiaries, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. There are no assurances that the Company will complete the earn-in on the Elder Creek project as contemplated or at all. Factors that could cause or contribute to risks involving forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in the Company's business and other factors, including risk factors discussed in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligationto release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For Further Information Please Contact: Steven A. Osterberg President and CEO Tel: 208-664-4859 E-mail: info@timberline-resources.com Website: www.timberline-resources.com SOURCE: Timberline Resources Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/512905/Timberline-Drills-Long-Intercept-of-Copper-Mineralization-at-the-Elder-Creek-Porphyry-Copper-Gold-Discovery-in-Nevada Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Company's robotic technology offers access to Scarfree advanced endoscopy procedures Medrobotics Corp. today announced the first sale in Europe of their Flex Robotic System for gastroenterology applications. The hospital, A.O. Universitaria Citta della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, will be the first European facility to offer Scarfree interventional endoscopic procedures. Patients and physicians will both benefit from the System's crystal clear 3D visualization, robotic precision, platform stability, and potentially shorter procedure times. "Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Europe," said Samuel Straface, Ph.D., President and CEO of Medrobotics. "Patients with cancer and non-malignant lesions are treated by gastroenterologists and colorectal surgeons. The Flex Robotic System offers physicians the possibility of treating patients more easily and less invasively than might otherwise be possible with traditional flexible endoscopes." Medrobotics markets the Flex Robotic System, the first and only robotic surgical platform providing Scarfree access to hard-to-reach anatomy in otolaryngology, colorectal and gastroenterology procedures. The award-winning Flex Robotic System has been widely recognized including Best-in-Show at the 2016 Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) and a Best New Product at the 2017 Edison Awards. For hospitals, the portability and ease of use of the Flex Robotic System potentially offers more patients access to minimally invasive surgical options in the operating room, as well as endoscopy suite, which is not seen with other surgical systems. About Medrobotics Medrobotics Corporation (www.Medrobotics.com) is a privately funded medical device company headquartered in Raynham, Massachusetts. It manufactures and markets the Flex Robotic System, the world's first robotic surgical platform with a steerable and shapeable robotic scope. The Flex Robotic System offers physicians the unique ability to navigate complex anatomy through a single, small entry point while operating in hard-to-reach anatomical locations that might otherwise be inaccessible with straight, rigid surgical tools. The Company's vision is to provide more patients with access to Scarfree procedure options. Medrobotics received FDA clearances for the Flex Robotic System for ENT applications in July 2015 and for colorectal procedures in May 2017. The CE mark was issued in March 2014. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181003005974/en/ Contacts: Media: For Medrobotics Corporation Kevin Knight (214) 732-9392 kknightpr@gmail.com Continuing the legacy of its founder, Groupe Rocher achieves another first in the sphere of sustainable development by bringing an ecodesigned compact to the market KINGSPORT, Tennessee, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Eastman is proud to have collaborated with cosmetics house Groupe Rocher on the design of a new "ecodesign compact" concept made entirely of Eastman materials. The compact features Eastman Treva engineering bioplastic, a cellulose-based thermoplastic that offers both high performance and reduced environmental impact. Groupe Rocher, a worldwide company with more than 600 million cosmetics and home care products produced each year, continues to live out the values of founder Yves Rocher, a pioneer in the use of plant-based ingredients. "The Groupe Rocher is a pioneering family-run group which has striven since its creation for the respect of nature and used sustainable development as a lever of value creation," says Bris Rocher, president and CEO. With this collaboration, it has achieved a completely new ecodesigned cosmetics case packaging concept. Ecodesign is an approach to the design of products that considers the environmental footprint throughout the entire product life cycle. The process is inspired by life cycles in nature, with the goal of creating zero waste. Success with ecodesign requires an integrated approach, with experts throughout the value chain all working together. Collaboration has been key to the success of this innovative ecodesigned compact. Eastman and Groupe Rocher identified a shared desire to grow and innovate in the cosmetics packaging space. Groupe Rocher shared its concept for an "ecodesign compact case," simplifying processing into a single step instead of the typical three-step process. The design also eliminates the metal hinge pins and uses plastic pins instead. "By eliminating metal and using fewer materials in the design, Groupe Rocher has created a compact case that requires fewer natural resources to produce, using less energy and eliminating secondary processing steps without compromising the packaging functionality and aesthetic brand codes," says Stephane Tetaud, packaging makeup development. "This saves time and money during the manufacturing process and has the added benefit of taking a step toward recyclability." The project initiated a new way of working for Groupe Rocher that Tetaud calls "collaborative innovation." He points to the important roles played by Eastman and Novatra SAS, who designed the mould for the compact, saying, "It is a very new concept and required a lot of time and multiple exchanges with all partners. Without such engaged partners the final product would not have been possible." This project demonstrates how Eastman enables customer success by engaging all members of the value chain to innovate and find solutions to challenges. This collaborative new approach enabled Groupe Rocher, Eastman and its partners to accelerate the rate of innovation. According to Cedric Perben, global technology platform leader for cosmetics packaging, "Eastman is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in a material way. Working together, we were able to leverage world-class technology and Eastman's material development capabilities, using Groupe Rocher's game-changing ecodesign concept to create a winning combination." "Eastman participated in our sustainability journey. They embraced the Groupe Rocher value of progress and showed strong commitment to developing a new polymer platform and investing in the manufacturing of a proof-of-concept packaging," says Sophie Marcou, ecodesign manager for Groupe Rocher. To document this, Eastman and Groupe Rocher worked diligently together to develop life cycle analysis data that has undergone third-party peer review by thinkstep. With the choice of Eastman's new Treva material for the compact case ecodesign, Groupe Rocher and Eastman have embarked on a continuous innovation and improvement journey. Treva offers the unique benefit of being able to significantly downgauge material use by as much as, and possibly exceeding, 50 percent. "Reducing our footprint is a continuous process that we can always do better. Treva offers us that opportunity," said Perben. Eastman Treva engineering bioplastic is a USDA Certified Biobased product that carries FSC chain of custody certification. The compact lid is composed of the new Eastman Cristal EV600 copolyester, a glasslike high-flow polymer that is Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Groupe Rocher and Eastman will be featuring their ecodesign compact at LUXE PACK Monaco, the premier show for creative packaging, held October 1-3, 2018, at the Grimaldi Forum. "As a Responsible Care company, Eastman is committed to serving our customers with sustainable solutions and development," said Kendra Harrold, marketing director of packaging for specialty plastics, Eastman. "This joint process with Groupe Rocher and our other partners shows what this industry can do when it joins forces across the value chain." About Groupe Rocher Groupe Rocher is a French enterprise with local Britannic roots. For three generations, the Groupe has set a clear ambition: make beauty and well-being accessible for all women across the world. From pioneer to key player in its lines of business, Groupe Rocher developed and extended its sustainable growth model to all its ten brands - Yves Rocher, Arbonne, Petit Bateau, Dr. Pierre Ricaud, Daniel Jouvance, Sabon, Stanhome, Kiotis, ID Parfums, and Flormar - while respecting their own positioning. Controlled at more than 99 percent by the founder's family, Groupe Rocher has proved its worth in France and worldwide. With a presence in nearly 110 countries and a turnover exceeding 2.5 billion euros, today it has more than 50 million customers around the world. Groupe Rocher manufactures more than 600 million products annually that are delivered through more than 4,000 outlets. About Novatra SAS Novatra is a mould-making company specialized in injection moulds for cosmetics, pharmaceutics and packaging. Novatra specializes in developing tools for multi-injection goods. It supports customers from the start to the end of the project, bringing its expertise to all levels of product development. The next step to continue in the green way is to work on integration of a total electric motions in the mould. Novatra is a worldwide company and has a turnover of 9.5 million euros. The company headquarters is in Varennes St. Sauveur, France, and employs 65 people. About thinkstep thinkstep helps businesses become more environmentally friendly through improvements in operational excellence, product innovation, brand value and regulatory compliance. With expert sustainability consulting services, high quality data and easy-to-use product and organizational software, thinkstep enables organizations worldwide to succeed sustainably. For more information, visit www.thinkstep.com. About Eastman Chemical Company Eastman is a global advanced materials and specialty additives company that produces a broad range of products found in items people use every day. With a portfolio of specialty businesses, Eastman works with customers to deliver innovative products and solutions while maintaining a commitment to safety and sustainability. Its market-driven approaches take advantage of world-class technology platforms and leading positions in attractive end markets such as transportation, building and construction, and consumables. Eastman focuses on creating consistent, superior value for all stakeholders. As a globally diverse company, Eastman serves customers in more than 100 countries and had 2017 revenues of approximately $9.5 billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA, and employs approximately 14,000 people around the world. For more information, visit www.eastman.com. Editorial Contact: Laura Mansfield, APR The Tombras Group +1 (865) 599.9968 lmansfield@tombras.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/748702/Groupe_Rocher_and_Eastman___bioplastic.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/746866/Eastman_Logo.jpg LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Militarisation of Space for Defence, Security & Information: Forecasts for Military Satellite Buses (Standard, Micro and Nano), Payloads & Communication Terminals (Transponders, SATCOM, C4 Management & Networking Systems, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Missile Early-Warning, Electro Optical Infrared Sensors), Launch Services (Launch Vehicles, Modules, Fuel, Ground-control, Infrastructure), Anti-Satellite Weapon Systems (ASAT) (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/523989/Visiongain_Logo.jpg ) Do you need definitive military satellite market data? Succinct military satellite market analysis? Technological insight? Clear competitor analysis? Actionable business recommendations? Read on to discover how this definitive 307 page defence report can transform your own research and save you time. The $14.63bn Military Satellite market is expected to flourish in the next few years because of increased demand for satellite intelligence in South East. Report highlights 151 tables and 156 figures Major Military Satellite contracts and programmes Detailed tables of significant Military Satellite contracts, projects & programmes categorized by leading country and each leading company. Analysis of key players in Military Satellite technologies The Boeing Company Israel Aerospace Industries Lockheed-Martin Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Raytheon Company Inmarsat ISS Reshetnev Orbital ATK Inc. SES S.A. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation ViaSat Inc Thales Alenia Space Military Satellite Market outlook and analysis from 2018-2028 Military Satellite type forecasts and analysis from 2018-2028 Satellite Buses Forecast 2018-2028 Payloads & Communications Terminals Forecast 2018-2028 Launch Services Forecast 2018-2028 Anti-Satellite Weapons (ASATs) Forecast 2018-2028 Regional Military Satellite market forecasts from 2018-2028 Australia Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 China Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 France Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Germany Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 India Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Israel Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Italy Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 France Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Italy Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Russia Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Spain Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 United Kingdom Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 United States Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Rest of the World Military Satellite Forecast 2018-2028 Key questions answered What does the future hold for the military satellite industry? Where should you target your business strategy? Which applications should you focus upon? Which disruptive technologies should you invest in? Which companies could you form strategic alliances with? Which company is likely to success and why? What business models should you adopt? What industry trends should you be aware of? Target audience Military Satellite companies Defence contractors System integrators Avionics manufacturers Defence software providers Sub-component manufacturers Electronics companies R&D staff Consultants Analysts CEO's CIO's COO's Business development managers Investors Governments Agencies Industry organisations To request a report overview of this report please contact Sara Peerun at sara.peerun@visiongain.com or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/military-satellites-market-report-2018-2028/ Airbus Amor Group Applied Signal Technology, Inc Areva SA Arkoon Network Security Asia Broadcast Satellite Asia Public Co., Astrium Services GmbH, Ottobrunn Astrotech Aurora Flight Sciences Aveos Fleet Performance Ball Aerospace Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) Blackbird Technologies, Incorporated Boeing BRAZILIAN SPACE AGENCY C4 Advanced Solutions Carl Zeiss Optronics GmbH Cassidian CDL Systems Ltd Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Chandler/May Inc Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Cloudwatt Danish armed forces DARPA Dassault Aviation Data Path Inc Dauria Aerospace DCNS Deposition Sciences Inc Diehl Air Cabin GmbH DLR, DSN Corp Dynamatic Technologies Ltd Elancourt Elbe Flugzeugwerke, Dresden ELTA Systems Ltd. Eurocopter EutelSat FIMI Finmeccanica (now Leonardo) French Defence Department Generale de l'Armement (DGA) , France Georgia Tech Research Institute Getafe GovSat Harris Information Technology Services Inc. Henggeler Computer Consultants Inc Hensoldt Herndon Honeywell International Inc. Hughes Network Systems Immenstaad Indian Space Research Organisation Industrial Defender Information Satellite Systems Inmarsat Intelsat Iridium Communications Inc Israel Aerospace Industries ISS Reshetnev Italian Defense Ministry Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JenaOptronik GmbH Kosmotras launch Agency and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) L&T Technology Services L-3 Communications L-3 Technologies La Caisse des Depots LaSalle Capital Lindsay Goldberg LLC. LinQuest Corporation LiveTV Lockheed Martin LOMO Loral Maryland Aerospace Inc., Spaceflight Industries Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Nantero Inc's Narus NASA NATO ND Satcom GmbH Netasq NetNearU Corp. Northrop Grumman Corporation Oberkochen OHB Systems GmbH OpenHydro Orange Participations Orbital ATK Pacific Defence Solutions LLC Parter Capital Group AG Poseidon Scientific Instruments Pty Ltd Procerus Technologies, L.C. QTC Holdings Inc Quantum Industries S.a.r.l., Raytheon Company RUAG SafeNet Inc's Salzburg Munchen Bank AG Satrec Initiative SES Sikorsky Aircraft Solutions made Simple Inc Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Space Engineering SpA, Rome Space Exploration Technologies Corporation SpaceQuest Ltd Speedcast Sputnix SSL (formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC) Sysgo AG Systems Engineering & Assessment Limited Tampa Microwave Telespazio Teligy Inc, Thales Thales Alenia Space Thales-Raytheon Systems Co. Ltd The Aerospace Corp. the United Arab Emirates Air Force (UAEAF) Trusted Computer Solutions Inc TsSKB-Progress U.S. Air Force U.S. Army U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) U.S. Navy United Launch Services, LLC United Technologies Corporation University of New South Wales (UNSW) US Department of Defense (DoD) Vector Aerospace Corporation Veritas Capital ViaSat Visiona Visionix Visual Analytics Inc Vought Aircraft Industries Zeta Organisations Mentioned Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Australian Defence Force British Army Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation French Armed Forces French Ministry of Defence Georgia Tech Research Institute German Bundeswehr Indian Air Force Indian Armed Forces Indian Space Research Organisation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Israel Space Agency Italian Navy North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) People's Liberation Army (PLA) Philippine Army The Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) US Air Force (USAF) US Army US Department of Defense US Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organisation (JIEDDO) US Marine Corps (USMC) US National Guard US Navy To see a report overview please e-mail Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongain.com NEW YORK and LUXEMBOURG, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New Funding Round, Led By AccorHotels, To Accelerate The Development Of Services Leveraging Travelsify's Hotel DNAand Restaurant DNAAI Technology Travelsify, the world's first Travel & Lifestyle Product DNA platform, today announced that it has closed 5 million in a new funding round, led by AccorHotels, with participation from existing investors. Founded in April 2016, the startup raised more than 8 million to date and created a unique AI-driven database of more than 1 million Hotel DNA, Restaurant DNA, and Vacation Rental DNA worldwide. Travelsify will use the capital to help hospitality groups and booking platforms to foster cross-brand discovery and cross-product sales amongst their customer base. The company is also launching Travelsify Brand DNA AI Analytics as hospitality groups increase brand portfolio to meet the diversity in customer expectations. "Travelsify is thrilled to have AccorHotels at our side in our mission to help the hospitality and travel industry close the gap between guest expectation and reality thanks to AI analytics," said Bruno Chauvat, CEO of Travelsify. "We are launching new services like Travelsify Hotel Brand DNA that serves not only the interest of hotel owners in choosing the right brand, but also hotel groups in managing brand equity thanks to leading indicators pinpointing brand advocates or detractors amongst their hotels. After several years of more or less successful personalization efforts, the industry is now ready to unlock hotel and restaurant experiences with rich product descriptors like Travelsify Hotel DNA and Restaurant DNA to delineate more relevant offers and power tomorrow's voice search, conversational commerce." "Better matching and delighting guests with the right hotels is at the heart of AccorHotels' mission," said Ian Di Tullio, SVP Guest Services at AccorHotels. "Having access to data, not only guest preferences, but enriched product data with hotel experience descriptors reflecting the guest nuances are key enablers for our strategy. Travelsify has developed a unique AI technology to connect hotels, restaurants, vacation rentals with the guest taste on a much deeper level than before. The number of AccorHotels services that could benefit from Travelsify Product DNA data is countless." "AccorHotels is pursuing its transformation with an asset-light business model in which brands play a central role", said Steven Taylor, Global Chief Brand Officer at AccorHotels. "Managing a diverse portfolio of global brands requires insightful, objective and trustworthy customer data such as Travelsify Hotel DNA and Brand DNA analytics. I am delighted that AccorHotels is partnering with Travelsify to support our brand marketing teams place our customers at the heart of the organization and to make the right strategic and operational decisions." About Travelsify Travelsify, the world's first Travel & Lifestyle Product DNA platform, creates unique Hotel DNA, Restaurant DNA, and Vacation Rental DNA AI analytics to help brands and distributors differentiate and better monetize their products. The company delivers its exclusive suite of Travel Product DNA data to hotel groups, hotel investors, online booking platforms, technology providers, and targeted advertising platforms. Travelsify Product DNA is platform and software agnostic. Travelsify is based in Luxembourg (Europe) and New York (USA). For more information, visit www.travelsify.com. Media Contact Alexandra Fernandez Ramos press@travelsify.com +352-621-541-897 Penticton, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - Green Mountain Health Alliance Ltd. ("Green Mountain", "GMHA" or the "Company"), an upcoming, large-scale, low-cost, quality medical cannabis wholesaler, is pleased to announce that it is proceeding with the planned construction of its cannabis facility located at 760 Highway 3A, Kaleden, BC. The resumption of work comes as a result of ongoing discussion with the Agricultural Land Commission ("ALC") and the receipt of a File Closure Letter from the ALC. After multiple property inspections taking place on August 15 and September 4, 2018, the ALC stated in a letter dated September 17, 2018, that they are "satisfied that the activity on the Property is in compliance with the Agricultural Land Commission legislation at this time." The Company is currently a privately held entity and holds an application for a license under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (Canada) ("ACMPR"). "We were ready to forge ahead with construction plans for our two-level administrative and nursery facility on Highway 3A when ALC regulations unexpectedly changed mid-July," says company President, Wade Attwood. "With these legislative changes, our existing building design was considered 'non-farm use' under the new ALC regulations. We have since redesigned our buildings to meet our goals and also to comply with the new ALC 'farm-use' regulations." With a mission to cultivate large-scale, low-cost, high-quality medical cannabis, Green Mountain Health Alliance has secured two properties; one of which is a wholly owned 16-acre parcel on the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) in Kaleden, British Columbia. "After the ALC's new legislation was tabled, we have taken the time to discuss the changes with ALC officials, examine our company goals, and modify our plans to be in full compliance with the new regulations," states Attwood. "From the start, our business model has centered on greenhouse growing, capitalizing on the abundant natural sunshine in the Okanagan Valley. We never intended on building 'concrete bunkers' for indoor cannabis production on ALR land, so modifying our plans was rather easy and will reduce construction costs in the long run." The company's facility is planned with environmental sustainability and technology in mind and includes year-round rainwater capture and storage, closed-loop nutrient systems, and odour control mechanisms. Attwood further states that "Our greenhouse facility will be state of the art and suitable to grow a variety of crops now and in the future, whether that is tomatoes, basil, or medical cannabis. We are looking forward to producing a high-quality medicinal product with great promise for many health conditions, all while creating jobs and contributing to the economic benefit and development of the Penticton area." Green Mountain is currently mid-stage of Health Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) process. About Green Mountain Health Alliance Ltd.: Green Mountain Health Alliance Ltd. (GMHA) is a capacity wholesale medical cannabis company, developing large-scale, low-cost production facilities in the Okanagan, B.C. The Company has applied to become a licensed cultivator, processor, and distributor of medical cannabis within Health Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations ("ACMPR"). As a wholesale producer, GMHA aims to fill a gap in the Canadian cannabis market, effectively eliminating retail risk. The company has secured over 100 acres with the potential for over 1,000,000 square feet of growing space. The first site will be on a 16-acre parcel, located in Canada's best growing area, the Okanagan. Green Mountain's experienced team and strong partnerships are focused on the cost-effective and efficient production of medical cannabis. The company is committed to best in class practices for low energy and sustainable production. Grow Green. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. For further information: Wade Attwood President wattwood@greenmountainhealthalliance.com Dave Coolidge VP Business Development dcoolidge@greenmountainhealthalliance.com Tel: (250) 486-5454 www.greenmountainhealthalliance.com Sudbury, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - Transition Metals Corp (TSXV: XTM) ("Transition", "the Company") is pleased to announce it has begun to conduct a high resolution airborne geophysical survey over its Highland Gold property located in the Cape Breton Highlands of Nova Scotia. The survey, to be completed by Terraquest Ltd., will collect low level, fixed wing high resolution horizontal magnetic gradient and very low frequency (VLF) conductance data flown at lines spaced 50 metres apart covering most of the of the property. The Highland Gold property was optioned only recently (see press release dated September 20, 2018) and covers an extensive cluster of high-grade gold occurrences in an area that have seen very limited exploration. Flying commenced this week and is expected to take 3-4 days based on weather conditions. In August, a soil and till sampling program was completed (results pending). The till work is intended to define gold dispersion signatures which may isolate the most extensive zones of sub-cropping mineralization in the property. The soil work consists of orientation B-horizon soil samples submitted to SGS Laboratories for mobile metal ion (MMI) analysis which are expected to highlight bedrock geochemical targets. While working the property in August, new prospective areas were identified by company geologists to the southeast of the optioned property. These were staked, increasing the Company's land holdings to more than 50 square kilometers. CEO Scott McLean commented, "The high resolution magnetic data will be used to further highlight structures associated with known zones of mineralization and prioritize drill targets in advance of a program of reverse circulation (RC) drilling planned for later this fall." About the Highland Gold Property The property is located approximately 60 kilometres northwest of the city of Sydney, Nova Scotia in the Cape Breton Highlands. It consists of staked mining licenses on crown land that cover approximately 5,408 hectares in an area of active forestry operations. The property can be easily accessed by a major road (Highland Road) and a network of logging roads that provide truck access to most of this portion of the Cape Breton highlands. The regional geologic framework is analogous to that hosting First Mining Gold's Hope Brook deposit in Newfoundland (844,000 ounces of gold grading 4.77 g/t gold in the Indicated Resource category and 110,000 ounces grading 4.11 g/t gold in the Inferred Resource category*) and Oceana Gold's Haile Mine in South Carolina (3.32 million ounces grading 1.77 g/t gold in the Measured and Indicated Resource category and 0.6 million ounces grading 1.4 g/t gold in the Inferred Resource category)**. Work to date on the property has led to the identification of more than 30 mineralized bedrock occurrences within an approximate 50 square kilometre area of which 9 returned bedrock assays greater than 8 g/t gold and up to 104 g/t gold, and 23 returning higher than 1.7 g/t gold1. ____________________ 1 Source: Novascan report AR-ME-1987-204, Report of Exploration on the Cape Breton Highlands Project, Scominex. *Source: First Mining Gold Website - https://firstmininggold.com/projects/newfoundland/hope-brook-project/ **Source: Oceana Gold Media Release dated March 29, 2018 Qualified Person The technical elements of this press release have been approved by Mr. Greg Collins, P.Geo. (APGO, APGNS), a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Historical assay results cited above have not been verified by the Qualified Person and should not be relied upon. Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding estimated capital and operating costs, expected production timeline, benefits of updated development plans, foreign exchange assumptions and regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 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. Further information is available at www.transitionmetalscorp.com or by contacting: Scott McLean President and CEO Transition Metals Corp. Tel: (705) 669-1777 Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Brazilian oil-and-gas company Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. with misleading U.S. investors by filing false financial statements that concealed a massive bribery and bid-rigging scheme at the company. The U.S. Department of Justice also announced today a non-prosecution agreement with Petrobras. The SEC's order finds that senior Petrobras executives worked with Petrobras's largest contractors and suppliers to inflate the cost of Petrobras's infrastructure projects by billions of dollars. The companies executing those projects paid billions in kickbacks to the Petrobras executives, who shared the illegal payments with Brazilian politicians who helped them obtain their high-level positions at Petrobras. Petrobras erroneously recorded these payments as money spent to acquire and improve assets, resulting in an estimated $2.5 billion overstatement of assets. The SEC's order finds that Petrobras's false and misleading filings included materially false and misleading statements to U.S. investors in a $10 billion stock offering completed in 2010. The filings misrepresented Petrobras's assets, infrastructure projects, the integrity of its management, and the nature of its relationships with its majority shareholder, the Brazilian government. "Petrobras fraudulently raised billions of dollars from U.S. investors while its senior executives operated a massive, undisclosed bribery and corruption scheme," said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. "If an international company sells securities in the United States, it must provide truthful information about its business operations." In connection with the settlement of the SEC's charges and the non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice, Petrobras has agreed to pay a total of $933 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest and an $853 million penalty. These payments are subject to offsets for, respectively, certain payments it makes to investors in a related class-action settlement and penalties paid to law enforcement authorities in Brazil. The SEC's order also establishes a Fair Fund to distribute the penalty received by the SEC to harmed investors. The SEC's investigation is continuing and being conducted by Lance Jasper, Rhoda Chang, and Maria Rodriguez with assistance from Carlos Costa-Rodrigues. The case is being supervised by Spencer Bendell. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Fraud Section, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Brazilian Federal Prosecution Service, the Brazilian Federal Police, and Brazil's Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios. NEW YORK, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The US State Department has published in its Visa Bulletin for August 2018 the official Results of the DV-2019 Green Card Lottery which was held in early 2018. The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky, has registered and notified the winners: approximately 87,610 applicants who may now make an application for an immigrant visa. "America is a land of opportunities. These lucky ones and their families will now benefit from America's high standard of living and a whole country that is always open to skilled and motivated immigrants," stated Jessica Wes, USAFIS Marketing Director. "A Green Card gives you a legal right to live, work, and study permanently in the United States and may eventually become American citizens. Move now and start a new life where you deserve to be," added another specialist from the organization. "The US Diversity Visa Lottery Program is one of the easiest ways for foreign nationals to be issued the United States Permanent Resident Visa, frequently referred to as a Green Card. We have made the whole Green Card Lottery application process very simple. Our immigration experts are always ready to help you," explained USAFIS Marketing Director. The DV Program in numbers Each year, the DV Program makes 50,000 immigrant visas available among 100,000 winners selected for the opportunity from all over the world. With a visa through the Diversity Visa Program, people who immigrate to the United States and their families will be authorized to live and work permanently in the country. In 2018, only 87,610 winners have been selected so far. As of 2016, USAFIS has learned that, in September or October 2018, the US government is expected to choose another 30,000-40,000 winners in order to comply with the Congress Law that stipulates the 50,000 visas. "The history of the United States is deeply related to immigration. For many years, America opened its doors to welcome all kinds of immigrants, who have built up the United States from the very beginning. This country was, and continues to be a kaleidoscope of ethnic and cultural groups," added the USAFIS director. The added value of USAFIS USAFIS is a worldwide leader in assisting clients from around the globe in preparing and submitting their applications successfully to the American Green Card (Diversity Visa) Lottery Program. "We can help you apply for the U.S. Green Card Lottery Program and get a chance to become a new proud American citizen," summarized USAFIS Organization. USAFIS is a private entity that provides its customers with professional immigration-related services and products to help them apply to the Green Card Lottery Program successfully, and complete the following Consular Process properly. "If you desire to receive US citizenship, to work in America or even to retire in the USA, USAFIS will find you an immigration solution," added Jessica Wes, USAFIS Marketing Director. For more information about the United States current immigration programs and USAFIS, please visit the company's site at www.usafis.org, call 1-646-517-6786 or write to csr@usafis.org. Competing against 11 up-and-coming chefs, Jonathan Pasion and Leo Minelli awarded first place in regional cooking competition: The Good Taste Series Americas Regional Competition Hyatt today announced the winners of its fifth-annual culinary competition The Good Taste Series Americas Regional Competition: Chefs Jonathan Pasion of Andaz Maui and Leo Minelli of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar. Judged by a panel of food and hospitality industry professionals, 11 regional winners from Hyatt properties in North America prepared two reception-style dishes designed from a mystery basket of ingredients. The dishes also incorporated local ingredients, regional influences and represented Hyatt's global food philosophy, Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served. Each plate was judged on flavor, presentation, creativity, and the chef's interaction with their audience. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005553/en/ Grand Hyatt Baha Mar hosted 11 up-and-coming chefs from Hyatt Hotels in North America to compete in The Good Taste Series Americas Regional Competition. (Photo: Business Wire) "We are extremely proud of our culinary talent in the Americas, and congratulate both Chef Jonathan, Chef Leo and all of our talented competitors," said Colleen Kareti, vice president, operational experiences, Hyatt, Americas. "As we continued this annual competition for the fifth year in a row, we centered this event around furthering the development of our culinary talent and showcasing Hyatt's commitment to culinary excellence." Utilizing all of the mystery ingredients, which included Hog Snapper, Pigeon Peas, local Squash and Sugar Apples, Chef Jonathan presented Kaffir Hog Snapper Tataki and Nori Emulsion dishes and Chef Leo presented Cured Snapper Tartare and Hog Snapper with Pigeon Pea Baba Ghanoush. "Being part of The Good Taste Series has been an honor as I continue to hone my culinary skills," said Chef Jonathan Pasion. "Winning this competition is a huge accomplishment, and I am proud to have presented dishes that represent my training and background alongside extremely talented Hyatt competitors whom I've learned so much from this week." As the winners of The Good Taste Series Americas Regional Competition, Chef Jonathan and Chef Leo received a $2,000 check and will also be attending the global competition, where they will compete against Hyatt chefs from around the world in spring 2019 in Hong Kong. "I feel very fortunate to have been part of this competition and lucky to work for a company that gives me the freedom to explore my culinary passions," said Chef Leo Minelli. "Cooking alongside my talented Hyatt colleagues has been a great learning experience as well, and I look forward to bringing all that I've learned during the competition back to my team and our guests at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar." The Good Taste Series Americas competition was comprised of 11 chefs who won regional competitions that took place earlier this year: Michael Cantin , Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport , Alejandro Ceja , Hyatt Regency Morristown , Bladimir Garcia , Andaz Mayakoba , Chris Ingmire , The Driskill , Bradley Jones , Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead , Nikolaos Kapernaros , Hyatt Regency Chicago , Michael Lombardo , Grand Hyatt Denver , Leandro Minelli , Grand Hyatt Baha Mar , Jonathan Pasion , Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort Ricardo Sanchez , Hyatt Regency Scottsdale , Keisha West, Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay The Good Taste Series Americas Regional Competition was judged by a panel of esteemed industry journalists that included: Danica Lo Digital Director, Food Wine Magazine Karrie Holland Food Travel Contributor, The Daily Meal Brother Luck Celebrity Chef Klaus Mueller Global Master Chef Culinary Director Swiss Chalet Fine Foods Kris Moon COO of the James Beard Foundation For more information about Hyatt's global Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served. philosophy, visit: www.hyattfood.com. The term "Hyatt" is used in this release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and/or one or more of its affiliates. About Hyatt Hotels Corporation Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 14 premier brands. As of June 30, 2018, the Company's portfolio included more than 750 properties in more than 55 countries across six continents. The Company's purpose to care for people so they can be their best informs its business decisions and growth strategy and is intended to attract and retain top colleagues, build relationships with guests and create value for shareholders. The Company's subsidiaries develop, own, operate, manage, franchise, license or provide services to hotels, resorts, branded residences, vacation ownership properties, and fitness and spa locations, including under the Park Hyatt, Miraval, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Centric, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Residence Club and exhale brand names. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005553/en/ Contacts: Hyatt Jennifer Rubin 312-780-5808 Jennifer.rubin@hyatt.com 36 shuttles sold for Revenues of 9 million Improvement in the gross margin to over 19% Increase of close to 30% in the R&D and Sales Marketing teams Solid financial structure: close to 80 million raised in 2018 following the IPO and financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) Regulatory News: NAVYA (FR0013018041- NAVYA) (Paris:NAVYA), a leading company in the autonomous vehicle market and in smart and shared mobility solutions, announces its results for the first half of 2018. Christophe Sapet, CEO of NAVYA, says: "The first half of 2018 illustrates the growing interest in autonomous vehicles. Indeed, NAVYA has already sold as many vehicles over the first half of this year as it did over the entire 2017 financial year. Our R&D investments have substantially increased, and we will continue to invest in order to strengthen our technological leadership. The improvement in the gross margin validates our strategy, with the rapid implementation of a profitable business model associated with the growth in sales. The success of our Initial Public Offering and substantial funding from the EIB have given NAVYA the means to develop its current solid bases and become a global leader in autonomous vehicles Revenues of 9 million and substantial improvement in the gross margin to over 19% In the first half of 2018, NAVYA recorded revenues of 9 million, primarily from the sale of 36 vehicles, notably including the first sale in the United Kingdom. At June 30, 2018, AUTONOM SHUTTLE's installed base thus consisted of 89 vehicles. The improvement in the gross margin from 13.0% in 2017 to 19.3% in the first half of 2018 is the result of the increase in volumes sold and the improvement in the Services activity's performance. This improvement validates the profitable growth strategy followed by NAVYA. R&D investments substantially increased and reached, at end-June 2018, a similar level to that of 2017 as a whole. There was also an important increase in Sales Marketing expenses. In these two departments, the increase in the workforce of close to +30% compared to the end of 2017 is in line with NAVYA's strategy of strengthening its technological leadership and its commercial presence. The increase in General Administrative expenses is related to the increase in the workforce in support functions and IT services, in line with NAVYA's growth. The recurring operating loss was 5.6 million and the operating loss 7 million once, with, in particular, 1.2 million in free share allocations and performance-based shares being taken into account. Free cash flow was -8.7 million, after 4.5 million of investments and the +1 million increase in working capital requirements. After the capital increases of +10.9 million, NAVYA had a net cash position of 6.2 million at end-June 2018, up +1.9 million on the figure at end-2017. Solid financial structure: almost 80 million raised in 2018 As of 30th of June 2018, NAVYA had a net cash position of 6.2 million. This does not take into account the amount raised in July, via its IPO on the Euronext market in Paris, for approximately 37.6 million through the issuance of new shares. In August 2018, NAVYA signed a 30 million financing agreement with the EIB (European Investment Bank). All the additional financial funds raised (capital plus debt) in 2018 take total financing to almost 80 million. NAVYA thus has considerable means to strengthen its technological leadership, develop its Sales Marketing teams and invest in strategic related markets while pursuing its international expansion. NAVYA intends to continue investing in R&D and in Sales Marketing support in order to strengthen its technological leadership and rapidly transform market opportunities, and is reaffirming its target of recording revenue of 30 million in FY 2018. First half accounts are available on: https://www.navya-corp.com/en/investor-relations/regulated-information/documentation First half results have been approved by the Board of Directors and reviewed, on September 26, 2018, by the Supervisory Board. Disclaimer This document may contain certain statements reflecting estimates, forecasts and expectations that constitute forward-looking information. By their nature, these statements are subject to a number of assumptions and entail known and unknown risks and uncertainties as they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. The known risks are those discussed or identified in Chapter 4, "Risk Factors" of Navya's registration document which is available on the company's website (http://navya.tech). The actual results and developments could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements and there can be no assurance that these statements will prove to be accurate. The past performance of Navya and its subsidiaries cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance. These forward-looking statements should be used with caution and circumspection and in no event can Navya or its management be held responsible for any investment or other decision based upon such statements. These forward-looking statements only reflect Navya's view as of the date hereof and the company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update thereto. The information in this document does not constitute an offer to sell or an invitation to buy shares in Navya or an invitation or inducement to engage in any other investment activities. About NAVYA NAVYA is a leading French name in the autonomous vehicle market and in smart shared mobility solutions. With more than 200 employees in France (Paris and Lyon) and in the United States (Michigan), NAVYA develops, manufactures and commercializes autonomous, driverless, and electric vehicles that combine robotic, digital and driving technologies at the highest level. Since 2015, NAVYA has been the first to market and put into service autonomous mobility solutions, shuttles and cabs. NAVYA has a range of two autonomous vehicles: the AUTONOM SHUTTLE, launched in September 2015, of which more than 100 have already been produced as of today and 89 sold in 17 countries as of June 30, 2018, notably in the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Australia, and the AUTONOM CAB, unveiled in November 2017 and whose first road tests will start shortly. Created in 2014 by Christophe Sapet and Robolution Capital 1 (managed by 360 Capital Partners), his reference shareholder, NAVYA's shareholders also include the Gravitation fund and Paris Region Venture Fund (Region Ile-de-France) managed by Cap Decisif Management as well as Valeo and Keolis groups. NAVYA is listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0013018041- NAVYA). For more information visit: www.navya.tech/en View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005669/en/ Contacts: NAVYA Nicolas de Cremiers, +33 (1) 85 50 01 10 Head of Marketing communication@navya.tech or Frank Maccary, +33 (4) 28 70 16 61 CFO finance@navya.tech or NewCap Investor relations Marc Willaume Julie Coulot, +33 (0)1 44 71 20 40 navya@newcap.eu or NewCap Media relations Nicolas Merigeau, +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98 navya@newcap.eu Turnover up +83% over H1-2017 Strategic partnership with Chronicare to launch Easylog in the USA, granted revenue 20M over 5 years (2019-2023) Development and production contract for a cap with Ferring Feasibility studies and evaluation of devices on different therapeutic areas with several pharmaceutical companies Regulatory News: BIOCORP (FR0012788065 ALCOR Eligible PEA-PME) (Paris:ALCOR), a French company specializing in the development and manufacturing of innovative medical and drug delivery devices, announces today its half-year results as of June 30th, 2018 (1) "In the first half of this year, we are proud to notice a significant acceleration of the activity. This is the result of a long period of investment and innovation, driven by major products such as NewguardTM and EasylogTM BIOCORP is positioned as a key player in providing solutions for the pharmaceutical industry through its historical activity of injector and designer of plastic medical devices, as well as provider of connected solutions. We are witnessing a major shift in the health care sector, characterized by a growing need for chronic disease treatment and solutions for proper patient follow-up. Thus, the concept of compliance has become a major issue for private or public health systems. Devices developed by BIOCORP such as EasylogTM or InspairTM to control the patient's correct taking of the medication become. In the first half of 2018, we signed an agreement with Chronicare, a US-based company to provide US patients with a comprehensive service solution for diabetic patients, with EasylogTM as the centerpiece of this service offering. Chronicare and BIOCORP aim to better accompany the patients in the management of their disease and generating savings for the health system. In addition, our EasylogTM platform is currently at an advanced stage of feasibility in other therapeutic areas with large pharmaceutical companies; we see many other opportunities in the field of diabetes, particularly in collaboration with manufacturers of glucometers who could carry BIOCORP's activity during the second semester. The first half of 2018 also saw the rise of our partnership with Virbac and the delivery of the first industrial batches, as well as the signing of a partnership with the Swiss company Ferring for the development and industrialization of a design a specific cap. We are also continuing the industrialization of NewguardTM to meet the first commitments we have received, which notably meet the requirements of heparin manufacturers for safety systems" commented Jacques Gardette, founder and CEO of BIOCORP. (1) Audit financial statements BIOCORP's Board of Directors, during its meeting, on September 27th, 2018, approved the company's accounts for the first half of 2018. Highlights of the first-half of 2018 Reinforcement of the cash position by setting up two convertible bond contracts for an amount of 4,000,000 euros and a capital increase of 5,000,000 euros. New development program for an electromechanical and connected auto-injector; Onejet received the award for the most innovative product at Pharmapack 2018. Signature of the development and production contract for the tailor-made design cap with the Swiss Ferring laboratory. Signature of the strategic partnership with Chronicare for the distribution of EasylogTM on the North American market. Filing of four new patents, two envelopes and obtaining the issuance of two patents on countries such as Australia, the United States, Japan or France. Four other patents entered the national phase in 9 countries. Half-year results in line with the innovation strategy The results of the first semester, in line with the strategy of innovation and industrialization, underline the dynamic of development initiated by BIOCORP in France and abroad. This first semester confirms the promotion of development projects for the realization of existing projects or the continuation of the product range. BIOCORP has filed four new patents, two envelopes and the issuance of two international patents including Australia, the United States, Japan and France. In addition, four other patents entered the national phase in 9 countries of the European, American and Asian continents. The first half of the year was also marked by the signing of important agreements and partnerships validating the innovation strategy, such as the development and production contract signed with the Swiss laboratory Ferring. In parallel, BIOCORP conducted feasibility and evaluation studies of its unconnected and connected platforms with a large number of pharmaceutical companies in different therapeutic areas. The safety system for NewGuardTM pre-filled syringes as well as the DataPenTM, EasylogTM and InspairTM platforms are currently being evaluated by customers: a first strategic partnership with Chronicare for the distribution of the EasylogTM product on the North American market was concluded during this semester. BIOCORP continues to expand its commercial offering in its traditional historical business through the commercialization of new devices (cannulas, syringe clips, dosing pipettes, etc.). Sales for the first half amounted to 1,961,000, an increase of more than 80% compared to the first half of 2017, partly thanks to the invoicing of tools for 813,000. Other operating income increased from 46,000 in the first half of 2017 to ( -186,000) due to the variation in the work in progress on the equipment invoiced. In the first half of the year, operating expenses remained under control, up 4% to 4,072K (excluding the cost of outsourcing tooling). Considering these factors, the operating result for the first half of 2018 was negative ( -2,804K) compared with ( -2,784K) in the first half of 2017. The financial result shows a loss of ( -95,000) against ( -7,000) over the same period in 2017, due to the interest on the two bonds. The exceptional result was positive at 3,000 in the first half of 2018, compared with ( -7,000) in the first half of 2017. In terms of taxation, BIOCORP estimates that it has acquired a Research Tax Credit (CIR) and an Innovation Tax Credit (CII) of 186,000 as of June 30, 2018, representing half of the amount acquired in 2017. In June 30, 2017, the amount of CIR and ICN was estimated at 100K. As of June 30, 2018, BIOCORP has available cash of 5,457K ( 691K as of December 31, 2017), and a level of shareholders' equity of 776K (compared with 1,264K as of December 31, 2017). In 06/30/2018 06/30/2017 Sales 1 960 655 1 066 962 Other operating income -186 198 46 579 Total operating income 1 774 457 1 113 541 Net operating income -2 804 195 -2 784 390 Net financial income -95 017 -6 927 Exceptional item 3 262 -6857 Research Tax Credit and Innovation Tax Credit 186 508 100 000 Net profit -2 709 443 -2 698 175 Events to look forward after June 30, 2018: No significant event to notice after June 30, 2018 Objectives and outlook for the second half of 2018: During the second half of 2018, BIOCORP intends to pursue its development in various strategic areas: Connected devices: BIOCORP intends to continue and intensify the development of its range of connected devices, both in the field of injectables, which is its core business, but also to extend it to new applications, whether in the respiratory or ophthalmic area. Preparation of the commercial launch of Easylog TM in the first half of 2019. in the first half of 2019. Industrialization of the products covered by the signed contracts: BIOCORP will continue its partnerships regarding the development and industrialization of its products. Growth of the traditional activity: BIOCORP will structure its offer in this specific area with positioning for small to medium-sized series on a set of plastic packaging products (cannulas, bottles, corks, pipettes...) Specific developments: BIOCORP is solicited for its expertise in development and industrialization, whether for an adaptation of its proprietary products for a particular use as for a specific project requested by the client, based on know-how of the society. These specific developments, recognized as services, constitute an important lever for the generation of new development and industrialization programs and the Company wishes to continue on this line of work. ABOUT BIOCORP Located near Clermont-Ferrand (France), BIOCORP designs, develops and manufactures innovative drug delivery devices. With 24 years of experience, labeled BPI "Innovative Company", BIOCORP is known for its devices designed to meet patients' needs. The company goes on developing its original business, plastics, by designing and producing traditional devices such as the NewguardTM Passive Syringe Safety System. Thanks to the complementary skills of its R&D team, BIOCORP has gained a notoriety in the medtech sector with its range of connected medical devices such as Datapen, Inspair, Onejet and Easylog. The latter device is an intelligent sensor that transforms conventional injectable pens, disposable or reusable, into connected and communicating devices. Its state-of-the-art technology and its 100% reliability in the monitoring of injected doses make Easylog?the most advanced device of this type ready to be launched on the market. BIOCORP is listed on Alternext since July 2015 (FR0012788065 ALCOR). For more information, please visit www.biocorpsys.com Follow us on Twitter @BIOCORPSystems View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005042/en/ Contacts: BIOCORP Jacques Gardette CEO investisseurs@biocorp.fr or Eric Dessertenne Deputy Chief Executive Officer or Sylvaine Dessard, 33 (0)6 88 69 72 85 Marketing Communication Manager rp@biocorp.fr Kuros reports first patient treated in randomized controlled trial of MagnetOs in spinal fusion Kuros commercial activity focused on MagnetOs in spinal fusion Study should further enhance competitive positioning of MagnetOs Schlieren (Zurich), Switzerland, September 27, 2018 - Kuros Biosciences (SIX: KURN) today announced that the first patient has been treated in an investigator-led multicenter randomized controlled study comparing MagnetOs with autologous bone in posterolateral spinal fusion. The University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) in the Netherlands is the principal investigating site for the study, which is entitled "A Randomized Controlled Trial of MagnetOs granules vs. Autograft in Instrumented Posterolateral Spinal Fusion". UMCU's Department of Orthopedics is one of the foremost orthopedic clinical research centers in the world. Joost de Bruijn, Chief Executive Officer of Kuros, said: "It is gratifying to see this important trial get underway in spinal fusion, as this area of great medical need is the focus of our commercial activities. The study is expected to generate important data that can help further differentiate MagnetOs and improve outcomes for patients." The primary objective is to demonstrate non-inferiority with regard to efficacy and safety of MagnetOs compared to the current gold standard, autograft, harvested from the patient's own body, in instrumented posterolateral spinal fusion. Dr. Moyo Kruyt of UMCU, principal investigator of the study said: "It is a privilege to be leading this investigation of MagnetOs. MagnetOs is supported by some fantastic scientific evidence and is a treatment which has the potential to significantly improve patients' lives. Patients own bone remains the gold standard against which all other grafts should be measured, yet very few studies have investigated synthetic alternatives side by side with autograft in a clinical setting. This study is poised to provide a level of definitive clinical evidence that surgeons have been crying out for." About the study The study is designed as a patient and observer blinded, controlled, randomized, multicenter clinical trial across five centers with intra-patient comparisons. One hundred adult patients qualified for posterolateral spinal fusion in the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral region (T10-S2) will enrolled in this study. Primary endpoint is posterior spinal fusion rate after one year based on CT-scans. MagnetOs promotes local bone formation equivalent to current gold standard, autograft. MagnetOs is a bone graft substitute intended to fill bony voids or gaps of the human skeletal system and promote the formation of bone at the implanted site. A substantial number of clinically relevant and predictive studies have demonstrated its equivalence to the current gold standard (patient's own bone, which may not be available in sufficient quantities and/or involves morbidity, costs and pain associated with its harvesting from another healthy site of the patient's body). MagnetOs is a bone graft comprising biphasic calcium phosphate with an advanced submicron surface topography that directs bone formation after implantation. With its unique submicron surface topography, MagnetOs preferentially directs early wound healing toward the bone-forming pathway, resulting in an osteoinductive claim in Europe. MagnetOs is available as granules and as a putty formulation. For further information, please contact: Kuros Biosciences AG Media & Investors Michael Grau Hans Herklots Chief Financial Officer LifeSci Advisors Tel +41 44 733 47 47 +41 79 598 7149 michael.grau@kurosbio.com hherklots@lifesciadvisors.com About MagnetOs MagnetOs promotes local bone formation equivalent to current gold standard, autograft. MagnetOs is a bone graft substitute intended to fill bony voids or gaps of the human skeletal system and promote the formation of bone at the implanted site. A substantial number of clinically relevant and predictive studies have demonstrated its equivalence to the current gold standard (patient's own bone, which may not be available in sufficient quantities and/or involves morbidity, costs and pain associated with its harvesting from another healthy site of the patient's body). MagnetOs is a bone graft comprising biphasic calcium phosphate with an advanced submicron surface topography that directs bone formation after implantation. With its unique submicron surface topography, MagnetOs preferentially directs early wound healing toward the bone-forming pathway, resulting in an osteoinductive claim in Europe. MagnetOs is available as granules and as a putty formulation. About Kuros Biosciences AG Kuros Biosciences (SIX:KURN) is focused on the development of innovative products for bone regeneration and is located in Schlieren (Zurich), Switzerland and Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Visit www.kurosbio.com (http://www.kurosbio.com) for additional information on Kuros, its people, science and product pipeline. Forward Looking Statements This media release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. You are urged to consider statements that include the words "will" or "expect" or the negative of those words or other similar words to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements include scientific, business, economic and financial factors, Against the background of these uncertainties, readers should not rely on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no responsibility for updating forward-looking statements or adapting them to future events or developments. Initial public offering: a resounding success with 47.7m raised; First half developments and results in line with roadmap; Positive outlook on target markets for intelligent data centers and intelligent vehicles. Grenoble, France, September 27, 2018 - Kalray (Euronext Growth Paris: ALKAL), a pioneer in processors for new intelligent systems, has published its first half 2018 results. The consolidated financial statements were approved by the Executive Board and reviewed by the Supervisory Board on 25 September 2018. The first half financial report, including the first half financial statements and their notes, can be viewed under "Financial documents" on the company's website: www.kalray-bourse.com. Eric Baissus, President of the Kalray Executive Board, made the following comments: "The first-half financial results are in line with our expectations, and reflect the step-up in development programs in our two main markets: intelligent data centers and intelligent vehicles. The resounding success of our IPO in June, raising 47.7 million on Euronext Growth, has bolstered our international credibility with key accounts, increased our financial visibility, and has provided us with the necessary resources to pursue our technological roadmap and commercial ramp-up. In April, we obtained NVMe certification for our Kalray Target Controller, a first in the industry for a system solution. This is a major milestone, which reflects the sophistication of our data center solution, and our ability to lead the charge in the sector's next major technological wave. Meanwhile, the intelligent vehicle segment has shown tangible signs of acceleration, and the interest of a number of top-tier manufacturers and component suppliers has opened up new opportunities. These major achievements in the first half, as well as our various ongoing projects, consolidate our targets to ramp up sales in 2019, achieve break even on net opperating income [1] by 2020 and reach 100 million in revenue by 2022." Major advances in the first half of 2018 In the first half of 2018, Kalray continued its R&D programs and made significant achievements in its two target markets. In the intelligent data center segment, and specifically that of new-generation storage servers, Kalray obtained certification in April for its KTC ("Kalray Target Controller") solution from NVM Express (NVMe). This certification, an industry first for a system solution, is a major step forward for the company. It reflects the sophistication of the KTC solution, which will enable Kalray to build the next generation of storage servers and intelligent data centers. Kalray presented this solution at ISC 2018 (the International SuperComputing conference) last June, alongside leading storage solution and server manufacturer AIC. Concerning future generations of intelligent vehicles, Kalray has continued to construct its offering around artificial intelligence, computer vision and the acceleration of perception technologies. In May, the company announced that its intelligent processors had been integrated into Renault's electric concept car[2], Symbioz. In September, at the AutoSens conference in Brussels, it demonstrated the performance of its MPPA ("Massively Parallel Processor Array") processor, applied in the Apollo Open Platform, developed by Chinese internet giant Baidu for automotive component suppliers in the autonomous driving segment. Finally, Kalray is continuing the development of its third-generation Coolidge processor, which is aiming for a 2019 sales launch, as per the company's schedule. First-half results in line with expectations The first-half 2018 results reflect the step-up in development programs over the period. H1 revenue, comprising sales of electronic boards, development platforms and licenses, as well as customer services during the evaluation and qualification stage, came to 322 K. Revenue was down slightly compared to H1 2017, with Kalray prioritizing the roll-out of a product offering rather than the generation of short-term revenue via services for markets with less potential in the long term. Net operating result , including the 1,385 K research tax credit, amounted to -2,778 K, an improvement over the first half of 2017. The increase in capitalized production (up 515 K in H1 2018 over the same period in 2017) and in the research tax credit (up 470 K), reflecting the extent of innovation, helped offset the increase in operating expenses over the period, related to staff costs (up 282 K over H1 2017 due to the recruitment drive), the increase in software developments and hardware design outsourcing costs (up 555 K), as well as the acquisition of design tool licenses (up 97 K). After recognition of a net financial expense of 2,275 K (including a 2,070 K non-recurring non-cash expense corresponding to non-conversion premium in respect of convertible bonds), Kalray shows a net loss of 5,079 K. Strengthened financial structure following the resounding success of the IPO In June, Kalray raised 47.7 million during its initial public offering on Euronext Growth, including the partial exercise of the over-allotment option (including new shares resulting from the automatic conversion of bonds issued by the company in April 2018). With an over-subscription rate of 1.8 times, the offering was a resounding success with individual investors and institutional and corporate investors alike, including Alliance Ventures (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi), CEA Investissement, Compagnie du Planay, Definvest (Bpifrance and Ministere des Armees), Financiere Arbevel, Helea, Inocap Gestion and Safran Corporate Ventures. Thanks to this major operation, Kalray has the resources it needs to pursue its technological roadmap and commercial ramp-up. On June 30, 2018, Kalray's shareholders' equity came to 35.3 million, while cash and cash equivalents amounted to 32.2 million. Outlook The two main sectors targeted by Kalray - intelligent data centers and intelligent vehicles - are booming, and given its technological lead, the company intends to quickly position itself as a leader on these markets, each which a potential of over 1 billion. In the data-center segment, the increase in the adoption rate of SSDs ("Solid-State Drives") by the new generation of flash-memory servers over hard disk drives (or HDDs) is confirmed for 2019, driven by the decrease in SSD prices. This phenomenon is leading the industry to standardize the new NVMe protocol, in order to step up data transfers and use new adapted software solutions to facilitate the introduction of these new technologies within data centers. With an offering that is now perfectly tailored to these needs, Kalray is pursuing extensive commercial discussions with key players in storage and integrators. In the intelligent-vehicle segment, the company is continuing to develop its offering, and artificial intelligence solutions in particular, for the next generations of intelligent vehicles. Assessments of the Kalray offering by clients and potential partners are progressing as expected, and confirm the appropriateness of the positioning of its products on this market. At the same time, Kalray plans to launch a new major collaborative R&D project on on-board intelligent systems by the end of the year, with additional funding to partly cover its R&D program over the coming years. This project will enable the company to work upstream in its areas of expertise with top tier manufacturers and research centers. Next publication: Tuesday, January 22, 2019: Activity in the second half of 2018 ABOUT KALRAY Kalray (Euronext Growth Paris - FR0010722819 - ALKAL) is the pioneer of processors for new intelligent systems. As a real disruptive technology, "intelligent" processors have the capability to analyze on the fly, and in an intelligent manner, a very large flow of information, and to react and make decisions in real time. These intelligent processors are being extensively deployed in fast-growing sectors such as new-generation computer networks, autonomous vehicles, healthcare equipment, as well as drones and robots. The Kalray offering encompasses processors as well as complete solutions (electronic boards and software). Created in 2008, as a spin-off of the CEA, Kalray addresses a broad spectrum of clients, among which server manufacturers, intelligent system integrators and consumer product manufacturers, such as car manufacturers. Visit www.kalrayinc.com . CONTACT FOR INVESTORS Eric BAISSUS contactinvestisseurs@kalray.eu +33 4 76 18 90 71 ACTUS finance & communication Caroline LESAGE kalray@actus.fr + 33 1 53 67 36 79 MEDIA CONTACT Loic HAMON communication@kalray.eu +33 4 76 18 90 71 ACTUS finance & communication Serena BONI sboni@actus.fr +33 4 72 18 04 92 Appendices P&L as of June 30, 2018 (non audited) Consolidated (in K) June 30, 2017 June 30, 2018 Net sales 475 322 R&D capitalization 1,987 2,502 Subsidies 875 853 Total revenue 3,337 3,677 Cost of sales (159) (81) Operating expenses (4,674) (5,652) Including salaries & contributions (2,870) (3,152) Including other expenses (1,804) (2,500) Amortization (2,467) (2,107) Operating result (3,963) (4,163) Taxes (including research Tax Credit) 915 1,385 Net operating result[3] (3,048) (2,778) Financial result[4] (63) (2,275) Exceptional result (529) (26) Net result (3,640) (5,079) Balance sheet as of June 30, 2018 (non audited) Consolidated (in K) 2017/12/31 2018/06/30 2017/12/31 2018/06/30 NON CURRENT ASSETS 12,076 14,335 EQUITY (335) 35,322 Intangible assets[5] 9,649 11,974 Provisions 18 18 Tangible assets 1,973 1,911 R&D refundable advances 6,354 6,067 Financial assets 454 450 Shareholders accounts 1,596 0 CURRENT ASSETS 5,316 36,148 Bank loans 548 457 Inventories 239 249 Accounts payable 4,237 3,961 Accounts receivable 133 176 Taxes & contrib. payable 1,388 1,729 Other receivables (CIR, CICE, subsidies) 1,990 3,487 TOTAL LIABILITIES 14,141 12,232 Cash 2,954 32,236 Accrued expenses 138 145 Deferred revenue (subs.) 3,723 3,073 TOTAL ASSETS 17,530 50,628 TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 17,530 50,628 [1] Net operating income: Operating income + research tax credit (CIR) [2] A concept car is an experimental car prototype to demonstrate new technology, styling or usage. [3] Operating result + Research tax credit [4] Of which non-conversion premium in 2018: 2,070 K [5] Of which Coolidge project for 7,580 K ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-55212-pr_kalray_h1-results_27.09.2018_vdef.pdf Revenue up 31% to 1.8 M Acceleration of investments in business and technological development and operating expenses for corporate organization Positive EBITDA despite the unfavourable seasonality of H1 (1/3 of full year sales) High cash position Second half 2018 outlook confirmed, driven by international expansion and new offers Paris, 27 September 2018 - INVIBES ADVERTISING, an advanced technology company specializing in digital in-feed advertising, has published its first half 2018 results (half-year ended 30 June). 000 H1 2017* H1 2018** Revenue 1,390 1,813 Purchases and external charges (720) (1,077) Personnel expenses (539) (694) EBITDA[1] 131 Depreciation, amortization & provisions (145) Operating income (14) (129) Net financial expense (29) (25) Tax expense (8) (2) Net income/(loss) (52) (156) * Company data in Belgian GAAP provided for information purposes. The company did not prepare IFRS consolidated financial statements for H1 2017. ** Consolidated IFRS data A role of challenger as a credible alternative to Google and Facebook INVIBES ADVERTISING posted consolidated revenues of 1.8 million for the first half of 2018, up 31% like for like compared to the same period in 2017. This sharp growth in turnover confirms the success of the strategic choices made by the Group with the creation of innovative advertising formats such as INVIBES ZOOM[2], a new milestone in developing the interaction between web users and ads via a zoom feature that highlights the product in the ad format. The Group's recognized ability to innovate has enabled INVIBES ADVERTISING to bring together a growing number of advertisers, including key accounts such as MERCEDES, P&G and BMW, that are granted with access to the best audience reach via its partner sites. This strategy has led to INVIBES ADVERTISING rivalling giants such as Google and Facebook in France, with 36.8 million unique visitors (UV) according to the latest global Internet rankings published by Mediametrie//Netratings in February 2018. Positive EBITDA despite increased investments in technology and marketing Despite the marked seasonal trends in turnover (H1 accounted for 36% of 2017 turnover compared to 64% in H2), INVIBES ADVERTISING has decided to accelerate its commercial, technological and corporate investments to ensure a long-term growth trend. In order to guarantee technological leadership (R&D teams) and drive business growth (commercial teams), INVIBES ADVERTISING increased its headcount from 24 employees in end of June 2017 to 46 as of today. As a result, personnel expenses have increased by 30%. The Group also sustained during the period one-shot legal fees and other corporate extra costs regarding its capital increase and transfer of shares on Euronext Growth. In that context, INVIBES ADVERTISING managed to post positive earnings with an EBITDA of 42K for the six months ended 30 June 2018. After accounting for depreciation and amortization charges, mainly related to capitalized development costs (171K) and financial expenses of 25K, the Group posted a net loss of 156K for the period. Financial structure strengthened to support the future growth At 30 June 2018, Group's equity amounted to 3,463K, while cash and cash equivalents stood at 2,931K with borrowings of 789K. Over the first half of 2018, INVIBES ADVERTISING successfully completed a private placement, the net proceeds of which (1,873K) covered investments in technology and the buyback of minority shareholdings in INVIBES SPAIN, while increasing cash by 1,006K. Solid outlook confirmed for the second half of 2018 The Group intends to continue its growth surge over the second half of 2018 on key markets. In France, the Group has just announced the hiring of 8 new sales department managers and the appointment of Sami Battikh as Country Manager France.[3] Looking forwards, INVIBES ADVERTISING plans to step up international expansion and continue its virtuous strategy primarily geared towards strong technological innovation. The current development of a new DATA offering[4], in strict compliance with the European GDPR, will constitute a strong growth driver in the upcoming years. These promising developments are now open to a wider circle of investors due to the transfer of the INVIBES ADVERTISING share from EURONEXT Access to the EURONEXT Growth compartment on 12 July 2018. Termination of the liquidity contract INVIBES ADVERTISING and TSAF terminated the liquidity agreement entered into on April 16, 2018. Next publication: Full-year turnover on 13 February 2019 About INVIBES ADVERTISING Created in 2011, Invibes Advertising is an advanced technology company specialized in digital advertising. It has developed advertising solutions supported by an in-feed format (integrated into media content) inspired by social networks and optimized for diffusion in a closed network of media sites (CCM Benchmark, Lagardere, Team Media and Prisma). Clients include major brands Cisco, Danone, Groupe Mulliez, PSA, SBB, SNCF, Swissquote and Volkswagen. INVIBES ADVERTISING is a Pass French Tech 2016 accredited company. It is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (Ticker: ALINV - ISIN: BE0974299316) For more information, go to www.invibes.com Read our latest press releases at: http://www.invibes.com/fr/fr/investors.html http://www.invibes.com/us/us/investors.html Financial & Corporate Contacts Investor relations INVIBES ADVERTISING Kris Vlaemynck, CFO kris.vlaemynck@invibes.com ACTUS finance & communication Natacha MORANDI invibes@actus.fr +33 1 53 67 36 72 Listing Sponsor - ATOUT CAPITAL Rodolphe OSSOLA rodolphe.ossola@atoutcapital.com +33 1 56 69 61 80 Financial Media relations Vivien Ferran vferran@actus.fr +33(1) 53 67 36 34 Other Contacts INVIBES ADVERTISING Nicolas POLLET, CEO nicolas.pollet@invibes.com Media relations Anca MARCU anca.marcu@invibes.com [1] EBITDA = underlying operating income before depreciation, amortization and provisions [2] See press release dated 2 May 2018: https://www.invibes.com/documents/CP_INVIBES_ZOOM_VF-EN.pdf [3] See press release dated 20 September 2018: https://www.invibes.com/documents/CP_Country_Manager-VUK_DEF.pdf [4] Data gathered on web user interests will make it possible to target purchasing intentions for specific products. ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-55199-cp_invibes_r1_vuk_def.pdf CINCINNATI, OH / ACCESSWIRE / February 26, 2019 / Callitas Health Inc., (CSE: LILY, OTCQB: MPHMF, FWB: T3F3), (the "Company" or "Callitas") an integrated clinical-stage pharmaceutical development, OTC consumer goods marketing and cannabis delivery development company, announced today that it has amended and expanded its original agreement with NFI Consumer Healthcare. The new agreement includes distribution of a co-branded product between ToConceive and NFI's e.p.t, the Over-The-Counter ("OTC") pregnancy test kit brand, into food, drug and mass retailer spaces. "As the originators of the first in-home pregnancy test, we are proud and excited to offer e.p.t ToConceive Fertility Enhancing Moisturizing Gel as a brand new, non-invasive, all-natural conception aid for U.S. retail," said Susan K. Gregory, CEO of NFI Consumer Products. "Between our partnership with Callitas on e.p.t ToConceive, and the launch of our e.p.t Numeric digital ovulation test in grocery, national drug and mass retailer spaces, this Spring, e.p.t is, once again, leading the OTC family planning market in terms of offering ground-breaking, end-to-end, user-friendly innovations for those women testing for pregnancy and those seeking help in potentially achieving a successful conception, sooner." "This amended agreement brings additional credibility to our clinically-proven ToConceive product and increases our brand awareness in the women's OTC health market," said James M. Thompson, CEO of Callitas. "e.p.t is already a category leader in the women's health space and the perfect match with our fertility lubricant." Callitas, which focuses on developing ground-breaking technologies for weight management and female health and wellness, plans to rollout product in the second quarter of 2019. The partnership between NFI and Callitas will also include promotional opportunities on shelf and product samples. "We're proud of ToConceive and how effective it is in helping couples conceive," said Joshua Maurice, Director of Sales and Marketing for Callitas. "e.p.t's brand recognition will help bring awareness to the incredible impact that ToConceive can have for couples trying to get pregnant." About NFI Consumer Healthcare: About NFI Consumer Products, Blue-Emu and e.p.t. NFI Consumer Products is an innovative consumer products company that manufactures, markets, and distributes the Blue-Emu line of products for muscle, joint and skin conditions, as well as the e.p.t. line of family planning products. Since acquisition in 2014, Blue-Emu has become the 5th largest pain relief brand at retailers in the United States. Following the success of Blue-Emu, NFI purchased the historical pregnancy test brand: e.p.t. In 2019, NFI further innovated the e.p.t. brand by launching the first-ever digital ovulation test to offer numeric read outs of a user's Luteinizing Hormone (LH) levels. Blue-emu.com eptfamily.com lhsurges.com Contacts: NFI Consumer Products: Benjamin Blessing, EVP Marketing 800-432-9334 About Callitas Health: Formed in early 2015, Callitas Health Inc. is an integrated clinical-stage pharmaceutical development, OTC consumer goods marketing and cannabis delivery development company, focused on developing innovative technologies for weight management, female sexual health and wellness, cannabis delivery technologies and other proprietary drugs. In addition to its recent acquisitions of C-103, a reformulation of Orlistat, Extrinsa and assets from 40J's LLC, the Company successfully launched ToConceive in North America as a clinically proven option for couples struggling with the inability to conceive(www.toconceive.com), and is in the research and development and business development process for its other OTC products, CannaStrips and orphan drug technologies. For more information visit www.callitas.com. Contacts: Callitas Health: James Thompson, CEO, or Callitas Investor Relations Phone: +1 (859) 868-3131 TraDigitalIR: Investor Relations - Kevin McGrath, Managing Director Phone: +1 (646) 418-7002 Notice regarding Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. This news release includes forward-looking statements with respect to the regulatory approval and the commercialization of the rights to the Company's biomedical & drug technologies. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com and the Company's filings to the CSE at www.thecse.com. Such risk factors may cause the inability of the Company to successfully commercialize any of its biomedical technologies. Notice regarding investigational devices: CannaMint Strips, C-103 and Extrinsa are investigational drugs or devices and are not currently available outside of approved clinical trials. Claims regarding the safety and efficacy of these devices have not been evaluated by Health Canada, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or any other international regulatory body. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty, are predictions only and actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. SOURCE: Callitas Health Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/537055/Callitas-Health-Expands-Agreement-with-NFI-Consumer-Healthcare-to-Distribute-Co-Branded-Product Increase in revenues and EBITDA Non-recurring items dampen underlying EBIT Robust balance sheet Paris, 27 September 2018 ROCHE BOBOIS SA (ISIN: FR0013344173 - Ticker symbol: RBO), high-end furniture global market leader and the name behind French Art de Vivre, today released its first-half 2018 results. The Roche Bobois S.A. Board of Directors met on 25 September 2018 and adopted the financial statements. IFRS (in m) H1 2017* H1 2018* Sale of goods 110.2 113.2 Royalties and other services 16.1 16.0 Revenues 126.3 129.2 Gross margin on sales 57.4% 57.7% Underlying EBITDA 10.2 10.4 EBIT before non-recurring items** 5.3 3.9 Operating income 5.1 3.5 Net financial expense (0.5) - Tax charge (1.5) (1.5) Net income/(loss) 3.1 2.0 Net profit Group share 3.0 1.7 *Audited H1 2018 figures - H1 2017 results have not been audited ** Stated after 3.3m (H1 2017: 1.7m) expense for employee bonus share plan First half 2018 Group revenues amounted to 129.2 million (H1 2017: 126.3 million), up 5.4% at constant exchange rates (up 2.3% at current exchange rates), fuelled by buoyant sales in the vast majority of regions, particularly in North America and France, which turned in revenue growth of 9.2% and 5.7% respectively at constant exchange rates. Sales in these two regions were boosted by store openings in the second half of 2017 and late 2017 sales postponed until early 2018. It should be noted that France achieved the above results despite a lacklustre French furniture market (down 0.6% YTD 30 June 2018 - source: IPEA). Europe sales also posted growth up 8.0% at constant exchange rates. Only UK sales, in a market reeling from the fallout from Brexit, fell 6.9% at constant currencies (the region accounting for just 6% of H1 2018 total revenues). The Group gross margin held up at 57.7% compared to 57.4% in the first half of 2017. External expenses and staff costs remained under strict control. First half 2018 underlying EBITDA came in at 10.4 million, up 3.1% at constant exchange rates. With regard to regional EBITDA before corporate expenses, France posted a sharp increase in its underlying EBITDA margin to 8.0% (up from H1 2017 6.6%, and full year 2017 4%), that was primarily down to improvements implemented by the store network, buoyant sales and some late 2017 deliveries postponed until early 2018. France's strong earnings partially makes up for lower earnings in Europe, which reported a 7.7% underlying constant exchange rate EBITDA margin, down from 10.7% in H1 2017, hit by a non-recurring impairment charge in Spain and by acquiring two Italian franchises that are still loss making. The UK held up well during the period despite lower revenues, largely due to a high average shopping basket value. Meanwhile, North America's constant exchange rate EBITDA margin remained high at 10.9% (compared to 12.3% in H1 2017) against a background of a ramp-up in store openings. In total, the first half 2018 Group underlying EBITDA margin amounted to 8.0%. Non-recurring expenses included under EBIT EBIT before non-recurring items came to 3.9 million down from 5.3 million in H1 2017 hit by the issue of an employee bonus share plan amounting to a 3.3 million non-recurring expense in H1 2018 (affecting recurring operating income but excluded from EBITDA). Issue of tranches 2 and 3 of the share plan occurred in the first half of 2018 and as such, the second half expense will be lower (0.7 million). Adjusting for the share issue, EBIT before non-recurring items comes in at 7.2 million, up from 7.0 million in H1 2017. EBIT amounted to 3.5 million, which is stated after 0.4 million non-recurring expenses related to the Roche Bobois S.A. initial public offering, compared to 5.1 million in H1 2017. After 1.5 million net financial expenses and tax charge, first half 2018 net profit amounted to 2.0 million, down from 3.1 million in H1 2017. Strong balance sheet At 30 June 2018, Group equity stood at 48.9 million compared to 59.3 million as at 30 June 2017. Group working capital increases in relation to seasonal fluctuations in its supply-to-order sales model: the change in working capital in H1 2018 was -7.2 million against -7.6 million in H1 2017. Working capital will improve in the second half of the year (as a reminder, the change in working capital was 2.9 million in FY 2017). First half 2018 capital spending (store openings and renovations) amounted to 2.0 million, accounting for approximately one third of the capex budget for the full year. At 30 June 2018, the Group cash position[1] remained high at 14.4 million (compared to 19.2 million as at 30 June 2017) after payment of a 15.2 million special dividend in first half 2018. The Group is backed by a very robust balance sheet with low net debt of 6.6 million at 30 June 2018, or 13.5% of Group equity. Ongoing targeted store opening strategy abroad in the second half and reaffirmation of the IPO objectives Pursuant to its strategy, the Group plans to step up owned store openings in high-margin regions and will open three new US owned stores in New York, San Diego and Greenwich Connecticut in the second half. In July 2018, the Group opened a store in Tysons Corner, Virginia (USA). The Group is also still watching out for targeted franchise acquisition opportunities. Regarding its franchise business, the Group recently opened stores in Singapore and Qingdao China, and targets three to five further openings by the year end. In the first half of 2018, the Group opened 5 stores in the first half of 2018: 4 franchises in Guangzhou (China), Tokyo 2 (Japan), Kiev 2 (Ukraine) and Cuir Center Mulhouse and 1 owned store in the United States (Tysons Corner[2], Virginia), as well as closing 4 stores, 3 of which were non-strategic franchises. At the end of H1 2018, the Roche Bobois and Cuir Center brands had a network of 330 stores. The Group reaffirms the targets it announced during the IPO, namely: 320 million revenues by 2021 and a double-digit EBITDA margin from 2019. The sharp increase in the H1 2018 France underlying EBITDA margin shores up the Group's capacity to double its France underlying EBITDA margin by 2021. To achieve these targets the Group is backed by several initiatives: (I) stepping up owned store openings (39 net openings from 2018 to 2021, including 50% owned stores); (ii) accelerating franchise acquisitions in strategic areas to boost Group EBITDA; (iii) further growth drivers such as digitalisation (e-commerce websites planned for 2019) and taking on the B2B market. The Group has also signed a contract with Fauchon l'Hotel for which it has installed a "Gourmet Bar", the flagship feature of its Paris hotel which opened on 1 September in Place de la Madeleine, Paris. Availability of the first half 2018 financial report Roche Bobois S.A. hereby announces it has published and filed its financial report for the first half ended 30 June 2018 with the AMF (French financial markets regulator). This report is available online on its website at www.bourse-roche-bobois.com www.bourse-roche-bobois.com About Roche Bobois SA Roche Bobois SA is a French family business founded in 1960. The Group operates in 54 countries and has a network of 329 owned stores and franchises (at 31 december 2017) marketing its two brands: Roche Bobois, a high-end furniture brand with a strong international presence, and Cuir Center, positioned in the mid-range market segment with an essentially French customer base. Through its Roche Bobois brand, the Group embodies the French Art de Vivre whose presence can now be felt on the world stage, with original and bold creations from talented designers (Bruno Moinard, Jean Nouvel, Ora Ito, Sacha Lakic, Christophe Delcourt, Stephen Burks, Kenzo Takada, Bina Baitel...) and partnerships with fashion and haute couture houses. Roche Bobois is also a committed partner in the world of culture and the arts. Including franchises, these two brands posted 2017 revenues of 480 million excluding VAT, to which Roche Bobois contributed 388 million and Cuir Center 92 million. Roche Bobois SA consolidated revenues came to 249 million in 2017. For more information please visit www.bourse-roche-bobois.com CONTACT Actus Finance - Anne-Pauline Petureaux Investor Relations Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 72 apetureaux@actus.fr Actus Finance - Alexandra Prisa Press Relations Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 90 aprisa@actus.fr Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements do not constitute guarantees regarding the future performance of ROCHE BOBOIS. This forward-looking information covers the future outlook, growth and commercial strategy of ROCHE BOBOIS and is based on the analysis of future result forecasts and estimates of amounts that cannot yet be determined. By nature, forward-looking information involves risks and uncertainties, as it relates to events and depends on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. ROCHE BOBOIS draws your attention to the fact that forward-looking statements provide no guarantee of future performance and that its actual financial position, results and cash flow, as well as changes in the sector in which ROCHE BOBOIS operates, may differ significantly from those proposed or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this document. Moreover, even if ROCHE BOBOIS' financial position, results, cash flow and changes in the sector in which ROCHE BOBOIS operates were to be in accordance with the forward-looking information contained in this document, these results or changes may not be a reliable indicator of ROCHE BOBOIS' future results or developments. A description of events that could have a material adverse impact on ROCHE BOBOIS' business, financial position or results, or on its ability to achieve its targets, is given in Chapter 4 "Risk Factors" of the Base Document. GLOSSARY "Underlying EBITDA" means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. Underlying EBITDA is stated after interest and depreciation, amortization and impairment of non-current assets but before store opening costs and staff share-based payments including related social security charges. [1] Cash and cash equivalents, excluding bank credit facilities [2] Excluding Hanoi and Yekaterinbourg, opened at the end of December, 2017 ------------------------ Copyright Actusnews Wire Receive by email the next press releases of the company by registering on www.actusnews.com, it's free Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-55236-pr_h1_2018_final.pdf Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a group of internet marketers who allegedly created and disseminated elaborate rags-to-riches videos to trick retirees and other retail investors into opening brokerage accounts and trading high-risk securities known as binary options. According to the SEC's complaints, investors were conned out of tens of millions of dollars through these marketing campaigns, which promised that investors would make large amounts of money by opening binary options accounts and using free or secret software systems to trade in them. The SEC alleges that the marketers were paid for each new brokerage account that investors opened and funded. According to the complaints, the marketers' internet video advertisements, which were disseminated through spam emails, used actors to portray ordinary people who became millionaires by trading binary options. The videos staged fake demonstrations of supposed software users watching their account balances grow in real time. The SEC alleges that the software was simply a ruse to persuade investors to open accounts with the brokers. To help educate investors about the risks of internet marketing scams, the SEC's Retail Strategy Task Force and Office of Investor Education and Advocacy created the first in a series of videos warning investors of the risks of providing personal information in response to online investment pitches, and have issued an Investor Alert about the use of affiliate marketing to generate interest in securities offerings. "As alleged in our complaints, thousands of retail investors were swindled out of tens of millions of dollars by watching elaborately produced rags-to-riches stories that falsely promised wealth at the push of a button," said Melissa Hodgman, Associate Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division. "Those who use phony tactics to dupe investors out of their savings will be held accountable for false and misleading statements on the internet." "Before you provide any of your valuable personal information to anyone, make sure you do your research and know exactly who it's going to," said Lori Schock, Director of the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. "Be aware before you share, and protect yourself from professional fraudsters who may target you and your money for life." The SEC's complaints charged 10 individuals and two companies involved in the fraudulent marketing campaigns. The SEC's investigation is continuing. The SEC's complaints seek penalties, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and permanent injunctions against Timothy J. Atkinson, Ronald "Ronnie" Montano, Jay Passerino, Michael Wright, and All In Publishing LLC. Justin Blake Barrett, William E. Berry and his company Berry Mediaworks, Grayson Brookshire, Antonio Giacca, Shmuel Pollen, and Travis Stephenson have agreed to settle the SEC's charges. Without admitting or denying the charges, they agreed to pay a combined total of $4.1 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. Pollen has agreed to pay a $42,500 penalty. The Commission did not assess a penalty on the other settling parties as a result of their cooperation. The SEC's investigation is being conducted by Jason Anthony, Michael Fuchs, and Deborah Maisel, and supervised by Jennifer Leete. The SEC's litigation against Atkinson, Passerino, Montano, Wright, and All In Publishing will be led by Kenneth Donnelly. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which filed parallel actions today. LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- One of Indonesia's largest banks has gone live with iGTB's Digital Transaction Banking platform, digitalising its Cash Management and Liquidity Management offering for large corporate clients & SMEs and progressing the country's 2020 'Go Digital' Vision Intellect Global Transaction Banking (iGTB), the transaction banking and technology specialist from Intellect Design Arena Limited, the fastest growing Fintech product company with the CAGR of more than 21% for past three years, has seen its Digital Transaction Banking (DTB) platform go live at PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BCA). The implementation of DTB enables BCA to offer a comprehensive, Digital Transaction Banking solution to its local market for the first time. And as improved connectivity, higher internet penetration and a young, growing and affluent population drive traction for digitalisation in Indonesia - digital banking penetration is set to hit 60% by 2020 - this implementation sees BCA spearhead the digital transformation of a corporate banking sector that is hastening to follow suit. Jayaprawirya Diah, Head of Digital Innovation Solution at BCA says: "This implementation gives us a one-stop solution to answer our corporate clients' or customers'needs - meaning they no longer need to worry about switching between different portals, or aggregating data from several sources. iGTB's DTB suite is flexible enough to accommodate user demands of all kinds, and we are sure our customers will be delighted by the benefits in terms of efficiency and user experience." Manish Maakan, CEO of iGTB, says: "We're delighted to support Bank Central Asia as it contributes to Indonesia's 2020 Go Digital vision, which is expected to realise over USD 130bn e-commerce transactions by 2020. Improving cash management services for Indonesian banks and their corporate clients is only possible using technology that is secure, convenient and efficient - and DTB is all these things. This platform will play a key role in helping Indonesian SMEs and corporates contribute towards the goal of transforming the economy and set the benchmark for modernisation in the country." The second phase that went live recently brings an additional 40 customer journeys into operation. The platform now handles over USD 1bn transactions per month, benefitting over 275 corporate clients in just 12 months - with an unparalleled level of straight-through processing. Transaction value has grown 300% in just three quarters. Key features of the implementation include bulk uploads, e-bookkeeping, credit facility summaries covering all products across multiple systems, and electronic invoice discounts for early payments. This translates into dramatically improved cash-flow management for BCA's large corporate clients and their extended supply chains, with market-specific offerings such as tax payments, virtual account payments and bulk supply chain finance processing, with multiple outlets & corporate-specific invoice and purchase order templates. Maakan adds: "Our longstanding experience with Asian banks & financial institutions and our sophisticated suite of digital transaction banking solutions enable BCA to set the standard for its industry peers with a best-in-class cash management offering that will boost the growth and profitability of their clients. It's fantastic to play a role in BCA's digital leadership, and we are excited to continue playing a central role in their transformation." For information on the solutions for global transaction banking, please visit https://www.igtb.com . For more information, please contact: Intellect Design Arena For Media related info, APAC, India and the ME: Nachu Nagappan Intellect Design Arena Ltd Mob: +91-89396-19676 Email: nachu.nagappan@intellectdesign.com For Media related info, Americas and Europe: Zoe Fowke Intellect Design Arena Limited Mob: +44(0)207-5169461 Email: zoe.fowke@intellectdesign.com PT BANK CENTRAL ASIA TBK Corporate Secretariat Division Corporate Communication Sub Division Public Relations Bureau Address : Jl. MH Thamrin No. 1 Menara BCA Grand Indonesia Lt. 20 Jakarta Pusat 10310 Telephone: +62-21-2358-8000 Fax : +62-21-2358-8300 E-mail : humas@bca.co.id AGAINST BACKDROP OF U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY, PROMINENT LEADERS COME TOGETHER TO FOCUS ON PEACE-BUILDING NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The American philanthropist, businessman and owner of JCS International Ronald S. Lauder joined the Zero Discrimination movement, led on a global level by First Lady of the Republic of Panama and UNAIDS Special Ambassador for Latin America Lorena Castillo de Varela. The Zero Discrimination movement seeks to raise awareness about the harmful effects of discrimination and promote the rights everyone has to a full, dignified and productive life. "The First Lady Valera is a powerful advocate for the rights of children and it's a privilege to join her Zero Discrimination movement," said Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder. "I look forward to many years of collaboration, particularly on the JCS International Young Creatives Award, which I am proud to sponsor." Lauder has served as President of the World Jewish Congress for over a decade. He is also a UN Women for Peace Association "Ambassador of Peace"; First Lady Valera was honored at UNWFPA's 2018 International Women's Day luncheon with the group's prestigious Leadership Award. Lauder joined the Zero Discrimination movement after learning about the First Lady's global work to guarantee human rights. The Zero Discrimination movement goes hand-in-hand with Panama's historic calling to promote dialogue, consensus, peace and human rights. During a private dinner in New York, Lauder learned about the efforts of the Laureados y Lideres Por Los Ninos organization to fully protect children's human rights. The event was also attended by the leadership of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, including Board Member and JCS International President Michal Grayevsky, who launched the JCS International Young Creatives Award with the International Academy. The award's 2018 theme is "Stand Up for Peace." Lauder expressed interest in the statement delivered to United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres, which called on the international community and the UN to double down on their efforts to preserve the rights of children-particularly those who are workers and children-and safeguard their access to education, nutrition, protection and physical and mental health. For further inquiries, please contact: JCS International,office@mg745fifth.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/751066/edited_0P9A0528.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/751067/edited_0P9A0452.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/751068/edited0P9A0563.jpg Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - Benchmark Botanics, Inc. (CSE: BBT) (FSE: BBW) ("Benchmark" or the "Company"). Benchmark is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a Trademarks License Agreement (the "Agreement") with Leidseplein Beheer B.V. (the "Licensor"), a company incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands, in which the Licensor has agreed to grant the Company use of "The Bulldog" trademark in Canada upon the terms and conditions set out in the Agreement. Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company will pay an upfront fee of $120,000 to the Licensor, such amount to be satisfied by the issuance to the Licensor of 214,286 common shares of the Company at a price of $0.56 per share, based on the closing price of the Company's common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange on September 19, 2018. As partial consideration for the license granted, the Company will pay to the Licensor royalties based on a percentage of Revenues of the products sold and services provided using "The Bulldog" trademark during the term of the Agreement within 30 days of the end of each quarter of each calendar year. Under the Agreement, Revenue means the arm's length gross sales received for sales of all licensed products to a third party after deduction of the sales tax and charges for freight, transportation and delivery of licensed products if these costs incurred. Johnson Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Benchmark, said: "This Agreement represents an important step in the Benchmark journey that both companies will realize benefits from, once the adult-use market in Canada is officially opened in 19 days, on October 17, 2018. With the use of The Bulldog trademarks, we will seek to build one of the most engaging and successful brands and develop leading products in Canada for the adult-use market. With the addition of The Bulldog trademark, which has a long-established history as one of the most well-known coffee shop brands in Amsterdam and beyond, this agreement will assist the Company to position itself in the Canadian adult-use cannabis market. The Company is continuing to make prudent investments and efforts into marketing and branding of our products for the Canadian adult-use cannabis market." Johnson further commented that, "The licensing of The Bulldog trademarks is only the beginning of long-term cooperation with the Licensor. Benchmark will explore other cooperation opportunities with the Licensor in the areas of strains development, branding, and marketing." About THE BULLDOG THE BULLDOG is an Amsterdam-based company that owns and operates a chain of cannabis coffee shops, a five star hostel hotel in Amsterdam, locations in Canada and a merchandising line. The Bulldog No. 90 was the first coffee shop in Amsterdam and laid the benchmark for the contemporary coffee shop. What once began in a cellar, has grown into well recognized trade-name in several countries. THE BULLDOG Amsterdam has one of the longest histories of legalized recreational cannabis business with millions of customer visits to its stores every year. About Benchmark Benchmark is a publicly traded company based in Vancouver, British Columbia that is positioned to provide financing, partnership and acquisition opportunities to licensed producers and ancillary businesses within the global cannabis industry. In November 2017, the Company acquired its first subsidiary, Potanicals Green Growers Inc. Potanicals Green Growers possesses a Health Canada license to cultivate and sell cannabis as an Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes (ACMPR) Licensed Producer. In its first phase of operations, Potanicals is currently cultivating in its 12,700 square foot PHASE I indoor production facility. Benchmark is pursuing additional sites to retrofit for large scale cultivation expansion. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF BENCHMARK BOTANICS INC. /s/ "Ping (Johnson) Zhang" Ping (Johnson) Zhang Chief Executive Officer For Further Information Investor Relations Benchmark Botanics, Inc. Email: invest@bbtinc.ca Tel: 604-238-0005 www.benchmarkbotanics.com The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. This news release includes forward-looking statements with respect to the business and future objectives of the Company, including the generation of revenue and sales of cannbis in the adult-use market under the Cannabis Act (Canada). There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information, including risks related to: (i) the facility and Potanicals' operations; (ii) adverse market conditions; (iii) the ability of the Company to complete financings in the future; (iv) dependence on suppliers and skilled labour; (v) government regulation and compliance with the ACMPR and the Cannabis Act; (vi) managing and maintaining growth; and (vii) unfavourable publicity or consumer perception litigation; Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including the risk factors discussed in this news release and in the Company's disclosure documents, which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com and on the CSE website. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. TORONTO, NEW YORK and LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BMO Capital Markets today announced that its 2018 Equity Through Education trading day raised C$1.6 million toward educational scholarships for students in North America and Europe. Every year, BMO Capital Markets donates a day of institutional equity trading commissions from the U.S., Canada and Europe to charities that assist under-privileged students through scholarships, bursaries and other academic programs. Since the program's launch in 2005, more than C$20 million has been raised and 4,500 students have been provided with greater access to education. Since 1992, BMO has been a supporting donor to The Loran Scholars Foundation, granting 24 young Canadians with BMO Loran Awards. "Through its annual Equity Through Education program, BMO Capital Markets has contributed significantly to our mission to identify and nurture Canada's next generation of leaders," said Meghan Moore, CEO at the Loran Scholars Foundation. "We are so grateful to BMO for embracing our belief that the young people who are going to create positive change in our world are those who show strength of character, a deep commitment to service and an inner fire that draws others to their work. With BMO's support we can provide transformative experiences to help these students to realize their potential." "We could not be more proud of achieving the milestone of reaching the C$20 million donation mark since the inception of our Equity Through Education program," said Carl Kirst, Managing Director of Research, U.S. Equities, BMO Capital Markets. "As we continue into our 15th year, it only becomes more meaningful to see how dollars raised can help support charities built on the foundation of student academic success." The proceeds from this year's Equity Through Education trading day will go to the following eight charities: - The Loran Scholars Foundation - Indspire - The Jackie Robinson Foundation - Lime Connect - The Financial Women's Association - Say Yes to Education - Women in Capital Markets' Return to - Imperial College Bay Street Program About BMO Capital Markets BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American-based financial services provider offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of products and services including equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, mergers and acquisitions advisory services, securitization, treasury management, market risk management, debt and equity research and institutional sales and trading. With approximately 2,500 professionals in 30 locations around the world, including 16 offices in North America, BMO Capital Markets works proactively with clients to provide innovative and integrated financial solutions. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (NYSE: BMO) (TSX: BMO) one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with $765 billion total assets as at July 31, 2018. BMO Media Contact: Amanda Robinson, Toronto, Amanda.Robinson@bmo.com , +1-(416)-867-3996 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) ("Metals Creek" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that the Corporation has entered into an option agreement with Manning Ventures Inc. ("Manning"). Under the terms of the agreement, Manning has the option to acquire a 75% interest in MEK's Squid East Property, located in the northwest extension of the White Gold district, Yukon (the "Property"). The Property is 100% owned by MEK. In order to exercise the option, Manning must make cash payments to the Corporation of $65,000 over two years ($35,000 due upon CSE listing), issue to the Corporation a total of 1,200,000 Manning common shares over two years (600,000 due upon CSE Listing) and incur work expenditures of $1,150,000 over four years ($50,000 by 31 Dec, 2019). Manning will be the operator during the option period. Cautionary Statement The proposed transaction is subject to approval of the proposed listing of Manning Ventures Inc. on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE). The transaction cannot close until the listing has been completed and there can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. About Metals Creek Resources Corp. Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property, including the former Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has a 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine- Destor Fault (P-DF) that stretches between Timmins, Ontario and Val d'Or, Quebec. Metals Creek also has an option agreement with Quadro Resources on Metals Creek and Benton Resources Staghorn Gold Project in Newfoundland, as well as two option agreements with Anaconda Mining Inc. on Metals Creek's Jacksons Arm and Tilt Cove Properties, also in Newfoundland. The Corporation also has an option agreement on its Clarks Brook property with Sokoman Iron Corp., is engaged in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of other mineral resource properties, and presently has mining interests in Ontario, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador, including the recently acquired Great Brehat project on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. Additional information concerning the Corporation is contained in documents filed by the Corporation with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.com. "Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." For further information, please contact: Alexander (Sandy) Stares, President and CEO Metals Creek Resources Corp telephone: (709)-256-6060 fax: (709)-256-6061 email: astares@metalscreek.com www.metalscreek.com Montreal Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - Manganese X Energy Corp. (TSXV: MN) (the "Company" or "Manganese X ") is pleased to provide an update on its fall exploration program underway on the Peter Lake Property, located near the town of Sainte-Anne du Lac, Quebec. Results from nine blast pit samples collected from the Peter Lake North and South Occurrences returned assays of 5.38% Copper, 0.96% Nickel and 922 ppm Cobalt; as well as other anomalous samples. The work was conducted -- The North and South Occurrence mineralization is associated with mafic intrusions within a metasedimentary sequence of rocks and has been traced intermittently on surface for approximately 2 kilometers. The preliminary blast sampling program indicates a mineralization grade averaging 2.23% Copper, 0.59% Nickel and 458 ppm Cobalt. Each sample consisted of 4-5 kgs of material collected from surface to an approximate depth of 1.53 meters. Hole #9 was made on sterile rock with no apparent mineralisation for comparison purposes The sample program was completed under the supervision of consulting geologist Remi Charbonneau Ph.D. PGeo independent Inlandsi Consultants senc. Qualified Person for Peter Lake Project .Full assay results are summarized in the table below. The assaying was performed by Laboratoire Expert Inc in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. Peter Lake Property - Blast Pit Assay Results (UTEM Zone 18) Sample ID Easting Northing Description Copper (%) Nickel (%) Cobalt (ppm) PLNBT-01 480738 5227235 North Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 2.86 0.93 542 PLNBT-02 480717 5227150 North Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 2.39 0.81 373 PLNBT-03 480646 5227053 North Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 0.43 0.29 917 PLNBT-04 480578 5226986 North Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 1.56 0.79 355 PLNBT-05 480572 5226977 North Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 2.24 0.88 344 North Occurrence Average 1.90 0.74 506 PLSBT-06 479517 5226075 South Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 5.38 0.26 400 PLSBT-07 479520 5226052 South Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 2.69 0.96 922 PLSBT-08 479527 5226065 South Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 2.39 0.36 214 PLSBT-09 479531 5226086 South Occurrence - Surface to 1.53m Depth 0.10 0.03 54 South Occurrence Average 2.64 0.40 397 Combined Average Grades 2.23 0.59 458 Notes: Assays were performed by Laboratoire Expert Inc., Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, using method code AAT-7 and AAT-8. Preliminary flotation test work previously completed in 2013 by URSTM (Unite de recherche et de service en technologie minerale) of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec on Peter Lake mineralization indicated excellent copper recoveries in the 98% range and Nickel recoveries ranging from 82% to 89%. Roger Dahn, VP Exploration and a director of the Company states, "We are excited about the Peter Lake property, besides the obvious copper - nickel -cobalt potential associated with the mafic intrusions, we are also paying special attention to the cobalt - copper potential of the nearby metasediments of the Rabot Suite". The Company is applying a geological model based on the Blackbird District of Idaho, USA in its exploration approach to evaluate potential sediment hosted cobalt - copper at Peter Lake. The Blackbird District is reported to have total production and resources of approximately 17 Mt grading 0.7% Cobalt and 1.4% Copper (Bookstrom et al. 2016). The fall exploration program at Peter Lake continues with planned soil geochemical and ground geophysical surveys (induced polarization and magnetics), a regional airborne magnetic survey and geology/prospecting to identify and prioritize potential targets for a follow-up diamond drill program. Further results will be released in a timely manner. This news release has been reviewed and approved by Roger Dahn, P. Geo., who supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release. Roger Dahn is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Manganese X Energy Manganese X Energy's mission is to acquire and advance high potential manganese as well as additional mineral prospects located in North America with the intent of supplying value added materials to the lithium ion battery and other alternative energy industries as well as the steel industry. In addition, our company is striving to achieve new methodologies emanating with environmentally friendly green/zero emissions processes and producing manganese at a lower competitive cost. For more information, visit the website at www.manganesexenergycorp.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Martin Kepman CEO and Director martin@kepman.com 1-514-802-1814 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release contains "forward-looking information" including statements with respect to the future exploration performance of the Company. This forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements of the Company, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, as well as others, are disclosed within the Company's filing on SEDAR, which investors are encouraged to review prior to any transaction involving the securities of the Company. Forward-looking information contained herein is provided as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation, other than as required by law, to update any forward-looking information for any reason. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM today made several major announcements at CES Unveiled Amsterdam, a tech event bringing together top media, exhibitors and investors to celebrate European innovation and experience a sneak peek of the trends expected at CES 2019. Owned and produced by CTA, CES 2019 will run from January 8-11, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. To commemorate World Tourism Day today, CTA announced a brand-new tourism area at CES 2019 to highlight the importance of technology and innovation in tourism. Attendees will be able to see and experience how technology helps customize and advance the travel experience. In addition to show floor exhibits, conference programming will dive into the role that tech plays in helping the global travel and tourism industry create personalized experiences that also provide sustainable economic growth opportunities for local communities. Announced for the first time at CES Unveiled Amsterdam, CTA's fourth book Ninja Future: Secrets to Success in the New World of Innovation (HarperCollins, 2019), will be released at CES 2019. In the book, author Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA, explains the evolving technological landscape breakthroughs underway now and those we can only envision. Drawing on the insights he has gleaned as a martial arts black belt, he covers how businesses and governments can move to succeed in today's turbulent environment by adopting the mindset of "ninjas"-adapting to technological change to capitalize on opportunities at lightning speed. Shapiro is also the New York Times best-selling author of Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses (HarperCollins, 2013) and The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream (Beaufort, 2011). Additionally, 31 tech companies from the Netherlands and the surrounding region were announced as CES 2019 Innovation Honorees. Among them, Dutch company EVBox was honored in the Smart Energy category and Qoobi was honored in the High Performance Home Audio/Video category. "The companies recognized as this year's CES Innovation honorees represent the drive that is taking our global industry to new heights," said Karen Chupka, executive vice president, CES, CTA. "The products honored today offer solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges and will change our lives and our world for the better." The remaining Innovation honorees will be announced at CES Unveiled Paris on October 3, 2018, and CES Unveiled New York on November 8, 2018. The full list of Honorees will be posted online at CES.tech and showcased at CES 2019, January 8-11. Executives also announced that CTA will again partner with StartupDelta for CES 2019. Representing the Netherland's commitment to innovation, StartupDelta will bring a delegation of Dutch startups to CES 2019 to be featured in Eureka Park, the startup hub of CES. Now in its second year, CES Unveiled Amsterdam brought together 634 attendees from 19 countries, including 64 exhibitors from the Netherlands and surrounding regions. Continuing the focus and celebration of European innovation, CES Unveiled Paris will take place next Wednesday, October 3. CES 2019 will showcase life-changing technology across every major industry, featuring 4,500 companies across 2.75M net square feet (260K net square meters) of exhibit space. The show provides access to the very latest transformative tech such as 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, smart home, smart cities, sports, machine intelligence and more. New areas at CES 2019 include the Tourism Marketplace, as well as the recently announced Resilience area, focused on technologies that keep the world healthy, safe, warm, fed and secure in the face of adversity. Registration for CES 2019 is now open. For the latest exhibitor news and show announcements, visit CES.tech. High-definition video b-roll from CES is available for easy download on CESbroll.com. See exclusive photos from the CES show floor, keynotes, conference sessions, events and award ceremonies in the CES photo gallery About CES: CES is the world's gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. It has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for 50 years-the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. As the largest hands-on event of its kind, CES features all aspects of the industry. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)TM, it attracts the world's business leaders and pioneering thinkers. Check out CES video highlights. Follow CES online at CES.tech and on social. About Consumer Technology Association: Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is the trade association representing the $377 billion U.S. consumer technology industry, which supports more than 15 million U.S. jobs. More than 2,200 companies 80 percent are small businesses and startups; others are among the world's best-known brands enjoy the benefits of CTA membership including policy advocacy, market research, technical education, industry promotion, standards development and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CTA also owns and produces CES the world's gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. Profits from CES are reinvested into CTA's industry services. UPCOMING EVENTS Technology Standards Forum Register October 1-5, Los Angeles, CA CES Unveiled Paris Register October 3, Paris, France Innovate Celebrate Register October 15-17, Boston, MA CES Unveiled New York November 8, New York, NY CES Unveiled Las Vegas January 6, Las Vegas, NV CES 2019 - Register January 8-11, Las Vegas, NV CES Asia 2019 June 11-13, Shanghai, China View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005947/en/ Contacts: Consumer Technology Association Teresa Hsu, 703-907-5259 thsu@CTA.tech www.CES.tech or Justin Siraj, 703-907-7415 jsiraj@CTA.tech www.CES.tech LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Creation of the largest independent European exploration and production company Largest European merger in the sector for over a decade Closing is subject to regulatory approvals, and is expected in the first half of 2019 LetterOne and BASF have today signed a Business Combination Agreement to merge their oil and gas businesses and create Wintershall DEA. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Wintershall DEA will be the largest independent European exploration and production company, with activity in twelve countries across Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East. The combined business would have had pro-forma production of approximately 575,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2017, almost 70% of which comes from natural gas. Production is expected to rise to between 750,000 and 800,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the early 2020s as the company executes its business plan. In 2017, the combined business would have generated revenue of 4.7 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 2.8 billion. Based on the combined proven (1P) reserves of almost 2.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2017, the reserves to production ratio of the combined business would be approximately 10 years. The combined portfolio and scale of Wintershall DEA will provide significant potential for sustainable, long-term growth. LetterOne and BASF expect to be able to realise synergies equivalent to at least 200 million per annum. In the medium term, the shareholders intend to offer shares in the company to the public through an initial public offering. Wintershall DEA will be jointly headquartered in Hamburg and Kassel. Lord Browne, the Executive Chairman of L1 Energy and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DEA, said: "I am delighted that we have reached agreement to create Europe's largest independent E&P company. Wintershall DEA is the largest E&P merger in Europe for over a decade, and will have a diverse portfolio of outstanding growth prospects, with the scale needed to access important new opportunities. We expect the company to evolve rapidly into a world-class and globally competitive organisation with an international portfolio. We look forward to working with our new partners to create a disciplined, responsible and sustainable oil and gas company." Mikhail Fridman, co-founder of LetterOne, said: "LetterOne is looking forward to working with BASF to create Wintershall DEA, which will be a new and unique international company. We are proud to be part of a very important moment for the energy industry." Mario Mehren, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wintershall, will be the CEO of Wintershall DEA. Maria Moraeus Hanssen, CEO of DEA, will be the deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer. In addition, Thilo Wieland, member of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall, and Hugo Dijkgraaf, Managing Director of Wintershall Norge, will be on the five-member Management Board of Wintershall DEA. The appointment of the Chief Financial Officer will be announced in due course. LetterOne and BASF will now begin the process of seeking regulatory approvals, a process which could take approximately six months. Until closing, DEA and Wintershall will continue to operate as independent companies. BASF will initially hold 67% and LetterOne will hold 33% of Wintershall DEA. This does not take into account Wintershall's gas transportation business. However, at closing of the transaction, Wintershall DEA will issue preference shares to BASF reflecting the value of Wintershall's gas transportation business. Before IPO, but no later than 36 months after closing, these preference shares will be converted into additional ordinary shares in Wintershall DEA for BASF. Notes DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG is an international operator in the field of exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas based in Hamburg. Its focus is on safe, sustainable and environmentally conscious production of oil and gas. DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG has 119 years of experience working along the entire upstream value chain as operator or project partner. With a staff force of 1,150 employees, DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG has shares in production facilities and concessions in, among others, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Egypt, Algeria and Mexico. Production of DEA averaged 125,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day in 2017; as of year-end DEA had 1P reserves of 508 million BOE, and 2P reserves of 698 million BOE. Wintershall, headquartered in Kassel, Germany, focuses on exploration and production in oil and gas-rich regions in Europe, Russia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. Together with Gazprom, Wintershall is also active in the transportation of natural gas in Europe. The company has about 2,000 employees worldwide and is Germany's largest, internationally active crude oil and natural gas producer. Wintershall's production averaged 450,000 BOE per day in 2017; as of year-end Wintershall had 1P reserves of 1.67 billion BOE. L1 Energy is the energy investment arm of LetterOne. LetterOne was founded in 2013 and is an international investment business headquartered in Luxembourg. LetterOne's strategy is to build a new portfolio of successful companies that are leaders in their fields and sectors. It makes long-term investments of its own capital in companies in which its sectoral experience and strategic and geographic expertise will improve performance and help companies grow. It has recruited world-class CEOs, sector investment teams and Advisory Boards to invest at scale. It buys and builds assets, which it can develop over time as platforms of long-term sustainable growth. It invests through L1 Energy, L1 Technology, L1 Health and L1 Retail. Contact Stuart Bruseth Director of Communications +44-(0)7739-630539 sbruseth@letterone.com Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - BluMetric Environmental Inc. (TSXV: BLM) is pleased to announce it has been awarded a contract with an existing Ontario mining client for the provision of environmental characterization and engineering services, valued at approximately $3.0 million over 2.5 years. BluMetric will characterize groundwater and surface water conditions to address the management of water at two adjoining facilities for a Tier 1 mining client in northern Ontario. Based on environmental and economic factors, preferred alternatives will be recommended for the client to carry forward to design and construction. The new project highlights BluMetric's adaptability as well as its commitment to scaling business not only through new client generation but also through its existing customer base with the provision of high quality, inventive solutions tailored to each individual client. "Our team leveraged our extensive experience, including that gained from having recently completed similar engineering projects at nearby mining-related facilities, to develop a winning, cost effective proposal", said Scott MacFabe, CEO of BluMetric. "This important client continues to show trust in BluMetric's capabilities to address their water management issues, underscoring our ability to reliably and economically meet customers' ongoing needs through an increasingly diverse array of products, services and competencies." The new contract reflects the increasing strength of BluMetric's mining business and the Company's efforts to drive innovation and business development in this segment. BluMetric continues to expand its mining sector capabilities, particularly with respect to engineered solutions and care and maintenance activities, which led to the recent opening of an office in Thunder Bay. About BluMetric Environmental Inc. BluMetric Environmental Inc. is a publicly traded cleantech company with expertise across disciplines and technologies that allow for the design and delivery of sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, BluMetric's team of industry experts provides a better environment for business. For more information, please visit www.BluMetric.ca, or contact: Scott MacFabe, CEO BluMetric Environmental Inc. Tel: 613.839.3053 x 242 Email: smacfabe@blumetric.ca Vivian Karaiskos, CFO BluMetric Environmental Inc. Tel: 613.839.3053 x 240 Email: vkaraiskos@blumetric.ca Forward-Looking Statements Some of the statements in this press release, including those relating to the Company's discussions of contractual agreements, future products, opportunities, cost initiatives, strategies, and other statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of the Company. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates, and projections regarding future events. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this communication or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Washington, DC--(Newsfile Corp. - September 27, 2018) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Elon Musk, CEO and Chairman of Silicon Valley-based Tesla Inc., with securities fraud for a series of false and misleading tweets about a potential transaction to take Tesla private. On August 7, 2018, Musk tweeted to his 22 million Twitter followers that he could take Tesla private at $420 per share (a substantial premium to its trading price at the time), that funding for the transaction had been secured, and that the only remaining uncertainty was a shareholder vote. The SEC's complaint alleges that, in truth, Musk had not discussed specific deal terms with any potential financing partners, and he allegedly knew that the potential transaction was uncertain and subject to numerous contingencies. According to the SEC's complaint, Musk's tweets caused Tesla's stock price to jump by over six percent on August 7, and led to significant market disruption. "Corporate officers hold positions of trust in our markets and have important responsibilities to shareholders," said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division. "An officer's celebrity status or reputation as a technological innovator does not give license to take those responsibilities lightly." "Taking care to provide truthful and accurate information is among a CEO's most critical obligations," added Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division. "That standard applies with equal force when the communications are made via social media or another non-traditional form." The SEC's complaint, filed in federal district court in the Southern District of New York, alleges that Musk violated antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement, civil penalties, and a bar prohibiting Musk from serving as an officer or director of a public company. The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, was conducted by Walker Newell, and Brent Smyth and supervised by Steven Buchholz, Erin Schneider, and Jina Choi in the San Francisco Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Cheryl Crumpton and Barrett Atwood. (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday said it is opening a store in New York City that will sell products ranging from card games to skillets that are highly rated on its website, in the company's latest push into brick-and-mortar retail. The shop, known as Amazon 4-Star, marks a new store format for the world's largest online retailer, which owns grocery chain Whole Foods Market and has rolled out bookstores and several grocery convenience stores across the United States. A company spokesman declined to comment on whether Amazon will open other 4-Star shops in addition to the first location in Manhattan, which opens on Thursday. (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday said it is opening a store in New York City that will sell products ranging from card games to skillets that are highly rated on its website, in the company's latest push into brick-and-mortar retail. The shop, known as Amazon 4-Star, marks a new store format for the world's largest online retailer, which owns grocery chain Whole Foods Market and has rolled out bookstores and several grocery convenience stores across the United States. A company spokesman declined to comment on whether Amazon will open other 4-Star shops in addition to the first location in Manhattan, which opens on Thursday. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Marguerita Choy) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The digital revolution has changed business-consumer interaction in a number of ways. Reminiscing on customer care from just a decade ago brings back the dread and uncertainty of staying on hold for long hours, just to speak to someone who would then give you a timeline (that could be anywhere upwards of three working days) for your issue to be looked at. Flash forward to 2018, and its nearly impossible to imagine waiting for more than a handful of minutes for a response, and a few days for a resolution, if that. This is just one of the many ways in which widespread digitisation has changed how users and businesses interact with each other. And theyre just going to grow in number, as inventions like 5G connectivity, the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain enter the mainstream. This is why ICICI Bank and CNBC-TV18 joined forces to host thought leaders and titans of industry at the third edition of the India Business Summit Leaders Speak, which took on the subject of building customer relationships in a tech-driven world. Set in the backdrop of Indias cultural capital, Kolkata, the event served as the perfect platform for representatives from game-changing enterprises to discuss, debate and deliberate about the future of customer relationship management. The event started off with a rousing address from Vijay Chandok, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, who laid down a few simple yet essential guidelines for businesses hoping to thrive in the 21st century. Working closely with partners, fostering a culture of sharing and innovation, and setting a common goal for your team to work towards were a few of his invaluable suggestions to the CXOs in the audience Following this, Latha Venkatesh, Executive Editor at CNBC-TV18, sat down for an engaging discussion with five industry veterans - Sanjiv Goenka Chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Emami Group Director Aditya Agarwal, Harshavardhan Neotia of the Ambuja Neotia Group, Paharpur Cooling Towers MD Gaurav Swarup and Vishakha Mulye, Executive Director, ICICI Bank. The panel deliberated upon how technology has changed the way we conduct business, something that is perhaps most evident in the banking sector. Just two decades ago, the lending system was dominated by entrepreneurs who came from prominent business families. This was largely because conducting background checks was an expensive affair that involved reaching out to third parties, overcoming geographical constraints, and most of all, taking a leap of faith. That is no longer the case today, as banks can access credit histories, personal details and other vital information about anyone with the click of a button. This has paved the way for financial inclusion, allowing retail lending to become widespread. B2C isnt the only arm of the sector that has been revolutionised by digitisation, though; corporate banking has also undergone a sea change due to ease of access to information and reduced geographical constraints. ICICI Bank, for instance, is already leveraging technologies like blockchain to facilitate secure transactions across the supply chain for over 250 corporates, showing that the future is now. But while the digital revolution has changed business-consumer interaction in a number of ways, Emami Groups Aditya Agarwal maintained that the one thing everyone wants is good service, irrespective of whether it comes from humans or machines. This is especially true now since IT is no longer a division functioning in silo within a company, but arguably the backbone of most ventures. It, therefore, serves as an enabler for easier dissemination of information, faster redressal of grievances and, of course, better communication. Echoing this sentiment, Sanjiv Goenka added that technology has become a means to the end of providing good customer care. And we couldnt have said it better ourselves! However, improving support services isnt the only way in which digitisation is enhancing the customer experience. Organisations across the globe are beginning to tap into the potential of big data analytics to tailor their offerings. Most notably, the Emami Group boasts of a research and development wing, where they leverage innovations like eyeball-tracking technology to find out what products pique the most interest. Product development isnt the only area to be revolutionised by these innovations, though. Even the process of making a sale has changed forever. For Paharpur, it has opened up a world of opportunities by allowing customers to approach the company, instead of sales executives desperately seeking them out. Meanwhile, prospective homeowners have the opportunity to get a comprehensive view of their purchase, even if it is still a work in progress. As Harshavardhan Neotia points out, this is a far cry from the days when real estate buyers had to rely solely on 2D blueprints and the word of the realtor! After-sale service, meanwhile, is undergoing some drastic changes of its own, owing to the rise of IoT. As Gaurav Swarup notes, while it may take a few years for real-time, remote monitoring and preventative maintenance of consumer durables to become widespread, the potential for higher-level customer support is vast. But all these advantages havent come without a fair share of challenges. Take the rise of social media, for instance, which has made it possible for businesses and consumers to reach out to each other around the clock. And while this is indubitably a good thing, it has also led to rising customer expectations when it comes to response and resolution times, highlights the Ambuja Neotia Group chief. Add to this, ever-growing concerns of data security, data privacy and other ethical issues, and 21st-century entrepreneurs have their work cut out for them. Still, as ICICI Banks Vishakha Mulye notes, Constraint is the mother of all innovation. Some of technologys greatest triumphs were, indeed, born in the face of insurmountable challenges. And taking an out-of-the-box, problem-solving approach towards these issues could be the key that unlocks the next phase for India Inc. Over its upcoming editions, the ever-enlightening India Business Summit will hit more major cities in the country, taking on the very topics that are shaping the future of the global economy and our lives at large. Boasting of insights from some of the keenest minds in India, it promises to serve as a veritable fount of information for CXOs across the country. This is a partnered post. Fuel prices have been witnessing a steep rise since the past few weeks. The domestic fuel prices depend upon the international fuel prices on a 15-day average and the value of the Indian rupee The oil pinch continued on Thursday with petrol and diesel prices being hiked again. In New Delhi, petrol is being retailed at Rs 83.00 per litre, while diesel is being sold at Rs 74.24 per litre. Meanwhile, a litre of petrol has touched Rs 90.35 in Mumbai, while diesel has been capped at Rs 78.82 per litre. A litre of petrol was purchased at a price of Rs. 86.28 in Chennai and Rs. 84.82 in Kolkata. Diesel was being sold at Rs. 78.49 per litre in Chennai and Rs.76.09 per litre in Kolkata. Fuel prices have been witnessing a steep rise since the past few weeks. While the Opposition has blamed the union government for not doing enough to keep a check on prices, the latter has maintained that global crude oil prices and other international factors are causing a hike in prices of petroleum products. As per India's pricing mechanism, the domestic fuel prices depend upon the international fuel prices on a 15-day average and the value of the Indian rupee. On Tuesday, northern states Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and UT Chandigarh agreed to fix uniform tax rates on petroleum products, amid rising fuel prices. Besides, the states also agreed to bring uniformity in taxes on liquor and registration of vehicles and transport permit, according to an official release. The finance ministers of five states and officials of UT Chandigarh held a meeting on Tuesday to deliberate on fixing a uniform rate of taxes on petrol and diesel. The participating states also decided to constitute a sub-committee, which would give their recommendation with regard to uniformity in tax rates in next fifteen days. Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu said it was decided in the meeting that an effort should be made to bring uniformity in VAT rates on petrol and diesel in order to provide relief to consumers. With inputs from agencies Mumbai: The government said on Wednesday it is raising import tariffs on 19 non-essential items, marking a further tilt toward protectionism as it tries to reduce its widening current account deficit and tackle a sharp slide in the rupee. The new tariff structure, which goes into effect Thursday, will see the government raise customs duties on items such as air conditioners, refrigerators, footwear, speakers, luggage and aviation turbine fuel, among other items. The move could hit imports from countries like China and South Korea, which manufacture some of the high-end washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners sold in India. Amid a growing climate of protectionism, India had earlier said it was contemplating such a move to take pressure off the rupee, which has weakened by more than 12 percent this year and is Asias worst performing currency. This is positive news for the rupee given that it will help reduce Indias current account deficit, said a forex trader at a foreign bank. Other bankers were more sceptical about whether the move can rein in rupee weakness, noting that demand for the high-end goods is largely price inelastic. This is a sentiment booster for the rupee, said SBI Chief Economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh, adding that the overall impact on current account deficit will be muted. The central bank needs to intervene more actively in the forex market to support the rupee. These tariff measures wont help in the long term, said Ghosh. The total value of imports of the 19 items in last fiscal year ended March was about 860 billion Indian rupees ($11.84 billion), the government said in a circular. Indian imports in the same period totaled $459.67 billion. The hike in import duties on the identified non-essential items is likely to have a modest impact on curtailing the size of the current account deficit in fiscal 2019. The deficit last stood at around 2.4 percent of GDP, in the April-June quarter, and it is expected to widen to 2.8 percent for the year ending March 2019. The latest move could impact companies like South Korean electronics giants Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc, along with the likes of big name brands such as footwear maker Nike Inc, luggage maker Samsonite International SA and audio products maker Bose Corp. The companies were not immediately reachable for comment. The decision could also sting Indias vast gem and jewellery sector as the government has raised tariffs on imported diamonds and gemstones, along with increasing tariffs on jewellery items. The move is the Narendra Modi-led governments latest toward protectionism, as it promotes its Make in India programme. India announced higher import tax on electronics products such as mobile phones and television sets in December, and then on 40 more items in the budget in February. These included goods as varied as sunglasses, juices and auto components. Reuters earlier this month has also reported that Indias steel ministry is mulling increasing the effective import duty on some steel products. By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Wednesday after U.S. data showed a surprise build in domestic crude inventories, but an impending drop in Iranian exports kept Brent futures above $80 a barrel and on track for a fifth straight quarterly gain By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Wednesday after U.S. data showed a surprise build in domestic crude inventories, but an impending drop in Iranian exports kept Brent futures above $80 a barrel and on track for a fifth straight quarterly gain. Global benchmark Brent fell 53 cents to settle at $81.34 a barrel. On Tuesday, Brent rose as high as $82.55, the highest since November 2014. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 71 cents to settle at $71.57 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories rose 1.9 million barrels in the week to Sept. 21, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. Analysts had expected a decrease of 1.3 million barrels. Refinery crude runs fell by 901,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. "We are reluctant to read much into today's price action or the unexpected crude build per the EIA. The complex had a strong upside run and is entitled to a correction," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note. Investors kept a close eye on impending U.S. sanctions affecting Iran's petroleum sector, due to come into force in November. The oil market is bracing for a hit to global supplies from the sanctions. Brent remains on course for its fifth consecutive quarterly increase, the longest stretch since early 2007 when a six-quarter run led to a record-high price of $147.50 a barrel. Several big buyers, such as a number of Indian refiners, have signalled they will wind down purchases of Iranian crude but the impact on global markets is not yet clear. U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, are trying to reassure consumers and investors that enough supply will remain in the oil market and have pushed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to raise output. In a Tuesday speech at the United Nations, Trump reiterated calls on OPEC to pump more oil, accused Iran of sowing chaos and promised further sanctions on the country. The so-called "OPEC+" group, which includes non-OPEC members such as Russia, met over the weekend but decided not to boost output. Commerzbank said in a note that "the latest rise in oil prices is due primarily to Trump himself. ... he has focused the market's attention on the Iran sanctions again, even though the market is adequately supplied at present thanks to the increase in OPEC and Russian production." A Nigerian oil industry official said OPEC will act to balance the market after oil prices hit a four-year high, but its options may be limited by available spare capacity. (Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by David Gregorio and Sandra Maler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The RBI had earlier called a meeting with key shareholders of IL&FS, including Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and State Bank of India, after the company and its subsidiaries defaulted on repayments of various debt instruments. Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the Friday's meeting with the shareholders of debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing and Finance Services (IL&FS), according to banking sources. The apex bank had earlier called a meeting with key shareholders of IL&FS, including Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and State Bank of India, after the company and its subsidiaries defaulted on repayments of various debt instruments. "Tomorrow's meeting has been cancelled. As a regulator, they want to know what is the course of action and what is the roadmap that the firm is taking," a source said. "RBI wants details of the plan for future or corrective action which are to be taken," another source said. The next date for meeting has not been decided yet, the source added. IL&FS's annual general meeting is scheduled for 29 September here. LIC and Orix Corporation of Japan are the largest shareholders of IL&FS with 25.34 and 23.54 percent stake, respectively, while Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, HDFC, Central Bank of India and SBI hold 12.56 percent, 9.02 percent, 7.67 percent and 6.42 percent, respectively. IL&FS group is facing serious liquidity crisis and has defaulted on interest payment on various debt repayments since 27 August. It has over Rs 91,000 crore in debt. The company needs an immediate capital infusion of Rs 3,000 crore and is planning a Rs 4,500-crore rights issue. At a meeting held earlier this month, the key shareholders of the debt-ridden company, including LIC, SBI and HDFC, had kept a pre-condition for it to raise funds through its assets or non-core businesses, before any additional money could be pumped in. There have been reports that IL&FS has even put on block its headquarters in the city for around Rs 1,300 crore. On 4 September, it came to light that IL&FS had defaulted on a short-term loan of Rs 1,000 crore from SIDBI, while its subsidiary has also defaulted Rs 500 crore dues to the development finance institution. On Monday, IL&FS Financial Services also defaulted on repayment of commercial papers due that day. It is a tad curious that the Supreme Court while giving its thumbs up to linking of Aadhaar with welfare schemes has chosen to play down the importance of seeding the bank accounts of such beneficiaries with their Aadhaar The Supreme Court verdict on 26 September 2018 upholding the constitutional validity of the biometric identification document Aadhaar, even while decrying its unnecessary ubiquitous use, has been hailed as nuanced. The apex court has upheld Aadhaar being seeded into PAN apparently in deference to the governments stand that such seeding was necessary to oust ghost Income Tax Return filers with an eye on nil or considerably reduced tax liability made possible by splitting and splintering of income among genuine persons and their ghosts. Sadly, however, the larger message that there were a large number of ghost bank accounts before Aadhaar seeding came along has been lost on the Supreme Court which has inexplicably ruled that such seeding is not required. There is a lot of misconception about bank deposits. It is innocently believed that deposits into a bank is an automatic proof of the money being legit. Nothing can be farther from the truth. It is this naive or delusory belief that had spawned the view that since 99.3 percent of the demonetised notes have found their way into the banking system, the Narendra Modi government had lost its battle against black money, the prime objective of demonetisation. Intelligent investigation by intelligent software would call the bluff of the crooks who have dared the Modi government by blithely depositing their ill-gotten wealth into bank accounts once their toils in front of the exchange counters yielded but only partial results for them. It is another matter that the investigation through the much-vaunted tax-banking software is grinding at a painfully slow pace. In this day and age, money laundering is the biggest threat. Terrorists can be funded from both India and abroad with a click of the mouse, as it were. Indeed, anonymous deposits by known or unknown third parties has been the bane of the banking system which is why the Reserve Bank of India had mandated a few months ago that the name of the identity of the person getting a demand draft (DD) made would be revealed on the face of the DD in due course of time. Large- scale misuse of Jan Dhan accounts in rural areas was possible thanks to the anonymity or feigned anonymity of deposits into such accounts by crooks. Had there been a requirement to disclose the identity of the depositors, their goose would have been cooked. Many of them have gotten away by hiding behind rural folks and thus laundered their ill-gotten money into proceeds of farm income. Of course, the benighted rural folks have played ball in this devious game but the point is money laundering can be foiled to a great extent by keeping track of the account holder as well as the depositor or transferor. The tax sleuths can achieve a lot through the three-way linkage---Aadhaar-PAN-bank account seamless integration. A persons bank accounts would show up all together just by typing in his Aadhaar number. There are people who have multiple bank accounts as much for convenience as for tax evasion. No less a person than the former finance minister P Chidambaram frowned on digital payments (through banking channels) on the ground that impostors and voyeurs would have a field day. His apprehension was if he paid his medical bills through card rather than through cash, it will leave a voyeuristic trail for the banker and the taxman as well as anyone who can hack into his Aadhaar account. It has not occurred to him that digital payments would bring into prominent relief all expenses -- genuine as well as devious. The solution against voyeurism lies in building strong privacy data rights and anti-hacking measures rather than throwing the baby with the bath water. It is a tad curious that the Supreme Court while giving its thumbs up to linking of Aadhaar with welfare schemes has chosen to play down the importance of seeding the bank accounts of such beneficiaries with their Aadhaar given the fact that direct benefit transfer (DBT), a vital subset of such welfare schemes, is not possible without ensuring that the bank account indeed belongs to beneficiary. In other words, it is not enough to seed ones Aadhaar into ones welfare entitlement. It is also necessary to seed the bank account so that a watertight system exists to keep fake claimants at bay. The Parliament must step in to undo this disturbing aspect of the judgment. It should not be taken as a confrontationist stance of the government because the Apex Court itself has supplied a thaw in favor of Aadhaar seeding to any area but with a proper legal backing. In other words, the apex Courts list of schemes/facilities where Aadhaar can be insisted upon is not cast in stone. (The author is a senior columnist and tweets @smurlidharan) By Nick Carey and David Shepardson (Reuters) - Steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have cost Ford Motor Co about $1 billion in profits, its chief executive officer said on Wednesday, while Honda Motor Co said higher steel prices have brought 'hundreds of millions of dollars' in new costs. 'From Fords perspective the metals tariffs took about $1 billion in profit from us,' CEO James Hackett said at a Bloomberg conference in New York, 'The irony of which is we source most of that in the U.S. today anyway By Nick Carey and David Shepardson (Reuters) - Steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have cost Ford Motor Co about $1 billion in profits, its chief executive officer said on Wednesday, while Honda Motor Co <7267.T> said higher steel prices have brought "hundreds of millions of dollars" in new costs. "From Fords perspective the metals tariffs took about $1 billion in profit from us," CEO James Hackett said at a Bloomberg conference in New York, "The irony of which is we source most of that in the U.S. today anyway. If it goes on any longer, it will do more damage." He did not specify what period the $1 billion covered. Higher U.S. steel prices have resulted in "hundreds of millions of dollars" in additional annual costs, Rick Schostek, executive vice president of Honda North America, told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, even as more than 90 percent of steel in its vehicles assembled in the United States is made domestically. Honda is also facing retaliatory tariffs from Canada and China on lawn-mowers it builds in North Carolina and transmissions made in Georgia. Honda has not boosted U.S. vehicle prices as a result of the higher costs but the issue is "certainly part of our thinking as we go forward," Schostek told reporters after the hearing. While the vast majority of steel and aluminium that Ford uses for U.S. production is made domestically, it has said the tariffs could result in higher domestic commodity prices. Ford shares dipped 0.4 percent at $9.36. The United States said in March it would impose a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminium from most countries. The tariffs have allowed U.S. producers to raise their prices. U.S. President Donald Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs will boost car prices by hiking commodity costs for manufacturers, automakers have warned. During the presidential campaign, Trump lambasted U.S. trade deficits as detrimental to American manufacturers and workers. Since taking office, Trump has pursued a policy of escalating tariffs that he says will reverse that trend, including waging an increasingly bitter trade war with China. The auto industry is bracing for a possible new round of tariffs. On May 23 Trump ordered a "Section 232" national security investigation into whether to impose a 25 percent tariff on vehicle and auto parts imported from the European Union and other trading partners. The section, included in the U.S. Trade Expansion Act, allows the president to adjust imports through tariffs if they threaten national security. At a briefing in Detroit on Wednesday, officials from analytics data firm IHS Markit said if the Trump administration imposed the Section 232 tariffs globally, it would have far-reaching consequences for the U.S. auto industry as well as the broader economy. IHS Markit estimates that full implementation of the 232 tariffs would add between $1,800 and $5,700 to a new vehicle's price tag and cut new auto sales by around 2.2 million units in 2020 as well as slice total sales to as little as 14.5 million units from expectations of 17 million vehicles this year. The new tariffs would also cost around 300,000 in auto-related jobs in factories and dealerships across the country, and slash U.S. economic growth by 1.1 percentage points to 2.2 percent, IHS said. In July Ford lowered its full-year earnings forecast due to slumping sales and trade tariffs on China as well as its struggling business in Europe. The automaker's difficulties in boosting sales in China have showed no signs of ending despite taking steps to bring new products to market. (Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Jeffrey Benkoe) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The remarks by Trump, who repeated a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian autos, knocked the Canadian dollar down to a one-week low against the US greenback. The comments also mark a new low in relations between the two leaders. Trudeau spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said: 'No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that.' United Nations: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted Canada over the slow pace of talks over NAFTA, saying he was so unhappy that he had rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's request for a one-on-one meeting. The remarks by Trump, who repeated a threat to impose tariffs on Canadian autos, knocked the Canadian dollar down to a one-week low against the US greenback. The comments also mark a new low in relations between the two leaders. Trudeau spokeswoman Chantal Gagnon said: "No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that." The attack cast further doubt on the future of the three-nation North American Free Trade Agreement, which underpins $1.2 trillion in annual trade between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Markets and business groups are openly fretting about the damage that a collapse could provoke. Trump, who wants major changes to the 1994 treaty, has already concluded a text with Mexico and is threatening to leave out Canada unless it signs up by this Sunday. Trump told reporters he had rebuffed a Trudeau request for a meeting "because his tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move and I told him 'forget about it'. And frankly we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada." Earlier on Wednesday, Trudeau shrugged off US pressure to quickly agree to a deal and indicated it was possible the three member nations might fail to conclude a new pact. The two sides are still far apart on major issues such as how to settle disputes and US demands for more access to Canada's protected dairy market. "We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," Trump said in an apparent reference to Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. Relations between the Canadian and US leaders have been chilly since June, when Trump left a Group of Seven summit in Canada and then accused Trudeau of being dishonest and weak. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer - Freeland's counterpart at the talks - on Tuesday had complained Canada was not making enough concessions and said time was running out. Canadian officials said they do not believe Trump can rework NAFTA into a bilateral deal without the approval of Congress. "We will keep working as long as it takes to get to the right deal for Canada," Trudeau earlier told reporters at the United Nations. He has repeatedly said he is ready to walk away from the talks rather than sign a document he thinks is bad. Asked about the challenge that autos tariffs would pose, Trudeau said Canada would need to feel confident "about the path forward as we move forward - if we do - on a NAFTA 2.0." The three nations' auto industries are highly integrated and tariffs on Canadian cars would be hugely disruptive. Speaking separately, Canada's ambassador to Washington said that on a scale of 1 to 10, the chances of an agreement by the 30 September deadline were 5. "If it doesn't happen by the end of the week, we'll just keep working away and trying to get the best deal for Canada," David MacNaughton told a Toronto event arranged by Politico Canada. Trump administration official said the text of the agreement with Mexico was set to be published on Friday. The official declined to be named because the matter has not yet been made public. A spokesman for the US Trade Representative's Office declined to comment. Trudeau said existing US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium in late May would have to be scrapped before Canada felt comfortable signing a new NAFTA. The Trump administration has said the text of an agreement between the three nations is needed by Sunday to allow the current Mexican government to sign it before it leaves office at the end of November. As India and Russia prepare for the 19th India-Russia summit on 5 October, much attention is on the meeting between Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin. As India and Russia prepare for the 19th India-Russia summit on 5 October, much attention is on the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian president Vladimir Putin. In the light of US sanctions on Russia and India's growing bilateral relationship with the US, Russia's cooperation with China, and anticipation of several deals being signed, the 19th summit between the two neighbours assumes major global significance. Putin is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on 5 October. The upcoming summit comes after an informal meeting between Modi and Putin in Russia's Sochi city in May this year. The aim of the informal summit was to use the friendship and trust between the two countries to create convergence on key global and regional issues. The October summit is likely to have important government-to-government (G2G) agreements for the 'Make-in-India' project. Also likely to be included in the agenda is the discussion regarding the North-South Corridor which will allow for a shorter route from Mumbai to Europe through Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Further, the training of astronauts for India's first manned space mission 'Gaganyaan' for 2021 is likely to happen in Russia's Star City. India-Russia defence ties With almost 60 percent of India's defence arsenal comprising of Russian-made arms, defence plans are likely to be top priority during the summit. Earlier in September, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had indicated that India will not allow its time-tested security ties with Russia to be impacted by the US sanctions on military transactions with Moscow. Russia has been one of India's key suppliers of arms and ammunition. After years of negotiations, both countries are on the verge of inking a Rs 40,000 crore deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems for the Indian Air Force. On 17 September, the defence minister had said that negotiations on the S-400 missile deal with Russia were almost complete, hinting that India was on course to finalise it soon. "India has maintained its sovereignty as regards to its relationship with countries. We shall maintain it in all earnestness," she said. The deal is currently with the Cabinet Committee on Security for final consideration. The Economic Times reported that Russian officials said that India would need to sign the deal by the end of this year for the arms to be delivered by 2020, which is the timeline New Delhi is aiming for. The S-400 system has been ordered by China, for whom the deliveries are almost in order, and also by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. In 2016, defence plans showed that the S-400 would save Rs 49,300 crore for the taxpayer over the next decade, as it would significantly cut the costs of short and medium range missiles. However, the US' imposition of CAASTA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) law, which is partly aimed against Russia, has caused some uncertainty about the deal. CAATSA mandates the Donald Trump administration to punish entities engaging in significant transaction with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia. In 2016, India and Russia signed an agreement on the 'Triumf' interceptor-based missile system which can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones at ranges of up to 400 kilometre. S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. Apart from the S-400 missiles, India and Russia might discuss plans for several defence systems in the October summit. According to reports, these are: Nuclear-powered attack submarines; AK-103 assault rifle worth $2 billion; Krivak/Talwar class stealth frigates for the Indian Navy; an agreement for the production of Ka-226 light utility helicopters which will be jointly manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russian company Rostec; and IL-78 transport aircrafts. Nuclear ties The discussions surrounding furthering the neighbours' nuclear relations are likely to include plans of a second site for a Russian nuclear plant in India. The Russia-supported Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) is one of the largest nuclear power stations in India. In Sushma Swaraj's visit to Russia earlier in September, a topic of priority was to negotiate a plan to expand civil nuclear partnership with Russia. At the moment, Russia is the only country to be in the process of construction of a nuclear plant in India. In the past, Russia has been instrumental in the operations of India's third nuclear leg which included the nuclear-based submarines armed with ballistic missiles. During the 5 October meeting, India and Russia are likely to sign a deal which will signify the former's increased investments in Russian oil fields. India is hoping to develop energy ties as one of the strong stilts of the strategic partnership. US' relations with India and Russia In spite of US sanctions on Russia, India has signalled a determination to maintain defence ties with Moscow. However, In the first week of September, a senior US official said that there would be no blanket waiver for defence trade with Russia. The India-Russia summit comes on the heels of the 2+2 dialogue between India and the US. The dialogue ended with the signing of the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which will allow Indian military platforms to access US tactical communications and purchase sensitive electronic equipment, according to India Today. During the dialogue, no official position had been taken on whether CAATSA would be invoked against India. A source of concern for Russia is India's growing equation with the US, after the signing of the COMCASA this year and 2016's Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), which allows for Indian warships and aircraft to refuel in US military bases and vice versa. An India Today report, 'Ballet with the Bear', said that, "Russia has now insisted India sign similar protocols with them, hence, one of the items on the agenda of the India-Russia summit is believed to be a LEMOA-like logistics supply agreement," adding that, "Signing such agreements with Russia will help the Modi government balance the relationship with Russia and the US, both of which are needed at this critical juncture." In the past few months, India and Russia have set up an arrangement as a possible way to work around the US sanctions by agreeing to conduct the transactions for the military purchases in rupees instead of dollars. With inputs from agencies The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the constitutional validity of Aadhaar has garnered a variety of responses from media outlets: some in favour, others not so much. A constitutional bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, on Wednesday upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar while weeding out the provisions which could be misused, which has garnered mixed reactions from media outlets across the country. The bench maintained that the government's want for a UID is valid, adding that the law that enables the implementation of Aadhaar does not violate citizens' right to privacy. Instead, the bench said that the project empowers marginalised sections of society and procures dignity for them by leveraging the power of technology. Nonetheless, the apex court bench restricted the government's push to make it mandatory for services such as bank accounts, mobile connections and school admissions. The Supreme Court's ruling has garnered a variety of responses from newsmedia outlets: Judgment highlights Centre's original intent in proposing the scheme An article in The Hindu titled 'Aadhaar survives' argued that in upholding the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and clarifying areas of its use and misuse, the apex court has restored the original intent of the scheme: to ensure that subsidy beneficiaries are actually receiving their due. The newspaper added that though the judgment narrows the scope of Aadhaar, there is now a realistic framework within which it can work. An article in Hindustan Times titled 'SC order on Aadhaar can plug leakages; restrict data mining' underscored this view, saying Aadhaar can now act as a tool for inclusion. It went on to argue that it is morally incumbent upon any government that subscribes to any ideology to provide the faceless and nameless with an identity, so they may be targeted with government benefits. The ruling ultimately unlocks the benefits of an easy-to-use, digital identity for poor and marginalised citizens, a piece in The Indian Express titled 'Trusting Aadhaar' added. Another Hindustan Times piece titled 'Supreme Court judgment travels far beyond Aadhaar debate' said that the ultimate metric that will set the tone for Aadhaar is its performance on the ground. If it leads to exclusion, fraud, violations of privacy and inconvenience, the purpose of the scheme is defeated. 'Blind faith in technology is an enemy of reason' In 'Supreme Court judgment travels far beyond Aadhaar debate', Hindustan Times argued that while analysing the Supreme Court judgment on Aadhaar, it is necessary to note how technology changes and reorders relationships between individuals and collective bodies. "While such 'disruption' is often viewed positively, a more critical examination will reveal that without proper safeguards, which may be implemented by design ethics, or ultimately legal regulation, technology can be an instrument of oppression," the article said. The implied blind faith in technology can prove to be an enemy of reason and sound public policy, it added. The piece from The Hindu added that Chandrachaud's words about dignity and rights of individuals cannot be made to depend on algorithms and probabilities. must also not be forgotten. The Deccan Herald, in an op-ed titled 'Aadhaar Judgment: a silver lining to a dense dark cloud' said that it is also important to remember that when the Aadhaar Act passed in 2016, it completely bypassed the Rajya Sabha. Therefore, Wednesday's judgment is at risk of setting a precedent for future legislation and governments to do the same whenever it is convenient. The other worrisome aspect of this judgment, the piece said, is the fact that the ruling has conveniently ignored the exclusion that Aadhaar has kicked up. The apex court said that the majority should not suffer because of a minute percentage of people being excluded, which the article calls a problematic approach. "Any policy that causes deaths of citizens is a bad policy," it said. The government needs to step up Another article in Hindustan Times titled 'Supreme Court judgment travels far beyond Aadhaar debate' noted that while beginning work on implementing the judgment, the government should keep Chandrachud's dissenting opinion in mind. The piece argues that if anything, both the opinions released by the apex court, Justices Chandrachaud as well as Sikri's statements, indicate blatant issues that exist or continue to exist in the Aadhaar scheme: While it is true that justice Chandrachud objected to the scheme on principle, Sikri's comments also point out past issues with the use of metadata, minor privacy, banking and corporate misuse. BBC, in a piece titled 'World's biggest ID scheme Aadhaar still poses risks' added that the government should, in fact, use the risks outlined in his dissent to shape its future course and do so with transparency, particularly because security breaches of the Aadhaar database are frequently reported, often by independent researchers. In cases of data breach, the government should avoid its default response of outright denial, according to this article. It should engage with researchers, rather than accuse them of fear mongering. The government should proactively release information on data quality and security, and document shortcomings as well as remedies to them. The government should also not overstate the benefits of Aadhaar, since its reports on the savings from the scheme have never been confirmed by independent scrutiny. In a BBC-led study that researched Aadhars efficacy using publicly available data in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal, the news agency found that Aadhaar has achieved scale, the quality of demographic data could still improve. It also found that Aadhaar-related exclusion from India's critical food subsidy programme is significant. Across rural areas of the three states surveyed, it is estimated that nearly two million residents are prevented from receiving subsidised food grain each month due to complications arising from Aadhaar. The Times of India ultimately conceded that the nation has to abide by the majority judgment, whether favourably or otherwise. The Supreme Court's ruling on Aadhaar has limited the scheme's chances of becoming a tool for mass surveillance. At the same time, the court has also struck down provisions that allowed authentication and identity information to be shared "in the interest of national security." On instance of Pervez Parvaz, a social activist, an FIR had been lodged in Gorakhpur against Yogi Adityanath and others on 27 January, 2007 allegedly for promoting communal hatred between two sections of the society. Gorakhpur: A 64-year-old man, who has been pursuing a criminal case in various courts against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath since 2007, has been arrested allegedly for raping a woman. Superintendent of Police (City) Vinay Singh said on Wednesday the woman was allegedly raped by Pervez Parvaz and another man Mahmood alias Jumman, described as an 'occultist'. "The woman was assaulted when she had come to Jumman for treatment of some ailment," Singh said. "A medical examination has confirmed rape," he added. He said while Parvaz was arrested Tuesday evening from a house in Nakhas area of Kotwali police station jurisdiction, he was remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday. "The police is on lookout for his accomplice Jumman," the officer said. On instance of Parvaz, a social activist, an FIR had been lodged at Kotwali police station in Gorakhpur against Adityanath and others on 27 January, 2007 allegedly for promoting communal hatred between two sections of the society. It was alleged that Adityanath's "hate speech" had triggered several incidents of violence that day. The violence had continued for a few days. Though a magisterial court later had taken cognisance of the chargesheet against Adityanath, the sessions court had set aside the magisterial court's order. Parvaz then had moved the Allahabad High Court against the sessions court order. Though the high court dismissed the Parvaz's plea against the sessions court order, he subsequently moved the Supreme Court. The apex court in July sought the Uttar Pradesh government's stand on his plea challenging the dropping of the 2007 Gorakhpur riots case involving Adityanath. A five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in holding Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, dealing with the offence of adultery, as unconstitutional and struck down the penal provision. The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Section 497 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which penalises adultery saying it was unconstitutional, dented the individuality of women and treated them as "chattel of husbands". The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with adultery, holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. The petitioner's lawyer expressed his happiness, calling it a monumental judgment. "It is a monumental judgment. I am extremely happy with the judgment. The people of India should also be happy," said Raj Kallishwaram. The judgment garnered various responses, with most lauding the judgment but some questioning it while comparing it to the triple talaq verdict. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and lawyer Asaduddin Owaisi, asked if Supreme Court has decriminalised Section 377 and 497, why is triple talaq still a penal offence. He asks if the Modi government will learn from these judgments and take back their unconstitutional Triple Talaq ordinance, also known as the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance. "My opinion is that the Triple Talaq ordinance should be challenged in Court because it's a fraud. In the first page of the ordinance, the government says that Supreme Court has termed it unconstitutional but the court didn't say any such thing. Rather, it had just set it aside," Owaisi told ANI. The Supreme Court didnt say Triple Talaaq is Unconstitutional but set it aside but Apex Court has said 377 & 497 is Unconstitutional will Modi Government learn from these judgments and take back their Unconstitutional Ordinance on Triple Talaaq Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 27, 2018 Journalist, Seema Pasha also had an opinion similar to Owaisi's. "So, a Muslim man can be adulterous but if he initiates divorce... he can be thrown in jail based on a complaint filed by his wife or her family?" she asks. Barkha Dutt, a journalist, also pointed out the paradox in the judgment. Though she welcomed the judgment she also stated that adultery being decriminalised and triple talaq being criminalised is contradictory. Obvious paradox: Adultery not criminal now which is great; Abhorrent Triple Talaq gone- Superb. But TT criminalized which is contradictory. Rights of Women should be protected via alimony & against abuse & violence for which laws already exist. Rest should be non-criminal barkha dutt (@BDUTT) September 27, 2018 The judgment was welcomed by activists, who said the archaic law should have been dumped a long time ago to keep pace with the rest of world. The president of National Commission of Women, Rekha Sharma, welcomed the judgment, stating that not only is this judgment for all women, but it is also gender neutral. "This is a law from the British era. Although the British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it," she said. I welcome the Supreme Courts verdict to strike down Sec 497 and abolish the outdated #adulterylaw as a criminal offence. Women are not the property of their husbands. This decision is not only for all the women but it is also a gender-neutral judgement. @ncwindia @MinistryWCD rekha sharma (@sharmarekha) September 27, 2018 Sadanand Dhume, a columnist, expressed his satisfaction over the judgment. He said that 2018 will be remembered as the year "judges tore down the scaffolding of Victorian morality in India erected more than 150 years ago by the British". Three weeks after legalizing gay sex, Indias Supreme Court has decriminalized adultery. 2018 will be remembered as the year judges tore down the scaffolding of Victorian morality in India erected more than 150 years ago by the British. #Section497 https://t.co/IakORVaV5b Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) September 27, 2018 Journalist and author Anna MM Vetticad lauded the judgment stating that adultery should only be grounds for divorce and not a crime. Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan lauded the apex court for a 'fine judgment'. According to social activist Ranjana Kumari, "patriarchal control" over women was unacceptable. "We welcome the judgment by the SC striking down the 158-year-old law based on Victorian values... which treats women as property of husbands and criminalises adultery. Patriarchal control over women's body unacceptable," she tweeted. While adultery should not be a criminal offence, the bench held that adultery should continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be grounds for dissolution of marriage or divorce. "There can't be any social licence which destroys a home," Chief Justice Misra said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both. "We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional," said Justice Misra, who wrote the judgement for himself and Justice Khanwilkar, adding that any provision treating women with inequality is not constitutional and it's time to say that "husband is not the master of woman". The CJI began reading the judgment by saying that the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes "the I, me and you". He said equality is the governing parameter of the Constitution and Section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women. Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the bench, said Section 497 is a clear violation of the fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and there is no justification for continuation of the provision. Justice Nariman termed Section 497 as an archaic law and concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, saying that the penal provision is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity and is destructive of women's dignity, self-respect as it treats women as "chattel of husbands". Adultery might not be the cause of unhappy marriage, it could be a result of an unhappy marriage, Justice Misra said. Justice Chandrachud said autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices and held adultery as a relic of past. Legislature has imposed a condition on sexuality of women by making adultery as offence, he said, adding that Section 497 is a denial of the substance of equality. The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar said that mere adultery cannot be a crime, but if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partner's adulterous relation, then if evidence is produced, it could be treated as an abetment to suicide. With inputs from PTI The phenomenon, which is hard to predict and elusive, has shown up at El Porto in Manhattan Beach and Marina del Rey this week. Bharti is one of the BJP leaders facing charges of criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya. Union minister Uma Bharati on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya dispute, saying it was an important matter. It is an important day for me, and I welcome the Supreme Court decision on Ayodhya. I hope for a verdict soon, she said. Along with veteran politicians LK Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi, Bharti is one of the BJP leaders who face charges of criminal conspiracy in the politically-sensitive 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case. The Supreme Court had ordered a Lucknow sessions court to hold day-to-day trials of the case and conclude it in two years by 19 April, 2019. Bharti also went on to say that Ayodhya is an important religious location for Hindus as it is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, but it does not hold such a significance for Muslims. "This is not a matter of a religious dispute. Ayodhya is an important religious place for Hindus because it is the birthplace of Lord Ram. For Muslims, it is not a religious place; for them, it is Mecca, just like it is the Vatican City for Christians. This matter was turned into a religious dispute, and finally, it got transformed into a land dispute," she said. This isn't a matter of religious dispute, as Ayodhya is an important religious place for Hindus because it is the Ram Janambhoomi but for Muslims, it isn't a religious place, for them it is Mecca. This matter was created &it finally got transformed into a land dispute: Uma Bharti pic.twitter.com/DK1MGnPajo ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to refer to a five-judge constitutional bench a plea on the Ayodhya dispute. The Muslim litigants had insisted that the matter be heard by a larger bench claiming that the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict dividing the disputed land in three parts giving one to deity of Ramlala Virajman, another to Hindu sect Nirmohi Akhara and a third to the Muslims relied on a 1994 top court judgment. In a majority judgment, held that this 1994 judgement of the Supreme Court in the Ismail Faruqui case, which held that a mosque was not integral to Islam and namaaz could be offered anywhere, need not be revisited. In a 2:1 verdict, the court maintained that the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence, and the previous verdict has no relevance to it. Ayushman Bharat scheme is a national health protection scheme which will cover 10 crore poor families or approximately 50 crore people. Ayushman Bharat scheme is a national health protection scheme which will cover 10 crore poor families or approximately 50 crore people, providing health coverage upto Rs 5 lakh per family. The scheme will prevent at least 66 lakh families from falling into debt trap due to spending on healthcare. This is the worlds largest healthcare scheme sponsored fully by the government but its success will depend on many factors. More than 1,300 ailments are covered under it, including heart diseases. Termed as PM Jan Arogya Scheme, no money shall be paid by the poor family for treatment in case of hospitalisation under the scheme. Public or empanelled private hospitals have been roped in to provide service. This is a game changer in Indian public health care system. According to NITI Aayog, India spends only 1.3 percent of its GDP on healthcare. Whereas China spends 2.45 percent while Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand spend almost double the amount spent by India. The scheme is largely going to benefit the poor and marginalised sections of society living in rural or urban India, and those who cannot pay hospital expenses. About 25 percent rural and 18 percent urban population sink into poverty due to medical emergencies which batter the finances of poor families. Ayushman Bharat will target these poor families and is believed to play a big role in uplifting their quality of life. The government machinery claims that now, the poorest of the poor can get free healthcare by what is termed as Namocare or Modicare. Under the scheme, government is planning to set up 1.5 lakh primary healthcare and wellness centres which will be upgraded from time to time. All such upgraded centres will be linked to hospitals digitally and will provide basic and essential health services including medicines. These centres are supposed to have a doctor, a midwife and a pharmacist. As per the scheme, along with Ayurveda, medical systems of unani and yoga will also be introduced. Central and state health agencies will have the responsibility to bear the cost of these wellness centres. IAS Alok Kumar, working as a consultant with NITI Aayog, says, Government wants to provide healthcare to the poor and will pay to those who can pitch in whether it is a private or government hospital. However, questions have been raised about the economic viability of the scheme, but the government denies that it is economically unviable. NITI Ayog, which has worked out the details of the framework of the Ayushman Bharat project, has said that questions of economic viability of the scheme are not based on facts. According to NITI Aayog, hospitalisation rate in India is somewhere between 1 and 1.5 percent. Under the scheme, if 1 percent of the covered 50 crore people are hospitalised, around 50 lakh people will be given healthcare benefits. If the hospitalisation rate is 1.5 percent, 75 lakh people are to be admitted for treatment. Government has set the target of 10 crore families for health insurance. According to the government records, the focus is to ensure that the premium must not exceed Rs 1,100 per family annually for Rs 5 lakh insurance cover. The estimated cost for 50 crore people will be around Rs 10 thousand crore 60 percent to be borne by the Centre and the rest 40 percent by the state. According to NITI Aayog estimate, even if hospitalisation rate is doubled after the implementation of the scheme, the cost is not likely to exceed beyond Rs 20 thousand crore, which is quite reasonable. Who is to be benefited under the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be decided by the respective states which are on board, but every one who is listed in the deprivation numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 as per Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 database, will be automatically enrolled in the scheme. The number of these families in the country is 10.74 crore. Different states on board with the scheme have chalked out their own strategies for implementation. Chhattisgarh will include almost every one in the state as beneficiary. Andhra Pradesh will include about 85 percent of its population in the scheme, while Rajasthan has already decided to include 75 percent of the population in Modicare. Apart from the Socio Economic Caste Census, the state government can also bring other groups as beneficiaries under the scheme. Upon hospitalisation, government is offering 15 percent less than the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rate to the hospitals. CGHS provides private ward, while under PM Jan Arogya Yojna, only general ward is permitted. Hospitals accredited to the NABHL will be offered 10 percent more. National Accreditation Board of Hospitals is a competent organisation and is even recognised abroad. It provides a robust healthcare system with top class laboratories. Government is also likely to incentivise those who want to set up hospitals in remote areas. Therefore, according to NITI Aayog, the Ayushman Bharat scheme is very much economically sustainable. Government is offering standard rates that are prevalent in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The bigger challenge is timely payment to the insurers. Another challenge is to switch from low volume high margin pattern to high volume low margin. If these challenges are met, the scheme is likely to be a great success. NITI Aayog is also focusing on the point that private hospitals should set up more general wards and the government will make them timely payment. If this is clinched, half the battle is won. Most of the states on board with the scheme are setting up their own trusts except Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra so that uninterrupted service is assured. Whether this service comes from private or government hospital does not matter. 25 percent doctors are working in private hospitals in India. Therefore, government does not want to ignore the private players who can play a big role in providing better health services to the people. Almost all government institutes are associated with the PM Jan Arogya Scheme which is a big strength for the government. Government hospitals in Kerala meet highest standards. Governments focus is on better delivery system. Whoever provides better service will be paid as per the rate decided. Government believes that both private and government hospitals can pitch in to provide better healthcare facilities to the people. Health services are in private hands in Canada, Germany, Netherlands, which is quite successful. Therefore, government cannot ignore the contribution of the private players in this field. If these challenges are met, there is no doubt that the Ayushman Bharat will prove to be a game-changer in the lives of the millions of impoverished people. BJP MLA Sangeet Som was attacked on Wednesday night at his residence in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh by unidentified miscreants. The attackers opened fire and hurled a grenade at the house. BJP MLA Sangeet Som was reportedly attacked on Wednesday night at his residence in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh by unidentified miscreants. The attackers, according to sources, opened fire and hurled a grenade at the house. Sources said that there were about 4-5 of the attackers who came in a car and attacked the Meerut Cantonment bungalow when Som was at home. Som is under the cover of level 'Z' security, and there were around 32 guards present on duty when the attack took place. ANI quoted the second-time MLA as saying, "I have not received any threats. But yes, I had received a call two years ago that I will be killed with a grenade." Meerut: Residence of BJP MLA Sangeet Som was attacked by unidentified miscreants last night. They opened fire & hurled a hand grenade at his residence. The MLA says 'I have not received any threats. But yes, I had received a call 2 years ago that I will be killed with a grenade.' pic.twitter.com/jigrKrlMqg ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 26, 2018 According to Times Now, no one was hurt in the incident which took place around 12.40 am late night on Wednesday, just a few minutes after Som reached his residence after visiting his constituency Sardhana. In March 2018, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court had asked the Centre to take a decision on the plea made by Som to increase his security arrangements. On 13 March, the court sought the Centre's reply on the plea filed by Som seeking Z plus security cover in other states. In his plea, the BJP MLA had argued that his life is under threat from terrorist organisations. Arguing in the case, the Centre's representative had said that the security provided to the MLA is enough for ensuring his safety. Security is ensured by the police and local government to high-risk and VIP individuals. The threat perception decides the categories of the level of security provided. They are: Z+ (highest level), Z, Y and X. Among these, Z+ category has a security cover of 36 personnel, and Z category has a security cover of 22 personnel. Som is an accused of inciting riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013. He was given top-level security in 2014. With inputs from ANI and 101 Reporters The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Thursday its verdict on a batch of pleas by Muslim groups on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute today, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will kick off his two-day visit to the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh from Thursday - here are the day's top stories SC verdict likely on plea seeking transfer of Ayodhya case to larger bench The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Thursday its verdict on a batch of pleas by Muslim groups on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute seeking reconsideration by a larger bench, the observations made by it in a 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to namaaz. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer will pronounce the verdict, which had reserved it on 20 July. It was argued by the Muslim groups before a special bench of Chief Justice Misra and Justices Bhushan and Nazeer that the "sweeping" observation of the apex court in the verdict needed to be reconsidered by a five-judge bench as "it had and will have a bearing" on the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case. SC verdict on plea challenging adultery law today The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its judgment on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the penal law on adultery on Thursday. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Misra had earlier reserved its verdict after Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, concluded her arguments. The hearing in the case by the bench, which also comprised Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, went on for six days and had commenced on 1 August. The Centre had favoured retention of penal law on adultery, saying that it is a public wrong which causes mental and physical injury to the spouse, children and the family. Rahul on two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh from Thursday Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will kick off his two-day visit to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh from Thursday after offering prayers at the famous Kamta Nath temple in Chitrakoot, a religious town closely associated with Lord Ram. This will be Gandhi's second visit within a span of 10 days to the BJP-ruled state, where Assembly elections are due this year-end. The Congress president would address a meeting at Chitrakoot before leaving for Satna, where he is scheduled to address a public gathering. Later in the evening, the Congress chief will leave for Rewa, where he will hold a roadshow. SAARC foreign ministers meeting today The SAARC meeting, which will most likely include a lunch attended by the Foreign Ministers of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is scheduled for 27 September. However, there are no plans so far for the possibility of a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York. Saina Nehwal in Korea Open pre-quarter finals Saina Nehwal will play South Korea's Kim Ga-eun in the pre-quarter-finals of the $600,000 Korea Open on Thursday. The former World No.1 Indian, who won a Commonwealth Games gold and a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2018, beat Korea's Kim Hyo-min 21-12, 21-11 in a lop-sided opening round contest on Wednesday to enter the Round-of-16. Michael Kors to buy Versace for $2.1 billion Fashion designer Michael Kors is set to buy Italian fashion house Versace for $2.1 billion in a bid to challenge Europe's conglomerates at a time of rapid consolidation in the global luxury market. Last year, Kors bought shoe designer Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion. Kors, in a statement, said it was committed to investing in Versace's growth, with a goal to increase its annual revenue from $850 million currently to over $2 billion over the next few years. Xiaomi Smart Home Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi will hold a big launch event in the city of Bengaluru today. Steering clear of its usual smartphone launches, Xiaomi is expected to announce new smart home devices that are part of its Smart Living lineup. The devices are expected to go on sale ahead of the festival season. Going by the hints given out by the teasers, Xiaomi is expected to launch a new Mi Band 3 fitness band, a new air purifier called the Mi Air Purifier 2S, a home security camera and even a brand new Mi TV model. Also at the launch event, is a Mi 90 smart suitcase. Alarmed by the climbing death toll of the big cats, the Gujarat Forest Department has set up 64 teams to screen the vast forest area of Gir to identify sick and weak lions and move them to rescue centres. Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Forest Department on Wednesday recovered one more carcass of a lioness from the Gir forests, the only abode of the Asiatic Lion, taking the total death toll of the beast to 14 in as many days, even as seven more lions were rescued. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) AK Saxena said a lioness was found dead on Wednesday in the Dalkhania range of the sanctuary. The forest department also received the molecular virology report of the samples collected from two lion cubs found earlier, from the Junagadh Veterinary College. "The samples ruled out the possibility of Canine Distemper (CD) infection in the cubs," Saxena stated in a press release. According to the press release, the forest department screened 1,740 square km of the Gir protected area and adjoining areas. It found 460 lions, out of which seven hurt lions have been rescued. The forest officials also rescued three lions and lionesses each and a cub from the Dalkhania and Jasadhar ranges from where the 14 deaths were reported and placed them in Sarasia Virdi of the protected area. "All the rescued seven lions are in good health now. They are under observation and they will be analyzed for their health", states the release. The forest officials have also rescued a lion with superficial wounds found in the revenue area of Bhavnagar and brought to the rescue centre. Alarmed by the climbing death toll of the big cats, the Gujarat Forest Department has set up 64 teams to screen the vast forest area of Gir to identify sick and weak lions and move them to rescue centres. Meanwhile, a Central government team of wildlife experts also flew in to Gujarat to find out the reasons for the sudden deaths in such a short span. As many as 11 carcasses of lions were found from the protected Gir sanctuary between September 11 and 19, of which two carcasses were found from the Jasadhar range while the rest in Dalkhania range. According to the claims of Gujarat forest officials, the lions were killed in territorial war and infighting. Later, the officials added that besides infighting, some of the big cats died due to infection. Gujarat's Additional Chief Secretary for Environment and Forests Rajiv Gupta said viscera samples of the dead animals have been sent to Pune-based National Institute of Virology. Once the institute's report arrives, further course of action would be decided, he said, and added that 64 teams comprising more than 270 personnel had been deployed in the forests. According to the latest census in 2015, the Gir forest region has 523 lions, 109 of which were male and 201 female, besides 140 cubs and 73 sub-adults. There were 411 beasts in the 2010 survey and 359 in the 2005 census. The state government has, in a written reply in the state assembly, has accepted the instances of unnatural deaths of lions in Gujarat. According to the figures provided, during the last two years, 184 lions have died in Gir, of which 32 were unnatural deaths. The EC said it has enhanced the requirement of additional VVPATs for the 2019 LS polls from 125 percent to 135 percent, considering the failure rate of VVPATs in past elections New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday said the required number of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines would be available well before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel said it has enhanced the requirement of additional VVPATs from 125 percent to 135 percent considering the failure rate of VVPATs in past elections, besides adopting the hardware improvement for the machines in view of a large number of paper trail units failure in Kairana and Bhadara-Gondiya by-polls earlier this year. "In order to meet the requirement of 100 percent voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines for all polling stations for the upcoming Lok Sabha Election in 2019, the Commission placed an order of 17.45 lakh VVPATs to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bangalore and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad. "To date, 9.45 lakh units have been produced by the firms. Both the public sector firms have assured the Commission that the remaining VVPAT units (8 lakh) will be manufactured and supplied to the various states and Union Territories comfortably before the end of November this year," the EC said in a statement. The poll panel said it has been "consistently and periodically" reviewing the status of production and supply of VVPAT units with the top brass of BEL and ECIL. It said it is also keeping in touch with the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) which is carrying out a "rigorous supervision" of the production process and product performance to ensure that the design, production and supply activities of all the units of EVMs and VVPATs are "streamlined and completed in a time-bound manner" after incorporating the features suggested by the TEC. "The officers of the Commission are monitoring the manufacturing and supply of machines on a daily basis in order to ensure timely delivery and pre-poll preparedness," the EC said. The Commission has estimated 171 percent Ballot Units, 125 percent Control Units and 135 percent VVPATs requirements for upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In case of any error in VVPAT, only VVPAT is replaced with the reserve one, whereas, in case of any error in Ballot Unit or Control Unit of the EVM, the entire set of Ballot Unit, Control Unit and VVPAT is changed, resulting in more requirement of VVPATs than of Control Units of EVMs. "Learning from the experience of Kairana and Bhandara-Gondiya bypolls held in May 2018, where the errors were mainly caused by excessive exposure to illumination in the polling stations, the Commission has adopted the hardware improvement recommended by the TEC to prevent the auto shutdown of VVPATs due to excessive light," it said. The EC said systematic preparatory activities, including the detailed first level checking of EVMs and VVPATs, have already commenced across various states/UTs ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and will be completed in an efficient, effective and timely manner. "First level checks workshops and training of polling officials are being regularly conducted by the Commission to minimize EVM and VVPAT failures due to human errors," the poll panel said. In the last 20 years, the EC has conducted 113 state assembly elections and three Lok Sabha elections using EVMs. Since June 2017, VVPAT machines have also been used along with EVMs in general as well as by-elections. Ailing Goa BJP legislator Francis D'Souza, who was recently dropped from the Manohar Parrikar-led Cabinet, said on Thursday that he would resign from the state party's core committee once he returns from the US. Panaji: Ailing Goa BJP legislator Francis D'Souza, who was recently dropped from the Manohar Parrikar-led Cabinet, said on Thursday that he would resign from the state party's core committee once he returns from the US. Dismissing rumours of resigning from the post of MLA as a mark of protest, D'Souza, who is admitted at a hospital in the US for an undisclosed ailment, said this is his fight for "self-respect". Parrikar, who is admitted in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi because of a pancreatic ailment, had on Monday dropped BJP ministers D'Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar from his Cabinet. BJP MLAs Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral were inducted in their places. D'Souza, who headed the Urban Development Department, was unhappy over his removal from the state cabinet, and had asked if this was the reward given to him by the party for his 20-year-long loyalty. "I will resign from the Goa BJP unit's core committee once I am back on 15 October. I don't want anything from the party in future. Even if offered, I will not take up any government position," D'Souza told PTI over the phone. The core committee is the BJP's key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Union minister Shripad Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others. "I am fighting for my self-respect. If you can't respect that, then I don't want anything from you. It's all over," said D'Souza, who got elected on the BJP ticket from Mapusa constituency in North Goa district for the past two decades. Asserting that he would not quit as an MLA, he said, "I have been elected by my voters for five years, so there is no question of resigning as legislator. If I resign, I would be disrespecting my voters." He said it was the chief minister's right to keep or drop him from the Cabinet. "Nobody can interfere in the chief minister's right. There is no role of the party high command in my dismissal from the cabinet," he said. However, criticising Parrikar's style of functioning, he said the chief minister does not take advice from anyone, including the party high command. D'Souza alleged that "few leaders" in the BJP were trying to get him removed from the party since 2012. "Maybe they felt that I overstayed in their party. Usually, any guest should not overstay. I have been there for too long in the BJP," he said. Claiming that he had joined the BJP on Parrikar's request, D'Souza said he would not advise his son, who is aiming for a political career in Mapusa, to join the party. A Revanth Reddy was appointed as one of the Working Presidents of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) recently. Hyderabad: The Income Tax Department conducted searches at the residences of Telangana Congress Working president A Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad on Thursday. The Congress party condemned the raids and termed it as "political vendetta" by the ruling TRS in the state and the BJP at the Centre. A senior official of the I-T Department confirmed the searches but did not reveal details such as what triggered the raids. Calls made to Revanth Reddy for his reaction went unanswered. Reddy was appointed as one of the Working Presidents of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) recently. Jubilee Hills police inspector P Chandra Shekar told PTI they deployed police force near Reddy's residence to avoid any untoward incident. The city police had earlier issued notice to the Congress leader and former MLA seeking his appearance as part of investigations in a case relating to alleged irregularities committed by office-bearers of a Co-operative Housing Society in 2004. Describing the I-T searches as "politically motivated", TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy tweeted that the TRS and BJP were hand in glove. "IT & ED raids at @INCTelangana Working President @revanth_anumulas house is pure political vendetta to demoralise our strong MLAs. The people will teach KCR a lesson for being hand in glove with the BJP and the Central govt. I severely condemn these politically motivated raids," he tweeted. On 31 May 2015, Revanth Reddy, then in Telugu Desam Party, was caught by Anti-Corruption Bureau while allegedly paying a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in Legislative Council elections held on 1 June 2015. The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday successfully test fired the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra from a Su-30 aircraft, the Defence Ministry said. New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday successfully test fired the indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) Astra from a Su-30 aircraft, the Defence Ministry said. The missile, tested at Kalaikunda Air Force Station, "successfully engaged a manoeuvring target with high precision meeting the mission objectives". In the series of trials held till date, Astra has been launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope. The flight test assumes significance as it was part of the series of final pre-induction trials. Astra, deemed to be the best in class weapon system, has undergone more than 20 developmental trials. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while lauding the efforts of the IAF, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and other teams involved in the mission, said India had attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of advanced weapon systems. Pastor K John Joseph was arrested on 17 August for sexually abusing 46 girls who were staying at a Child Care Institute (CCI) managed by IERF Editor's note: This is a multi-part series that investigates sexual abuse in the Church and the institutions that it runs. Articles in the series rely on interviews with victims, abusers, those accused of abuse, church elders, parish members and state officials to examine the role of the three institutions that are critical to the issue: The Church, the community, and the State. Prem (name changed to protect identity) calls himself a god-fearing man. A lorry driver by profession, the money he was earning wasnt sufficient to pay for the education of his daughters. Vinukonda Mandal in Guntur District didn't have schools that were good. On the advice of a friend, his wife and he decided to send them to Ongole, to stay and study at the school owned by the Indian Evangelical Relief Fellowship (IERF). "I sent them to a man who talks to others about god, who is old enough to be my father. God won't forgive him for what he did to my daughters," he says. Pastor K John Joseph was arrested on 17 August for sexually abusing 46 girls who were staying at a Child Care Institute (CCI) managed by IERF. The girls were in the age group of seven to 15 years of age. He was charged under Section 10, 12 and 14 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act (aggravated sexual assault of a child, using a child for pornographic purposes) along with Sections 354 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (outrage and insulting the modesty of women). Joseph has approached the court for bail twice citing ill health and both the petitions were rejected. UCLI School, situated in Cloughpet, Ongole is registered under the banner of IERF, an organisation managed by Joseph and his family. The School has a Child Care Institute (CCI) attached to it which houses close to 150 students, out of which 60 were girls. Most of the students staying at the CCI are from lower economic backgrounds or are children of single parents. In May 2017, taking cognisance of sexual abuse and unsatisfactory facilities at CCIs, the Supreme Court directed the Central and state governments to register every CCI, aided or otherwise. The Supreme Court had also issued directions for regular inspection of CCIs. Stating that over the past year, the Department of Women and Child Welfare in Andhra Pradesh had completed the registration of 1,800 CCIs and rejected the applications of 47 others, H Arun Kumar, commissioner and in-charge secretary, Department of Women and Child Welfare told Firstpost that after incidents of sexual abuse at CCIs in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh emerged, the department directed Child Welfare Committees (CWC) in every district to start a fresh round of inspections. "These inspection committees, constituted as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act started inspections in the second week of August. During the course of the investigation, we found three incidents in Andhra Pradesh. In Cudappah, the operator was using children for begging while in another CCI in Visakhapatnam, a resident was being sexually abused by a staff member. The one in Ongole was the gravest, where 46 girls complained of sexual abuse," said Kumar. Ongole is situated in the Prakasham district, which has 76 registered CCIs. Four of these are government-run and 66 are owned by Christian organisations. G Bharathi was recently appointed as the chairperson of the District Child Welfare Committee in February 2018. On receiving directions to inspect homes in the district, she formed a committee comprising District Probationary Officer Farooq Basha, CWC counsellor Anita, two social workers and a psychiatrist. The committee began inspecting CCIs in the district on 10 August. On 16 August, the team visited the CCI managed by IERF. Just as with previous CCI inspections, in addition to inspecting the CCI, the team interacted with children staying at the home independently, without the presence of IERF staff. They distributed pieces of paper on which they encouraged the children living at the home to write down their complaints, if any. When Bharathi started reading the anonymous chits, some of them had mentions of 'life being miserable', 'intolerable' and more such worrying statements. At the end of this session, she requested those with problems in the CCI to stay back and personally speak to her. Close to 50 girls stayed back. Bharathi sent her team to inspect the institute and sat down to have a chat with the girls. After a lot of coaxing, Shalini (name changed to protect identity) took her aside. Between tears, she narrated how Joseph would summon the girls to his house to do odd jobs, like cleaning and washing. Using this pretext, he would call them into his bedroom and instruct them to massage him, insisting on massages closer to his crotch. If they expressed discomfort, he would start verbally abusing them and continue to do this publicly for days. During such episodes, he would touch the bodies of the girls and force the girls to touch his private parts. As Shalini was narrating this, the other girls joined in with many of them breaking down. Bharathi called her team back and divided the girls into smaller groups so that her team members could talk to every child personally. With statements from 46 girls, Bharathi informed Kumar and the district collector. To ensure that the girls or their families weren't threatened, the girls were moved to the government-run Bala Sadan before the police initiated action against Joseph. "The week that followed was crucial as we had to record statements of the girls while ensuring their safety and confidentiality," said Bharathi, who received threats in the week that followed. She has been staying with a friend since the FIR was registered. "The girls had to first undergo psychological counselling. Not only were they traumatised by regular sexual abuse, the fact that they had nobody to complain to in the institution made them all the more helpless," says Bharathi. "There was a lot of pressure including from some who wanted to turn this into a move against a religious organisation. But we didn't give in. The testimonies of the girls spoke for themselves. The police and the collector cooperated fully. The girls were shifted to different Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas immediately," said Kumar. A delegation from the National Commission of Scheduled Castes visited Ongole in the last week of August, following which charges under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have been added to the FIR. The complainants have also been grated ex-gratia by the commission. "Close to 25 years ago, I met Joseph when he was preaching at a function. I knew him as a pious man. When news of his arrest emerged, some of us were in shock," said Dr Sarada Devi Karnatakam, a retired professor and a Christian lay leader (non-clergy) living in neighbouring Guntur. She said that before the actual details emerged, there was a suspicion that this could be a conspiracy. Some residents of Ongole shared similar sentiments of shock while a few said that complaints of a similar nature had surfaced against Joseph in the past, but the complainants were silenced and officials, bought. A Christian social worker mentioned how Joseph used religion to funnel money to his organisation. "IERF is neither a mainline Church affiliate, nor an independent church. It is a society claiming to be involved in faith-related activities and the president, Joseph himself, calls himself a pastor. He moves closely with high-ranking officials in Ongole and his clout is probably the reason nobody took action against him. Joseph also has many pastors working under him, so most of us are scared to say anything against him publicly," the social worker said. IERF is registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 and the IERF website states that Jospeh has started 125 churches. The churches and institutions run by Joseph are unaffiliated and do not fall under the three major Christian divisions that exist, viz the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant denominations and the major Pentecostal churches. Anila Kumari, a politician, said that Joseph's action have brought shame to the Christian community in Ongole. Her non-Christian friends have used this to ridicule her faith since the incident, she added. "The best CCI in Praksham is also run by a Christian organisation," said Bharathi, "Joseph just happened to be a Christian. This problem is systemic, such individuals who are waiting to prey on vulnerable children and women exist everywhere." But Devi noted that the problem with addressing sexual abuse in such institutions is extremely difficult considering there is resistance from within to talk about this. "Mainline churches, like the one to which I belong, has tried to steer these conversations with limited success. In spite of early attempts to talk about violence faced by women, like the World Council for Churches declaring an entire decade from 1988 to 1998 in solidarity with addressing issues of women, the conversation around sexual abuse remains minimal," said Devi, reiterating that such abuse can go completely unnoticed when organisations like IERF, which are family run, come into the picture. "Since IERF is an independent organisation, its executive body, if unbiased, must remove all individuals involved in the crime immediately," she added. India on Thursday expressed hope that other member states, including the traditional donors, will step in to support the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. United Nations: India on Thursday expressed hope that other member states, including the traditional donors, will step in to support the UN agency for Palestinian refugees which is facing serious resource crunch after the US decided not to provide further funding to it. The Trump administration had last month announced that after carefully reviewing the issue, it has decided not to make additional contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). "India has supported UNRWA's work since its establishment. UNRWA has been carrying out commendable work for Palestine refugees," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at the Ministerial Committee of the NAM on Palestine held on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. She said from this year, India has increased its contribution to UNRWA from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million annually, the country's highest annual voluntary contribution to any of the UN's funds and programmes. "We hope other member states, including the traditional donors, will also step in to support UNRWA at a time when it is faced with a serious resource crunch," Swaraj said. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert had announced that the US was no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden of UNRWA's costs. "When we made a US contribution of USD 60 million in January, we made it clear that the US was no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden of UNRWA's costs that we had assumed for many years," Nauert had said in a statement on 31 August. Swaraj also voiced concern over the deterioration in the security situation in the region, reiterating that a negotiated two-State solution remains the only viable solution to the issue to bring sustainable peace and lasting security. "Restraint and moderation are required on all sides. The stagnation since the collapse of talks four years ago and the deterioration in the security situation continues to cause serious concern. We hope for an early resumption of talks between Israel and Palestine that can move towards finding out a comprehensive resolution of the issue," she said. She said India's continued commitment to the Palestinian cause and earnestness to develop stronger bilateral relations is demonstrated in the successive high level visit in the recent past. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Palestine in a "historic" trip. Swaraj told the meeting that India is investing in projects of healthcare, educational infrastructure, women empowerment and a printing press, in addition to other capacity building programmes. India has also set up various bilateral institutional consultation mechanisms including Foreign Office consultations and a Joint Commission, which pursues these partnership projects. Development partnership projects worth around USD 70 million are under implementation during the last five years, including flagship projects like the super-specialty hospital in Beit Sahour and the India-Palestine Technology Park, which was inaugurated last year in Ramallah, she added. Skills and capacity development for the youth and their enhanced engagement, as an investment in a better future, is also one of the focus of India-Palestine partnership, she said. While the number of youth delegates to participate in the youth exchange programme has been doubled this year, India has also substantially enhanced the scholarships made available for Palestinian professionals and students for technical training and higher education from this year, Swaraj said. The woman alleged that an agent lured her to Kuwait with the promise of a lucrative job in Kuwait as a beautician. However, she said that she was forced to work as a housemaid and was subject to regular torture by her employees. Hyderabad: A woman from Hyderabad who was stranded in Kuwait was rescued by Indian embassy officials after her mother wrote a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Speaking to ANI, the woman alleged that an agent lured her with the promise of a lucrative job in Kuwait as a beautician. However, she said that she was forced to work as a housemaid and was subject to regular torture by her employees. "I was approached by an agent who promised a beautician job in Kuwait at a monthly salary of Rs 20,000 per month. Believing her, I left to Kuwait on April 9 to work there. But after landing there I realised that there was no beautician job but my employer made me work as a housemaid. My employer started harassing and torturing me daily, they also beat me up many times. I was fed up with the harassment and informed the matter to my mother," she said. Subsequently, the victim's mother wrote to Swaraj for assistance, after which Indian Embassy officials brought the woman back to India from Kuwait. "My mother wrote a letter to EAM Sushma Swaraj to rescue me. Later, Indian embassy officials rescued me from my employer's residence and sent me back to Hyderabad. I reached here on September 21. I would like to thank Swaraj for helping me," the victim said. A passenger was offloaded from a Mumbai-Kolkata IndiGo flight after he tried to enter the flight's cockpit to charge his phone. Following the incident, the passenger was disembarked from the flight and taken to the Mumbai Airport Police Station by the airline's security staff for further legal action. Mumbai: A passenger was offloaded from a Mumbai-Kolkata IndiGo flight after he tried to enter the flight's cockpit to charge his phone. Following the incident, the passenger was disembarked from the flight and taken to the Mumbai Airport Police Station by the airline's security staff for further legal action. As per reports, the passenger was let off after questioning. Responding to a query posed by ANI, the airline said "While an IndiGo aircraft was on the ground, an unruly passenger tried to enter the cockpit stating that his mobile needs to be charged. Following standard operating procedures, the captain operating 6E-395 flight from Mumbai to Kolkata (24 September 2018) had initiated the offloading of the passenger on grounds of a security violation. As per the prescribed rules, entry into the cockpit is prohibited." In a similar incident, a passenger on board a GoAir flight from Delhi to Patna on Monday attempted to open the rear door of the aircraft mid-air. A co-passenger raised an alarm, after which the passenger was intercepted by the crew. Post-arrival, the passenger was handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for further investigation. Nearly a dozen panchayat buildings have been set on fire by arsonists after the announcement of Urban Local Body and Panchayat Polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The message is clear: no matter what, no one should take part in the upcoming polls Editor's note: With municipal and panchayat elections round the corner in Jammu and Kashmir, Firstpost will run a series of ground reports on different aspects of the polls, as well as the state of panchayati raj institutions and how they can empower democracy at the grassroots. The series will also look into the state of security arrangements, as voters and candidates face threats of attacks by militants. Read part I, part II, part III, part V and part VI of the series here. *** Pulwama: At Tanghar-Rajpora, some 40 kilometres from Srinagar, the half-burnt Panchayat building has turned into a public spectacle. Built some six years ago, villagers arrived in droves in the courtyard of the building to check its charred doors and windows as streaks of smoke rose in the air. It was built in 2012, Mohammad Ramzan, a former panch, said, as he peeped into a room through a half-burnt window to assess the magnitude of devastation caused by the fire. The single-storied white and red-coloured building, situated in a desolate part of the village, was locked when the arsonists arrived on Tuesday night. No one knows who it was! Inside the building, a half burnt steel locker, few wooden chairs and some tables have turned into charcoal. There was not much in its four rooms. Those who put it on fire had emptied it first. It was one among nearly dozen Panchayat buildings set on fire by arsonists after the announcement of Urban Local Body and Panchayat polls this month. The message of the arsonists is clear: No matter what, no one should take part in the upcoming polls, said Showkat Hamid, a resident of Nazneenpora village in Shopian district, where unidentified people set a panchayat office ablaze on Tuesday. The damage was minimum, Showkat said, but the message was clear. On the same day, another attempt was made in Nagbal village of Tral and one more in Drabgam area of Pulwama district. Showkat, a post graduate in Philosophy from the University of Kashmir, said the majority of people see these buildings as the only symbol of the governments presence in the locality, so they end up becoming the first targets. People want to send a message to those who want to be part of this exercise: today it is a panchayat office, tomorrow it can be your home, he said. The upcoming elections are seen as a forced decision by New Delhi to portray that the situation is under control in Kashmir. But after the two major regional parties of the state Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference decided to boycott the elections, the perception about the process has changed. The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, reiterated on Wednesday that it was determined to contest the polls in every ward of Kashmir. The party believes that those who are boycotting the elections are doing great injustice with the people of Kashmir. It was the demand of general public that these elections should be conducted, BJP state president Ravinder Raina said. But people in villages have expressed apprehension about the polls with militant groups threatening to carry out acid attacks. The boycott by the regional players has not helped New Delhi, so much so that the states information department and chief electoral officer have not revealed the names of the people who have submitted forms for the urban local body polls, which are going to be held in first phase of the local polls. There are close to 5,000 panchayat office in almost every zone of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and close to five hundred places are without it because the government failed to procure the land, said Sheetal Nanda, secretary, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, in Jammu and Kashmir. None of them have been substantially damaged, apart from Budgam, but there is concern over their safety," she said in Srinagar. But on the ground, the governments claim on the numbers seems to be a far cry from the reality. There have more than a dozen attempts by unknown people to set the buildings on fire that were hardly reported and the state government has shut down mobile internet in two volatile districts of Pulwama and Shopian in south Kashmir as a firefighting measure. In the ongoing, every day turmoil in the embattled Valley, the news about the arsonists rage is often underplayed, as both the state and Central governments have refused to delay the elections, arguing the state is losing huge amount of funds that are needed for development in villages. It is just impossible to take development forward if we still delay the elections. It means a loss of Rs 4,335 crores if the the elections are delayed, said Jammu and Kashmirs chief secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam. But these financial considerations mean nothing for people on the ground. Ghulam Rasool Bhat was at his home when flames started billowing out of the panchayat office in Seer Jagir area of Tral. Bhat lives more then 500 meters from the the building but he did not dare to come out. "We held two meeting there to discuss the plan for the development of the area when I was a sarpanch. But those ideas never materialised because of lack of funds, Bhat, who is in his late 60s, said, while a group of labourers harvested his paddy field. "It was a nice building on which a lot of money was spent. Now it's gone, he added. Now I would never be part of it because I am not fighting again, so I dont even think about it, said Bhat. Women like Shehla Rashid, who bring matters such as PMS and PMDD and their links to suicide to the public domain and also initiate discussion, must be appreciated One is all too familiar with chemists wrapping sanitary napkins in black plastic bags and passing them on to customers rather shiftily. Even today, the subject of menstruation is wrapped in a similar black plastic bag of stigma in our society. But with the advent of the internet and media, some of these dusty windows are opening up, and discussions on such subjects are coming to the fore. Shehla Rashid, a PhD student at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, had recently tweeted about PMDD, or Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, which is an extreme form of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS). The stigma surrounding menstruation remains deeply rooted in the general populace, and Rashid's tweet is perhaps a step forward for the cause of awareness on the matter. A 2017 study has revealed that of 20 percent of women suffering from PMS in India, 8 percent have signs of PMDD, indicating that a large chunk of the country's female population suffers from the physical and mental trauma of the disorder. A few days ago, I started having strong suicidal thoughts. I had been feeling that way for two weeks. But that night, I actually looked up ways to end my life & enacted many of them in my head. Next day, I got my period. I looked up "PMS + suicide" and found out about PMDD. (2/n) pic.twitter.com/R5mOP9QpCV Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 23, 2018 What is PMDD? This disorder is characterised by a variety of somatic, emotional and behavioural symptoms that manifest during the final week of the menstrual cycle. It is an extreme version of PMS, with a rather distressing list of symptoms extreme irritability, lethargy, sleep deprivation, heightened anxiety causing feelings of being overpowered, persistent rage issues and depression. In the United States, the National Institute of Health has done extensive research on PMDD, where they have found that it is a disorder caused by cellular response to estrogen and progesterone in the body. Ignorance is bliss. And this is exactly why where there is lack of understanding of the differences between PMDD and PMS. When a woman mentions such symptoms, the presumption is that it is "just periods" and that "it will pass". As a result, lack of awareness and right perspective become the underlying problems of the issue. With her tweet, Rashid hits the nail on the head, describing the usual responses towards PMDD as a "mood swing" or a "figment of the woman's imagination", critiquing societal mindsets towards menstruation in general. Clinical studies and research In 2013, a group of researchers conducted a survey in Ahmedabad, for which it approached five schools to study PMDD among 221 girls between the ages of 13 and 18. The study found that of the 221 girls, 27 (12.22 percent) suffered from PMDD. They showed signs of persistent irritability and work impairment. Five of the 27 girls with PMDD had comorbid depression, which means they were fighting two or more psychiatric disorders. Researchers at Khyber Medical College in Peshawar, Pakistan, conducted a study of 384 girls, of whom they diagnosed 62 with PMDD. The most frequently reported symptoms among them were stress, anxiety, general body discomfort and anger. Another study conducted by four independent experts in India stated that patients who suffer from five or more symptoms, including one mood disorder, are classified as having PMDD. PMDD and suicide: Rashid's tweet also discusses her personal battle with one of the more serious symptoms associated with PMDD suicidal thoughts. The research conducted on the link between suicidal thoughts and PMDD is a murky domain in India. So far, research indicates that the possible relationship between the two depends on the serum levels of serotonin. Some studies also show that women with PMDD have lower serum serotonin levels in the premenstrual phase and lower serotonin platelets as compared to women without PMDD. Moreover, the frequency of PMDD has been found to be significantly higher among those who have attempted suicide. This is quite worrying and requires a scientific, open and unconstrained discussion. The legal community is also beginning to analyse and understand symptoms associated with menstruation. Very recently, the Rajasthan High Court, in a judgment, held that a woman accused of murder had committed the crime because of insanity triggered by PMS. PMS treatments have been centred around pharmacological treatments using medicines and non-pharmacological treatments such as hormonal therapy and lifestyle modification. However, stress management and social awareness is critical to improve the patient's overall health both physical and mental. Studies have also suggested that in worst-case scenarios where women experience extreme pain due to PMDD, they require surgical intervention to remove their ovaries and uterus. Researchers and doctors have tried a number of other common forms of interventions and treatment, such as salt and caffeine restrictions, diuretic agents and anti-inflammatory drugs. Whatever be the treatment applied, the severity of the experience of women who suffer these symptoms suggests that the matter cannot be brushed under the carpet. Indian conditions The question still remains how does one approach this subject in India? Women like Rashid who bring such matters to the public domain and initiate discussion must be appreciated. Her tweet has focussed the spotlight on an issue that lacks clinical studies and social awareness in India. The situation remains grim in the country as studies on PMDD have not been conducted across a larger population of adolescent girls, as a result of which, many grow up ignoring, or worse, trivialising, their experiences with menstruation and symptoms of premenstrual distress. As with most social problems, education and awareness campaigns and sensitisation drives will help provide adequate information to young girls and help them step into adulthood with greater ease and confidence. Apart from the physical distress of PMDD and PMS, the often hushed up psychological distress sometimes leads to suicidal thoughts and acute anxiety attacks, developing at a tender age that ultimately has a domino effect on the lives of young women down the years. The problem is not properly understood, and the road ahead to address the subject is foggy and uncertain. India needs to acknowledge the severity of the problem and understand that narrow-minded considerations rooted in misogyny and dogma, if left unchecked, will bring us down and oppress women for generations. Despite the periodic interference by the Supreme Court to provide inmates with various rights, there still exists a lot of scope for prison reforms. The Supreme Court has recently ordered for the formation of a three-member committee on jail reform which will be headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Amitava Roy. The committee will make recommendations for the measures to be taken for jail reforms across the country, including the issues of women prisoners as well as overcrowding of prisons. The committee will be assisted by government officials and will have to report to the Supreme Court at regular intervals about the developments made by them. Despite much ink having been split on the topic of prisoners rights, imprisonment in most countries across the globe faces many challenges. Overcrowding and usage of outdated facilities are the most severe ones. Not only do they have a deplorable effect on the mental and physical health of the inmates but they also act as an impediment to the vocational training and education that the inmates have a right to undergo. The fallout of this is that after their release, they find it difficult to re-adjust to the means and methods of the society. Therefore, poor conditions of prisons do not just affect the inmates; they also defeat the whole purpose of reformation, as the prisoners are left worse off than the time when they came to the prison. Internationally, the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures, 1990, or simply, the Tokyo Rules, have been enacted to find long-term alternatives to imprisonment of offenders. Further, they implore administrations to redesign the penal sanctions to the needs of each and every individual offender in a structure which would be proportionate to the crime s/he committed. The administration of prisons throughout the world has undergone a sea change. From the age-old retributive theory of administration of justice, the focus has now shifted to reforming the convicts so that they can integrate into society after their release. This is to ensure that the human rights of the prisoners are always guaranteed to them. International law also provides for the same as it strongly advocates the principle of rehabilitation. Rule 4 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, more commonly known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, provides that, The purposes of a sentence of imprisonment or similar measures deprivative of a persons liberty are primarily to protect society against crime and to reduce recidivism. Those purposes can be achieved only if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure, so far as possible, the reintegration of such persons into society upon release so that they can lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life. Thus, there exists a duty on the prison management to provide education and vocational training to the inmates. Vocational training is useful as it not only provides for employment opportunities to the offenders, but also helps in social integration. However, the true rehabilitation of a person takes more than these components. Healthcare, basic needs, decent living conditions, amicable relationship between the convicts and the prison staff, post release support, post-release supervision are necessary for the proper rehabilitation of convicts to ensure their basic human rights. Education and vocational training are essential as across the world, most crimes are committed due to poverty. The process wherein the life of a prisoner inside the prison is made similar to his/her life outside, such that after the prison sentence, s/he is able to lead a normal life, is referred to as normalisation. The Nelson Mandela Rules refer to this as normal occupational life. These practices of rehabilitation help in developing a positive environment in the prison facilities. This brings in constructive activities, due to which less menace is caused in the prison premises. It has been proposed that incentives should be offered for taking part in such activities. Lastly, for the guaranteeing of the rights of prison inmates, it is important to provide them with a forum to register complaints. However, this right is generally neglected. Complaints should be dealt with promptly and upon request, in a confidential manner. In cases where prisoners themselves cannot file complaints, their families have to take charge of the same. This can be ensured when prisoners are provided with the necessary details about filing a complaint and the means and methods of inspection as soon as they enter the prison. The details should be provided in a manner and language that is easily understandable to the prisoner. This information should be provided orally. Such a mechanism is provided in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Article 13 and Principle 33 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. Rule 35 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states the manner in which inmates should be given information about regulations that govern the prison. All in all, there are many areas in which reforms should be made. According to statistics, there are many inmates who languish in jails without being provided basic human facilities. Despite the periodic interference by the Supreme Court to provide inmates with various rights, including the right to legal aid, right to speedy trial, right to wages, etc. there still exists a lot of scope for reform. Now, with the formation of the committee, it can be safe to assume that the prison system in India will move towards the promotion of a better system of administration, which will thus help improve the conditions of the prisoners. Raghav Pandey is an Assistant Professor of Law at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai and Neelabh Bist is a Fourth Year student of Law at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai. In Gujarat, the acquittal rate in POCSO cases is many times higher than the conviction rate which is in single digits and much lower than the national rate. While cases registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) of 2012 are constantly on the rise, the low conviction rate is almost negating the effectiveness of this path-breaking act. In Gujarat, the acquittal rate in POCSO cases is many times higher than the conviction rate which is in single digits and much lower than the national rate. Meanwhile, cases registered under the Act are steadily on the rise in Gujarat as in the rest of India. This is attributed often to the increase in awareness which means more cases are being reported but also there are so many brutal gang rapes being reported. In Gujarat, recently there have been several cases of brutal rapes though the state is perceived to be safe for women and children. But, in 2017 the number of rapes and kidnappings and abductions of minor girls in Gujarat increased almost double as compared to 2016 according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The number of rapes in 2017 of minor girls was 493 and the kidnappings and abductions stood at 2514. The number of cases registered under POCSO Act in Gujarat have been steadily rising. But the conviction rate is low and the acquittal rate is high. POCSO cases in Gujarat 2012-2017 Year Registered Cases Convicted cases Acquittal Cases 2012 248 26 77 2013 344 53 249 2014 1,647 68 435 2015 2,021 56 412 2016 2,055 40 212 2017 2,215 18 110 Total 10,477 276 1,596 Source: Gujarat Police So while in 2.61 percent of the cases, there was a conviction, 15.2 percent of cases saw acquittals. And 82.19 percent cases are pending in either investigation or in the courts. Explaining the increase in the number of cases, Additional Director-General of Police Anil Pratham of the Crime Branch in Gujarat said, "The increase in the number of cases being reported is due to the awareness we have been able to create through various training and awareness programs along with NGOs and Friends of the Police." He felt that the increase in the number of cases did not necessarily mean that there was an increase in the rate of sexual offences against children. But justice in cases already registered under POCSO is a far cry going by the high rate of pendency in the courts in Gujarat. According to analysis by the Kailash Satyarathi Children Foundation, it will take 55 years to complete the trial of pending POCSO cases as on 2016 (based on case-disposal rates) in Gujarat, which is second only to Arunachal Pradesh, where it will take 101 years at the current rate of disposal of POCSO cases to complete the pending cases as of 2016. The state coordinator of Bachapan Bachhao Andolan in Gujarat Shital Pradeep said, "To improve the conviction rate, it is important to speed up both investigation and trial in court so that the survivor is not put under pressure to turn hostile. Families and the survivors, who are just children, are under tremendous pressure to not pursue cases under POCSO." Speaking about the implementation of POCSO Act in Gujarat, legal activist, researchers and founder of Peace and Equality Cell Prita Rani Jha said, "There are problems in the proper implementation of the POCSO Act across India. In Gujarat, the government has only recently notified for a support person for survivors under the POCSO Act. The law provides for a support person whose role it is to provide the required help and support to the survivors and their families, but in most states there is no support person. Also once support persons have been selected, they need to be trained to ensure that they know their roles and provide the help families need throughout the investigation and the trial process." Jha is working on access to justice for cases of unconstitutional violence. The Head of the Anti-Child Trafficking Program, World Vision India, Joseph Wesley felt that to make POCSO an effective deterrent, the implementation of the Act needs to be improved. He said, "The trial in POCSO cases should be completed in one year but instead there is a huge number of cases pending in the courts. Also the entire process needs to be more children-friendly. Often the survivors are blamed for the abuse. The police and the trail process are often hostile to the survivors." Mr Wesley said, "The mandatory reporting in POCSO cases is a good step but due to the increase in the quantum of punishment upto the death penalty often families don't report the crime especially where incest is concerned as they fear for their husbands, sons and other relatives." Another aspect that should be taken into consideration is that very many child sexual abuse survivors do not report about their abuse to anyone. The Child Abuse Report 2007 of the Ministry of Women and Child Development of Government of India found that 72 percent of children never told anyone about the abuse they were suffering; so as awareness increases, the chances of increase of cases registered under POCSO are likely to keep increasing as has been evident till now. Cases have steadily risen each year. In India, over one lakh cases have been registered under the POCSO Act between 2014 and 2016. There were 34,449 cases registered in 2014, 34,505 in 2015 and 36,022 in 2016, but what is alarming is that there are 1,12,628 cases under POCSO pending in the courts and according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the rate of pendency of POCSO cases is 89 percent while the conviction rate is 29.6 percent. According to a report by National Law University Bangalore where 667 judgments were analysed, survivors turned hostile in 67.5 % cases. This figure is much higher when family members are the accused and the longer a case is pending in the court, the higher the chances of the survivors turning hostile, felt many social activists working to ensure that Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) cases are reduced in India. This article is part of the series on child sexual abuse under a fellowship by World Vision India. The Catholic Church in India does not seem to have received the Pope's message. On Tuesday, on a visit to the Baltic states, Pope Francis acknowledged that the sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church are driving away believers. He added that the church had to change if it has to keep future generations. The Pope's comments might be a result of a high-impact report detailing decades of sexual abuse and their alleged cover up in Germany. But the Catholic Church in India does not seem to have got the message. On the same day the Pope called for introspection, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), the state arm of the Catholic Bishops Council of India (CBCI)the highest governing body of Catholic Bishops in the countrysent out a press release unequivocally lending its support to the rape accused priest Franco Mulakkal and even expressed its apprehension whether the bishop will get a chance to prove his innocence. The KCBC defended its actions. There are a lot of issues behind this matter. It is easy for a third person to ask why we are not supporting the victim. But being a decision making authority, we can only take an equidistant approach, KCBC spokesperson Reverend Varghese Vallikkatt said. Though the KCBC attempted to walk a fine linesaying if the allegations are proved correct, the accused should be punishedits tone is decidedly 'anti-survivor'. The organisation has also denounced the protesting nuns, calling it an attempt to tarnish the church. The nuns aren't surprised. The Save Our Sister (SOS) Action Council, which spearheaded the protest, reacted sharply to the KCBC note. It is not the nuns who took to the streets for justice that brought disrepute to the church, but the people who continue to shield the accused and not stand by the survivor who are actually bringing shame to the church and its legacy, a statement from SOS said. On Tuesday, Pala auxiliary bishop Jacob Murikkal, visited Mulakkal at the Pala sub jail. Mulakkal has been remanded in judicial custody till 6 October. The auxiliary bishop would not have made such a visit without the knowledge or direction of the top brass, which sends a pretty clear message. The KCBC defended the visit, saying the church has ministries for jails and such visits by bishops and othersworking for reformation of criminals behind barsis routine. But the church failed to acknowledge reports that the auxiliary bishop spent close to fifteen minutes with Mullakal. Prominent women activists said they are not shocked by the church's stand. The church is a highly patriarchal institution (like many others), said P Geetha. You cannot hope for change after just one protest. That is why even after the bishop had been arrested, such institutions find it so difficult to accept it. The church is being exposed because women within the organisation showed the courage to come out into the open. Geetha added that the church's stand, which comes after the nuns put up a brave fight, reeks of 'desperation'. The church is also seemingly punishing those who stood with the protesting nuns. Sister Lucy Kalappura, who belongs to a church in north Kerala's Thamarassery diocese, is the latest victim. Though she belongs to a church hundreds of kilometers and four districts away from Ernakulamground zero as far as the protest against Mulakkal was gathering momentumKalappura went all the way there to express solidarity with the survivor. Kalappura even gave interviews to local television channels in support of the survivor. When she returned to her parish, the Mother Superior ordered Kalappura to stop performing her duties. Thankfully, things changed after Kalapurra's supporters stormed the church last week, surrounded the priest and demanded that she be allowed to resume her duties. Apart from taking bible classes and other duties, I have been actively involved the parish community and its believers, Kalapurra said. It is this relationship with the common man that they wanted to break by placing these restrictions. They are aware that I always stand with what is right. But by Gods grace and support of the believers, it has been revoked, Kalapurra added. However, that's not all. Kalapurra has been harassed and threatened over social media. A local daily run by a section of the church even openly ridiculed Kalapurra. When I went to the protest, I didn't have any particular agenda against anyone. I just wanted to support the nuns. But now I realise I ruffled a few powerful feathers. I know there will be more sanctions against me and I may be harassed. But that does not deter me from doing what is right, she added. This is perhaps the first time that such defiant voices are echoing within the church. Which may be the reason why the church wants to discredit the protest and calls it an attempt to malign the churchs reputation. Church plays victim card The KCBC note called the protest a concerted effort to bring in lawlessness within the church by destroying the discipline therein, obedience to authority and its unity. The note added, Some priests and nuns agitating in the streets giving occasion to the enemies of the church to attack the church and the church authorities and to disdain even the sacraments, has caused much pain to all who love the church we hope that the members of the church and the public will recognise that their action was not in keeping with Christian values, rightful interests of the Catholic Church and even of the statutes of their religious congregation. Reformists feel the church is alarmed and playing the victim card to keep the flock together. This is a tactic to ensure that the supremacy of a few inside the church remains unquestioned, said George Joseph of Kerala Catholic Reformation Movement (KCRM). If the nuns and fathers start protesting and the believers join in, their supremacy and control will be lost. That is why there is a desperate attempt to play the victim card. Joseph added that the intervention by believers on the behalf of Sister Lucy is a sign of better things to come. But not all see such hope. Reverend Augustine Vattoly, a priest-turned-activist based in Kochi, takes these rumblings of reformation inside the church with a pinch of salt. The church will never change its stand. We've seen it right from the Sister Abhaya murder case. As long as power and money remains in the hands of a few influential individuals, you can't hope for any honest reformation. When Pope Francis took over, there was such hope. He wanted the church to be a church of the poor. But does anyone listen? asked Vattoly. That the 274-odd Catholic Bishops across India maintained a shameful silence when the protesting nuns hit the streets stands as a testimony to the power that someone like Mulakkal enjoyed over the years. It is that same power which makes the church reluctant to openly admonish Mulakkal and hail the bravery of the nuns. Church defends itself The church has rubbished any notion of being 'anti-victim'. Vallikkatt further said the church only learned of the accusation through media reports. See, if there is a complaint of such nature, the concerned person should have submitted it before some higher authority of the church. Do you think action would not have been taken? But they directly took to the street, Vallikkatt added. When told that the survivor wrote to the church on a number of occasions but did not receive any assistance, Vallikkatt said that complaints only pertaining to administrative duties were received. This is a charge the police refuted even before Mulakkal's arrest. As far as we know, the allegations of sexual abuse were made before the police and not church officials. This is very clear. At this moment, we have no option but to remain equidistant from the survivor and the accused, Vallikkatt said. The church also claimed it acted against Mulakkal by moving him out of the post of bishop before his arrest. However, the church did not initiate his ouster. In fact, it was Mulakkal who wrote to the church offering to temporarily step down. Fifteen nuns from Missionaires of Jesus congregation came in support of the accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, a senior member of the country's Roman Catholic clergy, and alleged that the police investigation into the case was 'biased'. New Delhi: The Missionaries of Jesus congregation of Jalandhar met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday and complained against the police team probing the case of alleged rape of a nun by a Roman Catholic bishop. Fifteen nuns from the Jalandhar congregation came in support of the accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, a senior member of the country's Roman Catholic clergy, and alleged that the police investigation into the case was "biased". A delegation of 15 nuns from Jalandhar's Missionaries of Jesus today met Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in Delhi. A nun says,"Investigation is biased and partial, we hope CM acts. Bishop Franco Mulakkal has been falsely frame in this case." pic.twitter.com/kfbq6EgS0m ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2018 Bishop Mulakkal was arrested on 21 September amid mounting public outrage over allegations of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting the nun. "The bishop has been arrested without any evidence. He is a victim of a witch hunt to tarnish the image of the Missionaries of Jesus," the nuns alleged. They said the probe team was threatening those who came out in support of the bishop and harassed them. The nuns also alleged that the investigating team was intruding into the convents without notice. A magisterial court in Kerala had on 24 September remanded the Kerala priest to 12-day judicial custody. In its remand report submitted in the court, police had said the victim nun was subjected to rape and unnatural sex 13 times by the accused at the guest house of St Francis Mission Home in Kerala between 2014 and 2016. In her complaint to the Kottayam police in June, the nun had alleged that the priest raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and later sexually exploited her on several occasions. She said she approached the police as the church authorities did not act on her repeated complaints against the clergyman. The bishop, however, has denied the charges. Expanding its probe in the case, the Kerala Police had on 25 September issued a notice to the PRO of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation and asked her to appear before it over a complaint about releasing the photograph of the victim. The congregation had released a photo of the nun seated with her alleged tormentor in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines, which prohibit revealing the identity of a victim of sexual assault. The congregation had put out the photograph in a release issued to the media for publishing the findings of its internal enquiry commission, which went into the nun's allegations. The congregation, however, said that it had cautioned against publishing the photograph, maintaining that it could not be held responsible if the press violated the rule. Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to the global community for conferring upon him the United Nations (UN)'s 'Champions of the Earth' award. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the global community for conferring upon him the United Nations (UN)'s "Champions of the Earth" award and dedicated it to the countrymen and the country's tradition of coexisting with nature. "I would like to express my gratitude to the global community for conferring this honour upon me. This honour is not meant for an individual, but rather for the great Indian tradition, through which for centuries, we have been taught values like co-exisiting with nature," Modi said in a video message. He said he was delighted that "the human race has begun to accept the importance of nature". "This struggle with nature has brought destruction, both on humankind as well as on nature. In this changing situation, all of us are putting emphasis on protecting nature," he said. The prime minister's remarks came after the United Nations recognised him with its highest environmental honour in the Policy Leadership category. Modi and French president Emmanuel Macron were recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022. Modi said: "Whether you call it global warming, or whether you call it environment, or whether you call it carbon emissions, whether you are referring to 'developed countries' or 'developing countries', no matter what phrase you use, ultimately we must all focus on climate justice." Asserting that the poor and the marginalised were the ultimate victims of the climate injustice, Modi said, "We need to put the same emphasis on protecting nature as we do on other issues". He also said that in the pursuit of climate change, "India stands with the world, and is ready to march with you, shoulder to shoulder in order to achieve this goal." Modi also congratulated the French president, saying that the honour is fitting recognition for his role towards creating a cleaner and greener tomorrow. Besides Modi and Macron, Kerala's Cochin International Airport was also honoured for its entrepreneurial vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. "Delighted that Cochin International Airport's remarkable usage of sustainable energy has been recognised and the Airport is a proud recipient of the UN Champions of the Earth' awards," Modi tweeted. "The Airport is an inspiration for several other airports in how we can leverage the power of solar energy for a better tomorrow," he added. The UN Champions of the Earth awards would be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in US' New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly (UNGA). Modi and Macron are among the six of the world's most outstanding environmental changemakers recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award. United Nations: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have been jointly awarded the UN's highest environmental honour for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of cooperation on environmental action. Modi and Macron are among the six of the world's most outstanding environmental changemakers recognised with the Champions of the Earth Award. "This years' laureates are recognised for a combination of bold, innovative and tireless efforts to tackle some of the most urgent environmental issues of our times," the UN Environment Programme said. Modi and Macron have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including the French president's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's "unprecedented" pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an Indian initiative jointly launched by Modi and the French president in November 2015 in Paris on the sidelines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference. The ISA is a treaty-based international body for promotion of solar energy in alliance with solar-rich countries located fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Cochin International Airport has also been honoured this year with the award for Entrepreneurial Vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. Cochin is showing the world that our ever-expanding network of global movement doesn't have to harm the environment. As the pace of society continues to increase, the world's first fully solar-powered airport is proof positive that green business is good business, UNEP said. The other winners of the 2018 Champions of the Earth Awards are Joan Carling, recognised with the lifetime achievement award for her work as one of the world's most prominent defenders of environmental and indigenous rights. Carling has been at the forefront of the conflict for land and the environment for more than 20 years. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are jointly recognised in the Science and Innovation category, for their revolutionary development of a popular, plant-based alternative to beef, and for their efforts to educate consumers about environmentally conscious alternatives. China's Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Programme is awarded for Inspiration and Action for the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams in East China's Zhejiang province. This exceptionally successful eco-restoration programme shows the transformative power of economic and environmental development together. In a world of uncertainty, this is certain: We will not solve the extraordinary challenges our world faces today without extraordinary talent, new thinking and bold ideas, said Head of UN Environment Erik Solheim. The Champions of the Earth Award and Young Champions of the Earth Prize recognise those not afraid to chart unknown waters or be the voice of the voiceless. These people are changing our world today for a better tomorrow. The awards will be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly. The gala, hosted by actor and environmental activist Alec Baldwin and model, actress, producer and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza, will bring together a cross section of world leaders and influencers to celebrate momentum for change in defense of our one planet. The Champions of the Earth award is the UN's highest environmental recognition celebrating exceptional figures from the public and private sectors and from civil society, whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment. Past laureates include: Afroz Shah, who led the world's largest beach cleanup (2016), Rwandan President Paul Kagame (2016), former US Vice-President Al Gore (2007), Ocean Cleanup CEO Boyan Slat (2014), scientist-explorer Bertrand Piccard, and developer of Google Earth Brian McClendon (2013) At a time the opposition led by the Congress is mounting attacks on the government over the Rafale fighter jet issue, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said people 'do not have doubts' over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intentions. Mumbai: At a time the opposition led by the Congress is mounting attacks on the government over the Rafale fighter jet issue, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said people "do not have doubts" over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intentions. In an interview to a Marathi news channel, former Defence Minister Pawar also said the opposition's demand to share technical details relating to the fighter jet "made no sense". He, however, said there was no harm for the government to disclose prices of the aircrafts. "I don't think people have doubts about Modi's intentions personally," Pawar told the news channel. He, however, said the way Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the government's side led to confusion in the minds of people. "Now, (Union Finance Minister Arun) Jaitley can be seen articulating (government's stand) on the issue (instead of Sitharaman)," he added. The Congress has launched an offensive against the BJP government over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and violation of rules by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has accused the government of causing loss to the public exchequer and endangering national security by bypassing state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in favour of some businessman "friends" for offset contract. Investigators gathered significant evidence during the 17-month long investigation to establish Bhandaris connection with several foreign defence companies, politicians and even a certain powerful bureaucrat in the UPA's finance ministry. New Delhi: A probe against arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, now linked to the ongoing Rafale controversy, was quietly buried by UPA-II government in 2013. However, the NDA government is equally guilty for sitting on overwhelming evidence and he fled to London right under the nose of security establishment in late 2016. According to the documents accessed by Firstpost, a sustained probe against Bhandari began immediately after the Aero India show held in Bengaluru from 6 to 10 February, 2013. Before this move, a preliminary inquiry was launched by the Manmohan Singh government on 12 January, 2013 into Bhandari's shady deals. Three companies owned by Bhandari Offset India Solutions Private Limited, Micromet ATI and AVAANA Software and Services Private Limited came under the scanner of the Central investigative agencies for allegedly receiving kickbacks in various defence deals including Dassault, the makers of the Rafale combat aircraft. The probe was dropped just before the NDA government came to power in May 2014. The investigation was renewed later that year by the Narendra Modi government, culminating in an income tax raid in April 2016. Despite collecting a huge cache of documents indicting Bhandari, action was delayed. Finally, in October 2016, Bhandari was charged under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and two months later, he fled to London via Nepal. The ruling BJP has now woken up to Bhandari's links with the Rafale manufacturer, but the agencies knew about his penetration in French defence companies since the initial investigation began in January 2013. A secret note of 2013 said: "Dassault Mirage upgrade programme worth thousands of crores, have emerged through these group companies (owned by Bhandari). Commissions have been paid through international companies like Dassault, MBDA and Thales; all French companies under the garb of consultancy to Bhandaris firms. Under offset contracts, large amount of commission have been paid via fictitious billing." Bhandari was also running six other companies from the same office at Panchsheel Park in New Delhi, while a firm, OIS Europe Limited, linked to his relative in London was dissolved just after the income tax search and seizures at Bhandaris residence and office premises. The note also observed that despite the ban on defence agents, middlemen continue to influence a majority of defence contracts and that the Income Tax Department must look into the key Indian Air Force procurement for evasion of tax by agents using various consultancy firms. "Foreign defence companies do not shy away from seeking their services. All defence agents, operating under the garb of consultant, keep a battery of retired service officers, retired defence public sector undertakings officials and even bureaucrats with links in the establishment on their pay roll," it read. The investigators had suspected that Bhandari was also working for another French multinational, operating in the aerospace, defence and security sector. They had gathered significant evidence during the 17-month long investigation beginning 2013 to establish Bhandaris connection with several foreign defence companies, politicians and even a certain powerful bureaucrat in the UPA's finance ministry. Surprisingly, no action was taken either by UPA or the NDA government. What is the decades-long Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute over a plot of land in Ayodhya all about? Here is a timeline of the events and everything else you need to know about it. The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute is one that makes a comeback ahead of every election season, but this time, it is the Supreme Court that has the subject in focus. India's highest judicial body on Thursday turned down two pleas in the Ayodhya case one that directly deals with the way the disputed land was split according to the 2010 Allahabad High Court ruling, and another that would have had a direct impact on the Supreme Court's final verdict in the case. The top court, on Thursday, refused to refer the matter to a larger bench. The Muslim litigants has insisted that the matter be heard by a five-judge constitution bench as the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict dividing the disputed land in three parts giving one to deity of Ramlala Virajman, another to Hindu sect Nirmohi Akhara and a third to the Muslims relied on a 1994 top court judgment. While reading out the judgment he wrote along with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan said that the Ayodhya case need not be referred to a larger bench, and that the three-judge bench, which also includes Justice S Abdul Nazeer, will continue to hear the case. The court also held that the questionable observations in the 1994 Ismail Faruqui case wherein the top court had ruled that mosques were not integral Islam and namaaz can be offered anywhere were not relevant to make a decision in this suit, finally declining to refer even this matter to a larger bench. The Muslim litigants in the Ayodhya dispute had contested this judgement, calling for a re-examination of the ruling by the Supreme Court. However, the dissenting judge in the case, Justice Nazeer, said in his judgment that the questionable observations in the Ismail Faruqui case, which he said were made "without comprehensive examination, had permeated the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict and need to be brought in line with the current case. What is the Ayodhya dispute? The Ayodhya dispute is at the heart of the Hindu-Muslim communal rift. For more than half a century, the dispute has fuelled mass polarisation in the state and has prompted the country's worst spate of religious violence since the Partition. The dispute has been a subject of inciting political rhetoric in the lead up to almost all elections in the state and has taken centre-stage since Yogi Adityanath took charge as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. But what is the decades-long dispute all about? Here is all you need to know about it: The dispute is about a plot of land measuring 2.77 acres in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, which houses the Babri mosque and Ram Janmabhoomi. This particular piece of land is considered sacred among Hindus as it is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, one of the most revered deities of the religion. Muslims argue that the land houses the Babri mosque, where they had offered prayers for years before the dispute. The dispute arises over whether the mosque was built on top of a Ram temple after demolishing or modifying it in the 16th century. Muslims, on the other hand, say that the mosque is their sacred religious place - built by Mir Baqi in 1528 - and that Hindus desecrated it in 1949, when some people placed idols of Lord Ram inside the mosque, under the cover of darkness. The dispute over this piece of land has defined and then redefined state politics outfits and influenced the mindsets of people throughout the country. Spanning across half a millennium, it predates empires Mughal and British and now even threatens to disrupt the fabric of modern India. The dispute erupted and escalated into full blown violence in 1992, when around two lakh karsevaks (volunteers to a religious cause) demolished the Babri mosque, inciting communal riots across the country. More than 1,000 people were killed in these riots. Twenty-five years have passed since the demolition of the Babri mosque but it has left a lasting impact on the socio-political fabric of India. What prompted the conflict? In December, 1949, statues of Ram and Sita were placed inside the mosque. The idols were placed in order to stake claim and convert the existing mosque into the Ram temple. Then then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, reached out to the then Uttar Pradesh chief minister, GB Pant, asking him to address the issue and remove the idols as "a dangerous example is being set there." But many Hindu nationalist leaders quickly dismissed Nehrus concerns and declined requests to remove the idols. Following this dispute, the gates of the mosque were locked and remained shut for the next 40 years. In 1989, Nehrus grandson Rajiv Gandhi, in an attempt to appease voter-sentiment, ordered for the gates to be reopened. In retaliation, many of the BJP's Hindutva brigade leaders, along with RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal workers, ran campaigns to rebuild the Ram temple. The campaign wave escalated over the next three years until 6 December, 1992, when LK Advani organised a rath yatra to Ayodhya, culminating in the demolition of the 400-year-old mosque. What did the courts say? Just ten days after the incident, on 16 December, 1992, the government established the Liberhan Commission of India to investigate the demolition of the Babri Mosque. The report found many BJP leaders culpable including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Pramod Mahajan, Uma Bharti and Vijayaraje Scindia, as well as VHP leaders like Giriraj Kishore and Ashok Singhal. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court has asked for 'an amicable, out-of-court settlement' in the dispute. A bench comprising Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that they believed this 'to be a better course of action than insisting on a judicial pronouncement.' Back in 2010, the Allahabad High Court had said that there should be a partition of the Ayodhya land between the two parties. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had urged the apex court to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court order. The SC has asked Swamy to consult the parties and mention the matter on or before 31 March. The Allahabad High Court's ruling had stated that the 'disputed land was Ram's birthplace', that the 'mosque was built after the demolition of a temple' and that 'it was not built in accordance with the tenets of Islam'. It had ruled that the disputed land would be divided into three equal parts one-third going to the Ram Lalla, for the construction of the Ram temple; one-third going to the Islamic Sunni Waqf Board and the remaining to Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu religious denomination. The apex court had, however, suspended the ruling in 2011 after the Hindu and Muslim groups had appealed against verdict. Here is a timeline of the long-standing dispute: In what is bein looked upon as a major step towards early resolution of century-old Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute, the Supreme Court on Thursday declined to refer to a five-judge constitution bench a plea relating to the matter. In what is being looked at as a major step towards early resolution of the century-old Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute, the Supreme Court on Thursday declined to refer to a five-judge constitutional bench a plea relating to the matter. The apex court, in a majority judgment held that its 1994 judgement in the Dr M Ismail Faruqui versus Union of India case, which said that a mosque was not integral to Islam, need not be revisited. In a majority verdict of 2:1, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence and the previous verdict has no relevance to it. Justice Ashok Bhushan, who read out the judgment for himself and the CJI, said it has to find out the context in which the five-judge had delivered the 1994 judgment. He held that questionable observation in the 1994 case cannot be interpreted as a sweeping observation about the entire religion but it was only related to acquisition of land held by religious authorities. The majority judgment held that there was no need to refer the matter to a larger constitutional bench. The apex court said now the civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench on 29 October as Misra will retire on 2 October as the Chief Justice of India. Dissenting judge says Faruqui verdict permeated Allahabad HC order Meanwhile, Justice S Abdul Nazeer disagreed with the two judges and said whether mosque is integral to Islam has to be decided considering belief of religion and it requires detailed consideration. He referred to the recent Supreme Court order on female genital mutilation and said the present matter be heard by larger bench. He held that the questionable observations in the 1994 Supreme Court ruling already seems to have permeated the Allahabad High Court judgement in 2010. He held that the 1994 judgment should be put through the 'essentiality test' on religious matters, as defined in the Shirur Mutt case of 1954. In the Shirur Mutt case, the Supreme Court had held that the term 'religion' will cover all rituals and practices 'integral' to it. The apex court took upon itself the responsibility of determining what is integral. The court said that the question of religion would be decided by taking into consideration what the religious denomination considered essential or crucial. This was called the 'essentiality test'. The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when he three-judge bench headed by CJI Misra was hearing the batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided in three parts. On 30 September 2010, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court gave a verdict which said that Hindus and Muslims were joint title-holders of the disputed land. The three-judge bench comprising Justice SU Khan, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice DV Sharma ruled in favour of a division of the land in a majority 2:1 judgment, with one-third going to the Sunni Waqf Board, one-third to the Nirmohi Akhara and one-third to the party for Ram Lalla. The dissenting judge gave all the land to Hindus. The apex court had, however, suspended the ruling in 2011 after the Hindu and Muslim groups had appealed against verdict. With inputs from PTI Shankkar Aiyar opines that the fact that SC read down the Aadhaar Act shows that govts need to be more careful when taking the Money Bill route to bypass political roadblocks In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Wednesday by a 4:1 majority judgment upheld the legality of Aadhaar for use only in government-funded social benefit schemes and PAN and Income Tax Return (ITR) while junking its requirement for mobile phone connections, bank accounts, school admissions and competitive examinations. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra held that Aadhaar would be voluntary and not mandatory. The majority judgment, which struck and read down or clarified various provisions of the Aadhaar Act, was read out by Justice AK Sikri speaking for Chief Justice Misra and Justice AM Khanwilkar and himself. Justice Ashok Bhushan delivered a separate but concurring judgment. Justice Chandrachud's was the lone dissenting voice, who held that passing the Aadhaar law as money bill was unconstitutional and a "fraud on the Constitution" because it was not a money bill. Firstpost spoke to Shankkar Aiyar, a political economy analyst, who authored a book Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12 Digit Revolution on India's ambitious scheme to provide unique identification numbers to citizens. What is your overall view of the judgement of Supreme Court? The judgement is an eloquent exercise of judicial review where the interest of the individual has been balanced with public interest. What has changed with the Aadhaar judgment? The judgment restores the original conceptualisation of the idea of Aadhaar - an instrument to establish identity to ensure delivery of public goods, services and entitlements. The judgment has righted many wrongs in the law, in regulation, and in the approach to its expansion. How do you see the striking down and reading down of several sections - 7, 33-1 33-2, 47, 57 by the bench? The judgement has curtailed the use of the omnibus preamble of the Act and aligned the law to the basic template of need for instruments and right to privacy. The issues affecting individual rights and the blind use of the omnibus nature of the preamble of Aadhaar Act 2016, the lack of scrutiny, the denial of the right to redressal through Section 47, the open ended nature of leeway to the state, the use of Aadhaar as a potion to cure every ailment of governance were all flagged in the epilogue of my book, Aadhaar- A Biometric History of India's 12 Digit Revolution. What is your view on the upholding of the passage of the law as Money Bill? The majority judgment has upheld the right of the legislature to define what is a Money Bill. At the same time Justice Chandrachud has raised questions that merit attention for instance should the decision on what constitutes a Money Bill rest on one individual. It provokes thought on the need for a re-think. There is a need for political parties to think this through as the use of money bill route, when used as a tactic to overcome political blocks, leaves the legislation vulnerable to poor drafting. Oversight and debate is critical for legislation to deliver intended purpose. The fact that so many sections of the Aadhaar Act have been read down or struck down is a testimony of the need for better scrutiny of legislation. How does the judgment impact the average Joe? The judgment weighs in favour of the citizen. It precludes the possibility of data collection, use, abuse, exploitation and monetisation by private enterprises. It ring-fences the extent of state power in collection and use of data. It also establishes the need for better regulation, legislation and process in the collection and use of data by the government. The judgment has curtailed the mindless expansion of Aadhaar. There are still questions about how data protection and privacy will be ensured? Yes, there are issues that need clarity the issue of what happens to data collected by private companies is one. Implicit in the judgment is the need to erase/delete all individual data in the servers of the companies. How this will be ensured needs elaboration. On the other hand the judgment has struck down the linkage of bank accounts with Aadhaar. So how does the DBT of subsidies like that for LPG users work? What about the law for data protection? The judgment explicitly asks the government to legislate a data protection and ensure privacy of personal information and privacy. The judgment has set the bar on future legislation in the domain of individual rights and privacy. With three simultaneous encounters underway in Jammu and Kashmir between security forces and militants, an army soldier, a civilian, and a militant have been killed. Srinagar: Three separate but simultaneous encounters were underway in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning, in which an army soldier, a civilian and three terrorists were reportedly killed. The first gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in Noorbagh on the outskirts of Srinagar city earlier in the morning, while another encounter began at Dooru Shahabad in Anantnag district. ANI reported that two terrorists were killed in Budgam's Chadoora town after security personnel engaged in a gunfight with the militants. The search operations were being conducted. Meanwhile, authorities have suspended internet services in Noorbagh and Dooru Shahabad in the wake of the encounters, ANI reported. Collectively, three people have been killed, including a civilian, in the ensuing operations. According to NDTV, the soldier and the terrorist, identified as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Abu Ukasha, were killed in the Dooru in Anantnag district, 58 kilometres from Srinagar. The civilian casualty took place in Noorbagh. "Three Indian Army soldiers were also injured," informed sources said. A search operation is underway as the security forces suspect more terrorists could be hiding in the area. Security forces have also launched a cordon and search operation in Qazigund of Anantnag district after receiving information about the presence of militants in the area, an official said. The search operation turned into an encounter with militants when the insurgents opened fire on the security forces, he said. The third exchange in Budgam, started after security forces received information that militants have taken control of a religious place in the area after fleeing from a house where they had been hiding, an official told NDTV. "We have called local elders to persuade the terrorists to come out of the religious place. There was a brief exchange of firing," another senior police officer said. Gunfights and security operations have become more frequent in an already turbulent Valley as the Panchayat polls come closer. The local body elections have been scheduled for 8 October. The three encounters come in the wake of the militants' increased offensive against local men working in the security forces, including state police. Recently, militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen abducted and killed three Special Police Officers in the state's Shopian district. The attacks reportedly also pushed many police personnel to resign from the force, however, the home ministry has denied these reports. With inputs from PTI As the news of killings spread in Srinagar there were protests in the old part of Srinagar city. The state government shut the internet services in Srinagar, the capital, and imposed restrictions in old Srinagar to prevent any agitation against the civilian killing. Srinagar: No one in the Malik clan, a dozen or so families of daily-wage labourers and masons in Magraypora locality of Noorbagh area in capital Srinagar, knew a bullet-perforated body was lying in their courtyard for two hours. This, out of dread after the government forces allegedly fired indiscriminately at the houses of Maliks before dawn. Mohammad Saleem Malik, 26, earned a living by stitching school bags and rearing livestock for fast bucks. He was killed by forces early on Thursday morning as he left his room and entered the cattle shed to check his sheeps and goats which he had purchased them few months ago. He had planned to sell them before Eid next year, family members said. There was no azan (call for prayer) from the mosque. I called my friend if the muezzin (who makes the prayer call) was okay but he said there are forces in the area and they have cordoned the entire locality. After some time there was a burst of fire and all of us woke up, Mehraj ud Din Malik, the brother of slain Saleem, told Firstpost few meters from the place where his brothers body was found. Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, a local muezzin, said the moment he left his house, few dozen meters from Malik household, he was stopped by forces and they did not allow him to go towards the mosque. They (forces) just pushed me back and did not allow me to move. I was not allowed to enter the mosque until they left, Khan said at the house of slain civilian. The forces had arrived in the area before dawn and had taken positions on the slabs, rooftops and in the congested lanes of this neighbourhood in downtown Srinagar which looks like a modern slum. As dawn broke, around 120 members of Malik clan, who live in eight houses, one after another with one big courtyard, realised someone was laying in a pool of blood outside the cattle shed. "It was Saleem," said Raja Begum, Saleem's aunt. "He was dead and the army, CRPF and police were running away from the area," she said. The security forces said they had launched a cordon and search operation after receiving a tip-off of militants hiding in a house. The militants managed to escape the house, police said. Malik had recently purchased livestock for rearing, hoping to sell them for a good price next season before the sacrificial Eid-ul-Azha. He had even constructed a small shed where he would feed them before going to sleep. In the day, he worked in his shop, stitching school bags. In the evenings, he would spend time with his livestock. Kashmir woke up to two gunfights on Thursday, one in South and one in Central Kashmir along with a cordon and search operation in Srinagar where the soldiers had their guns pointed into the tight lanes of Noorabad. In another place in Dooru area of Anantnag in south Kashmir, they had killed one militant, a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander and an army soldier was also killed. In the central Kashmirs Budgam district, two militants have been gunned down in an encounter in Panzan village while as searches are going on to nab the three other militants. In Noorabad area of Srinagars old town, government forces fired relentlessly at the residential houses before the contact was even established with suspected militants. Some of the bullets hit the handle of the doors, some pierced the walls while others bore through them. They just did not bother for people living in the home who could have got killed. They had come to kill and they left after killing a poor, innocent youngster, Abdul Qayoom Malik, a neighbour of slain youth said at his house as he pointed at the bullet marks on the walls. As the news of killings spread in Srinagar there were protests in the old part of Srinagar city. The state government shut the internet services in Srinagar, the capital, and imposed restrictions in old Srinagar to prevent any agitation against the civilian killing. Dozens of students of Kashmir University and Islamic University held protests against the killing on their campuses. They shouted anti-government, anti-administration, pro-Azadi and anti-India slogans to express their anger. The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik have called for a shutdown in Kashmir on Friday against the killing of the civilian while the PDPs senior leader and former minister, Altaf Bukhari, termed it as cold blooded murder. JRL asks people to register their strong protest by observing a complete hartal tomorrow Friday 28th September against the continued gruesome and barbaric killing of Kashmiris at the hands of Indian forces, arrest spree of resistance activists and supporters, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the Hurriyat leaders, said in a tweet. Clashes were reported between forces and protesters after the body of slain civilian was carried by mourners towards the Eidgah Srinagar for burial. The forces tried to stop people from carrying the body and teargassed the procession. This triggered clashes and forces fired more teargas and pellets at the pallbearers. If they wanted to do crackdown or search operation, they should have announced over loudspeaker. They just killed him for no reason, Abdul Aziz, a neighbour of Malik said, If there were a militants, where did they vanish? There were no militants in the area, then why did they kill this poor labourer? Muraraka was expelled from the BJP on Tuesday after he was made the accused number one in the charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. Muraraka surrendered before the court of Special CBI Judge Sumit Kapoor. Later, he moved a bail application which was accepted, his lawyer UB Pandey told PTI. The court granted him bail on a personal bond and surety of Rs 1 lakh each, he said. Raipur: Former BJP leader Kailash Muraraka, named an accused in the "sex CD" case allegedly involving a Chhattisgarh minister, surrendered before a special CBI court in Raipur on Wednesday. He was later released on bail by the court. Muraraka was expelled from the BJP on Tuesday after he was made the accused number one in the charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. Muraraka surrendered before the court of Special CBI Judge Sumit Kapoor. Later, he moved a bail application which was accepted, his lawyer UB Pandey told PTI. The court granted him bail on a personal bond and surety of Rs 1 lakh each, he said. Pandey claimed Muraraka was not summoned by the CBI when the charge-sheet was filed on Monday. The lawyer said after his client came to know through the media that he was being dubbed as an "absconder", he decided to surrender before the court. According to the CBI charge-sheet, the purported "sex CD" of Chhattisgarh PWD Minister and BJP leader Rajesh Munat was allegedly made by superimposing his face on a porn clip on the orders of his then party colleague Muraraka. Muraraka rejected the charges levelled against him as "baseless" and said the truth will come out in the days to come. "I have full faith in the judicial process and whenever the court will direct, I will appear before it. I have told everything to the CBI. The charges against me are baseless and fabricated," he said in the court premises. Muraraka said Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, a co-accused, has nothing to with the CD scandal. The Congress leader was accused of circulating the CD, which the minister had termed as "fake". "I feel he (Baghel) is 'paak saaf' (completely clean)," he said, when asked about the alleged role of the Congress leader, now in jail, in the entire episode. On 24 September, the CBI, which probed the sex CD case that came to light last year, had filed the charge-sheet in the special court against Baghel and five other accused. The other accused are Muraraka, journalist Vinod Verma, businessman Vijay Bhatia, short-film maker Vijay Pandya and one Rinku Khanuja. Khanuja, a Raipur-based automobile dealer, had allegedly committed suicide in June this year. Baghel, Verma and Bhatia had appeared in the special court on Monday after they were served notices by the CBI. Baghel, who did not apply for bail, is currently in judicial remand for 14 days, while Verma and Bhatia are out on bail. Muraraka and Pandya did not appear in the court on Monday. All the accused were booked under IPC sections 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 67A of the IT Act (whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act). Baghel told reporters on Monday that he was being falsely implicated in the case. In October last year, a controversy had erupted after a "porn video", allegedly featuring Munat, surfaced following the arrest of Verma from his residence in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) by the Raipur police. According to the Raipur Police, a case of blackmail and extortion was registered at the Pandri police station here based on a complaint by BJP leader Prakash Bajaj who had said he "was being harassed over phone by an unidentified caller who told him that he had a CD of his 'aaka' (master)". After the investigation, a search team was sent to Delhi and Verma was arrested from Ghaziabad on 27 October, 2017. The police had then claimed to have recovered 500 CDs and pen drives, among other items, from Verma's residence. Munat had then lodged a complaint against Baghel and Verma at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur for allegedly tarnishing his image through the "fake CD". The Chhattisgarh government had then recommended a CBI probe into the case. The SC declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute. New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) welcomed the Supreme Court ruling on Ayodhya Thursday and expressed confidence that a just verdict on the case will be reached at the earliest. "Today, the Supreme Court has decided to hold hearing on the Shri Rama Janmabhumi case from 29 October by a three member bench. We welcome this decision and are confident that a just verdict will be reached over the case at the earliest," the RSS said in a statement. The Supreme Court declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam which had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute. In a majority verdict of 2:1, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence, adding that the previous verdict has no relevance on this issue. The apex court said now the civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench on 29 October as Justice Misra will retire on 2 October as the Chief Justice of India (CJI). The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by CJI Misra was hearing a batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided into three parts. It was the second time that Justice DY Chandrachud overruled the verdict of his father as he gave his order on the issue of adultery. New Delhi: It was the second time that Justice DY Chandrachud overruled the verdict of his father, former Chief Justice of India YV Chandrachud, as he gave his order on the issue of adultery on Thursday. The son had done it in August last year too when he had overruled another of his father's judgment while delivering the verdict on the issue of privacy. Thirty-three years after his father, the then Chief Justice, had upheld the validity of adultery law, Justice DY Chandrachud overruled it on Thursday, saying the earlier view cannot be regarded as "correct exposition" of the constitutional position. In his historic judgment of August last year declaring privacy as a fundamental right, he had termed as "seriously flawed" the 1976 verdict in the famous ADM Jabalpur case in which his father was part of the majority judgment by a five-judge constitution bench. In the ADM Jabalpur case, the five-judge bench by a majority verdict of 4:1, had arrived at the conclusion that Article 21 is the sole repository of all rights to life and personal liberty and when suspended, takes away those rights altogether. On Thursday, in his verdict striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with the offence of adultery, Justice DY Chandrachud "overruled" his father's 1985 judgment on the same subject. The 27 May, 1985 judgment by a three-judge bench in Sowmithri Vishnu versus Union of India was penned by then CJI YV Chandrachud who had dismissed the petition challenging the validity of Section 497 of the India Penal Code, which dealt with the offence of adultery. "It is better, from the point of view of the interests of the society, that at least a limited class of adulterous relationship is punishable by law. Stability of marriages is not an ideal to be scorned," the then CJI had said. However, his son on Thursday said the decision in Sowmithri Vishnu case dealt with "constitutional challenge by approaching the discourse on the denial of equality in formal, and rather narrow terms". "'Sowmithri Vishnu' fails to deal with the substantive aspects of constitutional jurisprudence which have a bearing on the validity of Section 497: the guarantee of equality as a real protection against arbitrariness, the guarantee of life and personal liberty as an essential recognition of dignity, autonomy and privacy and above all gender equality as a cornerstone of a truly equal society," he said. Besides Justice DY Chandrachud, other members of the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra overruled the Sowmithri Vishnu verdict. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj exchanged views with BRICS ministers on matters of global political, economic, and security significance. United Nations: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday attended the customary BRICS foreign ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session and exchanged views on matters of global political, economic and security significance. BRICS is an association of five major emerging national economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil, Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, chaired Thursday's meeting, that was also attended by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Lindiwe Sisulu, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi, an official statement said. Swaraj exchanged views with BRICS ministers on matters of global political, economic, and security significance. She was briefed on preparations for the upcoming BRICS Chairmanship of Brazil for 2019. Swaraj congratulated South Africa for a successful Johannesburg BRICS Summit in July 2018 and extended India's full support to Brazil for their BRICS chairship in 2019. Villagers of Purbaliyan in Muzaffarnagar say that the issue was not as large as the administration has made it out to be. More than two dozen men from the Muslim community have been arrested in Purbaliyan village of Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district for allegedly causing communal clashes on 21 and 24 August, reports said. Out of the twenty-seven men arrested, three have been charged under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). Mansoorpur SHO KPS Chahal told The Indian Express that a fight broke out between some Muslim and Hindu boys on 21 August, in which a Muslim boy was left injured. A group of people from the community subsequently went to the home of one Hindu boy and allegedly began assaulting people. On 22 August, the father of the Hindu boy involved in the fight filed an FIR against a dozen Muslim men and 20 unidentified ones were charged of trespassing, causing hurt, damage and rioting. On 24 August, a servant of a villager named Shamsher was allegedly beaten up by two masked men in an unrelated incident. The villager allegedly collected a group of people to attack the members of the majority community but an inspectors presence averted the attack. Later, another FIR was filed against 26 Muslim men under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code, the Times of India had reported. On 16 September, the NSA was invoked against Shamsher and three days later against his nephews Mehboob and Aftab. The police said around ten people involved in the clashes are still absconding. The circle officer of Khatauli, was quoted by the Times of India as saying that the servant had confessed to being prompted by his employer Shamsher to act like a victim so that a counter FIR could be filed. This, he argued, justified charging him under the NSA. In total 38 Muslim men were booked by name and twenty more were unidentified. Twenty-eight men are in jail and out of these, three have been charged under the NSA. According to CNN-News18, locals say that the issue was not as large as the administration made it out to be and charging villagers under the National Security Act was excessive. But BJP MP from Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Balyan who had advocated invoking the NSA told The Indian Express, What took place on 21 August was not a fight between boys but an attack inside the mohalla (locality). On 24 August, there was another attack in the presence of a police inspector, who was also attacked. After these incidents, it emerged that the Pal community is constantly harassed in this Muslim-majority village." The NSA was invoked on the orders of District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar and an official in the district administration said the primary reason was creation of communal tension, reported The Indian Express. While the members of the Hindu Pal community in Purbaliyan had claimed to be on the receiving end of the violence, those from the Muslim community alleged that many of them were being randomly picked, arrested and forced to surrender under police pressure. Purbaliyan in Uttar Pradesh is among the villages that saw skirmishes during the 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar. By Lawrence Hurley and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A third woman came forward in a statement to a Senate panel made public on Wednesday accusing Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's U.S. Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct in the 1980s, further inflaming an already contentious confirmation process. Kavanaugh immediately denied the allegation By Lawrence Hurley and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A third woman came forward in a statement to a Senate panel made public on Wednesday accusing Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's U.S. Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct in the 1980s, further inflaming an already contentious confirmation process. Kavanaugh immediately denied the allegation. Lawyer Michael Avenatti said on Twitter he has submitted a sworn statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee from a woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the substance of the woman's allegation. Kavanaugh rejected the allegations in a statement released by the White House. "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is and this never happened," Kavanaugh said. Avenatti also represents adult film star Stormy Daniels, who previously filed suit against Trump to try to void a non-disclosure agreement under which the president's former personal lawyer paid her $130,000 not to discuss her alleged relationship with Trump more than a decade ago. Avenatti's statements represent the latest development in the pitched battle in the U.S. Senate over whether to confirm Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge picked by Trump in July, for a lifetime job on the top U.S. court. Three women have now accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called on Kavanaugh to withdraw in light of the allegations against him, and said if he does not, an FBI investigation is needed before any Senate vote on confirmation. "If our Republican colleagues proceed without an investigation, it would be a travesty for the honor of the Supreme Court and our country," Schumer said in a statement. Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of a sexual assault in 1982, released signed documents from Ford's husband, Russell Ford, and three friends. Ford and Kavanaugh are due to testify before the Judiciary Committee at a high-stakes hearing on Thursday ahead of a vote scheduled in the panel on Friday on his nomination. Senator Chuck Grassley, who chairs the committee, said on Wednesday the hearing will go forward as planned. The allegations against Kavanaugh have endangered his chances of confirmation in the Senate, which Trump's fellow Republicans control by a narrow 51-49 margin. The controversy has unfolded ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections in which Democrats seek to take control from the Republicans. Russell Ford said his wife shared her story during a couples therapy session in 2012. "I remember her saying that the attacker's name was Brett Kavanaugh, that he was a successful lawyer who had grown up in Christine's home town, and that he was well-known in the Washington, D.C. community," Russell Ford said. A long-time friend, Keith Koegler, said that in 2016 Ford told her that as a high school student she was sexually assaulted by a boy who became a federal judge in Washington. Before Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July, Ford and Koegler had an email exchange in which she said she had been referring to Kavanaugh, Koegler said. Two other friends, Adela Gildo-Mazzon and Rebecca White, said Ford had made similar remarks to them, in 2013 and 2017 respectively, describing an alleged assault by a teenager who later became a federal judge. Ford has said she remained silent about the alleged assault for years after it occurred. The documents are intended to show committee members that Ford did discuss the incident long before contacting lawmakers in July after Trump nominated Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh's legal team has submitted copies of his personal calendar pages from the summer of 1982, when Ford said the alleged incident occurred. In testimony released in advance of the hearing, Kavanaugh denied all the allegations against him but said he was "not perfect" during his high school days. "I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now," he added. Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, said in an interview published in the Washington Post last week that Kavanaugh attacked her and tried to remove her clothing when both were high school students in Maryland while he was drunk at a party when he was 17 years old and she was 15. Another woman, Deborah Ramirez, has accused him of exposing himself during a drunken dormitory party during the 1983-84 academic year when both attended Yale University. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. Senators will be keenly aware of the impact the potentially explosive hearing on Thursday could have on voters, particularly women, against a backdrop of the #MeToo movement fighting sexual harassment and assault. TRUMP FAULTS REPUBLICANS Trump on Wednesday faulted Republicans for not pushing the nomination through the Senate, which must confirmation Supreme Court appointments, more quickly. "They could have pushed it through two and a half weeks ago, and you wouldn't be talking about it right now, which is frankly what I would have preferred. But they didn't do that," Trump told reporters in New York, where he is attending the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders. If the Republican-led committee approves Kavanaugh, his nomination then faces a confirmation vote in the full Senate. That vote could happen as early as Tuesday, according to senior Senate Republicans. Kavanaugh's attorney, Beth Wilkinson, in televised interviews on Wednesday said Ford's declarations cited recent interactions, not discussions at the time of the alleged incident. She said Thursday's hearing was not about Kavanaugh's behavior as a youth. "I don't think there's any dispute that he drank when he was in high school and when he was in college but that's not the issue here," Wilkinson told CNN. Ramirez's lawyer, John Clune, said in interviews on NBC and CBS that she has not been invited to speak to senators but likely would be willing to appear. Trump, who himself faced allegations of sexual misconduct during the 2016 presidential campaign, again accused Democrats of "a con game" and praised how Republicans have handled Ford's allegation. Of the Democrats, Trump said, "They go into a back room and they talk with each other, and they laugh at what they're getting away with." The Judiciary Committee said on Tuesday it had hired a female lawyer to question Ford on behalf of the 11 Republicans on the panel, all men. The decision drew criticism from Democrats, whose 10 committee members include four women, given that senators typically do the questioning themselves. Rachel Mitchell, a sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, will conduct the questioning. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by David Morgan, Sarah N. Lynch and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Will Dunham) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The decades since The Satanic Verses appeared has seen a hardening of the belief, in the pursuit of peace amid multicultural societies, offence ought not be permitted. This idea, in turn, rests on another: that our beliefs and ideas are so important that they ought not face challenge. Thirty years ago this month, these words appeared in a book that would transform our world: Question: What is the opposite of faith? Not disbelief. Too final, certain, closed. Itself is a kind of belief. Doubt. Angels, wrote Salman Rushdie, in The Satanic Verses, are easily pacified; turn them into instruments and they'll play your harpy tune. Human beings are tougher nuts, can doubt anything, even the evidence of their own eyes. Of being-their-own-eyes. Of what, as they sink heavy-lidded, transpires behind closed peepers ... angels, they don't have much in the way of a will. To will is to disagree; not to submit; to dissent. Few books not Lucretius Carus De rerum natura, not Giordano Brunos De l'infinito universo e mondi, not Francois-Marie Arouets Voltaire, not James Joyces Ulysses have claimed as much blood as The Satanic Verses, though all sought to upend the world. Islamabad and Kashmir saw murderous riots protesting the book; figures involved in its publication were assassinated. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhis decision to ban imports of The Satanic Verses, in the wake of appeals from Member of Parliament Syed Shahabuddin and literary gadfly Khushwant Singh, still stands, a grim shadow over Indias cultural landscape. Censorship, by law or by lumpen, has become the norm. Its time to revisit the ban, and its grim legacy. Perumal Murugans Madhorubhagan; K Senthil Mallars Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru; DN Jhas Holy Cow; James Laines histories of Shivaji, even blogs or Twitter provocations: what we may not read shapes our minds and our lives. Have you thought of al-Lat and al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other? the Archangel Gabriel dictated to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. Al-Uzza, goddess of the morning and evening stars, was worshipped from Petra to Persia; al-Lat, who represented fertility, and Manat, she made up the trinity who dominated the imagination of pre-Islamic Arabia. Pilgrims from around the region marched each year to a black stone at Quidaid, near Mecca, Manats most sacred sanctuary. But, as the Surat an-Najm was recited, the Prophets contemporary Muhammad ibn Kab was to claim, the Devil entered the conversation: These are the exalted gharaniq [cranes], whose intercession is hoped for. This deeply heretical event, hacking at Islams monotheist foundation, lies at the core of The Satanic Verses ethical challenge. How can we know what we believe is correct? How far can we be certain our most cherished certainties are not seductions by the Devil, or our own vanities? Are the narratives we build our lives around in fact fictions? Put another way, ought doubt not certainty guide our actions? Philosophers and scholars have, over the decades, grappled with the incident of the so-called Satanic verse an event regularly reported in exegesis from the first two centuries of Islam. Indeed, Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, an iconoclastic medieval scholar, recorded that early Islamic scholars collectively considered the Verses of Cranes in accordance with Quran. Later scholars, though, noted that the evidence for the verse was thin, a single narrator whose account was recorded two generations after his passing. The orthodox insist the actual event involved a group of pagan Quraish converted to Islam but then, shamed and threatened by the peers, invented the incident of the verse to claim they embraced Muhammad after he venerated their traditional goddesses. Maxime Rodinson, an eminent scholar, has argued the incident was likely true, since the makers of Muslim tradition would never have invented a story with such damaging implications for the revelation as a whole. In his view, the pragmatic politician Muhammad had briefly chosen a practical road to unanimity with his tribal adversaries. Fred Halliday, conversely, has cast the story as a cautionary tale, which seeks not to malign God but to point up the frailty of human beings. Later historians, conscious that theres no empirically-robust way to settle the debate, have mostly steered clear of the controversy. In 630 CE, the warrior Khalid al-Walid entered the temple at Nakhala, where tribes of Quraish and Kinanah worshipped al-Uzza. Al-Walid was, chroniclers recount, confronted by a naked woman who cut down nine of his men before she was overpowered, and cut in two. That was al-Uzza, Muhammad told him, and never again shall she be worshiped in your land. Few of the women and men willing to die and kill to silence The Satanic Verses demonstrated any understanding of the philosophical debates around which it hinged: indeed, the pious made the argument that reading the book would, in itself, constitute blasphemy. To understand this reaction, the philosopher Kenan Malik has pointed to profound shifts in identity politics that coincided with the release of the book. First, Malik notes, the protests against the book came just as a Muslim identity emerged among diasporic communities in Europe. Where the first generation of Muslim immigrants were loose believers, seeking liberation from the conservatism of their homelands, the second had been expressly liberal and secular. The third generation, though, coming of age in the 1980s, grew up disillusioned with democracy disenfranchised by racism and poorly educated, this cohort found its voice through the Saudi Arabia-Iran competitive fundamentalism sparked off by the 1979 revolution that brought Islamists to power in Teheran. Ironically, state-sponsored multiculturalism which privileged identity over class and social welfare, which allowed young people to sunder themselves from the wider community, deepened the alienation. The furore over Rushdies book in Europe spread rapidly on to Pakistan and Indias Kashmir a sign of the growing influence of diasporas over events at home finally exploding into Iranian ruler Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeinis infamous fatwa against the book and its author. Saudi Arabia rapidly responded with calls for the Islamic world to act against the book, fuelling a rising tide of religious bigotry worldwide. Peter Mayer, Penguins head when it published The Satanic Verses, stood by the book through the violence that followed, aware that what we did now affected much more than simply the fate of this one book. How we responded to the controversy over The Satanic Verses would affect the future of free inquiry, without which there would be no publishing as we knew it, but also, by extension, no civil society as we knew it. Its hard to imagine a publisher taking a similar position today on any controversial book: in 2014, the same Penguin withdrew Wendy Donigers The Hindus from stores even in the absence of a ban, while the Jaipur Literary Festival not only withdrew an invitation to Rushdie in 2012, but evicted writers who wanted to read from his works. The decades since The Satanic Verses appeared have seen a hardening of the belief that in the pursuit of peace amid multicultural societies, offence ought not be permitted. This idea, in turn, rests on another: that our beliefs and ideas are so important that they ought not face challenge. Perdition, not peace, is where this road leads: since almost any critical thought will offend someone, the path leads inexorably on to the silencing of all but those who have bullets to back their words. Manvendra Singh, son of BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh, and legislator from Sheo Assembly segment in Barmer, Rajasthan, broke his association with the BJP. Manvendra Singh, son of BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh, and legislator from Sheo Assembly segment in Barmer, Rajasthan, broke his four-decade-old association with the BJP last week. At a swabhiman rally at Pachpadra in Barmer on 22 September, he made his displeasure with the current leadership of the party, both at the state level and the Centre, clear. Speaking to Firstpost, he drew a bleak picture of the BJP's prospects in the upcoming Assembly election in Rajasthan. He also outlined his future course of action, saying a referendum among his supporters would decide his next move, including whether he would join the Congress. Why did you leave BJP despite being a part of a legacy, especially since your father Jaswant Singh held important posts during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, including as a Cabinet minister? It wasnt easy for me to break the strong bond I had with BJP. I had to severe four-decade old ties with the party and finally quit. It was a culmination of several incidents over the years from 2014 till now when I quit. What led to your disenchantment with BJP? First, the way my father had been ill-treated by the party leadership from 2014. He was denied Lok Sabha ticket despite the fact that he was a four-time Lok Sabha MP (and five-time Rajya Sabha member). Despite dedicating his entire life to the party, he was sidelined in a most derogatory manner. Second, I wasnt given Lok Sabha ticket from Barmer. Third, my supporters and I have been continuously targeted and hounded by the state BJP. My house (in Barmer) was surrounded by a section of BJP workers and ruckus was created. Fourth, the apathy of state BJP under Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje towards me, and even towards my father. Didnt you pursue the matter with the top central leadership of the BJP? Yes, I had told the central leadership but to no effect. It wasnt redressed. BJP president Amit Shah can comment on this better. Im not the right person. Theres a strong rumour that youre joining Congress. How true is it? My joining the Congress party is a speculation right now. I have sought a referendum and have asked views of my supporters and voters of my constituency. I will finally go by their decision. Didnt you have any discussion with Rajasthan Congress leaders like Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot? There has been no discussion with Congress on this front. However, I know both of them well and they know me too. Both Sachin and I had been Parliament colleagues. Will you contest the upcoming Rajasthan Assembly election? No, Im not interested in the Assembly election. My choice has always been to make it to the Lok Sabha. Im open to contesting 2019 Lok Sabha election. How do you see the future of BJP in the state after Assembly election? BJP has no chance of winning in Rajasthan this time. Why do you think so? There are numerous reasons to feel so. People had showed a lot of confidence in the leadership of Vasundhara Raje and voted BJP to power with absolute majority. She made tall promises to voters, but failed to deliver. Then there are issues like rise in corruption, poor governance and leadership, social fragmentation, rise in cases of lynching and communal riots, etc. Amid all these, the silence of Raje has made the common man in the state frustrated. This is going to have a cascading effect on the party in Rajasthan. How do you see Congress performing in Rajasthan Assembly polls? Congress will certainly do well, because people are looking for a change. There is frustration among various sections of the society. How BJP will perform in Rajasthan in 2019? BJP will do badly in the state in 2019. And, in the country? I cant comment much about BJPs performance at an all-India level in 2019. So, no speculation. Prime Minister Narendra Modis emergence as the tallest Hindutva leader coming from backward class is not a freak accident. It is consistent with the history of the RSS and its efforts to forge a Hindutva force subsuming all castes Editors note: Russia is not the only riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. For many, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also fit Churchills description of Russia. So, analysts tend to interpret both (Modi and the RSS) according to the convenience of their own perceptions. This happened after Mohan Bhagwat's outreach to Delhi's elite on 17, 18 and 19 September. Bhagwat espoused the RSS' idea of India and spoke about Muslims, Hindutva, the Congress and caste divisions in India. His assertions were seen either as a radical departure from the RSS position or as an attempt to rein in Modi and reaffirm the RSS' position as the ideological mentor of the Parivar. This three-part series will attempt to unwrap the mystery that is sought to be created around the RSS and its relations with the BJP. More importantly, it will show how Modis politics is not delinked from the RSS concept of nation-building. This is the second part of the series. *** In the post emergency phase, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was accused of being run by largely Brahmins and upper castes; that it is significantly biased against backward and Scheduled Castes.This allegation was liberally levelled largely by the socialists who found the Sangh steadfastly refusing to play second fiddle to their politics. Though the issue of dual-membership (being part of the Janata Party while continuing their allegiance to the RSS) emanated, to a great extent, from the inability of a group of socialist leaders' to make the RSS amenable to their designs, RSS chief Balasahab Deoras hit back with facts. He released a list of RSS senior leaders who belonged to various caste groups across the country while pointing out that socialist formations, in fact, were led largely by Brahmin leaders. In the 1970s, the RSS had drafted a large number of socially and economically marginalised sections into its fold. The emergence of many OBC leaders as icons of the Hindutva was not an overnight development. Prime Minister Narendra Modis emergence as the tallest Hindutva leader coming from backward class is not a freak accident. It is consistent with the history of the RSS and its efforts to forge a Hindutva force subsuming all castes. It will be naive to drive a caste wedge within the Sangh Parivar on the basis of Dalits versus upper castes or OBCs. Far from creating internal frictions, the Sangh will emerge much stronger should there be a Dalit Hindutva icon like Modi. Given the radical transformation within the Sangh Parivars cadre base, such a probability is not far fetched. The understanding about the RSS and its various constituents is marked by serious intellectual deficit. The saffron family is seen in a typical binary which either valorises or vilifies it. It is not that there were no serious studies on the RSS and its constituents, it is just that the right messages have not been derived from the same. Take for example, the brilliant study of the RSS in 1951 by American scholar JA Curran Jr. Curran presciently observed, It is popularly believed that the Sangh will, in the event of gaining power, automatically support vested interests capitalistS, landlords and others. The author considers that, while a number of RSS sympathisers and supporters, particularly those in the group just described, look to the Sangh as potential guardian of their specific interests, there is no pronounced enthusiasm among most swayamsevaks for any such role. Despite the lack of formal economic programme, there is a strong vein in the Sangh ranks of what might be called Hindu socialism." This study was carried out much before the RSSs political arm the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), which later became the BJP was born. Subsequent events proved Currans prognosis about the Sanghs politics right. For instance, the BJS pitched not only for the abolition jamindari and the privy purse much against the general impression that the party would side with the liberal and open economy. It suffered electoral setbacks for this stance. In terms of economic agenda, the Swatantra Party (formed by C Rajagopalachari in 1959) offered a more cogent response to the Congress than the RSS-BJS combine. Deendayal Upadhyays "integral humanism" was considered a muddled up response to the Congress' gradual drift towards socialism. Till 1967 when the BJS forged an alliance with the socialists, the Swatantra Party and hardliners like the Hindu Mahasabha and the Ram Rajya Parishad, it kept on changing its goalposts and adapted itself to changing circumstances. Yet, the underlying theme of all these efforts was a larger cause of consolidation of the Hindu society. This ideal ran contrary to the dominant Nehruvian political narrative of those times, secularism earning the RSS-BJS the "communal" tag. But what is significant is the refusal of the Sangh Parivar to be guided by a doctrinaire approach to Hindutva which was akin to adhering to Brahminism. This flexibility was retained only to accommodate various social groups within the Hindus that follow rituals different and sometimes even contradictory from each other. In this context, the RSS evolution as an ideological mentor to the BJP is quite instructive and without precedent in the history of building political parties. The manner in which the RSS allowed the BJS to merge with the Janata Party in the post-emergency phase was indicative of the RSS confidence over its swayamsevaks. When Deoras wrote a letter saying swayamsevaks were free to follow their discretion in politics, he faced criticism. Deoras was unfazed. He said that he was quite confident of his volunteers who would not be guided by a mere "letter". And as it happened, when the socialist groups within the Janata Parivar pressed too hard for BJS leaders to give up their allegiance to the RSS, all BJS leaders, barring a few, came out of the Janata Party and floated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a seamless transition from the BJS. The BJP under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee followed "Gandhian socialism" which incorporated features of egalitarianism in sync with the dominant political narrative. What is particularly significant in the evolution of the RSS-BJP is the fact that the leadership of both the organisations was on the same page in using politics as an instrument to empower social underdogs, particularly those belonging to the most backward classes/scheduled castes/scheduled tribes. In the Sangh Parivars concept of Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation), the inclusion of the marginalised sections of the Hindu society is an essential component of the nation-building. The Modi governments decision to overturn the Supreme Court order that diluted the Schedule Caste and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act must be seen as a sequel to this project. Without doubt such a project often comes in conflict with with the partys substantial upper caste support base. But it would be naive to undermine the capacity of the Sangh Parivar to navigate through these social land mines. Read the first part here. Named as the 'Statue of Unity', the Sardar Patel statue is a pet project of Narendra Modi who had laid the foundation stone for it in October 2013. Satna/Ahmedabad: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that Sardar Patel's mega statue in Gujarat, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was being built by China, evoking stinging reactions from the BJP and the Gujarat government. The 182-meter statue, being built at Sadhu Bet in Narmada district and tipped to be the world's tallest statue, is slated to be inaugurated by Modi on the icon's birth anniversary on 31 October. Named as the 'Statue of Unity', the monument is a pet project of Modi who had laid the foundation stone for it in October 2013, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. "The Prime Minister used to say that we will install the statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. It is unfortunate that the iron man's statue will be inscribed with 'Made-in-China' as it is being made by China," Gandhi said at a rally in Satna in Madhya Pradesh. "It is a disrespect to the great nationalist, freedom fighter and the man behind the development of the nation," the Congress leader added. Gujarat Chief minister Vijay Rupani accused Gandhi of "lying shamelessly" while asserting that the statue was made in India. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel went further by saying that Gandhi himself was "Made-in-Italy". "Rahul Gandhi has Italian blood. He is made in Italy. He is a foreigner. But we do not rake up this issue. But, when he is trying to devalue the tallest statue being built here, he should see that he also has Italian blood," Patel said in Ahmedabad. "Though he is having Italian blood he is Congress president. Now it is for the Congress to decide if they want to make a person with mixed blood... having Italian blood as their president or those who have pure blood," Patel said. He said the entire country was feeling proud that the "world's tallest statue" is being built here and asked "why is Rahul Gandhi not feeling proud about it?" The Gujarat government went on to clarify that after the international tenders were floated for erecting the tallest statue of the world of the first home minister of the country Vallabhbhai Patel, Indian company Larson and Tubro (L&T) bagged the contract. It said that 95 percent making and raw materials of the statue are Indian, while other five per cent parts which were not available in the country were imported from China. Patel said that, L&T being lowest bidder had bagged the contract for building of the statue. "Only some bronze material, for which expertise were not available in India has been imported by the company from China," he added. Senior BJP leader and union minister Uma Bharti said, "The iron for making Sardar Patel's statue was collected from different villages of the country. Why Rahul is remembering China and Pakistan so much?" The Trinamool Congress, as a party and as the incumbent in power, should know that the BJP has emerged as the biggest opposition force in Bengal, will follow its sectarian agenda by trying to polarise Bengal. Wednesdays statewide bandh in West Bengal sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was billed as a crucial showdown. It was staged to protest police firing at a crowd composed largely of school students in Uttar Dinajpur district in North Bengal. Two young men, one an alumnus of the school that was at the epicentre of the trouble, were killed. The sponsors of the bandh announced on Saturday had said that they did not support shutdowns in general but had been forced to call one because of the breakdown of governance structures in the state. They had also said they would not force people to observe it, but the people would support their call spontaneously. The ruling Trinamool Congress, on the other hand, had geared up to neutralise the bandh on an industrial scale. The entire state public transport fleet was to be pressed into service, the Metro would run; all government employees had been told they had to attend office; schools and colleges were t0 remain open; education minister Partha Chatterjee had also cautioned private schools against observing a holiday or postponing scheduled examinations; and the administration had let it be known that police deployment would be at maximal levels to assure people they could keep establishments open or otherwise go about their normal work. In the event, the bandh was partially successful, if thats the right word in this context. There were a couple of violent incidents in Kolkata: a bus was set ablaze by a few people trying to enforce the bandh, injuring a couple of people. Elsewhere in the state, vehicles were vandalised, including a couple of police cars. There were clashes between those trying to enforce the bandh and those bent on keeping normal life moving. On the whole, educational institutions, government offices and commercial establishments (including banks) remained open and attendance was on the high side. But a lot of people in private employment and citizen, in general, chose not to brave the possibility of being caught in the crossfire and did not venture out. Both human and vehicular traffic was light in Kolkata and elsewhere. The BJP can draw heart from the fact that their cadres proved a match for the administration. Mobilisation and organisation seemed to have been both smart and on a scale not anticipated, though mostly in areas where the party had gained ground at the time of the panchayat elections. The Trinamool Congress will have to factor in the growing assertiveness and aggression of the BJP when it draws up its political and mobilisational blueprints. A backlash cannot be ruled out in the near future, with the ruling party drawing up plans to capture 42 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections, which are a few months away. As the two sides confront each other, questions will point backwards at the genesis of the troubles. It started last Thursday with a seemingly run-of-the-mill protest meeting outside a school in Islampur, Uttar Dinajpur, over the appointment of three teachers. Claims and counter-claims make it difficult to ascertain the whole truth, but it does appear that while the students of Daribhit High School wanted teachers for core disciplines, two Urdu teachers and one Sanskrit teacher were given appointments. This was really a minor dispute, which ought to have been sorted out fairly peaceably. But the situation was apparently complicated by unilateral actions by the district inspector of schools and the not entirely straightforward role of the school principal and the managing committee. But these are details. The Trinamool government ought never to have allowed the situation to spiral out of control. The local people are fairly clear that the police opened fire on the protestors, but the police say they did not. The superintendent of police of the district says tear-gas shells were exploded and rubber bullets fired. The families of the victims and the BJP want a CBI probe. The administration has ordered its own probe and has not really taken notice of this demand. The Trinamool Congress alleges that the BJP and Daribhit High School were responsible for instigating the violence. From Italy, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that people were brought in from outside the stateIslampur is practically on the border with Biharto foment violence. The claim has not been substantiated. But even if that were the case, it does not absolve the ruling party or the district administration. The district administration should have been alive to the problem, which had been brewing for some time. In that sense, it was not just a spontaneous outburst. If there had been an abnormal movement of outsiders into the area, it should have been all the more prepared for an eventuality. It wasnt. Nor did the education monitor the developing situation, as it ought to have been doing. Had it done so, it could have talked to the students and arrived at some kind of understanding. The point of detailing this background is to point to two things: first, there is the matter-of-course incompetence of the administration from the district level downwards, which cannot be addressed politically because of excessive centralisation focused on the person of Mamata Banerjee. Second, and perhaps more important, is a political question. The Trinamool Congress, as a party and as the incumbent in power, should know that the BJP has emerged as the biggest opposition force in Bengal, will follow its sectarian agenda by trying to polarise Bengal. And they will focus on areas most receptive to its ideology. The ruling party must have a political strategy to counter the BJP agenda. It must, therefore, mobilise from an avowedly secular vantage. Its very possible because Bengals post-independence history shows that sectarian politics has never had many buyers in the state. The Associated Press European Union lawmakers appear set this month to demand audits of Facebook by Europe's cybersecurity agency and data protection authority in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. A draft resolution submitted on 27 September to the EU Parliament's civil liberties and justice committee urged Facebook to accept "a full and independent audit of its platform investigating data protection and security of personal data." The assembly summoned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in May to testify about allegations that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica used the data of millions of Facebook users to target voters during political campaigns, including the one that brought US President Donald Trump to office. Claude Moraes, the chairman of the EU parliamentary committee who drafted the resolution, said the probes "need to be done." "Not only have Facebook's policies and actions potentially jeopardized citizens' personal data, but then they have also had an impact on electoral outcomes and on the trust citizens pose in digital solutions and platforms," Moraes said. The committee aims to adopt the resolution, which will almost certainly be modified, by 10 October and put it to the full assembly for endorsement in late October, well ahead of EU elections next May. The resolution also urges European justice authorities to investigate any alleged "misuse of the online political space by foreign forces," and calls on the EU's executive Commission to propose ways to boost the powers of Europe's public prosecutor's office so it can tackle crimes against electoral infrastructure. It notes "with regret" that Facebook did not send staff with the right technical knowledge to answer lawmakers' questions and "points out that such an approach is detrimental to the trust European citizens have in social platforms." Zuckerberg was questioned in Brussels on 22 May, but the lawmakers used up most of the speaking time with their own remarks, leaving the Facebook chief with little time to respo Indo-Asian News Service Telecom service providers must provide a high level of consumer satisfaction and their resolutions should be based on the latest technological solutions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on 26 September. He said this while presiding over the 29th meeting of 'Pragati' the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation. "The Prime Minister said that resolution of issues related to the telecom sector should be based on latest technological solutions. He emphasized that service providers must provide a high level of consumer satisfaction," a statement from the PMO quoted Modi as saying. The Prime Minister reviewed the progress in the resolution of grievances related to the telecommunications sector. "... the Prime Minister reviewed the progress of eight important infrastructure projects in the railway, urban development, road, power and coal sectors. "These projects are spread over several states including Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal," read the statement. Reviewing the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana, Modi noted that "significant resources are now available to several mineral bearing districts" and directed the officials to utilise the funds in a way that they bring "ease of living" to the people of these districts. The Associated Press Congress is taking the first steps toward setting national rules governing how companies use consumers data although one of its goals might be to prevent states from enacting stronger privacy protections of their own. The approach being pondered by policymakers and pushed by the internet industry leans toward a relatively light government touch. That's in contrast to stricter European rules that took effect in May and a California law that takes effect in 2020. Other states are also considering more aggressive protections. However it works out, any regulatory push will find it challenging to reconcile the concerns of privacy advocates who want people to have more control over the use of their personal data where they've been, what they view, who their friends are and the powerful companies who mine that information for profit. During a Senate hearing 26 September, several Democratic senators warned that a national law could simply be used to override state efforts. Calling that pre-emption the "Holy Grail" for the industry, Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said it won't get the bipartisan support it needs if the goal is merely to replace California's law with a weaker, "non-progressive" federal statute. Senior executives from AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter and Charter Communications all told senators that they support a federal proposal that could negate "inconsistent" state privacy laws. Facebook, which faced a major congressional grilling over privacy back in April, was not present at the hearing. Apple, which doesn't rely on advertising for revenue, was the most vocal in support of a stronger federal law. Bud Tribble, Apple's vice president of software technology, said the bar would have to be "high enough in the federal legislation" to provide meaningful consumer protections. The Senate Commerce Committee hearing comes amid increasing anxiety over safeguarding consumers' data online and recent scandals that have stoked outrage among users and politicians. The committee's chairman, Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, said both Republicans and Democrats now want to reach consensus on a national privacy law that "will help consumers, promote innovation, reward organizations with little to hide and force shady practitioners to clean up their act." An early move in President Donald Trump's tenure set the tone on data privacy. He signed a bill into law in April 2017 that allows internet providers to sell information about their customers' browsing habits. The legislation scrapped Obama-era online privacy rules aimed at giving consumers more control over how broadband companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon share that information. Allie Bohm, policy counsel at the consumer group Public Knowledge, said examples abound of companies not only using the data to market products but also to profile consumers and restrict who sees their offerings: African Americans not getting access to ads for housing, minorities and older people excluded from seeing job postings. What is needed, privacy advocates maintain, is legislation to govern the entire "life cycle" of consumers' data: how it's collected, used, kept, shared and sold. The 28-nation European Union put in strict new rules this spring that require companies to justify why they're collecting and using personal data gleaned from phones, apps and visited websites. Companies also must give EU users the ability to access and delete data, and to object to data use under one of the claimed reasons. A similar law in California will compel companies to tell customers upon request what personal data they've collected, why it was collected and what types of third parties have received it. Companies will be able to offer discounts to customers who allow their data to be sold and to charge those who opt out a reasonable amount, based on how much the company makes selling the information. Andrew DeVore, Amazon's vice president and associate general counsel, told the Senate panel Wednesday that it should consider the "possible unintended consequences" of California's approach. For instance, he said the state law defines personal information too broadly such that it could include all data. The California law doesn't take effect until 2020 and applies only to California consumers, but it could have fallout effects on other states. And it's strong enough to have rattled Big Tech, which is seeking a federal data-privacy law that would be more lenient toward the industry. "A national privacy framework should be consistent throughout all states, pre-empting state consumer-privacy and data security laws," the Internet Association said in a recent statement . The group represents about 40 big internet and tech companies, spanning Airbnb and Amazon to Zillow. "A strong national baseline creates clear rules for companies." The Trump White House said this summer that the administration is working on it, meeting with companies and other interested parties. The goal is a policy "that is the appropriate balance between privacy and prosperity," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said. "We look forward to working with Congress on a legislative solution." Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison. Better known for its smartphones, Xiaomi is slated to announce a host of smart living products at an event in Bengaluru today at 12 pm. The company is expected to launch the brand new Mi Band 3, a new Mi TV, a smart camera, and most probably an air purifier as well. By the looks of the teaser on Mis dedicated page for the event, a TV, a security camera and the Mi Band 3 are pretty much confirmed. While we're yet to learn of the specifications of most of the products expected to be launched, the Mi Band 3 is one that we're aware of. The band sports a 0.78-inch OLED display panel and that may be bigger than the Mi Band 2 which has a 0.42-inch OLED display. It is expected to sport a heart rate sensor, and a triaxial acceleration sensor. Xiaomis own fitness band will sell exclusively on Amazon India. Agence France-Presse World leaders gathered in New York on 26 September to try to breathe new life into the Paris global climate accord, amid backsliding from several nations over commitments made in the historic deal. The "One Planet Summit," launched last year by French President Emmanuel Macron, aims to accelerate the implementation of the 2015 pact. "We are not here just to speak, but to be accountable," Macron told delegates at the Plaza luxury hotel in New York. Having last year warned that "we are losing the battle" against climate change, Macron called on countries to massively increase funding for climate action. Despite a stream of announcements and summits including in Bonn in May, and Bangkok and San Francisco this month the front line in the climate war has hardly moved, and much of the hope and goodwill brought by the Paris deal has been replaced with passivity. President Donald Trump in June 2017 announced the US would pull out, effective November 2020, and momentum from several other countries has stalled. Trump has abandoned targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, set by his predecessor Barack Obama, by slashing dozens of environmental regulations. Australia, one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters, has scrapped plans to enshrine targets for reducing carbon emissions into law. And in Brazil, right-wing presidential front-runner Jair Bolsonaro has said he would pull the country from the deal if he is elected. The Paris agreement also stipulated that rich countries establish an annual $100-billion fund to help developing nations react to our heating planet. But only $10 billion has been collected so far. The United States had promised $3 billion and only gave $1 billion under Obama. Very challenging The next UN negotiating summit, COP24, will take place in December in Poland. Preparatory meetings ended in deadlock. "It looks very challenging," Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary of UN Climate Change, told AFP. "We do not yet have certainty that we will be able to make it a success, but it's not impossible either." Fewer leaders participated in this year's One Planet Summit, organized with the World Bank and the UN. About 30 presidents, prime ministers and ministers are due to attend, including from Spain, Denmark, Norway, China, as well as from small Pacific island nations whose coastlines are getting eaten by a rising ocean. "Time is not our friend," said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. We should not "have the ability to opt out of action either." Over the course of the day, participants were to announce billions of dollars of new actions to "decarbonize" the world economy, help vulnerable countries and finance the ecological transition of developing countries, particularly in Asia and in Africa. But these commitments only represent a small portion of what is needed to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as enshrined in the 2015 Paris accord. Experts warn the global temperature is on track to surpass three degrees by 2100. A study in the journal Nature this month found that even global temperature rises of two degrees Celsius could still be enough to melt parts of the largest ice sheet on Earth, in the Antarctic, and raise sea levels by several meters (yards). Greenpeace questioned Macron's climate credentials, given that greenhouse gas emissions have recently crept up in France, mainly from the transport sector. Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is using his vast fortune to spur action to address climate change told AFP that nations are making progress but ultimately, it is not governments that drive behaviour. "It's capitalism, it's the economic interest of companies who want to be environmentally friendly because their employees want it because their investors want it because their customers want it," he said. US president Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of seeking to meddle in the 6 November US congressional elections, saying Beijing did not want his Republican Party to do well because of his pugnacious stance on trade. United Nations: US president Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of seeking to meddle in the 6 November US congressional elections, saying Beijing did not want his Republican Party to do well because of his pugnacious stance on trade. China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November. Against my administration, Trump told a UN Security Council meeting whose ostensible subject was non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Chairing the Council for the first time, Trump made no reference to suspected Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and provided no evidence for his allegation about China, which Beijing immediately rejected during the same meeting. We did not and will not interfere in any countrys domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, the Chinese governments top diplomat Wang Yi told the Council. The United States and China are embroiled in a trade war, sparked by Trumps accusations that China has long sought to steal US intellectual property, limit access to its own market and unfairly subsidise state-owned companies. Later on Wednesday, Trump referred to a Chinese government-run media companys four-page supplement in the Sunday Des Moines Register promoting the mutual benefits of US-China trade. The practice of foreign governments buying space in US newspapers to promote trade is common and differs from a clandestine operation run by a national intelligence agency. China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news, Trump said in a Twitter post. In a Des Moines Register article about the advertising supplement, Carol Hunter, executive editor of the newspaper, said the placement was not surprising. Its not surprising that China Daily sought to place advertising with the Des Moines Register, because the Register is Iowas largest news organisation and Iowa farmers are disproportionately affected by Chinas tariffs, Hunter said. A senior Trump administration official said China uses political, economic, commercial, military and information tools to influence US public opinion and promote the interests of the Chinese government and Communist Party. US Vice President Mike Pence plans to make a speech next week detailing the allegations, said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, saying the US government was working to declassify further information on the matter. During an evening news conference, Trump described Chinese president Xi Jinping as a friend, prompting a reporter to ask how that could be the case given the allegations of meddling. Maybe hes not any more, Ill be honest with you, Trump replied. Iran: US 'abused' Council session Trump also used the Security Council session to defend the US withdrawal in May from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran, hint at progress in US efforts to curb North Koreas nuclear programme, and to criticise Iran and Russia for supporting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the countrys war, now in its eighth year. The Syrian regimes butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran, Trump said. Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded in a Twitter post, saying the United States had abused the Council and is further isolated. Trumps allegation of Chinese election meddling came as a surprise during a formal meeting around the Security Councils horseshoe table that was expected to concentrate on the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, we are winning at every level. We dont want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election, said Trump, who is attending the UNs annual gathering of world leaders. Trump himself is not up for re-election until 2020 but Novembers voting will decide whether his Republican Party can keep control of the US House of Representatives and the Senate. Some opinion polls show that the Democratic Party could make a strong showing, notably in the House. In the latest salvo in the trade dispute, US tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and retaliatory taxes by Beijing on $60 billion worth of US products kicked in on Monday, unnerving global financial markets. During his roughly 10-minute speech, Trump made no reference to US allegations against Russia concerning the election that brought him to power. Speaking later to reporters, Trump said: They (China) are trying to meddle in our elections. And were not going to let that happen, just as were not going to let that happen with Russia. Trumps presidency has been dogged by the Russian issue, which led to an investigation by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller into potential collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign, which Trump rejects. Moscow denies interfering. China on Wednesday lashed out at former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed for his 'irresponsible remarks' criticising its projects in the strategic Indian Ocean island nation, saying they can't be 'smeared by certain individuals'. Beijing: China on Wednesday lashed out at former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed for his "irresponsible remarks" criticising its projects in the strategic Indian Ocean island nation, saying they can't be "smeared by certain individuals". The strong reaction from Beijing came a day after Ibrahim Mohamed Solih defeated pro-China Abdullah Yameen in the presidential elections. China, which has invested millions of dollars in different projects in the Maldives, is weighing its options in the country as Yameen has been trounced by Solih, widely regarded as a pro-India leader. While congratulating Solih, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday that China respects the Maldives' people's choice and hoped that the country can maintain stability and development. On Wednesday, Geng, however, sharply attacked Nasheed for reportedly questioning the commercial viability of Chinese projects in Maldives lacking in transparency and democratic procedures. Nasheed, who is currently exiled in Sri Lanka, is the leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), to which Solih belonged and has in the past accused Beijing of "busy buying up the Maldives" during Yameen's presidency. "Whether the cooperation between China and the Maldives can work out or bring benefits to the two countries is all up to what the two countries' people say. It cannot be smeared by certain individuals," Geng said. He was replying to a question about Nasheed's reported comments in media that the Chinese projects in the Maldives lacked commercial viability besides transparency and democratic procedures. "We are deeply confused and regret these irresponsible remarks made by certain persons. We shall reiterate that we will continue our cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, abide by the market rules and regulations. We will oppose if certain people harm China's interests," Geng said. Commentaries in the Chinese official media attributed Yameen's loss to internal affairs in the Maldives and his move to arrest opposition leaders and Supreme Court judges. Commentary in the state-run news agency Xinhua quoted the Chinese analysts as saying that though Yameen government vigorously promoted the development of the economy, it was weighed down by the contradictions arising out of the arrest of opposition leaders as well as the Supreme Court judges. "The joint opposition of different opposition parties is the main reason for this defeat," it said. An article in the state-run Global Times said during Yameen's presidency, the Maldives and China cooperated on major projects like China-Maldives Friendship Bridge and the Male International Airport expansion. "Neither did Solih nor the opposition make any remarks hostile to China during the campaign. China and the Maldives have enjoyed sound ties... whoever takes the presidency, China-Maldives friendly ties will remain," the article said, reiterating Beijing's call a coordinated approach between India and China in South Asia. Beijing has come up with a constructive 'two-plus-one' mechanism - China and India plus another South Asian country - as a demonstration of sincerity, it said. This aims to harmonise relations between countries and serves the interest of all relevant parties, and is worth a careful consideration by New Delhi, the article said, adding that perhaps the two powers can have a try in the Maldives first. The Pentagon said on Wednesday the heavy bombers had taken part in a combined operation with Japan over the East China Sea and had flown through international airspace over the South China Sea a day before. Beijing: The Chinese defence ministry on Thursday denounced flyovers by US B-52 bombers over the South China Sea and East China Sea as "provocative" actions amid soaring tensions between the two global powers. The Pentagon said on Wednesday the heavy bombers had taken part in a combined operation with Japan over the East China Sea and had flown through international airspace over the South China Sea a day before. "Regarding the provocative actions of US military aircraft in the South China Sea, we are always resolutely opposed to them, and will continue to take necessary measures in order to strongly handle (this issue)," Chinese defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly news briefing. China has claimed large swaths of the strategic waterway and built up a series of islands and maritime features, turning them into military facilities. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims to the region, and an international maritime tribunal ruled in 2016 that China's claims have no legal basis. Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said this week's flights were part of "regularly scheduled operations." The United States has reject China's territorial claims and routinely said the military will "continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows at times and places of our choosing." Washington this week enacted new tariffs against China covering another $200 billion of its imports while it last week sanctioned a Chinese military organisation for buying Russian weapons. China has reacted angrily, and this week scrapped a US warship's planned port visit to Hong Kong and cancelled a meeting between the head of the Chinese navy and his American counterpart. US defense secretary Jim Mattis said he was not concerned the US transit flights would increase tensions with China. "If it was 20 years ago and they have not militarised those features there, it would have just been another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or whatever," he told Pentagon reporters, referring to the US military base in the Indian Ocean. "So there's nothing out of the ordinary about it, nor about our ships sailing through there." The Pentagon chief went on to say there is no "fundamental shift in anything." "We're just going through one of those periodic points where we've got to learn to manage our differences," he said. US president Donald Trump admitted his friendship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be over on Wednesday as he accused Beijing of undermining his prospects in upcoming elections. United Nations: US president Donald Trump admitted his friendship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could be over on Wednesday as he accused Beijing of undermining his prospects in upcoming elections. With tensions growing sharply between the two sides on a range of issues, Trump said China wanted him to suffer an electoral setback as payback for his hard line over trade. After accusing the government in Beijing of using a variety of tactics to damage his chances at the vital midterm polls in November, he said that relations with Xi might have taken a permanent turn for the worse. Trump has spoken many times since coming to office of his friendship with Xi, praising the Chinese leader for his role in helping bring pressure to bear on North Korea over its nuclear program. But asked at a press conference in New York how Xi could remain his friend given the hike in tensions, Trump indicated that he preferred to be respected than liked. "He may not be a friend of mine anymore but I think he probably respects me," said the president, who said the US economy was easily weathering the impact of the trade dispute. Washington this week enacted new tariffs against China covering another $200 billion of its imports, shrugging off threats of counter measures from Beijing. "We have to make it fair," he said. "A lot of money is coming into our coffers. And it's had absolutely no impact on our economy." China has vowed to retaliate with duties on $60 billion in US goods, but since the country only imports a total of $130 billion, its ability to hit back with matching tariffs is limited. 'Evidence' The accusation of electoral interference first came during a meeting of the UN Security Council that Trump chaired himself earlier in the day. "Regrettably we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my administration," Trump told the chamber. "They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade," he added. Trump later said there was clear evidence to back up his claim. "We have evidence. It will come out. Yeah, I can't tell you now, but it came - it didn't come out of nowhere, that I can tell you," he told a press conference. In a briefing with reporters in Washington, a senior White House official said that China was deploying economic, military and informational tools to spread influence and to undermine the US government. "The activities have reached an unacceptable level," the official said. The official said the policy of "actively interfering in our political system includes hurting farmers in districts and states that voted for the president." The official was referring to China's imposition of tariffs on soybeans a hugely important trade in the electorally crucial state of Iowa as retaliation for Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods. 'Unwarranted accusations' Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi rejected what he termed "unwarranted accusations." "China has all along followed the principle of non-interference," Wang said in the same session that was chaired by the US president. "We did not and will not interfere in any country's domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China." But Trump followed up his accusations with a series of tweets accusing China's government of paying for newspaper space in the US state of Iowa to push its message. These "propaganda ads" are being placed "because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets," he tweeted. The United States also irked China earlier this week by going ahead with plans to sell a batch of military parts to the self-governing island of Taiwan. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting unification, and is deeply suspicious of the island's relations with the United States. A special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, is investigating allegations that members of Trump's inner circle colluded with Russia to secure his victory in the 2016 presidential election after US security agencies determined that Moscow had sought to influence the outcome. For the first time since taking office, President Donald Trump endorsed a two-state solution as the best way to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as he met at the UN with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For the first time since taking office, President Donald Trump endorsed a two-state solution as the best way to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as he met at the UN with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump told reporters that he believes that two states Israel and one for the Palestinians "works best." He has previously been vague on the topic, suggesting that he would support whatever the parties might agree to, including possibly a one-state resolution, which might see the Palestinian territories become part of Israel. "I like (a) two-state solution," Trump said Wednesday as he posed for photographs with Netanyahu. "That's what I think works best. That's my feeling. Now, you may have a different feeling. I don't think so. But I think two-state solution works best." Later, Trump told a news conference that reaching a two-state solution is "more difficult because it's a real estate deal" but that ultimately it "works better because you have people governing themselves." He added that he would still support Israel and the Palestinians should they opt for a one-state solution, though he believed that was less likely. "Bottom line: If the Israelis and Palestinians want one-state, that's OK with me. If they want two states, that's OK with me. I'm happy if they're happy." In his earlier comments, Trump said his much anticipated but still unreleased Mideast peace plan could be presented in the next two to four months but was not specific as to timing. Trump has been heavily criticized by the Palestinians for a series of moves that they say show distinct bias toward Israel, starting with his recognition last year of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Palestinians also claim the holy city as the capital of an eventual state. Earlier this year, Trump followed up on the recognition by moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step that was widely protested by Palestinians and others in the Arab world. His administration has also slashed aid to the Palestinians by hundreds of millions of dollars and ended U.S. support for the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees. The Palestinians reacted cautiously to Trump's remarks, noting that a two-state solution has long been the goal of peace efforts, including a broader Arab-Israeli plan that would see Arab states all recognize Israel if the Palestinians got an independent state. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Palestinians remain committed to their demand for a state based on the borders before the 1967 Mideast war and with East Jerusalem as its capital. "Peace requires a two-state solution, where the state of Palestine is based on the '67 boundaries with East Jerusalem as its capital," he said. "This is the Arab and international attitude, and all final status issues need to be solved according to the international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative." Trump and his national security team have defended their position, saying that decades of attempts to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace have failed. He said Wednesday that the embassy move would actually help peace efforts by recognizing the reality that Israel identifies Jerusalem as its capital. But he added that Israel would have to make concessions to the Palestinians in any negotiations. "Israel got the first chip and it's a big one," Trump said. "By taking off the table the embassy moving to Jerusalem, that was always the primary ingredient as to why deals couldn't get done. Now that's off the table. Now, that will also mean that Israel will have to do something that is good for the other side." Netanyahu thanked Trump for his support and his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and said US-Israel relations have never been better than under his administration. On Tuesday, Trump lashed out at Iran in his annual address to the UN General Assembly, accusing its leaders of corruption and spreading chaos throughout the Middle East and beyond. He also vowed to continue to impose sanctions on Iran. "Thank you for your strong words yesterday in the General Assembly against the corrupt terrorist regime in Iran," Netanyahu said. "They back up your strong words and strong actions." Meanwhile, Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel must retain security control in any peace deal with the Palestinians, Israeli media reported, after Trump's comments supporting a two-state solution to the conflict. Speaking to Israeli journalists after meeting Trump in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu reiterated his stance that Israel must control security west of Jordan to the Mediterranean -- which includes the occupied West Bank. "I am willing for the Palestinians to have the authority to rule themselves without the authority to harm us," Netanyahu said, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "It is important to set what is inadmissible to us: Israel will not relinquish security control west of Jordan. This will not happen so long as I am prime minister and I think the Americans understand that." As in the past, Netanyahu did not specify whether he could support full Palestinian statehood in a peace deal or some lesser form of autonomy. A key Israeli government minister and Netanyahu rival said after Trump's comments that a Palestinian state was out of the question. "The president of the US is a true friend of Israel," Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the far-right Jewish Home party said on Twitter. "However, it must be emphasised that as long as the Jewish Home party is part of Israel's government, there will not be a Palestinian state which would be a disaster for Israel." The Palestinian leadership cut off contact with Trump's administration after he recognised the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December. Trump has also cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid. Palestinian leaders accuse his White House of blatant bias in favour of Israel and of seeking to blackmail them into accepting his terms. Trump has nevertheless spoken of wanting to reach the "ultimate deal" -- Israeli-Palestinian peace. He said Wednesday he would present his plan before the end of the year. With inputs from agencies Trump also flaunted his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Wednesday, referencing a new 'extraordinary letter' he received from Kim and announcing that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head to Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for another meeting between the two leaders. New York: US President Donald Trump has again claimed that his predecessor Barack Obama was close to starting a war with North Korea, saying that if he "wasn't elected, there would have been a war". "President Obama thought you had to go to war. You know how close he was to pressing the trigger," Trump said at a solo press conference here on Wednesday, adding that "not thousands... (But) millions of people would have been killed" in what "could have been a world war," CNN reported. "If I wasn't elected, you'd be in a war," Trump declared, seeking to bolster his claim by implying that Obama had "essentially" told him so directly. Trump also flaunted his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Wednesday, referencing a new "extraordinary letter" he received from Kim and announcing that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head to Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for another meeting between the two leaders. It is not the first time that Trump has portrayed Obama's dealings with North Korea as a failure or implied the previous administration was on the precipice of war in an attempt to boost public perceptions about his own quest for a diplomatic resolution with Pyongyang. In June, a week after his summit in Singapore with Kim, Trump suggested that the media would have named Obama a "national hero" if he too had "gotten along" with Pyongyang. "If President Obama (who got nowhere with North Korea and would have had to go to war with many millions of people being killed) had gotten along with North Korea and made the initial steps toward a deal that I have, the Fake News would have named him a national hero!" Trump tweeted at the time. US president Donald Trump praised his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday but said he would be open to withdrawing his nomination if he finds sexual assault allegations against him to be credible. Washington: US president Donald Trump praised his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday but said he would be open to withdrawing his nomination if he finds sexual assault allegations against him to be credible. "I can always be convinced," Trump said on the eve of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring one of Kavanaugh's accusers. "If I thought he was guilty of something like this, yes, sure," Trump said at a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. "It's possible I'll hear that, and I'll say, 'Hey, I'm changing my mind.' "I want to watch," Trump said ahead of the hearing featuring Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers. "I look forward to what she has to say," Trump said. "I also look forward to what Judge Kavanaugh has to say. I think it's going to be a very important day in the history of our country." In prepared testimony released on Wednesday, the 51-year-old Blasey Ford said she feared Kavanaugh would rape her during the attack, which she said occurred in the summer of 1982. Blasey Ford said the incident left her "drastically altered," but it was her "civic duty" to tell lawmakers what happened. Kavanaugh has also been accused of exposing himself to a classmate, Deborah Ramirez, during an alcohol-fueled Yale University party a few years later. On Wednesday, a third woman came forward with explosive allegations, saying she witnessed sexually abusive behavior by Kavanaugh when he was a teenager. Trump described Kavanaugh as a "great gentleman" and a "great intellect" and said he believed the accusations against the conservative judge were "false." 'Big, fat con job' Trump said he was skeptical because he personally had been the target of "false statements" in the past made by various women. "I've had a lot of false charges made against me," he said. "People want fame, they want money, they want whatever." He also slammed his Democratic opponents, accusing them of being "con artists" and destroying the 53-year-old judge's reputation. The Kavanaugh nomination has turned into a political firestorm ahead of November congressional elections and is threatening to derail Trump's push to get a conservative-minded majority on the top court ahead of the vote. Democrats on Wednesday demanded that Trump withdraw Kavanaugh's nomination or order an FBI investigation. "He is asking for a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court where he will have the opportunity to rule on matters that will impact Americans for decades," the 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a letter to the president. The third woman to come forward, Julie Swetnick, said she saw Kavanaugh engage in sexually abusive behavior as a teenager and claimed she had been drugged and gang-raped at a party he attended in approximately 1982. Kavanaugh strongly denied the allegations by Swetnick, 55, who has worked extensively for the federal government. "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone," he said in a statement. "I don't know who this is and this never happened." Later, the judiciary committee said it had received a fourth allegation, this time in a letter from an anonymous source who said their daughter and others had witnessed Kavanaugh physically assault a woman while intoxicated in Washington in 1998, shoving her "up against the wall very aggressively and sexually." "There were at least four witnesses including my daughter," the source wrote, adding that the alleged victim was "still traumatised." But a spokesman for the committee told AFP the letter lacked credibility and the panel had no way to investigate the matter because the complaint was anonymous. 'Physically aggressive behavior' Swetnick said she saw Kavanaugh behave as a "mean drunk" at parties they both attended growing up in suburban Maryland. "I observed Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior towards girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, 'grinding' against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls' clothing to expose private body parts," Swetnick said. She did not specifically claim Kavanaugh took part or that he was aware of her rape, but said that he and other boys in his circle engaged in similar behavior. She said she saw efforts by "Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys." "I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room," she said. "These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh," she said. Judge is a boyhood friend of Kavanaugh who has written a book describing the debauchery of his high school years. Kavanaugh, in prepared testimony released on Wednesday, repeated his denial of Blasey Ford's allegation and said "this effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out." Trump once again called the 2015 nuclear pact with Iran and other world powers a 'horrible, one-sided deal (that) allowed Iran to continue its path toward a (nuclear) bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most.' United Nations: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to impose sanctions that are "stronger than ever" on Iran, while his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, demanded a "long-term strategy" to deal with Iran's nuclear programme that not only focuses on economic restrictions. Trump chairing the UN Security Council session once again called the 2015 nuclear pact with Iran and other world powers a "horrible, one-sided deal (that) allowed Iran to continue its path toward a (nuclear) bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most." In August, the Trump administration re-imposed a number of economic sanctions on Iran and will impose new sanctions on Tehran's oil sales in November, and the US leader said "will pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran's malign conduct," EFE reported. "Any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences," he was quoted as saying. The US announced in May that it was withdrawing from the nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015, along with France, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Germany, and in August Washington once again imposed certain sanctions that had been lifted as per the pact. In November a new round of sanctions will enter into force, penalizing various countries and companies that buy Iranian oil or negotiate with Tehran's central bank in what is anticipated to be a heavy blow to Iran's battered economy. Macron spoke after Trump at the Security Council session, saying that although the 2015 nuclear pact is not perfect, it constitutes a "decisive step," and he criticised the US sanctions. "We need to build together a long-term strategy to manage the crisis that cannot be reduced to a policy of sanctions and containment of Iran," said Macron. British Prime Minister Theresa May also expressed her commitment to preserving the nuclear deal, which she called "the best way" to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The session was focused on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, but Trump took advantage of the forum to denounce Iran and accuse it of exporting "violence, terror and turmoil" to the Middle East and elsewhere. He said that such a regime must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. Trump did thank Russia, Iran and Syria for following his advice he claimed and "substantially slowing down their attack on Idlib province," the last bastion of forces opposed to Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime, but he went on to say "Get the terrorists, but I hope the restraint continues. The world is watching." External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed US sanctions against Tehran amidst American President Donald Trump issuing dire warnings. United Nations: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed US sanctions against Tehran amidst American President Donald Trump issuing dire warnings at the Security Council against violating the embargo. India and Iran "shared each others' position about where we stand at this point of time" on the sanctions, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters after the ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here on Wednesday. At the Security Council, Trump said that the sanctions against Iran will come into full force in November and warned "any individual who fail to comply with these sanctions will face full consequences". Kumar said that India was engaged with all the stakeholders dealing with the sanctions and, therefore, it discussed it with Iran also. Zarif told Sushma Swaraj about Iran's interaction with the European Union (EU) and other countries over the sanctions, according to Kumar. The spokesman said that Iran and India had "civilisational ties" going back in time and the discussions went beyond the sanctions issue. Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Iran signed with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the EU, to end sanctions in return for Teheran stopping nuclear weapons development. The EU and most countries back the nuclear deal and oppose US sanctions and Trump found himself isolated at the Security Council. Washington's allies, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, openly opposed Trump at the Security Council meeting and expressed their support for the agreement with Iran. Kumar declined to comment on foreign media reports that India was going to stop importing Iranian oil. Indian refiners will either have to significantly reduce or completely stop importing crude oil from Iran over the next month, increasing their dependence on other West Asian suppliers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Moody's Investors Service said. New Delhi: Indian refiners will either have to significantly reduce or completely stop importing crude oil from Iran over the next month, increasing their dependence on other West Asian suppliers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday. US President Donald Trump earlier this week in a speech to the United Nation's General Assembly reiterated sanctions on Iranian oil exports will take effect on 5 November and that the US is working with countries that import Iranian oil to cut their purchases substantially. India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude after China, accounting for about 30 percent of total crude exports from the Persian Gulf nation during April-August 2018. Indian refineries, which import over 80 percent of their crude feedstock from overseas, sourced about 14 percent of their imports from Iran. "We expect Indian refiners will either have to significantly reduce or completely stop importing crude oil from Iran over the next month or so. "As a result, Indian refiners will increase dependence on the remaining West Asian crude oil suppliers (mainly Saudi Arabia and Iraq), aside from Iran," Moody's said. Iranian crude is usually sold at a discount of up to $2-4 per barrel to West Asian other crude oil grades. Iran's national oil company, National Iranian Oil Company, also subsidises the freight costs for crude oil delivery and offers extended payment terms to buyers. "Assuming a complete cessation of imports of Iranian crude and $3 per barrel negative impact on earnings because of that, on the barrels being substituted, we estimate total decline in earnings for Indian refiners to be $400-500 million, against combined EBITDA of about $10 billion for the 3 largest state-owned Indian refiners in 2017-18," it said. "Thus we expect the impact on the refiners' credit metrics to be limited." Iranian crude oil is imported into India by refiners including Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), Reliance Industries, Nayara Energy and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). "The sanctions on Iranian oil are credit negative for Indian refiners because their supplier concentration will increase after the sanctions take effect. "The refiners' exposure to oil price volatility will also increase if they turn to the spot market," Moody's said. It said India imported 220.4 million tonnes (MT) of crude oil in 2017-18 fiscal, out of which about 9.4 percent was from Iran. During April-August 2018, India imported 94.9 MT of crude, out of which about 14.4 percent was from Iran. Exports to India accounted for 21 percent of Iran's crude oil outbound shipments in 2017-18 and 30 percent from April to August 2018. BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai capital is considering jailing people who feed pigeons in public to try to eliminate the risk of bird flu and other diseases, officials said on Wednesday. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is spearheading a campaign to catch pigeons and has vowed to impose a ban on feeding them - violators could be jailed for up to three months, face a 25,000 baht ($770) fine, or both BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai capital is considering jailing people who feed pigeons in public to try to eliminate the risk of bird flu and other diseases, officials said on Wednesday. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is spearheading a campaign to catch pigeons and has vowed to impose a ban on feeding them - violators could be jailed for up to three months, face a 25,000 baht ($770) fine, or both. "There's a risk to humans in places where there is a high concentration of pigeons," Taweesak Lertprapan, deputy Bangkok governor, told Reuters as bird catchers caught pigeons around him at a public square. Other cities around the world have imposed similar bans, including Italian tourist favourite Venice where feeding pigeons is illegal - but there is no threat of serving time. In Bangkok, pigeons - often dubbed "rats with wings" - are often found in crowded areas, including temples, markets and public parks. Taweesak said health risks from pigeons include respiratory diseases, meningitis and bird flu. "The most effective solution is to stop feeding them," Taweesak said. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha this month ordered a nationwide campaign to reduce the number of pigeons in populated areas. (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Nick Macfie) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Tim Kelly ABOARD THE KAGA, Indian Ocean (Reuters) - Japan's biggest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, joined naval drills with Britain's HMS Argyll in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as the frigate headed toward the contested South China Sea and East Asia. Britain, Japan and their close ally the United States have found common cause in countering growing Chinese influence in the region that they worry could put key commercial sea lanes linking Asia with Europe, the United States and elsewhere under Beijing's sway. 'We have traditional ties with the British navy and we are both close U.S. By Tim Kelly ABOARD THE KAGA, Indian Ocean (Reuters) - Japan's biggest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, joined naval drills with Britain's HMS Argyll in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as the frigate headed toward the contested South China Sea and East Asia. Britain, Japan and their close ally the United States have found common cause in countering growing Chinese influence in the region that they worry could put key commercial sea lanes linking Asia with Europe, the United States and elsewhere under Beijing's sway. "We have traditional ties with the British navy and we are both close U.S. allies and these drills are an opportunity for us to strengthen cooperation," Kenji Sakaguchi, the Maritime Self Defence Force (MSDF) commander of the Kaga group's four helicopters said on the hangar deck. The more frequent presence of the Royal Navy in a region is a chance for the two navies to train more closely in the future, he added. The Argyll, Kaga and its destroyer escort the Inazuma practiced formations on calm seas in the Indian Ocean close to commercial sea lanes plied by container vessels and oil tankers. Three helicopters from the Japanese carrier hovered above, monitoring the drill. The Argyll's arrival in the region comes after Britain's amphibious assault ship HMS Albion, last month challenged Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea on its way to Vietnam from Japan by sailing close to Chinese bases in the Paracel islands in a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP). China dispatched a warship and helicopters to counter the British presence and warned London that similar actions in the future could endanger talks for a possible trade deal that Britain is seeking as it prepares to leave the European Union. GLOBAL HOTSPOT China, which says its intentions are peaceful, claims most of the South China, through which some $3 trillion of seaborne trade passes every year. Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei also claim parts of the sea, which has oil and gas deposits as well as rich fishing grounds. Japan, which is embroiled in separate territorial dispute with China in the neighbouring East China Sea, has yet to conduct a FONOP in the south China Sea. However, in a rare public announcement this month, Japan's Ministry of Defence said one of its submarines had carried out a naval exercise in the disputed waterway with two Japanese destroyers and the Kaga, which is on a two-month deployment in the Indo-Pacific. After crossing the South China Sea, the Argyll will operate in waters around Japan, including a stint monitoring sanctions imposed on North Korea by the United Nations to force it to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, said a British government source, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorised to talk to the media. The Argyll is the third Royal Navy ship in Asia's waters this year following the tour of the Albion and another frigate. "Normally we hold discussion with other countries before joint drills, but with the British there is no need to, so they are easy to work with," said Tatsuhiko Mizuno, an operation planning officer for the Kaga group. (Reporting by Tim Kelly. Editing by) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Mohamed Solih, the Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's candidate, emerged victorious over incumbent President Abdulla Yameen. Male: The Maldives' President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend his oath-taking ceremony in November. "Solih's spokesperson Mariya Ahmed Didi said on Wednesday that Modi was invited to the ceremony during a telephonic conversation between the two sides following Solih's victory in the presidential elections on Sunday," The Edition reported. Solih, the Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's candidate, emerged victorious over incumbent President Abdulla Yameen. He will be sworn in on 17 November and his term is expected to continue until 2023. India welcomed the election result and both sides agreed to work closely to strengthen bilateral relations. The spokesperson said Modi had also invited Solih to make an official visit to India, which was accepted by the latter. The atoll nation's relations with India grew strained during Yameen's rule, with tensions peaking after India criticized Male's refusal to enforce a Supreme Court ruling quashing the convictions of nine Opposition figures, among them former President Mohamed Nasheed. US President Donald Trump had a handshake with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a luncheon in New York, the White House said, but Qureshi described it as an 'informal meeting' when they discussed bilateral ties. Washington: US President Donald Trump had a handshake with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a luncheon in New York, the White House said, but Qureshi described it as an "informal meeting" when they discussed bilateral ties. The episode happened on Tuesday at a luncheon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Qureshi in an interview with the official Pakistani media described it as an "informal meeting" with Trump during which, he claimed, they discussed matters relating to bilateral relations. "I met with President Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. I requested him to rebuild the cordial relations that we have enjoyed in the past," Qureshi told Pakistan Television. Several Pakistani media outlets, including Dawn and Pakistan Tribune, reported the "informal meeting" citing the PTV report. According to official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, Qureshi received a "positive response" from Trump, who said they intend to "rebuild" the bilateral relations. However, the White House said only a handshake happened between the two at the luncheon. "It was a handshake at a luncheon with other world leaders," a National Security Council spokesperson told PTI. Informed sources in New York tracking Trump's engagement confirmed to PTI that Trump had no meeting with Qureshi and that it was never planned. The pool of reporters who follow Trump and report about his meetings with the world leaders did not mention the US president's meeting with Qureshi either. The White House pool, which covered the luncheon, also did not mention Trump having a long chat with Qureshi, which would have had come to the attention of the reporters. "Spotted: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly approached Trump and shook his hand as Trump stayed seated at the head table just before lunch started," a White House pool report said. "He (Trump) is shaking hands and mingling," it said. The luncheon was hosted by the UN secretary general in honour of the heads of state and government. The lunch kicked off at 1.27 pm (local time), with the secretary general offering the introductory remarks, according to a White House pool report of the luncheon. "Trump sat with his arms crossed and occasionally nodded. Secretary general offered a toast and Trump took a sip of what appeared to be a glass of red wine after the toast. Trump began his remarks at 1.31 pm," the report stated. "I've long said the United Nations has great potential...," Trump said according to the report. "His toast ended at 1.33pm. Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is seated at Trump's table as is Croatia president, others unknown," the pool report stated. President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran was not seeking conflict with the United States in West Asia and questioned why US forces remained in the region. President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran was not seeking conflict with the United States in West Asia and questioned why US forces remained in the region. President Donald Trump's administration has withdrawn from a nuclear deal with Iran, slapped back sanctions and vowed to roll back the Shiite power's role in the region including in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Attending the UN General Assembly, Rouhani defended Iran's military support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is a member of the minority Alawite sect, as a bulwark to defeat the Islamic State extremist group. "Our presence in Syria will continue for such time that the Syrian government requests our presence," Rouhani told a news conference Wednesday. "We do not wish to go to war with American forces anywhere in the region. We do not wish to attack them; we do not wish to increase tensions. "But we ask the United States to adhere to laws and to respect national sovereignty of nations," he said. The Trump administration enjoys close relations with Iran's regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Israel and has warned Tehran that it is closely watching its actions. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, addressing a pressure group on Tuesday, vowed to act "swiftly and decisively" to any Iranian action that damages US interests in the region. Rouhani quipped: "When the secretary of state says we will be held to account, why have they gone to Iraq in the first place?" Rouhani also predicted that the United States would eventually rejoin an international nuclear deal, saying talks this week at the United Nations showed his counterpart Donald Trump's isolation. "The United States of America one day, sooner or later, will come back. This cannot be continued," Rouhani told the news conference. "We are not isolated; America is isolated," he said. Rouhani pointed to a session of the Security Council chaired by Trump earlier om Wednesday, where the leaders of Britain and France backed the nuclear deal, as well as a statement by European powers who say they will find ways to continue business with Iran and evade impending sanctions. "We do hope with all the law-abiding and multilateral-oriented countries that we can ultimately put this behind us in an easier fashion than it was earlier anticipated," Rouhani said. The elected Iranian leader said that his government would stay in the 2015 agreement, under which Tehran sharply scaled back its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. "Until such time that we keep reaping the benefits of that agreement for our nation and people, we shall remain in the agreement," he said. "Should the situation change, we have other paths and other solutions that we can embark upon," he said. Rouhani downplayed the sharp words from the US administration, including a warning Tuesday by Trump's national security advisor, John Bolton, that Iran would have "hell to pay" if it crosses the United States. "During the past 40 years we have been subjected to that type of language many times," he said. "In this American administration, unfortunately, the language has been said to be somewhat unique and they speak with a different style, presumably because they are new to politics," he said. With inputs from AFP By Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. By Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg voiced support for the #MeToo movement on Wednesday in a striking statement on the eve of a high-stakes U.S. Senate hearing into allegations of sexual misconduct by President Donald Trump's nominee to the court, Brett Kavanaugh. During a question-and-answer period after an address to first-year law students at Georgetown University in Washington, Ginsburg was asked if there was anything she was excited or disappointed about regarding the current women's movement. After discussing the problem of "unconscious bias" that leads to gender discrimination, she said she was "cheered on" by the #MeToo movement, a national reckoning with sexual assault and harassment that has brought down dozens of rich and powerful men. "Every woman of my vintage has not just one story but many stories, but we thought there was nothing you could do about it - boys will be boys - so just find a way to get out of it," said Ginsburg, 85. Ginsburg said that the #MeToo movement showed women coming together in numbers. "So it was one complaint and then one after another the complaints mounted. So women nowadays are not silent about bad behaviour." Ginsburg did not mention Kavanaugh or the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. During a Senate hearing on Thursday, one accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will testify about an alleged 1982 incident in which she said Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both of them were in high school. Two other women have come forward with allegations. Kavanaugh, who was named by Trump to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired in July, has denied the allegations. The Supreme Court's 2018 term officially begins on Oct. 1. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. No one laughs at Donald Trump. The president dismissed as 'fake news' reports that world leaders laughed at him in the opening moments of his speech to a session of the UN General Assembly. New York: No one laughs at Donald Trump. The president dismissed as "fake news" reports that world leaders laughed at him in the opening moments of his speech to a session of the UN General Assembly. "They weren't laughing at me. They were laughing with me," he declared at a news conference on Wednesday, the day after counterparts from around the globe audibly laughed as he began the highly anticipated address by reciting US economic gains under his watch. "We had fun. That was not laughing at me," he said. "So the fake news said people laughed at President Trump. They didn't laugh at me. People had a good time with me. We were doing it together. We had a good time. They respect what I've done." Trump opened Tuesday's speech by describing the American economy as "booming like never before." He also claimed his administration had accomplished more in less than two years than any predecessor had by this same point in their terms. Just sentences into Trump's remarks, the audience which included many leaders from other countries who were listening to a translation through headphones began to chuckle. Some broke into outright laughter. Trump appeared briefly flustered. He then smiled and said, "I didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK." By David Brunnstrom and Lesley Wroughton NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. government probe into Myanmar's campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority was not aimed at determining whether genocide or crimes against humanity had been committed, but those responsible could still be held accountable for those crimes, a top State Department official said on Thursday. By David Brunnstrom and Lesley Wroughton NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. government probe into Myanmar's campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority was not aimed at determining whether genocide or crimes against humanity had been committed, but those responsible could still be held accountable for those crimes, a top State Department official said on Thursday. The U.S. State Department report released on Monday said Myanmar's military waged a "well-planned and coordinated" campaign of mass killings, gang rapes and other atrocities against the Rohingya. But it stopped short of describing the crackdown as genocide or crimes against humanity, an issue that other U.S. officials said was the subject of fierce internal debate that delayed the report's rollout for nearly a month. "There werent legal judgements expressed in it because that wasnt the point of the report," U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told a news conference in New York when asked why the report had not used the words "genocide" or "crimes against humanity." He added: "We are working toward holding those accountable, including judgements like the one you have offered - characterizing it as a crime against humanity or genocide." Sullivan spoke on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, shortly before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar's minister for the Office of the State Counselor and its representative to the U.N. session.Pompeo did not respond to a reporter's question about whether there had been genocide in Myanmar. U.S. officials told Reuters earlier this week that the State Department report could be used to justify further U.S. sanctions or other punitive measures against Myanmar authorities. The report, which was first reported by Reuters, resulted from more than a thousand interviews of Rohingya men and women in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, where almost 700,000 Rohingya have fled after a military campaign last year in Myanmar's Rakhine State. Survivors described in harrowing detail what they had witnessed, including soldiers killing infants and small children, the shooting of unarmed men, and victims buried alive or thrown into pits of mass graves. They told of widespread sexual assault by Myanmars military of Rohingya women, often carried out in public. The Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay declined to comment when reached on Tuesday and said he was unable to answer questions by telephone. Calls to military spokesman Major General Tun Tun Nyi were unanswered. Human rights groups and Rohingya activists have put the death toll in the thousands from the crackdown, which followed attacks by Rohingya insurgents on security forces in Rakhine State in August 2017. The results of the U.S. investigation were released in low-key fashion - posted on the State Department's website - nearly a month after U.N. investigators issued their own report accusing Myanmars military of acting with "genocidal intent" and calling for the countrys commander-in-chief and five generals to be prosecuted under international law. The military in Myanmar, previously known as Burma, where Buddhism is the main religion, has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing and says its actions were part of a fight against terrorism. Senior State Department officials said the aim of the report was to guide U.S. policy aimed at holding the perpetrators accountable. The report proposed no new steps. One official said it would be up to Pompeo whether to make such a "legal" designation in the future and did not rule out the possibility. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. The ivestigative group, Bellingcat, said the suspect whose passport name was Ruslan Boshirov, is in fact Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, who was awarded Russia's highest medal, the Hero of Russia in 2014. Moscow: An investigative group in Britain said Wednesday that it has identified one of the two suspects in the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in the UK as a highly decorated colonel in the Russian military intelligence agency GRU (Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation).The group, Bellingcat, said the suspect, whose passport name was Ruslan Boshirov, is in fact Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, who in 2014 was awarded Russia's highest medal, the Hero of Russia. But beyond a photo from Chepiga's 2003 passport file resembling Boshirov, the report didn't contain further proof that Boshirov and Chepiga are the same person. Britain has charged Boshirov and another suspect, Alexander Petrov, with trying to kill Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter on 4 March with the Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok in the English city of Salisbury. Britain has said the attack received approval "at a senior level of the Russian state," an accusation Moscow has fiercely denied. A spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, rejected Bellingcat's claim, saying on Facebook that it is part of an "information campaign" against Russia. Bellingcat relies on social media and open sources in its investigations. The group has heavily focused on Russia, exposing its military activities in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere. Earlier this month, the two Russian men appeared on the state-funded RT channel, saying they visited Salisbury as tourists and had nothing to do with the Skripal poisoning. They denied the British claim that they were Russian military intelligence officers, saying they work in the nutritional supplements business. Bellingcat said it had received tips from former Russian military officers and perused pictures of graduates of Russian military academies. They found a man resembling Boshirov in a group shot and then rummaged through leaked official databases to find personal details. It identified the man as Chepiga, and eventually tracked down his passport file, dated 2003, with a picture bearing a strong resemblance to Boshirov. Bellingcat said Chepiga served several stints in Chechnya, where Russian forces were fighting Islamic rebels. It said that Chepiga's passport file recorded his service with a Russian military unit that was part of the GRU's special forces. The group said that Chepiga's military school listed him among graduates bestowed with the Hero of Russia award in December 2014, adding that the data signaled that he likely received the medal for his actions in eastern Ukraine. Relations between the US and India are on 'an upward trajectory', and 'this is one of the most dynamic and strategic partnerships that the US enjoys', the official said. New York: The US will take into consideration the impact the American sanctions against Tehran will have on India's Chabahar Port project in Iran, which provides a surface link between New Delhi and Kabul, according to a senior US State Department official. "When it comes to Chabahar, we are in the process of reviewing the imposition of sanctions," Alice Wells, the principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, told IANS in an interview. "So that process (of review) is underway and we take India's concerns and interest in being able to expand exports to Afghanistan and to increase Afghanistan exports to India, very seriously. As we look at the reinforcement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the sanctions, we will, I think carefully, evaluate the impact that it could have, for instance on Afghanistan," she added. President Donald Trump has pulled the US out of the nuclear deal, or the JCPOA, signed between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council along with Germany and the European Union, to end sanctions in return for Tehran stopping nuclear weapons development. Washington has begun reimposing sanctions on Iran and warning that those trading with it would come under its ambit. "Certainly, the wheat exports that India has sent to Afghanistan have been critical particularly at a time when the drought is having such an impact and will certainly impact the supplies that will be available to the Afghan population this year," Wells said. Last year, New Delhi had sent 1.1 million tonnes of wheat as aid to Afghanistan through Chabahar and the road link it built to connect it to that country. India is investing $500 million to develop the Chabahar Port and the road link from there to Afghanistan gives access to the country, bypassing Pakistan. Relations between the US and India are on "an upward trajectory", and "this is one of the most dynamic and strategic partnerships that the US enjoys", Wells said, adding that "under the Donald Trump administration, India features prominently in both our approach to the South Asia region" and the India-Pacific strategy. "In any mature partnership, there are sometimes going to be differences over tactics, and we are able to have very constructive conversations on our approaches to the region and to the neighbourhood," Wells said. "It's amazing the number of Cabinet officials and high-level visitors that we have in India every month of the year... That too reflects the density of the ties between our countries that I think we have over 40 major dialogues that take place between our government agencies and departments... There is never a moment, you know, when we are not consulting with and benefiting from the relationship that we have with India," Wells added. She said the joint statement that came out of the 2+2 Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi this month between the Indian defence and external affairs ministers and the US secretaries of state and defence was a defining document in the growing relationship between the two nations. It framed "the depth of this strategic partnership and the new advances we are making in our ability to work together, military-to-military, to increased defence interoperability, the signing of the COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) agreement which allows our militaries to share classified information with one another and to facilitate sales", Wells said. Wells had served as a political officer at the US Embassy in New Delhi and as a Special Assistant to the President for Russia and Central Asia during former President Barack Obama's administration. Another important area in India-US relations is the focus on the Indo-Pacific region. "At the heart of it is the open trading system that has benefited all of the countries of the region," Wells said. "America has about $1.4 trillion in bilateral trade with the countries of the Indo-Pacific region." Asked about the China factor in the India-Pacific strategy, Wells said: "I think the Indian and American administrations (it) is not a zero sum construct; it is not designed to be against any country but rather for a set of principles." "The maritime channels are vital to global prosperity and security and so the initiatives that we are undertaking, whether its economic or promoting regional connectivity, governance, in promoting the policies that allow economies to operate freely in security, to determine maritime security as well as humanitarian assistance during times of crisis all of these are deeply in the interest of all of the countries of the region." Besides the strategic and political common interests, there are also "deep people-to-people ties that bind our countries together, whether it is through the diaspora communities or the 186,000 students who are in the US studying, and the million and a half or 1.6 million travel to the US and the over 1 million American tourists who travel to India", Wells noted. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he is willing to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and to speak about anything the U.S. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he is willing to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and to speak about anything the U.S. government wants to discuss. (Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Google is pushing Google Pay (Previous Tez) in India aggressively. Today the company has announced that they have teamed up with Uber in India for seamless ride paying experience. You can easily add Google Pay from the payments section with your Google Pay UPI id. Once added, you can pay for your ride just by clicking accept on the Google Pay app when you receive the notification. Google also said that users can earn an assured reward of up to Rs. 1000 as scratch card from Rs. 15 to 100, when you use Google Pay for 10 Uber rides (minimum Rs. 100). This offer is available till December 31st, 2018. You can Google Pay to transact at places like Goibibo, FreshMenu, redBus, BookMyshow and in over two thousand other online apps and websites. Google already said that it is working with over 15,000 retail stores across India, and later this year, Google Pay will be available at retail stores, like Big Bazaar, e-Zone, and FBB. Consumers are increasingly concerned about their health and what they eat and this focus is expected to remain for the years ahead, bolstered by the changes caused by... Read More Design Realme 2 Pro looks and feels premium with rounded corners, dewdrop notch and compact form factor. The front of the smartphone is dominated by the huge 6.3-inch display with a waterdrop notch. The screen is resistant to scratches, thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass protection on top. The dewdrop notch on top of the screen houses the selfie camera and conceals the earpiece and other sensors. The side and top bezels are slim but the bottom bezel is relatively thicker. However, the device has a high screen-to-body ratio of 90.8% giving an impressive screen space for users to enjoy various activities. Realme 2 Pro features a unique back design made of polycarbonate resin and it is the same material that is used for the frame too. The unique finish at the rear is said to be a result of multiple rounds of injection molding that is meant to give a satisfactory look and feel. This makes the device attractive to look and gives a comfortable feel when it is held. The Black Sea, Blue Ocean and Ice Lake color variants add more attraction to this unique dewdrop arc design. The rear panel has a dual camera module at the top left corner with a noticeable camera bulge. The two lenses are stacked horizontally with the LED flash towards the right. There is a circular fingerprint sensor as well. The power button is at the right edge while the volume rockets and the triple SIM card tray is at the left edge. There is a micro USB charging port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and the speaker grilles at the bottom while the top remains barren. Though the design looks unique, the rear panel is a fingerprint magnet. However, there is a silicon case bundled with the device that leaves us free from rubbing the fingerprint marks and smudges all the time. Moreover, it is a transparent case that lets us flaunt the phone's unique looks. On the whole, there is no denying that it is a premium-looking mid-tier smartphone. Display The Realme 2 Pro has an impressive display with ample screen space. The device bestows a large 6.3-inch LCD display with a FHD+ resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. The screen has a dewdrop notch on top as mentioned above and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The ample screen space results in a high screen-to-body ratio of 90.8%. Though there is a super large screen, the device is still compact when it is held, thanks to the dewdrop design and slim bezels. As mentioned above, there is Gorilla Glass protection that keeps the display protected all the time. The screen is capable of reproducing crisp and vibrant colors and it is eye-catching. Eventually, the device is well suited for multimedia applications. It is quite visible even under direct sunlight. With the maximum brightness, I didn't have any issue in viewing the contents of the display. Given the price point of this smartphone, the impressive screen is definitely a favorable one for this smartphone. However, the one thing that I didn't like about the screen is the waterdrop notch. A notch-less design would have been much better and made the device distinct from the other latest offerings. While this display with an ample screen space and impressive color reproduction is suitable for multimedia use, the downside is that it lacks the Widevine L1 support. On checking, we got to see that it comes with L3 support so it cannot be used to playback HD content on Netlfix and other services. Performance The Realme 2 Pro makes use of an octa-core Snapdragon 660 AIE. This processor is paired with Adreno 512 GPU, 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM and 64GB/128GB (UFS 2.1) storage space. There is a dedicated microSD card slot supporting up to 256GB of expandable storage. Notably, the Snapdragon processor comes with Qualcomm All-Ways Aware sensor hub, digital signal processing, Bluetooth searching, WiFi searching, low power consumption mode and more that make it extremely efficient. The processor renders high performance and consumes low power. Also, there is an inbuilt AI engine to render a real AI experience. Having mentioned the technical aspects, let's move on to the real-life usage and performance. During my usage, it managed the daily gaming, multitasking and multimedia usage pretty well. The multitasking was swift without any delay or lag during switching between apps. I tried games like Asphalt 8 and Shadow Fight 3 and there was no lag in the performance. What's cool is that the high graphics ran smoothly without a clutter. Going to the numbers, the Realme 2 Pro scored 1439 and 5483 points respectively in the single-core and multi-core tests on Geekbench. This is pretty much impressive for a smartphone at this price point. In the AnTuTu benchmark test, it scored 114335 points. Overall, the device renders a great performance and is capable of handling any task that is thrown at it. However, there is very minimal heating on subjecting it to intensive tasks but it is negligible. And, sometimes, when many apps are open, the gaming apps with heavy graphics take a little while to boot but that isn't a serious issue. Talking about the Face Unlock and fingerprint sensor performance, both the security features work pretty efficiently. They are snappy in recognizing and unlocking the device. I didn't find any issue in using these two features. Dual real cameras Realme 2 Pro flaunts an AI dual camera with a 16MP 1/2.8-inch Sony IMX398 primary sensor and a 2MP secondary sensor. These sensors have f/1.7 and f/2.2 aperture for improved bokeh performance. The camera has AI capabilities such as portrait mode, noise reduction, AI scene recognition, AR stickers, AI Album and more. The camera supports 4K video capture at 30fps with features such as EIS. The AI integration of the Snapdragon 660 AIE comes to play while we edit images and videos captured by the device, browse the gallery and more. Given that there is 4K video recording with EIS, it is definitely a good option. It is interesting to see the Expert mode that was missing in the Realme 2. On the performance front, the camera does a good job considering that it is a mid-range smartphone. The photos look good under well-lit and bright lighting conditions but when it comes to the low-light performance, the result is slightly pixelated and blurred. The shutter speed is fast and the colors appear clear and vivid. And, the bokeh effect isn't too impressive but it on par with the effect rendered by rivals in this price point. Selfie camera Moving to the selfie camera, it is a 16MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture. It captures enough light to click bright selfie shots. And, there is AI beauty 2.0 that can recognize 296 facial points to make the selfies look better. The software-based selfie portrait mode eliminates the background in the selfies keeping the subject as the prime focus. However, the selfies clicked with the AI portrait mode turned on appear to have a little overexposed and washed out effect. Software The smartphone runs Android 8.1 Oreo topped by the company's ColorOS 5.2 UI. Notably, the device will get the Android 9 Pie update as the company's CEO announced that all the Realme phones will get the latest iteration of the OS. There are customizations and optimizations to some extent but that doesn't seem to affect the performance of the device to a great extent. There are some preloaded apps but the features of this UI outweighs the drawbacks. There are interesting features such as Clone apps, Game Space for an uninterrupted gaming experience, an array of security features, Smart Driving, Google Assistant, screen and audio recording, custom timer, Oroaming for frequent travelers and more for an enhanced user experience. Battery and connectivity Realme 2 Pro uses a 3500mAh battery that is touted to render 2-day battery life, thanks to the power efficient Snapdragon 660 AIE under its hood. And, there is a Power Saving mode as well. The device manages to render a long-lasting battery life with this specification. I could get over 1 day of battery life on a single change with 4G VoLTE or Wi-Fi turned on all the time. Also, apps like Saavn were frequently used and games were also played without too much battery drain. On the connectivity front, the smartphone comes with dual-SIM support, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other standard features. Verdict The Realme 2 Pro is an impressive mid-tier smartphone that renders a decent overall performance. It renders a fast and efficient performance, decent camera capabilities, a vibrant display, long-lasting battery life, a unique design and ample storage space without burning a hole in your pocket. If you want a smartphone priced under Rs. 20,000 with above average performance, then you can choose to buy this one. The 2018 versions of the farm bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in late June and have been in conference ever since. In true form, the five-year bill is now set to expire at the end of the week on Sept. 30, and no bill has emerged from the bicameral conference. The Glasgow Courier was contacted by Senator Testers office to discuss the bill, and we reached out to Senator Steve Daines office to interview the two on the farm bills current situation and their expectations for the future of the bill. Although Sen. Daines expressed hope that a deal would come in time for the deadline, Sen. Tester was pessimistic that the farm bill would pass by Sept. 30, responding to the question of whether the bill would pass by the deadline saying, It sure doesnt look like it. Sen. Daines response was slightly more optimistic. We are doing everything we can to get a strong farm bill across the finish line, said the Senator, adding later that he was, Still hoping for the end of the month. According to both Senators, the major points of contention are the consolidation of conservation programs, forestry reforms and the SNAP work requirements. According to Senator Tester. the House version of the bill would cut SNAP by $23 billion over the next 10 years. Work requirements are important, said the Senator, but he had concerns related to mental health and feels the current work requirement for SNAP was sufficient. Senator Daines took a different approach to the SNAP work requirement calling them common sense requirements. They seem to be pretty common sense, said Daines, If you are able-bodied and able to work then you should. The Courier also spoke to former President of the National Association of Wheat Growers and long-term wheat and pulse crop farmer out of Outlook, Mont., Gordon Stoner, about his take on the current farm bill situation. Stoner had a pessimistic view for the deadline as well, My suspicion is, given the way the system works in Washington, were not going to get one. Stoner tried to explain why the farm bill would be stalled in conference. Let me put it this way, said Stoner, The farm bill is 80 percent nutrition, 10 percent farms as related to agriculture and 10 percent other. The parts that involve agriculture could not pass without our urban neighbors. Stoner said he views the farm bill as a sort of trade where farmers get crop insurance and subsidies in exchange for others receiving SNAP benefits. There is no way to separate the two, explained Stoner, It needs to be addressed. All three individuals were confident that a bill would eventually pass in the long-run, but that the uncertainty of it was likely further unsettling the already struggling agriculture community. Its important that farmers have predictability in the end, explained Tester adding later that, There are enough pressures in production agriculture. Stoner was less concerned about the long-term consequences stating, Some in D.C. are saying we really have until December. That is when many of the programs will truly run out, or will need to be in place to support the next production season. On the short term Im really concerned, said Stoner who expressed concern for market development programs like the Foreign Market Development and Foreign Market Access programs that support overseas offices promoting American goods. According to Stoner, the U.S. exports over 80 percent of wheat grown in the country, and if you couple cuts to foreign market development with the growing trade conflict, he feels it could have devastating effects on agriculture producers in Montana. The Outlook-based farmer described the already occurring effects of the trade war, stating that the top three wheat markets were turning elsewhere to purchase the crop. He said Mexico had already turned to Argentina, Japan was looking to Australia and Canada and that China had not purchased a single bushel of wheat since the first round of tariffs in March. He described fears of a protracted trade war and assertions that the administration had told them that the $12 billion MFP was implemented to send a clear message to China of this administrations resolve to see the trade war through, explained Stoner continuing, I saw that as a signal that this will be a long, hard fight. Stoner expressed concern that given the already suffering state of agriculture following droughts, depressed prices and now uncertainty with the farm bill that he feels, Some producers will suffer and they might not survive it. He added later in the interview that, Without exports Ag does not have a rosy outlook. In response to the trade war issues, Senator Daines seemed in tune with Montana farmers on the issues surrounding trade. He stated, 80 percent of our wheat goes overseas. He expressed his support for market development. I support some of these multilateral trade agreements like TPP, asserted Daines adding that he supports bi-lateral deals with Mexico, Canada, Japan and China. Daines did clarify that he feels, The President is doing the right thing to challenge China on trade and for theft of our intellectual property rights. Senator Tester was also sympathetic to the trade conflicts effects on Ag producers and the instability not passing the farm bill has on those same producers. Tester does not think an extension could exclude funding for foreign market programs. An extension has to be a solid extension, said Tester, going up against the idea of extending some of the programs or limiting funding to others as a solution, That is not the way to do business. On trade, Tester agreed with Stoner, commenting that markets can be difficult to recover. As soon as that infrastructure goes another way, its harder to get those markets back, said Tester adding that, Canada, Australia and Argentina are eating this up. When asked if he thinks the trade war and the farm bill uncertainty might cause some farms to go under, Tester responded, I certainly hope not. Daines echoed that sentiment, In chatting with our farmers, they face enough uncertainty as it is. He said his daughter will be marrying a farmer in the Gallatin Valley, and that he hears from him as well causing Daines to say definitively, We dont need to add further uncertainty in the life of our farmers. Daines was adamant that the farm bill should include the SNAP requirement and forestry reform. Tester was adamant that the SNAP reform would harm low-income Americans and he was cautious of the consolidation of Conservation Reserve Program and the Environmental Quality Incentive Program. Neither would definitively say which final bills they would support coming out of conference. Both Senators and Stoner agreed, though, that Washington should be working hard to get this done by the deadline. Whether that actually occurs is unknown, and the short-and long-term effects it would have on agriculture are also unclear. Congressmen Gianforte was unavailable to be interviewed for this article, but provided the following statement, Ive listened to Montana farmers and ranchers and have urged the conference committee to iron out a Farm Bill that works for Montana. We need a Farm Bill that provides for a strong safety net and greater certainty for Montana farmers and ranchers, maintains the sugar program, preserves the Farm Credit system and provides needed forest management reforms to improve the health of our forests and support good-paying Montana jobs. I look forward to fully reviewing the bill, which I hope the conference committee will report soon. Its a beautiful day for a walk, shouted one of the prayer walkers at this past weekends prayer walk as the Courier arrived to interview event organizers and capture pictures. The event was intended to raise awareness to the groups opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline and the human trafficking and drug concerns that surround the influx of employees that will be present during its construction. According to organizer Angelina Cheek, over 25 different walkers, covering different stretches of the route, showed up to show support and demonstrate both in opposition to KXL and to raise awareness of human trafficking and drug-related issues surrounding man camps. My biggest concern is the man camps, because of the indigenous women and men who go missing, explained Cheek who also described instances where people had been abducted in cases related to the Baaken Oilfield in North Dakota. In particular, she cited the case of Sherry Arnold, a Sidney school teacher who was abducted and killed by two men from Colorado who had claimed to be looking for work in the oilfields. On Sept. 20, Cheek coordinated a law enforcement presentation in Frazer with the Department of Justice, the Montana Highway Patrol and Bureau of Indian Affairs all presenting information on human trafficking and narcotics activity affiliated with the potential influx of workers to the area, according to Cheek. One presenter at the human trafficking presentations in Frazer was a sophomore at Poplar High School who told the story of almost being abducted walking home from school. She recounted her story to the Courier saying that she was stopped on her way home from school by a car with North Dakota plates. The men kept talking to her and then tried to force her to get into their car. Finally, she said she pulled out her phone and called the police and walked as quickly as possible in the other direction before the car pulled away. According to her account, the police never located the vehicle or made any arrests. She also claims she saw the same vehicle weeks later on her way home from school forcing her to run home in fear. The other reason for the prayer walk was to oppose the construction of Keystone XL pipeline, because of the risk it poses to the Fort Peck Tribes and Dry Prairie Water Supply by crossing under the Milk and Missouri Rivers. As one participant, who did not want to go on the record out of fear of reprisals from the Tribes, said, Think of water going through a copper pipe. It will eventually spring holes, because it is abrasive. Tar sands are far more corrosive; these pipes will leak. The walks organizer, Marina Starr, expressed regret that more people had not shown up to support the walk, but also showed understanding that many people expressed fear. A lot of people have said they are afraid to show up because of what happened at DAPL (The Dakota Access Pipeline), explained Starr, before adding, There is a lot of fear going up against Trans-Canada, the police departments and all that. I think if its done in a good way, the right way, then it (the opposition to KXL) will turn out good. Terry Bud Zeiger, 75, was relieved of pain on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. Services will be held Thursday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. Bell Mortuary is officiating and burial will be in the Highland Cemetery. Eulogy and services will be delivered by Brian Austin with luncheon to follow at Senior Citizens Center. He was born in Libby, Mont., on Jan. 26, 1943, the son of Roy and Violet (Kapphahn) Zeiger. He was raised from an early age in Glasgow and attended Glasgow Public Schools through the eighth-grade. He married Nora Irene Dalby June 16, 1964, and together they raised three children, Danny Mike, Cindy Lou, and Carol Ann (Bootie). Terry spent his life working various jobs including Pacific Hide and Fur, Morehouse Painting, and with Larry Scanlan, but his lifelong occupation was dealing in fur from trapping in his early years to raising fox, bobcats, and mink, up until his retirement in 2012. He enjoyed nature and being outdoors. He especially loved spending time with his grandchildren. Combining his passion for nature and his love for his grandchildren, he taught them a respect of nature as well as life skills he felt were important. He lived life by his own rules and in his own way. He believed in a life of working hard and installed this value into his children. He is preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Violet Zeiger. He is survived by his wife, Nora; one son, Danny (Shantel), and their two children, Luke and Rachael; two daughters, Cindy Hill and her daughter, DeAnna, and Carol Stingley (Bert), and their children,Trysta and Brady; and one cousin, Gary Barnett, who has been a faithful companion and friend, especially these last few years. Mining Provides a Montana Way of Life Dear Editor, A recent opinion piece by Tom Reed of Trout Unlimited urged Montanans to support I-186. Reed claims that I-186 is pro-mining but anti-pollution - explaining that only environmentally responsible mines will be able operate if th... US Army Pacific, Nepali Army co-hosts disaster response exercise By Sgt. 1st Class Corey Ray September 26, 2018 KATHMANDU, Nepal -- More than 300 disaster response professionals from 14 countries met in Kathmandu for the Nepal Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) opening ceremony, 25 Sep. 2018. The annual civil-military disaster preparedness and response initiative is co-hosted by the Nepali Army, Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs and the United States Army Pacific and staffed by servicemembers from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The multinational, multilateral, joint-exercise consists of subject matter expert exchanges, table top evaluations, functional exercises and an after-action review. During the exercise, participants from national militaries, government organizations, the United Nations and non-government entities are split into teams according to expertise to work through a common earthquake scenario while sharing knowledge, testing common operating procedures and making recommendations to improve future disaster planning and response procedures. Michael C. Gonzales, Charge d'Affaires, U.S. Embassy Kathmandu, Nepal, was a guest speaker at the opening ceremony and explained the goals of this year's exercise. "Pacific Resilience 2018 aims to advance the disaster management skills and knowledge of all participants. Ultimately disasters are a reality that all of us must face. What we do in preparation for them and what we do in response to them, truly can mean life or death. Our goal with this program is to ensure the full array of responders, both uniformed and civilian, are optimally prepared to respond to disasters, and in doing so, to serve and protect our communities and our countries. Resiliency and capacity building are the pillars on which disaster management rest. Exercises like this DREE provide an opportunity for the government of Nepal to build on its disaster management capability, thus creating a more resilient and capable Nepal." The Nepali Army, Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs and USARPAC agreed to now hold the exercise annually. Traditionally, the Nepal Pacific Resiliency DREE has been held every two years since 2011, but in 2015 it had to be postponed a year due to the massive Gorkha earthquake that devastated the city killing almost 9,000 people, injuring more than 21,000, and damaging or destroying more than 600,000 structures in Kathmandu and throughout the country. Kathmandu, the location of the country's only international airport, is still rebuilding, as much of the city's infrastructure was damaged and many cultural sites were decimated. Studies have shown that the 7.8 magnitude earthquake may have only been a precursor to a more powerful event to come. "While this looming curse can't be prevented, preventative measures, with greater emphasis on preparedness, rescue, relief, effective management and realism, can minimize the damage," said Vrem Kumar Rai, Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal. The guest of honor, General Purna Chandra Thapa, Chief of Army Staff in the Nepalese Army, provided opening remarks. "Disaster management is undeniably a multisectoral responsibility therefore there is a pressing need to cooperate closely with each other and share experiences and expertise on disaster management and mitigation, build rescue and relief capabilities and widely disseminate technology and innovation among the stakeholders. Additionally, our experiences have shown that deployment of military assets as part of the prime responders, for regional and international assistance, and responses to disaster relief has increasingly become an international norm. Employing military assets in disaster relief in humanitarian relief efforts is legally justified and morally ethical. Thus, we need to create a network toward our objectives. As the motto of the exercise is unity of effort, it best exemplifies the way our efforts have to be stringent both in preparations and in responses to disasters. " Pacific Resilience is a series of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief engagements between USARPAC and several host nation forces including the Bangladesh Armed Forces Division, the Tentara Nasional Indonesia, the Nepali Army, the People's Liberation Army in China, and many others. Under the umbrella of Pacific Resilience, DREEs are conducted to evaluate and exercise best practices and technical capacity development progression from one year to the next, and enhance interoperability and capacity through SME presentations, Table-Top Exercises and Field Training Exercises. Participants respond to a large-scale disaster scenario which would profoundly impact the host nation. Public, private and military medical facilities may also be evaluated, as are search and rescue techniques. This exercise is scheduled to conclude with a closing ceremony on 28 Sep., and the planning for next year's exercise is scheduled to begin in a few months. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Release No. NR-275-18 September 26, 2018 Readout of Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis' Meeting with Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana W. White provided the following readout: Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis met with Romanian Defense Minister Mihai Fifor today at the Pentagon to reaffirm the long-standing defense relationship between the United States and Romania. The secretary thanked Minister Fifor for his country's continued leadership in NATO and its contributions to the Resolute Support Mission. They agreed to continue defense cooperation and to promote security in the Black Sea region. Secretary Mattis praised Minister Fifor on Romania's military modernization efforts and their defense spending commitments to NATO. He noted that both of these efforts make Romania a model ally. http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1645953/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary General at Ground Zero: NATO stands with the US in the fight against terrorism NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 26 Sep. 2018 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and outlined NATO's role in the fight against terrorism in a speech at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum on Wednesday (26 September 2018). The Alliance invoked its collective defence clause Article 5 of the Washington Treaty for the first time in support of the United States, after 9/11. "In the days that followed 9/11, NATO planes helped to patrol American skies. Soon after, troops from NATO Allies deployed to Afghanistan, to prevent that country from ever again becoming a safe haven for international terrorists," said the Secretary General. He stressed that NATO Allies continue to stand with the United States, training Afghan security forces and providing surveillance aircraft to the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Mr. Stoltenberg noted that NATO is boosting its contribution to the fight against terrorism, with a new training mission in Iraq and more support for partners, such as Jordan and Tunisia. "Training local forces is one of the best weapons we have in the fight against terrorism," he said. Warning that terrorism comes in many forms, the Secretary General recalled that the 2011 attacks in Norway were perpetrated by a white Norwegian. He stressed that to fight terrorism, we need military might, but also political, diplomatic and social tools. "Our response to terrorism in all its forms wherever it appears is to unite around our values, and stand up for our open and free societies," he said. The Secretary General also thanked the National September 11 Memorial for giving NATO an important piece of American history: a piece of twisted steel from the Twin Towers, which is displayed at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels as the 9/11 and Article 5 Memorial. Mr. Stoltenberg announced that one of the Survivor Tree seedlings will soon be planted at NATO headquarters, in honour of fallen Allied armed forces. The Survivor Tree is a Callery pear tree which survived the 9/11 attacks and was nursed back to health. The Secretary General presented two gifts to the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum: a photograph of the alliance's 9/11 and Article 5 Memorial, and a copy of NATO's Founding Treaty. He underlined that these gifts enshrine the enduring bond between Europe and North America and the Alliance's commitment to its core values of democracy, freedom and the rule of law. The Secretary General is concluding a three day trip to New York, where he took part in the opening of the UN General Assembly and met with several world leaders. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Under SECNAV Visits Papua New Guinea for Partnership Building Navy News Service Story Number: NNS180925-12 Release Date: 9/25/2018 6:18:00 PM From Under Secretary of the Navy Public Affairs Papua New Guinea (NNS) -- Under Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly completed a partnership-building visit to Papua New Guinea on Sep. 25, 2018. Modly was in the area to meet with senior military and civilian officials to discuss bilateral and multilateral maritime security issues and efforts. Meetings were held with Papua New Guinea's Defense Minister Solan Mirisim, Secretary of Defense Trevor Meauri, and Acting Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defense Force, Philip Polewara as well as Philip Leo, Director General for Law and Justice, Office of the Prime Minister. Modly discussed, among other topics, improving our military-to-military cooperation, shared security interests, and the upcoming APEC Conference. "We welcome Papau New Guinea's focus on the maritime environment and their efforts underway to strengthen their maritime defense force,'" said Modly. "We look forward to continuing our cooperation and dialogue on ways we can collaborate in the future to enhance the partnership between our two nations." Modly's stop in Port Moresby is part of a multi-nation visit to the Oceania region focused on strengthening partnerships and cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN 'Strongly Concerned' After Afghan Children, Women Killed In Air Strike RFE/RL September 26, 2018 The UN mission in Afghanistan has expressed "strong concern" over the rising numbers of civilian casualties caused by aerial operations, as two separate air strikes over the weekend appear to have killed a total of 21 civilians. Citing preliminary findings, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on September 26 said that 12 women and children from the same family were killed when an "aerial ordnance" destroyed their house in Maidan Wardak Province, west of Kabul. The incident took place late on September 23 in the village of Mullah Hafez, Jaghato district, during operations conducted by pro-government forces in the area, a statement said. Provincial council member Ahmad Jahfari told the AFP news agency that the strike targeted Taliban militants. In a separate statement issued on September 25, UNAMA said it had received "multiple, credible allegations" that a September 22 air strike hit the house of a teacher in Kapisa Province, north of the capital, killing nine members of the same family. Those killed included three women and four children, it said. Six other people were wounded. UNAMA said it was unclear whether the two air strikes were carried out by Afghan or NATO forces. Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish confirmed civilian casualties in Kapisa during a joint operation by Afghan and U.S. forces that involved air support and said an investigation was under way. The U.S. military carried out an air strike in support of Afghan ground troops in Kapisa but killed "only militants," said David Butler, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Afghan security forces have struggled to counter attacks from the Taliban and other militant groups since the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops in 2014. UNAMA said it was currently reviewing reports of civilian casualties from "a number of alleged air strikes in other parts of the country." It also reiterated its call on all parties to the conflict to "take additional measures to prevent harm to the civilian population." About 7 percent of all civilian casualties in the Afghan conflict in the first half of 2018 were attributed to air operations, the UNAMA statement said. The mission said it recorded a 52 percent increase in civilian casualties 149 deaths and 204 injured from aerial attacks compared to the same period in 2017. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/un-strongly -concerned-after-afghan-children-women-killed -in-air-strike/29510571.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 Yemen Peace Talks to Be Useless Until Hodeidah Liberated - Deputy Minister Sputnik News 21:25 26.09.2018 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Peace talks between the government of Yemen and Houthi rebels are unlikely to be useful until the liberation of Yemen's port city of Hodeidah, Hamzah Alkamaly, Yemen's deputy minister of youth and sport, told Sputnik on Wednesday. "I believe that even if we go to the peace talks just before the liberation of Al Hudaydah it will not be useful at all because the Houthis until now are not willing, they do not believe in peace because they have opportunities to survive on the ground," Alkamaly said. The Yemeni official added that the liberation of Hodeidah would serve as a stimulus for Houthis to come to the negotiating table. "The Houthis, unfortunately, are not prepared, ready and willing for peace right now but any advancement on the ground will help to negotiate peace at the table. If we advance the military on the ground and if we liberate Al Hodeidah I think the Houthis will be prepared to go to the peace talks," Alkamaly said. Last week, the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states announced the launch of another large-scale military offensive to liberate the embattled city of Al Hodeidah from Houthi militants. Prior to that, on September 6, UN-mediated peace talks on Yemen were supposed to start in Geneva, but the Houthi delegation failed to arrive, accusing the Saudi-led coalition, which controls Yemeni airspace, of blocking them from traveling. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths later announced that new dates for peace talks would be set. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on his official Twitter blog on Tuesday, after a meeting with Griffiths, that the United Arab Emirates would fully support UN proposals for new peace talks on Yemen. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Armenia Backs Resolving Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Within OSCE Format - PM Sputnik News 05:17 26.09.2018 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Armenia supports resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the format offered by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a speech in front of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). "Armenia will continue its constructive engagement in the peaceful resolution of the conflict within the format of the OSCE Minsk Group which has the only internationally recognized mandate to deal with the conflict," Pashinyan told the UNGA in New York on Tuesday. Azerbaijan, Pashinyan added, must change its behavior of disrespect towards the negotiations and abandon the idea of any military solution. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Sputnik earlier this week that the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will discuss the settlement of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on September 26 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991, triggering a military conflict that led to Baku's loss of control over the region. The violence between Azerbaijani and Nagorno-Karabakh forces escalated on April 2, 2016, leading to multiple casualties. The sides agreed to a ceasefire on April 5, but sporadic clashes have continued. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Heads of State meet on security, human rights and political upheaval in war-torn Central African Republic 26 September 2018 - What are the key events that have led the Central African Republic (CAR) to go from being a land-rich nation full of optimism at independence, in 1960, to an impoverished country facing multiple challenges, and the subject of a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters on Friday? What is now CAR was annexed by France until winning its independence in 1960. Political crises quickly followed, with three successive mutinies by the armed forces within six years. A truce, known the Bangui Agreements, was signed in 1997 that mandated an inter-African military mission be deployed to the country. In 1998, the UN replaced those troops with its own Mission in the Central African Republic, or MINURCA, establishing the first UN peacekeeping mission there. Since that time, the UN has maintained a continuous presence that has encompassed peacekeeping, peacebuilding and political missions. A gloomy picture Despite significant mineral wealth and rich arable land, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lists CAR among the 10 poorest countries in the world, with the lowest Gross Domestic Product for 2017. The UN Development Programme's (UNDP) 2018 statistical update, ranked CAR second from last out of 189 countries, with the lowest level of human development. A recent Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report revealed that civil conflicts, consecutive years of reduced agricultural production and poorly functioning markets, have left some 43 per cent of the population in need of urgent assistance. Public health is also at a crisis point. The UN agency leading the fight against HIV/AIDS said that less than 35 per cent of Central Africans living with HIV access treatment, calling it among "the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa". Moreover, the country's magnificent wildlife continues to suffer, also. According to UN Environment (UNEP), elephants, giraffes, rhinos and others are being targeted in wildlife conservation areas caught in the crosshairs of armed groups and highly militarized illegal poaching operations. At the same time, fighting between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia and the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition has plunged the CAR into civil conflict since 2012. While a peace agreement was reached in January 2013, rebels seized the capital of Bangui that March, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee. Concerned with the security, humanitarian, human rights and political crisis within the country and its implications for the region, MINUSCA, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR, began operating in 2014 under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. With the protection of civilians as its utmost priority, Chapter VII provides for the use of force meaning, with Security Council authority, peacekeepers may respond to acts of aggression in kind. The dangerous situation has prompted four dedicated Security Council meetings in 2018 alone, as well as two on the Central African region overall. Meeting for change More than two years after the inauguration of President Touadera, and following the first meeting, in April, of the International Support Group on the CAR, the High-Level Ministerial Meeting is taking place as a side event of the UN's seventy-third general debate. The meeting aims to take stock of CAR's political process and see what can be done to help stabilize the nation, including with regional countries; and also explore ways to address continuing violence and prevent worsening conflict NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lebanon's President says country is working towards stability, but weighed down by 'neighborhood crises' 26 September 2018 - Although Lebanon 'is groping our way to rise from consecutive crises', President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday that his country was being buffeted by regional crises and called on the United Nations to show global leadership by taking action to resolve conflicts in the Middle East. Arguing strongly in favour of reforming the UN Security Council, he said that the 15-member body has "failed to adopt fair, and sometimes defining resolutions" leading to the suffering at "the very heart of our region." As one example, he drew attention to resolution 425 (1978) in which the Council called on Israel to withdraw forces from its territories, saying that 22 years later, due to Lebanese resistance, it was finally implemented. "There must be a reform project that sets out the enlargement of the Security Council, the increase of the number of Member States and the adoption of a more transparent, more democratic and more balanced system," he underscored. "It is of the paramount importance for the General Assembly to express better the effective orientation of the international community," he added. The President pointed out that although Lebanon has risen from consecutives internal crises, the consequences of neighouring countries "still weigh heavily upon us." Holding up before the Assembly a map provided by the UN refugee agency, he said that there are waves of displaced people "fleeing the hell of war" in Syria pouring into Lebanon, and that while his country has tried to the greatest extent possible to ensure them a dignified and descent life. Nevertheless, he noted that crime rates have jumped by 30 per cent, unemployment has dropped by 21 per cent and the density of the population has increased from 400 to 600 people per square kilometer, "making it impossible for us to keep shouldering this burden, especially that most of the Syrian territories have become safe." "Against this background, I reiterate the stance of my country which seeks to consolidate the right of dignified, safe and sustainable return of the displaced to their land, rejecting absolutely any project of settlement, whether for the displaced or the refugee," he asserted. Mr. Aoun then voiced his dissent of "the international political approaches for the Middle East," which "lack justice and use double standards," calling Palestine "the best reflection of this picture." He cited the Council and Assembly's vote against the proclamation of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, yet, he said, "despite the results of the two votes, which reflected the will of the international community, some embassies were transferred to it" undermining "the endeavours of peace and the two-state project." Observing that the world today suffers from extremism and fanaticism, Lebanon's Head of State highlighted a pressing need for dialogue between religions, cultures and races, and for building international cultural institutions to spread a dialogue of peace. "The road to salvation resides in convergence, dialogue, the rejection of the language of violence, the establishment of justice between the people, and it is the only path that brings back stability and security to our societies, and achieves the sustainable development that we aspire to," concluded President Aoun. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Accuses China of Election Meddling By Patsy Widakuswara September 26, 2018 President Donald Trump is accusing China of meddling in upcoming U.S. elections. "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my administration," Trump said during an address Wednesday morning as he chaired his first U.N. Security Council meeting. "They do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade. And we are winning on trade. We are winning at every level." Shortly after Trump's remarks, China's foreign minister rejected his accusations of election meddling. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters that Beijing follows the principle of non-interference in other countries' affairs and refuses to accept "unwarranted accusations" against China. Later Wednesday, Trump said in a tweet: "China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news." China's state media has been placing paid supplements in major American newspapers for at least several years. Although some journalists in the U.S. have criticized the practice as unethical, it has become common for countries and companies to strike deals for this kind of paid content that does not go through a newspaper's editorial channels. Trump's accusation of Chinese election meddling further raises pressure against Beijing during an escalating trade war. Last week, he accused China of trying to sway the upcoming U.S. midterm elections by targeting voters who supported him in 2016. "China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me," Trump wrote on Twitter. Prices for many key U.S. agricultural products have plummeted since the start of the U.S.-China trade war, as Chinese importers look to other countries for their supply. During a briefing to White House reporters Wednesday afternoon, a senior administration official said that Beijing has been using "political, economic, commercial, military and informational tools to benefit the interest of the Chinese Communist Party" in ways that go beyond how countries normally engage with each other. The official mentioned Chinese censorship, propaganda, cyberbullying, and China's visa selection process as examples of how China is actively interfering in the American political system. The official said these practices have reached "an unacceptable level." The official added that Chinese state-run media agencies operating in the U.S. need to be registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that would treat them as lobbyists working for a foreign entity. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to expand on the administration's complaints over Chinese influence efforts in an address next week in Washington. China or Russia? While Russia's role in manipulating the 2016 election in Trump's favor is the subject of the special counsel's investigation, until recently there were no allegations of Chinese political meddling. Beijing has been accused of corporate espionage for years and in 2015 allegedly hacked a database containing personal information on as many as four million people who applied for jobs with the U.S. government. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also asked about Russia's threat to upcoming U.S. elections, and he responded by mentioning several countries. "The U.S. government is actively engaged in efforts to ensure that the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, the North Koreans, all of those with malintent for America will not have the capacity to have substantial interference in the American elections," he said in an interview with CBS news Wednesday. On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned that China's growing prowess in cyberspace is a bigger, more dangerous threat to the United States than Russia's attempt to undermine U.S. elections. Speaking at a cybersecurity conference Tuesday at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina, Coats characterized the Chinese threat as deliberate, methodical and subtle, and warned that Beijing is on a path that could lead to global supremacy. U.S.-China tariffs war On Monday, a new round of U.S.-imposed duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and a retaliatory set of tariffs imposed by Beijing on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods took effect. The U.S. has already imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, and China has retaliated on an equal amount on U.S. goods. Earlier this month, Trump threatened more tariffs on Chinese goods another $267 billion worth of duties that, together with the existing tariffs, would cover virtually all the goods China exports to the United States. Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan City of Ghazni Shelled During President's Visit - Reports Sputnik News 14:01 27.09.2018 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Two rockets were launched at the Afghan city of Ghazni while the country's president was there for a visit, Ashraf Ghani, Pajhwok news agency reported on Thursday. According to the Pajhwok news agency, the president, accompanied by other government officials, was holding a meeting in the residence of the provincial governor. According to the 1TV broadcaster, the rockets landed several meters from where the meeting was taking place. No casualties have been reported. Security remains one of Afghanistan's most pressing issues, with the government continuing to flight the Taliban insurgency and the Daesh* terror group. Afghanistan's government forces have long been fighting Taliban* insurgency, as well as the Daesh terrorist group, with the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces conducting joint counterterrorist operations across the country. *Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) and Taliban are terrorist groups banned in Russia Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Flies More B-52 Bombers Near Disputed Territories in South China Sea Sputnik News 00:11 27.09.2018 Poking China in its side, the US Air Force conducted several B-52 bomber flights over the South China Sea this week, a move likely to draw Beijing's ire. This week saw several American bombers flying across the contested region, with four B-52s transiting through skies over the South China Sea on Monday and an additional batch on Tuesday that traveled above the East China Sea. Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn told Reuters on Wednesday that the bombers were participating in a "regularly scheduled, combined operation" that was part of "routine events designed to enhance our readiness and interoperability with our partners and allies in the region." "The United States military will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows at times and places of our choosing," Eastburn added. Bombers on Tuesday were reportedly escorted by Japanese fighter jets as all parties made their way through the Diaoyu Islands, according to CNN. Though the uninhabited islands are controlled by Japan, China has claimed them as its own. When asked about this week's flybys, US Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday that the flights were "nothing out of the ordinary." "That just goes on. If it was 20 years ago, and had [China] not militarized those features there, it would have been just another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or wherever," he said. Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago, is used by the US as a military base in the region. The latest development comes after Chinese authorities denied the US Navy's amphibious assault ship USS Wasp port in Hong Kong after the US sanctioned the Chinese military for purchasing Russian military equipment. The rejected vessel was part of a group operating in the Indo-Pacific region, according to Bloomberg. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Military Aids Disaster Response Effort in the Aftermath of Hurricane Florence Sept. 26, 2018 By Navy Lt. Haider Mullick U.S. Army North RALEIGH, N.C. -- After two weeks of preparing and providing relief to communities devastated by Hurricane Florence in North Carolina, active-duty soldiers are winding down rescue efforts while remaining ready to meet federal and local needs. At the peak of the response, more than 12,000 National Guard and federal military personnel supported the hurricane response efforts, rescuing people and pets, transporting first responders and delivering food and water. Under the framework of state joint force commands established in North and South Carolina, active duty and Reserve Component military forces supported the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state authorities in response to the needs of citizens affected by the storm. Federal forces were prepared to assist both North and South Carolina, said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, commander of U.S. Army North and U.S. Northern Command's Joint Forces Land Component Command. Team Effort "We brought together all the resources of the federal side of the military -- Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps," Buchanan said. Army North's higher headquarters, Northcom, is the Defense Department's synchronizer for Defense support of civil authorities, and brought additional capabilities and capacity to the hurricane response efforts. These capabilities included communication support for landlines and cell phone towers, medical units, and five-ton troop transportation trucks with high suspension to maneuver flood waters. Additionally, a Navy surface group led by the USS Kearsarge departed Norfolk, Virginia, for the open seas, then followed the storm toward the shore and postured near the coast to be ready to provide support off shore. Acting on lessons learned from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, Army North became fully engaged in response efforts for Hurricane Florence before the storm made landfall, building logistical networks to facilitate rapid lifesaving and sustaining operations. "While we acknowledge that every natural disaster is distinct, we have learned that coming in early helps tremendously to ensure we are not late" to provide assistance, Buchanan said. The Army North staff worked closely with forces commanded by Army Maj. Gen. James Ernst of the North Carolina National Guard, who was designated as the dual status commander by the secretary of defense. "It's my job to coordinate the efforts of both the North Carolina National Guard and the active-duty units that come in," Ernst said. Soldiers Support Disaster Response Mission The 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command from Fort Bragg commanded key units such as the post's ad hoc "Task Force Truck" and the 101st Sustainment Brigade as they conducted high water rescue missions across North Carolina's coastal towns including flood-ravaged Lumberton and Wilmington. Soldiers in tactical vehicles helped rescue displaced residents in waist-high water. Soldiers from the 74th Composite Truck Company, 129th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, conducted high-water rescues in Lumberton from Sept. 17-21. "It felt really good to help people," said Army Spc. Mathew Perkins. Other members of the unit also shared their stories after returning to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, after transitioning remaining missions to National Guard units. "My job was to keep all our Army vehicles and the vehicles of the [North Carolina National] Guard operational, and we did that," Army Spc. Rochelle Llorico said. "We saved lives, and the support from the people was overwhelming." Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Allen remembered one family -- a single mom with two young teen daughters. "They decided to stay because they loved their home. It was everything they had," Allen said. "We gave them some supplies, and they were resilient. Their story is the American story. We're stronger when we help each other." 'The People Are Very Grateful' Army Sgt. Demetri Robinson recalled rescuing three men and a cat. "They were so glad we also saved the cat," he said. "The people are very grateful, and we're all united in saving lives." In South Carolina, the state established a dual status command headed by Army Maj. Gen. R. Van McCarty. The National Guard postured assets statewide to ensure county emergency planners had resources available for whatever was needed to assist their citizens through the aftereffects of the storm. Even as the federal military returns some capabilities to home station to resume other DoD missions, Army North remains vigilant, Buchanan said. The command is monitoring continued flooding in the Carolinas as well as two weather systems in the Pacific and four in the Atlantic. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico remain vulnerable following hurricanes Irma and Maria last year, so Army North has prepositioned communications equipment to be postured for the 2018 hurricane season. While the primary mission of Northcom is defending the American homeland, helping Americans impacted by natural disasters will always be a DoD responsibility, Buchanan said. "You know, we in the Army have deployed all over the world -- Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Honduras," he said. "But it is uniquely gratifying when you serve fellow Americans at home." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Beijing Refutes Trump's Accusations of Mid-Term Election Meddling Sputnik News 10:34 27.09.2018(updated 11:09 27.09.2018) The statement came in response to Donald Trump's accusations that China was seeking to meddle in the upcoming Nov. 4 congressional election in the United States. According to him, Beijing was aiming to confront his administration's pugnacious stance on trade. China doesn't meddle in other countries' internal affairs, the country's foreign ministry said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Wednesday, addressing Donald Trump's recent allegations that Beijing was seeking to interfere in the US midterm election. 'Everyone Knows the Main Meddler' Is is clear to the international community which country interferes most in other countries' affairs, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang noted, as cited by Reuters; however, he didn't specify the "main meddler." He also warned Washington against any actions that could damage relations with China. His comments came on the heels of Donald Trump's claims that China was looking to meddle in this year's midterm election in the US. "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November. Against my administration," Trump said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday. 'Provocations' in South China Sea On Thursday, China's defence ministry said that the country was "resolutely opposed" to the US military aircraft taking provocative actions in South China Sea and demanded that Washington take steps to improve military relations. This came after the US military flew B-52 bombers in the vicinity of the South China Sea this week as part of what it called "regularly scheduled operations." The South China Sea is a region emboriled in a number of disputes over islands, coral reefs, and maritime ways between China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. All-Out Tariff War In turn, the Chinese commerce ministry expressed hope for the resoltion of trade tensions with Washington, but said it had prepared for all eventualities. The ministry said in a regular briefing that China's economy woudn't collapse under Washington's threats and that American officials should not underestimate China's determination and capabilities. Trump earlier announced that the United States would impose fresh 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods that will take effect on September 24. On January 1, the tariffs are expected to grow to 25 percent. China-US trade tensions escalated in March after Trump announced import tariffs on steel and aluminum. Since then, Washington and Beijing have imposed several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, with bilateral trade consultations so far failing to halt the mounting trade war. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump, Moon agree to keep pressure on DPRK, discuss 2nd U.S.-DPRK summit People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 07:39, September 26, 2018 U.S. President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Monday agreed to keep pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and discussed plans to hold a second meeting between Trump and the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un. A statement issued by the White House said that during their meeting at the United Nations, Moon shared with Trump the outcomes of the latest inter-Korean summit. "Trump commended President Moon on conducting a successful third inter-Korean summit with Chairman Kim, and noted that there remained much work to be done to accomplish their mutual goal of achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea," the White House said in the statement. "The two leaders agreed on the importance of maintaining vigorous enforcement of existing sanctions to ensure North Korea understands that denuclearization is the only path to economic prosperity and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula," the White House said. "Both leaders also discussed plans for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim in the not too distant future and committed to closely coordinate on next steps," it said. Before his meeting with Moon, Trump said that his second summit with Kim will be announced "pretty soon", yet the summit is likely to take place in a different place. "We'll be having a second summit with Chairman Kim in the not too distant future," he said. "Our Secretary of State will be dealing with that subject. Mike Pompeo has been in touch with them, and we've been in touch with them." "I think within a fairly -- pretty short period of time, that will be announced and it will be location to be determined," he said. "We're both very much looking forward to having it. It will be between North Korea and the United States. It will be similar to the format we had before, most likely a different location," he said. "I think a lot of progress is being made. I see tremendous enthusiasm on behalf of Chairman Kim for making a deal," he said. "We are in no rush. There's no hurry. We got back three months ago or so. I think we've made more progress than anybody has made in -- ever, frankly, with regard to North Korea." At his meeting with Trump, Moon said: "I had a great trip to Pyongyang. We reached a good agreement between the two Koreas, and achieved progress on denuclearization of North Korea." "It's hugely significant that Chairman Kim personally expressed his commitment to denuclearization in front of the world media," he said. "Now, North Korea's decision to relinquish its nuclear program has been officialized to a degree that not even those within North Korea can reverse," he added. "Chairman Kim also repeatedly conveyed his unwavering trust and expectations for you (Trump), while expressing his hope to meet you soon to swiftly conclude the denuclearization process with you," Moon said. "I look forward to seeing the U.S.-North Korea summit take place, and wish you a great success." Earlier Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a press conference that "to set a date certain would be foolish. But make no mistake about it: The conversations that we're having are important." "They're -- they're putting the opportunity to complete the denuclearization in place," he said. "If we can continue to make progress and have conversations, I think there's enormous value in that." At the conclusion of the historic Trump-Kim summit in June in Singapore, the two sides issued a joint statement, agreeing to improve bilateral relations and work together to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula. However, U.S.-DPRK talks have been stuck in an impasse due to their differences over the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. In August, just one day after Pompeo announced his visit to the DPRK, Trump tweeted that he had asked Pompeo not to go due to the insufficient progress with the DPRK. During his Sept. 18-20 trip to Pyongyang, Moon held talks with Kim, and signed the Pyongyang Declaration on further steps toward the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization and concrete measures to end hostile acts near inter-Korean border areas. Pompeo said later in response that the United States is ready to transform its relations with the DPRK immediately. Pompeo added that he had invited DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho to meet in New York City where they are scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting. He also said on Friday that he hoped to travel to Pyongyang soon to prepare for the second summit between Trump and Kim. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Command Says Having Communication with N. Korea for First Time in 11 Years Sputnik News 01:35 26.09.2018 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) The US-led United Nations Command and North Korean senior officials are having military communications for the first time in more than ten years, US Forces Korea Commander nominee Army Gen. Robert Abrams told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing. "It's been over 300 days, as you've noted, since the last major provocation from the DPRK," Abrams said on Tuesday. "And since then, there's been significant dialogue at multiple levels to include, not well reported, but military to military communications between UN command and the DPRK at senior officer level in the first time in 11 years." In June, Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un held a summit in Singapore during which the North Korean leader expressed a commitment to abandon the country's nuclear weapons program, while the United States pledged to provide security guarantees and freeze joint military exercises with South Korea. On Monday, Trump said that there will be a second summit between the United States and North Korea in a similar format, but the location has not been determined yet. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Pompeo's Meeting With DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Readout Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC September 26, 2018 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Heather Nauert: Today, Secretary Pompeo met with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in New York. Secretary Pompeo accepted Chairman Kim's invitation to travel to Pyongyang next month to make further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Says Will Meet North Korea's Kim 'In Very Near Future' By Margaret Besheer September 26, 2018 U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday his administration is planning a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and will announce details soon. "I'll be meeting with Chairman Kim in the very near future," Trump told reporters at the United Nation's General Assembly in New York. Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is planning the summit and that it may take place after October. Pompeo will brief U.N. Security Council ministers Thursday on efforts to denuclearize North Korea. "We're working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit. But we hope it will be soon," Pompeo told CBS This Morning. "It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that." At a news conference in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly meetings, President Trump refused to get pinned down on a timeline for North Korea's denuclearization. "We are not playing the time game," Trump said. "If it takes two years, three years or five months it doesn't matter, there's no nuclear testing and there's no testing of rockets.'' Trump also dismissed critics who have said he gave up leverage by meeting with Kim before getting any guarantees. "I gave nothing, what have I given, other than some time? Yes, I flew to Singapore, we had a meeting," the president said. "Giving would be if I took the sanctions off." He also defended his decision to suspend last August's scheduled joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, saying he had saved U.S. taxpayers "a fortune." North Korea says the drills are a hostile provocation. President Trump also asserted, without any evidence, that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was "ready to go to war" over the North Korean nuclear problem. "If I wasn't elected you would have had a war," Trump claimed. "President Obama thought you had to go to war. Do you know how close he was to pressing the trigger for war?" Trump also said he had received two "magnificent" letters from Kim Jong Un about his commitment to denuclearization. Earlier Wednesday, President Trump chaired a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, as the U.S. currently holds the rotating presidency. The topic was non-proliferation and he spoke about progress on the North Korean issue. "I think we will make a deal," he told a table of presidents and prime ministers. "But unfortunately to ensure this progress continues, we must enforce existing U.N. Security Council resolutions until the denuclearization occurs." He said many things are happening "behind the scenes" in a "very positive way." He thanked the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea for the role they have played in the process. Of the North Korean leader, he said he is a man that he has "gotten to know and like" who wants peace and prosperity for his country. The two leaders' meeting in Singapore in June produced a broad commitment from Kim to "work toward" denuclearization of the peninsula. Despite Trump's praise of Kim, the Trump administration has said Pyongyang is stalling in meeting the goals set in Singapore. Washington has demanded that North Korea produce an inventory of its weapons programs and that it takes irreversible steps to relinquish a nuclear arsenal that poses a potential threat to the United States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address North Korea Supports Seoul's Idea to Hold First Inter-Parliamentary Meeting Sputnik News 14:49 27.09.2018 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korea supported on Thursday South Korea's initiative to organize the first bilateral inter-parliamentary meeting before the end of the year. The Yonhap news agency reported that the meeting was suggested by Speaker of the South Korean National Assembly Moon Hee-sang. "The role of the Koreas' parliaments and political parties is very important in implementing the April and September inter-Korean summit agreements. In this regard, we agreed to the offer in principle," Chairman of the North Korean Supreme People's Assembly Choe Thae-bok said in a letter to Moon, which was quoted by the agency. According to the news outlet, the date of the meeting is expected to be set during high-level government negotiations in the near future. Earlier in September, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un held the third inter-Korean summit, during which the two sides reached a number of agreements on Pyongyang's military and nuclear facilities and the connection of two Koreas' roads and railways. Pyongyang and Seoul also signed an accord aimed at the enhancement of mutual trust. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pyongyang Ready to Ensure Peace, Security in Northeast Asia With Beijing Sputnik News 09:57 27.09.2018(updated 09:58 27.09.2018) BEIJING (Sputnik) - North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Pyongyang is ready to work with Beijing toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and make efforts to ensure security and stability in Northeast Asia. "We highly appreciate support of the Chinese side for the efforts made by North Korea aimed at easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, we are ready to continue making joint efforts with the Chinese side to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and ensure peace and security in Northeast Asia," the North Korean foreign minister said as quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Wang, in turn, stressed that the Chinese side confirmed that Pyongyang took a whole series of positive measures to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, supported peaceful dialogue and promotion of a peaceful settlement of the problem. He also expressed Beijing's readiness to gradually promote contacts with North Korea in all spheres and maintain a positive trend in the development of bilateral relations. The two diplomats held a meeting on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly, which is currently underway in New York. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zarif: Iran-P4+1 to safeguard JCPOA Iran Press TV Tehran, Sept 26, IRNA -- Iran together with other parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are resolved to safeguard the deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said. 'Iran will continue to work with the remaining JCPOA participants and the rest of the international community to thwart this lawlessness and safeguard the JCPOA,' Zarif made the remarks in a statement the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to Promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The full text of Zarif's statement is as follows: In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Madam President, We are facing an alarming trend of new nuclear arms race, which started when President Trump made a statement asking for even more nuclear weapons to remain at the "top of the pack". The ongoing plans and activities of nuclear-weapon possessors for the modernization of their nuclear weapon arsenals and the U.S. development of mini-nukes, which, by reducing the threshold for their use, increases the possibility of their use, are indicative of another alarming trend signifying the start of a nuclear arms modernization race. These trends further threaten international peace and security and deepen the frustration of non-nuclear-weapon States. Designation of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and the conclusion of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons represent a collective protest against the prolonged half-century old violation of the unconditional obligation of the nuclear-weapon States on nuclear disarmament under article VI of the NPT. Article VI obligations are quite clear, and their implementation is neither optional nor conditional on such concepts as "strategic stability" or "international security environment". Non-implementation of article VI continues to challenge the very foundation of the NPT, tarnish its credibility and undermine its effectiveness. We should also make every effort to ensure the universal adherence to the NPT. The nuclear weapon program of the only non-party to the NPT in our region, namely Israel, which has recently threatened an NPT member-state with nuclear annihilation remains the most paramount threat to international peace and security and nuclear disarmament. Madam President, The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) represents a successful model of dialogue and a historical achievement of diplomacy averting an unnecessary crisis. Twelve IAEA reports have verified Iran's full compliance. The unlawful and unjustified withdrawal by the U.S. from the JCPOA, its blatant non-compliance with Security Council Resolution 2231 and its re-imposition of its illegal extraterritorial sanctions with an unprecedented vengeance has been categorically rejected by an overwhelming majority of the international community. Regrettably the U.S. openly and unlawfully bullies all UN Member States to either disobey resolution 2231 or face punishment. Iran will continue to work with the remaining JCPOA participants and the rest of the international community to thwart this lawlessness and safeguard the JCPOA. We are confident that the U.S. will face further isolation, which is unfortunately well-deserved. Let me conclude by stressing that working towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons is our collective legal obligation as well as our moral responsibility. To live in a world free of nuclear weapons is the right of generations to come. We will remain resolute to ensure it for our children. I thank you, Madam President. 9376**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Security Council Members Reject Trump's Calls For Sanctions On Iran RFE/RL September 26, 2018 U.S. President Donald Trump has taken his case against Iran before the United Nations Security Council, a day after urging all nations to isolate the Iranian government. Trump presented his arguments on September 26 at a Security Council meeting that he chaired on the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction -- accusing the Iranian government of exporting "violence, terrorism and turmoil." "It illicitly procures sensitive items to advance its ballistic missile program and proliferates these missiles all across the Middle East," Trump said. "The regime is the world's leading sponsor of terror and fuels conflict across the region and far beyond. A regime with this track record must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon." But his calls for other countries to join U.S. sanctions against Tehran were rejected by the other signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran -- Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany. Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rohani told journalists on the sidelines of the UN meeting that Tehran would continue to meet its obligations under the nuclear deal as long as his country benefits. The response from Washington's European allies also served to highlight their disagreement with Trump's decision earlier this year to unilaterally withdraw the United States from the 2015 accord, which Trump insists will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Trump told the Security Council he withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal because he believes it is enabling Iran to develop nuclear weapons and carry out other "malign" activity. He argued that in the years since the Iran nuclear deal was signed, "Iran's aggression only increased." "This horrible, one-sided deal allowed Iran to continue its path toward a bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most," Trump said. "They were in big, big trouble. They needed cash. We gave it to them." "The regime used new funds from the deal to support terrorism, build nuclear-capable missiles, and foment chaos," Trump said. Trump also repeated a threat to punish any person or company that does business with Iran in violation of renewed U.S. sanctions. That threat came just a day after the five remaining world powers that signed the nuclear deal announced they'd set up a special payment system to continue trade with Iran. Trump said that after renewed U.S. nuclear-related sanctions against Iran come "in full force by early November," the United States will "pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran's malign conduct." "Any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences," Trump said. "I ask all members of the Security Council to work with the United States to ensure the Iranian regime changes its behavior and never acquires a nuclear bomb." 'Crisis Of Confidence' But French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May both disagreed with Trump's assessment on the Iran nuclear deal, insisting that it is the best way to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Macron and May also implicitly referred to the "America First" foreign policy that Trump enunciated on September 25 in his speech to the UN General Assembly. Ensuring nonproliferation of nuclear weapons "requires collective leadership of the type that led to the agreement" on the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, May said. "For many years, the scale and nature of Iran's nuclear program raised serious international concerns," May said. The Iran nuclear deal "remains the best means of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and we are committed to preserving" the accord "as long as Iran continues to abide by its obligations in full." Macron said Trump had created a "serious crisis of confidence" by unilaterally withdrawing the United States from the deal, and that UN Security Council resolutions supporting the accord need to be "respected by all members of the Security Council." "We need to build together a long-term strategy in order to manage this crisis and it cannot just boil down to sanctions and containment," Macron said. He also said there needed to be a "basis for new negotiations, created first by the framework" of Security Council resolutions on the nuclear deal, in order to address "the issue of the increased scope and accuracy of Iran's ballistic missiles." Macron said that should be "part of an international strategy in order to reduce the dangers for the region and also attain the goal that we all want -- namely that Iran does not ever attain a nuclear weapon." "Permanent members of the UN Security Council must not attack and undermine the international nonproliferation regimes and the institutions that underpin them," Macron said. "All members of the council must fulfill their responsibilities to safeguard them in support of international peace and security." Macron said that since the nuclear deal was signed in 2015, the pathways of the signatories" had "diverged." But Macron said he was convinced that they all "retain the same objective in mind -- namely, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and guaranteeing strict international control on the peaceful use of their nuclear program." May said Iran's "proliferation of missile and sophisticated military technology to groups like Hizballah in Lebanon" or to Shi'ite Huthi rebels in Yemen is "not in compliance with Security Council resolution." "It risks a dangerous escalation, so we need to see further decisive action in this council to tackle both the transit and proliferation of these technologies and increase the costs for those responsible," May said. Russia's 'Destabilizing Activity' She blamed Russia for allowing that situation to continue by vetoing or otherwise blocking UN Security Council resolutions on the issue. "It is regrettable that Russia continues to prevent the council from upholding its responsibility to stop this destabilizing activity," May said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Security Council that Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal "poses a serious threat" to the international nuclear-nonproliferation regime. He said Russia was actively working with the European Union, China, and Iran to preserve the Iran nuclear deal. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Security Council the Iran nuclear deal was a "hard-won achievement of multilateralism" that bolstered nuclear nonproliferation as well as peace and stability in the Middle East. Wang said that "there is no international agreement that is perfect," but the Iran nuclear deal "has been endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council" and the past three years had shown it is "a "viable agreement." "China encourages Iran to continue to fulfill all commitments it has made," Wang said. "At the same time, the legitimate right of all countries to normal economic relations and trade with Iran should be respected." "China calls on the relevant parties to bear in mind the big picture, think long-term, and uphold the sanctity and integrity" of the Iran nuclear deal, Wang said. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/un-security-council-members-reject- trump-s-calls-for-sanctions-on-iran/29511441.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 Trump Takes U.S. Case To Isolate Iran Before UN Security Council RFE/RL September 26, 2018 U.S. President Donald Trump goes before the United Nations Security Council on September 26 to make his case against Iran, one day after urging all nations at the UN to work with him to isolate Tehran's leaders. But with key Iranian allies Russia and China sitting on the 15-member council, and Washington's European allies at odds with Trump over his decision to walk away from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, the meeting may do little more than highlight the significant divisions over Iran among the world's powers. Trump will be wielding the gavel because the United States this month holds the presidency of the Security Council, the top UN body dealing with pressing global security issues. During his address to the General Assembly on September 25, Trump assailed Iran's leaders, accusing them of sowing "chaos, death, and destruction" throughout the Middle East and calling on world governments to join him in isolating Tehran. Iranian President Hassan Rohani shot back in a speech hours later, denouncing what he called Washington's policy of disregarding international agreements and pursuing "might makes right" around the world. He also slammed the planned council meeting as a "preposterous and abnormal act." The meeting will show a rift between the United States and its European allies over the Iran nuclear deal that Trump abandoned in May, claiming it would not prevent Iran from eventually developing nuclear weapons. The United States has moved to reimpose sanctions that had been lifted under the landmark deal and has vowed to punish foreign firms that do business with Iran. On September 24, the five remaining parties to the agreement -- Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia -- announced that they would set up a special payment system to continue trade and business ties with Iran. The United States initially said the council meeting chaired by Trump would focus on Iran but later broadened the agenda to include nuclear nonproliferation and weapons of mass destruction. That opens the door to addressing allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria and Britain this year, as well as Trump's and the council's efforts to curb North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. The usual practice is for the chair to speak last at council meetings, but in this instance Trump will be the first to address the chamber, followed by other heads of state. French President Emmanuel Macron will address the council, as will British Prime Minister Theresa May. Russia and China will be represented by their foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi. Iran has not requested to speak at the council meeting, diplomats said, although Rohani will hold a press conference soon after it is due to end. It will be only the third time in UN history that a U.S. president will chair a Security Council meeting. Barack Obama presided over two meetings in 2009 and 2014. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said she expects Trump's appearance "to be the most watched Security Council meeting ever." Trump is one of around 130 world leaders attending the UN General Assembly in New York, which formally began on September 25. With reporting by AP and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/un-security-council-members-reject- trump-s-calls-for-sanctions-on-iran/29511441.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 Iran President: 'We Do Not Wish to Go to War With US Forces Anywhere in Region' Sputnik News 20:44 26.09.2018(updated 21:13 26.09.2018) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has assured during the UN meeting in New York that Tehran does not want a war with American forces anywhere in the Middle East. The Iranian President noted that the US sanction against Tehran were "nothing new," also stating that Washington would eventually return to the nuclear deal it had left. "The United States of America one day, sooner or later, will come back. This cannot be continued," Rouhani told a news conference. Previously, Rouhani accused the Trump administration of trying to overthrow Iranian government, adding that Tehran was ready to come back to negotiations within the UN Security Council. Earlier in September, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated that "there is no likelihood of a military war," adding, however, that the armed forces have to "raise their personnel and equipment capacities." The statement of the supreme leader echoed words of Iranian military officials, who had announced that the Islamic Republic would acquire new military equipment in order to boost the country's security. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Daesh Reportedly Threatens to Carry Out More Attacks Against Iran Sputnik News 19:35 26.09.2018(updated 20:00 26.09.2018) Previously, both Daesh* and the Patriotic Arab Democratic Movement in Ahvaz claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in Iran, carried out by four gunmen during a military parade. According to the AFP, the Daesh terrorist group has threatened to carry out attacks in Iran following the recent assault on a military parade in Tehran. The threats come following the attack on a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz that claimed the lives of 25 people, including one journalist and up to twelve servicemen of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and left 53 wounded. Both Daesh and local militants have claimed responsibility for the incident. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has accused "regional terror sponsors and their US masters" of organizing the attack, while at least 22 people were arrested by the Iranian authorities for links to the incident. *Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Envoy to UN Nikki Haley Lashes Out at EU's Mogherini Over Iran Sputnik News 18:24 26.09.2018(updated 19:04 26.09.2018) In a heated speech at the United Nations General Assembly, US President Donald Trump has yet again targeted Iran, blasting the 2015 nuclear deal, which he withdrew from in May, and accused Iranian leaders of sowing chaos in the Middle East. During her appearance on "Fox & Friends," US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addressed the approach of the European Union, namely that of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, towards the preservation of the Iran nuclear deal. "The European Union has this so wrong, and it's all because of their ego and their pride. You've got Miss Mogherini she's trying to hold the deal together because she did it, but she's not looking out for the best interest of the European countries who, number one, don't want to do business with Iran, and you can have that proof by the fact that the companies are dropping deals with Iran, they're not trying to get deals with Iran because they get who they're dealing with," Haley said. The UN envoy also somewhat reiterated the statements made by President Donald Trump during his speech at the General Assembly, claiming that Tehran was supporting terrorism. "We do need to be worried about Iran and They are constantly in the middle of trouble, and they're not on our side. What we have to do is make sure that the international community knows [that] trying to do business with Iran is only helping terrorists. You're not helping the international community." Haley's interview with Fox came just a few days after Mogherini attended a meeting of foreign ministers from Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany and the UK at the UN headquarters in New York. Reading the joint statement of participant nations, the EU's foreign and security policy chief announced that the bloc would set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Tehran in light of Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal and the reinstitution of sanctions. "Mindful of the urgency and the need for tangible results, the participants welcomed practical proposals to maintain and develop payment channels, notably the initiative to establish a special purpose vehicle to facilitate payments related to Iran's exports, including oil and imports," she told reporters. Last month, Washington announced the re-imposition of the first set of sanctions, introducing restrictive measures on trade with Tehran and potentially foreign companies doing business with the Islamic Republic, which prompted a massive pullout of investors from the Iranian market. In November, the US is set to introduce the second phase, sanctioning Iranian oil and gas as Trump follows through on his promise to put maximum pressure on the country after the US' withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal in May. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Questions Remain About Who Was Behind Attack on Iran Parade By Edward Yeranian September 26, 2018 Four days after a bloody attack on a military parade in Iran's mostly Arab "Ahvaz" region, also known as Khuzestan, and conflicting claims of responsibility, questions remain over Swho was actually behind the attack. More questions were raised than were answered Tuesday after Iranian media showed video of a group of over 20 people arrested for alleged involvement in Saturday's attack. The Fars news agency named five alleged perpetrators, several of whom were killed, claiming that three of the men were brothers. The country's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alawi vowed a stern response to the attack and insisted that all of the country's security forces were trying to uncover information on the attack. Alawvi said the military and security forces, along with the Revolutionary Guard and police, will work until they identify all the culprits behind the attack and then punish them, delivering a message to the world that it will react in the face of what he called crimes against humanity. The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several Revolutionary Guard commanders, accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with the United States. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the allegations "ludicrous," while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied the U.S. had any role in the attack. Pompeo told Fox News that it is an "enormous mistake" to "blame others when you have a security incident at home." Former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani Sadr tells VOA that terrorism is increasingly an international phenomenon, so while it is unclear who was behind the Ahvaz attack, he doubts it could have happened without outside help. Bani Sadr said that unless nation states or foreign powers support acts of violence, no independent organization, whatever it be called, can use violence for a long period of time." Bani Sadr goes on to say that "everything has become internationalized, today." It has become very easy to send people to commit acts of terrorism anywhere in the world, including Iran or the U.S. He thinks that some international group "seeks to create instability" in order to "prevent any possible rapprochement between Iran and the West." The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several Revolutionary Guard commanders, accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, along with the United States. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the allegations "ludicrous," while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied the U.S. had any role in the attack. Pompeo told Fox News that it is an "enormous mistake" to "blame others when you have a security incident at home." Former Iranian President Abolhassan Bani Sadr tells VOA that terrorism is increasingly an international phenomenon, so while it is unclear who was behind the Ahvaz attack, he doubts it could have happened without outside help. Bani Sadr said that unless nation states or foreign powers support acts of violence, no independent organization, whatever it be called, can use violence for a long period of time." Bani Sadr goes on to say that "everything has become internationalized, today." It has become very easy to send people to commit acts of terrorism anywhere in the world, including Iran or the U.S. He thinks that some international group "seeks to create instability" in order to "prevent any possible rapprochement between Iran and the West." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Korean Peninsula entering 'era of peace and prosperity,' Republic of Korea President tells UN 26 September 2018 - With a self-proclaimed "sense of urgency and excitement," Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea, told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that "something miraculous has taken place on the Korean Peninsula," namely, reunification efforts. "For the first time in history," he stated, "the leader of North Korea (officially known as the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea, or DPRK) crossed the Military Demarcation Line to visit Panmunjeom" with the resolve "to usher in an era of peace and prosperity." Moreover, he continued, "a historic summit between the United States and North Korea was also held on the Sentosa Island in Singapore," in which both sides "agreed to work towards achieving complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, ending hostile relations and establishing a permanent peace regime." According to the South Korean President, North Korea dismantled its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri under the observation of the international community and his country suspended large-scale joint military exercises with the US. He Noted that that last week in Pyongyang, during his third meeting with DPRK's Chairman, Kim Jong Un, they agreed to turn the Peninsula into "a land of peace," echoing Chairman Kim's "hope of completing denuclearization as soon as possible to focus on economic development." President Moon detailed that Chairman Kim committed to permanently dismantle the missile engine test site and launch platform in Dongchang-ri along with a "firm willingness" to take additional denuclearization measures, including the permanent dismantlement of nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, as the US States takes corresponding measures. Over the past 65 years, the Korean Peninsula has remained under an armistice making "an urgent task" an official end to the War. "I look forward to seeing bold measures for denuclearization implemented among the related countries, leading to the declaration to end the War," Mr. Moon asserted. Prelude to peace Turning to the 2017 Olympic Truce, Mr. Moon called it a "prelude to peace." "The participation of North Korea's athletes and delegation in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics provided a decisive momentum to break the impasse in building peace," he maintained. Just over a month after the Pyeongchang Paralympic Winter Games had closed, both leaders met for the first time in North Korea's Panmunjeom village, where the 1953 Armistice Agreement pausing the Korean War was signed. On 20 April, North Korea officially ended its policy of nuclear development and on 9 September, the 70th anniversary of its foundation, committed to peace and prosperity instead of boasting about its nuclear capabilities. "North Korea moved out of long-standing isolationand stands before the international community once again," he said, encouraging everyone to "assure Chairman Kim that he has made the right decision in committing to denuclearization." Mr. Moon recalled that when each Korea acceded to the UN in 1991, they respectively told the Assembly that though separate now, they would eventually become one. Twenty-seven years later they have "crossed the barriers of division and are tearing down the walls," he concluded, "realizing the pledge they made on that day." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Work on Russia's New S-500 Air Defense System Almost Complete - Deputy PM Sputnik News 20:25 26.09.2018(updated 21:53 26.09.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Work on the latest Russian S-500 air defense system is almost complete, and their serial production will begin soon, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said on Wednesday. "Our S-300, S-400 and S-500 systems, which are close to serial production, do have better specifications in comparison with all competitors, be it either [US-produced] Patriot, or French and Israeli systems," he said during the Revunov Award ceremony, annually held for young engineers at the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. The S-500 Prometey ("Prometheus") is a new generation surface-to-air missile system with a range of 400-600 kilometers (250-370 miles), designed for intercepting and destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as hypersonic cruise missiles and aircraft. On May 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that development and preparation for the serial production of the newest S-500 air defense system should be completed as quickly as possible. The deliveries of S-500 systems to Russia's Aerospace Forces are expected to start around 2020. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian S-300 Supplies to Deter Israel From Reckless Attacks on Syria - Official Sputnik News 07:26 26.09.2018 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's planned delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Syria will make Israel think twice before attacking the Arab republic once again, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said. On Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia would take a number of measures to boost safety of its troops in Syria, including the deliveries of the S-300 system, in the wake of the Il-20 crash. "Israel which got used to carrying out many attacks under different pretexts would have to recalculate and reconsider before attacking again," Mekdad told the Xinhua news agency on Tuesday. Mekdad noted that the systems would be only used in case of an attack on Syria. He also stressed that the aggression against Syria was an aggression against all forces fighting terrorism in the country. On September 17, the Russian Hmeimim air base in Syria lost contact with the crew of the military aircraft, which was monitoring the situation on the ground in Syria's Idlib province. At the same time, four Israeli F-16 jets were hitting Syrian targets in Latakia province. According to Shoigu, Israel had notified the Russian military of its airstrikes only one minute before their start and failed to provide the location of its bombers to Russia. As a result, the Il-20 was caught in the crossfire and downed by a missile launched by Syria's S-200 air defense system. Russia has blamed the incident, which claimed the lives of 15 troops, on Israel and said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used the Russian Il-20 as a shield. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kurds Seek Solutions for Captured IS Fighters By Nisan Ahmado, Zana Omer September 26, 2018 U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seeking help from the international community to deal with more than 2,000 Islamic State foreign fighters and their families who are being held in Syria. A Kurdish official from the SDF told VOA that captured IS foreign fighters are a burden on them because the countries of origin for these fighters still refrain from dealing with citizens who joined the terror group in Iraq and Syria in 2014 and beyond. "This is an international case that needs the collaboration of international actors, and in order to solve this matter, we need to work together to resolve it," Abdul Karim Omar, co-chairman of the SDF Foreign Relations Committee, told VOA. Omar added that running away from the issue or delaying it is not the best course of action, given that some of these fighters are dangerous individuals. The call by the Kurdish officials comes after SDF announced plans earlier this month to launch its final military operation against the last pockets of IS in Syria's eastern Deir el-Zour province. The operation is aimed at clearing IS militants from the province. Captured fighters Efforts to deal with the issue of captured IS foreign fighters are proving difficult because of legal issues and also because of the issue of verifying their identities. IS has reportedly urged its foreign members to destroy their identification cards and passports from their respective countries. Among those in SDF captivity are also the wives and children of these fighters. SDF officials are calling for their repatriation to their countries of origin. Casandra Bodar, 23, a Belgian national, told VOA she traveled with her husband to Syria to live in the so-called Islamic State. After the death of her husband last year during the battle of Raqqa, she surrendered to the SDF. "They questioned me many times, and every time the investigators asked me what do I want. I tell them that I want to be tried in my own country [Belgium]," Bodar said. SDF officials told VOA they continue their discussions with a number of Western officials to find a solution to the issue. Recently, a Belgian official visited Qamishli town in north Syria in the Kurdish-controlled areas to discuss Belgium fighters in SDF captivity. SDF officials say that countries whose citizens are in custody should either repatriate them or help SDF put them on trial. "All governments should repatriate their citizens or help us set up an international tribunal. So far, we did not receive any help," Omar told VOA. SDF says it has 2,225 foreign nationals in custody, including 516 men, 534 women and 1,175 children from 44 different countries. Dilemma The fate of foreign IS fighters captured in Syria and Iraq remains a dilemma for their countries of origin, as Western countries continue to differ on how to deal with them. In February, U.S. officials reportedly held a closed meeting in Rome with a number of European countries to discuss the repatriation of IS foreign fighters detained by the SDF. The meeting did not produce any tangible solution. Also in February, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said it was imperative to address the issue as an "international problem." "The most important thing is we figure out how we are going to deal with this, that we can deal with it. We don't paralyze ourselves and just say there is nothing we can do," Mattis said. An estimated 40,000 fighters from more than 120 countries are believed to have joined the fighting in Iraq and Syria over the years. While thousands of them have died, some Western officials say thousands more have escaped or have been captured. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S., Ukrainian Officials Discuss Efforts To Counter Russia's 'Malign Influence' RFE/RL September 26, 2018 A top U.S. official has met with the Ukrainian foreign minister in New York to discuss "cooperative efforts against Russia's malign influence," among other things, the State Department says. A statement said the September 25 meeting between U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly also touched upon Russia's "use of energy projects to extort and intimidate Ukraine and other European allies," as well as Kyiv's progress in implementing political and economic reforms. Sullivan reiterated that the United States "will never recognize Russia's attempted annexation" of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and reaffirmed "strong U.S. support" for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the statement. Relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated to a post-Cold War low over issues including Russia's seizure of Crimea in March 2014, its role in wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine, its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe, and the poisoning of a Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain in March. Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,300 in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. Moscow's support for the separatists and its illegal annexation of Crimea prompted the United States, the European Union, and others to impose sanctions on Russia. Washington has also threatened to impose sanctions over the construction of an underwater natural gas pipeline to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea, circumventing the traditional route through Ukraine. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on September 25, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Germany "will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course" on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which aims to double the capacity of an already existing pipeline. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was scheduled to address the assembly later in the day. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-ukrainian- officials-discuss-efforts-to-counter-russia -s-malign-influence-/29510270.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 At UN Security Council, world leaders debate Iran, North Korea sanctions and non-proliferation 26 September 2018 - President Donald Trump told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that the United States would impose sanctions on Iran that would be "tougher than ever before" in the coming months, following its unilateral withdrawal earlier this year from the deal brokered to restrict Iran's nuclear programme, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Mr. Trump chaired the summit-level meeting of the 15-member Council, initiated by the US, to discuss ways that the body overseeing global peace and security can better enforce resolutions concerning the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Top of the President's concerns after laying out the "urgent importance" of countering nuclear, biological and chemical weapons use everywhere, was the JCPOA, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. The JCPOA reached by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the US and the European Union sets out rigorous mechanisms for monitoring restrictions placed on Iran's nuclear programme, while paving the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against the country. "This horrible, one-sided deal allowed Iran to continue its path towards a bomb," he declared. From November, he said, US sanctions would be in "full force" and the White House would impose further measures. Anyone failing to comply with the US "would face severe consequences," he warned. 'The world is watching' Idlib Turning to the fate of millions of Syrian civilians effectively trapped in Idlib, Mr. Trump thanked the Syrian, Russian and Iranian Governments for turning away from a full-scale assault earlier in September. "I hope that the restraint continues. The world is watching," he said, also thanking Turkey for its role in brokering a civilian buffer zone. Straying from the main topic of the meeting, President Trump said that the US had "found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 electionThey do not want me, or us to win, because I am the first President ever to challenge China on trade," he asserted, without offering further clarification. In his remarks, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi categorically denied any involvement, asserting that "China has all along followed the principle of non-interference in other countries domestic affairs. This is a tradition of Chinese foreign policy." He added that China "refused to accept any unwarranted accusations." Mr. Yang also described the JCPOA as a "hard-won achievement of multilateralism," and a "viable agreement" that Iran was honouring. 'Contempt' for multilateralism Speaking soon after the US leader, Bolivian President Evo Morales painted a very different picture of the world's power dynamics and the role of the US. Iran, he said, was "once again, the victim of a US siege" following America's withdrawal from the JCPOA. He said the US was "hiding behind pretexts, to continue its policy of interference and meddling" in Iran. He said the people of the Middle East had suffered "illegal invasion" in Iraq, the unjust overthrow of the Government in Libya in 2011, and a disastrous civil war in Syria all the result of Western meddling. He accused the White House of "contempt for international law, for multilateralism, and for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations." The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, said the Permanent Members of the Council had a "special responsibility to protect the significant gains" made on stopping the use and stockpiling of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. But after chemical weapons had been used repeatedly and with impunity in Syria, as well as isolated attacks in Malaysia and in the English city of Salisbury allegedly targeted assassinations she said that decades of progress were now under threat. Progress stopping chemical, biological warfare could 'fall away' "Predictability and stability are declining. If we do not increase our collective efforts to preserve and build on what we have, there is a very real risk these gains will subside or fall away." She praised President Trump's efforts in detente over DPRK, commonly known as North Korea, but called for sustained pressure and strict enforcement of sanctions. On the JCPOA, she said that "it remains the best means of preventing Iran developing a nuclear weapon, and we are committed to preserving the JCPOA as long as Iran continues to abide by its obligations in full." She offered "strong support" to the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) for its verification and monitoring role inside Iran. On the Syrian Government's verified use of chemical weapons during the ongoing conflict, Ms. May praised US and French action with the UK, to respond militarily earlier this year following attacks. She said it "sent a clear message" to the Assad regime. Perpetrators of chemical weapons use cannot escape identification or act with impunity. The regime's backers "must use their influence" to stop further attacks, she said, promising a "swift response" in that event. She accused Russia of preventing the Security Council from holding the Syrian Government to account by "repeatedly wielding its veto." For Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov countered that Syria had destroyed all its chemical weapons after agreeing to do so in 2013, alleging instead that it was "terrorist groups" who had been wielding chemical weapons since that time. "They learned how to synthesize them, they are building labs for that, and this is something we have been warned about for a long time." He said Russia had repeatedly offered to cooperate on an international plan to stop "chemical terrorism" to no avail. On the Iran deal, Mr. Lavrov said that the US withdrawal constituted a "serious threat" for the global non-proliferation regime, "all the more so sinceTehran is strictly abiding by its commitments." "Russia is convinced that we need to keep the JCPOA," he said, adding that otherwise more tension would be created across the Middle East, destabilizing national stability and non-proliferation. He also said that the dismantling of the deal would damage efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Remarks by President Trump at the United Nations Security Council Briefing on Counterproliferation | New York, NY September 26, 2018 United Nations Headquarters New York, New York 10:21 A.M. EDT PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. The 8,362nd meeting of the Security Council is called to order. The agenda for this meeting is: "Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction." The agenda is hereby adopted. I am honoured to be here today to chair this meeting of the United Nations Security Council. It is also my privilege to welcome the distinguished Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers, and other leaders and representatives here with us. Thank you. I also wish to warmly welcome Secretary General Antonio Guterres for joining us. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General. The Security Council will now consider Item Two of the agenda. I will make a statement in my capacity as the President of the United States of America: It is a great honor to be here today at this U.N. Security Council briefing to discuss a matter of urgent importance concerning and countering the proliferation of deadly chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. The nations of the world have long recognized that certain weapons are so dangerous, and can inflict so much suffering, that all of us have a vital interest in preventing their further development, spread, and use. Since my inauguration, the United States has taken bold action to confront these sinister threats. Many of us are rightly focused on the dangers of nuclear weapons, but we must never forget the risk posed by biological and chemical weapons. The United States was one of the first nations to unilaterally renounce the use of biological weapons, and since World War I, we have led international efforts against the scourge of chemical warfare. Most recently, in Syria, we have twice imposed severe consequences on the Assad regime for using chemical weapons against innocent civilians. I want to thank Prime Minister May and President Macron for their countries' close partnership in those efforts last April. The Syrian regime's butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran. The Iranian regime exports violence, terror, and turmoil. It illicitly procures sensitive items to advance its ballistic missile program and proliferates these missiles all across the Middle East. The regime is the world's leading sponsor of terror and fuels conflict across the region and far beyond. A regime with this track record must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. For this reason, I announced earlier this year that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. This horrible, one-sided deal allowed Iran to continue its path towards a bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most. They were in big, big trouble. They needed cash. We gave it to them. In the years since the deal was signed, Iran's aggression only increased. The regime used new funds from the deal to support terrorism, build nuclear-capable missiles, and foment chaos. Following America's withdrawal, the United States began re-imposing nuclear-related sanctions on Iran. All U.S. nuclear-related sanctions will be in full force by early November. They will be in full force. After that, the United States will pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran's malign conduct. Any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences. I ask all members of the Security Council to work with the United States to ensure the Iranian regime changes its behavior and never acquires a nuclear bomb. With all of this said, I want to thank Iran, Russia, and Syria for at my very strong urging and request substantially slowing down their attack on Idlib Province and the 3 million people who live there in order to get 35,000 targeted terrorists. Get the terrorists, but I hope the restraint continues. The world is watching. Thank you also to Turkey for helping to negotiate restraint. Anything the USA can do to help resolve this problem in order to save perhaps even hundreds of thousands of lives, maybe more, we are willing and able. We are available to help. In my remarks yesterday to the United Nations General Assembly, I laid out my administration's commitment to building a more just and peaceful future. Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my administration. They do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first President ever to challenge China on trade. And we are winning on trade. We are winning at every level. We don't want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election. As I also mentioned yesterday, we have seen the results of historic efforts to open new pathways to peace on the North Korean Peninsula on the Korean Peninsula. And that's something we are extremely proud of. I am pleased to say that North Korea has not conducted a missile test since last November. It has not conducted a nuclear test since last September. And the hostages have been returned to us. And very importantly, the remains of American heroes are now returning home. In June, I held a historic summit with Chairman Kim Jong Un in Singapore, where he reaffirmed his commitment to complete denuclearization. Last week, Chairman Kim reiterated that commitment to President Moon at their third summit, and to me in a very strong letter form. I think we will make a deal. But unfortunately, to ensure this progress continues, we must enforce existing U.N. Security Council resolutions until denuclearization occurs. However, we have detected that some nations are already violating these U.N. sanctions. This includes illegal ship-to-ship transfers, which must end immediately. The safety of the Korean Peninsula, the region, and the world, depends on full compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions. Very, very important. But most importantly, I believe that Chairman Kim Jong Un, a man I have gotten to know and like, wants peace and prosperity for North Korea. Many things are happening behind the scenes away from the media, which nobody knows but they are happening nevertheless and they are happening in a very positive way. So I think you will have some very good news coming from North Korea in the coming months and years. I also very much appreciate what President Moon of South Korea had to say about me last night in television interviews. Working with President Moon has been my great honor. And likewise, working with President Xi of China and Prime Minister Abe of Japan has been a pleasure and an honor. Each of us follows in the footsteps of countless world leaders, diplomats, and public servants who came here to the United Nations with the same noble goal: to build a future worthy of the patriots true, true patriots who sacrificed their lives for our nation and for our future. To be successful, we need a commitment of every nation represented in this chamber. Acting together, we can replace the horrors of war with the blessings of safety and the beautiful promise of peace. Thank you very much. I now resume my function as president of the Security Council and give the floor to the President of France. END 10:32 A.M. EDT NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Calgary, Alberta (FSCwire) - Kestrel Gold Inc. (Kestrel or the Company) (KGC:TSX-V) is pleased to announce exploration results for its Val-Jual property located approximately 70 km southwest of Dawson City, Yukon. Optioning the Val-Jual property gave the Company an excellent position in the burgeoning White Gold district, stated Rob Solinger, President and CEO of Kestrel. Our 2018 efforts succeeded in enhancing the Cupid East and Teckphel anomalies, neither of which were tested by the 2017 RC drill program. The acquisition of a Class 3 Mining Land Use Permit will allow for advanced work such as trenching, road building, and further drilling to take place in the future. Work at Cupid East this year, was designed to expand a 175m x 200m gold soil anomaly within which preliminary 2017 soil samples averaged 122 ppb Au with a peak value of 1,333 ppb Au and where limited follow up work later that season yielded rock samples with peak values of 6.68 g/t Au from clay-ankerite altered granite with quartz-silica stockwork and peak values of 12,400 ppb Au from soil sampling. This anomaly occurs where a north-south trending lineament, visible on aeromagnetic maps, intersects the presumed margin of an intrusive body. The 2018 field program extended the Cupid East anomaly a further 250 metres south, to current dimensions of 175m x 450m, where it remains open-ended into an area where thick valley bottom overburden precluded further sampling. Soil samples from within the 250m extension averaged 84 ppb Au with a peak value of 251 ppb. In 2017, at Teckphel peak values of 1,456 ppm Au from soil samples and 0.537 g/t Au from rock samples help define an approximate 650m by 800m gold anomaly located in an area of variably quartz veined, carbonate altered and arsenopyrite mineralized metasedimentary rocks close to an intrusive body. Historical work in this area by Solomon Resources included three drill holes which were centred in the middle of a lobe of this anomaly and drilled out towards the fringes. The holes were of insufficient depth to fully test the targeted gold soil anomaly but did return 55.0m of 335 ppb Au which suggests good potential for bulk tonnage gold mineralization in this area. The 2018 field program helped further define the core of the Teckphel anomaly as a minimum 250m x 150m area within which 36 samples range from 54 ppb Au to 1,456 ppb Au and average 332 ppb Au. Rob Solinger states: Although further work will be required to fully define the Cupid East and Teckphel anomalies, their current size and robust nature suggest strong potential for bedrock gold mineralization. Jean Pautler, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person, in accordance with NI 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators, and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release. For additional information please contact Rob Solinger at 1-403-816-2141. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Rob Solinger President and CEO Kestrel Gold Corporation. Forward-Looking Caution: This news release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the mineral potential of the Val-Jual Property. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Companys inability to reach satisfactory agreements with First Nations to facilitate its exploration and development plans for the Val-Jual Property, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its planned activities, and the Company's inability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies. The reader is referred to the Company's public disclosure record which is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except as required by securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. No securities of the Company have been or will, in the foreseeable future, be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the 1933 Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. To view the original release, please click here Source: Kestrel Gold Inc. (TSX Venture:KGC, FWB:2KG1) To follow Kestrel Gold Inc. on your favorite social media platform or financial websites, please click on the icons below. Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. https://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2018 FSCwire Duck Dynasty family just faced a tough time that tested their strength as one, the death of a family member. On Monday Chris Howard, Korie Robertson's mother posted an announcement about the passing away of Glenn Durham, her cousin. "This past week one of my cousins lost his battle with cancer and gained his heavenly reward," she stated on her Instagram account, according to I Have the Truth. Glenn suffered some time battling against his illness until he finally succumbed to cancer. He spent the last hours of his life listening to the word of God through his computer. His sister even told Chrys that Glenn signaled for a pen before his last breath, as though he was taking down notes while listening with his eyes closed. The tragic death brought the whole family into mourning as the Robertsons are known by Duck Dynasty viewers as a large close-knit family. Missy, a family member even said on her blog that out of the eight houses on their street, they occupy four which they call "Robertson Row," a cul-de-sac. John and Chrys Howard made several Duck Dynasty appearances. They are parents to Korie Robertson who happens to be the wife of Willie Robertson, Chief Executive Officer of the Duck Commander. The Duck Dynasty family is also known as devout Christians. They have a testimony of drawing closely together in support when the need arises. Glenn being a member of the family was a concrete example of what a devout Christian is. He spent his life looking for chances to share the word of God, preaching the gospel whenever there is an opportunity. Chrys added on her post that Glenn is a precious example for everyone. She said that up to her cousin's last breath, he tried to learn more about God and to share his knowledge with others. "Thank you, Glenn Durham, for fearlessly doing that your whole life," Chrys ended her Instagram post, as Mr. Conservative reported. Ethnic Wa rebels shut down churches, destroyed buildings, and temporarily detained several pastor in eastern Burma (Myanmar), shaving their heads before releasing them. Persecution watchdog Morning Star News reports that earlier this month, soldiers of Myanmar's largest ethnic rebel group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), attacked the churches in the rebel's autonomous region in Shan state. "We confirmed that at least 12 churches have been destroyed or closed as of Sept. 20," a Christian leader who has lived in the Wa region for several decades told the outlet. Most of the targets were Baptist churches in Panghsang, where Wa soldiers destroyed crosses, the source said. Video footage also showed UWSA soldiers damaging a church building in Mong Maw town, and local sources said schools built by Christian organizations in Panghsand town also have been shut down. "Not only churches in Panghsang city were shut down, but churches in Mong Maw town were also destroyed," said Ah Kar, a local resident in Mong Maw town. "Some religious leaders were arrested, and some people who worship were briefly arrested, and they were head-shaved before release. Some of those who were head-shaved were women." Local media reported that the UWSA rebels attacked because the church buildings were built without UWSA permission. "I heard that some churches were demolished that had been built without the permission of the UWSA central committee," U Nyi Rang told the Myanmar Times. "We are trying to control the instability in the region caused by extremist, unregistered religious leaders from outside." Although most of the population in Wa territory worships ancestral spirits, there are also Buddhists as well as Christian communities in region. While missionary activity among the Wa has long been carried out, attacks have been growing steadily worse. "We live in hills and were isolated," said Tat Nyi Nat, a Christian who lives in Nang Pang in the Wa region. "But we got a chance to study and became educated persons because of the Christian missionaries. We were happy. But we are not happy for the future of our children." One local Christian leader who is a long-time resident in the Wa region said he believes Chinese authorities are behind the uptick in persecution. "There have been more restrictions on Christian religious organizations for three years," he said on condition of anonymity. "It has become worse. We don't criticize other religions and don't force non-Christians to convert into Christian." Last week, a Catholic priest told ucanews.com that a Salesian priest, five nuns from the Missionary Society of St. Paul and six lay teachers were ordered by the UWSA to leave the region. "Local children and people are very disappointed by the expulsions of the priest, nuns and teachers," said the priest who spoke on condition of anonymity. The priest said the clampdown in Mong Mao, Wa's second largest town, is only going to worsen, as the UWSA militia in the process of inspecting all churches, schools and convents. The country is ranked 24th on Christian support organization Open Doors' 2018 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. A Green River man who admitted to making a video of an underage girl while they were having intercourse will have a felony exploitation charge dismissed if he can complete probation. Trey Montoya, 18, recently appeared in the Third District Court of Judge Nena James at a sentencing hearing to two felony counts of sexual exploitation of children. Under Wyoming State Statute 7-13-301, a person can change their plea and be placed on probation. If the person successfully completes the probation, the charge is dismissed. A person can only use this statute once and they must be a first-time offender. Montoya changed his plea to guilty for one count of sexual exploitation of children, while the other charge was dismissed. If he successfully completes his four-year supervised probation term, the second charge will also be dismissed. However, if he doesnt complete it, the guilty plea will be entered and he will serve time in prison. According to court documents, in August of 2017, a detective with the Sweetwater County Sheriffs Office interviewed Montoya for an unrelated investigation. During the interview, Montoya told the deputy he would find photos of his underage ex-girlfriend on the phone. The deputy asked Montoyas father for permission to search Montoyas phone and it was granted. Later on the same day, the deputy obtained a search warrant for Montoyas phone and extracted photos and videos with the Oxygen Forensic Analyst Software. He found photos of nude females and searches on pornographic websites. He also found a homemade video of a female and male having intercourse. The deputy used Geo Tag to find where this video was made and it showed a Rock Springs address. The deputy learned that was the same address where Montoyas ex-girlfriend lived. The 16-year-old ex-girlfriend was interviewed and she told the deputy the deputy they broke up because there relationship was toxic. She said Montoya would have photos and a video of her on his phone. She said she asked Montoya to delete the video of them having intercourse because she didnt know he was even making it. The girl also said she knows Montoya had shown the video to at least one other person because that person asked her about it. Montoya was interviewed about the video and said he had never showed the video to anyone else and that his ex-girlfriend said he could keep the video as long as he didnt show anyone. Algae blooms have been discovered at the Lost Dog area of the Flaming Gorge, prompting the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and Wyoming Department of Health to issue an advisory for people recreating in the area. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a harmful algae bloom occurs when colonies of algae grow out of control and produce toxins harmful to fish, animals and people. Algae blooms occur in every state. NOAA cites climate change and nutrient pollution, where chemicals feeding algae cause population growth, as main contributors to the blooms. In a press release, Dr. Jean Stachon, the Sweetwater County Health Officer, said the blooms arent unusual at this time of the year, especially in still waters when water temperatures have been high. Residents recreating in the area are advised to follow some precautions when near an algae bloom: -- Avoid contact with water in the vicinity of the algae bloom, especially in areas where blue-green algae are dense and form scums. -- Do not drink or consume the water. Boiling, filtration or chlorination will not remove toxins and will not make the water safe for drinking. -- Caution should be taken when eating fish as health effects remain unknown. Rinse fish with clean water and eat only the fillet portion. -- Do not breathe water spray in areas of the bloom. -- Keep pets and livestock away from the water. Do not allow animals to drink the water, eat dried algae or groom themselves after contact with the water. -- If people, pets and livestock come into contact with a bloom, rinse off with clean water as soon as possible. Dr. Stachon advises people to seek medical help if they come in contact with an algae bloom. People with weakened immune systems, as well as children and pregnant women may be at increased risk from the blooms. Animals should be taken to a veterinarian if they consume or come in contact with a bloom. After being apart for just over a year, Barbara Giesenhagen joined her husband, Charles (Chuck), in Heaven Sept. 16, 2018. Charles passed away after battling health issues for the previous 20 years May 13, 2017. Chuck and Barbara were married for over 60 years and they were inseparable. Chuck was born in Grand Island, Neb., Sept. 1, 1934, to Arthur and Gladys Giesenhagen. Barbara was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 18, 1936, to Fred and Katie Williams. Chuck and Barbara were married on June 4, 1954, in Grand Island, Neb. Together they had three sons, lived in several places, and eventually settled in Green River in 1968. Charles worked as an equipment operator, hauled trailers on his days off, and worked for the city of Green River. For almost 10 years, Barbara worked in the central kitchen for Sweetwater School District No. 2 where she was well known for her baking. Chuck and Barbara built a wonderful life together, and their family was always their number one priority. They could always be seen at any activity that their children and grandchildren were involved in. Barbara could often be found making uniforms, baking for a fundraiser, and always making sure no one left her home hungry. Chuck could always be found with a video recorder in his hand to tape important family memories, preparing everything for family camping trips, and being a fierce protector and provider for his family. They are survived by three sons, Charles Giesenhagen Jr. (Tracy) of Green River, George Giesenhagen (Brenda) of Green River and Jesse Giesenhagen (Lynette) of Spring Creek, Nev.; three grandchildren, Dustin Giesenhagen (Gwynn) of Grand Junction, Colo., Kelsey Lohof (Jake) of Lovell, and Nicole Hayes (Daniel) of Cheyenne; one great-grandchild, and several nieces and nephews. Chuck and Barbara will be laid to rest in Grand Island, Neb. Bank of the West is not unique in the clean-energy course that it has decided upon. Lots of other organizations and companies have made similar declarations. Most of the Ivy League has been divesting from fossil fuels for years, the Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations have made their pro-environment pronouncements, as have hundreds of companies, including Walmart, Amazon, Ford, and Hewlett-Packard. The banks move is 100 percent in accord with all the countries of the world, except the United States, because of someones move to pull us out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The banks recent announcement to divest from fossil fuels and to help industries and regions to transition to renewable, healthier, carbon-free energy and work towards a world that acknowledges that the atmosphere is warming and that its chemical composition is changing in unhealthy ways, that the oceans are dying, that the ice caps are indeed melting and sea level is verifiably rising, is just good and sensible. Its sort of a country song on steroids. Somehow or other, the Banks announcement has struck a negative cord in Wyoming and especially so here in Sweetwater County, though probably not in too many other parts of the U.S. It should be added that not everyone here in Sweetwater County is condemning this bank. Some of us are praising it for doing something because it is, scientifically and economically, the right thing to do. At our current trajectory, Wyoming will not be selling any energy to anyone, because we are trying to arrest time. The reaction of Sweetwater County Commissioner Wally Johnson, I dont want to do any business with anybody who takes that position, wants to withdraw county funds from the bank. County Treasurer Robb Slaughter claimed its a punch in the stomach. Is there an adult in our courthouse? State officials were no better. These reactions point to the need to replace these dinosaurs as soon as possible, because they are living in the Carboniferous (359 to 299 million years ago), when, it appears, coal and oil and gas formed and buried themselves under the ground, thus allowing life to exist on the surface. The mid-term elections cant get here soon enough. This being so, I recognize that, locally at least, Im hardly preaching to the choir. In Wyoming we have a hard trail to blaze to create a first-world economy. The Third World, keep in mind, is not a place, its a condition. Its partly characterized by an economy that relies on a small number of raw-resource commodities. Notably, these resources are available from many other places, which makes maintaining high prices problematic. A good Wyoming-specific summation of this process can be found in a skinny-little book called Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River; Wyomings Search for Its Soul, by Samuel Western. Related to how small and dependent Wyoming is, as related by this book, we should remember that Bank of the West has over 600 branch offices in 19 states. Though they would certainly never say it, we are hardly a speck of dust on their board-room floor. Im only writing the truth, someone else will have to deal with the psychology. Wyoming is rich in oil, coal, gas, and uranium, and cattle, sheep, and sugar beets. By thumbing through a little-kids atlas, its easy to see that lots of places in the world produce all of these things. Trona is one of the few fairly-unique resources we have, but it is exported in bulk, instead of our manufacturing it into finished products here. This is where the real value would be. Before we know it, however, like the bison earlier, it will be gone. The economic diversification and transition alluded to by Bank of the West are ideas that Wyoming needs to think and talk about. We should not overreact and take precipitous actions. These might hurt people and some good financial arrangements and we would regret that later. This humble column may already be too late; but, of course, it probably would have been ignored anyway, if printed sooner. It looks like changes are already being made. Still, maybe its possible to reverse course and minimize the damage, then enter upon a period designed to heal. Maybe. This recent dustup has a quality to it thats reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials. Hysteria was suddenly everywhere. Twenty people were put to death and about 200 jailed in miserable conditions. All of this was based upon spectral evidence, then admissible in law. (Having looked into this event in some detail, I view it, cynical as always, as hardly less than a real-estate scam. Indeed, much property did change hands). Today, here in Sweetwater County, perhaps denialism has replaced spectral. The logic seems to be that if you dislike reality vehemently enough, and lash out and change your bank account, your problems will go away, and the world beyond will adjust to accommodate us. Well, theres a fine chance of that happening. We are hoping the Sweetwater County Commission will reconsider Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport General Manager Devon Brubakers request for $711,111 to fund the design phase of the commercial terminal project. We know making a decision like this is difficult and we appreciate the commissioners being willing to ask tough questions. However, sometimes its not what is being asked, but how it is being asked. During the Rock Springs City Council meeting last Tuesday evening, Brubaker was greeted differently than what he was at the Commissioners meeting. Even though the presentations by Brubaker were slightly different, so was the response. While the RS City Council was supportive, the Commission was apprehensive. This left us wondering what happened between the last commission meeting and this one. Did the Commissioners receive emails, phone calls or letters against the project? If so, why wasnt it brought up during the meeting? One area to note is at the Commissioners meeting, during the public comment portion of the meeting no comments were made. Usually, if someone really has an issue or is against something, they show up and voice concerns. But no one did. Later that evening, the RS City Council unanimously approved the $355,556 request. Yes. They asked questions, but they werent pointed or argumentative. In fact, the Council praised him on how thorough his presentation was and how prepared he always is when giving presentations. If we as a governing body are serious about economic development, diversifying this economy and having the opportunity to invite or ask businesses and companies to relocate here we need have to have a solid infrastructure in place.... RS Mayor Carl Demshar said at the meeting. One of the main pieces of that infrastructure is air service. With all of this explained. Lets address the real issue. Why should the county support this project? We agree with Demshar and the RS City Council on this one. Most elected officials in the county are talking about looking for ways to improve this countys economy. As Demshar said in the meeting Its incumbent upon us to validate what we preach. Improving the airports commercial terminal could help out with this. It would be another advantage that other communities wouldnt have. Of course, this investment doesnt come without risks. Yes. We have seen expensive plans sitting on the shelves, but as far as we are aware none of those plans have been from the airport. We need to look at which entity is making the proposal and see if they have a proven track record. With the recent hanger upgrade, the airport was able to do so with little cost to taxpayers, it came in at about $30,000 and that was due to an unforeseen septic system issue. The way Brubaker wants the design phase to move forward seems to make sense. Its well thought out and the engineering firm is on board. The commercial terminal will need to be upgraded eventually because it already has a long list of upgrades it needs to have done, including undersized security and gate, poorly configured baggage claim and building life safety issues. These upgrades have been part of the six-year plan. This would just move the project up a couple of years and possibly increase the funding the county can receive to complete it. Brubaker estimated the renovation and expansion project for the commercial terminal at the airport could cost between $10-$14 million and could take three-to-four years to complete. With supplementary AIP funding the FAA would pay $9,843,750, the Wyoming Department of Transportations share would be $393,750 and locally it would be $3,762,500, for a total of $14 million. These numbers are assuming they receive funding at 75 percent, but Brubaker is hoping that number could go as high as 95 percent of the funding, which would change the numbers. Without the funding, the FAA would pay $3 million WyDOT would pay $4.5 million, and local would pay $6.5 million for a total of $14 million. It all comes down to whether or not the Commissioners want to take the risk. Its not a guarantee, but with $1 billion being set aside this year and the possibility of an additional $5 billion being set aside by Congress for the next five years, it seems we may actually have a real shot at obtaining that money. Without the Commissioners on board, the airport probably wont get the funding that could save this county millions down the road. It's GAS is what it comes down to, you know. I wear two hats. One is my outward, public, professional hat as a writer, editor and photo pundit, and the other is my inward-looking, personal, quirkily independent hat as an idiosyncratic photo fanboy and meandering here to there gear geek. Wearing the first hat, I am a paragoncoolly objective, intelligent, dispassionate, and full of wisdom and probity. It is in this state that I recommend to you what you should do, and often give sound, calm advice. Wearing the second, I'm a fanboy, a geek, a hobbyist, wildly subjective, and susceptible to being buffeted by the winds of irrational passion. It is in this state that I decide what to do for myself, and often do stupid things that give me dull and lasting pains right in the wallet. The two intersect or mix together all the time, but I'm pretty strongly aware of which is which. I can keep them separate if need be. And with my photo-geek hat on I had been feeling pretty smug about all the new announcements of this watershed September. I had already decided that I don't really need full frame for my own uses. I've used a Nikon D750 and I've used a Sony A7III. I liked them both. A lot. They're excellent. Their results are superb. Wearing hat #1, I can seeeasilywhy people choose them. I can see why people love them. No mystery. And they both leave the me in my second hat relatively cold. I have seen FF, I have met FF, I have owned FF (my Sony A900, a long-deposed onetime King o' the Heap now in the hands of my son in Oshkosh) and I just don't really get turned on by it for whatever reason. My Fuji X-T1 with its 16-MP X-Trans sensor does very nice B&W, and my Panasonic GX8 has a rich, crisp look to the files and a film-like "grain" to high ISO results and shadow noise that I like a whole lot even though I can see it's not the best available technical "image quality." I don't care if it's not; I like it better. Game set and match. So blast away, Nikon, Canon, and PanaLeicaSigmaI'm immune to your blandishments this time! Resistant to your importuning! Indifferent to your allurements! I can leave the dread disease of GAS* to you other poor fellows. Smile. Pat pat pat. Smug, smug, smug. And then along come the Fuji GFX 50R. Hmm. Dang. Looks nice. Looks nice. I really kinda want one. But I don't need such a thing. How could I need such a thing when I don't even need full frame? I don't need one. I really kinda want one, though. Don't need. Don't.... Dang. Hmm. Unfortunately, GAS is not rational. We all know that. Any more than the flu.... And then comes the news that Fuji will be making a delightful, diminutive, lightweight 50mm (40mm equivalent FOV) /3.5 pancake lens (picture at the link). To go with the already perfect complement, the GF 110mm /2 R LM WR (88mm-e FOV). I always liked more lens speed in my portrait lens, more so than my walking-around lens. Ow ow ow! Hep me Law. I've got GAS, and my wallet isn't big enough to offer any relief! Ow ow ow OW! How about you? Are you smug? Or are any of the new things enough to tweak your dread disease? Mike *Gear Acquisition Syndrome. P.S. You'll note that yesterday's post was with hat #1, today's is with hat #2. Original contents copyright 2018 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. B&H Photo Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon Germany Amazon Canada Adorama (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.) Featured Comments from: Dennis: "I'm not sure that anything recently announced is doing it for me. My problem is that I'm 10 years into my eternal quest for a truly satisfying system. I used to shoot A mount, now shooting Nikon (APS-C). Tried E-mount (APS-C) for quite a few years, but selling that. "APS-C looks to have a bleak future, except for Fuji. Fuji lacks IBIS and I'm not enamored with X-Trans and the lens I'd really want (1680mm) is still a year away. Nikon, Canon, Sony and Panasonic all really want me to buy FF, and it has its appeal, but I don't need it. Micro 4/3 is probably the best solution, but I have to get over the whole 'lotta money for a small sensor' hangup. (And the 'does Micro 4/3 really have a future ?' hangup). "So I'll keep shooting my 'old' D7000 and my two Sony 1"-sensor digicams until something strikes my fancy." Rodolfo Canet: "I've been aflicted by a strong Fuji-GAS attack lately. But I'm a veteran tough guy and know how to fight it: just bought a Loxia 50mm for my Sony and alas! no more money in my wallet!" Al C.: "GAS is to be embraced, not dreaded. Bring it on. Folks like us who are afflicted by GAS, whatever the object(s) of our affection may be (cameras, turntables, cars, fishing flies...all of the above), are a whole lot less likely to engage inor worse, addicted tothe more putative 'social' vices such as drinking, partying, womanizing, gambling etc. Signed, A proud, card-carrying member of GAS Anonymous." Andrew John: "The Fuji body and those two lenses would amount to roughly 1/3 of the quote you got to build the 'TOP Visitor's Center' with the added advantage of setting up your pool table. I'm telling you while wearing my #1 hat. Then with the #2 hat I say: I like it...I like it...I like it." Matt: "Personally, I'm feeling pretty smug. Like you, I've had my experience with the larger formats and learned several times over that they're not going to fix my shortcomings as a photographer. Even the X-T3, nice as it looks, doesn't seem to be tempting me enough to ditch my perfectly fine X-T2. So, nope, no new cameras, or systems, or maybe even lenses for me this year, thank you very mu.... Wait, what? Ricoh announced the GRIII? Well...um...hmm.... Maybe I'll just take a quick look over at KEH and see what I can get for some of my more seldom used gear. You know, just for the sake of curiosity." Timo Virojarvi: "Z7 does it for me. IBIS + tilting screen are the main criteria, but I like lighter weight, the good EVF and plenty of pixels also. "If only it could show highlight zebras when taking stills and not only in movie mode. Sigh. Maybe Nikon will see the light and fix it with firmware upgrade." sfmurph: "I'm frustrated that the whole market is moving away from what I want: smaller. I like my Olympus E-M10, but I'd prefer a camera without the hump. The Pen-F is tempting, but so expensive. I have all the 'mini' lenses that Panasonic put out (1232mm, 35100mm and 15mm) and love them. But it looks like the GM series didn't sell, so I don't expect any more of these. (Where's the matching 714mm? Or a redone 25mm?) Unfortunately, the market seems to have spoken. And disagrees with me." Mark: "The most recent round of gear announcements have left me oddly indifferent. I'd estimate that I'm at least two or more years away from changing anything. I'm a landscape photographer. The Sony a7r2 and "new"-ish FE 24-105 are a stellar real-world combination for hiking and backpacking in terms of weight vs. resolution. When I have some extra cash, I'll pick up a Loxia 21mm, but that's a known solution. I'm still pondering a tele zoom, but an adapted Contax 100-300 is excellent in the meantime. If Sigma and Panasonic manage to work together to get a FF foveon sensor without its historic issues, I'd be very interested. If Sony puts out an a7r4 with the color rendition of the A900 (and better pixel-shift capabilities), I'd be interested. But honestly, I'm more satisfied with my gear than I can ever remember. It's a pretty nice place to be." Steve Jacob: "Let's face it. Without GAS in its widest context, the world economy would collapse. No-one needs new clothes, mobile-phones, cars, etc. nearly as often as they actually buy them. Very few really need a camera or motorcycle or jet ski or SUV or set of golf clubs or yacht or gun at all. They just want one, or two, or three.... "On the upside, the industry of want employs billions and feeds their families. It also pays for research that has other benefits in terms of materials science, health, food production, communications and transport. OTOH, if we could rid ourselves of this obsession with possession, we would reduce greenhouse emissions, particulate emissions, depletion of resources, despoilment of large areas of natural wilderness, etc. I guess the challenge then becomes how to amuse millions of bored people in perfect health with nothing to do except reproduce or read a book." Mike replies: You are taking an admirably wide view of it Steve. What hat is that? The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. WASHINGTON Sen. Richard Blumenthal didnt hesitate to pick sides in the dramatic accounts Thursday of what happened or did not happen between Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford in the summer of 1982. I have found your testimony powerful and credible and I believe you, Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Ford after her emotionally charged recounting of Kavanaughs alleged assault on her at an informal gathering of friends in D.C.s Maryland suburbs. You have given America an amazing teaching moment. Blumenthal is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a follow-up hearing to hear Ford tell the story that at least temporarily derailed Kavanaughs bid to win confirmation to the seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the courts frequent swing vote. Ford was followed Thursday by Kavanaugh, who offered an angry rebuttal of her allegations. Fords accusation is one of several from women claiming that Kavanaugh was sexually abusive in his high school and college years. Among his accusers is Deborah Ramirez, who grew up in Shelton and said Kavanaugh exposed himself when the two were classmates at Yale in the 1980s. Dramatic testimony Blumenthal and other Democrats on the panel asked few questions of Ford on Thursday, preferring to use their allotted time to extol what they described as her courage to leave her life of anonymity as a psychologist in California and accuse Kavanaugh in a taut hearing broadcast live on TV. You have inspired and given courage to women to come forward, Blumenthal said. Among the letters submitted for the record Thursday was one from 50 faculty members of Yale Law School requesting an FBI investigation. President Trump so far has refused to authorize one, although Kavanaugh said Thursday that he would be all in for an FBI probe. Ford spoke in a soft voice that was at times hard to hear. She was close to tears when she recounted her version of the events of that night in 1982, about how she was pushed down on a bed on the second floor of a house as she went to use the restroom. I tried to yell for help, Ford said. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what terrified me the most and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. With Republicans suggesting the assault may be a case of mistaken identity, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked Ford if she was certain the teenage Kavanaugh was her attacker. One-hundred percent, she replied. Friday vote The encounter has caused her lasting psychological damage, requiring therapy and couples counseling, Ford said. It even manifested itself in her wanting two front doors to the house she was remodeling with her husband. In explaining why I wanted a second front door, I began to describe the assault in detail, she said. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the U.S. Supreme Court. Democrats believe a sufficient delay or possible defection of Republican moderates such as Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. (a Judiciary member), Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, could stall Kavanaughs confirmation until after Election Day. If Democrats succeed in taking back the Senate still considered a long shot the Kavanaugh nomination could be scuttled. Republicans, on the other hand, are eager to push the confirmation through. The committee was scheduled to hold a vote on the confirmation on Friday, which could pass the nomination to the Senate floor. If so, a full-Senate confirmation could occur next week. On Thursday, Kavanaugh forcefully denied Fords accusations. My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by these false and vicious allegations, he said. The process of Senate confirmation of Supreme Court justices has become a national disgrace, Kavanaugh said, turning his head toward Blumenthal and the rest of the Democrats on the panel. Citing the Constitutions requirement that high-court confirmations require the advice and consent of the Senate, Kavanaugh said, You have replaced advice and consent with search and destroy. The he-said, she-said testimony evoked the confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991, which were turned upside down by allegations from law professor Anita Hill. Thomas, a nominee of Republican President George H.W. Bush, ultimately won confirmation in a Democratic-controlled Senate. Kavanaugh referred to his calendar from 1982, insisting that he was rarely in Washington for weekends in June of that year, and that he had notations of his social engagements with specific friends when he was in the D.C. suburban area in and around Bethesda, Md. He also said that a friend of Fords, Leland Keyser, whom Ford said was at the gathering, had denied knowing Kavanaugh and being at the event. The all-male Republican-majority side of the Judiciary Committee took the unusual step of deferring questions to a hired counsel, Rachel Mitchell, a veteran prosecutor of sexual crimes in and around Phoenix, Ariz. The fact-finding prosecutorial nature of her questioning was a stark contrast to Blumenthal and the other Democrats. In polite but firm terms, Mitchell attempted to pin Ford down on inconsistencies in her statements to her local and state lawmakers Rep, Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committees senior Democrat the Washington Post and during a polygraph test she underwent. Mitchell also distributed maps of the suburban area where Ford, Kavanaugh, Mark Judge (whom Ford said also was involved in the attack) and others lived, in an apparent effort to cast doubt on her account. And Mitchell questioned Ford on her alleged fear of flying, getting her to acknowledge flights to far-away destinations while claiming her fear made it difficult for her to travel to Washington for questioning. Blumenthal, himself a veteran prosecutor as Connecticut attorney general and U.S. Attorney in the state, said he was scratching his head over the Republicans tactics. Its been completely ineffective, Blumenthal said. So far, reliance on a prosecutor to cross examine (Ford) has failed to undermine her story. dan@hearstdc.com GREENWICH Greenwich Republicans were in the mood to celebrate Wednesday night, but they were also aware of the work to be done in the weeks before Election Day. A crowd packed the room as the Greenwich Republican Town Committee officially opened its campaign headquarters in the Mill Pond Shopping Center in Cos Cob. This will be GOP central for the local legislative races as well as for the gubernatorial campaign of Bob Stefanowski and Congressional candidate Harry Arora, a town resident. The work isnt just starting tonight, RTC Chairman Richard DiPreta said at the opening. This is our formal opening, but weve had people working for months. ... There is something to be said, though, for the formality of opening a headquarters, where now Republicans at large have a place to come for lawn signs and bumper stickers and to come speak with fellow Republicans. Hosting a party for the official opening does a lot for morale, too, with so much work ahead, DiPreta said. The more time you spend with people in a fun, social, entertaining setting, the closer you get with them and you bond, he said. That helps down the road when you have people coming together to work on campaign events. Its like a big family. All four GOP candidates for the state legislature were in attendance: Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-36, and Reps. Michael Bocchino, R-150, and Fred Camillo, R-151, are facing Democratic challengers, but Rep. Livvy Floren, R-149, is running unopposed. Supporters picked up lawn signs and bumper stickers at the party. More campaign swag is available for any interested residents who want to stop in. Were encouraging anybody in town or wider to feel free and drop by, DiPreta said. The RTC is also looking for volunteers to help out at the headquarters, answering the phones and working at events in the final weeks of the campaign. The Republicans are looking to re-elect the four incumbent legislators and elect a new governor and congressman from their party. This is an important year, DiPreta said. Were looking to take back Connecticut. Our job as the Greenwich RTC is to help get our message out and then get the vote out. The Greenwich Democratic Town Committee is expected to open a campaign headquarters next week, but no official announcement has been made. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com Remote teams are all the rage. According to one Gallup survey, an increasing number of companies are finding ways to incorporate remote workers into their staff. There are many advantages of remote teams, so its not a surprising trend. Remote workers have a lot more flexibility to work and deliver high quality results without the stress of dealing with traffic and other considerations that come into play with on-site workers. In addition, remote workers generally cost less. At the same time, working with a remote team can be very hectic and prone to costly errors. There is a lower level of oversight, communication can be tricky, and making sure everyone is on track is a little more difficult than if they were just down the hallway. The good thing is there are a few strategies that have been proven by science to mitigate these issues. Related: The Tricks and Secrets to Mastering a Remote Workforce 1. Prioritize clarity, not brevity. There is a common misconception that being clear means speaking as little as possible. That couldnt be further from the truth. In reality, being brief online can mean that your message is not passed clearly to the receiver. Online, the person you are communicating with doesn't have the opportunity to factor your body language and other cues into their interpretation of what youre saying or writing. In the widely accepted 7 Cs of communication model, clarity and completeness are priorities. Even though conciseness is also present, its subject to the others in that it ought not to be applied at the expense of the others. From auditing to school teaching, several studies have shown that clarity is the most important component of communication. Make it a habit to be as comprehensive as possible with your instructions. Dont assume, and be sure to cover all bases so youll leave as little room as possible for misinterpretation. Encourage your workers to ask for clarification so you can be certain the message is passed accurately. 2. Reduce your digital volume. Your digital volume is not how loud your voice is when youre on Skype with your team. Harvard Business Review uses the term to refer to how much communication youre transmitting to your team. If you overdo things by following up each and every task by email, text and phone, for instance, youll likely leave your team members feeling bullied, not trusted and micromanaged. According to a 2011 study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, people who believe they are being watched perform at a lower level. If youve decided to work with a remote team, give them the leverage and flexibility to work effectively. Related: You Need the Right Tech and the Right Culture for Your Remote Business to Succeed 3. Establish communications norms. With physical interaction, there are often cues and habits that form an unspoken language among colleagues, helping them understand one another intuitively. Science has shown that without them, even close friends can get confused about what you mean. According to Monica A. Riordan, a researcher at Chatham University, after conducting a study on the accuracy with which emotional cues in emails are interpreted, simple misinterpretation of an intended emotion can lead to a drastic alteration in that emotion." According to the study, reliance on friendship or situational awareness is insufficient. The good thing is, you can overcome that problem by working with everyone to establish some norms -- and perhaps some acronyms that you can use to indicate the contexts of any message. On an individual level, you could also ask your team members to state how they prefer to communicate. For instance, do they like quick messages or lengthy, detailed ones. What degree of humor and informality are they comfortable with? 4. Create a strong culture. Inasmuch as it might not be feasible to do the traditional birthday cake celebrations for members of your team, its still crucial that you create other rituals that will help bring your team members closer and help them bond, regardless of their actual locations. According to a study conducted by academics from Gebze Institute of Technology in Turkey, the most important components of a good company culture are involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission. In their words, given its inherently 'socially complex' and 'causally ambiguous' nature, a comparative advantage gained through a culture-driven organizational capability is usually difficult to imitate, thus constituting a valuable source of sustained competitive advantage and superior performance. Whether its playing a multi-player game together at the end of the week or creating a Slack channel to share funny pet pictures, the point is to choose activities the whole team is comfortable with which will help to develop informal interactions and friendships. Related: 4 Benefits That Explain Why Large Companies Are Increasingly Turning to Coworking 5. Provide mentors. Mentorship has consistently proven to be one of the most effective ways of getting a new team member to settle in quickly and begin working effectively, and remote teams are certainly no exception. Try to find a mentor who is in approximately the same time zone as the new member. A mentor who is an equal will also be a confidence booster. Ensure that the mentor understands that their role is not to be intrusive or to micromanage, but rather to provide direction and pointers where necessary and help the newbie understand the culture. In all, it is clear that while there are a lot of benefits you can reap from incorporating remote workers into your business, youll have to commit time and resources to ensure that you can keep everyone on track and working at maximal efficiency. By implementing the guidelines above, youll be well on your way to doing just that. Related: 5 Science-Backed Tips to Manage Your Remote Team Effectively 4 Traits of Winning NFL Teams That Work in Business 6 Effective Tactics for Handling a Toxic Boss Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Former Virginia Sen. John Warner, a dean of the state's Republican Party, said Wednesday that he will cross party lines to support Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine in his re-election campaign. The endorsement, announced by Kaine's campaign, underscores the deep ambivalence Virginia Republicans feel over Corey Stewart, an acolyte of President Donald Trump who is their party's nominee in the Nov. 6 election. Stewart, who last year championed efforts to preserve Confederate monuments in Virginia, has battled controversy over questionable ties to white supremacists, leading other Republicans to steer clear of his campaign. In a statement, Warner, 91, cited Kaine's leadership on the Senate Armed Services Committee as one of the reasons for supporting the Democrat. He also referred to the deep partisanship in Washington under Trump. "Tim's unquestioned integrity and moral character are sorely needed in the Senate at this most unusual time in our nation's history," said Warner, who also endorsed Hillary Clinton over Trump in the 2016 presidential election. During Kaine's first run for the U.S. Senate in 2012, Warner endorsed his Republican opponent, George Allen. And before that, when Kaine ran for governor in 2005, Warner endorsed his Republican opponent, Terry Kilgore, serving as honorary co-chair of Kilgore's campaign. But in 2016, Warner cast his first vote for a Democrat in a presidential race, when he voted for Hillary Clinton and her runningmate, Kaine, against Donald Trump and Mike Pence. A recent poll by the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg showed Kaine leading the race by nearly 20 points. The poll also showed that 73 percent of Republican respondents supported Stewart, while 15 percent of Republicans surveyed said they'd vote for Kaine. Stewart dismissed the Warner endorsment. "Retired king of the establishment," he said, in a text. "LOL." The reviews are coming in for Christine Blasey Ford's Senate testimony on President Donald Trump's favorite network, Fox News -- and they aren't good for the Republican Party. Fox News panelists discussing Ford's testimony during a break in the Senate hearing called her credible, and one -- anchor Chris Wallace -- said her recounting of an alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was "a disaster" for the GOP. Kavanaugh denies the allegations. "I think Dr. Ford is exceptionally credible," Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said. The sex-crimes prosecutor Judiciary Committee Republicans hired to question Ford, Rachel Mitchell, has been hampered by the format of the hearing, he said, which requires Mitchell to ask questions in five-minute blocks and alternate with Democratic senators. "This was extremely emotional, extremely raw, and extremely credible," Wallace added. Anchor Bret Baier added that hearing from Ford directly "is a totally different thing" than merely reading her prepared testimony. Trump watched the hearing aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from the United Nations General Assembly, according to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She didn't say what channel he was watching, but Trump's made no secret of his preference for Fox. She also said Trump hasn't spoken with Kavanaugh in several days. While the president hasn't tweeted or otherwise publicly remarked on Ford's remarks, his son Donald Trump Jr. mocked what Ford said is a fear of flying, a point Mitchell probed in her questioning. Trump Jr. also retweeted several conservatives who questioned or ridiculed Ford's testimony. But Laura Ingraham, a conservative television and radio host, said on Twitter: "Most anchors are saying the accuser is very 'credible.' Your thoughts?" And Ben Shapiro, another conservative personality who contributes to Fox News, noted Ford's testimony that Kavanaugh's laughter during the alleged assault is what she remembers best, "indelible in the hippocampus." "So that's brutal for Kavanaugh, obviously," Shapiro said on Twitter. Before Ford's testimony, three Republican governors -- Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, John Kasich of Ohio and Larry Hogan of Maryland -- called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to conduct a more thorough investigation of the accusations against Kavanaugh. "The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation. There should be no vote in the Senate," Baker said on Twitter. When President Donald Trump said a year ago that the U.S. was considering a "military option" for Venezuela, hardly anyone in Washington thought it was a good idea. Today, as Venezuela slides toward dictatorship and collapse, triggering a millions-strong migration crisis, support for such a move is being discussed openly. The notion of using force to topple the government of President Nicolas Maduro is gaining adherents -- although it remains a distinctly minority view. Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, said last month that for years he sought a peaceful solution to Venezuela, but now there's a "very strong argument" that it's a security threat to the region and the U.S. that calls for the use of the American military. This month, speaking in Cucuta, the Colombian border town that's the biggest crossing point for migrants, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, said military intervention shouldn't be ruled out, though he later suggested he'd been misunderstood. Trump himself hasn't walked anything back. On Tuesday at the United Nations, he told reporters who asked him about military intervention that he had no intention of broadcasting his plans, adding, "It's a regime that frankly could be toppled very quickly by the military, if the military decides to do that." Fernando Cutz, who served as adviser on South America until last year on the National Security Council, said at Washington's Wilson Center on Monday that a multilateral military intervention could be the best solution for Venezuela. Part of what is driving the changing conversation is that the Venezuelan military, long viewed as the backbone of government support, is showing widening cracks of dissent. In the past year, there have been several minor military attempts to overthrow Maduro, including by use of an armed drone at a military parade. Some prominent Venezuelan exiles are also backing the idea. Opposition leader Antonio Ledezma has called for "humanitarian intervention" while professor Ricardo Hausmann, a Harvard economist who served as the nation's planning minister in the 1990s says that a solution to the crisis is "contingent on regime change." In turn, the government has stepped up repression, using the coup attempts and perceived threat of an attack as a pretext for jailing opposition leaders. Adding to a sense that Washington may be warming to intervention, security hawks with an interest in Latin America are taking positions in the administration. Mauricio Claver-Carone, an opponent of rapprochement with Cuba, is expected to be named senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council. Jose Cardenas, who's being considered for a position in the State Department, wrote an op-ed in June titled "It's Time for a Coup in Venezuela." Of course, U.S. military intervention has often gone poorly and comes with enormous historical baggage. Centuries of such action have bred hostility in Latin America and any Washington-led move to topple Maduro would face opposition from Venezuela's neighbors. Just this month, governments from the so-called Lima Group, including Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile, issued a statement rejecting the use or threat of force in Venezuela. Some have backed other attempts to squeeze the Maduro government through sanctions on top officials and bringing a case to the International Criminal Court. At the same time, almost none of Venezuela's neighbors try to defend the legitimacy of its government any longer. "There has been a shift in terms of accepting that it is a dictatorship," Argentine President Mauricio Macri said Monday, in a Bloomberg interview in New York, noting that he opposes military intervention. "Everybody accepts that it is no longer a democracy." Within the U.S., there is plenty of opposition as well. It would "lead to a great deal of concern over a rebirth of United States interference in Latin America, and is far from clear it solves any of your refugee and population problems," said Anthony Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University in New Orleans, argues against intervention but says if Trump feels he needs an important foreign policy victory with re-election coming up, he may decide to "get this ball rolling." Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist who took a break this year from his Wall Street job at Torino Capital to help the campaign of an opposition leader, agrees, saying Trump has plenty of incentives to intervene in Venezuela because military actions tend to raise presidential approval ratings. The links of the Maduro government to drug trafficking and terrorist groups give him the pretext. Military intervention is still unlikely, but "the probability has grown," Rodriguez said. Colombia has received about 1 million Venezuelan migrants in less than two years, a more intense rate of migration than the 1.9 million Syrians who fled to Turkey over six years, President Ivan Duque said in New York on Monday. Duque labels the Maduro government "a full dictatorship," but his government has sent mixed signals on military intervention. Francisco Santos, Colombia's new ambassador to Washington, said this month that Colombia wants a "collective answer" to the crisis, rather than "unilateral military operations," but that "all options must be considered." Duque then appeared to contradict this, saying that he didn't have a "warlike" spirit when it comes to Venezuela. Duque's predecessor, Juan Manuel Santos, who left office last month, said he wasn't averse to the idea of a coup in Venezuela, according to a report in The New Yorker. Hausmann of Harvard rejected the argument that a military intervention would be a bloodbath. The armed forces of Venezuela are "going to collapse," he said. "They have no operational capacity, they are a useless force. They are an occupation army, they are no military threat to anybody." Others are less sanguine. Cordesman said that in the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, dictator Manuel Noriega's alienation of the local elites and armed forces meant that "a very limited amount of force" was needed to topple him. An invasion of Venezuela would be very different, he said. "You need to have a very strong group of people who can credibly take over, and it's not clear that there's a faction in the Venezuelan military or security services that wants that," he said. "So you're talking about essentially going in and somehow replacing the entire structure of governance and hoping that somehow somebody is going to back you." Still, Tulane University's Smilde noted: "Given the lack of democratic alternatives, and given the fact that what was once a nuisance is now a regional migration crisis, it's not surprising that this talk that has existed for a long time is now becoming more widespread." --Bloomberg's Toluse Olorunnipa and Andrew Rosati contributed. NEW HAVEN On Wednesday it was the Yale University undergraduates who rallied against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, following up on the more than 100 Yale Law students who carried the protest to Washington, D.C. earlier in the week. Several hundred undergrads walked from the Old Campus to the Cross Campus in opposition to Kavanaugh, who they said was a product of a culture of misogyny at Yale. As they marched and then gathered around Maya Lins Womans Table, they shouted slogans that expressed their concerns: Say it loud, say it clear, we uplift survivors here; Violent men like Kavanaugh should not arbitrate the law; Yales complicit, that we know, Kavanaugh has got to go. We believe all survivors. The speeches, all made by women, accused the university of harboring a culture that shuts down the marginalized and fails to hold privileged students responsible for their actions. Yale compromises principles for money, one speaker charged and accused the administration of failing to speak out on Kavanaugh for fear of losing alumni support. Today we gather to speak truth to power, another said. Abby Leonard said she was tired of having to protest, but she said Yale students cannot remain silent. The speakers alleged Yale President Peter Salovey talked about support for survivors of sexual assault and harassment, but he failed to get at the root of the problem. We gather to expose the truth about Kavanaugh, a speaker told the crowd and said Yale does not stand up for the values it says it holds dear. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear Thursday from the high court nominee, as well as Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, who has accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were teenagers during the early 1980s. The second woman to come forward is Deborah Ramirez , a Yale Law School classmate of Kavanaughs, whom she accused of exposing his genitals and causing her to involuntarily touch them. Ramirez grew up in Shelton. The protesters said the university should stand up for people like Ramirez. In a transcript of an interview with Senate investigators released Wednesday night, Kavanaugh said Ramirezs allegation sounds like an orchestrated hit to take me out. One of the protesters at Yale Monday said because Ramirez was a low-income, first generation woman of color, this made her a target. The speaker said the university continues to admit students of diverse backgrounds without adequate support once they arrive on campus. She said Yale has actively created men like Bret Kavanaugh to think that being a white man with a Yale degree gives them the right to negate our bodily autonomy. The protesters asked the administration to stop handing power to men like Kavanaugh. The third woman to accuse Kavanaugh of misconduct, Julie Swetnick, said Wednesday that Kavanaugh was allegedly part of a group of boys in high school that tried to get girls intoxicated so they could have sex with them, Bloomberg News reported. Kavanaugh has rejected all the claims, calling the one by Swetnick ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. The new allegation and other sexual misconduct claims about Kavanaugh are all false to me, President Donald Trump told reporters in New York, while adding he could be persuaded otherwise depending on the Senate testimony by Ford, Bloomberg News reported. Senate investigators have also asked Kavanaugh about an anonymously lodged accusation that in 1998 he shoved a woman he was dating against a wall in an aggressive and sexual manner while both were under the influence of alcohol. The nominee called the allegation ridiculous, according to a transcript of the phone conversation he had Tuesday with a Senate investigator, according to Bloomberg. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Friday on Kavanaughs confirmation. Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford will have unlimited time to give opening remarks at Thursdays Senate Judiciary Committee hearing the panel said in a statement. Blasey Ford will go first. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and the committees top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, also will not be bound by a time limit in giving opening statements at the hearing set to start at 10 a.m., according to Bloomberg. After opening remarks, senators will have one 5-minute round of questions for each witness, based on a request by Blasey Ford. mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577. Undoubtedly, the coolest feature of the new Apple Watch Series 4 is its ECG monitor. However, the function will be available only for US customers later this year and maybe Canada in the future. But what about the rest of the world? It's pretty disappointing to own such high-end and expensive piece of tech and being unable to use it to the fullest, so Apple fans around the world would be eager to know when the feature would be approved by their local authority. Unfortunately, things look grim as 9To5Mac talked to UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) about this and they said the process is simple but time-consuming. Apple would have to conduct a medical study and inform the MHRA 60 days in advance. Then the agency has 60 days to approve the study and allow Apple to carry it out. Depending on the scale of the study, it could potentially take months to years to complete. But there's a silver lining to it - since the UK is still in the EU, if the ECG monitor is approved by the MHRA, the license could apply to other equivalent agencies in the rest of the European countries as well. Interesting fact - Apple got the FDA approval in the US just a day before the announcement of the watch. So if you are looking to buy the watch solely because of the ECG functionality, you may want to stay put for now. By the looks of it, it may not come before the next gen rolls around. Source The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner. The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner. It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past. In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping. Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order. In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. YouTube has enabled HDR support on the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max. The change was noticed by users after the most recent YouTube app update, although the app's change log doesn't actually mention anything related to this addition. Previously, HDR was only available on the iPhone X on iOS. The iPhone X, iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max are the only iOS devices with HDR support in software as well as hardware, although there are other iOS devices such as the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, and select iPad Pro models that support HDR in software. None of these devices, however, are getting this update. If you own one of the aforementioned devices, you will see HDR written next to the resolution in the resolution list while playing an HDR video, such as the one below. An HDR video has extended dynamic range, higher peak brightness and wider color gamut compared to standard video. It requires support on both, hardware and software level although some devices do fake it using software. The YouTube app continues to not support resolutions higher than 1080p on iOS. Google currently only offers higher resolution options in its own VP9 video codec, which is not supported on Apple devices. Google previously did offer resolutions up to 4K in the more widely supported H.264 codec but eventually stopped, likely for competitive reasons. Source Haiti - IMF : President Moise talks with Christine Lagarde Wednesday in New York, on the sidelines of the 73rd Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly President Jovenel Moise, met privately with Christine Lagarde, the Director General of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to review the status of the Staff Monitored Program (SMP) adopted last February by Haiti and the IMF https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23659-haiti-economy-moise-accepts-the-program-of-control-and-the-requirements-of-the-imf.html The President, referring to serious incidents from 6 to 8 July https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25055-haiti-flash-heavy-balance-of-riots.html , following the adjustment of fuel prices, emphasized the need to implement an emergency social program to meet the needs of the population, especially the most vulnerable citizens. He reiterated his vision that at the same time, it is essential to execute the government's development plan, in the medium and long term, to establish Haiti's sustainable development policy. In addition, it considered it imperative that the IMF and Haiti's technical and financial partners adjust their development support program to make them more flexible, more effective and better aligned with the priorities of its Administration. Christine Lagarde expressed her full support for the development policy of the Government of Haiti, while emphasizing the full understanding of the institution on the just demands of the Haitian people "You have my full support and that of the IMF. We appreciate your courage [...] The IMF encourages you to continue to implement your priorities, while emphasizing the safety net. We congratulate you for your fight against extra billing and better profitability of State resources. We learned from the incidents in early July. That's why we think that it will be necessary to act gradually by applying tax reforms. It is important to continue the reform of the state." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25636-haiti-politic-moise-asks-$390m-to-international-to-eradicate-cholera.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25618-haiti-politic-jovenel-moise-on-an-official-trip-to-new-york.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25055-haiti-flash-heavy-balance-of-riots.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23659-haiti-economy-moise-accepts-the-program-of-control-and-the-requirements-of-the-imf.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Top Resa 2018 : Tourism professionals welcome Haiti As part of the 40th edition of the Top Resa 2018 international trade show, the unmissable meeting of tourism professionals that will end tomorrow, September 28, the delegation of the Ministry of Tourism, strengthened on its kiosk by the presence of some operators of the sector Tourism, including a representative of the Tourism Association of Haiti, Tour Haiti, Agence Citadelle, Explore Haiti and Sunrise Airways, have be able to establish since Monday, many contacts and promote the destination under a new light. Guest at the Main Table at the Inaugural Luncheon, Marie Christine Stephenson, the new Minister of Tourism had the opportunity to meet with tourism ministers Gayan Anil Kumarsingh (Mauritius) and Elena Kountoura (Greece) who promised all its support to the young minister, especially for the development of the "cruises" sector between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, which was the strength of Greece. In order to capture a share of the European tourism market, Minister Stephenson met with carriers such as Air France, who expressed interest in exploring the possibilities of opening a new air route to Cap-Haitien. The Haitian Minister also welcomed on the newsstand of Haiti, the Dominican Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia, the time of a press conference with more than a dozen Dominican journalists. Minister Garcia and Minister Stephenson have agreed on the implementation of a multi-destination project and on the application of a single tourist tax facilitating tourist excursions between the two countries https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25640-haiti-tourism-towards-cooperation-with-dr-to-promote-multi-destination-tourism.html Other meetings and discussions with important professionals in the sector, including specialized event agencies, have resulted in possible participation of Haiti in other shows. Undoubtedly the promotion of the former "Pearl of the West Indies" has been well received by connoisseurs of the sector, who see in the destination, a raw jewel just waiting to deliver its charms. See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-25654-icihaiti-agriculture-haitian-chocolate-under-the-spotlight-in-paris.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25640-haiti-tourism-towards-cooperation-with-dr-to-promote-multi-destination-tourism.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-25633-icihaiti-tourism-zero-waste-the-credo-of-the-new-minister.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25625-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25607-haiti-news-zapping.html HL/ S/ HaitiLibre Published on 2018/09/26 | Source "Dear my Room" is O'live's first drama, self-described as a trendy drama, is a webtoon adaptation starring Ryu Hye-young, Kim Jae-young, Park Ji-hyun, and Yun Ji-on. It is the tale of Sim Eun-joo, a self-employed woman who is trying to redefine her life after winning a big project as an editorial designer and subsequently struggling on her own. Advertisement Title character Eun-joo will be played by Ryu Hye-young, a woman who is trying to pick herself back up again. Up-and-coming actor Kim Jae-young will take on a highschool classmate, fellow interior designer, and personal support to Eun-joo. Eun-joo's competition, Ryoo Hye-jin, will be played by Park Ji-hyun. Hye-jin is Eun-joo's highschool classmate with whom she had a poor relationship that has persisted until the present day. Musical actor Yun Ji-on will play Yang Jae-hyeon, a character written to assuredly cheer up the hearts of female viewers. The O'live drama begins filming in October and can be seen in November. By Vasia Orion | Published on 2018/09/26 We've seen many a last minute romantic chase happening at Incheon International Airport, but the location has never been given the chance to shine. "Where Stars Land" aims to change that, making the airport its main setting. The drama has released stills of its four leads in their workspaces, along with information on what we can expect from it. Advertisement "Where Stars Land" is a human melodrama about Lee Soo-yeon (Lee Je-hoon), a new hire with a secret, and Han Yeo-reum (Chae Soo-bin), a first year troublemaker full of sweet stories, tackling each other's weaknesses and wounds while meeting different people at Incheon International Airport. Their characters will be leading the drama's setting at the passenger service center, which is described as the 'heart and lungs' of their airport. The story will reportedly be focusing on realistic incidents experienced by those who operate on the sidelines of their workplace. While Soo-yeon and Yeo-reum will be showing us the practical side of things, Lee Dong-gun's Seo In-woo, the Operations Planning Team leader, and Kim Ji-soo's Yang Seo-goon, the Passenger Service Team leader, are in charge of portraying the inner workings of the airport as a corporation. The series will be showcasing various hidden locations within the Incheon International Airport, along with a newly opened terminal. It's a shame that this looks so romance-heavy, because the setting is novel and interesting enough for a great office drama, but I guess I'll take the rough with the smooth. "Where Stars Land" premieres on October 1st on SBS. Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings' Sources (1) Press release Triangle Telephone Cooperative Association Inc., doing business as Triangle Communications, will celebrate 65 years of service at Triangles Annual Meeting of Members Saturday, Oct. 13. The meeting will take place in the Student Union Building on the campus of Montana State University-Northern in Havre. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The business meeting begins at 10 a.m. with lunch served following the meeting. Trustees for two districts will be elected by members attending. Richard Pokorny is running for re-election to represent District 4 which covers Hingham, Gildford, Kremlin, Big Sandy, Loma, Hopp-Iliad, Winifred, Denton, Stanford, Hobson and Moore. Richard Stuker is up for re-election to represent District 5 which covers Chinook, Turner, Whitewater, South Malta and Malta. Members will also vote on board proposed bylaw amendments. Member gifts, as well as door prizes including processed beef and pork purchased from local 4-H members, will be presented at the meeting. Up to six cash prizes will be available to members children in attendance. The final voting for the annual Triangle Photo Contest will also take place at the meeting. The winner of the member grand prize drawing can choose between a 55-inch Samsung Smart TV or tickets to the Red Ants Pants Music Festival in White Sulphur Springs along with a camping pass. This year as voters decide critical races in the upcoming midterms, they will have a chance to make decisions on major policy initiatives that will be on the ballot. In Montana, there is a terrible measure to increase taxes. Specifically, this measure would raise the tax on cigarettes by $2 per pack, which would represent a 118 percent increase in the current tax. The measure would also increase taxes on chewing tobacco and all other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and other vapor products. Montana I-185, the Extend Medicaid Expansion and Increase Tobacco Taxes Initiative, would go to funding the states Obamacare Medicaid-expansion program. Like most excise taxes, it will likely fall short of the projected revenue. These shortfalls usually come with more stress on the state budget, and lead to further tax increases. Furthermore, tobacco tax increases harm local businesses and consumers, and encourage illicit activity. I-185 is a tax increase that would go straight to a health care budget that has seen continual increases over the last six years, including a 28 percent increase for the Fiscal Year 2016. A regressive tax increase like I-185 would disproportionally hit businesses and the middle class, and likely create an excuse for more tax increases when revenue projections fail to materialize. Weve seen this play out before. Heres three recent examples: Washington, D.C. In 2009, the District of Columbia raised taxes by .50 cents but they missed their revenue projections by $15 million. New York continues to increase their tobacco tax rates and they continue to miss the mark on revenues, despite having the top rate. The state has lost well over $1 billion in revenue in the last decade and they still havent learned why increasing taxes is a terrible policy with terrible results. Another state notorious for tax increases is Illinois. They increased taxes on tobacco in 2013 and yet the revenue hasnt been anywhere near what the state told taxpayers it would be. According to a recent study, from the Illinois Department of Revenue, the cigarette tax increases were more than $100 million short in revenue projections. Montana voters should reject I-185. Increasing taxes on tobacco has proven to not only result in the need for more tax increases amid failing revenue projections, it also puts increasing pressure on state resources to combat illicit activity. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy put out a study that determined smuggling rates generally rise in states after they adopt cigarette tax increases. The Tax Foundation also put out numbers showing that New York, which has the highest tax rate on tobacco, also had the highest inbound smuggling activity. Montana doesnt need another tax increase to solve their budget woes, theyve increased health care spending year after year. Tax increases will likely beget more tax increases, which will drive businesses away and harm consumers. Montana should be looking for ways to shift their budget priorities to accommodate the needs of its citizens, rather than relying tax increases that will fail to bring in the needed revenue. The state Legislature rejected an increase in tobacco taxes in 2017 and voters should do the same and reject I-185. Michi Iljazi of Alexandria, Virginia, is the director of government affairs for the American Conservative Union The rise of technology has coincided with increasing challenges and opportunities for HR professionals. HRDTV sat down with Christian Campanella, HR Director, Pernod Ricard Winemakers to discuss the greatest challenges facing the HR industry today. The rise of technology has coincided with increasing challenges and opportunities for HR professionals. HRD TV sat down with Christian Campanella, HR Director, Pernod Ricard Winemakers to discuss the greatest challenges facing the HR industry today. New tests can diagnose hidden heart diseases caused by problems with the small blood vessels supplying the heart, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference today in San Diego. The new tests are not yet standard in the NHS because, before now, there has not been enough evidence gathered about whether they would benefit patients. Now, researchers say that they should be routinely available to pinpoint the cause of chest pain. Researchers from the University of Glasgow and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital performed the new small vessel test which involves passing a thin, flexible wire into the heart and measuring how well a blood vessel relaxes. The team performed the new test on 151 patients with chest pain who could not be diagnosed using currently available tests. The small vessel test results for half of the patients were made available to doctors to further guide the diagnosis and treatment, whereas, in the other half of the patients, the results were not disclosed. These patients followed standard care. The team found that the new tests were able to correctly diagnose four times as many patients as standard tests. Even more importantly, 6 months later, symptoms of angina were less and quality of life was better in the patients whose care was guided by the new tests. Chest pain originating from the heart is often a symptom of a condition called angina. Angina is triggered when the heart does not receive enough oxygen rich blood, often due to narrowed coronary arteries, the arteries which supply the heart itself. It often happens during exercise, cold weather and emotional stress and points to an underlying problem in the heart. Doctors commonly recommend an angiogram, an invasive procedure which looks for narrowing of the hearts main arteries. However, in around one half of patients with angina, this angiogram reveals no significant problems. Despite this, patients can experience severe chest pain and have a significantly higher risk of having a heart attack in the future. In many people with angina, the pain may be caused by problems with the tiniest blood vessels in the heart the micro vessels which are too small to see with traditional tests. The conditions are called microvascular angina and vasospastic angina, which are commonly misdiagnosed. Because diagnosis is so difficult, patients are often left without firm answers about the cause of their chest pain. Lead researcher Professor Colin Berry, Chair in Cardiology and Imaging at the University of Glasgow, said: Microvascular angina and vasospastic angina are under-recognised problems. As the angiogram in these patients looks clear they are commonly falsely reassured. Our studys results indicate this to be the case. However, leaving microvascular angina and vasospastic angina undiagnosed and untreated presents a risk to patient wellbeing- these problems can be a precursor to a hospitalisation for chest pain and a heart attack and symptoms persist in the longer term. We now hope to see this test rolled out across the country. Philippa Hobson, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the research, said: People living with microvascular angina suffer from crippling and frightening episodes of chest pain that dramatically affects their day to day life. They are unable to treat their symptoms effectively as their angiogram is essentially normal. Medication currently prescribed to people with diagnosed coronary heart disease does little to resolve their pain or reduce risk of heart attack, so they are left in limbo. This study is very reassuring news for sufferers who live in the fear of having a heart attack as for many, there is currently no conclusive proof they have heart disease. The University of Glasgow A woman who dug her fingernails into a security guard's hand had spiralled into heroin use after the sudden death of a second partner. Lisa Griffin (33) turned to heroin after her first partner fell victim to sudden adult death syndrome seven years ago. She had managed to get clean but relapsed last year after her fiance of five years died. Judge Anne Watkin adjourned sentencing at Dun Laoghaire District Court for six months to allow Griffin to provide further urinalysis to show she was now drug-free. The defendant, of Cedar House, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, had admitted having stolen property and assaulting a security guard at Ballinteer Road, Dundrum, last October. Accomplice Sgt Peadar McCann previously told the court that security staff in Dundrum Town Centre had tracked a couple who were acting suspiciously in Vodafone, where a pair of earphones had been taken. He said two security officers followed Griffin and a male accomplice on to the bridge over Ballinteer Road. There was a struggle, and Griffin started shouting "let me go" and tried to run away. The security men then called for assistance. The victim arrived and saw Griffin struggling with his colleague. Sgt McCann said Griffin pinched this security guard, digging her fingernails into his right hand, breaking the skin. Defence lawyer Jane Murphy said Griffin had worked with the Probation Service, was stabilised on methadone and providing clear urine. Fifth year Presentation Secondary School Students Nicole O'Neill, Ellie Corrigan and Tegan McDonald pictured at the opening of the newly refurbished, Kevin's St. Library yesterday. Students have been "enlightened" with the opening of a refurbished library and community hub complete with a children's slide. The Kevin Street Library, which has been closed for five years while undergoing 3.9m of refurbishments, has reopened, and local schools and community groups joined in the celebrations. More than 100 people turned up to mark its new lease of life as musicians and a local children's choir performed for guests. Poems The modernised building includes a mezzanine and reading room as well was an animated children's area with the slide. Pupils marked the opening by reading poems and stories they had written for guests. "'Enlightened' is a good word to use because some of them have openly told us they haven't been in a library in the last couple of years," said Dermot Grier, a teacher at Presentation Secondary School Warrenmount. "In reality, some of the students would have very little contact with their library and going to libraries, so it's about encouraging them that a lot of these resources are on their doorstep. "It's warm, it's open, it's very user-friendly and there's a lot of resources here that the girls could use." Dublin city librarian Brendan Teeling said there were more plans for the capital. "We want our libraries to be places where community groups feel welcome and can make use of them for their own purposes, because people have a variety of interests that can be put to use here," he said. "We want the library to be a place where they can indulge. We make them full of life and full of people. "We have plans for a new library in Finglas, plans for a library a little bit further west of the city, and we're very committed to developing the library services further than that." Bahrains GFH Financial Group announced today (September 27) that Capital Intelligence Ratings (CI Ratings), the international credit rating agency, has affirmed its long term rating to BB, while maintaining the short-term rating at B with a Stable outlook. The Groups ratings were supported by the banks ongoing strong profitability at both operating and net levels, improved diversification of business segments and revenues in recent years, as well as the successful implementation of its strategy to convert to a financial group. Also supporting the ratings are GFHs low debt levels and consequent moderate leverage, as well as the sound capital adequacy. The adequate balance sheet liquidity along with satisfactory debt service capacity and reasonably diversified funding sources are also supporting factors. The major constraining factors reported were sovereign credit risk and relatively high concentration of assets in the real estate sector. Also, despite the rebound in oil prices, the regional economic environment remains challenging which has also had an impact GFHs commercial banking activities. Hisham Alrayes, CEO of GFH, said: We are pleased to see continued confidence in the strategy, performance and outlook of GFH by CI Ratings and the market more broadly. The report underscored the strength of GFHs financial position as well as the considerable progress that we have and continue to make in transforming from a pure investment bank into a fully integrated financial group. The report noted the enhancements in our investment banking business whereby we have made a significant number of investments in strong and promising cash-yielding private equity businesses within stable sectors such as healthcare, education and consumer retail, as well as income-producing real estate assets across the US and Europe. As we head into the final quarter of 2018 and look ahead into the next year, we will continue to work hard to deliver on our strategy, extract value from our existing assets and identify unique new opportunities that can provide for steady income yields and even stronger performance and profitability for our investors and shareholders, he added. GFH is one of the most recognized financial groups in the gulf region that includes asset management, wealth management, commercial banking and real estate development. The group operations are focused in the GCC, North Africa and India. GFH is listed in Bahrain Bourse, Kuwait Stock Exchange and Dubai Financial Market. TradeArabia News Service Sony, leading technology company, has picked up 17 accolades at this years Red Dot Award: Product Design for its superb product design across various categories. Sony was honoured in categories which included wireless earphones, in-ear headphones and digital cameras, among others, said a statement from the company. The Red Dot Award is a leading international design competition for product design, communication design and design concepts. The Bravia AF8 Series was among several other products that earned the highest distinction, the Red Dot: Best of the Best Award. The awards jury highlighted the series simple aesthetic and integrated design that matched the sophisticated technology inside, it said. Fumiatsu Hirai, managing director, Sony Middle East and Africa, said: Our products have been recognised internationally for their innovative technology and top notch design and functionality. We are proud to be consistently recognised by the Red Dot Award over the years and this serves as a testament to our commitment to provide the best experience for our users, Hirai said. We thank the jurors for recognising the Bravia AF8 series as one of the Best of the Best, as it offers an uncompromisingly clear form paired with state-of-the-art technology for breath-taking visual and acoustic experiences, Hirai added. The Bravia AF8 features an innovative and seamless integration of audio and visual components. Packed with award-winning Acoustic Surface Technology, the AF8 series generates sound through screen vibrations, lending the unit a minimalist, sculpted feel. Such remarkable design gives viewers the impression that the screen is almost standing on its own, and is only supported by an ultra-slim stand. All additional elements feature on the back surface in a blocked section containing two actuators and a subwoofer, with their angles aligned with the cable cover partition in geometric unity, it added. Yusuke Tsujita, Studio 1, Creative Centre, Sony Corporation, said: The initial development of Bravia AF8 was quite challenging as it wasnt easy to create a new style while taking over the DNA of the Bravia A1 series. After many discussions with the development team, we achieved a convincing design with only what is truly important left. We expect the AF8 to open up a new era of Bravia OLED, he added. Other prize-winning products include: Red Dot Award: Wireless Headphones WF-1000X this truly wireless in-ear headphones provide no cable noise and advanced noise cancelling technology. Using a smartphone app, users can easily adapt to their environments and activities. To ensure an interference-free Bluetooth connection with a mobile device, a two-part design was realised, with a laser-treated plastic piece serving as an antenna. Digital Still Camera DSC-RX0 This digital camera unites impressive functionality in its small body, equipped with a high performance 1-inch stacked CMOS sensor and a high-resolution Zeiss Tessar lens. The housing was milled from one solid block of metal and is water and shock-resistant so that the camera can be used in the rain, in dusty environments and even underwater. The ribbing around the housing serves as a heat sink and guarantees a safe, non-slip grip. Wireless Headphones WI-1000X - Thanks to adaptive noise cancellation, this wireless in-ear headphones enable a customised music experience. In connection with a smartphone app, the users state of activity is registered, whether in motion or waiting quietly. Also, the extent of noise cancellation and the sound settings are adjusted automatically. The dynamic 9 mm driver and an airtight balanced armature unit provide balanced sound with rich bass, as well as a clear mid-range and sparkling treble. TradeArabia News Service Abbott, a leading health technologies company, is presenting its innovative and life-changing technologies at the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) Annual Conference, which the company is supporting as a gold sponsor. The conference which opened on September 25 will conclude later today (September 27) at the Riyadh International Convention Centre, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Abbotts sponsorship of the annual event is part of its ongoing effort to help people achieve more through better health, said a statement from the company. The conference is aimed at giving stakeholders from SFDA, as well as the private and public sectors a common platform to encourage exchange of ideas about improving health care and food and drug standardisation across the kingdom, it said. David Rutledge, director global regulatory for medical devices at Abbott, is visiting as a keynote speaker at the event, and will make a presentation on the importance of Post-Market Surveillance, review of clinical evidence, medical device software and the importance of cybersecurity in that context on the opening day of the conference, it added. During the course of the event, several prominent thought leaders from the food, drug and health care industry will speak on a range of diverse issues pertinent to the kingdom. As part of the conference Abbott is also set to present its innovative and life-changing technologies that are positively impacting the lives of people across the nation. Owing to its 75-year presence in the region, Abbott has a deep understanding of specific health care needs of the market and is continually introducing new innovations in the field of nutrition, diagnostics, medical devices and medicines to enhance the quality of life of those stricken by ailments. Abbott also remains fully committed to the Saudi Vision 2030. The company has a long-standing cooperation with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority in a bid to enhance the level of health care in the kingdom. Supporting Saudization of the pharmaceuticals industry and transfer of technology are other prominent agendas for Abbott in the country. Given the rapidly changing health care demands in the kingdom, Abbott is at the forefront of the sector with innovative solutions in place to meet these needs. Abbott is investing heavily in its infrastructure to increase accessibility, while new product introductions are bringing cutting-edge technology to the residents of the country. As part of its support for young Saudi graduates, the Abbott Foundation Program provides year-long practical training workshops within various departments of the company, it stated. TradeArabia News Service For Subscribers Parents call for removal of books from school system libraries Two of the books that have explicit content are "Lawn Boy," by Jonathan Evison, and "L8r, g8r," by Lauren Myracle. King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), represented by Badir Program for technology incubators and accelerators has partnered with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for developing several innovation and entrepreneurship projects. The agreement was signed by Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud, president of KACST, and Houlin Zhao, secretary-general of ITU. The agreement was signed at the CITC headquarters in the presence of Abdullah Al-Swaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and Dr Abdulaziz Al-Ruwais, Governor of Communications and Information Technology Commission. Under the said cooperation agreement, Badir Program will chair and host the annual meetings of the Arab Technology incubators and Techno Parks Network in the Arab Region (ARTECNET) for three years as from 2019 to 2021, aiming at the exchange of ideas and visions on the most successful ways to promote the Arab incubator industry, the utilization of experiences, information and experiences to improve the performance of incubators and the setting of ambitious plans and programs to improve the performance and enhance the role of emerging companies in the Arab world. ARTECNET was set up in 2014 in Algeria, with the support of ITU, where a group of the founder members adopted this idea during the Arab Technological Cities Meeting in Tunis 2013. Under the memorandum of understanding, Badir Program shall, in cooperation with ITU, be responsible for preparing and organizing workshops and training programs, whether on-site, via internet or through remote participation, to facilitate the exchange of experiences and scientific and practical information between the Arab business incubators, the decision-makers and the related bodies; to raise awareness and enhance the role of small, emerging and innovative companies in ICT sector; to encourage the spread of digital innovations in the Arab region; and to launch a website for the project. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud applauded the efforts exerted by ITU to develop ICT entrepreneurship, stating that KACST aspires to build, in partnership with ITU, a digital environment embracing, developing and attracting the skilful minds in digital transformation and to contribute to the support of entrepreneurship to achieve economic sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation at the Arab level. He expressed his pleasure for Badir's chairmanship of ARTECNET and hosting of the meetings of the Network members for the first time in the Kingdom. He said: "We will work to make this event an important milestone for overcoming the challenges faced by emerging companies in the Arab region. Moreover, it is also a real opportunity to meet and interact with the sector players to build and promote entrepreneurship in the Arab countries. Houlin Zhao indicated that ITU seeks to build partnerships with many public and private bodies, to ensure integration, cooperation and effort consolidation for finding innovative and practical solutions to enhance the progress of small and medium enterprises and emerging businesses in the Arab countries. He asserted that the memorandum of understanding executed with KACST will contribute to raising of competitiveness of emerging companies operating in ICT sector and enhancing their role and participation in the sustainable development and economic growth of the Arab region. Badir Program is one of the leading programs of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The program was established in 2008 to improve and support technical entrepreneurship throughout the Kingdom by helping the strategic policy applied in entrepreneurship and incubators in collaboration with government agencies, universities and the private sector. TradeArabia News Service HTS Interiors, a leading interior design company in UAE, said it has been awarded a contract to manage the interior design and fit out works for Basanti & Company, a 5,881-sq-ft restaurant project coming up within the Bluewaters Island project in Dubai. An extension of Mumbai's Basanti & Company in Dubai, the 5,881-sq-ft flagship restaurant project is the brainchild of Jetty Ventures, an UAE-based investment company. The restaurant is a specialist in Indian cuisine and is hugely popular in Mumbai with rave reviews from food lovers and critics, said a statement from HTS Interiors. The HTS Interiors team has conceptualized its Dubai wing keeping the Meraas aesthetics in mind while staying true to the Basanti & Co. brand idea, it added. On the contract win, Nitin Nadukandy, the founder, and chief executive of HTS Interiors, said: "Jetty Ventures, the brainchild behind Basanti & Company's Dubai chapter wanted us to focus on creating sophisticated interiors without losing the restaurant's eclectic appeal." "This was important because the target audience for Basanti & Co. will be the millennial crowd with a preference for cool and contemporary settings. We have re-interpreted the Mumbai concept to align it with Bluewaters Island's aesthetic sensibility, but included Basanti & Co.'s original summer color scheme," he noted. On the new design, Laurika Muller, the design director and project-in-charge for the Basanti & Company project, said: "Conceptually, we wanted to tell the story of Basanti, the lead character from the 1975 Hindi cult movie, Sholay, after which the restaurant is named. This is a story of a journey, destinations and experiences." "Thus, the story starts with the approach to the restaurant via the outside seating area, which is an informal, relaxed space," explained Muller. "This informal character is also reflected in the design look and feel of the ground floor interior. However, we've also incorporated a few formal materials to slightly change the look and feel - as a phase-over between an informal exterior and the more formal interior on the first floor," she added. Basanti & Company will be a part of the ambitious Bluewaters Island project - a manmade island that shall serve as a modern, family-oriented fun destination with premium apartments, penthouses, townhouses, and over 200 retail and dining concepts. "The stair case connecting the ground floor and 1st floor was designed to be an experiential space (continuing the journey) with a "Juliet" balcony (a rest point) overlooking the beach and boats," noted Muller. "The first floor has been designed with six mini-destination experiences to suit a variety of client's seating preferences. Although our design approach was very conceptual and in line with client requirements, we've also tried to capture the true identity of Dubai - Diversity," she added. HTS Interiors is a premier custom fit out company offering a wide range of interior design services. Their creative designs and professional services make them one of the most sought-after interior design companies in Dubai. Some of the group's prestigious projects in the UAE include Prime Minister Office (Emirates Tower), Rivera Mall, Boeing Office, Mekong Anantara, Adventz and Seagrill Fairmont.-TradeArabia News Service The Abu Dhabi Department of Transport will host the next World Road Congress from October 6 to 10, 2019 in the UAE capital, in cooperation with the World Road Association (PIARC). After the successful Congress that took place in Seoul (South Korea) in 2015 in Asia, this edition will be the first World Road Congress hosted in the Middle East. Over 5,000 delegates from more than100 countries as well as national Transport Ministers, policy makers and experts from all around are expected to attend the event. TradeArabia News Service Poor financial condition, fear of unemployment, and the assurance of their landlord to shift them in a new house soon were the reasons that had made the four families continue living in the five-storey building even when it had started tilting dangerously for the last one year. Seven people were killed and at least five others injured after the building collapsed on Wednesday morning. Vimlesh Kumar, a mason who lost his two sons Sumnesh,12, and Rajnesh,4 blamed his landlord, identified by his single name Dharmendra, for the tragedy, alleging he had not been allowing them to vacate the building. The building was tilting and all of us were witnessing it for almost a year. The condition had worsened in the last two months. Whenever we informed Dharmendra about vacating the building, he used to convince us to stay by saying he would move us to a new building soon. He never kept his promise and instead waited for the tragedy to happen. Today, I lost my two sons because of Dharmendra, said Kumar. A native of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, Kumar had been living with his wife and four children in a room on the third floor for the last four years. He was working as a mason for Dharmendra. Dharmendra is a builder and I worked at his construction sites. I used to pay him Rs 4,000 rent. Dharmendra used to stop my wages whenever I told him about vacating the house. He threatened to throw me out of his construction sites, Kumar said, demanding strict action against Dharmendra. The other room on the floor was occupied by his uncle, Raj Bahadur, 45, who lived with his wife, four children, and two relatives. A labourer by profession, Bahadur lost his wife Munni in the tragedy while he and his two relatives were injured. His four children had gone to school when the incident took place. The building collapse could have claimed more lives, if it had taken place an hour or two before. Thirteen occupants, including nine children, had left either for work or for school when the building came crashing down. At least 10 people, including children playing in the street, had a narrow escape as they ran for their lives . A vegetable vendor left his cart and fled. Some neighbouring families whose children were playing outside started screaming and looking for their kids, said Himanshu Swami, who lives nearby. 20th Century Fox has released the first trailer for Dark Phoenix, the latest instalment in the X-Men series of superhero films. The movie will continue the prequel timeline which began with X-Men: First Class and double as an origin story for Jean Grey, played by Sophie Turner. The trailer is a retread of several storylines and scenes that fans of the X-Men film franchise would already be familiar with. We see Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) bring Jean to his school after sensing her extraordinary powers. We see Jean have a difficult time adjusting to life with other mutants and being overwhelmed by her powers, which are magnifying rapidly. In a parallel track, we see Michael Fassbenders Magneto and Jennifer Lawrences Mystique react differently to the introduction of Jean, who could potentially become the most powerful mutant in the world. The character has been previously shown in the original X-Men trilogy, in which she was played by Famke Janssen, who reprised her role for a cameo in The Wolverine. Turner, known for playing Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, debuted as the character in X-Men: Apocalypse. Dark Phoenix was originally slated for a November, 2018 release, but was pushed back to accommodate reshoots, along with an X-Men spin-off, New Mutants. The film will now arrive in February, which proved to be a successful release window for Deadpool. The film is directed by veteran writer and first-time director Simon Kinberg. It will be scored by Hans Zimmer, who makes a return to the superhero genre after vowing off it. The film also stars Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan and Kodi Smit-McPhee, with Jessica Chastain as the villain, who tries to lure Jean away from Professor X. Disney chief Bob Iger recently confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that the X-Men franchise would be integrated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe under the supervision of Kevin Feige. Follow @htshowbiz for more As many as 69 people, including 18 foreign nationals, were evacuated from various places in snow-bound Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh by Thursday afternoon. The foreigners comprised three Germans, four Danes, two Norwegians, eight Nepalis and one from Bhutan while the remaining rescued people were Indians from different parts of the country. Rescue operation through air and at ground level, with the help of Army, mountaineering experts, police and local people, are continuing. The rescued people were airlifted and brought to Kullu and their medical examination is underway, an official said. Meanwhile, rescue operation by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) through the Rohtang tunnel is also on. Early snowfall in the higher reaches, cloud burst and heavy rains devastated large parts of the state from September 22 to 24. Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti were the worst affected. Heavy snowfall on the Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) has cut off the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys affecting a large number of tourists and hampering water and electricity supply. More than 700 people are still stranded at various locations including Baralacha La, Joksar, Sarchu, Batal and Chhatru. The IAF has deployed three helicopters in the rescue operation. Rescue operations will continue till all the stranded people are moved to safety. Manali Again Cut Off Tourist town Manali was again cut off from district headquarters Kullu after the National Highway 3 on the left bank of Beas River was closed due to landslide. Officials said that the work to restore traffic was underway. Bahrain-based Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover has announced the introduction of the Extended Warranty option for a wide range of Land Rover vehicles that will run from October 1 to December 31. In order to complement its acclaimed After-Sales Services, Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover will now offer an Extended Warranty option for all Jaguars and Land Rovers. The extended warranty provides customers with generous claim limits, up to the purchase price of the car. The after-sales offer also provides customers with a complimentary 165-point vehicle check along with a one-time free oil & filter change as well. The Extended Warranty option comes in a wide range of prices depending on the model of the vehicle. The options are priced at BD500 ($1,318) to 1,250 for the Freelander, BD650 to 1,500 for the Discovery models and BD550 to 1,250 for the Range Rover Evoque. Furthermore, the Range Rover Velar, Range Rover Sport and the Range Rover will have options between the price range of BD700 to 1,500. Stephen Lay, general manager of Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover, said: We are glad to introduce an After-Sales campaign that extends to all of the models that we house at the showroom. This campaign is structured in such a way, wherein customers will be able to choose their desired options with utmost flexibility. We believe that extending ones warranty will be largely beneficial in the long run for any vehicle, since customers will be able to continue benefitting from the exceptional after-sales services provided by Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover. The Extended Warranty comes into effect once the vehicle exceeds three years from the date of delivery and expires after five years from the date of delivery or at 250,000 km for Jaguar owners, except for the Jaguar E-PACE which expires at 150,000 km, whichever comes first. For Land Rover owners the Extended Warranty comes into effect once the vehicle exceeds 3 years from the date of delivery and expires after 5 years from the date of delivery or at 150,000 km, whichever comes first. The Extended Warranty provides comprehensive coverage against unexpected mechanical and electrical vehicle failure; the categories covered typically include engine components, Powertrain control unit, gearbox and suspension as well as catalytic convertors and electrical systems amongst others. With Travel Protection also included in the Extended Warranty, customers will be able to benefit from Road Side Assistance while travelling to a number of countries in the Mena region which includes; Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar and Tunisia. Customers also have the choice of two Optional Warranty Extension packages, one year or two years. Customers who choose the One Year Extension will increase their overall warranty coverage to 6 years/175,000 km, whichever occurs first. While the Two Year Extension will increase the overall warranty coverage to 7 years/200,000 km, whichever occurs first. Customers who choose to benefit from the Extended Warranty will also have the added benefit to have Land Rover Assistance added to their extensive coverage package. Moreover, customers will have their vehicles looked after by highly experienced Jaguar Land Rover Approved Technicians who always go the extra mile to provide the level of excellence that can only be attained by Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover. TradeArabia News Service The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the Supreme Courts judgment on Thursday, with two senior party leaders saying the verdict will clear the way for a speedy resolution of the Ayodhya dispute and early construction of a temple at the disputed site. I have said it at the outset that it is not a matter of dispute between two faiths. For Hindus, it is the birthplace of Lord Rama. It is not an important historical or religious place for Muslims, Union minister Uma Bharti said, welcoming the apex courts judgment. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, An early solution to the dispute is in the interest of harmony and prosperity of the country. A majority of Indians want an immediate solution to the issue. So, the SCs verdict is important and we welcome it. The Congress was guarded in its response. We have always said that whatever the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of Ram Temple-Babri Masjid, all sides should abide by it and the government should implement it, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said. The Congress said while the BJP garnered votes in the name of Ram Temple, it sent Ram to exile the moment it came to power. Chaturvedi also charged the BJP with trying to mislead the people on Congress president Rahul Gandhis spiritual quest during the Mansarovar yatra earlier this year and his Thursdays visit to Chitrakoot temple in Madhya Pradesh. A senior Cabinet minister said the courts judgment underscores the need for a quick hearing in the Ayodhya matter. The delaying tactics of Muslims have been defeated, the minister said, asking not to be named. The Samajwadi Party (SP) state spokesperson, Rajendra Chaudhary, said this was not a matter to react on politically. Under all circumstances, the spirit of agreement and social harmony should prevail, he said. In a statement, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) welcomed the verdict. We are confident that a just verdict will be reached over the case at the earliest, RSS spokesperson Arun Kumar said. On the day the Congress escalated its attack on the government over a media report suggesting that a bureaucrat red-flagged the purchase of Rafale jets on account of price, the defence ministry clarified that the deal was negotiated through a process involving due deliberations and diligence at various levels. The officer in question from the ministry of defence headquarters had signed the note considered and approved by the cabinet committee on security (CCS) on August 24, 2016. Thereafter, he proceeded for a one-week training programme in September 2016 and not on leave for which he had applied to the department of personnel and training (DoPT) in July 2016, said an official familiar with the developments. The Indian Express reported on Thursday that nearly a month before the deal for 36 Rafale aircraft was signed between then defence minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart in New Delhi in September 2016, Rajiv Verma, joint secretary and acquisition manager (Air) in the defence ministry, then part of the contract negotiations committee (CNC), raised questions about the deals benchmark price and put his objections on record. Speaking to a news channel, Verma on Thursday said he had not gone on leave in protest, and that his leave was for a planned training. The report further said the officials objections were later overruled by the director general (acquisition) Smitha Nagaraj. Nagaraj couldnt be reached for comment. However, the defence ministry official countered, The government has categorically stated earlier as well that all provisions laid down in the defence procurement procedure (DPP) and other relevant guidelines were fully followed in the acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft. He said the apex decision making body for defence acquisitions, the defence acquisition council chaired by the defence minister, accepted the necessity for the acquisition of Rafale aircraft and mandated the CNC with the task of closing the deal. Following the stipulated process, the CCS accorded its approval to the acquisition on August 24, 2016, and not in September 2016. Parliament has already been informed on July 18, 2018 that the audit of capital acquisition system, including the Rafale aircraft, is being conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the official said. He reiterated that price and other factors, including maintenance, training, armament and equipment, in the contract for 36 Rafale fighter aircraft represent better terms as compared to the negotiations conducted but never concluded by the previous government. The report gave the Congress fresh ammunition to mount its attack on the BJP; the party said joint secretary, Rajiv Verma, had pointed out that the price negotiated by the previous UPA dispensation for 18 aircraft was cheaper than being paid for each of the 36 aircraft purchased by the Modi government. The joint secretary also pointed out that Euro Fighter had offered to supply an aircraft of the same kind at 20% price discount. So, he told the government to ask France to charge 20% less. Verma had to go on leave. Then came a superior officer, Smitha Nagaraj, who overruled him, senior Congress leader Jaipal Reddy told reporters. He claimed that the process of ratifying the agreement between Parrikar and his French counterpart was delayed by more than one year. It was ratified in September 2016 whereas the deal was signed between Modi and the then French president Francois Hollande on April 10, 2015, Reddy said. It is an order of Rs. 60,000 crore. You are paying Rs. 41,000 crore more and took more than one year to ratify. It is an exceptional case of post-facto ratification. Reddy also claimed that French president Emmanuel Macron did not contradict Hollandes claim on the Rafale deal, and sought an explanation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue. The Rafale scam has begun to stink and the Prime Minister and his government have begun to sink, he said. It is getting thicker and thicker and curiouser and curiouser with every passing day. And when a former French president says something, this country needs to sit up and take notice. DMK president MK Stalin was discharged from Chennais Apollo Hospital on Thursday afternoon after a minor surgical procedure for the removal of a cyst from his right thigh, the hospital said. Stalin, 65, underwent the surgery early Thursday after being admitted at midnight following a health scare. DMK president MK Stalin was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai late last night. He underwent a minor surgical procedure for the removal of a cyst from his right thigh. He will be discharged this afternoon, Apollo hospital said in a statement after the surgery. The hospital issued a statement in the morning saying the minor surgical procedure was for the removal of a cyst from his right thigh. DMK president MK Stalin was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai late last night. He underwent a minor surgical procedure for the removal of a cyst from his right thigh. He will be discharged this afternoon. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/4Shmw6dStR ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 T R Baalu, Principal Secretary, DMK said Stalin felt discomfort in his home late Wednesday night and was taken to Apollo hospital. There is nothing critical. As he was continuously involved in party works, he did not go for medical check-ups for the past two months. Doctors have examined Stalin and he will be in rest for one or two days, Baalu told HT. Stalin became the president of DMK on August 28 after the death of his father and DMK supremo Karunanidhi on August 7. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A college professor in Madhya Pradeshs Mandsaur, allegedly dubbed anti-national by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists for objecting to their slogan-shouting in the campus, sought to touch the feet of the protesters, as per college administration sources. A 30-second video has also gone viral in social media in which Prof Dinesh Gupta of Rajiv Gandhi Government Post-graduate Degree College, Mandsaur is seen running after the activists asking them to let him touch their feet as the latter also run away in a bid to allegedly avoid embarrassment. Gupta is heard saying repeatedly ....mai parhaane ka apraadh karta hun (... I commit the sin of teaching). As per college administration sources, the activists of the RSS-affiliated student body led by their district president Pawan Sharma were raising slogans against the delay in declaration of examination results on Wednesday afternoon when Gupta objected, saying it was disturbing his class. Since two of their slogans were Bharat Mata ki jai and Vande Mataram, the activists allegedly termed the professor a deshdrohi (traitor) for opposing these slogans. In a meeting called in the principals office, the ABVP activists demanded an apology from the professor. When Gupta refused, the activists started following him on the campus. At this, the agitated professor tried to touch the feet of activists. Contacted for his comment, Sharma denied any knowledge of the incident. ABVP national executive member Ankit Garg said, Our organisation always respect teachers and Mandsaur PG College incident is an unfortunate one. ABVP workers were protesting in the college against delay in exam results declaration. None of the activists called the professor anti-national. Prof Gupta was in an agitated mood and he started touching the activists feet to create a scene on the campus. Gupta, who proceeded on three days leave after the incident, told media persons, They called me anti-national just for stopping them from shouting slogans during my class. They asked me to tender an apology. I said okay, I am touching your feet. I have been teaching on the campus for 32 years and I am far more patriotic than them. But I cant be compelled by anybody to demonstrate my patriotism, he added. College principal Ravindra Sohoni said, It was not a big issue. The problem has been sorted out. Congress student wing National Students Union of India spokesperson Vivek Tripathi said: ABVP workers were creating ruckus in the college and disturbing the classes. We will protest against it and will not tolerate such kind of behaviour. State Congress media coordinator Narendra Saluja said the AVBP had insulted the entire teaching community by calling Gupta anti-national and the professor.was so deeply hurt by the activists behaviour that he had to touch their feet. The incident reminds people of Prof Sabharwal incident of Ujjain in which Prof Sabhawal lost his life on a college campus due to ruckus created by ABVP activists, he said, demanding chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the entire Bharatiya Janata Party should tender an apology for the act of the activists and a criminal case should be filed against the guilty. Professor HS Sabharawal of an Ujjain college died in 2006 after allegedly being attacked by a group of ABVP activists protesting the decision to cancel the student union elections. Six prime accused in the case were acquitted in 2009 due to lack of evidence. Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury may keep the doors open for seat adjustment with the Congress and other opposition parties for the 2019 general election, having compelled the organisation to include his vision in the partys political-tactical line in May this year. While the CPI(M) remains averse to rushing into electoral alliances with Opposition parties, the Yechury camp is certain that a combination of the Oppositions firepower is needed to take on the formidable BJP in next years Lok Sabha polls. Minimising the contest between non-BJP parties will be important and, in many cases, holds the key to success, Yechury said on Wednesday. The partys options remain open on the post-poll situation, amid suggestions that it could provide outside support to any non-BJP formation if the situation arises. Observers say the CPI(M), after a string of poll debacles, is scrambling to improve its electoral fortunes and sees seat adjustments as mutually beneficial. With the partys footprint having shrunk in West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and some other states, the communists are desperate to reverse this trend. The CPI(M), reeling from the losses in Tripura and West Bengal, will deliberate the idea at its forthcoming Central Committee meeting on October 6. But officials familiar with the developments indicate that Yechurys ideas might face hurdles from the dogmatic section of the party led by leaders such as Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Insiders point out that two years ago, the politburo slammed the West Bengal unit after the latter went for an informal understanding with the Congress in the assembly polls. The politburo review said electoral tactics in West Bengal was not in consonance with the line of the party, which states that there shall be no alliance or understanding with the Congress party.The Kerala unit of the CPI(M) has always been opposed to such an alliance because it fights the Congress in the state. The Yechury camp is hopeful about getting its way. Things have changed both externally and internally. Yechurys victory in the last party congress is a strong signal that his views cant be ignored so easily, said a party leader. Another Yechury loyalist pointed out that the current tactical line of the party says, Appropriate electoral tactics to maximize the pooling of anti-BJP votes should be adopted based on the above political line of the party. The CPI(M) has its support base in Kerala, West Bengal, Tripura, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and in parts of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh. In West Bengal, sections of the Congress are keen to join hands with Mamata Banerjee. Trying to ally with them now may once again wrong-foot the CPI(M) before the elections. Outside West Bengal, the Congress-CPI(M) alliance issue is of little relevance, said Prasenjit Bose, a leftist economist. Three militants and a soldier were killed in two separate encounters, a civilian died in firing during a cordon and search operation and an unidentified man was shot dead in an army ambush in Kashmir on Thursday. The search operations and gunfights in Anantnag, Budgam and Srinagar started almost simultaneously early Thursday. An army spokesman said that the encounter in Anantnag ensued during searches in Gasigund area and left a militant and a soldier dead. The militant was a local identified as Asif Malik, operating as a commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was involved in several attacks on security forces including the killing of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) men at Achabal this year and in many other cases of civilian atrocities, a police spokesman said. The killed soldier has been identified as Sepoy Happy Singh of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, and a resident of Bathinda in Punjab. In Srinagars Noorbagh, police said they launched searches and cordoned a cluster of houses looking for militants, but the hiding militants fired indiscriminately resulting in death of an individual identified as Saleem Malik, 26, son of Mohammad Yaqoob Malik. A senior police officer said that the civilian was killed in cross-firing while the militants managed to escape. However, the family of the killed youth denied that he was killed in cross-firing and blamed security forces for his targeted killing. He owned a flock of sheep and during the night he woke up due to some noise outside. He thought that were thieves and came out to have a look at the shed. The forces opened fire on him when he was trying to have a look outside the courtyard, said Maliks uncle, Mohammad Yaseen. Maliks death led to protests in the area. Security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse youth who pelted stones after the funeral at the Martyrs Graveyard at Eidgah. Separatists under Joint resistance Leadership condemned the civilian killing and have called for a shutdown on Friday, alleging that state terror has been unleashed under cordon and search operations to wipe out Kashmiris. In Budgams Pandan Chadoora, the security forces initially tread cautiously as the militants fired on a search party from a mosque, according to police. Officials said that they involved the local auqaf (mosque management) who tried to convince the holed-up militants to surrender but they refused, leading to the encounter. We tried to maintain the sanctity of that place but militants fired indiscriminately that many of our men including two army men and a CRPF jawan were injured. The militants were ultimately killed, said Budgam superintendent of police Tejinder Singh. Army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said that they resorted to controlled firing and killed the militants after a protracted operation. The two militants were locals and were identified as Shiraz Ahmad Bhat of Chadoor and Irfan Dar of Pulwama. Dar was working as Special Police Officer and had deserted the force a couple of months ago. Authorities suspended mobile internet services in affected areas in south and central Kashmir, including Srinagar. Restrictions were imposed in many parts of old city in Srinagar to prevent any escalation of protests and trace the militants. Non-local killed in army ambush in Kupwara An unidentified man was killed during an army ambush in Chowkibal area of north Kashmirs Kupwara on Thursday, police said. He was killed in an army ambush. He was challenged and there were some warning shots during which he was hit by a bullet. He was given medical treatment, however he could not be saved, Kupwaras senior superintendent of police Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar, adding that they were trying to ascertain the identity of the man who appears to be a non-local. A court in Bengal Thursday convicted four people in the toxic liquor case that killed 172 persons in South Parganass Sangrampur village in December 2011 and left several others blind. The sentencing is expected Friday. I have been found guilty. Lets see what sentence the court gives me tomorrow, said Noor Islam Fakir, alias Khora Badsha, the key accused in the tragedy, told media as he came out of the court. He also claimed to to be innocent and said he would appeal to the high court. Along with Fakir, the court found Dukhey Laskar, Khairul Laskar and Nazrul Laskar, guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sale of noxious food or drink under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 46A (unlawful manufacture of spirit or intoxicant) of the Bengal Excise Act. The maximum sentence for the crimes is life sentence. Fakir was also found guilty of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means and causing hurt by means of poison under the IPC.. A lot of witnesses turned hostile later. We had to overcome these difficulties in fighting this case, said public prosecutor Tamal Mukherjee. I submitted the charge sheet on the 59th day of the investigation. As a result, all the accused were behind the bars since the crime. It is rare for culprits in similar cases to be convicted, said Shimul Sarkar, inspector, CID who was the investigating officer. A total of 12 persons were named in the charge sheet. Four were convicted and six were acquitted. Two still remain to be traced, said Santanu Dutta, special public prosecutor. Among those acquitted was Fakirs wife. A number of people were affected by poisonous illicit liquor at at Sangrampur, about 45 km south of Kolkata. As many as 11 persons were named in the charge sheet police submitted on February 10, 2012. A total of 56 witnesses have been examined and cross-examined. The forensic reports of the viscera also confirmed the symptoms of alcoholic poisoning. During the investigation, Fakirs confession led to the recovery of stock of poisonous liquor that was found to contain methanol. The prosecution argued that the accused sold alcohol to about 240 people. Another case in the same tragedy is being heard in the courts. The government on Thursday constituted an eight-member search committee to recommend names for chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal. A ministry of personnel order said the search committee would be headed by former Supreme Court judge, Ranjana Prakash Desai. The remaining seven members include retired IAS officer Lalit K Panwar, former Allahabad high court judge Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, former chief of State Bank of India (SBI) Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash, Indian Space Research Organisation head AS Kiran Kumar, former Gujarat police chief SS Khandwawala and former solicitor general Ranjit Kumar. The process of Lokpal selection is underway as per the guidelines laid down in the Lokpal Act, said minister of state for personnel Dr Jitendra Singh. As per the guidelines, the search committee would recommend the names to a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and having as its members the Lok Sabha speaker, leader of the opposition in the lower house, the chief justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the president or any other member. In April this year, President Ram Nath Kovind had nominated former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi as the eminent jurist on the panel. His appointment came on the recommendation of the selection panel against the vacancy created following the death of senior advocate PP Rao. The proposed Lokpal will have a chairman and eight members. It can enquire into offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the Prime Minister (with specified safeguards), sitting and former Union ministers, sitting and former members of parliament, government employees, employees of a company, society or a trust set up by an act of Parliament or financed or controlled by the central government, and employees of association of persons that have received funding from the government or have received public donation or foreign funding upto 10 lakh a year. Officials said the government chose members of the search committee as per the guidelines laid down in the Lokpal Act, which says the panel should have at least 50% of the members from among SC, ST, OBC, women or minority communities. The government went ahead with the formation of the search committee despite Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the PM-led Lokpal selection panel. Kharge argued that he has been made special invitee of the panel instead of a full-fledged member. He refused to attend meetings of the selection committee on six occasions -- March 1, April 10, July 19, August 21, September 4 and September 19 this year. The opposition leader had asked the government to amend the Lokpal Act for including the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha in the selection committee. The Lokpal bill got the presidential nod on 2014. Much can be said about the Aadhaar judgment delivered on September 26, 2018. The Aadhaar verdict is disappointing, but I am not dejected or defeated by it. I am disappointed because apart from striking down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, the majority opinion provides little relief to the poor from Aadhaar (under Section 7), in terms of accessing essential entitlements. On this, it is disappointing that the judges who have signed the majority opinion have believed the governments false assurances that nobody will be denied their entitlements due to Aadhaar. We know that the governments have been violating the Supreme Courts orders since 2013, and in its present form, exclusion is built into the Aadhaar ecosystem. Out of 42 hunger deaths since 2017, at least 25 have been due to Aadhaar. Today is the eve of the death anniversary of 11-year old Santoshi, whose familys ration card was cancelled by the Jharkhand state government in a mass cancellation drive because they tried, but failed, to link their Aadhaar numbers with their ration card. It is especially sad that an opportunity to make amends of sorts for these tragic losses by striking down Section 7 has been lost for the moment. The compulsory imposition of Aadhaar in welfare programmes has, contrary to popular belief, damaged the implementation of welfare. In the case of the Public Distribution System (PDS), for instance, without bringing any significant protection against corruption, Aadhaar-based Biometric Authentication (ABBA) has meant that people are denied their rations if the server is down or biometrics do no match. Many people still believe that Aadhaar can help welfare either by including them, or weeding out duplicates or ghosts in the welfare system. This belief is misplaced. The possession of Aadhaar alone entitles a person to nothing, so the question of inclusion does not arise. The little data that is available suggests that duplication was a small problem in Odisha, 0.3% duplicates were detected according to state government data; a survey in Jharkhand suggested that there were 1.3% duplicates and ghosts. Here again, justice DY Chandrachuds dissenting opinion gives us hope that others will also be convinced of these problems. As far as welfare programmes are concerned, Aadhaar does not bring much to the table as far as earlier forms of corruption are concerned, but has given rise to news forms of corruption which did not exist before. The recent scam in the PDS in Uttar Pradesh provides a glimpse of that. Looking ahead, there are two important lessons for the struggle against Aadhaar from the recent victory in the Supreme Court against Section 377. In 2013, the Supreme Court overruled a Delhi high court judgment which struck down section 377. In 2018, when the review petition was being heard, it was apparent from the comments of the judges that the thinking had changed and the verdict earlier in September confirmed that. Not only did the judges strike down section 377, Justice Indu Malhotra even tendered an apology to the people for the delay in delivering justice. Another important lesson in the battle against Section 377 is that victory was won by people without any political party support. (In fact, even after the Section 377 verdict came out, most political parties continued to shy away from welcoming it.) Similarly, the battle against Aadhaar has largely been of ordinary people resisting it and the consolidation of corporate and state power that it entails. The Congress party, which brought the Aadhaar project, remains unrepentant. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the words of Justice Chandrachud, has committed a fraud on the Constitution by using the Money Bill route to pass the Act. Between 2010 and 2018, however, we have already come a long way. The debate around Aadhaar today is very different from where it was in the early years where any dissenting voice were trivialised as elitist. Today, many more people understand the danger that a project like Aadhaar poses to the right to privacy, and the importance of the right to privacy in a democracy. If the Supreme Court could change its mind in the case of Section 377, why not in the Aadhaar matter? India and China on Thursday reviewed progress in maintaining tranquillity along the disputed boundary following the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in April, when the leaders decided to give strategic guidance to border troops to keep the peace at the border. Besides discussing the situation at the frontier, Indian officials reiterated the importance of keeping the peace along the boundary in overall bilateral ties. Though not specifically mentioned, the two sides are believed to have discussed the importance of increasing military-to-military contacts at different levels. Officials from the two countries gathered in Chengdu, the capital of Chinas southwestern province of Sichuan, on Thursday for the 12th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC). They (officials) discussed ways to effectively manage border areas in accordance with the strategic guidance provided by the leaders of the two countries at the Wuhan Summit, said a late-night statement from the Indian embassy in Beijing. The officials also explored various confidence-building measures with a view to further enhance mutual trust and understanding. The statement added: The Indian side emphasised that peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas is an important prerequisite for smooth development of their bilateral relations. The Chinese side was yet to comment on the talks till late Thursday night. It was the first time officials of the two countries met under the WMCC mechanism since Modi and Xi held talks in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in April. Ties between the two countries have seemingly been on the upswing following the summit despite old differences including the border remaining unresolved. Adnoc LNG, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), has signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract worth Dh3.16 billion ($860 million) for the second phase of the Integrated Gas Development Expansion (IGD-E) project with a consortium of Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas and Abu Dhabis Target Engineering Construction Company. The agreement was signed by Fatema Mohamed Al Nuaimi, acting CEO of Adnoc LNG; Arthur Crossley Sanz, general manager of Tecnicas Reunidas; and Chaouci Yassine, CEO of Target Engineering Construction Company. Al Nuaimi said: This agreement is a significant milestone as we work across the gas value chain to further integrate our offshore and onshore gas systems. It will enable us to deliver greater efficiency and performance, maximize the value of our gas assets and pursue our strategic objective to ensure a sustainable and economic gas supply that meets Abu Dhabis growing energy needs. We have awarded the contract after a rigorous tender process that took into account the substantial in-country value benefits that will flow from this project, as we continue to maximize value from our hydrocarbon resources, in line with the leaderships directives, and capture value and financial return here in the UAE for the benefit of the nation. The second phase of the IGD-E project will take 54 months to complete. It will add 245 million cubic feet per day of associated gas to the 1.4 billion cu ft per day of offshore gas sent from Das Island to Adnoc Gas Processings Habshan gas facilities to be processed for use in power generation. The full scope of the contract encompasses engineering, equipment and material supply, construction, installation, testing and commissioning of compression, drying and gas treatment units, as well as power generation and other auxiliary services. It includes the construction and commissioning of new gas facilities on Das Island including construction of a new Booster Compression Train with a capacity of 60 million cubic feet per day, as well as two Feed Gas Compression and Dehydration Trains, each having a capacity of 123 million cu ft per day and two amine-based Fuel Gas Treatment Units with 80 million cubic feet per day capacity each. Tecnicas Reunidas will lead the consortium and carry out the engineering and procurement for the project, while Target Engineering Construction Company will lead the construction and commissioning works on Das Island. Work on Adnocs Dh40 billion ($11 billion) Integrated Gas Development program began in 2009, to enable the transfer of one billion cubic feet a day of high-pressure gas from the offshore Umm Shaif field, via Das Island, to Adnoc Gas Processings onshore facilities at Habshan and Ruwais. The program was completed in 2013. Subsequently, Phase 1 of the IGD-E project was launched in 2015 and was completed last month, boosting Adnocs offshore gas processing capacity by 400 million cubic feet per day to 1.4 billion cubic feet per day. Phase I included the construction of a 4th gas dehydration unit and dry gas compression aftercooler on Das Island; gas pipelines, with a 117-km offshore segment and 114-km onshore segment; condensate pipelines; and modifications to the Habshan gas processing complex. TradeArabia News Service The model code of conduct restrictions on ruling parties come into force as soon as a state assembly is prematurely dissolved, the Election Commission decided on Thursday in a move that is seen as a setback to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief had earlier this month dissolved the state assembly about nine months before its term was to end. Rao continues as a caretaker chief minister. This means that neither the caretaker state government nor the central government can announce any new schemes, projects, for the state where the assembly has been dissolved. Also, the caretaker chief minister and other ministers cannot use official resources for any non-official purposes, combine official visit with electioneering work. The commission has based its decision on a Supreme Court verdict in 1994, which made it clear that caretaker governments should merely carry on the day-to-day government and desist from taking any major policy decision. Ministers are also barred from participating in events to launch projects or lay foundation stones, promise new projects or make ad-hoc appointments that could give the ruling party an unfair advantage. The election commissions decision comes just days after the Congress criticised caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Raos son and IT minister KT Rama Raos participation at an event on Tuesday to launch the second phase of Hyderabad metro rail project. Secunderabad MP Bandaru Dattatreya, who also took a short ride in the metro, however, got down somewhere in between in protest against the indifferent attitude of the metro rail company for not displaying the prime ministers photograph at the inaugural function. The election commission directive will apply to the central government as well. Rao had described his decision to dissolve the state assembly as a sacrifice but was widely perceived to have opted for early elections to attempt to fight a possible Congress-Telugu Desam Party alliance in the state on his own terms and timing. Income Tax department on Thursday raided the residence and offices of former legislator and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president Anumula Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad, triggering a war of words between the state unit of the Congress and the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Two teams from the IT department began simultaneous raids on Revanths house at Jubilee Hills, the office of his infrastructure company and also the residences of his relatives. Search operations were going on at 15 different places including Revanths house at Kodangal town in Mahbubnagar district, said an IT department officialwho did not wish to be named. The ex-MLA and his family members were not at home when the search operations began. The Telangana unit of the Congress described the IT raids as political vendetta by the ruling TRS in collusion with the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre. TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy tweeted that the TRS and BJP were hand in glove in launching a witch-hunt against their political rivals before the elections. A few days ago, the Hyderabad police dug out a 14-year old case of passport fraud against our senior leader and former MLA from Sangareddy T Jayaprakash Reddy and arrested him. Now, it is the turn of Revanth Reddy who has been aggressively attacking the TRS leadership and exposing the misrule of KCR, Reddy said. He said such raids were aimed at demoralising the opposition, and warned that the people would teach a fitting lesson to KCR for being hand in glove with the BJP and indulging in politically motivated raids against the strong leaders like Revanth. The TRS, however, brushed aside the allegations and said the KCR government had nothing to do with the IT raids. In what way we are concerned with the raids by a central government agency? The Congress party is enacting a big drama only to gain sympathy and political mileage, TRS spokesman and MLC P Sudhakar Reddy said. Revanth Reddy represented Kodangal assembly constituency in the recently dissolved Telangana assembly. He defected from the Telugu Desam Party into the Congress early this year and was elevated to the post of TPCC working president last week. The IT raids followed a complaint lodged in July this year by a Hyderabad-based advocate Immaneni Rama Rao with the Enforcement Directorate authorities who had, in turn, forwarded the complaint to the IT department. In his complaint, the advocate alleged that Revanth along with eight others, including his father-in-law S Padma Reddy and brother-in-law S Jayaprakash Reddy, had floated an infrastructure company by name Sri Sai Mourya Estates And Projects Pvt Ltd in 2003. The company had stopped showing records to the IT authorities after 2010 and had siphoned off Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore to 18 shell companies, the advocate complained. On May 31, 2015, Revanth Reddy was caught by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau while allegedly paying a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in Legislative Council elections held on June 1, 2015. This amount of Rs 50 lakh was also part of the amount siphoned by Revanth from the infrastructure company, Rama Rao alleged. A few days ago, the Hyderabad police issued notice to Revanth Reddy to join investigations in a case relating to alleged irregularities committed by office-bearers of a Co-operative Housing Society in 2004. India has told the United Nations it is willing to take the lead in combating climate change, saying its commitment is rooted in history and ethos and current plans and the vision for the future. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj made the offer at a climate change event hosed on Wednesday by UN secretary general Antonio Gueterres, within hours of a UN body naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron joint winners of one of the world bodys top six environment honours called Champions of the Earth. India is willing to take the lead in climate action, Swaraj said. Our commitment to combat climate change is rooted in our ethos, which considers the Earth as mother. India is the worlds sixth largest producer of renewable energy, and the fifth largest producer of solar energy, Swaraj cited as evidence of Indias commitment, and went on to detail her governments plans to generate 175 gigawatts of solar and wind energy by 2022. We have installed over 300 million LED bulbs, saving US$2 billion and 4 GW of electricity, she said, and mentioned Kochi airport, the worlds first solar-powered airport. It is among seven entities named as winners of the Champions of the Earth awards. Swaraj reiterated Indias commitment to meeting the emission reduction target it set for itself under the 2015 Paris Accord to cut emissions intensity of GDP by 25% below 2005 levels by 2020, and further by 33-35% by 2030. India is among the countries that came out early in support of the accord when it was jolted briefly by the exit of the US in the early days of the Trump administration. The accord remains in force with China, France and all other countries determined to preserve a hard-fought consensus. The US is the only country out of it now, after Syria, the only other holdout, joined late in 2017. Swaraj spoke at length about the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative launched jointly by India and France during the signing of the Paris Accord, which is working towards mobilising solar technology and lowering prices 68 countries have signed on already. India is hosting the inaugural meeting of its general assembly next week. Sushma holds talks on Choksi, warns OIC India discussed the extradition of fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi with Antigua and Barbuda in bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and sternly reminded third-party entities such as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) they had no locus standi on Kashmir. The 53-member OICs contact group on Kashmir, which met in New York on Wednesday, heard a presentation by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and renewed its call for self-determination for Kashmir. It also sought a UN probe into alleged rights abuses. India regrets that a matter which is very internal to Indian affairs was again discussed at the OIC, external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a news briefing. We reject such references ... (and as) we have said in the past, OIC has no locus standi to comment on internal affairs of India. Pakistan raises its dispute with India at every forum and in discussions with third-party countries. It also brings it up at the UN General Assembly debate but has found no traction yet. A showdown of sorts is expected over the weekend as Swaraj and Qureshi will address the assembly on Saturday. The Indian leader goes first and might choose not to attack Pakistan by name as she raises the issue of cross-border terrorism. But Qureshi will not hold back his punches as Pakistani officials have already made clear, specially in view of the cancellation of a meeting of the two leaders in New York. Nine people, including three Germans, were rescued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter from 16,020-feet-high Baralacha La pass on the third day of search and rescue operation in snow-marooned Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. The rescue operation resumed around 7 am as the weather turned favourable. Kullu deputy commissioner Yunus Khan said the rescued people were airlifted and brought to Kullu and their medical examination is underway. Meanwhile, rescue operation by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) through Rohtang tunnel is also on. More than 800 people have been rescued from Lahaul and Spiti. Early snowfall in the higher reaches, cloud burst and heavy rains devastated large parts of the state from September 22 to 24. Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti were the worst affected. Heavy snowfall on the Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) has cut off the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys affecting a large number of tourists and hampering water and electricity supply. More than 700 are still stranded at various locations including Baralacha La, Joksar, Sarchu, Batal and Chhatru. The IAF has deployed three helicopters in the rescue operation. Khan said that search two teams have been sent to Rohtang Pass, one from Manali and other from Jodkar. Rescue operation will continue till all the stranded people are moved to safety. Manali Again Cut Off Tourist town Manali was again cut off from district headquarters Kullu after the National Highway 3 on the left bank of Beas River was closed due to landslide. The deputy commissioner said that the work to restore traffic was underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the Maldives president-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, according to a Maldives media report Thursday. Solih, 56, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Partys candidate, emerged victorious over incumbent president Abdulla Yameen in the election held on September 23. He will be sworn in on November 17. The president-elect had extended the invitation during a phone call by Modi, after Solihs victory in the September 23 presidential elections, spokesperson for Solih, Mariya Ahmed Didi was quoted as saying in The Edition. Modi had also invited Solih to visit India, Mariya said, adding that the president-elect had accepted the invitation. The two leaders agreed to work closely together to further strengthen the close, friendly and good neighbourly relations between the two countries. Maldives is the only SAARC country that Modi has not visited. His visit to the archipelago was cancelled in March 2015 due to the volatile political situation. Indias ties with the Maldives came under strain after president Yameen declared Emergency in the country on February 5, following an order by the countrys Supreme Court to release a group of Opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. India had criticised the Yameen government for the imposition of the Emergency and urged it to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners. The Emergency was lifted 45 days later. In July, India expressed concern over announcement of the presidential election without allowing democratic institutions, including Parliament and the judiciary, to work in a free and transparent manner. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Three schemes unveiled on Sept 12 by the Modi government to ensure farmers get federally fixed minimum support prices (MSPs) are fraught with financial and operational challenges, experts say. A growing number of economists are now pitching for a radical shift in the way government supports agriculture: from subsidies towards a direct income transfer, or a lump sum payment to each cultivator. India has 118 million farmers, according to Census 2011 data. They have also made a case for increasing investments and tapering off subsidies. It is a well-known fact, they argue, that a rupee invested in capital assets in agriculture is far more effective in reducing poverty than a similar investment in manufacturing. The Telengana government has become the first state to try a version of direct income support. Under its Rythu Bandhu scheme, the state gives 5.83 million farmers Rs 4,000 per acre per cropping season as a direct investment benefit. One key question with the three schemes, which the government has branded Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-ASHAA), is whether it will be able to cover a majority of farmers as well as 24 key commodities. MSP, or minimum support price is set by the government taking into account cultivation costs and is supposed to act as a floor price for private trade, thereby helping avoid distress sale. The three schemes are essentially designed to intervene in agricultural markets by way of procurement, which refers to the governments purchase of commodities at MSPs in situations when markets fail farmers. The first scheme, the price support scheme, is four-decades-old. The Modi government has pumped record money, rs 29,070 crore, in the 2017-18 crop season to buy 6.34 million tonnes of pulses and oilseeds from about 3.5 million farmers until June 22 to cushion a crash in prices, according to data from Nafed, the agency tasked with procurement. This hasnt quite helped improve prices. On September 13, in the Ganj Basauda mandi in Madhya Pradeshs Vidisha district, urad (black lentils) sold for Rs 2,800 a quintal (100 kg) on September, 13, 2018, compared to last years MSP of Rs 5,400 and this years MSP of Rs 5,600, according to former agriculture secretary Siraj Hussain. Nafed has to quickly sell these stocks in the market to release working capital for the next round of procurement, Hussain said. Nafeds selling of these piling stocks further tends to depress prices, or worsen the situation Hussain said. Secondly, the agency buys food items at MSP and sells them below that price in the market, leading to losses. Ashok Gulati, chair professor at the think-tank ICRIER said during a recent interaction with this correspondent, that farmers are tied to poor incomes mainly because of higher spending on inefficient subsidies but declining capital investments, frequent ban on farm exports and low spending in research for new technologies in agriculture. His latest book Supporting Indian Farms the Smart Way argues for prioritising investment over subsidies. According to Gulati, the government could also explore a direct income transfer. According to his calculations in an April 2018 paper, at the national level, such a scheme will cost Rs 1.97 lakh crore under the assumption that all farmers get Rs 10,000/ha irrespective of what crops they are growing and whom they are selling. This is not much higher than the Rs 1.69 lakh crore food subsidy bill budgeted by the government for 2018-19. Under the second scheme to ensure MSPs for farmers, the so-called price deficiency payment scheme, the government will pay farmers the difference between MSP and the average prices in two neighbouring states. In Madhya Pradesh, which experimented with this scheme, evidence has emerged of traders colluding to artificially lower prices, since farmers would anyway be compensated by the government. Since the window for registration and bringing produce to the market is going to be short, it is likely to depress market prices unduly, with traders exploiting full advantage of it, according to a paper co-authored by Hussain and Gulati. The government recently hiked MSPs to at least 1.5 times the cost of production. Such hikes completely ignore the demand side, Gulati said. In other words, these higher prices of food items may not be matched by an equal demand in markets, in which case the hikes will remain notional. The third scheme, which is a new concept, is to allow private firms to act as buyers on behalf of the government. But it is only meant to be a pilot project in very few districts. I think the idea of a condition-free direct payment to farmers is good in itself. But some obvious problems are, how to ensure tenant farmers who dont own land titles get it, said K Mani, head of agricultural economics at Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. A citizenship screening exercise like the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is not possible in West Bengal, Union minister Ramdas Athawale said in Kolkata on Thursday even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other saffron outfits kept up their demand for a similar measure in the state after Assam. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already made her stand clear on this issue. My party and I feel those, who have come to this country even after 1971 and dont have any criminal record, should be granted citizenship, said Athawale, the minister of state for social justice and empowerment and the president of the Republican Party of India (A), a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Senior BJP leaders including president Amit Shah, national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh have all spoken in favour of NRC in Bengal. BJP Bengal general secretary Sayantan Basu refused to comment on the Union ministers opinion. Earlier in the day, Athawale was present at a meeting with representatives of the Matua community, classified as a scheduled caste, who are irate with BJP for the NRC exercise in Assam. Jyotipriyo Mullick, the state food and supplies minister who is also the pointsman in Trinamool Congress for the Matua community, said, The Union ministers comments prove the validity of the position of our chief minister on the NRC issue. He also alleged that Athawales position also indicated possible fissures within the NDA. Athawale admitted that during the interaction with Matuas, he came across demands for citizenship from members of the community though they are residing in India for the past 30-40 years. I assured that I will take up the matter at the highest level and try to ensure all such people should be granted citizenship, he said. Ever since the NRC was announced on July 30, Banerjee has been critical of the issue and even went to the extent of alleging that the measure could even precipitate a civil war and bloodbath in the country. She also dared the BJP to try a similar screening exercise in her state. Athawale even praised Banerjee for Bengal accounting for the least attacks on Dalits. He admitted that atrocities on Dalits are high in BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, as well as in Bihar, where Janata Dal (United) is running a government in alliance with BJP. The Pakistan Rangers on Thursday handed over the body of a 53-year-old Indian farmer, who was swept away in the gushing waters of Ravi river to Pakistan, to the Border Security Force (BSF) in Attari, officials said. The body of Balwinder Singh was received by his family members at the Attari-Wagah joint check post, they said. Singh fell into the river on Tuesday while working in a field in Ajnala sector and was swept towards Pakistan by the turbulent waters, they said. He was found dead by the Pakistan Rangers. The BSF was informed about Singh during a flag meeting with Pakistan at the international border. India has raised objections over Pakistan raking up the Kashmir issue at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, saying it is completely unwarranted for the grouping as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to Indias internal affairs in any multilateral set up. Pakistan raked up the Kashmir issue at the OIC Contact Group meeting held Wednesday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. We always note with regret that the matter which is very internal to Indian affairs was again discussed at the OIC, ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters in New York when asked about Pakistan raising the issue at the OIC meeting. He said India rejects such references to a matter which is very internal to it. We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on Indias internal affairs and it is completely unwarranted for OIC as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to Indias internal affairs in any multi-organisation set up. When asked about Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also raising the Kashmir issue in his bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kumar said Islamabad has been doing this for a long time. It is not the first time they are raising the issue in their bilateral meetings. You would note that what they come up with is their side of the story. What they share and what they say has no acceptance anywhere in the international community, he said. He said Pakistan has realised its falsehood and what it has been projecting had already been rejected by the international community. On the possibility of any exchange between external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Qureshi in the SAARC meeting, Kumar said, we have made it very clear that it is not bilateral meeting between India and Pakistan, and added that it is difficult to predict if there will be a handshake between the two. Swaraj will be attending the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) meeting Thursday. On Wednesday, Swaraj held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Germany, Bolivia, Armenia, Panama, Austria, Antigua and Barbuda, Chile, Iran and with Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. A relationship like no other! EAM @SushmaSwaraj met the @PM_Nepal K.P Sharma Oli. Positive and friendly conversation on taking our relationship to an even higher trajectory, Kumar tweeted. The government is considering a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Maldives in November after the new government headed by Ibrahim Solih assumes office, a person familiar with the planning said. He said there are already feelers from Maldivian Democratic party for a Prime Ministerial visit to the Indian ocean island nation. We are mulling about it. A call will be taken sooner than later, an official said. The Maldives is the only SAARC country PM Modi is yet to visit. The ties between India and the Maldives had nosedived under the Abullah Yameen presidency. Yameen lost power in the elections on Monday. Irish group Shanahan Engineering said it has been awarded a commissioning services contract by Sepco-2, a large Chinese EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) corporation, for the Jazan Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (JIGCC) Power Block project located in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest gasification plants in the world. The contract includes the supply of a commissioning management team, along with Shanahans commissioning management program to test and commission the JIGCC plant, said a statement from Shanahan Engineering. Zhang Ting, the project director at Sepco-2, said: "We had selected Shanahan due to its robust techno-commercial proposal combined with its accumulated experience in commissioning combined cycle power plants, particularly in Saudi Arabia, as well as their overriding attention to HS&E and quality compliance, which are critical on such projects with Saudi Armaco." On the contract win, CEO and Managing Director James Greaney said: "The awarding of a commissioning management services contract at JIGCC demonstrates Sepco-2s confidence in Shanahan Engineerings safety, quality and delivery culture that is built from delivering over 350 power generation projects, over more than 35 years, both in Saudi Arabia and across the world."" "Following the successful commissioning, Operations and Operations Management at PP12 (a 2,175MW CCGT located in Riyadh) by Shanahan in 2016, and the ongoing commissioning of PP13 and PP14 (a combined 3,600MW CCGT in Riyadh) this contract award reaffirms Shanahans position as a leader in the regional and global power generation commissioning market," he stated. The Jazan plant will generate over 2,500 MW, across five blocks, using Siemens SGT-6000F technology, he added. According to him, Shanahan will follow Saudi Aramcos stringent HS&E (Health, Safety and Environment) and quality standards for commissioning. Anthony Raftopoulos, the general manager for Saudi Arabia, said: "Shanahan has a long history working throughout Saudi Arabia and the successful commissioning of JIGCC will elevate our brand and reputation into the oil and gas sector." "The work will also represent a key milestone in Shanahans support of the Kingdoms Vision 2030 strategy. JIGCC follows on from the recent award of the commissioning and operations contract for PP13 and PP14 to Shanahan by Saudi Electricity Company," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Though rain has stopped in the region, the difficulties of farmers have not ended yet as they now have to spend several hours in queues to submit their claims for compensation under the crop insurance scheme. District-level officials of the state agriculture department are flooded with claims for insurance and farmers were seen in queues till Wednesday evening to ensure they get relief under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. I had to remain in a queue for hours to submit my report for insurance claim. We will see how they will compensate me as my four acres of paddy is under two-feet water, said Nirmal Singh Indri of Karnal. However, there was no clear idea about the number of applications for claims as officials said they would be able to give final figures by Thursday morning. However, top officials said the number of these applications is likely to cross 80,000-mark. As per the rough figures collected by HT, over 65,000 applications have already reached in various district of the state. Kaithal district with 15,200 applications by 5pm on Wednesday was at the top, followed by 10,500 in Kurukshetra, 9,000 in Jind, 8,200 in Fatehabad, 7,000 in Sirsa, 6,100 in Karnal, 4,000 in Sonepat, 2410 in Panipat, 2,200 in Yamunanagar and 1,520 in Ambala districts. As per the officials, the increased number of applications is indication of huge damage to paddy, cotton and bajra crops in the state as the officials said that only 35 to 40% farmers have purchased the insurance policy and the remaining farmers will have to wait for the special girdawari in their region. Tough task for agri officials However, the scrutiny of these applications will be a challenging task for officials of the agriculture department and insurance company concerned as the officials claim that a large number of farmers have submitted their applications, including those who did not opt for the insurance policy. The farmers are thinking that submitting an application even without buying the insurance policy will help them get insurance. But this would increase our work as we have to cross-examine every application to find out whether the farmer has purchased the policy or not, said a deputy director of the agriculture department. The farmers, who did not opt for the insurance policy, are unlikely to get compensation as per the damage as the government has fixed Rs 12,000 per acre for 100% damage, whereas the amount under the insurance scheme was Rs 29,400 per acre in case of total loss. Thats why the government was insisting the farmers get the insurance cover for their crops as it ensures the compensation of around Rs 29,000 per acre, whereas under special girdwari they would not be able to get even the production cost, said a an agriculture department official. Eather to remain dry in coming week: MeT Meanwhile, the meteorological department at the Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, predicted a clear sky in the coming week and suggested the farmers to pump out water from their fields. Talking to HT, Dr Raj Singh, head of meteorological and agriculture department, said, The sky will be clear in the coming week and the maximum temperature will rise a little. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin underwent a minor surgery at the Apollo hospital in Chennai and was discharged on Thursday afternoon. According to DMK principal secretary TR Baalu, the 65-year-old DMK chief felt some discomfort around 11.45 pm on Wednesday night at his house at Alwarpet and was taken to the Apollo hospital. Since Stalin has been suffering due to some health ailments, his family members rushed him to the Apollo hospital, Baalu told Hindustan Times. A medical bulletin issued by the hospital said that the DMK leader underwent minor surgery to remove a cyst. MK Stalin, President, DMK was admitted to Apollo hospital in Chennai late night. He underwent a minor surgical procedure to remove a cyst from his right thigh, it said. Stalin was discharged from the hospital at 2.30 pm. DMKs organisation secretary RS Bharathi said Stalin is resting after the surgery. Since Stalin had not taken any rest and was continuously involved in day-to-day political activities for the last two months, he failed to get regular medical check-ups done. Therefore he felt a bit of discomfort and was rushed to the hospital. As there was a tiny cyst which had formed on his right thigh, surgeons removed it. As of now, Stalin is doing good, Bharathi told Hindustan Times. He also appealed to party workers not to travel to Chennai from other parts of the state to meet Stalin as he is all right now. DMK workers are continuously calling us from various part of the state to know about the health of our leader. He is doing good. Bharati said. MDMK general secretary Vaiko said that there was nothing to worry about. I visited Stalin while he was at Apollo hospital. He interacted with me. Stalin will resume his party work soon, Vaiko told reporters. A day after the Supreme Court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that allowed sharing of Aadhaar data with private entities, companies dont have clarity on what the ruling means for their business. Hindustan Times contacted over a dozen companies in the telecom, banking and finance sector. Many are waiting for a notification from their respective regulatory authorities; few say the judgement doesnt affect them. There is a disagreement even in the legal community on the interpretation of this specific section of the verdict. Some argue it is now impossible for private companies to use Aadhaar data at all; others say Aadhaar can be used as long alternatives are made available to customers. What is data used for Aadhaar data is primarily used for e-KYC purposes. e-KYC is a paperless Aadhaar-based process used to ease the customer identification process and get details such as name, address, date of birth, sex and photograph. eKYC, companies say, speeds up the process and reduces the KYC cost for the company. Following the verdict, two big questions loom for the private sector. First, will the companies be required to delete existing Aadhaar-related data? Second, can the firms make use of Aadhaar e-KYC services going forward? Deletion of data Individual customers always had the option to get their data deleted even before the judgement. UIDAI guidelines say that an Aadhaar number holder can revoke consent given to any entity for storing his e-KYC data or for sharing it with third parties and upon such revocation, the entity shall delete the e-KYC data and cease any further sharing. Nafees Ahmad, Chief Information Officer of Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, said the company will delete Aadhaar-related data if customers provide with alternative KYC related documents. Ashish Gupta, chief technology officer of PolicyBazaar, an insurance web aggregator, also said customer data will be erased if requested. The judgement doesnt change anything for us, Gupta said, as the company never made Aadhaar e-KYC a compulsory requirement. But companies are not sure if the verdict will require them to delete customer data en masse as Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told Hindustan Times in an interview. Can phone numbers be delinked? All of Indias three top telecom companies Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-IDEA and Reliance Jio directed HTs questions to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), an industry association of mobile service providers, saying this is an industry issue. The association [COAI] is awaiting clarity on some of these questions from the DoT (Department of Telecommunications), Ranjan Matthews, DG of COAI said. Any UIDAI circular or anything else has to be routed through the DoT for instructions to us, he said. DoT functions under the aegis of Ministry of Communications and gives license for telecom companies to operate. Matthews explained that there were two notifications from the DoT. First was regarding the permission to use Aadhaar as a viable alternative for new customers activate to their phones. The second was for re-verification of existing phone numbers by linking it to Aadhaar. It is the second order that the DoT needs to clarify, Matthews said. Banks: waiting for RBI None of the major banks SBI, ICICI, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, HDFC responded to HTs request for comment. One bank official, on the condition of anonymity, said that everybody is trying to understand how this will pan out. Banks will have to abide by the judgement especially in the context of new account opening, the official said. But the Reserve Bank of India is the banking regulator. They [RBI] will have to issue a notification or circular which banks will follow, the official added. Startups Aadhaar Bridge, a product of Bengaluru-based startup incubator Khosla Labs that provides access to many Aadhaar based authentication services said it is consulting its legal team about the implications of the judgement. The company claims to have more than 250 clients including cab aggregator Ola. A spokesperson said the company is getting numerous calls from customers but is waiting for UIDAIs notification for clarityas the agency is the first point of contact. Lawyers disagree Sanjay Hegde, a senior Supreme Court advocate, said private companies cant restrict access to services without Aadhaar. But companies can accept Aadhaar data if the customer voluntary shares it. But Jaideep Gupta, another senior advocate, said otherwise: The section that permitted private companies to access Aadhaar data itself has been struck down and declared unconstitutional. So Aadhaar data cant be given to private companies at all. Consumer consent has no role to play in this transaction, he said, as the judgement makes it impossible for the statutory authority [to give data to private companies. Advocate Vipin Nair said there is considerable confusion in the domain. Lot of petitions will come in times to come for clarity, he said. The majority judgement did not technically say what is to be done with the data that was stored between 2009 to 2016 when there was no act in place, he added. Things remain unclear. The Supreme Court on Thursday paved the way for resumption of the hearing of the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case and refused to constitute a larger bench to revisit the 1994 verdict that said a mosque is not essential to the practise of Islam. The judgment cuts short the time-line to a possible closure of what is now just a straightforward land dispute case the complex and broader issue of a mosque not being integral to Islam will now not be reconsidered. The verdict is a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party, analysts said, because it can now go to the state elections later this year and the parliamentary elections next year with something to show. A temple in Ayodhya remains on the agenda of the party. Among the BJPs core voters, too, there was a suspicion that the party was merely using it as an issue but was not committed to building the temple. The courts decision paves the way for a final verdict, and allows the BJP to tell its base that the final moment is close. There are still people who suspect BJPs use of the issue. But this allows the party to try to consolidate Hindus and polarise in election season, said professor Badri Narayan of Allahabads GB Pant Institute of Social Sciences. The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in a 2:1 verdict, clarified that the statement in the 1994 judgment on the mosque by a Constitution bench of five judges was in the limited context of acquisition of land where a religious structure stands. Justice Ashok Bhushan authored the verdict for himself and the CJI, and ordered listing of the main case in the week starting October 29, fast-tracking its hearing. With CJI Misra retiring on October 2, a new three-judge bench would be constituted by next CJI Ranjan Gogoi. The third judge on the bench, Justice SA Nazeer, dissented. He said the demand raised by Muslim parties in the title-dispute case to revisit the 1994 judgment required an examination by a larger bench of seven judges. The statement a mosque is not essential part of the practice of religion.. is a statement which has been made by the Constitution Bench in a specific context and reference. The context for making the above observation was claim of immunity of a mosque from acquisition, read the majority verdict. The remark is not relevant for the title suit and is not to be treated as governing factor for the same, the bench clarified. Calling it a questionable observation, Justice Nazeer was of the view that it certainly permeated the impugned judgement (of the title dispute case by the Allahabad HC). whether a particular religious practice is an essential or integral part of the religion is a question which is to be considered by considering the doctrine, tenets and beliefs of the religion, Justice Nazeer said in his dissenting verdict. In 2010, the Allahabad High Court ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya should be divided into three parts, with two-third portions to be shared by two Hindu plaintiffs and one-third by the Sunni Muslim Waqf Board. In 1994, a five-judge Constitution bench in the Ismail Farooqui case had considered the question of acquisition of a religious place by the State and upheld the constitutional validity of the law to acquire land in Ayodhya. Muslim parties in the Ayodhya land title case took objection to the observation that a mosque is not essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and namaz (prayer) by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open. They urged a review of that judgment, saying the remark affected the status of mosques in Islam and weighed heavily over Allahabad High Court judges who decided the title suit in 2010. They said the question should be answered before the court hears the main land-dispute case. The Uttar Pradesh government opposed the petitions, arguing that the Muslim groups were trying to delay the hearing in the case and that they had not raised the matter since 1994 and even in 2010. On Thursday, the states chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, welcomed the verdict. The majority of this nation wants a solution to this at the earliest, he said hours after the Supreme Court ruling. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said it hoped that the title suit would now be heard soon. We welcome this decision and are confident that a just verdict will be reached over the case at the earliest, said RSS spokesperson Arun Kumar. The Congress said in a statement that it accepts the SC judgment and will urge the government to implement when the verdict on the title suit case, as and when it comes. The 16th century mosque was destroyed in 1992 by karsewaks who brought it down insisting it was the birthplace of Lord Ram and that a temple should stand at the disputed site. Cross-appeals against the verdict reached the top court in 2010. CJI Misra and Justice Bhushan concluded that the Ismail Farroqui case had no bearing on the title suit case because the observation did not govern the suits that were to be decided on the basis of evidence on record. Ismail Farooqui had held that acquisition is a sovereign or prerogative power of the State to acquire property and all religious places, namely, church, temple and a mosque and that such an act was not a violation of the rights under Articles 25 and 26 that give freedom to freely practise and propagate religion subject to public order, health and morality. Another plea raised by the Muslim parties to refer the matter to a Constitution bench because of its importance was also turned down. The Supreme Court has scrapped adultery as a criminal offence, ruling that the 19-century law that treats a husband as the master, is unconstitutional. The adultery law is arbitrary and it offends the dignity of a woman, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who led the five-judge bench said. Adultery is the second offence to be decriminalised by the top court in 20 days. Early this month, the court had decriminalised gay sex between consenting adults. The penal codes section 497 makes it an offence if a man has sex with the wife of another married man without his connivance or consent. But only men, and not women, can be prosecuted under the adultery law. Adultery is the only provision in the penal code that treats men and women differently, for one, because it treats a married woman as the property of their husband. The judges said the section gives the husband licence to use the woman as a chattel. This is archaic law long outlived its purpose and does not square with constitutional morality, the bench said in separate, but concurring verdict. When such law falls foul of constitutional guarantee, then the court must strike it down even if the government does not act, the court ruled. The top court had, last year, agreed to test the constitutional validity of this provision on a petition by an Italy-based non-resident Indian, Joseph Shine. He questioned the gender bias in the colonial-era law that he argued, flies in the face of the constitutional right to equality. In their oral observations during court proceedings, the judges had indicated that they did not find any justification for this gender bias but had underlined that they did not intend to make it gender neutral. Rather, they would test if the provision is constitutionally valid. Read | What the Supreme Court said in its verdict At one point, the court also noted that adultery could be a ground for divorce under civil law, not a criminal offence. It is a suggestion that the NDA government had strongly opposed, arguing that decriminalising adultery would prove to be detrimental to intrinsic Indian ethos and the sanctity of marriage. Adultery wasnt listed as a crime in the first draft of the colonial-era penal law proposed by Thomas Babington Macaulay-led panel back in 1837 but another commission, a decade later, pushed for its inclusion. More than a century later, the Fifth Law Commission recommended changes in section 497 in 1971 but it was never implemented. In 2003, Supreme Courts retired judge V Malimath, who was tasked to recommend reforms in the criminal justice system, told the government that adultery should be made gender-neutral. But the government did not accept the change. After ruling adultery law as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court said that the hearing on Ayodhya would resume on October 29 adding that all mosque, all churches and temples are significant for the community. Earlier today, the top court ruled the adultery law as unconstitutional saying that the law was outdated and disregarded womens dignity. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal and said when the Congress comes to power, it will catch those involved in corruption in the deal and put them behind bars. He also threw a challenge to Modi to answer the questions surrounding the deal. Speaking at a public meeting in Satna, 486km northeast of state capital Bhopal, Gandhi said, Jisne chori ki usko toh hum pakad ke dikhayenge, un par karyavahi karenge, andar karenge (those who have committed theft we will catch them, take action against, put them in jail). Gandhi, who is on his second visit in a fortnight to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, also promised that those behind the Vyapam and e-tendering scams in Madhya Pradesh would be caught by the next Congress government and put behind bars. Vyapam is a multi-crore recruitment cum admission scam that has rocked the state for the past five years while the e-tendering scam, estimated to be of around $3000 cr, involves hacking the e-tender portal of the Madhya Pradesh government to allegedly benefit some companies. Taking a dig at Modis Maan Ki Baat monthly radio addresses, Gandhi said nowadays no one listened to his (PMs) address as they have realised that it is Jhooti Baat (lies). Gandhi said that despite the hype over the BJP workers meet in Bhopal on September 25, there were empty chairs, and promised that when the Congress government comes to power in the state the chief minister will run the government according to the peoples Maan Ki Baat. Hitting out at Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Gandhi said the chief minister claimed that Madhya Pradesh was number one. Yes it is number one, but in farmers suicide, corruption, unemployment, malnutrition and higher petrol and diesel prices, Gandhi said. He said chief minister Chouhan and Modi had both lied to the youth of the country. Modi had promised two crore jobs every year, but that has not happened. Nowadays everything here is made in China. Even the statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat is made in China, Gandhi said amid cheers from the crowd. BJP chief Amit Shah responded to Gandhis statement on the Sardar Patel statue. Dear @RahulGandhi, your family humiliated Sardar Patel, unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the peoples hearts and minds. Your lies on the Statue of Unity is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel, he tweeted. Earlier, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said, It is a time for change. He said the Madhya Pradesh elections which are due in November-December should not be seen merely as an assembly election, but as a harbinger of change that will propel Rahul Gandhi as prime minister in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. State Congress president Kamal Nath said instead of answering tough questions (Rafale deal), Modi was talking about nationalism. The BJP has no freedom fighters in its ranks and it is trying to teach us nationalism, he said. Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal criticised the Congress statements. Rahul Gandhi is pouring out his frustration in levelling baseless charges on Rafale. Defence deals are known for their sensitive nature associated with the countrys security. But the way Rahul Gandhi is speaking on the deal he is committing a sin. Gandhi took part in a 50km road show from Satna to Rewa during which he stopped and addressed several street corner meetings where he highlighted the failures of the Modi government and Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh. (With input from Amit Sengar in Satna) The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Thursday termed the recent ordinance promulgated by the Centre on triple talaq as a murder of democracy and amounting to infringement of the Shariat law. Addressing a press conference along with Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi at the MIM headquarters in Hyderabad, board spokesperson Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani wondered why there was such an urgency in bringing an ordinance declaring triple talaq as a criminal offence. Bringing ordinance through backdoor methods amounts to disrespecting the Parliament, he said. He pointed out that as per the Shariat Application Act 1937, it was agreed that if two litigants or persons in any case were Muslims, then the Shariat law would be applicable to them and the issue will be resolved in accordance with the Shariat. When the Constitution of India was drafted, it was agreed that the laws which were already in existence and did not clash with the Constitution would remain in force. It would mean that the Constitution had agreed that in the issue of talaq, the Muslim laws would be applicable, he added. Rahmani said the government should have first had a dialogue with the Muslim scholars, religious leaders, experts of Islamic law and the community in large before drafting the ordinance on triple talaq. The government did not consult the AIMPLB nor did it have any dialogue with any other group or organization representing the Muslims or any group which is a representative of Muslim women at least, he said. Alleging that the ordinance was full of flaws, he said that a committee of the AIMPLB was studying it. Asked whether the board would challenge the ordinance in the Supreme Court, he said the boards legal committee will look into it as the ordinance would anyway lapse in six months. Rahmani also apprehended that criminalisation of triple talaq would result in more number of women deserted by their husbands without pronouncing talaq. It is more agonizing for a woman if husband neither divorces her nor gives her the rights and thus denies her an opportunity to start life afresh, he said. On Supreme Court judgments decriminalizing homosexuality and adultery, MIM president Owaisi wondered why the Modi government wanted to criminalise triple talaq. Marriage in Islam is a social contract and applying penal provisions is unconstitutional and violation of fundamental rights, he said. CJI Dipak Misra, Justice A K Sikri and Justice AM Khanwilkar It is better to be unique than the best. Because, being the best makes you the number one, but being unique makes you the only one. Unique makes you the only one is the central message of Aadhaar, which is on the altar facing constitutional challenge in these petitions. Aadhaar which means, in English, foundation or base, has become the most talked about expression in recent years, not only in India but in many other countries and international bodies. Today, mention of the word Aadhaar would not lead a listener to the dictionary meaning of this word. Instead, every person on the very mentioning of this word Aadhaar would associate it with the card that is issued to from where he/she can be identified. It is described as an Unique Identity and the authority which enrols a person and at whose behest the Aadhaar Card is issued is known as Unique Identification Authority of India (hereinafter referred to as UIDAI or Authority). It is described as unique for various reasons. UIDAI claims that not only it is a foolproof method of identifying a person, it is also an instrument whereby a person can enter into any transaction without needing any other document in support. It has become a symbol of digital economy and has enabled multiple avenues for a common man. Aadhaar scheme, which was conceptualised in the year 2006 and launched in the year 2009 with the creation of UIDAI, has secured the enrolment of almost 1.1 billion people in this country. Its use is spreading like wildfire, which is the result of robust and aggressive campaigning done by the Government, governmental agencies and other such bodies. In this way it has virtually become a household symbol. The Government boasts of multiple benefits of Aadhaar. The architecture of Aadhaar as well as the provisions of the Aadhaar Act do not tend to create a surveillance state. This is ensured by the manner in which the Aadhaar project operates. All matters pertaining to an individual do not qualify as being an inherent part of right to privacy. Only those matters over which there would be a reasonable expectation of privacy are protected by Article 21. We are, by no means, accepting that when dignity in the form of economic welfare is given, the State is entitled to rob that person of his liberty. That can never be allowed. We are concerned with the balancing of the two facets of dignity. Here we find that the inroads into the privacy rights where these individuals are made to part with their biometric information, is minimal. It is coupled with the fact that there is no data collection on the movements of such individuals, when they avail benefits under Section 7 of the Act thereby ruling out the possibility of creating their profiles. In fact, this technology becomes a vital tool of ensuring good governance in a social welfare state. We, therefore, are of the opinion that the Aadhaar Act meets the test of balancing as well. Insofar as the argument based on probabilistic system of Aadhaar, leading to exclusion is concerned, the Authority has claimed that biometric accuracy is 99.76% and the petitioners have also proceeded on that basis. In this scenario, if the Aadhaar project is shelved, 99.76% beneficiaries are going to suffer. Would it not lead to their exclusion? It will amount to throwing the baby out of hot water along with the water. The entire aim behind launching this programme is the inclusion of the deserving persons who need to get such benefits. When it is serving much larger purpose by reaching hundreds of millions of deserving persons, it cannot be crucified on the unproven plea of exclusion of some. It is clarified that the Court is not trivialising the problem of exclusion if it is there. However, what we are emphasising is that remedy is to plug the loopholes rather than axe a project, aimed for the welfare of large section of the society. Benefits and services as mentioned in Section 7 should be those which have the colour of some kind of subsidies etc., namely, welfare schemes of the Government whereby Government is doling out such benefits which are targeted at a particular deprived class. It would cover only those benefits etc. the expenditure thereof has to be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India. On that basis, CBSE, NEET, JEE, UGC etc. cannot make the requirement of Aadhaar mandatory as they are outside the purview of Section 7 and are not backed by any law. For the enrolment of children under the Aadhaar Act, it would be essential to have the consent of their parents/guardian. Such children who are enrolled under Aadhaar with the consent of their parents, shall be given the option to exit. Insofar as the school admission of children is concerned, requirement of Aadhaar would not be compulsory as it is neither a service nor subsidy. Linking made compulsory not only for opening a new bank account but even for existing bank accounts with a stipulation that if the same is not done then the account would be deactivated, with the result that the holder of the account would not be entitled to operate the bank account till the time seeding of the bank account with Aadhaar is done. This amounts to depriving a person of his property. We find that this move of mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts does not satisfy the test of proportionality. - - - Justice Ashok Bhushan The requirement under Aadhaar Act to give ones demographic and biometric information does not violate the fundamental right of privacy. The provisions of Aadhaar Act requiring demographic and biometric information from a resident for Aadhaar number passes a three-fold test as laid down in the Puttaswamy case, hence cannot be said to be unconstitutional. Collection of data, its storage and use does not violate the fundamental right to privacy. Aadhaar Act does not create an architecture for pervasive surveillance. Aadhaar Act and Regulations provides protection and safety of the data received from individuals. Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act is constitutional. The provision does not deserve to be struck down on account of denial in some cases of the right to claim on account of the failure of authentication. The State, while enlivening Right to Food, Right to Shelter etc. envisaged under Article 21 cannot encroach upon the right of privacy of beneficiaries, nor former can be given precedence over the latter. Section 33 cannot be said to be unconstitutional as it provides for the use of Aadhaar database for police investigation nor it can be said to violate protection granted under Article 20(3). Aadhaars inclusion into PAN is meant to curb tax evasion, sham transactions, entry providers which are rampantly carried out on account of bogus PANs. Aadhaars unique de-duplication based on biometric identification has been hailed as the most sophisticated system by the World Bank. Inclusion of Aadhaar into PAN eliminates the inequality between honest taxpayers and non-compliant, dishonest ones who get away without paying taxes. Inclusion of Aadhaar into PAN promotes rather than negates equality. It bolsters equality and is consistent with Art. 14. Even if authentication under Aadhaar scheme is probabilistic as on date, we have no doubt that the steps will be taken to minimise the mismatch and to attain more accuracy in the result. Aadhaar Act has been rightly passed as a Money Bill. The decision of Speaker certifying the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 as Money Bill is not immune from Judicial Review. The petitioners are right in their submissions that for enrolment of a children between five and 18 years, there has to be consent of their parents or guardian because they unable to give any valid consent for enrolment. - - - Justice D Y Chandrachud Technology and biometrics are recent entrants to litigation. Individually, each presents specific claims: of technology as the great enabler; of biometrics as the unique identifier. As recombinant elements, they create as it were, new genetic material. Combined together, they present unforeseen challenges for governance in a digital age. Part of the reason for these challenges is that our law evolved in a radically different age and time. The law evolved instruments of governance in incremental stages. They were suited to the social, political and economic context of the time. The forms of expression which the law codified were developed when paper was ubiquitous. The limits of paper allowed for a certain freedom: the freedom of individuality and the liberty of being obscure. Introducing the Aadhaar Act as a Money Bill has bypassed the constitutional authority of the Rajya Sabha. The passage of the Aadhaar Act as a Money Bill is an abuse of the constitutional process. It deprived the Rajya Sabha from altering the provisions of the Bill by carrying out amendments. On the touchstone of the provisions of Article 110, the Bill could not have been certified as a Money Bill. The Rajya Sabha has an important role in the making of laws. Superseding the authority of the Rajya Sabha is in conflict with the constitutional scheme and the legitimacy of democratic institutions. It constitutes a fraud on the Constitution. The State is under a constitutional obligation to safeguard the dignity of its citizens. Biometric technology which is the core of the Aadhaar programme is probabilistic in nature, leading to authentication failures. These authentication failures have led to the denial of rights and legal entitlements. Dignity and the rights of individuals cannot be made to depend on algorithms or probabilities. Constitutional guarantees cannot be subject to the vicissitudes of technology. Denial of benefits arising out of any social security scheme which promotes socioeconomic rights of citizens is violative of human dignity and impermissible under our constitutional scheme. Allowing private entities to use Aadhaar numbers, under Section 57, will lead to commercial exploitation of the personal data of individuals without consent and could also lead to individual profiling. Profiling could be used to predict the emergence of future choices and preferences of individuals. These preferences could also be used to influence the decision making of the electorate in choosing candidates for electoral offices. This is contrary to privacy protection norms. Data cannot be used for any purpose other than those that have been approved. While developing an identification system of the magnitude of Aadhaar, security concerns relating to the data of 1.2 billion citizens ought to be addressed. These issues have not been dealt with by the Aadhaar Act. By failing to protect the constitutional rights of citizens. From the verification log, it is possible to locate the places of transactions by an individual in the past five years. It is also possible through the Aadhaar database to track the current location of an individual, even without the verification log. The architecture of Aadhaar poses a risk of potential surveillance activities through the Aadhaar database. Any leakage in the verification log poses an additional risk of an individuals biometric data being vulnerable to unauthorised exploitation by third parties. The technology deployed in the Aadhaar scheme reduces different constitutional identities into a single identity of a 12-digit number and infringes the right of an individual to identify herself/himself through a chosen means. Aadhaar is about identification and facilitates a proof of identity. It mustnt be allowed to obliterate constitutional identity. Creating strong privacy protection laws and instilling safeguards may address or at the very least assuage some of the concerns associated with the Aadhaar scheme which severely impairs informational self-determination, individual privacy, dignity and autonomy. In order to uphold the democratic values of the Constitution, the government needs to address the concerns highlighted in this judgment which would provide a strong foundation for digital initiatives, which are imminent in todays digital age. A day after four people were arrested by the Thane Anti Extortion Cell (AEC) for the possession of the drug Tramadol, investigations have revealed that the accused planned to open a factory. The drug had been manufactured in Indore, the police said. The four were arrested in Kasarwadavli with around 20,000 strips of Tramadol (hydrochloride) tablets, which have a market value of around 5 crore per 10mg. A team that has been formed to investigate will soon be dispatched to Indore. The accused Mayur Pravin Mehta, 47, who works as a domestic help, was the first one to be arrested. Based on the information provided by Mehta, a trap was laid to arrest the other three Romel Laurence Vaj, 51, who has a cable and construction business in Chira Bazar; Santosh Raghunath Pandey, 41, who owns a factory in Indore where the drug was manufactured; and Dipak Bhogilal Kothari, who owns a construction business and a mobile shop. Pradeep Sharma, senior police inspector, Thane AEC, said, We have found that the accused changed the name of the drug by a single letter from Tramadol to Tamadol, as a result of which they used to get past customs check while exporting the drug. Tramadol has been banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act. Tramadol is also used by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), said sources. We are investigating as to who the drugs were to be supplied to. Vaj and Mehta sought Pandeys help to manufacture the drug and Kotharis help to finance the manufacturing process. We have got a lead that some of the stock is in Ahmedabad and will soon send a team there. We have lodged a case under relevant sections of the NDPS Act at the Kasarwadavli police station, said a police officer. The accused were produced in court and have been remanded in police custody till October 1. Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform, was named the Best Technology Partner to the travel and hospitality industry in the Middle East for the second consecutive year at Arabian Travel Awards, which was recently held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Deira, Dubai. During the ceremony, the company also scooped the Best Travel Technology Provider award, a category formerly known as Best Global Distribution System, which Travelport also won in 2017. Arabian Travel Awards is an annual event designed to support, promote and develop the Middle East Travel and Hospitality industry by identifying and rewarding excellence, and inspiring its practitioners to continuously raise the standards of their product and service offering. Winners are selected based on a unique system of jury, judgment and online voting by industry professionals. In other categories, Cozmo Travel won Fastest Growing Travel Management Company and Al Naboodah Travel won the Best General Sales Agent (GSA) award. Matthew Powell, Travelports managing director for Africa, Middle East and South Asia, said: We are proud of the work we have done over the last 12 months. Our travel commerce platform is faster, our merchandising and analytics solutions are more powerful, and our mobile applications, like Trip Assist, are even more dynamic and in tune with the needs of todays hyperconnected travellers. We are delighted this work has been recognised by the industry. Our commitment is that we will continue to work tirelessly to lead the change we want to see for the benefit of our customers and travellers. - TradeArabia News Service Five days after a Kashmiri student was assaulted on its campus at Gharuan, Mohali, the Aadesh Institute of Technology and Management authorities have decided to close the college for 10 days to upgrade its security infrastructure. The decision comes amid protest by students on Wednesday as well as a tweet by Jammu and Kashmir former chief minister Omar Abdullah urging Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh to look into the matter urgently and take necessary step. I request Punjab CM @capt_amarinder Sahib to kindly look in to this matter urgently & take the necessary steps to reassure the students who have left their home state of J&K to study in Adesh & other institutes in Mohali. https://t.co/IYF7MIxzZm Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) September 26, 2018 Masroor Ahmed, 18, of Adigam Kokernag area in Kashmirs Anantnag district, who is a first-year student of bachelors in computer application, was assaulted on the college campus by a yet unidentified assailant last Friday. He is presently hospitalised. As there is no closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera on the campus, police are yet to identity the attacker. Swinging into action a few hours after Abdullahs tweet, even Kharar deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Deepkamal Singh and the tehsildar visited the college. While claiming police had registered a case of assault on Saturday soon after getting information of the attack, the DSP said: We visited the college on Wednesday and asked the institute to address all shortcomings. Capt Amarinder Singh in response to Omar Abdullahs tweet on Thursday said that he got the matter looked into and it is not a case of hate crime, as being projected. He tweeted that the police have registered a case and necessary action will be taken. Rest assured everyone is secure here. I have got the matter looked into @OmarAbdullah ji. Its not a case of hate crime, as being projected. The police has registered a case and necessary action will be taken. Rest assured everyone is secure here. https://t.co/YTL6eZa3Ib Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) September 26, 2018 We are worried for our safety Meanwhile, students protested on Wednesday demanding better security infrastructure. Alleging non-cooperation from the institute, they demanded the removal of principal. We are worried about our safety. Its not just about Kashmiri students. Anything can happen to anyone here, said a student, requesting anonymity. Meanwhile, Ahmeds mother, Shakeela Bano, said: We send our children away from Kashmir due to the problems there, but it seems they are not safe anywhere. It is the responsibility of institutes and government to ensure their safety. Principal DS Pundir said chairman Gurfateh Singh Gill interacted with protesting students and assured them of resolving infrastructure-related problems. Issues will be resolved in 10 days. We have arranged alternative accommodation for hostellers. Police are investigating the matter, he said. The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday directed Haryana to constitute a special four-member team to nab Aditya Insan, a key aide of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, accused of inciting violence in Panchkula in August 2017 after the CBI court sentenced Ram Rahim to 20-year jail in two rape cases. The high court full bench presided over by justice Surya Kant wondered how Insan had been able to evade arrest for over a year now and sought a status report highlighting efforts made by police to nab him so far and further steps taken by the special team till the next date of hearing. The team has also been directed to make efforts to arrest 16 other accused in the 2017 violence in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana. Ram Rahim was convicted on August 25, 2017 by the special CBI court in Panchkula for raping two disciples in 2002 on the dera premises. His conviction resulted in widespread violence in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. In Panchkula alone, more than 35 people had died. The high court, which was earlier hearing a 2017 petition filed ahead of Ram Rahims conviction seeking direction to maintain law and order in Panchkula, later started monitoring of probe by Haryana into the widespread violence. Aditya Insan was seen inciting crowd to go after security forces during Panchkula violence. The bespectacled ophthalmologist has been the most visible face of the dera for the past 20 years. He has been booked under sedition charges, a non-bailable offence that can lead to life imprisonment. He vanished immediately after the violence. An award of Rs 5 lakh has been announced for giving information on Aditya Insan. Similarly, awards of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 have been announced for information on Abhijit and Jasbir Akali, who are also considered close to dera head. The court suggested that police should take help of experts such as cyber professionals to nab him. Otherwise it would complicate matters for the prosecution, the court said. Earlier, senior advocate Anupam Gupta had pointed out that state agencies appear to be doing paper work only such as attachment of properties and real police efforts are missing and they have gone slow. The high court also gave time till November 28 to the vice-chancellor of Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak to give final report on testimonials of medical and paramedical staff of dera-run health institutes at Sirsa. An interim report in this regard was given on Wednesday. On the plea of Dera-run institutes, the court directed the panel led by Sirsa deputy commissioner to examine each and every demand raised by these institutes to check for genuineness and release requisite amount from sealed dera accounts to pay salaries, fee of students etc. Meanwhile, the government has told the court that the special investigation team (SIT) could not find any evidence of Dera Sacha Sauda and its functionaries in the case of 25 missing people, associated with the dera. Data recovery from hard discs impossible The Haryana government told the high court that it has failed to retrieve the data from hard discs seized from the dera headquarters in Sirsa during sanitisation exercise carried out after the August 2017 violence under the supervision of a court-appointed commissioner. The CBI too was approached for the purpose. However, it conveyed that 65 hard discs of CCTVs installed on dera premises were damaged mechanically with the intention of destroying the data and the recovery is completely impossible. These hard discs were being examined to check whether certain assets were removed from the dera premises after the violence. Some other electronic devices were examined by a state agency but it did not find any clue of movement of assets. Meanwhile, the court allowed the Haryana Police to de-seal the electronic devices sealed by the court commissioner at the time of sanitisation exercise. The request for the same was made by government on Wednesday. The court has asked Haryana to share details of data extracted from these devices by the enforcement directorate and income tax department for investigations launched in the wake of allegations of money laundering and violation of tax laws by the dera. Both the central government agencies and Haryana have been asked to submit status reports on their probe on analysis of the data. The court was also told that a total of 240 FIRs were registered in connection with the August 25 violence across the state and in 207 cases, challans have been presented and 1,484 people arrested. Also, 16 people have been declared proclaimed offenders. Regarding the case of inciting violence registered in Panchkula, the SIT says out of 39 arrested accused, challans have been presented against 36. Started in 1980 by The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Tourism Day (WTD) is celebrated worldwide annually on September 27. This day aims at raising awareness among masses regarding the potential that tourism holds in order to contribute to sustainable development, thus impacting a countrys economy. September 27 was chosen as the date to mark the annual celebrations as the Statutes of the UNWTO were adopted, on this day, in the year 1970. Tourism impacts economies, communities, society and its people every minute of every day. A surge in tourism, both local and international is important for the development of its people socially, culturally and economically. While several avenues have been opening up and more places for travellers to go to without any hiccups, its also important that sustainable tourism is understood and practiced on a large scale. In case youre wondering what sustainable tourism is, its the concept of visiting someplace as a tourist with the intention of making a positive impact on the environment, society, and economy. Whats imperative though is that tourists or travellers both remain mindful of not spoiling the environment through practices that cant be reversed. Its almost as simple as using dustbins to discard waste and limiting the use of paper or plastic. Responsibility is important for us in the present day as what we do today is going to affect posterity, and Mother Nature deserves some love in return for whats been given to us naturally. The official celebrations this year will take place in Budapest, Hungary, while other celebrations will take place worldwide too. In India, the celebrations will begin in Goa and are organised by Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC). WTD celebrations in the Capital and in Goa are also coinciding with the concluding day of the 11-day Paryatan Parv held between September 16 and 27. The theme this year is Tourism and the Digital Transformation and will help explore opportunities provided to tourism by technological advances like big data, artificial intelligence and digital platforms. The official celebrations will include the announcement of the semi-finalists of the first-ever UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) Tourism Start-up Competition. The competition was organised in order to give visibility to start-ups with innovative ideas that are capable of revolutionising how we travel and enjoy tourism. Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter US President Donald Trump only shook hands with Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a luncheon in New York on Tuesday, the Trump administration said, but Qureshi described it as an informal meeting where they agreed to re-build damaged bilateral ties. It was a handshake at a luncheon with other world leaders, a US national security council spokesperson said in response to a question about the reported meeting and the conversation that Qureshi said took place with the American president. The official did not comment on the details reported by the minister. But there was no meeting, a US source averred. That was not how foreign minister Qureshi described his interaction with the president. I met with President Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. I requested him to rebuild the cordial relations that we have enjoyed in the past, the foreign minister told Pakistan Television. Qureshi was referring to a luncheon hosted by the UN secretary general. President Trump agrees with the view and says that the United States intends to re-build the relations, Qureshi said, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. The so-called interaction, which was described as an informal meeting was reported widely in Pakistani media. This was a mischaracterization of a handshake as a meeting, even if it was called an informal meeting, said a former Washington-based diplomat who spoke on background to explain nuances of meetings and interactions between officials to two different countries. Its against diplomatic norms to do this. Qureshis interaction was similar perhaps to the quick exchange of words and greetings that Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had with President Trump at the conclusion of a UN conference on the worlds drug problems on Monday. After being introduced to the President, Swaraj passed on greetings to him from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to which the Trump replied, I love India; give my regards to my friend PM Modi. Indians did not describe the exchange as a meeting or an informal meeting, another diplomat said, to contrast the two situations. Pakistani media also reported Qureshi as saying that he met with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo at the same luncheon. The two are scheduled to meet formally in Washington DC early October. Pakistan has approached the Trump administration with a curious mix of trepidation and bluster. They got off to an awkward start when the then Nawaz Sharif government released a transcript of a call placed by the prime minister to President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his election. Trump had been generically effusive in his praise of the prime minister great guy. The Trump transition team countered that with a more routine readout, starkly bereft of all colour. The Imran Khan government got on to a somewhat similar start, when it disputed a readout released by the US state department of a congratulatory call from Secretary Pompeo to Prime Minister Khan. Islamabad contended terrorism did not come up in the call and demanded a clarification, which the US rejected. There is a sense of desperation in Pakistan about ties with the Trump administration, said the former diplomat. Understandable perhaps given the tough posture adopted by President Trump including the suspension of $2 billion in security-related aid to Pakistan. University professor Christine Blasey Ford emotionally recounted on Thursday a sexual assault allegedly committed 36 years ago by Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court, saying she believed she was going to be raped and even accidentally killed. Blasey Ford, 51, told a tense Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that could make or break Kavanaughs nomination she was 100 percent certain he was the assailant and it was absolutely not a case of mistaken identify. I am here today not because I want to be, Blasey Ford said in her opening statement during which her voice quavered at times and she appeared occasionally to be on the verge of tears. I am terrified, she said as she described the sexual assault which she alleges occurred at a high school party at a suburban Maryland home in 1982. Democrats on the 21-member committee praised Blasey Fords courage in coming forward while a sex crimes prosecutor hired by the Republican side sought to gently poke holes in her story with questions about dates. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school, Blasey Ford said. Kavanaugh, a conservative 53-year-old appeals court judge, was not present as the high-stakes session got underway in a packed committee hearing room. He is expected to testify later in the day and has steadfastly denied the allegations of sexual misconduct made by Blasey Ford and two other women. The accusations have thrust the Trump administration into the #MeToo movements harsh glare, and threaten to derail a conservative effort to tilt the nations highest court to the right for years to come. The Kavanaugh nomination has turned into a political firestorm ahead of congressional elections and is threatening to derail Trumps push to get a conservative-minded majority on the court ahead of the November vote. Blasey Ford, wearing glasses and a sober dark blue suit, appeared nervous but poised as she sat at the witness table, consulting occasionally with her lawyer and swigging from a bottle of Coca-Cola. A psychology professor who is married and has two children, she said Kavanaugh and a friend of his, Mark Judge, were drunk at the party and that she was pushed into a bedroom as she headed to the bathroom. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them, she said. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. I believed he was going to rape me He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me, she said. I yelled, hoping that someone downstairs might hear me. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes, she said. He had a hard time because he was very inebriated. I believed he was going to rape me, Blasey Ford said. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling, she said. This is what terrified me the most and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me, she said. Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two, and them having fun at my expense, she said when asked about her most powerful memory of the incident. Blasey Ford said she managed to escape when Judge jumped on the bed, sending them all toppling. Outside the US Capitol, pro- and anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators gathered as senators pondered the fate of a nominee who could impact the balance of the top US court for decades. Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been a swing vote on a court currently divided between four conservative and four liberal justices. The Republican president has fiercely defended his pick as a great intellect -- but said Wednesday he would watch the highly charged hearing and was open to changing his mind. I can always be convinced, Trump said. At the same time, Trump said he was skeptical because he personally had been the target of false charges by various women. The White House confirmed that Trump watched the testimony aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from New York. No ones pawn Democratic senators lauded Blasey Ford for testifying. I have found your testimony powerful and credible and I believe you, said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut. Blumenthal also hit out at Trump for failing to authorize an FBI investigation of Blasey Fords allegations. Its up to the president of the United States and his failure to ask for an FBI investigation amounts to a cover-up, Blumenthal said. Blasey Ford ejected any suggestions she had political motivations. Those who say that do not know me, she said. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no ones pawn. Kavanaugh has also been accused of exposing himself to a classmate, Deborah Ramirez, during an alcohol-fueled Yale University party a few years later. On Wednesday, a third woman, Julie Swetnick, came forward with explosive allegations, saying she witnessed sexually abusive behavior by Kavanaugh when he was a teenager and claimed she had been drugged and gang-raped at a party he attended in the early 1980s. The hearing has brought back memories of the Senate confirmation process nearly three decades ago for Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, who was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill. Republicans belittled Professor Hills experience, California Senator Dianne Feinstein said. She was treated badly. The entire country is watching how we handle these allegations. This is not a trial of Dr Ford, Feinstein added. Its a job interview for Judge Kavanaugh. A defiant Brett Kavanaugh, United States President Donald Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court, angrily denied sexual assault allegations on Thursday and condemned his bitter Senate confirmation process as a national disgrace. Kavanaughs passionate defense came after a university professor, Christine Blasey Ford, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago. The allegations against the 53-year-old conservative judge have thrust the Trump administration into the #MeToo movements harsh glare, and threaten to derail its bid to tilt the nations highest court to the right for years to come. I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation by Dr. Ford, said Kavanaugh, whose voice shook with anger during an opening statement that saw him repeatedly shed tears. Ive never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever. I am innocent of this charge, Kavanaugh thundered. Earlier, during four hours of emotionally-charged testimony, Blasey Ford, 51, said she was 100 percent certain Kavanaugh was her assailant and it was absolutely not a case of mistaken identify. Kavanaugh slammed what he called a grotesque and coordinated character assassination and a calculated and orchestrated political hit. My family and my name have been permanently destroyed by vicious and false accusations, Kavanaugh said. This confirmation process has become a national disgrace. But he said he would not withdraw his candidacy for a spot on the nine-member Supreme Court. I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process, Kavanaugh said. You may defeat me in the final vote but youll never get me to quit. Never. Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been a swing vote on a court now divided between four conservative and four liberal justices. The Republican president has fiercely defended his pick but said he would watch the highly charged hearing and was open to changing his mind. The White House confirmed that Trump watched the testimony aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from New York. Kavanaugh has also been accused of exposing himself to a classmate, Deborah Ramirez, during an alcohol-fuelled Yale University party a few years later. Pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), plans to take its Punjab Referendum 2020 campaign to Pakistan next year and make a series of announcements about how it will be executed. The activist groups legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said the next event will be held at Nankana Sahib in Pakistans Punjab province, at the gurdwara dedicated to Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion who was born there. The event is being scheduled to coincide with celebrations of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, and is expected to attract tens of thousands of devotees from around the world to the site. We will be setting up the calendar for the non-binding referendum and making major announcements there, including details of the voting and the procedure, how we will do it and where itll be held, Pannun said. The SFJ launched its campaign with the London Declaration on August 12, resulting in India expressing its displeasure to the British authorities. Pannun said the SFJ also plans to launch the process of registering volunteers for Team Referendum 2020 at Nankana Sahib. These volunteers will be expected to guide voting in countries. On whether the SFJ needs permission from Pakistan to take its separatist campaign there, Pannun said, We dont need permission to go there, theres no limitation to the international Sikh community getting visas. Everybody gets visa to pay respects as pilgrims and we will be going inside the gurdwara complex. While India is expected to put pressure on Pakistan to prevent the campaign, the possibility did not faze Pannun, who said, No way, how many will they block? Pakistan doesnt work for India, its a sovereign territory. I dont see that happening. Shuvaloy Majumdar, a senior fellow with Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said the SFJs event was clearly designed to provoke India. I cant imagine it will be welcomed by New Delhi, and governments around the world have a responsibility to condemn and reject this secession movement, he said, adding it was evident the movement doesnt seem to have a constituency in India, and to co-opt... an auspicious occasion with poisonous secession diminishes the founder of the faith. Pakistans high commission in Ottawa did not respond to queries from HT. Indian officials are assessing developments and did not wish to comment at this point. Pannun said he wasnt worried about the act leading to accusations that he was doing it on Pakistans behalf. The choice of venue seems to be an act of provocation since the SFJ originally planned to make the announcements in summer 2019, possibly in North America, even Toronto, where the campaign was launched last year. Pannun said the group had to re- strategise after India purportedly tried to dismantle the campaign through various means, including acting against SFJ and Pannun on social media. Moscow has scoffed at a report by a respected investigative group claiming that one of the suspects in the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal was a highly decorated colonel in Russian military intelligence. Bellingcat, the British based investigative group, said Wednesday that the real name of Ruslan Boshirov is Anatoly Chepiga, a military intelligence colonel decorated with the countrys top award, the Hero of Russia. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the report, saying it was timed to coincide with the address at the UN Security Council of British Prime Minister Theresa May. There is no proof -- so they are continuing their information campaign whose main task is to divert attention from the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY? Zakharova wrote on Facebook late Wednesday. The question remains: when will any proof be provided of involvement of anyone in the Salisbury poisoning, as London calls it? Speaking on Wednesday, May attacked Moscow over the poisoning Skripal and his daughter Yulia with Novichok, a nerve agent designed in the Soviet era, in March. Russia has only sought to obfuscate through desperate fabrication, she said. Bellingcat said Chepiga, 39, graduated from the Far-Eastern Military Command Academy in the far eastern city of Blagoveshchensk, one of the countrys top training grounds for marine commandos and special forces. He fought in Chechnya and possibly Ukraine and was bestowed the Hero of Russia award in 2014 for conducting a peace-keeping mission, a likely reference to the Ukraine conflict. Bellingcat said it was highly likely that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows Chepiga because he personally hands out these awards. Only a handful of such awards are given each year, often posthumously. Citing a former Russian military officer, Bellingcat said it was very surprising that a highly decorated officer holding the rank of colonel was sent into the field. It would imply that the job was ordered at the highest level, the group quoted its source as saying. This month Putin said that the two men suspected by Britain of poisoning the Skripals were civilians. In an eyebrow-raising interview with the Kremlin-backed RT channel, Boshirov and Alexander Petrov said they went to Salisbury as tourists, sparking ridicule in Russia and abroad. Some observers have speculated the two intelligence agents have been effectively thrown under the bus by their superiors for failing in their mission. From hero to zero, Bellingcat said on Twitter as it released its report. By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter The Kozhikode District Collector has mooted an all-party meeting on Thursday in connection with the violence, including attack on girls, at the Government College, Madappally. MLAs, representatives of political parties and students organisations, college authorities etc will take part in the meeting. Meanwhile, students yesterday besieged the principal accusing him of protecting the SFI workers who attacked the girls in the college. The infinite strike called by the opposition student organisations entered its third day on Thursday. Students of the opposition parties have been on an infinite strike since Tuesday seeking action against the perpetrators of the attack against students including girls, which took place last Wednesday (September 20). Support TwoCircles Meanwhile, the CPI (M) organized a Secular Bahujan march to the Madappally Government College on Wednesday evening. The leaders of the party explained that the SFI workers were trying to prevent communal forces in the campus, and added that the CPI(M) would continue its support to its students wing on the matter. A press release published on the official Facebook page of the Kozhikode District CPI (M) accused the Muslim League, the SDPI and the Welfare Party of being communal forces trying to destroy the Madappally College. The leaders of the Muslim League were indulging in violence in the name of the protest against the attack on students. The news being spread by the Fraternity Movement, the MSF and other communal parties are wrong, and are originated from their angst at the SFIs victory in the campus elections, said a statement released by the CPI (M) Kozhikode district secretariat. The so-called violence in the college was created by the Fraternity and other organisations and the SFI was wrongly accused, the statement added. In another development, the college principal suspended four students in connection with the violence in and around the college Jishnu and Sayooj from the SFI, Munavvir from the Kerala Students Union and Adil Ali from the Fraternity Movement. Those reportedly attacked by the SFI had complained against SFI activists, 13 of whom have been arrested by the police, but the college authorities took action against only two. The SFI too had reportedly complained that two students Munavvir and Adil Ali, both of whom were attacked by the SFI and hospitalised on Wednesday had attacked SFI workers and both the students have been suspended. The United Democratic Students Front (UDSF) and the Fraternity Movement refuted the SFIs claims that their workers had attacked the SFI workers. The Education Minister should intervene to put an end to the campus violence of the SFI, said Dr MK Muneer, leader of the Muslim League and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Kerala. He was opening the protest march organized by the United Democratic Front (joint front of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League in Kerala) to the Madappally Government College on Monday. He alleged that the SFI was unleashing violence against its political rivals in the campus. He also reportedly accused that the college authorities and the police were not taking any action to end the stalemate. Meanwhile, there have also been reports of some violence after the UDF-led Bahujan march ended. Six students and a policeman were injured in the violence that took place when the UDF workers were returning back after the march. The police have arrested six people in connection with the violence, according to reports. The MSF organized a girls march to the Madappally Government College on Monday, protesting against the SFIs attack on girls. The Government College at Madappally in Kozhikkode district has been the stronghold of the SFI for long. Those who opposed the SFI formed an organization named Inqilab in 2014, in which supporters of the MSF, the KSU, the Fraternity Movement etc were present. The student organisations formed their own independent units in the campus last year only and they contested elections and won too, amid threats from the SFI. However, this year all seats were won by the SFI itself in the campus elections held early this month. Soon after the elections, postgraduate student Fahad (worker of the KSU) was reportedly attacked by SFI workers, and the college took no action against the attackers. Students including girls were reportedly attacked by SFI workers in and around the college on September 19. Ajfan and Ijas, first-year degree students and workers of the MSF, were attacked in the campus. Adil Ali, Salwa Abdulkader and Safwana (workers of the Fraternity Movement) and Thamjitha (Kozhikkode district general secretary of the MSF womens wing Haritha) were attacked outside the campus in the public road. The traders and autorikshaw drivers from the locality who tried to prevent the attack were also manhandled. Traders then held a hartal protesting the attack. The Fraternity Movement urged for a bandh of educational institutions on Monday (September 24). The MSF, the KSU and the Fraternity Movement organized protest marches and other programmes in different parts of the state against the SFI attack. P rince Harry and Meghan Markle swapped official royal engagements for a celebrity-packed, three-day party to celebrate the opening of the latest Soho House members club in Amsterdam. The royal couple are said to have joined a star-studded guest list including Eddie Redmayne, Jenna Coleman, Nick Grimshaw and Henry Holland, as they feasted on lobster spaghetti, enjoyed a lavish Sunday brunch and relaxed with pampering treatments at the Cowshed Spa. The exclusive Soho House gathering proved to be a raucous affair, with a hilarious Instagram post by Radio DJ Nick Grimshaw showing Henry Holland attempting to sip his drink through a chilli pepper instead of a straw. The Duchess of Sussex is thought to have been a member of the club since her time as an actress in the legal drama series Suits, and the brand is said to have a special place in the heart of the royal couple. They first met on a blind date in a private dining room at the original outpost in London, while Meghan is even reported to have had her hen do at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds. The Duchess of Sussex is known to have a passion for homeware and interior decorating. She is said to adore the beautifully curated Soho House style of tweedy, oak-beamed interior spaces with crushed cranberry-coloured rugs and leather chairs. And the brand's latest outpost does not disappoint. Soho House Amsterdam - in pictures 1 /20 Soho House Amsterdam - in pictures Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam Soho House Amsterdam INTERIOR STYLE FILE: SOHO HOUSE AMSTERDAM Perched above one of the Dutch city's picturesque canals in a 1930s building on the Singel Canal, the original architecture of Soho House Amsterdam is inflected with Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Amsterdam School influences. The hotel's 79 bedrooms are decorated with elegant Art Deco furniture and lighting, with fabrics inspired by the original windows of the members' club's historic facade. "Weve kept the palette colourful throughout the House to counter the grey weather in Amsterdam its beautiful during the summer months, but then you have nine months of rain and fog," says Linda Boronkay, Soho House Design Director. "As soon as you enter the building, a courtyard brings in natural light, where weve introduced lots of plants to act as an indoor/outdoor space we wanted to create a little oasis." The club also features one of the chain's signature rooftop swimming pools. Cecconis Restaurant on the ground floor is open to non-members, and there's a Cowshed Spa and private hire rooms. HOW TO GET THE LOOK AT HOME Now the Soho Home lifestyle brand has released a 30-piece interiors collection specially designed for Soho House Amsterdam, to tie in with the club's opening. Launching on July 31, highlights from the new range include the geometric Jordaan rug named after Amsterdam's trendiest neighbourhood, from 395, and a patterned throw, which has been inspired by the stained glass windows of Soho House Amsterdam, yours for 295. Soho House's signature stripy towels have been given a blue, green and white stripe for the rooftop pool at the new Amsterdam house. Buy your own for 55. Soho House Amsterdam features a fabulous rooftop pool overlooking the city / Soho Home You can also impress your guests with Soho Home's elegant amethyst and amber glassware, from 8 each, to begin your collection. By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter In a shocking turn of events, Parvez Parwaz, a lawyer-cum-activist who had filed a complaint against Yogi Adityanath for his hate speech was arrested on charges of rape just as the date of hearing in the hate crime case was approaching nearer. In 2007, Pervez Parwaz had filed a complaint against the then MP of Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath, for his speech inciting hatred and enmity against the minorities in the police station, Gorakhpur. The hate speech is supposed to have triggered communal violence for the next few days. Support TwoCircles The magisterial court had then in 2007 had taken cognisance of the crime but the sessions court dismissed the case on the grounds that the CD of the evidence was tampered with. Pervez then appealed to the High Court, Allahabad for reinvestigation. But the HC refused to prosecute Adityanath who had by then become the Chief Minister of the State on the grounds or procedural error and sent back the case to the sessions court again. Pervez then challenged this order of HC in the Supreme Court. The SC has asked the UP government to respond in this matter in a months time. Both the parties have been sent notices to appear before the court in the month of October. Just as the hearing was drawing near and Pervez had sought protection from arrest, the hearing of which was on Wednesday the 26th of September, Pervez was arrested on 25th Tuesday on charges of rape. The victim of rape, a vegetable vendor, had complained in the month of June that she had been gang-raped by Pervez and Jumman an occultist and friend of Pervez. She had gone to consult the occultist for a problem but instead was raped by these two men. The police had investigated the case and closed it back then for lack of evidence. But now all of a sudden they seemed to have found fresh evidence and reopened the case and arrested the lawyer-activist. The arrest has taken a political hue with politicians from opposition parities alleging a conspiracy. Rehana Begum, wife of Pervez has said that her husband has been framed in a false case and demanded justice. She also said that her husband has been targeted because he has been pursuing a criminal case against Yogi Adityanath. Rehana also revealed that her husband was taken by policemen who were in civil clothes from his workplace to Khalilabad. And later when the media got to know of the arrest they brought him to Rajghat PS. Leaders from various parties including the Samajwadi Party have asked for a high-level probe as they alleged of a conspiracy by the BJP. The police, however, claim that medical examination has confirmed rape. Supplier News 27 September 2018 DALLAS, TEXAS (September 27, 2018) - McCarren Hotel & Pool, one of the most sought after urban retreats located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has unveiled keyless room access powered by OpenKey's innovative technology. OpenKey, the industry standard for universal mobile key in hotels, will support the McCarren's efforts in delivering an unparalleled experience to its digital native guests. McCarren Hotel & Pool is a neighborhood oasis where guests can enjoy one-of-a-kind experiences paired with luxury amenities and first-class service. The modern guest rooms are a true relaxation destination that feature Frette linens and rainfall showers. Guests can sip handcrafted cocktails while taking in the breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline at the lively rooftop bar. McCarren's stylish pool was just listed as one of New York City's best pools by Travel & Leisure. This rooftop has become a local hot spot and provides a unique experience where guests and locals can mingle. Urban explorers looking to venture out especially like that McCarren is located within walking distance of Brooklyn's favorite restaurants and attractions. "At McCarren, we have earned a reputation for being cutting-edge and providing top-of-the line experiences for today's trendsetting traveler," said James McCue, Director of Operations. "Partnering with OpenKey was crucial if we are to maintain our distinction, respond to the needs of our guests and remain mindful of evolving times." Today's traveler is more connected than ever, especially Millennials who have been tech-savvy from an early age. Mobile innovation and convenience are natural to them. With OpenKey's technology, hotel guests can use their smartphone to check in or out at their leisure, access hotel amenities and enjoy enhanced security via mobile keyless entry. In addition to empowering guests with a quick touch of a button, OpenKey also helps hoteliers reduce their carbon footprint by eliminating the need for plastic key cards. "Partners like McCarren understand the value of harnessing the power of innovative technology to elevate the guest experience," said Brian Shedd, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for OpenKey. "Naturally, this is a great partnership and we are very honored they have selected OpenKey in their efforts to remain cutting-edge and competitive." In 2014, OpenKey set out to perfect mobile hospitality and continues to reshape the standard for guest service. It works with over 75 percent of digital hotel locks and is integrated with the largest lock manufacturers in the world across a wide variety of Bluetooth capable lock styles. About McCarren Hotel and Pool Located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn's most vibrant neighborhood, McCarren Hotel & Pool is a stylish, sought-after urban retreat for trendsetters and urban explorers. We've spared no expense tricking out our modern guest rooms and suites with luxe amenities like Frette linens and deluxe bath products, while dreaming up ever more imaginative ways to experience the best of Brooklyn, including a local favorite rooftop bar with breathtaking views of Manhattan and one of New York City's largest outdoor swimming pools. Best of all, we're within easy walking distance of Brooklyn's favorite restaurants and attractions. Opinion Article 27 September 2018 Industry experts agree that emerging markets are the future of growth in hotel technology. This means that having the capability to deliver innovative solutions along with servicing clients based in Africa, the Middle East and India should be top of mind for companies that want to be truly global. Currently, there are many new hotels in the pipeline in South Africa, and with the explosion of travel into emerging markets, this trend is sure to continue. North Africa, particularly Egypt, Ethiopia & Morocco fares in the top five countries by new number of rooms this year. This rings true for the rest of Africa as well as other developing markets. More so than ever, travelers today are seeking out an authentic "bucket list" trips to exotic locations far from the typical norms such as London, Paris, New York, and Berlin. Companies able to bridgehead into these regions or already have a strong foothold will be the ones to watch when it comes to the implementation of hospitality technology. A recent PWC report focused on the hotel industry and its growth in this area. You can see from the chart that tourist areas in Africa are beginning to see dramatic room revenue growth and this upward trend is expected to continue into the year 2021. This same trend is forecasted for India, the Middle East, and APAC. There are some challenges that the industry faces, one of which is the fact that we are in the midst of what can only be termed as "technological chaos." With so many different companies delivering the promise of innovations that drive revenues and guest loyalty, one must wonder how the General Manager of a hotel or the VP of IT for a larger hotel chain can successfully vet what is most suitable to their respective needs. Is mobile the way to go or does it make more sense to stay with an on a premise-based solution? The decision becomes even harder and more complicated when dealing with newer markets. These regions offer their own complexities, whether it is the lack of IT infrastructure, or the basics of language issues or the proper way to conduct business in these markets. There are several very large players in the hospitality technology industry that have the resources to enter these emerging markets with full force, but do they really appreciate what it takes? Do they understand the impact of what they have built for other regions of the world and if it will even be applicable within an emerging market? Do they know how to foster the sales relationship in different cultures or to support the solutions once they adopted and implemented? Also, will their solutions even function in an emerging market? It will depend entirely on country, region, and location. These are all very important questions to ask when looking at emerging markets within your overall growth strategy and yes, there are many more. Companies that want to enter emerging markets will also need to be cognizant of new technologies and issues that are now impacting our industry - or will do so in the future. Some of these innovations and issues include: Smart Rooms and the associated Mobile Device Mobile Check-in/out and Mobile Keys Voice Integration Personalization Security AI VR This isn't to say that emerging markets should just be abandoned because at first glance they appear to be too hard to penetrate and support. However, they need to be well-researched from a business and personal perspective before any organization makes the leap of faith. Emerging markets are indeed the future of hospitality technology growth, but tech companies must do their homework. Opinion Article 27 September 2018 Artificial intelligence (AI) now infiltrates every element of the travel process. Today, website chatbots, personalized search platforms, and in-room virtual assistants are being deployed to improve customer engagement, boost conversion rates, and personalize the entire guest experience. Thanks to AI, reaching our destination is becoming easier too. This year, Google Flights started predicting delays and announcing them before the airlines. How far might things go? In the following article, we'll look at how travel brands are using the latest artificial intelligence to learn more about their customers, influence their decision-making, and drive more bookings. 1. Trip planning and research According to a survey by Booking.com, nearly one third of travelers would be comfortable letting a computer plan their next trip based on information from their travel history. Using AI, travel brands are now able to create tailored recommendations based around a host of unique preferences. Earlier this year, TUI Group and AI-powered trip-planning service Utrip teamed up to create a personalized trip planning service. This sophisticated online tool asks travelers to rate their preferences across categories, including "Nature & Adventure," "Food & Drink," "Shopping," and "Relaxation." Additional filters such as "Traveling With," "Trip Style," and "Trip Purpose" help to refine things further. Utrip's artificial intelligence algorithm then sifts through millions of potential combinations and serves up a personalized day-by-day itinerary for the entire trip. Photo: Pegasus Along with a helpful itinerary map, travelers can add more activities to personalize their trip. Personality Hotels (a collection of boutique hotels in San Francisco and the Bay Area) also use Utrip to offer their own itinerary-planning service. The interface is different but the premise is the same. Photo: Pegasus It's easy to see how families or business travelers with limited time might find this tool especially appealing. Not only does it eliminate the need for meticulous research, it seeks out appealing activities and experiences that might otherwise be overlooked. For travel brands, AI-powered trip planning offers the ultimate way to inspire customers and keep them engaged on their website for longer, increasing the success rate of converting visitors. 2. Hotel bookings Booking friction is a major issue for hotels. A recent report on European booking trends found that abandonment rates are soaring: only one in twenty would-be hotel bookers end up making a reservation. Hospitality virtual assistants such as Hijiffy can help with this. Guests can ask Hijiffy questions, find out about hotel services, receive city tips, check the latest rates, and book a roomall of which happens through a hotel's Facebook Messenger. Photo: Pegasus If Hijiffy can't answer a question, it transfers the guest to a member of the hotel staff. Hijiffy can also learn from each interaction, so it knows how to respond next time without requiring human involvement. By automatizing queries in this way, hotels can provide instant customer support on a platform their customers are already familiar with. In turn, this can help increase conversion rates, and relieve the burden on hectic front desks. 3. In-room assistants Chatbots and AI-powered voice assistants are also moving into hotel rooms around the world. Increasingly sophisticated, they're able to enhance the on-property experience by answering guest questions, carrying out requests, and offering real-time recommendations. Edwardian Hotels has its own virtual concierge known as "Edward," and the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas has "Rose," a chatbot with a quirky and flirty personality. In addition, Amazon and IBM have recently launched their own hospitality-specific assistants, both of which have the potential to revolutionize the guest experience. IBM's Watson Assistant for Hospitality may prove particularly attractive as the hotel retains the guest data (unlike with Amazon Alexa). IBM's product can also be white-labeled, so a hotel can use the technology to power their own uniquely named chatbot. In a 3-minute promotional video that feels like the stuff of science fiction, Watson demonstrates its ability to anticipate a guest's needs and make recommendations based on contextual information and past-stay data. "I see your flight was late arriving, would you like me to order you room service?" Watson inquires after welcoming a guest by name. It then asks if the guest wants their "usual order," or some suggestions from the menu. Later, Watson checks the guest's calendar and arranges transport for a scheduled business meeting, sets the alarm for their usual morning gym session, and informs them about the hotel's breakfast start time. As well as personalizing the guest experience, voice assistants such as Watson present opportunities for upselling in two important ways: tailored recommendations can alert guests to hotel services they'll most likely want, and transactions become friction-free when they're completed with a simple voice request. 4. Electronic bracelets A few years ago, Disney introduced the Disney MagicBand to allow wearers to skip lines at the parks, make purchases for food and souvenirs, and enjoy keyless entry to their Disney Resort hotel room. Using similar technology, Melia Hotels has introduced its own electronic bracelets that let guests easily pay for hotel services. This isn't the first time hotels have introduced wearables for payment, but Melia's wristband can also be used to make payments at nearby participating merchants, including the local Starbucks and Mango fashion store. The convenience of this cashless payment system is an obvious guest perk. But arguably, the greatest benefit to Melia Hotels is that their wearables let them track guest purchases, including spa treatments and restaurant choices. This allows them to build profiles on spending habits to inform future marketing and offers. In the future, it's likely that hotels will be able to use wearables to monitor a host of other spending habits and behaviors. If a guest picks the same wine with their evening meal, orders room service at a specific time, or pays extra for late checkout, a hotel could use this data to create tailored pre-stay packages, or send timely promotional messages during the hotel stay. 5. Reputation Management The utility of AI isn't just limited to driving conversions and personalizing experiences. The latest technology can also be used to power online listening tools that monitor social media comments and guest reviewsa task that would be hugely time-consuming if done manually. A range of free tracking tools can monitor guest reviews and notify a hotel when they're mentioned online. This means a property can quickly respond to negative feedback, observe general trends in guest sentiment, and identify areas where service levels can be improved. Premium paid-for tools such as Sprout Social and Reputation.com include detailed reports and analytics, and cast the net wider to monitor blogs, social media, videos, images, review sites, and more. This big data analysis lets a hotel really understand what its audience is thinking, which can also be invaluable to boost the effectiveness of social engagement and marketing. Where will AI take us next? Artificial intelligence now influences the entire travel ecosphere. Chatbots are assisting travel bookers as they shop for flights and accommodation. Trip-planning platforms are able to tailor itineraries in seconds. And in-room assistants are learning about guest behavior and personalizing their experience. While these examples all represent the sexier side of AI, the technology can also help hotels make operational improvements, such as analyzing booking trends to optimizing room rates, and freeing up staff to focus more on face-to-face services. In our AI-driven future, astute hoteliers will have a wealth of technology at their disposal. The key to success will be about using it wisely, and ensuring that it complements rather than replaces the personal side of hospitality. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser The program, to be held at Cvent headquarters at 1765 Greensboro Place Station Place in Tysons Corner beginning at 5 p.m., will feature Brian Berry, Cvent senior vice president of sales and data analytics, and Suzanne Shogren, Cvent regional director, Ownership Group Services for the Hospitality Cloud. HSMAI Washington DC Chapter will present a Deep Dive Into the Group Market on Oct. 11 hosted by Cvent, a global leader in meeting, event and travel technology. The program, to be held at Cvent headquarters at 1765 Greensboro Place Station Place in Tysons Corner beginning at 5 p.m., will feature Brian Berry, Cvent senior vice president of sales and data analytics, and Suzanne Shogren, Cvent regional director, Ownership Group Services for the Hospitality Cloud. They will discuss the future of the group market, industry drivers and tools to increase conversion and win more business. Presentations will be offered on two tracks, one for property-level sales professionals and the other for general managers, revenue managers and corporate managers. Attendees will get a sneak peek at new Cvent data and learn how group strategies can adapt to a changing landscape. Berry and Shogren will share insights for gaining a competitive edge, tools for attracting meeting planners and ways to manage sales teams. Registration, complimentary for all attendees, will open at 4:30 p.m., and a networking reception will follow the presentations. Free parking will be offered in the garage adjacent to Cvents building, which is a short walk from the Greensboro Station of the Washington Metro. Click HERE to register. About the Speakers Brian Berry, Cvent Senior Vice President of Sales and Data Analytics Berry engages with executives throughout the hospitality industry to strengthen marketing returns and develop deeper performance insights. He provides strategic leadership and direction for the Cvent Supplier Network, continuously developing better connections between hotels and meeting planners. Prior to joining Cvent, Berry was senior vice president of sales and revenue management for Host Hotels & Resorts, the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest worldwide owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. Prior to joining Host, he held regional and corporate management positions with Starwood Hotels and ITT Sheraton in both North America and Europe. Berry is a graduate of Cornell Universitys School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca, New York, and Johns Hopkins Universitys Carey Business School, Baltimore. He has served on numerous industry, chain, and education advisory boards, including HSMAIs Americas Board and its Chief Revenue Officer Council, the AH&LA Customer Innovation Council, and the DePaul University School of Hospitality Leadership. Suzanne Shogren, Cvent Regional Director, Ownership Group Services for the Hospitality Cloud With 24 years of experience in hotel sales, training, and development of sales teams and leveraging partnerships between management and owners, Shogren works directly with ownership groups and asset management companies to help them quantify the performance of their hotel portfolio. By sharing and analyzing data and creating advocacy within the hospitality Industry, owners gain a strategic advantage in the hospitality digital space. Shogren is a graduate of Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, and received her masters degree in organizational development/knowledge management at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. About HSMAI Washington DC Chapter HSMAI Washington DC Chapter is an affiliate of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, an individual membership organization based in McLean, Virginia, composed of more than 7,000 members worldwide, with 40 chapters in the Americas Region. HSMAI is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners and is the industry's leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. The association provides hotel professionals and their partners with tools, insights and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing and optimize revenue through programs including the Adrian Awards and Revenue Optimization Conference. Click HERE to join HSMAI. For more information, go to www.hsmaidc.org. Click HERE to download high-resolution images CONTACT: Kathryn Potter KCP Media 703-980-0602 Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe 2021 Hotel News Resource Get ready for new apparel from 50 Cent with #GetTheStrap written across it. Fif and Bellator MMA have announced a new partnership which includes an upcoming clothing line as well as his champagne brand Le Chemin Du Roi. "I am excited to partner with the Bellator Viacom franchise, 50 Cent said in a statement. "Mixed martial arts yields some of the most action-packed events in the world. Im excited for people to see how I plan to shake up MMA with the integration of my Get The Strap trademark." The president of Bellator MMA, Scott Baker said that their new partnership and licensing deal is just the beginning of more joint ventures in the future. We are thrilled to partner with such a legendary icon who has been a friend to the Bellator family for quite some time. The Get The Strap apparel line is just the beginning of many joint ventures we will explore together, Baker said. Fif initially hinted that he sold #GetTheStrap earlier this year to Bellator MMA for $1M. HipHopDX later stated that Fif didn't sell the slogan to Bellator MMA which prompted a legal battle between them after 50 dubbed them "fake news." After DX sued Fif for defamation, he responded to the suit by claiming the website is threatening his freedom of speech and claimed it was an affront to the fundamental protections to free speech by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Fif furthered his argument in his suit by saying that if DX continues with their suit, it would open a floodgate of defamation suits by news organizations against the very subjects of their news reports for simply criticizing or refuting the reports as fake news.'" https://www.instagram.com/p/BoPRnhkFsln [Source 1] | [Source 2] This weekend is filled with some of the most anticipated projects of the year. From Lil Wayne to Kanye West to Logic, there's a little bit of everything for people to enjoy. We've heard Kodak Black rap alongside Bruno Mars and Gucci Mane in the last few weeks on their joint single but the Sniper Gang representative still hasn't dropped his own music since being released from jail. It appears as though Kodak figured he would give us all another reason to stay up until midnight, announcing that he was throwing his own name into the fray. Kodak Black's first official single since his prison release is dropping tonight, titled "If I'm Lying I'm Flying." It appears that the song will be accompanied by a fresh music video as well as the Florida native previewed the track on his Instagram. Considering it's his first solo effort since coming out of jail, we would expect him to be spitting some fire and from the sounds of it, he's fully loaded and ready to go. The artist rhymes, "I'm special with the mic, I'm special with the whippin'/I ran out of money had to pay attention." Kodak hasn't announced much pertaining to his upcoming album but this is a good start for the young artist to get his feet wet again. "If I'm Lying I'm Flying" will go live on streaming services at midnight. Are you checking for it? https://www.instagram.com/p/BoPiKv6jwyt We're not sure where Kourtney Kardashian finds these guys, but after breaking up with her model boyfriend Younes Bendjima the reality star has now been spotted chilling with a man who looks almost identical to her ex. The duo was spotted leaving Alfred Tea in West Hollywood and it's unclear who the man is, but they look pretty chill together. https://twitter.com/_/status/1045003002443005952 Last week Kourtney was rumorued to be dating 20-year-old model and actor Luka Sabbat. Kourtney and Luka were spotted a couple times in one weekend and according to Hollywood, that means you're dating someone. "They always had chemistry, but Kourtney was in a serious relationship and her and Luka always kept things platonic," a source claimed. "Now that Kourtney is single, she has been enjoying being able to do whatever she wants." Slick Woods, real name Simone Thompson, has become an unstoppable force. She first got her start when fellow model Ash Stymest spotted her at a Los Angeles bus stop at the age of 19. Woods told The Guardian that Stymest approached her and asked if she had ever modeled before. When she responded with a no, he asked her You smoke weed? She told the model that she did, and he passed her a joint. They proceeded to discuss modeling, with Stymest encouraging Woods to meet with his agents. After that I never went hungry again, she said of the encounter. I never slept on the streets again. He made sure I lived the way he did. Woods has since gone on to work with some of the most influential names in the fashion industry including American Vogue, Love, i-D, Jalouse, Vogue Italia and Vogue Japan. Notably, Woods has modeled for Rihanna's Fenty Beauty, and Savage x Fenty. She is often referred to as Rihanna's muse and has been open about their bond, likening the icon to her mother. In a storylike turn of events, Woods gave birth to her son, Saphir approximately 14 hours after walking in Rihanna's NYFW Savage x Fenty show. The model shared a recent picture of herself baring her lean midriff, proving that she remains her stylish and carefree self. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoOxCurjpe2 https://www.instagram.com/p/BkslwsEDE0J It looks like Tekashi 6ix9ine is trying to go 10 for 10 on the Billboard charts this weekend when he releases his new single Stoopid. On Wednesday, the so-called King Of NY decided to preview a snippet of the upcoming record while in the studio, while adding that he plans on releasing the single this Sunday. COMMENT IF YALL WANT STOOOPID THIS SUNDAYaiaiaiai STOOPID GOES STOOPID LET ME KNOW IF YALL READY aiai I JUST CANT STOP MAKING HITS, he captioned the post. The song, which is produced by Tay Keith, finds Tekashi flipping bars from Chief Keefs Faneto record while also dissing the Chicago Drill legend in the process. Shoutout my apes in the fuckin' roof (for real), for mayo they gon' shoot/ Spin a hoop, who the fuck is you?/ Who the fuck you know, nigga? No, nigga/ Niggas killed your cousin, you gon' smoke, nigga? (stupid!)/ Dumb nigga, rollin' up your cousin in a blunt, nigga he spits. The song will follow up to Tekashis latest release with Anuel-AA titled BEBE, which has garnered over 159 million views in just 3 weeks. Check out another snippet of Stoopid (below) and let us know what you think. Will Tekashi go 10 for 10 on the charts with this one? A pipeline company backed by Houston's CenterPoint Energy is proposing a $550 million natural gas pipeline project to feed the burgeoning liquefied natural gas exporting business along the Gulf Coast. Oklahoma-based Enable Midstream Partners said it plans to build a 165-mile gas pipeline from northwestern to southwestern Louisiana along the Texas state line. The project would take gas from the Haynesville shale and other regions and ship it down to new LNG export terminals in Louisiana and Texas. The Houston bar scene is full of personalities bar stars, if you will. Each week in Preview, well feature one of these mixologists to let you know more about them, aside from how good they are at making you feel good. Know someone who deserves the spotlight? Email joey.guerra@chron.com. Length of time working at current place? Six months Nickname? Bash Lamest pickup line youve heard at the bar? Are you a beaver? Because dam! Most famous person youve ever served a drink to? The Houston Rockets own Moochie Norris. Becoming friends with customers: yes or no? Yes, sometimes. The bar for me has always been where the connection is, so I meet some very genuine people, and the bar becomes our common ground. Most common customer complaint? Throughout my 10 years of bartending, I would say people complained the most about the atmosphere if it wasnt right: dirty bathrooms, unruly people, dirty bar, music, etc. Song youve gotten sick of at work? Sebastian Williams Find him behind the bar at: Hearsay Gastro Lounge, 2018 Travis Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday See More Collapse I really havent gotten tired of any music. I turn everything I do into art, so music helps me through all parts of my day, especially work. Whats the sloppiest, drunkest thing youve ever seen on the job? Years ago, when I was managing, a woman came into the bar I was working and ordered a beer. She seemed totally fine, so my bartender served her. She went from sober to sloppy drunk because she had been doing other things. I went outside to she where she had disappeared to, and she was in the middle of the parking lot, holding a crying baby, while falling asleep standing up. Needless to say, I had to take the baby along with her key and call the police. Her mom showed up and took the baby. Whats the most outrageous request youve ever gotten? I saw a guy jump a curb and almost hit a couple of parked cars on his way into the bar I was working. Him asking me for a drink was probably the most outrageous request. He was mad when I told him no, but he left after shouting a couple of obscenities. Where do you like to go have a drink when youre not at work? Uncle Alberts Pub in the Cypress area. Whats your specialty drink, and how do you make it? The BB King The Blueberry King. Its a combination of mint, blueberries, lemon and gin topped with Pinot Grigio. The aim is for the cocktail to enhance the wine. Whats something your customers may not know about you? I spotlight other bartenders that are good at what they do and create cocktail menus for private events at facebook.com/thetravelingcocktail or instagram.com/the.traveling.cocktail.2017. Where barbecue appreciation leaves off and community fundraising begins at Southern Smoke is as hazy as the inside of a post oak fire-fed pit. But Southern Smoke, Houstons singular culinary event celebrating smoked and Southern food traditions, is most certainly both: a bodacious barbecue extravaganza and a fundraiser that already has collected more than $1 million for Houston neighbors, most recently those affected by Hurricane Harvey. This years food festival (barbecue, live-fire cooking and Southern-inspired cuisine) will spark things up from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday on a barbecue campus at 1018 Westheimer, 1100 Westheimer and 1415 California (basically The Hay Merchant, Blacksmith, the former Underbelly and Legacy Community Health) in Montrose. James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd created the event four years ago after learning one of his good friends was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Shepherd tapped some of his food-world buddies to come to Houston to help raise money in the best way they knew how, by throwing a bash full of food. And Southern Smoke has endured thanks to Shepherds friends some of the whos who in the food world who continue to make it a one-of-a-kind culinary event. Just look at the lineup of participating chefs: Southern Smoke When: 4-8 p.m. Sunday Where: 1100 Westheimer Details: southernsmoke.org See More Collapse - James Beard-winning Aaron Franklin, pitmaster/owner of Franklin Barbecue in Austin. - Daniela Soto-Innes, of Cosme and Atla in New York, and a Houston alum of Brennans, Triniti and Underbelly. - Jason Vincent of Giant in Chicago. - Edouardo Jordan of the Beard-winning JuneBaby in Seattle. - Billy Durney of Hometown Bar B Que in Brooklyn, N.Y. - Beard-winning chef Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. - Beard-winning Ryan Prewitt of Peche in New Orleans. - Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, N.C. - Sam Jones of Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville, N.C. - Pat Martin of Martins Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville. - Matthew Rudofker, culinary director for Momofuku restaurants. - Tae Strain, executive chef of Momofuku CCDC in Washington, D.C. Each chef will have his/her own station and create a special dish. And guests can enjoy unlimited samples from each station. Last year, David Chang of Ugly Delicious fame topped his smoked meat with caviar. There were repeat visitors. Houston superchefs also will be contributing under their umbrella, the HOUBBQ Collective, in their own foodie area of the fest. The collective chefs have created their own cooking schedule: Manabu Horiuchi of Kata Robata and Hugo Ortega of Xochi will serve skipjack tacos and huitlacoche tamales from 3 to 5 p.m. Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan of The Pass & Provision and Brandi Key of The Tasting Room and Maxs Wine Dive will serve beef tongue banh mi-style sandwiches from 5 to 6 p.m. Justin Yu of Theodore Rex and Erin Smith and Patrick Feges of Feges BBQ will serve smoked confit beef cheeks with noodle soup salad from 6 to 7 p.m. Ryan Pera of Coltivare will serve tacos (chicken and salsa amarillo, and red chile pork and smoked pineapple) from 7 to 8 p.m. Theres wine (Miner Family Winery, Duchman Family Winery, C.L. Butaud), beer (Sierra Nevada), spirits (Campari, Wild Turkey, Russells Reserve, Aperol, Skyy Vodka, Espolon Tequila, Appleton Estate Rum) and music (Bayou City Brass Band, Mariachi Los Gallitos, and Max Flinn and Neon Rainbow). And an emcee: Houstons own rapper/comedian Chingo Bling. There is a special Lexus-sponsored VIP room and a silent auction with over-the-top items such as special chef dinners, travel and hotels and Astros collectibles. While Southern Smoke promises to be a heck of a party, it also pledges itself as a community donor: All proceeds will go to both the MS Society and to the Southern Smoke Emergency Relief Fund, which provides money to those in the restaurant industry who are faced with unforeseen expenses not covered by insurance. General admission tickets remain at $200. See southernsmokefestival.org for more information. Conan O'Brien this fall will embark on his first stand-up comedy tour in nearly a decade. The event, billed as "Conan & Friends: An Evening of Stand-Up and Investment Tips" will drop in at the Revention Music Center on Nov. 16. The friends currently listed for the show are Ron Funches, James Veitch, Taylor Tomlinson and Flula Borg. Fire erupts after an incident at a Houston chemical plant, and I know who to call with my questions. I pick up the phone to reach Dr. M. Sam Mannan. It's 3 a.m. in another country thousands of miles away. It could be South Korea, or Hong Kong, the Netherlands or Dubai. Despite the distance and the late hour, even though I'm a reporter, even though many people view journalists as contemptible and enemies of the people, Mannan picks up the phone. "Hello, Matt. How are you?" he answers in a sleepy, but cheerful voice. In short order, I find out how late it is for him. I apologize profusely. Mannan traveled frequently, and it was always difficult to know where he would be at any given moment. But he waves away the inconvenience, ready to answer my questions again. "Oh, don't worry about it, I'm always happy to talk to you, my friend," he'd say. There was a reason Mannan was first on my list to call when a chemical plant was on fire or exploding. *** THE RELATIONSHIP between a reporter and a source can be a little strange. From the outside, it's transactional. I need information from my source. My source gives me information. I write the story. It gets published. Relationship over, until we do it all over again later for another story. Sometimes, it goes beyond that. And that's what it was like with Mannan and me. Mannan recently died at the age of 63, and I can't stop thinking about him. He was a world-renowned expert on chemical process safety. He spoke at conferences, was an author of more than 300 academic papers and served on the Columbia shuttle investigation in 2003. He was a professor at Texas A&M and led the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, named after one of the victims of the deadly 1989 Phillips 66 explosion. He was a husband to his wife, Afroza, and father to two daughters, Joya and Rumki. For me, Mannan was a source. But he was more than that, too. *** OUR RELATIONSHIP started on YouTube. It was early 2015. I was learning everything I could about the chemical industry for a project I was working on. After more Google searches than I'd like to admit, I found Mannan. He was speaking to a U.S. Senate committee in a C-SPAN video, his glasses and bald head shining in the bright lights of the hearing room. In his testimony, he was laying out the ideas that I had in my head but couldn't articulate clearly yet. When he didn't answer his phone or emails, I tracked him down at a chemical safety conference in Austin. He was giving a talk there, and I figured I could chase him down afterward. My colleague Mark and I surrounded him as he left the restroom, and we proposed something preposterous. We wanted Mannan to help us show people which chemical plant was at the biggest risk for an incident. To our surprise, he immediately said yes, but with a condition. Mannan told us we'd never be able to do what we wanted, but he had a better idea if we were open to talking it through. We set an appointment to talk in College Station in a week. When we arrived at A&M, Mannan had pulled together an entire team of student researchers and a buffet of barbecue. We came with an idea of a project and left with a plan for a detailed analysis that no one had ever done before. This was not normal. Reporters are lucky if we get calls back. I can't tell you how many emails or phone calls go off into the ether only to be ignored. We had more than a source. We had a guide. *** "CONSIDER THE knife," Mannan said to me on more than one occasion. We were talking about a chemical safety concept called inherent safety. It means instead of trying to manage potentially dangerous chemicals, companies should limit the chemicals they have on site, because that's inherently safer. But Mannan liked to tell the story of the knife to illustrate the limits to that concept. "A knife is useful for cutting vegetables or meat, but that same knife can be a deadly weapon or could accidentally hurt or kill someone," he said. Getting rid of knives in a kitchen obviously wouldn't work. You need to cut things in a kitchen. Instead, you have to learn how to use a knife safely. "We have to remember nothing can be inherently safe on an absolutely basis," Mannan said. He took ideas that were complicated and technical and made them easy to understand. He was an academic who didn't live in an ivory tower. Mannan wanted his work and research to be used and understood, not just by the industry he once worked in, but by the general public. The Process Safety Center at A&M had large number of graduate students who weren't from the U.S. Mannan and his fellow faculty took care of those students while they were so far from home. He created a family atmosphere and encouraged them to do their best work. Trish Kerin knew Mannan professionally. She's a chemical expert with the Institution of Chemical Engineers. Kerin saw firsthand how he inspired his students to rise to the occasion and produce their best work. Reporters don't work for their sources. But in a real way, Mannan inspired me to do my best work, to show I learned the material he presented to me. "You wanted to make him proud and he always was," Kerin said. *** HE WASN'T born and raised in the U.S., but I can only think of handful of people who embodied what it was to be American as well as Mannan. When "Chemical Breakdown" was published, the industry was not happy with the Chronicle, but it was especially not happy with Mannan. He had worked for the industry. He spoke at their conferences. We knew there would be pushback. We tried to warn Mannan about it. He waved the concerns away. He told us he could "handle any heat I get for this." "Your project was uncomfortable for him at times," said Kerin. In a meeting with donors to Texas A&M, including the members of the Texas Chemistry Council, Mannan was criticized as Kerin watched. They wanted to know why he worked with the media on a project that was critical of the industry. But Mannan pushed back. He told them it was his duty as an academic to do this work, that the Chronicle would be abdicating its responsibilities to journalism if we didn't do this work. He said he and the Chronicle had to speak truth to power without fear or favor. "You could always trust him to do the right thing and not the easy thing," Kerin told me. "He challenged people's thinking. Challenged them to do better. To be better." *** WE HAD multiple conversations after "Chemical Breakdown" was published, mostly about stories I was working on. But we always made time to talk about our families and our friends and how life was going. The last time I talked to Mannan was after Arkema was criminally indicted for not preventing the chemical fires at its Crosby site in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. I wanted to hear his thoughts on such a rare thing, a criminal prosecution of a chemical company. "I regret to tell you, Matt, that I cannot speak on this case as I am an expert witness for the county," Mannan said in his particular formal tone of voice. He chuckled after he said it. I told him that was a shame, but I was sure we would talk again soon regardless. We frequently talked about getting together in College Station again, getting a steak and celebrating our collaborations over a beer or two. We tried scheduling it a few times, but life got in the way, and we kept having to move the date. I'll never forget the man who'd answer my calls at 3 a.m. in a city far from home. The man who could make chemical safety about a knife in a kitchen. The next time something breaks down in the chemical industry, I'll reach for the phone to call a source, but I'll stop myself in the moment, because it won't be my friend Sam on the other end of the line. Get the Gray Matters newsletter. It challenges people's thinking. Challenges them to do better. To be better. As nominees to the Supreme Court, Judges Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh were both selected by Republican presidents to replace retiring justices. Both attended Yale Law School and were judges on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. And both were accused of sexual misconduct. Thomas now sits on the bench while Kavanaughs fate, nearly 27 years later, is yet to be decided. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee convenes to hear allegations of sexual assault made by Christine Blasey Ford against Kavanaugh, dating back to when they were both teenagers. Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have also publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct but were not scheduled to testify in front of the committee. The following is a comparison of events leading up to Thursdays hearing and the hearings in 1991. The Accusers and the Claims 1991 Anita Hill He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes. He talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penises or large breasts involved in various sex acts. On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess. Hill said in her testimony. At the time of the hearings in 1991, Hill was a law professor at the University of Oklahoma. Hill was born and raised in Oklahoma, attended Oklahoma State University and graduated from Yale Law School. She said that Thomas made repeated overtures to her, which she rebuffed, while she was working for him in the Education Department and at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hill came forward after she was contacted by a Senate staff member who was investigating Thomas background. 2018 Christine Blasey Ford I was pushed into a bedroom and was locked in the room and pushed onto a bed. Two boys were in the room. Brett laid on top of me and tried to remove my clothes while groping me. He held me down and put his hand on my mouth to stop me from screaming for help. Blasey wrote in a letter. Blasey, who is also known by her married name of Ford, is a professor at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at Stanford Universitys medical school. She grew up in the Washington, D.C., suburbs and attended Holton-Arms, an elite high school for girls. Women at Blaseys high school often socialized with students from other private schools in the area, including Kavanaughs school. Blaseys claim stems from a party that she believes occurred in 1982, when she and Kavanaugh were both high school students. Blasey sent a letter detailing her allegations to the office of Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., her congresswoman, but asked for confidentiality. Eshoos office forwarded it to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democratic member on the Judiciary Committee. Feinstein released a statement after the initial round of hearings was completed, saying she had referred a matter involving Kavanaugh to the FBI, but did not give details about who or what it entailed. Days later, Ford gave an interview to The Washington Post, revealing her identity and describing the claims. The Nominees 1991 Judge Clarence Thomas Nominated by President George H.W. Bush to replace retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall, Thomas was on the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He grew up poor in Jim Crow-era Georgia and moved in with his grandparents in Savannah when he was 7, the first time he lived in a house with a toilet. Thomas credits his grandfather for his success in encouraging hard work and his continuing education. He attended the College of the Holy Cross and Yale Law School. Thomas worked in the Reagan administration, first in the Department of Education and then at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 2018 Judge Brett Kavanaugh President Donald Trump selected Kavanaugh to fill the seat vacated by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who retired in July. Kavanaugh, whose mother was also a judge, attended Georgetown Preparatory School, an elite all-boys high school in the Washington suburbs, and then Yale University for his undergraduate studies and law school. Pages from Kavanaughs 1982 calendar, which he released in response to Blaseys claims, show his summer days were often spent at the beach, going to movies, working out or hanging out with his friends. He was a member of the team, led by Ken Starr, that investigated President Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky and later worked in President George W. Bushs administration. Like Thomas, Kavanaugh was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Judiciary Committee Three members of the Judiciary Committee now were also on the panel during Thomas confirmation hearings: Sens. Charles Grassley the current chairman Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy. The image in 1991 of the panel all white men repeatedly asking an African-American woman to answer, in graphic detail, questions about sexual harassment prompted outrage. This time around, Republicans have opted to bring in an outside litigator who specializes in sexual crimes, Rachel Mitchell, to question Blasey. The move allows the 11 Republicans on the committee all white men to avoid the optics on national television of them grilling Blasey. Democratic senators on the committee, some of whom are considered likely 2020 presidential candidates, will question Blasey. The result 1991 Thomas was narrowly confirmed by a vote of 52-48. 2018 The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote Friday morning to move the confirmation process to a full vote. Kavanaughs fate is still in question. This article originally appeared in The New York Times The whole thing started with a fight at the Bustin' Loose nightclub. It was a late night, with lots of booze - and whispers of another man involved. When it was all said and done, Marquetta George ended up dead and bloodied on the side of the road. Eighteen years later, on Thursday night, her former boyfriend Daniel Acker was put to death for her murder. He always maintained his innocence but gave no final statement. He took one deep breath and kept his eyes closed the entire time, according to Texas prison officials. The 46-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m., 14 minutes after the lethal dose began. Acker's execution was the state's second in as many nights - and the 10th here this year. The Sulphur Springs man was convicted of strangling his 32-year-old girlfriend and pushing her from a moving car, according to court records. But for years, Acker and his defense team have argued that he didn't kill George and that her death was an accident after she jumped out of a moving car. "This is a real tragedy," defense lawyer A. Richard Ellis told the Chronicle earlier in the week. "Daniel Acker is innocent, this was a tragic accident not a homicide, yet the courts are not listening." Now Playing: Man on death row for killing officer to be executed January 2019 Video: Fox 26 Houston At the time of the slaying in March 2000, Acker and George were sharing a rented trailer in Hopkins County. The night of George's death, the troubled couple started fighting at the bar - and he bluntly commented that he was going to kill her, according to court records. PRISON GUARD CHARGED: Guard implicated after inmate who spit on him died Later, Acker got kicked out of the club, while George went home with another man, a bouncer named Calico. But in the wee hours of the morning, Acker went out looking for her, scouring the town all night and even stopping at her mother's house. While there, he told the woman's mother that it was OK if she'd stayed out the night alone. But, he added, "if I find out she was with anybody, I'm going to kill 'em." He didn't get back to his trailer till around 10 a.m., and George showed up about an hour later. Acker wanted to find out if she'd cheated, so he violently forced his girlfriend into his truck and tried bringing her Calico's house for a confrontation. But the two never made it. Instead, George ended up on the side of the road dead. Prosecutors argued that Acker strangled her then tossed her from the truck - and a jury agreed. But Acker has consistently said that his girlfriend leaped from the vehicle - as she'd done before - and was killed in the process. Afterward, Acker didn't hide; he flagged down police himself. "From the day he turned himself in, Daniel has said the victim jumped from his truck, and he has consistently expressed remorse for abducting her," Ellis said. "The state has to date had three differing versions of his guilt, the two latest of which are inconsistent with the facts and testimony presented to the jury at his trial." During the appeals process, the state stepped back from the strangulation theory, but still maintained Acker killed his girlfriend. "Acker had no motive to do this," Ellis said. "He didn't have the physical ability to strangle her while he was driving." In appeals, defense counsel brought up claims of earlier bad lawyering and "massively flawed" post-conviction proceedings, and argued that prosecutors used false testimony from experts and repeatedly changed their theory of the crime. This week, the parole board denied his request for clemency. As of Thursday morning, his last hope for reprieve was an appeal in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that he shouldn't be executed based on a theory of the crime abandoned only after his conviction. The state disagreed. "Acker's assertions of innocence dispute only the victim's cause of death, which the jury determined was strangulation, blunt-force injury, or a combination of the two," state attorneys wrote in their response filing. "Acker produces no new evidence showing he did not commit the crime but continues to assert that George's death resulted from her leap from the vehicle a theory rejected by the jury at the time of trial." Acker's scheduled execution comes a day after Troy Clark was put to death by lethal injection. The Tyler man, who maintained his innocence even in his final statement, was convicted of drowning his former housemate and stuffing her body into a barrel of lime. The last time two convicted killers were executed in two days was in 2012, when the state put to death Ramon Hernandez of Bexar County and Preston Hughes, from Harris County. Hughes, who also professed his innocence with his final words, was convicted in the stabbing deaths of two children. As of now, another eight executions are on the calendar in Texas, including two scheduled in early 2019. A man is in custody after allegedly threatening to kill police officers in west Houston on Wednesday. The incident unfolded around 1 p.m. along Groeschke Road just west of Texas Highway 6, near West Houston Airport, according to Houston Police Department SWAT Capt. Larry Baimbridge. A woman was westbound on Groeschke Road when she pulled over to secure her gas cap, Baimbridge said. Just as she stopped, a man emerged from the woods and threw a brick at her car, shattering on her passenger side windows. Now Playing: A man is in custody after allegedly threatening to kill police officers in west Houston on Wednesday. Video: Houston Chronicle ACQUITTED: Houston jury finds former deputy not guilty in brutality case The woman sped away and called 911, Baimbridge said. As Houston police officers arrived, they found the man near the edge of the road holding a knife, yelling that he wasn't going to go to jail and would, instead, kill the officers, Baimbridge said. The suspect then ran toward an abandoned Honda Civic deep in the woods, which police later determined to be where the suspect was squatting. Officers again tried to get the man out of the vehicle and into custody, but he used items in the car to barricade the windows making his immediate arrest impossible, Baimbridge said. The officers requested HPD's SWAT team make the scene and help lure the man out, but SWAT officers were unable to peacefully get the man into custody, Baimbridge said. Around 4 p.m., SWAT officers shot irritating gas into the vehicle to flush him out. IN CUSTODY: Student arrested for Instagram threat against staff member The man initially climbed into the trunk to avoid capture, but Baimbridge said the gas became too much for the suspect. He eventually climbed out of the car and was placed in handcuffs but still struggled with officers, who placed more restraints on him before being checked out by paramedics on scene. Baimbridge said the man didn't seem to have any mental health issues, although he will be checked out by professionals with HPD before being taken to the Harris County Jail on various charges. It is unclear what specific charges the man will face. Baimbridge declined to immediately identify the suspect to media on scene. Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com Santa Fe ISDs Sept. 17 school board meeting was filled with dramatic speeches during the public comment section. Family members of victims and survivors of a May 18 mass shooting at the districts sole high school chastised the board and district for their responses to recent threats, poor academic performances and spotty communication. Those comments, however, are not included on video of the meeting posted to the districts website. Santa Fe ISD officials edited out the public comment sections from video of the Aug. 27 and Sept. 17 regular school board meetings, angering parents who called it the latest instance of the school district trying to brush aside concerns of family members of victims and survivors of the shooting. Im angry that not only are they wanting to shut us out, but now theyre shutting us out on a public forum, said Rosie Y. Stone, whose son, Christopher, was killed in the shooting. Thats taking away from my freedom of speech, and who are (they) to take that away from me? Spokeswoman Patti Hanssard said the district began publishing video recordings of meetings to its website in August. She said Santa Fe ISD edited out the public comment and student recognition sections in the best interest of student confidentiality and has no plans to keep those portions in future recordings. Summaries of public comments are available in meeting minutes posted to the districts website, she added. Board President J.R. Rusty Norman said he was not aware that videos of meetings were posted online, or that they were edited, until a reporter with the Galveston County Daily News called him Tuesday. I hadnt had a chance to think about it, nor do I understand completely what the laws are using video of kids or kids names or employees names without their permission, Norman said. Im not sure why the IT department started to do that (posting the videos online), but its brand new, and the board hasnt talked about it. The removal of public comment from posted videos comes after months of intense scrutiny of the semi-rural Galveston County district and contentious public meetings, often laced with emotional pleas from parents and some staff members for additional safety measures and mental health resources. On Sept. 17, a group of survivors, victims family members and others read the names of those who died in the Santa Fe High School shooting that left 10 dead and 13 wounded. They also read aloud the names of students and staff members who survived the shooting. One member of that group, Scot Rice whose wife, Flo, a substitute teacher at Santa Fe High School, was wounded during the shooting went as far as calling for several board members to resign during his comments at the meeting. His remarks do not appear on the districts video of the meeting. Its another effort to push everything under the rug, control everything and keep their little core group of people there because now (the video) doesnt show where I asked them to resign, Rice said. Rice, Stone and Steve Perkins whose wife, Ann, was a substitute teacher killed in the shooting met with Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady to discuss whether the school district violated the states Open Meetings Act by editing the public comment portion of the meeting out of the posted video. The district attorneys office Wednesday confirmed that Roady met with Rice but declined to comment further. Rice said he also spoke with representatives from the state attorney generals office. Is this something thats ethically wrong? If it doesnt reach that level, can they put (the video) out there and edit it? Thats our question, Rice said. Video from the Sept. 17 board meeting shows Norman reading off agenda items and announcing the public forum section of the meeting. A second later, the recording blinks, showing a man wearing a shirt emblazoned with the letter F walking toward a seat in the front row. The next words heard are Normans, saying, We will now move into our board communication. No privacy laws prevent parents or others from speaking the names of students, staff members or school board trustees at public meetings, said Bill Aleshire, an Austin lawyer and government transparency advocate. However, the school district is allowed to edit the recordings posted online because there is no legal requirement to publish them, according to the Texas Open Meetings Act. So long as districts publish minutes from the meetings or the recordings, Aleshire said they are acting within the limits of the law. Minutes from Santa Fe ISDs Aug. 28 meeting include brief, one-sentence summaries of three of the four people who spoke, including their last names. Minutes from the Sept. 17 meeting have not yet been posted online. Legal issues would arise, however, if the district refused to provide the unedited meeting recording to someone who requested it under the Texas Public Information Act, said Joe Larsen, a Houston lawyer with expertise in public information laws. Recordings of a meeting are public record. It simply cannot be withheld, Larsen said. I think they can decide what they can post and what they cannot post online, but if someone requested the entire recording, they would have to provide it. He added that the right to information on a public government meeting would override named students right to privacy, especially if any mentions of the student do not include specific information about his or her participation in school or educational records. He called the editing of the meeting videos available online beyond ridiculous. Stone said he believes the school district is not used to the increased scrutiny in the wake of the shooting, which she said has exposed its overall lack of transparency. For many, many, many years, its always been the district, the superintendent and the board making all the decisions, nobody questioning them. Its always them and nobody else has butted in, Stone said. Now, this is different to them Who are all these people and why are they all up in my business? and its a change. Its a change that needed to happen. shelby.webb@chron.com nick.powell@chron.com A store clerk accused of possessing illegal gambling equipment is on the run, wanted in connection with a month-long undercover operation north of Houston. Jason Dao, 24, is accused of helping run an illegal gambling parlor inside a business in the 9400 block of North Houston Rosslyn Road. He is currently wanted by law enforcement, according to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office. COURT DOCUMENTS: Houston firefighter accused of raping childhood friend after night at bar Roberta Davis, 42, was arrested earlier this week in connection with the same case after the constable's office's investigation, according to court documents. Deputies received complaints from the public about the illegal parlor in early August, court documents show. An undercover deputy entered the parlor and played a series of video games later that month and again in mid-September. The deputy won $60 during his August trip and $25 on his second trip, according to an affidavit. Authorities were able to secure arrest warrants for both Davis and Dao shortly after the investigation. Davis was arrested and has already bonded out while Dao is still on the run. More Information Suspect sought after illegal Houston-area gambling room raid See More Collapse During a search warrant raid at the business Wednesday, deputies seized nearly 50 illegal gambling devices and more than $5,000 in illicit gambling revenue, according to the constable's office. Both suspects are facing up to a year in jail on a class-A misdemeanor possession of gambling equipment charge. Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com WASHINGTON The two U.S. Senators from Texas, Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, refrained from asking questions Thursday during a high stakes grilling of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when they were teenagers. Cornyn and Cruz, both members of the Judiciary Committee charged with considering Kavanaugh's nomination, adhered to the GOP strategy of deferring to an outside attorney, Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, a veteran of cases involving victims of sexual assault. Ford, the first of at least three women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual impropriety, was widely regarded as a sympathetic and resilient witness, something Cornyn and other Republicans on the committee acknowledged. Kavanaugh, too, gave an impassioned and heart-wrenching rebuttal, angrily telling lawmakers, "This has destroyed my family." Cornyn, who had vowed to withhold judgment until hearing from Ford, showed his cards soon afterward, jumping in to back Kavanaugh against aggressive questioning from Democrats. "Judge, don't give up," Cornyn told Kavanaugh during the appeals court judge's turn to testify. "The American people are listening to this and they will make their decision, and I think you'll come out on the right side." Earlier, after Ford had finished her testimony, Cornyn said he found her performance credible. "I found no reason to find her not credible," Cornyn said. "Obviously, there were gaps in her story. Obviously, we know people who were traumatized have those gaps." Cruz, in a closely-watched race with Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke, made no direct statements about Ford's credibility other than to express sympathy for the families of both the accuser and accused. "You have both seen your good names dragged through the mud," Cruz said to Kavanaugh. "And this has been sadly one of the most shameful chapters in the history of the United States Senate." Cruz, like Cornyn, signaled that he will vote to confirm Kavanaugh. "The American people are fair-minded people," Cruz said. "The American people can set aside the partisan warfare of Washington and look to substance and facts." Cruz went on to argue that Ford's story was not corroborated by others who were near or present at the gathering where Ford said she was attacked. "That's significant to a fair-minded fact finder." Both Texas senators focused on the media frenzy surrounding Ford's allegations, which they blamed on the Democrats for holding back on the information until late in the confirmation process. Cornyn, speaking to reporters, also blamed Democrats for the extreme partisanship surrounding Ford's testimony, which Republicans see as a threat to a nomination that seemed all but assured a few weeks ago. That was before the story of Ford's allegations in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was leaked to the press. "I regret that she (Ford) finds herself in this circus-like setting because her letter to Senator Feinstein was released to the press without her knowledge or authorization," Cornyn said, striking a sympathetic posture toward a witness who had acknowledged being "terrified" to testify on national television. Feinstein said the letter was not leaked, to her knowledge, but that the story leaked out anyway. Cornyn also lamented that Ford could have been interviewed in a private setting, a proposal many Democrats rejected in favor of a full public airing of Ford's allegations. The intense public interest in the open hearing was seen by many on Capitol Hill as a liability for Kavanaugh and the Republicans backing his nomination by President Donald Trump. The Republican side of the committee is made up of 11 men which many analysts said could have made a bad political impression in the questioning of Ford on live television in the #MeToo era. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Mitchell "has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity." Accordingly, Grassley ceded to Mitchell all the Republicans' time for questioning Ford. Democrats complained that Mitchell's questions seemed designed to undermine Ford's memory and credibility, without any prior fact-finding by the FBI or any other investigative agency, as Ford had requested. Democrats also criticized Grassley's unwillingness to compel testimony from Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh whom Ford identified as a witness to the alleged attack. In a letter to the committee, Judge said that he did not wish to speak publicly and that he has "no memory of this alleged incident." Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, has argued that Judge's letter was submitted under possible penalty of perjury if untrue. Democrats argue he should face questioning under oath, like Ford and Kavanaugh The strategy to outsource their questions to Mitchell left Cornyn, Cruz and other Republicans on the committee sitting as silent spectators while Democrats praised Ford and asked largely supportive questions. Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal, criticizing the Republicans for their silence, called the arrangement "unprecedented." Speaking to reporters after Ford finished testifying, Cornyn praised Mitchell's role in the highly contentious hearing, one of the most dramatic nomination hearings in modern times. "I think she did exactly what I hoped she would do, and that is in a dignified and professional way ask questions to get information," Cornyn said. "I would say most of the comments from our friends across the aisle struck me as more political. They didn't really ask questions seeking information. We obviously are interested in getting to the truth here, and unfortunately this is a hyper-politicized environment." Ford, a California psychology professor, alleged Kavanaugh assaulted her while at a house party in the 1980s when she was 15. She said he pinned her to a bed, attempted to forcibly remove her clothes and placed his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Her voice breaking at times, Ford said she was "100 percent" certain that Kavanaugh was the perpetrator. Kavanaugh vigorously denied her accusation. He opened his testimony by calling the confirmation process a "national disgrace." Both Cornyn and Cruz had praised Kavanaugh in the past but stressed the importance of hearing out Ford a political imperative for committee Republicans. Cornyn, arguing on Kavanaugh's behalf in the hearing, noted that the allegations against him involve criminal offenses and that the burden of proof should be on his accusers. "And part of that means that if you're going to make an allegation, there needs to be corroboration," Cornyn said. "In other words, you're not guilty because somebody makes an accusation against you in this country." Cornyn also echoed the suggestion of Kavanaugh and his backers that whatever happened to Ford did not involve Kavanaugh. "I appreciate what you said about Dr. Ford," Cornyn told Kavanaugh. "That perhaps she has had an incident at some point in her life and you are sympathetic to that, but your reputation is on the line, and I hope people understand the gravity of the charges made against you and what a fair process looks like." The Judiciary Committee was scheduled to begin voting on his nomination Friday morning. A third accusation of sexual impropriety lodged Wednesday against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh made it even more difficult to predict the outcome of Thursdays scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. No matter what happens, President Donald Trumps insensitive attacks on all three accusers veracity didnt help. Heres a reminder why: I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, Im automatically attracted to beautiful I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. Just kiss. I dont even wait. And when youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Those are the words of the 45th president of the United States, which were taped years before his election during a 2005 interview with television personality Billy Bush on the set of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, where Trump was making a cameo appearance. Trump went on to make an even more vulgar remarks about what he liked to do to women. Just as it would be with President Bill Clinton, who was impeached for lying about having sex with a young White House intern, Trump has absolutely no credibility to defend anyone accused of sexual misconduct. At a Wednesday press conference, Trump even acknowledged that his response to allegations against Kavanaugh was colored by fact that he had faced similar allegations in the past. That hasnt stopped him from lobbing verbal bombs at Kavanaughs first accuser, Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford. I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents, Trump tweeted Friday. The subsequent response by thousands of women, and some men, who said they similarly kept quiet about sexual abuse for years didnt faze Trump. Instead, his words became even more venomous after a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her during a drinking party when they were students at Yale University. The second accuser has nothing. The second accuser thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. She admits she was drunk. She admits time lapses, Trump said. Oh, gee, lets not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that. A third woman, Julie Swetnick, said in a sworn declaration that Kavanaugh was at a house party in 1982 where she says she was the victim of a gang rape. Trump dismissed that allegation too and called Swetnicks lawyer, Michael Avenatii, a total low-life. Avenatii also represented Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who says Trump paid her to have sex and paid her again not to talk about it. The Judiciary committee didnt ask the FBI to investigate the assault allegations, even though the FBI investigated Anita Hills sexual misconduct accusation when Justice Clarence Thomas was a Supreme Court nominee. Prepared remarks by Kavanaugh released Wednesday by the committee reveal more about his teenage years. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now, his statement said. It later added that he never did anything remotely resembling a sexual attack. Those words themselves represent a marked change in tone that doesnt remotely resemble Kavanaughs early unnuanced denials of wrongdoing, which emphasized his regular church attendance and all-boys Catholic education. The descriptions by Ford and Ramirez of their alleged attacks raise the possibility that someone who had too many beers might not remember the incidents. The Judiciary Committee must sort that out, and it doesnt need help from a president whose tweets only bring to mind the many past allegations of sexual impropriety made against him. The Judiciary Committee in its earlier hearing found nothing to end Kavanaughs odyssey to reach the Supreme Court. But the senators cannot so easily dismiss these three womens accusations, especially not in the same week that Bill Cosby, a TV icon once considered Americas Dad, was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for drugging and assaulting a woman. Not in the same year that the #metoo movement has forced America to see how prevalent and how accepted sexual misconduct had become in our culture. Kavanaugh reportedly wasnt Trumps first choice to fill the seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, so the president should have others in mind for the job. If Kavanaugh isnt confirmed soon, the midterm elections could rob Republicans of the Senate majority they need to confirm Trumps next choice, too. Thats a political consideration that shouldnt take precedence over moral fitness and character in choosing a justice for the highest court in the land. Todays energy landscape in the Western Hemisphere provides a real opportunity for expanding U.S. energy engagement with the region and achieving greater energy security. The U.S. energy boom, Canadas oil sands, Mexicos energy reforms and South Americas wide range of energy sources offer huge potential that could bring greater prosperity to the United States and our neighbors. The Western Hemisphere is home to more than 30 percent of the worlds oil reserves and nearly 10 percent of the worlds natural gas reserves. It also accounts for around 30 percent of global oil and natural gas production respectively. North America has become an energy superpower in recent years, accounting for more than 70 percent of the Western Hemispheres oil production and over 84 percent of the regions natural gas production in 2017. The U.S. is the worlds largest oil and natural gas producer, and liquefied natural gas exports continue to grow. Refineries are also running at near-record highs, and gasoline exports are at a historic high. Recently, the U.S. Interior Department announced $178 million in bids from 29 companies in a Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale. Canada is also the worlds fifth-largest energy producer, which presents new possibilities for North American crude oil and refined products. Mexico is the fourth-largest producer of petroleum in the Americas, and its 2013 energy reforms opened the energy sector to foreign investment. Many key decisions remain on the future of these economic advances that Mexicos President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will need to make when he takes office in December. Central America has also made progress in forming a regional electricity market, increasing energy integration through the Central American Electricity Integration System and working with Mexico to integrate electricity markets. Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department signed an agreement with Panama on energy and infrastructure investment, and I expect more energy announcements related to the region in the future. These are all very positive developments, but I believe we can do more. Our engagement with Canada, Mexico and Central America should consider how we can build on current efforts to achieve greater regional energy integration and address infrastructure needs. Likewise, efforts with increased LNG shipments to the Caribbean and technical exchanges with regional partners are critical to lowering energy costs and advancing a stronger energy security agenda. The United States should elevate energy issues in engagement with the Western Hemisphere because energy has the potential to transform the region into an economic powerhouse, create economic growth and raise living standards. This region produces the worlds largest amount of hydroelectric power, and many countries have significant oil and natural gas production. Harnessing these strengths would benefit the American people as well as citizens in the region. Unfortunately, while Venezuela possesses the worlds largest proven oil reserves, the Maduro regimes corruption and mismanagement have effectively halted Venezuelas energy production and transformed the country into the regions worst humanitarian crisis. Countries can no longer rely upon Venezuela to meet their energy needs, and this vacuum has provided an opening for the United States and other energy players in the region to offer sustainable alternatives. Brazil is the worlds third-largest liquid fuel producer and regions second-largest oil producer. Argentina has huge prospective shale opportunities. Chile possesses the worlds second-largest lithium reserves, Ecuador has the third-largest oil reserves in South America, and Guyana may be the regions next major energy hub with the discovery of offshore oil and natural gas reserves. Many countries have also made reforms to cut red tape and open energy sectors to attract investment. Significantly, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru have all taken steps to improve their regulatory structures. The potential for further energy discovery and development in the region is enormous, and the United States should be at the forefront in partnering with our neighbors to advance a hemispheric-wide vision for greater energy security in ways that reflect the regions values and interests. Deeper engagement with the private sector in this effort is also key to creating more jobs and economic growth. Such efforts will empower countries to take ownership of their own resources and create more opportunities for their citizens. A secure energy future benefits the region and creates greater certainty for Americans. Cook represents Californias 8th Congressional District. He serves on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Natural Resources Committees. He is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Whats the best education for your child? How can you even know, unless you have more than one choice? Dont you deserve the chance to explore a variety of options, just like you have when making other decisions that impact your familys future? Nearly 40,000 students in San Antonio replied Yes! to that question. Thats the number of students who are waiting for an opening in public charter schools in San Antonio, according to a new report from Families Empowered, a Houston-based nonprofit that advocates for school choice. And that number is not even 30 percent of the number of students across the state who end up on wait-lists at schools that dont have enough space to take all who want to attend. These wait-lists surpassed 141,000 children statewide in recent years. This mirrors the growing demand nationally for more public charter schools. More than 3.2 million students attend charters schools nationally, and there are more than 1 million names on wait-lists across the country. In Houston, 29,484 families signed up to attend a KIPP Houston Public Schools or YES Prep Public Schools in the 2017/2018 school year. Tens of thousands of those kids were put on a waiting list because the schools didnt have enough space for all of them. In Austin, 8,913 families wanted to attend Austin Achieve Public Schools, KIPP Austin Public Schools or IDEA Public Schools in the 2017/2018 school year. What the Families Empowered report shows is abundantly clear: that parents want more choices for their childrens education. With our increasingly diverse student body and their wildly diverse needs, no school can be a perfect fit for every child. This is the beauty of public charter schools. Across Texas there are charter schools serving students who need something different. Maybe thats extra time at school, maybe its a curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and math, maybe its a drop-out recovery program. Charter schools are like our public schools special ops team. For many children who need something a little different, charters are there to meet their needs. Davinna Zapatas oldest daughter Maria struggled with reading. Her dyslexia wasnt diagnosed by her district school. It was only when Zapata enrolled Maria at YES Prep, a public charter school in Houston, that her dyslexia was finally recognized, and she began to improve academically. They immediately ran tests for Maria and discovered she has both dyslexia and Irlen syndrome, Zapata said. I noticed a dramatic change in her grades. From pre-K to fifth grade, she always made C-D-F grades. She was barely making it. I saw the change when she was in sixth grade [when she enrolled in YES Prep], her grades went up to A-B-Cs. She was more comfortable and relieved that somebody finally understood her and saw her point of view. Having the option to find the school setting that is the best fit for your individual children isnt just something parents need, its something they deserve. Marias story does not mean that ISD schools cant meet many students needs; they can and they do. And they will continue to do so for the vast majority of students in Texas. Charter schools do not have to be a replacement for ISDs; were simply another path to do what we all agree public education is supposed to do: Get kids prepared for life. And were both better together. School leaders in San Antonio have recognized the value of working together. Through a pathway created by Senate Bill 1882, San Antonio ISD is partnering with high-performing public charter schools and local nonprofits to improve the educational outcomes for thousands of students who have been underserved for years. Some of the benefits of these partnerships include extra funding to keep children from falling behind and access to the innovative practices used in public charter schools. Collaboration and cooperation put the needs of students and families first. Other Texas cities and ISDs are beginning to follow San Antonios lead, and we hope more will continue to do so. So, what is the best education for a child in Texas? Its one where parents have the opportunity to examine multiple options and decide for themselves which school will suit their childs individual needs the best. Coleman is the CEO of Texas Charter Schools Association. Pool, Pool / 2018 Getty Images Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Beto O'Rourke are set to clash in their second debate this weekend in Houston. We break down the first debate in Dallas and offer a preview of how the Senate candidates may throw down in Houston on Sunday night. A powerful state senator from Central Texas is accused of sexting with a grad student at UT. What's the fallout from that amid the #MeToo movement? WASHINGTON Google executives, after months of mostly avoiding the harsh spotlight put on their internet peers, are being grilled in Washington this week by lawmakers questioning if the Silicon Valley giant is living up to its promise to be a neutral arbiter of online information. On Friday, Sundar Pichai, Googles chief executive, will meet with Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California the Republican House majority leader and a Google critic and more than two dozen Republicans to discuss complaints the company is trying to silence conservative voices. Google has a lot of questions to answer about reports of bias in its search results, violations of user privacy, anti-competitive behavior, and business dealings with repressive regimes like China, McCarthy said in a statement. ZUCKERBERG: Protecting democracy is an arms race [Opinion] The Friday meeting will cap a week of tech-related sessions in Washington in which Google in the crosshairs of Silicon Valleys conservative critics since late summer has played a starring role. At a gathering of the heads of the Justice Department and a dozen state attorneys general on Tuesday, Google was mentioned more than any other company when it came to concerns about antitrust enforcement and privacy practices, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity. At a Senate hearing discussing online privacy on Wednesday, Googles chief privacy officer, Keith Enright, received the toughest and broadest array of questions from lawmakers who wanted to know about the companys consideration of introducing search services in China. Google says it is not close to starting such a service. In a letter to the Senate committee holding the hearing, a former employee, Jack Poulson, said Googles building a search engine that would be acceptable to the government of China was a catastrophic failure of the internal privacy review process. He said this was part of a broad pattern of unaccountable decision making. HOW TO: Are targeted ads stalking you? Make them stop. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also questioned Enright about claims of bias against conservatives in search results. I can tell you that millions of Texans believe Google is actively censoring the speech of conservatives, Cruz said. On Thursday, Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer and Republican Party official, is set to testify in the House about anti-conservative bias in tech. Dhillon represents several former employees in a lawsuit filed last year against Google that claims the company discriminated against them based on their political beliefs. Googles week in Washington comes three weeks after executives from Twitter and Facebook testified in a Senate hearing dedicated to Russian disinformation on social media. Jack Dorsey, Twitters chief executive, also spoke at a House hearing about claims of anti-conservative bias at Twitter. Google executives did not attend the Senate hearing, though they were invited. The company offered to send Kent Walker, a senior vice president for global policy who is also the companys top lawyer. But urged on by Facebook officials, according to two people familiar with the matter, senators insisted on a more powerful executive. Google refused. It was the worst business decision of 2018, said Scott Galloway, a founder of the business research firm Gartner L2 and a professor of marketing at New York University Stern School of Business. It feels like the tide has turned substantially, Galloway said. Theyve sort of poked the bear. HEY, SIRI: Do I want an always-on digital assistant listening in all the time? A Google spokeswoman said officials from the company had testified before Congress 22 times since 2008. Were happy to continue explaining our products and practices, Becca Rutkoff, the Google spokeswoman, said in a statement. For longtime Google critics and even some of its Silicon Valley peers, it is surprising that Google has avoided the spotlight for so long. It has 90 percent of the global search market a share so high that it has for years had to sidestep concerns that it is a dominant monopoly that needs to be regulated. Competitors have long claimed that Google is using its search dominance to advantage its own services and should be controlled by antitrust laws. The Google-owned YouTube video service is also dominant, and has for several years faced questions about videos that show terrorist violence and disinformation, similar to issues that Facebook and Twitter have had to address in congressional hearings. And Google has faced several claims of bias. A video of a staff meeting held shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, leaked two weeks ago, showed several senior Google executives, including Pichai, expressing their alarm. Emails leaked last week showed lower-level Google employees discussing whether they could alter search results to counter the presidents travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries. Google is adamant that no one in a position to make such a change seriously considered it. TOMLINSON: Time to get smart about artificial intelligence Employees are bracing for more embarrassing leaks. The company has long encouraged workers to speak their minds on internal message boards. That includes politics. The conservative pressure on Google started to escalate in late summer. On Aug. 28, Trump, in a series of Twitter posts, attacked Google for what he claimed was an effort to suppress conservative media that was favorable to his administration. The next day, the president posted a video that seemed to show that Google did not promote his State of the Union address on its home page as it had in the past for President Barack Obama. He used the hashtag #StopTheBias. The video was incorrect. Google said that it didnt promote Obamas inaugural address, a joint statement to Congress but not technically a State of the Union address, in 2009 either. Shortly after, other Republicans were calling for regulations and greater scrutiny. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called for antitrust regulators to reopen an investigation into Google. Some Google officials wonder if competitors are organizing a campaign to prompt regulatory scrutiny. At the Senate hearing Google did not attend, lawmakers mentioned a report that had come out a day before from the Campaign for Accountability, a nonprofit watchdog group that often publishes research critical of Google. The group posed as Russian trolls to buy what it called politically divisive ads on Googles systems, which failed to stop them. Google called the report a stunt by its rivals and blamed the software maker Oracle for its release. Ken Glueck, a senior vice president at Oracle, said it had made a one-time financial contribution in 2016 to the Campaign for Accountability but denied that the company had any involvement in the report. Google has many business opponents in Washington, including telecommunication giants like AT&T and Comcast. Oracle and News Corp. have put significant resources into funding third-party coalitions and public relations firms to place ads and to lobby lawmakers on Googles dominance in search and on allegations it uses its power to unfairly harm publishers and other tech rivals. But few companies have been as tenacious as Yelp, a midsize internet outfit with far fewer resources. It has waged a seven-year battle to get regulatory agencies around the world to investigate Google. Until recently, its calls have been largely ignored in the United States. The company claims Google prioritized its own reviews over others, making it much harder for competing reviews sites like Yelp to be discovered. Early in September, a White House official received an email with an attachment from Luther Lowe, the senior vice president for policy for Yelp. Check out the attachment, Lowe wrote in an email. Tell me what you think. The attachment was a document called, Executive Draft Order to Protect American Competition and Small Businesses From Bias in Online Platforms. It was a draft presidential order instructing antitrust officials to recommend ways to protect competition and clamp down on content bias on internet search and social media sites. Lowe said in an email that he did not know the origins of the document and that it had been forwarded to him. While there is no evidence that administration officials are seriously considering such a move, the documents existence made clear that Googles problems could get worse. Although the White House is concerned about the conduct of online platforms and their impact on society, this document is not the result of an official White House policymaking process, said Lindsay Walters, the deputy White House press secretary. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. The incident involved the worker opening a section of the machinery used for dehydrating blood into a powder and placed his right hand inside. The hand was struck by a rotating screw and was amputated. WorkSafes investigation found that Alliance Group had failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers and that it was reasonably practicable for them to have undertaken an adequate risk assessment of the machine and to have ensured it was adequately guarded. Simon Humphries, WorkSafes deputy general manager for Investigations and Specialist Services, said the level of injury and trauma this worker endured as a result of Alliances failings will impact him for the rest of his life. This is a stark reminder to others operating machinery in every industry to ensure machinery is adequately guarded, said Humphries. New Zealand has rigorous and accessible standards for machine guarding adhering to them and mitigating the risks your machinery poses is imperative to keeping workers safe from harm. 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. Imperial Valley News Center Vice President Pence at the Regional Migration and Humanitarian Crisis - Flows from Venezuela Event New York - Remarks by Vice President Pence at the Regional Migration and Humanitarian Crisis - Flows from Venezuela Event: THE VICE PRESIDENT: President Duque, thank you for convening this Ministerial meeting, for your words today, and for working tirelessly both in Colombia, and now on the world stage, to form a comprehensive response to the Venezuelan migration crisis. And not just simply to the consequences of the crisis in Venezuela, but to engage the distinguished leaders who are here, the nations represented here, to bring renewed focus on the political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that continues to unravel to the great suffering of the people of Venezuela. I want to thank President Varela of Panama. I want to thank our Deputy Secretary of State Sullivan, who is with us today. Our co-hosts, the Ministers of Canada and Peru. And to all of you distinguished representatives of nations not only across this New World, but around the world, for making time for this important forum. I bring greetings to each of you and gratitude for your presence today from a great champion of freedom not only in this hemisphere, but all over the globe, who you heard from this morning. I bring greetings from President Donald Trump. This morning, when President Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly, the world saw firsthand the resolve and the determination of the United States of America and all the free nations of the Western Hemisphere to stand with the Venezuelan people and stand up to their oppressors. As the President said today, what is happening in Venezuela is a human tragedy. Nicolas Maduro, by dismantling his democracy, by imposing the failed policies of socialism on his people, has, as the President said, bankrupted that oil-rich nation, what was once one of the wealthiest nations in our hemisphere, and, as the President added, driven its people into abject poverty, with millions of Venezuelans forced to flee in anguish inflicted by the policies of the Maduro regime and its Cuban sponsors. Just moments ago, President Trump and I met with President Duque, and we discussed in detail not only the situation past and present in Venezuela, but a recognition that the hardest work in addressing this crisis lies before us. And thats what brings us here today. America, throughout our history, has stood for freedom. And America stands with Colombia and with all the freedom-loving nations of the world. Were here today because, in this New World, what was once one of the most vibrant democracies in our hemisphere and prosperous under the Maduro regime has one of the worst murder rates in the world, and nearly 9 out of 10 Venezuelans live in poverty. Every day that Nicolas Maduro clings to power, some 5,000 Venezuelans leave their homes to escape the tyranny of that regime. They pour into neighboring nations, including many of those so well represented here today. Since 2017, more than 2.6 million Venezuelans have fled their homeland in a mass exodus, escaping violence and tyranny, and deprivation. It is the largest cross-border exodus in the history of our hemisphere. And as President Duque just said moments ago, it is arguably the worst crisis Latin America has ever faced. Today, 1 million Venezuelan migrants are in Colombia; 400,000 are in Peru; 160,000 are in Ecuador; nearly 85,000 are in Chile; and 75,000 in Brazil. Like many of you in this room, I have seen firsthand the results and the impact on people suffering under the deprivation and the violence of Venezuela who have fled that country. Ive visited each of the nations I just recited. I have met with refugees from the collapsing democracy and tyranny and deprivation of Venezuela, and it is heart breaking. Ill never forget meeting with migrants when my wife and I visited Colombia. As we made our way through a small shelter, I came across a grandmother who told me that she had finally decided to take her four grandchildren and make the trek all the way across Venezuela to leave for Colombia because things had gotten so bad that the children were required to stand in a line at five in the morning to get one ticket so that they could purchase one piece of bread at five in the afternoon. It was heart breaking. When we were in Manaus, we were in a church shelter, and Ill never forget a father surrounded by his wife and two small children, who said to me, with tears in his eyes, It is a terrible thing to come home at the end of a long day and tell your children that today we are not eating. Thats the reality in Venezuela. We speak of political collapse. We speak of violence and tyranny. But we also have to understand the human cost of these failed policies as well. And we have to meet that challenge with resolve and with unity, with determination and with generosity. And we are meeting that. The nations represented here, nations across the region, have been meeting this challenge with extraordinary generosity and compassion. I want to thank President Duque and all of the neighboring nations nations across the region that have stepped forward to assist the millions fleeing the Maduro regime. The United States has been proud to stand with you. The generosity of the United States to date has resulted in more than $45 million in public resources. But as I sit here, I also know the generosity of the American people has also been flowing to relief organizations and ministries and nongovernmental groups that have come alongside families that are struggling as we speak. And I can assure you, the generosity of the American people will continue. On behalf of President Trump, Im pleased to announce today that the United States of America will provide an additional $48 million in humanitarian assistance to all of our partners in the region, to confront the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding before us. As your nations confront the challenges of this migration crisis, the United States of America will stand with all of you in that. But we all know that providing aid to those who are suffering under the tyranny in Venezuela is not the real answer. This crisis will only keep growing as long as the Maduro regime remains in power and continues to deny the Venezuelan people democracy, and continues to impose the failed socialist agenda that has impoverished that nation. Thats why we must cut out the corruption at the heart of this crisis, and we must do all that we can to continue to isolate the Maduro regime. Toward that end, as President Trump announced today, the United States is imposing tough new sanctions on Maduros inner circle and close advisors those that are exploiting the Venezuelan people and supporting drug traffickers and criminals who threaten the stability not just of the region, but of our hemisphere as a whole. We must stand together in this effort, in new and in renewed ways, to isolate this regime economically and diplomatically. But rest assured, the United States of America will continue to stand with our allies on behalf of their security. News reports today are that the Maduro regime has moved military troops to the border of Colombia as they have done in the past, in an obvious effort at intimidation. And let me be clear: The United States of America will always stand with our allies for their security. And the Maduro regime would do well not to test the resolve of the President of the United States or the American people in this regard. We stand with Colombia and with our allies across this New World because of our shared values and our shared interests. We stand with our allies for the security of our own people, for the prosperity of freedom and the advance of security across this hemisphere serves the interests of our people every bit as much as it serves yours. But ultimately, we do this because this is, from its very birth, been a hemisphere of freedom. And the advance of freedom in this hemisphere has been a story that the world has marveled at. And I believe that its imperative, as we see this unfolding crisis in Venezuela, that we address it because of the humanitarian cost; we address it because of the need to end the tyranny and abuse of its people. We address it because of its threat to security in the region as a whole. But we address it as nations that believe in freedom. And as President Trump made clear again today, we will remain resolved to stand with freedom-loving people not only in our hemisphere, but the people of Venezuela who long to see freedom restored and democracy restored in their land. And we believe that the people of Venezuela will regain their libertad if we stand together if we stand together not just in the generosity of humanitarian aid, but if we stand together in our resolve to isolate economically, politically, and diplomatically this regime until freedom is restored. And we take all these actions with the usual optimism of the American people, as we believe in freedom. We believe that as Simon Bolivar declared, A people that loves freedom will in the end be free. And the people of the New World love freedom. And so we will work with you. We will stand with you. We will stand with the suffering people of Venezuela until freedom is restored. So thank you for all that the nations represented here have done, so far, to meet this crisis and to partner with us. I trust our announcement today of renewed American support the Presidents words today before the United Nations General Assembly give evidence of the importance of this issue not only to this administration, but to the American people. And we promise that we are prepared to continue to stand with you to assist the victims of the Maduro regime, to support the Venezuelan peoples noble quest to rescue their country, to rebuild their democracy, and reclaim their birthright of freedom. And I know that with your strong support, with the generosity of the nations represented here, with the solidarity of freedom-loving nations not only across the New World, but across the world, we will see freedom restored in Venezuela to the benefit of their people, our hemisphere, and the world. So thank you very much, and God bless you. Imperial Valley News Center President Donald J. Trumps Meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel Washington, DC - Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel during the United Nations General Assembly. President Trump reaffirmed the unbreakable bond between the two countries and the commitment of the United States to ensuring the security of Israel. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed their continued close coordination on countering the malign influence of Iran. The President also emphasized his commitment to achieving a lasting peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. Imperial Valley News Center Stepping up Action to End Forced Labor, Modern Slavery, and Human Trafficking Washington, DC - Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan's Remarks on "Stepping up Action to End Forced Labor, Modern Slavery, and Human Trafficking": Distinguished Guests, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. Its an honor to be here today. Thank you, Ms. Hong, for that powerful statement, for all the work that you and your husband, and your organizations are doing. Its an honor to stand here with you today. Id like to also start by thanking Secretary Mordaunt for her tireless leadership on this issue, for her government, for Prime Minister May and for hosting todays event. Id also like to acknowledge the many leaders from civil society and the private sector who are gathered with us here today. On behalf of the United States, its a privilege to co-host this extraordinarily important event with Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Canada, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom. Last year, I was honored to be here for the release of our international Call to Action to end human trafficking, also known as modern slavery. It reflects a framework for addressing what continues to be a global crisis, as weve just heard so powerfully from Ms. Hong. Today, there are an estimated 25 million victims of forced labor around the worlda quarter of whom are children. Behind those victims is a massive industry that nets about $150 billion in annual profits. Coordinated and sophisticated, it operates under the nose of each of our governments. The Call to Action recognized that we all share a responsibility to fight back and the United States remains determined to do our part. At the event last year, I was proud to announce a $25 million grant from U.S. Department of State to the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery to produce a substantial reduction in the prevalence of modern slavery around the world. The Global Fund is now in the process of awarding its first round of sub-grants totaling almost $16 million to organizations combating sex and labor trafficking in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The United States is proud of the outstanding work enabled by our initial grantand now we want to do more. So, today, Im pleased to announce that we are working with our Congress to make a second $25 million available to the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery as well as to the University of Georgia Research Foundation to work toward our mutual aim of ending modern slavery through transformative programs, innovative research methodologies, and the exchange of good practices. In addition, the U.S. Congress has made another $25 million available for the Departments Program to End Modern Slavery in the coming year bringing our total investment for this important program to $75 million. Its our hope that this will inspire other governments and private donors to contribute their own resources as the United Kingdom has done toward the shared goal of eradicating modern slavery in all its forms. These funds are a continuation of the United States efforts under this Administrations leadership to end human trafficking. The U.S. government is also seeking new ways to leverage input from human trafficking survivors when crafting our laws and strategies. In March, President Trump appointed nine members to the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, an entity comprised entirely of survivor leaders. At the State Department, were taking new strides to integrate survivor input into our anti-trafficking policies and programs. Our Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons is developing a groundbreaking initiative that will incorporate input from survivor consultants to help us enhance our programs, while also compensating them for their expertise. This initiative is a tremendous opportunity to heighten our effectiveness and refocus our work on the harsh realities of trafficking that only survivors can fully understand. More broadly, it is a part of our effort within the Department to open up a new chapter in our work on trafficking. The Administration has also nominated a new leader to help us write that chapter. We are hopeful the U.S. Senate will soon confirm Mr. John Richmond as the State Departments new Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Let me close with one final announcementthis one in concert with the governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It is with great pride that the United States joins with these nations today in introducing a set of core principles to guide government action to combat human trafficking in global supply chains. These principles outline key action in four areas critical to preventing forced labor in global supply chains: Government procurement, private sector cooperation, responsible recruitment, and harmonization of laws and policies. We hope that these principles will serve as a mechanism for sharing the most promising practices between all of our governments. However, we need to keep in mind that this responsibility does not rest solely on government. Effectively combating trafficking in supply chains requires strategic cooperation with civil society and most importantly, the business community. Fortunately, there are already many promising efforts underway in the private sector to discourage forced labor, and the principles were releasing are intended to complement those efforts. To share the corporate perspective on these principles, were pleased to have some of our partners from the business community here today. I am happy to see so many influential business leaders in the room for this event. So in conclusion, Id like to thank again Secretary Mordaunt for her leadership and for organizing todays event. Through strong partnerships like those on display here today, we can do even more to put an end to human trafficking. Thank you. President Trump Returns to the U.N. with a Mountain of Evidence for Peace Through Strength New York - President Donald J. Trump helped kick off the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City yesterday. Along with a series of bilateral meetings with allies this week, the President is addressing the full Assembly in a major speech Tuesday morning. The scourge of our planet today is a small group of rogue regimes that violate every principle on which the United Nations is based, President Trump told the Assembly last September. They respect neither their own citizens nor the sovereign rights of their countries. One year later, the bold diplomacy of the Trump Administration has diminished many of the threats the President cited that day, including the most critical ones from North Korea, Iran, and ISIS. Among these accomplishments, the historic Singapore Summit with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un stands out, marking the first-ever face-to-face meeting between an American President and a North Korean head of state. At the summit, the two leaders committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. At last years UNGA, President Trump foreshadowed this development. It is time for North Korea to realize that denuclearization is its only acceptable future, he said. Just last week, leaders from both North and South Korea met to reaffirm that vision and begin drafting a plan to achieve it. Last years speech identified another significant threat to the American homeland: terrorism originating from turbulence in the Middle East. Two bad actors, ISIS and the Iranian regime, share much of the responsibility for the death and destruction. We must deny the terrorists safe haven, transit, funding, and any form of support for their vile and sinister ideology, President Trump said. The President has also condemned regimes and terror groups use of hostage-taking and prioritized the recovery of Americans held hostage or detained overseas. To eradicate the first of these threats, ISIS, President Trump changed the rules of engagement on the ground, empowering U.S. commanders with broader authority. The results are unmistakable. ISIS has lost nearly all of its territory, more than half of which was liberated in less than 18 months under the Trump Administration. The chips fell quickly. In October 2017, ISIS self-proclaimed capital city of Raqqah was liberated. By December, the Iraqi government announced that all Iraqi territory had been liberated from ISIS control. On Iran, President Trump used last years UNGA speech to reiterate his profound objections to a nuclear deal that put the interests of diplomats ahead of the Iranian peopleand, indeed, peaceful people the world over. By lifting sanctions and unfreezing financial assets, the Obama Administrations deal gave the Iranian regime a cash windfall while failing to advance Americas national security interests. Rather than use its resources to improve Iranian lives, its oil profits go to fund Hezbollah and other terrorists that kill innocent Muslims and attack their peaceful Arab and Israeli neighbors, President Trump said. This wealth, which rightly belongs to Irans people, also goes to shore up Bashar al-Assads dictatorship, fuel Yemens civil war, and undermine peace throughout the entire Middle East. In May, the President made good on his promise to withdraw the United States from that deal. A new agreement, he emphasized, must permanently deny Iran any path to a nuclear weapon and address the totality of the regimes malign activities, including its support for terrorism. While North Korea, ISIS, and Iran constituted three of the biggest threats to peace, they were far from the only aggressors President Trump called out in New York last year: The actions of the criminal regime of Bashar al-Assad, including the use of chemical weapons against his own citizenseven innocent childrenshock the conscience of every decent person. In April, the United States joined Britain and France in launching precision air strikes on targets associated with those chemical weapons capabilities. The Venezuelan people are starving and their country is collapsing. Their democratic institutions are being destroyed. This situation is completely unacceptable and we cannot stand by and watch. In March, the Trump Administration expanded its sanctions against Venezuelan leaders, upping pressure on the corrupt Maduro regime. In America, the people govern, the people rule, and the people are sovereign. I was elected not to take power, but to give power to the American people, where it belongs. In foreign affairs, we are renewing this founding principle of sovereignty. In keeping with that vision, National Security Advisor John Bolton announced this month that the Trump Administration would take all necessary steps to protect American soldiers and citizens from unjust prosecution by the unaccountable International Criminal Court. By prioritizing peace through strength, the rate of progress for American foreign policy over the past 12 months has been staggering. President Trump makes it clear that this work is only just beginning. On Tuesday in New York, he will build on last years message to the U.N.that strong, sovereign nations must work side-by-side to confront the gravest threats to our civilization. If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph. Commissioner Maureen K. Ohlhausen Announces Departure from the FTC Washington, DC - Commissioner Maureen K. Ohlhausen announced her departure from the Federal Trade Commission upon the expiration of her term today. Ohlhausen was sworn in as a Commissioner on April 4, 2012, and served as Acting Chairman of the agency from January 25, 2017 to May 1, 2018. Commissioner Ohlhausen previously served the FTC in various capacities, including four years as the Director of the Office of Policy Planning. It has been a great privilege to serve the American people through the different leadership positions Ive held in this wonderful agency, including my time as Acting Chairman, Commissioner Ohlhausen said. I want to thank my fellow Commissioners and the FTCs talented, hard-working staff, who take on the toughest challenges in protecting consumers, standing up for competition, and understanding the complex issues facing our economy. During her tenure as both Commissioner and Acting Chairman, Ohlhausen focused on strong enforcement of the nations antitrust and consumer protection laws, including the key priority of safeguarding consumer privacy and data security. Under Commissioner Ohlhausens leadership as Acting Chairman, the FTC targeted 32 proposed mergers with significant competition concerns, negotiating settlements to protect consumers in 19 of those cases. The agency successfully challenged a number of mergers, including the proposed acquisition by Sanford Health of Mid Dakota Clinic, the tie up of two major specialty chemical companies in the marine industry, Wilhelmsen Marine Services and Drew Marine Group, as well as two major manufacturers of the paint component titanium dioxide, Tronox Limited and Cristal. Competition concerns raised by the Commission during her tenure prompted Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. to restructure its proposed acquisition of Rite Aid Corporation, and the agency filed a complaint to block the merger of specialized software vendors CDK Global, Inc. and Auto/Mate. The Commission also aggressively pursued its consumer protection mission during Commissioner Ohlhausens tenure as head of the FTC. The agency brought or settled more than 138 consumer protection matters during her chairmanship, distributed approximately $300 million in redress directly to over 3.7 million people, and supported programs that delivered more than $6 billion in refunds to consumers. During her time leading the agency, the FTC was highly active in efforts to protect consumer privacy and promote data security. The agency brought 20 actions, including significant cases against the ride-sharing company Uber, the first connected toys case against VTech Electronics, as well as actions against computer manufacturer Lenovo, peer-to-peer payment service Venmo, and the revenge porn website MyEx.com. The FTC also increased enforcement of the European Union-United States Privacy Shield framework, settling charges against three U.S. companies for misleading consumers about their participation in the framework. In addition, Commissioner Ohlhausen convened an Informational Injury Workshop to examine injuries to consumers from the use and exposure of their personal information, and issued a report recommending steps mobile device manufacturers can take to enhance security for users. As Acting Chairman, Ohlhausen also strongly promoted policy work and competition advocacy, launching the FTCs Economic Liberty initiative to spotlight the growing problem of excessive and overbroad occupational licensing. These restrictions can impose real and lasting costs on consumers and workers in the U.S., particularly those trying to climb the economic ladder and military families, who must relocate frequently. Through her Economic Liberty initiative, she expanded the FTCs cooperation with state and federal leaders, testified before Congress on the issue, and hosted a series of public events to explore ways of identifying and eliminating excessive licensing restrictions. As part of the Task Forces ongoing work, yesterday it released a Report, entitled, Options to Enhance Occupational License Portability, examining ways to reduce the burden on licensed workers moving to new states or wishing to market services across state lines. In addition, Commissioner Ohlhausen prioritized protecting consumers in the U.S. military, convening a Military Task Force within the FTC and making agency resources available through a new FTC website. During her tenure as Acting Chairman, the Commission held a workshop to examine scams that can affect military consumers and a Common Ground conference to train attorneys, financial advisors, and other officials to combat fraud against members of the military and their families. Commissioner Ohlhausen also emphasized strengthening the FTCs relationships with its law enforcement counterparts overseas. During her tenure as both a Commissioner and Acting Chairman, she engaged with government authorities around the world to promote sound antitrust and consumer protection principles and practices. She also met more than a dozen times with antitrust authorities in China to discuss the development of its antitrust laws and to advocate for the protection of intellectual property rights, due process, and competition-based substantive policies. FTC Chairman Joseph J. Simons Announces Selection of Gail F. Levine as a Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition Washington, DC - Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph J. Simons announced that he has selected Gail F. Levine to be a Deputy Director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition, effective Oct. 15, 2018. We are delighted to welcome Gail to the Front Office of the Bureau of Competition, said Bureau of Competition Director Bruce Hoffman, who previously served with Levine at the FTC. Gails deep experience in antitrust and intellectual property law, and her expansive legal background, including prior service at both the FTC and the Department of Justice, will be great assets to the agency as it enforces federal antitrust laws on behalf of Americas consumers, he added. Levine will join the Bureaus other Deputy Directors, Marian Bruno and Ian Conner, and Acting Deputy Director Haidee Schwartz. Her experience at the FTC included serving as an Attorney Advisor to Chairman Deborah Majoras, as Deputy Assistant General Counsel, and as Assistant Director of the Office of Policy Planning. Levine also was a trial lawyer in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Levine clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She is currently serving as Director of U.S. Competition Law at Uber Technologies, Inc., and previously was Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Verizon Communications Inc. Religious Freedom in Ukraine Washington, DC - The United States strongly supports religious freedom, including the freedom of members of groups to govern their religion according to their beliefs and practice their faiths freely without government interference. The United States respects the ability of Ukraines Orthodox religious leaders and followers to pursue autocephaly according to their beliefs. We respect the Ecumenical Patriarch as a voice of religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue. The United States maintains unwavering support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and the Russian occupation of Crimea. We also support Ukraine as it charts its own path and makes its own decisions and associations, free of external interference. The United States Imposes Sanctions on Venezuelan Individuals and Entities Washington, DC - Today, the United States imposed sanctions on four current or former officials of the Government of Venezuela: First Lady and Former Attorney General Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, Executive Vice President Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez, Minister of Communication and Information Jorge Jesus Rodriguez Gomez, and Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez. In addition, the United States has designated additional individuals and entities that are part of a network supporting Rafael Alfredo Sarria Diaz, a key front person for sanctioned Venezuelan President of the illegitimate Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello Rondon. The United States designated both Sarria Diaz and Cabello on May 18. The individuals sanctioned today that form part of the network associated with Rafael Alfredo Sarria Diaz are: Jose Omar Paredes and Edgar Alberto Sarria Diaz. The entities sanctioned for being owned or controlled by, or have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of Sarria Diaz are: Quiana Trading Limited and AVERUCA, C.A. In addition, the United States has sanctioned Panazeate SL for being owned or controlled by, or have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, Edgar Alberto Sarria Diaz. As a result of todays action, all property and interests in property of these individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). OFACs 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 designated persons. U.S. sanctions need not be permanent; they are intended to change behavior. The United States would consider lifting sanctions for persons sanctioned under E.O. 13692 that take concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order, refuse to take part in human rights abuses and speak out against abuses committed by the government, and combat corruption in Venezuela. Todays action shows that the United States will continue to take concrete and forceful action against those who are involved in the destruction of democracy in Venezuela as well as those who are enriching themselves at the expense of the Venezuelan people. The United States will continue to use the full weight of American economic and diplomatic power to help create the conditions for the restoration of democracy for the Venezuelan people. United States Continues To Assist Venezuelans in Need Washington, DC - Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday at the 73rd regular session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, NY, more than $48 million in additional humanitarian U.S. assistance for Venezuelans affected by the man-made crisis in Venezuela. This funding will help provide affected Venezuelans with emergency food assistance, safe drinking water, hygiene supplies, shelter, protection from violence and exploitation, and work and education opportunities, in coordination with other NGOs and government partners. This funding includes contributions to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to meet the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Venezuelans throughout the region. This funding also supports the UN World Food Programs emergency response efforts to help feed Venezuelans in Colombia as well as those who have recently arrived in Ecuador. It also supports non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are delivering humanitarian aid to Venezuelans and hosting communities in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and other countries throughout the region. This additional $48 million brings total U.S. humanitarian assistance for vulnerable Venezuelans and for the neighboring communities hosting those who have fled to more than $95 million since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2017. This $95 million total in humanitarian assistance is complemented by $23.5 million in economic support and development assistance dedicated to Colombia to help boost its capacity to absorb incoming Venezuelans. The United States remains concerned about the struggle Venezuelan citizens face every day to meet their families basic needs amid the chaos and repression unleashed by the Maduro regime, and urges increased support for the well-being of the Venezuelan people and the restoration of their democracy. Further, the United States calls on the Maduro regime to immediately allow international aid, including food and medicine, to reach Venezuela at a sufficient scale to meet growing humanitarian needs. The United States greatly appreciates the generosity and compassion of countries throughout the hemisphere who are hosting hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the crisis in their country. The United States commends the humanitarian contributions made by all donors, and encourages them to make additional funding available to meet the growing crisis. "That's cute--but don't tell anyone." If Kodak's bankruptcy can be traced to a single sentence, it's that response Steven Sasson allegedly received when presenting his prototype of the first digital camera to management. Although they couldn't have known it that day in 1975, Kodak's leaders had effectively ceded the company's dominance of the photography industry. Stories like Kodak's exist in every industry. Former grocery giant A&P had its lunch eaten by Kroger because it ignored 20th-century consumers' growing taste for upscale stores. Twice-bankrupt RadioShack didn't buy into e-commerce until years after Best Buy and Walmart sold products online. What unites these tales isn't malice or outright recklessness; it's resistance to change, a trait fundamentally baked into human beings. We're hardwired to take actions that make us feel secure and comfortable, even when those actions might be unhealthy or irrational. I experienced this: For more than five years, I let my company grow at a modest pace because I grew complacent. I ended up losing millions because I didn't change. The trouble is that change is constant--particularly in business. In 1965, the average tenure of a company on the Fortune 500 list was 33 years, according to the American Enterprise Institute. That figure shrank to 20 years by 1990, and AEI expects it to drop to 14 years by 2026. The true marker of corporate well-being isn't quarterly earnings or average employee tenure; it's the capacity for change. Consider the attributes of companies that effectively manage change: 1. A purpose-driven mission Yelp began life in 2004 not as a third-party directory of business reviews, but as an automated system for sharing private recommendations. Although users panned the platform, they began writing unsolicited reviews of local businesses. Committed to their vision, the founders pivoted, building Yelp into an internationally known brand. A company's purpose may be supporting local businesses or improving access to health care; it's not just making money or satisfying shareholders. It's what leaders look to when deciding whether to make an acquisition or pivot, and it's a source of strength for employees frustrated by what they might otherwise see as unnecessary stress. 2. Engaged executives It's the first principle of leadership: Followers model their leaders' attitudes and actions. No matter how stressful the change, executives must be optimistic, patient, and understanding when communicating with employees. Even the appearance of uncertainty or apathy will be picked up on and reflected back by their teams. Emily Crawford is a senior consultant at Credera, a management consulting firm that's worked with brands from Southwest Airlines to National Geographic. She argues executive confidence is an underappreciated ingredient in the recipe for corporate change. "It means securing the needed time and money, but it also means actively displaying their own support of the change and their belief in the future state," Crawford explains. She suggests leaders share progress metrics, such as declining usage of the old system, whenever possible. I completely agree that leaders must be radically transparent about project progress, even when it is not good news. 3. An early-adopter culture Corporate change must be bottom-up as well as top-down. According to the Rogers Adoption Curve, people adopt an innovation following a bell curve. In the average 100-person workplace, two or three employees are true innovators and about 13 are early adopters. The other 85 will wait to see whether their peers are successful with the new technology or process before trying it themselves. Every organization has its adventurous and not-so-adventurous members. The key question is whether the company has aimed its hiring efforts at the former. If it has--if, say, 50 of those 100 people are eager to try new things--the remaining 50 individuals will be much more willing to hop on board. Peer pressure is a powerful thing. 4. Personalized training processes Late adopters, in particular, will accept change only when they feel equipped to succeed. Training can take many forms depending on the change in question, but one-size-fits-all sessions encourage attendees to tune out information they perceive as irrelevant. Any sizable organization must offer role-specific trainings that accommodate multiple learning styles to get the message across. That sounds challenging, but it's something most high-functioning companies already do. They organize employees into functional departments, where leaders help new members learn the group's processes and culture. Those leaders provide multiple avenues for continuing education, such as articles, slideshows, and conferences. Amazon knows you like its online review system so well that it just opened a physical shop around it. The retail store--dubbed Amazon 4-Star--opens today in the trendy New York City neighborhood of SoHo, home to other well-known brands such as Apple, Warby Parker, and Casper. The store will only sell products with four-star ratings or higher on Amazon's e-commerce platform, including top sellers or new and trending items, according to a company blog post. Price tags are shown in digital displays and include two separate values--one regular price and a discounted price for Prime members. It is not clear if the amount will change dynamically to reflect price fluctuations on the online site. Amazon did not immediately reply to a request for comment. It's also not clear how the company will pick the products it includes in this store, which would be helpful for vendors interested in getting placement. Obviously, an item would need to be highly rated and have a healthy number of user reviews. But it's not known whether Amazon factors in other criteria, like using its fulfillment services or being a successful Prime Day seller. The store features products sorted by different sections, including "Most-Wished-For," which are items frequently added to wish lists on Amazon; "Frequently Bought Together," which is exactly what the name suggests; "Trending Around NYC," for products bought by NYC-based customers; and "Amazon Exclusives." The company did not say how often it would change or revise these collections. Jeff Bezos's company opened its first brick-and-mortar store, a bookstore dubbed Amazon Books, in 2015. Since then, the Seattle-based tech giant has expanded its physical footprint to include Amazon Go, a cashier-less grocery store; AmazonFresh Pickup; Amazon pop-up shops; Whole Foods Market; and now Amazon 4-Star. Editor's note: The text for the new trade agreement, named the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was released on September 30. NAFTA 2.0 is coming out this week and there's still a lot of unanswered questions. The U.S. is expected to publish the full text of the new trade pact--set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement--on Friday. Instead of a trilateral accord, however, the revised trade deal consists of a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Mexico--but it will leave open the possibility for Canada to join at a later date, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg. The Trump administration put a clock on NAFTA's modernization process so that the new trade deal between the three countries could be signed by outgoing Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto before he leaves office on December 1. Despite a stalemate in negotiations with Canada, the Trump administration is pushing forward with a U.S.-Mexico-only deal--because "if we push it beyond that date then we have a new negotiation with [incoming Mexican President Andres Manuel] Lopez Obrador, and we don't know where that would go at all," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Tuesday at the Concordia annual summit in New York. Ahead of the full document release, the details are sparse. Even so, here's a recap of what's known to be in, what's been left out, and the open questions you might have when comparing the new NAFTA agreement with the 24-year-old existing treaty. What's In A 16-year sunset clause: As opposed to current NAFTA, the new agreement does not expect to remain unchanged in perpetuity--it is valid for 16 years at a time. To give certainty to businesses with deals in either country, the U.S. and Mexico agreed to convene every six years and vote to either to extend the treaty for another 16-year period or begin a renegotiation process with plenty of time before the deal expires. Increased auto industry protections: The new treaty states that 75 percent of automobiles have to be manufactured in the U.S. or Mexico--up from the previous 62.5 percent requirement--to be exempt from tariffs. It also says that 40 to 45 percent of vehicles need to be produced by workers earning at least $16 per hour, which would give an advantage to the U.S., where wages are higher. Reduced barriers: For the first time, a trade agreement between Mexico and the U.S. will include provisions to eliminate digital trade barriers. For example, it limits a government's ability to force tech startups to disclose "proprietary computer source code and algorithms." It also lets companies transfer customer data across borders and reduces limits on where that information should be stored. On the other hand, Mexico doubled its "de minimis shipment value" to $100 total, meaning shipments of goods up to this amount can enter the country without paying taxes, which could help small American e-commerce businesses expand services there. Intellectual property protections: The agreement grants 10 years of data protection for biologic drugs, a win for pharmaceutical companies. It also expands copyright protection to 75 years. What's Out Process for appealing infractions: Currently, Canada, the U.S., and Mexico can appeal anti-dumping and countervailing duties. That provision, known as Chapter 19, has been eliminated in the new NAFTA agreement. Its loss is one of the largest sticking points in negotiations with Canada, which has argued to keep it. Clear-cut conflict resolution: The mechanism known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement, which helps resolve investment conflicts between companies and governments, is expected to be largely watered down--and it's unclear just how. It is known that there will be exceptions, however. During a call with reporters in August, Lighthizer stated that industries working closely with the government--mainly energy, infrastructure, and telecom businesses--will get the "old-fashioned ISDS." NAFTA's name: President Trump has stated he does not like the name NAFTA and is hoping to rename the new trade agreement as the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMC) agreement, if the latter should join. For now, the new NAFTA is likely going to be renamed the U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, as it was announced last month. What's Still Unknown Will there be tariffs? This past summer, the U.S. imposed a 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent duty on aluminum imports for several countries, which included Mexico and Canada. It is unclear if the new trade agreement will exempt Mexican imports. Who can work in the U.S.? The Trade National visas are designed to let foreign nationals from Mexico and Canada in certain jobs or industries work in the U.S. They are part of NAFTA but have not been mentioned by U.S. officials as part of the new agreement. The visas are not widely used, says Gary Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics. However, unlike H-1B visas, there's no limit to the number the U.S. government can grant. "Given the administration's general hostility to visas, I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of caps on those numbers," he adds. Will there be procurement limits? In short, early in the process the Trump administration wanted to limit the number of Mexican and Canadian companies that could get U.S. government contracts by restricting their ability to bid, based on the size of their own procurement markets. The proposal received a lot of backlash from the U.S. business community, which suggested the provision would limit American companies' ability to win government contracts in Canada and Mexico. It's unknown how or if it will be addressed in the new treaty. Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, recently told CNBC why many employees quit their jobs. He explained that after analyzing thousands of employee anecdotes, most people will leave a job not because they don't like the work or because they found a better position, but because they don't like their boss. Let's be real: That shouldn't be surprising. Your manager changes everything. I've personally gone through many situations where I was having the time of my life, and then when I got a new manager, it was like the world collapsed on me. I went from being the happiest person on earth to looking for a better job within weeks. However, something Weiner said really struck a chord with me. He said that most employees who don't like their boss, also don't have the support of their coworkers. For many people who leave a job, it comes down to one simple thing: They don't have a sense of belonging. Employee satisfaction comes down to creating a community. One of the things that really stood out to me after listening to LinkedIn's CEO was that we all seek connection and collaboration with others. Whether it's a remote coworker interaction, or someone who is physically close enough to toss an extra sugar packet or two into your cubicle in the morning, we all need friends. While this can be difficult to facilitate as a company, we have to try harder. If you have any kind of sway within your organization, I ask that you take these words very seriously. At one of my jobs, the CEO used to order food from a food delivery service for remote workers and watch it get delivered while we were on a group video chat. There is a true sense of belonging--you got free Thai food delivered to you when you were least expecting it. You'll remember that forever. Company culture should be inclusive and embrace people who are struggling. If you see someone who is struggling, or who you think may be experiencing signs of stress, depression, or high levels of anxiety, do something about it. Talk to them. Buy them a coffee. Make the extra effort. My trick is to ask, "How's life?" I'm always amazed at the responses I get. It usually turns into an hour-long conversation, and I learn a lot in the process. If you see someone always eating alone in the corner day after day, go join them. More important, encourage your office to embrace a workplace acceptance policy that is more inclusive, and can provide help and support for those who need it. This goes beyond icebreakers and team-building activities. Being an engaged employee is different than being a team player. If everyone does a little more to promote kindness, the entire office will benefit. I've worked in offices where it felt like everyone was an automaton, and I've worked in places that literally felt like I was working with my best friends. The difference always comes down to the expectations that managers lay down, so if you are reading this, choose wisely. What should you do if you want to quit? Remember, a feeling of belonging doesn't happen overnight. If you are thinking of quitting, it's important to speak to your manager and have an open and honest conversation about how you are feeling. If you feel isolated at work, there are steps that can be taken to remedy it. Maybe you can negotiate working from home a few days per week to spend time with your family and loved ones. Or perhaps you can be switched to a different team that could use your skill sets. If you are in a position to help other staff members feel more included, see it as your duty to do so. It makes your organization better as a whole, and it could be the deciding factor that makes your coworkers' lives much better. BrewDog has cancelled a promotion with a US brewery whose PR agency announced that it would be giving UK Trump supporters free beer. In a press release from Scofflaw's representatives Frank PR, it was stated that BrewDog had partnered with the Atlanta-based brewery for a series of events in London, Manchester and Leeds. It said that customers visiting various BrewDog bars, including its branches in Shoreditch, Soho and Tower Hill, could receive a free beer if they claimed that they were supporters of the US President. Scofflaw was putting tens of thousands of pounds behind several BrewDog bars, the promotional email said, in order to encourage UK customers to get beered up redneck style. Within minutes of the release being sent out, people began criticising the move on social media, and just over an hour later the PR firm said the original release was "incorrect information", put out by mistake due to a chain of miscommunication. BrewDog has since clarified that it did not approve the promotion, and said it has cancelled events with Scofflaw that were scheduled to take place at its breweries from September 29 until October 6. The Scofflaw release was announced without our knowledge or consent, the company wrote in a statement on Twitter. We are in no way aligned with their position and we will of course by cancelling all the events and sending all of the beer back. Twitter users have responded with confusion over the situation, expressing their staunch opposition to the apparent marketing tactic. There are A LOT of reasons to dislike @BrewDog and heres another one for the list: this weekend their bars are offering free beers to UK Trump supporters, one person wrote. We did not know anything about this, Brewdog tweeted, We are cancelling the events and are sending all of the beer back - Scofflaw beer wont be available in our bars. The brewery has now announced that its going to be offering a very real promotion instead, saying that customers who support love not hate can claim a free beer today. Simply tell our staff, and enjoy a pint of Punk IPA, or any Headliner on us, BrewDog tweeted. However, the new promotion hasnt gone down well with some. Well I suppose that is one way to apologise for offering public support for white nationalists, one person tweeted. Ive heard some bad stuff about BrewDog before but I didnt want to believe it - youve not handled this well so I think Ill be drinking elsewhere from now on." Scofflaw has released a statement in regard to the issue, stating that the press release was sent without the brewery's knowledge or approval. "Scofflaw Brewing Co. is appalled by the inaccurate posts released yesterday morning by a UK agency that Scofflaw hired to promote its UK tour," the statement reads. "This post is absolute nonsense," says Scofflaw owner Matt Shirah. "While we definitely have country roots, no one at Scofflaw Brewing or those associated with our brand, is now or has ever been, rooted in hate." Frank PR has also commented on the situation, explaining that the statement about the beer promotion was released by an individual employee at the company. "The reputation of our client is of utmost importance and we are taking this matter seriously," Frank states. "The employee has been suspended while an investigation takes place. We apologise to Scofflaw, BrewDog and anyone that may have been offended by these actions." Its often advised not to become romantically involved with someone at work, as it could lead to a whole array of awkward situations should the relationship go sour. And while almost a quarter of workers in the UK are in serious relationships with people that they met at work, a recent study has shown that workplace romances are becoming more taboo in the wake of sexual harassment campaigns such as the #MeToo movement. Research conducted by Direct Line life insurance has discovered that almost 80 per cent of human resources professionals believe that office relationships have become less acceptable in recent times. Furthermore, almost one in 20 UK companies now ban workplace romances outright. While the notion of dating a coworker may be frowned upon in many industries, this hasnt stopped many Brits. Around half of workers in the UK have admitted that theyve been in a workplace relationship in the past. On top of that, almost three quarters of those whove been romantically involved with colleagues have kept it a secret from their manager or the human resources department at their work. According to the HR professionals who were questioned as part of the study, the growth of initiatives such as the #MeToo and Times Up movements has led to 78 per cent of companies updating or reviewing their policies on workplace relationships in the past year, with 32 per cent making changes to their policies. Jane Morgan, business manager at Direct Line Life Insurance, explains how the conversations currently being had about the prevalence of sexual harassment has influenced peoples attitudes towards pursuing office romances. Current movements prompting discussions about professional relationships and conduct are long overdue and very welcome, she says. Recommended New study reveals how men and women really act on dating apps With this in mind its important that if youre embarking on a new romantic relationship at work you double check your companys policy, as even if you think its ok your companys policy may have recently been updated. Relationship psychologist Susan Quilliam stresses the importance of understanding where to draw the line with workplace relationships. Its natural that people who work together may become attracted, as you see each other every day, have mutual interests and have lots of opportunity to develop feelings for each other. But it can be challenging, she says. You need to read the signs and remember that the social conventions in a bar on a Saturday night dont translate to the workplace environment, no matter how relaxed your office culture may be! Journalist and broadcaster Harriet Minter believes that romantic relationships in the workplace should be banned. You cant stop people from being attracted to each other, but you can say, Actually, please dont act on that behaviour in your office, she said on Good Morning Britain. In Minters opinion, the power disparity between couples who work together can make relationships complicated. A size-18 model has expressed her disgust and anger after she was allegedly told by a London club promoter that she could only bring two or three plus-size friends to her birthday party. Kaisa Henriikka was planning her party at a popular London club through the help of a third-party promoter called DJ L when she was asked whether all of her guests would be plus-size models. According to a screenshot of the conversation, the promoter said he was not trying to be rude, but knew that some clubs can be funny. If its two to three girls in your group, that is fine, hope you understand, he wrote. Surprised by the promoters response, Henriikka asked: Omg really? So you only want skinny people in your clubs? After receiving his response - that hed only asked because he knows some clubs have strict door policies - Henriikka shared the post on her Instagram, where she has more than 21,000 followers, and captioned the photo: WTF??? Only two-three plus-sized girls per group are allowed to party at Londons finest nightclubs! I am furious. The model then took to Instagram stories to further explain the incident, before telling her followers: I find it highly offending and I cant believe that people would discriminate because of size and I just want to make a big deal out of this because its not okay and I want to fight. Since sharing the conversation with the promoter, Henriikka has received hundreds of messages of support from people shocked that discrimination over size still exists. This is why we need to address the fat-shaming issue! Style and Curve magazine wrote on Instagram. This is so unfair. Partying is for all! On an Instagram poll Henriikka created asking her followers whether theyve ever felt uncomfortable going to a fancy club because of their size, 89 per cent said yes - which sparked a conversation on social media, with other people sharing their own experiences feeling discriminated by nightclubs. Following Henriikkas Instagram post, one Mayfair club appears to have liked the models Instagram posts, according to a screenshot she shared- a gesture she called too little too late. The pressure of being a plus-size model Show all 2 1 /2 The pressure of being a plus-size model The pressure of being a plus-size model 552301.bin Getty Images The pressure of being a plus-size model 551861.bin GETTY IMAGES The Independent has contacted Henriikka and DJ L for comment. Speaking to The Sun, DJ L said: "I don't want to be sending people to clubs where we know they're going to have a problem. "Even if you're not dressed right you can be turned away, or if you're in a big group, I know how it works. "They're shooting the messenger. I love seeing people enjoying themselves and I didn't want to send 10 people there for them not to get in." Cara Delevingne has revealed why she didnt report being sexually abused, explaining that she felt ashamed about the ordeal. Over the past week, thousands of people have been tweeting using the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport to share why they didnt immediately go to the authorities after being sexually abused. The hashtag started gaining popularity after Donald Trump questioned the validity of the accusations of sexual misconduct made against US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Recommended Brett Kavanaugh accuser Dr Christine Ford to testify before Senate Celebrities including Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd have used the hashtag to tweet about their experiences, explaining that they didnt think their accusations would have been taken seriously. Delevingne has now also joined in the discussion, saying that she had worried about the consequences that reporting her assault would have had on the livelihood of her attacker. Because I felt ashamed of what happened and didnt want to publicly ruin someones life, even though they privately ruined mine #WhyIDidntReport, she tweeted. A number of people have responded to Delevingnes tweet, expressing their support and admiration for the model and actor. Im sorry, no one should have to go through what you and all these other women are going through. Ever, one person wrote. This is exactly why I havent reported my abuser! It thought I was the only one who felt like you, another person tweeted in response. I thought I was warped for protecting him. Thank you Cara. In October last year, Delevingne alleged that disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein had made unwanted sexual advances towards her while in a hotel room. Having felt powerless against Weinsteins requests for her to go to his hotel room, he had then tried to have Delevingne kiss another woman before forcefully attempting to kiss her on the lips. I was so hesitant about speaking out I didnt want to hurt his family, Delevingne wrote on Instagram. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. I was also so terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear." Theres nothing quite as good as a chilled glass of rose wine on a hot summer day, some white wine with a tasty seafood dish, or a bit of smooth red served with steak but would you really pair your dinner with a glass of blue? Developed in 2014 by five Spanish friends with no previous experience of the wine trade, Gik Blue comes in an Instagram-friendly neon colour and claims to be a new answer to the age-old question red or white? One of the creators, Taig Mac Carthy, 28, from San Sebastian, told The Independent: The wine trade remained static for centuries. We wanted to revolutionise the industry and create a unique product that would shake things up. Energy regulator Ofgem has demanded all 11 of the UKs biggest energy companies improve how they deal with customer complaints. Less than a third of people Ofgem surveyed are happy with the outcome of complaints, with 57 per cent dissatisfied. Citizens Advice described the situation as simply not good enough. Separate research revealed on Thursday a fifth of households are seriously concerned about being able to pay energy bills this winter, after recent price hikes that have seen the average Big Six variable tariff spike to 1,224 a year. Recommended 14 ways to cut your energy bills Customers told Ofgem suppliers do not keep them up to date with the complaints process or give enough indication of how long it will take. The regulator has opened three new compliance cases on First Utility, Ovo Energy and Utilita and expanded its recent engagement with ScottishPower. Seven other suppliers have been ordered to come up with plans laying out how they will improve their handling of complaints. Ofgem said it will monitor energy suppliers and work with them to improve outcomes for customers until issues are resolved. If the watchdog finds serious or repeated breaches, or that a supplier is unwilling or unable to cooperate, it could open an enforcement case and ultimately issue a fine. The move comes after Ofgems customer survey revealed an unacceptably low level of satisfaction, of just 32 per cent although that was an improvement on the 27 per cent who said they were happy when the survey was last carried, out two years ago. Some suppliers need to be doing considerably more to get the basics right and provide a service their customers deserve, said Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem. We will be monitoring the level of all suppliers customer service performance particularly closely after announcing proposals to introduce a price cap to protect those on poor value default deals from being overcharged. We are ready to and will act against those who fail their customers. Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said customers need to have confidence that when something goes wrong, their supplier will deal with it. The current situation is simply not good enough, she said. Energy companies need to improve their processes for handling complaints and do so quickly. Resolving issues in a timely manner and keeping customers informed about their complaints are just the basics. Suppliers need to also make sure that anyone who complains has access to independent advice. Another survey published on Thursday, showed half of households will change their energy usage during the colder winter months to deal with recent price rises. The survey, by consumer website MoneySuperMarket, found 21 per cent of respondents are worried they will not be able to pay their bills. Recommended One million elderly people fear not being able to pay energy bills The big energy companies have faced criticism from MPs and an exodus of customers after big price rises this year. All of the Big Six have raised their standard tariffs at least once this year, moves they say reflect rising wholesale energy prices. The average annual Big Six standard variable tariff now costs 1,224, more than 70 more expensive than at this time last year. From the start of next month, the bills of five million of the UKs most vulnerable households are set to rise by 47 per year, after Ofgem raised its safeguard tariff. Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: Most of the price rises from the Big Six and emerging suppliers were announced after the winter months, once the heating was already switched off, so its only really now that households will start to suffer the impact, as temperatures start to drop and the thermostat gets turned up. H&Ms profits fell 20 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, despite the Swedish brand recording a 9 per cent increase in sales, helped by a 32 per cent rise in online sales. Revenue rose to SEK 64.800m (5.59m) despite sales decreasing by 8 per cent in the US, French, Italian and Belgian markets because of the implementation of new logistics systems, costing around SEK 400m. H&M has invested heavily in making its online and in-store offerings more seamless, in an effort to compete with online retailers like Asos and Zalando. The group has seen profits shrink and struggled to shift stock in recent years due to competition from both those brands, as well as high-street rivals such as Primark. However, the company reassured investors on Thursday that it would not need to cut costs to move unsold clothing in spite of the quarterly dip in profit, and shares in H&M rose more than 11 per cent. The fashion companys CEO, Karl-Johan Persson, said: The rapid changes in the fashion industry are continuing and the H&M group is in an exciting transitional period. Our transformation work has contributed to a gradual improvement in sales development with increased market share in most markets during the third quarter, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Eastern Europe, Russia and China. In the US, France, Italy and Belgium, however, store sales were negatively impacted by the problems that arose when we introduced new logistics systems in these markets. The new logistics systems are an essential part of our work to make our supply chain faster, more flexible and more efficient, and to continue the integration of stores and online. As of May this year, H&M had 4,801 stores in 69 countries and is looking to expand its reach even further. In its nine-month report, the company announced that Uruguay will become a new store market in Autumn 2018 and that contemporary fashion brand COS (part of the H&M group) will launch online in China in Autumn 2018 as well. The fashion brand has also recently launched new brand Afound both in stores and online in Sweden. Meanwhile, the retailer is revamping its Swedish stores after being criticised for its cluttered environment. The company created a pilot store in Stockholm with a smaller range of clothes on show and an airier design, which features invitation-only events and where customers can order coffees while they shop. H&M was recently accused of failing to pay the garment workers who supply its high-street stores a fair living wage. The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) said the group had failed to meet a commitment it made in 2013 to ensure its suppliers would pay a living wage to around 850,000 textile workers by 2018. However, the Swedish company said it had reached at least 600 factories and 930,000 garment workers with its fair living wage strategy. A spokeswoman for H&M said: There is no universally agreed level for living wages, and wage levels should be defined and set by parties on the labour market through fair negotiations between employers and workers representatives, not by Western brands. Additional reporting by newswires The food and drink industry will take a 9.3bn hit from a no-deal Brexit, with much of the additional cost being passed on to consumers, a study suggests. Barclays calculates that retailers will face a massive 27 per cent tariff on average for food and drink products imported from the EU, making it one of the worst-affected sectors. Tariffs for non-food products are in line for an average rise of between 3 and 4 per cent. Every consignment of goods from the EU will also require a customs declaration which costs a minimum of 50. The UK imported 48bn of food and drink last year, about 40 per cent of the total amount sold. Fully processed food and drink products, such as orange juice, will be hit with the highest tariff rate of 31 per cent compared to 29.5 per cent for semi-processed food and drink such as white sugar. Unprocessed goods will face a 9.7 per cent tariff. Some products will also attract specific duties which are levied by weight or volume. These charges place a higher burden on lower-value transactions and will disproportionately add to the cost of products like meat, cereal, olive oil and wine, Barclays said. Frozen beef has a specific duty of three times the cost of the product itself while beef cuts face a 101 per cent tariff. Cream and garlic both attract high specific duties of 81 per cent and 71 per cent respectively. Health and safety compliance measures will add further costs that could amount to the equivalent of paying an extra 8 per cent in duty tax on EU food and drink imports, the research found. Ian Gilmartin, head of retail at Barclays Corporate Banking, said food and drink is one of the UKs most important sectors, employing millions of people. Some products would avoid tariffs, even in a no-deal scenario, but for most goods the effect of an increased tariff burden would be extremely damaging, and cheaper goods would be the hardest hit," he said. He pointed out that 71 per cent of our imported food and drink comes from the EU, and 60 per cent of our exports go to the EU. A positive agreement on trade is essential if we are to protect UK exporters and avoid significant price rises for UK consumers, he added. UK car production dropped by 13 per cent in August, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said, as it repeated calls for Brexit negotiators to make protecting the industry a priority. The decline in output was due to a combination of model changes, planned factory shutdowns and ahead of new emissions standards, the SMMT said. The trade body also noted that exports continue to be the main driver of demand for UK-built cars, and said that this highlights the need for a safeguard of the motor market in whatever Brexit deal is agreed. The latest data marks the third consecutive month of decline in car manufacturing, with production for the UK dropping 39 per cent, while cars built for export fell by 3.8 per cent, and accounted for 82 per cent of total output. Production has decreased by 5 per cent for the year so far, compared with this time last year. The SMMT said exports are still shoring up demand - while just 194,887 cars were built for the domestic market in the first eight months of the year (down 19 per cent on 2017), almost 850,000 were shipped abroad. Mike Hawes, the SMMTs chief executive, said: The quieter summer months are often subject to fluctuations due to the variable timing and duration of annual maintenance and re-tooling shutdowns. This instability was exacerbated in August, with the industry racing to recertify entire model ranges to meet tougher testing standards in force on 1 September. With exports, the majority to the EU, continuing to drive demand, it underscores the importance of a Brexit agreement to safeguard this trade; for our sector, no deal is not an option. The SMMT has previously said that a no-deal Brexit must be ruled out because of the threat it poses to the UK motor industry. Figures compiled by the SMMT show that a cliff-edge Brexit could mean at least 5bn in tariffs. However, the organisation said, this would be just the tip of the iceberg for the sector, as these levies could push the cost of UK-built cars sold in the EU up by an average of 2,700, affecting demand, profitability and jobs. Earlier this month, Honda said a no-deal scenario would cost it tens of millions of pounds, while BMW said it would move a planned shutdown of its Mini plant in Oxford forward to coincide with the beginning of Brexit in order to minimise the risk of disruption. Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover has moved workers at its Castle Bromwich plant to a three-day week because of continuing headwinds impacting the car industry. The companys chief executive, Ralf Speth, has warned that tens of thousands of jobs in the UK motor industry are at risk if a no-deal Brexit goes ahead. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has cut its forecast for global commerce growth on the back of Donald Trumps trade wars. The Geneva-based WTO on Thursday said that it now expects global merchandise trade volumes to expand by around 3.9 per cent in 2019, down from the central 4.4 per cent forecast it made in April. Since then Donald Trump has levied imports on steel imports to the US, citing a national security justification, and threatened levies on EU car imports. And this month he imposed tariffs on a further $200bn of Chinese imports. The WTO said that the downside risks of a trade war that it had identified in April had now come to pass. While trade growth remains strong, this downgrade reflects the heightened tensions that we are seeing between major trading partners, said Roberto Azevedo, the WTOs director general. More than ever, it is critical for governments to work through their differences and show restraint. Downgraded forecast Global merchandise trade volumes surged by 4.7 per cent in 2017 according to the WTO, as the world economy picked up speed. This was the fastest rate since 2010. 4.7% Merchandise trade growth in 2017 the fastest since 2010 The US has been undermining the ability of the WTO to function by blocking the appointment of judges to its arbitration body. In August President Trump threatened to pull the US out of the WTO entirely if they dont shape up. Despite all this, hardline Brexiteers have been urging the UK government to leave the European Union single market and customs union without a withdrawal agreement next March and trade with the rest of the world on WTO rules, which, even when enforced, do little more than prevent the most egregious forms of discrimination on trade. The WTO said the latest downward revisions to its trade forecast was consistent with its World Trade Outlook Indicator, which has pointed to slowing momentum since the first quarter of 2018. University leaders are calling on the government to make companies who offer essay-writing services to students illegal, amid fears that they are undermining the integrity of degree courses. A letter to education secretary Damian Hinds, signed by 46 university chiefs, demands that essay mills are banned because they argue they are unfair to honest, hard-working students. Universities minister Sam Gyimah has not ruled out outlawing the services, which he said were normalising and enabling cheating. He added that they could put the UKs international reputation at risk. Recommended Algeria and Iraq shut down internet to stop students cheating in exams It is currently legal for companies in the UK to both provide and advertise assignments to order and it can be difficult for universities to detect when they have been used as the work appears to be original. Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and 17 US states have already introduced, or are introducing, a legislative ban on essay mills, the letter highlights. The letter signed by vice-chancellors and heads of higher education organisations in Britain, including some from Russell Group institutions, are calling for the services to be targeted by new laws by the end of this Parliament. It said legislation should also prevent the advertising of essay mills near campuses and online and it should remove the companies from search engines to tackle those based abroad. It is time for the UK to also take the necessary action to demonstrate that the UK is not a safe haven for essay mills to do business, and so to safeguard the reputation of the UK higher education sector, it added. As many as one in seven recent graduates may have cheated by using essay mills during the last four years, a recent study found. Mr Gyimah said: University is all about learning, training your intellect and applying knowledge to a high standard. Students work incredibly hard to get a place at university and those who choose to cheat risk throwing it all away, cheating their futures, for the sake of a shortcut. Students must not resort to cheating it is not the solution for anyone who may be struggling on their course. The right thing is to speak to lecturers and get the right support. Legislative options are not off the table, but I also expect universities to be taking steps to tackle this issue the [higher education regulator] Office for Students [OfS] will take tough action if they fail to do so. Student news in pictures Show all 34 1 /34 Student news in pictures Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine EPA Student news in pictures Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van EPA Student news in pictures A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students Student news in pictures A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading 'We are missing 43,' during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City. A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students AP Student news in pictures Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartInez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island Student news in pictures Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn. There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS. PA wire Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela. Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela's capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election AP Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela AP Student news in pictures Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country's education law that increases the number of annual exams AP Student news in pictures Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action Student news in pictures Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action AP Student news in pictures Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school's strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use AP Student news in pictures Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain EPA Student news in pictures South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech AP Student news in pictures Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say 'victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court' in Sendai. A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami Getty Student news in pictures A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school's front gate in Seoul, South Korea EPA Student news in pictures Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams Getty Student news in pictures Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand EPA Student news in pictures Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend PA wire Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student 'parents' inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as 'children' as part of a mentoring scheme PA wire Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba Reuters Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the OfS, said: The rise in the use of essay mills in recent years has sought to turn cheating into an industry. Essay mills are deeply unethical and their operation is unfair on the vast majority of students who hand in their own work. The OfS has a central role to play in ending essay mills; universities and colleges wishing to register with us must demonstrate that they are protecting the reliability and credibility of degree standards. We will work closely with the government and the whole higher education sector in a collective effort to close these operations for good. Brexit poses a severe threat to the fight against organised crime and could see doctors lose early warning systems which alert them to new and potentially deadly illegal drugs, experts have said in a letter to the government. Doctors specialising in addiction and public health have warned that international cooperation between medical experts and the police underpins vital monitoring of drug markets. Writing in the British Medical Journal they warn that red lines set in the Brexit negotiations, including rejecting oversight by the EU Court of Justice, could limit the UKs access to this information. While the loss of major institutions like the European Medicines Agency have attracted headlines and government compromises, there are a host of smaller organisations where losing access could have serious implications for public services. In particular they mention the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) which has had an under recognised role in reducing illegal drug harm across Europe. Collaboration between the UK and the EMCDDA has been transformative, making a major contribution to national drug policy and the fight against organised crime, the authors write. Exclusion from its operations poses a severe threat to both. With new psychoactive substances like spice and monkey dust causing major problems in some towns, they say the government must find a way to stay part of the early warning systems for these drugs. Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex The challenges associated with Brexit arrive precisely when the UK relies most heavily on the EMCDDA to tackle the rapidly evolving trade in illicit substances, especially that involving organised crime, the consequences of which are seen on the streets and in emergency departments every week, the letter states. The UK will also suffer from losing direct access to Europols databases on drug traffickers and criminals across the continent. The EMCDDA is the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of Europe, the letters lead author Dr Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, a fellow in global public health at the University of Cambridge, told The Independent. It covers everything, from early warning systems for new psychoactive substances, things like GHB, spice or AK47, all the synthetic cannabinoids, through to the current infection rate among people injecting heroin and opioid overdoses. But it also links to Europol, and tools they have which allow criminal record checks. He adds that Denmark rejected certain EU Court of Justice oversights and has to make hundreds of thousands of requests each year for information from these databases. The Independent launched its Final Say campaign to petition Theresa May to give the British public a second referendum on the eventual deal for leaving the EU. It has so far attracted more than 800,000 signatories, and backers including the British Medical Association, have warned that leaving with issues like this unresolved could increase the risk of deadly disease pandemics across the continent. The letters signatories, from the University of Edinburgh, the Faculty of Public Health, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, say the government has so far failed to provide any reassurances on these areas. This presents substantial risks to public health and safety, they write, and urgent action is needed to prevent risks becoming reality. A Public Health England spokesperson said: We recognise that continued cooperation on drugs, and on the early warning system in particular, is in the interests of both the UK and EU and that we are therefore pleased that the government has proposed that ongoing cooperation with the EMCDDA should be included in the security partnership. A new species of plant-eating dinosaur that roamed the Earth roughly 200 million years ago has been discovered in South Africa. The relative of the Brontosaurus has been named Ledumahadi mafube meaning a giant thunderclap at dawn in the Sesotho language of Free State province, where the fossils were found. The previously unknown species was the largest land animal alive on Earth in the period, millions of years before Tyrannosaurus or Velociraptor came on the scene, scientists said. It weighed 12 tonnes and stood around 13ft tall at the hips roughly double the size of a large African elephant. An international team of scientists, led by palaeontologist Professor Jonah Choiniere of South Africa's Witwatersrand University, revealed the findings in the journal Current Biology. The team believes the specimen found represented a full-grown adult, about 14-years-old. It is thought to be one of the closest relatives of sauropod dinosaurs, including the Brontosaurus. But the Ledumahadi mafube evolved its giant size independently from sauropods, and although it stood on four legs, its forelimbs would have been more crouched. It shows us that even as far back as 200 million years ago, these animals had already become the largest vertebrates to ever walk the Earth," said Professor Choiniere. The evolution of sauropods isnt quite as straightforward as we once thought. In fact, it appears that sauropodomorphs evolved four-legged postures at least twice before they gained the ability to walk with upright limbs, which undoubtedly helped make them so successful in an evolutionary sense. (Dr Pia Viglietti / SWNS) International team work on fossils in Free State province (Dr Pia Viglietti/SWNS) Professor Roger Benson, of Oxford University, said it was an important breakthrough. Many giant dinosaurs walked on four legs but had ancestors that walked on two legs. Scientists want to know about this evolutionary change, but amazingly, no-one came up with a simple method to tell how each dinosaur walked, until now. The dinosaur lived in the area around Clarens in South Africas Free State province. It is currently a scenic mountainous area, but looked much different at the time of the Ledumahadi mafube, with a flat, semi-arid landscape. It is closely related to other gigantic dinosaurs from Argentina that lived at a similar time, which Prof Choiniere said reinforces the idea that the super-continent of Pangaea was assembled in the Early Jurassic period. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary He added: It shows how easily dinosaurs could have walked from Johannesburg to Buenos Aires at that time. Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, South Africas Minister of Science and Technology, says the discovery of the dinosaur underscores just how important South African palaeontology is to the world. She added: Not only does our country hold the cradle of humankind, but we also have fossils that help us understand the rise of the gigantic dinosaurs. The Japanese space agency has released stunning new pictures taken by a rover standing on top an asteroid. The images, sent down from the surface of the asteroid Ryugu, show the rock in amazing and eerie detail. They were sent back over a distance of around 180 million miles. They come after the space agency successfully landed two rovers on the asteroid, dropping them from a spacecraft floating just above the surface. (Jaxa (Jaxa) The rovers dropped down onto the asteroid by the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft are the first mobile exploration robots ever to land on an asteroid's surface. The images they are sending back are the first time that anything has ever autonomously moved and taken pictures themselves on asteroid, too. One of the pictures includes the shadow of the antenna and pin of the rover itself. The pin which is the long line that can be seen sticking out of the rover helps increase friction when they engage in the hops that they use to jump around the surface, among other purposes. (Jaxa (Jaxa) Jaxa, the Japanese space agency, says that both of the rovers are "in good condition and are transmitting images and data". The pictures they are sending back have confirmed that they are moving themselves around the asteroid's surface. The rovers will spend their time exploring the planet's surface by being joined by yet another visitor, called Mascot, built by scientists in Germany and France, that will further explore the surface. The new pictures are the second batch to be sent down by the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft. The first were taken as the two rovers tumbled to the surface, and show their whirling motion as they fall. The claim that one of the men who carried out the novichok attack in Salisbury was a senior officer in the Russian military intelligence service is the most direct public accusation yet that Sergei Skripal and his daughter were the targets of state-sponsored assassinations, directed by the Kremlin. Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, who had travelled to Britain under the name of Ruslan Boshirov was not only in the GRU, it is alleged, but remains active in the service and holds his countrys highest decoration, Hero of the Russian Federation, which was personally bestowed by the orders of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Moscow, as has been the case with any accusation of Russian culpability in the Skripal attack, dismissed the report from investigative news outlets Bellingcat and The Insider as fake news. A key supporter of Tommy Robinson may have committed contempt of court while covering the far-right leaders hearing. Ezra Levant, who used to employ Robinson at his right-wing website Rebel Media, filmed inside the Old Bailey on Thursday. He posted footage on social media showing Robinson going to a court window to look at a crowd of supporters protesting below, shouting we want Tommy out. The same clip was later shared on Robinsons official Facebook page and watched hundreds of thousands of times. It is illegal to take photographs or film inside courts in England and Wales, or in their precincts, and Robinson himself was convicted of the offence last year. A spokesperson for City of London Police confirmed they were investigating Mr Levants video. We have been made aware of a video on social media which appears to show filming taking place inside the Central Criminal Court [Old Bailey], and has been shared online, a statement said. We will be looking into whether any offences have been committed. Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Show all 16 1 /16 Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey A Tommy Robinson supporter in London after former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson left the Old Bailey where his contempt of court case was adjourned PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey A Tommy Robinson supporter outside the Old Bailey in London where the former English Defence League (EDL) leader is accused of contempt of court PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey in London before former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson arrives accused of contempt of court PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson protest at the Old Bailey Courthouse EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of former English Defence League leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or 'Tommy Robinson', who was jailed for contempt of court in May and later released, wait for him to arrive at the Old Bailey to attend a court hearing Reuters Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson arrives for his hearing at the Old Bailey Reuters Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right spokeseman Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the right-wing EDL (English Defence League) wave flags as they demonstrate outsise The Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Robinson gestures to supporters from inside the Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey EPA Mr Levant, a Canadian alt-right activist, has been crowdfunding for Robinson since he was jailed at Leeds Crown Court in May and travelling to London to report on the continuing case. A previous Court of Appeal hearing heard that Robinson had attended media law training with other members of Rebel Media, while working for the site in June 2017. It was unclear if Mr Levant underwent the same training or what it included. Robinson has since left the website and uses money donated by supporters to produce his own videos. Recommended Tommy Robinson freed from prison richer and with increased popularity The English Defence League founder thanked Mr Levant for his support ahead of Thursdays hearing, which was adjourned so the judge can take submissions from lawyers on how the case should proceed. Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, the Recorder of London, released Robinson on bail until the next court date, which could be in October. Addressing him by his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the judge said: Your bail will continue on the same terms as before and when the next hearing takes place you are required to attend as a condition of your bail. If you do not attend the case will go ahead without you and that will not be in your interest. News of Robinson's continuing freedom was greeted with jubilation by hundreds of his supporters who gathered outside the court under the watchful eye of police. Some waved banners for groups including Ukip, Anne Marie Waters' For Britain party and the far-right group Generation Identity, while one man donned t-shirt reading rivers of blood in possible reference to Enoch Powell's speech. Many of Robinson's supporters were holding their own signs, reading no to Sharia law, attacking the fake news media and calling for freedom of speech. As tensions rose, officials at the Old Bailey shut the main entrance used by lawyers, jurors and journalists, and later had to scrub human faeces off the door. (Getty ) (Getty) Anti-media sentiment ran strongly through the crowd, with Robinson supporters filming journalists as photographers were verbally abused, pushed and shoved. City of London Police said one person was arrested for breach of the peace during the demonstrations but did not have any further information. Protesters vowed to return to the Old Bailey for Robinson's next hearing, where Judge Hilliard will decide how the case will proceed and where. A judge will later consider allegations that Robinson published a matter which is likely to cause contempt of court during ongoing trials in Leeds. He was originally jailed for 13 months over a Facebook Live video he broadcast from outside the citys crown court in May, but the findings were overturned last month and he was freed. Court of Appeal judges ordered a rehearing, saying the alleged contempt was serious and the sentence might be longer than that already served. Robinson is also accused of breaching the conditions of a three-month suspended sentence he was handed for a separate contempt offence in Canterbury in 2017. The 35-year-old was prosecuted for attempting to film defendants at Canterbury Crown Court, despite notices stating the move is illegal all over the building. Judge Heather Norton sentenced Robinson to three months imprisonment but suspended the sentence for 18 months, meaning it would not come into effect unless he committed further offences. His lawyers had claimed he was ignorant of the filming ban. You will now be under no illusions whatsoever as to what you can and cannot do, the judge told Robinson at the time. Judge Geoffrey Marson QC activated the sentence at Leeds Crown Court in May and added 10 months after finding Robinson had committed a new contempt by breaching reporting restrictions on ongoing trials. But he was released from prison after an appeal last month, when high-profile backers including the Ukip leader Gerard Batten, Dutch opposition leader Geert Wilders and the former Breitbart London editor Raheem Kassam hailed the verdict as a victory for freedom of speech The Court of Appeal found that procedural failings by the judge who jailed Robinson at Leeds Crown Court gave rise to unfairness and ordered the matter be reheard at the Old Bailey. Tommy Robinson hailed it as judgment day for the British government and the establishment, but in the end it was judgment day for no one. The far-right figureheads contempt of court case was adjourned at the Old Bailey in a hearing lasting less than half an hour. The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, invited lawyers to make written submissions on whether there should be a substantive hearing and how it should proceed. Addressing Robinson by his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the judge released him on bail until the next court date, which could be in October. Your bail will continue on the same terms as before and when the next hearing takes place you are required to attend as a condition of your bail, he said. If you do not attend the case will go ahead without you and that will not be in your interest. News of Robinsons continuing freedom was greeted with jubilation by hundreds of his supporters who gathered outside the court under the watchful eye of police. Some waved banners for groups including Ukip, Anne Marie Waters For Britain party and the far-right group Generation Identity, while one man donned a T-shirt reading rivers of blood in reference to Enoch Powells speech. Many of Robinsons supporters were holding their own signs, reading no to Sharia law, attacking the fake news media and calling for freedom of speech. Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Show all 16 1 /16 Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey A Tommy Robinson supporter in London after former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson left the Old Bailey where his contempt of court case was adjourned PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey A Tommy Robinson supporter outside the Old Bailey in London where the former English Defence League (EDL) leader is accused of contempt of court PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey in London before former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson arrives accused of contempt of court PA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson protest at the Old Bailey Courthouse EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of former English Defence League leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or 'Tommy Robinson', who was jailed for contempt of court in May and later released, wait for him to arrive at the Old Bailey to attend a court hearing Reuters Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Tommy Robinson arrives for his hearing at the Old Bailey Reuters Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right spokeseman Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the right-wing EDL (English Defence League) wave flags as they demonstrate outsise The Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Supporters of far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson demonstrate outside the Old Bailey EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey EPA Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey Robinson gestures to supporters from inside the Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson supporters protest outside the Old Bailey EPA But that freedom was not applied to counter-demonstrators, who were shouted down and labelled scum, or for a woman holding a placard listing Robinsons previous criminal offences. After it was spotted, a small group of angry supporters starting shouting at the woman, ripping the sign out of her hand and destroying it before she was surrounded by police officers. Emma Lyons, a 20-year-old history student at the London School of Economics, said her sign had been a list of the laws Tommy Robinson has broken, including mortgage fraud and entering the US under a false passport. Recommended Tommy Robinson freed from prison richer and with increased popularity Visibly shaken, she told The Independent: I was just holding it and people ripped it out of my hands. I was just drawing attention to whats happening, just the facts. She said Robinsons supporters started shouting at her about Muslim rape gangs and accused her of being a Holocaust denier. Ms Lyons said she protested over concern that Robinson had jeopardised a case at Leeds Crown Court and because it bothers me with the way its being portrayed and the people he surrounds himself with. I wouldnt say that this is a case thats been well managed by the legal system but I dont think its a freedom of speech issue, she added. As tensions rose, officials at the Old Bailey shut the main entrance used by lawyers, jurors and journalists, and later had to scrub human faeces off the door. Anti-media sentiment ran strongly through the crowd, with Robinson supporters filming and photographing journalists as photographers were verbally abused, pushed and shoved. The mood lightened with cheers and chants of we love you as the 35-year-old emerged from the building. Today is judgment day for the British government and the establishment, said Robinson, despite it being anything but (Getty) I believe they want me in prison for Christmas, he claimed. Im being specifically targeted for who I am. Robinson spoke to the crowd through a megaphone as bemused tourists filmed the scene from passing tour buses and police tried to stop protesters spilling into a busy road through the City of London. Traffic was halted on one side of Ludgate Hill in chaotic scenes as Robinson was followed through the streets. City of London Police said one person was arrested for breach of the peace during the demonstrations but did not have any further information. The force was also investigating whether Robinsons former employer, Ezra Levant of Canadian website Rebel Media, had broken contempt of court laws himself by filming inside the Old Bailey. Footage of Robinson looking out court windows at his supporters below were shared by Mr Levant on social media, appearing to violate the law against photography within court buildings or precincts. We have been made aware of a video on social media which appears to show filming taking place inside the Central Criminal Court, and has been shared online, a spokesperson for City of London Police said. We will be looking into whether any offences have been committed. Protesters vowed to return to the Old Bailey for Robinsons next hearing, where Judge Hilliard will decide how the case will proceed and where. A judge will later consider allegations that Robinson published a matter which is likely to cause contempt of court during ongoing trials in Leeds. His supporters promised to return for his next case (Getty) He was originally jailed for 13 months over a Facebook Live video he broadcast from outside the citys crown court in May, but the findings were overturned last month and he was freed. Court of Appeal judges ordered a rehearing, saying the alleged contempt was serious and the sentence might be longer than that already served. Robinson is also accused of breaching the conditions of a three-month suspended sentence he was handed for a separate contempt offence in Canterbury in 2017. He was released from prison on 1 August, when high-profile backers including the Ukip leader Gerard Batten, Dutch opposition leader Geert Wilders and the former Breitbart London editor Raheem Kassam hailed the verdict as a victory for freedom of speech. Recommended Tommy Robinson jailed after breaking contempt of court laws The Court of Appeal found that procedural failings by the judge who jailed Robinson at Leeds Crown Court gave rise to unfairness and meant proceedings were fundamentally flawed. The Lord Chief Justice and two other judges said that while Geoffrey Marson QC was right to bring Robinson before him to have the Facebook video deleted and protect jury deliberations, the case was dealt with too fast and did not follow criminal procedure rules. They found that Judge Marson proceeded on the basis that the appellant had admitted his contempt after Robinsons lawyer apologised on his behalf, but he was not asked to respond to the particulars of the allegations himself. Judges did not say Robinson had not committed contempt of court, and accused him of delaying the appeals for tactical reasons and collateral advantage. Their judgment suggested that Robinson may have committed contempt both by violating reporting restrictions and with generally prejudicial remarks, including on the ethnic and religious backgrounds of the defendants. These comments were, at least potentially, capable of amounting to a freestanding contempt of court, it continued. The alleged contempt was serious and the sentence might be longer than that already served if a finding is again made against Robinson. Contempt of court laws aim to ensure fair trials in Britain by preventing juries from being swayed by information from outside the hearing, and apply to all forms of online and offline publications. The offences are covered by a strict liability rule, meaning that intent and knowledge of committing them are not necessary for a conviction. One of the world's most renowned mathematicians showed how he solved the 160-year-old Riemann hypothesis at a lecture earlier this week and he will be awarded $1m (760,000) if his solution is confirmed. Sir Michael Atiyah, who has already won the two biggest prizes in mathematics - the Fields Medal and Abel Prize - took the stage at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum in Germany to present his work. To solve the hypothesis you need to find a way to predict the occurrence of every prime number, even though primes have historically been regarded as randomly distributed. Sir Michael's solution will need to be checked by other mathematicians and then published before it is fully accepted. Only then, will he be able to claim the prize from the Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge (CMI). The Riemann hypothesis is one of seven unsolved Millennium Prizes from CMI, each worth $1m (760,000). What is the Riemann hypothesis, and how did Atiyah solve it? First posited by Bernhard Riemann in 1859, it attempts to answer an old question about prime numbers (numbers that divide only by themselves and 1). The hypothesis states that the distribution of primes is not random, but might follow a pattern described by an equation called the Riemann zeta function. So far 10,000,000,000,000 prime numbers have been checked and are consistent with the equation, but there is no proof that all primes follow the pattern. The $1m prize will go to someone who can prove that the equation applies to all prime numbers. Using a radically new approach to the hypothesis, Professor Atiyah thinks he has done it. Markus Possel, an astrophysicist in Heidelberg, Germany, live-tweeted Professor Atiyah's lecture and helped clarify the mathematician's process. 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles Show all 8 1 /8 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles Crossing the bridge Four people need to cross a rickety bridge at night. Unfortunately, they have only one torch and the bridge is too dangerous to cross without one. The bridge is only strong enough to support two people at a time. Not all people take the same time to cross the bridge. Times for each person: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes. What is the shortest time needed for all four of them to cross the bridge? Claire Backhouse/flickr/Creative Commons 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles Number magic If you multiply me by 2, subtract 1, and read the reverse the result youll find me. Which numbers can I be? Dustin Liebenow/flickr/Creative Commons 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles One thousand monkeys A very big building in which one thousand monkeys are living is lighted by one thousand lamps. Every lamp is connected to a unique on/off switch, which are numbered from 1 to 1000. At some moment, all lamps are switched off. But because it is becoming darker, the monkeys would like to switch on the lights. They will do this in the following way: Monkey 1 presses all switches that are a multiple of 1 Monkey 2 presses all switches that are a multiple of 2 Monkey 3 presses all switches that are a multiple of 3 Monkey 4 presses all switches that are a multiple of 4 Etc., etc. How many lamps are switched on after monkey 1000 pressed his switches? And which lamps are switched on? Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles School lockers A high school has a strange principal. On the first day, he has his students perform an odd opening day ceremony: There are one thousand lockers and one thousand students in the school. The principal asks the first student to go to every locker and open it. Then he has the second student go to every second locker and close it. The third goes to every third locker and, if it is closed, he opens it, and if it is open, he closes it. The fourth student does this to every fourth locker, and so on. After the process is completed with the thousandth student, how many lockers are open? Brett Levin/flickr/Creative Commons 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles One bulb, three switches You have three switches in a room. One of them is for a bulb in next room. You cannot see whether the bulb is on or off until you enter the room. What is the minimum number of times you need to go in to the room to determine which switch corresponds to the bulb in next room? JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles Cheryl's birthday Albert and Bernard just become friends with Cheryl, and they want to know when her birthday is. Cheryl gives them a list of 10 possible dates: May 15, May 16, May 19, June 17, June 18, July 14, July 16, August 14, August 15, and August 17 Cheryl then tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and the day of her birthday respectively. Albert: I dont know when Cheryls birthday is, but I know that Bernard does not know too. Bernard: At first I dont know when Cheryls birthday is, but I know now. Albert: Then I also know when Cheryl's birthday is. So when is Cheryls birthday? Jessica Diamond/flickr/Creative Commons 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles Sunday's child Recently, somebody said: My grandfather was born on the first Sunday of the year. His seventh birthday was also on a Sunday. In which year was said grandfather born? Will Clayton/flickr/Creative Commons 8 of the very hardest maths puzzles Probability of having boy In a country where everyone wants a boy, each family continues having babies until they have a boy. After some time, what is the proportion of boys to girls in the country? (Assuming probability of having a boy or a girl is the same). WALTRAUD GRUBITZSCH/AFP/Getty Images Sir Michael said he used work from John von Neumann and Friedrich Hirzebruch to help him on his way to solving the problem. Mathematician Keith Devlin wrote in 1998: Ask any professional mathematician what the single most important open problem in the entire field is, and you are almost certain to receive the answer 'the Riemann hypothesis.' Sir Michael Atiyah has also served as president of the London Mathematical Society, the Royal Society, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. CMI declined to comment. Business Insider Read more: This chart is easy to interpret: It says we're screwed How Uber became the world's most valuable startup These 4 things could trigger the next crisis in Europe Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter. A secondary school has apologised after a worksheet handed to pupils featured the suggestion UK jobs were being stolen by EU workers. Year 8 Geography students at Walthamstow Academy in north east London were handed a booklet earlier this month titled essential knowledge, in which a section about migration implied Polish migrants came to Britain for free healthcare and better schools. Listing problems caused by Polish immigration, the document stated pressures on the NHS, many languages in schools, "informal work" meaning the government "does not receive tax and unemployment for locals. The information on the worksheet is at odds with a government-commissioned study last week, which found that EU migrants pay far more to the public purse on average than British-born residents - at 2,300 more each year in net terms per person. The research by Oxford Economics found that over their lifetimes, they pay in 78,000 more than they take out in public services and benefits - while the average UK citizens net lifetime contribution is zero. Walthamstow Academy, which has a significant proportion of Polish students, was accused of distributing "Brexit propaganda" and "tapping into prejudices that are not factual" at the risk of "indoctrinating" pupils. One Polish mother, whose 12-year-old daughter was given the document, said: "I found it deeply shocking and offensive that they targeted only one nation while talking about immigration. "It is really disturbing that they are giving children biased information that isnt based on any statistics." After receiving a number of complaints, the head teacher at the school apologised wholeheartedly for the offence caused and acknowledged that parts of the worksheet were inaccurate and insensitive. Nicholas Hatton, founder of the3million, a grassroots organisation representing EU citizens in the UK, told The Independent it was "really shocking" that the material had been distributed to pupils in the first place, describing it as a "dangerous document". "Whoever has written this, is tapping into prejudice that are not factual. These arguments have already been discredited by academic reviews," he said. Theres no mention of freedom of movement. Its imbalanced and has clearly been written by someone who doesnt understand the fluidity of the job market. Its a really dangerous document. Since the referendum, hate crime has been on the rise - especially against eastern Europeans. These myths about immigration have got no place in a school. It risks indoctrinating children. Its disgusting. This serves as Brexit propaganda and in no case should it be allowed in any school. Responding to an email from a mother stating that she feared her daughter would be stigmatised as a result of the document, Emma Skae, the principal of the school, said: I am truly sorry that you have been offended by what you have read. I can totally understand why this has caused you offence and I apologise wholeheartedly for that. I am upset about it as well. Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines The Sun, March 9 2016 This wholly false headline merited the first ruling by IPSO (the press regulator) under clause 1 of the revised Editor's Code of Practice. Clause 1 makes specific reference to newspapers printing "headlines not supported by the text" Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Daily Mail, November 4 2016 In perhaps the most notorious front page of the past few years, the Mail derides the High Court judges who ruled that parliament must have a vote on whether to trigger article 50 and start the Brexit process Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Daily Express, November 4 2016 In the Express' take on the same story, they manage to incorporate the Union Jack, allude to First World War propaganda, invoke memories of Churchill and, of course, state "Brexit means Brexit" Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines The Sun, March 29 2017 The Sun marked the day on which Mrs May triggered article 50 by projecting a huge and terrible pun on to the Cliffs of Dover Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines The Sun, April 4 2017 Referencing their notorious eurosceptic headline from 1990 (See: Up Yours Delors), the Sun stokes the flames of the brief Gibraltar dispute, a dispute in which Spain, the supposed aggressors, only joined to note that there was "no need for it" Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Daily Mail, April 19 2017 This headline followed Mrs May's snap election announcement, which gave the Mail hope that dissenting opinions on Brexit would disappear Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Daily Mail, December 14 2017 In recent months, the Mail has often forgone catchy headlines in favour of rambling rants, this is an early example aimed at Tory Brexit rebels Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Daily Mail, January 31 2018 This headline (?) takes aim at the Lords over their repeated amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines The Sun, June 12 2018 On the day that the EU Withdrawal Bill is to be debated in the Commons, the Sun offers two choices to MPs, desperately including all conceivable imagery that might make Brits feel patriotic, which apparently includes the Loch Ness Monster Brexit: 10 of the most ridiculous headlines Daily Express, June 12 2018 On the same day, the Express lets MPs know what the consequences of the vote may be The context in which the information is given in the two-page [document] is regrettably not clear and some of the examples used are inaccurate and insensitive and do not reflect how we, as a school community, think and act." Ms Skae said however that it was "important that students are able to understand that there are critics of immigration" and that "only by doing can students get a full understanding of the sensitivity of the subject". She said the knowledge booklet had already been re-written to be "more explicit in the credence we give to the views argued by some". The biggest star in Conservative local government has embarrassed Theresa May on the eve of her party conference, by demanding an end to austerity. Andy Street, the West Midlands mayor, sided with council leaders, head teachers and the police, by declaring The cuts have gone far enough. The mayor also raised the prospect of the Tories forcing Ms May out of Downing Street after Brexit day next March, saying, of her chances of survival: I think it is too soon to say. The comments, in an interview with the Birmingham Mail, come just days before Conservatives gather in Birmingham for what could be a make-or-break conference on 30 September. They will be greeted with delight by Labour, after Jeremy Corbyns party made the pain for public services caused by continuing spending cuts a centrepiece of its conference week. In past years, Ms May and other senior Tories have when visiting Birmingham lauded Mr Street, a winner over Labour last year, as a symbol of their successful fightback in local government. But, in the interview, Mr Street echoed Labour council and police leaders by saying: It is right to say that the cuts have gone far enough. Its not reasonable to expect that this continues. Mr Street joins other Conservatives who have been clamouring for an end to austerity, with growing warnings that prisons, housing and public health are also facing further cuts. On Friday, around 1,000 head teachers from across England will march on Westminster, before handing in a protest letter at the Treasury to highlight a crisis in schools. Although the prime minister announced an extra 20bn a year for the NHS by 2023-24 without saying how it will be funded the chancellor, in March, rejected the calls for a change of course. Next month, Philip Hammond will announce the spending totals for the next three years, but his growth forecasts remain low and he has warned of more cuts if there is a no-deal Brexit. Mr Street backed the prime ministers Chequers proposals as still the best route through the Brexit logjam but admitted she, personally, only had his support at the moment. Asked if Ms May should stand down once Brexit takes place, he replied: I think it is too soon to say. If the Prime Minister pulls off a good deal, if the party unites behind it, it will move on to implementing that deal. On the post-Brexit challenges, he added: It is far too soon to judge who should be leading through that. At the moment, Im four-square behind the prime minister as leader of our party. A ministerial appointment to oversee the protection of food supplies through the Brexit period has prompted alarm over shortages, and claims of how "catastrophic" the withdrawal process has become. It comes amid rising concern over the prospect of Theresa May failing to reach an agreement with negotiators in Brussels and the ability to secure the passage of any deal through the Commons. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said the Conservative MP, David Rutley, was handed the brief earlier in September. The department adds that Mr Rutley - a former executive at Asda and PepsiCo - will have responsibilities including EU exit readiness and the "food chain". Labour's shadow environment secretary, Sue Hayman, said the appointment served to "highlight both the potential catastrophic damage and increasing likelihood of a no-deal scenario". Seb Dance, a Labour MEP, also described the appointment as "bonkers" while the former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, a support of the pro-EU campaign Best for Britain, said: "We might laugh at this Dad's army approach but it's deadly serious. "The government is panicking because they what no deal will mean for Britain, even now they still won't be honest with the British people about what it will mean for them," he continued. The SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said: "I think this is news, actually, that would have made most people across the UK really stop in their tracks. "The Tory stewardship of Brexit and the UK as a whole is now proving so catastrophic that they've had to appoint a minister for food supplies, which is the first time there's been such a post held since World War Two. "How has it come to this situation? It's shameful and should be a source of shame for a long time to come to every single member of the Conservative Party." Leaders in the food and drink industry have previously raised concerns that without a free trade deal reached with the EU, supply chains could be disrupted after March 2019, when the UK formally leaves the bloc. And today, new research suggests that food retailers could face a 9.3bn cost if Theresa May fails to reach a deal, with higher tariffs and customs costs hitting supermarkets across the country. Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex The report by Barclays Corporate Banking claims that without a deal, food and drink from the EU would face an additional 27 per cent tariff under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules - compared with three per cent and four per cent on non-food items. The Labour MP, Susan Elan Jones, who is a supporter of the People's Vote campaign for a second public vote on any final Brexit deal, added: "Whether it's Theresa May's Brexit or Jacob Rees-Mogg's no-deal Brexit, there is a growing and legitimate fear that Brexit will be a disaster for food security and farming. "Our farmers work very hard but its simply going to be impossible for them to fill in all the gaps in food supply that Brexit will bring. "Not only that, but Brexit threatens our farmers' access to key markets, making farmers in Britain less viable and so threatening our food supplies twice over. No wonder that our farmers' unions are so concerned." The newly-appointed minister said he was honoured to join Defra at "such an important time", adding: "I am determined to ensure that we fully realise the opportunities of leaving the EU, building on the hard work and excellent effort of my new colleagues, so we can fulfil our pledge to leave our environment in a better state than we found it and deliver a truly green Brexit." Amber Rudd has become the most senior Conservative to back a fresh referendum that could stop Brexit, rather than crashing out of the EU without a deal. The former home secretary warned the UK was in completely uncharted territory, saying: I think a peoples vote could be the result of an impasse. Asked if she would back that vote if it was the only alternative to leaving with no agreement, she replied: Is that preferable to no deal? Absolutely. The comments are the strongest evidence yet that moderate Tories are flexing their muscles to prevent Theresa May carrying out her threat to allow the UK to crash out of the EU if necessary. Some senior cabinet ministers are also believed to be alarmed that the UK could end up facing a no-deal Brexit by accident and want the prime minister to adopt looser, Canada-style trade proposals as a fallback. Speaking on ITVs Peston programme, Ms Rudd warned hardline anti-Brexit Tory MPs that continuing to obstruct Ms Mays efforts to reach an agreement in Brussels could backfire on them. I dont think no deal will happen, she said, arguing a Norway-style EEA deal effectively keeping the UK in the EU single market remained a possibility. And she said: It would be ironic indeed if we got a peoples vote because the more Brexity people in my party were unable to support the prime minister in her negotiated settlement and then they might not even get their 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 So I think they have to think very carefully about the consequences of not supporting a negotiated settlement. The Independent has launched its Final Say campaign, to give the British people the crucial decision on any Brexit deal. More than 835,000 people have signed our petition. The former home secretary, who resigned over the Windrush scandal, put herself among about 40 Tories opposed to a Canada-type deal, more than enough to defeat it, in alliance with opposition parties. She said: There are so many reasons a Canada-type deal doesnt work, starting with the Irish border, going on to manufacturing, that I think we can make those arguments. The prime minister has continued to ramp up the threat of a no-deal Brexit as the only alternative to her Chequers proposals which have been rejected outright by EU leaders. Last month, Nick Boles, a former Tory minister, warned party hardliners that their dream of a no-deal Brexit would be blocked by at least 40 fellow Conservatives. And The Independent revealed in June that they could use a humble address the tactic Labour used to force the government to release Brexit economic assessments to prevent it. Meanwhile, Barry Gardiner, the shadow trade secretary, told the same programme that Jeremy Corbyns conference speech did amount to Labour bending its red lines on Brexit. In the address, the Labour leader said he would back a deal brought back by the prime minister if it kept the UK in a customs union and protected jobs, workers rights and environmental standards. Mr Corbyn did not mention the six tests previously set out by Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, which demanded the exact same benefits as the test for backing an agreement. Mr Gardiner said: All of us dont want the no deal that will take us off the edge of that cliff. And if it means compromising, if it means you bending your red line to give us a customs union, were prepared to bend our red lines to give, to give this a deal. As the Conservative Party Conference takes place in Birmingham this weekend all eyes will be on Theresa Mays keynote speech. It comes at a tough moment for the prime minister after European leaders rejected her Chequers Brexit plan with Europe, along with members of her own party including former foreign secretary Boris Johnson. Heres everything you need to know about the event. Where and when will the conference take place? This years event will be held at Birmingham's International Conference Centre (ICC) and run between 10am on Sunday 30 September and 12.30pm on Wednesday 3 October. There are expected to be 11,000 delegates in attendance. Who will be speaking? Theresa Mays address will of course be the events main draw, bringing matters to a close from 10am on Wednesday morning in Symphony Hall. Before that, party chairman Brandon Lewis will provide the curtain-raising Welcome to Conference speech on Sunday afternoon, followed by addresses from international trade secretary Liam Fox, international development secretary Penny Mordaunt, defence secretary Gavin Williamson and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt. Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey, Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, transport secretary Chris Grayling will address the auditorium on Monday and Philip Hammond deliver a speech on An Economy That Works for Everyone. The afternoon session will be centred around An Opportunity for Future Generations and feature speeches by cabinet ministers Michael Gove, Jeremy Wright, James Brokenshire and Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson. Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Show all 24 1 /24 Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses a pre-conference rally at Pier Head in Liverpool on Saturday Getty Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Deputy leader Tom Watson cycles at the party conference as part of the Labour Cycles scheme PA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Leader Jeremy Corbyn and Deputy Leader Tom Watson sit together on stage on Sunday Reuters Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell speaks at a fringe event at the party conference on Sunday REUTERS Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Delegates are welcomed to the conference at the Arena and Convention Centre in Liverpool Getty Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell speaks at a fringe event at the party conference Reuters Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Leader Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry attend a vigil in Liverpool for those who are affected by the war in Yemen PA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Anti-Brexit supporters demonstrate outside the conference in Liverpool on Sunday Getty Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Anti-Brexit supporters demonstrate outside the conference in Liverpool on Sunday PA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Mayor of London Sadiq Khan arrive at the conference on Sunday EPA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell speaks at a fringe event at the party conference EPA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Delegates at the Arena and Convention Centre in Liverpool, where the conference is being held PA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Badges worn by a delegate at the conference on Sunday EPA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott speaks at a fringe event at the party conference EPA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Anti-Brexit supporters demonstrate outside the conference in Liverpool on Sunday Reuters Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Deputy leader Tom Watson poses for a selfie on Sunday AFP/Getty Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Leader Jeremy Corbyn listens to a speech on Sunday Getty Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures General Secretary of the Labour Party is welcomed to the stage by leader Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday Reuters Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures An anti-Brexit protester Reuters Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at a vigil in Liverpool for those who are affected by the war in Yemen PA Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures An anti-Brexit protester AFP/Getty Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Anti-Brexit supporters demonstrate outside the conference in Liverpool on Sunday AFP/Getty Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Leader Jeremy Corbyn and Deputy Leader Tom Watson sit together on stage on Sunday Reuters Labour Party conference 2018: in pictures Anti-Brexit supporters demonstrate outside the conference in Liverpool on Sunday Reuters On Tuesday 2 October, Scottish secretary David Mundell, Welsh secretary Alun Cairns, Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley and justice secretary David Gauke will speak on A Stronger, Fairer United Kingdom. After lunch, the thorny issue of High-Quality Public Services will be tackled by health secretary Matt Hancock and education secretary Damian Hinds, among others. This will leave the stage clear for the prime minister. Will there be Brexit protests? More than likely. Campaigners marching for a Final Say second referendum on Britains divorce from Europe are expected to be out in force, just as they were in Liverpool during Labours conference. West Midlands Police will be stepping up its presence in the immediate vicinity of the ICC and city centre while travel restrictions will be in place on Broad Street, Bridge Street and Cambridge Street from 21 September to 5 October. The city of Brussels has officially named one of its squares after Jo Cox, the Labour MP murdered by a right-wing extremist during the Brexit referendum campaign. A smart blue road sign bearing Ms Coxs name was unveiled at a ceremony on Thursday attended by the citys mayor, Jeremy Corbyn, members of Ms Coxs family, and other politicians and citizens. Speaking at the memorial, which took place on a sunny autumn afternoon, Philippe Close, the Mayor of Brussels, said Ms Cox had died for a universal, yet fragile idea, that we have a duty to continue pursuing. The road sign in the centre of the Belgian capital (Jon Stone for The Independent) He told an assembled crowd that he wanted the squares name to remind the citizens of Brussels and its visitors of the values the MP espoused: peace and solidarity and the emancipation of the most disadvantaged. Also speaking at the memorial in the Belgian capital, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said thank you to the people of Brussels for this wonderful, truly wonderful gesture. He said of Ms Cox: She always gave this message: that we have far more in common and far more that unites us than ever could possibly divide us. So she treated people as they should be treated: with respect, wherever she worked; in Congo, in other parts of Africa, and other parts of the world, always trying to bring people together and bring about peace. I would like to think in years to come we can bring Jos children to Place Jo Cox in happier and more settled times Kim Leadbeater, sister I think its a wonderful gesture that you, the mayor and the council of Brussels have decided to name this square in her memory: so that generations on, people can enjoy being in this square on beautiful days like this, enjoying music, enjoying food, enjoying life, and enjoying understanding each other. And understanding that we can achieve a world free from war and a world of justice and a world of respect, and that we reach out the hand to those that are victims of that: be they refugees, homeless people, those that are just trying to find a place of safety. I think in Jos memory we will all strive to do that. The small, peaceful square is behind the Ancienne Belgique concert venue, where Ms Cox regularly visited to enjoy music while she lived in Brussels. Before becoming an MP she lived in the city for six years working for the humanitarian organisation Oxfam. A small a capella choir sang two songs to mark the occasion: an anti-apartheid folk song, as well as a Balkan folk song after which Ms Cox had named the London houseboat in which she lived as an MP. Recommended Poet releases powerful hate crime video on anniversary of Jo Cox death Kim Leadbeater, the murdered MPs sister, said she hoped to be able to bring her late siblings children to the square in more settled times to remember their mother. After Jo was killed it felt like there was a real hope that some things would change. Obviously for us everything changed forever, but beyond that I think a lot of people hoped that the violent assassination of a young mother of two small children on the streets where she grew up would have a profound and long-lasting effect on the political discourse in the UK and beyond, she said. However, over two years later and despite many people working extremely hard to ensure that Jos murder was not in vain, I am sadly not at all sure that this is the case. As well as being a celebration of Jos life I feel that today is also an opportune time to reflect on this. She added: I would like to think in years to come we can bring Jos children to Place Jo Cox in happier and more settled times, and we can remember mummy: her compassion, her kindness, and the humanitarian values she held in a city she loved where she lived for six years, had many happy times, and made some deep and meaningful friendships. I really hope that this is the case. Mr Close, the citys mayor, said: Jo Cox died for her ideals: ideals of peace, solidarity, which translated into a humanitarian commitment in Bosnia, Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and then a political commitment in the House of Commons and in her constituency of Batley and Spen: always pursuing the emancipation of the most disadvantaged. Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes and candles are placed by a picture of slain Labour MP Jo Cox at a vigil in Parliament square in London AFP Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Tributes to Labour Party MP Jo Cox are placed on her houseboat in Wapping in London REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures The Union flag at half-mast on top of Portcullis House in London after Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (2R) and deputy leader Tom Watson (L) light candles as they attend a vigil to slain Labour MP Jo Cox in Parliament square in London AFP/Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and deputy leader Tom Watson (rear) arrive to leave tributes at Parliament Square PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People leave St Peter's Church after a vigil in memory of Jo Cox REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Flowers left at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminste, following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People react as they look at tributes left for Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox in Parliament Square, London REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A man writes a message at Parliament Square PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People stop to look at tributes left at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminster PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A woman arrives to lay flowers at a statue to Joseph Priestly in Birstall near to the scene where Labour MP Jo Cox was shot AFP/Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Tributes at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminster PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A woman places candles in tribute to Labour Party MP Jo Cox REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A member of the public signs a memorial for British MP Jo Cox in Parliament Square, London EPA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People sign messages of condolence for MP Jo Cox during a vigil in Parliament Square in London Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Flags at half mast outside Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, after Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death in the street outside her constituency advice surgery in Birstall PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People arrive in Market Square with floral tributes after the death of Jo Co Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes are placed in Market Square next to the statue of Joseph Priestley following the death of Jo Cox Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes are brought to the scene after the death of Jo Cox Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A police officer carries bunches of flowers at the scene of the shooting of Labour MP Jo Cox in Birstall REUTERS Could anyone have thought that in todays society defending these values of social progress and openness to others would generate murderous hate? Jo Cox was fatally wounded on 16 June 2016 during the Brexit campaign simply guilty of freely expressing her ideals. Jo Cox died for a universal, yet fragile idea, that we have a duty to continue pursuing. I wish for the name of Jo Cox to be preserved in the heart of Brussels and associated with the idea in which so many of us believe. As the Belgian capital is officially bilingual the square will be known as Place Jo Cox in French, or Jo Cox Plein in Flemish. The first of three women to accuse Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct will tell Congress she will never forget what happened and that it altered her life. Dr Christine Blasey Ford alleges that Mr Kavanaugh tried to force himself upon her at a party while both were high school students in the 1980s. I dont have all the answers, and I dont remember as much as I would like to, Dr Ford will tell the panel on Thursday, according to prepared remarks. But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. Mr Kavanaugh, whose confirmation hangs in the balance, will offer a radically different version of events as he too gives testimony on Thursday. A vote on his confirmation is set to take place on Friday. Mr Kavanaugh faced a new accuser on Wednesday, as Julie Swetnick alleged in a sworn declaration that she observed Mr Kavanaugh at high school parties where women were verbally and physically abused, including being present at one in which she was the victim of a gang rape. Mr Kavanagh called Ms Swetnick's accusation ridiculous" and "from the Twilight Zone, having already strenuously denied Dr Fords allegation and another by Deborah Ramirez, who has accused the judge of sexual misconduct while the two were students at Yale University. In a transcript of a conference call released by the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of the hearing on Thursday, Mr Kavanugh also denied two other allegations. He denied assaulting a woman he was dating in 1998 while working for the independent counsel Ken Starr. He also denied an allegation made by an unidentified Rhode Island man concerning a rape on a boat in August of 1985. Mr Trump has defended his nominee a number of times, including during a press conference at the UN on Wednesday where he called the allegations a con job perpetrated by Democrats to stymy his nomination. However the president said that it was possible he could change his mind over the allegations. Were giving the women a major chance to speak. Its possible Ill hear that and Ill say: Hey, Im changing my mind. Its possible, he said. In her testimony, Dr Ford is due to lay out how the alleged incident changed her life. Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details, she wrote in her prepared statement. I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened. In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Show all 21 1 /21 In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images Dr Ford alleges that she was locked in a bedroom with Mr Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge during a small gathering at a house in Washington DC suburbs in 1982. I believed [Brett Kavanaugh] was going to rape me, she said in her statement. The fact that he covered her mouth she says terrified her the most, and has had the most lasting impact. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. When Mr Judge jumped on the bed, she says we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. She was then able to run from the room. Mr Judge also denies the allegations, and says he cannot recall the incident. Dr Ford wrote in her prepared testimony published by the Senate committee that Mr Kavanaughs future prospects are not her concern. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court, she said. My responsibility is to tell the truth. A GoFundMe campaign created for Dr Christine Blasey Ford has rapidly picked up support on the day of her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh. A campaign created on 18, September with a goal to raise $150,000 (115,000) has since markedly exceeded its goal. At one point on Thursday, the trending campaign reached $375,000 (280,000) with donations speedily pouring in throughout the day. Neighbours and colleagues of Dr Blasey Ford sponsored the campaign with the mission to assist the California professor and her family since her identify became known. The funds raised will cover expenses, including security and travel costs. Recommended Kavanaugh says opposition against him fuelled by anger over Trump During the testimony, prosecutor Rachel Mitchell questioned Dr Blasey Ford about the polygraph test she took in August in connection to her allegations against Mr Kavanaugh. The examinations result revealed that Dr Blasey Fords answers were not indicative of deception. When Ms Mitchell asked Dr Blasey Ford whether she paid for the polygraph, her attorneys confirmed that they did as is routine they added. The California professor also acknowledged that several GoFundMe pages had been created to support her. I'm aware that there's been several GoFundMe sites that I haven't had a chance to figure out how to manage those because I've never had one... she said. In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Show all 21 1 /21 In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images Dr Blasey Ford has received death threats among a wave of vile public attacks for not coming forward earlier and has been forced to relocate out of her home since her allegations came to light. Mr Kavanaugh, who has also been accused of sexual misconduct by two other women, has denied all of the allegations against him. Kavanaugh gets in heated exchange with Patrick Leahy over friend Mark Judge Not only has the right wing smear machine started, but she is receiving serious threats against her and has had to engage a security force to protect her family, a post on the GoFundMe campaign page read in part. This is all really expensive and she needs our help. We need to protect the voices of brave people who speak out - especially when they are part of our community. Another GoFundMe page that has gained in popularity was created for Dr Blasey Ford by a professor of law at Georgetown University, according to the campaigns post. That campaign, which has since closed, set a goal to raise $175,000 (130,000) and exceeded it by raising nearly $210,000 (160,000). It happened on a perfect day for flying, in calm winds and clear skies, on a hot California morning. It happened despite the five aviators involved having a combined total of 40,775 hours flying experience. It happened seemingly against all normal odds. As a rule, even if you tried to ram an aeroplane in the air with another plane, you couldnt do it, insisted a flyer with close links to some of those involved. And yet, 40 years ago this week, on Monday 25 September 1978 in one of the worst aviation disasters in history, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) Flight 182 collided with Cessna Skyhawk N7711G 2,600ft over the American city of San Diego. Instead of landing safely at San Diego International Airport as planned, Flight 182 smashed into the streets of the city itself. A total of 144 people died. In the Cessna, Martin Kazy Jr and David Boswell died as their light aircraft exploded on impact with the Boeing 727s right wing. Trailing flames and smoke from its wing, still carrying 128 passengers and seven crew, Flight 182 slammed into the ground at 300mph. All 135 people on board died. Only four of their bodies were found intact. On the ground, first responders were confronted with scenes worthy of the Apocalypse. The jet came down in the working class San Diego neighbourhood of North Park (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr) All around us was the stench of kerosene and burning flesh, recalled Gary Jaus, who at the time was still in training at San Diego Police Academy. There were no faces on the bodies. There were no bodies to speak ofonly pieces. The 150,000lbs jet had hit the ground near the junction of Dwight and Nile Street, in the working class neighbourhood of North Park. Jaus, who went on to become a sergeant in charge of community policing, told Thomas Shess of San Diego Magazine: One alley was filled with just arms, legs and feet. I worked at Clairemont Mortuary before I became a cop - I was no stranger to dead bodies, but I wasnt ready to see the torso of a stewardess slammed against a car. Other bodies or body parts landed on rooftops and in trees. A total of 22 houses were damaged or destroyed, some consumed by fire, others crushed like matchsticks. The jets impact claimed the lives of seven people who had been on the ground at the time. One elderly woman had been talking to her sister when some of the blazing Boeing 727 smashed into her house. I saw them [first responders] pull the door up, recalled Jaus. Underneath were the remains of a victim. They guessed it was a woman, but they couldnt tell. They guessed it was a resident instead of a passenger because the corpse was holding on to the receiver of a phone. A total of 22 buildings were destroyed or damaged, and seven people who had been on the ground at the time were killed (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr) At her home on the corner of Nile and Dwight streets, Nancy Stout, three days short of her 32nd birthday, had been in the process of saying goodbye to Cheryl Sherry Walker, who was dropping off her son Derek, three. Nancy was going to babysit Derek while also looking after four-year-old Robert, her son by her first marriage. It almost never happened. Nancy had been due to attend a court appointment that morning, about the plan for her new husband Harold to formally adopt her six-year-old daughter Candice. The appointment, however, was cancelled. So while Harold went to his work as a Navy aviation electrician and Candice left for school, Nancy stayed at home with Robert and welcomed Sherry and Derek. The two mums and the two little boys all died. Twenty years later, Beverly Allread, the Stouts next-door neighbour, told the San Diego Union Tribune of Harold Stouts reaction when he got back home to be confronted by clouds of smoke, wrecked buildings and swarms of ambulances. He kept asking, Wheres my family? Wheres my family? And nobody wanted to even answer him. PSA Flight 182 moments before it hit the ground at 300mph (Alamy) The death toll would have even worse had it not happened on a weekday morning when many people had gone to work or school. But Darlene Watkins, a 29-year-old hairdresser still died. Monday was the only day of the week she took off. The Flight 182 crash remains Californias worst ever aircraft disaster. It was, for a time, the deadliest plane crash in US aviation history. It prompted a raft of air traffic control improvements. It was also used in the teaching future air crash investigators, as an example of how human error can be a factor in aviation disasters. How big a factor human error was, however, became a matter of some dispute. By April 1979 the National Transportation Safety Board had pieced together the final moments of Flight 182 and Cessna N7711G to produce a detailed, but contested aircraft accident report. The aftermath (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr) For the Boeing 727, it began as a routine commuter flight on the cheap and cheerful airline where every jet, including Flight 182 had a great big smile painted on its nose cone. The jet left Sacramento bound for San Diego International, then known as Lindbergh Field, via Los Angeles. At LA, 102 lucky passengers got off the plane. But 100 people got on. It should have been 101. E. Jack Ridout, returning to San Diego after a business trip in LA, had booked himself a ticket on Flight 182. But Ridout had been staying with a friend whose air conditioning had broken in the middle of an LA heatwave. Unable to stand the heat, he apologised to his friend and travelled home on the Sunday, a day earlier than planned. In cancelling his Flight 182 ticket, Ridout cheated death in his second air disaster. Eighteen months earlier he had been one of only 61 survivors when a Pan Am Flight 1736 and KLM Flight 4805 collided on the runway at Tenerife airport, killing 583 people in the deadliest accident in aviation history. Before that, injuries sustained in a car accident had saved him from being enlisted for combat in Vietnam. PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures The wreckage of the Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 182 that collided in the air whilst flying over California San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures Pacific Southwest Airlines flight 182 after the collision with a Cessna 172 over San Diego Alamy PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures The wreckage San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures A seat back lying on a roof San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures Manual from the plane San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr PSA Flight 182 crash in pictures The site where the plane crashed San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr Among those who were on board Flight 182 were Azmi David Taha, a 16-year-old high school pupil, Lee H. Thompson, a 36-year-old whose wife was pregnant, and Pauline Pam Colarich, 23, flying from her Sacramento home to start her career as an archaeologist in San Diego. She would be one of the last to be identified, from dental records. In the cockpit was Captain James E. McFeron, 14,382 hours flying experience, 10,482 of them on Boeing 727s, 17 years into his job with PSA. A born pilot, they called him, a flyer who always seemed two heartbeats ahead of the situation. The first officer, Robert Eugene Fox, with 10,049 hours experience, was looking forward to the training that would allow him to be upgraded to full captain. McFeron and Fox were accompanied by flight engineer Martin J. Wahne, 44, who had been with PSA since 1967. In the cockpit jumpseat, although only in an off-duty, observing capacity was Captain Spencer Nelson, a pilot with more than 28,000 flight hours under his belt. By coincidence, prior to joining PSA in 1952 Nelson had been a student and flight instructor at Gibbs Flite Centre at Montgomery Field, about eight miles north of central San Diego. It was from here that Cessna N7711G took off at 8.16am. On board the four-seater were Gibbs Flite Centre instructor Martin B Kazy Jr, 32, and his pupil David Boswell, 35. Although the Cessna had dual controls, allowing Kazy to take over if necessary, Boswell, a gunnery sergeant in the US Marines, was himself a relatively experienced flyer, with a commercial pilot certificate and a total of 407 flight hours. Kazy was training him to fly by instruments only. They headed to Lindbergh field, which at the time was the only airport in San Diego County with an instrument landing system (ILS), meaning even small aircraft used it for practice. By the time Flight 182 was beginning its approach to Lindbergh Field, Kazy and Boswell had already done two practice ILS approaches to the runway. Found amongst the wreckage (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr) As the jet approached, first officer Fox was at the controls, with Captain McFeron handling nearly all the air-ground communications. Flight 182 would be guided by two separate air traffic control centres, beginning with San Diego Approach, which was also communicating with the Cessna, before Lindbergh Field Tower took over when the jet was 15 nautical miles from landing. All perfectly standard at the time, but, as the subsequent crash report noted, potentially confusing. At 0900 and 15 seconds San Diego Approach advised Flight 182 of the Cessnas presence with the words: Traffics at 12 oclock [straight ahead]. At 0900 and 21 seconds , first officer Fox said Got em, and the next second Captain McFeron confirmed: Traffic in sight. Flight 182 was advised by the approach controller to maintain visual separation. Nine seconds later, at 0900:31 San Diego Approach told Kazy and Boswell about the presence of Flight 182, and reassuringly informed them that the much bigger aircraft had their Cessna in sight. Shortly after that, the Cessna turned through 20 degrees to head due east, flying in exactly the same direction as Flight 182, just at a lower altitude. Kazy and Boswell, having been told Flight 182 had them in sight, could reasonably assume the men in control of the jet had seen them change course. They hadnt. The light aircraft was now beneath the jet and out of sight of the men in the Boeings cockpit. Flight 182, however, was not told by air traffic control about the Cessnas change of direction. The rules dictated that Flight 182, as the overtaking aircraft, was the one with the duty to keep well clear, whatever changes in course the Cessna made. But, as the small pieces that would make a massive disaster began to slot into place, the men in the Boeing did not tell air traffic control they had lost sight of the Cessna. It had seemed a routine flight until seconds before impact with the Cessna (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr) At 0900:34 Flight 182 told Lindbergh Tower they were on the downwind leg for landing. The tower acknowledged and issued the reminder: Traffic, 12 oclock, one mile, a Cessna. At 0900:41 Captain McFeron asked Is that the one were looking at? Fox answered: Yeah, but I dont see him now. Not knowing about the Cessnas change of course, and therefore expecting it to have crossed beneath them, Captain McFeron told the tower: I think hes pass(ed) off to our right. The black box recorder would later reveal how, in the jets cockpit, there was a relatively relaxed discussion about the Cessna. Are we clear of that Cessna? asked Fox, at the controls. Suppose to be, said flight engineer Wahne. I guess, replied Fox. As they laughed, the vastly experienced Nelson added to the banter with the comment: I hope. Eight seconds later, at 9.01am and 28 seconds, in the San Diego Approach control room, a conflict alert sounded. But no-one did anything. Later, the accident report would explain that at the time, air traffic control regulation did not require controllers to tell pilots of a conflict alert. And as the controller explained, conflict alerts were fairly regular occurrences on the approach to the busy airport. The alerts could be triggered when aircraft were in fact a safe distance of half a mile away from each other. And with the controller having been told 66 seconds earlier, at 0900:22, that Flight 182 had the Cessna in sight, he believed the necessary avoiding action had been taken. And so, the two aircraft maintained their fatally converging courses, the Cessna climbing, the jet coming up fast behind it, and descending from its higher altitude. At 9.01am and 31 seconds, Fox called for the landing gear to be lowered. Seven seconds later, the cockpit area microphone recorded his voice saying: Theres one underneath. At 9.01 am and 39 seconds Fox said: I was looking at that inbound there. Then at 0901:45 Captain McFeron let out an exclamation that on the recording sounded like whoop! Then Fox, the man at the controls, yelled Aghhh! The impact came a second later, at 9.01am and 47 seconds. After colliding with the Cessna, Flight 182 took 17 seconds to fall to the ground (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr) At first, the air accident report attributed the probable cause of the disaster to the human error of PSA 182s flight crew in not sticking to visual clearance separation procedures, and in particular failing to inform air traffic control that they had lost sight of the Cessna. Only one lesser, contributory factor was listed: the procedures that allowed air traffic controllers to use visual protocols when they could have used radar separation procedures. There was, though, a lone dissenting voice on the four-man panel: that of Brooklyn-born, former Second World War Navy pilot Francis H. McAdams. In his sharply worded, skilfully argued minority report, McAdams insisted it was neither acceptable nor sufficient to list the inadequacies of the air traffic control system as merely contributory. In my opinion, he wrote, The concept of see-and-avoid is outmoded and should not be used in high volume areas. Both aircraft should have remained under positive radar separation since it was available and could have provided safe separation. The failure to do so must be considered causal. And so it eventually was. In 1982 the report was amended to make the decision not to use radar separation a second probable cause, alongside the alleged shortcomings of the Boeings flight crew. Three new contributory factors were added: the failure of ground control to advise Flight 182 of the Cessnas change of course; the failure of the pilot of the Cessna to maintain his assigned heading; and the improper resolution by the controller of the conflict alert. That, then, was the end of the official aircraft accident report. Except for one haunting postscript. Contained in an appendix was the transcript of the recording of the final sounds from Flight 182's cockpit, as preserved by the aircrafts black box. The wreckage of Flight 182 (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive/Flickr) It showed that the cockpit area microphone did not stop recording on impact with the Cessna. Six seconds in to the jets uncontrollable, 17-second descent, first officer Fox can be heard telling his captain: Were hit man, we are hit. The stall alarm starts sounding. Captain McFeron can be heard saying, possibly to his passengers, Brace yourself. Then, inside the cockpit of the doomed plane, someone his voice was never positively identified shouts Ma, I love yah. Half a second later, the recording stops. The mayor of Houston has said he is looking at ways to stop a "sex robot brothel" expected to open in the city next month. Sylvester Turner said the brothel was not the sort of business that we advertise for, or we seek to attract after the company KinkySdollS announced it would be opening a second location in Houston in early October. The company has already opened its premiere love dolls brothel in Toronto, Canada, which features sex robots designed to interact with clientele. The brothel was not considered the sort of business that I want in the city of Houston, the mayor said, adding that he was looking into existing ordinances that could potentially regulate or prohibit the company. Just like with other sexual-oriented businesses, you can't be close to daycares, schools, churches, synagogues, things of that nature, the mayor told KHOU-TV. His comments arrived as a Change.org petition titled Keep Robot Brothels Out of Houston gained over 8,000 signatures, calling for city officials and others to stop KinkySdollS from opening a location in Houston. Robot brothels will ultimately harm men, their understanding of healthy sexuality, and increase the demand for the prostitution and sexual exploitation of women and children, the petition read. If an artificial substitute reduced the need to buy sex, there would be a reduction in prostitution but no such correlation is found. Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Show all 10 1 /10 Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Harmony and creator Matt McMullen Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features Inside the Realbotix sex robots factory Rex Features The rumoured opening has drawn nationwide media attention, becoming the topic of conversation on nationwide talkshow The View this week and drawing outcry from Texas conservatives. However, the company behind the supposed brothel stands by its business, which provides rental dolls for customers that can be purchased and brought to private rooms for up to two hours at its Toronto location. The dolls, available for purchase with prices starting at $2,500, are able to touch and provide vocal responses to the companys clients. Several artificial models are also available, which can hold conversations with customers, but are not available for rental purposes. Still, Mr Turner has remained adamant that the city should seriously consider the brothels impact on its residents. I am not trying to be the moral police officer, but we do need to be very mindful of what comes into our city and what our children and others may be exposed to, he said. He added, What I have said to legal and to my other departments, move quickly to give me some recommendations on how to address that because again, at the very minimum, let me put it in this case, at the very minimum, I don't want to see these type of businesses being next door to our schools, our day cares, our faith based institutions. Dozens of protesters opposing Brett Kavanaugh have gathered outside the Supreme Court wearing teal coloured clothes - a sartorial salute to Anita Hill who was grilled by the same senate committee 27 years ago. Mr Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who accused the judge of trying to forcibly remove her clothes at a high school party in Maryland three decades ago, are to give testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee will decide whether to pass Mr Kavanaughs nomination into the full senate for a confirmation vote. It was the same committee that Ms Hill, then aged 35, appeared before in October 1991 to allege that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually assaulted her. Ms Hill, a lawyer and government employee was wearing a teal blouse when she delivered her testimony. He denied the accusations. (AP (AP) It is only after a great deal of agonising consideration and a sleepless number a great number of sleepless nights that I am able to talk of these unpleasant matters to anyone but my close friends, Ms Hiil said in her opening statement. The questioning of Ms Hill by the panel of all white male senators, is remembered as one of ugliest moments on Capitol Hill. Many senators said they believed she was making up her accusations; one of two senators still on the committee, Republican Orrin Hatch, has already said he believes Ms Ford is similarly mistaken in her claims about Mr Kavanaugh. Anita Hill's testimony of sexual assault in the workplace, October 11, 1991 Thursday mornings protesters gathered at the bae of the steps to the Supreme Court, where Mr Kavanaugh would go to work if he is confirmed. Activists said they believed he would shift the court to the right and may be inclined to get rid of rulings such as 1973s Roe v Wade, which guaranteed women the right to a legal abortion. The protesters in teal said it was depressing Ms Ford was having to go through the same emotional wringer Ms Hill had. Stephen Colbert calls for FBI investigation of Brett Kavanaugh's sexual misconduct allegations We are here to show support for Ms Ford and for non-violence, said Miranda Eisen, from Portland, Oregon. Linda Fredrickson, from Burbank, California, said: By being here, we are saying that women have had enough. There need to be consequences. One woman carrying a placard who said she had been in college when the court voted to pass Roe v Wade, said before then, young women had to discreetly travel to New York to obtain illegal abortions. Such procedures were also carried out in the Washington DC area, her friend said In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Show all 21 1 /21 In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images Often such procedures were unsafe and the women died. I am just tired of having to keep on holding up the same sign, said the woman. Ms Hill, whose testimony was largely dismissed by senators, who also refused to allow her to call witnesses in support of her story, has said the way the claims of three women who have accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual assault or misconduct has been a mockery. Ms Hill, 62, now a professor of social policy, law, gender and sexuality studies at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, told an event in Utah that what was happening was a commentary really on values. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, she added: I hope that we can all be open to hearing [Ford] and evaluating based on what we hear and without the lens of the myths that have followed this hearing. In the end, the senators believed Mr Thomas, who adamantly denied Ms Hills accusations. He was confirmed in a narrow vote 52 to 48. Today, he remains a firmly conservative justice on the court, still denying the accusations made of him, and would become a colleague of Mr Kavanaugh if he is also confirmed. The fate of Donald Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court remains uncertain after a strident and emotional day of testimony from both himself and one of his accusers, which at times brought people to tears. Whether it changed the vote of a single person who will determine his future, has yet to be seen. The Senate Judiciary Committee is due to meet on Friday morning to consider Brett Kavanaugh's nomination. If the committee votes to approve him, his nomination will go to the full senate for final confirmation. It was not immediately clear if Republicans believed they had all the votes they would need from the 21-member committee. On Thursday, in an appearance that was at times blazing and even angry, Mr Kavanaugh denied sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, or any of the other women who have accused him of doing so. He said the allegations against him, and the process to try and rebut them had destroyed my family and my good name. Recommended Three Republican governors call for Kavanaugh vote to be postponed Mr Trump certainly approved of his nominee's high-stakes performance. He tweeted: Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote. The presidents nominee, a 53-year-old appeals court judge, sought to present himself as the victim of a calculated and orchestrated political hit fuelled by anger left over from Mr Trumps 2016 election win and a desire for revenge among supporters of Hillary Clinton. I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. Your coordinated and well funded effort to destroy my good name ... will not drive me out, he told the committee. Earlier on Thursday, during the course of more than four hours, Ms Ford, a California-based psychology professor, delivered testimony that at times was equally emotional, but overall more measured. She said she had no wish to be present and was testifying out of a sense of civic duty. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school, she said. She told the 21 senators, just four of them women all Democrats she was 100 per cent certain that it was Mr Kavanaugh who had assaulted her at a high school party in Maryland in the early 1980s an attempt to dismiss suggestions some had made that while she may have been assaulted, it was by someone other than Mr Trumps pick for the nations highest court. Asked by Democrat Dianne Feinstein if it was possible she was mistaken, she said: Absolutely not. She said her strongest memory of the alleged incident, was the uproarious laughter between Mr Kavanaugh and a friend she said was also in a bedroom at the party. She said the laughter had haunted her ever since. Dr Christine Blasey Ford describes alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help, she said. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Mr Trump is desperate for Mr Kavanaugh to be confirmed to the bench so that Republicans can use it in their campaign for the midterm elections. A number of Mr Trumps supporters, in particular evangelical Christians, have said last years confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, another conservative, was the presidents most important action since entering the White House. Mr Trump, who campaigned for the White House saying he wanted to appoint justices who were open to pushing back landmark rulings such as Roe v Wade, which guarantees the right to an abortion, has said appointing someone to the bench is one of the most significant actions a president can take. In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Show all 21 1 /21 In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images It was reported that Mr Trump spent much of the day watching the hearing on Capitol Hill, so much so that he postponed a meeting he was due to hold with deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, the man who is overseeing the special counsels investigation into Russias alleged election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. After South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, delivered a stinging attack on his Democratic colleagues for making Mr Kavanaugh to go through hell, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted: Lindsey Graham has more decency and courage than every Democrat member of the committee combined. God bless him. Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in the 1980s. Ms Ramirez accused Mr Kavanaugh of exposing himself during a drunken dormitory party during the 1983-84 academic year when both attended Yale University. Ms Swetnick claims she witnessed efforts by Mr Kavanaugh and others to get girls drunk at parties so they could be gang raped. She alleged Mr Kavanaugh was present at a 1982 party where she was raped. Mr Kavanaugh has also denied these accusations. While Mr Kavanaughs nomination must first be voted on by the committee made up of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats it must be confirmed by the full senate. It is believed several Republican senators, including Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, may vote against the nominee. On Thursday Ms Murkowski told Reuters: I find Dr Fords testimony to be credible." Close Christine Ford '100%' certain Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her Christine Ford has told Congress that she believed Brett Kavanaugh was "going to rape her" in dramatic testimony over her sexual assault allegation against Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee. Dr Ford said she was "100 per cent" sure it was Mr Kavanaugh who assaulted her. Later, Mr Kavanaugh appeared in front of the same Senate panel, the judiciary committee, and denied the allegations calling the hearing a "circus". He said he believed Dr Ford had been assaulted at some point, but not by him. Dr Ford said she was "terrified" of testifying, but that she believes it is her "civic duty". Before she began Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, commended her on coming forward. The clash pitted her word against his. Members of the Senate, controlled 51-49 by Trump's fellow Republicans, must now decide whether to vote to confirm him after the extraordinary nearly nine-hour-long hearing. Senate Republicans planned to meet on Thursday night to discuss the next steps on the nomination. I swear today, under oath, before the Senate and the nation, before my family and God, I am innocent of this charge, Mr Kavanaugh told the Judiciary Committee later. Calling himself a victim of grotesque and obvious character assassination, Mr Kavanaugh, speaking passionately, said he unequivocally and categorically denied Dr Ford's allegation. I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process, Mr Kavanaugh added. Writing on Twitter after the hearing, President Donald Trump said of Mr Kavanaugh, His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats' search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote! Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been questioned over allegations he raped a woman aboard a boat and assaulted a girlfriend in a bar. The new claims which add to the complaints already already made by Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick - were revealed as the judge prepared to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge Kavanaugh described the claims as outrageous when he was interviewed by investigators in a conference call released by the committee. Its trying to take me down, trying to take down my family, said the 53-year-old who currently serves as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He added: Its bad its doing damage to the Supreme Court, its doing damage to the country. Its doing damage to this process. Its become a total feeding frenzy, you know? Every... just unbelievable. Dr Ford, a university professor, has described how Mr Kavanaugh tried to force himself on her at a party while they were both high school students in Maryland in 1982. Two men have since come forward independently to say that they were responsible for the encounter and not Mr Kavanaugh, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee. One described his recollection of their interaction in some detail in two interviews and written statements, while the second made his claim over the phone to committee staff. Ms Ramirez claims that Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken dormitory party at Yale University while third accuser Julie Swetnick says the judge was present during a gang rape at a party in 1982. In the conference call with Senate investigators, the judge said he had been friendly with Ms Ramirez but denied any sexual or romantic encounters. This specific incident alleged did not happen, and I dont recall the general party that shes describing in particular," he said. Mr Kavanaugh also denied any involvement in gang rapes as described by Ms Swetnick. This didnt happen. Ive never done anything like that," he said. "This is an outrage for this kind of thin, uncorroborated, 35-year-old accusation to be leveled in this fashion at this time.... Ive never had a threesome or more than a threesome. Recommended Brett Kavanaugh accuser Dr Christine Ford to testify before Senate The allegation about the rape on the boat in August 1985 was made by an unidentified man from Rhode Island in a phone call to Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse on 24 September. He claimed that a close acquaintance told him she had been sexually assaulted by two drunken men she referred to as Brett and Mark after meeting them at a local bar. The man said that he and a friend went to the harbour at Newport and physically confronted the two men, leaving them with significant injuries. He reported it after seeing Mr Kavanaughs high school yearbook photo on TV. Asked about the claims, Mr Kavanaugh said: I was not in Newport, havent been on a boat in Newport. This is just completely made up, or at least not me. In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Show all 21 1 /21 In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images According to the transcript of the conference call, the man who made the complaint has tweeted criticism of Donald Trump as the parasite that occupies the White House and the domestic terrorist in the Oval Office. The claim that Mr Kavanaugh assaulted a woman he was dating in 1998 while working for the independent counsel Ken Starr was made in an anonymous letter to Republican senator Cory Gardner. It read: My daughter occasionally socialized with Brett Kavanaugh. Her friend was dating him. When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually. Her friend (still traumatized) called by daughter ... wondering what to do about it. Mr Kavanaugh said: Were dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend. Its ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no, Ive never done anything like that. Christine Blasey Ford has emotionally told senators she believed Brett Kavanaugh was going to rape me and even accidentally kill her at a high school party. In her opening address to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr Ford, 51, sometimes struggled to get her words out as she said she had never wanted to appear in public. Rather, she said she was there was from a sense of duty to provide testimony about Donald Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school, she said. Ms Ford, a professor in California, then went onto explain the details of a party in the 1980s she attended at which Mr Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Ford were present. She knew the boys because she and classmates from all-girls Holton Arms high school, often mingled with local teenagers from the all-boys high schools in the area. She said Mr Kavanaugh and Mr Ford both visibly drunk had pushed her into a bedroom and Mr Kavanaugh climbed on top of her. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help, she said. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Show all 21 1 /21 In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing AFP/Getty Images She added: Bretts assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. I convinced myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened. Over the years, I told very, very few friends that I had this traumatic experience. I told my husband before we were married that I had experienced a sexual assault. I had never told the details to anyone until May 2012, during a couples counselling session. Ms Ford said the impact on her life had been akin to post traumatic stress disorder. I struggled academically, I struggled in college forming new friendships, especially new friendships with boys, she said. In response to a question from Democratic senator Patrick Leahy, she said the thing that would stick with her the most about that evening, was the two boys laughing at her. I was underneath one of them and they were laughing at me, she said. Questioned by lawyer Rachel Mitchell, on behalf of the Republican senators, Ms Ford was asked if she had been drinking that night. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Not at all, she said. Were you on any medication? Ms Mitchell asked. None at all. Ms Ford was asked by Democrat Dianne Feinstein about a theory pushed by the White House that she had mistaken the identity of her attacker. Ms Ford said it was not possible. The same way Im sure Im talking to you right now. Basic memory functions. And also just the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain that sort of, as you know, encodes that neurotransmitter encodes memories into the hippocampus so the trauma related experience is locked there where as other details kind of drift, she said. Ms Feinstein added: So what youre telling us is this could not be a case of mistaken identity? Absolutely not, said Ms Ford. Democrat Dick Durbin asked her about her level of confidence she had been attacked by Mr Kavanaugh. She said: 100 per cent. Close Donald Trump says he will be meeting with Rod Rosenstein on Thursday President Donald Trump has postponed his planned meeting with embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein rescheduling the tete-a-tete that could shape up to be one of the most consequential moments of this presidency so far. Rumours have circulated that Mr Rosenstein may be on the way out after it was reported by The New York Times last week that the Justice Departments second in command had suggested secretly recording the president, and discussed an effort to recruit cabinet members in order to invoke the 25th amendment to declare Mr Trump unfit for office and toss him from the Oval Office. Mr Rosenstein holds authority over the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself citing Justice Department protocol to stay out of investigations into campaigns in which individual officials were involved. He had met Russian officials when part of Mr Trump's campaign. Please allow a moment for the live blog to load Indias Supreme Court has struck down a colonial-era law that made adultery a criminal offence in certain situations, punishable by up to five years in prison. The law made it a crime for a man to have sex with a married woman without her husbands permission, but made no provision for wives to prosecute husbands who cheated on them. Petitioners said the law, dating back to the British-enacted Indian Penal Code, was inherently sexist, holding only men responsible for extra-marital affairs and treating women simply as victims without any agency of their own. Striking down section 497 of the code, the court ruled that adultery will no longer be treated as a criminal offence, though it should still be considered a civil wrong for the purposes of dissolving a marriage. It is the latest in a series of rulings in recent weeks being celebrated by activists for affording more rights to women, religious minorities and members of the LGBT+ community. In Thursdays judgment, the court observed that the husband is not the master of woman. It said a law which effectively only punished wives for adultery was unconstitutional, as it violated womens protection to equal rights under the law. Rekha Sharma, chief of the National Commission for Women, told ANI: I welcome this judgment. It was an outdated law which should have been removed long back. This is a law from the British era. Section 497 stated that: Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery. Excellent decision, tweeted Sushmita Dev, a politician and president of the opposition Congress Partys womens wing. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. 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Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Political commentator Harini Calamur said the law dated from an era when women were legally the property of their husband. This terrible, terrible British law, that treated women as chattel, has finally gone, she said. The ruling was made by a five-judge bench led by the retiring chief justice Dipak Misra. Mr Misra had reportedly identified a number of key laws that he believed needed progressive reforms before he is required to step down at the age of 65 next week. A Misra-led bench ruled earlier this month that another colonial-era law, which made gay sex a criminal offence, should also be struck down. That ruling was not contested by the government and prompted widespread celebrations, as well as positive responses from rights activists all over the world. The reaction to Thursdays ruling was not quite so roundly positive, however. Some activists had called for the law to be made gender neutral rather than being struck down altogether, and Narendra Modis ruling BJP had actively opposed the petition, saying making adultery legal will hurt marriage bonds. Swati Maliwal, chair of the Delhi Commission for Women, said she totally disagrees with the Supreme Court decision, calling it anti-women. Instead of making [section] 497 gender neutral they have decriminalised [adultery] totally, she said. Theyve given licence to married couples [for] adulterous relationships. Whats sanctity of marriage then? Rodrigo Duterte has claimed his only sin is the killing of thousands of people during his war on drugs in the Philippines. The president made the apparent confession in a speech criticising opposition leader Francis Pangilinan during an oath-taking ceremony at his palace in Manila. What is my sin? Did I steal money, even just one peso? he is reported as saying. Did I prosecute somebody I sent to jail? My only sin is extrajudicial killings. Recommended Duterte revokes amnesty of political rival over historic failed coup At least 4,000 people, mostly small-time drug users and dealers, have been killed in shootouts with police during anti-drugs operations since Mr Duterte came to power in June 2016. However human rights organisations argue the true figure, including vigilante executions believed to be sanctioned by the state, is closer to 13,000. Mr Duterte has previously acknowledged the existence of extra-judicial killings but has denied they are state-sponsored. In his speech on Thursday he also appeared to blame the police, describing them as ninja cops. He added: It is an organised crime really. The president went on to lash out at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which announced in February that it was carrying out a preliminary examination of the alleged crimes. You are actually exercising functions that you are not supposed to do, (which) belongs to the government. At the very least, you are committing usurpation of authority, Mr Duterte said. Six months ago Mr Duterte announced that he was withdrawing from the ICC but the move will not take effect until March 2019. The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Show all 9 1 /9 The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On killing drug addicts These sons of whores are destroying our children. I warn you, dont go into that, even if youre a policeman, because I will really kill you. If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Message to China I will go there on my own with a Jet Ski, bringing along with me a [Phillipino] flag and a pole, and once I disembark, I will plant the flag on the runway and tell the Chinese authorities, Kill me AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Christmas message to law-breakers If you do not want to stop, and just continue committing crimes, then this would be your last Merry Christmas AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On sex life I was separated from my wife. Im not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On the drugs trade None of my children are into illegal drugs. But my order is, even if it is a member of my family, kill him'" AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting the Pope We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the pope. I wanted to call him: Pope, son of a wh**e, go home. Do not visit us again AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Joke about rape I saw her face and I thought, 'What a pity... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first AFP/Getty The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting Barack Obama "Mr Obama should be respectful and refrain from throwing questions at me about the killings, or son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum" REUTERS The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants "If I have to face them, you know I can eat humans. I will really open up your body. Just give me vinegar and salt, and I will eat you. If you annoy me to the fullest... I will eat you alive. Raw" EPA The ICC said their examination was continuing, adding: The ICC retains its jurisdiction over crimes committed during the time in which the state was party to the statute and may exercise this jurisdiction over these crimes even after the withdrawal becomes effective. Mr Duterte has made of series of outlandish statements since coming to power. When his son Pablo Duterte was accused of involvement in the shipment of 93m-worth of crystal methamphetamine from China, the president exhorted police to kill him if the allegations were proven. Three months ago he warned drug suspects to stay in jail if they wanted to live longer. He went on to provoke outrage by calling the Christian god stupid and a son of a bitch and joking about sexual assault by saying as long as there are beautiful women, there will be rape. A critically endangered Sumatran tiger pregnant with two cubs has been killed by a pig trap the latest setback to a species whose numbers have dwindled to only about 400. The four-year-old big cat was found dead in a ravine in Indonesia about after escaping from the trap, with part of the snare wrapped around her body, which had ruptured a kidney, authorities said. The tiger was pregnant with male and female cubs, according to the head of the local conservation agency. Recommended Indonesian villagers kill endangered tiger after making mistake He said a suspect from a village in the province of Riau who admitted to setting traps for pigs was arrested for questioning. "We will cooperate with law-enforcement agencies for an investigation and to launch an operation against wild hunters and traps," said Suharyono, who uses a single name. Sumatran tigers, the most critically endangered tiger subspecies, are under increasing pressure as their jungle habitat shrinks, largely because of the expansion of palm oil plantations. Two people have died in tiger attacks on Sumatra this year, and villagers slaughtered one they reportedly believed was a supernatural creature. Anyone in Indonesia caught hunting tigers could face jail time and steep fines. But WWF says that despite increased efforts in tiger conservation, a substantial market remains in Sumatra and across the rest of Asia for tiger parts and products. Sumatran tigers are losing their habitat and prey fast, and poaching shows no sign of decline, according to the conservation charity. After a long silence, the Kremlin has cast doubt on photographs that appear to show a suspect in the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was a Russian intelligence officer, saying that many people look alike. It had been expected President Vladimir Putin would use an official trip to Azerbaijan to face down reports linking a military intelligence (GRU) colonel to the Salisbury novichok scandal. But after fielding a few brief questions from loyal journalists, the president moved on to a discussion of Azeri-Russian relations and, then, a judo competition. Recommended Salisbury novichok suspect identified as highly decorated GRU colonel There would be no discussion of the explosive Bellingcat/Insider investigation that introduced Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga to the world. It was left to loyal officials to hold the fort. Writing on Facebook, Maria Zakharova, the foreign ministrys spokesperson, dismissed the investigation as fabrications. The new report provided no proof, she said. And its only aim was to distract attention from what happened in Salisbury. Loyal media also undermined the story. The Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid quoted a Defence Ministry official claiming the investigation contained discrepancies. But the arguments seemed convoluted: Chepiga could not have graduated from a certain military academy since that did not train spies; Chepiga could not have been at Salisbury at the time of the attack, because he should have been in training school; one of the addresses quoted was wrong. Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Show all 19 1 /19 Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Salisbury train station The two suspects charged in relation to the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal at Salisbury train station at 16:11hrs on 03 March 2018 Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Suspects Suspects Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, Russian nationals, approximately 40 years old, who travelled on a Russian passport. It is likely that they were travelling under aliases and that these are not their real names Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Evidence Bottle and applicator recovered by police from Charlie Rowleys address in Muggleton Road Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Evidence A counterfeit perfume box that was discovered by nerve agent victim Charlie Rowley, who later gave it, and the bottle inside, to his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess Metropolitan Police/AFP/Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Rowley has previously said he felt lucky to be alive after giving a perfume bottle that contained the nerve agent Novichok to his girlfriend Dawn Sturgess, who later died Metropolitan Police/AFP/Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Suspeccts The CPS has issued European Arrest Warrants for the extradition of 'Boshirov' and 'Petrov' in connection with the Novichok poisoning attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March Metropolitan Police/PA Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Boshirov' at Gatwick airport Movements in detail - At 3pm on Friday, 2 March, the suspects arrived at Gatwick airport, having flown from Moscow on Aeroflot flight SU2588 Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Petrov at Gatwick airport From the airport it is believed that they travelled by train into London, arriving at Victoria station at approximately 5.40pm Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Salisbury train station, 11:48hrs on 4 March 2018 They then travelled on London public transport to Waterloo station and were in the area between approximately 6pm and 7pm. They travelled to the City Stay Hotel in Bow Road, East London, where they stayed on Friday, 2 March, and Saturday, 3 March. On Saturday, 3 March, they left the hotel and took the underground to Waterloo station, arriving at approximately 11.45am, where they caught a train to Salisbury, arriving at approximately 2.25pm Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack City Stay Hotel in Bow Road Police officers stand outside the City Stay Hotel in Bow where on Sunday, 4 March, 'Boshirov' and 'Petrov' made the same journey from the hotel as they did the previous day, again using the underground from Bow to Waterloo station at approximately 8.05am, before continuing their journey by train to Salisbury Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Wilton Road, Salisbury, 11:58hrs on 4 March 2018 CCTV shows them in the vicinity of Mr Skripals house and we believe that they contaminated the front door with Novichok Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Fisherton Road CCTV image of both suspects on Fisherton Road, Salisbury at 13:05hrs on 4 March, 2018 Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Salisbury train station, 13:50hrs on 4 March 2018 They left Salisbury and returned to Waterloo Station, arriving at approximately 4.45pm and boarded the London Underground at approximately 6.30pm to London Heathrow Airport Metropolitan Police Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack CCTV Heathrow airport security, 19:28hrs on 4 March 2018 From Heathrow Airport, they returned to Moscow on Aeroflot flight SU2585, departing at 10.30pm Metropolitan Police/PA Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Scene investigations The police investigation was carried out over 6 months. Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found on March 4 in a critical condition on a bench outside the Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury AFP Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Victims Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, right, and his daughter Yulia Rex Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Victims Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey who rushed to the aid of the Skripals was also taken to hospital in a serious condition after falling ill when attempting to help them PA Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Victims Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three, died after falling ill when partner Charlie Rowley gave her a perfume bottle that contained the nerve agent Novichok Facebook/AFP/Getty Police release images of suspects in connection with Salisbury attack Scene investigations The home of Charlie Rowley in Muggleton Road, Amesbury, where he and Dawn Sturgess were exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok PA As the day wore on, and the Kremlin stayed silent, the questions grew in number. In the afternoon, the respected Kommersant broadsheet published its own investigation, backing up the Bellingcat/Insider findings. The paper tracked down residents of the village where Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga apparently spent much of his youth. Locals said they recognised Tolya (short form of Anatoliy) in the UK police photos and much-ridiculed RT interview. Many people look like one another Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Its Tolya, one hundred percent. His near-black eyes, and his voice, said one woman, who refused to be identified. When the Kremlin eventually broke cover on Thursday evening, it was to deny knowledge of anything to do with the GRU colonel. In a tense session with journalists, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not have the information to confirm or deny the man that UK police identified as Ruslan Boshriov was, indeed, Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. We dont have any other data, he said. We see there has been an informal investigation. We dont know if it is true, or how much it is true. Besides, he added, many people look like one another. Salisbury attack: Two Russian spies named as suspects in novichok poisoning case Mr Peskov claimed to have only come across the information when the report was published on Wednesday. He could not confirm why a military officer by the name of Chepiga received Russias highest military award. The spokesman indicated the Kremlin had little interest in a comprehensive discussion of the subject. After speaking out in defence of two ordinary civilians, the president is also unlikely to voluntarily return to the issue. Putin understands it was an egregious mistake of information policy to speak in the way that he did, says former Kremlin advisor Gleb Pavlovsky. The presidents ill-advised intervention had only fuelled the scandal: Before there was only Theresa May speaking. Putin voluntarily offered up a protocol equivalent. Mr Pavlovsky suggests the Russian president had been motivated by an elevated sense of self-worth, and a belief his words would be enough to change things. He will not be making the same mistake again, says Mr Pavlovsky. The system strives to escalation and radicalisation. It answers escalation with escalation. Gleb Pavlovsky, former Kremlin advisor The scale of the intelligence blunders is likely to have wide-reaching consequences for Russias intelligence services. A shake-up in personnel seems inevitable. This is unlikely to happen immediately, however. Mr Putins HR policy is usually conservative and detached from news events. But when it happens, things could get ugly, says Alexei Filatov, a retired lieutenant colonel of Russia's security services. If it turns out to be as the investigation says it was, then lord help us, honours will be flying off peoples uniforms, and people will be fired, he told The Independent. It would be a shame since the GRU is a decorated institution with a great history. Mr Filatov said he could not confirm the veracity of the Bellingcat/Insider report. Nonetheless, their conclusions looked more convincing and well argued than those presented by our Foreign Ministry. The former agent says Russias intelligence agencies may also been undone by technological advance: It is like a mine were discovering new layers of information that previously people thought didnt exist. It may be impossible to hide all the information. But as embarrassing as the leaks have been, they are unlikely to lead to a root-and-branch reform of the political system. If anything, radical politicians will feed off the scandal, says Mr Pavlovsky. Im afraid our leaders like it when the west writes terrible things about them, he says. The system strives to escalation and radicalisation. It answers escalation with escalation. An Iranian exile group that is a darling of Washington conservatives has set up what critics describe as a state within a state inside the tiny Balkan nation of Albania. From a well-guarded 84-acre (340,000 square metres, or 34 hectares) property it has forged on a hillside in the Albanian countryside, the group called the Peoples Mujahedin Organisation of Iran, commonly known by the acronym MEK, has begun handing out mysterious wads of cash, set up its own radio communications network, and launched deceptive information operations to influence debate about the Islamic Republic its avowed enemy say defectors of the group, relatives of members, and Albanian journalists, lawyers and a former intelligence official. In addition, it has been accused of locking up members inside the camp against their will, an allegation that has long dogged the organisation, which is led by Iranian exile couple Maryam and Massoud Rajavi, and described by former members and Iran experts as a political cult. The US-led coalition fighting against Isis in Syria and Iraq admitted to killing at least 1,114 civilians in air and artillery strikes in the four-year span of the war. Inherent Resolve, the codename for the US-dominated coalition combating the jihadi group, said it had launched a total of 30,008 strikes on suspected Isis targets between August 2014 and August 2018, and that each allegation of civilian casualties has been investigated. It is a significant number but far less than the more than 6,000 people assessed to have been killed by independent monitors. We continue to employ thorough and deliberate targeting and strike processes to minimise the impact of our operations on civilian populations and infrastructure, said a press release issued by the Pentagon. This process includes thorough review and vetting of each target package prior to a strike, and another review after that strike. While contending that the number of civilian casualties is far higher, critics praised the US military for improving its measures of accountability. While that number remains far below public estimates of harm we have seen significant improvements in how the coalition monitors battlefield casualties which we hope will be standard practice in future conflicts, Chris Woods, director of the UK-based war monitoring organisation Airwars, said in a statement. Airwars estimates at least 6,500 civilians killed. Other critics say the US does far too little to assess the impact of its bombs, and continues to undercount unintentional deaths. The first problem is that they do not do proper investigations, Donatella Rovera, a senior researcher for Amnesty International, told The Independent. They go to Iraq, Syria, Raqqa and go around to talk to their partners. They do not talk to survivors and witnesses. Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Show all 13 1 /13 Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage The wreckage of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus, which was targeted by the US, UK and France air strikes. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage A Syrian soldier films the damage of the Syrian Scientific Research Center surrounded by papers and rubble. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Firefighrers extinguish smoke that rises from the damage. The Pentagon says none of the missiles filed by the U.S. and its allies was deflected by Syrian air defenses, rebutting claims by the Russian and Syrian governments. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage The wreckage of part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound . AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Part of a building collapsing, surrounded by the wreckage. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Further damaged to the Scientific Studies and Research Centre compound. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, also says there also is no indication that Russian air defense systems were employed early Saturday in Syria. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage A Syrian soldier sprays water on the wreckage. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Syrian state news agency SANA reported several missiles hit a research centre in Barzeh, north of Damascus, "destroying a building that included scientific labs and a training centre". AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage A Syrian soldier films the damage. AP Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Damage to the Scientific Research Center building that was hit by the strikes. EPA Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage The Scientific Studies and Research Centre was one of the targeted buildings by the US, UK and France. AFP/Getty Syria bombings: US, UK and French military air strikes wreckage Further damage to the centre. EPA Ms Rovera also said the US military has also repeatedly and loudly dismissed the findings of independent groups such as Amnesty or Human Rights Watch, or media outlets, only to quietly admit mistakes months later. No organisation will ever have the resources to investigate every case where the coalition bombed a building in Syria or Iraq, she said. They should be doing that. The problem is that they are not doing that. Even as the US has gotten better about admitting civilian casualties, other countries bombing Syria or Iraq continue to ignore the impact of their warfare on noncombatants or deny any problems. Russia, which claims it is fighting extremists on behalf of Syrian government, has inflicted well-documented carnage on civilians, including rescue workers and medical personnel, as documented repeatedly by the United Nations, but has never admitted any to civilian casualties. Mr Woods also said the UK and France continue to claim low or no casualties from their own actions, an absurdity given the lethal nature of modern urban warfare. Refusing to admit civilian casualties prevents governments from assessing their methods, and identifying flaws in their collection of intelligence and designating of targets, said Ms Rovera. There is a major issue with some of the tactics employed, she said. They never assess what went wrong. Was it negligence, human error, bad intelligence? Unless they come clean, lessons will not be learned. President Donald Trump has vowed to deliver a fair Middle East peace plan within the next four months, after publicly endorsing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the first time. Mr Trump said it was his dream to see a peaceful end to the 70-year conflict, and pledged to present a deal within two to four months. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been suspended since 2014 and efforts to revive them have proved unsuccessful with successive US administrations failing to broker any definitive long-term treaty. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr Trump appeared unperturbed, and claimed a lot of progress had been made. The US leader, who held recent meetings with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, added he backed a two-state solution, marking the first time he has publicly mentioned it. I would say, over the next two to three to four months, Mr Trump said on Wednesday, referring to his prospective timetable for presenting a plan. I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term [in 2021], he added. The president later confirmed his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is tasked with brokering a permanent settlement, was going to be very fair with the Palestinians. I think the two-state is more likely, he added. Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted any future Palestinian nation must be demilitarised and must recognise Israel as the state of the Jewish people, conditions Palestinians say prove he is not sincere about peacemaking. On Wednesday, the right-wing Israeli leader thanked Mr Trump for his extraordinary support, but said his country must retain security control of land west of Jordan which includes the occupied West Bank. It is important to set what is inadmissible to us: Israel will not relinquish security control west of Jordan. This will not happen so long as I am prime minister and I think the Americans understand that, said Netanyahu, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Mr Trumps comments did little to reassure the Palestinian leadership, which has broken contact with Washington ever since the US recognised the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israels capital in December, and then relocated the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Mr Trump further worsened ties when he cut more than $500 million in Palestinian aid, including slashing all funding to the United Nations Palestinian refugee programme. Palestinian foreign affairs minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said Mr Trumps comments were too vague to represent any real progress. He said the American president needed to state clearly a two-state solution would include a return to borders that preceded the 1967 Six-Day War, and that east Jerusalem which the Palestinians claim as their capital is occupied, rather than constituting a part of Israel. These are important statements that President Trump has to say in order just to convince anyone that he is committed to real peace in our region, Mr Maliki added. Palestinian protesters rest behind concrete blocks as others hurl stones at Israeli soldiers during a protest at the entrance of the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, 26 September (AP) Tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians reached a fresh breaking point in the summer over months of protests by Gaza residents along its border fence. Nearly 190 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the marches erupted, on 30 March. One Israeli soldier has been killed during that time. Israel has defended its use of force, saying the rallies were not peaceful and protesters repeatedly attacked the border fence, including flying incendiary balloons and kites into Israel. Egypt has stepped in to broker several ceasefires after multiple instances of cross border fire, but none have properly held. There will not be a Palestinian state, which would be a disaster for Israel Naftali Bennett, Israeli education minister and leader of the Jewish Home party Mr Netanyahu also held rare face-to face meetings with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the UN assmebly. Mr Sisis office said they reviewed ways of revising the peace process, with the ultimate goal being a two-state solution. But Mr Netanyahu is facing mounting pressure back home. Naftali Bennett, the prime ministers rival and the countrys powerful education minister, said a Palestinian state was out of the question. The president of the US is a true friend of Israel. However, it must be emphasised that there will not be a Palestinian state. That would be a disaster for Israel, he said. President Donald Trump has claimed credit for saving millions of lives in Idlib, Syria despite only learning about the area recently, because he said he successfully halted a brutal regime offensive via a tweet. Mr Trump said Wednesday he convinced Syria and its main allies, Russia and Iran, to hold off an anticipated attack on the northwestern province, home to 3 million people and one of the last rebel strongholds in the country. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Trump explained that a message to his top team to not let it happen and a 4 September tweet, declaring Syria would be making a "grave humanitarian mistake, saved the day. However, he also admitted he had only recently heard about the province because a woman brought it up at a rally last month. The US president said the woman had told him that Iranians, Russians and Syrians had surrounded Idlib and were going to kill millions of people in order to get rid of 25,000 or 30,000 terrorists.. "I said that's not going to happen. I didn't hear of Idlib province. I came back and picked up the Failing New York Times and opened it up, he continued. I said, 'Wow that's the same story the woman told me,' and I found hard to believe and I said how, why would anyone do that?" Mr Trump said the story had indicated the offensive could start in the coming days and so he wrote his Twitter post. He gave orders to top officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House national security adviser John Bolton, to "not let it happen." Nobody is going to give me credit but that's OK because the people know, Mr Trump added. I've had more Syrians thank me for that. A Syrian rebel fighter from the recently-formed 'National Liberation Front' takes part in combat training in Idlib province on 11 September (AFP/Getty Images) Russia and Turkey, who back opposing sides of the seven-year civil war, agreed last week during a meeting in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi to set up a buffer zone in Idlib aimed at preventing a military assault. The deal has so far staved off the anticipated offensive which the UN had warned could displace nearly a million people. Mr Trump on Wednesday admitted that Iran, Russia and Syria deserved acknowledgement for not going through with the planned attack. He conceded that Turkey had also been "a big help." Backed by Russian warplanes, the Syrian regime has largely corralled its opponents in Idlib after sweeping control of swathes of territory in Syria, through a combination of brutal offensives and evacuation deals. The war in Syria, now in its eighth year, has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions. Two coots race along Amsterdams Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal, throwing up spray while swans and their cygnets preen themselves on a nearby bank. A postman delivers parcels and neighbours greet each other on the street. Stories abound of a red light district choked with noisy stag dos and drunken tourists but get up early in Amsterdam and its a different affair. As the day begins, theres a quiet, village feel to the place that is at odds with its nighttime alter ego. The red light district is the medieval heart of Amsterdam: the oldest and for me the most beautiful part of the city. Lined with elegant gabled properties once owned by wealthy merchants and criss-crossed with pretty canal bridges, its as majestic as it is muddled, with museums, concept stores and foodie spots sitting alongside the familiar red-lit windows and tawdry souvenir shops. For such an anomalous, multi-layered district, its name is misleading. Locals know better and simply call it the Wallen, for this historic settlement was once circled by earthen city walls and defensive towers. Beside the market stalls on the Nieuwmarkt, the multiple spires of the Sint Antoniespoort gate, now known as De Waag (the weighing house) are still standing. Once a theatre of public dissection, it was here that Rembrandt painted his celebrated Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp (1632). De Waag (the weighing house) was originally part of the old city walls (Deborah Nicholls-Lee) But the jewel in the crown and the obvious starting point for any visitor is the Oude Kerk (Old Church) on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal, dating back to around 1305 and the oldest building in the city. More than 10,000 people lie buried beneath its cold stone floor, including Saskia van Uylenburgh, who married Rembrandt there in 1634, and fellow Golden Age painter Jan van der Heyden. Today the building is also an exhibition space for modern art installations, but I want to touch history so I seek out the gruesome 15th century carvings of moralistic Dutch proverbs in the choir stalls and run my hands over the ancient engravings on the paving slabs below. Amsterdams Oude Kerk dates back to the 14th century (Deborah Nicholls-Lee) People are always surprised that the church is right in the middle of it all, tour guide and local resident Kendra Borgen tells me, and how incredibly safe they feel in this part of town. I think the red light district gets very one-sided press, she says. On her tours she enjoys setting the record straight and pushing peoples boundaries about what they assume its like. Along the south wall of the church sits another unexpected find: one of Amsterdams leafiest and most charming terraces, the Koffieschenkerij. This surprisingly peaceful and secluded cafe complete with pear tree and grape vines serves Dutch apple tart and freshly baked cakes (3-4) on pretty china plates. Theres posh coffee from Amsterdam roastery Bocca, and soup and sandwiches for around 6 (5.30). Oudezijds Voorburgwal is the red light districts main strip (Deborah Nicholls-Lee) There is so much more to see than meets the eye, says Bert Nap, who has lived in the area for over 40 years and is co-author of Aan de Amsterdamse Wallen (2016), a book written about the rich history of the area to show people, he explains, what they are missing behind the red lights. We meet for coffee in Latei, in Amsterdams sweet-scented Chinatown, just east of the Oude Kerk. Its a quirky, retro treasure trove of a cafe where a sea of pendulous ceiling lamps and other vintage wares are all for sale. This used to be the richest part of the city, Bert tells me. Theres so much to see, and its all still there. Too many visitors miss most of it. There are crowds walking along the Oudezijds Achterburgwal, but they never realise that they are passing the house (45-47) of a man that everybody knows, Willem van Ruytenburch, who is centre stage in the Night Watch by Rembrandt. He takes me on an impromptu tour of his neighbourhood: the trendy urban shopping spots (Patta, The New Originals, Tossijn, Mary Go Wild) on the Zeedijk once a heroin-infested no-go zone; the hidden, tree-shaded courtyard at Michelin-listed restaurant Blaauw aan de Wal; and the I live here posters pasted over doorways and windows, reminding visitors of the community who have their homes here and who greet Bert left and right as we wend our way along the canals and alleys. Michelin-starred restaurant Blaauw aan de Wal has not a sniff of seedy about it (Blaauw aan de Wal) (Blauw Ann de Wal) Later, in one such alley, I discover Les Petites Puces, a magpies nest of jewellery, small gifts and vintage accessories. The red light district is not only about the girls in the windows, its also about the cute little stores like this, says owner Susanne Bakker, who initially sceptical now loves the location. A blackboard outside the shop reads Lucky you! You found us!. Stripping away the stereotype and finding the other red light district is all about knowing where to look. Essentials Stay The award winning five star hotel Sofitel Legend The Grand is housed in a curious architectural mix of Dutch classicism and Amsterdamse School art deco, but like its eclectic surroundings, it works. Look for the original Karel Appel painting in the Michelin-starred Bridges restaurant (Doubles from around 300). The gorgeous Sofitel Legend The Grand was a convent in the 15th century (Sofitel Legend The Grand) For a mid-range option, check out boutique hotel Highland House (doubles from 150) or join the backpackers at the Bulldog Hotel (beds from 20 to 62), which has its own roof terrace up top and coffee shop down below. Shop Visit Anna + Nina for fashion, homewares and jewellery, displayed in vintage cabinets and on zig-zagged wooden shelving; and serene cafe/concept store Hempstory for high-quality, hemp clothing, homewares and toiletries. The red light district is studded with fancy boutiques such as Anna & Nina (Deborah Nicholls-Lee) Design enthusiasts will love nearby WonderWood, a gallery and store for new and vintage birch furniture; while The Upcycle, further north, sells hip gifts made from repurposed bicycle parts. The Book Exchange comprises several storeys of floor-to-ceiling English books of all genres, from paperbacks for 2.50 to precious first editions. For more books and a peep into the pretty university quad, visit the nearby Oudemanhuispoort, a covered alleyway between the Oudezijds Achterburgwal and Kloveniersburgwal. Eat The snack bar and restaurant Bird serve tasty Thai food from 12pm onwards. The 18.50 set menu offers the best value for money. Ivy & Bros is a favourite lunch spot with foodies best known for its thick, freshly baked frittatas (10.50). Visit The museum Our Lord in the Attic is built around a beautifully preserved Catholic church concealed in the loft of a 17th century merchants house during the reformation. Entrance 11. The charming 15th century Walloon Church has a programme of afternoon and evening classical concerts. It was frequently visited by Van Gogh in the 1870s and is the burial place of 17th century portrait painter Bartholomeus van der Helst and scientist Jan Swammerdam. The man who represents the worlds leading airlines has warned of the huge amount of work required to maintain vital air links in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), was responding to the governments technical notices on the implications of the UK leaving the European Union without an agreement. The guidance confirms that airlines would lose the automatic right to operate air services between the UK and the EU without seeking advance permission. The backstop, according to the Department for Transport (DfT), would be bilateral arrangements between the UK and an individual EU country. As the UK leaves the European Union and its cohesive open skies arrangements, complex issues from airline ownership to safety certification remain to be resolved. Mr de Juniac said: The UK governments papers on the air transport implications of a no-deal departure from the EU clearly exposes the extreme seriousness of what is at stake. An assumption that it will be all right on the night is far too risky to accept. Every contingency should be prepared for, and we call upon both the EU and the UK to be far more transparent with the state of the discussions. He warned that even if mutual recognition of existing standards is achieved, airlines and governments faced a heavy administrative burden which will take time and significant resources. The DfT insists the prospect of a no-deal exit remains unlikely given the mutual interests of the UK and the EU in securing a negotiated outcome. But in the event of a departure without agreement, the UK would envisage granting permission to EU airlines to continue to operate [and] would expect EU countries to reciprocate in turn. The DfT is telling travellers: In the unlikely scenario we leave the EU without a deal, plans are in place to ensure you can continue to travel as normal. UK citizens planning a trip to Europe in the short term do not need to take immediate action. The government will set out clearly and in good time what additional steps may be required. In his leaders speech at the Labour Party conference this year, Jeremy Corbyn made an attempt to show that he cares about the importance of a free press around the world. We must, and we will, protect the freedom of the press to challenge unaccountable power, he said, before going on to cite countries where the press are imprisoned, harassed or sometimes even killed by authoritarian regimes. What a shame his record exposes this as an empty promise. Like Theresa Mays approach to Brexit, cherry picking is Corbyns modus operandi when calling out a lack of press freedom overseas. His historical allies, despite their questionable records, were not on his list. Venezuela is the first name he conveniently excluded. When I stayed in Caracas in 2009, I saw hours and hours of the speeches of former president, Hugo Chavez, on my hotel room television. This was the same year that Chavez shut down 32 radio stations and two television stations. His successor, Nicolas Maduro, has closed a further 46 according to the Venezuelan National Union of the Workers of the Press. Last year, when there were mass protests, the Spanish CNN news channel was taken off air. And its not just professional newscasters who are affected: there have been reports of one government ministry forcing public employees to email their social media names to managers. On Chavezs death, in 2013, Corbyn tweeted: He made massive contributions to Venezuela & a very wide world. Many Venezuelan journalists would beg to differ. Then there is Iran, where four journalists have been killed since 1992 another country Corbyn neglected to mention in his Liverpool speech. Its state-sponsored propaganda TV station, Press TV, is banned by Ofcom, the UK press regulator. A few years ago the Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian was jailed for over 500 days in Tehran due to a dispute with the US. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian national, has been imprisoned on the grounds that she was working as a journalist in Iran, when in fact she was visiting her parents. Only last month, at least seven journalists were given prison terms of up to 26 years, ordered to be flogged publicly and forced into exile on their release. Jeremy Corbyn addresses Labour Party conference But this month a Labour party activist organised a live streaming on Press TV of an event where one of the partys MPs, Joan Ryan, lost a motion of no-confidence. Jeremy Corbyn has appeared a number of times on the same channel, receiving 20,000 in the process; he refused to tell Channel 4 this week whether or not he regretted the decision. Finally there is Syria, which has an equally appalling record when it comes to the treatment of journalists. According to Freedom House, in 2015 Syria was one of the most dangerous places in the world to practice journalism. The organisation claims that Bashar al-Assad has killed, injured, abducted or imprisoned dozens of journalists. In his conference speech, Corbyn said that the free press has meant the freedom to spread lies and half-truths. Back in April, he was the one who was suggesting that chemical weapons attack in Douma may not have been perpetrated by the murderous regime of Assad when all evidence pointed the finger towards him. To date he has not explicitly and unequivocally condemned Assad. Corbyn was right to talk about the fact that some countries do not have a fair and impartial media and, yes, some of the stories in our own free press about Labours spy connections are possibly exaggerated. However, by failing to talk about what is happening to the press in Venezuela, Syria or Iran and in one case taking their money Corbyn does nothing to help advance the rights, freedoms or physical safety of journalists worldwide. If he wants to be taken seriously when it comes to press freedom and human rights, it is high time that Corbyn called out the abysmal record of the regimes he has supported for decades. If he failed to do so and then became prime minister, what a terrible message that would send to the rest of the world. Matteo Salvini should be ashamed of himself as the man who, more than any other, has driven Italy from civilisation to barbarism. Here, in Europe, in our time, we have a return of a form of fascism. So inured are we to these trends that we sometimes forget the magnitude of Italys slide from grace. Once it was a dynamic, fast-growing engine of growth in the old European community: the Treaty of Rome was aptly named. Christian Democracy endowed the country with decades of stable rule, despite frequent rotations of prime minister. No longer. Now Italy finds itself the second biggest joke in the west, after Trump. Matteo Salvini interview with Massimo Giletti Not a very funny joke, either. When the French minister for European affairs, Nathalie Loiseau, compares him to the man responsible for Jesus Christs judicial murder, she has a point: Mr Salvini today, hes like Pontius Pilate. Its obscene. French president Emmanuel Macron is quoted as saying Italy has decided to no longer follow international law, in particular humanitarian maritime law. Dramatic words, undiplomatic too, but fair in such extreme circumstances. Salvini is like Pontius Pilate, refusing to take responsibility, washing his hands of blame, cruel and callous. The rule should be that the humanitarian response to the imminent loss of life at sea is to preserve that life: save lives first, ask questions later. It is what the German and Swedish governments have done, almost alone in Europe, during the Syrian migrant crisis. Yet Italy, like Greece and Malta, has had to take a disproportionate share of the task of policing Europes borders, taking in migrants, including refugees, and the Italians been given scant support by their European partners (who also simultaneously demand financial austerity from their southern neighbours). Even Jean-Claude Juncker, the retiring president of the European Commission, admitted as much in his valedictory speech to the European Parliament. The EU has feeble border and security resources, and an even more feeble sense of solidarity among the 28 states that should be joining together to construct a clear, coherent plan to deal with the greatest mass movement of people since the Second World War. They cannot just leave it to the Italians, Maltese and Greeks to cope as best they can, exploiting the basic decency of their peoples. Apart from a diplomatic agreement with Turkey that has helped stemmed the tide, Europe has been, frankly, like Pontius Pilate itself. So the Italians should accept the boats, they shouldnt obstruct the aid agencies; they should show the best of Italian spirit and hospitality. There is no need to demonise migrants as a problem, meantime. They should do their best to process the migrants coming to their shores. In return, they really should receive more money and personnel from richer EU neighbours to help them. The Italians should do their moral duty, unconditionally. However, there is this question of Europe and France also evading duties. The fact that the French have chosen to hide behind EU conventions about frontline states and first ports of arrival means that they have laid themselves open to Italian verbal retaliation. Salvini accuses Macron of hypocrisy: We do not accept lessons on rights or humanity from Mr Macron. He claims that France has turned back more than 50,000 migrants from the Italian border in recent months. Maybe; but, as the British say, two wrongs do not make a right. France has declined to set up processing centres for migrants, and, when the Italians turned away the Aquarius migrant boat, the French also found excuses not to offer the ship and its desperate occupants a safe berth in France. Pontius Pilate springs to mind again. Thus is the migrant crisis continuing to rip Europe apart. Just as matter of fact, the failure to exercise political leadership in an EU with porous borders is feeding extremist parties populists of the right and left. More and more in Europes proportional representation parliaments they are catching a fifth, maybe a third of the vote enough to block stable coalition governments from forming and taking the firm action needed to deal with the crisis: a vicious circle. In some countries, notably Viktor Orbans Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and benighted Italy, the extremists are in power; in Austria, they are in coalition; in the Netherlands and Denmark, they are knocking at the door. In France, Macron is running scared still of Marine le Pens Front National. In Britain, migration-phobia is, evidently, part of the reason for Brexit. The crisis has arisen because almost all of Europes governments have behaved like Pontius Pilate. History will not remember them fondly, either. The new Garda Commissioner has said he has concerns about the style and manner in which gardai dealt with a housing occupation eviction. Drew Harris told the policing authority that the Garda had been placed in a very difficult position and it was a very emotive issue. Mr Harris said: Certainly there were issues about our appearance and the style and the manner in which we went about it which were of concern to me. The authority held its first public meeting with the recently-elected Commissioner on Thursday. The Commissioner had admitted previously that some mistakes were made earlier this month when Gardai attended a property on Dublins North Frederick Street to evict housing protesters. Expand Close The eviction prompted protests in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The eviction prompted protests in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) The eviction sparked criticism after both the Garda and the private security group attended the property in balaclavas, and a number of protesters claim they were injured in the eviction and subsequent sit-down protest. The demonstrators had taken over the property as well as a second property in Dublins Summerhill Parade over the summer to protest against housing conditions across the country. Mr Harris told the authority he had received a report on the incident on Wednesday but had not yet had time to digest it. He said it was quite considerable in terms of its recommendations. The Commissioner outlined the recent operational successes of gardai including the seizure of criminals assets and the murder conviction of Freddie Thompson. Mr Harris said: If there is one thing better than locking criminals up, it is taking their ill-gotten gains from them. He said the Garda had thwarted 50 assassination attempts and they had targeted the lavish lifestyles of gangland figures. He described the investigation that led to the conviction of Mr Thompson as world class. Mr Harris said millions of euro in cash, drugs and guns had been seized as well as the proceeds of crime such as luxury cars and goods. Ahead of the meeting the authority raised concerns about the Policing Commission proposals for a new board at the top of the Garda. The Commission published a report last week outlining the need for more than 50 reforms of the Garda. The recommendations included the abolition of the authority. In a statement the authority said: It is not clear to the authority how the public interest and the current level of transparency can be maintained, let alone enhanced, through the architecture of the proposed internal board given the usual fiduciary duties that attach to the board of a public body. The authority said it might be worthwhile to consider ensuring a single pair of eyes on Garda performance for the avoidance of oversight gaps. Mr Harris took up the role of Garda chief earlier this month. He had been PSNI deputy chief constable for the past four years. He relinquished his sworn oath to serve Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, and switched allegiance to the Garda and Republic of Ireland. Mr Harris joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 1983. The Garda Commissioner said he wanted the Garda to be rooted in the community and to be a human rights police service. On the outside, looking in: Britains Prime Minister Theresa May arrives for a family photo during the European Union leaders informal summit in Salzburg. Photo: REUTERS We financial journalists know our place. We tip our metaphorical caps to the sports writers, with their legions of avid readers. We defer to the political correspondents' knowledge of the corridors of power. But we don't mind - because we do the important stuff. It is the economy, stupid. My mentor in journalism, the late John Wallace, liked to say there were interesting stories and important stories, but the interesting wasn't always important, and the important was not necessarily interesting. The financial hack's role is to make the important interesting. Not so easy, when it comes to things like pension deficits or productivity. There is no such difficulty, of course, with Brexit. Its importance cannot be overstated and everyone is talking about it. Telling the story, though, is a nightmare. In the general frenzy, which reached new levels after the EU summit in Salzburg last week, a most heretical thought arises. Perhaps this was a case for doing the unthinkable: trying to make the important uninteresting. Especially when it comes to Ireland. Salzburg came as a shock, and not just to Theresa May. It had seemed that everyone was clawing their way back to what should have been the position all along: agreeing the basic terms of Brexit next March, followed by a transition period while a permanent arrangement was negotiated. The hapless British prime minister is largely to blame for the two things getting hopelessly entangled. The Chequers plan should never have been on the table at this stage, although any sensible observer could see that she could not go back to her party and Parliament with just an exit bill and a blank sheet of paper. Sensible observers appeared to include Michel Barnier and Jean-Claude Juncker, but Salzburg sounded very like a 'non'. The chances seem much higher than a fortnight ago that we will drive over the cliff in March. The chances are also higher that, on the Irish question, we will get most of the blame. The pragmatic President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, was the one who delivered the ultimatum - unless there is a breakthrough on the Border issue within weeks, the talks will break down. If they do, it will represent an act of folly by the Irish Government on a par with Mrs May's solo run on leaving the single market and the customs union. We have all read and heard enough now about what a no-deal Brexit would mean. Every Irish political and diplomatic sinew should have been applied to ensuring that did not happen, while making sure there was no diminution of Ireland's position as an EU member. That would have been extremely difficult, and the more it was done behind closed doors, and the 80pc agreement already achieved trumpeted outdoors, the better. Instead, we got death or glory: a choice between a wonderful all-Ireland economy after Brexit, or a disastrous division, hard Border included, if this year's negotiations fail. Like the Charge of the Light Brigade, it was magnificent and grabbed all the attention, but it is not how battles should be fought. The terrible thing is that Chequers does not have to be part of the withdrawal agreement. Perhaps Mrs May would not survive trying to drop it, but that is a different question. The backstop does have to be part of it, or else it's no deal. It is a depressing thought that a successful deal cobbled together in the next two months would mean two or three more years of this while the permanent arrangements are negotiated. Whatever they are, things will never be the same on these islands. More attention must be paid to the important, but less exciting, issues which will face us in anything less than a Norway-style arrangement between the EU and UK - and which will not entirely go away even then. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. The apparently sudden plan to recruit hundreds of customs staff suggested advance planning. Infrastructure is being designed and new European routes planned, although many business people think government is not up to speed on the economic challenges. Politicians and business people have no choice but to think about how matters might stand in 2029, not 2019. Last week, academics at Trinity College's social sciences research organisation, TriSS, tried doing just that, in a workshop organised jointly with the Institute for International and European Affairs. The North was once again a major topic: not so much what would happen to, or at the Border, but what might happen to Northern Ireland itself. Its economy is in a parlous state. Astonishingly, rather than improving, productivity has fallen since the end of the Troubles and lags further behind the relatively poor performance of the UK as a whole. As a result, it is even more dependent on transfers from London, which now amount to 120pc of the average across UK regions. If even half of all the predictions of economic woe for Britain post-Brexit are right, those payments to Belfast will be in serious jeopardy. The resulting combination of declining living standards and the possession of unique rights of EU citizenship (on which there will be a border down the Irish Sea) would reshape this island irrespective of where and how lorries are checked. Scenario planning will be needed, but that is another thing better done out of the spotlight. When it comes to the Irish economy, nothing is more important than the agri-food industry and there is no need to be quiet about preparing for Brexit. Except perhaps for one possibility. There will be customer demand for dairy products in the EU if UK firms face restrictions. But these are mainly branded products and Ireland's brands sell largely into Britain and are not so suited to the continental market. It is one thing to swap cheddar for feta, but another to get the feta on the shelves of German supermarkets. One solution may be to have successful UK firms transfer production to Ireland - but the less said about that before the jobs are actually announced, the better. Then there is the long term. Some of us, like Keynes, will be dead, but Brexit, if it goes ahead on a third-country free-trade relationship, will still be having its effects. It is silly to make any kind of precise predictions, but trade relations could be one of the running sores. EU member states cannot retaliate against each other in trade wars, or even trade skirmishes, but must abide by court decisions. The same is not true for third countries, and it is easy to imagine regular difficulties between the EU and UK, with Ireland still more affected than others by such events. In the shorter term, one suspects that standards may be the issue - especially labour standards, which are not normally subject to trade rules. British politics, as well as the myths which have grown up around EU regulation, make changes to things like working hours one of the more likely responses when the UK is no longer a member. It has always been an issue in Britain, where one of the many myths is that EU labour regulations are holding its economy back. The UK got a temporary opt-out from the Working Time Directive, which was a worry for Ireland. It is difficult to see British workers tolerating change on a scale that would provoke EU retaliation. It is a red line (no pun intended) for the Labour Party, although no-one can explain how it sees the EU is a threat to worker rights. The temptation to seek competitive advantage, along with permanently lower values for sterling, could create significant problems for Irish firms. Guidelines for the negotiations say there must be a level playing field and labour standards must not be used for competitive advantage. While planning for these potential woes must continue, clearly the both important and interesting task it is to get a withdrawal deal, no matter what it says about the Border, and use the transition negotiations to prevent any of the woes materialising. At this stage, unfortunately, that looks like a bit like trying to turn around a cavalry charge at full gallop. Flights between Ireland and the UK are in danger of stopping under a no-deal Brexit, the new chairman of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has warned. Michael McGrail told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that the Department of Transport and the IAA are "scenario planning" to minimise the negative consequences of a hard Brexit. Mr McGrail said that with the apparent impasse in the talks between the UK and EU, a satisfactory withdrawal agreement and transition period are "in doubt". He said a hard Brexit would disrupt aviation, and the IAA is in "close collaboration" with the Government in "scenario planning" to minimise the impact. When asked if there is a "practical danger" that flights to the UK would halt, he said there would be. He referred to a report produced by British government officials which stated that fights will be grounded if there is a no-deal Brexit. "There's a lot to be done between now and then and I don't think it would be in anyone's interests for that to happen," he added. Former Aer Arann boss Padraig O Ceidigh welcomed the IAA's support for a new runway at Dublin Airport. The Senator said passenger numbers in Dublin are expected to reach 31.5 million this year and raised concern it could lead to the airport becoming slot-restricted for airlines, as happens in London's Heathrow. Mr O Ceidigh predicted that flights will not stop between Ireland and the UK after Brexit but said airlines should be facilitated by the Department of Transport in relation to scenario planning. Leaders: British Prime Minister Theresa May flanked by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (left) and French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN. Picture: Getty British Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to dramatically reduce corporation tax after Brexit in a move that could threaten Irish jobs. As she bids to keep her Brexit plans on track, Mrs May told investors that the UK will be more attractive in the future. But government sources in Dublin told the Irish Independent that making such statements without knowing the outcome of the stalled Brexit negotiations is meaningless. Ireland's 12.5pc corporation tax rate is key to attracting investment and jobs from multinational companies. Speaking to business leaders in New York, Mrs May said the UK will move to offer companies the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20. "You will access service industries and a financial centre in London that are the envy of the world, the best universities, strong institutions, a sound approach to public finance and a consistent and dependable approach to high standards but intelligent regulation," she said. She added that "post-Brexit Britain will be an unequivocally pro-business Britain". The existing corporation tax rate in the UK is 19pc, compared with 12.5pc here. It is likely that by lowering their rate the UK would seek to attract companies who would otherwise favour Ireland as an English-speaking base. A spokesperson for Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said: "We note the comments from Prime Minister May, which are consistent with previously announced plans. "Ireland is confident that our 12.5pc corporation tax rate will remain highly attractive and competitive into the future." Separate government sources with knowledge of the Brexit talks played down the impact of a rate cut in the UK. They said any policy promises made by the British government against the backdrop of Brexit need to be looked at carefully. "There's an element of 'seeing is believing' because a lot has already been said. The UK don't need to leave the EU to lower their tax rates," the source said. "Of course we take note of what the prime minister says but it doesn't change anything, especially when we don't even know if there'll be a Brexit deal yet." The comments from Mrs May are viewed as laying the ground for a tough stance on Brexit that she will take in front of her many Conservative Party critics at their conference this weekend. A government source also noted that she talked specifically about having the lowest corporation tax rate in the G20. "At the minute Singapore is the lowest at 17pc. Ireland's rate is 12.5pc. So even if the UK became the lowest in the G20 it's still a big gap." Mrs May's Brexit proposals were savaged by EU leaders at a summit last week and many in her own party have criticised her approach, raising prospects that she will fail to strike any agreement and that Britain could leave without a deal, something business leaders fear would be hugely damaging. However at a meeting of Fine Gael TDs last night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said reports that Mrs May had been humiliated by EU leaders at the summit were "exaggerated" by the UK press. He said an expectation had built up that the prime minister could go over the head of the EU negotiating team by appealing directly to leaders, which could not happen. He said other EU countries remain steadfast in their support of Ireland. Meanwhile, Mrs May said yesterday she will not abandon her current Brexit plan. "We don't know where the negotiations will end. I'm confident about getting a deal but we have to make sure we're prepared for any eventuality," she said. Outlook: Speaking about the challenges of Brexit, Origin chief executive Tom OMahony said: We do expect some challenges, but the risk profile is low. Stock market-listed agri-services group Origin Enterprises is increasing its capacity to import products to the UK under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules as the likelihood of a hard Brexit increases, according to the chief executive Tom O'Mahony. Mr O'Mahony said that Origin is already a significant importer of fertiliser and nutrients to the UK, which will leave the European Union at the end of March next year. "We deal with reasonable volumes through WTO rules because we're sourcing all over the world," he told the Irish Independent. "Our plans are to increase the capacity to handle those. "We're not suggesting that we're going to frontload all of the nutrition or fertiliser requirements ahead of March. That doesn't make particular sense. It's to introduce as much flexibility into the supply chain as possible." Mr O'Mahony said that Origin tends to import into the UK mostly via secondary ports. That's unlike, for example, consumer goods which make their way there mostly via primary facilities. "That's not to make light of the challenges of the system that we're likely to see," he said. "But we've a very strong relationship and good influence with those port authorities, and it's about their capacity to discharge ships and move products on. We do expect some challenges, but the risk profile is low." Mr O'Mahony was speaking as Origin Enterprises released full-year results for the 12 months to the end of July that beat the top end of guidance. Its operating profit was 1.7pc higher at 71.2m on a reported basis, and up 4.6pc on a constant currency basis. Its revenue rose 6.5pc to 1.62bn on a reported basis, and was 9pc higher on a constant currency basis. The group generated free cash flow in the year of 56.6m, compared to 32.4m in the previous financial year. Acquisitions made during the financial year added five percentage points to the sales growth figure, and 3.6 percentage points to operating profit growth on a constant currency basis. In June, Origin announced that it had reached an agreement to buy stakes in two Brazilian businesses, giving it its first foothold in the region. It completed the acquisition of a 65pc stake in Fortgreen in August, and has bought a 20pc holding in Ferrari Zagatto. It also bought a Belgian fertiliser firm. The company also announced yesterday that it has appointed Declan Giblin as its first chief executive of Latin America. Mr Giblin is the former chief executive of Masstock, and is currently head of corporate development at Origin. Mr O'Mahony added that Origin has the capacity to spend between 100m and 150m on further acquisitions. Origin generated almost two thirds of its revenue and 77pc of its operating profit in the UK and Ireland last year. The company also has operations in Ukraine, Poland and Romania. Follow the leader: UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (left) and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell during the Labour Partys annual conference in Liverpool. Photo: PA An ever-larger number of people see what might be called a 'crisis of capitalism'. They see growing inequality and have a sense that public services are under-funded. Nowhere is that sense of disillusionment playing out more strongly than in Britain. Brexiters latched on to the idea during the referendum campaign and portrayed the straightjacket of the European Union as the culprit. The solution presented by the winning Leave side was to get out of the EU, win back national political and economic freedoms, and contain the number of immigrants coming into the country. Equally, we are now seeing the analysis and response from the hard left - namely Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his treasury spokesman John McDonnell. This week Mr McDonnell outlined what he genuinely believes will be an economic transformation capable of putting right the wrongs of untamed capitalism. He said he wants to "redress the balance of power at work" away from an elite and towards those who create the wealth. His suite of solutions includes: a compulsory share-ownership scheme where 10pc of the equity in the UK's largest companies would be gradually handed over to workers; force workers on to boards and an extensive programme of renationalisation in rail, water and other key sectors. It is quite a contradiction to think these ideas are coming from a political party that wants to reject Theresa May's Brexit proposals and replace them with something that will protect business, employment and the economy. There are so many misunderstandings about wealth creation at the heart of this set of proposals, not to mention what they tell us about the rationale behind the Labour leaderships floundering on Brexit. First come the problems. Under the proposed share-ownership plan, large British companies would be forced by law to create new shares and hand them over to a worker share trust. Workers would benefit from participation in this trust by receiving a portion of the company's dividends, up to around 500 per year. The rest would go to government. This appears like a measure to help workers but, in fact, looks a lot like a new tax on business. Around 500 a year will not fundamentally change somebody's life circumstances. The move would undermine the legal rights of existing shareholders who might want to challenge the legislation in courts. Because the measure kicks in on companies with more than 250 workers, it could discourage corporate growth, investment or listing on the stock market. Anything that reduces the value of existing shareholders' interests could undermine the performance of pension funds, which invest workers' money. Employee share-ownership schemes are a great idea. Startup companies and state businesses have used them very successfully in the past. However, legislating to make them compulsory on existing businesses of scale is a very different proposition. If the only mechanism to benefit workers is through dividends, what if the company decides not to pay dividends or simply cannot? Listed companies have propped up their share prices more through share buybacks in recent years than through higher dividends. British employees of foreign firms would be excluded. In fact, many firms would probably delist from the UK and decamp elsewhere to avoid the measure. Those looking with envy at the super rich in society can see they have large holdings of company shares. However, holding the shares doesn't make them rich. Selling the shares makes them rich, or in some cases borrowing in a risky way using the shareholding as collateral. The initiative assumes that wealth is truly created by the workers while the investors just sit around counting their money. There are no guarantees that companies with employee shareholdings will automatically perform better. Some do and some don't. Then there is the progamme of renationalisation. The state would have to find the hundreds of billions needed to buy back the rail and water companies. This would in turn saddle the British exchequer with higher debt repayments and the need for higher taxes. Imagine paying more taxes to fund potentially inefficient public utility companies and interest on the national debt, rather than using higher taxes for better public services in health and education? There is also a whole other EU and Brexit dimension to this policy programme. Shareholders and businesses could go to court to challenge these new initiatives. If British courts backed the British government, they could appeal to the European Courts. What would happen if the nationalised companies underperformed and needed more capital or a financial bailout? Britain would fall foul of EU state aid rules. And so some new light appears on the fudge behind the Labour Party leadership's Brexit policy. If Jeremy Corbyn backs a second "in or out" Brexit referendum, and the people want to remain, how much of his hard left economic programme could be implemented within the confines of EU membership and its rules? John McDonnell's economic transformation programme is somewhat predicated on the UK being outside of the EU. The top of the Labour Party has substituted a hard right UKIP-style rationale for leaving with a hard left rationale. A hard right populist nationalism in favour of Brexit would be replaced by a hard left economic programme that needed Brexit to be implemented. The Labour Party is neck and neck with the Conservatives in the polls and will fancy its chances in a general election. It also sees an opportunity to trigger that election by voting down British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, assuming one does emerge. The Labour Party's Brexit policy has been based on any new deal passing six tests. These tests are designed in such a way that no realistic Brexit deal could meet all six and so it has constructed the basis to reject whatever Mrs May comes up with. For those of us on this side of the Irish Sea, the situation simply gets more depressing. Irish businesses trying to make key decisions based on a particular Brexit outcome have been stymied by the pantomime and uncertainty. It is incredibly unlucky that at a time of such rampant political self-harm within the British Conservative Party, the Labour Party has its first eurosceptic leader in decades. Mr McDonnell alluded to the possible chaos that might emerge in the coming months when he said: "The greater the mess we inherit, the more radical we have to be." Perhaps he believes a chaotic Brexit is the best environment in which to introduce the kind of economic and business changes he believes will work. However, if Britain bounces out of the EU without a deal and the economic damage is acute, he may find it even more difficult to implement policies that heap more uncertainty onto a fragile situation. It is widely accepted that a no-deal Brexit will result in recession in Britain, not to mention the chaos that could follow from delays in the supply chain and the disruption to trade. I am reluctant to suggest that a British general election could take the UK and to some extent Ireland, out of the economic frying pan into the fire, because it implies the current lot are a better option. But we have seen this week how a general election will throw everybody from one frying pan into another. An aerial view of the landholding next to the Lucan/Clonee Road (R149) near Ongar in Dublin AGENT Coonan Property Maynooth & Celbridge is understood to have secured a price of close to 50,000 per acre for a 183-acre landholding along the Lucan/Clonee Road (R149) near Ongar in Dublin. The price achieved is at the upper end of the range of 30,000 to 50,000 per acre, selling agents Philip Byrne and Willie Coonan quoted when they brought the lands to the market last May. While the property is zoned agricultural, the agents said it is reasonable to assume that it will attract development opportunities in the future owing to the quality of its location. Byrne and Coonan said the lands had attracted "considerable interest" and demonstrated the strength of the property market particularly in the Greater Dublin Area. They added that they had a number of under bidders who were now looking to acquire similar land holdings. The Lucan-Clonee Road land holding was purchased in trust by a Dublin solicitor. The lands are situated next to the fast-growing town of Ongar, and within a short distance of Blanchardstown Town Centre, Luttrellstown Castle, Hansfield and the train station at Louisa Park. The lands are located within 12 minutes drive from the M50 and within 5 km from the N3 and 4 kn from the M4. In terms of its proximity to established commuter towns, the subject site is located three miles from Lucan (M4), one mile from Leixlip and five miles from Clonee (N3) respectively. Investment: The challenge to Amazons plan is the cost of opening a location. The original AmazonGo in Seattle required over $1m in hardware alone Amazon.com Inc. is considering a plan to open as many as 3,000 new AmazonGo cashierless stores in the next few years, according to people familiar with the matter, an aggressive and costly expansion that would threaten convenience chains like 7-Eleven Inc., quick-service sandwich shops like Subway and Panera Bread, and mom-and-pop pizzerias and taco trucks. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos sees eliminating meal-time logjams in busy cities as the best way for Amazon to reinvent the brick-and-mortar shopping experience, where most spending still occurs. But he's still experimenting with the best format: a convenience store that sells fresh prepared foods as well as a limited grocery selection similar to 7-Eleven franchises, or a place to simply pick up a quick bite to eat for people in a rush, similar to the UK-based chain Pret a Manger, one of the people said. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment. The company unveiled its first cashierless store near its headquarters in Seattle in 2016 and has since announced two additional sites in Seattle and one in Chicago. Two of the new stores offer only a limited selection of salads, sandwiches and snacks, showing that Amazon is experimenting with the concept simply as a meal-on-the-run option. Two other stores, including the original AmazonGo, also have a small selection of groceries, making it more akin to a convenience store. Shoppers use a smartphone app to enter the store. Once they scan their phones at a turnstile, they can grab what they want from a range of salads, sandwiches, drinks and snacks - and then walk out without stopping at a cash register. Sensors and computer-vision technology detect what shoppers take and bills them automatically, eliminating checkout lines. The challenge to Amazon's plan is the high cost of opening each location. The original AmazonGo in downtown Seattle required more than $1m in hardware alone, according to a person familiar with the matter. Narrowing the focus to prepared food-to-go would reduce the upfront cost of opening each store, because it would require fewer cameras and sensors. Prepared foods also have wider profit margins than groceries, which would help decrease the time it takes for the stores to become profitable. Amazon has become the world's largest online retailer by offering a vast selection and quick, convenient delivery. In physical stores, Amazon is emphasising convenience over selection to win business. Amazon's other brick-and-mortar initiatives include about 20 bookstores around the US and the natural grocery chain Whole Foods Market, acquired last year. AmazonGo is the most distinctive of all of its physical stores. At a Washington D.C. event last week, Bezos said Amazon was "very interested" in physical stores, but only if it has something new to offer. "If we offer a me-too product, it's not going to work," he said. Such an expansion could put Amazon back into an investment cycle. Bezos is willing to lose money on long-term initiatives when he smells opportunity. Amazon Web Services, the company's fast-growing and profitable cloud-computing business, was unprofitable for years and Bezos stuck with it, according to a person familiar with the matter. Amazon also routinely loses money expanding internationally. Adding 3,000 convenience stores would make AmazonGo among the biggest chains in the US. The internet giant is considering plans to have about 10 locations open by the end of this year, about 50 locations in major metro areas in 2019, and then as many as 3,000 by 2021, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing internal plans. Opening multiple locations in proximity, like it's doing in Seattle, could also help Amazon reduce costs by centralising food production in one kitchen serving many stores. The US currently has 155,000 convenience stores, with 122,500 of them combined with gas stations, according to industry group NACS. Non-fuel purchases at convenience stores totalled $233bn in 2016, with cigarettes and other tobacco products the best-selling items. Amazon is targeting dense urban areas with lots of young, busy, affluent residents willing to spend a little more than a typical fast-food experience for better quality food, the people said. The target locations make it less of a threat to suburban gas station-convenience store combinations and more of a threat to big cities' quick-service eateries, such as Subway Restaurants, Panera Bread Co. and Pret a Manger. UK-based Pret has 450 locations worldwide, including New York, Boston and Chicago, focusing on fresh, healthy grab-and-go foods. AmazonGo will be more of a threat to fast-casual restaurants if it is targeting cities, said Jeff Lenard, vice president of NACS. Shoppers rate location and a lack of lines as the most important factors when shopping for convenience, he said. "AmazonGo already has no lines," Lenard said. "The key to success will be convenient locations. If it's a quarter mile from where people are walking and biking, the novelty of the technology won't matter. It's too far away." In terms of its principal business activity, Amazon.com Inc. risks following in the footsteps of Google after the European Union's antitrust chief said regulators are asking how the online retailer is treating smaller rivals trading on its own website. After fining Google billions of euros, the EU is checking how Amazon gathers information on sales made by competitors on Amazon Marketplace and whether that gives it an edge when it sells to customers, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told reporters at a press conference in Brussels last week. While she stressed that the EU investigation of Amazon is at a very early stage, she said her team is "trying to understand this issue in full." "The question here is about the data" Amazon collects from smaller merchants on its site, Vestager said. "Do you then also use this data to do your own calculations, as to what is the new big thing, what is it that people want, what kind of offers do they like to receive, what makes them buy things? That has made us start a preliminary" investigation, she said. (Bloomberg) The first phase of the public consultation process for developer Gerry Barrett's development of a 450m urban quarter on CIE lands at Galway's Ceannt Station has gotten underway. The scheme, which is set to be one of the largest urban regeneration initiatives in the history of the State, will see the delivery of hundreds of apartments, retail units, restaurants, bars, and a 200-bedroom hotel on an 8.18 acre site next to Eyre Square over the next seven years. Under the current Galway City Development Plan, Barrett will be required to front load the development of bus and rail facilities at Ceannt Station and provide underground car parking at the site. Construction of the new urban quarter could commence within the next three years and be completed by 2025. The economic benefits of the project are expected to be significant. Hundreds of construction jobs will be created in the initial phase while hundreds of long-term sustainable jobs are anticipated upon completion. Those wishing to have an input into the public consultation process may do so by logging on to www.projectceannt.ie One effect of the property crash was to change the ways in which estate agents had been selling properties for decades. There were several reasons for this - the large volumes of distressed assets coming on the market, fewer potential buyers, and a change in the profile of buyers. Now that the markets have rebounded, it's interesting to observe that, rather than any return to traditional ways, the new methods of sale are persisting, and evolving further. Traditionally, the biggest decision to be made by an agent selling a property, was whether to offer it by private treaty, with an asking price, or was it good enough to be put to auction or tender, with a guideline price. Public auctions were the routine way of selling the best houses, and many commercial properties, for at least 20 years leading up to the crash. Auctions were a great way to get a bonus price, as even the most experienced buyers were susceptible to 'auction fever' and bidding wars could produce dramatic results. However, you had to be confident of having competitive bidding, as you would have a disappointed client after an auction with no bids. Also, the public failure weakened your hand in the reversion to a private treaty sale. The sale by public tender became very common this century, interestingly, both for insolvency sales, and the very best properties. Most of the major commercial assets sold in the 10-year run to the 2008 economic crash were sold by tender. Buying by tender became unpopular with many purchasers as they were bidding 'blind' and did not know the strength of the competition. But, in a strong, sellers' market, tenders frequently produced bonanza prices, where the top bid might be substantially over the next highest bid. The system which has evolved now is a 'best-bids' process where bidders do their due diligence and make a first, indicative bid, showing proof of funding. The vendor nominates three or four phase two bidders (which avoids dealing with legal queries from a dozen bidders). In the second round, bidders review the contract and mark up any changes they want, when submitting their final bid. The vendor then makes their decision, based on the price offered, and any changes to the contract. Online auctions are also now a major force, and whilst they were seen as ideal for quick sales of large numbers of assets, it's interesting to see the values of properties going down this route increasing. Some agents will say that tenders and online auctions are unsuitable for high-value commercial sales, because bidders must make unconditional offers, and thus must have financing and board approvals arranged in advance - which is often not practical. Interestingly, Stephen McCarthy, Managing Director of BidX1, who has pioneered online auctions, told me that they would be launching a 'conditional offer' online auction product in three to four months. Vendors should assess what is most important to them in selling - time, speed, or money, and take advice from an agent. The good news is that there are increasing options to suit all needs. Truth stranger than fiction Last Friday I found myself speaking at the London headquarters of The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), on the role of the private sector in combating the advance of antibiotic resistant bacteria - or 'superbugs'. The EBRD is owned by 67 countries (including Ireland), the EU and the European Investment Bank. Antibiotic-resistant infections are killing over 750,000 people each year and the effect on global GDP is already being measured in hundreds of billions of euro. That level of apocalypse is as predicted in my novel, 'The Manhattan Project', and the book's publication in the UK led to the invitation to address the meeting. The event was held under Chatham House Rules, so I can't enter into discussion here on it, but suffice to say that the issue is receiving crisis-level attention around the world. Hopefully by now everyone has recovered from the extended Ploughing Championships! I, like a lot of people who attended as an exhibitor, had mixed emotions about having to stay the fourth day, but as usual, the infectious spirit of the Ploughing quickly washed away any of the inconvenience of the queues for food, traffic jams, muck, wind and rain. The week before last, I spent a most interesting few days in Denmark, where I was consulting on numerous roseveal beef farms. Denmark, like most other Scandinavian countries, is suffering from huge forage deficits, to an even greater extent than we are in Ireland. As most animals are housed on a continuous basis over there, the dependence on grass silage, whole crop cereals and maize silage is great. While I was there, the maize harvest was just being completed and crop yields were about 50pc less than had been expected. A further complication with the maize crop was that owing to high temperatures at the time of pollination, grain set was very poor, which resulted in poor starch yields. Most of the maize crops in Denmark are a month ahead of normal harvesting time; plants are dead, with no green material showing, which increases the potential of mycotoxin contamination at the time of feeding. Grass silage is in scarce supply and the Danes generally rely on using a lot of whole crop cereals, which is now of low quality due to poor grain yields. As with those who are short of forage in Ireland, southern Europe is the main area from where they are seeking to bridge the gap on supply. I saw truck-loads of Spanish straw, Lucerne hay from Italy and baled forage maize from Romania and Bulgaria - just like what we are seeing in Ireland. The veal industry is a well integrated part of Danish agriculture. The veal market is based on 10-month-old bulls and heifers from the dairy industry. Curiously, most of the farms that I visited were ex-dairy farms. The Danish dairy farmers continue to be among the most indebted farmers in the world, with it not being uncommon for farms to carry a debt of up to 30,000 per cow. In 2015/16, a lot of dairy farms ceased production or went bankrupt. I visited a number of these dairy farms which had converted to veal beef production. Pure Holstein bulls are the most available animals for entering into the veal production system. The units I was visiting were finishing between 800 and 1,500 bulls annually. The market criteria for the pure Holstein is to have the bulls no older than 10 months of age, with a carcass weight of between 220 and 240kg, with 2 = in fat score. The next most popular animal was cross-bred Holstein Belgian Blue. These were producing some excellent carcasses; bulls were finishing at 260 to 280kg, also at 10 months of age, with the vast majority grading R+ and quite a high proportion making it into the U grade. As the Danish herds are all-year-round calving, the veal units had a steady supply of calves; 14-day-old Holstein calves are trading at approximately 90 per head, with Belgian Blue crosses making about 100 more. There is a significant number of pure Jersey herds in Denmark, and it is interesting that quite an amount of cross-breeding for beef is done by using Belgian Blue. One farm that I visited was taking Belgian Blue/Jersey cross heifers to slaughter for a special niche market and were reaching 170/180kg a carcass. It made me wonder whether any Irish dairy farmers with Kiwi-cross cows could be brave enough to cross with a well-selected Belgian Blue bull to help improve the quality of the male progeny. Current beef prices of approximately 3.70/kg for O grade under-10-month-old veal calves is, as with Ireland, below where Danish farmers would wish it to be. But most units I visited are achieving high weight gains with very good feed efficiency, low debt levels, reduced labour requirements and a different lifestyle compared with their dairy counterparts. Gerry Giggins is an animal nutritionist based in Co Louth New security risks could be imported into business via the personal smartphones or tablets used by company employees. Stock image Businesses are increasingly looking to mobile devices to help transform their operations, but with the benefits come new risks. For many in the IT world, who have long specialised in securing large-scale networks within companies, it requires a major change of focus to realise that the new security risks may be imported into the business via the personal smartphones or tablets used by company employees. Within the past few weeks, new evidence has emerged of just how serious that risk can be. In August, one of the world's leading airlines, Air Canada, detected what it described as 'unusual log-in activity' in a breach sourced to its mobile app which may have affected up to 20,000 customers. Other airlines have had similar problems with Delta and Virgin both reporting incidents in the past year and a half. More recently, CWSI published research that showed that almost one in five mobile devices operated by businesses in Ireland will suffer a security incident each month. Among the key findings were: 41pc involved log-ins to risky wifi hotspots - this is almost twice as common as in the UK or France 12pc involved visits to a site known to contain malware 44pc involved visits to sites or used apps leaking Personally Identifiable Information (PII). 2pc involved successful phishing scams. The figures show that one the biggest risks is unsecured wifi hotspots; 41pc of identified security incidents saw users log into a risky wifi hotspot which puts their devices and their data at risk. In the UK, only 22pc of phone users will access a connection which is deemed risky, while the figure is just 13pc in Germany. In Ireland, 44pc of incidents saw users log in to sites or apps which leaked PII, 12pc visited a site known to contain malware, while 2pc of people have been fooled by phishing scams and clicked bogus links. Not surprisingly, the area of mobile device security is now receiving attention from some of the most talented software security developers in the world, including companies like MobileIron, VMWare, Microsoft, Wandera, Checkpoint and Lookout. These firms can develop software solutions to protect mobile devices and these can then be proactively monitored and managed to ensure that vital backup and support is available to deal with any emergency. Managing this area requires a different mindset and different technical solutions. We need to move away from just worrying about the IT risk posed to a company through a deliberate act of corporate espionage. In today's mobile-first world, significant risks can be posed by employees innocently clicking on a viral video or setting up a chat group with colleagues on their personal devices or the child of an employee using their parent's device to surf the internet for a bit. And, of course, it's a lot easier to lose an iPad than a PC. A common mistake is to overlook what employees are doing on their own personal devices; sometimes key information can be imparted via privately owned devices or those devices can be used to access inappropriate or insecure websites or games. The risk doesn't disappear when the company device is switched off and the private device switched on. Mobile first is transformational for businesses. The challenge is to ensure that businesses can enjoy that transformation without compromising their security. Ronan Murphy is founder and CEO of CWSI and is a contributor to Dublin Information Sec 2018, Ireland's cybersecurity conference which takes place at the RDS on October 15. For tickets and more information see independent.ie/infosec18 CWSI is an Irish company that helps companies moving to a mobile-first business model by focusing on helping them to navigate the security risks that go with mobile technology The US-sanctioned Russian parent company of Aughinish Alumina, one of the major industrial employers in the mid west, has guaranteed a 28m "worst case scenario" financial package to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the event of its closure. The Irish Government is engaged in intense negotiations with the United States to ensure that Aughinish is kept open amid fears for 450 people directly employed there and hundreds more who are employed indirectly by the huge facility on the Shannon Estuary. There have been doubts over the future of Aughinish since last April when sanctions were imposed on Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Mr Deripaska is the majority shareholder in EN+ Group which owns 48pc of Rusal, Aughinish's owner. There are fears the US sanctions, which targeted 24 Russian oligarchs and politicians - and which were aimed at punishing Russia for alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election - could see production slashed by up to 70pc at Aughinish or lead to its closure. The strategic facility supplies some 30pc of all aluminium in Europe. Ireland had sought a minimum 12-month extension to the sanctions to help secure a deal. However, late last week the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted a three-week extension, until November 12, for investors to divest holdings of debt, equity and other assets in Rusal and EN+ raising hopes that Aughinish's parent may ultimately be de-listed. The absence of a financial bond to cover the cost of cleaning up the Aughinish plant was questioned four years by TDs and senators ago at a joint Oireachtas committee. However the EPA has confirmed that in recent years a 28m financial provision package - a combination of a secured fund and a parent company guarantee - was provided to it by Rusal. The EPA says that, taken together, the secured fund and guarantee address the liabilities to deal with the closure of the facility. "The bank account is in the name of Aughinish Alumina Ltd with a first ranking fixed charge in favour of the EPA," said a spokesperson for the EPA which confirmed that United Company Rusal PLC provided the guarantee. "The EPA's licences require operators to ensure they have approved plans in place for the orderly closure, decommissioning and aftercare of their facilities. "In effect the Closure Remediation and Aftercare Management Plan (CRAMP) drafted by the operator is a costed outline design as to how they will dismantle and decommission and in some cases manage aftercare of a facility." The EPA said that "in a worst-case scenario," when an operator ceases to exist and the state has to intervene, the CRAMP, funded by the secured Financial Provision, would allow the state to undertake the closure in an orderly manner. The EPA said the financial robustness of the parent company is assessed as part of any parental guarantee and such guarantees are not accepted unless they are deemed appropriate by the agency's independent financial advisers. Have you ever been on a great first date and then never heard from the person again? Or maybe you were seeing someone for a few weeks, right before they disappeared off the face of the earth? If you answered yes, congratulations youve been ghosted! Ghosting is an awful term that refers to someone ending a relationship without having The Talk. Instead of doing the decent (albeit awkward) thing they have taken the easy way out and decided to go into hiding. Unfortunately, this dating trend is a lot more common than you might think. And worst still, it is now becoming part of the workplace. Today, more and more employees are complaining about being ghosted in a professional setting, particularly after job interviews. Candidates spend hours preparing for a face-to-face interview, they leave feeling confident that they have done a good job, they even send a thank you follow-up email but then...nothing. Being ghosted after a job interview can be frustrating, disappointing and a huge knock to your confidence. Heres what you should do if its happened to you. Always ask for timelines Before you leave the interview, always ask the hiring manager what the next steps will be and who the main point of contact is moving forward. Make sure you have their email address and phone number. Try to find out a specific timeline. That way you wont waste hours refreshing your emails waiting for a reply. If they say they will let you know in two weeks then wait for two weeks before getting in touch again. Take initiative Dont just twiddle your thumbs and wait around for a response. If you really want this job then you need to be proactive. Once the initial timeline expires write a brief check-in email to your main contact showing your continued interest. Make this email stand out by including a link to a relevant article, interesting blog, LinkedIn discussion or upcoming industry event. Add value and show that you are interested in the sector. Form a plan (and stick to it) No one likes rejection. In fact, scientific research has linked it with physical pain. As a result, humans naturally try to dismiss rejection at all costs. We start to bargain with ourselves saying things like, Maybe theyre on a three week holiday in Nepal and havent checked their email, or Maybe if I just phone them one more time I can catch them between meetings. Theres a fine line between being persistent and being a pest. Create a plan in your head and stick to it. Have an end date in sight. If you dont hear from them by then you should cut your losses and move on. Be polite Resist the urge to send a passive aggressive email. Sure, youre completely pissed off, you have every right to be but you shouldnt put that in writing. Remember that you dont know the whole story. They could still be in the process of interviewing candidates or perhaps they think you would be better suited to another role within the organisation. Your interactions will be remembered so leave a good lasting impression. Dont take it to heart Being ghosted isnt a pleasant experience whether it happens to you in the dating or professional world. But, its important to remember that it reflects badly on the employer and not on you. Ignoring candidates is damaging for a companys brand, plus it shows a complete lack of respect towards employees. Do you really want to work somewhere like that? Probably not! Take the experience and learn from it. Something better is probably just around the corner. Powered by: Spanish bank Bankinter is to enter the Irish market following its acquisition of Avantcard. The Madrid-headquartered financial institution is the first bank to enter the retail market in Ireland since the economic downturn. "Bankinters strategic rationale is to grow its international exposure, with consumer finance its preferred route," Diarmaid Sheridan, analyst with Davy Stockbrokers, said. "It could also potentially provide it with a route into the mortgage market in the longer term, given its existing agreement with An Post for consumer lending and An Post's intention to seek a partner to enter the mortgage market," Mr Sheridan added. The news further shakes up the Irish banking market, after the Sunday Independent last week revealed that An Post is to enter the Irish mortgage market with a pledge that it will undercut current market rates by 1pc. Bankinter employs over 5,000 people. The bank reported a gross operating income of 977m for the six months to 30 June this year. Its net profit for the six month period was 261m, while its loan book stood at 54.7bn. Meanwhile earlier this year it was announced that Avantcard had reached an agreement with Tesco Bank to acquire the UK retail giant's Irish credit card portfolio, subject to regulatory approval. Based in Leitrim, Avantcard has been servicing customers in Ireland for over 20 years. Avantcard arrived in Ireland in 2012, when it bought the MBNA credit card business. Last year, the consumer finance firm re-entered the Irish market with a fresh digital and customer-service-led approach in a bid to acquire new customers. The company also has an office in Dublin and employs approximately 200 people in Ireland. Bankinter was advised by McCann FitzGerald on the deal. Brexit talks: RTE Europe editor Tony Connelly, Supermacs MD Pat McDonagh and broadcaster and historian John Bowman at the event in Loughrea, Co Galway. Photo: Hany Marzouk Tariffs, currency fluctuations and corporation tax were among the concerns raised by more than 230 small business owners and interest group representatives at a Brexit event yesterday. The event held in Loughrea, Co Galway, and organised by Supermac's, was addressed by RTE Europe editor Tony Connelly, and Farmers Association president Joe Healy. Among the concerns aired by those present were the implications for small businesses in the event of a hard Brexit. One such business owner was Micheal Quinn, owner of Quinn RV SIP, a vehicle manufacturing company employing just over 100 people in Athenry, Co Galway. Quinn RV SIP exports as much as 70pc of its products to the UK. Mr Quinn said he feels SMEs are largely being ignored by the Government and Enterprise Ireland. By attending the event, he hoped to get "some form of clarity" around Brexit, but added that he didn't think he would. "It is becoming difficult to get straight answers," he said. The company has projects scheduled for the UK market next spring, and he told the Irish Independent that a number of key customers in the UK have contacted him for assurance that he will still take on UK-based work "which is comfort to us". However he remains concerned about the impact of possible tariffs and currency fluctuations on this business. Another SME owner said that while what Brexit will look like remains unknown, it was "reassuring" to be in a room full of businesses with similar concerns. Worries were also raised around Ireland's corporation tax rate. The 12.5pc rate has long been a point of contention among some other European nations. A member of the audience asked if the rate would now come under pressure at European level, given that Ireland was losing a "huge ally" in Europe once the UK leaves the EU. "There is always pressure on Ireland to adjust our tax regime and that pressure is always resisted," Mr Connelly said. However, Mr Connelly added that for any change to the rate to take place, there would need to be unanimity from EU member states on the matter, and Ireland has a veto on any changes to tax rules. Mr Healy said that some people questioned whether Ireland had allowed itself to become too dependent on the UK as an export market for food. However he pointed to fact that when Ireland first joined what was then the EEC in 1973, 70pc of agri-exports were going to the UK. Today this figure is around 40pc. Nonetheless, the agri-food sector is set to be disproportionately impacted by Brexit. Mr Connelly noted that within weeks of the Brexit vote taking place, five mushroom businesses in Ireland went to the wall, due in part to the impact of the fall in the value of sterling. Ann Mitchell, a member of Galway IFA, asked whether the budget for Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) would by affected under a no-deal scenario between the UK and the EU. "The EU budget would be impacted and CAP would come under attack," Mr Connelly said, adding though, that he was of the view that the Commission didn't want a radically cut CAP budget because of Brexit - but that was under the scenario that there would be a withdrawal agreement. "I think everything will be hit if there is a hard Brexit," he added. Mr Healy went on to say that a fear for the IFA is that the UK, post-Brexit, pursue a "cheap food policy... importing food from places like South America". Mr McDonagh, CEO of Supermac's, said that he was hosting the event because Brexit is something "we are all still learning about". Home from home: Paul Kenny and his family are based in Dubai but he will return to Ireland to work with firms here. Stock image Home from home: Paul Kenny and his family are based in Dubai but he will return to Ireland to work with firms here At the age of 25, Paul Kenny founded online coupon website, Cobone. It was later sold in a multimillion-euro deal to the US-based investment firm Tiger Global Management. For the Galway man, finding a scalable business model that could be replicated in the Middle East was the golden ticket. At that time, post and packages werent delivered to addresses, they were physically delivered to where you are, said Kenny. It was also a highly cash market so customers couldnt pay online these were two big challenges, he said. When I saw Groupon getting big in the US, I thought a voucher programme could work so set up a company and called it Cobone a play on the word coupon. The company raised just over 1m in May 2010, and had become the biggest ecommerce company in the Middle East within a year, and grew to 33m in two years. But it wasnt a smooth ride. We had to print out the coupons, put it on a motorbike, and deliver it people to all over the place. Expand Close Home from home: Paul Kenny and his family are based in Dubai but he will return to Ireland to work with firms here / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Home from home: Paul Kenny and his family are based in Dubai but he will return to Ireland to work with firms here But, also, because customers still werent paying online, we were sending out valuable coupons and collecting the cash. It was a huge cash operation run on motorbikes across the region. A fortuitous family holiday to Dubai while Kenny was still in college sparked a gra for the region, and the beginnings of a business plan, as he realised the opportunity for ecommerce even then. In 2011, he packed his bags when former Jumeirah Group boss, Gerald Lawless, who had gone to school with his father, gave him his first job in Dubai. I was 22 or 23 and it was about the opportunity, not the money, so I packed my bags and didnt complete my masters. I didnt know anyone there at the time and I remember being picked up and not knowing where I was going. There was no data on phones and no internet in the place I was staying and I didnt know the area at all. It was really daunting. Ive never felt so alone I didnt even know where I had to go to work, he said. Kennys entrepreneurial spirit was fostered at an early age. His grandmother Maureen set up the renowned Kennys bookshop in Galway more than 75 years ago and its a family trait that everyone gets involved. I remember being in the store at a really young age, washing windows and watering plants. I didnt realise it at the time, but I was constantly absorbing their entrepreneurship. I only realised when I left Ireland how much I learned, he said. Something definitely stuck as, before the age of 30, Kenny was a founding partner of four companies, including Emerge Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on high-impact early stage and Series A investments in emerging markets. More recently, he has partnered with Middle East entrepreneur Majed M Al Tahan and Irish developer James Whelton to build a tech and logistics platform AYM Commerce. We wanted to build the equivalent of Ocado in Dubai so we teamed up with the leading retailer in Saudi Arabia, the BinDawood Group, and its supermarket brand Danube. Its quite a large organisation with over 400 staff and our workforce is predominantly female which is a very big deal. Were heavily part of the Saudi Arabia 2030 vision and were bringing very advanced tech to a country that consumes and loves it. AYM is expanding across industries and is opening offices worldwide. According to Kenny, many of his existing team have stayed with him since he exited Cobone, or that he has worked with over the last eight years. I am absolutely terrible about detail and they pick up after all the mess that I make. A lot of the team are Irish the Irish are the only ones who get my sense of humour, he said. Kenny will be setting his feet back on Irish soil next month to share some words of wisdom at the Arab-Irish Business Forum, which will be held at Dublins Mansion House. Ireland has some amazing products, so why cant businesses bring brands and companies out to the Middle East? I want to show those entrepreneurs how to do it, he said. Kenny has set down his own family roots in Dubai with wife Yuki and their daughter Myla. Is the Middle East now home for him? Dubai is home now and will be for the foreseeable future, but I will never say never about Ireland. Im planning to come back and do business with a number of Irish companies, he said. Companies are always looking to other markets to expand in and the Middle East is often the forgotten one. Youve got to go where no one else is going I dont think people are going to the Middle East. But its not going to be easy, you have to invest the time and have to go through the pain. Not every enterprise works out. Im really so humbled as to how it all happened for me. The 2018 Arab-Irish Business Forum will feature speakers from the Arab states in addition to business leaders from Ireland who are already doing business there. The event will take place in the Mansion House in Dublin on October 3rd. Software developer Envisage Cloud plans to grow its revenue to 5m over the next three years, more than doubling the company's current 2.2m turnover. The Dublin-based firm will also be creating up to 15 new roles to support the new business it has won, which reaches almost 1m over the past 12 months. Recruitment will take place over the coming months to fill the vacancies across the sales, development and implementation and support teams. The Sage 200cloud financial and ERP solution specialist is set to continue its aggressive merger and acquisition strategy to fuel its ambitious growth plans, particularly into the UK market. Managing director Peter Bergin said it has seen "a huge appetite" in the UK for more efficient financial software solutions. "The UK presents major possibilities for us and so growing our sales presence in this market is a core ambition as we seek to grow demand and customers. "Following six completed M&As in the past few years, Envisage Cloud is actively seeking to complete a further two to three acquisitions within the three-year time frame," he said. Mr Bergin added that the company is looking at those expansion opportunities in the UK, as well as in Ireland. He said that their bespoke software solutions that they have development are in response to robust growth in the engineering, ecommerce, project accounting and the retail sectors. "As the company expands, we will meet demands by adding the right people to our team, while continuing to invest in the training and development of our existing staff to maintain a market leading level of expertise," he said. Last month, Ireland's largest hotel operator Dalata announced that it had implemented a new cloud-based system to simplify the management of payments and finances across its entire business. The solution, which unifies the financial systems across all 39 hotels in the group, was designed and provided by Envisage Cloud. On track: Bomb disposal is among the hazardous tasks which are set to be taken over by robots. Stock image Traditionally male-orientated jobs are most likely to be impacted by advances in technology, according to a leading academic. As further advances in robots or artificial intelligence (AI) are developed, Professor Brian Fitzgerald, director of Lero, the SFI Irish Software Research Centre, told the Irish Independent that jobs that involve "mundane" tasks will be most affected. "The jobs most at risk are male-orientated. Jobs that are more female-orientated such as creative and social roles are least at risk, which could create a counter-gender balance," he said. In addition, he said that a lot of "hazardous tasks such as bomb disposal, and waste clearance" could see people replaced by machines. Today, as many as two in four Irish adults are concerned that robots or AI will take over their job. This figure rises to one in two adults aged between 18 and 34, according to a survey for Lero by RED C Research. "This is not an unfounded fear," Professor Fitzgerald, said. "People are not stupid and have observed how artificial intelligence and machines have replaced bank staff and supermarket checkout operators." Of those worried about their jobs being taken over, one in ten believe that this will occur within the next five years, while a quarter of adults expect it to happen within the next six to 10 years. However, Prof Fitzgerald said that technology will also create jobs, referring to a recent survey by global consulting firm KPMG, which found that 96pc of Irish CEOs believe that artificial intelligence will create more jobs than it destroys. "The big challenge for Irish education is to prepare young people to develop the skills and retrain existing workers for jobs of the future," Prof Fitzgerald added. "This is particularly challenging as in many cases we don't know today what these jobs will be." "In every industrial revolution, people predicted that it would be a disaster for mankind, but that is not the case," he added. While many have concerns over robots replacing their jobs, the study finds that the Irish are divided on whether robotics will safely replace drivers over the next 15 years. Just under half of the 1,038 adults surveyed believe that self-driving cars will be safer, but a similar number believe that software-controlled vehicles will be less safe. The study also asked adults about the frequency in which they work from home, with a quarter saying that this happens at least occasionally. This rises to over a third amongst those aged 25-34. "Home working is likely to increase because of the high cost of housing, especially in the main cities and resulting long commutes for many," Prof Fitzgerald said. He added that it was "no coincidence" that working from home is above the national average amongst rest of Leinster residents. "At a time of rising labour shortages, it may well be that employers who can offer the facility to work from home at least occasionally will be better able to attract employees. "Software is a core enabler of this better work-life balance." "A lot of tech companies have people distributed across multiple countries, and collaboration between staff works extremely well," he added. In terms of the implications for people who may not be technically savvy, Prof Fitzgerald said that when the technology is useful enough people learn it. "[Technology advances] will affect everyone, but people are very resilient." Bad press: Deutsche Bank chief financial officer James von Moltke said he was amazed at reports of a potential merger. Photo: Bloomberg Deutsche Bank has dismissed speculation that it might seek a merger as "fictions", after media reports suggested Germany's biggest lender might seek tie ups with Switzerland's UBS or German peer Commerzbank. Speculation about a possible merger has increased as Deutsche Bank battles to recover from three years of losses. German business daily 'Handelsblatt' reported on Tuesday that Germany's biggest bank had studied the effects of a theoretical tie-up with UBS, citing unnamed sources. The 'Handelsblatt' report, the latest in the German financial press on the issue, said the UBS scenario and a potential merger with Commerzbank were discussed at Deutsche Bank's strategy meeting with the supervisory board this month. Handelsblatt quoted an unnamed source as saying managers at the Deutsche Bank strategy meeting stressed that any immediate merger was "completely unrealistic". Deutsche Bank chief financial officer James von Moltke on Wednesday said recent merger reports were "fictions of the press", while UBS and Commerzbank declined to comment on Wednesday's 'Handelsblatt' report. "We are constantly amazed at what passes through the editorial filters and gets into the press," von Moltke said, adding that Deutsche Bank had a lot of work to do on the merger of its retail units, which would take several years. Deutsche Bank's shares were down 0.9pc midday yesterday, while UBS was down 0.8pc. Commerzbank was up 0.3pc. Media reports on Deutsche Bank's potential next steps have picked up since it changed its management and announced a strategic overhaul that includes thousands of job cuts and scaling back its global investment bank. On paper, a potential merger with UBS would fare better than a deal with Commerzbank as Deutsche Bank and the Swiss lender would complement each other well in the areas of investment banking and wealth management, the Handelsblatt report said. A merger with Commerzbank might lead to high restructuring costs due to a large overlap, the paper said. At a conference on Wednesday, Deutsche Bank's chief executive Christian Sewing said he had "said everything there is to say about it and I am working on my homework". They have achieved success worldwide, but Dublin band Kodaline proved they haven't forgotten their roots when they paid a surprise visit to their local school. The Swords lads made the day for delighted students at Loreto College in north Dublin when they turned up to hand-deliver a project they were closely involved in - CEOL 2018 le hEoghan McDermott. Expand Close Kodaline launch Ceol at Loreto College Swords / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kodaline launch Ceol at Loreto College Swords The album - curated by Dublin radio presenter Eoghan McDermott - features a compilation of some of the biggest songs of this year recorded by their original artists through the Irish language. It has star power and features Saoirse Ronan and rapper Macklemore, who both came on board to read the spoken-word opening of the CD. The album also features Irish bands The Coronas and Picture This. Expand Close Kodaline launch Ceol at Loreto College Swords / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kodaline launch Ceol at Loreto College Swords To help celebrate the delivery of the albums, Kodaline surprised their local school by dropping in to distribute them in person. They are among 350,000 copies available. Kodaline had photographs with the students and treated the school to a live performance. Peter McNamara, principal at Loreto College, Swords, said: "The reaction from the students in Loreto Swords, and previously to all tracks released on RTE 2fm, to the album has been phenomenal. It's an amazing initiative that really inspires an interest in the Irish language within and outside of the classroom." Danny O'Reilly, Coronas frontman, said: "I hope that our song Nilimid Breagach (We Couldn't Fake It) on CEOL 2018 and all the other amazing tracks on the album will inspire people to use more Irish, especially this year during Bliain na Gaeilge." Old pals, from left, Pat Kenny, Gay Byrne, and Ryan Tubridy share a laugh in ODonoghues pub on Merrion Row Former Late Late Show host Pat Kenny will find himself on the other side of the desk on Friday night when he's interviewed by Ryan Tubridy on the show. Ryan took over the reins from Pat ten years ago and teh Newstalk and Virgin Media One presenter will be in studio to talk about his time helming the Late Late Show as well as his recent induction into the IMRO Radio Awards Hall of Fame and five decades of broadcasting. Pat previously appeared on the show in 2013 with fellow previous presenter Gay Byrne. There is more celebration of our sporting heroes in store this week as Paul and Gary O'Donovan and Sanita Puspure will be in studio to talk about their recent wins and how they feel heading into the Tokyo Olympics. From sport to weather as Met Eireanns Joanna Donnelly will be in studio to chat about why our climate has changed so dramatically, and what we can expect from the coming winter. Nathan Carter is a regular on the Late Late Country Specials but he has an autobiography in the offing and he'll talk about growing up Irish in Liverpool, his love of country music, and he'll perform a Willie Nelson classic. Former Ireland prop Mike Ross will also share the tragic story of his younger brother Andrew's death by suicide. More music will come courtesy of Villagers. The Late Late Show, RTE One, Friday, 9.35pm. The country's leading judge has signalled he would back the introduction of new guidelines to cut down on excessive personal injury awards. The comments by Chief Justice Frank Clarke come in the wake of a damning report that found awards for minor injuries were almost five times those in Britain. The report of the Personal Injuries Board Commission, chaired by former High Court president Nicholas Kearns, found there was a need for "a rebalancing and a recalibration of awards" in line with levels in other countries and recommended that judges compile new guidelines. It is hoped such guidelines would have the knock-on effect of lowering insurance premiums, which have soared in recent years. Speaking yesterday Mr Justice Clarke signalled his agreement with the findings of the report. "An overall set of judge-made guidelines would contribute not only to the consistency but also to the proper calibration of the overall level of awards," he said. He cautioned any new guidelines could not be too rigid. "It is important that any system retains the flexibility to enable all relevant factors to be taken into account," he said. "We all know the same clinical injury may impact very differently on different persons because of factors such as their lifestyle or the type of work they do. Overly rigid guidelines are as likely to lead to injustice as to improve things." The commission report recommended judges come together under a new Judicial Council, which is set to be established under legislation going through the Oireachtas. In a speech marking the beginning of the new legal year, which begins on Monday, Mr Justice Clarke also signalled his openness to guidelines on sentencing. But he again said there must be some level of flexibility for judges. He said flexible guidelines had the potential to provide greater assurance to the public that there is consistency. Any variations in sentences could be explained by differing factors properly taken into account. "The experience of countries which introduced overly rigid guidelines on sentencing has not been particularly positive. But that is not to say that an appropriate and well worked-out system might not contribute significantly to achieving the difficult balance between consistency and the flexibility to take into account all relevant factors," he said. Meanwhile, the televising of proceedings in the Supreme Court is set to expand significantly next year. They were filmed and broadcast for the first time in 2017, but this was limited to the delivery of judgments. Now plans are being progressed for the court to also allow the filming of legal argument. Mr Justice Clarke said discussions were taking place between the court and broadcasters to iron out practical issues and to ensure that filming does not interfere with the normal conduct of appeals. He said he was hopeful this could be facilitated next year. The development follows the example set by the UK's Supreme Court, which has permitted filming since 2009. While the move is significant, it is unlikely to presage the widespread filming of proceeding in other courts, such as those hearing criminal cases, at least not in the short term. Considerable opposition exists to the filming of witnesses giving evidence due to privacy concerns and fears evidence could be undermined. A four-year-old girl suffered catastrophic head injuries and died after a fireplace fell on top of her, an inquest has heard. Jodie Lawlor Tyrrell, of Knockbrack, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, did not show a pulse or heartbeat when paramedics arrived and checked the little girl for life signs. Limerick Coroner's Court was told the fatal accident occurred on October 21, 2017, at a house at Mountheaton, Roscrea, which the girl's foster mother, June Whelan, had bought and was renovating. Ms Whelan was too distraught to give evidence, and her deposition was read into the record by Inspector Dermot O'Connor of Henry Street garda station. Ms Whelan said she went to the house with Jodie and two other children aged five and seven, and a babysitter, to do some "interior painting" at the property. The three children had been outside playing but returned inside after it began to rain. "Jodie was in the kitchen, playing house, and [pretending] to make coffee. Jodie was in my view and then she left the room [to join the others]," said Ms Whelan. "The three children were moving about the house...Then I heard a bang." She said one of the boys came running out of the sitting room and said: "Jodie is dead." "I saw Jodie on the ground. The fireplace was on the floor, and she was lying inside the arch of the fireplace on the ground. "I put my hand under Jodie's head. There was a lot of blood." Ms Whelan contacted emergency services who dispatched an ambulance to the house. She said: "I saw Jodie move her right leg and I believed there was life in her. "I picked her up and cuddled her close into me." Paramedics travelling from Birr, Co Offaly, arrived at the house 17 minutes after getting the emergency call. Ms Whelan said she accompanied Jodie in the ambulance to University Hospital Limerick. The little girl was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. "She was my little girl and I wanted to keep her warm," Ms Whelan said. Paramedic Seamus Pike said he and his colleague, Stuart Frazer, "found the child lying on the floor, framed in the surround of a fireplace". "There was a large amount of blood loss and severe trauma. The mother was attempting CPR when we arrived. There was no sign of life," he added. Pathologist Dr Gabor Laskai performed a post-mortem and said Jodie died from a head injury that caused substantial bleeding. Coroner John McNamara recorded a verdict of accidental death. He told a large gathering of Jodie's loved ones: "Jodie was much loved. It is very sad that such a young life was taken in such tragic circumstances. It was clearly a chance accident." Addressing Ms Whelan, who wept throughout the hearing, he said: "There is nothing you could have done. There is no fault on your door or on anyone's door. Children play as they do, in an environment of a new house. "It's impossible for a parent to watch a child at all times." Garda Keith Blythe, who is seeking legal restraints that have the potential to block the immediate promotion of 410 gardai to the rank of sergeant, was asked an inappropriate question regarding whistleblowers, the High Court has heard. Blythe, a long serving garda who is married with a family, told the court he was concerned when he was asked the question by a senior garda officer in the course of an interview conducted in April last as part of the competition for sergeant process. I was left uneasy about the interjection and tried to maintain my focus and concentration during the interview, he stated in a sworn affidavit to the court. Blythe, of Donadea, Naas, Co Kildare, who is attached to the legal department in Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, is seeking High Court orders that could potentially prevent the promotion of the 410 candidates selected from 1,414 who sought promotion to the rank of sergeant. Conor Power SC, who appeared with barrister Mark J. Dunne, for the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner, told Ms Justice Bronagh OHanlon today Thursday that he would be serving Garda Blythes legal team with an affidavit setting out the respondents side of the matter. When the affidavit was completed and served Mr Power told the court it had been agreed that the matter should go back into the new law term next week. Barrister Andrew Walker said Garda Blythes grounding affidavit revealed that he had scored 205 out of 250 in the interview section and believed his performance had been hampered and his scores impacted by the whistleblower remarks resulting in him not being selected to advance to the next stage. Mr Walker, who appeared with Brian Rennick of Rennick Solicitors for Garda Blythe, said that when Garda Blythe had been informed in June that he had not been selected to go forward he had made a formal complaint about the inappropriate comments of the Garda Officer. Garda Blythe said in his affidavit that in other relevant sections of competence he had scored much higher and claimed that many candidates who got lower marks than him had been selected to go forward to the next stage of the competition. He had launched an internal appeal. He said he had applied last year for consideration in the Garda Sergeant Promotion Competition in the hope of progressing his career. He had been disappointed after learning he had not been included in the selection of gardai picked to go forward to the next stage in which he would have been interviewed by a Central Board. Blythe told the court he had an exemplary conduct and attendance record and in order to help advance his career he had studied for and obtained a Diploma in Criminal Law and a Masters Degree in Mediation and Conflict Intervention from Maynooth University. He said that when the remarks regarding whistleblowers had been made he deemed it as completely inappropriate and off-putting. Whilst he had endeavoured to maintain concentration and focus he had been left very much uneasy about the interjections. Garda Blythe said in his affidavit he believed the promotion system was without transparency, probity and fairness and was not based on merit as it was supposed to be. He said there were unspecified principles and factors underlying selection for promotion and he felt he was the subject of a flawed interview as a result of inappropriate comments made by a Board member. He said Rennicks Solicitors had sought on his behalf an undertaking in regard to the continuation of the promotion process but this had not even been replied to. Mr Walker told the court that Garda Blythe was seeking an injunction restraining progression of the Garda Sergeant Promotion Competition until his internal appeal was fully investigated and completed. Garda Blythe is also asking the court for a declaration that the conduct of the garda sergeant promotion system is tainted with irregularity and flawed and that he is entitled to advance to the Central Board interview. In his claim against the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner he also seeks damages for what he claims is a breach of contract and breach of duty on the part of the defendants. Although the affidavit on behalf of the Minister and the Garda Commissioner was not opened to the court it was learned afterwards that the system and fairness of selection for promotion within the Garda Siochana would be fully outlined to the court next week. Celebrations: A beaming Rebecca Carter is hugged by her mother Anne Marie and father Niall after winning her case at the High Court and being told she can study to be a vet. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins A teenage student whose dream of being a vet was almost shattered by an exam points blunder was celebrating a court victory yesterday. Rebecca Carter (18) will get a place on University College Dublin's veterinary medicine course, a judge ruled. The teenager hugged friends and family in the High Court after hearing the verdict. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys told Ms Carter that had her Leaving Cert points been correctly added up, she would have achieved an extremely high mark that would easily have qualified her for a place on the UCD course. The judge was highly critical of the conduct of the State Examinations Commission (SEC), saying its process was "manifestly unfit for purpose" and the situation should not repeat itself next year. He also described the situation faced by Ms Carter, of Ardcolm Drive, Rectory Hall, Castlebridge, Co Wexford, as "highly unfair". Ms Carter sued the SEC, challenging its decision not to re-check her points tally in time to allow her obtain a place at UCD. Before yesterday's judgment, she spent four days in the High Court listening to legal teams present evidence and argue legal points. The judge told Micheal P O'Higgins SC, who appeared for Ms Carter, that he would direct the SEC to carry out the necessary corrections to her exam paper by noon tomorrow and notify UCD of the result two hours later. He said the SEC's delay in dealing with the teenager's request for a recount had caused her distress. Mr O'Higgins told the court that Ms Carter had not been satisfied that her result fairly reflected her exam performance. She took part in a review with two teachers and it was discovered her points had been wrongly totted up. Judge Humphreys had been told UCD had agreed to reserve Ms Carter's potential place until September 30. Ms Carter said she was "ecstatic" with the decision. "After the last few weeks it's finally nearly come to an end. So I'm just waiting for the SEC to fix the error and to receive my offer and then hopefully start on Monday morning," she told RTE's 'Six One' news. "I will have missed three weeks, so I'll have a lot of catching up to do but I'm eager to get started and I really just didn't want to wait until next year." She said it was "truly unfair" that she would have to go through the lengthy appeals process. "I really just didn't want to wait again when it's simply nothing to do with my answer. It was just their mistake," she said. "I thoroughly agree with him (Judge Humphreys) and his recommendations and I hope the SEC take the recommendations on board and review the appeals process." Ms Carter said to have initially missed out on her course for the second year in a row, was tough. "My heart was just broken. I haven't smiled as much as I have since 3 o'clock today in the last year." A SON of one of Irelands best-known priests has admitted headbutting a barman in the face in a drink-fuelled attack when the victim tried to break up a pub row. Ross Hamilton (41), son of the late singing priest Fr Michael Cleary, had been drinking all day and felt crowded when he reacted by striking the barman. He went on to hurl abuse at staff as they restrained him until gardai arrived. Hamilton was spared five months in prison and instead ordered to carry out 150 hours of community service. Judge Ann Ryan told him his behaviour had been completely unacceptable. It is the second time that Hamilton, who has worked as an actor but is now unemployed, has avoided jail for a pub assault. Hamilton, of Newcastle Manor Park, Newcastle, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the barman, as well as threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. Dublin District Court heard that the incident happened at Slatterys, on Grand Canal Street, on December 18, 2016. Expand Close Fr Cleary with Phyllis and son Ross / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fr Cleary with Phyllis and son Ross Garda Paul Jordan said there was an altercation between customers and a member of staff intervened when Hamilton struck him with his head in the face. He was restrained by other staff members and continued to act in an aggressive and abusive manner until gardai arrived. The victim suffered bruising and swelling to his face, the garda said. He attended hospital that night but left after being treated. The barman, who had since made a full recovery, did not want to provide a victim impact statement and there was no medical report in court. The court heard that Hamilton had nine previous convictions, the last of which was in July 2011, also for assault causing harm. He was ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service instead of a prison sentence on that occasion. Before that, he had been given the benefit of the Probation Act in 2005 for public order offences, including violent behaviour in a garda station. Hamilton had been out with friends on the night in question and had been drinking all day, his lawyer said. He did not have anything to eat. An argument took place and the barman tried to split it up. The accused felt crowded when the bar staff came around him and he reacted in the way he did, his lawyer said, adding that his client apologised. Hamilton had been working at the time but was unemployed now and looking for a job in construction, the court heard. He didnt set out on the night to injure anyone, especially someone on the premises doing their job, his lawyer said. The accused was staying with a friend at the moment. Hamilton knows he cant get into this kind of trouble again and was staying away from alcohol, his lawyer added. BLOOD Your behaviour was completely unacceptable, Judge Ryan told Hamilton. You are very lucky the injured party only received minor injuries. Hamiltons assault conviction in 2011 came after he admitted breaking a doormans nose outside the Botanic House pub in Glasnevin on October 1, 2010. In that incident, Garda Elaine Smith said she saw security staff from the pub waving for assistance. The victim had blood on his face and a swollen nose and had to attend hospital. He needed an operation as a bone in his nose was broken and sticking out into the left nostril. Following the death in 1993 of Fr Michael Cleary, who was popularly known as the Singing Priest, it was revealed that he had fathered two children with his housekeeper Phyllis Hamilton, with whom he had a relationship for 26 years. Their first child was given up for adoption, while their second, Ross, lived in Dublin at a parochial house in Harolds Cross, with Fr Cleary and Phyllis, who died in 2001. Patrick Kehoe on the right (23) moons photographers in the Phoenix Park Photo: Colin O'Riordan A MAN who was allegedly late for a flight from Dublin to Amsterdam has appeared in court charged with damaging a door at a boarding gate. Patrick Kehoe (23) ran out of Terminal One towards the aircraft before he was stopped by Ryanair staff and Airport Police, and gardai arrived on the scene. He was grinning when he was brought into court in custody this morning. Judge Bernadette Owens remanded him on bail to a date in November after gardai said there were no objections to bail. However, an attempt to ban him from Dublin Airport was successfully resisted by his solicitor. The accused, with an address at Raheenaskeagh, Oulart, Gorey, Co Wexford, was brought before Dublin District Court this morning. Mr Kehoe is charged with criminal damage to a magnetic door lock at Gate 106 at Terminal One in Dublin Airport. Garda David Cahill gave evidence of arresting Mr Kehoe at 7.50am at Dublin Airport before he was taken to Ballymun Garda Station and charged. Gda Cahill said Mr Kehoe was handed a true copy of the charge sheet and made no reply to the charge after caution. The garda said that DPP's directions were outstanding on the charge and Mr Kehoe faced the possibility of further charges. Gda Cahill said there were no objections to bail. Judge Owens remanded Mr Kehoe on bail in his own bond of 200. Defence solicitor Peter Connolly was assigned on free legal aid, after the court heard Mr Kehoe was not working. Gda Cahill asked for Mr Kehoe to be banned from Dublin Airport, but this was successfully resisted by Mr Connolly, who objected to this bail condition. Mr Kehoe, wearing a grey padded jacket and tracksuit bottoms, briefly addressed the court to say he wasn't working, didn't have a solicitor and "didn't know any of them". Judge Owens then assigned Mr Connolly to represent him. Mr Kehoe and his luggage, walked out of court, with a young woman shortly after the hearing. He has not yet indicated how he is pleading to the charge. Mr Kehoe dropped his trousers and mooned press photographers shortly after he left the Criminal Courts of Justice. He was also "throwing shapes and made hand gestures at the assembled snappers." THE history and culture of the Irish Traveller community is to take its place on the school curriculum. Education Minister Richard Bruton has asked the State curriculum advisory body to come up with recommendations about how it should be done. The landmark move comes in the wake of the 2017 decision to recognise the ethnicity of the Traveller community. That was followed by the introduction to the Seanad in July of a bill aimed at giving legal underpinning to Traveller culture and history in the curriculum. It was sponsored by independent senator Colette Kelleher. Mr Bruton has asked the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to examine how the education system is dealing with the issue, and to come up with recommendations. There are NCCA guidelines on inter-cultural education in primary and post-primary schools, but they date back more than a decade, and are general in focus. The minister wants the NCCA to include an audit of the place of Traveller culture and history in the existing curriculum, from early childhood to Leaving Certificate, and to see how it can be incorporated into existing subjects. As well as considering the content of the curriculum in relation to Traveller history and culture, he wants the NCCA to consider how the curriculum in this area is delivered. So he has asked the NCCA audit to identify examples of good practice in schools, with a view to providing these as general exemplars, as well as exploring what additional supports may be required to ensure effective implementation. The NCCA review will also look at the continuing professional development opportunities for teachers in this area. Speaking at the annual conference of Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI), the minister said the Governments decision to recognise the ethnicity of the Traveller community was a milestone and that education had a significant role to play in delivering the vision underpinning that decision. He referred to stubbornly low Traveller retention rates in education. That must change. I want more children from the traveller community to progress in education at all levels he said. Mr Bruton noted that as part of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, the Department of Education would be partners in a two year TUSLA-led pilot project to target attendance, participation and school completion in specific traveller and Roma communities regionally, starting early in 2019. Ireland has been dealt another blow in an international university league table, with Trinity College Dublin falling in the rankings. Trinity dropped three places to 120th in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2019. The fall has been attributed to increased competition from big-spending universities in other countries, as Ireland's higher education sector continues its battle with the Government for more investment. Last year, Trinity had jumped 14 places to 117th position, making this year's results a disappointment. University College Dublin and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) are next in line for Ireland. They both lie in the 201-250 bracket, unchanged since last year. Ireland retains nine universities - RCSI and Dublin Institute of Technology are included - in the top 1,000. But only two institutions progressed this year - University College Cork into the top 350 and Maynooth University into the top 400. Ellie Bothwell, the rankings editor for UK-based THE, said Ireland had an opportunity to reap the benefits of being open to the world as the UK grappled with the potential restrictions of Brexit. "But to excel, its universities will require strong investment, the drive and ability to attract and retain the very best global talent, and a much-strengthened focus on research," she said. Professor Linda Doyle, who is dean of research at Trinity College, welcomed the university's improved performance across four of five ranking categories. She said it was "a measure of how competitive the field is that better performance on our part is not reflected in the rankings". Prof Doyle added: "Increased investments by our global competition versus a reduced Government investment in Ireland continue to have a direct impact on the rankings." Oxford and Cambridge retain the top two positions in the world rankings, but Japan has surpassed the UK as the country with the second most representatives. The US still dominates the table, but China is rising swiftly. The Department of Education urged caution about "commercial, unregulated rankings" and added that the Government had begun a significant programme of investment in higher education. Meanwhile, students, staff and institutions have come together to urge a bigger Government response "to the growing crisis in higher education funding". Kelly Mara pictured during one of her Zoowardship classes at Dublin Zoo with Colaiste Iosagain pupils, Caitlin Hoary and Aidan Howlin. PHOTO: COLIN ORIORDAN The children from Dunsany National School in Meath were excited as soon as they stepped into the new Discovery and Learning centre at Dublin Zoo. In front of them was the vast skeleton of a giraffe standing tall, and beside that was an imposing scale model of a rhinoceros. Two stuffed African lions seemed to gaze from behind a screen, and the children stared back in awe. A girl from first class put her hand up against a model of a chimpanzee's hand and was amused to see how it shaped up. Others marvelled at the size of an ostrich egg, or studied closely the detail of a monkey's skull. Dublin Zoo is now not only a venue where children can see live animals but also a state-of-the-art learning hub. The 3m Discovery and Learning Centre is Ireland's newest environmental education facility, providing programmes in biodiversity, wildlife conservation, ecology and zoology. Aileen Tennant, Discovery and Learning Manager at Dublin Zoo, says many of the activities in the zoo are closely matched to the needs of the school curriculum from pre-school age to primary and second level. There are also programmes for adult learners and third level colleges. The centre is housed in a new building in Dublin Zoo and includes two classrooms, a lecture theatre and a large room at the front packed with zoological curiosities. It relies on Dublin Zoo's extensive collection of Biofacts - these could be animal bones, horns, skins, teeth and a menagerie of stuffed creatures. Tennant says: "We want to make the experience as tactile as possible so that the children can touch many of the exhibits or get up close to them and understand their size and scale. In this way, they can get a real appreciation of the wonder and beauty of nature." Dunsany National School is one of hundreds of primary schools that do programmes at the zoo as part of the Social Environmental and Scientific Education curriculum. The school goes to the zoo every year. Principal Roberta Ui Ghallachoir says: "It really brings the subject to life and makes it more meaningful for the children." Outside in the animal habitats, one group was doing a "rainforest ranger" programme, where they visit the animals of different rainforests around the world, including Bornean orangutans, Asian elephants, Brazilian tapers and South American monkeys. Walking through the rainforest, I came across a group who are looking out for elephants, and they later watch them being fed with apples by a keeper. Much of the learning activity in the zoo is based in Zoorassic World, the home for reptiles of past and present, housed in the old Victorian cat house. The centrepiece is Stan, a life-size replica fossil skeleton of a male adult Tyrannosaurus rex that lived 65 million years ago. Stan is four metres high, 12 metres in length and weighs between 8 and 9 tonnes. There are also other replica dinosaur skeletons and a life-sized replica of a Galapagos tortoise and a Komodo dragon. Zoorassic World is the base for the zoo's programme on evolution, which fits in neatly with the Nature of Science and Biological World strands of the Junior Cycle Science curriculum. Students visit a replica of Darwin's study and learn about some of his key discoveries. They then investigate the evolution of dinosaurs, birds and reptiles and their adaptations by visiting some of the species in the zoo's collection. Budding paleontologists in younger age groups can replicate the discovery of fossils at a replica of a dig site. They are equipped with goggles and brushes, as they uncover fossils in a prehistoric sandpit. When we visited the new Discovery and Learning Centre, Junior Cert students from Colaiste Iosagain in Portarlington were taking part in one of the most popular education programmes at the zoo known as Zooardship. It is an action project linked to CSPE, where students do research on an endangered species at the zoo and organise an awareness campaign or fundraise for a breeding programme. Tennant says: "It is a discussion-based programme looking at the role of zoos. The students lead the discussion and it is a debate." To celebrate the opening of the new Discovery and Learning Centre, we are giving post-primary schools a chance to win a class trip to Dublin Zoo! It is an opportunity for 30 students and two teachers to spend a fantastic, educational day out. The competition is exclusively for post-primary schools. To enter, go to www.independent.ie/dublinzoo and enter unique code TRIP. Terms and conditions apply. Three men with links to dissident republicans are continuing to be quizzed after a machine gun and pistol were seized in the Midlands. Detectives are investigating if the weapons were transported across the Border from the North recently and were being held at a house in Co Longford before they were recovered by gardai. The operation began yesterday morning when heavily armed gardai from the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) stopped and searched a car travelling through the Drumlish area of the county. During a search of the vehicle, ammunition was seized and the driver, who is aged in his 40s, was arrested. Follow-up raids involving the Special Detective Unit (SDU) were carried out at a nearby house where two firearms, a machine gun and a pistol, were discovered. Two men aged in their 30s and 40s were arrested at the scene and brought to Longford and Granard garda stations. All three men are currently being quizzed under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and can be held for up to seven days. A source said the men had links to dissident republicans and gardai were attempting to establish what the weapons were being used for. "The men, who are from the area, have links to dissidents and were arrested following a lengthy surveillance operation," said the source. "What exactly these guns were being used for is still under investigation, but the situation is clearly sinister and the weapons appear in good condition." A Garda spokeswoman said the searches were part of an "ongoing operation by Garda Security and Intelligence, including members of the Special Detective Unit". Local gardai from the Granard district also assisted the national unit with the operation. Meanwhile, gardai have identified two of the prime suspects behind a crime spree involving 15 burglaries in a 24-hour period. A travelling gang has been blamed for the spate of break-ins in the Kilkenny-Carlow area which targeted vulnerable homes in a carefully planned series of crimes. Further inquiries are now being carried out to establish any links between the gang and other burglaries in the south-east and identify local connections with the burglars. The spree was part of the investigation agenda for Project Storm, a policing initiative aimed at preventing crime and disrupting the activities of the gangs in the Kilkenny-Carlow garda division. A total of 20 arrests were made during a "day of action" in the Carlow area. Gardai have arrested a man in his 20s and seized approximately 32,000 worth of suspected cannabis. At approximately 7pm on Wednesday, Gardai from the Midleton District Drugs Unit carried out a search at a house in Magners Hill, Youghal, Co Cork. During the course of the search Gardai seized approximately 32,000 worth of suspected cannabis herb. A man in his 20s was arrested at the scene and brought to Cobh Garda Station where he was detained under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996. He has since been charged and is due to appear before Youghal District Court this morning at 10:30am. The head of the Irish Prison Service, Michael Donnellan, is to step down from his role at the end of November after seven years at the post. Mr Donnellan made the announcement that he would leave the role of director general today. He was re-appointed to the post last January for a second five-year term, having first taken up the position in December 2011. Mr Donnellan previously served as director of the Probation Service from 2005. Before that he served as Director of two children detention schools in Dublin. He also has previous experience in health and social services in the UK. Paying tribute to Mr Donnellan, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has said Mr Donnellan had led the Irish Prison Service with energy, integrity and dedication for the last seven years. Michaels personal leadership has contributed enormously to the improvement of our prison service and he will be missed by all his colleagues in the criminal justice system. I wish him all the best with what Im sure will be an exciting next chapter for him, he added. In October last year Mr Donnellan won the Head of Service Award at the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) conference in London. Participants from over 80 countries attended the 19th ICPA conference, hosted by the UK Prisons and Probation Service, the theme of which was Innovation in Rehabilitation: Building Better Futures. At the time, Minister Flanagan said that to be chosen for the award by a worldwide organisation reflected very well not just on Michael Donnellan himself but on the Irish Prison Service as a whole. Michael has overseen the implementation of Government policy in a number of areas. This includes a more joined-up approach to the management of offenders as reflected in the first Joint Strategy on Offender Management agreed between my Department, An Garda Siochana, the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service that has been operating since September 2016, he said. Michael has also led the IPS in the improvement of the infrastructure of the prison estate, which has led to the near abolition of slopping out. Other initiatives have led to a reduction in the number of prisoners on restricted regime and compliance with the UN Mandela Rules in relation to solitary confinement, he added. Michael has also been to the forefront in the introduction of rehabilitative initiatives in conjunction with the Probation Service, the aim of which is to protect the public and make Irish society safer, he explained. While no reason was put forward for Mr Donnellans decision to leave the position of director general of the IPS it is understood that he will take on a new role in the near future. Lord Mayor of London Charles Bowman expressed his willingness to further improve the already strong relations as London seeks more partnerships with Turkish firms. As Daily Sabah writes in the article London looks to enhance strong ties with Ankara, eyes partnership with Turkeys business sector, the U.K. and Turkey have strong trade relations and achieved a trade level of $20 billion in 2017, he said. In June 2016, the British public voted to leave the European Union, ending the country's 44-year membership of the bloc. Talks with the EU on the conditions of the divorce began in June 2017. The bilateral trade volume between Turkey and the U.K. was $16.1 billion in 2017. While Turkey's exports to the U.K. were $9.6 billion, its imports from the country were $6.5 billion. Between January and August this year, Turkey's exports to the U.K. increased by 17.1 percent to $7 billion. The U.K. is Turkey's second-largest export destination after Germany. As of December 2017, some 3,076 British companies, including British Petroleum (BP), Vodafone, Tesco and HSBC, operate in Turkey. Over the past two years, the U.K. has focused on improving relations with Turkey, and last year it doubled its export finance program to Turkey to $4.6 billion. Lord Mayor Bowman said he is excited about visiting Turkey and has five objectives during the visit. They include providing reassurance that in the context of Brexit, London and U.K. financial and professional services will remain preeminent, and enhance the strong ties between Turkey and the U.K. have built over a number of years. Bowman said the other objectives are to develop, harness and leverage bilateral opportunities in trade, investment and business, innovation in financial and professional services and engaging with Turkish communities and businesses with relation to the Business of Trust a program run by the lord mayor of London. Underlining that as lord mayor, he is acting as the U.K.'s principal spokesperson for and on behalf of the U.K.'s financial and professional services, Bowman said those services employ 2.3 million people across the country. "The sector is home to and houses 250 banks in London itself, more than any other international financial center. It [London] is a national, European and international jewel," he said. Turkey and the U.K. have witnessed an increase in ministerial-level visits over the last few weeks. Following Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who paid an official visit to the U.K., Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan was in London earlier this month on an official visit to boost commercial ties between the two countries. During her London visit, Pekcan attended the U.K.-Turkey Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting and the Turkey-U.K. Business Forum. He signed the sixth term JETCO memorandum of understanding (MoU) with U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox. Turkish exporters want to claim a larger share of the U.K. market in the aftermath of Brexit, Trade Minister Pekcan had said in an evaluation of her trip. "We firmly confirmed mutual agreement on engaging in a comprehensive free trade agreement with Britain following Brexit. Under JETCO, the Turkish-British Working Group will accelerate its efforts," Pekcan had said. Recalling that there is a 20-billion-euro trade target between Turkey and the U.K., Pekcan had said they would like to move economic and commercial relations to a higher level. During her time in London, Pekcan also inaugurated the Turkish Trade Center in London on Thursday. The Turkish Trade Center is expected to host 36 companies on informatics, design, construction and architecture. Meanwhile, Minister Albayrak had met with representatives of financial institutions that manage assets worth $15 trillion in London. He narrated Turkey's 15-year success story and future policies that will be implemented within the frame of a stronger strategy. Elaborating on his contacts in the country, Albayrak said on his social media account that in addition to discussing "our bilateral cooperation, we discussed the steps that could be taken to increase our trade volume after Brexit." Bowman also said he is visiting Istanbul as the head of a business delegation, adding the bilateral trade target between the two countries has been set at $20 billion. "We have a strong relationship with Turkey built over a number of years. And this visit there is no sense of accident behind the fact that we are traveling to Turkey. We scheduled early in my year, and I am really looking forward to leveraging, developing and harnessing those opportunities to further grow what is already a strong relationship." Bowman said he is keen to discuss U.K.-Turkey business relations with senior government and business representatives in Istanbul, particularly focusing on how the U.K. and Turkey can partner to spur mutual growth. "Of particular interest are the fields of infrastructure, Islamic Finance, fintech [financial technology] and asset management," he added. Indicating that another important topic for cooperation with Turkey could be infrastructure, Bowman noted that he hosted a meeting on this issue in London in May. "The infrastructure is an important issue all over the world. I know we can cooperate in this area with Turkey," he added. During his stay in Turkey, Bowman will meet with government officials, supervisory and regulatory organizations and trade organizations. Speaking on Istanbul's target of being one of the most important financial centers in the world, Bowman said: "There is a growing financial technology sector in Turkey. As London, we can provide support and collaborate on this issue." "The lord mayor is expected to speak at Deloitte's 'Doing Business with the U.K.' conference, where he will talk about the strength of the city of London and opportunities for U.K.-Turkey collaboration," an official statement on his Turkey visit stated. Striking nurses could be on picket lines as hospitals reach breaking point during the winter trolley crisis. Angry nurses at a special delegate conference yesterday signalled a ballot for strike action is now almost inevitable over pay. Delegates at the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) gathering rejected Government pay proposals by 92pc. It will now begin a ballot on the pay offer with a recommendation to reject. If nurses turn down the offer, they will proceed to a ballot for strike action. This could hit services during the winter crisis. The Psychiatric Nurses Association, representing mental health nurses, also announced it would ballot members and would be recommending rejection. And, depending on the outcome, it will hold a further ballot on industrial action. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), representing consultants, is also examining potential means of industrial action in response to the Government's pay offer. INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: "Without a pay rise across the board, our health service will not be able to recruit and retain the nurses and midwives Ireland needs." The Government proposals include a 20m pay boost due to retention issues among specialist nurses and pay rises as part of a 190m package for recent recruits. The 20m pay boost for some nurses was recommended by the Public Service Pay Commission and would be worth up to 4,500 each. This is made up of a hike in allowances and the shortening of their pay scale. Meanwhile, the executive committee of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) has decided to put the proposal to ballot without recommendation. TUI president Seamus Lahart said members would be provided with information on the deal, but reiterated the union position that it did not deliver pay equality and would not tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in schools. The executive of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland will meet next month to consider its position. Teenage drinking in Ireland has fallen dramatically in recent years, according to a new European study. But young teenagers in Ireland and the UK are still among the worst in Europe for drunkenness, the World Health Organisation (WHO) study found. Weekly drinking among 15-year-old girls dropped from 34pc to 8pc. And it went down from 42pc to 11pc for boys. However, a higher proportion of Irish and UK girls have been drunk at least twice in their lives than in any other European region. Irish boys are only lagging behind teens in central-eastern Europe for drunkenness. The study looked at trends between 2002 to 2014 and found a fall in alcohol consumption among young teenagers in almost every European region. But it warned that alcohol consumption across the continent remained at dangerously high levels. Dr Jo Inchley of the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who led the research, said: "Overall reductions in harmful drinking have been greatest in countries that traditionally have had higher prevalence. "This makes it clear that change is possible. "However, more should be done to ensure that adolescents are effectively protected from the harms caused by alcohol." The report noted the convergence in the drinking habits of under-age boys and girls in Ireland and the UK. Roughly the same proportion of 15-year-olds of each gender drink on a weekly basis in 2014 - where a significant gap had existed 12 years earlier. One of the reasons for the drop in alcohol consumption has been linked to the change in culture among teens who now spend more time online. The report said that governments needed to step up efforts to make it more difficult for young teens to get access to alcohol. Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, the WHO's regional director for Europe, said: "Young people are regular drinkers at an age where they should not be drinking at all. "As we know that any alcohol consumption at this critical developmental stage in life is especially harmful, policy makers have a responsibility to implement the measures we know are effective, such as limiting access, enforcing age checks and restricting any type of alcohol marketing, including digital marketing." Dr Bobby Smyth, an HSE child and adolescent psychiatrist in Dublin who advised on how to cope with occasions like Leaving Cert results day, said: "If your child is over 18, talk to them about how they are going to celebrate. Come to an agreement between you that includes things like - if they are going to drink, how many drinks they will have. "Advise them to drink soft drinks in between alcoholic drinks and not to get into rounds with friends. "You should also talk to them about who they will be with and how they will get home. Agree a time for them to be home and talk to the parents of their friends - it will work best if you all take the same approach. "Also, it is so important to let your child know that they can always call you, no matter what," he added. "They need to feel they can safely call you if they, or a friend, gets into trouble. "If your child is under 18, whatever the celebration, make it an alcohol-free one. "Children and teens need our protection when it comes to alcohol and substance use. "Research shows that the earlier young people start to drink alcohol, the greater the long term risks. "My advice for parents is to be informed about the risks associated with alcohol, and to chat to teenagers openly about them." Dr Smyth added: "Reassuringly for parents, research has shown that children who have conversations with their parents and learn a lot about the dangers of alcohol and drug use are up to 50pc less likely to use alcohol and drugs than those who don't have such conversation." Private nursing homes have been warned they should be open about top-up charges which can add up to 5,000 a year to the cost of care. Jim Daly, minister of state with responsibility for older people, said yesterday he had told Nursing Homes Ireland that an elderly person or their relatives must be made fully aware of any extra charges to be levied before they sign their contract. But Mr Daly admitted to the Oireachtas Petitions Committee that he had no power to enforce that provision because the nursing homes were private operators. "Residents should never be charged fees which are not set out in the contract," he said. "The Department of Health and the HSE are not a party to such contracts. "Contracts are concluded between each resident and the private or voluntary nursing home." An interdepartmental government working group is examining the Fair Deal nursing home scheme and the top-up charges are part of its remit. A report is due at the end of the year. Health officials are currently visiting a number of nursing homes on a random basis to get more information on the charges, Mr Daly said. He added that it was important to ensure that residents had access to recreational and social activities and they were not left all day to "stare into the abyss". As revealed in the Irish Independent, Mr Daly indicated the upcoming Budget may contain incentives to make it more attractive for home residents to rent their private houses. There are an estimated 5,000 such homes vacant. Residents now pay 80pc of any rental income towards their Fair Deal fee but officials are looking at reducing this. However, Mr Daly said it was a sensitive area and many older people would not want to rent out their home which was full of their own possessions and where they may hope to return. Children's Minister Katherine Zappone has ramped up pressure on the directors of Scouting Ireland to resign by deciding to suspend all State funding from the youth organisation. At a press briefing outside her department, the minister said she was very concerned to learn about the decision to reinstate Chief Scout Christy McCann as chair of the upcoming EGM. Mr McCann is one of four volunteers under investigation over Scouting Irelands handling of a 2016 rape allegation. He had stepped aside in April pending the findings of the inquiry. Ms Zappone said she received correspondence from the interim chair of the board, Annette Byrne, and from child safeguarding expert Ian Elliott, which caused her grave concern. The minister said that Mr Elliott was appalled by last Saturdays decision and said that he pointed out his strong view that bad governance generates risk to young people. It is plainly wrong that any publicly funded youth organisation would be led by directors who do not put the interests and safety of young people to the fore. Ms Zappone said that funding would be suspended for as long as the current board of directors remains in place. In a statement issued last night, Scouting Ireland said that at a board meeting in September some members sought to have the four respondents to the current investigation reinstated, before the investigation was complete, but this proposal was defeated. However, it added that the proposal to ask the chief scout to chair the next board meeting and the EGM was voted on by the board. It added: D-day for Scouting Ireland is our EGM on October 6. Everyone in scouting who wants change has to work together and make it happen. In April, annual State funding of 900,000 was suspended from Scouting Ireland over the controversy. Ms Zappone subsequently released an interim of 220,000, following reform commitments and was due to make a decision on fully restoring the funding later this month. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has issued a stark warning that there will be "major disruption" to the Irish economy if there is a no-deal Brexit. He told the Oireachtas Budgetary Oversight Committee it could hit national income growth rates by up to 3.5pc in the medium-term if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. Mr Donohoe noted that Ireland's "most important trading partner" will leave the EU in 184 days. He said an agreement on the future relationship with the UK can only be made once it leaves, and stressed the importance of a "status quo" transitional arrangement. He said the risk of a "more adverse outcome than expected" means the Government has to bring in measures like targeting a balanced budget, using windfall receipts to reduce public debt, setting up a rainy day fund, and increase capital expenditure. He insisted the Government was planning for changes that will result from Brexit. Mr Donohoe also spoke of the challenges of a rise in protectionism and unpredictability of the international tax environment and said Ireland is particularly exposed to these risks. "We just need to be careful in our budgetary policies and try to continue to look after public finances while meeting the needs of our society," he said. Fianna Fail TD Michael McGrath asked Mr Donohoe to assess the impact of a no-deal Brexit on the economy. Mr Donohoe said "a Brexit shock in the form of a very hard or disorderly Brexit" would be equivalent to a 0.75pc to 1pc impact on national income growth. "That is a shock that will materialise over the year as opposed to over a number of years," he added. He said it was likely that the economy would still grow but it would be at a "significantly lower rate". Mr Donohoe said: "The medium-term impact of a shock like that occurring is that it could be worth 3pc to 3.5pc growth points in the years afterwards. "So, were that to occur, it would be a very significant shock to our economy." He said the Government would have to respond to swings in the value of sterling, which would have "many difficult consequences for our trading economy". And he said there would also be risks to the financial sector. Mr Donohoe said the early phases of the recruitment of new customs officers are ongoing and will be funded in the forthcoming Budget. Fianna Fail's Brexit spokesperson, Lisa Chambers, asked Mr Donohoe to reveal contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit. Mr Donohoe said care must be taken not to undermine "incredibly sensitive negotiations". He said laying out exactly how the Government manages "worst-case scenarios" in relation to the economy "are best done at a point in which I can absolutely demonstrate that they're needed". He was asked by Sinn Fein's Pearse Doherty if there would be a change to the 800m expected to be available in the upcoming Budget for new spending and tax measures. Mr Donohoe said any changes, if there are any, "would be around the margins". Independent TD Tommy Broughan asked if he is "going down the Charlie McCreevy road" and bringing in a special savings scheme. Mr Donohoe replied: "No." Plenty to think about: Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy at an event in St Agathas Court, North William Street, Dublin, yesterday. Photo: PA Rents have shot up again, in a trend that piles even more pressure on Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy. The cost of accommodation rose by close to 8pc across the country in the last year, official figures show. The average rent nationwide is now 1,094. This is up almost 80 in the last year. In Dublin, city rents rose by 9.5pc, to almost 1,600 on average, according to the Residential Tenancies Board. A chronic shortage of accommodation is forcing up rents and hitting families hard. Despite the stark figures, Mr Murphy insisted that rents for existing tenants "seem to be in line" with rent pressure zones. However, the minister, who survived a no-confidence vote over his handling of the housing crisis on Tuesday, admitted that people are paying too much rent and the market will need to be better controlled. He added: "I will shortly be introducing new rent protection measures in to the Dail. I'll also continue to pursue measures to see longer leases and tenant protections when properties are sold. "And of course homesharing will be tackled in the very near future." The figures from the RTB show that new tenancies are rising in cost the fastest, up 8.4pc in the last year. But existing tenancies have become close to 5pc more expensive year on year. Dublin and the greater Dublin area now account for over half of all tenancy agreements in Ireland. The cost of renting in the capital is now 1,587 a month, a rise of 128 a month on the last year. The average rent for outside the Greater Dublin Area stood at 817, up from 768 year-on-year. The annual growth rate for outside the Greater Dublin area was 6.3pc. Cork City had the second highest rents at 1,123 per month. Galway City standardised average rents stood at 1,065 for the second quarter of this year. Rents in Limerick City were 880, and rents in Waterford City were 646. In the larger cities, Cork's annual change was 6.2pc, compared with Dublin at 9.5pc. Limerick saw a rent surge of 12.4pc. Director of the Residential Tenancies Board Rosalind Carroll said affordability remains a significant issue in the rental market. She said continued economic and population growth was contributing to rising demand. "We can see rents have continued to increase with growth rates back up in Dublin," she added. Accommodation cost rises in the 21 rent pressure zones are restricted by law to 4pc. Ms Carroll said that a new analysis carried by the Tenancies Board shows that rises in the zones of 4.9pc was roughly in line with the permitted rental rises. The figures came as the Department of Housing said the number of households in need of social housing support has dropped by more than 16pc in just over a year. Some 71,858 households were assessed as being in need of a home in June this year, down 13,941 on the same period of 2017. The four Dublin local authorities account for 43pc of the entire national list. Mr Murphy yesterday denied a deal was struck with junior health minister Catherine Byrne to get her support ahead of the no-confidence vote against him. He insisted his colleagues in Government have faith in him to address the growing housing crisis. However, he gave no explanation for Ms Byrne's change of heart. Sources had said she was considering backing the Sinn Fein motion against Mr Murphy's handling of the homeless crisis. Ms Byrne did not respond to a request for comment last night. A parish priest has reversed a decision to scrap holding a first holy communion on a specific date after local uproar. A petition was started in the Askea and Bennekerry parish in Co Carlow after they were told children could make their communion on any Mass day in May or June instead of it being held on a particular day. The situation was set to affect school kids from Askea National School, Tinryland National School and the local gaelscoil, with 250 people signing a petition to protect the tradition. But in a letter yesterday from Fr Tom Little, the parish priest, explained that dedicated first communion days will now go ahead. The letter stated meetings were held to discuss the programme for communion last Tuesday and Wednesday. Fr Little said that he thinks that the "first holy communion practice does not seem to be working, as the children are not being brought regularly to Mass". "The emphasis seems to be on celebrating the big day rather than forming a spiritual relationship with Jesus which must be nurtured by regular practice such as prayer, a Christian way of life, listening to God's word in the scriptures and celebrating human goodness," he wrote. Ann Lennon - who started the petition - said she and her daughter, Isobel, are delighted with the outcome. However, Ms Lennon insisted it was never about having a big day, but about the ceremony. She said her family are all practising Catholics who go to Mass regularly. Ms Lennon said it was an important day for them. "[Isobel's] happy and all she ever wanted was to have it with her classmates. She does go to Mass regularly," Ms Lennon said of her daughter. Another parent, Naomi Cahill, had told the Irish Independent earlier this week that "everyone was devastated" at the initial decision and that families didn't want to take the day away from their children. In his statement, Fr Little also wrote that he is "convinced that each child likes to go to Mass" and that the suggestion was made that from the date they are enrolled the "children would be brought each Sunday to the regular Mass in their respective parishes". The clergyman said it is his continued hope that "parents would take more ownership" of the communion programme by "helping the school and the parish to enlighten the children of God's love", and that it was evident at the meeting that "parents felt that the children would like to celebrate the day of first communion with their classmates". To that end the children will now be able to celebrate their first communion with their classmates on various dates next May. The ceremonies will take place on Sunday, May 12, Sunday, May 19 and Sunday, May 26. The parish priest said he "regrets any confusion caused" but that he would have preferred the consultation meetings to be "seen as a work in progress rather than a media frenzy". He was also clear about what the Church expects from parents in the run-up to the big day, which includes parents taking "ownership of the programme" at alternating dates throughout the year and that children be fully versed in their prayers from the "Children's Everyday prayerbook". Ryanair pilots in Germany will join cabin crew from five countries in a strike tomorrow. Pilot union Vereinigun Cockpit last night said all permanently-employed Ryanair pilots who are home-based in Germany will take part in the industrial action, which starts at 3am. They will join cabin crew from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands who are also going on strike. Ryanair said it plans to cancel 150 flights tomorrow, rather than the 190 which it had previously announced. It said: "The vast majority of our people will work as normal." The latest strike it part of an on-going effort by pilots and cabin crew to secure collective labour agreements. A photo of Ingrida is brought to the Mass. Photos: Steve Humphreys Her coffin is carried from the church. Photos: Steve Humphreys Tears: A mourner is overcome with grief at the funeral of Ingrida Maciokaite in Dundalk. Photos: Steve Humphreys Mother-of-two Ingrida Maciokaite, who was stabbed to death last week, has been remembered as a "kind and loving" woman. Ms Maciokaite was attacked at her home on Linenhall Street, in Dundalk, Co Louth, last Tuesday afternoon. Her former partner, Edmundas Dauksa (48), has been charged with her murder. Mr Dauksa, with an address at Castleross, Castletown Road, Dundalk, but originally from Lithuania, appeared at Dundalk District Court last Thursday. He was remanded in custody to appear in court again today via videolink. Ms Maciokaite, who was also originally from Lithuania, had lived in Ireland for a number of years. There were emotional scenes yesterday as the white coffin painted with colourful flowers bearing her remains was carried to St Nicholas' Church, just yards from where she was killed. Fr Maciej Zacharek told the mourners, from the local and Lithuanian communities, that Ms Maciokaite "was taken so violently from our lives". Her six-year-old daughter was comforted by friends of the victim. Her baby brother was not at the Mass. During his homily, Fr Zacharek said it was not easy to find words to express the feelings of everyone who had gathered to mourn her loss. "She will be remembered as a very kind person who was loving and giving and ready to give 100pc." He added: "She came here and found a home, friends, built relationships and we suffer that she has been taken so violently from us. "We are united in pain but strengthened by faith we support each other." After the funeral Mass, her remains were brought to St Patrick's cemetery for burial. Denmark is coming to grips with its role in one of Europes worst dirty money sagas. Danske Bank has admitted that about $234bn flowed through a tiny unit in Estonia between 2007 and 2015 mostly in suspicious transactions. The Gulf Times writes in the article Dirty money: Europe needs to clean up its banking mess, that Danske CEO Thomas Borgen has resigned and several employees have been reported to the police. Criminal investigations are ongoing and the government says Danske may face a $630mn fine. The European commission has described the money-laundering case at Denmarks largest bank as the biggest scandal in Europe.The sheer scale of the scandal has put the Danish governments AAA credit grade at risk, according to S&P Global Ratings. And worried Danish politicians last week quickly agreed on a package of much stricter laws to fight money laundering. Deutsche Bank has been ordered to improve its controls to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism by Germanys markets regulator. The BaFin instructed Deutsche Bank to take appropriate internal safeguards and comply with general due diligence obligations under German law. It also appointed a monitor to assess the banks efforts, the first time BaFin has taken such action against a bank in relation to money laundering. Deutsche Bank had acknowledged in August that its anti-money laundering processes remained inefficient more than a year after it was fined almost $700mn for helping wealthy Russians move money out of the country. Banks in Denmark, the Netherlands, Latvia and Malta have all been linked to criminal inflows from countries including Russia and North Korea. The US Treasury Department found out that ABLV, a Latvian lender, was involved in institutionalised money laundering, prompting EU authorities to withdraw its banking licence. A report by the European Banking Authority (EBA) concluded that the Maltese regulator had failed to conduct an effective supervision of Pilatus Bank. EU banks can set up branches across the union on preferential terms thanks to its so-called passporting system. EU banking is intrinsically cross-border, strengthening the case for more centralised supervision. The EU has moved to centralise banking supervision, but money laundering has remained a national responsibility. The European Commission has unveiled new plans to crack down on money laundering. But instead of setting up a new unified agency and equipping it to do the job, Europe plans to keep relying on national authorities, some of which are seen not up to the task. Brussels wants to give new powers to the EBA, so that the agency can tell national supervisors to investigate cases and consider possible sanctions. This is a step in the right direction. The London-based EBA, however, is primarily responsible for designing stress tests and overseeing prudential rules. Some aspects of money laundering fall under its review, but it currently has just two officials assigned to the task. The EU wants to add 10 more. Most important, the EU wants domestic regulators to stay in charge. It would have been better to harmonise the rules, create a new agency, and give it lead responsibility for cleaning up the dirt in Europes banking sector. Mary Murray (61) has always been vigilant about her health - making sure to visit the doctor if she had any concerns, doing regular checks to look for unusual lumps or moles and crucially; availing of any offer of screening which might detect an illness in the early stages, writes Arlene Harris. However, despite this awareness, she was totally unprepared for the news that she had (early stage) breast cancer following a routine mammogram. "I had been having a mammogram every two years with BreastCheck," says Mary who lives in Castlebar. "In 2012, I went along for my appointment and as I had no symptoms at all, I wasn't expecting anything other than the all-clear. "I went away thinking everything was fine as usual, but two weeks later I got a letter saying that something had shown up on the scan and I was referred to Galway for further checks." Mary, who was 55 at the time, was reassured by her husband Patrick but deep down she knew something was wrong as she had never been referred for further tests before. "In the letter I was informed that I might be waiting for some time as depending on the outcome of the mammogram, they could have to follow on with an ultrasound and biopsy," says Mary. "I was very frightened as I instinctively knew that something was wrong and in July 2012, I headed to Galway with my husband and daughter Mary Bridget by my side. Before I had Mary, I had several miscarriages so already had my fair share of suffering, so I really felt awful about the prospect of heading into another traumatic experience - but even though I was really worried, the staff at the hospital couldn't have been more helpful and were reassuring even when I was told that I had to go through with the triple assessment (mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy)." The following week, Mary, who works in a special needs school in Castlebar, received an appointment to see a surgeon where she would be told the outcome of her tests and the treatment which would follow. "I was told that I had a stage 3 Ductal Cell Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) in my right breast and would need to have a lumpectomy to remove it and also a lymph node," she recalls. "It was an early cancer which was located in the milk ducts and the surgeon said that without a doubt, the fact that I had gone for screening, meant that whole process was likely to have a more positive outcome. "The surgery was done a week later and I was kept in for two days. Then a fortnight later, I went to see the oncologist, who made me feel really relaxed and said that he thought I would benefit from radiation but because the DCIS had been detected early, I wouldn't need chemotherapy which I was really happy about." The Mayo woman underwent six weeks of radiation and said while the treatment itself was somewhat uncomfortable, it was a small price to pay for the peace of mind she received when the ordeal was over. "I had to go up and down to Galway on the bus every day for six weeks for the radiation and the ICS helped with the transport cost, which I was very grateful for," she says. "Most of the time it was grand but it was exhausting and there were some side effects such as a burning of the skin - but I was happy to endure anything if it meant I was cancer free. "And it would have been a lot worse if I hadn't gone for my routine screening. I was told that if I had left it, even for a year, I would have been looking at a mastectomy and chemotherapy and my survival would have been put into question." It has now been six years since the routine breast check. "I don't know if I would be here today if I hadn't always been so vigilant about screening," she says. "I have always availed of whatever was offered whether it was breast, cervical or bowel screening and I think this is something everyone should do. When I returned to work after my treatment I asked to talk to my colleagues about it as I wanted them to know how important it was to get screened and three went straight away for their BreastCheck appointments and I know I made the others more aware of the need to do the same. I still go for my annual mammogram - I wouldn't miss it for anything." Emma Maye who had a hysterectomy after receiving her smear test results, pictured at her home in Foxrock. Photo: Frank McGrath On September 13, businesswoman Emma Maye contacted this journalist - from her hospital bed. Two days earlier, the mother-of-four had undergone a hysterectomy following abnormal smear test results, and now she wanted the Irish Independent to help her punch home a crucial message to other women: Don't ever postpone your smear test. Emma also wanted to publicly ask whether women should have yearly smears, rather than having the test done every three to five years as is currently advised. She is now questioning whether she would have needed a total hysterectomy (surgical removal of both the uterus and cervix, or neck of the womb), had she had a yearly, rather than three-yearly, smear test. Emma, whose children are aged three, four, seven and nine, had a routine smear test last April, but could never have anticipated what was to happen when the results came back in mid-June. "Mid-June to mid-September is just 12 weeks. In that time I have gone from getting my smear test results to seeing a gynaecologist for a number of procedures, to being referred to an oncologist, and getting a total hysterectomy," says the 42-year-old CEO of Ardale Property. On September 5, about a week before the hysterectomy was to take place, Emma from Foxrock, Dublin posted the following message on Facebook. "Next Tuesday I will be going in for a hysterectomy - over the last eight or nine weeks I have gone from going to the gynaecologist to an operation for biopsies to a cancer gynaecologist, to be told I have to have a hysterectomy and maybe treatment after. "I have severe pre-cancer cells - it's so important to get a smear done. I was always so good at doing them, and on time. "Yes, I'm scared, yes, I can't believe it but yes, I have four gorgeous kids and am very lucky. "I do wonder if I'd had, and all women out there, were offered yearly smears, would this have saved me from having a hysterectomy? "If you haven't got your smear or keep putting it off, I hope my post will make you go and do it. "As the doctors said, if I hadn't got my smear, this would be a different story I'd be writing." The response to her message was phenomenal - the Facebook post was shared more than 250 times and the feedback to date has been "immense," says Emma. One woman even contacted her to say she hadn't had a smear test in 20 years, but after reading Emma's Facebook post, she had immediately had one. "It's been huge," she says, adding that she has been contacted by women in the UK as well as Ireland and has been and inundated with responses and queries. Emma's journey began last April, when she had a routine smear test. "I've always been so good to get my smear test organised and there was a lot of controversy at the time, with Vicky Phelan (the woman at the centre of the Cervicalcheck scandal)," she recalls, adding that the publicity around Phelan's case had "really focused my mind." Two months later, in mid-June, Emma received a phone call from her GP. "She said I had had an abnormal test result. "I presumed that I'd go back and get re-tested but my doctor said I had to see a gynaecologist." Emma contacted a recommended gynaecologist, and was initially told, that, depending on the contents of the letter which was to be submitted by Emma's GP, she might have to wait until September or October to be seen. However, things moved much faster than the mother-of-four anticipated. "My doctor sent in the letter and the next morning I got a phone call from the gynaecologist's secretary saying that I was to come in two days later." However, she had one-week holiday booked, so she postponed the appointment. "I saw the gynaecologist a week later and she explained that she had to do an investigation. "The following week I had a colposcopy (an examination of the cervix) and two biopsies, one each from the womb and the cervix, (a biopsy is a procedure involving the extraction of cells or tissues for examination). In mid-August Emma was called in to discuss her test results with the gynaecologist. The specialist explained that tests had revealed that Emma had severe pre-cancerous glandular cells in her cervix, and told her she needed to see an oncologist. "I felt kind of numb when she told me and was quite shocked," Emma recalls. "I left with the news and strangely didn't tell anyone for a few days; not my mum or husband. "I didn't want to worry anyone, although I was so panicked myself inside. I confided in two people and their reaction made me realise that it was serious." The following week she saw the oncologist. Following an ultra-sound scan, Emma was advised to have a full hysterectomy, in which the uterus and the cervix, or neck of the womb, would be removed. She had the operation on September 11 and is currently awaiting the results of more tests, following which her doctors will decide what the next step should be. "It was really weird to think that I had gone from a routine smear test to a hysterectomy in just a few weeks," she says now. Within 48 hours of having the operation, Emma contacted this reporter. "I decided to go public and to tell people how important it is to get your smear test and also what can happen. "I never knew that a smear test could end up with a hysterectomy or that this is what can happen in terms of what the smear test can do for you. "My doctor asked me 'What would have happened if you hadn't had the smear test?' "If I hadn't gone and got my smear test, it could have been a very different story." Now Emma wonders whether women should have an annual smear. "From my experience over the last few months, three years seems too long to wait to have the test. "Everyone has been worried," she says, adding that people, including the nurses who looked after her in hospital, were shocked by the speed at which things happened. "It's good that I've been looked after so fast, but I had never heard before how things can go so fast from a smear test to a hysterectomy. I decided to put a message out on Facebook to warn other women," "I cannot emphasise enough just how important your smear test is. "The reason why I am going public is to emphasise the importance of getting the smear." An Irish mother has opened up about her experience with post-natal depression in the hopes of helping other women coping with the mental illness. Suzanne Brack (26) welcomed her daughter Frankie in July but the newborn was soon diagnosed with colic, which the new mum struggled to cope with. The make-up artist from Dun Laoghaire said she soon began to resent her new baby but did not recognise her symptoms as post-natal depression, which she had not experienced after the birth of her son Josh (5). I looked fine but inside I wasnt. The thoughts of facing another day with her felt like a chore. I couldnt enjoy her but I brushed it off. Days passed and it was same routine, her constant piercing cry in my head, not being able to move without her in my arms. I was full of anger and frustration towards her. I hated her but I couldnt let the world see that. I carried on day after day. She drained the life and soul out of me, Suzanne wrote in a post on Facebook. I blamed her for everything. I felt she ruined my life, my bond with my son, I couldnt have my time with just him he was barely getting a look in. Expand Close Suzanne pictured with her daughter Frankie (5 months) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Suzanne pictured with her daughter Frankie (5 months) The young mum said she was reluctant to share her worries and feelings with her partner Richard and her family and friends for fear that they would "think she was mad". Suzanne revealed that she was shocked to find herself screaming at baby Frankie as she lay in her buggy, and began to realise that her feelings werent healthy. I screamed at her in her buggy one day from the top of my voice. I then walked away from her rocking myself on the sofa. The guilt I had feeling like this towards her was killing me all I wanted to do was love her, said Suzanne. The mum eventually was persuaded to seek help in St Vincents Hospital where she was diagnosed with post-natal depression for which she is now undergoing treatment. The mum-of-two said she had little knowledge of the illness before she was diagnosed and shared her story on Facebook in the hopes of raising awareness. Speaking to Independent.ie, Suzanne said: I put it up there thinking of my own emotions but Im so glad its raised awareness for mental health. When I was going through this I didnt know much about it and I had to go looking for information. I dont think people talk about it enough and there are so many mums out there going through this who feel alone. It was great to get that support from people after I shared that post, it was completely unexpected and I hope by talking about it, I can help other people coping with depression, she said. The new mum said seeking help has allowed her to see clearly for the first time in months. I cant fully explain post-natal depression but I can tell you its the worst feeling in the whole world. Im still fighting but I am coming out on top. Every step is one step forward. I love my daughter and I always will." If you have been affected by this article and are seeking help please visit www.pnd.ie or call the Samaritans Helpline on 116-123. Blake Lively has joked that her friend Gigi Hadid is so stunning she wishes she could write her off as just being hot. Model Hadid posted photographs on Instagram showing her looking sensational in a skimpy gold dress which showed off her curves as she celebrated her 23rd birthday. The snaps drew thousands of comments from fans, including one from her friend Lively. The Gossip Girl star quipped that it would make her feel better about herself if Hadid was not beautiful both on the inside and the outside. Most. Gorgeous. Ever Lively wrote. Too bad your insides are so awesome. Id love to write you off as just being hot. Would make me feel a lot better about myself right about now. Lively added a row of blowing a kiss and heart emojis to her post. Video of the Day Hadid also shared an image of her celebrating her big day with her sister, Bella Hadid. Bella penned a sweet message to her sibling before she turned 23 on April 23, sharing pictures of them together as children on Instagram and saying: Best friends since the first time we met. Tomorrow is my favorite day ever because it was the day you were born. I love you! Fellow model Kendall Jenner posted a series of images of them together on her Instagram story. Miss you always, she said. I just love kissing those cheeks. Come to me so we can eat bagels. Hadid celebrated her birthday with a party at Brooklyn Heights Social Club in New York, attended by family, fellow models and stars including Hailey Baldwin, Cara Delevingne, Tan France and Martha Hunt. The Duchess of Sussex examines her veil on ITV's documentary Queen of the World It has been over four months since she wed Prince Harry at Windsor Castle, and as the Duchess of Sussex has been settling into royal life, every move she makes has been scrutinised by royal watchers looking for signs she might be Breaching Royal Protocol. From those (sorry, Your Royal Highness, but dodgy) white tights, to the moment this week when, upon arriving at her first solo engagement, she (hold onto your fascinators, lads) shut her own car door - every sartorial decision, every hand gesture, every glance, has been analysed as evidence of her great evolution. Some say she is beginning to emulate her sister-in-law, that it's all a sure sign Kate is quietly showing her the ropes. Others say she is finding her own way (as evidenced, apparently, by the car door debacle). We track Meghan's transformation into a fully fledged member of the royal family. Meghan Markle Defied Royal Protocol at Her First Solo Event and Closed Her Own Car Door https://t.co/wREwswleS8 https://t.co/Ne8xbdPsr5 pic.twitter.com/E99W8C7db0 Marie Claire (@marieclaire) September 26, 2018 The handbag This, it seems, is a very big deal. Prior to becoming the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan's preference was for a practical crossbody number. It was all part of her casual, wouldn't look out of place having a browse in Topshop look. She was a tote, jeans and fedora girl, as opposed to a suede clutch, crisp dress and a fascinator type - all now part of her new royal wardrobe. But as Harper's Bazaar pointed out "Now that she is a Duchess, she doesn't need anything more useful than lipstick, and possibly her phone". The Queen's handbag (always black, always a Launer) famously contains little more than a crisply folded 5 note to donate to the church on a Sunday, a mirror, a Clarins lipstick, and a portable hook used to hang the bag discreetly under tables. Expand Close Meghan Markle arrives to a walkabout at Cardiff Castle on January 18, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. | Photo by Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson/Getty Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan Markle arrives to a walkabout at Cardiff Castle on January 18, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales. | Photo by Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson/Getty Images Video of the Day Perhaps Her Majesty might let Meghan in on her Launer discount code. The accent Is Meghan Markle putting on a British accent?! Has she done a Madonna and actually turned British?! Cried every American gossip column the first time she was heard speaking in public since her wedding. Quite apart from being utterly infuriating when Americans describe an accent from within the British Isles as being "British" (what do you mean? Scouse? Brummy? Geordie? Essex? Glaswegian?), it's also ridiculous. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Meghan Markle meets Hannah Belcher, senior exhibitions project co-ordinator at the Royal Collection, as she is reunited with her wedding dress for the first time since her wedding, in a scene from the ITV documentary Queen Of The World, which will be broadcast on Tuesday 25th September 2018 at 9.15pm on ITV. Photo: Oxford Films/PA Wire Meghan Markle meets a conservator from Britain's Royal Collection as she is reunited with her wedding dress for the first time since her wedding, in a scene from the ITV documentary Queen Of The World, which will be broadcast on Tuesday 25th September 2018 at 9.15pm on ITV. Photo: Oxford Films/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Meghan Markle meets Hannah Belcher, senior exhibitions project co-ordinator at the Royal Collection, as she is reunited with her wedding dress for the first time since her wedding, in a scene from the ITV documentary Queen Of The World, which will be broadcast on Tuesday 25th September 2018 at 9.15pm on ITV. Photo: Oxford Films/PA Wire Any Brit watching the duchess talk about her wedding dress on on ITV's Queen Of The World this week would have heard a possibly slightly clipped Californian accent. America loves the idea of their princess taking etiquette and elocution lessons, but I suspect life in the royal family these days is rather less Julie Andrews (not just Maria Von Trapp but also the Queen of Genovia, to all millennials) and more straightforward. Expand Close Embraced: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with her mother, Doria Ragland, (left) at the launch of the cookbook. Photo: PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Embraced: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with her mother, Doria Ragland, (left) at the launch of the cookbook. Photo: PA In any case, she's an actress, she probably can't help picking up accents. The handwriting It appears Meghans handwriting has also changed since she has become a royal, going from "controlled italic writing with dominant loops and large letters" to more of an informal, romantic scrawl, as spotted on her royal tour to Ireland as she signed a welcome book. Expand Close Jacqui OHalloran (holding phone) meets Meghan Markle in the famous photograph taken by Gerry Mooney back in July. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jacqui OHalloran (holding phone) meets Meghan Markle in the famous photograph taken by Gerry Mooney back in July. But what does it mean? According to one handwriting analyst (no, me neither) it shows that her comfortable marriage to Prince Harry is making her feel at ease, and bringing out her more relaxed, sensitive side. Because being a member of the royal family, a life which leaves you open to endless scrutiny, must be such an eminently relaxing experience. The body language Prone to a more "respectful distance" in photos of the duchess before she was married, body language experts say these days she is far more tactile and confident. In fact, on her wedding day it was noted she appeared far more at ease than her flushed husband, who was far more fidgety while waiting for her at the end of the aisle. She was even seen sharing a joke with the Queen on their first royal engagement together. Watchers have broadly been thrilled with her body language. Until the car door incident, that is. Unforgivable. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Bellingcat is the website that claims to have unmasked the true identity of one of the prime suspects in the Salisbury Novichok attack. The website bills itself as "the home of online investigations" and its report on the man it revealed to be Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga has made headlines around the world. Bellingcat was founded by Eliot Higgins, who, the website says, focuses on the weapons used in the conflict in Syria, and open source investigation tools and techniques. Mr Higgins, believed to be based in Leicester, is also the founder of the Brown Moses blog which examined conflict in the Middle East. Bellingcat's verified Twitter account has more than 78,000 followers and its bio says "Award-winning open source investigation". The website's homepage is divided into two columns - News and Resources. On Thursday morning, the revelation that the man named as Ruslan Boshirov and said by the Kremlin to be a civilian is actually a top-level officer in the GRU remained the top of the home page. The resources section includes articles with the headlines "How to Scrape Interactive Geospatial Data" and "Why are Nerve Agents so Difficult to Make?". In its report about Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, Bellingcat outlines how its investigation arrived at its conclusion. Its quest, dubbed "The Challenge of Finding Colonel Chepiga", began only with the photographs of the two prime suspects and their cover identities. Investigators said they carried out image searches on several online search engines, contacted former Russian military officers, browsed photos of a military academy yearbook, searched specific terms online, and scoured leaked Russian databases. They then obtained extracts from the passport file of Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga which contained a photograph that strongly resembled a younger "Boshirov", the report said. It added: "Based on the array of information sources consulted - all of which were independent from each other and came from different time periods - Bellingcat was able to conclude with certainty that the person identified by UK authorities as 'Ruslan Boshirov' is in fact Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, a highly decorated senior officer from Russian military intelligence who was awarded the highest state honour in late 2014." Elite troops: Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga, aka Ruslan Boshirov, is believed to be pictured back row, far right, with a group of fellow military graduates in Chechnya The special forces brigade in which Anatoliy Chepiga served carried out secret missions in Ukraine. It is believed these missions are the reason he was awarded Russia's highest honour. Chepiga - who travelled to Salisbury to carry out a nerve agent assassination under the false identity Ruslan Boshirov - graduated in 2001 from his military academy in the far east of Russia. The academy, on the Chinese border, is 8,000km and a five-day train journey from Moscow. Passing out with honours, Chepiga was assigned to the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, which was stationed in the same part of Russia. From there, he served three tours in Chechnya during the brutal second Chechen war. Russia's Spetsnaz special forces brigades are run by the GRU, Russia's military intelligence, of which Sergei Skripal, the target in Salisbury, was also a colonel. Spetsnaz units have a reputation for ruthlessness and are highly regarded by the British SBS and SAS. The Spetsnaz bat and globe symbol embodies an ethos for shadowy operations that are not confined to Russian soil. Two Spetsnaz units were based in Chechnya during the second war until they were disbanded in 2008. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Christine Blasey Ford has said US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as he and a friend shared uproarious laughter in a locked room at a 1980s high school gathering. The 51-year-old recounted her allegations to the Senate Judiciary Committee and a riveted nation in a drama that threatens to derail Mr Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination. Her account, delivered in a soft and sometimes-halting voice, came as the judiciary panel began an extraordinary session that Republicans hope will let them salvage Mr Kavanaughs chances of joining the high court. She showed no hesitancy in affirming the crucial question about the alleged incident, telling senators her certainty that Mr Kavanaugh was her attacker was 100%. The conservative jurists Senate confirmation had seemed assured until Ms Ford came forward and then other women emerged with additional allegations of sexual misconduct. Mr Kavanaugh, now 53, has denied them all and awaited his own chance to give evidence later. Expand Close Brett Kavanaugh (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brett Kavanaugh (Jacquelyn Martin/AP) It has become less clear that Republican leaders will be able to hold Republican senators behind President Donald Trumps nominee. In an election-season battle that is being waged along a polarised nations political and cultural fault lines, Mr Trump and most Republicans have rallied behind Mr Kavanaugh. They have accused Ms Ford and the other women of making unproven allegations and have questioned why they had not publicly revealed them for decades. But with televisions across the nation tuned in to the hearing senators among those riveted to their screens it was unclear how politicians who will ultimately decide Mr Kavanaughs fate will assess Ms Fords credibility. Expand Close Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (Tom Williams/Pool Photo via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (Tom Williams/Pool Photo via AP) Ms Ford has said Mr Kavanaugh trapped her on a bed and tried undressing her, grinding his body against her and muffling her cries with her hand. I believed he was going to rape me, she said in her opening statement. Democrats have rallied strongly behind Ms Ford. Asked by Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, for her strongest memory of the alleged incident, Ms Ford mentioned the two boys laughter the uproarious laughter between the two and theyre having fun at my expense. The California psychology professor spoke carefully and deliberately during the hearing, using scientific terminology at one point to describe how a brain might remember details of events decades later. The boys laughter was indelible in the hippocampus, she said. Ms Ford has said Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge was also in the room. Mr Judge has said he does not remember the alleged incident and has declined to appear before the panel. Expand Close Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington (Andrew Harnik/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington (Andrew Harnik/AP) Ms Ford told the top committee Democrat, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, that she had agonised daily over coming forward about the alleged decades-old attack. She said she feared the personal consequences would be akin to jumping in front of a train. In fact, both she and Mr Kavanaugh have received death threats. When Ms Feinstein asked her how she could be sure that Mr Kavanaugh was the alleged attacker, Ms Ford said: The same way Im sure Im talking to you right now. Later, she told Senator Dick Durbin that her certainty was 100%. The judiciary panels 11 Republicans all men let Rachel Mitchell, a veteran sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, ask their questions. She began by expressing sympathy for Ms Ford, who had said she was terrified to give evidence, saying: I just wanted to let you know, Im very sorry. Thats not right. Ms Mitchell led Ms Ford through a detailed recollection of the events she says occurred on the day of the alleged incident. Expand Close Rachel Mitchell (Andrew Harnik/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rachel Mitchell (Andrew Harnik/AP) But under the committees procedures, the career prosecutor was limited to five minutes at a time, interspersed between Democrats questions, creating a choppy effect as she tried piecing together the story. Before Ms Ford began, committee chairman Chuck Grassley defended the Republicans handling of the confirmation proceedings so far. Ms Feinstein criticised Republicans who have rejected Democratic demands to slow Mr Kavanaughs confirmation process and let the FBI investigate all the allegations, saying: What I dont understand is the rush to judgment. Mr Kavanaugh and Ms Ford are the only witnesses invited to give evidence before the panel. But the conservative jurist is facing allegations of sexual misconduct from other women as well, forcing Republican leaders to struggle to keep support for him from eroding. Mr Grassley complained that lawyers for other accusers have not provided information to his panel, and said: The committee cant do an investigation if attorneys are stonewalling. Expand Close Chuck Grassley (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chuck Grassley (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) Republicans acknowledged that much was riding on Mr Kavanaughs performance. Even Mr Trump, who fiercely defends his nominee, said he would be watching and was open to changing my mind. Republicans are pushing to seat Mr Kavanaugh before the November midterms, when Senate control could fall to the Democrats and a replacement Trump nominee could have even greater difficulty. Mr Kavanaughs ascendance to the high court could help lock in a conservative majority for a generation, shaping dozens of rulings on abortion, regulation, the environment and more. Republicans also risk rejection by female voters in November if they are seen as not fully respecting women and their allegations. Ms Ford finished her evidence about four hours after the hearing began. Shares in the company ticked up as investors were reassured by a commitment to sustainable pricing (Chris Radburn/PA) Fashion retailer H&M Group reported a dip in profits for the third quarter on Thursday, as the fallout from a hiccup in its new logistics system continued to dampen sales in core markets. Sales excluding VAT in the three months to the end of August rose 9% to 55.82 billion Swedish crowns (4.82 billion). But profit after financial items was down 20% at four billion crowns (350 million). This was largely due to a problem with the implementation of a new logistics system earlier in the year. Although the issue was resolved, it put systems for crucial markets namely the US, France, Italy and Belgium offline. The fallout is still being felt in the business, adding extraordinary costs of 400 million crowns during the period and weighing on sales in the affected regions. Overall sales in these countries dropped 8%. But shares in the company ticked up as investors were reassured by a commitment to sustainable pricing, indicating H&Ms brands will not rely on extra promotional activity to shift stock. The most important aspect of our improvement work is to develop the assortment in line with customers increased expectations and to offer the best combination of fashion, quality and price in a sustainable way, commented chief executive Karl-Johan Persson. Shares rose more than 10% in early trading on Thursday. During the period, the company also launched a new store, adding to its quickly-growing list of brands which include Monki, & Other Stories and Arket. New brand Afound offers a range of brands including high-end designers Marc Jacobs and Marni alongside pieces from other H&M Group brands, all at discounted prices. The company said its launch had been successful. Good character: Brett Kavanaugh is Donald Trumps nominee for the US Supreme Court. AP Photo A third woman has accused Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct, throwing his confirmation into further doubt. Julie Swetnick's claims related to 10 house parties she attended in Washington between 1981 and 1983, when Mr Kavanaugh was a teenager. She has alleged Mr Kavanaugh would "drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behaviour toward girls". This included pressing girls against him, "grinding" against girls, attempting to remove girls' clothing. Ms Swetnick also claimed to have witnessed efforts by Mr Kavanaugh and others to "cause girls to become inebriated and disorientated so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys". The allegations were detailed in a signed statement tweeted by Michael Avenatti, her lawyer, who represented Stormy Daniels over her claim she had an affair with Mr Trump. Expand Close Julie Swetnick has accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Julie Swetnick has accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct Mr Avenatti said the claims had been passed on to a figure at the Senate Judiciary Committee, which vets Supreme Court nominees. Mr Kavanaugh's legal team said he had "emphatically denied" the new allegation: "He says he does not know the woman in question and emphatically denies the allegations. I would remind everyone that dozens of women who knew Judge Kavanaugh during the time period in question completely vouch for his good character." Republican senator Lindsey Graham tweeted: "Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the lawyer to porn stars has just taken this debacle to an even lower level." President Donald Trump strongly defended Mr Kavanaugh, but also, for the first time, raised the possibility of being convinced by the women accusing him of sexual assault. He recounted, at length, his own experiences of being accused of sexual assault. Mr Trump said he sympathised with the embattled judge's situation. "I've been accused," he said. "False accusations. "When I see it, I see it differently from someone at home watching TV. When you said does it affect me, in terms of my thinking, absolutely." He repeated his claim that Mr Kavanaugh was being attacked by "con artists" determined to smear him, remarking repeatedly that the Democrats were "laughing" at the accusations of sexual assault levelled at him. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called 'very productive' a meeting with Foreign Minister of North Korea Ri Yong-ho in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In October, Pompeo is going to Pyongyang to prepare the second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. As The Global and Mail writes in the article Trump says he has no time frame for North Korea to denuclearize, Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang next month will be his fourth this year. Referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, the State Department said the aim of the meeting would be further progress on the implementation of the commitments from the U.S.-DPRK Singapore summit, including the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK, and to prepare for a second summit ... Trump held an unprecedented first summit with Kim in Singapore on June 12 that yielded a broad pledge by Kim to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Kims commitments and actions, however, have fallen short of Washingtons demands for a complete inventory of North Koreas weapons programs and irreversible steps to give up a nuclear arsenal that potentially threatens the United States. Pompeo told CBS This Morning earlier that U.S. officials were working to make sure we get the conditions right for a second summit. He said any future summit could happen in October, but more likely after that. In his address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump praised Kim for his courage in taking steps to disarm, but said much work still had to be done and sanctions must remain in place on North Korea until it denuclearizes. On Wednesday, Trump told the UN Security Council that many positive things were happening behind the scenes on North Korea, away from the media. Asked by CBS if Kim had agreed to allow international inspectors into nuclear sites, Pompeo said, Yes, while adding that verification was important in any nuclear agreement. Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (Tom Williams/Pool Photo via AP) Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington (Andrew Harnik/AP) US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has told a Senate panel that his family and his name "have been totally and permanently destroyed". Mr Kavanaugh spoke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday after Christine Blasey Ford gave evidence that Mr Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were in high school. She said she was terrified to come forward but did so because she felt it was her civic duty. He said his confirmation process has become "a national disgrace" and a "character assassination". Ms Ford said the attack was seared in her memory and she was "100 per cent" certain that it was Mr Kavanaugh who attacked her. President Donald Trump has nominated Mr Kavanaugh for a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the body that has the final word on key issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. Earlier, Christine Blasey Ford claimed Mr Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as he and a friend shared "uproarious laughter" in a locked room at a 1980s high school gathering. The 51-year-old's account, delivered in a soft and sometimes-halting voice, came as the judiciary panel began an extraordinary session that Republicans hope will let them salvage Mr Kavanaugh's chances of joining the high court. She showed no hesitancy in affirming the crucial question about the alleged incident, telling senators her certainty that Mr Kavanaugh was her attacker was "100pc". The conservative jurist's Senate confirmation had seemed assured until Ms Ford came forward and then other women emerged with additional allegations of sexual misconduct. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Brett Kavanaugh denies the allegations against him (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Rachel Mitchell (Andrew Harnik/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Brett Kavanaugh denies the allegations against him (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Mr Kavanaugh, now 53, has denied them all and awaited his own chance to give evidence later. It has become less clear that Republican leaders will be able to hold Republican senators behind President Donald Trump's nominee. In an election-season battle that is being waged along a polarised nation's political and cultural fault lines, Mr Trump and most Republicans have rallied behind Mr Kavanaugh. They have accused Ms Ford and the other women of making unproven allegations and have questioned why they had not publicly revealed them for decades. Read More But with televisions across the nation tuned in to the hearing - senators among those riveted to their screens - it was unclear how politicians who will ultimately decide Mr Kavanaugh's fate will assess Ms Ford's credibility. Ms Ford has said Mr Kavanaugh trapped her on a bed and tried undressing her, grinding his body against her and muffling her cries with her hand. "I believed he was going to rape me," she said in her opening statement. Democrats have rallied strongly behind Ms Ford. Asked by Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, for her strongest memory of the alleged incident, Ms Ford mentioned the two boys' "laughter - the uproarious laughter between the two and they're having fun at my expense". The California psychology professor spoke carefully and deliberately during the hearing, using scientific terminology at one point to describe how a brain might remember details of events decades later. The boys' laughter was "indelible in the hippocampus", she said. Ms Ford has said Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge was also in the room. Mr Judge has said he does not remember the alleged incident and has declined to appear before the panel. Ms Ford told the top committee Democrat, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, that she had "agonised daily" over coming forward about the alleged decades-old attack. She said she feared the personal consequences would be akin to "jumping in front of a train". In fact, both she and Mr Kavanaugh have received death threats. When Ms Feinstein asked her how she could be sure that Mr Kavanaugh was the alleged attacker, Ms Ford said: "The same way I'm sure I'm talking to you right now." Later, she told Senator Dick Durbin that her certainty was "100%". The judiciary panel's 11 Republicans - all men - let Rachel Mitchell, a veteran sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, ask their questions. She began by expressing sympathy for Ms Ford, who had said she was "terrified" to give evidence, saying: "I just wanted to let you know, I'm very sorry. That's not right." Read More Ms Mitchell led Ms Ford through a detailed recollection of the events she says occurred on the day of the alleged incident. But under the committee's procedures, the career prosecutor was limited to five minutes at a time, interspersed between Democrats' questions, creating a choppy effect as she tried piecing together the story. Before Ms Ford began, committee chairman Chuck Grassley defended the Republicans' handling of the confirmation proceedings so far. Ms Feinstein criticised Republicans who have rejected Democratic demands to slow Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation process and let the FBI investigate all the allegations, saying: "What I don't understand is the rush to judgment." Mr Kavanaugh and Ms Ford are the only witnesses invited to give evidence before the panel. But the conservative jurist is facing allegations of sexual misconduct from other women as well, forcing Republican leaders to struggle to keep support for him from eroding. Mr Grassley complained that lawyers for other accusers have not provided information to his panel, and said: "The committee can't do an investigation if attorneys are stonewalling." Republicans acknowledged that much was riding on Mr Kavanaugh's performance. Even Mr Trump, who fiercely defends his nominee, said he would be watching and was "open to changing my mind". Republicans are pushing to seat Mr Kavanaugh before the November midterms, when Senate control could fall to the Democrats and a replacement Trump nominee could have even greater difficulty. Mr Kavanaugh's ascendance to the high court could help lock in a conservative majority for a generation, shaping dozens of rulings on abortion, regulation, the environment and more. Republicans also risk rejection by female voters in November if they are seen as not fully respecting women and their allegations. Republican US senator Lindsey Graham has said the Democrats treatment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is the most despicable thing he has seen in politics. Mr Graham said that Democrats sat on allegations against Mr Kavanaugh and then sprung them on the nominee at the last minute in a desperate attempt to prevent his confirmation. Expand Close Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gives evidence (Win McNamee/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh gives evidence (Win McNamee/AP) The South Carolina senator said Democrats want to destroy Mr Kavanaughs life and hold the seat open in the hope of winning the White House in 2020. Mr Graham said a vote against Mr Kavanaugh would legitimise the most despicable thing I have ever seen in politics. He also called the Democrats tactics the most unethical sham. .@LindseyGrahamSC has more decency and courage than every Democrat member of the committee combined. God bless him. Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) September 27, 2018 Mr Graham supported Republicans ultimately successful efforts to block action on President Barack Obamas Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick Garland. The Supreme Court gives binding rulings on subjects such as abortion and same-sex marriage and recent nominations for the panel have been conducted on fiercely partisan lines. President Donald Trump has already successfully nominated Neil Gorsuch for the vacancy created by the death of Antonin Scalia with his predecessor Mr Obama unable to install his choice. Mr Trumps nomination of conservative Mr Kavanaugh to replace the retiring Anthony Kennedy is yet to be approved. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted in support of Mr Grahams intervention. Ms Sanders tweeted: .@LindseyGrahamSC has more decency and courage than every Democrat member of the committee combined. God bless him. Saga has reported a fall in half-year profits but claimed it is clawing back customers following a difficult period (Saga) Saga has reported a fall in half-year profits but claimed it is clawing back customers following a difficult period for the over-50s travel and insurance firm. The group said customer numbers are back to levels last seen in the first half of 2017. This was driven by a 19% increase in new motor and home business. However, it was not enough to stop underlying pre-tax profit sliding 3.7% to 106.8 million. The group also booked a 1.7% fall in revenue to 430.6 million in the six months to July 31. Chief executive Lance Batchelor said: At the end of last year, we announced our intention to invest in new customer acquisition. I am pleased to report significant progress in the first half of the year. Our retail broking policy count is back to the levels seen in the first half of 2017, despite a more competitive pricing landscape. Saga has been in recovery mode since December, when it warned that the collapse of airline Monarch had hit earnings. The carriers demise, which saw holidays cancelled for around 860,000 people, knocked its tour operations business, leaving it with a 2 million one-off hit. But on Thursday Saga said its travel arm delivered a solid performance with strong demand for its new ship, Spirit of Discovery. Expand Close Saga chief executive Lance Batchelor (Saga/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Saga chief executive Lance Batchelor (Saga/PA) Mr Batchelor also pointed to cost-cutting initiatives. The group is benefiting from lower operating expenses across the business, reflecting a more efficient operating structure and investment in our IT systems, he said. Seven men were arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting a large-scale extremist attack that Dutch prosecutors said they think was foiled following a months-long investigation. The national prosecutors office said in a statement that heavily armed police arrested the men in the towns of Arnhem, about 62 miles south of Amsterdam, and Weert in the southern Netherlands close to the borders of Germany and Belgium. The investigation was launched by intelligence suggesting the alleged ring leader, a 34-year-old man of Iraqi heritage, wanted to carry out an attack at the site of a large event and cause multiple casualties, according to the statement. The suspects allegedly wanted to use bomb vests and assault rifles to do harm at the event, and planned to detonate a car bomb at another location, prosecutors said. An investigation of potential targets was continuing. Prosecutors said the suspects ranged in age from 21 to 34. Three of them, including the 34-year-old Iraqi, were previously convicted of attempting to travel overseas to join extremist networks. The men were attempting to obtain AK47 assault rifles, handguns, bomb vests, grenades and raw materials for bombs and were looking for opportunities to train with such weapons, according to the statement. Prosecutors said that the investigation sped up this month because of the suspects advanced preparations. Minister for Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus told Dutch national broadcaster NOS that police acted in time to prevent an attack. In a sense it is serious, but luckily its also good news, a terrorist cell that was plotting an attack has been taken down, Mr Grapperhaus said. They werent so far that it was a danger to society, in the sense that it was nearly too late. But they were quite far in their preparations. Expand Close Police arrest suspects in a car park in Weert (Netherlands Police/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police arrest suspects in a car park in Weert (Netherlands Police/AP) The men were to be brought before an investigating judge on Friday at a behind-closed-doors hearing. The arrests came weeks after a 19-year-old Afghan citizen living in Germany allegedly stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdams main railway station in what prosecutors described as an attack with an extremist motive. The Dutch anti-terror coordinators office said in a tweet that the allegedly foiled plot fits the current threat profile for the Netherlands, which is at four on a scale that tops out at five. The office did not raise the level following the arrests. Jihad networks are also active in the Netherlands with the intention to plot attacks in Europe, the office said. Todays arrests must be seen in that light. US President Donald Trump has said he would certainly prefer not to fire deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and that he may delay a meeting with the Justice Departments second highest-ranking official. Mr Trump said Mr Rosenstein denied making remarks first attributed to him in a New York Times report, including that he had discussed possibly secretly recording the president and using the US constitutions 25th Amendment to remove him from office. I would much prefer keeping Rod Rosenstein, Mr Trump said at a news conference in New York. He said he did not say it. He said he does not believe that. Mr Trump added: My preference would be to keep him and to let him finish up. Expand Close Donald Trump speaks during a news conference (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Donald Trump speaks during a news conference (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) Mr Rosenstein is overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and his dismissal would put that probe in jeopardy and create a political storm. In suggesting that he might postpone Thursdays meeting, Mr Trump said he is focused on the extraordinary Senate committee hearing set for the same day with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and a woman who has accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Any delay in the meeting would prolong the uncertainty of Mr Rosensteins status. Mr Rosenstein headed to the White House on Monday morning preparing to be fired and had discussed a possible resignation over the weekend with White House officials. But after meeting with chief of staff John Kelly and speaking by phone with Mr Trump, he got a reprieve with the meeting scheduled for Thursday. Since then, the White House has sought to talk down anxiety that Mr Rosenstein would be fired. White House officials called senators on Monday to say Mr Trump had said he would not be firing Mr Rosenstein at the meeting. Aides have advised Mr Trump against taking any extreme actions ahead of the midterm elections with his partys majorities in Congress already under threat. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Germany for a visit aimed at reducing tensions between the two Nato allies. It comes at a time when Turkeys economic troubles are causing growing concerns and Europe needs Ankaras support to keep down the flow of migrants. The trip is Mr Erdogans first formal state visit to Germany, which is home to more than three million people with Turkish roots. But the increasingly authoritarian leader is viewed with suspicion across the political spectrum in Germany, which has had difficult relations with Ankara in recent years. Expand Close Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine arrive in Germany (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine arrive in Germany (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP) They escalated in the past year to the point where Mr Erdogan called Germanys mainstream parties enemies of Turkey and accused German officials of acting like Nazis, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to condemn the Turkish presidents words. At the same time, the two countries recognise mutual strategic interests and the two leaders appeared prepared to bury the hatchet ahead of the trip, which runs until Saturday. Turkey is an important partner for us and it is also an important partner for Europe, Mrs Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert said. We have a fundamental interest in an economically and politically stable Turkey, and of course in a Turkey in which democracy is practised, Mr Seibert added. He said that talks with Mr Erdogan will address both common interests and difficult issues. In an opinion piece in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Mr Erdogan said it was time to set aside our differences of opinion and concentrate on our joint interests. Turkeys hope is to develop relations with Germany and other nations as equals on the basis of mutual respect, he wrote. Mrs Merkel championed a 2016 agreement with Turkey designed to halt the flow of refugees and migrants into Europe, which has held up even as relations between Ankara and the European Union soured. And Berlin considers Turkey an important partner in trying to end the conflict in neighbouring Syria. Expand Close People wait for the arrival of Turkeys president near a hotel in Berlin (Michael Sohn/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People wait for the arrival of Turkeys president near a hotel in Berlin (Michael Sohn/AP) But there has been a series of setbacks to bilateral ties. Among the irritants has been a 2016 German parliament resolution labelling the early 20th century killing of Armenians in Turkey as genocide. Turkish officials attempts to rally support among their citizens living in Germany last year in a referendum over whether to expand Mr Erdogans power caused widespread irritation, and several of their public events were cancelled prompting the Nazi jibes from Mr Erdogan. Most damaging was the jailing of Germans amid mass arrests and firings by Turkish authorities following a July 2016 coup attempt. Germanys foreign ministry says 35 were imprisoned on what Berlin considers political grounds. While the most prominent including two journalists have been released, five remain in Turkish custody. In recent months, officials in both countries have sought to thaw relations particularly on the economic front, something that has gained urgency as Turkey grapples with a currency crisis heightened by tensions with the US over the case of a detained American pastor. While Berlin has said the question of German aid for Turkey does not currently arise and emphasised the need for Turkeys bank to be independent, it has made clear that it does not want an economic basket case on Europes doorstep. Mr Erdogan landed in Berlin on Thursday but has the bulk of his public engagements on Friday, when he will meet Mrs Merkel and attend a state banquet hosted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier an event that many German opposition politicians are refusing to attend. Demonstrations against the Turkish leader are expected in both Berlin and Cologne, and Amnesty International called for Mrs Merkel to use her meetings with Mr Erdogan to address the dramatic human rights situation in Turkey. In such a situation, a state visit must be used to advocate clearly for all arbitrarily and innocently imprisoned people, the organisation said. Police in Berlin shut down a large area around the chancellery where Mrs Merkel was to meet with Mr Erdogan, including the airspace and boat traffic on the Spree river. Germany and Saudi Arabia have agreed to end a prolonged diplomatic row that prompted the kingdom to pull its ambassador from Berlin and punish German firms operating in the country. As Reuters writes in the article Germany, Saudi Arabia turn page on diplomatic dispute, the spat was triggered last November when Germanys foreign minister at the time, Sigmar Gabriel, condemned adventurism in the Middle East, in comments that were widely seen as an attack on increasingly assertive Saudi policies, notably in Yemen. The comments, which aggravated already tense relations caused by a moratorium on German arms exports to Saudi Arabia, led Riyadh to withdraw its ambassador and freeze out German companies, particularly in the lucrative healthcare sector. Gabriels successor Heiko Maas, egged on by German industry, had been working for months to resolve the dispute. Earlier this month, Berlin signed off on the delivery of four artillery positioning systems to Saudi Arabia, a step that officials say accelerated the rapprochement. Standing alongside his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir at the United Nations on Tuesday, Maas spoke of misunderstandings that had undermined what were otherwise strong and strategic ties between the countries, saying we sincerely regret this. We should have been clearer in our communication and engagement in order to avoid such misunderstandings between Germany and the kingdom, he said. Well do our best to make this partnership with the kingdom even stronger than before. Jubeir said he welcomed Maas statement and invited him to the kingdom to intensify their ties. He spoke of a a new phase of close cooperation in all areas between Berlin and Riyadh. Officials told Reuters that the Saudi ambassador, Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan, son of longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was expected to return to Berlin soon. After weeks of delay, the new German ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Joerg Ranau, is now expected to receive his accreditation and take up his position in Riyadh. The dispute hit trade between the countries. German exports to Saudi Arabia fell 5 percent in the first half of 2018. And companies like Siemens Healthineers, Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim complained that they were being excluded from public healthcare tenders. The dispute with Germany predates one that erupted between Canada and Saudi Arabia this summer after the Canadian foreign minister, in a tweet, called for the release of human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom responded by expelling the Canadian ambassador, recalling its own envoy, freezing new trade and investment, suspending flights and ordering Saudi students to leave Canada. Saudi Arabias role in the Yemen war, in which Arab forces are fighting Iran-aligned Houthis, remains controversial in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkels new government went so far as to write into its coalition agreement earlier this year that no arms could be sent to countries involved in the conflict. It is unclear how recent arms deliveries fit with this ban. If there is one word that describes the advent of social media, its historic. From the technological boom to the growing expanse of social networks, the evolution of social media has been significant. Do you remember those Orkut testimonials? How about HI5 and My Space? Well, there was a time when those were a rage, but now its all Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. After all, social media has taken over the world and how, becoming one of the most celebrated business platforms out there. In fact, last year E-commerce sales during Diwali crossed $3.3 Billion - a 50% increase compared to 2016. According to a recent study, Instagram has been rising in prominence vis-a-vis brand engagement and budding businesses, especially those catering to lifestyle needs. This rise has been so prominent that being a social media influencer on Instagram has become the next hot profession. While many are under the impression that being a social media influencer solely constitutes of men and women dressed in stunning ensembles, travelling across countries and eating drool-worthy food - in reality, they too have big business plans like that of owning their own brands, labels and restaurants (to name just a few). So if you are a social media influencer, with an inbox exploding with messages asking about your latest wardrobe or your go-to restaurant, maybe its time you start your own brand - something that just got a lot easier with Get Me A Shop. GMAS What is GetMeAShop? Most success stories today, like well-known illustrator Alicia Souzas, once started with someone expressing an idea and making it go digital - and heres your chance to do the same. Give your brand the right digital launch with GetMeAShop, a digital platform that helps budding entrepreneurs gain an appropriate online exposure, without making things too complicated. What makes GetMeAShop the next big thing? With the ease of this digital platform, GetMeAShop, that helps you give a digital identity to your brand, you can also stop worrying about hiring someone to do the messy bits. From taking care of customer relationships to providing an easy layout, it helps you build a digital identity of your brand without making it look like rocket science. The platform also equips the user with various marketing tools, gives an easy access to Facebook store and has a point-of-sale system, too. This platform is a godsend for all the budding entrepreneurs who find themselves a little lost when it comes to establishing a digital shop. From easing out these nascent creases to providing a pro-level business guidance through the virtual space, GetMeAShop can make your business journey a whole lot easier! Why you should be eyeing it this Diwali? As the festive season kicks off in India, entrepreneurs are gearing up to make the most of it - and in this digital age, GetMeAShop is just the digital help you need, to have those orders pouring in. With Diwali, the festival of lights and business opportunities, round the corner - GetMeAShop is the boon your business idea could use. So if you have been scouting for the right opportunity and tool, to take your brand online, your hunt ends this Diwali. So, all you social media influencers out there, we hope you know that with the use of right tools (read hashtags) and platform, your business dreams are a far cry from being impossible. The Supreme Court on Thursday scrapped Section 497 (adultery) of the Indian Penal Code, which punished a married man only for having a consensual sexual relationship with a married woman without the consent or connivance of her husband. Read More Here are the top news of the day: Two Years After #SurgicalStrike Terror Camps That Were Destroyed Start Operating Again Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was making peace overtures to New Delhi, terror groups backed by his countrys army were setting up eight new launch pads along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Approximately 250 terrorists are waiting to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir from 27 launch pads in PoK, top intelligence sources said. Read More Supreme Court Clears Way For Ayodhya Temple Verdict, 3-Judge Bench To Begin Hearing Next Month The Ayodhya land dispute case will not be referred to a larger bench, said Justice Bhushan, on behalf of himself and chief Justice Dipak Misra, while reading out the Supreme Court verdict. Read More PM Modi Awarded UNs Highest Environmental Honour For International Solar Alliance And Elimination Of Single Use Plastic On September 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was conferred with United Nations highest environmental honour, the Champions of the Earth award, along with six other dignitaries. Read More Telugu Is The Fastest Growing Indian Language In The United States Source: CSI/ Table showing the percentage of foreign language speakers in India Almost half of Americas population speaks a foreign language and an Indian language is among the top foreign languages spoken, a report by Centre for Immigration studies revealed. Read More Man Molests 9-YO Granddaughter Just A Day Before Her Heart Surgery. Devil! The grandfather of a nine-year-old girl, who was brought to a south Mumbai hospital for heart surgery, has been arrested for allegedly molesting her a day before the operation. He has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Read More On September 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was conferred with United Nations highest environmental honour, the Champions of the Earth award, along with six other dignitaries. The champions are recognised for their achievements in the categories including Policy Leadership, Entrepreneurial Vision, Science and Innovation, Inspiration and Action, and Lifetime Achievement, the UN noted. Modi has been bestowed with this title for his unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022 and leadership of the International Solar Alliance along with French President, Emmanuel Macron whose efforts on the Global Pact for the Environment have been hailed by the UN. The UN Environmental Programme also said that this years laureates were recognized for a combination of bold, tireless and innovative methods to tackle some of the most urgent environmental issues. #WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's acceptance speech after being awarded the prestigious UN Champions of the Earth Award. (26.09.2018) pic.twitter.com/ipjIUSAe0u ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Photo: Zee Business/ Indian PM Modi with France president Emmanuel Macron Apart from this, the Cochin International Airport has bagged the award for Entrepreneurial Vision for taking the lead in the use of sustainable energy. Cochin is showing the world that our ever-expanding network of global movement doesn't have to harm the environment, the programme recognised. Cochin, which is the first fully solar-powered airport is a testimony of the fact that green business is good business. The award ceremony will take place during the 'Champions of the Earth Gala' in New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly. The gala will be hosted by actor and environmental activist, Alec Baldwin and model, actress, producer and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza. Photo: Screenshot of UN's Champions of Earth winners taken from their website The award function will bring together leaders and influencers from across the globe to celebrate initiatives that have been taken to preserve the planet. Other winners of this title include Joan Carling who has been involved in the exponential conservation of environment for more than 20 years. 'Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods', a Vegan brand has received praise in the Science and Innovation category for their development of a popular, plant-based alternative to beef, and for their efforts to educate consumers about environmentally conscious alternatives. Photo: Solar panels at Cochin International Airport Chinas Zhejiangs Green Rural Revival Programme is awarded for Inspiration and Action for the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams in East Chinas Zhejiang province. Established in 2005, the Champions Of Earth Award is an annual awards programme that recognises outstanding environmental leaders from the public and private sectors, and from civil society. Past winners include Afroz Shah who was awarded for spreading inspiration through his actions by carrying out the worlds largest beach cleanup (2016), Rwandan President Paul Kagame (2016), former US Vice-President Al Gore (2007), Ocean Cleanup CEO Boyan Slat (2014) and many more. A Gujarati sailor from Mandvi in Kutch, Umar Saleh Mohammad Thaim, 47, walked out free from the Minab jail in Iran on Monday after four years of struggle. Apart from his family and employer, it was an impromptu act of generosity by 250-odd sailors, most of them strangers to Thaim, which finally secured his freedom from incarceration in a foreign land. The sailors, rich and poor, pledged Rs 500-Rs 20,000 to add up to Rs 11.50 lakh, which formed a major component of the Rs 46.50 lakh fine imposed on Thaim as a condition for his release. His family of five brothers pooled in Rs 15 lakh while his employer committed Rs 20 lakh. toi Kasam Jafrabadi, former president of Kutch Vahanvata Association, told TOI that Thaim's family shared with him their dilemma of falling short of funds critical to his release. He shared it with an influential sailor in Mandvi, Abu Bakr Pathan. Pathan formed a WhatsApp group and sent an SOS message to all sailors. In five hours flat, Rs 11.50 lakh was raised. We were overwhelmed by such an unprecedented outpour of kindness," says Jafrabadi. "Our brother is coming home, finally. It is thanks to Allah and generosity of fellow brethren that Umar will unite with his wife and four children soon," said sailor's elder brother Noor Mohammad. Younger brother Ibrahim secured Thaim's release on Monday. toi Thaim was detained by Iranian navy on August 4, 2014, when he and his two associates took shelter on Iran coast due to bad weather while returning from Dubai in their cargo ship to Eden in Yemen. He was accused of smuggling diesel and illegal intrusion. The two colleagues, Ibrahim Razak Sap, and Sajid Umar Sumra were released in February this year along with several prisoners on grounds of mercy. Thaim was stuck due to the discrepancy in paperwork. Later, a fine of Rs 58 lakh was imposed which was reduced to Rs 46.5 lakh. The family knocked on doors of all concerned ministries in the state and country to secure his release. Former popular American actress, Meghan Markle turned Duchess of Sussex known for her concrete role in legal drama series, 'Suits' got married to Prince Harry this year in a royal wedding. The union made headlines around the world as a curious Britain population waited to see how a mixed-race American actress will perform the well-defined roles of a Royal queen in the country. Ever since the elite class and prominent celebrities walked the wedding carpet of her marriage, the press has been keeping an eye on her every move. twitter Meghans dressing style, her gestures when she talks to children have often been compared with the former Royal queen, Princess Diana, who was known for her humility and down-to-earth nature. When Markle closed the door of her own car, the world was left gasping since it is unusual for a member of the Royal family to open or close the car door on their own. Meghan Markle leaves people in shock as she shuts own CAR DOOR on first solo engagement, the Express reported. A video showing Markle getting down of her black sedan and being greeted on her arrival on Tuesday at her first solo engagement the opening of an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the AFP reports. twitter Even BBC was quick to caption the momentous gesture by saying, Meghan closes a car door and some people cant handle it. The man in a tuxedo who welcomed her was getting ready to close the door for Duchess of Sussex when suddenly he put his hand on his mouth as soon as he saw the queen doing it for herself. Emily Andrews, the royal correspondent for the Sun, tweeted, A princess who still takes the time to shut her car door, Well done Meghan!. Many people saw the wave as a reminder of the fact that the former actress still remains humble and in-touch with her values. This is not a protocol breach. Usually royalty and dignitaries have someone to open/close car doors for security reasons: nothing to do with "princess behaviour". Meghan clearly just shut the door out of force of habit. https://t.co/PiPmhei1uk William Hanson (@williamhanson) September 26, 2018 But one royal correspondent tried to bring everyone back to their senses by noting that Meghan had not, in fact, breached any protocol. The Berlin policy is still shaking. After a tough struggle within the ruling "grand coalition" of the Social Democrats and the CDU/CSU, which ended in retirement of head of Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maassen, as well as against the background of constant contradictions between the CDU and CSU "sister-parties" on migration, Angela Merkel's position in her own party was seriously damaged. According to the German media and sources familiar with the situation in the ruling party, discontent with the uncompromising style of party management, which over the years of Merkel's rule has actually turned into an obedient tool for the head of government's political will, has been accumulating for a long time. But if earlier the Chancellor's authority was considered absolutely unshakable, last year's election to the Bundestag, in which the CDU/CSU gained only 32.9% - the lowest result in its history - has seriously undermined the Merkel's image as a politician able to ensure a convincing victory for the party at the elections. Moreover, according to the latest opinion polls, the CDU/CSU rating currently stands at 28%, while the far-right Alternatives for Germany (AfD) became the second most popular political force in the country. In many respects, such a tendency is linked to miscalculations in the migration policy, which is reluctantly admitted even by the chancellor. On September 25, the CDU/CSU actually rose up against its chairman, Angela Merkel, ousting her most loyal supporter Volker Kauder as a head of the party's parliamentary group. Over the past 13 years, Kauder has been the Chancellor's right-hand man, ensuring the parliamentary faction's firm support for Merkel's decisions and policies. Kauder gave way to deputy Ralph Brinkhaus with a large margin. Brinkhaus put forward his candidacy for the post of head of the group, despite the fact that Merkel from the very beginning was against having an "alternative candidate." Today the CDU/CSU emphasizes that this is not about a "riot" against the party chairman, it's just a "staff turnover", which should bring fresh forces to the party. Merkel publicly admitted her defeat, which, according to her, is often "the case in democracies". At the same time, she expressed readiness to work closely with the new leader of the parliamentary group and fully support him. The question, however, is whether the new faction leader will provide unconditional support to Angela Merkel, just like Volker Kauder did? After the September 25 vote, it became obvious that the situation in the ruling party would no longer be the same as before. The painful defeat of the Chancellor in her own party was a serious image loss, which significantly weakens her position not just within the party, but in the internal arena of Germany in general. According to experts, it seems likely now that in such circumstances Angela Merkel will not be able to rule until the end of her term. Berlin is increasingly talking about the probability of early elections, which will surely bring an end to Merkel's 'long-drawn' era in modern German history. By Cameron Perks Bauxite, a mix of hydrated aluminium oxide minerals, including gibbsite, boehmite, diaspore and impurities such as silica, iron oxide and titanium-bearing minerals, is a key ingredient for a number of industries, including aluminium, refractoriesand ceramic proppants. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), Australiahosts 6.2bn tonnes bauxite reserves, the second largest in the world behind Guinea, which hosts some 7.4bn tonnes. Bauxite is the primary mineral source of alumina for aluminium. Between four and seven tonnes bauxite ore are needed to make two tonnes of alumina, which subsequently produces around one tonne of aluminium. Bauxite is also used to produce alumina for non-metallurgical applications, which typically make up 10% of global end uses. These include water purification, refractory materials, pharmaceuticals, artificial marble, paper sizing, ceramics, abrasives, petroleum processing, plastic and flame retardants. In addition to alumina, bauxite itself is used as a refractory material, in Portland cement, abrasives, mineral fibres, steel and calcium aluminate cements. According to Chinese calcined bauxite supplier, Zhengzhou Sinocean Industrial Ltd, all of the refractory bauxite used in China, the biggest consumer of the material, is sourced domestically or from Guyana. Typical industrial specifications for non-metallurgical bauxite * Grade Al 2 O 3 SiO 3 Fe 2 O 3 TiO 2 % % % % Abrasive Min 55 Max 5 Max 6 Min 2.5 Chemical Min 55-58 Max 5-12 Max 2 Refractory Min 59-61 Max 1.5-5.5 Max 2 Max 2.5 Bauxite for refractory products can also be obtained from Russia, India and Brazil, however these sources ordinarily cannot meet strict quality specifications for refractories applications. * Most of the remainder represents water of crystallisation (loss on ignition, LOI) which is removed by calcination. Source: Various **Based on 2014 figures Source: Richard Flook, Mosman Resources Production Before Indonesia introduced a ban on unprocessed metal ore exports in January 2014, the country was the worlds top supplier of metallurgical bauxite to China. The embargo was an attempt to force domestic miners to develop smelters that would add value to the country's resources and create jobs. However, many companies, including bauxite miners, said building smelters was unfeasible in the absence of supporting infrastructure and export revenue. Indonesias income from mining has subsequently plummeted. Miners have since turned elsewhere to meet demand from China. Malaysian bauxite production, for example, quadrupled to 962,799 tonnes in 2014 from 208,770 tonnes the year before, according to Malaysias Minerals and Geoscience Department. Australia remains the worlds largest bauxite producer, with 81m tonnes mined in 2014. Total world production, according to the USGS, was 237m tonnes in 2014, which means Australia produced 35% of world supply that year. Australia is also a substantial alumina producer, accounting for about 20% of world production the bulk of which is exported to be smelted overseas. Around 19m tonnes of Australian alumina was exported to China in 2015, making it Chinas largest supplier that year. Source: USGS In 2015, Australia produced about 50,000 tonnes fused alumina a figure which has been relatively stable for the last 10 years but which is relatively small compared to China, which exports around 30,000-50,000 tpm. Richard Flook, consultant at Australia-based Mosman Resources, believes consumption of bauxite in refractories, both directly and in brown fused alumina, accounted for around 18% of the total non-metallurgical bauxite market in 2015. World refractories production was just over 35m tonnes last year, a reduction of nearly 4% compared to 2014, following the negative trend in Chinese steel output. In 2013, about 25m tonnes bauxite residue from alumina refining was created in Australia. Reusing this material as a road base is becoming increasingly attractive, providing a secondary revenue stream for producers and resolving problem of disposing of the material, which can be costly. Carbonated, fine-grained bauxite residue has been found to act as a substitute for agricultural lime in building materials by Australia-based Alumina Ltd. In areas in close proximity to bauxite deposits, raw bauxite ore has already been used as a road capping layer by many Australian councils and local governments. Aluminium oxide exporters - at least 23% of Australia's exports go to China Source: OEC MIT World non-metallurgical bauxite and alumina production (approx 13.2m tpa) Source: Richard Flook, Mosman Resources Australian producers The bulk of Australian bauxite production comes from the state of Western Australia, which accounts for 57.9% of the total volume, followed by Queensland, at 33.5%. The Northern Territory produced the remaining 8.6%. There are just four companies in the industry, operating a total of six mines. Rio Tinto Plc is the largest producer, with 55.9% of market share by revenue, while Alcoa lies second, with 31.1%. South32 is the third largest Australian producer, with a market share of 12.9%, while Australia Bauxite Ltd in Tasmania is ranked fourth, with around 10%. Rio Tinto Rio Tinto mines bauxite from its Weipa mine in Queensland and the Gove project in the Northern Territory. Gove and Weipa are among the worlds highest grade bauxite deposits, with average grades of between 49% and 53% alumina, according to Geoscience Australia. Bauxite mined at Weipa is sent 2,000km to Gladstone in northern Queensland, where it is refined at Rios Yarwun refinery and Queensland Alumina Ltds (QAL) refinery, of which Rio owns 80%. The QAL refinery produces around 3.95m tpa smelter grade alumina, while output at Yarwun is approximately 2.2m tpa alumina, although it has the capacity to produce up to 3.4m tonnes. Prior to 2008, Rio Tinto Aluminium produced up to 150,000 tpa calcined bauxite for abrasives and proppant agent applications, filing proppant patents in the 1980s as Comalco Aluminium Ltd. In the same year that Rio stopped producing non-metallurgical bauxite in Australia, US-based Carbo Ceramics Inc. switched from Australian bauxite imports to buying material from Guyana. When Rio was supplying calcined bauxite from Weipa, typical grades supplied from the project were consistent with the following: Chemical analysis of Weipa calcined bauxite Alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) 82-85% Silica (SiO 2 ) 6.5-7.3% Iron Oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) 5.5-7% Titania 3.1-3.7% LOI 0.2-0.8% Source: Rio Tinto Rio Tinto closed its refinery at Gove in May 2014 and now sends Gove bauxite directly overseas. In 2015, production from the site reached 7m tonnes, up from 6.5m tonnes in 2014. Rio Tinto has demonstrated that Australian bauxite can used to make proppants. Given the high cost of importing frac sand into Australia from the US, along with rise of onshore gas activity in Australia, there could be opportunities for the development of bauxite-based ceramic proppants manufacturing locally. Other Australian companies that have shown their readiness for proppant production include Minotaur Exploration Ltd and Coretrack Ltd. Minotaur was recently awarded a government grant to turn clays found at its exploration sites in southern Australia into ceramic proppants. Coretrack, meanwhile, is looking to make ceramic proppants from fly ash, using small amounts of bauxite. Alcoa Alcoa manages the Huntly and Willowdale mines in Western Australia as well as the Wagerup, Kwinana and Pinjarra refineries in the state. Ore from Huntly and Willowdale is refined to produce about 10m tpa alumina, which is then exported through ports at Bunbury and Kwinana. The Kwinana refinery, with a capacity of 2.15m tpa, produces metallurgical alumina and a variety of speciality aluminas for various industrial and manufacturing applications, including water purification, refractory materials, pharmaceuticals, artificial marble and flame retardants. Up until last year, Alcoa was one of two Australian producers of non-metallurgical alumina, sometimes called chemical grade alumina. However in 2014-15, Doral Fused Materials Pty Ltd shut down its Western Australia Rockingham fused alumina plant, which had been producing material for refractory, abrasive and ceramic applications. This left Alcoa as Australias only direct non-metallurgical alumina supplier. Once bauxite is refined into alumina, it is harder to trace its movement through the supply chain to end uses. However, one company, China-based Lianyungang Zhong Ao Aluminum Co. Ltd, told IM that it uses Alcoas alumina in refractory, ceramic and glazing applications. In 2003, Alcoa divested its speciality refractory, ceramic and polishing-application alumina business, now known as Almatis GmbH. Germany-headquartered Almatis now has around 550,000 tonnes speciality alumina sales. South32 The Worsley alumina mine and refinery in Western Australia is a joint venture between South32 (86%), Japan Alumina Associates (Australia) Pty Ltd (10%) and Sojitz Alumina Pty Ltd (4%). The refinery has the capacity to produce 4.6m tpa metallurgical alumina. Australian Bauxite Ltd The Bald Hill mine in Tasmania, owned and operated by Australian Bauxite, contains 8.7m tonnes bauxite. Production currently stands at 40,000 tpa, however the company believes it can increase its capacity to 2m tpa by opening up additional bauxite operations in the state. Room to grow? Australian consultancy service, CM Group, estimated in May 2015 that China will produce 72m tpa alumina by 2025 and that Chinese domestic bauxite inventories have almost halved from about 40m tonnes in November 2013 to around 20m tonnes in November 2014. Chinese alumina production growth forecast Source: CM Group In August last year, CM Group forecast that Chinas bauxite imports would rise from around 50m tonnes in 2015 to over 100m tonnes in 2025 an increase attributed to higher shipments to Shanxi and Henan provinces. This could change supply dynamics in Australia, as Chinese companies assess the economics of refining domestically. In 2015, Alcoa sent trial shipments of unprocessed bauxite to overseas refineries to determine the potential for direct export. Rio Tintos outgoing CEO, Sam Walsh, announced last year that he had signed off a $1.9bn South of Embley expansion project for the companys Weipa operations. The project involves a staged increase in production to 50m tpa. Australian Bauxite, meanwhile, holds additional bauxite tenements at Goulburn, New South Wales and Binjour, Queensland. The Goulburn tenements include the Taralga deposit, which has an inferred resource of 37.9m tonnes at an average grade of 39.2% Al 2 O 3 , with 53% of the resource suitable for direct shipping. Queensland Bauxite Ltd holds more than 400km2 of bauxite prospective terrain in Queensland and lodged a formal Minerals Development Licence application in January for its South Johnstone project a low silica, high iron (25-31% Fe 2 O 3 ) bauxite resource, formed as a weathering horizon on basalts. In China, work is being conducted to extract alumina and iron from high-iron bauxite deposits through a calcification-carbonisation method. Recent studies lead by Zhang Weiguang have shown that after the alumina and iron have been extracted, the final residues, consisting principally of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 )and calcium silicate (CaSiO 3 ) can be used directly in the cement industry. Metro Mining Ltd hopes to mine up to 2m tpa from its Queensland Bauxite Hills project, which contains a 48.2m tonne high grade reserve (50.2% alumina and 6.3% reactive silica (SiO 2 )). The company recently announced its intention to raise $5.6m to fund the final stages of preparation for developing the site, including a definitive feasibility study. The Urquhart bauxite project, located 5km southwest of Weipa, is jointly owned by Metallica Minerals Ltd (50%), through its subsidiary Oresome Australia, and Chinas Ozore Resources (50%). The inferred mineral resource estimate for Urquhart, using a 45% Al 2 O 3 cut-off, for direct shipping, stands at 7.5m tonnes bauxite at 51% Al 2 O 3 and 16.3% SiO 2 as of May 2015. The owners have lodged a Mining Lease Application for the project, which includes a proposed North Point Jetty load-out facility. In the Northern Territory, both Alcoa and an indigenous-owned mining company, Gulkula Mining, are exploring for bauxite. Gulkula is exploring the Dhupuma Plateau with the intention of employing indigenous Australians on the project, if it is developed. In Western Australia, Bauxite Resources Ltd holds licences for 396.5m tonnes bauxite resources grading at 40.2% Al 2 O 3 and 2.4% SiO 2 . The company has completed a scoping study for mine and rail logistics for the Fortuna deposit, which contains 40.2m tonnes bauxite. Australia's bauxite deposits, alumina refineries and aluminium smelters Hogs Higher on Friday Barchart - Fri Nov 12, 4:47PM CST Lean hog futures closed into the weekend with $0.50 to $1.47 gains. For February that pushed futures into the black for the week, gaining $1.07 from Friday to Friday. USDAs National Average Base hog... HEZ21 : 75.875s (+0.66%) HEJ22 : 85.225s (+1.67%) KMZ21 : 93.800s (+0.37%) Cattle Mostly Red at Close Barchart - Fri Nov 12, 4:47PM CST Live cattle futures found afternoon strength, which carried Dec back to the black ending the day 25 cents higher. The other nearbys were a dime to 35 cents in the red at the close. Catch up Friday sales... LEZ21 : 132.125s (+0.19%) LEJ22 : 139.900s (-0.25%) GFX21 : 156.250s (-0.68%) GFF22 : 157.725s (-0.85%) Cotton Closes Red on Friday Barchart - Fri Nov 12, 4:47PM CST Cotton futures turned south in the afternoon portion of Friday trading. Front month futures closed 33 to 85 points weaker than they were on Thursday. USDA reported export cotton bookings from the week... CTK21 : 89.48s (+3.77%) CTH22 : 115.08s (-0.29%) CTZ21 : 117.69s (-0.72%) Shootin' the Bull Swift Trading Company - Fri Nov 12, 2:44PM CST Feeder cattle are in a pitch battle with feed costs. As the higher fed cattle price is anticipated to be friendly towards both, I anticipate the two to jockey back and forth as they have this week. ... Crude Closes Lower on Speculation President Biden May Tap the SPR Barchart - Fri Nov 12, 1:58PM CST December WTI crude oil (CLZ21 ) on Friday closed down -0.80 (-0.98%), and December RBOB gasoline (RBZ21 ) closed down -0.64 (-0.28%). WTI crude oil and RBOB gasoline prices on Friday posted moderate losses,... CLZ21 : 80.79s (-0.98%) RBF22 : 2.2685s (-0.53%) Nat-Gas Tumbles on Forecasts for Normal U.S. Temps Barchart - Fri Nov 12, 1:56PM CST December Nymex natural gas (NGZ21 ) on Friday closed down -0.358 (-6.95%). Dec nat-gas prices on Friday closed sharply lower and are just above Wednesday's 2-month low. The outlook for warmer U.S. temperatures... NGZ21 : 4.791s (-6.95%) Adam Rhodes, managing director of Origin Insurance Brokers took to the stage first. After previously working in insurance law, he started Origin Insurance Brokers to help provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with the same opportunities he had himself been afforded. Additionally, he noted that insurance is a means by which to educate the wider Australian public about Indigenous-related issues. Nareen Young, Industry Professor (Indigenous Workplace Diversity), Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at UTS, noted that she believes work creates identity and dignity for us as humans. She then pointed out that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have frequently been denied access to a broad range of work opportunities and, accordingly, fuller participation in Australian society. She also highlighted that currently there are very few Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders in senior positions throughout Australian businesses; Young likened the situation as akin to women in the workplace 20 to 30 years ago. Thomas Mayor, a prominent advocate for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, also took to the stage to discuss the current means by which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are seeking better constitutional representation in Australia. All panellists concurred that better constitutional, and accordingly governmental, representation would help address a number of issues currently affecting Australias Indigenous population, including workplace-related situations. John Brogden AM, chairman of Lifeline and former Leader of the Opposition, was one of the keynote speakers at the event. Well-known for his own public battles, Brogden discussed the ways that barriers have been broken down in wider society, paraphrasing his friend Barry OFarrell to note that, in many ways, we are going through an Enlightenment when it comes to the issue. However, he was quick to point out that stigma is often still present in the workplace when it comes to mental health. Mental health in the workplace is probably the last and most difficult frontier for mental health, noted Brogden. Greg Prescott, psychologist and NSW/ACT State Manager of Assure also presented on the day. Prescott noted that signs of potential mental health issues are often not recognised as such and instead countered with disciplinary action. In turn, this has often led to employees being unwilling to seek help, even when necessary. Prescott outlined a variety of suggestions for spotting potential issues, including sudden changes in employee behaviour, performance, clothing or personal hygiene. With around 50% of the population experiencing a mental health-related issue within their lifetime, the problem is much more commonplace than many people realise. When you see other people struggling, when you feel yourself struggling, thats normal, said Prescott. The cost of mental health issues was estimated to be $10.9 billion in 2015, with Brogden and Preston alike suggesting that taking a more active and caring approach to mental health was not only the right thing to do, but made good business sense. Both men also noted that to help de-stigmatise the issue, mental health needed to be viewed in a similar fashion to physical health. Its just another organ of our body experiencing illness, stated Brogden. If someone you know is in need of support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit www.lifeline.org.au/gethelp Moscow will host a meeting of a special working group on energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia on October 3-6, Azerbaijans Deputy Energy Minister Samir Valiyev said at a round table meeting 'Industry and Energy: Prospects of Bilateral Cooperation', which was held as part of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia interregional forum in Baku, the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reported. The deputy minister said that the meeting of the working group, which operates under the intergovernmental commission, will be held as part of the Russian Energy Week. According to him, energy is one of the main areas of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia. As successful examples of cooperation, Valiyev mentioned the activities of Lukoil company in Azerbaijan, cooperation as part of OPEC, trade in petroleum products, etc. Other investment participants included XL Innovate, Horizons, Munich Re/HSB Ventures, Sompo, Veronorte, the investment arm of Grupo Sura, and JetBlue Technology Ventures. Together with the latest round, Slices total series A funding is now at US$31.6 million. According to a release by Slice Labs, the extended funding round will be used to globalise its Insurance Cloud Services (ICS). The ICS platform is rapidly growing as insurers increasingly realise the need to engage a cloud-based platform and the competitive edge a fully digital on-demand insurance offering provides, commented Slice Labs CEO Tim Attia. This exceptional bench of new and returning investors will be a tremendous asset as we continue scaling our business and experimenting with the unmatched potential of digital insurance. With the ICS platform, insurers can launch new, on-demand, digital insurance products within weeks, a company release said. Utilising a subscription model, Slices ICS is powered by machine learning, advanced data analytics and Ph.D. level behavioral science expertise to carry out API-based pricing, rating, licensing, claims process and automated underwriting. Church Mutual is this year piloting its Church Mutual Wildfire Solutions program, which offers a comprehensive approach to wildfire defense, including 24/7 access to wildfire monitoring services, prevention advice from specialized risk control agents, and active fire mitigation services to protect properties and houses of worship in a wildfires path. At Church Mutual, our goal is to protect the greater good of our policyholders, their congregants, their employees and so forth. Our new wildfire solutions program is just one of the innovative things were doing to protect the greater good both to peoples lives and to properties at risk, said Tom Kluxdal, director of innovation at Church Mutual. This is a pilot program for California in 2018 and is something we want to expand to additional markets in 2019. This year, we have four troops stationed in California two in the North and two in the South and theyre deploying to locations throughout those geographic areas. So far, were very happy with how the program is running. We havent experienced any significant damages relating to this years wildfire season and we feel very fortunate that our policyholders have been protected, either by the grace of God of by the use of our service. While Church Mutual was offering wildfire coverage before, the additional value-added services that come with the Wildfire Solutions program are a new investment, Kluxdal explained. So far, the firm has experienced positive return on investment for the program, but Kluxdal was keen to stress the key goal is to protect customers from disruption and destruction. The innovative program is a joint venture alongside Church and Casualty Insurance Agency, which is Church Mutuals largest policyholder base in California. As they look to grow the program and expand into new territories, Church Mutual plans to work even closer with the broker and agent channel. As we look to the future, we hope to expand into other wildfire-prone states such as Colorado, Wyoming, Texas and so on, which means we will be reaching out to a larger part of the broker community, Kluxdal told Insurance Business. We anticipate that wildfire will continue to be a growing issue for the insurance industry as a whole, and we would like to use our creative thinking to be able to provide greater amounts of protection, especially if fires are going to continue to consume larger swathes of forest areas. Leon Cosgrove, a Florida-based law firm, filed nearly identical lawsuits that claim that the airline companies give consumers the false impression that the cost of trip insurance is a pass-through fee from another entity that the airlines have no financial interest in. Both Delta and JetBlue, however, receive payments for selling policies on their websites, the documents suggest. Consumers are required to make an insurance election, as they are unable to proceed with purchasing their airline tickets on [Delta and] JetBlues website[s] until they choose whether to purchase a trip insurance policy, the lawsuit directed at JetBlue read. The consumer cannot simply ignore the insurance offering and move on to purchasing a ticket. CBS News reported that the travel insurance coverage endorsed by both Delta and JetBlue comes from AGA Service. The plans themselves are underwritten either by Jefferson Insurance or BCS Insurance, and are provided by Allianz Global Assistance. The suits additionally claim that the payments to the carriers are illegal, since the airlines are not providing anything insurance-related in return. Delta and JetBlue also lack licenses to sell insurance, which means they cannot accept payments from the sale of policies. The two airlines are not the only ones that have been hit by lawsuits; Leon Cosgrove informed CBS News in an email that American Airlines had settled elements of a similar lawsuit that the law firm had filed earlier. A release from the US Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Illinois said that Ocwiejas failure to pay led to a combined loss to the federal and state government of more than $1.1 million. Chicago Business Journal reported that Ocwieja pleaded guilty to three counts of willfully failing to file a federal tax return. Ocwieja acknowledged in the plea agreement that he used the funds for personal matters instead of satisfying his tax liabilities, a statement from the US Attorneys Office read. The insurance agent faces a maximum total sentence of three years in federal prison; he will be sentenced December 18, 2018. Related stories: Farm Bureau agent had 22 fake identities Sixty-three-year-old insurance agent gets five years for pervasive insurance fraud These results and return to profit demonstrate the strength of the Lloyds market following one of the costliest years for natural catastrophes in the past decade, commented Lloyds chief executive, Dame Inga Beale. Whilst these results are welcome, Lloyds continues to concentrate on improving the Lloyds markets long-term performance by taking action to address underperforming areas of the market. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and, to a lesser extent, Nate really took their toll on the Lloyds market last year. In 2017, the US made up approximately 44% of Lloyds business worth about $17 billion in total, of which excess & surplus business made up about $12 billion. Approximately half of the US markets E&S business lay in the catastrophe-prone property sector, which meant the market took a hard hit from last years storms. When there are no significant natural catastrophes in the US, Canada or Mexico, Lloyds tends to be very profitable. But when you have three back-to-back hurricanes hit in quick succession, all bets are off, said Hank Watkins, president, Lloyds America Inc., in discussion with Insurance Business at the WSIA Marketplace in Atlanta. In the first half of this year, Lloyds has returned to profit and things are trending favorably even after Hurricane Florence. The strong economies in the US and Canada are without a doubt helping the entire insurance industry as we face more emerging risks like the sharing economy, cyber liability and active assailant. Finding solutions for emerging risks is where the E&S segment truly shines, so its a great time for us to get out there and write business. Despite opportunities to delve into new product lines, the Lloyds market is also facing the headache of attritional losses in various classes of business, most notably in yacht, marine, cargo and international professional liability lines. The market has announced a strategic review of some of its less profitable lines to determine how the syndicates will continue going forward. Alongside this strategic review, the market is also undergoing change at a leadership level. In June, Beale announced she will step down from the organization in 2019 after five years at the helm. This was followed shortly by another departure announcement from chief commercial officer Vincent Vandendael, who is leaving to join Everest Insurance as CEO of International Insurance in early 2019. Leadership changes are inevitable in any organization, Watkins commented. I would expect the new leadership team coming in will continue to support Lloyds growth in North America both in the US and Canada and around the world. To be honest, if you look around the world, the two economies that are thriving at the moment are the US and Canada, so it would be crazy not to focus some energy here. Climate-related disclosure is becoming mainstream as more firms support and align their financial reporting to recommendations by a global task force though few disclose the financial impact on the company, a survey shows. The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was set up by the G20s Financial Stability Board at the end of 2015 to develop a voluntary framework for companies to disclose the financial impact of climate-related risks and opportunities. This was partly in response to concerns in the financial community that assets are being mispriced because the full extent of climate risk is not being factored in, threatening market stability. The framework, launched in June last year, applies to a wide range of sectors, including financial sector organizations, banks, insurance companies, asset managers and asset owners. In its first status report, the TCFD surveyed the disclosures of 1,700 companies and found that most were revealing information which was aligned with at least one of the task forces recommendations. Todays announcement shows that climate disclosure is becoming mainstream. Over 500 companies are now supporters of the TCFD, including the worlds largest banks, asset managers and pension funds, responsible for assets of nearly $100 trillion, Mark Carney, chair of the Financial Stability Board, said in a statement. This compares to the support of 100 firms when the framework was launched last year. While many companies described climate-related risks and opportunities, few disclosed the financial impact of climate change on the company, the task force said. Disclosures vary across industries, the survey found. For example, more non-financial companies reported their climate-related metrics and targets than financial companies did. But, financial firms were more likely to disclose how they had embedded climate risk into their overall risk management. A minority of companies disclosed forward-looking climate targets or the resilience of their strategies under different climate-related scenarios, including a 2 degree Celsius or lower temperature limit. Climate change can lead to droughts, floods and extreme storms. As such events become more common, people turn to insurance to cover the costs of damage which can increase premiums. There can also be a knock-on effect on house prices, for example, which can damage the overall economy. For oil, gas and power companies, as the world turns to a low-carbon economy, two thirds of the worlds fossil fuel reserves cannot be burnt. That undermines the value of assets held by such companies and also investments in them by banks and other financial institutions. In a separate report on Wednesday, the Bank of England said only 10 percent of banks in Britain are managing climate risks with long-term, comprehensive plans. The International Energy Agency estimates that the switch to a low-carbon economy will cost on average $3.5 trillion in investments a year for the foreseeable future. However, the value at risk of the global total stock of manageable assets due to climate change could be anywhere from $4.2 trillion to $43 trillion between now and the end of the century, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. The TCFD will publish another status report in June next year which will analyze the disclosures made in 2018 financial reports. (Reporting by Nina Chestney; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Adrian Croft) Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. Topics Climate Change AXIS Insurance, the insurance business segment of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd., announced that Paul Cullum has been appointed to the newly created role of head of Business Development for AXIS Insurance International Division. Cullum will be responsible for helping to deliver a 360-degree approach to product distribution in the London market and at Lloyds, including the deployment of cross-class solutions in certain lines of business. Cullum brings 35 years experience to his new role. Previously, he served for seven years as head of London MGA at AXIS. Prior to joining AXIS in 2010, Cullum was the head of Open Market Underwriting at Markel International. He also held underwriting and broking roles in both specialty insurance and reinsurance at Sedgwick Forbes, Copenhagen Re (UK), Euclidian Lloyds Syndicate 1243, Cooper Gay and Bowring Marsh. Paul has built a strong reputation within the London specialty insurance market and is a trusted partner to many of our most strategic brokers, said Edward Ashby, global head of Distribution and Marketing for AXIS Insurance. His appointment as head of Business Development for AXIS Insurance International Division reflects our commitment to being a superior partner to our London market brokers, he added. We look forward to the contributions Paul will make in this new role as we seek to deliver more mutually beneficial cross-class solutions for our distribution partners. Cullum will report to Ashby, and will continue to be based in London. Source: AXIS Capital Topics London After several years of tests, Walmart Inc. is ready to mandate use of blockchain technology by a swath of its U.S. suppliers, marking one of its biggest commercial uses. Starting in September 2019, Walmart and its Sams Club division will require suppliers of fresh, leafy greens to implement real-time, end-to-end traceability of products back to the farm using a digital ledger developed by International Business Machines Corp. The worlds largest retailer plans similar mandates for other fresh fruit and vegetable providers within the next year, according to Frank Yiannas, vice president of food safety. Its becoming a business requirement, its a part of our supplier agreements, Yiannas said in an interview. The goal is to speed up response times in case of food-borne illnesses and recalls. Walmarts move shows that IBMs huge bet on blockchain, the technology that underpins the digital currency Bitcoin, is starting to pay off. With the leafy-greens mandate, more than 100 companies will be required to use IBMs blockchain service, according to Walmart. More vendors will join in as the mandate is expanded. While IBM offers users of the service a free tier, many are expected to pay a fee, which will start at several hundreds dollars a month for a company with less than $50 million in revenue, according to Brigid McDermott, a company vice president. Seeking Scale What matters is that you are scaling, she said in an interview. Youve got a path to critical mass. IBM is working on food traceability with 10 other companies, including Dole Food Co., Unilever NV and Driscolls Inc., a berry supplier. The computer giant holds a leading 32 percent share of the $700 million-plus market for blockchain products and services, WinterGreen Research Inc. said in January, and has 1,500 working in the field. Walmart is moving ahead with its blockchain project even as many other companies stall. The company has been tracing 25 random products very few of them leafy greens using blockchain since early 2018. What convinced us that this is a solution, and wed want to scale it, is the ability to trace food at the speed of thought, Yiannas said. When theres a food scare or a food recall, you cant wait days or weeks. Copyright 2021 Bloomberg. As the Trump Administration continues to slap tariffs onto various consumer products, property/casualty insurers are increasingly concerned how some of these actions will affect the cost of auto and home insurance. Auto parts tariffs have drawn the most industry attention. The new $200 billion round of levies placed on Chinese-made products largely hits auto parts, starting with a with a new 10 percent tariff that ups to 25 percent on Jan. 1, 2019. Insurers have lobbied against this for months, arguing that the move will raise costs for consumers and policyholders. They outlined this perspective over the summer in a joint letter submitted to the U.S. Department of Commerce by the American Insurance Association, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. Industry insiders contacted by Carrier Management pledged to continue their fight against the actions. Our comments have been accepted, our outreach has been listened to, Robert Passmore, PCIs assistant vice president for Personal Lines Policy, told Carrier Management in a telephone interview. Its not clear what is going to be done yet Until that time, we will continue to voice our concerns. Echoing contents of the industry lobbying letter, Passmore noted that 60 percent of auto parts used in the United States are imported from one country or another. A 25 percent tariff on auto parts from China, he said, could raise collision repair costs for insurers by 2.7 percent, something that could lead to an additional $3.4 billion ultimately passed onto policyholders. Whats more, Passmore said, raising the cost of auto parts through tariffs could make cars more likely to be stolen. One of the reason cars are stolen is for their parts, Passmore said. If you make a vehicle more valuable for their parts, you could also make car thefts more lucrative. [There are] lot of negative things that could certainly happen for insurers and their customers as a result. Passmore said the industry is lobbying for exemptions for auto parts imports, because so many are made overseas that it would be hard to line up alternative domestic suppliers. Jon Bergner, assistant vice president of federal policy at NAMIC, said the property/casualty insurers are watching the unfolding tariff situation very carefully, with particular concern over how the corresponding increase in claim severity will affect replacement auto parts costs. The consequent increase in claim severity has the potential to drive up premiums and also increase the chances of a repairable vehicle being totaled due to the cost of repair, Bergner said. In either case, policyholders ultimately suffer. Auto Parts and Lumber Sean Kevelighan, president and CEO of the Insurance Information Institute, said the tariffs will cause a lot of damage to the broader economy, with insurers and consumers in the cross-hairs. Given insurance is so closely tied to virtually all elements of economic growth and sustainability, there will be impacts to the market and consumers, Kevelighan said. These include potential disruptions to the supply chain for replacement auto parts and fluctuations in the price of lumber. Passmore agreed that tariffs on Canadian lumber could also challenge insurers and policyholders. He pointed to estimates that the tariffs could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home or apartment condominium, with costs also rising to replace a roof, shingles or siding after a fire or other damage. Hurricane Florence, he said, could put these cost concerns into greater focus in the months ahead, with policyholders ultimately bearing the brunt of the lumber price increases. The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the impact of tariffs on the automotive industry today. This article was originally published by Carrier Management, the Wells Media publication for the insurance C-suite. Topics Carriers Auto Virtual claims technology firm Snapsheet has appointed insurance industry veteran Jamie Yoder as president. Yoder will lead activities across Snapsheets business lines, including virtual appraisals, fleet and rental management, Snapsheet Transactions and digital engagement and claims management. Yoder joins Snapsheet from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he led the Insurance Advisory practice for the last eight years. He has nearly three decades of experience advising senior U.S. and global executives in the insurance and financial services industries on strategy through transformation, and also led PwCs Future of Insurance efforts. Prior to PwC, he was a managing partner with Diamond Management & Technology Consultants for 15 years and prior to that, a consultant with Accenture for five years. CJ Przybyl, co-founder of Snapsheet, who formerly served as Snapsheets president, will now be the chief strategy officer focusing on building Snapsheets emerging software as a service offering to support all property/casualty insurance lines, including auto, homeowners, bodily injury and workers compensation. Yoder will be based in Chicago. He is the third senior executive addition to Snapsheet over the past 18 months, as the company moves beyond the start-up stage. Last year, Snapsheet named CNA Insurance executive, Andy Cohen as chief operating officer and Enova Financial executive, Sarah Doll, as chief people officer. Insurance carriers recognize that technology and information are profoundly changing the strategies for how they can work and compete, Yoder said. Over the last decade, carriers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars and yet continue to find gaps in fulfilling the potential to improve customer engagement, to provide organizational agility, and to realize true transformational benefits. Yoder said Snapsheet helps the industry realize this potential for the end to end claims process. Brad Weisberg, CEO and founder of Snapsheet, called Yoder one of the industrys key thought leaders who has played an integral role in the deployment of technology to derive benefits. Topics Claims Tech The new highway from Baku to the Russian border is planned to be built until 2020, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Shahin Mustafayev said. Mustafayev made the remarks at the round table on "Strengthening of Cooperation in the Field of Transport and Transit Transport", which is being held during the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional Forum in Baku. Businesses should prepare for the physical consequences of a warming planet, according to a new report out from Zurich Insurance Group. The report, Managing the impacts of climate change: risk management responses, was published at the start of Climate Week NYC, a gathering of investors and public and private leaders in New York that wraps up this weekend. The New York event had several authoritative reports and surveys timed to be released during or around the event. One such report out this week came from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures in its 2018 Status Report to the Financial Stability Board. That report shows climate-related disclosure is becoming mainstream as more firms align their financial reporting to recommendations by a global task force, although few disclose the financial impact on the company. Also this week a group of the worlds top oil and gas companies pledged to slash emissions of a potent greenhouse gas by a fifth by 2025 in an effort to battle climate change. The Zurich report provides risk management tools, and outlines approaches and best practices to help businesses respond to the growing threat of climate change. Zurich in its report recommends that businesses develop a climate resilience adaptation strategy, which should identify the broad business and strategic risks, develop a granular view of the risks involved including, for example, individual locations, and develop a mitigation strategy involving insurance and resilience. Zurichs findings are partly based on the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to below 2C and what would happen if warming were to be allowed beyond this limit, which scientific consensus suggests the planet would experience devastating climate change impacts, the report states. While the report advises businesses about the impacts of climate change, insurers should also take note of the report, according to Alison Martin, group chief risk officer and a member of the executive committee at Zurich. Thats because the insurance and reinsurance sectors are one of the most vulnerable to climate change, she said. Martin noted that climate change-driven losses like more extreme weather, greater flooding, and severe hail will have a direct impact on insurers. Ultimately these things end up in insurance coverages, she added. The report details three steps businesses can follow to develop a climate resilience adaptation strategy: Identify the broad business and strategic risks; Develop a granular view of the risks including individual locations; Develop a mitigation strategy involving insurance and resilience, as well as strategic implications for business models. We dont just want to insure people against an event happening, we want to make sure whatever the impacts of that event are, its less than it would have been, Martin said. The report also urges businesses to keep an eye on societys transition to greener energies not just because there is the potential of having assets stranded as fossil fuels increasingly fall out of favor but the report encourages businesses to take a look at the potential opportunities from this transition. The opportunity lies in the scalability of low-carbon solutions, including clean energy and mitigation technologies that can accelerate this growing market and support the transition of the global energy sector, the report states. Simultaneously, this transition will require significant capital to change a society that has been dependent on a fossil fuel-based energy system. The report draws on information from a 2017 report by the International Finance Corporation that asserts that climate change could create investment opportunities amounting to $23 trillion by 2030 in emerging markets alone. Martin said the opportunity for the insurance industry is to help guide businesses through these transitions and to help them asses their risks, all while being an expert voice on risk management and insurance that companies can lean on. Climate change is one of the most complex, interconnected risks that the world faces, Martin said. Past columns: Topics Climate Change Energy Oil Gas Fire officials say a Florida auto shop erupted in flames when a vehicle crashed into it. Tampa Fire Rescue reports multiple people called 911 early Saturday morning to report the fire at a Havoline Express Lube shop. The Tampa Bay Times reported that flammable liquids inside the building ignited to make the fire more intense. Crews arrived and sprayed the building from outside until the fire was under control at 4 a.m. No one was found inside, and responders could not find the driver of the vehicle. Investigators estimate the fire caused $800,000 in damage. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto Florida Personal Auto Hurricane Florence was the nations second rainiest storm in 70 years, a top rainfall meteorologist calculated. Only last years Hurricane Harvey rained more over a 14,000 square mile (36,260 square kilometers) area during a four-day time period, said Ken Kunkel, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and North Carolina State University. Scientists said climate change likely boosted rainfall totals for both storms. Kunkels preliminary analysis found more than 17.5 inches (0.4 meters) fell on average over five weather stations in the 14,000 square miles of the eastern Carolinas stretching from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to Florence, South Carolina. The amount is second to Harveys 25.6 inches (0.6 meters). Thats a lot of water, Kunkel said. The third rainiest storm was in March 2016 in northern Louisiana and the seventh was in southern Louisiana in August 2016. The three rainiest and four of the top seven have all occurred in the last three years which Kunkel said is no coincidence. Kunkel, who specializes in analyzing rain data from thousands of weather stations, based his work on rainfall since 1949 when recording became more widespread across the continental United States. Kunkel examined rainfall over a compact area 14,000 square miles, a figure based on latitude and longitude squares and larger areas such as 20,000, 30,000 and 80,000 square miles. Florences unusual amount was most noticeable on the smallest scale. When the scientist looked at a bigger area, 20,000 square miles, Florence fell to seventh place, behind Harvey, 1998s Hurricane Georges, the two Louisiana rainstorms, a 1962 northern California downpour and a 1994 Texas drenching. The analysis has not been published or peer reviewed yet, but will be, Kunkel said. It is not surprising but still terrifying that the two top ranked soakers happened over the past two years, said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasnt part of Kunkels research but praised it. He said warmer oceans, more moisture and slower moving storms due in various ways to climate change make storms dump more rain. ___ The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Louisiana Windstorm Stone Creek Insurance Agency is expanding its Spokane, Wash. presence with the addition of four new employees. San Francisco Bay Area-based Stone Creek launched its Spokane office in February. Charles Hook has been named personal lines account manager. He has more than 10 years of insurance experience. Hook has worked in both sales and service for Liberty Mutual and Travelers. Crystal Viehman will help develop the small commercial department. She has prior experience as an underwriter assistant and as account manager at a general agency. Nicole Darlow will help build the service team with efficiency and procedures. Darlow comes to Stone Creek from Travelers, where she worked for the past three years in the service department. Jessica Dexter will join Darlow in supporting the service team and further developing the remote service program. She has been working in the insurance world for three years. She started working for Travelers in 2016. Stone Creek specializes in commercial and personal lines. Topics Washington Russia is more than twice as large as the contiguous 48 U.S. states, with an educated population and far more natural wealth than youd expect to find in an area even as vast as 6.6 million square miles. Shouldnt such a nation be the envy of the world, its undisputed superpower? Yet Russias gross domestic product (GDP) only comes in at number 11 in the world, as of Oct 2020, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures. While the United States ranks as the world's largest economy with a GDP (current US$) of $20.9 trillion in 2020, Russia's nominal GDP comes in at $1.5 trillion. In terms of GDP, Russia trails much smaller countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy, and France. This is far lower than the country's inputssuch as literacy levels and access to capitalwould indicate. How then does Russia make its money, and why doesnt it make more? Key Takeaways In terms of gross domestic product (GDP), Russia trails much smaller countries with a nominal GDP of $1.5 trillion in 2020. Russia's economy is dependent on the export of oil and natural gas, both of which are under the control of the Russian government. This lack of economic diversification puts Russia at a disadvantage when demand for its energy products plummet, which then causes the Russian economy to contract. Dissolution of the Soviet Union Since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian economy has fared better than those of most of the 14 other smaller republics of the former USSR. The Western-friendly Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are now each firmly ensconced as full members of the European Union and have fared far better economically. Meanwhile, Russias economybased primarily on extracting resources from the Earthhasnt translated into significant general wealth for its 144 million citizens. Officially, Russia abandoned communism decades ago. While post-Soviet Russia ostensibly enjoys a market economy, its leaders have deemed its dominant energy sector too crucial to leave to the caprices of independent buyers and sellers. Oil, natural gas, electricity, and more are under de facto control of the federal government. For instance, the Russian government owns slightly more than half of Gazprom, the worlds largest natural gas extractor. The publicly traded company is the successor of the Soviet Ministry of Gas Industry. Every sixth cubic foot of natural gas on this planet is processed courtesy of Gazprom, whose chair happens to be Russias former prime minister, Viktor Zubkov. Russian Government Controls Energy No matter the source of energy, the Russian government controls it, resulting in untold profits for the nations oligarchic class. For example, Inter RAO, the nations primary electric utility, is owned by a consortium of state-owned enterprises. The idea of energy extraction and refinement being open to private enterprise, something more common in the United States, is not commonplace in Russia. Russias oil production rivals its natural gas production. As of 2020, the country is the third-largest oil producer in the world, behind the United States and Saudi Arabia. In 2020, the nation accounted for 11% of the total world oil production. The largest of these include Rosneft (LSE: ROSN), Lukoil (LSE: LKOD), and Surgutneftegas (LSE: SGGD). While all three trade on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Rosneft is owned 70% by the Russian government. To interpret the sometimes convoluted logic behind how the Russian energy industry and its major players operate, one needs to examine its ultimate principal owners, the Russian government. Russian Politics and the Economy The majority party in Russian politics is United Russia, which was founded by President Vladimir Putin and holds most of the seats in both the national and state legislatures. Officially, United Russia seeks to overcome "economic backwardness," according to an official party document, sometimes referred to as "Go Russia." The document describes this backwardness as "an addiction to surviving off exporting raw materials" and "the certainty that all problems must be solved by the state," both listed ambitions seeming to contradict real-world activity. With a political class sworn to regaining the nations former stature (to say nothing of its former territory), its not surprising that the Russian government capitalizes on opportunities to invade its weaker neighbors that were once part of the Soviet Union. In 2008, it was Georgia. In 2014, it was a bigger prize: Ukraine. These invasions came at a heavy economic price for Russia. Following the Ukraine invasion in 2014, the United States and other countries imposed economic sanctions against Russia. The heightened geopolitical tensions dampened investor demand for Russian investments. These factors, along with high inflation and a sharp decline in oil prices in late 2014, caused the Russian economy to contract 3.7% by the end of 2015. The Bottom Line A large nations economy isnt exactly adaptable to change when the economy is so homogeneous that two-thirds of its exports are either petroleum or its distillates. For Russia, this became even more apparent in early 2020 during the global financial crisis. The country experienced yet another drop in demand for its oil and gas exports as a result of the quarantines and the Saudi-Russia oil price war. With economic conditions deteriorating, Russian manufacturing also took a hit, with the sector reporting in April 2020 its sharpest decline in over a decade. Given whats essentially a one-note export business that operates at the mercy of global price movements, the paradox is that Russia leaves little opportunity for the populace to operate enterprise-free of government influence. All this in a nation with more raw potential than any other might hope for. Tel Aviv, Israel - September 27, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Endor, the leading predictive analytics engine leveraging blockchain infrastructure, has announced that Dr. Stuart Haber, one of the founders of blockchain technology and influencer of the original Satoshi whitepaper, will be joining its scientific advisory board. Dr. Haber will provide expert advice and direction on scientifically advanced technological and product developments. Dr. Haber said: "Endor's application of the blockchain to their automated predictions engine provides both the blockchain and AI industries with affirmation that the merging of these two technologies will yield profound results. In joining the scientific advisory board for Endor, I have the opportunity to contribute to this vital development and to the future of business technology. I look forward to working with Endor co-founders Dr. Sandy Pentland and Dr. Yaniv Altshuler, at MIT, with this common goal in mind." A tenured researcher and scholar, Dr. Haber's work in 1991 provided the foundational principles upon which the blockchain was based. The early cryptographer, who is often referred to as a founding father of blockchain technology, originally viewed the technology as a method of timestamping digital documents to prove authenticity, resolving issues in intellectual property rights. In the Bitcoin whitepaper, Satoshi Nakamoto references the work of Dr. Haber as laying the groundwork for his practical application of the technology. Endor, founded by MIT researchers in 2014, leverages blockchain technology for its AI predictive analytics platform, along with its proprietary Social Physics technology, to provide accurate and rapid predictions on market and customer behaviour. Through utilizing the blockchain, Endor has developed the industry-first ability to analyse encrypted data, thus providing automated predictions which are secure and scalable, whilst still being accurate and affordable. Yaniv Altshuler, CEO of Endor, said: "We proudly view Dr. Haber's decision to join Endor as a huge vote of confidence in the scientific revolution we are leading and its potential business impact. We are happy to have him on board to work with us on the continued development of groundbreaking AI blockchain technology. Endor is committed to the advancement of AI and predictive technology using the blockchain, and will continue this effort into the future through working with industry leaders such as Dr. Haber and through many initiatives to come." For more information, visit www.endor.com. CEO of Endor Dr. Yaniv Altshuler and Dr. Stuart Haber are available for interview. Media Contact Liam Murphy Account Supervisor, Wachsman liam@wachsman.com +353 87 199 2107 About Endor Endor is the first automatic predictions engine that empowers businesses with fast and accurate intelligence to make informed business decisions. Leveraging blockchain infrastructure and Endor's proprietary Social Physics technology, the company analyzes Big Data using artificial intelligence in order to find patterns in customer behaviour with unmatched accuracy and speed. Endor's groundbreaking predictive analytics platform has the unique capability to process encrypted data, on and off blockchain, thereby guaranteeing the security of sensitive data and GDPR compliance. Since being founded by MIT researchers in 2014, national banks, large retailers, and Fortune 500 companies, such as Coca-Cola and Mastercard, have utilized Endor to predict consumer behavior, make data-driven decisions, and increase revenues. For more information on Endor, visit https://www.endor.com/. More Info: This news is published on the Investorideas.com Newswire - a global digital news source for investors and business leaders Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp TORONTO - September 27, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. ("Supreme Cannabis" or the "Company") (FIRE.V) (SPRWF) (53S1.F), announced that the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, 7ACRES, has entered into a supply agreement to provide dried cannabis to Tilray Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of Tilray Inc. (TLRY), a global leader in cannabis research, cultivation, processing and distribution currently serving tens of thousands of patients in 12 countries spanning 5 continents. This agreement is a guaranteed commitment to purchase. It will cover the twelve-month period starting October 1, 2018 and is estimated to have a value of approximately C$12 million. As was the case with the recently announced deal between the two companies, the dried cannabis provided to Tilray by 7ACRES will be used primarily to support medical cannabis patients in Canada , including Tilray's robust patient population. "We are excited to be entering into this agreement with Tilray, an organization like Supreme Cannabis that focuses on the end user and demands leading quality assurance standards," said John Fowler , President of The Supreme Cannabis Company. "Tilray has built an industry-leading global medical distribution platform, which has resulted in robust demand for high quality cannabis products. We are happy to provide 7ACRES premium products alongside Tilray's well-regarded and existing lineup to support medical patients around the world." About Supreme Cannabis The Supreme Cannabis Company (FIRE.V) (SPRWF) (53S1.F) is a Canadian publicly traded company committed to providing premium brands and products that proudly reflect its consumers, people and uniquely innovative culture. The Company's portfolio includes its wholly-owned subsidiary and flagship brand 7ACRES. 7ACRES is a federally licensed cannabis producer operating a 342,000-square-foot facility in Kincardine, Ontario . 7ACRES is dedicated to providing consumers with a premium-quality product that recognizes its customers are informed, discerning and value a brand and culture that aligns with their principles. 7ACRES brand success has been reflected in provincial supply agreements with the provinces of Ontario , British Columbia , Alberta , Manitoba , Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The Company's growing portfolio also includes an equity investment and long-term global distribution partnership with Lesotho -based Medigrow for the exporting of medical-grade cannabis oil. The Supreme Cannabis Company has consistently set the standard for innovation in the sector, including the design of growing facilities and development of operational excellence metrics. We are confident that together with our flagship brand, proprietary technology and products, truly unique culture, and industry-leading team, we will deliver our shareholders consistent long-term value creation. Stay Connected: For more information, please visit The Supreme Cannabis Company and 7ACRES websites. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Forward-Looking Information Certain statements made in this press release may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. These statements may relate to anticipated events or results and include, but are not limited to, expectations regarding our regulatory environment and potential changes in law, and other statements that are not historical facts. Particularly, information regarding our expectations of future results, targets, performance achievements, prospects or opportunities is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "believe", "estimate", "plan", "could", "should", "would", "outlook", "forecast", "anticipate", "foresee", "continue" or the negative of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements are current as of the date they are made and are based on applicable estimates and assumptions made by us at the relevant time in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. However, we do not undertake to update any such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in Canada . There can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Information Form dated January 22, 2018 ("AIF"). A copy of the AIF and the Company's other publicly filed documents can be accessed under the Company's profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com. The Company cautions that the list of risk factors and uncertainties described in the AIF is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions. More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/ and tickertagstocknews.com Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp Padraig Hoare Financial institutions across the world have paid $26bn (22bn) in fines for failures in money laundering and customer verification, and sanctions since the global financial crash, a new report has found. Dublin-headquartered financial data management firm Fenergo found the US accounts for nearly 44% of all global regulatory anti-money laundering and so-called know-your-customer fines, yet almost 91% of the total value at over $23.5bn. Separately, Central Bank statistics show the Irish watchdog has imposed 121 fines, totalling 63.9m, since 2007. The Central Bank imposed no monetary penalties on any firm in 2006, and only 5,000 in 2007. However, 10 firms were fined 3.69m in 2008, and it reached a high in 2016 when nine firms were fined over 12m. Fines in relation to money-laundering breaches in the Republic have totalled over 12m since the Anti-Money Laundering (Criminal Justice Act) of 2010. Europe overall has imposed 83 fines, totalling $1.7bn, with the majority being imposed by the UKs Financial Conduct Authority, found the Fenergo report. It found that $204m in fines was imposed by the UK watchdog in 2017, the highest yield by far of the last decade. Asia Pacific regulators have levied 79 fines, worth almost $609m, since 2011. Fenergo said the Middle East still lags behind other regions for financial enforcement, recording just $9.5m in the last 10 years. The US Department of Justice is the most punitive regulator in the world when it comes to imposing financial penalties for non-compliance, according to the Fenergo report. The department levied half of the global fines and sanctions for anti-money laundering failures at nearly $14bn, followed by the New York Department of Financial Services at $3.6bn. US regulators have hit foreign banks hard, said Fenergo, imposing fines on European banks nearly five times that imposed against US banks. Over $11.5bn in fines was imposed in 2015, making it the most punitive of the past decade. The highest single fine ever levied against a bank by one regulator, at $8.9bn, was imposed on French giant BNP Paribas in 2015, by US authorities, for sanctions violations. Fenergo director of global regulatory compliance Laura Glynn said: Up until now, the focus of regulators had been on the US and European markets. However, we are now witnessing regulators in Asia Pacific and the Middle East markets becoming more proactive in their supervisory efforts. Padraig Hoare A Cork medical device firm will look to the American market for growth after its second revolutionary orthopaedic surgery nailing system was greenlit by US regulatory bodies. Following approval earlier this year for its Apex Tibial Nail System, OrthoXel has now been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Apex Femoral Nailing System. The tibial product is said to offer surgeons the greatest range of locking options of any nail on the market, and is designed to heal fractures in a quicker timeframe. The femoral product is geared towards the specific treatment of femoral fractures. https://t.co/bDuraq3sZ6 Great new website learn more about @OrthoXel Apex Tibial Nailing System and meet our fantastic team. We're full steam ahead planning for #OTA2018 @OrthoTraumaAssn pic.twitter.com/kKq50XBNAz OrthoXel Evolving | Fracture | Fixation (@OrthoXel) September 11, 2018 Following the first patient in Cork University Hospital (CUH) trauma centre to have its Apex Tibial Nail implanted during surgery to repair a fractured shinbone earlier this year, it was given the greenlight by the FDA and also secured the CE certification for selling products in the EU. The second product will allow it to take on bigger medical device firms in the huge US market, according to the firm. Co-founder and chief executive Pat OConnor said: While we recognise the challenge of entering markets dominated by large multinationals, OrthoXel is confident that the unique locking options and advantageous biomechanics of both our Apex Femoral and our Apex Tibial Nailing Systems confers real market advantage. Our products really should be the devices of choice for orthopaedic trauma care. Fellow co-founder and chief technical officer, Charles Daly said the firm will now be focusing on generating clinical case studies and will be market ready in 2019. Our incredible engineering and design team in Cork has really strived to achieve truly next-generation intramedullary nails that are packed with unique features and benefits for the surgeon and patient alike Meanwhile, Cork-based specialist supplier of innovative healthcare, Healthcare21 received approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to buy a majority in Aquilant from H2 Equity Partners.The newly combined business employs more than 450 staff in Ireland, UK, Germany and Austria and has turnover in excess of 150m, Healthcare21 said, which has now more than doubled in size over the past two years.Aquilant provides specialist healthcare and scientific products and services. Geoff Percival Agri-services group Origin Enterprises has said that it is well-prepared for any short-term logistical disruption caused by a no-deal Brexit. The group reported revenues of nearly 1.63bn for the 12-months to the end of July; 9% up on the previous year. Pre-tax profits were up by 7% at 70.3m. Operating profit rose 4.6% to just over 71m. Origins UK and Ireland division increased revenues over 6%. Management said while Brexit could challenge its growth, the group is prepared and has received regular updates on potential impacts and implications for UK domestic agricultural policy and regulation. Given the groups well- diversified business in the UK, continental Europe and Latin America, it is able to maintain a flexible approach to dealing with the potential challenges that will arise following Brexit We believe that we are well prepared for any short-term logistical disruption that may result from a no-deal Brexit. It said it will continue to closely monitor Brexit negotiations and adjust the groups strategic and operational plans as necessary. In June, Origin purchased stakes in two specialist agri businesses in Brazil, thus spreading its footprint outside of Europe for the first time. It yesterday announced the appointment of Declan Giblin as chief executive of its new Latin American division. He is currently the groups head of corporate development. Acquisitions contributed 5% to Origins sales growth in its latest financial year and 3.6% to operating profit growth. The 9th Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum has opened in Baku today. The event is aimed at developing trade, economic and humanitarian ties between the regions of the two countries, being a platform for joint work of Russia and Azerbaijan, including the relevant ministers, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of both countries, the business community and experts. The event is organized by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development jointly with the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy. An expanded meeting of the Azerbaijani-Russian and Russian-Azerbaijani business councils was held as a part of the forum. Azerbaijans Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, who addressed the expanded meeting, noted that the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia is based on mutual respect and good-neighborliness at the level of strategic partnership. The minister stressed that Azerbaijan and Russia are experiencing positive dynamics of the development of bilateral trade. According to Mustafayev, Russia is one of the main trade partners of Azerbaijan and comprehensive measures have been recently taken to diversify the trade turnover. The minister added that Azerbaijan has invested over $1 billion in the Russian economy, while Russia has invested over $4 billion in the Azerbaijani economy. He noted that there are 760 companies with Russian capital operating in Azerbaijan and also said that Azerbaijan intends to open wine and trade houses in a number of Russian cities. Russian Minister of Economic Development Maksim Oreshkin said, in turn, that Russia is working to reduce barriers in cooperation with Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan-Russia Business Council's Chairman Samad Gurbanov said about the activities of the council. "We are very pleased to be ready to establish contacts with all the subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as to stimulate the interest of Azerbaijani business circles in investing in these regions," he noted. The minister stressed that a number of major projects in the regions of Russia have been recently implemented by the members of the Council and with its direct assistance. Head of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council Alexey Repik said, in turn, that the Russia-Azerbaijan relations are the ties of strategic partners, which cover different spheres of the economy. The event's program also include a series of round table meetings titled 'Industry: prospects of bilateral cooperation', 'Development of cooperation in tourism', 'Development of cooperation in agrarian sphere', 'Cooperation on small and medium businesses', 'Strengthening cooperation in the humanitarian sphere', 'Strengthening cooperation in transport and transit' and 'Prospects of cooperation in development of women's entrepreneurship'. Gordon Deegan The cost of shutting down the only Irish-based manufacturing plant of pharmaceutical giant Roche, along with the loss of 240 jobs, has contributed to combined pre-tax losses of over 112m at the Irish unit of the business over the past two years. The Swiss-owned pharma giant announced in 2016 that it was to close the plant at Clarecastle, Co Clare, after it failed to secure a buyer for the site. The facility is currently in the process of a phased closedown with the site to be shut, and all jobs lost, by the end of next year. Newly filed accounts show Roche Ireland Ltd last year recorded pre-tax losses of 33.3m, which followed pre-tax losses of 79.3m in 2016 a total of 112.6m. Prof. Gold discusses how the progressive nature of #MS impacts daily activities for those living with the condition. pic.twitter.com/LXrXDMfdNT Roche (@Roche) September 26, 2018 Revenues at the company last year declined by 16% to 67.9m. The accounts show that the firm has set aside 23.15m in redundancy payments for employees not yet departed but who have an expectation that their jobs will be lost by the end of next year. The accounts say this money will be utilised by that date. The accounts disclose that a capital grant of 1.45m from the IDA in 2014 has been paid back in full following the decision to shut down the plant. A note attached to the accounts also states that a decommissioning provision of 9m was recorded by the end of last year while Roche also recorded an impairment charge of 8.8m during the year. As part of the gradual wind-down, the numbers employed at the plant last year declined from 223 to 131, with staff costs reducing from 25.97m to 16.8m. China has marked the latest ratcheting-up of trade tensions with a misplaced history lesson. Far from worrying about its economic role in the world, the US should recognise just how well the two countries already support each other. According to a white paper released by Chinas State Council China-US bilateral trade strongly complements each other. The US stands at the mid-and high-end in global value chains and it exports capital goods and intermediary goods to China. Remaining at the mid-and low-end in global value chains, China mainly exports consumer goods and finished products to the US. The two countries play to their comparative strengths and the two-way trade is highly complementary. Ive argued frequently in recent months that the Trump administrations push for a trade war with China is misguided and likely to fail, lacking in compelling justifications, and driven by a dangerous radicalism. At the same time, Beijing is going to need to do better than this to defend its position. The white paper seems to restate a trade model developed by Swedish economists Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin in the early 20th century. Countries with a lot of capital and land, such as the US, will specialise in exports of capital-and land- intensive goods, such as advanced manufacturing, services, agricultural produce and materials. Those with a big workforce, like China, will focus on labour-intensive products like consumer goods and basic manufacturing. Thats a good description of the bilateral relationship that developed over the past two decades. The trouble is, both sides expect the coming years to be very different. For one thing, Chinas labour boom is coming to an end. Its workforce fell last year for the first time in five decades, putting it alongside Russia, Japan, Italy and Spain as one of the handful of major economies with a shrinking employment pool. Over the past five years, the US, Turkey, Mexico and the EU not to mention more than a dozen developing countries each added more workers than China. That wont change the fact that China still hosts more than a fifth of the worlds labour force, but it illustrates how its economy is changing. Capital is shifting in a similar way. Chinas stock overtook that of the US in 2012, according to data compiled by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and has continued to grow ever since. Even adjusting for the size of its population, the shift has been dramatic: In 2000, the US capital stock per person was about 12 times the level in China. By 2014, the ratio had fallen to about three times. Chinas investment boom in 2016 and 2017 may well have led that ratio to slip further. One figure in the State Councils white paper, foreign direct investment, illustrates that the issue isnt so much the history of Chinas complementary relationship with the US, but the future of its growing wealth and looming demographic changes. Both factors upend the very model Beijing proposes. In 2003, Chinese foreign direct investment in the US was just $65m (55m), little more than a rounding error. This makes sense after all, the Peoples Republic was a developing economy seeking investment from richer nations. Since then its changed dramatically. Having hit $17bn at the end of 2016, it jumped to $67bn a year later, according to Ministry of Commerce data. Thats on a trajectory to overtake the sum invested by the US in China, which came to $83bn in 2017. Many of Beijings actions that most annoy Washington its hi-tech foreign acquisitions, or the desire to upgrade manufacturing expertise through the Made in China 2025 programme are ultimately attempts to offset the gradual decline of Chinas labour force with a shift toward higher value-added, capital-intensive products. That desire is perfectly understandable, but so is the alarm in rich countries. In moving up the value chain, China switches from being a complementary partner to a competitive rival. That moment could still be some years off. While its capital stock per head has grown rapidly, the level still leaves China a middle-income country on a par with Mexico and Russia, and somewhat behind Brazil. Even so, its little wonder that the US and China have an eye on more distant prospects and disingenuous of Beijing, given its ambitions of global leadership by 2050, to put so much focus on a model that peaked a decade ago. The worlds primary exporters of capital-intensive goods and, ultimately, capital itself have always been powerful. When the UK and its empire passed that baton to the US in the wake of the First World War, their shared culture and the trauma of European conflict eased the transition. To make this next shift easier, the US needs to accept that it is inevitable. However, China also needs to be honest about whats happening. Focusing on a past Beijing is desperate to escape wont inspire confidence in the partners China needs to support its rise. Bloomberg Hillary Clinton is to receive an honorary degree from Queen's University Belfast. The former US Secretary of State will be awarded the degree for her public service and contribution to peace in the North. #BreakingNews: @HillaryClinton is to receive an honorary degree for exceptional public service and outstanding contribution to peace and reconciliation in #NorthernIreland. This event is open to students & staff. #LoveQUB Register: https://t.co/EwaNXi6G5m pic.twitter.com/Ektg2I7ELV Queen's University Belfast (@QUBelfast) September 27, 2018 "We are delighted to award an honorary degree to Hillary Clinton," said Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, Professor Ian Greer. "The former US Secretary of State is an internationally recognised public servant, who has developed strong links with Queens and Northern Ireland. She made a considerable contribution to the Northern Ireland Peace Process and, as Secretary of State, focused on economic development to underpin the emergence of a strong and competitive Northern Ireland. "With her long-standing commitment to peace, stability and economic regeneration, she is a strong advocate for Northern Ireland and an inspirational role model for the Queens community." She will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) on October 10. By Sarah Slater The art collection of the acclaimed late playwright Brian Friel which went under the hammer in aid of a homeless charity last night raised almost 200,000. His wife Anne, donated the sale proceeds of their complete collection of 23 works from well-known Irish artists to the Peter McVerry Trust in aid of the homeless. The Tony award nominee dramatist, short story writer and playwright died aged 86 on October 2, 2015, in Greencastle, Co Donegal following a long illness. Tyrone-born Friel works include Dancing at Lughnasa, Philadelphia Here I Come! and he was a co-founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. The paintings were sold by Adams auction house on St Stephens Green Dublin. At the start of the auction, an Adams spokesperson said: The first 23 lots of auction are part of a special evening due to the remarkable generosity of the late Brian Friel and his wife Anne to the worthy cause of the Peter McVerry Trust. The auction included works by renowned artists Tony OMalley, Basil Blackshaw, Norah McGuinness, Sean McSweeney, Stephen McKenna, Patrick Hennessy, Patrick Scott and Felim Egan. Revenue from the sale made 193,000, some 23,000 more than the estimate of 170,000. Lot 19, a painting titled, Evening Flight by Norah McGuinness made the top price of the collection at 22,000. Basil Blackshaw's painting There was frantic bidding for the ever popular work of the late artist Basil Blackshaw of a Lurcher, which made 17,000, which was 10,000 more than its estimate. All bar one of the lots were sold, with the majority making more than their reserve value. Pat Hume, wife of former politician and founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, (SDLP) and joint Nobel Peace Prize winner John and longtime friend of the Friels, provided a footnote in the auction catalogue acknowledging their generosity over the years. She said: It was with no great surprise that I learned that the Anne and Brian Friel collection of paintings was being donated to the Peter McVerry Trust. I have known Brian and Anne for most of my life and I was acutely aware of their deep interest in social justice. Brians father, a schoolteacher here in Derry, was a councillor in the old Derry Corporation. I remember as a young girl reading his passionate words on the deplorable gerrymandering (when a political group tries to change a voting district to create a result that helps them or hurts the group who is against them) and the appalling homelessness problems of that time. No doubt this filtered through to the young Brian, who became an active member of the first Derry committee to help the travelling community in the 1960s. Norah McGuinness' painting. The conditions of great deprivation suffered, and the detrimental effects that homelessness had on peoples mental and physical health were highly evident then, as they are now. Mrs Hume added: "The Peter McVerry Trust has been at the forefront of working to help homeless people for many years, and it is a testament to Annes wonderful generosity that she is donating the art collection built up by herself and Brian over a lifetime to such a pressing cause. This is a wonderful opportunity for people to both acquire a piece of art and to contribute to the solution of one of our societys most pressing problems. I wish the sale well. The sale garnered a lot of interest from buyers at home and internationally. Commenting on the sale, Fr McVerry has said: We very much appreciate Annes very generous support and kindness in donating this collection of paintings. Proceeds from the sale of the art will greatly help us to provide our services to the growing numbers of people experiencing homelessness." Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has insisted Fine Gael colleague Catherine Byrne was not given a deal to spark her U-turn and back him in Tuesday nights no-confidence motion, despite giving no explanation for her sudden change of heart. Mr Murphy also denied Ms Byrne was initially planning not to support him in the vote, just 48 hours after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar publicly threatened to sack her if she did so. Speaking at the launch of the Housing First initiative in Dublin city centre yesterday morning, Mr Murphy was repeatedly asked about Tuesday nights no-confidence motion against him. The Sinn Fein motion was defeated by 59 votes to 49 after Fine Gael officials ordered all of the partys TDs to attend the ballot. The vote had initially threatened to see junior minister Ms Byrne potentially sacked from her position after sources close to her said she was planning to abstain. However, after meeting with both Mr Varadkar and Mr Murphy in the lead up to the Dail showdown, Ms Byrne released a statement shortly before the vote to say Mr Murphy had her support. Asked if Ms Byrne who clashed with Mr Murphy over the summer due to his plans for housing in her Dublin city centre constituency had been given any deal to win her back, Mr Murphy insisted no deal was tabled. The Housing Minister then claimed Ms Byrne was always supportive of his position and, despite the drama of the previous 48 hours, alleged she never planned to vote against him. No deal, this wasnt about the motion. Catherine has had concerns about St Michaels estate since I started talking to her about cost-rental, he said. I still havent yet convinced her about all of those merits, I will endeavour to do so, she is a local rep and entitled to raise those issues with me and she balances that with her ministerial responsibilities as well. Asked what had changed to convince Ms Byrne to do a U-turn on her initial plan to abstain in the vote, Mr Murphy said I think youre making a massive assumption that was never true. When it was noted Ms Byrne was planning to abstain, he said: Catherine saw this was a Sinn Fein stunt, that it wasnt going to do anything for anyone in her constituency. She supported me as her Government colleague as Minister for Housing, and gave me her support last night in her vote and also with her words. Mr Murphy confirmed he spoke to her yesterday, I spoke to her yesterday evening after we had the debate and before we voted and insisted they remain friends in Fine Gael. A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar declined to comment on claims that Ms Byrne has received any extra deal either on housing issues in her community or on other matters in her community when contacted by the Irish Examiner. Similarly, Ms Byrne declined to respond to queries from this newspaper on the same issue. By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent The availability of college places for todays first-class pupils is at risk unless there is urgent Government action on funding, it has been warned in an unprecedented, unified statement by third-level leaders, staff and students. With 40,000 extra students likely to be seeking higher education places by 2030, the joint statement calls for the budget in just under a fortnight to start addressing the issue or face the consequences for quality and capacity. It was issued by the Irish Universities Association, Technological Higher Education Association (representing institutes of technology), Union of Students in Ireland, and academic staff unions, the Irish Federation of University Teachers and Teachers Union of Ireland. We request an immediate move by Government to address the funding crisis in Budget 2019 or we risk an irreversible slide in the quality of our third-level system, they said. They clearly know what the problem is, now they need to start fixing it. If urgent action is not taken, theres a real risk that todays seven and eight-year-old primary school students will not have sufficient college places available to them in 2030 when the demographic bulge peaks, the statement said. The third-level coalition group said that the Government has long accepted that higher education is chronically under-funded and accepted the findings of a 2016 report on the funding deficit by an expert group chaired by Peter Cassells. It said the shortfall in funding, compared to what is needed to maintain quality and student participation rates, would reach 600m a year by 2021 and 1bn by 2030. But Education Minister Richard Bruton and Higher Education Minister Mary Mitchell OConnor have said no policy decision will be made until there is a recommendation to Government from the Oireachtas education committee. The cross-party committee has failed to reach consensus on the options put forward by the Cassells report more than two years after it was referred to them by Mr Bruton. The committee asked the Department of Education in January for a report on the economic impacts of each of the proposed measures, but that is not likely to be received until next summer, three years after publication of the Cassells report. The Government is providing an extra 100m a year over what it provided for higher education colleges running costs in 2016. It is also increasing a levy paid by employers to bolster the National Training Fund, but the increased fund is to be directed at further education as well as at third-level. Despite the united appeal ahead of the budget, third-level bosses and representatives of staff and students differ on how the burden of extra funding should be divided. The unions strongly oppose measures that would increase undergraduate student fees, whether they are charged at the point of entry or as income-contingent graduate loans. Gardai investigating organised crime have carried out a major raid on 14 properties in Dublin and Wicklow. Cars, were seized and cash frozen in accounts following today's raids. The Criminal Assets Bureau, along with the Special Crime Task Force, searched six houses, four offices, three business premises and a motor dealership this morning. They seized a 161 Audi A4, a 141 VW Passat, a 152 Mercedes C220, 152 Seat Leon, a Hublot watch and designer handbags. A freezing order was also made in respect of 145,000 in accounts in financial institutions. The searches relate to a West Dublin organised crime group suspected of involvement in the sale of drugs. Ireland has been named in an Interpol report as being a location for the flow of foreign jihadists and African Rhino horn smuggling. The World Atlas of illicit flows looks at more than 1,000 smuggling routes of drugs, human trafficking and natural resources, reveals that incomes to non-state armed groups and terrorist groups are diversifying and increasingly based on organised crime, sustaining conflicts worldwide. Ireland is cited on three occasions, in relation to the flow of foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq; as a location where a rhino horn seizure has been made; and to a lesser extent regarding migrant trafficking into and within the European Union. It indicates that a relatively small number of people have travelled from Ireland to conflicts in Iraq and Syria, in line with estimates from the Department of Justice. In answer to a parliamentary question last May, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: While there is a small number of people in Ireland whose activities in support of jihadist-type extremism give cause for concern, they are monitored on an ongoing basis with a view to preventing offences and securing evidence for prosecutions. There is also a small number of people, estimated to be in the order of 30 or so, who have travelled from Ireland to fight with jihadist-type groups in the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Unfortunately, a number of those are understood to have lost their lives. The deputy will understand, of course, that in the circumstances of conflict, it can be difficult to ensure the reliability of information in matters such as these. Ireland has previously been referred to as a transit and destination country for migrant trafficking although the atlas indicates that the United Kingdom is a more likely destination, mainly along the western Mediterranean route. As for African Rhino horn smuggling, Ireland is pinpointed as a location where seizures have been made one of a few non-African and non-Asian countries, alongside the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Back in 2013 An Garda Siochana said that since 2010 there have been in excess of 60 documented thefts of rhino horns and rare Chinese cultural artefacts from museums and private collections throughout Europe. At that time officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau carried out a number of searches in the Rathkeale and Raheen areas of Limerick and Newmarket in Co Cork. Overall the Atlas found that environmental crime including illegal exploitation of oil, minerals and gold has become the largest financial driver of conflict, ahead of drugs. The World Atlas was compiled by Interpol, RHIPTO, which is a Norwegian UN-collaborating centre, and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime. YARAT Contemporary Art Space announced the second edition of M.A.P. International Theater Festival, to be held in various major venues across Baku on November 6-11. M.A.P. Festival - an acronym for music, art and performance - combines different forms of theater to help audiences explore a wide range of contemporary theatrical forms. This year the festival presents 16 performances by theater companies from Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Russia and the United Kingdom. The festival's artistic director is Kamran Shahmardan, he will presents Alexander Vampilovs play Duck Hunting. The festival opens with a programme that includes a multi-disciplinary show Aria by the Italian collective NoGravity Theatre. Combining choreography, singing and costume, the performance includes musical compositions from Monteverdi, Vivaldi and Pergolesi. Among the most anticipated events of the festival is the arrival of the legendary Mariinsky Theatre with a modern version of Joseph Haydns opera The Desert Island, conducted by Javad Tagi-zade, a young Azerbaijani talent. Other performances include La Verita, an acrobatic poem by the world acclaimed director and choreographer Daniele Finzi Pasca, and Gogol Centre, one of the most cutting-edge theatre companies in Moscow, which presents a new production of Who Is Happy in Russia? based on Nikolai Nekrasov's renowned poem, AzerTAc reported. A rich programme of workshops and lectures accompanies the performances, enabling emerging directors, actors, playwrights and other professionals to meet and learn from their fellow colleagues. An urgent forum to address the alarming number of sexual assaults of first-year college students must be convened, the Dail has been told. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has called on Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan to set up a forum involving the Rape Crisis Centre, the Garda Commissioner, and the leaders of third-level institutions following a number of sexual assaults in Cork. Mr Martin referred to a report in the Irish Examiner which revealed that three first-year students were raped in Cork in the first two weeks of this academic year. But he said similar incidents are happening across the country. He said there is evidence that shows that this is a phenomenon and that September and October, when students return to college, can be the most dangerous time for young women, in particular first-year students. Freshers Week or during that whole first month, people are vulnerable. We cant just read these reports and just not respond, we need a comprehensive, urgent, and different way, he told the Dail. Mr Martin mentioned that in Galway almost 50 students have reported incidents of rape and sexual assault in the past six months alone. Referring to the assaults in Cork, Mr Martin said: The young women involved were between 18 and 19 years of age. The most alarming fact is that the three women did not feel they could go to the Gardai because of the circumstances of the assault and the rape. They felt it was their own fault as alcohol is involved. Two of the three women have already dropped out of college, he said. It is understood that at least one of the sexual assaults took place in student accommodation. Responding, Mr Flanagan said he shared the Fianna Fail leaders concern and urged all victims of sexual assault to report these crimes to the Gardai. I believe there is merit in making direct contact on this specific issue with the heads of colleges and those involved in pastoral care in our colleges in order to ensure that anybody who does suffer at the hands of a criminal has an adequate and comprehensive response on the part of the State, said the minister. Mr Flanagan added that a review of the practices and procedure around the reporting of sexual offences is currently underway and the Government is working to get the Sexual Offences Amendment Bill through the Oireachtas. The Labour Party called on the Government to press ahead with delivering promised consent classes in universities following the reports of rapes of students. The time for discussing such initiatives has passed and I am calling on the Minister for Higher Education to lay out a timeline for the introduction of compulsory consent classes on campuses around the country, said the partys justice spokesman Sean Sherlock. Nurses unions have not ruled out the possibility of industrial action after recommending its members reject the Governments pay proposals. A total of 92% of nurses at a special delegate conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has voted to reject proposals aimed at addressing staffing shortages in the health service. As a result, tens of thousands of INMO members will be balloted in October on whether to accept or reject the Governments proposals. If rejected, a ballot to strike will follow. The proposals include a change in increments for some recent recruits and alterations to allowances for specific nurses and midwives. INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said nurses and midwives are deeply frustrated with the health service and are the lowest-paid health professionals in Ireland. Many believe its because they are mostly women. The Governments proposals are simply not going to make a dent in the number of vacancies across Ireland, said Ms Ni Sheaghdha. The Psychiatric Nurses Association has also recommended its members reject the Governments proposals. At a meeting last night, the executive committee of the Teachers Union of Ireland decided to put the proposals to a ballot of members without recommendation. It decided that members should be provided with comprehensive information on all aspects of the proposal so that they can make a considered decision on its acceptability or otherwise. The union said the measures do not deliver pay equality and will not tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in second-level schools. It said irrespective of the ballot outcome, its campaign will continue until pay equality is delivered. Details of the timing of the ballot will be confirmed in the coming days. The Irish National Teachers Organisation will not be recommending acceptance when its members are asked to vote in a ballot issuing next week. The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland central executive council will meet first to consider a response. This is not likely until Saturday week, at the earliest. Key proposals in the Policing Commission report involving a dilution in the role of the Policing Authority will concentrate power in the hands of Government and Garda management, a leading policing expert has said. Professor Dermot Walsh said the recommendations will be to the detriment of effective oversight and said it was vital the plans be fundamentally reworked. His intervention comes as Policing Authority chair Josephine Feehily is today expected to express her views regarding the proposals. Her comments are due to follow a private meeting among authority members and the oversight bodys first public meeting with Commissioner Drew Harris. The Policing Commission report, published last week, laid out a blueprint of reform in policing and oversight and recommended a Garda Siochana Board. Similar to a board of directors, it would provide internal governance over the commissioner and provide him or her with support and expertise. The board would have a non-executive chair appointed by the Government following an open process, backed by a full-time executive director and a secretariat. The report said the body would be accountable to the Government. The board will support the commissioner, who the report recommends be given significant extra powers to allow him or her to be both a police boss and a chief executive, with control over finance, HR, etc. The report envisages the commissioner being able to appoint his or her own leadership team. The responsibility for promotions of senior officers should be taken from the Policing Authority and given back to the commissioner, under the boards oversight. The board will also muscle in on the authoritys role in devising policing priorities and strategies and have overall responsibility for budgets. It (and no longer the authority) will nominate people for Garda commissioner and deputy commissioner to the Government. The Garda Board proposal was the only recommendation in the report which caused internal dissent, with two of its 11 members (Dr Vicky Conway and Dr Eddie Molloy) objecting. Prof Walsh, co-director of research at Kent Law School and an author on criminal justice, policing and accountability in Ireland said: The commissions proposals will concentrate power more acutely in the hands of the government and Garda management at the expense of strengthening broad-based democratic accountability. He said: They will merely secure the perpetuation of a mutually cosy and opaque relationship between powerful political interests and senior Garda management in this country, to the detriment of an effective, efficient and fully accountable police organisation that serves the needs of all communities. He added: It is vital that the commissions proposals are fundamentally reworked in any implementing legislation. Two people remain in custody in the North this morning on suspicion of human trafficking. The 42-year-old man and 37-year-old woman were arrested in North Belfast after an investigation into suspected labour exploitation. By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent University College Cork and Maynooth University are the only two Irish colleges to improve their placings in the latest Times Higher Education World University rankings. Trinity College Dublin remains Irelands best-placed institution but has slipped three places to 120th in a table topped again by British universities, Oxford and Cambridge. TCD is followed by University College Dublin (UCD) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), both retaining places ranked between 201 and 250. University College Cork has moved up a banding to be ranked between 301 and 350, but NUI Galway slips into the same category having been ranked between 201-250 a year ago. Maynooth University also made gains by entering the top 400 of the 2019 Times Higher Education (THE) rankings, but Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) has fallen out of the top 800. Dublin City University and University of Limerick retain their placings, ranked between 401 and 500, and between 501 to 600, respectively. THE attributed the slight fall in TCDs ranking to a dip in its score on teaching, one of the several metrics used to compile the rankings. It reverses a jump from 131st to 117th last year, but the university said remaining in the top 120 global universities is testament to its quality. We have seen an increase in performance across four of the five categories in which we are ranked, which is to be welcomed. However, it is a measure of how competitive the field is that better performance on our part is not reflected in the rankings, said TCD dean of research Professor Linda Doyle. This increased competition was also cited as a factor by THE rankings editor Ellie Bothwell, with continuing improvements by Asian universities affecting many European colleges. Japan replaces the UK as the second-most represented nation, with US universities continuing to dominate. Chinas new top university at Tshingua has overtaken the London School of Economics and the University of Edinburgh. The drop of DIT may cause concern for the prospects of the Technological University Dublin, due to be established in January by the merger of DIT with the institutes of technology at Blanchardstown and Tallaght. The Higher Education Authority has already flagged the potential diminution of research metrics when the traditionally research-heavy DIT amalgamates into the countrys first TU with two relatively newer institutions. Maynooth Universitys progress reverses last years drop out of the top 400 which had been attributed to a fall in research citations and declining proportions of academic staff with PhDs. The main criteria under which universities are measured include teaching, the volume, income and reputation of their research, citations showing the influence of their research, international staff, students and research collaborations, and knowledge transfer through collaborations with industry and others. As reported in the Irish Examiner yesterday, the Department of Education has raised seeming inconsistencies in some university rankings, in which there has been a general decline by Irish colleges in the past five years. Documents released under freedom of information law show that officials noted there were falls in employer perceptions in the overall rankings of Irish colleges in the QS World University Rankings 2019, even though some Irish universities performed strongly in the same organisations graduate employability rankings last year. A new play delves into the lives of the shawlies, the Cork women who were ahead of their time in running a family and a business, writes Ellie OByrne. When Charles the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles were on their recent high-profile Irish visit, they were graced with an encounter with the descendants of the famous shawlies of Corks Coal Quay. Sitting in the snug of a city centre bar, Breda Scanlon recounts the tale: We said Hello Charles, how are ya? And we explained to him the difference between the English Market and the Irish Market, where the shawlies used to sell. Then we said to him, Did you ever know where the dealers kept their money? And he said no. We all had our money down our stockings, so we all pulled up the skirts and he nearly fell over. And Suzanna told him if he was short of money, he could always come to the shawlies for a loan. A whoop of laughter goes up around the table. Scanlon and her fellow shawlies, the descendants of the Coal Quays indomitable black-shawled female traders, are here on business, though: clad in their shawls, some of which are 120 years old, theyre attending a read-through of Shawlies, the play that pays its respects to their ancestry. Members of the #Cork Shawlies and the Cobh Animation Team outside the English Market #RoyalVisitCork pic.twitter.com/PxyiwFxGyv Eoin English (@EoinBearla) June 14, 2018 Shawlies, directed by Marion Wyatt, enjoyed a of lunch and supper performances at the Cork Arts Theatre (CAT Club) last summer and is now headed for the larger stage of the Everyman, and so the cast have assembled once again. Present are the actors, headed up by Antoinette Hilliard, who plays the lead role of shawlie Lena Baxter, choreographer Dane OSullivan and musical director Orla Daly, as well as the Cork Coal Quay Shawlie group, who formed to preserve the memory of their predecessors and who also feature in the play. Breda Scanlon is the groups leader. Me and my sisters are fifth generation shawlies, she says. Our mother never did, but our grandmother wore the shawl and sold herrings on the Coal Quay. Most denizens of the second city have a story about the shawlies, but for those not in the know, the working-class women who eked out a living for generations selling everything from fish to second-hand clothes along Cornmarket Street wore distinctive black shawls for their tough, all-weather work, and were a common sight on Leeside into the 1970s. It was a tough life, and these women were often supporting large families. Looking back at the dealers that we knew, you could see in their face how hard it was, Scanlon says. But every one of the dealers was known by their maiden name, not their married name. They made sure there was food on the table and they were before their time, really, when you think about it. Its a culture and way of life that Scanlon and her group are keen to preserve. She remembers the banter and unique sense of humour the shawlies had, with nicknames for regular customers and sales pitches that were colourful, to say the least. One woman used to call: Mackerel, fresh mackerel. Theyre all dead and their eyes wide open! Scanlon says. Then theres ways to tie the shawl so your baby will be safe. They might have had a perambulator, but they used keep the stuff they were selling in that. And theyd have a little drop of porter in there too they werent saints! Against this backdrop, Shawlies the play tells the multi-generational story of Lena Baxter, who hides the earnings from her market stall in shoes, to be discovered after her death by her family. Making use of both professional and amateur actors, as well as a supporting community cast including the Shawlie group, the play is the work of Creative Collective Cork, and has been written and produced in a fashion similar to director Wyatts 2007 play Sunbeam Girls, which collaborated with former workers at the Sunbeam textiles factory in Blackpool to tell their stories. We wrote The Sunbeam Girls as a group and the paradigm worked for us, even though it was a headache and there were about 36 drafts of the script, Wyatt explains. So five of us wrote this script. The Shawlies group are special guests who do front of house and give authenticity to the work: theyre really our backdrop, the physical manifestation of what were trying to portray in the script. Antoinette Hilliard, who plays the lead role of Lena, says she feels shes part of preserving an important and often overlooked legacy a female one in donning the shawl for her role. Were great for the history in this country, but all our history is men going to wars, Hilliard says. I think that now women are starting to come forward, were getting to see more of the social history and I think thats really important for young people. We might all know about Brian Boru and Cu Chulainn and the Rising and all the rest of it, but nobody knows the Shawlies were involved with the Rising, with the British Army. Its a more three-dimensional look at history. Its an oral tradition, passed down by the Shawlies. Elaine Lombard plays Lenas granddaughter, Rita. She says working on the play has given her new-found depths of respect for the women who once formed part of the backdrop in Cork society, Cork needs to really see the strength of these women and what they achieved, Lombard says. Their story is amazing: we might call it feminism now, but there was no name on it back then. Youre struck by how incredibly skilled and resourceful these women were. They were down the Coal Quay on their stalls, out in all weathers, even pregnant and with their small babies, crocheting, making paper flowers and selling their wares. Thats true woman-power. Shawlies: Tell No One Nothing! Runs from Monday October the 1st to Friday October the 5th in The Everyman, MacCurtain St, Cork. Tickets: www.everymancork.com By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent New Department of Education guidelines expected by next summer will tell schools that physically restraining or secluding children must not be used as disciplinary measures. It said it has been working on the guidance for the past year after Inclusion Ireland yesterday detailed disturbing instances of children with a disability being injured and traumatised by staff practices in mainstream and special schools. The organisation which advocates for people with disabilities said that, despite previous requests by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), the Department of Education had failed to provide best-practice guidelines to introduce guidelines or to introduce reporting and monitoring protocols. In their absence, said Inclusion Ireland, the scale of the problem remains unknown and childrens developmental and welfare needs are being neglected. It said it is unfair on teachers when best practice includes support and training for staff. A seminar on the issue yesterday discussed the Inclusion Ireland report that features 14 anonymised case studies of cases outlined by parents of their children being restrained, or isolated in rooms without supervision and often left injured as a result. One parent said the restraint and seclusion her son suffered at school included being locked in a toilet when he was six. Inclusion Ireland chief executive Paddy Connolly said the event was a chance for education professionals and parents to pressurise Education Minister Richard Bruton and his department to address the issue. Children have a constitutional right to an education and for the children detailed in the discussion paper, and many more, their education is being restricted or, in some cases, removed entirely because of their disability, he said. The department told the Irish Examiner that guidelines it expects to complete by the end of the school year would help schools respond to specific circumstances where a student poses an immediate threat of harm to themselves or others. The guidelines will be underpinned by the principles that such intervention is never used for the purposes of discipline, and that it should be applied proportionately and should last only as long as is necessary to de-escalate the situation, said a spokesperson. The importance of continued supervision of children during a crisis period, including matters related to behaviour, will also be stressed. The department also expects the guidelines will underline the importance of recording such incidents and how they were managed. It said Inclusion Ireland and all relevant stakeholders will be consulted. The NCSE has raised the issues on the need for guidelines regarding crisis situations, restraint, and seclusion in schools with the department a number of times since 2012. It said it looks forward to new guidelines, but emphasised that challenging or violent behaviour is a broader issue rather than linked solely to special educational needs. The department said guidance already exists that advises schools not to use specialised behaviour management strategies like restraint without expert advice, training, and monitoring. Schools also have guidelines that already tell them leaving students unsupervised is an inappropriate sanction. Case studies These are some of the stories told by parents to Inclusion Ireland about restraint and inclusion. The childrens names and any other identifying features have been changed. Expelled for trying to escape room Killian was locked into a small storage room with a small window. We were initially told the room would only ever be used as a last resort. The teacher put Killian into this locked room, unattended, for up to four or five hours for trivial reasons such as not doing school work quick enough or talking in class. "Killian was expelled for trying to escape from the room and was so traumatised that he was out of school for 18 months. We received great therapeutic support that helped Killian to get back into a new school. He has never been locked up in his new school. Our family were so upset that this issue was not taken seriously by Tusla or the DES. "When I asked Tusla to investigate the incident the social worker told me we do not investigate schools; only parents. Black and blue One day I went to collect Brian from his special school and he was sitting on the sofa in reception crying. His arms were very sore and staff would not tell me what happened. "Later Brian calmed down and could tell me two special needs assistants had held him face down on the floor by his arms which were now black and blue. Even though there was CCTV in the school they could not provide it to me as it had self-erased. Both of us were so upset he could never go back to the school. After this incident, he suffered from panic attacks, depression and lost trust in all adults for a time. He even said he wanted to kill himself. Multiple use of prone restraint My daughter Jenny was restrained in a prone restraint which is being held in a face-down position by two or three people. On one month this took place up to 50 times and this went on for some time. When I complained, I was met with the threat of Jennys expulsion. Eventually, I was asked to sign an Individual Education Plan that included permission for restraint; I refused and Jenny was suspended. We took and won an appeal but Jenny was then expelled before she could return to school. The Tusla were involved and said there were no child protection concerns and there was no excessive use of restraint. The National Educational Psychological Service was very concerned but could do nothing about it. The Department of Education and Skills knew this was going on but did not intervene. Alone in a padded room Liam [now aged 9] was forcibly held and taken to a padded room where he was locked on his own, numerous times in his special school. One day I was even locked into the room when I went to get him out. Liam told me that when he is being brought into the room my feet do not touch the ground. On one day he had nail marks on his arm and on another day bruising which he said were caused by staff getting him into the room. He repeated all of this to Tusla who closed the case with no finding against the school. When I requested his file from school I was shocked to find he had been put into seclusion numerous times that I did not know about. Liam is now scared of school and has been out for a year. Secluded 40 times in one school year Matthew was forced into the time out room 40 times in one school year. The time out room meant that he was placed in a room alone and secluded. On two occasions that I am aware of, he was there for two hours. He was only 10 at the time. The room that he was secluded in had no handle on the inside, and only a peephole on the door. It had paint peeling off the walls and bars on the window. He was given work to do and he had to eat his lunch in there with nowhere to sit except on a dirty floor. "When I didnt agree to this room I was expected to collect him from his special school. Phonecalls for collection would start from 9.10am. "After all of this, he would cry a lot saying how he was not good enough. First we had a Taoiseach whos a fan of pilates. Now we have the President who takes yoga classes. Yes, Michael D Higgins, 77 years young, is a devotee of the contrological arts and said it is only part of his secret of staying fit. Of course seeking a second term having previously said he would seek one term. Unable to really attack his record in office, his rivals have already sought to make his age an issue. But from his point of view, he insists he is fighting fit and in better shape than he was when he sought the job first time around in 2011. At his packed and sweltering press conference in Dublin city centre, Mr Higgins insisted he is fit and healthy. I have much more energy and efficiency than in 2011, he said, because he had undergone an operation on his knee back then. I dont drink and dont smoke and I have a yoga teacher, he said to laughter from his supporters packed into the room behind the assembled media. Predictably enough, the issue of the 317,000 unvouched allowance, raised by the public accounts committee (PAC) on Tuesday, was the first issue brought up by the media. The President, clearly well-prepared to answer the questions, said it was nothing really to do with him. The money is given to him and his office by the Oireachtas and the Oireachtas can, if it sees fit, take it away, he said. But to do so would impact the ability of a president to do the job properly, he claimed. I think how it is used today, about 20,000 people will come through the Aras. This year I think there were eight garden parties, it started with Bloomsday. We had a special one for the victims of the Magdalene laundries. Also as well as that, in the afternoons, we have tea parties for senior citizens. We have visiting heads of state, that cost comes out of that particular fund, he said. He managed to bat away questions about the allowance and promised to offer up some mechanism to provide clarity on how the money is spent. He was also asked about the recent episode whereby an unemployed protester at the housing crisis made her way into the Aras and as far as his office, undetected by security officers. Speaking as his security detail shifted uneasily, he said: The gate was open and (the intruder) drove in and the door was open and came in to a door beside my office. We had a conversation. There were a few things we discussed. When that was finished I left the room under my own volition. She was then interviewed by a senior garda. She was an unemployed person. I wished her well. Thats how it should be, he said. Responding directly to his presidential rival Peter Caseys charge that it was an insider stunt, Mr Higgins said: Maybe that candidate is not too long back from America. He expressed some regret over his controversial statement released in the wake of the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. But he managed, in saying he would do it differently given the chance again, to put a potentially thorny issue to bed. He was less sure-footed when pressed by reporters about the willingness of his office to answer legitimate questions from the media about the spending of his office, particularly about a stay in a 3,000-a-night hotel in Geneva. He said such matters are decided by others but this line of questioning is not over. Overall, Mr Higgins is off to a solid start and all he needs to do to win is to keep it like that. Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze has attended the official reception ceremony, organized on behalf of US President Donald Trump and his spouse Melania Trump, InterPressNews reported. InterPressNews was informed by the PMs press office that the reception was held in honor of the heads of delegations, who participate in the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Unlike teachers, school secretaries have precious little power in a system in which power talks and those without it must do without, writes Michael Clifford. Moves were announced this week to address the kind of inequality that raised its head in the recent recession. Public servants who were employed on lesser terms and conditions since 2011 are to be accelerated towards pay parity. Around 35,000 staff across the public sector will benefit from the proposals. This will mean an increase in salary of up to 3,000 for the teachers, nurses and others hired since 2011. Pay inequality since 2011 has, in recent years, become a hot political topic. Various unions have made strong running on it. The same unions turned the other way when the inequality was introduced, but everybody was looking out for their nearest and dearest when skin and hair were flying in those days. Industrial unrest over the festering issue was a real possibility. So the Minister for Finance Pascal Donohoe acted fast lest anything interfere with his partys chances of re-election. The whole affair has shown the pressure that can be brought to bear over a perceived injustice when groups are organised and committed. Among the groups involved here are teachers. Their unions dont believe the new measures go far enough, so Mr Donohoe has not yet saved the day. There is another group in the service of the public, who work shoulder to shoulder with teachers, for whom this weeks news brings absolutely no comfort in relation to the inequality they suffer. Unlike teachers, school secretaries are not in a position to bring any leverage to bear on the Government. Unlike teachers, secretaries have precious little power in a system in which power talks and those without it must do without. School secretaries hold a unique position in the education system. Anybody who has been a parent knows the value they add to the functioning of a school. A good secretary is a committed ally to a principal. She and it is overwhelmingly she gets involved in every aspect of the functioning of the school. She is one part administrator, one part assistant to the principal, and many parts everything else including confidante, counsellor and quite often general dogsbody. A teacher can and often does go absent for a day or two or three through illness. The school still functions. When a secretary cant come into work for any extended period of time, the school battles against a descent into chaos Of course, few secretaries go absent for an extended period irrespective of their health because they are unlikely to receive any sick pay and the security of their position could even come under threat. That is just one of the indignities that school secretaries are subjected to. For the school secretary serves the public through being a vital cog in the education system, but she is not a public servant. She does not enjoy the benefits and protection of public servants. She is employed not by the Department of Education, under national pay agreements, but at the grace and favour of individual boards of management. She is paid from a schools ancillary grant, that also must cover cleaning and minor repairs and other incidental costs. For instance, it is entirely plausible that if a schools boiler or heating system explodes and requires major repair, the secretary could find herself laid off for a period of weeks. She receives no pension. The school secretary who has served for decades gets not a cent of recognition in terms of a pension. None of this is a reflection of school boards. Most secretaries are properly valued, but there are no guarantees. How could such an appalling vista exist in a country that allegedly values education? In 1978, a scheme was set up to pay secretaries and school caretakers, effectively regularising their employment. Then five years later, some bright spark came up with the idea of grants for schools in order that they have some control over the management of finances. Crucially, this grant was to include the payment for secretaries. Only around 300 out of 3,000 secretaries are employed under the scheme that lasted from 1978 to 1983. The early 1980s were a world away from today. Yet despite the advances in many areas, including the responsibilities of secretaries, the system keeps the employment of schools secretaries on a precarious footing. Some manage to get a better deal than others. For instance, two schools in one town could be paying their secretaries completely different salaries, ranging from 10,000 to 35,000 per annum. This doesnt necessarily reflect competence or even the size of a school. It may well be simply all that a particular school can afford. Kathleen ODoherty has been a school secretary in Letterkenny, Co Donegal for over 20 years. In 2001, she wrote to the then minister for education pointing out the apparent disregard for her role. She has written to every minister since, and each one has quietly ignored the problem. Were not fighting against the boards (of management), she says. We know that their hands are tied. But there is no security whatsoever. In fairness to principals and boards, a secretarys wages may be the last thing taken into consideration simply because things are so tight When the hammer came down at the height of the recession, prompting the changed conditions for new entrants to the public service, school secretaries also got it in the eye. The cutting of grants meant the cutting of their salaries. Although they didnt benefit from the increases through the years of illusory boom, they were hit when the economy tanked. To be fair, the department, under pressure, issued a circular last year to schools instructing that school secretary wages be increased to 11.50 an hour. According to the trade union Forsa, some schools were slow to give the increase. In this again, secretaries do not have the usual protections enjoyed by public servants. Neither do they have the kind of muscle that saw the Government act on pay inequality this week. It really should be a job that staff should be better looked after, Kathleen ODoherty says. We are entitled to be, as we have a pivotal role in the school. I dont know why its not the case because practically everybody in the country has some connection with schools. Perhaps its simply the case that successive governments have got away with the prevailing system and will continue to do so unless a solidarity that goes beyond lip service is effected in order to right a very obvious wrong. Without radical change and serious investment, Irish students will be at a clear competitive disadvantage to their peers in every country in Europe., writes Patrick OShea. Robert Kane, the founding president of Queens College Cork, addressed the 115 enrolled students on the day the University opened in 1849, saying: Here, after nearly a 1,000 years, we open now the portals of this edifice and accept the task of training the youth of Munster. It was a time of great difficulty in Ireland, but also a time to invest for the future. I am certain that my predecessor would be proud to know that in the intervening years University College Cork has not only trained the youth of Munster but has enriched the lives of, and in turn been enriched by, hundreds of thousands of graduates through the generations from all over Ireland and the world. This two-way enrichment has applied to each of the seven universities across the country. But that is the past, what of the future? Irish universities are dedicated to enhancing the social, cultural and economic well-being of our nation. Maintaining and raising the quality of Irish graduates across all disciplines requires substantial change within our institutions, supported by significant State and private funding for Irelands universities. Without both change and investment, danger looms in what is a highly competitive international environment. A decade of under-investment by the State leaves this and future generations of students exposed in a gathering storm. Third-level enrolment, which has already grown by 28% in the past 10 years, will peak when todays seven and eight-year olds-are seeking access to university. Some 25,000 more students will arrive at the gates of our seven universities in 2030. Without radical change and serious investment, they will be at a clear competitive disadvantage to their peers in every country in Europe. This stark inevitability should give parents, educators, civil servants, politicians and employers serious pause for thought. Peter Cassells, chair of the Governments Expert Group on the Future Funding of Higher Education, makes a cast-iron case for game changing investment in third level but says that: We also need to demand that we get higher quality and better outcomes for our investment. We need a system that is responsive to the changing and diverse needs of learners, society and the economy The pace and extent of change must be more fully embraced by all stakeholders to deliver not just competitive but world-leading standards of third- level education and consequent benefits to Irish society. In this regard, Irelands universities are determined to lead. For the first time, in the long history of our universities, all seven have solemnly committed to a singular charter for change. The successful implementation of this charter will deliver a sustainable university system for Irelands future talent of which we can all be proud. It will help realise the national ambition to be competitive with the best in Europe, provided it is matched with a complete resolution of chronic State under-investment. The charter commits to developing a coherent national programme in digital learning. It commits to driving adult life-long learning from the current 6.5% to the EU average of 10.7%. It commits to expanding research capacity with balanced prioritisation of frontier and applied research and to increasing the output of PhD graduates by 30%. The charter also commits to increasing access numbers by 30% and to developing stronger active links with business and civic society. It also commits to advancing diversity, inclusion and equality more broadly and deeply. Each of our universities has a dead-eyed determination to meet Cassells critical demand. Each is acutely aware of its responsibilities in this regard. Through the Irish Universities Association, we have mobilised to deliver a coherent, co-ordinated and far-reaching plan of action. Its successful implementation will not be easy. However, given the stakes for Irelands future talent, it behoves all of us with responsibility for higher quality and better outcomes, to deliver. Government is also a lead actor. Its stated target is to make the Irish education system the best in Europe by 2026. Irish universities share this ambition. Maintaining and enhancing the quality of Irish graduates across all disciplines requires marriage of the initiatives specified in this charter with the necessary State investment. It also absolutely requires the Government to loosen the tight binding on individual universities to develop human resource plans critical to their needs and growth levels. The political community must step up to the challenge now and match the ambition and commitment of the universities. Politicians accept that there is a serious funding issue while at the same time obsessing about the solution they dont want. We need leadership across the political landscape on this issue. Its a genuine national issue impacting families in every constituency. According to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, staffing levels in primary and secondary schools have increased by mid-teens percentages over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, staffing levels in third level have decreased by 14% while student numbers are up by nearly a third. Politicians privately admit that there are votes at play in primary and secondary schools. Well its time for the electorate to wake up to the importance of third level and how it directly impacts the wellbeing of our children, grandchildren, society and economy. Its time to pose pointed questions to politicians across the spectrum and not be fobbed off with vague platitudes. Its time to lose patience with the prevaricators. Its now time to demand a sustainable investment model and to remove restrictive measures for third-level education in Ireland. Im an optimist, and Im convinced that by working together in partnership, we will prosper. The charter maps clear commitments from our universities. We have aligned these commitments with the Governments Higher Education System Performance Framework and with the specific ambition of Project Ireland 2040. We pledge to enhance performance and delivery across critical areas of third-level access, education, research and innovation. There is a clear-cut obligation on the universities to deliver. Were up for it. Are you? Professor Patrick OShea is president of UCC and chair of the Irish Universities Association Yes, capital investment in school buildings is going up by 70%. Yes, the Government is planning to build 42 new primary and secondary schools by 2022. Yes, PE halls will be state of the art and there will be science labs and technological training facilities here, there and everywhere. There will be more teachers and more special needs assistants. There will be funding for ancillary staff. Just dont ask about the funding for the kids themselves. There are, as Education Minister Richard Bruton says, huge demands out there. The Government cant be expected to restore, let alone raise, capitation funding for the kids, now can they? They must. The cutting of our already derisory capitation funding at the time of the crash was a disgrace. The failure to restore capitation funding at a time of recovery is a scandal. It is a scandal which hasnt really caught fire and that is another scandal. Am I over-using the word scandal? Probably. Its just I cant get over the figures. Capitation grants for primary school kids plunged from 200 per child per year in 2010, to 170 per child per year in 2015. They have never been restored. Meanwhile, the Irish National Teachers Union reckons parents contribute about 46m a year in so-called voluntary contributions, bun sales, bun fights, and Guess the name of the goldfish competitions. At least I always got the goldfishs name wrong, unlike my friend, who ended up with suspected pike swimming through her kitchen. Me and my friend and her pike were never the issue, though. The issue is the people who end up asking the Vincent de Paul for the voluntary contribution. And thats before you look at the cost of books (88) and trips (48) and lunches (124) and school supplies (52) which should be free but are so expensive. They push 17% of parents into debt every year, according to this years figures from Zurich Insurance. Those who can get credit that is. My gut twists when I think of the kids who must be out there trying to make excuses for missing books or uniforms or trip fees. The situation at secondary level makes still fewer headlines but is just as dire, with 28% of parents applying for loans to fund it. Yes, capitation funding per secondary student is higher than for primary kids at 296 a year, which goes to show how little the Government understands the needs of primary schools. However, the secondary grant stood at 345 in 2009. Therefore, 49 has been taken off every secondary school kid in the country and not a cent has ever been restored It demonstrates the fact that the State still does not accept it has a duty to provide free education at secondary level, that one whole year of the secondary cycle has never been properly funded: Transition Year (TY). I have just been presented with a bill for 500 for my child to do Transition Year at her local school. I have already paid out 240 for her first TY trip. I understand the requests. It is not the schools fault they have to make them. I am confident that a kid whose parents couldnt pay would be facilitated. It shouldnt really get to that point, though, should it? In research carried out by the Irish Second Level Students Union which is available on the Department of Education website, concern about the cost of TY is the first reason cited by students for not doing the year. There is evidence that some students are only permitted to do TY when they have paid a fee, and though I am confident there isnt a headmaster or mistress in Ireland who would hold a kid back for non-payment, parents may hold their kids back out of embarrassment. Students from higher professional backgrounds are more than twice as likely to do Transition Year than students whose backgrounds are semi-skilled or unskilled. There are multiple reasons for this but the financial reason should be taken out of the equation by the Government. Educational researcher Aidan Clerkin found in his study of Transition Year, that kids from disadvantaged backgrounds and educationally challenged kids gained still more from TY than kids with fewer challenges. That makes it all the more horrific that some schools only grant participation in TY to the most academic and the most applied kids. You might say thats better than taking the names of those who can do TY out of a hat, which apparently also happens. Both practices are appalling, but surely discriminating on academic grounds against the very kids who might gain most from TY is as low as it gets? I understand the schools desire to use participation in TY as a carrot to drive good performance, but they should not be allowed to do so. They could argue back, with some justification, that resources are scarce and are being spent on kids who they know will apply themselves to TY. How can we allow this situation to continue? TY has been in place since 1974 and has been in most schools for decades. Participation means, on average, 26 extra CAO points, in research which focuses on gender and school type, but not fully for age. The research hasnt yet been done which audits the wider gains from participation in TY, but Aidan Clerkin quotes research showing over 90% of teachers agreeing that TY increases kids confidence, social awareness and social competence. TY isnt a wacky pilot project anymore. Either the Government believes in it or it doesnt. If it doesnt, TY should be abolished. If it does, TY should be available free to all who wish to do it and funded adequately at a rate far above the cut rate of 95 per student per year currently allowed. How can we prepare to invest 116bn in a massive capital plan with the stated aim of making our education and training service the best in Europe when we wont fund the kids themselves? Surely that takes one stated aim of the plan, creating a fair society completely off the table? Its like investing in state-of-the-art hardware without investing in software at all. Oh sorry, the teachers and secretaries and cleaners and special needs assistants are software too and they are being invested in. They can vote. They can pay taxes. Building schools and PE halls generates tax too, as well as boosting growth and employment statistics. Kids are invisible. And thats why you cant see them in the Governments Action Plan for Education. 49 has been taken off every secondary school kid in the country and not a cent has ever been restored President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the plenary session of the 9th Azerbaijan-Russia Interregional Forum, the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reported. "Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, Distinguished guests, dear friends, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, I would like to greet the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, as well as the persons accompanying him in Azerbaijan. Welcome, we are always very glad to see you here! Today's participation of the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan in the work of the Interregional Forum is evidence of the great importance we attach to the activities of this forum. This is the 9th forum, next year will be a jubilee. We are glad that the first forum was held in Azerbaijan in 2010, which has stimulated interregional cooperation. And the fact that this hall with a capacity of 1000 people is full today speaks about the great interest in the work of this forum," Ilham Aliyev stressed in his speech. "Our meetings with Vladimir Vladimirovich are regular. Not so long ago, in early September, I made an official visit to Russia, and we held very fruitful talks, a very thorough exchange of views on all issues on the agenda. And the Russian President's visit to Azerbaijan less than a month later is a clear indication of the level of relations existing between us," the Azerbaijani leader said. "16 documents have been signed within the framework of my visit, which cover many areas and which will predetermine the progressive development of our relations for many years to come. It should also be noted that it is Russian President Vladimir Putin's fourth visit to Azerbaijan. I also make regular visits to Russia, which is a clear testimony of our partnership, friendly, good-neighborly relations between our countries," the Azerbaijani President noted. "As for the trade and economic relations, we see growth, it is very impressive. Both last year, and this year the trade turnover is growing. Russia is Azerbaijan's top import partner and non-oil products export partner. We also implement projects related to mutual investment, where we also see a positive dynamic. We have very strong ties in the energy and oil and gas sectors. Within the framework of my official visit to the Russian Federation, we signed an important document - the treaty between Rosneft and SOCAR for cooperation in the oil sector. Lukoil is an important investor for us, which has worked in Azerbaijan for more than 20 years," the head of Azerbaijan noted. "We have very active cooperation in the transport sector. The joint North-South project is already yielding results. This year, compared to last year, we see more than 100-fold increase in the transportation of goods along this corridor. We expect that this corridor will become one of the most important transport arteries of Eurasia and thereby further promote the rapprochement between our countries and increase our transit potential," Aliyev said. "I would also like to note that the Azerbaijani airlines carry out more than 50 flights a week to various cities of Russia. In 9 months, about 700 thousand Russians have visited Azerbaijan. I am sure that this figure will also grow in the future," the leader of Azerbaijan cited an example. "In the banking sector, there are very good prospects and cooperation. 'Kamaz' and 'Ural' cars are already produced in Azerbaijan. An agreement was reached on the production of GAZ cars in our country as well," Aliyev said. "We also have very close relations with the Russian regions: about 20 regions of the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan have corresponding agreements. We open trade missions in the regions, as well as Russian regions - in Azerbaijan. I would like to thank President Vladimir Putin for his visit to Azerbaijan. We appreciate it very much. We regard it as a token of friendship and respect for our country. I wish the forum successes and further achievements for the prosperity of our countries and peoples!" the President of Azerbaijan concluded. Arts Modernists Bring Elephant Dance Festival to Yangon A trio of modernist artists has brought scenes of Chin States Falam and the famous elephant dance festival of Kyaukse to downtown Yangon. YANGON A trio of modernist artists has brought scenes of Chin States Falam and the famous elephant dance festival of Kyaukse to downtown Yangon. The paintings on display at In the Land of Giants are not life-size but are quite massive, measuring more than 30 feet wide, hung on the walls of ArtAnt Pop-up Gallery in Junction City. Beauty of Falam by Than Htay offers a stunning birds-eye view of the Chin town. The vivid and vibrant portrayal of the Chin mountain range, Rhododendron flowers, cherry flowers, and residential houses provides aesthetic pleasure. Rhododendrons, which sprout the state flower, grow mainly in the townships of Mindat, Matupi, Falam and Tedim, and bloom in December and January. I created this when I went to Falam to teach drawing. But I have changed the colors as I like, said Than Htay. The 33-foot wide painting by Aung Win puts viewers in a festive mood, as large crowds of Kyaukse residents cheer on elephant dancers. Every year, Kyaukse celebrates the end of Buddhist Lent by holding an elephant dance festival, which features life-size elephants made from bamboo frames, papier-mache and fine black satin decorated with intricate, colorful embroidery. The festival is believed to date back to the Bagan Period, beginning in the mid-to-late 9th century. Elephants compete for the prizes in two categories best elephant dance and best-decorated elephant. To the accompaniment of traditional musical instruments, the dance involves three people two dancing inside the elephant figure, and one role-playing a mahout. Modernist Aung Khaing showcasing portraits of ogres, ethnic women, dancers, mothers, and guardian spirits. I am 73 now. I can still draw these figures because I am still in good health and have a strong passion for art, said Aung Khaing. The art exhibition showcases more than 20 modernist works including three large paintings, which are sold for prices between US$250 and $15,000. The exhibition ends on Sunday. From the Archive Death of a Journalist Kenji Nagai of APF tries to take photographs as he lies injured after police and military officials fired upon and then charged at protesters in Yangon on Sept. 27, 2007. Nagai, 50, a Japanese video journalist, was shot by soldiers as they fired to disperse the crowd. Nagai later died. / Reuters Known as the Saffron Revolution, the monk-led antigovernment protests of August and September 2007 were, for many people outside the country, their first exposure to the brutality of Myanmars former military regime. The domestic upheaval became an increasingly international affair 11 years ago, when a Myanmar Army soldier shot dead the Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai, a killing that was captured on video and broadcast worldwide. This story, originally published in December 2007, offers another Japanese photojournalists take on the death of a colleague and countryman. It was painful to witness the images broadcast worldwide on Sept. 27, 2007. Japanese cameraman Kenji Nagai was lying on his back on a street in Rangoon. Then there was the piercing sound of a bullet fired from the rifle of a soldier. Kenji Nagai, a man I considered a colleague, was dead. Immediately, I thought: It could have been me. As a photojournalist, I also report on conflicts. I have covered many Asian countries, including Burma, and I imagined myself in Kenji Nagais place, lying dead on a street in Rangoon. But, I was in Japan, and he was in Rangoon. However, I knew the streets where the pro-democracy demonstrations occurredthe scene was very familiar to me. For me, the shooting confirmed the true mentality of the Burmese junta, which has been killing and imprisoning the Burmese people with impunity for decades: 3,000 or more people died in 1988 alone, the year I started covering events in Burma. On the day Kenji Nagai was murdered, I was taking photographs of exiled Burmese activists who were demonstrating in front of the Burmese Embassy in Tokyo, demanding the Japanese government stop supporting the State Peace and Development Council financially. Later that day, my mobile phone started ringing, one call after another without a break. News agencies and newspapers were calling me to check if the unidentified Japanese journalist killed in Rangoon was me or not. One call was from Australia, from my Burmese friend who had worked as my interpreter when I made trips to Burma. He explained that he was worried about me when he heard the news. Before long, the Japanese media confirmed the dead journalist was Kenji Nagai. His name was new to me, and we had never met. The TV news showed video of the shooting of Kenji Nagai over and over again for several days. The Japanese public was horrified and angry. The Japanese government seemed shocked. Perhaps for the first time, the government realized the SPDC is truly an evil government. When the funeral service was held on Oct. 8 in Tokyo, hundreds of Burmese exiles attended the service to honor Kenji Nagai. They apologized for his death on behalf of the SPDC government, which they hate. It was a natural feeling for the Burmese people who live in Japan to express their sorrow for Kenji Nagai, who was now a martyr in the Burmese struggle for democracy. Media coverage on Kenji Nagai focused on his personality, his professional work in Iraq and elsewhere, but neglected any factual background on what had been happening in Burma under the military regime for the past 20 years. There were almost no critical questions about Japans foreign policy toward the military juntawhether it was trying to help the country move toward democracy or helping the SPDC. As a photojournalist, I have been critical of Japans foreign policy, which has favored the SPDC generals rather than the democratic forces and the ethnic minorities. You can get a sense of Japans policy toward the SPDC through various comments made by top Japanese diplomats. For instance, the then Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi made an ignorant comment in May 2003, when she was asked about the murderous attack on Aung San Suu Kyis motorcade at Depayin. She said, There is no deterioration of environment for dialogue between the SPDC and Aung San Suu Kyi. She retracted her comment the next day. In May 2006, Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, Kenzo Oshima, said, Burma does not constitute a regional threat yet, and along with China and Russia, Japan opposed efforts by the United States and European Union to put Burma on the Security Council agenda. The latest and most shameless comment was made by Yoichi Yamaguchi, the former Japanese ambassador to Burma (1995-97). After the killing of Nagai, he was quoted in the Japanese media as saying several offensive comments: Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy gave money to the demonstrators. There is not a single so-called political prisoner there [in Burma] in the true sense. The regime has succeeded in maintaining economic growth of over 5 percent annually, earning it the widespread trust of the people. After Kenji Nagais death, the Japanese government took a seemingly strong stance. In New York, Foreign Minister Komura demanded an apology from the SPDC. But as time passed and the crackdown by security forces continued, the Japanese government remained quiet, simply waiting for the UN Security Council to act. The government will coordinate efforts with the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to make progress in the democratization of Myanmar [Burma], Komura said after the UNSCs presidential statement was announced. Later, Japan cancelled a grant of up to 552 million yen (US $4.7 million). The grant had been intended to finance the construction of a human resources center. On Oct. 28, the Peoples Forum on Burma, an NGO formed in Tokyo in 1996 to support the Burmese peoples struggle for democracy, made a plea for the Japanese government to fundamentally change its foreign policy toward the SPDC by giving full-scale humanitarian support to the 160,000 displaced people in refugee camps in Thailand. The group also asked for a halt in grants to the Union Solidarity and Development Association, which was accused of taking part in the suppression of the demonstrators. In 2006, the USDA received a Japanese grant of nearly 24 million yen ($209,000) for construction of three grade school buildings. It also demanded that Japan stop humanitarian aid to subsidize Burmas health care and education budgets while the military regime allocates more than 50 percent of its national budget on the military. The group wants to pressure the Japanese government to support the Burmese people and the pro-democracy groups, instead of helping to keep the generals in power. A Burmese citizen in Tokyo, a former political prisoner, said Burmese exiles remember two Japanese citizens: one with hate, and one with great respect. One is former ambassador Yoichi Yamaguchi; the other is journalist Kenji Nagai. Yamamoto Munesukes books include Burmas Children and Burmas Great Illusions. He was deported from Burma in 1998 for gathering news, following his exclusive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi. Asia Malaysia's Ex-First Lady Questioned for 13 Hours in 1MDB Probe Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak, arrives to give a statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Putrajaya, Malaysia, September 26, 2018. / Reuters KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian anti-graft investigators questioned Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, for nearly 13 hours on Wednesday over a corruption investigation at state fund 1MDB. Najib has been charged with money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in the investigation into how billions of dollars went missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges and consistently denied wrongdoing, lost a national election in May. Last week, Azam Baki, the deputy commissioner of operations at Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), said he could not rule out charges being filed against Rosmah. Rosmah, who was questioned for three hours in June, arrived at MACC headquarters at around 0200 GMT and left at 1445 GMT. Her lawyer, K. Kumaraendran, told reporters she had completed giving her statement to the MACC. He declined to comment further. As she left, she said only: Im OK. Malaysian authorities have barred Najib and Rosmah from leaving the country. Their home and other properties linked to them have been searched by police as part of the 1MDB investigations. The US Department of Justice has alleged more than $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB and that about $680 million ended up in Najibs personal bank account. The couples world has been turned upside down since Najibs shock election defeat on May 9 to his one-time mentor Mahathir Mohamad, who swiftly reopened a probe into 1MDB. Authorities have seized luxury goods to an estimated value of up to $275 million from their homes, including 567 handbags, 423 watches and among 12,000 pieces of jewelry 1,400 necklaces, 2,200 rings, 2,800 pairs of earrings and 14 tiaras. Najib has said most of the items seized were gifts to his wife and daughter and had nothing to do with 1MDB. Burma Analysis: NLD Cozying Up to Beijing as Ties with West Fray Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-opposition leader of Myanmar Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meet in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China in June 2015. / Reuters YANGONMore than 100 members of the ruling National League for Democracyfrom members of its youth wing to Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herselfhave made the trek to China to promote bilateral relations since the party took power more than two years ago. China has taken steps to strengthen ties with Myanmars government and ruling party since the 2015 general election. And visits by NLD members to the neighboring country have only accelerated since the West began turning away from Myanmar in 2017 as the Rohingya crisis intensified in Rakhine State. NLD Central Executive Committee (CEC) members, lawmakers and youth wing members are being invited to China with increasing frequency on visits whose official purposes include promoting interparty relations with the Communist Party of China (CPC), sharing parliamentary experiences, goodwill visits, short study tours and youth leadership training. Many central committee members have visited China since 2016, according to NLD members who participated in the trips. Last week, 18 senior NLD members including the vice president of the party, the chief minister of Mandalay and the chief minister of Magway Region, headed to China for a nine-day goodwill visit. It is the first time such a large number of CEC members have been invited by the CPC for the purpose of promoting interparty relations. During the visit, the CPC showed off its achievements in the areas of international relations, rural development, agriculture, environmental protection and tax reform. The senior delegates met in Beijing with Huang Kunming, head of the CPCs Propaganda Department and a member of the partys politburo. The delegates visited the controversial Three Gorges hydroelectric dam. Spanning the Yangtze River, it is the worlds largest power generation facility with an installed capacity of 22,500 MW. Yet another delegation departed for China on Sept. 24, with nine Myanmar lawmakers embarking on a five-day parliamentary goodwill visit to Beijing. In what has become a familiar pattern, the delegates visited Beijing first and will end their trip in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, which shares a border with Myanmar. Along the way the Myanmar delegates will study the CPCs leadership model, and Chinas economic and social reforms, according to NLD delegates who have visited the country. According to the NLDs website, official Facebook pages and D-Wave party newsletter, at least 110 NLD members including key players, lawmakers and youth wing members have visited China since 2016. China is by no means the only country that has put out the welcome mat for the NLD. Other countries, including some Western ones, have done the same. When The Irrawaddy asked the NLD for details of the total numbers of overseas visits made by its members, party spokesperson U Myo Nyunt was reluctant to give a precise figure, citing diplomatic concerns. But the spokesperson, who has himself visited China twice and made trips to Germany and Switzerland to observe parliamentary procedures and inspect transportation systems, admitted that China is number one among countries in terms of party-to-party invitations. In terms of the sheer number of delegates invited, China far outpaces other countries, according to Daw Ni Ni May Myint, an NLD lawmaker and central youth working group member. China invites us a lot. Most countries invite only one or two delegates at a time, but China always invites more than 10 delegates from the NLD, she said. In October, 25 members of the NLDs youth wing including leaders of its central youth working committee, will attend a six-day training session at Yunnan University in Chinas Yunnan Province. The head of the 15-member NLD central youth work committee, Ma Moe San Su Kyi, told The Irrawaddy, This is the third time that Yunnan University has invited NLD youth. The training focuses on research studies. She has previously visited China with other senior NLD members on legal study tours. NLD CEC member and party information officer Monywa Aung Shin told The Irrawaddy that the NLD has built a constructive relationship with China amid growing tensions with Western countries. Meanwhile, Myanmars relations with China outweigh those of other countries, said Monywa Aung Shin, who recently visited China on a tour to promote interparty relations. The CEC member admitted that China had become a good friend by showing more support for Myanmars peace process and standing by the country as it faces pressure on human rights issues from the West and Europe. Moreover, the NLD-led government has inked investment agreements with China while struggling with a decline in foreign direct investment from other sources. Historically, the countries bilateral relations have been marked by Beijings efforts to secure its interests in Myanmar and the region. After the 1990 elections, then-Chinese Ambassador Cheng Ruisheng was the first diplomat to call NLD headquarters to offer congratulations. When the electoral result was ignored by the then-military government, however, China went on to establish good relations with the dictatorship, building close ties with the military during a period of political repression. During that period, China was a key supporter of Myanmars military, providing it with assistance despite its record of human rights abuses, land-grabbing and exploiting the countrys natural resources. After Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in November 2011, China maintained stable relations with the NLD. In December of that year, Chinese Ambassador Li Junhua met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at her residenceher first visit with a foreign diplomat since the 1990 elections. Since 2012, China has expanded its strategy beyond cultivating ties with the military and political parties by fostering relations with local intellectuals in Myanmar. China has invited local experts, businesspeople and journalists to Beijing to explain its projects and plans for the country. After its success in the 2012 by-election, the NLD sent two separate delegations of CEC members to China in May and June 2013. In its support for the successful 2015 general election, China demonstrated its willingness to work with whichever party won, in order to secure its ambitious infrastructure projects and to develop bilateral ties. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited Beijing in June 2015, before Myanmars general elections in November of that year. The rare invitation to an opposition leader appeared to signal Chinas belief that the NLD would win the election. After the 2015 election, the CPC used official channels to invite NLD lawmakers and youth members on short study tours, with a focus on sharing ideas on party discipline, leadership development, the agricultural sector and rural development. In December 2017, Daw Aung San Suu Kyiby this time Myanmars de facto leader with the title of State Counselormet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting. Xi promised that the CPC and the Chinese government would continue to develop bilateral relations with political parties, adhering to a policy of friendship with Myanmar and viewing bilateral ties from a strategic, long-term perspective. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has visited China three times since becoming Myanmars State Counselor. Lawmaker U Wai Phyo Aung, who served as one of the 15 leaders of the NLDs youth wing from 2014-2017, told The Irrawaddy that since the election, China has shown a willingness to build official party-to-party relations. Previously, the CPC would extend invitations to NLD delegates via Chinese provincial governors. He said that China uses a range of different channels to invite NLD delegates, the main ones being government-to-government, party-to-party and parliament-to-parliament. U Wai Phyo Aung led about 20 NLD youth members including some from ethnic states and regions, on a study tour to China in October 2016. He said the tour was mainly focused on youth leadership and regional development. However, some experts expressed wariness about Chinas growing influence in Myanmar politics and questioned whether the CPC offers an appropriate model for Myanmars ruling party. They have been trying to promote their own agenda [investments and projects] by inviting Myanmar people to visit, said Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, a lead researcher at the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar. The countries have different political values; Chinas government is known for centralization. If the ruling party [of Myanmar] uses Chinas experiences as a model, it will dominate us, she said. The Myanmar government has signed several MoUs with China without public hearings, and also put more restrictions on civil society organizations. These can be seen as the outcomes of the bilateral visits, Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee added. Experts point out that while Myanmar is facing heat from the West because of the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State, Naypyitaw has proceeded to ink numerous agreements with Beijing, most notably an MoU establishing the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, part of Xis Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a vast international infrastructure development plan. The Chinese government has also made progress on expanding other ambitious projects in Myanmar, including the Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone, which secures a new transportation route allowing Chinas oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca and gives China direct access to the Indian Ocean. The project will also boost development in Chinas landlocked Yunnan Province. We will have closer relations due to the [BRI], Monywa Aung Shin, the NLD information officer, said. According to an in-depth survey by the International Growth Center, the space that has been opened by the government since 2011 for civil society and the public to voice their opinions has resulted in an increase in anti-Chinese sentiment in Myanmar. Chinese investments are at stake; a failure to engage with local communities could make Myanmar a more difficult place for Chinese companies to do business, according to the center. China has lobbied the government to restart the controversial Myitsone Dam project in Kachin State. The project was suspended during the administration of former President U Thein Sein amid widespread public concern about the dams social and environmental impacts. Experts warn that the NLD needs to understand that in general, public sentiment towards China remains negative. However, Monywa Aung Shin said, We understand that [Myanmar] peoples feelings about China are not good. But [Chinas] approach has changed since the NLD government was elected; they have been more willing to engage in party-to-party relations. They are also making more effort to engage with local communities and people, as we have told them to respect local concerns and laws. Burma Army Frees Shan Civilians Detained over Soldiers Disappearance Ethnic Shan villagers harvest garlic on a farm outside Mong Pan town in southern Shan State. / Sai Naung Mong Pan / Facebook The Myanmar Army has released seven ethnic Shan villagers who were detained last week after two soldiers disappeared in southern Shan States Mong Pan Township, according to local sources. The Army (or Tatmadaw) had earlier accused the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) of involvement in the soldiers disappearance. Local residents claimed the Army had threatened the detained villagers safety if the ethnic armed group did not release the soldiers. Sai Hla Aung, a resident of Mong Pan town, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the seven civilians were released on Sept. 25 despite the fact that the soldiers, who were last seen in the townships Noung Lay village, were still missing. We asked [the seven] why they were released, but they said the Army offered no explanation, Sai Hla Aung said. [The villagers] said they were not beaten by the Army while in custody, he said. The two soldiers from the Armys Infantry Battalion 296 left their base on Sept. 20 and have not been heard from since. On Sept. 22, the Army searched Noung Lay and detained seven residents of the village. They were held at Battalion 296s base. The Army accused the RCSS of arresting the two soldiers and according to local residents threatened the detained villagers safety if the RCSS did not release the soldiers immediately. The RCSS, based in southern Shan State, denied detaining the soldiers. RCSS spokesperson Colonel Sai Oo confirmed that the Myanmar Army had released the villagers. Their soldiers disappeared, but it was not because of the detained villagers. The soldiers deserted, Col. Sai Oo said. The RCSS is an ethnic Shan armed group based in southern Shan State. The group signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the Myanmar government, but continues to engage in periodic clashes with the Myanmar Army. Burma Lawmakers Ask President to Help Get Small-Scale Mining in Kachin Approved A jade mine in Kachin States Hpakant Township. / Myat Pyae Phyo / The Irrawaddy NAYPYITAW Two Lower House lawmakers have asked President U Win Myint to help secure approval for small-scale amber and gold mining in Kachin States Tanai and Hpakant townships. U Lin Lin Oo of Tanai and U Tint Soe of Hpakant sent their request to the president, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation on Sept. 17. Unlike large-scale mining, the use of heavy machinery is not allowed in small-scale mining. U Lin Lin Oo said allowing individuals to mine on a small scale would create jobs and that the government could earn tax from them. He said small-scale mining has less impact on the environment and on resources than commercial mining with heavy machinery. According to reports from the ground, some individuals are doing small-scale mining. It might be illegal mining. According to locals, small-scale amber mining is allowed in Tanai, but not with machinery, U Lin Lin Oo said. Now that the Myanmar Army has wrested control of the amber mining areas in Tanai from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military is responsible for working with non-governmental organizations to establish the rule of law there, the lawmaker said. The Myanmar Army launched attacks on unlicensed amber mines in Tanai in June 2017. It is believed that illegal gold and amber mining in Kachin are among the KIAs main sources of revenue. Natural Resources Ministry Director General U Ye Myint Swe said the ministry has designated small-scale mining fields in response to the two lawmakers request. He said the Kachin State government had the authority to permit small-scale mining fields and that the ministry sent it a list of feasible sites. Mining bylaws authorize local governments to grant individuals small-scale gold mines but not amber mines, which fall under the law on gemstones, said U Lin Lin Oo. He said he made a direct appeal to the president because of Tanais unusual circumstances, apparently referring to the ongoing armed struggle for control of the area between the KIA and Myanmar Army. State governments are authorized to issue licenses for small-scale mining. But our region is different, so they [the Kachin State government] said they have difficulties. This is why I made a request to the president to ask the union government to intervene, the lawmaker said. Loi Khen, a resident of Hpakant Township, said the areas gemstones were become increasingly hard to come by. Almost all the gemstones have been mined now. It is not easy for individual miners to mine there. Gemstones can be found only deep in the ground, so it is not easy for us to dig, he told The Irrawaddy. He said some prospectors have resorted to the dangerous practice of searching for gemstones in old, abandoned mines. On Tuesday, four miners were killed when a mining waste pile collapsed on them after a downpour. In July 2017, the Lower House approved a proposal from U Lin Lin Oo to control illegal gold and amber mining in Tanai and Hpakant. At the time, Natural Resources Minister U Ohn Win said Kachin State should legitimize small-scale mining to ensure the safety of individual prospectors and to prevent illegal operations. In 2016, the union government announced that it would stop renewing the licenses of jade mining companies until it completed an environmental management plan for jade mining areas in Kachin. Almost all the jade mining licenses expired earlier this year. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. Burma Myanmar Signs Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin at the signing ceremony for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday. / Ministry of Foreign Affair Myanmar's Facebook YANGONMyanmar signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at a ceremony which took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday, a move given the green light by parliament last week. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Myanmar, Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin signed the treaty during the United Nations General Assembly which Myanmar representatives were attending. In the second week of September, President U Win Myint got parliaments approval to sign the TPNW. Military representatives also voted in favor of signing the treaty. U Kyaw Tin told lawmakers in the parliament that the government supports nuclear disarmament. He said the Myanmar government believes nuclear disarmament is the only way to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and the use of such weapons, whether intentional or accidental. Military representative to the Lower House Lt-Col Zaw Tun Oo said in parliament that signing the treaty would clear up any doubts as to whether Myanmar is developing nuclear weapons. According to the Signature and Ratification terms of the Treaty, members need to follow a comprehensive set of prohibitions against participating in any nuclear weapon activities such as undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. The treaty also prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons on national territory and the provision of assistance to any state in the conduct of prohibited activities. Myanmar became a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1992, and signed the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty in 1995, committing not to develop nuclear weapons. The country also signed the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and a Small Quantities Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1995. However, Myanmar attracted global concern in the 2000s during a time when the countrys then-military rulers maintained close relations with North Korea on arms sales, nuclear missiles development and nuclear warhead technology. The Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative claimed Myanmar had developed relations with North Korea in the hope of receiving missile and nuclear weapon technologies. Myanmar signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 2016 but has not yet ratified it. A total of 67 countries have signed the treaty and 19 have agreed to sign it, including ASEAN members Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam, according to the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Burma NLD to Purge Ineffective Members of Parliament U Zaw Myint Maung, the chief minister of Mandalay, speaks to journalists after the parliament session in Mandalay on Thursday. / Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy MANDALAY The vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party said on Thursday that the party is planning to expel members of Parliament who they deem to be inactive and lacking empathy for their people. U Zaw Myint Maung, who is also chief minister of Mandalay and one of the NLDs most influential members, told reporters after the parliamentary session in Mandalay that the move aims to strengthen the team of lawmakers who represent the party. We are reviewing the activities of every [NLD] parliamentarian looking at how they work in the field and what they have done for their constituencies. If we find members who are inactive, uncompassionate or fail to follow the partys rules and regulations, they will be expelled from their position and not allowed to participate in the upcoming 2020 election, said U Zaw Myint Maung. In looking forward and preparing for the upcoming general election in 2020, the vice-chairman said the party wants their lawmakers to be strong, active and dutiful politicians who the public can rely on. We understand that we all have difficult times in the Parliament as well as on the ground. We want our lawmakers to be strong, active and dutiful people who also can strengthen the party with their work and are also able to stand firmly for the people, he explained. We will only keep the lawmakers who work compassionately for the people with a strong commitment to the party and who strictly follow the rules and regulations of the party, he added. The NLD has issued warnings and expelled a number of its members and lawmakers on the grounds of breaking party rules since it was sworn in as the ruling party. Earlier this month, Yangon regional lawmaker U Kyaw Zeya and Upper House lawmaker Daw Thet Thet Khine, both outspoken and popular lawmakers, were purged from the executive committee of their respective township chapters. NLDs chairperson for Kayah State, Daw Khin Sithu; Shan States chairperson Daw Moe Moe; youth leader U Soe Moe Thu; former army captain and representative U Nyan Lin of Shwepyithar Township in Yangon; and representative U Sein Win from Maubin in Irrawaddy Region, all had party jobs taken from them during 2017. Three more lawmakers were reprimanded in April this year including Upper House representative U Pe Chit; representative U Than Swe of Seikkyi Kanaungto constituency in Yangon; and Mon State representative and Minister for Electricity, Energy and Industry U Min Htin Aung Han. Correction: A previous version of this story used the incorrect honorific title of NLDs Kayah State chairperson. The correct version is Daw Khin Sithu. Also, the party members were not removed from the party as previously stated, but rather had their party jobs taken from them. Burma Political Prisoners Group Joins Calls for Release of Abducted Shan Woman People join a protest against the TNLA's abduction of Nang Mo Hom in Namhkam Township, Shan State, on September 17. / Sai Thein Shwe / Facebook CHIANG MAI, Thailand The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has urged the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) to release Nang Mo Hom, who has been detained for 42 days, on Thursday. In a statement it released on Sept. 27, the AAPP said, From our own experiences while in detention, we know she could face forced confession either by threats or abuses. We, the AAPP, strongly object to this long detention of Nang Mo Hom and are concerned for her physical and mental health. Nang Mo Hom was arrested at gunpoint by TNLA soldiers on Aug. 17 at her home in Namkham, northern Shan State. Earlier this month, the TNLA put her on trial under its own court for obstructing its troops as they attempted to collect customs duties and saying that her actions had resulted in the death of one of the officers in July 2017. Despite calls for her release from the governments National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC), the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, the Namkham Youth Network, her family members and concerned locals, the Shan woman remains in detention. On Sept. 17, thousands gathered to protest in Shan States Namkham Township calling for her release. When contacted on Thursday, TNLA spokesperson Mai Aik Kyaw said, there is no development on the case, which can be implied that they have no intention to release her as of yet. He did not elaborate on details but told The Irrawaddy that they wont comment any further unless there is an update. We are trying to directly communicate with the TNLA as this is a violation of human rights against a civilian. It is also a threat against a woman and it affects the rule of law in the society, said U Tate Naing, the AAPPs secretary. However, he said, the organization is concerned for its own sake as to whether they would be charged under Article 17 of the Unlawful Association Act if they were to communicate directly with the TNLA for Nang Mo Hongs release. We dont know the governments perspective on this, he added, saying that the authorities and their peace-negotiating body, the NRPC, has the responsibility to intervene on this issue. The AAPP urged that any armed forces, including the governments Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed organizations, must work to protect the lives of civilians. Similarly if we ignore such arrests made at gunpoint by any armed group, it creates a worrisome situation for public safety. The Irrawaddy contacted Dr. Tin Myo Win, the NRPCs vice-chairman and chairman of the Peace Commission, to know what efforts the group is making for the Shan womans release on Thursday. However, in response, Dr. Tin Myo Win said it is not my direct job and referred us to the peace commissions secretary for further comments. The secretary of the Peace Commission could not be reached by the time of publication. According to a source close to the NRPC, there are no updates on efforts for securing Nang Mo Homs release as of Thursday. Recent audits have found similar discrepancies and incomplete reports in Sagaing and Irrawaddy regions as well. The disputed funds there were returned in full in July. On Wednesday, however, U Zaw Myint Maung said that current and former regional government officials had met several times over the past few months to discuss the disputed funds and that the previous administration had agreed to return the money by March. The following month the former chief minister, U Ye Myint, said there were no incomplete reports and that there were no missing funds to return . U Zaw Myint Maung revealed in June that a 2017 audit found that discrepancies and incomplete reports related to the use of the regional development fund amounted to 3.75 billion kyats ($2.35 million) between 2012 and 2016, before the current administration took office. The chief minister said his administration has asked the central government to allow the returned funds to be used to develop Mandalay Region. Weve received 500 million kyats as the first payment on Sept. 5. They said they will return the money in four parts and that the last payment will be in March 2019, he said. Mandalay Chief Minister U Zaw Myint Maung told reporters after a session of the regional Parliament on Wednesday that the payment was the first of four installments the previous administration has agreed to make. MANDALAY The Mandalay Region government says the previous administration has returned 500 million kyats ($314,000) in funds it had failed to properly account for while in power. Mandalay Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung talks to the media during a press conference. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy Mandalay Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung talks to the media during a press conference. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy US Almost Doubles Aid For Rohingya in Bangladesh, Myanmar Vietnam Has First Female President, but Activists Are Unimpressed Myanmar Army Chief Says No Right to Interfere as UN Weighs Rohingya Crisis Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week Objections Against Use of Presidents and State Counselors Images in By-Election Campaign 11 Years On, Monk Protesters Still Await an Apology for Brutal Public Beatings Caves Are More than Sites for Buddhist Shrines: Expert Pope Defends China Deal on Bishops, Says He Will Have Final Say on Names USDP Spokesman Says Govt Should Do More to Shield Military Lawmakers Ask President to Help Get Small-Scale Mining in Kachin Approved We do not encourage viewing this site in this width. Please increase the size of your window. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov and his Armenian counterpart Zograb Mnatsakanyan have agreed to continue talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement next month, the press service of the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said following the talks between the two countries top diplomats on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. "The meeting lasted for more than three hours. We exchanged views on the progress in the conflict settlement, on what is to be done to establish lasting peace in the region. We agreed to continue talks next month, including within a visit to the region by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs," the press service cited Minister Elmar Mamedyarov as saying. The talks were mediated by co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. News Flying News: Humanitarian Media Counter Rohingya Refugee Rumors A child reacts while taking measles vaccine through injection at the Jamtoli refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, November 18, 2017. / Reuters PHNOM PENH As aid workers rushed to vaccinate Rohingya refugees against measles earlier this year, rumors swirled through the overcrowded camps in Bangladesh the injections would make women sterile and convert children into Christians. The anecdote, included in an August report from the United Nations childrens agency, UNICEF, illustrates how the refugees, who have fled Myanmar, are vulnerable to misinformation, with little or no access to television, radio, or other media. In response, humanitarians are trying innovative projects to counter rumors translated as flying news in the Rohingya language and to let refugees know how to access healthcare and bolster their shelters against storms, among other advice. More than 900,000 Rohingya, an ethnic and religious Muslim minority in Myanmar, live in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar district, the vast majority in camps, according to UNICEF. About 700,000 of them arrived in the four months after deadly attacks by Rohingya insurgents on Myanmar security forces in August 2017, which were followed by military operations that the United Nations and rights groups said targeted civilians. Myanmar has denied most of the allegations. Aid agencies struggled to accommodate the influx of people, and a year on, the densely-populated camps remain vulnerable to storms that could strike during the cyclone season in October and November, bringing floods and disease. Life in the camps is hard and full of hazards, Fiona MacGregor, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Coxs Bazar, said by email. In such circumstances, it is very easy for rumors and misinformation to spread and it is vitally important people get timely, accurate information about everything from health issues to weather dangers. Radio is a key tool for giving out that information, said MacGregor, especially as there is no formal written version of the Rohingya language. But there are challenges, she added, as very few Rohingya used radios in their homeland across the border in Myanmars Rakhine State. The IOM is distributing 60,000 radios that can be powered with a hand crank, and is setting up listening groups in partnership with organizations including BBC Media Action. Tension is High In the 300 or so groups of about 25 people each, one person leads discussions after listening to programs that are usually stored on a memory stick, said Richard Lace, Bangladesh director for BBC Media Action. The UK-based development charity coordinates with the Bangladesh state broadcaster to produce three shows a week, mostly offering practical information on issues like accessing services and preventing violence against women, said Lace. BBC Media Action also works with a local station, Radio Naf, to produce two programs a week, as well as a panel discussion each month with a live audience of about 75 people that focuses on topics affecting both refugees and local residents. Past panels have tackled the perception that refugees are taking jobs and undercutting wages for day labor, and the mistaken impression their arrival has been accompanied by a big jump in drug smuggling and other crimes, Lace said. Tension is relatively high right now, so its an interesting way to blow off steam, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by Skype from Coxs Bazar. Information Exchange Information flows both ways, as aid agencies also receive feedback from refugees about their concerns via listening group sessions and surveys. The international media development agency Internews produces the written Flying News bulletin, which helps alert aid workers to rumors in the camps as well as dispelling them. A July bulletin, for example, tackled inaccurate information going around that rice and oil distributed to refugees had expired and was making them sick. How to prevent human trafficking and extortion also featured, alongside contact details for trafficking hotlines run by the IOM and the UN refugee agency. You do not have to give money, sex or other favors in exchange for land, goods, food or services, the bulletin advised. Refugees have the right to complain about this, and should report incidents to the agency directly or to another agency they trust. News Lawmakers Urge US to Call Myanmar's Rohingya Campaign Genocide Chairman of the US House Foreign Relations Committee Ed Royce speaks at the Milken Institute's 21st Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, US, on May 1. / Reuters WASHINGTON Leaders of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee called on the Trump administration on Wednesday to declare the Myanmar militarys campaign against the countrys Rohingya Muslim minority a genocide, days after a State Department report stopped short of that description. Making a formal determination of genocide must be the next step for the US, Representative Ed Royce, the committees chairman, told a hearing on the issue. Defining these atrocities for what they are is critical to building international public awareness and support to stop them. The US Department of State, which would make the determination, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Royces statement at the hearing. Royce held the hearing, titled Genocide Against the Burmese Rohingya, just two days after the State Department released a report finding that the military in Myanmar, also known as Burma, waged a well-planned and coordinated campaign of mass killings, gang rapes and other atrocities against the Rohingya. But the report, which could be used to justify further US sanctions against Myanmar authorities, did not describe the actions as genocide or crimes against humanity. US officials said use of language that stopped short of genocide was the subject of fierce debate within the administration that delayed the report for nearly a month. United Nations investigators issued a report a month ago accusing Myanmars military of acting with genocidal intent. Representative Eliot Engel, the top committee Democrat, said the administration should take action, such as referring the matter to the International Criminal Court. The ICC said earlier this month it had begun an examination of whether the alleged forced deportations of Rohingya could constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. Many members of Congress, including President Donald Trumps fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, have called for a stronger response to the crisis, in which almost 700,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh. A declaration of genocide by the US government could have legal implications of committing Washington to stronger punitive measures against Myanmar. This has made some in the Trump administration wary of issuing such an assessment, but pressure from members of Congress, particularly Republicans like Royce, could help influence a decision. Several lawmakers have also asked the administration to press for the release of Reuters reporters Ko Wa Lone, 32, and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who were convicted on Sept. 3 under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act in a case seen as a test of democratic freedoms in Myanmar. The reporters, who pleaded not guilty, said they were handed papers by police shortly before they were detained, and a police witness testified that they had been set up. They had been investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya men and boys as part of a military response to insurgent attacks. Separately, two members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, ranking Democrat Bob Menendez and Republican Todd Young, asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo whether he had asked the Office of the Legal Adviser at the State Department for a formal legal determination of genocide. We ask that you provide a formal legal determination regarding the actions of the Burmese military to Congress without delay, they said in a letter seen by Reuters on Thursday. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. Fast growing PayPal competitor Stripe has announced a $245 million round of new funding, valuing the e-payments company at $20 billion, and has concurrently announced a new global engineering hub in Singapore. Stripe, founded in 2010 by Irish entrepreneur brothers John and Patrick Collison, has received most of its start-up funding from many of the same Silicon Valley venture capital sources as PayPal, including Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen and Sequoia Capital, among others. The company already can list some of the bigger names in tech among its clients, including Google, Uber, and Spotify, while in Australia, Stripe provides financial infrastructure for Airtasker, Canva, and Vinomofo. Stripe says its will use the latest round of funding to scale in key areas, including: Rapidly expanding its international reach and scaling engineering talent around the world; Growing the capabilities of its global payments and treasury network, which lets businesses move money quickly, reliably, and programmatically anywhere in the world; and Continuing to build out its operations and enterprise features, as larger businesses move to the Stripe platform. According to Stripe, while only 3% of global commerce is online today, that number is expected to grow to $4 trillion by 2020. And with more than 500 million people in Southeast Asia and India moving online in the next three years, businesses face a massive opportunity to tap into the globalisation of online commerce. We believe in the contingency of progress, said Stripe chief executive and co-founder Patrick Collison. Better global payments infrastructure will increase economic output, encourage entrepreneurship, and help upstarts compete with incumbents. By bringing Stripe into more markets and building out our capabilities for companies of all sizes, we hope to accelerate innovation around the world. Stripe is currently live in 25 countries. But to enable native buying experiences around the world, the company is building a distributed global engineering team. Adding to existing engineering hubs in San Francisco, Seattle, and Dublin, with the newest hub Singapore. Online payments traditionally involves a sea of gateway providers, credit-card processors, merchant acquirers, and specialised payment methods and wallets that vary across markets around the world. From its early days, Stripe sought differentiation through its ease-of-implementation and pace of innovation, said Jordan McKee, research director at 451 Research. Over the past year, Stripe has broadened its capabilities with new products like Stripe Issuing, Stripe Terminal and Radar for Fraud Teams. The result is an integrated payments platform designed for use by startups and large enterprises alike. Stripe also claims to be building a new kind of integrated technology stack for the programmatic movement of money, which includes: Google's admission that it will revert automatic logins and retention of cookies in its Chrome browser is par for the course, and a replay of an old game that we have seen umpteen times from the company. It was on Monday this week that prominent cryptographer Matthew Green said he would be switching browsers because Chrome had begun to to quietly effect sign-ins for users whenever they visited a Google property. Green got some media traction because of his reputation. A day or two later, it emerged that Google had also quietly instituted another change: when cookies were deleted, Chrome did not delete Google cookies. We had the reassuring words of Google security droid Parisa Tabriz assuring people that there was nothing to be worried about. "We've heard and appreciate your feedback from the last few days, and we'll be making some product changes," tweeted Tabriz, one of the many who is an expert in the art of newspeak at Google. Of course, if nobody had noticed this and complained, then the feature which is, no doubt, of use to Google in its ceaseless bid to collect more data and sell more ads would have stayed. It's like boiling a frog; you dump the animal in, pour water, and then turn up the heat gradually. If you can boil it, excellent. For Google, the users of its Chrome browsers are no better than that frog. Google has a breed of employee that knows no shame. The people who work for the company lie without blinking, from the chief executive Sundar Pichai downwards. In July, soon after the company was hit with a US$5 billion fine by the European Union, the only political bloc which seems to have the cojones necessary to take on these corporates, Pichai tried to make it appear that Google was doing no wrong. In a blog post, mind you. Google's bosses always avoid human contact; they tweet, blog, email, or else send smoke signals. They are afraid to face human confrontation. Pichai claimed in the post: "If you prefer other apps or browsers, or search engines to the preloaded ones, you can easily disable or delete them, and choose other apps instead, including apps made by some of the 1.6 million Europeans who make a living as app developers." That statement is a lie. Donald Trump, no doubt a man whom Pichai abhors, could not better it. Expect those same features in Chrome to appear again a few versions down the line. At that time, they will be masked with others and they won't go away. It's high time to do what Green did initially look for an alternative browser and move. Julian Assange has been cut off from the Internet since March. Lawyers for WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for the last six years, are examining a proposal made jointly by Ecuador and Britain for him to leave the place, a report says. The Associated Press quoted Ecuador President Lenin Moreno as saying on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Wednesday, "we are likely to have a solution to the problem in the medium term". "The British Government has told me that there may be an alternative," he said. "It is an issue that we have decided to keep in reserve with the British government and I want to respect that." Reports in July said that Ecuador President Lenin Moreno had either finalised, or was about to finalise, an agreement with the UK to end asylum protection for Assange. But nothing has eventuated since then. Ecuador has blocked Assange from using the Internet since the end of March, after he criticised alleged human rights abuses by Spain at the time when Catalonia launched protests for independence. Moreno stressed that Assange was not an official at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. In response to reports that claim Ecuador considered sending Assange to the Ecuadorian embassy in Moscow in 2017, he replied that this could have been one of the possibilities. "I understand that a wide range of alternatives was open, of possibilities, and I could have been among those, but it was not decided by that," he said. He said, "unfortunately" the issue could not be resolved at the time. "It is a problem not only because of the presence of Mr Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, but also because of our respect for human rights. Being a refugee for five or six years in an embassy violates their human rights," Moreno said. The Ecuadorian president said Assange had no Internet access, which was cut off in March when Assange expressed his opinions about the Catalan separatist conflict in Spain. "I understand that (Assange) does not have that kind of services precisely to prevent him from doing it again," Moreno said. "But if Mr Assange makes the commitment not to participate in this type of opinion about the policy of brother countries, as it has been with the American policy or Spain, then at that time we would have no problem in which he can continue to use these mechanisms." The Assange saga began when he visited Sweden in August 2010 to attend a conference where he was scheduled to give a talk. During that visit, he had sex with two women whom he met. The pair filed rape and molestation complaints against him later, claims that he denied. He was questioned by Swedish authorities and cleared. He could have left the country then and there, but stayed for a while, in case the authorities decided to question him again. Interpol issued a Red Notice for his arrest on 20 November 2010. On 27 November, Assange surrendered to authorities and appeared before a Westminster judge. He was granted bail in December after his backers provided 240,000 in cash and sureties. A legal back and forth eventuated and went on until June 2012, when Swedish prosecutors sought his extradition. Assange's lawyers, among them the world-renowned Australian Geoffrey Robertson, replied that if he agreed to the extradition request, then he could be flown to the US from there. On 19 June 2012, he jumped bail and took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy, seeking asylum in the South American country. British police surrounded the building and blocked any chance of his leaving. Ecuador granted him asylum in August 2012. He has had to stay inside the four walls of the embassy since then. He was granted Ecuadorian citizenship by a former president of the country, Rafael Correa. Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed heads of the Astrakhan region and Kabardino-Balkaria, the Kremlin website reported. Governor of the Astrakhan region, Alexander Zhilkin, will be replaced by deputy head of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Sergey Morozov. Putin noted that Zhilkin asked to be appoint him to different post. Sergei Morozov expressed gratitude for appointing him, clarified that he is aware how serious this job is, and expressed his readiness to take up a new post. In addition, Putin decided to appoint Kazbek Kokov, who works in presidential administration, acting head of Kabardino-Balkaria. During a working meeting with him, Putin explained that current head of the republic Yuri Kokov asked him to transfer him to a different post in Moscow for a number of reasons, including family issues. Chinese tech giant Lenovos data centre group DCG is partnering with the University of Adelaides Australian Institute for Machine Learning to provide businesses with better access to the technology, expertise and research required to successfully launch an investment in machine learning projects. Under the partnership between Lenovo DCG and AIML, Australian and New Zealand businesses will be provided with both the IT systems and machine learning expertise required to identify, investigate and test the optimum areas within their business to invest in machine learning and deep learning applications. The partnership with the AIML provides customers with a pathway to cutting edge technology and the expertise of the Australian leader in machine learning, says Rob Makin, general manager and group director, Lenovo Data Centre Group. By working with AIML, Lenovo is bringing leading technology and researchers together to tackle customer challenges and deliver on the promise of machine learning and deep learning applications. A recent research survey, commissioned by Lenovo DCG and conducted by YouGov Galaxy, found that four in five IT managers in Australia (79%) are currently investing in artificial intelligence (AI) projects within their organisations. And, despite the level of investment, the survey found that more than half of the companies surveyed (53%) do not believe that their organisation has a clear understanding of AI, machine learning and deep learning. Typically, when a business faces a challenge, they do not have access to the resources or expertise to develop AI applications that can address their specific need. The partnership brings together the technology and knowledge needed to start a business on its AI journey, Makin said. Professor Anton van den Hengel, director of the Australian Institute of Machine Learning at the University of Adelaide, said, Working with Lenovo gives our research team access to the best technology on the market. This partnership will continue the growth trajectory of machine learning research in The University of Adelaide and provide Australian businesses with access to the full benefits of machine learning and deep learning applications. In Australia, the primary use for machine learning and deep learning applications in business is security, and the research found that 13% of organisations with over 100 employees are already using the technology for security/firewalls/spam filters while the main driving force behind machine learning and deep learning comes from IT managers (38%) and the board of directors (21%). The development and adoption of machine learning and deep learning applications stands drive a new wave of growth around the world. By partnering with AIML, Lenovo DCG will help facilitate this growth in Australian business and deliver on the tangible benefits the technology offers." Ericsson and Telstra are trumpeting a technology breakthrough with the successful deployment and testing of Narrowband Internet of Things data connections up to 100km from a base station in Telstras commercial network. The two companies say the testing involved the longest-range NB-IoT connection of its kind, and is a key milestone towards increasing Telstras LTE footprint in rural and regional Australia. The technology breakthrough, designed by Ericsson, extends the 3GPP standards-based limit from around 40km out to 100km and is activated entirely through software upgrades, with no changes required to NB-IoT devices. The innovation is slated as further cementing Telstras leadership as Australias only operator and one of the first globally to offer both NB-IoT and Cat M1 technologies. Telstra launched Cat M1 coverage in 2017 over an approximate three million square kilometres before deploying NB-IoT technology in its IoT network in January 2018. With this new capability, Telstras NB-IoT coverage increases to more than three and a half million square kilometres and will provide enhanced accessibility and reliability. Channa Seneviratne, Telstras executive director, network and infrastructure engineering, says: Telstra already had Australias largest IoT coverage with Cat M1 across our 4G metro, regional and rural coverage footprint. With this NB-IoT extended range feature, we have now extended our coverage to more than three and a half million square kilometres, delivering our customers the best IoT coverage and capability in the country. Once again Telstra, working closely in partnership with Ericsson, has delivered innovation that ensures the benefits of IoT technology can be enjoyed by the largest number of Australians, not just those in the cities and towns. This game-changing capability builds on Ericssons long history of delivering extended range cellular solutions, says Emilio Romeo, Ericssons managing director Australia and New Zealand. Were partnering with Telstra to deliver its customers a world-leading capability in NB-IoT extended range cells and demonstrating the huge opportunity that IoT represents in rural and regional areas for both Australia and globally, particularly for logistics and agriculture. The extended range NB-IoT network capabilities were demonstrated on Telstras mobile network at the Telstra Vantage Conference held in Melbourne last week. In the demonstration the extended-range capability of Telstras mobile network was shown with a Captis NB-IoT temperature sensor, sourced from mIoT, located 94km from the Telstra base station on Mount Cenn Cruaich in New South Wales. And the networks ability to reach difficult urban locations was demonstrated with a Captis sensor from mIoT located three floors below ground level in an underground parking lot in central Sydney that was beyond the reach of regular LTE signals. NBN users in western parts of Brisbane, who are Telstra subscribers and are connected via HFC cable, have been enduring outages right through the week, with the Internet suddenly cutting off as early as 8.10am and reconnecting as late as 6pm. One of those affected, former Age technology journalist Nathan Cochrane, told iTWire that he had been experiencing this situation "every day this week". Update. "[It] starts early (8:10am today) and goes for most of day," said Cochrane, a former resident of Melbourne. "It was nearly 6pm yesterday before it came back on. Telstra either doesnt know whats the problem or isnt saying." He said looking at the network outage page on Telstra's site was of little use. "The outage page blames NBN works. They cant get a tech to me before next Tuesday/Wednesday." Cochrane said thought he had noticed the outages from last Sunday, they could have started a day or two earlier because he and his family had been out all day. "I just got off the phone to Telstra tech support. They said 221 properties are affected in my area (I believe that, based on random addresses I pumped into the Telstra outage page). The call centre agent called it an 'unplanned outage'." Cochrane said tech support had offered him 10GB of free mobile data to tide him over until the problem was fixed. "And he is assigning a complaint case manager," he added. "I told him Im going to the TIO [Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman]." The Telstra tech support agent and Twitter social team were blaming NBN Co "because theyre doing something in the area as part of [former Prime Minister Malcolm] Turnbulls multi-tech mix". Cochrane said the social team's stance was: If the issue lies in the NBN maintained part of the network, Telstra would not get technical information about the outage, but it should be listed on here tel.st/4drrb with any estimate timeframes supplied by NBN". "This is news to me," he said. "A Telstra technician did the fresh install of cable at my address last year when we moved in. NBN Co hasnt communicated with me in this time." Telstra was unable to give an ETA of when his service would be restored. "This experience reveals the absence of any co-ordination between Telstra and NBN Co, a total lack of project communications and community engagement, and the pairs disdain for customers," Cochrane added. A Telstra spokesperson from Queensland told iTWire that the fault would have to be fixed by NBN Co as it was that company's responsibility. Later, the spokesperson said that since this was an NBN fault, it was likely that customers of other ISPs were affected as well. Update, 10 October: An NBN Co spokesperson said: "NBN Co has not yet taken control of the assets in this area to allow us to undertake construction so it is not possible that we have caused the outages in question." Were back! Heres the latest monthly roundup of big and not-so-big news in the world of IoT, ranging from carrier doings to a neat little startup. Buckle up. California legislates IoT security Californias state legislature this month sent a bill to Gov. Jerry Browns desk that would mandate the use of reasonable security features in any connected devices, which are defined as any device that is equipped with a means for authentication outside a local area network. So, essentially, anything that can be accessed via the Internet would be subject to SB 327. As broad as that definition is, the security features that would be mandated if SB 327 is signed into law are quite narrow. The bill bans the use of default passwords for access, requiring manufacturers to either assign each and every device its own unique password as it rolls off the assembly line or to make users generate their own passwords the first time the device is started up. As big an issue as default passwords are for IoT security, theres a lot that the bill doesnt do. Sophos Naked Security blog bemoans the fact that it leaves out other security measures that should be table stakes for IoT security, such as device attestation, code signing, and a security audit for firmware in low-level components that IoT device vendors buy in from overseas suppliers. The tech sector has generally been left to its own devices by regulators and hasnt that worked out swimmingly, from a security standpoint? and its much too early to say whether SB 327 represents a broader change, but its at least a step in the right direction. Carriers double up on IoT Vodafone announced earlier this month that it would double the size of its European NB-IoT network, making it more widely available than ever for use in smart-city solutions, connected agriculture and more. The company boasted that its NB-IoT network will be able to reach into basements and other tricky wireless environments, as well as support up to 50,000 connections from a single cell. Stateside, it looks like AT&T is working on new SIM technology for IoT networks, which would integrate the SIM card directly into a chipset, making it easier to produce low-power connected devices at scale, and eliminating their need to use traditional SIM cards. (Theyve partnered up with Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security and Altair Semiconductor to make this possible on Altairs ALT1250 chipset.) Whats more, Sprint and Ericsson took to the wires this month to announce two new IoT-specific things at the Americas edition of the Mobile World Congress. First, an IoT operating system aimed at simplifying device management and subscription information. And second, a virtualized network segment designed to reduced latency to IoT devices working on Sprints network. The carriers seem to be confident that their role in the future of IoT is a big one, and theyre probably right. Startup Locix tracks IoT assets Stealing out of stealth this month is Locix, which landed a nearly $10 million Series B round to fund its advanced, camera-based location-tracking-and-analysis system. The idea is that Locixs tech can be used to identify and track objects inside or outside of a facility with a high degree of accuracy and flexibility, all while reporting its data back to a cloud-based back-end that can plug into the analytics or machine learning engine of your choice for processing. The flagship customer appears to be Prologis, a real-estate logistics and supply chain company thats using Locixs technology to route trucks around a docking bay in Ichikawa, Japan, as well as asset tracking at that facility. Mobile edge compute, kinda Edge computing is a big deal, particularly in IIoT, where it can help shield vulnerable industrial devices from security threats. The usual image that people have when talking about edge computing the way IoT experts mean it is a box sitting somewhere near a bunch of endpoint devices, but UK-based ORI industries is looking to turn that on its head. ORI announced early this month that it has released an on-demand mobile edge computing platform called DNA. DNA is, essentially, a virtualized layer that sits on top of telecom networks and automatically identifies computing devices near endpoints that can be used to help manage them. For the telecom companies, something like DNA is a way to leverage their massive capabilities into an edge compute line of business, while ORI hopes its also a way for developers to create new apps based on that capability. IWUs Musical Theatre Program Receives National Ranking Sept. 27, 2018 Illinois Wesleyan's 2018 production of Xanadu BLOOMINGTON, Ill. Illinois Wesleyan Universitys School of Theatre Arts (SOTA) has been recognized by OnStage Blog one of the most read theatre websites in the world for ranking seventh on the blogs list of The Top 25 BFA Musical Theatre Programs for 2018-19. OnStage Blogs annual rankings, which recognize the best colleges in the country for performing in addition to dance, design and tech, are part of its efforts to provide families and prospective students with as many resources as possible when determining what college to attend. Coming in seventh was an amazing moment of validation, said Jean Kerr, Director of and associate professor in the SOTA who noted the departments continuing efforts to achieve quality and distinction. Deemed as A truly underrated gem by Onstage Blog, IWUs musical theatre program is a rigorous one, that combines on-stage and behind-the-scenes work, with a liberal arts curriculum. We are asking our students to, in effect, become triple majors: singing, dancing and acting, Kerr said. But we want them to be well-rounded human beings above it all. That is why the liberal arts setting for this BFA degree is so integral to our philosophy. Illinois Wesleyan's 2017 production of South Pacific Kerr added that the success of the program would not have been possible without the top notch faculty and staff, who have experience working in professional theatre and are constantly reviewing the curriculum to ensure that students have the most potent and current information. The entire faculty and staff of SOTA work closely with the students to help them to build theatre skills in all facets of theatre, giving them opportunities to discover more about how they as individuals can fit into theatre and tell stories, Kerr said. SOTA faculty, and staff work together with students to produce two musical productions each year. Every other year, one of these productions is replaced with a faculty choreographed dance concert. Recent musicals include: Giant, FAME, Boys from Syracuse, South Pacific and Xanadu. OnStages ratings are determined by the blogs research staff, which conducts research as if they were prospective students and parents, in order to obtain the most honest impression of a schools theatre program. The research process includes reading a school's website, calling its theatre and admissions departments, talking with alums, contacting professors and taking a campus tour. After looking at each school, team members rate the schools from one to ten in the following categories: Quality of Facilities, Cost and Scholarship Opportunities, Quality of Faculty, Admissions, Auditions and Selectivity, Quality of Curriculum, Career and Alumni Support, and Performance Opportunities. Particular factors that were heavily weighted this year included performance opportunities, value of diversity, and quality of facilities, which Kerr said have been especially important for SOTAs success. Illinois Wesleyan's 2018 production of Xanadu She said in addition to expanding its classroom, studio and rehearsal space into Shaw Hall, SOTA has added a new Music Theatre Library that was gifted by a donor who collected audio and visual recordings of thousands of musicals, operas, dance concerts and cast recordings. This extensive library sets SOTA and IWU apart from almost every other musical theatre program in the country, Kerr said. Because of its rigorous curriculum, faculty and staff, and improvements in performance facilities, SOTAs musical theatre program continues to expand. Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Scott Susong, said the program has doubled from 20 to 40 students over the past 11 years. This year, Susong will select 12 female and 12 male students from approximately 1,000 student auditions. Kerr said the ranking is reflective of SOTAs efforts to continue expanding and improving this high quality program. Theatre takes a village -- the whole village -- to do it well, she said. Illinois Wesleyan also ranked 15th on OnStage's list of "The Top 25 BFA Theatre Design & Tech Programs for 2018-19." Events for the current season, include Diana Sons seriocomic play Stop Kiss from Oct. 3-7; John Kanders and Fred Ebbs musical, Curtains from Nov. 14-18; William Shakespeares A Midsummers Night Dream from Feb. 20-24; and the 2019 Faculty Choreographed Dance Concert from April 10-15. By Vi Kakares 20 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran had no intension to go to war with U.S. forces in the Middle East, where Iran has been involved in proxy wars with U.S. ally Saudi Arabia for decades. "We do not wish to go to war with American forces in the region," the president said, stressing that Iran would remain in a multinational 2015 nuclear deal that Washington exited in May. "As long as the deal serves our interests we will remain in the pact ... Remaining members of the deal have taken very good steps forward but Iran has higher expectations," Rouhani said, adding that expected U.S. sanctions in November on Iran were illegal and "nothing new". Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin has held consultations with his Azerbaijani counterpart Khalaf Khalafov in Baku, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The diplomats discussed a wide range of issues related to political, economic and humanitarian cooperation. "The strategic nature of Russian-Azerbaijan relations has been confirmed. The focus was also on cooperation within international organizations," the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement said. The parties stressed the "importance of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea in boosting cooperation between the Caspian states and strengthening regional security." Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is visiting Baku, addressed a plenary meeting of the 9th Russian-Azerbaijani Regional Forum in Baku. "The 9th interregional forum shows that in the previous years we did not waste our time and were busy working in all areas, which is bringing results," the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza cited him as saying. "While speaking about relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, I would like to point out that relations between our countries are definitely based on the principles of good-neighborliness and mutual respect. We always search for a balance of interests and succeed in finding it," the Russian leader stressed. "Allow me to repeat and remind you about a few things. In any case, in this hall we have representatives of science, the creative community, business, politics and this help us to generally get good results. I would like to point out that interregional links are the most important component of relations between our countries. Seventy Russian regions work closely with the regions of Azerbaijan. The leaders here are Moscow, Moscow Region, St Petersburg, as well as Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, and Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Volgograd, Saratov and Sverdlovsk regions," Putin said. The Russian president went on saying that a package of documents paving the way for the further development of ties between Russia and Azerbaijan had been signed at a summit held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on September 1. Putin noted that about 700 joint ventures were active on the Azerbaijani market, while Russias direct investment in the country exceeds $1.5 billion. "In 2017, the deliveries of Azerbaijani agricultural products to Russia significantly grew - almost by 12% - reaching $500 mln. Our partners have been taking particular interest in this field," Putin said, noting that over 30 Azerbaijani companies were taking part in an international food fair being in Moscow. "The Russia-Azerbaijan Business Council is a great help when it comes to establishing mutually beneficial business contacts. Last year alone, it supported 42 joint projects worth around half a billion US dollars in total," he stressed. According to him, Moscow and Baku continue to implement joint infrastructure projects. "In particular, the North-South International Transport Corridor is being set up - the project involving Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia is aimed at bringing European and Asian markets closer together," Putin said. Register with JOC.com and receive 5 free pieces of content for the first thirty days. After thirty days, you will receive 3 pieces of content and after sixty days you will receive 1 piece of content. To receive full access, Subscribe Today . You can also subscribe to our daily newsletter. Register 4.68 million tonnes Indicated at 11.7% zinc equivalent 5.34 million tonnes Inferred at 9.9% zinc equivalent VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture CEM) ("Constantine" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated mineral resource estimate for the Palmer Copper-Zinc-Gold-Silver deposit, located in a very accessible area of coastal Southeast Alaska. A separate maiden resource for the nearby AG Zone discovery has been deferred until later this year to include recent 2018 drill results that have significantly expanded the extent of this new area of mineralization first identified in 2017. Palmer Deposit Resource Update Highlights: Indicated Resource of 4,677,000 tonnes grading 11.67% zinc equivalent (3.84% CuEq). This represents the first Indicated Resource for Palmer, and accounts for 47% of the total resource. Inferred Resource of 5,338,000 tonnes grading 9.90% zinc equivalent (3.26% CuEq). This includes the addition of new areas of Inferred resource totaling 1.89 million tonnes, for a total tonnage increase of 23%*. First resource to report barite mineralization for the Palmer deposit, highlighting the opportunity for barite to contribute value as an industrial mineral co-product. Palmer Deposit Mineral Resource Estimate at a $75/t NSR Cutoff (effective Date September 27, 2018) Category Tonnes Zn Cu Ag Au Barite ZnEq CuEq (1,000s) (%) (%) (g/t) (g/t) (BaSO 4 %) (%) (%) Indicated 4,677 5.23 1.49 30.8 0.30 23.9 11.67 3.84 Inferred 5,338 5.20 0.96 29.2 0.28 22.0 9.90 3.26 Contained Metal Category Zn Cu Ag Au Barite ZnEq CuEq (M lbs) (M lbs) (M oz) (K oz) (K tonnes) (M lbs) (M lbs) Indicated 539 154 4.2 40.9 1,116 1,203 396 Inferred 612 113 4.5 43.6 1,174 1,166 383 Notes The cut-off date for drill data included in the resource is May 1, 2018. Net Smelter Return (NSR) equals (US$16.01 x Zn% + US$48.67 x Cu% + US$23.45 x Au g/t + US$0.32 x Ag g/t). NSR formula is based on estimated metallurgical recoveries, assumed metal prices, and assumed offsite costs that include transportation of concentrate, smelter treatment charges, and refining charges. Assumed metal prices are US$1.15/lb for zinc (Zn), US$3.00/lb for copper (Cu), US$1250/oz for gold (Au), US$16/oz for silver (Ag). Estimated metal recoveries are 93.1% for zinc, 89.6% for copper, 90.9% for silver (70.8% to the Cu concentrate and 20.1% to the Zn concentrate) and 69.6% for gold (49.5% to the Cu concentrate and 20.1% to the Zn concentrate) as determined from metallurgical locked cycle flotation tests completed in 2018. Barite is not included in the NSR value. Zinc equivalent (ZnEq%) and Copper equivalent (CuEq%) values calculated based on the NSR formula above plus an assumed net-value for barite as described below (e.g. CuEq = (total NSR value + BaSO 4 net-value)/US$48.67. BaSO 4 net-value equals US$0.566 x BaSO 4 % (e.g. a resource grade of 24% BaSO 4 x $0.566 = US$13.6 per tonne or 0.85% ZnEq). Formula based on barite recovery of 91.1% from metallurgical tests, assumed wholesale drilling-grade barite price in nearest North American markets of US$227/metric tonne, and assumed all-in transportation cost of US$150/tonne. Mineral resources as reported are undiluted. Mineral resource tonnages have been rounded to reflect the precision of the estimate. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Garfield MacVeigh, President and CEO of the Company states: We are very pleased to report that this latest update significantly expands and enhances the resource base at the Palmer Project. There is excellent opportunity to continue to expand the current resource, to add to the resource base with the planned maiden resource estimate for the AG Zone, and to make additional deposit discoveries. We are excited to incorporate these positive developments in the Preliminary Economic Assessment, establishing the path forward for this important high-grade base metal asset. Resource Model The mineral resource estimate prepared by James N. Gray of Advantage Geoservices Ltd. is reported in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' NI 43-101 and conforms to the Canadian Institute of Mining "Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practices" guidelines. The resource incorporates all exploration drilling in the Palmer Deposit area completed to the end of 2017. One hundred and eight exploration diamond drill holes for 44,868 meters and geological surface mapping were used to generate the geological and structural model for the South Wall and RW zones. Sixty of the holes intersect the interpreted mineralized solids. Outlier assays were capped and all assays within the mineralized zones composited to 1.5-meter lengths. Metal grades were estimated using inverse distance cubed interpolation into a 3D block model with block dimensions of 6 x 6 x 6 meters. Density was estimated by inverse distance squared interpolation, with unique density values determined by conventional analytical methods for all assay samples. Three dimensional geologic solids were constructed by Darwin Green, Vice President of Exploration and reviewed by QP Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, and, in general, were limited to material grading > 0.5% Cu or > 2% Zn that could be demonstrated to be correlative with definable stratabound zones. As a general rule, solids were extended no more than 50 meters up-dip, down-dip and along strike from a drill hole except where geology supports extension in the plunge direction of mineralization. Indicated Resources include only a portion of the upper part of the South Wall Zone, where drill density and confidence in the geological model are highest. Indicated Mineral Resource blocks meet the criteria of being a minimum 25-meter distance away from the outer edge of the mineralized geological solid, estimated by a minimum of 3 holes, and have a maximum average distance to the third hole of less than or equal to 50 meters; remaining estimated blocks are classified as Inferred Mineral Resource. A total of four solids were constructed for sulphide mineralization: South Wall Zone 1, South Wall Zone 2-3-EM, RW West, and RW East. The complete NI 43-101 Technical Report will be released within 45 days of this news release. Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng, Vice President of Advanced Projects to Constantine Metal Resources Ltd., is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 for the Palmer project. James N. Gray, P.Geo of Advantage Geoservices Ltd. is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 for the resource estimate discussed above. They have reviewed and approved the contents of this release. About the Palmer Project Palmer is a high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide-sulphate (VMS) project being advanced as a joint venture between Constantine (51%) and Dowa Metals & Mining Co Ltd. (49%), with Constantine as operator. The Project is located in a very accessible part of coastal Southeast Alaska, with road access to the edge of the property and within 60 kilometers of the year-round deep-sea port of Haines. A Preliminary Economic Assessment study has been initiated on the Project expected for completion late Q4 2018 to early Q1 2019. Mineralization at Palmer occurs within the same belt of rocks that is host to the Greens Creek mine, one of the worlds richest VMS deposits. VMS deposits are known to occur in clusters, and with at least 25 separate base metal and/or barite occurrences and prospects on the Project, there is abundant potential for discovery of multiple deposits at Palmer. About the Company Constantine is a mineral exploration company led by an experienced and proven technical team with a focus on premier North American mining environments. In addition to the Companys flagship copper-zinc-silver-gold Palmer Joint Venture Project, Constantine also controls a portfolio of high-quality, 100% owned, gold projects that the Company intends to spin out into a separate entity. These include the very high-grade Johnson Tract Au-Ag-Zn-Cu-Pb deposit, located in coastal south-central, Alaska and projects in the Timmins, Ontario gold camp that include the large, well-located Golden Mile property and the Munro Croesus Gold property, which is renowned for its exceptionally high-grade past production. Management is committed to providing shareholder value through discovery, meaningful community engagement, environmental stewardship, and responsible mineral exploration and development activities that support local jobs and businesses. Please visit the Companys website (www.constantinemetals.com) for more detailed company and project information. On Behalf of Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. Garfield MacVeigh President For further information, please visit the Constantine Metal Resources website at www.constantinemetals.com, or contact: Naomi Nemeth Vice President, Investor Relations Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: +1 604 629 2348 Or Garfield MacVeigh, President Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Phone: +1 604 629 2348 *Previous resource estimate of 8.125 million tonne inferred grading 1.41% copper, 5.25% zinc, 0.32 g/t gold and 31.7 g/t silver. See the Company's news release date May 11, 2015 and available on www.sedar.com. Resource estimate utilizes an NSR cut-off of US$75/t with assumed metal prices of US$1200/oz for gold, US$18/oz for silver, US$2.75/lb for copper, and US$1.00/lb for zinc, and estimated metal recoveries determined from metallurgical locked cycle flotation tests. Notes: Forward looking statements: This news release includes certain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively "forward looking statements"). Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as seek, anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, "forecast", expect, "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", budget" and intend and statements that an event or result may, will, should, could or might occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the mineral resource estimate, potential mineralization and geological merits of the Palmer Project and other future plans, objectives or expectations of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Companys expectations include actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future barite and metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and accordingly readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Radius Gold Inc. (TSX-V: RDU) is pleased to announce it has received drill permits for its Coyote hot-springs epithermal gold project near Elko, Nevada and has initiated a detailed CSAMT geophysical survey at its 100% owned Bald Peak hot-springs epithermal gold project near Hawthorn, Nevada. Radius expects to commence drilling at Coyote in the next month and is currently working on drill permits for the 2019 season at Bald Peak. Coyote Project Radius recently received a drill permit for the Coyote Project, located near Elko in a world class gold producing district near the intersection of the prolific Carlin trend (estimated 90Moz gold production since 1965) and the Independence trend (estimated 8Moz gold production since 1981). Radius has signed a drill services contract for Coyote and expects to commence drilling in October. The drill program will target deeply penetrating resistive structures with co-incident rock and soil geochemical gold-antimony-arsenic-mercury anomalies within a surficial sinter hot spring environment. In August 2018, Radius completed a detailed CSAMT and soil geochemical survey at Coyote. The CSAMT survey (see figure 1) defined a coherent (950m by 250m) strongly resistive zone adjacent to and below the surface sinter that extends from surface to the bottom of the geophysical survey at 600m depth and is predicted to represent a sheeted vein system. The recent discovery of the Gravel Creek Gold-Silver Deposit (see note 1) by Western Exploration, approximately 45km north of Coyote, is an excellent analog where a hot spring sinter environment, and anomalous geochemistry and geophysical programs led Western Exploration to target the Tertiary-Paleozoic boundary beneath the system with deep drilling, resulting in spectacular high grade discovery holes at Gravel Creek including: WG373 from 470m to 762m with 291m at 13.52 g/t Au, and WG374 from 457m to 646m with 189m at 34.6 g/t Au Note 1. Information on the Gravel Creek Gold-Silver Deposit was published in New Concepts and Discoveries: Geological Society of Nevada 2015 Symposium, O.D Christensen and J.G. Cleary. Geology and Discovery History of the Gravel Creek Silver-Gold Deposit, Elko County, Nevada. Bald Peak Project The Bald Peak Project is located mainly in western Nevada, with an extension into California. The property was acquired in 2017 (see news release of March 6th, 2017) and subsequently expanded to cover an 8km trend of gold rich sinter terraces and epithermal quartz veins which outcrop along the 8km length of the property (see figure 2). The Bald Peak epithermal system occurs 6km north of and parallel to the trend of the neighbouring Bodie, Aurora, and Borealis mining camps. The property has seen limited shallow drilling, none of which targeted the gold rich sinter occurrences. The sinters evidence that the epithermal system has not been eroded beyond its paleo-surface elevation and thus is likely fully preserved. Radius recently received permission from the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a geophysics survey and has commenced a deep penetrating CSAMT geophysical survey covering the main sinter and vein targets at Bald Peak. Radius expects to integrate the CSAMT data with the results from its previously completed mapping and geochemistry to refine the identified drill targets for the 2019 field season. Radius is currently working on drill permitting with the U.S. Forest Service. Technical Information Bruce Smith, M.Sc. (Geology), a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is Radiuss Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Smith participated in the reported programs and prepared and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Radius Gold Inc. Radius has a portfolio of projects located primarily in the United States and Mexico which it continues to advance, utilizing partnerships where appropriate in order to retain the Companys strong treasury. At the same time, management is seeking out additional investment and project acquisition opportunities across the globe. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Simon Ridgway President and CEO Symbol: TSXV-RDU Contact: Simon Ridgway 200 Burrard Street, Suite 650 Vancouver, BC V6C 3L6 Tel: 604-801-5432; Toll free 1-888-627-9378; Fax: 604-662-8829 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: www.radiusgold.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements which include, without limitation, statements about the exploration plans for the Bald Peak and Coyote Projects; the Companys business strategy, plans and outlook; the merit of the Companys investments and properties; timelines; the future financial performance of the Company; expenditures; approvals and other matters. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimate, estimates, estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, upgraded, offset, limited, contained, reflecting, containing, remaining, to be, periodically, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, the plans for exploring the Bald Peak and Coyote Projects; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Companys quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the exploration activities at the Bald Peak and Coyote Projects will proceed as planned; that the Companys activities will be in accordance with its public statements and stated goals; that all required approvals will be obtained; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its investments or properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Figure 1. Coyote Project - Elko Nevada. Interpreted CSAMT Profile Figure 2. Bald Peak Project sinter target summary VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AZINCOURT ENERGY CORP. (Azincourt or the Company) (TSX.V: AAZ, OTC: AZURF), is pleased to provide an update on the current exploration program at the Lithium One project. Lithium One is one of eight lithium exploration projects currently being explored under a joint venture agreement between Azincourt and New Age Metals (TSX.V: NAM), located in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field (see figure 1). Reconnaissance field exploration in 2016 returned assays from surface exposed pegmatites up to 4.33% Li2O from the Silverleaf Pegmatite, located at the Lithium One project (see New Age Metals News Release, December 8, 2016). There are several clusters of pegmatites at Lithium One that are currently being mapped and sampled as part of the 2018 field program. The Annie Pegmatite (see Figure 2), is a primary area of interest, and is generally underlain by a broad continuous multiphase unit of pegmatitic granite. Detailed mapping has revealed at least two distinct structurally orientations of evolved pegmatite units that may be strataform or oblique along fault structures that offset established stratigraphy. Lithium bearing mineralogy has been discovered in these strataform and oblique evolved pegmatitic structures. Figure 1: Project Location Map Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field. Lithium One is the southern most land package. Sampling and mapping at Lithium One are ongoing. Numerous pegmatites are currently being explored (see Figure 3) and several batches of samples have been sent to Actlabs in Ancaster, Ontario for analysis. Analysis for lithium and other mineralogical content at observed sites within the Annie Pegmatite is being performed, with exploration targeting recommendations to follow. These targeting recommendations will help define potential structural connection implications between the Annie and Silverleaf showings, should they exist. Sample results will be released once received, reviewed and verified. Figure 2: Annie Pegmatite showing in outcrop with abundant SQUI (Spodumene Quartz Intergrowths) mineralization The pen in the photo is 8 cm in length. Figure 3: Pegmatite Location Map. Lithium One Project Manitoba. The circle in the top left of the map is around the two pegmatite showings Silverleaf and Annie on the Lithium One Project. The Silverleaf Pegmatite (see Figure 4) is one of the most visually spectacular and mineralogically complex pegmatites known on the property. Figure 4 is a photo of the prominent spodumene-lepidolite mineralization seen on surface. Numerous other pegmatites of interest have been mapped with the focus being to confirm the presence of lithium bearing spodumene, with the goal to understand and increase the lithium resource potential. To date surface exploration has been completed at the Lithium Two and Lithman East projects and continues at Lithium One. Drill permits for Lithium One and Lithium Two are currently pending approval from the Manitoba government. Figure 4: White spodumene blades in a matrix of lepidolite (Lithium Mica) from the Silverleaf showing. Azincourt Energy New Age Metals Lithium Joint Venture The pegmatites in this region of southeast Manitoba are described as being a part of the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field. Several large lithium-bearing pegmatites exist in this region and exploration activity in the region is increasing. This pegmatite field is host to the world-class Tanco Pegmatite, which is a highly fractionated Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT Type) pegmatite and has been mined in varying capacities since 1969. The LCT-type pegmatites can contain large amounts of spodumene (one of the primary ores used in hard rock lithium extraction) and are a primary geological target in hard rock lithium exploration. They also can contain economic qualities of tantalum and cesium as well as other lithium bearing minerals such as mica. With eight projects totalling over 14,000 hectares the Azincourt-New Age JV is the largest claim holder for Lithium Projects in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field. For a map of the project locations please visit www.azincourtenergy.com. Qualified Person The contents contained herein that relate to Exploration Results or Mineral Resources is based on information compiled, reviewed or prepared by Carey Galeschuk, a consulting geoscientist for New Age Metals. Mr. Galeschuk is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release. About Azincourt Energy Corp. Azincourt Energy is a Canadian-based resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of alternative energy/fuel projects, including uranium, lithium, and other critical clean energy elements. The Company is currently active at its joint venture lithium exploration projects in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field, Manitoba, Canada, at its East Preston and Patterson Lake North uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada, and at the Escalera Group of uranium/lithium exploration projects, located in Southeastern Peru. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF AZINCOURT ENERGY CORP. Alex Klenman Alex Klenman, President & CEO Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release includes forward-looking statements, including forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Azincourt. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information represents managements best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. For further information please contact: Alex Klenman, President & CEO Tel: 604-638-8063 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Azincourt Energy Corp. 1430 800 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6C 2V6 www.azincourtenergy.com The UN Human Rights Council voted Thursday to set up a panel to prepare criminal indictments over atrocities committed in Myanmar, amid allegations of genocide against the Rohingya minority. The top UN rights body voted to establish an ongoing independent mechanism to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011. The text, a collaboration between the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, says the panel will be responsible for preparing files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings in national, regional or international courts or tribunals. Thirty-five of the councils 47 members voted in favour of the resolution while only three China, the Philippines and Burundi voted against. The remainder either abstained or refrained from casting a vote. The text was presented after a damning report was released to the council earlier this month, outlining in meticulous and searing detail atrocities against the Rohingya, who fled a violent military campaign that started in August last year. The 444-page report by a UN fact-finding mission concluded there was enough evidence to merit investigation and prosecution of Myanmars army chief and five other top military commanders for crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya. Troops, sometimes aided by ethnic Rakhine mobs, committed murder, rape, arson and torture, using unfathomable levels of violence and with a total disregard for human life, investigators concluded. More than 700,000 of the stateless Muslim minority took refuge in Bangladesh, where they remain fearful of returning to mainly Buddhist Myanmar despite a repatriation deal between the two countries. The military has denied nearly all wrongdoing, justifying its crackdown as a legitimate means of rooting out Rohingya militants. The UN and rights groups meanwhile say the operations were vastly disproportionate and a troop build-up in the area occurred before insurgents attacked police posts in August 2017. Further pressuring Myanmar, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague independently ruled that it had jurisdiction to open a preliminary investigation, even though the country has not signed the treaty underpinning the court. Thursdays text took note of the ICC ruling, and requested the mechanism to cooperate closely with any of its future investigations pertaining to human rights in Myanmar. The resolution also said the mandate of the UN fact-finding mission should be extended until the new mechanism is operational. Thursdays decision marks the first time the Human Rights Council has itself opted to create such a mechanism. A similar panel was created in late 2016 to build cases for the prosecution of war crimes in Syria, but it was set up following a vote in the General Assembly in New York. Canadas federal court declined Thursday to review a decision to take away the citizenship of a Ukranian immigrant for alleged ties to a Nazi killing squad in World War II. In a statement, the court said the governments finding that Helmut Oberlander had lied about his wartime activities when he arrived in Canada in 1954 was justifiable, opening the door to his deportation. However, he may yet appeal this latest ruling in a long legal saga. Oberlander had been stripped of his citizenship four times over the past 23 years for misrepresenting his past. When he landed in Canada, Oberlander made no mention of his membership in the Einsatzkommando, a Nazi mobile killing squad that systematically executed thousands of people in the former Soviet Union after the German invasion. But each of the governments previous attempts to revoke his citizenship were reversed on appeal, based on claims that he joined the Nazi unit under duress. Oberlander, who became a Canadian citizen in 1960, consistently maintained that he was forced to join the unit because he spoke both Russian and German, and that he only acted as an interpreter. The federal court in its decision upheld the governments conclusion that Oberlander voluntarily made a knowing and significant conribution to the crimes and criminal purpose of this SS killing squad. Canadas parliament voted unanimously on Thursday to effectively strip Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship over the Rohingya crisis. Ottawa had given the long-detained democracy advocate and Nobel laureate the rare honor in 2007. But her international reputation has become tarnished by her refusal to call out the atrocities by her nations military against the Rohingya Muslims minority, which Ottawa last week declared a genocide. In 2007, the House of Commons granted Aung San Suu Kyi the status of honorary Canadian citizen. Today, the House unanimously passed a motion to remove this status, said Adam Austen, spokesman for Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. A brutal military campaign that started last year drove more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh, where they now live in cramped refugee camps fearful of returning to mainly Buddhist Myanmar despite a repatriation deal. Many have given accounts of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and arson. The military has denied nearly all wrongdoing, justifying its crackdown as a legitimate means of rooting out Rohingya militants. But after a fact-finding mission, the United Nations on Thursday set up a panel to prepare indictments against Myanmars army chief and five other top military commanders for crimes against humanity. Suu Kyis democratically-elected government remains in a delicate power balance with the generals, whose presence in parliament gives them an effective veto on constitutional changes. Austen cited Suu Kyis persistent refusal to denounce the Rohingya genocide for the withdrawal of the Canadian honor, which is symbolic and comes with no special privileges. We will continue to support the Rohingyas by providing humanitarian assistance, imposing sanctions against Myanmars generals and demanding that those responsible be held accountable before a competent international body, he added. Honorary Canadian citizenship has only been granted to five others including the Dalai Lama, girls education advocate Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela. APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO LITHUANIA, LATVIA AND ESTONIA [22-25 SEPTEMBER 2018] MEETING WITH THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES, CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER Reception Hall of the Presidential Palace (Riga, Latvia) Monday, 24 September 2018 Mr President, Members of Government and State Authorities, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Representatives of Civil Society, Dear Friends, I am grateful, Mr President, for your kind words of welcome, and for the invitation to visit Latvia that you extended to me during our meeting in the Vatican. I am happy to be here for the first time, both in Latvia and in this city, that, like the entire country, has known difficult social, political, economic and spiritual struggles, the fruit of past divisions and conflicts, yet today has become one of the principal cultural, political and shipping centres of the region. Your contributions to culture, art and music in particular are well known beyond your borders. And today I also was able to appreciate these on my arrival at the airport. With the words of the Psalmist, you can indeed say: You have turned my mourning into dancing (Ps 30:12). Latvia, the land of the Dainas, has turned its sorrows and pain into singing and dancing, and has sought to become a place of dialogue and encounter, of a coexistence that is peaceful and looks to the future. This year you are celebrating the centenary of your nations independence, a significant moment for the life of society as a whole. You know all too well the price of that freedom, which you have had to win over and over again. It is a freedom made possible thanks to your roots that, as Zenta Maurina, who inspired so many of you, observed, are in heaven. Without this ability to look up, to appeal to greater horizons that remind us of that transcendent dignity with which all of us, as human beings, have been endowed (cf. Address to the European Parliament, 25 November 2014), the rebuilding of your nation would not have been possible. That spiritual capacity to see more deeply, as expressed in small and daily gestures of solidarity, compassion and mutual assistance, has sustained you and in turn has given you the creativity needed to generate new social processes, despite the currents of reductionism and exclusion that always threaten the fabric of society. I am happy to know that the Catholic Church, in cooperation with other Christian churches, is an important part of those roots. This cooperation shows that it is possible to build communion within differences. It happens when people are motivated to leave superficial conflicts behind and to see one another in their deeper dignity. Indeed, when we, as individuals and communities, learn to look beyond ourselves and our particular interests, then understanding and mutual commitment bear fruit in solidarity. Such solidarity, understood in its deepest and most challenging sense, becomes a way of making history in a region where conflicts, tensions and even groups once considered inimical can attain a multifaceted unity that gives rise to new life (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 228). The Gospel has nourished the life of your people in the past; today it can continue to open new paths enabling you to face present challenges, to value differences and, above all, to encourage com-union between all. The celebration of this centenary reminds us of how important it is to treasure Latvias freedom and independence. These are certainly a gift, but also a task for everyone. To work for liberty is to commit oneself to the integral and integrating development of individuals and the community. If today we can celebrate, it is due to all those who blazed trails and opened a door to the future, and bequeathed to you that same responsibility: to open a door to the future by looking to everything that stands at the service of life, of generating life. At the conclusion of our meeting, we will go to the Freedom Monument, where children, young people and families will be present. They remind us that the motherhood of Latvia analogously echoed in the theme of this Visit is reflected in the ability to promote truly effective strategies centred more on the concrete faces of these families, elderly persons, children and young people, than in the primacy of economy over life. Latvias motherhood is also manifested in her ability to generate employment opportunities, so that no one will need to be uprooted in order to build a future. The index of human development is likewise measured by the capacity to increase and multiply. The development of communities is not produced, much less measured, solely by the amount of goods or resources they possess, but rather by their desire to engender life and build for the future. This is only possible to the extent that they are rooted in the past, creative in the present, and confident and hopeful in looking to the future. Then too, it is measured by their capacity for self-sacrifice and commitment, in imitation of the example of past generations. Mr President, dear friends: As I begin my pilgrimage in this land, I ask God to continue to accompany, bless and prosper the work of your hands in the service of this nation. 175 Shares Share When I first announced my boyfriend and I were engaged, I was met with follow up questions. When is the wedding? How did he do it? And, inevitably, Will you be taking his last name? My reply to the latter was often met with a furled brow. I heard, I am surprised you of all people would take someones last name. Thats great though! Similar responses repeatedly caught me off guard. During the process of changing my last name, I learned that it would be both logistically challenging and professionally costly. What many consider a benign and even mundane marriage custom is actually an underappreciated sacrifice many women make when they marry. My journey began at a social security office, followed by the DMV, then waiting for updated documents to be created and filed. Once completed, I was positioned to submit paperwork to my school, employers, insurers, retirement planning agency, etc. After the legal name change process, the time came to tackle my internet presence: email addresses, social media accounts, professional association memberships, academic systems, such as USMLE and the registrars office, and the like. These changes impacted my professional life and represent a burden that likely affects women disproportionately. Whats in a name anyway? A lot. People sacrifice inches off their resumes to display it in large font. It is the first piece of information shared when encountering a new person. Before marrying, I spent years building my network, professional, virtual and personal with the name Cecilia Bonaduce. Google search results for Cecilia Bonaduce show links to my articles, a YouTube video I made at UC Berkeley and more. Googling Cecilia Leggett yields the White Pages and a YouTube video of a lovely couples wedding a different set of Leggetts. Employers and residency programs often Google applicants, in my case, one search result delivers a noteworthy history while the other a vacancy. The last name is key to accumulating academic currency publications. I got married around the time I was preparing my first paper. I often joke that my husband married me when he signed our marriage certificate while I married him when I submitted my manuscript with the name Cecilia Leggett. Joking aside, the cost of changing your last name for professional women can be significant. My local newspaper and my states medical association published a couple of articles of mine over the years. UC San Diego School of Medicine has a very supportive faculty, and I would often receive brief emails from my attendings who came across my writing. Recently, I ran into one such attending while on the wards. I saw them recognize my face, but struggle to place it. They glanced at my name badge but the name they remember, the name they saw in an article that prompted the kind message a year earlier, did not match the name on the badge. Changing my last name resulted in some unwanted anonymity. I changed my name halfway through third year of medical school. My badge changed first. Weeks later, my email address. My name on record with the registrars office: married; at student health: maiden; on electronic medical record notes: maiden. The name on the evaluation forms that determine my grades? I honestly have no idea. I feared my evaluators would see my maiden name for the first time on their evaluation form and think: Never heard of her. She must not have made much of an impression. In terms of logistics, social security and DMV offices are only open during standard business hours. Consequently, I had to ask to come in late, leave early or extend my lunch for personal reasons, an excuse often accompanied by judgment, especially in the medical community. Requesting even an hour off from a rotation is frowned upon and can be interpreted as misplaced priorities or disinterest in the clinical work. So why not keep my maiden name? I would finally become Dr. Bonaduce while avoiding the nightmarish logistics of legally changing my name. There are pragmatic benefits to having a single name for a family. Of equal importance, it mattered to my partner, though he never pushed the issue. Nonetheless, I had my reservations. I felt alone in this process, embarrassed by my reluctance to changing my name while simultaneously abashed about participating in such a gendered tradition. I finally put a label on the situation: a sacrifice. Three years ago my husband gave up his blossoming career and robust group of friends in Washington, DC, to accompany me to California to pursue my profession. In less than a year, he will make the same sacrifice again after the results of the Match are released. This was a sacrifice he made for us. Similarly, taking his name is a sacrifice I am making for the life we are building together, though many view this as a given and not as a sacrifice at all. Reinforcing my network and re-introducing myself has been more confrontational than I had anticipated. I often have to correct people, including my superiors, when they use my maiden name. These corrections highlight my recent name change which inevitably results in a conversation about my personal life. It also highlights the fact that I am, indeed, married which can be a cause for bias against women in medicine. I have many female friends who plan to leave their wedding rings at home when interviewing for a job or residency due to concern they may be perceived as being less committed to their careers. While men may be appreciated for being family-oriented women are often judged for having such commitments. Ultimately, I write this not to lament my decision, but to celebrate and recognize women (and men) who choose to change their last names. Though sometimes brushed off as commonplace or, simply, expected, at the end of the day, changing your last name should be recognized for what it is a truly grand gesture. Cecilia Leggett is a medical student. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Renowned Kilkenny city centre bar, restaurant and smokehouse, Paris Texas, has scooped the coveted Best Outdoor Space title in the south east section of the Irish Pub Awards 2018. Matt the Miller won the Best Music Pub award for the second year - bolstering Kilkennys challenge for national honours in the All Ireland section of the awards in November. The wins were confirmed at the regional finals in Kilkenny on tonight, Wednesday, October 26. Reacting, Paris Texas owners, Pat and Pamela Crotty said: Were delighted to receive this award in the Irish Pub Awards for the Best Outdoor Space in the South East. Outdoor spaces like ours were very busy during the great summer weve had and were hoping this win will put us further on the map as a great place to enjoy a night out. Were very proud of this great team effort and are extremely thankful to our customers for supporting us over the years. We are very fortunate to have an incredibly hard-working, loyal team at Paris Texas. They are our daily ambassadors and the true champions here. This award is for them and are testament to their continuous efforts, day in, day out. Winning in Leinster is great. We are very humbled, incredibly thankful. Its a huge confidence boost to get such recognition. But like all Kilkenny teams, we want to drive on now and focus our attention on an even bigger prize the prospect of winning a national title in November. Paris Texas was a finalist in the SKY Bar of the Year Awards last year and also shortlisted in the Small Firms Association Small Business of the Year Awards in 2016. They were nominated for the Best Whiskey Bar in Leinster award in the Irish Whiskey Awards, run by the Irish Whiskey Association and the Celtic Whiskey Shop last year. Further silverware could be on the way in that competition too, they hope, as Paris Texas has been nominated again this year. The Herald editorial: There can be no doubt the Derek Handley saga is a train wreck that is now threatening to derail confidence in the Government. However, yesterday the PM found herself having to fend off accusations she had misled Parliament over her own communications with Handley, Finance Minister Grant Robertson was forced to correct his answer in Parliament over emails between Handley and Curran, and new Digital Services Minister Megan Woods was clearly forced to finally call Handley to apologise for the impact this has had on him and his family. She also had to retract her statement there had been a confidentiality agreement with Handley over his financial settlement. What a shemozzle. So four different Ministers have misled Parliament, either by accident, or deliberately Ardern, Robertson, Curran and Woods. That must be a record for one issue. The public needs to be confident there is no political interference in a public appointment. And what about the Governments assurance it was going to be more open and transparent? At least one commentator yesterday said Ardern had been economical with the truth. This is a serious black mark for the Government. The overall unease around communication, competency and transparency over this issue is now raising questions about the PMs leadership and the Governments integrity in general. Ive been listening to a podcast on the Clinton impeachment. Clinton still maintains he never ever told a lie about having sexual relations with Lewinsky as he claims she had sexual relations with him but he did not have sexual relations with her. It seems the sort of pin pricking argument Ardern now uses to say she didnt mislead the House on Handley and didnt mislead the public on NewstalkZB when she denied cutting ties with Curran. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More Reddit Pinterest Print Tumblr Stuff reports: The murder rate has hit a 40-year-low, police say. Figures to June 2018, put the number of murders in New Zealand in 2017 at 35 a rate of seven for every million people. Police said, however, that as investigations were on-going in some of those cases, the data would continue to change. It was likely to take up to two years before figures stabilise. Murder rates peaked in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, with the worst year being 1986 when there were 24 murders for every million people, with 79 murders in total. The rate of 7 and absolute number of 35 is the lowest since 1977. While murders are a sub-set of violent crime, they are by far the worst. 1959 is the last year in which there were no murders. I thought it would be interesting to look at what the murder rate was for each recent Government. Not because the Government are in any way responsible, but to give an idea of how rare homicides were during each era. Muldoon Government 12.7 murders/million Lange/Palmer Government 21.2 Bolger/Shipley Government 16.4 Clark Government 13.2 Key/English Government 10.3 So a big increase in the late 80s, and a good downward pattern since. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More Reddit Pinterest Print Tumblr The British newspapers are all reporting that one of the two tourists who has been charged with the Salisbury poisoning is a GRU Colonel who has been decorated by Putin. The fact that Putin personally trotted them out to explain they were tourists can leave no doubt that he personally signed off on the attempted assassinations. The evidence now is pretty overwhelming. The man poisoned was a Russian defector and double agent The nerve agent used was developed in Russia The two men charged spent barely two hours in Salisbury and were seen walking past the home where the nerve agent was spread Novichok was found in the hotel room the two men stayed in Their passport file included a telephone number for Russian Ministry of Defence Surely it is time for New Zealand to take some action and expel some Russian diplomats. Share this: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More Reddit Pinterest Print Tumblr By Park Ji-won Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Rep. Lee Hae-chan will head to North Korea next month with a 150-member delegation to participate in an inter-Korean event to commemorate the Oct. 4 Declaration in Pyongyang, sources said Thursday. A unification ministry official said, "The visit is based on an agreement between the two Koreas to hold a ceremony to commemorate the 11th anniversary of an inter-Korean declaration adopted under former President Roh Moo-hyun on Oct. 4 in 2007 in Pyongyang." "The two Koreas are having discussions to decide on the details, including the time and size of the event." By WestKyStar & Baptist Health Paducah Staff Sep. 27, 2018 | 07:30 AM | PADUCAH The group will meet at 6 pm the first Tuesday of each month in the Atrium Classroom on the second floor of Medical Park 2. The first meeting will be October 2. The Congregational Network for Healthcare was organized in 2016 to provide a continuity of care to patients after they leave the hospital with the help of volunteers representing congregations throughout the region. The program is meant to help pastors minister to their congregations and surrounding community. The programs chaplain navigator is Rick Johnson and the nurse navigator is Ruthanne Cockrell, RN. For more information on the support group, call 270-415-7695. Baptist Health Paducah Congregational Network for Healthcare, in partnership with First Baptist Church Paducah, is providing a new support group for caregivers Season of Honor. Season of Honor will help caregivers through common experiences, emotional encouragement and spiritual support. By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2018 | 06:06 AM | PADUCAH Randy Beeler with the Sons of the Confederate Veterans of Paducah says the group wants the city to reconsider a policy banning the Confederate flag from being flown at its annual Veterans Day parade.Beeler spoke at the Paducah City Commission meeting on Tuesday, asking for commissioners to rescind the resolution. Beeler said he and his group, who have been working to change the policy since it was implemented last May, still want to find a resolution to their situation before the upcoming Veterans Day Parade.Beeler asked for the commission to rescind the resolution, and said he and his group would not ask to be in the parade.Mayor Brandi Harless said the resolution states that one of six armed forces flags are to be flown during the Veterans Day Parade and said those are the rules. But she told Beeler the commission has never said his group could not be a part of the parade. Harless said they can be, as long as one of the six designated flags is flown.A parade board meeting, which will be closed to the public, will be held on Thursday, Oct. 4. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2018 | PADUCAH By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 26, 2018 | 10:49 AM | PADUCAH Discussion continues among Paducah city leaders about the future of the Keeton Corrections halfway house, after recent escapes have put the facility at 621 Clarence Gaines Street in the spotlight. Commissioner Richard Abraham has been vocal in bringing the Keeton issues to light, introducing an ordinance passed on Aug. 28 that requires private correctional facilities to notify area residents and law enforcement within 30 minutes of a reported escape. He has expressed a desire to see the facility eventually closed, citing public safety and property concerns. Abraham inquired at Tuesday's Paducah City Commission meeting about why a letter he wrote Aug. 19 to Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Secretary John Tilley and Gov. Matt Bevin regarding concerns about escapes from the facility wasn't ever sent. He asked Mayor Brandi Harless to explain why it was held up. Youre not going to get any response from my letter, because its on your desk," Abraham said. "Where might you get that authority to hold up my letter that I sent to Frankfort as a Commissioner of the City of Paducah? Explain to me how you hijacked my letter. "With all due respect, I definitely did not hijack your letter," Harless responded. "Because we are on a team, it means we typically act as a team. I never wielded authority over this decision. I asked the question to our other commissioners on our team: Do you feel comfortable with this letter? And the resounding answer was: No, I do not." Harless added that Abraham was the only one to sign the letter, which was drafted on city letterhead, and some other commissioners were uncomfortable with his unilateral approach. Commissioner Sandra Wilson weighed in, saying that she thinks it's better for all commissioners to be on board before sending a letter out to state government officials. "In my humble opinion, when we're dealing with the state government or the federal government, we do have so much more strength when we appear as a united community. If that letter is going to be sent, to me it should have been sent from the City Commission." Wilson said. Commissioners did agree to draft an open records request to the State of Kentucky to ask what is contractually required regarding the operations of the Keeton facility. Abraham said the request will help the commission look into exactly what is required by the state, and which of these policies may need to be addressed further. By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 25, 2018 | 10:15 PM | GRAVES COUNTY Graves County Schools raised its tax rate on Monday. The tax increase is 3.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, with 1.1 cents to go into the general fund and 2.8 cents to go into the building fund. Superintendent Kim Dublin says the increase in a resident of Graves County's total tax bill should be in the neighborhood of $3 to $6 a month for most people. School districts are not allowed to raise their tax rates by 4 percent without recall. They are allowed to set a rate that produces 4 percent more revenue than the year before. In Graves County's case, this amounts to 1.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That amount of the tax increase cannot be recalled by a vote. The additional 2.8 cents of the 3.9 cent total is the recallable portion. Of the proposed tax increase, Dublin said the 1.1 cent portion will go toward new student resource officers. The 2.8 cent recallable portion will go to renovate Lowes Elementary School and replace the HVAC at Farmington Elementary. Without the increase, Dublin says renovations to Lowes will not happen. A small group of Graves County residents has formed a committee to petition against the tax hike. They want to put the issue on the ballot and give voters a chance to repeal the tax hike. The committee needs 1,680 valid signatures in the next 30 days, and then the process for verification can begin. 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(20) Apr 08 (36) Apr 07 (22) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (28) Apr 04 (20) Apr 03 (29) Apr 02 (32) Apr 01 (18) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (15) Mar 28 (22) Mar 27 (24) Mar 26 (17) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (13) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (15) Mar 20 (18) Mar 19 (19) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (10) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (18) Mar 14 (24) Mar 13 (18) Mar 12 (18) Mar 11 (17) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (18) Mar 07 (25) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (16) Mar 04 (22) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (23) Feb 29 (19) Feb 28 (25) Feb 27 (26) Feb 26 (23) Feb 25 (12) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (15) Feb 22 (26) Feb 21 (31) Feb 20 (12) Feb 19 (21) Feb 18 (15) Feb 17 (10) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (19) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (20) Feb 11 (9) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (28) Feb 08 (20) Feb 07 (22) Feb 06 (20) Feb 05 (19) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (16) Feb 02 (28) Feb 01 (37) Jan 31 (27) Jan 30 (31) Jan 29 (18) Jan 28 (14) Jan 27 (10) Jan 26 (18) Jan 25 (26) Jan 24 (34) Jan 23 (21) Jan 22 (21) Jan 21 (18) Jan 20 (18) Jan 19 (18) Jan 18 (26) Jan 17 (24) Jan 16 (23) Jan 15 (30) Jan 14 (20) Jan 13 (18) Jan 12 (24) Jan 11 (11) Jan 10 (23) Jan 09 (22) Jan 08 (17) Jan 07 (17) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (18) Jan 04 (15) Jan 03 (19) Jan 02 (14) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (15) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (7) Dec 26 (10) Dec 25 (16) Dec 24 (13) Dec 23 (16) Dec 22 (11) Dec 21 (26) Dec 20 (28) Dec 19 (14) Dec 18 (25) Dec 17 (23) Dec 16 (19) Dec 15 (22) Dec 14 (38) Dec 13 (26) Dec 12 (25) Dec 11 (27) Dec 10 (31) Dec 09 (15) Dec 08 (30) Dec 07 (31) Dec 06 (27) Dec 05 (38) Dec 04 (25) Dec 03 (27) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (36) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (17) Nov 28 (23) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (16) Nov 25 (14) Nov 24 (18) Nov 23 (21) Nov 22 (21) Nov 21 (24) Nov 20 (20) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (17) Nov 17 (17) Nov 16 (34) Nov 15 (25) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (21) Nov 12 (18) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (12) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (4) Oct 29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1) - T. S. Eliot Thoughts After Lambeth "The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide." United Nations, Sep 26 (AFP) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani predicted Wednesday that the United States would eventually rejoin an international nuclear deal, saying talks this week at the United Nations showed his counterpart Donald Trump's isolation. "The United States of America one day, sooner or later, will come back. This cannot be continued," Rouhani told a news conference. "We are not isolated; America is isolated," he said. Rouhani pointed to a session of the Security Council chaired by Trump earlier Wednesday, where the leaders of Britain and France backed the nuclear deal, as well as a statement by European powers who say they will find ways to continue business with Iran and evade impending sanctions. "We do hope with all the law-abiding and multilateral-oriented countries that we can ultimately put this behind us in an easier fashion than it was earlier anticipated," Rouhani said. The elected Iranian leader said that his government would stay in the 2015 agreement, under which Tehran sharply scaled back its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. "Until such time that we keep reaping the benefits of that agreement for our nation and people, we shall remain in the agreement," he said. "Should the situation change, we have other paths and other solutions that we can embark upon," he said. Rouhani downplayed the sharp words from the US administration, including a warning Tuesday by Trump's national security advisor, John Bolton, that Iran would have "hell to pay" if it crosses the United States. "During the past 40 years we have been subjected to that type of language many times," he said. "In this American administration, unfortunately, the language has been said to be somewhat unique and they speak with a different style, presumably because they are new to politics," he said. (AFP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Karachi, September 27: After Pakistan's Asia Cup debacle, skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has assured of making required changes in the team while adding that there is no need to press the panic button. The 31-year-old further stated that their disappointing performance in the prestigious tournament has set off an alarm bell for his captaincy as well, but admitted that they need to retrospect, collectively. "Changes will happen but I don't think we need to press the panic button. I accept the mistakes we've done as a team. We have to back these guys. Of course, we will have to look at which players are best suited to which positions and whether there are players outside the team who can play a role," the Express Tribune quoted Ahmed, as saying. "This kind of performance set off alarm bells for me as a captain and for the team overall. We will have to sit down and see what went wrong and try to fix things," he added. Speaking about the team's overall performance, the wicketkeeper-batsman said that a lot of the star performers did not perform well in the tournament, adding that lack of experience in the side was another major reason behind their ouster. Pakistan vs Bangladesh Highlights Asia Cup 2018: BAN Win by 37 Runs, Qualify for Fina. "Fakhar is a regular for a year now, but he didn't perform in this tournament. Imamul Haq performed well, but players like Babar Azam, Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan didn't live up to the expectations. These are all young players, we have to back them as we will have to go forward with them. We'll also have to look at those on the bench and give them chances accordingly as well," Ahmed said. "Lack of experience also played its part. Since I became the captain in 2017, there were no senior players in the team besides Muhammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik. Hafeez was in the squad for the last series but we couldn't find a spot for him in the playing XI, whereas Malik is still here with us," he added. Reflecting on his own performance in the tournament, Ahmed admitted that he did not perform up to the mark. "I accept that my performance was not up to the mark as well. I should have performed well as a captain but I didn't and due to that, I believe the team lost," he said. Pakistan had slumped to a thumping 37-run debacle at the hands of Bangladesh in their Super Four clash to bow out of the prestigious 2018 Asia Cup. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington, Sep 27 (PTI) US President Donald Trump had a handshake with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during a luncheon in New York, the White House said, but Qureshi described it as an "informal meeting" when they discussed bilateral ties. The episode happened on Tuesday at a luncheon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Qureshi in an interview to the official Pakistani media described it as an "informal meeting" with Trump during which, he claimed, they discussed matters relating to bilateral relations. "I met with President Trump at the reception where I had the opportunity to discuss Pak-US relations with him. I requested him to rebuild the cordial relations that we have enjoyed in the past," Qureshi told Pakistan Television. Several Pakistani media outlets, including Dawn and Pakistan Tribune, reported the "informal meeting" citing the PTV report. According to official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan, Qureshi received a "positive response" from Trump, who said they intend to "rebuild" the bilateral relations. However, the White House said only a handshake happened between the two at the luncheon. "It was a handshake at a luncheon with other world leaders," a National Security Council spokesperson told PTI. Informed sources in New York tracking Trump's engagement confirmed to PTI that Trump had no meeting with Qureshi and that it was never planned. The pool of reporters who follow Trump and report about his meetings with the world leaders did not mention the US president's meeting with Qureshi either. The White House pool, which covered the luncheon, also did not mention Trump having a long chat with Qureshi, which would have had come to the attention of the reporters. "Spotted: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly approached Trump and shook his hand as Trump stayed seated at the head table just before lunch started," a White House pool report said. "He (Trump) is shaking hands and mingling," it said. The luncheon was hosted by the UN secretary general in honour of the heads of state and government. The lunch kicked off at 1:27 pm (local time), with the secretary general offering the introductory remarks, according to a White House pool report of the luncheon. "Trump sat with his arms crossed and occasionally nodded. Secretary general offered a toast and Trump took a sip of what appeared to be a glass of red wine after the toast. Trump began his remarks at 1:31 pm," the report stated. "I've long said the United Nations has great potential...," Trump said according to the report. "His toast ended at 1:33pm. Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is seated at Trump's table as is Croatia president, others unknown," the pool report stated. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New York, Sept 27 (PTI) The attitude of only one country is hampering the spirit of the SAARC, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday as he accused India of being an obstacle in regional cooperation. Qureshi's comments after he participated in the the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation council of foreign ministers meet here on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also attended the meeting but left early. Qureshi said he did not talk to his Indian counterpart. "She left the meeting mid way. May be she was not feeling well," he told reporters after the meeting. "She (Swaraj) talked about regional cooperation. My question is that how is regional cooperation possible if the nations in the region are ready to sit and you are the obstacle in those talks," he said. Qureshi said of the nations want to achieve something from the SAARC forum they need to move forward. "I am not hesitating in saying that for the progress and success of the SAARC and for the connectivity and prosperity of the region, there is only one obstacle. The attitude of only one country is hampering and not letting the spirit of the SAARC and of the founding fathers fulfilled," he said. The remarks came days after cancellation of proposed talks between Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan by New Delhi. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) United Nations, Sep 26 (AFP) South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday urged world governments to encourage North Korea to advance toward denuclearization by "responding positively" to leader Kim Jong Un's "new choices". Addressing the UN General Assembly, Moon praised his North Korean counterpart -- with whom he has held three summits -- saying he had "changed the direction of the political situation" on the Korean peninsula. "North Korea moved out of longstanding isolation on its own initiative and stands before the international community once again," Moon said. "Now it is the international community's turn to respond positively to North Korea's new choices and efforts." Moon, who has embraced dialogue with the North, advocates a step-by-step approach that would push Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in exchange for a gradual easing of sanctions. That stance, however, is challenged by the United States and Japan, which maintain that North Korea must have fully dismantled its weapons programs before any of the sanctions can be lifted. Moon argued that it was time for a gesture toward Kim. "We must assure Chairman Kim that he has made the right decision in committing to denuclearization," he said. "We must encourage North Korea to stay on the path that leads to permanent and solid peace." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier met with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho in New York and later announced that he will return to Pyongyang next month to push ahead with denuclearisation. Pompeo will also try to arrange a second summit between Trump and Kim, whose meeting in June in Singapore was the first ever between leaders of the two states. Led by the United States, the Security Council last year slapped three rounds of sanctions targeting North Korea's economy with the aim of cutting off sources of revenue for Pyongyang's weapons program. The United States is facing calls from Russia and China to consider easing sanctions to create an incentive for Pyongyang to move forward. Pompeo on Thursday will address a Security Council meeting on North Korea. Despite the warming of ties, there has been little concrete action towards denuclearization and there remains skepticism about Kim's intentions. At the last Kim-Moon summit in Pyongyang, the North Korean leader agreed to close a missile test site in the presence of international monitors and offered to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear plant if Washington takes "corresponding measures." (AFP) PMS (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) With the rise of crypto-currencies, staying afloat in a market that has such an abundance of them requires a level of advice that is hard to find in most cases. This is why it is absolutely imperative to have someone who understands the market and is able to provide one with all of the insider details that any ICO needs to become successful. Luckily, Antoun Toubia is one person that has managed to make this a possibility for a multitude of different companies. An investment services professional with over 7 years of experience in private equity investments and funds, and two years in venture capital and hedge funds, along with 5 years in Blockchain technology and crypto-currencies, Antoun Toubia manages to bring something to the table that is quite difficult to acquire in most cases. He is the owner of United Capital Investments S.A. a renowned company working on a multitude of different crypto-currency related projects. Having strong connections with Middle Eastern Markets allows him to tap into many investors in the Gulf Region, including areas from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and more and this is something that has assisted. Any successful crypto-currency requires an ICO adviser who is able to provide them with all of the required details. Having worked with renowned companies like NetzCoin, Otcrit Platform while also working closely on the creation of PEBEX a new mineable cryptocurrency coin, has allowed Antoun to give all of the required experience and intricacies that many other ICO advisors of today severely lack. About Antoun Toubia Antoun Toubia is an investment services professional with 7 years of experience in Private Equity investments and Funds, two years in venture capital and Hedge Funds, 5 years in Blockchain Technology and Crypto-Currencies. He is building a new type of Private Equity Portfolio Fund based on the Blockchain technology, already established connection and signed contracts with government backed companies. His current focus is in investment analysis and helping companies getting funds by launching ICOs for them and attracting investors, building complex models and learning quickly about new industries and markets. He has participated in jointventure negotiations, acquisitions, IPOs-ICOs and venture financing deals. His projects are in different categories, like Fintech, Green Energy Investments, Blockchain based and the list is quite extensive. Entrepreneurship and leadership are two of his qualities that cannot be underestimated. For more iformation: www.antountoubia.com Media Contact Contact Person: Antoun Toubia Email: Send Email City: Dubai Country: United Arab Emirates Website: www.antountoubia.com Bamako, Sep 28 (AFP) Twenty-seven people were killed in clashes between members of the same Tuareg tribe in Mali's troubled northeast earlier this week, the West African state's security ministry said. Previous reports said 12 people had died in the violence on Tuesday, which took place in a region near the Niger border affected by chronic unrest between local tribes and jihadist militants. "Clashes occurred in the area of Inekar, 45 kilometres (28 miles) west of the town of Menaka, between members of the Idourfane community," a Tuareg tribe, the ministry said in a statement Thursday. "This unfortunate event has unfortunately cost the lives of 27 people, and injured one." Army troops supported by police have been deployed to the region to stabilise the situation and "find out the motive for such a violent outburst within a single community". A local official earlier said that "armed men on motorcycles killed at least 12 civilians," citing a resident of the town who claimed to have seen the bodies. The official, who asked not to be named, added that "for now we do not know exactly who did it. I don't know if it was the result of a dispute between tribes or a terrorist act." About 200 people, many of them civilians from the Fulani and Tuareg tribes, have been killed in the area this year. It has been a violent week for Mali, one of Africa's poorest states, after seven soldiers and a civilian driver were killed in the centre of the country on Wednesday when their vehicle hit explosives. Mali's unrest stems from a 2012 Tuareg separatist uprising which was exploited by jihadists in order to take over key cities in the north. The extremists were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013. But despite a 2015 peace agreement between the government and the Tuareg rebels, large stretches of the country remain out of the control of Malian, French and UN forces, which are frequent targets of attacks. Jihadist violence, meanwhile, has spread from northern Mali to the centre and south and spilled into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often exacerbating communal conflicts. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was re-elected in August after vowing to restore peace to the restive north of the Saharan country. (AFP) ABH (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New York, Sept 26: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will take up the issue of loan-fraud accused Mehul Choksi's extradition in her meeting with Antiguan counterpart EP Chet Greene. The two foreign ministers are scheduled to meet today on sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Based on New Delhi's complaint, the Interpol has already issued red-corner notice against Choksi, who is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the tune of Rs 13,800 crore. Choksi's nephew and fellow diamantaire Nirav Modi is co-accused in the alleged fraudery case. Mehul Choksi Claims 'Threat to Life' in India, Moves Court Seeking Cancellation of Non-Bailable Warrant. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs had, in the last month, used diplomatic channels to communicate with Antigua on the row involving Choksi. EAM Sushma Swaraj to take up the issue of extradition of Mehul Choksi in meeting with Antigua Foreign Affairs Minister EP Chet Greene on sidelines of #UNGA today: Sources pic.twitter.com/WroSHo0T79 ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2018 Earlier in September, Choksi had released a video from Antigua refuting the charges levelled against him by the Indian agencies. The Gitanjali Gems chief said he is being fraudulently framed in the loan-fraud case, adding that his assets have been "illegally confiscated" by the Enforcement Directorate. "My bank accounts were frozen, my merchandise was taken, my server was taken, all within one weeks time. Before I came back from the hospital, nobody was working for my company," Choksi said, adding that he is facing an unprecedented "kind of terror". The noted jeweller also denied any possibilities of returning to India, claiming that his life is under threat in the nation. The point was reiterated by his counsel before the Special CBI Court in Mumbai, citing news channel debates where panelists said Choksi should be assassinated. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 26, 2018 11:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Chennai, September 27: MK Stalin, president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has been admitted to the Apollo hospitals in Chennai on Wednesday night. According to reports, Stalin was admitted for treatment of kidney infection. Reports inform that he may undergo a minor surgery for the ailment. According to a press statement by the hospital, Stalin underwent a minor surgical procedure for the removal of a cyst from his right thigh and will be discharged this afternoon. The 65-year-old DMK leader is the second president of the DMK after his father M Karunanidhi passed away this year in August. According to a report by The Hindu, the hospital is expected to issue a medical bulletin on Thursday. DMK Principal Secretary TR Baalu was quoted in a Hindustan Times report that Stalin felt discomfort in his Alwarpet house around 11:45 pm on Wednesday night and was then immediately taken to Apollo hospital. Doctors examining Stalin advised him to take rest for two or three days as he had not got rest. As Stalin has been continuously involved in party works, he did not go for medical check-ups for the past two months, reports informed. Will Teach Modi Government a Lesson, Says MK Stalin After Elected DMK President. Heralding a new era in Tamil Nadu's opposition party that was led by his father, the late M Karunanidhi, for nearly five decades, Stalin was elevated to the post of DMK president on August 28. DMK principal secretary Durai Murugan was elected treasurer, a post-Stalin vacated recently. It must be noted that Stalin was the only candidate to file his nomination for the party chief's post on August 26, DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan said. Stalin's elevation, about three weeks after the death of Karunanidhi on August 7, comes amid threats by his elder brother and expelled DMK leader M K Alagiri that the party will have to face "consequences" if he is not re-admitted into its fold. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2018 09:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). New Delhi, September 27: Sanctions against the dictatorial regime of North Korea must continue unabated, said the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the United Nations. Addressing a meeting of UN Security Council on Thursday, Pompeo said an ease in the sanctions programme against Pyongyang could deter the Kim Jong-un nation from committing itself to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Second US-North Korea Summit 'Quite Soon'; Kim Jong Un Writes To Donald Trump For Early Meet. "Enforcement of UN Security Council sanctions must continue vigorously and without fail until we realize final, fully-verified denuclearization," the top US official said. North Korea sanctions must be 'vigorously' enforced, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tells UN, reports AFP (file pic) pic.twitter.com/a38ytxRUOn ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Pompeo's hardline approach towards North Korea comes a couple of days after United States President Donald Trump said he would "soon" hold the second Washington-Pyongyang summit with Jong-un. Trump's remarks came in response to a letter sent by Jong-un seeking revamped bilateral ties between the two nations in lieu of denuclearisation the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, at the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly on Monday, Trump met South Korean President Moon Jae-in and discussed the denuclearisation programme. Jae-in, while speaking to reporters, said the US President is committed towards resolving all issues in the region through talks. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2018 09:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Punishment for rapists, molesters and paedophiles have always been a controversial topic all around the world. These crimes are so intense that jail or death sentences cannot justify them. It is essential that the offender learns a lesson and that other females and children are protected from them. A large population thinks castration could be a solution. This form of punishment hasn't been wholly accepted yet despite so many people wanting it. However, Kazakhstan is all set to initiate this punishment for some of the countrys convicted paedophiles. Gangrape Accused Paraded Publicly in Bhopal: Watch Video of 'Name & Shame Punishment' by MP Police. Yes! They have planned to punish them with chemical castration. Media reports have it that an unidentified sex offender from the Turkestan region will be the first offender to receive a chemical castration. However, it is also said that this process of castration will be administered under the supervision of Kazakhstans health ministry. Reports by Newsweek has it that the castration will be carried out inside the regional psychoneurological clinics and have been sanctioned by their Health ministry. New York-Based Woman Shares Scary Videos of Her Alleged Stalker Who Followed Her Home; Warns Netizens in a Series of Tweets. What is Chemical Castration? The use of a chemical to lower the offender's libido or sex drive is called Chemical Castration. Just like the surgical castration involves removal of the male genitalia so that the offender is unable to commit sexual crimes any further. The procedure of chemical castration consists in injecting a one-time syringe loaded with the drug Cyproterone which is a steroidal anti-androgen drug. Normally developed to fight cancer, this drug reduces the urge of the sex offender to have sex. While the punishment of sexual offences like rapes, molestation etc. has been a long debated topic, the reality is most countries treat sexual assaults as any other form of crime. What do you this about this form of punishment for sex offenders? (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 28, 2018 12:06 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). It was last year when we first heard something called Jio Media Cable which will allow the users to connect their JioPhones to TV for streaming content online and much more. According to the market reports, Reliance Jio will be launching the highly awaited Jio Media Cable in India enabling the JioPhone users to connect the device to old CRT and latest LED / LCD television. According to a Twitter user, Jio Media Cable is likely to be priced at Rs 1499. Realme 2 Pro Smartphone India Launch Today; Watch the Live Stream Event Here. The much-awaited Jio Media Cable is expected to be offered in 2 variants. The first version will be offered with HDMI support whereas the second variant will be a RCA cable. The HDMI variant will support LCD / LED televisions with HDMI port. The second RCA variant will get a RCA cable for connecting old TVs with AV input. Moreover, the package bundle with comprise of a small adapter as well as a cable. Moreover, Reliance Jio has kept the packagaing colour for differentiating both the variants. The RCA cable (M532) version will be a blue package whereas the HDMI variant (M533) will be a red box. Happy Birthday Google: New Doodle Features Popular Questions Asked During The Last 20 Years. The JioPhone users will be able to cast all the channels from Jio TV app and other apps such as Jio Cinema, after connecting their device to a TV. This combination of Jio Media Cable and JioPhone will act as a streaming device and the users can use Jio 4G for streaming content online. Moreover, it will not require a Wi-Fi connection for the same. Chinese Mobile Company 'TECNO Mobile' Introduces 3 New Affordable Smartphones in India From Rs 8,999. As far as the availability is concerned, the company has not confirmed the same yet. The new device is expected to be retailed online via Jio website likewise JioPhone 2, which will go on sale today at 12PM IST. Priced at Rs 2,999, the customers can purchase the device by making payment through Paytm wallet and stand a chance to get a cashback of Rs 200. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2018 10:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). While the worlds eyes are focused on the United Nations as the 73rd General Assembly session is underway, U.S. President Donald Trump had other things on his mind. Anyone following American news would know that Trumps administration has been fighting one PR fire after another over the last couple of months. The U.S. President has taken it upon himself to change the narrative in the media and held a rare solo press conference and spoke on a wide-range of issues including the Russia witch hunt investigation, trade, tariffs and more. Second Summit with North Korea President Trump, discussing his relationship with North Korea and Kim Jong Un, claimed that if he "wasn't elected, there would have been a war" adding that former President Obama was close to "pressing the trigger" and the world would have been in another World war. Upon being asked why is he considering a second summit, Trump said that I traveled to Singapore and just gave him my time. I havent removed sanctions, I only stopped the military games which cost us a fortune anyway but all I gave him was my time. In return they have stopped nuclear testing. No rocket testing anymore. NAFTA Negotiations President Trump said he rejected a meeting request from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau amid a bitter NAFTA renegotiation. "Yeah I did," Trump said. "His tariffs are too high and he doesnt seem to want to move." He suggested deep mistrust in Chrystia Freeland, the lead Canadian trade negotiator, and her team. "We're not getting along at all with their negotiators," Trump said. And he warned the U.S. would soon go after Canadian auto imports. U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaughs Sexual Misconduct Allegations The U.S. president spoke at length about the ongoing controversy surrounding his pick to the U.S. Supreme Court. Three women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Trump said the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh "affect" him because he has had similar allegations many against himself "many times." "People want fame. They want money. When I see it, I view it differently," Trump said. "It's happened to me many times. I've had many false charges." Trump suggested that Brett Kavanaugh's accusers should have reported their purported sexual assaults when they occurred. "I only say this: 36 years, no charge, no nothing," he said during the news conference. He also accused the Democratic Party of facilitating the charges against Kavanaugh calling it a big con job. The Democrats are playing a high level CON GAME in their vicious effort to destroy a fine person. It is called the politics of destruction. Behind the scene the Dems are laughing. Pray for Brett Kavanaugh and his family! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018 However, he did say that "They're (Repblican Senators) giving the women a major chance to speak. Now it's possible I'll hear that and say hey I'm changing my mind. Hey, that's possible," Trump said. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2018 07:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). The Maldives Opposition Parties have accused the sitting president Abdulla Yameen of attempting to stay in power despite conceding the elections. The Maldives' ruling party has urged the elections commission to wait until a Sunday deadline to publish the final results of the election. This election say a coalition of the opposition parties who put up a joint candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who won against the sitting president by winning 58% of the votes. The opposition denounced the move on Wednesday as an attempt by Yameen, who they have pledged to investigate for allegations of corruption and rights abuses, to remain in power. Yameen, who won 41.7 percent of the vote, said on Monday he accepted the people's decision and intended to stay on in office until the end of his term on November 17. But Ahmed Nihan, leader of the ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), told reporters on Wednesday there were "allegations of systematic irregularities" in the vote. "As a political party, we have a responsibility to check when we receive such reports," he said. In the immediate aftermath of the vote, the elections commission said the poll proceeded in a "calm and orderly manner" adding there were no complaints that could affect the result. The election in Maldives is being closely watched by India, China, U.S. and European Union. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already spoken to Solih, congratulating him on the election victory and promising to work together for the benefit of both countries. Australian observers too are worried about the state of the country. Queensland senator James McGrath directed the Opposition's successful election campaign back in 2008, said the picture was grim. He says, "I cannot see President Yameen accepting the result. He will use whatever means to stay in power," he added. "It's a worry for us here in Australia that we've got another country that is slipping down quite rapidly the slope towards quite a brutal dictatorship," said McGrath. James Dauris, United Kingdom's ambassador to the Maldives, urged the elections commission to publish the final election results without delay to facilitate a smooth transfer of power. Maldives held its first elections in 2008 but since then the consecutive elections have been contested. In 2013, the Supreme Court annulled results of a first round of polling in which current President Yameen came second. Yameen eventually won that election with a narrow margin of 6,000 votes. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2018 06:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). He uttered the words with visible agitation, overly enunciating at times to show emphasis. "The next person who refers to an FBI report as being worth anything obviously doesn't understand anything. FBI explicitly does not, in this case or any other case, reach a conclusion, period. Period." On Oct. 12, 1991, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said FBI investigations into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominees were inconclusive. A report from such an investigation would rehash people's versions of events without reaching a meaningful conclusion about what had actually happened, Biden said. Read Full White House officials said on Thursday that President Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein will meet next week to discuss Mr. Rosenstein's future at the Justice Department. The New York Times reported on Friday that Mr. Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Mr. Trump to document the chaos of the White House in 2017 and had raised the issue of removing the president from office. Read Full Bien to Establish Cannabis Derivatives Manufacturing Facility Perth, Sep 27, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MMJ PhytoTech Limited ( ASX:MMJ ) ( OTCMKTS:MMJJF ) ("MMJ") is pleased to note the attached media release (see link below) confirming that Bien Ventures Ltd. ("Bien") aims to establish a cannabis derivatives manufacturing facility in Calgary AB in which it will develop proprietary intellectual property ("IP") for nanoemulsions and powdered forms of CBD and THC.MMJ's CEO Jason Conroy commented that "We are pleased that Bien has withdrawn its resources from test marketing in California and turned its focus to developing proprietary IP at a time when a number of Canadian Licensed Producers are actively looking for development partners, particularly in the cannabis edibles segment."MMJ owns 13.7% of Bien.To view the media release, please visit:About MMJ Group Holdings Ltd MMJ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:MMJ) is a global cannabis investment company. MMJ owns a portfolio of minority investments and aims to invest across the full range of emerging cannabis-related sectors including healthcare, technology, infrastructure, logistics, processing, cultivation, equipment and retail. For MMJ's latest investor presentation and news, please visit: http://www.mmjphytotech.com.au/investors/ President Trump used an ethnic term to refer to a reporter at Wednesday's press conference - to the consternation of the U.S. press corps but the delight of the reporter in question. "Yes, please, Mr. Kurd, go ahead," he said at the United Nations in New York while calling on a journalist, who was later identified by New York Times media writer Michael M. Grynbaum as Rahim Rashidi. While several U.S. journalists wrote deadpan tweets in incredulity, Mr. Rashidi saw things differently, according to Mr. Grynbaum. Read Full Sacramento, CA Workers in California, from farm harvesters to computer technicians, cant come to terms with the Workers in California, from farm harvesters to computer technicians, cant come to terms with the California labor law regarding donning and doffingputting on and taking off employer-mandated uniforms, clothing and safety gear, even though a number of donning and doffing lawsuits have settled in favor of the employee. Donning and Doffing Settlements De Minimis Doctrine The employer argues that their employee isnt actually working. On the other hand, the employee claims--in many donning and doffing lawsuits that any article of clothing (not only uniforms) or safety gear the employer must provide and has mandated in order for the employee to perform the job should be compensated by the employer. This means that time spent dressing and undressing should be on-the-clock.Like other employment violations, donning and doffing is a wage and hour claim, like any off-the-clock work where the employee is expected to perform tasks before starting a shift and/or clocking out for the day. Like missed meal and rest periods, this task can add several minutes or more (think how long it takes to don a hazmat hazardous materialssuit) a day. And this is time added to a workday for which the employee is often not getting paid.Employers might want to consider past donning and doffing complaintsA donning and doffing settlement in 2012 cost Orange County 3.7 million in legal fees, cash settlements and time off for sheriff deputies, whose lawsuit claimed they spent up to one hour per day dressing and undressing for work without getting paid.More recently in, the California Supreme Court found that a Starbucks shift supervisor should have been paid for work performed before and after clocking out for the day. Plaintiffs in another lawsuit,have cited thedecision to support their claim, a decision could open doors for many similar lawsuits.In, however, the high court ruled in 2014 that most of that safety gear worn by about 800 steel workers was a form of clothing. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the court said, employers cannot be required to pay workers for donning work clothes unless both sides agree to that as part of a union contract.These claims against employers under the FLSA have the potential to affect further claims regarding claims for off-the-clock, including time spent donning and doffing before and after meal breaks and rest periods. In, only the beginning and end of the employees' shifts was at issue.Tyson Foods workers at a meat-packing plant in Iowa filed a donning and doffing lawsuit and won a judgment in 2011 of $2.9 million A federal district court even doubled the award to $5.8 million.And in, where plaintiffs were employed in a poultry processing plant, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the employer but that decision did not include jurisdiction over California workers.In Mitchell , Judge Posner wrote that doffing and donning at meal time could be excluded under thedoctrine, meaning meant that the typical amount of time involved donning and doffing was too minimal a time to be compensable in this case probably less than two minutes.Just as donning and doffing is no so clear-cut, the parameters of what is and is not aamount of work are vague and not thoroughly defined under the FLSA. Even defining a work day can vary. In any event, its likely that donning and doffing issues will continue to be the subject of litigation for the foreseeable future. Sep 27, 2018, 3:45pm ET 2019 Nissan Titan gets upgraded tech, Fender audio The pickups gain a new seven-inch infotainment system, Rear Door Alert and support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Nissan has detailed a few tech upgrades for the 2019 Titan and Titan XD. The company is the first to put a Fender-branded premium audio system in the respective pickup segments. Drivers can rock out thanks to a 485-watt, nine-channel amplifier. As an added bonus, the trucks gain a new seven-inch infotainment system and support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. King Cab and Crew Cab models now employ Rear Door Alert to remind drivers to check the back seat after the vehicle is parked, addressing concerns over children being accidentally left in vehicles. The updated Titans will be on display among many trucks at the State Fair of Texas. Alexander Davis admits he came to Bethlehem to meet "Marisa," who said she was 14, according to his lawyer. Defense attorney Catherine Henry concedes Davis chatted online with her for weeks, showed up with three condoms in his pocket, promised to buy her a bathing suit and take her to a water park. A federal indictment accuses the 31-year-old traveling salesman from Monsey, N.Y., of coming to Bethlehem to have sex with a minor, but Henry argued that wasn't Davis' intention. "Alex thought he was talking to an adult. This was an adult who was doing a 'role play,'" Henry told jurors Thursday in federal court in Easton. It turns out "Marisa" was a federal agent posing as a girl online, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Davison. Davis met her on the Craig's List "casual encounters" website on Dec. 4, 2017, and crossed state lines to meet her Dec. 20, 2017, according to the opening arguments from Henry and Davison. "Marisa" initially introduced herself as an 18-year-old, but later said she was 14 and often repeated that claim, according to Davis' indictment. He told her "I'll keep you warm" during cold weather and later said he would do "whatever you want to do ... you take control of me ... I can be your slave," the indictment says. Henry said these are the sorts of comments one makes to an adult, not a teenager. You need to be 18 to register a profile to post in the casual encounters section of Craig's List, she said. People go on there for discreet anonymous sexual encounters and frequently lie about their names and details about their lives, including their age. "This is common interaction, common role play, common fetish," Henry said. When Davis talked to "Marisa" about her mother, about cutting school and about her braces, he was maintaining a fantasy with another adult, Henry said. Davis wasn't sure whether he was going to have sex with "Marisa" until he met her, she said. He parked a block away from the McDonald's where they arranged to meet because he could discreetly leave if she wasn't what he expected, Henry said. Henry said Davis had condoms in his pocket because he frequently had extramarital sexual encounters. She said he's married and has children. "Alex was looking for an adult woman, not a child. He has no sexual interest in children," Henry said. She said government agent Daniel Block, who posed as "Marisa," was the one who initiated online exchanges with Davis and who initiated talk of sex. However, when Davis was caught by police he admitted he believed the girl was 14, according to his indictment. He said some of the women he's had sex with are "nasty" and explained in graphic detail why he prefers sex with 14-year-olds, according to the indictment. Henry said Stanford University professor Jeffrey Hancock, an expert in cyber communications, will testify as to Davis' intentions when he communicated online with Block. Psychiatrist Frank Dattilio will offer a psycho-sexual evaluation of Davis. Davis is charged with communicating across state lines over the internet to entice a child to engage in sexual conduct and with traveling across state lines to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The trial is expected to last three to four days. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. A 54-year-old New Jersey man was under the influence of drugs when he crashed a car into a utility pole on Wednesday afternoon along Route 182 in Hackettstown, police report. Investigators found a prescription bottle containing Xanax and Lexapro and two open wine bottles in the car, town police said. Glenn Cross, of Mount Arlington, was taken to Hackettstown Medical Center after the 3:18 p.m. wreck, police said. He was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, driving under the influence, reckless driving, possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle, being under the influence and possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle, police said. He was released pending a court appearance, police said. The town fire department and EMS personnel also responded to the crash, police said. Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. The Director General of the Prison Service is leaving the job less than half way into his five year term. Mininister for Justice Charlie Flangan has confirmed that Michael Donnellan would will complete his term as Director General of the Irish Prison Service on Friday, November 30. Mr Donnellan has served as Director General since 2011, prior to which he spent six years as Director of the Probation Service. He was reappointed for a furthre five year term in January 2017. At the time Minister Fitzgerald said Mr Donellan would continue to enhance the safety of our citizens by providing rehabilitation and opportunities for prisoners. "I wish Michael well in his role and look forward to continuing to work closely with him as we strive to provide a world class Prison Service," she said. A Department of Justice statement gave no reason for Mr Donnellan's early departure. Instead, Minister Flanagan praised the man who oversees the running of prisons in Portlaoise and elsewhere. I want to pay a warm tribute to Michael Donnellan who has led the Irish Prison Service with energy, integrity and dedication for the last seven years. "Since my appointment as Minister, I have witnessed Michaels progressive and compassionate approach first hand. He has led a significant culture change in the penal system as well as delivering infrastructural improvements to the prison environment and championing a joined up approach to the management of offenders. Michael has overseen a reduction in the number of prisoners on restricted regime and worked with the Probation Service to deliver important prisoner rehabilitation initiatives. "From 2011 to 2017 Ireland reduced its prison population by 16% while reducing the number of prisoners on temporary release from 997 in February 2012 to 234 today. These outcomes are recognised at home and internationally and my Department was rightly proud when Michael was the recipient of the International Corrections and Prisons Associations Head of Service Award last year. "Michaels personal leadership has contributed enormously to the improvement of our prison service and he will be missed by all his colleagues in the criminal justice system. I wish him all the best with what Im sure will be an exciting next chapter for him, he said. Apart from his work in the prison and probation services, he served as Director of two children detention schools in Dublin. He spent his early career working within adult psychiatry before specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry. He worked in inner city London as a Social Worker, and then as Manager of Brixton Child Guidance Unit, before returning to Ireland in 1994. A council decision to grant permission for sheds at a bus business in Ballickmoyler has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala, with an objection lodged by neighbouring residents who apparently operate a similar business. James Barcoe, Tolerton, Ballickmoyler, has been granted permission to retain two domestic sheds, a domestic fuel store and a domestic garage, as well as permission to raise the roof of one of the sheds. He runs a bus service with 90% of his work relating to school contracts. However, a submission was made by Patrick and Bernie ONeill, who said the garage blocks the sun from their premises. They also worried what effect the applicants business has on their water, due to the use of oil based products. They said they believed the garage is not being used for domestic purposes but as a repair and service area for many vehicles. However, a report by James Kealy on behalf of the applicant said that the objectors have their own bus and taxi business operating from their own yard. The ONeills have now appealed the council's decision to An Bord Pleanala. A man who drove at the outrageous speed of 160km/h has been directed to complete a drivers education course. Before last week's sitting of Portlaoise District Court was Alexandru Sirbu (30), with an address at Hansted Dale, Lucan, Co. Dublin, charged with careless driving. Sgt JJ Kirby gave evidence that on August 25 this year, at the M7, Ballydavis, Portlaoise, the accused drove at excessive speed moving from the right to left lane, overtaking four or five vehicles. He braked on two occasions, causing the traffic to brake, before he moved onto the hard shoulder where he overtook more traffic. Sgt Kirby said the accused drove at around 160km/h, although luckily there was no accident. Judge Catherine Staines said she would give the accused an opportunity to complete a driver education course, but warned she was not making any promises as the speed he had been travelling at was absolutely outrageous. Defence, Ms Josephine Fitzpatrick said the accused had been travelling behind very slow traffic for some time on the day, due to road works. The car ahead of him overtook in the same manoeuvre and he followed, but accepted his driving had been appalling, said Ms Fitzpatrick. Ms Fitzpatrick said the accused had been heading to his honeymoon at the time. She added that he also drives trucks for a living. The matter was adjourned to November 1 next for the accused to complete the drivers education programme. Forget Bono, George Clooney or Tom Cruise - Maynooth has it's own celebrity and man about town - Alex the Fox. Read also: Worries over Kildare bus services to Dublin city The fox is a regular visitor and is often spotted scouting the various restaurants and pubs for food in the evening. "This fella is a local in the town. He is pretty much here every night. He's friendly and comes in around the tables in front of the Bistro looking for food. He is a bit of celebrity. He goes around the town for a few hours and moves up the street. There was a good crowd out last night with all the students in Brady's across the road," said Bistro 53 owner, Alan Moldovan. "He just came over and we took a picture of him. People are always taking pictures of him." The Bistro 53 staff have taken a shine to Alex and even came up with the name for him. EPA Releases Environmental Review for Public Consultation Sydney, Sep 27, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Hastings Technology Metals Limited ( ASX:HAS ) is pleased to announce completion of a major milestone in the environmental approvals process for the Yangibana Rare Earths Project. Hastings has completed the scope of works in the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) approved Environmental Scoping Document to the satisfaction of the EPA and decision making authorities (key stakeholders).The EPA has now approved the release of the Environmental Review Document for the four week public review period (1 - 28 October 2018).About Hastings Technology Metals Ltd Hastings Technology Metals Ltd (ASX:HAS) (FRA:5AM) is advancing its Yangibana Rare Earths Project in the Upper Gascoyne Region of Western Australia towards production. The proposed beneficiation and hydro metallurgy processing plant will treat rare earths deposits, predominantly monazite, hosting high neodymium and praseodymium contents to produce a mixed rare earths carbonate that will be further refined into individual rare earth oxides at processing plants overseas. Neodymium and praseodymium are vital components in the manufacture of permanent magnets which is used in a wide and expanding range of advanced and high-tech products including electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, medical applications and others. Hastings aims to become the next significant producer of neodymium and praseodymium outside of China. Hastings holds 100% interest in the most significant deposits within the overall project, and 70% interest in additional deposits that will be developed at a later date, all held under Mining Leases. Numerous prospects have been identified warranting detailed exploration to further extend the life of the project. Brockman Project The Brockman deposit, near Halls Creek in Western Australia, contains JORC Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources, estimated using the guidelines of JORC Code (2012 Edition). The Company is also progressing a Mining Lease application over the Brockman Rare Earths and Rare Metals Project. Hastings aims to capitalise on the strong demand for critical rare earths created by the expanding demand for new technology products. I won't answer that, a former British army soldier who fought in the Iraq war, told Naas District Court when he was asked if he had killed someone. Stephen Keane (29), with an address at 141 Cushlawn Park, Tallaght, appeared in court on charges of shoplifting. He stole meat from Aldi in Main Street, Blessington, on November 8, 2017 and the same day took meat from Dunnes Stores in Blessington. The court heard that Mr Keane, an Irish national, had a number of previous convictions, both here and in the UK. It also heard that he had served with the British army in Iraq and was discharged from the army in 2012. Mr Keane, who was an infantry soldier, said he got some counselling to deal with the army experience in Iraq before he came back to Ireland. He declined to say if he had killed anyone during this term with the British army. Judge Desmond Zaidan said the Iraq conflict was a war which never should have been. All wars should never been. History shows they achieved nothing, the judge added. Mr Keane was apologetic for the two theft offences. The court was told he had a number of previous convictions. These included theft and not paying train fares. Judge Zaidan jailed him for 11 months on the Dunnes's theft. He had been in custody since September 20. Mr Keane said he had been working as a bin collector with Panda but was let go on a last-in-first-out basis. Judge Zaidan told Mr Keane that if he needed counselling he should ask to get it in prison. A COUNTY Limerick man has been charged with possessing and distributing child pornography. The male, aged in his thirties, cannot be named for legal reasons. He appeared before Judge Marian OLeary at Kilmallock Court. Detective Garda Patrick Bambrick gave evidence of arresting, charging and cautioning the defendant at Bruff Garda Station. He made no reply to the charges after caution, said Det Garda Bambrick. He faces two charges. On dates between July 2010 and January 2011, at a location in County Limerick, it is alleged he produced child pornography for the purpose of distribution, publication, exportation, sale or show. On December 12, 2011, the male is accused of possessing child pornography, namely 44 images of naked children under the age of 17. The charges are contrary to Section 5(1) and 6(1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998. The accused was released on bail on his own bond of 300. Det Garda Bambrick applied for two bail conditions. The defendant is to sign on twice a week at Bruff Garda Station and must give a new mobile number to the detective if he changes it. Sergeant Michelle Leahy said DPPs directions are for trial on indictment. Brendan Gill, solicitor for the male, applied for reporting restrictions due to the nature of the case. The case was adjourned for a month for service of the book of evidence. GARDAI have issued an appeal for information about a burglary which happened in West Limerick almost 18 months ago. The appeal which relates to a break-in at a bookmakers premises in Abbeyfeale featured on Mondays Crimecall programme on RTE television. CCTV footage broadcast during the programme shows a number of men arriving at the premises in a light-coloured Audi car in the early hours of April 16, 2017. Three of men, who were all dressed in dark clothes and had their faces covered, can be seen on the footage crossing the road and approaching the front door while a fourth man appears to remain at the car acting as a lookout. The first man uses a sledgehammer to access the premises, now it takes him a number of moments but once inside (the premises) one of the men can be seen removing a quantity of cash, said Garda Greg Freegove during Mondays programme. The amount of money taken from the safe by the culprits has not been disclosed. According to investigating gardai, the men can be seen leaving the area in the Audi shortly after leaving the premises. Anyone with information about the burglary or the identity of the culprits is asked to contact Abbeyfeale or Newcastle West garda station. DR Jane OMeara Sanders, the wife and senior advisor to former US Presidential Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, is to return to Limerick for a major festival this October. I.NY, a Limerick-based festival that explores and celebrates the relationship between Ireland and New York, takes place at a number of city venues from October 7-14. Dr Sanders, who came to Limerick last year for the inaugural I.NY festival in a personal capacity, will return this year in her role as founder of The Sanders Institute. She will appear at the Lime Tree Theatre alongside David McWilliams and others in a talk called Re-Vitalising Democracy. The event at I.NY is the first formal Sanders Institute event to be staged in Europe and is one of the highlights within another ambitious line-up of artists, musicians and speakers, eager to talk about their own personal piece of the Ireland-New York story. I.NY is the brainchild of Limerick and Dublin-based promoters David ODonovan and Aoife Flynn and is presented this year in partnership with the Global Irish Festival Series, a new initiative from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Failte Ireland to encourage the Irish abroad to return home for cultural events around the country. I.NY festival director David ODonovan said: Were really delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the Department this year. Its a very genuine way to reach out to Irish people abroad, from all generations, and we think it can be a really strong initiative in the coming years. It will certainly be hugely helpful to promoting Limerick in the States, and to developing I.NY as we invite people to come here from New York and further afield in North America, he added. Acclaimed author and screenwriter Charles Brandt, fresh from his work with Martin Scorsese on new Netflix film The Irishman, will also appear at the festival. Comedian Meave Higgins, musicians Luka Bloom, Qool DJ Marv and MynameisJohn will also appear, while a special talk on the Irish Hunger Memorial in Manhattan will take place at the Limerick City Gallery of Art with Brooklyn resident Anne ONeill. See www.thisisiny.com for the full festival programme and ticket information. STRIPE, the online payments firm founded by Limericks Collison brothers, has seen its valuation soar to $20 billion after its latest funding round. According to reports, Stripes latest funding round raised $245 million, increasing its value from $9bn to $20bn. The former Castletroy College Students, John and Patrick Collison, are understood to have a combined 25% share in the online payments business, making them the worlds youngest self-made billionaires. Patrick, CEO of Stripe, confirmed the raise, while new customers are understood to include Alphabet Inc.s Google and Uber Technologies Inc, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg reports that the new valuation places Stripe among an elite handful of the worlds most valuable private startups, including Airbnb Inc., Palantir Technolgies Inc. and Uber. Indeed, the reports suggest, Stripe could have raised more money, but, according to Patrick Collison: We talked to almost nobody. We are lucky in that weve been generating revenue from the start and have never been in the position where had to raise money. Its more about looking a year or two ahead and deciding if we want to stay on the current track or go big on some things, he explained. The brothers, who now live in San Francisco, have been making money since their teens when Patrick won the BT Young Scientist of the Year, aged 16, in 2005. The online payments firm was established in 2010 and is used by Apple, Twitter, Facebook, and Chinese online company Alipay. After the previous funding round valued the company at $9bn in 2016, the pair were estimated to be Irelands youngest billionaires. THE head of the Limerick garda division says the decision to deploy new recruits within communities across the city has worked out well. Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche made his comments this week as he welcomed nine new probationer gardai to the division. The seven men and two women, who started work last week, are attached to community policing units operating out of Henry Street and Mayorstone garda stations. The policy of assigning new recruits to community policing duties was made in the summer when ten probationer gardai arrived in Limerick having passed out at the Garda Training College. Its worked out great, people are delighted to see the younger people going out, we have young guards out patrolling at the moment so you will see more visability on the roads and on the streets, so its good and its working very well, said Chief Supt Roche. The arrival of the latest recruits means the available manpower within the Limerick division has now reached record levels. Its all coming together at this stage, we have more people than we ever had in the division before. We now have 714 people (gardai, reserve garda and civilan staff) so that gives me great latitude to fill a lot of vacancies which have been there for quiet a while, said Chief Supt Roche. One of the new recruits Conor Hynes revealed he had to deal with two drunk drivers on his first day in the job. One incident happened during his tour-of-duty while the second happened as he was travelling home. I had just finished my tour-of-duty and I was on my way home and an accident (happened) in front of me involving an intoxicated driver. Luckily enough there was nobody injured and I just stayed at the scene until a unit came out that was on duty, said the 29-year-old father-of-three from Bridgetown, County Clare. Its hoped the Limerick division will be allocated six more probationer gardai before the end of the year. TWENTY-FIVE of Thomond Community Colleges hardworking students in Limerick are to share more than 26,000 in academic scholarships presented by a former student and entrepreneur David Greaney. Five students from second year, third year, fifth year and sixth year, along with five students who completed their Leaving Certificate this year, were each awarded scholarships from Mr Greaney, ranging in value from 500 to 2,000. Mr Greaney, a former student of St Nessans College, which was amalgamated with Salesian Secondary School in 2016 to become TCC, began the Greaney Family Scholarships in 2017 as a way to give back to his former schools community. When I look back on my time in St Nessans, I had great teachers, I got a great education which helped me go on to study at University College Dublin, Mr Greaney said. The Caherdavin native went on to become the founder and president of Synergy, a Boston-based real estate investment and development company. Ultimately it helped me go on to the US where Ive had great success and it all started back here. From my own experience, having a good support system around you when you are trying to get on with your academic studies and put the hard work in, its crucial, he added. The second year of the scholarship at Thomond Community College has acted as a massive incentive for students at the secondary school in Moylish Park, according to principal Norma OBrien. Its a huge incentive for young people to strive to achieve and do their best, Ms OBrien said. It does mean a lot to the students, it gives them a goal to aim for. Our students are very highly motivated and they are working very hard. Consistency throughout the school year was key, according to third year student and scholarship recipient Erin OCallaghan from Clareview. I just started studying as early as I could. I stuck my head into the books and practiced as much as I could. I did the subjects that I found the hardest, I studied these first. I studied every night for an hour, or a half an hour sometimes, and it slowly went into my head and I got there. Sixth year student Leah Foley from Caherdavin made a speech as the scholarships were presented. In my speech, I talked about how anyone can be successful if they just put the hard work in and I think thats very true. Im not the most academic person but I did put the hard work in and it paid off. The Greaney Family Scholarships are awarded through the Irish American Partnership, which works to empower the next generation of Irish leaders by supporting educational initiatives through grants, training, and scholarships. GARDAI in Limerick are appealing to women to make sure their handbags and purses are secure and kept close to their person when out and about in the city. In one recent incident, a lady who was in a lift at a hotel had her purse taken from her handbag while in another incident, a lady who was standing in a queue at a shop in the city centre had her phone taken from her bag. In both of these cases the thief was close enough to simply reach out and pick the purse or phone from the handbag, said divisional crime prevention officer Sergeant Ber Leetch. Its in situations like these where people are standing very close to you that you must be on your guard. These thieves look like you and I and are very, very quick. You must think like a thief and take security measures which will make taking your property as difficult as possible for that thief, she added. May 3, 2021, 2 AM Washington Postal Scene by Bill McAllister The Senate has finally agreed to a measure that is aimed at slowing the flow of illicit drugs into the United States by mail. The 99-to-1 vote came Sept. 17 after the measure was bundled with others aimed at attacking the nations opioid crisis. The House had approved the same mail provision in June, and the Senate was supposed to quickly follow. But it took tweets from President Trump and additional pressure from Senate sponsors to get the measure approved. Before the legislation goes to the president, the Senate and the House must reconcile their two versions. A key provision of the bill requires the U.S. Postal Service to receive advanced electronic data on all packages coming into the United States from foreign countries beginning in 2021. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our Newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter The provision, according to some accounts, will add a $1 fee for additional customs processing. Private express companies are already subject to this layer of advance electron surveillance. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told The New York Times before the vote, We are being overrun with [the opioid] fentanyl. The senator, who headed a committee that investigated drugs from overseas, said: It is coming primarily from China and coming primarily through our U.S. Postal Service if you can believe it. The Postal Service had pledged to work with lawmakers to fashion legislation that would address the problem. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said today that the US is the problem: an isolated violator of international laws led by a team of political and diplomatic novices that is earning the world's disapproval. "Today it became clear that America is alone," Rouhani said at a press conference in New York, adding that other world leaders told him they disapproved of President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the nuclear deal that eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. "They referred to the American action as an incorrect action," Rouhani said. Using sober and measured language, Rouhani added that Iran's "intent is to ensure that the United States of America abides by laws and stops bullying, stops pressuring, maintains commitments... [and] adheres to the United Nations Security Council resolution" that oversees the nuclear deal. Rouhani spoke a day after Trump and his senior officials assailed Iran for its actions in the Middle East and called on other nations at the UN General Assembly to help it squeeze and isolate Tehran. 'Chaos, death and destruction' National Security Adviser John Bolton warned Tuesday that if Iran doesn't change its behavior it will "have hell to pay." Trump used his speech to the UN Tuesday to ask "all nations to isolate Iran's regime" and its leaders who "sow chaos, death and destruction." On Wednesday, while hosting a meeting on non-proliferation, Trump added a warning. "Any individual or entity that fails to comply will face severe consequences," he said. "We're not isolated," Rouhani said Wednesday, saying that every world leader he has met while in New York praised Iran for staying in the nuclear deal despite the US departure and pressure campaign. He pointed to an effort by the European Union, France, Germany, the UK, China and Russia -- the remaining signatories to the nuclear deal -- to create a mechanism to help Iran trade and avoid US attempts to choke its economy. "In the General Assembly, America was isolated," he added, referring to Trump's speech Tuesday. "Everyone opposed their move, everyone supported" the nuclear deal, Rouhani said. "We are not alone. The Americans are alone and isolated." Their efforts to isolate Iran, he said, were "neutralized." Asked about the escalating American rhetoric against his country, Rouhani threw in a dig at Trump and his diplomatic team, indicating he thought they lacked polish and experience. "They speak with a different style, presumably because they're new to politics and have not been practiced in the field of politics," Rouhani said. "Those who are used to politics, their tone and language is different." Rouhani did not mention Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by name, but alluded to some of his Tuesday remarks about the need for Iran to change. "The one who has been newly appointed Secretary of State, he wasn't a diplomat before this," Rouhani noted. "What he said was not diplomatic at all." Pointing to the administration's policies on immigration and Palestinians, Rouhani said they suggest an ugly motivation. "The current comportment of the current administration toward Muslims and particularly Palestinians... makes one think about racist comportment and behavior," Rouhani said. Rouhani sidestepped questions about American hostages held in Iran, or dual citizens who have been imprisoned while on visits to Tehran, but over the course of an hour's remarks to reporters, he repeatedly returned to his theme that the Trump administration is violating more than one international law. 'Strange, unprecedented' He noted that US troops are present in Syria despite the fact that the regime of Bashar al-Assad does not want them there. "America in Syria, the presence is illegal," he said. More complicated, Rouhani said, is the fact that the US is now threatening to punish other countries if they don't join it in ignoring the UN resolutions that govern the nuclear deal. "It is quite strange, unprecedented," that the US is asking members of the Security Council "to not adhere to a resolution from that same Security Council, voted on by the US, all members voted in favor," Rouhani said, but now "whoever adheres to that resolution will be punished." "We say do not sanction illegally and unfairly," Rouhani said. "If America returns to abiding by laws we have no problem with them." He admitted that Iran is feeling some pressure, but said the country "has been in situations that are much tougher" and "has been able to surpass such difficulties in the past, just as it will be able to do today." In the meantime, Rouhani said his country has "lived up to every single commitment" of the Iran deal and "until such time" as they ceased to reap the benefits of the deal, "we will remain in the agreement." "Should the situation change," he added, "we have other paths and other solutions which we will embark upon." For now, though, Rouhani made clear that Iran is not looking for a clash with the US. "We do not wish to go to war with American forces anywhere in the region," he said. "We do not wish to attack them, none of the above, but we ask the United States of America to adhere to laws and respect national sovereignty of nations." Rouhani also predicted that despite the Trump administration's departure from the nuclear deal in May, Washington would eventually come back. "The United States of America one day will come back, sooner or later," Rouhani said. "This does not benefit the Iranian people, it does not benefit the American people or Europe." Chico, Calif. In an effort to hold off what the Centers for Disease Control reports could be another powerful flu season ahead, Enloe Medical Center is making it easy for residents to get a flu shot. One efficient way to get a shot is being offered in the form of a drive-through vaccination program. Thursday, September 27, 2018, the parking lot of Calvary Chapel in Chico, California will be transformed to look more like a medical clinic. Enloe Medical Center is offering free flu vaccinations to those over the age of six. Organizers say with an intense flu season expected, it is especially important for children and the elderly to receive a flu vaccination. Organizers of the event say in years past, upwards of one-thousand people have taken advantage of the drive-through vaccination event. It is believed one reason the success rate has been so high is because the process is easy. Margie Rackley, with the Enloe Medical Center Outpatient Center, says participants simply drive up, fill out some paperwork while safely driving through the line, then a nurse double-checks some questions then administers a flu shot while sitting in the car. And for those who believe getting a flu shot will make them sick? Rackley says the vaccination uses a dead virus. That means it cannot make you sick. She says if you do become ill after receiving a shot, she says most likely you were already fighting something. You can take advantage of the Enloe Medical Center free flu shot drive-through vaccination event Thursday, September 27, 2018 from 7am - through 1pm, in the parking lot of Calvary Chapel, 1888 Springfield drive in Chico. Trinity County Sheriff's Deputies Arrest Murder Suspect the Trinity County Sheriff's office is investigating a murder this morning. They say 36-year old Jessica Chase was arrested after a man with a gunshot wound flagged down an off-duty deputy on Highway 299 east of Lewiston Tuesday night. The man later died from his injuries. Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for "One-Man Crime Spree" Gary Cartwright,35, of Magalia, has been sentenced to Eight years behind bars. Prosecutors say he fired a gun at a parked car and led police on a high-speed chase through Oroville in July of 2018. Delta Fire Update: Spot Fire Flares Near Southern Containment Lines Action News Now is working to get the latest information on this spot fire. Forest officials say it is around 762 acres at this time near Dog Creek Road in Shasta County. Some Fisheries Eligible for Disaster Assistance The U.S. Secretary of Commerce says that some salmon and sardine fisheries that have failed in California are eligible for some $20 million in disaster assistance. Enloe Medical Center Offers Drive-Through Flu Shots Enloe Medical Center in Chico is offering drive-through flu shots from 7 a.m. - 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Calvary Chapel today. Grand Opening of Redding Food Truck Park Tonight is the grand opening of Redding's food truck park. It starts at 5 p.m. in the Old Library Park. WATCH LIVE: Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford Testify Before Senate Judicial Committee Watch live as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault while they were teenagers, testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. David Rule, the PRAs Executive Director of Insurance Supervision at the arm of the Bank of England (BOE), has now published a Solvency II capital ratio roll forward template, which will be used to help understand life insurer capital generation. There is a clear inference that insurers could follow this or similar template in their Solvency II supplementary reporting, helping to improve Solvency II as a profit performance and cash generation metric. This is a welcome development, according to Willis Towers Watson, as the insurance sector has been at risk of being marginalised by investors as performance reporting became more complicated and less transparent due to Solvency II. David Rule spoke at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch CEO Conference on Wednesday 26 September, where he addressed a number of live issues concerning the regulators supervision of insurers. In his speech, he disclosed key details regarding the roll forward template which provides an explanation of the movement in Solvency II capital ratios from one year-end to the next. This development follows the recommendations of Andrew Crean, Managing Partner at Autonomous Research, and Kamran Foroughi, Senior Director at Willis Towers Watson, in their April 2017 White Paper Solvency II: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. In the paper, they highlighted the lack of information provided to the market by insurers on their movement in Solvency II capital positions over time, and the subsequent BOE / PRA roundtable on Solvency and Financial Condition Reports in September 2017 chaired by David Rule and attended by Willis Towers Watson and Autonomous Research. In response to this PRA development, the authors of the White Paper commented: Andrew Crean, Managing Partner at Autonomous Research, said: With the demise of detailed embedded value reporting in Europe, investors are shifting over to Solvency II metrics to understand the cash and free capital generation capacity of European insurers. To date, the lack of clear and consistent disclosure of how Solvency II free surplus is generated each year hampers our ability to understand the drivers of capital formation. Inevitably, this weighs on the sector's cost of capital. Kamran Foroughi, Senior Director at Willis Towers Watson, said: This is a timely publication by the Bank of England. In preparation for year-end 2018 Solvency II reporting, insurers can now present to the market a clear explanation of the movement in Solvency II capital ratio. We hope that insurers both in the UK and across the European Union seize this opportunity to improve engagement with investors. More information about David Rules speech and the roll forward template can be found here There's something mysterious coming up from the frozen ground in Antarctica, and it could break physics as we know it. Physicists don't know what it is exactly. But they do know it's some sort of cosmic ray a high-energy particle that's blasted its way through space, into the Earth, and back out again. But the particles physicists know about the collection of particles that make up what scientists call the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics shouldn't be able to do that. Sure, there are low-energy neutrinos that can pierce through miles upon miles of rock unaffected. But high-energy neutrinos, as well as other high-energy particles, have "large cross-sections." That means that they'll almost always crash into something soon after zipping into the Earth and never make it out the other side. And yet, since March 2016, researchers have been puzzling over two events in Antarctica where cosmic rays did burst out from the Earth, and were detected by NASA's Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) a balloon-borne antenna drifting over the southern continent. ANITA is designed to hunt cosmic rays from outer space, so the high-energy neutrino community was buzzing with excitement when the instrument detected particles that seemed to be blasting up from Earth instead of zooming down from space. Because cosmic rays shouldn't do that, scientists began to wonder whether these mysterious beams are made of particles never seen before. Since then, physicists have proposed all sorts of explanations for these "upward going" cosmic rays, from sterile neutrinos (neutrinos that rarely ever bang into matter) to "atypical dark matter distributions inside the Earth," referencing the mysterious form of matter that doesn't interact with light [The 18 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries in Physics] All the explanations were intriguing, and suggested that ANITA might have detected a particle not accounted for in the Standard Model. But none of the explanations demonstrated conclusively that something more ordinary couldn't have caused the signal at ANITA. A new paper uploaded today (Sept. 26) to the preprint server arXiv changes that. In it, a team of astrophysicists from Penn State University showed that there have been more upward-going high-energy particles than those detected during the two ANITA events. Three times, they wrote, IceCube (another, larger neutrino observatory in Antarctica) detected similar particles, though no one had yet connected those events to the mystery at ANITA. And, combining the IceCube and ANITA data sets, the Penn State researchers calculated that, whatever particle is bursting up from the Earth, it has much less than a 1-in-3.5 million chance of being part of the Standard Model. (In technical, statistical terms, their results had confidences of 5.8 and 7.0 sigma, depending on which of their calculations you're looking at.) Breaking physics Derek Fox, the lead author on the new paper, said that he first came across the ANITA events in May 2018, in one of the earlier papers attempting to explain them. "I was like, 'Well this model doesn't make much sense,'" Fox told Live Science, "but the [ANITA] result is very intriguing, so I started checking up on it. I started talking to my office neighbor Steinn Sigurdsson [the second author on the paper, who is also at Penn State] about whether maybe we could gin up some more plausible explanations than the papers that have been published to date." Fox, Sigurdsson and their colleagues started looking for similar events in data collected by other detectors. When they came across possible upward-going events in IceCube data, he said, he realized that he might have come across something really game-changing for physics. [5 Mysterious Particles Lurking Underground] The surface facility for the IceCube experiment, which is located under nearly 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) of ice in Antarctica. IceCube suggests ghostly neutrinos don't exist, but a new experiment says they do. (Image credit: Courtesy of IceCube Neutrino Observatory) "That's what really got me going, and looking at the ANITA events with the utmost seriousness," he said, later adding, "This is what physicists live for. Breaking models, setting new constraints [on reality], learning things about the universe we didn't know." As Live Science has previously reported, experimental, high-energy particle physics has been at a standstill for the last several years. When the 17-mile (27 kilometers), $10 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was completed on the border between France and Switzerland in 2009, scientists thought it would unlock the mysteries of supersymmetry the mysterious, theoretical class of particles that scientists suspect might exist outside of current physics, but had never detected. According to supersymmetry, every existing particle in the Standard Model has a supersymmetric partner. Researchers suspect these partners exist because the masses of known particles are out of wack not symmetric with one another. "Even though the SM works very well in explaining a plethora of phenomena, it still has many handicaps," said Seyda Ipek, a particle physicist at UC Irvine, who was not involved in the current research. "For example, it cannot account for the existence of dark matter, [explain mathematical weirdness in] neutrino masses, or the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe." Instead, the LHC confirmed the Higgs boson, the final undetected part of the Standard Model, in 2012. And then it stopped detecting anything else that important or interesting. Researchers began to question whether any existing physics experiment could ever detect a supersymmetric particle. "We need new ideas," Jessie Shelton, a theoretical physicist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told Live Science in May, around the same time that Fox first became interested in the ANITA data. Now, several scientists not involved in the Penn State paper told Live Science that it offers solid (if incomplete) evidence that something new has really arrived. "It was clear from the start that if the ANITA anomalous events are due to particles that had propagated through thousands of kilometers of Earth, then those particles were very likely not SM particles," said Mauricio Bustamante, an astrophysicist at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, who was not an author on the new paper. "The paper that appeared today is the first systematic calculation of how unlikely is that these events were due to SM neutrinos," he added. "Their result strongly disfavors a SM explanation." "I think it's very compelling," said Bill Louis, a neutrino physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory who was not involved in the paper and has been following research into the ANITA events for several months. If standard model particle created these anomalies, they should have been neutrinos. Researchers know that both because of the particles they decayed into, and because no other standard model particle would even have a fragment of a chance in a million of making it through the Earth. But neutrinos of this energy, Louis said, just shouldn't make it through the Earth often enough for ANITA or IceCube to detect. It's not how they work. But neutrino detectors like ANITA and IceCube don't detect neutrinos directly. Instead, they detect the particles that neutrinos decay into after smashing into Earth's atmosphere or Antarctic ice. And there are other events that can generate those particles, triggering the detectors. This paper strongly suggests that those events must have been supersymmetric, Louis said, though he added that more data is necessary. Fox and his colleagues went on to argue that the particles are most likely to be a sort of theoretical supersymmetric particle called "stau sleptons." Stau sleptons are supersymmetric versions of a Standard Model particle called the tau lepton. The "S" is for "supersymmetric" (really). [Sparticles to Neutrinos: The Coolest Little Particles in the Universe] Louis said that at this stage he thinks that level of specificity is "a bit of a stretch." The authors make a strong statistical case that no conventional particle would be likely to travel through the Earth in this way, he said, but there isn't yet enough data to be certain. And there's certainly not enough that they could definitively figure out what particle made the trip. Fox didn't dispute that. "As an observer, there's no way that I can know that this is a stau," he said. "From my perspective, I go trawling around trying to discover new things about the universe, I come upon some really bizarre phenomenon, and then with my colleagues, we do a little literature search to see if anybody has ever thought that this might happen. And then if we find papers in the literature, including one from 14 years ago that predict something just like this phenomenon, then that gets really high weight from me." He and his colleagues did find a long chain of papers from theorists predicting that stau sleptons might turn up like this in neutrino observatories. And because those papers were written before the ANITA anomaly, Fox said, that suggests strongly to him that those theorists were onto something. But there remains a lot of uncertainty on that front, he said. Right now, researchers just know that whatever this particle is, it interacts very weakly with other particles, or else it would have never survived the trip through the planet's dense mass. What's next Every physicist who spoke with Live Science agreed that researchers need to collect more data to verify that ANITA and IceCube have cracked supersymmetry. It's possible, Fox said, that when IceCube researchers dig into their data archives they'll find more, similar events that had previously gone unnoticed. Louis and Bustamante both said that NASA should run more ANITA flights to see if similar upward-going particles turn up. "For us to be certain that these events are not due to unknown unknowns say, unmapped properties of the Antarctic ice we would like other instruments to also detect these sort of events," Bustamante said. A team prepares ANITA for flight over the Antarctic ice. (Image credit: NASA) Over the long-term, if these results are confirmed and the details of what particle is causing them are nailed down, several researchers said that the ANITA anomaly might unlock even more new physics at the LHC. "Any observation a non-SM particle would be a game changer, because it would tell us which path we should take after the SM," Ipek said. "The type of [supersymmetric] particle they claim to have produced the signals of, sleptons, are very hard to produce and detect at LHC." "So, it is very interesting if they can be observed by other types of experiments. Of course, if this is true, then we will expect a ladder of other [supersymmetric] particles to be observed at the LHC, which would be a complementary test of the claims." In other words, the ANITA anomalies could offer scientists the key information necessary to properly tune the LHC to unlock more of supersymmetry. Those experiments might even turn up an explanation for dark matter. Right now, Fox said, he's just hungry for more data. Originally published on Live Science. The giant, clawed Ledumahadi mafube forages for tasty plants during the Early Jurassic period of what is now South Africa. In the foreground, another South African dinosaur, known as Heterodontosaurus tucki, assesses the situation. If any rock bands are looking for a cool name, they might draw inspiration from a newly identified long-necked Jurassic giant whose moniker means "a giant thunderclap at dawn." This colossal dinosaur was the largest beast alive during the Early Jurassic. And it walked in a peculiar way, a new study finds. Unlike the later long-necked dinosaurs and even today's elephants, the "giant thunderclap" dinosaur didn't walk on straight limbs. Rather, the 13-ton (12 metric tons) dinosaur moved with "a more crouched posture," study senior researcher Jonah Choiniere, a reader in dinosaur paleontology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, told Live Science. [Titanosaur Photos: Meet the Largest Dinosaur on Record] Researchers initially unearthed fossils of the 200-million-year-old dinosaur in the late 1980s near South Africa's international border with Lesotho. But it took them until 2017 to excavate all the beast's remains, including a wristbone that helped the team determine how the dinosaur walked. Some of the recovered, fossilized bones of Ledumahadi mafube. (Image credit: McPhee et al. Current Biology 2018) They drew from Southern Sotho, a Bantu language spoken in the region, to dub the dinosaur Ledumahadi mafube, which (as mentioned) is a nod to the beast's giant size. The genus name (Ledumahadi) means "a giant thunderclap" in recognition that size, whereas the species name (mafube) means "dawn," as a reference to the animal's existence during the Early Jurassic. "Nothing larger than Ledumahadi had ever walked the Earth when it evolved in the earliest Jurassic," Choiniere said. At 49 feet (15 meters) long, L. mafube would have been quite a sight. The enormous plant-eater stood about 13 feet (4 m) tall at its back hips and a little lower in front. It had a skinny neck, a tiny head and a long tail. Despite its long neck and tail, the "giant thunderclap" wasn't a sauropod dinosaur like the famous Brontosaurus, but a sauropodomorph, one of the closest relatives of the sauropods. Surprisingly, "Ledumahadi was bigger than some true sauropods, and its early [Jurassic] age means that gigantic body size appeared early," Choiniere said. In other words, L. mafube evolved its giant size independently of the sauropods, Choiniere said. Which sauropodomorph dinosaurs stood on four legs? This graphic shows how flexed limbs evolved several times during the Mesozoic era. (Image credit: McPhee et al. Current Biology 2018, University of the Witwatersrand) An analysis of the growth rings within the fossilized bones (dinosaur bones laid down rings as they grew, much like trees) revealed that when the dinosaur died, at 14 years of age, "thunderclap at dawn" was a fully grown adult. A further investigation of the dinosaur's upper arms and thighs showed that the beast walked on four legs, instead of two like some earlier and smaller sauropodomorph dinosaurs. "It walked on all fours, but unlike an elephant, which has very rigid, erect legs, its stance would have been more crouched, like a cat or a dog," Choiniere said. However, L. mafube isn't the first known sauropodomorph to walk on all fours. That honor goes to Riojasaurus, a sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina about 220 million years ago, during the Triassic period. [Gallery: Massive New Dinosaur Discovered in Sub-Saharan Africa] "We don't know yet why quadrupedalism evolves, but we do know that it evolves independently, multiple times in Sauropodomorpha and in Ornithischian [bird-hipped] dinosaurs, both of which eat plants," Choiniere said. "There is some thought that the huge reservoir of a gut system that held plant matter in these [groups] might have shifted the center of gravity forward for the animal, so that having an additional support in the forelimb would have been advantageous." Much like tree rings, dinosaur bones have growth rings. Here, closely spaced growth rings show that this particular Ledumahadi mafube had a decreased growth rate as it got older. (Image credit: Wits University) The finding shows that some sauropodomorph dinosaurs reached huge sizes and that they achieved this with "different anatomical solutions," that is, by using flexed limb postures, said Patrick O'Connor, a professor of anatomy at Ohio University, who was not involved with the study. Later, giant sauropods carried their weight on legs with an "upright, columnar limb organization quite different from that inferred for Ledumahadi," O'Connor told Live Science in an email. The study was published online today (Sept. 27) in the journal Current Biology. Originally published on Live Science. Did an ancient encounter with a nearby galaxy throw millions of Milky Way stars out of alignment? Astronomers investigate in a new study. The Milky Way has a violent past. When it isn't swallowing renegade sausage galaxies, it seems to be waging endless games of interstellar tug-of-war with its nearest galactic neighbors and not always winning. According to a new study published Sept. 19 in the journal Nature, one such encounter ended with a cosmic wound to the Milky Way's disk that still hasn't fully healed, 300 million years later. That wound, researchers say, is visible in a cluster of several million stars that are not behaving as they should be. While still rotating around the Milky Way's galactic center, these rogue stars also orbit around one another in a wobbly, spiral pattern that has only become more tangled over the past eon. [Big Bang to Civilization: 10 Amazing Origin Events] "We have observed shapes. [of star clusters] with different morphologies, such as a spiral similar to a snail's shell," lead study author Teresa Antoja, a researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB) at the University of Barcelona,said in a statement. "These substructures allow us to conclude that the disk of our galaxy suffered an important gravitational disturbance." Antoja and her colleagues spied the signs of this cosmic battle scar while studying the treasure map of star data shared earlier this year by the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite. Gaia provided scientists with the most detailed picture of our galaxy yet, offering the precise locations and velocities of more than 1.7 billion stars in the Milky Way. Antoja and her team noticed that one cluster of stars in the galactic disk swirled in a pattern distinct from that of its interstellar neighbors, and the researchers suspected some intergalactic mischief was afoot. Unwinding the stars To investigate what happened, the researchers used velocity and position data for 6 million stars to mathematically unwind the Milky Way's mysterious galactic snail shell. Their models showed that the disturbance that wobbled these stars' orbits likely occurred between 300 million and 900 million years ago. According to the researchers, one possible explanation is that a smaller, satellite galaxy swooped past the Milky Way sometime during that period, and the visitor's considerable gravity accidentally tugged the affected stars out of step. [Stunning Photos of Our Milky Way Galaxy] The Sagittarius dwarf galaxy a ring-shaped galaxy of several tens of billions of stars that arc around the Milky Way is a strong suspect in this case of intergalactic meddling. Previous research suggests that the Sagittarius galaxy indeed made a close pass to the Milky Way's disk between 200 million and 1 billion years ago, well within the time frame for the mysterious disturbance. If that hypothesis is correct, the event would have played out a bit like a tiny magnet skirting past a giant ring of iron filings. Sagittarius (the magnet) could've come close enough to the Milky Way to overpower several million stars (the filings) with its gravity, subsequently tugging those stars out of their regular orbits before moving out of range again. The stars that Sagittarius affected continued orbiting as part of the Milky Way, only now on a permanently altered trajectory. "It is a bit like throwing a stone in a pond, which displaces the water as ripples and waves,"Antoja said in an interview with the European Space Agency. A few hundred million years after the mysterious disturbance stirred the broth of stars, astronomers can still see the effects of the incident when they try to map the Milky Way. The swirling, shell-shaped cluster of stars still holds its unusual form when observed in Gaia graphics today. But don't worry: If you have home-galaxy pride, take heart that the Milky Way's revenge on Sagittarius may be swift. Scientists now believe that our galaxy is slowly absorbing the stars of Sagittarius and, within the next 100 million years or so, will rip it to shreds. Touche! Originally published on Live Science. Several suspected undocumented immigrants were rescued Wednesday on the Rio Grande after their smugglers abandoned them, Border Patrol said. The rescue took place around 10:30 a.m. when agents encountered a group of 10 people on an island in the Rio Grande behind the Ready Mix on Riverside Drive. Agents requested for the Laredo Sector Marine Unit to respond to the area to assist in rescuing them. Famed inventor Dr. Julio Palmaz and other insiders of the failed San Antonio medical technology company that bore his name have settled disputes involving allegations of fraud and securities-law violations. Terms of the settlement with former Palmaz Scientific Inc. shareholders and a trustee are confidential, but a bankruptcy judge recently approved settlement payments from two insurers who provided directors and officers liability insurance coverage for Dr. Palmaz and other insiders. The two policies had $8 million in combined coverage. It couldnt be determined if the plaintiffs collected anything directly from company insiders. RELATED: Former Kerrville executive accused of embezzlement wants retirement money Calls to Jason Davis, Dr. Palmazs lawyer, attorneys for other company officials and trustee Milo Segner Jr. were not returned Wednesday. Palmaz Scientifics directors included Phil Romano, the restaurateur who founded national chains Romanos Macaroni Grill and Fuddruckers. Ryan Steinbrunner, a Dallas attorney who represents a group of about 12 shareholders, said he was limited in what he could say because of the confidentiality agreement. I can tell you that the clients we represent are happy to have this all behind them, he said. Justin Bryan, a Dallas lawyer for about 40 investors, didnt respond to a request for comment. State District Judge Maricela Moore in Dallas County dismissed the parties claims including those by Dr. Palmaz and two other insiders Sept. 13 after they were resolved, court records show. Palmaz Scientific was started about 10 years ago by Dr. Palmaz, who in the 1980s invented a heart stent credited with saving millions of lives. The stent, developed at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, helps prevent blood vessels from collapsing after a balloon angioplasty opens clogs. Johnson & Johnson bought the rights to the stent in 1988, reportedly paying about $500 million. Palmaz Scientific set out to develop the next generation of arterial stents, but those efforts flopped despite raising roughly $40 million from investors. To read more about Palmaz Scientific, see Thursdays Business section or click here to visit our subscriber website, ExpressNews.com. Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD The figures indicate that technology can unlock greater engagement on retirement savings, but that this tech revolution must come in stages. Among the key findings of the online survey are: While almost two-thirds of Brits would not trust robo-advice on retirement planning and savings advice, this scepticism appears to have a lot to do with age, with millennials generally indicating greater openness to the application of technology when it comes to financial advice and retirement planning. Overall, almost a third of people (28%) surveyed said they would trust this advice given to them by a robot, but in the 18-24 age bracket, trust climbed to 45% (compared with 38% who wouldnt trust). In contrast, less than a fifth of respondents aged 55+ said they would trust robo-advice on retirement planning and savings advice (19%), compared with 67% who wouldn't. The fact that tech-savvy younger generations are more open to robo-advice is not surprising. Crucially, however, support for the Pensions Dashboard as the online tool most likely to encourage people to save more for retirement was not age-dependent, with similar levels of interest from all age groups (18-24: 20%; 25-34: 26%; 35-44: 22%; 45-54: 24%; 55+ 17%). When it comes to technology more widely, 13% of UK adults said a smartphone app that made it easier to top up their pension would be the online technology most likely to encourage them to save more for retirement. But, here still there were large disparities when it came to age. Nearly a quarter (24%) of 18-24 year olds chose the smartphone app option, compared with just 4% of those aged 55+. The Pensions Dashboard is among the most highly anticipated technological innovations, and this support for the dashboard comes at a critical time. The Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, Esther McVey, recently announced that the UK Government has handed over the project to industry to take forward, after previous fears it would be scrapped entirely. The dashboard would allow people to view all their pension pots in one place, from State Pension entitlements to defined contribution and, eventually, defined benefit schemes. Bob Scott, senior partner at LCP, said: Technology continues to fundamentally transform nearly every aspect of the world we live in, and clearly thats no different when it comes to some of the ways in which we plan financially for retirement. There may be some scepticism around innovations such as robo-advisers, but the survey results indicate that younger generations appear to be ready to embrace the power of technology when it comes to financial management and retirement savings. Advisers and providers therefore have an incentive to harness the benefits of new technology in order to cater to the next generation of savers and retirees, and to engage these future pensioners at an early stage. More immediately, the prospect of the long-awaited Pensions Dashboard finally coming to life is welcome news, not least because the British public has shown a real appetite for such an innovation. With a sizable number of adults saying that it would help them to save more, it could prove to be a compelling case study of just how powerful the application of technology can really be when it comes to making retirement saving easier and more universal than ever before. The use of technology like the dashboard, coupled with auto-enrolment, has the power to drive not just awareness and interest but, crucially, savings levels. There are very few who think a working dashboard wouldnt bring considerable benefits, once it gets off the ground. Madison Iszler /Express-News A quarter of households in San Antonio lack Internet access, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas - a roadblock to applying for jobs and financial aid, online education, starting a business and being part of the increasingly digital economy. It makes social mobility more difficult and affects business investment in communities, said Jordana Barton, senior advisor at the Dallas Fed. A 30-year-old San Francisco man decapitated his grandmother inside her home in a senior living facility in the citys South of Market neighborhood, sources said Thursday. Andrew Luke was arrested at the scene Wednesday after allegedly killing 82-year-old Chii-Chyu Horng inside her residence at 801 Howard St., officials said. Luke was charged on Thursday with murder and elder abuse. Several sources with knowledge of the investigation said Luke had cut off Horngs head. A spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department would not confirm the details of the slaying or name the suspect, only saying that he is a family member of the victim. Police made the gruesome discovery after responding to a welfare check around 12:25 a.m. Wednesday. Luke was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation. A date for his arraignment has not been set. In an interview with The Chronicle on Thursday, Lukes ex-stepmother, Eva Fok, said Horng raised Luke after his mother died of lupus when he was a child. Luke had been living with Horng when he allegedly killed her, Fok said. Fok said she did not know the details of what happened, but she said Luke suffered from mental illness and was prone to violence. She said he could be set off by things as simple as being outside, hearing background noises or laughter. He really loved his grandmother, oh my God, Fok said Thursday. Im sure he would not do anything to his family. He loves his family. Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawu The heroine of Kylie Scott's "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" (Kylie Scott) is Adele, who at the book's opening, arrives for her father's wedding after seven years away. Adele had fled to Sydney at 18 after an embarrassing and misguided attempt at seducing her father's prized employee, Pete Gallagher, whom she'd loved for years despite his being 15 years her senior. Older and (hopefully) wiser, Adele and Peter, now her father's business partner, are forced together for the duration of the wedding week. What begins as an uncomfortable, awkward reunion quickly turns into a delicious, clandestine affair; Adele isn't interested in losing her heart again, and Pete can't bear the idea of betraying her father's trust. Of course, the heart wants what the heart wants, and Pete and Adele are soon wild for each other. --- Scarlett Peckham stakes a powerful claim on erotic historical romance with the stunning "The Duke I Tempted" (NYLA), which combines the rich emotion of a traditional gothic romance with complex, modern characters who captivate. Archer, Duke of Westmead, has spent years restoring his family name and estate, and now requires an heir to ensure a long line of future dukes. He plans for a wife who will not love him and who will not ask questions about his devastating past or his membership in a club designed for sexually submissive men. It seems the perfect plan until Archer discovers brilliant, fascinating Poppy Cavendish on his estate. Poppy is a botanist eager to build a business in exotic plants - something she can't do if she is wed, as married women of the time could not legally own businesses. But then scandal intervenes and Poppy and Archer are forced to marry and to discover that they can in fact love each other. Here is a novel about the lies people tell, the barriers we build to protect ourselves, and the fears we must overcome to let ourselves be loved. --- Zoey Castile's "Stripped" (Kensington) is a charming romantic comedy featuring a male stripper and the schoolteacher who steals his heart. Or perhaps it's the other way around? Because of a laundromat goof, Robyn Flores discovers a sequined American flag thong in her clean laundry. She has no idea that it belongs to her extremely handsome neighbor, Zac Fallon. It turns out he dances in an all-male revue (think "Magic Mike XXL"). Then Robyn sees Zac at her best friend's bachelorette party, where he's the main attraction. Surprise turns into desire, and soon Robyn and Zac agree to a short-term, summer fling. Life, of course, has other plans. What follows is a witty, wonderful romance that speaks to who we are, who we are meant to be, and who we are meant to be with. Castile fills Robyn and Zac's world with a raucous, supportive cast of family and friends who will have readers wishing they could linger in these pages just a little longer. --- MacLean is an author of historical romance. Her most recent novel is "Wicked and the Wallflower." A man has been arrested by Laredo police for fleeing the scene of a vehicle collision that he caused, according to an arrest affidavit. Marco Antonio Heras, 66, was served with an arrest warrant Tuesday charging him with accident involving damage to a vehicle. Custody records show he is out on bond from the Webb County Jail. The case unfolded at about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 6 when a Laredo police officer patrolling in the 7700 block of McPherson Road noticed a white Mitsubishi Endeavor in the middle of the road. Police noted the vehicle was involved in a vehicle crash, according to court documents. READ ALSO: Webb County deputy constable arrested by LPD The driver, a 35-year-old woman, stated that a white pickup, possibly a F-150, collided into her vehicle and left the area, traveling north on McPherson. She told police that pickup truck had exited the Border Foundry parking lot, failed to yield the right of way and struck her Mitsubishi, according to court documents. She gave police a description of the driver. While searching the crash site, officers said they also found a license plate that belonged to a white 2016 Ford. Officers later located the white Ford at a home in the 3300 block of Tiger Court in the Bent Tree Subdivision in north Laredo. Police said the Ford had damage described by the driver of the Mitsubishi. RELATED: Laredo police arrest teen accused of fleeing accident scene When police questioned Heras, he gave conflicting statements as to who the possible driver was the night of the crash, according to the affidavit. The document further states that Heras was defensive and looked as if he was thinking about his responses. Days later, an attorney representing Heras called police saying his client denied driving the vehicle and wanted to know what was going to happen to his client. Authorities presented their findings to an assistant district attorney, who approved the issuance of a warrant for Heras' arrest. A Magnolia West High School student was arrested on third-degree felony charges of making a terroristic threat Wednesday, according to the Precinct 5 Constable's office in Montgomery County. Montgomery County Jail records show 17-year-old Andrew Eric Valle posted a $25,000 bond, and officials with the constable's office said he returned home to his parents' home, where he is under surveillance. According to a news release from the Precinct 5 Constable, Valle allegedly made a verbal threat after he was suspended for dress code violations. Other students heard the threat and immediately reported it to an administrator and the district's Anonymous Alerts system, according to Magnolia ISD. RELATED: Aldine Middle student arrested for making threat against staff member Authorities determined there was no danger posed to the school Wednesday night, but that did not stop false rumors about the incident from circulating on social media, said Lt. Chad Walling. "We had other agencies calling in reference to an active shooter they thought was going on, students put down information that there were multiple people involved, information made it out that there was multiple active shooters," Walling said. "That couldn't have been any farther from the truth." He said the constable's office has not seen an uptick in these types of threats and generally investigates "several a year." READ ALSO: Columbus ISD student in custody after Snapchat threat closes schools He blamed students blowing the incident out of proportion and adding sinister, false details in an effort to get out of school early and disrupt the school day. "There are going to be those who take advantage of this for personal gain," Walling said. Valle's alleged threat was among several made by students across the Houston area this week. Students in Aldine, Texas City and Columbus ISDs were arrested for allegedly making threats against their schools. Police sent more officers to Austin High School in Houston ISD after a threat was made over social media, and Bay Elementary in Clear Creek ISD was placed on a safety hold Wednesday after someone called in an apparent false report about a suspicious man to police. FBI: Hoax threats could lead to serious consequences for students FBI's Houston field office held a news conference earlier this month warning students of the consequences they could face if they were found to make false threats against their school, district, school staff members or fellow students. Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner said federal charges are considered in cases of false or hoax threats, which can carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. State charges could also be on the table. "With the school year underway, we need students and the public to understand that making threats against a school is not a joke. There are serious legal consequences for those who do, even if there was never an intent to carry out the threat," Turner said. WASHINGTON - Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday will take the extraordinary step of putting one of the most politically treacherous and emotionally charged congressional hearings in recent memory in the hands of an unknown career prosecutor from Arizona with little comparable experience. Rachel Mitchell, who was tapped to question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford about her allegations that Kavanaugh assaulted her in high school, has never been involved in such a high-profile case or faced the glare of the national media. One aspect of her background that could be key: Mitchell, who runs the special victims division of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, championed a manual for local prosecutors that recommends questioning victims of sexual assault with a "neutral, fact finding attitude," placing the "best interest of the victim" first. Republicans hope her presence will help bring credibility to the hearing. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said she will help "depoliticize" the process. But by choosing an unknown for the task, Republicans have taken a risk - gambling that Mitchell finds a way, in her first turn on the national stage, to successfully deliver tough but empathetic questions. If Mitchell turns out to be the fair and evenhanded questioner that Republicans said they want, there could be dangers for the embattled nominee: What if Ford appears credible in the face of such questioning? What if Kavanaugh struggles? "There's no telling what's going to happen here," said Nick Ackerman, who served as an assistant special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. "If she does what she normally does and she's legitimate and is good at this because she's been doing this for a long time, [Republicans] could find themselves in a major pickle." The hearing also carries risks for the committee's 10 Democrats, a group that includes several aspiring presidential candidates. Any political showboating could contrast poorly with the calm delivery of a professional prosecutor, experts said. "A thorough and temperate examination is called for," said Richard Ben-Veniste, a former Watergate special prosecutor. Mitchell is largely a mystery to many senators, several said Wednesday. The process of hiring her was guided largely by Grassley and his top committee aides. At a private meeting with Republicans on the Judiciary Committee in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office on Monday evening, Grassley told the GOP senators that he had settled on a female prosecutor named Mitchell, according to two people briefed on the discussion. "I think there was a consensus that something like that made sense, but in terms of selecting her, I've never met her," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, who sits on the committee. Colleagues who have faced her in court praised Mitchell as having an empathetic, professional questioning style. "She was prepared. She was thorough. She definitely knew how to do the questions to elicit information that was needed," said Erika Warner, a lawyer with the Maricopa County Office of Legal Defender, which works with indigent defendants and who has watched Mitchell question witnesses in court. Warner said she had never seen Mitchell badger witnesses or treat them with disrespect. Some Republicans privately acknowledged they wanted a woman to take the job of questioning Ford to avoid the optics of her being interrogated by the committee's 11 white, male Republican members. The hearing will be rigidly structured. Once it begins at 10 a.m., Grassley and the committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will each have time to deliver an opening statement. Then Ford will give her opening remarks, followed by questions that will alternate between Republicans and Democrats in the order of seniority. Kavanaugh will testify after her. Each senator will be given five minutes to ask questions of both Ford and Kavanaugh. But most - if not all - Republican senators are expected to delegate their time to Mitchell. One major question, Ackerman said, is whether Mitchell will design her own line of inquiry or merely deliver questions provided to her by the Republicans. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a committee member, said GOP senators will not dictate questions Mitchell must ask. "We're not telling her anything," he said. "She's highly skilled, and she's looking at it objectively." A committee spokesman said Mitchell has been working closely with Grassley's committee aides - including more than a dozen lawyers and law clerks who were hired temporarily to work on Kavanaugh's confirmation - to develop possible lines of questioning. Staffers have also provided Mitchell their investigative work on the allegations. A senior Republican aide said the committee hopes Mitchell will press Ford on the details she has said she cannot remember, including the timeline of events around her allegations about Kavanaugh. They also hope Mitchell will push Ford about when and how she decided to come forward and her interactions with Democratic staffers. Senate Democrats said they had no plans to recalibrate their strategy in light of Mitchell's role. Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee have not closely compared notes about questions they plan to ask Thursday, according to two people familiar with internal discussions. Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., a member of the Judiciary Committee, predicted the outcome of Thursday's hearing will "largely turn on what sort of tone and approach she takes." "If this is someone who has spent years as a prosecutor for sex crimes, that could mean one of two things," Coons said. "Either this is someone who deeply understands, respects and fights for victims and is able to conduct questioning of Dr. Ford that is respectful, or this is someone who knows how to be aggressive and focused and take a prosecutorial tone, and I think that will not turn out well for the majority." Mitchell, 50, has spent her entire career with the county attorney's office, which is responsible for prosecuting crime in the Phoenix area. She has won awards for victim advocacy and lectured on how to approach sex crimes. Tracey Westerhausen, a registered Democrat and defense lawyer who said she has faced Mitchell in 30 cases, recalled a time when a hostile witness broke out in a coughing fit as Mitchell examined him. Without missing a beat, Mitchell reached into her pocket, produced a lozenge and asked, "May I offer you a cough drop?" "It was touching, and it was funny," Westerhausen said. "It shows the kind of person is." Mitchell is a registered Republican and has donated to the campaign of Mark Brnovich, Arizona's Republican attorney general. Cindi Nannetti, the former head of the sex-crimes unit at the county attorney's office - and Mitchell's predecessor and former supervisor - said that she has never known Mitchell to be influenced by politics. "Rachel will do her job as a professional," she said. "And she will do it with the utmost respect to the committee. She does not play politics when it comes to anything involving her work." In 2005, Mitchell helped prosecute a former priest accused of abusing six boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the county reeled from a diocese-wide abuse scandal. Joseph Reaves, a former Arizona Republic reporter who recently co-published a book about the sex abuse scandal in the Phoenix Diocese, said Mitchell was highly empathetic to victims and said he was stunned to learn that she had been chosen to question Kavanaugh and Ford this week. "I remember her being so supportive of the sex abuse victims," he said. "To find out that she was going to be the person to question a sex abuse victim on behalf of the GOP - I was taken aback." Nationally, Maricopa County is widely known as the home of Joe Arpaio, who served as sheriff from 1993 to 2017 and was convicted of criminal contempt before receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump last year. Mitchell works for the county's elected prosecutor, in a department that is independent from the sheriff's office. When Arpaio's office was found to have failed to thoroughly investigate hundreds of sex crimes that were reported between 2005 and 2007, Mitchell was one of the prosecutors assigned to sort through files and figure out which cases were still viable, Nannetti said. She later conducted training sessions for the sheriff's office, in hopes of avoiding the same problems in the future. Reaves predicted that neither Republicans nor Democrats would ultimately be pleased with Mitchell. "She's going to be so good," he said, "that both sides are going to have problems with her." --- The Washington Post's Alice Crites, Tom Hamburger and Gabriel Pogrund contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - FEMA administrator William "Brock" Long used government vehicles and staff on 40 different trips for personal reasons, including during a family vacation in Hawaii, despite official warnings the practice was unauthorized, an internal investigation found. Long's improper use of government resources cost taxpayers $94,000 in staff salary, $55,000 in travel expenses and $2,000 in vehicle maintenance, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general determined. The Washington Post obtained a redacted copy of the inspector general's report before it was made public on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not respond to a request for comment. DHS declined to address questions about the report, referring to a joint statement issued last week by Long and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who said she had ordered Long to repay the government "as appropriate." A DHS official said they have not yet agreed on the precise amount. The Wall Street Journal first reported portions of the investigation's content late Tuesday. Long, in last week's statement, said he would "accept full responsibility for any mistakes that were made by me." He will be allowed to remain in his job, officials said. Rep. Elijah Cummings, Md., the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement that the FEMA administrator "is supposed to be focused on preparing for disasters like the devastating hurricanes that killed thousands of Americans in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands - not using government vehicles to shuttle his family around Hawaii at taxpayer expense. He called Long's "apparent violations of federal law for his own personal benefit . . . another example of how senior officials in the Trump administration continue to use American taxpayer money to bankroll their lavish lifestyles." Long is the latest senior Trump administration official to be ensnared in a scandal over travel habits that have mixed official and personal trips on the government's dime or relied on first-class or military planes. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price's use of costly charter jets for official travel cost him his job last fall, and former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin was widely criticized for a trip to Europe that mixed official and personal travel at taxpayer expense. Scott Pruitt, the former Environmental Protection Agency chief, also came under scrutiny for charging the government for first-class plane tickets, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was investigated for trips mixing official business with political appearances, some taken on private charter flights. Investigators took the unusual step of secretly surveilling Long over five months, from December through April, the report says. They watched him being driven multiple times in government-owned Chevrolet Suburbans or rented SUVs from his Washington, District of Columbia, apartment to FEMA headquarters, and from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina to his home in Hickory, North Carolina, for weekend visits to see his family, according to the report. Four aides on Long's staff took a total of 25 trips to North Carolina, none of which involved official business, investigators found. They stayed in hotels near Long's home while waiting to drive him back to Washington or to the Charlotte airport - all at taxpayer expense, the report says. Additionally, "all the drivers were provided either overtime or compensatory time," investigators wrote. During one trip in March, as an aide drove Long to North Carolina after an official event in Hot Springs, Virginia, Long told the driver to stop at a neighbor's home to pick up one of his sons, the report says. Another time, an aide picked up Long's children from school - a detour, Long told investigators, the aide offered to make, according to the report. Investigators also highlighted an instance in November when Long directed an aide to pick him up at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and drive him 150 miles to McRae, Georgia, where he attended a funeral for his wife's grandfather, the report said. The Hawaii trip, during which Long mixed work and family time, coincided with his kids' spring break from school, investigators said. While there, an aide drove Long and his family to a visit a Dole pineapple plantation and a volcano after his official business was complete, the report says. Afterward, Long told the aide he would consult an ethics attorney to determine if the personal legs of the trips were appropriate, according to the report. After FEMA's ethics official told him "that the arrangement made it appear he used the trappings of his office and misused his government position," the report says, Long wrote a check to the Treasury for $309.24. The investigation, which has dogged Long for weeks, surfaced publicly just as FEMA began to ramp up for what remainsa full-fledged response to Hurricane Florence, which caused widespread flooding in North and South Carolina. Last week, amid reports of a feud between Long and Nielsen, it was disclosed the investigation had been referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution, though officials said Friday that Long would not face charges. As news of the inquiry leaked, Long and his allies defended his use of government vehicles, noting that they are equipped with classified communications equipment in case he needs to speak with the president or other senior government officials. His drivers told investigators, however, that Long "has never used the [secure] communications package within the vehicles that transported him," the report says. In interviews with investigators, Long acknowledged taking many of the trips and said he assumed his staff was "working on obtaining clarity" on the government's home-to-work transportation policy. He stated, too, that he did not feel he should pay for support necessary for him to perform duties under a presidential preparedness directive that requires the FEMA administrator to ensure the continuation of federal government services at all times. The investigation was triggered after a government vehicle Long was riding in was involved in an accident in North Carolina last November. In it, investigators detail a policy that permits him to travel in government vehicles only during a national emergency, noting that the Homeland Security secretary must give approval first and that, otherwise, the cost of the vehicles, drivers' salaries and gas would be considered a fringe benefit for which Long could be taxed. Long, the report said, told his aides he could not afford the extra tax liability. Some on his staff, incensed by the policy, insisted that the administrator be transported to and from his home, the report says. It describes a frantic series of emails among FEMA staff and attorneys as they tried to sort out the policy, whether it should be adhered to and whether Long had formally applied for an exemption. As far back as October, some top FEMA aides told Long and his staff that he could no longer be picked up and dropped off at his residences. But the trips continued. Two FEMA officials have been suspended in connection with the investigation. WASHINGTON - For five minutes at a time, as she was quizzed by a prosecutor about the details of an alleged assault that occurred when she was 15 years old, Christine Blasey Ford was on trial. And then, for five minutes, she wasn't. The Republican decision to relinquish each GOP senator's five minutes of question time to a career sex-crimes prosecutor turned Thursday's hearing on Ford's accusation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh into a strange hybrid: part legal deposition, part therapy session. Throughoutthe morning, Ford swiveled abruptly between Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who focused on the minutia of her account, and Democratic senators, who worked to elicit the emotional impact of the alleged assault. "This is utterly bizarre," said Peter Zeidenberg, who was a veteran prosecutor in the Justice Department's public integrity section, as he watched the session unfold. "This is no way to conduct an investigation, on live television in five-minute increments. It's ridiculous and offensive." The dueling approaches were mirrored in the reactions outside Congress. Ford was lauded by supporters on social media as a hero, while some Kavanaugh advocates focused on small details raised by Mitchell - such as Ford's decision to fly to Washington, even though she said the alleged attack gave her a fear of enclosed spaces. President Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, "I'm no psychology professor but it does seem weird to me that someone could have a selective fear of flying." Mitchell, the Maricopa County, Arizona, prosecutor tapped by Republicans to handle the GOP questions, never laid out a broad theory in her questions. Instead, she asked Ford to mark her home on a map of the Chevy Chase, Maryland, area. She asked her to review each of her past statements about the attack and explore whether her account has been consistent over time. She inquired whether Ford was on medication the night she remembered that Kavanaugh and friend Mark Judge locked her in a bedroom and attacked her. ("Not at all," Ford recalled.) Speaking calmly, Mitchell laid out a series of questions that built on one another in a rhythm familiar to anyone who has witnessed a courtroom trial. But each time Mitchell began to get some momentum with her questioning, her time would end and the floor was turned over to a Democratic senator. For their part, the Democrats took turns empathizing with Ford and reassuring her that they believed her. Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vt., asked Ford what memory she could not forget from the assault. "The laughter," she said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut praised her for providing the country "an incredible teaching moment." "You are not on trial," Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a former prosecutor, told the witness. Republican had selected the format, eager to avoid the image of Ford being interrogated by 11 male GOP senators. But the decision left Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as largely the only member of his party whose voice was heard during Ford's testimony. From time to time, he interrupted the proceedings to sternly defend his handling of the allegations and decision not to allow other witnesses to testify. By the afternoon, some Republicans appeared to be regretting the format. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told reporters that he had believed Mitchell would be afforded larger blocks of time to provide "more continuity in the questioning." "When you chop up the questioning, it just is hard to develop a really good line to really get to the heart of the matter, so that's unfortunate," he said. Conservative commentator Byron York, who has been supportive of Kavanaugh's confirmation, wrote in a tweet, "To put it mildly, this hearing isn't working for GOP. Dems are asking big, meaningful questions. What do you remember? What did you feel? Could it have been anyone else? Getting big, meaningful answers. GOP's Mitchell focusing on little stuff. Huge contrast." When Kavanaugh testified in the afternoon, Mitchell began methodically pressing him about his drinking habits and notations on his 1982 calendar. But Republicans soon seized back the microphone to denounce how the Democrats handled Ford's charges. In a thundering speech, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called the late-breaking allegations "the most unethical sham" he'd seen during his time in the Senate. A registered Republican, Mitchell, 50, is described by colleagues as a professional and diligent prosecutor. She has specialized in sex crimes since joining the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in 1993. She chose to focus much of her inquiry not on Ford's memories of the attack but instead on her interactions with Democrats and The Washington Post as she weighed whether to come forward publicly. Nick Akerman, a former Watergate special prosecutor, said he thought Mitchell's lines of inquiries made sense as a way of carefully exploring whether Ford was motivated to lie or had a vendetta. "She's doing what you would expect someone who does this sort of thing for a living does - trying to figure out whether there are any inconstancies, trying to get explanations for things that people may be worried about," hesaid. In the face of Mitchell'squestioning, he said, Ford had come across as "very straightforward and credible." "I just don't see how any of it helped Republicans - other than keeping them out of campaign commercials," he said. Conservative writer Erick Erickson, a vocal Kavanaugh supporter, wrote on Twitter that Mitchell had done a good job drawing out facts that can be used to try to persuade Republicans on the fence that her testimony had been manipulated by Democrats. He noted that Ford had acknowledged to Mitchell that one of her lawyers had been recommended by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and that her lawyer had paid for her polygraph test. "We get all that because Mitchell focused on process," he wrote. As she concluded her questioning of Ford,Mitchell seemed to acknowledge the constraints she had been under. She asked Ford whether it would surprise her as a research psychologist that "this setting in five-minute increments is not the best way to do it." "No," Ford answered. "The best way is to have an interview one on one in a private setting and to let you do the talking," Mitchell said. And with that, like in any courtroom examination, the prosecutor concluded: "I have no further questions." - - - The Post's Ann Marimow and Erica Werner contributed to this report. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he does not need to "rush" an agreement with North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program, and the process could take as many as three years - a longer time table than his national security adviser John Bolton has previously laid out. "We're not playing the time game. If it takes two years, three years or five months, it doesn't matter. There's no nuclear testing, and there's not testing of rockets," Trump said at a news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Trump put forth an optimistic outlook on the status of the talks, citing a series of letters he received from Kim Jong Un and the North Korean leader's decision to halt nuclear testing as evidence of a diplomatic breakthrough that staved off an imminent war with the isolated regime. "If I wasn't elected, you would have had a war" Trump said, claiming that President Barack Obama told him before he took office that the United States was on the cusp of military confrontation with North Korea. In response to Trump's claim, former Obama national security spokesman Ned Price said, "The Department of Defense always looks at contingencies, but the Obama administration was consistently of the belief . . . that diplomacy was the only viable option given what we knew would be catastrophic implications of a conflict on the Peninsula." Trump's assessment of the success of his negotiations, which haven't yielded a detailed commitment from the North, is not shared by all of his top advisers. U.S. intelligence officials concluded this summer that North Korea is still considering ways of concealing the number of nuclear weapons it has and does not intend to fully surrender its stockpile. Bolton has publicly endorsed a one-year timeline for North Korea to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile program. But Trump said positive developments that have not been made public will prove the wisdom of his nuclear negotiations with Kim. "If you saw what's going on behind the scenes, I think you'd be very impressed," he said. "I've received two letters from Chairman Kim. . . . They're letters that are magnificent in the sense of his feeling for wanting to get this done." Trump's enthusiasm for the high-stakes talks came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced he had accepted an invitation from North Korea to return to Pyongyang next month, a sign that talks will resume after Trump canceled a meeting last month citing a "lack of progress." Pompeo will discuss securing the "final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement, and "prepare for a second summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim." Pompeo made the announcement after meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho at the General Assembly. The top U.S. diplomat left a Security Council session chaired by Trump to sit down with Ri and discuss next steps, said a senior State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The trip will focus on laying a foundation for a successful summit, the official said, and creating a basis for more negotiations. Pompeo's previously scheduled trip, which would have been his fourth visit to the isolated country, was canceled after the United States received a letter from Kim Yong Chol, the North's top nuclear negotiator, that diplomats described as "rude" and insulting. At the time, Trump blamed the lack of progress in the denuclearization talks on China, Pyongyang's critical ally. "I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were," Trump tweeted. He said Beijing's change in behavior was due to his administration's "much tougher Trading stance with China." On Wednesday, however, Trump thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping during a U.N. Security Council meeting, saying working with the Chinese leader on the North Korea issue "has been a pleasure and an honor." The Trump administration says U.N. sanctions against North Korea will remain in place until the country denuclearizes. In his remarks Wednesday, Trump said the United States has detected that some nations are violating U.N. sanctions. "This includes illegal ship-to-ship transfers, which must end immediately," Trump said. "The safety of the Korean Peninsula, the region and the world, depends on full compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions. Very, very important." - - - The Washington Post's Carol Morello and Anne Gearan contributed to this report. On the eve of a high-stakes hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee disclosed late Wednesday that they had questioned two men who say they, not Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Christine Blasey Ford that led to her sexual assault allegations, but offered no evidence to back up either claim. The late-night release of the committee's investigative material about 12 hours before the scheduled hearing further inflamed tensions between Republicans and Democrats, who said they felt ambushed. "If the Republicans believe these two men, they should call both of them to testify and refer their names to the Montgomery County District Attorney," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a tweet Thursday morning, referring to the jurisdiction in Maryland where the alleged assault occurred. "If they don't, we'll know it's just an attempt to undermine Dr. Ford and 'plow right through' with the nomination." The disclosure of potentially exculpatory material was included in a larger timeline of the committee staff's investigative work released by Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. Neither man claiming responsibility is identified by name, and there is no indication that either intends to come forward publicly. The committee declined to comment further than what was outlined in the news release when asked why Grassley's staff interviewed the two men who separately say they might have had the alleged encounter with Ford, how they found the men and whether the committee found them credible. Ford has alleged that Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her to a bed on her back, groped her and put his hand over her mouth at a house party in 1982. While she has acknowledged not remembering some details, she has said she has no doubt that Kavanaugh was the individual who assaulted her. One of the two men claiming responsibility for the encounter was interviewed twice by committee staff, according to the timeline. He also submitted two written statements, one on Monday and a second, "more in-depth" statement on Wednesday. The document says committee staff spoke to a second man by phone on Wednesday who "believes he, not Judge Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982 that his the basis of her allegation." The prospect of Ford being mistaken about the identify of her accuser was floated last week by conservative legal commentator Ed Whelan, who on Twitter included a photo of a classmate of Kavanaugh whom he suggested could be the real assailant. Whelan's assertion set off immediate controversy, and he subsequently deleted the tweets and apologized. In response, Ford said that she was certain her attacker was Kavanaugh. Other investigative material that Democrats say was previously unknown includes a conversation with a friend of Washington resident Julie Swetnick who claimed that Kavanaugh's latest accuser has never mentioned either Kavanaugh or this alleged incident; and a phone call with a former Kavanaugh high school classmate who explained some "innocuous but sometimes insensitive inside jokes" in the school's yearbook. In her written opening statement, Ford, a research psychologist in California, maintains that it was Kavanaugh who, at a party when he was 17 and she was 15, assaulted her while a friend of his watched. She explains how she came to interact with Kavanaugh when they were both students at elite, single-sex schools in the Washington suburbs: "In my freshman and sophomore school years, when I was 14 and 15 years old, my group of friends intersected with Brett and his friends for a short period of time. I had been friendly with a classmate of Brett's for a short time during my freshman year, and it was through that connection that I attended a number of parties that Brett also attended. We did not know each other well, but I knew him and he knew me." In his written opening statement, Kavanaugh categorically denies an attack, saying: "I have never sexually assaulted anyone - not in high school, not in college, not ever." He has denied being at the party in question. - - - The Washington Post's Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed to this report. Note: Remember the early MADD campaign billboards and the praise they won? Mothers whose kids had been killed by drunk drivers lead a charge to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving. Laws were passed across the nation. The legal limit went down. Programs around the country started teaching safety. Not one mother (or father) was ridiculed for the campaign (outside of the beer, wine and spirits industry.) Never did government agencies (yes you "public health departments) call them liars, fear mongers, anti-liquor. Here we have the same process. A smart man and devoted father whose perfectly healthy child lay dead in his bed is speaking out about the horror in an effort to PROTECT OTHERS. From the Daily Mail article, which is kinder than the US outlets, of course. Vaccines can kill' billboard featuring the son of a former MMA fighter, who claims the toddler died from a vaccination, goes up in Kansas City.By the way, DTaP is three vaccines in one vile, er vial. Our condolences to the Catone family. There is no greater pain than that of losing a child. ### The billboard features a quote from the toddler's mother that reads: 'As a nurse I was never taught vaccines can kill until my son was a victim.' The billboard was put up by Learn The Risk, a public awareness campaign and non-profit that educates the public on real dangers of pharmaceutical products, including vaccines. According to the organization, there are also billboards in Brick, New Jersey, Nicholas' hometown, Boston, Massachusetts, Syracuse, New York, and Middletown, Connecticut. Learn the Risk shared the information in a post that read: 'As with many healthy children that die right after vaccines, his [Nicholas'] death was labeled Sudden Infant Death (not a real cause, only a label).' '23,000 babies die in the US in their first year of life. During that same period, children get 35 toxin-filled vaccines. Sudden death is a known side effect of vaccines. Coincidence?!!' the post added. Earlier this month, Nick Catone opened a new gym in Ocean County, New Jersey, in honor of his son. Nick said at the time that his son went to bed one night and didn't wake up the next morning in May 2017. Nicholas died 17 days after receiving the DTap vaccination. An autopsy found that nothing was wrong with the toddler, but the Catone family continued to search for answers. 'Instantly I had this gut motherly instinct that the only thing that came across his path was that he was recently vaccinated,' Marjorie told News 12. She immediately pulled her son's medical records and noticed that he kept getting sick after being vaccinated. 'You get angry because it all could have been prevented,' Nick said. On top of putting up the billboard, the Catones are also taking their case to vaccine court. Vaccine court, known as the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), was started as a result of a law passed in 1986 that gave pharmaceutical companies total legal immunity from being sued due to injuries and deaths resulting from vaccines. The program compensates families who can prove their child was injured or died due to vaccinations. ... Millions of vaccinations are given to children and adults in the US each year. \ In the autumn of 1929, Anne Morrow Lindbergh and her husband Charles flew across the Yucatan Peninsula. With Charles at the controls, Anne snapped photographs of the jungles just below. She wrote in her journal of Maya structures obscured by large humps of vegetation. A bright stone wall peeked through the leaves, "unspeakably alone and majestic and desolate - the mark of a great civilization gone." Nearly a century later, surveyors once again took flight over the ancient Maya empire, and mapped the Guatemala forests with lasers. The 2016 survey, whose first results were published this week in the journal Science, comprises a dozen plots covering 830 square miles, an area larger than the island of Maui. It is the largest such survey of the Maya region, ever. The study authors describe the results as a revelation. "It's like putting glasses on when your eyesight is blurry," said study author Mary Jane Acuna, director of El Tintal Archaeological Project in Guatemala. In the past, archaeologists had argued that small, disconnected city-states dotted the Maya lowlands, though that conception is falling out of favor. This study shows that the Maya could extensively "exploit and manipulate" their environment and geography, Acuna said. Maya agriculture sustained large populations, who in turn forged relationships across the region. Combing through the scans, Acuna and her colleagues, an international 18-strong scientific team, tallied 61,480 structures. These included: 60 miles of causeways, roads and canals that connected cities; large maize farms; houses large and small; and, surprisingly, defensive fortifications that suggest the Maya came under attack from the west of Central America. "We were all humbled," said Tulane University anthropologist Marcello Canuto, the study's lead author. "All of us saw things we had walked over and we realized, oh wow, we totally missed that." Preliminary images from the survey went public in February, to the delight of archaeologists like Sarah Parcak. Parcak, who was not involved with the research, wrote on Twitter, "Hey all: you realize that researchers just used lasers to find *60,000* new sites in Guatemala?!? This is HOLY [expletive] territory." Parcak, whose space archaeology program GlobalXplorer.org has been described as the love child of Google Earth and Indiana Jones, is a champion of using satellite data to remotely observe sites in Egypt and elsewhere. "The scale of information that we're able to collect now is unprecedented," Parcak said, adding that this survey is "going to upend long-held theories about ancient Maya society." With support from a Guatemala-based heritage foundation called Pacunam, the researchers conducted the massive and expensive survey using lidar, or light detection and ranging. They mapped several active archaeological sites, plus well-studied Maya cities like Tikal and Uaxactun. Lidar's principles are similar to radar, except instead of radio waves lidar relies on laser light. From an aircraft flying just a few thousand feet above the canopy, the surveyors prickled each square meter with 15 laser pulses. Those pulses penetrate vegetation but bounce back from hard stone surfaces. Using lidar, you can't see the forest through the invisible trees. Beneath the thick jungle, ruins appeared. Lots and lots of them. Extrapolated over the 36,700 square miles, which encompasses the total Maya lowland region, the authors estimate the Maya built as many as 2.7 million structures. These would have supported 7 million to 11 million people during the Classic Period of Maya civilization, around the years 650 to 800, in line with other Maya population estimates. "We've been working in this area for over a century," Canuto said. "It's not terra incognita, but we didn't have a good appreciation for what was really there." Archaeologist Arlen Chase, a Maya specialist at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas who was not involved with this survey, said for years he has argued that the Maya society was more complex than widely accepted. In 1998, he and archaeologist Diane Chase, his wife, described elaborate agricultural terraces at the Maya city of Caracol in Belize. "Everybody would not believe we had terraces!" he said. He gets much less push back now, he said. "The paradigm shift that we've predicted was happening is in fact happening" Chase said, which he credits to lidar data. He has seen lidar evolve from a "hush-hush type of technology" used by the military to map Fallujah streets to a powerful archaeological tool. Chase, who previously used lidar at Caracol, where as many as 100,000 people lived, compares this technology to carbon-14 dating. Radiocarbon dating gives archaeologists a much more accurate timeline. Lidar is about to do the same for archaeologists' sense of space, particularly in densely forested areas near the equator. Two years ago, researchers used lidar mapped dense urban infrastructure around Angkor, the seat of the medieval Khmer Empire in Cambodia. "We're just getting started in so many major sites around the world, whether it's Angkor Wat, whether it's Tikal in Central America or major sites in Egypt," Parcak said. For all its power, lidar cannot supplant old-fashioned archaeology. For 8 percent of the survey area, the archaeologists confirmed the lidar data with boots-on-the-ground visits. This "ground truthing" suggests that the lidar analysis was conservative - they found the predicted structures, and then some. "There is still much more ground to cover and work to do," said Acuna, who will continue to study the large ancient Maya city of El Tindal. Could you imagine, Canuto said, what might be found through a lidar survey of the Amazon? With technology like this, no forested frontiers are final. UNITED NATIONS - President Donald Trump hopes to release his Middle East peace plan within two to four months and conclude a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, if one can be made, during his first term in office, he said Wednesday. Sitting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he prefers an outcome that would give Palestinians a separate state. That is the most specific he has been about what he wants to help negotiate. "I like two-state solution," Trump said. "That's what I think works best." A separate Palestinian state alongside Israel has been the stated goal of U.S. peacemaking efforts for two decades, but the Trump administration had until now declined to endorse it. Trump had said previously that he would support a two-state outcome if that was what both sides wanted. "I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done before the end of my first term," Trump said before he and Netanyahu met on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly. At a news conference later Wednesday, Trump expanded on his preference for two states, observing that "in one way it's more difficult, because it's a real estate deal," but "in another way it works better because you have people governing themselves." He called himself "a facilitator" who would help the two sides reach the deal they both prefer. "I think probably two-state is more likely, but you know what? If they do a single, if they do a double, I'm okay with it if they're both happy," he said. During their meeting, Trump put the Israeli leader on the spot by saying that his decision last year to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem must be reciprocated by Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. "Israel will have to do something that will be good for the other side," Trump said in response to questions from reporters. Netanyahu did not respond. He has endorsed the goal of two states in the past, but members of his right-wing coalition oppose the idea. Naftali Bennett, Israel's right-wing education minister, immediately tweeted that his Jewish Home Party "is part of Israel's Government, there will not be a Palestinian state which would be a disaster for Israel." Trump called the Jerusalem embassy move "probably the biggest chip" on the negotiating table. By removing it, Trump said, he had cleared the way for talks without one of the major obstacles that have sunk past peace efforts. He did not say how he wants Jerusalem's status to be resolved, and he did not mention the Palestinian demand that a future state have its capital in East Jerusalem. Trump said the plan will probably be released in "two, three, four months." That timeline - beginning after the November midterm election - is also more specific than Trump's advisers have been about the next steps for a package deal that has been largely complete for months. The plan, headed by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser, is expected to address all the major issues in the seven-decade-old conflict. Trump said it will contain ideas that have not been tried before. Trump predicted that the Palestinians will "100 percent" come to the bargaining table and said both sides want a deal. Palestinian leaders have boycotted the Trump administration since December, when the president announced that the United States would now consider Jerusalem the capital of Israel. The Trump administration said the announcement does not prejudge Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem or address the status of holy sites, but Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the move proved that Trump cannot be trusted to broker a fair deal. Trump said he would like the agreement to be "solid, understood by both sides - really, semi-agreed to by both sides," before formal negotiations begin. Netanyahu thanked Trump for the embassy move, saying, "You changed history and you touched our hearts." The U.S. Embassy had been in Tel Aviv, about an hour's drive away, so as not to show favoritism to either side. "The Palestinians can have powers to govern themselves but they can't have the powers to threaten Israel," Netanyahu said in a news briefing with Israeli media outlets Wednesday. "Peace means that all hostilities cease, not giving the Palestinians means to escalate the conflict." Netanyahu's goals for the meeting with Trump were more focused on Iran and new tensions with Russia over a downed Russian jet in Syria and the transfer of Russian S300 missiles to the Syrian army that could challenge Israel's military advantage over its neighbors. He did not make any public commitments to Trump about the peace plan or possible negotiations. Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, who led failed negotiations in President George W. Bush's second term, met Tuesday night with Abbas in New York and urged him to reopen diplomatic channels with the United States. "I welcome Trump's words and the two things he said about the future of Israel - the steadfastness of the United States alongside Israel's security and its support for the two-state solution. Both are important for our future," Livni said. --- Eglash reported from Jerusalem. Authorities released the identity Thursday of a man accused of shooting at a constable deputy earlier this month. Juan Jesus Guerrero, 21, is wanted on a first-degree felony aggravated assault on a peace officer charge for the Sept. 15 incident. According to surveillance and dashcam video, the driver of a gold Buick sedan later identified by deputies as Guerrero allegedly made an improper turn near Texas Highway 6 and the Katy Freeway. GAMBLING BUST: Suspect sought after illegal parlor bust in north Harris County When a Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office deputy attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver refused to stop and sped off reaching speeds of up to 90 mph and ran a red light, according to the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office. During the pursuit, the suspect lost control of his vehicle, struck a minivan then hit the glass door of a business in the 5300 block of Texas Highway 6. The driver got out of the car and fired several times towards the deputy, who was not hit. He then dropped the gun and was able to flee the scene. ARREST: Firefighter accused of raping childhood friend Deputies recovered a gun at the scene that was determined stolen. "Anyone who shoots at a peace officer has no conscience and is willing to kill. We need to get this suspect behind bars as soon as possible before he hurts someone else," Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said. "Thank God our deputy is OK." Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 832-927-6746 or Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com A drunken driving suspect accused of killing a motorcyclist after running a red light on the Northeast Side on Monday has been identified by police. Hector Thomas Lopez, 31, is charged with intoxication manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance. Eric Lee Allen, 53, was riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle north on Weidner at about 7 p.m. Monday when he reached the Wurzbach Parkway intersection, according to preliminary information from a police report. RELATED: Photos: 8 suspects accused of assaulting, robbing at club Lopez was driving his BMW SUV east on Wurzbach Parkway when he ran the red light and drove into Allens path. The two crashed and Allen was taken to the San Antonio Military Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 7:37 p.m., police said. Investigators evaluated Lopez at the scene and determined he was drunk when the collision occurred, officials said. Lopez was arrested that night. He posted an $85,000 bond and was released Wednesday from the Bexar County Jail, according to county records. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | | Twitter: @JBfromSA Cards Against Humanity, the irreverent and often-lewd fill-in-the-blank party game, is trying to turn a red North Texas congressional district blue this election season by handing out free card packs to registered voters. In the crosshairs is the 26th district of Texas, currently represented by Republican congressman Michael Burgess. He's being challenged by Linsey Fagan, a progressive Democrat and tech entrepreneur. RELATED: Rapper Lil Xan allegedly hospitalized after Flamin' Hot Cheetos overdose According to the Cook Political Report, the district, which Burgess has held since 2002, is solidly Republican. In 2016, he won the election by more than 30 percentage points. According to the Federal Election Commission, Burgess has raised some $1.3 million during this election cycle to Fagan's $94,000. Representatives of Cards Against Humanity were not immediately available to clarify why they've identified Texas' 26th district as a swing district. Their website explains that they were looking for Democratic candidates who "supported universal healthcare and would serve as a check on Trump's power." The David and Goliath nature of the task has apparently not daunted the left-leaning card makers. Their plan? Send free packs of midterm-themed cards to registered voters in the district to convince them to vote blue. "We've decided to get into the election-hacking game. It seems easy enough," reads the introduction to the Cards Against Humanity "Hack The Election" campaign. RELATED: Got jokes? Cards Against Humanity will pay you to write funny, gross, brutal one-liners "We identified six districts that we think we can flip from red to blue, and we need your help reaching voters who live there. Give us the address of a voter you know in one of the districts, and we'll send both of you the all-new Midterm Pack for free. We'll also throw in a pamphlet that uses logic and facts to manipulate your friend into voting for the Democrat." The company plans to donate all profits to Run For Something, a group that sponsors young progressive political candidates. This isn't the first political shenanigan Cards Against Humanity has initiated. Last year, they crowdfunded enough money to buy a plot of land on the U.S.-Mexico border and hired a law firm specializing in eminent domain to "make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for Trump to build his wall." In addition to Texas' 26th district, Cards Against Humanity is also targeting five other districts: California's 25th, Iowa's 1st, Illinois' 6th and 14th and Kansas' 4th. And if the House of Representatives itself flips blue, Cards Against Humanity says there will be a special prize. "We will release the pee tape, which we have," they say. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results Gardai are expected to carry out further searches later today as they continue to question three men in connection with the seizure of a machine gun and pistol in Drumlish yesterday (Wednesday). Detectives from the Special Detective Unit (SDU) stopped and searched a car travelling through the north Longford village yesterday morning where a quantity of ammunition was found. ALSO READ: Machine gun and other ammunition seized by Gardai in Drumlish A man in his 40s, who the Leader understands is from the greater Ballymahon area, was arrested at the scene. Follow up searches at a house nearby later led to the discovery of a machine gun and a pistol. Two men, a father aged in his 60s and his son aged in his 30s, were arrested at the scene and brought to Longford and Granard Garda Stations for questioning. The Leader can also reveal that both men are from the Drumlish area. All three men are currently being quizzed under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. They can initially be held for a period of 24 hours, but with extensions that period can be extended to seven days. The arrests come following a lengthy surveillance led operation by special branch officers based in Dublin. As part of that probe, the Leader understands further searches are being planned for later today. For more on this story, follow longfordleader.ie 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. Following sell out runs in Galway, the popular Fregoli Theatre bring their latest play starring Jarlath Tivnan to Backstage Theatre next week. Jarlath is no stranger to Backstage audiences having starred in Decadent Theatre Companys 'A Skull in Connemara' and, most recently, 'Someone Wholl Watch Over Me'. But whats even more exciting is that 'The Streets Are Ours' is written by Longfords own Robert Higgins who has quietly been taking the literary world by storm. Heralding from Granard, Co Longford, the Dublin based writer was listed for a Fish Short Story Prize in 2010, his full length play New Love Grows on Trees was shortlisted for the New Voices Platform in 2011. With an MA in writing from NUI Galway, Roberts' One Act play Newborn was part of the Jerome Hynes Awards and toured to ISDA fringe in Dublin. His play Getting the Cure was part of the Galway Fringe Festival and also played the Muscailt Festival and Corcadorcas Festival Nights as part of Corks Midsummer Festival. His short stories Copper and Fall appeared in the MAs Abandoned Darlings collection. In 2013, his stories Copper and Fall appeared on RTE Radio Ones Arena to which he also contributed an interview. He came second in Doire Press annual chapbook competition. His story The Cowshed was published in the Reading Life. Copper is set to appear in a forthcoming anthology by Doire Press. His story An Adolescents Guide to Playing it Cool was published in Ropes literary journal. His short film script of Copper is currently in development with Tree Light Pictures and was nominated for Screenplay of the Year at the Student Media Awards. His story Caldene won Short Story of the Year at the 2013 Student Media Awards. His short story Despair in the Departure Lounge will appear in the Post-Celtic Tiger Stories issue of Wordlegs. Caldene was published in Hennessy New Irish Writing. In 2014, he was nominated for the Hennessy Literary Awards in the Emerging Writer category. He signed with the Marianne Gunn OConnor Agency and completed work on a novel. In 2015, he chiefly focused on journalism and had work featured in Irish Examiner, Irish Independent, Hot Press, Drowned in Sound, State, JOE.ie. He was shortlisted for the Irish Times Travel Writer of the Year award for his piece on Phong Nha, Vietnam. In 2016, his film script The Leisure Project was a finalist for the Galway Film Fleadhs Pitching competition. He recorded his poem Racers for RTE Radio One. His story Honda Wave was shortlisted for the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Award. In 2017, his play The Streets are Ours was selected to be part of Fregoli Theatre Companys Fruition programme and was performed as part of the Cuirt Literature Festival. The play went on to sell out its week long run in Galway and this year touches down in Higgins home county during its National Tour. Speaking about the play Higgins says, The Streets are Ours is a play about a group of twenty-somethings living in a small town in the midlands of Ireland. The action takes place in a Tesco car park, their old drinking haunt, on the evening that one of their friends returns home from Australia after a number of years. It looks at his reunion with some of his old mates and his ex-girlfriend and examines the effects moving away can have on relationships, the tensions that can arise and the things you leave behind. Its a comic drama as well so hopefully there will some laughs in there as well. The Streets Are Ours comes to Backstage on Wed 3rd Oct at 8pm. Tickets available on 043 33 47888 or www.backstage.ie Local News, Crime, Business & Finance, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: September 27 2018 New York-based investment manager harbinger capital partners offshore manager llc evaded new york state and new york city taxes. New York, NY - Sept. 27, 2018 - New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood and New York City Corporation Counsel Zachary W. Carter announced today a $30 million settlement with Harbinger Capital Partners Offshore Manager LLC (Offshore Manager), a hedge fund manager, resolving claims that Offshore Manager knowingly evaded New York State and New York City taxes. Offshore Manager earned incentive fees from successful trading that it conducted from an office in New York City. This income was subject to New York State income tax and New York City unincorporated business tax; however, Offshore Manager concealed its New York City business activities from State and City tax authorities. Harbinger Capital Partners Offshore Manager earned hundreds of millions of dollars in New York State and New York City, but deliberately dodged paying its fair share of taxes, said Attorney General Underwood. Tax evasion forces ordinary New Yorkers to shoulder the bill. My office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to pursue those who knowingly violate the tax law and hold them accountable. NYC Corporation Counsel Carter said, The New York False Claims Act, which expressly covers tax fraud, provides a powerful tool for government to use to compel tax law compliance. With the assistance of the New York City Department of Finance, we were successful in ensuring that City unincorporated business tax was paid for a hedge fund business that was operating out of a New York City office. As a term of the settlement agreement , Offshore Manager admitted that it had an obligation to apportion income to New York State and to pay New York City unincorporated business tax, but it did not do so for several years. The investigation leading to the settlement announced today began with a whistleblower lawsuit filed in March 2015 under the New York False Claims Act. The Act, which expressly covers tax fraud, allows whistleblowers and the government to take legal action against companies or individuals that defraud the government. The settlement follows an earlier $40 million settlement in this investigation, concluded in April 2017, with Harbert Management Corporation (HMC), the Alabama-based investment management company that sponsored and organized the principal hedge fund managed by Offshore Manager. As a result, a total of $70 million will be recovered. Whistleblowers are entitled to rewards under the New York False Claims Act, and, as a result of the settlement announced today and the earlier settlement announced in April 2017, the whistleblower here will receive a total of $15.4 million for bringing this misconduct to light. Offshore Manager served as the investment manager for a hedge fund that aggregated investment capital from onshore and offshore funding vehicles and for its offshore feeder fund from 2003 through 2009. Offshore Managers investment activities were led by Philip Falcone, who rose to become Senior Managing Director of Offshore Manager. Mr. Falcone and others he managed carried on Offshore Managers investment activities from an office located at 555 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The tax positions taken by Offshore Manager were developed and implemented by Offshore Managers officers and agents in Alabama, not by Mr. Falcone. The Attorney General and New York City Corporation Counsel filed a superseding complaint in the action in Manhattan Supreme Court, which alleges claims against Offshore Manager as described below. The Attorney General and New York City Corporation Counsel will subsequently discontinue those claims, upon compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement. The superseding complaint alleges: Offshore Manager earned incentive fee income in an amount equal to 20 percent of the net profits of the offshore feeder fund. Offshore Managers members were required to pay New York State income tax on the incentive fee income earned as a result of Offshore Managers investment management activities in New York. Offshore Manager failed to apportion to New York State any of this income, as required, for tax years 2004 through 2009. Offshore Manager also failed to pay New York City unincorporated business tax for tax years 2004 to 2007. Instead of apportioning income to New York, Offshore Manager apportioned all of its income to Alabama, which had lower tax rates. As a result of Offshore Managers tax positions, Offshore Managers nonresident members avoided paying the New York State income tax that they owed, and Offshore Manager failed to pay millions of dollars in estimated taxes to New York State for those nonresident members as it was required to do. Further, Offshore Managers members who were New York residents paid less New York tax because no income was apportioned to New York State. Offshore Manager ignored professional advice that it should pay New York State and City tax on its incentive fee income. Offshore Managers Chief Administrative Officer acknowledged, in his own handwritten notes, that apportioning none of the income to New York and all of the income to Alabama was unsupportable. When first confronted with the prospect of having to pay New York tax, an officer of Offshore Manager, who was an Alabama resident, responded to a question about why the issue arose by writing, I think [the tax advisors] just figured it out; ugh. I hate taxes especially having to support some place I dont live. Another one of those high class problems. Offshore Manager concealed its business activities in New York from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. For example, during a State audit examining the nature of Offshore Managers business activity and the source of its income, Offshore Managers agents in Alabama amended the companys limited liability company agreement to change the location of the companys longstanding principal office from New York, New York to Birmingham, Alabama and then caused statements to be made to state tax officials that highlighted the new Alabama address in the revised agreement without alerting them that the address had been changed during the audit. As a term of the settlement agreement, Offshore Manager agreed to apportion to New York State and New York City 100 percent of the incentive fee income that it earned in the period 2004 through 2009 but had deferred for tax purposes. Offshore Manager also made a $4.8 million payment to the New York City Department of Finance relating to an outstanding tax judgment against the company. The Attorney General expresses her appreciation to the whistleblower, without whose information the misconduct might have remained concealed from the authorities, and to the whistleblowers attorneys. Assistant Attorney General Justin Wagner of the Taxpayer Protection Bureau led the Attorney Generals investigation, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Scott J. Spiegelman. He was assisted by Legal Support Analyst Bianca M. LaVeglia. The Bureau, led by Bureau Chief Thomas Teige Carroll, is part of the Economic Justice Division, headed by Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Manisha M. Sheth. One of New England's oldest restaurants, the 1761 Old Mill in Westminster, Massachusetts, offers a tasty glimpse back at the dining out experience of the mid-20 century. A historic mill structure containing multiple dining spaces as well as a gift shop and a retail bakery, the 1761 Old Mill's ambiance is rough-sawn rustic. Outside the restaurant's meticulously maintained millpond setting makes snapping a few pictures hard to resist. A menu of traditional favorites represents the 1761 Old Mill's gastronomic stock-in-trade. The seafood lineup involved includes choices such as Baked Stuffed Shrimp ($18.99) and Atlantic Sea Scallops ($21.99). Red meat favorites like Broiled Filet Mignon ($28.99) and Flat Iron Steak ($20.99) are available, as is an every-evening array of Prime rib cuts ($20.99 - $28.99). Entrees such as Roast Country Duck ($20.99) with orange sauce and Chicken Cordon Bleu ($15.99) supplement those listed above, as do a la carte choices such as Fish and Chips ($14.99) and Wild Mushroom Ravioli ($13.99). The Old Mill's appetizer selection is primarily pub fare -- Baked Onion Soup ($5.50), Buffalo Wings ($9.99), and Fried Calamari ($11.25). From that roster we decided to share an order of Irish Nachos ($11.99), a culinary conceit we'd previously encountered in Irish pub concepts. The Old Mill's version differed from those in that bacon, not corned beef, was the meat component; the nachos were also assembled on a bed of waffle-cut French fries. Diced red onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, and a shredded cheese blend compromised the balance of the construct. Great with a few beers, we decided, but the nachos, which were presented with sides of sour cream and salsa, were a little too hearty to properly play a role as overture to dinner. Fresh Atlantic Haddock ($17.99) came to the table simply roasted under a sprinkle of buttery cracker crumbs. The heat of the oven had turned the crumbs into a crisp, slightly caramelized topping that harmonized nicely with the moist, mild-flavored fish. The Grilled Teriyaki Steak Tips ($18.99) we selected were an equally uncomplicated but nonetheless appealing piece of work. Hefty cubes of sirloin had been broiled to the pink-inside degree we'd specified; the tips came to the table judiciously drizzled with a sweet soy-ginger glaze. The 1761 Old Mill serves entrees with a choice of potato, salad, or vegetable. Among the side dishes we enjoy were a freshly baked russet spud, a simple rice pilaf, and the fall season's favorite restaurant side dish, sweetly spiced butternut squash puree. One signature tradition the restaurant maintains is its breadbasket. In addition to freshly baked Parker House rolls, the bread service includes not-too-gooey pecan rolls and corn fritters deep-fried to a crisp golden brown. The 1761 Old Mill stocks a wine list of 20-plus bottles, all of which carry wallet-friendly prices averaging around $25. Fall-themed drink specialties are currently being featured and include a Pumpkin Martini and Bourbon-spiked Hot Apple Cider. For dessert the restaurant makes available the likes of a Chocolate Lava Cake ($5.25), "Philly-style" Cheesecake ($5.50), and Homemade Baked Indian Pudding ($4.25). A wedge of Mud Pie ($5.25) was a cool and likable treat, with its chocolate cookie crumb crust, mocha ice cream filling, and seductive topping of bittersweet fudge sauce. Homemade Hot Apple Crisp ($3.99) arrived bereft of any crumbly streusel topping, but a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream compensated for the missing "crisp" component. In addition to the menu's selection of entrees, a supplementary listing of pub burgers and sandwiches is available. That roster incorporates the likes of a Turkey and Bacon Wrap ($10.50), a Captain's Fried Haddock Sandwich ($11.99), and a half-pound Old Mill Burger ($12.99) that's garnished with onions, peppers, mushrooms, bacon, and cheese. Still dishing up the sort of 1950s restaurant experience that's now a delightfully nostalgic rarity, the 1761 Old Mill is a good choice for everyday -- as well as special occasion -- dining. Name: 1761 Old Mill Restaurant Address: 69 State Road East, Westminster Telephone: (978) 874-5941 Website: 1761oldmill.com Hours: Open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.; and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a brunch buffet offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Entree prices: $13.99 -- $28.99 Credit cards: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa Handicapped access: Accessible, separate handicapped rest room Reservations: Accepted HADLEY - Rorie Susan Woods has been fighting eviction from her West Street home for several years and wants to keep fighting. But she said high costs to continue her court case make that impossible. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Alliance of Against Predatory Lending has filed an appeal with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of Woods and 20 others facing eviction. It asks the court to uphold their rights to appeal and to block their evictions or allow the petitioners to move back into their homes if they have been evicted, said Grace Ross, alliance coordinator. Woods, who is living on disability, said she was assessed a $10,000 bond to continue the appeal of her eviction after a Housing Court judge deemed the appeal frivolous. According to a press release from the Worcester-based alliance, "homeowner's constitutionally protected right to appeal is being denied based upon the Courts' misapplication of extraordinary cash bonds in eviction cases, after a clearly questionable foreclosure. The financial bar of petitioner's right to appeal is particularly egregious when defending against the taking of one's inalienable rights under the MA and US Constitutions." Evicted from her house, Woods has been staying in a tent on a friend's property. She said many of her belongings are missing or were destroyed in storage. She said her health has deteriorated. She has cancer and her treatment has been interrupted. "The eviction process has clearly been weaponized by the courts to thwart my appeal, which has every chance of success due to case law precedent," she said in a statement. "Each ruling against us as homeowners which ignored multiple Massachusetts statutes was like a punch in the gut," petitioner Bruce Boguslav of Worcester said in the press release. "To be priced out of an appeal was an affront to the sacred trust we thought we had in the justice system, and our right to an appeal of serious issues in housing court," he said. "Our health suffers terribly from the stress when you don't know when you will be subject to an eviction with your home emptied of all your personal possessions." Ross said before the housing crisis that began in 2008, foreclosure in the state was uncommon. Now, she said, there are about 500 a month, and most people don't know they can appeal. Zillow lists more than 6,000 homes in foreclosure nationwide on its website. Ross said he SJC has several ways it can respond, and she is hoping to stop further evictions or "at the bare minimum to put people's appeals back on track." This case is more complicated than others because "it's a complaint against a process." Also, she said, the 21 petitioners are representing themselves, which means there has to be a lot of coordination. She said 4,500 pages of documents have been filed. "So many layers of travesty are going on," Ross said. "It's part of the bigger problem because foreclosure is such a recent phenomenon." She said part of the problem stemmed from predatory lending. The loans "were illegal from the beginning," Ross said, something Woods has alleged with her loan. SJC Appeal Bond Brief as Submitted by ledermand on Scribd HOLYOKE -- Progress is inching along with tons of work left to make the majority of the city's public school students proficient in English, math and science, officials said Thursday after release of the spring 2018 MCAS results. "While our progress is steady and we have many bright spots to celebrate, tremendous and obvious work remains to improve and accelerate learning outcomes for all Holyoke students," said Stephen K. Zrike, the state-appointed receiver in charge of managing the public schools. Holyoke 10th-graders who took the old or "legacy" Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams earlier this year saw their performance improve over 2017 -- particularly in English, where scores improved by 9 percentage points. But they still scored significantly below the statewide average. The state data includes figures on the percentage of students scoring in the "Advanced" or "Proficient" categories. In Holyoke, 82 percent of 10th-graders scored in the "Advanced" or "Proficient" categories on the English exam. The statewide average was 91 percent. In math, 49 percent of Holyoke 10th-graders scored in the advanced or proficient category, compared to the statewide average of 78 percent. In science, 44 percent of Holyoke 10th-graders scored in the advanced or proficient category, compared to the statewide average of 74 percent. Among Holyoke third- through eighth graders who took the next generation MCAS, only 16 percent met or exceeded expectations in English, compared to the statewide average of 51, and 10 percent met or exceeded expectations in math, compared to the statewide average of 48. The latest test results also include a new category of accountability. The state for years has used the MCAS to hold districts accountable. But new factors have been this year in addition to test scores, such as absenteeism, progress of English language learners, advanced coursework completion and students' extended enrollment in high school past four years. The latter is a better outcome than leaving without a diploma, Zrike said. Learning to speak English is a big factor here, as Holyoke's population of 40,000 is roughly half Latino and over 70 percent of public school students come from households where Spanish is the first language. In the accountability category, Holyoke was rated as in need of broad comprehensive support, though high school students made "significant gains" in English language arts, Zrike said. Zrike, in a phone interview and an analysis posted on the public schools' website (included below), said Holyoke school officials are examining what the state's new way of determining accountability means. "It's not that it's more complicated, it's just different, and the assessment is more rigorous," Zrike said. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days whether for excused or unexcused absences. In Holyoke, E.N. White, Lawrence, Kelly and Holyoke High School Dean campus all exceeded targets for reducing chronic absenteeism, he said. Lawrence made the greatest improvement, dropping to 15.2 percent of students chronically absent from 26 percent, he said. Overall, Holyoke's chronic absenteeism has improved to an estimated 25 percent for the 2017-2018 school year compared to 31 percent in the 2012-2013 school year, he said. Devin M. Sheehan, School Committee vice chairman, said the goal remains seeing all students succeed. "Administrators and teachers have a strong plan to support students' success. Where we have made gains in some areas we still have a lot of work in front of us. As we transition to a middle school model we will be able to provide additional focus on the development of" students in grades three to eight," Sheehan said. Initiatives that are ongoing or planned to make improvements include giving more help to students to develop conceptual understanding of mathematics and support for teachers in monitoring students' progress and identifying skills they need, Zrike said. "We feel a tremendous sense of urgency to improve outcomes for all students. I feel encouraged that many of the priorities we have set for the upcoming school years will support dramatic improvements, and we will continue to examine the data by classroom, grade, school and district, to further refine our plans," he said. In April 2015, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education placed the Holyoke public schools in receivership because students' academic abilities as reflected in test scores barely improved despite years of warnings. Zrike, formerly superintendent of Wakefield schools, has been the state-appointed receiver in charge of the public schools here with complete decision-making authority since July 6, 2015. Holyoke public schools analysis of spring 2018 MCAS results: by Mike Plaisance on Scribd SHEFFIELD -- Connecticut State Police are searching the Housatonic River after finding a submerged car which may belong to a missing man. German Perez, 60, of Sheffield, was reported missing Tuesday to the Massachusetts State Police. Troopers there then contacted Connecticut State Police to say he left Lakeville, Connecticut, around 6 p.m. and was more than two hours overdue, police said. Connecticut troopers later found a damaged guardrail and other evidence a car had gone off the road on Route 44 and into the Housatonic River, in North Canaan, Connecticut. But a car was not visible and a driver could not be found. State Police Wednesday located a vehicle submerged in the river but are not sure if it is Perez's black Toyota Tundra. It is not known if anyone is in the vehicle, police said. The State Police dive team and Collision Accident Reconstruction unit is on the scene working to recover the car, police said. The Figueroa family will "never be the same" after losing their entire Lawrence home in an explosion earlier this month, an attorney for the family said, following a disaster that appears to be caused by the over-pressurization of a Columbia Gas company line. "This family has been crushed and they are in deep, deep pain," said attorney Socrates De La Cruz in a live-streamed press conference Thursday. De La Cruz announced that a lawsuit against Columbia Gas was being filed on behalf of the family. The attorney did not specify the damages being sought. The family, Omayra Figueroa and her children, Shakira, Christian and an unnamed juvenile boy, lost their home at 35 Chickering Road on Sept. 13 when explosions and fires errupted across Lawrence, Andover and North Andover. De La Cruz said the lawsuit was filed Thursday for the "substantial personal injury and profound pain and suffering they are experiencing because of the gross negligence" of Columbia Gas. "This tragedy was preventable and it should have been prevented," De La Cruz said. "We are here to make sure the Figueroa family gets the attention they deserve." Christian Figueroa and the juvenile were in a car with friend Leonel Rondon when the house exploded. The home's chimney fell on the car, killing 18-year-old Rondon. Omayra and Shakira Figueroa were inside the house when it exploded, the attorney said. Christian has been released from the hospital for his injuries, but Shakira is undergoing her fourth surgery Thursday, De La Cruz said. The family is currently homeless, the attorney said. They had lived at the address for about five years and the home had been described as a "play land for the kids and their friends." "They've garnered a lot of strength from their faith in God," he said. "Nothing can make what happened here undone. The only thing we can try to do is make this family as whole as possible." Columbia Gas has been responsive to the family in the weeks since the explosion, according to De La Cruz. The lawsuit is specific to Columbia Gas, he said, and is not a class action lawsuit. The explosions and fires forced thousands to evacuate their homes. Once they could return, many were without gas. It will take weeks for things to return to normal, and up to two years for the National Transportation Safety Board to determine the exact cause of the incident. BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) -- A California-based filmmaker ordered in 2012 to pay Massachusetts millions of dollars in restitution after pleading guilty to defrauding the state of $4.7 million in tax credits has paid back only a tiny fraction of that. The Cape Cod Times reports that 57-year-old Daniel Adams, of Los Angeles, appeared in court on Cape Cod on Wednesday to discuss the case. Prosecutors say Adams, who made two films on the Cape, had paid back only about $5,000. Adams, who represented himself, told the judge that once a movie he made and released this summer turns a profit he will be able to make meaningful restitution payments. Adams and the prosecutor met and Adams agreed to start paying $500 per month. He also said he has other filmmaking projects in the works. Gayle Cameron, a former "undercover operative" who was the second-highest ranking official in the New Jersey State Police before she retired, is taking over as interim chair of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Commissioners chose Cameron after Stephen Crosby, the commission's first employee when the agency formed in 2011, stepped down as chairman while denying charges of bias. Cameron was first appointed to the Gaming Commission in 2012 and reappointed to a second term in 2016. Cameron takes the chair as Gaming Commissioners are wrapping up their investigation into whether Wynn Resorts meets the state's suitability standard for holding a casino license. The investigators' report is expected to be done in October, according to Cameron. "I think her background in the State Police has obviously made her a pretty good taskmaster," Commissioner Bruce Stebbins quipped in pushing for her to take the job. "I am grateful for your confidence," Cameron said. The commission's Wynn Resorts investigation was launched after a Wall Street Journal report on allegations of sexual misconduct against casino mogul Steve Wynn. Wynn stepped down from the company while decrying "rush to judgment" and denying the allegations. The Gaming Commission has the authority to revoke or suspend the license, or levy a fine against the company. Cameron's biography on the Gaming Commission's website notes that her experience with the gambling industry started when she was "undercover operative while conducting casino criminal and organized crime investigations." She also worked as a detective who vetted licensing applicants for casinos in Atlantic City. Cameron was born in Cambridge, Mass., and raised in Weymouth, a suburb south of Boston. She retired from the New Jersey State Police in 2008. Aside from Cameron and Stebbins, the other remaining commissioners are Eileen O'Brien and Enrique Zuniga. This post was updated with additional information on Commissioner Cameron. In a letter more than a week before Gaming Commission chairman Stephen Crosby resigned his post, an attorney for casino mogul Steve Wynn demanded Crosby retract comments that referred to Wynn as a "terrible predator." "Your statements of and concerning Mr. Wynn are false and defamatory," the attorney, L. Lin Wood, wrote. Wood added that the comments came despite the fact that the commission's investigators hadn't wrapped up their look into Wynn Resorts. The investigation into whether Wynn Resorts is still suitable to hold a Massachusetts casino license was launched after a Wall Street Journal report headlined, "Dozens of People Recount Pattern of Sexual Misconduct by Las Vegas Mogul Steve Wynn." Steve Wynn denied the allegations and left the company on Feb. 6, slamming a "rush to judgment." He also sold his stock in the company. "In addition to fatally undermining the credibility of the [Mass. Gaming Commission's] forthcoming report, your comment that Mr. Wynn is a 'terrible predator' is also false, defamatory and actionable as slander under Massachusetts law," Wood wrote. "As Mr. Wynn has stated time and again, he denies all allegations of non-consensual sex." The letter is available below. Wood added: "Mr. Wynn is aware of numerous witnesses who have been interviewed by MGC [Mass. Gaming Commission] who have denied that Mr. Wynn engaged in sexual misconduct. There are pending defamation lawsuits filed by Mr. Wynn which have established publicly that accusations of sexual misconduct made against him were not credible." Wood said Steve Wynn is demanding "any and all" commission investigations into his personal life "cease immediately," no further public statements about a finding against Wynn, and a "full and fair retraction of the false accusations." Wynn does not want to go to court, but "he is fully prepared to aggressively pursue all of his legal remedies in a Nevada lawsuit, and if necessary, by litigation in Massachusetts." Crosby's comment on Sept. 13 came in response to a question from MassLive about a separate comment from fellow Gaming Commissioner Gayle Cameron, who told the new CEO of Wynn Resorts earlier this year that it looked like the company "didn't value women until they got into trouble." Crosby told reporters, "I'm sure Wynn's sensibilities, Wynn Resorts' sensibilities have changed" due to the #MeToo movement. Earlier this week, Crosby was hit with another charge of bias, this one from a former Wynn Resorts rival: Mohegan Sun, which had sought the Massachusetts casino license handed to Wynn in 2014. Crosby on Wednesday said he was resigning as chairman of the Gaming Commission, effective immediately. The Gaming Commission released his resignation letter as well as the Wood letter. "There has never been a shred of truth or accuracy to any charge of bias, favoritism, corrupt practice, ethics violations, or prejudgment in my execution of this job. I established our core value that our work must be 'participatory, transparent and fair,'" Crosby said in his letter to the four remaining commissioners and agency staffers. "I live that core value, as you do." But he noted that he received the letter from Steve Wynn's lawyer, alleging that he'd made up his mind against Wynn, while the Gaming Commission's counsel received a letter from Mohegan Sun that claimed he was already biased in favor of Wynn. "I simply cannot let my involvement in these critical deliberations be used by others to hamper the Commission's ability to do its work, or to undermine the confidence of the public in that work," Crosby said. HOLYOKE - The City Council's Finance Committee on Wednesday reviewed plans for two proposed middle schools expected to cost $55 million to $70 million each. The Massachusetts School Building Authority, which approves all public-school projects and renovations and partially reimburses communities for planning and construction costs, has given preliminary approval. A 15-member School Building Advisory Committee, made up of local stakeholders, will oversee the projects. Margaret Minor Wood, a project manager with Pinck and Co., presented concepts for the schools at Wednesday's meeting. One school will replace the current Peck School wedged between Beech and Northampton streets. The 1970s-era school would be demolished and replaced by a new building. The second school will reside next to current H.B. Lawrence School on Chestnut and Cabot streets. Wood said both schools would be similar in style, with a separate entrance for the gymnasium. The schools' first floors will be for public or shared spaces. The three upper floors, L-shaped, will contain two clusters of classroom areas, with the second floor dedicated to sixth grade, followed by the seventh and eighth grades on levels three and four. Wood said residents have a strong preference to return to a middle school system. The schools will accommodate 550 students each and will be constructed in parallel, with completion scheduled for September 2022. She considered Peck School poorly designed and not worth renovating. The schools will "ensure every Holyoke middle student would be in a new middle school at the same time," will be cost-effective and "provide the most effective way to transition teaching staff and programs in the district to a new configuration." Around $800,000 was set aside for a feasibility study, which carries an 80 percent reimbursement by the School Building Authority. The parallel schematic designs will cost $390,000 with the state reimbursing the City of Holyoke $312,000. The City Council must discuss and vote on the proposed $390,000 parallel schematic design, followed by debt exclusion talks and review of a preferred schematic report. Wood asked for more city councilors to participate in the project. Councilor Michael J. Sullivan is on the building committee. The building committee recently selected Fontaine Brothers as the construction manager. Fontaine must submit a cost estimation to the School Building Authority by February. Wood said introducing the construction team early in the project increases the chances for success. Fontaine has led around 100 school building projects across Massachusetts. The School Building Authority likely will cover slightly under 60 percent of construction funding. The authority currently caps construction costs at $333 per square foot. Wood estimated costs of $475 per square foot for the H.B. Lawrence site and $531 per square foot for Peck. The state does not reimburse municipalities for overruns. Demolition and site preparation raise the Peck School costs, estimated at $71 million. State School Receiver Stephen Zrike said parents often talk about the quality of schools or the lack thereof. "People like the idea of returning to the middle school grades," he said. The schools will offer more enrichment opportunities, featuring permanent staff for music and art. Instead of operating upward to six middle schools, the two schools will lower costs. Zrike added that teacher retention is critical, eliminating the need for educators to teach multiple grades. Zrike asked for the city council's support on the project. Councilor Joseph McGiverin asked Wood why the School Building Authority did not consider renovating Peck or the former John J. Lynch Middle School as "viable" projects. She said her team looked at Lynch School and a parcel on Whiting Farms Road. Lynch, though a "handsome building," did not fit within state guidelines, which focus on space and sustainability. "They're very serious about their space guidelines," she said. Wood did not deem a Lynch rehab feasible. Lynch lacks flexibility for expansion due to a limited footprint, and lacks accessibility for disabled people. McGiverin said he was "bothered" by the under 60 percent reimbursement. He added it was unfair for residents who live above the poverty level to further fund projects or programs. Sullivan, a business owner, worried about any increase to the commercial property tax rate. He did add that the new schools could save the city millions in costs; Zrike agreed. The man accused of urinating on American flags in a Massachusetts veterans cemetery made some type of anti-government comment while pulling up the flags and then urinating on them, according to a police report obtained by the Boston Globe. The newspaper identifies the suspect as Michael C. Lacey. The 31-year-old from Boston now faces charges of open and gross lewdness, disturbing the peace and defacement of an American veteran's grave marker. The Somerville police report filed in Somerville District Court and obtained by the Globe says Lacey was on a date with a woman, whom he met through OKCupid, on Sept. 10. They drank wine at her apartment and then took a walk, eventually ending up at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Somerville. The woman told investigators that Lacey ripped the flags out of the ground and made some type of "anti-government" comment, the Globe reports. Lacey allegedly then urinated on the flags. Somerville police posted information about the incident and sought help from the public. George Gatteny spotted the man and woman walking into the cemetery and saw the four flags being pulled from the ground. Gatteny said he then saw the man urinating on the pile of flags, leading him to exit his vehicle and confront the man. "I started yelling at them to stop, asking him as I approached 'what the hell he was doing,'" Gatteny said, of the encounter. "He stopped urinating, pulled up his pants and started walking out of the memorial." Gatteny took photos of the man and woman. According to the Globe, the woman's landlord told her about a social media post including the photographs. NECN reports Lacey turned himself in on Wednesday. SPRINGFIELD - One man was injured and three people were displaced in a fire in the Liberty Heights neighborhood Wednesday night. A 44-year-old man suffering from smoke inhalation was brought to the hospital by ambulance after the fire broke out at about 6:48 p.m., Fire Capt. Brian Tetreault said. The fire started in a third-floor bedroom at 71 Pembroke St. Firefighters extinguished the flames quickly. The damage is estimated at less than $20,000, he said. The Pioneer Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting the residents who were displaced, he said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said. Legislators and law enforcement officials argue that while Massachusetts has passed some of the most aggressive gun laws in the country, their efforts are being stymied by the national chaos surrounding the gun control debate. Massachusetts is flanked by states like New Hampshire with lax guns, and states like Connecticut with tough laws -- but the ease of travel does little to keep illegal guns from crossing the Bay State's borders. State Sen. Eric Lesser highlighted the most significant recent reforms backed by Gov. Charlie Baker and the state Legislature: a new "red flag" law which creates a legal channel to confiscate guns if someone is deemed mentally unstable; a ban on so-called "copy cat" assault weapons; and being the first to ban bump stocks in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas last year. The coupling of the bump stock ban and the red flag law -- which took effect in August -- puts Massachusetts in a league of its own, Baker said as he signed the bill. Lesser noted that Massachusetts lawmakers have been "doing the tough work" in an effort to keep its citizens safe, but believes Washington is turning a blind eye to an epidemic. "Not only have they been asleep at the switch, but Congress has run in the other direction," Lesser said. "I think people should be angry when we've done that work and we've acted responsibly and they're actively trying to undo it." Meanwhile, at the state level, legislatures around the country have been mixed in passing new laws in the wake of a number of high-profile mass shootings, including the Las Vegas attack and the February shooting at Parkland, Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. An Associated Press review of all firearms-related legislation passed this year, encompassing the first full state legislative sessions since the Las Vegas shooting, found that gun control bills passed in a number of states. But, according to the AP's analysis, the year was not the national game-changer that gun-control advocates hoped it could be. Like Lesser, Ronald Campurciani, executive director of the Western Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association, believes a key component to national gun reform would be federal licensing standards. "It doesn't make sense to me to have one standard in Massachusetts and one in New York and another in Vermont -- that's absurd," he said. Campurciani, a retired West Springfield police chief, said the chiefs are responsible for vetting candidates for licenses to carry and FID cards and are diligent about sharing information with other jurisdictions. As a former chief, Campurciani said he had the ability to deny applications based on automatic disqualifiers -- such as felony convictions -- but also suitability. "So for instance if I have a guy with 10 domestic arrests but no convictions because he wife or girlfriend never wants to pursue a case, the courts allow me to look beyond that. I can deny him a license for suitability because I don't want to put a gun in that's guy's hands," Campurciani said. There is an appeal process once someone is denied a license or one is rescinded -- but those are rarely successful, he said. On the other side of the issue are gun advocates who say they face an uphill battle in a blue state. Jim Wallace, executive director of the Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts, said the state's gun laws are "so convoluted" they make it difficult for those who want to lawfully own guns. "The state has different laws for transporting and storage of guns. So, for instance if you're on the way to the range and you stop at Dunkin' Donuts, you go from transporting to storing," Wallace said. He added that he offers four-hour classes on responsible gun ownership and sometimes he can't answer his students' questions because the laws are so complex. Gun advocates are also big on syntax, he said. "We never call them weapons because weapons are for criminals," Wallace said, adding that the Colt AR-15 and rifles styled after it, banned in Massachusetts, is a largely misunderstood gun. AR-15-style guns have been used in some of the deadliest mass shootings in America over the past three years. But, Wallace argues: "The AR-15 has been in people's hands since the 1950s. It's the human element that's changed." Lesser said he will advocate for an even greater investment in mental health services, including in the public school system, and a laser focus on gun violence that plagues local communities every day -- not just the headline-makers. But, he still contends a federal commitment is key. "It's an epidemic. The federal government needs to step up. Congress needs to step up and stop bowing to the NRA," he said. By MATT MURPHY, State House News Service BOSTON -- Four months after Stan Rosenberg resigned from the Senate and two months after she became his permanent replacement as Senate president, Karen Spilka said Wednesday that she has "periodically touched base" with the Amherst Democrat since he left Beacon Hill under a cloud. Rosenberg resigned from the Senate in May following an Ethics Committee report that faulted him for failing to shield fellow senators and staff from his husband, Bryon Hefner, who stands accused of sexually harassing multiple men on Beacon Hill and intruding into Senate business. During her appearance on WGBH's Boston Public Radio, Spilka told hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan that she has spoken with Rosenberg since he left Beacon Hill, but did not divulge what the two talk about. "It's hard. It's hard," Spilka said, "Stan was a person, is a person who devoted 30 years of his life to public service, to true public service, and believed in it and believed in making a positive difference in people's lives and I believe he did. He really worked hard on so many different things. What happened, I think, is tragic on so many different levels." Rosenberg, who had named Spilka as Ways and Means Committee chairwoman, has largely disappeared from the public eye since deciding, somewhat reluctantly, to end a more than 30-year career in the Legislature that saw him become the state's first openly gay, Jewish president of the Senate. Hefner is still facing charges of sexual assault. Hollywood met The Swamp as two seasoned School of Theatre and Dance alumni came back to Gainesville on Friday. Television stars Beth Dover, of Orange is the New Black, and DaJuan Johnson, of Bosch, found their way back to Constans Theater. There they spoke to current students and discussed their experiences in the working world. Interim Director of the School of Theatre and Dance, Dr. Ralf Remshardt, moderated the afternoon asking Dover and Johnson a slew of questions about their journey navigating the acting world. A question on the minds of many young aspiring actors was, What is a typical work week like? Dover quickly responded that there isnt one. Johnson added that although a show shoots for a week, more often than not your role only requires you to shoot half the time. We shoot something like two to three days out of an eight-day week. Were just not as active as you think, Johnson explained. I feel like Ive been semi-retired all my life, Dover added. As the hour progressed Dover and Johnson continued to give insight into their journeys as actors. Both mentioned frequently going to acting classes in their current lives to stay sharp and meet new people. Dover said she wanted to get back into interacting with people and decided to do a tour of cities, speaking with people. I decided I missed seeing people one-on-one. This is the first stop of what may be like 40 cities, Dover told the audience. Remshardt said many alumni from all schools within the College of Arts reach out to the university to reconnect with teachers and the school. The actors personally contacted School of Theatre and Dance professor Tim Altmeyer to come and speak with students both in his course and in a general setting. Its not unusual for us to be contacted by alumni to offer services and check on what were doing, he said. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Dover graduated from the UF theatre school with her bachelors in theatre performance in 1999. She is known for her roles on shows such as Orange is the New Black, Chasing Life and Another Period. Johnson received his bachelors in theatre performance in 2000 and has credited roles in shows such as Bosch, Agent Carter and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The main objective of this event was for those pursuing a career in the arts and in other majors to see actors who have recently started their career and know how things work today. After the general session both actors spoke briefly with The Alligator, and I asked them a few questions before celebrating Gainesville-style. Maner: Have you ever thought about Gainesville or UF since graduation? Beth Dover: Absolutely. UF was a formative experience in my life and my closest friends were my friends in college. Maner: What was it like stepping back in here for the first time? BD: It has changed so much and become so huge, I mean there are so many more theatres and you guys have such a great facility here. Its almost unrecognizable how much it has been built up since Ive been here, like the Reitz Union, everything looks so different DaJuan Johnson: It was a little bit more emotional for me this time around because I was with her [Beth] and we just remembered we did this here. BD: It was pretty special to be able to do this with DaJuan, I must say. Maner: Coming in to the interview did you feel pressure to provide information or did being back provide a comfortable environment? BD: It felt very intimate and familial. It feels really nice that you guys care about what we have to say, and I know its something that I wouldve wanted when I went here to hear peoples different struggles in this industry and how people navigate the waters of being an actor. Maner: Is there anything you found out that you wish you wouldve known when you left school? BD: I didnt understand the business side of this industry, and I really had to find my way but I think thats part of the journey. DJ: I dont think anyone comes out of school feeling fully prepared for any profession. There was so much we learned along the way. BD: We got to spend four years in the college of life. Maner: Do you have any final piece of advice for students wanting to pursue an acting career? BD: Stay in class, create your own material, surround yourself with people that inspire you and are doing work you would like to do, and try to create a balance in your life. DJ: Remember there is no ABC plan to achieving a dream. BD: Yeah, there is no one way to succeed in this business. Television stars DaJuan Johnson, left, and Beth Dover, right, visited UF to discuss their rise to fame and give advice to those entering the business. By Dan Glaun and Peter Goonan Members of the Springfield City Council are voicing frustration with the slow pace of discipline in the Springfield Police Department, following the announcement of $885,000 in settlements to the victims of an alleged 2015 beating by off-duty officers. The Springfield City Council approved the settlements in a closed-door executive session earlier this month, as a state grand jury considers criminal charges in the altercation. Several off-duty Springfield officers are accused of attacking four civilians following an argument and Nathan Bill's Bar and Restaurant, and additional uniformed officers are accused of mishandling or covering up the incident. "It's disappointing, the fact that we have officers who have been accused of misconduct and there's overwhelming evidence to suggest they did something wrong. Yet even though they're costing the city, thousands, hundreds of thousands or sometimes millions of dollars in police misconduct cases, they're still on the force," Springfield City Council President Orlando Ramos said in an interview. "They're still wearing the badge, they're still carrying a gun." The alleged beating, which left one victim with a fractured ankle and loosened teeth, has sparked investigations by every level of law enforcement -- local, state and federal. A Springfield police investigation did not lead to charges, when the Hampden District Attorney's Office concluded that while the men were victims of an assault there were not clear enough identifications to support prosecution. The FBI launched its own inquiry in the case and turned over potential prosecution to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, which is running an ongoing grand jury that is considering criminal charges in the matter. An internal affairs investigation also led to administrative charges against 12 officers, who have not yet had disciplinary hearings despite the incident taking place nearly 3 and a half years ago. The disciplinary process has stalled as the criminal inquiries have inched toward a resolution, and the officers are entitled to a hearing before Commissioner John Barbieri can impose discipline. "While this ends the civil litigation, the city's police commissioner and Labor Relations Departments will continue to move forward on the disciplinary charges pending against the officers, with the assistance of independent counsel and retired Judge Bertha Josephson, and a hearing before the Community Police Hearing Board," Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a statement about the settlements Wednesday. While the settlement is still subject to final approval at an Oct. 1 City Council hearing, it was approved during a closed-door meeting earlier this month. That executive session was "tense," said Councilor Justin Hurst, a vocal critic of misconduct in the police department. "When I first learned of the $885,000 settlement over the Nathan Bill's incident, I felt like throwing up," Hurst said. "What made it even worse was the fact that many of these officers involved in this incident are still on the streets. I can't understand for the life of me how that is possible. Taxpayers need to go down to the mayor's office and demand their money back and more importantly, ask why we continue to put more of our tax dollars at risk by continuing to employ these officers." Ward 3 Councilor Melvin Edwards said he was "disappointed" by the way the allegations have been handled. "I'm upset about the money but I'm more upset about the process that allows this to occur, and for officers to be identified... and yet they are still working as officers," Edwards said. The city needs to address the issues that lead to such settlements by looking at the Civil Service system and the way police officers are evaluated, as well as addressing the issues through collective bargaining, Edwards said. During collective bargaining, both sides need to acknowledge the system is flawed, and "find some remedy to the process," he said. The alleged assault by off-duty officers and alleged "cover-up" of the incident by officers "taints the whole police department, the police commissioner, the city and mayor and all elected officials," Edwards said. Edwards said he supported the settlement given the severity of injuries to Cumby and "the lifetime of damage done.' "He is going to have to deal with this the rest of his life," Edwards said. Ward 7 Councilor Timothy Allen said a "terrible situation" occurred, and "it's unfortunate that taxpayer dollars have to be used to resolve it." "I believe justice has to be served and this is the way to do it," Allen said. "We need to make sure that our police are always adequately prepared for all situations that they might encounter and that the right disciplinary action takes places when they don't act appropriately." At-Large Councilor Kateri Walsh said she would decline comment on the settlement and the case, pending Monday's meeting and vote to transfer the settlement funds. She said she did not feel comfortable discussing the settlement before Monday due to it being discussed by the council and Law Department in executive session, closed to the public. "I'm sure the Law Department has done its due diligence for the benefit of all parties involved," Walsh said. Ramos said he first learned of the altercation 18 months after it took place, after MassLive published the first public report on the incident. While he made phone calls to learn more about what happened, he did not receive much additional information and the council had no formal role until the settlement was introduced, Ramos said. Ramos said he could not comment on who on the council supported the settlement, due to the secrecy of executive session. But he said they council considered both taxpayers and the victims when approving the payout. "It's unfortunate that we the city and the taxpayers have to pay for something that officers did when they were I guess not on duty. It's an unfortunate incident that it happened but ultimately we had to make the decision about whether or not this is the best decision on behalf of the taxpayers," Ramos said. "There were victims involved. For the victims themselves, they deserved justice. As steward of the city and the taxpayers, we had to make a decision about whether it makes financial sense to settle this case now or allow it to go to trial." SPRINGFIELD - A fire Thursday morning at 38-40 Algonquin Place in the city's Liberty Heights neighborhood displaced 11 residents and caused an estimated $75,000 in damage, according to a fire official. Springfield Fire Department spokesman Capt. Brian Tetreault said no one was injured but one pet dog was killed in the fire. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the second-floor porch on the front of the 2 1/2 story two-family home was fully involved and spreading to the interior. The fire was quickly extinguished, he said. The porch, exterior of the house and a portion of the roof all showed visible damage. The Western Massachusetts chapter of the American Red Cross was called in to assist the displaced with their immediate needs for temporary shelter. There were five people on the first and second floors displaced, and one in an attic bedroom. The cause of the fire has not been determined. The city Arson and Bomb Squad is investigating. According to city records, the home was built in 1950, and the building and land have a total assessed value of $ has a total assessed value of $143,600. The owners are listed as residents Carmen M. Camacho and Carlos A. Rivera. Algonquin Place is off Carew Street, just west of the Mercy Medical Center campus. SPRINGFIELD -- Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick praised the results of the newly released MCAS scores for students in Springfield, which showed slight increases. But he said there is more work to be done as local scores -- among the trove of statewide data released Thursday by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education -- remain below state averages. Warwick said students' overall academic performance continues to improve. And, under a new state accountability system, Springfield schools were listed as "not requiring assistance or intervention." "We could not be prouder of our students, our educators and our families," Warwick said. "This is a great day for Springfield Public Schools because it proves that our hard work as a community has paid off and it also provides us with a baseline for continued improvements as we move forward." In Springfield, three schools were listed as exceeding expectations and 25 as meeting expectations. Some 48 schools were listed as partially meeting expectations and 22 as not meeting expectations. High school students who took the so-called "legacy" MCAS test saw a slight improvement overall compared to last year: up 1 percentage point in English, up 2 points in math and up 4 points in science. However, the scores remained below the statewide average. "The state's data aligns with how we feel our schools are performing," Warwick said. "We have experienced success but still have room for continued improvement and we are ready to forge ahead using this new data as a guide." In Springfield, 74 percent of 10th-graders scored at advanced or proficient levels in English, 47 percent in math and 38 percent in science. Statewide, 91 percent of high school students scored proficient or higher in English, while 78 percent reached that level in math and 74 percent in science, according to results. Students in grades three through eight, who took the new "next generation" exams in English and math, also performed below the statewide average. On the English exam, 30 percent met or exceeded expectations and 24 percent met or exceeded expectations in math. Warwick listed "significant successes" in Springfield, including: having met the English Language Arts target for grades three through eight; having met the math target for lowest performing students in grades three through eight; having met the high school math target; having met the overall science target; having met the improvement goal for chronic absenteeism. In addition, the state announced that two Springfield public schools exited their former Level 4 status: Chestnut Talented and Gifted School, and Milton Bradley Elementary School. The two schools are categorized as meeting targets and partially meeting targets, respectively, based on the significant progress made at the schools over the last several years, Warwick said. While praising the schools' progress, Warwick said that this year's results cannot be compared to previous year improvements. "Our students have been on steady path of improvement, but this represents a new baseline for us," said Warwick. "We view this as valuable data for how our students are performing and we will use it to make plans for steady, continued improvements. Our goal continues to be the narrowing of the achievement gap." Warwick said there are many other positive signs for the Springfield public schools, including the graduation rate rising to nearly 77 percent last year, as compared to 55 percent five years ago. In addition, the drop-out rate has been cut in half, Warwick said. "These gains represent the best improvements in the Commonwealth," Warwick said. Teenagers caused around $50,000 in damages to a Hanson home that was intended for a disabled veteran Monday night, according to the Patriot Ledger. Police told the Ledger that the home, which was being built by Jared Allen's Homes for Wounded Warriors, was intended for Paul Skarinka, of Whitman, who served as a corporal in the Army. Skarinka had his left leg amputated below the knee following a rocket-propelled grenade blast during his first tour outside Baghdad in 2004. The home, which was going to be ready for Skarinka by Thanksgiving, had 24 windows damaged, as well as several doors and some lighting, according to the Ledger. It's going to delay the project about five weeks, the Ledger reports, but Skarinka will still get the home mortgage-free. The two teen suspects were taken into custody on vandalism charges. They'll be arraigned in juvenile court at a later date. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and a former classmate who has accused him of sexual assault will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of attempted sexual assault when they were teenagers. Since the allegations became public, other women have accused Kavanaugh of inappropriate sexual behavior. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations and Republicans have called the claims a smear campaign. The Senate Judiciary Committee features 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Not liking the optics of an all-male panel, Republicans hired an outside attorney, Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, to handle much of their questioning. Proceedings are expected to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Ford is expected to testify first. As a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing began Thursday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker weighed in on the allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. "The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation," Baker said in a tweet Thursday. "There should be no vote in the Senate." Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a former classmate who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school, are scheduled to testify before the committee Thursday. Ford will testify first, following opening statements from committee leaders. After her testimony, judiciary committee members will each have five minutes to question her. Photos: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee 118 Gallery: Photos: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee The Senate Judiciary Committee features 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Not liking the optics of an all-male panel, Republicans hired an outside attorney, Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, to handle much of their questioning. Kavanaugh's nomination remains uncertain as Republicans have a 51-49 majority. The committee has its vote on Kavanaugh for Friday and Republican leaders have shared plans for a full Senate session over the weekend. By Chris Triunfo STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON, SEPT. 26, 2018....Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday declined to take a stance on Question 1, which asks voters to decide if hospitals need to comply with nurse staffing requirements. "I'm waiting to see the report that comes out from the Health Policy Commission," Baker said at an unrelated press conference, referring to an analysis the that the commission just announced will be presented next week. "I was glad to see them make that part of their agenda." On Monday, the state Health Policy Commission (HPC) announced it plans to present findings on cost impacts of mandated staffing ratios on hospitals and non-hospital settings that employ registered nurses. Working with a consultant, the commission began its exploration of Question 1 in mid-August and plans to present the analysis during a subcommittee meeting on Oct. 3. The full commission plans to discuss the analysis results during hearings on health care cost trends Oct 16-17 at Suffolk University Law School. In June, the News Service inquired about the potential for an analysis. An agency spokesperson said then that the commission had not conducted a review and would have no further comment, but planned to offer an update if anything changed. Question 1 supporters on Wednesday blasted the commission's pursuit of the analysis, describing it as the result of secretive deliberations and questionable since the commission would implement nurse staffing regulations, if the proposal passes. A spokesman for the campaign opposed to Question 1 called a public records request by backers of the question a "desperate attempt by the [nurses] union to disparage a quasi-public agency that was established specifically to look at questions of health care costs, because they know the more voters learn about the costs of Question 1, the more likely they are to vote no." U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday declared her support for the ballot question. "Nurses work hard to take care of all of us when it matters the most, and we should do the same for them by establishing standards to ensure they have the help they need to do their jo safely," Warren said in a statement released Tuesday by the Yes on 1 campaign committee. Baker's opponent, Jay Gonzalez, supports Question 1. According to his campaign manager, Kevin Ready, Gonzalez addressed the initiative last year as it was in its early stages. "We need to ensure that there isn't cost cutting going on that is compromising the health and safety of patients. I do think this is a worthwhile issue," Gonzalez said at a campaign event last year in Pittsfield. Kate Norton, a spokesperson for the Yes on 1 campaign, said the campaign is aware of Gonzalez's statements. "Jay Gonzalez has been publicly supportive of the ballot initiative," Norton said. "But we have not asked either gubernatorial candidate for a formal endorsement." Congressmen James McGovern, Joe Kennedy, Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch support Question 1, as well as Democratic Congressional candidates Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan. In the state legislature, there is only one Republican, state Rep. Timothy Whelan, listed as a supporter by Question 1. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the labor union behind a majority of the funding for the Yes on 1 campaign, sent out a letter late Tuesday questioning the independence of the HPC's study. "The largest and most alarming concern is the complete lack of transparency in this process and the blatant effort to keep it hidden from proponents of Question 1 and other independent data researchers and sources," ballot campaign director Eileen Norton said in a letter to the commission. Union officials also submitted a public records request to learn more about the commission's conversations with hospital executives and how the analysis was developed. Hospital executives have requested an analysis from the HPC, and have also said the ballot measure would cost $1.3 billion in the first year and more than $900 million a year after that. Baker cited the data being released by both campaigns as a reason for his lack of endorsement. "I think there's a tremendous amount of information out there right now on Question 1," Baker said. "It's very hard to separate real data from advocacy, and I think the questions that the HPC is going to address in their report are going to be real important to how people think about that question." In a WBUR-MassINC Polling Group survey this week, public opinion on the ballot initiative was evenly divided. HPC spokesman Matt Kitsos defended the commission's pursuit of an analysis of Question 1. "The analysis, conducted with expert consultation, is fully consistent with the HPC's statutory purpose and mission and is not intended to promote or oppose the pending ballot question but rather to add data-driven analysis to the policy discussion on this issue," he said in a statement. "Consistent with the HPC's transparent process, we plan to present and discuss the analysis at a public meeting (October 3) in advance of the hearing and welcome comment and feedback. At the hearing, the five person panel will feature participants with diverse perspectives on the impact of mandated nurse staffing ratios. The panel will discuss the analysis as well as evidence and experience of implementing hospital nurse staffing ratios in California, and the potential impact on health care cost, quality, and access in Massachusetts." [Michael P. Norton contributed reporting] Speaking of an alleged sexual assault during which she feared she could die, Christine Blasey Ford recalled the sound of laughter. Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on allegations Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a party when they were in high school. She was 15 years old when Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, locked her in a room at the party, she told the committee. She testified that Kavanaugh covered her mouth to muffle her screams, which made it hard for her to breath. She feared he might accidentally kill her. During the alleged incident, she reported the sound of laughter. "They were having fun at my expense," she said. "I was underneath one of them while the two laughed." Their laughter is her strongest memory of the incident and a sound she has never forgotten, she said Thursday. "indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter," the research psychologist and professor told the committee. Christine Blasey Ford said she feared she would be "personally annihilated" if she came forward publicly about her allegations sexual misconduct by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Ford about her reasons for requesting confidentiality when she initially brought forward her concerns about Kavanaugh when his name was floated as a possible replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy earlier this year. "I wondered if I would just be jumping in front of a train that was going where it was going anyway, and I would just be personally annihilated," Ford said. Questioning of Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, began at about 10 a.m. Thursday. Ford told senators and prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who Republicans hired to "to depoliticize the process and get to the truth" about Ford's allegations, according to Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican of Iowa. No female Republican senators sit on the committee. Ford told the committee she spoke of the assault with her husband while in couple's counseling in May 2012 because the trauma had interfered with a remodel of her home. Ford said she insisted on adding a second front door to the home, which her husband and friends could not understand until she disclosed the alleged attempted rape. "Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life," Ford said. She said she felt that since she was able to escape, she should try to repress the memory and move on. She said she did not want to tell her parents because it would have revealed that she had been "drinking beer with boys" at a party when she was 15 years old and without adult supervision. This has been impossible, she said, saying she has been haunted by the memory episodically in her adult life. "I've had to relive this trauma in front of the world, and I have seen my life picked apart on television, on Twitter, on other media, and in this body," she said. "I have been accused of partisan political motives. Those who say that don't know me. I'm an independent person. I'm no one's pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to be helpful. ... My responsibility is to tell you the truth." Ford said her husband and two children have been the subject of threats since she went public in a Washington Post article. They've essentially been living in hiding - forced from their home by death threats and intense media scrutiny. Before this, she had only revealed what happened to her in therapy and to a few friends, she said. PITTSFIELD -- Three members of the state's congressional delegation want Charter Communications, branded as Spectrum, to restore cable TV news from Massachusetts in Berkshire County. U.S. Sen. Edward Markey plans legislation that would allow the return of WWLP-TV and WCVB-TV to the Berkshires. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will co-sponsor the bill, and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal is planning companion legislation in the House, according to a press release from Markey's office. Markey plans a Pittsfield press conference on Friday. Last year Charter stopped carrying WWLP, the Springfield NBC affiliate, in Berkshire communities, affecting 30,000 viewers. In June, Charter dropped WCVB, Channel 5, Boston's ABC affiliate. WBZ out of Boston is still available in some areas of the Berkshires. Charter has said it complies with Federal Communication Commission rules by instead carrying NBC and ABC affiliates from Albany, N.Y. The FCC lists Pittsfield and the Berkshires as part of the Albany media market. The region's Beacon Hill delegation had asked Markey to push for a legislative fix that would allow the Berkshires to once again receive Massachusetts cable news from WWLP and WCVB. "Markey wrote FCC rules back when he was a congressman," said Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli. "Maybe he can pull a rabbit out of his hat." Pignatelli said Markey's legislation would not remove the Berkshires from the Albany media market, but "grandfather" the Massachusetts stations that were available before 2016, when Charter merged with Time-Warner. "We had Channel 22 and Channel 5 out of Boston for years," he said. Pignatelli said he does not support actually moving the Berkshires out of the Albany DMA, or "designated media area." "Removing us would have unintended consequences," said Pignatelli. "For instance, our region has plenty of New York sports fans. They want to watch the Giants. And it makes more sense to get our weather from Albany." But he said residents of the Berkshires also want Massachusetts news and sports. "I strongly believe that Berkshire County cable subscribers should be able to access local television programming and that is why I am introducing legislation in the U.S. House to fix this matter. The people of western Massachusetts want to view regional news, get emergency alerts, and watch religious broadcasting," Neal said. "And since its football season, they also want to be able to tune in to the New England Patriots. I believe this problem known as 'regional disenfranchisement' can be resolved, and I intend to work with my colleagues to get it done." Similar problems with DMAs exist across the country, and the FCC should allow more flexibility, said Pignatelli. "John Barrett and I have been fighting these battles for 25 years," he said. Barrett, a former North Adams mayor, in 2017 was elected to the House of Representatives. The push on Capitol Hill comes as Charter seeks a rate increase before the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable. In a May 22 letter to the state commission, five Berkshire County towns -- Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, Sheffield, and Stockbridge -- took aim at Charter for several reasons, including the way it lumps parts of Western Massachusetts in with New York state. "We continue to insist that we are part of Massachusetts and therefore must not be cut off from programming that is part of who we are, all the while paying for programming that is not," reads the letter from the Five Town Cable Advisory Committee. North Adams Mayor Tom Bernard said Thursday that Berkshire County communities have had a "constellation of issues" with Charter, including cost and quality of service. "The problem is that they have a monopoly," he said. Bernard noted that 2018 is an election year, and that debates and other news coverage will help keep Massachusetts residents informed -- as long as they don't live in the Berkshires. "We're missing out, and being underserved in our civic engagement," Bernard said. Bernard, Barrett, and Pignatelli plan to attend Friday's press event. Others include Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer, Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Rep. Paul Mark, a representative for Sen. Adam Hinds, and leaders of Pittsfield Community Television. In an email on Thursday, Charter suggested that a door may be open. "We know many of our western Mass. customers are interested in state-focused programming, and we're open to working with different stakeholders to find a solution that doesn't drive up costs or result in a negative viewing experience," said Andrew Russell, director of communications for Charter's Northeast region. If you go: What: Sen. Ed Markey Press Conference When: Sept. 28, 11 a.m. Where: Pittsfield City Hall, 70 Allen St. Looking for a one-of-a-kind graphic tee or your next go-to jean jacket? Finding reasonably priced yet stylish everyday looks for the average college student on a budget is easier than ever. Prove you dont have to spend hundreds of dollars to stay on top of your fashion game by going on a shopping spree at these unique stores that will make you rethink taking a trip to The Oaks Mall. La Chua Vintage A small, curated vintage shop rooted with an Old Florida mentality, La Chua Vintage draws inspiration from Floridas natural environment and handmade, worn-out goods to give guests the sense of traveling back in time to a more organic, traditional Florida lifestyle. Jars of seashells, old suitcases and antique maps of the state of Florida are placed around the store its like walking through a travelers studio. Shop owner, Sabrina Kaar, 33, is constantly on the hunt for a treasure-trove of valuables that will add quality and aesthetically pleasing style to La Chua Vintage. Kaar often travels to Georgia, North Carolina and South Florida to handpick items that she cant find in Gainesville. We were blown away by the wide selection of vibrant dresses ranging from casual maxis to sundresses. Kaar will be moving to a new space, located at 2031 NW Sixth St., with Zorka Rose, a store for vintage home decor, and Brave Space Design, specializing in Timber Line jewelry. The new shop, Auk Market, will have its grand opening Nov. 1. Kaar encourages customers to allow yourself to step outside your comfort zone and try something on and dont worry about what other people think about it. If you love it and you feel good in it then thats all that matters. La Chua Vintage is currently located at 2029 NW Sixth St. Future Perfeckt Vintage Filled with iconic brands and known for best-seller denim like Calvin Klein, Guess, Levis, Tommy Hilfiger and Gap, Future Perfeckt Vintage should be your next stop if youre on the hunt for affordable, 90s inspired jeans that are customized specifically to give that distressed, grunge look. Ripped jean shorts, jeans, denim jackets, overalls and vests? Its basically a denim lovers paradise thats only a few minutes away from campus. Other great products include handmade beaded bracelets, moonstone rings, graphic tees and vintage bomber jackets. The store itself is pleasantly inviting with its pale pink walls, pop artwork and vast windows. Customers are immediately welcomed by a friendly smile and great customer service. Prices for denim range from $15 to $20. Future Perfeckt Vintage is located at 1001 NW Fifth Ave. Urban Thread If youre searching for name-brand clothing like Urban Outfitters, Free People and Anthropologie, then Urban Thread is your next destination. Urban Thread offers popular brands and recycled vintage clothing at discounted prices. Vintage shopping can be stressful since some stores are so jam-packed with items that it makes the shopping experience overwhelming. Urban Thread stands out because the shop organizes all the racks by brand and size so customers can easily rummage through the sections with ease. Some areas are even color coordinated. Wooden shelves containing Supergas, Nike sneakers, colorful wedges and edgy booties decorate the light green concrete walls while a simple chandelier in the center adds atmospheric lighting. Clothing items range from cocktail dresses to statement skirts and classic blouses. Urban Threads two locations in Gainesville are 1236 NW 21st Ave. and 802 W. University Ave. Flashbacks Recycled Fashions Inc. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now After graduating from UF with a finance degree, Steve Nichtberger opened Flashbacks Recycled Fashions Inc. in 1986 because he wanted to create a place where people could have fun while shopping and create lifelong connections with fellow customers. A hip store filled with style and character, Flashbacks is the place to go if youre looking for retro and vintage furniture, artwork, clothing and antiques. The store has a unique system when it comes to the layout, but Flashbacks employees are eager to help shoppers with any questions. Half the fun at Flashbacks is just spending time browsing through the stands, whether its jewelry or collectable toys. Nichtberger cares deeply for his customers. I have always realized that what Im doing is going to make a lot of people who dont have a whole lot of money able to get by, Nichtberger said. Flashbacks is located at 818 W. University Ave. Photo of: La Chua vintage President Donald Trump has postponed his highly anticipated meeting with embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein until next week to avoid interfering with the Senate hearing on sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court nominee. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the president spoke with Rosenstein "a few minutes ago" and they now plan to meet next week. She said, "They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing." Rosenstein's job is in question following reports he discussed possibly secretly recording the president and using the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove him from office. Trump says he has denied the reports. Trump also said Wednesday he'd "certainly prefer not" to fire Rosenstein, the Justice Department's No. 2 official who is overseeing the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling. Outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake took to the Senate floor to decry the level of vitriol he saw in the debate over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh has been accused by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick of sexual assault and impropriety in his youth. His confirmation vote has been delayed to allow Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh to address the Senate Judiciary committee. Flake called for decorum during the rest of the hearings. But did he actually take a stand or was he just grandstanding? PERSPECTIVES Flake bemoaned the "toxic political culture we've created" saying politicians have "fanned the flames" for personal gain. He then went on to make clear he did not know how he would vote on Kavanaugh's nomination. He called both Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, "unwitting combatants in an undeclared war ... these are human beings, with families and children, people who love them." Flake made sure to state that he believes both Blasey Ford's account of what happened to her that night as well as believing that Kavanaugh is not a serial sexual predator. Flake's critics felt he refused to take any real stance in the fight, choosing to play peacemaker instead of making a moral stake. As usual, Jeff Flake goes for a Lincoln moment and falls short because he hasn't learned or accepted that Lincoln was great not for his flowery language but the boldness of his moral clarity, something Flake never deigns to show. Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer) September 26, 2018 Does Jeff Flake realize he can still do some stuff about it before he retires? https://t.co/uMu32GlUWU Jason Chesnut-no-t-in-the-middle (@crazypastor) September 26, 2018 Jeff Flake likes to publicly flirt with the right thing but remains monogamous with the convenient thing. John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) September 26, 2018 Introducing the Jeff Flake Comfort Blanket Warm yourself in the soft embrace of Senator Flake's meaningless tweets. pic.twitter.com/FYeyQ7ep0d The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 26, 2018 Supporters of Flake felt he took a brave stance against the president and brought civility to the issues. Flake goes after Trump for questioning accuser claims: "How uninformed and uncaring do we have to be." Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 26, 2018 Flake chastises Trump for dismissing Fords allegation because she did not, at age 15, report the incident to authorities: How uninformed and uncaring do we have to be to say things like that, much less believe them? Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) September 26, 2018 Flake Senate speech on "toxic political culture" sounds like a piece of independent 2020 bid... Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) September 26, 2018 The Tylt is focused on debates and conversations around news, current events and pop culture. We provide our community with the opportunity to share their opinions and vote on topics that matter most to them. We actively engage the community and present meaningful data on the debates and conversations as they progress. The Tylt is a place where your opinion counts, literally. The Tylt is an Advance Local Media, LLC property. Join us on Twitter @TheTylt, on Instagram @TheTylt or on Facebook, we'd love to hear what you have to say. Music brings generations of Gainesville locals and UF students together at Gainesvilles record fair twice a year at The Wooly, hosted by Arrows Aim Records. On Sunday, patrons bonded over some of the greatest music artists as they fumbled through vinyls, deciding which of the rare and precious albums to snag before vinyl becomes completely obsolete. The irony? Vinyl is making a comeback in terms of quality and popularity according to Jeff Smith, the owner of Arrows Aim Records, located next door to The Wooly. Vendors come from all over the Southeast, and they buy, trade and sell records and memorabilia, Smith said. Music vendors from all over the Southeast region and North Florida gathered to compete for the best bargain amongst the masses. Who were the masses? Well, a variety of students, locals and even people just passing through Gainesville in search of some classic albums that have hardly been touched. The stage of The Wooly was filled with brand new record players with high-quality needles and gadgets, selling for some steep prices but filled with buried treasures. Vendors sold vinyls, cassette tapes and CDs featuring music from all generations. Imagine everything from Sinatra to Jimi Hendrix to Dr. Dre all in one room! Music fanatics were practically drooling. Many customers were on the prowl for the perfect records to complete (or begin) their collection, whether it be Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon or Led Zeppelins Houses of the Holy. For these music lovers, this was not a casual perusal for some cool albums. This was a hunt, an archaeological search for artistic fossils. Many customers claimed that it is one thing to know what youre looking for and another to dig for it it can take hours to find that one album that separates you from eternal musical bliss. It requires patience, especially when that one album is hidden amongst at least a thousand others in a low-lit room full of people pleading for bargains with men rocking long, white beards. Smith said interacting with customers was the best part of working the event. The social part of it is great. Smith said. I get to see people that I havent seen before. Its twice a year, so its just enough. The most exciting aspect of the event was seeing that there are still people out there with good music taste. While good music taste is subjective to each individual, many at the event claimed that it is important to have diversity in artists and genres, to listen to different types of music from all eras. You could find students flipping through stacks and stacks of Fleetwood Mac and Abba, while adults checked out the latest Arctic Monkeys collections. Music lovers of all ages gathered at The Wooly to sift through countless records for vinyl treasures. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now The globally market for cosmetic implant is one of the steady growing markets. The factors that market influence the cosmetic implant market are increasing population with age above 40 years investing on themselves to look younger, increasing advanced technology in healthcare industry, increasing advanced painless surgeries and many others. For Exclusive Sample Copy Visit @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2018 World Cosmetic implant Market -Key Players DENTSPLY Implant ALLERGAN, INC. LABORATOIRES ARION CEREPLAS 3M Nobel Biocare Holding AG Institut Straumann AG Zimmer Holdings, Inc. Spectrum Designs Medical There are few factors that hamper the growth of the market that include adverse effect of the cosmetic surgery. The global cosmetic implant market is expected to reach USD 11.2 billion by 2022 from USD 6.5 billion in 2016. It has been noted that global cosmetic implant market is growing swiftly and is expected to grow tremendously at the CAGR of 7.1%. Globally there is huge demand for cosmetic implant in various regions. World Cosmetic implant Market -Intended Audience Cosmetic implant manufacturers & Suppliers Biotechnology companies Hospitals Dental Clinics Academic research institutes Government institutes For Detailed Reading Visit @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cosmetic-implant-market-2018 World Cosmetic implant Market Segments Global cosmetic implant market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprises of dental implant, brest implant, facial implant, buttock implant and others. On the basis of material the market is segmented into polymers, metals, ceramics, and biologicals. Furthermore on the basis of end user the market is segmented into hospitals, dental clinics, academics and others. World Cosmetic implant Market -Key Finding The report for Cosmetic Implant Market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions Avail Attractive Discount @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/2018 Major Points form TOC for Cosmetic Implant Market Research Report Forecast to 2022 Chapter 1. Report Prologue Chapter 2. Market Introduction Chapter 3. Research Methodology Chapter 4. Market Dynamics Chapter 5. Market Factor Analysis Chapter 6. Global Cosmetic Implant Market, By Type Chapter 7. Global Cosmetic Implant Market, By Treatment Chapter 8 Global Cosmetic Implant Market, By End User Chapter 9. Global Cosmetic Implant Market, By Region Chapter 10. Company Landscape Chapter 11. Company Profiles Chapter 12. MRFR Conclusion Chapter 13. Appendix About US: Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Us: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Isotretinoin Drugs Market Highlights The global isotretinoin drugs market has been evaluated as steadily growing market and it is expected that the market will continue to grow similarly in the near future. Increasing prevalence of various skin disorders, genetic disorders and cancer are major driving forces for the market. Moreover, increasing R&D funding another major driving factor for the market growth. The market for isotretinoin drugs was around US$ 1257.0 million in 2016 and is expected to reach US$ 1567.1 million which is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.2% by 2023. Request Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3560 Isotretinoin Drugs Market Major Players There are plenty of large and small market players which operate in this market: Akorn, Inc. (US), Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd. (India), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland), Mylan N.V. (US), Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc, a SUN PHARMA company. (India), Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc (US), and others Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd is pioneer in global Isotretinoin drugs market. Major Isotretinoin drugs manufacturers like F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Mylan N.V. and Ranbaxy Laboratories Inc. are holding major market share while other players holds reasonable amount of share in the market. North America and Europe is main focus of all major players but due to rapid growth rate in Asia-Pacific, these companies are expanding their business in this region. Isotretinoin drugs causes some serious side effects such as birth defects and depression. To avoid these kind of situation, drug manufacturers are focusing more on new drug development. Due to strict regulatory policies, all the top players are trying to improve the efficacy and safety of isotretinoin drug. Isotretinoin Drugs Market Segmentation Global Isotretinoin drugs Market has been segmented on the basis of application which comprise severe acne, Neuroblastoma, Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas, harlequin ichthyosis, xeroderma pigmentosum, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, Squamous cell skin cancers, and others. Severe acne is further sub-segmented into Nodulocystic acne, Acne conglobate, Acne fulminans, Gram negative folliculitis, and others. Neuroblastoma is further sub-segmented into Stage 1, Stage 2A, Stage 2B, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 4S, and others. Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphomas is further sub segmented into Mycosis fungoides, Pagetoid reticulosis, Lymphomatoid papulosis, Granulomatous slack skin, and others. Xeroderma pigmentosum is further sub-segmented into group A, group B, group C, group D, and others. On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into Hospitals, Research laboratories, and others. Isotretinoin Drugs Market Regional Analysis Globally, North America is holding the largest market share in global Isotretinoin drugs due to increasing prevalence of various skin diseases. While the European region accounts the second largest market in this market. The increasing cases of various genetic disorders and cancer in Western Europe region has spurred the growth rate and it accounts largest share in European market. Due to developing healthcare sector, rising healthcare spending and increasing awareness of disorder and diseases, Asia-Pacific region will be fastest growing market for isotretinoin drugs during the forecast period. Middle East and Africa isotretinoin drugs market is expected to grow slower than global average during the forecast period. MAJOR TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Report Prologue 2. Introduction 3. Research Methodology 4. Market Dynamics 5. Market Factor Analysis 6. Global Isotretinoin Drugs Market By Application 7. Global Isotretinoin Drugs Market By End User 8. Global Isotretinoin Drugs Market By Region 9. Competitive Landscape 10. Company Profile 11 Conclusion 12 Appendix Check Your Prime Discount @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3560 About US: Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Us: Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com Laser Therapy Market Highlights: Laser therapy is a non-invasive medical treatment that uses light of a specific wavelength to treat multiple diseases. Laser therapy is most commonly used to remove tumors or precancerous growths, remove kidney stones, repair a detached retina, treat hair loss, and various cancers. Laser treatment is also used to seal nerve endings after surgery, lymph vessels to reduce swelling, and blood vessels to help prevent blood loss. Lasers have become an essential part of the ophthalmology. The Global Laser Therapy Market Is Expected To Grow At A CAGR Of 9.2% During The Forecast Period. Request for Sample Report at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3812 In laser-based ophthalmology, a beam of light reshapes the cornea, thereby improves the corneal focusing. It can also be used to create a channel to relieve the intraocular pressure of glaucoma or cauterize tiny hemorrhages. Commonly used lasers in ophthalmology are Nd: YAG LASER, excimer LASER, femtosecond LASER, and others. Increasing prevalence of the diseases like cataract and arthritis is the major driver for the market growth. According to the National Eye Institute, the number of people in the U.S. with cataract is expected to double from 24.4 million in 2010 to 50 million by 2050. Moreover, in 2015, National Eye Institute stated that more than half of the Americans suffer from a cataract related problems in their life span. Moreover, growing demand for aesthetics and rising geriatric population followed by increasing demand for non-invasive procedures will boost the market growth. However, high procedural cost will restrain the market growth during the forecast period. Top Players: Angiodynamics Biolase Valeant IRIDEX Cutera and others. Laser Therapy Market Segments: The global laser therapy market is segmented on the basis of type and application. On the basis of type, the market is segmented into diode lasers, solid state lasers, gas lasers, dye lasers, and others. Ask Any Question at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/enquiry/3812 On the basis of application, the market is segmented into dermatology and aesthetics, surgery, dental, and others. The surgery segment is further segmented into urology, ophthalmology, and others. Laser Therapy Market Regional Analysis: The Americas dominate the global laser therapy market owing to a large patient population, strong government support for research & development, high healthcare spending, and growing geriatric population. In 2015, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. the total healthcare expenditure accounted for 17.8% of the total gross domestic product (GDP), which accounted for USD 3.2 trillion. Europe is the second leading region in the global laser therapy market, which is followed by Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market for laser therapy. According to the Royal National Institute of Blind People in 2016, the number of people living with sight loss are expected to reach 2.7 million by 2030 due to possible cases of refractive error, cataract, glaucoma, and others. The presence of a huge patient population and continuously developing economies like India and China boosts the market growth within the region. Moreover, growing geriatric population within the region fuels the market growth. According to a study conducted by International Journal of Advanced Medical and Health Research in 2015, in India, the prevalence of blindness was 1.1%, the principal cause being cataract, affecting over 9 million people accounting for 62.6%. The Middle East and Africa contribute the least to the growth of the global laser therapy market. The Middle East dominates the market in this region due to the presence of developed economies like Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and others within the region. Whereas, Africa holds the least share of the global market due to the limited availability of medical facilities, poor economic condition and stringent government policies. Major TOC of Laser Therapy Market Research Report Global Forecast till 2023: 1 Report Prologue 2 Market Introduction 3 Research Methodology 4 Market Dynamics 5 Market Factor Analysis 6 Global Laser Therapy Market, By Type 7 Global Laser Therapy Market, By Application8 Global Laser Therapy Market, by Region 9 Competitive Landscape 10 Company Profiles 11 Appendix 12 Conclusion Check Discount at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3812 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Market Research Future Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India +1 646 845 9312 Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com In-Vitro Diagnostics Market Research Report Forecast to 2023 exclusively available at MarketResearchFuture.com with unique information collected by industry experts through interview. Report contain 100+ pages of unique data with 30+ table, 30+ figures and detailed analysis of market which is collected through industry experts interview. In-Vitro Diagnostics Industry Updates: In September 2018, OptraSCAN, a leading end-to-end digital pathology solution provider, has announced that its whole-slide scanners have received CE Mark approval for in-vitro diagnostics use. To Get PDF Sample Copy of Report Visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1165 Market Drivers and Restraints: The in-vitro diagnostics products include reagents, instruments and any other system or equipment that is required to carry out the diagnostics procedure. The rapid increase in chronic and infectious diseases and rise in geriatric population are some of the major factors that are inducing high demand for in-vitro diagnostics in the global market, which in turn is propelling the growth of the global in-vitro diagnostics market. Incorporation of advanced technology for diagnostic purposes has fastened the process altogether leading to the significant growth of the global in-vitro diagnostics market. However, strict regulatory framework imposed by the government on the manufacturing of IVD products and lack of reimbursement policies are likely to create hindrance in the growth of the global in-vitro diagnostics market during the forecast period. The market is immensely growing due to the increasing demand for advanced diagnostic techniques. Additional factors that influence the market growth are increasing technological advancement in healthcare that supports the desired results, further increasing the market growth. Moreover, the government funding to encourage the adoption of in-vitro diagnostic are pervasively fostering the market growth. On the other hand, factors such as the lack of proper reimbursement policies in the developing countries and strict FDA regulations are obstructing the market growth. Regional Analysis for Global In-Vitro Diagnostics Market The Global In-Vitro Diagnostics Market is geographically segmented into Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. The Americas dominate the global in-vitro diagnostics market owing to the increased healthcare expenditure by the population of this region and increasing penetration of advanced technology in the healthcare sector of this region. The Europe region constitutes of second largest share in the global in-vitro diagnostics market owing to the easy adoption of advanced technology and high prevalence of chronic diseases among the population of this region. The Asia Pacific region is projecting noteworthy growth in the global in-vitro diagnostics market owing to the rapid development of the healthcare sector and increasing number of private diagnostic centers in this region. Whereas, low penetration of advanced technology in the healthcare sector of the underdeveloped areas of the Middle East and Africa region is creating hindrance in the growth of the global in-vitro diagnostics market in this region. Key Players for Global In-Vitro Diagnostics Market The prominent players profiled by MRFR in the report on the global in-vitro diagnostics market are Abbott (the U.S.), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland), Biomerieux (France), Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (the U.S.), Johnson & Johnson (the U.S.), Siemens Healthcare GmbH (Germany), Sysmex (Japan), Becton Dickinson (the U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (the U.S.), Accelerate Diagnostics (the U.S.), Hycor Biomedical (the U.S.), Diagnostic Biosystems (the U.S.), Eurogentec (Belgium), Orgentec Diagnostics (US), Immunarray PVT. LTD (the U.S.), Werfen Group (Spain), Danaher Corporation (the U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories INC (the U.S.), Stago Diagnostica (France), Alere Inc (the U.S.) and others. Segmentations for Global In-Vitro Diagnostics Market The global in-vitro diagnostics market has been segmented on the basis of techniques, application and end users. Based on techniques, the in-vitro diagnostics market has been segmented into Immunodiagnostics, blood testing, molecular diagnostics, tissue diagnostics and clinical chemistry. The immunodiagnostic segment is sub-segmented into enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIAS), fluorescence immunoassays (FIAS), colorimetric immunoassays (CIC), and radioimmunoassay (RIA) and other immune assay techniques. Based on applications, the in-vitro diagnostics market has been segmented into infectious diseases, cancer, cardiac diseases, and immune systems disorders, nephrological diseases, gastrointestinal diseases. The infectious diseases segment is sub-segmented into acinetobacter infections, actinomycosis, hepatitis (A, B, C, D, and E) and others. The cancer segment is sub-segmented into skin, lung, brain and others. The cardiac diseases segment is sub-segmented into heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, congenital heart disease and others. Based on end users, the in-vitro diagnostics market has been segmented into laboratories, academics and medical institutions and others. To Get an Exclusive Discount on Report Visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1165 About Market Research Future: At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Contact Us: Market Research Future Hadapsar, Pune 411028 Maharashtra, India Phone: +1 646 845 9312 by Tanya Gazdik , September 27, 2018 Dollar Car Rental and Expedia Group Media Solutions have partnered for a campaign to show how a Dollar rental car can significantly enhance the travel experience. Expedia Group Media Solutions, the advertising arm of Expedia Group, developed an interactive microsite where travelers can browse suggested car rentals based on the number of passengers on a trip. They can also plan a road trip or detour to explore unexpected family-friendly sites, attractions and experiences in 10 popular U.S. destinations, including Kauai, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago. There is also an option to print and download detailed itineraries with descriptions and images for each stop, estimated drive times and the nearest Dollar Car Rental location at the end of the trip -- and share the itineraries with friends and family via social media or text. advertisement advertisement The microsite is supported by creative, which will target U.S. customers searching for or booking another trip component on Expedia.com in the 10 key markets, and those searching for car rentals and booking with Dollar. The campaign was developed by Expedia Group Media Solutions in-house creative agency, Creative Partnerships. Dollar Detour Guide is the agencys first bespoke campaign for a car rental company, and will run through Nov. 30. Dollar customers are focused on family and value and are interested in leisure trips, says Ihsane (Izzy) Aziz, brand director, Dollar Car Rental. The goal of the brand is to enable those customers to have a stress-free trip beyond the car rental and encompasses the planning and destinations during their trips as well, Aziz tells Marketing Daily. And partnering with Expedia on this campaign allows us to introduce our brand to a new segment of leisure travelers who we know are already qualified prospects for destination travel. The effort targets families on a budget. The word family covers the modern family with different sizes of family, ethnicity, backgrounds, Aziz sats. We chose stops within each itinerary that we felt would appeal to a variety of family combinations, at a price that wont break the bank. by Tanya Gazdik , September 26, 2018 General Motors is moving Cadillacs headquarters back to suburban Detroit after nearly four years in New York City. The GM luxury brand has several new top executives, including CMO Deborah Wahl, who joined the company in March, and Steve Carlisle, a longtime GM executive who took over as CEO in April. MediaPost was first to report that the division had moved its Book by Cadillac project back to Detroit in July. Carlisle told The Wall Street Journal he wants the brands leaders to be closer to GMs vehicle design and engineering hub in suburban Detroit, especially as GM prepares to roll out several new Cadillac models in coming years. advertisement advertisement Of the 110 New York-based employees, 70 were hired during the company's four-year stint in New York. All will be given the opportunity to move to the new location in Warren, Mich., 15 miles north of GMs headquarters in the Renaissance Center in Detroit, a GM spokesman said. Cadillac's sales have dropped 12% since 2014, and in that same time period, the brand's share of the luxury auto market has dropped from 9.3% to 7.7%, according to Edmunds. "Cadillac's move to New York made sense in theory, but in practice it didn't address what Cadillac really needs to turn the brand around: a laser focus on the product, says Jeremy Acevedo, Edmunds' manager of industry analysis. Moving the headquarters to Warren is a big statement that Cadillac is serious about bringing the brand and product visions together, he adds. Cadillac has spent a lot of time and money trying to emulate the Germans, but perhaps this is a sign that the company is ready to embrace its Detroit heritage and lean into its unique place in American culture, Acevedo says. The transition will begin over the next few months, with an official move-in date set for April 1. The division will move into the former Lowe Campbell-Ewald Advertising building, across from the General Motors Technical Center. Cadillac will keep its Cadillac House in SoHo for "events, concerts and collaborative partnerships until longer-term brand plans are in place," the company said in a statement. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, September 26, 2018 The Internet service provider Charter told lawmakers today that companies should obtain consumers' explicit consent before using their data. "We believe the best way to ensure consumers have control over their data is through opt-in consent," the company said in prepared testimony submitted to the Senate Commerce Committee for Wednesday's hearing about online privacy. "That means no more pre-ticked boxes, take-it-or-leave-it offers, or other default consents. It also means that the use of personal data should be reasonably limited to what the consumer understood at the time consent was provided." Rachel Welch, Charter's senior vice president for policy, reiterated that position during the Senate hearing, which also featured testimony from AT&T, Google, Twitter, Amazon and Apple. Many of the biggest tech companies are now saying they support a federal privacy law that would preempt state privacy laws, including a new measure in California that will allow consumers to learn what personal information about them is held by businesses, and to opt out of the sale of that information. The California law is slated to take effect in 2020. advertisement advertisement But many tech companies, as well as ad organizations, argue that opt-in consent should only be required when companies draw on "sensitive" data. AT&T specifically said in its written testimony that a privacy framework should base protections "on the sensitivity and use of consumers' information," and that legislation "should define sensitive and non-sensitive data and its appropriate treatment (e.g., opt-in/out) consistent with the FTCs established framework." FTC staff previously endorsed the idea that ad companies obtain consumers' explicit consent before drawing on their "sensitive" data -- but also said that type of data could include search queries, email messages, social media posts, and titles of books read or movies viewed. In 2016, the Federal Communications Commission passed regulations requiring broadband providers like Charter and AT&T to obtain consumers' opt-in consent before using their web-browsing history for ad purposes. Those regulations -- which didn't apply to search engine operators like Google or social networking services like Facebook -- were repealed by Congress last year. Some watchdogs criticized lawmakers for failing to include any consumer advocates at Wednesday's hearing. Without consumer voices, the hearing unfortunately provided an echo chamber for large tech companies to further reiterate what they desire in a federal privacy bill, such as ensuring a level playing field between ISPs and tech companies," Eric Null, Senior Policy Counsel at New Americas Open Technology Institute, stated. Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota), Commerce Committee Chairman, said the committee has invited Andrea Jelenik, who leads privacy enforcement for the EU, and Alastair MacTaggert, the California entrepreneur who helped architect that state's new law, to a second hearing next month. by Tanya Gazdik , September 26, 2018 Petco has a new CMO, Tariq Hassan, who most recently was an executive at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The company made the announcement this week, but Hassan actually joined the pet supplies retailer in July, according to his LinkedIn profile. The company did not respond to a request for comment as to why there was a delay in between the appointment and the announcement. Hassan has more than 20 years of global marketing experience in brand strategy, digital and performance marketing, communications, innovation and insights, according to Petco. He served in global marketing roles and progressed through advertising assignments where he worked with brands including Pepsi, Gatorade, Frito Lay, Coors, Mars, Emirates, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, Johnson & Johnson and Visa. advertisement advertisement Petco has been without a CMO since August 2017. Before that, consultant Jodi Watson was acting CMO from October 2916 to August 2017. In announcing the move on LinkedIn, Hassan called Petco an amazing mission-driven brand with a focus on one thing, Doing whats right for your pet. "During this pivotal time in the retail industry, we have a tremendous opportunity to focus our marketing, leveraging customer data and insights, to tap into the powerful relationship between people and their pets, create unique experiences and support them in ways that will ensure our success into the future, Hassan says in a release. by Sara Guaglione , September 26, 2018 Publishers Daily went to press with information provided by MNI. MNI now has updated information, so in the interests of providing comprehensive coverage, please note the following: In the September 24, 2018 story " MNI Adds 3 Magazines, Expands Options For Advertisers ,went to press with information provided by MNI. MNI now has updated information, so in the interests of providing comprehensive coverage, please note the following: MNI does not presently work with Conde Nast publications, but uses it to calculate certain metrics. Of all the titles from three big publishers Meredith, Conde Nast and Hearst as well as a number of independent publishers, MNI says it provides advertisers with access to over 70% of consumer facing magazines. Baby brands invested nearly $300 million in ad spend with $31 million allocated to magazines, according to Kantar. MNI worked with over 350 clients this year on magazine advertising. In total across digital and print MNI has an annual roster of 1,200 clients. by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, September 27, 2018 Timed for Hispanic Heritage Month, Buchanans Blended Scotch Whisky is extending its year-old Es Nuestro Momento campaign featuring global Latin music star J Balvin. With Buchanans popularity among Hispanics driving rapid sales growth in the U.S., the umbrella campaign, from Anomaly, looks to capitalize on the momentum by heightening the brands visibility and involvement within the Hispanic community. The new extension -- dubbed Imparables Coleccion -- is designed to salute and engage a new generation of unstoppables (Los Imparables): young Hispanic leaders who want to share their visions with the world, says the brand. advertisement advertisement Continuing his brand ambassador role, Balvin has been designated creative director, and is designing a limited-edition bottle of Buchanans 12-year-old DeLuxe inspired by Hispanic culture, to be sold nationwide next spring. Balvin also chose four Hispanic artists to create original artworks that reference the Buchanans brand for the campaigns Collection. The artists are Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny, Cuban-American painter Alexander Mijares, Mexican-American sculptor David Flores and Colombian painter Sabrina Yanguas. The artworks -- showcased on the campaigns site, at Casa Buchanan events and during Balvins current tour (powered by Buchanans) -- are in turn meant to inspire others to enter a national packaging-design contest. Fans are being encouraged to submit original designs for a limited-edition Buchanans pack that will also be sold nationwide. Designs can be submitted on the campaign site from Oct. 10 through Oct. 31. Balvin and the showcased artists will judge the competition. Balvin is featured in 15-second digital ads promoting the design contest (below). The performer speaks in Spanish; English subtitles are provided. The brand is also promoting a sweepstakes to win a trip for two to one of Balvins tour performances, and a series of mentoring workshops, led by established Hispanic creatives, on topics including photography, choreography and music production. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, September 27, 2018 Siding with AT&T, attorneys general in nine states are asking an appellate court to reject the Justice Department's attempt to unwind the company's recent $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. In court papers filed Wednesday, the attorneys general argue that U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon correctly found that the merger will "produce many millions of dollars worth of benefits for consumers," and will position AT&T to better compete with online video distributors like Netflix and Amazon. "Competition leads to lower prices, higher quality products, and innovative goods and services for consumers," the attorneys general of Wisconsin, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and Kentucky write in a friend-of-the-court brief filed Wednesday with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. advertisement advertisement The officials are weighing in on the government's appeal of Leon's recent decision to allow AT&T to acquire Time Warner. The DOJ unsuccessfully argued to Leon that the merger -- which brings cable companies including CNN and HBO into AT&T's fold -- was anti-competitive and would lead to decreased competition and higher prices for consumers. The DOJ is now asking the D.C. Circuit to reverse Leon's decision, arguing that the judge ignored "fundamental principles of economics and common sense." AT&T recently countered in court papers that Leon "meticulously evaluated the evidence and rejected the factual underpinnings of DOJs case." The nine attorneys general are asking the appellate court to note that the DOJ's initial lawsuit wasn't joined by any states. "It is rare for the federal government to pursue an antitrust case involving major, national companies without any state joining the effort," they write. "History suggests that at least some states would not hesitate to get involved if they believed that the merger would decrease competition and harm their citizens." The merger closed in late June, but AT&T is managing the Turner network separately from DirecTV and U-Verse. The company plans to maintain that structure until the earlier of February 28, 2019, or the conclusion of the government's appeal. Monica Wadhwa, at the Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and Jeehye Christine Kim, at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Clear Water Bay, also worked on the study. This new research was conducted at the global business school INSEAD, which has campuses located in France, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi. The results of this study will now be published in the Journal of Consumer Research. If you are always on the go and like to keep yourself busy, there may be some unexpected benefits. Recent research suggests that busy people often make more healthful choices. For the study participants to feel busy, the scientists exposed them to quiet, subtle messages that suggested that they were actually busy people. Some participants were asked to write down what had been keeping them busy lately. There was also a control group that was not exposed to busy lifestyle-inducing activities. Once all the participants were in a suitably busy mindset, the researchers then asked them to make a series of decisions. These choices would tell the study authors about their self-control and how that related to their state of mind in other words, how busy they felt. These decisions were on topics such as food, working out, and the participants retirement savings. They were not life-or-death decisions, but choices many people make on a daily basis that can definitely impact their health. People who felt that they were busy (due to the suggestions or reminders of how busy they really were) tended to make better, more healthful choices than their counterparts who had no such mentions or reminders prior to the testing. Every day, says Prof. Chattopadhyay, we make many decisions that involve choosing between our immediate and future well-being. When we perceive ourselves to be busy, it boosts our self- esteem, tipping the balance in favor of the more virtuous choice. This study also discovered, however, that feeling busy may not always be a positive thing. It can have the opposite effect in some cases. The authors point out that busyness coupled with time constraints can lead to stress and anxiety. So, if you have a lot to do but not a lot of time to do it in, it can result in impulsive decisions that may be more unhealthful, such as eating quick but less nutritious food and doing less physical activity. Doctors tend to prescribe antibiotics to treat common bacterial infections, such as those of the urinary tract. However, a new study shows that there may be a new strategy to reduce or potentially even eliminate the need for using antibiotics. Share on Pinterest Could it soon be possible to treat UTIs without using antibiotics? The new findings were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The investigators who conducted the study are from Stanford University in California. They discovered that bacteria found in urinary tract infections (UTIs) require a version of the cellulose molecule to attach successfully to bladder cells. If this cellulose attachment can be interrupted, there may be another treatment option in the future that does not involve antibiotics. UTIs and antibiotics A UTI can occur in any part of the urinary tract, such as in the urethra, bladder, ureters, and kidneys. Symptoms include a burning feeling when you urinate, as well as a frequent need to urinate, even when your bladder isnt very full. UTIs can lead to dangerous conditions if not promptly treated. It is vital to see a doctor as soon as possible, because early treatment with antibiotics can clear up a UTI before it travels to the kidneys. Though antibiotics are the first line of defense against UTIs, there is a reason why they may not always work namely, antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are often prescribed for viral illnesses that do not respond to other medication, or when patients do not take that medication properly. Both scenarios can have the same result: antibiotic resistance. This means that when you become sick with a bacterial infection, the antibiotics that your doctor prescribes might not work properly. Also, antibiotics can impact the good bacteria that make up your gut microbiome, which can lead to further problems. The results of the new study are very promising. Study co-leader Lynette Cegelski an associate professor of chemistry at Stanford Universitys School of Humanities and Sciences notes that if we can target the way bacteria adhere to the body, we may be able to fight the infection without worrying about antibiotics at all. The cellulose key Plants, algae, and some bacteria produce cellulose. It has several scientific and practical uses, such as in fuel and paper. The study revealed that there is a chemically unique form of cellulose called phosphoethanolamine in the biofilm of Escherichia coli. These bacteria can cause a number of maladies in the human body, and they are one of the most common causes of UTIs. Also, the study found that this cellulose is pretty important to the bacteria. Our experiments, notes study co-leader Prof. Gerald Fuller, of the School of Engineering, here reveal a specific function for the cellulose in which it serves a mortar-like role to enhance the adhesion strength of bacteria with bladder epithelial cells. In other words, the cellulose found in E. coli acts as sort of a glue between the bacteria themselves and cells found in the bladder. Highlights for meclizine Meclizine oral tablet is a generic drug. Its also available in a brand-name version called Antivert. Meclizine only comes as a tablet you take by mouth. Meclizine oral tablet is used to treat vertigo (a condition that causes you to feel like you or the room is spinning). Important warnings Drowsiness warning: This drug may cause drowsiness. You shouldnt drive, use machinery, or do other tasks that require alertness until you know how this drug affects you. This drug may cause drowsiness. You shouldnt drive, use machinery, or do other tasks that require alertness until you know how this drug affects you. Alcohol use warning: The use of drinks that contain alcohol can make drowsiness caused by meclizine worse. You should limit or avoid drinking alcohol while you take this drug. What is meclizine? Meclizine is a prescription drug that only comes as an oral tablet. Meclizine oral tablet is a generic drug. Its also available in a brand-name version called Antivert. Why its used Meclizine oral tablet is used to treat vertigo (feeling like you or the room is spinning). Meclizine may be used as part of a combination therapy. This means you may need to take it with other drugs. How it works Meclizine belongs to a class of drugs called antihistamines. A class of drugs is a group of medications that work in a similar way. These drugs are often used to treat similar conditions. Meclizine works in your brain. It works by blocking chemicals that control nausea, vomiting, and balance. Meclizine side effects Meclizine oral tablet may cause drowsiness. You shouldnt drive, use machinery, or do other tasks that require alertness until you know how this drug affects you. It may also cause other side effects. More common side effects The more common side effects of meclizine can include: drowsiness tiredness headache blurry vision dry mouth If these effects are mild, they may go away within a few days or a couple of weeks. If theyre more severe or dont go away, talk with your doctor or pharmacist. Serious side effects Call your doctor right away if you have serious side effects. Call 911 if your symptoms feel life threatening or if you think youre having a medical emergency. Serious side effects and their symptoms can include the following: serious allergic reactions, with symptoms such as: trouble breathing swelling of your throat or tongue Disclaimer: Our goal is to provide you with the most relevant and current information. However, because drugs affect each person differently, we cannot guarantee that this information includes all possible side effects. This information is not a substitute for medical advice. Always discuss possible side effects with a healthcare professional who knows your medical history. Meclizine may interact with other medications Meclizine oral tablet can interact with other medications, vitamins, or herbs you may be taking. An interaction is when a substance changes the way a drug works. This can be harmful or prevent the drug from working well. To help avoid interactions, your doctor should manage all of your medications carefully. Be sure to tell your doctor about all medications, vitamins, or herbs youre taking. To find out how this drug might interact with something else youre taking, talk with your doctor or pharmacist. Taking meclizine with certain medications raises your risk of side effects from these drugs. Examples of these drugs include: Drugs that treat insomnia, such as zolpidem, zaleplon, eszopiclone, temazepam, triazolam, estazolam, flurazepam, suvorexant, and doxepin. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Drugs that treat psychotic disorders, such as haloperidol, fluphenazine, chlorpromazine, olanzapine, clozapine, quetiapine, and risperidone. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Drugs that treat anxiety, such as lorazepam, clonazepam, alprazolam, diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, paroxetine, and hydroxyzine. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Drugs that treat allergies, such as clemastine, carbinoxamine, diphenhydramine, and hydroxyzine. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Drugs that treat muscle spasms, such as cyclobenzaprine, orphenadrine, baclofen, and methocarbamol. Taking these drugs with meclizine can increase your risk of sedative effects. These include drowsiness, slowed breathing, and trouble thinking. Disclaimer: Our goal is to provide you with the most relevant and current information. However, because drugs interact differently in each person, we cannot guarantee that this information includes all possible interactions. This information is not a substitute for medical advice. Always speak with your healthcare professional about possible interactions with all prescription drugs, vitamins, herbs and supplements, and over-the-counter drugs that youre taking. Meclizine warnings Meclizine oral tablet comes with several warnings Allergy warning Meclizine can cause a severe allergic reaction. Symptoms can include: trouble breathing swelling of your throat or tongue rash hives If you have an allergic reaction, call your doctor or local poison control center right away. If your symptoms are severe, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Do not take this drug again if youve ever had an allergic reaction to it. Taking it again could be fatal (cause death). Alcohol interaction warning The use of drinks that contain alcohol can increase your risk of drowsiness from meclizine. If you drink alcohol, talk with your doctor. Warnings for people with certain health conditions For people with breathing problems: This drug can thicken the mucus in your lungs. This may make it harder for you to breathe. Talk with your doctor if you have breathing problems, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), before starting this drug. For people with glaucoma: This drug may make your glaucoma symptoms worse. Speak with your doctor if you have glaucoma before starting this drug. For people with an enlarged prostate: This drug can make it more difficult for you to urinate. If you have trouble urinating due to an enlarged prostate, ask your doctor about whether this drug is safe for you. For people with liver problems: It isnt known if this drug is safe or effective for people with liver problems. Having liver problems may keep your body from processing this drug properly. This puts you at risk of more side effects. If you have liver problems, talk with your doctor before taking this drug. For people with kidney problems: It isnt known if this drug is safe or effective for people with kidney problems. Having kidney problems may keep your body from clearing this drug properly. This puts you at risk of more side effects. If you have kidney problems, talk with your doctor before taking this drug. Warnings for other groups For pregnant women: Meclizine is a category B pregnancy drug. That means two things: Research in animals hasnt shown a risk to the fetus when the mother takes the drug. There arent enough studies done in humans to show if the drug poses a risk to the fetus. Talk with your doctor if youre pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Animal studies dont always predict the way humans would respond. Therefore, this drug should only be used in pregnancy if clearly needed. For women who are breastfeeding: It isnt known if meclizine passes into breast milk. If it does, it may cause side effects in a child who is breastfed. Talk with your doctor if you breastfeed your child. You may need to decide whether to stop breastfeeding or stop taking this medication. For seniors: The kidneys of older adults may not work as well as they used to. This can cause your body to process drugs more slowly. As a result, more of a drug stays in your body for a longer time. This raises your risk of side effects. For children: This medication hasnt been studied in children. It should not be used in people younger than 12 years. When to call your doctor If youve been taking this drug and it isnt helping to control your symptoms of vertigo, call your doctor. Taking this drug for a long period of time can cause problems with the system in your body that controls balance. Call your doctor if you still have nausea, vomiting, or dizziness after you stop taking the drug. How to take meclizine This dosage information is for meclizine oral tablet. All possible dosages and drug forms may not be included here. Your dosage, drug form, and how often you take the drug will depend on: your age the condition being treated the severity of your condition other medical conditions you have how you react to the first dose Forms and strengths Generic: Meclizine Form: oral tablet oral tablet Strengths: 12.5 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg Dosage for vertigo Adult dosage (ages 1864 years): Typical dosage: 25100 mg per day, taken in divided doses. 25100 mg per day, taken in divided doses. Dosage increases: Your doctor will decide the dose thats right for you. Theyll increase your dose if needed depending on how you respond to and tolerate this drug. Child dosage (ages 1217 years): Typical dosage: 25100 mg per day, taken in divided doses. 25100 mg per day, taken in divided doses. Dosage increases: Your doctor will decide the dose thats right for you. Theyll increase your dose if needed depending on how you respond to and tolerate this drug. Child dosage (ages 011 years): It hasnt been confirmed that meclizine is safe and effective for use in people younger than 12 years. Senior dosage (ages 65 years and older): The liver and kidneys of older adults may not work as well as they used to. This can cause your body to process drugs more slowly. As a result, more of a drug stays in your body for a longer time. This raises your risk of side effects. Your doctor may start you on a lowered dose or a different dosing schedule. This can help keep levels of this drug from building up too much in your body. Disclaimer: Our goal is to provide you with the most relevant and current information. However, because drugs affect each person differently, we cannot guarantee that this list includes all possible dosages. This information is not a substitute for medical advice. Always speak with your doctor or pharmacist about dosages that are right for you. Take as directed Meclizine oral tablet is used for short-term or long-term treatment. It comes with serious risks if you dont take it as prescribed. If you stop taking the drug or dont take it at all: Your dizziness or vertigo may not go away. If you miss doses or dont take the drug on schedule: Your medication may not work as well or may stop working completely. If you take too much: You could have dangerous levels of the drug in your body. Symptoms of an overdose of this drug can include: extreme drowsiness sedation seizures hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that arent there) irregular heart rhythm decreased breathing If you think youve taken too much of this drug, call your doctor or seek guidance from the American Association of Poison Control Centers at 1-800-222-1222 or through their online tool. But if your symptoms are severe, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away. What to do if you miss a dose: Take your dose as soon as you remember. But if you remember just a few hours before your next scheduled dose, take only one dose. Never try to catch up by taking two doses at once. This could result in dangerous side effects. How to tell if the drug is working: Your symptoms of dizziness or vertigo should improve. Important considerations for taking meclizine Keep these considerations in mind if your doctor prescribes meclizine oral tablet for you. General You can take meclizine with or without food. You can cut or crush the tablet. Storage Store meclizine at room temperature. Keep it between 68F and 77F (20C and 25C). Keep it away from light. Dont store this medication in moist or damp areas, such as bathrooms. Refills A prescription for this medication is refillable. You shouldnt need a new prescription for this medication to be refilled. Your doctor will write the number of refills authorized on your prescription. Travel When traveling with your medication: Always carry your medication with you. When flying, never put it into a checked bag. Keep it in your carry-on bag. Dont worry about airport X-ray machines. They cant hurt your medication. You may need to show airport staff the pharmacy label for your medication. Always carry the original prescription-labeled container with you. Dont put this medication in your cars glove compartment or leave it in the car. Be sure to avoid doing this when the weather is very hot or very cold. Psoriasis can affect any area of skin, including that of the mouth and tongue. The condition can cause cracks to form on the tongue or smooth patches, in a complication called geographic tongue. Share on Pinterest DimaBerlin/Shutterstock Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune condition. It causes a persons skin to grow faster than average, resulting in red and often scaly patches of skin. These patches can form anywhere on the body. According to the National Psoriasis Foundation, the most common areas are the scalp, elbows, and knees. Less frequently, psoriasis affects the mouth. Oral psoriasis can cause red patches with yellow or white edges to form on the tongue. Read on to learn more about the symptoms, risk factors, and treatments for psoriasis on the tongue. Symptoms of psoriasis on the tongue Share on Pinterest People with psoriasis may develop geographic tongue. Psoriasis can cause noticeable changes in the color, texture, and feeling of the tongue. For example, people with psoriasis are more likely to develop an inflammatory condition called geographic tongue, or erythema migrans. The condition stems from an issue with the immune system. It causes the tongues skin cells to grow and shed at an irregular rate, resulting in smooth patches. An estimated 10 percent of people with psoriasis experience geographic tongue, compared to 12 percent of the general population. Symptoms of psoriasis on the tongue include: red patches with yellow or white borders swelling and redness on the tongue smooth patches fissures or cracks in the surface of the tongue Psoriasis on the tongue can be tricky to diagnose because signs may be mild or even unnoticeable. However, for some people, these symptoms can lead to pain or swelling so severe that it makes eating or drinking difficult. Authors of a 2016 study concluded that identifying the cause of issues such as geographic tongue can be difficult. Not all people with geographic tongue have psoriasis, but the two conditions are likely linked. A thorough examination and testing can help a doctor determine if a person with geographic tongue has oral psoriasis. How does psoriasis affect the mouth, gums, and lips? Psoriasis typically does not affect the mouth. When it does, people may experience the following symptoms: peeling skin on the gums sores or pustules in or around the mouth pain or a burning sensation when eating hot or spicy foods a noticeable change in taste In most cases, the patches or sores will appear on the inside of the cheeks. Risk factors for psoriasis on the tongue According to the National Psoriasis Foundation in the United States, about 10 percent of people are born with one or more gene that makes them prone to psoriasis in general. However, only 23 percent of these people actually develop the condition. To develop psoriasis, a person must have at least one of the relevant genes and be exposed to triggers. Several factors can trigger psoriasis, including: stress medications infection injury to the skin Psoriasis may affect only one area of the body or several, and it may arise in new places. No matter where it occurs, psoriasis is not contagious, so a person cannot pass on the condition to others. Treatment Many treatments can help people manage their psoriasis symptoms. Oral psoriasis sometimes requires no treatment. However, consult a doctor if the symptoms interfere with daily activities. The doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatories or topical anesthetics for people with oral psoriasis. These medications can help reduce inflammation and pain, making it easier to eat and drink. A person may notice improvements in oral psoriasis if they treat body-wide symptoms. Typically, when treating psoriasis, a doctor will prescribe medications, such as: methotrexate acitretin cyclosporine Prevention To prevent psoriasis symptoms from flaring up, it can help to avoid triggers. For psoriasis on the tongue, a person can: avoid spicy or very hot foods quit smoking use mouth rinses practice good oral hygiene It can also help to reduce stress, which can worsen symptoms. The verdict on the Indian Adultery Law, Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code was announced loud and clear this morning. The 158-year-old colonial law has been struck down by the Supreme Court and from this day on, it renders adultery as a non-criminal act in the Indian courts of law. The landmark decision by the Constitutional bench is truly going to benefit all the parties involved, but what the declaration also ended up doing was altering my better plans for the day. UTV Motion Pictures I walked into the office this morning preparing to write a charming, lighthearted piece on millennial relationships, and definitely had no intentions of penning an opinion piece on a subject as sensitive (and as prevalent) as adultery, for a jovial audience such as yourself. But as luck (both yours and mine) would have it, the WWW is presently abuzz with various updates on the judgement on Section 497, and since the internet is to be the guiding light for an active journo, here I am, keying in a serious story on the subject and bidding adieu to the self-indulgent and fun piece of writing. Panorama Studios The month of September 2018 has been a historically significant one for our country, when it comes to upholding the Constitutional rights of the citizens and taking a step towards equality for all, before the eyes of the law. The winning lap started with the decriminalisation of Section 377 on September 6th and today, another such medieval law, Section 497 of the IPC has been scrapped by the Supreme Court. For the uninitiated, Section 497 of the IPC deals with adultery, and this is what it reads: Adultery- Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offense of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case, the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor. Freeway Pictures In simple words, what those hefty legal phrases translate to is that in the case of adultery, a woman cannot be punished for the offence, but instead, the man who has consensual sex with another's wife will get punished for it. Even as one reads it, something about this entire proclamation seems pretty messed up and lopsided, to say the least. It predominantly comes across as discriminatory against women, since it cushions the idea that a married woman is her husband's property. Now, in the light of today's verdict, where it was pronounced that though adultery continues to be a valid reason to file a divorce, it cannot be a criminal offence. This means that husbands shall no longer serve as the defacto master to their wives, and this rightfully gives the women of our country a reason to celebrate. Dharma Productions However, I feel that this judgement also delivers overarching benefits to all the married, unhappy couples of our country. Why I say so is because, it would allow unhappy partners to come clear with their dissatisfactions regarding their marital life, as well as express their desire to seek happiness with another individual, without the fear of being labelled a criminal. Please don't get all agitated yet, and hear me out first. In no way am I defending an individual's conscious decision to cheat on their partner, but I am merely implying that by calling the act a crime, we are also calling unhappy husbands and wives criminals by default. Simply because someone is unhappy with their marriage, is no longer in love with their partner, and feels attracted to another man or woman, and seeks their affection, does not turn them into a criminal. Dharma Productions How I look at it, the 'crime', if we may even call it so, lies in the nature of 'hiding' or 'concealing' your true feelings from your current partner. The crime is that you chose to 'cheat' on your wife or husband, kept them in the dark about your sexual escapades while denying them the right to know about the true nature of your feelings and robbing them of the opportunity to make a decision for themselves. And that's probably where even the 'guilt' or rather the fear lies, despite the ardent desire to break free from the societal bindings. It is common knowledge that marital dissatisfaction is no longer an imaginary concept in our orthodox society. Statistics confirm that as many as 75% of Indian men cheat on their partners, regardless of their marital status. Yet, despite there being a provision to seek divorce and break free from an unhappy marriage, myriad reasons ranging from children, family, society to alimony, shame and guilt, force men and women to stay in an unhappy relationship while seeking happiness outside of it. Filmkraft Productions Pvt Ltd Hence, decriminalisation of the adultery law at least helps to do away with a major factor, that so far prevented married men and women to admit their love for another individual and being sexually attracted to them. There's no point in berating grown-up men and women for their sexual choices, regardless of their marital status. Because, when two independently thinking and consenting adults choose to participate in a sexual activity, while being completely aware of the repercussions of that decision and yet go ahead with it, that says a lot about their stand on their individual marriages. So yes, there's no denying that the scrapping of such a Victorian, patriarchal and biased law was long overdue, but at the same time I'd like to maintain that this has also brought a lot of liberty to unhappy couples to finally make the move of stepping out of their unhappy and unsatisfactory marriages without the fear of being put behind the bars for it. And before you get all itchy with the need to put your troll face on and @ me for saying what I just said in so many words, let me leave you with what the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, had to say about the nature of criminality involved in this entire situation. Justice Misra said that making adultery a crime would be regressive as it would only mean "punishing unhappy people". With that, I rest my case. A few months back, Xiaomi launched the Mi Bluetooth Speaker in India and has been looking forward to expanding its smart home lineup in the country. The company has a wide range of smart home products in China and is slowly bringing them to India. In fact, the company has recently launched a new Mi Home Store in its Bengaluru office, where all these products are up for display. Today, the brand has launched its Mi Security Camera and Mi Air Purifier in India. The two have been launched alongside the Mi Band 3 and Mi TV 4A Pro. A dig at the market outside of smartphones is not new for Xiaomi, as it had previously launched the Mi Powerbank and even ball pens called Mi Rollerball Pen. Xiaomi Starting with the Mi Security Camera, it is an affordable way to keep an eye on what's going on inside of your home. The Mi camera offers motion detection alerts and records motion events locally, which means you don't have to pay for cloud storage. The camera can be easily kept on a table or stuck to a wall, it has a wide angle lens that can capture 1080p video and provides up to 30 feet of black-and-white night video thanks to an infrared sensor. It also has inbuilt dual-band Wi-Fi circuitry (2.4GHz and 5GHz) along with a microphone. Xiaomi The camera can be accessed from the Mi Home mobile app that is available for Android and iOS. It opens to a home screen that displays all connected cameras and with a single tap, the live feed will be available. The Mi Air Purifier is already available in India and with firecrackers going off everywhere, Diwali is a fitting occasion to introduce the budget-friendly Air Purifier 2S that comes with a high-precision laser sensor to improve response to contaminated air. Xiaomi The Air Purifier 2S packs a dose of smarts you don't see in most competitors, such as Wi-fi connectivity and remote management from the Mi Home app. The fan never stops spinning unless you power the device down and Xiaomi says, the custom-made motor draws a mere 4.8 watts in normal operation. The addition of a small OLED display makes operations very convenient. The Mi Security Camera is priced at Rs 2,699 and will available from October 10th, while the Mi Air Purifier is priced at 8,999 and will available from tomorrow. Xiaomi Xiaomi also launched a new Mi Suitcase that comes with a dual locking mechanism. The suitcase is ultra light and has been built keeping portability in mind. The metal casing is very thick and you'll know the bag can handle the rough flights and conveyor belts. On 25 September, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Bolaris received a courtesy visit from Austrian Ambassador Andrea kic - Bohm, in the context of which the willingness of both countries was confirmed to continue their already active collaboration for the promotion of interfaith and intercultural dialogue based on their common view of the fundamental principles of the EU. The Austrian Ambassador emphasised her countrys interest in promoting interfaith dialogue, as has been exhibited through its mediating initiatives at the UN and its hosting of KAICD, the highly reputable Intergovernmental Organisation for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue. She also referred to the successful organisation of the two International Athens Conferences on Cultural Plurality and Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle East which were convened by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of a large number of political and religious officials from the region, the second of which, in 2017, was conducted jointly with Austria and the United Arab Emirates. She also thanked the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs for placing the Austrian initiative Musical Summer under its auspices which, since 2016, has been organised in numerous Greek cities, facilitating contact between Greek and Austrian musicians and music students. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Bolaris received yesterday Indias Ambassador to Greece, Ms. Shamma Jain. In light of the commencement, on 2 October, of the yearlong celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and founder of the Republic of India, Ms. Jain briefed Mr. Bolaris on the cultural events that India is planning to organise in Greece, and requested the relevant assistance of the competent Greek Authorities. She also encouraged Greek associations to organise cultural events in her own country. We just finished the meeting of the four Balkan countries that are member states of the European Union. We agreed to step up our cooperation, first of all on stabilizing our region. Our plan is for the four of us, together, to visit Albania and North Macedonia by the end of the year to look at how we can help them in their European integration process. We also agreed to carry out a joint trip to the Middle East at the beginning of next year, to visit a number of states and see how we can help stabilize the Eastern Mediterranean. Today we are having a number of bilateral meetings with about ten UN member states, including Jordan, Lebanon and so on. And we will also be participating actively in an International Conference on Syria. This year we extended our meetings to include most of the countries of the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. We are having dozens of meetings, which is indicative of our countrys upgraded role and the international recognition it has received thanks to its initiatives. Elizabeth A. Lamb, 39, of Meigs County, is now facing her sixth round of TennCare fraud charges. The Office of Inspector General today announced the arrest of Ms. Lamb, of Decatur. An indictment in Rhea County accuses her of fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance by doctor shopping. The indictment alleges Ms. Lamb went to three different hospitals and received controlled substances from all three, using TennCare benefits to obtain prescriptions for Hydrocodone. Ms. Lambs first four arrests were all between March and July of 2015 in Meigs, Bradley, Hamilton and McMinn Counties. In those cases, which were investigated at the same time, she was charged with doctor shopping for Hydrocodone, Oxycodone and Tylenol #3, using TennCare as payment. Ms. Lamb was then indicted in McMinn County in November 2017 when she was charged for the fifth time with fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance by doctor shopping in connection with obtaining Hydrocodone. Ms. Lamb pleaded guilty in her first five arrests; she is currently serving four years in state prison, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,800. Obtaining prescription drugs illegally utilizing TennCare benefits will not be tolerated, Inspector General Kim Harmon said. We appreciate the collaborative efforts of the local law enforcement agencies and healthcare providers across the state working together to fight the opioid epidemic in Tennessee. District Attorney General J. Michael Taylor is prosecuting the Rhea County case. TennCare fraud is now a Class D felony punishable by up to four years in prison. The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has investigated cases leading to more than $3 million being repaid to TennCare, with a total estimated cost avoidance of more than $163.6 million for TennCare, according to latest figures. To date, 3,038 people have been charged with TennCare fraud. Through the OIG Cash for Tips Program established by the Legislature, Tennesseans can get cash rewards for TennCare fraud tips that lead to convictions. Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982, toll-free, from anywhere in Tennessee, or log on to www.tn.gov/tnoig/ and follow the prompts that read Report TennCare Fraud. HURON COUNTY Due to a pullback in state funding, the annual Project Connect event will not take place in Huron County this year. Project Connect has been a staple in helping those families at risk for homelessness or in need of housing for many years. This would have been the 10th annual event, which is held each year in November at the Huron Area Technical Center. Huron County Homeless Solutions, in partnership with the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness and the Thumb Area Continuum of Care, teamed up each year to offer the event, attended by around 80 families last year. "We did not receive the grant this year for it," explained Kendra Grady, Advocacy Specialist for the Human Development Commission. "We usually get a grant to help pay for the renting of the location, food and things like that. Huron County was not granted it this year." For the past nine years, area service agencies, businesses and churches were present to provide information and assistance to those families at risk for homelessness or currently in need of housing. Haircuts, health screenings, give-a-ways and lunch were available to those that took part. However, according to Grady, information is the most important thing that was provided. "It lets people know about all the resources available in the county," she said. "It helps them become aware of all the agencies that are out there that they might not have known about before." At the event, attendees learn about navigating agency applications, money management skills, and staying safe from identity theft and scams. Transportation to and from the event was available by Thumb Area Transit. Grady said while the full event will not be taking place this year, the Huron Area Technical Center is still planning on having a free haircut day. Officials have yet to settle on a date though. Additionally, Tuscola County still has plans of hosting its Project Connect. For more information on either offering, contact the Human Development Commission toll free at 1-800-843-6394. BAD AXE The former owner of a trash removal business is headed to trial for allegedly writing more than $11,000 worth of bad checks on repairs for one of the companys vehicles. Melanie Sue Radabaugh, 44, of Cass City, appeared in Huron County Circuit Court on Monday and was arraigned on two counts of checks-nonsufficient funds. Defense attorney Jill Schmidt stood mute to the charges on her clients behalf. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been working with airlines on using facial recognition technology to verify identities of international air travelers, with a goal of covering all foreign departures at the nation's 20 largest airports by 2021. But a new report from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General has uncovered "challenges" that might slow down the program. And regrettably, US citizens are much more likely to be rejected by the systems that others. The agency has been testing facial recognition at more than a dozen major airports (including Mineta San Jose airport) to confirm the identities of both departing passengers at the gate and arriving travelers at CBP checkpoints. It does this by using a camera to capture an image of the traveler's face and digitally comparing it to passport and visa images on file in government databases. During the initial testing, the Inspector General's report said, "CBP encountered various technical and operational challenges that limited biometric confirmation to only 85 percent of all passengers processed." The agency's target rate is 97 to 100 percent confirmation. Critics of the program have questioned the reliability of the technology's image-matching capabilities, and the report suggested there is some validity to those concerns. "Due to missing or poor quality digital images, CBP could not consistently match individuals of certain age groups or nationalities," the report said. Specifically, it said the study found that the program's biometric "match rates" i.e., successfully matching a passenger's airport photo with one in the database were lowest for individuals who were under age 29 or over age 70. This may be due to how much an individual aged between the time his or her passport or visa photo was taken and when a current image is captured at the airport. That timespan could be "several years, during which time a person's facial features might have changed," the report noted. Finding accurate matches was also "problematic" for some nationalities, the report said: "U.S. citizens accounted for the lowest biometric confirmation rate and were up to six times more likely to be rejected than non-U.S. citizens." The Inspector General suggested the reason might be that U.S. citizens had "fewer photos available in the digital gallery than foreign visitors who had to meet passport requirements," and because the U.S. only requires its citizens to renew their passports every 10 years. There were also disparities among non-U.S. citizen confirmation rates. In that group, the lowest rates of confirmed biometric matches were for Mexican and Canadian citizens. It noted that Mexican citizens had fewer photos available in the database, "which CBP attributed to the high volume of Mexican citizens who entered the United States illegally." Another problem with obtaining successful image matches was the quality of photos in the government's image database. Those photos "might be ineffective for matching if individuals were photographed at an angle," the report said, or if individuals' faces in earlier photos in the database were "obscured by hats or scarves, or if individuals stand too close or too far away from the camera." Besides problems with accurately matching images, the pilot program also ran into logistical difficulties at the airports, the Inspector General said, with the result that some passengers were not able to go through the facial recognition process at all. In some cases, the number of CBP officers on site was insufficient to handle the demands of the program. In other instances, the biometric matching didn't work because of technical problems with the airport cameras or network communications. And if an incoming flight arrived late, CBP often didn't have time to run the test on outgoing passengers without delaying their departure. CBP had expected that during the several months of pilot testing in 2017, it would process more than 2 million passengers through biometrics, but instead it only processed 220,000. "Collectively, these challenges pose significant risks to CBP scaling up the biometric program to process 100 percent of all departing passengers by 2021," the Inspector General's report said. Has your face been scanned at the airport yet? How'd that go? Please leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Read all recent TravelSkills posts here Get twice-per-week updates from TravelSkills via email! Sign up here Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis. EAST HAMPTON Saying it is time to move forward, the Board of Finance voted 5-2 to adopt a compromise intended to end the budget standoff. Lets do whats best for the town, finance board Chairman Richard Brown said in urging adoption of the compromise. This [impasse] is not helping our town. If fact, its hurting our town, said Board of Education member (and former finance board chairman) Marc Lambert. The boards action Wednesday could set the stage for a fourth referendum later next month, a referendum that could also include a Goldilocks question. That term arose as finance board member Ted Turner proposed a possible solution to the problem: He called for placing a question on the eventual referendum ballot asking if the budget is too high, too low, or just right. The board unanimously adopted the proposal, which had almost immediately acquired the name the Goldilocks question. The overall compromise was worked out by Town Manager Michael Maniscalco and Superintendent of Schools Paul K. Smith in the wake of last weeks defeat of the general government budget. It marked the third time in five months residents rejected the town budget. The proposed Maniscalco/Smith compromise calls for reallocating capital spending for the Board of Education to pay for safety locks for doors in three schools, to purchase Chromebooks for sixth graders and to fill two teaching positions eliminated earlier in the budget cycle. The finance board voted 5-2 along a party-line split to approve the proposal. Everybodys fairly unhappy with it, so it must be a good compromise, Maniscalco said Wednesday. On Thursday, Maniscalco said he working to arrange a special Town Council meeting next week with an eye toward setting a date for a fourth referendum sometime in late October. The impasse created by successive defeats of the general government/town budget has degenerated into often antagonistic battle of social media postings that are eroding trust between the finance board and several education supporters. Theres way, way, way too much fodder on social media, finance board Vice Chairwoman Janine Jantonio said. Sometimes its best not try and explain what were doing because there is so much twisted, misquoted or purposefully twisted assertions on social media. The issue of funding safety locks has become particularly acrimonious. Installation of the locks was one of a series of safety procedures recommended by the state following the Sandy Hook shootings in December 2012 . Several education supporters appeared to suggest the finance board was putting children at risk by not allocating money for the locks, a claim the board emphatically rejected. The night the initial budget was defeated, Smith noted the money for the locks was contained in the capital portion of the town budget. Despite Smiths central role in crafting the proposed compromise, the Board of Education rejected the plan 7-1 during a meeting Monday. The finance board began Wednesday by hearing complaints from several critics of its budget-making efforts, followed by closely questioning Smith and Maniscalco. The meeting began with Smith calling upon the finance board to adopt the proposal endorsed by the school board. That proposal, known as the summer plan (because of when it was proposed), would allocate $270,000 in capital funding for a variety of items: asbestos abatement ($25,000), safety and security ($20,000), HVAC units ($30,000) and laptops ($37,500). In addition, the proposal would reallocate $150,000 for security locks (for Memorial, Center and Middle schools) and $80,500 for Chromebooks for grades six and nine, to the Board of Education operating budget solely for the purpose of teacher salaries and benefits. Specifically, supporters said the proposal would result in three teaching positions being filled. To make up the cost of the locks and Chromebooks, the money would be paid from the general fund. Late in the meeting, the finance board rejected a motion by its two Democratic members that called for adopting the summer proposal. However, Director Finance Jeffrey M. Jylkka said the money from the fund balance is not available, and, if the money were to be raised from taxes, it would increase the tax rate by 1.1 mills. Maniscalco also cautioned officials that reallocating fund balance money for operations would not be taken well by bond rating agencies. Its not recommended by staff [Jylkka in particular], because its considered that basically you are living beyond your means, he explained Thursday morning. A number of speakers Wednesday said they will continue to vote against the budget because they believe it is too low and does not include enough money for education. The $30 million education budget breezed to easy approval on its first try in May. In advance of the first referendum, Town Council Chairwoman Melissa H. Engel cautioned residents not to waste your votes by voting no in the expectation the budget will be raised. Despite that, a number of people have continued to demand the budget be increased. Reporter Jeff Mill covers East Hampton, Cromwell and Portland for the Middletown Press. Contact him at jeff.mill@hearstmediact.com. WASHINGTON -- The House on Wednesday approved a defense spending measure to direct more than $670 billion towards a wave of Defense Department increases, including the largest boost to servicemembers' pay in nearly a decade and new gains in the number of troops, equipment and weapons for the 2019 fiscal year. The effort is part of a so-called "minibus" appropriations measure, H.R. 6157, a larger package of more than $850 billion to fund labor, health and human services and education priorities. It also funds priorities directed in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The measure passed by a vote of 361-61. President Donald Trump must now sign the legislation into law. "It is vital that we pass this agreement this week and have it signed into law," said Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, chairwoman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. "The men and women of our armed forces deserve no less." The defense budget moves on two tracks: the annual NDAA directs policy and spending plans for the military, while the defense appropriations bill is what actually moves money to the Pentagon. Trump signed the 2019 NDAA, H.R. 5515, into law Aug. 13, which ushered through a series of new policy reforms, such as revamping the military's "up or out" promotion system and policies to reign in sexual misconduct and domestic abuse among the ranks. The $716 billion NDAA also authorizes a 2.6 percent pay raise for servicemembers, as well as new purchases of aircrafts, ships, submarines and weapons. Related content: The NDAA directs funding for Defense Department, as well as atomic energy defense activities under the Energy Department. Because it funds additional agencies, the NDAA directs larger spending priorities than its appropriations counterpart legislation, H.R. 6157, said Andrew Sherbo, a University of Denver finance professor who has tracked government and defense budget issues. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was confident Trump would sign the legislation into law. The 2019 fiscal year starts Monday. "If you step back and look at the two biggest accomplishments of the Trump administration, signing this bill that we are going to pass today is the most significant step towards rebuilding the military," Thornberry said. But several times this year, Trump has threatened a veto of spending measures if Congress doesn't approve significant funding for a southern border wall, a move that could trigger a government shutdown. A veto could set into motion a dramatic turn of events. At the end of this week, the House is slated to go into recess until the November midterm elections, Thornberry said. If the defense spending legislation is signed by Trump by Monday, it would mark the first time in about 10 years that the Defense Department won't operate under a temporary funding measure, otherwise known as a continuing resolution, for the start of its fiscal year. The Senate last week approved the compromise legislation in a vote of 93 to 7, sending the measure to the House. H.R. 6157 also includes a continuing resolution to fund agencies that aren't covered by the minibus appropriations bill until Dec. 7 to avert a partial government shutdown. Lawmakers have lauded the plan's boost to pay, troop levels, funding of 13 new Navy ships, 93 F-35 aircraft, 18 C-130J aircraft, 58 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, 13 V-22 aircraft and the upgrade of 135 Abrams tanks. They have also praised the measure's efforts to fund research and development of new defense systems and technologies, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, nuclear force modernization and the Ohio-class submarine replacement. The bill also funds cancer research, traumatic brain injury research and sexual assault prevention. The plan builds on the momentum to increase the size and might of the military in response to China and Russia's growing capabilities as laid out in Trump's defense budget proposal earlier this year. The Trump request for the fiscal year included an increase of more than 15,000 active-duty troops, which lawmakers matched in the NDAA. A two-year spending deal that lifted federal budget caps allowed the defense budget to expand. Coupled with approaching November midterm elections, lawmakers worked to pass the bills earlier than in past years. However, lawmakers remain on a tight clock. Without a spending measure in place by Monday, lawmakers might need to pass a continuing resolution, to keep the government operating. It's official: Sailors who go more than 12 months without qualifying for sea duty are going to face administrative separation from the service. Navy leaders announced the new policy in a Tuesday service-wide administrative message following a Facebook Live event with Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell Smith and Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke. "We've been talking about this for a year," Burke said. "... If you go 12 consecutive months not qualifying for sea duty, which is our rough metric of deployability in the Navy because we're a sea-going service, you're subject to processing for administrative separation." Related content: That doesn't mean every sailor or Navy officer in that category will be automatically discharged, he added, but they'll be looked at for possible separation. The policy goes into effect on Oct. 1. The only set exceptions to the policy will include pregnancy and combat wounds, Burke said. Other situations can be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. "Bottom line is, all the services are doing similar things because we're in a new game," he said. "As I said at the beginning here, our adversaries are working overtime to overtake us. We've got to be lean and lethal. We don't have a lot of room to be carrying people on the books who aren't able to be in warfighting trim. "If you're not there," he added, "we're going to find somebody who can be in that position." The move is meant to improve readiness across the force, according to the NAVADMIN. Deployability is going to be tracked, and commands "will use written counseling and fitness reports/performance evaluations to document a service members knowing failure to comply with responsibilities to maintain individual readiness." That includes missing medical or dental appointments, as Military.com first reported last month. "That's no longer my responsibility; that is your responsibility as a sailor," Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer told reporters in August. "And by the way, I'm going to judge you on that." Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned troops in February that if they weren't ready to deploy, they needed to find something else to do with their lives outside the military. "I'm not going have some people deploying constantly and then other people, who seem to not pay that price, in the U.S. military," he said. "If you can't go overseas [and] carry a combat load, then obviously someone else has got to go. I want this spread fairly and expertly across the force." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ginaaharkins. The Army and Marine Corps might not be equipped to respond quickly to crises in Europe or Africa because the services are improperly storing vehicles, weapons and other gear at overseas prepositioning sites, the Pentagon's watchdog agency has warned. The Defense Department does not have proof that soldiers and Marines properly stored and maintained at least $203.7 million worth of equipment at sites in Italy, Norway, Germany and other locations in Europe, an inspector general report found. Investigators reviewed five locations where the services pre-stage gear. The stockpiles of tanks, weapons and other vehicles are meant to be used in the event of an emergency, deter adversaries and reassure allies. But what the inspectors found raised questions about the usefulness of the equipment stored in those locations. "We believe our findings raise potential concerns regarding the maintenance of prepositioned stock at other U.S. European Command locations that follow the Army Technical Manual 38470 and Marine Corps Technical Manual 4790-14/1G," the report states. Those manuals set the conditions for which humidity levels, maintenance schedules and other steps to protect the equipment are followed. Inspectors found that some vehicles and weapons in the locations went untested or maintained and humidity levels kept at rates that could damage some of the equipment. The DoD's inspector general's office recommended that: The Army update its manuals to specify who should control the sites' humidity levels. The Army clearly state how often weapons stored at the prepositioning sites be maintained. Troops take the gear out of storage for use in some exercises so it is maintained and used. The Marine Corps assess corrosion on the equipment it stores in Norwegian caves. The Marine Corps monitor and control humidity levels. Marines come up with a process for monitoring maintenance cycles. The Marine Corps develop a system for maintaining weapons still in the protective packaging used in shipping. "The Army Materiel Command is committed to Army readiness and ensuring the best-equipped and sustained fighting force in the world," said Lisa Simunaci, a spokeswoman for that command, which oversees the prepositioning sites. The Army Prepositioned Stocks program requires inspection and maintenance depending on vehicle storage conditions, she added. For vehicles in Europe, that's every 24 months unless they are inside a humidity-controlled environment. "In that case, they are on a four-year maintenance cycle," Simunaci added. "Small arms and crew-served weapons maintained in either humidity-controlled areas or portable weapon storage vaults, and not removed for training or other reasons, are serviced annually." The Marine Corps does preventative maintenance checks on its ground equipment in Norway every three years. Operator-level checks are done every two years. Any equipment used during a contingency or exercise is looked at within 180 days of its return, said Capt. Joseph Butterfield, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. The service also dispatched a team to assess any corrosion on gear stored in Norway in response to the inspector general's report, he said. That work was completed this month, and the findings are forthcoming. For now, officials at Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway have lowered dehumidifier settings to help mitigate some of the corrosion that inspectors found occurring in the caves, Butterfield said. Those policies will be reviewed and incorporated into future documents to improve the management and maintenance process for prepositioned gear. "Maintaining relative humidity below 50 percent eliminates the adverse effects of humidity," he said. "Dehumidifiers inside the caves have been set to 46 percent ... and a surveillance program has been established that will monitor dehumidifier settings and humidity levels in the caves." The Marine Corps is also reviewing its policies on gear stored in packaging materials. Officials plan to update manuals with guidance on proper techniques for that equipment sometime in 2019, Butterfield said. The Pentagon's inspector general's office requested that any recommendations made in the report that haven't yet been addressed by the services be resolved by Oct. 17. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ginaaharkins. The U.S. Marine Corps' F-35B Joint Strike Fighter made its combat debut this week, conducting its first strike in Afghanistan, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Military.com on Thursday. The B-variant of the stealth fighter flew Sept. 27 from the amphibious assault ship Essex, which was last known to be operating in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, as of Sept. 23. CNN first reported the strike operation. Marines and sailors with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit readied the munitions and conducted flight deck operations in support of the fighter's first combat strike, the Navy said in a release Thursday. The target was a "fixed Taliban" location, according to CNN. Neither the number of aircraft nor the type of munitions used in the strike were disclosed. Requests to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the Essex were not returned by press time. In May, officials announced that the F-35 had made its combat debut in the Middle East after Israel's variant conducted strikes earlier this year. Israeli Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin said that the Israeli F-35 aircraft, known as Adir, had "attacked twice in the Middle East using the F-35." Related content: "We are the first in the world to do so," Norkin said at the time, without disclosing the exact date the strikes took place. In March, the Lockheed Martin-made F-35B deployed for the first time aboard a Navy Amphibious Ready Group for operational exercises in the Pacific, a historic milestone for the jet. The Essex is part of the second deployment including F-35Bs, which departed Norfolk, Virginia, in July, bound for the Middle East. The Marine Corps first forward-based a squadron of F-35Bs to Iwakuni, Japan, in 2017, which later flew alongside B-1B Lancer bombers and Japanese and South Korean F-15 fighters in a show of force to North Korea that August. The F-35B was the first of the U.S. militarys three F-35 variants to reach initial operational capability milestone in 2015. This week's strike follows a similar operation in November in which a pair of U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fifth-generation jets took out a Taliban drug lab. On Nov. 19, 2017, the F-22s conducted a ground-attack mission to pummel suspected drug labs in Afghanistan with small-diameter bombs. Some criticized the use of the high-end fighter for the role, but ground commanders and Air Force counterparts applauded the move at the time. Since then, leaders such as Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said the Raptor's use in such a mission was not justified. "We should not be using an F-22 to destroy a narcotics factory," she said in June, echoing previous statements she had made on the topic. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related Video: A U.S. Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk broke apart and crashed last year after the drone's navigation system caused it to fly at an altitude and speed it couldn't handle, according to a recent service investigation report. The RQ-4, from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, was conducting a flight from Edwards Air Force Base to Beale last June when one of the unmanned aerial vehicle's Litton inertial navigators produced "erroneous data" that told it to begin "a false left wing down roll," according to an accident investigation report published Wednesday. A Northrop Grumman contractor aircrew was operating the drone from a mission control element, dubbed MCE1, a "portable shelter equipped to support enroute aircraft mission functions," out of Palmdale, California, while airmen monitored the event at MCE2 at Beale. Prior to the flight, the Global Hawk experienced "problems with its links to [mission control elements] one and two," as well as high temperature warnings, the report said. Both issues were resolved and cleared before flight. It had earlier undergone right-wing maintenance at Edwards. The RQ-4's Kearfott KN-4074E navigators (KNA and KNB) were turned off after takeoff, leaving its Litton LN-100G LNA/B navigators -- the drone's only other two navigators -- to steer the flight, the report said. Related content: The drone took off before 12:30 p.m. local time. For about the first 50 minutes of the June 21 flight, the "mishap RPA ... turned to planned waypoints uneventfully." Then, the LNA navigation gave the false left-wing roll indication. The Global Hawk, "having failed to detect the erroneous nature of LNA's navigational data, sent control inputs to correct the false roll data. This included keeping a full throttle, even while the [mishap RPA] was in an unusual nose low attitude," the report said. Roughly 20 seconds later, "the [mishap RPA] regained roll control but airspeed continued to increase." The UAV subsequently lost its communication links with the mission control element hubs. Shortly after losing link, "MCE1 and MCE2 received a data packet, showing the [mishap RPA] in an unusual attitude with increasing airspeed and maxed descent rate, before losing links again," the report said. The data showed that the roll, combined with the acceleration, put the RQ-4 into a dive and caused structural damage. The Global Hawk broke apart during flight and crashed in an unpopulated area near Lone Pine, California. While the LNA navigator caused the crash, Col. Jeremy Thiel, the board's investigation authority, said that disabling the KNA/B navigators also contributed to the crash. "I also find by a preponderance of evidence that disabling the [mishap RPA]'s two Kearfott KN-4074E navigators (KNA and KNB) after takeoff substantially contributed to the mishap," he said in his opinion summary. The destroyed aircraft cost the Air Force $79 million. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Half of Americans believe that all U.S. service members are heroes regardless of their roles or experience -- a view at odds with how some Europeans perceive their militaries, according to a new poll. Fifty percent of Americans surveyed in a YouGov poll released Wednesday said that everyone in the military is a hero, while 33 percent said it depended on their service. A parallel poll in Germany found that just 15 percent of those surveyed think all troops are heroes, and 30 percent said that no military members deserved that accolade. The response in Great Britain fell between those in the United States and Germany. There, 32 percent of those surveyed said all troops were heroes, while 49 percent said that some were heroes depending on what they did. The YouGov poll was conducted between July and September in the three countries. It asked respondents whether troops should be considered heroes and, if so, which ones qualify. The sharp distinction between Germany and the U.S. underscores how vastly different the military's role is in each country. It also suggests the challenge German politicians face in increasing defense expenditures to meet NATO spending guidelines -- a sharp point of contention between Berlin and the Trump administration. In Germany, shortfalls in military manpower have some political factions flirting with the idea of recruiting other European Union nationals into the German army. While nearly a third of Germans withhold the hero designation from all of their fighters, only 5 percent of those polled in America said no troops are heroes and 12 percent said they didn't know. The numbers demonstrate a tendency in the U.S. to put military members on a pedestal. A 2017 Gallup poll found that 72 percent of Americans had confidence in the military, the highest marks for any public institution. However, a 2016 book edited by current Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Kori Schake, "Warriors and Citizens: American Views of our Military," found that few Americans were very familiar with the military or how it functions under civilian authority. In Great Britain, only 6 percent of those polled said soldiers shouldn't ever be described as heroes. But Britons were more likely to reserve high praise for troops who performed heroic acts, with 32 percent saying that demonstrated bravery should factor into the equation. While people over 40 in the U.S. hold military members in the highest regard, in Britain and Germany, younger people are most likely to say troops are heroes, according to YouGov. Ambivalence among older Germans could be linked to their country's Nazi past and eventual defeat in World War II. Twenty-five percent of Germans between 18 and 29 years of age said all troops were heroes, compared with just 7 percent of people over 60, according to YouGov. In the U.S., women are more likely than men to consider any service member a hero: 57 percent, compared with 42 percent for men, who were more inclined to link heroism to serving in a combat role. Joseph V. Micallef is a best-selling military history and world affairs author, and keynote speaker. Follow him on Twitter @JosephVMicallef. For the first half of the 20th century, the United States was both the largest producer of hydrocarbons and their largest exporter. After the 1950s, growing U.S. domestic consumption and declining American oil production eventually transformed the U.S. into the world's largest importer of petroleum. The vulnerability of that position was driven home when, in October 1973, the Organization of Arab Oil Exporting Countries (OAPEC) declared an oil embargo against those nations supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. OAPEC is a separate group from the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC), although all the members of OAPEC are members of OPEC. It was OAPEC that orchestrated the 1973 oil embargo, not OPEC, as is generally believed. The long-term U.S. response to the OAPEC oil embargo was to gradually shift the majority of its oil imports to Canada and Mexico, two countries that were politically more reliable and less likely to suspend oil exports to the United States. Paradoxically, as the U.S. became less directly dependent on oil imports from the Middle East, although many of its allies still remained dependent on Mideast supplies, it significantly expanded its engagement in Middle Eastern affairs. The shift from the U.S. being the world's largest exporter of petroleum to the world's biggest importer was a significant event; one that had profound implications for U.S. foreign policy. A second momentous event is now in the offing: The U.S. is poised to achieve energy independence and is rejoining the ranks of the world's largest energy exporters. This development will also have profound implications for U.S. foreign policy, especially U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and Washington's relationship with Moscow. The Road to American Energy Independence During the second half of the 20th century, it was widely accepted that U.S. energy production was destined for an inevitable decline. Most of the hydroelectric dams that could be built had already been constructed. The few potential sites that remained were politically and environmentally controversial and faced stiff political opposition. Likewise, the U.S. was considered, in the parlance of the oil industry, "a mature oil exploration province." Most of the readily accessible oil fields had been found. What remained were in technologically difficult environments such as the high Arctic or ever deeper offshore deposits in the Gulf of Mexico. Foreign oil fields were more promising, but access to most of these were either tightly controlled by foreign governments or came with significant political risk of expropriation. "Peak oil," the point in time when the world's oil reserves would inevitably peak and begin their inexorable decline, was the prevailing paradigm of discussion among energy experts. As little as a decade ago, Goldman Sachs, one of Wall Street's leading investment banks, could confidently predict that $200 per barrel oil was fast approaching. The reality proved to be far different. Technical advances in horizontal drilling and improvements in the technology of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" opened up vast new deposits of oil and gas. These reservoirs had previously been dismissed as uneconomic, because the hydrocarbon bearing formations were considered "tight" and would not yield economic quantities of oil and gas from vertically drilled wells. Horizontal drilling and fracking transformed these previously uneconomic deposits and triggered a 21st-century American hydrocarbon boom. Initially, many of these deposits were expensive to develop and only made sense in an environment of high energy prices, usually $50 or more per barrel of oil. Production costs have steadily come down, however, and many producers can now operate profitably even if prices drop to $30 per barrel. In 2011, the year that the U.S. again became an exporter of petroleum, the U.S. energy trade deficit peaked at $321 billion. Since then, that deficit has steadily declined. In 2017, the energy trade deficit was around $55 billion. That deficit is expected to be completely erased by 2022. Within the next decade, that deficit will likely be replaced by an equally sized surplus. The surplus represents a swing of around $650 billion dollars in the U.S. energy trade deficit between the last decade and the next. In 2017, the U.S. trade deficit reached a record level of $566 billion, roughly 10 percent of which was energy related. Within a decade, rising oil and gas exports could cut that deficit by more than half. In 2018, U.S. petroleum exports will average around 2.2 million barrels of oil per day (BOPD). This level compares to virtually nothing in exports as little as eight years ago. This level of oil exports is roughly equivalent to Iran's oil exports. In other words, in roughly seven years, the U.S. has brought on an oil export capacity that can replace Iran's export sales. The real driver of the growing U.S. energy exports, however, is natural gas. In 2018, the U.S. will become a net exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). This means the U.S. will export more natural gas than it imports. The U.S. has huge reserves of natural gas, and these are being augmented substantially by the "fracking boom." Currently, the U.S. has approximately 340 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven natural gas reserves, roughly a 100-year supply. In addition, the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that there are an additional 600 TCF of unproven natural gas that are economically recoverable. In other words, the U.S. has plenty of gas, most of which is relatively easy to get to and, by world standards, relatively inexpensive to produce. By comparison, proven Russian reserves, one of the world largest natural gas exporters, are about 45 TCF. Although it's likely that Russia has additional unproven gas reserves, many of these are in remote Siberia or Russia's inhospitable Arctic. Bringing this gas to market will likely prove to be expensive. More importantly, advances in the liquefaction and transport of natural gas mean that it is now feasible to ship natural gas anywhere in the world. To export natural gas, it must first be supercooled in specially constructed gas liquefaction plants to a negative 260 degrees Fahrenheit until it becomes a liquid. It is then transported in LNG tankers, which can maintain it in a liquid state. At its destination, the liquid natural gas is converted back into a gas and distributed via the existing gas pipeline infrastructure. Currently, the U.S. has an export capacity of around 5 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas a day. There is more than 44 BCF of capacity across 26 facilities, either under construction, already permitted by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or awaiting approval. To put this number in perspective, Russia's current natural gas export capacity to Europe is approximately 20 BCF per day. An export capacity of 44 BCF is equivalent to 75 percent of China's or Europe's expected natural gas consumption by 2040. In addition, the fleet of LNG tankers is growing quickly. Currently, 65 ships are under construction, adding 360 million cubic feet of capacity. That's the equivalent of roughly 9.5 TCF of yearly natural gas exports. By 2020, the U.S. will be at least the fourth largest exporter of natural gas in the world, behind only Russia, Australia and Qatar, and will likely overtake them later in that decade. Energy Independence and U.S. Foreign Policy The prospect of the U.S. emerging as a major exporter of energy will have far-ranging implications for both the U.S. economy and its foreign policy. Economically, it will eliminate a major source of the U.S. trade deficit, while as the energy trade shifts to a net positive, the surplus will eventually offset at least half of the current U.S. trade deficit. More importantly, natural gas is an important feedstock for a range of petrochemical-related industries -- from plastics to fertilizers. Inexpensive and plentiful natural gas is feeding a boom in export sales of petrochemicals and their related products. Moreover, energy costs are a significant component of manufacturing costs in many industries. Inexpensive energy is a significant contributor to the competitivity of American industry. Far more importantly, however, are the implications for Russia's gas exports to Europe. Russia currently supplies about 40 percent of the EU's natural gas needs. More importantly, Russia has increasingly emerged as the swing supplier as Europe's natural gas consumption has grown. The Kremlin has seen Europe's growing dependence on Russian natural gas as an important source of leverage in Moscow's relations with the various European states and, in particular, Germany. This dependence is especially true with respect to the former states of the USSR and some of the former countries in the Soviet bloc. In the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, for example, dependence on Russian energy has been almost 100 percent. LNG, however, is rapidly changing that. Lithuania now has an import terminal allowing it to bring in LNG from Norway and soon from the U.S., as well. Latvia and Estonia are linking up their domestic gas distribution system to that of Lithuania in order to avail themselves of LNG imports via Lithuania. Poland is moving in the same direction, having recently signed an agreement with two U.S. companies to import 3.5 TCF of natural gas over 20 years. Polish state-run gas company PGNiG has already announced that it plans to stop importing Russian gas after 2022. At the moment, Russian gas to Europe is about 15 percent cheaper than equivalent American LNG imports. Russia has the advantage of moving most of its natural gas exports to Europe via an established network of pipelines, which have long since been paid off. It's believed, however, that gas delivered via new pipelines, such as the Nord Stream pipelines and the South Stream and Blue Stream pipelines, will be more expensive. Moreover, even if Europe does not become a significant market for U.S. LNG exports, the availability of U.S. supplies will significantly reduce Russian pricing leverage, as well as the political leverage that Europe's dependence on Russian gas has afforded the Kremlin. In Asia, much the same scenario is true, except here U.S. LNG exports enjoy a significant price advantage. Natural gas delivered to China via Russia's new Asian gas pipeline runs around $10 per MCF versus around $4.50 per MCF for American LNG. Russian gas reserves in eastern Siberia are more expensive to operate, and the pipeline to carry that gas to China is brand new and was expensive to build. Chinese imports of American LNG could go a long way to reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China, a persistent source of friction between Washington and Beijing. In addition, they would go a long way to reducing Japan's and South Korea's vulnerability to supply disruptions from Mideast sources. Not surprisingly, the Trump administration has criticized Europe's dependence on Russian gas exports and has been promoting American LNG as an alternative. It's conceivable that the question of American LNG exports to Europe will become strategically linked by Washington to European commitments to increase their level of defense spending to 3 percent of their gross national products (GNP). In other words, the Trump administration might show more flexibility on NATO's pledge to spend 3 percent of GNP on defense spending in return for a larger commitment to purchase American LNG. Simply put, the use of Russian natural gas exports as a source of political leverage in Russian foreign policy has probably seen its best days. Going forward, it's likely that the Kremlin's gas-based leverage will decline substantially. The implications of American energy independence on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East are unclear. The region is awash in oil and gas and will continue to remain a significant producer. Outside of Qatar, OPEC is not a major exporter of natural gas. Moreover, even with its substantial natural gas reserves, the region's gas distribution infrastructure is poorly developed. Paradoxically, notwithstanding the substantial natural gas reserves in the region, the U.S. has been exporting LNG to a number of Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Jordan and even Kuwait, a substantial oil and gas producer in its own right. U.S. exports of petroleum will remain modest compared to exports from Persian Gulf producers. Still, rising American production will function to diminish OPEC's pricing power. At 2.2 million BOPD, the U.S. has already replaced Iranian oil output. As a result, Tehran's oil sales are far less irrelevant to global oil markets and the declines in oil exports have been far less impactful on global oil prices than would previously have been the case. American oil exports are expected to more than double over the next decade or so, making the U.S. a significant competitor to Mideast oil producers and to OPEC in world energy markets. That may make the U.S. far more willing to disengage from Middle Eastern affairs and to substantially cut back on its military footprint in the area. Whatever the result, OPEC's oil-related leverage is quickly dissipating. U.S. energy independence will likely have an impact on Mexico and Canada as well. This is particularly true of Canada, which has historically sold the bulk of its oil and gas to the United States. More importantly, Canada has depended on oil and gas exports to balance its trade deficit with the U.S. Declining U.S. demand for Canadian oil and gas may have serious consequences for Canada's economy, especially since proposals to build oil and gas pipelines to supply Asian export markets have been mired in political controversy. U.S. energy independence is going to be a game changer in international affairs and will have far-ranging consequences. It will drive a reorientation of U.S. foreign policy as profound as that driven by American dependence on foreign oil in the second half of the 20th century. -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. Forensic Science Advances Mean US War Fighters Are No Longer Likely to Be Buried as Unknown No American service member killed in action over the past 30 years has been buried as unknown. MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- Marines will start receiving next-generation plate carriers as soon as next summer as the service fields a new lightweight body armor system that offers better mobility with improved fits. New Jersey-based Vertical Protective Apparel LLC was awarded a $62 million contract to produce and deliver up to 225,886 Plate Carrier Generation IIIs, defense officials announced Thursday. The new carriers come in eight sizes and offer better ballistic protection compared to the current designs, according to the announcement. Infantry, schoolhouse and reconnaissance Marines, along with vehicle crewmen and combat engineers, will be the first to get the vests when fielding begins around June 2019. All of the plate carriers are expected to be delivered by September 2023. The Plate Carrier Generation III comes in three new sizes for Marines of smaller stature, Flora "Mackie" Jordan, the body armor engineer for Marine Corps Systems Command's infantry combat equipment team, said in a release. And since it's lighter than the legacy system, it helps cut down on the fatigue Marines face in the field. Related content: "We wanted to give as much mobility back to Marines as possible by reducing the weight and bulk of the vest without decreasing ballistic protection," Jordan said. "We were able to reduce the weight of the vest by 25 percent." To do that, excess material was removed from the shoulders and another inch-and-a-half cut from the bottom of the plate. That will allow Marines' packs to fit better when they're wearing their body armor. The Plate Carrier Generation III is also made from a laminated laser-cut material, which cuts down on water absorption. The new system takes on about 7 percent of water, compared to the 70 percent absorbed by the current system. The Marine Corps is also on the hunt for lighter, more flexible body armor. When combined with new lightweight plate prototypes -- in place of the existing Enhanced Small-Arms Protective Inserts -- Marines testing the new plate carriers could remove and reassemble the vest in less than three seconds, according to the release. "It has a vastly improved quick detach system for Marines to act fast while on missions," said Capt. Frank Coppola, a project officer with SYSCOM's infantry weapons. Cutting the amount of weight troops carry into battle has been a priority for the Marine Corps and Army. Marines and soldiers were found to have carried upward of 120 pounds on patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan. That not only slowed them down, but was found to have decreased situational awareness and shooting-response times, according to a new report from the Center for a New American Security. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ginaaharkins. TRICARE, the health insurance program for military personnel, retirees and their families, recognized by 2015 that it had become the target of corrupt pharmacists, doctors and marketers peddling wildly overpriced compound drugs, mostly ointments and creams touted to ease joint pain or fade scars. By the time TRICARE officials imposed a new method to flag and deny coverage of compound drug prescriptions favored by scammers, the military pharmacy program had been bilked out of an estimated $1.5 billion. In June that year, officials from the Defense Health Agency, which oversees TRICARE, met with senior officials at the Department of Justice to share their experiences with compound medication scams and to seek help. DHA representatives that day included Bryan Wheeler, a retired Air Force lawyer, former military judge and current DHA deputy general counsel, and Navy Capt. Edward Norton, with the agencys pharmacy operations division. We told them we had gotten a fix on the ongoing problem but we had all this money already spent that we needed assistance in recovering. And we got their enthusiastic assistance, Wheeler said in a phone interview Tuesday. We have been working those cases pretty strongly now for the last three and a half years. Results so far include 60 arrests or indictments, at least 50 fraud convictions, and recovery of more than $280 million restored to the TRICARE program. We can use that on health care -- either TRICARE beneficiary care at military treatment facilities or for legitimate prescriptions, or to provide care to children with autism or whatever the benefits are we have out there. Thats money that is repurposed consistent with [the TRICARE] statute, said Wheeler. More than 100 pharmacies nationwide likely were involved in the compound drug fraud against TRICARE. There is a five-year statute of limitations on prosecuting crimes of fraud against the federal government. Therefore, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, law enforcement partner agencies and U.S. attorney offices across the country are battling the calendar. On progress to date with criminal prosecutions, Wheeler said we are probably close to half way there. However, there is no statute of limitations on recovery actions for money stolen from TRICARE or other federal programs. Pharmacists create compound drugs by combining more than one medicine to produce a product not available from commercial drug manufacturers. There are legitimate uses for compound medications, Wheeler said. For example, if a child is unable to swallow pills, a local druggist might grind pills and mix them with a suspension liquid that the child can drink. Or for a patient who has lost thyroid function, to avoid a yoyo-like regimen of shots and pills, a physician might titrate the level of hormone treatment delivered by prescribing a compound medicine as a cream that can be applied topically, Wheeler said. What bad actors in the pharmacy industry did over the last decade or so was produce compound drugs of unproven effectiveness; conspire with unscrupulous health care providers to write prescriptions for them, and create marketing networks to target health insurance plans with relaxed rules on compound drugs. While the rest of the health care industry gradually got wise to compound drug scams, TRICARE became the juiciest remaining target with its generous pharmacy benefit, lax rules on compound drugs, and mail order pharmacy software that would cover the cost of multiple medicines in a single prescription. Captain Norton, the DHA pharmacy expert who joined our phone interview, said the schemes typically involved ointments or creams because, though not shown to be medically effective, they typically dont endanger patients. It was almost like the perfect fraud, Norton said, because they could make a lot of money [without] risk of an adverse medical effect. Like thousands of other military retirees, Wheeler became a target in May 2015, the same month TRICARE adopted new policies to block compound drug fraud. He got a robocall at his office in DHA headquarters in Virginia, advising that his health insurance would cover the cost of a special medicine for joint pain. Wheeler and a colleague returned the phone call and took careful notes to share with the TRICARE program integrity office and law enforcement. Turns out the call came from a call center. The individual didnt want to tell me where it was located but [t]his was a fairly sophisticated crime. Somebody had fronted money to set up the center, hire individuals to make calls [and urge] people to request a prescription for a pain cream. Wheeler was told he could verbally authorize the pharmacy during that call to fill a prescription on my behalf. Do you want me to go see my doctor about this? Wheeler asked. He said, Oh no. We dont want to interfere with the patient relationship. But we have a doctor who will give you a call and we will take care of this. Beneficiaries enticed to try the medicine began seeing exorbitant charges to TRICARE, often tens of thousands of dollars. Drug refills, which beneficiaries often hadnt requested, arrived at a pace far exceeding need. Wheeler said one doctor participating in the fraud wrote just over 100 prescriptions that cost TRICARE more than $1 million. Recent guilty pleas spotlight how enormously profitable the scams were. Last month, Thomas Edward Spell Jr, a pharmacist who owned compound drug pharmacies in Mississippi and three others states, pleaded guilty to fraudulent claims that totaled more than $243 million. Mike Hurst, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, said Spell and co-conspirators formulated compound drugs, and marketed them to TRICARE beneficiaries, not to meet patient needs but to maximize profits. Ripping off our veterans and members of the military is despicable, and that is exactly what this defendant and others have done by defrauding TRICARE and the American taxpayer, said Hurst Aug. 8, as Spell entered his guilty plea. To encourage TRICARE users to try their pain drugs, Spell and co-conspirators would waive copayments. Pharmacy employees bought prepaid debit cards and money orders to cover the copays and then were reimbursed. Kickbacks and bribes were paid to doctors who wrote prescriptions. Spell personally gained $29 million, filling bank and investment accounts not only in his name but for family members and various businesses. From these accounts he made loans and bought vehicles, boats and real estate. Spells scheme relied on cooperation throughout the highest professional levels in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, said Thomas J. Holloman, III, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigations. Without the participation of those individuals in executive and decision-making positions, these schemes would often not materialize or profit those involved," Spell will be sentenced Oct. 16 in Hattiesburg, Miss. Related prosecutions continue in California, Tennessee, Arkansas and Connecticut. To date, fraud from his operation alone has resulted in 12 people charged and nine convictions. Assets recovered by federal law enforcement are found not only in bank accounts, investments and real estate but in boats, mobile homes and exotic cars. The Department of Justice has specific guidelines for converting seized assets into cash before returning proceed to the government agency victimized. Wheeler and Norton said many TRICARE dollars lost to the compound drug scandal likely wont be recovered. And, while TRICARE is more effective today in blocking such scams, Wheeler said fraudulent activity continues. Its like the metaphor of the old hotel burglar, he said. There are still people going down the hall, rattling doors. To comment, write Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120 or email milupdate@aol.com or twitter: @Military_Update. How to use the mindat.org media viewer Click/touch this help panel to close it. Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. 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Summary of all keyboard shortcuts LANSING, MI - Michigan Senators are poised to take action on bills that would clarify whether residential alternative energy systems should be taxed. The House of Representatives passed bills 5143 and 5680 by a wide margin in June. On Wednesday, Sept. 26, the Senate finance committee recommended the bills without amendment to the Senate as a whole. Michigan League of Conservation Voters urged the Senate earlier this week to pass the bills. The legislative session ends in December. "Generating clean, renewable energy through rooftop solar helps Michigan residents lower their electricity costs while reducing dangerous pollution in our air and water, yet the current tax policy for rooftop solar installations is broken and confusing," Lisa Wozniak, executive director of Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said in a press release. HB 5143 would make alternative energy personal property exempt from taxation. HB 5680 would include installing, replacing or repairing alternative energy systems in a list of normal repairs and maintenance that do not impact the assessment of the true cash value of a residential property. A recent court case involving the City of Ann Arbor and city residents Mark Clevey and Nancy Fenton is cited in one of the House Fiscal Agency's arguments in favor of the bills. In that case, the Michigan Tax Tribunal ruled that residential solar systems are not exempt from taxation because they do not fit the definition of "customary furniture, fixtures, provisions, fuel, and other similar equipment" - which are types of personal property exempt from taxation. Other municipalities do not tax residential solar systems, but Ann Arbor's assessor said alternative energy systems are not included in the list of tax exemptions currently included in state law. "There has been inconsistency across the state, resulting in confusion for homeowners and assessors; this culminated in a recent court case involving a homeowner and the city of Ann Arbor. ... State tax policy should encourage the use and adoption of these environmentally friendly systems," states the House Fiscal Agency's legislative analysis completed in May. On Sept. 19, Ann Arbor City Council passed a resolution stating the city's support for HB 5143 and HB 5680. ANN ARBOR, MI - While University of Michigan Professor John Cheney-Lippold has faced a good deal of criticism for his decision to rescind a recommendation for a student looking to study in Israel, the professor has received support from many UM students, alums and Ann Arbor residents. A letter with 185 signatures supporting Cheney-Lippold was presented to UM's Central Student Government on Sept. 25. "We are proud to stand with Professor Cheney-Lippold. We hope the University of Michigan will do the same, because the Palestinian people need our protection," the letter reads. An online petition from UM alums also has collected more than 100 signatures in support of Cheney-Lippold. "We support and affirm Professor John Cheney-Lippold's right to boycott Israel," the activist group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality said in a statement. "His actions are the same demanded by Palestinian civil society, and serve to recognize and resist forces committing human rights violations. To punish Professor Cheney-Lippold for his actions would curtail his own academic agency." Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor of American culture at UM, told the student in an email he was taking part in an academic boycott against Israel, and could no longer provide the recommendation. His decision has since attracted national attention after the email was shared via social media. He had initially offered to write a recommendation for the student, but after looking over the request, Cheney-Lippold said he needed to rescind his support, noting at the time that "many university departments have pledged an academic boycott against Israel in support of Palestinians living in Palestine." He later clarified in an email to The Ann Arbor News that he should have said "many university professors have pledged an academic boycott against Israel," rather than university departments. The university, President Mark Schlissel and Regent Denise Ilitch have spoken out against the professor's decision. Additionally, 58 religious, civil rights and education advocacy organizations have called on UM and Schlissel to sanction Cheney-Lippold. The organizations demanded that the university also sanction any other professors at UM who participate in the same practices, affirm that no UM student be impeded from studying about or in Israel and detail steps to ensure that faculty do not implement an academic boycott of Israel on campus. "Impeding a student's ability to participate in a university-approved educational program in order to carry out political activism is reprehensible," reads the statement submitted by AMCHA Initiative, a group that says it documents anti-Semitic activity on college campuses. The Boycott, Divestments, Sanctions movement is meant to put pressure on an Israeli government that, Cheney-Lippold argues, perpetuates "violence and dehumanization," "For me, I see the boycott as a non-violent response to Palestinian (and also Israeli and other Jewish) activists and civil society who have called for international solidarity measures that pressure the Israeli state to move towards democratic rule, equal rights, and an end to the occupation of Palestine," Cheney-Lippold wrote. BAY CITY, MI -- Two historic buildings in downtown Bay City are getting a facelift to offer new apartments and space for a restaurant and other new businesses. The W.R. Knepp building, located at 818 Washington Ave., will feature a restaurant, party store and laundry area on the first floor and 18 residential units on the second and third floors. On Sept. 17, Bay City Commissioners approved the property for an Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Property (OPRA) Exemption Certificate. The certificate freezes the building's taxable value for up to 12 years. The building is adjoined to the LaPorte building and both are owned by Thomas LaPorte. The LaPorte building also is being renovated to house eight luxury apartment units featuring 1,000-square-feet of living space, including a kitchen, two bathrooms, two bedrooms and a living room. LaPorte said he estimates construction of the nearly $1 million project will begin in the next few weeks. Currently, the building is mixed-use, with residential with commercial space on the first and second floors. Renovation of the 128-year-old Knepp building won't begin until next year and LaPorte estimates "it'll be an expensive project." Do-All Inc.'s The Cat's Meow is a tenant in the Knepp building. Rental units at both of the buildings are priced between $1,200-$2,500 per month. "There will be smaller bedrooms. Quite a few one bedrooms and it won't be as upscale as the LaPorte building," he said of the Knepp building. Three Rivers Corp. is the general contractor for both projects, LaPorte said. Last year, LaPorte wasn't sure about managing the two buildings' renovations. In fact, he put the two buildings on the market for $2 million and said he was ready to retire. "I did entertain the idea, but I needed to do something," LaPorte said. "So, I decided to do this." The Knepp building housed a department store in the the 1800s. The LaPorte building was once home to Virgil LaPorte, LaPorte's father, who operated LaPorte Shoes decades ago. Mortgage America, a mortgage lending company that Thomas LaPorte founded, also operated out of the LaPorte and Knepp buildings. His mortgage business was wildly successful with nearly 400 employees and more than 40 offices across the country. LaPorte sold the business in 1996 for $28 million to Industry Mortgage, which is no longer in business. A demand for living space in the downtown area appears steady. Jenifer Acosta's $12 million renovation of the Crapo building - the former Chemical Bank building downtown - has 20 of the 25 new rental units spoken for. Construction in the LaPorte building is slated to be completed by the end of 2018. LANSING, MI -- Road construction is back on track in Michigan due to a temporary resolution in a labor dispute, Gov. Rick Snyder announced. The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association and Operating Engineers 324 have agreed to work without a contract through the 2018 construction season, according to a news release issued by the governor's office. This ends a work stoppage that began Sept. 4. "This is great news, and I appreciate that both sides were able to see how important the work they do is to the safety and quality of life for all Michiganders," Snyder said in the release. "The vital work of getting Michigan's roads repaired should not have stalled, but the important thing now is that projects will be getting back on track." A long-term solution still needs to be worked out, according to the release. The dispute impacted projects across the state, including Washtenaw County, Jackson County and the metro Detroit area. "We are cautiously optimistic that our stalled projects will be started again soon," said Emily Kizer, Washtenaw County Road Commission spokesperson. The details of the temporary agreement include: MITA will end the lockout on all projects. The union will have its workers report to work immediately. Priority will be given to projects that can be completed prior to significant winter weather arriving. Other projects will continue for as long as possible, including work to prepare them for safe winter travel if they cannot be completed. Contractors and the union will use professional mediation through the winter to help with negotiations for a new contract. One of the larger projects that will resume is the $110 million I-94 project, spanning nine miles in Jackson County. Michigan Department of Transportation officials said work will resume on the project on Monday, Oct. 1. "I understand the frustration this has caused, but our association has an important responsibility to our members who are committed to doing the best work they can to build and maintain Michigan's infrastructure on behalf of taxpayers," Mike Nystrom, MITA executive vice president and secretary, said in a news release. He added that MITA will work with MDOT to expedite the process and open up lanes for motorists. "Our members are ready to get back on their machines and get these projects done across the state -- and look forward to working again as soon as we can," Ken Dombrow, engineers' union president, said. "We still have issues to work out and will represent the best interests of our members throughout those negotiations, as we always have ... The operating engineers of Michigan have an important job to do and we're happy that now they can start doing it again." MDOT will manage projects that cannot be finished before the winter season, as well as review contract details related to completion dates, work extensions and potential financial penalties. Michigan state police are using Customs and Border Protection agents to assist with translation during traffic stops around Metro Detroit. State police confirmed and defended the practice after an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer raised concerns to the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. ACLU immigration rights attorney Abril Valdes says some in heavily Hispanic community of southwest Detroit perceive the tactic as a way for state police to assist with immigration enforcement, circumventing their own policy, which states: "Enforcement members of the department shall not stop and question, arrest, or detain anyone suspected of being an illegal alien solely on the grounds of his or her immigration status or alienage." The policy, however, also says troopers who believe a suspect is in the U.S. illegally should contact immigration enforcement authorities. State Police Lt. Michael Shaw said that while troopers may contact customs agents when help with translation is needed, they do not contact Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents, because they "have a different enforcement role." "Troopers are instructed to utilize whatever means necessary to conduct the traffic stop as quickly and safely as possible, in order to not detain an individual any longer than necessary," Shaw said. "Sometimes it's a language barrier, other times it could be a disability and sometimes it's as simple as highway noise. " ... Because our goal is to get the driver back on their way as quickly as possible, it would be absurd for us not to utilize the services of other officers who are nearby and available to assist with translation." While troopers have around-the-clock telephone translation services available to them, Shaw says it's "always more effective and quicker" to translate on-site, rather than call Lansing-based language translation personnel. Valdes also raised concerns about special state police units she said are part of a Hometown Security Team. Valdes said those enforcement efforts involve partnering CBP agents with troopers in state police patrol vehicles. When you have troopers "actually driving with CBP in their vehicle," Valdes said, "under who's color of law are you operating?" "MSP is in charge of traffic and Border Patrol has a different mission," Valdes said. "... So that's one of our biggest worries, that agencies are now in the same car." Shaw said two CBP agents were part of a multi-agency effort that included six troopers patrolling highways in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. They sometimes rode along with troopers and at other times drove their own vehicles. "The mission of (the state police) Hometown Security Team (HST) is to perform highway interdiction, intercepting drugs, guns and fugitives," Shaw said. "This team also patrols areas determined to have high crash volume and assists with special events. "At no time has there been an immigration enforcement function to this team, as responsibility for immigration enforcement rests with the federal government." Shaw added that the six troopers that were part of that team have since been reassigned to state police posts, "as command determined they could be used more effectively as part of post personnel." FLINT, MI -- Trauma impacts people differently and how leaders respond to people's reactions to trauma is important in building a resilient community. That's why a small group of decision makers gathered to learn trauma-informed skills they can pass on to their community at a Flint RECAST workshop Thursday at the Legal Service of Eastern Michigan. Flint RECAST is a project that teaches a Community Resiliency Model to inform community leaders about trauma-informed skills and approaches. The City of Flint was awarded a $4.8 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to implement the project in October 2016. The Flint ReCAST Program is designed to promote resilience in the Flint community by supporting youth and families, mitigating the impact of trauma, reducing behavioral health disparities and increasing the opportunities and training for Flint youth through strong community engagement strategies. The target population addressed by this project includes youth and their families impacted by various sources of distress, including the Flint Water Emergency. Flint's Chief Public Health Advisory Pamela Pugh co-directs Flint RECAST with Michigan State University Assistant Professor of Family Medicine Vicki Johnson-Lawrence. When the grant was first awarded, a group of 10 trainers was chosen by the city and a series of community meetings were held to strategically plan what residents wanted from the program. An extensive training program was held to understand the Community Resiliency Model, a model that trains community members to focus on skills and approaches that help people balance their reaction to trauma or stressors. Lawrence said the key aspect of CRM is building awareness for trauma informative approaches. "It's being mindful that people go through things that we may not go through and it may mean they react in ways that we don't expect," she said. "Stressors will never go away, but now we have skills in our tool boxes to be able to respond." Flint RECAST focuses on seven key areas of the community: youth, families, community organizations, health service providers, educators, first responders and decision makers. "Those were groups community members told us we needed make sure they're trauma-informed," Johnson-Lawrence said. There are seven trauma-informed skills taught through the CRM: tracking, resourcing, help now, shift and stay, gesturing and grounding. To kick the event off, participants were taught the skills of tracking and resourcing. Participants played with Playdough and were asked to think of all the senses and memories activated by it. Mother of Joy University Executive Director, Shaearese Stapelton said she came to the event to get a better understanding of how people can respond to trauma and the resources Flint RECAST offers organizations like hers. Stapleton said the activity showed her others could respond to the Playdough positively or negatively depending on the memories they associated with the sensations it brought up. Sensations are a physical experience in the body as a response to a person's environment. "For me, it was good because I learned how to make Playdough with my family when I was younger," Stapleton said. Afterward, participants were asked to think about resources, something or someone that gives them hope, peace or help in tough times. Then they reflected on the all the reasons their resources bring them comfort. Flint RECAST trainer and University of Michigan Flint Assistant Professor of Public Health and Health services, Lisa Lapeyrouse, shared her resource -- her dogs. She then described the sensations, emotions and physical aspects of her dogs that bring her comfort. "We want people to understand what's happening in the body as we experience stress or problems and how to manage that in a better way," Lapeyrouse said. Trainers gave participants several examples of skills they could use to calm down when sensations are too much, such as paying attention to the physical details of a room or counting ceiling tiles and lights. These tools and skills were identified as being the most beneficial to the community by community members, Lapeyrouse said. "They were chosen by the community as a tool they want to use because it's really accessible," she said. "You don't need money or equipment and these skills are not specific to one place." More information on Flint RECAST can be found here. FLINT, MI -- A criminal charge related to the Flint water crisis has been dismissed against a water quality analyst for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Genesee District Court Judge Jennifer Manley approved the dismissal of the public records charge on Thursday, Sept. 27, for DEQ staffer Adam Rosenthal, who had pleaded no contest to it in December. Rosenthal is one of four current and former state and city employees who have accepted a plea deal with special prosecutors from Attorney General Bill Schuette's office. In exchange for their cooperation in other prosecutions, the four received reduced charges that were later dismissed. "Mr. Rosenthal has cooperated thoroughly and continues to do so," said special prosecutor Todd Flood. Rosenthal was initially charged with misconduct in office, willful neglect of duty, tampering with evidence and conspiracy -- two felonies and two high-court misdemeanors. Flood told Manley Thursday that he expects Rosenthal will testify in the prosecution of four DEQ officials who are in the midst of preliminary examinations in Manley's court. GENESEE TWP., MI - A man has been charged with five felonies in connection to accusations he was trading child porn online. Christopher Lynn McGee, 33, was arrested on suspicion of three counts of possession of child sexually abusive material and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime, according to a statement from the Michigan State Police. Police arrested McGee after an investigation that was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Philadelphia after he was allegedly found to be trading child porn with a suspect in Pennsylvania, the statement said. "Mr. McGee has plead not guilty to all charges and maintains his innocence," his attorney Nick Robinson said. "This is a long-running investigation in which Mr. McGee has been completely cooperative throughout. Based on the information available at this point, there is no formal allegation of trading any type of images online. Mr. McGee looks forward to putting this matter behind him very soon." McGree was arraigned in Genesee District Court on Sept. 21 and was later released from the Genesee County Jail after posting a $50,000 surety bond, according to court records. He is scheduled to be back in court at 1 p.m. on Oct. 4. MUNDY TWP, MI - A Kroger grocery store located in Mundy Township is set to close in one month's time, according to the company. Rachel Hurst, a spokeswoman for Kroger in Michigan, said the location at 5186 Fenton Road, is closing "for financial reasons" while confirming the news. The store is scheduled to close on Oct. 27, Hurst said. Seventy-three people are employed at the location that became a Kroger store in 2000. "All employees will be offered employment at other area stores, to continue to remain part of the Kroger family of stores," commented Hurst. The closure comes after Kroger shuttered stores on Pierson Road in August 2014 and Davison Road on March 2015 -- both in Flint. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Some workers in an office building that overlooks U.S. 131's S-Curve received an unexpected view of a shootout on the busy highway. Three employees at a engineering firm on the fourth floor of the building on Grandville Avenue told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press that they watched in shock as the police pursuit ended with shots fired and the suspect being struck by a police cruiser. "I looked up and I see the truck sideways and I hear the crash," said Karin Kapteyn, an employee at Classic Engineering. "I see the guy get out of the truck and I'm thinking, 'OK, he's surrendering, he's turning himself in,' and then it turned into a movie." The unique scene on the busy highway section that extends through Grand Rapids stemmed from a homicide investigation in Wyoming. The man, Adam Kenneth Nolin, 33, who police said they believed was armed and dangerous, was pursued in a truck. The truck eventually crashed on the S-Curve, police said. He then got out of his vehicle and began firing at officers, and a "deadly force encounter" ensued, Wyoming Police Lt. Eric Wiler said at a news conference following the incident. Larry Wood, who works on the fourth floor of the building adjacent to the highway, said police took the man into custody after a police cruiser struck the man. "Next thing I know, the suspect gets out of his vehicle and starts running up north bound and starts shooting behind him," Wood said. "And that's when the Grand Rapids cruiser came up and hit him, to take him down." The man being pursued from the Wyoming homicide scene was taken into custody and transferred to a hospital. He has non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive, police said. Kapteyn said the office workers realized late in the encounter that they were close to the scene and she questioned her safety. "He pulls out the gun and I'm literally standing from my chair and this guy starts shooting," Kapteyn said. "All of a sudden it hits me, we're standing here in front of the windows and I was scared." Ingrid Rozenbergs, another person on the fourth floor, said the situation was "like stuff in movies." "I'm still shaking," Kapteyn said. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A former Uber driver accused last year of pointing a gun at riders has been sentenced to perform 80 hours of community service. Christopher Raynon Johnson. 34, was sentenced Tuesday, Sept. 26 in Kent County Circuit Court on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon. Johnson had picked up riders Nov. 10 from a downtown Grand Rapids bar and was taking them to a destination about two miles away. After the riders complained about the route he was taking, Johnson stopped the vehicle on the on-ramp to U.S. 131 from Market Avenue and ordered everyone out. As they exited, he allegedly pointed a gun at them. He was later arrested by police. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The public was unable to attend nearly all of the Kent County Board of Commissioners's Thursday meeting. It's an indefinite policy, county leaders say. The public, instead, was corralled into the room next door, watching the proceedings on a video monitor with deputies seated behind them. Their public comment, should they choose, must be written down, handed to a staff member and then they're ushered in one-by-one, past more deputies and an ad hoc camera recording the entrance to the commissioners' chambers. "I'm pissed," said Kent County Commissioner Jim Talen. "I cannot believe we treat the public like this." Talen said he was unaware county staff wanted to bar the public from the meeting room until he arrived for the board's Thursday, Sept. 27, meeting. The new meeting measures, with heavier police presence and all, come on the heels of continued disruptions from protesters wanting the county to end its jail contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Broadly, the contract formalizes the amount of payment the county receives for each day an inmate flagged for ICE detention is held. It allows ICE detainments for up to three days, rather than the standard two. Protesters argue the contract incentivizes the racial profiling of Latinos and profits from their detention. When ICE receives the prints of a person lodged in jail, it might request a detainment of a suspected illegal immigrant. For months protesters have sought to get county officials to end the contract or at least formally address it. They've done neither, aside from a private meeting with a few county representatives that stalled. Only members of the media, county staff and commissioners are allowed inside the meeting room. August Treu came to the meeting to give public comment on the county's mental health authority, Network 180. He sought to speak to a commissioner prior to ensure he had the facts right, he said. He was barred entry and told to speak with the commissioner after or write to them. So, Treu scrapped his comments. There was something more pressing. "Thank you for making me feel like a criminal," Treu told the board. "Feels like police state. It's great that we have the officers protecting us, but closing this meeting off, I just can't believe it." Treu, who is running as a Democrat in the upcoming race for the county's 11th district, offered the only public comment. He was one of three people watching from the "public" room. No protest leaders were there. There were three deputies in the room as well. The meeting Thursday was over far faster than any before June 28, when the protesters first disrupted the meetings. Since then, they've briefly shut down the proceedings several times with protests in the chambers. At the Sept. 13 meeting, commissioners tried a new tactic: move the meeting mid-session to a building across the road and then not allow protesters in. Kent County Commissioner Jim Saalfeld, at the meeting's opening, said county staff decided barring public from entry was the "least restrictive arrangement" to prevent disruption of the board meeting. Saalfeld said "we need to get our business done" and that there weren't "a lot of options left." The new process, he said, avoids arrests and honors the Open Meetings Act, in that the public can watch the meeting and still address the board. "Hopefully," he said, it won't be permanent. UPDATE: Suspect in custody GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A portion of northbound U.S. 131 is shutdown after a multi-jurisdiction police pursuit resulted in an officer-involved shooting in the S-Curve. Police were investigating a Thursday morning, Sept. 27 homicide in Wyoming when officers began pursuing a vehicle believed to be involved in the homicide. The chase led police to U.S. 131, where the pursuit ended in the center lane of the S-Curve. Police confirmed that shots were fired by at least one Wyoming Department of Public Safety officer, but did not provide further details or the status of the driver being pursued. No officers were injured, according to Grand Rapids police. Police closed northbound U.S. 131 at Franklin Street around 10:30 a.m. following the pursuit. Officers were initially dispatched around 8:40 a.m. Thursday to the scene of a homicide at a residence in the 600 block of Spruce Lane SW. The address is part of Creekside Estates mobile home park, near Clyde Park Avenue SW and 52nd Street. Police said they were actively searching for Adam Kenneth Nolin, a 33-year-old male who was believed to be armed and dangerous, prior to the pursuit. He was possibly driving a 1996 Dodge pick-up truck with a broad red stripe on the sides and hood, according to police. A truck that matched the suspect's vehicle description remained on the S-Curve following the pursuit. As a precaution, area schools were placed under lock down and officers were dispatched to schools as a precaution. The lock down was lifted around 10:45 a.m. Thursday. The incident remains under investigation by the Wyoming Department of Public Safety. Grand Rapids police are assisting, with Michigan State Police also providing traffic assistance. UPDATE: The suspect is in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The driver who led police on a multi-jurisdictional chase through Wyoming and into Grand Rapids before the pursuit ended in an officer-involved shooting is in police custody. Police confirmed that the driver was arrested Thursday morning, Sept. 27, after the pursuit ended in the S-Curve on northbound U.S. 131 near downtown Grand Rapids. Officers didn't immediately provide the driver's condition. No officers were injured, according to police. The pursuit began around 10:15 a.m. and concluded around 10:30 a.m. Northbound U.S. 131 remained closed around noon with traffic being routed off the highway. Police were dispatched around 8:40 a.m. Thursday to the scene of a homicide at a residence in the 600 block of Spruce Lane SE in Wyoming. The address is part of Creekside Estates Mobile Home Park. Soon after, officers asked the public to be on the lookout for 33-year-old Adam Kenneth Nolin, and to call the police if he was spotted. Police said he was believed to be armed and dangerous. Nolin was believed to be driving a 1996 black Dodge pick-up truck with a broad red stripe on the sides and hood. A vehicle matching that description led police on a chase onto the highway, where the pursuit resulted in a shooting. It's unclear if anyone was hit by gunfire. The shooting stirred attention downtown, prompting some office workers on Grandville Avenue to gather on the sidewalk to investigate what happened. Anne Puckett, an IT manager at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, said she was on her computer when she heard sirens and what she described as a series of pops. She quickly realized it was the sound of gunshots. "Everyone kind of jumped up," she said, recalling the reaction in her office. "I was startled a bit. It's not something you're used to hearing." The incident remains under investigation by the Wyoming Department of Public Safety with assistance from Grand Rapids police. Reporter Brian McVicar contributed to this report. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The suspect who was taken into custody Thursday morning following an officer-involved shooting on northbound U.S 131 in Grand Rapids suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the encounter, police said. Police wouldn't say if the suspect - 33-year-old Adam Nolin, who was being sought in connection with a homicide Thursday morning in Wyoming - was hit in the exchange of gunfire or how he was injured. One witness, Larry Wood, who works in a building on Grandville Avenue that overlooks the highway, said he saw a police cruiser hit Nolin. Adam Kenneth Nolin Nolin was being chased by police on the S-Curve on northbound U.S. 131 when he crashed his vehicle. He then got out of his vehicle and began firing at officers, and a "deadly force encounter" ensued, Wyoming Police Lt. Eric Wiler said at a news conference following the incident. Nolin was taken into custody and transferred to a hospital. He has not-life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive. No officers or civilians were injured during the encounter, police said. Michigan State Police will investigate the officer-involved shooting on northbound U.S. 131, which remained closed Thursday afternoon. Police did not have a timeframe for when the highway would be reopened. Wyoming Police are leading the investigation of the homicide. Police were dispatched to a residence in the 600 block of Spruce Lane SE in Wyoming to investigate a homicide. The address is part of Creekside Estates Mobile Home Park. Wiler declined to provide more information on the Wyoming homicide, including whether the suspect, Nolin, knew the victim. He said detectives were still at the scene Thursday afternoon processing evidence, and more information would be released later. The pursuit of the suspect on U.S. 131 came mid-morning Thursday on a busy stretch of highway that runs directly through downtown Grand Rapids. When asked what steps police took to ensure the suspect was apprehended safely without endangering other drivers in the process, Wiler said: "We were just trying to end it as quickly as we could to keep everyone involved safe." Police began chasing Nolin after a vehicle matching a description of Nolin's vehicle was spotted by Wyoming Police, Wiler said. ISLE ROYALE, MI - And then there were four. After years of debate over Isle Royale's wolf pack that had dwindled to just two, this week a new pair of wolves was caught and airlifted to the remote island in Lake Superior, kicking off an effort by the National Park Service to replenish the predators. More wolves mean a better chance of keeping the island's growing moose population in check before Isle Royale's wilderness can be overbrowsed. Late Wednesday, two gray wolves were taken from the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in Minnesota and taken aboard a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plane to the island. The wolves, a 4-year-old female and a 5-year-old male, were taken to separate release sites, and well away from the island's two remaining wolves. "It did not take long for the female to leave the crate and begin exploring her new home on the island. The male left his crate after dark," the NPS said in a release. "Other wolves will join the two in the coming weeks." Up to 30 wolves are expected to be caught in Minnesota, Michigan's U.P. and even Ontario, Canada as part of this relocation effort. Isle Royale's moose population was last estimated at 1,600 and accelerating. Accidents, disease and inbreeding all have contributed to a sharp decline in the island's wolves in recent years. The two wolves left on the island are deeply related and unlikely to produce any viable offspring, according to scientists who have been studying the island's wolf-moose scenario for decades. The wolves released Wednesday come from different packs on the tribal reservation in northest Minnesota, the NPS said. Both animals were examined by veterinarians before they were airlifted. They were deemed to be healthy, about 75 pounds each. GPS collars to help researchers track them were put on the wolves before they were released. They were also vaccinated. Isle Royale sits in the northwest portion of Lake Superior. It's about 15 miles from the Canadian border, and 56 miles from Michigan's Upper Peninsula mainland. Wolves crossed over to the island on ice bridges in the 1940s, researches said. But any wolves that may have come over when ice bridges have formed in recent years have not stayed. Thanks to high-income millennial homebuyers looking for a little slice of suburbia, Realtor.com says that Kentwood's ZIP code of 49508 is the hottest in the U.S. in 2018. While a neighboring ZIP code made last year's list, the 49508 portion of Kentwood jumped straight to the No. 1 spot with its debut on Realtor.com's annual rankings. This ZIP code is the only Michigan representative on the list after 48154 and 49548 came in at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in 2017. The website says that new additions such as Kentwood, Peabody, Massachusetts, Boise, Idaho and Rochester, New York were aided by millennials getting older and looking for "small, more suburban locales." Realtor.com says it analyzed 32,000 ZIP codes for its rankings, and compiled its list by looking at affordability, community employment, a combination of median age and income, and credit scores in the neighborhood. As for Kentwood specifically, the real estate website says young families are flocking to this city and its area codes thanks to strong elementary schools with solid ratings. "Located just 15 miles southeast of Grand Rapids and 30 miles from beautiful Lake Michigan, is the quiet suburban town of Kentwood," Realtor.com says. "The area is known for its tree lined streets, close knit community, affordable homes, and quick commute to Grand Rapids, where Spectrum Health, Meijer, and Mercy General Health Partners are the major employers." Realtor said that views for the 49508 ZIP code are up 4 percent in the past year, which means homes in the area are receiving four times more views than the rest of the country. This aided homes in the 49508 ZIP code in selling 52 days faster than the rest of the U.S. with a median listing price of $193,168 which is up 9.5 percent from last year's figures. Also helping this ZIP boom is the fact that homes here are 33 percent lower than the rest of Kent County. "When it comes to choosing a home of their own, millenials are looking for opportunity and they're finding it in affordable suburbs," Danielle Hale, Realtor's chief economist, said in a news release accompanying the rankings. "These hot housing markets are attracting the attention of hard-working, high-earning 25-to-34-year-olds who are drawn by their relative affordability, strong local economies, and outdoor and cultural amenities." See below for the full rankings: 49508 -- Kentwood 80922 -- Colorado Springs 76148 -- Watauga, Texas 94546 -- Castro Valley, California 01960 -- Peabody, Massachusetts 83704 -- Boise, Idaho 43085 -- Worthington, Ohio 66210 -- Overland Park, Kansas 14624 -- Rochester, New York 07043 -- Upper Montclair, New Jersey For Realtor.com's full Top 50 Hottest ZIP codes rankings, click here. Michigan was also represented at No. 12 in Ferndale. The U.S. Senate elevated federal attention on PFAS contamination Wednesday, but the messages on the health risks, environmental danger and whether any national criteria will be established for the chemicals left some people at a subcommittee hearing surprised and frustrated. The bottom line from the Environmental Protection Administration: It has no plans to reduce the lifetime health advisory limit of 70 parts per trillion of the chemical family that is found in millions of Americans' drinking water and water systems. That comes as a federal health official says that both dermal exposure and the chemical vapors present risks in addition to ingestion - raising concerns among Michigan residents told that they don't have to worry about swimming or bathing in contaminated water. And while the EPA now seems open to considering the per- and poly-fluorinated chemicals as a class when it comes to health risks - opening the door to regulating thousands of PFAS-related compounds amid their increased uses - the makeup of the hearing panel suggests that bipartisan support for changes may not yet exist. By the end of the two-part event, as three community representatives shared their personal stories, only three Democratic senators remained on the panel: One from Michigan and two from New Hampshire. Chairman Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, was the lone Republican to sit in earlier as a group of up to eight U.S. senators took testimony. "There was very poor participation," said Cathy Wusterbarth, a leader in Need Our Water, the PFAS cleanup advocacy group in Ocsoda, Michigan. "I felt like we were singing to the choir." Details emerged during the hearing that raised further frustrations for people like Wusterbarth and travelers from west Michigan, New Hampshire and other locations that are testing positive for high levels of the "forever chemicals" that confound scientists. The fluorine bond in the compounds used in products like Teflon pans, industrial surface treatments and firefighting foam "is one of the strongest ever created by man," said Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health. The chemicals, Birnbaum said, "remain in the environment so long that scientists are unable to estimate an environmental half-life." The problem, she said, "is they never go away." Birnbaum's comments drew concern from the audience of about 150 people, as they heard her describe PFAS as persistent, ubiquitous, and dangerous across the entire class of chemicals - with health risks like cancer, kidney disease, and cognitive changes for children exposed to high levels. The PFAS family includes at least 4,700 versions, with new forms of the chemicals still emerging and used in industry and consumer products. Most regulations - like in Michigan - target only PFOA and PFOS. A report released earlier this year by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recommended that the U.S. consider minimum risk levels for those two forms of PFAS. That report, however, is not influencing the EPA to change its approach to them. "We are not planning currently to update our drinking water and health advisories for PFOA and PFOS," said Peter Grevatt, giving testimony on behalf of the Ground Water and Drinking Water division of the EPA. He explained that the two approaches serve separate purposes: the ATSDR numbers suggesting further testing and the EPA numbers a reasonable lifetime limit. "We believe the health advisory level ... is supported," he said. Yet the EPA still hasn't set a national enforcement standard for drinking water. Communities look to the 70 ppt health advisory as they set PFAS benchmarks, despite the number's lack of regulatory weight. It remains a guideline and not a rule. The agency is, however, exploring the designation of PFAS as a hazardous substance, which could allow a state to order a cleanup and recover the costs from the polluter. Grevatt said that possibility will be weighed in the EPA's national PFAS management plan that will be completed by year-end 2018. However, he also cautioned that any change would have to go through years of processes until an actual status change could be finalize. "We're talking about years before we could have that completed," Grevatt said. There's already frustration about the delay in addressing the complexities of PFAS contamination, resulting in years during which more people have been exposed to the chemicals. "It's taken way, way too long," said U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, the ranking member of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management subcommittee. The hearing, he said, was important to set timelines for Congressional accountability on the issue. The news from the EPA that a solution to the contamination could take years longer left some in the audience frustrated, as they considered how long Michigan communities already have been exposed to the contamination. They include Oscoda, near the closed Wurtsmith Air Force Base, and northern Kent County. "They just seem to be dragging it out ... and we're not seeing a lot of progress," said Tammy Cooper, of Parchment, where the entire water system in the city near Kalamazoo was shut down due to PFAS. "We need to think about human life here," she continued. "... We need quicker action and less excuses." One particular frustration that emerged for Michigan residents was Birnbaum's testimony about dermal exposure and inhalation, and recent studies that suggest risk. "The state of Michigan has denied this route of exposure repeatedly," said Wusterbarth. "... It's just unacceptable that our state officials are misleading us." On a broader basis, testimony from community health advocates attempted to underscore that federal guidance is critical for Americans to combat the pervasive PFAS chemicals and for officials to protect them. "We need a much more consistent approach," said Andrea Amico, who came from New Hampshire to testify. "We are seeing different states take different steps and measures. It's leaving community members across the country wondering 'why is Vermont lowering a standard to 20-ppt for five different PFAS, when the EPA is saying 70-ppt for two different PFAS?' And we're seeing New Jersey propose lower standards. We're seeing Massachusetts and Connecticut take five different PFAS into consideration under 70-ppt. "So, it's very confusing for community members and it's also very alarming. What are state seeing and what are their scientists analyzing that they come up with these different numbers?" KALAMAZOO, MI -- Three men have been arraigned on charges of resisting arrest in connection with a crash during a police chase. Damario Ford, 22, of Kalamazoo, Shyjuan Cooks, 20 of Chicago and Kantavius Calhoun, 20, of Chicago, were arraigned in Kalamazoo County District Court this week on felony charges of assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer. Ford faces an additional felony charge of third-degree fleeing and eluding a police officer. Kantavius Calhoun Police responded to a 9:52 p.m. report of shots fired Sunday, Sept. 23 in the 800 block of Riverview Drive. An 18-year-old Kalamazoo man suffered a gunshot to the leg and a 17-year-old was grazed by a bullet. Later that night, police spotted the suspect vehicle, a stolen Nissan Altima with an Illinois license plate, and gave chase. The pursuit ended when the suspects' car crashed at Davis Street and Wheaton Avenue in Kalamazoo. Police arrested one suspect at the scene. The others fled, but were later apprehended. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Sgt. Charles Treppa said Thursday the shooting remains under investigation. He said one of the witnesses is not cooperating with police. The shooting investigation is active and open. WASHINGTON -- As the Senate continues to consider a vote to appoint Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will testify on claims the Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago. Ford will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday where she will give a statement and answer questions about the alleged assault which she says took place at a party the two attended in high school. Ford claims Kavanaugh pushed her into a room and groped her at the party in 1982. She also says he covered her mouth when she attempted to scream for help. The proceedings are expected to begin at 10 a.m. Several TV stations will be airing the testimony live and streaming options are also available online. C-SPAN will stream the hearing, Fox News and CNN will also be streaming the proceedings, but will require a login from your television provider. ABC News and CBS News will stream the hearing as well and do not require a cable login. Ford will testify first and Kavanaugh will then be allowed to speak, however he will not be in the room when Ford testifies. A panel of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats will be allowed to question both parties for five minutes each if they choose. However, the Republicans -- all of whom are men -- are not expected to ask Ford many questions. Republicans have requested that a female prosecutor from Arizona, Rachel Mitchell, be allowed to help with questioning. It is unknown how long the hearing will last. Along with Ford, two other women have come forward with claims of sexual deviancy they've experienced from Kavanaugh. Deborah Ramirez claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while they were both students at Yale. Julie Swetnick levied claims Wednesday that Kavanaugh helped spiked drinks at parties that allowed girls to be raped, "I witnessed Brett Kavanaugh consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women during the early 1980s," Swetnick wrote in a sworn declaration. Cleveland State Community College has a lot of brag about after the 2018 Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet of the Cleveland 100, held on the CSCC campus. Shane Ware, assistant professor of CSCCs EMT program and four other CSCC alumni were honored at the banquet for their heroism in saving a babys life. Mr. Ware and other members of the Bradley County Fire and Rescue team were honored in Nashville in May and presented the prestigious Star of Life Award by the Childrens Emergency Care Alliance of Tennessee. This award was given after the team saved the life of Sophie Blankenship, an eight-week premature baby without a pulse or any signs of life. The team administered chest compressions, warmed her body, and cleared her airway until she started breathing on her own. That baby is now a happy, healthy one-year-old little girl. Its amazing to get this type of accolade for doing a job I love, said Mr. Ware. None of us do this for recognition, but it is definitely nice to know that someone appreciates the job we do, as public safety is a very thankless job. All four members of the team that were responsible for saving baby Sophie were Cleveland State alumniAutumn Baker-Tift (CSCC EMS paramedic program graduate) Drew Ingram (CSCC EMT program graduate), Josh Van Dusen (CSCC paramedic program graduate) and Bryan Bird (CSCC EMT program graduate). Mr. Ware stated, Its great to know that what we do as a community college makes a direct impact on our community. To know that all the training and continually raising the bar pays off once they are in the field. I believe we have one of the best EMS programs in the nation, and watching them save lives in an amazing sight. I am so proud of our graduates, and I continually hear of the great work they are doing. This was indeed an honor for the men and women involved in this lifesaving event, said Brenda Lawson, Cleveland 100 president. But, it is also a reflection of the dedication and professionals we have here in our community. Bradley Central High School student Taylor Swallows was also honored at the banquet for saving three people from drowning this year. Taylor plans to go into the medical field after high school. Dr. Bill Seymour, Cleveland State president, presented Taylor with a $1,000 scholarship to attend Cleveland State. Mr. Ware stated, I would never consider myself a hero, and I really dont think any of us do. We do a job we love, and from time to time, it places us in a position to make a difference in someones life. We train for these situations, and when they happen, we just do what we know to do. In an effort to curb the widening current account deficit and support the falling rupee, the Centre has raised import duty on 19 imported items. The list includes a range of items including air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, footwear, jewellery, select moulded plastics and aviation turbine fuel (ATF). These changes will be effective from the midnight of September 26-27. In June, the government had hiked customs duty on 30 imported items from the US. These ranged from steel products to tube and pipe fittings. Although the duty hikes will have a positive impact on the current account deficit, the impact on companies vary. The recent move indicates the government's continued thrust on promoting Make in India and making the economy self-reliant. Domestic manufacturers will be able to compete better as the duty hike would reduce the price differential between domestic and imported goods.While domestic manufactures could now use reduced competition from imports to hike prices, there seems to be growing concern that the recently announced hike on custom duties will dampen demand during the festive season. The input expense bill for importers is set to soar as the rise in tariffs, coupled with continued fall in the rupee, would crimp their operating margins. Rising cost pressures is likely to place a cap on the lucrative offers during the October-November sale period as any immediate price hike would spoil the already tentative consumer sentiment.In the current market environment, the government looks committed to keep a strict check on the import bill and aid tax collections. The increase in customs duty will boost governments annual tax collection to the tune of around Rs 4,000 crore. This comes at a time when Goods & Services Tax (GST) collections have shown little signs of improvement in the past few months. The monthly tax collections have remained below Rs 1 lakh crore since the highs witnessed in April as the government has been rationalising the GST rate structure in the last few months. The reduction in taxes could be offset through widening of tax net as well as incremental taxes on non-essential items. For an already struggling, inclusion of ATF with 5 percent custom duty is expected to further intensify cost pressures of airline companies. The impact, however, would be lower as these players imported around Rs 1,100 crore of ATF as compared to total air fuel bill of Rs 30,000 crore last fiscal. Domestic tyre manufacturers are expected to benefit from increase in custom duty to 15 percent (from 10 percent earlier) on radial tyres as it is likely to curb imports. Weak summer conditions in an otherwise seasonally strong Q1 FY19 led to an inventory build-up in air conditioners (AC) across all trade channels. Consequently, near term imports will be negligible since emphasis will be laid on clearing existing stocks. Blue Star, the leader in AC market, has a 20 percent import dependence at present. This is expected to reduce gradually in the future. In contrast, Voltbek Home Appliances Private, the recently set-up joint venture between Voltas and Arcelik, will import its entire range of refrigerators and washing machines till the manufacturing facility for Voltas Beko products at Sanand (Gujarat) turns operational in 2019. Similarly, Havells India will also be negatively impacted as the business requirements of Lloyds are primarily met through imports. But this is expected to change as the company is setting up new manufacturing facilities and realigning the supply chain. Foreign AC brands will outsource a higher chunk of their product manufacturing processes to contract manufacturer Amber Enterprises India. Compressors, which constitute roughly 30 percent of the AC cost, are primarily imported in India. The import duty on these have only been increased to the tune of 2.5 percent, which the company will pass on to its clients over the medium term. Indoor split ACs would get costlier since manufacturing of the same in India is very limited. Similarly, consumer durable manufacturers Dixon Technologies (India) - also stands to benefit from the boost to domestic manufacturing. White goods majors Whirlpool on India and IFB Industries manufacture most of their range of products in India and are also adopting import substitution measures (in connection with raw materials and finished output) at a brisk pace to keep procurement costs low. For luggage companies, import of executive suitcases, trunks etc. will now attract duties of 15 percent (versus 10 percent earlier). Safari and VIP, the largest players in the domestic market, might go unscathed due to this development as they continue to command superior pricing power on account of their market leadership position. In jewellery, basic customs duty (BCD) on gold imports, which stood at 10 percent, has been left unchanged to keep smuggling of the yellow metal under check. Titan Company sources diamonds domestically and a 7.5 percent rate of duty on imports of the same wont have any impact on the company either. In the footwear segment, the likes of Bata India, Khadim India and Mirza International will be major beneficiaries of the customs duty increase (from 20 percent to 25 percent) since products in the premium range (where foreign brands are typically present) constitute a meaningful portion of their annual revenues. Follow @Sach_Pal Follow @krishnakarwa152 Follow @NitinAgrawal65 Rana Kapoor, Founder - Yes Bank live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Yes Bank boards decision to seek extension for Rana Kapoor to stay at the helm is unlikely to be approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "There is no merit in seeking the extension, the bank is just buying more time," said a source close to the developments. This request also raises concerns over corporate governance issues and the role of the board, experts say. They say that the board's actions too should come under scrutiny at a time when the Reserve Bank of India is taking action against chiefs of private sector banks. This brings to the fore, the role of the board not being played properly. Every board says they have a remuneration and selection committee or policy. They say they have succession planning in place but you still take one year to decide on a successor, which means that (policy) is just a lip service, said JN Gupta, MD of Stakeholder Empowerment Services. On September 25, the mid-sized lenders board requested more time from RBI to allow Kapoor to remain as the chief executive officer and managing director (CEO and MD) until a minimum of April 30, 2019 and thereafter extend to September 30, 2019. A week ago, the central bank cut short his tenure to January 30 as against the proposed three-year extension. Time to implement RBI action? According to Gupta, the RBIs denial to give Kapoor a five-month extension must be after taking into account all those factors, not that it acted in haste. Time-consuming challenges of finding a suitable successor and to identify and enable a new incumbent to get fully conversant with Yes Bank and its working are the reasons Yes Bank mentioned in its statement to the bourses. The bank also decided to request for a minimum extension for Kapoor up to April 30, 2019, for finalisation of audited financial statements. "By asking this, the Board admits that 1) They do not have a succession plan; 2) They will take one year to find a new CEO; 3) The argument that Rana Kapoor is required for the finalising of accounts simply cannot be digested," Gupta said. If Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and even Tata Sons could find a replacement in a short time, of course only after RBI's action, why cannot Yes Bank? he asked. Decision making at private bank boards Around March, the banking regulator raised apprehensions on Axis Banks board decision to allow a third reappointment for CEO and MD Shikha Sharma, who will step down in December 31 this year. After charges of impropriety and conflict of interest were raised against ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, the board, which gave a clean chit to her in a days time, was reprimanded by the RBI and SEBI. This forced the board to ask Kochhar to go on leave and it created a new position of chief operating officer (COO) handed to Sandeep Bakhshi to look at the business and finance operations of the bank. Bakhshi reports to the board. Both Axis Bank and ICICI Bank took action within four months of the RBIs directions. According to another analyst, The CEOs want control and they control the board rather than the other way round. The board is a puppet and does not practice any of the corporate governance policies they list out. To ensure a long-term succession plan, Yes Banks board has decided to elevate senior group president Rajat Monga, who handles financial management, and Pralay Mondal, who heads retail, as executive directors. Monga, who has been the bank's CFO has also faced questions on approval of the bank's financial statements which misreported NPAs worth Rs 10,531 crore in FY16 and FY17. The analyst quoted above said, this could be Kapoors last effort to put his own people in a higher position. Brokerage ratings Global brokerage Macquarie Research says that RBI may not approve internal candidates as they may be construed as equally responsible for bank operations, it said. It further added that the stock re-rating now hinges on outcomes of stated action plans as well as FY18 divergences. Yes Banks stock has lost nearly 40 percent since the RBI's action on Kapoor in August end. On the one hand, over 30 brokerages are bullish on the bank from its business and growth perspective, on the other hand, analysts do see near-term challenges faced by the private bank. Appointment of a credible new CEO now becomes critical for the stability of Yes Banks operations, Macquarie Research adds. To worsen things, given the dispute between Yes banks two promoters, both Madhu Kapur (7.2% shareholder) and Rana Kapoors (10.66%) approval will be jointly required to appoint a successor. This also raises uncertainty around the strength and stability of the board. Representative image The ministry of road transport and highways is unlikely to ease land acquisition rules, which made it mandatory to acquire at least 80 percent of requisite land before starting an infrastructure project. There is no such proposal in the works, an official told Moneycontrol adding that the requirement to acquire 80 percent land for build-operate-transfer (BOT) and 90 percent land for engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) mode stands intact. The official refuted media reports doing the round that union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, could put forward a policy relaxing the rule. The report said that Gadkari could give his final nod to the proposal of reducing mandatory land acquisition from 80 present to 50 percent. The minister is very strict regarding highway projects Easing the land acquisition rule is completely against his stand, another official added. Many projects were stuck in the past due to failure of the government to acquire land, hence such a proposal is uncalled for, the official added. Gadkari has, time and again, reiterated that land acquisition problems were root-cause of projects being stuck in the previous tenure. Also read: Not quite on track: Deadlines missed on 44 highway projects as Gadkari reviews 'Mission 300' I am saddened to see the state of land acquisition There were projects, worth Rs 3.85 trillion, stuck in our ministry (before 2014) Thus, we decided not to give appointment date to contractors unless 80 percent land acquisition is done, Gadkari had said at an event in New Delhi in June. While maintaining that progress on highways project has picked up pace in states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, Gadkari said that work in Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal remained a concern. Land acquisition, utility shifting and forest clearance continue to mar the progress in the sector, he had said. Interestingly Eastern Peripheral Expressway, Centres recent engineering-marvel which was constructed in about 500 days and was inaugurated in May this year, was delayed by over 10 years due to land acquisition. Supreme Court had ordered in 2006 to construct a ring-road, bypassing the national capital, to solve its traffic and pollution woes. The project, however, was delayed as farmers (especially in Noida and Greater Noida) didnt agree to surrender their land against the remuneration being offered. According to a report in a national daily, over 700 farmers are yet to be compensated by the Centre for their land. Compensation worth Rs 32 crore (Rs five lakh each) is still pending with the Centre. Also read: Nitin Gadkari asks officials to complete 300 projects by March 2019 The report also highlighted that certain sections of the land, acquired by the government, were not utilised for constructing the 135 kilometer expressway. This land either has to be notified or the farmers need to be compensated, the report said. There are about 15-20 such farmers. Centre envisions to complete 300 highway projects by March 2019, at max by June next year under Mission 300. These include 127 projects by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and close to 153 projects by the ministry and NHIDCL collectively. Of these 300, 103 are to be completed by the end of next quarter. The highways ministry under Modi-government reported time over-run for close to 44 projects. While 23 projects that started in 2016 are still incomplete, about 21 projects of 2015 are work-in-progress. 20 projects belong to 2017-18 and 2018-19. Saudi Arabia, the second largest producer of crude oil to world, faced an attack on its oil infrastructure facilities on September 14, which caused a sharp increase in fuel prices. Do you know where petrol prices were the highest? Here's a list of the countries where petrol is the cheapest and most expensive. (Note: All price comparisons are on rupee terms only. Global rates as of September, 16 2019 - Image: Reuters) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Indian refiners will either have to significantly reduce or completely stop importing crude oil from Iran over the next month, increasing their dependence on other Middle Eastern suppliers like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Moody's Investors Service said Thursday. US President Donald Trump earlier this week in a speech to the United Nation's General Assembly reiterated sanctions on Iranian oil exports will take effect on November 5 and that the US is working with countries that import Iranian oil to cut their purchases substantially. India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude after China, accounting for about 30 percent of total crude exports from the Persian Gulf nation during April-August 2018. Indian refineries, which import over 80 percent of their crude feedstock from overseas, sourced about 14 percent of their imports from Iran. "We expect Indian refiners will either have to significantly reduce or completely stop importing crude oil from Iran over the next month or so. "As a result, Indian refiners will increase dependence on the remaining Middle Eastern crude oil suppliers (mainly Saudi Arabia and Iraq), aside from Iran," Moody's said. Iranian crude is usually sold at a discount of up to $2-4 per barrel to other Middle Eastern crude oil grades. Iran's national oil company, National Iranian Oil Company, also subsidises the freight costs for crude oil delivery and offers extended payment terms to buyers. "Assuming a complete cessation of imports of Iranian crude and $3 per barrel negative impact on earnings because of that, on the barrels being substituted, we estimate total decline in earnings for Indian refiners to be $400-500 million, against combined EBITDA of about $10 billion for the 3 largest state-owned Indian refiners in 2017-18," it said. "Thus we expect the impact on the refiners' credit metrics to be limited." Iranian crude oil is imported into India by refiners including Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), Reliance Industries, Nayara Energy and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). "The sanctions on Iranian oil are credit negative for Indian refiners because their supplier concentration will increase after the sanctions take effect. "The refiners' exposure to oil price volatility will also increase if they turn to the spot market," Moody's said. It said India imported 220.4 million tonne (MT) of crude oil in 2017-18 fiscal, out of which about 9.4 percent was from Iran. During April-August 2018, India imported 94.9 MT of crude, out of which about 14.4 percent was from Iran. Exports to India accounted for 21 percent of Iran's crude oil outbound shipments in 2017-18 and 30 percent from April to August 2018. India's soymeal exports in 2018/19 could jump as much as 70 percent from a year ago, buoyed by expected purchases from the world's biggest soybean buyer China, industry officials told Reuters on Thursday. A depreciation in the rupee and a jump in soybean output will help India gain market share in China, which is looking for new suppliers after imposing tariffs on key US farm commodities as part of a Sino-US trade row, they said. "China's market is huge. It is likely to open for India in the next two-three months," said Davish Jain, chairman of the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA). The additional demand could lift the south Asian country's soymeal exports in the new marketing season starting from October to 2.5 million tonnes to 3 million tonnes from this year's 1.75 million tonnes, he said. Bangladesh, Vietnam and Japan are the key traditional buyers of Indian soymeal. Traders have so far signed contracts to export 300,000 tonnes of the new season crop to Europe, Japan and Vietnam for shipments in November and December, two dealers with global trading firms said on the sidelines of the Globoil India conference. "Falling rupee is helping exporters. Most of the contracts were signed around $370 per tonne on a free-on-board (FOB)," said Ravi Agrawal, director at exporter Maharashtra Oil Extractions Pvt Ltd. India's rupee has depreciated nearly 12 percent so far in 2018, making purchases more attractive for overseas buyers. A government export incentive will also help India export surplus soymeal this year, said SOPA's Jain. In July, India raised the incentive for soymeal exports to 10 percent of the shipment value from 7 percent. India's soybean output could jump by 20.5 percent in 2018 to 10 million tonnes as farmers expand cultivation of the oilseed, said Govindbhai Patel, managing director of trading firm G.G. Patel & Nikhil Research Company. The forecast depended on good weather, he added. Last week, New Delhi also urged China to drop a ban on its rapeseed meal imports at a meeting with government officials and feedmakers in a meeting held at India's embassy in Beijing. Representative Image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Petrol price in Mumbai increased by 13 paise per litre on September 27, taking the rate to Rs 90.35 a litre. The price had remained unchanged on September 26. The price of diesel was also hiked by 13 paise, taking it to Rs 78.82 per litre in the financial capital. In Delhi, petrol price increased by 14 paise, taking it to Rs 83 per litre. Diesel price also increased by 12 paise in the national capital. The revised price of diesel was Rs 74.24 a litre, according to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). In Chennai, the price of petrol reached Rs 86.28 a litre after it was hiked by 15 paise. Diesel price also increased by 13 paise and reached Rs 78.49 per litre. Petrol and diesel priced in Kolkata recorded a hike of 14 paise and 12 paise respectively. The revised price of petrol was Rs 84.82 and that of diesel was Rs 76.09 per litre. Petrol & Diesel Rates Nov 09, 2021 Petrol Rate in Mumbai Nov 09, 2021 Current Petrol Price Per Litre 110 110 View more Diesel Rate in Mumbai Nov 09, 2021 Current Petrol Price Per Litre 94 94 View more Show City Petrol price Price change (increase) Diesel price Price change (increase) (Rs/litre (in paise) (Rs/litre) (in paise) Bangalore 83.66 14 74.62 12 Bhopal 88.77 14 78.22 13 Hyderabad 87.99 15 80.75 13 Lucknow 82.36 20 74.36 22 Patna 89.58 58 80.29 54 Port Blair 71.39 11 69.44 11 The price of petrol and diesel in other cities: Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan on September 26 blamed global factors for the increase in prices of petroleum products. Pradhan said that reducing taxes on these items will not have any lasting impact due to the continuing volatility in crude prices. "The basic problem is that crude prices are volatile. The effect of any measures, including reduction in VAT by the states and the Excise duty by the Centre will not last long due to the volatility in crude prices," Pradhan said. Pradhan, however, said higher prices is a matter of concern and government is finding ways to offer some relief to the public. The Centre currently levies an excise duty of Rs 19.48/litre on petrol and Rs 15.33 per litre on diesel. Various states levy Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel. Mumbai has the highest VAT of 39.12 percent on petrol, while Telangana levies the highest VAT of 26 percent on diesel. With PTI inputs live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The Reserve Bank of India and Life Insurance Corporation will discuss a rescue plan for the IL&FS group on September 28. LIC is the largest shareholder in IL&FS with 25.34 percent. The meeting is scheduled a day ahead of the annual general meeting (AGM) of IL&FS on September 29 when the infrastructure financing major will discuss the plans of debt reduction as well as fundraising. Sources told Moneycontrol the banking regulator will discuss the recent events at IL&FS and proposed actions with shareholders. LIC Managing Director Hemant Bhargava will also attend the meeting. It is likely that the second largest shareholder, the Orix Corporate, Japan that holds 23.54 percent stake also sends a representative to the meeting. Other large shareholders in IL&FS include Abu Dhabi Investment (12.56 percent), Housing Development Finance Corporation - HDFC (9.02 percent), Central Bank of India (7.67 percent) and State Bank of India (6.42 percent). However, sources said State Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) will not be attending. According to sources, Central Bank of India was on the lookout to sell its stake in the debt-strapped firm but will wait for the IL&FS shareholders' and board meet before taking a final decision. Central Bank of India is under prompt corrective action (PCA) imposed by the RBI and therefore, may not be in a position to provide additional funds. The advent of the crisis The first signs of trouble in the IL&FS group emerged in June when IL&FS defaulted on inter-corporate deposits and commercial papers (borrowings) worth about Rs 450 crore. Over the next two to three months, at least two rating agencies downgraded its long-term ratings. Later, its financial services arm IL&FS Financial Services also defaulted on interest payment on commercial papers four times in September. Further, IL&FS Financial Services also defaulted on seven debt repayments between September 12 and 27, the financial services arm of IL&FS informed the stock exchange. The defaults include five bank loans, one deposit and one short-term deposit. Lifeline from shareholders IL&FS group has over Rs 91,000 crore in debt and is seeking a capital infusion from large shareholders like LIC. A board meeting held on September 15 by IL&FS was inconclusive, with Hemant Bhargava stepping down from the Chairman's post at IL&FS. The company needs an immediate capital infusion of Rs 3,000 crore and is also planning a Rs 4,500 crore rights issue. Its largest shareholder Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) could offer a lifeline to IL&FS if the firm is able to give a roadmap for a reduction in its debt in the next three to four months. Regulatory action RBI has also initiated a special audit of IL&FS after it defaulted on its Rs 450 crore inter-corporate deposits (ICDs) raised from state-owned Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). IL&FS, which has missed more than five debt payments since August and has been downgraded by three rating agencies, as a result, has filed an application with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The company has sought some "accommodations" from NCLT for itself and 40 group units under the Companies Act, according to a disclosure made to the stock exchanges. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More GMR Hyderabad Aviation SEZ Limited (GHASL) of GMR group, an infrastructure company, Thursday said it has completed and handed over temperature and humidity-controlled facilities for the assembly and packaging of absorbents to Multisorb, a USA-based oxygen and moisture management solutions provider. Absorbents or dessiccants are products that soak up the moisture content found in newly-manufactured items ranging from food products, pharmaceutical to electronic goods. GHASL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) which manages the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here. Spread out in approximately two acres of land within GMR multi-product SEZ, the facility houses Multisorb's state-of-the-art manufacturing processes in a clean room environment, a press release from GMR said here. As with all Multisorb manufacturing sites, this facility is ISO 9001:2015-certified and is held to the same high-quality standards and procedures deployed in the global production facilities of the company, it said. CEO of GMR Airport Land Development Aman Kapoor said in the release that "we welcome Multisorb of Filtration Group, the global market leaders in active packaging solutions, to the GMR Airport City, Hyderabad." "We have readied their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at GMR Hyderabad Airport SEZ," the release quoted Kapoor as saying. The SEZ is offering an opportunity for economic growth in the state and would contribute to making the Airport City a new age destination for businesses. GMR multiproduct SEZ is housed in the GMR Aerospace and Industrial Park that offers 'ready-to-use' industrial infrastructure. Bonanza Portfolio After a downward consolidation, Bharat Electronics has moved up smartly which suggests waning bearishness. The rise in price was backed by decent volume on the daily frame. On the weekly frame, a tweezers candlestick is seen. In addition, a divergence is seen on the daily RSI which suggests momentum is likely to witnessed positive shift. Traders can accumulate the stock in the range of Rs 82-85 for the target of Rs 95 with a stop loss below Rs 79.40. : The author is a Technical Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd. The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Shares of Voltas, Havells India, Blue Star and Whirlpool of India have reacted post the hike in basic custom duty by up to 20 percent. The government has hiked import duty on high-end consumer items including washing machines, air conditioner, footwear, diamonds, jet fuel as a part of its plan to get foreign funds flowing back to India and to reduce current account deficit (CAD) as it seeks to stabilise the domestic currency. The change in rates will be effective from 27 September, the finance ministry said in a release, adding that the total value of imports of these 19 items in the year 2017-18 was about Rs 86,000 crore. Voltas was quoting at Rs 548, down 4.2 percent, Havells India was quoting at Rs 634.3, down 2 percent and Whirlpool of India was quoting at Rs 1,425, down 1.5 percent. Research house Morgan Stanley has kept an equal-weight call on Havells with a target at Rs 712 per share. Research house feels that increase in duty on consumer durables will hurt earnings in H2FY19. Also, commissioning of AC plant will moderate the impact in FY20. Medium-term outlook for consumer durables is intact, it added. Meanwhile, the domestic player Blue Star is trading higher by 2.5 percent despite custom duty hike. The company is not very worried about custom duty hike as import content is not more than 20 percent currently, Suneel Advani, Chairman of Blue Star told CNBC-TV18. Company is impacted, but not significantly by basic customs duty hike. The impact of duty hike may be seen more in the next year. The prices of ACs may go up by 4-5 percent, he added. Posted by Rakesh Patil Dinesh Engineers, the passive communication infrastructure provider, will open its initial public offering for subscription on September 28 with a price band at Rs 183-185 per share for the issue. The issue will close on October 3 while the anchor investor book will open for a day on September 27, a day prior to the bid/offer opening date. Hem Securities is the book running lead manager to the issue and the registrar to the issue is Link Intime India. Equity shares of the company are proposed to be listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. Here are 10 key things you should know before subscribing the issue: Company Profile Dinesh Engineers is focused on providing passive communication infrastructure services mainly to the telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs). The company was incorporated in 2006, and through the next several years, it is working towards executing the fiber laying work for many telecom operators. Its key expertise lies in the field of providing support services to telecom vendors which includes project management for laying of the duct and optic fibre cables, construction of basic transmission and telecom utilities, dark fiber leasing, optical fiber network construction, maintenance of duct and optic fibre and optical fibre project turnkey services to various telecom network operators & broad band Service operators across the states of India. Since the receipt of the IP-I license, the company have created its own optic fibre network of around 7500 kms which runs across the state of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. Its wired network infrastructure solutions are used by many telecom companies such as Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea, Tata Communication etc. Since the year 2011, it has laid fibre network of around 9500 Kms for the telecom operators under the vendor projects. Apart from telecom clients, it also has Mahanagar Gas in client list for laying gas pipeline in Mumbai. The work of laying the gas pipeline has been undertaken through outsourcing the same to the sub-contractors. Company's business operations can be briefly classified under three heads - Project Execution for Telecom operators (Vendor Projects); Laying fiber under IP-I License (IP-I); and Operations & Maintenance (O&M). Issue Details The initial public offering consists of up to 1 crore equity shares. Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 80 equity shares and in multiples of 80 shares thereafter. Money to be raised The company intends to raise Rs 183 crore at lower end and Rs 185 crore at higher end of price band. Usage of proceeds Dinesh Engineers will utilise net issue proceeds for expansion of business by setting up of further OFC network under IP-1 license; fund expenditures towards general corporate purposes; and to meet public issue expenses. Strengths > Company has established optic fiber network in India. > Company has strong project management and execution capabilities. > Growth is largely attributable to efficient business model which involves careful identification and assessment of the project with emphasis on cost optimisation which is a result of executing our projects with careful planning and strategy. Core business of leasing the fibre and duct on IRU basis to telecom operators is a unique business model which forms a major portion of our revenue. > Its quality and on-time execution has helped it forge strong relationships with major clients. > It has experienced promoter, management team and skilled workforce. > Company believes in maintaining and adheres to quality standards. > It has co-ordial relationship with suppliers and contractors. Business and Growth Strategies > To enhance the coverage of the Optic fiber network. > Expand into business areas that create synergies with current business > Augment customer relationships > Enhance project execution capabilities > Continue to focus on strengthening the goodwill of name Financials and Order Book As of July 2018, the company has laid fiber of around 17,000 Kms for telecom vendors which includes fibre laid under vendor projects and network running across 10 states in India. Below are the details of the state-wise revenue earned by company in the past three financial years: Order Book Order book consists of the unexecuted portions of outstanding orders, that is, the total contract value of the existing contracts secured by company, as reduced by the value of work executed and billed until the date of such order book. Total order book was approximately Rs 420 crore as of April 2018. Shareholding Promoters Dinesh Kollaiah Kargal and Shashikala Dinesh Kargal currently hold 54.99 percent stake and 44.99 percent respectively. Management Dinesh Kollaiah Kargal is one of the Promoter and Managing Director of company. He has been on the board of directors of company since its incorporation. He has approximately 27 years of experience in the telecom infrastructure industry. Shashikala Dinesh Kargal is one of the promoter and whole-time director of company. She has been on the board of directors of company since its incorporation. She has approximately 23 years of experience in the telecom infrastructure industry. Aksh Devesh Jain is the Chief Financial Officer of company. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountant of India. He has experience of approximately 2 years 5 months. Risks and Concerns Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. (which owns Reliance Jio) is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. CRUDE-OIL Narnolia Financial Advisors For last few days Brent is trading firmly above $80 per barrel. India being a large importer of crude, our macroeconomic parameters depends a lot on how crude is behaving. In June this year when full OPEC members meeting had taken place in Vienna there was a sense that OPEC led by Saudi Arabia is looking forward to Brent in the range of $65 per barrel and not $75 per barrel. While the Vienna meeting was happening and crude had raised, Saudi minister had warned traders saying the resolve of the OPEC members to keep crude prices benign should not be undermined by the traders. But a lot has changed over the last three months. During last weekend meeting in Algiers, OPEC member along with Russia had reiterated that they would be raising the production to compensate for the supply loss by any of the OPEC members. They still remain committed to original 1.8 mbpd-2 mbpd (million barrels per day) cut envisaged in December 2016. Saudi Arabia had insisted on having the capacity of 1.5 mbpd to meet the shortages in the global oil market. Russia too expressed intentions for a gradual rise in production to meet the shortages, if any. But what has changed is the firmness on price- Saudis Falih has said that "I do not influence prices" in response to Trumps calls for increasing production to cool off the prices. It suggests that the oil-producing countries are fine with the current crude at $80 a barrel. If the above suggestion is true then $80 a barrel should be new normal for global oil markets at least till full OPEC member meeting in December. Sanction on Iran and strong seasonal demand in October will too impact crude prices in the near term. Disclaimer: The author is Head of Research of Narnolia Financial Advisors. The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. The S&P BSE Sensex has seen a sharp fall of nearly 2,000 points, or little over 5 percent, so far in the month of September, but the bigger carnage was seen in individual stocks, especially the ones where foreign portfolio investors have a double-digit stake, data showed. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have pulled out more than Rs 12,000 crore from Indian capital markets so far in the month of September. FIIs were net buyers in the past two months. Rising crude oil prices, depreciating rupee, US Fed rate hike, and to a certain extent lower-than-expected GST collections are some of the factors which are weighing on sentiment. As many as 47 stocks in which foreign portfolio investors have a double-digit stake tanked 20-50 percent in September. The list includes Dewan Housing Finance, Jaiprakash Associates, Adani Enterprises, Yes Bank, HDIL, Reliance Capital, Unitech, Indiabulls Real Estate, Radico Khaitan, Bank of Baroda, and Shankara Building Products. Stretched valuations triggered a corrective rally in the benchmark indices. Meanwhile, correction in individual stocks and broader market is more steep and painful as we have seen almost 50 percent of the market-cap erode in several scrips, Soumen Chatterjee, Head of Research, Guiness Securities told Moneycontrol. Stocks which have a significant shareholding of foreign portfolio investors are certainly subject to higher outflows risk as we may see further unwinding from FIIs due to macro headwinds (weak rupee & rising crude prices) in the near term, he said. Chatterjee further added that some of the quality frontline names, largely held by FIIs, have also corrected almost 15-20% from their peaks. They may not see steep fall from here on, but may consolidate down-move or see a time correction. The may even soon find a place in the buying list of Domestic Institutional investors (DIIs). The falling tide led to a correction in most stocks in which FIIs hold 50-70% stake, according to data collated from AceEquity. As many as six companies in which FIIs hold over 50 percent stake dropped 5-25% in September. FIIs hold over 70 percent stake in HDFC, which fell by 8 percent, whereas Bharat Financial Inclusion, in which foreign investors hold over 50 percent stake, slipped by 9 percent in September. Indian market notched record highs last month and expectations were high that Sensex is on track to hit 40K and Nifty would touch 12K soon. However, the recent rally was quickly overturned as fears of rising crude oil prices, falling rupee, concerns over trade war, the resignation of auditors, and concerns over stretched valuations fuelled bearish sentiment. Experts feel that there are more reasons at play which resulted in fall in India market and not just FIIs running away. Market do look strained and weak rupee certainly means a hit on the portfolio of foreign institutions. With nothing being way out of the ordinary on Indian macro front, this does look like a corrective course of action from the FIIs. Having winners and losers more sector-specific, with certain sectors being spared from the fall is a testimony of the fact that sheer foreign ownership may not be the only factor for any further fall, Shubham Agarwal, CEO & Head of Research at Quantsapp Private Limited told Moneycontrol. "Weak Rupee is a worry for FIIs as it directly hits the portfolio of foreign investors. However, strengthening US Dollar across many major currencies indicates that this recent withdrawal by FIIs has more global routes than domestic," he said. On the other hand, there are many stocks which bucked the trend. As many as 9 companies where FIIs hold double-digit stake rose 11-36 percent in September which include small & midcap stocks like Starcom Information, Praj Industries, Hathway Cable, Biocon, Rajesh Exports, Ponni Sugars, Five Core Exim, Uniphos Enterprises etc. among others. The Indian government on Wednesday hiked import duty on high-end consumer items including washing machines, air conditioner, footwear, diamonds, jet fuel as a part stabalise currency and to reduce current account deficit (CAD). The government has chosen consumer goods over capital ones, banking on the robust and resilient consumption growth over the past year. Given these are a small share of overall imports, the measures would help reduce imports by only USD 500 million (0.1% of total imports), which is quite small, Nomura said in a report. In our view, the currency depreciation thus far is likely to play a bigger role in reducing the imports as compared to the import duty hikes. Nevertheless, it adds to the incremental steps that the government has been taking to trim the current account deficit and improve the scope of its funding, it said. The total value of imports of these 19 items in the year 2017-18 was about Rs 86,000 crore, as per the finance ministry release. The increase in basic customs duty from 10% to 20% is applicable for air conditioners, refrigerators and Washing Machines (<10kgs) while duties on compressors have been raised from 7.5% to 10%. Here is a list of 16 stocks which are getting impacted by import duty hike: Blue Star, Voltas: The increase in customs duty of 10 percent includes the outdoor, indoor and completely built units which would see an increase along with an increase in duties for compressors by 2.5 percent. In case of compressors, 70-75 percent of the requirement is met by imports from China where price hikes would be needed by manufacturers to pass on the increase. In the case of indoor units, Indian manufacturers like Voltas, Blue Star, Lloyd depend primarily on imports while MNC players like Daikin, Hitachi make/source it in India; higher duties will give an advantage to the MNC players till the time the Indian players too start sourcing the same domestically, Motilal Oswal said in a note. Goldman Sachs in a note said that hike in customs duty is negative for Voltas. Morgan Stanley suggests that a hike in customs duty is likely to hurt earnings in H2FY19. Whirpool, Havells India: Within refrigerators, Whirlpool has manufacturing facilities in India and only imports the 400litre range which would be the only range to be impacted from the duty hikes. VoltBek Appliances (JV of Voltas and Arcelik) is importing its entire range of refrigerators (direct cool and frost-free) till its plant starts in mid CY19 at Gujarat our channel checks suggest that most of the sourcing would be done from Thailand which has a free trade agreement with India and would remain unaffected by the increase in duties on refrigerators, said a Motilal Oswal note. CLSA in a note said that Voltass JV with Arcelik would be hurt as appliances are 100% imported. Voltas Bekos domestic factory will likely take a year to start. Commenting on Havells India, it said that the company currently imports 70 percent of Lloyds requirement but has the option to shift to domestic manufacturing. Morgan Stanley maintains an equal-weight rating on Havells India with a target price of Rs 712. The global investment bank said that commissioning of AC plant is likely by Mar-19 which will moderate the impact in FY20. MRF, Apollo Tyres, CEAT, JK Tyres: The government has hiked the import duty on car radial tyres from 10-15 percent. The imports account for 13 percent of the domestic FY18 sales volumes. This is sentimentally positive for tyre companies like MRF, Apollo Tyres, CEAT, JK Tyres, said a Sharekhan report. IOC, BPCL, HPCL, Jet Airways & SpiceJet: OMC stocks like IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL are in focus after the Indian government imposed 5 percent import duty on ATF from nil currently. It will be positive for OMCs as it could help them increase marketing margins on ATF but could weigh on aviation stocks like Jet Airways and SpiceJet. Bata India; Relaxo Footwear: The custom duty on footwears increased to 25 percent from 20 percent earlier. It is positive for Footwear companies such as Bata India and Relaxo Footwear, said the Sharekhan report. Titan Company: There is no change in import duty on gold which is positive as this would lift the overhang on the stock in the near term. Morgan Stanley maintains an overweight rating on Titan Company with a target price of Rs 1250. Hike in rate or jewellery pieces is marginally positive as it reduces competitiveness. The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Automotive Axles (AAL) is a provider of rear drive axle assemblies to commercial vehicles (CV). It caters to all major automobile manufacturers in this space. Market leadership, marquee clientele, operating leverage, lean balance sheet and strong financial performance should support earnings going forward. The business is also gearing itself for the upcoming electric vehicle (EV) wave and trades at reasonable valuations which beckon investor attention. The company is the largest manufacturer of rear drive axle assemblies in India. Major products include drive axles, non-drive axles, front steer axles, specialty and defence axles and drum and disc brakes. It also manufactures S-Cam actuated quick change air brakes and trailer axles for 10 tonne to 13 tonne gross vehicle weight (GVW). AAL supplies its products to major OEMs across India and abroad and caters to segments such as medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV), military and off-highway vehicles, aftermarket and exports segments. AAL has manufacturing plants in Mysuru, Rudrapur and Jamshedpur. We exude confidence in the company on the back of the following: Over the years, AAL has been able to develop strong relationship with marquee clients in the industry and boasts of domestic clients such as Ashok Leyland, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, MAN Trucks India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, VE Commercial Vehicles and Asia Motor Works. Ashok Leyland is the largest client of AAL followed by Tata Motors. In terms of international presence, AAL continues to deepen its presence in China, US, France, Italy and Brazil. In FY18, it added Volvo Thailand to its client list by securing export order for solo and tandem axles and brakes. Promotors holding of over 71 percent of total shares in the company lends comfort in the company. Additional comfort comes from holdings of mutual funds such as Reliance Focused Equity Fund and UTI-Midcap Fund.AAL is a proxy play on growth in the CV segment. The latter passed through a tough phase in FY17. The same continued at the start of FY18 on the back of various regulatory challenges. The segment, however, picked up strongly in the latter half of FY18 and witnessed a strong 19.9 percent year-on-year volume growth in FY18 as compared to 14.2 percent overall auto industry volume growth. Strong growth was supported by increased focus on infrastructure development, mining activity and normal monsoon. We believe the momentum would continue on the back of governments continuous focus on rural economy and infrastructure ahead of general election next year. Despite the new axle load norms, the momentum in CV demand continues. Secular growth in CV demand is expected to augur well for AAL. Additional demand drivers include rebuilding Kerala infrastructure after the floods and pre-buying in Q4 FY20 ahead of new emission norm (Bharat Stage-VI) implementation at the start of FY21. In light of strong demand for its products, AAL is expanding its capacity, which will help it cater to growing demand. It plans to increase axle housing lines capacity to 20,000 units from 16,500 units per month and brake capacity to 120,000 units from 83,000 units per month.The EV wave is the upcoming disruption within the Indian auto industry. AAL is gearing itself to provide electrical solutions through electric drivetrains for the electric CV segment. The management believes EV production is poised to grow in India over the next few years.AAL posted a strong compounded annual growth rate of 49 percent in net revenue over FY15-18 led by strong demand accruing in from CVs, constant focus on developing new products and rich product mix. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), however, witnessed much higher annual growth rate of 67.6 percent over the same period. Growth was supported by operating leverage and efficiencies. EBITDA margin also expanded 326.5 bps over the same period. Net profit grew 99.7 percent CAGR over FY15-18 on the back of strong operating performance and reduction in debt. It has become a debt free company and reduced its total debt-to-equity ratio to zero from 0.21 times in FY15. Operational efficiencies and reduction in debt has helped the company improve its return ratios. Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) and Return on Net Worth (RoNW) expanded 2,578 bps and 1,691 bps in FY18 over FY15, respectively. In FY18, AALs RoCE and RoNW stood at 31.27 percent and 20.45 percent, respectively. Amid recent market volatility, the stock has corrected 27 percent from its 52-week high, which made valuations attractive. AAL currently trades at a reasonable valuation of 17.8 times and 15.4 times FY19 and FY20 projected earnings, respectively. Peer analysis Follow @NitinAgrawal65 Smart cities are not about sensors. This was the message given by experts while deliberating on citizens engagement in smart cities at a global event held in Jaipur. "Smart cities are all about PPPP Private Public People Participation," said Professor Yasser Helmy, head of Smart + Connected Communities, APAC region, Cisco, adding that in order to deliver a better city for the citizens, costs to run cities need to be brought down and cities need to attract FDI to create jobs and improve the quality of social services. "Smart cities need to be much more than cold, hard infrastructure high on technology. These cities need to make life more convenient, accessible and inclusive," said Yao Yi, deputy director, Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences during a discussion on citizen engagement titled 'Cities for All: Community Development in Smart Cities' at the three-day Smart Cities Expo India. The session was moderated by Sunil Dubey, Advisor, Urban Innovation and Smart Cities, Sydney. Amit Kapoor of Social Progress Imperative said that the top 10 percent cities were spending more than the bottom 50 percent cities. He also told the audience that cities lose about Rs 300 crore every day to traffic jams. Delivering a keynote session on helping cities and towns reclaim manufacturing prowess by leveraging the Maker movement, Peter Hirshberg, innovation advisor to cities and companies, said that when data is thrown open to the public, you actually empower them to prepare for a future packed with technological and economic change. Highlighting the benefits of a shared workplace, he said that when put people in compact spaces and bring them together, more ideas are generated through open collaboration. Urbanisation is not only about moving to cities, it should be about taking the benefits of urbanisation and spreading it to farthest spaces. "We need to build more food and products locally so that we throw less out and become a sustainable economy," he said. He noted that cities have become enormously expensive. But by moving innovation into cities, businesses can speed up processes and collaborate. This can help reduce costs for both people and organisations. "A Maker City prepares its citizens for the future. We need to think about making new technologies, tools and materials for people to empower them and empower our cities," said the chairman of the Maker City Project, San Francisco. The Smart Cities Expo platform also saw CEOs and commissioners of 100 smart cities discussing about urban problems and their solutions. As a part of Smart City Expo India 2018, awards were also presented. The city of Bhubaneswar won the first prize under the category of City Award. The Special Mention Award was given to Indore Smart City. CISCO won the first prize under the category of Smart City Platform Award and second prize was won by Fluentgrid. The first prize in the category of Project Award was bagged by Telangana State Police with implementation partner LnT. The Special Mention Award was given to LnT-Vizag Safe and Smart City among others. vandana.ramnani@nw18.com Chief financial officers becoming CEOs may have become a trend now, but three years ago when Vimal Kejriwal took over as the chief executive of KEC International, the RPG Group flagship, it was a novelty. The move has worked with the infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) major doubling its net profits in these three years, and its revenues crossing Rs 10,000 crore. CFOs need to know everything, says Kejriwal, who joined KEC 16 years ago. It was a difficult time for the company, and Kejriwal would even do the production planning at KECs factory. It was to ensure that we make products that give more profits and cash flow, says the chartered accountant in an interview with Moneycontrol. Under Kejriwal, KEC has fast-tracked diversification, adding verticals of railways, civil and cables in the past three years. As a result, the new verticals have more than made up for the slowdown in the companys core T&D business. We have done a lot of de-risking, says Kejriwal. Excerpts: A) Two things are there. I joined the company in a difficult time. That made you get into every piece of the business. I used to go to the factory for production planning. CFOs need to know everything. Then it relates to the industry. In pharma or FMCG companies, may be a marketing head is more suited to head the company. But in an industry like ours, where there is too much of volatility in terms of commodity prices, changes in contractual issues with clients, here a commercial person is much more suitable to become a CEO. A) Let me start with last years numbers. Last year, our turnover increased by 15%. And if we normalise for GST, the growth was 20% plus. Our EBITDA crossed Rs 1,000 crore for the first time. Profits went up almost 50%. Our order book went up by 20% and we have an inflow of Rs 15,000 crore, which is equivalent to 18 months of turnover. Knowing what is happening in the market, we have done a lot of de-risking. For instance, (we debated) should we do business just in India, we also looked at our business profile, and a consultant did a portfolio review. A) Earlier we were a pure transmission company. Eight years ago, we got into sub-station, which is a related subject. We got into that, but then once we reached Rs 7,000 crore (in revenue), we realised the ambition of growing 25% every year is not possible by being just in this industry. We engaged a consultant. We wanted to diversify in areas where we could use our knowledge. So railway, civil and smart infrastructure were the areas. We got into railways four years ago, and civil last year.A) We have electrified almost 40% of railways network. But the growth was slow. Every year we would get about Rs 100 crore revenue from this. So we decided to go fast track. Now we do electrification, track laying, signaling, station building, and over the last three years, our order book has grown to Rs 5,000 crore. This is 30% of the overall order book. We kept on doubling our revenues. From Rs 200 crore we did Rs 400 crore, and last year we did Rs 800 crore. This year, hopefully, we should cross Rs 1,500 crore. A) Civil was an area that was a surprise for us when the consultant brought it up. We also though there is competition. But when we went into it, we realized that there is one large colossal L&T standing there. Below that there are not too many players. We are pretty happy. In one year we have an order book of Rs 500 crore and revenue of Rs 200 crore. Hopefully, this year we will cross Rs 500 crore in revenues. A) We started looking at different geographies. Today 45% of order book is from outside India. We de-risked ourselves from the downturn. We went into other businesses. Today, non-power order book is already 30%. We diversified client base. Earlier power was the main customer. We went to southern states and private customers. Geographically, segment wise and client wise, we did a considerable amount of de-risking. A) We went to Brazil through an acquisition in 2010 (of SAE Towers). For five to six years, we were present as tower manufacturers. Two years ago, we realised that EPC option is looking very attractive. So, we expanded Brazil operations. We have done eight projects. Brazil is now one of the four pillars of the company. The other three are railways, civil and the SAARC market. We are doing a large amount of work in the neighboring countries and see a huge amount of growth in these regions. A) Most of my clients are in under developed areas. Afghanistan has a lot of more challenges. But we have been there for a decade and have been happy. We are also present in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The progress in Bangladesh is unbelievable and it is getting a lot of funding. A) Overall, 45% is international. The share had gone up to 75%. Now, the India business has picked up. Ideally, we want the share to be 50-50.A) We have order book of Rs 18,000 crore. And have another Rs 5,000 crore worth orders in the line-up. Last year, we did Rs 10,000 crore of revenues. We have been talking about 15% growth and we are comfortable with that. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Here are the stocks that are in news today: Basic customs duty has been increased on 19 items to curb import of certain items and total value of imports of these items in FY18 was about Rs 86,000 crore Hero MotoCorp: Company to raise product prices by up to Rs 900 from October 3 due to rising commodity prices and currency depreciation. HCL Technologies: Company signs new five-year infrastructure services contract with Anglo American. Vijaya Bank: Board meeting is scheduled on September 29 to consider the amalgamation of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. TCS completes Rs 16,000 cr share buyback PFC gets shareholders' nod for raising up to Rs 65k cr Torrent Power: Company participated in the competitive bidding process (by way of E-reverse auction process) conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for setting-up of 1200 MW ISTS connected wind power projects, and emerged as one of the winning bidders for capacity of 115 MW project. State Bank of India: SBI has received ECCB nod for divestment of 4 percent stake in SBI General Insurance Company and deal for total consideration of Rs 481.7 crore. Divestment of stake to Axis AIF & Premji Invest. IL&FS Financial Services: Commercial Papers due September 26 couldn't be serviced. Eicher Motors: At Royal Enfield's Chennai facility, a few workers didn't report to work in last few days despite being present in unit. Company is hopeful to arrive at mutually beneficial solution without much loss in production. Ganesh Films India: Company has acquired the sole theatrical distribution rights for North India region from Studio Green for the movie 'Nota' and from Neelam Productions for the movie 'Pariyerum Perumal'. India Grid Trust: Company has received a disclosure from Harsh Shah, CEO & Whole-time Director, Sterlite Investment Managers Limited (Investment Manager of IndiGrid) regarding purchase of IndiGrid units. Tata Motors clarified on Sanand Plant Contractual Workers Protest Against Termination, that as per the contractual agreements, these ex-temporary workers were engaged by the company for a fixed period of time and were relieved at the end of their term. BNP Paribas Arbitrage bought 51,45,821 shares of DHFL at Rs 297.87 Oppenheimer Funds INC sold 14,00,178 shares of Apollo Hospital at Rs 1,044.23 HDFC Trustee Company Limited - HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund sold 34,87,262 shares of Astra Microwave at Rs 85 TD Power Systems: Board approved the buyback of fully paid up equity shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 30 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 256 per share. RMG Alloy Steel has issued and allotted 9,02,50,000 unlisted redeemable preference shares of Rs10 each at par by way of private placement Rural Electrification Corporation: Board approved the proposal for incorporation of a project specific Special Purpose Vehicle, as wholly owned subsidiary of REC Transmission Projects Company Limited for construction of 400 kV Udupi (UPCL)-Kasargode D/C line and Kasargode Substation. The company to be incorporated will also be a subsidiary company of REC. Reliance Capital - Devang Mody, ED & CEO of Reliance Commercial Finance resigns Deepak Nitrite: ICRA has assigned rating of A1+ to additional commercial paper of Rs 100 crore. With this, total size of commercial paper becomes of Rs 200 crore, which is rated as A1+. IL&FS Transportation Networks: Aditya Birla Finance had filed an application for interim injunction under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 in connection with its outstanding against 2 subsidiaries, namely (i) Chenani Nashri Tunnelway Limited and (ii) Pune Solapur Road Development Company Limited of Rs 55 crore and Rs 100 crore respectively plus interest due thereon. Bosch: Renu S Karnad, Independent Director has conveyed her decision to resign from the board of directors of the company. FSC board approved NCD worth Rs 199 crore Reliance Infra clarified on Reliance Infrastructure pulled up for buying costly coal, driving up electricity rates, that the company is in compliance with the MERC order and no material impact of the news item Indo Amines: Board approved a draft scheme of amalgamation of Core Chemicals (Mumbai) Private Limited and Key Organics Private Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of the company) with the company. 5paisa Capital: Central Depository Services (India) Limited has taken on record the revised limits of foreign investment in the company by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) upto 100 percent and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) upto 24 percent of the paid-up capital of the company. Gennex Laboratories: Company's associate company namely, Deccan Remedies Limited has received Consent Order For Establishment - (CFE) issued by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board, Hyderabad to carryout manufacturing of bulk drugs and intermediates at its manufacturing facility in Sangareddy, Telangana. NBCC received in principle approval from Air India to monetize/redevelopment of Air India Land parcel at Baba Kharag Singh Marg, Connaught Place and Vasant Vihar in the national Capital BJP national president Amit Shah BJP president Amit Shah lauded opposition leader Sharad Pawar for saying that people do not doubt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intentions in the Rafale deal, and asked Rahul Gandhi to believe his own ally who has put "national interests above party politics". "I thank Sharad Pawar, a former Defence Minister and veteran MP, for placing national interests above party politics and speaking the truth. Dear Rahul Gandhi, you would be wiser by believing your own ally and a leader of Pawar Saheb's stature," Shah tweeted. He tagged the Congress president in his tweet which also attached a news story on Pawar's comments. At a time when the Congress-led opposition is mounting an attack on the government over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has said people "do not have doubts" over Modi's intentions. In an interview with a Marathi news channel, he also said the opposition's demand to share technical details relating to the fighter jet "made no sense". Shah also attacked Gandhi for his dig at the Modi government that Sardar Patel's statue being built in Gujarat will be made in China. "At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand 'Statue of Unity' the Congress president is spreading canards to discredit the project. Shame!" he said. The BJP chief said Gandhi's family "humiliated" Patel and unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds. "Your lies on the 'Statue of Unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel," Shah said. The government will relax foreign direct investment (FDI) regulations to give a boost to the food processing sector, which has attracted $8.7 billion of investment, a senior government official said. "We have already received $8.7 billion of FDI in food processing industry and we are in the process of removing bottlenecks as we see huge FDI investment potential in the sector. The government will relax FDI regulations to give a boost to the sector," ministry of commerce and industry DIPP joint secretary Rajiv Aggarwal said on the sidelines of World of Food India conference organized by FICCI. MNCs and investors were facing some hurdles, which has now been removed in terms of modifications, harmonisation. They hope to provide ease of doing business in the sector, he added. At present, 100 percent FDI in food processing sector is allowed in setting up of manufacturing unit. There is no permission required for wholesale business in the sector too, he said. The government is expected to announce a new industrial policy soon. The proposed policy will encompass the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and IoT which will open new avenues for investments in India. "We need technology and investment in supply chain mechanism to boost the industry," Aggarwal said, adding that the industry faces huge wastages from farm to table. "We only process 7 percent of perishable goods as compared to 65 percent in US, 23 percent in China and 78 percent in Phillipines," he said. The three-day conference, is being attended by buyers and sellers from 30 countries with 297 exhibitors showcasing the latest technologies and trends in the food and beverage industry and 7,000 scheduled B2B meetings are to be held. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Thursday if not his name, farmers across the country are at least aware of agricultural schemes in the current government when compared to the previous regime. Attacking the previous government for neglecting the farming community, Singh said the NDA government on the other hand has given a top priority to the welfare of farmers, and therefore raised substantially the budget allocation to Rs 2,11,000 crore in the last four years to develop agri-sector. "The budget allocated for the agriculture sector was only Rs 1,21,000 crore by the previous government for five years. Whereas our government has allocated Rs 2,11,000 crore in last four years alone," Singh said at an Assocham event. The schemes are being implemented with more vigour along with the state governments and there is growing awareness about the farm schemes in the current regime, he said. "Earlier, people did not even know the names of the agricultural schemes. But now, whether they know my name or not, they know about the schemes," he claimed. To achieve the target of doubling farmers income, Singh said that the government is giving thrust on allied farm activities, food processing and better marketing infrastructure for which incentives are being provided under various schemes. "To increase farmers' income, input and output management is important. Marketing and food processing will play a key role," he added. United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)'s representative to India Rene Van Berkel said that the country's share of food processing is mere one per cent at the global level. "There is challenge and opportunity for India in this area. The food value chain partnerships with end to end approach will be crucial" he added. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has met all paramilitary DGs. Singh was briefed about the border situation. He gave specific instructions to all DGs for complete preparedness at the border and full strength deployment. Instructions were also given for safeguarding civilians and following standard operating procedures (SOPs) in case of any emergency. (Image: Moneycontrol) Rahul Gandhi will end up being "Ra-fail" in his endeavour to "mislead" people on the Rafale deal, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said as he took a swipe at the Congress president amid the raging political storm over the purchase of the fighter jets. He also asked Congress leaders to advise Gandhi against using "derogatory" language to target the prime minister, an apparent reference to the main opposition party chief's "chor" (thief) jibe at Narendra Modi. "It is not Rafale...It is Ra-fail (Rahul-fail). He will be a failure. Rahul Gandhi knows the truth about the Rafale deal but is trying to mislead the people on the issue," Singh told a meeting of the Kerala state council of the BJP. The meeting was called to ratify the appointment of P S Sreedharan Pillai as the party's new state chief. In an apparent reference to Pakistani leaders targeting Modi over the Rafale issue, Singh said, "You know the truth but knowingly or unknowingly you are talking in support of Pakistan." After New Delhi cancelled the meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly over the killing of policemen in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Hussain had said it was done to divert the attention from the Rafale "scandal". "We reject warmongering by ruling elite of India everyone know Indian Govt strategy is to use hate-mongering against Pak basically to bail PM Modi from call for resignation post-French jets Rafael deal and divert attention of Indian public from this mega corruption scandal," Hussain had tweeted. Pakistan's former interior minister Rehman Malik had also said Rahul Gandhi will be next Prime Minister of India if he followed "Jetgate" (Rafale deal) properly. "If you repeat a lie many times, people are bound to start believing it. That is what the opposition leaders are doing on the Rafale issue," Singh said. Without referring directly to Gandhi's "chor" barb, Singh said, "The Congress president is using derogatory remarks against the prime minister. Congress should advise its chief not to lower the dignity of his own position with such remarks against the prime minister." The home minister spoke about pro-people programmes of the NDA government, and asserted Prime Minister Narendra Modi will steer the BJP back to power with a "thumping majority" in the 2019 elections. He also questioned the Kerala government's reluctance to join the 'Ayushman Bharat' health insurance scheme launched by Modi recently. "It is not named after Modi. US President Barack Obama had introduced a health insurance scheme for American people during his presidecy. It was called Obamacare. Here it is Ayushman Bharat. It is not Modicare," Singh said. The union minister said the health insurance scheme launched by the government was "Modi Kavach" (armour) for the poor who cannot afford expensive medical treatment. He also asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to put an end to political violence in Kerala and promised the Centre's full support in rebuilding the state after the devastating floods. Rafale jet Almost a month before a deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets were inked between India and France in September 2016, a senior officer in the Ministry of Defence had raised questions about the deals benchmark price, according to a report in The Indian Express. The senior official, who was then the Joint Secretary & Acquisition Manager (Air) in the defence ministry, and was on the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC), had also placed his objections on record, the report says. The officer was meant to initiate the note for Cabinets approval. The report adds that the objections had delayed the Cabinet note approving the deal and its signing had only happened after the objections were overruled by Director General (Acquisition), a senior defence ministry official. As part of the Rafale deal file, the note sent by the JS & AM (Air), which mentions the objections, is now with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). The CAG is studying the deal currently engulfed in a political controversy between Congress and the government. The report adds that the CAG report on the Rafale deal is likely to be submitted by the winter session of Parliament in December. The report may have references to the Cabinet note and may also talk about how the objections were over-ruled. The key objection raised by the JS & AM (Air) was that the benchmark price for the 36 Rafale jets was pegged higher than the benchmark price for the earlier 126 Rafale jet proposal negotiated during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. In this case, the benchmark price is pegged to provide a reference of reasonableness of the lowest price pitched by the producer, to the CNC. The government, on its part, maintains that the higher cost of the jets is driven by "India-specific enhancements" to the jets, even though details on this are scarce. The proposal to purchase 126 Rafale jets, which was part of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender, was withdrawn after India and France signed a deal for 36 Rafale aircraft during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Paris in April 2015. Another objection raised by the JS & AM (Air) was that European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), the German defence manufacturer that produces the Eurofighter had offered a 20 percent discount on its bid price to the Indian government in July 2014, the report suggests. The Eurofighter was the second aircraft which had qualified in the IAF trials during the MMRCA tender process. According to the report, JS & AM (Air)s note said that a similar 20 percent cut should be applied for rates in case of the 36 Rafale aircraft as a competitor was offering that discount. The BJP on Thursday said it does not see any grand alliance taking shape against it as there are many "gaps and contradictions" among opposition parties, even as it exuded confidence of increasing its tally in Uttar Pradesh in the next Lok Sabha polls. "The BJP's performance will be better in 2019 compared to 2014, when the party and its allies bagged a lion's share of 73 seats (of total 80 seats)," state BJP President Mahendra Nath Pandey said in an interview here. Asked about the opposition parties' attempt to form a grand alliance to take on the BJP, he said, "I don't see it taking place." "There are many gaps and contradictions among them. Even if it (alliance) is formed, it will not last." Undeterred by the BSP and the SP eyeing the Dalit and OBC votes, besides the Muslim electorates, Pandey said his party was doing its own ground work. "We are taking along the castes which they (SP, BSP) bank upon. We have recently held successful OBC conferences (between Sept 4-24) in which backward caste representatives from all over the state actively participated," he said. The conference saw overwhelming response from the backward classes as they see Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their leader, the UP BJP chief said. "Besides, we are soon going to organise Dalit sammelan (conference) and 'prabuddh' (intellectuals') meet. These sections have only been cheated by previous SP and BSP regimes in the state. Only the BJP is the party which is really working with 'sabka saath sabka vikas' motive. This is the reason for our success," he said. He said that his party was working at several levels to increase its victory margin. "We are highlighting our work at the Centre and state and above all Modiji's personality, which will be presented before the people." "At the organisation level, we are emphasising on ensuring our presence from booth to division to assembly and Lok Sabha segments. We are doing a micro-planning for that," he said. Noting that the party has a lot to tell the people about the good work and projects its governments at the Centre and state have initiated, Pandey said, "We will reach out to people and inform them about these works and are confident of getting their positive response in terms of votes. No government has done such a good work till now." "The party will bank on the "towering personality" of Modi ji, who is loved by all sections of the society due to this 'working style and aura'. Our leader is accepted by all. No other leader can stand in front of him. Opposition has not one (leader), who can challenge him," he asserted. The BJP state president said he was "sure" his party will form the government at the Centre again and UP's contribution will be remarkable. Pandey's remarks assume significance amid reports of the SP and the BSP toying the idea of cobbling an alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, barely few months away, as they had done in bye-elections to Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana constituencies of the Lower House, in which ruling BJP candidates were defeated. Buoyed by this success, reports of bonhomie between SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his BSP counterpart Mayawati started doing the rounds in political circles. There were talks that the Congress too might be roped in in the proposed alliance. But in what is seen as a snub to the grand old party, Mayawati dumped it and tied up with the party of rebel Congress leader Ajit Jogi for the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections and projected him as the chief ministerial candidate. Also, the SP too suffered a setback when its stalwart Shivpal Yadav floated a new front as he felt he was being sidelined in the parent party. "These gaps and contradictions will make our task further easy," said the state BJP president, who is a Lok Sabha member from Chandauli. BJP Ailing Goa BJP legislator Francis D'Souza, who was recently dropped from the Manohar Parrikar- led Cabinet, said Thursday he would resign from the state party's core committee once he returns from the US. Dismissing rumours of resigning from the post of MLA as a mark of protest, D'Souza, who is admitted at a hospital in the US for an undisclosed ailment, said this is his fight for "self-respect". Parrikar, who is admitted in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi because of a pancreatic ailment, had Monday dropped BJP ministers D'Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar from his Cabinet. BJP MLAs Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral were inducted in their places. D'Souza, who headed the Urban Development Department, was unhappy over his removal from the state Cabinet, and had asked if this was the reward given to him by the party for his 20-year-long loyalty. "I will resign from the Goa BJP unit's core committee once I am back on October 15. I don't want anything from the party in future. Even if offered, I will not take up any government position," D'Souza told PTI over the phone. The core committee is the BJP's key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Union minister Shripad Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others. "I am fighting for my self-respect. If you can't respect that, then I don't want anything from you. It's all over," said D'Souza, who got elected on the BJP ticket from Mapusa constituency in North Goa district for the past two decades. Asserting that he would not quit as an MLA, he said, "I have been elected by my voters for five years, so there is no question of resigning as legislator. If I resign, I would be disrespecting my voters." He said it was the chief minister's right to keep or drop him from the Cabinet. "Nobody can interfere in the chief minister's right. There is no role of the party high command in my dismissal from the cabinet," he said. However, criticising Parrikar's style of functioning, he said the chief minister does not take advice from anyone, including the party high command. D'Souza alleged that "few leaders" in the BJP were trying to get him removed from the party since 2012. "May be they felt that I overstayed in their party. Usually, any guest should not overstay. I have been there for too long in the BJP," he said. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday told BJP functionaries to go on the offensive to counter the Opposition's allegations on the Rafale fighter jet deal instead of being defensive. In an unrelenting tirade against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA over the deal with French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation to buy 36 jets, the Congress has claimed the cost per aircraft is triple compared to the one fixed by the previous UPA government. It also claims that the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was kept out of the offset deal with the French firm to benefit Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence. Speaking at a state-level BJP meeting here, Gadkari said, "Reliance Defence will be supplying some parts to Dassault. What (aircraft) will be assembled in Nagpur and who should be Dassault's vendor is their decision". "Dassault has many international parts suppliers. It is Dassault's decision whom to appoint as their vendor," he said. The road transport and highways minister alleged that the Opposition was trying to create confusion about the deal. "The Indian government had nothing to do with it (Dassault's choice of Indian partner). (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi also has nothing to do with the deal. The Opposition is unnecessarily creating confusion about this deal. We are a transparent government. We should be on the offensive and not be defensive on it," Gadkari told party functionaries. "India has been buying fighter aircrafts since 2002. I feel sad about the condition of the aircrafts we have right now. So many fighter planes have crashed till date. The condition of helicopters is such that (it feels as if) you are sitting in a truck. Modi travels in such helicopters," he added. He claimed the cost negotiated by the NDA for Rafale jets was 40 percent cheaper than what the UPA had agreed upon. At a media interaction here on Tuesday, Union minister Prakash Javadekar had claimed that the cost of the jets was 20 percent lower compared to the price negotiated by the UPA dispensation. Congress President Rahul Gandhi Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said changes will be made to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to reduce rates on items, if his party comes to power. On a visit to various places in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, he also continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter deal, alleging that "the watchman has indulged in theft." Gandhi, who began his two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh, was addressing a gathering after visiting the famous Kamta Nath temple in this religious town associated with Lord Rama. He said the Modi government has "destroyed" small businesses and employment through demonetisation and 'Gabbar Singh Tax', a reference to GST. "As soon as we come to power, we will change the 'Gabbar Singh Tax' into the real tax. We will implement one tax at lowest rates," the Congress leader said. He said all power would be used to generate employment. GST, which brought a one-tax regime in the country, was rolled out last year. Turning to the Rafale deal, Gandhi said, "Hindustan ke chowkidar ne chori kar li hai" (India's watchman has indulged in theft)." His reference was clearly to Modi who had said that he would be the country's 'chowkidar' in his capacity as the prime minister. "The man, who claims to be the country's watchman, has himself put Rs 30,000 crore in the pocket of (industrialist) Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal," Gandhi claimed. Describing Anil Ambani as Modi's "friend", the Congress leader alleged that the industrialist has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore. He claimed that Anil Ambani had not manufactured even a single aircraft but was awarded a contract of Rs 30,000-crore after "snatching" the work from state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). "The 'chowkidar' took out the money from the pockets of the poor, the youth and other people and put it into the pocket of Ambani... This money belongs to the people of the country," Gandhi alleged. Ambani has already rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in the Rafale- manufacturer French company Dassault picking up his company as a local partner. He had written to Gandhi on December 12, 2017, refuting allegations of his Reliance Group lacking experience to get the Rafale fighter jet deal. He had written that Reliance Defence has the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and is currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard. In his speech, Gandhi also accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of speaking untruth on the Rafale deal issue. "In Parliament, the defence minister said the price of Rafale fighter plane can't be disclosed due to secret pact. I met the French president, who said there is no such pact and the price can be disclosed," the Congress chief said. The prime minister also spoke for one-and-a-half hour in Parliament but did not talk about Rafale issue, he added. Gandhi also reiterated his promise of waiving the farmers' loan within ten days, if elected to power in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, he reached Chitrakoot from Allahabad by a helicopter and visited the Kamta Nath temple where he performed 'puja'. The temple is located in the forested hills of Kamadgiri where, according to mythology, Lord Rama stayed during his exile. The 48-year-old Amethi MP was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath, state party campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Ajay Singh. Senior party leader from the state Digvijaya Singh was conspicuous by his absence. The visit is part of the Congress' campaign for the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh due later this year. The Congress has been out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003. During his earlier visit on September 17, Gandhi held a roadshow in Bhopal after performing a puja and taking blessings from 11 priests. Up to 25 percent tickets can be changed by the BJP for the upcoming Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, senior party leader and Cabinet minister Brijmohan Agrawal said Thursday, asserting there is no anti-incumbency against the Raman Singh-led government in the state. Debunking suggestions of differences between him and Singh, he said there may be some differences on certain issues but there are no hard feelings between them. "There is no infighting in the party. I have very cordial relations with the chief minister. There are no hard feelings between us, may be approach is different on some issues," Agrawal said. Talking about anti-incumbency, he said there maybe discontent against some individuals and that is why political parties get surveys done ahead of the elections to decide on tickets. "Twenty-five per cent tickets are likely to be changed in the BJP. I am sure when tickets are changed then people will again be with the BJP. People may be angry with some individuals for different personal reasons but they are not anti-BJP," Agrawal said. Polls for 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly are due this year end. He made light of the recent tie-up between Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh and Mayawati's BSP, saying it would not hurt the BJP, which has its voters intact, but would be detrimental to the Congress. "If the BSP and Jogi fight elections together, then it is very beneficial for the BJP. The party has got its own support base and voters. Our vote bank is intact. People from all castes and creed are with the BJP due to different development works done by us. We will surely get more votes this time too and form the government," Agrawal said. He claimed Jogi was the B team of the Congress, contrary to his perceived closeness with Raman Singh. "He (Jogi) is the B team of the Congress. Congress apni bala taalne ke liye aisi koshish karti hai' (Congress say this to get rid of its own problem). In reality, he (Jogi) is Congress' B team," the senior minister in the state said. Citing the dual party system in Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, he said the main fight, if at all that happens, in the Assembly polls will only be between the BJP and the Congress. "Jogi will only divide some votes. But he won't be able to take away any result-oriented votes," said Agrawal, who holds the charge of water resources department, agriculture and biotechnology, animal husbandry and fisheries among others. He said elections in the state will be fought in the name of Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It is known to everyone now that elections will be fought in the name of Raman Singh and the prime minister. But what will happen in the time to come, (about the CM's face), that will be decided by the party. And whatever party decides, everyone will have agree to it," Agrawal said. He, however, said the BJP is a disciplined party and everyone gets what they deserve. "I have never asked anything from the party. It decides everything after analysing eligibility of individuals," he said. Agrawal said the BJP will form its government for the fourth consecutive term in the state. Congress president Rahul Gandhi began a two-day visit to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Thursday with prayers at the famous Kamta Nath temple in Satna district's Chitrakoot town. Gandhi reached Chitrakoot, a religious town closely associated with Lord Ram, from Allahabad by helicopter and stayed in the temple premises for about half-an-hour while performing the 'puja'. The Kamta Nath temple is located on the forested hill of Kamadgiri where, according to mythology, Lord Rama stayed during his exile. Gandhi is likely to address a corner meeting at Chitrakoot before leaving in a helicopter to Satna city, where is scheduled to address a public meeting, party leaders said. The 48-year-old Amethi MP was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath, state party campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Ajay Singh. The Congress chief will leave for Rewa, where he will hold a roadshow, in the evening. On Friday, Gandhi will travel by a bus to address public meetings at Saipur Mod, Baron, Baikunthpur, Lalgaon and Chunari villages spread over Rewa and Satna, party leaders. The Congress has been out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003. During his earlier visit on September 17, Gandhi held a roadshow in Bhopal after performing a puja and taking blessings from 11 priests. He had visited the state after returning from the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, which he undertook to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva. Ahead of Gandhi's last visit, posters were put up in Bhopal, calling him a 'Shiv bhakt' (devotee of Lord Shiva). Rafale jet Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday hit out at the Modi government for reportedly targeting a Defence Ministry official who allegedly raised "objections" over the price of the Rafale jets. He took to Twitter to take a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a poem in Hindi alleging that he gave benefits to "crony capitalists" at the cost of state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in the Rafale deal. Gandhi also alleged that the officer who raised questions over the deal was penalised, while those who sided with the government were rewarded. He tagged a media report that alleged that the Defence Ministry official who raised objections over the price of the Rafale jets "proceeded" on a month's leave and the 36-Rafale deal was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council thereafter. Citing the same media report, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, in a Tweet, claimed that the Modi government "sent on leave the 'whistleblower'", who questioned the loss to the state exchequer "by paying 300% extra for 36 Rafale". He also alleged that a senior officer, who overruled the official who raised questions over the Rafale jets pricing, was made a member of UPSC (Union Public Service Commission). "Perks of pleasing Modi Govt cover corruption tracks," he claimed. The Congress has been stepping up its attack on the government with the Rafale deal controversy taking a new turn last week after Francois Hollande, who was French president when the Rs 58,000 crore deal was announced, was quoted as saying by French publication Mediapart that France was given "no choice" in selection of the Indian partner for Dassault and the Indian government proposed the name of Reliance Defence as offset partner for the French aerospace giant. Modi had announced the procurement of 36 Rafale fighters after holding talks with Hollande on April 10, 2015, in Paris. Abraham C Mathews Given what was at stake, nobody but the die-hard optimists expected the five judges sitting over the Aadhaar petitions to hand over a clean victory to either side. And yet, the three judges who delivered the majority judgment came the closest one could have imagined to dividing bragging rights. One side got the victory; the other, the spoils. To summarise, the three judges upheld the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme as well as the Aadhaar Act, 2013, even as it put stringent restrictions on the services for which Aadhaar can be mandated, the types of information that can be collected; and most importantly, the period of time for which it can be stored, and the entities this information can be shared with. In a nutshell, this restores Aadhaar to what it was originally designed to be by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. This majority judgment was flanked by two minority judgments: one by Justice Ashok Bhushan, which upheld Aadhaar absolutely (I would call it a minority judgment, if not a dissent, in that it differs so much with the majority, in almost every respect except the outcome), and another by Justice DY Chandrachud who called Aadhaar a fraud on the Constitution, in his dissent. In arriving at its conclusion, the majority seems to have insulated itself from the possible criticism of judicial-overreach as well as indifference; unlike, lets say, either the NJAC judgment where a constitutional bench struck down the National Judicial Appointments Committee for selection of judges in toto, or the other, several instances where the court refused to interfere (for example, the Rajbala judgment The court agreed the government could put restrictions on who could stand for panchayat elections in that case, only those who had functioning toilets in their homes). Aadhaar can now be mandated only by the State, and only for authentication of the identity of beneficiaries of State subsidies, closer to the social security number in the United States and the National Identification Number in the United Kingdom. In addition, by reiterating its approval of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, the judges also armed the government with its most potent weapon against tax fraud. Since bank accounts are also required to be linked to be linked to PAN, PAN-Aadhaar-linkage is possibly the least-intrusive way to ensure that a person can stash money in multiple accounts to keep lawful taxes from the State (and that is the only interest that the government can have in regulating your money/property). Remember that a couple of years ago, the government mulled making all services (Railway journeys, PF withdrawals, and so on) accessible only with Aadhaar. That cannot happen, and neither will private companies be allowed to demand/store Aadhaar information. Even so, there are critical concerns about the judgment that cannot and should not be brushed aside. First, the judgment proceeds on the assumption that the State will not act maliciously. In the footnote at the end of paragraph 153, the judgment takes on record responsible statements of the learned attorney general and Mr Dwivedi who appeared for the UIDAI that no State would be interested in the mass surveillance of 1.2 billion people of the country, or even the overwhelming majority of officers and employees or professionals. This will be scant comfort to the critics of the scheme, who opposed Aadhaar for precisely this reason, as authoritarian governments have typically been fans of surveillance in some form or the other. The judgment, however, dismisses this as foofaraw (yes, that's the word they used!). The apex court also relies on the governments word that the Aadhaar Act contains inherent protections, with criminal consequences for breach, against misuse of Aadhaar data by the State or its functionaries. However, much of the abuse that was likely to happen would have been extra-legally. The government told the court that this is conjectural and speculative, as well as based on imaginary possibilities, but one finds it difficult to believe that such abuse does not routinely already happen (such as unauthorised cell-phone tapping) by officials, not necessarily acting on behest of the government. One can sense the courts reservations when it accepts that the government collects and stores very limited data, but all the same severely restricts the period for which such data can be stored to six months perhaps the most important protection. The concern was that with each authentication, a permanent record was being created (perhaps with two data points the Aadhaar card holder, and the authentication machine, which would show the service being availed) and stored in government servers, which could then be used to profile citizens an electronic leash, as counsel for one of the petitioners put it. This would be severely minimised if data cannot be held beyond six months. Further, the court makes it clear that services that have become akin to fundamental rights, such as education and food, cannot be denied for want of Aadhaar. It again relies on the governments word that alternate authentication mechanisms are available, but we have already seen how many have been deprived even with such protections. As of now, a service such as rail-travel, inevitably subsidised by the government, cannot mandate Aadhaar, because it is not a targeted subsidy. But one expects there will necessarily be another round of litigation to define these boundaries more precisely. US_China_Trade_Trade war_Tariff China on Thursday criticized the United States for flying B-52 bombers in the vicinity of the South China Sea, and demanded that the US take steps to improve military relations amid heightened tensions between the two countries. Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing that China is resolutely opposed to provocative U.S. military actions in the South China Sea - where China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines have rival claims. Separately, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied US President Donald Trump's accusation that Beijing is trying to influence the U.S. congressional elections in November. "We advise the United States to stop this unceasing criticism and slander of China," Geng said at a briefing in Beijing. "Stop these wrong words and deeds that damage bilateral relations and the basic interests of both countries' peoples," Geng said. The two countries, already engaged in an acrimonious trade war, continue to butt heads over a list of sensitive issues including the South China Sea and Taiwan. On Saturday, China summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing and postponed joint military talks to protest Washington's decision to sanction a Chinese military agency and its director for buying Russian fighter jets and a surface-to-air missile system. Beijing has also denied a request for a U.S. warship to visit Hong Kong, the U.S. consulate in the Chinese city said on Tuesday. China also expressed anger after the U.S. approved the sale of spare parts for F-16 fighter planes and other military aircraft worth up to $330 million to self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province. Rank 2 | Grab - Singapore | The technology company offers ride-hailing, ride sharing, food delivery service and logistics services through its app in Singapore and neighbouring Southeast Asian nations. Grab forced Uber out of the region in 2018 and acquired its local operations. Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab is in talks to sell "a decent-sized stake" in its Thai business to Thailand's largest retailer, Central Group, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The size is yet to be determined though discussions have been ongoing for some time, said one of the people, who declined to be identified as the matter was private. Grab said it would not comment on "rumours and speculation". Central did not respond to a request for comment. Grab is interested in doing business with JD Central, a $500 million e-commerce joint venture that Central launched earlier this year with China's JD.com, one of the people said. "It's natural synergy with Central," said the person, citing Grab's current food delivery service from Central restaurants. Grab's operations in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy also includes ride-hailing and parcel delivery. Central Group, owned by the billionaire Chirathivat family, also manages shopping centres and hotels across Thailand. meeting,board room,meetings,meet,panel Trade ministers and senior officials of RCEP member countries, including India and China, will hold series of meetings in October to iron out issues hampering negotiations over the proposed mega trade deal, an official said. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement being negotiated by 16 countries, including 10 Asean members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six free trade agreement partners - India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, since November 2012. The mega pact aims to relax norms and significantly cut import duties to boost trade in goods, services, promote investments, technical cooperation, and intellectual property rights. Chief negotiators will meet for a special round of talks in Jakarta from October 6-9, before the meeting of RCEP trade ministers on October 13 in Singapore. After that, the 24th round of meeting will take place in Auckland , New Zealand from 17-24th October. "The special round is a kind of preparatory meeting for the ministerial meet," the official, who did not wish to be named, said. The trade ministers will again meet in November to push the talks. These meetings assumes significance as several domestic industry sectors, including steel, food processing and metals are raising concerns over the presence of China in the group. They have stated that lowering or eliminating duties for China will flood Indian markets with Chinese goods. India already has a free trade agreement with Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations), Japan, and South Korea. And it is negotiating similar pacts with Australia and New Zealand. Besides, India has a trade deficit with 10 countries in this grouping. Trade experts too have expressed apprehensions that eliminating duties for Chinese goods may further impact domestic industries. The trade gap with China, Korea, Indonesia and Australia has increased to $63.12 billion; $11.96 billion; $12.47 billion and $10.16 billion in 2017-18. It was $51.11 billion, $8.34 billion, $9.94 billion and $8.19 billion, respectively, in the previous financial year 2016-17. "Free trade agreements are not about only giving market access, but also getting that access in other countries. Also, India may not get huge market access in services also," said Biswajit Dhar, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. India is pushing for liberalising norms to promote services trade as the sector accounts for about 55 percent of the country's GDP. Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu had earlier this month stated that negotiations for the mega-trade deal will continue in 2019 as more rounds of talks are required to sort out issues pertaining to goods and services. The negotiations have dragged on as the member countries want an agreement over the removal of customs duties on the maximum number of products traded between them. However, countries like India have certain reservations on this as the grouping includes China, with which New Delhi has a huge trade deficit. India is looking for a balanced trade agreement as it would cover 40 percent of the global GDP and over 42 percent of the world's population. In a shocking incident, Dr Ajay Sood, a non-resident Indian (NRI) settled in the US, found Rs1.33 crore withdrawn from his account in Bank of India, that too when the original cheques are with him even today. He also found that his registered mobile number was changed and an Aadhaar number, which he does not have, was added in his account details in the bank. He has been running from post to pillar, including calling and speaking with several officials at Bank of India and even Reserve Bank of India (RBI). But all in vain as both these organisation are not even responding to his repeated emails, calls and messages. The worst is that nobody the RBI's consumer education and protection department, even bothers to answer the call. Sharing his experience with the RBI, Dr Sood says, I called the RBI Governor's office, and spoke with one lady Naya, who asked to to call CEPD (Consumer Education and Protection Department) on 22630483. I tried that number five times every half hour and then called Naya back. She gave me another direct number 22631743 of CEPD, but no there was response. Called Naya again and she gave me the deputy governor's office number 22611097. On this number, I spoke with Nilima but she too redirected me to CEPD. In the meanwhile I forwarded my email complaint to CGM CEPD at [email protected] I will keep trying." In this case, Dr Sood found his registered mobile number was changed, and there was an Aadhaar linked with his bank account with his father's wrong name. However, he never had any Aadhaar. He could not file complaint with the Banking Ombudsman, as the online form requires him to provide local contact number, debit card number and address, which he does not have and the portal does not allow him to use his US details. He sent an email to the Ombudsman, which was accepted as his complaint and forwarded to the nodal officer at Bank of India. But even after two months, he has not heard from anyone. Dr Sood had a joint account with his mother and brother in Bank of India. In December 2017, as per their mutual agreement, the account was transferred in Dr Sood's sole name as non-resident ordinary (NRO) account. This account had all the lifetime savings of his mother as she wanted him to care for her in her old age. Dr Sood continues to have in his possession the chequebook issued at the time when the NRO account was opened. However, while checking his statements on 20 July 2018, he found there were two withdrawals of Rs98 lakh and Rs35 lakh using cheques from his NRO account. To his utter shock, he found, two cheque numbers from the chequebook in his possession in the US, were used to withdraw Rs1.33 crore. Dr Sood says he neither shared the cheque numbers nor any cheque with anyone. Yet, Rs1.33 crore were withdrawn from his bank account in Chandigarh. After speaking with an official dealing with NRI accounts, he filed a complaint with the bank manager in Chandigarh. By engaging a local lawyer, Dr Sood, on 10 August 2018 also filed a first information report (FIR) with the economic offenses wing (EOW) of Chandigarh police. In the meantime, he sent email complaints to Bank of India's chairman and managing director Dina Bandhu Mohapatra, the Bank's nodal officer and assistant general manager at Chandigarh. But he received no response. Then on 2 August 2018, he filed email complaints with the Banking Ombudsman at Chandigarh, for which, on 6th August, he received acknowledgement that his complaint was successfully registered. The Ombudsman told him that his complaint is sent to Bank of India's nodal officer in Chandigarh for further action. Dr Sood has been sending emails to Bank of India's nodal officer, who is saying the matter is under investigation with the Bank and police and would take more time. He also requested the Bank for provisional credit in his account, but there is no response either. He has been continuously asking the Bank, without any success, to provide him copies of the cheques used to withdraw Rs98 lakh and Rs35 lakh from his account. He contacted the investigating officer in EOW, who informed him about the change in his mobile number and submission of Aadhaar on 11 May 2018. Dr Sood says, "The Aadhaar card apparently has the same picture as my bank records. It states name of my father as Surender whereas my father's actual name is Dharam Inder. I have no Aadhaar card linked to my bank account since NRO accounts do not have such a requirement. I do not know if they used a PAN card, and whether that corresponds to the one in my bank records. There was a fraudulent communication with the bank in my name via a non-registered email before a bank official approved transfer my funds. Someone was aware of my account balance since almost the entire amount was transferred." He also found that Rs98 lakh from his account were transferred to one Sachin Yadav from Gurgaon and Rs35 lakh to one Mukesh Thakur from Ujjain. However, Dr Sood claims that these two individuals are not being questioned by the police or the Bank. In fact, he says, Bank official are insisting with the police that someone known to him would have done the transactions while strongly denying any involvement of Bank employee/s. Dr Sood has even filed complaint with the NRI Cell in Chandigarh, to Sushma Swaraj, minister for external affairs. He also filed an online complaint to the public grievances portal. But there is no response from anyone. Valuation is a contentious subject. No two persons can agree on what should be the value of a particular stock, at a given time. The value is what the market participants collectively think it should be. Let us start with a few basics. Different methods of valuation use some, or all, of the following elements: 1. Book Value (BV) of a share (total capital + reserves divided by... American ride-sharing giant Uber will pay about USD5.79 million to drivers and passengers in Washington state for failing to notify them of possible leak of their personal information, Washington Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson's office said on Wednesday. Ferguson said he will return more than 2.2 million dollars to the Uber drivers affected by a November 2016 data breach at Uber. The money is part of the $5.79 million package to be paid by Uber for "violating Washington state's data breach notification law and for failing to adequately safeguard the personal data of Uber drivers," the Washington AG Office said in a statement. "The breach affected more than 57 million drivers and passengers worldwide, including nearly 13,000 Uber drivers in Washington," it noted, adding that most Washingtonians who drove for Uber in 2013 and 2014 will each receive $170. Uber acknowledged the breach reported in November 2016 when an individual contacted the company, claiming he had illegally accessed its user information, including the names and driver license numbers of more than 7 million drivers for the company around the world, including nearly 13,000 in Washington state. The hacker also obtained the login, encrypted password, and some geolocation information for nearly 50 million riders worldwide. Washington was one of a few states that sued Uber over its conduct related to the data breach prior to the multistate resolution, the AG Office said. Washington received a larger share of the nationwide 148 million dollar settlement because Ferguson sued Uber in 2017 for the November 2016 data breach. Ferguson has asked Uber to tighten protection of the personal information of its riders and drivers and provide an independent assessment about its security measures to the AG Office every two years for the next decade. Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. A new 24,000-square-foot tech hub in Torontos Waterfront will soon play host to MaRS Discovery District, which is acknowledged as one of the worlds most significant urban innovation promoters. MaRS, together with partner University of Toronto, announced earlier this week that the process of securing a lease from Menkes Developments Ltd. for the vast office space is nearing completion. MaRS will be situated in the HIVE tower. MaRS CEO Yung Wu said that the move will help Torontos rapidly-growing innovation community settle down and do good work in a highly accessible and desirable location. Under the most recent indictment, Hussain admitted to tricking property owners seeking loan modifications into paying him fees and selling their homes in short sale transactions. By directing other individuals to damage the properties, he convinced lenders to agree to artificially low sale prices for the homes. Hussain or another associated entity then acquired the properties at reduced prices and flipped them to investors at much higher prices. Hussain also admitted to causing losses to lenders of the Federal Housing Administration by assisting investors to acquire federally backed mortgages through fraudulent applications. Under his plea agreement, Hussain admitted that the scheme resulted in losses between $550,000 and $1.5 million dollars. He also admitted that he harmed 10 or more victims, some of whom were particularly vulnerable as a result of their personal situation. The agreement also provided that the government would seek a leadership enhancement for Hussain given the extensive nature of the scheme and his role in it. Hussain faces up to 32 years in federal prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of about $1.3 million. Ricardo Abreu, a co-defendant in the matter, is set to be sentenced on Oct. 30 after pleading guilty earlier this year. For decades, the search for life in outer space has focused on finding tiny microbes that would do little to satisfy a growing appetite for connection with beings that more closely resemble us. Its been the appetizer to the main course, a search for sophisticated creatures that truly deliver on the answer to one of humanitys central questions: Are we alone? Now, thanks to new interest in Congress for further scientific research, NASA is changing its focus to search for life advanced enough to, like us, create technology. The signs are called technosignatures, as compared with biosignatures, like in microbes, that show signs of life. Technosignatures come primarily as radio signals that allow scientists to infer the existence of technological life in the universe. A bill proposed in the U.S. House in April recommended that NASA receive $10 million to partner with private sector and philanthropic organizations to search for alien life. It wouldnt actually allocate the funds, and would still have to pass in the House and Senate, but it represents the first time in 25 years that the federal government has considered using funds to search for extraterrestrial life. The original program, called SETI, or the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, lost federal funding in 1993 after a year of research didnt turn up a "single green little fellow," said then U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan of Nevada. Unlike SETI, NASA argues that the search for technosignatures goes a step further, focusing on radio or laser emissions, not just communication signals. Our own radio and television broadcasts have been drifting into space, so we may be able to receive signals from other beings, the agency said. And signs of large structures or an atmosphere full of pollutants _ like our own _ could prove that there is a civilization like Earths elsewhere in the universe. Whether NASA will find life outside our solar system is anyones guess. Astronomer Frank Drakes Drake formula postulates that there could be 10,000 intelligent civilizations in the galaxy. Italian physicist Enrico Fermis Fermi paradox asserts that if there was intelligent life out there, we would have met it already. But recent discoveries by the Kepler mission of multiple exoplanets, including some that have similarities with Earth, and the TESS mission, which recently launched a satellite that has already found two new exoplanets, have increased public interest in finding alien life. Itll have to be more an irregular radio signal to pass the test, though. NASA said that to answer the question of our place in the universe, it will need unmistakable signs of life. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency For over 15 years, SouthEast Bank has sponsored Bryan students, investing in the community by allowing students to receive a scholarship. Several of Bryans students who had received the scholarship had the opportunity to meet with SouthEast Bank representative Katie Park. Ms. Park expressed that SouthEast bank has specifically and consistently chosen Bryan because of how passionate they are about investing in the community and in education. She noted, As a company, we want to support schools in our network. Our two biggest philanthropic outreaches are education based and community based, and Bryan embodies both of those needs. Bryan students Gary Tourner, Karis Powell, Christin Williams and Tori Burnette expressed their gratitude and appreciation to Park and SouthEast Bank for the scholarship. Ms. Burnette explained how much joy she felt when she found out she was a recipient of the scholarship and how grateful she was for the opportunity. As an institution, SouthEast Bank has been committed to investing in education at all levels. Ms. Park explained further, We have local banks in Dayton, so we wanted to develop a relationship with Bryan because it is such a great school. SouthEast Bank in Dayton is at 3995 Rhea County Highway, in Dayton. We are still far from where ... Posted on: September 27, 2018 2:49 PM [ACNS, by Julanne Clarke-Morris] Anglicans attending a joint World Council of Churches (WCC) and Vatican conference in Rome have spoken out on the need to counter xenophobia and racism towards refugees and migrants. Anglican experts were called to the World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration, which took place in Rome from 18 to 20 September, co-sponsored by Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the WCC, with the support of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Dr Agnes Aboum from the Anglican Church in Kenya, who was at the conference in her role as Moderator of WCC Central Committee, was joined by 200 global and regional experts on refugee and migrant issues as well as ecumenical, religious and civil society change-makers. She said the conference recognised the gravity of unchecked xenophobic rhetoric and hate-inspired violence around the globe. The problem of populist nationalism inciting negative and violent responses to refugees and migrants appears in some way, everywhere, she said. It threatens communities both in countries of reception and countries of origin. According to Dr Aboum, the Anglican Communion must heed the message of this weeks conference and take action to counter racism and xenophobia in the countries of the Communion, as well as focusing on activities that can hold Anglicans together to counter the problem from all sides. At an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican on the final day of the conference, the pontiff commended the conference as a welcome sign of renewed cooperation between churches on issues of justice and human wellbeing and encouraged more such collaborations in the future. Faced with the spread of new forms of xenophobia and racism, leaders of all religions also have an important mission: to spread among their faithful the principles and ethical values inscribed by God in the heart of man known as the natural law, he said to the assembled conference at the Vatican reception on 20 September. The three-day programme in Rome brought together refugee voices and experts from legal, policymaking and pastoral fields from across the globe. Representatives of United Nations bodies spoke on the state of refugee and migrants rights, highlighting the social impact of major movements in Africa and the Middle East, as well as the political responses to refugees in Europe. Speakers included representatives from UNICEF, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. Inter-governmental bodies such the African Union and Council of Europe also contributed their perspectives on both causes and ways to mitigate anti-immigrant attacks. Presenters set out to identify and shift the attitudes and political circumstances that lead to populist nationalism and xenophobia, including inequality within nations, and emphasised the power of civil society, the media, academia, religious and ecumenical leadership to advocate for peace and equality between nationals and immigrants. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Minorities, Professor Fernand Varennes told the conference that bigotry and xenophobia against refugees and migrants are not yet the new normal but it look not far over the horizon. He noted a worrying increase in nation states that do not even pay lip service to international human rights law, but instead show open contempt for the rights of migrants. Prof Varennes encouraged the worlds churches to monitor and advocate for the inalienable rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2018, and in the recently agreed Global Compacts for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and on Refugees. He called on churches to hold states to account whenever politicians push policies that disrespect human rights and urged churches to reinforce and build on the commitments already made by their governments. Church of England experts at the conference included USPGs theological adviser on global relations, Dr Evie Vernon OBrien, who also represented the Pan African Womens Ecumenical Empowerment Network, and Richard Reddie from Christian Aid. Evie Vernon OBrien believes the churches in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales need to keep issues of racial justice high on their agenda. These issues are very current in the UK, with rising signs of populist nationalism, and also Islamophobia, she said. We can see a lot of scaremongering, and cases where churches have not only failed to act against racism, but bought into that racism themselves. None of the scaremongering tactics can be proven with evidence, so we are dealing with a matter of perception. Stokers of fears against migrants which picture them as takers and locals as losing out, are based on lies. Richard Reddie highlighted the conferences emphasis on scripture which can be used as either a basis for insider versus outsider mentality, or to emphasise Jesus command to welcome the stranger. He added that for the Church of England, the claim that migrants make a contribution to their receiving communities comes very close to home. In almost every place where the Church of England is growing, it is growing thanks to Black and immigrant Anglicans, he said. Traci Blackmon from the United Church of Christ USA named the foundations of anti-black and brown racism in current US anti-immigrant policies, which she said are congruent with the US history of racism that is both systematic and systemic. When President Trump closed the refugee programme it was not designed to stop border crossing from the north. It was focused on the south, where migrants are most likely to be poor and non-white skin, she told the conference. Blackmon went on to name the importance of racist and anti-immigrant political hate speech to build conditions which enable longer-term residents of nations to justify harsh and unjust treatment of newcomers: Propaganda is essential to lead people to act inhumanely. It is always easier to oppress people that we detest. Dr Peniel Rajkumar, a priest from the Church of South India and interfaith scholar who serves as WCC Programme Executive for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, invited experts from different religious traditions the conference. Speakers from Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist traditions pointed to core doctrines from their traditions that can lead the faithful away from fear of the stranger. Katsutoshi Mizumo from Japan spoke on the Buddhist call to compassion; Prof Anantanand Rambachan elaborated the Hindu belief in the presence of God in all persons regardless of age, gender or ethnicity; and Dr Aref Nayed described Islam as a migratory religion where all people are strangers seeking to be led by God in Gods way, adding that all Muslims who abuse migrants, abuse Islam. Religious communities, including Saint Egidio, Focolare and Taize spoke on their work with refugees and migrants, giving insights into the personal stories of individual refugees and their struggles to come to terms with the new cultural world they find themselves in when arriving in Europe. Several speakers raised the issue of racism as one of the building blocks of colonisation and the large-scale disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples, coming through particularly strongly in regional reporting from the continents of Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. Finally, media practitioners from the World Association of Christian Communication and church and secular media experts from six global regions presented ways to utilise media platforms to counter the narratives of fear underpinning xenophobic thought and action. Calaveras County Sheriff's Office View Photos San Andreas, CA Officials have in custody one of two suspects who had escaped arrest after a marijuana robbery and torture incident near Murphys followed by a deadly multi-vehicle chase. As reported here, the June 24 robbery of a U-Haul filled with marijuana from a location on French Gulch Road included torture-style attacks on multiple victims who were bound to chairs and robbery of other valuables. Following a multiple vehicle chase along Highway 12 near Valley Springs, four male suspects from Illinois, Roseville and San Diego were arrested. Two more reportedly escaped from one of the vehicles and eluded capture by running from the scene. Another male perished in a crash that occurred during the course of the highway pursuit. According to Calaveras County Sheriffs spokesperson Sgt. Rachelle Whiting, 30-year-old Carlos Oshan Merkhai of Phoenix, Arizona, who had been identified by case investigators as one of the two runaway suspects, arrived in Calaveras County on Monday night. Arizona law authorities had picked him up on several related felony warrants for which the bail totaled $5 million and he was transported to San Andreas. According to the custody log, he was booked into the Calaveras County Jail on the following charges: kidnapping for ransom as well as to commit robbery; torture; carjacking; also assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm. As the case remains under investigation, Sgt. Whiting says no other details are available at this time. California State Capitol Building View Photos Sacramento, CA Governor Jerry Brown signed new gun laws, but also denied some that he feels are unnecessary. Brown put his signature on a new law that will require Californians to undergo at least eight hours of training, including live fire exercises, in order to carry a concealed weapon. In the past, California law has allowed sheriffs and police chiefs to require up to 16 hours of training before issuing a permit, but there was no minimum training requirement, leading to different rules in different jurisdictions. Brown also signed a bill clarifying that rapid fire so called bump-stocks are illegal in the state. Brown vetoed a bill that would have expanded a 2014 law that gives family members the ability to request that a judge remove firearms from someone that poses a threat. A bill that passed in the legislature would have expanded it to mental health workers, school employees and colleagues. The Governor stated in his veto message that people can seek restraining orders related to guns instead by working with family members or law enforcement. He also vetoed a bill that would have created a state system so that suicidal people can register themselves on a list so that they are banned from buying guns. MEXICO CITY (AP) Authorities found the bodies of two Mexican marines wrapped in blood-stained sheets and dumped on a street in the Caribbean coast resort of Cancun on Wednesday. The bodies were found in downtown Cancun, relatively far from most of the resort's hotels. The prosecutor's office said the two marines, aged 24 and 36, had been stabbed to death. The Mexican navy condemned the killings, saying the two marines were off duty when they were killed. The two servicemen were based in the nearby township of Isla Mujeres. Before 2017 Cancun was relatively calm, but killings have increased. In the first eight months of 2018, there were 342 homicides in Cancun about 1.4 killings a day in the city of 750,000, more than double the 148 killings in the same period of 2017. In a single day in August, police found eight bodies strewn at various points on the streets of Cancun. RELATED: Gunmen kill man, wound 2 inside Acapulco beach restaurant The deaths in Mexico's busiest resort echo the bloody violence in Acapulco that started in 2006 and eventually brought down the once-glittering Pacific resort. "It is the new Acapulco," Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope said of Cancun, suggesting the resort needed "a massive federal intervention and changes in state government personnel." The government of Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located, hired anti-crime activist Alberto Capella as the state's top police official Wednesday. Capella previously served in the state of Morelos and in Tijuana during that border city's crackdown on violence. "It's sign they are starting to take the problem seriously," Hope said. Mexico's experience suggests Cancun doesn't have to take the long slide into chaos that Acapulco experienced, after rival drug cartels began warring over the Pacific resort in the early 2000s. The resort of Los Cabos was wracked by waves of killings in 2017 that gave Baja California Sur Mexico's second-highest homicide rate, at 69 per 100,000 inhabitants. But an infusion of thousands of troops and federal police early this year brought those killings down rapidly. "They were able to turn it around in Los Cabos," Hope said, but added: "It is possible, but it requires a relatively big intervention." RELATED: Beach destination among most violent Texas cities, FBI data shows Once a city gets as bad as Acapulco, it is hard to get back under control. The State Department again warned U.S. citizens this week to avoid Acapulco, after authorities disarmed the municipal police force because they suspected drug gangs had infiltrated the police department. In 2017, Acapulco had a homicide rate of 103 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in Mexico and the world. By comparison Cancun had a homicide rate of about 33 per 100,000, a fraction of Acapulco's rate but still above Mexico's national average of about 25 per 100,000 inhabitants. The violence in Acapulco started with drug gangs warring for control of the city, with severed heads appearing in the resort and shootouts occurring on the well-known coastal boulevard. Cancun has not yet seen many such public shootouts, but in July five people were killed and three wounded when assailants entered a shop in Cancun and opened fire on a group of police officers. The attack on the shop between Puerto Juarez and Puerto Sam, where visitors frequently take ferries to Isla Mujeres, killed one officer and four shop employees. No tourists or foreigners were among the injured or killed. A state official pushed back hard against a viral Facebook post claiming the Alamo is "being gutted." "It's complete nonsense," said Bryan Preston, a spokesman for the Texas General Land Office. The Tuesday Facebook post from a group called #RethinkNirenberg, which appears to be a small, local political organization, has sparked widespread outrage from locals and Texas history enthusiasts. "The 6 flags of Texas, gone," reads the post. "The display of terrified women and children hiding from the Mexican Army's assault is gone. The soldier and patriot figures doing battle in the big diorama are gone. It's bad. They're ruining the Alamo." RELATED: 7 things that will change downtown if the proposed Alamo plan is approved The post has been shared at least 3,600 times and has drawn more than 1,400 reactions and 620 comments. But officials said it's simply not true. The six flags that used to hang in the Alamo were removed because conservationists determined they were putting too much stress on the church walls, Preston said. They've been on display in the Cavalry Courtyard for years. The diorama was moved to the gift shop several years ago but was recently placed in a vault to await conservation repairs. As for the "display" of the terrified women and children, Preston isn't even sure that exists. "I've worked here for three years, and I don't know what he's talking about," he said. Representatives from the #RethinkNirenberg group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. RELATED: Sea turtle exhibit, three new rides coming to SeaWorld San Antonio next year Preston said the post is typical of activists who oppose the plan to renovate the Alamo Plaza. The plan, which was approved by the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee earlier this month, calls for several major changes, most notably the relocation of the Cenotaph to a different portion of Alamo Plaza and the construction of an Alamo museum. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has signed off on the plan and asked San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg to do the same. The plan will also be voted on by the city council. Opponents to the plan have been outspoken about their disapproval. Around a dozen opponents were expelled from the City Council Chambers during the most recent vote on the plan. "They run wild with their own suspicions and conjecture rather than just asking what's going on," Preston said. "Folks who love the Alamo should not spread lies about it," he added. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns Global oil prices rose Thursday morning as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries concluded a meeting in Algiers, where the group wrestled with pressure from President Donald Trump to pump more. Benchmark Brent crude was up slightly at $81 a barrel on London's markets, while West Texas Intermediate was trading up at more than $72 per barrel. Brent hit a four-year high this week at $80 per barrel. American drivers in recent months have felt the effect at the gas pump, where prices have rise to a national average of around $2.85 per gallon. OPEC has come under attack from President Trump all year, and most recently this month, for limiting production which helped drive up oil prices. JPMorgan in a report last weekend cited geopolitical risks, including the trade war with China, North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations and the chance of "a major miscalculation from sanctions" against Iran, that could push the price of oil toward $90 a barrel. "Sanctions seem to be biting earlier and more forcefully than originally anticipated," said Frank Verrastro, an oil expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Thursday's increase comes as a Reuters report said that Saudi Arabia, OPEC's de facto leader, will temporarily pump 500,000 barrels per day more to ease tight supplies in the wake of American sanctions against Iran, which is a major supplier. Despite that, Bob Tippee, editor of Oil & Gas Journal, said the president's jawboning of OPEC leaders may not help much. "I don't think the important OPEC producers - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Emirates - want to get in open conflict with Trump," Tippee said. "They are going to do what's in their economic interest. And that's what they are doing." In a communique released after its meeting last weekend, OPEC "expressed its satisfaction regarding the current oil market outlook, with an overall healthy balance between supply and demand." OPEC said in the communique that its leaders "expressed its satisfaction regarding the current oil market outlook, with an overall healthy balance between supply and demand." Tippee said that producers see their comfort zone in the $75 to $80 range, where they "can make money and it doesn't extinguish demand." OPEC learned the hard way when it comes to opening its spigots to flood the market: "They have been cautious because back in 1997, [OPEC] increased production just as the Asian financial collapse was happening," Tippee said. "Demand slumped. Along came this slug of OPEC crude and it crushed the market. It was really painful for producers." Ever since, the organization - which produced roughly 30 percent of the world's daily consumption of around 100 million barrels - has been reluctant to splash the market. Global demand is strong at more than 100 million barrels a day. Venezuela, once a key world supplier, has seen production decline dramatically in recent years. Iran sanctions have taken a bite out of production, and Libyan violence this past summer interfered with production. On top of all that, U.S. producers, which have pushed domestic production to an all-time high of 11 million barrels a day, have slowed drilling activity after pressure from investors to spend less. The result is a very tight sliver between worldwide supply and demand. That means any increase in demand or a decline in production in some corner of the world can send prices upward. Sources said the supply increase by Saudi Arabia is not an official OPEC increase. Oil prices have been on a roller coaster over the past decade. They peaked in the $140s a barrel a decade ago. Prices bobbed in the $40-to-$50-per-barrel range from 2015 through late 2017. Oil prices began to rise out of the doldrums about a year ago, after self-imposed production limits by Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producer Russia began to take effect. There's a new place in town to throw axes. After months of preparation, Stumpy's Hatchet House will finally open its doors on Sept. 29, according to its website. Located at 758 Isom Road, the company announced plans to move into San Antonio its first Texas location several months ago. Like San Antonio Axe Throwing, which opened this spring, Stumpy's offers customers the opportunity to take turns hurling axes at targets. Guests will be provided with instruction and safety information before being brought to a wooden target and provided with hatchets to throw. All guests, regardless of whether or not they're throwing, must be 21. Sandals and open-toed shoes are banned. From our subscriber site: Ax-throwing the latest trend in fun in San Antonio In addition to 12 throwing pits, Stumpy's also offers a woodshed party room, buckets of ice and giant jenga. Beer and wine can be brought from home (no hard liquor allowed) and food can be purchased on the premises, the website said. Prices vary by party size. Groups with fewer than five people are charged $20 per person for an hour of throwing, while parties of five or more will pay $40 per person for two-hour sessions, according to the site. Non-throwers pay $15, according to the company's site. The location will be open Wednesday through Sunday. S. M. Chavey is a staff writer for mySA.com. Read more of her stories here. | sarah.chavey@express-news.net | 210-250-3122 | Twitter: @smchavey Jackie Gorman has resigned as CEO of San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside, ending an eight-year tenure during which she expanded the nonprofit to become a major force in the revival of the East Side. SAGEs board is searching for a new CEO and hopes to have a new one in place by December, said Robert Melvin, chairman of the nonprofits board. In the meantime, SAGEs Director of Operations Akeem Brown is serving as interim CEO. Shes in good standing with us. Theres no issues. She thought it was time to move on, Melvin said. Gorman wasnt immediately available for comment on Thursday morning. She became CEO of SAGE in 2010, around the time the longtime East Side organization took on a new, narrower focus on promoting economic development in the area, Melvin said. RELATED: East Side to receive $150 million Pearl-like development When Gorman took the position she was SAGEs only full-time employee, Melvin said; the organization now has about nine full-time employees and five interns, he said. He credited Gorman for her skill at forming relationships with business and community leaders and for helping to change the public perception of the East Side. Jackie has been a critical component to the reason why SAGE has ascended to where it is today, Melvin said. With all the activity thats taken place on the East Side, she played a critical role in that. The East Side has seen a surge of new development in recent years, especially in the neighborhoods of Dignowity Hill and Denver Heights close to downtown. Several blockbuster construction projects are in the works, including a $150 million mixed-use development in Denver Heights, a tech innovation center at the abandoned Merchants Ice complex and a 271-unit apartment complex by national developer NRP Group. During Gormans tenure, part of the East Side was designated a Promise Zone, clearing the way for it to receive federal grants. SAGEs board is looking for a new CEO with experience in the local area, but isnt ruling out candidates from outside San Antonio, Melvin said. We are looking for talent. Ideally its someone that has an understanding of the city, someone who has an understanding of economic development, Melvin said. I believe that we can find that within the city, but we are shooting that net on a broader scale. The state has received $8.7 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration to help provide funding for the Illinois Department of Human Services Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. The funds will support communities to provide voluntary home visiting services for women during pregnancy and to parents of children up to kindergarten. WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena Thursday for former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's memos as well as the supporting documents the FBI used in its application to conduct surveillance on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Republicans requested McCabe's memos from the Justice Department over the summer and were told they would not be shared, according to several lawmakers. But the revelation last week that McCabe suggested in his memos that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein considered recording President Donald Trump in an apparent effort to remove him from office put new urgency behind the GOP's desire to see the documents. Rosenstein has denied he made any such suggestion. The White House said earlier this week that Rosenstein would meet with Trump on Thursday to discuss the reports, but the meeting was postponed until next week. In recent days, conservative lawmakers have weighed pushing for a vote on a resolution to impeach Rosenstein, after failing to secure such a measure over the summer. Some, such as Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, have also called for Rosenstein to resign if he is not willing to come to Capitol Hill and explain himself. On Thursday, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a Freedom Caucus co-founder, said lawmakers were "moving in a good direction" toward securing Rosenstein's testimony "soon." The Judiciary Committee's subpoena does not include a summons for Rosenstein. It does also demand that the Justice Department furnish "all documents supporting" claims the FBI made in its application to conduct surveillance on Page, as well as documents from the department's probe of Russian interference during the 2016 elections that were previously shared with the "Gang of Eight" - a bipartisan group of congressional and intelligence committee leaders who receive the highest-level classified intelligence briefings in Congress. A group of conservative Republicans, including Meadows and Jordan, had previously requested that Trump declassify those documents, as well as parts of the actual application to surveil Page. The president initially agreed to do so but then reneged on his promise several days later, after allies impressed upon him that it would be a dangerous move. Leading Democrats, who had also warned against declassifying the materials, because of national security concerns, stressed again Thursday that the materials contained too much sensitive information to be shared with the panels. Trump's about-face had "not stopped the President's enablers in Congress from trying to obtain these documents themselves so that they can selectively leak and misrepresent the information they contain in an attempt to undermine the Special Counsel's investigation," Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement Thursday. Rep. Jerold Nadler, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said in a joint statement: "House Republicans are playing a very dangerous game by attempting to force the Department of Justice to reveal materials relating to an ongoing criminal investigation to protect President Trump. Republicans have shown time and time again that they are willing to cherry pick, mischaracterize, and leak sensitive law enforcement and counter intelligence information, putting our national security at risk." Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions that reviewing the documents is "essential to our investigation." He gave the Justice Department until Oct. 4 to produce the subpoenaed materials. The subpoena comes on top of a series of letters that House Republicans recently issued to various potential witnesses they hoped to interview as part of their ongoing probe. According to Judiciary Committee Democrats, that list includes former FBI Director James Comey; former attorney general Loretta Lynch; former acting attorney general Sally Yates; former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who recently pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI; and Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, the research firm behind a now-famous dossier alleging Trump has various personal and business ties to Russia. On Thursday, attorneys for Simpson wrote to Goodlatte and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chair of the House Oversight Committee, to decline the invitation, complaining that the panels were biased, that Republican members had been "smearing him" and that Trump's "staunchest protectors" on the committees were simply out "to undermine the Special Counsel's investigation." "Mr. Simpson will not agree to an interview conducted by this task force, which has established a clear record of flouting its own rules of confidentiality and ignoring and abusing the rights of Americans who come before it," they wrote. Professing his innocence till the end, an East Texas man convicted of drowning his former housemate and stuffing her body into a barrel of lime was put to death in the first of two consecutive executions scheduled in the Lone Star State. Now, if Thursday's punishment goes through as planned, it'll be the first time in six years that Texas has put to death two prisoners in two nights, a grim milestone that comes amid a slight uptick in executions here this year. "I'm not the one that killed Christina, so whatever makes y'all happy," Troy Clark said in his last words. "I love ya'll. I'll see you on the other side. Y'all be good. OK Warden I'm ready. " He chuckled before giving his final statement. The lethal dose began at 6:15 p.m., according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman. "I feel it," he said as the drugs began to flow. He was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m. The Tyler man was sentenced to die in 2000 for killing Christina Muse out of fear the young mother would snitch on him for his drug use, according to court records. He was convicted in part due to the testimony of his then-girlfriend Tory Bush, who admitted to the crime then fingered Clark - even though there was no physical evidence connecting him to the murder. The May 1998 slaying came just after Muse moved out of the Smith County home where Clark and Bush lived and sold meth. One day when Muse stopped back at the home to visit, she and Clark started talking and at some point in the conversation, according to court records, he used a stun gun to take her down, then duct-taped her arms and legs and left her in a closet for hours. Then, he moved her into the bathtub and ordered Bush to get a board so he could beat the bound woman. After drowning Muse, according to court records, Clark ordered his girlfriend to go get lime. When she got back, he dumped the slain woman's body in a blue barrel filled with lime, cement mix and water. Later, according to the state's theory, Clark and some friends loaded the barrel into a truck and ditched it in a remote spot on his landlord's property. When authorities found the gruesome remains, they also discovered the body of Tracy Mize - another possible victim - decaying in a septic tank on the same property. Clark has consistently denied any involvement in Muse's death, saying he wasn't at home at the time of the slaying, and that he was out delivering drugs. No physical evidence linked him to the crime, defense lawyers pointed out. In the years since he was sent to death row, Clark has argued that he suffered bad lawyering, didn't get to show evidence rebutting claims he would be a future danger to society, and that his girlfriend's testimony was self-serving and unreliable - especially considering she once confessed to the crime herself. "Clark's death sentence is the product of the largely uncorroborated testimony of an incentivized co-defendant and a trial attorney whose performance was abysmal," attorneys David Dow and Jeff Newberry wrote in a clemency petition, alleging the trial team failed to present evidence of Clark's traumatic childhood and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder. In the days leading up to Clark's execution, the case attracted attention from actress Susan Sarandon, author Mary Buser and renowned death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean. "Texas plans to execute Troy Clark on Wednesday but there are some serious problems with his case," Prejean tweeted. "Troy has always maintained his innocence. Someone else made a detailed confession and then completely changed her story in exchange for a reduced sentence." A day after Clark's scheduled date with death, Daniel Acker is slated for execution. The Sulphur Springs man was sent to death row in 2001 after he was convicted of strangling his girlfriend and pushing her from a moving car - though the state abandoned the strangulation theory after trial. Like Clark, he's consistently maintained his innocence, and defense lawyers have argued Marquetta George jumped from the car on her own, making the death possibly manslaughter but not capital murder. The last time two convicted killers were executed in two days was in 2012, when the state put to death Ramon Hernandez of Bexar County and Preston Hughes, from Harris County. Hughes, who also professed his innocence with his final words, was convicted in the stabbing deaths of two children. This time around neither of the executions is out of Harris County, the erstwhile "capital of capital punishment." Last year, the Lone Star State executed seven men, nearly one-third of the nation's 23 total. This year, the death house in Huntsville has now seen nine executions, and another seven are scheduled in the remainder of the year. Two more - including a cop-killer from Harris County - are on the calendar in early 2019. Despite the slight uptick in Texas this year, national numbers are likely to hold fairly steady by year-end, according to Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center. And even that uptick in the nation's busiest death chamber, he added, isn't necessarily indicative of any change in the long-term waning of capital punishment. "Executions look as though they will remain near generational lows this year and to the extent that there is any difference," he said, "that difference will be Texas." A fisherman died Thursday in a west Houston pond, where signs warn of alligators, police said. The man went under while fishing with his brother and a friend around 3:30 p.m. at Bishop Fiorenza Park near Westpark Drive at Eldridge Parkway, authorities said. HPD's helicopter and dive team launched a search and recovered the body hours later. ON THE HUNT: Bike bandit strikes Midtown The man's cause of death and identity will be confirmed by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, according to HPD. A sign near the water warns to "be aware of alligators." Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com A man who allegedly robbed two Starbucks coffee shops over the weekend was arrested Wednesday after a short chase on the East Side, police said. Sean Carlton Lacey, 28, is charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and one of evading arrest. San Antonio Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez said officers found him Wednesday morning outside of a hotel on Interstate 35 and Goldfield. He jumped inside of his vehicle when police approached him and led them on a short chase out to Interstate 10 and North Foster. Officers caught up to him there in an open field, Rodriguez said . The first Starbucks was robbed on Friday at Loop 1604 and Vance Jackson, Rodriguez said. The second Starbucks was hit on Sunday at Loop 410 and Vance Jackson, she said. In both robberies, Lacey used a gun to scare the baristas into giving him money and their cell phones, police said. RELATED: Police searching for 8 suspects accused of assaulting, robbing several victims at West Side club Were not sure if he kept (the phones) as a ploy for them not to ask for help, Rodriguez said. Lacey was acting alone in both robberies, investigators said. Rodriguez could not say whether investigators recovered the gun used, or how much money was stolen. We did have substantial evidence to prove that he was behind both of these robberies, she said. Lacey, who denied knowledge of the robberies, called out to his family as officers took him to a police vehicle Wednesday night in the parking lot of the police substation at 555 Academic Court. I love yall. Kiss my kids, man. he said. Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | | Twitter: @JBfromSA AUSTIN The top candidates for governor will face-off Friday in their only televised debate, giving little-known Democrat Lupe Valdez an opportunity to introduce herself to voters and attempt to cut into Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's momentum. Abbott leads Valdez, the former sheriff of Dallas County, by a double-digit margin in recent polls and in campaign fund-raising. During the first half of 2018, Abbotts campaign spent more than $19 million on advertising, compared the $113,000 Valdez spent, according to campaign finance reports. A Democrat hasnt won statewide office since 1994. But the party is hoping voters dissatisfied with Republican leadership in Washington D.C., will help boost their candidates on November 6. The hour-long debate at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin is Friday at 7 p.m. It offers Valdez a chance to introduce herself to voters, galvanize the Latino base and to throw punches at Abbott, who has gone largely unscathed this race, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. Valdez, whose parents were migrant farm workers, made history as the first Latina and openly gay person to win a major party nomination for Texas governor, but shes little known across the state. More than 30 percent of Democratic voters said they havent heard enough to form an opinion of Valdez in a recent Quinnipiac University Poll. Its not been a competitive race. She needs to introduce herself to Texas, Rottinghaus said. Her biography is her biggest advantage. More Information How to watch The Texas gubernatorial debate will air at 7 p.m. Friday on KSAT-TV (ABC) and KVDA-TV (Telemundo) in San Antonio. In Houston, it will air on KPRC-TV (NBC) and KTMD-TV (Telemundo), according to a release by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. The debate will also be live-streamed online. See More Collapse Abbott meanwhile, who is the states former attorney general and is seeking a second four-year term as governor, recently rolled out a series of television ads casting himself as a tough-on-crime leader who has helped grow the states economy. The ads dont highlight controversial issues he supported in the last legislative session, including the so-called bathroom bill that would have set restrictions on which public restrooms transgender people can use. We can assume Abbott will take the same tack as in his campaign ads that is, fairly middle of the road, brag about the positive, more or less wash over some of the negative things, Rottinghaus said. What the (Democratic Party) needs is someone who will take the fight to the Republicans on law and order, border security and education and health care. These are places where Greg Abbott is potentially vulnerable. Abbotts campaign did not return a request for comment about teh debate. Valdez, who has at times stumbled on the specifics of state policy, is likely to hammer on issues of public education, health care and wages. (Abbott) speaks of Texas values, but he is actively working against the well being of Texans, said Valdez campaign Press Secretary Juan Bautista Dominguez. amorris@express-news.net Early in the movie Crazy Rich Asians a Chinese-Singaporean father admonishes his young kids to finish their dinner, saying, Think of all the starving children in America. Im sure that everyone of my generation in the theater laughed at that joke. That little line contained within it many messages: The first is that China today its luxury homes, cars, restaurants and hotels is really rich, rich like most Americans cant imagine. The second is that this moment was destined to be a test of who will set the key rules of the global order in the 21st century. And this test is playing out with a blossoming full-scale trade war. The problem, as one top tech executive pointed out to me: China is not a near peer anymore. It is a peer. As Mary Meekers latest internet trends study noted, five years ago China had only two of the worlds largest publicly traded tech companies, while the U.S. had nine. Today, China has nine of the top 20 Alibaba, Tencent, Ant Financial, Baidu, Xiaomi, Didi, JD.com, Meituan and Toutiao and the U.S. has 11. Twenty years ago, China had none. And dont get me started on the biggest emerging work and services tool in the world artificial intelligence. Chinas plan is to catch up to America in AI and surpass it as soon as possible, and its well on its way. Because with AI, the more training data you can feed the machine, the faster it learns, the more patterns you can see and the more algorithms you can write to improve products and services or invent new ones. Because China has so many more people than we do, and so many more of them use mobile apps for their daily lives, Chinas ability to amass giant data sets and train more machines faster is considerable. Chinese companies are already the world leaders in computer vision/facial recognition and speech recognition, which can be used for commerce and for surveillance and societal control. In just the last two years there has been an explosion of fintech startups in China, offering mobile payments, lending, brokerage and banking. And the No. 1 and 3 drone manufacturers in the world DJI and Xiaomi are Chinese. In the daily barrage of Trump news and tweets, some of Donald Trumps statements are actually true like the need for the U.S. to confront Chinas unfair trade practices. China has grown incredibly these past 30 years with a very specific formula: hard work, unleashing capitalism, smart planning and long-range investments in education and infrastructure but also by stealing intellectual property, forcing technology transfers and cheating on World Trade Organization rules. We have to respond. But wisely. Historically, the U.S. could dominate the global scene and check a rising power like China and set the global rules, with just our sheer physical mass. That is just not possible any longer. But all is not lost. We have three huge assets that China doesnt have, and is unlikely to acquire them anytime soon. We should be doubling down on our strengths: immigration, allies and values. Instead, Trump is squandering them. Many of the smartest and most talented people in the world high-IQ risk-takers still want to come to our country. China cant attract the best and brightest Indian, Israeli, Arab, French, Brazilian and Korean immigrants, but we still can. So why would we put out a sign saying Go Away or make it harder for their students to stay here? Also, we have real allies in a way China does not. China has clients, customers and frightened neighbors. Finally, as a society, we stand for values people admire about the dignity of human beings, the rights of minorities and women, and the virtues of freedom and the rules for fair play. A strategic president wouldnt squander our strengths but would reinforce them by creating a stronger global network of people and countries that share our values. We will win this standoff with China, not by brute force alone, or by containment of Chinas giant economy, but by entanglement entanglement of Chinese students with our schools, Chinese businesses with our values, and the Chinese government with our allies. That is, with the broad alliances and global institutions, and their rules of fair play. Ultimately, the U.S. and China together will have to play the role that the U.S. played alone after World War II to define the rules of the new international order, from AI to privacy to trade. And our weight in that process will depend on the talent we attract, the allies we rally and the values we embrace and promote. Re: Ancestors the heroes, Your Turn, Sept. 20: Frederick Vasquezs letter concerned Alamo heroes. I descend from the citys Spanish founders. I wonder what their Mexican descendants felt in 1836 watching American settlers given free land in Mexico. Would Mexican citizens lose family ranches? Would their women be safe? Their language disappear? I cant know. And trying, after 200 years, to know revolutionary motivation is guesswork. Most hated President Antonio Lopez de Santa Annas brutal changes, but he was required to address threats to Mexico. Settlers failing to assimilate, who kept slaves illegally, were threats, but not all were fighters. Many wanted peace, and to stay on their land and manage their own affairs. But fight or negotiate? Some fought; more fighters were needed. A military leader was chosen. Sam Houston recruited in Tennessee and Kentucky. Not a legal immigrant or landowner, Houston came for personal ambition, appealing to other Americans to enter illegally and fight. Santa Anna promised death. Why fight? If another country has a cruel dictator, do you saddle up, leave home and ride off to challenge him? No, you dont. But if winners get free land, with Mexican law gone and slavery legal, you might. They did. Heroes? Depends who you ask. The result was Texas. We Texans are Americans today, an amazing cherished outcome. The Alamo became the Cradle of Texas Liberty, inspiring the decisive battle. Heroes? To their fellow fighters, yes. Maybe not to my ancestors, instantly second-class citizens for generations. Certainly not to anyone of African heritage, coming so close to freedom if the Texans lost, who saw themselves remain in slavery. Winners write history. We are the Alamo City. And we love our heroes. Jan Kissling Delay, delay, delay Lets look back two years and review what happened when President Barack Obama wanted a vote on his nomination for the Supreme Court vacancy. I distinctly remember there was a call to delay, delay, delay. Fast-forward two years, and what do we have? Now, we have President Donald Trump wanting to have his nomination rammed down our throats as expeditiously as possible when he was the one who wanted the delay two years ago. His nominee is being blasted for his past behavior, and still President Trump insists on having his nominee selected. Now there is no room for delay. Why not delay the vote on the nomination until the issue on behavior is resolved? It only makes sense. President Trump will not be paying for his nominees salary if he is voted in. We will. I want to make sure that we are getting our moneys worth. I dont want to pay someone who is to be held to the highest morals when that person does not fit the mold. Lets delay, delay, delay. Santos Hernandez Vote this time OK, Americans, your inattention to the 2016 election and often not voting could soon give you Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and then get ready He will sit on a court that will almost certainly harm womens reproductive rights, make voting more difficult and reduce environmental regulations. The court will also permit even more leeway in campaign contributions and curtail various immigrants rights. Maybe you who stuck your heads in the comfortable world of self will vote in 2018 and then 2020, this starting the move toward a Supreme Court that cares for millions of Americans rather than a selfish elite. Eugene Novogrodsky, Brownsville Who needs court? It appears we are looking at a tactic that will prevent any vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court from ever being filled. Its obvious that any time a candidate supported by one political party appears to be on the verge of getting confirmed, another political party only needs to leak allegations of misconduct, no matter how long ago those might have occurred, and demand an investigation by the FBI. This shouldnt be a concern, though. Pretty much any decision the court issues these days is supported by half the population and detested by the other half. Without a Supreme Court, there wont be any need to provide opinions about that pesky Constitution. This will give us a clean slate to start all over in building a model civilization. The legislative body of this country wouldnt be needed either. It isnt as if Congress, locked in paralysis of partisanship, is doing much of anything productive these days. That leaves the executive branch to stand on its own. All we need to do is decide whether we prefer a monarch or a dictator to efficiently run government, or perhaps someone else can make that decision for us so we dont have to waste time voting. We will all live in a state of peace and tranquility made possible by an unlimited supply of someone elses money, while the news and social media broadcast the wonders of our existence 24/7 without the constant bickering that is broadcast and printed today. Glenn Pollick Conservatives won Hillary Clinton did receive more popular votes than Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. But there is more to this story. The Federal Election Commissions website says 32 people ran for the presidency in the last election. The top four conservative candidates (Trump, Gary Johnson, Evan McMullin and Darrell Castle) received more popular votes than the remaining 28 candidates (including Clinton). In other words, the conservatives actually defeated the liberals with a majority of the nations popular vote, as well as winning the Electoral College for Trump by a significant number. Darrell Williams Sr. ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission chair, Priscilla Chigumba has hit back at MDC legislators who booed and labelled her thief when she briefly appeared in parliament recently for the swearing in of the Speaker of Parliament. She was in the company of Chief Justice Luke Malaba. Chigumba, told a local weekly that those who accuse her of rigging the 2018 election on behalf of Zanu PF were sore losers as she scorned the behaviour of opposition MPs. Their behaviour can best be explained as political posturing meant to ingratiate themselves with their supporters for reasons best known to them, she said. The High Court judge denies opposition claims she manipulated the poll adding that the poll management authoritys conscience is clear. She said she did not fault the MDC MPs for exercising their right to express their opinions but found everything wrong with them doing so on the basis of unproven claims. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and expression. However, I think it is grossly unfair to hurl unsubstantiated accusations at someone under the guise of exercising freedom of expression. During the period leading up to the polls, social media went abuzz with accusations the ZEC boss was out to steal the vote on Zanu PFs behalf. Some comments bordered on bare insults on her person. In her comments, Chigumba was evidently peeved by the abuse insisting her accusers, among them, individuals of repute, went beyond the normal to malign her for doing her work. I hold the considered view that there is an invisible line which must never be crossed. Unfortunately, it was crossed not for purposes of achieving any positive outcome, but purely to feed misogynistic prejudices and to maliciously distort a well-managed process and its outcome by sore losers. The social media was used to peddle falsehoods, hatred and threats on a fellow commissioner and on my person. However, I was not physically harmed by anyone. Chigumba challenged elected opposition MPs to use their terms in the house to change electoral laws that they were unhappy with so that they could be better served in 2023. Those who are unhappy with the current law are encouraged to work towards changing it now so that it accurately reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people and so that the electoral law will never again be the root cause of polarisation in our electoral processes, she said. NewZimbabwe Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News A commission of inquiry investigating an army massacre in Harare on August 1 has invited written submissions from the public as it begins its work. Soldiers were deployed onto the streets to break up opposition protests against delays in announcing presidential election results. At least seven people were killed and dozens more wounded. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has publicly stated he had not authorised the army deployment as required under the constitution. Media reports also suggested Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Phillip Valerio Sibanda had no prior knowledge of the deployment. Mnangagwa, under pressure from the opposition and Western countries, established a seven-member commission led by former South Africa President, Kgalema Motlanthe, to investigate the events of August 1. The commission was given three months to conclude its findings and is now turning to the public for assistance. Virginia Mabhiza, the secretary to the commission, said in a press statement on Wednesday that those who come forward would be protected. In order to assist the commission to make fair and appropriate findings, we hereby call upon members of the public with relevant information which may be of assistance to the Commission of Inquiry to submit written submissions with contact details to the Secretariat at Office No. 136 Cresta Lodge, Samora Machel Avenue, Harare. Call on the following 0242 777052 or email: PostElectionInquiry2018@gmail.com, the statement said. Submissions to the commission would be protected by law and will be received on a without prejudice basis. Necessary measures have been put in place to guarantee the safety and protection of potential witnesses. After receiving the written submissions, the commission shall conduct public hearings. The deadline for submission is October 12. Under Statutory Instrument 181 of 2018 (proclamation 6 of 2018), Mnangagwa listed nine terms of reference for the commission, namely: To inquire into the circumstances leading to the August 1 post-election violence; to identify the actors and their leaders, their motive and strategies employed in the protests; to inquire into the intervention by the Zimbabwe Republic Police in the maintenance of law and order; to investigate the circumstances which necessitated the involvement of the military in assisting in the maintenance of law and order; to consider whether the degree of force used was appropriate to the ensuing threat to public safety, law and order; to ascertain extent of damage/injury cause thereof; to investigate any other matters which the commission of inquiry may deem appropriate and relevant to the inquiry; to make suitable recommendations and to report to the President in writing the result of the inquiry within a period of three months from the date of swearing-in of the commissioners. Other members of the commission of Inquiry are United Kingdom international law expert, Rodney Dixon QC, former Commonwealth Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria, Chief of Defence Forces of the Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces General (Retired) Davis Mwamunyange. The team has three locals, constitutional lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku, University of Zimbabwe lecturer Professor Charity Manyeruke and former Law Society of Zimbabwe president Vimbai Nyemba. ZimLive Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News The absence of an Act of Parliament regulating the operational use of intelligence services in Zimbabwe is a concern for the MDC. The Army is regulated through the Defence Act, the Zimbabwe Republic Police is guided by the Police Act while the Prisons and Correctional Services are regulated through the Prisons and Correctional Service Act. Only the Central Intelligence office has no Act of Parliament guiding their operations, excitable individuals can manipulate the loose arrangement. This is worsened by the recent appointment of Owen Mudha Ncube as the head of the Ministry responsible for the intelligence services. The appointment is a manifestation of a failure, reluctance and disinterest of a total break from the past by the current government. In this day and age the authorities cannot be rewarding individuals who must be holed in solitary confinement under the roof of a supermax facility through executive appointments. Put differently, the atrocities committed by this shady individual only warrant imprisonment in the states biggest penitentiary, Chikurubi Maximum prison. Mnangagwa in his wisdom or lack of it thereof decided to elevate a mobster and formalize a vigilante by making him one of the most powerful occupants of the state. For the common Zimbabwean this appointment is a bad sign, it sends a chill down the spine of those with different views from the ones held by the governors. It is an appointment of shame. An appointment meant to send a clear message to prospective dissents that contrary to the previous arrangement where torture would be outsourced from vigilante groups like Chipangano, now the state has an official head of a militia funded on tax payers account. Mudha is a known violent kingpin, a ring leader of a Midlands based terror cult known as Al-Shabaab. This group has in the past orchestrated raids of homes belonging to opposition members demolishing property, torturing activists and their families. He is a thug who is known for public brawls including the infamous incident in July 2014 in which he was involved in a fistfight with Masango Matambanadzo from (Kwekwe Central) at Amaveni Shopping Centre. The fight came over allegations of instructing youths to perform acts of arson over a campaign including the two against each other. In Kwekwe senior MDC leaders like Blessing Chebundo have been victims of violence orchestrated by this fellow. At some point he was involved in a near fist fight with Tapiwanashe Matangaidze who was then a serving Deputy Minister in the government of Zimbabwe. The point we make is that an individual with no integrity must not be allowed anywhere near state security apparatus it endangers society. More importantly this is a period where President Chamisa has through his five point plan called for political and institutional reform. Security sector reform can only be possible when men and women of integrity are put in charge of state departments; Mudha is certainly not one of them. We also make the point that security services must be used to protect the territorial integrity of the land and maintain law and order. The appointment of Mudha is a clear personalization of the Intelligence services to serve a narrow personal agenda of power retention through repression, torture of civilians, abductions and forced disappearances. It is a turning of a security service into an official enemy of the people meant to keep dissenting voices silent and petrified. We also restate the need to establish the independent complains mechanism against members of the security services provided in section 210 of the constitution. An Act of parliament must provide an effective and independent mechanism for receiving and investigating complaints from members of the public about misconduct on the part of members of the security services and for remedying any harm caused by such misconducts. A combination of ignoring the urgency and obligation of this provision and appointment of compromised individuals brews a toxic concoction, sadly at the expense of public safety. We have in the past complained of abuse of the CIO in a time where billions of dollars are shipped out of the country, financial intelligence could have been used to stop the bleeding. We are therefore of the view that Mnangagwa must do the following: a) Reverse the appointment of Mudha forthwith b) Transform the Intelligence Services into an organization that can contribute in combating corruption, fight illicit financial flows and provide forensics around the trail of funds externalized. c) Enact a law governing the operational use of the intelligence services in Zimbabwe. d) Establish the independent complains mechanism against members of the security sector provided in section 210 of the constitution. e) Prioritize security sector transformation including ensuring the independence and professionalization of all security services. MDC Communications Breaking News via Email Loading... Related Zimbabwe Latest News The sad story of a Navy official who died during his honeymoon with his wife has surfaced on the internet. Earlier, the man named Stephen Kramar who was declared missing by his wife was found dead four days later. Stephen Kramar was a 27-year-old Navy veteran who recently got married to Jeffanie on Saturday, September 8, in Virginia, USA. The next day, the couple arrived at a resort called Kaunakakai at Molokai, their honeymoon destination in Hawaii. In a bid to look for a hiking trail that was suitable for himself and his wife, Stephen left for a hike on the following Monday. According to the wife, she was not at the beginning of the ordeal because Stephan was an avid hiker, so he's hiked a few mountains before. Most of them, though, were snow-capped mountains." Later in the day, Jeffanie received a text from her husband telling her that he was on his way back. But the lady who is also 27 years waited for him to no avail. As he did not return on time, she got worried and began calling his phone which went to voicemail every each time. "At 9:30 I called him a few times and it rang so I knew his phone was on, but then around 9:45, 10 o'clock, like, the seventh or eighth attempt of calling him, it went dead. It went to voicemail." 27-year-old groom and his wife Photo: Stephen Kramar Source: Facebook Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Newlyweds die on the way to their honeymoon after bride fell asleep while driving This prompted Jeffanie to go to the Maui police and lodge a complaint. After about 36 hours, several posts were placed on Facebook that indicated that Stephen was missing. "Please help find my husband so he can return safely! That is the best honeymoon present I could ever ask for-- just his safe return 'Please help find my husband by volunteering to work with the search and rescue teams on Molokai.' The more help we can get, the sooner we can find my husband! We are spending our honeymoon in Molokai and I cannot leave the island without him." The wedding celebration of the duo Photo: Stephen Kramar Source: Facebook Source: Facebook PAY ATTENTION: More Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App Later, she opened a GoFundMe campaign asking people to be volunteers in the large search party that are looking for her husband. A fire department crew with a minimum of 12 firefighters helped in searching for Stephen on foot while the fire department's Air One helicopter searched from the sky. These people were joined by Police Special Response Team members and even a tracking dog. Local volunteers also assisted in the search. After the long search for Stephen who is a Marylander, he was found dead at Pia Gulch which was half a mile away from the Wavecrest resort they were staying at. The cause of his death is still a baffle to Hawaiian investigators. An autopsy is set to be carried out to determine the cause of his death. Maui police post about Stephen being missing Photo: Maui Police Source: Facebook Source: Facebook PAY ATTENTION: Daily relationship gist and gossips on Africa Love Aid Originally, Jeffanie was supposed to travel with her husband back to their house at Potomac but she is still at Hawaii with other loved ones who are comforting her at this time of great difficulty & loss. The GoFundMe campaign that was initially meant to generate aid and volunteers to search for Stephen has now been reassigned to the acceptance of donations meant to bring Stephens body to his hometown as well as support his family. Selfie taken at honeymoon before Stephen died Photo: Stephen Kramar Source: Facebook Source: UGC Based on the updated campaign, several loved ones were said to be with the wife in Hawaii. They also asked that donors continue to be generous as they still intend to bring Stephens body back home. Some family & friends have made it to Hawaii to be with Jeffanie in this time of great difficulty & loss. At this time we ask for your continued support and sympathy toward the entire Kramar family as this campaign continues to assist them in bringing Stephen home. God Bless and Godspeed. Would you invite your ex to your wedding? Why? | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - A former aide to Senate president Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Moshood Mustapha, has described President Muhammadu Buhari as the best candidate for 2019 election - He said that Buhari would win the election without stress - Mustaph said his decision to stay with President Buhari was based on personal conviction, feeling and principle A former special adviser on inter-parliamentary affairs, protocol and special duties to the Senate president Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Moshood Mustapha, has said that his decision to stay in the All Progressives Congress (APC) was informed by his belief in the ability of President Muhammadu Buhari. Legit.ng gathered that Mustapha stated this on Wednesday, September 26, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin. READ ALSO: Breaking: Im ready, prepared for Saturdays primary election - Ambode He explained that as the coordinator for Buhari/Osinbajo campaign organisation in Kwara in 2015, he was not ready to dump the ship in the middle of the sea and look for a way to sail out. There are ways we can manage our mistakes. It is not about abandoning. If you say that your wife offends you, she will always offend you and you will also offend her. But you have to manage your mistakes, otherwise you will keep marrying everyday. A lot of things come around, that is why you should always embrace perseverance. That is what politics should be all about. Mustapha, who also served as a commissioner under Saraki, said his decision to stay with President Buhari was based on personal conviction, feeling and principle. I must feel comfortable and I must be able to take decision on my own. So either any leader or no leader, I choose to work with him when I was with him. I was not coerced to work with him when I was with him. It was based on my own personal conviction, it was about my personal feeling and when I feel otherwise, I decided to take the next step. I am on my own. I take decision and I face the consequences of my actions. It is based on my personal volition that I decided to venture into politics in the first instance, he said. The former member of the federal House of Representatives stated that he decided to move with the progressives because of some of the things that were happening at the state level. And I decided on my own that aside this Buhari, I have not seen any other candidates like him. If anybody wants to come out, let me see what he has for the goodness of our people, said the former to Saraki aide. Mustapha, who is aspiring for governorship seat in state on the platform of the APC, explained that he could not because of his former principal, turn to a nomadic politician, who jumps from one party to another. As far as I am concerned, I have every right as a citizen of Nigeria to pitch my tent with someone that can help me to actualise my dream. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the best news updates And my dream is service to the people and where I realise that I am not able to achieve my dream, it is expected of me to take myself out of that place; that is why there are so many options, he said. (NAN) Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that a federal lawmaker, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, called for a probe into the budgetary allocations to the National Assembly. Adamu made the call when speaking with journalists in Abuja on Sunday, August 19. Nigeria Election 2019: What are Bukola Sarakis chances against President Buhari | - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng News The September 22 gubernatorial election in Osun state was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a result of the slim margin between the votes polled between Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Joseph Afuwape, the returning officer, said the margin between the candidate of the PDP and the candidate of the APC was not significant enough to declare a winner. The PDP candidate polled 254,698 votes while the APC flagbearer had 254,345, leaving a gap of 353 votes. INECs election guideline made pursuant to Section 153 of the Electoral Act stipulates a rerun if the margin of victory in an election is lower than the number of voters in units where elections are cancelled. Since the total number of cancelled votes (3,486) exceeds the difference between the two leading parties (353), Afuwape said it was impossible for him to declare any party as the winner. Consequently, INEC announced that a rerun election would be conducted today, Thursday, September 27, specifically at the polling units where votes were cancelled, to enable the people of Osun state finally decide who will succeed Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The supplementary contest is a straight battle between Adeleke and Oyetola. However, other parties will be allowed to participate. It will be taking place at seven polling units spanning through four local government areas, namely Ife North (one polling unit), Ife South (two polling unit), Osogbo (one polling unit) and Orolu (three polling unit). The total number of voters in the units where the elections were cancelled is 3,498. To read about how the September 22 election, check our live updates here. Breakdown of the areas where the rereun will be conducted Ife North - Ward 10, PU2 Ife South - Olode Ward 07, PU12, Adereti Village Ife South - Osi Ward 8 PU10, Aluti Erin Primary School, Albert village Orolu - Ward 08 PU001, Kajola village Orolu - Ward 08 PU004 Idi Iya village Orolu - Ward 09 PU 003 Gbogbo Primary School Adeleke Osogbo - Ataoja Ward 05 PU 017 Adewale Street As the people of Osun state, particularly the polling units affected, troop out to finally decide who become their next governor between Adeleke and Oyetola, Legit.ng is fully on ground to give you bit by bit insightful live updates from the polling units and the collation centre. Catch our live updates of the Osun rerun election here. Dont forget to refresh your browser always for fresh updates. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.05pm[Iragbiji]: Jubilation galore in Iragbiji, Oyetolas home town as news of APC reported victory filters in. Oyetolas supporters celebrate ahead of INECs official announcement Source: Original APC supporters anticipate victory in the Osun rerun poll Source: Original 3.51pm[Osogbo]: Jeleel Sulaimon, reported to be the executive chairman of an LCDA in Alimosho said, from his observation, the election has been peaceful. He gave kudos to the good people of Osogbo for the votes they cast for APC. He also commended the security agents. Jeleel Sulaimon, reported tobe the executive chairman of an LCDA in Alimosho addressing journalists. Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.50pm: Results of the exercise have started trickling in. Follow live updates of unconfirmed results of the rerun election here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.46pm[Orolu LGA]: Dr Joe Oke Odumakin, one of the observers, briefing journalists about her assessment of the poll, said the process was peaceful in the two voting units she visited. READ ALSO: Osun rerun: Unconfirmed results trickle in as PDP, APC battle for votes (live updates) She said though there were lots of allegations about voters harassment in Orolu LG she didn't witness anything of such when she got there. She said her team met about six elderly voters on their way and they complained of harassment but she told me them to be patient The reportedly followed her to Idi Iya polling unit to cast their votes. Odumakin said that as the time she got to Idi Iya polling unit, 106 out of the 167 registered voters in the unit had already voted. According to her, the situation was the same at Gbogbo in Orolu LG. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.30pm[Ife South]: Sorting of votes reportedly begins at Ward 07, PU 012, Olode, Adereti Village, Ife South LGA. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.15pm [Osogbo]: Voting concludes at point 1 . US consular general with the electoral officials during sorting out of votes. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2pm: INEC said all the issues of the reported denial of Journalists' and observers' access to polling units have been resolved. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.47pm [Osogbo]: Voting concluded at voting point 1 . It remains voting point 2 now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.36pm[Osogbo]: The process is gradually coming to an end here. Voters on the queue at point A are just 8 while we have like 20 voters at point B. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.05pm: Shegun Awoyemi, an agent of the PRP has been arrested at Polling unit 17, Ward 5. A foreign observer called the attention of the security agents to him. The foreign obaserver said he has been observing him since. He said whenever the voters finish casting their votes they will go and meet him. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the best news updates He, therefore, asked the security officer to search him and a total amount of N21, 140 was found in his inner pocket. He has just been taken away. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.51pm: A journalist named Chinma Joel was reportedly attacked and beaten up by political thugs at Ola Iya junction in Osogbo. The junction is very close to Alekuwodo where the election is taken place. His camera and tripod also reportedly damaged. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.18pm [Osogbo]: Our reporter has just spoken with Chongs W. Mantu, the police officer reportedly in charge of monitoring and compliance at the polling unit. Mantu said that journalists and observers are being restricted from entering Orolu LG where the rerun is also taking place because some stalwarts of an unnamed political party were going to the place under the pretence of being election observers and journalists. He said the people were stopped along Ifon Road and arrested around 3am early this morning. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.51am [Osogbo]: Heavy gunshots from some supected hoodlums. The security agents are trying to repel them. Voters, despite the pandemonium, did not leave the polling unit. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.41am[Orolu LG]: Voters in Orolu LG are reportedly protesting after their PVCs were seized by gun-wielding thugs and they were sent away. At Kajola Community Primary School, where Ward 8, Unit 1 is located, not less than 50 suspected thugs are allegedly providing security for INEC officials. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.40am[Osogbo]: Election is going on smoothly at Unit 17, Ward 5. Electorate are being civil, waiting patiently to exercise their franchise. Queue has been reduced. Our reporter gathered that voting may soon come to an end. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.27am [Osogbo]: US consul general monitoring the process at ward 5 unit 17, Osogbo. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original He currently sitting down with the presiding officers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.48am: Accreditation and voting have allegedly commenced at Unit 12, Ward 7, Adereti village, Olode-Ife, Ife South LG. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.47am [Osogbo]: There is a little drama as security agents ask journalists to move back from the polling unit. After a brief argument, the security allowed reporters access for coverage again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.21am[Osogbo]: Normalcy has returned. Voters on the line to exercise their right. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.10am [Orolu]: Voters and journalists have been allegedly chased away from polling units. INEC has promised to look into this. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10.06am: A yet-to-be-identfied man has just been arrested. He was caught distributing money. Our correspondent reported that he refused to reveal his name despite persuasion from the press. He, however, confirmed his offence was distributing money to voters. He was allegedly in possession of Fake voters cards. He has been whisked away by security agents. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.55am [Osogbo]: Dr Joe Odumakin, an activist and director of Women Arise for Change Innitiative said she is satisfied with wat she has seen here so far and said it means Nigerians are moving forward "The election is peaceful. We have seen massive turnout despite the rain," she said. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.40am [Osogbo]: Rain has stopped. Voting continues smoothly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.25am[Osogbo]: Voters defy downpour remain on the queue to elect at polling unit. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.57am: [Osogbo]: Voters on queue patiently waiting for their turn. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.56am [Oshogbo LGA]: Local and foreign observers at Unit 17, Ward 5, Osogbo. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.50am[Osogbo LGA]: Dr Nwabu Gabriel, the head of Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizenship Awareness gave his observation of the election so far. He said the election is going on smoothly and commended INEC and the electorate for conducting themselves properly. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.42am [Orolu]: Voters at Idimu area of Ifon-Orolu are allegedly unable to visit the three polling units in Orolu LG. Hoodlums are said to be turning back voters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.30am [Orolu LG]: At Idiya, Ward 8, Unit 1, voters have been allegedly driven away from the polling unit by hoodlums and they have taken refuge at the palace of Olufon of Ifon-Orolu. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8:21am Oshogbo LGA: Voting has commenced as aged people are reportedly given preference at PU 17, ward 5. Voters standing in long cue at polling unit 17, Ward 5 in Oshogbo. Credit: Premium Times Source: UGC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.20am: The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun state, Olusegun Agbaje visited Ward 5 Unit 17, Alekuwodo Osogbo. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun state, Olusegun Agbaje visited Ward 5 Unit 17, Alekuwodo Osogbo. Credit: The Punch Source: UGC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8am [Ward 5 Unit 17, Alekuwodo in Osogbo]: There is reportedly heavy presence of security operatives as voters are already on the queue waiting for voting to commence. INEC officials are also on ground. The security operatives are stationed at the entrance of the street and at every adjoining street to prevent disruption of the exercise. Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Source: Original -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:15am [Orolu LGA]: There is apprehension in Ifon, Orolu LGA as residents gather in tens and hundreds discussing, a report by Premium Times states. It was alleged that about twelve vehicles carrying thugs working for one of the parties drove ahead. Observers, residents and other interested parties are waiting for security reinforcement to proceed to polling units. Osun Election 2018: I will surely win this election - Senator Adeleke | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - The Nigerian Police Force has arrested a 43-year-old fraudster who threatened to kill former vice president Atiku Abubakar - A series of menacing text messages sent from the suspect to the former VP, his wife and daughter were also made public - The suspect was arrested at the toll-gate along Lagos-Ibadan express way, Lagos state, while on the run to escape arrest A 43-year-old fraudster, Augustus Akpan, has been arrested by the Nigerian Police Force, for allegedly threatening to kill former vice president Atiku Abubakar and his family if he failed to withdraw from the 2019 presidential race. The development was made public in a statement signed by the spokesman for the NPF, DSP Jimoh Moshood, on Wednesday, September 26. In the statement which was sent to Legit.ng, the police disclosed that it recovered a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge plus mobile phone and the SIM card which was used by the suspect to send the threat messages to Atiku, his wife and daughter. The wordings of the various text messages were also disclosed. READ ALSO: Osun re-run: State govt declares Thursday, September 27 as public holiday The message to Atiku read: Turaki Atiku, we are watching you and your family, we ask you right now to withdraw from the race for Presidency, we will kill, rape your wife and daughters. That your ambitious and black daughter Maryam who worked at CBN and left because we were going to mess her up. We will molest, rape, deform her and kill her. Your daughter Fatimah the former commissioner of health in Adamawa state, we have a lot of information about her; also pictures of her naked body. We will mess your overly prostitute wife Jennifer up. We have a lot about her. Let Buhari run against your PDP members. We know that you are bigger than all those candidates in PDP. That is why we need you to step down. We will blow your plane off from the sky and we will poison you and your family. Atiku Abubakar, take our words for granted and watch what will happen to your family before you. You are going to see what we will do to you and your family. We know where and where your children travel to. We have watched your daughter who is a strong supporter of her father (your daughter Maryam) at number 5, Buzi close and number 5, Lake Maracaibo close." The message to the former VPs wife read: Jennifer, tell your husband to step down. We will blow up his plane and kill all of you his family. We will rape you and all his daughters and also kill all of you out there. Do not underestimate us. We know your office at 13 Danube Street Maitama. We will blow up the place and rape all your step daughters that we know you dont like already. Tell him to step down now and forget about running for the presidency." The text message to Atikus daughter, Rukaiya read: Tell your dad to step down. He should forget about the presidency. If he refuses, we will blow up his plane, the Gulf Stream from the sky, and also rape you and kill of his daughters. No amount of police or protection will stop us. We know where all of you live in. We know number 5 Buzi close and number 5, Lake Maracaibo close. Try us and blood shall spread." PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The NPF disclosed that the suspect was arrested at the toll-gate along Lagos-Ibadan express way, Lagos state, while on the run to escape arrest. Investigation is being concluded into the matter and the suspect will be arraigned in court on completion of investigation. Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, said his life and that of members of his family was under threat due to his decision to contest the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The presidential aspirant made the statement in a petition to President Buhari titled: Petition over criminal intimidation and threat to my life, that of members of my family, and cyber stalking using mobile phone number 08148228704. Nigeria Latest News: Atiku Abubakar - Exclusive Comments About The Elections - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit.ng - The Nigerian Labour Congress in Anambra has urged its members to comply with the directives on the recently announced industrial strike action - The Union urged workers to stay at home and await further directives - According to state chapter of the union, the workers are to await further directive from the national leadership of organised labour The leadership of labour movement in Anambra has directed workers to comply totally with the directive of the national leadership to embark on industrial actions due to commence on Thursday, September 27. Labour in a statement signed by Jerry Nnubia, chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress; Ifeanyi Okechukwu, chairman, Trade Union Congress; and Jibuike Ikenna of Joint Negotiating Council, said workers should stay at home and await further directives. READ ALSO: Forget about the past - SGF says as he visits Omisore in Ile-Ife Sequel to federal government inability to negotiate and implement the New National Minimum Wage for Nigerian Workers, Organised Labour has decided to embark on nationwide seven days warning strike with effect from midnight of Wednesday, September 26 to press home their demand. In compliance with the national leadership of organised labour directive, all affiliate unions of organised labour Anambra are hereby directed to mobilise all their members to ensure total compliance of the strike action. "They are advised to stay at home and await further directive from the national leadership of organised labour, the Union said. READ ALSO: US reacts to INECs decision to declare Osun election inconclusive Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the meeting between the federal government and the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ended in a deadlock and the latter has insisted on its planned strike. This is coming after a warning was given by the union to commence an indefinite strike starting from 12 am, Thursday, September 27. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Legit.ng gathers that on Wednesday, September 26, NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, directed all labour unions and civil society groups to embark on strike. NLC, which is demanding a new minimum wage of N56,000 said, its decision to embark on strike is because the federal government has failed to reconvene the tripartite committee on a new national minimum wage. Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - No fewer than 20 political parties have agreed to support the APC for the Osun rerun - The parties said it was due to the integrity of Oyetola - The political parties urged their members to come out and vote The All Progressives Congress (APC) has received a boost ahead of the Osun rerun gubernatorial election as 20 political parties declared support for its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola. The Nation reports that the political parties said their decision was based on Oyetolas integrity. Adesoji Masilo addressed a news conference on behalf of Alliance for Cooperating Political Parties (ACPP), comprising Advanced Democratic Congress, National Conscience Party and People for Democratic Change. Masilo said his African Peoples Alliance polled over 2,000 votes at Saturdays inconclusive poll, adding that over 20 political parties decided to support APC owing to the partys progressive spirit. READ ALSO: Adeleke can't win Osun rerun even with Omisore's support - APC He said the APC has shown that it is capable of developing Osun state and called on members to actively support Oyetola. Masilo also decried vote buying in the Saturday election and called on members to desist. Meanwhile, the United States has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for declaring the Osun gubernatorial election inconclusive and ordering a rerun election. Vanguard reports that David Young who is the deputy chief of mission of the US embassy in Nigeria spoke in Kaduna where he said the rerun would enhance democracy. He said: Certainly the decision of INEC to go ahead and have a rerun in seven polling unit is one that we respect given the fact that there was only 355 vote margin between the two candidates. "Certainly this is a decision that make sense; we want to say that its important for democracy that every person vote is secret and counted as we go forward with the vote tomorrow. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the best news updates He commended Osun state people for being peaceful and called thrm to replicate the same in the rerun. Osun 2018: I have evidence that they added to APCs votes - PDP Chairman On Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - A while ago, the story of a street hawker who gave all his snacks to prisoners who were being transported, became viral on social media - According to some people who witnessed the incident in Lagos, he was seen running around the prison van and shoving the sausage rolls meant for sale, into the hands of prisoners - Identified as Ibere Ugochukwu, he has finally shared his story on how he became a street vendor and the reason for his kind gesture Indeed, not all angels have wings and this Nigerian street vendor is teaching a lot of people a thing or two about selflessness, even when in trying times. Identified as Ibere Ugochukwu, the young man who is reportedly a sausage roll hawker in Lagos has become a viral sensation on the internet. Ugochukwu won the hearts of many Nigerians after he gave out all his sausage rolls meant for sale, to some prisoners who were being transported in traffic. Despite not having anywhere to sleep and solely depending on the sale of the snacks to survive, he happily let them have it. The story became viral and shortly after, he was found. Speaking on how he became a street hawker, Ugochukwu shared a heart wrenching story about what he went through in the hands of his former employer, which explained the reason for his kind act towards the prisoners. According to the story, he was wrongfully detained, tortured and starved by the police on the orders of his boss who falsely accused him of stealing. READ ALSO: Nigerian fan shares exciting video of singing with Jennifer Lopez on stage He further stated that it was his fellow prisoners who shared some of their foods with him until his release which happened after the police were convinced he was innocent. Read his story below: "A few years ago I worked as an apprentice in a cosmetics shop. I was supposed to receive a payment at the end of my term. But I was warned by the other employees that the owner would find a reason not to pay me. Hed always invent reasons to fire his boys right before their payment. So I made the decision to quit. Ibere Ugochuckwu/@humansofny Source: Instagram But when I told him, he dragged me to the police. He told them lies about me. He told them Id stolen so much money. And they tortured me. They tied my hands and legs and they hung me from the ceiling. They beat me. I went deaf from all the slaps. For ten days I was given no food. My fellow prisoners would share little bits of their meals when they were finished. But some days I saw nothing. Honestly I was about to die. And I started to pray to God. And on the tenth day, the guards decided that it would cause too much trouble to let me die. They told my employer: After what we did to him, he must be innocent. READ ALSO: Davido, 25, shades fan who trolls him for supporting uncle in Osun election Because hed have confessed if he was guilty. They released me into the world like a madman. And Ive carried the memory ever since. I promised myself that if I ever found someone in a similar situation, I would help. So when I learned that prisoners pass down this road, I chose to hawk in this location. I waited until I finally saw the truck, and I pushed all my food through the bars. My fellow vendors couldnt believe it. They asked me who would pay me for the food. I told them: I didnt do it for any man. I did it because of what God did for me." He didn't have much to give back and his condition wasn't exactly the most comfortable to be in yet he put those prisoners first in that moment and gave back what he could. Simply amazing! PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App Get the hottest gist on Africa Love Aid Nigeria Breaking News: Kogi Flood Sacks Residents from Their Homes | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - A suspected ritualist, disguised as a mad man, was recently caught in Rivers state - Identified as Hu-El Mustapha Al-Musta, he was caught with a snake, car key, voters' card and other items - The bizarre occurrence happened at Elele Alimi in Emohua LGA on September 26 A suspected ritualist identified as Hu-El Mustapha Al-Musta was recently caught in Rivers state. Reports reaching Legit.ng reveal that he disguised as a mad man and made his way into a community on September 26, to do his bidding. He was however spotted by residents of the area and beaten to a pulp. Reports reveal that the supposed mad man was found with a wallet containing N3,500, a snake, car key, voters' card, a court affidavit and sweets with no clear indication what his plan was. He showed signs of being a sane person and clearly was disguised as something else to perpetuate evil. It was also discovered that he parked his car at Ahoada, a community sharing boundary with Elele Alimini, just before he paraded as a mad man at Elele Alimi in Emohua LGA, where he was apprehended. READ ALSO: Apologise and go back to the village- Kcee says to Osagie Alonge The suspected ritualist was caught by a local vigilante group led by a commander identified as a certain Chidi Agi. Further investigations helped in identifying the man as well as a woman, a resident of Elele Alimi who claimed to have attended secondary school with him. According to her, his real name is Mr Obinna. The suspected mad man, Hu-El Mustapha Al-Musta, was found with some items that showed he was sane Source: Facebook Source: UGC READ ALSO: Rukky Sanda jumps off a plane at 13,000 feet on her birthday He was identified by a woman in the community who claimed his real name is Mr Obinna Source: Facebook Source: UGC No one has come forward to defend the man and it appears he will be dealt with as seen fit by the community. Meanwhile, recently, the police command in Ekiti arrested a suspected mad man who reportedly killed Oba Gbadebo Ogunsakin, the traditional ruler of Odo-Oro in Ikole local government area of the state. The police carried out a high-profile search for him after the suspect stabbed the monarch with a knife and fled into the bush on Monday, August 20. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Jesus came here and took me physically to the third heavens on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - The reinstated deputy governor of Imo, Eze Madumere, says Governor Rochas Okorocha is his boss, and that he bears no grudges against those who spearheaded the impeachment plot against him - Madumere further formally declared his intention to contest for the Imo governorship seat - The Imo state government is yet to respond to the deputy governors reinstatement Two weeks after his sack by state lawmakers, the deputy governor of Imo, Eze Madumere, has resumed duties. Madumere resumed on Wednesday, September 26, and declared loyalty to the state governor, Rochas Okorocha, Premium Times reports. Legit.ng notes that Madumere had previously been embroiled in a supremacy battle with Okorocha for months, over the latters decision to support his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, to become the next state governor. READ ALSO: Forget about the past - SGF says as he visits Omisore in Ile-Ife In a statement released by his special assistant, Uche Onwuchekwa, Madumere stated: Governor Rochas Okorocha is my boss and will always remain my boss as long as I am the deputy governor of Imo state. I dont have any grudges against anybody; and those who orchestrated the impeachment plot against me, I have forgiven you. I am a child of God. Madumere further formally declared his intention to contest for the Imo governorship seat, and unveiled his seven-point social contract with the people of Imo state. He said: My covenant with Imo will be based on the following: youth empowerment, which will be anchored on agriculture and agro-business, information & communication technology and entrepreneurship across the local government areas of the state. Massive industrialization & job creation with foreign partners and emphasis on local raw material." The Imo state government has not yet spoken on Madumeres reinstatement. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that the high court in Owerri declared as invalid and of no legal effect, the impeachment of the deputy governor of Imo state, Eze Madumere. The presiding judge, Justice Benjamin Iheaka, made the declaration on Tuesday, September 25. There was jubilation within the premises of the court after Justice Iheaka made the declaration. What is cooking in Imo state? - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit.ng - Essential services in Nigeria are expected to be grounded as workers embark on nationwide strike - Workers in the petroleum, financial, maritime and other sectors of the economy will be participating in the strike - The strike is to compel the federal government to announce its figure and ensure completion of work on the new national minimum wage Following Nigeria labour's nationwide strike which commences today, Thursday, September 27, distribution of petroleum products, banking and other essential services are expected to be grounded. According to Vanguard, the NLC said the strike was called to compel the federal government to announce its figure and ensure completion of work on the new national minimum wage READ ALSO: Osun rerun: US commends INEC Associations who will be joining the nationwide strike include: Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), including its Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE). Others are: Association of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), and Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN). Workers in the aviation, transportation (railway), construction, manufacturing, hospitals, schools, among others, are expected to also stay away from their duty posts. Also, public workers in government offices, ministries, departments, agencies, (MDAs) educational institutions, and others are expected to stay at home. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the governors of the 36 states of the federation reportedly said they will not fall for any blackmail or attempt to stampede them into reaching an agreement on the new minimum wage currently threatening peaceful industrial relations in Nigeria. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app The statement by the governors came at a period the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate unions announced commencement of a nationwide industrial action starting from midnight on Wednesday, September 26 to protest the delay in fixing a new minimum wage for public servants. I have evidence that they added to APCs votes| Legit.ng TV Source: Legit Owls are nocturnal birds who are known to adorn the night with their beautiful looks. But as lovely as these birds are, they represent a bad omen in the African society. This is especially when they are seen in the daytime. A beautiful owl fell victim to the angry eyes of some Nigerians living in Agbaro, a place in Delta state.Upon seeing the bird rested on a tree in the day time, the residents of the area took it to be a bad sign. Promptly, they looked for and found a means by which they could bring down the owl. Upon getting hold of the owl, these residents tortured it immensely before burning up the bird. A particular person who was at the scene of the torture tried to stop it from happening but the people turned on him. When asked the reason for burning the bird, the residents said that it was the cause of the underdevelopment and evil occurence happening in the region. Beautiful owl set on fire in Delta for 'terrorizing' the community (photos) Photo: Owl tagged as evil Source: Harry2ve Source: UGC READ ALSO: Bird allegedly turns into woman in Port Harcourt (photos) This man who could not contain himself when he saw what was being done to the bird took to a forum on social media to talk about what he saw as well as aks people's opinion on the matter. See his post here: I was at agbaro Delta State earlier today when we spotted this bird on a tree. Almost the entire community were gathered and hell-bent on bringing it down claiming its has been terrorizing the place for a while. I initially pled that they spare it life but they almost turned on me so I rested my case. They finally put it down and killed this harmless creature. I came to conclusion that the ignorance with the black man is caused by religion. We are been held back by the chains of religion. Your opinions are welcome. No insult please. Beautiful owl set on fire in Delta for 'terrorizing' the community (photos) Photo: Owl burnt to death Source: Harry2ve Source: UGC PAY ATTENTION: Get more Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App Many people who saw the post and pictures posted alongside could not get past the bad treatment meted out to the bird. Some tagged it as a show of ignorance in the African setting while others saw it as the cause of the infiltration of foreign religion into Nigeria. PAY ATTENTION: Daily relationship gist on Africa Love Aid For all it is worth, a lot of Nigerians condemned the act of burning the bird and called it a violation of environmental rights and laws. Cartoon Comedy: A Story Of A Duck Who Can Speak | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit Nigeria - Chris Ngige has debunked reports that FG's meeting with leaders of the NLC on new minimum wage ended in a deadlock - Ngige said the meeting was rather successful - According to him, FG and the union would be meeting on a later date to finalise on issues of the new minimum wage The federal government says that the meeting with organised labour on the minimum wage did not end in a deadlock. The minister of labour and employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said this in a statement issued in Abuja by Samuel Olowookere, the director of press in the ministry. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister met with labour leaders who were part of the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage to give them an update on governments position. READ ALSO: We'll disband your entire executive if you support any aspirant - Oshiomhole warns APC state executives Ngige, who was reacting to some media reports, however, described the meeting as successful. "The meeting was, in fact, successful as both the federal government team led by the minister of labour and employment and the leadership of the organised labour agreed to reconvene the meeting of the national minimum wage committee on Thursday, October 4, 2018. READ ALSO: LIVE UPDATES: Voting commences as Osun people finally decide who becomes their next governor in rerun election This is to give enough time for the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission to round off the assignment given to it. As a result, labour agreed to reach out to its organs of leadership with the October 4th resumption date as demanded by its National Executive Council with a view to suspending the proposed strike, the statement said. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the leadership of labour movement in Anambra has directed workers to comply totally with the directive of the national leadership to embark on industrial actions due to commence on Thursday, September 27. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Labour in a statement signed by Jerry Nnubia, chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress; Ifeanyi Okechukwu, chairman, Trade Union Congress; and Jibuike Ikenna of Joint Negotiating Council, said workers should stay at home and await further directives. Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - Emmanuel Atewe, a former commander of the Joint Military Task Force, JTF has alleged that he was forced to write incriminating statement - He is standing standing trial alongside Patrick Akpobolokemi, a former director-general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Kime Enzogu - Mr Atewe opposed the tendering of his statements in evidence on the grounds that they were involuntarily obtained and that they were dictated to him Mr Atewe, a retired major general who is standing trial alongside Patrick Akpobolokemi, a former director-general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Kime Enzogu and Josephine Otuaga has claimed that a statement was forced out of him. Atewe alongside others are facing trial on a 22-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and money laundering to the tune of N8.5billion. READ ALSO: Meeting with Labour not deadlocked - Minister debunks reports They allegedly conspired to defraud NIMASA of the said sum. They were also alleged to have used six companies to perpetuate the fraud. The companies are: Jagan Limited, Jagan Trading Company Limited, Jagan Global Services Limited, Al-Nald Limited, Paper Warehouse Limited, Eastpoint Integrated Services Limited and De-Newlink Integrated Services Limited. According to a press release published by Premium Times, Mr Atewe, opposed the tendering of his statements by the second prosecution witness (PW) Adamu Usman, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He argued that they were involuntarily obtained and that they were dictated to him. He also claimed that he was threatened by Kanu Idagu, the team leader of the Special Task Force(STF) Unit of the EFCC and that he was subjected to inhuman treatment. The press release stated further that the presiding Judge, however, ordered a trial-within- trial to determine the voluntariness or otherwise of the statement. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reportedly the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has reiterated the agencys readiness to ensure that corruption is completely wiped out in Nigeria. This, according to him, will ensure that the country retains her position in the comity of nations. Former NNPC group managing director Andrew Yakubu in court over fraud allegations on Legit.ng Source: Legit - The issue of Paris Club refund recall to Benue and some other states was not discussed at all at the FAAC meeting, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance said - Mahmoud Dutse said FAAC was not the meeting for the discussion of such matters as it was a technical matter - The alleged recall had elicited shocking reactions from hundreds of workers in Benue The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Mahmoud Dutse, has disclosed that the issue of the reversal of the Paris Club refund made to some states was not discussed at the Federation Account Allocation Committee. He made the disclosure on Wednesday, September 26, in response to questions raised by journalists shortly after the FAAC meeting in Abuja, Punch reports. Legit.ng notes that the alleged recall of the final tranche of the Paris Club refund earlier paid to the Benue state government had elicited shocking reactions from hundreds of workers in the state. READ ALSO: We will win war against corruption - Buhari Speaking on the alleged development, the Benue state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Godwin Anya, stated: I dont know the reason for the recall of the Paris Club loan refund. Everybody has been expecting to be paid because the governor on Monday (September 24) directed the payment of salary arrears. I dont know the reason for that nonsense; I dont know where this country is heading to. Two workers were also alleged to have slumped after getting word of the recall of the funds. However, Dutse, in response to why the money was reversed for Benue and some other states, said FAAC was not the meeting for the discussion of such matters. He said: The Paris Club refund is not really a FAAC matter; FAAC meets to review revenue collection in the Federation Account and agree on the distribution. The issue of Paris Club refund is a technical matter and we did not discuss it at all at this meeting. So, what I think is that you should direct the question to the appropriate agency of government and you will get the correct answer; I dont want to mislead you. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government, on Monday, September 24, ordered the recall of the second tranche of the London and Paris Club refunds disbursed to five states, amounting to about $2.7 billion (N972 billion.) The states involved are Delta, Imo, Benue, Rivers and Osun. Meet Hwande, Benue's incoming 'saviour' - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit.ng News The Osun state rerun election has so far commenced and just as expected, a lot of energy has begun to be invested all in a bid to ensure that democracy is achieved and the man of the people is elected. One of the many infusing so much vibe into the procedures is Davido. Just as before, the young musician is channeling a lot of action into making sure he contributes his own quota in the race to make his uncle Senator Adeleke win the election. To ensure this, the 25-year-old has his eyes and ears on the ground and he is feeding his fans, followers and supporters with recent happenings. In light of this, Davido took to his Twitter page to assert that Orolu, one of the areas where the rerun election is holding, has been rendered inaccessible by military men. According to the Nwa Baby crooner, these soldiers have closed a polling unit in the area and are preventing people from coming in. READ ALSO: Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Davido called on the electoral commission and international bodies who are observing the proceedings to take note of this. See his full post here: PAY ATTENTION: More Nigerian news update on Legit.ng News App Nigerians have reacted to this post in different ways. One particular fan of the artist have refuted his claim, saying that there was no restriction of any kind going on in the area. Another person found it pretty funny that Davido had unexpectedly become a reporter because of the election and his uncle who is a gubernatorial candidate. See other reactions below: PAY ATTENTION: The hottest relationship gist available on Africa Love Aid Osun 2018: I have evidence that they added to APCs votes - PDP Chairman | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit - The nationwide strike called by the leadership of organised labour has grounded activities at the Benin Airport - The strike caused gridlock within the axis of Airport Road as motorists had a hectic time trying to navigate the area - The Edo state chairman of the NLC went about monitoring compliance, and expressed satisfaction with what he saw Activities at the Benin Airport were grounded on Thursday, September 27, as both entry and exit gates were locked, with hundreds of intending passengers stranded, arising from the nationwide strike called by the leadership of organised labour. Organised labour had on Wednesday, September 26, directed all its affiliates to commence an indefinite warning strike on Thursday to press home its demand for a new national minimum wage, NAN reports. Legit.ng gathers that the strike caused gridlock within the axis of Airport Road as motorists had a hectic time trying to navigate the area. READ ALSO: Appeal court upholds election of APGAs Umeh While hundreds of intending passengers loitered around both entry and exit gates, security personnel struggled to control both human and vehicular traffic. Edo chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Emmanuel Ademokun, expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance. He said he and his team were going round to ensure total compliance with the stay-at-home directive of the NLC. We want to ensure that workers in the state comply with the directive of the NLC on industrial action. We are not just sitting, but going around to monitor things ourselves. I am quite satisfied with what I have seen so far and this will continue until there is a directive from the national secretariat," he stated. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government said that the meeting with organised labour on the minimum wage did not end in deadlock. The minister of labour and employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said this in a statement issued in Abuja by Samuel Olowookere, the director of press in the ministry. The minister had met with labour leaders who were part of the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage to give them an update on governments position. Abuja Airport closed for repairs - on Legit.ng TV: Source: Legit Senator Ademola Adeleke, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state, has described the ongoing rerun election in seven units of the state as a coup'. Punch reports that Adeleke who disclosed this on telephone said that supporters of the PDP were being denied access to ballot papers in the governorship rerun election. READ ALSO: Meeting with labour not deadlocked - Minister debunks reports What is happening in Osun state now is not an election. What we have is a coup. That is what we are witnessing now. Our supporters are being harassed and are not allowed to vote at all. Let the whole world know that this is not democracy. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the United States commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for declaring the Osun gubernatorial election inconclusive and ordering a rerun election. David Young who is the deputy chief of mission of the US embassy in Nigeria spoke in Kaduna where he said the rerun would enhance democracy. PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the best news updates He said: Certainly the decision of INEC to go ahead and have a rerun in seven polling unit is one that we respect given the fact that there was only 355 vote margin between the two candidates. You can also follow the LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election HERE Osun 2018: I have evidence that they added to APCs votes - PDP Chairman On Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - The organised labour has shut down offices of aviation agencies at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos - This is to to press home their demands for the implementation of a new National Minimum Wage - However, this action did not affect flight operations at the airport as airlines and passengers went about their businesses The organised labour on Thursday, September 27, shut down offices of aviation agencies at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos to press home their demands for the implementation of a new National Minimum Wage. However, this action did not affect flight operations at the nations busiest airport as airlines and passengers went about their respective businesses without harassment from the unions. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC) had called for the warning strike over non-implementation of the national minimum wage. READ ALSO: Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the rerun election Their affiliates in the aviation sector, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) had shut down the agencies in compliance with the directive. The union members had at the early hours of Thursday barricaded the offices of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). Also shut down were the headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) at the Lagos airport. Commenting, Frances Akinjole, the deputy general secretary, ATSSSAN, told NAN that unions in the sector only carried out a light action. According to him, this is because we are currently engaging on another important assignment outside Lagos. It is a decision we collectively took that there will be a strike, but unfortunately one of our sister unions, NUATE, is having its national delegates conference in Asaba today. So, we decided to make the protest very light because leadership of the unions are in Asaba. We did not want it to look as if the aviation unions are not in solidarity with the national labour movement and that is why we only shut down the offices, Akinjole said. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He, therefore, urged the federal and state governments as well as employers of labour to accede to the demand of the unions. Akinjole said that the implementation of a new national minimum wage was long overdue. Legit.ng previously reported that the federal government says that the meeting with organised labour on the minimum wage did not end in a deadlock. The minister of labour and employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said this in a statement issued in Abuja by Samuel Olowookere, the director of press in the ministry. The minister met with labour leaders who were part of the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage to give them an update on governments position. Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - Not all states in the country seem to have adhered to the directive of the NLC regarding the total nationwide strike that kicked off on Thursday, September 27 - For instance, hospitals, banks and school workers in Kaduna were seen operating their offices - Moreover, normal activities at the state high court were going on in the state capital Government offices have remained open in Kaduna in spite of the nationwide strike began by the organised labour over new national minimum wage, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)reports. A correspondent of the agency who went round public offices in Kaduna, the state capital, reports that workers were at their duty posts, including Obasanjo House, the state government secretariat. READ ALSO: Breaking: Coup, not election ongoing in Osun - Adeleke Also opened were schools, some banks including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) hospitals and other public sector offices in the state capital. A nurse at the Barau Dikko Hospital, which witnessed high number of patients, told NAN in confidence that there has been no formal notice from the state labour unions to commence the strike. We only heard of the strike order in the media, there has been no formal notice yet either from the Nigeria Labour Congress or our union, the nurses union, but we are waiting, she said. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! It was also gathered that normal activities at the state high court were going on, although local union officials there said they will meet to agree on whether to join the nationwide strike. At the secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) officials were in a meeting on ways to enforce compliance to the strike. Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that commuters were seen trekking along Ipaja Road in Lagos on Thursday, September 27, following a declaration of nationwide strike by the NLC over minimum wage issue with the federal government. The action by the NLC led to difficulty and increased prices on transportation as there was scarcity of commercial buses to take persons to their destinations. Added to this, workers at the Ikeja local government office in Lagos were shut out and denied access to the premises on Thursday, September 27. EXCLUSIVE: Be patient with President Buhari, Femi Adesina tells Nigerians - On Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng Hamilton County Schools will open on a two-hour delay on Friday due to areas where water is still reported on roads in the north section of the county. Officials said, "Opening on two-hour delay will provide daylight for bus drivers to determine road conditions as they transport children to school in the morning. With saturated ground and rain continuing to fall in Hamilton County, the district is operating with an abundance of caution to keep our children safe. School entrances, parking lots and buildings have been checked today and are prepared for children tomorrow." School-age child care will open on the regular schedule on Friday. Continued heavy rains have forced the cancellation of the annual County Fair at Chester Frost Park. "Due to flooded parking areas and saturated grounds, we are with great regret canceling the 2018 Hamilton County Fair. We hope you will join us next year for the 30th anniversary of the Hamilton County Fair," officials said. The 4-H AgVentures event scheduled for Friday at Chester Frost Park is cancelled due the rain and conditions. Also, the Chattanooga IRONMAN will skip the swim portion of the event this weekend due to dangerous river currents. There has been a new flash flood warning issued following several previous ones. Here is the latest warning issued for Hamilton County by the National Weather Service: FLASH FLOOD WARNING FROM 1:49PM EDT THU UNTIL 6:45PM EDT THU THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... SOUTH CENTRAL RHEA COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE... NORTHWESTERN BRADLEY COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE... SOUTHWESTERN MEIGS COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE... WEST CENTRAL MCMINN COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE... NORTHEASTERN HAMILTON COUNTY IN EAST TENNESSEE... * UNTIL 645 PM EDT. * AT 148 PM EDT, TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN. FLASH FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN SHORTLY. * SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE... CHATTANOOGA, CLEVELAND, DAYTON, SODDY-DAISY, LAKESITE, HARRISON, HILLSVIEW, HOPEWELL, HARRISON BAY STATE PARK, BIG SPRING, MIDDLE VALLEY, BIRCHWOOD, SHADY GROVE, SALE CREEK, FALLING WATER AND MOWBRAY MOUNTAIN. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... TURN AROUND, DON'T DROWN WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED ROADS. MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN VEHICLES. KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM STORM DRAINS, CULVERTS, CREEKS AND STREAMS. WATER LEVELS CAN RISE RAPIDLY AND SWEEP CHILDREN AWAY. IN HILLY TERRAIN THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF LOW WATER CROSSINGS WHICH ARE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS IN HEAVY RAIN. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED ROADS. FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE. PLEASE REPORT FLOODING TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY. - A PDP polling agent was missing from duty as election rerun started in Osun - The agent did not report at the Ward 7, Unit 12 Polling Unit in Adereti village, - INEC official in charge of the polling unit was unable to explain why the agent was absent A polling agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the ongoing governorship rerun election in Osun state was missing on duty on Thursday, September 27. The agent did not report at the Ward 7, Unit 12 Polling Unit in Adereti village, Ife South local government area. An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Stephen Oyewande, said he could not explain why the PDP agent was not on duty at the polling unit. Voters on a queue at one of polling units. Source: Original READ ALSO: Minimum wage: Meeting with labour not deadlocked - Minister debunks reports The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oyewande, INECs deputy director, Voters Education, told newsmen to direct their enquiries on the missing party agent to the PDP. Call the state chairman of the party and ask him why his party agent is not here. I cant explain why he is not here, he said. Voters during the rerun at a polling unit Osogbo Source: Original Present, however, were Lateef Abimbola of All Progressives Congress, Olaiya Yemi of All Peoples Alliance and Rasheed Mojeed of Advance Congress of Democrats. Adeyemo Gafar of Action Democratic Party and Bayo Shittu of Social Democratic Party (SDP), were present at the polling unit. There was tight security at the polling unit while voters were prevented from bringing their smartphones into the cubicles. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app Scores of commuters, especially those moving toward the Ondo end of the highway were caught in the traffic snarl due to the roadblock mounted by the police. Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the Osun state governorship rerun witnessed a set back as voters were forced to flee a polling unit in Osogbo, as gunshots were being fired. In a report by Sahara Reporters residents had alleged that the thugs threatened them against coming out to vote today, stating that if they did so, they would regret it. They said most of them could not sleep in their homes on Wednesday night, as the safety of their lives could not be guaranteed. Osun 2018: I have evidence that they added to APCs votes - PDP Chairman | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit The Aide De Camp (ADC) to the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, has been released by the State Security Service (SSS) according to Premium Times. Sani Baba-Inna was arrested after Mrs Buhari allegedly accused him of collecting cash gifts totaling N2.5 billion from politicians and businesses over three years but kept it to himself. The news outlet reports that police investigations failed to trace such huge amount to the ADC. It also reported that Mrs Buhari who was not satisfied with the investigation reportedly asked the SSS to take over the case. READ ALSO: Coup, not election ongoing in Osun - Adeleke However, Mr Baba-Innas elder brother, Farouq Baba-Inna, was reported to have revealed that he has been released. He has just been released and I am on my way to see him, he said. Legit.ng had reported that the first lady, Aisha Buhari, denied ordering the arrest of her Aide de Camp, Sani Baban-Inna, over alleged fraud. There was report that Aisha had ordered that her aide to be arrested, but in a statement issued by her director of information, Suleiman Haruna, on Tuesday, September 25, the first lady insisted that the police only did their job. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app She said the aide has been working with her since 2016 but investigation showed he has been using his position to defraud unsuspecting associates. Aisha insisted she has no hand in the arrest. President Buhari on 2019 Presidential Election: Will You Vote For Him? | on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - Senator Andy Uba came to the aide of some accident victims in Anambra state - The senator was on his way to for constituency tour assisted the victims alongside his aides - Uba ordered a vehicle in his convoy to take them to the hospital and also donated money to them Senator Andy Uba has come to the rescue of accident victims in Anambra, while on his way for constituency tour in his senatorial district. Senator Uba and his aides assisted the victims after arriving at the accident scene few minutes after it occurred in Ezinihite along Onitsha-Uga road. The APC senator representing Anambra South senatorial district, also donated an unspecified amount of money to the accident victims after ordering a vehicle in his convoy to take them to the hospital. Senator Uba and his entourage approaching the accident scene after it occurred. Photo credit: Joseph Itazi Source: Twitter READ ALSO: Appeal court upholds election of APGAs Umeh Legit.ng gathered that he also promised to pay the hospital bills of those severely injured. The accident caused massive traffic along this road. The senator was passing and saw the accident. He donated some money and promised to cater for the injured. We thank him for the kind gesture, an eye witness at the scene accident said. Uba, who is the chairman of the Senate committee on interior recently declared his intention to seek re-election into the red chambers in 2019. A former governor of the state and governorship aspirant under the APC, Uba is attempting to return to the upper chamber for the third time. Let's talk about salaries of Nigerian senators - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - Suspected thugs have attacked a House of Representatives aspirant in Ondo, Olatayo Aribo - The hoodlums were said to have set one of his campaign vehicles ablaze in Owo area of the state - Aribo, however, said he had reported that incident to the police authority The House of Representatives aspirant for Owo/Ose federal constituency in Ondo state, Olayato Aribo, has been reportedly attacked by suspected political thugs. Legit.ng regional reporter in Ondo, Oluwaseun Akingboye, reports that the incident happened in Owo, the headquarters of Owo local government area of the state where the state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, hails from on Wednesday night, September 26, when one of Aribo's campaign vehicles was attacked by the hoodlums. Reliable sources disclosed that the aspirant, Aribo, was not in the vehicle, but two of his supporters who were in the campaign vehicle were waylaid around post office around 10:00pm. Campaign vehicle attacked by suspected political thugs in Ondo. Source: Original It was gathered that the victims, Lanre Kako and the other identified as Tope, were going home and stopped to buy 'Suya' meat from a Mallam when the hoodlums pounced on them. Eyewitnesses recounted that the assailants fired gunshots at the campaign vehicle and later set it on fire, saying that, "the two men were driving one campaign vehicle and they stopped to buy 'Suya' around the post office in Owo. "But some guys came and shot at the vehicle. They had to run away but their attackers set the vehicle on fire. Those around put off the fire but these boys reinforced and came back to set the vehicle on fire again." Addressing journalists in Akure, Aribo, however, mentioned that he did not suspect anybody but revealed that the incident had been reported to the police. Campaign vehicle attacked by suspected political thugs in Ondo. Source: Original "We've reported to the police. Police were invited and they witnessed the burning of the bus. It is now left for the police to investigate and take action. For now, we don't suspect anybody. "We will forward a petition to the state commissioner of police and the state governor. I am sure the governor will not be happy about this. And I am sure he also will investigate and find the cause of the attack." He implored the people to embrace sportsmanship spirit in politics, urging security agencies to spring into action by fishing out the assailants and prosecute them so as to serve as deterrents to others. "The first thing I did was to call my supporters and those boys that were there that they should keep calm. If the attack came from my political opponents, my advice is that this is not the way to do it. They should go out and campaign in order to win." PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the best news updates Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the crisis rocking the Ondo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) took another twist as Ali Olanusi, a member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party rejected the final decision to adopt indirect primaries for the selection of candidates for elective posts ahead of 2019 elections. Nigeria Election 2019: What are Bukola Sarakis chances against President Buhari? | - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng The presidency on Thursday, September 27, in Abuja reportedly summoned the leadership of the organised labour to an emergency meeting with a view to ending the ongoing nationwide industrial action. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the chief of staff to the president, Malam Abba Kyari, presided over the closed door meeting with organized labour led by the leader of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba. The NLC had on Wednesday, September 26, directed all its members and affiliate unions to commence a nationwide strike following alleged failure, of the federal government to reconvene the meeting of the tripartite national minimum wage committee to enable it to conclude its assignment. READ ALSO: Osun Decides 2018: LIVE UPDATES from the governorship rerun election The minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige had on Wednesday, September 26, in Abuja also met with the organised labour and the meeting ended in a deadlock. The minister, however, told newsmen that the tripartite committee on national minimum wage would resume negotiations on October 4. He said: We are resuming precisely on Thursday, October 4, and the meeting can spill over to October 5. All the processes have been put in place and labour leaders know. They are now expected to communicate such to their organs. So we dont have any need for a strike." However, while fielding questions from State House correspondents after the closed door meeting, the chief of staff to the President, Abba Kyari, said the presidency wanted to know reasons for the industrial action. We want to know what led to this strike, there is no position of government. All what we want to understand is why they have to go to strike and they told me it is the process of arriving to a figure that got stalled, he said. On his part, the NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, stated that they shared information with the chief of staff on the issues that led to the commencement of the industrial action by the organised labour. He revealed that the leadership of the organized labour would soon meet and deliberate on the issues discussed at the meeting with a view to call off the strike, and resume negotiation on the national minimum Wage which was stalled. The chief of staff tried to give us detail of government position which we will have to go and convey to our members and then we can revert back to him. This is how far we have gone but clearly I think we have tried to share details of the information that pertain to the issue of the national minimum wage and how the ongoing negotiation was stalled and also the best way to get out of it. The government has given us their words which we will also go and communicate to our members and revert back to our members. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app The strike as you are aware is called by a larger organ until we get their mandate before we can make any pronouncement on the strike. All the discussion we have had, we will communicate to our members and therefore it is the outcome of our meeting with our members that we will also communicate to government, he said.' Legit.ng earlier reported that following Nigeria labour's nationwide strike which commenced Thursday, September 27, distribution of petroleum products, banking and other essential services are expected to be grounded. PDP supporters celebrating early lead | Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng The Second International Conference of Modern Monetary Theory (#mmtconf18), Friday-Sunday, Sept 28-30, The New School, New York City. From the conference brochure: The Second International Conference of Modern Monetary Theory at The New School will gather scholars, politicians, market practitioners, and activists from around the world to discuss the past, present, and future of Modern Monetary Theory, or MMT. MMT is fast becoming a preferred interdisciplinary framework for people around the world seeking transformative change. With that in mind, this years theme is Public Money, Public Purpose, Public Power, signaling the MMT communitys efforts to build bridges between social justice movements, inspire broadbased participation, and more deeply discuss how our ideas may be translated into concrete political action. This humble blog is a co-sponsor. Still time to sign up! * * * All-Female Termite Colonies Reproduce Without Male Input Smithsonian Dont deploy negative emissions technologies without ethical analysis Nature EU, Russia and China agree special payments system for Iran FT How bad maps are ruining American broadband The Verge NY Pension Chief Cashes in on Natural Gas Capital and Main Corbyn Now LRB Brexit A review of Britains railways will not consider nationalisation The Economist Syraqistan Indias Top Court Limits Sweep of Biometric ID Program NYT China? New Cold War Trump Transition GOP sees highest favorability in seven years CNN Kavanaugh My Rapist Apologized The Atlantic. Another article on Kavanaughs milieu; very good. Big Brother Is Watching You Big Tech Is Fighting to Change Washingtons Pioneering Rules on Election Ad Transparency The Stranger (CL). For change, read gut. Class Warfare The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States: Estimates based on demographic modeling with data from 1990 to 2016 PLOS One Vanished Classmates: The Effects of Local Immigration Enforcement on Student Enrollment NBER Niche Diversity Can Explain Cross-Cultural Differences in Personality Structure Smaldino, Paul, Aaron Lukaszewski, Christopher von Rueden, and Michael Gurven, PsyArXiv. From the abstract: This work provides a general explanation for differences in personality structure between populations in both humans and other animals, and also produces several new empirical predictions. It also suggests a radical reimagining of personality trait research: instead of reifying statistical descrip- tions of manifest personality structures, research should focus more attention on modeling their underlying causes. It Was Americas First Superhighway. Now Much of It Sits Abandoned (photos) Governing. Look on my Works, ye Mighty Antidote du jour (via): See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here. Yves here. One detail: this article does not make clear that the incoming president of Mexico, Lopez Obrador, did not object to the current government finalizing a trade pact with the US. But perhaps he could tell it was unlikely to get done in time. By Barkley Rosser, Professor of Economics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Originally published at EconoSpeak Nobody is calling it that, but the low key story on the back pages of todays major papers report that this is what has happened, not to my surprise. September 29 (or maybe the 30th at a stretch) is the deadline for President Trump to submit to the Congress the final version of the US-Mexico trade deal if there is any chance of it being passed by the US Senate in time for outgoing Mexican President Pena Nieto to sign it on his lats day in office on November 30 after the outgoing Mexican parliament could approve of it. The US Senate rules are that there is a 90-day waiting period for the initial announcement of a trade deal and a 60 day waiting for delivering the final detailed agreement. The Trump administration got their initial report in on time, but with only it involving US and Mexico. Sept. 29 is the deadline for the final deal. As noted in previous posts here (Aug. 29, econospeak.blogspot.com/2018/08/marrying-nafta-and-tpp-us-mexico-free.html and Sept. 6, econospeak.blogspot.com/2018/09/has-trump-gone-over-the-edge-on-negotiating.html , sorry having trouble providing the links), top Republican senators such as No. 2 John Cornyn of Texas and others have said they will not approve a deal that does not include Canada, a reformed NAFTA. Let me note that it was not impossible for this US-Mexico trade deal to form the basis of such a deal. But, unfortunately, in the immediate aftermath of the announcement of the US-Mexico deal Trump announced that Canada must settle the negotiation on our terms. Oh. The funny thing is that there was a possible deal. The US was making demands of Canada about the dairy industry (never a part of NAFTA because it was so hard to make a deal) and Canada was making demands about the lumber industry, generally described as a dispute over dispute resolution. There were other issues, but these were the politically hard and sensitive ones involving such places as Wisconsin and Quebec. In the end it appears that no deal between the US and Canada has been made and probably will not be made in time for the Sept. 29 deadline. The newspaper reports provide zero details of the official negotiations, led by official US trade rep Robert Lighthizer on the US side, a hardline but experienced and knowledgeable official. All we have is that there is no deal between and the US and there will be no further official negotiations between now and the deadline of Sept. 29 or 30. We have just passed a last possible moment to save the US-Canada negotiation at the UN meeting (where the US president for the first time in history was laughed at while addressing the UN General Assembly filled with around 100 national leaders from around the world), actually two. One was a possible meeting between Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Minister, Chyrsta Freeland, which might have happened on the sidelines of the UNGA meetings. I do not think that happened, and while she has in the US media been regularly identified as the Canadian opposite number of Lighthizer, she certainly was not the Canadian rep in the now failed negotiations, presumably somebody on the same level as Lighthizer (US SecState Pompeo is the opposite number of Freeland), whose name I have never seen reported. But that meeting became completely irrelevant as there became a possible meeting at the same meeting (after Trump got laughed at) between Trump and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. Trump very loudly and publicly declared that he would not meet with or speak with Trudeau, claiming that he did not like the Canadian ngotiating style. Really. In any case, any possible meeting between Lighthizer and Freeland was simply out the window. And, of course, this means there will be no agreement between the US and Canada prior to the Sept. 29 deadline. According to the back page WaPo report today, despite this failure of getting an agreement with the USs largest national export destination, the Trump admin will submit the current US-Mexican agreement without Canada (NAFTA minus Canada) to the US Senate (assuming that some not well-reported details of this agreement with Mexico have been resolved). I suppose there is a small chance that the Senate will accept it and that will be it. But based on previous statements by important Republican senators, this will not pass without Canada aboard, and while a few Dem senators (Sherrod Brown) have made supportive noises about Trumps trade war, I doubt there will be enough to offset the loud GOP opposition, especially given that that United Autoworkers Union has come out against the agreement without Canada, joining in this with the US Chamber of Commerce and the US Business Roundtable. It looks like the successor to NAFTA, if anything, will have to be renogiated from scratch with the incoming leftist Mexican president, Lopez Obrador, but Canada will have to be brought in, no matter what, or else involved will laugh very loudly at President Trump. The new LaGuardia Airport will be one of the biggest American infrastructure projects of recent times. The catch? They must keep the existing airport 100% operational without descending into chaos and delays? Thursdays from 8:30pm AEDT. A Carrick-on-Suir community group has received government funding to further develop the Bog Field in Carrickbeg into an amenity for the town. Carrick-on-Suir and District Lions Club said it was delighted to be approved the grant aid from Tipperary County Council and the Waters and Communities Office for another phase of improvements to the Bog Field. The Club said the project includes the spraying and eradication of Japanese Knotweed and other invasive species growing along the riverbank and the erection of additional seating and information panels. The riverbank at the Bog Field, traditionally used by salmon fishermen, has become almost inaccessible due to the prolific spread of the Japanese Knotweed. The Lions Club said it will use a specialist contractor to eliminate the knotweed combined with volunteer labour to clear access along the riverbank. The Club's have already carried out substantial clean ups of the Bog Field area during National Spring Clean Week. The Club has invited members of the public to submit suggestions of appropriate phrases, preferrably as Gaeilge that might feature on the two new seats/benches it will install at the Bog Field. The three seats provided by the Lions Club in the amenity area in Carrickbeg next to Dillon Bridge are individually inscribed with the following phrases: "Ar bhoithrin na smaointe in aice le Tobar na gCrann"; "Tog go bog e agus lig do scith", "An Charraig don laoch agus don mhadra". The location for the new seats will be closer to the Old Bridge with views of Slievenamon, the Town Clock and the Quayside between the bridges. The Lions Club has invited people to submit their suggested phrases to the Club's Facebook page. Fifteen new jobs are to be created in Cahir by Horizon Offsite. The new jobs were announced on Monday by The Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen T.D. .He announced a total of forty two new jobs for Cahir, Nenagn and Upperchurch . Making the announcement in Nenagh, Minister Breen said: I warmly welcome these 42 Local Enterprise Office supported jobs by three Tipperary companies. In a challenging business environment, LEO clients have contributed substantially to economic development throughout the country and I want to pay tribute to the company owners and their teams on their performance to date. Speaking at the jobs announcement, Joe Mac Grath, Chief Executive of Tipperary County Council said, These new jobs are a fantastic boost for Tipperary and a great example of how small and developing businesses are contributing to regional jobs growth and balanced economic recovery. Rita Guinan with Local Enterprise Office Tipperary said: Helping small businesses start and grow is at the very heart of what Local Enterprise Offices do and this jobs announcement is very positive for Tipperary. mpanies realise their global ambition. Horizon Offsite which announced fifteen new jobs is located at Cahir Business Park, Horizon Offsite Ltd, established in 2017, designs and manufactures offsite light gauge steel building system structures, such as fully structural internal panels and floors. The company exports 95% of its production to the UK for group housing and apartment projects and recently completed a light steel data storage centre in Malta. Through continuous investment in research and development, the company plans to enter new markets in Europe and the Far East, by 2020. In May 2018, the company won a Regional Award at the annual National Enterprise Awards and has received a Business Expansion Grant through Local Enterprise Office Tipperary and the company is announcing 15 jobs (recruitment already underway). The announcement was welcomed by Deputy Mattie McGrath. This is fantastic news for the county but it will be especially welcomed at the local level where the real impact is felt in terms of economic gains he said. He called on the government to renew the policy it has adopted over the last number of years toward the LEADER Programme and the Local Action Groups. We have known for some time now that cuts to the funding for the LEADER programme in Tipperary were the second highest in the Country for 2015-2020. There was a dramatic reduction from 25.3 million for the 2007-2013 period to 10.1 million over the following five years. This represented a staggering loss of 15.2 million for the county. he said. Think of what could have been achieved in terms of job creation if that funding had still been availablehe said. A pilot course on civilian oversight of the armed forces (COAF) involving Afghan experts took place from 17 to 21 September 2018 at the ADA University in Baku, Azerbaijan. NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller opened the event and chaired the graduation ceremony. Senior Programme Manager from NATO Political Affairs and Security Policy Division Mrs Frederique Jacquemin, and Colonel Stan Anton from the National Defence University Carol I, Bucharest led the course, which is part of the NATO Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) with Afghanistan. Participants included Afghan high officials from the Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Interior, as well as from the Office of the National Security Council (ONSC), the Police and the Marshal Fahim National Defense University (MFNDU). Deputy Minister of Strategic Planning and Policy at the Ministry of Interior Mr Masood Ahmad Azizi headed the Afghan delegation. Women also participated for the first time, including the Director General for Human Rights and Gender Integration, the Head of Gender, Zone 101 Kabul Police Command, and the Head of Counter Narcotics, ONSC. Four Afghan professors led the course on COAF. During this event, the curriculum was reviewed and adapted with the support of defence education experts from Bulgaria, Canada and Romania and also thanks to the interaction between all participants. Specific chapters devoted to gender issues will be incorporated the curriculum. Launched in 2010, DEEP Afghanistan aims to foster close cooperation with Afghan defence and military institutions, under the auspices of the ONSC. In 2018, this cooperation expanded with the creation of the United Training Education and Doctrine Command that brings all Afghan training institutions under a single, unified command. Ongoing cooperation between NATO and Afghanistan comprises various aspects related to education and training. In the framework of DEEP, NATO advises Afghanistan on how to build, develop and reform educational institutions in the defence and military domain in the form of peer-to-peer conversation. NATO is also helping the country to develop curricula (what to teach) and faculty development (how to teach). Military education is considered by Afghan authorities as a key element to bring forward more concrete cooperation with NATO. All these initiatives are part of President Ghanis four-year roadmap to establish sustainable and capable national armed forces in Afghanistan, able to maintain peace and security. DEEP Afghanistan is also helping the country with the creation of education and development policy and programmes to the civilians within the MOD and the security and defence sector. Civilian-military relations and civilian oversight are dependent upon developing a core of competent and ethical civilian national security professionals. Since the beginning of DEEP Afghanistan, Azerbaijan has played an active role in helping NATO to facilitate the overall implementation of the Programme. The ADA University hosted several DEEP Afghanistan events and shared their own expertise. This support has been very valuable notably in terms of regional cooperation and mutual understanding between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan on key strategic issues like military education. We believe that transfer of knowledge, skills and experience through such educational activities and trainings are crucial for establishing well-rooted and long-lasting stability and security in Afghanistan as well as in the broader region, said Dr Rahman Shahhuseynli Director, Office of International Affairs, ADA University. DEEPs are tailored programmes through which the Alliance advises partners on how to build, develop and reform educational institutions in the security, defence and military domain. Projects are currently running in 12 countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia1, Tunisia and Ukraine. (Natural News) One of the mainstream medias claims regarding a mounting series of allegations of sexual abuse by three women against POTUS Trumps Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh is that the claims are credible because theyve been corroborated or substantiated by others who were said to be present when the abuse took place. Theres just one problem with those claims: Theyre not true. As Townhall noted on Wednesday, the day before Kavanaughs first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, was scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee along with the accused, her legal team has released a series of witness statements meant to serve as evidence against the nominee, but would really be better used serving as place mats on a table. The site noted: Ms. Ford has alleged that a drunken 17-year-old Brett Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a high school party, for which she has no recollection of key details, specifically how she got to this party, who hosted it, and who organized it. Ford penned a letter detailing this allegation, which she sent to Sen. Dianne Feinsteins (D-CA) office in July. DiFi sat on it for weeks, keeping it from her Senate colleagues until zero hour when it looked like Kavanaugh was going to get a smooth confirmation. The theatrics at the hearings were over. Of course, this allegation cannot be verified. And thats the point: its all designed to run out the clock. In an article regarding the statements, USA Today maintained that they constitute admissible evidence to back up her initial allegations. Nothing could be further from the truth. All the signed statements indicate is that Blasey Ford told the four who signed them about the allegations. Thats not the same as offering proof or evidence the abuse actually took place or that Kavanaugh was the one who committed the abuse. These are not corroboration They are statements that 30 years later she mentioned this to them Narrative over truth I guess https://t.co/svuU4UA031 Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) September 26, 2018 Jim Hanson, president of Security Studies Group, noted on Twitter that the statements are not corroboration. They are statements that 30 years later [Ford] mentioned this to them. Narrative over truth I guess. (Related: Did plot to accuse Brett Kavanaugh begin with Mitt Romney nomination in 2012?) Telling someone something happened isnt proof of anything NBC News national correspondent Peter Alexander tweeted out images of the signed statements using the word corroborate. NEW: @NBCNews has obtained sworn and signed declarations from 4 people who corroborate Christine Blasey Fords claims of sexual assault against Kavanaugh, sent to Senate Cmte, he wrote. Apparently this college-educated mainstream media journalist doesnt know what the word corroborate really means in the context of this story, which is, that the signed statements dont prove any allegations against Kavanaugh and dont attest to anything other than they say Ford told them about the allegations (and even then, how are we supposed to really know given that nothing shes said has been truly wait for it corroborated?). As for the judge himself, he has repeatedly stated that he not only is innocent but that he doesnt even know the accusers, including the latest one, Julie Swetnick, who is represented by bottom-feeding porn star attorney Michael Avenatti. One of those who has signed a sworn statement supporting Ford is Adela Gildo-Mazzon, who said her friend told her about the alleged assault in June 2013 at a Mountain View, Calif., restaurant (who could remember that date five years later seriously?). Another is Keith Koegler, who said Ford told him about the alleged assault in 2016. These two and the others, however, noted further that Ford only mentioned the alleged attacker was a federal judge she never mentioned Kavanaugh by name. This is not corroborating Fords accusation, Townhall notes. Its merely confirmation that she told a lot of people about this alleged, still-evidence-free, and witness-lacking allegation of attempted sexual assault that occurred during high school some 30-plus years ago, but thats all. These corroborators arent witnesses; they werent around when the alleged assault took place, so they cant testify whether or not it ever happened. Democrats vowed to stop Kavanaughs nomination any way they could. Thats what all of this nonsense is really about. Read more about the media propaganda surrounding this hoax at Propaganda.news. Sources include: Townhall.com USAToday.com NewsTarget.com (Natural News) Earlier this week additional allegations of sexual assault dating back three decades were lodged against POTUS Donald Trumps latest Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, by Deborah Ramirez, who claims he exposed himself (or a dildo) to her in a drunken stupor during a frat party in a Yale University dorm room. It didnt take long before those charges contained in a New Yorker magazine piece were being refuted by former students (including Kavanaugh) who Ramirez claimed were in the room at the time. But the allegations that turned the Kavanaugh nomination into a perverted circus allegedly came from Palo Alto Prof. Christine Blasey Ford in the form of a letter passed along to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., over the summer. A closer examination of that letter by two experts Dannielle Blumenthal, Ph.D., and Natural News Network founder/editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger found more than a dozen examples of how the letter could not have been written by someone of Fords intellect (she also has a Ph.D.). Ph.D. writers are highly trained in writing. In fact, it is an essential part of their education. Yet the letter released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein is riddled with simple errors that point to a writing level that barely qualifies as high school composition skills, Adams wrote. Among the errors discovered include grammatical and formatting mistakes that a highly qualified writer (masters and Ph.D. programs require much research and a lot of highly advanced writing) would never make were found in the letter (differences in font size for emphasis; 1980s instead of 1980s; use of numbers between 1-9 rather than writing out the numbers; etc.). (Related: Jimmy Kimmel becomes king of the late-night gutter, as his Kavanaugh penis comment sets a new low standard for comedy.) All of which begs the question: Is this a real letter or did some low-level staffer in Feinsteins office say, a Chinese spy perhaps generate it? Though the Democrat-friendly establishment media tried their level best to ignore or otherwise downplay the story, some weeks in early August, local media including KPIX in San Francisco reported that a mole working on behalf of the Chinese government worked in Feinsteins office for two decades. The Bay Area is a hotbed for Russian and Chinese espionage, the local CBS affiliate reported, noting that in late 2017, the Trump administration ordered the Russian consulate in San Francisco shuttered. The station went on to to note that the San Francisco Chronicle expounded upon a small blurb in a Politico report noting that five years earlier Feinstein was notified by the FBI that her office had been infiltrated by Chinese intelligence the Ministry for State Security, in particular. Writing in the New York Post, investigative reporter Paul Sperry said Feinstein was an easy mark for Chinese intelligence: In June 1996 after the staffer had begun working for Feinstein the FBI detected that the Chinese government was attempting to seek favor with the senator, who at the time sat on the East Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, which oversees US-China relations. Investigators warned her in a classified briefing that Beijing might try to influence her through illegal campaign contributions laundered through front corporations and other cutouts. The warning proved prescient. Feinstein was a supporter of China publicly and in the Senate which helped to extend the countrys favored trade status and also led to its ascension into the World Trade Organization, both of which the Chinese government has used to extend economic and foreign policy influence around the globe. Favored trade status is, in large part, responsible for the massive U.S.-China trade deficit that POTUS Trump is attempting to lower. Between the suspicious Ford allegations letter and Feinsteins shilling for the Chinese, it seems as though the senior senator from California is quite the expert at deception, whether as a practitioner or a victim. Read more about the Kavanaugh allegations hoax at Hoax.news. Sources include: TheNationalSentinel.com NaturalNews.com NYPost.com (Natural News) On Wednesday sleazy lawyer Michael Avenatti revealed the identity of a third woman who is accusing Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct while both were in high school. The woman, Julie Swetnick, says in a sworn statement that she was the victim of a rape train after being drugged or given grain alcohol engineered by Kavanaugh and some of his high school friends. In particular, Swetnick says she was given Quaaludes or something similar, causing her to black out (or nearly so) thus making her vulnerable to be gang-raped bywho knows who. In her statement, Swetnick says that she met Kavanaugh and his classmate, Mark Judge, in after being introduced to them at a house party in the Washington, D.C., area in the early 1980s. Image: Julie Swetnick/Twitter During the years 1981-1982 I became aware of efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh, and others to spike the punch at house parties I attended with drugs and/or grain alcohol so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say no, she says in paragraph 11 of her statement made under penalty of perjury, The Gateway Pundit reports. She goes on to say she witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to target particular girls so they could be taken advantage of; it was usually a girl that was especially vulnerable because she was alone at the party or shy, she claimed. But theres just one problem with her sworn testimony the age difference. (Related: Kavanaugh STILL not implicated in actual sex abuse by third accuser.) Swetnick is 55; thats two years older than Kavanaugh, who is 53. TGP reported that she graduated high school three years before Kavanaugh did. What was she doing at parties with boys and girls who were legally minors at the time? The New York Times, which reported that none of what Swetnick is saying could be corroborated and that Avenatti would not make her available for an interview, pointed out: Ms. Swetnick grew up in Montgomery County, Md., graduating from Gaithersburg High School in 1980 before attending the University of Maryland, according to a resume posted online. Judge Kavanaugh graduated from Georgetown Prep in 1983. So just going by the numbers, shes saying she was partying as an 18-year-old with boys (and girls?) who were anywhere from 15-to-17-years-old, which meant they were minors and she was considered an adult (who was attending college). No one is stopping him Whats more, she claims in her statement that she knew about these rape trains and that drugging of girls was taking place, but she continued going to the parties until it allegedly happened to her. And while she says Kavanaugh was exhibiting abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, grinding against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls clothing to expose private body parts, she never said that he was abusive towards her. She said in 1982 she became the victim of one of these gang or train rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present, adding that she witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be gang-raped in a side room or bedroom by a train of numerous boys. Really? So, what has Avenatti done about these alleged crimes? A lawyer for Kavanaugh, Beth Wilkinson, told CNN that he should have gone directly to the police if he believed the allegations to be true, the Times reported. There must be a reason, as a lawyer, that he didnt take these allegations to the police himself. No one is stopping him, she said. Theres no indication in the Times article that the reporters understood that a huge age difference (and there is a big difference between 15 and 18-year-olds, mentally and physically) because it wasnt mentioned. But the discrepancy is just the first in what will likely be many others regarding Swetnicks allegations. Read more about how the Trump administration is handling this at Trump.news. Sources include: TheGatewayPundit.com TheNationalSentinel.com (Natural News) Pulmonary healthcare providers are constantly searching for ways to help people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) improve their respiratory function. Now individuals with COPD can add tai chi as an affordable alternative treatment for pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), according to a study published in the journal CHEST. PR is recommended for patients with COPD since it can improve their ability to exercise, as well as their overall quality of life. However, PR often requires access to trained staff and specialized facilities. Tai chi for improved pulmonary function Tai chi, an ancient Chinese martial art that requires physical exertion, involves breathing, coordinated movement, and stretching, and requires no special equipment. The results of the study showed that tai chi is a low-cost and accessible alternative. The researchers explained that tai chi is equivalent to PR for improving respiratory function in patients with COPD. According to Dr. Nan-Shan Zhong, a professor from the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, one of the health benefits that tai chi can offer is help COPD patients manage their symptoms. The researchers noted that this slow, methodical exercise can help improve the patients quality of life in the same way a course of classical western style PR could. For the study, the research team monitored 120 patients with COPD in rural China who have never used a bronchodilator. The patients received a daily treatment with indacaterol, a drug used to control wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing, and chest tightness due to COPD. The participants were then randomly assigned to groups receiving either traditional PR or tai chi. The researchers used the Saint Georges Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) to assess the patients. SGRQ is a standard measure of health status in patients with conditions related to airway obstruction. Both groups showed similar improvements, but after 12 weeks, there was a clinically significant difference in SGRQ scores. Patients who practiced tai chi had better scores, and they also performed well during the six-minute walk test. Professor Yuan-Ming Luo, another researcher from the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, shared that based on the patients SGRQ and test scores, tai chi is a suitable alternative for PR. The patients who practiced tai chi also had better modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scores and quadriceps strength. The participants in the tai chi group received formal instruction five hours weekly for 12 weeks. The group was taught the 24-form Yang style of tai chi. Meanwhile, the PR group received treatment thrice a week for 12 weeks. After 12 weeks, the participants were encouraged to continue their tai chi either alone or with a group in their community. The group didnt receive formal assistance during this period. The subjects in the PR group also received verbal encouragement to stay physically active. Final analysis of all data took place 12 weeks after the formal training ended. Lead author Dr. Michael I. Polkey from the NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, and Imperial College London, said their data proves that tai chi is an accessible form of exercise intervention, and a suitable alternative to formal PR. It can help a lot of patients improve their quality of life, especially for those who dont have access to other treatments for COPD. He concluded that regular physical exercise is crucial to managing the symptoms of COPD. While PR is recommended, tai chi was found to be an effective alternative for those without access to local PR services, or cannot afford them. Polkey noted, We encourage pulmonary rehabilitation providers to consider offering Tai Chi as an alternative therapy that patients would then be able to continue unsupervised in their own home. (Related: Clinical trials show that acupuncture is an effective treatment for asthma.) Read more articles about tai chi and how it can improve respiratory function at HealingArts.news. Sources include: ChestNet.org MedlinePlus.gov (Natural News) It seems that anything is possible with modern technology including ending the need for humans to toil in strawberry fields. Scientists in the U.K. are developing robots to replace human strawberry pickers at farms, a solution aimed at reducing food wasted due to a shortage of human workers. The impact of Brexit goes all the way through to Britains strawberry fields. The move has led to a shortage in farm workers, causing about 20 percent of the fruits to rot instead of getting picked. The figure is expected to rise once Britain formally leaves the European Union (EU), which is why farms are looking for alternate solutions to harvesting crops and ultimately reducing wastage as early as now. This is all in the face of a skyrocketing demand for strawberries. The British consumed up to 67,000 tons of the fruit in 1996, but consumption has ballooned to over 101,000 tons in recent years. The soft fruit industry employed 29,000 seasonal workers in 2015, but forecasts warn that this number will be sorely lacking by 2020 when production is expected to require 31,000 seasonal workers. A by the National Farmers Union reveals that horticultural farms have a 12.5 percent shortfall of workers needed to harvest fruits on time. Robots as a solution to the strawberry farm worker shortage The project, which involves the study and development of robots for strawberry picking, is being led by Dr. Vishnu Mohan, a computer science and engineering lecturer at the University of Essex. His team is studying how robots can work in natural, unstructured environments where they can pick, inspect, and pack fruits as efficiently and accurately as humans do. The goal, he says, is for the robots to be able to work alongside humans in a farm environment to streamline the entire process as well as to reduce production costs. The university is also working closely with farmers and Tiptree, the popular jam makers, to complete a prototype of the robot. Andrey Ivanov, manager of Wilkin and Sons farm located in Essex, says that production of robots could take years, or maybe six months. He acknowledges that robots can help in many industries for repetitive work in a production line. Humans have an advantage in terms of senses The biggest challenge so far is in teaching robots to determine which strawberries are suitable for picking and which ones are not. No two berries are the same, says Dr. Mohan. They come in different shapes, sizes, order of ripeness, and many are hidden in the foliage. Human workers have the advantage in this respect. They are able to swiftly segregate the viable fruits from those that are not. They also have their sense of touch, which allows them to pick berries with just enough force, ensuring that the berries reach their consumers whole and in perfect condition. (Related: Strawberries can help cure gastritis.) Dr. Mohan foresees another challenge in the constantly changing outside environment, to which the robots will be exposed in the fields. Weather changes, for instance, make the outdoors way unlike the typical unchanging industrial environments that most robots are built to operate in. Picking strawberries, therefore, may be relatively effortless for humans but is a huge challenge for robotics. Designers need to build a system that integrates vision, touch, force, and movement. The system must also learn to adapt to dynamic and highly unstructured environments. A prototype of the robot is expected to be ready within a few months. This model will be able to pick low-hanging strawberries. Developers are looking to build more advanced robots with bi-manual cooperation features that replicate the ability of human workers to work using two hands. Further advances will also see the development of robots equipped with active vision designed for spotting strawberries amidst foliage. These more advanced versions are also expected to have the ability to counteract and adapt to changing environmental conditions. Learn how fast robots are developing through stories at Robotics.news. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk SeasonalBerries.co.uk (Natural News) As the Left-wing social media giants continue to target Infowars and Alex Jones, banning his channels and pages and disrupting his ability to earn a living, some analysts and experts say the CEOs who run those companies are crossing a legal line and ought to be held accountable. Paul Craig Roberts, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under President Ronald Reagan, told USA Watchdogs Greg Hunter in an interview this week that the only way Leftist elites in government and the private sector can promote their awful ideas is to censor and ban free speech from anyone who disagrees. The agendas of the elite are hidden, Roberts said. They are not something the American people would support. The elite are fearful that their cover stories are so thin that if truth can be shown on their agendas, they will be discredited. They will lose their abilities to impose their agendas, he continued. So they are closing down truth tellers in order to maintain control over explanations. Alex Jones is a threat to the elites control over the explanations They are sending the message that says get on board with the official explanations or we will terminate you. Recently, Jones was notified that Facebook and YouTube had banned Infowars and Jones pages, while tech giant Apple removed entire libraries of Jones podcasts, along with Spotify. And while not every agrees with Jones content, many of them do not support the censoring of his content. I dont support Alex Jones and what Infowars produces, said Media Research Center chief Brent Bozell, Fox News reported. However, banning him and his outlet is wrong because it will inevitably lead to similar actions being taken against anyone or any organization outside the Left-wing acceptance bubble. In fact, the censorship and banning had already begun. Twitter shadow bans conservatives, while many Right-leaning media have noted that their referral traffic from Facebook has dropped as much as 90 percent in some cases. (Related: Where does it end? The authoritarian Left is trying to outlaw BANKING and financial services for all conservative groups.) Violations of the law But Roberts says there is a legal remedy to all of this censorship and banning its just not being used, for some reason. Why is this possible? he told Hunter in reference to the censorship. It is possible because the antitrust laws of the United States have not been enforced. These are all monopolies. Monopoly is against the law. Its against the Sherman Antitrust Act, but they dont enforce it because theyre so powerful. He adds that the media-tech companies have grown so large that they no longer feel they have to operate in a fair, unbiased manner. They should be broken up, he said, or they should be nationalized or actually they should be arrested they are part of a plot to overthrow POTUS Donald Trump. Included in the plot, he said, were several traditional media including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and even NPR. There is not an ounce of integrity in the media, Roberts continued. As to his monopoly allegations, Roberts has a point. As of June, according to the statistics website Statistica, Google accounted for an astounding 78.81 percent of all search traffic, giving the platform incredible influence and control over results. Google is even more pervasive in other countries, rising as high as 94.39 percent in India, where more than a billion people live. The site also noted that Google receives nearly one-third 32.4 percent of all digital ad revenue. Facebooks share is far greater. Statistica reports that the platforms ad revenue market share in 2018 is 79.2 percent. Google and Facebook have taken over the digital ad industry, Fortune declared in January 2017. Founder of the Natural News Network Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, agrees with Roberts. Watch: Read more about the social media giants censoring of conservative media at Conservative.news. J.D. Heyes is also editor-in-chief of The National Sentinel. Sources include: USAWatchdog.com FoxNews.com NewsTarget.com (Natural News) The U.S. Department of Defense remains to be the nations and the worlds biggest polluter, producing 750,000 tons of toxic waste annually. This rate was higher than the toxic waste generated by five of the largest chemical companies combined. According to experts, the Pentagons hazardous pollution trail came in forms of depleted uranium, oil, and jet fuels as well as pesticides, defoliants such as Agent Orange and lead, and other chemicals. In 2014 alone, a Pentagon official divulged that the agencys environmental office had to deal with 39,000 contaminated areas spread across 19 million acres across the country. Both domestic and international military bases governed by the Pentagon consistently made it to the list of the most polluted places in the world, largely due to traces of perchlorate and other jet and rocket fuel components that contaminate the soil, aquifers, and sources of potable water. In fact, hundreds of U.S. military bases were included on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)s list of Superfund sites. The list indicates places that qualify for clean-up grants from the federal government. According to the EPAs list, almost 900 of the nearly 1,200 Superfund sites across the country are abandoned military facilities or locations that were used to support military needs. One such base, Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, was held accountable for the contamination of the areas groundwater. The military base was deemed responsible for dumping a large amount of carcinogens in the the groundwater between 1953 and 1987. However, it was only in February this year that the federal government allowed affected individuals to file for official compensation claims. Weapons tests, wars contribute to increasing global pollution The Pentagons testing and use of high-powered nuclear weapons has also became a key contributor to the global pollution. The U.S. was found to conduct more nuclear weapons test than all the other countries combined, which in turn made the country accountable for excessive radiation that continues to persist in many islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Marshall Islands, for instance, endured more than sixty nuclear weapons tests between 1946 and 1958. Residents of the Pacific island and its neighbor Guam continue to show incredibly high rates of cancer. U.S. military bases have also been held responsible for the contamination of Navajo Indian reservations in the American Southwest, largely due to long-abandoned uranium mines that were once managed by U.S. military contractors. Fossil fuel use has also greatly contributed to the worsening environmental damage worldwide. A USA Today report showed that the U.S. military was the countrys consumer of fossil fuels, using 20.9 bn liters of fuel each year. To put that into perspective, the U.S. militarys annual fossil fuel use was equivalent to carbon emissions of Denmark. Wars that have erupted within the last few decades have also played a key role in the global pollution. During the first gulf war, the U.S. bombarded Iraq with up to 340 tonnes of missiles containing depleted uranium. The U.S. was also held responsible for the desertification of 90 percent of Iraqi territory. On the other hand, the Rwandan civil war has caused extensive damage to the countrys forest lands. During the war, 1,000 tonnes of wood was removed from a protected park everyday for two years for construction, firewood and charcoal. The environment has long been a silent casualty of war and armed conflict. From the contamination of land and the destruction of forests to the plunder of natural resources and the collapse of management systems, the environmental consequences of war are often widespread and devastating. Let us reaffirm our commitment to protect the environment from the impacts of war, and to prevent future conflicts over natural resources, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said during the organizations International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict in 2014. Sources include: MintPressNews.com TheGuardian.com TreeHugger.com USAToday.com A technology that advocates say can help solve and prevent future gun crimes has met stiff resistance in California, and some say the political impasse could be costing lives and allowing solvable cases to go cold. The technology is called the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN). Officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which oversees NIBIN, have recently been pushing local and state law enforcement agencies to adopt the technology. ATF officials from Washington, D.C., to the San Francisco Bay Area have pointed to NIBINs ability to connect shootings across city, county and state lines, some of which originally appeared unrelated. Most law enforcement agencies in Californias urban centers use the technology, but NBC Bay Areas Investigative Unit found major gaps in Californias ballistics evidence network, most notably across the 10 state-run crime labs operated by the California Department of Justice. For NIBIN to work effectively, law enforcement agencies must have access to large amounts of ballistics data. It requires technicians to perform ballistics testing on every shell casing, bullet, and gun recovered at every crime scene, and enter those ballistic images into NIBIN. As images of shell casings are entered into the database, the system searches for matches of shell casings left behind at other crime scenes. That allows law enforcement to connect different shootings to the same firearm and generate investigative leads for detectives before cases go cold. ATF officials say by proactively using the database, police can prevent future gun crimes by taking known shooters off the street. However, NIBIN technology is only as effective as the number of crime labs and police departments that participate, and experts tell NBC Bay Area that those large gaps in California dilute the entire network. There was an attempt to fix just that problem in Californias Legislature in 2018. A bill authored by California Assemblyman Evan Low would have closed those gaps by mandating all guns and shell casings recovered at California crime scenes to be entered into NIBIN. But the bill never made it out of the Appropriations Committee. Multiple law enforcement sources in both local and state law enforcement agencies told NBC Bay Area the bill faced stiff resistance from Californias Attorney Generals Office and some local law enforcement agencies. Among the reasons cited for opposition: cost, competing technology already on the market, and a resistance to any mandates on how local and state agencies run their crime labs. Get a behind the scenes tour of ATFs National Laboratory Center in Ammendale, Maryland, where agents conduct NIBIN testing, training and data input. We in the State of California are allowing crimes to go unsolved unnecessarily, Low said. We have the information and the systems in place to be able to do so. It was crucial for the Legislature to mandate the use of NIBIN, Low said, because cost, mindset, and politics were getting in the way of maximizing the technology. Well, it is about the turf wars, unfortunately, and thats why the state needs to step in and say this is unacceptable, Low, of Campbell, told NBC Bay Area. We need to be adults and we need to use the technology that exists to prevent further victimization. We know that many of these guns are used in multiple places, in multiple jurisdictions. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen recently penned an op-ed supporting Lows bill. This is only one solution to a seemingly intractable epidemic of gun violence, Rosen wrote. We can do it today. I want evidence collected. I want evidence tested. I want the evidence to be used to arrest the violent criminal. I want evidence to prosecute and convict the violent criminal. Also supporting the bill, San Joses police Chief Eddie Garcia says his agency has used NIBIN to generate solid investigative leads on cases that had, before NIBIN, seemingly hit dead ends. We have a policy that we send (to our lab) every gun and every casing from every scene that we respond to, Garcia said. There are fiscal considerations that you need to keep in mind, but to me, its just a cost of doing business. Were trying to solve violent crime, and I cant allow dollars and cents to really dictate how we solve violent crime in the city. While most urban areas are policed by agencies that do participate in NIBIN, huge swaths of California have no access to the network. California Department of Justice crime labs handle firearms evidence for most police departments across 47 counties, and none of it ends up in the national database. There are a few exceptions, as when the ATF provided NIBIN terminals to crime labs in places such as Kern County, Salinas, and Stockton. As for how this impacts the nationwide NIBIN database network, NBC Bay Areas reporting partners, the nonprofit journalists at The Trace, found that California is one of only 10 states across the country where state-run crime labs dont participate. Ron Nichols, who was an Oakland police officer before he went to work for ATF, says the large gaps in Californias ballistics database jeopardize public safety in communities where gun violence is prevalent. What that means for mom and dad at home in these areas that arent within the (NIBIN) network in California, is it means that your communities are at much higher risk because of the active shooters on those streets, Nichols said. Fewer investigations are really successful in connecting these shootings. Nichols, who worked in forensics for 34 years, said he understands that labs dont want the government telling them what to do but only to a point. I believe that if they dont want the federal government to tell them what to do, Im fine with that, Nichols said. But what Im not fine with is ignoring the potential of a program that can close gaps within the network that the state is responsible for that can save lives. You dont want the federal government looking at you? Thats fine. Then take a good hard look at yourselves. There are other holes in Californias ballistics database, experts say, beyond Californias Department of Justice. Some other larger law enforcement agencies, for example, have access to a NIBIN terminal but choose not to submit all recovered guns, bullets and shell casings for ballistics testing and NIBIN entry. Then theres the case of the Orange County Crime Lab, which turned to a competing ballistics network developed in Russia when the ATF pulled its NIBIN machines and funding back in 2012. That system, called Evofinder, and still in use to this day by Orange County, doesnt communicate with NIBIN. So any evidence entered into Orange Countys Evofinder system cant be seen by NIBIN users and vice versa. [Evofinder] gave us the ability to process bullets immediately with the same system that we were doing cartridge cases with at a much lower cost, said Bruce Houlihan, the director of Orange Countys crime lab. Houlihan said his agency considered the fact that Evofinder wouldnt communicate with NIBIN but opted to purchase the system anyway. The Santa Ana Police Department, located a block away from the Orange County Crime Lab, does use NIBIN. But because Orange County and Santa Ana police use different systems, their respective networks dont communicate with each other, except by special circumstance. We thought about that very deeply when we were actually considering this because that (lack of data sharing) was a concern of ours, Houlihan said. But considering the number of hits that we got nationally was almost non-existent that was not really a big concern for us in Orange County. Low, for his part, said hes not giving up on his bill to require NIBINs use all over California. Low plans to take it up again next year. As of Oct. 6, Caltrain will no longer lend its service to and from San Francisco on the weekends as it will begin electrification work in four tunnels between Bayshore Station and 4th and King Station. According to its website, free bus service will be available for Caltrain riders from Bayshore Station to 22nd Street and San Francisco stations during regular weekend Caltrain service. Buses are accessible to people with disabilities, but will have limited onboard space for luggage and bicycles, according to Caltrain officials. Regular service will be restored for the weekend of Jan. 5 and 6 to accommodate people traveling to events related to the 2019 College Football National Championship game at Levi's Stadium Jan. 7. Each week, construction will be completed before the Monday morning rush hour. Riders are advised to plan for additional travel time until regular weekend rides to and from San Francisco return by late spring 2019. More details about the closures can be found here. Volunteers this morning began setting up the sanctioned Hope Village homeless encampment in its new home in San Jose for at least the next six months. The encampment, which began as an unsanctioned collection of fenced-off tents and privately funded resources, began rallying local support after it received an eviction notice from the California Highway Patrol earlier this month. Santa Clara County leaders eventually agreed to a short-term lease from the city of San Jose for $1 a month. Hope Village will now be regarded as a pilot program for other sanctioned encampments in the area. About 12 people had already been living in tents at the location for up to seven years. County officials said they were given motel vouchers and allowed to return when the renovations were complete. A fence now separates the sanctioned and unsanctioned tents, and Supervisor Dave Cortese said he hopes the lot doesn't become a "tale of two encampments." "The idea is to be humane, helpful and constructive in trying to deal with [the unsanctioned camp]," Cortese said. "[Hope Village] is a very compassionate group. I can't imagine them just turning a blind eye to people sitting right next to them." Hope Village founder Peter Miron-Conk said he hasn't encountered any problems with current residents of the unsanctioned camp, but worries the fenced-off portion of the lot allows too much extra room for additional tents. Hope Village is limited to residents who do not have substance abuse or serious mental health issues, and a large group of homeless individuals do not meet these requirements. Miron-Conk said Hope Village would inevitably be blamed for any issues that arise in the surrounding area, like noise, drug use or violence, but said the group will prioritize humanity in its decision-making. Hope Village organizers and county officials stressed that the residents of the unsanctioned encampment will not be swept, and Cortese said San Jose officials have not indicated any intention to sweep the tents. Cortese added that the county is working with Hope Village to determine if the encampment will need law enforcement. This could entail Santa Clara County sheriff's deputy patrols or visiting bailiffs who work at the nearby courthouse. "I don't want [the residents] complaining," he said. "This is supposed to be somewhat of a self-governed encampment." The county has agreed to a cap of 14 residents for the start of the pilot program. Hope Village organizers and community advocates say they are pushing for at least 30 to create a valid, replicable model for temporary housing. Rider safety was the focus of a special BART Board of Directors meeting in Pittsburg on Thursday evening, and they took initial steps in bolstering the transit agency's staffing at stations. BART officials voted Thursday night to hire 10 more fare inspectors; eight of them will focus on nights and weekend and two will be added to the weekend teams. At the meeting, BART directors and the public discussed General Manager Grace Crunican's safety and security plan. Crunican announced the plan on Aug. 6 in the wake of three homicides and other violent crimes that occurred at BART stations in recent months, including the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur Station in Oakland on July 22. "When you ask the chief, he will say those who have no regard for lower level offenses sometimes have no regard for criminal activity, for crimes much more serious," spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. The man who is behind bars for killing Wilson in July, for instance, was a fare evader, officials said. Authorities say cracking down on that problem may help with safety. "We do know in that case he was a fare evader," Trost said. "Does that mean every fare evader commits a crime? Absolutely not." BART officials said they are well aware riders are complaining about the increased level of violent crime. The system needs more surveillance cameras, emergency call boxes on platforms and more police officers, they said. They also need the money to buy equipment and implement programs, and that will take time. The special meeting also included an update on the transit system's proof-of-payment strategy, which included citation data as well as a hearing on a request to hire more community service officers to expand the program launched in January. The California Highway Patrol is searching for a suspect in a road rage stabbing of an Uber driver in San Jose on Wednesday morning. The stabbing occurred at about 8:45 a.m. on northbound Highway 87, south of Capitol Exressway, the CHP said. A 24-year-old male Uber driver was transporting a fare when he became involved in a road rage type incident with a female driver directly in front of him. After that vehicle fled, another vehicle driven my a man with short hair and full sleeve tattoos pulled alongside the Uber driver and requested he pull to the shoulder, the CHP said. After the drivers pulled over, they both exited their vehicles, and the tattooed man stabbed the Uber driver in the abdomen then kicked him once before fleeing the scene, the CHP said. Somewhere along that time, the victim was either cut or stabbed with some type of sharp object," CHP Officer Lee Tirona said. "Were not sure what type of object it was." The suspect vehicle was described as an older model sedan that was gold-brown in color, the CHP said. The CHP said they're looking for witnesses who may have video footage of the incident. "We're looking for some help because some witnesses did say that a lot of cameras did come out, you know, phone cameras, and there might be some more information that the public might be able to help with," Tirona said. The extent of the Uber driver's injuries were not clear. Uber confirmed the incident in a statement Wednesday: "The attack investigators describe is horrifying. We have been in contact with the drivers family to offer our support and urge anyone who can help authorities catch the suspect to please come forward." The CHP is investigating and asking the public's assistance with any possible leads and information to contact CHP-Golden Gate Division by email at 30media@chp.ca.gov or call the CHP Investigation Tipline at (707) 9174491. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he rejected a one-on-one meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the trade dispute involving the North American neighbors and renewed his threat to slap tariffs on cars imported from Canada as negotiations drag on. Trudeau spokeswoman Eleanore Catenaro said in response: "No meeting was requested. We don't have any comment beyond that." In an extraordinary rebuke of America's northern neighbor, Trump vented his frustration with Canada during a news conference along the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two allies. "His tariffs are too high and he doesn't seem to want to move and I've told him forget about it," Trump said of Trudeau. "And frankly, we're thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada. That's the mother lode. That's the big one." "We've very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," Trump said in an apparent reference to Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, who has been negotiating with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Canada, the United States' No. 2 trading partner, was left out when the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. The U.S. and Canada are under pressure to reach a deal by the end of the month, when Lighthizer must make public the full text of the agreement with Mexico. But Trump suggested he may go forward with a revamped NAFTA without Canada. The president said it would be called "USM," for the U.S. and Mexico, instead of "USMC," and offered blunt criticism of the Canadian team engaged in the talks. "Canada has a long way to go. I must be honest with you, we're not getting along at all with their negotiators. We think their negotiators have taken advantage of our country for a long time," he said. Relations between the two neighbors have been strained since Trump assailed Trudeau at the G-7 meeting in June, calling him a "weak" and "dishonest" back-stabber. Canadian leaders have objected to Trump's decision to impose tariffs on Canadian steel, citing national security. The trade talks have been deadlocked over issues such as Canada's high dairy tariffs and U.S. efforts to shield drug companies from generic competition. Trump, during the news conference, reiterated his longstanding grievances against NAFTA and job losses, saying the trade pact had been "great for Canada, great for Mexico, very bad for us." The trade agreement, which took effect in 1994, removed most trade barriers between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, leading to a boost in trade, but it encouraged U.S. automakers and other manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of low-wage Mexican labor. Massachusetts' Republican governor is speaking out about the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. "The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation. There should be no vote in the Senate," Charlie Baker tweeted Thursday morning moments before accuser Christine Blasey Ford started her testimony. Baker's tweet came a day after he reportedly dodged questions about Kavanaugh's nomination; however, he called for an investigation before the Senate's vote. As the testimony of Ford got underway in Washington, NBC10 Boston caught up with Baker, who elaborated on his tweet. "I said that there should be a formal investigation an independent, formal investigation. And I said that because I believe Professor Ford. I also believe that that investigation needs to happen before anybody votes on anything," said Baker. The high-stakes hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee comes after three women, starting with Ford, came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct involving Kavanaugh, a current Washington D.C. federal appeals court judge. Ford claims Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both teens in the 1980s. Kavanaugh has denied her allegations, along with the allegations of two other accusers. Baker, who has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump's policies, had a message for the president. "If they don't do the investigation, I also believe that his name should be withdrawn," he said. Baker is not the only New England Republican lawmaker calling for caution regarding the U.S. Senate voting for Kavanaugh. Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott said senators need to "get it right" regarding Kavanaugh's nomination, and also called for an investigation into the sexual misconduct claims. As for the rest of Kavanaugh's accusers, Baker would not comment. "Professor Ford is the is the one whos testifying today, but I really believe we need to have these accusations, these allegations, investigated," Baker reiterated. At a rally in Boston on Thursday, his Democratic opponent, Jay Gonzalez, still took aim at Baker for not speaking out more strongly. "I will be a governor who stands up for women, speaks out against sexual abuse and believes survivors who have the courage to share their stories," he said. Another Republican facing re-election this November, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, called Ford's allegations serious and said they should be fully investigated. Through a campaign spokesman, Sununu said the Senate "should think carefully about the next steps in this process.'' His Democratic challenger Molly Kelly, said Sununu should go further and call for Trump to withdraw Kavanaugh's nomination. "Sununu's latest statement is not enough," Kelly said in a statement. "And he owes the women of New Hampshire an apology." If you need support today, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available: 800-656-HOPE or online.rainn.org. The chair of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission stepped down Wednesday after being accused of pre-judging the outcome of an investigation into Wynn Resorts. Chairman Stephen Crosby announced his resignation in a public message to fellow commissioners and staff. Crosby said he had received a letter from Steve Wynn's lawyer last week claiming he had already made up his mind about the sexual assault allegations against the casino mogul. "Simultaneously, Suffolk Downs filed a $3 billion lawsuit against Wynn Resorts, in which pages of accusations regurgitated false claims of bias made against me in the past," Crosby added. The chairman said he would leave the commission to do its work "without distraction." "I simply cannot let my involvement in these critical deliberations be used by others to hamper the Commission's ability to do its work, or to undermine the confidence of the public in that work," he wrote. Crosby said he hopes his resignation will allow the commission to investigate objectively. Those who want to get a jump on the November election need not wait. Early voting in Illinois begins Thursday across the state. But voters will have to visit their county clerk's office or the office of their local election authority to do so. In Chicago, election officials say residents can early vote at the "super site" in the city's Loop. The site, located at 175 W. Washington St., also offers voter registration. It's open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. The "Loop Super Site" is the only place Chicagoans can vote early through Oct. 22, when early voting expands to include a location in all 50 wards across the city. On Oct. 31, four additional sites will open at Chicago universities, officials said. Across the state, those who aren't registered to vote may join the rolls at the time they cast their ballot. Online voter registration is also available through the Illinois State Board of Elections through Oct. 21. The Nov. 6 election features races for governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, and seats in the state House and Senate and in Congress. According to the State Board of Elections, 1.4 million voters cast early ballots in 2016, a presidential election year. Two years before, there were 497,000 early voters. Two teens are dead after an altercation that started near a high school in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon. The shooting, which occurred around 3 p.m. at 35th and LaSalle Street, sent people fleeing onto the streets near a Chicago Transit Authority Red Line station.Two people, believed to be high school students at Youth Connection Leadership Academy, were taken to an area hospital in very critical condition, and were later pronounced dead. The victims have not yet been identified, but police say that one was a 16-year-old boy and the other was 17 years old. He noted that police have a "very good witness" and "very good leads." Johnson said the area, which is blocks from the Chicago Police Department's headquarters, is "saturated" with on- and off-duty police officers who responded to the scene. "I missed it by a couple of minutes," he said. "I've been out here since it occured. According to police, a confrontation between several young men resulted in gunfire. A 17-year-old was shot in the chest, abdomen, and face, and was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital. A 16-year-old was also shot once in the body, according to police, and was later pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center. Three offenders fled the scene in a beige Ford Explorer, according to authorities. No suspects are currently in custody. Johnson continued his call for harsher penalties for gun offenders. "It takes more than police to resolve this issue," he said. Check back for more on this developing story. A statewide Amber Alert was issued Wednesday in Indiana as authorities search for a missing 1-year-old girl. The Allen County Sheriffs Department has requested the activation of an Amber Alert from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Fort Wayne, Indiana is 125 miles northeast of Indianapolis. The victim, Mary Kryder, is a 1 year old biracial female, 3 feet 0 inches tall, 30 pounds, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing teal shirt, and black sparkly pants. She was last seen Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 6:00 pm in Fort Wayne, Indiana and is believed to be in extreme danger, authorities said. Police said the suspect, Ikeca Betzner, is a 27-year-old biracial woman, is 5 feet 2 inches tall, 133 pounds, brown curly hair, and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jean jacket with gray sleeves and faded blue yoga pants. The suspect vehicle is a silver 2013 Hyundai Elantra with Indiana Autism Awareness plate DD6937. If you have any information on this incident, contact the Allen County Sheriffs Department at 260-449-3000 or 911. A U.S. agency will hear testimony on a former Lithuanian lawmaker who is jailed in Chicago and fighting extradition. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe says on its website that it'll hear testimony Thursday in Washington, D.C., regarding 47-year-old Neringa Venckiene. Her lawyers recently asked the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals to halt her extradition . She faces Lithuanian charges linked to her claims that there's an influential pedophile network in the Baltic nation. She fears she'll be killed if forced to return. The State Department offered no reasons why it approved her extradition in April. Those testifying Thursday include her teenage son, Karolis Venckus, with whom she fled Lithuania in 2013. The commission, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, monitors compliance with human-rights accords. The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would provide $1.7 billion to help residents of the Carolinas and elsewhere recover from recent natural disasters. The aid was added to legislation to keep Federal Aviation Administration programs running beyond month's end. The bill passed 398-23. Lawmakers describe the disaster aid as a down payment. They say billions more will be needed in the months ahead to help communities devastated by Hurricane Florence. Lawmakers are working to extend the FAA's programs for five years while tackling other priorities such as disaster relief. Lawmakers sought to address several concerns of the flying public in the bill. For example, it requires the FAA to set minimum requirements for seat width and legroom on airplanes to ensure that passengers could evacuate a plane quickly in an emergency. Lawmakers were also responding to complaints about cramped seating with the directive. "Safety should not take a back seat, especially a shrunken seat, to airline profits," said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who sponsored the seat legislation. Another provision would prohibit the involuntary bumping of passengers who have already boarded a plane, a response to the public outrage over a passenger who was dragged off a United Express flight last year when he refused to leave. Lawmakers declined to include in the final bill a provision from Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., to ensure that fees airlines increasingly charge passengers are "reasonable and proportional to the costs of the services provided." Airlines raised about $7.4 billion in fees last year, mostly through baggage fees and fees for changing their flight. Markey said the consolidation among major airlines has reduced competition, and that has allowed the airlines to increasingly rely on fees to boost their profits without fear of losing customers. "We know that when choice goes down, fees go up. And these sky-high fees bear almost no resemblance to the cost of the services being provided," Markey said. Lawmakers also added to the legislation a bill giving the FBI and Homeland Security officials the authority to track and down drones deemed a "credible threat" to people or federal facilities. That's something Attorney General Jeff Sessions had sought. Sessions said drones promise to strengthen the U.S. economically but "can also be used to wreak havoc by criminals, terrorists and other bad actors." Privacy advocates criticized the provision. Neema Singh Guliani, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said it gives the government new power to spy on Americans without a warrant and to interfere with press freedom by restricting coverage using drones. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and a press-photographers group also oppose the measure. The Senate must also pass the bill before it can be signed into law by the president. Lawmakers are racing to address a range of issues before the end of the fiscal year. If the Senate doesn't pass the bill before then, it will need to pass a short-term measure that would keep FAA programs going. The bill also makes changes to Federal Emergency Management Agency programs by putting more money into such things as rebuilding levees and building seawalls before hurricanes hit so that the damage won't be as severe. "This will save lives, save money, and bend the cost curve of disasters," said Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Lawmakers from South Carolina and North Carolina had urged Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to provide some quick relief for the states as officials assess the full scope of the damage that has occurred. At least 47 deaths have been attributed to the storm. The lawmakers described the damage in a letter to Ryan and Pelosi. They said entire communities have been isolated because of flooding that was worse than any previous natural disaster in those states. Associated Press writer David Koenig contributed to this report. City councilors in New Britain have voted to change the name of a street that honors the father of Paul Manafort. Republican Mayor Erin Stewart last month changed the name of Paul Manafort Drive to Paul Manafort Sr. Drive, clarifying that it refers to the three-term mayor of the central Connecticut city and not his son, the former chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign who has been convicted of financial crimes. But Democrats on the city council say the name brings attention to scandals surrounding Manafort and have proposed doing away with it altogether. The council voted to rename the road Wednesday. In a letter urging the council to keep the name, eight members of the Manafort family said Paul Manafort Jr. has lived in Washington, D.C., for over 40 years and his problems do not have anything to do with the legacy of their patriarch, who died in 2013. Some spoke out against the name change, saying Manafort Sr. was a humble man who served his city and his country, and that's it's wrong to punish the father for the sins of the son. "Did Paul Senior do anything to warrant stripping him of the honor bestowed upon him 25 years ago? Certainly not," said Robert Smedley, New Britain's minority leader. The resolution proposed changing the street name to Ebenezer D.C. Bassett Way. bassett was a Connecticut native and alum of Central Connecticut State University, and the nation's first African-American diplomat. The proposal now goes to the mayors desk and she is expected to veto it. If she does so, the city councilors would need 10 votes to override it. Ecuador's president said Wednesday that his country and Britain are working on a legal solution for Julian Assange to allow the Wikileaks founder to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in "the medium term." President Lenin Moreno told The Associated Press that Assange's lawyers were aware of the negotiations. He declined to provide more details because of the sensitivity of the case. Assange has been holed up in the embassy for more than six years. The famous whistleblower and computer engineer faces an arrest warrant in the U.K. for not making a bail payment and fears he could be extradited to the U.S., where high-level officials have spoken about prosecuting him for stealing classified information. Previous sexual assault charges filed against him in Sweden have been dropped. Moreno said his country will work for Assange's safety and the preservation of his human rights as it seeks a way for him to leave the embassy. "Being five or six years in an embassy already violates his human rights," Moreno said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. "But his presence in the embassy is also a problem." Ecuador's previous left-leaning administration gave Assange asylum in 2012, saying it feared his life was in danger for publishing thousands of diplomatic cables that put U.S. officials in a difficult position. But Assange's relationship with the Ecuadorian government has soured since the centrist Moreno became president. Over the past two years Assange's access to the internet was suspended on several occasions, as he continued to hack politicians from different countries and made controversial statements on his social media accounts. "I understand that currently he has no access (to the internet) to stop him from doing that again," Moreno said. "But if Mr Assange promises to stop emitting opinions on the politics of friendly nations like Spain or the United States then we have no problem with him going online." Ecuador's government has said Assange's activities in the embassy, including the publishing of thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails prior to the 2016 election in the U.S., have compromised its relations with other countries. "I don't agree with what he does," Moreno said. "To see someone violating people's right to communicate privately makes me feel uncomfortable." Assange has long argued that he is simply monitoring the actions of some of the world's most powerful politicians and exercising his right to free speech. The national president of the notorious Bandidos biker gang was sentenced Wednesday to life plus 10 years in prison for directing a violent racketeering and drug trafficking enterprise. Jeffrey Faye Pike of Conroe, Texas, was sentenced in federal court in San Antonio. The 63-year-old leader of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Organization for more than a decade was convicted in May, along with Vice President John Xavier Portillo of San Antonio, after a lengthy trial. The jury found Pike and Portillo guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder conspiracy, racketeering assault, murder racketeering, extortion and weapons violations. Portillo also was convicted of another racketeering murder count, drug trafficking and drug trafficking conspiracy, and another weapons count. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 20 years Monday. The case arose from the 2006 killing of Anthony Benesh, who was attempting to start a Texas Chapter of the Hells Angels and had ignored the Bandidos' warnings to cease recruitment. Evidence during trial revealed that Portillo and Pike ordered members to murder Benesh, who was killed outside an Austin restaurant in March 2006. Jurors also found that Portillo was involved in the 2002 killing of Robert Lara to avenge for the death of a Bandidos member. Also, with Pike's approval, Portillo declared that the Bandidos were at war with the Cossacks motorcycle organization, according to testimony. That led to numerous acts of violence by the Bandidos around Texas, including in Fort Worth, Gordon, Odessa, Port Aransas, Crystal City and elsewhere. A Texas inmate who taunted a jury to sentence him to death was executed Wednesday evening for torturing and drowning an East Texas woman in his bathtub and then stuffing her body into a barrel. Troy Clark was condemned for the May 1998 slaying of a former roommate, Christina Muse of Tyler. Authorities said that Clark, a drug dealer, had worried that Muse would snitch on him. Clark chuckled as he addressed several friends watching through a window a few feet from him, telling them a number of times that he loved them and "it's all good." "I'm not the one who killed Christina," he said. "But, hey, whatever makes you happy." As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital was administered, Clark was laughing and remarked that the drug "burned going in." "I feel it," he said. Then he grunted, gasped and began to snore. Seconds later, all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 21 minutes later at 6:36 p.m. Margaret Bouman, Muse's aunt, said witnessing the execution was a tough experience but "kind of bittersweet." "I'm a Christian and the death penalty and accepting it was very, very difficult for me," Bouman said. "But I also believe the law of the land is important." She also said that Clark's attitude during the procedure was troubling. The 51-year-old Clark became the 17th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the ninth given a lethal injection in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. Clark is the first of two executions this week in Texas. Daniel Acker was scheduled to be executed Thursday for fatally running over his girlfriend. At least eight other Texas inmates have planned execution dates in the coming months. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to recommend a commutation of Clark's sentence. After his conviction, Clark had argued his trial attorneys failed to present evidence of his childhood, marked by physical and emotional abuse, which might have convinced jurors to spare his life. Appeals courts had previously ruled that because of the overwhelming case against Clark, it's likely he still would have been sentenced to death even if the jury had heard evidence of his troubled childhood. Prosecutors said Clark subdued Muse, 20, with a stun gun, bound her with duct tape and left her in a closet for several hours while he played video games and sold drugs to a customer. Clark later moved Muse to a bathroom where he hit her with a board and threatened his girlfriend, Tory Bush, into helping him drown Muse in the tub. Muse's body was then stuffed into a barrel with cement mix and lime before being dumped in a ravine. Against the advice of his attorneys, Clark testified during his trial's punishment phase, saying, "I really ain't got no story to tell. It's just I want the death penalty." Prosecutors also presented evidence Clark had committed two other murders, including one that occurred after Muse's death but prior to his arrest. The Smith County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted Clark, declined to comment. Bobby Mims, one of Clark's trial attorneys, said Clark denied killing Muse. "But there was pretty strong evidence that he was guilty. Tory Bush was pretty damning," Mims said. Bush, who testified against Clark, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Mims said he and his co-counsel were ineffective during the punishment phase in presenting evidence of Clark's troubled childhood, which included having a mother who was incarcerated for most of his life and who introduced him to drugs. Mims said when Clark's case was tried in 2000, most defense attorneys didn't focus on presenting mitigating evidence of a defendant's problematic life as part of their efforts to prevent a death sentence. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously denied Clark's appeals on this issue, saying in 2012 that Clark refused to let his trial attorneys contact family as well as others to testify on his behalf. "At the punishment hearing, the prosecutors actually had one or two of (Clark's) own relatives show up and they had indicated they wanted him to get the death penalty. It was crazy," Mims said. Mims said he doesn't know if evidence of Clark's troubled life would have made a difference with the jury. "I hope he's made peace with his maker," Mims said. Robbery suspects have been arrested following a series of grab-and-go thefts at Apple stores in California that spanned across 19 counties, including many in the Bay Area, officials announced Thursday. Seven people were arrested in Oakland Tuesday night for alledgedly entering Apple retail stores in hoodies and grabbing products on display before fleeing. The losses totaled more than $1 million, according to the California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The suspects were booked in the Alameda County Jail and another suspect was take into custody in Sonoma County. Nine other arrest warrants were issued to the rest of the suspect and the investigation is ongoing, Becerra said. "Organized retail thefts cost California business owners millions and expose them to copycat criminals. Ultimately, consumers pay the cost of this merchandise hijacking," said Becerra. Becerra filed charges for conspiracy to commit grand theft against the individuals in Fresno, Santa Clara, and Alameda Counties. The thefts occurred in Alameda County, Butte County, Contra Costa County, Fresno County, Kern County, Los Angeles County, Marin County, Monterey County, Orange County, Placer County, Riverside County, Sacramento County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Sonoma County and Ventura County, according to the attorney general. The latest Apple store theft occurred Tuesday afternoon in Emeryville, according to police. A group of roughly six to eight people swarmed the store and grabbed an unknown amount of Apple products before taking off from the scene. Tuesday's theft comes on the heels of similar crimes that have taken place recently at Apple Stores located in Bay Area cities such as Santa Rosa, Walnut Creek, Corte Madera and Burlingame. Monday Oct. 1, 2018 is the deadline for any victims of the Las Vegas shooting who want receive compensation from the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center. It was almost one year ago when thousands of concert goers spent a Sunday night enjoying the music of country star Jason Aldean on the final evening of the Route 91 festival. Then from a hotel window overlooking the venue, a lone gunman hellbent on killing, murdered 58 people and injured hundreds more. Kevin Schiller from the Vegas Resiliency Center, wants to get the word out that there is still help for people traumatized by the shooting. "This was a unique event, so we had attendees from all over California." With only a few days left, Schiller encourages people to apply before the Oct. 1 deadline. "We have people standing by they can walk you through all the applications," says Schiller. "We're here to help victims and get outreach to everybody." Even if victims don't want or need help now, they still must register to receive support in the future. Victims Carrie Weidenkeller and Marissa Narvaez, mother and daughter from Eastvale in Riverside County, attended the concert together. Both were shot. "To have that bond, which I thought could never get stronger, and then go through Route 91, I can't express it. She's my whole world," Marissa says about her mother. "And I feel like she saved my life," says Carrie. Carrie and Marissa know they are alive and that they are survivors, but they also know they will need help for years to come. Marissa still has a bullet near her colon that can't be removed. "Physically, I'm in pain every day. I have multiple doctor appointments every day." California victims like Carrie and Marissa qualify for help. Anita Ahula works with the California Victim Compensation Board. She mentions that many California residents that attended the concert dont know about the compensation. "Sixty-five percent of the victims of the Las Vegas concert were from California. That's over 14,000 people and today, we have had close to three thousand applications." Victims have another two years to register for California Victim Compensation. Ahula urges that no matter where the crime, if you live in California, you qualify for help. "We can assist with medical expenses, mental health and income and support loss." For more information: Below, read the written testimony prepared by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and professor Christine Blasey Ford ahead of Thursday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Ford's sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh. Ford alleges, and Kavanaugh denies, that he held her down, tried to take off her clothes and stifled her cries for help during a high school party in suburban Washington, D.C. Two other women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. One, Deborah Ramirez, said he made her touch his penis during a party at Yale. Another, Julie Swetnick, alleged that she saw Kavanaugh "engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls" and tried to inebriate them so they could be "gang raped" at high school parties. She said she was the victim of such an attack, though she did not specifically allege that Kavanaugh took part. Kavanaugh denied both women's accusations. Ford testified Thursday morning and Kavanaugh began testifying later Thursday afternoon. Here is the text of Ford's prepared testimony, as released by the Senate Judiciary Committee, (read Kavanaugh's below): Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Feinstein, Members of the Committee. My name is Christine Blasey Ford. I am a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University and a Research Psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina and earned my degree in Experimental Psychology in 1988. I received a Masters degree in 1991 in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. In 1996, I received a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California. I earned a Masters degree in Epidemiology from the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2009. I have been married to Russell Ford since 2002 and we have two children. I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. I have described the events publicly before. I summarized them in my letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, and again in my letter to Chairman Grassley. I understand and appreciate the importance of your hearing from me directly about what happened to me and the impact it has had on my life and on my family. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. I attended the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland, from 1980 to 1984. Holton-Arms is an all-girls school that opened in 1901. During my time at the school, girls at Holton-Arms frequently met and became friendly with boys from all-boys schools in the area, including Landon School, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga High School, country clubs, and other places where kids and their families socialized. This is how I met Brett Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me. In my freshman and sophomore school years, when I was 14 and 15 years old, my group of friends intersected with Brett and his friends for a short period of time. I had been friendly with a classmate of Bretts for a short time during my freshman year, and it was through that connection that I attended a number of parties that Brett also attended. We did not know each other well, but I knew him and he knew me. In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent almost every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland swimming and practicing diving. One evening that summer, after a day of swimming at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Chevy Chase/Bethesda area. There were four boys I remember being there: Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth, and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. I remember my friend Leland Ingham attending. I do not remember all of the details of how that gathering came together, but like many that summer, it was almost surely a spur of the moment gathering. I truly wish I could provide detailed answers to all of the questions that have been and will be asked about how I got to the party, where it took place, and so forth. I dont have all the answers, and I dont remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult. When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark were visibly drunk. Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldnt see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me. I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They both seemed to be having a good time. Mark was urging Brett on, although at times he told Brett to stop. A couple of times I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not. During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. The last time he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room. Directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. I ran inside the bathroom and locked the door. I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairs, pin-balling off the walls on the way down. I waited and when I did not hear them come back up the stairs, I left the bathroom, ran down the stairs, through the living room, and left the house. I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I had escaped from the house and that Brett and Mark were not coming after me. Bretts assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened. Over the years, I told very few friends that I had this traumatic experience. I told my husband before we were married that I had experienced a sexual assault. I had never told the details to anyone until May 2012, during a couples counseling session. The reason this came up in counseling is that my husband and I had completed an extensive remodel of our home, and I insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand. In explaining why I wanted to have a second front door, I described the assault in detail. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke a bit about his background. My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh. After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety. Occasionally I would discuss the assault in individual therapy, but talking about it caused me to relive the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it. But over the years, I went through periods where I thought about Bretts attack. I confided in some close friends that I had an experience with sexual assault. Occasionally I stated that my assailant was a prominent lawyer or judge but I did not use his name. I do not recall each person I spoke to about Bretts assault, and some friends have reminded me of these conversations since the publication of The Washington Post story on September 16, 2018. But until July 2018, I had never named Mr. Kavanaugh as my attacker outside of therapy. This all changed in early July 2018. I saw press reports stating that Brett Kavanaugh was on the short list of potential Supreme Court nominees. I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr. Kavanaughs conduct so that those considering his potential nomination would know about the assault. On July 6, 2018, I had a sense of urgency to relay the information to the Senate and the President as soon as possible before a nominee was selected. I called my congressional representative and let her receptionist know that someone on the Presidents shortlist had attacked me. I also sent a message to The Washington Posts confidential tip line. I did not use my name, but I provided the names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge. I stated that Mr. Kavanaugh had assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland. This was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I felt I couldnt NOT do it. Over the next two days, I told a couple of close friends on the beach in California that Mr. Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted me. I was conflicted about whether to speak out. On July 9, 2018, I received a call from the office of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo after Mr. Kavanaugh had become the nominee. I met with her staff on July 11 and with her on July 13, describing the assault and discussing my fear about coming forward. Later, we discussed the possibility of sending a letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, who is one of my states Senators, describing what occurred. My understanding is that Representative Eshoos office delivered a copy of my letter to Senator Feinsteins office on July 30, 2018. The letter included my name, but requested that the letter be kept confidential. My hope was that providing the information confidentially would be sufficient to allow the Senate to consider Mr. Kavanaughs serious misconduct without having to make myself, my family, or anyones family vulnerable to the personal attacks and invasions of privacy we have faced since my name became public. In a letter on August 31, 2018, Senator Feinstein wrote that she would not share the letter without my consent. I greatly appreciated this commitment. All sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves whether their private experience is made public. As the hearing date got closer, I struggled with a terrible choice: Do I share the facts with the Senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight? Or do I preserve our privacy and allow the Senate to make its decision on Mr. Kavanaughs nomination without knowing the full truth about his past behavior? I agonized daily with this decision throughout August and early September 2018. The sense of duty that motivated me to reach out confidentially to The Washington Post, Representative Eshoos office, and Senator Feinsteins office was always there, but my fears of the consequences of speaking out started to increase. During August 2018, the press reported that Mr. Kavanaughs confirmation was virtually certain. His allies painted him as a champion of womens rights and empowerment. I believed that if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. By the time of the confirmation hearings, I had resigned myself to remaining quiet and letting the Committee and the Senate make their decision without knowing what Mr. Kavanaugh had done to me. Once the press started reporting on the existence of the letter I had sent to Senator Feinstein, I faced mounting pressure. Reporters appeared at my home and at my job demanding information about this letter, including in the presence of my graduate students. They called my boss and coworkers and left me many messages, making it clear that my name would inevitably be released to the media. I decided to speak out publicly to a journalist who had responded to the tip I had sent to The Washington Post and who had gained my trust. It was important to me to describe the details of the assault in my own words. Since September 16, the date of The Washington Post story, I have experienced an outpouring of support from people in every state of this country. Thousands of people who have had their lives dramatically altered by sexual violence have reached out to share their own experiences with me and have thanked me for coming forward. We have received tremendous support from friends and our community. At the same time, my greatest fears have been realized and the reality has been far worse than what I expected. My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable. These messages, while far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying to receive and have rocked me to my core. People have posted my personal information on the internet. This has resulted in additional emails, calls, and threats. My family and I were forced to move out of our home. Since September 16, my family and I have been living in various secure locales, with guards. This past Tuesday evening, my work email account was hacked and messages were sent out supposedly recanting my description of the sexual assault. Apart from the assault itself, these last couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media, and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no ones pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaughs actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth. I understand that the Majority has hired a professional prosecutor to ask me some questions, and I am committed to doing my very best to answer them. At the same time, because the Committee Members will be judging my credibility, I hope to be able to engage directly with each of you. At this point, I will do my best to answer your questions. Here is Kavanaugh's prepared testimony as released by the Senate Judiciary Committee: Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Members of the Committee: Eleven days ago, Dr. Ford publicly accused me of committing a serious wrong more than 36 years ago when we were both in high school. I denied the allegation immediately, unequivocally, and categorically. The next day, I told this Committee that I wanted to testify as soon as possible, under oath, to clear my name. Over the past few days, other false and uncorroborated accusations have been aired. There has been a frenzy to come up with somethinganything, no matter how far-fetched or odiousthat will block a vote on my nomination. These are last-minute smears, pure and simple. They debase our public discourse. And the consequences extend beyond any one nomination. Such grotesque and obvious character assassinationif allowed to succeedwill dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country. As I told this Committee the last time I appeared before you, a federal judge must be independent, not swayed by public or political pressure. That is the kind of judge I am and will always be. I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. This effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. I am here this morning to answer these allegations and to tell the truth. And the truth is that I have never sexually assaulted anyonenot in high school, not in college, not ever. Sexual assault is horrific. It is morally wrong. It is illegal. It is contrary to my religious faith. And it contradicts the core promise of this Nation that all people are created equal and entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. Allegations of sexual assault must be taken seriously. Those who make allegations deserve to be heard. The subject of allegations also deserves to be heard. Due process is a foundation of the American rule of law. Dr. Fords allegation dates back more than 36 years, to a party that she says occurred during our time in high school. I spent most of my time in high school focused on academics, sports, church, and service. But I was not perfect in those days, just as I am not perfect today. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now. But thats not why we are here today. What Ive been accused of is far more serious than juvenile misbehavior. I never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes. The allegation of misconduct is completely inconsistent with the rest of my life. The record of my life, from my days in grade school through the present day, shows that I have always promoted the equality and dignity of women. I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by Dr. Ford. I never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind with Dr. Ford. I am not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time. But I have never done that to her or to anyone. I am innocent of this charge. Hillary Clinton will campaign with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum in Florida later this month, the Tallahassee mayor announced Thursday. "So honored to announce that we'll campaign with Hillary Clinton on October 23 here in the Sunshine State," Gillum announced on his social media platforms. "Let's #BringItHome!" Gillum's campaign didn't specify where or when Clinton will appear. Gillum, who is seeking to become the first black governor of Florida and the first Democrat elected to the office in two decades, has a nearly double digit lead over his opponent, former Rep. Ron DeSantis, in Quinnipac University's latest poll. A recent NBC News/Marist poll found Gillum with 48 percent support from likely voters over President Trump-endorsed DeSantis' 43 percent. According to Wednesday's Quinnipac poll, Gillums support in the latest poll came mostly from women (59 percent to 39), Independents (56 percent to 40) and minority groups, with 98 percent of black voters and 59 percent of Hispanic voters saying they would vote for him as opposed to DeSantis. A South Florida high school student was arrested after authorities say he brought a knife to knife to school in his backpack. Maurice Akwan Peterkin, 18, was arrested Thursday on a charge of possession of a weapon on school property for bringing the knife to Piper High School in Sunrise, according to an arrest report. The report said Peterkin had been involved in a fight with other students after school on Sept. 21, and he told Piper's assistant principal that he had a knife in his backpack during school hours on that day and also during the fight. On Tuesday, when the assistant principal was taking Peterkin from his classroom, he quickly ran into a men's bathroom, the report said. The assistant principal thought Peterkin was trying to hide something, possibly the knife, but when a security specialist searched the bathroom nothing was found, the report said. But when the specialist searched Peterkin's backpack, he found an 8-inch steak knife, the report said. Peterkin said he had been carrying the knife for personal protection, the report said. Peterkin was suspended from school and later arrested at his home in Lauderhill. He admitted to police that he had brought the knife to school, the report said. Peterkin was booked into jail where he was being held on $5,000 bond Thursday, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available. What to Know Thursday is here and NBC 6 has the top stories that South Florida needs to know. Thursday is here and NBC 6 has the top stories that South Florida needs to know. Weather wise, a warmer morning will result in a drier afternoon with a few inland showers and high temperatures in the lower 90s. No. 1 Senate committee hearing from Brett Kavanaugh and sexual misconduct accuser The Supreme Court nominee will appear today and for the first time, his accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will testify about allegations dating back to their time in high school. NBC 6 will have continuing coverage and reporter Steve Litz is in Washington D.C. with more. No. 2 - Man seen on surveillance video masturbating while looking into Hollywood girl's window Police in Hollywood are asking the public for help in identifying a man who was seen on surveillance video on Sept. 19 in the 6000 block of Funston Street. The footage shows a man entering the property and taking off his shorts while looking into a juvenile female's bedroom window. He is then seen running away, only to return a few minutes later to sit beneath the victim's window and smoke a cigarette. No. 3 Storm the pet kangaroo found after escaping from Palm Beach County farm South Florida, you can rest easy again: a search that began earlier this week when the animal got loose from his Jupiter Farms home in northern Palm Beach County ended Thursday morning when he was found safely. No. 4 Miami Hurricanes host North Carolina in Thursday night showdown at Hard Rock Stadium The Canes are back to work on a short week after defeating FIU last Saturday as they open their ACC schedule against a Tar Heels team that almost defeated them last season. Head coach Mark Richt has been silent on who will be starting at quarterback for Miami this evening. The Atlantic's warmer waters triggered the unusual number of major hurricanes last year, according to a new study that predicts the region could see a couple of extra whopper storms each year by the end of the century. Six major hurricanes with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph) spun around the Atlantic last year, including Harvey, Irma and Maria which hit parts of the United States and the Caribbean. Since 2000, the Atlantic has averaged three major hurricanes a year. Before that the average was closer to two. It may go up to five to eight major hurricanes a year around the year 2100, according to a study in Thursday's journal Science. "We will see more active hurricane seasons like 2017 in the future," said lead author Hiro Murakami, climate scientist and hurricane expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So far this year, though, only one Atlantic hurricane, Florence, has reached major status. Warm water acts as fuel for hurricanes. Water has to be at least 79 degrees (26 degrees Celsius) for a storm to form. The warmer the water, the more it can resist forces that would cause it to weaken, said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy, who wasn't part of the study. Murakami found that a combination of natural conditions and man-made climate change made the waters warmer in one key area, which caused more major storms. That area is essentially a large box from south of Florida and north of South America, stretching all the way east to Africa. Some of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes form off the coast of West Africa, then chug west toward the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast. Water in that large box the main hurricane development region averaged 0.7 degrees (0.4 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal for the entire 2017 season, which is unusual for a six-month time period, Murakami said. Murakami's study used computer simulations to isolate different climate conditions. Although his research showed both natural and human-triggered causes from the burning of coal, oil and gas, Murakami said he couldn't separate them enough to see which was bigger. He used the computer models to look into the future. The Atlantic is projected to warm faster than the rest of the world's oceans. That difference is why Murakami said the number of major storms will probably increase by two or more on average. Some outside experts had issues with parts of Murakami's study. McNoldy said it makes sense that the unusual warm water was to blame in 2017, but he wasn't quite ready to point the finger at global warming. "Hurricane seasons don't just keep getting more active as the climate warms though. There is enormous variability," McNoldy said in an email. Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research faulted Murakami's study for not taking into account the large increase in ocean heat in deeper areas, which he said is also due to climate change. Princeton University's Gabriel Vecchi said some computer simulations don't show the Atlantic warming fastest, so it's not quite as certain that there will be more major storms there in the future. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared Thursday that his people's rights "are not up for bargaining" and he accused the U.S. of undermining the two-state solution, a day after President Donald Trump suggested for the first time in office that he "liked" the long-discussed idea as the most effective way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Abbas halted ties with Trump's administration in December after the U.S. recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and Palestinians have said a pending U.S. peace plan will be dead on arrival because of that and other recent U.S. moves that Palestinians see as favoring Israel. "Jerusalem is not for sale," Abbas said to applause as he began his speech at the annual U.N. General Assembly. "The Palestinian people's rights are not up for bargaining." He said Palestinians would never reject negotiation, but that "it's really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the 'deal of the century.'" "What is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people?" he asked. "What is left as a political solution?" Added Abbas: "We are not redundant. Why are we treated as redundant people who should be gotten rid of?" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to address the world leaders later Thursday. The speeches fell on the same day that members of a vast U.N. developing-countries group formalized their decision to give the Palestinians the chairmanship in 2019. Although known as the Group of 77, it promotes the interests of 135 developing nations. The Palestinians' upcoming chairmanship stands to boost their aspirations for official statehood but angers Israel. Trump made his comment about the two-state solution while meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday. The U.S. president told reporters he believes that two states Israel and one for the Palestinians "works best." He has been vague on the topic, suggesting he would support whatever the parties might agree to, a message he also recapped Wednesday. "If the Israelis and Palestinians want one state, that's OK with me. If they want two states, that's OK with me. I'm happy if they're happy," he said. Hours before Netanyahu's scheduled speech, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman expressed indifference to Trump's remarks, saying that the Israeli interest is "a safe Jewish state." A Palestinian state "simply doesn't interest me," Lieberman said. Netanyahu had reluctantly accepted the concept of Palestinian statehood but has since backtracked. A top coalition partner is threatening to topple his government if it returns to the agenda. The two sides in one of the world's most high-profile and volatile conflicts are always forceful voices at the U.N. and its annual General Assembly, but their leaders are speaking after a particularly eventful year in their relations. The Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza has led protests for months along the border with Israel, aiming partly to draw attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. At least 137 Palestinians, mostly unarmed, have been killed by Israeli fire since the border protests began on March 30. During that time, a Gaza sniper killed an Israeli soldier. Hamas and Israel came close to serious conflict earlier this summer as violence soared along the border. Gaza militants bombarded southern Israel with mortars and rockets, and Israel struck Hamas targets in Gaza. Israel says it is defending its border against attempts by Hamas, a militant group sworn to its destruction, to infiltrate and carry out attacks. But Israel has faced heavy international criticism over the large number of unarmed protesters who have been killed or wounded. Israel has also been struggling to deal with near-daily fires caused by kites and balloons rigged with incendiary devices launched by Palestinians in Gaza. The blazes have destroyed forests, burned crops and killed wildlife. Egyptian mediated cease-fire talks have hit a deadlock, and Hamas is now intensifying its campaign with more protests. Palestinians were infuriated, and many Israelis were thrilled, by a series of decisions Trump has made within the last year, starting with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The Palestinians also claim the holy city as the capital of an eventual state. Earlier this year, Trump followed up on the recognition by moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step that was widely protested by Palestinians and others in the Arab world. His administration has also slashed aid to the Palestinians by hundreds of millions of dollars and ended U.S. support for the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees. Trump and his national security team have defended their position, saying that decades of attempts to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace have failed. The World Bank warned Tuesday that Gaza's economy is in "free fall," with a 6 percent contraction in the first quarter of this year and unemployment standing at over 50 percent. A report from the bank urged Israel and the international community to take action to avoid "immediate collapse." It attributed the downturn to a combination of factors, including Israel's decade-long blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory, budget cuts by the rival Palestinian Authority and a reduction in international aid, particularly from the U.S. Other leaders who spoke at the General Assembly Thursday included Haiti's President Jovenel Moise, who told the gathered leaders he had "spared no effort to ensure that institutions are stable and to make sure we are creating a safe and stable enviro conducive to investment and to relaunching growth" in his country since the U.N. peacekeeping mission there wrapped up in October 2017. The mission had helped the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere through 13 years of political turmoil and natural catastrophe. It has been followed by a new "stabilization" mission made up of about 1,300 international civilian police officers, along with 350 civilians tasked with helping Haiti reform its justice system. The Caribbean island country continues to face economic and environmental challenges, including its vulnerability to natural disasters. It suffered heavy blows from a devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Earlier, Lithuania's president assailed world leaders for being "too quiet, too passive, too ignorant" in the face of abuses, corruption and inequality, and took a dig at Trump's America-first vision. "We cannot let the voice of nationalism and division win over dialogue and cooperation," said Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. Much of the attention at the international community's most prominent gathering has been focused on Trump, whose brash behavior and boastful address on Tuesday provoked laughter and headshakes from other leaders. On Wednesday, he chaired a Security Council meeting on nonproliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and fired off more tough words at Iran. Trump also made waves by accusing China of meddling in November's U.S. elections. China denies any interference. What to Know An Amber Alert has been issued for a 12-year-old girl who was abducted in Hudson Falls Wednesday Authorities believe her abductors may be headed to New York City; she was last seen wearing light red jeans and a white tank top The NYPD found the red Ford Mustang they were looking for late Thursday, but the girl is still missing last seen by the Staten Island Ferry UPDATE: Man in Custody, Car Found But Still No Sign of Abducted 12-Year-Old Girl From New York Police are searching for an approximately 12-year-old girl who may have been abducted in Hudson Falls Wednesday, and whose kidnappers may be headed to New York City, officials say. An Amber Alert was issued Thursday for Malaya Johnson, a black girl with long, brown hair and brown eyes who stands at around 5 feet and weighs around 115 pounds. She is estimated to be around 12 years old. The Washington County Sheriff's Office says Johnson was abducted near Oak Street in Hudson Falls around 3 p.m. Wednesday, and the persons who abducted her may be heading to New York City. Johnson was last seen wearing light red jeans, a white tank top and a light colored backpack with a design. Police were searching for a red, two-door Ford Mustang with Pennsylvania license plate No. KCG8950. Officials said late Thursday that the car had been recovered by the NYPD and that it was occupied by two Hispanic men. It wasn't clear where the NYPD intercepted the vehicle. The girl, however, is still missing and was last seen in the area of the Staten Island Ferry sometime between 4 and 6 p.m. Thursday. Johnson was taken "under circumstances that lead police to believe that she is in imminent danger of serious physical injury and/or death," the state said. What to Know Kevin Raphael, 39, allegedly went on a profanity-laden anti-white spree on three days in July, targeting men on the street and city buses One attack involved a man walking on the street with his pregnant wife; the others involved a law student and a doctor on buses in Brooklyn Raphael was ordered held on bail after his arraignment on a 13-count indictment Wednesday; attorney information for him wasn't available A 39-year-old Brooklyn man has been indicted in a series of attacks -- three in three days -- in which he allegedly screamed anti-white comments and physically assaulted two people on city buses, prosecutors said. Kevin Raphael, of East New York, targeted three white men, including one walking with his pregnant wife in the borough, on the last three days of July, prosecutors said Wednesday. In the case of the man with the pregnant wife, Raphael allegedly walked up to the 30-year-old and said, "What are you looking at? What are you looking for? I kill white (expletive) like you," and motioned to his waistband as if he had a gun. Raphael then shouted, "I will kill every white (expletive) around here," prosecutors say. The following day, just before 10 a.m., Raphael was on a B25 bus near Fulton and Bond streets when prosecutors say he punched a 29-year-old law student sitting on the bus and said, "I hate all you white (expletive). Youre a (expletive)." He got off at the next stop; the law student suffered redness and bruising to his face and eye. Then, on July 31, came another bus attack during the evening rush. Prosecutors say this time it was on the B41 at Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway; Raphael allegedly approached a 59-year-old doctor and repeatedly struck him in the head as the doctor sat in his seat while screaming anti-white comments. The doctor was treated for a concussion, as well as facial bruising and redness. Raphael was ordered held on bail after his arraignment on a 13-count indictment charging him with assault and menacing as hate crimes, along with other offenses. It wasn't clear if he entered a plea at the hearing Wednesday, nor was attorney information for him immediately available. This defendant allegedly terrorized three people during a hate-filled crime spree simply because of the color of their skin," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement Wednesday. "In Brooklyn, everyone regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or religion must be able to safely navigate the streets without fear of being senselessly and violently attacked. What to Know Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who is the first woman to accuse Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, will testify before senators Thursday It turns out hot Cheetos may actually be dangerously cheesy after a rapper had to go to a hospital after he ate too many of the spicy snacks One of New York City's most scenic parks might have to be turned into a temporary expressway for several years while the BQE is repaired Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 Happy Thursday! It's going to be mostly cloudy today, but that cold front that moved in has cooled it down significantly, which will lead to a high of only 71. As always, get the latest forecast at nbcnewyork.com/weather. 1. High Drama in Senate as Kavanaugh-Ford Hearing Is Today It's been a top headline for weeks now, but the day has come. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will be heard from Thursday. She is the first woman to accuse Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct back in the 80s. She will testify before senators. Two other women have also made accusations against him, but they are not testifying Thursday. Read more here. 2. Rapper Lil Xan Hospitalized After Eating 'Too Many Hot Cheetos' It turns out hot Cheetos might actually be dangerously cheesy. Rapper Lil Xan said in an Instagram post that he puked blood and had to go to the hospital for eating too many of the spicy snacks. Apparently he is not the one. Doctors even say eating too many cause everything from stomach inflammation to ulcers. Read more here. 3. Brooklyn Heights Promenade May Be Turned Into Temporary Road for BQE Repairs One of New York City's most scenic parks might have to be turned into a temporary expressway for several years. City officials say the BQE is in such bad shape they are considering converting the Brooklyn Heights Promenade into a six-lane highway to help with congestion. If they do it, it will take six years to fix the BQE. Another proposal that saves the park would eight years and could make traffic worse. Read more here. For the latest entertainment news and things to do, tune in to New York Live, Monday through Friday at 11:30 a.m. on NBC 4 New York. What to Know Loss of sleep was the most-Googled symptom in New York state over the past year, according to a report The MedicareHealthPlans.com report used Google Trends data to determine which symptoms were searched most in every state In New Jersey, the most-Googled symptom was "lucid dreams," while in Connecticut it was "stress" New York state may be home to the city that never sleeps but that doesnt mean its residents arent worried about what that could mean for their health Loss of sleep was the most-Googled symptom in the state over the past year, according to a new MedicareHealthPlans.com report. The site tracked down last years most-searched symptoms on Google Trends to determine which symptoms were searched the most in each state across the country, it explained. In New Jersey, the most-Googled symptom was lucid dreams, the report said. Connecticut residents, meanwhile, Googled stress more than any other symptom. Stress was actually the most Google-searched symptom in the United States, not just in Connecticut, according to the report. Keep in mind that our findings dont mean these are symptoms most people have in each state, but our results do suggest which symptoms concern a lot of people, MedicareHealthPlans.com noted. And if youre actually suffering from the symptoms youre Googling it may be time to take action, according to the site. Theres no substitute for seeing a real doctor (were afraid Googles MD is honorary, at best), it said. What to Know Loretta Gray's car exploded when he was driving it through a parking lot in Cincinnati Monday She survived but suffered third-degree burns on her face and arms Officials said a propane tank led to the explosion After an Ohio womans car exploded as she drove through a neighborhood parking lot, Loretta Gray is healing from her third-degree burns, certain she survived for a reason. Im here for a reason; I dont know what it is. Somewhere, someone needs me in their life, Gray told NBC affiliate WLWT. Gray had attended a cooking class at the Evanston Recreation Center in Cincinnati on Monday when the blast happened. She left and got in her car, where she had a propane tank that she was planning to return to the store. The tank was in the vehicle about three hours. Gray said she remembers driving perhaps 20 feet and boom. Surveillance video shows the moment Grays car exploded. Flames rip through the walls of the car and pieces of the vehicle shoot into the air. Windows are blown out and debris covers the street. Gray told WLWT the blast was really powerful, and she wasnt even sure if she was still alive in the moment. Cincinnati fire officials said the propane tank led to the explosion and they are investigating what set off the tank. Cincinnati police officer Perry Locke said he was just a few feet away from the explosion and felt the sheer force. It was almost like it reverberated through me, he told the station. From the force of the boom, it took me a second to collect myself. Locke sprang into action to help Gray out of the wreckage. When he got to her, he said she couldnt see or hear after the blast. I saw her crawling to the passengers window, trying to get out. There was so much damage, it wasnt going to open. So we had to get her through the window, Locke said. Gray was taken to the hospital with third-degree burns on her face and arms. Now recovering at home, she says her injuries are just superficial. This will heal, she said. My life will go on. What to Know Christine Blasey Ford testified for about four hours, spoke carefully, deliberately and occasionally scientifically Brett Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusations from Ford and other women Every 98 seconds someone is a victim of sexual assault, according to RAINN The sexual assault allegation by Christine Blasey Ford against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and other allegations of sexual misconduct that have emerged leading up to Thursday's Senate hearing have sparked wall-to-wall news coverage. To some survivors of sexual assault and victims of abuse, the hearings and testimony may trigger trauma, according to their advocates. People who have been sexually traumatized will try to avoid anything that will be a trigger to the trauma. This is something thats pretty hard to avoid," said John E. Jannes, PhD., associate executive director of NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island. "Its not like you cannot elect to go to this movie. Its on the internet. Its on the television. Its on 24/7. Sexual assault is a topic that remains taboo, but it's also not uncommon. Every 98 seconds, another person experiences sexual assault, according to Rape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nations largest anti-sexual violence organization that oversees the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673. RAINN spokeswoman Sara McGovern said the National Sexual Assault Hotline saw a 147% increase above normal volume on the day of the Kavanaugh and Ford testimony. RAINN tweeted the organization also experienced unprecedented wait times for its online chat. We are experiencing unprecedented wait times for our online chat. If you are able, we encourage you to call 800.656.HOPE (4673) or reach out via chat tomorrow. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. RAINN (@RAINN) September 27, 2018 We are angry about the things that have happened to us. Were angry that it happens to other people. Were angry that, for a long time, we werent able to talk about it, sexual assault survivor Aminatou Sow told The New York Times earlier this week. Sow went on to say the way the news media reports about sexual violence can often cause harm. One 76-year-old caller into CSPAN during the Ford-Kavanaugh hearing recalled her own experience being molested in second grade by another student in seventh grade. Brenda from Missouri calls C-SPAN "I'm a 76-year-old woman who was sexually molested in 2nd grade. This brings back so much pain. Thought I was over it but it's not. You will never forget it. You get confused & you don't understand it but you never forget what happened to you." pic.twitter.com/uCgroeQ4B5 CSPAN (@cspan) September 27, 2018 "This brings back so much pain," she said. "Thought I was over it but it's not. You will never forget it. You get confused and you don't understand it but you never forget what happened to you." She said she hadn't brought up her experience for years, and hearing Ford's testimony was "just breaking my heart." Several other people called into CSPAN as well to share their experiences and voice support for Ford. After 35 years of experience treating victims of sexual trauma, Jannes said Fords testimony and courage to come forward may have a positive impact and helps victims. Both young men and young women who have had experiences that meet the definition of sexual trauma and who were afraid to report may now be empowered to report it, said Jannes. Jannes said that the Ford-Kavanaugh case "may stimulate conversations between parents and their adolescents ... and that is a good thing." "Adolescent girls who are empowered and adolescent boys who are mindful how they behave, Jannes said. The nation is watching closely following Ford's testimony in which Ford alleged with 100 percent certainty that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while in high school. The historic hearing is a rare occurrence, and has echoes of Anita Hills testimony in 1991 when she accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Both Ford and Kavanaugh were questioned by senators and Rachel Mitchell, a former sex crimes prosecutor from Maricopa County, Arizona. Ford specifically accused Kavanaugh, a United States Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, of sexual violence at a social gathering in the 1980s. Since Ford surfaced her allegation on July 30, two more women have come forward alleging sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh. Another accuser is anonymous. Democrats have called for an FBI investigation into the allegations noting that Kavanaughs nomination process should be delayed. Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., was among those in his party who rebuked the request for an investigation as politically motivated and put his full support behind Kavanaugh. #MeToo founder Tarana Burke sat behind Ford during her testimony and tweeted: These men are wholly uninterested and unmoved by this womans words...Dr. Ford has to talk about the worst trauma of her life in front of them. This is the reality of being survivor of sexual assault in this country. #WeBelieveDrFord #WeBelieveSurvivors #metooMVMT The #MeToo movement has been at the forefront of the nations consciousness following allegations of sexual violence by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein last year. Just this week, entertainer Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for aggravated indecent assault. More than 60 women have self-identified as sexual assault victims of Bill Cosby, wrote sex assault survivor Andrea Constand in a victim impact statement made public ahead of Cosbys sentencing. When the sexual assault happened, I was a young woman brimming with confidence and looking forward to a future bright with possibilities. Now, almost 15 years later, I'm a middle-aged woman who's been stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward. During his emotional and at times tearful testimony, Kavanaugh called the events surrounding his nomination a national disgrace and a media circus. But it was during Kavanaughs testimony that strong reactions were seen on social media regarding the definition of sex assault after he stated he never had sex in high school. Sexual assault isnt about sex, its about power, tweeted Nick Morrow, with the Human Rights Campaign. Sexual assault includes more than forced intercourse or rape, according to the federal Office on Women's Health. It is "any type of sexual activity or contact, including rape, that happens" with someone who cannot or does not consent and includes rape, attempted rape, sexual coercion, sexual contact with a child, fondling or unwanted touching above or under clothes and exposing oneself to another. Sex assault resources are available at the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673. Since it was first created in 1994, the National Sexual Assault Hotline has helped more than two million people, according to its website. Watch coverage of the 10 a.m. ET Senate Judiciary Committee hearing above, beginning at 9:30 a.m. It'll be a snapshot of the state of the union. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday would turn on the credibility of its two star witnesses, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says he sexually assaulted her. But there is much more that will be electrifying the atmosphere in the cramped hearing room and the nation beyond the cameras. Allegations by other women. Death threats against the witnesses' families and lawmakers considering the testimony. President Donald Trump's Twitter rants. The #MeToo movement and the looming Nov. 6 midterm elections. And a critical question that can't be answered until the hearing, technically, ends: Can Senate Republicans get a 51-49 majority in Kavanaugh's favor? "We have lit a match," said retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a frequent Trump critic. "Do we appreciate how close the powder keg is?" A guide to viewing the spectacle: WHEN TO WATCH Gavel-to-gavel coverage can be found on NBC and many news channels, with proceedings expected to begin at 10 a.m. EDT. The hearing room will likely seat only a few dozen people not on the committee. A small pool of journalists will be allowed in, with a limited number of cameras. That's a change at Ford's request from Kavanaugh's first four days of hearings in the massive, lit-for-television hearing room often used for high-profile proceedings. AT ISSUE Whether Kavanaugh's nomination to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court is still viable. Ford says Kavanaugh pushed her into a room, groped her and covered her mouth when she tried to scream during a high school party. Kavanaugh has denied that he ever sexually assaulted anyone. THE ORDER OF THINGS There may not be much order, if Kavanaugh's first round of hearings is any clue. They erupted almost instantly into shouting and general bedlam and that was before anyone was talking about sexual assault allegations. This time, because of more limited seating, any protesters would have limited ability to disrupt the proceedings. But here is the plan: Ford is to testify first. Kavanaugh responds. Each can talk for as long as he or she wants, according to Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. At Ford's request, Kavanaugh will not be in the room when she testifies. Each of the 11 Republican senators and each of the 10 Democratic senators on the committee will have a chance to ask five minutes of questions, Grassley said. The questioning will alternate between Republicans and Democrats. SOME REPUBLICANS MIGHT PASS Republicans have no good choices when it comes to cross-examining Ford because every GOP member of the panel is a man. The optics of men challenging a woman who says she's been a victim of sexual assault are so bad that the committee has asked a female prosecutor from Arizona to help with the questioning. But, Grassley told reporters on Wednesday, "Any Republican that wants to claim their five minutes can claim their five minutes." THE STAR QUESTIONER Look for a new face in Washington to take a high profile at the proceedings at the behest of Senate Republicans. She is Rachel Mitchell, a Republican from Arizona with decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes. Mitchell works in the Maricopa County attorney's office in Phoenix as the chief of the special victims division. She supervises attorneys who handle cases involving child molestation, sexual assault and computer crimes against children in Arizona's most populous county. EVIDENCE A green-and-white scribbled calendar, complete with doodles and capital letters marked "BEACH WEEK" is Kavanaugh's 1982 summer calendar, when he was a senior in high school. It's also part of his defense against Ford's accusation that he attended the party at which she says the assault happened. Look also for four sworn affidavits from people who say Ford told them about the alleged assault before Trump nominated Kavanaugh. Ford also provided the committee with the results of a polygraph test on her accusation. The documents indicate Ford took the test Aug. 7 at a Hilton Hotel in Maryland and seem to support her claim that she passed it, though there's no independent expert verification. PRESSURE ON DEMOCRATS Five minutes isn't much for a potential presidential candidate, but they're likely to take what they can get. Look for at least two Democratic senators on the panel, said to be considering challenging Trump in 2020, to make the most of their time: Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey. Both took turns aggressively questioning Kavanaugh during his first four days of confirmation hearings in what many saw as a prelude to presidential primary campaigns. Trump scoffed that his would-be 2020 challengers looked "like fools." SPEAKING OF TRUMP He's said to be seething about the slow Republican-set pace of the Kavanaugh proceedings and suggested at the United Nations that he might have preferred to hold votes on the confirmation even without hearing from Ford. Confirming conservative justices to the Supreme Court is, in his view, central to his compact with his core supporters. Here's how Trump is assessing the Kavanaugh confirmation process: "It's disgraceful. It's a disgrace to the country. And I think you're going to see it in the midterms." Not likely to improve Trump's mood is another bit of potential unpleasantness on his schedule Thursday: A meeting to decide the fate of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian election meddling. Trump indicated Wednesday that he may delay the meeting so he can focus on the hearing instead. OTHER ACCUSERS Look for whether Democrats succeed in raising the two other women accusing Kavanaugh of misconduct. One, Deborah Ramirez, told The New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while they were both students at Yale. She has acknowledged consuming alcohol at the time, which clouded some of her memories. The other, Julie Swetnick, has accused Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, of excessive drinking and inappropriate treatment of women, among other things. The Associated Press hasn't been able to corroborate the claims. Kavanaugh and Judge have denied the allegations. Kavanaugh said he doesn't know Swetnick and "this never happened." YOU AGAIN? They won't be in the hearing room. But it's worth noting that Swetnick's lawyer is Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels, who says Trump tried to hush up their 2006 sexual tryst. Avenatti says he, too, is considering running for president in 2020. The Senate Judiciary Committee inquired about at least one additional allegation of misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to a transcript of a phone call released by the committee Wednesday. Republican Senate investigators asked Kavanaugh about the new complaint during a call on Tuesday between Kavanaugh and committee staff, NBC News reported. When asked about the allegation, contained in an anonymous letter sent to a GOP senator, Kavanaugh responded, were dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend. Its ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no, Ive never done anything like that. President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is open to changing his mind on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh if the evidence at Thursday's Senate committee hearing is compelling. Trump said at a news conference in New York that he'll watch the testimony from Kavanaugh and a woman who's accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. The president was asked about whether he might be persuaded to withdraw Kavanaugh's nomination. Trump said: "If I thought he was guilty of something like this ... yeah, sure." Trump called Kavanaugh was "one of the highest quality people" he's ever met. The president insisted the accusations are false and he accused Democrats of playing politics. Trump spoke after a third woman came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct agains Kavanaugh. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, revealed her accusation on Twitter Wednesday, just a day before Kavanaugh was set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Julie Swetnick said in the written declaration that she observed Kavanaugh "engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls" including trying to expose their private parts during high school parties, as well as trying to inebriate and disorient girls so they could be "gang raped" at parties. She said she recalls Kavanaugh and his close friend, Mark Judge, waiting in lines to take part in such attacks, which she said were referred to as a "train." Swetnick said she was the victim of such an attack, though she did not specifically allege Kavanaugh took part she believes she was drugged at the time, she said. She wrote: "In approximately 1982, I became the victim of one of these 'gang' or 'train' rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present. Shortly after the incident, I shared what had transpired with at least two other people. During the incident, I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me. I believe I was drugged using Quaaludes or something similar placed in what I was drinking." NBC News has not independently verified the accusations, which Kavanaugh forcefully denied. "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone," Kavanaugh said in a statement. "I don't know who this is and this never happened." An attorney for Judge told NBC News that "Mr. Judge vehemently denies Ms. Swetnick's allegations." Trump said at his news conference he wont get into that game when asked if the three Kavanaugh accusers are lying. He also called Democrats "obstructionists" and "con artists." The hearing featuring Kavanaugh and accuser Christine Blasey Ford is still scheduled for Thursday. Judiciary committee lawyers are in the process of reviewing Swetnick's declaration provided by Avenatti, said a spokesman for Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. All 10 Democrats on the committee wrote to President Donald Trump that Kavanaugh should withdraw from consideration or be withdrawn in light of the accusation, which Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed in a speech in the Senate. "If he will not, at the very least, the hearing and vote should be postponed while the FBI investigates all of these very serious and very troubling allegations," Schumer said. Trump stood by Kavanaugh and lamented the accusations against him, saying Wednesday that "they could do it to anybody." He said in earlier remarks that the judge is "an absolute gem." Shortly after Swetnick's account came out, the committee released Kavanaugh's prepared testimony, in which he defended his character and called the allegations against him "last-minute smears." "There has been a frenzy to come up with somethinganything, no matter how far-fetched or odiousthat will block a vote on my nomination," Kavanaugh wrote. "These are last-minute smears, pure and simple." Kavanaugh said he "drank beer with my friends, usually on the weekends," during high school, and that "sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now." But he flatly denied the allegation brought by Ford, that Kavanaugh held her down and tried to take off her clothes at a party in high school. Kavanaugh also called sexual assault horrific, "morally wrong," illegal and deserving of a public hearing. He didn't question whether Ford was sexually assaulted, but said "I have never done that to her or to anyone." In a Fox News interview on Monday night, Kavanaugh denied that he ever gang raped anyone, an allegation Avenatti had hinted at on Twitter. Kavanaugh called such allegations are "false and outrageous." Swetnick said she went to Gaithersburg High School, which is about 10 miles from Kavanaugh's high school, Georgetown Preparatory School, in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. Montgomery County Public Schools confirmed that a Julie Swetnick graduated from the high school in 1980. She said she saw Kavanaugh's aggressive behavior toward women on one instance during "Beach Week" in Ocean City, Maryland. Kavanaugh referred to a "Beach Week" in a 1982 calendar provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which released them Wednesday. After releasing the information, Avenatti said on MSNBC that Swetnick stands by her allegations "100 percent" and noted that she has received security clearances from the U.S. government. He said Kavanaugh's nomination should be withdrawn in light of the allegations against him. Two other women have claimed that Kavanaugh engaged in sexual misconduct with them: Ford will testify Thursday about her claim, which was bolstered Wednesday by affidavits from four people who say they'd been told about her assault before Kavanaugh's nomination. Deborah Ramirez told The New Yorker that Kavanaugh caused her to touch his penis at a party when both were Yale freshmen. Kavanaugh has denied both claims. All three women who have brought allegations against Kavanaugh have called for the FBI to investigate their claims, which Trump and other top Republicans have resisted. Sen. Jeff Flake, the Republican from Arizona who sits on the judiciary committe, is one of a few in his party who are publicly undecided on how to vote in the hearing. He delivered a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday bemoaning how the confirmation process has dehumanized both Ford and Kavanaugh, both of whom he believes to be well-intentioned. "However this vote goes, I'm confident in saying that it will forever be steeped in doubt. This doubt is the only thing of which i am confident in this process," Flake said. Avenatti said in recent days that his client would be coming forward. On Sunday, he tweeted his email to the chief counsel for nominations of the Senate Judiciary Committee where he listed questions Kavanaugh should answer. "We are aware of significant evidence of multiple house parties in the Washington, D.C., area during the early 1980s during which Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge and others would participate in the targeting of women with alcohol/drugs in order to allow a 'train' of men to subsequently gang rape them," Swetnick wrote. Avenatti alleged "multiple witnesses that will corroborate these facts." Avenatti also represents Stormy Daniels in her legal fight with Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh to the court. Trump lashed out at Avenatti Wednesday, saying he is just seeking attention: "Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesn't want people to look at his past record and relationships - a total low-life!" Avenatti replied by calling Trump a "habitual liar and complete narcissist who also is a disgrace as a president and an embarrassment to our nation." What to Know Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who struck a man and his girlfriend in front of his home in North Philadelphia. The man was clipped by the vehicle but his girlfriend was run over and suffered a shattered pelvis and shattered shoulder blades. The woman is in stable condition. Police released surveillance video of the hit-and-run and a $5,000 reward is being offered for an arrest. Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who struck a man and his girlfriend in front of his home in North Philadelphia. Jacob Ortega and his girlfriend, Priscilla Rodriquez, 27, were outside Ortegas home on the 1700 block of West Allegheny Avenue back on Sept. 14 at 3:20 a.m. As they were outside, a Jeep Cherokee clipped Ortega and ran over Rodriquez. It then continued east on Allegheny Avenue from 17th Street without stopping. I heard her screaming, I dont want to die, I dont want to die, Ortega said. She had gushing blood coming from her forehead. She was badly injured. Rodriquez suffered a shattered pelvis and shattered shoulder blades. She remains hospitalized in stable condition nearly two weeks later. She got dragged by the car while I just got pinned and pushed over the hood of the car, Ortega said. Ortega has visited Rodriquez every day, hoping to soon give her the news that an arrest was made. I really dont know what type of person does this, Ortega said. Just hits two people and leaves them there. Thats insane. Why would you do that? Ortegas mother took a photo of her son and his girlfriend on the ground moments after the hit-and-run. On Wednesday police released surveillance video of the crash. The hit-and-run vehicle is described as a Jeep Cherokee, 2013 or newer, with damage to the right side and a missing right wheel opening molding. The Fraternal Order of Police is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. If you have any information on the identity or whereabouts of the hit-and-run driver, please call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS. At least four people were hurt after a SEPTA bus was struck by a car and went over a guardrail in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The Route 125 bus was traveling on the 600 block of Allendale Road shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday when it was hit by a car. The impact caused the bus to go over a guardrail into the woods and down an embankment. Responders used ladders to get the passengers inside the bus out of the vehicle. One person inside the car and three people on the bus, including the driver, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash. Crews worked late Wednesday night to remove the bus from the embankment. Officials have not yet revealed the cause of the crash. We do know that it was raining at the time. It was just after the major thunderstorms but it was still raining, Upper Merion Police Chief Thomas Nolan said. We dont know if that played a factor and were still investigating to find out what caused the accident. SEPTA Route 125 operates between the King of Prussia Mall and Center City. In a long and emotional day of testimony, senators considering Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court heard for the first time on Thursday from the woman who has accused him of sexual assault and then from a fiery Kavanaugh denying the allegations. Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee that his family and his name had been ruined, and he accused Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee of lying in wait to upend his nomination. Judge Brett Kavanaugh testified before a Senate committee Thursday to answer an allegation that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford during a high school party 36 years ago. Here are key moments from his testimony. This confirmation process has become a national disgrace, he said in his opening statement. The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process, but you have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy. Kavanaugh had been on what seemed to be a sure path to the U.S. Supreme Court when Christine Blasey Ford alleged that he had sexually assaulted her while they were teenagers in the Washington, D.C., area. Since then he has been accused of sexual misconduct by three other women, which he denies. One accusation from 1998 is anonymous. Christine Blasey Ford testified Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegation that Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her during a high school party 36 years ago. Speaking in a loud, angry voice, and at times tearing up, he said Fords allegation had unleashed a long series of last-minute smears that he repeatedly said were untrue. Earlier Ford recounted the alleged attack on her, telling senators that she remembered Kavanaugh and another boy laughing with each other while she feared that Kavanaugh was going to rape her at a gathering at a suburban Washington, D.C., home. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gave her opening statement Thursday, recounting her allegation that Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her during a high school party. Democrats questioned Ford themselves but Republicans on the committee, all men, had hired a lawyer to do the questioning for them: Rachel Mitchell, an experienced sex crimes prosecutor. Here are some notable moments from the hearing, which has threatened to derail Kavanaugh's nomination. This Is a Circus Kavanaugh insisted that he had never assaulted Ford or any other woman and accused Democrats of trying to destroy him and his family. In the 10 days it took for the hearing to be held, his name had been ruined, he said. As was predictable, and as I predicted, my family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by vicious and false additional accusations, he said. The 10-day delay has been harmful to me and my family, to the Supreme Court, and to the country. Kavanaugh said he had wanted to address the allegations immediately and launched into an unusually partisan attack for a Supreme Court nominee against Democrats on the committee. He accused them of trying to derail his nomination as they did Robert Borks in 1987 and, when that failed, of bringing forward Fords allegations after keeping them secret. This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, he said. Fear that has unfairly been stoked about my judicial record. Revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. This is a circus. During the investigation of President Bill Clinton by the independent counsel, Ken Starr, Kavanaugh wrote notably explicit questions intended to force Clinton to describe his sexual relations with then-intern Monica Lewinsky. Im never going to get my reputation back, Kavanaugh said later in the hearing. Blacking Out From Alcohol? Asked about his drinking, which some have described as exceptionally heavy, he denied he had ever passed out, but he conceded, I've gone to sleep. He said that he had never woken up with his clothes disarranged or failed to remember something that occurred. One of his college friends, Liz Swisher, told The Washington Post, Brett was a sloppy drunk, and I know because I drank with him. I watched him drink more than a lot of people. Hed end up slurring his words, stumbling, Swisher said. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanagh on Thursday testified at Senate hearing and was questioned about drinking beer during his high school days. Kavanaugh said the description was unfair, and referred instead to a comment from another friend from Yale University, former NBA center Chris Dudley, who told the Post: I went out with him all the time. He never blacked out. Never even close to blacked out. Questioned about how much alcohol was too much, Kavanaugh referred to blood alcohol levels, typically used to determine drunk driving charges. "I don't know," he said. "Whatever the chart says." Later, when Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota who had talked about her father's alcoholism, again asked if he had ever blacked out, he responded, Have you? After a break, he apologized for the quip. I'm sorry I did that, he said. This is a tough process. I'm sorry about that. I appreciate that, Klobuchar said. I would like to add, when you have a parent that's an alcoholic, you're pretty careful about drinking. Who Is Bart O'Kavanaugh? Kavanaugh also did not directly answer a question about whether he was Bart O'Kavanaugh in a book written by a former school mate Mark Judge, whom Ford identified as having been in the room when Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her. In the book, Wasted: Tales of a GenX Drunk, Bart O'Kavanaugh was described as vomiting and passing out in a car. Judge writes that his book "is based on actual experiences. In some cases, the names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved." Kavanaugh described Judge as a friend who developed a serious drinking problem and who wrote a fictionalized book as part of his therapy to come to grips with his sobriety. So you don't know whether that's you or not, Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic senator from Vermont, asked. We can sit here and make fun of some guy who has an addiction, but I dont think that really... Kavanaugh said. Im not making fun of anybody, Leahy said. "Im trying to get a straight answer from you under oath. An FBI Investigation Democrats repeatedly pressed Kavanaugh to request an FBI investigation, but without success. Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin urged him to turn to the White House counsel, Don McGahn, seated in the front row, and ask for an investigation to clear his name. Ive got a suggestion for you, Durbin said. Ask him to suspend this hearing and nomination process until the FBI completes its investigation of the charges made by Dr. Ford and others. Iraqi commanders say female Islamic State militants are firing on their forces and using children as human shields as the extremist group defends its last sliver of Mosul's Old City. The militants' use of human shields has repeatedly slowed Iraqi advances throughout the nearly nine-month offensive to retake the country's second largest city, and the commanders' frustration was on display as they watched surveillance footage from the front lines. "The women are fighting with their children right beside them," Lt. Gen. Sami al-Aridi said as he was briefed by an officer holding a tablet computer showing drone imagery. "It's making us hesitant to use airstrikes, to advance. If it weren't for this we could be finished in just a few hours." The Republican chairman of the committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, broke in to say, This committee is running this hearing. Not the White House. Not Don McGahn. Not even you as a nominee. Kavanaugh said that the FBI would not offer conclusions, a point repeatedly made by Republicans, and staring at Durbin in silence refused to answer whether he thought a FBI investigation would be the best step for the committee. Throughout the hearing, Kavanaugh would say only that he would do whatever the committee wanted him to do. The Republican majority on the committee has declined to call for an investigation. A Tweet From the President As soon as the hearing concluded, President Donald Trump tweeted his continuing support for Kavanaugh. Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him, the president wrote. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote! Rachel Mitchell, an experienced sex crimes prosecutor hired to ask questions of Christine Blasey Ford on behalf of Republican senators on the judiciary committee, began by expressing sympathy for Ford, whod said she was terrified to testify. I just wanted to let you know, Im very sorry. Thats not right," Mitchell said. An Angry Sen. Graham In a body once known for its collegiality, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina shouted at his fellow senators and accused Democrats of wanting to destroy this guys life. This is the most unethical sham since Ive been in politics, he said. If you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldnt have done what youve done to this guy! Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the nomination process for Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been the most unethical sham since Ive been in politics, in an explosive attack on Democrats of the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday. Uproarious Laughter Earlier in the day Ford described the alleged attack in her opening statement, and then was asked for her strongest memory of what had happened at the gathering. Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two and their having fun at my expense, she answered. They were laughing with each other, Ford said of Kavanaugh and Judge, the second man she said was in the bedroom when Kavanaugh pushed her onto a bed, began grinding his body against her, tried to undress her and covered her mouth to stifle her screams. During the confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, Christine Blasey Ford told Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that Kavanaugh's and his friend Mark Judge's laughter during her alleged assaulted, remains her clearest memory of that moment. And you were the object of the laughter? Leahy asked. I was underneath one of them while the two laughed two friends having a really good time with one another, Ford said. Ford is now a 51-year-old professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Meeting Mark Judge Again Ford testified that she encountered Judge, now an author and journalist, after the attack while at the Potomac Village Safeway with her mother. Because she was a teenager, she wanted to enter through a different door than her mother, she said. I chose the wrong door, she said, and she met Judge, then a store employee, arranging the shopping carts. She said hello and noted that he was very uncomfortable saying hello back. His face was white, she said. Ford, whose account has been criticized because of a lack of some details, said she thought she could better try to determine when the attack occurred if she knew when Judge had worked at the Safeway. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked how certain Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was that Judge Brett Kavanaugh was the one who assaulted her in high school. Ford replied she was 100 percent certain. Democrats on the committee have demanded that Judge testify before the committee but they have been rebuffed by the majority of Republican members. Mark Judge should be subpoenaed from his Bethany Beach hideaway, Durbin, the Democrat from Illinois, said. A Washington Post reporter this week tracked down Judge to a friends house in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Howd you find me? Judge asked the reporter. Judges lawyer told the Post that Judge was a recovering alcoholic under unbelievable stress who for the sake of his health needed to get away and take care of himself. [NATL] PHOTOS: Kavanaugh-Ford Hearings and Protests Charges of a Cover-Up Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat, asked Ford about her assessment that she could better determine when the gathering took place if she knew when Judge worked at the Safeway grocery store. Would you like Mark Judge to be interviewed in connection with the background investigation and the serious credible allegations that you make? he asked. Sen. Richard Blumnethal, D-Conn., told Christine Blasey Ford, I believe you, in regards to her testimony that she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh during a high school party. He said that President Donald Trump's failure to ask for an FBI probe into Ford's claims is "tantamount to a cover up." That would be my preference, she said. Im not sure its really up to me but I certainly would feel like I could be more helpful to everyone if I knew the date that he worked at the Safeway so I could give a more specific date of the assault. Well its not up to you, Blumenthal said. Its up to the president of the United States and his failure to ask for an FBI investigation in my view is tantamount to a cover-up. Taking a Lie Detector Test Ford took a polygraph as part of her allegations against Kavanaugh and the location for the test, the Baltimore Washington International Airport, became the subject of one line of questioning. Why was that location chosen for the polygraph? Mitchell asked. I had left my grandmother's funeral at Fort Lincoln Cemetery that day and was on tight schedule to get a plane to Manchester, New Hampshire, Ford answered. So he was willing to come to me, which was appreciated. Christine Blasey Ford said the person who administered her polygraph met her at a hotel instead of his office because she was on a tight schedule after having attended her grandmothers funeral. While she said she was unsure of who paid for the test, her lawyer later said that Fords attorneys paid for it and were working pro bono. So he administered a polygraph on the day you attended your grandmother's funeral? Mitchell asked. Correct, she answered. Or it might have been the next day. I spent the night in the hotel so I don't remember the exact day. Her lawyers said that they had paid for the polygraph, as was routine, and were working pro bono, but Ford could not say whether costs would be eventually passed on to her. I'm not sure yet, Ford said. I haven't taken a look at all of the costs involved in this. We've relocated now twice so I haven't kept track of all of that paperwork, but I'm sure I have a lot of work to do to catch up on all of that later. [NATL]Nation Tunes In to Watch Christine Ford, Brett Kavanaugh Hearing She said as part of another exchange with Mitchell that she was aware some GoFundMe accounts had been created but did not know how to access them. Several what? Mitchell asked. GoFundMe sites that have raised money primarily for our security detail so I'm not even quite sure how to collect that money or how to distribute it yet, Ford said. I haven't been able to focus on that. When we left off The hearings format was less than conducive for smooth questioning by Mitchell. Initially all Republican senators had turned over their five minutes to Mitchell, but because Republicans and Democrats alternated, Mitchell had to repeatedly break off to allow a Democrat to go. Democrats, meanwhile, stressed repeatedly that the hearing was not a trial. At the end, Mitchell asked Ford if she was aware of the best way to interview victims of trauma. Would you believe me if I told you that theres no study that says this setting, in five-minute increments, is the best way to do that? Mitchell asked to laughter. Mitchell said that the recommended approach was one-on-one with a trained interviewer in a private setting, and asked whether anyone had advised such an interview. Ford said no one had. Instead, you were advised to get an attorney and take a polygraph, is that right? Mitchell asked. Many people advised me to get an attorney, Ford said. Once I had an attorney, my attorney and I discussed using the polygraph. And instead of submitting to an interview in California, we're having a hearing here today in five-minute increments, is that right? I agree that's what was agreed upon by the collegial group here, Ford said, and with that the questioning came to a conclusion. Emilie Mutert contributed to this article. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the world stands at the "dawn of a new day" in relations with North Korea but that international sanctions must remain in place and vigorously enforced if diplomatic efforts to get the country to denuclearize are to succeed a position that faced resistance from China and Russia. Chairing a special session of the U.N. Security Council, Pompeo said President Donald Trump's diplomatic breakthrough with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has led to a point where the nuclear threat from the country can be resolved. But the "unprecedented diplomatic opening" would close unless the pressure from sanctions is kept up. "Until the final denuclearization of the DPRK is achieved and fully verified, it is our solemn collective responsibility to fully implement all U.N. Security Council resolutions pertaining to North Korea," he said, using the initials for the country's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Pompeo said the U.S. has evidence that U.N. sanctions, particularly those restricting North Korean oil imports and coal exports, are being violated and he demanded that U.N. members ensure they are respected. "Enforcement of U.N. Security Council sanctions must continue vigorously and without fail until we realize final, fully verified denuclearization," Pompeo said. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, whose country is North Korea's main ally, agreed that the sanctions "remain valid," but he said the resolutions provide for them to be modified based on North Korea's compliance and the council should consider doing so. "China believes that the Security Council may consider invoking in due course this provision in order to encourage (North Korea) and other relevant parties to move denuclearization further ahead," he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow believes that it's "very important" for the Security Council to regularly discuss "whether it's advisable to review various restrictions against DPRK as it moves towards giving up its nuclear weapons." He stressed that negotiations are "a two-way street" and steps by the DPRK toward gradual disarmament "should be followed by easing of sanctions." The Security Council must not become "a hindrance" to dialogue between the two Koreas, Lavrov said, and he suggested that the council committee monitoring sanctions against the DPRK should consider applications for exemptions from sanctions "to carry out projects of inter-Korean cooperation which Pyongyang and Seoul have agreed to." Lavrov criticized Western nations for "stubbornly" ruling out any positive signal from the Security Council on the positive steps taken by Pyongyang so far. He said Russia will circulate a council resolution that would have the council "send a clear signal in support of the positive momentum on the situation around the Korean peninsula." China and Russia also said they share with North and South Korea a desire to produce a document that would declare an end to the Korean War, which ended with an armistice and not a formal peace treaty. The Trump administration has balked at signing such a declaration without significant progress on denuclearization, such as North Korea submitting a complete inventory of its nuclear and ballistic missile facilities that could be used by international inspectors to verify they have been dismantled. Pompeo, who met on Wednesday with North Korea's foreign minister, will make a third trip to North Korea next month to set the stage for a second summit between Kim and Trump, who met in Singapore in June. China's Wang said "the recent positive developments on the peninsula are exactly what China has been working for over the years. He stressed that peace on the peninsula is essentially about security and "the key is to address the legitimate security concerns of all parties in an appropriate and balanced manner." Trump, Pompeo and other U.S. officials have repeatedly reported progress in the denuclearization discussions with the North, but there has been little visible evidence of that to date. Although North Korea has suspended nuclear and missile testing and has taken some steps to dismantle affiliated facilities, it has continued to develop missiles and has made no public show of taking down its nuclear weapons development. President Donald Trump is insisting he has evidence that China is attempting to meddle in the U.S. midterm elections. At a news conference Wednesday in New York, a reporter asked Trump what evidence he has to back up the accusation, which China has denied. He says he can't disclose what evidence he has, but that it will come out. He says his allegation did not come "out of nowhere." The Trump administration says China is stepping up covert and overt activities to stifle free speech, punish those who support the president's tough trade stance against China and interfere in the U.S. political system. The administration says China is hurting farmers and workers in pro-Trump states and districts. According to Trump, China has "actually admitted that they're going after farmers." "They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade," Trump said as he chaired the U.N. Security Council for the first time. He made his accusation against the backdrop of the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the last election to help him and amid concerns that this November's elections also could be vulnerable. Asked earlier what evidence he had, Trump said there was "plenty" but didn't provide details. Instead, he zeroed in on China's propaganda efforts to flood the heartland with ads and statements against Trump's hundreds of billions of dollars in punishing tariffs Trump added: "I don't like it when they attack our farmers and I don't like it when they put out false messages. But beside that, we learned that they are trying to meddle in our elections and we're not going to let that happen just as we're not going to let that happen with Russia." China's foreign minister shrugged when he heard Trump's statement via translation at the Security Council. "We do not and will not interfere in any countries' domestic affairs," said Foreign Minister Wang Yi. "We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China, and we call on other countries to also observe the purposes of the U.N. charter and not interfere in other countries' internal affairs." A senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters about Trump's comments said China was stepping up covert and overt activities to punish those who support Trump's tough trade stance and interfere in the political system. The only specifics given by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, were that China is hurting farmers and workers in states and districts that voted for Trump. The official said China stifles free speech on U.S. campuses and punishes or rewards businesses, think tanks, movie studios and political candidates for criticizing or supporting Chinese politics. The official added that more information would be declassified in coming days and that Vice President Mike Pence was expected to speak on the issue next week. Democrats on the House intelligence committee requested information from the Trump administration on the Chinese efforts. Trump leveled his charge against China amid a whirlwind day of diplomacy at the United Nations, where he had meetings with Japan's Shinzo Abe, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Britain's Theresa May. Alongside Netanyahu, Trump offered his most explicit endorsement yet of the two-state solution to bring an end to the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The president also used his moment chairing the Security Council meeting on nuclear proliferation to issue a strong warning to nuclear-aspirant Iran, which he deemed the "world's leading sponsor of terror" fueling "conflict around the region and far beyond." Trump, in his meeting with Abe, warned China again that "they can't get involved with our elections," strong rhetoric that stood in stark contrast to his reluctance to acknowledge or condemn Russia's efforts to interfere with the 2016 election. Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies and refused to chastise Russia's Vladimir Putin during their summer summit in Helsinki. There is extensive evidence linking Russia to attempts to penetrate U.S. elections systems and to influence U.S. voters. Facebook announced in July that it had uncovered "sophisticated" efforts, possibly linked to Russia, to influence U.S. politics on its platforms. Thirty-two accounts were removed from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in "coordinated" political behavior and appeared to be fake. Nearly 300,000 people followed at least one of the accounts. Microsoft also said it had discovered that a fake domain had been set up as the landing page for phishing attacks by a hacking group believed to have links to Russian intelligence. A Microsoft spokesman said Monday that additional analysis had confirmed that the attempted attacks occurred in late 2017 and targeted multiple accounts associated with the offices of two legislators running for re-election. With the elections less than two months away, U.S. intelligence and election-protection officials have not cited any specific, credible Chinese efforts. Officials say China's cyber-espionage operations targeting U.S. defense and commerce have been formidable, however. And Trump's claim comes amid an escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing, spurred by their growing trade dispute. Each imposed tariff increases on the other's goods Monday, and Beijing accused the Trump administration of bullying. A Chinese official said China cannot hold talks on ending the trade dispute while the U.S. "holds a knife" to Beijing's neck by hiking tariffs. Trump later tweeted out a photo of an advertising insert called "China Watch," saying China was placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers to make it look like news. U.S. intelligence officials have said they are not now seeing the intensity of Russian intervention registered in 2016 and are also concerned about activity by China, Iran and North Korea. Trump's statement caught lawmakers and some national security officials off guard as Beijing has not been singled out as the most worrisome foe. "I haven't received any briefing on this and would have if it was a serious threat," said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., a member of the House intelligence committee. "If the president really wants to protect elections, there are many bipartisan bills he could support." Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins cybersecurity expert, said, "I am not aware of any evidence of Chinese interference in the midterm elections." He added: "Chinese influence operations tend to be more subtle, less public, and business-related." China has been accused of interfering in an election before, although not in the United States. Cybersecurity firm Fire Eye released a report in July describing "active compromises of multiple Cambodia entities related to the country's electoral system," including the National Election Commission, before the country's July 29 general elections. The hackers' methods matched a Chinese-linked hacking group tied to multiple cyber operations that have breached U.S. defense contractors, universities and engineering and maritime technology development firms. "I've seen zero evidence in our own monitoring work that China is doing anything like that," said Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec, a Georgia cybersecurity firm, "and none of the people in industry I share threat intelligence with have had a whisper of that." U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and GOP challenger Corey Stewart traded insults in a testy debate Wednesday over whose style would best represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate. Kaine and Stewart met in Northern Virginia in a debate broadcast on NBC4. Kaine, a folksy former governor who was once dubbed"America's Dad'' when he was Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016, said Virginians want a forward-looking leader who doesn't stoke divisions for political gain like he said Stewart does. "It's angry and it's divisive and what we need is leaders, especially in this moment, who are upbeat and positive and inclusive,'' Kaine said. The more aggressive Stewart accused Kaine of being a knee-jerk opponent of President Donald Trump, who would rather oppose the president than help Virginia, suggesting Kaine is still bitter over losing his vice presidential bid in 2016. "You're bitter about 2016, you're voting against every single thing that President Trump does," said Stewart, a one-time state chairman of Trump's presidential campaign. Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and a one-time state chairman of Trump's presidential campaign, also made unsubstantiated attacks that Kaine discriminates against Asians and has sought to cover up sexual harassment by members of Congress, even suggesting we wouldnt know if Kaine was one of those members of Congress because their names are undisclosed. Kaine denied everything Stewart said about him. After the debate he said he has not been accused of sexual harassment. Kaine said Stewart is running an angry campaign that belittles women and demonizes immigrants. Wednesday was the second of three planned debates and the sparring and quarrelsome tone largely mirrored the pair's first meeting in July. Stewart mocked Kaine's record as Virginia governor and the Senate, saying Kaine had no substantive accomplishments. Stewart also made unsubstantiated attacks that Kaine discriminates against Asians and has sought to cover up sexual harassment by members of Congress. Kaine returned plenty of fire, accusing Stewart of belittling women, demonizing immigrants and being out-of-touch with the state's coal workers. Once considered a key swing state, Virginia has become a reliable win for Democrats. Clinton defeated Trump here comfortably and Democrats have won every statewide office since 2009. Kaine has a huge cash advantage over Stewart and is favored to win Virginia's contest, which has received relatively little national attention compared to more competitive states that could determine partisan control of the Senate. But Trump has warned on Twitter not to "underestimate" Stewart, who the president said has a "major chance of winning." Kaine and Stewart differed on several issues Wednesday, including whether a congressional office building should be renamed in honor of Sen. John McCain and whether nearly 700,000 young "Dreamer'' immigrants brought here as children stay in the country. Kaine said yes to both, Stewart said no. They also sharply diverged on how the Senate should handle the allegations of sexual misconduct by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Stewart has dismissed the allegations as specious and mocked one of Kavanaugh's accusers. He said the Senate is behaving like a "circus" and has no moral authority to question Kavanaugh's character because lawmakers have covered up their own sexual misdeeds. "Who are they to judge,'' Stewart said. Kaine, who opposes Kavanaugh's nomination, said Stewart had minimizing the seriousness of the allegations made against Kavanaugh and demeaned victims of sexual abuse. "You're going after the accusers, as you always do," Kaine said. Kaine is a favorite to win and Virginia's Senate race has received relatively little national attention compared to more competitive states. A survey conducted Sept. 4-9 for the University of Mary Washington by the national research firm SSRS found Kaine had a 51 percent to 33 percent margin among registered voters and a 52 percent to 36 percent margin among likely voters. Libertarian candidate Matt Waters received 5 percent support in both subsets. NBC News political director and "Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd moderated the debate, and News4 Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey and anchor Aaron Gilchrist were on the panel along with George Mason University Dean Dr. Mark J. Rozell. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican challenger Corey Stewart deliver opening remarks in Wednesday night's debate. Moderator Chuck Todd asks the candidates about the current standoff over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey asks the candidates about funding for projects in the commonwealth. News4 anchor Aaron Gilchrist asks the candidates about gridlock in Congress. Former state Del. David Ramadan described two Corey Stewarts: One who entered politics pro-business and pro-establishment and one who has focused on immigration and confederate statues. George Mason University Dean Dr. Mark J. Rozell asks the candidate which is the real Corey Stewart. Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey asks the candidates their views on the future of immigration enforcement. Moderator Chuck Todd asks if the Russell Senate Office Building, named for a senator who supported white supremacy, should be renamed for the late Sen. John McCain. News4 anchor Aaron Gilchrist asks the candidates whether Amazon's second headquarters would be good for Virginia. News4 anchor Aaron Gilchrist asks about representing minority voters. Dr. Mark J. Rozell asks about the Affordable Care Act. Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey asks the candidates whether the Equal Rights Amendment should be ratified. News4 anchor Aaron Gilchrist asks the candidates whether Amazon's second headquarters would be good for Virginia. Dr. Mark J. Rozell asks what the government's role should be in boosting the economy in Southwest Virginia because of cheaper alternatives to coal. Moderator Chuck Todd asks what senators should be doing to prevent the hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's sexual assault accuser. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican challenger Corey Stewart deliver final remarks in Wednesday night's debate. One man has been arrested and two more are wanted after an outbreak of violence in Northeast D.C. On Monday night, police said a suspect shot and killed 25-year-old Marquiawn Williams, of Northeast D.C. in the 1800 block of Benning Road. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said in a news conference Wednesday that police are still searching for Williams' killer and the department is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the suspect's arrest. Police released the following photo of the unidentified suspect: Metropolitan Police Department Four men were struck Friday night in the same block and are expected to recover. Newsham said 26-year-old Michael Ross had been arrested and charged with assault with intent to kill in Friday's shooting and police were still searching for a second suspect, 27-year-old Anthony Farmer. Farmer is wanted for assault with intent to kill while armed. Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to Farmer's arrest. Metropolitan Police Department A third shooting happened in the area Tuesday night. Two men were sitting inside an SUV outside the Hip Hop Fish and Chicken restaurant on Benning Road NE when a gunman came up to them and opened fire, police said. Security cameras at the restaurant show one of the victims come in with a gunshot wound to his chest. The other man was found in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to his leg. Police said they were both conscious and breathing when medics took them to a hospital. "Just in the last two weeks it's become, like, Vietnam. I feel like I'm living in a war zone," one woman said. Multiple people approached News4 earlier in the week and expressed they were tired of gun violence in Southeast and Northeast D.C., which have been hit hard by gun violence. Six men were killed between Friday and Sunday in separate shootings. Four of them were gunned down in Southeast. D.C. has already surpassed last year's total number of homicides. Homicide detectives were called to the scene Monday after 47-year-old Ervin Aull was fatally shot at 14th Street and Downing Place in Northeast. No arrests have been made in Aull's death. A federal judge threw out criminal charges against a former Roman Catholic schools administrator accused of embezzling nearly $45,000 from the Archdiocese of Washington, ruling that prosecutors improperly charged him in Maryland. No reasonable juror could conclude by a preponderance of the evidence that Maryland was the proper venue for Kenneth Gaughan to be charged and tried, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis wrote in an opinion issued Thursday. Xinis had agreed during a Dec. 16 hearing to acquit Gaughan of mail fraud charges after a five-day trial, but before a jury rendered a verdict, court records show. Gaughan, a Washington, D.C., resident, was an assistant superintendent for schools within the archdiocese and worked at an office in Hyattsville, Maryland. A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Maryland, indicted him in September 2018 on three counts of mail fraud, each of which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The indictment accused Gaughan of transmitting fraudulent invoices and persuading the archdiocese to issue checks for services that Gaughan knew never would be provided. But the trial evidence showed that three checks that were the subject of Gaughan's indictment were not mailed from or delivered in Maryland, the judge said. They eventually were delivered in Nebraska, Oregon and Washington, D.C. Therefore, the judge agreed with Gaughan's defense attorneys that the District of Maryland wasn't the proper venue for his case to be brought and tried. Gaughan's crime, causing to be delivered three checks, would render prosecution proper in the districts into where those checks were delivered, she wrote. Prosecutors argued Maryland was the proper venue for the case because Gaughan, while working in Hyattsville, submitted invoices that eventually caused the three checks to be mailed. Prosecutors also noted that the U.S. Postal Service processed the checks in Gaithersburg, Maryland, before sending them to their final destinations. However, the judge said the act of delivering the mail remains this Court's focus. Gaughan's attorneys, federal public defenders Douglas Miller and Meghan Michael, said in a statement Thursday that they are pleased the judge undertook this careful analysis and upheld Mr. Gaughan's important Constitutional rights regarding the location in which a criminal prosecution can and cannot be brought. The judge said prosecutors and defense attorneys don't agree whether the double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Constitution bars Gaughan from being charged and retried in another district. Xinis said that's a question best answered by the court in the district where another indictment is sought, or possibly the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Gaughan was responsible for recruiting and acting as the point of contact for archdiocese contractors that could help implement anti-bullying, crisis intervention and professional development programs at dozens of Catholic schools in Maryland and Washington, prosecutors said. From June 2010 through April 2018, Gaughan caused the archdiocese to pay invoices to companies that he incorporated under names nearly identical to real companies, the indictment said. Gaughan also was accused of opening bank accounts and mailboxes to receive the checks that the archdiocese paid for fraudulent invoices. A picnic for a 60-year-old grandfather fizzled out pretty quickly when he and his grandsons were kicked out of a park in Virginia for drinking kombucha. The bubbly, fermented tea originated centuries ago in China and typically contains a slight bit of alcohol. That's what got Sid Tatem in trouble while celebrating his birthday with his two grandsons at Chesapeake's Northwest River Park. "I thought it was good, clean fun," Tatem told The Virginian-Pilot, "And as far as I'm concerned, it is." The Virginia newspaper reports the three were sipping homebrewed kombucha at the park when a ranger asked what they were drinking and then kicked them out upon discovering what it was. Tatem explained to the officer that he was drinking kombucha, and that the tea might contain small amounts of alcohol. "He was very disturbed, convinced I was contributing the delinquency of my grandsons," Tatem said. "Kombucha is not considered an alcoholic drink anywhere." City spokeswoman Elizabeth Vaughn says the ranger acted because the beverage was given to juveniles. Kombucha sold in supermarkets must fall below 0.5 percent alcohol, but Tatem's homebrewed drink had not been tested for alcohol content. Hannah Crum, president of trade group Kombucha Brewers International, told the Virginia-Pilot that she didn't know anyone who drank kombucha to get intoxicated, and that it would be difficult to do so. Tatem questioned whether he will need to hide his kombucha the next time he is out in public. On Sunday, he listened to the officers orders. "I thought, this is a losing situation. I asked the officer what he wanted us to do. He said, 'Dump the kombucha out, and leave the park.' We did so in silence," he told the newspaper. The owner of a Virginia seafood company has pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsely label foreign crabmeat as fresh Chesapeake blue crab. James Casey, 74, of Poquoson, who owns Casey's Seafood in Newport News, entered the plea Wednesday in federal court. He faces up to five years in prison at sentencing Jan. 9. Prosecutors say the company mixed discount "distressed" crabmeat from Indonesia, Brazil and elsewhere with Chesapeake blue crab, labeling it a "Product of the USA" and sometimes crabmeat sold as Chesapeake blue crab contained only foreign meat. Court documents state that from 2012 and 2015 Casey's Seafood sold about 360,000 pounds of falsely labeled crabmeat worth $4.3 million at wholesale prices in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida. Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell was a long way from the familiarity of a Phoenix courtroom when she questioned Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday in a televised hearing that could determine the fate of Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Mitchell typically tries to put people accused of sex crimes in prison, but on Thursday she was in the unusual and difficult position of trying to chip away at the credibility of a woman who claims she was a victim of sexual assault by Kavanaugh when they were teenagers. And she was doing it on behalf of the 11 Republican men on the Senate Judiciary Committee who preferred not to question Ford themselves, and in the glare of television lights and with a strict five-minute time limit that seemed to get in her way repeatedly. As her time for questioning Ford was coming to an end, Mitchell herself seemed to give voice to her exasperation with her task when she rhetorically asked Ford about the best way to question victims of sex crimes. "Would you believe me that no study says that this setting in five-minute increments is the way to do that?" Mitchell asked. With Ford done for the day and Kavanaugh in the witness chair, at least some Republicans took matters in their own hands. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas sidelined Mitchell and asked their own questions. One Democratic senator, a former prosecutor who is not on the committee, said Mitchell had a "tough job." Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said, "I can't imagine doing either a direct examination or a cross-examination in five-minute increments. And she's not used to cross-examining people who are telling the truth." In her very first exchange with Ford, Mitchell began by expressing sympathy for Ford, who said she was "terrified" to testify, saying, "I just wanted to let you know, I'm very sorry. That's not right." But then she turned to her task, asking a series of small questions about the accuracy of statements Ford made. In a trial, the answers to those questions can help lawyers paint a picture of a witness as unreliable. But in the Senate hearing room, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley cut in to say her time was up and it was now the Democrats' turn to ask questions. The questioning moved on to Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The scene repeated itself throughout the day. An experienced prosecutor, Mitchell does not operate under time constraints when she questions witnesses in a courtroom. The tenor of the questions suggested that Mitchell was trying, if gently, to question the reliability of Ford's recollections and portray Ford as a pawn of Democrats who are out to stop Kavanaugh at any cost. In one example, Mitchell pointed out that Ford did not mention Kavanaugh's name as her attacker between 1982, when the event allegedly took place, and 2012, when she was in couples therapy with her husband. Mitchell also asked Ford why she only contacted Democratic lawmakers about her allegation. Ford replied that she contacted her representative in Congress, Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat, and that Eshoo recommended contacting Feinstein, a California senator and the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Later, Mitchell pressed Ford repeatedly to reveal who paid for a polygraph exam that Ford took in the late summer. One of her lawyers, Debra Katz, interjected, "Let me put an end to the mystery. Her lawyers paid for the polygraph." The questions about the polygraph also illustrated that Mitchell had little time and no prior access to Ford, which might have allowed her to avoid asking questions where the answers hardly undermined Ford as a witness. When Mitchell asked why the polygraph was done near a Washington-area airport, Ford replied that it was to accommodate her as she headed to her grandmother's funeral. The United States and Japan announced Wednesday they will open negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement between the world's first- and third-largest economies. It's a significant shift by Tokyo which has been a strong advocate of a multi-nation trans-Pacific trade pact that President Donald Trump withdrew from soon after taking office. The move won Japan relief from the immediate threat of punitive tariffs on its auto exports to the U.S. Trump made the announcement after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. He said that Japan had been unwilling in the past to enter into such talks, but now is and such a deal "will be something very exciting." Abe has cultivated close ties with Trump since after his 2016 election but trade relations have been difficult, since the Republican president withdrew from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, that had been negotiated by the Obama administration and championed by Abe despite considerable domestic political opposition in Japan. The Trump administration, pushing to narrow the U.S. trade imbalance with Japan, has since imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on its ally. Imposing higher tariffs on auto imports that would have escalated trade tensions significantly. A joint statement said that the United States is seeking more access to the Japanese auto market and that the Japanese won't go beyond any previous commitments to open their protected agriculture market. "It's a line in the sand" from Japan, said Ted Murphy, a partner at the law firm Baker McKenzie. "You guys think auto are important. We think agriculture is important." Abe said the United States will hold off on threatened tariffs on Japanese autos while the negotiations are underway. The statement also adds that the two sides will make efforts" to resolve differences over U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Murphy said he suspects that Japan dropped its objections to bilateral trade talks with the United States after seeing Mexico agree to a trade deal with Washington last month. "We've agreed today to start trade negotiations between the United States and Japan," Trump told reporters, alongside Abe before their meeting. "This was something that for various reasons over the years Japan was unwilling to do. And now they are willing to do. So we're very happy about that. And I'm sure they will come to a satisfactory conclusion," he said. Abe, who could face criticism at home that he's caved in to U.S. pressure, insisted the negotiations would lead to a trade agreement on goods that would be different to comprehensive free trade agreements that Japan has entered into before. Japanese officials said that was because past agreements also covered services and trade rules, and focusing on goods would make it easier to reach quick results. The joint statement said negotiations will begin after completion of necessary domestic procedures in each country. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters that he would be talking to Congress on Thursday about seeking trade promotion authority for the president to negotiate the agreement. The statement said the proposed agreement will cover goods, and other key areas including services, that can produce "early achievements." The U.S. and Japan would then negotiate on other trade and investment items. Senior Japanese trade official Atsuyuki Oike, who helped negotiate the TPP, said the two sides have yet to identify where those "early achievements" might be. "We are at the entrance of any negotiations so we don't know what the outcomes will be," he said. The TPP has proceeded without the U.S., and in his speech to the U.N. on Tuesday, Abe described himself as a "flag-bearer for free trade," and said "there has been no greater joy for me" than when it was approved by Japan's parliament. He also pointedly noted that Japanese investment supports 850,000 jobs in the U.S. and that 3.8 million Japanese cars are manufactured annually in the U.S., more than double the number it exports to the U.S. the other major topic at Wednesday's meeting with Trump was North Korea. Abe credited the U.S. president with a "major transformational change" in relations with North Korea after his June summit with Kim Jong Un. Abe later told reporters, "next it's my turn," saying he wants to "break the shell of mutual mistrust" with North Korea and meet with Kim himself. But he added that no meeting has been decided on yet, and any meeting that takes place would have to contribute to the resolution of the cases of Japanese nationals who were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Abe is the odd man out among the major powers in Northeast Asia in not having met with Kim this year. The leaders of South Korea and China have done so multiple times. Trump is planning a second summit and his top diplomat Mike Pompeo is traveling to Pyongyang again next month. A Massachusetts principal has been placed on administrative leave and an independent investigation has been commissioned regarding allegations of sexual misconduct by a teacher in August. Cohasset Middle/High School Principal Carolyn Connolly was placed on leave Wednesday, according to Superintendent Louise L. Demas. In August, police issued a criminal complaint against Cohasset Middle School teacher Jeffrey Knight after he was accused of assaulting a female student in his class on several occasions. "They dropped the ball, left and right," said parent M.J. Rogers. "I think the main issue here is that there was a student who reported that she was unsafe in her classroom, and we didn't do what was right by her," added parent Jaime Suvak. Knight, 57, pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 during his August court hearing. Police said all charges against Knight involve the same student and the alleged assaults are said to have occurred in the last two school years. Knight has been placed on paid administrative leave from the school. "Connolly was placed on leave today following our district's recent receipt of information concerning this matter," Demas said in a statement Wednesday. She added that the school district has hired an independent investigator to determine what, if any, rules violations or performance failures by staff occurred. "I think the culture of the school needs to change," parent Mohamad Omran said. "And I think it starts with the superintendent. I think she just needs to leave." The superintendent told NBC10 Boston she has no plans to resign. "I think everyone understands that there are certain things I cannot speak about due to the ongoing criminal investigation, but I want to make clear that I intend to take the findings of the independent investigation seriously, and I am prepared to make the necessary decisions to ensure all procedures all strictly followed for the benefit and safety of all our Cohasset students," Demas said. Authorities in Maine are searching for a skydiving instructor whose student landed without him Thursday afternoon in Lebanon. Police said state troopers, game wardens, and forestry personnel are concentrating their search around the Skydive New England area. The incident happened at about 2 p.m. and was reported by the student, who told authorities he had been involved in a tandem jump and landed safely. Police told the Portland Press Herald they don't know how the pair became separated or if the instructor may have had a backup parachute. A former deputy superintendent of the New Jersey State Police has taken over as interim head of the Massachusetts' casino regulatory agency following the abrupt resignation of its longtime chairman. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday selected Commissioner Gayle Cameron to step in for Stephen Crosby, who resigned late Wednesday over charges of bias in the agency's ongoing investigation into Wynn Resorts. Cameron has served on the commission since her appointment in 2012 by former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick. She was re-appointed by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker in 2016. During her time in the New Jersey State Police, Cameron commanded the Investigations Branch that had authority over casino regulation, according to her commission bio. She was also an undercover officer on casino and organized crime investigations. The leadership change comes after Wynn Resorts and Mohegan Sun both accused Crosby of prejudging the Wynn inquiry this month in public statements he'd made to reporters. Gambling investigators are looking at how the Las Vegas company handled allegations of sexual misconduct against founder and former CEO Steve Wynn. The casino mogul denies the allegations. Crosby, who has helmed the commission since its formation in 2012, strongly rejected the bias claims in a letter Wednesday but said he didn't want to compromise the investigation's integrity. "There has never been a shred of truth or accuracy to any charge of bias, favoritism, corrupt practice, ethics violations, or prejudgment in my execution of this job," he wrote. But the former UMass Boston dean's role in the awarding of the lucrative Boston-area casino license has long been a point of contention. At various points during the licensing process in 2013 and 2014, Crosby was accused of favoring Wynn or Mohegan Sun's project. Crosby was also the focus of legal challenges and a state ethics probe after it was revealed he had personal and business ties to a co-owner of the former chemical plant land in Everett that Wynn sought to purchase for its casino. Crosby ultimately recused himself from the Boston-area license process altogether, but the license decision is still the subject of litigation. Meanwhile, Wynn is hoping to open Encore Boston Harbor, its casino, hotel and entertainment complex across the Mystic River from Boston, next summer. Cold War Steve: Steve McFadden stars in an exhibition by Twitters greatest artist The art of Cold War Steve is to feature in an exhibition at The Social, London. Called A Brief History of the World (1953 2018), the shows running thread is the presence of British actor Steve McFadden, famed for playing tough nut Phil Mitchell on the BBBC dystopian soap opera, EastEnders. Theres fun to be had in spotting famous faces from the world stage and British telly. Personal favourites are poleaxed TalkSport DJ Alan Brazil and the late Cilla Black offering a quizzical look to us from the montage a look that says Who invited you? and What the bloody hell am I doing here? Christopher Spencer, the talent behind @ColdWarSteve explains it simply: The more incongruous they were, the funnier. And, boy, are they funny: More from @ColdWarSteve on Twitter. A Brief History of the World (1953 2018) is at The Social from October 15. Anorak Posted: 27th, September 2018 | In: Celebrities, News, The Consumer, TV & Radio Comment | TrackBack | Permalink A New Hampshire man is facing numerous charges after police say he bit a bouncer's finger off during a bar fight on Wednesday night. Gregory Geneus, 37, of Manchester, is charged with second degree assault, simple assault, criminal trespass and violation of bail conditions. He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Hillsborough County Superior Court. Manchester police said they responded to McGarvey's around 9:40 p.m. for a report of an altercation. The 30-year-old victim told police he was working inside the Elm Street bar when he attempted to remove Geneus from the establishment. Police said Geneus struck the bouncer with a closed fist on more than one occasion, leading the bouncer to place him in a bear hug. At this point, Geneus allegedly bit off a portion of the bouncer's finger. The severed finger was later located inside the bar. "Absolutely severed a pice of the finger right off," said Lt. Brian O'Keefe of the Manchester Police Department. "He put [Geneus] in a bear hug, at which time the person placed in the bear hug bit the top of one of his fingers off." Geneus was taken into custody. He waived arraignment Thursday afternoon. The victim was taken to a local hospital in an attempt to reattach the missing portion of his finger. Police said they were not sure if doctors were successful. Local residents were not surprised by the violence, but they were shocked at the loss of a finger. "You would hear more that something else happened, like a stabbing or shooting, but not getting your finger bit off," said Angela Reyes of Manchester. "I feel bad for the bouncer because he was just doing his job." Massachusetts authorities are searching for the man accused of robbing a convenience store in Canton while armed with a gun early Thursday morning. Canton police released a photo of the alleged suspect pointing the gun at a clerk at the 7-Eleven on Washington Street at 12:15 a.m. Police said the suspect entered the store and demanded cash, pointing his gun directly at the clerk on duty. Moments later, he left with an undetermined amount of money. "It was a quick thing, in and out," said Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz. Authorities said the clerk behind the register was not hurt. "Obviously like any of us, he was shaken up," Berkowitz said. Police said during the robbery, the parking lot was fairly busy and they're hoping witnesses outside can help with the investigation. Authorities are also looking to see if the robbery is part of a larger scheme. "We do believe that it's connected to some other robberies, possibly in Brockton, and one in Mattapan that occurred last Sunday," Berkowitz said. The suspect was wearing a red mask, black clothing, and black gloves at the time of the robbery. Anyone with information is urged to contact Canton Police. A criminal justice reform group is accusing the state of Vermont of breaking its own law on medical treatment available to prisoners. That claim follows a list of complaints advocates have heard from inmates with substance use disorder who say they are not getting the medical treatment they need behind bars. "They are desperate for treatment, and yet they're getting denied it," said Tom Dalton, the executive director of the group Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, referring to inmates who want medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Under a state law that took effect July 1, medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, was expanded in Vermont prisons for inmates who are diagnosed with opioid use disorder and for whom a clinician calls MAT medically necessary. However, Dalton estimated that roughly 500 inmates are struggling with addiction and withdrawal symptoms but are still not getting the medications they need quickly enough, or at all, in many cases. "A lot of people are still being released back into the community untreated," Dalton told necn. "It makes Vermont communities safer when prisons treat addiction before they release people back into the community." Wednesday, Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, and members of his administration toured Vermont's one prison for women, the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington. There, corrections officials said 31 out of 152 women, or just over 20 percent of the facility's inmates, were getting MAT for opioid addiction as of that morning. Steps are taken to avoid those meds becoming contraband, Chittenden Regional's assistant superintendent, Jen Sprafke, told Gov. Scott. "They have to be in a smock and sit on their hands," Sprafke said of inmates during the tour, adding that the medications are administered in an area separate from inmates who are not receiving them. "Because it's a hot commodity." Corrections commissioner Lisa Menard insisted the new law is going well when it comes to people who are already on the therapy prior to their sentence continuing the MAT once they are behind bars. She acknowledged there are issues to iron out screening people who have been in custody longer, who want to start treatment. "The science evolves, around what is medically necessary and when," Menard said. "I think over time, more and more and more people are going to be on it." Menard said the long-term goal of MAT in correctional facilities is to reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses upon release, reduce returns to incarceration, and reduce the number of crime victims in the community if people aren't committing new offenses to feed addictions after they serve their sentences. Gov. Scott, whose tour was part of his administration's research into the future needs of prison facilities in Vermont, praised the men and women who work in the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility. Scott said the staffers he met Wednesday clearly care about the work they do and about treating inmates with respect. "It's much more complicated than [some are] being led to believe," Scott said of the concerns over the rollout of the MAT program. "I would say [corrections officials] are doing a great job. Now, can we do better? Absolutely. We're learning as we go. We're much further ahead than most other states we're leading the nation in this regard." The new law directs the Vermont Department of Corrections to report back to the Legislature by January, 2022 on the effectiveness of medication in prison, as the state continues its work trying to turn around the opioid addiction crisis. Sprafke told Gov. Scott everyone leaving custody from the South Burlington facility is offered naloxone a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. The prison's assistant superintendent said most people do accept it. What to Know Fred Ahern was paid to stay at home for 26 months, collecting more than $215,000 in salary during that time period. Boston taxpayers shelled out roughly $5M to employees paid to stay home while facing criminal charges or under internal investigation. Two of Mayor Walshs aides recently spent nearly two years off the job as they faced federal extortion charges. A Boston community center director is heading back to work after spending more than two years on paid administrative leave, the NBC10 Boston Investigators have learned. Fred Ahern was paid to stay at home for 26 months, collecting more than $215,000 in salary during that time period. If this were the private sector, I dont think this would ever happen. Its a waste of money, expressed Greg Sullivan, research director with the Pioneer Institute, a conservative public policy think tank. City leaders placed Ahern on paid leave in the wake of a tragedy. Seven-year-old Kyzr Willis drowned during a summer youth camp at the Curley Center in July 2016. Months after the boys death, an investigation by the Suffolk County District Attorney concluded with no criminal wrongdoing. This past April, the City of Boston settled a civil lawsuit with the family. But even after all that time, Ahern stayed at home as city leaders conducted their own internal investigation to determine if he should keep his job. The NBC10 Boston Investigators asked Mayor Marty Walsh about the length of time and whether the City of Boston could improve the process. Its due process. Innocent until proven guilty. Theres really not much more you can do, Walsh responded. Boston payroll records reviewed by the NBC10 Boston Investigators show that process can often drag out over the course of months. Over a three-year period: Employees on paid leave were off the job for an average of nine months Employees on paid leave collected an average of $72,000 Boston taxpayers shelled out roughly $5 million to employees paid to stay home while facing criminal charges or under internal investigation Its very complicated, Walsh said. If you could speed up the court system, so were not waiting a year and a half after an incident happens, I think things like that might be helpful. Two of Walshs aides recently spent nearly two years off the job as they faced federal extortion charges. A judge dismissed the case earlier this year, allowing Timothy Sullivan and Kenneth Brissette to return to City Hall, but not before the pair had collected more than $400,000 combined on paid leave. When asked if taxpayers might perceive a waste of money for workers to stay home, as opposed as working in another role for the City of Boston, Walsh defended the system. We run a fiscally sound city. A very fiscally conservative city. Were not paying people for not working, he said. Ahern did not respond to phone calls or written communication from NBC10 Boston. He also declined to comment when approached outside his home in South Boston. I really dont have anything to say about the matter at this time, Ahern said. Walsh said the citys internal investigation cleared Ahern of any wrongdoing, allowing him to return to work in the coming weeks. The NBC10 Boston Investigators requested a copy of the report more than a month ago, but have not received it. A city spokesperson said Ahern will not be returning to the Curley Center, where a manager with the Boston Center for Youth and Families has been overseeing the facility. Instead, he has been re-assigned to the Madison Park Community Center, where a new position was created. While on leave, Ahern received annual pay increases negotiated through collective bargaining. This bumped his salary from $97,495 to $103,970 over the 26-month period. Sullivan, a former state inspector general, said the City of Boston needs to figure out a different approach. Only in a government environment would you see this happen in slow motion, he said. In this case, were wasting taxpayers money. But with government officials, its like funny money. Ryan Kath can be reached at ryan.kath@nbcuni.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook. Representatives of New Englands six state police agencies are gathering in Vermont for a conference on law enforcement leadership. The focus of the gathering, organized by the New England State Police Administrators Conference, is on boosting women in the ranks of leadership. We have room for improvement, acknowledged Col. Chris Wagner of the New Hampshire State Police, saying his agency needs to do better when it comes to recruiting and promoting women. Women make up roughly 7 percent of the force, Wagner said, and none of New Hampshires current female state troopers has achieved the rank of lieutenant or higher. It will change, Wagner told necn and NBC10 Boston. Were going to put together a committee at the New Hampshire State Police to drive interest with women within in the organization, career aspirations, how to develop leadership positions, and to identify the challenges that they continually face. Wagner noted that the troopers he has spoken with dont want to be promoted simply because they are womenbut rather, the colonel said the women want to feel as if they have proven themselves as leaders in the organization. The NESPAC Womens Leadership Conference at Vermonts Jay Peak Resort has attracted more than a hundred female troopers from across New England, to attend training seminars and panel discussions. Several of the meetings are promoting professional mentorship, organizers said. The host states force is about 12 percent female, and also wants to become more diverse, said Maj. Ingrid Jonas of the Vermont State Police. Were better at our job when we ourselves represent the folks we are out there to promote safety for, Jonas said of the goal to attract more women and minorities to careers with the Vermont State Police. Col. Kerry Gilpin of the Massachusetts State Police, who said her force is approximately 5 percent female, wants to raise that number and also restore public trust, after a series of scandals. Chief among themseveral dozen Massachusetts troopers allegedly stole from taxpayers by padding their overtime. Gilpin told necn and NBC10 Boston she believes leadership traits often associated with women, including organization and interpersonal skills, should help with her goal to improve the reputation of the agency with the public. Were in trying times right now in the Massachusetts State Police, Gilpin said. We need to communicate better, be more compassionatewe need to be better. And I think being a female brings a lot to that role. The NESPACs third annual womens leadership conference continues Friday morning. Neoseeker Privacy Policy Neoseeker and its Operators, Neo Era Media, Inc. understand and respect the need for the privacy of its users. 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Sir Max Hastings new book Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy has been described as his best book yet by The Telegraph. Tickets to his talk have sold out for tomorrow (Friday) but the waiting list has just been opened. On October 4th, acclaimed historian Ben MacIntyre will talk about The Spy & the Traitor which Le Carre hails as the best true spy story I have ever read. The book is currently on Radio 4 as Book of The Week. If you want to hear him live in Hungerford you had better be quick. James Holland - the final speaker in the Bookshops season - may be a familiar face to many as he is currently on TV presenting Model Squadron. His latest book Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War Two has received fantastic reviews. He will be giving an illustrated talk on October 17th. For more information or to book tickets call the bookshop on 01488 683480 or visit www.hungerfordbookshop.co.uk (ANSA) - Rome, September 27 - Premier Giuseppe Conte was on his way back to the Italian capital on Thursday after taking part in the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. During his time in New York, Conte met with General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani. Guterres and Conte discussed Libya and the importance of moving forward with the UN Action Plan during their meeting, according to a statement released by the General Assembly, and spoke about migration. Conte expressed his support for the Global Compact for Migration, the UN body added. With Sisi "we spoke about Libya", Conte said in a press conference on the sidelines of the General Assembly. "He already knew that Italy is promoting an international conference on Libya and Egypt is involved because it is a very important stakeholder." The Italian prime minister added that, in speaking to Rouhani, "we assessed the current international context and especially Iran's position. There is a very clear and conflictual position by the US on the non-proliferation accord. Italy's position on this is in line with that of the EU: that agreement has been made, it took a long time to come into being and it cannot be abandoned and denounced because I do not think it is useful to set it aside." Conte tweeted a photo of himself at the UN lunch on Wednesday in which he was seated next to US president Donald Trump, calling it a "beautiful image of the close friendship between the US and Italy". On Italy's commitments within the UN, Conte reiterated that the country would "pursue the objectives of peace and development at the international level even in difficult economic times. We are firmly in eighth place in terms of contributions to the ordinary budget of the UN and we add development initiatives both at the bilateral level and through UN agencies." Learn more about the challenge at a free event in Newbury SMOKERS in West Berkshire who are looking to kick the habit are being invited to a free advice session in Newbury this weekend. The special event, called the Stoptober Roadshow will run from 10am until 4pm in Northbrook Street on Saturday, September 29. Smokers will be provided with advice on the different routes to quitting and will be encouraged to sign up to the Stoptober 28-day challenge to get access to a free 12-week support programme. The event is being hosted by the Public Protection Partnership (PPP), which works with communities across Bracknell, West Berkshire and Wokingham. There will be an exhibition of the PPP Trading Standards about illegal tobacco sales to young people, smuggled and counterfeit tobacco and a demonstration by a detection dog on how they sniff out the drug. Councillor Rick Jones, West Berkshire Councils lead member for public health, said: Although smoking prevalence rates are lower than in some other parts of the UK, in 2017 it was estimated that almost 16,000 of West Berkshire adults are believed to smoke and smoking remains one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in West Berkshire. Stoptober is the ideal time for those serious about giving up to start. Research has shown if people can stop smoking with the right support for 28 days, they are five times more likely to quit for good. Councillor Iain McCracken, chairman of the joint public protection committee, added: It is a priority of the PPP Trading Standards service to reduce the risks posed to young people from the illegal sale of tobacco and nicotine products. We are working to tackle the scourge of illegal tobacco which, as well as being unlawful, undermines harm reduction policies by putting much cheaper products onto the market, some of which are counterfeit and many do not carry legally required health warnings. You can sign up to take part in Stoptober here. For information on the support available locally, contact a stop smoking advisor on 0800 622 6360, text QUIT to 66777 or visit www.smokefreelifeberkshire.com On Saturday, Oct. 13, and on Sunday, Oct. 14, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park staff will provide a series of programs focusing on the 180th anniversary of the Trail of Tears in the Chattanooga area. Please keep in mind, these programs will be at different locations, both on and off National Park Service property. Program information, including times and locations are located below. Saturday, Oct. 13 The Shuttering of a Mission (Brainerd Mission Cemetery, off Brainerd Road in Chattanooga): Beginning at 10 a.m., this 45-minute program will focus on Brainerd Missions connection with the Cherokee and its closure as a result of Indian Removal. The Reverend Daniel Buttrick, a missionary at Brainerd, remembered the scenes of removal by recording that the Cherokees exposure to the wind and rain, not to mention them being herded together, men, women and children, like droves of hogs hastened many to a premature grave. Come learn about the plight of the Cherokee, some of whom were educated at Brainerd, and were forced from their homes, leading to Ross Landing and whatever lay beyond. Under the Shadow of Fort Cumming (Meet at John B. Gordon Hall, off Hwy 27 in LaFayette): Beginning at 2 p.m., this 45-minute program will focus on the Cherokee who lived in North Georgia in the years leading up their forced removal in 1838. The Cherokee saw the odds mounting against them in the early 1800s, so, they embraced the idea of becoming like the white man in an attempt to hold on to their homes and lands. However, their hopes were ultimately dashed. Many Cherokee families in Northwest Georgia were forced into camps to await their removal, such as the one under the shadow of Fort Cumming. Join us to learn about the life of the Cherokee and how it was turned upside down as they trudged from the fort to Ross Landing to await their ultimate fate. Sunday, Oct. 14 Rosss Landing West (Meet at Browns Ferry Road Trail, 707 Moccasin Bend Road, Chattanooga): Beginning at 2 p.m., this 90-minute program will feature a walk along traces of one of the actual Indian Removal routes the road across Moccasin Bend leading to Browns Ferry on the Tennessee River. It will discuss both removal parties of June and October 1838, as the Cherokee were transported west by land and water. Come learn about aspects of a history that shaped peoples, a region, and nations on some of the very ground where it happened. For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at 706 866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 423 821-7786, or visit the park website at www.nps.gov/chch. '30,000 migrants freed in Libya thanks to UN, EU and AU' Mogherini says, citing 'cooperation and multilateralism' (ANSAmed) - NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 27 - Over 30,000 migrants have been freed from Libya detention centers, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. She added that ''this was made possible thanks to cooperation and multilateralism between the UN, the EU, and the African Union''. (ANSAmed). In his bid to unseat five-term Democrat Jim Himes, Republican Harry Arora launched his first television commercial Tuesday. Fourth District voters will see the commercial on Fox News, ESPN, MSNBC and News 12 for the next two weeks, Aroras campaign said. Arora, who has never previously run for office, pitches himself as an outsider and emphasizes his immigrant background in the 30-second spot. Im not a career politician. I am a family man. I am a business man. Im an immigrant American, he says. Only in the United States of America could my story be told. Born in India, Arora, a hedge fund manager from Greenwich who has master degrees from the University of Texas and Harvard University, became a U.S. citizen in 2004. Arora spent $53,000 on the media buy. He had $620,000 in campaign cash on hand as of the end of June, according to latest financial filings. His opponent Himes boasted nearly $3 million. Arora said Tuesday his advertising strategy has relied heavily on social media and digital advertising, which are cheaper than TV spots. His TV commercial is a shorten version of a two-minute video, which has more than 650,000 views. emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson There was a time when Shelton had a bustling downtown. Workers leaving B. F. Goodrich, which later became Sponge Rubber, would buy their morning paper and pack of cigarettes at Kyles Corner. Dinner came from Fulton Market or A&P, where the Subway sandwich shop and Howe Avenue Deli are now. Bridgeport Avenue, which served as the old Route 8, offered little more than two car dealerships, the Wiffle Ball Company and Hazels hotdog stand. Deborah Ramirez grew up in that Shelton of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, before moving on to Yale University and out into the world. Maybe most people in Shelton dont remember her. Many were surprised Wednesday to find out that their former neighbor was the second accuser to come forward in opposition to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. She didnt attend public schools, so she probably flew under the radar, said Rick Schulz, who did attend Shelton schools and has spent years as the Planning and Zoning administrator. Ramirez, who now lives in Colorado, apparently attended St. Lawrence School in the 1970s, according to some residents. Instead of Shelton High School, she attended St. Josephs in Trumbull. She obviously was very bright, said William J. Fitzgerald, president of St. Joseph High, as he flipped through the schools 1983 Yearbook. Fitzgerald was not at St. Josephs while Ramirez was there, but he said he spoke about her with Monsignor Richard J. Shea, who was president of the school in the early 1980s. Were between Westport and Bridgeport, so theres a lot of economic diversity here, and there was then, too, Fitzgerald said. She was in the top five students in her class; and in her class, I think, we had three kids who got into Yale that year. Words of support Fitzgerald said hes not surprised that she would come forward to tell her story about an encounter with Kavanaugh at Yale. Ramirez has accused Kavanaugh of exposing his genitals and causing her to involuntarily touch them. Kavanaugh has denied the accusation, and President Donald Trump has stood with him. At St. Josephs, Ramirez participated in a host of extracurricular activities and earned spots on the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. Everyone said that she was quiet, very bright and very affable, Fitzgerald said. James Roche, a 1983 Wilton High School graduate and Kavanaughs freshman roommate at Yale, this week expressed his support for and belief in Ramirez. I became close friends with Debbie Ramirez shortly after we both arrived at Yale, Roche, who is now the CEO of a California software company, said in a statement. She stood out as being exceptionally honest, with a trusting manner. As we got to know one another, I discovered that Debbie was very worried about fitting in. She felt that everyone at Yale was very rich, very smart and very sophisticated and that as a Puerto Rican woman from a less privileged background, she was an outsider, Roche said. Her response was to try hard to make friends and get along. Based on my time with Debbie, I believe her to be unusually honest and straightforward and I cannot imagine her making this up. Roche also said: Based on my time with Brett, I believe that he and his social circle were capable of the actions that Debbie described. Calls for action Ramirez was the second women to come forward to question Kavanaughs behavior while in high school and college, painting an image of a young man who treated women with little respect and who frequently drank to excess. A third accuser emerged Wednesday. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked the FBI to look into Kavanaughs past. These allegations are absolutely breathtaking -- a gut punch, the senator said. Deborah Ramirez has made some serious allegations that corroborate whats emerging as Mr. Kavanaughs vile pattern of predatory attacks. In Shelton on Wednesday, a foursome of women playing cards at the Senior Center said they supported Ramirezs decision to come forward. They also said they were afraid that giving their names might result in threats. Others were less supportive of Ramirez. We dont know its true, said Susan Zelanakas of North Haven participating in an art class at the Community Center. What happened about being innocent until proven guilty? Others, like John Anglace, president of the Board of Aldermen, wondered why her allegations were never reported to police or Yale officials. Theres no corroboration; theres no documentation, Anglace said. I think its all a put up, said Clifford Albright, who lives not far from Ramirezs former home but did not know her. The Democrats went out looking for people. They dont want the Supreme Court balance to swing. Albright said hell be watching the hearings and hopes Kavanaugh wins a Supreme Court seat. Tell me, how good is your memory when your drunk and the incident took place 30-40 years ago? added Bill McCart, a longtime Sheltonite, as he left the Community Center. I think he gets appointed. Then theres Mayor Mark Lauretti, who was once involved in a grand jury probe of corruption in Shelton. He was never charged with any crimes. People who enter public life get accused of things; it happened to me, Lauretti said Wednesday. Sometimes politics plays a role in these things. Theres a lot of gamesmanship going on. And its anybodys guess this time as to what will happen. BRIDGEPORT Towns and cities along the states coastline were in recovery-mode Wednesday after a storm and extensive flooding hit the region hard Tuesday. Rain started to fall early Tuesday morning in Connecticut and continued to fall well into the evening. Flooding came in the late afternoon and caused problems along the coastline for hours, ranging from cars stranded on flooded streets to flooded homes. The common denominator of Tuesdays flooding seemed to be that areas that arent typically prone to flooding took on a lot of water. In Bridgeport, low-lying sections of Park Avenue saw enough flooding to stall cars and strand motorists. In terms of rainfall, the Bridgeport Emergency Operations Center reported 6.7 inches in North End and 5.2 in the South End. More than 7 inches of rain came down in Trumbull, which severely flooded Trumbull High School, forcing officials to close the school Wednesday and Thursday. Everything that happened was totally unprecedented, Trumbull Police Capt. Keith Golding said. The school was not expecting that flooding having never had it like this before so they werent ready for it. Golding said once flooding started to dissipate Tuesday, around 7:45 p.m., crews went to work at the school, which doesnt normally see flooding. The amount of water that they took in was certainly not expected, Golding said. It got into the front offices, crept all the way down the hallways and into the auditorium. But it wasnt just the school that saw flooding. Homeowners have a lot of damage and theyre going to be recovering for quite some time,Golding said. Near Trumbull Center, first responders had to break the glass to a dance studio to rescue people trapped inside by rising waters, unable to open the door. Although there were only about half a dozen instances of people trapped in cars stuck on flooded roadways in Trumbull, Bridgeport agencies handled water rescues nonstop for hours. Between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., Bridgeport emergency services responded to over 130 emergencies. City spokeswoman Rowena White said residents of two homes in the Lakeside Drive area of Bridgeports North End chose to leave their homes Tuesday because of flooding. She said they were back in their homes Wednesday. Bridgeport Public Schools operated on a two-hour delay Wednesday, but schools were back to a normal schedule for Thursday. Following the flooding, Bridgeport officials encouraged people to reach out to insurance providers to find out options. Any damages or loss in Bridgeport not covered by insurance should be reported to the citys EOC at 203-579-3829. White said the city will file a report about damages with the state the first step in trying to get potential reimbursements. Things were pretty much back to normal in Fairfield on Wednesday after seeing 6 inches of rain Tuesday, Lt. Bob Kalamaras said. At the height of the storm, Fairfield police were out directing traffic near flooded roadways, many of which dont typically flood. Fire crews responded to over 95 calls for help between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., officials said. In Fairfield, 36 cars were towed after being stalled in water too deep to drive through and more than 24 people were rescued from their cars, Kalamaras said. United Illuminating spokesman Ed Crowder said Wednesday that Fairfield saw the most outages in the companys coverage area Tuesday. At the peak, just over 900 households in town lost power, police said. UI had lights back on within a few hours. Eversource spokesman Mitch Gross said there were scattered outages during Tuesdays storm, the worst of which were in Darien. We had to cut the power to some 950 customers for about a half hour in order to safely remove tree limbs that were pulling down our lines and partially blocking West Avenue, Gross said. Gross and Crowder said during storms like Tuesdays, tree limbs can pull down power lines and leave people in the dark. The two utility companies urged residents to treat downed wires as live and to report them as soon as possible. Danbury didnt see much rain compared to towns and cities along the coast; a reported 2.71 fell in the city. Some roadways were closed by flooding, but Danbury faired much better than coastal areas. Weve had an extraordinary amount of rain over the last 24 hours, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said on Twitter Wednesday afternoon. During the height of flooding, Metro-North Railroad was forced to suspend the Danbury Branch line of service from 5:40 p.m. until 9 p.m. Tuesday. Septembers average rainfall for the New Haven area is 3.47 inches but, in just one day, Hamden saw 8.59 inches of rain. Areas throughout town were impassable. Salvini, in Tunis, vows maximum cooperation with Tunisia Essebsi calls relations with Italy a great resource (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, SEPTEMBER 27 - Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, on an official visit to Tunisia on Thursday, met with his counterpart there and confirmed "maximum common effort" between the countries on immigration, security, the fight against terrorism, and economic development. Italian Ambassador to Tunisia Lorenzo Fanara welcomed Salvini, along with Ezzedine El Amri, director-general for international cooperation at the Tunisian Interior Ministry. Salvini then met with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, who said "the friendship and close collaboration between Italy and Tunisia are a great resource that must be harnessed to continue to work at further diversification in areas of bilateral cooperation". In a statement posted on Essebsi's Facebook page, the president said "challenges that threaten security and stability of Mediterranean countries and the region, and hinder their development efforts, require a closer coordination and closer cooperation to overcome them". Salvini said his visit to Tunisia shows the deep friendship between the two countries and Italy's willingness to consolidate and diversify its cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, and security sectors, to face common challenges. He praised Tunisian democracy and steps taken by the government towards strengthening democratic institutions. He also encouraged Italian investors to establish themselves in the country to create job opportunities for young Tunisians.(ANSAmed). WASHINGTON With bombs dropping all over Washington, you couldnt blame Rep. Elizabeth Esty for hunkering down in her office and quietly packing up mementoes one-by-one for her planned exit from Congress come January. But hunkering she is not. Esty is beaver-busy getting legislation passed and adding to her office wall collection of bills enacted and the presidential pens that signed them into law. There are 13 on the wall now, and soon No. 14 will join them: The Helping Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits Act of 2018. Some of Estys previous bills may seem a bit less than sea-changing encouraging careers for women in NASA, womens entrepreneurship, to name a few. But the burn-pit bill could be different. It increases focus and funding for research into the toxic after-effects of burn pits used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan to incinerate everything from human waste to tires to batteries. Military personnel load the pits up and set them ablaze with jet fuel, sending toxic fumes into the air. Anyone breathing in this toxic cocktail could suffer cancer, neurological and reproductive effects, respiratory toxicity, and cardiovascular toxicity. Ive heard from veterans throughout Connecticut who are suffering - or know other service members suffering - from serious health complications that were likely caused by burn pits, Esty said in a statement. The courageous men and women of our military who endure toxic exposure and risk their long-term health on our nations behalf deserve the very best health care. The best may not be yet to come as Esty counts down the days to her departure, forced out by revelations in March that she bungled the exit of her office chief of staff amid accusations of abuse of a female colleague. But Esty doesnt appear fazed. Bill No. 15, her Promoting Women in the Aviation Workforce Act, could be on the wall soon enough. House odds In the Democrats bid to retake the House amid deepening dissatisfaction with President Trumps volatile tenure at the White House, Connecticuts five House seats are pretty much a wash. The five who hang their hats part-time in Washington are all odds-on favorites to return, with one exception: Esty, a Democrat, is likely to be replaced by Jahana Hayes, a Democrat, teacher of the year from Waterbury making her first run for office. But fear not, Connecticut Republicans. Connecticut may not be your battleground, but there are enough seats in the question-mark zone to defy pundit-pollster predictions of Democratic retaking the House after Election Day 2018. It is true the Democrats are excited, but a reluctant Republican vote counts just as much as an excited Democratic vote, said Rep. Steven Stivers, R-Ohio, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee, which oversees GOP candidates in House races. He noted that in nine special elections to fill vacant House seats this year and last, Republican candidates won eight of them. In a briefing with regional reporters here in D.C., Stivers said hes focused on 23 GOP-incumbent seats in districts that went for defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. They won ... because they have an independent identity with the voters, Stivers said. So while Democrats are excited, this isnt Vegas. I dont need to cover the spread, I just need to win those races. So how many seats do Democrats need to win back from Republicans to retake the House? Twenty-three. So, exciting times, no matter what party youre in. Stay tuned. dan@hearstdc.com According to a new study from the University of Louisville, four paraplegics have found hope. Paraplegia is complete paralysis of the lower limbs due to damage or injury to the spinal cord. The team of researchers have published their success story in a study in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The four patients had a surgical implant on their spinal cords. This implant stimulates electrical activity. These patients also underwent months of regular physiotherapy. At the end of the study the researchers noted that two of the four patients could take a few limited steps after the therapy and the other two could walk independently. This novel device is manufactured by Medtronic. The study was supported by the University of Louisville Hospital. Spinal Cord Injury Patients Taking Steps Play Another simultaneous case report was published recently in the journal Nature Medicine. This also reported the success of electrical stimulation device in paraplegia along with intensive physiotherapy. Experts have warned that these studies have been conducted in a handful of patients and the causes of paraplegia may be different in different patients and the spinal injuries may also vary among the patients. They suggest larger studies with varied patients to establish the success of this device. This technique was pioneered by the team led by Susan Harkema, associate scientific director of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville. She said that the device was implanted below the site of the injury. She said that there have been studies that have worked on regrowth of the injured spine cells and this new device works by electrical stimulation. She explained this is a gradual shift in the focus. Harkema said, The basis of this work is that the spinal circuitry is sophisticated and really has the same properties that the brain does in many ways, and in the context of this study, really what is shown is it has the capability of relearning to walk in the right conditions. Combined with all the sensory information you get from moving the legs in a steplike pattern, and that tiny little whisper of an intent signal that they still have coming down, that all comes together, Harkema explained. For this study the team gave the study subjects around two months of intense physical therapy and training. This was to ensure that the therapy was not responsible alone for restoring function of the spinal cord. Thereafter the device was implanted and the daily physiotherapy was continued. The case report earlier too showed similar results. Both sets of researchers proved that the device was necessary for the paraplegics to work and it was not due to recovery of the patient. Spinal cord stimulation, physical therapy help paralyzed man stand, walk with assistance Play Kendall Lee, a neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic said, The important point is this technology may be able to give back functional control, to stand and take independent steps. So it really gives hope to people who are faced with paralysis. Researchers hope that the device would be improved and bettered in future so that it is more effective. The patients in these studies were in their 20s or 30s and their injuries were within two to three years prior to the treatment. Larger studies with older patients and those who have suffered the injuries many years back would provide insights into the actual efficacy of this device say experts. A latest study has shown that sudden cardiac death could be linked to a very common heart condition mitral valve prolapse. Sudden cardiac death occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. This connection is a significant breakthrough say experts. The new study titled, Mitral valve prolapse and sudden cardiac death: a systematic review and meta-analysis, was published in the latest issue of the journal Heart. Team of surgeons make a dissection for aortic valve repair in cardiovascular minimally invasive surgery hospital center. Image Credit: MAD.vertise / Shutterstock Researchers collaborating from four states had looked at over 7600 studies and noted that around 12 percent of those who suffered from sudden cardiac death with no clear precipitating factor had a mitral valve prolapse. The mitral valve regulates the blood flow between the left atrium and the left ventricle. Mitral valve prolapse is seen in 12 persons out of every 1000 population and in this condition the mitral valve does not close evenly or smoothly causing blood to flow back into the atrial chamber. Lead researcher of this new study, Rajiv Mahajan, a cardiologist at the University of Adelaides Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders explained mitral valve prolapse saying that the valves bulge, or prolapse, upward into the left atrium of the heart. The condition is fairly common he said and most of the time it did not require any treatment and caused no symptoms. Researchers and cardiologists from universities of Adelaide, Melbourne, NSW and Queensland have now created a registry for patients who have mitral valve prolapse and also for those who have been resuscitated after they have had a cardiac arrest or have succumbed to sudden cardiac death. This would be a prospective analysis to link the two conditions, they explain. The researchers state that while a heart attack is a condition that occurs due to problems of blood flow while sudden cardiac death occurs when there is an electrical malfunction in the heart. Over years there have been evidence that mitral valve prolapse was found in people with sudden cardiac death, Mahajan said. However a scientific association has never been made. He said, It (this new study) indicates that the incidence of sudden cardiac death in patients with mitral valve prolapse is significant at 14 in 1000 per year. According to one of the authors, Prashanthan Sanders, director of the centre, one in five of the sudden cardiac deaths are seen in people who have seemingly normal hearts. This research provides insight into the need for further investigation of patients with mitral valve prolapse and high-risk conditions for serious and life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, he said. He said that this study looked at data from different studies and thus can be considered to be robust in its conclusions. A defective gene causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). There, it traps bacteria, causing patients to develop frequent lung infections that progressively damage these vital organs and impair patients' ability to breathe. Most patients with this progressive genetic disorder die by the fourth decade of life. A key to helping patients live even that long--a vast improvement from an average lifespan of 10 years just decades ago--is judicious use of antibiotics, explains Andrea Hahn, M.D., a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Children's National Health System. But antibiotics are a double-edged sword, Dr. Hahn adds: Although they're necessary to eradicate lung infections, repeated use of these drugs can lead to antibiotic resistance, making it tougher to treat future infections. Also, antibiotic use can kill the nonpathogenic bacteria living in the lungs as well. That decreases the diversity of the microbial community that resides in the lungs, a factor associated with disease progression. But how antibiotic resistance impacts the relationship between lung bacterial diversity and CF patients' pulmonary function has been unknown. Dr. Hahn and colleagues investigated this question in a small study that was published online Sept. 17, 2018, in Heliyon. Their findings suggest that the presence of multidrug resistant bacteria in the airways of patients with CF is associated with decreased microbial diversity and decreased pulmonary function. In the study, the researchers recruited six patients with CF from Children's National during well-child visits. During those appointments, the research team collected respiratory secretions from these volunteers. They collected more samples at subsequent visits, including: When patients were admitted to the hospital for pulmonary exacerbations (periods when infections inflamed their airways, making it difficult to breathe); Just after intravenous antibiotic courses to treat these infections; and Thirty days after patients completed antibiotic therapy, when their lungs' bacterial flora had some time to bounce back. Over the 18-month study period, these patients made multiple visits for exacerbations and antibiotic treatments, leading to samples from 19 patient encounters overall. The scientists then analyzed each sample in two different ways. They used some to grow cultures in petri dishes, the classic method that labs use to figure out which bacterial species are present and to determine which antibiotics are effective in tamping them down. They used another part of the sample to run genetic analyses that searched for antibiotic resistance genes. Both methods were necessary to gather a complete inventory of which antibiotic-resistant bacteria were present, Dr. Hahn explains. "Laboratory cultures are designed to grow certain types of bacteria that we know are problematic, but they don't show everything," she says. "By genetically sequencing these samples, we can see everything that's there." Their results revealed a host of bacterial species present in these patients' airways, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a notoriously hard-to-treat microbe. Patients who carried this or other antibiotic-resistant bacteria had significantly lower microbial diversity in their samples and more aggressive disease. Their samples also were more likely to contain bacteria of the genus Alcaligenes, whose role in CF is not yet known. Although heavy antibiotic use probably contributed to both the antibiotic resistance and lowered microbial diversity, Dr. Hahn says, the answer isn't to reduce use of these drugs: They're necessary to help patients with CF recover after each bout with pulmonary exacerbations. Rather, she says, using methods beyond a simple lab culture can help doctors target infectious bacteria more selectively, perhaps avoiding collateral damage. "We can't stop using antibiotics," she says, "but we can learn to use them better." Source: https://childrensnational.org/ Approximately 1.25 million Americans are living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), with an additional 40,000 people newly diagnosed every year. T1D is an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells. Insulin is a hormone that allows sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy. Without insulin, blood sugar accumulates, causing toxic side effects. Despite active research, T1D has no cure. While treatments, including daily insulin injections, are available, managing the disease remains challenging, and poorly controlled T1D can lead to blindness, organ failure and other health issues. Replacement therapies for beta cells (the cells that produce insulin in the islet) have been proposed as a game changer for T1D patients, potentially freeing diabetics from the daily burden of constantly managing their disease. There are two main challenges to transplanting insulin-producing islet cells: the shortage of transplantable cells and the underlying autoimmune response that destroyed the patient's own islets. Ronald Evans, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, believes that the development of immune tolerant human islet-like organoids, or HILOs for short, may be a solution. He's not alone. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) recently approved a $1.6 million grant to help bring Evans' HILOs to patients with diabetes. "We are excited that CIRM has elected to support our work," says Evans. "Transplanted islet cells have the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life for people with type 1 diabetes, but we need to overcome the shortage of transplantable cells, and we need to manage the autoimmune response. We believe HILOs will do both." HILOs build upon a breakthrough Cell Metabolism paper published in 2016, which identified the secret switch (ERR gamma;) to generating mature functional islet cells; that is, cells that secrete insulin when they sense high sugar levels. HILOs are generated from pluripotent stem cells (which have the potential to become any tissue) and can be grown in large numbers, potentially solving the transplant shortage. These organoids contain a variety of cells, as well as a blood supply, to recapitulate normal islet cell function. In addition, early animal studies have shown HILOs are highly functional, secreting insulin in response to glucose. "Our engineered functional human islet-like organoids are designed to circumvent the shortage of donor islets," says Salk Research Associate Zong Wei, a member of the HILO project team. Salk Staff Scientist Eiji Yoshihara, a leading member of the HILO project team, notes, "In preclinical testing, our HILOs can immediately restore glucose homeostasis (balance) upon transplantation into T1D mice." The project was funded under CIRM's Discovery Quest Program, which invests in research that can be rapidly translated into treatments. The team will use these funds to develop a safe and efficient protocol to scale up HILO production to eliminate islet cell shortages. From a therapeutic perspective, HILOs could provide the complete package: easily transplantable organoids that produce insulin, resist immune attack and can be grown in sufficient numbers. "In addition to developing safe effective HILOs, we now have a way of cloaking the cells from the immune system, and thereby avoiding the autoimmune response that could destroy the implanted cells," says Senior Staff Scientist Michael Downes, a senior member of the HILO team. "This is an exciting time. Although it is early days, the funding from CIRM will help develop HILOs to improve the quality of patient lives." Colorado State University Professor Joel Berger chases winter, year-round. Unlike the surfers in the 1966 movie, "The Endless Summer," he isn't in pursuit of the perfect wave around the world. He's tracking disappearing species in remote and often icy locations. This past July and August, he was in search of the huemul, Chile's national mammal, at the Patagonia ice fields between Chile and Argentina. Next spring, his research will take him back to the Arctic Yukon in Alaska, where he'll continue his studies of muskoxen, the Arctic's largest land mammal. For his last field work, he spent one day in a plane, then two days driving on a dirt road over the Andes, and another day in a boat before arriving at Patagonia's ice fields, where he and a team of researchers hoped to catch a glimpse of the huemul, the rarest deer in either the Americas. "Ninety-nine percent of their range is gone," said Berger, a professor in the CSU Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology who is also a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society. He and his research team are trying to understand how, or what, is causing the decline of the huemul. Some theories they're exploring is that the medium-sized deer have been killed by dogs or by diseases transmitted by cattle. Habitat fragmentation is an issue, too. The scientists are working across four different study sites that stretch from the Pacific Ocean, where there is more than 30 feet of rain a year, to the east side of the Andes. Berger said he spotted a few deer last year in Patagonia. "This year we got lucky and found a bunch," he said, with a smile. Huemul resemble a mix of a kangaroo and a mountain goat in a deer's body. There are about 2,000 of these animals left in the world, far less than the estimated 25,000 polar bears in existence. "The world knows polar bears," Berger said. "And the world knows Patagonia, but they don't know the national mammal of Chile." How climate change affects animals Berger's research includes studying the effects of climate change on mammals that live in extremely cold places. In a study published in Nature Scientific Reports in January 2018, he detailed previously unknown effects of rain-on-snow events, winter precipitation and ice tidal surges on muskoxen. Among the findings, the scientist found that the warming climate is stressing mothers and their young. Rain-on-snow events and unusually dry conditions in the winter -- when muskoxen gestate -- have also led to underdeveloped skeletal growth in juveniles. He and his team documented a one-time extreme ice event that led to a sobering discovery: the death of dozens of muskoxen. In February 2011, an historically high tidal surge resulted in at least 52 animals drowning and being entombed in ice at the northern coast of Bering Land Bridge National Preserve peninsula. "There's so much despair with climate change, and there should be," he said. Even so, Berger added that there are positive stories from the field, including findings in Alaska and Canada, where wildlife at the edges of ice fields and other northern realms are on the rise. There are more cougars, elk and deer in parts of the southern Yukon, he noted, and cougars have been spotted in Alaska. "Of course, there are challenges, but it's not unilaterally a doom and a gloom," he said. Berger counts the sighting of the huemul in southern South America -- on the largest sub-polar ice fields in the southern hemisphere -- as a bright spot. The Chilean and Argentine governments are investing in conservation efforts, to do what they can to protect the deer. Glowing reviews for Extreme Conservation Berger documented his journeys around the globe in his recent book, Extreme Conservation, which was published in August by The University of Chicago Press. It is not his first; he has authored six other conservation-related titles. But this one has garnered the most rave reviews and accolades. Science writer David Quammen compared Berger to the likes of Jane Goodall, who began studying wild chimpanzees in Tanzania at the age of 26, and George Schaller, a German-born American conservationist and author who is recognized as the world's preeminent field biologist. "Field biology is a tough, lonely profession requiring patience and grit and smarts, and if you add conservation concerns (which you must), a deep steady heart," Quammen said. "Extreme Conservation is a must-read for all conservation biologists and for all people who care about the state of our magnificent planet and how numerous and diverse animal species and their homes are being ravaged 'in the name of humans,'" wrote Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder. "Berger is one of the most productive, traveled, and influential scientists of our time." In the New York Review of Books, Tim Flannery described Berger as "a hero of biology who deserves the highest honors that science can bestow." Berger said, with a laugh and display of modesty, that the reason behind the book's popularity is that it's got a pithy title. There's charisma that's associated with field work," he explained. "So much of science is modeling, and the models are essential to look ahead and to see where we've been. But people are passionate about animals, and animals in the wild and keeping them there." He also continues to embrace his role as an advocate for lesser-known species. "There are a lot of voices for elephants, lions, tigers and whales, and they deserve it," he said. "The public can relate. But there are a lot of other silent species that don't have the same visibility and the same voice, but yet have lots of challenges. They certainly don't have the kind of financial backing so that we can raise the bar on their conservation. Well, we should!" Atrial fibrillation is the most common type of irregular heartbeat, or cardiac arrhythmia, affecting 2-3 % of the European population and as many as one in 10 people over the age of 80. Its prevalence is expected to double or triple in the next few decades as the population ages, significantly increasing the burden on healthcare systems. The EU-funded CATCH ME project is addressing that challenge by providing innovative digital tools to enhance clinical practice, and by conducting groundbreaking research into the mechanisms and effects of atrial fibrillation in order to improve treatment. Were helping patients to take ownership of managing the disease, and enabling both healthcare professionals and patients to make informed decisions based on the best available scientific evidence, says project coordinator Paulus Kirchhof at the University of Birmingham in the UK. A smartphone revolution in clinical decision-making To support the implementation of this approach in practice, CATCH ME tools are included in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)s Pocket Guidelines app. By inputting patient data and integrating the system with clinical diagnostic tools, the app enables healthcare professionals to easily and quickly obtain guidelines and decide treatment pathways based on optimized therapy approaches, drawing on up-to-date knowledge about the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation in specific patient groups. According to the ESC, the tool is revolutionizing everyday clinical decision-making and patient follow-up, enabling accurate and swift diagnosis and treatment choices in line with best-practice guidelines. Thousands of doctors across Europe are already using it. Our work has the potential to better guide the effective use of existing treatments for patients with atrial fibrillation, Kirchhof says. Longer term, the main goal of the CATCH ME consortium is to build a classification system to identify why each patient develops atrial fibrillation. Using modern tools and techniques to identify the molecular changes that occur as a consequence of atrial fibrillation in heart tissue samples, the CATCH ME team has identified several novel biomarkers that could serve as early-warning signs of the disease. Currently being validated against large independent clinical datasets, these biomarkers could be used for patient screening, for developing novel tools to identify heartbeat irregularities and to guide treatment approaches based on the concept of stratified therapy. From scientific knowledge to clinical practice Stratified therapy offers a more personalized form of care in which treatments are prescribed based on the distinct mechanisms by which a particular disease affects some groups of patients or how patients respond to particular treatments. This differs from current treatment approaches which fail to harness up-to-date scientific knowledge about the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation. With the exception of the use of anti-coagulation medication to prevent atrial fibrillation-related blood clots and strokes, current preventive care is often ineffective and treatment strategies are not having a significant impact on patient outcomes. CATCH ME is bridging the disconnect between our understanding of the molecular and electrophysiological mechanisms of atrial fibrillation and the current unstructured approach to its prevention and treatment, Kirchhof says. Atrial fibrillation classification and the application of stratified therapy will enable doctors to select the right treatments for specific patients, avoiding futile treatment attempts and reducing complications. Studies aimed at building the atrial fibrillation classification are being performed on individuals recruited throughout Europe by the CATCH ME partners. With a large sample size and diverse patients, the aim is to ensure the classification is comprehensive and representative of the real population of patients with the condition. We expect this classification will be clinically useful for all healthcare providers, and for it to be adopted by the most important scientific and medical organizations involved in atrial fibrillation therapy, Kirchhof says. Source: http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?id=/research/headlines/news/article_18_09_27_en.html?infocentre&item=Infocentre&artid=49692 System is Fully Integrated with Medtronic's Market-Leading Imaging and Navigation Technology to Transform Posterior Cervical Spine Surgery Medtronic plc today announced the U.S. launch of the Infinity Occipitocervical-Upper Thoracic (OCT) System designed to simplify posterior cervical spine surgery. The Infinity OCT System is a complete procedural solution that integrates navigation and biologics with Medtronic's comprehensive devices and instrumentation to create efficiency in fusion procedure workflows for the upper back and neck. The announcement was made during the North American Spine Society meeting taking place from September 26th - 29th in Los Angeles where Medtronic is exhibiting at Booth #1201. Infinity(TM) Occipitocervical-Upper Thoracic (OCT) System "For more than 35 years, Medtronic has partnered with leading spine surgeons to advance new technologies with the goal of improving patient outcomes," said Doug King, senior vice president and president of the Medtronic's Spine division, which is part of the Restorative Therapies Group. "We engineered every component of the Infinity OCT System to perform efficiently during the most complex spine procedures, as well as to integrate seamlessly with our market-leading imaging and navigation technologies." The Infinity OCT System is used to immobilize and stabilize the spine while it fuses. The system features several innovative components - including a multi-axial screw with 60 degrees of angulation in any direction, a set screw (locking cap) with a quick-start thread to minimize cross threading, and 3.0mm and 5.5mm diameter screws for expanded patient demographics and clinical applications. The system has a full spectrum of implant materials and sizes - and when paired with the O-arm Imaging System and StealthStation Navigation System - provides a fully-enabled procedural solution designed to bring efficiency and simplicity to even the most complex posterior cervical procedures. The Infinity OCT System is indicated for certain conditions including degenerative disc disease, instability or deformity, tumors, and traumatic spinal fractures or traumatic dislocations. Spine trauma can sometimes result in a spinal cord injury. September is Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month and according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, the 2016 annual incidence of spinal cord injuries in the U.S. was approximately 54 cases per million people, or about 17,000 cases per year. "Some of our posterior cervical patients arrive in critical condition and their lives depend on our surgical skills and the performance of the tools we use to treat them," said Dr. Greg Trost, neurosurgeon at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin. "With Infinity, I can focus on delivering the best patient care during complex procedures knowing that every component was precisely-designed with modularity and versatility in mind. And an integrated procedural solution with Stealth navigation and Infinity was game-changing as a 3D-view of the anatomy allows me the precision to place pedicle screws with confidence and accuracy." The Infinity OCT System is now available in the U.S. The system will be released in geographies around the world in 2018 and 2019. Scientists have known for decades that certain bacteria produce small spherical versions of themselves. Although they lack basic materials to reproduce or function like normal cells, recent interest in such "minicells" has spiked due to their proficiency as nano-sized delivery tools for drugs and vaccines to targeted cells and tissues. Yet the natural role of minicells, which protrude like budding balloons off the ends of bacteria, has remained a mystery. Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego have demonstrated for the first time that minicells play a key function in the self-preservation of bacteria. Publishing their results in the journal mSphere, the researchers discovered that E. coli bacteria discharge damaged proteins bundled inside minicells--a process not unlike a pod being launched from a spaceship--as a survival mechanism. "It's amazing that even bacteria take out their garbage," said Camilla Rang, a research specialist in Division of Biological Sciences Professor Lin Chao's laboratory and first author of the paper. "We have shown that minicells can be beneficial for the bacteria and help them escape death by kicking out the damaged proteins." To examine the link between minicells and the health of bacterial cells, the researchers tagged and tracked proteins with fluorescent markers. While under attack from antibiotics such as streptomycin, the researchers used microscopy techniques to follow damaged proteins in E. coli bacteria to the pole (end point) areas, then packaged inside the minicell and finally dispatched out of the bacteria. "The advantage that minicells provide in the presence of streptomycin suggests that they could also play a role in helping bacterial cells resist, survive or persist when challenged with antibiotics," the researchers note in the paper. The new findings help provide mechanistic insights for researchers who have recently used minicells as molecular drug delivery systems for diseases such as cancer. In such treatments, minicells are loaded through diffusion with therapeutic drugs, tagged with antibodies for a target cancer and injected into the blood system. The new results help describe how natural routes within minicells could instead be used for packing drug payloads. London researchers are set to start a three year study aiming to identify babies at higher than average risk of autism spectrum conditions (ASC) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The work at King's College London is set to commence on 1 October with funding of 199,968 from children's charity Action Medical Research. Understanding altered brain developement Both ASC and ADHD are common in childhood, as lead researcher Dr Tomoki Arichi (School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences) says: "ASC is estimated to affect one per cent of children in the UK and typically leads to impaired social interaction and communication. ADHD is more common, affecting up to five per cent of UK children, and is characterized by overactivity, impulsive behavior and difficulties in paying attention." It is already known that a family history of ASC or ADHD puts a child at a higher risk of developing these conditions. However it is still not known exactly what makes a baby vulnerable to later have these conditions. This has made it difficult to identify, develop and deliver interventions to those who need it most. There is now evidence that understanding the balance between two chemical messengers in the brain known as neurotransmitters called glutamate and GABA, may be key to unpicking what leads to altered brain development. The researchers hope that earlier information to help predict which children may go on to have difficulties with these conditions will open the door for support to be provided from infancy to those most in need, greatly helping children and their families. Dr Arichi and his colleagues, physicist Dr Enrico De Vita (School of Biomedical Engineering & Imgaging Sciences) and psychiatrist Dr Grainne McAlonan (Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience), are exploring the role of these two brain chemicals in shaping the developing brain. Dr Arichi explains: "We want to see if a sophisticated scanning technique which measures the levels of these two particular neurotransmitters in the brain could allow earlier prediction of neurodevelopmental conditions in newborn babies known to be at risk." A study with state-of-the-art scanners The team will use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners and a state-of-the-art method called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) which can measure the levels of chemicals in the living brain safely and precisely. They will measure glutamate and GABA levels in the brains of 80 newborn babies using a MRI scanner at St Thomas' Hospital London with special adaptations and staff for scanning babies. They will also pioneer scanning babies on a new, highly powerful 7 Tesla MRI scanner which will be installed at St Thomas' Hospital in the coming months. Dr Arichi explains: "Half the babies will be at high risk of developing a neurodevelopmental condition, due to an affected close family member, and half will have no increased risk this group will be our control." The researchers will compare results between the two groups to see if there are any differences. Dr Tracy Swinfield, Director of Research at Action Medical Research, comments: "Action Medical Research is very pleased to support this study. This research could lead to a new, safe, non-invasive technique to identify babies who may develop difficulties later in childhood, enabling early support and intervention where appropriate." "Studying neurotransmitter levels in the brain in early life could also help to inform new treatment strategies for currently incurable conditions such as ASC," adds Dr Swinfield. Source: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/research/divisions/imaging/newsevents/newsrecords/2018/baby-brain-scans-that-could-help-predict-symptoms-of-autism-and-adhd-new-study-announced.aspx Depending on symptomatic and phenotypic severity the condition of chalky teeth is categorized into three levels. The symptoms of chalky teeth were first described in 1978, with the term molar-incisor hypomineralization (MIH) introduced in 2001. The condition is the consequence of a delineated defect in tooth enamel development which affects at least one of the permanent back teeth (molars) and, under certain circumstances, will also comprise the incisors. According to recent media coverage such tooth defects are claimed to be attributable to the uptake of Bisphenol A (BPA). Amongst a wide range of various products BPA can also occur in food contact materials. Its use in the manufacture of baby bottles has been banned since 2011. Reports of a possible connection between MIH and BPA-exposure are based on a study by Jedeon et al. (2013) which examined the connection between BPA exposure and mineralization defects of tooth enamel in rats. In subsequent publications the authors reported that the mineralization disturbances occurred mainly in male (up to 71%) and less frequently in female rats (only up to 31%) (Jedeon et al., 2016a; Jedeon et al., 2014), and identified selected hormone-controlled signaling pathway as potential molecular targets (Houari et al., 2016). The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has evaluated the study (Jedeon et al., 2013) and concludes that there is currently no scientific reason to assume a connection between the uptake of BPA the occurrence of MIH in children. According to recent data from the Netherlands, oral uptake of BPA in highly-exposed children amounts to 0.14 micrograms (g) per kilogram (kg) body weight and day. This is is 35 times lower than the dose used by Jedeon et al. (2013). In conjunction with the different toxicokinetic behavior of BPA in humans a direct connection between BPA and MIH therefore appears unlikely in humans under conditions of expectable real-life exposure. It should be noted that the study of Jedeon et al. is subject to several limitations, which limit its transferability. The examination in 2013 was conducted exclusively on male rats with only one dose of BPA being used. Later studies showed that the respective findings were considerably weaker or non-existent in females (Jedeon et al., 2014). It also appears that missing effects on day 100 of postnatal development were not put sufficiently into context. The findings of other groups from multigenerational studies on rats and mice, some of which used very high BPA doses with no reported tooth damage, were not taken into consideration. The condition of MIH occurs in Europe with a frequency of 3-22 %, with a worldwide occurrence of 2-40 % (Elhennawy et al., 2017). Various reasons are assumed to contribute to this occurrence. Epidemiological studies point for example to maternal diseases during the last quarter of pregnancy, complications during birth or frequent illness in the first year of the born child (possibly also connected too high fever). Other reasons discussed are low blood levels of vitamin D as well as early intake of the antibiotic amoxicilli. Other studies report on a possible connection between MIH and increased exposure to dioxin, for under 5-year olds with high serum levels of tetrachlorodibenzo dioxin (TCDD) in Seveso later showed an increased prevalence of MIH. Altogether it appears that MIH is caused by a variety of factors and thus has to be considered a multifactorial condition (Schneider and Silva, 2018). A new study in the SELMA project at Karlstad University, Sweden, shows that plastic flooring in the home are a source of uptake of phthalates in pregnant women, phthalates that are considered dangerous in the EU chemical regulation system. PVC flooring often contain phthalates to make the plastic soft. Such plasticizers are not firmly bonded to the material but slowly leak to the environment during the entire life of the material and can therefore be routinely measured in indoor dust and air. One question then arises whether flooring materials made of softened PVC in the home can give rise to uptake of such chemicals in humans. This question has now been investigated in the SELMA study at Karlstad University. The SELMA study follows about 2,000 mother-child pairs from early pregnancy over childbirth and up to school age for the children. The overall purpose of SELMA is to investigate how exposure to suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals (e.g., phthalates) during pregnancy can affect children's health and development. In the current study, we collected information about the home using a survey of the families during early pregnancy. One question was about which flooring materials were found in the bedrooms and kitchen. At the same time, the pregnant woman's urine was analyzed for the contents of metabolites from 5 phthalates. The study included 1,764 women and the analyzes were adjusted for important background factors. Analyzes show that pregnant women living in PVC-floored homes had higher levels of metabolites from three phthalates (DBP, BBzP and DEHP) when compared to women living in homes with other floor materials such as wood and linoleum. There was also indications for a dose-response relationship, i.e., the more rooms with PVC floors, the higher the levels of these phthalate metabolites in the urinary pregnant women's urine. "We know that the three phthalates DBP, BBzP and DEHP are used in PVC flooring materials, but also in many other products," said Huan Shu, PhD in public health sciences at Stockholm University, and principal author of the study. However, many older phthalates such as DEHP have today been replaced with other plasticizers in PVC. Christina Ruden, a professor at Stockholm University says that these chemicals are currently occupied in EU limitation lists where they are considered dangerous and therefore will be forbidden. Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, professor at Karlstad University and project leader for the SELMA study, believes that these results show several basic problems with hazardous chemicals in goods and products. Although these chemicals are not used as much today, we find them in urine from all pregnant women in the SELMA study, which indicates that they are actually used. Another complicating factor is that flooring materials in a home have a life span of maybe 20-30 years, which means that we will be exposed and thus take up these chemicals for a very long time. Source: https://www.kau.se/ Pacific Islanders, who trace their roots to the native peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, and other Pacific Islands, make up the third-fastest-growing racial group in the United States. But they may be the most underresearched. From what little is known about Pacific Islander behavioral health, alcohol appears to be a common substance of abuse among members of this group, especially among young adults, who are thought to be at highest risk for alcohol misuse, addiction, and alcohol-related health problems. Andrew Subica, an assistant professor in the Department of Social Medicine, Population, & Public Health at the UC Riverside School of Medicine, has received a two-year, $451,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, to study Pacific Islander alcohol prevention. The project, "Developing a Prevention Model of Alcohol Use Disorder among Pacific Islander Young Adults," is the first grant funded by the NIH's National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAAA, to specifically focus on Pacific Islander populations. "Alcohol use disorders appear to be a critical problem facing U.S. Pacific Islander communities, especially among young adults 18 to 30 years-old who our communities have reported are most affected by alcohol use disorders and alcohol-related harms such as fights, legal problems, drunk driving, and fatalities," Subica said. "Unfortunately, while international research suggests Pacific Islanders have significantly higher levels of alcohol use disorders and risky drinking, which greatly increases the risk of alcohol-related harms and death, there has been almost no research done to understand the problem of alcohol use disorders among Pacific Islanders." Subica explained that rates of alcohol use disorders may be two-to-four times higher among Pacific Islanders than those reported for the U.S. general population, suggesting this underserved population faces a major unaddressed problem. Subica came to study alcohol-use disorders among Pacific Islanders while doing his pilot projects on mental health problems -- depression, anxiety, suicide -- in this population. During these studies, the community informed him of its concerns surrounding alcohol use disorders in the community and the harm it causes, leading him to apply for an alcohol prevention grant from the NIAAA. To do the research, Subica will first conduct focus groups with lay Pacific Islander young adults to better understand the scope and nature of alcohol-use disorders in this Pacific Islander group, and the risk and protective factors that can lead to, or more importantly, prevent alcohol-use disorders among them. "With this data, I plan to develop new materials to conduct full-day workshops with Pacific Islander young adults. During these workshops, the young adults will help me culturally tailor current alcohol prevention interventions to meet their unique needs," Subica said. "My team also will consult with Pacific Islander cultural experts and use our rich study data to develop a novel set of alcohol use disorder prevention strategies for Pacific Islander young adults." Subica, a member of the Center for Healthy Communities at UCR, will work with investigators at the University of Utah, University of Southern California, Duke University, and University of Maryland on the project. Dr. Howard Moss of the UCR School of Medicine will serve as a consultant. Through the project, Subica hopes to gain a thorough understanding of why Pacific Islander young adults use alcohol in the first place, and what factors then lead them to misuse alcohol and develop alcohol-use disorders. These factors may include: lower incomes, intense family pressure to provide economically for the family, powerful cultural and social obligations that may create stress, discrimination, family and peer pressure to binge drink, and untreated mental illnesses. To prevent alcohol use disorders, Subica will examine factors that protect Pacific Islander young adults from using alcohol at all or using alcohol responsibly without transitioning to alcohol-use disorders. "At the end of this grant, we would like to have gained a set of culturally tailored prevention strategies chosen by Pacific Islanders that is likely to be effective in preventing Pacific Islander young adult alcohol use disorders," he said. "This should help us gain an understanding of the nature of alcohol use disorders in Pacific Islander young adults and inform the interventions we create." Subica plans to use an innovative community approach to gathering data that lets Pacific Islanders play a significant role in shaping the interventions his team develops. He is hopeful the interventions will be more effective than existing interventions. "Having Pacific Islanders weigh in and voice their preferences at every level of the intervention development process is useful in that it helps ensure the resulting intervention will be appropriate and accepted by the community -- necessary factors for an intervention to be effective with underserved racial populations," Subica said. The apex court said now the civil suit on land dispute will be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench on October 29 as Justice Misra will retire on October 2 as the CJI. The issue whether mosque is integral to Islam had cropped up when the three-judge bench headed by CJI Misra was hearing the batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided in three parts. A three-judge bench of the high court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla M Siddiq, one of the original litigants of the Ayodhya case who has died and is being represented through his legal heir, had assailed certain findings of the 1994 verdict in the case of M Ismail Faruqui holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam. It was argued by the Muslim groups before a special bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer that the "sweeping" observation of the apex court in the verdict needed to be reconsidered by a five-judge bench as "it had and will have a bearing" on the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case. Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for legal representative of Siddiq, had said that the observation that mosques were not essential for practising Islam were made by the apex court without any enquiry or considering the religious texts. The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier told the top court that some Muslim groups were trying to delay the hearing in the "long-pending" Ayodhya temple-mosque land dispute case by seeking reconsideration of the observation in the 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the UP government, had said this dispute has been awaiting final adjudication for "almost a century". He had also said that the issue of the observation was neither taken up by any litigant since 1994, nor in the present appeals which were filed in 2010 after the high court's verdict. The state government had said the law decided by the top court in the Ismail Farooqi case was "the correct law which does not deserve to be disturbed either by referring it as belatedly prayed for or otherwise". Earlier, Hindu groups had opposed the plea of their Muslim counterparts that the 1994 verdict holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam be referred to a larger bench. The observations were made in the land acquisition matter pertaining to the Ayodhya site and the apex court had to consider two aspects as to whether a mosque could be acquired at all and whether a religious place of worship like a mosque, church or temple was immune from acquisition if it was a place of special significance for that religion and formed its essential and integral part. Copenhagen: In an effort to tackle massive food wastage in the country, India has sought help from countries excelling in food technology. Union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was in Copenhagen to attend the World Food Summit 2018, pitched for more international collaborations in the field of food processing. "India is one of the worlds largest food producers and we are trying to curb wastage during production, processing, retailing and consumption by partnerships and technology with overseas collaboration," Kaur said. Praising Denmarks technical advancement in the sector, the minister said, India has a lot to learn from countries like Denmark who have created a state-of-the-art food processing infrastructure to minimize food wastage and it needs to borrow their technology. Badal also appreciated private corporations efforts in the field, saying Indias tie-up with companies like Danfoss has worked well. Danfoss, a refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment manufacturer, claims to have taken initiatives in places like Tamil Nadu where it helped farmers double their income and reach the European market for the first time. Our food gets wasted even before it comes to the plate, whereas in the West, the food which is on the plate gets wasted, Kaur added. India produces a lot of food but also loses more about 30 per cent of it all even as millions suffer from hunger. Danish minister of environment and food, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, pointed out that more than 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year, which is equivalent to 24 per cent of all the food produced for human consumption. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed MOUs with Denmark on Animal Husbandry, Food Safety and Agricultural Research. The central government has said that it is trying to stop food losses and address hunger in various ways, including using technology and by changing distribution strategies. Wastage of food is not only limited to vegetables, fruits and seafood but also milk. Ironically, India is the second largest producer of vegetables in the world, however, its share in global exports is only around 1.3 per cent. One of the major reasons for this is the lack of storage infrastructure, more so, in the cold chain sector. According to official data, only 6 per cent of food in India goes through cold chains, whereas in developed markets, it is around 70 per cent. In India, more than one-third of all food is lost, and about 50 per cent of the food calories is lost due to inefficient cold storages. Despite India being major food producing countries in the world, only 10 per cent food gets processed resulting in enormous food wastage, Kaur concluded. * Visit Courtesy Food Nation. If you want to visit a place where high-tech cities meet sprawling countryside, nothing beats a vacation in Taiwan. And within 24 hours of arriving, I had already announced the island nation to be one of my favourite places. Besides offering a bucket-list worthy travel adventure, Taiwan is a vivacious city that overflows with things to experience, explore and remember forever. From culture, cuisine to countryside, a visit to Taiwan can bring your dream vacation to life. Of classic dishes, street food feasts Taiwan which is often referred to as the best food destination in the world adheres to the culinary viewpoint eat often and eat well. From restaurants that serve up incredible specialties to night markets where you can explore a huge array of snacks, interesting food items are available across the island. So each time you feel youve discovered the amazing streetside bao, the unbelievable Tofu or Fatty Minced Pork on Rice, youd hear from others about another Taiwanese shop that exceeds it completely. And if you want to dig into filling and snappy bites and enjoy the quintessential Taiwanese food experience, you can head to the night markets here. The food offered in Taiwan is a curious blend of the cuisine of the Min Nan, Teochew and Hokkien Chinese communities, with Japanese cooking. Since Taiwanese capital, Taipei, has approximately 20 streets dedicated to food, there is no denying the fact that food is serious business here. Explore, dream, discover Each time Taiwan is mentioned, most of us immediately think of the stunning and iconic Taipei 101 and the bustling night markets offering yummy delicacies. During my stay in Taipei I had obviously turned into a fan of the life in Taipei. Interestingly, the geography of Taiwan isnt just about high rise buildings. Theres a lot to experience, explore and remember for life. Cigu Salt Mountain One look at it and youd think it is a snow mountain. But no, Cigu Salt Mountain, a tourism landmark in Tainan is the best way to understand the salt history of Taiwan. The salt mountain, which was once was the largest solar salt field in Taiwan, supplied salt for the domestic agriculture and industry. But as the generations passed the demand for solar salt witnessed a dip and the Cigu Salt Field stopped production in May 2002. This marked the end of 338 years of solar salt history in Taiwan. My guide Claire shared the information that every tourist need to know if planning a visit to Cigu Salt Mountain. Chris Claremont on why X-Men is "heartbreakingly more relevant than ever" Chris Claremont ways in on X-Men's past, present, and future United Nations : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed US sanctions against Tehran amidst American President Donald Trump issuing dire warnings at the Security Council against violating the embargo. India and Iran "shared each others' position about where we stand at this point of time" on the sanctions, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters after the Ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here on Wednesday. At the Security Counci, Trump said that the sanctions against Iran will come into full force in November and warned "any individual who fail to comply with these sanctions will face full consequences". Kumar said that India was engaged with all the stakeholders dealing with the sanctions and, therefore, it discussed it with Iran also. Zarif told Sushma Swaraj about Iran's interaction with the European Union (EU) and other countries over the sanctions, according to Kumar. The spokesman said that Iran and India had "civilisational ties" going back in time and the discussions went beyond the sanctions issue. Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Iran signed with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the EU, to end sanctions in return for Teheran stopping nuclear weapons development. The EU and most countries back the nuclear deal and oppose US sanctions and Trump found himself isolated at the Security Council. Washington's allies, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, openly opposed Trump at the Security Council meeting and expressed their support for the agreement with Iran. Kumar declined to comment on foreign media reports that India was going to stop importing Iranian oil. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) United Nations : President Donald Trump accused China on Wednesday of attempting to meddle in the Nov. 6 congressional elections in the United States in retaliation for the tariffs his administration has imposed on Chinese goods. "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November, against my administration," the US president told a United Nations' Security Council meeting centering on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation, Efe reported. "They do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, we are winning at every level. We don't want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election," Trump said. China's foreign minister, who was present at the Security Council meeting, denounced Trump's accusation as being "unwarranted." "We do not and will not interfere in any country's domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China," Wang Yi said. Two weeks ago, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said that the US government had found signs of possible attempts by Russia and China to interfere in the November midterm elections. Vorombe titan, measuring, at least three metres (10 feet) tall, with average weight of 650 kg is the largest bird genus New Delhi : After decade of century of conflicts, scientists have solved the riddle of the world's largest bird. A study released on September 26, 2018 reveals that a species of elephant bird was same the size of giraffe. Continue reading to know the facts about the world's biggest bird discovered. British scientists suggests that one species of elephant bird was even larger than previously thought, with a specimen weighing an estimated 860 kg close to the size of fully grown giraffe. But, unlike most avian species, this gigantic bird could not fly. "They would have towered over people," James Hansford, lead author at the Zoological Society of London, said. "They definitely couldn't fly." For 60 million years the colossal, flightless elephant bird Aepyornis maximus lived in the savannah and rainforests of Madagascar until it was hunted to extinction around 1,000 years ago. In the 19th century, European zoologist who were obsessed over the creature, pillaging skeletons and fossilised eggs to prove they had discovered the biggest bird on Earth. Until now, the largest-ever elephant bird was described in 1894 by the British scientist C W Andrews as Aepyornis titan, a larger species of Aepyornis maximus But a French rival of Andrews dismissed the discovery of titan as just an outsized maximus specimen, and for decades the debate remained deadlocked. Expert research work proved that the titam was a different species. But, the discovery of bones was so distinct that the other elephant bird specimens that titan was in fact an entirely separate genus. Finally, it has been announced that Vorombe titan, measuring, at least three metres (10 feet) tall, with average weight of 650 kg is the largest bird genus in the world. Sorry! This content is not available in your region In the online edition of todays Wall Street Journal, I review the Broadway premiere of Theresa Rebecks Bernhardt/Hamlet. Heres an excerpt. * * * To most people, the name of Sarah Bernhardt is a dead metaphor, a faded reference to over-the-top stage acting (as in Dont be such a Sarah Bernhardt, for Gods sake). Truth to tell, though, even seasoned theater buffs tend not to know all that much about Bernhardt, legendary though she is. This makes sense, since she was chiefly active around the turn of the 20th century, performed exclusively in French and didnt live long enough to make sound films, though she did cut a few records prior to her death in 1923 on which she sounds to modern ears rather like a comedian spoofing the excesses of an old-fashioned ham actor. So why has Theresa Rebeck now written a Broadway play about her called Bernhardt/Hamlet? Because Bernhardt famously essayed the title role of Hamlet, in which she appeared in Paris and London in 1899, well over a century before such exercises in theatrical gender-bending became, if not quite commonplace, then increasingly frequent. Max Beerbohm, who saw and reviewed Bernhardts Hamlet in London, dismissed it as humorless and absurd, naughtily claiming that the only compliment one can conscientiously pay her is that her Hamlet was, from first to last,But all that survives of her interpretation is Le duel dHamlet, a two-minute film in which Bernhardt can be seen clashing swords with Laertes, which doesnt exactly tell you what her acting was like. The good news is that this leaves Ms. Rebeck plenty of room in which to maneuver. The bad news is that she doesnt seem to be sure what to do with it. I wish I could say otherwise, for her premise is promising, but Bernhardt/Hamlet, in which Janet McTeer plays the title role(s), fails to deliver the goods. Bernhardt/Hamlet never manages to decide whether its a comedy a la Noises Off or a dead-serious play about a great artist stymied by the prejudices of the 19th-century culture into which she was born. The rehearsal scenes, whose over-obvious humor is mostly rooted in cliches about the vanities of actors, endeavor to be much funnier than they really are, while the serious scenes, in which Bernhardt explains why she is equal to the task of playing Hamlet her way, are unintentionally funny Ms. McTeer, perhaps not coincidentally, also played Petruchio in Phyllida Lloyds 2016 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew. She is a distinguished stage actor, but I was struck on that occasion by how completely unfunny she was, and I came away from Bernhardt/Hamlet with the same impression. * * * Read the whole thing here. Excerpts from Bernhardt/Hamlet: Le duel dHamlet, a 1900 silent film directed by Clement Maurice in which Sarah Bernhardt is seen in an excerpt from Shakespeares play. The film was originally released with a synchronized soundtrackone of the earliest attempts of its kindbut the sound elements have not survived: A 1903 recording of Sarah Bernhardt speaking a monologue from Racines Phedre: New Delhi: After a one-day hiatus, petrol and diesel prices Thursday were hiked again to new highs. Petrol price touched the Rs 83 per litre mark in Delhi while continued to head towards the record century mark in Mumbai. While a litre of petrol was sold for Rs 83.00 in Delhi, rates soared to as much as Rs 90.35 in Mumbai, according to a price notification by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). Hence, there is a surge of Rs 0.14 and Rs 0.13 in Delhi and Mumbai respectively. The diesel prices were increased by Rs 0.12 and Rs 0.13 in Delhi and Mumbai respectively. The latest increase pushed the price to a record high of Rs 74.24 and Rs 78.82 in the metros. "Petrol and Diesel prices in Delhi are Rs 83.00 per litre Rs 74.24 per litre, respectively. Petrol and Diesel prices in Mumbai are Rs 90.35 per litre, Rs 78.82 per litre, respectively," the news agency ANI reported. Petrol & Diesel prices in #Delhi are Rs 83.00 per litre & Rs 74.24 per litre, respectively. Petrol & Diesel prices in #Mumbai are Rs 90.35 per litre & Rs 78.82 per litre, respectively. pic.twitter.com/TjSe5hPTNS a ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2018 Delhi has the cheapest fuel rates among all metros and most state capitals because of lower taxes. Mumbai has the highest sales tax or value added tax (VAT). A combination of a dip in rupee value against the US dollar and rise in crude oil prices has led to a spike in fuel prices since mid-August. Petrol price has since risen by Rs 5.02 per litre and diesel by Rs 5.15 -- the most in any one-month period since the daily revision in fuel prices was introduced in June last year. Rates vary from city to city and from a pump to pump depending on local taxes and transportation cost. The deadly cocktail of high oil prices and the depreciating rupee has made imports costlier and led to a surge in fuel prices. Price of Brent crude, the benchmark for half the world's oil including India's, was hovering around USD 80 per barrel while rupee traded at 72.8112 to a US dollar Tuesday, nearing a record low of 72.9138 touched last week. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In an effort to ease liquidity crunch, the Reserve Bank of India Thursday allowed banks to slide further into statutory cash reserves. The money markets have been suffering owing to the concerns over tight liquidity conditions and unwillingness of the banks to lend to NBFCs. Hence, the RBI announced in a statement that banks could carve out up to 15 per cent of holdings under the statutory liquidity reserves to meet their liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements as compared to 13 per cent now. This resulted from a rise in the facility to avail funds for LCR to 13 per cent from 11 per cent, effective October 1, RBI said. Also Read | NASA's Opportunity rover spotted, but no sign of activity RBI stands ready to meet the durable liquidity requirements of the system through various available instruments depending on its dynamic assessment of the evolving liquidity and market conditions. The RBI said in the statement that it carried out open market operation (OMO) on September 19 and provided a liberal infusion of liquidity through term repos in addition to the usual provision via the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF). Another OMO will be conducted Thursday to ensure adequate liquidity in the system, RBI said. Read More | MK Stalin underwent minor surgery for removal of cyst, to be discharged today The Reserve Bank also said that on September 26, banks had availed Rs 1.88 lakh crore through term repos from the Reserve Bank. As a result of these steps, the system liquidity is in ample surplus, it said. RBI also announced relaxation in statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) requirement with effect from October 1, 2018. This should supplement the ability of individual banks to avail of liquidity, if required, from the repo markets against high-quality collateral. This, in turn, will help improve the distribution of liquidity in the financial system as a whole, it said. Read | M Night Shyamalans Glass in final edit stage Concerns of liquidity crunch were triggered following defaults by an IL&FS group company. It spread to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), which in turn roiled financial markets. IL&FS Financial Services, a group company of IL&FS, defaulted on one of its commercial paper issuances due for repayment on Monday. This was the third default by the company. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The trailer of Aamir Khan starrer much-awaited film of the year Thugs of Hindostan is finally released. Trade analyst and film critic Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to share the first trailer of the film which is already garnering huge accolades from the movie bugs. The trailer begins when East India Company first entered in Indian sub continent in 1795 for trade purposes but end up with ruling the whole nation. But, this British rule was not accepted by some fighter army and their leader Azad, played by megastar Amitabh Bachchan who beset the British Raj. Also read | Karan Johar shares pic of his biggest blockbuster ever; see THIS epic star cast To counter such army, Britishers hire one Thug 'Firangi Mallah' who is popular for betraying people, the role which is played by Aamir Khan but is of Indian origin. It will be interesting to what happens when 'Azad' get to know 'Firangi Mallah's intentions Helmed and written by Vijay Krishna Acharya, Thugs of Hindostan also features Katrina Kaif, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Amitabh Bachchan in significant roles. The movie is scheduled to release on November 8 during the festive season of Diwali. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Male: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the Maldives President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in November, according to a Maldives media report on Thursday. Solih, 56, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Partys candidate, emerged victorious over incumbent President Abdulla Yameen in the election held in September 23. The formal results will be announced by the election commission on Sunday. He will be sworn in on November 17. Also Read | Indian para-athletes' inspiring stories will make your heart swell with pride The President-elect had extended the invitation during a phone call by Modi, after Solihs victory in the September 23 presidential elections, spokesperson for Solih, Mariya Ahmed Didi was quoted as saying in The Edition. Modi had also invited Solih to visit India, Mariya said, adding that the president-elect had accepted the invitation. The two leaders agreed to work closely together to further strengthen the close, friendly and good neighbourly relations between the two countries. Maldives is the only SAARC country that Modi has not visited. His visit to the archipelago was cancelled in March 2015 due to the volatile political situation. Read More | Rahul Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh: Gabbar Singh Tax' to be changed if Congress comes to power Indias ties with the Maldives came under strain after President Yameen declared Emergency in the country on February 5, following an order by the countrys Supreme Court to release a group of Opposition leaders, including his estranged half-brother and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. India had criticised the Yameen government for the imposition of the Emergency and urged it to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners. The Emergency was lifted 45 days later. In July, India expressed concern over announcement of the presidential election without allowing democratic institutions, including Parliament and the judiciary, to work in a free and transparent manner. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who began his two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh, said on Thursday that if his party comes to power in the state, it will make changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to reduce rates on items. "As soon as we come to power, we will change the 'Gabbar Singh Tax' into real tax. We will implement one tax at lowest rates The Modi government has destroyed small businesses and employment through demonetisation and GST, Rahul Gandhi said while addressing a rally in Chitrakoot. GST, which brought a one-tax regime in the country, was rolled out last year. The Congress president will visit different places across poll-bound Madhya Pradesh during his visit. Rahul also visited the famous Kamta Nath temple in this religious town associated with Lord Rama. Also Read | How Sidharth Malhotra finds a perfect getaway for team 'Jabariya Jodi' in Lucknow In his address, Rahul also continued his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter deal, alleging that "the watchman has indulged in theft." Turning to the Rafale deal, Rahul said: "Hindustan ke chowkidar ne chori kar li hai" (India's watchman has indulged in theft)." His reference was to Modi who had said he would be the country's 'chowkidar' in his capacity as the prime minister. "The man, who claims to be the country's watchman, has himself put Rs 30,000 crore in the pocket of (industrialist) Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal," Rahul claimed. Describing Anil Ambani as Modi's "friend", the Congress leader alleged that the industrialist has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore. "The 'chowkidar' took out the money from the pockets of the poor, the youth and other people and put it into the pocket of Ambani... This money belongs to the people of the country," Rahul alleged. Ambani, however, rejected Rahul Gandhi's allegations and emphasised that the government had no role in the Rafale-manufacturer French company Dassault picking up his company as a local partner. He had written to Gandhi on December 12, 2017, refuting allegations of his Reliance Group lacking experience to get the Rafale fighter jet deal. Also Read | Robot with caterpillar-like legs to deliver drugs inside human body He had written that Reliance Defence has the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and is currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard. In his speech, Rahul also accused Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of speaking untruth on the Rafale deal issue. "In Parliament, the defence minister said the price of Rafale fighter plane can't be disclosed due to secret pact. I met the French president, who said there is no such pact and the price can be disclosed," the Congress chief said. The prime minister spoke for one-and-a-half hour in Parliament but did not talk about Rafale issue, Rahul added. Earlier, he reached Chitrakoot from Allahabad by a helicopter and visited the Kamta Nath temple where he performed 'puja'. The temple is located in the forested hills of Kamadgiri where, according to mythology, Lord Rama stayed during his exile. The 48-year-old Amethi MP was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath, state party campaign committee chairman Jyotiraditya Scindia and Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly Ajay Singh. (With PTI inputs) How Sidharth Malhotra finds a perfect getaway for team 'Jabariya Jodi' in Lucknow For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday pronounced its verdict on a clutch of pleas challenging the ban on entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had reserved its judgment on August 1 after hearing the matter for eight days. The bench, which also comprised Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, had earlier said that the constitutional scheme prohibiting exclusion has "some value" in a "vibrant democracy". The top court's verdict would deal with the petitions filed by petitioners Indian Young Lawyers Association and others. The Kerala government, which has been changing its stand on the contentious issue of women of the menstrual age group entering the Sabarimala temple, had on July 18 told the Supreme Court that it now favoured their entry. The apex court had on October 13 last year referred the issue to a constitution bench after framing five "significant" questions including whether the practice of banning entry of women into the temple amounted to discrimination and violated their fundamental rights under the Constitution. The Sabarimala Temple case history One of the questions referred to the larger bench was, Whether the exclusionary practice which is based upon a biological factor exclusive to the female gender amounts to discrimination and thereby violates the very core of Articles 14, 15 and 17 and not protected by morality as used in Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution. The management of the Sabarimala temple had earlier told the apex court that the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years was because they cannot maintain purity on account of menstruation. The second issue referred to the constitution bench is whether the practice of excluding such women constitutes an essential religious practice under Article 25 of the Constitution and whether a religious institution can assert a claim in that regard under the umbrella of right to manage its own affairs in the matters of religion. The constitution bench would also deal with whether the Ayyappa temple has a denominational character and if so, is it permissible on the part of a religious denomination managed by a statutory board and financed under Article 290-A of the Constitution out of Consolidated Fund of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to indulge in such practice violating constitutional principles/morality embedded in Articles 14, 15(3), 39(a) and 51-A(e). The apex court had framed another question as to whether Rule 3 of Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules permits religious denomination to ban entry of women between the age of 10 to 50 years. And if so, would it not play foul of Articles 14 and 15 (3) of the Constitution by restricting entry of women on the ground of sex, it had said. Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965 says that women at such time during which they are not by custom and usage allowed to enter a place of public worship shall be included in the class of persons who shall not be entitled to offer worship in any place of worship. It had also raised the question whether this rule is ultra vires the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, 1965 and, if treated to be intra vires, whether it will be violative of the provisions of Part III of the Constitution. Petitioner Indian Young Lawyers Association and others have sought directions from the court to ensure entry of female devotees between the age group of 10 and 50 at the Lord Ayappa temple at Sabarimala. On November 7, 2016, the Kerala government had informed the apex court that it favoured the entry of women of all age groups in the historic Sabarimala temple. Initially, the LDF government had taken a progressive stand in 2007 by favouring womens entry into the temple, which was overturned by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) dispensation later. The UDF government had taken a view that it was against the entry of women of the age group of 10-to-50 years as such a practice was being followed since time immemorial. Three important facts about Sabarimala Temple The temple is located at the Periyar Tiger Reserve on a hilltop in the Western Ghats of Pathanamthitta district. The pilgrimage to the temple is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world. Over 4550 million devotees visit the Hindu temple every year. The Ayyappa temple is open for worship only during Mandalapooja - 15 November to 26 December. (With inputs from agencies) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif held good meeting on bilateral issues, including the status of Iran nuclear deal with the EU and US sanctions against the major crude exporter to be implemented later in the year. Swaraj and Zarif met on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly session on Wednesday and discussed each others position. On the issue of sanctions, India remains engaged with all stakeholders who are part of the process and Iran is one of them. So, it was natural that the issue of sanctions did come up during the meeting, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters in New York Wednesday. Zarif shared the nuclear deal discussion Iran is having with the EU, Kumar said. Read | Donald Trump to Sushma Swaraj: I love India, give my regards to my friend PM Modi We heard them out, we also explained our position. It is important to understand that as far as the sanctions on Iran go, we are also engaged with other stakeholders and countries, for example, the US as well, he said. Kumar also referred to the recently held 2+2 dialogue between India and the US and said that there was this understating from the US side on our position. US President Donald Trump announced in May that the US was exiting from the Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration in 2015, under which Tehran had agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. The US has told India and other countries to cut oil imports from Iran to zero by November 4 or face sanctions. Before the sanctions come into effect, India has been talking to several partners and countries on the issue, Kumar said. Read | Sushma Swaraj arrives in New York for 73rd UNGA session We are engaged with all countries in this regard. We hope that our positions, sensitivities, concerns, which we have explained to the US, must have been taken into account by them. Its not only a question of purchasing oil from Iran but it is also a question of relationship, he said. Kumar then said that the two countries share age-old strong civilisation bonds. Iran is Indias third-largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Iran supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil between April 2017 and January 2018 (first 10 months of fiscal 2017-18. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to set up a larger bench for a relook of its 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam" paving the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit from October 29. Ruling that the earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition" during the hearing of the Ayodhya case, the top court in a 2-1 verdict made it clear it was not relevant for deciding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute whose outcome will be eagerly awaited ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The RSS and the BJP welcomed the judgment and expressed confidence that a "just verdict" in the case will be reached at the earliest. Following is the chronology of events in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case: *1528: Babri Masjid was built by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur. *1885: Mahant Raghubir Das filed a plea in Faizabad district court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure. The court rejected the plea. *1949: Idols of Ram Lalla were placed under a central dome outside the disputed structure. *1950: Gopal Simla Visharad filed a suit in the Faizabad district court for rights to worship the idols of Ram Lalla. *1950: Paramahansa Ramachandra Das filed a suit for continuation of worship and keeping the idols. *1959: Nirmohi Akhara filed a suit seeking possession of the site. *1981: UP Sunni Central Waqf Board filed a suit for possession of the site. *February 1, 1986: A Local court ordered the government to open the site for Hindu worshippers. *August 14, 1989: The Allahabad HC ordered maintenance of status quo in respect of the disputed structure. *December 6, 1992: Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjids structure demolished. *April 3, 1993: 'Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act' was passed for acquisition of land by the Centre in the disputed area. *1993: Various writ petitions, including one by Ismail Faruqui, were filed at the Allahabad HC challenging various aspects of the Act. *October 24, 1994: The SC said in the historic Ismail Faruqui case that a mosque was not an integral to Islam. *April, 2002: The HC begins hearing on determining who owned the disputed site. *March 13, 2003: The SC said, in the Aslam alias Bhure case, no religious activity of any nature be allowed at the acquired land. *March 14: The SC said an interim order passed should be operative till disposal of the civil suits in the Allahabad HC to maintain communal harmony. *September 30, 2010: The HC, in a 2:1 majority, ruled three-way division of disputed area between the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. *May 9, 2011: The SC stayed the HC verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute. *February 26, 2016: Subramanian Swamy filed a plea in the SC seeking construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site. *March 21, 2017: The CJI JS Khehar suggested out-of-court settlement among rival parties. *August 7: The SC constituted a three-judge bench to hear pleas challenging the 1994 verdict of the Allahabad HC. *August 8: The UP Shia Central Waqf Board told the SC mosque could be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the disputed site. *September 11: The SC directed the Chief Justice of the Allahabad HC to nominate two additional district judges within 10 days as observers to deal with the upkeep of the disputed site. *November 20: The UP Shia Central Waqf Board told the SC that the temple can be built in Ayodhya and mosque in Lucknow. *December 1: Thirty-two civil rights activists filed a plea challenging the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad HC. *February 8, 2018: The SC started hearing the civil appeals. *March 14: The SC rejected all interim pleas, including Swamy's, seeking to intervene as parties in the case. *April 6: Rajeev Dhavan filed a plea in the SC to refer the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgment to a larger bench. *July 6: The UP government told the SC some Muslim groups were trying to delay the hearing by seeking reconsideration of an observation in the 1994 verdict. *July 20: The SC reserved the verdict. *September 27: The SC declined to refer the case to a five-judge Constitution bench. The case will be heard by a newly constituted a three-judge bench on October 29. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The long-standing and badly entangled Ayodhya dispute being heard by the Supreme Court took another turn on Thursday, September 27, even as political voices continued to dog the vexed case with the obvious intent of sharpening communal divide amid the upcoming Assembly elections in a few states followed by general elections 2019. In a significant judicial decision, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra turned down the plea to refer to the issue whether Namaz, or prayer by a Muslims, can be offered only in a mosque to a larger bench for a review of an observation made in this regard in 1994 by a five-judge bench of the top court. However, of the two judges other than Justice Misra only one concurred with him. Justice Abdul Nazeer passed a dissenting order. Through this two-to-one majority order, the Ayodhya case would proceed further on merit, remarked Justice Ashok Bhushan who read out the order on his and Chief Justices behalf this afternoon. The majority order of the bench declined to revisit the 1994 observations made by a larger five judges bench in Ismail Faruqi case to say that in Islam mosque is not essential for offering Namaz and, thus, the government can take over land of a mosque. The Allahabad High Court had relied on this for its September 2010 judgment while trifurcating the land where Babri Masjid once stood in Ayodha among three parties Nirmohi Akhara, Ram Lalla and Sunni Waqf Board. Also Read | Why Aadhaar verdict holds good for government services, not for private ones In his order, Justice Nazeer referred to this to say that questionable observations in Ismail Faruqui case had permeated the Allahabad High Court verdict. What has been essential to religion as laid down in Ismail Faruqui case was arrived at without comprehensive examination. Thus, this needed to be re-examined in detail. Unlike him, the majority order by two other judges says that the 1994 observations by the Supreme Court were only related to that specific issue of acquisition, and not to the larger question of whether a mosque is essential to Islam. So, in view of this, the court has fixed the next hearing in the present appeal against the Allahabad High Courts 2010 judgment for October 29. The case will now come again before the three-judge bench with the only change that by the next date, or in the meantime, Justice Misra will most likely be replaced by Justice Ranjan Gogoi who is slated to take over as Chief Justice since Justice Misra is going to retire on October 2. A lot of hue and cry was made when Rajeev Dhawan, one of the senior lawyers in the present M Siddiq versus Mahant Suresh Das case, had moved the plea that was turned down on Thursday. He and his client were accused by Hindutva exponents of resorting to delaying tactics by moving such a plea related to an over two decades old observation made by the five-judge bench which was hard to be revised by a smaller bench and thus needed more than five judges bench for what looked like to be an interim decision before the case could proceed further. Also Read | BJP wary of destabilising Karnataka govt ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2019 The impatience on the part of Hindutva advocates pitching in for a temple at the disputed site has been so great that no less than Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) top leader Mohan Bhagwat has recently warned of a Mahabarat in Ayodhya because of the delay in clearing the way for a temple at the disputed site. Barely a week ago from now while speaking in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president Amit Shah during a book launch function, Bhagwat said, It is a fact that Rams exile ended in 14 years, but Ayodhya is still in exile even after 500 years. Before this, Bhagwat had mentioned about the temple in Ayodhya and the need for it to mark and commemorate Ram Janmabhoomi during his three-day discourse in Delhi before a select group of the countrys celebrities and intelligentsia. Such shrill campaign starting from the top of the present days ruling conglomerate blurs the issue of the title that is being looked into by the top court by flaunting sentimentality before the law. Among other things, this also puts a virtual freeze on time, pushes modern era into medieval times, takes away focus and attention from real issues confronting the teeming millions, mauls and tramples minority rights in flagrant violation of the Constitution and law, covers up injustices since yore against highly marginalised social groups and tribesmen and above all tries to create pseudo majoritarian uppance with an eye on votes, polls and elections whether big or small. It's still technically summer, yet pumpkin-flavored everything is already all around us. It seems like not long ago, we would walk the aisles of Trader Joe's and delight in the fall seasonal offerings, snagging a pumpkin item or two while we had the chance. Now, many of us on the SFGATE team feel like the pumpkin spice trend has gone too far. Not just at Trader Joe's, but everywhere. It's not just the famous Starbucks pumpkin-spice latte anymore. Grocery store aisles are lined with pumpkin spice yogurt, potato chips and hummus. There's even pumpkin spice pizza now. We wish we were kidding. We decided to put a selection of Trader Joe's pumpkin-flavored offerings to the test. The taste test, that is. Click through the slideshow at the top of this story for the results of the SFGATE taste test. It was actually pretty tough to recruit SFGATE team members who were willing to participate in the tasting. "This is like a 10-course meal from hell," said one staffer. In the end, three pumpkin lovers agreed to painstakingly review 11 different Trader Joe's pumpkin products on camera. You can watch their reactions in the video above. PUMPKIN OVERLOAD: Reporter uses every pumpkin spice product she could find for a week The rest of our staff picked over the leftovers and worked together to rank everything we tried, from tasty to terrible. Read our unfiltered opinions in the slideshow above. What's your favorite pumpkin spice product? What's the worst one you've tried? Let us know in the comments. Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com. Dave Curran, Susana Guerrero, Alyssa Pereira, Chris Preovolos and many other SFGATE staffers contributed to this story. NEW MILFORD Improving public transportation, ensuring a state cut to the schools funding doesnt happen again and closing the $2 billion deficit are some of the big issues the candidates will tackle if elected to the state House 67th district. Republican incumbent Bill Buckbee, 46, is vying for his second term. Hes the executive director at Harrybrooke Park. He faces Democrat Tom OBrien, 59, a carpenter. Both are from New Milford, which is the only town in the district. Last year, New Milford received a $2.2 million cut in state funding, with most of it allocated for the schools. The cut prompted the town and schools to lay off people and not fill vacancies, as well as hold off on spending. Both candidates said they would work to ensure that didnt happen again. Buckbee said the cut came from the governors office and the way to prevent a repeat is to work with whoever is in that position, regardless of party. OBrien said he would refuse to vote for a budget that included a cut for the town. OBrien said its important to invest in education at all levels and said the government needs to fund state colleges like they did when he was in school. He said the tuition increase coincides with the cuts in government investment and Millenials have to pay hundreds of dollars each months for student loans to state universities. New Milford residents and officials have been trying to get passenger rail back for decades. Buckbee introduced legislation in the past two sessions, but neither were successful. He acknowledged it wasnt a quick fix, but hes gained support and is working to help get federal funding. He said its more cost effective to upgrade the rail from Danbury to New Milford for passenger service than to electrify the Danbury line. Im going to stay on board with the train fight and do that for New Milford, Buckbee said. OBrien said he fully supports passenger rail back, but proposed taking it a step further by improving public transportation as a whole, including improving and expanding the Housatonic Area Regional Transit system. He said public transportation needs to include multiple alternative forms, such as bike racks at train stations, to expand the options. Both said a change in spending and attracting businesses are needed to help close the $2 billion deficit. Neither had specific state cuts or efficiencies in mind to save money, but Buckbee said he plans to look at how state employees are doing private jobs while on paid leave from the state. OBrien said he also likes the idea of extending the debt payment plan. Buckbee proposed a tax incentive to companies for retaining employees, offering a certain percentage of the employees salary when they hit a year with the percentage increasing if the employee was unemployed or a veteran. He also said they need to listen to small business owners about how to help them. He said reducing the income tax gradually and then ultimately eliminating it will make businesses want to located in Connecticut and will also help residents. OBrien said the income tax is the only progressive tax in the state and opposed reducing it. He suggested instead not taxing senior citizens pensions or social security if their income was below a certain threshold. He added that Connecticut relies too much on property taxes. He also opposed tax incentives for large corporations and instead said it was better to help small business. He said there are many pieces of economic development but his niche piece is connecting the trails in western Connecticut to make an attractive recreation option as well as offer another form of transportation. He said these opportunities improve the quality of life which are attractive for businesses. He added they also will draw tourists to the area and expand that industry. OBrien has worked on bringing trails to the state since 2007. Hes collaborated with other trail organizations, secured funding and helped create the Western New England Greenway plan. I look forward to the opportunity to make a lot of noise on behalf of this part of the state, he said. Buckbee also recognized the need for trails and walkability in New Milford and said he would work to get money for it. Leafwires Future of Cannabis Pitch Contest has already visited Denver and Los Angeles, and on 9/20, made its first stop in Miami, in partnerships with the Miami chapter of CannabisLAB. Seven cannabis companies each had three minutes to pitch and then three minutes of Q&A from the judges to determine a winner. Congrats to David Fleisher, CFO, of Blue Moon Hemp who won first place and a $1,000 cash prize, sponsored by Phyto Partners, LP. Blue Moon Hemp is a veteran in the CBD space, having been founded in 2015, and has already sold one million bottles of CBD oil made from a single genetic strain grown by a Kentucky farmer using sustainable farming techniques. Their extraction technique yields a product that is 99.96 percent pure. The public perception of CBD is shifting, according to Fleisher. The world opened its eyes to CBD this week with the news from Coca Cola, he said referring to news Coke is exploring a CBD-infused beverage. He added that hemp/CBD is hot right now because, Quite simply, it works. The efficacy is undeniable in balancing an individuals endocannibinoid system (ECS) to the extent that people are discarding traditional pharma regimens in favor of a natural alternative which actually changes the biology of the body. Related: The Evolving Cannabis Market Offers Limitless Opportunities Second place in the competition was awarded to Rafael Sabbagh, CEO of Guru Systems, a software platform that provides cannabis companies with a single multi-states software solution that can track seed-to-sale, manage online ordering, text message marketing, loyalty programs, cost/supply tracking and more. Typically companies would use several different solutions to tackle all of these challenges. Sabbagh says Guru Systems is needed because, as the industry is changing, cannabis companies are demanding more multi-purpose solutions. Right now we're seeing a shift in focus from compliance tools to commerce tools. Its a shift that's been gradually increasing since 2017 but we're really starting to see the effects of it on the market, where both the supply and demand sides have been investing more time and resource into tools that help reach audiences and facilitate commerce versus strict compliance and tracking," Sabbagh shared. Judges for the event included Brett Finkelstein, managing director of Phyto Partners, LP; Brian Zisk, venture partner at Exponential Creativity Ventures; Matthew Ginder, senior counsel at Greenspoon Marder Law; and Masha Belinson, founder and CEO of Extract Cannabis Collective. Related: 3 Hottest Cannabis Trends in California Leafwire hosts these events every month to demonstrate the platform is built to connect investors with cannabis companies that are fundraising. By holding these events, we can achieve in the offline world what the platform is built to do online, every day. Leawfires next Future of Cannabis Pitch Contest will be held at New West Summit 4.0 in Oakland on Oct. 11 and includes a $10,000 prize. Judges include: Emily Paxhia, managing director of Poseidon Asset Management; Tahira Rehmatullah, managing director of Hypur Ventures; Giadha Aguirre de Carcer, founder and CEO of New Frontier Data; and Scott Williamson of Big Rock. To apply to pitch in the contest or attend the event, please visit: https://www.newwestsummit.com/investment/ (Full Disclosure I am the Co-founder and CEO of Leafwire, the company that hosted this competition) Related: This Lyft Employee's Entrepreneurial Past Inspired Her to Create a Business Pitch Competition for Lyft Drivers Blue Moon Hemp Wins Leafwire's Miami Pitch Contest We Raised Money for Our Startup Without an Investor Deck. Here's How. Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This appeared in Thursday's Washington Post. - - - The European Union announced Monday that it would seek a ruling from the European Court of Justice against Poland's reorganization of its Supreme Court, which EU leaders contend is intended to strip the judiciary of independence. It was the latest step in a belated and much-needed effort by Brussels to prevent Poland's right-wing government from gutting the country's democratic institutions. It was consequently striking that President Donald Trump chose to single out Poland for praise in an otherwise bitter and bombastic speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, along with India, Saudi Arabia and Israel. "In Poland, a great people are standing up for their independence, their security and their sovereignty," he said. Those words will be taken as vindication by the ruling Law and Justice party, which portrays all EU criticism of its authoritarian policies as an attack on the Polish nation. Other Europeans probably will conclude that Trump has sided with those EU governments, including Hungary and Romania as well as Poland, that are flouting the rule of law and other democratic norms. If that is the president's intention, he is making a serious mistake. But perhaps Trump was simply responding to the show of obsequiousness delivered at the White House last week by the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, who lobbied for the establishment of a permanent U.S. military base in Poland. "I was smiling when talking to Mr. President," Duda said at a news conference. "I said that I would very much like for us to set up permanent American bases in Poland, which we would call Fort Trump." Duda is not the first foreign leader to seek a favorable shift in U.S. policy through personal flattery of Trump; the Saudi and Israeli leaders have been equally craven. But like them, the Polish leadership is risking the erosion of what might otherwise be bipartisan favor in Washington by identifying itself so closely with this polarizing president. There are already some 4,000 U.S. troops in Poland, part of a rotating NATO force meant to deter aggression from Russia. Congress has already mandated a study of a permanent U.S. base in the country. In response to Duda, Trump, who is no fan of deploying U.S. troops abroad, was noncommittal. It may be that such a base is justified by the threat posed by the regime of Vladimir Putin, which has already invaded two neighboring countries and has conducted large military exercises simulating an invasion of Poland. The Law and Justice government has probably advanced its cause by offering to cover the cost of the base, which could be in the $2 billion range. But some in Congress will rightly question whether the United States should be deepening a strategic partnership with a country that is dismantling democratic institutions and thumbing its nose at attempted corrective action by the European Union. Promising to call a base Fort Trump, whether in jest or not, may have won the Polish government some sympathetic words from the president at the United Nations. Whether it will serve the country's interests, and U.S.-Polish relations, in the longer run is very much open to question. When Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein meets President Donald Trump later this week, the smart money says the lawyer will be out of a job. And already there are cries that firing Rosenstein would precipitate a constitutional crisis. With respect, this epithet seems premature. It would do violence to no constitutional values for a president to dismiss an aide who's talked about removing him from office. Dumping Rosenstein might not be politically astute - Republican leaders have warned the White House against the move, at least before the midterm elections - but an act of presidential foolishness is hardly the same as the Saturday Night Massacre. Political appointees serve at the pleasure of the president, and Rosenstein is a political appointee. The news media have been abuzz with claims that he discussed having someone wear a wire in Trump's presence, or perhaps invoking the 25th Amendment to suspend Trump from office. Rosenstein's denials have evidently failed to satisfy the White House, and small wonder, what with talking heads treating the reports as unquestioned facts rather than unsubstantiated allegations. In such circumstances, it's hard to imagine any president not giving serious consideration to firing the offender. Now let's get to the elephant in the room: Rosenstein, at least technically, is responsible for overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Actually there isn't much oversight to be performed, unless Mueller wants more resources or a broader mandate. But one has trouble resisting the sense that Rosenstein's dismissal, if it occurs, will result in part from Trumpian tantrum: The president doesn't dare fire Mueller, whose probe by now must surely be causing real worry in the Oval Office. By getting rid of Rosenstein, who chose Mueller in the first place, he would have the satisfaction of ... well, of letting off steam. But a presidential tantrum does not a constitutional crisis make. Lots of presidents have fired appointees they believed were openly undercutting them, as outstanding public servants from Salmon P. Chase to Stanley McChrystal might attest. The Treasury Department ran just fine after Abraham Lincoln sacked the financially astute Chase; U.S. forces in Afghanistan survived Barack Obama's cashiering of the excellent McChrystal. Or consider Harry Truman's decision to rid his cabinet of Attorney General J. Howard McGrath. McGrath had become an embarrassment after firing Newbold Morris, who was investigating corruption in the federal government generally and the Defense Department in particular. No doubt Truman was right and McGrath wrong; but the president undeniably chose to interfere with his chief law enforcement officer's prosecutorial discretion. The republic failed to fall. One might respond that the difference is that Trump prefers less investigation of his administration whereas Truman wanted more. But if the existence of the crisis turns on which way the president leans, then this is the very definition not of a constitutional crisis but of a political one. The chain of events that came to be known as the Saturday Night Massacre was different. President Richard Nixon was trying to get rid of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor investigating his 1972 campaign. Nixon fired Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy because they refused an order to dismiss Cox. Solicitor General Robert Bork, the third-ranking official in the Justice Department, finally fired Cox after Richardson advised him not to resign and leave the department leaderless. FBI agents sealed Cox's offices and files. Nixon seemed to be proclaiming himself above the law. But the court of public opinion turned swiftly against the president. He was forced to allow appointment of a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who ultimately brought him down. Trump might devoutly wish that Rosenstein would fire Mueller; almost certainly Trump wishes that Rosenstein had never appointed Mueller. But whatever role that heartfelt desire might play in the president's decision this week, Muller's investigation is pressing ahead, undisturbed by anything other than a constant barrage of Trumpian tweets that the special counsel is wisely ignoring. Maybe the smart money will turn out to be wrong, and Rosenstein will stick around; Trump, after all, isn't exactly the most predictable chief executive. Given the heated political moment, dismissing Rosenstein would be a reckless and self-destructive act. Or maybe the smart money is right. In that event, and if the administration has any sense - by no means a given - the White House will try to shore up the Justice Department by swiftly nominating an individual of unimpeachable independence to the deputy spot, as when the Ford administration chose the widely admired Edward Levi, president of the University of Chicago, as the post-Watergate attorney general. But if Rosenstein goes, even a glitteringly impressive successor is unlikely to save Trump from political disaster. Republican leaders have reportedly warned the White House that a Rosenstein dismissal might spell doom for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation is hanging by a rapidly fraying thread. Put the House of Representatives aside; the GOP might not even hold onto the Senate. And with both houses of Congress in Democratic hands, Trump's presidency would effectively be over. He might remain in office, but the remainder of his term would be bogged down in subpoenas, investigations, and refusals to confirm his nominees for almost any office. As I said: self-destructive. We don't know how the meeting is going to turn out. But even should Rosenstein be fired, and even should all those entirely predictable consequences occur, the resultant crisis will be political - not constitutional. Executive authority under the Constitution doesn't turn on how much Americans happen to like the person in the Oval Office, and a presidential power does not cease to exist because the president who wields it is named Trump. - - - Carter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a professor of law at Yale University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. His novels include "The Emperor of Ocean Park," and his nonfiction includes "Civility." Reported crimes in Connecticut are at their lowest level since 1967. Thats what Governor Dannel P. Malloy said is contained in a report released by the states criminal justice policy and planning officer and underscored by FBI data. Over the last several years, Connecticut has had a dramatic reduction in violent crime and projections are showing that this trend will continue, Malloy said. Recently enacted criminal justice reforms, which were supported by experts from both side of the aisle, are showing real results. The statistics available from the FBI do not break the data down by city or town and links from Malloys press release refer to 2017 data as the most current available for most crimes except murder. Malloy said other states are looking to Connecticut as an example of smart policy reforms that are having a positive impact. We have to remember that this data represents real change in our communities - our policies are making our neighborhoods safer while at the same time providing young people who may otherwise get trapped into a cycle of crime the ability to lead successful lives. But State Sen. Leonard Suzio, R-Meriden, said Malloys announcement apparently isnt focused on the states early release program which began in 2011. What theyll find is its been a catastrophic failure, Suzio said. There have been over 14,000 serious violent crimes that have been committed by individuals who have been discharged from prison early. Im talking murder, homicide, rape, kidnapping, all kinds of serious assaults. Suzio said he has been compiling information for some time and will be releasing his report later this week. It shows that every single one of these crimes has been committed by a person who has not been reformed. The prisons are springing out populations by the boatload, he said. The crime that hits closest to home is the June 27, 2012, murder of Irahim Ghazal, who three weeks earlier opened a gas station and convenience store called EZ Mart on Meridens East Main Street. Its just blocks from my home, said Suzio. Two months earlier Frankie The Razor Resto had received early release on a 20-year sentence he was serving for two armed robberies. Store surveillance shows Resto entered the store around 1:30 a.m. that day, displaying a gun and demanding money from the 70-year-old Ghazal. After Ghazal turned the money over, Resto shot him. The hollow point bullet tore through the 70-year-old store owners chest immediately killing him. Resto is now serving 53 years in prison for murder. The announcement on the drop in crime comes at a time when Malloy is being battered by low public approval ratings and by gubernatorial candidates claiming the states economy is in dire straits resulting in residents and milennials moving elsewhere. Malloy said the data shows the states police departments reported 71,883 crimes last year, a 2 percent drop from the previous year. Since 2011, reported crimes have declined 19 percent, which includes a 19 percent drop in violent crimes, the governor said. The total number of statewide arrests for all crimes dropped by 41 percent between 2009, when statewide arrests peaked at 138,719, and 2017, when there were 81,408 arrests -- a drop of 7.5 percent from 2016. By analyzing recent trends, the criminal justice policy and planning office is projecting that there will likely be about six percent fewer arrests in 2018 than there were in 2017. Malloy said the state reimagined its criminal justice system with a focus on second chances rather than permanent punishment and stigma during his tenure. More Information Homicide statistics 2011 to 2017 2011: Bridgeport 20; Hartford 27; New Haven 34 2012: Bridgeport 22; Hartford 23; New Haven 17 2013: Bridgeport 11; Hartford 23; New Haven 19 2014: Bridgeport 11; Hartford 19; New Haven 12 2015: Bridgeport 19; Hartford 23; New Haven 15 2016: Bridgeport 10; Hartford 14; New Haven 13 2017: Bridgeport 21; Hartford 29; New Haven 7 2018: Bridgeport 6; Hartford 18; New Haven 8 See More Collapse In doing so, the state modernized criminal drug laws, reformed the bail system by focusing less on a persons affluence, raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction, enhanced the states criminal justice data system, provided more support to school districts to encourage students to stay away from criminal situations and implemented policies that providing incarcerated individuals with the tools necessary to end a cycle of crime. Governor Malloys comprehensive criminal justice reforms have yielded measurable and sustained improvements in public safety over the past eight years, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora Schriro said. The collaboration of the state with its local and federal partners is integral to Connecticuts success. All of the men and women who make up the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection are proud to have had a significant role in these efforts and the realization of its favorable outcomes, Schriro said. As crime in the state has dropped, so has the prison population, Malloy said. Since January 2011, the prison population has dropped by 4,097 inmates -- a 23 percent decrease. At the same time, the states Risk Reduction Earned Credit system is ensuring that high-risk prisoners are serving a greater portion of their original sentence in prison than they previously had been serving. If current trends continue over the next few years, Connecticut is poised to become the first state in the nation to cut its prison and jail population in half, the governor said. WOODBRIDGE Following a nationwide search, Jennifer Pallon Byars, assistant superintendent of Ledyard Public Schools, has been chosen to lead the top-rated Amity Regional School District as superintendent of schools. Byars, who started as a science teacher and has served as principal of elementary schools, including in Deep River and Ledyard, and as an assistant high school principal in Virginia, received an enthusiastic unanimous vote from the Amity Board of Education Wednesday night. She will take the helm Nov. 15. There are a lot of people who dont like us in Ledyard now, said board member Paula CoFrancesco, referring to how popular Byars is in that district with parents and staff. Board member Steven DeMaio said he was fortunate to visit Ledyard during the search process, where board members received, overwhelmingly positive feedback, from the staff and community regarding Byars. Im extremely excited about the direction were going in, DeMaio said. Board member Sheila McCreven said she loves Byars demeanor and is impressed with her leadership ability. I think shes going to be an excellent fit, McCreven said. Board member Jennifer Turner said Byars is very collaborative, and while she has so much knowledge to share, Byars doesnt deliver it as if shes lecturing. Interim Superintendent James Connelly has said during the search that the district was left in good shape by the previous superintendent, Charles Dumais, who left at the end of last school year to become executive director at Cooperative Educational Services. The search for Dumais replacement was spearheaded by Joseph Erardi , retired longtime Newtown superintendent of schools who now owns JE Consulting and was hired to do the search. Board members Wednesday also complimented Erardi for a thorough and high quality search process. Erardi told the board at a July meeting there were great candidates in the pool and that he received valuable feedback on what people wanted to see in a superintendent, through meetings and focus groups. Byars holds a doctorate degree in administration and supervision, and a masters degree in education from the University of Virginia, and received her initial Connecticut teacher certification from Central Connecticut State University. In 1993 she graduated from Smith College with high honors and degrees in geology, her resume states. NEW HAVEN The New Haven Register is among the oldest continuously published newspapers in the country and for 206 years has delivered news of Greater New Haven to its readers. Up until the early 21st century, papers dictated the news delivery issues showed up on doorsteps in the afternoon or morning depending on the market. The print product has been operating under its current name since 1812. Ownership history The John Day Jackson family, which also owned the Journal-Courier, purchased the Register in the early 20th century. The J-C, as it was known, was a morning weekday publication and the Register was an afternoon paper published weekdays and Saturday and Sunday mornings. The two newsrooms worked in one building with some shared staff. In 1987, the Register became a morning paper when the New Haven Journal-Courier stopped publishing. In a few short years, it changed hands twice. In 1989, the Register was bought by the Goodson Newspaper Group, headed by TV mogul Mark Goodson, who soon sold the Register to the Ingersoll Publications Co. In 1990, Ingersoll sold it to the Journal Register Co. In 2011, the JRC, as it became known, teamed with MediaNews Group to form Digital First Media. In June 2017, Hearst Newspapers bought the Register, along with Connecticut Magazine, The Register Citizen of Torrington, The Middletown Press and several weeklies. We are pleased to own a newspaper with such a rich history for serving the community, said Hearst Connecticut Media President and Group Publisher Paul Barbetta. Hearst now publishes 24 daily newspapers and 56 weeklies nationwide, including Connecticut papers The Hour of Norwalk, The Connecticut Post; The Advocate, of Stamford; The Greenwich Time; and The News-Times in Danbury. Register from historical viewpoint Despite hundreds of years of change, the remarkable thing about print media is the core mission of news has essentially remained the same, said Jason Bischoff-Wurstle, director of photo archives at the New Haven Museum. For the most part, its the same story, and then theres spikes, and things change, and the change in technology forces another change, Bischoff-Wurstle said. That ripples out to social changes, but often the overall fabric of it is a day-to-day thing. There are spikes things happen rapidly like Pearl Harbor, or 9/11 causes a very large change, but things that are alarming have their way of working out in a way, but its clearly not going to be the same thing. There will be a boom like what happened when smartphones took hold of society but soon after, people acclimate to having things around you, most of time like technology. Once the steamboat could go out into ocean, then all of a sudden, travel was split by a half to a third of its time, Bischoff-Wurstle said. So if you look at it in that context, that sped everything up. Now people can get their goods faster, their information faster. In the 1800s, there were a larger variety of newspapers and journals. A good deal of what was reported even on the front page would be considered classifieds or almanac items nowadays, he said. Early on, papers would publish reports of livestock and shipping logs, what passed in and out of harbors, Bischoff-Wurstle said. In New Haven, the Long Wharf waterfront was more or less its own ecosystem, with its own U.S. Customs Court, and international trade. Long Wharf expanded in the early 1800s through the 19th century. It became a very vibrant waterfront downtown. By way of example, The Wall Street Journal, he said, was borne out of tracking stocks. A host of changes also came about with invention of the telegram in 1838. In the late 1700s, they were reporting news that may come on a ship from Europe that was already two months old, Bischoff-Wurstle said. Society as a whole, especially New Haven, was very Protestant. Things were still based in a very religious, structured sense. By the mid-19th century, the city become little more diverse; by the 20th, it was even more diverse. It was similar to the internet: Now we get updates every three seconds, but for them, it was one telegram. You were reporting the news depending on who owned the paper and what political biases might be there. A century ago, there were three large papers just in New Haven. Today, in addition to TV news, the citys media landscape includes the New Haven Independent, a nonprofit online hyperlocal news site since 2005. The Yale Daily News free, independent student-run newspaper (the oldest college newspaper, founded in 1878) publishes weekdays during the school year as well as online. The La Voz Hispana weekly Spanish newspaper is a free weekly paper that covers Hartford and New Haven and publishes online at lavozhispanact.com and the Inner City News also shares news and information about Connecticut communities. A long history Gloria Onofrio, 90, who lives in Greater New Haven, said her late husband husband Anthony was a Register advertising man for 45 years. He began with theater and restaurant accounts, and eventually was in charge of ads for auto dealerships on Whalley Avenue, which was known as Automobile Row, she said. He got his foot in the door in a curious way, one more common in the late 1940s. He wanted desperately to get into the newspaper. He loved newspaper work, and as a high school senior was the editor of the Commercial High School newspaper. The Jackson family owned the paper. I remember going up to the second floor and the rickety stairs. At that time, the theaters were beautiful. Her husband worked at the Register by day and attended Quinnipiac Junior College of Commerce in the evenings. The former New Haven Register and New Haven Journal-Courier publisher was the late Lionel Jackson Sr., said the 65-year subscriber Both her son and brother delivered the newspaper by bicycle. Later, it used to be a neighbor boy who delivered the paper, and at Christmas time, Id give him a nice tip, Onofrio said. Former editors recall tenure The paper is now led by Helen Bennett, executive editor of the Hearst Connecticut Media New Haven Group. Former Register Executive Editor Mark Brackenbury, who retired in August 2016, started as a reporter in the Registers Old Saybrook bureau in 1986 when it and the Journal-Courier (everyone called it the JC) were still owned by the Jackson family. He had been covering Westbrook and Clinton in the Middletown Press then Deep River bureau, when the paper was owned by the DOench family. I was a real newby back then, Brackenbury said. Bureaus at the time were considered outposts of the flagship where everyone wanted to work one day. When he was hired at the Register, then an afternoon publication, he continued to cover the same towns. The Register had a bunch of suburban bureaus: Old Saybrook, Madison or Guilford, the Valley, Wallingford, Milford and the Capitol. I believe there were six or seven journalists in that bureau, which was typical of all of them, Brackenbury said. It was a different world. It really was, he said. Brackenbury later moved into management, first as assistant suburban editor, then suburban editor, managing editor and eventually executive editor. The Journal Courier and Register at one time were produced out of same newsroom with some staff overlap. The J-C had its own editor and its own desk staff, but reporters contributed to both. I dont know why they had it this way, but the footprint of the Journal-Courier was a little smaller than the Register, said Brackenbury, now editorial director of the Centre County Gazette and own & Gown Magazine in Pennsylvania. The Register was unusual in that what was happening was newspapers were moving away from afternoon to morning. In March 87, the J-C ceased to exist and the Register moved to become a morning paper. Advent of internet in reporting The Register then and now focuses on local and enterprise news and sharing local voices through letters, forums and columns online and in print, with many readers and advertisers who have been customers for many decades. In the late 1990s, the web was considered a fad by some precisely because people were so unfamiliar. When basic email service was introduced to the newsroom, often only one desktop was connected. There was one computer at the Register that had internet. If you wanted to go to a website, which was really an exotic thing, you could go to this computer, said Brackenbury, who also recalled when fax machines were first introduced. He was working on a court story and the lawyer said hed fax a document. Brackenbury laughed about it now. What? What are you going to do? he asked the attorney. Turns out, we did have it in classifieds, so I gave him the number. Not long after, management began an emphasis on putting news online quickly. Thats when the mindset completely changed to the whole digital-first thing. Thats when we started to remake the newsroom and focus on the web, said Brackenbury, who offered an example with 9/11. You think now if something of that magnitude happened, youd just be all over the web with it. Back then, the focus was getting out a special edition of the newspaper. We put stuff on the web, but even in 2001, it was not a focus. Stories that changed reporting Just as incomprehensible as Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were at the time, the December 2012 Newtown school shooting left editors scrambling to find journalists and photographers to cover a still-developing story as soon as scanner reports came flooding in. It eventually changed the way breaking news was delivered on the web with lightning-fast speed, constant updates, and trying to beat the competition all while the reporters worked. For most, it was the biggest story they had ever covered and by far the most disturbing. The biggest and most impactful story personally for me and the community was Sandy Hook, Brackenbury said. That was awful. It was a grueling, grueling thing to cover emotionally draining. Basically, eight straight days of working around the clock with just a few hours of sleep. When he first learned of the active shooter from a colleague, his initial reaction was Aw, its probably nothing. Its probably somebody in the woods hunting or something but then it started to come in that it was real. We had to really scramble to find people to head out there, whoever was closest. Jack Kramer, the Registers editor from 1996 to 2011, started at the paper in 1976. Among the first people he worked with there was the shoreline reporter who later became Brackenburys wife. Kramer held many posts over the years, including reporter, bureau chief, assistant suburban editor, suburban editor, metro editor and assistant managing editor. It was definite a chain of command. If you started as a reporter, they used to throw you out to the Ansonia bureau. Thats where everybody started, said Kramer, who first worked for the Register covering Hamden and North Haven. There was this old crotchety bureau chief named Don Anderson. Basically, Dons role was to break you in, and basically just about every reporter who started at the Register when I was there went to the Valley. We used to call it boot camp: If you survived Don Anderson and you survived the Valley, you moved on. Former Register editor Matt DeRienzo, who served until Oct. 2014, focused during his tenure on investigative reporting, breaking news and community engagement. He also worked to diversify the newsroom so it would be more representative of the community it served, he said. Having to execute layoffs eventually became too much for DeRienzo, he said. I cut a third of the newsroom staff in one year. I stayed and did that and I put my own name on the list, something he had tried to do two other times, but it was rejected by executives. Future of news Many longtime journalists have a sanguine view of where the craft will go in the years to come and hold on to the idea that it will still continue in a robust fashion perhaps in many incarnations. I never bought into the whole citizen journalist thing that people dont need journalists, that anybody is a journalist, Brackenbury said. We certainly want contributions from the community and the eyes and ears out there, but you need good, professional journalists to do their job, and I think were seeing that now more than ever. That likely helped led to a resurgence of journalism and demonstrates to people how important these writers are, he added. My big question is will there be print newspaper 20 to 30 years from now or will it all be digital? That I dont know. I kind of thing there still will be some print, but I dont think journalism is going away. Im pretty optimistic about that, Brackenbury said. Middletown Press Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com or Twitter @cassandrasdis. NEW HAVENThe International Association of New Haven awarded $60,000 in grants to organizations advancing immigrant integration around the city. The grant supports three organizations this yearMusic Haven, CitySeed and Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Serviceswith $20,000 each to continue programming around immigrant integration. Our mission is all about global understanding, IANH Board President Scott Jones said. These programs all had a strong component for cultural dialogue and understanding and fostering appreciation for other cultures. The IANH is a nonprofit organization funding local projects and programs that enhance and promote cultural understanding in the community. Approximately 10 percent of Music Havens students are recent refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Congo, Music Haven Executive Director Mani Jackson said. The school offers young musicians an opportunity for mentorship from members of the resident ensemble, the Haven String Quartet, or one other full-time professional resident musicians. Music Havens families come not only from neighborhoods throughout the city, but also from every corner of the globe, Jackson said. Music Haven will use the IANH grant to integrate a course into its curriculum focusing on music from around the world and commissioning a new string quartet that weaves together Syrian and Iraqi folk melodies by composer Felix Yanovsky from Uzbekistan. The piece will be part of the teaching curriculum and premier at an Around the World Through Music celebration open to the public in which all 75 Music Haven students will perform. Many funding opportunities in the arts are focused on expanding and diversifying audiences, which is vital to communities and to the future of the arts, but we are fortunate that IANH recognizes and is willing to support projects that expand and develop opportunities for refugees and immigrants to participate as young musicians in the arts community, side by side with their peers from throughout New Haven, Jackson said. It builds an entirely different kind of community and creates incredibly unique experiences for both our students and their families. Another grantee, CitySeed, will use the grant to expand its Sanctuary Kitchen program, which gives immigrant and refugee cooks the opportunity to lead classes, demonstrations and other events while sharing foods from their cultures. Connecticut is a welcoming place but theres a lot of work to be done to demonstrate that were welcoming and I consider food a form of diplomacy, CitySeed Executive Director Amelia Reese Masterson said. Were building bridges and demonstrating political support for newcomers. City Seed, a nonprofit organization, provides access to fresh, local food for New Haven residents. The grant will also allow CitySeed to increase its food business incubator and launch a catering program for aspiring refugee and immigrant food entrepreneurs. Its important for Americans who are long time residents to open their minds to understanding cultures and perspectives, Masterson said. Sometimes well have a conversation at a cooking event that starts off a bit awkward, but as soon as we start cooking together conversation just flows. So food is a faster route to building relationships and dialogue. It was really important for us to promote programs that brings cultures to city and opens residents up to get connected with people from other cultures, Jones said. IRIS will use its $20,000 grant to expand public education and outreach programs, which are opportunities for refugees and immigrants to share their experiences and cultural heritage face to face with people in the community. The mission (of IRIS) overall is helping displaced people regain hope, restart their lives and enrich local community, said Ann OBrien, director of community engagement for IRIS. Ultimately what the IANH grant does is provide support for IRIS staff to engage refugees and immigrants outside of basic needed services and get into a space where were able to support them in their community as a person who has something to give back to the community through their heritage. If youre at the poverty line those opportunities are hard to come by. The grant allows IRIS to provide a small stipend for their clients to participate in speaking engagements. Its made all the difference because so many live at the poverty line, and while they want other people to understand their experience and they love to give back, in giving back they have to give up paid time and they live at the poverty line it becomes challenging, OBrien said. IRIS has partnered with the Long Wharf Theater, Yale Repertory Theater and the CitySeed Sanctuary Kitchen to give immigrants and refugees and opportunity to educate, give back and participate with their communities. The community thinks we always have to help immigrants, but what happens is they enrich our lives, OBrien said. They are the best part of America. Once we help them, they turn around and give back to other newcomers and support their kids to achieve in the next generation. Its about enriching our community with the traditions from their homeland culture. IANH is accepting grant applications for its 2019 cycle until Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. through their website ianewhaven.org. mdignan@hearstmediact.com One of the commissioned art installations on the capping weekend of City-Wide Open Studios is BOOBS by Suzanne Kachmar, a traveling exhibit of local artists addressing Breast Cancer Awareness Month and responding to a variety of feminist issues. It will examine the breast in many contexts. Another to be featured in that Oct. 26-28 Alternative Weekend at Yale Campus West, has Neil Daigle Orians targeting Conversion Therapy, for its violence and mistreatment inflicted on queer youth. At a preview event, Orians said he researched the therapies and Im mimicking them and subverting the tactics they use in order to instead foster queer affirmation, love, acceptance. CWOS begins Friday, Oct. 5, and features artists exhibiting, making, talking about and selling art. The location of this last of three weekends is the former Bayer campus in Orange and a hub for scientific research at Yale, which fits the theme of this years CWOS festival wellbeing. Also among the commissions/special art projects later in the month is The Center for Adult Swaddling, which is described this way: Through the experience of a tight swaddle, imitating the structure of the womb, this collaborative and interdisciplinary project invites visitors to return to fetus-like states to experience a comforting bundled environment. Thats similar to the fetal position some take after hearing a certain prominent politician speak. At a CWOS preview recently at Artspace New Haven (which runs the open studios events), we asked Swaddling organizer Aude Jomini how this connects to art. My job is to make things connect that dont connect, Jomini said. Im interested in crossing boundaries and Im interested in disciplines that never were together. Like trying to put them together and see what happens. There is a science behind this experiment, as Jomini calls it, involving the practice of Otonamaki therapy of Japan. For this, designers, medical practitioners, artists and scholars have contributed an art-world response to medical studies from Yale New Haven Health Childrens Hospital and a recent paper in the Journal of Pediatrics. If people want to participate, its open for public participation. Well demonstrate the technique ... its soft, you dont have to get enclosed in any way. Well have pillows and cushions. Well be demonstrating it as a performance throughout... But its interesting to us in a way that its a new idea. Another project, The Underneath by Martha Lewis & Marion Belanger (artists-in-residence at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station), examines our place in the greater ecosystem by creating a womb-like environment of roots, dirt, insects, and both filtered and natural light. In Science for a Better Life, Jeff Ostergren looks at the West Campus history as Bayer Pharmaceuticals and its history of materials, products and advertising. The company created good products such as aspirin, but had also a little bit of a checkered past, said Ostergren. They were strong marketers of heroin in the 1800s and were involved with the Nazi regime, he said. So Ostergren will be using found objects, such as coasters and furniture, and creating paintings and sculptures mixing paint colors with ground-up or dissolved materials from Bayer products, such as Alka-Seltzer. So it will be sort of a big installation within the space where people can move throughout with a wide variety of (objects). Also among the projects is Hero Stories: Open (Mic) Studio with Lilianna Marie Baczeski from Adam Christofersons Musical Intervention nonprofit effort that helps street people make art and record songs. Lili is bringing the artistic element, said Christoferson. Shes going to be allowing people to make their own album art. The goal of it is to create a piece (of music) there, create that album art and get that music onto iTunes and Spotify for people to actually purchase. City-Wide Open Studios begins with a Party in the Streets/Opening Reception at Artspace on Orange Street Friday, Oct. 5, where inside you can find one work by every participating CWOS artist, arranged in a grid by weekend. And there will be a range of wellness-themed experiences (yoga, massage, drinks of sustainable ingredients by Bun Lai of Miyas, performance and live sketching) along with a DJ. It also coincides with First Friday: Noodles on 9 from 6-9 p.m. on Orange Street, where you can sample noodle dishes from different cultures. On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6-7, the focus is on visual art at Erector Square Weekend in Fair Haven (site of many artist studios), 315 Peck St # C12. Weekend two is split between Westville in Focus Oct. 13, noon to 6 p.m., and private studios in New Haven, West Haven, North Haven and Hamden from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 14. The final weekend, with a preview day added on Friday, is Alternative Spaces Weekend Oct. 26-28, also noon to 6 p.m. One of the exciting things about Alternative Spaces Weekend, said organizer Elinor Slomba of Verge Arts Group, is this year it will feature various social practice and performance-based elements and every day will be different... Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (A calendar will be available on entry.) jamarante@nhregister.com; @Joeammo on Twitter The F.B.I. recently released their 2017 annual Crime in the United States report, which breaks down crime rates by a state's individual towns and cities. The report includes reported instances of manslaughter, robbery, aggravated assault, and rape during the year of 2017. To determine the crime rate in each city, per 1,000 individuals, the New Haven Register took the number of violent crimes in a given area, divided that number by the population total for that area, and then multiplied that result by 1,000. Given that math, we have calculated the crime rate number for each city and town. Numbers less than one signify a lower crime rate and numbers higher than one signifying a higher crime rate. WEST HAVEN The state Municipal Accountability Review Boards West Haven Subcommittee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the full MARB take no action at this time to move the city to the tighter oversight of Tier IV. That doesnt mean the MARB cant take that step at some point in the future. At the same meeting, the subcommittee unanimously recommended approval of a wage reopener agreement between the Board of Education and the West Haven Federation of Teachers. The reopener will provide teachers with no salary increase for fiscal 2019-20 and a 1 percent increase for fiscal 2020-21. MARB member Patrick Egan, a former New Haven Fire Department assistant chief and executive officer, made the motion to approve it. The wage reopener, which also will provide no step advancement, applies to the final two years of an existing labor contract. It was approved earlier this month by both the Board of Education and the City Council. The full MARB will consider it on Oct. 4. Nothing else in the labor contract will change. All of the MARB members who spoke at the subcommitee meeting felt that West Haven which has been working for months on a five-year fiscal plan that the MARB must approve before West Haven can receive the first of two rounds of annual $8 million state emergency funding should not go to Tier IV at this point. Tier 4, which several MARB members have said they hope to avoid, is a higher level of supervision under which the MARB would have the power to pass and implement an interim budget, raise the citys tax rate or impose mid-year spending cuts and have greater latitude to approve or disapprove new labor contracts. Bart Shuldman, the MARB member who earlier this month asked that a possible move to Tier IV be placed on the next MARB agenda, is not a subcommittee member and did not attend Thursdays meeting. I dont personally think that its timely for us to move West Haven into Tier IV when theyre making progress on their five-year plan, said MARB Chairman Ben Barnes, commissioner of the State Office of Policy and Management. I would be hesitant to undo what the full MARB agreed to, said member David Walker. But my personal view is that were not ready to have a vote. Deputy State Treasurer Lawrence Wilson made the motion to recommend the full MARB not take up Tier IV at this time. MARB member Tom Hamilton, chief financial officer for the Norwalk Public Schools, said, I do agree that its premature to have that discussion. But he said the MARB does have a responsibility to discuss it. West Haven and Hartford are the only two municipalities in the state under MARB supervision. Both are in that position by virtue of being on Tier 3, a distinction that West Haven earned when the City Council voted to issue $17.35 million in deficit bonds last year to finance the citys accumulated deficit. While Egan didnt rule out the possibility of some future move to Tier IV, he said, I think if were going to have that discussion ... we need more than 15 minutes. Either way, he said he didnt believe it had to be done immediately. The City Council approved the teachers wage reopener Monday night by a 10-1 vote with Councilman Richard DePalma, R-at-large, voting no and Councilwoman Robbin Watt Hamilton, D-5, abstaining. Councilman Nick Ruickholdt, D-2, was absent. The MARB subcommittee approved the wage reopener after Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro told members with the contract thats now in effect, the teachers union was the first bargaining unit to go to the high-deductible insurance plan, and our cost share next year will be going to 20 percent. The step increases that teachers will not take as part of the agreement would have cost the Board of Education and the city $1.4 million, he said. Barnes said the 20 percent cost share, coming in the same year as the move to the high-deductible health plan, is one of the mosts aggressive moves to keep costs under control he had seen this year. I also strongly support Pats motion because I think its a good deal, Barnes said. I dont think we would do any better in arbitration. MARB members, who have had many questions about possible fire department consolidation, peppered city Corporation Council Lee Tiernan with questions after he briefed them on law related to fire districts. No recommendations were made or action taken with regard to consolidation. NEW HAVEN Nick Cartell, who stars as protagonist Jean Valjean in the touring production of Les Miserables that will occupy the Shubert Theatre from Thursday, Oct. 4 through Sunday, Oct. 7, says the epic story of broken dreams, unrequited love, sacrifice and redemption not only plays well in huge theaters but in smaller venues like the historic Shubert. We were just talking about his... yesterday, he said in a phone chat the other day. Sometimes the smaller houses, it makes it more intimate. And for us, being in such an epic musical that has these characters that you sometimes want to have that intimacy with the audience, I think its very exciting for us. Cartell was speaking by phone from Houston, where the venue seats 2,300 people. Which is not a problem for such a big story. But Cartell thinks fondly of the winter holidays last year when the show played the small National Theatre in D.C. (similar in capacity to the 1,600-seat Shubert) and there is an excitement that we feel from the audience. Mid-September marked the start of year two of the Les Mis tour, and Cartell has been with it from the start. A previous version was at the Shubert in 2013. The current production ditched the big turntable that is now only seen in the London production, noted Cartell. This new version of the show has amazing projections that (are) actually taken from Victor Hugos artwork. He was this incredible artist, Cartell said. This version that played Broadway for two and a half years ... is now the quintessential version thats being done across the world. ... You dont lose anything by not having the turntable, I dont think. With such an emotional story and heavy song load, Cartell could be excused for some burnout at this point. But in a phone chat from the tours stop in Houston, he sounded energized as ever. This score is, I think, a true classic in musical theater, you know? he said. Its an epic production; its something that I definitely grew up singing. So to be able to do it, to sing it, to hear it every night, is thrilling. It still is... as it was when I was first introduced to the production in the 90s, til now. Hearing that overture every single night, that first downbeat, still sends goosebumps down my spine. The show set against the backdrop of 19th century France has legs, not only dramatically but for stirring songs such as I Dreamed a Dream, On My Own and One Day More. Audiences connect with this score; they connect with these songs, the music, the characters. And then to be able to sing this score, to sing Bring Him Home and Who am I? and the Soliloquy is the icing on the cake. And the physical toll of that song load? It definitely is a physically daunting show for me, Cartell said. Vocally daunting, very emotional as well. But its definitely something that, over the last year, Ive figure out how to manage. As long as I get enough sleep... then were good to go. Cartell is contracted for another year as Valjean. Im still having a great time. I still find new parts of this character every single time I walk on that stage. And I think thats one of the exciting things about a show like this the depth of the characters. We have a story from Victor Hugo, source material that we can look back at, and always find new things in the novel and with the musical, not only for us but for the audiences. Arizona-born Cartell said he wasnt from a musical family but his parents recognized the fact that he could memorize songbooks in the car on cassette within a couple of days. He learned to sing as a soprano in the Phoenix Boys Choir, graduated from Arizona State after studying theater and soon began performing for three years in Japan, for Disney (where he met his wife, Christine). This role was a big break for him, after playing lesser roles and understudying large ones on and off-Broadway. But while he was in the final portion of the audition process for Jean Valjean, his mother was dying of cancer. My mom had been sick for six years, so when my dad called me that week going into my final callback, he was like, Look, it will not be much longer. But it could be two weeks from now that mom finally passes. But he said, The thing is: Your mother and I support you 100 percent. We know this is your dream (and) can be a life-changing experience for you. ...And she passed the day before my final callback. So walking into that room, knowing how much she loved me, how much she supported me, it just helped to really feel like there was an angel on my shoulder. And its something that I can connect with as the character Valjean. When I sing Bring Him Home, sitting on the barricade, its a moment that I can think about my mom and the sacrifices she made while she was sick, dealing with the chemo treatements, coming to see me perform in shows... and I can also think about the character of Valjean, the sacrifices that hes making and willing to make for Marius, this boy that he doesnt know his daughter loves. Its a moment that comes full circle for me. Shubert Theatre, 247 College Street, New Haven. Oct. 4-7, 7:30 Thursday; 2 and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. $41-$136. 203-562-5666. shubert.com With the military front lines frozen for now, the battle for Syria's future shifted to the United Nations as the U.S. and Russia clashed over postwar plans and sought the world body's approval. The dispute took center stage on Wednesday at a meeting of foreign ministers and top officials in New York, where the U.N. is holding its annual gathering of world leaders. Russia is pushing the U.N. to help find funds for rebuilding Syria, while the U.S. insists it should be overseeing a political transition away from Bashar Assad's rule. "Syria will need reconstruction funding ," James Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for the country, told the meeting. "But the Assad regime should get no help to rebuild Syria until it is on a path of genuine political reform." Tensions have already flared over Syria this week. President Donald Trump, addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, repeated his threat to attack the Syrian army if it uses chemical weapons again, and called for a political solution that "honors the will of the Syrian people.'' U.S. officials slammed Russia's plan to deliver advanced S-300 air-defense systems to Syria. Assad's government, backed by Russia and Iran, has regained control of much of the country after more than seven years of civil war. But the military advance may have reached its limits, leaving the next phase to diplomats. Assad suffered a rare reverse this month when Russia backed down from an offensive to recapture the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major outpost held by mostly Islamist opposition fighters. Turkey, which has soldiers in Idlib, objected to the plan. A further quarter of the country is held by Kurdish forces and there are U.S. troops embedded with them, making it another no-go zone for Assad. The U.S. and its European Union and Gulf allies are still nominally seeking Assad's departure, and rejecting Russian appeals to help with reconstruction until an agreement on power-sharing in Syria. The UN says that rebuilding Syria could cost $250 billion. Like the U.S., the EU has ruled out helping to rebuild Assad-controlled Syria in the absence of talks on political change. The bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on Wednesday for "meaningful political negotiations" under UN auspices that lead to "a united, democratic and inclusive Syria." Russia has angrily condemned Western conditions for aid as "unacceptable.'' Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin warned the U.S. on Wednesday to stop its "dangerous provocations" by repeatedly threatening to use force in the event of an onslaught by Syria and Russia on Idlib. Those threats helped stall the offensive, a senior U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. UN-backed peace talks in Geneva may now gain momentum as Assad realizes there's no military solution, the official said. But little has been achieved during years of negotiations in Geneva. And the setback for Assad may prove temporary, according to Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. The U.S. is "out of real options in Syria, we don't have leverage,'' he said. "Assad sees victory is within his grasp. It's only a matter of time.'' American goals have shifted from regime-change as Assad's army advanced. The focus is now on denying the Syrian leader political legitimacy to go with his battlefield wins -- and on pushing his Iranian allies out of the country. Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton said this week that U.S. troops will stay in Syria as long as Iran and its proxies maintain a military presence there. Trump urged the General Assembly to help isolate Iran, accusing it of spreading "mayhem in the Middle East and far beyond.'' Bolton also said that Iran was ultimately responsible for the downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane by friendly Syrian fire last week. But Russia blamed Israel, whose jets were attacking targets in Syria at the time. Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes inside Syria during the course of the war, saying it's preventing Iranian forces from entrenching there. The Kremlin announced on Monday that S-300 missile defense systems will be delivered to Damascus within two weeks, raising the threat to Israeli planes. Bolton called the move a "significant escalation.'' - - - Bloomberg's Nick Wadhams, Gregory Viscusi and Toluse Olorunnipa contributed. Despite whats being touted by advocates, including AARP, as a solution to a growing retirement readiness problem, the states controversial retirement mandate is not the answer. Its important that residents understand the financial risks. The mandate requires businesses with five or more employees to enroll any full or part-time worker not eligible for an employer-sponsored plan into an IRA plan administered by the newly created Connecticut Retirement Security Authority. Employers are responsible for the cost and burden of selling the plan on behalf of the state and then penalized for any delay in transmitting employee contributions. In other words, employers who did not offer retirement plans in the workplace due to a lack of adequate resources will now be required to do so under penalty of law. Employees will be automatically enrolled into the voluntary plan and see 3 percent of their pay deducted each pay period. The only way to opt out of the plan is in writing, every single year. Advocates are hosting events to promote the state-mandated plan as the solution to Connecticuts retirement savings crisis. Here are six truths about the plan that they wont tell you: The plan is built on the false narrative that people do not have access to retirement plans. While not every employer offers a retirement plan, there are hundreds of retirement and investment plans readily available online or at local banks. The states retirement plans do not offer the tax benefits of private sector plans. Unlike most private sector plans, contributions to the states plan will be deducted from your pay after taxes. Plan options will be limited. Instead of the best products and services from multiple vendors, the state plans to move forward with multiple plans from a single vendor, resulting in little choice for participants. The cost of the plans may necessitate the state to automatically double the stated reduction in employee wages to fund the plan. While state law prohibits the authority from using taxpayer dollars to fund the plans start up costs, they may borrow up to $1 million from the states general fund to cover these costs. When contemplating how such a loan would be repaid, the board determined one option was doubling the mandatory enrollee contribution from 3 percent to 6 percent . There is a question about the plans ability to remain solvent. The reason most people are unprepared for retirement is not due to lack of access to retirement plans, but because they cant afford to or choose not to participate in a plan. The plan also allows will allow for penalty-free withdrawals at any time. This means the plan may never achieve its target goal of $1 billion in assets needed to be self-sustaining, putting all participants savings at risk. Lastly, there is concern of the plans legality since Congress has rejected a safe harbor rule that would have exempted the plan from protection under federal consumer law. There is no question that many Connecticut residents are not saving enough for their retirement. But in a time when our economy continues to lag the region and nation, the last thing we need is another mandate on small and mid-sized businesses. Instead, policymakers should work with what already exists in the marketplace and help residents understand the value of saving for retirement, not force them to do it. Eric Gjede is vice president for government affairs, CBIA. STAMFORD A fugitive wanted in connection with a Texas robbery was arrested this week before he was due to appear as a guest on Maury Povichs talk show. Sean Davis, 21, of Houston, was held in jail on $500,000 bond Thursday when he was supposed to be taping a Whos the Daddy segment for the Maury show at the Rich Forum Theater. Grief Education Seminar Planned Shelton Adam's House, a grief education center, will host a 'Talking to Heaven' presentation from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 30. Francine Clausen, a medium and healer since birth, will present the program. She has conscious memories of spirit communication since the age of seven. She blocked her gifts for many years, but at the age of 42, after the passing of her mother, she decided to open up and trust again in her gifts. Clausen began doing readings and healings in 1999, and is bringing her Talking to Heaven Discover your Intuition class to Adam's House. This class will teach you how to use your intuition and tap into your own spiritual gifts. Every student will learn a new way to use their gifts in areas of dream interpretation, aura visualization, the use of crystals, and more. Light refreshments will be provided, and all proceeds benefit Adam's House. Cost is $75. Adam's House is located at 241 Coram Ave. For information call 203-513-2808 or visit: communityoutreach@adamshousect.org. Griffin to Host Alzheimers Series Derby Griffin Hospital and the Alzheimers Association will host a free, two-part series for caregivers of those with late-stage Alzheimers on Oct. 9 and Nov. 13 at the hospital, 130 Division St. In the late stage of Alzheimers disease, care giving typically involves new ways of connecting and interacting with the person with the disease. This two-part series will feature stories of caregivers and professionals about resources, monitoring care and providing meaningful connection for the person with late-stage Alzheimers and their families. All talks will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the hospital Dining Room. A light dinner will be served. Space is limited and registration is required for each talk. To register, call Esther Jones, of Griffin Hospitals Community Outreach and Valley Parish Nursing Program, at 203-732-1523. New England Style Family Breakfast Seymour Citizens Engine Co. #2 will host a New England Style Family Breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to noon Oct. 14 at the firehouse, 26 Deforest St. The menu will include pancakes, French toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, home fries, coffee, juice and tea. The cost is $10 for adults and $4 for children under age 12. Fall Programs at Derby Neck Library Derby Derby Neck Library, located at 307 Hawthorne Ave., will host the following programs in October: Dinner and a Movie: 5:30 p.m., Oct. 4, for ages 18 and older. This months featured film is Jurassic World 2. Enjoy a blu-ray presentation on a large screen with free refreshments, including a pizza at intermission. Storyteller to visit on Columbus Day: 6:30 p.m., Oct. 8, professional storyteller Monica Peterson will share fascinating tales from her own Italian heritage with several stories about the perils of immigration out of Italy and the fight against Fascism in Italys past. Women's Forum: 12:30 p.m., Oct. 15, short stories with mystery theme will be discussed, including The Pickup by Peggy W. Fisher and The Worst Crime Known to Man by Reginal Hill. Copies are available at the library. Feel free to bring a light lunch; we serve coffee and tea Medicare talk: 1:30 p.m., Oct. 22, discussion about open enrollment period of Medicare led by a certified social worker in the field of senior issues; seminar is free and open to the public. History of beer: 6:30 p.m., Oct. 25, beer tasting and short history of the Octoberfest tradition led by Connecticut beer historian Will Siss. Enjoy free samples of beer from local breweries and learn how they differ in taste. For ages 21 and older only. Evening Book Club: 6:30 p.m., Oct. 29; this months selection is a mystery, Driving Lessons by Ed McBain. Copies of the book are available at the library. For information call 203-734-1492. Church Remembrance Service Shelton Bhcare will host a Service of Remembrance for all those lost to addiction from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 2 at Church of the Good Shepherd, 186 Coram Ave. All are welcome to attend. If you would like a loved one remembered in the service or if you would like prayers offered for those struggling with addition, please send their first names only to: Church of the Good Shepherd, 186 Coram Ave., Shelton, CT 06484. There will also be a demonstration on Narcan use and training to follow the service. Compiled by Jean Falbo-Sosnovich. jean.sos@snet.net. One of the most popular of recent memes, "the distracted boyfriend," has been deemed sexist by Sweden's advertising regulator. The Swedish internet company Bahnhof used the image a stock image that shows a man ogling a passing woman while his girlfriend looks on with disgust to advertise job vacancies on Facebook, according to the Swedish news site The Local. It labeled the boyfriend, "You"; the girlfriend, "Your current workplace"; and the second woman, "Bahnhof." The advertising watchdog Reklamombudsmannen (RO), which can criticize ads but not impose sanctions, found the use of the image demeaning to women and sexually discriminatory to both men and women. "The advertisement objectifies women," the RO stated. "It presents women as interchangeable items and suggests only their appearance is interesting ... It also shows degrading stereotypical gender roles of both men and women and gives the impression men can change female partners as they change jobs." The company defended the ad on Facebook, saying its aim was "to illustrate a situation that shows Bahnhof is an attractive employer, and that people who have a slightly duller workplace might be interested in us." The Guardian reported that the ad received nearly 1,000 comments, many from women complaining it was sexist, including this one from Sofie Sundaker: "It doesn't matter if it's a popular meme. If you do not see how this picture is sexist whatever words are on the people, you are clearly not a workplace for any woman who wants to be taken seriously in her work." The stock photo, titled "Man Looking at Other Woman" by Barcelona photographer Antonio Guillem, has been applied countless times in an effort to put a humorous spin on all kinds of topics. It was named meme of the year in April. Most recently it was used on Twitter to mock the Swedish advertising watchdog's ruling. --- Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at mmoffitt@sfchronicle.com. Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news. Police arrested a former Middle Township School District student Wednesday night who threatened the district on social media, officials said. Raymond Bailey III, 20, of Cape May Court House was charged with false public alarms, cyber Harassment, and terroristic threats after he posted a threatening post on social media directed at the district, according to a release from the Middle Township Police. Bailey is a former student of Middle Township High School and Cape May County Technical High School, the release stated. The police department said they were told about the threat Wednesday evening but did not release any details about it. Police said at about 9 p.m. they were searching for Bailey, but then announced about a half hour later he was in custody. In a post online, police said they'd have an increased presence at all Middle Township Schools on Thursday and they would be "working closely with school districts to ensure the safety of faculty and students." Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. The man accused of running from a courtroom to avoid a three-day jail stint and hitting an officer with his car while fleeing has been captured, authorities said. Ronald Ragsdale. (Photo provided) Ronald Ragsdale, of Vineland, was found Monday night at a residence in Buena Vista Township in Atlantic County by New Jersey State Police, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office. He was taken to the Cumberland County jail on three warrants to await a hearing. Ragsdale is accused of fleeing a Superior Court room on Sept. 19 when Judge Joseph Chiarello ordered him remanded to jail during a drug court hearing. He ran to his vehicle in the parking garage, where two Cumberland County sheriff's officers, J. Bray and B. Howgate, attempted to apprehend him, authorities said. Ragsdale tried to drive off and struck Bray, pinning him between him between the officers' vehicle and his own, according to court documents. Bray sustained injuries including contusions to his back and abdomen, as well as a crushed hand. The warrants stemmed from last week's incident. Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips A 38-year-old man was in critical but stable condition Thursday after he was hit by a car in Cumberland County, authorities said. The man, whose name was not released, was on North Second Street near F Street in Millville when he was hit by a car driven by a 31-year-old woman, according to police. Police said the man was flown to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he remained in the trauma unit Thursday morning. The accident is under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Millville Police Department's Traffic Safety Division at 856-825-7010, ext. 7328. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Nine schools West Orange and a hotel near Newark Airport are flushing their pipes to kill legionella, following testing that uncovered the bacteria and two confirmed cases of Legionnaires disease. According to a letter to families sent Tuesday of the West Orange Public Schools, legionella was found in samples taken from Gregory Elementary School, Hazel Elementary School, Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, Redwood Elementary School, St. Cloud Elementary School, Washington Elementary School, Edison Middle School, Roosevelt Middle School, West Orange High School and the administrative building. "The region sees seasonal increases in the summer months generally," Nicole Kirgan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, said in a statement. "This year seems particularly active, given that we have experienced very wet and humid weather these past few months. We have not found many common exposures that would explain the increase." It's too soon to say how many news cases emerged from the summer, she said, as the investigations are lengthy and many remain underway. Legionella causes Legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia. It can lead to septic shock, respiratory failure and acute kidney failure, and is caused by inhaling microscopic water droplets, like spray from a shower or faucet, and the disease has been linked to hot tubs, pools, mist machines and water systems in hotels, hospitals and nursing homes. It cannot be spread person-to-person. The letter noted that there are no confirmed cases of Legionnaires in the West Orange schools, but municipal workers in the township faced the same issue earlier this summer, after a longtime employee was hospitalized with the disease. But there are confirmed cases of guests at the Ramada Plaza near the airport -- two in the last 12 months, the hotel said in a letter to guests dated September 17, which was forwarded to NJ Advance Media. The notice also confirmed that legionella was detected in the Ramada Plaza's water supply. It is not clear if the guests contracted the bacteria while staying at the hotel. The letter states the hotel took recommended measures to disinfect its water system and replaced shower heads. Anyone who believes they are experiencing symptoms of Legionnaires, like headaches, muscle pain, high fever and chills, within two weeks of staying at the hotel is urged to seek medical attention. Management at the hotel, as well as corporate media contact for Wyndham, which operates the Ramada brand, did not return requests for comment Thursday. In West Orange, the bacteria was first found at Redwood Elementary School in August, after a child who attended summer camp was ill with something doctors believed could be Legionnaires disease, an initial letter sent to families said. The child was ultimately cleared, but the district began testing out of caution. Four of 15 samples taken from the school contained "very low level" of legionella, according to the letter. To eradicate the bacteria, chlorine is pumped into a building's hot water heater and sits tank for four hours. It is them pumped through the hot water piping system for fourteen hours, and every sink in the building is cleaned with chlorine, according to the West Orange letter. This takes place over the weekend, according to a spokesperson for the district. The water is then drained and the system flushed. New water samples are drawn and retested seven to 10 days later to ensure the bacteria has left the water system. A spokeswoman for the district did not have an immediate comment available Thursday. A spokesperson for the township's Department of Health was not immediately available. Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips An alleged armed robber shot in the face by a Newark police officer this spring now faces a new kind of pain: federal charges. Phillip Hedgespeth. (Essex County Correctional Facility) Federal prosecutors have charged Philip K. Hedgespeth, 43, with armed robbery in violation of federal law, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and brandishing a firearm during a violent crime, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Investigators said Hedgespeth, in a brief confrontation caught on surveillance video in May, tried to rob a barbershop in the 400 block of Orange Street at gunpoint when the barber and his customer fought back. The customer, it turned out, was an off-duty city police officer who drew his gun and shot Hedgespeth in the face during the struggle, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said at the time. Hedgespeth fled the scene, authorities said, but was apprehended in the 1100 block of McCarter Highway and jailed after being treated for his wounds. He admitted to arresting officers that he'd attempted to fire a warning shot when his own gun malfunctioned, according to the federal criminal complaint. The county prosecutor's office initially charged Hedgespeth at the state level with robbery and weapons offenses. The federal charge of brandishing a firearm during a violent crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison upon conviction, while the robbery charge carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years. Hedgespeth, who is being represented by the Federal Public Defender's Office, made his first appearance in federal court Wednesday morning. He's been detained without bail, prosecutors said. Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips For the last few weeks, a group of Orange residents has papered the city with fliers calling the campaign to recall Mayor Dwayne Warren a "scam" and warning of a "fraud alert." The fliers were paid for by the "Concern Citizens of Orange." The group has not yet filed a report with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, as required by committees formed to defend against recalls. Fliers urging residents to not sign the recall petition were distributed this month in Orange. Last month, the city clerk certified a notice of intent to recall Warren. The recall committee must collect 25 percent of all voters registered for the last general election, or about 4,051 signatures, by mid-January to force the mayor to resign and trigger a special election. "It's quite telling for these so-called supporters of the mayor to go to this much extent," said resident Tyrone Jon Tarver, who is leading the recall efforts. "It shows that they actually do take us seriously." Keith Royster, a spokesman for the mayor, said Warren had seen the fliers but was not aware of where or how the fliers were distributed. "The mayor would rather focus on the challenges facing our city, and asks that all serious parties join him in that effort," he said. It's not clear who has been distributing the fliers, but some senior citizens told NJ Advance Media the fliers were placed on their doors -- inside federally-funded public housing. "You're not supposed to campaign inside those senior buildings," Tarver said. "This was taped to every single door." Cristina Pinzon, a spokeswoman for the Orange Housing Authority, said the director of the agency was not aware of the fliers but that if any were distributed inside the building, they would be taken down because they were in violation of the law and agency policy. NJ Advance Media obtained copies of three different fliers. One tells residents not to be fooled by the mayor's political enemies "who are lying to take over our City" and looks like it is warning residents against a scam. A circular sign with the words "fraud alert" is stamped on the flier -- even though the recall petition has been certified by the clerk. A second flier touts Warren's accomplishments for children saying he "has done more for our children than any other mayor in the history of Orange." A third flier features a photo of five members of the recall committee alleging they don't pay taxes. Tarver said his father-in-law owns the home he lives in so his name does not show up on property tax rolls. He said he expected a campaign against the recall effort but added, "I didn't think they'd go as far as making personal statements about me and other committee members." Linda Jones-Bell, former city councilwoman and tenant president of 340 Thomas Blvd., an Orange Housing Authority property, said whoever distributed the fliers, "had no right getting in the building." She said the senior community was a key target among politicians and it wasn't the first time political fliers made their way inside. "That's where all the votes come from in Orange," she said. "It's so small and we have seven senior buildings, and the majority of the votes come from the senior building." Alma Richardson, a district leader who lives in a federally-funded senior home, said she found fliers on her door a few weeks ago. "They got inside the building and put them on our door," she said. Warren was first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. Organizers of the recall say Warren's tenure in Orange has been marked by federal investigations, mismanagement of city coffers and a recent spike in crime. If the required signatures are verified by the clerk, the mayor has five days to resign. He can also challenge the validity of the certification in court. Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. One suspect is dead and another hospitalized after a confrontation with law enforcement officers in Newark Wednesday afternoon, officials said. City police and Essex County Sheriff's officers found two armed people in a vehicle near Bergen Street and Lyons Avenue, according to Mayor Ras Baraka. Officers fired their weapons, but it was not clear if there was an exchange of gunfire with the suspects and police. "They came across armed suspects in a vehicle," the mayor said in a briefing from the shooting scene. Mayor Ras J. Baraka and Newark NJ Department of Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose gives update on situation with armed person that took place on Bergen St & Lyons Ave Posted by City of Newark, NJ - City Hall on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 Guns were recovered at the scene, Baraka added. There were no other injuries. "Right now, the [Essex County Prosecutor's Office] is in charge of the case because there was a police shooting involved," he said. Police and sheriff's officers came upon the two suspects as part of an unspecified investigation, according to the mayor. He declined to comment on the nature of the investigation that led police to the suspects. Officials confirmed that officers fired shots in the incident, but would not provide more details. Baraka said the county prosecutor's office, which handles cases where police fire weapons, was investigating. Police with Newark's SWAT unit converged on the neighborhood around 4 p.m., and deployed an armored vehicle as they apparently tried to reach one suspect. Video on social media showed one man being taken away in an ambulance during the approximately two hour ordeal. TRAFFIC ADVISORY - Streets currently closed on Bergen Street btwn Watson & Chancellor due to joint investigation btwn Newark PD & Essex County Sheriffs Office on armed person at Bergen St. & Lyons Ave. NPD Emergency Response team on scene. No peril to the community at this time. pic.twitter.com/2hHKrZ88Tz Dept. Public Safety (@NewarkNJPolice) September 26, 2018 Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook. East Orange Police officers shot a man Tuesday night after he boarded a public bus and held a gun to the head of bus driver and ordered her to drive through red lights, police said. The man, later identified as Allen Travers, 37, of East Orange, died of his wounds at a Newark hospital. Travers was involved in a domestic dispute at his home and went on the bus armed with a weapon, at about 9:40 p.m., Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens, II said in a statement. Authorities did not immediately say how police learned of the situation, but officers followed Travers. As they approached the bus, he pointed a gun at them. However, they continued to follow the bus, officials said. On board, Travers pointed his gun at the female bus drivers's head and ordered her to drive through red lights before telling her to stop near Central Avenue and South 10th Street in Newark, Stephens said. When he left the bus he pointed his gun at the East Orange Police officers that followed him and they fired, the statement said. Travers was taken to University Hospital in Newark and was pronounced dead at 11:16 p.m. No other information was released Wednesday night. The Essex County Prosecutor's Office Professional Standards Bureau was investigating the incident as they do whenever an officer fires their gun. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. A Jersey City man has been charged in the fatal shooting of a 33-year-old man who was awaiting a kidney transplant. Michael Weathersbee, 25, was arrested Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m. and charged with the murder of Laquan Clark on Sept. 23, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a statement. The victim was found with multiple gunshot wounds inside a car on New Street at approximately 2:10 a.m. and taken to nearby hospital where he died, according to authorities. The prosecutor said that Clark was shot in the head and torso. Clark's murder was the third in the Greenville neighborhood in 19 days. On Sept. 4, Eric Crocker was shot dead on Lembeck Avenue and on Sept. 19, 17-year-old Ferris High student Jayden Fondeur was fatally shot in Old Bergen Road. Weathersbee was arrested at Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in Jersey City without incident. Besides the murder offense, Weathersbee was charged with multiple weapons offenses, Suarez said. "How can I explain it? I'm happy," said Stacy Clark, the victim's mother. "I don't hate the man. I don't even dislike the man. My son is getting justice." Stacy Clark added that she forgives her son's killer. Weathersbee is not expected to appear in court until next week. Laquan Clark, known as "Quanie" among family and friends, lived with kidney failure for years. He was prepared to receive a new organ on Sept. 22, but the donation fell through when the person from whom he was receiving the kidney survived after being taken off life support, Clark's mother said. People close to him said he never let his illness get him down. "He gave good advice. He helped people get on their feet," said a close friend of Laquan Clark. Another friend said Laquan Clark was a jokester and always made people laugh. "I never saw a day when he was sad" said Nia Washington, the victim's younger sister. "I loved him." The memorial services for Laquan Clark are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Porter Memorial Church, 677 Ocean Ave. in Jersey City. JERSEY CITY -- The prosecution gave its opening statement today in the trial of two men charged with murdering a man who identified the pair by name as he lay in a pool of his own blood on a Jersey City street in November 2016. "'Aaron Enix and Davon Cooper,' that's what the victim said when police asked him, 'Who shot you?'" Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Adam Salzer told to the jury, naming the two defendants in the case. The prosecution's opening statement came after two hours of failed plea deal negotiations, which delayed the start of the trial. Salzer painted a vivid picture of the the Nov. 27, 2016 shooting on Claremont Avenue, which claimed the life of 24-year-old Rashay Washington."Steam was coming up from the cold Street. A man shot 16 times. The words of a dying man identifying his killers," said Salzer. The prosecutor said Washington was standing with the two 25-year-olds when they took out guns and unloaded them at him with a hail of bullets. He said they ran a short distance and tossed the guns on Clerk Street, where the weapons were later recovered. They ran another block and were arrested on Wilkinson Avenue. "The murder and flight from the murder was caught on surveillance. You will see their clothing, down to their shoes," Salzer said, adding that it was the same clothing they were arrested in. He said Washington's blood was also on one of the guns that was recovered. Cooper's attorney, Mark Bailey, and Enix's attorney, Patrick Patel, will present their opening statements Thursday afternoon. Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young said the plea offer for Cooper was 23 years and the offer for Enix was 22 years. Young noted that the pair would face 30 years to life if convicted at trial. He also said that if convicted, Cooper's sentence would be consecutive to the one he is already serving in state prison. Both Jersey City men said they wanted to go to trial. Cooper is serving a six-year sentence for robbery and resisting arrest. He becomes eligible for parole on Dec. 17, 2021, according to state corrections records. In his opening statement, Salzer told the jury he would not be providing a motive for the shooting. Washington died after being hospitalized for two weeks. Twelve jurors and four alternates had been selected for the trial, but one was excused due to a personal issue this morning. JERSEY CITY -- Defense attorneys for two men charged with murdering a man in 2016 said the charges were a rush to judgment and the facts would clear their names. Aaron Enix and Davon Cooper, both 25-year-old Jersey City residents, are charged with shooting Rashay Washington, 24, up to 19 times on Claremont Avenue on Nov. 27, 2016. Washington died two weeks later. The prosecution said Washington told responding officers that Enix and Cooper were the "motherf----rs" who shot him. The guns used in the shooting were recovered a block away, while Enix and Cooper were arrested within minutes. Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Adam Salzer said security video captured the gunman fleeing the scene, and that when Enix and Cooper were arrested they were wearing the same clothing as seen on the video. He said one of guns had Washington's blood on it. But Patrick Patel, Enix's lawyer, told jurors they would have to decide how reliable was Washington's statement to the officers, which he gave while lying in a puddle of his own blood after being shot between 16 to 19 times. He also said that neither the defendants' DNA nor fingerprints were found on the guns, and they had no residue from firing guns on them. Patel also noted that Washington died just over two weeks after being shot and he had undergone five surgeries, including one in which his intestines fell out. The lawyer asked the jury to consider what may have contributed to Washington's death and noted that he died some dozen hours after that surgery. In his opening statement, Cooper's lawyer, Mark Bailey, said "Ladies and gentlemen, this case is about being at the wrong place at the wrong time and passing judgment too early." He promised get to the truth. "I am simply a professional question asker," Bailey added. "That's all I'm going to do, and the truth is like an apple on an apple tree. You shake it, it remains firmly on the tree. A lie, however, you shake it and the rotten apple comes down. A lie is like a rotten apple and I am going to shake the tree." The police officers who first arrived at the scene of the shooting were the state's first witnesses to take the stand. Both said Washington was conscious and told them three times that Enix and Cooper shot him. Salzer produced the sheet from one officer's notebook, on which he wrote the names that night. The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Friday in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City Police have charged three people with committing the armed robbery of a beauty store in West Windsor last month. West Windsor police have charged Brandon A. Butler, 31; Diamond M. Williams, 26, and Quan'Daesia "Daisy" T. Williams, 21, with committing the hold-up of a Sally Beauty store on Aug. 13. They're all from Trenton charged with armed robbery and related crimes, police said. Butler and Diamond Williams have since been arrested. Quan'Daesia Williams remained at large Wednesday. She's the subject of a national warrant and an extradition order, said West Windsor Police Detective Jason Jones, the lead investigator. Jones said Quan'Daesia Williams has family in the southern U.S. and investigators suspect she's fled in that direction. The detective said his investigation alleges: Butler and Diamond Williams walked into the store in the Nassau Park Pavilion off Route 1 at 6:20 p.m. Both employees on duty were in the back of the store. Butler asked for assistance, and one of the employees walked out front and was met by Butler, holding a handgun and wearing a mask. Butler pushed the gun in the female employee's stomach and demanded cash from the register. During this confrontation, he pulled back the gun's slide, cocking it - police suspect it was a semi-automatic weapon. Butler and Diamond Williams, who was also masked - both with bandanas, filled a plastic bag with cash. Then, Butler demanded the employee open the nearby safe, but she did not have the key. So Butler went to the back and got the other employee and pointed his handgun at her face and demanded she open the safe. She did, and the robbers swiped more cash. The suspects fled the shopping center in a red sedan, Jones said. Police suspect Quan'Daesia Williams scoped out the business, and the one next door, and was aware of the plot to rob the store. Police connected the three to the crime and detained Butler on Aug. 16, and Diamond Williams on Aug. 30. They've been unable to find Quan'Daesia Williams. Quan'Daesia Williams and Diamond Williams are not related, but they are in a dating relationship, Jones said. Butler, who has an armed robbery conviction in Burlington County for which he served a state prison sentence, is already back in the state prison system, records show. He'd been paroled in August 2017. Diamond Williams remains incarcerated in the Mercer County jail. Anyone with information on Quan'Daesia Williams' whereabouts can contact Joones at 609-799-1222, jjones@westwindsorpolice.com or through West Windsor's anonymous tipline at 609-799-0452. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook. A 56-year-old man pulled a razor knife during a road rage attack and slashed another driver across the neck in Edison on Tuesday, police said. Louis Rosado attacked a 57-year-old Edison man after both drivers stopped on the shoulder of Woodbridge Avenue around 1:30 p.m., moments after one of the drivers cut off the other, Edison police said. The two exchanged words before Rosado pulled the razor and slashed the victim across the neck, seriously injuring the man, according to police. Rosado fled in his car and the injured man, who had a passenger in his car, chased him, police said. Rosado got away, but the victim was able to provide police a license plate number and a description of the vehicle, police said. Perth Amboy police later arrested Rosado when they saw him driving on Cornell Street in that city. Rosado is charged with aggravated assault and two weapon possessions offenses, according to police. He was held in the Middlesex County jail in North Brunswick to await arraignment. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. The FBI has warned New Jersey residents of an email scam aimed at stealing funds from employees' online payroll accounts. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center said it has received reports of cybercriminals using "phishing emails" to capture employee's login credentials, an alert from the center stated. Once stolen, the credentials are used to access the employee's online payroll system and change their bank account information. The direct deposits are then redirected to an account owned by the scammer, which is usually a prepaid card, the FBI said. The criminals make it so that the employee does not receive any alerts about changes to their direct deposit destination, the alert stated. Some of the most-targeted institutions are are education, healthcare and commercial airway transportation, officials said. The IC3 shared several tips for employers to help combat the scam including having employees "forward suspicious requests for personal information to the information technology or human resources department." More of the tips can be seen here. The FBI asked any victims of the scam or anyone who saw suspicious or criminal activity regarding this scam contact their local FBI field office and file a complaint with the IC3 at www.ic3.gov. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook. An elementary school student who brought a toy gun to an Ocean County school was disciplined earlier this week and a school administrator on Tuesday alerted parents to stop the spread of misinformation. "I only just completed dealing with a disciplinary situation at our school," Ocean Gate schools Superintendent Frank Vanalesti said in a recorded call to parents Tuesday night. "There has been some misinformation that a real gun has been brought to school. The fact is a toy gun has been brought to school." A teacher alerted a school resource officer about the incident and several police officers responded to the Ocean Gate School at West Arverne Avenue, Vanelesti said. The school includes pre-K through sixth grades. Vanalesti said the weapon was actually a "toy Airsoft gun that looked real." Airsoft guns are low-velocity weapons used in recreational war games that typically fire rubber or plastic pellets. They are replicas of real weapons and often are mistaken for firearms. Vanalesti did not identify the child by age or grade. He said the student was not in school on Thursday gut would not say if he was expelled. "You should know that appropriate action has been taken by the Ocean Gate police and the school administration," Vanalesti said in his message to parents. "At no time was there any cause for lockdown or evacuation and your children were all very safe," he said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. President Trump dismisses Dr. Ford's testimony as a part of a Democratic plot, but that line of attack is exploding today, too. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford wrote her now-famous letter to Sen. Diane Feinstein before Brett Kavanaugh was picked to be the nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court. When she came forward, he was on the short list. Her intention, it seems, was to derail Kavanaugh in favor of someone else on that short list. How would that benefit Democrats? The conspiracy theory makes zero sense. And when you watch Dr. Ford's testimony, it makes even less sense. She is careful, cooperative, entirely believable. If it's all a big lie, then she's a secret agent. It's telling that not a single Republican senator is asking questions, all yielding instead to the female hired gun they lined up for this moment. They want to have paper bags over their heads, it seems. And really, they should be ashamed, especially the chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. If he wanted to get the truth, he would agree at least to call Mark Judge, the only witness to the alleged attack. He would call the former FBI agent who administered the lie-detector test. He would call the other two women who raised their own charges against Kavanaugh. He would ask the FBI to investigate, for God's sake. Democrats have asked for all that, and Grassley has refused. Could it be more obvious that he has no interest in getting to the truth? This is appalling. Nearly three decades ago, when Anita Hill made charges against Clarence Thomas, they called 22 witnesses, and the FBI investigation. This hearing is so much worse. I get why no Republican senator wants to ask questions. And I get why they want to put bags over their heads. More: Tom Moran columns Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Don't be surprised if that blockbuster Senate hearing on the charges against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh today ends with no blocks being busted. It's entirely possible that both sides believe what they are saying - and that there won't be any definitive conclusion to be drawn from the day's testimony. Human memory just isn't up the challenge of letting us reconstruct past events in accurate detail. That's the view of psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, who is a leading expert on memory. When I called her yesterday at the University of California, Irvine, where she is a professor, Loftus said the greatest misconception about memory if that "it's like a recording device." "That isn't how it works," Loftus said. "Memory is subject to fading. It's subject to contamination." Cory Booker's certainly is. I emailed Loftus a copy of my piece last week about a column the senator wrote for his student newspaper in 1992. In it he discussed how he made an awkward attempt at seducing a girl when he was in high school. Booker described how he had a line from the Tom Cruise movie "Top Gun" going through his head as he made his move. One problem: The incident happened in 1984. The movie didn't come out until 1986. "This is just absolute proof of something memory scientists have been saying for years," Loftus said. "When you reconstruct the past, you take bits and pieces of experiences from different times and places and integrate them together." She recalled that what she thought was her own earliest memory was also debunked by a movie. "For years and years, I always thought my earliest memory was when I was 4 or 5 and I went to see 'The Greatest Show on Earth,'" she said. "Later I found out that I was 8 when it came out." Loftus first came to fame in the 1990s, when he was a leading debunker of the panic spreading across the country about alleged sex-cult members who were abusing children at day-care centers. All over the country, people were being convicted of various sexual offenses based on memories from alleged victims. Some of the alleged perpetrators even convinced themselves they had committed crimes of which they were later cleared. Dorothy Rabinowitz of the Wall Street Journal won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for her role in debunking the panic. Central to her reporting was the work of Loftus in her 1994 book, "The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse." Loftus did a number of experiments that showed how fallible human memory can be. Her research showed it was relatively easy to implant in an adult's mind a memory of being lost in a mall or rescued by a lifeguard as a child. Once a false memory takes root, she said, it's impossible to distinguish it from a real one. When it comes to the allegations that Christine Blasey Ford made about Kavanaugh, she said, the committee should look into long gap between the alleged incident and their first mention by Ford. Loftus said she read the affidavits filed by four people with whom Ford said she discussed the incident, and key questions remain. "When did she attach the name Brett Kavanaugh to it?" she asked. "Her husband affidavit is very ambiguous. It insinuates she said the name in that 2012 therapy session, but he doesn't assert it." Loftus said she also has questions about a second accuser who first came to light in a New Yorker piece by Ronan Farrow. That's Kavanaugh's Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez, who said he exposed himself to her at a party. Farrow first made the news during his mother Mia's messy custody fight with filmmaker Woody Allen. Ronan supported his sister Dylan in her assertion that Allen molested her when she was 7. Another son, Moses, supported Allen in the fight, which ended without Allen being criminally charged. Loftus said that Farrow is supposed to be acting as a neutral journalist but his personal views might color his reporting. "How is he questioning people?" she asked. "How is he shaping the memories of the people he talks to?" Don't expect answers to those questions. Ramirez won't be testifying before the committee. Nor will a third accuser who recently was unearthed by Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels who has said he might run for president in 2020. That woman accused Kavanaugh of being present at parties where gang rapes occurred. (Though the dates don't match up.) As it now stands, Ford will be the only witness against Kavanaugh. I expect she will be every bit as convinced of the truth of her testimony as Booker dsfffconvinced that he remembered quotes from "Top Gun" two years before it was made. Barring some dramatic last-minute bombshell, it will be Ford's memory against Kavanaugh's memory. Then it will be up to the Senate to sort it out. That should be memorable. Bergen County voters will get to select a new sheriff Nov. 6 after Michael Saudino resigned under pressure last week when a secret recording of him making racist and homophobic comments surfaced. Gov. Phil Murphy's administration announced late Wednesday night there will be a special election for a new three-year term as sheriff of New Jersey's most populous county. New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way said she made the decision after consulting with the state attorney general and reviewing state law. Way added that the Bergen County clerk will now "issue guidance regarding deadlines and the nomination process for candidates to the office." "Our offices will remain in close touch with the Bergen County clerk and remain available as a resource as they work to ensure the critical vacancy is filled," Way said in a statement. Murphy and several other local and state officials called on Saudino to resign after public radio station WNYC released a recording of the sheriff making racist remarks about Murphy's inauguration, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal -- who is Sikh -- and Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver. Saudino, a Democrat, initially simply apologized Thursday but did not step down. He resigned Friday, as did four undersheriffs. In the recording, Saudino is heard referencing the inauguration speech that Murphy, a fellow Democrat, gave in January: "He talked about the whole thing, the marijuana, sanctuary state ... better criminal justice reform. Christ almighty, in other words, let the blacks come in, do whatever the f--k they want, smoke their marijuana, do this do that, and don't worry about it. You know, we'll tie the hands of cops." Saudino also said Grewal got his job only because he wears a turban and questioned if Oliver was gave because she's never been married. Saudino's resignation set off confusion over who would replace him. Initially, it was assumed Murphy would pick the replacement. The govern said in a statement Friday said he would appoint "an interim sheriff who can rebuild the public's trust." But conflicting state laws created uncertainty. One said the govern could nominate a replacement to be approved by the state Senate because the sheriff resigned within 70 days of the November elections. That person would serve until Saudino's term expired at the end of 2019, and there would be an election that November for the next term. Another state law, however, said voters must elect a new sheriff this November because Saudino resigned more than 37 days before the upcoming elections. Bergen County Clerk John Hogan told NJ Advance Media he was still waiting for guidance from Murphy's administration as of Wednesday afternoon. It's unclear whether there will be an interim sheriff appointed until the special election and whether the winner of the race would take over right away. Murphy spokesman Dan Bryan deferred comment to the Secretary of State's Office. A spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's Office did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Regardless, the special election will likely leave Bergen County in scramble mode. Hogan said the county already sent out mail-in ballots for the Nov. 6 elections. "If someone has voted by mail and will now be out of the country, they've already cast their ballot and they're going to be disenfranchised," the county clerk said. Hogan said the county will have to shell out more money to arrange new ballots for the special election. "I'm in a tight spot right now," Hogan said. "If I have to deliver an election to the voters, there's going to be a lot of scrambling going on." It was unclear as of Wednesday night which candidates will run in the special election. NJ Advance Media staff writers Matt Arco and Allison Pries contributed to this report. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. WASHINGTON -- In his opening statement, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh singled out an unnamed Senate Democratic member of the panel. "A Democratic senator on this committee publicly referred to me as evil -- evil, think about that word -- and said those who supported me were 'complicit in evil,'" Kavanaugh said. That senator was New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker. In a news conference with two other senators, Booker had called the fight to block Kavanaugh a "moral moment" and that "You are either complicit in the evil, you are either contributing to the wrong, or you are fighting against it." On Thursday, Booker got another chance to chance to question Kavanaugh, and he objected to something else the nominee said in his opening remarks: that allegations against him were a "calculated and orchestrated political hit." Booker rose to the defense of Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist whose accusations that Kavanaugh sexually attacking her at a party when both were in high school led to Thursday's hearings. "Are you saying Dr. Ford's effort to come forward to prepare for the very difficult testimony she gave today, to travel to Washington, D.C., and tell us about her experience, have all been part of an orchestrated political hit and are you basically calling her some kind of political operative," Booker asked. "My family has no ill will toward Dr. Ford," Kavanaugh responded. "She wanted confidentiality. Her confidentiality was blown by the actions of this committee." Booker calls Kavanaugh accuser 'heroic' Booker pressed on. "Let's just be clear: You have problems with the senators up here and how we conducted it, but you're not saying in any way that she's a political pawn or operative," Booker said. "You have sympathy for her. She's talking about a sexual assault. Is that correct?" "All allegations should be taken seriously," Kavanaugh said. "We should listen to both sides." "Even if it's in the final days before a vote, if someone has a credible allegation of experience that they've held for a long time, that person should be allowed to come forward," Booker said. "In fact, she said it was her civic duty. You're not questioning her sense of civic duty, are you?" Kavanaugh wouldn't give a yes or no answer. "I don't know her but as I said, we bear no ill will toward her," he said. Booker continued to defend Ford against Kavanaugh's opening statement, when he said the allegations were "a calculated and orchestrated political hit." "She was not doing this for political efforts in 2012, when she talked to her therapist about this attack," Booker said. "She was not coordinating about this painful experience when she made revelations to her husband. She did not coordinate in 2013, '16, 2017, before you were even nominated when he revealed that it was you with three different people that had sexually assaulted her. That wasn't coordination." "All the witnesses who were there said it never happened," Kavanaugh said. Committee Republicans had invited both Ford and Kavanaugh to testify, without calling any of the other women who made allegations, without bringing in potential witnesses who could verify the charges, and without asking the FBI to investigate. The GOP senators began taking turns praising Kavanaugh and denigrating the charges against him, after earlier leaving the questioning of Ford to a female prosecutor who specialized in sex crimes. Dr. Ford, Thank you for speaking truth to power. What you did today for survivors across this country, was nothing short of heroic. In awe of your courage and bravery. #BelieveSurvivors pic.twitter.com/u9uLBFFp1S Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 27, 2018 Responding to Ford's testimony, Booker called her "heroic." "You are speaking truth that this country needs to understand, how we deal with survivors who come forward right now is unacceptable," Booker said. "Your brilliance, shining light onto this, speaking your truth, is nothing more than heroic." Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation seeking to crack down on abuse behind bars in the midst of a sexual assault scandal at the state's women's prison. The state Senate approved two bills establishing strict reporting requirements for allegations of sex abuse (S2521) and restricting cross-gender strip searches (S2522). Both measures passed in 38-0 votes. Corrections officials say they already have tight controls in place for both strip searches and investigating abuse claims. But an ongoing criminal investigation into the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women by prosecutors in Hunterdon County has led to charges for seven employees in the last two years, and federal authorities opened up a civil rights probe in April. The two bills approved Thursday came from a public hearing in January that was prompted by a series of reports from NJ Advance Media showing problems at the prison were worse than state officials had publicly acknowledged. "The abuses were bad enough, but the failure to put them to an end and to hold the offenders accountable for so long shows that the system needs to be reformed," said the committee's chair, Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex, in a statement. "Victims should not be afraid to report these crimes and when they do, they should be taken seriously." Hours after the bills passed, Gov. Phil Murphy formally nominated a new commissioner for the Department of Corrections. The governor's pick, Marcus Hicks, has been running the department since his predecessor retired amid the state and federal probes. Hicks' confirmation is subject to approval by the Senate. The bills approved by lawmakers Thursday still need approval from the state Assembly before they head to Murphy's desk. Murphy has said he was "extremely disturbed" by what went on at the prison, and corrections officials say they are cooperating with the federal investigation. So far, four employees at the prison - a civilian staffer and three corrections officers - have been convicted of sexually abusing inmates. S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled Thursday which of New Jersey's 19 community colleges will be eligible to offer some of their students free tuition starting next year. Of the 19 total, 13 community colleges across the state will receive portions of the $25 million Murphy put in his first budget for free community college. The administration estimates the money will help 13,000 students who meet the requirements. "Every New Jerseyan deserves an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams," Murphy said at an event at Union Community College. "Making community college tuition free will help New Jersey's young people and working adults earn post-secondary degrees to advance their careers," he said. "And it will help build the talented workforce that is the engine of our state's economy." The 13 community colleges students will be eligible to attend tuition- and fee-free in the spring semester of 2019 are: Atlantic Cape Community College; Bergen Community College; Camden County College; Cumberland County College; Hudson County Community College; Mercer County Community College; Middlesex County College; Ocean County College; Passaic County Community College; Rowan College at Gloucester County; Salem Community College; Union County College; Warren County Community College. In order to be eligible, students need to be enrolled at a minimum of half-time students, come from families with adjusted gross incomes between $0 and $45,000 and will be required to maintain satisfactory grades, Murphy said. Then they will be eligible for "last-dollar" Community College Opportunity Grants (CCOG), which will cover any remaining costs of tuition and approved educational fees after applying all other financial aid grant awards to the student's account, according to the administration. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. For years, many Republicans have ripped into the Affordable Care Act -- better known as Obamacare -- saying the health-care law should be repealed and replaced. Bob Hugin, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in New Jersey, stopped short of trashing President Barack Obama's signature law Wednesday as he laid out his vision for "transforming" America's "outdated" health-care system. Instead, Hugin, a retired pharmaceutical executive, said he'd keep what he called the "good" things about Obamacare -- such as guaranteeing coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and allowing people to stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26. But Hugin, who is challenging incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez in November's election, said he'd eliminate what he called the law's biggest faults -- such as making the sickest patients and the working poor shoulder too much cost. "We need to talk about a transformation of the entire health-care system that affects all of us," Hugin said during a roundtable discussion on health care at a doctor's office in Glen Ridge. Hugin says there are good and bad things about #Obamacare. But he says he wants to protect people with pre-existing conditions. pic.twitter.com/YQc3CVHXO9 Brent Johnson (@johnsb01) September 26, 2018 President Donald Trump, the Republican who succeeded Democrat Obama, and Republican-controlled Congress have vowed to repeal and replace the law. But their efforts have failed -- though they did get rid of the "individual mandate" that required people to have health insurance or pay a fine. Hugin, a former CEO of Celgene Corp., and a board member of the Atlantic Health System, said last year that Trump's ultimately unsuccessful plan to replace Obamacare, saying during a visit to the White House that the changes would be "great for the country." On Wednesday, Hugin said said problems with the U.S. health-caresystem existed before Obamacare and have continued to get worse, while recent plans to fix it haven't worked. Hugin added he could not envision "any changes to our health-care system that would not protect people with pre-existing conditions" -- a common Republican position. He did not reveal details about how to achieve that. Hugin also said he wants to lower out-of-pocket costs for patients by capping co-pays which discriminate against sickest Americans by making them shoulder a high percentage of the cost burden. He said, if elected, he'd introduce legislation to cap co-pays at $50 per prescription and limit monthly out-of-pocket expenses. In addition, Hugin said he'd advocate for increased decentralization of Medicaid. "All states are different," Hugin said. "Washington, D.C., does not have the answer for how an individual state or community should best care for the most vulnerable people in their society." Plus, Hugin said patients and their families should determine "what kind of care is appropriate" at the end of their lives instead of a hospital deciding that for them. He said "too many Americans getting treatments they don't want because they don't gave end-of-life directives." "I want to make sure we provide the incentives and the encouragement for people to ensure they have that dignified, quality end of life that they want," Hugin said. Hugin has faced criticism from Menendez and others for how Celgene raised prices some drugs for cancer patients. Hugin defended the company Wednesday, saying it "did so many great things to change the lives of cancer patients," such as advancing new medication. Menendez's campaign criticized Hugin's plan Wednesday by saying "the last person who should be giving advice on how to reform our health care system is a greedy drug company CEO who got rich gouging cancer patients." "For a man who ran Big Pharma, Bob Hugin's knowledge of the state of American health care is frighteningly poor," Menendez campaign spokesman Steve Sandberg said in a statement. "Further decentralizing Medicaid is crazy, when you consider how many states blocked the expansion, resulting in more uninsured patients crowding their local emergency room for primary care," Sandberg added. "Instead of reining in the high cost of prescription drugs, Hugin wants to encourage more patients to choose death over end of life care to save money." Menendez has been a vocal supporter of Obamacare, frequently speaking out against Republicans who have tried to axe the law. He also touted how he has worked on legislation to help families battle autism, protect women's health-care rights, advocate for research funding for New Jersey hospitals and universities and more. "Bob will continue fighting to defend and improve the Affordable Care Act while building on its success by working across the aisle so that millions of Americans can receive affordable coverage," his campaign website reads. Hugin is trying to deny Menendez a third full term and to break Republicans' losing streak in New Jersey. No Republican from the state has been elected to the Senate since 1972. Polls show the Nov. 6 election is closer than expected. Menendez led Hugin by only 6 percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll released last month. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. " When former Gov. Chris Christie took charge of then-candidate Donald Trump's transition team ahead of the 2016 presidential election it meant he had to work with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Awkward? Maybe a tad. It was U.S. Attorney Chris Christie who sent Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, to prison for tax fraud in a salacious crime story that revealed details of a prostitute, Charles Kushner's brother-in-law, and a video tape of the encounter the elder Kushner sent to his sister. When Charles Kushner pleaded guilty, before he started his prison sentence, U.S. Attorney Christie referred to the moment as "a great victory for the people of New Jersey" in an August 2004 statement. Fast forward to 2016. Trump just won the presidential election and Christie was out. Christie told reporters just before he left office that his objections over giving former national security adviser Michael Flynn a job in Trump's administration played "a significant" role in his firing as head of the president's transition team. But according to a new account of Christie's unceremonious ouster from The Guardian, Flynn had nothing to do with it. "It was Jared," former Trump official Steve Bannon told Christie, according to the report. The story claims Christie was pushed out just as Flynn joined Trump's team. The governor planned to object to Flynn's attempt to be named the incoming president's national security adviser, according to the report. But he never got the chance. "Before Christie could intercede, Bannon grabbed him and asked to see him privately. Christie followed Bannon to his office impatiently. Hey, this is going to have to be quick, said Christie," according to the report. It's really quick, said Bannon. You're out. Why? asked Christie, stunned. We're making a change. "Okay, what are we changing? You. Why? It's really not important. And with that, Christie was out. The story didn't provide any additional details behind Kushner's motive for ousting Christie. The story that sheds some light on Christie's time as Trump's transition chief also had details of Trump furiously dressing down the governor for "stealing" from his campaign war chest after candidate Trump read reports about Christie fundraising for the transition team. The scenario of Trump yelling at Christie mirrors an account in journalist Bob Woodward's new book, which Christie rejected and said was inaccurate. At the time of Woodward's book release, Christie accused him being "a stenographer" for Bannon. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. Gov. Phil Murphy got fired up Thursday as he came to the defense of the woman who accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when the two were in high school. The usually calm Democratic governor was red in the face as he blasted the line of questioning in Washington D.C. Specifically, Murphy slammed how the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, was asked about her anxieties. Ford acknowledged a discomfort with airplanes but said she was "able to get up the gumption" and fly from California to Washington for the hearing. Ford testified that the alleged assault had lasting affects on her, including anxiety. Attorney Rachel Mitchell, who questioned Ford instead of any Republican lawmakers, pressed Ford on her air travel. Republican President Donald Trump has nominated Kavanaugh to the nation's highest court. "'Well you claim you don't like flying, but how did you get here today?' Well who the hell are you you to ask that question? I mean, come on," Murphy said at a public event at Union County Community College in Cranford. "This is prosecutorial mindset and the presumption that you're guilty as a woman who raises her hand and says something happened to me ought to have all of our hair on fire -- not just women, but men and women," he said. "It's completely unacceptable." Murphy weighed in on the Ford hearing at the same time she was testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford says Kavanaugh held her down on a bed during a party with a few other high school kids and assaulted her, and put his hand over her mouth so she could not scream. She says she thought he would try to rape her. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the accusations. But Murphy said he thinks Ford is credible and applauded Ford for her "extraordinary courage" in coming forward to testify. The governor criticized Republicans for rushing to push Kavanaugh through the nomination process. "What's the rush to judgement?" Murphy asked, noting having a seat on the Supreme Court is a life-time appointment. "This is a one-way ticket and we better damn well get it right." He said Kavanaugh "ought to just pack up and leave town." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook. Bob Hugin, New Jersey's Republican U.S. Senate candidate, said he is holding off saying whether he supports U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh until after Thursday. That's when Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school 35 years ago, will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations. "I think he's clearly an incredibly qualified, talented jurist," Hugin said Wednesday morning of Kavanaugh, the U.S. appeals court judge whom Republican President Donald Trump has nominated to the nation's highest court. "I want to watch the hearings tomorrow ... to make sure I get all the information," Hugin continued while talking to reporters after a campaign event in Glen Ridge. "I think everyone should listen to all the testimony, both from any accuser, fully heard, and he should have the opportunity to fully state his case. Then, I'll make a judgement after that." Two other women have made similar accusations against Kavanaugh since Blasey Ford came forward with her story. Deborah Ramirez claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a party while they both attended Yale University and forced her to touch his penis. Julie Swetnick claims in an affidavit that Kavanuagh "consistently" engaged in "excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women in the early 1980s." Kavanaugh has strongly denied ever sexually assaulting anyone. Hugin's opponent in the Nov. 6 election, incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, opposes Kavanuagh's nomination. Prior to Hugin's remarks Wednesday, Menendez's campaign accused Hugin of staying silent on the allegations against Kavanaugh and how Trump has defended the judge. Menendez spokesman Steve Sandberg said Wednesday morning that Hugin will "never stand up for women." "Bob Hugin is a disgrace and a fraud," Sandberg said in a statement. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Friday on Kavanaugh. If approved by the panel, the full U.S. Senate -- which is controlled by Republicans -- would need to approve him. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. In a written statement, New Orleans architect John C. Williams fired back at Make It Right, his client for the past 12 years. Brad Pitt's Make It Right charity sued Williams last week, claiming that he is at fault for design decisions that led to leakage and other problems in the 106 homes Pitt built in the Lower 9th Ward from 2008 to 2015. According to Make It Right, it could cost $20 million to repair the damage. The ecologically sensitive, modernistic homes were built to replace those destroyed by the catastrophic flooding that accompanied Hurricane Katrina in the neighborhood near the Industrial Canal. Make It Right sold the houses at affordable prices to former area residents and others. As architect of record, Williams oversaw the construction of houses designed by several other contributing architects. In Williams' statement, he claims that during the course of the complicated endeavor, he worked with "twenty-one architects from New Orleans and around the world, multiple contractors, the Make It Right staff, residents and neighbors -- all striving to make this project a success." "To now be confronted with this baseless lawsuit is shocking and insulting and we intend to prove that we were not at fault," Williams wrote. Make It Right claims that the charity paid Williams $4 million for his services over the years. In his statement, Williams said that his work during the first two years of the project was a donation. Williams said that he remains devoted to the fundamentals of the visionary project, but declined a request to discuss the matter further. "Our commitment remains strong to the people of the Lower Ninth Ward," he wrote. "We will continue to work constructively with our partners to achieve the most desirable results. We will not debate this matter publicly, but will certainly address it through the appropriate channels." Here's a timeline of the recent Make It Right controversy. 2008 to 2015: Make It Right set out to build 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward to replace those ruined in the flooding that accompanied Hurricane Katrina. The 106 completed houses were sold at affordable prices to former residents and others. Thanks in part to Pitt's celebrity, the Make It Right neighborhood became a tourist destination in New Orleans and a beacon of affordable, ecological housing across the world. But some of the houses began deteriorating much sooner than expected. June 30: The moldering shell of a Make It Right house at 5012 N. Derbigny St. in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward was demolished. Built just seven years before, the long-unoccupied building had become a tattered loaf of rotting wood, fraying tarpaulin and ominous open doorways. Its demolition brought attention to possible defects in the designs of the experimental houses. Sept 7: New Orleans attorney Ron Austin filed a lawsuit against Brad Pitt's altruistic post-Katrina housing development on behalf of two residents who claimed to own homes damaged by leakage (though the suit is meant to represent everyone who purchased one of Pitt's houses). As previously reported, Austin claims the houses were "deficiently constructed and built" with "defective products" that caused mold, poor air quality, structural failures, faulty heating, ventilation and cooling, electrical malfunctions, plumbing mishaps and rotting wood. Sept. 19: Make It Right filed a lawsuit of its own, blaming the project architect John C. Williams for defective design work that led to leaks and other flaws in the homes, dating back to 2009. The house plans were drawn up by architectural superstars such as Shigeru Ban, Thom Mayne and Frank Gehry. But, as previously reported, Make It Right claims it paid Williams $4 million as the project's architect of record to oversee construction and some redesigns and repairs. The nonprofit organization estimated it will now cost $20 million to repair the leaky homes. Sept. 21: Austin issued a statement that expressed his belief that Make It Right's lawsuit "acknowledges that MIR, its board members, including Pitt, and chief officers knew about the structural and construction problems associated with the MIR homes for years, yet said nothing to the residents." Doug MacCash covers art, music and culture in New Orleans. Contact him via email at dmaccash@nola.com. Follow him on Twitter at Doug MacCash and on Facebook at Douglas James MacCash. As always, please add your point of view to the comment stream. In 4:1 ruling, SC says Aadhaar a must for I-T filing, benefits; 1 judge calls law unconstitutional . Making an exception for children, the court said that no child can be denied benefits of any scheme if he or she doesnt have an Aadhaar card. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, in a majority verdict of 4:1, held that the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act 2016 is constitutionally valid, but made it clear that a persons rights cannot be denied on the ground of lacking the unique ID. The court upheld linking of PAN with Aadhaar, and made it mandatory for filing income-tax returns and for receiving benefits drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India. But it set aside linking Aadhaar to bank accounts and for mobile phone numbers. Making an exception for children, the court said that no child can be denied benefits of any scheme if he or she doesnt have an Aadhaar card. So no Aadhaar is needed for school admissions or any other government scheme which benefits children. CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory, also it is not compulsory for school admissions, the Supreme Court said. The Supreme Court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act as unconstitutional. This means that no company or private entity can seek Aadhaar identification. Further, authentication done by private parties while verifying Aadhaar cannot be stored by the UIDAI beyond six months. We have concluded that it is simply difficult to care the profile of a person on the basis of data stored in CIDR (Central ID repository). Authentication data should not be stored beyond six months. Current rule that it can be archived for five years struck down, Justice Sikri said. In all, three judgments were delivered by the five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M. Kanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. The majority judgment was read out by Justice Sekri on behalf of Chief Justice Misra and Justice Khanwilkar. Justice Ashok Bhushan read a separate judgment, mostly concurring with the majority judgment. Justice Chandrachud dissented with the other judges and in his order, which highlighted several flaws in the Aadhaar programme, said: Aadhaar Act is liable to be declared as unconstitutional. While picking holes in the Aadhaar law, he said that UIDAI has admitted that it stores vital data, which is violative of the right to privacy. There is also no accountability/responsibility for storage or protection of data of citizens, he said, and warned that leakage from the central database will pave the way for surveillance. Potential surveillance is possible through Aadhaar, he said. Raising the issue of algorithms by foreign companies such as L1 and Accenture used by UIDAI, he said: Rights of citizens and national security cannot be protected by merely a contract between UIDAI and private foreign corporations. Justice Chandrachud also differed with the majority judgment on Aadhaar giving dignity to the marginalised. One right cannot take away another. Dignity to the marginalised cannot do away with right of a person to bodily autonomy, he said. The benchs four other judges, however, concurred that Aadhaar serves a bigger public interest. Observing that Aadhaar is meant to help benefits reach marginalised sections of society, they said the scheme served a much bigger public interest and shelving it at this stage could harm people. Unique identification proof empowers and gives identity to marginalised sections of society, Justice Sikri said. Addressing worries of exclusion, he said: For the exclusion of a minimal three per cent, 97 per cent cannot be denied the benefits of Aadhaar One cant throw the baby out with the bathwater. The court also held that the passage of the bill as a money bill was valid, another aspect that was challenged by the petitioners. Justice Sikri said obtaining an Aadhaar card would continue to remain voluntary with an option to exit. It is better to be unique than the best. Because being the best makes you the number one, but being unique makes you the only one, he said, and added that the Aadhaar number, given to a particular individual, is treated as unique and cannot be assigned to any other person. The bench also struck down the national security exception under the Aadhaar Act that allowed the government to share Aadhaar data, citing security considerations. Sharing of any Aadhaar data with any entity, without the individuals consent, is now illegal. Justice Sikri said the attack of the petitioners on Aadhaar is based on the argument that it is a great risk to the liberties of citizens and has the potential to enable a surveillance state. To this, he (Sikri) said proportionality is to be adjudged on the basis of norms such as expectation of privacy, compelling state interest and larger public interest. On proportionality, he said certain aspects are needed to be satisfied. Prevention of leakage and pilferage is a valid goal, he said but added that there is valid and legitimate aim and Aadhaar is a suitable means to achieve these goals. Minimal demographic and biometric data of citizens are collected by UIDAI for Aadhaar enrolment and the system is serving much bigger public interest... We are of the view that there are sufficient safeguard to protect data collected under Aadhaar scheme, Justice Sikri said. As of today, we do not find anything in the Aadhaar Act which violates the right to privacy of the individual citizen, said the majority verdict. Aadhaar cannot be duplicated and it is a unique identification, the judges said. The court directed the government not to give Aadhaar to illegal immigrants. Justice Chandrachud, in his dissenting judgment, held that Aadhaar is not constitutional and passing the Aadhaar Act as a money bill, thus bypassing the Rajya Sabha, was a fraud on the Constitution. He favoured the deletion of consumers Aadhaar data by mobile service providers and held as invalid the linking of PAN with Aadhaar. On linking of PAN with Aadhaar, the Constitution Bench examined the provision 139AA in the light of right to privacy declared as per the Puttaswamy judgment, and held that tests of permissible limits for invasion of privacy namely, the existence of a law; a legitimate state interest; and that such law should pass the test of proportionality were satisfied. Therefore, Aadhaar-PAN linkage is mandatory. The majority struck down Rule 9 of the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, which insisted that bank accounts should be linked with Aadhaar. It was held that the provision did not meet the test of proportionality and, therefore, violated the right to privacy of an individual, which extends to banking details. Walter L. Cohen College Prep junior Jakiara was fighting back tears as she described her initial excitement over attending the same high school as her parents. Her teachers encouraged her to make good grades for college, but now she's upset because those educators no longer work at Cohen. Jakiara was among the dozens of parents, students and staff who addressed the New Orleans College Prep board of directors during a public hearing at Cohen Monday (Sept. 24) regarding staff reductions and other recent changes at the network. Jakiara, who asked to only be identified by her first name, spoke to the board a week after she and at least 20 other students walked out of class Sept. 17 to protest the changes. "It's not the place for me anymore because when I came here I thought I had somebody to depend upon," Jakiara said. Three administrators at Cohen, who had worked there for at least five years, were recently laid off. Cohen students have also complained their classes are being taught by substitutes: College Prep, the charter management organization overseeing Cohen's operations, stated substitutes have been teaching some math and physical education classes at Cohen this school year due to "instructional vacancies." College Prep is also undergoing staff changes at its other school sites, including the Hoffman Early Learning Center, where an admissions representative was laid off. At Lawrence D. Crocker College Prep, three other non-teaching positions were cut, and three substitutes are currently teaching classes. Among those laid off was Crocker lead social worker Rochelle Gauthier, whose work in providing trauma-informed learning at the school was defended fervently, through tears, by parents and staff alike Monday evening. "One of the biggest problems facing inner-city charter schools is poor staff retention. How do you expect to retain staff members when you eliminated those who've been here since the beginning?" Crocker pre-K teacher Audrey Johnson said. Monday morning, College Prep CEO Joel Castro said the changes across the network "are upsetting to everyone involved." He stressed they only cut positions held by people paid an administration salary. Although the network appreciates and needs "10 social workers," Castro said the network couldn't sustain "duplicative services within a school." The network is now aligned in a manner that focuses on getting more instructional support and performance feedback to teachers, the CEO said. College Prep spokeswoman Troave Profice Wednesday (Sept. 26) said one of the Crocker classes is being taught by a substitute because the teacher is out on maternity leave. The network this week is finalizing offers for one of Crocker's full-time positions, and at least one candidate has been offered a position at Cohen, Profice said. Castro's feelings were echoed Monday evening by College Prep board chair Patrick Norton, who told the public hearing audience of 94 attendees the staffing changes "pained us." Norton and NOCP chief financial officer Jonathan Tebeleff said they took action because declining enrollment affected the network's budget by $450,000. Enrollment records from February 2018 stated Cohen had 399 students, but the network last week stated enrollment is currently near 340. Tebeleff told attendees the network's current budget is $15 million. Financial audits show the network brought in $19.9 million in revenue last year, but its expenses were more than $21 million. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up College Prep's latest audit from June 2017 stated the network experienced a net loss of approximately $1.1 million during the last fiscal year as "extra efforts and funds" were spent at Sylvanie Williams College Prep to improve school performance to meet charter renewal standards. However, the network lost its charter for Williams after the Louisiana Department of Education recommended the charter not be renewed when it expired this June. Parents Monday evening slammed the network for not keeping them in the loop about the network's issues before it made staff changes. The network notified its staff about the reductions on Sept. 14, and officials said they are starting a community engagement process to form a plan that will be created with parental input. Profice, who said parents were notified via email, text and recorded message this month, said a parent/teacher group will begin meeting at Crocker Thursday. The network also plans to launch a parent-teacher organization, and advisory committees for students, teachers and parents. Students Monday evening, however, wanted answers for why their teachers didn't return to school this year. Cohen junior Satoriya Lambert said an English teacher is currently serving as a substitute math teacher at her school, but she hasn't "learned anything in Algebra 2." Cohen senior Destiny Jackson said she's entering the third month of school but still doesn't have a precalculus teacher. "As you can see, this is frustrating for students. It's hurting us because we don't know what's going on," Cohen senior Keyinate Gibson said. Former Cohen math teacher Peter Wenstrup told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune he quit his job at the school after he was told he'd need to change to a new curriculum. Wenstrup said he told Castro and Cohen Principal Darren Lewis he would be flexible about anything else required, but he needed to make his own choices about curriculum. "The other strong teachers who left have different stories. However, they were teachers who loved the school, and the school leaders paid too little attention to teacher satisfaction and retention during a teacher shortage," Wenstrup said. Cohen College Prep has gone from an "F"-rated school to a "C"-rated school, which is significant because those grades determine whether a charter is renewed. The network has 175 total employees. Click through the three interactive graphs below for a glance at the network's financials over the past decade, based on state audits. . . . . . . . Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles. Recently, President Donald Trump met with five governors, including John Bel Edwards, two state attorneys general and cabinet officials to discuss criminal justice reform. The president is in the midst of pushing the First Step Act through Congress, aimed at providing increased good time, education, vocational training and other opportunities for federal inmates to reduce recidivism and curb crime. It's no mystery as to why the president invited Gov. Edwards and his counterparts for this monumental meeting. He obviously wants to know what criminal justice reforms have already been successful in Louisiana and other states, what these states are doing to provide the same opportunities, improve public safety and reduce crime and recidivism. During that meeting, former Texas governor and current U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry shared his experience of enacting criminal justice reforms in the Lone Star State in the mid-2000s. He said people in his state thought he was soft on crime. However, after these reforms saved Texas more than $3 billion a year in prison costs and closed eight prisons, he said conservatives look at that now and say, "That was smart on crime." As a former president of the Louisiana Senate, I understand that by adopting historic bipartisan criminal justice reforms a year ago, Louisiana is also being smart on crime. What is being done right now in our state will have a lasting impact for generations to come. These reforms will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars; money that can be reinvested into programming that will provide education, vocational training and other opportunities to inmates and those under community supervision to help reduce recidivism. As a district attorney who is committed to ensuring public safety by incarcerating violent criminals, I can attest that these reforms in no way impact my ability to achieve that goal in those cases requiring a significant prison sentence. Louisiana is barely one year into its criminal justice reforms and has already seen a savings of $12.2 million, twice what the Justice Reinvestment Task Force originally projected. Over the next decade, the state is expected to save $262 million and reinvest 70 percent of the savings into programs and policies to reduce recidivism and support victims of crime. Right now, the state is seeking proposals from community organizations statewide to help implement the programming that is expected to successfully drive this initiative, and give people returning home from prison a better chance of living a productive life as a taxpayer, and not a tax burden. Savings also are being reinvested in victim services and programming inside prison walls to prepare offenders for successful reentry. The new reforms expand on proven policies, but change won't happen overnight. We must give these reforms time to work. Like Texas, several years down the road, Louisiana too will look back and say the state was not soft on crime, it was smart on crime. Joel Chaisson II District attorney St. Charles Parish Jaitley said Aadhaar had helped the government to save over `90,000 crores every year with the targeted delivery of government services. New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday that the Supreme Court ruling on Aadhaar was historic as the concept of an unique identity number was accepted. He said Aadhaar had helped the government to save over Rs 90,000 crores every year with the targeted delivery of government services. The finance minister said while he had not read the full judgment, his understanding was that the Supreme Court had barred the use of Aadhaar by private entities like mobile phone firms in the absence of legislative backing for that. On the need for Aadhaars linking with bank accounts and mobile phone connections after the court order, Mr Jaitley said the question was being asked without a full reading the judgment. So let us first read the judgment. There are 2-3 prohibited areas. Are they because they are totally prohibited, or are they because they need legal backing. So my answer in general, the generic answer will depend on what is the rationale, for instance, on these private entities, it needs to be backed by law. Thats my understanding. I still have a detailed reading of the judgment to do. He added: Therefore, the prohibited areas ... do not assume ... are perpetually prohibited, they could be procedurally prohibited or they could be prohibited as such, he said. The minister said the whole concept of unique identity number that had been accepted after judicial review is an extremely welcome decision. He said the court had also upheld the Aadhaar legislation, that mandated assigning an unique identification number of Indian citizens, was a money bill. You cannot defy technology. You cannot ignore it, he added. Asserting that the Supreme Courts Aadhaar ruling was a victory of good governance, empowerment of ordinary people and efficient delivery of public services to the people of India, the BJP claimed while under the UPA Aadhaar was Niradhar and had no purpose, the Narendra Modi government gave it strong legal backing and integrated it in service delivery. The BJp said the courts decision was a strong validation of Aadhaar as an instrument of service delivery and gives a further impetus to empowering the poor by ensuring that they get their rights. Aadhaar under UPA government was Niradhar and had no purpose. The UPA spent thousands of crores to enrol people without any law or scrutiny. The Modi government gave it a strong legal backing and integrated it in service delivery. This ensured a saving of `90,000 crores and benefited the poor... The Congress, being the fountainhead of middlemen and corruption, tried every trick to fight and defeat Aadhaar, politically and legally. They tried to mislead the people on various grounds, including scare-mongering on privacy. Today they stand exposed and defeated, said BJP president Amit Shah. Three weeks into his tenure as executive director of the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, Ghassan Korban has reached a conclusion about the status of the critical infrastructure he was chosen to oversee: We need to start over. The patched up, outdated, makeshift drainage system is crumbling beneath our feet, and we lare fast approaching the point of diminishing returns on repairs. We are flushing millions of dollars a year down the toilet. "We have no choice today," Korban said in an interview Tuesday (Sept. 25) with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. "We've got to maintain what we have. But we've got to start looking at the future in a very, very systematic and big-picture way. "We need to recognize the fact that continuing to maintain a system that's so antiquated may not be the responsible thing to do." Korban told The New Orleans Advocate, "We're at the point where replacement is the only option." And there is a lot to replace. Those iconic water meter covers may be the only thing worth salvaging in this scrap heap of public works, including a 1920s era turbine that the city bought more than 50 years ago and is used almost nowhere else and certainly not to power the pumps crucial to keeping a large city dry. Credit to Korban, freshly arrived from a similar job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for grasping in less than a month what it apparently took former Mayor Mitch Landrieu and not-so trusty sidekick Cedric Grant eight years to figure out. Landrieu, you may recall, decided to sound the alarm just a month before he was vacating the mayor's office. That was long after the horse had departed the barn in the form of August 2017 flooding made worse by a shortage of working pumps and a lack of capacity from those that did manage to kick on when the generators were working. As the waters receded, the S&WB equipment was exposed as inadequate and its leadership shown to be inept. Heads rolled. Grant departed with a $175,400 annual pension, and Landrieu became an oft-mentioned possible Democratic candidate for president. Before he left, Landrieu made it absolutely clear that overhauling the city's sewerage and water system had to be on the top of incoming Mayor LaToya Cantrell's to-do list. "I'm raising a red flag on this," Landrieu said April 18 as he attended his final Sewerage & Water Board meeting. "This has to take priority over any other thing that we are doing in the City of New Orleans. I love the Superdome, the jail, the playgrounds, but this is a matter of priority now and, to me, this is the No. 1 priority for the city." That Landrieu waited until day 2,907 of his 2,926 days in office to have this epiphany is not helpful. But that doesn't mean he's wrong. Landrieu estimated a bare-minimum overhaul of the drainage system would cost $600 million. The deluxe model would be at least $60 billion, he said. Finding something in the city's price range will not be easy. New Orleans has the second-highest poverty rate in the nation and the fourth-lowest median household income. Cantrell just got City Council approval to plug a $5 million hole in this year's budget and warned that department heads and other agencies are asking for a combined $37 million increase in next year's budget, $19 million of which the administration said is "essential" funding. The usual recourse of wheedling money from the federal government is all but exhausted, and there is only so much you can extort from tourists and poor people in sales taxes. "I don't know what that looks like in terms of what we'll be asking for," Korban said. "But inevitably, I think a millage or a new drainage fee is a must." It would help if we had any confidence in an agency that has so far distinguished itself as spectacularly incompetent, including being unable to accurately bill its customers for services rendered. On the other hand, can we trust this crew to MacGyver this system through an active hurricane season? I'm with Korban; we don't have a lot of options. At some point, perhaps soon, we're going to be asked to pay more to the S&WB. Let's just hope they have that billing system figured out by then. Tim Morris is a columnist on the Latitude team at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Latitude is a place to share opinions about the challenges facing Louisiana. Follow @LatitudeNOLA on Facebook and Twitter. Write to Tim at tmorris@nola.com. Louisiana lawmakers are trying a new approach to determine how much the state will spend on Medicaid services each year, as the program has ballooned to more than one-third of the state's budget and added hundreds of thousands of people during the Major parties divide Gods between them to appease Hindu majority in UP. Lucknow: The 2019 battle in Uttar Pradesh, it seems, will be contested between Ram, Vishnu and Shiva. Issues like development, unemployment, poverty have taken a back seat and the three major political parties in the state have divided the Gods between them. The BJP will stick to Lord Ram, the Congress is pursuing Lord Shiva and the Samajwadi Party has developed a fascination for Lord Vishnu. The BJP is looking up to Lord Ram to take it to the winning post, once again, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP, after insisting that it will contest the general elections on the development plan, has already started pushing the Ram temple issue through its fringe organisation and the saint community. BJP MPs like Sakshi Maharaj claim that the construction of Ram temple will begin before 2019 and the saints like Dr. Ram Vilas Vedanti echo similar sentiments. The idea is to keep the Ram temple issue alive in the minds of voters and use it to advantage at the time of elections. BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi said, For the BJP, Ram temple is a matter of commitment and faith and not of politics or elections. It is interesting to find that parties that accused of being communal are now following the same temple path. They will stand exposed very soon. To counter the BJPs game plan, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has also started projecting himself as a Shiva Bhakt. After his Mansarovar y-atra, posters of Mr Gandhi showing him as a Shiva Bhakt have appeared in various districts of Uttar Pradesh. Mr Gandhi is determined to prove that he is a worshipper of Lord Shiva who will now be the focus of the soft Hindutva plank of the Congress in the upcoming elections. During his visit to Amethi this week, Mr Gandhi was felicitated by kanwariyas (Shiva devotees) and chants of Bam Bam Bhole rent the air at his meetings. Congress spokesman Surendra Rajput explai-ned that, This trend is fallout of the BJPs push to communal politics. If PM Modi can visit a mosque in Indore for the sake of votes, he should not point fingers at others who visit temples. As for the posters of Mr Gandhi, they have been put up by supporters and not by the Congress. The SP, which has always projected its minority friendly image, has also opted for a makeover. SP president Akhilesh Yadav recently announced that when he returned to power in the state, he would build a grand Vishnu temple complex on the pattern of Angkor Vat temple in Cambodia. He said that the proposed temple would be built on a 2,000 acre land near Etawah. Maharaj Chakrapani of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha said that parties that had followed the policy of minority appeas-ement for decades had now started realising that unless they reached out to the Hindu majority, they would be marginalised. This is a welcome sign, he said. Demoed at Lenovo's Tech World event, the foldable phone prototype seems to be very similar to what Samsung could be releasing in November. it has a hinge system in the middle of the display and several segments that facilitate the folding angle. the device is quite responsive, but Lenovo still has to rectify a few issues for the final versions. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Human 2.0 , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Most Chinese smartphone makers are doubling their efforts to release foldable phones by the end of 2018. Even Samsung arguably ignored the Galaxy Note 9 in favor of the upcoming Galaxy X foldable phone that is supposed to be unveiled this November. Lenovo is also considering a possible foldable phone launch in the coming months, and, to prove that it has the technology figured out, the company demoed a working prototype at this years Lenovo Tech World event. Twitter user bang_gogo_ posted a short video showing the prototype in action, and it looks like Lenovo is going to implement something similar to Samsungs design. The middle-right side of the display presents a darkened spot, and this is most likely the area where the hinge comes in contact with the display. As this is an early prototype, this issue will hopefully not be present in the final products. While the latest smartphone models are completely ditching any buttons at the bottom of the screen, Lenovos foldable prototype still integrates not one, but three shortcut buttons. Even though the tall display is said to be AMOLED-based, the blacks become washed-out when the folding is in full effect, so maybe Lenovo could improve this aspect for the final versions, as well. The Android interface and apps are responsive even when the display is folded, however, it is unclear if the display can fully fold. Other devices that could soon be launched by Lenovo may include a foldable laptop and a new foldable version of the well-known Motorola RAZR. Robert Vadra described the situation as a wholesale farce. New Delhi: Robert Vadra the son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday broke his silence on the charges of corruption leveled against him by the BJP and said the ruling party had been indulging in a baseless political witch-hunt against him for the last four years. The BJP had on Monday alleged that the UPA government had scrapped the Rafale deal because the French firm declined to choose the firm of Mr Vadras arms-dealer friend Sanjay Bhandari as its offset partner. The BJP spokesperson alleged that Mr Vadra and Mr Bhandari were close friends and had shared business interests and claimed the UPA government had wanted the two as middlemen in the Rafale deal with Dassault Aviation. In a Facebook post Mr Vadra said that the ruling party rakes up his name every time it is cornered and this time it stands exposed on the Rafale issue. He described the situation as a wholesale farce. He further added Having all the agencies under their beck and call. No one knows better than the present government and the BJP that they have indulged in a baseless political witch hunt against me for the last 4 years. Instead they should man up with their 56 inch chests and tell the nation the truth about the Rafale deal, rather than hiding behind a bunch of lies that the people are fed up of hearing them repeat. After the former French President Francois Holla-nde claimed that the Indian government chose the Indian partner for the Rafale deal a political slugfest has broken out between the BJP and the Congress. Intensifying the attack on the PM Modi, the Congress president Rahul Gandhi demanded that Mr. Modi should clarify his position on the matter. The party has also demanded a JPC to look into the Rafale fighter jet deal Roseburg, OR (97470) Today Cloudy this evening then becoming foggy and damp after midnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Cloudy this evening then becoming foggy and damp after midnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Viewed of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Mills in Uttar Pradesh owe the maximum at Rs 9,817 crore to cane farmers. The total package is of Rs 5,538 crore, of which Rs 1,375 crore pertains to transport subsidy to millers and the remaining amount will be credited directly to sugarcane growers as production assistance. New Delhi: In a major relief to sugarcane growers and mill owners, the Centre on Wednesday approved a Rs 5,500 crore package for the sugar industry that includes over two-fold jump in production assistance to growers and transport subsidy to mills for export up to 5 million tonnes in the marketing year 2018-19. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the food ministrys proposal that seeks to address the surplus domestic stock of sugar and help mills in clearing huge cane arrears of around Rs 13,000 crore. The CCEA approved the total assistance of Rs 5,500 crore to support the sugar sector by wake of offsetting cost of cane and to facilitate export of sugar from the country, thereby improving liquidity of the industry enabling them to clear cane price arrears of farmers, official sources said. The total package is of Rs 5,538 crore, of which Rs 1,375 crore pertains to transport subsidy to millers and the remaining amount will be credited directly to sugarcane growers as production assistance. With Assembly elections due in some states and upcoming general polls in mid-2019, the government wants to address cane growers payment issue. This is the second financial package to bail out the sugar industry after Rs 8,500 crore announced in June. The industry is facing a glut-like situation because of record production of 32 million tonnes in the 2017-18 marketing year (October-Septe-mber), resulting in a closing stock of 10 million tonnes at the end of this month. Under its Comprehensive policy to deal with excess sugar production in the country, the CCEA approved increase in the production assistance paid to growers to Rs 13.88 per quintal for the 2018-19 marketing year from Rs 5.50 per quintal this year in order to offset the cost of sugarcane to sugar mills. With low global prices, the CCEA also approved export of 5 million tonnes of sugar under the Minimum Indicative Export Quota during 2018-19 by compensating expenses towards internal transport, freight, handling and other charges. The cabinet approved giving transport subsidy of Rs 1,000 per tonne for the mills located within 100 km from ports, Rs 2,500 per tonne for mills located beyond 100 km from the port and Rs 3,000 tonnes per tonne for mill located in other than coastal states. Like in the current year, the production assistance will directly be credited into the sugarcane farmers account on behalf of the mills as part of the government's measures to clear more than Rs 13,500-crore in arrears sugar mills have towards farmers. Sources had earlier said the government will have to bear about Rs 4,500 crore on account of these measures to help sugar mills and cane farmers. These steps will enable mills to boost sugar exports and clear cane arrears, which currently stand at Rs 13,567 crore. Mills in Uttar Pradesh owe the maximum at Rs 9,817 crore to cane farmers. Indias sugar output is set to increase further to 35 million tonnes in the next marketing year from 32 million tonnes in 2017-18. The annual domestic demand stands at 26 million tonnes. The government has taken a slew of measures to bail out sugar mills as well as cane farmers in the last one year. First, it doubled the import duty on sugar to 100 per cent and then scrapped the export duty on it. It also made it compulsory for millers to export two million tonnes of sugar even as global prices were low. In June, the government had announced a Rs 8,500-crore package for the industry, which included soft loans of Rs 4,440 crore to mills for creating ethanol capacity. It will bear an interest subvention of Rs 1,332 crore for this. According to sources, searches were also conducted at residence of Sebastian Harry. Revanth Reddy had earlier said that he was being targeted by the ruling parties and subjected to harassment. (Photo: File) Hyderabad: The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted searches at the residences of Telangana Congress Working president A Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad and at Kodangal in Vikarabad district. According to sources, searches were also conducted at the residence of Sebastian Harry who was an accused along with Revanth Reddy in a case related to bribing a nominated MLA to seek vote in favour of a Telugu Desam nominee in the Legislative Council elections in June 2015. The Congress party condemned the raids and termed it as "political vendetta" by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the state and the BJP at the centre, but both the TRS and BJP denied the charge and said they had nothing to do with the I-T Department's actions. A senior official of the I-T Department said the raids were aimed at an infrastructure company belonging to Revanth Reddy's relatives. Sources close to the development said searches were conducted at about a dozen places including those belonging to the relatives of the Congress leader at various locations in the city. Revanth Reddy, who was appointed as one of the two working presidents of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee recently, had earlier said that he was being targeted by the ruling parties and subjected to harassment. Jubilee Hills police inspector P Chandra Shekar told news agency PTI that they deployed police force near the Congress leader's residence "to avoid any untoward incident". Revanth Reddy was away from home when the sleuths knocked at his Jubilee Hills residence. He was said to be touring his constituency kicking off the election campaign. Describing the I-T searches as "politically motivated", TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the TRS and BJP were hand in glove. IT & ED raids at @INCTelangana Working President @revanth_anumulas house is pure political vendetta to demoralise our strong MLAs. The people will teach KCR a lesson for being hand in glove with BJP and Central govt. I severely condemn these politically motivated raids. Uttam Kumar Reddy (@UttamTPCC) September 27, 2018 On May 31, 2015, Revanth Reddy, then in Telugu Desam Party, was caught by Anti-Corruption Bureau while allegedly paying a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in Legislative Council elections held on June 1, 2015. Later all the accused were granted bail. "First it was @JaggaReddyT & now @revanthanumula, this is a clear sign of KCRs cowardice. He has no capacity to take on any of our leaders & hence resorts to these back-door moves. "@INCTelangana will be united in its fight to rid Telangana soon of his autocratic & whimsical rule," the TPCC president said in another tweet. The city police had earlier issued notice to the Congress leader seeking his appearance as part of investigations in a case relating to alleged irregularities committed by office-bearers of a Co-operative Housing Society in 2004. Speaking to reporters, Uttam Kumar Reddy dared the Income Tax department to conduct searches at Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. "I dare Income tax officials. If you want money, go and conduct searches at Pragati Bhavan. You will get hundreds of crores. The ruling party is trying to oppress the opposition voice. At the time of elections they are resorting to such measures. These acts would not deter us from fighting against the TRS," he said. The TRS denied the Congress party's allegations and distanced itself from the development. "He (Revanth Reddy) himself was claiming that there will be raids against him. The searches are nothing to do with our (TRS) government. They are trying to provoke public with their statements," TRS MLC Sudhakar Reddy said. Former BJP MLA Kishan Reddy said his party has nothing to do with the raids and condemned the remarks made by the Congress leaders that the BJP was behind them. Sources told this newspaper that the Saarc foreign ministers meeting was on schedule. New Delhi: Even though India had last week called off a scheduled bilateral meeting between external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the two foreign ministers are nevertheless expected to be part of a multilateral Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) foreign ministers meeting in New York on Thursday. Sources told this newspaper that the Saarc foreign ministers meeting was on schedule. India had last Friday called off the scheduled bilateral meeting between Ms. Swaraj and Mr. Qureshi citing the latest brutal killings of our security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the recent release of a series of twenty postage stamps by Pakistan glorifying a (slain) terrorist (Burhan Wani) and terrorism. Nevertheless, the Saarc meeting provides a forum for the two foreign ministers along with foreign ministers of the other Saarc countries-Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Maldives-to at least discuss multilateral south Asian issues as part of Saarc. Saarc has virtually been in cold storage due to Indo-Pak tensions. It may also be recalled that the 19th Saarc Summit, which was scheduled to have been held in Islamabad in 2016, was indefinitely postponed after India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan among others pulled out of the event. India had then cited cross-border terrorism as the reason for pulling out of the summit after the Pathankot and Uri terror attacks. However, Pakistan remains extremely keen on resumption of the Saarc process and for the next SAARC summit to be held in its capital. Huddled under umbrellas outside a suburban Philadelphia courthouse on Tuesday, a group of women embraced. They laughed and cried in the rain as the news sunk in: Inside, Bill Cosby, whom they had all accused of sexual assault, was just sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, punishment for violating one woman, Andrea Constand. Across the country, many more women joined in that victory, a win for a movement that began with a hashtag and trickled up to real consequences in the highest halls of culture and power. It was for them proof that the slings and arrows that women have endured for eons are now weaponized to not just topple, but to convict culpable men at the apex of their game. This is a milestone because somebody finally got justice, said Rocky Pierson, 22, a podcaster from St. Paul. We look at people who have such a high profile as untouchable, she said. This chips away at that. Some of the dozen artists here are familiar to New York audiences; the abstract painter V. S. Gaitonde, for one, had a small retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in 2015, while the artists M. F. Husain and Tyeb Mehta now command million-dollar amounts on the auction blocks of London and New York. Others are little-known in the United States, and this is the first American show in more than three decades to examine the Progressives entire collective postwar output, as well as their later, independent careers. The Progressives were founded in 1947, a few months after Indias declaration of independence and its partition, and in their manifesto they castigated the academic style taught at British art colleges, vowing to create a new art for a newly free India. They favored bold, fractured depictions of bodies rather than the elegance of the earlier Bengal School, making use of hot color and melding folk traditions with high art. Sometime after he doubted the character of George Washington (Didnt he have a couple things in his past?), urged a wire-service reporter to ask a tough question (Give it to me, Reuters!) and referred to a Kurdish correspondent as Mr. Kurd, President Trump paused to directly address the dozens of journalists who had gathered for a rare solo news conference. Can you imagine, he said, if you didnt have me? Mr. Trump denounces news organizations as the enemy of the people. His supporters turned fake news into a political rallying cry. And the daily White House press briefing is all but a thing of the past. But in 80 minutes on Wednesday, Mr. Trump made clear that he is never more comfortable, never more engaged, than when he is sparring with the news media that he loves to say he hates. Back on his native turf a hotel ballroom in Midtown Manhattan, five blocks from Trump Tower the president strolled onto the stage like a prizefighter eager for the opening bell. An hour later, his enjoyment of the occasion had only increased. President Trumps pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, is facing sexual assault allegations by multiple women. Here are the accusations and how Kavanaugh has responded. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford said Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party in high school. According to her, he was drunk when he pushed her into a bedroom, started grinding his body against hers and tried to undress her. She said he tried to muffle her screams by covering her mouth with his hand. In an interview with Fox News, Kavanaugh responded. Ive never sexually assaulted anyone, not in in high school, not ever. The second accuser is Deborah Ramirez. She and Kavanaugh were both students at Yale when, she said, he exposed himself to her. Ramirez said he held his penis near her face during a drinking game in a dorm room. When she pushed him away, she said, she accidentally touched it and saw Kavanaugh laughing and pulling up his pants. Kavanaugh reacted to the allegations, saying: I never did any such thing. Never did any such thing. The third accuser is Julie Swetnik. She said she met Kavanaugh on several occasions at house parties between 1981 and 1983. At these parties, Swetnik said, she saw a drunk Kavanaugh participate in a range of aggressive behaviors toward women: from pressing and grinding his body on them to trying to remove their clothes. She also alleges that Kavanaugh was there when what she described as gang rapes took place. Swetnik says she was raped by a group of men at one of these parties in 1982. Swetnik is also the first accuser to give an on-camera interview to the media. She spoke to Showtime on Sept. 26: This is something that occurred a long time ago and its not that I just thought about it. Its been on my mind ever since the occurrences. In a statement released by the White House, Kavanaugh called the accusations ridiculous and from The Twilight Zone and said it never happened. A fourth anonymous accusation was made in a letter sent to Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado. The author of the letter says her daughter saw a drunk Kavanaugh aggressively push a woman he was dating against a wall outside a bar in 1998. Kavanaughs response: This is crazytown. Its a smear campaign. Once you learn to spot himpathy, it becomes difficult not to see it everywhere: in men such as the former editor of The New York Review of Books Ian Buruma, who published a self-indulgent essay by a former Canadian talk-show host accused of sexual assault and harassment by more than 20 women; in women like the five Republicans whom CNN convened recently to voice support for Judge Kavanaugh (Tell me, what boy hasnt done this in high school? asked one, shrugging himpathetically). But were in a moment during which himpathy is so thoroughly on display, in such a public way, that the time is ripe to push for a mass moral reckoning. What the Kavanaugh case has revealed this week is that himpathy can, at its most extreme, become full-blown gendered sociopathy: a pathological moral tendency to feel sorry exclusively for the alleged male perpetrator it was too long ago; he was just a boy; it was a case of mistaken identity while relentlessly casting suspicion upon the female accusers. It also reveals the far-ranging repercussions of this worldview: Its no coincidence that many of those who himpathize with Judge Kavanaugh to the exclusion of Dr. Blasey are also avid abortion opponents, a position that requires a refusal to empathize with girls and women facing an unwanted pregnancy. What makes himpathy so difficult to counter is that the mechanisms underlying it are partly moral in nature: Sympathy and empathy are pro-social moral emotions, which makes it especially hard to convince people that when they skew toward the powerful and against the vulnerable, they become a source of systemic injustice. So, for those for whom himpathy is a mental habit prompted by biased social forces, and not an entrenched moral outlook, the first step to solving the problem is simply learning to recognize when its at work, and to be wary of its biasing influence. The second step to solving the problem of himpathy is listening to girls and women. Do you wonder why someone might not come forward to report sexual assault as an adolescent girl? Listen to Dr. Blasey, who told The Washington Post that at the time she was terrified that she would be in trouble if her parents realized she had been at a party where teenagers were drinking. She recalled thinking: Im not ever telling anyone this. This is nothing, it didnt happen, and he didnt rape me. It wasnt until years later, with the help of a therapist, that she emerged from this denial and recognized the episode as traumatic. In other words, like many women, Dr. Blasey needed a long time to break a silence born out of societys entrenched deference to privileged men. Its a deference that Mr. Trump and Judge Kavanaughs other supporters are now demonstrating vividly. Kate Manne is an assistant professor of philosophy at Cornell and the author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. Trailed by the Russia investigation, back-stabbing within his administration, looming midterm elections and Judge Brett Kavanaughs troubled nomination, President Trump arrived this week in New York distracted and under siege. At first blush, Mr. Trumps second appearance at the United Nations General Assembly may have seemed like more self-congratulatory bluster, nationalist isolationism and rote genuflection to the altar of sovereignty much like last year. But this time, Americans suffered the added humiliation of watching the world burst out laughing at their president, whose false bravado no longer induces shock but invites derision. Given this drama, its easy to mistake Mr. Trumps visit for a mash-up of meetings and muddled messages. But careful observers should not be diverted from discerning the presidents real purpose at the United Nations, because it is ominous. On four critical policy fronts, President Trump foreshadowed his intention to ignore our greatest threats and to stoke fresh conflict where it is neither necessary nor wise. More telling than his rabidly ideological speech to the General Assembly was the presidents more substantive remarks before the Security Council on Wednesday. And by now we have ample reason to conclude that Mr. Trump generally means what he says and (eventually) does much of what he threatens. First, President Trump doubled down on his determination to exonerate Russia and minimize the serious threat that it poses to us and our allies. In a Security Council session devoted to the preventing the proliferation of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, Mr. Trump ignored Russias recent attack with a deadly nerve agent that severely sickened four people in Britain and may have killed one other. He neglected to name Russia as the principal violator of United Nations sanctions on North Korea. And he failed to condemn Russias repeated lies to cover for Syrias use of chemical weapons. In 1962, the renowned epidemiologist George Comstock had a realization that would help rid modern America of one of the worlds enduring scourges. Despite the advent of antibiotics, tuberculosis had remained endemic in parts of the country. Those miracle drugs were good at curing individual cases of TB, but people could pass the disease on to others long before they developed obvious symptoms, received proper diagnoses or were effectively cured. But when Mr. Comstock looked at data from rural Alaska, where 30 percent of adults were still infected with the disease nearly a decade after a cure became widely available, he saw a path forward: Antibiotics could eradicate tuberculosis, but only if they were given to people before they became contagious. In other words, doctors couldnt just treat the people who were visibly sick. They would have to test all of the people that person came into contact with, and treat the ones who tested positive even if they didnt have symptoms yet. That way, the bacteria that caused the disease would be killed before it had a chance to spread. In richer countries like the United States, Britain and Canada, that strategy has long since become a norm of public health. Its helped eradicate TB from all but the poorest quarters and, in some cases, even from there. And its kept some serious outbreaks from becoming epidemics. In poor countries, though, the approach has been deemed impractical. Tracking down all of a given patients contacts is difficult in the best of circumstances, the thinking goes, and resources are scarce enough that giving drugs to people who are not yet sick sounds extravagant. And so, tuberculosis remains the worlds leading infectious disease killer, by far. It infects some 10 million people around the world every year, killing roughly 1.5 million . Thats some 4,000 deaths per day. By comparison, Ebola killed four people in 2017. Americas opioid epidemic kills about 115 people a day. Judge Kavanaugh will be subject to penalty of perjury on Thursday, just as Dr. Blasey will be. But proving in the future that he lied is harder than saying, We dont think he should be on the Supreme Court. Are there Democrats who may vote for Judge Kavanaugh? About two weeks ago, there were probably four or five Democrats in red states won by President Trump who were considered possible votes for Judge Kavanaugh by the White House senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. But those senators are now seen to have a freer hand to vote against Judge Kavanaugh. Theyre no longer as worried about the political ramifications of their votes in these Trump-friendly states because the allegations of sexual misconduct give them a reason to do so that they think would pass muster with their constituency. If Judge Kavanaugh is rejected, what happens? President Trump would come forward with another nominee. He had three other finalists before selecting Judge Kavanaugh in July. Mr. Trump could go back to one of those three or choose somebody else. But it seems very unlikely that the Trump administration could get another nominee vetted and confirmed before the November midterms. What will happen at the hearing on Thursday? It starts at 10 a.m., and The Times will be live-streaming it on our site. Well also have a live briefing with commentary by our reporters telling you whats important and whats not. Heres how the hearing will play out: Dr. Blasey will have a chance to make an opening statement, and the senators who lead the committee Senator Chuck Grassley, the committee chairman, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat will then make their opening statements. The Republicans then plan to hand over their time each senator has five minutes to Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor whom theyve hired to question Dr. Blasey. The questions will rotate back and forth with Democratic senators, who plan to question her themselves. And after lunch Judge Kavanaugh will come in and be questioned as well. He will also have an opportunity to respond to the allegations. Justice Chandrachud said earlier view can't be regarded as 'correct expositio of constitutional position. in August last year, Justice DY Chandrachud had overruled another of his father's judgement while delivering the verdict on the issue of privacy. (Photo: File) New Delhi: It was the second time that Justice D Y Chandrachud overruled the verdict of his father, Chief Justice of India Y V Chandrachud, as he gave his order on the issue of adultery on Thursday. The son had done it in August last year too when he had overruled another of his father's judgement while delivering the verdict on the issue of privacy. Thirty-three years after his father, the then Chief Justice, had upheld the validity of adultery law, Justice D Y Chandrachud overruled it on Thursday saying the earlier view cannot be regarded as "correct exposition" of the constitutional position. In his historic judgement of August last year declaring privacy as a fundamental right, he had termed as "seriously flawed" the 1976 verdict in the famous ADM Jabalpur case in which his father was part of the majority judgement by a five-judge constitution bench. In the ADM Jabalpur case, the five-judge bench by a majority verdict of 4:1, had arrived at the conclusion that Article 21 is the sole repository of all rights to life and personal liberty and when suspended, takes away those rights altogether. On Thursday, in his verdict striking down section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with the offence of adultery, Justice D Y Chandrachud "overuled" his father's 1985 judgement on the same subject. Also Read: Husband not master of woman: SC strikes down Adultery law The May 27, 1985 judgement by a three-judge bench in Sowmithri Vishnu versus Union of India was penned by then CJI Y V Chandrachud who had dismissed the petition challenging the validity of section 497 of the India Penal Code, which dealt with the offence of adultery. "It is better, from the point of view of the interests of the society, that at least a limited class of adulterous relationship is punishable by law. Stability of marriages is not an ideal to be scorned," the then CJI had said. However, his son on Thursday said the decision in Sowmithri Vishnu case dealt with "constitutional challenge by approaching the discourse on the denial of equality in formal, and rather narrow terms". "'Sowmithri Vishnu' fails to deal with the substantive aspects of constitutional jurisprudence which have a bearing on the validity of section 497: the guarantee of equality as a real protection against arbitrariness, the guarantee of life and personal liberty as an essential recognition of dignity, autonomy and privacy and above all gender equality as a cornerstone of a truly equal society," he said. Besides Justice D Y Chandrachud, other members of the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra overruled the Sowmithri Vishnu verdict. Googles week in Washington comes three weeks after executives from Twitter and Facebook testified in a Senate hearing dedicated to Russian disinformation on social media. Jack Dorsey, Twitters chief executive, also spoke at a House hearing about claims of anti-conservative bias at Twitter. Google executives did not attend the Senate hearing, though they were invited. The company offered to send Kent Walker, a senior vice president for global affairs who is also the companys top lawyer. But urged on by Facebook officials, according to two people familiar with the matter, senators insisted on a more powerful executive. Google refused. It was the worst business decision of 2018, said Scott Galloway, a founder of the business research firm Gartner L2 and a professor of marketing at New York University Stern School of Business. It feels like the tide has turned substantially, Mr. Galloway said. Theyve sort of poked the bear. A Google spokeswoman said officials from the company had testified before Congress 22 times since 2008. Were happy to continue explaining our products and practices, Becca Rutkoff, the Google spokeswoman, said in a statement. For longtime Google critics and even some of its Silicon Valley peers, it is surprising that Google has avoided the spotlight for so long. It has 90 percent of the global search market a share so high that it has for years had to sidestep concerns that it is a dominant monopoly that needs to be regulated. Competitors have long claimed that Google is using its search dominance to advantage its own services and should be controlled by antitrust laws. The Google-owned YouTube video service is also dominant, and has for several years faced questions about videos that show terrorist violence and disinformation, similar to issues that Facebook and Twitter have had to address in congressional hearings. On a summer night in Anchorage seven years ago, law enforcement officials say, Gerardo Adan Cazarez Valenzuela arrived at a KeyBank. He had no problem getting in. He worked there. He also had no problem getting into its vault. He was the banks cash vault services manager. And so, the authorities say, Mr. Cazarez dressed in a sharp red shirt and black suit strolled right on in with a rolling cart and three big boxes. He turned out the light and, under the cover of darkness, began filling the boxes with cash, prosecutors say. By the time he was finished, they say, he had taken about $4.3 million. Then he left the bank. The whole thing took about 20 minutes. Mr. Cazarez managed to take the money and run (at least figuratively there was a lot of driving and some flying involved, too) all the way to Mexico, where he was quickly detained, charged, convicted and eventually jailed for money laundering, smuggling and other charges. Claim: Ms. Ramirez has ties to the liberal megadonor George Soros. Verdict: False. This week, two distinct but equally false rumors spread about links between Judge Kavanaughs accusers and George Soros, the liberal billionaire and Democratic megadonor. (Mr. Soros makes frequent appearances in internet conspiracy theories.) The first claim was that Ms. Ramirez, who lives in Colorado, had received a fellowship in 2013 from the Open Society Foundations, a philanthropic organization started by Mr. Soros. In fact, a different Deborah Ramirez a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston received a grant from the organization. The false claim began to pick up steam on conservative social media on Monday morning. John Fund, a columnist for National Review, tweeted that the irony of this is just too great. Mr. Fund subsequently apologized and issued a correction on Twitter. President Trump complained on Wednesday that evil people, including women in search of fame and fortune, routinely fabricate sexual assault charges against powerful men, and argued that his own experience with such allegations makes him more skeptical of the accusations threatening to bring down Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, his nominee for the Supreme Court. In a remarkable and rambling 83-minute news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Trump was by turns combative, humorous and boastful. He defended Judge Kavanaugh and railed against what he called the big, fat con job that he said Democrats were perpetrating to derail the nomination, even as he suggested he could still jettison his pick depending on the outcome of a high-profile hearing on Thursday. Here are five takeaways from the extraordinary exchange: The president identifies with a man accused of sexual assault, again. Mr. Trump stopped short of branding the three women accusing Judge Kavanaugh of sexual assault or misconduct as liars, although he did say his nominee faced false accusations. He said he was eager to hear the testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by Christine Blasey Ford, who has said Judge Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party in the 1980s when both were in high school. But the president made it clear that he believed his nominee and considered the allegations against the judge as part of a smear campaign hatched by Democrats, not credible charges. In doing so, Mr. Trump, as he has many times in the past, sided with a man accused of sexual misconduct rather than the women making those claims. And he made clear that his penchant for doing so is rooted in being accused of sexual assault himself he says falsely and his anger at having to contend with such allegations. As Christine Blasey Ford testified Thursday in the Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaughs confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, she was guided through her initial questioning, on behalf of Republican members, by a veteran Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell. Though Ms. Mitchells cross-examinations might typically be expected to target suspects, her questioning in the first part of the hearing on Thursday low-key, patient, but persistent probed the details of an accusers account, looking for conflicting or missing details. How did Dr. Blasey get home from the party where she said Judge Kavanaugh had assaulted her? Why did she say she had heard conversation downstairs, then say she did not? What communication has she had with people she said were at the party, but who claim not to remember it? Who paid for her polygraph test? Next, though, she turned to Judge Kavanaugh, with questions that seemed aimed at eliminating any possibility of ambivalence in his account. Had he ever drunk so much that he blacked out, or woke up without some of his clothing? Had he ever at any time engaged in sexual behavior with Dr. Blasey, even if it was consensual? What about those changes on his calendar from 1982? An estimated 383,000 people have died as a result of South Sudans civil war, according to a new report that documents the extraordinary scale of devastation after five years of fighting in the worlds youngest country. The report, published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and financed by the State Department, revealed that about half of the dead were killed in fighting between ethnic rivals as it spread across the country, and the other half died from disease, hunger and other causes exacerbated by the conflict. The number far surpasses earlier estimates from the United Nations and brings into focus the tragedy of a conflict that has received little global attention. The researchers behind the report hope it will be instrumental in understanding the conflict and strengthening humanitarian responses. President Trump said Wednesday that he has years to reach an agreement with North Korea to rid the country of nuclear weapons, reversing the position he took a year ago that Pyongyang had to disarm rapidly. I dont want to get into the time game, he said at a news conference late in the day, after serving as chairman of a United Nations Security Council meeting on nuclear proliferation. I got all the time in the world, Mr. Trump said. I dont have to rush it. Mr. Trumps statement came despite satellite photographs and other evidence that have led American intelligence agencies to conclude that North Korea continues to produce nuclear fuel and fabricate it into weapons. American officials estimate that the country now has between 20 and 60 nuclear weapons, and the number may be rising. But Mr. Trump argued that the halt in nuclear and missile testing by North Korea and a series of private letters exchanged with Kim Jong-un, the countrys leader had taken the urgency out of the disarmament issue. BERLIN Efforts by Jews to form their own group within a far-right German political party have been met with criticism from the countrys leading Jewish organizations. The move among members of the group, the Jewish Alternative for Germany, comes amid a spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the country. With some of the attacks coming from Muslims, some Jews have thrown in their lot with the party, known as AfD. The AfD is the only party in Germany that focuses on Muslims hatred for Jews, without playing it down, Dimitri Schulz, who is Jewish and joined the organization in 2014, said in a policy statement defining the new groups purpose. Many of the countrys traditional Jewish organizations are critical of any alliance with the party. They point to its embrace of nationalist and populist positions and a push by several prominent members to abandon Germanys culture of remembrance and atonement for its Nazi past. Ezra Chowaiki was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Manhattan to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for defrauding art dealers and collectors of millions of dollars. He was also ordered to give up his interest in more than 20 works of art involved in the fraud, including pieces by Picasso and Alexander Calder. He will have to pay restitution in an amount that will be determined in 90 days. As the owner of a now-closed Manhattan art gallery, Chowaiki & Co., Mr. Chowaiki made a series of fraudulent deals to buy and sell artwork from 2015 to 2017. During this period, he transferred more than $16 million of artwork under false pretenses. He sold clients artwork without authorization, and he took clients money for the purchase of artwork he never purchased, Geoffrey S. Berman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement released after the sentence was passed. Judge Jed S. Rakoff presided. Mr. Chowaikis six victims include art collectors in New York, Toronto and Pennsylvania, as well as a company managed by an art dealer who does business in Tokyo. Location, location, location. In real estate, place determines value. Sometimes it can for art too. El Museo del Barrio originated in 1969 in classrooms, storefronts and a repurposed fire station in what was then the predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood of East Harlem. The museum was a product of pride and necessity. In local public schools, young artist-activists, often working free, taught children the virtues of cultural self-expression and communal self-sufficiency. And they taught from experience. At the time, no mainstream art institution in the city would show their art. They needed a museum of their own and, collectively, they created one. In 1977, El Museo del Barrio moved to its present address in a city-owned building on Fifth Avenue at 104th Street. The relocation gave the institution more space and greater visibility. But it also took it physically out of the heart of the Barrio, and set the stage for a potential change of character. A territorial tug of war began between supporters who wanted the institution to remain community-identified, and others who were pushing it to become a broadband showcase for Latino and Latin-American art. The tension has stayed high since, and in the past few years, turned ugly. After the museums first non-Puerto Rican director, Julian Zugazagoitia, left in 2010, his successor, Margarita Aguilar, was fired just 18 months after her appointment. Ms. Aguilars successor, Jorge Daniel Veneciano, abruptly quit as executive director after two years. Now a new director, Patrick Charpenel, formerly of the contemporary Museo Jumex in Mexico City, is in place. Singh also asked Congress leaders to advise Gandhi against using 'derogatory' language to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In apparent reference to Pakistani leaders targeting PM Modi over Rafale issue, Rajnath Singh said, 'You know the truth but knowingly or unknowingly you are talking in support of Pakistan.' (Photo: File | PTI) Kochi: Rahul Gandhi will end up being "Ra-fail" in his endeavour to "mislead" people on the Rafale deal, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday as he took a swipe at the Congress president amid the raging political storm over the purchase of the fighter jets. He also asked Congress leaders to advise Gandhi against using "derogatory" language to target the prime minister, an apparent reference to the main opposition party chief's "chor" (thief) jibe at Narendra Modi. "It is not Rafale...It is Ra-fail (Rahul-fail)...He will be a failure. Rahul Gandhi knows the truth about the Rafale deal but is trying to mislead the people on the issue," Singh told a meeting of the Kerala state council of the BJP. The meeting was called to ratify the appointment of P S Sreedharan Pillai as the party's new state chief. In an apparent reference to Pakistani leaders targeting PM Modi over the Rafale issue, Singh said, "You know the truth but knowingly or unknowingly you are talking in support of Pakistan." After New Delhi cancelled the meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly over the killing of policemen in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan's Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Hussain had said it was done to divert the attention from the Rafale "scandal". "We reject war mongering by ruling elite of India everyone know Indian Govt strategy is to use hate mongering against Pak basically to bail PM Modi from call for resignation post French jets Rafael deal and divert attention of Indian public from this mega corruption scandal," Hussain had tweeted. Pakistan's former interior minister Rehman Malik had also said Rahul Gandhi will be next Prime Minister of India if he followed "Jetgate" (Rafale deal) properly. "If you repeat a lie many times, people are bound to start believing it. That is what the opposition leaders are doing on the Rafale issue," Singh said. Without referring directly to Gandhi's "chor" barb, Singh said, "The Congress president is using derogatory remarks against the prime minister. Congress should advise its chief not to lower the dignity of his own postition with such remarks against the prime minister." The home minister spoke about pro-people programmes of the NDA government, and asserted Prime Minister Narendra Modi will steer the BJP back to power with a "thumping majority" in the 2019 elections. He also questioned the Kerala government's reluctance to join the 'Ayushman Bharat' health insurance scheme launched by Modi recently. "It is not named after Modi. US president Barack Obama had introduced a health insurance scheme for American people during his presidecy. It was called Obamacare. Here it is Ayushman Bharat. It is not Modicare," Singh said. The union minister said the health insurance scheme launched by the government was "Modi Kavach" (armour) for the poor who cannot afford expensive medical treatment. He also asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to put an end to political violence in Kerala and promised the Centre's full support in rebuilding the state after the devastating floods. Few truths about paint are more basic than this: it tends to go on wet, whether on canvas, furniture or buildings, and then it dries. Once dried, it can preserve a sense of its original fluidity to greatly varying degrees. In the postwar years it became a sure sign of modernity and freshness. Its dynamic, at times volcanic, like artistic genius is supposed to be, but it can also have a comedic, even ironic quality. It conveys immediacy, material reality, improvisation as well as flamboyance and glamour, savoir faire. Giving full voice to the liquidity of paint has gone in and out of style since it was liberated in the 1940s by the drip paintings of Jackson Pollock, Janet Sobel and Norman Lewis. In the mid-1950s, Helen Frankenthaler opened further possibilities. Working on the floor, she thinned her paint to the consistency of water, creating floods and eddies of color that soaked into the canvas. Her techniques established the Color Field School in the United States. The Japanese artists of the Gutai took wetness to fabulous excesses, making it a lavalike substance. Things turned ironic with Andy Warhols Oxidation series, achieved by the artist and others urinating on canvases painted with copper metallic paint. Sometime in the 1970s, Color Field fell out of favor and visibly liquid paint had a much a lower profile. You could say it flowed underground. But it never went away, and right now, seven shows in New York galleries give both its present and its recent past a new visibility. That Ms. Rachvelishvili was an outstanding Amneris was no shock. Her performances at the Met in recent years in Carmen (her 2011 debut), Il Trovatore and Prince Igor made her potential in this repertoire clear. But Ms. Netrebko, who started off as a lyric soprano, has been more of a surprise as shes moved into challenging bel canto repertory and weightier and more dramatic roles. This Aida proved yet again that she knows what she is doing. Ms. Netrebko seemed at once a young woman, in helpless love with the enemy, and a captive princess, indignant and agonized over what to do to help her people. All this came through in her great Act I aria, Ritorna vincitor, when Aida, having lent her voice to the throngs of Egyptians wishing Radames success in battle, is left alone to confront the bitterness of her dilemma: To pray for his safety is to curse her countrymen. At this stage of her career, Ms. Netrebkos voice abounds in richness, depth and dusky colorings. Yet there are still elements of the bloom and sweetness from her days as a lyric. In climactic outbursts, when she summoned all her smoldering power, Ms. Netrebko sent phrases slicing through the brassy orchestra and into the house. Yet in plaintive passages, the melting warmth of her tone and the supple way she shaped long lines held you in thrall. Her voice also retains aspects of the slightly cool, focused tone characteristic of the Russian style she was raised in. This distinguishes her Verdi and Puccini singing from the typical throbbing Italianate approach. On Wednesday, in O patria mia, Aidas wrenching Act III aria, Ms. Netrebko sang the musics plaintive, long-spun phrases with a subdued yet penetrating beauty that recalled the great Leontyne Price, who once owned this role. A tense and creepy journey into the heart of Manifest Destinys darkness, the opera Proving Up instructs us, teeth clenched, that the American dream eludes even especially those who give everything to gain it. Composed by Missy Mazzoli, with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, the brooding work had its New York premiere on Wednesday at the Miller Theater at Columbia University. While its well worth hearing, theres just one more performance, on Friday evening, and its nearly sold out. But this is hardly the last well be hearing from Ms. Mazzoli. Recently, the Metropolitan Opera announced that she and Jeanine Tesori would be the first female composers it would commission. (Its about time.) For Ms. Mazzoli, that means two new operas: a mainstage spectacle, likely based on the George Saunders novel Lincoln in the Bardo, and a chamber piece to be performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Proving Up is on a chamber scale: a running time of less than 90 minutes, an orchestra of about a dozen, seven people onstage, no chorus. It turns that intimacy into grim claustrophobia. Several flagship network shows return for their fall seasons. And stream the second season of the medieval sendup Norsemen. Whats on TV THE GOOD PLACE 8 p.m. on NBC. This critically beloved and constantly mutating sitcom returns for its third season on Thursday with yet another reset. Like Lost, Community and other brave shows before it, The Good Place will dive headlong into an alternative timeline, as the immortal architect Michael sends the shows bumbling core quartet back in time to when they were still alive, in hopes they will atone for their sins. But Eleanor (Kristen Bell) and the others remain clueless, venomous and in sore need of some guidance. The most refreshing thing about The Good Place, in an era of artistic bleakness, is its optimism about human nature, James Poniewozik wrote in his review in The New York Times in January. GREYS ANATOMY 8 p.m. on ABC. As Shonda Rhimes moves on to new frontiers like Netflix and Broadway, her original breakthrough show continues to hold down a coveted prime-time network slot and captivate viewers in its 15th season. (Ms. Rhimes has passed on the reins of the show and now takes a hands-off approach.) This Seattle-based medical drama ended last season with Teddys (Kim Raver) pregnancy reveal. In this seasons premiere, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) struggles to stay focused, while Jo (Camilla Luddington) and Alex (Justin Chambers) return from their honeymoon disappointed. The movement Traister spends most of the book analyzing is the one currently unfolding, the wave of female-led, progressive activism that began with Black Lives Matter, swelled after Trumps election and produced a major shift in the cultural consensus on sexual harassment through #MeToo. Traister analyzes media coverage of the election and the womens marches. She interviews Second Wave leaders, current politicians and activists, and a group of liberal suburban women whove just started pounding the pavement in Southern red states. She reviews the increased interest in feminism over the last 10 years, and describes a professional world in which, until 2016, women quietly hoped to overturn stereotypes and beat sexism by working hard and being charming (she counts herself among them). For such women decently compensated, largely white and benefiting in many respects from the status quo the election of Trump was a moment of bitter disillusionment leading perhaps to the first display of raw fury and political activism of their lives. For many women of color, and for many women who are immigrants, or poor, Trumps victory was both more directly threatening and less surprising. Among African-American women, theres been a long consistency of action, the Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams tells Traister. What youre seeing in the suburbs is now a version of that. The various coalitions that have formed since the election have occasionally been fractious, but even more so they have been energized and highly effective in organizing and turning out the vote for a historically high number of female Democratic Party candidates. The unprecedented, if cautious, sense of solidarity among women (long an elusive ideal in a population sharply divided by class and race) is almost as important a theme in the book as anger itself. [ Read this Opinion essay by Rebecca Traister on fury as a political weapon. ] The same could be said of Soraya Chemalys book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Womens Anger, a biting polemic that points to the pressures that women in sexist society face in common, even as those pressures are borne differently and unequally in different communities. Chemaly, a longtime writer and feminist activist, notes that girls and women are commonly socialized to suppress their anger, which is a shame because a ready arsenal of rage and invective comes in handy when youre the subordinated gender: By effectively severing anger from good womanhood, we choose to sever girls and women from the emotion that best protects us against danger and injustice. Image Despite its title, Chemalys book is not so much about anger as about all the disparities that might and should make women angry: disproportionate poverty, wage gaps, discrimination, harassment, condescension and perhaps above all the high rates of violence against women (domestic, sexual and otherwise) with which we have yet to fully reckon. Most of us learn to think that boys and men are the worlds risk takers, she writes, but that is only because we dont seriously address the risks women must take as they navigate boys and men. We take risks when we post our profiles on dating websites and meet up with strangers. We take risks when we cant pay for gyms (in lieu of exercising outside), taxis or car services, and other pricey safety measures. We take risks every time we get pregnant. We take risks when we report sexual harassment, assault and domestic violence. We take risks when we go to the police. We are experts at risk-taking. HONG KONG China began an audacious experiment four decades ago to inject free-market thinking into its rigid, Communist-controlled political system, beginning a process that would lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and create the worlds second-largest economy. And what better way to celebrate this accomplishment than with a bucket of fried chicken? Last week, KFC introduced an advertising campaign in mainland China celebrating 40 years of reform and opening up, the catchphrase that defined the era. A two-minute TV spot that aired on state television showed two Chinese celebrities traveling back in time by railway, seeing streets filled with bicycles and bamboo scaffolding. The actors are then jolted back into the present on a high-speed bullet train to sporting events that evoke the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and to young people using smartphones and cheering at pop music concerts. As the ad continues, it shows people carrying boxes and buckets of KFC, with one group of twentysomethings clinking chicken nuggets together as if toasting with champagne. Who would have thought that the past 40 years would bring so much change? one of the stars, the 44-year-old actor Huang Bo, says to Lu Han, a 28-year-old Chinese heartthrob. The TV spot concludes with a voice-over saluting Chinas 40th anniversary of economic reform and a cheer of Go, China! Get the DealBook newsletter to make sense of major business and policy headlines and the power-brokers who shape them. __________ Bitmain Technologies, a Chinese cryptocurrency company, confirmed on Thursday that it intends to go public in Hong Kong. Its a big test of whether stock investors want to jump aboard the crypto bandwagon, despite the volatility of digital currencies. Back story: Bitmain is one of the worlds biggest sellers of equipment used to mine cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. (A brief explainer: New digital currency tokens are created by computers solving complex equations.) Citing data from the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, Bitmain claimed in a regulatory filing to control nearly 75 percent of the worlds crypto-mining hardware market. Bitmains big break: Soaring interest in cryptocurrencies last year lifted the companys revenue to $2.5 billion, from $137.3 million in 2015, according to its regulatory filing. Its profit hit $701 million in 2017, up from $38.6 million in 2015. That growth alone is likely to draw interest from investors. The case is likely to send shock waves across corporate America and could lead to a re-evaluation of how companies use Twitter to communicate with the investing public. The S.E.C. said Mr. Musk knew or was reckless in not knowing that his statements were false or misleading. In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source, the S.E.C. said in its lawsuit. In a statement distributed by Tesla, Mr. Musk said: This unjustified action by the S.E.C. leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way. The S.E.C. approached the Tesla chief with an offer to settle the case, according to a person familiar with his thinking, but he refused to negotiate, adamant that he had done nothing wrong. A person briefed on the talks said they fell apart Thursday morning, setting the stage for the S.E.C. to vote on the action. Tesla itself was not named as a defendant. A Silicon Valley veteran who joined in founding the company 15 years ago, Mr. Musk is widely regarded by analysts and investors as the creative engine behind Tesla. It has become the most valuable American carmaker, with its stock worth more than $50 billion. Unlike that hearing, Thursdays drama on Capitol Hill was subject to instant analysis, dissected and framed in real time on social media. Judge Kavanaughs chances of confirmation seemed to fall and rise depending on the hour, as political reporters relayed tidbits from President Trumps inner circle. Brit Hume, the veteran Fox News anchor, compared the feeling to election night of 2016, a yo-yo of emotions for partisans on both sides. At its core was a story born of literature: two protagonists revisiting a fateful moment from decades ago. I am terrified, Dr. Blasey said at the start of her testimony; they were virtually the first words that the public had ever heard her say. Later came a Judge Kavanaugh who bore little resemblance to the milquetoast man on Fox News three nights earlier. Indignant and defiant, nostrils flaring, the judge unleashed a torrent of pain and grievance, at times unable to speak as he cried in front of a national audience. Producers had lined up the usual anchors and analysts to offer comment. But the emotions of the day were too raw to be captured by pundits alone. C-Span, the no-frills public affairs network, became a spontaneous town square for everyday Americans who lit up the channels phone lines, compelled to share deeply personal reactions to what they had seen. Im a 76-year-old woman who was sexually molested in the second grade; this brings back so much pain, said a woman who identified herself as Brenda of Valley Park, Mo., calling in after Dr. Blaseys opening statement. I have not brought this up for years until I heard this testimony, and it is just breaking my heart. A program intended to wipe away the student loans of qualifying public servants has rejected more than 99 percent of those who applied, according to a government audit that found that fragmented management and piecemeal operating instructions had contributed to the failure to forgive more debt. The Education Department said last week that 28,000 borrowers had submitted applications to have their debts canceled since the public service loan forgiveness program began accepting them a year ago. Only 96 were approved, the agency said. More than 70 percent were rejected for not meeting the eligibility requirements. Most of the rest had left necessary information out of their applications. In its report on Thursday, the Government Accountability Office said major administrative failings had left both the programs administrator and borrowers in a state of confusion about the programs rules. To get their remaining balances forgiven, applicants must spend at least a decade working for government agencies or certain types of nonprofit organizations; they also must make 120 qualifying monthly payments on their federal student loans. More than 1.2 million borrowers have sought to have their employment certified for eligibility in the program, the accountability office said. India had earlier over a request to Antigua for extradition of Choksi who had earlier obtained citizenship of the Caribbean nation. New Delhi: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to raise the issue-of Indias request for extradition of Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam-accused Mehul Choksi-with a minister in the Government of Antigua and Barbuda whom she is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting on Wednesday evening (New York time) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly there. India had earlier over a request to Antigua for extradition of Choksi who had earlier obtained citizenship of the Caribbean nation. Antigua is examining Indias request for extradition of Choksi, with New Delhi saying in August that an extradition arrangement already exists between the two countries as per the extradition acts of the two countries. The Indian governments position is that there is already an existing facility between India and Antigua that constitutes an extradition arrangement betwe-en India and Antigua and Barbuda under their (Antiguan) Extradition Act of 1993 which provides the legal basis for extraditing offenders from each others jurisdiction. On August 3, New Delhi had quietly issued a gazette notification that the provisions of the Extradition Act, 1962, shall apply with respect to Antigua and Barbuda with effect from 2001 i.e. when Antigua and Barbuda notified India as Designated Common-wealth Country under the provision of its own Extradition Act. This could enable New Delhi to seek extradition of Choksi from Antigua under this arrangement. As per Antiguas own Extradition Act of 1993, a fugitive may be extradited to a Designated Commonwealth Country or a State with which there are general or special arrangement or a bilateral treaty. Significantly, the Antigu-an Government way back in 2001 had then notified India as a designated Commonwealth country. Government sources had earlier said, The gazette notification on 3 August 2018 directs that the provisions of Extradition Act, 1962 shall apply with respect to Antigua and Barbuda. There is not a trace of soy sauce in the fried rice at Fan Fried Rice Bar. That would be cheating, said Paul Chen, the owner and chef of this tiny counter-service-only spot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Mr. Chen, who grew up in Taiwan, is no traditionalist. His compact menu includes a version of fried rice strewn with slab bacon and the spices off an everything bagel. But on the issue of soy sauce he is adamant: Its a coverup, an attempt to mask imperfections. His baseline fried rice, the double egg O.G., is a lovely unkempt heap. In the wrong hands, the grains could easily wind up brittle or in clumps, but here theyre notably fluffy, at the ideal midpoint between loose and clingy. The rice comes threaded with half-scrambled eggs and tastes cleanly of scallions, salt and white pepper, which brings an invisible, low-key heat. Not that long ago, Saumur Champigny was a wine most familiar to Americans as a staple red of Paris bistros, light, fruity and easy to gulp. That changed over the last 25 years primarily because of the brilliance of one estate, Clos Rougeard, which demonstrated that these wines, made of cabernet franc, could be as fine, complex, expressive and age-worthy as a top Bordeaux or Burgundy. Clos Rougeard is now a cult estate, with bottles costing hundreds of dollars, if you can find them. But the example of Clos Rougeard has inspired other producers to approach both their viticulture and their winemaking with utmost care and conscientiousness. The Brun Morgon comes from an area of sandy decomposed granite that is said to be similar to the soil of Corcellete, which perhaps accounts for the lightness and elegance of the wine. Mr. Brun also makes a wine from a particular plot on the Cote du Py, Javernieres, that is firmer and more forthrightly mineral, if you ever want to compare. The Lapierre Morgon comes from grapes grown in light granite soils, as near as I can tell, which also differentiates it from the Foillard. Lapierre makes another Morgon, Cuvee Camille, which is from a Cote du Py plot, but I have not tasted it. The vineyard sites are not the only variables. Winemaking techniques also can differ. All three producers work naturally, without overt manipulation or technological methods like thermovinification, in which some producers of mass-market Beaujolais heat the wine to 140 degrees or so to stabilize the wine, essentially pasteurizing it. The Foillard and Lapierre are both made by the most common method among small producers in Beaujolais today, using semi-carbonic fermentation, a process in which whole bunches of grapes, stems and all, are piled into large vats. The bunches on top crush those on the bottom, producing juice that starts to ferment, emitting carbon dioxide. The gas rises and initiates a different, intracellular fermentation without yeast among the bunches higher up. Eventually, after a certain number of days, the grapes are crushed and the fermentation is completed in the conventional manner, as yeast consumes the remaining sugar. This method is said to account for the light, fresh, aromatic character of Beaujolais. But a small group of Beaujolais producers, including Mr. Brun, prefer to avoid the semi-carbonic method. Mr. Brun destems the grapes and ferments them simply with the indigenous yeast, often referred to in Beaujolais as the Burgundian style. Its often said that Beaujolais made in this manner requires more aging than wines made semi-carbonically, but Mr. Brun believes the opposite: that his wines are easier to drink sooner than those made semi-carbonically. PARIS Anouk Viale did not like the plungers protruding from her breasts. Yes, she was supposed to be a Carmen Miranda version of a charwoman, with a blue plastic bucket filled with sponges, toilet scrubbers and yellow rubber gloves held tightly onto her head by a durag. And, yes, she was wearing a lime green body suit. And shimmering sapphire leggings. And black peep-toe platforms. But plunger pasties were simply too much, she told the French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier. It was difficult to move with those pale wooden poles sticking out this way and that, Ms. Viale shouted from the stage, cupping the rubber suckers with her hands as she protested. Try, Mr. Gaultier pleaded from his perch at the control panel in the center of the theater. PARIS Anyone curious about where Roger Vivier, the well-known French shoe brand, may be headed in the hands of its new designer, Gherardo Felloni, might want to check out the creative directors own flair for accessorizing. Not necessarily the shoes. Necklaces are his obsession. Over the past 15 years or so, ever since he landed his first job as an intern at Prada, Mr. Felloni, now 38, has collected so many parures, corsages and cameos mostly 19th century, none of them faux that they have their own room in his Paris home. Some of the major pieces, like an important parure by Castellani, the 19th-century Roman jewelry house, are in a safe deposit box. A couple of pieces are on loan to the Museo del Gioiello, the jewelry museum in Vicenza, Italy. And a separate collection of about two dozen portraits made from shells is still kept at his childhood home in the Arezzo region of Tuscany. Ive learned to be more positive because he is. He takes everything I want to do seriously. He makes me feel important, empowered and confident. Thats changed my life and has given me the encouragement to create my own company and start our foundation for autism. To have a successful marriage you have to be flexible. Ive learned to let the stupid things go and to accept him for who he is. One time we got into an argument and I got very upset. Harry told me to put everything thats good on one side of the scale, and what just happened on the other. He was right. When you look at it that way, we have so much that works, so much goodness. Doing that puts everything in perspective. Ive also learned sometimes you dont have to win or make your point. My life changed when he walked into the bar that night. Were never apart. I dont go out with my girlfriends and he doesnt go out with his friends. We are very devoted to pleasing each other, thats the secret to our marriage. Im very traditional. His opinion matters greatly. Its a way of telling him that hes important to me. Mr. Slatkin My mother gave me advice in the beginning of my relationship, You give 110 percent and expect zero back. If you do this, you wont be disappointed. Laura doesnt give zero; she gives you everything. Im a Leo. Im stubborn. I have a big roar. We argue. Ive tried to change and its not going to happen. Im neurotically neurotic about everything being in its place; Laura is not. She could talk on the phone and drive into the carwash. But we make it work. Shes a good balance. I deal with her issues; she deals with mine. Ive learned to be more accepting. To relax and let things go. To be more complimentary and less negative. There are things we dont agree on. Ive learned to come back and listen to her. Sometimes those effects are difficult to discern or articulate, one of many reasons that women often fail to report sexual assaults to authorities or even discuss the incident with loved ones, researchers say. There is lots of research showing the survivors cope in many different ways, but there does seem to be a societal image of how they need to act and if not they are not believed, Antonia Abbey, the editor of the journal, Psychology of Violence, said in an email. Kevin Michael Swartout, a psychology professor at Georgia State University who studies sexual violence, agreed. Research indicates that people are less likely to believe a victims account and believe an assault was less severe when the assault and victims response doesnt follow peoples scripts. [Like the Science Times page on Facebook. | Sign up for the Science Times newsletter.] During Thursdays hearing, Dr. Blasey was asked by Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor hired by the committee to question her and Judge Kavanaugh, how she could be certain that the PTSD and anxiety she experienced was caused by the assault she described. DULCE [sounds of girl crying, splashing] [sounds of woman reassuring her] EXT. RIVER AFTERNOON DULCE is in the water with BETTY and CHOMPI. DULCE swims several awkward strokes, then grabs BETTY. BETTY: If you hold onto me, you wont learn how to swim. BETTY: Do you want to learn how to swim? Yes or no? DULCE: Noooooo BETTY: Do you wanna drown? [jump cut] BETTY holds Dulce in her arms in the water. BETTY: Use your feet and hands. BETTY: Im letting you go. DULCE screams and splashes over to CHOMPI. BETTY: Dulce, please learn to swim. If you dont learn how to swim, you cant go shell harvesting. You cant go on the boat. You have to stay here. This month the sea gets angry, yes or no? [Pause] BETTY: And when it gets angry, the boat overturns. And if you dont learn to swim, you have to stay on shore. You want to stay here all alone? Well, thats your problem. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING BETTY sits alone in the bow of a boat, thinking. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING POV shots of the mangroves. EXT. MANGROVES - MORNING BETTY makes her way through the mud and roots, looking for shells. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING BETTY washes the shells in a mesh basket. EXT. VILLAGE LATE MORNING BETTY brings her basket of shells to the BUYER, who takes them out and puts the ones he can use in a bucket. BUYER: Fifty. BETTY: Yes, sir. BUYER: Seven thousand pesos. EXT. VILLAGE AFTERNOON Shot of Bettys house at low tide. Betty comes out onto her runway and washes up. INT. BETTYS HOUSE - AFTERNOON Betty hangs laundry with her younger daughter. EXT. DOCK AFTERNOON Boys jump into the water. DULCE sits on the dock with girlfriends, in a circle. DULCE: If you wanna swim with a life vest you have to do down with somebody older. And swimming, swimming, until you get to the other side, and from there you come back...I swim better with a life vest. From there you swim...and swim... GIRL: And its cold! DULCE: But Im learning, right? A little bit. GIRL (O.S.): And when your mom is not here and you want to eat black-shell ceviche, what are you going to do? You have to go harvesting. DULCE: I dont want to eat that! EXT. MANGROVES MORNING BETTY stands at the front of a boat with piangueras in it, approaching the mangrove shore. WOMAN 1 (O.S.): Where do we get out? WOMAN 2: Lets get out on the other side. BETTY: Over there. BETTY turns to the woman behind her, who is holding coconut-shell smudge. BETTY: Give me that before it goes out. BETTY waves smudge through the air. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING BETTY and the other women bend over the ground, digging for shells. WOMAN 1 (O.S.): There arent as many shells here. WOMAN 2 (O.S.): They have been collecting here. BETTY: Theyve been collecting too many of them. WOMAN 1: We have to talk to him. He harvests at low tide, high tide, every day of the week. He never takes a break. EXT. DOCK AFTERNOON DULCE watches as a group of kids, many of them girls this time, jumps off the dock into the water. EXT. VILLAGE AFTERNOON Shot of Bettys house at high tide. EXT. BETTYS HOUSE On the runway, BETTY braids DULCES hair. DULCE: Are you mad at me? BETTY: No, not mad. Because whether you can swim or not, youre my daughter. But Im sad. Cut to DULCE, thinking. BETTY: Because you dont swim. Cut to BETTY, braiding. BETTY: When children dont learn how to swim their mothers get sad. Dont you see that you can fall in and drown at any moment? Especially here... Cut to DULCE. BETTY: ...because we have to get on a boat to go anywhere. And even if we dont, the water is always rising. CUT to DULCE, walking on the tidal flats at sunset. BETTY (V.O.): Can you imagine what would happen if the tide came up so far that it knocked our house down? And were inside the house? Those who know how to swim will survive. And those who dont? DULCE (V.O): They drown. BETTY (V.O.): And who is going to drown? DULCE (V.O.): Me. BETTY (V.O.): So, do you want to drown? EXT. VILLAGE NIGHT Music plays on a stereo, people gather on a doorstep. EXT. RIVER AFTERNOON CHOMPI, in a life vest, holds DULCE in his arms. DULCE: Chompi, are you going deeper? BETTY: No. Hes moving because hes tired. CHOMPI: Come on, quickly. Lets go, Im getting a cramp. BETTY (O.S.): Come on, dont think about it, just do it. CHOMPI urges DULCE on. BETTY swims over. BETTY: Im coming over. We can do it together. DULCE: OK. Lets go. 1...2...and DULCE pushes off from CHOMPI and swims towards the shore. BETTY swims after her. BETTY: Youre almost there! Almost there! DULCE reaches shallow water, stands up. BETTY: How was it? DULCE wipes her face, climbs up on a bench. BETTY: How was it? DULCE shrugs. BETTY: How was it? How did you feel? Good? Yes or no? Yes or no? DULCE: Yes. BETTY: Then lets do it again. EXT. SEA MORNING DULCE sits near the front of a boat with BETTY and four others. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING The boat pulls into shore. The women walk into the forest, BETTY in the rear carrying smudge. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING DULCE squats in the mud with a bucket, digging for shells. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING DULCE brings a shirt full of shells to BETTY (O.S.), who picks through them. BETTY (O.S.): Eight. DULCE tosses the shells from her shirt into a bucket. WOMAN 3: You have four, but you can only keep one. DULCE: One? BETTY: Thats the male. We take care of the females if they are small, we put them back. EXT. MANGROVES MORNING Dulce heads deeper into the forest with another girl, to look for shells farther away from the women. BETTY (O.S.): Dulce, how are we doing? Dulce! EXT. MANGROVES MORNING BETTY leans on a log. The other women around her try to spot DULCE far off through the trees. BETTY: Dulce! Im looking at you, answer me please. DULCE (O.S.): Maam! CUT back to Dulce. BETTY (O.S): How are we doing? DULCE: Fine! BETTY (O.S.): How many do you have? CUT back to BETTY and the women. DULCE (O.S.): Five! BETTY and the other women hoot. BETTY: Oh, really? EXT. MANGROVES MORNING Long shot of DULCE and BETTY walking across the bank, water in the background. DULCE: [reciting a nursery rhyme] At the mangroves, in my boots / I found but trash among the roots. / Leave the small shells where they be / That they may grow, so we can help them. [END CARD] [CREDITS] Guadalupe Rosales is a collector. For an installation in art school, she built her version of a typical teenagers bedroom, covering the walls with fliers shed saved nearly 20 years earlier, when she lived in Boyle Heights, a Mexican-American enclave east of downtown Los Angeles. The fliers promoted parties organized by local party crews. For Ms. Rosaless initiation into hers, a friend picked her up in a van and they rode with about 13 kids to a party it was the first of probably 10 they went to that night. They sat on the floor of the van, as it had no seats, and shouted their moniker, Aztek Nation, along the way. Ms. Rosales was years removed from this scene when she began @veteranas_and_rucas in 2015, an Instagram feed dedicated to Latina youth culture in Southern California, mainly from the 80s and 90s, but sometimes dating back much earlier. When I started this project, she recalled, I always think of myself and my friends in front of my house looking at the world. The site soon had so many followers that its content largely by and about women became almost entirely crowdsourced. Ms. Rosales had found that male-centric narratives about Latino culture were coarser, less well-balanced and intent on exuding a certain toughness. The platforms age-faded images show ladies standing in front of low rider cars, or in choreographed poses with their friends, sporting their favorite Jordana lip liner or oversized 501 jeans. A conversation with Kathleen McInnis, author of The Heart of War: Misadventures in the Pentagon (Post Hill Press, 2018). Thank you for your service is one of the most frequently uttered phrases to those toiling in Americans most trusted, but least understood, institution: the United States military. Such displays of gratitude rarely extend to those in the same business but out of uniform. In her first novel, Kathleen McInnis takes on this less explored and more mysterious group: the civilian men and, particularly, women who work in the building responsible for American national security. On the surface, The Heart of War: Misadventures in the Pentagon draws easy comparisons to The Devil Wears Prada. A young woman leaves her job in academia to work for the Department of Defense, partly to help pay off student loans but largely in memory of her brother, who was killed serving in Afghanistan. She has no idea what to expect. Late nights, office conflicts, physical comedy and touching romance ensue. McInnis, a former Pentagon staff member herself, humanizes the usually faceless bureaucrats of the defense establishment but also exposes the inner workings of the war machine in an affecting, if sometimes disturbing, way. Like McInnis and me, a former staff member for the Department of Defense and the National Security Council, Dr. Heather Reilly enters the Pentagon for the first time as a 28-year-old civilian, joining a team of career bureaucrats and uniformed staff charged with providing strategies, tools and oversight to a military that is deep into the war in Afghanistan. Her reasons for being there are repeatedly challenged by friends, family and colleagues, who say she is too young, too female, too inexperienced, too academic, too pacifist or too emotionally tied to her job to do it properly. Despite their judgments, she stays, though not to build peace in Afghanistan as she originally planned. [Get a weekly roundup of Times coverage of war delivered to your inbox. Sign up here.] Walking the miles-long halls of the Pentagon, Reilly takes the reader through an often-hilarious orientation on how good ideas, and extremely bad ones, can go from being tossed around in an email to a multibillion-dollar, multiyear defense program. This approach adds a layer of humanity to an often dry and difficult question: How does America go to war, or end one? McInniss characters are people who signed up to support the guys and gals downrange and then find themselves routinely defeated by the bloat of bureaucracy, while coping with their own personal crises. Embedded in office high jinks and relationship meltdowns in The Heart of War is the disquieting realization that Americas national-security system is not kind to the generators of ideas that are too complex to explain in a PowerPoint slide. Nor is it an institution that is particularly welcoming toward women. The slain include two senior commanders of the LeT and another of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), the officials said. It identified the Army jawan killed in the clash as Happy Singh of Armys 19 Rashtriya Rifles. (Representational Image | AP) Srinagar: The security forces on Thursday killed three more militants including a top commander of outlawed Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) in their sustained campaign against separatist militants in Jammu and Kashmir. With these killing, the number of militants neutralised in counterinsurgency operations in the restive Kashmir Valley during the past week has risen to sixteen. The slain include two senior commanders of the LeT and another of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), the officials said. They termed these killings as a major breakthrough against separatist militants in the State.During a series of operations carried out on Thursday, an Army jawan and two civilians were also killed and three security personnel were injured. The killing of a Srinagar resident triggered protests and clashes in parts of the summer capital and by students on the campus of the University of Kashmir in Citys Hazratbal area. The witnesses said that the security forces fired teargas canisters to break up the funeral procession of slain civilian Muhammad Saleem Malik, a resident of Citys Noorbagh area. Later during the day, irate crowds clashed with police and Central armed forces at several places in central Srinagar amid a spontaneous shutdown. The security forces fired dozens of teargas canisters to quell stone-pelting mobs in these areas, the witnesses said. The officials said that the civilian was caught in crossfire between a group of militants and the security forces at Noorbagh at around 4 am. The security forces, they said, had while acting on a credible input cordoned a cluster of houses where the militants were hiding. The hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately resulting in death of Malik, they added. Maliks family and neighbours alleged that he was shot in cold blood apparently after the militants had given a slip to the security forces during a cordon-and-search-operation in the area. The police and Army said that three militants were killed in two separate operations in southern Anantnag and central Budgam districts on Thursday. One Army jawan was also killed and three others wounded during these clashes, they added. Given the details of these operations, a police spokesman here said that the security forces including the J&K police, the Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) early Thursday launched a search operation at Gazi Gund Dooru in Anantnag. During the searches, encounter started off between security forces and terrorists. In the ensuing encounter a local terrorist identified as Asif Malik who was operating as commander of proscribed terror outfit LeT was eliminated, the spokesman said. The police said that slain LeT commander was involved in several attacks on security forces including the killing of CRPF men at Achabal (Anantnag) this year and in many other cases of civilian atrocities. It identified the Army jawan killed in the clash as Happy Singh of Armys 19 Rashtriya Rifles. Later during the day, thousands of people attended the funeral of slain LeT commander Asif Malik alias Abu Ukasha, an engineering graduate, in his native village Khahgund Verinag. In the second encounter which took place in Panzan village of Budgam, the security forces killed two militants identified as Sheeraz Ahmad Bhat and Irfan Ahmad Dar, both local Kashmiris belonging to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. The police said that Irfan Dar was working as a Special Police Officer and had deserted the force a couple of months ago. The police spokesman said that the militants holed up in a mosque at Panzan had fired upon a search party of the security forces following which a cordon was laid around it. The local Auqaf committee was engaged to convince the terrorists to come out. Security forces also appealed the terrorists to come out. However, they turned down the offer and consequently the operation had to be carried out in a deliberate manner keeping intact the sanctity of the mosque, the spokesman said. In this operation, one security forces jawan also sustained bullet injuries and was immediately evacuated to hospital, the police said. After these killings, clashes took place between stone-pelting crowds and security forces also in Budgam and Anantnag areas, leaving many people injured. The security forces fired teargas canisters and pellet shotguns to quell the protesters. The doctors at Srinagars SMHS hospital said that nine persons with pellet injuries were among those admitted there. Internet services were snapped in Srinagar and Anantnag and Budgam districts amid the encounters and clashes whereas the rail services in the Valley were suspended for the day as a precautionary measure in view of heightening tensions A report from Kupwara said that a non-local official of Beacon, a project of the Border Roads Organization, was killed during an Army ambush in the frontier districts Sayedaan Pathra Kakva gali area on Thursday. The police, however, said that the identity of the dead person is being ascertained. End it De Middel wants to shake off the cliches surrounding the photography of sex work: If aliens came to Earth and tried to understand what prostitution is about, she states on her website, they would believe it is a business based on naked women staying in dirty rooms. The rooms are indeed dirty, but in making the other half of the business visible, she renews our understanding of the so-called oldest profession. She elicits distinct but strikingly similar stories from the men and presents them in extended captions, which are inseparable from the images. Many of their stories, relayed without commentary by De Middel, entail misogyny in one form or another. The story of Hugo, an elderly Brazilian, is typical. In his oversize shirt, with his paunch and his white beard, Hugo looks like Santa Claus, which is how he makes his living. He also has the dreamy melancholy of an aging man. What the caption reveals, though, is an embedded violence: Hugo, 70 years old. Santa Claus. Single and, as far as he knows, doesnt have any children. He visits prostitutes 2 or 3 times a day and usually doesnt pay. He started visiting prostitutes at the age of 12 and he continues to do so because he believes thats what women are made for. Pillows, sheets, towels, phones, furniture, windows: The portraits are interspersed with photographs of details. The effect is not dissimilar to other projects about sex work. But De Middel has shifted the center of our attention. When its a man lying half-nude across the bed, we read the image in a new way. Is it still pitiable? Or tender? Or sexy? We might even form a thought that we dont usually express when the subjects are women: Why would anyone reveal themselves in this way? RE: WHY WORK DOESNT WORK ANYMORE Matthew Desmond reported on how, despite Americas tremendous economic growth, workers are being shut out of the profits they are helping to generate. And if we respect hard work, then we should reward it, instead of deploying this value to shame the poor and justify our unconscionable and growing inequality, Desmond says. This is so important. There are far too many comments pointing to the fact that Vanessa had children to say that she deserved it as if having children, or making a mistake, deserves to be punished by perpetual poverty. We need to stop asking, How can we blame this person for their situation? and start asking, How can we help this person build themselves up? We dont need to ignore facts, such as children are expensive, that cutting class sets one up poorly for life after school, that substance abuse in the family is harmful on several levels. But we need to stop treating any of these things as a moral failing permitting perpetual poverty especially since richer people also make such mistakes and arent expected to suffer forever for it. Anshu Sharma, Ashland, Va. A family portrait that plunges into what will strike many viewers as T.M.I. territory, the documentary 306 Hollywood makes for morbid, at times insufferable viewing. But its solipsism is part of its message. After their grandmother Annettes death in 2011, the sibling directors Elan and Jonathan Bogarin mounted what they conceived of as an archaeological dig of her New Jersey home an excavation of the objects and spaces she left behind. The filmmakers point, to paraphrase the archivist Robert Clark of the Rockefeller Archive Center one of many talking heads interviewed from a variety of disciplines is that everyones life deserves to be preserved. That applies not only to movers and shakers like John D. Rockefeller, but also to people who left a mark on the world baking cookies for their grandchildren. A soldier returns home from a faraway war he didnt understand, to a country he no longer recognizes. Seeking no more than peace for himself and his loved ones, he is denied. Soon the only family he has left is violently taken from him. He then transforms into an avenging berserker who will stop at nothing to punish the men who have deprived him of all he holds dear. Sounds like the stuff of myth and also like lots of post-Vietnam-era grindhouse action movies. Here its the plot of Black 47, set in Ireland in 1847, when famine set off a massive wave of emigration and accelerated the conflict with the occupying British Empire. The protagonist of Scaffolding, an Israeli coming-of-age film, isnt really ready to come of age not that he seems to know it. At school, the bullheaded 17-year-old Asher Lax (played by an actor named Asher Lax) challenges authority, disobeys instructions and shows not even the slightest semblance of politesse to his classmates. One of the few adults who can command his respect, at least in moments, is a teacher, Rami (Ami Smolartchik). Another is his father, Milo (Yaacov Cohen), who dismisses his sons need to study literature, because literature is dead, after all, and besides, hes being groomed to take over the family scaffolding business. For years, the three main airports that serve New York City have been the site of one of the countrys biggest fights over the minimum wage. A Republican governor and airline companies were pitted against Democratic officials and labor leaders over how much to pay workers who clean planes, load luggage and perform many other duties. On Thursday, the campaign ended in victory for as many as 40,000 airport workers who are now on a path to earning at least $19 an hour, the highest minimum wage target set by any public agency in the country. The pay increase, which was approved unanimously by the commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will raise the wages of tens of thousands of workers over the next five years. It will go well beyond the $15 minimum hourly wage that several cities have enacted and that New York State will adopt as the base wage for many workers at the end of the year. And it may add impetus to union-led campaigns to reverse the widening gap in incomes between rich and poor Americans even amid a robust economy. The vote by the Port Authority board came after several months of deliberation and years of pleading and pressure from unionized airport workers. The airlines that contract with the companies that employ many of the workers also complained about raising wages, arguing that such a move could ultimately force them to pass along the costs to travelers. According to the affidavit, Mr. Leverett told the police that when he came home from the therapy group, nobody was there, not even the dog, and he was lonely. He stated that he wanted to go for a walk along the path near Iron Horse Boulevard in hopes of finding someone to talk with, the affidavit continued. Mr. Leverett said he was driving when he saw a woman jogging. He did not know her but was attracted to her physical features and decided to park his car and approach her, the affidavit said. He referred to Ms. Millan as way out of my league, the affidavit said, and became angry and went into a frenzy. Mr. Leverett claimed that he only wanted a chance to speak with her, it continued, but that something happened and the next thing he knew he had stabbed her in the chest with a knife he was carrying. Mr. Leverett said that Ms. Millan fell onto the road and that he thought he heard her say, Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, before he drove off in his car, according to the affidavit. Mr. Leverett told the police that on the night of the murder, he had written letters confessing to the crime, though he never sent them. He also said that he had washed the blood from his clothes and tried to toss a pair of gloves into the rafters of a barn. One, he said, had gotten stuck there. Last week, investigators found Mr. Leveretts handwritten letters from 2014 which referred to a serious crime, but not a murder specifically and the glove in the barn, which was entered as evidence, the authorities said. As Mr. Donovan, the citys lone Republican congressman, faces a feisty challenge in the general election from the Democratic candidate, Max Rose, Mr. Donovan seems to be moving toward the center. In a district that has more registered Democrats than Republicans, yet skews heavily conservative, the question now is whether Mr. Trumps support may hurt more than it helps in November. The issue is one that is playing out across the country, but is particularly germane in New York City, where Mr. Trump is deeply unpopular. I dont think hell be talking about that bill to put Trumps mug in every post office in America, said Richard Flanagan, a professor of political science at the College of Staten Island. He was referring to legislation that Mr. Donovan had sponsored to ensure that every post office displayed a photograph of the president. Its a scramble to the middle; it really is, Professor Flanagan said. Similarly, Mr. Rose, a 31-year-old Army veteran and former health care executive, is trying his best to court the center by winning over unaffiliated voters, as well as Republicans disenchanted with Mr. Trump. In one of two recent television ads, he even goes after a stalwart of his own party, Mayor Bill de Blasio. Look, he says into the camera from a sidewalk in the district. Im running against Dan Donovan. But the truth is, hes not the only one doing a lousy job. Mayor de Blasio acts like Staten Island doesnt even exist. And we need to get rid of all the leadership in D.C. Republican and Democrat. As for the New York D.M.V., a spokeswoman, Lisa Koumjian, said the agency was finding its way. The state has taken a number of affirmative steps to protect and advance the civil rights of all New Yorkers, including those who are transgender or gender nonconforming, she wrote in an email. We expect to work with the city and the different systems to support this new initiative. A State Senate bill to allow X on drivers licenses stalled in committee last year. New York States Department of Health, which studied the implications of nonbinary birth certificates, said it was concerned that they could cause people to be denied Medicaid benefits because the federal and state data sources used by Medicaid to verify eligibility recognize only male and female. The new New York City birth certificate law, sponsored by the Council speaker, Corey Johnson, also lets people change the sex on their birth certificates without a note from a health professional, a change that transgender advocates had long pushed for. Mx. Arrowood conceded that their gender identity can be difficult for others to understand. Mx. Arrowoods birth certificate, issued at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan 31 years ago, said female. I was never transitioning towards male, Mx. Arrowood said, but away from female. (Mx. Furuya said it often takes them a few tries to explain who they are, too. When asked how they identified, they sent a diagram with four category umbrellas and nine subcategories.) Gretchen Van Wye, assistant commissioner in the city health departments Bureau of Vital Statistics, said that with the new law, the city was struggling to navigate the space between sex, the biological category that a birth certificate purports to define, and gender, which is largely seen as more subjective. And, of course, shes also a New Yorker. Justice Ginsburg grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, during the Depression. She attended James Madison High School, studied at Cornell and went on to Columbia Law School, graduating in 1959 at the top of her class. Even so, not a single New York City law firm would give her a job because she was a woman. She later became the first woman to be a tenured professor at Columbia Law School. During the 1970s, she argued a number of womens rights cases at the Supreme Court at a time when female lawyers before the court were rare. She became a Supreme Court justice in 1993, the second female justice, after Sandra Day OConnor. Shes now joined by two other New York women: Sonia Sotomayor from the Bronx and Elena Kagan from Manhattan. And maybe youve noticed that Justice Ginsburg has become quite popular recently. She has become a meme, the documentary RBG was a surprise hit this summer, and her life story is being made into a biographical movie this year. We reached out to the Supreme Court for comment. Justice Ginsburg was made aware of the proposal to rename the municipal building in Brooklyn after her, said Kathleen L. Arberg, a public information officer at the Supreme Court. The justice is honored that her name was put forward. I thank Sharad PawarDear Rahul Gandhi, you would be wiser by believing your own ally and a leader of Pawar Sahebs stature. Mumbai: At a time the Opposition led by the Congress is mounting attacks on the NDA government on the Rafale fighter jet issue, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said that people do not have doubts over Prime Minister Narendra Modis intentions. In an interview to a Marathi news channel, the former defence minister said that the Oppositions demand to share technical details relating to the fighter jet made no sense. I dont think people have doubts about Mr Modis intentions personally, Mr Pawar told the news channel.He, however, said that there is no harm for the government to disclose the aircraft price. BJP president Amit Shah was quick to thank Mr Pawar for giving a virtual clean chit to Mr Modi and asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to believe his own ally who has put national interests above party politics. I thank Sharad Pawar, a former defence minister and veteran MP, for placing national interests above party politics and speaking the truth. Dear Rahul Gandhi, you would be wiser by believing your own ally and a leader of Pawar Sahebs stature, Mr Shah tweeted.He tagged the Congress president in his tweet which also attached a news story on Mr Pawars comments. Mr Pawar earlier said that the way defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the governments side over the jet deal led to confusion in the minds of people. Now, (Union finance minister Arun) Jaitley can be seen articulating (governments stand) on the issue (instead of Sitharaman), he added. Later, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that Mr Pawar has not given any clean chit to Mr Modi on the Rafale issue. Alleging that media reports over Mr Pawars statement are confusing and misleading, Mr Malik said, He (Pawar) has not made any statement defending Mr Modi nor has he given any clean chit (in the Rafale deal matter). The Congress has launched an offensive against the BJP government over the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and violation of rules by Mr Modi. It has accused the government of causing loss to the public exchequer and endangering national security by bypassing state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in favour of some businessman friends for offset contract. That grandfather, Raphael Caviris, established the family business after immigrating to New York from the Greek island of Chios in 1916. At the time, he was a struggling artist and had hopes of a more prosperous life in the United States. Mr. Caviris first opened self-service cafeterias on Broadway. In 1943, he opened Beef Burger, a sit-down restaurant, on 57th Street. In the early 50s, Beef Burger opened its second location on 49th Street, where Burger Heaven is today. Evans Cyprus, now 92, who is Mr. Caviriss son-in-law and Ms. Loucass and Mr. Cypruss father, renamed the restaurant Burger Heaven when he joined the business in 1957. I didnt like how Beef Burger sounded, he said. At one point, Burger Heaven had eight locations, and although there are still three today, all on the East Side, 49th Street is the mother ship, and the only one that has been renovated. Locals and office workers regard it as their place. Evans Cyprus stops in almost daily to greet customers. His son, Nicholas, and grandson, Evans Cyprus Jr., 24, run the day-to-day operations with Dimitri Dellis, 60, who is married to Irene, Evans Cypruss daughter and Nicholass sister and the lone family member not working in the business. Apples do not breed true to seed. That is, each seed contains a wide range of genes, and most apple flowers must be cross-pollinated to produce fruit. Unfortunately, this means the results rarely live up to their parents pedigrees. In fact, apples can range from mouthwatering to barely edible, wrapped in skins as red and smooth as a ladybugs wing to scabrous brown things resembling Idaho potatoes. Of course, commercially prized varieties occur, but these are rare. Besides their crucial moment in the Bible, and a brief appearance in Homers Odyssey, apples may have been cultivated as far back as the 10th century B.C. in what is now Israel. Yet they are so much a part of our culture, it is hard to tease out the botanical truth behind them. Apples made their first appearance in the New World with European settlers in the 17th century. I like to imagine them going feral with the first Puritan who ever threw an apple core over his shoulder, but then there was also Johnny Appleseed. From there, the adaptable apple (Malus x domestica) spread everywhere. There is an old joke: What is worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding half a worm. It might not be amusing to some, but while picking wild apples, it is sage advice. No one dusts, sprays or prunes a wildling apple, and a ripening fruit is an irresistible treasure to insects, birds and mammals. It pays to look before you bite. I recall one gangly old apple tree behind an archery range in southern Brooklyn, and when no one was shooting, I could sneak through the nearby brambles to pick a few of its misshapen but delightfully tart golden apples. I recall committing to my very first bite before I noticed a few of its remaining residents abandoning ship. Say what you will, that apple was delicious, so I cut out the hitchhikers and with Henry David Thoreau looking over my shoulder, baked the rest of my harvest into a miniature apple pie I can still recall. Im quite sure those first little beasties were not the last I ingested. But as we drew closer, we heard them praying for the Lord to intercede on Clarence Thomass behalf, to rescue him from the scheming malice of Anita Hill. We fled and piled into a taxi, only to hear a black radio talk show host inveighing against Ms. Hill. One caller after another sided with Judge Thomas. We despaired as it became clear that our organizing on Anita Hills behalf was ineffective in the face of outrage over a black woman who had dared to turn on a fellow African-American at the cusp of enormous judicial power. This complaint echoed across barber shops, churches and dining rooms across the country. To our distress, Anita Hill was not defended by the most influential Democrats on the Judiciary Committee or by a majority of African-Americans. Inside the hearing room, committee members painted her as an angry and sexually deranged woman. Outside, Republican senators described her as having nefarious motives and a dubious background. The Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson sought to provide a more highbrow analysis. Many blacks did believe that Judge Thomas likely said those things, but like Dr. Patterson, chastised Ms. Hill for bringing these matters into the public domain. To him, Judge Thomass repeated pornography-laden harassment against an aloof Anita Hill may have looked like a textbook case of workplace harassment to a white, puritanical feminist eye. But it was, in fact, a down-home style of courting that affirmed their shared racial background. It was Anita Hill who was being uppity, who deigned to think that her workplace rights had been denied. Dr. Patterson, of course, wasnt the first person to use a cultural defense to justify the abuse of black women. The othering of black womens sexuality has long been a part of American history. This reality informed the talk black mothers would have with their daughters when they were summoned to work in the big house, the fields or later in factories. This stereotype has rationalized sexual abuse as culturally-sanctioned byplay between male predators of all races and black female victims. Black women are vulnerable not only because of racial bias against them, but also because of stereotypes that they expect less nurturing, they are more willing, no one will believe them. This is what marks them as prey to men of all races. Long before Anita Hills poised testimony, black women knew all too well the many ways in which the mere facts of their race and gender identities made them targets. It wasnt long ago that Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court hinged, as it must, on his qualifications as a judge. Then, necessarily, it became a question of his fitness as a man. Now its turned into an exhumation of his antics real, alleged, rumored or merely insinuated as a high school and college student. However this ends for him, it may not end up too well for the rest of us. In the last few days, reporters have pored over Kavanaughs high school yearbook and calendar, searching for evidence of his attitudes toward women and of his whereabouts in the summer of 1982. The New Yorker published a story of his alleged lewd behavior at Yale toward a classmate named Deborah Ramirez one The Times could not corroborate and the accuser only hazily remembered. There have been stories about Kavanaughs drinking habits, and whether he was aware that the secret society to which he belonged had initials that lent themselves to vulgar usage, and even whether he was being truthful in his Fox News interview as to when exactly he lost his virginity. And then there is the latest allegation, from a woman named Julie Swetnick via the attorney Michael Avenatti, that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge used drugs and alcohol to inebriate women at parties so they could be gang-raped by a train of numerous boys. Swetnick alleges she was raped at one such party, and now the left-wing CREDO Action network has a statement: We believe Julie Swetnick. In Questions Brett Kavanaugh Needs to Answer, The Times Editorial Board recommended questions for the Senate Judiciary Committee to ask Judge Brett Kavanaugh at a hearing today to address the sexual assault accusations made by Christine Blasey Ford. We asked readers what else they would like to hear from Mr. Kavanaugh. A sampling of their questions, submitted in comments, are below. They have been edited for length and clarity. Fair process Do you, as a brilliant judge nominated to sit on the Supreme Court, still believe that it is a fair process if Dr. Blasey can support her allegation or you can defend your integrity, that the judiciary committee refused to call Mark Judge, the only person other than yourself and Dr. Blasey identified as being present during the alleged incident? Doesnt your brilliant legal mind tell you that even though this is not a legal proceeding, there is a moral obligation or imperative for someone identified as a potential eyewitness to the alleged assault to be called on or compelled to testify? Dikoma C Shungu, New York Question of character This appears to be a kind of puritan inquisition. There is nothing wrong with him drinking when he was younger or if he enjoyed the aesthetics of women in ways that were not exploitative and mutually agreed upon. Did he attack Dr. Blasey against her will? Did he expose himself to Deborah Ramirez? If he answers no and there is no evidence to prove that he did these things with one accuser even questioning it herself I say he is a Justice Kavanaugh. That is all that we need to know and please stop the moralizing. Dan, St. Louis, Mo. This week, Facebook lost an executive who, in a better and different world, might one day have taken the helm of the social networking giant. On Monday, Kevin Systrom, as well as his longtime partner, Mike Krieger, the founders of Instagram, quit Facebook. While seemingly out of the blue, it was a long time coming. The reason? Their unhappiness over increasingly aggressive meddling by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks chief executive, about how Instagram was run. This might seem like business as usual in Silicon Valley. Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, when it was a wee thing, and helped it surpass a billion users. Fighting over control of tech companies is commonplace, and executive shuffles happen all the time. At Facebook alone in the last two years, the founders of WhatsApp, the messaging product, left amid disagreements over the placement of advertising. So too much of the team that founded the Oculus, Facebooks virtual reality project, as well as a conga line of other founders of start-ups the social media giant has swallowed whole. They all essentially took the money and ran (usually to luxury yachts in Fiji). [Kara Swisher answered your questions about her column on Twitter. Part I; Part II] But what happened with the Instagram guys is different. A pair of extraordinarily talented entrepreneurs who multiple sources said very much wanted to stay at Facebook, who have a gift for making great products and whose jewel-in-the-crown unit was driving the future of the entire Facebook ecosystem had worked hard to make their creation a huge success and had remained at the company for six years already. This is not typical in tech, which is a credit to Facebook. Weve seen this movie before. Back in 1991, during Clarence Thomass confirmation hearing, there were other women who waited in airless witness rooms to testify in support of Anita Hill. They, too, were never called. Two other women were ready to testify that Judge Thomas had made inappropriate, sexualized comments to them in the office, incidents that were similar to the harassment that Ms. Hill had described in her opening statement. There were people willing to be called before the committee who would have testified under oath about Judge Thomass interest in pornography, information that also would have buttressed Ms. Hills testimony. But none were called. Instead, Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic committee chairman, fearing political backlash, abruptly gaveled the hearings to an end. Anita Hill remained isolated as the lone accuser. Clarence Thomas categorically denied her testimony and famously denounced the hearing as a high-tech lynching. Just hours after the hearing ended, he was confirmed in a 52-to-48 vote, the closest vote ever for a successful Supreme Court nominee. I was in the Senate hearing room, bleary-eyed, when Senator Biden brought the curtain down on that travesty of a hearing. It was only in the wee morning hours that I learned that there was a second woman, Angela Wright, who had been ready to testify that Judge Thomas, in the office, had asked about the size of her breasts. Several senators told me years later, when I was reporting for a book, Strange Justice, that if Ms. Wright had been allowed to testify, Judge Thomas might not have been confirmed. At the time of the Hill-Thomas hearing, there was a lot more that was concealed from the public. There were four other women who would have supported aspects of Ms. Hills testimony and four others who knew about Judge Thomass interest in pornography. At least Hill was permitted to call as witnesses friends in whom she had confided about the sexual harassment she endured. Dr. Blasey wont have even that. After the curtain abruptly fell on the 1991 hearing, a confirmation vote was hurriedly scheduled. Now, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, is trying to muscle through the same rushed vote. There was such nervousness in 1991 that more would come out about Judge Thomas after the confirmation vote that his swearing-in was also hastily moved up. Literally at the moment he became an associate justice, The Washington Post was preparing a story about his habitual use of pornography. (Ms. Hill had testified that the harassment she had endured involved him calling her into his office at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Education and describing pornographic films.) The story never ran. Following the spectacle of the Hill-Thomas hearings there was a backlash, but not the one the Democrats had feared. The 1992 elections were called the Year of the Woman and brought six new Democratic women, including Dianne Feinstein, to the Senate. The new women joining the Congress that year called themselves The Anita Hill Class. Charles Merrill New York To the Editor: There are too many holes in Christine Blasey Fords story. How convenient that she cannot remember pertinent information like dates, locations and names of other people, like who drove her home. Those she did name say they remember nothing about this. Something happened to her, no doubt. But I think she is accusing the wrong person. How sad that all that needs to happen to destroy a good person is for someone to make an accusation that cannot be proven or corroborated. This is nothing but he said, she said. No one has come forth to corroborate her story, but some have come forth to corroborate Brett Kavanaughs story. But I guess that doesnt count. The Democrats have made a mockery of this whole confirmation process. I feel very bad for what Judge Kavanaugh and his family have gone through, and for what? So the Democrats get to postpone the vote. We dont know any more now than we did before. Darlene Burner McKinney, Tex. To the Editor: I was watching live as Senator Chuck Grassley just put the last nail in the G.O.P. coffin. Mr. Grassley knew this would be the most watched moment of the year. He stumbled and growled his way through a poorly written, tone-deaf, petty, intemperate, belligerent and insensitive harangue. These men literally do not get it. Dont. Cant. Wont. The very fact that they had to resort to hiring a woman to do their dirty work because they dont trust their own voices says it all. And now we know why. Jamie Farquhar Mueller Shaker Heights, Ohio To the Editor: Over 250 law professors who are experts in gender violence, including me, sent a letter on Wednesday to Senators Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn and Chuck Grassley regarding the fundamental flaws in process in Judge Brett Kavanaughs confirmation hearing. The letter begins: We write to express our profound concern about the plans for evaluating the allegations of Judge Kavanaughs sexual misconduct that have been announced to date, especially in light of recently emerging claims. The Senate should seek to review all available evidence, including witness testimony relating to all of the allegations raised, in order to evaluate both the competing accounts of underlying events and the nominees reflection on those accounts. As Christine Blasey Ford testified Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, laying bare the details of the sexual assault she accuses Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of committing against her, Americans gathered in conference rooms, on couches, in airport terminals and at diners to watch. Among them were many for whom Dr. Blaseys testimony evoked memories of their own experiences with sexual trauma. We heard from dozens of readers today who identified themselves as trauma victims and who said in our comments section that they struggled with their memories as Dr. Blasey spoke. Their stories have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. [Read more: The relentless pace of stories about sexual violence have filled many women with rage and forced survivors to relive their experiences again and again.] The pain of testifying As a rape survivor, I was shaking in my chair as Dr. Ford described her assault. Having to testify at my rape trial was the most difficult thing that I have ever done in my life. Most people thought the problem of polychlorinated biphenyls known as PCBs had been solved. Some countries began banning the toxic chemicals in the 1970s and 1980s, and worldwide production was ended with the 2001 Stockholm Convention. But a new study based on modeling shows that theyre lingering in the blubber of killer whales and they may end up wiping out half the worlds population of killer whales in coming decades. It certainly is alarming, said Jean-Pierre Desforges, a post-doctoral researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark and the lead author on the new study published Thursday in the journal Science. Whales sit at the top of their food chain. Chemicals like PCBs are taken up by plankton at the base of the food chain, then eaten by herring and other small fish, which are themselves eaten by larger fish, and so on. At each step in this chain, PCBs get more and more concentrated. The most at-risk killer whales are those that eat seals and other animals that are themselves fairly high on the food chain and quite contaminated, Dr. Desforges said. It pointed out that the Constitution Bench in 1994 had unequivocally laid down that every immovable property. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the 1994 ruling, which said a mosque is not an essential aspect of Islam and namaz by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in the open, does not require reconsideration by a Constitution Bench. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer, by a majority of 2:1, held that there was no need for referring the matter to a five-judge Constitution Bench and the title suits could be decided by a three-judge bench itself. On the questionable observations made by a Constitution Bench in 1994, Justice Bhushan, who wrote for himself and the CJI, held that the questionable observations were made in the context of immunity from acquisition of a mosque. The bench rejected the arguments that the observations made by the Constitution Bench in 1994 had influenced the decisions made by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court in 2010 while allocating two-thirds share of the disputed site to Hindus and one-third to the Sunni Waqf Board. The bench said the questionable observations came to be made in the conclusion that places of religious worship like mosques, churches, temples, etc can be acquired under the States sovereign power of acquisition. Such acquisition per se does not violate either Article 25 or Article 26 of the Constitution. It pointed out that the Constitution Bench in 1994 had unequivocally laid down that every immovable property be it a temple, church or mosque is liable to be acquired, and a mosque does not enjoy any additional protection, which is not available to places of worship of other religions. The bench said the issues, which have arisen in these appeals, are no doubt important issues, which have to be heard and decided. Normally, appeals arising out of suits are placed before a bench of two judges, but looking to the importance of the matter, these appeals had already been placed before a three-judge bench. The questionable observations were made in the context of land acquisition. The observations were neither relevant for deciding the suits nor relevant for deciding these appeals, the bench held, and directed that the appeals will be decided for hearing on October 29. In a dissenting verdict, Justice Nazeer said the question on whether a particular religious practice is an essential or integral part of the religion is a question that should be decided by considering the doctrine, tenets and beliefs of that religion. The observation that a mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam and that namaz by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in the open has been arrived at without undertaking a comprehensive examination, he felt. It was clear that the questionable observations had certainly permeated the high courts judgment in the title suits. Further, the observations lead to a different approach regarding application of the essential and/or integral test, which also needs to be resolved as a matter of constitutional significance. Thus, he said a five-judge Constitution Bench should hear the matter. The appeals will now be heard on October 29. Those who filed the appeals include the Sunni Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh, the Nirmohi Akhara; the All-India Hindu Mahasabha and the Bhagwan Shri Ram Virajman. There are voluminous records, scripts and documents in seven languages Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Persian, Arabic, Punjabi and Urdu which are to be translated into English. On behalf of Hindus, it was argued that having accepted that the disputed site was the birthplace of Lord Ram, there was no reason why one-third of the land was to be given to Muslims for construction of a mosque. They wanted the entire area granted to Hindus to facilitate the construction of a Ram Mandir. The appeal on behalf of Muslims raised several other questions, including whether myth, belief or faith could be substituted by history for the purposes of application of law for the time being; and whether in view of the fact that the devotees of Lord Ram demolished the building during the pendency of the suit, relief could be given to such a plaintiff. Hidden pyramids and massive fortresses in the jungle. Farms and canals scattered across swamplands. Highways traversing thickets of rain forest. These are among more than 61,000 ancient Mayan structures swallowed by overgrowth in the tropical lowlands of Guatemala that archaeologists have finally uncovered using a laser mapping technology called lidar. The discoveries, published Thursday in Science, provide a snapshot of how the ancient Maya altered the landscape around them for more than 2,500 years from about 1000 B.C. to 1500 A.D., and may change what archaeologists thought they knew about aspects of the ancient societys population size, agricultural practices and conflicts between warring dynasties. The ancient Maya flourished in what is today southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and western Honduras. They left behind a rich written history painted and inscribed on wood, stone and ceramics. Detailed in their intricate hieroglyphics were tales of kings, queens and war. Youre looking at a series of kingdoms all involved in this Game of Thrones political story where they are marrying, fighting, killing each other and backstabbing, said Thomas Garrison, an archaeologist at Ithaca College and an author of the paper. Lidar reveals the stage in which these dramas recorded in texts played out. On January 28, 2001, a rising Tunisian-Italian designer named Hedi Slimane showed his first collection for Dior Homme. Staged at the Galerie de Botanique in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, the event effectively rebranded the fashion housess mens line, and caused a seismic shift in the typically staid world of mens fashion. At a time when baggy tailoring was the prevailing aesthetic in mens wear, a relative newcomer made a case for a precisely crafted razor-slim silhouette. The Timess fashion critic at the time, Cathy Horyn, singled it out as the most anticipated show of the fall 2001 mens season. Tomorrow, some 17 years later, Slimane will make another buzzy debut, unveiling his first collection for Celine as the French brands artistic, creative and image director, a role created specifically for him. Since his arrival at Celine in January where he took over from Phoebe Philo, who announced her departure last year Slimane has been remaking the house in his own image. When the brand introduces mens wear for the first time this season, with couture to follow next January, Slimane will showcase not only his sprawling powers of imagination but also what he is capable of when starting from a blank slate. The fall 2001 Dior Homme collection epitomized the fastidious detail and dark sensuality that would become hallmarks of Slimanes aesthetic. To the sounds of a melancholic track by the French musician Benjamin Diamond, Slimane sent out a mix of street-cast and professional models walking in a lightning-fast stride with their hair blown back as if by a wind. Trousers with sequins sewed inside pleats were paired with open-collared shirts unbuttoned to the navel, while exquisitely tailored suits came in luxurious, light-catching fabrics. Yves Saint Laurent, Slimanes mentor who sat in the front row with his business and life partner, Pierre Berge led a standing ovation at the end of the show. In his seven years at Dior Homme, Slimane established himself as a provocateur, as well as one of the most influential mens wear designers of the 21st century. He staged fashion shows that resembled stadium events, dressed extremely slim androgynous models in designs that referenced the subcultures that fascinated him (such as the electronic underground in Berlin and Londons indie scene) and redefining conventional notions of masculine beauty in the process. He would go on to become the creative director at Saint Laurent, from 2012 to 2016, where his singular vision would propel the brand beyond a billion euros in sales during the final year of his tenure. His roots, though, are to be found in his first collection for Dior Homme. Here, some of his friends and collaborators reflect on that breakout show. The Scottish designer Jonathan Saunders has always had a knack for color. At his eponymous womens wear brand, much mourned since its shuttering in 2016, he dreamed up shades at once dazzling and subtle: deep mineral greens, sunset pinks that teetered on orange, yellows both buttery and acidic. More recently, he created vibrantly printed and color-blocked dresses as the chief creative officer at DVF. Though he left the company last year, Saunders has remained in New York, where he is now focusing on his first love: furniture design. Next year, Saunders will release his debut offering of home furnishings, an assortment of Memphis-esque chairs and sculptural tables rendered in his typically vivid colors. This venture has been years in the making: Before he turned to fashion, Saunders studied product and textile design at the Glasgow School of Art and he has, at various times, longed to return to what he describes as its more personal, more solitary creative process. To that end, during the recent London Design Festival, Saunders also released a collection of eight graphically patterned rugs, his second such collaboration with the British brand the Rug Company. Informed by Saunderss first trip to Japan, which he finally had time to take last year, the rugs are woven with precise geometric patterns that reference the motions of weaving itself. T sent Saunders a Polaroid camera and asked him to capture his trip to London. Below, he shares images from the design festival, as well as snapshots of the shows during London Fashion Week. The wonderful thing was, for once, being able to go and support my friends, he says. SAN FRANCISCO Opendoor, a start-up that flips homes, attracted attention in June when it announced it had raised $325 million from a long list of venture capitalists. The financing valued the four-year-old company at more than $2 billion. That was only an appetizer. Three months later, Opendoor has more than doubled its cash pile. On Thursday, the company said it had gotten a $400 million investment from SoftBanks Vision Fund. The valuation for Opendoor remains the same. The so-called mega-round for Opendoor was not the Vision Funds only major real estate-related deal on Thursday. The firm also co-led a $400 million investment in the high-end brokerage Compass that valued the company at $4.4 billion. The hauls are part of a race by investors to pour money into technology for real estate, or what Silicon Valley now calls proptech. Le Proces had its premiere last season at the Nowy Teatr in Warsaw instead, and its obviously an indictment of Polands political climate. While Mr. Lupa writes in the playbill that he avoided Kafka for a long time because of his pessimism, he now appears to embrace it. At the end of Le Proces, the actors line up with black tape over their mouths, just as the Teatr Polskis actors did to protest Mr. Morawskis appointment, after a performance of Mr. Lupas Woodcutters on the Odeon stage two years ago. Mr. Lupa is an artist of slow-burning precision, and the first and third parts of Le Proces artfully trap us in its protagonists nightmare, as the character, Joseph K., is prosecuted for a crime that is never explained to him, and encounters the sort of labyrinthine judicial system that gave us the adjective Kafkaesque. Visually, the sets echo this distortion of reality: The proportions of every scene are slightly off, from the tall, decaying walls of the house where Joseph K. lodges to the shadowy bedroom of a lawyer he visits. Andrzej Klak is perfectly cast as Joseph K. awkward, lanky, looking in over his head and the other actors inhabit this world with the right amount of ominous matter-of-factness. But the bleakness of the scenes Mr. Lupa has adapted from The Trial (parts of the original plot are omitted) would have been more digestible if it werent for the productions middle part. The nearly two-hour segment sandwiched between the two intermissions was inspired by Kafkas on-and-off relationship with Felice Bauer, which Elias Canetti called, in a book of the same name, Kafkas Other Trial. In this section, Mr. Klak plays Kafka, prostrate and distraught over the breakup of his first engagement to Ms. Bauer, which is said to have led him to write the first chapters of The Trial. At this point, the nihilism of the production goes from oppressive to self-indulgent. The text moves between Kafkas romantic problems and running commentary on todays world. The characters, who include Ms. Bauer and Kafkas friend Max Brod, pontificate aimlessly, when theyre not undressing for no apparent reason. Its time for this country to seek medical help, Brod announces. When he leafs through a book titled The Year 2017, he describes its content as science fiction. GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY at the Public Theater (in previews; opens on Oct. 1). A Depression-era drama with occasional harmonica, Conor McPhersons play, studded with Bob Dylans plaintive songs, arrives from London. Set in a Duluth, Minn., boardinghouse in 1934, the show borrows from the whole of Mr. Dylans discography, sung by a cast that includes Mare Winningham, Marc Kudisch and Todd Almond. 212-967-7555, publictheater.org GLORIA: A LIFE at the Daryl Roth Theater (previews start on Oct. 2; opens on Oct. 18). Journalist, activist and foundational second-wave feminist, Gloria Steinem has been in the figurative spotlight for five decades. That light is a little more literal now. In this play, written by Emily Mann and directed by Diane Paulus, the actress Christine Lahti will portray Ms. Steinem. The first act is biography; the second is a talking circle. gloriatheplay.com INDIA PALE ALE at New York City Center Stage I (previews start on Oct. 2; opens on Oct. 23). A drama of family, ethnicity and occasional piracy, this new show from the playwright Jaclyn Backhaus (Men on Boats) touches down in small-town Wisconsin for a not-quite-traditional Punjabi wedding. Will Davis directs an intergenerational cast that includes Purva Bedi, Angel Desai and Alok Tewari. 212-581-1212, nycitycenter.org THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL at various locations (performances start on Oct. 1). Its back! A little smaller and a little later, but still weird and nervy and occasionally musical, this monthlong festival has returned for its 21st season. The core event, which begins on Oct. 12, has fewer shows in fewer locations, but this year the Fringe has also started a new venture, Bring Your Own Venue, a partnership with spaces in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, where performances will commence on Monday. fringenyc.org Instead, our undecided voters just dont know much about the candidates: 56 percent of the undecided voters dont know either candidate, while only 17 percent of decided voters dont know either candidate. Over all, 70 percent of decided voters like at least one of the candidates in their districts. Just 20 percent of undecided voters like at least one of the candidates. A narrow category of undecided voters seems not to like either candidate: 11 percent of undecided voters dont like either candidate, something true of only 4 percent of decided voters. This probably isnt unusual for these voters. Their lack of knowledge probably reflects a generally lower level of political engagement. A majority of the undecided voters in our polling have never voted in a primary before. Just 50 percent say theyre almost certain to vote in November, compared with 67 percent of decided voters. Demographically similar, but more diverse and less educated Undecided voters dont look vastly different demographically from decided voters, but there are some minor differences. Theyre likelier to be women. Theyre likelier to be nonwhite. Theyre also less likely to be college graduates. White college-educated voters are particularly underrepresented among undecided voters: They make up 39 percent of decided voters, but just 32 percent of the undecided. This subtle demographic difference plays out in geographically significant ways. Democrats seem to have a lot of upside in the Sun Belt districts where Democrats are dependent on nonwhite voters and where there are relatively few white working-class voters. Over all, the undecided voters in the Sun Belt districts are 50 percent white, compared with 62 percent of decided voters. Hispanic voters make up 35 percent of undecided voters, compared with 25 percent of those who are decided. This was the moment they had been waiting to see, that their families had been debating at dinner and they had spent days researching online. Roughly two hours in, they were not convinced it was enough to disqualify Judge Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court. It sounds like its real to her, I cant judge that, said Susan Kennedy, 57, who watched with her hand at her chin. I go back to: When you hire somebody you look at who they are now. Even if he was part of that, its not who he is now. Her story sounds credible. But just because shes had a credible story does not mean its correct, said Louellen Welsch, 62, who watched with her arms folded. I need to have a lot more questioning. Ms. Welsch and Ms. Kennedy were sipping coffee at the home of a friend, Tamra Farah, a conservative activist in Colorado whose husband unsuccessfully ran for the Republican governors nomination this year. The three had met in church about 20 years ago when they moved to this pine-filled corner of Colorado, and now reunited several times a year for wine festivals and to catch up on how their children and grandchildren were doing. And now, for this. Ms. Welsch recalled how she herself had survived multiple attempts at sexual assault as a girl and a young woman, and reflected on how some 30 years ago she had been forced to avoid a boss who made sexually charged jokes. I have a problem with this coming out now, she said. I would be glad to have those people prosecuted. I want those people punished, not Im going to keep this secret. As Ms. Welsch described what had happened to her, Mrs. Farah came over and hugged her. The friends criticized the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying they were grandstanding and were using Dr. Blaseys testimony merely as a political weapon to block Judge Kavanaughs confirmation. Exasperated, they urged the senators to stop talking and allow Dr. Blasey to testify. Can you tell me what incidences occurred of the ones youve described to us occurred in his office? The incident with regard to the Coke can thats spelled out in my statement. Would you describe it once again for me, please? The incident involved his going to his desk getting up from a work table going to his desk, looking at this can and saying, Who put pubic hair on my Coke? Are there any other incidences that occurred in his office? I recall at least one instance, in his office at the E.E.O.C., where he discussed some pornographic material. What was the content of what he said? Well, this was a reference to an individual who had a very large penis and he used the name that he had been referred to in the pornographic material. Um Do you recall what it was? Yes, I do. The name that was referred to was Long Dong Silver. You testified this morning in response to Senator Biden that the most embarrassing question involved this is not too bad womens large breasts. Thats a word we use all the time. That was the most embarrassing aspect of what Judge Thomas had said to you? No, the most embarrassing aspect was his description of the acts of these individuals, these women. The acts that those particular people would engage in. It wasnt just the breasts. It was the continuation of his story about what happened in those films with the people with this characteristic physical characteristic With the physical characteristic of The large breasts. Well, in your statement to the F.B.I., you did refer to the films. But theres no reference to the physical characteristic you describe. I dont want to attach too much weight to it. But I had thought you said that the aspect of the large breasts was the aspect that concerned you. And that was missing from the statement to the F.B.I. Ive been I have been misunderstood. Are you a scorned woman? No. Are you a zealot, civil-rights believer that progress will be turned back If Clarence Thomas goes on the court? I no, I dont. I think that I have my opinion. But I dont think that progress will be turned back. I think that civil rights will prevail no matter what happens with the court. Do you have a militant attitude relative to the area of civil rights? No, I dont have a militant attitude. Do you have a martyr complex? No I dont. Well, do you see that coming out of this, that you can be a hero in the civil-rights movement? I do not have that kind of complex. I dont like all of the attention that Im getting. I dont I would not even if I liked the attention, I would not lie to get attention. Why in Gods name when he left his position of power or status or authority over you and you left it in 1983 why in Gods name would you ever speak to a man like that the rest of your life? Thats a very good question. And Im sure that I can not answer that to your satisfaction. That is one of the things that I have tried to do today. I have suggested that I was afraid of retaliation. I was afraid of damage to my professional life. And I believe that you have to understand that this response and that, and thats one of the things that I have come to understand about harassment, that this response, this kind of response, is not atypical. And I cant explain. It takes an expert in psychology to explain how that can happen. But it can happen because it happened to me. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty. ... This confirmation process has become a national disgrace. Early in the evening, I went up a very narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the restroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom across from the bathroom. I couldnt see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what terrified me the most and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Dr. Ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh assaulted you? One hundred percent. What is the strongest memory you have? Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter the uproarious laughter between the two, and theyre having fun at my expense. Youve never forgotten that laughter, never forgotten them laughing at you? I was underneath one of them while the two laughed two friends having a really good time with one another. Are you aware that the three people at the party besides yourself and Brett Kavanaugh have given statements under penalty of felony to the committee? Yes. And are you aware of what those statements say? Yes. Are you aware that they say that they have no memory or knowledge of such a party? I dont expect that P.J. and Leland would remember this evening. It was a very unremarkable party. It was not one of their more notorious parties. Because nothing remarkable happened to them that evening they were downstairs. And Mr. Judge is a different story I would expect that he would remember that this happened. I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by Dr. Ford. This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside, left-wing opposition groups. The other night, Ashley and my daughter Liza said their prayers. And little Liza, all of 10 years old, said to Ashley, we should pray for the woman. Was there ever a time when you drink so much that you couldnt remember what happened or part of what happened the night before? I no. I remember what happened. And, I think youve probably had beers, Senator, and so So youre saying theres never been a case where you drank so much that you didnt remember what happened the night before, or part of what happened? Thats youre asking about yeah, blackout. I dont know, have you? Could you answer the question, Judge? And just so you thats not happened? Is that your answer? Yeah, and Im curious if you have. I have no drinking problem, Judge. Yeah, nor do I. O.K., thank you. In your yearbook, you talked about drinking and sexual exploits, did you not? Senator, let me take a step back and explain high school. I was No. 1 in the class, freshman And I thought No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I thought only the Senate could filibuster. Im going to talk about my high school I thought only the Senate could filibuster. No, no, Im going to talk Let him answer. Im going to talk about my high school record if youre going to sit here and mock me. You said, I welcome any kind of investigation. I quote you. I welcome any kind of investigation. I welcome whatever the committee wants to do, because Im telling the truth. I want to know what you want to do. Im telling the truth. I want to know what you want to do, Judge. Im innocent. Im innocent of this charge. Then youre prepared for an F.B.I. investigation? They dont reach conclusions. You reach the conclusions, Senator. No, but they do investigate questions. If you wanted an F.B.I. investigation, you couldve come to us. What you want to do is destroy this guys life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020. You said that, not me. Youve got nothing to apologize for. When you see Sotomayor and Kagan, tell him that Lindsey said hello. Because I voted for them. I would never do to them what youve done to this guy. This is the most unethical sham since Ive been in politics. And if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldnt have done what youve done to this guy. Are you a gang rapist? No. I cannot imagine what you and your family have gone through. The British introduced a hierarchical and feudal system in India though they had a different system back home. It was a delight to read about former US President Jimmy Carter, 93, and his wife Rosalynn, 91, leading simple lives and doing social work. They are busy building homes for others. They live in the two-bedroom ranch house, cook their meals themselves and attend the local Baptist church, where Mr Carter teaches Sunday school. He would never give a speech to an investment bank for a hefty fee. Will Indian leaders and VIPs learn from people like him? Oh, pigs might fly! Indian scriptures extol simplicity and humility, and Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi gave the mantra of plain living and high thinking. Alas, these are only highfalutin principles not to be actuated into practice! The British introduced a hierarchical and feudal system in India though they had a different system back home. Ironically, Indians imbibed the feudal culture with ease. The Indian National Congress fought against the alien rule, but its president was given a guard of honour by its volunteers when s/he visited any place. After Independence, first President Rajendra Prasad was not willing to move into the palatial Rashtrapati Bhavan as he preferred a spartan life. He wrote to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru more than once for providing him a small bungalow. He also exhorted Nehru to live in a small house. Nehru agreed to follow the advice but Girija Shankar Bajpai, secretary general in the ministry of external affairs, advised him against it, saying foreign heads of states and governments would call on him at his residence, and so, it would not behove him to stay in a small house. Nehru asked Bajpai to first convince Prasad who was not convinced but moved to the Rashtrapati Bhavan reluctantly. However, he refused to live in the rooms occupied by the Viceroy and stayed in other rooms meant for visitors. He also got his salary reduced to half from `10,000 per month to `5,000 and finally to one-fourth `2,500 per month. After his retirement he was felicitated by the mayor of Delhi in a public meeting. In his speech, he said that people often asked him how did he feel living in the Rashtrapati Bhavan after spending years in jails, and he said that Rashtrapati Bhavan was also like a jail to him where he was cut off from the people. There were some others too who practised austerity. Hasrat Mohani, a member of the Constituent Assembly, stayed in a mosque when he came to Delhi for session. Jayaprakash Narayan felt that people should get a hint of socialism even from the personal lives of highly placed persons. When Nehru joined the interim government on September 2, 1946 as the vice-president of the Viceroys Executive Council, he started living in the sprawling bungalow on 17, York Road (Motilal Nehru Marg). After Gandhis assassination, he shifted, for security reasons, to Teen Murti building which was even more palatial. In December 1947, JP advised Nehru that the Prime Minister of a poor country should not put up in such a big house. He reminded Nehru of his own memoir written after his (Nehrus) tour of Russia that Lenin, the great leader of a country like Russia, lived in a small flat of two rooms with his wife and sister. Nehru replied that the PM was required to live in a big bungalow in order to keep up the dignity of the country. He added that two days back the ambassador of Russia came to meet him in a beautiful expensive car. Not only that, even the two cars escorting it equally expensive. JP countered that Russia had prospered much in the preceding years but India was yet to attain that stage. Therefore, the leaders of this country should live simply. On this, Nehru referred to Sarojini Naidus comment on Gandhi that lakhs of rupees of Birla was spent to maintain his simplicity. Several years hence in a public speech JP lamented: But what was the result of that initial mistake is evident from the lavish style and belligerence of our present rulers. Mocking the crores of huts of the country all this is adding to the pride of the country and safeguarding the nations dignity. Louis Dumont, in his famous book, Homo Hierarchicus, propounded that the Indian was a hierarchical man. His observation is based on the caste system. But now several other abominable forms of hierarchy have developed which distinguish VIPs from the common man. It is reflected in their lordly lifestyle flurry of security guards, attendants and many other immunities and privileges. Hierarchy hangs from the neck of government officials as the colour of the ribbon of the identity card speaks of the rank red for joint secretary and above, yellow for director and deputy secretary, and blue for under secretary and below. However, India has also the luminous example of Mahatma Gandhi who stands out in the whole world to have shunned power despite being the tallest leader of the freedom movement. Another great leader to follow suit was JP. But the spirit of sacrifice seems to have vanished with Gandhi and JP as other leaders tenaciously clung to power with majority of them dying in harness, including Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1937, when the Congress formed governments in provinces, ministers travelled in third-class compartments to set examples of simplicity. It was under the influence of the Gandhian ideal. Alas, it did not last long. However, in 1950s and 60s, the tendency to flaunt power had not acquired a hideous proportion. So, quite a good number of leaders led simple lives. But aberrations could be seen even then. In 1958, daughter of Congress MLA and ex-minister Mahesh Prasad Sinha of Bihar was married off at Patna amidst huge fanfare. It was reported to Nehru who wrote to Bihar chief minister Shri Krishna Singh, There are plenty of weddings in Delhi and I have publicly criticised the extravagance of some of our rich people there. But I do not know of any Delhi marriage which had a baraat procession of 500 cars, apart from elephants, horses, etc. What is worse, Indian politicians seldom retire. Even past Presidents who cannot hold any post do not do any public service. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was an exception. Retired judges of the Supreme Court, who cannot practice, are busy minting money in arbitration. We have some happy exceptions like late V.R. Krishna Iyer, M.N. Venkatachaliah, Ruma Paul, et al, who never accepted any arbitration. Ruma Paul prefers going to school and spending time with children. Retired bureaucrats find sinecure jobs and cool their heels in commissions and Raj Bhavans. Former MPs/MLAs are getting more than one pension and enjoying many privileges, including unlimited free train journeys. In India, VIPs remain VIPs lifelong. They will barely deign to behave like ordinar people. In 1958, JP went to Israel and was astounded to see former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion driving tractor in the farm. In many developed countries, former Prime Ministers and Presidents live like normal citizens and do something for their society. But Indian democracy throws up blue-blooded VIPs. The writer is a senior TV journalist and author what mr. trump said They made false statements about me. I never met them. I never met these people. And what did they do, what did they do? They took money in order to say bad things. the facts This is misleading. Mr. Trump said he was accused of sexual misconduct by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me," and whom he claimed he had never met. He then contradicted himself and said that he knew them a long time ago. Fifteen years ago, 20 years ago. More than a dozen women have accused him of sexual misconduct. Of those women, he has met at least six, as The New York Times reported last year: A sixth woman, the makeup artist Jill Harth, said Mr. Trump groped her in 1992 and she filed a lawsuit against him in 1997. She later withdrew that complaint as part of a settlement of a different lawsuit with Mr. Trump. The presidents contention that the women were paid to falsely accuse him of sexual misconduct distorts news reports about financial donations to some accusers. The Timess Kenneth Vogel reported in December that political partisans raised money to support accusers who came forward with charges of sexual misconduct about Mr. Trump and members of Congress. Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, told reporters that Mr. Lighthizer had told lawmakers that the United States and Canada remained far apart on negotiations. Im not at all optimistic at the moment, Mr. Thune said. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, said that it was possible for Canada to join the agreement with Mexico by November, even if the administration submits bilateral text to Congress this week. But any agreement, she said, needs to be North America, to be the most effective. Congressional staff members cautioned that the administration would find little support on Capitol Hill for a deal that excluded Canada entirely, and that there was little appetite for pulling out of Nafta without a trilateral agreement to replace it. They also said that the agreement with Mexico alone would be unlikely to move to a vote in the House if Democrats win control of the chamber in Novembers elections. Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said that an agreement that excluded Canada would be much harder to pass in the Senate because it might not qualify for the trade protection authority provisions that would allow such a measure to be ratified with just 51 votes. While some Senate Democrats agree with some of Mr. Trumps goals on revising Nafta, they made clear on Thursday that they would punish him politically for excluding Canada. It would be a monumental mistake to do this without Canada, said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee. Its basically surrendering on fixing Nafta. Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, said that Mr. Lighthizer had told him that he would be releasing text of the agreement with Mexico this weekend and that he was hopeful that Canada would come on board after its provincial elections in early October. Mr. Doggett said he was not ready to say if he would reject an agreement with just Mexico, but said he had urged Mr. Lighthizer to keep working on the Canadians. WASHINGTON White House officials said on Thursday that President Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein will meet next week to discuss Mr. Rosensteins future at the Justice Department. The New York Times reported on Friday that Mr. Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Mr. Trump to document the chaos of the White House in 2017 and had raised the issue of removing the president from office. That prompted Mr. Rosenstein to tell senior White House advisers over the weekend that he was willing to resign. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said that was not his preferred outcome and that Mr. Rosenstein had denied the reports. Im talking to him. Weve had a good talk, Mr. Trump said. He said he never said it. He said he doesnt believe it. He said he has a lot of respect for me, and he was very nice, and well see. In the face of isolationism, protectionism, racism the simple concept of looking outwardly and beyond ourselves, of kindness and collectivism, might just be as good a starting point as any, said Ms. Ardern, 38, who this week became the first head of state to bring her baby 3-month-old Neve Gayford to the United Nations. In her speech, she repeatedly called on members to commit to rebuilding global institutions, not consign them to history. Ms. Ardern said that instead of seeking to blame the nameless, faceless other, world leaders must instead rebuild and recommit to multilateralism. Visiting the United Nations for the first time, Ms. Ardern devoted a large portion of her speech to climate change, the effects of which she called not academic, or even arguable. Ms. Ardern later received a round of applause when she spoke about gender equality. MeToo must become WeToo, Ms. Ardern said. She noted while New Zealand had just marked its 125th anniversary of womens suffrage it was the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote it has also struggled with a gender pay gap, a disproportionate number of women in low-paid work and high levels of domestic violence. CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-MCLAY Rights Council votes to document war crimes in Myanmar As speeches from world leaders proceeded at the General Assembly in New York on Thursday, the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva voted to establish a mechanism for gathering and preserving evidence of war crimes against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The move is seen by some legal experts as an important step toward accountability and justice for the Rohingya. One piece read: Trump has always blamed China for the loss of U.S. jobs, but most economists believe that it is automation, rather than China or Mexico, that are responsible for U.S. job losses. This week, the United States began imposing tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, the biggest round of levies to take effect in an escalating trade war that both sides say could last a long time. Republican Party officials in Iowa have expressed concerns about layoffs and financial losses resulting from the tit-for-tat tariffs. Some Republicans fear the trade war could depress turnout in the November elections, when the party is in danger of losing control of the House and possibly the Senate. As Chinese officials have tried to figure out a strategy for dealing with the tariffs, some have suggested that China should stay quiet until after the elections, arguing that Mr. Trump would have less support in Congress once the Democrats control the House. Analysts in China said that Mr. Trumps troubles in Iowa were not a good enough reason for China Daily to publish the supplement and only left the impression the country is trying to influence the elections. Analysts said that American officials might wish to use the talks with Japan to score a small but quick win. This seems more about Lets get some sort of deal and see what we can get out of Japan in a pretty quick turnaround and then move onto other stuff, said Tobias Harris, an expert on Japanese politics at Teneo Intelligence in Washington. Whatever you want to call it, this is something much more limited than what Japan had feared. Certainly, deferring auto tariffs gives Japan some immediate breathing room. Industry analysts had said that if the Trump administration imposed a 20 percent tariff on Japanese auto exports, manufacturers costs could go up by $8.6 billion. SMBC Nikko Securities estimated that if automakers passed on such costs to customers, Japans car exports would decline by 200,000 units, cutting manufacturers profits by about 2.2 percent. In remarks to the news media in New York on Wednesday evening, Mr. Abe, who recently won a leadership election that could set him up to become the longest-serving prime minister in the countrys history, emphasized that American officials would accept Japans previously established parameters for opening up its markets for beef, vegetables and other agricultural products. That means the Trump administration would not get any further concessions from Japan than it has already given in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement originally rejected by Mr. Trump. But analysts said that Mr. Trump could present any deal that results from the talks with Japan as a new victory in efforts to get other nations to buckle on trade. The president can play it up and say that this is a deal that Japan would open up their markets, said Yorizumi Watanabe, a professor of policy management at Keio University in Tokyo. In a rambling news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Mr. Trump suggested he had figured out other ways to reduce the United States trade deficit with Japan. He boasted that Japan would buy massive amounts of military equipment and was doubling the amount of liquid natural gas it would buy from the United States. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the world is at the dawn of a new day in confronting the threat posed by North Koreas weapons programs but that sanctions against the country must continue for now. In a speech before the United Nations Security Council, Mr. Pompeo said President Trumps summit meeting in Singapore with North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, had laid the groundwork for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. But he told the council that until that process is complete, the world must abide by the economic sanctions still in place against the government in Pyongyang. We must not forget whats brought us this far: the historic international pressure campaign that this council has made possible through the sanctions that it imposed, Mr. Pompeo said. Myanmar has flatly rejected charges that its security forces committed mass atrocities, and it refused to cooperate with the fact-finding team. Its ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Kyaw Moe Tun, told the council that the teams report was based on unverified information and that the resolution would impede dialogue and the repatriation of those who fled. Thirty-five of the councils 47 members backed the resolution. The only countries to oppose it were China, the Philippines and Burundi. The others abstained or did not vote. Thursdays resolution was the product of a collaboration between all 28 countries in the European Union and all 57 states in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It was co-sponsored by more than 100 countries from all regions. This is unprecedented, Farukh Amil, Pakistans ambassador and the coordinator of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, told reporters after the vote, referring to the level of cooperation. This is a very powerful message that has gone to the government of Myanmar. The body created by the council will be similar to the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism set up by the General Assembly two years ago to assist in investigation and prosecution of those responsible for human rights atrocities in Syria. Diplomats expected the new entity to be up and running within the year. MANILA President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines on Thursday said for the first time that extrajudicial killings had happened under his governments brutal war on drugs, an admission that could bolster two cases filed against him at the International Criminal Court. In a rambling speech before government executives at the presidential palace, Mr. Duterte again touched on the governments drug war that has left thousands dead, a common theme in his two-year-old presidency. He said he had challenged the countrys military and police brass to remove him from office if they were not satisfied with the way he was running the country. I told the military, what is my fault? Did I steal even one peso? Mr. Duterte said. My only sin is the extrajudicial killings. The U.S. side is fully responsible for the problems in China-U.S. military ties and should act rationally and maturely, China's Ministry of National Defense said Thursday. Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense [Photo: mod.gov.cn] At a regular press conference, Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the ministry, made the remarks in response to questions on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, sanctions on a Chinese military unit and the presence of U.S. bombers in the South China Sea. Ren reiterated China's resolute opposition to those moves and urged the U.S. side to act rationally and maturely to improve military ties with sincerity, asking for joint efforts to make military ties a stabilizer for bilateral relations. On the arms sales issue, Ren said the problem was not about the quantity but its nature. The arms sales will severely damage the China-U.S. military ties, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Ren said. On provocative actions over the South China Sea, Ren said China would continue to take necessary measures to handle the situation. No construction material should be kept in the open and regular sprinkling of water at all construction sites must be done. New Delhi: Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain on Wednesday directed various agencies to ensure that norms for dust control are maintained at construction sites and while transporting related material, even as he warned that those violating them would face strict actions. The minister said this while chairing a meeting to review the steps being taken for prevention, control and mitigation of air pollution in the city and the National Capital Region (NCR), the Delhi government said. The meeting was attended by the Delhis secretary (environment & forests), member secretary, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), director (environment), principal chief conservator of forests, among others. However, commissioners of the three municipal corporations NDMC, SDMC and EDMC and vice-chairman (DDA) were not present in the meeting. Representatives of the NDMC, EDMC, PWD, DCB, DDA, Revenue Department, Transport Department and Traffic Police attended it, the government said in a statement. Mr Hussain said development agencies should ensure that all construction sites should adhere to the Construction & Demolition Waste Rules, 2016 to avoid any dust emission from construction activities. No construction material should be kept in the open and regular sprinkling of water at all construction sites must be done. All high-rise building should have the arrangement of water sprinkling for dust suppression. Strict action against the violators of norms should immediately be initiated by the respective authority, he said. The minister also directed the transport authorities/traffic police to deploy more staff so that strict actions are taken on the overloaded vehicles and vehicles carrying uncovered construction material. He stressed upon the need to stop the entry of non-destined vehicles in Delhi as the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways have become operational, the statement said. Mr Hussain also stressed upon intensifying of actions by all departments/agencies, keeping in view the onset of winter. Municipal corporations were also directed to explore feasibility of water sprinkling in inner lanes of the colony before sweeping as lot of dust is emanated from manual sweeping of roads. The PWD was directed to increase deployment of mechanical sweeping machines on roads wider than 60 ft with arrangement for water sprinkling. The minister also reviewed the action being taken by various departments and agencies on the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) as notified upon the directions of the Supreme Court to combat air pollution in Delhi and NCR. He also reviewed the steps being taken by departments and agencies for prevention and control of biomass burning, including crop residue, garbage burning, and vehicular pollution. The environment secretary apprised the minister about the progress made on the Green Budget Scheme of the Delhi government, viz, conversion of industrial fuel to PNG; conversion of coal-based tandoors to gas-based ones; conversion of boilers in hotels and restaurants to clean fuel; and greening of city through mass plantation. You just feel the tentacles, the suction-y things I dont know the right term but I could feel it, and it hurt, he said. It was, he said, a moment of yuck. The moment of yuck, now the subject of a viral Instagram post and international news media attention, was captured by Taiyo Masuda, 23, of Sydney, Australia. Both men are paid ambassadors for GoPro, the camera company, which could not have planned better exposure for the release on Thursday of its new Hero 7 model. Mr. Masuda said in an interview they were among a group of about 10 kayakers watching a group of seals relaxing on nearby rocks. When one seal began swimming near the group, he got his camera out, hoping to get some underwater footage. Then: smack. We instantly laughed so hard, he said, before quickly adding, Kyle was a little more pained. PARIS In the first case invoking a new law against verbal sexual harassment, a French court has fined a man 300 euros about $350 for making lewd and insulting comments to a woman aboard a bus in a Paris suburb. The panel of judges in the case also sentenced the man to nine months in jail six months of it suspended for physically assaulting the woman and the driver of the bus. The measure outlawing verbal harassment which can include catcalls and unwanted, sexually aggressive speech brought into focus the kind of daily insults and lewd remarks that Frenchwomen face. Most used to let them go, but the #MeToo movement and its French version, #Balancetonporc, or expose your pig, have encouraged women to go public with their experiences of harassment. Frances junior minister for gender equality, Marlene Schiappa, who spearheaded the law, applauded the outcome of the first case prosecuted under it. She wrote in a tweet: Bravo to the bus driver for his quick reaction and to everyone for carrying out the sanctions. Lets together put an end to sexist and sexual violence. PARIS A little-known French rappers violent music video that intones hang the whites amid calls for killing the white babies has created a small uproar in France, with politicians rushing to condemn it, anti-racism groups denouncing it and the Paris prosecutors office opening an investigation. The video depicts a hitherto obscure rapper from the Paris suburb of Noisy-le-Grand, Nick Conrad, kidnapping a white man, stuffing him into the trunk of a car, shoving a pistol into his mouth and shooting him. Then it shows the mans hanged body. All the while the rapper repeats hang the whites. YouTube had pulled the video by Wednesday but copies of it were still viewable on Thursday. I go into the nurseries, I kill the white babies, catch them quick and hang their parents, pull them apart to pass the time, amuse the black children off all ages, little and big, the rapper says. Few had heard of Mr. Conrad or of his video before French far-right websites flagged it and began distributing it Wednesday, according to a reconstruction of events by Le Monde. Within hours, the video had passed from Frances extreme right to its mainstream right, with politicians competing with one another to express indignation. BRATISLAVA, Slovakia The police in Slovakia arrested eight people on Thursday suspected of being connected to the killing of a young investigative journalist and his fiancee seven months ago, a grisly crime that shocked the Central European nation and spurred large-scale demonstrations that ultimately forced the prime minister to resign. The journalist, Jan Kuciak, 27, was investigating links between top government officials and people suspected of links to organized crime, when he and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, also 27, were shot dead in their home in February. In an early-morning raid in Kolarovo, a small town in southern Slovakia, the police arrested eight people, including one man the authorities said might have been a paid hit man who carried out the killings. The authorities declined to release the names of those detained or to provide details about why they believed one might have been the killer, saying that the investigation was continuing and that they did not want to do anything to compromise it. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told the United Nations on Thursday that his intelligence agents had discovered a secret atomic warehouse in downtown Tehran, escalating a growing confrontation with Iran and setting up a direct challenge to its government to open the facility to inspectors and prove it is not in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal. Mr. Netanyahus claim, made at the same podium at the General Assembly where in past years he argued vociferously against signing the nuclear accord with Iran, came with photographs and map coordinates of the facility. He described it as a warehouse only three miles from the one that Israeli agents broke into last January, making off with 50,000 pages of documents and computer discs full of atomic weapons, warhead designs and production plans. Today, I am disclosing for the first time that Iran has another secret facility in Tehran, Mr. Netanyahu said. A secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Irans secret nuclear weapons program. Mr. Netanyahu did not describe what kind equipment and material was contained in the warehouse. Some types of equipment, especially if it was dismantled or could be put to a variety of industrial uses, may be permissible under the terms of the accord. The charges were framed under relevant sections of the the Indian Penal Code New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday ordered framing of charges against former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti for allegedly leading a mob that assaulted an African woman here in 2014. The court ordered putting Mr Bharti on trial after finding enough prima facie material against him for allegedly assaulting Mukoko Misa Tresar, a citizen of Democratic Republic of Kongo, who was then studying at Amity University, Noida. According to the police, on September 26, 2014, Tresar was assaulted by a mob led by the accused. Let a notice... be framed against the accused Somnath Bharti for causing simple hurt to complainant Mukoko Misa Tresar in prosecution of the common object of that assembly of which he was part of and leading, for rioting and for abetment by instigation, the court said. The charges were framed under relevant sections of the the Indian Penal Code The court also said that since there was lack of requisite sanction from the concerned authorities, the cognizance of offence under section 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) of IPC was not taken. Advocate Vijay Agarwal, appearing for the accused, denied all the allegations made against him. The Official Cash Rate (OCR) has remained unchanged at 1.75%, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has announced today. Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr said he expects to keep the OCR at this level through 2019 and into 2020, and the direction of the next OCR move could be up or down. The announcement is in line with economist expectations across all major banks, which have predicted that the OCR will not change until early or mid-2020. Free WiFi in the national capital was a key poll promise of the AAP during the 2015 Assembly elections. New Delhi: Inching closer to its key poll promise, the Aam Aadmi Party government has finalised the wireless internet hotspot model to provide free Wi-Fi in all residential areas and public places in the capital. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday gave a go-ahead to the wireless internet hotspot model due to its cost and other benefits compared to other two models, including fibre cable and internet vouchers. Mr Kejriwal gave the green signal to the project to the public works department in a high-level meeting in which advantages and disadvantages of the three models were discussed. Though fibre cable offers the highest internet speed, it comes with limitations like the internet voucher model. Since it will be a free service, a large number of users are expected with the data traffic also likely to be huge. According to the conclusions, the hotspot model turned out to be the best among the three, said sources. Additional chief secretary (PWD) Manoj Parida suggested that the Wi-Fi project be given to the IT department because PWD doesnt have expertise in IT work. However, Mr Kejriwal overruled it and asked PWD to execute the ambitious project. Free WiFi in the national capital was a key poll promise of the AAP during the 2015 Assembly elections. The government reportedly is now putting all its flagship projects on fast track. Thackeray further alleged that to win the Lok Sabha elections, many such surgical strikes would be planned. Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has asked the BJP to stop politicising the surgical strike for its own benefit. While slamming the BJP for celebrating the surgical strike, Mr Thackeray said that the Modi governments attempt to terrorise Pakistan through the strike had failed miserably an-d attacks on Indian soldiers continued unabated. Meanwhile, the Sena chief also appealed to party workers to gather in huge numbers at the forthcoming Dussehra rally. Two years ago, there was a surgical strike. The BJP used that for the Uttar Pradesh elections and won. But has it stopped attacks on soldiers? Has Pakistan learned a lesson? Has Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir stopped? Mr Thackeray questioned in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana. Sandeep Singh, a soldier who had participated in the surgical strike was martyred a few days back in Kashmir. While we are planning to celebrate the second anniversary of the surgical strike, the attacks on soldiers have increased. At such a time, this is disrespect to the soldiers and their martyrdom, the editorial read. Mr Thackeray further alleged that to win the Lok Sabha elections, many such surgical strikes would be planned. You will have a few more surgical strikes. You might have a small-scale war with Pakistan. But in the end, that will be done with our soldiers blood, the editorial said. Sena leaders also met for preparations ahead of the Dussehra rally. We want the next chief minister of Maharashtra to be from our party. For that, we need to show strength. We should get more than five lakh people at Shivtirth (Shivaji Park, Dadar) on Dussehra, said Sena leader Anil Desai in the meeting. The law is aimed at deterring economic offenders from evading the process of law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. Mumbai: A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Wednesday gave absconding diamond jeweller and key accused in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, Mehul Choksi, time till October 30 to file his reply to an Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea, seeking to declare him a fugitive under a new law. Earlier, the PMLA court had summoned Choksi on September 26 in connection with the EDs plea to declare him a fugitive under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. Appearing before the court presided over by Judge M.S. Azmi, Choksis lawyer Sanjay Abbot Wednesday said that they had been provided a copy of the EDs complaint in the USD 2 billion fraud case and needed some time to file a reply. Following this, the judge adjourned the matter to October 30 for filing the reply. The ED had moved the court, seeking to declare Choksi and his nephew and absconding diamond trader Nirav Modi as fugitive economic offenders to confiscate their assets worth Rs 3,500 crore. The court Tuesday asked Nirav Modi to file his reply on October 29 in the matter. The financial crime probing agency - empowered to enforce the new law enacted by the NDA government to curb big economic crimes and check the escape of perpetrators from India - filed two separate applications against Modi and Choksi. The law is aimed at deterring economic offenders from evading the process of law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. It seeks to expedite the recovery of losses incurred by banks and other entities. The victim also helped identify the driver. The driver was identified as Jignesh Jitendra Rajani alias Jivala, who stays in the Wagheshwari slums at Malad (east). Mumbai: Unit 11 of the crime branch has arrested an auto-rickshaw driver (31) after he molested, assaulted and robbed a woman (65) in Dahisar on September 21. The incident took place when the woman was waiting at a bus stop, and the accused approached her and managed to convince her that he knew her son, who, he insisted, was having an extramarital affair. Subsequently, he offered to take her to a hotel where her son was purportedly with the other woman. However, he drove the woman through unknown alleys and took her to an isolated spot on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway where he disrobed her, beat her, and robbed her of her valuables. The driver was identified as Jignesh Jitendra Rajani alias Jivala, who stays in the Wagheshwari slums at Malad (east). Rajani hails from Gujarat and targeted the woman after seeing the jewellery she was wearing, officials said. A team headed by senior inspector Chimaji Adhav apprehended him. The police said that after Rajani, the accused spotted the senior citizen at the bus stop, he struck a conversation with her and ferried her across the Bhayandar creek bridge in his rickshaw. A crime branch officer said, The only link we had was the colour of the saree that the woman wore that day. She was wearing a yellow saree and hence, we scanned CCTV cameras on the routes she was driven and looked for passengers wearing a yellow saree. The victim also helped identify the driver. The accused has been handed over to the MHB Colony police station for further investigation, and the crime branch has asked the police to add molestation charges to those of cheating and robbery against Rajani. 7th Pay Commission latest news today: How govt will resolve all issues of CG employees India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 27: The wait may be a long one, but for Central Government employees, relief relating to the 7th Pay Commission would come in a phased manner. Government sources tell OneIndia that it would not put all its eggs in one basket as it would have an impact on the economy. The employees must realise that the government is not blind to their demands and sops and relief would come in phases, the source also added. 7th Pay Commission latest news: Good news for these employees It may be recalled that during a meeting of the employees and the government recently, it was decided that a decision would be taken after studying the financial impact. The government says that it took time since it is necessary to study the financial implications instead of rushing through the matter. There his already a crisis in the country, when it comes to fuel prices and the falling rupee. We want to take one thing at a time. On Wednesday in a bid to sort out some of these issues, the government raised import duties on 19 items which included jet fuel and air conditioners. This was done specifically to check the widening current account deficit resulting from high crude oil prices and the Rupee dipping to a historic low. The source went on to explain that while it may not be possible to immediately announce a pay hike more than what the 7th Pay Commission had recommended, the government is taking steps to ease out the burden and would continue to announce sops in a phased manner. 7th Pay Commission: Diwali gift for CG employees, but is it enough Explaining the same, the source added that in August the Cabinet had approved a 2 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) hike for Central Government employees. The hike was made effective from July 1 2018. This was one of the sops to be announced in a phased manner the source explained. This raise came five months after the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the release of an additional installment of DA to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01.01.2018 representing an increase of 2 p% over the existing rate of 5% of the Basic Pay/Pension. Further extending sops for those awaiting good news on the 7th Pay Commission, the Centre extended the LTC benefits for two years. In an official release the Department for Personnel and Training said that the scheme which allows Central government employees to enjoy concession on travel by air to to North East, Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman and Nicobar, has been extended for two years. The scheme allowing government servants to travel by air to North East Region (NER), Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Andaman & Nikobar Islands (A&N) is extended for a further period of two years, w.e.f. 26th September 2018 till 25th September 2020 as under: 1. "LTC for visiting NER, J&K and A&N in lieu of a Home Town LTC."; 2." Facility for air journey to non-entitled Government servants for NER, J&K and A&N."; 3. "Permission to undertake journey to J&K, NER and A&N by private airlines, the statement also read. 7th Pay Commission: Rs 1,500 crore assistance sought even as govt mulls disciplinary action Analysts and experts explain that this looks like a pattern adopted by the 7th Pay Commission while resolving the issues raised by the CG employees. In the months to come, the government would announce more sops to ease the difficulties of its employees, who have been waiting for good news on the 7th Pay Commission. A new terminal at Allahabad airport to welcome foreign mission chiefs of 192 countries India oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Sep 27: The Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath will come up with an entirely new terminal at the Bamrauli Airport in view of Kumbh Mela in the city to facilitate not only foreign but domestic visitors. The government is taking all measures to showcase the mela in a better way and to provide all possible facility in the city. In one such initiative, the government has plans to put up digital signages not only in major Indian languages but also in the important foreign languages in the 30 kilometer periphery of the city. Sources in the Uttar Pradesh government said that people from across the country had to land either in Varanasi or in Lucknow to reach Allahabad which are 130 and 200 kilometers away from Allahabad respectively. Now people will be able to get direct flights from the far off places of the country to Allahabad. Air Force officials and civil aviation ministry is looking after the entire matter. Nehru's statue removed in Allahabad, Congress fumes The government sources said that besides provide a good infrastructure in the main city and the city of tents, banking facilities, telecom and internet facilites and other essential services will be provided in the mela area to take care of the people visiting from the country and outside the country. The city of tents as the 45-day long mela is known to the world will install 4000 premium tents for the visitors. Around 192 countries' mission chiefs are also expected to visit the mela for that the city is decked up with state-of-the-art infrastructure. The government is also likely to issue a postal stamp to commemorate the mela in which not only the UP government but the entire Sangh Pariwar is involved. However, the entire city at the moment has been turned into big pit and all roads being relayed. The city has the plan to paint the government buildings and walls with religious and cultural depictions and slogans. Krishna Gopal too gets involved to oversee Kumbh Mela preparations The government sources said that it would be ready with all its infrastructure that included widening road, proper drainage, covered up manholes, arrangement of WiFi, a big fly over near Allahabad connecting the main city and underpass under the railway lines. Railway stations like Prayag Ghat, Prayag, Allahabad City, Allahabad Junction, Naini and Chiwki Railway stations are beings refurbished and beautified. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 13:24 [IST] Adityanath urges Gujarat CM to allot land to build UP Bhawan near 'Statue of Unity' India pti-PTI Lucknow, Sep 27: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has urged his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani to allot a piece of land near the 'Statue of Unity' so the state government can construct a grand UP Bhawan there, a senior official said Thursday. In the letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Adityanath said a piece of land may alloted near the 'Statue of Unity' at the 'Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat Complex', so that a grand Uttar Pradesh Bhawan could be built, a senior UP government official told PTI. He added that in the letter, Adityanath said Rupani's proposal of allotment of land to various state governments, for the construction of bhawans of various states under the complex was a welcome step. Is prayer at Mosque essential? SC refuses to refer question to larger Bench "I congratulate you for this... I would like to inform you that I had taken an initiative in this regard and had requested for allotment of the piece of land," the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said. He also asked the Gujarat chief minister to inform the UP government about the allotment of land so that it could start construction work on a priority basis. The letter was written about two weeks ago, the official said. "The allotment of land to UP depends upon the availability of land (there). A world-class memorial on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is being constructed there. The UP Bhawan would facilitate tourists coming from Uttar Pradesh in their visit to the Statue of Unity," he added. Adultery not a crime, but ground for divorce says Supreme Court The request of the UP government was being processed, the official said. An iconic 182-metre tall statue, a tribute to the Iron Man of India, is being built at the Sadhu-Bet Island, approximately 3.5 kilometres south of Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in the Narmada district of Gujarat. The total project cost is estimated to be Rs 2,989 crore. On September 9, Rupani had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the statue of Sardar Patel, described by the Gujarat government as the world's tallest, on the birth anniversary of India's first home minister on October 31. On Wednesday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar accepted the proposal of Rupani to set up a 'State Bhavan' at Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Complex' near the Statue of Unity. PTI SC directs Tripura govt to ensure no political party is prevented from local body polls campaign Adultery no longer a criminal offence in India: Here's a look at where other countries stand India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 27: The Supreme Court has struck down adultery as a criminal offence, ruling that the 19-century law that "treats a husband as the master', is unconstitutional. "Adultery is arbitrary and it offends the dignity of a woman," Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who led the five-judge bench said. Also Read | Adultery not a crime, but ground for divorce says Supreme Court Here is a look at where other countries stand: The Philippines is one among the Asian countries where the practice of adultery and concubinage is a crime. In China, adultery is not regarded as a crime but can be a ground for divorce. South Korea, in 2015, was the latest country that decriminalised adultery. In Pakistan, adultery is a crime under the Hudood Ordinance, promulgated in 1979. Japan adultery is no longer a crime. Also Read | 16 things the Supreme Court said while striking down adultery as an offence What did the adultery law say? The law dictated that the woman could not be punished as an abettor. Instead, the man was considered to be a seducer. It also did not allow women to file a complaint against an adulterous husband. A man accused of adultery could be sent to a prison for a maximum of five years, made to pay a fine, or both. Adultery verdict applies to all religions, but laws of matrimony remain separate India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 27: The Supreme Court struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalised adultery. The court however made it clear that adultery can be a ground for divorce. Further the court also said that if a person commits suicide due to the adulterous relation of the partner, then it could amount to abetment to suicide if there is sufficient evidence. To put the entire judgment in simplest of terms, the verdict specifically says that adultery is not a criminal offence. Adultery not a crime, but ground for divorce says Supreme Court Now coming to the matrimonial part of it. Each religion is governed by its own matrimonial law. Striking down of Section 497 would apply to a Hindu, Muslim, Christian and all other religions in India. However each religion would be governed separately by the respective matrimonial laws. Senior advocate, Navkesh Batra says that these are different issues. One is working in the sphere of the criminal law and the SC has said that adultery is not an offence. The other would be under the ambit of the matrimonial law, which would work separately. The Hindu law: Under Section 13 (1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, adultery is described as, " Any marriage solemnised, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, may, on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce on the ground that the other party has, after the solemnisation of the marriage, had voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse." Section 497: Revisiting adultery judgments in India It has been said that in order to prove adultery, two elements would be necessary- the intention to be adulterous and the opportunity to gratify such an intention. Further the burden of proof in such cases would lie on the petitioner and it is their duty to show the court that the respondent is guilty. The Muslim Law: The Muslim Marriage Act does not have any specific provision for adultery. However Section 2 (viii) of the Muslim Marriages Act says that if a man associates himself with a woman of evil repute or leads an infamous life, it amounts to cruelty to the wife. In the Kalim Uz Zafar case the court had held that the term cruelty can be interpreted widely so as to include mental and physical cruelty. Under the concept of Lian in the Islamic laws, when a man accuses a woman of adultery, the wife can bring a claim for dissolution of marriage. The Allahabad High Court had said that only wives not guilty of adultery can use this concept, and not wives who are in fact guilty. In another ruling the same HC had said that where a man himself committed adultery and then prosecuted his wife for the same, this was a sufficient cause to seek divorce on the grounds of cruelty. 16 things the Supreme Court said while striking down adultery as an offence The Christian Law: Section 10(1)(i) of The Divorce Act of 1869 says, "Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of the Indian Divorce (Amendment) Act, 2001, may, on a petition presented to the District Court either by the husband or the wife, be dissolved on the ground that since the solemnization of the marriage, the respondent has committed adultery." Earlier only a Christian man could file for divorce on the grounds of adultery. For a Christian woman to file for divorce on this ground, it either had to be incestuous or coupled with other grounds like desertion or cruelty. The Parsi law: Under Section 32 (d) of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act of 1936, any married person could file for divorce if the spouse has committed adultery. Under the section there is a limitation period of two years from the point where the petitioner comes to know about an adulterous relationship. Married woman doesn't pledge sexual autonomy to her husband: SC The section reads, " when a married person has sexual intercourse with either a married person or an unmarried person, this section is attracted. Section 34(d) grants the right of a married person to sue his/her spouse on the grounds of adultery, fornication, bigamy, rape or any other unnatural offence. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 12:34 [IST] Bulandshahr: 'If Akhlaq's family got compensation, why can't Sumit's family get it' Assailants open fire, toss grenade at BJP lawmaker's Uttar Pradesh home India oi-PTI New Delhi, Sep 27: Unidentified miscreants opened fire and threw a hand grenade on BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som's residence in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, in the early hours of Thursday, police said. The Member of Legislative Assembly or MLA is accused of inciting violence and riots in 2013's Muzaffarnagar riots case. Nobody was injured in the attack that took place at around 1 am on the Sardhana lawmaker's residence in Meerut's Lalkurti area, they said, adding that five policemen were suspended in this connection. Curious case of 'missing' Sangeet Som Senior Superintendent of Police (Meerut) Akhilesh Kumar told PTI that five police personnel deployed in the security detail of the BJP lawmaker, a Z-category protectee, have been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty and not taking retaliatory action during the attack. These include head constable Satbir Singh and constables Satyendra Singh, Sanjeev Bharti, Surjit Singh and Manish Kumar, he added. Officials said the miscreants arrived minutes after the lawmaker had returned, opened fire at the house and threw a grenade before fleeing, officials said. The hand grenade, however, did not go off, they added. The identity of the accused and the reason behind the attack were unknown, SSP Kumar said, adding that an investigation was launched in this connection. Taj Mahal built by traitors, should not get place in history: BJP MLA "The residence of MLA Sangeet Som was attacked by unidentified miscreants. They came in a car and opened fire on the house. They hurled a grenade before fleeing, which has been found. The unpinned grenade has been found and it appears to be old. A team of experts is conducting an investigation," he said. The police official said preliminary investigation did not suggest that it was an act of terror. Soon after the attack, SSP Kumar, SSP Satpal, Superintendent of Police (City) Ranvijya Singh, Intelligence Bureau officials, bomb disposal squad and other top officials of the administration and the police reached the spot and conducted preliminary inquiry. Asked about the attack, Som said he had no idea who was behind it. "Neither did I receive any threat nor had any dispute with anyone in the recent times," he said. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 17:04 [IST] Bharat Bandh: Traders to protest against Walmart-Flipkart deal, shops sealing India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Sep 28: The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has called for a nation-wide Bharat Bandh on Friday against Walmart's acquisition of home-grown retail major Flipkart and FDI in retail. "All commercial markets across the country will remain closed and no commercial activity will take place. About 7 crore small businesses all over the country are expected to participate in the bandh," the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said in a statement. Walmart buys 77% stake in Flipkart for nearly Billion The traders' body also claimed that a 'Trade Bandh' will be observed by Delhi traders in which all wholesale and retail markets will remain closed as part of their participation in the 'Bharat Trade Bandh'. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal told PTI that a protest Dharna will be held at Jantar Mantar against the Walmart-Flipkart deal and FDI in retail. In January, the Union Cabinet decided to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in single brand retail under automatic route, and also eased local sourcing norms. Delhi traders are also demanding immediate promulgation of an ordinance to stop sealing of shops in the city, it said. "Besides FDI, the Delhi Trade Bandh is also focussing on sealing issue demanding the government to bring an ordinance to protect Delhi from sealing. To lodge their strong protest, the Delhi traders in large numbers will also join a Protest Dharna at Jantar Mantar tomorrow displaying their anguish and resentment," CAIT said in a statement. It further said that similar protests will also be held across the country in all states and the state level-trade associations will submit a memorandum to their district collector all over the country. OneIndia News (with PTI inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Friday, September 28, 2018, 0:59 [IST] Bilateral meeting with Syrian deputy PM with Sushma Swaraj for possible investment in the country India oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Sep 27: External affairs minister of India Sushma Swaraj is likely to discuss issues related to terrorism, its growing expansion in the South Asian region besides global expansion in the bilateral meetings with her Japanese and Syrian counterparts and in the meetings of organizations like BRICS and SAARC. Bilateral meeting with Japan is expected to take cooperation between the country a notch further while security and trade likely to be discussed with Syria. The FM will have IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission too. Ministry of external affairs informed that the external affairs minister will be attending India, Brazil and South Africa Trilateral Commission meeting at the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The meeting is likely to discuss eradication of poverty and hunger in the south Asian region under United Nations Millennium Goal besides other issues related to security and trade. Swaraj to have over half a dozen bilateral engagements at UNGA including one with Nepal Swaraj will also meet foreign ministers of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) with whom slew of issues will be discussed from security to trade but security is paramount to India with the growing global terrorist threat of which India is the wors victim. Terrorist threat is more pronounced in the South Asian region. Indian external affairs minister will also attend the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting of which Pakistan too is a part. The SAARC meeting has not been happening from long due to India asking Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism before any engagment. So foreign minister of Pakistan will be present in this meeting and Prime Minister of Nepal K P Sharma Oli as well besides representatives of the other SAARC countries. I love India, give my regards to my friend PM Narendra Modi: Donald Trump greets Sushma Swaraj Bilateral meetings with foreign minister of Japan Taro KONO is more important in view of issues related to business, security and technological assistance. Meeting with the deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister Of Syria Walid al Mualiem which is very important for the security reasons. Sushma Swaraj was to visit Syria in the second week of September but the visit was canceled. Syria is a friendly nation to India and lots of investment are expected there as more than 40 Indian company companies had gone to Damascus to attend trade fair of Syria. Syria is looking at India not only for security cooperation but business and investment by Indian companies in the war-ravaged nation. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 10:10 [IST] Sardar Patel gave message to world that no one can destroy India's unity and integrity: Amit Shah PM Modi, Shah meet Advani at his residence to wish him on birthday Amit Shah to visit Varanasi twice this month: Poll strategy likely on anvil BJP insulting Sardar Patel with 'Made in China' statue, says Rahul Gandhi, Amit Shah hits back India oi-PTI Satna (Madhya Pradesh), Sep 27: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked the Modi government for insulting India's first Home Minister late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, saying that the statue being built for him in Gujarat is "Made in China". BJP President Amit Shah hit back at him and accused the Gandhi family of "humiliating" and unsuccessfully trying to erase the legacy of Sardar Patel. Rahul Gandhi's poem on Rafale issue: Explained "Modiji had promised to build the world's largest statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. But later it was revealed that on the back of the statue it was written 'Made in China'," Gandhi said while addressing a public meeting here. Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Congress chief said, "Look how he insulted Sardar Patel. His statue was built, and behind it, it was written Made in China," he said. The Statue of Unity, which is 182 metres from the ground and 240 m from the river base of Narmada, has been completed. The inauguration of the statue will be done on Vallabhbhai Patel's 143rd birth anniversary on October 31 by Modi. Gandhi also said that the Prime Minister had "cheated" the people of the country by making false promises. "Modiji had promised to you that he shall provide employment to two crore youths every year. But what is the condition now?" he asked. Rahul Gandhi fires fresh salvo at Modi over Rafale deal Slamming the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state, the Congress leader said, "And this damage has been done in the last four years by Modiji and to people of Madhya Pradesh in last 15 years by (Chief Minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan." "They made false promises. They lied to you. And your right of employment has been snatched," he claimed. Gandhi said that if his party forms the government in the state, then within five years the youth of the state would find 'Made in Madhya Pradesh' and 'Made in India' written on the back of their phones. After Gandhi's charge, BJP President Amit Shah also hit back accusing his family of humiliating Sardar Patel and unsuccessfully trying to erase his legacy. "Dear Rahul Gandhi, your family humiliated Sardar Patel, unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds. Your lies on the 'Statue of Unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel," Shah said in a series of tweets. "At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand 'Statue of Unity' the Congress President is spreading canards to discredit the project. Shame," the BJP chief added. Should Sabarimala Temple open doors to women? SC verdict shortly India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 28: The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict in the Sabarimala case on Friday. Under challenge is the practise at the temple that bars women of the age group of 10 to 50 years. Going by the observations that the court had orally made during the hearing, it appears as though the centuries old prohibition may be lifted. The Bench had orally observed that a ban on the entry of women at the Sabarimala Temple is steeped in patriarchy and chauvinism. Can't remain oblivious to ban on entry of women into Sabarimala: SC The court had on October 13 last year referred the issue to a Constitution bench after framing five "significant" questions including whether the practice of banning entry of women in the temple amounted to discrimination and violated their fundamental rights under the Constitution. One of the questions referred to the larger bench was, "Whether the exclusionary practice which is based upon a biological factor exclusive to the female gender amounts to 'discrimination' and thereby violates the very core of Articles 14, 15 and 17 and not protected by 'morality' as used in Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution." The management of the Sabarimala temple, located on a hilltop in the Western Ghats of Pathanamthitta district, had earlier told the apex court that the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years was because they cannot maintain "purity" on account of menstruation. Age proof mandatory for women to offer worship in Sabarimala temple The second issue referred to the constitution bench is whether the practice of excluding such women constitutes an "essential religious practice" under Article 25 of the Constitution and whether a religious institution can assert a claim in that regard under the umbrella of right to manage its own affairs in the matters of religion. The constitution bench would also deal with whether the Ayyappa temple has a denominational character and "if so, is it permissible on the part of a 'religious denomination' managed by a statutory board and financed under Article 290-A of the Constitution out of Consolidated Fund of Kerala and Tamil Nadu to indulge in such practice violating constitutional principles/morality embedded in Articles 14, 15(3), 39(a) and 51-A(e)". The court had framed another question as to whether Rule 3 of Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules permits 'religious denomination' to ban entry of women between the age of 10 to 50 years. "And if so, would it not play foul of Articles 14 and 15 (3) of the Constitution by restricting entry of women on the ground of sex," it had said. Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965 says that "women at such time during which they are not by custom and usage allowed to enter a place of public worship shall be included in the class of persons who shall not be entitled to offer worship in any place of worship." It had also raised the question whether this rule is ultra vires the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Act, 1965 and, "if treated to be intra vires, whether it will be violative of the provisions of Part III of the Constitution." SC questions rationale behind fixing age group for women's entry into Sabarimala Petitioner Indian Young Lawyers Association and others have sought directions from the court to ensure entry of female devotees between the age group of 10 and 50 at the Lord Ayappa temple at Sabarimala. On November 7, 2016, the Kerala government had informed the court that it favoured the entry of women of all age groups in the historic Sabarimala temple. Initially, the LDF government had taken a progressive stand in 2007 by favouring women's entry into the temple, which was overturned by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) dispensation later. The UDF government had taken a view that it was against the entry of women of the age group of 10-to-50 years as such a practice was being followed since time immemorial. UP polls: RLD chief rules out possibility of alliance with Congress Congress uses 'Thugs of Hindostan' meme to attack PM Modi India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Sep 27: A day after she was booked under Sedition law, Congress social media chief Divya Spandana on Thursday tweeted yet another attack targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal. At the heart of it - a still from the just-released trailer of Aamir Khan-starrer Diwali blockbuster 'Thugs of Hindostan'. Defence Ministry official objected to benchmark price of Rafale jets: Report The tweet features Aamir Khan with one of his punch lines in the trailer "Dhokha swabhaav hai mera (Betrayal is in my nature)" with the caption "PM Modi to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited." Congress has been attacking the government on the Rafale deal, accusing the Modi government and the prime minister of putting money into the pockets of his "crony" friends. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL, the state-run aircraft maker, is the company that the Congress alleges was overlooked for the Rafale fighter jet contract with France's Dassault Aviation. Ramya was booked for allegedly posting an "insulting" tweet against PM Modi. A case was registered Tuesday at the Gomtinagar Police Station here, he said. Rahul Gandhi's poem on Rafale issue: Explained After an FIR was lodged by complainant Syed Rizwan Ahmed, Lucknow police booked Ms Spandana for sedition under Section 124-A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act that accuses the Congress leader of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is a democratically elected leader, by calling him a 'thief'. In the complaint, Ahmed alleged that the post had the "potential to instigate hatred against Modi", the official added. Defence Ministry official objected to benchmark price of Rafale jets: Report India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P New Delhi, Sep 27: As political battle over Rafale deal reached its crescendo, a news report by the leading media house may embarrass the BJP government which has been defending the Rafale deal vehemently. An exclusive report by Indian Express, Nearly a month before the deal for 36 Rafale aircraft was signed between then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart in New Delhi in September 2016, a senior officer of the Ministry of Defence, who had been part of the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC), raised questions about the deal's benchmark price and put his objections on record. Also Read | Sitharaman says, she will go around country to counter propaganda unleashed by Congress on Rafale This officer was then Joint Secretary & Acquisition Manager (Air) in the MoD and the one meant to initiate the note for the Cabinet's approval, The Indian Express has learnt. Also Read | Francois Hollande's statement, Rahul's tweet are 'orchestrated', says Arun Jaitley Finally, the Cabinet note was initiated by another official holding charge of JS & AM (Air) and was approved by the Cabinet in third week of September 2016. This led to the Rs 59,262-crore deal being signed between Parrikar and Le Drian on September 23, 2016. Subsequently, the JS & AM (Air) then proceeded on a month's leave and the 36-Rafale deal was approved by the DAC in first week of September 2016. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 14:13 [IST] FIF module busted: The hawala headache in Chandini Chowk India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 27: The National Investigation Agency busted a mobile of the Falah-e-Insaniyat operating in Delhi. This organisation is the financial wing of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and was once called the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. NIA sources tell OneIndia that this module was in operation for sometime and the members of the module were receiving funds from abroad to further terror activities in India, In the FIR the NIA says that some Delhi-based individuals were receiving funds from the operatives of the FIF operatives based operative and were using the same to further terror activities. The NIA learnt that most of the money that came into the FIF in Delhi was from a Delhi based Pakistani national. All the transactions were made through hawala and the money was meant to feed the modules of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in India. Further the NIA has also found a money trail from Pakistan again done through hawala transactions. Also Read | 'We have proof of hawala network that helped in transfer of money from Karnataka to AICC': BJP Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation is a Lahore, Pakistan based organization established by Jamat-ud- Dawa. It is a front-end organisation of the Lashkar, a terror organisation proscribed under UAPA. It was founded in 1990 by Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who is designated as Global Terrorist by the USA. FIF is placed on the list of terrorist organisations as per entry 33 in the First Schedule to the UAPA read with Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order 2016. Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation was also designated as a Terrorist entity by USA in 2010. The busting of this module only goes on to show how active the hawala network for terror groups in India still is. The hawala headache: Hawala continues to be the primary terror funding source in India till date. Let us date back to some statistics of the early 2000s. There were around 3,000 hawala operatives in the Asian region back then, who would every year bleed the Indian government of Rs 100 billion foreign exchange. Also Read | Dawood rises :From a Karachi drug transhipment point to a transnational terror outfit Sources in the Intelligence Bureau's Foreign Intelligence Unit tell OneIndia that the hawala network is worth over Rs 2,000 crore today. While several persons use this network to send money home, there is an active channel run by the likes of Dawood Ibrahim who have dedicated lines to pump in dirty cash. Most of the hawala transactions into India are from Pakistan and UAE, the official also added. Hawala money makes one of its biggest landing in Delhi, following which it is channelised to other parts of the country. The several interrogation reports in possession of OneIndia reveal that the main operating hub in Delhi remains at Chandini Chowk. Most of the terror operatives visit this area to pick up the cash and then send to the modules across the country. The hawala network in Delhi is the primary source for terror funding in most parts of the country. When it comes to operations down south the terror operatives rely on the hawala network in Kerala. Also Read | NIA busts terror funding module of Pak-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed's outfit Investigators say that the hawala operatives work with codes. For instance, in hawala circles, currency is known as hara. UK pound is called popleen, the Dutch Glider is God, Deutsche Mark is DM and the French Franc is FF. This is the same network that the operatives of the FIF were using, NIA officials point out. Officials are now trying to find out their point of contact in the hawala circles. Prima facie it appears that the same hawala network operating in Chandini Chowk for the past several decades were behind bringing in the money for the FIF members. Right to be forgotten: HC asks Centre, Google to reply to plea for removing verdict from search engine Google's 20th birthday: The search engine that has become integral part of our lives India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Sep 27: Google completes 20 years today and the search engine giant has put out a short video as part of Google Doodle to showcase its journey over the last two decades. At the time when Google was launched, there were a few other search engines in the web world with Yahoo being the most popular one. Google evolved over the years, the algorithms changed and search results became more and more accurate. Google indexes billions of web pages to allow users to search for the information they desire through the use of keywords and operators. Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University in California. Together they own about 14 percent of its shares and control 56 percent of the stockholder voting power through supervoting stock. How Google is different from conventional search engines? While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, Larry Page and Sergey Bri theorized about a better system that analyzed the relationships among websites. They called this new technology PageRank; it determined a website's relevance by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages that linked back to the original site. The exact methodology of how Google gives preference to one page compared to other is still not clearly knowm. The main reason is that the algorithms keep changing with the aim to provide most accurate search results. Other services offered by Google: The company's rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond Google's core search engine (Google Search). It offers services designed for work and productivity (Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides), email (Gmail/Inbox), scheduling and time management (Google Calendar), cloud storage (Google Drive), social networking (Google+), instant messaging and video chat (Google Allo, Duo, Hangouts), language translation (Google Translate), mapping and navigation (Google Maps, Waze, Google Earth, Street View), video sharing (YouTube), note-taking (Google Keep), and photo organizing and editing (Google Photos). Impact on lives: Such are the times now that almost everyone has a gmail id. People widely use Google's mail services and cloud storage Google Drive. Even the smart phones, the Android ones, are integrated with Google and we can access photos taken on phone from anywhere as snaps get stored in Google Drive. Google Maps are widely used by almost everyone in the urban areas for navigation. When searching for an address, asking 10 people for guidance has become a thing of the past. It even includes traffic information which allows users to plan their routes in advance. Google has brought about a massive change in the way lead lives. Over the last two decades it really ahs had a significant impact on out lives. German nationals airlifted Nine persons, three of them German nationals, airlifted from a camp in Sarchu and dropped in Kullu on the second day of rescue operations, admitted to hospital. They were rescued from several places in the state and kept at a camp in Sarchu. Indian Air Force deploys more choppers Indian Air Force is inducting two more Cheetah helicopters to assistance in rescue and relief operations underway in the hill state. Two Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and one Medium Lift Helicopters (MLH) were deployed yesterday. Roads have been opened Around 300 people stranded in various parts of Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul and Spiti district have been rescued on Wednesday and most of the 600 roads of the state have been re-opened after being blocked following fresh snowfall. Around 200 people are still stranded there, an official told PTI. Stranded tourist Stranded tourists being brought to Kullu after they were rescued by the Indian Air Force from snow-bound Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, Wednesday, Sep 26, 2018. (PTI Photo) Hospitals even in Delhi unprepared to implement Aayushman Bharat Scheme India oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Sep 27: Hospital in Delhi are not yet prepared to provide medical assistance to the beneficiaries of the flagship scheme of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23, 2018 from Ranchi, Jharkhand. Three days have passed but the government hospitals in Delhi have not been able to help a single beneficiary. Moreover, they are not doing anything for the publicity of this scheme so people are able to know about it. Hospitals like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Lady Harding Hospital come under this scheme but nothing is happening there. There is no publicity material on display for this scheme neither any poster nor banner. Though there is a counter of this scheme at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital but patient below poverty line visiting the hospital find it difficult to get their name as software does not have some names of people having BPL card. RML Hospital has already signed MoU with the National Health Agency. Ayushman Bharat: Benefits, Registration, Eligibility and how to apply Sources said that the counter was started on September 17 itself and around 10-15 beneficiaries are visiting hospital daily to inquire about their names but they are not getting their names in the list. Common people don't have any information about the scheme and Ayushman Mitra too don't have any answer for it. Similarly no poster, banner or publicity material was found at the Lady Harding Hospital however the hospital has provided training to one of the staff as Ayushman Mitra. But finding counter for the scheme in the hospital is very difficulty. Staff was present there with computer but it was not connection with the software so people are returning abjectly. Hospital sources said that the hospital was already crowded how space for the beneficiaries will be provided. They are saying that the scheme was launched without any preparation and that too for a city like Delhi. Top officials of the hospitals are refusing to say anything on this. Interestingly, there is no one to tell about the scheme at AIIMS. Even the staff members are unaware about it. AIIMS has signed the MoU on September 25 after that Director of the AIIMS Dr Randeep Guleria claimed that patients would start getting benefits of the Ayushman Bharat from September 26. No poster and publicity material was visible in this hospital like many other in Delhi. Sources said that doctors of AIIMS had played very crucial role in preparing the package of this scheme but patients appeared bothered with the scheme as beneficiaries are clueless. 'Modicare' launched: What is Ayushman Bharat health scheme? Just across the road of AIIMS, there is Safdarjung Hospital which had earlier signed MoU. There is a counter of Ayushman Bharat besides the registration counter of the hospital but there is no one to guide beneficiaries with the same argument that hospitals must have prepared a little more before the scheme was launched. The situation remains the same after the lunch of the scheme. It is being said that publicity material has gone for publishing and software is installed to identify beneficiaries. Patients coming from any part of the country will be provides benefits of the scheme. But time will tell if this is working or become any other scheme on papers. But deputy CEO of Aushman Bharat Dr Dinesh Arora said that by the next week all issues related to this will be sorted out. In this Meghalaya village, people communicate not through words but India oi-Shubham Ghosh Shillong, Sept 27: Are birds the only ones to communicate through tunes? Till now, we might have been thinking they are. But actually they are not. In a village in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya, human beings communicate through singing tunes specific to each individual. The village is Kongthong and there, a mother comes up with a new tune for her child/children. An entire lot of artistes, isn't it? As per an ANI report, using a tune to communicate with each individual is part of an age-old tradition called 'Jingrwai lawbei' - the song of the first lady of the tribe that resides here. Also Read | New cop bends before mom to acknowledge her sacrifices; photo touches a million hearts The people of this village have names, like the rest of us, but they are seldom called by their names as singing the tune is what dominates. In fact, many have taken a cue from melodious Bollywood songs also while creating their unique tunes. ANI quoted Pyndaplin Shabong, a mother of three as saying: "The specific tune comes out from the core of the heart of every mother. The tune compiled by a mother, may sound peculiar to others, but it actually expresses happiness and love for the child." Watch the video here: #WATCH Villagers in #Meghalaya's Kongthong use unique tunes, a hum to communicate or call out to each other instead of using names. Villager says, "Mothers devise unique tunes to call out their children, these tunes are used instead of names. Each tune is specific to a person." pic.twitter.com/NpsmtVDAQD ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2018 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 10:17 [IST] Biden takes steps to put US on ''irreversible path'' to net zero economy by 2050 GDP in the third quarter of 2020-21 shows growth at 0.4 per cent Global economy watch: India, China fared 'relatively better' than other major economies in Q1 of 2021 India set to overtake Japan to become 3rd largest economy by 2030, says report India oi-Shubham Ghosh New Delhi, Sept 26: It was not ago that India became the sixth largest economy in the world and now it is poised to become the third largest by the time 2030 arrives, according to HSBC Holdings Plc's report shared with Bloomberg. The report would give a boost to the Narendra Modi government which is facing both bouquets and brickbats over its economic performance at the moment. It has been said that India is seeing among the biggest gainers in the bank's long-term rankings, surpassing countries like Germany and Japan, thanks to its rapid growth and a growing working age population. Also Read | HSBC report says India may become 3rd largest economy by 2028 China to overtake US to become top economy HSBC also estimated that China will topple the US from the top spot to become the world's biggest economy at $26 trillion, $0.4 trillion more than the latter. India's economy will be a size worth $5.9 trillion, it said. The prediction on China is contradictory to what US President Donald Trump said in July. He had said that Beijing was no longer on track to topple the US "in a very short period of time". However, the HSBC's forecast is more in line with that of the International Monetary Fund which also said in July that China could eclipse the US as the world's biggest economy in another 12 years, Bloomberg reported. Also Read | State of economy: PM Modi set to take stock this weekend It was also said that the Indian economy grew at a rate of 8.2 per cent between April and June, which surprised the analysts. This has been the best growth in two years and the highest since 2016's first quarter. India overtook China's growth rate of 6.8 per cent in January-March quarter with a figure of 7.7 per cent. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 9:01 [IST] SC directs Tripura govt to ensure no political party is prevented from local body polls campaign Married woman doesnt pledge sexual autonomy to her husband: SC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 27: The Supreme Court today struck down adultery as an offence, but noted that it could be a ground for divorce. Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar observed that mere adultery cannot be a crime. They also added that if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of partner's adulterous relation, then if evidence if produced, it could be treated as an abetment for suicide. Justice Nariman, who is also part of the Bench agreed with the CJI and termed Section 497 as an archaic provision. While terming it as unconstitutional, he struck down the section which is part of the 158 year old Indian Penal Code. Also Read | Adultery not a crime, but ground for divorce says Supreme Court Justice D Y Chandrachud writing the judgment for himself said that adultery is an offence as relic of past and added that Section 497 is destructive of woman's dignity and self respect as it treats woman as a chattel of the husband. In a section of the judgment titled, 'good wife,' he said that in the most private zone choice is important and sexuality cannot be dissected from desire. Section 497 deprives women their choice about sexuality and hence it is unconstitutional. Also Read | Husband is not the master of the woman: Supreme Court He further added that woman after marriage does not pledge her sexual autonomy to her husband and depriving her of choice to have consensual sex with anyone outside marriage cannot be curbed. Justice Indu Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the Bench also termed Section 497 as unconstitutional. She however said that adultery is a moral wrong. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 11:34 [IST] A virtual stroll through Googles original garage, where history was created back in 1998. You may remember 1998 as a glorious year filled with endless games of Snake on your brick phone (you couldnt go through the walls yet) and listening to Baby One More Time at max volume on your discman. Meanwhile, in Susan Wojcickis disused garage in California, two university students, Larry and Sergey, decided they were going to organize the worlds information and make it accessible to everyone. To celebrate Googles 20th birthday, Google invites you to travel back in time and take a virtual stroll through the original Google Garage in Street View(almost) just like it was 20 years ago. As you walk through the garages side door, youll note a familiar Search box on an old CRT computer monitor held up by a wooden workhorse table with yellow legs. Larry and Sergey were particularly thrilled that the use of the washing machine and dryer was included in their rent. As you chase cables that scramble haphazardly down the hallway, youll find a bedroom (ahem, main office) with a whiteboard that reads Googles Worldwide Headquarters in black text. On another whiteboard, youll see a cheeky homage to Googles logo update back in 1998. As the team grew to six people, they expanded their workspaces into the three small bedrooms on the ground floor. Hunt around and youll find a collapsible mini rainbow sphere, a surf-frog terrarium, a dinosaur, a ping pong table, and a piano keyboard for music breaks. If you want to see exactly how the same space looked back in 1998, check out this archival video clip captured by Harry, Googles sixth employee. For a peek through Google history, just find the secret trapdoor and turn on the neon lighta secret easter egg world awaits you. (Source) Model code to kick in immediately in states where assembly dissolved prematurely: EC India pti-PTI New Delhi, Sep 27: The model code of conduct came into force in Telangana on Thursday as the Election Commission said that states, where legislative assemblies have been dissolved prematurely, will be immediately placed under the poll code which bars governments from announcing new schemes. This is perhaps for the first time that a state where polls have not yet been announced has been placed under the model code. Telangana is the only state as of today where the assembly has been dissolved prematurely and a caretaker government is in place. Telangana elections: Teachers set to take on political bigwigs in 61 seats In a communique to the cabinet secretariat and all chief secretaries, the EC said the model code will apply to the caretaker state government as well as the central government in matters relating to that particular state. The Telangana assembly was dissolved recently before its term was due to end in June 2019. The model code usually comes into force the day the EC announces polls and remains enforced till the electoral process is completed. "In such an eventuality ... the provisions of Part-VII (Party in Power) of the Model Code of Conduct shall come into operation with immediate effect in the state concerned and shall continue to be in force till the completion of the election to constitute the new legislative assembly," the EC said. It said, consequently, neither the caretaker state government nor the central government shall announce any new schemes, projects in relation to that state or undertake any of the activities prohibited under the Model Code of Conduct. Telangana polls: KCR way ahead, but can he take the Cong-TDP combine lightly? The commission made it clear that all other prohibitions, such as use of official resources for any non-official purposes, combining of official visit with electioneering, will be applicable on all ministers and other authorities of the caretaker state government, central government as well as governments of other states. The EC said its directions are in line with a 1994 Supreme Court verdict which said a caretaker government should merely carry on with the day-to-day governance and desist from taking any major policy decision. The poll watchdog asked the Cabinet Secretariat to bring its directions to the notice of "all concerned." PTI Mosque integral part of Islam? Will matter be referred to Constitution Bench? India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 27: Is a Mosque an integral part of Islam? The Supreme Court will decide on this key question, which could have a bearing on the Ram Temple issue. While hearing the appeals in the Ram Temple case, the Muslim appellants had pressed that the place fo a Mosque in Islam and the importance of the practise of offering prayers inside a Mosque should first be decided by a five-judge Bench. This should be first answered before the court goes into the title suit, the appellants had also said. Is a Mosque essential to Islam? SC verdict likely today Today, the court would decide on whether to refer this question to a Constitution Bench or not. The point of contention is whether a Mosque is an essential part of Islam. This point came up when the Bench comprising CJI Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer were hearing a batch of appeals arising out of the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court in the Ram Janmabhumi case. The original observation was made in 1994 in the Dr Ismail Faruqui judgment. While delivering the verdict, the Bench had gone into the aspect, whether a Mosque is an essential part of Islam. The Bench while summarising this aspect said that under the Mohammedan Law applicable in India, title to a Mosque can be lost by adverse possession. "If that is the position in law, there can be no reason to hold that a Mosque has a unique or special status, higher than that of the places of worship of other religions in secular India to make it immune from acquisition by exercise of the sovereign or prerogative power of the State." Is a Mosque essential for Islam and Namaz: De-coding the 1994 SC verdict "A mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and Namaz. Prayer by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open. Accordingly, its acquisition is not prohibited by the provisions in the Constitution of India." Senior counsel Rajeev Dhawan arguing for the Sunni Waqf Board pressed for a reference to the 1994 verdict as it observed that Mosque is not an essential part of Islam and that namaz can be offered even in the open. He said that these comments are questionable and had infiltrated into the judgment of the trial court. Dhawan said that what is invoked now is a pure question of law as to what essential practises are and how they are to be proved. He said that where the decision is on a pure question of law, then res judicata does not preclude a court from deciding such question differently. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 7:49 [IST] Mosque not essential in Islam: Why todays SC verdict will be legally and politically significant India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 26: The decision of the Supreme Court on a question whether a Mosque is an integral part of Islam would have a major bearing both on the Ram Temple case as well the political scenario. While hearing appeals against the order of the Allahabad High Court on the Ram Janmabhumi issue, the Muslim appellants had requested the court to revisit a 1994 SC verdict which had held that a Mosque is not an essential part of Islam. The 1994 verdict in the Ismail Faruqui case had also said that namaz could be offered anywhere by Muslims. The appellants said that this question of law must be answered before the SC goes into the main title suit. The court could either hold the contention in the 1994 correct or decide to revisit it. Also Read | Mosque integral part of Islam? Will matter be referred to Constitution Bench? If the court upholds the observations in the Ismail Faruqui verdict then hearing on the title suit would get underway soon and one could expect a judgment by the end of the year. However if the Bench decides to revisit the question, the matter could be referred to a larger Bench as a result of which the hearing on the main appeals would get delayed. The main challenge before the Supreme Court is the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court. The HC had divided the land into three equal parts among three parties- Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akara, which is Hindu group. The Muslim appellants had challenged the HC verdict in the SC and argued that the judgment was unfair to them. They contended that the Faruqui judgment of 1994 was key in informing the 2010 division of land into three parts. If the SC were to uphold the contention that a Mosque is not an integral part of Islam, then it would have a direct bearing on the title suit. The Hindus could argue that since a Mosque is not essential to Islam, then there is no significance of a Babri Masjid. If the court were to reverse the 1994 contention, the relevance of a Mosque would emerge and arguments on the title suit would demand that a Mosque be built. The Ram Temple issue is a political significant one. The BJP had committed that it would build the Ram Temple at Ayodhya ahead of the 2019 elections. This issue was also an important part of the manifesto of the BJP in 2014. It was also part of the manifesto of the party in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections. Also Read | Is a Mosque essential for Islam and Namaz: De-coding the 1994 SC verdict The UP government had contended before the SC that some Muslim groups were trying to delay the hearing in the case by seeking a review of the 1994 contention. If the court decides to revisit the question, the hearing would be delayed beyond this year and it would be difficult for the BJP to keep up its promise on the construction of a Ram Temple. Ayodhya: Is prayer at Mosque essential? SC refuses to refer question to larger Bench India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Sep 27: The Supreme Court has refused to refer to a larger Bench a question of law that said Mosque is not integral to Islam. The court said that the 1994 ruling in the Ismail Faruqui case was in the context of peculiar facts. It was only in the context of peculiar facts that the observation was made. The 1994 judgement said Mosque is not an integral part of Islam only to hold that Mosques are not immune from acquisition, the Bench observed. Justice Ashok Bhushan while reading out the verdict said that a place of particular significance for practising religion has a different place in law. The acquisition under the 1993 act has already been upheld, he added. Also Read | Hearing in Ayodhya case on October 29 as SC refuses referral to larger Bench The court also said that the Faruqui judgment does not decide any matter involved in these suits and that the suits must be decided on the basis of their own evidence. The court also said that the observations in the Faruqui case are not relevant for deciding suits or appeals. The law is not always logical and each judgment is in context of its known facts. All temples, mosques, churches are equally relevant, the court also said. The bench ordered the main Ram Temple case for October 29 and the same will be heard by a three judge Bench. Justice Abdul Nazeer however dissented in his verdict and said that he did not agree with the orders of the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra and Justice Ashok Bhushan. Justice Nazeer said that the question needed to be heard by a 7 judge Bench. The majority should not have dismissed the plea for the larger Bench like this. Also Read | Mosque not essential in Islam: Why today's SC verdict will be legally and politically significant While hearing the appeals in the Ram Temple case, the Muslim appellants had pressed that the place fo a Mosque in Islam and the importance of the practise of offering prayers inside a Mosque should first be decided by a five-judge Bench. This should be first answered before the court goes into the title suit, the appellants had also said. Today, the court would decide on whether to refer this question to a Constitution Bench or not. The point of contention is whether a Mosque is an essential part of Islam. This point came up when the Bench comprising CJI Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer were hearing a batch of appeals arising out of the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court in the Ram Janmabhumi case. The original observation was made in 1994 in the Dr Ismail Faruqui judgment. While delivering the verdict, the Bench had gone into the aspect, whether a Mosque is an essential part of Islam. The Bench while summarising this aspect said that under the Mohammedan Law applicable in India, title to a Mosque can be lost by adverse possession. "If that is the position in law, there can be no reason to hold that a Mosque has a unique or special status, higher than that of the places of worship of other religions in secular India to make it immune from acquisition by exercise of the sovereign or prerogative power of the State." "A mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and Namaz. Prayer by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open. Accordingly, its acquisition is not prohibited by the provisions in the Constitution of India." Also Read | SC to decide whether mosques are 'an integral part of Islam': A timeline of events Senior counsel Rajeev Dhawan arguing for the Sunni Waqf Board pressed for a reference to the 1994 verdict as it observed that Mosque is not an essential part of Islam and that namaz can be offered even in the open. He said that these comments are questionable and had infiltrated into the judgment of the trial court. Dhawan said that what is invoked now is a pure question of law as to what essential practises are and how they are to be proved. He said that where the decision is on a pure question of law, then res judicata does not preclude a court from deciding such question differently. Docs take out unborn baby from womb for surgery, puts it back after procedure US: 90-yr-old man gulps down paint thinking it yoghurt; says it tastes better West Bengal: Five members of same family found dead at their residence; investigation continues Shahjahanpur suicide: Old video shows family begging for help about threats from moneylender New cop bends before mom to acknowledge her sacrifices; photo touches a million hearts India oi-Shubham Ghosh Bengaluru, Sept 27: When we land in our first job, it is a special moment for us in life. We celebrate the moment to make it memorable but also at the same time, we take a time out to pay gratitude to those people who helped us achieve our dream. And among them, our parents come before anybody else. Here is a photo that speaks a thousand words. A man got a job in the police in Karnataka and soon after, he rushed to his single mother to touch her feet to acknowledge her sacrifices that made his achievements possible today and seek blessings. It is too heart-touching a story and rocked the social media. Also Read | She is blind but she is a professional skier and not afraid to dance either The photo was shared by Karnataka State Reserve Police ADGP Bhaskar Rao who said the man bending on his knees to seek his mother's blessings in an open field got the job of a sub-inspector. He captioned it: "A grateful son (Police Sub-inspector) in reverence and gratitude to his Single Mother who could not attend his Passing out Parade," Rao wrote in a tweet accompanying the photo. A grateful son(Police Sub-inspector) in Reverence and Gratitude to his Single Mother who could not attend his Passing out Parade....Karnataka pic.twitter.com/VRIKSekgxb Bhaskar Rao IPS (@deepolice12) September 23, 2018 The tweet was liked over 17.3k times and retweeted 3,685 times at the time of writing this article. Here is what the Twitterati had to say about the photo: Beautiful something to see on internet today. https://t.co/HkAsSihYnN Shirin Ali (@Shirina777) September 24, 2018 I can imagine how proud and happy the mother must be feeling. https://t.co/wQOTPJKv8d Onkar Kedia (@Onkarkedia) September 24, 2018 Heart touching movement , have no words to explain my feelings. No other one take place of mother in this universe. Rajesh Tripathi (@RajeshTripathi_) September 24, 2018 We all are what we are today because of our parents. And of course the blessings of our ancestors conveyed in our #samskaars.Good to acknowledge it. https://t.co/yhXZSkQkl2 Krishna Kacker (@krishnakacker) September 25, 2018 For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 10:06 [IST] Nun rape case: Kerala HC to pronounce order on Franco Mulakkal's bail plea on Oct 3 India oi-Vikas SV Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 27: The Kerala High Court will pronounce its order on the bail plea of Franco Mulakkal, a former Bishop who has been accused of raping a nun, on October 3. During the hearing today (September 27), the police opposed the bail plea. Rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal sent to judicial custody till October 6 On Saturday (September 22), the Kerala High Court had rejected the bail plea of Mulakkal and sent him to two-day police custody, which ended on Monday. On Monday, a Kottayam court had sent him to judicial custody till October 6. Mulakkal was arrested by the Kerala police on Friday (September 21) on charges of raping a nun. Mulakkal, accused of raping the nun 13 times between 2014 and 2016, was relieved of his church duties by the Pope's Ambassador on Thursday. Kerala nun rape case: Court rejects Franco Mulakkal's bail application, sent to police custody The former Bishop was questioned for nearly 7 hours on September 20 during which he repeatedly pleaded his innocence, telling his interrogators that he had not gone to Kerala's Kuravilangad convent on the days when the nun has accused him of assaulting her, said reports. His lawyers had earlier moved the application seeking relief, submitting that the clergyman was arrested after a three-day long interrogation by the probe team. Mulakkal's medical check-up was done at the Government Taluk Hospital in Thrippunithura Friday night, immediately after his arrest. Kerala Nun Rape Case: Franco Mulakkal arrested after 3 days of questioning Mulakkal was on Sunday taken to a guest house, where the rape accused Bishop is said to have committed the crime, by police for reconstruction of the crime scene. In its remand report submitted in the court, police had said the nun was subjected to rape and unnatural sex by the accused at the guest house of St Francis Mission Home 13 times between 2014 and 2016. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 13:57 [IST] PM Modi also experiences call drops and asks telecom dept to find a way out: Report India oi-Shubham Ghosh New Delhi, Sept 27: If you find the problem of call drop persisting in your daily life, take consolation from the fact that even the prime minister of the country - Narendra Modi - is facing the same problem and he has brought it to the concerned authorities' notice. Call drop menace: Trai set to release mobile service quality norms According to a Times of India report, PM Modi is finding it challenging to complete phone calls while travelling from the New Delhi airport to his official residence. He has therefore asked the telecom department to find tech solutions to the persistent problem, the report said, mentioning Modi's monthly web interaction with top officials under PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) initiative. Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundarajan also agreed to the point and sharing complaints received from consumers, said call drop shave become a countrywide menace. 62 % subscribers still facing call drop problem, reveals a DoT survey "The PM said there is an urgent need to find a solution to the problem faced by aggrieved consumers," Sundarajan was quoted as saying by ToI. Sources also told the daily that the prime minister also wanted to know from the telecom secretary the amount of penalties that are collected from the telecom operators for the problem. Sundarajan reportedly said that the proposed norm of charging Re 1 for every three call drops did not materialise and telecom regulator TRAI had brought into effect Quality of Service norms that speak of higher penalty for deficiency in services like poor network. She also said that the mobile operators were against the stringent norms, the ToI report said. "The PM said that resolution of issues related to the telecom sector should be based on latest technological solutions. He emphasised that service providers must provide a high level of consumer satisfaction," the report cited a statement by the PMO as issuing. Rahul has lunch at roadside eatery in Goa, rides pillion on two-wheeler taxi for few kms Rahul addresses rally in MP, escalates tirade on Modi government India oi-Deepika S Bhopal, Sep 27: Congress president Rahul Gandhi began a two-day visit to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Thursday with prayers at the famous Kamtanath temple in Chitrakoot, a religious town closely associated with Lord Ram. Rs 30,000 Cr stolen from HAL, PM on a 'KILL India program', says Rahul Addressing a rally in Chitrakoot, Rahul Gandhi intensified his attack on Modi and said "PM has insulted Sardar Patel. Modi ji talks about making a statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat, but the statue is Made in China, just like our shoes and shirts. The Modi government says it offers jobs to 450 youths of India only in 24 hours, while in China 50,000 get jobs." "Congress had waived debt of Rs 70 thousand crore for farmers. But PM Modi did not give anything to the farmers. People voted him by thinking that Modi would give 15 lakh rupees to the poor, farmers and youth of the country, but it did not happen. People just got cheated," he said. Robert Vadra is de-facto Congress president: BJP Continuing his attack on Rafale Rahul said that "PM Modi has broken the trust of the youth of the country. Corruption has happened in the case of Rafale deal. The decision has been taken by the Prime Minister on this deal and the benefit has been received by the Prime Minister's friend." This is Gandhi's second visit within a span of 10 days to the BJP-ruled state, where assembly elections are due this year-end. The Congress has been out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003. During his earlier visit on September 17, Gandhi held a roadshow in Bhopal after performing a puja and taking blessings from 11 priests. Rahul Gandhi's poem on Rafale issue: Explained He had visited the state after returning from the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, which he undertook to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva. Keep the faith, we are with her in this struggle: Subramanian Swamy to Kangana Ranaut PM Modi should make Nitin Gadkari in charge of war against Covid: Subramanian Swamy Roadblock in path of mandir construction cleared: Subramanian Swamy on Ayodhya verdict India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Sep 27: By a majority of 2:1, the Supreme Court on Thursday declined to refer the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case to larger bench. Reacting to the verdict, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said that today's ruling cleared a roadblock in the path of the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Speaking to Times Now, Swamy said that this ruling will ensure that the matter is now expedited. "I would like the temple to be constructed before Diwali," he added. "Now the judgment on the Ayodhya land title case was not far. He opined that his fundamental right to pray supersedes the Sunni Waqf Board's ordinary right to property and hence the court will ultimately rule in favour of Hindus," he further said. Ayodhya: Is prayer at Mosque essential? SC refuses to refer question to larger Bench The Supreme Court Thursday ruled that the 1994 M Islam Faruqui verdict need not be referred to a larger bench. Justice Ashok Bhushan gave the judgment on behalf of CJI Dipak Misra and himself. Hearing in Ayodhya case on October 29 as SC refuses referral to larger Bench "Observations in Ismail Faruqui verdict that mosques is not essential to religion is in the context of acquisition of mosque and made with respect to the facts of that case," Justice Bhushan said, adding that questionable observations in Faruqui's case are not relevant for deciding suits or appeals. All temples, mosques, churches at equally relevant, the bench hearing Ayodhya case has observed, as Justice Ashok Bhushan reads out the judgment. RSS welcomes SC decision to begin hearing in Rama Janmabhumi case India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P New Delhi, Sep 27: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Thursday welcomed Supreme Court decision to hold Rama Janmabhumi case hearing on October 29. In a press statement released by Arun Kumar, RSS Prachar Pramukh,, "Today, the Supreme Court has decided to hold hearing on the Shri Rama Janmabhumi case from 29th October by a three member bench. We welcome this decision and are confident that a just verdict will be reached over the case at the earliest." The significance of SC's decision on Mosques not being integral part of Islam The Supreme Court today refused to go into a question on whether a Mosque is essential to Islam, the hearing in the Ayodhya case would get underway. In a majority verdict of 2:1, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence and the previous verdict has no relevance to it. Justice Ashok Bhushan, who read out the judgement for himself and the CJI, said it has to find out the context in which the five-judge bench had delivered the 1994 judgement. The court today directed that the main Ayodhya appeal would be listed before a three judge Bench and hearing in the case would begin on October 29. Ayodhya: Is prayer at Mosque essential? SC refuses to refer question to larger Bench Justice S Abdul Nazeer disagreed with the two judges and said whether mosque is integral to Islam has to be decided considering belief of religion and it requires detailed consideration. He referred to the recent Supreme Court order on female genital mutilation and said the present matter be heard by larger bench. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 16:57 [IST] Shoaib Shaikh, chief of software firm Axact, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Islamabad court. The case was brought to light by the New York Times in 2015. (Photo: Geo TV) The head of a Pakistani company convicted of bilking customers worldwide out of $140 million in online sales of bogus university degrees has been arrested weeks after being sentenced to jail, media reported on Wednesday. Shoaib Shaikh, chief of software firm Axact, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Islamabad court in July but then escaped, Dawn newspaper reported. The Axact chief had not surrendered to the court following his conviction and managed to escape, the paper said. The Federal Investigation Agency, which investigated the scam, could not immediately be reached for comment. The case was brought to light by the New York Times in 2015 that said Axact had run a global network of fake online universities that manipulated customers and generated tens of millions of dollars in estimated revenue annually by selling bogus diplomas. Sometimes they cater to customers who clearly understand that they are buying a shady instant degree for money. But often the agents manipulate those seeking a real education, the newspaper said at the time. In December 2016, another executive of Axact was charged in a US federal court for his part in the fake-diploma mill scheme. Umair Hamid, 30, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, media said. (Source) SC decision on Aadhaar: This is what activist and entrepreneurs say India oi-Chennabasaveshwar P Bengaluru, Sep 26: The Supreme Court, in a landmark verdict, on Wednesday clearly delineated where Aadhaar linking can be made mandatory and where it can not be. The court, while upholding the constitutional validity of Aadhaar, ruled that there is no need to link Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phones. The decision was welcomed by some and some think it's not fair. Maya Prakash, who runs business in Bengaluru's KR Market, said, "My personal account is linked Aadhaar to get subsidies from the government. As per the order, even its not mandatory to link it to bank accounts, it doesn't make much difference to me. Anyways, PAN is already linked to Aadhaar. Also Read | Aadhaar constitutionally valid, but banks, mobile companies can't ask for it says SC Devidas Tuljapurkar, Joint Secretary, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), said, "As per the judgment for subsidy and aid Aaadhar is compulsory. While a section of the society who are not availing subsidy from the government do not link Aadhaar to bank accounts, they can maintain their secrecy." He was concerned that transaction in big amounts cannot be traced. Rakesh Shukla, Bengaluru based techie, welcomed the SC decision for not making linking of Aadhaar to bank accounts. He said, "The original idea was to transfer government subsidy. Between old and present the purpose of the Aadhaar was changed from voluntary to mandatory. I felt I was forced to link Aadhaar to get services from private bodies and also I was never been beneficiary of government subsidy. Why should be I forced to do that?". "If SC says it is not mandatory, this is how it should be," he added. Also Read | Want to de-link Aadhaar details from Banks, mobile numbers and digital wallet? Here's how to do it Elan Kulandavelu, "It is a fair and balanced judgment because SC saying that there is no legal backing to link Aadhaar to bank accounts." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 9:37 [IST] SC directs Tripura govt to ensure no political party is prevented from local body polls campaign SC gives UP govt time till Monday to appoint retired judge to oversee Lakhimpur Kheri probe No to NEET 2021 re-exam: SC tells two aspirants, sorry but no SC strikes down law on adultery: Timeline India pti-PTI New Delhi, Sep 27: Declaring that adultery is not a crime, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era anti-adultery law, saying it was unconstitutional, dented the individuality of women and treated them as "chattel of husbands". The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Adultery not a crime, but ground for divorce says Supreme Court The following is the chronology of events Oct 10, 2017: Plea filed in SC challenging the constitutional validity of Section 497 of IPC, by an NRI from Kerala, Joseph Shine, who in his petition said Section 497 was "prima facie unconstitutional on the ground that it discriminates against men and violates Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution". Dec 8: SC agrees to examine the constitutional validity of penal provision on adultery. Jan 5, 2018: SC refers to a five-judge Constitution bench the plea challenging the validity of the penal law on adultery. Jul 11: Centre tells SC that striking down Section 497 will destroy the institution of marriage. Aug 1: Constitution bench commences hearing. Aug 2: SC says matrimonial sanctity is an issue but the penal provision on adultery is apparently violative of the right to equality under the Constitution. Aug 8: Centre favours the retention of penal law on adultery, says it is a public wrong which causes mental and physical injury to the spouse, children and the family. Aug 8: SC reserves verdict on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the penal law on adultery in the hearing that went on for six days. Sep 27: SC holds Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code as unconstitutional and strikes down the penal provision. PTI Ayodhya: SC trashes plea for summoning IICF Trust records says its interference in 2019 verdict Diwali 2021: 9 lakh diyas to be lit in Ayodhya this year Ayodhya is getting its glory back with new grand Ram Mandir: PM Modi Ayodhya case not to be referred to larger bench: A timeline of events India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Sep 27: The Supreme Court Thursday declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations made in its 1994 judgement that mosque was not integral to Islam that arose during the hearing of Ayodhya land dispute. A three-judge bench of the high court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. Justice Ashok Bhushan, who was reading judgement for himself and the CJI, said it has to find out the context in which the five-judge had delivered the 1994 judgement. He said earlier finding that mosque is integral to Islam was made in the context of land acquisition and all religions have to be respected equally by the State. Mosque not essential in Islam: Why today's SC verdict will be legally and politically significant What is the Babri Masjid-Ram janmabhoomi dispute about? The dispute surrounds a piece of land considered the revered birthplace of Lord Ram or "Ram janmabhoomi". Incidentally, the location also housed the medieval era mosque-the Babri Masjid. It is said that Mir Baqi, one of the generals of Mughal king Babur, destroyed a Ram temple and built Babri Masjid (translated as Babur's Mosque). Was the Babri Masjid really constructed on the remains of an even more ancient Hindu temple? This is the main question fuelling the controversy. Though Hindus and Muslims had both prayed at the mandir-mosque structure, with Muslims praying inside the structure and Hindus praying outside, an 1885 petition filed by the head of the Nirmohi Akhara sect, which appealed the permission to worship Ram Lalla idols inside the mosque structure, started a mire of issues going on till date. History revisited 1528: Mir Baaqi, general of Mughal emperor Babur, builds the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. It is allegedly built on Ram Janambhoomi, the birthplace of Lord Ram 1853: First recorded violence when Hindus attacked the place over the issue during British rule December 23, 1949: Lord Ram's idols are planted inside the central dome. Both sides file court cases; the site is locked December 17, 1959: The Nirmohi Akhara files a suit seeking possession of the site and claims to be the custodians of the disputed land December 18, 1961: The Sunni Central Board of Waqf files a suit claiming ownership of the site 1984: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) launches a campaign for the construction of the Ram temple at the Janmabhoomi site February 1, 1986: Faizabad district court orders the gates of the mosque be opened and Hindus be allowed to worship there. Muslims protest the move and forms Babri Mosque Action Committee November 9, 1989: VHP lays the foundation of a Ram temple on land next to the Babri Masjid following permission from the then Rajiv Gandhi government September 25, 1990: Then BJP President L K Advani launches his Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. He is arrested in Bihar's Samastipur in November Mosque integral part of Islam? Will matter be referred to Constitution Bench? December 6, 1992: The disputed Babri Mosque is razed to the ground by kar sevaks April 2002: Three-judge Bench of high court begins hearing to determine the ownership of land. The HC orders the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to excavate the site to determine if it was a temple earlier. 2003: ASI finds evidence of the presence of a temple under the mosque. Muslim organisations dispute the findings September 30, 2010: The HC rules the disputed land be divided into three parts - one-third to Ram Lalla Virajman, represented by the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha; one-third to the Sunni Waqf Board; and the remaining to the Nirmohi Akhara. In December, the parties move the SC May 2011: The SC stays the HC order March 2017: The Supreme Court says charges against Advani and other leaders cannot be dropped in the demolition case and that the case may be revived March 21, 2017: The SC says the matter is sensitive and suggests it be settled out of court. It asks stakeholders to hold talks and find an amicable solution May 30, 2017: Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar charged with criminal conspiracy in the demolition case August 11, 2017: The SC schedules hearing of 13 appeals in the title dispute on December 5, 2017, coinciding with the eve of the 25th anniversary of the desecration of the Babri mosque Dec 5, 2017: The SC says it will hear the civil appeals filed by various parties challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict on February 8. February 8, 2018: Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Sunni Waqf Board, seeks a day-to-day hearing in the case, but the Bench turns it down. Lists the case for hearing on March 14, 2018. March 14, 2018: Senior Counsel Rajeev Dhavan submits that the matter deserves to be referred to a larger Bench in view of the decision rendered by the Constitution Bench of this Court in Dr. M. Ismail Faruqui & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors. April 6, 2018: Heated exchange between Rajeev Dhavan and Additional Solcitior Generals Maninder Singh and Tushar Mehta during the hearing. July 20, 2018: Court reserves verdict on question of reference to larger Bench. Sep 27, 2018: The Supreme Court has refused to refer to a larger Bench a question of law that said Mosque is not integral to Islam. Sabarimala temple in Kerala to open for monthly rituals from July 16; Conditions apply for devotees How to Book Sabarimala Virtual Q Tickets Online 2021? Know Date, Price and Other Details SC allows women of all ages to enter Kerala temple: A timeline of events India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Sep 27: Putting an end to a centuries-old tradition, the Supreme Court Friday ruled that women, irrespective of age, can enter Kerala's Sabarimala temple. A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, said that the provision in the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965, which authorised the restriction, violated the right of Hindu women to practice religion. It also said that patriarchy in religion cannot be allowed to trump the right to pray. Can women in age group of 10 to 50 enter Sabarimala temple: SC decides tomorrow Here's the timeline on this: 1991: Kerala High Court upholds an age-old restriction on women of a certain age-group entering Sabarimala temple. A two-judge bench decrees (on April 5) that the prohibition by the Travancore Devaswom Board that administers the hill shrine does not violate either the Constitution or a pertinent 1965 Kerala law. Reason: the ban was for women (even before 1950, as per the testimony of the vintage temple's chief priest) between the ages of 10 and 50, not as a class. 2006: A famed astrologer conducts a temple-centric assignment called 'Devaprasnam', and declares having found signs of a woman's entry into the temple sometime ago. Can't remain oblivious to ban on entry of women into Sabarimala: SC 2006: Soon, Kannada actress-politician Jayamala claims publicly that she had entered the precincts of Sabarimala in 1987 as a 28-year-old. Even touched the deity inside the sanctum sanctorum as part of a film shoot, she adds, stating this was done in connivance with the priest. 2006: The allegation led the Kerala government to probe the matter through its crime branch, but the case was later dropped. 2008: Kerala's LDF government files an affidavit supporting a PIL filed by women lawyers questioning the ban on the entry of women in Sabarimala 2016: The India Young Lawyers Association files a PIL with the Supreme Court, contending that Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules 1965 that states "Women who are not by custom and usage allowed to enter a place of public worship shall not be entitled to enter or offer worship in any place of public worship" violates constitutional guarantees of equality, non-discrimination and religious freedom. Age proof mandatory for women to offer worship in Sabarimala temple November 2016: Kerala's Left Front government favours the entry of women of all age groups filing an affidavit to the effect. 2018: Supreme Court Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing the PIL, questions the temple's authority to deny entry to a particular section of women. September 28, 2018: Supreme Court ruled that women, irrespective of age, can enter Kerala's Sabarimala temple. SC's verdict on adultery draws mixed reactions, some say it's regressive India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi/ Bengaluru, Sep 27: The Supreme Court's verdict to decriminalise adultery has drawn mixed reactions. While some said that decriminalisaling adultery makes mockery of the concept of marriage, others opined that there was no logic in making it a criminal offence. In a landmark verdict today (September 27), the Supreme Court struck down adultery as an offence under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code. The section prescribed punishment only for a married man who had consensual sex with a married woman without the connivance or consent of her husband. As a result of this verdict, adultery would not be an offence any longer. The court however said that it could be a ground for divorce. Speaking to OneIndia, Smriti (name changed) said decriminalisaling adultery means that now people are only bound by their moral and ethical values and not by law. People cheating on their spouses will continue to do it openly now, she added. Also Read | Adultery not a crime, but ground for divorce says Supreme Court "More than a law or rule, adultery is morally and ethically wrong. Married or not, cheating on one's partner never ends well. When someone is in a relationship, and cheats on his/her partner, there's no law that can hold him/her guilty of the crime. But as a society, if we are made to believe that marriage is a institution above all relationships and it is meant to preserve it's being between two parties, then decriminalizaling adultery just makes a mockery out of the concept of marriage," she furher said. The existing law, Section 497, stated that a man found guilty of adultery can be punished and the right to press adultery charges lied with the husband of a woman with whom the accused man indulged in sexual intercourse. The law, which was in practice so far, clearly indicated that adultery is an offence only for a man who gets into a relationship with someone else's wife. Also Read | Married woman doesn't pledge sexual autonomy to her husband: SC "No one should be given the leverage to take law for granted..as it is said, all are equal in the eye of law, this verdict is a step forward on this line," said Manisha (name changed), a married woman from Delhi. "Ancient notions of man being perpetrator and woman being victim no longer holds good. So, I m happy with the verdict," said Preeti. The apex court also observed that adultery can be a ground for divorce, but not a criminal offence. The court observed that husband is not the master of the woman. "I welcome this decision. There was no logic in making this a criminal offence. But, it is good that is still remains a ground for divorce," said Prakash (name changed), a married man from Bengaluru. Also Read | What the lone woman judge on the SC Bench said about adultery Adultery is a contentious issue. Some feel that it is a private matter that the couples should sort out themselves. Some others, however, feel that a law is needed as it would serve as a deterrent. Smriti's first reaction after the verdict was that of a shock and she spontaneously said: "We've gone back to the neanderthal days." When further details of the verdict came out, she spoke to us in detail about how it would affect relationships and to what extent does the onus lie with the couple. "If adultery is just a morally wrong concept whether two people are just in a relationship or married, then people might as well continue to be in a relationship that get into wedlock. If marriage is not here to assure us anything (in terms of holding someone responsible for a crime), we might as well be in a relationship and stay out of marriage," she said. "We have handed over the responsibility of preserving the sanctity of marriage to a select few morally strong couples now. Sad," she added. Justice Indu Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the Bench also termed Section 497 as unconstitutional. She however said that adultery is a moral wrong. Section 497: Revisiting adultery judgments in India India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Sep 27: Adultery is recognised as a criminal offence, remarkably, punishes the man who has had consensual sexual intercourse with a married woman, but not the married, unmarried/divorced/widowed woman who has had consensual sexual intercourse with a married man. The current constitutional challenge pertains to the decriminalisation of this act, enshrined in Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which mandates a maximum punishment of five years in prison. SC verdict on adultery law today: For feminists, a reformed Sec 497 could be a double-edged sword Section 497 reads: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." As the Supreme Court takes up the matter today, it is pertinent to revisit the cases. Here are some of the notable cases under adultery law Navy commander K M Nanavati One of India's popular cases of marital infidelity and drama is that of navy commander K M Nanavati , who shot dead his wife Shelvia's lover. the businessman Prem Ahuja. While Nanavati faced prosecution for murder, Sylvia did not. That 1950s crime of passion was the reason India abolished jury system. That case has inspired several Bollywood movies, the most recent being Rustom. Yusuf Aziz case In 1951, Yusuf Aziz challenged its constitutionality, but Bombay High Court upheld the section, saying that the Constitution has such special legislations for women. Is it time to make adultery law gender neutral? Will it impact institution of marriage? The court held that by no means was a licence given to women, but the said section exempted them from culpability as per Article 15 (3) of the Constitution, which reads that nothing in Article 15 shall prevent the state from making "special provisions" for women. In 1971, the Fifth Law Commission recommended changes in the provision, including making the law gender-neutral and reducing the prison term from five to two years. Sowmithri Vishnu case Another important judgement regarding adultery law under Section 497 came in Sowmithri Vishnu versus Union of India case of 1985. The Centre has cited this judgment in its 2018-affidavit to back Section 497 of the IPC. In Sowmithri Vishnu v Union of India (1958), the court not only reiterated the ratio held in Yusuf Aziz that women cannot be held as adulterous, but went one step further to claim that women could not be brought under the purview of this section as "it is commonly accepted that it is the man who is the seducer, and not the woman." The Supreme Court held that men were not allowed to prosecute their wives for the offence of adultery in order to protect the sanctity of marriage. Can a woman be punished for adultery too? SC to deliver verdict today Revathy case In the next significant case, V Revathy v Union of India (1988), the court had interpreted the reasoning to not include women under the law because it promoted "social good in the society", as the law gave the couple a chance to "make up" and condone the offence and thereby not bring each other to court. It was also opined by the court that adultery needs to be seen as a "shield rather than a sword". The court ruled that the existing adultery law did not infringe upon any constitutional provision by restricting the ambit of Section 497 to men. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 10:03 [IST] VHP to work on the next strategy in a high-powered committee meeting on October 5 India oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Sep 27: With the Supreme Court declining to send the Ramjanmabhoomi Temple and Babri mosque dispute to the higher bench of the court, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad will decide the next course of action in its a high-powered committee to be held on October 5 in New Delhi. Ayodhya case not to be referred to larger bench: A timeline of events The meeting of high-powered committee (Uchchyadhikar samiti) of saints associated with the Ramjanmabhoomi Mandir will gather in Delhi on October 5, 2018 at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) headquarters in New Delhi. It will take a call on what has to be done in this regard. All saints associated with this will participate in this meeting. Ayodhya: Is prayer at Mosque essential? SC refuses to refer question to larger Bench Sources in the VHP said that around 30-35 saints will be participating in the meeting along with the office bearer of the office bearer of the VHP and the RSS. They will decide the future course course of action on the issue. They are going to take a call on it if the matter will be solved by SC, Parliament Law or by starting the fresh movement against it. Hearing in Ayodhya case on October 29 as SC refuses referral to larger Bench But it is too early to say anything but things will be decided by the high-powered committee only. If saints decides to start a moment nothing will stop it to start it. The new bench will be constituted and day-to-day hearing will start. Why was HAL left out of Rafale deal? Union minister Babul Supriyo has the answer India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Sep 27: With the Congress relentlessly attacking the BJP-government over the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) being left out of the Rafale deal, Union Minister Babul Supriyo has said that the state-owned firm had quoted more man-hours for the job which Dassault, manufacturer of the Rafale fighters, wanted to be done in less. Minister of State for Heavy Industries Supriyo, speaking at a conference on public sector enterprises organised by CII here, said HAL quoted "257 man-hours" for a job Dassault said could be done in "100 man-hours". Reliance role in Rafale restricted to offset obligation, not aircraft manufacture:Air Marshal Pandey The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had put out a tender for 126 fighter jets and had planned to buy 18 Rafale fighters in fly-away condition from Dassault, with the remaining to be built in India along with the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. In 2015, however, on a visit to France, Modi announced a completely new deal, in which India would be getting 36 Rafale jets from France, all in fly-away condition. Later it emerged that Dassualt would be partnering with Anil Ambani-led Reliance Defence as part of the offset obligation. The Congress has been attacking the government alleging that the HAL was sidelined. For the production of Rafale fighter jets, "when Dassault said they needed 100 man hours, HAL said they needed 257, so that is indeed a big factor," Supriyo said. Stating that there may be political controversies over the issue, the minister said his limited point was about economics. Rafale: HAL, Dassault Aviation had serious differences when UPA was negotiating deal "I am just saying that we need to definitely look into why something that can be made in 100 hours would require 257 hours. Are we faltering somewhere. Can we bring it down? Can we negotiate on that? These are small areas that need to be looked into," he said. "So that is the question that all of us need to answer and that is where the government is trying their very best to support and push those public sector enterprises which need that support by the infusion of funds or the right injection at the right time - be it funds or any R&D." Later speaking to PTI, the minister clarified that his remarks were directed at the PSUs to assess how to match with their private peers in a time of globalisation. HAL is a Bengaluru-based defence public sector unit and does not come under his department. Rs 30,000 Cr stolen from HAL, PM on a 'KILL India program', says Rahul Last week, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said negotiations for procurement of 126 Rafale jets under the UPA government fell through as HAL did not have the required capability to produce the jets in India in collaboration with Dassault Aviation. OneIndia News with PTI inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 18:17 [IST] Will vote the party promising mosque as Shah Bano was done, says Babri Action Committee member India oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Sep 27: The Supreme Court has upheld 1994 verdict in which it was ruled that mosque is not essential part of Islam paving the way for the day-to-day hearing of the Ramjanmabhoomi Temple and Babri Mosque dispute. But there is a section in Babri Masjid Action Committee that wants Parliament ruling to rebuilt the mosque at the disputed site the way Shah Bano case was taken up by the Rajiv Gandhi government. Wasim Ahmed Ghazi, member, Babri Masjid Action Committee told OneIndia, "We are going to put pressure on politicians that since we are week out mosque was demolished by strong people. Injustice has been done to us for being minority. So we would vote only such political parties that promises to built our mosque the way Shah Bano case was altered in Parliament by passing a law." Ayodhya: Is prayer at Mosque essential? SC refuses to refer question to larger Bench Ghazi said that title suit is a civil matter that should be decided with the criminal matter pending in this case. It should be clubbed with it. "We tried to solve the matter by meeting the prime ministers. We will be even happy with 1/3rd of the land given to us by the court. We also once no further dispute should be raked up and position of 1947 should be maintained." He said, "With today's decision, we have reached once again from where we started off. It is a very confused judgment. It is not clear what the court ruled for. This is not just a land dispute. Unless the criminal case on the matter is decided the civil matter should not be decided." Now the court will start speedy hearing from October 29, 2018. However, most of the Muslim scholars have welcomed the decision saying that now the matter will go into day to day hearing. The Supreme Court ruled that the 1994 M Islam Faruqui verdict need not be referred to a larger bench. Justice Ashok Bhushan ruled, "Observations in Ismail Faruqui verdict that mosques is not essential to religion is in the context of acquisition of mosque and made with respect to the facts of that case," Justice Bhushan said, adding that questionable observations in Faruqui's case are not relevant for deciding suits or appeals. Hearing in Ayodhya case on October 29 as SC refuses referral to larger Bench One of the biggest Sunni organisation in India Jamiat Ulama e Hind president Arshad Madani has welcomed the Supreme court decision by saying that now the matter in the court is of the title suit that will be heard on the daily basis. So let the court take up the matter and give its verdict as soon as possible. All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Zafaryab Jilani was of the view that he was aware of the judgment. Let the new bench get constituted to hear the issue. The court ruling is accepted to all. Meanwhile some of the Muslims leaders have started talking about out of court settlement as well but there being lots of people involved in it out of court settlement is unlikely. Maulana Mohammad Rashidi though welcomed the decision but said in the same breath that for Muslims mosque is as much important as namaz. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 18:11 [IST] World Tourism Day 2018: Significance, theme and why it is observed India oi-Vikas SV New Delhi, Sep 27: Today (September 27) is the World Tourism Day and the main aim of observing this day is to raise awareness about the role of tourism within the international community. Tourism not only allows people from different geographies and communities to mingle with each other but also affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. The theme of this year's World Tourism Day (WTD) is "Tourism and the Digital Transformation". World Tourism Day 2018 is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the potential contribution of digital technologies to sustainable tourism development, while providing a platform for investment, partnerships and collaboration towards a more responsible and inclusive tourism sector. Every tourism has a host country and this year's host country is Hungary. Main events for this year's World Tourism would be held in Hungary's capital Budapest. Budapest is a classical European capital committed to the digital future - the perfect stage for this year's celebration of tourism. "For me and for the whole Hungarian tourism industry it is a great honour that, on 27 September, Hungary and our wonderful capital, Budapest, will host events of World Tourism Day. We are especially happy to have the opportunity to show UNWTO the Hungarian hospitality and the development that has helped both Hungary and Budapest to increase their visibility on the tourism map of the world and allows us today to refer to Budapest as the 'Spice of Europe'," said a statement by Hungarian Tourism Agency's CEO Zoltan Guller. In 2017 Hungary welcomed almost 16 million international tourist arrivals, 50% more than in 2010, demonstrating the steady growth of tourism in the country backed by consistent policy support. The Hungarian Tourism Agency is responsible for the national management and coordination of tourism. Tourism in India: Tourism in India is important for the country's economy and is growing rapidly. The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated Rs. 15.24 lakh crore or 9.4% of India's GDP in 2017 and supported 41.622 million jobs, 8% of its total employment. The sector is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 6.9% to Rs. 32.05 lakh crore by 2028 (9.9% of GDP). In October 2015, India's medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$3 billion, and it is projected to grow to US$7-8 billion by 2020. In 2014, 184,298 foreign patients travelled to India to seek medical treatment.[4] Tamil Nadu was the most visited tourist destination by both Indian and International tourists in 2014 with over 320 million domestic visits and 4.6 million foreign visits. It has places of historical, cultural and architectural significance. Tourism in Tamil Nadu is promoted by Ministry of Tourism by the state government with a logo enchanting Tamil Nadu. TTDC promotes tourism in the state by arranging various functions and events. The capital city of Tamil Nadu -Chennai- is the only place in India to be listed in "52 places to go around the world" by "The New York Times". Marina beach in Chennai is the second longest beach in the world and Chennai is home to numerous historic temples and parks. Chennai is also nicknamed as the Gateway of South India. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 5:10 [IST] As part of the agreement, Xerox will deliver and manage Xerox ConnectKey-enabled workplace assistants. Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals has awarded Xerox a multi-year contract for managing printing services. As part of the agreement, Xerox will deliver and manage Xerox ConnectKey-enabled workplace assistants. Xerox will help fuel Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals digital transformation journey by optimising document printing and costs. Environmental impact will also be reduced, as employees are educated on how to make informed decisions to reduce print volume. Were extremely delighted to partner with Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals. Our technology and services will enable Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals to migrate to new digital workflows and provide detailed analytics to reduce print volumes and paper consumption, said Ritesh Gandotra, Director, Managed Document Services, and Xerox India. Xerox ConnectKey technology will also help Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals to adopt a compliant approach for sharing basic patient data securely across the healthcare ecosystem. As one of Indias largest healthcare groups, we needed the support of a flexible vendor with expertise in areas such as workflow efficiency, data security, cost control, productivity and print management, said Vishal Gupta, Head of Information Technology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals The solutions being offered by Xerox are tailored to our unique needs and will help improve our workforce productivity and streamline our print environment. By leveraging Xeroxs next generation Managed Document Services offering we will be able to move operations closer to a more digital, productive and paperless work environment. said Mr. Vishal Gupta, Head of Information Technology Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals. The healthcare industry is typically disadvantaged by paper-based workflows; Xeroxs digital and automated alternatives are enabling us to get work done faster and at a lower cost. Video: Dog comes out of nowhere to save a goal in a football match in Argentina Argentina man submits hand-written resume because he had no money to take print;melts several hearts International oi-Shubham Ghosh Buenos Aires, Sept 27: This seems a story that reached us riding a time machine. A 21-year-old man from Argentina called Carlos Duarte was so much buried in penury that he submitted his resume for a job written in hand because he had no money to take a printout. In today's world, such a story seems to be a big exception. There are still people on earth who can't afford a printout in this age of economic emancipation and cheap technology. Duarte, who hails from Cordoba in northern Argentina, was so determined to make a break despite the challenges that he had even borrowed some money from his grandmother for searching a job in various places in the town, according to CNN Espanol. It was during his search that Duarte went to a local coffee and chocolate shop and waited patiently to inquire about a job. A staff member, Eugenia Lopez, told him there was no vacancy at the moment but if was interested, he could leave his resume with them. Also Read | Pakistan news anchor bizarre act on live show leaves Twitter in splits A Daily Mail report cited the youngster as saying that he decided to write down his resume in a piece of paper since he didn't have that much money to print a resume. Eugenia was impressed with the man's neat presentation of his resume as well as his determination to get a job. She shared it on her social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook and they went viral in no time. Duarte used two different inks to write his resume and at the end, thanked Eugenia for accepting his resume and apologised for giving it that way. Also Read | She is blind but she is a professional skier and is not afraid to dance either But Duarte's modesty and honesty caught attention of several employers as his hand-written resume went viral on the social media and job offers started pouring in. Finally, after a few interviews, the 21-year-old secured a job in a glass company, CNN added. You deserved it boy! Denmark: 2 held for attempting procurement of drones for IS International oi-Shubham Ghosh Copenhagen, Sept 27: The Denmark police have revealed the arrest of two men on charges of trying to procure unmanned aerial vehicles - commonly called drones - on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, intelNews reported. They said in a statement issued on Wednesday, September 26, that they worked closely with PET which is the country's security and intelligence service as part of "a long-term investigation" which still continues in the Greater Copenhagen area. What's that flying at him? Rattled shepherd lashes out at the object... hilarious reaction The press statement also said that the two men held are members of the Denmark-based Islamist groups and the police knew them prior to their arrest. They are also known to be part of a larger Islamist network in Denmark which supports the IS. A police spokersperson said the case involves "procurement and facilitation" of unmanned aerial vehicle components, "including drones, from Denmark to the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq". He also said that the components were gathered for reconnaissance and combat operations overseas by the extremist group, the intelNews report added. This is, however, not the first time that authorities in Denmark arrested individuals for trying to attempt to procure drones and equipment for the IS. Last year, a 28-year-old man was accused of shipping drone equipment and infrared cameras to a location in Turkey. The disassembled material was picked by a Turkish couple who was known to be IS members and arrested after an international police operation. The IS has been using drones since October 2016 on many occasions. Civilian drones likely to take to skies from October The arrested duo is likely to be produced before the court on Thursday, September 27. The intelNews report said that the prosecutors could seek a closed-door hearing since the probe against IS supporters' network in Denmark is underway. Where did the 'out of control' Chinese rocket debris land after re-entering Earth? Planning a trip to Maldives: You can do so from July 15 Maldives opposition seeks foreign help for transition of power International oi-PTI Colombo, Sep 27: The Maldivian opposition appealed to the international community Thursday to help ensure a peaceful transition of power amid fears that strongman Abdulla Yameen may cling onto power despite his shock election defeat. The joint opposition, which includes four political parties that successfully put forward the little-known Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at Sunday's vote, called for external help to re-establish democracy in the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago. "In this regard, we look towards our friends and partners in the international community to assist us, as we move forward in trying to create a Maldives in which all citizens can enjoy peace, prosperity and justice," the opposition said in a statement. It did not say what form of assistance was requested, but opposition sources said they were looking for strong foreign warnings to Yameen to go quietly. Security India's main concern in Indian Ocean but for China success of OROB The statement came hours after the country's military chief and the head of police issued veiled warnings on television against Yameen trying to cling onto power. Yameen decisively lost Sunday's election, despite all his main rivals being in prison or in exile, sparse media coverage of the opposition, and monitors and the opposition predicting vote-rigging. As Yameen's grip loosens, Maldives court frees leaders arrested during emergency Formal results will be announced by the election commission on Sunday and Yameen -- who on Monday conceded defeat -- must hand over power to successor Solih on November 17 at the end of his five-year term. But rumours have abounded on social media and elsewhere that Yameen could file an election petition seeking the delay of the announcement. This prompted military chief Major General Ahmed Shiyam to appear on a private TV channel on Wednesday night promising the results would be honoured. "The people have spoken," Shiyam said. "I want to assure the Maldivian people that the military will protect the will of the people." Election commission chief Ahmed Shareef confirmed that Yameen's party has lodged several complaints of suspected voting irregularities. "We will look into these concerns," Shareef said. But he added that there were no grounds for him to delay the announcement of the formal results. On Wednesday, the opposition accused Yameen of delaying the release of high-profile political prisoners despite calls by Solih for their release. Shortly after his shock defeat, Yameen freed five prisoners. But scores of others -- including Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his estranged half-brother and former president -- remain incarcerated. There was no immediate comment from the government. Yameen jailed or exiled most of his rivals during his turbulent five-year term. Suspecting a plot to impeach him, in February Yameen declared a state of emergency and arrested top judges as well as political opponents. Yameen's rule dented its image as a honeymoon paradise and attracted alarm abroad -- both the US and the EU had threatened financial sanctions unless the democratic situation improved. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, September 27, 2018, 15:16 [IST] NSA visits Iran to discuss regional peace and security from ISIS International oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla New Delhi, Sep 26: In view of the growing terrorist threat, National Security Advisor (NSA) of the country Ajit Doval has visited Iran on September 26, 2018 to participate in a meeting focusing on the issue of threat posed by terrorism including ISIS (Daesh) to regional and global peace, security and stability. The external affairs ministry said that other participants in the meeting included NSAs/Secretaries to the National Security Council/ Deputy Minister of Security from Afghanistan, China, Iran and Russia. Ajit Doval to meet top officials of Trump administration The ministry further said that the meeting among these countries provided an opportunity for exchange of views on the issue of terrorism and ways and means to cooperate for effectively dealing with this menace. India's National Security Advisor articulated India's abiding commitment to partner in bilateral, regional and global forums for tackling the scourge of terrorism which poses a huge threat to the entire humanity. He highlighted that there was a need to understand not make a distinction between good and bad terrorism; greater cooperation including through information sharing for disrupting support mechanisms such as training, financing and supply of weapons; need for disrupting cross-border movement of terrorists; and isolating those who support and sponsor terrorism. Rafale: Cost based on equipments, weapons, Ajit Doval's 150 minute presentation The terrorist violence in Afghanistan was rejected unequivocally. Support was expressed to assist the government and defence forces of Afghanistan to deal with terrorist groups and narcotics smuggling; and to assist in reconstruction and economic development of Afghanistan. Importance was attached to promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan which was Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled. During his visit, the NSA had separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Iran, Russia and Afghanistan on issues of bilateral mutual interest. Raking up Kashmir issue at OIC "unwarranted": India International pti-PTI New York, Sep 27: India has raised objections over Pakistan raising Kashmir issue at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, saying it is completely "unwarranted" for the grouping as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to India's internal affairs in any multi-organisation set up. Pakistan raked up the Kashmir issue at the OIC Contact Group meeting held Wednesday on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. "We always note with regret that the matter which is very internal to Indian affairs was again discussed at the OIC," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters when asked about Pakistan raising the issue at the OIC meeting. He said India rejects such references to a matter which is very internal to it. "We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on India's internal affairs" and it is completely unwarranted for OIC as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to India's internal affairs in any multi-organisation set up. When asked about Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also raising the Kashmir issue in his bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Kumar said Islamabad has been doing this for a long time. "It is not the first time they are raising the issue in their bilateral meetings. You would note that what they come up with is their side of the story. What they share and what they say has no acceptance anywhere in the international community, he said. He said Pakistan has realised its "falsehood" and what it has been projecting had already been rejected by the international community. On the possibility of any exchange between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Qureshi in the SAARC meeting, Kumar said, "we have made it very clear that it is not bilateral meeting between India and Pakistan, and added that it is "difficult to predict if there will be a handshake" between the two. Swaraj will be attending the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) meeting Thursday. On Wednesday, Swaraj held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from Germany, Bolivia, Armenia, Panama, Austria, Antigua and Barbuda, Chile, Iran and with Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. "A relationship like no other! EAM @SushmaSwaraj met the @PM_Nepal K.P Sharma Oli. Positive and friendly conversation on taking our relationship to an even higher trajectory, Kumar tweeted. PTI IRCTC to launch second Tejas train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai on Jan 17 This country will pay tourists up to 200 euros (Rs 18,000) in discounts who visit this summer World Tourism Day 2018: India records highest Tourism Receipts in South Asia International oi-Chennabasaveshwar P United Nations, Sep 27: India as a favourite destination is the driving factor behind the positive results in South Asia region's tourism sector, according to United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) 2018 report. The report stated that positive results in South Asia were largely driven by the strong performance of India, the sub-region largest destination, which benefited from increasing demand from western source markets and simpler visa procedures. World Tourism Day: Top 10 International Tourist Arrivals in 2017 Entire South Asia contributed 10.1 per cent to International Tourism Receipts in Asia and the Pacific region. In the South Asia region, India registered 7.0 per cent, the highest among the block. As per the report, international tourism receipts improved for India between 2010-2017. In 2010, India received 14,490 million US dollars, 22,427 million US dollars in 2016 and 27,365 million US dollars in 2017. Also, the recovery of outbound demand from Brazil and the Russian Federation after a few years of decline and the ongoing rise of India, also contributed to inbound growth in many destinations. World Tourism Day 2018: Significance, theme and why it is observed On the other hand, South-East Asia enjoyed the highest growth of all Asian subregions, with an additional nine million international tourists in 2017. Growth across destinations was fuelled by robust demand from North-East Asian source markets. Vietnam recorded the fastest growth in arrivals, while Thailand, the subregion's largest destinations, added three million more arrivals. Visa exemptions and improved air connectivity also contributed to the positive results. Mumbai: Man accused in 13 rape, molestation cases arrested Mumbai pti-PTI Mumbai, Sep 27: A man wanted in connection with 13 cases of rape and molestation of minor girls in Mumbai and neighbouring areas has been arrested, police said on Thursday. Rehan Qureshi, a salesman, was nabbed on Wednesday by the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch from Mira Road area in the adjoining Thane district after he was identified through a CCTV footage following two incidents of crime, a police official said. The man, in his 30s, was accused in 13 cases of rape and molestation of minor girls in the slum areas of Mumbai, the neighbouring Navi Mumbai town, and Thane and Palghar districts, he said. While investigating these cases, the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch came identified him through the CCTV footage of cameras at the Mira Road railway station and also in Navi Mumbai, after he allegedly sexually abused two girls, aged 13 and 15, at Nallasopara in Palghar, he said. On getting information about Qureshi's whereabouts, the Navi Mumbai police laid a trap at Nayanagar in Mira Road area and nabbed him, the official said. The modus operandi of the accused was to approach a girl at her house by telling that her father had called her, he said. [Mumbai: Man rapes woman, shoots boyfriend for resisting] When the victim accompanied him believing his claims, the accused would take her to an isolated place and commit the offence, the official said. [Mumbai: Cab driver, aide arrested for robbing and raping woman] "As of now, we have found his involvement in at least 13 cases of sexual assault of minors. We suspect his involvement in other cases also," Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tushar Doshi told PTI. A probe was on in all the cases, he added. PTI Blasey Ford told Senate Judiciary Committee it was 'absolutely not' possible that she had mistakenly identified Kavanaugh as her attacker. Blasey Ford claims Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a party in 1982 when he was a 17-year-old high school student and she was 15. (Photo: File | AFP) Washington: Christine Blasey Ford told senators on Thursday that she remains "absolutely" sure that Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee for the US Supreme Court, was the person who sexually assaulted her at a party decades ago. Blasey Ford, a university professor in California, told the Senate Judiciary Committee it was "absolutely not" possible that she had mistakenly identified Kavanaugh as her attacker. Asked how she could be so sure, she responded with confidence: "The same way that I'm sure that I'm talking to you right now. Just basic memory functions." Blasey Ford claims Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a party in 1982 when he was a 17-year-old high school student and she was 15, and that she is positive of her attacker's identity because the "trauma-related experience" was seared in an "indelible" way onto her brain. 'They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade,' Trump said. Trump did not go into details about how he believed China was interfering in the midterms which could see the Republicans lose control of both the Senate and House of Representatives. (Photo: File) United Nations: US president Donald Trump accused China on Wednesday of working against his Republican Party in upcoming midterm polls, saying Beijing wanted to see him suffer an electoral blow because of his hard line on trade. Regrettably we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my administration, Trump said in a session of the United Nations Security Council. They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade. Trump did not go into details about how he believed China was interfering in the midterms which could see the Republicans lose control of both the Senate and House of Representatives. But his allegation comes as trade tensions soar between Beijing and Washington, which this week enacted new tariffs against China covering another USD 200 billion of its imports. The United States also irked China earlier this week by going ahead with plans to sell a batch of military parts to the self-governing island of Taiwan. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting unification, and is deeply suspicious of the islands relations with the US. A special prosecutor, Robert Mueller, is investigating allegations that members of Trumps inner circle colluded with Russia to secure his victory in the 2016 presidential election after US security agencies determined that Moscow had sought to influence the outcome. Kavanaugh's nomination to US Supreme Court appeared all-but-certain but sexual assault allegations from 1980 now threaten to derail process. The New York Times said the information concerned 'possible sexual misconduct' dating to the 1980s, when the 53-year-old Kavanaugh was in high school. (Photo: AP) Washington: Conservative judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the US Supreme Court appeared all-but-certain in the wake of Senate hearings in early September, but sexual assault allegations from the 1980s now threaten to derail the process at the last moment. Here is a timeline of the main events around the accusations: Suggestion of 'misconduct' On September 12, less than a week after Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings wrapped up in Washington, Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced she had forwarded to the FBI "information from an individual concerning the nomination." The New York Times said the information concerned "possible sexual misconduct" dating to the 1980s, when the 53-year-old Kavanaugh was in high school. The White House denounced what it called a last-minute effort to prevent his confirmation. Allegation of assault The New Yorker reported two days later, on September 14, that an unidentified woman had accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a high school party in Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington, in the early 1980s. The magazine quoted the judge as saying in a statement, "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time." Accuser comes forward On September 16, Kavanaugh's accuser came forward publicly, revealing her identity as 51-year-old university professor Christine Blasey Ford, and giving a detailed account of the alleged incident to The Washington Post. She claimed Kavanaugh and a friend, Mark Judge, assaulted her while both "stumbling drunk." Kavanaugh, she said, pinned her to a bed and muffled her cries as he tried to pull off her clothes, before she fought him off and escaped. Blasey Ford confirmed she was the one who sent the confidential letter to Feinstein. Trump hits back After days of relative restraint, President Donald Trump took direct aim at Blasley Ford on September 21, openly questioning her credibility. "Why didn't someone call the FBI 36 years ago?" Trump tweeted. "I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents." A second accusation On September 23, after several days of negotiations with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blasey Ford agreed to testify publicly, with a hearing scheduled for September 27. The same day, The New Yorker published a bombshell account from a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, 53, who said Kavanaugh exposed himself and caused her to touch him without consent, during a drinking game at a Yale dorm party in the 1980s. The judge rejected the claim as part of a campaign of "last-minute smears, pure and simple." In a further twist, Michael Avenatti -- the lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she once had a tryst with Trump -- announced he was representing a third unidentified woman with "credible information" regarding both Kavanaugh and Judge. The counterattack On September 24, Kavanaugh went on the counterattack against what he called an "effort to destroy my good name." "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," he vowed in a letter to the Senate committee. In a prime-time interview on Fox News, Kavanaugh appeared alongside his wife, Ashley Kavanaugh, to defend himself. Seeking to counter the image of a wild youth painted by his accusers, he asserted he was a virgin at the time of the alleged events, and "did not have sexual intercourse or anything close to sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter." Trump meanwhile denounced the accusations as part of a political "con game" by opposition Democrats. On September 25, the president hit out at Ramirez, Kavanaugh's second accuser, as "messed up." "The second accuser has nothing. She thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not," Trump said. "She admits that she was drunk. She admits that there are time lapses." With two days to go until Blasey Ford's testimony to lawmakers on September 27, the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a preliminary vote on Kavanaugh's nomination for the following day, September 28. The committee also announced that Blasey Ford would be questioned by an expert sex crimes prosecutor. A new witness -- and victim On September 26, Michael Avenatti released a sworn statement from Julie Swetnick, saying she witnessed abusive behaviour by Kavanaugh and Judge during high school parties in the early 1980s. She said she herself had been the victim of a gang rape in 1982 during a party that Kavanaugh attended. Kavanaugh forcefully rejected the latest allegations, in a statement released by the White House. "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is and this never happened." Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. Learn more Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad praised Sri Lankas steady progress and assured continued cooperation. He said this during a meeting with President Maitthripala Sirisena at the Hotel Plaza in New York yesterday (September 26), the Presidents Media Division said. The two leaders exchanged pleasantries and Dr Mohamad recalled earlier meetings between them, particularly about a meeting in Kualalumpur in 2017 when he was out of power. He thanked President Sirisena for making that special effort to meet him when he was not the leader of Malaysia. President Sirisena congratulated Dr Mahathir on his significant victory at the last general elections and briefed him about the progress made in the last three and a half years. He asked Malaysia to increase investments in Sri Lanka, and Dr Mahathir readily agreed. Dr Mohamed said that Malaysia would increase assistance to megapolis programmes for construction of high-rise apartments for settling urban slum dwellers. Minister of Megapolis, Champika Ranawaka, who accompanied the President, requested that the Malaysian credit facilities extended to construction sector be increased. The Malaysian Prime Minister said that he continues the foreign policy of the former government. He said that Malaysia, while welcoming foreign investments, is very keen to safeguard interests of the country. President Sirisena said that Sri Lanka too follow a similar policy on foreign investments. Two leaders exchanged views on regional and international developments. Ministers Tilak Marapana, Rajitha Senaratne, Champika Ranawaka and Mano Ganeshan also took part in this meeting. Dr Mahathir Mohamed accepted the invitation extended to him by President Maithripala Sirisena for a visit to Sri Lanka. (Presidents Media) Gambling Industry Contributes $261 Billion to U.S. Economy in 2017, New Report Shows Published September 26, 2018 by Elana K A new report from Oxford Economics highlights the contributions of the gambling industry to the American economy. The report shows that in 2017, the gambling industry generated $261.1 billion, of which $40.8 billion went to federal, state and local taxes. Both gambling and online gambling are touchy subjects across the United States; while some are avidly in favor, others are staunchly opposed. A recent report from Oxford Economics, however, highlights the contributions of the gambling industry to the American economy. The report shows that in 2017, the gambling industry generated $261.1 billion, of which $40.8 billion went to federal, state and local taxes. Additionally, the industry supported 1.8 million jobs, accounting for $74 billion in combined wages, tips, and benefits. The study was commissioned by the American Gambling Association (AGA). 2014 versus 2017 Oxford Economics last report was in 2014, and the numbers from 2017 show a significant increase in both revenue and jobs. With regards to revenue, the 2017 figure shows a 9.5% increase, and with regards to jobs, an additional 1 million have been created in the span of 3 years. Online Gamblings Role in the U.S. Economy Experts attribute the significant revenue increase to the burgeoning online gambling industry in the United States, as well as the casino industrys openness to new market opportunities. Online gambling has been legal in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware for the past 5 years or so, and Pennsylvania jumped into the fray earlier this year. Many other states are also considering legalizing online gambling, mainly because of the revenue and jobs that the industry has the potential to generate. Specifically, many states that are finding themselves with deep budget deficits are looking toward online gambling as the long-solution. Other Benefits of Gambling and Online Gambling In addition to contributing a significant amount to the U.S. economy, the tax revenue from the gambling industry is used for education, hospitals, and public safety. AGA senior vice-president of public affairs, Sara Slane, commented, The industrys tax revenue alone provides enough funding to hire 692,000 new teachers." by Mathias Hariyadi The Working Group for Priestly Education organised a three-day conference in Bali. Priests and religious are called to pay particular attention to the victims. The consequences of such acts on minors make it necessary to have a "fraternal and compassionate" approach towards them and their families. Jakarta (AsiaNews) More than 125 religious leaders and prominent figures in the Catholic community, including four bishops, took part in a forum to discuss the recent scandals that have struck the Church in order to find a solution so that they do not occur again. The event took place in Bali between 18 and 20 September, organised by the Working Group for Priestly Education (Badan Kerjasama Bina Lanjut Imam Indonesia - BLBII), in collaboration with the Association of Religious Leaders (Koptari) and the Interreligious Forum of Priests (Masi). The BLBII comes under the Seminary Commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI) through which the bishops collaborate with all Indonesian religious leaders to design standardised shared protocols for priestly training. Experts in psychology, religious education, psychological recovery programmes and legal issues presented the delicate issues treated during the three days of work. One of them was the psychological conditions that push sexual predators to look for their victims, to which priests and religious must pay close attention. The consequences of such acts on minors make it necessary to have a "fraternal and compassionate" approach towards them and their families. One of the forums goal was to provide answers to questions such as: 'Is it legitimate for the victims of abuse to ask compensation from religious congregations and dioceses, even when the sexual predator has been removed from the community?' or 'What are the legal consequences for congregations and dioceses that are subject to procedures under the laws of the state?' These questions urgently call for a strict protocol in programmes promoting religious vocations. Speaking to AsiaNews, Brother Rafael, Superior of the Brothers of St Mary Immaculate Mtb in Pontianak (West Kalimantan), said that "these issues now concern every religious congregation and diocese and must be taken seriously". Guidelines are needed to help Church leaders when these problems come to light. "Most participants are shocked to learn that these illicit cases also occur in their communities," Brother Rafael noted. For Sister Marsiana Nurhaini, Provincial Superior of the Passionist Sisters (CP), "the public accounts of the victims are truly devastating." "This seminar showed me new perspectives and moral guidelines to deal with these problems, said the nun who works in Malang (East Java). I had no idea of their legal repercussions and I feel I have learnt things that are new to me, but already shared and put into practice by Church leaders. We must open our hearts and minds to what comes from outside the convent." In 2009 Nepal had 121 tigers; in 2018, there were 235. The Himalayan nation is the first to reach the goal of doubling the population of the endangered species by 2022. Kathmandu (AsiaNews/Agencies) The number of tigers doubled in Nepal thanks to the support of the Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation, a philanthropic organisation founded and chaired by the famous Hollywood star who is committed to animal and environmental protection. The information was announced as Nepal celebrated National Conservation Day on 23 September. According to official data, the Himalayan nation had 121 tigers in 2009. This year, that number stood at 235. For the World Wildlife Federation, this is very significant in terms of saving the endangered species. For Nepal, it means that it could be the first country in the world to double its tiger population since it adopted TX2, with the aim of doubling tiger numbers in the wild by 2022, a target set in 2010. The survey to count the number of tigers was conducted with the help of camera traps in the transboundary Terai Arc Landscape along the border with India. The Leonardo Di Caprio foundation funded the conservation programme in the Bardia National Park. Upon hearing the news, the actor wrote on Instagram: Nepal has been a leader in efforts to double tigers within its own borders and serves as a model for conservation for all of Asia and the world. I am proud of my foundations partnership with WWF to support Nepal and local communities in doubling the population of wild tigers. His fans reacted with elation, some hoping that other Hollywood celebrities might follow suit. The news, if confirmed - the Vatican press office said it had no indications in this regard - would point to a positive change in Beijing's policy. But who decided their presence in Rome? Rome (AsiaNews) - Some questions have arisen regarding the participation of two bishops from the People's Republic of China at the Synod of Bishops on Youth, which opens next week. News agencies are reporting comments made by Wang Zuo'an, current number two of the "United Front" to representatives of the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics and the Council of Chinese Bishops. If confirmed - the Vatican press office said it had no indications in this regard the news would indicate a positive change in Beijing's policy following the signing of the Provisional Agreement, given that on previous occasions the government had denied visas. Chinese bishops were invited by John Paul II to the 1998 Synod and by Benedict XVI to that of 2005. In both cases nothing came of the invitations, as on other occasions, starting from the Second Vatican Council. There is, however, one doubt. The Episcopal constitution Episcopalis communio of Pope Francis on the Synod establishes (Article 2) that "The Members of the Synod Assemblies are those foreseen by can. 346 of the CIC ". This particualr Code of Canon Law, in Can. 346 - 1 establishes that the participating bishops are elected by the episcopal conferences or have the right to participate according to the norms of the conferences themselves (usually they are presidents) or are appointed directly by the Pope. None of the indicated possibilities seems to concern the two Chinese bishops, also because the Council of Chinese bishops is not recognized by the Vatican, nor can it be in its current composition. And not for a nominal question, but because its structure is not that of an episcopal conference: there are bishops (those from the underground) that are not part of it, while lay people are also admitted. It is possible that Msgr. Camilleri, undersecretary for relations with the States, brought a papal invitation in his meetings in Beijing for the signing of the agreement with the Chinese government. But the fact that the news being reported is of the participation of the two bishops at the Synod as representative of the government and that nothing has been said of a possible invitation by Francis reinforces the concern of those who fear that the agreement ends up authorizing the government to control and "guide" the Church. In any case, there are no bishops representing the unofficial community. This was a lost opportunity to mark a new step towards the reconciliation of Chinese Catholics. Moreover doubts have been doubled regarding the dubious identity of the two "chosen". Monsignor John Baptist Yang Xiaotin, who studied at the Pontifical Urbaniana University and continued his studies in the USA. Appointed bishop by the Pope and approved by the government, he is a member of the Patriotic Association and is a protagonist. On public occasions, he glorified the regime by repeating the slogans on the "independence" of the Church. Msgr. Joseph Guo Jincai (see photo) is one of the seven excommunicated bishops recently readmitted into ecclesial communion. He attended the seminary of Shijiazhuang, in Hebei. He is the secretary general of the Council of Chinese bishops, a key post for the regime's control of the Church. The role is in fact entrusted by the Communist Party to a person of extreme trust who works publicly as a state official, with the same rank, salary and political position. (FP) by Sumon Corraya In the last three years about 5,000 migrant women have returned from the Saudi kingdom. Between 1991 and 2018, at least 700,000 Bangladeshi women sought employment abroad, including 250,000 in Arabia. An NGO, BRAC, helps women who escape reintegrate into society. Dhaka (AsiaNews) Thousands of Bangladeshi women who went to Saudi Arabia in search of fortune have gone home penniless after enduring torture and sexual abuse. The numbers are staggering. According to Building Resources Across Communities (BRAC), an NGO that helps migrants escape from places of torture, about 5,000 have done so in the last three years. Officially, at least nine million Bangladeshis work in 160 countries around the world. Those who are lucky enough to travel to the United States or Europe lead difficult but dignified lives. But those who go to the Middle East often find themselves in hell, especially female migrants. Fatama Akter was one of them. She had to emigrate and leave her sick husband and children in Barisal (central-southern Bangladesh). "I went to Saudi Arabia to work even though my husband did not want me to, she told AsiaNews, but he is sick and I wanted to earn some money for medical treatment and to send our children to school. " After three months working for a heavy-handed employer she had had enough. I couldnt take it anymore. I got sick and he denied me medicines. Moreover, my workload was huge and if I dared to speak out, he would beat me." Fatama managed to escape and return to Bangladesh. Like her, many other Bangladeshi women work as domestic help. All report incidents of physical and psychological torture and irregularities over wages. Three men regularly raped me. If I wouldnt agree, they beat me, said another migrant worker, Kobita Bagum. One day I escaped and visited the local police station and this is how I returned to Bangladesh. In her view, the government should not allow women to go to Saudi Arabia to work because that country is not safe for women. BRAC estimates that, between 1991 and 2018, about 700,000 Bangladeshi women went abroad seeking employment, 250,000 in Saudi Arabia alone. Nurul Islam, Minister of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, does not accept the view that violence drove Bangladeshi women home. For him, the latter do not come home as a result of persecution but rather because of food and language problems. What is more, they did not seek help from the embassy or take legal action. They escaped and returned home. 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With increasing number of procedures of dental implants, the need for customized procedures has risen, and this can be catered by 3D printing techniques. 3D printing technologies have exposed the capabilities for customization in a wide variety of applications in the medical field.3D printing as an innovation is a new technology in the healthcare department. Organs have been scarce, but the demand for organ transplantation is huge. Hence, 3D printing helps in this as it can produce essential organs artificially. However, it is very expensive, as the availability of this 3D printing systems is very low in the market. The high cost of 3D printing is hindering the growth of the healthcare 3D printing market. The other factors, such as lack of trained professionals and regulatory issues are also hindering the market.Purchase this report online with 88 Pages, Top Key Players Analysis and List of Tables & Figure @Asia-Pacific is expected to witness a good CAGR. Both, China and Japan, are showing a high potential for the market due to their noteworthy government funding for 3D printing technology.Major Key Players:1 Altem Technologies2 Brahma 33 Imaginarium4 JGroup Robotics5 KCbotsAny Query? Ask to our Expert @What Information does this report contain?1 A detailed analysis of regulatory trends, drivers, industry pitfalls, challenges and growth opportunities for participants2 Which are the leading market products, applications & regions and how will they perform by 2023?3 What are the technologies & innovation trends, how will they evolve by 2023?4 Which companies lead the industry, how are they positioned in the market in terms of sustainability, competency, production capacity and strategic outlook?In the end, this report covers data and information on capacity and production overview, production, market share analysis, sales overview, supply, sales, and shortage, import, export and consumption as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin of Healthcare 3D Printing Market.Table of Contents:1 Introduction2 Research Methodology3 Executive Summary4 Key Inferences5 Market Overview6 Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Challenges Analysis (Droc)7 Market Segmentation8 Competitive Landscape9 Key Players10 Future Outlook of the MarketAbout us:We at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMark Pvt. Ltd.Thane 421501India.sales@marketprognosis.com+1 973 241 5193 Oral Care Products Market to Reflect Impressive Growth Rate of 6.8% by 2023 | Global Key Vendors - Carestream Health, Danaher, Dentsply Sirona, Gillete, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble Oral Care Products Market https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/16848 https://marketprognosis.com/buyReport/16848 https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/16848 https://www.marketprognosis.com Marketprognosis.com Publish a New Market Research Report On Global Oral Care Products Market 2018 - 2023 which contains global key players survey information and forecast to 2023.Overview of the Global Oral Care Products Market:The Global Oral Care Products Market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.8% during the forecast period of 2018 - 2023.Oral health is essential for good health and quality of life. Oral health is a state of being free from chronic mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral sores, birth defects, tooth decay and tooth loss, and other diseases and disorders that affect the oral cavity. Cleaning of teeth is a part of oral hygiene, which involves removing plaque, flossing, interdental brushes, tongue cleaning, gum care, and oral irrigation. Patient diagnosis and treatment have become easy due to latest imaging technologies and advanced surgical procedures.Get a Sample Copy of this Report @As the price is continuing to rise for dental care in the developed countries, more people are either foregoing necessary dental treatment or looking for more affordable alternatives, such as dental tourism, for getting the dental treatment they require.Indias medical tourism sector is expected to experience an annual growth of around 30%, making it a USD 2 billion market in 2015. This factor is increasing the usage of oral care products and driving the market. The increase in awareness about oral hygiene and fresh health is driving the oral care products market.Shortage of dental professional is one of the major restraining factors for oral care products. For example, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than 45 million American people live in areas where there is a shortage of dental professionals (health professional shortage areas (HPSA)). This lack of dental professionals is hindering the growth of the oral care products market. Also, reimbursement issues in various geographical regions are hindering the growth of the market.Purchase this report online with 102 Pages, Top Key Players Analysis and List of Tables & Figure @The United States oral care products market held the largest share in 2017 in North America due to the presence of high-quality healthcare system and modern medical technology in the country. Additionally, the rising aging population in the region is likely to contribute toward the growth of the oral care products market.Major Key Players:1 Carestream Health2 Danaher3 Dentsply Sirona4 Gillete5 GlaxoSmithKline6 Johnson & Johnson7 Procter & Gamble8 Sirona Dental Systems and More.Any Query? Ask to our Expert @This study answers to the below key questions:1 What will the market size be in 2023 and what will the growth rate be?2 What are the key market trends?3 What are the challenges to market growth?4 Who are the key players in this market?5 What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key players?In the end, this report covers data and information on capacity and production overview, production, market share analysis, sales overview, supply, sales, and shortage, import, export and consumption as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin of Oral Care Products Market.Table of Contents:1 Introduction2 Research Methodology3 Executive Summary4 Key Inferences5 Market Overview6 Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Challenges Analysis (Droc)7 Market Segmentation8 Competitive Landscape9 Key Players10 Future Outlook of the MarketAbout us:We at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMark Pvt. Ltd.Thane 421501India.sales@marketprognosis.com+1 973 241 5193 Fashion Show Spotlights Loma Linda University Plastic Surgery Department and Breast Cancer Survivors Shayle Gupta and Saira Gupta Present Sunshine Award to June Yoo The Department of Plastic Surgery at Loma Linda University celebrated the tenth anniversary of their Pink Runway Fashion Show on September 23, 2018 in front of an emotional cheering audience of over 450 people at the Riverside Convention Center. It was a day of education, fashion, food, and fun as the Southern California event spotlighted a multidisciplinary panel with a question and answer session and easy interaction between survivors and the treatment team from the Department of Plastic Surgery. The Pink Runway has been recognized as one of only a few in California who are official partners with the national Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day (BRA Day) developed by the American Society of Plastic Surgery (breastreconusa.org).According to the organizing committee, The Pink Runway continues to create and broadcast breast cancer reconstruction awareness information. Dr Subhas Gupta, chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery, stated We are all very proud that the collective voice was amplified from the Inland Empire via the Pink Runway. In fact, [attendees] annual participation has helped us develop the Pink Runway in to the powerful change agent it has become for breast cancer patients and their families seeking information about breast reconstruction.The event began with a welcome from Dr Gupta and Executive Director Cherl Tidwell. An opening prayer was given by Jillian Payne, Assistant Vice President of Philanthropy at Loma Linda University Health. The presenting sponsor for the event this year was Mentor Worldwide, a Johnson and Johnson Company, that is a leading breast reconstruction product manufacturer. Other sponsors included Allergan, MTF, Glo SkinCare, Obagi Medical Products, Galderma, Loma Linda University Health Cancer Center, and Nellys Makeup. Over thirty local businesses contributed products for the door prize giveaways. Special guests in attendance included Dr Michael Wong, the President of the California Society of Plastic Surgeons, and executives from Mentor Worldwide.The main focus this year was education about breast cancer reconstruction, and the "Fact or Fiction Breast Reconstruction Panel showcased four surgeons from Loma Linda University replying to questions from Dr Gupta. Drs Michael Hill, Hahns Kim, Andres Mascaro, and Sharon Lum joined breast cancer survivor Dr Karen Tong and Todd Canfield from Mentor for the panel event to field questions from the attendees regarding breast cancer reconstruction. Key topics addressed were the BRCA gene, surgical options for breast reconstruction, insurance coverage of surgery, and the impact of radiation on reconstructive options and timing.Guest speaker and author Kara Adams shared her personal inspirational story titles, The Roadmap to Finding Purpose after Cancer. A sampling menu featuring Anti-Cancer foods was then served as the models exited the audience to prepare for their runway show. Next was the presentation of the Geeta Sugandh Sunshine Award, presented annually to individuals who have helped shine light on the lives of breast cancer patients. The award was presented in memory of their grandmother by Shayle Gupta and Saira Gupta. This years winner was a research team including Insiyah Campwala and June Yoo, both medical student researchers who published a paper earlier this year on the relative risk of breast cancer based on genetic abnormalities.At the end of the educational program, ten models who are all breast reconstruction patients of Loma Linda University Medical Center walked down the pink runway in fashions provided by Macys and had their photos taken by the enthusiastically cheering crowd.We had established an aggressive target for attendance, and I couldn't be happier that we met and exceeded this target. I'm also extremely proud of our entire team of volunteers who made this happen by incredibly hard work, said Dr Gupta. The Pink Runway team was led by Cherl Tidwell who was very excited that the event was so well attended. We decided to keep registration open until nearly the last minute because of the overwhelming demand from our local community. We are very grateful to all of the over 400 people who came out today and cheered our beautiful models and learned more about breast reconstruction.The Department of Plastic Surgery at Loma Linda University provides world-class comprehensive care for aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery patients. They have performed numerous pioneering procedures, and are pioneers in cosmetic surgery, breast reconstruction, skin substitutes, and wound healing.Marc VerdoI-Med, LLC4210 Blaine StBeverly Hills, CA 90210 Global Personal Care Products Market 2018-2025 P&G, L'Oreal, Johnson & Johnson Personal Care Products Market 2018-2025 http://bit.ly/Personal-Care-Products-Market-2018-2025 https://www.9dimenresearchstore.com/report/global-personal-care-products-market-25436 http://9dimenresearchstore.com Market study on Global Personal Care Products Market 2018 Research Report presents a professional and complete analysis of Global Personal Care Products Market on the current market situation.Report provides a general overview of the Personal Care Products industry 2018 including definitions, classifications, Personal Care Products market analysis, a wide range of applications and Personal Care Products industry chain structure. The 2018's report on Personal Care Products industry offers the global Personal Care Products development history, development trends and competitive landscape analysis. The Global Personal Care Products Market 2018 report includes Personal Care Products market Revenue, market Share, Personal Care Products industry volume, market Trends, Growth aspects.After report covers manufacturing processes and price structures on Personal Care Products scenario. This report also includes Personal Care Products import/export, supply chain relationship, consumption ratio, Personal Care Products revenue and gross margin by regions/countries (United States, EU, China, and Japan).Request Sample Copy of Personal Care Products Report:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Personal Care Products Industry 2018 are Unilever, P&G, L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, Kao, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate PalmoliveMarket Segmented Based on Application Men, Women, ChildrenMarket Segmented Based on Type Skincare, Haircare, Personal Hygiene, Make-up, Fragrance, Oral Hygiene, OthersThen report states global Personal Care Products industry leaders along with information on company profiles, product images, product specification, production capacity, Personal Care Products market revenue and contact information. The Personal Care Products industry is analysed on basis of applications, geographic distribution and the factors responsible for increasing demand of Personal Care Products globally has been included in this report.Browse Full Report Here:The Personal Care Products research report includes the products that are currently in demand and available in the Personal Care Products market along with their cost breakup, manufacturing volume, import/export scheme and contribution to the Personal Care Products market revenue worldwide.Finally, Personal Care Products market report gives you details about the Personal Care Products market research findings and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable Personal Care Products market strategies to gain competitive advantage.About US:"9DimenResearchStore.com" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us:3626 North Hall Street (Two Oak Lawn),Suite 610,Dallas, TX 75219, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Web:Email: sales@9dimenresearchstore.com Instrument Transformer Market ABB, GE, Siemens, Crompton Greaves, Amran Inc, ITL, Weidmann, Raychem RPG, Meramec, ITEC, Schneider Electric, KONCAR, HEYI Electrical, EATON, Toshiba, TRENCH, BHEL, Mitsubishi Instrument Transformer https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2141 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2141 https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com http://algosonline.com/news Rising demand for electricity owing to rapid urbanization across the globe have instigated concerns pertaining to grid stability, which in turn will drive the instrument transformer market size. Ongoing urban migration adhered by rising infrastructural investments will further complement the deployment of effective monitoring and control T&D systems. Sustainable economic proliferation along with revamping lifestyles have led to an exponential rise in the peak load demand for energy. Hence, accruing energy demand across the globe subject to the ongoing economic and social reformation will appreciable augment the industry outlook.Ask for Sample Copy of this research report @France instrument transformer industry size is set to exceed USD 100 million by 2024. Stringent regulatory reforms pertaining to emissions coupled with rapid technological transitions to sustain an energy efficient grid infrastructure will comprehensively thrust the business. Inclination towards clean energy adhered by rising investments across the renewable sector will further escalate the product penetration across the country. In 2017, the French government has led forward its plan to invest over USD 20 billion toward its energy transition plan. The framework lays grounds for a segregated investment mechanism catering towards energy efficiency, renewable integration and cleaner vehicle development.Oil immersed in 2016, accounted for over 50% of the instrument transformer market share. Effective insulation and di-electric strength when compared to its counterparts makes its adoption preferable. Applicability across high voltage applications coupled with economical cost structure will further escalate the product penetration. The technology since inception has witnessed sheer progression owing to its higher voltage output and operational flexibility with its prime application across utility and commercial electrical networks.Rising rural electrification demand across Asia Pacific & Africa supported by accruing investments by financial institutions including the World Bank, and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will foster the market size. Re-structuring of electrical grids across war affected nations including Iraq, Syria, and Sudan will further boost the industry growth. In addition, large scale grid integration of sustainable energy sources coupled with rapid expansion of T&D networks to sustain security of supply concerns will further proliferate the industry expansion. In 2017, the World Bank declared an investment worth USD 4 million towards expansion of an effective grid infrastructure across the Pacific Island.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @The U.S. instrument transformer market is projected to witness sustainable growth owing to rising demand for the upgradation of existing grid infrastructure along with rapid expansion of effective T&D networks. The transformer industry across the nation has witnessed significant upsurge on account of favorable regulatory reforms pertaining to energy efficiency and grid stability. Ongoing trends subject to the adoption of sustainable technologies along with briskly advancing monitoring & control technologies will further embellish the business outlook.Table Of contentChapter 1 Methodology and Scope1.1 Methodology1.1.1. Initial data exploration1.1.2. Statistical model and forecast1.1.3. Industry insights and validation1.1.4. Market definition & forecast parameters1.2 Data sources1.2.1. Primary1.2.2. SecondaryChapter 2 Executive Summary2.1 Instrument transformer industry 3600 synopsis, 2013 20242.1.1. Business trends2.1.2. Product trends2.1.3. Winding trends2.1.4. Installation trends2.1.5. Cooling trends2.1.6. Insulation trends2.1.7. Phase trends2.1.8. Rating trends2.1.9. Mounting trends2.1.10 Application trends2.1.11 Regional trendsChapter 3 Instrument Transformer Industry Insights3.1 Industry segmentation3.2 Industry landscape, 2013 - 20243.3 Industry ecosystem analysis3.3.1. Vendor matrix3.4 Import and export landscape3.4.1. Electrical Transformers3.5 Price trend analysis3.6 Innovation and technology landscape3.7 Regulatory landscape3.7.1. U.S.Chapter 4 Instrument Transformer Market, By Product4.1 Instrument transformer market share by product, 2016 & 20244.2 Current4.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 20244.2.2. Wound4.2.2.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 20244.2.3. Closed4.2.3.1. Market estimates and forecast, 2013 20244.3 PotentialAbout Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary researchContact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Explore Our Blog @ North America to Remain the Largest Market for Metrology Software during 2017-2027 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-226 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-226 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Future Market Insights (FMI), in its report, projects significant growth for the global metrology software market at 6.2% CAGR during the forecast period 2017 to 2027. The market was evaluated at US$ 778.9 Mn in 2016, and is further estimated to reach around US$ 1500 Mn by 2027-end. Increasing focus of metrology software providers on development of software for measuring portable devices is expected to propel market growth. With the emergence of coordinate measuring machines (CMM), point cloud inspection software is gaining higher adoption as a significant tool as compared to traditional software. This is estimated to pave opportunities for market growth during the forecast period.Request for sample copy of report @:Higher Adoption of Measurement Systems by Shipbuilding Industry to Propel Market GrowthShipbuilding industry is facing challenges associated with increasing measurement surveys and introduction of new measurement systems. This has led the industry towards higher adoption of measurement systems, which in turn, is fuelling market growth of metrology software. Pharmaceutical companies need to maintain accuracy and consistency during medicine production, coupled with following guidelines for best practices imposed by regulatory agencies. This has surged the adoption of precision equipment by healthcare sector, which is driving demand for metrology software by this sector globally. In addition, standards set by international committees on manufacturing companies in terms of instruments, metric parameters, and frequency of measurement is further expected to influence the growth of the global metrology software market through 2027.Presence of large market players, with their aggressive mergers & acquisitions (M&As) and strength in terms of sales & distribution channel, has resulted into fewer smaller players consolidating their position in the market. Owing to these M&As, market growth is hampered as limited number of players result into standardised products, with acquisitions affecting competitive landscape scenario by reduction in number of players. In addition, new players face challenges in providing all solutions integrated into a single metrology software package. These factors are expected to impede growth of the market during the forecast period.APEJ to be Fastest Growing Market for Metrology Software by 2027-EndAsia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) is estimated to reflect highest CAGR through 2027, followed by Eastern Europe and Latin America. Chinas market share is expected to surpass 30% of APEJ metrology software market. North America is projected to remain the largest market for metrology software during the forecast period. In terms of value, market in this region is anticipated to reach around US$ 463 Mn by 2027-end.Demand for metrology software is expected to be highest for application in quality control & inspection during the forecast period. Revenues amassed from quality & control inspection in the market is estimated to reach nearly US$ 450 Mn by 2027-end. In contrast, measure & alignment application of metrology software is projected to expand at the highest CAGR through 2027, followed by reverse engineering application.Industrial Manufacturing will Remain Dominant in Global Metrology Software MarketOn the basis of industry vertical, industrial manufacturing is expected to retain its dominance over the global metrology software market during the forecast period. Revenue contribution of industrial manufacturing to the market is estimated to reach around US$ 400 Mn by 2027-end. However, automotive industry vertical is projected to expand at the highest CAGR in the market through 2027, followed by consumer electronics segment.Request to view Table of Content @:Key players identified in FMIs report include 3D Systems, Inc., Carl Zeiss AG, Hexagon, Konica Minolta Inc., Nikon Inc., Renishaw Plc., Rudolph Technologies, Inc., FARO Technologies, Inc., Perceptron Inc., Metrologic Group, Tech Soft 3D, GOM Metrology, Creaform, Optical Gaging Products (OGP), Retecon (Pty) Ltd., Worklogix Middle East, Verisurf Software, Inc., Image Metrology A/S, 3d Digital Corp, Minds Mechanical.About UsFuture Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb: Shigella Vaccines Market Heading Towards Massive Growth With Leadsing Key Players : MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Novartis (Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health), and GlaxoSmithKline plc. Shigella Vaccines https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1110 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/1110 Shigella is a gram-negative pathogenic enterobacteria that causes severe diarrhea and dysentery in humans. Symptoms associated with Shigella infection includes fever, stomach pain, tenesmus, watery diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and convulsions. Various strains of Shigella are encompassed, such as S. dysenteriae, S. flexneri, S. sonnei and S. boydii. Each species of Shigella has different serotypes classified on the basis of the structure of O-antigens repeats that are the polysaccharides moiety of the lipopolysaccharide, a virulence factor consist of toxic lipid. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2013, the average annual incidence of shigellosis in the U.S. was around 5 cases per 100,000 individuals.Download PDF Brochure of Reserach Report:Bacillary dysentery with brutal epidemics are caused by S. dysenteriae by the production of shiga toxins whereas, the endemic form of disease is caused by the S. flexneri and S. sonnei. The bacillary dysentery is accompanied with fever, rectal inflammation, and abdominal cramps.According to World Health Organization (WHO), nearly one million people die from Shigella infection annually. Moreover, the high incidence rate is seen among children less than five years age, travelers, and military personnel from industrialized economies. Shigella species have been identified from centuries and it represents a major threat to public health, due to non-availability of licensed vaccine and thus affecting overall Shigella vaccines market.Developing vaccine against Shigella infections is difficult, due to the diversity of Shigella species and their serotypes. Shigella genome is continuously modified by deletion and acquisition of genes mediated by the mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids, insertion sequences, and integrons. These modifications are the major foundation for the generation of novel antibiotic resistant strains and it also leads to the formation of novel Shigella serotype variants. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in April 2017, warned the physicians and public health officials in the U.S. by stating that the recent strains of Shigella bacteria shows the reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, which is one of the main antibiotics recommended by WHO for the treatment of shigellosis."Joint ventures and collaborations of major players to develop and commercializes the vaccine are expected to propel the Shigella vaccines market in near future"Joint ventures and partnership of the players to develop and commercialize Shigella vaccine is expected to provide momentum to the Shigella vaccines market. For instance, in March 2017, Hilleman Laboratories, a non-profit organization established with joint venture partnership between Merck & Co., and Wellcome Trust has entered into an agreement with National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Disease (NICED) for the development and commercialization of vaccines against Shigella by 2024. Besides, in June 2016, Immuron- an Australian biopharmaceutical company entered into an agreement to produce Shigella vaccine with the U.S Armys biomedical research lab-Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR).Prokarium and Probiomed in January 2017, collaborated to manufacture orally-administrated vaccine to prevent diarrhea. The new vaccine is expected to be manufactured as a part of two-year collaboration having thermostable capabilities for a longer period. The new vaccine is expected to be delivered to the people living in the remote areas. Thermostable vaccine, which is manufactured approximately one third of the price of the conventional injectable vaccines helps to facilities the growth of Shigella vaccines market.Request for Customization of Reserach Report:"The new research trial drives the Shigella vaccines market"The University Of Maryland School Of Medicine (UM SOM) in August 2017 received US$ 2.47 Million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop vaccine against Shigella and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) for the treatment of diarrheal disease. The researchers in the UM SOMs Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) have developed Shigella-ETEC prototype vaccine, which has been tested in animals successfully. Moreover, the latest funding helps to translate prototype to a human vaccine for Phase 1 clinical trials.The key players present in the global shigella vaccines market include MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Novartis (Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health), and GlaxoSmithKline plc.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.com Global Threat Detection Systems Market Revenue, Opportunity, Trend, Leading Players Lockheed Martin Corporation, UTC Aerospace Systems, Forecast 2016- 2022 https://www.reportconsultant.com/request_sample.php?id=1052 https://www.reportconsultant.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=1052 https://www.reportconsultant.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=1052 www.reportconsultant.com The report titled Global Threat Detection Systems market has been devised by Report Consultants and has been added to their huge repository. The report has been devised based on the key finding by the analysts. The facts and figures mentioned in it have been carefully scrutinized after conducting numerous interviews and surveys. The report data has been collected by conducting several interviews with the c-level executives and the statistical surveys of the research data collected. The study has been done for the year 2022 considering it as the forecast period.In this report, the global Threat Detection Systems market is valued at USD +47billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD +118billion by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of+12% between 2016 and 2022.Get request sample:Threat Detection Systems market is growing significantly due to inefficient of web filtration and anti-virus solutions to secure business applications from advance and organized cyber-attacks that includes viruses and remote access to business applications to steal corporate data. Threat Detection Systems are the modern threat detection tools that helps user in malware detection with the help of sandboxing technology. These Threat Detection Systems provides various advantages to user such as threat behavior analysis, reduction of cost, minimize complexity, network visibility and network control.Benefits of Threat Detection Systems market: Threat Detection Systems provide security against advance persistence threats, email based threats such as web exploit, viruses, sensitive data loss, unofficial data access and others. These Threat Detection Systems identifies malware and analysis platform using sandboxing to provide detailed of suspected malware captured by the captured system. These Threat Detection Systems also helps in providing security compliances by automating incident management process and providing logging, regulating data leaving from network through any mode and achieving compliances for complex systems to secure them.Ask for discount:Threat Detection Systems Market Segmentation on the basis of applications: Network management, Mobile device management, Encryption, Identity and access management, Ransom ware detection, Defense, Public Infrastructure, Commercial, Residential.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Threat Detection Systems in these regions, from 2012 to 2022, covering: North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India.Global Threat Detection Systems market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, value and market share for each manufacturer, the top players including: Lockheed Martin Corporation, UTC Aerospace Systems, Safran, Smiths Group, Flir Systems, Chemring Group, Thales, AXIS Communications, Analogic Corporation, Rapiscan Systems, RAE Systems, Chemimage Corporation, Mirion Technologies, Blighter Surveillance Systems, Mirion Technologies.Get enquiry before buying:On the basis of product, Global Threat Detection Systems market report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into: Explosive Detection Systems, Radiological & Nuclear Detection Systems, Chemical & Biological, Detection Systems, Narcotics Detection Systems, Intrusion Detection Systems.Table of content:Chapter1: Global Threat Detection Systems market OverviewChapter2: Market Data AnalysisChapter3: Market Technical Data AnalysisChapter4: Government policy and newsChapter5: Market Manufacturing process and Cost structureChapter6: Production, Supply, Sales Demand, Market Status and ForecastChapter7: Market key manufacturersChapter8 Up and Downstream Industry AnalysisChapter9: Marketing Strategy Threat Detection Systems market AnalysisChapter10: Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter11: New Project Investment, Feasibility, AnalysisChapter12: Market size by type and applicationChapter13: Market forecastAbout Us:Report consultant-A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can helps you to renovate your business and modify your approach with us you will learn to take decision audaciously. We make sense of pitfalls, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experience skills and verified methodologies.Our research report will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research report and are outstandingly position to lead digital transformations. Thus we craft greater value for4 clients by presenting advance opportunity in the global market.Contact us:Rebecca Parker(Report Consultant)Akasaka Biz Tower,5-3-1, Akasaka Minato-ku,Tokyo, JapanContact no.-+81-368444299sales@reportconsultant.com Global Mobile Commerce Market Trends, On Demand, Revenue, Segment by Type, Leading Players:Ericsson Inc, PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Mopay Inc, SAP, Future and Forecast from 2018-2025 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1907747 https://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-mobile-commerce-market-size-status-and-forecast-2018-2025-report.html The market for Mobile Commerce Market is growing with the expansion of this Industry Sector Worldwide. Market Research Hub (MRH) has added a new report titled Global Mobile Commerce Market Size, Status and Forecast 2018-2025 which offer details about the current trends and analysis, as well as scope for the near future. This research study also covers information about the production, consumption and market share based on different active regions. Furthermore, an anticipated growth at a double-digit CAGR for the Mobile Commerce Market sector is highlighted in the report which indicates a prosperous future.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @This report focuses on the global Mobile Commerce status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Mobile Commerce development in United States, Europe and China.In 2017, the global Mobile Commerce market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2018-2025.The key players covered in this studyEricsson Inc.PayPalVisaMasterCardIBMGoogleMopay IncOxygen8SAPAmazon Inc.Apple IncMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoSmart PhoneTabletsOthersMarket segment by Application, split intoRetailReservation/Ticket BookingBill PaymentsMobile WalletsOthersMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaRequest to Buy Full Report@Table of Contents1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Mobile Commerce Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2013-2025)1.4.2 Smart Phone1.4.3 Tablets1.4.4 Others1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Mobile Commerce Market Share by Application (2013-2025)1.5.2 Retail1.5.3 Reservation/Ticket Booking1.5.4 Bill Payments1.5.5 Mobile Wallets1.5.6 Others1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Mobile Commerce Market Size2.2 Mobile Commerce Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 Mobile Commerce Market Size by Regions (2013-2025)2.2.2 Mobile Commerce Market Share by Regions (2013-2018)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Opportunities3 Market Share by Key Players3.1 Mobile Commerce Market Size by Manufacturers3.1.1 Global Mobile Commerce Revenue by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.1.2 Global Mobile Commerce Revenue Market Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)3.1.3 Global Mobile Commerce Market Concentration Ratio (CR5 and HHI)3.2 Mobile Commerce Key Players Head office and Area Served3.3 Key Players Mobile Commerce Product/Solution/Service3.4 Date of Enter into Mobile Commerce Market3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion PlansContinued.. @@#About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like Software market research and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 800-998-4852 (US-Canada)Email: press@marketresearchhub.com NFC Chips Market Share, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024: Top Players are NXP Semiconductor (Netherlands), Texas instrument (U.S), Qualcomm Inc. (U.S.) https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1066870 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1066870/nfc-chips-global-industry-market-research-reports/toc The report analyzes and presents an overview on "NFC Chips Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" worldwide.Global NFC Chips Market: OverviewNear Field communication (NFC) chips systems are communicating device that are ideal for electronic applications and are capable of identifying the radio frequency identifying technology. Dispensing technology have been widely accepted since 2004 and the further technological advancements have led to evolution of shorter range radio identification technologies between two devices. This advancements helps in facilitating safer data transfer. A key trend that has been observed in the recent past years is growing demand of NFC chips among consumer electronics manufacturer, which is a key driver during the forecast period of 2016-2024.A surge in demand for smart phones across the globe is driving the demand for NFC chips in global market. This technology is being deployed in electronics to increase and boost contactless safe data transfer. Consumer electronics manufacturers are increasing their demand for NFC chips overtime, this factor acts as a major driving factor for future demand of NFC chips. Additionally, rapid technological advancements in radio frequency identification are fueling the growth of the global market.Request to Get The Sample Copy Of This Report @The government initiatives as well as private investments in research & devolvement of NFC chip technology are supplementing the growth of the market. Thus, the conjoint effect of all these drivers is set to strengthen the growth of the global NFC chip market in the coming years. NFC chips are sometimes of very complex design is expected to hindering the growth for NFC chips during the forecast period. Simpler version of NFC chips designs as an alternative to traditional complex product design is required for wider application usability. Furthermore, cost effectiveness and simplicity to install in devices is boosting the growth of this product market.Global NFC Chips Market: SegmentationThe global market has been segmented in the basis of application, storage, end users and geography. By application, the global NFC chip market has been broadly classified into smartphone, television, medical equipment, car and others. On the basis of storage NFC chip has been further sub-divided into 64 Bytes, 168 Bytes, 180 Bytes, 540 Bytes and others. Furthermore, end users of NFC chip has been fragmented into consumer electronics, automotive, retail, medical, and aviation among others. By geography, this market has been segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America.Growing popularity in end-user industries such as medical, automotive, retail, and aviation among others coupled with healthy economic growth of emerging economies are offering potential growth opportunities to the global NFC chip market. NFC chips have been extensively used in healthcare sector such as NFC based diabetes monitoring system, NFC for heart monitoring devices, medical implants, and medical data storage devices among others are expected to gain popularity across several end user application is set to boost the market growth in the coming years.Request to Get Complete Report List Of Tables and Figures @Global NFC Chips Market: Competitive AnalysisThe key players in the global NFC chip market have been competitively profiled across the five broad geographic regions. This competitive landscape is inclusive of the various business strategies adopted by these major players and their recent developments in the field of NFC chip. Further, this report includes the market attractiveness analysis of the electronics applications for offering and insight into the major application area of the NFC chip.An exhaustive analysis of the market dynamics of the global market that is inclusive of the market drivers, restraints and opportunities is covered under the purview of the study. Therefore, the global high resolution dispensing systems and equipment market report offers and extensive study of the market along with providing the forecast of the market in terms of revenue (USD Million) and volume (Units) from 20162024. Some of the major players operating in the NFC chip market are NXP Semiconductor (Netherlands), Texas instrument (U.S), Qualcomm Inc. (U.S.), among others.The global NFC chips market has been segmented into:By ApplicationSmart phoneTelevisionMedical equipmentCarOthersBy Storage Capacity64 Bytes168 Bytes180 Bytes540 BytesOthersBy End UsersConsumer ElectronicsAutomotiveRetailMedicalAviationOthersBy GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East and AfricaLatin AmericaAbout UsMarketResearchReports.biz is a seller of syndicated market studies, featuring an exhaustive collection of research reports from leading international publishers. Our repositoryis diverse, spanningvirtually every industrial sector and even more every category and sub-category within the industry. We also provide consulting services to enable our clients have adynamicbusiness perspective.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Industry Trends: IoT Analytics Market By Key Vendors: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Google 2018-2025 QyResearchReports https://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1853270&type=S https://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-iot-analytics-market-sizestatus-and-forecast-2025.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report IoT Analytics to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global IoT Analytics market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the global IoT Analytics market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.This report focuses on the global top players, coveredIBMMICROSOFTORACLESAPCISCO SYSTEMSDELL TECHNOLOGIESGOOGLEHEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISEPTCHITACHITERADATAGREENWAVE SYSTEMSMNUBOGet Free Sample Report of the Research Study at:The study objectives of this report are:To study and forecast the market size of IoT Analytics in global market.To analyze the global key players, SWOT analysis, value and global market share for top players.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, end use and region.To analyze and compare the market status and forecast between China and major regions, namely, United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Rest of World.To analyze the global key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersIoT Analytics ManufacturersIoT Analytics Distributors/Traders/WholesalersIoT Analytics Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsTable of Contents1 Industry Overview of IoT Analytics1.1 IoT Analytics Market Overview1.1.1 IoT Analytics Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global IoT Analytics Market Size and Analysis by Regions (2013-2018)1.3 IoT Analytics Market by Type1.3.1 Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises1.3.2 Big Companies1.4 IoT Analytics Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Government, Defense1.4.2 Medical Science, Life Science1.4.3 Energy, Utilities1.4.4 Communication, IT1.4.5 Transportation And Logistics1.4.6 OtherRead Complete Research Report at:2 Global IoT Analytics Competition Analysis by Players2.1 IoT Analytics Market Size (Value) by Players (2013-2018)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 IBM3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 IoT Analytics Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.2 MICROSOFT3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions...List of Tables and FiguresFigure Global IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) Status and Outlook (2013-2018)Table Global IoT Analytics Revenue (Million USD) Comparison by Regions (2013-2018)Figure Global IoT Analytics Market Share by Regions (2013-2018)Figure United States IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Figure Europe IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Figure China IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Figure Japan IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Figure Southeast Asia IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Figure India IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2013-2018)Table Global IoT Analytics Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Product (2013-2018)Figure Global IoT Analytics Revenue Market Share by Type in 2017Figure Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)Figure Big Companies Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2013-2018)Figure Global IoT Analytics Market Share by Application in 2017Figure IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate in Government, Defense (2013-2018)Figure IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate in Medical Science, Life Science (2013-2018)Figure IoT Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate in Energy, Utilities (2013-2018)...About Us: QYResearchReports delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Adaptive Optics Market 2018 Analysis and Strategic Growth by Top Key Players- Northrop Grumman Corp, Thorlabs, Iris AO, Adaptica, Flexible Optical, Imagine Optic, Boston, Phasics Corp Adaptive Optics https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/request-sample/1064836 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/checkout/1064836 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/check-discount/1064836 https://www.qyresearchgroups.com The Global Adaptive Optics Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Adaptive Optics industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Adaptive Optics with detailed market segmentation by component, wearable, type, application and geography. The global Adaptive Optics Software market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.The List of Companies: Teledyne e2v Northrop Grumman Corporation Thorlabs Iris AO Adaptica Active Optical Systems Flexible Optical Imagine Optic Boston Micromachines Corporation Phasics Corp.Click here to Grab the SAMPLE Report @Adaptive Optics Breakdown Data by Type Wavefront Sensor Wavefront Modulator Control SystemAdaptive Optics Breakdown Data by Application Consumer Astronomy Military & Defense Biomedical Industrial & Manufacturing CommunicationPURCHASE Full Report @The report Adaptive Optics Market by Manufacturers highlights the essential market dynamics of Adaptive Optics sector. The efficiency of this segment has been studied deeply along with the noteworthy challenges and forthcoming growth opportunities and prospective. The report focuses in decision making abilities and supports to make effective counter strategies in order to achieve competitive advantage. Current market scenario of the segment and forecasts of the market situation have also been bounded in this market report.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Global Adaptive Optics Market by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, exclusively in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on type, application, regions, and manufacturers.Get the Best Discount Price @About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on Global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-Room B1510, Shiji Kemao Building,No.66 Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing,100190, China. By Jennifer Beckett, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Melbourne Shutterstock Selena Scola worked as a public content contractor, or content moderator, for Facebook in its Silicon Valley offices. She left the company in March after less than a year. In documents filed last week in California, Scola alleges unsafe work practices led her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from witnessing thousands of acts of extreme and graphic violence. Read more: Facebook is all for community, but what kind of community is it building? Facebook acknowledged the work of moderation is not easy in a blog post published in July. In the same post, Facebooks Vice President of Operations Ellen Silver outlined some of the ways the company supports their moderators: All content reviewers whether full-time employees, contractors, or those employed by partner companies have access to mental health resources, including trained professionals onsite for both individual and group counselling. But Scola claims Facebook fails to practice what it preaches. Previous reports about its workplace conditions also suggest the support they provide to moderators isnt enough. Its not the first time Scolas legal action is not the first of its kind. Microsoft have been involved in a similar case since December 2016 involving two employees who worked in their child safety team. In both cases the plaintiffs allege their employer failed to provide sufficient support, despite knowing the psychological dangers of the work. Both Microsoft and Facebook dispute the claims. How moderating can affect your mental health Facebook moderators sift through hundreds of examples of distressing content during each eight hour shift. They assess posts including, but not limited to, depictions of violent death including suicide and murder self-harm, assault, violence against animals, hate speech and sexualised violence. Studies in areas such as child protection, journalism and law enforcement show repeated exposure to these types of content has serious consequences. That includes the development of PTSD. Workers also experience higher rates of burnout, relationship breakdown and, in some instances, suicide. Arent there workplace guidelines? Industries including journalism, law and policing have invested a significant amount of thought and money into best practice policies designed to protect workers. In Australia, for example, those working in child safety opt-in to the work rather than cases being assigned. They are then required to undertake rigorous psychological testing to assess if they are able to emotionally compartmentalise the work effectively. Once working, they have regular mandated counselling sessions and are routinely reassigned into other areas of investigation to limit the amount of exposure. The tech industry has similar guidelines. In fact, Facebook helped create the Technology Coalition, which aims to eradicate online child sexual exploitation. In 2015, the coalition released its Employee Resilience Guidebook, which outlines occupational health and safety measures for workers routinely viewing distressing materials. While these guidelines are couched as specific to workers viewing child pornography, they are also applicable to all types of distressing imagery. Read more: Facebook's moderation rules prove it's OK with being a hostile place for women The guidelines include providing mandatory group and individual counselling sessions with a trauma specialist, and permitting moderators to opt-out of viewing child pornography. The guidelines also recommend limiting exposure to disturbing materials to four hours, encouraging workers to switch to other projects to get relief, and allowing workers time off to recover from trauma. But its not just about guidelines Having support available doesnt necessarily mean staff feel like they can actually access it. Most of Facebooks moderators, including Scola, work in precarious employment conditions as outside contractors employed through third party companies. Working under these conditions has been shown to have a detrimental impact on employee well-being. Thats because these kinds of employees are not only less likely to be able to access support mechanisms, they often feel doing so will risk them losing their job. In addition, low pay can lead to employees being unable to take time off to recover from trauma. Insecure work can also impact ones sense of control. As Ive previously discussed, moderators have little to no control over their work flow. They do not control the type of content that pops up on their screen. They have limited time to make decisions, often with little or no context. And, they have no personal say in how those decisions are made. According to both the filing, and media reports around Facebooks moderator employment conditions, employees are under immense pressure from the company to get through thousands of posts per day. They are also regularly audited, which adds to the stress. Where to from here? Adequate workplace support is essential for moderators. Some sections of the industry provide us with best case examples. In particular, the support provided to those who work in online mental health communities, such as Beyond Blue in Australia, is exemplary and provides a good blueprint. Read more: 'Haters gonna hate' is no consolation for online moderators We also need to address the ongoing issue of precarity in an industry that asks people to put their mental health at risk on a daily basis. This requires good industry governance and representation. To this end, Australian Community Managers have recently partnered with the MEAA to push for better conditions for everyone in the industry, including moderators. As for Facebook, Scolas suit is a class action. If its successful, Facebook could find itself compensating hundreds of moderators employed in California over the past three years. It could also set an industry-wide precedent, opening the door to complaints from thousands of moderators employed across a range of tech and media industries. Jennifer Beckett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Originally published in The Conversation. Global Hot Runner Market to See a Massive Financial Boost from 324.471 K units to 530.9928 K units in 2023 in the Forecast Period Hot Runner http://bit.ly/2xOGDBZ http://bit.ly/2N5M048 http://bit.ly/2O9AyJJ The global hot runner market was valued at around 324.471 K units in 2017 and is likely to reach 530.9928 K units in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 8.6% from 2017 to 2023, according to Progressive Markets report, Hot Runner Market Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2018-2025.Get sample Report:The report on the hot runner market provides a detailed analysis of the market size (2012-2025), market competition, market production by region, market consumption by region, market analysis by application, manufacturers profiles, manufacturing cost analysis, market segmentation, industrial chain and downstream buyers, marketing strategy analysis, market effect factors analysis, market forecast (2018-2025), market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. The study also identifies the trends in the industry which are likely to impact the market growth during the forecast period, 2018-2025.Access Full Report:The data in the report has been gathered and validated via an extensive research. The hot runner market analysis report is useful for market players, new entrants, and investors as it helps them determine the prolific investment zones and strategies to be implemented for their goals.Get customized Report @20% discount:The report first provides an overview of the hot runner which encompasses the market segmentation by type, by application, and by region. By type, the market is classified as a valve gate hot runner and open gate hot runner. By application, the market is divided into the automotive industry, electronic industry, medical industry, packaging industry, and others. By region, the market is divided into the regions such as North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, South America, and the Middle East and Africa.The report identifies the key drivers of growth and challenges faced by the market. It also assesses the future impact of the drivers and restraints. Factors such as technological advancements, the growing need for automation, improved performance, simplified maintenance, and increased flexibility drive the growth of the hot runner industry. In addition, the need to bring down costs, growth and increased use of shifting commodity prices, and growing competition among the market players propel the industry growth.The report offers the competitive landscape of the major players in the hot runner market in order to highlight the competition scenario. The report also provides a detailed competitive analysis of the key players in the market and identifies various business strategies adopted by them. The market players identified by the report include YUDO, Milacron, Husky, INCOE, FISA, HASCO Hasenclever GmbH, Gunther, INglass, CACO PACIFIC Corporation, HASCO Hasenclever GmbH, INglass, FISA, Hotsys, Mold Hotrunner Solutions Inc., KLN, ANOLE, MOULD-TIP, MOZOI, JINGKONG Mechanical and Electric, and Suzhou HTS Moulding.The company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsMr. Shriram Dighe4th Floor, Unit 12, Marisoft III,West Wing, Marigold IT Park,Kalyani Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014,India: +91 20 66346040Toll Free: + 1-888-906-9222help@progressivemarkets.com New Report On Liquid Laundry Detergent Market - Analysis By Top Key Player Like P&G, Unilever, Church & Dwight, Henkel, Clorox New Report On Liquid Laundry Detergent Market https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/8163 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/8163 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/buy/liquid-laundry-detergent-market www.upmarketresearch.com UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Liquid Laundry Detergent Market Analysis and Forecast 2018-2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. 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The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Liquid Laundry Detergent Industry global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018 - 2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. 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Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States Technological advancements for Ultrasound Market with CAGR of 5.7% Ultrasound Market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/ultrasound-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-sample/ultrasound-market Global Ultrasound Market- Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025, the industry is anticipated to rise with a CAGR of 5.7% for the period, 2017-2025. The research is suitable for manufacturers, stakeholders, and new entrants as it offers a comprehensive analysis of factors that either drive or restrict growth of the market.Access Full Summary:The research encompasses an executive summary of the global ultrasound market which includes key findings, market trends, competitive landscape, and recent developments. It offers a brief description of the industry, such as introduction, classification, and definition. It includes Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) to understand competition scenario of the industry. These scenarios include bargaining power of customers & buyers, industry rivalry, threat of substitutes & new entrants. It segments the industry into applications, regions, delivery types, device portability, and product types.As per the report, the global ultrasound market finds applications in radiology, urology, obstetrics, cardiology, and vascular. Based on the product type, it segments the industry into therapeutic ultrasound systems, extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), doppler imaging, diagnostic ultrasound systems, 3D & 4D imaging systems, and 2D imaging systems. Based on device display, it bifurcates the market into colored ultrasound devices and black/ white ultrasound devices. The geographical distribution of the industry includes Latin America Middle East & Africa (LAMEA), North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. These areas are further categorized into countries, such as Canada, U.S., and Mexico for the North American region. The LAMEA countries included are Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and South Africa. The nations of Europe discussed are France, U.K., Italy, Spain, and Germany. The Asia-Pacific countries explored in the report include Japan, China, India, Australia, and South Korea.Download Exclusive Summary @The report splits the global ultrasound market into trolley/cart-based ultrasound devices and compact/handheld ultrasound devices. Further, it describes the factors that are capable to boost growth of the industry, such as advancements in technology for ultrasound machines and rise in penetration of the therapeutic and diagnostic ultrasound. The alternative aspects that drive the market include increase in incidences of chronic diseases, rise in awareness, growth in demand to reduce invasive surgeries, and increase in investments by the government in order to advance and modernize the healthcare infrastructure. The research also emphasizes on the factors that restrict progress of the market, such as boundaries in ultrasound imaging and dearth of skilled professionals.The study discusses leading manufacturers of the global ultrasound market which includes Analogic Corporation, Fujifilm Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Esaote SpA, General Electric Company, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Hitachi, Ltd., Mindray Medical International Limited, Siemens Healthcare, and Samsung Medison Co. Ltd..It assesses each firm on the basis of business & finance segments and recent development. In addition, the report provides an overview of every market player. It also studies strategies adopted by the market players, for instance, Fujifilm Corporation introduced new version of the Sonosite SII ultrasound system in April 2016.The research evaluates share of the global ultrasound market by each region, product type, device portability, device display, and application for the period, 2014-2025. The research assesses the market share of every region, device display, device portability, application, and product type for the historic period as well as forecast period, 2014-2016 and 2017-2025 respectively. It includes all the aforementioned characteristics in form of tables and figurers. For instance, some tables give brief description of vendors under the title of company snapshot. The market value by each country, application, device display, device portability, and type are represented in tables for the period, 2014-2025. The same parameters are represented through pictures. For instance, the revenue generated by every market landscape of the market is illustrated through figures for the historic as well as forecast period.The report on the global ultrasound market offers various takeaways which includes comprehensive evaluation of aspects that are have potential to restrict or drive the industry. The analysts explore competitive scenario which helps them to understand the present rivalry within the geographical locations. Further, they assess the opportunities that prevail within these regional distributions. An in-depth assessment of developments in the market aids manufacturers and new entrepreneurs to understand the industry behavior. The research thoroughly follows the status of the products and also provides a substantial examination of top manufacturers of the market framework.The company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsMr. Shriram Dighe4th Floor, Unit 12, Marisoft III,West Wing, Marigold IT Park,Kalyani Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014,India: +91 20 66346040Toll Free: + 1-888-906-9222help@progressivemarkets.com New Report On Refined Avocado Oil Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players Sesajal, Yasin, Bella Vado, Chosen Foods Refined Avocado Oil https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/requested_sample/8203 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/home/enquiry_before_buying/8203 https://www.upmarketresearch.com/buy/refined-avocado-oil-market www.upmarketresearch.com Refined Avocado Oil Industry research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period.Get FREE Sample Report Before Buying @UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Refined Avocado Oil Market Analysis and Forecast 2018-2023 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains 104 pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Refined Avocado Oil Industry research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Refined Avocado Oil Industry global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018-2023.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.The generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Refined Avocado Oil market analysis & forecast 2018-2023 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region-wise Analysis Global Refined Avocado Oil Market covers: United States Europe China Japan Other RegionsThe Major players reported in the market include: Sesajal Yasin Bella Vado Chosen Foods Grupo Industrial Batellero La Tourangelle Avoolio Ahuacatlan Avocado Oil Mt. Kenya Fresh Avocados Kevala Bio Planete Hain Celestial Group Da Gama Avocado Oil Cate de mi Corazn Tron Hermanos Proteco Oils Westfalia Aconcagua Oil & ExtractFor More Information, Please VisitGlobal Refined Avocado Oil Market: Product Segment Analysis: Refined Oil Extra Virgin OilGlobal Refined Avocado Oil Market: Application Segment Analysis: Edible Oil Cosmetics & Skin Care Products OtherThe Report covers in-depth analysis as follows: Chapter 1 Study Coverage Chapter 2 Executive Summary Chapter 3 Market Size by Manufacturers Chapter 4 Refined Avocado Oil Production by Regions Chapter 5 Refined Avocado Oil Consumption by Regions Chapter 6 Market Size by Type Chapter 7 Market Size by Application Chapter 8 Manufacturers Profiles Chapter 9 Production Forecasts Chapter 10 Consumption Forecast Chapter 11 Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis Chapter 12 Market Opportunities & Challenges, Risks and Influences Factors Analysis Chapter 13 Key Findings in the Global Refined Avocado Oil Study Chapter 14 AppendixBuy Refined Avocado Oil Market analysis & forecast 2018-2023 Report along with complete TOC @Refined Avocado Oil Market Analysis and Forecast 2018-2023 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market-driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real-time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real-time scenario.Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Refined Avocado Oil Industry Analysis and Forecast 2018-2023 and its commercial landscape. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Refined Avocado Oil market analysis and forecast 2018-2023.Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Refined Avocado Oil-Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013-2023 Top 20 Countries Data Refined Avocado Oil-North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 Refined Avocado Oil-South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 Refined Avocado Oil-Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 Refined Avocado Oil-EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 Refined Avocado Oil-Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 Refined Avocado Oil-China Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 Refined Avocado Oil-India Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 Refined Avocado Oil-United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500, East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States. Cooking Oil Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2017 to 2025 Cooking Oil Market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/cooking-oil-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-sample/cooking-oil-market Progressive Markets has published a report, titled, Global Cooking Oil Market - Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025. As per the report, the global cooking oil market is expected to register a CAGR of 6.7% from 2017 to 2025. The study offers an extensive analysis of market players, key segments, and drivers & restraints. Moreover, it offers a comprehensive analysis of revenue generated by key segments for the historic period, 2014-2016 and the forecast period, 2017-2025. It is valuable for industry players, new entrants, stakeholders, management executives, investors, and new entrants to determine prospects for growth, adopt strategies based on changing market dynamics, and understand associated risk factors.Access Full Summary:Executive summary of the global cooking oil industry is provided to help industry players and investors accelerate their decision process and utilize their time efficiently by determining moves based on summary. Key findings are offered based on top winning strategies and top investment pockets to help in devising steps to be taken for the future. Short term and long term strategies for profit are identified using market attractiveness. Recent market trends are highlighted in the study along with developments in the industry. Competitive landscape is outlined based on recent happenings and upcoming trends to gain competitive advantage. Scope of the research is provided along with definitions of few significant terminologies. Research methodology is highlighted in the report based on primary and secondary research methodologies.Market landscape for the global cooking oil industry is offered based on drivers and challenges. Increase in demand and usage of high quality oils are factors driving the industry. Furthermore, high cost of raw materials and health problems arising due to consumption of trans-fatty acids limit growth in the market. The impact of these factors is provided to assist market players and investors determine strategies to be adopted to maximize returns. Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) is provided on the basis of bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of new entrants, industrial rivalry, and threat of substitutes. Market share analysis of segments is outlined for the historic period and the forecast period using tables and figures.Download Exclusive Summary of Cooking Oil Market:Detailed segmentation of the global cooking oil market is provided in terms of product type, package type, and geography. Based on product type, the market is classified into sunflower oil, palm oil, corn oil, and others. Package type segment is classified into retail and bulk. Geographically, the market is classified based on North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and LAMEA. Revenue generated by key segments in these regions is explored with the help of tabular and graphical format. These insights are provided for the historic period and the forecast period to help new entrants, market players, and investors determine developments in the past and estimate market size for coming years.Countries from each region are discussed in the study to help them organize strategies for expansion and determine emerging economies. Revenue generated for the historic period in each country is provided with the help of tables. In North American region, countries explored are Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. Furthermore, regions discussed from Europe are U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and rest of the Europe. On the other hand, China, South Korea, India, Japan, Australia, and rest of Asia-Pacific are countries discussed from the Asia-Pacific region. However, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and rest of LAMEA are regions discussed from LAMEA region.Key industry players active in the global cooking oil market are explored in the report. An overview of each market player is offered along with financial & business segmentation. Recent developments are outlined in the research to outline new product offerings and new technologies discovered. These insights would assist market players implement new technologies in their production process and introduce innovation. Key market players explored in the research are ACH Food Companies Inc., Bunge Alimentos S.A., Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill Agricola S.A., Carapelli Firenze S.p.A., ConAgra Foods Inc., CHS Inc., IOI Corporation Berhad, Fuji Oil, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad. This information are helpful to devise strategies such as agreements, collaborations, partnerships, and others to gain competitive advantage.The company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsMr. Shriram Dighe4th Floor, Unit 12, Marisoft III,West Wing, Marigold IT Park,Kalyani Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014,India: +91 20 66346040Toll Free: + 1-888-906-9222help@progressivemarkets.com Artificial Intelligence Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 46.5% by 2025 Artificial Intelligence Market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/artificial-intelligence-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-sample/artificial-intelligence-market According to a latest report published by Progressive Markets, titled, Global Artificial Intelligence Market- Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025,Artificial Intelligence Market Report Globally, Based On Technology (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Image Processing, Speech Recognition) Industry Vertical and Geography. it is expected that the industry would register a CAGR of 46.5% for the period, 2017-2025. The study is significant for new entrants as it would enable them to get acquainted with the market trends and dynamics.Access Full Summary:The study offers executive summary of the global artificial intelligence market, which includes industry attractiveness, trend analysis, competitive scenario, and recent developments in the market. It introduces the industry with a detailed description of report, scope, definition, and research methodology. The study offers an in-depth analysis of the market landscape, such as drivers, restraints, and their impact on the market. Porters Five Force Analysis (PFFA) is provided to highlight the bargaining power of suppliers & buyers, rivalry among industrialists, and threat of substitution.Artificial intelligence report assesses the market share based on industry verticals, technologies, and regions for the period, 2014-2025. Based on technology, it categorizes the industry into machine learning, speech recognition, image processing, and natural language processing.Download Exclusive Summary of Artificial Intelligence Market:Research Factor Included in Artificial Intelligence IndustryThe regional distribution of the global artificial intelligence market is done across Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. These regions are further categorized into their respective countries. North American countries analyzed by the experts are Canada, U.S., and Mexico. The nations of the Europe evaluated are Germany, U.K., and France. The countries assessed in the region of Asia-Pacific are Japan, China, India, and Australia. The nations covered in the LAMEA region for examination are Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and South Africa. Based on industry verticals, the research divides the industry into Media & Advertising, IT & Telecom, BFSI, Retail, Automotive & Transportation, and Healthcare.The research analyzes the industry by each region, technology, industry type for the historic and forecast period, 2014-2016 and 2017-2025 respectively.Key Manufacturers Analysis of Global Artificial Intelligence MarketThe report discusses big market players of the global artificial intelligence market, such as Google Inc., Microsoft Corporation, IBM Corp., IPsoft, Qlik Technologies Inc., Rocket Fuel Inc., MicroStrategy, Inc., 24/7 Customer, Inc., Brighterion, Inc., and Next IT Corp.Profile of each company is analyzed based on standards set by our analysts which includes a brief introduction of the company, recent developments, and business & financial segments. Knowledge of competition helps key investors and market players to understand the competitive landscape that propels in the industry. An extensive evaluation of the geographical regions provides help to determine opportunities that are present within those regions.Segmentation of Artificial Intelligence Market by Component and Industry VerticalThe research evaluates the factors that drive the growth of global artificial intelligence market, such as improvement in productivity, diversification of areas for application, and integration drive for big data. It also assesses the aspects that delays progress of the industry which include less skilled workforce and its adverse impact on human existence. The abovementioned parameters of the industry are depicted through tabular format. For instance, some tables give brief description of vendors under the title of company snapshot. The market share of industry verticals, technologies, and regions are shown through tables. The market value for each region, technology, and industry vertical is explained with the help of tables during the period, 2014-2025. The same parameters are represented through pictures. For instance, the revenue generated by every country, technology, and industry vertical is illustrated through figures for the historic as well as forecast period.The artificial intelligence market study is a rich source of market insights, potential investment technologies and regions. It also provides a clear picture of competitive scenario prevailing in the industry to enable the new entrants as well as the existing players to formulate growth strategy.The company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsMr. Shriram Dighe4th Floor, Unit 12, Marisoft III,West Wing, Marigold IT Park,Kalyani Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014,India: +91 20 66346040Toll Free: + 1-888-906-9222help@progressivemarkets.com BFSI Security Market has been witnessing a steady rise by 2025 BFSI Security Market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/bfsi-security-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/request-sample/bfsi-security-market Global BFSI Security Market- Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025. It offers a comprehensive analysis of market dynamics as it has a deep effect upon the industry.The research offers introduction of the global BFSI security market in terms of product and scope. It comprises of summary of the industry in reference to market attractiveness, trends, and competitive scenarios. It incorporates the Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) to have a comprehensive know-how of these landscapes in the industry. It evaluates them based on bargaining power of customers & buyers, threat of substitutes & new entrants, and industry rivalry. It segments the market into type, application, region, and solution. Based on type, the report splits the market into information security and tangible security. The industry finds its application in risk management, data security, security governance, threat extenuation, access controls, video surveillance, malware protection, and identity management. Based on solution, it divides the market into hardware components, services, and software. Geographically, it segments the industry into North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Latin America Middle East & Africa (LAMEA).Access Full Summary:The report further classifies the global BFSI security market, such as the North America region, countries explored are Canada, U.S., and Mexico. In the Europe, nations discussed are France, U.K., Germany, and Italy. In the Asia-Pacific region, nations assessed are Japan, China, India, and South Korea. The LAMEA countries included are Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and South Africa. The study analyzes market share by applications, geographies, types, and solutions for the period, 2014-2025.The research evaluates size of the global BFSI security market by each type by region during the historic as well as forecast period, 2014-2016 and 2017-2025, respectively. It assesses the aforementioned parameters by every application, solution, and region for the historic period and forecast period. It discusses major manufacturers of the industry, Cisco Systems, Inc., EMC Corporation, Computer Sciences Corporation, Honeywell International, Inc., Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., Trend Micro Incorporated, IBM Corporation, MacAfee, Inc. (Intel Security Group), Symantec Corporation, and Sophos Group PLC. The experts assess each vendor based on different strategies adopted by them in order to keep themselves updated about evolvement in market trends. These strategies include collaboration, product development, acquisition, and product approval. They also offer an overview of every top vendor. In addition, the research helps to explore factors that drive and impede growth of the market. The aspects that propel progress of the industry include increase in demand for digitization in financial & banking sector and connected devices. Alternative factor includes growth in the number of frauds and cyber-attacks motivate financial and banking institutions to distribute innovative solutions for cyber-security solutions.Download Exclusive Summary @In addition, the report outlines aspect that restricts prosperity path of the global BFSI security market is less consciousness among consumers to understand complications in infrastructure of modern security. Further, it offers numerous takeaways of the industry, such as it provides great edge to manufacturers, stakeholders, and new entrants. These are comprehensive evaluation of aspects that are have potential to restrict or drive the industry. The experts explore competitive scenario which helps them to understand the present rivalry within the geographical locations. Further, they assess the opportunities that prevail within these regional distributions. An in-depth assessment of developments in the market aids manufacturers and new entrepreneurs to understand the industry behavior. The research thoroughly follows the status of the products and also provides a substantial examination of top manufacturers of the market framework.The study illustrates the abovementioned parameters of the global BFSI security market through tables and figures. For instance, there are table that depict market value of each type, application, and solution by region for the forecast period. There a few tables that show market share by geographies, applications, types, and solutions during the historic period. It depicts the same characteristics through figures.The company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsMr. Shriram Dighe4th Floor, Unit 12, Marisoft III,West Wing, Marigold IT Park,Kalyani Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014,India: +91 20 66346040Toll Free: + 1-888-906-9222help@progressivemarkets.com Conveyor Systems Market sales market was valued at around $12,500 million in 2016 and is expected to grow up to $13,225 million Conveyor Systems http://bit.ly/2ObuHUb http://bit.ly/2R1Ckep http://bit.ly/2Q9s8PJ The global conveyor systems sales market was valued at around $12,500 million in 2016 and is expected to grow up to $13,225 million, growing at a CAGR of about 5.80% by 2022, according to Progressive Markets report, Global Conveyor Systems Sales Market Report 2017.Get sample Report:The report provides a thorough study of the conveyor sales industry, incorporating the market size, market share, market dynamics, market forecast, and market trends for the period, 2016-2022. It discusses the scope of the market, key segments, regional analysis, revenue comparison, manufacturers profit analysis, cost analysis, marketing strategies, and the challenges in the market. This analysis is important for entry-level organizations, stakeholders, and business players as it helps to gain a profound knowledge of the industry and turn their investments into profits. The report provides a detailed analysis of present market trends and forecasts, vital marketing strategies, and an exclusive summary of the conveyor system market.Access Full Report:An executive summary of the global conveyor market is provided based on the latest trends, main attractions, and chronological assessment. The market drivers and challenges help evaluate the factors impacting the global conveyor systems industry. The study assesses the level of competition in the market and helps figure out various strategies to enhance business growth. The market share analysis assists in gauging how the players are performing as compared to their competitors.Get customized Report @20% discount:The report includes the drivers and challenges of the global conveyor system sales market. The market is growing due to advancements in big data analysis and increased efficiency of the machinery. As the conveyors reduce human involvement and hence human error, they are widely accepted in the transportation industry. A constant digitalization of information and processes, the introduction of the internet of things (IoT), and machine-to-machine communication and coordination are the prime factors contributing to the growth of the conveyor systems sales market. On the other hand, there are some factors which are restraining the growth of the market. They include economic fluctuations in China, U.S., and other key markets, recent market risks, reduction in cost, and commercialization.The report includes the segmentation of global conveyor systems based on product type, application, and geography. Based on product type, the market is divided into roller conveyors, belt conveyors, overhead conveyors, and pallet conveyors. According to the report, belt conveyors were responsible for the maximum market share of more than 28% in 2016. Geographically, the report splits the conveyor systems market into regions such as North America, China, Europe, Japan, and South America. In 2016, a revenue of over $2,000 million was solely generated by China, and it is predicted that the country will give a return of more than $3,050 million by 2022. The in-depth analysis of the region-wise market growth plays an important part in determining the opportunities in the market. The report provides a clear growth comparison of the market based on its applications in automotive, food & beverages, engineering machinery, and retail. The global conveyor systems sales market revenue is expected to reach over $16,000 million by 2022.The study offers a detailed analysis of the key market players in the global conveyor sales market. It includes a comprehensive analysis of each key player to identify new opportunities and investments in the market. In addition, financial & business segments and their recent developments are offered in the study. The key market players of the conveyor systems industry include Daifuku, Ssi Schaefer, Dematic Group, Bosch Rexroth, Caterpillar, Murata Machinery, Vanderlande, Swisslog, Hytrol, Buhler Group, Shuttleworth, Siemens, BEUMER Group, Eisenmann, Emerson, Flexlink, Interroll, and Dorner Conveyors.The company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsMr. Shriram Dighe4th Floor, Unit 12, Marisoft III,West Wing, Marigold IT Park,Kalyani Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014,India: +91 20 66346040Toll Free: + 1-888-906-9222help@progressivemarkets.com Mexico: Country Intelligence Market Comprehensive Study by Leading Players: Group Televisa, AT&T Mexico, Movistar, Axtel/Alestra Mexico Country Intelligence Market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/621322-mexico-country-intelligence-report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/621322-mexico-country-intelligence-report https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=621322 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/621322-mexico-country-intelligence-report https://www.linkedin.com/company/13388569/ https://www.facebook.com/htfmarketintelligence/ https://twitter.com/htfmarketreport https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NidhiBhawsar-SEO_Expert?rel=author A new independent 43 page research with title 'Mexico: Country Intelligence Report' guarantees you will remain better informed than your competition. The study covers important players/vendors such as America Movil (Telcel/Telmex), Group Televisa, AT&T Mexico, Movistar, Axtel/Alestra, Megacable, Sky Mexico, Total Play, Dish mexico, Virgin Mobile Mexico, Qbocel, Maxcom With n-number of tables and figures examining the Mexico: Country Intelligence Market, the research gives you a visual, one-stop breakdown of the leading products, submarkets and market leaders market revenue forecasts as well as analysis to 2022.Get customization & check discount for report @Summary"Mexico: Country Intelligence Report", a new Country Intelligence Report by HTF MI, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Mexico today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2023. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile, and pay-TV segments, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.With a revenue of US$19 billion in 2017, or 1.7% of GDP, the telecoms and pay-TV services market in Mexico was the second largest Latin American in terms of revenue after Brazil. Over the next five years, HTF MI expects Mexicos total market revenue to grow at a CAGR of 6.5% to reach $27.4 billion in 2023. Growth will be underpinned by an increase in Internet service adoption thanks to operators improved access to wholesale infrastructure, which will ultimately allow to boost Internet access in underserved areas.Request a sample report @The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Demographic and macroeconomic context in Mexico.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, tariff regulation, and more.- Telecom and pay-TV services market outlook: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, mobile data, and pay-TV markets.- The competitive landscape: an examination of the positioning of leading players in the telecom and pay-TV services market as well as subscription market shares across segments.- Company snapshots: analysis of the financial position of leading service providers in the telecommunications and pay-TV markets.- Underlying assumptions behind our published base-case forecasts, as well as potential market developments that would alter, either positively or negatively, our base-case outlook.Companies Mentioned in the Report: America Movil (Telcel/Telmex), Group Televisa, AT&T Mexico, Movistar, Axtel/Alestra, Megacable, Sky Mexico, Total Play, Dish mexico, Virgin Mobile Mexico, Qbocel, MaxcomScope- Overall telecom service revenue in Mexico will grow at a CAGR of 6.5% in terms of US$ (7.3% in local currency) during 2018-2023.- Mobile revenue will account for 56.7% of total telecom revenue in 2023, driven by increasing adoption of mobile broadband and 4G services.- 4G will be the most adopted mobile technology over the period 2020-2023. Coverage expansion of Red Compartida, the wholesale 4G shared network, will further boost 4G penetration levels. We expect 5G to be commercially available by 2021.Place a Purchase Order for this Market Study (Single User License) at:Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of the Mexicos telecommunications markets, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying HTF MI Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in the Mexicos mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in the Mexicos telecommunications markets.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in the Mexico.Table of ContentsTable of contents 3Market highlights 4Demographic, macroeconomic, and regulatory context....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.About Author:HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact US :Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218sales@htfmarketreport.comConnect with us at Anal Cancer Market Research 2018 and Analysis by Major Key Leaders Advaxis, Inc. , ORYX, Genticel , Taiwan Liposome Company, Ltd. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1530 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/anal-cancer-market-1530 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/1530 Market Research Future recently presented Global Anal Cancer Market study with detailed review, portraying about the Product/Industry Scope and expounds market outlook and status to 2027.Global Anal Cancer Market OverviewThe anus is the opening at the end of the large intestine, below the rectum, where bowel movements leave the body. The beginning of the anal cancer is seen when the healthy cells grow in an uncontrolled manner, thereby, forming masses of cells called as tumours.Global Anal Cancer Market -Key PlayersAdvaxis, Inc. (U.S.)ORYXGenticel (France)Taiwan Liposome Company, Ltd. (Twain)These are the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the global anal cancer market and are profiled in MRFR Analysis.Request Sample with New Market Trends @The infected cells can be squamous cell, cloacogenic cell, anal lining cell and basal cell. A majority of the reported anal cancers are the squamous cell carcinomas. When the cells are at the beginning sate, they appears to be normal. This is the dysplasia state of the cancer.Dysplasia in the anus is called anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) or anal squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs). Increasing prevalence of the anal cancer and sexually transmitted diseases along with the growing geriatric population are the major drivers for the market growth during the forecast period.Global Anal Cancer Market Growth and AnalysisIn 2017, according to the American Cancer Society, 8,200 new cases of the anal cancer were reported in the U.S. causing 1,100 deaths.According to the World Health Organization, the number of people aging 65 or older is projected to grow from an estimated 524 million in 2010 to nearly 1.5 billion in 2050, with most of the increase in developing countries.The market is projected to demonstrate a spectacular growth by 2027, surpassing its previous growth records in terms of value with a striking CAGR during the anticipated period (2017 2027).Browse Report Details and in-depth TOC @Global Anal Cancer Market - Competitive AnalysisCharacterized by the presence of several well-established and small players, the global anal cancer market appears to be a highly competitive and fragmented market.Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and product launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position.In August 2016, Amgen and Advaxis, Inc. entered into a global agreement for the development and commercialization of Advaxis' ADXS-NEO, a novel, preclinical investigational cancer immunotherapy treatment that is designed to activate a patient's immune system to respond against the unique mutations, or neoepitopes.This collaboration brought together Amgen's development expertise in immuno-oncology with Advaxis' MINE program, which is uniquely positioned to develop a customized approach for cancer treatment.In October-2017, Taiwan Liposome Company, Ltd. showcased the superiorities of its pain management solution at the Janneys Osteoarthritis and Pain Therapeutic Forum addressing companys TLC599 candidate.Global Anal Cancer Market - Regional AnalysisThe Americas leads the global anal cancer market due to a well-developed healthcare sector, huge patient population and rising healthcare expenditures within the region. Moreover, the presence of the global like Advaxis, Inc. within the region fuels the market growth during the forecast period.The Americas is followed by Europe in the presence of the similar factors facilitating the market growth within the region. The Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region due to a huge patient population and continuously growing healthcare sector by the developing economies like India and China.For Exclusive Discount Visit @Major Points form TOC for Anal Cancer Market Research Report Forecast to 2027Chapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market IntroductionChapter 3. Research MethodologyChapter 4. Market DynamicsChapter 5. Market Factor AnalysisChapter 6. Global Anal Cancer Market, By TypeChapter 7. Global Anal Cancer Market, By TreatmentChapter 8 Global Anal Cancer Market, By End UserChapter 9. Global Anal Cancer Market, By RegionChapter 10. Company LandscapeChapter 11. Company ProfilesChapter 12. MRFR ConclusionChapter 13. AppendixAbout US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com E-Commerce Logistics Market to 2025 - DHL International GmbH, FedEx Corporation, SF Express Co, United Parcel Service, Clipper Logistics, CEVA Logistics, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Kerry Logistics Network, Nippon Express Co http://bit.ly/2QdexXH http://bit.ly/2xGJ7C3 http://bit.ly/2xS0jnF E-Commerce Logistics Market is a set of communication computing and collaborative technologies that helps to transform logistical processes to be consumer centric by sharing data, knowledge and information with supply chain partners. The ultimate aim of e-commerce logistic is to deliver right product in right quantities at right place and to the right customer.Get Sample Copy of this Report atIncrease of cross-border e-commerce activities and rise in the internet penetration are the major drivers which help in surging the growth of e-commerce logistics market whereas infrastructural challenges restrict the service of last-mile connectivity which act as a restraining factor for this market. Large amount of logistic from abroad and value-added services such as innovative tracking of parcel and route optimization will add new opportunities for this market in the coming years.The "Global E-Commerce Logistics Market Analysis to 2025" is a specialized and in-depth study of the e-commerce logistics industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global e-commerce logistics market with detailed market segmentation by service type, operational area, end-user and geography. The global e-commerce logistics market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Leading E-Commerce Logistics Market Players:-1. DHL International GmbH2. FedEx Corporation3. SF Express Co., Ltd.4. Amazon.com, Inc.5. United Parcel Service, Inc.6. Clipper Logistics Plc.7. CEVA Logistics8. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.9. Kerry Logistics Network Limited.10. Nippon Express Co., Ltd.The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global e-commerce logistics market based on service type, operational area and end-user. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall e-commerce logistics market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM). The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of 16 counties globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.Inquire about this Report atBesides this, the report analyzes factors affecting market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions namely; North America, Europe, APAC, MEA and South America after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors effecting the market in these regions.Also, key e-commerce logistics market players influencing the market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last 3 years, key development in past five years.Some of the key players influencing the market are DHL International GmbH, FedEx Corporation, SF Express Co., Ltd., Amazon.com, Inc., United Parcel Service, Inc., Clipper Logistics Plc., CEVA Logistics, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., Kerry Logistics Network Limited. and Nippon Express Co., Ltd among others.Reason to Buy- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global E-Commerce Logistics Market- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the E-Commerce Logistics Market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Direct Purchases@About Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.533, 5th Floor, Amanora Chambers,Amanora Township, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Global Bevacizumab Market key Insights Based On Product Type, End-use and Regional Demand Till 2028 | Worldwide key Players https://www.inforgrowth.com/samplerequest/global-bevacizumab-market-insights-forecast-to-2025 https://www.inforgrowth.com/enquiry/global-bevacizumab-market-insights-forecast-to-2025 https://www.inforgrowth.com/search?category=all&query= https://www.inforgrowth.com/contact This report studies the global market size of Bevacizumab in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Bevacizumab in these regions.This research report categorizes the global Bevacizumab market by players/brands, region, type and application. This report also studies the global market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.Ask for Sample copy of this report atThe various contributors involved in the value chain of Bevacizumab include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in the Bevacizumab include: Genentech, Allergan, Hetero Drugs, Reliance Life Science.Market Size Split by Type: type 1, type 2, Market Size Split by Application, Colorectal cancer, Lung cancer, Breast cancer, Renal cancer, Brain cancer.Market size split by Region: North America, United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Russia, Central & South America, Brazil, Rest of Central & South America, Middle East & Africa, GCC Countries, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa.The study objectives of this report are: To study and analyze the global Bevacizumab market size (value & volume) by company, key regions/countries, products and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2025. To understand the structure of Bevacizumab market by identifying its various subsegments. To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks). Focuses on the key global Bevacizumab manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years. To analyze the Bevacizumab with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market., To project the value and volume of Bevacizumab submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries). To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Enquire more about this report atTable of Content:1 Study Coverage2 Executive Summary3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers4 Breakdown Data by Type5 Breakdown Data by Application6 North America7 Europe8 Asia Pacific9 Central & South America10 Middle East and Africa11 Company Profiles12 Market Opportunities, Challenges, Risks and Influences Factors Analysis13 Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis14 Research Findings and Conclusion15 AppendixAbout InForGrowth:Reports directory:Contact for enquiries:We are a market-intelligence company formed with the objective of providing clients access to the most relevant and accurate research content for their growth needs. At InForGrowth, we understand Research requirements and help a client in taking informed business critical decisions. Given the complexities and interdependencies of market-intelligence, there is always more than one source to explore and arrive at the right answer. Through our smart search feature and our reliable & trusted publishing partners, we are paving way for a more simplified and relevant research.For all your Research needs, reach out to us at:Address: 6400 Village Pkwy suite # 104, Dublin, CA 94568, USAEmail: info@inforgrowth.comPhone: +1-909-329-2808 Travel Insurance Market is Gaining an Upward Trend Due to its Rising Demand by Fully Independent Traveler Travel Insurance Market https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/travel-insurance-market https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1610 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1610 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com The Travel Insurance Market share is expected to generate $28,264 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 8.5% during 20162022. In 2015, Europe leads the travel insurance industry, followed by Asia-Pacific. A series of unusual events of natural disasters and terrorist attacks in 2015, such as Ebola epidemic, Nepal earthquake, and the Paris attack has increased the usage of travel insurance policies. Moreover, factors, such as growth in tourism, the rise in globalization, and trade practices have made travel insurance industry more attractive.Access Full Summary:Travel insurance provides an extensive range of benefits for events, such as trip cancellation due to a medical emergency, loss of baggage, evacuation due to a medical condition or hijack, and loss of travel documents. However, it is considered as an unrequired expense by a large pool of travelers. Lack of awareness and guidance is a major factor that refrains travelers from opting for travel insurance.The global travel insurance market is segmented on the basis of insurance cover, distribution channels, users, and geography. Based on insurance cover, the market is classified into single trip travel insurance, annual multi-trip travel insurance and long stay travel insurance. Insurance policies are sold through different distribution channels, such as insurance intermediaries, insurance company, banks, insurance brokers, insurance aggregator, and others.Users who opt for travel insurance policies are backpackers, senior citizens, education traveler, business traveler, fully independent traveler, and family travelers. The market has further been analyzed across geographical regions namely North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), Europe (U.K., Germany, France, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, and Rest of Asia-Pacific), and LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East, and Africa).Get the PDF brochure:Japan, Australia, U.S., and European countries, such as Italy, Greece, Germany, Portugal, and Finland among others are witnessing an increase in senior citizen (above the age of 60) population along with an increase in the percentage of travelers within this population group. The prime factors behind this surge in Gen S travelers include low dependency ratio, rise in disposable income, more spare time, and rise in aspirations. Visiting friends and relatives is also another factor that supplements the increase in a number of travelers.Over the next 20 years, all Asia-Pacific economies would see a significant increase in the number of older people and this trend would be particularly observed in Singapore, China, and Korea. The over the 50s, and more specifically the over 65s, shall account for an increasingly significant portion of leisure travelers predominantly in Australia and Japan, where over 65s now account for over 20% of all leisure travelers.Globally, the average insurance penetration stood at 6.3% in 2015. The major factors that attribute to the low percentage are level of economic development of different countries, the extent of the savings in financial instruments, and the reach of the insurance sector. It has been observed that in underdeveloped countries, such as Ethiopia, insurance penetration is as low as 0.3% and for developing countries, such as India it stands at 3.9%. The lack of awareness about insurance policies has acted as a major restraint for the insurance industry.Request for purchase enquiry:Travel insurance policies are sold through insurance intermediaries, insurance companies, banks, insurance brokers, insurance aggregators, and others. In 2015, across all regions, traditional channel encompassing insurance intermediaries consisting of tour operators and travel agents accounted for around half of the overall sale of travel insurance policies and is projected to lead the market during the forecast period. Insurance aggregatorsis anticipated to be the fastest growing channel owing to the widening usage of internet worldwide. The segment is projected to register a CAGR of 11.5% during the forecast period.Though, Europe accounted for the majority of revenue in 2015, its relative share in the global revenue is projected to decrease during the forecast period owing to recent incidence of Brexit. Asia-Pacific travel insurance market would exhibit prominent growth during the forecast period owing to increase in the number of travel insurance users which include backpackers, senior citizens, and business travelers.From a growth perspective, travel insurance market inLAMEA is anticipated to witness the fastest CAGR of over 10% during the forecast period, on account of increase in demand of travel insurance policies from Latin American and Middle East countries.Key Benefits: The study provides an in-depth analysis of the global travel insurance market size with current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets. The report provides a quantitative analysis from 2014 to 2022, which is expected to enable the stakeholders to capitalize on prevailing market opportunities. The report provides actual historical figures for 2014 and 2015 for the travel insurance market and provides forecasts for 20162022, considering 2015 as a base. Competitive intelligence highlights the business practices followed by leading players across various regions.About UsAllied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1?855?550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb: Head-Up Display Market to 2025 - Top Companies are Denso Corporation, BMW AG, MicroVision, Inc. - Navdy, Inc - Garmin Ltd. - Embitel - Esterline Technologies Corporation, Johnson Controls, Delphi Automotive Plc, Continental AG http://bit.ly/2NKgT3u http://bit.ly/2ORH5ph http://bit.ly/2N74elQ Head up displays Market are the latest technology aiding the pilots and drivers to visualize dashboard data in a much appropriate and suitable manner within their spectra. It provides the users with the facility of managing their vital messages and information while driving/flying, taking care of their safety. A Head Up display ensures comfort, safety and entertainment of the user and therefore it is anticipate to witness high adoption rates in the years to come.Get Sample Copy of this Report atThe report aims to provide an overview of Global Head up Display Market along with detailed segmentation of market by components, display technology, applications and five major geographical regions. Global Head up Display market is expected to witness noteworthy growth during the forecast period due to continuous capitalization made by military and defense sector and rising adoption of HUDs by civil aviation department across the globe.Leading Head-Up Display Market Players:-- Denso Corporation- BMW AG- MicroVision, Inc.- Navdy, Inc- Garmin Ltd.- Embitel- Esterline Technologies Corporation- Johnson Controls Inc.- Delphi Automotive Plc- Continental AGInquire about this Report atThe objectives of this report are as follows:- To provide overview of the global Head Up Display market- To analyze and forecast the global Head Up Display market on the basis of components, display technology and application- To provide market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Head Up Display market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA), and South America (SAM), which are later sub-segmented across respective major countries- To evaluate market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend- To provide exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions- To profiles key Head up display players influencing the market along with their SWOT analysis and market strategiesSome of the important players in Head Up Display market are Denso Corporation BMW AG, MicroVision, Inc., Navdy, Inc, Garmin Ltd., Embitel, Esterline Technologies Corporation, Johnson Controls Inc., Delphi Automotive Plc and Continental AG.Reason to Buy- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global Head-Up Display Market- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.- The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Head-Up Display Market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long term strategies.- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Direct Purchases@About Us:The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Automotive and Defense.533, 5th Floor, Amanora Chambers,Amanora Township, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 India Energy Management Systems Market by Offering, Component, Service Type End User and Market Vertical - Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2016-2023 India Energy Management Systems Market- Current Trends and Future Scope https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/india-energy-management-systems-market https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/4640 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/4640 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Increasing use of Internet-based applications across various sectors, such as education, government, retail, IT & telecommunications, BFSI and others, make them prone to virus and spam attacks. According to McAfee, in 2014, cybercrimes, such as unethical hacking, botnets, distributed denial of services (DDoS), malware, spyware, spams, viruses, and other threats, caused a loss of $400 billion, worldwide. Increasing incidence of security threats is one of the major factors fueling the growth of the Internet security market.Access Full Summary at:Global Internet security market report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $46.5 billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 8.4% during the period 2016-2021. The market is driven by the huge demand for Internet security software solutions due to the increasing number of cyber-attacks and the adoption of cloud-based Internet security systems.India Energy Management Systems Market Key Segments:By OfferingSystemServiceBy ComponentSensorControllerSoftwareOthersBy ServiceMonitoring & ControlImplementation & IntegrationMaintenanceConsulting & TrainingBy TypeHome Energy Management SystemsBuilding Energy Management SystemIndustrial Energy Management SystemsBy End UserResidentialCommercialBy Market VerticalPower & EnergyTelecom & ITManufacturingEnterpriseHealthcareOthersBased on product & services, the market is segmented into software, hardware, and services. In 2015, the software security solutions segment accounted for around 74.8% of the overall revenue, owing to the widespread adoption of these software solutions among individual & corporate users.Check offers and Customization on this report:Based on technology, the report segments the market into authentication, access control technology, content filtering technology, and cryptography (encryption) technology. Authentication technology segment dominated the market in 2015, accounting for more than 40% market share.Based on applications, the market is segmented into BFSI, retail, IT & telecommunications, government, manufacturing, education, aerospace, defense & intelligence, and others. In 2015, BFSI was the highest revenue-generating segment in terms of revenue. The education sector is expected to grow rapidly, registering a CAGR of 14.3% during the forecast period.For enlightenment, request a sample of the report:Key findings of Internet Security Market:Among the key application sectors, Education is expected to exhibit highest growth over the forecast periodThe Asia-Pacific region is forecast to be the most lucrative market, both in terms of size and growthInternet security services would witness the fastest growth over the forecast periodFavorable regulations & policies along with proactive e-commerce & e-governance initiatives have fostered the growth of theInternet security market. Market players have adopted product launch, partnership, and acquisitions as their key strategies to improve their market foothold and enhance their product portfolio. The prominent companies profiled in this report include Symantec Corporation, Intel Corporation, Hewlett Packard (HP) Company, Cisco Systems Inc., IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Kaspersky Labs, and Dell Inc.Key Market PlayersAtandra Energy Private LimitedComputer Maintenance and Services CompanyDELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.DEXMA Energy ManagementElconn Energy (India) Pvt. Ltd.Energy Management Solution of India (EMIS)Graphite Technologies Pvt. LtdNeptune Nikom InfraSolutions Pvt. Ltd.Yokogawa India Ltd.The fast-growing economy as well as rapid urbanization is expected to drive the demand for effective power distribution and transmission across the country. Subsequently, driving the market growth of energy management systems in the country.About Us:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1(855)550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb: Smart Card Technologies Market Analysis By Top Players American Express Co., Atmel Corp., Atos, Citigroup Inc., Cpi Card Group, Cubic Corp., Datang Microelectronics, Eastcompeace Smart Card Co. Ltd., E-Data Corp. https://www.worldwidemarketreports.com/sample/1688 https://www.worldwidemarketreports.com/discount/1688 https://www.coherentwire.com Worldwide Market Reports recently released Global Smart Card Technologies Market Research Report 2017 that centers around the latest developing trends and technologies in the Smart Card Technologies Market having Five Years of forecast period from 2017 to 2022 and considering Market status study from 2017 to 2022.During the research, noteworthy data was collected in order to shape the research document and make it a valuable resource for managers, industry executives and other key people to have ready-to-access and self-analyzed study.Get Report Sample @In this report, the global Smart Card Technologies market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Smart Card Technologies for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering United States, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, TaiwanGlobal Smart Card Technologies market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Smart Card Technologies sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including, American Express Co., Atmel Corp., Atos, Citigroup Inc., Cpi Card Group, Cubic Corp., Datang Microelectronics, Eastcompeace Smart Card Co. Ltd., E-Data Corp., Gemalto Nv, Giesecke & Devrient, Hengbao Co. Ltd., Hypercom Corp., Infineon Technologies Ag, Ingenico Corp., Insidesecure CorpOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into, Contact Card, Contactless CardOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Smart Card Technologies for each application, including Consumers, Enterprises, Government and NonprofitTable of ContentsGlobal Smart Card Technologies Sales Market Report 20171 Smart Card Technologies Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Smart Card Technologies1.2 Classification of Smart Card Technologies by Product Category1.2.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Smart Card Technologies Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Contact Card1.2.4 Contactless Card1.3 Global Smart Card Technologies Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Consumers1.3.3 Enterprises1.3.4 Government and Nonprofit1.4 Global Smart Card Technologies Market by Region1.4.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Smart Card Technologies Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Smart Card Technologies Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Smart Card Technologies Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Smart Card Technologies Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Korea Smart Card Technologies Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Taiwan Smart Card Technologies Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Smart Card Technologies (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Smart Card Technologies Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Smart Card Technologies Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Smart Card Technologies Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Smart Card Technologies (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Smart Card Technologies Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Smart Card Technologies (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Smart Card Technologies Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Smart Card Technologies Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Smart Card Technologies (Volume) by Application3 United States Smart Card Technologies (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Smart Card Technologies Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Smart Card Technologies Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Smart Card Technologies Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Smart Card Technologies Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Smart Card Technologies Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Smart Card Technologies Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Smart Card Technologies Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationGet Report Discount @About Us:Worldwide Market Reports is your one-stop repository of detailed and in-depth market research reports compiled by an extensive list of publishers from across the globe. We offer reports across virtually all domains and an exhaustive list of sub-domains under the sun. The in-depth market analysis by some of the most vastly experienced analysts provide our diverse range of clients from across all industries with vital decision making insights to plan and align their market strategies in line with current market trends. Worldwide Market Researchs well-researched inputs that encompass domains ranging from IT to healthcare enable our prized clients to capitalize upon key growth opportunities and shield against credible threats prevalent in the market in the current scenario and those expected in the near future.Contact Us:Mr. ShahWorldwide Market ReportsTel: +1 415 871 0703Email: sales@worldwidemarketreports.comVisit our new Website: Weather Radar Market: 2018 2025 | Companies (Honeywell, Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC), Selex ES GmbH, EWR Weather Radar...), Types, Applications, Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts Weather Radar Market, Weather Radar Industry, Weather Radar Market Latest Update's, Weather Radar Market Sales https://www.marketresearchnest.com/report/enquirybuy/440930 https://www.marketresearchnest.com/Global-Weather-Radar-Market-Report-History-and-Forecast-2013-2025-Breakdown-Data-by-Companies-Key-Regions-Types-and-Application.html https://www.marketresearchnest.com/report/requestdiscount/440930 This report studies the Weather Radar market with many aspects of the industry like the market size, market status, market trends and forecast, the report also provides brief information of the competitors and the specific growth opportunities with key market drivers. Find the complete Weather Radar market analysis segmented by companies, region, type and applications in the report.Weather radar is a versatile tool for atmospheric evaluation. These vital systems include rainfall estimates, cloud deduction, and speed and direction of cell motion.Of the major players of Weather Radar, Honeywell maintained its first place in the ranking in 2017. Honeywell accounted for 23.81% of the Global Weather Radar revenue market share in 2017. Other players accounted for 13.32 % and 5.16 %, including Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC) and Selex ES GmbH.In this study, the consumption region of Weather Radar divided into seven geographic regions: In United States, total Weather Radar accounted for 33.40%. In the Europe 27.55%, In China 17.39 %, In Japan 4.05 %, In Southeast Asia 3.78 %, In India 6.34 %, and in other region 7.49%. Among all regions, United States is estimated to represent the highest share.On the basis of product type, the Airborne Weather Radar segment is projected to account for the largest volume share during the forecast period; this segment was estimated to account for 96.45 % sales volume share in 2017.The various contributors involved in the value chain of the product include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in this market include:Honeywell, Enterprise Electronics Corporation (EEC), Selex ES GmbH, EWR Weather Radar, Vaisala, Beijing Metstar Radar Co., Ltd., China Electronics Corporation, Toshiba, GAMIC, China Electronic Technology Group Corporation (CETC)Inquiry for buying a sample copy @Weather Radar market continues to evolve and expand in terms of the number of companies, products, and applications that illustrates the growth perspectives. The report also covers the list of Product range and Applications with SWOT analysis, CAGR value, further adding the essential business analytics. Weather Radar market research analysis identifies the latest trends and primary factors responsible for market growth enabling the Organizations to flourish with much exposure to the markets.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Weather Radar in these regions, from 2013 to 2025, covering: North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam) South America (Brazil etc.) Middle East and Africa (Egypt and GCC Countries)By the product type, the market is primarily split into:Airborne Weather Radar, Land-based Weather RadarBrowse full table of contents and data tables@The Weather Radar market research report completely covers the vital statistics of the capacity, production, value, cost/profit, supply/demand import/export, further divided by company and country, and by application/type for best possible updated data representation in the figures, tables, pie chart, and graphs. These data representations provide predictive data regarding the future estimations for convincing market growth. The detailed and comprehensive knowledge about our publishers makes us out of the box in case of market analysis.By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments:Meteorology and Hydrology, Aviation Sectors, MilitaryIf you have any special requirement, please let us know and we can provide you the report as your requirement.Key questions answered in this report What will the Weather Radar Market size be in 2028 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key Weather Radar Market trends? What is driving this Weather Radar Market? What are the challenges to Weather Radar Market growth? Who are the key vendors in this Weather Radar Market space? What are the Weather Radar Market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Weather Radar Market key vendors?Inquiry for Discount on Report Copy @About Us: - MarketResearchNest.com Market Research Nest (MRN) is an offering of GRN Research Pvt. Ltd. It is a one-stop-shop for market research products and services. At MRN, we offer reports from almost all top regional and global publishers and research firms who specialize in their domains. We ensure that you receive the most reliable and up to date research data. We update our collection daily to help our clients have an access to a most up-to-date database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends. Our database covers research studies including periodic updates on a range of industries, companies, products, SWOT profiles, recent marketing, and other trends.Contact us: - Mr. Jeet Jain, Sales Manager, sales@marketresearchnest.com ;+1-240-284-8070, +44-20-3290-4151;Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook North America Microgrid Market Focused Analysis On Tesla, Virdity Energy Solutions, EnSync Inc, Toshiba, Hitachi, Advanced Microgrid Solutions North America Microgrid Market, North America Microgrid Market Study, North America Microgrid Market Size, North America Microgrid https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/1230587/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/1230587/ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/north-america-microgrid-market https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/blog/ MarketStudyReport.com Adds New North America Microgrid Market 2018 2024 research report providing information By Connectivity (Grid Connected, Off-Grid), By Grid Type (AC Microgrid, DC Microgrid, Hybrid), By Source (Diesel Generators, Natural Gas, Solar PV, CHP), By Storage (Lithium-Ion, Lead Acid, Flow Batteries, Flywheel), By Application (Healthcare, Educational Institutes, Military, Utility, Industrial/Commercial, Remote)North America Microgrid Market is predicted to reach over USD 7 billion by 2024. Aging grid infrastructure coupled with stringent government policies toward adoption of sustainable power technologies will stimulate North America microgrid market. Economic competitiveness, low power cost & transmission losses and reliability are key the parameters that will encourage the product penetration. In addition, ongoing funding toward the development of distributed generation technology will enhance the industry landscape.Request a Sample of this premium Research Report@Flow batteries accounted for over 5% of North America microgrid market in 2017. Ongoing investment pertaining to the integration of sustainable grid coupled with innovations toward the development of cost-effective and efficient storage technologies will propel the industry growth. key features including long life cycle and higher efficiency will further encourage the product adoption over available substitutes.Canada microgrid market is predicted to reach deployment of over 400 MW capacity by 2024. Growing electricity demand across remote and off grid areas along with upsurge in investments toward the adoption of clean energy technology will complement the business growth. Furthermore, ongoing development of distributed energy sources to minimize the dependency on conventional grid will enhance the industry outlook. In 2016 Canada government made an investment of USD 2.4 billion for developing wind and solar energy sources.Ongoing adoption of captive power plants across the manufacturing and industrial sector for ensuring regulated power production will foster North America microgrid market. Increasing investment toward the expansion of decentralized grid coupled with rising investments for the expansion of infrastructure and power sector will accelerate the business growth. For instance, in 2016, the government of Canada, announced an investment of about USD 900 million were financed toward installation of numerous energy sources and R & D across the country.Natural gas microgrid market will grow on account of stringent government measures pertaining to the adoption of lower emission fuel as a replacement for conventional fuel sources. Ongoing investment toward exploration of unconventional fuel reserves owing to escalating gas demand will enhance the industry outlook. Amren Corporation in 2017, developed an advanced microgrid which utilizes, solar, natural gas and wind energy as a source along with an integrated battery storage and automation system.Top Manufacturers in global market are given bellow: ABB, Schneider Electric, Alstom, Siemens, Honeywell, Caterpillar Inc, Tesla, Virdity Energy Solutions, EnSync Inc, Toshiba, Hitachi, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Lockheed Martin, Exelon and Power Analytics Corporation.Request a Discount on standard prices of this premium Market Research Report@Increasing high-end power consumption across the industries on account of development of new HVAC systems and heavy load machineries will foster the microgrid market. Growing electricity demands across hospitals, retail outlets, automotive, manufacturing operations, offices and industries will encourage product penetration across commercial and industrial application. For instance, as per EIA, the commercial and industrial sector in 2017 accounted about 4.5% and 22.4 % of the primary energy consumption respectively.The above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following:U.S., Canada, MexicoBy Connectivity Grid Connected Off-GridBy Grid Type AC Microgrid DC Microgrid HybridBy Source Diesel Generators Natural Gas Solar PV CHPBy Storage Lithium-Ion Lead Acid Flow Batteries FlywheelBy Application Healthcare Educational Institutes Military Utility Industrial/Commercial RemoteTable of Content@Chapter 1. Methodology & ScopeChapter 2. Executive SummaryChapter 3. Commercial Drone Industry InsightsChapter 4. Competitive LandscapeContinued........................Data TablesTABAL 1. North America Microgrid industry 360 degree synopsis, 2013 - 2024TABAL 2. Global North America Microgrid market, 2013 - 2024 (USD Million)TABAL 3. Global North America Microgrid market, by joint type, 2013 - 2024 (USD Million)TABAL 4. Global North America Microgrid market, by joint type, 2013 - 2024 (Units)TABAL 5. Industry impact forcesTABAL 6. Knee Replacement market by region, 2013 - 2024 (USD Million)TABAL 7. Knee Replacement market by region, 2013 - 2024 (Units)TABAL 8. Primary Knee Systems market, by region, 2013 - 2024, (USD Million)TABAL 9. Revision Knee Systems market, by region, 2013 - 2024, (USD Million)TABAL 10. Partial Knee Systems market, by region, 2013 - 2024, (USD Million)To View Full Report@About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.MarketStudyReport.com4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog: Tuberculosis Vaccine Market Boosting Along With Top Key Vendors GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasture, Longcom Enterprise Ltd, Biofabri, Valneva plc, and Archivel Farma S.L. https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1602 https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/1602 Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is mostly spread through person to person contact. It causes multisystem infection and eventually might lead to death of the infected person. Two types of TB that are commonly observed include latent TB in which the infected person do not show symptoms and active TB in which the infected person shows clinical symptoms of TB. Clinical symptoms and signs of TB include fever, night sweats, cough, weight loss, hemoptysis (coughing up blood-stained sputum), fatigue, chest pain, and shortness of breath.Depending upon the symptoms, TB may be classified as pulmonary TB, subcutaneous TB or military TB. Depending on the resistance it shows, TB may be multidrug resistant TB or extended drug resistant TB. Diagnosis of tuberculosis can be carried out using skin test, polymerase chain reaction test or interferon-gamma release assays. Initial treatment regime for active TB includes drugs such as ethambutol, pyrazinamide, isoniazid, and rifampicin. Although currently no TB vaccine is approved commercially, children are vaccinated with BCG vaccine as a part of precautionary measure. However, BCG vaccine has limited utility and variable efficacy in both adults and children. Many TB vaccines are under the stage of clinical development, which are expected to reach the market in the near future.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report:Tuberculosis Vaccine Market DynamicsTuberculosis account for the highest amount of death caused due to infectious disease across the globe. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) factsheet 2018 on TB, 10.4 million people fell ill with TB in 2016 and 1.7 million people with TB died in the same year. More than 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income economies. Deaths caused due to TB also includes death of 0.4 million people infected with HIV. Such high number of patients across the world confirms the enormity of disease and urgent requirements for vaccines worldwide. Therefore, the launch of tuberculosis vaccine would gain significant revenue and in turn, would propel the market growth. According to a global report on tuberculosis vaccine in 2018, TB costs around US$ 21 billion annually to global economy. Another important impetus to tuberculosis vaccine market would be current complex drug regime and resistance TB has created to this drug regime. TB patient has to take more than 2-3 drugs for prolonged time period of 6 months in order to suppress the infection. Often this results in the poor patient compliance and eventually leads to drug resistance incidence which further deteriorate the TB.According to WHO, there were nearly 600,000 new cases with resistance to rifampicin antibiotic, which was the most effective first-line drug in 2017, of which around 490,000 had MDR-TB globally. If effective steps wont be taken by 2050, MDR-TB alone could cost the world US$ 16.7 trillion as per global report on tuberculosis vaccine 2018. Drug toxicity due to high daily dose and prolonged treatment is another concern with current TB drugs. Although the cost of TB drug is not much of concern in developing economies due to government support and free medication, it is a matter of concern in developed countries such as the U.S. and Europe. Increased recognition of TBs fatality by intergovernmental organization and national government would prosper funding for TB vaccine research. Increased research and development activities for development of vaccine against TB by companies and intergovernmental organizations is expected to boost growth of tuberculosis vaccine market. For instance, Aeras is an NGO, which supports TB vaccine development and has helped develop 9 TB vaccine candidates and conducted over 35 Phase 1-2b clinical trials.Tuberculosis Vaccine Market - Regional InsightsTB is most prevalent in middle and low income economies in Asia Pacific and Africa and therefore, these regions would represent greatest opportunity for the potential TB vaccine. According to the World Health Organization factsheet 2018 on TB, countries such as India, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria, and South Africa account for around 64% of the total TB deaths. Another risk factor for these regions is the high number of HIV positive population living in this region. Around 40% of deaths among HIV-positive people were due to TB in 2016 as per WHO. Tuberculosis vaccine could prove most beneficial for these regions and in turn, would drive growth of tuberculosis vaccine market. Government initiatives and international support to curb TB incidence would speed up the vaccine development and also would support access for such vaccines. India, which accounts for half a million global TB deaths has launched National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB Elimination 2017-2025 to combat TB. India also formed India TB Research Consortium to boost TB vaccine and medication research. Developed regions such as North America accounts for significant number of TB patients. According to the Centre for Disease Control, a total of 9,093 TB cases were reported in the U.S. in 2017. MDR-TB and XDR-TB accounted for approximately US$ 160,000 and US$ 513,000 respectively for treatment of each patient. Effective vaccine against TB would gain significant traction in countries such as the U.S.Request for Customization of Research Report:Tuberculosis Vaccine Market - Competitive LandscapeMany companies and research institutes are taking efforts to develop tuberculosis vaccine to combat TB. There are fourteen TB vaccines under clinical trials, out of which one investigational candidate named Vaccae from China is in phase three whereas three are in late phase 2. Most of the researches are carried out in academic and research places, which eventually would be transferred to commercial companies for effective distribution and access. Companies are also improving current BCG vaccines, in order to target TB by bringing recombinant vaccine product.Some of the key players in the tuberculosis vaccine market include GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasture, Longcom Enterprise Ltd, Biofabri, Valneva plc, and Archivel Farma S.L.Tuberculosis Vaccine Market TaxonomyOn the basis of type of vaccine, the global tuberculosis vaccine market is segmented into:Viral Vector VaccineRecombinant Protein VaccineRecombinant BCG VaccineAttenuated VaccineOthersAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.1001 4th Ave,, #3200, Seattle, WA 98154#3200 Forensic Medicine Market Globally Grow at a CAGR of 12.0% by Revenue During the Period 2018 2023 | Top Key Vendors Agilent, Belkasoft, Bode Cellmark Forensics, GE, LGC Forensics, NMS Labs, SPEX Forensics Forensic Medicine Market https://marketprognosis.com/sample-request/16864 https://marketprognosis.com/buyReport/16864 https://marketprognosis.com/enquiry/16864 https://www.marketprognosis.com Marketprognosis.com Publish a New Market Research Report On Global Forensic Medicine Market 2018 - 2023 which contains global key players survey information and forecast to 2023.Overview of the Global Forensic Medicine Market:The Global Forensic Medicine Market is expected to register a CAGR of 12.0% during 2018 to 2023 (the forecast period).Forensic medicine is an important part of criminal investigations and is used for the analysis, identification, and evaluation of physical evidence gathered from a crime scene. Department of forensic medicine was a section within the Department of Pathology. Forensic medicine deals with the application of scientific medical knowledge to the administration of law, to the furthering of justice, and to the legal relations of the medical practitioner, forensic medicine addresses the physiology of dying, the cause and time of death, and post death phenomena.Get a Sample Copy of this Report @The crimes rates are on rise, globally, especially in the North American region. Moreover, the United States and Canada have the highest overall crime rates in the world. In 2016, The 30 largest US cities saw a double-digit increase in their murder rate, according to a year-end report. A recent study, by the New York Universitys Brennan Center for justice, projects that the 2016 murder rate for the largest US cities increased by 14% from 2015, while the violent crime rate by 3.3%. Further, in Europe, the number of homicide cases decreased, however, the number of rape offences have increased by 37% in the past 5 years. In addition, the crime rate in the Latin American region is pretty high, with violent crime constituting the major part. Increasing crime rate is the major issue, and to tackle this issue the crime conviction rate must increase, which will increase demand for techniques that involve collection and analysis of medical evidence, to produce objective information for use in the legal system i.e., forensic medicine. In addition, sophistication of crime and latent demand for forensic technologies are also expected to supplement the growth of this market.The majority of criminals are not brilliant, however, even their rudimentary efforts to cover their tracks can make an investigator's job infuriatingly difficult. New technology is expected to help, however, only if crime labs can adopt the new technology within their budgets or retraining the entire staff. For instance, in 2010, the government announced plans of closing the Forensic Science Service (FSS), a government-owned company (GovCo) that employed around 1,600 staff, claiming that it was losing about GBP 2 million a month The Commons Science and Technology Committee concluded that major crimes could go unsolved, unless the government does more to support forensic science. The reduction of government spending on forensic technologies is one of the major factor restraining the forensic medicine market growth.Purchase this report online with 105 Pages, Top Key Players Analysis and List of Tables & Figure @The United States in the North American region dominates the market of forensic medicine, due to the increasing rate of crimes in the country. There has been a significant increase in the adoption of forensics by private companies and law enforcement agencies in various sectors, including healthcare. North America has the highest market share, and it is followed by the Europe and Asia-Pacific.Major Key Players:1 Agilent Technologies2 Belkasoft3 Bode Cellmark Forensics4 Eurofins Medigenomix Gmbh5 GE Healthcare Life Sciences6 LGC Forensics7 NMS Labs Inc.8 Pyramidal Technologies Ltd9 SPEX ForensicsAny Query? Ask to our Expert @This study answers to the below key questions:1 What will the market size be in 2023 and what will the growth rate be?2 What are the key market trends?3 What is driving this market?4 What are the challenges to market growth?5 Who are the key vendors in this market space?6 What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?7 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?In the end, this report covers data and information on capacity and production overview, production, market share analysis, sales overview, supply, sales, and shortage, import, export and consumption as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin of Forensic Medicine Market.Table of Contents:1 Introduction2 Research Methodology3 Executive Summary4 Key Inferences5 Market Overview6 Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Challenges Analysis (Droc)7 Market Segmentation8 Competitive Landscape9 Key Players10 Future Outlook of the MarketAbout us:We at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.ProgMark Pvt. Ltd.Thane 421501India.sales@marketprognosis.com+1 973 241 5193 Motion Controller Market by Key Players 2018-2024 ABB Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Schneider Electric, Siemens AG, Toshiba Corporation, and Rockwell Automation, Inc., Fanuc Corporation https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/2907 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2907 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/motion-controller-market https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/by-2024-atm-market-to-reach-25-billion-2018-09-19 https://www.gminsights.com http://technologymagazine.org Motion controller market will witness growth owing to the demand for CNC motion controllers that are suitable for a range of industrial applications such as picking & placing, adjustable parts holding, and palletizing & packaging. It provides precision control over machines that include loaders, presses, stamping, filling, and winding machines. Moreover, these controllers have ready-to-use pre-developed screens that ensure ease of operations. The ease of development of customized screens is further expected to encourage their adoption in industries.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Motion Controller Market size is expected to grow at a rapid rate owing to the increasing penetration of automation across various industry verticals. The rising labor costs coupled with the need to increase the throughput, precision, and operational efficiency are encouraging the demand for high-performance automation solutions. These controllers form the core component of the automation system and function as a brain of any motion control system.They enable the operator to gain an enhanced control over motors that run several desired output components such as conveyors in a facility. The rising need for the deployment of automated systems to combat the errors and delays caused due to the human involvement in a production process will propel the motion controller market growth.Rapid urbanization has led to industrialization and has also given rise to numerous safety concerns pertaining to the safety of the personnel working on these machines. Industrial work requires employees to work in harsh environments and deal with hazardous chemicals. Increasing government focus on operator safety in industries has stressed the need for high-quality machines, fueling the motion controller market growth. The rise in the number of accidents in industries has led to several government organizations stressing on stringent regulations pertaining to worker safety, further boosting the motion controller market growth.The booming manufacturing sector backed by government initiatives and investments in the industrialization and the economic development of countries will favor the motion controller market growth. Manufacturers in various regions are making huge investments in automating their production facilities to increase the productivity and enhance the operational efficiency to sustain in the condition of increasing competition. Increasing focus of manufacturing companies on fast and reliable production techniques to ensure customer satisfaction and maximum return on investment will fuel the motion controller market growth.The demand for multi-axis motion controllers plays a key role in enabling discrete and smart multi-axis drive designs, further fueling the motion controller market growth. These systems ensure enhanced operational efficiency as compared to single-axis controllers owing to the high level of precision offered by these controllers. The demand for multi-axis controllers for high-speed and high-value applications, such as semiconductor wafer inspection, will drive the motion controller market growth.Motion controller market will witness growth owing to the demand for CNC motion controllers that are suitable for a range of industrial applications such as picking & placing, adjustable parts holding, and palletizing & packaging. It provides precision control over machines that include loaders, presses, stamping, filling, and winding machines. Moreover, these controllers have ready-to-use pre-developed screens that ensure ease of operations. The ease of development of customized screens is further expected to encourage their adoption in industries.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @PLC-based controllers will experience a demand owing to the accuracy offered by PLCs during operations. Highly specialized and programmable microprocessor-based controllers enable enhanced motion control in manufacturing and automation to control machinery and assembly lines on factory floors. The industrially hardened and extremely stable nature of PLCs will further boost their demand. Several in-built features in PLCs coupled with the easy maintainability will support the motion controller market growth.The motion controller market in Asia Pacific is expected to witness a rapid growth owing to the booming electronics sector in countries including China and India. The government of China is taking initiatives to boost the countrys manufacturing and automation sectors. The rising labor costs in China will also favor the industry demand. Furthermore, the developing automotive sector in India coupled with the booming robotics industry in Japan will demand high-performance automated solutions. The advent of automation and Industry 4.0 in several countries in Asia Pacific further contributes to the industry demand.Major players operating in the motion controller market include ABB Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Schneider Electric, Siemens AG, Toshiba Corporation, and Rockwell Automation, Inc., and Fanuc Corporation. The industry participants are investing heavily in the R&D of automation and manufacturing processes. They are trying to expand their market presence globally by expanding the manufacturing facilities in untapped regions.Browse Full Report @Market share calculation in this report is not done based on companies covered in it. The calculation of Motion Controller Market share is done based on a regional approach and countries covered. On request, additional companies can be covered as well as regional data for particular country / countries can be provided.Browse Related Report:ATM Market Size By Solution (Deployment [Onsite, Offsite, Worksite, Mobile], Managed Services), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Application Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 2024About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: MAITAKE MUSHROOM MARKET 2018-2024 | COVERS MARKET SHARE, MARKET DEMAND AND TOP KEY PLAYERS SPECIALTY PRODUCE, GUAN'S MUSHROOM, CHANGSHA VIGOROUS-TECH CO, FOREST MUSHROOMS ETC. MAITAKE MUSHROOM http://www.supplydemandmarketresearch.com/home/contact/49382?ref=Sample-and-Brouchure&toccode=SDMRFO49382 http://www.supplydemandmarketresearch.com/home/toc_publisher/49382?code=SDMRFO49382 http://supplydemandmarketresearch.com The Maitake Mushroom market report provides a complete decision-making overview including definition, product specifications, market gains, geographic regions Maitake Mushroom industry peers for 2018-2024.This report studies the global market size of Maitake Mushroom in key regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America and Middle East & Africa, focuses on the consumption of Maitake Mushroom in these regions.Get Sample of this Report@This research report categorizes the global Maitake Mushroom market by players/brands, region, type and application. This report also studies the global market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.In 2017, the global Maitake Mushroom market size was million US$ and is forecast to million US in 2025, growing at a CAGR of from 2018. The objectives of this study are to define, segment, and project the size of the Maitake Mushroom market based on company, product type, application and key regions.The various contributors involved in the value chain of Maitake Mushroom include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in the Maitake Mushroom include Specialty Produce Guan's Mushroom Changsha Vigorous-tech Co Forest MushroomsMarket Size Split by Type Fresh Dry OthersMarket Size Split by Application Restaurants and Hotels Schools and Institutions Households OthersMarket size split by Region North America United States Canada Mexico Asia-Pacific China India Japan South Korea Australia Indonesia Singapore Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam EuropeThe study objectives of this report are: To study and analyze the global Maitake Mushroom market size (value & volume) by company, key regions/countries, products and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2025. To understand the structure of Maitake Mushroom market by identifying its various subsegments. To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks). Focuses on the key global Maitake Mushroom manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years. To analyze the Maitake Mushroom with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market. To project the value and volume of Maitake Mushroom submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries). To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Maitake Mushroom are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year: 2018 to 2025Browse full report@Table of Content:Chapter One: Study CoverageChapter Two: Executive SummaryChapter Three: Breakdown Data by ManufacturersChapter Four: Breakdown Data by TypeChapter Five: Breakdown Data by ApplicationChapter Six: North AmericaChapter Seven: EuropeChapter Eight: Asia PacificChapter Nine: Central & South AmericaContact Ussales@supplydemandmarketresearch.comPhone Number: +1-778-686-7521About Supply Demand Market Research(SDMR)We have a strong network of high powered and experienced global consultants who have about 10+ years of experience in the specific industry to deliver quality research and analysis.Having such an experienced network, our services not only cater to the client who wants the basic reference of market numbers and related high growth areas in the demand side, but also we provide detailed and granular information using which the client can definitely plan the strategies with respect to both supply and demand side.302-20 Misssisauga Valley, Missisauga, L5A 3S1, Toronto Tissue Engineering Market Increasing Advancement in the Healthcare Technology to grow at a CAGR of 17.22 % till 2022 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2134 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/2134 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/tissue-engineering-market-2134 Tissue Engineering is an interdisciplinary field, which combines the principles of engineering and life sciences toward the development of biological substitutes. These biological substitutes are used to replace or restore tissue or organ function. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine deploys small molecules, biologics, cell-based therapies, and organ transplantation, etc. It involves the use of a scaffold for the formation of new tissue for a medical purposeThe Global Tissue Engineering Market is growing at a steady pace and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.22 % during review period 2017-2022. Due to increasing advancement in the healthcare technology, consistent supply of functional tissues, and advantage of tissue engineering methods such as it has replaced animal used for drug testing in pharmaceuticals, drive the growth of the market. Since the technique is cost-effective, it will boost the market growth.On the other hand, shortage of organ donor in organ transplantation may hamper market growth over the assessment period.Avail Sample Copy Of This Report at:Key Players in the Global Tissue Engineering MarketSome of the key players in this market: Cook, Acelity, Baxter, DePuy Synthes Companies, Medtronic, Zimmer Inc., and StrykerThe report on the global tissue engineering market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain deeper insight to the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.Key FindingsThe global tissue engineering market is expected to reach USD 48,017.5 million by 2022 at CAGR of 17.22%.Nano-fibrous material segment on the basis of material holds the largest share to reach USD 13,279.2 million by 2022 from USD 4,155.8 million in 2016.The Americas holds the largest share of tissue engineering market and is projected to reach USD 17,889.6 million by the end of the forecast period.Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region across the globe and expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.24% during the forecast period.Avail Discount For This Report at:Regional Analysis of the Global Tissue Engineering MarketThe Americas region accounted for a largest share of USD 7,100.1 million in 2016, owing to the well-developed infrastructure in the healthcare sector, high healthcare expenditure, and the presence of the leading players.Europe is the second largest tissue engineering market, which holds a noticeable share of the global market. The European market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period owing to well-developed healthcare and increasing investment in research and development in healthcare. Moreover government encouragement to life sciences industries will boost the market growth over the review period. Mainly Germany, the UK, and France contribute significantly to the growth of the European market.Intended AudienceTissue engineering manufacturers & suppliersBiotechnology companiesHospitalsClinicsAcademic research institutesGovernment institutesMarket research and consulting service providersIn Asia Pacific, rising number of research & development institutes, increasing demand for better diagnostic and treatment methods, and cost-effective services in the drives the market growth.The Middle East & Africa is expected to show steady growth in this market due to low technology penetration and less availability of innovative healthcare facilities.Brows Full Report at:About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com HIT IT HIT IT Junior Matt Sion goes up for a ball in last Fridays win over Clarence in the Division... Girls tennis concludes season, finishes eighth in state Teams top doubles pair comes in second place at states The Orchard Park girls tennis team wrapped up an impressive season last month with its top doubles pair playing in... OP teams drop pair of playoff matches Football The OP football team was handed its worst defeat of the 2021 season last Friday when the Quakers took... All-Bee Boys Soccer Amherst schools have lock on First Team honors There is one thing all nine players on the 2021 All-Bee Boys Soccer Team have in common: they all represent... Architects and designers employ ideas at home that might later find a wider audience. A famous case is the dilapidated dwelling in the outskirts of Beaverton that modernist architect Pietro Belluschi bought and renovated for his family to live in during WWII. At the time, Belluschi had already achieved architectural success and national acclaim. In the 1930s, Frank Lloyd Wright, the world's most famous architect, endorsed Belluschi's boldly spare design for the Portland Art Museum. Over his long career, Belluschi envisioned churches with soaring bell towers and image-making corporate headquarters. His skyline-changing 1948 Equitable (now Commonwealth) Building in downtown Portland generated tinted glass-and-aluminum lookalikes across the globe. And yet for his family's home, he chose a modest farmhouse in the country. Instead of erecting a statement residence in the city, he amended a humble house in unincorporated Aloha that had been built around 1915 with rustic Craftsman-style features. In two phases, starting in 1944, Belluschi carefully added and subtracted from the farm's plain structures. He designed a wide roof to connect the house to a two-room shed that stored wood and fruit, and laid concrete on the ground in between. The practical, welcoming loggia -- it was much more than a covered patio -- was perfect for dining outdoors under exposed rafters. He kept the home's original wide-plank Douglas fir floors and most of the simple floor plan, and further relaxed the boundaries between indoor-outdoor spaces by installing unpainted spruce on the walls and ceilings, and tall, well-positioned windows that framed trees and sloping land. The improvements represent some of the hallmarks of the Northwest Regional style that Belluschi and his architectural contemporaries John Yeon and Van Evera Bailey had been introducing to their residential clients and that endear them to modernists today. The rural setting inspired Belluschi to live with nature, not from it. It also provided building materials during wartime scarcity. He used salvaged materials and cedar logs from nearby woods. A carpenter was hired to turn a young maple tree from the farm into legs for dining room furniture and a coffee table. Living here also helped Belluschi sharpen his vision of modern design, freed from what he called "artificial standards," "architectural pretense" and "superficial culture." Belluschi was quoted in The Architectural Forum in 1946 saying he had "become quite attached" to his straightforward farmhouse. The most dramatic changes came when he removed interior walls to create an L-shaped living-dining space that opened to the once-isolated kitchen. Visible from this large, open space is a two-sided fireplace that's elevated 16 inches off the floor, a floating technique seen in modern houses. Belluschi sculpted a smooth hood out of concrete and angled the hearth. "The hearth became a focal point for family and guests," recalled architect Anthony Belluschi, Pietro Belluschi's son, who will talk about his boyhood home, known to historians as the Aloha Farmhouse, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30 at the property, 1080 S.W. 197th Ave. The free event is limited to the first 100 people who RSVP at www.eventbrite.com/e/pietro-belluschi-stories-at-aloha-farmhouse-with-anthony-belluschi-tickets-50135878763 After Sunday's tour, the property and its future will be put up for sale. Kim Allchurch-Flick, of John L. Scott Real Estate is hoping to find a buyer who appreciates history, native materials and a "quaint and comfortable" home that has ample land for "orchards, dogs and chickens." Pietro Belluschi's vision Pietro Belluschi immigrated to the U.S. from Italy with an engineering degree and determination. He attended Cornell University on a scholarship and earned a second degree, in civil engineering. After he arrived in Portland in 1925, he was hired as a draftsman at Albert E. Doyle's prestigious architectural firm. At Doyle's urging, the 28-year-old Belluschi was put in charge of design after Doyle died, and the firm's already illustrious reputation grew. Time magazine reported that Belluschi bought out his partners and opened Pietro Belluschi, Architect in 1943. He operated his busy company out of a remodeled concrete industrial building in Goose Hollow, which was about a 20-minute drive, in those days, from his home in Aloha. Belluschi and his wife, Helen, decided to move out of the family's Council Crest house he designed to a six-acre orchard to raise their young sons, Peter and Anthony. "With his remodel designs, the Aloha Farmhouse became a small size example of my father's vision for Pacific Northwest Modernism," said Anthony Belluschi days before his Sunday talk. "Old photos also show the Scandinavian influences of my mother's Finnish heritage with her choice of rugs, fabrics and decor." Anthony Belluschi was only three when he visited the farmhouse remodeling project. "My father always praised the craftsmanship of local carpenters and builders," he said. "He appreciated the rural-style helpfulness of the neighbors in the area." The house was hidden from the highway by rows of Douglas fir trees. The family harvested apples, pears, cherries and filberts, and the boys would run down to the creek to catch crayfish. More remodeling around 1946 allowed the boys to move out of a converted pantry that had served as their tiny bunk room and into a new wing with two bedrooms and a second bathroom. At this time, a bay bumping out the living room became a study space and the expanded house spanned 1,516 square feet. Belluschi sold the property in 1948 and moved the family to a home in Dunthorpe that he didn't modify and that no longer exists. The small house he built for the family in Council Crest has been enlarged and updated beyond his original, simple design, although some of his concepts survive. The Aloha Farmhouse, however, remains close to the way Belluschi knew it - with some exceptions: Field stones now cover the simple concrete fireplace hood, a neighbor's barn, moved on the land in the 1980s, has a second-story apartment, and the six-acre farm is now less than one acre. Still, the aesthetics, materials and heart of the home are attributed to Belluschi, whom architectural historian Diana Painter calls "Oregon's most renowned 20th century architect." Painter, who owns the consulting company Painter Preservation in Spokane, was the National Register of Historic Places coordinator for Oregon's historic preservation office for five years. She researched and wrote the nomination form that earned the Aloha Farmhouse listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. The time Pietro Belluschi lived in Aloha was "one of the most important and prolific" of his career, according to Painter. In 1951, at the height of his influence, Belluschi turned away from his $150,000-a-year practice to accept a $15,000-a-year academic job as the dean of the school of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While living on the East Coast, he served as a design consultant, partnering with other top architects to refine projects such as New York's 1963 Pan Am (Metlife) Building and 1969 Juilliard School. Belluschi was awarded American Institute of Architects' Gold Medal in 1972, and in 1991, he was the second architect, after I.M. Pei, to receive the National Medal of Arts. An offer from a former client to sell one of Belluschi's earliest Northwest modern residences in Portland's West Hills motivated him to return, in 1973, to the city where his reputation for innovation and elegant buildings began. Pietro Belluschi lived in what's now known as the 1948 Burkes-Belluschi House until he died in 1994 at age 94. Pietro's son, Anthony, now owns the handsome hillside house, with his wife, Marti. On display in the carefully curated home are memories of Anthony's childhood, including some of the paintings by local artists that Anthony's mom hung in the Aloha Farmhouse. --Janet Eastman | 503-799-8739 jeastman@oregonian.com By Neal Katyal Special to The Washington Post Thursday's meeting between Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and President Donald Trump carries the highest of stakes: Besides special counsel Robert Mueller, Rosenstein is the most important person involved in the investigation of the Trump administration's possible ties to Russian interference in the 2016 election. That is by design. The special counsel regulations, which I had the privilege of drafting in 1999, make Rosenstein what corporate mavens call a "key man." If Rosenstein is removed, Trump could very easily cripple the investigation. The president knows it. Trump's attorney, Jay Sekulow, this week called for Solicitor General Noel Francisco, who would probably replace Rosenstein in overseeing Mueller's work if Rosenstein leaves office, to "pause" the investigation and to take "a step back." Which is why Rosenstein should prepare for Thursday by sending Congress, through appropriate channels, a description of the evidence of wrongdoing Mueller has already turned up. There's no way to know what a meeting with the volatile president might bring. And the search for the truth might hinge on what steps Rosenstein takes beforehand. Remember what the special counsel regulations are all about: Our Constitution puts the executive branch in control of prosecutions. That includes all prosecutions, including those of the president himself. The executive acts as the guardian for criminal prosecutions - a design choice that tees up the Platonic question of who will guard the guardians. The special counsel regulations are designed to provide for an independent prosecutor, albeit one who must still ultimately be supervised by the executive branch. The regulations make the attorney general (or, in cases such as the Russia probe in which the attorney general is recused, the deputy attorney general) the supervisor of the investigation. The attorney general and the deputy are the president's people - he nominated them, and they are part of his executive branch. But they are not the president himself, obviously, and they work in the Justice Department, not the White House. The balance struck was delicate. A special counsel such as Mueller would have "day-to-day" independence, but the attorney general could shut down any "investigative or prosecutorial step." That is part of our constitutional design - there was not an appropriate way to totally remove the attorney general from the proceedings. Instead, the best that could be done was to structure the arrangement so that someone like Mueller would have general daily freedom to do what he wanted, but that someone such as Rosenstein could stop him if warranted. Obviously, we wrote the regulations with the fear that one day an attorney general could be more loyal to the president who appointed him than to the rule of law. So we made it hard for the attorney general to stop a special counsel. We set a high threshold for refusing a special counsel determination: It had to be "so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued." And we required the attorney general to notify Congress - both the majority and the minority - if he ever said "no" to a special counsel. By shining a light on the internal actions of the Justice Department, we hoped to incentivize good government. Rosenstein appears to have done exactly what the regulations contemplate. He has let the Mueller investigation unfold, and the consequences have been dramatic. The president's former national security adviser has pleaded guilty to a felony. The former head of his campaign has been convicted by a jury of financial fraud, pleaded guilty to additional charges and will cooperate with Mueller. Twenty-five Russians have been indicted on a charge of attempting to influence the election. The list of achievements is long. All of that has been possible because Rosenstein took the step of naming Mueller as special counsel, and it looks as though Rosenstein has protected the investigation ever since. But we cannot know for sure. That's because the special counsel regulations require the attorney general to report only at the close of the investigation to Congress about any times he said "no" to a special counsel. We wrote them that way on purpose: Interim reports of ongoing cases are generally bad practice, threatening both the investigation and the reputations of individuals without due process. But the downside is that now no one outside the Justice Department has great insight into what Rosenstein has been doing; the public can only infer things from external signs, such as the number of indictments and pleas. In 1999, we anticipated that interim reports to Congress could be made on an as-needed basis, but there is no requirement for them, and it's not clear that Rosenstein has made any (they can be kept secret). What is true for Rosenstein would be true of his replacement, too. The new acting attorney general for purposes of the Russia probe could say "no" to Mueller for years, and no one else would know until the investigation closed. And though we did set a very high legal threshold for interference with a special counsel investigation, the Trump administration has repeatedly shown comfort playing fast and loose with legal rules. In the end, the special counsel regulations are nothing more than what James Madison called a "parchment barrier" - just a piece of paper, dependent on the spirit of the person enforcing it. There are all sorts of ways a Trumpist replacement for Rosenstein could stymie an investigation, ranging from dramatic (firing Mueller outright) to low-key (refusing to provide Congress with any interim reports and simply dragging the investigation out endlessly, without any updates to the public) or even more subtle (starving the budget or depriving Mueller of key personnel). So what to do about it? One option is to pressure Trump to be a little more like Richard Nixon. Whereas Nixonian tendencies ordinarily seem to come pretty spontaneously for the president, Trump here has pointedly not made the same promise that Nixon did in 1974, which is that he and the acting attorney general would not remove the special counsel without the express agreement of both the majority and the minority in Congress. As former Whitewater special prosecutor Kenneth Starr and I argued earlier this year, "If President Trump cannot agree to an investigation modeled on what Richard Nixon agreed to, the question will linger: Just what is he afraid of?" Another option is for Congress to consider passing legislation to protect Mueller and the independence of his investigation. Such legislation has been pending almost as long as the investigation has; unfortunately, so far it looks likely to remain in limbo. But the final choice is for Rosenstein himself. The special counsel regulations did envisage interim reports to Congress in certain circumstances. Nothing in the regulations forbids them, and though there are possible restrictions on grand jury material and the like, there is much information that could be provided. Rosenstein could, right now, tell Congress (or even a small group of members, with appropriate safeguards, including secrecy) what has happened -- what Mueller has learned so far, whether Rosenstein has ever said "no" to Mueller and where the investigation is headed now. Such a move would be unusual, to say the least. But it is a way for Rosenstein to safeguard his legacy. And it could also safeguard the very principle that no one is above the law. Not even the president - and not even this president. -- Neal Katyal is the former acting solicitor general of the United States and presently serves as a partner at Hogan Lovells and the Saunders professor of national security law at Georgetown University. By Leonard Pitts Jr. The Miami Herald Gina Sosa is not impressed by attempted rape. "What boy hasn't done this in high school?" she asks. "Please, I would like to know." Since she asked so nicely, I went on Twitter, looking for men who managed to get out of school without committing attempted rape. Turned out to be pretty easy. I found lots of them. A guy named Phil said: "It was all I could do to get the courage to ask a girl to a movie. The car bench seat next to me was safer than a fallout shelter." A guy named Charles had a similar experience. "I barely committed kissing," he said. This isn't to suggest no high school boy has ever sexually assaulted a girl; that would be stupid. But that word also applies to the question asked by Sosa, a failed congressional candidate from Miami. She was part of a group of Republican women in Florida speaking to CNN last week about an allegation of attempted rape against a 17-year-old named Brett Kavanaugh. He, of course, grew up to be Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court - and to deny the accusation. "What boy hasn't done this?" she says. So she's seriously asking what boy hasn't -- as Kavanaugh allegedly did -- thrown a girl down and pinned her with his weight? What boy hasn't ground himself against a girl while trying to rip off her clothes? What boy hasn't covered a girl's mouth when she tried to scream? Well, I didn't. Nor, if Twitter is to be believed, am I unique. So pardon me if I feel defamed. I've never cared much about defending my gender from criticism. Much of what we receive, whether on issues of unequal pay, male privilege, interrupting women when they talk -- or even that thing about leaving the toilet seat up -- I concede that we deserve. But rapists? Without exception? So enslaved by raging hormones, so helpless before our own sluttishness that sexual assault is just something every woman should expect? No. That is demeaning, insulting, ignorant and wrong. It made me hope Sosa has no sons. Can you imagine having a mother who thinks so little of you? It also made me hope she has no daughters. Can you imagine coming home traumatized, some guy's paw prints all over you, and having Mom tell you to grin and bear it, because boys will be boys? It's true enough that Sosa's words suggest a certain moral obtuseness among Kavanaugh's defenders, so desperate to seat him on the high court that they are willing to minimize and trivialize the crimes alleged against him. But truth is, this obtuseness is unique to no party -- or person. It belongs to us as a nation. It's the reason one woman in six is the victim of an attempted or completed sexual assault, the reason hundreds of thousands of unprocessed rape kits gather dust in warehouses. It is the reason only six of every thousand rapes results in a prison sentence. And it is one reason almost 70 percent of rapes are never reported. Survivors know they won't be believed -- or even taken seriously. We all should find that abhorrent, but not all of us do. Some say the right things about sexual assault, but when it comes time for accountability, they flinch, distorting morality like a funhouse mirror so as to create sympathy for perpetrators while survivors live with guilt and shame. "What boy hasn't done this in high school?" she asks. And though the question is bluntly dismissive, it doesn't spring from nowhere. Rather, it grows from the quietly dismissive way too many of us routinely treat sexual-assault survivors when they are courageous enough to trust us with their pain. Sosa should be ashamed of herself, yes. But she's not the only one. -- Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald. Readers may contact him at lpittsmiamiherald.com. By Ellen Rosenblum In Oregon, we take allegations of sex abuse very seriously. In fact, teenagers who are alleged to have engaged in conduct constituting sexual assault in our state can be tried and convicted as adults -- and ultimately required to register as sex offenders. These are serious matters, especially when they concern a person who aspires to be one of the ultimate arbiters of the Rule of Law in America. As we all know, the court on which Judge Brett Kavanaugh would sit addresses, among many highly charged issues, matters that have significant consequences for the lives of women, especially young women and girls. If the conduct alleged by Prof. Christine Blasey Ford had occurred in Oregon today, Brett Kavanaugh -- though 17 at the time of the alleged abuse -- could very possibly be treated as an adult and charged with crimes of sexual assault and attempted rape of a 15-year-old girl. As to his college classmate Deborah Ramirez' report of his conduct toward her, he could -- as an 18 year old -- be charged with sex abuse in the adult system. As Oregon's first woman Attorney General, and as a former federal prosecutor as well as a former state court trial and appellate judge, I feel compelled to speak out about this. One question rises above all others: Why should we risk the possibility that a sex offender, albeit uncharged, could soon be sitting on the United States Supreme Court, when we have ample means available to conduct a full investigation of the allegations before making that decision? I am a tried and true believer in the Constitution and the Rule of Law. So I see it as a special insult to the gravity and importance of the Supreme Court -- and the lifetime appointments of its members -- to continue to consider this candidate without proper vetting. Otherwise, how could Judge Kavanaugh, and the Court as a whole, ever be credible to the American people? As with so many matters, the Supreme Court has the final say in U.S. Constitution-based legal disputes that involve sexual assault, rape and child abuse, It also considers evidentiary issues such as eye-witness identification, the admissibility of certain other types of evidence unique to rape and sexual assault cases, and sentencing issues like "second look" for youth in the juvenile justice system. These decisions have a ripple effect throughout our criminal and civil justice systems, impacting the rights of the accused, victims and survivors. It is well-established that the Senate Judiciary Committee prevented us from learning all the truth about Judge Kavanaugh by denying access to many of the records of his life when he served as a political operative in the George W. Bush White House. Even worse, rather than asking the FBI for a supplemental investigation when new allegations surfaced last week, committee members instead sought to rush his confirmation through. This type of gamesmanship might be usual fare in Congress, but it's intolerable when it concerns a lifetime appointment to our highest court -- to say nothing of the possible impact on the dignity of women and girls for generations to come. I sincerely hope that after hearing from the courageous women coming forward with their stories of Brett Kavanaugh, the committee will come to its senses and either postpone the vote until a full independent investigation of these incidents is conducted, or simply vote no and move on to a nominee who does not carry such deep and unfixable character flaws. -- Ellen Rosenblum has served as Oregon's Attorney General since 2012. I would not presume I know what it's like to be a woman subjected to sexual violence. But I'd like to offer my experience to those suspicious Christine Blasey Ford waited more than 30 years to publicize her accusations against Brett Kavanaugh. This year is the 35th reunion of my prep school class. During school, I was brutally taunted because of my cleft lip. A few weeks ago, I sent a message to my classmates, recounting the ugliest experiences and calling out the cruelest classmates by name. It took me so long for many reasons. One prefers to leave painful events in the past and not relive them. One feels shame and disappointment for not standing up at the time. The response to confronting past tormentors is an open question: whether doing so is an invitation for more ugliness and cruelty. It took me 35 years, and I didn't even experience the horror of having my body violated by people more physically powerful. As for people like Sen. Orrin Hatch, who said Ford must be "mixed up," and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who insists she cannot possibly have a clear memory of something that happened long ago, I remember the things said to me during school as clearly as if it were yesterday. Ford alleges after Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams, she said she was afraid that "he might inadvertently kill me." I have no doubt that, having been placed in literal fear for her life, her memories are even more vivid than mine. I believe Ford. -- Eric Meyer, Lake Oswego Share your opinion Fired up? ! Submit 250 words or less and please include your first and last name, hometown and a phone number for verification. But her boss says Rachel Mitchell is a hard-hitting attorney who is used to handling high-profile cases and is one of the few prosecutors in the country with a deep understanding of working with sexual abuse victims. Mitchell, a Republican, was expected to question Kavanaugh and the first woman to accuse him of sexual misconduct at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh drunkenly assaulted her when they were teenagers has raised a political storm in the #MeToo era and the GOP's all-male presence on the panel made some want a woman to question Ford. Mitchell is chief of the Special Victims Division in the Maricopa County attorney's office in Phoenix. She supervises attorneys who handle cases involving child molestation, sexual assault and computer crimes against children in Arizona's most populous county. "She is about evidence-based approaches and isn't an activist on one side or the other," said Matt Long, a private Phoenix attorney who once worked for Mitchell and now handles sex abuse cases. "She is rare: a career prosecutor who is bound to issues rather than politics." But, he added: "There is nothing in this process to make me comfortable that this process is about fairness, truth and evidence." Arizona defense attorney David Michael Cantor said the choice of a longtime sex-crimes prosecutor to question Kavanaugh and his accuser was "ironic." "If she gives him a pass, if she doesn't dig down and get the guy to squirm, it could hurt her reputation," said Cantor, who runs the Phoenix law firm DM Cantor. "But if she grills both of them equally, she'll be a superstar." Mitchell has not responded to requests for comment sent through the county attorney's office. Since Ford came forward, allegations from two other women have emerged, but Republicans have not announced any plans to focus Thursday's session on those claims. Kavanaugh has denied all the accusations. Rick Romley, the former top county prosecutor in metro Phoenix who was once Mitchell's boss, praised her for a career devoted to helping victims. But he said that if Mitchell had asked him, he would have recommended she not take the assignment because an investigation hasn't been conducted into the allegations and Mitchell hasn't been given much time to prepare for the hearing. "It's a recipe for disaster," Romley said. He also noted that she's not a politician and will now be in the spotlight: "It can throw your game off." Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Mitchell's current boss, doesn't share those concerns. "She has been doing that her entire career," Montgomery said. "This is a different setting. But this isn't much different than what she has had to work with." Mitchell was part of the team of prosecutors who pressed cases against Catholic priests in a sex abuse scandal about 15 years ago in Phoenix. She also was among the prosecutors who examined some of the hundreds of sex-crime cases botched by then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office over a three-year period ending in 2007 to determine whether any could be salvaged and taken to court. Mitchell also has helped train psychologists, medical professionals, forensic interviewers and detectives in sex-crimes issues. Montgomery said he wasn't shocked when he got a call Saturday from two Judiciary Committee staffers inquiring about Mitchell's background, availability and qualifications. He said it was the first time he heard about the possibility of her participating in the Kavanaugh hearing. Montgomery said he didn't talk with anyone in Washington about picking Mitchell for the job before that. She is among a small number of prosecutors nationwide who deeply understands working with sexual abuse victims, so it isn't surprising her name popped up in connection with the Kavanaugh hearing, he said. "This could have been nothing more than seeking someone with the right kind of professional qualifications, and they found them," Montgomery added. Mitchell "has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity," committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said in a statement Tuesday. Mitchell helped create the first-ever sex-crimes protocol for the county attorney office's that was introduced last year. It will ensure prosecutors have a guide "so that we can do the best we can for victims," Mitchell told a local NPR station in January. "It's always hard to know which victims were not victims or which people were not victims because your system worked," Mitchell told Phoenix radio station KJZZ. Tasha Menaker of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual Violence said she worked with Mitchell for three years on the protocol and found her to be "very experienced, intelligent, detail oriented and very straightforward." The Associated Press A 28-year-old Oregon man who fell asleep while driving, crashed the family car, then abandoned his two young children and his injured girlfriend trapped inside isn't guilty of criminal mistreatment, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. That's because Joseph Charles Long left them in the care of a stranger -- another driver who witnessed the May 2014 accident and came running to their aid, the Appeals Court said. The witness reported that he'd seen Long veer off the road, hit a utility pole and then bounce back onto the shoulder of the road. The Good Samaritan tried to help Long free his girlfriend, who suffered a broken arm, but they couldn't get her out of the car, according to an Appeals Court summary of the case. That's when Long exclaimed: "You call 911, I'm running. I have a bench warrant out for my arrest," according to the summary. Long then ran across the Coos County road and off into some trees. The ruling means that when Long is resentenced, he has a good chance of getting three years taken off the seven-years-plus sentence he's now serving. His convictions for third-degree assault, hit-and-run driving, reckless driving, recklessly endangering another person and second-degree criminal mischief still stand. The Appeals Court ruled that Coos County Circuit Judge Martin Stone should have dismissed two first-degree criminal mistreatment charges against Long for leaving his children unattended long enough to endanger their health and welfare. Long contended that the children werent alone -- because his injured girlfriend was still there and so was the Good Samaritan. But the prosecution argued that Longs girlfriend was in no condition to care for the children and the Good Samaritan had no legal obligation to watch the children and had expressed no willingness to do so. The prosecution also contended that although the children were still in their car seats and uninjured, the car came to a rest on the shoulder of the road and was in danger of being hit by approaching cars. The court summary doesnt list the childrens ages, but describes them as infants. The Appeals Court sided with Long, noting that the Good Samaritan did, in fact, stick around for emergency responders to arrive. Its unclear why Long, now 32, said he had a warrant and ran. But court records show he had previously been convicted nine times of driving with a suspended license, most recently about two months before the crash. He also has convictions for possession of a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Long lived up and down a small stretch of the Oregon coast in the years before the crash, including in Winchester Bay, Coos Bay and Lakeside. The Appeals Court ruling was made by a three-judge panel: Darleen Ortega, James Egan and Erin Lagesen. Read the opinion here. -- Aimee Green A man identified in court as "John Doe,'' accused of presenting someone else's birth certificate and driver's license to get a U.S. passport, won release from jail Wednesday while he awaits trial on aggravated identity theft even though prosecutors don't know who he is. How is that possible? It took two days of hearings in federal court in Portland to sort it out sort of. On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Kerin objected to the man's release, saying the government hasn't been able to verify his true name. Booked into jail as Augustin Contreras, 41. "Mr. John Doe'' in court. "He could be wanted in four states for all we know,'' Kerin told U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman. Wouldn't his fingerprints reveal if he has a criminal history? the judge asked. Only if he's been convicted of a crime, Kerin said, not if he's wanted on an arrest warrant. Defense lawyer Conor Huseby said he was reluctant to provide his client's name, citing the man's Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. The defendant has entered not guilty pleas to a two-count indictment charging him with aggravated identity theft and making false statements in a passport application. "We can't prove the government's case for them,'' Huseby said. The defendant turned himself in, Huseby pointed out. His long-term girlfriend was interviewed by federal authorities and he has four children who are U.S. citizens, Huseby said. The indictment identifies John Doe by an alias of Augustin Contreras, a name he apparently has used for at least a decade, according to court testimony. He's also booked into Multnomah County's Inverness Jail as Augustin Contreras, 41, on the federal hold. The man's girlfriend initially told authorities that she hadn't seen him in several years, but then changed her story, Kerin said. The woman later provided federal agents with a different name, Celilio Beltran-Leon. But Kerin said: "I don't have anything that suggests he's that person'' either. A probation officer recommended the defendant present pretrial release officers with some documentation under seal to confirm his identity. That means the prosecutor doesn't get to see the papers. Huseby agreed to provide a birth certificate or other document only under seal, stressing, "I just can't turn it over to the government, which can use it in trial.'' And that's what Huseby did. On Wednesday, all parties returned to court. The judge continued to refer to the man as "Mr. Doe.'' Kerin said prosecutors "still continue to be troubled by the fact we don't know who he is.'' She's said she's concerned the man may flee if released. As to whether he's a danger to the community, Kerin said she didn't have enough information "since we don't know who he is.'' If he were to be released, Kerin urged the court to require he be placed on GPS monitoring. Huseby said the material provided to officers with pretrial services established that his client has a stable home, has lived in Oregon for 17 years and has four young children. His client faced a similar prosecution in 2002 in state court and showed up for his court appearances, Huseby said. At the time, the defendant was prosecuted under the name Augustin Contreras in Marion County Circuit Court and found guilty of possessing a forged instrument and a forgery device. The judge said she understood the prosecution's concerns that the government hasn't been able to confirm the man's identity with "100 percent certainty.'' But Beckerman said she was convinced he wouldn't flee and that GPS monitoring wasn't warranted. There was no allegation that the defendant wanted a passport to commit another crime, the judge noted. She ordered his release pending trial, tentatively set for Nov. 26. -- Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian A Gresham man ordered in 2016 to stay away from his two young sons gained custody of an older third son at the recommendation of Oregon's child welfare agency last fall and quickly made the 7-year-old his "sparring partner," court records show. The boy limped onto his school bus in such visible pain one February morning that the driver alerted school officials. Eventually, the boy disclosed that his father slapped his head, smacked his hands, whipped his back and legs with a belt and forced him to run in his pajamas through their snowy backyard, police records say. He fell. Every time he tried to get up, the boy said, his dad pushed him back to the ground. The father, Robert A. Lamb, is facing six felony charges: three counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and three counts of third-degree assault. The Department of Human Services is facing a $1.5 million lawsuit brought on the boy's behalf. The lawsuit, filed in August, contends the agency should never have sent the boy to live with his father. Background checks should have turned up the man's his violent past, which includes a 2016 restraining order involving his other children and a 2008 conviction for strangling his girlfriend. Child welfare workers never place children in homes before checking into a caregiver's Oregon criminal history, Department of Human Services spokeswoman Christine Stone said. The agency processes huge numbers of background checks, and its handling of them came up at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Fariborz Pakseresht, the agency's top official, told lawmakers that his agency has made progress in processing background checks more quickly as part of a massive turnaround campaign launched at the agency last year. The average time for the agency's background check unit to complete a check is now one month, down from a month and a half at the start of 2018. Agency officials expect to fully clear out a "queue" of 15,000 unprocessed requests by the end of the year, he said. They have hired 24 additional workers to help with the task and will hire six more soon. After workers in the agency's background check unit look into criminal histories, case workers "make the final fitness determination" regarding the placement of children with caregivers who have been vetted, according to a handout the agency provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Robert Lamb The Gresham father's history of domestic violence dates back at least 17 years in Oregon and Washington. Two former partners said Lamb threatened to kill them and obtained restraining orders against him. Court filings from those cases say the man struggled with substance abuse and mental health. Oregon administrative rules prohibit the agency from approving a foster caregiver who has ever been convicted of abuse against a child or spouse. Overriding the rules requires sign off from a high-ranking official. The Gresham father was convicted of strangling his girlfriend, and it's unclear whether the rules intend for all intimate partners to be covered under the term "spouse." It's also unclear whether he would have been subjected to such a stringent disqualification standard since he was the boy's biological parent. A criminal history that might disqualify a foster caregiver "must be assessed prior to placing a child," Stone said in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. She said requests for background checks for foster care placements are bumped to the top of the request list. If a child is placed after business hours, the agency can still check the person's history in the state law enforcement database. Stone did not answer questions regarding how the agency weighs abuse convictions of an intimate partner or abuse allegations in restraining orders. When children are removed from one parent's custody and another parent or parents want to be part of the children's lives, caseworkers must scrutinize their criminal backgrounds, child welfare history, living situations and behaviors for any red flags that could place children at risk. They must weigh what they find to decide whether the child would be safe in that parent's home. Lamb did not have a relationship with his son before the state placed the boy in his care in September 2017, the lawsuit says. The boy lived with his 44-year-old dad for five months before the bus driver noticed his injuries. The boy told his principal later at school that the bruises from his father's blows made it hurt to sit. He also said that he couldn't make his pinky finger point straight since his father smashed it with a spatula. His father was arrested 10 days later. A message left at a phone number provided by Lamb to court officials was not returned Wednesday. Lamb told court officials that he had four children with three different women. He does not share the same last name with the son that the state placed in his home. The first allegations of abuse surfaced when his oldest child was 1 . He had lived with the mother of the girl in Vancouver, Washington. She said in court filings that he had abused her for two years and berated her two older children who had a different father. "What scares me the most is that my kids see it," she wrote in her 2002 request for a restraining order. Lamb was convicted of assault in Washington the same year, according to Oregon court records, but details of the case are not available. He pleaded no contest in 2008 to strangling and assaulting a different girlfriend in Portland. She wrote in her restraining order petition that he had punched and kicked her and her dogs. When police arrested him, he said he would return to kill them all, she wrote. The mother of his younger sons obtained a restraining order against him in June 2016 and filed for divorce that September. In her petition for a restraining order, she described multiple episodes of violence that started a year after they married in 2011. Twice, they involved their infant son. She said he threatened to kidnap the baby and beat her repeatedly over the course of two days in November 2012. One year later, he pushed her and caused her to fall over their son's car seat, knocking their son to the floor. In spring 2016, he became angry as the couple argued in a car, she wrote. "He said, 'That's it. I'm making the call. You're dead.'" She said he abused alcohol and prescription pills. "He has repeatedly hurt me physically during our relationship, as well as our sons and my daughter, and has threatened to hurt me or my kids repeatedly as well," she wrote. She also told the divorce judge that she was afraid of him. She filed a motion that said he had abused her and the three children in the home, including her daughter from a previous relationship who was disabled. "I am responsibly fearful for the safety of our children." Lamb never appeared to object to any restraining order or divorce filings. He also never took part in parenting classes that divorcing parents are required to complete, court records say. But during the divorce, his wife asked to drop the restraining order, because she said he had made strides by attending therapy. A judge granted her request in October 2016. His ex-wife told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she soon regretted the request and has not allowed her ex-husband to see their children since early 2017. She said no one from the Department of Human Services ever called to ask whether she believed her sons' brother would be safe in the care of their father. Lamb had moved in with a roommate after the couple separated, according to the court files. His 7-year-old was placed with him in September 2017 after the boy's mother was arrested on charges of theft and meth possession. "Chip off the old block!!" Lamb wrote in October alongside a photo of the two of them posted on a public Facebook profile with his same name. The boy later told police that his father spanked him with a belt for not brushing his teeth and hit his hands with a spatula when he did jumping jacks incorrectly. The lawsuit contends child welfare workers didn't make sure the boy was safe in his father's care. The boy allegedly suffered serious injuries and emotional trauma as a result of what happened. It was the boy's principal who ultimately tipped case workers off to his abuse, according to court files. He was immediately taken from his father's custody. His father told police that he was a "third-degree black belt" with a 26-4 record, the court records say. He said he was trying to "toughen" the boy up with taekwondo and jiu jitsu punches, kicks and strikes. "He demonstrated his moves for the detective, to include one move that was a kick to the lower body of his opponent," Deputy District Attorney Amber Kinney wrote in the probable cause affidavit. "The defendant said he knew he injured (his son), but that (his son) had injured him, as well," Kinney wrote. Court records say Lamb is 5'10" and 230 pounds. He was arrested March 5 and released the next day. A warrant is now out for his arrest because he never showed up for a May 20 court hearing. The boy is still in foster care. -- Molly Young myoung@oregonian.com We're number one! In people failing drugs test for weed! According to a report from the Drug Testing Index, Oregon has a higher percentage of workplace drug tests that are positive for marijuana than any other state in the country. Feeling proud? You're about to feel prouder because this is the third year in a row that Oregon has achieved this honor. According to the index, culled from more than 10 million drug tests administered at workplaces throughout the country, a whopping 4.64 percent of Oregon's workplace drug tests in 2017 were positive for pot. That's up from 2016's 4.5 percent and 2015's 3.43 percent. That means the trend is going up. So. Hmm. What happened in 2015? Oh! It was July 15 when recreational cannabis went on sale for everyone over the age of 21! Still, other states with legal recreational cannabis land further down on the list. Massachusetts came in at number three with 3.56 percent of tests coming back as positive, Washington was sixth with 3.18 percent and Nevada and Colorado were eight and 10, both with just under 3 percent. Oregon's enthusiastic cannabis consumption might be turning into an issue for the state's employers. "One labor issue that continues to crop up is drug testing," state economists told Willamette Week earlier this year. "At least anecdotally, more firms are reporting trouble finding workers who can pass a drug test." Some companies are opting to drop the THC part of a drug testing altogether, according to a report from The Denver Post. But, don't forget, in Oregon, even though weed is legal, employers can still test employees for it and fire them, or decline to hire them, if they test positive. A bill to ban employers from firing employees for off-duty cannabis use died in the Oregon Senate in 2017. Maybe someday this will change, but for now, don't be surprised if a prospective employer asks you to pee in a cup and then isn't cool with your before-bed edible habit. -- Lizzy Acker 503-221-8052 lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker Express Yourself Artshop, Do-Art of Bay City and VSA Michigan will pool their talents in an exhibition and showcase that opens at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28. The exhibit features art, music, acting, dance performances and even Artshop's culinary talents. Everyone is welcome. There is no charge. The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University was awarded a $79,148 Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The institute announced grants for 133 museum projects totaling $19,931,618. The museums were selected from 472 applications requesting a total of $70,286,279 and were awarded through the highly competitive Museums for America program. The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum will restore 25 of 129 life figure drawings in its collection that have been identified as highest priority due to their fragile condition and curatorial importance. Following conservation treatment by experts at the Midwest Art Conservation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the drawings will be digitized and made available online. Additionally, the museum will mount an exhibition of these works in January 2021 that will also be available for travel nationally and internationally. Staff will measure the impact of the project by evaluating the number of researchers who access the collection in person and online and track the number of individuals who visit the resulting exhibition. "As centers of learning and catalysts of community change, libraries and museums connect people with programs, services, collections, information, and new ideas in the arts, sciences, and humanities. They serve as vital spaces where people can connect with each other," said IMLS Director Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew. "IMLS is proud to support their work through our grant making as they inform and inspire all in their communities." "We are honored to receive this grant from the IMLS which will allow the museum to preserve and ensure access to 25 artistically and historically significant life figure drawings," said Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Archivist Melissa Ford. "This project will enable Marshall Fredericks' life figure drawings to be made available for research and exhibition for the first time and will create a valuable new resource for artists, students, researchers and the public who are seeking to learn about sculpture and the artistic process, public art, and Fredericks' life and works." A 25-year lease between Midland County and the Midland County Fair Board expires in about four years. However, an opportunity for state grants and upcoming renovations led County Fair Manager Trish Steele to appear before the Midland County Board Administration and Operations Committee on Tuesday. In May, Steele appeared before the entire board of commissioners to lay out a master plan for the next 15 years. The plan focuses on infrastructure, education and engagement, with the major priority being the creation of a new equestrian facility. But, before embarking on those priorities, the fair board would like assurance of an extended contract beyond the four years. "We want to be sure that the (fair) will be able to use the property long-term if we invest in it now and if we invest in it in the future. We've done significant electrical upgrades. Basically, the money we are making, we are investing in the facility," Steele said. Plus, negotiating long-term contracts becomes a concern if the negotiated contract would outlast the current lease agreement. "Some of the options in an agreement may include auto renewals and the term (of the contract) would be longer than four years," Steele said. Every other year, the fair board has the opportunity to apply for capital improvement grants from the Michigan Department of Agriculture. "They instituted a new rule this year," Steele said. "For fairs to be able to apply for a grant you have to demonstrate five years or more on your lease." In both 2015 and 2017, the Midland County Fair has been a recipient of $20,000 in matching grants. "We are eligible in January 2019 to submit again," Steele said. "But now they have raised it up to $40,000 in a matching grant fund. If we can't demonstrate even a short-term extension to five years, we can't even apply for it." Those grants need to be submitted to the state during February 2019, hence the request for negotiations of a new lease. Commissioners were hesitant to pursue another 25-year lease. But, they seemed receptive to a short-term renewal or even a 15-year contract. Also, in an effort to aid with fundraising the Midland Fair Board recently established an organizational endowment fund at the Midland Area Community Foundation. "The establishment of the endowment fund is good for our community. We are pleased to invest in the foundation and drive benefits for our organization well into the future," Fair Board President Margaret Wegner said. Individuals or businesses interested in donating to the Midland Fair endowment fund can send donations to the Midland Area Community Foundation, 76 Ashman Circle, Midland, MI 48640. A note should be included that funds are to go to Fund No. 160, or the Midland Fairgrounds Endowment Fund. Online donations are accepted at www.midlandfoundation.org and can be designated to Fund No. 160. Children and adults alike took part in many activities Saturday during the Gladwin Rural Urban Fire Department re-dedication. Gladwin Fire Chief George Alward thanked the community and the fire board for the new roof, new skin, new windows, insulation, new utilities and freshly painted doors at the department. "There is a great look to the building now," Alward said. "Taxpayers, God bless you for the support in everything we do." Firefighter and chaplain David Sprang offered a prayer at the re-dedication. He asked that the fire department be a "comfort and beacon of hope to the community." The renovation idea was tossed around when the fire department at 701 E. Cedar Ave., built in 1976, began showing its age. FED Design/Builders of Gladwin did the renovations for an estimated $350,000. Gladwin Assistant Fire Chief Greg Alward said the improvements were needed, especially when looking at the top-notch equipment the department houses. Alward said the improvements included enhanced lighting outside of the building. "It is great security. You can actually see what you are doing out there now," he said. "You can even read a newspaper at night out there." "FED did a tremendous job on this building," said George Alward. The fire board hopes to add EMS to the roster on the building. EMS is renting space in the building. "Having the ambulance here saves time and money," George Alward said. George Alward was pleased with the turnout. "I'm impressed with all the people who came," he said. Those attending enjoyed seeing the fleet of fire trucks, a Department of Natuaral Resources Marsh Master, Sparky the mascot, a bounce house, a Jaws of Life demonstration and spraying a fire hose. The Department of Natural Resources' Dennis Bebe, who is also a Gladwin firefighter, brought the Marsh Master. "It was really a lot of fun," said Henry Oard, of Gladwin. "It means so much that the fire department gives back to the community and the building is beautiful." Ole Niepel, 2, of Hamburg, Germany, was thrilled to sit in the fire trucks. He tried out every one of them. His parents, Jan and Stefanie, were visiting relatives in Michigan and were passing by the fire station when they saw all the trucks. "He is obsessed with fire trucks," Jan said of his son. The public's right to walk on Michigan beaches, despite various court rulings through the decades, remains a bit unsettled in some people's perceptions. Every few years, it seems, a local problem steps up and kicks authorities in the shin, seeking a fresh look at the century-old issue. Leland Township is the site of the latest related conflict. A shoreline property owner is upset by continuing problems with members of the public trespassing on his private property, which is adjacent to the county-owned West Reynolds Street public road-end. The landowner describes on-going problems with litterers and vandals. He takes no issue with the public's right to walk on public land. He's just upset that some folks go out of bounds and end up on his property. Most landowners respect the public's right to shore use, even though that means they enjoy a bit less privacy than residents of non-shore locations. That's just reality when you live on the shore. But respect in an ideal world goes both ways. Every member of the public should respect the rights of private property owners. There's no excuse (except an emergency) for trespassing. There's no excuse for littering on either private or public land. There's no excuse for vandalizing anything anywhere. Those all are bad behaviors. They're all against the law. Beaches and public lands by their very nature carry a two-edged sword. We value them because they're accessible to all and give us a place to breath freely and enjoy nature. But because beaches are relatively off the grid, people who misbehave -- leave broken glass in the sand, knock down a signpost or do something else disrespectful -- usually have moved on by the time the problem is discovered. Park rangers and county workers know part of their job is to clean up after those bad actors. They grit their teeth when they find a stretch of sand strewn with hamburger wrappers and soda cups. They grunt in anger when they discover a sign has been vandalized. It's par for the course for public employees. The situation is different for property owners. We all expect that our right to be safe and secure in our homes won't be disturbed. People who own shore property know that everyone has access. But landowners expect that those users -- perhaps after lingering a moment to gaze dreamily at the sunset or dipping a toe in the water -- will move on. They certainly don't expect those strangers to toss litter on their lawn, no more than a downtown Traverse City resident would expect a pedestrian to drop garbage on their front yard. We live in an imperfect world. Most of us respect the rights of our neighbors. But there always will be a few folks who don't. It's a particular shame when they encroach on private property. Authorities do what they can to make it clear where public land transitions to private holdings. Leland Township installed signs at the West Reynolds Street road-end to show exactly where the public land ends. But some people apparently don't see the signs, don't understand them, or simply ignore the message. Society still is searching for the best way to deal with those few members of the public who don't respect others -- and don't think. -- Traverse City Record-Eagle To the editor: Sarah Schulz represents decency and civility in her life and political thinking. She has shown through her words and actions that she will work hard to represent everyone in the 98th, listening to all her constituents, rather than ignoring or silencing the voices of those who may disagree on issues. She has raised more campaign dollars than her opponent, almost all from individuals in the district, and will endeavor to serve all community members in contrast to her opponent who is funded by special interests including the DeVos family, the Chatfield Majority Fund, and The Dow Chemical Co. Schulz grew up in Flint, attended public schools and obtained degrees from Michigan State University. Her children attend our public schools and her husband has been a public-school teacher for 18 years. She has watched the same local news covering Bay City, Saginaw, Midland and Flint for her entire life. She certainly knows a lot about our area and its people, especially since five generations of Sarahs family have lived in Mid-Michigan and owned lake property here since the 1960s. Yes, she lived and worked in New York for five years after graduating from college, but she came home. She is an executive leader in human resources for a nonprofit organization with outstanding people skills, which will enable her to work with different types of people with different beliefs, without judging them. She can show us all what cooperation and compromise look like. The choice in this election could not be clearer. There are so many issues: education, jobs, living wage, health care, roads, environment, and protecting Medicaid and Medicare for all Michigan citizens. Please check out Sarahs webpage sarah4mI.org to further understand where she stands. Join me in voting for Sarah Schulz on Nov. 6. CAROL HARRIS BULLER Midland Mexico City is layered. And I mean that literally, as the modern city sits atop an Aztec city that was once the biggest and most vibrant in the pre-Columbian Americas, and all of it is sitting atop the remnants of Lake Texcoco, which was drained in the 17th century (a situation with serious present-day ramifications as there is now a massive metropolis in a seismically active region sitting on a lake bed). I also mean layered culturally, as it has a vast diversity of people and influences and traditions. The surface never tells the whole story (even street murals can be dialogues, with multiple artists painting over each others work in a kind of call and response). Walk through a door from the street and youll find yourself, not inside a building but surrounded by trees in a three-story courtyard. Sometimes you can walk through, say, a refrigerator door, and find yourself in a swanky nightspot disguised to the casual eye to be a rustic taco joint. You cannot apprehend anything in this town with a casual look. There is almost always something youre not seeing. As to how your vision and discernment might be affected by the fact that you had an extensive tequila tasting at lunch? I can make arguments for it being an inhibitor, or an enhancement. Lets not go there and just say that our subject of study in this case was Milagro and that the bottle Id give to a tequila nerd as a gift is the Select Barrel Reserve Reposado, which has a beautiful bottle with a glass agave plant growing out of the bottom, a lovely straw-gold color and a silky, very sippable character (layered, if you will: Citrusy, spicy, woodsy, with traces of vanilla, resinous herbs, honeycomb and something that just registers as agave). That said, the silvers and anejos are also very much worth your time. Lets start with the fact that one of the best bars in town (in the eyes of some, one of the best in the world) is in one of the places youd least expect: The Four Seasons. Not that I have anything against The Four Seasons, they have some stunning properties and Mexico City is no exception-but honestly, a lot of the time there are bars, and then there are hotel bars. But wandering into Fifty Mils expecting a hotel bar will set you up-well, honestly, itll set you up to have your hair blown back so maybe you should stop reading this so you dont spoil the surprise. Fifty Mils is beautiful, eclectic, both sleek and cozy, with an intimate atmosphere, elegant decor and most importantly, absolutely delicious cocktails. Its a barmans bar where internationally known mixologists frequently drop in for a guest stint, but if you dont happen to be an insider in the ranks of elite mixologists, believe me, you will not feel out of your depth, youll just be psyched by what you were served. Standouts included an oh my God I want six of these pina colada riff that included Milagro Silver tequila, sparkling wine and fresh coconut cream, and a drink called Billy the Kid that looks like some kind of Dark Arts mug of steaming cocoa from a distance, but is actually bourbon, vodka, caramel tea, lemon, cinnamon, saffron and bitters served on a charred wood plank thats been torched so it arrives smoking (and filling the room with an unbelievable toasted marshmallow scent). Its balanced as a prima ballerina and absolutely decadent. Hidden in less-than-plain-sight are an upwelling of speakeasies-not just in Mexico City, to be sure, but there are some pretty awesome ones here. Hanky Panky in the La Juarez neighborhood is perfect for anyone in need of insider thrill factor, as its by reservation only and hidden behind a slightly decrepit looking taqueria. Walk into the storage closet and youll find yourself in a jam-packed and enthusiastic crowd of Beautifuls being fed beautiful drinks by some absurdly beautiful bar-deities. One of my companions and I got arguably more altered by the mesmerizing hand movements of our mixologist than by the palomas and tequila Manhattans he was serving (Im normally a bit of a Manhattan purist, but my friends allegiance to Milagro proved influential and as it turns out their reposado is a damn fine variant on bourbon). Should you find you are too much under the influence of the reposado or the sexy sexy hands of the bartender, Hanky Panky will happily help you sober up with a plate of bracingly spicy tacos al pastor, which you will probably need because Mexico City is not a sleepy town and if you feel like drinking until sunrise it is easily accomplished. For example, you might head to Maison Artemisia in the Roma del Norte area, where youll find a lot of expats and visitors and what I believe scientists term a crap-ton of absinthe. (Artemesia is the genus name for the group of shrubs that includes wormwood, credited with giving absinthe that certain je-ne-sais-craycray.) Now, personally, I learned the hard way at a certain writers conference that when its the end of the evening and your wingman is about to say Well, Im heading back to my hotel, wanna share a cab? and instead says Hey, look, this bar has absinthe! I specifically need to not drink absinthe. You might be different. But when youre in Mexico City and your wingman is a Milagro evangelist hey, thats different. Ask whoevers pouring to make you something with that and youre unlikely to be disappointed because honestly its really good stuff. Traditional but fresh, malleable, unpretentious, expressive. A lot like the city, actually. If youre of a more mystical bent, your night-spot is Xaman. This bar unfolds from an unprepossessing front to a deliciously spooky little universe of its own, wreathed in incense smoke, full of trance-inducing music and walled with plants in bell jars. Here youll find some seriously mind-bending cocktails crafted from ingredients ranging from the conventional to the eclectic to this was conventional 1000 years ago. Presentation is super-artsy and leans heavily into ancient motifs, scrolling curls of smoke and mysterious garnishes (I do not recommend biting into those moringa seeds. Theyre wickedly bitter and it stays with you the rest of the night, and as I said, it might end up being a long night.) If Mayan Medicine were an elective at Hogwarts, this is what the lab would look like. It is seriously transporting and thats before you start downing the painstakingly crafted drinks. If you look at an agave plant, youll see an expression of the Fibonacci number sequence, the mathematical expression of the Golden Mean. Its not unique to agaves: You can see a similar spiral growth pattern in rose petals and pine cones, pineapples and palm trees. Its a strategy for packing density that maximizes photosynthesis by giving each leaf optimal exposure to sunlight. (Plants are smart.) And there is something really eloquent about that fundamental design, one leaf growing in response to the one before it, elaborating, twisting. Layered. The transformation of a plant to a spirit entails all the senses of the word spirit, really. Terroir is what we call spirit of place, in which what we mean is essence or soul. The words original meaning is breath, and by extension, life. Spirit in the sense of alcoholic distillate comes from the language of alchemy, and the transformative process that turns a plant into a liquor is probably as close to alchemy as anything really is. Yes, I did get all that from a tequila-powered bar crawl through Mexico City. Tradition, and innovation. Antique and nouveau. Aztec and Spanish and Deco and Modern. Pattern and variation. Matter and spirit, mythic and kitschy and folksy and Baroque in a constant conversation (in the space of 24 hours I attended a Lucha Libre match-no, you may not borrow my hot-pink mask-and had a humbling birds-eye view of the Independence Day festivities in the Zocalo-yes, we did get ashes in our eyes because we were that close to the fireworks.) The place is epic. Parts of the city are sinking right now (to circle back to that thing about piling metropolises onto ex-lakes in a seismically feisty zone) but if pure spirit could hold a city up, it would be one of the most buoyant places on earth. Um, especially if that spirit were tequila. As it is, large amounts of Essence of Agave and suddenly shifting sidewalks are a potentially perilous combination so dont wander into a crowd staring at your phone. Put the thing away and literally and figuratively drink in the fact that you and the ground youre standing on are both very much alive. Then go get a cocktail. Want to recreate a little of Mexico Citys cocktail buzz at home? Try this spicy version of the Paloma. Spicy Milagro Paloma recipe by Jaime Salas, National Milagro Ambassador Ingredients 1.5 oz. Milagro Reposado .5 oz. Ancho Reyes .5 oz. Fresh lime juice 3 oz. Grapefruit soda Grapefruit wheel for garnish Directions: Using a lime wedge, wet the rim of a collins glass and salt half the rim. Add ice, Milagro Reposado, Ancho Reyes and grapefruit soda. Squeeze a wedge of lime and discard. Garnish with a thin grapefruit wheel. Berger keeps record streak going with seventh consecutive Stock Contractor of the Year award and 11th overall Chad Berger hauled a PBR-best 17 bulls to the 2021 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas, capping off another year in which the top bull riders in the voted him Stock Contractor of the Year. Report a digital subscription issue If you are being blocked from reading Subscriber Exclusive content, first confirm you are logged in using the account with which you subscribed. If you are still experiencing issues, please describe the problem below and we will be happy to assist you. Submit Much of the nation' attention has been gripped today by the Senate Judiciary Committee that has been hearing testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who says she was sexually assaulted by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when they were both teens. Her testimony has inspired many to tweet support for sexual assault victims. Among those moved to do so was Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and a handful of other Pennsylvania Democrats. In Pennsylvania and across the nation, we are having an important conversation about sexual assault. Many survivors have bravely shared very painful experiences. We must #BelieveSurvivors, support them, and treat them with respect. pic.twitter.com/HWV0kK2GEu Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) September 27, 2018 Attorney General Joshua Shapiro did not mention Ford or reference the committee hearing, but about noon Tweeted the following message: Any survivor who exercises the courage to come up and speak their truth deserves to be heard, to be respected - to be defended. Anything less is a disservice to our American ideals. AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) September 27, 2018 Pennsylvania Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm was among the earliest to tweet words of encouragement to Ford: This is what strength, resolve and unwavering courage looks like. Take a moment to listen to @LiliBernard give her impact statement after #CosbySentencing @carolineheldman stands with her in solidarity. These women are changing our future. #MeToo https://t.co/KrRJbGcmjX Jennifer Storm (@JenniferRStorm) September 27, 2018 U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, a Democrat, tweeted more than once: I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. I believe Deborah Ramirez. I believe Julie Swetnick.#BelieveSurvivors Dwight Evans (@RepDwightEvans) September 27, 2018 His first tweet reads: Let's send every ounce of courage, strength, positivity, & resilience toward Dr. Ford. Her actions today will be told in history books. She will be remembered as a woman who spoke out against sexual assault despite an all-male Republican club on the @senjudiciary. Dwight Evans (@RepDwightEvans) September 27, 2018 Democrat U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle's tweet was short and to the point: I believe her. US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) September 27, 2018 U.S. Sen. Bob Casey also tweeted this assessment: In 2007, the Delaware Legislature was considering a piece of legislation that would open a temporary timeframe during which adults who had been sexually abused as children could file civil suits against their predators. The so-called retroactive window had emerged as a prominent factor in dozens of child sexual abuse cases across the country, most notably those involving the Roman Catholic Church. In the majority of child sex abuse cases, the statute of limitations had expired; victims had no legal recourse. Delaware lawmakers had come extremely close the previous year. A retroactive bill had been crafted in the state House and sailed with approval to the Senate. Once there, the bill came under the formidable pressure from lobbyists from the church and the insurance industry. It was swiftly defeated. A year later, a handful of lawmakers were determined to get the retroactive window passed. Spearheading the charge was Karen Peterson, then a 14-year Senate veteran who had cultivated a reputation as one of the chamber's most fierce civil rights advocates. Peterson, a Democrat, dropped every other priority on her agenda and dove with full force into ensuring passage for the bill. She was, in many ways, a perfect lighting rod: Peterson was Catholic, and supporting lawmakers were cautious to not give the impression that their bill had an anti-Catholic agenda. The previous year, Peterson had been shaken by the testimony of victims who had stepped up to support the bill. She teamed up with a cadre of victims and victims' advocates. Among them, was a lobbyist who was a prominent attorney for the dental association, and whose son had been sexually abused by a priest. Peterson and her team of advocates went door to door and scoured the yellow pages to identify - and contact - every possible organization to get them to back them, from youth organizations, to the YWCA to organized labor. She lined up an impressive list of people to testify before the Senate, including two of the country's most prominent victims advocates, Marci Hamilton and Father Tom Doyle. The day of testimony, Peterson braced for the pushback; she had even identified the senators most likely to bar the way for the bill. She was surprised when one of them took the floor and came public for the first time in his life that he had been molested as a six-year-old. "You could hear a pin drop," Peterson recalls. "The Gallery was packed." The 2007 Child Victims Act passed the Senate unanimously. On to the House it went. With near uncanny similarities, the narrative out of Delaware has played in Pennsylvania in recent years. And now, that same timeline is poised to play out. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week approved a bill that broadly reforms the statute of limitations. In particular, Senate Bill 261 would categorize child sexual abuse similar to murder - meaning statutes would never expire. Among other broad measures, the bill carries several amendments, one of which would open a two-year retroactive window for victims timed out of the court system to bring civil suits against predators. The bill now awaits final consideration from the Senate, where a handful of lawmakers have signaled a steadfast position that only a revision to the state Constitution could persuade them to vote in favor of the bill. For Peterson, the timeline playing out in Pennsylvania seem like deja vu. "These people's lives have been damaged," said Peterson, who has since retired and spoke to PennLive from her Delaware home. She notes a statistic that resonates nationwide: In her home state, 63 percent of incarcerated women and 43 percent of the men have been sexually molested. "Society pays a huge price not just in dollars and cents," she said. "It costs $36,000 to keep folks in prison. We pay the price with alcoholism and marriages that fall apart and kids who need supporting. The price to society is huge. Why is society bearing the price? Why aren't the people who enabled the abuse paying the price? In this case it's the Catholic Church. Why are we footing the bill for the damage they did to these people and their family?" The trajectory that plots Peterson's bill from proposal to passage is filled with poignant moments of the human toll of child sexual abuse, the determination of victims and their advocates to get it passed and the roadblocks erected by church officials and other interests. Along the way, Peterson received a deluge of hate mail from constituents asking how she "could do this" to the church. The church argued that a surge of lawsuits would force it to close schools and even churches down. The Diocese of Wilmington, which covers the entire state, ponied up upwards of $7 million to retain a public relations company. Priests were summoned to testify: this wasn't the way to go. A more restorative church-sponsored approach was the better way to deal with the crisis, they said. Even a former judge testified about the potential cost of suits. Peterson had a comeback for every obstacle. "They should have thought about that when they were letting priests gang rape a boy," she recalls rebutting. Rally at State Capitol for victims of abuse 47 Gallery: Rally at State Capitol for victims of abuse In addition to hate mail, Peterson was targeted by priests who invoked the work the church did with the poor to try and get her to withdraw the bill. Peterson persisted. She got down to some research and put together a list of all the property deeds own by the church. Among them, she found shopping centers, office buildings, apartments. "You guys are filthy rich in real estate," she told officials. "I will believe the diocese is broke when I see the bishop sleeping under a bridge on I-95." In the end, she and her army of advocates got it done: The 42-member chamber passed the bill with a 41-1 vote. The lone dissenting vote had been cast by the sponsor of the previous year's bill. "When he realized he was the only one, he stood up at the end and changed his vote. In the end it was an unanimous vote in both chambers." The current fight in the Legislature for retroactivity to the law is playing out amid one of the most blistering reports on clergy sex abuse in the country. In August, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro released the findings of an 18-month long grand jury investigation that found that more than 1,000 children had been sexually molested by predatory priests over several decades, often with the knowledge and complicity of bishops and church officials. Among the recommendations handed by the grand jury is the retroactive window. The battle over that provision can be traced to the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which came under investigation in 2005 and 2011. Lawmakers across the years - such as former representatives Louise Bishop and Mike McGeehan, both Democrats from Philadelphia, tried unsuccessfully to change policy. The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has opposed the retroactive provisions, but supported raising the age limit for alleged victims of sex abuse from 20 to 50 for criminal prosecution of their abusers and from age 20 to 30 for civil actions. The lead sponsor and lead fighter in the current effort has been Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat, who has openly shared his own story of abuse at the hands of his priest in order to underscore the pervasiveness of the abuse and the overriding lack of legal recourse for victims. He was in the the exact same situation two years ago: The Senate had up for vote a House bill sponsored by Rozzi that would reform the law and open up a retroactive window. House Bill 1947 - which that spring had passed the House with a 180-15 vote - met with fierce opposition in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the church and other interested parties leveled an assault with regards to the bill's constitutionality. Then as now, the state reeled on the heels of a grand jury report into hundreds of children being abused by priests - at the time in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Bishops across the state urged parishioners to contact their legislators to oppose the bill. Like Peterson, Pennsylvania lawmakers who had supported the measure came under attack from their own dioceses and even pastors. In the end, the Senate removed the retroactive provision and by October the bill made its way back to the House, where it failed to make it to the floor for a vote. "The atmosphere is very different this time in part because we have more members behind us and, in part, because there is a sense of inevitability that we haven't had in the past," said Hamilton, the University of Pennsylvania law professor who has pushed for statute of limitations reforms in dozens of states. Hamilton debunks the idea that Rozzi's amendments weaken the Senate bill. Among its provisions, the amendments increase the standard of conduct for the waivers of sovereign and governmental immunity from regular negligence to gross negligence. Public institutions, such as public schools, are protected under sovereign immunity, which exempts them against child sex abuse suits. She notes that most retroactive windows have gross negligence. "It has not been an impediment for lawsuits," she said. Moreover, public institutions such as public schools have been widely protected under sovereign immunity, which exempts them against child sex abuse suits. Where negligence typically implies a "mistake," gross negligence establishes a more vigorous standard that posits that an institution exercised intentional careless behavior. "As you can imagine all child sexual abuse involve gross negligence," Hamilton said. "They are not simple mistakes. They are patterns of reckless behavior." Rozzi's amendments also retain the current caps on damages for lawsuits brought pursuant to a waiver of sovereign or governmental immunity. Hamilton refers to the issue as "another battle for another day." "Rozzi's amendments go a long way to creating justice for victims and they do not create less justice than victims in Delaware had," Hamilton said. Hamilton charges that members of the Senate are under pressure to vote with the caucus and not their conscience. In the face of an abbreviated legislative session that presses up against the midterm elections, Senate members have just a few weeks to vote on SB261. Indeed, the bill has garnered the support of Shapiro, Gov. Tom Wolf, a cadre of former legislators and current administration officials. But already the top two Republican Senate leaders have signaled a potential impasse. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R- Jefferson), said the amended bill had "glaring problems," Philly.com reported. Corman committed to addressing the concerns but did not offer a specific solution. "We're going to work through that," Corman said. "We haven't decided no or yes." According to a Philly.com report, Corman outlined a list of concerns with the bill, among them the fact that it does not strengthen mandatory reporting requirements nor outlaw nondisclosure agreements that bar victims from talking to law enforcement. Republican senators, he added, disapprove of the gross negligence provisions in the bill, which he said would "create two classes of victims." Sen. John Rafferty, (R-Montgomery) remains the one outspoken member of his party in support of the retroactive provision. Late last week, the state's eight Roman Catholic bishops said they were open to creating a victim compensation fund. The move was seen by some as a preemptive strike to ward off what appeared to be growing momentum in the Capitol for a window. Scarnati opposes the retroactive provision on civil cases, arguing it stands in violation of the state constitution. Scarnati supports a church proposal to establish a victims' compensation fund. Hamilton, who heads ChildUSA, a think tank dedicated to improving child sex crime laws, has tracked lawsuits in every state that has opened retroactive windows. She has found no indication that false claims have been filed. "The data is out there," she said. "It's been a relative success." Only a handful of states have opened windows. In addition to California and Delaware, Minnesota in 2013 enacted the Child Victims Act, which ran for three years. Financial settlements in California alone exceeded $1.8 billion after the statute of limitations was lifted for one year. Arguably the most sweeping measures have been passed by Hawaii, which first opened a two-year, retroactive window for survivors in 2012. That window was extended in 2014 and again in July. Hawaii's latest intention extends the window to six years and is being credited with revealing the extent of child sexual abuse in the Diocese of Honolulu. Beginning in 2003, with the establishment of windows across some states, none have reported false claims filed. Peterson has the advantage of hindsight - but offers optimism for victims of Pennsylvania's clergy sex abuse crisis. Her bill was successful in part because it was clean and stripped of too many provisions: it offered simply to eliminate all statutes going forward; and a two-year window to allow retroactive civil suits. At the time, the two-year proposal was one year longer than the window established in California. To be sure, the heart-wrenching testimony of victims played a role, including that of Robert Quill, former federal appeals court attorney who had been sexually abused more than 300 times as a child by his priest. A retired Navy lieutenan, Quill said the abuse had killed his soul. "'I'm 40 something,'" Peterson recalls him testifying. " 'I look to be successful but I have tried to commit suicide. I am a walking dead man. I'm dead inside. I 've always been dead inside." Quill became the first person to file a lawsuit under the Delaware window. His lawsuit charged that church officials in Wilmington knew as early as 1958 that Francis DeLuca was sexually abusing young boys, yet continued to allow him to serve as a priest for a generation. At the age of 77, DeLuca was sentenced to six years in prison. In the end, the governor's office was swarmed with scores of people to watch the bill signing. "We got it done," Peterson said. "And the diocese did exactly what they do - they run into bankruptcy. That's their little playbook, to convince parishioners that the church is going to go under because of this horrible bill." In end, 170 victims came forward. All were successful in their suits. Peterson faults the Catholic Church for waging scare tactics about the potential of plundering schools and churches in the wake of lawsuits. "They are just scare tactics," she said. "None of that has happened....The church had to pay up and guess what? They are still in business and they didn't have to sell any church or school." Studies show that since the clergy sex abuse crisis exploded in the U.S. with the scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston, the church has paid upwards of $3 billion to settle lawsuits with abuse victims. At least 19 dioceses have filed for bankruptcy protection. The Diocese of Wilmington in 2009 entered into a $77-million settlement with 142 victims. "At least we can make the victims whole again. Why wouldn't you try to help them and their families?" The state Department of Health must provide a PennLive reporter with the identities of members on a panel that reviewed the first applications for permits in Pennsylvania's new medical marijuana program, Commonwealth Court ruled Thursday. The decision by a three-judge panel of the court upholds an August 2017 ruling reporter Wallace McKelvey won through the state Office of Open Records. "This is a major win for Pennsylvanians who deserve transparency in their government and should know how the state is regulating the medical marijuana industry," said Cate Barron, PennLive's Vice President of Content. "It's gratifying to see the courts agree with the Office of Open Records that the Health Department was in obvious violation of the Right to Know Law." Barron said McKelvey's "dogged reporting took the Health Department to task for actively working to keep these public records under wraps. It exposed the absurdity of letting applicants for grower and dispensary permits to choose for themselves what information to release." In the Commonwealth Court opinion, Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon rejected the Health Department's argument that the identities of the pot panel members should remain secret to shield them from threats and bribes. That security claim is too "speculative" to justify withholding the information McKelvey sought, Cannon found. Thursday's ruling comes 15 months after McKelvey filed the request for the panel members' identities under the state's Right to Know Law. The fight might not be over since the Health Department could appeal the Commonwealth Court decision to the state Supreme Court. The Health Department did not immediately provide comment on the Commonwealth Court ruling, but did release the following statement Thursday evening: "We maintain that providing the identities of the reviewers, all commonwealth employees with expertise in evaluating sections of these applications, to companies seeking permits would be detrimental to the process. Making this list available, whether directly to those seeking permits or through the media, would increase special interests' attempts to influence the integrity of the process. This has consistently been the department's position since the process program began. Since the application process, including review by this panel, is ongoing, we plan to maintain this position and appeal the decision." This past May, the Health Department enacted new temporary regulations to further restrict public access to information regarding who is scoring permit applications in the marijuana program, which could become a multibillion dollar industry. Enforceability of the May 2018 regulations was not addressed in Thursday's Commonwealth Court ruling, which could focus only on the regs in place when McKelvey filed his May 2017 RTKL request for info on the panel that reviewed the initial applications for 12 grower/processor and 27 dispensary permits. So, the department's new rules could become fodder for another court fight over access to the panel information. As Cannon noted, the Health Department's original regulations barred only permit applicants from securing the identities of the review panel members. Those rules didn't bar journalists and the public from obtaining that information. The May 2018 regs do restrict public access to the data. The Health Department has been secretive about more than just the identities of the review panel members. Cannon noted it wouldn't even tell the open records office if all panel members review every application. That would have an effect on the security argument, the open records observed. It noted that if applications are reviewed by subcommittees of the panel then someone intending to threaten or bribe a panel member wouldn't know whether that person had actually reviewed his application. "There is nothing in the record to establish that the release of the information would identify the specific panel member or members who reviewed the application," Cannon agreed. She wasn't swayed, either, by Health Department claims that honoring McKelvey's request would slow implementation of the marijuana program. The first sales of dry leaf medical marijuana began in Pennsylvania last month. Barron noted McKelvey won a national First Amendment Award for his work on ferreting out information on the marijuana permitting process. One of the members of the Dauphin County family whose children were abused by the same priest has made an impassioned plea in an emotional video imploring Pennsylvania senators to change state law to help victims. Patty Fortney-Julius on Wednesday sent the video to each member of the Senate, imploring each one of them to vote in favor of Senate Bill 261. The bill broadly reforms the state child sex crime laws, and in particular, would allow adults who were sexually abused as minors a temporary period of time in which to file civil suits against their predators. Several of the Fortney sisters this week met with senators and walked away disheartened and fearful that the bill was imperiled and on route to being defeated. PennLive has been given exclusive permission to share the video with readers. The House this week passed the bill along with several amendments, including a retroactive window that would allow time-barred victims a chance to sue predators in civil court. The bill is now in the Senate for final consideration. The Fortney sisters, who on Wednesday evening sat down for an interview with PennLive, have reported being discouraged at the apparent opposition in the Senate to the bill. The Republican leadership has widely said that only a change to the constitution could pave the way open for a retroactive measure in the statute of limitations. Like nearly every single one of the more than 1,000 victims abused by priests across Pennsylvania, the Fortney sisters have no recourse as the statute of limitations have expired for them. Under state law, victims must come forward by age 50 to pursue a criminal case and by age 30 if they wish to file a lawsuit. Five of the 11 members of the Fortney family were sexually abused by the same Catholic priest. In the wake of the recent grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, the family, after 26 years of silence, has given several exclusive interviews to media, including its first with CBS News. Their stories of abuse - which are detailed in the grand jury report - tell a horrific narrative of the sisters being sexually abused by Father Augustine Giella in the 1980s. Carolyn Fortney, now 37, is among the sisters who testified before the grand jury empaneled by Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Carolyn Fortney testified she was just 18 months old when Giella was transferred to St. John the Evangelist Church in Swatara Township, after serving for decades in New Jersey. Fortney told the grand jury Giella began abusing her almost immediately. In time, Giella would come to sexually abuse five of the sisters. He died in 1993 at age 72 while awaiting trial. Police had found in his home little girls' underwear, vials of urine, and photos of naked children, including Carolyn Fortney, the youngest of the siblings. The family was silenced all these years by a gag order signed as part of a settlement with the Diocese of Harrisburg. A teenage boy is the second victim to die in a shooting that happened Wednesday night in York. Police responded to the 600 block of Princess Street at around 8 p.m., where officers found two shooting victims. An adult male was found dead in the backyard of the residence, according to a news release from the York County Coroner's Office. The man, who has not yet been identified, did not live at the address. News Release - @YCoCoroner called to shooting in city on Wednesday night - adult male dead at scene; teen died later at hospital; one of two releases - https://t.co/7VNvQdlUgk York County Coroner (@YCoCoroner) September 27, 2018 The teenage male victim was also found injured, and transported to York Hospital by ambulance. "Despite vigorous resuscitative measures, the injured teenage male succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at approximately 9 p.m.," according to the news release. The identity of the teenage victim also has not yet been released. News Release - @YCoCoroner called to York Hospital Wednesday night for teen male who died after shooting in city - one of two victims - https://t.co/vPvcSrf3yB York County Coroner (@YCoCoroner) September 27, 2018 Autopsies for both victims are being scheduled at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown. Their identities will be released upon notification of kin. Anyone with information is asked to call York City Police at 717-846-1234 or text the tip line anonymously by texting "yorktips" to 847411. MIDDLETOWN - If nothing changes, Three Mile Island will close in one year. That will mean the loss of jobs at the plant, which pours $60 million in salaries into the local economy each year, members of the Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania coalition said at a rally today in Middletown. The organizers held the rally by the town clock to show the "clock is ticking" as they encouraged lawmakers to develop a policy solution to save TMI. Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries, who serves as the coalition's co-chair, said the state legislature needs to come up with a policy that recognizes the carbon-free performance of nuclear power plants. In May, TMI failed for the fourth year to sell its power in the annual PJM energy capacity auction. The plant lost $300 million over the last eight years, officials from the owning company, Exelon Corp., said last year. TMI has not been profitable for six years as a result of persistently low wholesale energy prices and market rules that treat polluting plants the same as emissions-free sources of power, Exelon says. Officials have argued that nuclear power plants are not permitted to participate in government clean energy programs, though they provide 93 percent of clean energy out there, and are asking legislators to "level the playing field," making TMI competitive. "We're calling on them to act and save jobs, protect our environment, and keep our energy grid secure," Pries said at the rally, held before roughly 20 TMI workers. "If they don't act and level the playing field for nuclear power, one year from now will be a very sad day for central Pennsylvania." The closure of TMI is slated for Sept. 20, 2019. When Three Mile Island security supervisor Eric Brandt started working there 19 years ago, he thought one thing that would be secure is his job. That's not the case now with the looming closure of the plant. "A lot of families are going to be affected. Folks are trying to figure out what their alternatives are," Brandt said today. "It's a somber moment. We're not really sure how to move forward." Theresa Bowie, an electrical design engineer at TMI, said it has been a hard hit to morale, but workers are staying focused on their jobs every day and are hoping for the best. "We're still trying to rally together at events like this and support each other and do what we need to do to reach out to the community to let them know who we are," she said. And a closure would impact more than the workers. The local economy would take a hit, too, coalition members argue. "We're looking at about a 10 percent impact on business on the bottom line," said Dave Kitner, owner of Roberto's Pizza in Middletown. During the outage that occurs every two years, more than 1,000 workers come into town for a month, filling the local hotels and restaurants. During that time, Kitner makes more than 400 subs and pizzas per day. State Rep. Tom Mehaffie, who is a member of the coalition and also part of the Pennsylvania Nuclear Energy Caucus, told the group that nuclear energy is also a matter of national security. He hopes to introduce legislation next year that could save the plant. "We are working on legislation," Mehaffie said. "I know the clock is ticking, but we need to make sure we get this right." Pries added that if the plant does close, the closure will be irreversible. The Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania group formed following the announcement of the potential closure of Three Mile Island. The potential closure of Three Mile Island is a year away, and one organization is asking lawmakers to pass legislation to save the plant, nuclear power and jobs. But another group is calling this a "bailout of the uncompetitive Three Mile Island." The Citizens Against Nuclear Bailout responded to today's rally in Middletown, hosted by the Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania coalition, saying "our coalition values all sources of energy, so long as all power generation industries compete by the same rules, without government mandates or subsidies." Three Mile Island lost $300 million over the last eight years, officials from the owning company, Exelon Corp., said last year. TMI has not been profitable for six years as a result of persistently low wholesale energy prices and market rules that treat polluting plants the same as emissions-free sources of power, Exelon says. Officials have argued that nuclear power plants are not permitted to participate in clean energy programs, though they provide 93 percent of clean energy out there, and are asking legislators to "level the playing field," making TMI competitive. But the Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts countered in a statement today: "Pennsylvania's deregulated electric industry has produced a competitive energy marketplace that empowers consumer choice and prices below the national average. A competitive marketplace has also spurred billions of dollars of private investment in new and more efficient power generating resources, supporting thousands of construction jobs, economic growth and new tax revenue for communities throughout the state." They argue taxpayers should not be on the hook to pay more for electricity to increase the profits of the Exelon Corporation. The group added, "over the last six years, Pennsylvania has produced up to 27 percent more than its power needs and regulators at all levels continue to stress that our fuel mix is more diverse today than ever before." TMI supporters at the rally made the case that TMI produces reliable, carbon-free energy, but it also employs many people in the region, bringing $60 million in annual salaries into the community. State Rep. Tom Mehaffie told the workers gathered at today's rally that he expects to introduce legislation next year to help TMI and the nuclear-power industry. Learn more about the Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania and the Citizens against Nuclear Bailouts on their websites. President Donald Trump and his policies remain at the forefront of Pennsylvanians' concerns as an increasingly energized electorate gets ready to cast its ballots in the Nov. 6 midterm election, a new poll has found. Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., continue to maintain healthy, double-digit leads over their Republican challengers, the canvas of 545 registered voters by Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster shows. The new poll provides a window on voters' attitudes in a year in which the president's party typically suffers losses at the congressional level. Around two in five respondents (37 percent) said Trump was doing an "excellent" or "good" job, about the same as former President Barack Obama performed among state voters at a similar point in his first term. "Donald Trump is on the ballot," Franklin & Marshall pollster Terry Madonna said of the overall results, which also show a broad enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans as Election day closes in. That's clear in the numbers: Nearly three-quarters of respondents (74 percent) who plan to vote for a Democratic congressional candidate say they're doing it mainly as a vote against Trump and congressional Republicans. Conversely, four in five respondents (80 percent) of respondents who plan to vote for a Republican congressional candidate say they're doing it to support Trump and the GOP. The link "between congressional choice as support or opposition to the president has intensified," since the last Franklin & Marshall poll in August, Madonna said. Further, three in five Democrats (64 percent) say they're "very interested" in the midterm contests that will determine control of the U.S. House and Senate; the Pennsylvania governor's mansion and potentially shake-up the GOP's solid grip on the 253-member General Assembly. A clear majority of Republicans (58 percent) also said they're "very interested" in the upcoming election, while 49 percent of independents, who were key to Trump's 2016 victory, responded similarly. "Democratic voters are more interested in the election and more certain to vote. And that is key," Madonna said "We see this all over the country, poll after poll shows Democratic enthusiasm at much higher levels." And Democrats at the top of the ticket are among the beneficiaries of that enthusiasm. The new Franklin & Marshall poll shows Wolf with a 52-30 percent advantage among likely voters over former state Sen. Scott Wagner, with 17 percent undecided. Among registered voters, Wolf holds a 52-28 percent edge over Wagner, with 18 percent still undecided -- effectively unchanged from a similar poll in August. The minor party candidates, Libertarian Ken Krawchuk and Green Party nominee Paul Glover, barely even register on voters' radar. Wolf, who became the first gubernatorial candidate in decades to defeat a sitting incumbent in Republican Tom Corbett, is looking for that historic trend to reassert itself in his contest with Wagner. Casey, who's seeking a third term on Capitol Hill, leads GOP U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, of Hazleton, 50-33 percent among likely voters, with 15 percent undecided. Among registered voters, Casey's has a 48-30 percent edge, with 20 percent undecided. As was the case in the gubernatorial election, the minor party candidates, Libertarian Dale Kerns and Green Party candidate Neal Gale, similarly barely register. Casey's lead among registered voters is effectively unchanged from the 48-29 advantage he held in August, where 20 percent of respondents were also undecided. In June, Casey held a 44-27 percent lead, with 28 percent of voters undecided. The Franklin & Marshall poll, conducted from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23, includes 256 Democrats, 213 Republicans and 76 independents, with an overall margin of error of 6.1 percent. It includes a smaller sample of 204 likely voters. The Franklin & Marshall results in both Democratic contests hew closely to other independent polls. As of Wednesday, both Casey and Wolf held an average 15-point lead over their Republican opponents, according to the RealClear Politics polling average. Speaking to PennLive on Tuesday, Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Val DiGiorgio acknowledged the existing polling gap. But he said the party's own polling showed the races much tighter, at "high single-digits" in both cases. "That being said, there's a gap that needs to be closed," DiGiorgio observed "A lot of it will depend on the president's numbers. We're seeing that their numbers tend to go up and down, based on the president's numbers." Nationally, Democrats need to win 23 seats to retake control of Congress in 2019. Pennsylvania, with a new court-imposed map that has improved Democrats' chances, could hold the keys to as many as a half-dozen of those seats. Democrats held a 51-36 advantage among state voters on the so-called "generic ballot" in the new Franklin & Marshall poll, with 13 percent undecided. That 15-point Keystone State margin, which may be partly attributable to an oversampling of Democrats in the Pennsylvania poll, is larger than the 7.7 percent Democratic advantage in the RealClear average nationwide. As is the case nationally, congressional Republicans' fortunes are tied almost exclusively to Trump, whom voters give high marks in the poll for his management of the economy and dealing with terrorism. Trump tanks, however, when it comes to matters of healthcare, the environment, and public education. The poll's overall results, while daunting for Republicans, are not yet determinative. While facing a steep climb, both GOP hopefuls can still gain ground between now and Election Day, Madonna said. "There is still plenty of time for Republicans to motivate their voters," Madonna noted. Still, "The wave is really helping the Democrats. We don't know if it's lght blue, medium blue or heavy blue. But the bottom line is that Republicans have their work cut out for them," he said. Bill Cosby. Harvey Weinstein. The Roman Catholic clergy named in the Pennsylvania grand jury report. Brett Kavanaugh. They all have two things in common: They've been accused, to varying degrees, of sexual misconduct. And all face accusations involving incidents said to have happened years ago. Victims deserve to be heard. They deserve justice. But the accused also must be afforded the opportunity to defend themselves, in a court of law if necessary, and not branded as criminals based on accusation alone. Cosby had his day in court; a jury convicted him and a judge sent him to prison. Weinstein has been indicted and faces criminal prosecution. Kavanaugh and his accuser will appear at a U.S. Senate hearing Thursday. The problem in nearly every one of these cases is that time degrades memory. While the central incident may be alive in a victim's memory, circumstantial details fade. What were you wearing? Who was with you? What did the room look like? It's easy to trip up a victim with questions like these -- and just as difficult for the accused to recall where they were on a particular day at a particular time and who else might have been there. To our minds, the information laid out in the grand jury report creates a special situation in the law. The pattern of cover-up and corruption spanning decades, plus the fact that the victims were children at the time of their assaults, cries out special treatment. That's why we strongly encourage the state House and Senate to resolve their differences on reforming the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims. The state House overwhelmingly passed a proposal Tuesday to give them an opportunity to file lawsuits over claims that would otherwise be too outdated to pursue. This recommendation was one of four made in the grand jury report made public last month that found more than 300 Roman Catholic clergy abused children over a span of 70 years, all covered up by church officials. That bill has gone to the Senate, where majority leaders say they're discussing details, including how to handle non-disclosure agreements in civil settlements, changes to rules for reporting suspected child abuse and whether to differentiate between victims of governmental agencies (such as schools) and private ones (such as churches). Early last year, the Senate unanimously approved a version of the bill that would give victims until age 50 to sue and eliminate the statute of limitations for related criminal offenses, but it did not include retroactivity for civil suits. We think it should. When victims are children, they require different treatment. In a sexual assault, children don't understand what's happening. They are easily influenced - frightened, even -- by their attackers, and a breach of trust with a respected authority figure can confuse them about whom to trust generally. They often respond to trauma by suppressing details of the assault and blame themselves for what happened. They need time, more life experience and support to be able to come forward later in life, if ever. The situations of adult victims are more complex. While they, too, often will suppress details of an assault, it's much easier to challenge motives, to ask, "why not report sooner?" and cast blame back on the accuser. Victims who do come forward know they face a gantlet of obstacles, from disbelief and scrutiny of their private lives to public shaming. Unfortunately, the cultural change needed to help adult victims of sexual assault come forward is not something that can be legislated. But the Pennsylvania General Assembly can help child sexual assault victims now. State Senate leaders say they'll get a statute of limitations bill ironed out and back to the House by the end of October. House leaders should be standing ready to meet with their Senate counterparts in a genuine spirit of cooperation to get a final bill to Gov. Wolf's desk soon after that. We're going to expect swift, concrete action, not more talk, as should the voters of Pennsylvania when they go the polls in the Nov. 6 election. Republican governor candidate Scott Wagner, who routinely touts his business savvy on the campaign trail, took the unusual step of investing his own donations to his campaign in a brokerage fund, posting a more than $600,000 loss in his most recent campaign finance report. The investment practice became public Wednesday after Adam Bonin, a Philadelphia elections lawyer with ties to Democrats, posted screen captures of Wagner's most recent campaign finance report to his Twitter feed. I have never seen this before in a campaign finance report. @realScottWagner lost over $600K of his contributors' money in the past three months through failed investments. How can Pennsylvanians trust him with their own money? cc: @timelywriter @CPotterPgh @AndrewSeidman (1/) pic.twitter.com/G7slqTLAcu Adam Bonin (@adambonin) September 26, 2018 To be sure, there are also reports which show gains. But it's utterly irresponsible for a candidate to be investing campaign funds in the first place. It's too risky, too volatile. Plus the tax implications of earned income in a campaign account are a mess. (3/) Adam Bonin (@adambonin) September 26, 2018 "How can Pennsylvanians trust him with their own money?" Bonin asked. The revelation raised eyebrows among political observers, who said they could not recall a candidate investing campaign money into the stock market. They also marveled that Wagner had managed to lose money in a booming market. Usually, campaigns like easy access to money and tend to keep their funds liquid. "Because it's so difficult to raise money, you don't want to risk principal," veteran Democratic fund-raiser Aubrey Montgomery told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "More commonly, you'll see campaigns move money into a short-term savings account that has very small returns, a couple percentage points or less." Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for Wagner's campaign, said the York County Republican had "only invested his own campaign contributions in the brokerage account." "No donor money was used in that account and the account has actually netted hundreds of thousands in increases throughout the campaign," Romeo said. A veteran Republican consultant contested that explanation, arguing that campaign funds are "fungible," and that personal infusions and donations are difficult to separate once they are commingled in a campaign account. Wagner has routinely posted gains and losses from the brokerage fund in his campaign filings, according to data obtained by PennLive. In March, for instance, Wagner reported reported $1.5 million In receipts from an increase in the value of excess campaign funds invested in his brokerage account. A month later, Wagner reported a $1.4 million decrease in value of those same funds from his brokerage account, campaign filings indicated: While it's unusual, there's nothing illegal about the practice, Wagner's campaign said, pointing to verification by the Pennsylvania Department of State, The Post-Gazette further reported. Romeo defended the investments in an emailed request for comment. "Scott has made a profit of over $800,000 in the brokerage account during the course of the campaign," he said. "Harrisburg's money managers can actually learn a thing or two from Scott about how to grow money in the stock market." 'Up North in Michigan' reminds readers to get out and explore Douglas E. Provance was born in Trenton, Missouri on April 19,1963. "Childhood was unique for me, as I was raised by my grandparents - Harry Dale and Helen Whitney." he said, adding, "They were great and loving parents." As Provance grew up, he gained a deep interest in the military. "My uncle, William Duncan Whitney "Uncle Wee" was at the Battle of Iwo Jima with the United States Marines and received a Purple Heart posthumously for his sacrifice on the battlefield. "I have his medals, and his picture, as well as some of his effects, and they mean so very much to me." Provance stated. Provance graduated from Grandview High School in 1981. He began his enlistment in the Marines, but when he tested he received an offer from the Air Force to go into Security Police. "This was my dream. To be in law enforce/security forces for the military." he said. Once down at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Provance would be offered the job to work with the Air Force canine unit. He accepted, and he continued his training at Lackland. Upon completion, Provance would then be transferred to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base at Tucson, Arizona. His dog at Davis-Monthan was Leo. "He had a bit of an edge to him, but we worked together well." he said. From Arizona, Provance would then travel to Japan, where he would be stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. His assigned dog was a 118 pound massive Rottweiler named Cogan. "He was a great dog and was one of the first of his breed to be a military dog." informed Provance. "He was a good worker and spot on!" he added. After his tour of duty in Japan, Provance found himself in the desert of White Sands, New Mexico. It would be here, Provance would depart from the military and head to Dona Ana, New Mexico to develop a canine unit with the police department. He would stay for three and half years building a great canine program. His departure from New Mexico would take him north and a bit east to Kimball, Nebraska. Provance would work for the City of Kimball as a police captain and moving up to be their police chief from 2007 to 2011. Courtesy D. Provance Provance and Cobra telling their story to the Donald Eisenhauer American Legion Post 60. Provance explains "the call" he received asking if he still remembered how to handle dogs. "My buddy said, 'I have a dog for you!" he relayed. Thus began a change in jobs and a four year eight tours to the Bagdad with a dog named 'Cobra'. "He was my buddy, my comrade, my fellow soldier, and he was known as the 'Beast of Bagdad' because everyone thought he looked like a wolf!" Provance said. Cobra retired from service a few months before Provance did. Once back in the states, they offered Provance to keep Cobra, as he was his handler and friend. "Yes, I accepted, and he is my sidekick!" he smiled and said. Back home in Kimball, Provance is employed at LB Foster as a pipe inspector. "I am loving life, I can see my two kids, Jenna Matlock, who also served in the United States Army, and Zach Provance, who has given me 2 grandchildren - Roslynn and Damon. "The military was good to me," he said, and added, "I truly support all of them, and I would tell someone thinking of serving to do so. Serve your country, serve it proudly, and do it correctly!" We thank you Doug Provance for your service. Zachary Anderson "Whenever Im about to do something I think, "would an idiot do that?" and if they would I do not do that thing. - Dwight Schrute Zachary Anderson is a new math teacher at Pine Bluffs Jr. Sr. High School. He was born and raised in Lingle, Wyoming and later went to The University of Wyoming in Laramie. His first few weeks teaching have been challenging, he says " There's a lot of things that I'm learning that actually does the job that I didn't learn in college. It has definitely been a learning experience and I think I'm finally getting into my flow." Anderson says, "One of my inspirations was my Math teacher in High School, he was a awesome teacher. He really had an impact on me as a person and student so I just wanted to have the same impact on students as well." He says math was his favorite subject and didn't want to write a lot of papers in college. " I still had to write just as many papers though." Anderson states. " I love how Pine Bluffs is a small community and the school is small." Anderson says. He grew up in a small community so he appreciates the feel of a small community. Anderson is excited for this coming year and may more prosperous years to come at Pine Bluffs Jr.Sr. High School. Nick Yelton "I may be a young man bun rocking dude but I'm an old soul." Nick Yelton is the new History teacher at Pine Bluffs Jr. Sr. High School. He was born in Glendale, Wyoming but grew up in Laramie, Wyoming. Yelton was a military child and has lived all over the United States including Alaska. He says his first few weeks have been going great! Yelton says," Teaching here is cool because of the four day week and the student s I get to teach now. I like upper level classes better because you get to explore more abstract ideas and more real world knowledge." He says he loved history and had good professors in college that led him to teaching it. Yelton says," I like teaching because I like helping turd birds, because I was one of them in high school." He defines turd bird as difficult to deal with. Yelton looks forward to this year and many more years to come as a teacher at Pine Bluffs Jr. Sr. High School. Michael Avenatti, the attorney for Brett Kavanaughs third accuser Julie Swetnick, jumped at the opportunity to hit back at Donald Trump on Wednesday as the president escalated his attacks on the lawyer. In an interview with MSNBCs Ari Melber, Avenatti seemed to be enjoying getting under Trumps skin. Heres what Im gonna say about Donald Trump, the attorney said. I am thoroughly enjoying living in your head rent-free, Donald Trump. Its amazing. In a tweet earlier in the day, Trump attacked Avenatti as a third-rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations. Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesnt want people to look at his past record and relationships a total low-life! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018 Avenatti also hit back Trump for calling him a low-life during a truly bizarre and unhinged press conference on Wednesday. For Donald Trump to call me a low-life, he knows nothing about me, knows nothing about the last 20 years of my practice, $1 billion in verdicts and settlements. I am highly educated. Ive been very fortunate over the years and I would venture to say that I have a hell of a lot more class than Donald Trump has ever had. Michael Avenatti put the focus back on his client The new strategy of Trump and Republicans, at least as it applies to Kavanaughs third accuser, is to attack Avenatti in an effort to distract from the disturbing allegations. The attorney refused to let that happen and reminded his foes that the sworn affidavit detailing the new allegations was signed by his client, not him. As Avenatti said, That declaration is not a declaration from Michael Avenatti. Its not signed by Michael Avenatti. It is signed by my client, Julie Swetnick. These are her facts. These are her allegations. I am her lawyer. At the end of the day, these attacks on Michael Avenatti from the president are just the latest indication of how desperate he is to distract from his failing Supreme Court nominee. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook. 838 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard On the eve of Thursdays hearing in which both Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey forward will testify under oath, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons blasted Republicans for already damaging the reputation of the Supreme Court. In an interview with MSNBCs Rachel Maddow, Sen. Coons, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said if GOP senators cared about the integrity of the court, they would conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh. These are compelling and very disturbing allegations by each of the additional women who have come forward and I would think in the interest of the integrity of the Supreme Court they should want the FBI to investigate, the Democratic senator said. Video: Sen. Coons said: Sen. Grassley whos the chairman of the committee is driving forward, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that he intends to have Judge Kavanaugh seated on the court by next week. I frankly have not heard any indication that theyre softening on their position that we will have all the evidence we need to make a final vote here on Judge Kavanaugh. I strongly disagree. These are compelling and very disturbing allegations by each of the additional women who have come forward and I would think in the interest of the integrity of the Supreme Court, frankly even in Judge Kavanaughs interest to have a chance for him to present any more evidence that he might have to clear his name, they should want the FBI to investigate. I certainly feel strongly that without the FBI looking at the corroborating evidence that Dr. Ford has come forward with, folks that she disclosed, this history, this alleged violent, terrifying sexual incident she had with Judge Kavanaugh as a teenager. Without those being examined, corroborated and put in front of the committee, were really not doing our job and this is really not a full and fair process. Republicans are damaging the courts reputation No matter what happens going forward, the Republicans have already done great damage to the reputation of the Supreme Court by putting partisan politics above a thorough vetting process. They have shown that, to them, character doesnt matter when choosing a SCOTUS justice. All that matters is that they get a judge that will tow the party line. If they get their wish and successfully ram through Kavanaughs lifetime appointment to the court, it will forever stain the reputation of the Supreme Court. It sets up a likely scenario in which Kavanaugh a man who now has five sexual assault allegations against him can make landmark decisions about the rights of millions of women. Its too late to undo all the damage Republican senators have already done throughout his process, but if they want to avoid inflicting more, they should either call for a full and fair FBI investigation or pull Brett Kavanaughs nomination altogether. Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook. 268 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The attorneys for Christine Ford have given the Senate Judiciary Committee the results of a polygraph test regarding her sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The results say that Ford passed the test administered at a Maryland hotel in August. Kavanaugh accusers polygraph results conclude her account is not indicative of deception Kavanaugh accusers polygraph results conclude her account is not indicative of deceptionhttps://t.co/4TVUjrKcTX POLITICO (@politico) September 26, 2018 Ford reported to a Hilton Hotel on Aug. 7 to take the polygraph test, accompanied by her attorney Lisa Banks. Ford submitted to an interview with an unnamed examiner. During the interview, Ford gave details of her accusations against Kavanaugh, who has strongly denied all charges. The statements made by Ford in the polygraph documents agree with the details she shared in an interview with The Washington Post. In the document is Ford is referred to by her maiden name, Blasey. During her interview Ford told the polygraph examiner that she was pulled into a room during a party in the 1980s at a home in Montgomery County, MD. She said Kavanaugh got on top of her and attempted to take her clothes off. Blasey tried to yell for help and Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth, the document states, a detail Ford shared during the Post interview. The polygraph examiners report says: Blasey stated that when Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth that this act was the most terrifying for her. She also stated that this act caused the most consequences for her later in life. The polygraph examination consisted of the questions Is any part of your statement false? and Did you make up any part of your statement? She answered no to both. The examiners determined there was no deception indicated in Fords testimony, with her probability of deception at less than .02. Kavanaugh in a television interview on Fox News Monday evening said he had never sexually assaulted anyone. President Donald Trump has supported him, calling him the victim of a smear campaign. Ford and Kavanaugh are scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. today. Fords attorneys Debra Katz and Banks in the letter sent along with the polygraph results to the Judiciary Committee also said that Ford will not submit medical records to the committee to further substantiate her testimony. We will not produce copies of Dr. Christine Blasey Fords medical records, Katz and Banks wrote. These records contain private, highly sensitive information that is not necessary for the Committee to assess the credibility of her testimony. Any request that she expose her private medical records for public inspection represents an unacceptable invasion of privacy to which no reasonable person would consent, they wrote. Ford provided the Post with notes from therapy sessions in 2012 and 2013 during which she discussed the emotional trauma she has suffered due to the alleged assault. Kavanaugh needs 51 votes to win confirmation in the Senate, and Republicans currently have a 51-49 GOP majority. As of yesterday, eight Republican senators had not yet announced whether or not they would vote to confirm him to the lifetime appointment. 437 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard The House Intelligence Committee will vote Friday to release the transcripts of more than 50 interviews the panel conducted as part of its investigation into Russian election meddling, the committee posted Wednesday. The interviews will include testimony from many prominent figures. Fridays planned vote was scheduled by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes. After the vote, the way will be cleared for the release to the public of previously-private interviews with such senior Trump associates as Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks and Jeff Sessions. It will also allow the release of transcripts of interviews with several senior Obama administration officials. After the committee votes Friday the transcripts will be sent to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) for a classification review. If they pass DNI review they will then be released. It is understood that with a few exceptions most of the interviews were not classified and so classification review is a mere formality. The transcripts will show the world the details of a highly partisan battle fought between Democrats and Republicans on the Intelligence Committee. The Russia investigation ended in highly-charged accusations, finger-pointing and name calling between the two parties. The transcripts will also provide the first look at how the key players in the Russia investigation explain such events a the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting and the release of hacked Democratic emails to WikiLeaks during 2016. Republicans abruptly stopped the investigation earlier several months ago, but Democrats said they would continue looking into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Democrats, led by Rep. Adam Schiff of California, also called for all of the interview transcripts to be released. Their belief is that the interview transcripts will show how Republicans failed to properly investigate Trumps associates on the question of collusion with Russia. Republicans in charge of the investigation had initially called for the transcripts to be released. After they issued their report that concluded the panel found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia they changed their mind. Chairman Nunes said he did not want to release the transcripts but he recently changed his mind. We believe that the depositions that we tookthose need to be published and they need to be published I think before the election, Nunes said on Fox Newss Sunday Morning Futures several weeks ago. The committee will not release all of its transcripts of interviews connected to the Russia investigation. Interviews with two House members Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a Florida Democrat are not on the list to be made public. The panel will also not release transcripts from closed hearings that were conducted in connection with the Russia probe with former FBI Director James Comey, former NSA Director Mike Rogers and former CIA Director John Brennan. Classified interviews to be released include those with former Obama administration officials James Clapper, Loretta Lynch, Ben Rhodes and Sally Yates, as well as former FBI Director Andrew McCabe. Many of the interviews are with Trump-connected figures such as Roger Stone, Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon, Michael Caputo, Rick Dearborn, Rhona Graff, JD Gordon, Brad Parscale and Felix Sater. 309 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard With Christine Blasey Ford up against an all male panel being fronted by Rachel Mitchell, a registered Republican they brought in from Maricopa County in Arizona (home to injustice and cruelty), a fact depicted so brilliantly by a New York Times photo below, people flocked to send Christine Blasey Ford their support. Powerful photo from @NYTimes. Its been 27 years since Anita Hill had to endure a grilling from a room of men after she came forward about Clarence Thomas when he was nominated to SCOTUS. Ask yourself, how much has changed?#BelieveWomen pic.twitter.com/4J5B057WPT Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) September 27, 2018 Dr. Christine Blasey Ford you have my support this morning. I believe you. I support you. I commend your courage for shedding light on this silent darkness in our culture that has brought pain to so many. I pray for change for our sons and daughters. #BelieveWomen #StopKanavaugh Connie Britton (@conniebritton) September 27, 2018 I urge the Senate to treat Dr. Christine Blasey Ford with the respect that she is due for her courage to come forward. Her story deserves to be heard and the FBI needs to fully investigate. #BelieveWomen #BelieveSurvivors Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) September 27, 2018 Powerful men honor, protect and believe women. Powerless men disgrace, assault and discredit them.#Kavanagh #Trump #BelieveWomen Chris Silber (@RealChrisSilber) September 27, 2018 As we wait for todays hearing, I have no profound thoughts. I am appalled and tired. For survivors of abuse more severe than anything Ive been through, it must be much worse. I just want to say: #IBelieveDrFord. #IBelieveJulieSwetnick.#BelieveWomen #BelieveSurvivors #KavaNO Christopher Stroop (@C_Stroop) September 27, 2018 Today, I stand with Dr. Ford and all survivors. Im going to the hearing to support her in person. #BelieveWomen. #StopKanavaugh pic.twitter.com/KecywAg8DV Carolyn B. Maloney (@RepMaloney) September 27, 2018 Good morning!! This morning we pray for every victim of sexual abuse, especially Dr. Christine Ford as she tells her story in front of the world. Please give her strength to persist todays hearing. #TimesUp #MeToo #BelieveWomen #StandWithFord #EnoughIsEnough Kamala Harris 2020 (@flywithkamala) September 27, 2018 Stats are in: Double-digit rapes (reported) on my campus last year. Again. We are not an anomaly. If you are out there today doubting victims, imagining women are making these things up. please have an honest look around. Rape culture is real. #BelieveSurvivors #BelieveWomen Chris Martine, PhDuh (@MartineBotany) September 27, 2018 This is how my awesome husband and activist @rob_bennett signs for his smoothie on a day like today. Thank you to Rob and all men who stand with women and believe and support them. I got a good one. #BelieveWomen #BelieveSurivors pic.twitter.com/6MSgvDyxKC Julie Reiber Bennett (@juliereiber) September 27, 2018 You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, Ill rise. Maya Angelou This is my mood today. #BelieveWomen #BelieveSurvivors Vagina Avenger (@monicaisliberal) September 27, 2018 Im in D.C. because I dont believe any mans misogyny should take precedent over a survivors humanity. We tried to see a Murkowski, Collins and Hyde-Smith today and share our stories of survival. They refused to see us. #KavaNo #BelieveWomen #SurvivorStrong pic.twitter.com/rRtTSVWEpJ Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) September 26, 2018 27 years ago, black women took a full page in the @NYTimes to stand with Anita Hill. Today, 1,600 allies follow in their footsteps to stand with Christine Blasey Ford. THIS is the power of the people. #BelieveWomen #BelieveSurvivors pic.twitter.com/A7X3qQAZRS Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) September 26, 2018 Republicans think they can rig this hearing and bully Dr. Christine Ford with their prosecutor front they flew in from Arizona, but the truth is, we already see them for who and what they are. They never believe women. They believe Kavanaugh, because they say he said he was innocent. But three credible women have said he is not innocent, and they have come with a list of witnesses between them, but Republicans refuse to call those witnesses. This suggests that Republicans do not actually believe Kavanaugh. What is actually going on is they do not care about sexual assault. Republicans do not think violating the law with a violent sexual crime is disqualifying for the highest court in the land. This realization should give us great pause as to why that is. This is a party so corrupt they no longer care about the law. Men and women are lining up to say they believe women. The polls show Republicans paying for their frat boy cruelty. It will take time, but justice will prevail. 1.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) accused Trump of engaging in a cover-up for Brett Kavanaugh by refusing to have the FBI investigate the sexual assault claims against the Supreme Court nominee. Video: After Dr. Christine Blasey Ford said that she would like an FBI investigation because she could be more helpful to everyone, and give a more specific date of the assault if she knew when Mark Judge worked at the Safeway. Sen. Blumenthal responded, Well, its not up to you. Its up to the President Of The United States, and his failure to ask for an FBI investigation is tantamount to a cover-up in my view. Trump is covering up for Kavanaugh. There is no other explanation for why the White House has refused to ask the FBI to do an investigation other than Republicans are afraid of what the FBI will uncover. Brett Kavanaughs nomination appears to be on life support. Trump should have asked the FBI to investigate. Doing things by the book is not Donald Trumps way. When Trump is confronted with potential criminal activity, his first impulse is always to cover-up. If Kavanaughs nomination goes down, it wont be Mitch McConnells fault. This failure will be all on Donald Trump. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group. Follow Jason Easley on Facebook. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would certainly prefer not to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. He also said that he might decide to delay a meeting with Rosenstein, the #2 person in the Justice Department. According to the president, Rosenstein has denied making the comments that were attributed to him in a New York Times report earlier this month. The Times article said that Rosenstein had discussed secretly recording meetings he was in with the president, which was legally questionable and against White House protocols. He also was quoted as suggesting the use of the U.S. Constitutions 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power. At a news conference in New York Trump said: I would much prefer keeping Rod Rosenstein. He said he did not say it. He said he does not believe that. He said he has a lot of respect for me, and he was very nice and well see. My preference would be to keep him and to let him finish up. Due to the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Rosenstein is in charge of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Firing Rosenstein would threaten the continued existence of that investigation and create a political firestorm that might be damaging to Republican candidates in Novembers midterm elections. By saying he could postpone Thursdays meeting with Rosenstein, Trump said he was focused on the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. On Thursday Kavanaugh will offer sworn testimony to the committee, as will Dr. Christine Ford, woman who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teenagers. I may call Rod tonight or tomorrow and ask for a little bit of a delay to the meeting, because I dont want to do anything that gets in the way of this very important Supreme Court pick, Trump said in New York. If the meeting is delayed it will prolong the uncertainty surrounding Rosensteins job status. On Monday Rosenstein went to the White House thinking he was going to be fired, but the Monday meeting was re-scheduled for today. All week the White House has been suggesting that Rosenstein would not be fired. In fact, there were reports that the hubub about Rosenstein was intentionally created by the White House as a distraction from the Kavanaugh sexual assault allegations. With a further delay in the Rosenstein meeting it appears that he will not be fired after all at least for a while. With this president in the White House, anything can happen, and we have learned to expect the unexpected. By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) A university professor detailed her allegations that Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee, sexually assaulted her 36 years ago during a momentous Senate hearing on Thursday that could determine whether he will be confirmed to the lifetime job after a pitched political battle. The hearing, which has riveted Americans and intensified the political polarization in the United States, occurred against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault. Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge picked by Trump in July for a lifetime job on the high court, were the only two witnesses scheduled for the Judiciary Committee. Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual misconduct by two other women as well. He has denied all the allegations. I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school, Ford said, reading from her prepared testimony, her voice breaking with emotion. Ford was seated at a table in the packed hearing room flanked by her lawyers, facing a bank of senators. Cameras from news photographers clicked as she entered the room and took her seat, smiling nervously. Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, said a drunken Kavanaugh attacked her and tried to remove her clothing at a gathering of teenagers in Maryland when he was 17 years old and she was 15. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was very inebriated and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothing. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help, Ford said, adding that Kavanaugh and a friend of his were drunkenly laughing during the attack. Ford said that when she tried to yell out, he put his hand over her mouth. She said she was able to escape when Kavanaugh and another boy she said was in the room fell off the bed. Republican Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the committee, said at the opening of the hearing that he wanted it to be safe comfortable and dignified for both of our witnesses. He decried the media circus around the allegations against Kavanaugh and said the nominee and Ford had been through a terrible couple of weeks since Ford leveled her accusation. What they have endured ought to be considered by all of us as unacceptable and a poor reflection on the state of civility in our democracy, Grassley said. So I want to apologize to you both for the way youve been treated. I lament how this hearing has come about, he added, noting that Fords allegations emerged only after Kavanaughs original confirmation hearing earlier this month was over. Grassley said it was up to the Senate to assess the credibility of Kavanaugh and Ford. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, said in her opening statement that sexual violence is a serious problem in the United States and one that goes largely unseen. She thanked Ford for coming forward and referenced the #MeToo movement. RUSH TO JUDGMENT What I find most inexcusable is this rush to judgment, the unwillingness to take these kinds of allegations at face value and look at them for what they are: a real question of character for someone who is asking for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, Feinstein said. Feinstein said Ford should be treated with more respect than Anita Hill, who in 1991 accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Thomas was ultimately confirmed by the Senate and still sits on the court. Ford, who before the hearing had not spoken or appeared publicly, will give her account of an alleged incident in which she has said Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 at a gathering of teenagers in Maryland when both of them were in high school. Supporters of Ford were spotted throughout the Senate office building where the hearing was being held, including a group of about 50 women who attended the same school that Ford did at the time of the alleged incident. The all-male Republican majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee has hired a female lawyer with experience prosecuting sex crimes, Rachel Mitchell, to question Ford. Democratic senators are set to ask their own questions. In his prepared testimony, Kavanaugh again unequivocally and categorically denied her allegation, as well as other false and uncorroborated accusations by his other accusers. Sexual assault is horrific. It is morally wrong. It is illegal. It is contrary to my religious faith. And it contradicts the core promise of this nation that all people are created equal and entitled to be treated with dignity and respect, Kavanaugh said. Supreme Court appointments must be confirmed by the Senate, and Trumps fellow Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 51-49 margin. That means that a handful of moderate Republican senators who have not announced whether or not they support Kavanaugh could determine his fate. Committee member Jeff Flake is among these. The committee could vote on Kavanaughs confirmation on Friday, with a final Senate vote early next week. Some Democrats have called on Kavanaugh to withdraw in light of the allegations. The controversy has unfolded just weeks ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections in which Democrats are trying to seize control of Congress from Trumps fellow Republicans. Kavanaughs confirmation would cement conservative control of the high court as Trump moves to shift it and the broader federal judiciary to the right. Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in the 1980s. Ramirez accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself during a drunken dormitory party during the 1983-84 academic year when both attended Yale University. Swetnick, whose allegations emerged on Wednesday, said she witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh and others to get girls drunk at parties so that they could be raped. She also said Kavanaugh was present at a 1982 party at which she was raped. Trump and some other Republicans described the allegations as part of a last-minute smear campaign, though the president indicated that he will be paying close attention to the hearing. I can always be convinced, Trump said on Wednesday. Trump chose Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired effective in July. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Andrew Chung, Amanda Becker, Richard Cowan, Makini Brice and Susan Heavey; Editing by Will Dunham and Kevin Drawbaugh) On September 24, the Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik published a story claiming that Royal Navy didnt send any submarines to Syria due to a lack of assets. Sputnik cited an article in the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, as its source, which in turn cited an anonymous source with alleged connections in the British Defense Ministry. The Sputnik article cited and linked to an earlier Sputnik piece -- about the British submarine HMS Talent being dispatched to the Mediterranean to monitor the situation in Syria. That story included an embedded tweet from the Gibraltar Chronicle on September 8, which showed a photograph of the HMS Talent docked in the British-controlled port. However, it is not clear if the HMS Talent subsequently sailed to the eastern Mediterranean. British submarines in the Mediterranean could be used to launch Tomahawk cruise missile strikes if the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons, as the Britain, France, and U.S. have already done several times. However, during the last such strike, in response to the chlorine attack in Douma in April of this year, Britain did not launch any Tomahawk cruise missiles. Instead, four RAF Tornado fighter-bombers attacked with eight Stormshadow cruise missiles. The Tornados were part of No. 9 squadron, flying from their base in Akrotiri, Cyprus. This squadron has also been involved in the coalition air campaign against Islamic State. Most of the naval forces involved in the strike in April were either French or American. It is worth noting that the Sputnik article claims the British submarine was supposed to be deployed in response to expected false flag chemical attacks. That is misleading. The Russian Defense Ministry and pro-Kremlin media have repeatedly claimed that chemical attacks in Syria have been staged for the purpose of framing the Assad regime and provoking international intervention. Polygraph.info has debunked these claims. Recently, when Syrian government military action against the opposition in Idlib province seemed imminent, Russias Defense Ministry continually claimed it had intelligence showing the rebels were planning to stage a fake chemical attack. It offered no evidence to support this claim. To date, Russia has not provided any evidence of rebels staging a chemical attack. German automaker BMW has started production of the fourth-generation X5 SUV at its Spartanburg County plant. Fewer exports of BMW vehicles at the Port of Charleston are being blamed on the introduction of a new X5 model and slower sales in China because of new tariffs. Provided/BMW Kalyn Oyer is a Charleston native who covers arts & entertainment and food & bev for The Post and Courier. She's a music festival & concert photographer and used to write about music for the Charleston City Paper, among other publications. You are the owner of this article. Gregory Yee covers the city of Charleston. He's a native Angeleno and previously covered crime and courts for the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, CA. He studied journalism and Spanish literature at the University of California, Irvine. Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category. Joseph Cranney is an investigative reporter in Columbia, with a focus on government corruption and injustices in the criminal legal system. He can be reached securely by Proton mail at jcranney@prontonmail.com or on Signal at 215-285-9083. Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations. The Freeborn Wind Farm, one of the most contested wind-energy projects in Minnesota, was approved last week by state utility regulators. The wind farm proposed for Freeborn County in southern Minnesota sparked significant opposition from local residents concerned about turbine noise and other issues. A state judge in May recommended that Freeborn Wind should not be granted a permit, saying it failed to show it could meet Minnesotas noise standards. But after Freeborn Winds developer earlier this week proposed "special conditions" to meet state noise standards, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 to grant a permit. The vote came after both the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Commerce had essentially signed off on the "special conditions" crafted by Invenergy, Freeborn Winds Chicago-based developer. "We are very pleased," Dan Litchfield, an Invenergy senior manager, said after the Sept. 20 decision. "The commission very carefully reviewed the facts of the case and the law." Dorenne Hansen, leader of a group that has opposed Freeborn Wind, said the PUC "totally ignored" the state judges recommendation. She said state regulators "asked what (Invenergy) wanted, but they didnt ask the people who live near the project what they wanted." Freeborn Wind would include 42 turbines southeast of Albert Lea, its footprint encompassing just more than 250 homes. Another 58 turbines would be installed across the border in Worth County, Iowa. All 100 turbines were originally slated for Minnesota, but Invenergy moved some after Hansen and a group of local residents formed the Association of Freeborn County Landowners to oppose the project. The $300 million wind farm would produce up to 200 megawatts of electricity, and its expected to be eventually owned by Xcel Energy. The Freeborn project marks the first "contested case" over a wind farm before the PUC, prompting the appointment of an administrative law judge to sort out the facts and make recommendations. The judges ruling isnt binding on the PUC, but such recommendations often carry weight with the commission. In May, Judge LauraSue Schlatter recommended that Freeborn Wind be denied an operating permit and concluded that the states noise standard for wind farms applies to background noise combined with wind noise. The Freeborn Wind project wouldnt completely meet that standard, she ruled. The decision rocked Invenergy and the entire wind-energy industry, which has argued that the PUC has previously interpreted the standard to apply only to wind noise. A rule based on total noise would hinder the growth of wind power in Minnesota, the industry and clean energy advocates have argued. Schlatter cited the MPCA in her interpretation of the states noise standard. And earlier this month, in a filing with the PUC, the MPCA said the states limit for wind-farm noise indeed applies not only to any turbine noise, but also includes background noise such as road traffic, bird song and wind gusts. However, the MPCA said it supported an effort by the Minnesota Department of Commerce to find as the commerce department has called it a "middle ground" in the noise flap. Commerce, which represents the public before the PUC, proposed allowing a 1-decibel sound increase above the current standard, an amount that it has called insignificant to the human ear. Earlier this week, Invenergy filed a proposal with the PUC that would include noise allowances of no more than 3 decibels above the standard. Both the commerce department and the MPCA agreed with Invenergys proposal. "In the scientific community, 3 decibels is considered below the (human) perception level," Frank Kohlasch, the MPCAs air assessment manager told the PUC. The PUC agreed with the special provisions, and commission member Dan Lipschultz said that the commission is "not setting a noise standard." Other commissioners agreed. However, Carol Overland, attorney for the Association of Freeborn County Landowners, told commissioners they essentially were making a rule. "Its arbitrary and capricious on its face," she said. The PUCs hearing room in St. Paul was packed for the Freeborn Wind decision. At least 30 opponents of the project showed up, many wearing red T-shirts with an anti-wind farm slogan. At least two dozen supporters, some from Iowa, wore green shirts bearing the message "Yes." Im not a lover of very spicy foods or drinks. But I am a fan of food and drink with a hint of spice and pepper, especially if theres an eclectic mix of flavors to give it balance. Luckily, the cocktail scene in Rochester has plenty to offer if youre looking for a drink with a bit of bite or uniqueness to it. Chesters Kitchen and Bar - Mango Chili Margarita Tabasco sauce is never something I crave, but in this margarita, it just works. The mango and house sour help to balance what could be too spicy (at least for someone like me). The Don Julio Blanco Tequila and Triple sec an orange-flavored liqueur work in tandem to create a fruitier edge. Canadian Honker - Flamin Mary Sriracha vodka and Tabasco are enough to make my spice-averse palate cringe in horror. But if you need a somewhat spicy kick at brunch, the Flamin Mary - no doubt inspired by Mayos Saint Marys campus just across the street - is the Bloody Mary for you. The homemade mix throws black pepper into the fray and is topped with a cheese cube, jalapeno pepper, pickle, and olive. While firmly in the medium heat range for people used to spice, this one gave my mouth a fiery kick. Hefe Rojo - Amaro di Mezcal Chili and honey might not seem to go together well, and in most instances, they dont. Chili can often overwhelm, and honey can be cloying. This cocktail does the combo well, thanks to the addition of some punchy lemon and bitter Amaro Di Angostura, as well as Mezcal Sacrificio to reassert the agave already in the drink, which has a honey-like sweetness. Thats a lot of agave and sweet-sounding ingredients, but it all balances out. The chili keeps it interesting and remains present throughout. Victorias Ristorante & Wine Bar - Mule Caliente Remove the jalapeno from the jalapeno-infused Titos Vodka, and you have a Moscow Mule. If you love a good ol Moscow Mule, this is a slightly spicy take with some pepper to keep it interesting. Titos Vodka on its own is a solid spirit, and the jalapeno infusion just adds to the overall concoction, making it a bit more fun. Plus, you can never go wrong with fresh-squeezed lime in a drink. Bonus:Porch and Cellar - Californication In addition to being the name of a great Red Hot Chili Peppers song, this cocktail hits all the right notes. Look for it when the Cellar portion of Porch and Cellar reopens on Oct. 1. If this chile-infused, cilantro-laden cocktail isnt retired on that date (and really, Cellar should still have the ingredients available to make it), its one of my favorites on the list because it is more peppery than spicy (something I like in beer as well). Julie Anne (Driscoll) Potter was born Feb. 6, 1957, in Bloomington, to Gordon and Jean (Raymond) Driscoll. She grew up in Coon Rapids, Rochester, and Oshkosh, Wis. Julie enjoyed spending time on the river, camping on the islands, and being with her family. Julie graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College. She worked as a programmer and took two and half years of Classical Biblical Greek. She married John Potter on June 15, 1991. When their children, Aaron and Laura, were born, she became a stay-at-home mom. She home-schooled Laura and Aaron through high school. Julie loved to study the Bible and to tell others what Jesus did for them. Julie had completed the first year of Charis Bible College and was starting the second year when she passed. During her last week, she told multiple people on several occasions that she just wanted to go be with Jesus, her Lord and Savior. Julie went home to be with Jesus on Monday, Sept. 17 surrounded by her family. Julie will be missed greatly by her husband, John; daughter, Laura (Jake) Redding; and son, Aaron; as well as extended family and friends. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29 at Rochester Assembly of God, with a visitation one hour prior. A time of fellowship will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Charis Bible College, Woodland Park, Colo., in support of scholarships. Gov. Eddie Calvo visited the Bishop Museum in Hawaii on Thursday to discuss repatriating Guam artifacts that have been stored there. In April, we broke ground on the cultural repository in Mangilao, the governor said. "Its important that artifacts belonging to our people be returned home so that we can learn from them and teach the younger generation about those who came before us. The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act appropriated funding for the construction of the cultural repository. Under the defense funding, around $12 million has been awarded to the governor's office for the planning, design, and construction of the facility on a 10-acre property within the University of Guam campus. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. From 1924 to 1926, the Honolulu-based Bishop Museum employed amateur archeologist Hans Hornbostel, who worked with his wife, Gertrude Hornbostel, to collect specimens from Guam and the Northern Marianas. They shipped hundreds of artifacts some more than 3,000 years old including pottery, fishhooks, latte stones, stone pillars, and even human skeletal remains, to Hawaii, Guampedia.com reported. Several boxes of Guam artifacts stored at the Bishop Museum were returned to Guam in 1994, Guampedia reported, but more remain in Hawaii. INSIGHTS These past few months I have been spending much of my time reviewing old photos. As I flip though the digitals, I must make sure the details c Read more What, me worry! This iconic motto, famously attributed to Mad Magazines equally iconic Alfred E. Neuman, might well serve national Republican strategists approaching the end of summer and the impending 2018 midterms. The party has much to worry about. Loss of a single chamber could cripple the Trump agenda; loss of both Houses will effectively end the Trump presidency. The GOPs problem is that it doesnt confront a single problem, but a daunting multiplicity of them. Each of the problems is individually troubling and collectively all threaten continued Republican rule in Washington. Altogether there are at least five compelling forces that the GOP must neutralize or overcome if they are to continue to hold control over the federal government: * History of Midterms: Democrats need to win just 23 seats to take control of the lower chamber and political history suggests they will do it. The party holding the White House almost always loses House seats in a midterm election. Since the Civil War, the presidents party has been consistently on the losing end of midterm elections with the losses in the House often exceeding 30 seats. Even more relevant are the recent 1st midterms of a president. From Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, every president but one has lost seats in the House. Reagan lost 26 seats, Clinton 54 and Obama led the way with a stunning 63 seat loss. The only exception occurred in 2002 after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. George W. Bushs Republican Party gained eight House seats and two Senate seats. * Referendum on Trump: All elections are a referendum on the incumbent, and midterms are a referendum on the incumbent president. Typically, if a presidents job performance is below 50% positive, House losses will occur and they will be substantial. Ominously, President Trumps job performance ratings have been flashing red for some time. His current positives stand at 43.4 percent on the RCP average. Moreover, these approval ratings have been consistent for months, something not seen before in presidential politics. If Trumps approval ratings do not improve, Republicans in competitive races will continue to be vulnerable. * Enthusiasm among Democrats: Voting turnout in midterms tends to be relatively low-around 40% of eligible voters. Consequently, midterm outcomes are heavily influenced by the degree of enthusiasm that exists among voters. This year Democrats are enjoying an enthusiasm gap over Republicans. In the congressional special elections that have occurred in 2018, the Democrats have over performed by 12 to 16 points. In the most recent congressional special election in Ohios 12thcongressional district, the Democratic candidate trails by less than a single point in a district Trump carried by 11 points in 2016. Similar Democratic enthusiasm has manifested itself in several contested 2018 Democratic primaries. Importantly, Democrats have filed for state legislative and congressional races in record numbers. Likewise, polls measuring interest in the elections show Democrats leading Republicans by substantial margins. Finally, Democratic candidates are raising far more money than their Republican opponents in many cases and three times more then they did in the last midterm (2014). * Influence of Women Voters: 2018 will make the so-called Year of the Women (1992) pale by comparison. The largest number of female candidates is seeking office than in any previous election cycle. So far, 185 women have been nominated for the House, according to the Center for Women and Politics at Rutgers University. The large majority of these female candidates are Democrats, 143 of them. Women are also contributing money to campaigns in unusually high numbers. While the paucity of females in state legislatures and Congress are motivating some of the high interest, strong opposition to President Trump among Democratic women clearly explains much of female mobilization. In 2016, there was a 24 point gender gap with women voting Democratic by 13 points while men favored Republicans by 11 points. Polls indicate a similar or larger gap in 2018 as women increasingly support Democratic candidates. * A shifting Midterm Coalition Midterm voters differ from presidential election voters in many ways. A propensity to vote is one of them with midterm voters much more likely to vote at all. Demographics trending to higher incomes and more education is another key difference. Midterm voters tend to be more affluent and better educated. In 2018, these differences are likely to benefit Democrats since Trumps 2016 supporters came disproportionately from among white working-class voters without a college degree precisely the group less likely to show up at the polls on November 6th. Moreover, in 2018, college educated voters have been showing up in large numbers in special elections and among Democratic primary voters. This worrisome pattern for Republicans means the Trump coalition from 2016 is likely to be considerably smaller in 2018. These five factors, so inimical to GOP hopes, do not guarantee a Democratic wave in 2018. True, some of these are near unalterable features of American politics. The history of midterms and their referendum nature are examples. But other factors are more malleable by Republicans, particularly closing the enthusiasm gap, a broader appeal to women, and ensuring they are not outspent. 2016 taught everyone that the only poll that counts is on election day. Thats something Republicans should remember and Democrats should not forget. Terry Madonna is professor of public affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, and Michael Young is a speaker, pollster, author, and was professor of politics and public affairs at Penn State University. Responses to the column can be emailed to terry.madonna@fandm.edu Judge Kavanaugh released a statement today that said, among other things, that Julie Swetnicks story is from the Twilight Zone. In my view, the entire Democratic Party has entered the Twilight Zone. The latest is from Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, who says he is going to court to try to block the Senate from voting on Kavanaughs nomination: Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., says he will seek a federal court injunction to, as Politico described it, stop a final vote on Brett Kavanaugh, asserting an obstruction of his constitutional duty to advise and consent on nominees. According to Oregon media, Merkley asserts hes not being given adequate time to do his job of reviewing Kavanaughs qualifications. Given that Merkley announced his opposition to Kavanaughs confirmation on July 9, that is hardly a credible assertion. But in any event, the idea that a federal judge can or will order the Senate not to vote on a nomination, or anything else, is laughable. The Democrats have gone mad. Im in the midst of a grueling road trip that finds me today in the last place I want to be right nowWashington DC. Fortunately, I get to leave town first thing Thursday morning before the Official Madness Meter gets cranked up to 11. I tweeted a couple days ago that what the Kavanaugh matter needed was more cowbell. We got quite a lot more of it today. Thursday afternoon Ill be making a return appearance at Yale, where Ill be lecturing for the William F. Buckley Program as part of a year-long series I am doing for them on Conservatism from Burke to Bannon. This weeks lecture is on Edmund Burke: The First Modern Conservative (see description below), which will be a nice respite from the news of the day. If any readers in the New Haven area would like to turn up, it is open to the public, and will be at 4:30 pm in W.L. Harkness Hall, room 116, which is at 100 Wall Street in the middle of campus. I imagine parking is a challenge, so give yourself extra time to find a spot and walk to the building if you come. Heres the summary description of the lecture: The British statesman Edmund Burke is considered to be the first modern conservative, though in some respects he represents an Enlightenment-era adaptation of the true first conservative, Aristotle. Burkes legacy attaches mostly to his strenuous reaction to the radicalism of the French Revolution, but he had a subtle outlook that, inter alia, supported the American Revolution, opposed slavery, criticized British colonial rule in India, supported the idea of partisan political parties, and had a theory of positive change that demonstrates he should not be thought of as a mere reactionary against all change. PR-Inside.com: 2018-09-27 20:34:02 Gemalto regrets the decision of the Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB) of the Republic of Estonia to break off the ongoing negotiation of an out-of-court settlement agreement Gemalto media contacts: North America Tauri Cox, +1-512-257-3916 tauri.cox@gemalto.com or Europe Middle East & Africa Sophie Dombres, +33 4 42 36 57 38 sophie.dombres@gemalto.com or Asia Pacific Jaslin Huang, +65 6317 3005 jaslin.huang@gemalto.com or Latin America Enriqueta Sedano, +52 5521221422 enriqueta.sedano@gemalto.com After the announcement released today by PBGB, Gemalto wishes to express its surprise as to PBGBs sudden decision to break off the negotiation of the settlement agreement. Gemalto wishes to clarify that it may not be held responsible in any way for this outcome as it has all along been negotiating this amicable settlement agreement in strict confidence and in good faith. It therefore deeply regrets this new approach taken by PBGB by filing a claim in court. Gemalto cannot comment the claim as it only holds for now the information given by the media, but wishes nonetheless to highlight that the amount of PBGBs claim mentioned in the press release is totally out of proportion compared to the one PBGB offered in the settlement agreement. Gemalto further emphasizes that it has not breached and will continue to perform its contractual obligations. Gemalto has demonstrated its clear willingness to fully and finally settle out of court the pending claims related to the e-ID Card supply contract, as it believes that this is in the best interest of both parties. By force of circumstance, Gemalto will get prepared for the court case and fully trusts Estonian courts to allocate respective responsibilities of the parties under the said contract and settle the dispute with PBGB accordingly; therefore, no further comment will be made for the moment. About Gemalto Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2017 annual revenues of 3 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world. From secure software to biometrics and encryption, our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between. Gemaltos solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things. Our 15,000 employees operate out of 114 offices, 40 personalization and data centers, and 35 research and software development centers located in 47 countries. For more information visit www.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005 Fact.MR PR-Inside.com: 2018-09-27 13:28:19 Press Information Fact.MR Suite 9884 27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Abhishek Budholiya Marketing Manager +353-1-6111-593 email https://www.factmr.com/ # 618 Words Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandMarketing Manager+353-1-6111-593 This particular research report focuses on the outdoor power equipment market at the global level. Fact.MR has published this analysis titled Outdoor Power Equipment Market Forecast, Trend Analysis & Competition Tracking - Global Market insights 2018 to 2028, which examines the rising demand for outdoor power equipment across different market segments. According to research findings, the concerned market is expected to expand at 3.5% CAGR during the forecast period (2018-2028).It has been investigated that, growth in the outdoor power equipment market is majorly reliant on factors like population and age distribution, housing, consumption spending and other constructions, geography, together with leisure and recreation activities. Furthermore, the future of the outdoor power equipment market is dependent on robotics and battery technology. It has been analyzed that, battery powered equipment are much cleaner and include lower operating costs as compared to equipment which runs on gas. The introduction of battery-powered equipment across the residential and commercial segments is projected to drive the sales of larger equipment; thereby, motivating growth in the overall outdoor power equipment market.Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=1414 The research report starts with the executive summary followed by introduction and definition. Readers can access useful information related to supply chain, forecast scenario, forecast factors, technology roadmap and Porters analysis. Furthermore, knowledge about market dynamics including drivers, restraints and trends is delivered in a separate portion. One of the vital market drivers includes the steady development of the global construction sector. The outdoor power equipment market is carefully segmented on regional consideration into North America, Latin America, CIS & Russia, Europe, APEJ, Japan and MEA. Among these, North America continues to retain its position as the leading market share holder in the outdoor power equipment market. This is primarily due to the impressive manufacturer concentration and constant demand.Further, market bifurcation based on equipment includes automatic lawn mower, push lawn mower, self-propelled mower, riding lawn mower and others. Based on price range (US$), the outdoor power equipment market is divided into 0-1000, 1000-2000 and 2000+. Each of these segments are studied in terms of market value (US$) & volume (Units) and market attractiveness. There has been a significant shift towards the usage of electric and battery powered equipment due to stronger emission standards and consumers consciousness towards the environment. Hence, the demand for outdoor power equipment is gaining pace among the modern population across developed and developing nations.To Get more Information on Outdoor Power Equipment Market, Visit - https://www.factmr.com/report/1414/outdoor-power-equipment-market The outdoor power equipment market is maturing and so is the intense competition among existing as well as developing market players. Some of the major players mentioned in this report include Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Techtronic Industries Company Ltd., Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., Husqvarna AB, Briggs & Stratton Corporation, CHERVON (China) Trading Co., Ltd., YAMABIKO Corporation and Andreas Stihl AG & Company KG. Each of these companies are examined based on their new product launches, acquisitions and collaborations.It has been observed that, key players are persistently implementing new strategies merged with R&D to expand the maneuverability, performance and efficiency of robotic lawn mowers. This is managed through the use of different technological advancements, like auto calendar function, smart navigation through obstacle detection and smart lawn mapping via GPS.To Buy Outdoor Power Equipment Market Report, Visit- https://www.factmr.com/checkout/1414/S About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports. PR-Inside.com: 2018-09-27 10:02:01 Programme Features Executives from Organisations including Cisco, Huawei, Kazakhtelecom, Megafon, MTS, Qualcomm and Turkcell; Registration Now Open GSMA Announces Speakers for Mobile 360 Russia & CIS 2018 For the GSMA Beau Bass +44 79 7662 4962 beau.bass@webershandwick.com or Tatyana Korolyova +7 925 729 03 40 TKoroleva@prp.ru or GSMA Press Office pressoffice@gsma.com The GSMA today announced the first speakers for the 2018 Mobile 360 Russia & CIS conference, which will take place 30-31 October 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow. Sponsors for the event include MTS (Host Sponsor); Huawei (Headline Sponsor); Kazakhtelecom (Headline Mobile Sponsor); Cisco and Qualcomm (Industry Sponsors) and MegaFon (Mobile Partner). Mobile 360 Russia & CIS is a regionally-focused event drawing senior leaders from government and regulatory bodies, the international ICT industry, and other economic sectors to address the implementation of the regions digital economic plans. We are excited to be bringing the Mobile 360 Series to Russia, convening key stakeholders to examine the pivotal role that mobile is playing in the digital economy strategies of Russia and other CIS countries, which aim to stimulate growth, foreign investment and global competitiveness through a focus on science and technology, said Michael OHara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. Over two days, the spotlight will be on the exciting new opportunities delivered through mobile technology, with discussions on topics that are vital to continued growth and development in the region. At Mobile 360 Russia & CIS, CEOs and senior executives from leading companies in the mobile industry and throughout the digital ecosystem will address the most pressing trends and issues in mobile. Speakers confirmed to present at Mobile 360 Russia & CIS include: Kishen Mangat, VP and GM, Cisco Sebastian Tolstoy, President, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Ericsson Anton Ustimenko, Partner, Technology, Media and Telecommunications Sector Leader, CESA , Ernst & Young Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA Paul Scanlan, CTO, Huawei Anna Serebryanikova, COO, MegaFon Aleksey Kornya, President and CEO, MTS Sergey Emdin, CEO, Tele2 Russia Kaan Terzioglu, CEO, Turkcell For more information on the conference, including the agenda and complete speaker list, visit www.mobile360series.com/russia-cis/agenda/. Event Agenda Day One of Mobile 360 Russia & CIS will explore the regions digital economy ambitions and how it can position itself as a global leader in 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) adoption. Issues that will be addressed include how current policies position the region for digital transformation, the role of regulation in facilitating innovation and the business models needed to support the rapid rollout of new technologies such as 5G and IoT. Day Two, following the morning discussions on the future of the digital era, Huawei will lead a half-day forum on digital evolution, featuring discussions and case studies on 5G. Vedomosti will host a keynote session and attendees will be also able to attend a selection of in-depth GSMA workshops on digital identity, capacity building, Rich Communications Services (RCS) and IoT. Mobile 360 Russia & CIS Registration Now Open Registration for Mobile 360 Russia & CIS is now open; individuals wishing to attend should visit www.mobile360series.com/russia-cis/attend/attendee. For further information on Mobile 360 Russia & CIS, including sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.mobile360series.com/russia-cis/overview/. Developments and updates on Mobile 360 Russia & CIS (#M360RCIS) and the entire Mobile 360 Series (#Mobile360) of events is available on Twitter @GSMAEVENTS, on Facebook www.facebook.com/Mobile360Series and on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/gsma-mobile-360-series. Keep up to date with broader GSMA news and activity through @GSMA. -ENDS- About the GSMA The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005 PR-Inside.com: 2018-09-27 07:02:01 Data-driven technology designed to improve patient outcomes, reduce misdiagnoses New Food Allergy Diagnostics Company, AllerGenis, Recently Launched to Deliver Innovative Diagnostic Technology Enabling More Precise Food Allergy Detection and Patient Management Media contact Joseph Salerno, MS 312-506-5241 HDMZ joseph.salerno@hdmz.com or Investment contact Russ Fein 646-572-0421 Corporate Fuel Partners russ@corporatefuel.com New food allergy diagnostics company, AllerGenis, LLC., recently launched for the purpose of bringing innovative, precision diagnostic solutions to food allergy clinicians, with the goal of improving patient outcomes through highly accurate and safe diagnostic tools. The market for food allergy diagnostics is substantial, with 15 million Americans reportedly having food allergies, including eight percent of all children. Moreover, one in 13 children in the U.S. are at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis. Yet, current food allergy diagnostics have very low accuracy, and as many as 60 percent of patients may be misdiagnosed. AllerGenis has developed its technology using data-driven machine learning and next-generation multiplex immunoassay technology to more precisely diagnose and monitor patients with food allergies. It will be one of the first non-oncologic, precision medicine tools to help providers better diagnose, assess, and manage patients with food allergies. We are excited to launch our technology as an alternative to current food allergy diagnostics, which havent improved in nearly thirty years, said Jim Garner, CEO and board member of AllerGenis. Our mission is to provide physicians with clinically actionable information utilizing up-to-date technology, allowing for a safer diagnosis of food allergy and disease severity, without exposing patients to test-inflicted health risks. AllerGenis diagnostics next-generation technology uses a proprietary epitope mapping platform developed by Hugh Sampson MD, of the Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The platform is a high-throughput, peptide-bead assay, which subdivides allergenic proteins into smaller peptides - called epitopes - and measures the reactivity of a patients IgE/IgG4 levels to these epitopes. Each patient will have a reactivity profile, known as an epitope signature, guiding providers with information to better assess and manage patients food allergies. Dr. Sampson and his team have already created a database of nearly one thousand epitope signatures to refine the algorithms underlying the technologys precision. In the near future, as we build our repository of epitope signatures and phenotypes into a larger epitome database similar to the Human Genome Project well be able to better indicate likely allergy outcomes, said Dr. Sampson. Also, well be able, over time, to get a much better understanding of how the human immune system actually deals with different food proteins. Hopefully, that will inform us on potential therapeutic avenues to follow. The first product to be launched using this proprietary technology platform will be the companys peanut allergy assay, which will be available in the fall of 2019. Moving forward, AllerGenis plans to develop a pipeline of assays across food allergens. In its full development, the goal of AllerGenis technology program will be the ability to: Diagnose patient food allergy and associated severity (including anaphylaxis) without the risks associated with direct exposure to the allergen Distinguish between sensitivity and allergic disease, and who will naturally outgrow Assess, manage and monitor progress of therapy (ex. desensitization) Determine therapeutic efficacy (ex. Tolerance threshold) AllerGenis is interested in pursuing business development opportunities/partnerships which have a clear strategic fit with our portfolio and commercial capabilities. For more information visit www.allergenis.com. About AllerGenis Established in 2017 and located in Hatfield, PA, AllerGenis develops precision, data-driven diagnostics to help healthcare providers more accurately and safely diagnose, assess and monitor patients with food allergies. The company was founded out of a collaboration between Genisphere, a provider of the 3DNA platform for targeted drug delivery, and Hugh Sampson MD, of the Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. It leverages Genispheres Luminex bead-based immunoassay technology, which is used to make life science and diagnostics tests more sensitive. AllerGenis proprietary epitope mapping technology is based on immunological research by Dr. Sampson. AllerGenis is creating the largest food allergy knowledge base populated by individual patient epitope signatures derived from epitope mapping, clinical history, and patient-reported outcomes to gain clinical insights. For more information, visit www.allergenis.com. About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools," aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 13 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in six other specialties in the 2018-2019 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology and 44th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. For more information, visit www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926005 The poet and essayist Odia Ofeimum has agreed to deliver the keynote address at the 20th edition of the Lagos Book and Art Festival LABAF, running from November 5 to 11, 2018. The distinguished polemicist is impressed by the theme: Renewal: A World That Works For All, which was chosen by the organisers to reset the agenda for a democracy turning 20 in eight months time and a country heading for its sixth, consecutive general elections. Renewal should also be about renewing surprises, Mr. Ofeimum said in Lagos last week, hinting at the content of his proposed address: Let us surprise ourselves with the value of ageless truths and programmatics. Mr. Ofeimum is the author of many volumes of poetry, books of political essays and on cultural politics, and the editor of two significant anthologies of Nigerian poetry. His work has been widely anthologized and translated and he has read and performed his poetry internationally. Jahman Anikulapo, programme chair of the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), organisers of LABAF, said that the choice of Odia Ofeimum as the Festivals keynoter was informed by the tone of his body of work. He is the one Public Intellectual who has been quite consistent in advocating for a new system, new nation that will work for all in the end, Mr Anikulapo said. He said the speech wiould give Mr. Ofeimum yet another opportunity to speak to the subject that he has been very passionate about. LABAF was birthed in September 1999, as Nigeria returned to civil rule after 16 years of military dictatorship. Its first theme: Read to Freedom, was to call attention to literacy as a way out of mass poverty and underdevelopment. Over the years it has evolved. Now it is a comprehensive seven-day cultural picnic including readings sessions, conversations around books, art and craft displays, kiddies art workshops, teenagers reviews, book exhibitions, poetry slam, live music and dance. There are Publishers Forum, Writers workshops and Book Treks. Overall, it is a carnivalesque atmosphere created to make books look cool. Two weeks ago, the organisers unveiled a list of some of the books to be discussed at this years edition, including Lee Kuan Yews Singapore: From Third World to First, Kingsley Moghalus Build, Innovate and Grow: My Vision for our Country and Emerging Africa, How the Global Economys Last Frontier Can Prosper and Matter, Obafemi Awolowos The Strategy and Tactics of the Peoples Republic of Nigeria, Helen Zilles Not Without A Fight, Chude Jideonwos Are We The Turning Point Generation? Akin Mabogunjes A Measure of Grace, Titus Okerekes Our Fathers Land by Bookcraft. Sarah Manyikas Like a Mule Bringing Ice-Cream to the Sun, Julian Zelizers The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society. This list is not exhaustive, said Mr Anikulapo. There are more, to cover the seven panel conversations in the course of the Festival. People are going through the books now to come and discuss them. We are energised that Oga Odia will kickstart those conversations. SOURCE: Book Artville http://bookartville.com/pages/odia-ofeimum-to-deliver-the-keynote-at-lagos-book-and-art-festival/ Ordinary Saviour is an anthology of short stories edited by Richard Ali and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim. Comprising eleven stories written by the Northeast Regional Initiatives NEIEF Fellows, the collection provides a voice for local experiences of the conflict as well as counternarratives. It was published by Parresia Publishers Limited for NERI. It was publicly presented on August 29 at Newton Park Hotel, Abuja. Amended text of the Foreword as read by Richard Ali. Stories, by their very complex nature, are the essence of our experiences and perceptions. Their relevance to the evolution of homo sapiens as a species can scarcely be quantified because the role stories play in shaping and documenting our social and cultural evolutions, our perceptions and histories, cannot be collected into data or statistics and presented in colourful infographics. Here, in Africa, stories have always been vehicles for cultural orientation, socialization and moral instruction. In recent years, the importance of stories has been demonstrated by the influx of journalists, foreign and domestic, into Nigerias northeast, to capture the Boko Haram crisis in that region and project them, in the form of news stories, to the world. Yet, before Boko Haram, there were stories in the northeast. There were, and have always been, beautiful and proud people of various tribes and faiths on those plains, whose colourful and flamboyant attires have only been matched by their achievements, who have lived and loved and built cultures, kingdoms and empires. There have also been merchants of some of these stories, with writers like Zaynab Alkali having held the torch for the people of that region, and for women especially. Over the years, the dimension and scope of these stories have only become amplified and more layered, their nuances have become more intricate as numerous factors have come into play; imported fanaticism and weapons have met indigent people who have, for years, remained at the basic level of existence and have, by virtue of this, been left exposed and vulnerable. At the bottom of the Boko Haram conflict is the ways indignation, arising from years of neglect and poverty, can claim the centre stage in devastating, fatal ways. The devastation wrought by Boko Haram has rewritten the narrative of northeastern Nigeria, this time with blood and gore. The story that the extremists have insisted on telling has drawn the attention of the worlds press to cities like Maiduguri, Bama, Yola, Chibok, Dapchi, Buni Yadi and others. The stories these journalists have told is one of heartbreak, against the backdrop of burning villages, with a soundtrack of rifle fire. These are, of course, valid stories. They are, more often than not, true narratives. Yet, what cannot be overemphasised is the necessity for the targets of this unfortunate experience with fundamentalism to take ownership of the narrative. To share, in their own words, their stories. Only through this will the nuances, the finer threads of their existence, culture and identity, which have shaped this conflict and its fallout, be highlighted in the grand tapestry of truth. The stories contained in this concise anthology have been written mostly by people from northeastern Nigeria, who have chosen to use fiction as a vehicle to convey the nightmares, dreams and hopes of the region. The fact that the vast majority of these writers have never attempted fiction writing before, and have never been published before, demonstrates the urgency of the stories they tell in this anthology. Also, for these stories to have taken this shape, within the short period of intensive tutorial and mentorship they have had, is a credit to the writers and their zeal to learn and grow, but most importantly, to be the drivers of a new narrative of the northeast. In these stories, aspects that have often been missed by the media in the haste to rush to press with their stories are highlighted. Dreams and their fundamentals, hopes and their essence, and the permanence of the resilience of regular people wafts strongly, like the velvety fragrant smokes of frankincense the region is famous for. It is important to draw attention to this anthology within the larger sphere of preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE) as well as counterterrorism strategy. There has been some academic positions that have wondered if PCVE is any different from propaganda. It is our opinion that while these positions and others are academic, PCVE is actually about people. It is, precisely, about the real people victims of misguided ideologues, who the storytellers of Ordinary Saviour have brought to life, even if in fiction. REVIEW: Introducing Ordinary Saviour: New Stories from Nigerias Northeast, By Richard Ali It is Rosaline in Suzanne Myadas story that gives a name to the anthology, Rosaline who flees the village to the city certain that everyone must know her aunty Hadizas house. It is ASP Mohammedali who, in trying to be a good man in a difficult place, makes hard decisions and flirts with extrajudicial acts inimical to his standing as a law officer, and the hollowness of his victory. It is the woman with two sons fleeing conflict, split in a second, who wind up in safety in two different ends of the country in Adaku Usigbes story. It is belaboured Filolo, who tries so hard to settle the conflict between a sedentary farmer and a pastoralist herdsman and yet fails. It is the young man in Adamu Galadimas story who is failed over and over again by his society, incarcerated, who, at the end of it all, wants revenge. And our point is that PCVE is about people, and that while it has emerged as a field of study and expertise, it must remain about people until such a time that we would not need special designations such as PCVE or CT nor specialist study. But, until such a time, PCVE is necessary and literature, such as this anthology Ordinary Saviour, has an important role to play in confronting extremism and normalizing our societies. In your hand, dear reader, is a treasure, hopefully the first of many gems, not because of its high art for that is not what this collection aspires to but because of the scope of its ambition and the courage of its vanguards, the writers who have become pioneers on this path that, hopefully, would only grow wider with the passage of many more merchants of stories from the northeast. With the passage of time, the significance of this work will come through. For now, it would suffice to immerse yourself in it, in this world that, pockmarked with bullet holes, punctuated by tears and loss, has through sheer doggedness, refused to fold unto itself. This, right here, is the stuff triumph is made of. These are stories that need telling. Thank you. ***Richard Ali made the above introductory remark at the public presentation of Ordinary Saviour in early September. The Nigerian Army inflicted heavy casualty on Boko Haram when they attacked Garshigar community of Mobar Local Government Area in Borno on Wednesday, an official said. Texas Chukwu, Army Director of Public Relations, disclosed this in a statement released on Thursday in Maiduguri. Mr Chukwu stated that the insurgents, who were in nine gun trucks, were repelled by troops of 145 Battalion deployed for Operation Lafiya Dole following superior power of the vigilant troops. He added that preliminary battle damage assessment reveals that the overwhelming superior power of the troops devastated the insurgents, inflicting human and equipment casualty on the insurgents which forced them to withdraw in disarray. The director said that the gallant troops regrouped after the fierce encounter and dominated the general area of Garshigar and its environs with fighting patrols. The good people of Mobar Local Government are urged to remain calm and be assured of troops commitment to provide adequate security in the general area, he added. (NAN) Scores of voters protested at Jamodo Junction in Ifon Osun, Orolu Local Government Area of Osun State. They said thugs working for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) denied them entrance into polling units. They also alleged that the thugs seized their voting credentials and beat them up. They spoke with PREMIUM TIMES under anonymity because they are residents in the community and feared being victimised by political operatives in the area. Whoever announces APC as winner of this election will get home and die, one of the protesters who said he escaped attacks by suspected APC said, fuming and cursing profusely. We were going there peacefully to vote but they accosted us with guns and machetes. They are APC thugs. They told us to hand over our voters cards and they beat many people. For now, I dont have my voters card. I cannot vote. This is denying us of our right, another resident who was allagedly prevented from voting said. An elderly woman was also turned back, telling PREMIUM TIMES the intimidation of resents in the community started a day to the election on Wednesday. They did not allow us to vote. They have started shooting since yesterday. Our local government chairman coordinated the attacks, she claimed. PREMIUM TIMES could not reach the chairman for comments, and the claims by the residents could not be independently ascertained. Still they mirror the other complaints coming out of Orolu general area since polling opened in the re-run on Thursday morning. Live Denial Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES journalist witnessed how a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporter, who earlier raised alarm about the situation, was denied entrance to Polling Unit 1 in Ward 8, Orolu LGA. The man arrived at the polling unit to cast his vote but was accosted by another man suspected to be a political thug. What is your business here? the suspected thug asked the PDP supporter. The PDP supporter then asked the suspected thug to identify himself, which he failed to do, sparking a furious exchange of words. Police officers immediately intervened and prevented a violent confrontation between both. The suspected thug was initially held by the police, but was released only a moment later, even though there was no immediately confirmation that he actually registered to vote at the polling unit. The screening of registered voters for accreditation was done under the supervision of security agents. Vote buying The business of vote buying, which has characterised Nigerian elections in recent months and was witnessed in the election proper last Saturday, was also observed by PREMIUM TIMES in Ifon Osun. Persons said to be agents of the governing APC carried out the practice, brazenly dolling out N20,000 each to voters who were willing to surrender their voters cards, PREMIUM TIMES can report. A voter told PREMIUM TIMES APC agents had collected the PVCs of some voters prior to election day. This journalist observed how these voters walked into the Polling Unit one, Ward 8, collected their voters card and voted. At the polling unit, two APC party agents, one on Ankara fabric and the other on shirt and trousers, stood near the voting cubicle to observe who they voted for, an action that should not have been allowed to take place with Nigerias open-secret ballot system. The presence of suspected APC thugs and overzealous security agents made it difficult for this reporter to capture the electoral malpractice on video, which he witnessed only moments after he regained freedom after being detained by police officers in the LGA. When contacted on phone, Mohammed Dankwara, a deputy police commissioner who supervised police security arrangement in Orolu LGA, told PREMIUM TIMES there were no cases of intimidation. Everywhere around here is peaceful, Mr Dankwara said. We have international observers here who are white men and they did not complain of anything. I am assuring you that the election in Orolu is going on peacefully, he added. The family of the Aide De Camp (ADC) to the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, has said that he has not yet been released contrary to information provided earlier. PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported the arrest of the ADC, Sani Baba-Inna, on Friday last week after Mrs Buhari accused him of fraud. Mr Baba-Innas elder brother, Farouq Baba-Inna, told PREMIUM TIMES Thursday afternoon that he has been released. He has just been released and I am on my way to see him, he said. However, Farouq later told us that he was misinformed. A colleague of the ADC called me as I was travelling to Abuja to tell me that he has been released. Unfortunately, it turned out to be untrue. I was so excited and had no reason to doubt him. That was why I called to inform you, he said about an hour after the initial call. Also, spokesperson to Mrs Buhari, Suleiman Haruna, in a message to this newspaper said Mr Baba-Inna may not be released anytime soon. The officer is being investigated on allegation of corrupt practices, which is a serious offence. As such, it is unlikely that the DSS will compromise and release him midway without completing the investigation, Mr Haruna said. Mrs Buhari accuses Mr Baba-Inna of collecting cash gifts totalling N2.5 billion from politicians and businesses over three years, money he allegedly kept to himself. She asked the police to retrieve the money, and publicly asked persons who may have given money to Mr Baba-Inna to demand same from him. However, police investigations, according to sources in the police, failed to trace such huge amount to the ADC. Dissatisfied, Mrs Buhari asked the SSS to take over the case. Spokesperson of the service, Peter Afunanya, who confirmed the arrest to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday said investigation was in progress. Mr Afunanya could not be reached on Thursday. The election observation team of the U.S., EU and UK have given their initial observation on the conduct of the rerun governorship election in Osun State. The observers gave their stance while addressing journalists in Osogbo in an interview televised by the TVC television station. A member of the observer team, who spoke on behalf of the team, said the U.S. EU and UK observers had heard reports of irregularities, harassment and interference by inappropriate persons in the elections. We are very concerned by these reports and will be checking with stakeholders to check the facts. We call on all stakeholders to remain calm, he said. Earlier, the Centre for Democracy and Development, one of the foremost observer groups in Nigeria, faulted the rerun election process. In the light of these anti-democratic acts, which have undermined the sanctity of the ballot therefore, we hold strongly the view that the re-run poll of Thursday, September 27, 2018 does not meet up with the minimum standards for free, fair and credible elections, the CDD said in a statement to PREMIUM TIMES Thursday afternoon. The rerun election is to determine the winner of the governorship election which held in Osun on Saturday. Although the PDP candidate, Ademola Adeleke had a lead in that election, his margin of victory over the APC candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, was less than the total cancelled votes, the electoral commission, INEC, said. The votes were cancelled in seven polling units in four local governments where the rerun election was held on Thursday. The final results of the rerun election were being collated as at the time of this report although results from the polling units showed the APC in the lead. More details later President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in New York called on Africans in the Diaspora to come up with suggestions on how to curtail the menace of corruption on the continent. Addressing participants at the High Level Media Launch on Illicit Financial Flows and the Fight against Corruption: Curbing the Existence of Safe Havens the Role of Africans in the Fight against Corruption, organised by the NEPAD/APRM Nigeria on the margins of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the president also enjoined them to support measures against safe havens for illicit financial outflows from Africa. Describing corruption as a cancer which requires global efforts to contain, Mr Buhari recalled that the negative impact of corruption on the continent informed the resolve of African Heads of State and Government to remain committed to the fight against corruption, and the declaration of 2018, as the African year of combating corruption with the overriding theme: Winning the Fight Against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africas Transformation. He expressed appreciation to his fellow African leaders for the honour bestowed on him as the African Union anti-corruption champion to lead the continental war against corruption in 2018 and beyond. The president noted that the change agenda of his administration has overhauled, revitalised as well as institutionalised the machinery for a fight against corruption and its agents, with a particular focus on illicit financial flows. President Buhari, while acknowledging that the social and economic costs of corruption and illicit financial flows are massive, and have continued to stunt the development of Africa, cited a 2015 study by an African Union Panel led by Thabo Mbeki which estimated US$50 billion illicit financial flows out of the continent every year. According to the report, about US$2.5billion of the US$50 billion of Illicit financial flows was in respect of commercial activities. It is obvious that the continent still battles with grand corruption at the highest level, with safe havens, opaque systems in many recipient countries and the outright willingness of some advanced countries to harbour stolen funds from Africa, he said. Listing some of the negative impact of illicit financial flows out of the continent to include draining of foreign exchange reserves, reduction of tax/revenue collection, poor investment inflows and escalation of poverty, the president noted that these nefarious practices are being perpetrated by some of the 60 international tax havens and secret jurisdictions with thousands of disguised corporations, shell companies, anonymous trust accounts, fake charitable foundations, money laundering and transfer pricing mechanisms. He said efforts were now being made by African leaders to checkmate these ills and ensure greater transparency and accountability in government business. One of the measures necessary if we are to make any headway is to bring in laws, regulations and policies that encourage transparent financial transactions, as well as implementing measures that would mitigate the incentives that facilitate illegal outflows from the continent. He recalled that during the January 2018 AU Summit, he pledged to organise African Youth Congresses against Corruption, in order to sensitise and engage our youth in the fight against corruption; mobilise African Union Member States to implement African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption; and advocate for the strengthening of the criminal justice system across Africa through exchange of information and sharing best practices in the enforcement of anti-corruption laws. On the measures being taken at the domestic level to curb corruption in Nigeria, President Buhari said a mechanism had been put in place for budget implementation and monitoring as well as assessing the impact on the lives of the citizens. The Federal Government had successfully commenced implementation of a whistle blowing programme and so far tens of millions of dollars have been recovered; as part of the global initiative, Nigeria has joined the open Government Partnership (OGP) having been committed in 14 areas which are categorized into four thematic areas as follows; promoting fiscal transparency; access to information under FOI Acts; anti-corruption and asset disclosure and citizens engagement and empowerment. According to the president, the above measures have not only assisted in alleviating fears of foreign investors, but have also attracted billions of dollars in Portfolio investments since April, 2017. President Buhari also noted that the enforcement of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has helped in no small measure to identify and curb the deep-rooted corrupt practices by looters of government revenue with multiple accounts. He said he had enlisted the support of multi-lateral institutions like the World Bank, IMF, security agencies, and friendly nations to locate and recover and help repatriate stolen assets. In the first quarter of 2016, I embarked on trips to the Middle East to sensitise their governments on the need to return stolen assets and hand over the looters for trial in Nigeria. In January 2017, Nigeria and UAE signed judicial agreements on extradition, transfer of sentenced persons, and mutual legal assistance on criminal matters. In March 2016, the Federal Government and the Swiss Government signed a letter of intent on the restitution of illegally acquired assets forfeited in Switzerland. Under the agreement, the Swiss government would repatriate $321 million USD illicitly acquired. President Buhari affirmed that machinery has also been set in motion for monitoring, assessing and reporting on the UN 2030 Goals on Sustainable Development. The Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, Kaduna State, said it would construct a befitting Cenotaph in honour of the 165 military officers who died in a military plane crash in 1992. The 165 military officers were attending senior course 15 of the college when the Nigerian Air Force Plane C130 crashed while on tour of naval formation in Lagos on to September 26, 1992. The Commandant of the college, Lawal Shittu-Alao, air vice marshal, said out of the 165 officers that died, 116 of them were at the College. He disclosed that a road leading to the quarters of senior staff course participants had been officially named September 26 road in their memories Mr Alao identified those who died to include Seven Directing Staff, 102 students of senior course 15 and seven supporting staff of the College. We hope subsequently every year to hold solemn ceremony to remember their sacrifices and also to their families to have little solace. According to him, their death was a huge loss to the college and a reminder of the sacrifices made as members of the Armed Forces. It with a great heavy heart but great honor to remember our fallen heroes, he said, adding that the unfortunate incident brought to an end the promising careers of the young officers. The armed forces of Nigeria indeed lost a generation of middle level officers in the service of the nation, he said. Mr Alao added: The entire members of the college community mourn the loss of these fine officers and men, their demise will ever remain in our hearts. (NAN) The popular Alekuwodo-Okefia area of Osogbo is currently under siege by security operatives. Officials of the Nigeria police, Nigerian Army and FRSC blocked the roads at the Okefia and Akindeko entrances. At both entrances, commuters were left stranded. Election officers, journalists, observers and some citizens who dared were allowed passage. A commercial motorcycle rider in the axis said security officials dispersed people with guns. They came around 12, shooting into the air. All of us ran away and they blocked the road. There was a journalist from OSBC (Osun State Broadcasting Corporation) who attempted to video it. He was severely beaten. This is excess power. They are using federal might, he said declining to give his name for fear of victimisation. Other residents who discussed in groups confirmed the shooting to this journalist. As at 1.48 p.m. when PREMIUM TIMES journalist left the area, the road was still blocked. The final result will be of the Osun rerun election will be declared in Osogbo. The rerun is being held in seven polling units in four local government areas. The United States has earmarked more than $1 billion to combat disinformation, propaganda and countering the spread of terrorism ideologies online, the Department of State has said. Jonathan Henick, the acting deputy coordinator of the Global Engagement Centre (GEC), told a group of international journalists on Wednesday at the Foreign Press Centre in Washington DC that the US government has decided to redouble its efforts towards thwarting the spread of disinformation. The GEC is the arm of the Department of State primarily responsible for coordinating Americas response to the spread of disinformation. Counter-disinformation efforts, programmes, grants, financial support to fact-checking organisations, other civil society organisations, if we adopt that definition, the United States spend(s) probably over a billion dollar a year to counter disinformation, he said. The Global Engagement Centre itself this year has only a budget of $85- 90 million to counter state and non-state disinformation but that doesnt include our normal development programmes. It doesnt include investments by US military, normal exchange programme that we do, public diplomacy and a lot of other things that we do that are used to counter disinformation, he added. Mr Henick, who defined disinformation as the deliberate spread of information that is knowingly false with the intent to deceive the audience, said those he described as malign actors have taken advantage of the rapid change in technology, communication and how news is consumed to spread their nefarious interest. He, therefore, said the GEC has to come up with a robust approach to countering the spread of this toxic mix of disinformation. He admitted that the United States may have been complacent for a while, especially after the Cold War, but has now realised that it has to do more in the area of counter-disinformation. According to him part of this robust approach includes working with the media, civil society organisations, governments, and the public to increase resiliency to make people understand that they are venerable to misinformation and disinformation. To do what we can to make it difficult for our adversaries to take advantage of the situation, he said. Mr Henick added that the United State is adopting an all-encompassing approach to battling the spread of disinformation and not just limiting it to the work his organisation is doing. According to him, the GEC is not the only part of the US government doing this work. This is work that is done every day domestically in the United State by state governments, local governments, by agencies here and certainly done on behalf of the US government overseas in all of our embassies, our ambassadors, our press attaches, development partners who are working on programmes to strengthen the media, even our military colleges who are trying to develop relationships with the media and communicate accurately what our military policies as well. This is a collective effort. What the GEC was empowered to do was to try to coordinate those effort to better understand disinformation, who our adversaries are, what their tactics are, to do a better job of supporting like-minded government and civil society and media partner all around the world to help expose and counter disinformation. We are also investing very heavily in science and technology and data analytics, we are working with private sector technology companies to identify new tools, new software that will help us to better grapple with this challenge, he said. Countering spread of extremism Mr Henick said the US government is adopting a similar approach to countering the spread of terrorism ideologies by groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram. He, however, acknowledged that there are no quick fixes to the problem. According to him, a robust and continuous countering to the spread of violent extremism ideologies seem to be the best way to tackling the problem. There (are) some similarities between the tactics they have been adopted by terrorist groups and the tactics that have used by foreign state actors. There are no quick easy solutions to these problems. It is not like we can flip a switch and deny them access to the TV or radio or internet access. We can shut down individual accounts and we see them pop up as quickly as we shut them down, he said. One of the things we are doing is to work with the big social media platforms to try to automate their ability to detect these types of terrorist disinformation and be able to take down some of these contents as soon as possible. But in the long run, its going to require more traditional means of working with responsible media organisations, working with civil society organisations. Just because somebody is consuming radical ideological information online, that is not a crime in itself, but in a lot of countries there is no social support system such as religious figures, counselors at school. Parents are faced with the choice of reporting their own children to law enforcement authorities, he said. Despite the expression of doubt by the president Donald Trump, US intelligence agencies have said that Russia disrupted the 2016 presidential election and is still trying to disrupt the mid-term elections in the country through the spread of disinformation and certain propaganda. The Green Party of Nigeria (GPN) has elected Sam Eke as the first presidential candidate to emerge for the forthcoming 2019 general election. The candidate emerged through a consensus during the 11th National Convention of the party, which was attended by more than 1,000 delegates in Enugu on Thursday. Speaking to journalists after the six hours convention monitored by INEC staff, Mr Eke said the party was out to revamp the economy through extensive and intensive focus on agriculture just as the partys name and manifesto states. He noted that the party would involve major banks and international financial institutions to invest heavily in agriculture to create employment, security, food and wealth for Nigerians. Eke said the party, when voted into power, would also partner banks to finance turn-key projects in various sectors; thus, ensuring that each bank was noted for its huge role in an aspect of the economy. According to him, GPN will run an all-inclusive government that will unite all Nigerians and give all a sense of belonging irrespective of tribe, religion and party affiliation. In GPN, we believe in one united and indivisible family (Nigeria). In GPN we do not believe in religion or tribe but the supremacy of the partys and national constitutions in order to give everyone a fair deal. GPN is a party built on the foundation of discipline, principle and passion to serve the people, Mr Eke, who was also the partys presidential candidate in 2015, said. The flag bearer noted that Nigerians had patiently waited for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to perform, but were disappointed, adding as it stands, the ruling party has nothing positive to offer Nigerians. It is clear that APC cannot solve our problem since they do not have plans to do that. This can be seen in all downturns in every sector of the economy, he said. Eke however urged INEC and Civil Society Organisations to sensitise Nigerians against the negative trend of vote buying as well as put in place concrete modalities to check the negative new trend. He thanked the party members for the confidence repose on him and giving him a second consensus supported presidential ticket as well as re-electing his-led executive for a second term. The motion to approve congress guidelines for states; motion to change GPN Constitution and motion on membership status were all adopted by members of the party at the convention. Other motions included were for waiver on all fees for the presidential candidate; motion to nominate GPN Presidential Candidate for 2019 general elections as well as motion to dissolve national executive committee of the party. Later, the Enugu State Chairman of the party, Afam Ani, said the convention was successful and peaceful. Mr Ani commended the party members for demonstrating the discipline and principle GPN is promoting. (NAN) Adams Oshiomhole, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, has said that any State Executive Committee of the party that takes side against any aspirant, group or individuals in the partys governorship primary election on Saturday will be dissolved. He said this while handing over the partys membership register to its state chairmen under the APC Forum of State Chairman on Wednesday in Abuja. He stressed that the partys National Working Committee (NWC) had the power to disband any state executive that failed to represent the partys interest without giving reason. Mr Oshiomhole explained that the business of the state executives should not be confused with their personal preferences, particularly in states where there were more than one aspirants contesting for a position. If you do that, and it is not going to be secret, we will, without any hesitation disband the entire executive. The NWC has the power without giving reasons to disband any executive which in its opinion, is no longer fit and competent to represent the party in respective states. There is only one party known to law, and that is the APC, so, please, resist any temptation. We have seen embarrassment where people go on television canvassing positions of their governors or declaring one person as the sole candidate. You dont have those powers, and if you do so, not only can you be dissolved, you can be prosecuted for breach of oath of office and oath of allegiance to the APC, Mr Oshiomhole said. He urged the partys state chairmen to remain neutral and be seen to be neutral, even when they had their preferences as human beings. He added that the state chairmen must create a level playing field for all aspirants and not to allow themselves to be used by political big wigs in their respective states. He further added that as state chairmen, they were stewards of the party not its owners, saying that the party belonged to the members. Mr Oshiomhole, however, warned the state chairmen not to tamper with the register being handed over to them, or destroy it. If anybody thinks if you destroy what you have, you would have destroyed the evidence, you only would have implicated yourself. Because we have it stored in flash drive and can always reproduce, but then you would have come under sanction. Please know the difference between your responsibilities to the party and your individual inner preferences with regards to any of the offices,including President, Governors, Senators and House of Assembly members,he said. He warned that until an aspirant emerged as the partys candidate, the state chairmen should not adopt him or associate with him in a manner that would make others feel they had no fair chance in the conduct the primaries. He further added that the details for conducting both direct and indirect primaries would be worked out, distributed and published and would be strictly adhered to in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the APC National Working Committee on Tuesda, banned the partys Adamawa State Working Committee from participating either as delegates or to superintendent over the governorship primaries in the state. According to Yekini Nabena, the APC National Publicity Secretary, the NWC was banned because it was prejudiced in favour of a particular governorship aspirant. Mr Oshiomhole had on September 12 told President Muhammadu Buhari while he was submitting his Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest the presidency in 2019, that the party currently had 15.6 million registered members. He said the APC under his leadership, took advantage of modern technology to come up with a new membership data base. (NAN) Kemi Busari, a journalist covering the ongoing Osun rerun election, was briefly arrested by the police on Thursday morning. Mr Busari was arrested for taking pictures at Polling Unit one, Ward 8, Orolu Local Government Area. The polling unit is located at Kajola Community Primary School. Mr Busari is one of the accredited observers deployed for the election in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development. Arriving at the polling unit at about 7.40a.m., the journalist thought it fit to capture the voting process, but this landed him in police net. He was arrested and dragged to the leader of the police delegation, with the name tag S. Abubakar. Mr Abubakar ordered that the journalist, who wore the appropriate observer tag and apron, be arrested. Promptly, one of his subordinates grabbed the journalist by his trouser and dragged him to a stationed police vehicle with the inscription police skynet squad. The gun-wielding officer, Abdul Usman, confiscated all his gadgets and locked him in the vehicle. It later took the intervention of Mr Abubakar to get this journalist released. We release you because you are a press man. Let him go. Hes a PREMIUM journalist. We dont want any problem here. You are a journalist you are supposed to know. No camera is allowed here, Mr Abubakar said. The police officers stance contradicts the statement of the electoral commission, INEC, which explained that voters and participants where allowed to go with their phones to polling units but not polling booths after ballot paper must have been issued to an accredited voter. Mr Busari was released with the instruction that he should not dare snap pictures in the polling unit. Same instruction was given to other observers present. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has distanced itself from the controversial conduct of security agencies in the ongoing re-run election in Osun State. The electoral body said it has received reports of widespread intimidation from independent media practitioners and observers who were accredited to cover the election INEC is disturbed about reports that accredited media and observers are being arrested or prevented from operating in some polling units, the agency said on Twitter Thursday morning. This is being taken up with the security agencies, it added. The spokespersons for the Nigerian Army and the police did not immediately return requests for comments about INECs complaints Thursday morning. The disclaimer comes as reports of brutal conduct of Nigerian police officers and soldiers inundate the social media from the communities that are participating in the re-run. Complaints have also come in from residents in Orolu Local Government Area which has three out of the seven polling units where the rerun elections are holding. In Orolu, observers and journalists were denied access to the polling units. When some eventually accessed the polling units, they were either temporarily arrested by police officers or manhandled by thugs. Rukayat Ahmodu, an observer for CLEEN foundation said she was sent back by police and other security agencies from entering Orolu. We got there at 6:30am, they took us to the police station and later brought us to a junction. They said we are not allowed inside the centres, Ms Ahmodu said. A PREMIUM TIMES journalist, Kemi Busari, who was an observer for the Centre for Democracy and Development was briefly detained by the police at a unit in Orolu, but later released; while Taiwo Adebulu of The Cable newspaers was manhandled by thugs who seized his phone and later returned it. THUGS INVASION Earlier, there was apprehension in Orolu over invasion by suspected thugs. It was observed that electorates where afraid of going to the polling units as they were seen discussing in groups. The actions of the thugs led to the initial cancellation of votes in the affected units in Orolu. The snatching of ballot boxes by suspected thugs led to initial cancellation of Saturdays polls in units in Orolu. Ward 9, Polling Unit 001, and with a total registered voters of 393, was cancelled after hoodlums snatched ballot boxes and ballot papers. Also in the same ward, at Polling Unit 004, with a total of 387 registered voters, ballot boxes were snatched resulting in the cancellation. In the results announced by INEC on Sunday for Orolu local government, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, polled majority votes of about 7776 while Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress secured 5442 votes. One of Messrs Adeleke or Oyetola is expected to be declared winner after Thursdays supplementary election. Three universities in Nigeria Covenant University, University of Ibadan, and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka have been included in the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The list, launched on Wednesday at Times Higher Educations World Academic Summit at the National University of Singapore, featured 86 countries, up from 81. Covenant University is ranked 601- 800, out of more than 1,250 higher education institutions on the list, same with the University of Ibadan. University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is ranked 1001+. This is a slight improvement for Nigeria, compared to last years ranking where only one school, the University of Ibadan, made the list and was ranked 8011000. Covenant University and University of Ibadan occupy fifth and sixth position respectively on the table of all the 28 African ranked institutions for the 2019 ranking. University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is 23 on the African table. South African institutions University of Cape Town, ranked =156; University of the Witwatersrand, ranked 201250; Stellenbosch University, ranked 301350; and University of KwaZulu-Natal, ranked 401500 occupy first, second, third, and fourth position on the African table. Another three South African universities University of Johannesburg, ranked 601800; University of Pretoria, ranked 601800; and University of the Western Cape, 601800 sit below Nigeria on the African table, occupying seventh, eighth, and ninth positions respectively. Only one university in Ghana University of Ghana is included in the 2019 ranking. It is ranked 8011000 and occupies the 12th position on the African table. Globally, Oxford University, United Kingdom, for the third consecutive year, is at the number one position. Another university in the UK, Cambridge, retains the second position, while Stanford in the U.S. holds steady in third. Among the top 10, are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S., fourth; California Institute of Technology, U.S., fifth; Harvard University, U.S., sixth; Princeton University, U.S., seventh; Yale University, U.S., eighth; Imperial College London, UK, ninth; and University of Chicago, U.S., 10th. Times Higher Educations World University Rankings is the most rigorous there is, and this is our most globally competitive listing to date, said Phil Baty, Editorial Director of Global Rankings for Times Higher Education. The ranking is now in its 15th year. The universities are graded in the core areas like teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook. The seven-day warning strike ordered by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has paralysed activities at federal secretariat, Abuja, on Thursday, being the first day. Public and civil servants in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) stayed away from their offices, which remained under lock and key. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondents, who visited the Federal secretariat and its environs observed that offices were shut down. In compliance with the strike, the gate of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Court of Appeal, Ministries and agencies within the FCT were locked. The Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Environment were also closed as union members used their vehicles to block the entrance to some of the buildings. Also, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) was empty as only few senior staff members were seen reporting for work. Few other senior officers, who had reported for work, were seen sitting idle at the gate and discussing in groups at the federal secretariat, Abuja. It was also observed that some school children in uniforms, who had reported for school were seen returning homes due to the strike. Some of the public school teachers told NAN that they were not informed about the strike, and therefore, turned their pupils and students back. However, the strike had little impact on the social and commercial activities in some satellite towns Kubwa, Mararaba, Karu, Gwagwalada among others in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). NLC had on Wednesday midnight embarked on the strike to press home its demand for the implementation of the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers in the country. NAN correspondents, who visited some commercial outfits, including Kubwa, Mararaba and Gwagwalada markets on Thursday, report that traders and buyers were seen transacting business, oblivious of the strike. Chukwu Nworgu, a meat seller at the Kubwa market, told NAN that though the strike was a right thing in the right direction, he had to eke a living to be able to keep body and soul together. I am in full support of the strike, but I have to do my business to earn a living as a private man to feed my family, he said. Amina Okatahi, who operates beauty salon in Kubwa, who spoke in the same vein, however, called on the parties in the minimum wage negotiation to hasten the resolution to the issue in view of its negative impact on the larger economy. We may not feel the negative impact of the strike much, but this is not to say that other areas of the nations economy will not feel it. I am therefore appealing to the federal government and the organised labour to go back to the negotiating table and arrive at an agreed minimum wage for workers to avert indefinite strike, she urged. Other small scale operators, who also spoke with NAN on the issue stressed the need for a new minimum wage, adding that when workers received living wage, it would boost economic activities. When workers smile home due to increase in their salary and other emoluments, businessmen and women will also smile because that means a boost to our business, Mohammed Ali, a cloth seller said. Kubwa, Gwagwalada and airport express roads remained a beehive of activities as transport operators were seen conveying passengers to their various destinations unhindered. At Wuse market, NAN also reports that it was business as usual as buying and selling went on smoothly as at the time of this report. The story was not different at the UTC, Area 10, with traders and other business operators conducting their activities. Meanwhile, buses with inscription of names of Ministries, Departments and Agencies were off the roads as a result of the strike. The President of NLC, Ayuba Waba, said the warning strike became imperative, following the 14-day ultimate given by the union for the nation to have a new minimum wage could not materialise. However, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, said the committee would meet again on October 4 on the issue. (NAN) A journalist with Galaxy TV, Seun Falomo, was manhandled by police officers at the INEC headquarters, Osogbo, Thursday afternoon. Mr Falomo, a duly accredited journalist, was teargassed at close range and beaten by the officers. He was accused of snapping photos of them while they were shooting tear gas to disperse protesters who were approaching the headquarters. At about 4.45 p.m., the protesters, believed to be PDP supporters, were seen making their way to the INEC office. On sighting them, police officers who were under a tree few metres from the INEC office, fired gunshots into the air and several tear gas canisters at the protesters. Meanwhile, Mr Falomo was under one of the trees receiving a call while the brouhaha ensued. On sighting the journalist, some police officers barked at him to end the call, an order he resisted. The call was forcefully ended by the officers who seized his phone and ordered him to go inside or leave here. Mr Falomos insistence on retrieving his phone earned him beating from the officers. Upon his protest, one of the officers fired tear gas few metres to his feet. He was eventually roughly dragged away in what seemed like an arrest. The officers gave an order for all journalists and observers present to vacate the location. His phone has not been released as at press time. Earlier in the day, a PREMIUM TIMES journalist, Kemi Busari, was arrested for taking pictures at polling unit one, ward eight in Orolu Local Government Area. Justice Muhammed Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, September 27 adjourned sine die the trial of a former Governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, over his alleged involvement in a N7.6 billion fraud. Mr Kalu is standing trial alongside his former Commissioner for Finance, Ude Udeogo, and a company, Slok Nigeria Limited, on an amended 39-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N7.6bn. The matter had been adjourned to today for the defence to open its case. However, at the resumed hearing, Justice Idris informed the court that the fiat issued to him by the President of the Court of Appeal would expire tomorrow, September 28. The judge, who was elevated to the appellate court sometime in June 2018, was issued a fiat to conclude some of the criminal cases that are before him by the end of this month. The judge also said that in line with the ongoing nationwide strike, it might be impossible for the defence team to conclude its defence. He, however, sought the opinion of counsel on the way forward. Counsel to the first defendant, Awa Kalu, urged the court to adjourn the matter on the grounds it might be impossible to conclude the trial in view of the underlying issues. My Lord, we are ready to open our case. However, it may be an exercise in futility to start now only to stop tomorrow. We have two witnesses before the court, who will need to defend before this matter is brought to conclusion and that may seem impossible because of the expiration of the fiat. It may, therefore, be prudent to determine the faith of the fiat before we continue. The counsel to the second and third defendants, Solo Akuma and K.C. Nwofo, aligned with the submissions of Mr Kalu. The prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, however, opposed the applications of the defence team. He argued that the case had been previously adjourned to today for the defence to open its case.My Lord, this is the sixth time the defence team is asking for adjournment. I urge the court to discountenance the submissions of the defence team and call on them to commence; and if they dont finish, we can re-apply for renewal of the fiat, he further said. Justice Idris, in a short ruling, held that it might seem impossible for the defence to finish today. In line with the ongoing strike, the matter will be adjourned sine die, he added. The judge also held that either party was at liberty to apply to the President of the Court of Appeal for the renewal of the fiat in line with the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act, ACJA. The first day of the nationwide strike action called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over the lingering national minimum wage issue recorded partial success in parts of the country. The warning strike commenced midnight on Wednesday over the federal governments failure to reconvene the tripartite committee constituted November last year to recommend a new national minimum wage for workers in the country. On Wednesday, a last ditch effort by the federal government to avert the strike ended in a stalemate. NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, told reporters the strike action would be total across the country. But, PREMIUM TIMES correspondents reports showed the strike recorded partial success in some places, and total compliance in others. Abuja In Abuja, the federal secretariat and environs, most ministries and government offices were virtually deserted as workers stayed away. At the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, the gates were locked. Only scant number of senior staff reported for work. The entrances to the ministries of finance, foreign affairs and environment were also closed. Only labour enforcement teams were seen moving from office to office to enforce complete compliance. Some school children in the Federal Capital Territory, who went to school, were turned back home as their teachers also joined the strike. However, the strike recorded little impact on the satellite communities of FCT: Kubwa, Mararaba, Karu, Gwagwalada, among others. Here, the people were seen going about their normal businesses unperturbed. Most filling stations in the capital city and environs were still open for business throughout the day, apparently with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) assuring uninterrupted supply throughout the duration of the warning strike. Kubwa, Gwagwalada and Airport express road witnessed the usual heavy traffic. Lagos In Lagos, the usual busy Lagos State secretariat, Alausa, was completely shut down at 9.05 a.m., as police officers were seen at the gate to maintain security. Also, a few banks, such as First Bank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, First City Monument Bank and Zenith were not open for business. At Aka community Junior Secondary School, District 5, Aganju, principals were not sure if the ministry of education was going to join the strike or not. Many filling stations in Lagos State and environs, including Mobil in Agidingbi, Oando in Maryland and others were still opened for business. At the Technical College, Agidingbi, Ikeja, students were seen within the school premises in uniform, although an official said the school complied with NLC directive. Other agencies, including the Lagos State Television, Federal Internal Revenue Service and federal ministries were forced to shut down. JOS In Jos, the Plateau State capital, activities at federal ministries, banks, schools, and other agencies were virtually locked down by the strike. A visit to the Jos Federal High Court, Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (AGSA) and other government agencies showed all entrances to their premises were locked. Some primary schools such as Islamiya and Anguwan Rogo Primary Schools, students were asked to go home as their teachers were absent from work. All the banks visited were shut down, as customers could only withdraw money from automated teller machines (ATMs). Ogun In Ogun State, socio-economic activities in the state capital, Abeokuta, and the local government secretariats were shut down in compliance with the labour directive for workers to withdraw their services. Most public schools had empty classrooms, as teachers stayed away from work. At the governors office and the state secretariat within the complex, most of the workers said they were in the office briefly to mark the attendance register, in case government planned to sanction those who stayed away. At the federal secretariat along the presidential boulevard, security operatives prevented human and vehicular traffic in compliance with the strike. Jigawa In Jigawa State, banks and schools in the state complied with the directives of the national headquarters of the labour union. Most bank customers were stranded as they could not gain access into the banks, while others were seen frantically using the ATMs to withdraw cash. Five ministers in the federal cabinet signified intention to seek the governorship ticket of their party, APC. This was confirmed in the official list of aspirants released by the party Thursday evening. Of the five, three were cleared by the screening committee put in place by the party while two others were not successful. The three cleared are Usani, the Minister of Niger Delta; Mansu Ali, Minister of Defence and Mustapha Shehu, Minister of State, Power, Works and Housing. Mr Usani wants to be governor in Cross River, Mr Ali in Zamfara and Mr Shehu in Borno State. The unsuccessful two are Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communication and Aisha Alhassan, Minister of Women Affairs, who were both seeking to be governors of Oyo and Taraba states. Mr Shittu was disqualified for not participating in the mandatory NYSC programme after he graduated from the university. Instead of going for service, Mr Shittu chose to go straight into politics and was elected a state lawmaker in 1979. When asked why he declined to serve, Mr Shittu told PREMIUM TIMES his lawmaking duties at the time were also national service; an excuse faulted by the NYSC management. Although the APC has now disqualified Mr Shittu for failing to serve, President Muhamamdu Buhari continues to retain him as a minister. No reason was given for Mrs Alhassans disqualification. Hours before the governing party, APC, disqualified a minister, Adebayo Shittu, from seeking to govern Oyo State on its platform, the minister spoke on the primaries of the party in the state. Mr Shittu, Minister of Communication and an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant for Oyo State, rejected the indirect primary election adopted for the state I, Adebayo Shittu, the leading governorship aspirant of the APC in Oyo State, rejects the recommendation of the NWC for indirect primary in the state, he said. He stated this on Thursday in Abuja while speaking with journalists at the APC national secretariat after meeting with the partys National Working Committee (NWC). He also pointed out that issues surrounding the emergence of the leadership of the state chapter of the party were still being contested at the courts. Mr Shittu said part of the reasons he rejected the adoption of indirect primaries in the state was because those to serve as delegates constituted the bulk of those handpicked for the partys state congresses, which are being contested in court. He stressed that the decision to adopt the indirect primaries in Oyo State was particularly aimed at preventing him from having a fair opportunity to contest, participate and to win the primary election. The direct primary system will surely allow all aspirants in the party to test their popularity, he said. He added that the system gives party members a fair opportunity of voting for candidates of their choice. Mr Shittu stressed that if the party members were the true owners of the party, they should be allowed to take its ownership, particularly with regard to selecting a candidate of their choice. The minister, however, advised the APC leadership not to allow the desperate desire of some political bigwigs to produce a stooge as a candidate for the 2019 election in the state. He said majority of the people in the state had vowed not to support such candidate if presented by the party for the election. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the APC governorship primaries come up on September 29, across the 36 states of the federation. (NAN) Abstract: The event is put together by Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) in association with BusinessDay Newspapers, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) and ActionAid Nigeria. In order to foster business climate, in the light of recent business regulatory decisions, the Convention on Business Integrity CBI, in association with BusinessDay Newspapers, Nigeria Economic Summit Group NESG, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry LCCI and ActionAid Nigeria, held a public-private dialogue. The dialogue, which held on September 18, was aimed at promoting good corporate governance, integrity and sound practices in Nigeria aided by best regulatory practice. The meeting discussed recent happenings and issued recommendations to the business community and regulators for a more harmonious relationship and prosperous business environment. Read below the communique issued at the end of the forum. You can also download the communique here. REGULATORY CONVERSATIONS This forum, The Role of Effective Nigerian Regulatory Actions in Attracting and Retaining Foreign Direct Investment, held on 18 September 2018 in Lagos, was conceived as part of a new series of Regulatory Conversations in response to recent regulatory actions in Nigeria. The Convention on Business Integrity CBI, in association with BusinessDay Newspapers, Nigeria Economic Summit Group NESG, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry LCCI and ActionAid Nigeria, held a public-private dialogue aimed at promoting good corporate governance, integrity and sound practices in Nigeria aided by best regulatory practice. In the last few weeks, two major regulatory actions taken have prompted deeper reflection over the aims of regulation and the role of the regulator in Nigeria. 1. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) fined some banks (Standard Chartered, Diamond, Stanbic IBTC and Citibank), a total of N5.8bn for facilitating the transfer of US $8.1bn, and further called on the client of those banks, the telecommunications company MTN Nigeria, to refund to the regulator the said repatriated dividend sums an unprecedented combination of N5.8bn in fines, and refunds of US $8.1bn 2. The Attorney-General of the Federation thereafter demanded from the same company, MTN Nigeria, the payment of US $2bn in alleged unpaid back taxes. Coming quick on the heels of the previous CBN actions this has raised concerns in the market. It became clear that it was important to open a dialogue to address the tensions created in the market and avoid negative impacts on the economy such as further declines in FDI flows. The current situation in Nigeria was juxtaposed with Egypt and dramatic differences noted. FDI to Nigeria has declined in 2018 compared with same period in 2017, with Capital and Financial account deficit of US -$10,293 in Q1 2018. Egypt on the other hand, was increasing over the same period, with Capital and Financial account surplus of US $8,617 in Q1 2018.The importance of competitiveness was identified for success as a country, and an investment destination. Nigeria could lose not just capital, but also skills, if the environment was not conducive to business, employment, growth and development. Two major points of view were set out to guide the dialogue. The hosts implored participants to avoid analysis of the specific instances but keep focus on the wider issues of how Nigerian regulatory actions can be made more effective. Multi-nationals are ripping Nigeria off through illicit fund flows Nigerias regulatory actions will kill the economy and drive away Foreign Direct Investment In conclusion it was clear from discussions that regulatory actions in Nigeria are typically not coordinated with conflicting instructions coming from different bodies; and inconsistent, with rules and standards not being applied fairly; not targeted at solving problems whilst minimizing unintended consequences; not open and honest in the way actions are communicated; not accountable as regulators appear to resist public scrutiny of their actions and are often unwilling to justify them; not flexible enough to keep up with the pace of development of industry. The meeting recommended that The Business Community should: Commit to international best practices in corporate governance and thus protect themselves from such regulatory actions by adopting auditable governance standards. Demand International Best Practice from regulators in their conduct Demand regulator independence from regulatory capture by special interest groups to ensure regulation remains in the public interest Leverage advocacy platforms of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & the Convention on Business Integrity in collective action for strategic Regulator engagement Proactively engage regulators on fact-based dialogue Follow through action plans arising from interactions and Regulators should: Adopt international best practice in governance of their institutions Commit to International Best Practice in regulatory activities Maintain Independence in relation to their regulatory roles Undertake regular assessments and benchmark their practices and performance Proactively engage business community in fact-based dialogue Develop and communicate a clear philosophy of regulation Issue clear guidelines on public policy objectives The meeting was attended by a total of 112 mostly business executives from various industries who reaffirmed the need to make regulation more effective so that illicit financial flows from Nigeria can be minimized and more of Nigerias own resources made available for its development. The Nigeria Fire Service has joined the army in the evacuation of water from a pond in Dura, Du District in Jos, Plateau State, in the search for a missing major general, Idris Alkali (rtd). Mr Alkali, former chief of administration, Army Headquarters, Abuja was declared missing on September 3, while on his way to Bauchi, from Abuja. The army, after a thorough search, narrowed their efforts to the mining pond. With efforts of divers not yielding the desired results, military personnel from 3 Div, NA, Rukuba and Operation Safe Haven, commenced the evacuation of water from the pond on September 20. Kayode Ogunsanya, deputy director, Army Public Relations, 3 Div NA, told the News of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Jos that the evacuation was ongoing. The Fire Service has joined the army in the evacuation of the water, but we are yet to find anything after seven days of draining the pond, he said. Ibrahim Mohammed, Garrison Commander, 3 Div Garrison, Nigeria Army, Rukuba, Jos, who is the commander of the search and rescue operation, told reporters, at the commencement of the water evacuation, that the search was necessitated by intelligence reports suggesting that Mr Alkali might have been killed and thrown into the pond. We were forced into searching the water body after searching roads, hospitals and everywhere without success. Based on credible intelligence, we had to come to this place and we have been here for the last one week. We are trying to find three things an officer who is still missing, his vehicle which is a black Toyota Corrolla, and also ascertain if the officer is alive or dead. We have credible information that some vehicles were pushed into this river and want to see if we can salvage something from it. But the river, being a mining site, is very deep. We have used all options, but as a last resort, we will evacuate the water from the pond to see what is in it, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some women, numbering about 500 and clad in black, had protested against the evacuation of the water, with their leader, Mary Yakubu, saying that it had deep cultural significance to their existence. This water, if evacuated, can lead to the death of our sons and husbands, she said. Mr Mohammed has, however, brushed aside such protest. The only thing that can stop us is a directive from the Army Headquarters, he told NAN. (NAN) Aliyu Tijjani-Ahmed, an APC senatorial aspirant, says he will defeat Abdullahi Adamu at the partys primaries to represent Nasarawa West Senatorial District at the National Assembly. Mr Tijjani-Ahmed, who resigned as the Nasarawa State Commissioner for Education to challenge Mr Adamu, made this known on Thursday in Keffi during the flag off of his campaign. I am sure of winning the partys ticket at the October 2 primaries, he boasted. He said that power belongs to God and expressed hope that he would win during the partys primaries and eventually win at the general election in 2019. I will win my election by Gods grace and no going back on my senatorial ambition, he said. He promised to initiate good policies and programmes that would enhance the overall wellbeing of his constituents. The aspirant also promised to empower women and youth of the constituency, if given the mandate. I will promote your welfare by providing the much needed dividend of democracy to the people of the senatorial district, if elected, he said. He also promised improved and effective quality representation, assuring that he will not renege on his promises. He commended Governor Tanko Al-Makura for his development strides across all sectors of the economy, pointing out that they have direct bearing on the lives of the people of the state. He urged the people of the state and Nigerians at large to support the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari and the senatorial ambition of Mr Al-Makura in order to enjoy more dividends of democracy. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that both Messrs Adamu and Tijjani-Ahmed are aspiring to win the ticket of the APC to run in the 2018 general elections. Mr Adamu is the incumbent senator representing the district at the red chambers. Also speaking at the event, Samuel Akala, the Executive Chairman, Karu Local Government Council of the state, who spoke on behalf of five other local government chairmen in the zone, pledged to support the senatorial ambition of the aspirant to enable him win his election. On behalf of the Executive Chairmen of Toto, Nasarawa, Keffi and Kokona Local Governments, we have agreed to work for the success of Alhaji Aliyu Tijjani-Ahmed, our senatorial aspirant, he said. Earlier, Benjamin Bakka, the Director-General of Tijjani-Ahmed Campaign Organisation, described the aspirant as a man of integrity and unquestionable character. He appealed to delegates to vote for the aspirant to bring them the needed change. (NAN) The National Industrial Court, Abuja, has upheld Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, application for stay of garnishee proceeding in an N2.5billion judgment debt suit. Garnishee proceeding is a judicial enforcement of monetary judgment, whereby money belonging to a judgment debtor, in the possession of a third party, usually a bank, is seized by a judgment creditor. ABU, the judgment debtor, in an application through it counsel, Kayode Amodu, had urged the court to stay action in the garnishee proceeding because there was an appeal pending before the Court of Appeal. Justice Rakiya Haastrup, in her ruling said the court will stay proceeding pending the outcome of the matter before the Court of Appeal. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that the appointments of 110 ABU workers were terminated in 1996, when the institution was run by a sole administrator. They instituted a suit against the institution, and in 2015, the court ruled in favour of the workers and ordered the university to reinstate them and pay their entitlements, which amounted to N2.5billion. Non-compliance with the court judgment necessitated the workers, who are the judgment creditor to institute another suit of garnishee proceeding on the institutions bank accounts to enforce the payment of the judgment debt. ABU filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal to appeal the 2015 judgment. (NAN) No fewer than 35,560 youth under the auspices of Buhari Campaign Organisation in the 12 local government areas in the Katsina North senatorial district converged on Daura to drum up support for the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari. The Zonal Chairman of the organisation, Mohammed Mashi, who addressed the youth in Daura on the imperative of re-electing Buhari for second term, on Thursday, described the task as a clarion call to ensure that the president continued with the good work he had started. Mr Mashi said the last three years of the administration of Mr Buhari were eventful and encouraging, especially considering the positive impact recorded on security, anti-corruption fight, rehabilitation of roads and railway infrastructure. He said he was optimistic that the second term of Buhari would further salvage the nation from financial crimes and other crimes, stressing we will massively vote for him in 2019 to enable him to continue with the good work he is doing. He said the Katsina north senatorial district being the zone where the Mr Buhari hailed from, would give the president one million votes during the presidential election. Abdulfatah Daura, the Daura Local Government Chairman of the organisation, assured that Buhari would get hundreds of thousands of votes from his ancestral home, Daura, during the election. The Katsina north senatorial district comprises of Daura, Maiadua, Sandamu, Zango, Baure, Mashi, Mani and Dutsi local government areas. Others are: Ingawa, Bindawa, Kankiya and Kusada. (NAN) The Secretary to the Government of Federation, Boss Mustapha, has visited Iyiola Omisore in Ile-Ife. Mr Mustapha came with Ekiti governor-elect, Kayode Fayemi, who has been to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) gubernatorial aspirant, Mr Omisores house, three times in the last 24 hours. Mr Mustaphas visit came after another visit by an APC delegation, comprising four state governors, Mr Fayemi and the national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. The SGF told journalists that Mr Omisore has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he plays politics of maturity. He said that his visit was beyond politics as he married from Osun State. He described Mr Omisore as his in-law. Omisore has been exemplified among other leaders because of the pivotal role played in the establishment of democracy in Nigeria. Honestly, Omisore needs to be commended, should forget all that happened in the past and come together to build our state and nation at large he stated. In his response, Mr Omisore lauded his visitors and other supporters throughout his journey so far in politics. Mr Omisore appealed to all voters to cast their vote to their right choice and maintain peaceful coexistence in the rerun election. (NAN) Over two hours after electoral process had commenced, no agent of the opposition party, PDP, was on sight at Polling Unit 001, Ward 8, Orolu Local Government Area. Many voters who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES alleged that thugs and police officers sent the agents back from the entrance of the polling unit. Journalists who had access to the two other polling units in the local government also confirmed the same situation. At polling unit one, ward eight, at least two ruling party, APC agents strategically placed at some few metres to the voting cubicle, were sighted. Agents of other political parties were at least 30 metres away. Asides official agents, tens of other agents of the APC were at the polling unit coordinating voting activities for voters whose PVCs had earlier been collected. As at 11.10 a.m., when this reporter left the polling unit, no PDP agent was in sight. Meanwhile, the supervising presiding officer for the polling unit, Ajigini Tajudeen, denied knowledge of the situation. He said, Im not aware of that. Normally Im not supposed to leave this place. I dont know what is going on there. The only place I can vouch for is here. So far so good, nobody has been disturbing anybody. As a matter of fact, we are not supposed to wait for any party agent to come in. Once its 8.a.m., even if its only one agent that is in ground, we are meant to commence. PREMIUM TIMES effort at getting an interview with the party agents present was unsuccessful. Some residents said they have gone under cover to save their lives. Election is ongoing under heavy security presence. Earlier, police and soliders barred journalists from accessing the polling the units in Orolu. They were eventually allowed in after the intervention of the INEC headquarters in Abuja which lamented the situation. Thursdays rerun election is being held in seven polling units across four local governments. Three of the polling units are in Orolu. The election is seen as a straight contest between Ademola Adeleke of the PDP and Gbenga Oyetola of the APC. The Ekiti Governorship Election Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, will on Saturday, September 29 rule on the application filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking a recount of the ballot papers used for the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti. The PDP and its candidate, Olusola Kolapo, had dragged the respondents to the tribunal challenging the outcome of the governorship election. The respondents are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the winner of the election, Kayode Fayemi. The tribunal chairman, Bolaji Belgore, adjourned until September 29, after listening to the arguments of counsel. The petitioners counsel, Sunday Olowolafe (SAN), urged the tribunal to grant the application because it has the inherent powers to do so. Accounting to him, the ballot papers are relevant for the purpose of maintaining the case of the petitioners. He said granting the petitioners prayers would strengthen Nigerias democracy as well as its electoral jurisprudence. INECs counsel, Charles Uwensuyi (SAN), in his response, said that recounting the ballot papers was the responsibility of the electoral body. He stated that the petitioners had not established that they have a right to recount the ballot papers, adding that the idea behind the application is strange to law. The INEC counsel noted that though the ballot papers were relevant, they ought to be admitted first before the tribunal can act on them. He argued that the petitioners application sought to bypass the Practice Direction and urged the tribunal to dismiss it. Other counsel in the respondents team aligned themselves with the submission of INEC counsel. (NAN) Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, adjourned indefinitely the ongoing trial of a former governor of Oyo State, Rasheed Ladoja. Mr Ladoja is facing trial alongside a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, Waheed Akanbi, for allegedly laundering a sum of N4.7 billion from the coffers of the Oyo State government. At Thursdays sitting, the prosecution counsel, O. O. Olabisi, stated that he had filed an amended charge against the defendant before the court. He also prayed for an extension of the fiat issued to the judge by the President of the Court of Appeal to conclude the matter this month. Justice Idris is among the 12 High Court judges recently elevated to the Court of Appeal. Counsel to the first defendant, Bolaji Onilenla, opposed the application of prosecution to amend the charge,saying, At this critical stage, the prosecution cannot amend the charge. Mr Onilenla, however, aligned himself with the prayer of the prosecution for an extension of the fiat given the presiding judge. Counsel to the second defendant, Olumide Fisikan, sought to move his application of no-case submission. He also aligned himself with other counsel in the matter that the judge should seek an extension of the fiat on the matter. In his short ruling, Justice Idris held that either party was at liberty to apply to the President of the Court of Appeal for the renewal of the fiat in line with the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act, ACJA. To be on a safe side, this case must be adjourned sine die, he further held. The defendants were first arraigned in 2008 before Justice A.R. Mohammed. They, however, challenged the validity of the charges up to the Supreme Court. The apex court in 2015 dismissed their appeal and ordered them to go back to the lower court to face their trial. They were subsequently re-arraigned on December 14, 2016 before Justice Idris. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. The top visiting countries include Turkey, Pakistan, Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, India, the UK, Palestine, Libya, Israel and Saudi Arabia. TISSUE MANUFACTURERS ON THE SHOW FLOOR The Istanbul exhibition also differentiated itself from other Tissue World events by bringing leading finished product manufacturers together on the show floor. Companies such as Aktul Kagit, Eczacibasi Tuketim Urunleri, Hayat Kimya, and Lila Group served as the main attraction for tissue trading companies and distributors. Holding 300,000 -- 350,000 tonnes of the regional tissue import and export business, these companies account for over 40% of the regional tissue business. NON-WOVEN MACHINERY SUPPLIERS For the first time, Tissue World Istanbul also featured non-woven machinery suppliers. The expansion of the exhibition is in line with the steady growth in the retail and non-woven production markets. In 2017, the Turkish retail market size for wet wipes, nappies/diapers/pants and sanitary protection is estimated at US$1,006bn. Non-woven machinery suppliers included Quanzhou Chuangda Machinery Manufacturer, Shanghai SNS Intelligent Technology, Hangzhou New Yuhong Intelligent Equipment, Xinfa Nonwoven Machinery and Wenzhou Weipai Machinery. CONFERENCE Some 143 delegates also attended the conference, which had the theme: "Turkey: tissue dynamics navigating towards new markets - increase profitability, export sales and growth." The first day's Senior Management Symposium discussed the geopolitical and economic overview of the tissue market and its dynamics. This was also the basis for the subsequent Executive Panel Discussion which gathered distinguished representatives from major players in the tissue industry, including Lutfi Aydin, global tissue director of Hayat Kimya; Erdem Ulkumen, plants director of Eczacibasi Tuketim Urunleri; Ibrahim Gokce, production director from Aktul Kagit; and Alp Ogucu, general manager of Lila Group. The first day of the conference continued with invaluable presentations on consumer trends, new market opportunities and insights. It was the second full Tissue World Istanbul exhibition and conference, while a conference-only event took place in 2014. Tissue World Istanbul sponsors included Eczacibasi Consumer Products, Hayat Kimya and Lila Group. About Tissue World - Established since 1993 Tissue World is the leading global event serving the tissue industry worldwide. With trade shows in Istanbul, Milan, Miami, Sao Paulo and Bangkok, it offers an integrated platform consisting of exhibitors, conferences and a magazine providing an unmatched offline and online place to do business, exchange ideas and learn, all year around. SOURCE Tissue World (UBM) Related Links http://www.tissueworld.com/bangkok/en-us PETALUMA, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Growing companies must build an effective employee performance management system that can expand as needed. This can be a challenge for a small to medium company, particularly one experiencing high growth. According to a recent Forbes article, there are critical elements to creating this system: finding, developing and retaining talent; directing performance; and motivating excellence. Brandon Frere, CEO of Frere Enterprises and other ventures, encourages businesses to critically examine employee performance management systems and consider addressing any areas of need. "As challenging as it is, businesses must build on their human capital, constructing infrastructure that meets current and future needs," said Frere. "I believe in growing slowly and carefully, and investing in the future, especially when it comes to employees." An organization without talent is like a plant without sunlight. High-performance employees can produce at four times the rate of their more average peers. To find the best talent, a company must precisely define what skills and talents a job entails, then define sourcing, screening and interview strategies. Once talented candidates have been secured, it is crucial that they are given the opportunity to develop into their full potential by creating individual goals, performance metrics and training programs. Talented workers must be retained, which means being willing to offer higher pay and benefits especially since the cost of turnover is as high as 150 percent of annual salary. A business must also be able to direct employee performance and motivate excellence. To be effectively directed, an employee must know what their responsibilities are, how to do them and the impacts of their job on others within the organization. Motivation occurs when employees solve their own problems and create their own goals and demands. A dynamic team is built of individual problem solvers focused on the same goals. It is also key to understand what rewards employees want. Though individuals are unique in their needs, boomers, generation X, millennials and generation Z have general reward expectations that a company should be aware of. "CEOs often say that their employees are their most important asset, but words only go so far," said Frere. "You really have to show your employees that they are valued, which increases ROI and builds a better future for your company." About Brandon Frere Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur and businessman who lives in Sonoma County, California. He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers alike. His website, www.BrandonFrere.com, is used as a means of communicating many of the lessons, fundamentals and information that he has learned throughout his extensive business and personal endeavors, most recently in advocating on behalf of student loan borrowers nationwide. As experienced during his own student loan repayment, Mr. Frere found out how difficult it can be to work with federally contracted student loan servicers and the repayment programs designed to help borrowers. Through those efforts, he gained an insider's look into the repayment process and the motivations behind the inflating student loan debt bubble. His knowledge of the often confusing landscape of student loan repayment became a vital theme in his future endeavors, and he now uses those experiences to help guide others through the daunting process of applying for available federal repayment and loan forgiveness programs. BrandonFrere.com Related Images performance-evaluation-form.jpg Performance Evaluation Form Credit: ragsac/Bigstock image2.png Related Links Brandon Frere website SOURCE Brandon Frere Related Links http://www.BrandonFrere.com DETROIT, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- After opening its doors in Detroit in January, Burns & McDonnell is expanding its footprint downtown from 4,000 to 12,000 square feet to accommodate plans for doubling the size of its local team within the next two years and hiring more than 100 professionals within the next five years. The growth in the region is part of the firm's nationwide effort to hire more than 1,000 professionals annually. Burns & McDonnell recently expanded to accommodate plans for doubling the size of its Detroit team within the next two years. "Detroit is growing and thriving in key industries with a focus on the future," says Benjamin Nabozny, Detroit office leader for Burns & McDonnell. "As a Detroit native, I'm especially passionate about contributing to the development and success of our city. We're immersing ourselves in helping our clients expand and upgrade critical infrastructure in the region, while adding local, top talent to our diverse team of professionals." The firm's office space is located at 2111 Woodward Ave., by Comerica Park and the Fox Theatre. Backed by a nationwide network of multidisciplinary experience, the office provides a wide range of design-build, engineering, construction, consulting and environmental services for local utility, automotive, federal and restaurant and retail clients. Detroit employee-owners focus on upgrading energy infrastructure generating support for expanded services and new businesses throughout the region. Nabozny says the team will continue expanding into commercial, manufacturing, restaurant and retail, aviation, water, environmental and transportation markets. "We're hiring a range of professionals engineers, construction managers, technicians, project managers and beyond across industries," he says. "With a diverse, multidiscipline workforce and integrated team approach, we are able to uncover unique solutions for clients' complex challenges." Burns & McDonnell ranks among Engineering News-Record (ENR)'s top 10 design firms in the U.S. and as the No. 1 design firm in the Midwest. The firm is among Metro Detroit's 2018 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For and the recipient of the Small Business "Best of the Best" Award. Burns & McDonnell is also one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For and has been recognized by more than 20 publications as a best place to work across the country. For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT. About Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune's 2018 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit burnsmcd.com . Contact: Elle Martens, Burns & McDonnell 816-822-3147 [email protected] SOURCE Burns & McDonnell Related Links http://www.burnsmcd.com ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Hotels Mexico, a subsidiary of Choice Hotels International , Inc. (NYSE: CHH), has signed an exclusive multi-unit agreement with SI Operaciones, a Mexican private equity fund, to develop 20 new-construction Sleep Inn hotels over the next five years. The agreement is expected to add 2,000 rooms in top markets, like Mexico City and Guadalajara, and more than triple the size of the brand's footprint in the country. "At Choice Hotels, international expansion and multi-unit development are key pillars of our growth strategy. We are actively seeking new opportunities to increase our presence in strategic markets and our agreement with SI Operaciones will allow us to do just that," said Mark Pearce, senior vice president, international division, Choice Hotels. "Choice Hotels is well poised for major growth in Latin America, and we look forward to building upon our relationship to bring the Sleep Inn brand to more guests worldwide." SI Operaciones currently owns and operates five Sleep Inn hotels throughout Mexico with locations in Culiacan, Mazatlan, Hermosillo, Tijuana and Mexicali. The company's sixth Sleep Inn is already under construction in Queretaro and slated to open in late 2019. "There is tremendous opportunity for hotel development in Mexico and we are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Choice Hotels to grow our portfolio," said Mario Cordova, chairman of the Board of SI Operaciones. "We've experienced great success with the Sleep Inn brand and know these new hotels will be a welcome addition for business and leisure travelers." The Sleep Inn prototype, introduced in Mexico in 2014, is designed to exceed the expectations of business travelers seeking midscale accommodations. Spacious and modern guest rooms, free W-Fi, complimentary hot breakfast, fitness centers, and always-in-style design aesthetics throughout the hotel make the Sleep Inn brand a winner in its competitive set. Choice Hotels first entered the Mexican market in 2004 and currently has 32 hotels in 25 cities across the country, with more than 3,500 rooms available to guests under the Comfort, Quality Inn, and Sleep Inn brands. For more information about Choice Hotels Mexico, visit www.choicehotelsmexico.com/en. About Choice Hotels Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest and most successful lodging franchisors in the world. With more than 6,800 hotels, representing more than 550,000 rooms, in over 40 countries and territories as of June 30, 2018, the Choice family of hotel brands provide business and leisure travelers with a range of high-quality lodging options from limited service to full-service hotels in the upscale, midscale, extended-stay and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges loyalty program offers members benefits ranging from everyday rewards to exceptional experiences. Comfort, Quality Inn and Sleep Inn are registered trademarks of Choice Hotels International. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com. Forward-Looking Statement This communication includes "forward-looking statements" about future events, including hotel openings. Such statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including construction delays, availability and cost of financing and the other "Risk Factors" described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, any of which could cause actual results to be materially different from our expectations. 2018 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved. SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc. Related Links http://www.choicehotels.com KALISPELL, Mont., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon Marketing Japan Inc. (CEO: Masahiro Sakata) has signed an exclusive distribution agreement in Japan with ClassOne Technology Inc. (CEO: Byron Exarcos) and it will start receiving orders for ECD tool Solstice in 2018. Solstice electroplating system from ClassOne Technology ClassOne Technology Inc. is a leading supplier of wet process equipment for the 200mm and smaller semiconductor industry. The Solstice platform delivers the highest quality plating of Au, Ni, and Cu at low cost, as well as variety of wet process functionality, such as metal lift off, resist strip, Au de-plating, UBM etch, and anodization. Solstice is available in 2-, 4-, and 8-chamber variants, and provides industry-leading uniformity and throughput with the smallest footprint, automation capability, controllability, and lowest cost of ownership. Solstice is ideally suited to growing customers who need to move from 200mm wet bench processing to high-volume automated single-wafer production. The agreement with ClassOne Technology will assist CMJ in expanding its business in the high-growth segment of high speed optical communication, 3D sensing including ToF, high frequency power devices, and related device markets. CMJ offers extensive experience in introducing the highest quality equipment from around the world and will provide world-class technical and field support for ClassOne products after system delivery. About ClassOne Technology ClassOne Technology (www.classone.com), headquartered in Kalispell, Montana, develops and provides innovative new wet-chemical equipment solutions, including electroplaters, spin-rinse-dryers, spray solvent tools, and more. The company's tools are specifically designed for budget-conscious users of 200mm substrates, many of whom are in emerging markets underserved by the larger equipment manufacturers. Based in Kalispell, Montana, ClassOne Technology offers decades of experience from industry veterans dedicated to the tradition of delivering advanced performance and quality for much less. Because of their unique affordability, the company's tools have been described as delivering "Advanced Wet Processing for the Rest of Us." About ClassOne Equipment Sister company ClassOne Equipment (www.classoneequipment.com), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is long respected as the industry's premier provider of refurbished major-brand processing tools, with over 2,500 systems installed worldwide. The company supplies turnkey equipment solutions that include state-of-the-art refurbishment, warranty, installation, service, support and spare parts. For more information, contact: Byron Exarcos ClassOne 109 Cooperative Way Kalispell, MT 59901 tel: +1 (678) 772-9086 email: [email protected] Solstice is a trademark of ClassOne Technology. SOURCE ClassOne Technology Related Links http://www.classone.com TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Canada's leading reproduction rights collective welcomes Amazon Music and yesterday's launch of its premium music streaming service, Amazon Music Unlimited, to Canada. The Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) has reached a licensing agreement with Amazon Music to ensure that its music publisher and rightsholder clients, which together represent more than 80,000 music catalogues, will receive royalties for the use of their works on the service. "We're very happy to have come to a negotiated agreement with Amazon Music and to see them enter Canada with Amazon Music Unlimited. Amazon Music and its entry will benefit both Canadian consumers and the rightsholders that we serve by offering a new point of sale and a new source of revenue for music publishers and their songwriters," CMRRA President Caroline Rioux said. Amazon announced yesterday the launch of Amazon Music Unlimited for Canada, bringing customers a catalogue of millions of songs and thousands of playlists and personalized stations, combined with the magic of voice controls powered by Alexa. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed, but the rates apply to the reproduction of songs on Amazon Music Unlimited, which will now be available throughout Canada for the first time. To learn more about Amazon Music Unlimited visit amazon.ca/music/unlimited. "CMRRA is constantly working with our licensees to create solutions to make it easier for services to come to Canada and to provide for compensation for our valued music publisher clients," CMRRA Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs, Veronica Syrtash said. CMRRA has taken the lead in national rate-setting efforts before the Copyright Board of Canada, as well as directly through negotiations with licensees. The organization's work is responsible for the important flow of digital royalties paid to all publishers and songwriters. On behalf of its music publisher clients, CMRRA issues licenses and collects royalties for the reproduction of musical works. Licensees pay royalties to CMRRA, which in turn distributes the royalties to its music publisher clients on a quarterly basis. "CMRRA has established itself as a vital resource for music publishers to manage their mechanical royalties in Canada," said Neville Quinlan, chairman of SXWorks' Canadian Publishers Committee and managing director of peermusic Canada. "This licensing agreement underscores CMRRA's commitment to advocating for music publishers and self-published songwriters." CMRRA also collects publishing royalties from dozens of other digital companies, such as Apple, Google and Spotify. About CMRRA and SXWorks SXWorks provides global administration services to music publishers to support multiple licensing configurations. SXWorks, a subsidiary of SoundExchange, is governed by a board consisting of leading music publishers and SoundExchange executives. SXWorks was created in conjunction with the 2017 acquisition of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA). CMRRA represents the mechanical rights of music publishers and administers the majority of songs recorded, sold and broadcast in Canada. For more information, visit http://sx-works.com/ and http://www.cmrra.ca. SOURCE Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. Related Links http://www.cmrra.ca "Blind Children's Learning Center accepts CommerceWest Bank's $5,000 gift with immense gratitude. For over 56 years, BCLC has led efforts in Orange County to prepare children who are blind and visually impaired for a life of independence. This contribution will support the Bright Visions Early Childhood Center of BCLC," commented Carina Morris, Interim President and Executive Director of BCLC. She continued, "Blind Children's Learning Center thanks CommerceWest for valuing the potential of every child. Thanks to this gift, children who are blind and visually impaired will have greater opportunities to build bright futures." Kevin Fuhrmann, Marketing and Development Manager with the Blind Children's Learning Center stated, "One of the most rewarding aspects of working at Blind Children's Learning Center is sharing that with each unique challenge our children face, there is an opportunity to persevere." He continued, "We thank CommerceWest Bank for investing in these opportunities by donating both their volunteer time and financial resources. Their support enriches many lives, and we are so grateful." "The service that the Blind Children's Learning Center provides is impactful. BCLC helps children overcome obstacles and understand that there are no limits to what they can achieve," commented Ivo Tjan, CEO of CommerceWest Bank. He continued, "We are extremely proud to support the children of Blind Children's Learning Center in achieving their dreams." CommerceWest Bank is a California based full service commercial bank with a unique vision and culture of focusing exclusively on the business community. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Irvine, California. The Bank serves businesses throughout the state with an emphasis on clients in Orange County, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties. We are a full service business bank and offer a wide range of commercial banking services, including remote deposit solution, online banking, mobile banking, lines of credit, working capital loans, commercial real estate loans, SBA loans, and treasury management services. Mission Statement: CommerceWest Bank will create a complete banking experience for each client, catering to businesses and their specific banking needs, while accommodating our clients and providing them high-quality, low stress and personally tailored banking and financial services. Please visit www.cwbk.com to learn more about the bank. "BANK ON THE DIFFERENCE" SOURCE CommerceWest Bank Related Links http://www.cwbk.com SAN DIEGO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB) today announced that its Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) business division has signed a $394 million contract with the San Francisco Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to deliver next-generation fare payment technology and operational services to the Clipper smart card system serving the Bay Area. Clipper currently links 22 regional transit operators and facilitates more than 825,000 journeys per weekday across bus, rail, subway and ferry services. Operated by Cubic since 2009, the program has been popular among transit riders with a 97 percent customer satisfaction rate and will now enable regional commuters to take advantage of the latest in mobile payments technologies. Cubic will deliver a range of new features including an integrated mobile app that will enable customers to access real-time information, reload their accounts, plan trips and tap their phones as virtual Clipper cards through faregates and on buses in much the same way as mobile payments can be made at retailers. Online fare purchases will be made immediately available for use and an account-based architecture coupled with an open API portal will facilitate creative partnerships and systems extensions. The new system will be rolled out in phases over a five-year period transitioning into a ten-year full operations term commencing in 2022. Starting in 2019, commuters will begin to see some enhanced speed of reloading, followed by the mobile app, upgraded retail services as well as updated readers on buses, rail lines and ferries. The enhanced readers will be "open payment ready" making way for optional contactless bankcard payments if adopted by the Clipper operators. "This contract win reinforces Cubic's position as the industry leader in advanced transportation payment and information systems, enabling Cubic to move more than 40 million passengers a day around the world through our solutions and services," said Bradley H. Feldmann, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Cubic Corporation. "Fare payment modernization will not only help improve the customer experience, but it will sustain a system for years to come that will improve costs and revenue-generating opportunities," said Matt Cole, president, CTS. "We fully believe in our culture of winning the customer, bringing insights from other successful systems around the world and strengthening the customer's vision for their ridership. The ability to add third-party partners for shared services, imagined by our NextCity vision, is now a reality, building a truly integrated mobility system that enables connected journeys." Cubic has recently won major fare systems contracts in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington D.C. and Brisbane establishing a network of major transit hubs that leverage a common core of technology and solutions. This provides synergy and proven platforms across these transit communities, bridging the transit industry with the ability to connect industries such as electronic payments, mobile payment and marketing, digital content distribution and the latest in data analytics. This technology model opens a variety of new potential partnerships between transit, bike share, ride share, car share, parking and other transportation services falling under the Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) model and addressed by Cubic's NextCity vision. Cubic will operate the new system in partnership with its cloud services partner Microsoft. Microsoft will provide a range of financial, analytic and customer management software integrated by Cubic into the overall system. "Since taking over Clipper from the original contractor nearly ten years ago, we have strived to create a cohesive system linking the multiple partners across the region in a way that delivers not only better payment abilities for riders, but also to foster a data-led service for the operators to tackle congestion and optimize their services," said Matt Newsome, vice president and general manager, Western Region, CTS. About Cubic Corporation Cubic is a market-leading, technology provider of integrated solutions that increase situational understanding for transportation, defense, C4ISR and training customers worldwide to decrease urban congestion and improve the militaries' effectiveness and operational readiness. Cubic Global Defense Systems is a leading provider of live, virtual, constructive and game-based training solutions for the U.S. and allied forces. Cubic Transportation Systems is a leading integrator of payment and information technology and services to create intelligent travel solutions for transportation authorities and operators. Cubic Mission Solutions provides networked Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities for defense, intelligence, security and commercial missions. For more information about Cubic, please visit the company's website at www.cubic.com or on Twitter @CubicCorp. SOURCE Cubic Corporation Related Links http://www.cubic.com MIAMI, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cuentas, Inc. (OTCQB: NXGHD) (the "Company" or "Cuentas"), a FinTech company delivering mobile banking, credit and telecommunications to the unbanked, underbanked and underserved population, today outlined the Company's strategy to integrate new mobile fintech capabilities into the Cuentas platform, all designed to broaden its user base and ultimately increase revenue. Cuentas, Inc. has continued to identify innovative companies with products and technologies that complement one another to essentially build an ecosystem of resources for the underbanked. It has developed a portfolio of technologies capable of providing three overarching services including mobile banking, credit and telecommunications. These services allow customers access to mobile banking, card transfers, ATMs, reloadable cards, bill pay, mobile wallet, gift cards, online purchasing, security and telecom, data and video - all via their mobile device. This concept for a comprehensive, cross border service offering was made possible by a series of intellectual property developments, acquisitions, agreements and partnerships with leading companies who meet nationally recognized banking standards, ultimately creating an open and closed loop consumer purchasing and mobile banking capabilities for its target markets. In September, Cuentas announced it had signed a letter of intent with Banxit Ltd, an Israeli fintech company with a unique secure payment financial technology platform. This consolidation of integrated technologies uniquely positions the Company to serve as an important financial resource for an untapped market, that of the underbanked. Currently, there are 26 million underbanked households in the United States, representing some 70 million people. Many of these individuals are legal immigrants, individuals who too often are undercompensated, and also who send a significant amount of their income home to families abroad. As 28.5% of Latinos were underbanked as of 2014, there is significant opportunity to provide a superior, cost effective fintech product that supports these individuals and their families. Cuentas, Inc. also views an opportunity to expand its offering customers without a U.S.-issued ID, allowing them to use their international ID to open an account. As Cuentas, Inc. strives to make banking more affordable and convenient for the underbanked, customers are provided with low monthly costs of service compared to competitors including wire transfers and long-distance phone calls. The next steps for Cuentas now also consist of completing and pursuing approvals for API functionality with leading fintech platforms and established app hosting platforms. Achieving these goals would expose a significant number of potential users to the platform, facilitating their use of modern banking methods. The Company anticipates making a series of announcements regarding availability for the app later in 2018. Further, the Company also seeks to raise its corporate profiling by partnering with strong sponsors and influencers who understand the need for the product, and why it represents the future for the underbanked. "We take pride in offering a comprehensive mobile banking service to a demographic that, constrained by outdating banking and communications methods, may have often struggled to provide for themselves and their families. We have been very pleased to establish this platform consisting of cutting-edge technologies that ultimately provide our customers with services that are affordable and convenient," said Arik Maimon, CEO of Cuentas, Inc. "While we have experienced initial success with our existing customer base, we know we have only scraped the tremendous market opportunity before us. By enabling banking for anyone who owns a mobile phone, including the underbanked, we've created a model that we expect to exceed last year's $58 million revenue figure, and ultimately provide value to our growing base of security holders." As it continues its corporate evolution, Cuentas, Inc. has carefully instituted a Board of Directors comprised of members who possess extensive background and experience in the fintech sector including banking, technology and telecommunications. Directors include Arik Maimon, Founder and CEO of the company and most of its subsidiaries; Michael De Prado, President and COO, with 20 years-experience in executive positions in the banking, technology, and telecommunications industries; Adiv Baruch, CSO, who serves as Chairman of Jerusalem Technology Investments Ltd. as well as the Chairman of Maayan Ventures, a platform for investments in innovative technology companies; Arik Filstein, an advisor to the Cuentas Board of Directors, is a successful Israeli entrepreneur and well-known executive in the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange; Orlando Taddeo, who prior to joining Cuentas, Inc. founded the investment company Heritage Ventures Ltd. Taddeo also founded telecommunications company, Limecom Inc. in 2006; Jeff Lewis who is a proven leader in the payments and financial services industry with over 30 years of management experience; Richard Berman, a 35-year vet with venture capital, senior management and merger acquisitions experience in the fintech and biotech fields. About Cuentas, Inc. Cuentas is a corporation headquartered in Miami, Florida, which, through its operating subsidiaries, engages in the business of using proprietary technology and certain licensed technology to provide innovative mobile banking, mobility, and telecommunications solutions, including wireless MVNO, to underserved, unbanked, and emerging markets. For more information, visit http://www.cuentas.com, and follow the Company on Twitter. For inquiries: Media Contact FischTank Marketing and PR +646-699-1414 [email protected] Cuentas, Inc. Tel: +800-611-3622 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Cuentas, Inc. SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, announced today it will release financial results for the third quarter of 2018 after the market closes on Thursday, October 25, 2018. The company will host a conference call to discuss these results at 5:30 p.m. EDT / 2:30 p.m. PDT on Thursday, October 25, 2018. To participate in the live call, investors are invited to dial +1 (888) 317-6003 (for domestic callers) or +1 (412) 317-6061 (for international callers) and reference the conference ID #0813657 at least five minutes prior to start time. A live webcast of the call will be available on the Investors section of Digital Realty's website at http://investor.digitalrealty.com. Telephone and webcast replays will be available one hour after the call until November 24, 2018. The telephone replay can be accessed by dialing +1 (877) 344-7529 (for domestic callers) or +1 (412) 317-0088 (for international callers) and using the conference ID #10124567. The webcast replay can be accessed on Digital Realty's website. For Additional Information Andrew P. Power Chief Financial Officer Digital Realty (415) 738-6500 Investor Relations John J. Stewart / Maria S. Lukens Digital Realty (415) 738-6500 [email protected] About Digital Realty Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and interconnection strategies of more than 2,300 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and consumer products. SOURCE Digital Realty Related Links http://www.digitalrealty.com PHOENIX, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Elio Motors, Inc. (OTCQB: ELIO), developer of the ultra-high-mileage, low-cost three-wheel Elio vehicle, announced that they had entered into a memorandum of understanding with a Fortune 500 OEM, to provide the engine foundation as part of a new powertrain for the Elio vehicle. Elio currently projects that the new powertrain will result in $120 million in research and development cost savings. The company is working with the engineering team at Roush to develop a new Elio prototype employing the OEM powertrain. "Purchasing an OEM's existing powertrain has an enormous impact on the project, it helps both expedite the timeline, and it directly reduces our capital requirement by about $120 million dollars", said Elio Motors CEO, Paul Elio. "This powertrain will also greatly enhance the Elio's performance by nearly doubling its horsepower while still maintaining class-leading fuel economy at an affordable ultra-low price." Roush will integrate the new powertrain into Elio's prototype in order to begin preliminary testing procedures. These testing procedures will prepare the Elio for production, which will occur at the Elio Motors manufacturing facility in Shreveport, Louisiana. The new powertrain will push the Elio's performance specifications far beyond prior consumer expectations. The engine should offer nearly a 100% increase in horsepower rating when compared to initial Elio prototype vehicles. When combined with the Elio's low curb weight, the new powertrain is expected to deliver excellent driver response and a highly improved acceleration time. Even with the Elio's substantial increase in performance, the advanced technology in the new powertrain should enable Elio Motors to achieve their promise of ultra-high fuel efficiency. About Elio Motors Founded by car enthusiast Paul Elio, Elio Motors Inc. represents a revolutionary approach to manufacturing an ultra-high-mileage vehicle. The three-wheel Elio is engineered to attain a highway mileage rating of up to 84 mpg, while providing the comfort of amenities such as power windows, power door locks, air conditioning and cruise control, accompanied by the safety of multiple air-bags and an aerodynamic, enclosed vehicle body. Elio's first manufacturing site will be in Shreveport, Louisiana. About Roush Roush, a full-service product development supplier headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, has over 4,000 employees in facilities located throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Widely recognized for providing engineering, testing, prototype, and manufacturing services to the transportation industry, Roush also provides significant support to the aerospace, defense and theme park industries. Roush is a subsidiary of Roush Enterprises, Inc., parent company of Roush Fenway Racing; Roush Performance, developer and manufacturer of performance vehicles and products for the automotive aftermarket; and Roush CleanTech, developer and manufacturer of propane-powered trucks and vans for the fleet vehicle market. For more information please visit www.roush.com. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements related to anticipated commencement of commercial production, targeted pricing and performance goals, and statements that otherwise relate to future periods are forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in the Company's periodic reports filed with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made and based on information available to the Company on the date of this press release. Elio Motors assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release. *MSRP for non-refundable reservations only and applies only until non-refundable and refundable reservations total 65,000. Total current reservations can be seen at: www.eliomotors.com. MSRP excludes destination/delivery charges, taxes, title, registration, and options/installation. SOURCE Elio Motors Related Links https://www.eliomotors.com DALLAS, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The EnLink Midstream companies (EnLink), EnLink Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: ENLK) and EnLink Midstream, LLC (NYSE: ENLC), will host a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, November 7, at 8 a.m. Central time to discuss third-quarter financial and operational results. The dial-in number for the call is 1-855-656-0924. Callers outside the United States should dial 1-412-542-4172. Participants can also preregister for the conference call by navigating to http://dpregister.com/10124340. Here, they will receive their dial-in information upon completion of preregistration. Interested parties can access an archived replay of the call on the Investors page of EnLink's website at www.EnLink.com. EnLink's third-quarter 2018 operations report and earnings press release will be posted at www.EnLink.com after market close on November 6. About the EnLink Midstream Companies EnLink provides integrated midstream services across natural gas, crude oil, condensate, and NGL commodities. EnLink operates in several top U.S. basins and is strategically focused on the core growth areas of the Permian's Midland and Delaware basins, Oklahoma's Midcontinent, and Louisiana's Gulf Coast. Headquartered in Dallas, EnLink is publicly traded through EnLink Midstream, LLC (NYSE: ENLC), the General Partner, and EnLink Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: ENLK), the Master Limited Partnership. Visit www.EnLink.com for more information on how EnLink connects energy to life. Investor Relations: Kate Walsh, Vice President of Investor Relations, 214-721-9696, [email protected] Media Relations: Jill McMillan, Vice President of Public & Industry Affairs, 214-721-9271, [email protected] SOURCE EnLink Midstream Related Links http://www.enlink.com CHICAGO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- (PRINT, Epson Booth #3121) Epson today announced it is continuing the expansion of its wide-format technical plotter line the SureColor T-Series. The new 24-inch SureColor T3470 and 36-inch SureColor T5470 are ideal for high-production printing of blueprints, line drawings, and posters. Leveraging a compact and modern design, these easy-to-use wide-format wireless printers feature an intuitive touch screen and offer advanced network security and encryption designed to safeguard information. Complementing the SureColor T-Series lineup, including the recently announced SureColor T3170 and T5170, the new models are built to meet the demands of professionals and workgroups across a range of segments with high-production printing needs, including architecture, engineering, CAD, GIS, education, and corporate offices. "The SureColor T3470 and SureColor T5470 provide the perfect workhorse solution for customers who print wide-format projects for clients in-house and are looking for a productive and easy-to-use solution," said Matt Kochanowski, product manager, professional imaging, Epson America, Inc. "With new integrated features, such as advanced network security and encryption and wireless connectivity, coupled with the reliable printing performance inherent in Epson's technical printer solutions, these printers are designed to provide commercial-grade reliability for a corporate office setting." The SureColor T3470 and SureColor T5470 tout Epson's latest PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead delivering Precision Droplet Control for outstanding photographic images, precise lines, and crisp text; producing an A1/D-size print in as fast as 25 seconds1. Ideal for robust printing, high-capacity UltraChrome XD2 ink replacement cartridges help increase productivity and produce durable, vibrant prints. The new printers are the first SureColor T-Series printers to provide advanced network security and encryption features designed to safeguard sensitive information. Leveraging integrated wireless and Wi-Fi Direct connectivity, users can seamlessly print from tablets, smartphones and more2, router-free Wi-Fi Direct printing3 and printing directly from a USB or thumb drive the SureColor T3470 and SureColor T5470 offer convenient PC-free printing for high-production offices. More about the SureColor T-Series Printers The Epson SureColor T3470 and the SureColor T5470 deliver a range of features designed to revolutionize workgroup productivity, including: Powerful Workgroup Printing The SureColor T3470 and T5470 produce accurate A1/D-size prints in 25 and 22 seconds, respectively 1 The SureColor T3470 and T5470 produce accurate A1/D-size prints in 25 and 22 seconds, respectively Easy-to-Use A large, intuitive 4.3-inch LCD color touchscreen simplifies print tasks A large, intuitive 4.3-inch LCD color touchscreen simplifies print tasks Replace Ink Less Often High-capacity replacement ink cartridges up to 350 mL for less downtime High-capacity replacement ink cartridges up to 350 mL for less downtime Integrated Security Protect important information with advanced network security and encryption features Protect important information with advanced network security and encryption features Print from Virtually Anywhere in the Office Easily print from tablets, smartphones, and more 2 with integrated wireless plus router-free Wi-Fi Direct printing 3 Easily print from tablets, smartphones, and more with integrated wireless plus router-free Wi-Fi Direct printing Outstanding Image Quality Next-generation PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead offers Precision Droplet Control for outstanding photographic images, precise lines and crisp texts Next-generation PrecisionCore MicroTFP printhead offers Precision Droplet Control for outstanding photographic images, precise lines and crisp texts Commercial-Grade Reliability Feature a permanent printhead with advanced Nozzle Verification Technology, plus world-class service and support, including a one-year limited warranty Feature a permanent printhead with advanced Nozzle Verification Technology, plus world-class service and support, including a one-year limited warranty Durable, Vibrant Prints Next-generation UltraChrome XD2 archival pigment ink technology Next-generation UltraChrome XD2 archival pigment ink technology Convenient PC-free Printing Print blueprints, drawings, charts, and posters directly from a USB thumb drive Print blueprints, drawings, charts, and posters directly from a USB thumb drive Compact, Robust Design Maximize office space and productivity Support and Availability The SureColor T3470 (MSRP $2,295) and T5470 (MSRP $2,995) will be available later this month and offer a standard Epson PreferredSM Limited Warranty. The Epson SureColor T-Series printers are designed to work exclusively with Epson UltraChrome XD2 ink*. For more information, visit https://epson.com/surecolor-t-series-plotters. About Epson Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to connecting people, things and information with its original efficient, compact and precision technologies. With a lineup that ranges from inkjet printers and digital printing systems to 3LCD projectors, watches and industrial robots, the company is focused on driving innovations and exceeding customer expectations in inkjet, visual communications, wearables and robotics. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the Epson Group comprises more than 76,000 employees in 87 companies around the world, and is proud of its contributions to the communities in which it operates and its ongoing efforts to reduce environmental impacts. Epson America, Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/EpsonAmerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica). *This product uses only genuine Epson-brand cartridges. Other brands of ink cartridges and ink supplies are not compatible and, even if described as compatible, may not function properly. 1 SureColor T5470 prints A1/D-size prints in as fast as 22 seconds. SureColor T3470 prints A1/D-size prints in as fast as 25 seconds. Print speeds are based on the print engine speed only. Total throughput time for any print depends on workstation configuration, file size, print resolution, ink coverage, networking, etc. Actual print speeds will vary. 2 Most features require an Internet connection to the printer, as well as an Internet- and/or email-enabled device. For a list of Epson Connect enabled printers and compatible devices and apps, visit www.epson.com/connect 3 Wi-Fi CERTIFIED; level of performance subject to the range of the router being used. Wi-Fi Direct may require printer software. EPSON, SureColor, PrecisionCore, MicroTFP, and UltraChrome are registered trademarks, EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark and Epson Connect is a trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. Epson Preferred is a service mark of Epson America, Inc. Wi-Fi Direct is a registered trademark and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED is a trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2018 Epson America, Inc. SOURCE Epson America, Inc. Related Links http://www.epson.com DUBLIN, Sept 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Foam Tape Market by Resin, Technology, Type, End-Use Industry, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The foam tape market is estimated at USD 7.44 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 10.35 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.83% from 2018 to 2023. The increasing use of foam tape in various industries such as electrical & electronics, building & construction, automotive, and paper & printing is driving the foam tape market. The foam tape market has been segmented on the basis of resin type, foam type, technology end-use industry, and region. Based on resin type, the foam tape market has been segmented into acrylic, rubber, silicone, and others. Silicone resin-based adhesive tapes maintain adhesion over a large temperature range and possess the ability to adhere to difficult surfaces. The overall adhesive strength of silicone resin-based adhesive tapes is lower than that of other adhesive tapes. However, silicone-based foam tapes are more expensive as compared with acrylic and rubber resin-based adhesive tapes. Based on technology, the foam tape market has been segmented into solvent-based, water-based, and hot-melt-based. The hot-melt-based segment is expected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of volume during the forecast period. The hot-melt-based technology provides the advantage of high strength and immediate bond, which makes hot-melt-based foam tapes ideal for a variety of applications in the building & construction, automotive, paper & printing, and electrical & electronics industries. The benefits of using hot-melt technology include excellent adhesion, quick set, ease of use, and fast processing. Based on foam type, the foam tape market has been segmented into PE, PU, acrylic, and others. The acrylic segment is expected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of volume during the forecast period. Acrylic-backed foam tapes are high-performance tapes, which are used in the industries such as automotive, healthcare, and aerospace. They are suitable for bonding many substrates such as painted surfaces, higher surface energy plastics, and unpainted surfaces, glass, wood, composite materials, metals, and plastics, which are further used in a variety of industries. Based on end-use industry, the foam tape market has been segmented into electrical & electronics, automotive, paper & printing, building & construction, and others. The paper & printing industry is projected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of volume during the forecast period, as foam tapes are extensively used during the production of paper. Foam tape provides continuity in the running of the paper machines, coaters, calendars, and sheeters, which help in certain integral tasks during the production process of paper, such as splicing, reel closing, and core start. The demand for foam tapes in the paper & printing industry mainly comes from the retail and digital printing segments. The foam tape market in the APAC region is expected to register the highest CAGR, in terms of volume during the forecast period. The rising demand for foam tapes from the automotive, building & construction, paper & printing, and electrical & electronics industries from the countries such as India, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Indonesia is expected to drive the foam tape market in the region. China is expected to lead the demand for foam tapes in the region. The key players operating in the foam tape market include 3M Company (US), Nitto Denko Corporation (Japan), Tesa SE (Germany), Lintec Corporation (Japan), Intertape Polymer Group, Inc. (Canada), Avery Dennison Corporation (US), Halco (US), 3F (Germany) and Scapa Group Plc (UK). Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Significant Opportunities in the Foam Tape Market 4.2 Foam Tape Market, By Resin Type 4.3 Foam Tape Market, By Technology 4.4 Foam Tape Market, By Foam Type 4.5 Foam Tape Market, By End-Use Industry 4.6 Foam Tape Market, Developed vs Developing Nations 4.7 Foam Tape Market in APAC, By End-Use Industry and Country 4.8 Foam Tape Market, By Region 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Wide Usage of Foam Tape in Various Industries 5.2.1.2 High Demand for Foam Tape in APAC 5.2.1.3 High Demand for Acrylic-Backed Foam Tape 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 Higher Prices of Raw Materials and End-Products 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Advancement in Manufacturing Technology and End-Products 5.2.3.2 Growing Demand for Acrylic-Backed Foam Tape in the Automotive Industry 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 Implementation of Stringent Regulatory Policies 5.3 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 6 Macroeconomic Indicators 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Trends and Forecast of GDP 6.3 Trends in the Automotive Industry 6.4 Construction Industry Spending Worldwide, 2017-2025 6.5 Estimated Growth Rate for the Global Electrical & Electronics Industry, By Region, 2018-2022 7 Foam Tape Market, By Resin Type 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Acrylic 7.3 Rubber 7.4 Silicone 7.5 Other Resin Types 8 Foam Tape Market, By Technology 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Solvent-Based Foam Tape 8.3 Water-Based Foam Tape 8.4 Hot-Melt-Based Foam Tape 9 Foam Tape Market, By Foam Type 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Pe-Backed Foam Tape 9.2.1 Types of Pe-Backed Foam Tape 9.3 Pu-Backed Foam Tape 9.4 Acrylic-Backed Foam Tape 9.5 Others 10 Foam Tape Market, By End-Use Industry 10.1 Introduction 10.1.1 Automotive 10.1.2 Building & Construction 10.1.3 Electrical & Electronics 10.1.4 Paper & Printing 10.1.5 Others 11 Foam Tape Market, By Region 12 Competitive Landscape 12.1 Overview 12.2 Competitive Scenario 12.2.1 Mergers & Acquisitions 12.3 Investments & Expansions 13 Company Profiles 13.1 3M Company 13.2 Nitto Denko Corporation 13.3 Tesa Se 13.4 Lintec Corporation 13.5 Avery Dennison Corporation 13.6 Intertape Polymer Group, Inc. 13.7 Scapa Group PLC 13.8 Lohmann GmbH & Co. Kg 13.9 3F 13.10 Halco 13.11 Other Key Companies 13.11.1 Mactac, LLC 13.11.2 Adchem Corporation 13.11.3 CCT Tapes 13.11.4 Tape-Rite Co. Inc. 13.11.5 Ajit Industries 13.11.6 Adere 13.11.7 Adhere Industrial Tapes Ltd 13.11.8 Guangzhou Broadya Adhesive Products Co. 13.11.9 Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics 13.11.10 A-Spe 13.11.11 AVX For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/jxhbv9/foam_tape_market?w=5 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com The must-attend Growth, Innovation and Leadership event will highlight the influence of the digital world and its effect on the industrial sector SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial organizations are prioritizing digitalization to connect their vertical operations as well as their horizontal supply chains. Digitalization is transforming how manufacturers are creating and delivering products and services, regardless of the type of industry. In the industrial landscape, the most valued manufacturing organizations will be the ones that can homogenize digital capabilities with their environment. Frost & Sullivan welcomes forward-thinkers to its premier event, Growth, Innovation and Leadership: A Frost & Sullivan Executive Summit, to be hosted Oct. 1 to 4, 2018, at Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego, Calif. The summit will provide strategic ideas to fuel growth, develop long-term competitive advantage and outline the impact of IIoT on the expansive industrial environment. For further information on the agenda or to register for Growth, Innovation and Leadership: A Frost & Sullivan Executive Summit, please visit: http://frost.ly/gil18 "The Internet of Things (IoT) is an important topic in the industrial milieu as many manufacturers are progressively trying to determine the value that could be gleaned from this upward technology swing. Over the years, the topic has moved from interesting to imperative," said Kiran Unni, Vice President of Industrial. "Opportunities are immense from the significant quantum of operational data that is churned out of industries. Digital platforms play a critical role in shaping newer business models to gather, store, analyze, and manage data. These platforms will be the foundation for any modern digital factory of the future." Join The Transformation of the Industrial Sector Think Tank, and take a look at the unprecedented change occurring in the industrial ecosystem as a result of digital technologies. Discover new innovative business models and the rise of start-ups in oil & gas, explore cyber vulnerabilities in the IIoT age, and discuss how to leverage analytics to improve safety. Key visionaries sharing their ideas include: Andrew Bruce , chief executive officer, Data Gumbo , chief executive officer, Daniel Carter , investment director, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures , investment director, David Bradley , founder, Qpilot.cloud , founder, David Drake , Ph.D., chief innovation officer and founder at AMI Global , Ph.D., chief innovation officer and founder at Ethan Smith , vice president, Frost & Sullivan , vice president, Galina Antova , co-founder & chief business development officer at Claroty , co-founder & chief business development officer at Jennifer Richey , chief strategy officer & founder, Gravity Jack , chief strategy officer & founder, Naser Tamimi , Ph.D., head of business development & data science at NeuDax , Ph.D., head of business development & data science at Roberta Gamble , partner and vice president at Frost & Sullivan The Think Tank will provide attendees exclusive information based on the latest research from Frost & Sullivan as well as the chance to analyze case histories presented by industry pioneers. Additionally, an interactive panel will encourage engagement with notables who are leading the transformation of their own companies and driving change in their industries. Key takeaways of the Think Tank include: Critical steps for better managing company assets to avoid asset downtime via data collection and analytics Findings on which industries will contribute the greatest innovations to transform oil & gas to transform Insight on how machine learning and artificial intelligence will impact the future of predictive maintenance and will impact the future of Decisive factors in formulating a strategy for cyber defense Pragmatic solutions to move from traditional products sales to "product-as-a-service" model Join us and be a part of what makes Growth, Innovation and Leadership a powerhouse of ideas and meaningful connections: Its participants! If you would like to discuss attending, participating or sponsoring the event, please email: [email protected] and join the conversation #FrostGIL. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion Contact: Jaylon Brinkley Corporate Communications E: [email protected] P: 210-247-2481 https://ww2.frost.com/ SOURCE Frost & Sullivan Related Links http://www.frost.com SUNNYVALE, California, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- - Indium Software releases NextGen features for better test automation, monitoring and report generation of its IP-led test automation framework, iSAFE - The most exciting aspect of iSAFE 4.0 is the usage of AI and Machine Learning techniques to automate script generation when new features are added Indium Software, a leading Digital, QA & Gaming firm, with close to two decades of experience in delivering solutions across industry verticals, has released a new and upgraded version of its IP-based test automation framework, iSAFE 4.0. The new version has a slew of features that will make test automation, monitoring and report generation more intuitive and easier, freeing up resources to focus on key progressive goals. These features have been developed after conducting in-depth studies into customer usage of test automation frameworks, keeping in mind the need for greater efficiency in the software development lifecycle. Mobile Integration: iSAFE is a customizable, portable and tool agnostic software testing framework that helps reduce time and cost of testing, while improving the quality of outcomes by reducing manual intervention, thus preventing human errors. The latest version of the framework, iSAFE 4.0, leverages the advancements in mobile technology to enable testers to control the automated testing process even from the comfort of their homes or when travelling. It uses APIs to facilitate integration with mobile devices. With robust security features to protect against misuse, an iSAFE app will soon be available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, to make it easy for users. Indium believes this will certainly make it easier for project managers to monitor testing on multiple software modules, through a dashboard. DevOps ready for CD/CI: In the DevOps environment, continuous development/continuous integration have created a need for unattended test execution that gets triggered the moment a new feature is introduced or an old one updated. In response to the industry need for iSAFE to talk proactively to CD/CI frameworks such as Jenkins, Hudson, Bamboo and Build Bot, iSAFE 4.0 includes a feature that enables triggering or scheduling the execution from the CD/CI tool as required. Analytics Dashboards: The reporting feature in iSAFE, already comprehensive in coverage, has received a further facelift in Version 4.0, as it now enables further drilling down for viewing reports for each module and test case. The reports provide insights and error trends that can help improve subsequent builds and processes better. The reports can also be downloaded in newer formats such as PDFs, in addition to the existing HTML format. The user interface has become even more intuitive and easy to use. Over the last year, the CTO's office at Indium Software has upgraded its expertise and skills on the application of AI and Machine Learning in test automation. Indium's R & D team have used a few of these AI-based tools & algorithms to launch an 'Auto Automation' and 'Auto Fix' feature to enable automatic script generation and generating test cases for new features. "At Indium, AI is not just a buzzword nor has it been used just for the sake of using it. We applied AI-based techniques after carefully understanding a customer pain point. The pain point was around generating test scripts and triggering a test cycle automatically after a feature release. We use artificial intelligence to address this pain point," says Srikanth Manohar, Sr VP - Automation at Indium Software. Ramesh Krish, CTO of Indium Software, adds, "I am personally very excited with the launch of iSAFE 4.0. Over the last seven years, we've constantly upgraded and reinvented our test automation toolkits and methodologies. We believe iSAFE 4.0 will be a game changer both in terms of efficiency and reduced time-to-market, by reducing test cycle times during new product launches." About Indium Software Indium Software is a rapidly growing technology solutions company with deep expertise in Big Data solutions, Analytics services, Independent QA, Blockchain and Gaming. It has over 19 years of experience, serving 350+ customers ranging from Fortune 100 to Global 5000 with a growing team of 650 associates. Indium has been serving customers in the North America, India, APAC, Europe and South Africa. The company has registered offices in the Bay Area, New Jersey, Atlanta and Kuala Lumpur. Indium's Global Delivery Centers are located in Chennai and Bangalore, India. Indium has spearheaded and supported many technology-led business transformation programs for its customers. Thanks to a ringside view to the world of technology across the globe, Indium had the unique opportunity to constantly evolve and learn from their customers. This unique world-view, coupled with a forward-looking mindset, have been helping Indium continuously scale up existing solution areas while building and nurturing new services. About iSAFE Indium's iSAFE, a customizable and portable software framework for test automation, is a tool agnostic framework that can be used across commercial and open source products such as UFT/ QTPSelenium, SilkTest, TestComplete, Ranorex, etc. and it can work on any scripting language. It also uses XSL transformation for producing custom HTML reports satisfying different client requirements. Some of its key features include extensive test coverage using automation and decreased human errors or intervention - thus enhancing the quality of the end product. iSAFE facilitates reusability of test scripts leading to reduction in cost and time to market. It requires much less effort and cost on maintenance of test scripts and test data. Last but not the least; iSAFE delivers enriched reports with detailed analytics. Media Contact: G. Mohan Global Head - Marketing [email protected] SOURCE Indium Software WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A new agreement to boost support for the UN's youth related work around the world was signed yesterday at a ceremony in the UN's headquarters in New York by the Misk Foundation and the Office of the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth (OSGEY). The Misk Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic foundation established in 2011 by H.R.H. Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has become a strategic pioneering partner of UN OSGEY and will support their work around the world. Misk's mission is to discover, develop and empower young people to become active participants in the knowledge economy both in Saudi Arabia and globally, through partnerships such as this. At the strategic level, the two organizations will facilitate greater action at the global, regional and national level, to improve the situation of young people around the globe. The partnership will strengthen UN OSGEY's capacities to deliver the UN Strategy on Youth and, in so doing, aims to directly reach and mobilize 50 million young people globally towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Under the initiatives pillar, young people's leadership, creativity and innovation skills will be harnessed to bolster their ability to be agents for positive change during the run up to the fifth anniversary of the SDGs in 2020. His Excellency Bader Alasaker, Chair of the Board, Misk Initiatives Center, said: "The Misk Foundation is committed to helping as many young people around the world realize their potential in the future economy and to encourage active global citizenship. The strategic agreement that we signed yesterday shows our commitment to this mission. Partnering with the United Nations will greatly enhance its vital work around the world to help young people from all backgrounds to realize their potential and meet the Sustainable Development Goals." Commenting on the partnership with Misk, Ms. Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN SecretaryGeneral's Envoy on Youth added: "This major contribution towards the UN Secretariat's work on youth will be used to operationalize the new UN Strategy on Youth with a focus on advancing our collective efforts to support youth mobilization for the 2030 Agenda worldwide. It comes at crucial time, immediately after the public launch of the UN's Youth Strategy, which shows the commitment and dedication of the Misk Foundation to supporting youth development globally." Through this agreement, Misk becomes the first non-government organization to make a direct pledge towards the implementation of the UN's first-ever Strategy on Youth that was launched by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a high-level event on 24 September 2018, one day prior to the signing ceremony. SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office DRAPER, Utah, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- StorageCraft, whose mission is to protect all data and ensure its constant availability, today announced the launch of the StorageCraft Global Partner Success Program. The program has been completely refreshed to make it easy and highly profitable for channel partners to build and expand their presence in the business continuity category using the StorageCraft suite of products. In August, StorageCraft introduced OneXafe, a converged data management and data protection platform, and ShadowXafe, a next generation data protection solution. These solutions, in combination with the company's ShadowProtect and Cloud Services DRaaS, give channel partners access to StorageCraft solutions that span the entire business continuity category. The StorageCraft Partner Success Program is comprised of three tiers: Certified Partner, Premier Partner and Elite Partner. Key elements of the Program include: Enhanced Profit and Margin Opportunity: Partners will benefit from enhanced profit levers including larger up-front and tier-based discounts, new back-end rebates and regular SPIFF programs. Flexibility: The Partner Success Program has been specifically designed to let partners buy modularly. Partners are rewarded on any mix of product adoption to ensure optimum revenue, growth and expansion opportunity. Market and Revenue Creation & Protection: StorageCraft has overhauled its proposal-based MDF program, making it more broadly available, now including the top three partner levels, as well as adding pre-configured marketing tools. The company has also revamped deal registration to improve partner margin and overall deal protection including enhanced protection in cases where the deal registered partner loses the deal to another StorageCraft Partner. Ease of Business: The entire suite of StorageCraft business continuity solutions is available through distribution partners Lifeboat, Synnex and Tech Data. This ensures easy and ubiquitous access to market potential of the business continuity category. Infrastructure Support: Partners can access billing, training, pricing, marketing, MDF, SPIFF tools and information via the StorageCraft Partner Success Program Portal, which uses multi factor authentication (MFA) and highly redundant providers like Salesforce.com. This robust infrastructure ensures high availability for partners as they conduct business 24/7, plus provides them the ability to scale with ease. Supporting Quotes: Joe Ambrosole, President at NetConnect "StorageCraft has been on a steep innovation ramp the last few months. We are impressed with their direction and have been extremely excited to work with their new disaster recovery software stack. The SLA Policy orchestration and visualization in ShadowXafe is going to be disruptive in the market. These new solutions dovetail into their new partner program without leaving our MSP business model behind. They have done a great job retaining the important existing program elements, while paving the way for these new solutions to be sold through MSPs like us." Lloyd Wolf, President and CEO of Wolf Consulting "Our clients trust us to deploy and manage their IT infrastructure. They put their backup and business continuity needs in our hands. This is not a responsibility we take lightly and is why we place great scrutiny on our vendor partnerships. Our partnership with StorageCraft has been fantastic. Their MSP Subscription-Based Licensing is attractively priced and allows us to license the exact quantity of software licenses we need for our clients each month. The portal allows our team to easily manage the licenses, activate new licenses, deactivate existing licenses, and obtain serial numbers. On the occasions when our team needs help, the priority technical support has been great. Considering everything, including the technology, pricing, service and support, the StorageCraft partner program is a top choice in the industry." Marvin Blough, Vice President of Worldwide Sales at StorageCraft "Rather than type-cast partners into a box, we have constructed the StorageCraft Global Partner Success Program to be highly flexible and modular so they can create tailored and differentiated solutions and services around their business model. This way, we ensure they can successfully service and profit from every aspect of the business continuity category." Visit StorageCraft.com for more information about StorageCraft's complete portfolio of data-protection solutions. Follow StorageCraft on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Read the latest data backup and recovery thought leadership articles at the StorageCraft Blog. About StorageCraft Organizations keep their critical information always safe, accessible, and optimized with StorageCraft's data protection, data management and business continuity solutions. StorageCraft's powerful data protection offerings deliver instant, reliable, and complete data recovery and eliminate downtime. Our innovative converged primary and secondary scale-out storage platform, with integrated data protection, solves data growth challenges, is efficient and easy to use for on-premises, cloud-based or hybrid deployments. For more information, visit www.storagecraft.com. StorageCraft, OneXafe, ShadowXafe, OneSystem and ShadowProtect are trademarks of StorageCraft Technology Corp. Other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright 2018 StorageCraft Technology Corp. All rights reserved. Contact Information: Jock Breitwieser StorageCraft Technology Corp. +1 408.800.5625 [email protected] SOURCE StorageCraft Related Links http://www.storagecraft.com "We have selected a group of amazing startups to participate in our programs. They are solving some of the most challenging problems across multiple industries. We have seen a number of early engagements from our corporate partners and VC friends, which is certainly one of the key indicators of a great start," shared Ivan Zgomba, Partner at Plug and Play Ventures. During the next twelve weeks, startups in each program will be able to attend exclusive events, meet with Plug and Play's corporate partner network, and collaborate with other companies in the ecosystem. Unlike other accelerators, Plug and Play does not take equity for participating in the program, but actively invests in a large number of companies every year. These startups will graduate December 4th-6th at Plug and Play's Winter Summit. Tickets are limited for the public audience and press passes are available for media. Register today: bit.ly/pnpwintersummit2018 About Plug and Play Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 280 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, and PayPal. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com Media Contact Allison Romero [email protected] (408) 524-1457 SOURCE Plug and Play Related Links http://plugandplaytechcenter.com "Lofelt is committed to raising the standard for haptic feedback to match the high-quality audio and video we're used to in today's devices." said Daniel Buttner, chief executive officer at Lofelt. "Teaming up with Razer is an incredible opportunity for us to demonstrate the value of the cutting-edge technology we developed. I'm thrilled we are at the forefront of realizing the true potential of advanced haptics and can't wait for gamers to level up their gameplay with the Razer Nari Ultimate featuring haptics by Lofelt." Razer HyperSense utilizes special haptic drivers that generate multidimensional haptic feedback, featuring stereo capabilities for enhanced positional awareness. The technology works across all formats of gaming, music and movies without specific integration by converting audio signals into tactile feedback in real time. The Nari Ultimate was also engineered with innovative comfort technology that includes an auto-adjusting headband for a fuss-free fit, swiveling ear cups to fit every head shape, and cooling gel ear cushions that keep gamers feeling cooler for longer periods of time compared to traditional memory foam ear cups. The cooling gel ear cushions feature hidden indented eyewear channels for a more comfortable fit with eyewear, as well. The Razer Nari Ultimate also utilizes THX Spatial Audio which was introduced with the Kraken Tournament Edition. This feature creates realistic depth and immersion by simulating 360-degree sound with pinpoint accuracy for greater awareness during gameplay. The headset has game/chat balance, and it works in both wired and wireless mode for added compatibility across PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said: "Razer consistently creates products with innovative technology to give gamers the best gaming experience possible. With the Razer Nari Ultimate, we are championing a whole new way for gamers to feel their games through Razer HyperSense." The Razer Nari is available in three versions: Razer Nari Ultimate, Nari, and Nari Essential. The Razer Nari Ultimate described above delivers the most gaming audio value for gamers at $199.99. The Razer Nari at $149 omits Razer HyperSense while mirroring the Razer Nari Ultimate in comfort, sound technology and all other features. The Razer Nari Essential focuses on core wireless gaming headset features with THX Spatial Audio, comfort with an auto adjusting headband, and cooling gel ear cushions and lag-free performance at $99.99. For more information about these headsets, please visit Nari Ultimate: https://www.razer.com/gaming-audio/razer-nari-ultimate Nari: https://www.razer.com/gaming-audio/razer-nari Nari Essential: https://www.razer.com/gaming-audio/razer-nari-essential For more information about Razer HyperSense in the Nari Ultimate, please visit: https://www.razer.com/nari-ultimate-hypersense Product Availability: Nari: 27 September 2018 on RazerStore, with full retail to follow Nari Ultimate & Nari Essential: Q4 2018 Video: http://rzr.to/Nari-YT Images: For digital screens (websites, mobile, social media) Nari Ultimate: http://rzr.to/NariUlt-RR Nari: http://rzr.to/Nari-RR Nari Essential: http://rzr.to/NariEss-RR ABOUT RAZER Razer is the world's leading lifestyle brand for gamers. The triple-headed snake trademark of Razer is one of the most recognized logos in the global gaming and esports communities. With a fan base that spans every continent, the company has designed and built the world's largest gamer-focused ecosystem of hardware, software and services. Razer's award-winning hardware includes high-performance gaming peripherals, Blade gaming laptops and the acclaimed Razer Phone. Razer's software platform, with over 50 million users, includes Razer Synapse (an Internet of Things platform), Razer Chroma (a proprietary RGB lighting technology system), and Razer Cortex (a game optimizer and launcher). In services, Razer zGold is one of the world's largest virtual credit services for gamers. Razer Pay is the e-wallet designed for youth and millennials, and Razer Game Store is the only games download store that offers rewards for gamers. Founded in 2005 and dual-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, Razer has 15 offices worldwide and is recognized as the leading brand for gamers in the USA, Europe and China. Razer is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 1337). About Lofelt: Lofelt is a Berlin-based technology company developing high-definition haptics for consumer products. The company is pioneering the field of natural haptics with its advanced haptic technology which combines intelligent software with high-precision haptic actuators. The unique Lofelt Wave hardware-software system developed by Lofelt uses intelligent Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to transform audio into high-definition haptic signals in real time - delivering realistic haptic feedback in a wide range of devices including headphones, smartphones, laptops, gaming controllers, AR/VR/XR headsets and beyond. The company has raised $6.7M in funding to date, including investment from Horizons Ventures (investors in N26, Skype, Slack, Improbable, Teralytics and Zoom) Media Contacts: Razer USA Kevin Allen [email protected] Alain Mazer, Global Public Relations Director [email protected] Razer Europe Jan Horak [email protected] Razer Asia Pacific Raymond Lau [email protected] Razer China Evita Zhang [email protected] SOURCE Razer Related Links http://www.razer.com Mote is currently Vice President of Strategic Advertising for The Sacramento Bee and McClatchy's West region, responsible for a sales territory across 10 media companies in California, Washington state and Idaho. "Ryan has an outstanding track record of building strong customer relationships that drive results and advertising revenue," said Berg. "His strategic focus, entrepreneurial energy and talent for creating cohesive, high-achieving sales teams will make a significant impact on our business and the communities we serve." Mote is a veteran publishing executive with almost two decades in the industry and four years at McClatchy. Previously, he held leadership positions at Freedom Communications and Gannett and was named "Gannett Executive of the Year" in 2012. He also held key advertising sales roles at the New York Times Co. and Copley Press. In his new role, Mote will also manage strategic advertising for McClatchy's Central region including The Kansas City Star , The Wichita Eagle and The Belleville News-Democrat . "I'm excited to return with my family to my grandparents' home state and lead the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a storied and iconic Texas brand," said Mote. "I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and helping our teams achieve the goals they set out to accomplish." A native of California, Mote and his wife Katherine have deep family roots in Texas. Mote's grandparents were born and raised in Texas, and he and his wife have many family members currently residing throughout the state. About McClatchy McClatchy operates 30 media companies in 14 states, providing each of its communities with strong independent local journalism in the public interest and advertising services in a wide array of digital and print formats. McClatchy publishes iconic local brands including the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star, The Sacramento Bee, The Charlotte Observer, The (Raleigh) News & Observer, and the (Fort Worth) Star-Telegram. McClatchy is headquartered in Sacramento, Calif., and listed on the New York Stock Exchange American under the symbol MNI. #ReadLocal SOURCE McClatchy Related Links http://www.mcclatchy.com The gallery building will be named the Frances M. Maguire Gallery to honor Saint Joseph's alumnus James J. Maguire '58 and his wife Frannie's support of the University and commitment to educational and cultural initiatives. The building will be used by the University for its fine arts program and display, in keeping with its original use. "Jim and Frannie generously committed a portion of their historic $50 million gift to the University for this collaboration, and naming the gallery in Frannie's honor is a fitting tribute given her lifelong love and passion for the arts," says Saint Joseph's University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D. "Their investment will help us educate our students in partnership with one of the most renowned cultural institutions in the world." "Dr. Albert C. Barnes envisioned one day partnering with a University for the horticultural education program founded by his wife Laura in 1940, and we are happy that day has arrived," says Thom Collins, executive director and president of the Barnes Foundation. "With Saint Joseph's commitment to expanding their teaching and training, and growing resources in this field for students of all levels and backgrounds, they are a natural partner for this important educational initiative. Together we will ensure the long-term growth of the Barnes' horticulture program, the preservation of the Barnes Arboretum and its historic buildings, and expand educational opportunities for generations of students." The Barnes Foundation's horticulture program continues without interruptionincluding the enrollment of new studentsand students can continue to earn the Barnes horticulture certificate upon completion of the program requirements. In addition, the University will create a new horticulture minor and will offer academic credit for select Barnes horticulture courses. The Barnes retains oversight of the Arboretum and the historic buildings, while the day-to-day operations and grounds are now managed by Saint Joseph's University. About Saint Joseph's University Founded in 1851 in the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence, Saint Joseph's University is a top-ranked Catholic University that provides a rigorous, student-centered education. With a total enrollment of 8,500 undergraduate and graduate students, SJU offers a wide array of academic programs designed so that each graduate enters the world with a competitive resume and global perspective. This is achieved through intense academic study led by thought-leading faculty scholars, a comprehensive campus experience and robust study abroad, service-learning, internship and co-op programs. Upon graduation, nearly 100 percent of students are employed, pursuing advanced degrees or volunteering in prestigious service programs. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, SJU offers 20 Division I intercollegiate men's and women's sports. SJU alumni over 68,000 strong provide a powerful network that spans the globe. About the Barnes Foundation The Barnes Foundation is a nonprofit cultural and educational institution that shares its unparalleled art collection with the public, organizes special exhibitions and presents programming that fosters new ways of thinking about human creativity. The Barnes Collection is displayed in ensembles that integrate art and objects from across cultures and time periods, overturning traditional hierarchies and revealing universal elements of human expression. Home to one of the world's finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist and early modernist paintings including the largest groups of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne in existence the Barnes brings together renowned masterworks by such artists as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Vincent van Gogh, alongside ancient, medieval, Renaissance and non-Western art as well as metalwork, furniture and decorative art. The Barnes Foundation was established by Albert C. Barnes, MD, in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture." Since moving to the heart of Philadelphia in 2012, the Barnes has expanded its commitment to teaching visual literacy in groundbreaking ways, investing in original scholarship relating to its collection and enhancing accessibility throughout every facet of its program. The Barnes Foundation is open Wednesday through Monday, and tickets can be purchased on-site, online or by calling 215-278-7200. Ticket prices and current hours are listed online. SOURCE Saint Joseph's University Related Links http://www.sju.edu FERNDALE, Mich., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Schramm's Mead, a leader in the burgeoning mead industry, has signed with Cavalier Distributing to immediately commence sales in the State of Indiana. Since opening in Ferndale, Michigan, in September of 2013, Schramm's Mead has expanded into Ohio and now Indiana. The highly sought-after mead has pushed the small artisanal meadery and its offerings to the top echelons of ratings sites such as Untappd and RateBeer. Production was less than 5,000 cases last year, but is increasing. "We will only grow as fast as quality will allow," said head meadmaker and majority owner Ken Schramm. "There are lots of other states and even countries that want us to distribute there, but we aren't willing to take an industrial approach to either ingredients or technique," he added. "We pride ourselves on bringing Indiana the best of craft beverages including mead," noted Vincent Consola, State Sales Development Manager for Cavalier. Cavalier's portfolio of brands is limited to only excellent imported and craft beverages. "We know Indiana is going to love this mead," said Consola. Schramm's Mead CEO Alyson Schramm Naeger is pleased with the partnership. "They do a fantastic job for us in Ohio. This was a no-brainer." Schramm's Mead and Cavalier Distributing have partnered with HopCat Indianapolis for a launch event to help Indiana craft beverage lovers become familiar with Schramm's Mead's compelling meads. Ken Schramm will be on hand for a roll out tasting on Monday, October 8 at HopCat's location at 6280 North College Avenue. HopCat Indianapolis will have a rare keg of Schramm's cherry mead "The Statement" on tap while supplies last. About Mead and Schramm's Mead, the fermented beverage from honey, has long been considered humankind's oldest alcoholic drink. The product line from Schramm's Mead includes spiced meads made with ginger and nutmeg, as well as meads made with fruits such as Balaton tart cherries, Heritage raspberries, black currants, boysenberries and others. Different varieties pair well with savory dishes, including barbeque, sushi and cheeses, but they are also delicious on their own. Demand for Schramm's Mead has exceeded expectations, due in equal parts to its quality and to the reputation of Ken Schramm. The meadery has consistently had multiple meads in RateBeer.com's "Top 50 Meads" list, and has been a Top 100 brewery since 2014. Schramm wrote "The Compleat Meadmaker" (O2003, Brewers Publications, Boulder, CO), which has become the current reference text of record on meadmaking, and helped to grow mead, both as a hobby and an industry. About Cavalier Distributing Established in 1992 by Founder/President George Fisher, Cavalier Distributing is one of the only distributors in the country with a portfolio that is exclusively American craft and imports. Cavalier is dedicated to bringing great beer, spirits, and other craft beverages to the increasingly discerning, appreciative, and educated consumers in Indiana, Florida, and Ohio. Cavalier employs more than 350 employees throughout the three states and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Lakeland, Florida, and Cincinnati, Ohio. SOURCE Schramm's Mead Related Links www.schrammsmead.com HOUSTON, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In the newest rounds of grants marking its 20th anniversary, Hyundai Hope On Wheels 501(c)(3) celebrates National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month by awarding the $300,000 Hyundai Hope Scholar Grant to Dr. Monica Gramatges of Texas Children's Hospital. This September, 38 new doctor-researchers will receive a combined $14.1 million in grants to support novel therapeutic approaches and innovative research options in pediatric cancer. The award was officially presented to Dr. Gramatges at Texas Children's on Tuesday, September 25th. Childhood cancer researchers depend largely on private funding for groundbreaking therapies to get off the ground and to advance treatment approaches to the next phase of testing, ultimately, bringing better therapies and cures to kids with cancer. With this latest award, Texas Children's has received more than $2.8 million in grants from Hope On Wheels, contributing to the organization's $145 million in the organization's total lifetime giving. "Throughout the country, talented doctors are working tirelessly to help kids fight cancer by conducting research or providing bedside care," said Scott Fink, chairman, Hyundai Hope On Wheels Board of Directors. "Our goal at Hope On Wheels is to provide these doctors with the grant funds they need to perform their lifesaving work." During the event, children treated for cancer at Texas Children's participated in the program's signature Handprint Ceremony, in which they dipped their hands in paint and place their handprints on the Hope Vehicle, a white 2018 Santa Fe. As "Every Handprint Tells a Story," the colorful handprints of brave pediatric cancer fighters represent their individual and collective hopes, dreams and journeys. Supporters are encouraged to visit the HHOW website ( www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org ) to view this year's grant winners along with stories of brave cancer survivors and passionate doctor-researchers. Once there, supporters may add their handprint to a wall of hope to show their support for the cause. They will also find information on additional ways to support HHOW through social media efforts and events throughout the month. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels , twitter.com/HopeOnWheels or instagram.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels . HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest non-profit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 835 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $145 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure. HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through 835 dealerships nationwide. All new Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes a 5-year/60,000-mile fully-transferable new vehicle limited warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty and five years of complimentary Roadside Assistance. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook SOURCE Hyundai Hope On Wheels Related Links https://hyundaihopeonwheels.org NOVARA, Italy, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Novamont technology applied to cosmetics, using derivatives from renewable raw materials, means that readily biodegradable ingredients can be produced with performance comparable to traditional microplastics (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/611387/Novamont_Logo.jpg ) Non-biodegradable microplastics in cosmetic products are a cause for concern as they represent a source of water pollution. Every day, tonnes of plastic 'dust' resulting from the use of personal care products (i.e. microplastics with an exfoliating function for shower gels and various "rinse-off" cleansing products) are poured into Europe's seas, together with microplastics having specific technical properties used in face and body creams, sunscreens and make-up (non-rinsing, or "leave-on" products). Europe is looking into measures to limit the use of microplastics in cosmetics, already in force in some European countries, while various solutions are already available for rinse-off products. However, technically sound and truly sustainable alternatives are urgently needed for the more complex leave-on products. With the intention of preserving and regenerating natural resources through innovative development, and in close collaboration with ROELMI HPC (a leading Italian company with long-standing experience in the production of sustainable active and functional ingredients), NOVAMONT has developed a line of readily biodegradable ingredients for cosmetic applications: CELUS-BI, a new standard of innovation in the sector. Today Novamont can present the most advanced product in the range - CELUS-BI FEEL. With excellent technical performance, this product is an original and sustainable response to the need to eliminate microplastics from leave-on cosmetics. CELUS-BI FEEL is a texturising agent that guarantees excellent use properties such as softness, velvet touch and film-forming capacities. The ingredient also has excellent sebum control and high compatibility with active substances, vegetable oils and fragrances. CELUS-BI FEEL is "readily biodegradable" in accordance with the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and biodegrades rapidly and totally in the environment. It is fully biodegraded in just a few days in a purifying plant, ensuring that no residues end up in rivers and seas and with the enormous advantage that the resulting sludge has no microplastics. CELUS-BI FEEL is therefore suitable for use in applications where dispersion in water is highly likely (solar), eliminating potential pollution and/or accumulation. CELUS-BI FEEL also has an exceptional environmental profile, determined through the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) method. Preliminary results (on 1 kg of material from "cradle to gate") show average greenhouse gas emissions that are 75% to 95% lower than those for the range of products currently used for the same applications, while an average of 60% to 75% less non-renewable energy resources are consumed than the same range of standard products. Production capacity available for CELUS-BI FEEL would suffice to cover the entire European need for microplastics for the cosmetics industry. Besides CELUS-BI FEEL, the range includes CELUS-BI SPHERA (exfoliants) and CELUS-BI ESTERS (emollients), products made with renewable raw materials of European origin in synergy with food crops, respecting the specific nature of local areas. By way of demonstration, and to highlight the level of technical performance that can be achieved by combining the revolutionary CELUS-BI FEEL with other products of the CELUS-BI family, Roelmi has developed a range of cosmetic prototypes, including the compact powder that is being presented today. It is an exceptionally velvety blusher that clearly shows there is a sustainable alternative to plastic microbeads for the cosmetics industry, without increasing the dosages or costs compared to standard products. "The solution to the problem of microbeads in cosmetics that CELUS-BI FEEL and CELUS-BI SPHERA represent is a concrete demonstration that the integrated supply chain created by Novamont over the years, and which is still evolving, is a rich source of opportunities in many sectors, both upstream and downstream," commented Novamont CEO, Catia Bastioli. "Collaboration with partners like Roelmi, that are open to innovation, competent and sensitive to issues such as sustainability, is essential. Starting from products developed jointly, it will be possible to create new alliances with companies that share our commitment to the environment and local areas in order to speed up sustainable transformation of the sector." Giacomo Santus, CEO of Roelmi HPC Holding , summed up the meaning and value of the collaboration with Novamont as follows: "Roelmi believes in an ethical and chain-based approach to innovation in the cosmetics field and has found in Novamont, one of the pioneers of the circular bioeconomy, a wealth of opportunities to develop a range of truly sustainable and accessible products." The Novamont Group is world leader in the development and production of bioplastics and biochemicals through the integration of chemistry, the environment and agriculture. With 600 employees, the Group posted sales of 195 million in 2017 and made continuous investments in research and development activities (24% of its staff) and has a portfolio of around 1,000 patents. The group has its headquarters in Novara, a production facility in Terni and research laboratories in Novara, Terni and Piana di Monte Verna (CE). The Novamont subsidiaries are based in Porto Torres (SS), Bottrighe (RO), Terni and Patrica (FR). Active in Germany, France and the United States through commercial offices and a representative office in Brussels (Belgium), Novamont operates through own distributors in Benelux, Scandinavia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Novamont Press Office Francesca De Sanctis, [email protected] , Tel.: +39-0321-699-611, Cell.: +39-340-1166-426 SOURCE Novamont The announcements were part of ceremony opening USC's new 15,000 square-foot Digital Transformation Lab, a research showplace where projects with an array of real-world industrial and consumer applications are on displayfrom robotics, visual inspection, autonomous drones to smart home appliances. The Internet of Things refers to the interconnectivity of individual systems and devices, including automobiles, appliances and healthcare devices. "These research partnerships and the new lab are the culmination of years of innovative work by our faculty researchers and the USC Office of Economic Engagement," said USC President Harris Pastides. "Through corporate partnerships, our researchers can bring added value to industrial applications while students work alongside faculty to gain critical exposure to leading edge technologies that make them more employable." New and expanded partnership announced Thursday include: USC is opening the IIOT Lab in partnership with IBM . Located in the McNair Aerospace Research Center on Catawba street, the lab will use cloud-based data to develop a wide range of student learning, teaching, and research projects. IBM solutions featured at the lab leverage the IIoT, advanced analytics and AI to reduce operational costs and increase uptime, bring better products to market faster, and find new business value across three main asset classes industrial equipment, buildings and facilities, and vehicles. USC is currently IBM's only Industrial IoT university research partner in the United States . "Artificial Intelligence is critical to making sense of the eighty percent of unstructured data that will enable people and things to work smarter and better," said Skip Snyder , vice president and partner of IBM's IoT and Asset Management Optimization practice. "Together with USC we are demonstrating to clients how IoT, advanced analytics and AI reduces operational costs and increases uptime, while introducing students and faculty to state-of-the-art design and engineering platforms that are used by leading enterprises globally." is opening the IIOT Lab in partnership with . Located in the McNair Aerospace Research Center on Catawba street, the lab will use cloud-based data to develop a wide range of student learning, teaching, and research projects. IBM solutions featured at the lab leverage the IIoT, advanced analytics and AI to reduce operational costs and increase uptime, bring better products to market faster, and find new business value across three main asset classes industrial equipment, buildings and facilities, and vehicles. is currently IBM's only Industrial IoT university research partner in . "Artificial Intelligence is critical to making sense of the eighty percent of unstructured data that will enable people and things to work smarter and better," said , vice president and partner of IBM's IoT and Asset Management Optimization practice. "Together with we are demonstrating to clients how IoT, advanced analytics and AI reduces operational costs and increases uptime, while introducing students and faculty to state-of-the-art design and engineering platforms that are used by leading enterprises globally." Samsung is currently working with USC as part of the Palmetto Consortium for Home Appliance Innovation, exploring new ways to connect smart home appliances and expand their capabilities, such as refrigerators that can alert consumers when food is about to spoil or if a homebound relative is eating properly. The Digital Transformation Lab will serve as a host site for the best new advanced appliances under development. Last year, Samsung opened its new state-of-the-art home appliance manufacturing plant in Newberry, South Carolina . is currently working with as part of the Palmetto Consortium for Home Appliance Innovation, exploring new ways to connect smart home appliances and expand their capabilities, such as refrigerators that can alert consumers when food is about to spoil or if a homebound relative is eating properly. The Digital Transformation Lab will serve as a host site for the best new advanced appliances under development. Last year, Samsung opened its new state-of-the-art home appliance manufacturing plant in . Siemens technology will be used throughout the Digital Transformation Lab, including in industrial robotic simulations and predictive maintenance projects. One project now underway uses Siemens software to help maximize the reliability of the U.S. Army's Apache helicopter. Last year, Siemens made an in-kind software technology grant to USC's College of Engineering and Computing allowing students to gain experience with software used by more than 140,000 companies in the global manufacturing industry, including South Carolina's growing aerospace sector. technology will be used throughout the Digital Transformation Lab, including in industrial robotic simulations and predictive maintenance projects. One project now underway uses Siemens software to help maximize the reliability of the U.S. Army's Apache helicopter. Last year, Siemens made an in-kind software technology grant to College of Engineering and Computing allowing students to gain experience with software used by more than 140,000 companies in the global manufacturing industry, including growing aerospace sector. Yaskawa, the worldwide robotics company, will work with USC researcher to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to dramatically improve advanced manufacturing processes, reducing errors and cutting inspection time and costs. They also will explore the use of robots in novel areas, such as the development of new pharmaceutical products. Thursday's announcement was attended by executives from the partner companies, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and state economic development officials. The Digital Transformation Lab, conveniently located near downtown Columbia and USC's campus, is part of USC's expanding Innovista research district. Projects displayed in the lab will highlight for potential customers the benefits or matching university research expertise with the very latest in private-sector technologies. "South Carolina's manufacturing industry is one of the strongest in the world, with one of the highest rates of manufacturing growth in the country," McMaster said. "Staying on top requires staying smart by investing in partnerships like this one, which demonstrate the strength of collaboration between the private sector and our institutions of higher learning. I congratulate USC and its partners on this cutting-edge new Digital Transformation Lab and look forward to seeing all that will be achieved there. " Through the Office of Economic Engagement, USC has aggressively sought to forge corporate research partnerships, commercialize technology developed at USC and support startups formed by university researchers. The activities help contribute to the $5.5 billion impact USC has on South Carolina economy each year. "By creating new research partnerships and building on existing ones, we can infuse even more corporate investment into the Midlands and the state. The students who work on these research projectswhether they are computer scientists, engineers or designersare well-positioned to find the kind of rewarding, high paying jobs that contribute so much to the state," said Office of Economic Engagement Director Bill Kirkland. SOURCE University of South Carolina Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 27) The largest American-owned Chinese food chain in the United States is now headed to the Philippines! Panda Express will do business in Metro Manila, according to a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Tuesday. The American food chain is a 50-50 joint venture between Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) and Panda Restaurant Group Inc. In its first phase of development, it plans to develop five stores in Metro Manila. "We feel fortunate to be partnering with a company that has a history of growing and adding significant value to its new businesses," said Andrew Cherng, co-founder and co-CEO of Panda. "We look forward to tapping into JFC's market expertise to grow the Panda Express brand into a household name in the Philippines and, more importantly, actioning our shared value of inspiring people to better their lives." JFC Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong also said they are thrilled with the new joint venture. "Starting from a single restaurant in a California mall to becoming a restaurant chain of over 2,100 stores, Panda Express is a strong brand with a growing global footprint. Very much in line with JFC's brand portfolio, it has excellent tasting dishes at reasonable price points. Long-term, Panda Express has a high potential for broad acceptance across the country," Caktiong said. Known for its world-famous Orange Chicken, Panda Express specializes in American-Chinese cuisine. The Cherng family opened Panda Express' first branch in 1983 in Glendale, California. It now has branches all over U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, Guatemala, El Salvador, Aruba, Canada, Mexico, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Japan, and Russia. WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its extensive exoskeleton R&D work, the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command Soldier Center has commissioned a detailed engineering analysis of existing and emerging exoskeleton products as part of its ongoing exoskeleton evaluation program. "We are encouraged by the potential to advance exoskeleton capabilities for needs that span from enhanced mobility and stamina for infantry to added strength for combat engineering missions," said David Audet, Chief, Mission Equipment & Systems Branch, Soldier Performance Optimization Directorate, or SPOD. The Soldier Center is collaborating with Boston Engineering based in Waltham, Mass. Boston Engineering will lead the independent, third-party engineering analysis for the exoskeleton project, which kicked off early September 2018. The effort is a collaborative engagement among the Soldier Center, Boston Engineering and Materiel Developers. The outputs of the effort will benefit the ultimate user the warfighter and will also serve as a valuable tool for exoskeleton developers in their product improvement and optimization processes. "This product engineering analysis has the potential to streamline development by mapping exoskeleton technologies to specialized military needs," said Mark Smithers, CTO, Boston Engineering. "We are proud to collaborate with NSRDEC (Soldier Center) to accelerate exoskeleton technology transition to the field. Boston Engineering's background in robotics, wearable technology, human-machine analysis and product optimization makes us well-suited to support this initiative for Soldiers." As the number of exoskeletons in use by industry increases, so does the Department of the Army's confidence in their safe and effective use for combat and non-combat operations. Following the directions set forth by the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mark A. Milley, the Soldier Center has amped up its efforts to address the anticipated operational warfighter benefits of exoskeletons. The Soldier Center has been evaluating exoskeleton technologies since the early 2000s, focusing primarily on optimized soldier performance and squad lethality, faster dismounted movement to objectives, and reducing physiological and cognitive load burden of combat duty. The SPOD leads the effort to demonstrate a high Technology Readiness Level, or TRL, for exoskeletons in operationally relevant environments and to transition them to Program Executive Office, Soldier, or PEO Soldier, for fielding. The Soldier Center's priority in its first phase is to evaluate the most promising systems for the most needed tasks. The project will also look at these systems as tools that can reduce physical injury risk before, during, or after combat operations or strenuous activities. About U.S. Department of the Army The Research, Development and Engineering Command Solider Center The U.S. Soldier Center is the national and international leader in warfighter science and technology development. Made from a diverse workforce of scientists, engineers, technologists and equipment designers, the center is the expert in soldier research and development systems. The Soldier Center is redefining combat by developing new and innovative ways to protect soldiers through advanced research that supports ever-evolving threats. Learn more at https://www.nsrdec.army.mil. The U.S. Army Soldier Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to provide innovative research, development, and engineering to produce capabilities that provide decisive overmatch to the Army against the complexities of the current and future operating environments in support of the joint warfighter and the nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. About Boston Engineering Boston Engineering provides product design and engineering consulting across the entire product development process from concept through connected product capabilities. Certified for ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, the company's industry expertise includes defense & security, medical devices, robotics, and commercial products. Boston Engineering is also an Internet of Things (IoT) ThingWorx Partner and a PTC Platinum Partner. Founded in 1995, Boston Engineering is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. @BostEngineering SOURCE Boston Engineering Related Links http://www.boston-engineering.com GOTEBORG, Sweden, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of an innovative partnership between the Volvo Group, California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and industry leaders in transportation and electrical charging infrastructure, Volvo Trucks will introduce all-electric truck demonstrators in California next year, and commercialize them in North America in 2020. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has preliminarily awarded $44.8 million to SCAQMD for the Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) project. The Volvo LIGHTS project will involve 16 partners, and transform freight operations at the facilities of two of the United States' top trucking fleets. Volvo LIGHTS is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment particularly in disadvantaged communities. "This is yet another important step towards our vision zero emissions. We are convinced that electrified truck transport will be a key driver of sustainable transports, and we're proud to contribute to the Volvo Group's expertise to this innovative public-private partnership," said Claes Nilsson, President of Volvo Trucks. The demonstration units will be based on the technology currently being used in the Volvo FE Electric, which Volvo Trucks presented in May and will begin selling in Europe in 2019. "This is an excellent opportunity to show the end-to-end potential of electrification," said Peter Voorhoeve, President of Volvo Trucks North America. "From solar energy harvesting at our customer locations, to electric vehicle uptime services, to potential second uses for batteries, this project will provide invaluable experience and data for the whole value chain." A variety of smart technologies will be used including remote diagnostics, geofencing, and the company's web-based service management platform to monitor all truck performance aspects of the project, and maximize vehicle uptime. The Volvo LIGHTS project is an example of the new forms of public-private partnerships that electrification of truck transport will allow, as regions target improved air quality, reduced traffic noise, and reduced congestion during peak hours because operations can be carried out quietly and without tail-pipe exhaust emissions early in the morning or late at night. Facts Volvo Trucks will deploy eight multi-configuration battery Class 8 electric demonstration units (GVW +15 tons), and an additional 15 precommercial and commercial units, throughout California's South Coast Air Basin. South Coast Air Basin. The project will also integrate non-truck battery-electric equipment, non-proprietary chargers, and solar energy production equipment. The project will reduce an estimated 3.57 tons of criteria pollutants (defined air pollutants) and 3,020 tons of greenhouse gases annually. Read more about electromobility . September 27, 2018 For further information, please contact: Anders Vilhelmsson, Vice President Corporate Communication & Public Affairs Email: [email protected] Phone: +46-31-3223879 Volvo Trucks provides complete transport solutions for professional and demanding customers, offering a full range of medium to heavy duty trucks. Customer support is secured via a global network of 2,100 dealers and workshops in more than 130 countries. Volvo trucks are assembled in 16 countries across the globe. In 2017, more than 112,000 Volvo trucks were delivered worldwide. Volvo Trucks is part of Volvo Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment and marine and industrial engines. The Group also provides solutions for financing and service. Volvo Trucks work is based on the core values of quality, safety and environmental care. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/ab-volvo/r/volvo-trucks-to-introduce-all-electric-trucks-in-north-america,c2629974 The following files are available for download: SOURCE AB Volvo HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LOOP-LOC, manufacturer of removable pool fence, discusses the best time to install a safety pool cover. Knowing exactly the right time to install the safety pool cover is important. Some pool owners may want to accomplish this before the busy back-to-school season begins. To ensure that your pool is set for colder weather, make sure to winterize your pool properly before putting the cover on. It is also a wise idea to install the pool cover before too many leaves, dirt, and other debris fall into the pool. This will not only save valuable time by reducing the need to skim the pool, but it will also preserve the pool liner and keep it looking pristine. There are numerous other reasons to install a safety pool cover. It will prevent people, pets, and other animals from entering the pool when it is not in use. Mesh covers block virtually all sunlightwhile still allowing rain and melting snow to easily drain through. The virtually solid mesh safety cover uses a light-blocking fabric that not only deters algae growth but drains lightning-quick. Solid covers block the light completely. LOOP-LOC pool covers also meetand exceedASTM safety standards for Safety Swimming Pools Covers that mandate a cover must be able to support a certain amount of weight, not permit gaps that a child or pet could squeeze through and remove standing water. They have also undergone extensive outside testing through Underwriters Laboratories (U.L.) and have earned the U.L. seal of approval for safety swimming pool covers. LOOP-LOC covers attach to the deck firmly with heavy-duty, non-corrosive, type 302 grade stainless steel springs for superior weight-bearing accuracy. Brass anchors recess flush with the deck when the cover is removed. When used together, these items place a solid "lock" on the pool that keeps children and pets from entering the water. About LOOP-LOC: There's only one company known for manufacturing safety pool covers strong and tough enough to support an elephant: the legendary LOOP-LOC. LOOP-LOC is a global leader in the pool industry with a 200,000-square-foot headquarters in Hauppauge, New York, and 300 employees. Through its network of dealers, the company has sold safety swimming pool covers on every continent on earth except Antarctica. LOOP-LOC now also manufactures a line of luxury in-ground pool linerswith more exclusive designer patterns than any other companyas well as the BABY-LOC removable fencing, LOOP-LOC removable pool fence is a convenient, cost-effective additional layer of protection to help deter toddlers from gaining access to a swimming pool. Media Contact: Jacqueline Routh, fishbat media, 855-347-4228, [email protected] SOURCE LOOP-LOC Ware described how industry execs were skeptical when he first created a marketplace where hospitals could put excess surgical supplies to good use - rather than storing or discarding them to landfills. Ware saw a void and he filled it with WestCMR's sustainable surgical solutions. His idea that saved money for hospitals and surgery centers simplified their inventory, prevented unnecessary waste, became an innovative new way of managing supplies and a niche industry was born. 22 years later, Ware feels his idea works because his 55 employees uphold WestCMR's promise of fair value and responsive service, and their role in making health care work better for their customers and the people they serve. For the 5th year in a row, WestCMR received Becker's Hospital Review award as one of the 150 Top Great Places to Work in Healthcare. Ware's Georgetown University message reflects his commitment to WestCMR's new College Connect Program, which recruits and mentors interns and employees through the company's supportive growth culture in creating ways to empower the global healthcare supply chain. In 1997, Ware's idea founded a niche industry and $20 million company WestCMR, built on old-fashioned values that continue to save hospitals money, simplify inventory, prevent waste and advance patient care. Randy Ware's experiences as an entrepreneur inspired students to leave a positive footprint. experiences as an entrepreneur inspired students to leave a positive footprint. Ware strongly believes in giving back to students and the community, and in his commitment to encourage today's youth to follow in his footsteps. QUOTES Randy Ware, CEO/Founder, WestCMR, LLC.: "It was an honor to be invited to speak at Georgetown University to such a talented group of American and International business students. At this chapter of my life I am driven to share my experience as an entrepreneur in the hope that my life may inspire this generation to leave a positive footprint." Esteban Olivares, Assistant Dean, Georgetown University: "The Entrepreneurship Institute is one of our cutting-edge summer pre-college programs as something we're very proud of! Nowhere else will high school students explore what it means to think like an entrepreneur and engage with successful entrepreneurs like Randy Ware, who share insight with the next generation of entrepreneurs." Dr. Neal Mero, Dean, Stetson University School of Business: "As an alumnus of Stetson University's School of Business, Randy Ware leads an innovative organization that is transforming the healthcare industry. The company he founded, is a global leader in helping the industry manage excess surgical supplies in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way. The entrepreneurial spirit to create such a successful and socially responsible organization perfectly aligns with the value of a Stetson education and we are proud of his success." About WestCMR Voted among the 150 Top Great Places To Work in Healthcare by Becker's Hospital Review for the 5th year, WestCMR has been the industry leader providing surgical solutions to healthcare since 1997. A sustainable alternative to industry-wide excess, WestCMR has changed the way the healthcare industry thinks about buying/selling surgical supplies. The WestCMR Global family includes WestCMR, LLC, GeoSurgical, and Ware Consulting. westcmr.com Media Contact: Stephany Greene WestCMR, LLC. 727-213-8281 [email protected] SOURCE WestCMR Related Links https://www.westcmr.com NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The 4A's, the leading trade organization for marketing communications agencies, will host its 23rd annual strategy festival, StratFest, on October 9-11 at Convene at 32 Old Slip in New York City. This year's conference will mark the 50th anniversary since the planning discipline was first introduced to the advertising industry. "We're excited to celebrate this important milestone for the planning discipline at this year's StratFest, and to recognize the influence strategists have had over the last half-century," said Mollie Rose, EVP of Agency Relations and Membership at the 4A's. "This year's agenda will honor the past but focus on the future as we explore the evolution of planning and its ongoing impact on the ways brands connect with customers." The agenda will offer insightful presentations from industry insiders, including Suresh Nair, Global Chief Strategy Officer at Grey New York; Sarah DaVanzo, Chief Curiosity Officer of Innovation, Insight and Foresight at the L'Oreal Group; Claudine Cheever, Global GM of Marketing & Advertising at Amazon; and speakers from IBM Watson Advertising, Genius Steals, VML and more. StratFest will also include numerous workshops for hands-on learning that will tackle everything from reimagining creative briefs, to developing a voice strategy, to new brainstorming techniques with the Upright Citizens Brigade. The festival will kickoff with the annual members-only Leadership Forum on October 9, to be followed at 6:30pm with a welcome reception and presentation of the 2018 Jay Chiat Awards. The awards, now in their 22nd year, recognize the best strategic thinking in marketing, media and advertising around the world. Case study presentations will be delivered throughout StratFest, with the crowning of the Gran Prix winner on Thursday, October 11. The shortlist for the 2018 Jay Chiat Awards includes: Global Strategy Barton F. Graf Supercell/Clash of Clans / "The Builder" Johannes Leonardo adidas Originals / "adidas Originals: Original Is Never Finished 2017" Ricebowl Strategy Harry's / "Painting the World Orange" TBWA\Media Arts Lab Apple / "What's a Computer?" Connection Barton F. Graf Supercell/Clash of Clans / "The Builder" Edelman - Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau / "Work from Hawaii A Residency Program" Energy BBDO National Safety Council / "National Safety Council: Stopping Everyday Killers" GroupeConnect Bank of America / "Bank of America: Friends Again" Havas Worldwide TD Ameritrade / "First Ad in The Blockchain" McCann Worldgroup India One97 Communications, Pvt. Ltd / Paytm / "A Sticker That Brought Hope" McCann Worldgroup India - Reckitt Benckiser / Harpic / "5 Words That Made Toilets India's New Status Symbol" MullenLowe US Royal Caribbean International / "Royal Caribbean #SeekDeeper" National Strategy Energy BBDO National Safety Council / "National Safety Council: Stopping Everyday Killers" McCann Health Reckitt Benckiser / Mucinex / "#SuperSickMonday" The Monkees Meat and Livestock Australia Lamb / "Meat and Livestock Australia Celebrate Australia" TBWA Chiat Day/ Los Angeles Gatorade / "Make Defeat Your Fuel" Non-Profit 22squared Ad Council / Grads of Life / "Real 7-Second Resumes: Giving Opportunity Youth A Fresh Voice" Barton F. Graf "Coverage Coalition" McCann Worldgroup India Live Laugh Love Foundation / "Ask Again" McKinney Ad Council & Dollar General Literacy Foundation / "No One Gets A Diploma Alone" RPA Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation / "Imaginary Friend Society" Product / Service Burrell Communications Group Toyota Motor North America / "Toyota RAV4 Adventure Grade: Alleviating Fear Through Community" Energy BBDO National Safety Council / "National Safety Council: Stopping Everyday Killers" McCann Worldgroup India Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan / "Immunity Charm" R/GA Chicago PepsiCo / "Bubly, Crack A Smile" VML Gatorade / "Gatorade Beat The Blitz" Regional Strategy Carmichael Lynch - Phillips 66/Conoco/76 / "Phillips 66: A Full Tank of Gas and Half a Pack of Cigarettes" Colle McVoy - Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board / "Stay Wild" FANATIC Philips Audio / "Philips. Useful Sound" McCann Erickson / New York - MGM National Harbor / "Every Day Is Monumental" McCann Worldgroup India - Narayan Health / "The Door Blouse" VML Amazon Kindle / "Kindle Stories Over Gray" For more information on StratFest and the Jay Chiat Awards, please visit: http://stratfest.aaaa.org About the 4A's Founded in 1917, the 4A's was established to promote, advance and defend the interests of our member agencies, their employees and the industry at large. The organization serves 700+ member agencies across 1,300 offices, which control more than 85% of total U.S. advertising spend. As the leading trade organization for marketing communication agencies, the 4A's purpose is to help empower its members to deliver insightful creativity that drives commerce and influences culture, all while moving the industry forward. The organization provides community, leadership, advocacy, guidance and best-in-class training that help enable agencies to innovate, evolve and grow. The 4A's Benefits division insures more than 160,000 employees, and its D.C. office advocates for policies that best support a thriving advertising industry. The 4A's Foundation fuels a robust diversity pipeline of talent for its members and the marketing and media industry, fostering the next generation of leaders. The organization is dedicated to, and vested in, our members' success just as they are dedicated to helping brands create, distribute, and measure effective and insightful advertising and marketing. Visit the 4A's at www.4as.org. SOURCE 4As Related Links https://www.aaaa.org (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/750656/Digital_Surgery.jpg ) Studies show that nearly one in seven patients hospitalized for major surgical procedures are readmitted within 30 days of discharge, with financial implications for the health system and clinical implications for patients. Digital Surgery will utilize this partnership, together with other demonstrated capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), to power a radical shift in surgical care. Digital Surgery was in the headlines recently, when the company announced the first live demonstration of its surgical artificial intelligence (AI) system for the operating room. Dr. Jean Nehme, CEO, outlined the strategic importance of the partnership in the company's mission, saying "The Microsoft recognition is truly an honor and sets the stage for our larger mission, which is to deliver safe surgical care for all. With our AI technology and database of digital surgical processes, we've trained a computer to understand surgical procedures and predict what happens next. With HoloLens, we open the exciting opportunity to use the system's integrated camera as the visual recognition system to deliver even more immersive experiences for the entire surgical team. This collaboration is a critical part of our strategy to partner with the world's best technology firms, especially providers of breakthrough hardware, to support the delivery of safer surgery. I am excited to see what we can accomplish together." Leila Martine, Product Director, Mixed Reality, Microsoft, says, "We are delighted to have Digital Surgery accredited as a Mixed Reality Partner. Given the pace of technological change, it is key that customers can access partners who understand mixed reality potential and have the proven ability to deliver transformative solutions. It's great to see Microsoft HoloLens being added to Digital Surgery's impressive content catalogue, and help us jointly shape the future of surgery and improvements in patient outcomes." Dr. Manish Chand, Consultant Surgeon, University College London Hospitals, believes that, "Augmented reality and mixed reality models are going to be the future of surgery. They're going to help us [in the OR] to plan and execute. We've already completed a live demonstration of this technology, and we saw that the entire surgical team was better coordinated as a result of having access to this technology. Recently, we published a study in the Annals of Surgery that further highlights the benefits of Digital Surgery's AR and AI technologies in the OR." According to the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, more than five billion people do not have access to safe surgical care, with operative knowledge being one of the critical factors that has yet to scale globally. Addressing this problem will require innovative technologies like the HoloLens platform, bolstered by intelligent operating systems like Digital Surgery's. Quotes from leading surgeons "Digital Surgery's vision for improving surgical care is quite amazing. They have built a technology that allows me to render a fistula in 3D., one of the most challenging cases for a general surgeon, with a 50 percent success rate globally. By having a patient-specific 3D render, I'm able to visualize these complex structures and formulate a better plan for treatment. I look forward to having these scans processed by Digital Surgery's AI and then deployed onto the HoloLens, superimposed on the patient. This will, without a doubt, assist us in improving fistula care." -- Dr. Kapil Sugand, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust "I've been able to leverage mixed reality technology in an orthopedic training environment. By using Digital Surgery's mapped procedure of an external fixator, we can get a team together and mutually view the appropriate care protocol for these challenging cases and align as a team. Our initial research supports this new approach as equal to or greater than the typical tools the OR staff would have to train from." -- Sam Oussedik , Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon - Head of Education Centre, University College London Hospital About Digital Surgery Digital Surgery, founded by surgeons for surgeons and healthcare professionals, believes safe surgical care should be accessible for all. Co-founders Dr. Jean Nehme and Dr. Andre Chow set out to shape the future of surgery by building a digital ecosystem that sits at the intersection of surgical expertise and technology. The company is based in London with teams around the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.digitalsurgery.com. SOURCE Digital Surgery NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Acreage Holdings ("Acreage"), one of the United States' largest vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operators, announced as part of its public offering the appointments of two new members to its Board of Directors, former tw telecom (formerly Time Warner Telecom) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larissa Herda, and former IBM Chief Financial Officer Douglas Maine. Ms. Herda served as CEO of tw telecom for 16 years before retiring in 2014 upon the completion of the sale of the company to Level 3 Communications for $7.3 billion. During her tenure, she oversaw revenue growth from $26 million to $1.6 billion. She was appointed by President Obama to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) and served as Chairman of the FCC's Communications, Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC). Ms. Herda is a staunch advocate for business ethics, serving on the Advisory Board for the Center for Education in Social Responsibility at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado. She was also Chairman of the Board of the Denver Branch of the Federal Reserve of Kansas City. Mr. Maine is a former senior executive and Chief Financial Officer for IBM and retired in 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Maine served in the same role at MCI Communications (now part of Verizon) as part of his 20-year tenure with the company. He is currently a Director of public company Albemarle Corporation and has served as a Director of public companies Orbital-ATK, Inc., BroadSoft, Inc. and Rockwood Holdings, Inc. On the appointments of Ms. Herda and Mr. Maine, Acreage Founder and CEO Kevin Murphy said, "Larissa Herda and Doug Maine bring to Acreage distinguished careers, with experience helping lead top American companies in highly regulated industries. We look forward to the valuable contributions each will bring in helping us continue to grow, innovate and strengthen our leadership position." Acreage Holdings recently announced its intention to list on the Canadian Stock Exchange, pursuant to the expected closing of a reverse takeover transaction in November. ABOUT ACREAGE HOLDINGS Headquartered in New York City, Acreage Holdings is a vertically-integrated, multi-state owner of cannabis licenses and assets in states where either medical and/or adult use of cannabis is legal. With one of the largest footprints of any cannabis company in the U.S., the company currently owns and/or operates cultivation, processing and dispensary operations. Acreage is dedicated to building and scaling operations to create a seamless, consumer-focused branded cannabis experience. As noted above, completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to the Subordinate Voting Shares of the Resulting Issuer listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange; however, there can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular of Applied or the listing statement of the Resulting Issuer to be prepared in connection with the Proposed Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Proposed Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor any securities regulatory authority has in any way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Transaction nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in the United States, and no securities have been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Applied's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Applied's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, information concerning the Proposed Transaction, expectations regarding whether the Proposed Transaction will be consummated, including whether conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction will be satisfied, the timing for holding the annual general and special meeting of shareholders of Applied and the timing for completing the Proposed Transaction, expectations for the effects of the Proposed Transaction or the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, , and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Applied is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Applied to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Applied has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: the ability to consummate the Proposed Transaction; the ability to obtain requisite regulatory and securityholder approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction on the proposed terms and schedule; the ability to satisfy the conditions to the conversion of the Acreage Subscription Receipts; the potential impact of the announcement or consummation of the Proposed Transaction on relationships, including with regulatory bodies, employees, suppliers, customers and competitors; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws; compliance with extensive government regulation; and the diversion of management time on the Proposed Transaction. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Applied believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Applied does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to Applied or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. SOURCE Acreage Holdings Related Links https://www.acreageholdings.com/ GAHANNA, Ohio, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AEP Ohio, an American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) company, today filed a proposal with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to support the development of 400 megawatts (MW) of new solar generation resources in Ohio by purchasing renewable power for AEP Ohio customers. The 300 MW and 100 MW facilities will be constructed in Ohio's Appalachian region in Highland County. "AEP Ohio customers have expressed their support for renewable generation resources built in Ohio," said Julie Sloat, AEP Ohio president and chief operating officer. "AEP Ohio is taking a bold step to secure Ohio's energy future by enabling the development of 400 MW of new solar generation, including the largest solar facility in the state. We have listened to our customers and are working each day to provide them with the energy products and services they want. The addition of these solar projects to Ohio's generation mix will help ensure our customers are receiving their energy from a reliable, secure and diverse mix of resources." The 300 MW Highland Solar and 100 MW Willowbrook Solar projects were chosen following a competitive request for proposal process. They are being developed and will be owned by Hecate Energy Highland LLC and Willowbrook Solar LLC, respectively. Both projects are expected to be operational by the end of 2021, pending regulatory approvals. Construction of these facilities is expected to support nearly 4,000 jobs in total and contribute $24 million in new state tax revenue and $6.7 million in local tax revenue. The developers have committed to securing building materials from Ohio manufacturers, and military veterans will be given hiring preference for construction-related jobs. AEP Ohio has secured two 20-year Renewable Energy Purchase Agreements (REPAs) for the power produced at these facilities. Over the life of these fixed-price agreements, it is anticipated that customers will see approximately $200 million in savings compared with the projected cost of power in the future. All AEP Ohio customers will share in the benefits of these new renewable generation resources. A residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity will see a 28-cent-per-month increase in their electric bill. A recent survey of AEP Ohio customers revealed overwhelming support for the use of more renewable energy in Ohio. Nearly three-quarters of residential customers said they were willing to support renewable energy through increased bills. Customers also indicated that they feel it is important for that energy to be produced in Ohio, with 89 percent of residential and 75 percent of small commercial customers surveyed indicating they feel it is at least "moderately important" that AEP Ohio makes great use of renewable energy produced in Ohio. AEP Ohio committed to pursuing 900 MW of renewable generation resources, built in Ohio, in a 2016 agreement approved by the PUCO and a diverse group of stakeholders. This commitment was supported with the PUCO's approval of AEP Ohio's Electric Security Plan earlier this year. The PUCO must evaluate the proposal and issue a decision before construction can begin. About AEP Ohio AEP Ohio delivers electricity to nearly 1.5 million customers of AEP's subsidiary Ohio Power Co. in Ohio. AEP Ohio is based in Gahanna, Ohio, and is a unit of American Electric Power. News and information about AEP Ohio can be found at AEPOhio.com. American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), based in Columbus, Ohio, is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to our customers. AEP's more than 17,000 employees operate and maintain the nation's largest electricity transmission system and more than 219,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation's largest electricity producers with approximately 32,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 4,300 megawatts of renewable energy. AEP's family of companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP also owns AEP Energy, AEP Energy Partners, AEP OnSite Partners and AEP Renewables, which provide innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. SOURCE AEP Ohio Related Links http://www.aep.com SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sharethrough announced today that it has undergone an external legal review to confirm that, to the best of its knowledge, its native ad offering is compliant with the FDA requirements for advertising and promotion. Native advertising has emerged as the predominant new media strategy for digital marketers looking to reach consumers on the web with targeted, respectful, and persuasive messaging. For the prescription pharmaceutical category, new media categories require careful attention to disclosures and compliance. After working with the FTC and IAB in 2015 to develop guidelines that fit legal requirements for proper disclosure of native ads, Sharethrough spent years developing a product offering that adheres to the FDA requirements for prescription pharmaceutical advertisements. Recently, Sharethrough completed a process by which the rendering, presentation and elements of these native ad formats were reviewed by outside counsels who are regularly involved in legal approvals of pharmaceutical ads and Promotional Review Committees. This review resulted in Sharethrough's Pharma Native Ad formats that fit the specific guidelines and requirements outlined by the FTC, FDA and pharma legal teams including: Auto-scrolling Important Safety Information (with option to manually scroll), which fits the FTC rule to "Design advertisements so that 'scrolling' is not necessary in order to find a disclosure." The elements required to meet the FDA guidelines to promote any of the three types of prescription drug ads: Product Claim Ad, Reminder Ad and Help-Seeking Ad Linked below is an outline of Sharethrough's detailed principles and practices for Pharma Native Ads. https://support.sharethrough.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016179052 The co-founder and CEO of Sharethrough Dan Greenberg said, "In response to overwhelming interest from pharmaceutical advertisers, we worked with our customers to develop a pharma-specific native ad product that respects and adheres to the FDA requirements for advertising and promotion. We believe that the powerful effect of native ads must be paired with an equally innovative approach to safety information and disclosure, and we're proud to be working with pharma marketers and internal review committees to help them validate this new and exciting format." About Sharethrough Sharethrough is a native ad tech company, helping the world's largest marketers and trading desks serve high-performing, non-interruptive native ads into the feeds of thousands of publishers worldwide. Native advertising is preferred by audiences and has been shown to generate higher brand lift and clickthrough rates. The Sharethrough Exchange (STX) powers 22 billion monthly impressions, the largest marketplace solely dedicated to the buying and selling of native ads: integrated with over thirty of the world's largest trading desks, is the native buying platform of choice for 46 out of the top 50 Ad Age mega-brands and provides tech and tools to help thousands of publishers maximize native ad revenue. Sharethrough was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, Detroit, London, Tokyo and Toronto. SOURCE Sharethrough Related Links http://www.sharethrough.com NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Forecasts by Technology (Software Based Radio, and Cognitive Radio System); Application (Spectrum Sensing and Access, Geolocation and Networking, Authentication, and Navigation Planning); End-Use [Military and Defense (Airborne, Land, and Naval), and Commercial Markets (Telecommunication Infrastructure, Short Range Communication, Positioning, Transportation, and Others)] Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05574233 The latest report from business intelligence provider Visiongain offers comprehensive analysis of the global AI Adaptive Radio Intelligence market. Visiongain assesses that this market will generate revenues of $12.11bn in 2018. Now: NASA explores artificial intelligence for space communications. This is an example of the business critical headline that you need to know about - and more importantly, you need to read Visiongain's objective analysis of how this will impact your company and the industry more broadly. How are you and your company reacting to this news? Are you sufficiently informed? How this report will benefit you Read on to discover how you can exploit the future business opportunities emerging in this sector. Visiongain's new study tells you and tells you NOW. In this brand new report, you find 155 in-depth tables, charts and graphs all unavailable elsewhere. The 196-page report provides clear detailed insight into the global AI Adaptive Radio Intelligence market. Discover the key drivers and challenges affecting the market. By ordering and reading our brand new report today you stay better informed and ready to act. Report Scope - Global AI Adaptive Radio Intelligence market forecasts from 2018-2028 - Regional AI Adaptive Radio Intelligence market forecasts from 2018-2028 covering Asia-Pacific, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and North America; - Artificial Intelligence Adaptive Radio Intelligence submarket forecasts from 2018-2028 covering technology, application, and end-use. - Analysis of the key factors driving growth in the global, regional and country level AI Adaptive Radio Intelligence market from 2018-2028 - Profiles and market share of the leading Artificial Intelligence Adaptive Radio Intelligence service providers in 2018 at a global leveland regional level How will you benefit from this report? - Keep your knowledge base up to speed. Don't get left behind - Reinforce your strategic decision-making with definitive and reliable market data - Learn how to exploit new technological trends - Realise your company's full potential within the market - Understand the competitive landscape and identify potential new business opportunities & partnerships Who should read this report? - Anyone within the adaptive and software defined radio supply chain. - Business development managers - Marketing managers - Technologists - Suppliers - Investors - Banks - Government agencies - Contractors Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05574233 About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ Contact Clare: [email protected] US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001 SOURCE Reportlinker Related Links http://www.reportlinker.com The BFlow network, token and "proof of reputation" protocol is being built to use blockchain technology to report and validate environmental, impact, and other sustainable metrics. The first use cases are being designed to allow corporations, investors and organizations to report United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to the blockchain in a uniform way. Other examples may include monitoring environmental and social impacts, governance, investing, tracking corporate education and volunteerism, and empowering value chains with transparency. BFlow also plans to create dApps to help small producers scale their businesses. "We see tremendous alignment between the technical and financial empowerment Sweetbridge provides to emerging businesses and our ability to help report, track and measure their sustainability initiatives," said Amy Seidman, founder and CEO of Noble Profit and BFlow. For the businesses Sweetbridge supports, with its asset-based lending products and protocols for the development of predictable and sustainable growth, BFlow will provide another instrument for buyers, sellers and investors to make informed decisions based on validated metrics. "BFlow is a natural addition to the Alliance based on our shared vision for creating systems and protocols to allow individual businesses and entire industries to benefit from the sustainability, accountability and efficiency made possible through blockchain technologies," said Mac McGary, president of Sweetbridge Alliance Network. Members of the Noble Profit team will be participating in several events during the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this week. One event is the Climate Chain Coalition, a UNFCCC membership organization for blockchain companies focusing on climate. For more insight into BFlow and its participation in the Sweetbridge Alliance, listen to Ms. Seidman's interview on today's SweetTalk podcast . About BFlow / Noble Profit: BFlow is a blockchain solution being developed by Noble Profit to make it easier to report sustainability metrics. By establishing proof of reputation using data validated by trusted third parties, BFlow is creating a protocol with a self-governing network to track commitments and validate claims by public and private organizations, such as corporations and investment funds. BFlow technology is being designed to support transparency and compliance in business that drives sustainability. For more information, visit http://BFlow.io , Telegram http://t.me/BFlow , Twitter http://twitter.com/BFlowtoken . About Sweetbridge Sweetbridge is a new economy built for commerce that enhances the world's current economies. Sweetbridge and its alliance partners offer a unique set of blockchain protocols, applications and crypto-economics to create an economy of opportunity for all participants. The goal of Sweetbridge is to transform brittle, industrial-era commerce through decentralized industry ecosystems that create a faster, fairer value exchange, unleash working capital, better utilize resources, and optimize talent for the benefit of all participants. For more information, follow Sweetbridge on Twitter at @sweetbridgeinc or visit https://sweetbridge.com . SOURCE Noble Profit Related Links http://nobleprofit.com SINGAPORE, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- "Step one to create any Security Token is to find the asset you are looking to tokenize. It can be VC Funds, Equities, Asset-backed tokens or even crypto-bonds," says James Harper, Director of Sales. The assets could include Reserve Asset, Debt or even Real Estate. In addition, one can even tokenize their equity with Equity Token Offerings(ETOs). When tokenizing an asset, the owner must prepare a correct security token economics with a long-term vision. The second step involves creating an owner's manual for your investors. Previously known as Whitepaper in the ICO, the owner's manual explains the problem the company aims to solve with a clear vision about their future. The real difference the Blockchain App Factory aims to make in the security tokens is creating security tokens on your own blockchain. STOs on your own blockchain removes hurdles like gas prices and congestions in the network. This paves the way towards a faster and more cost-effective transaction for your investors. In addition, the dividend structure will be on the smart contracts and can be tracked through the STO management dashboard. The process of whitelisting an investor is through KYC/AML APIs which are GDPR compliant; thereby, ensuring the safety of the security tokens as well as the data. The STO dashboards can track audited reports of their invested companies and are user-friendly for the investors. The final process is to incorporate your company in the relevant country. Additionally, the venture's geographical or political landscape can be optimized for your vision within their regulatory frameworks. Blockchain App Factory is redefining the technology of security token platforms by automation of the verification process through APIs for KYC/AML validation and accredited investor confirmation and Smart Order Routing(SOR). "We believe that ICOs were driven by hype in an unregulated manner. However, legal STO marketing involves making the tokens as the most attractive investment options as the promises cannot include price projections." James Harper, Director of Sales The team with skilled technical, marketing and legal & auditing experts create the backbone for the company. Blockchain App Factory is expected to formally release the STO checklist soon on their website. For more information visit: https://www.blockchainappfactory.com/ This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Blockchain App Factory Related Links http://www.blockchainappfactory.com CHICAGO, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Blockchain in Manufacturing Market by Application (Business Process Optimization, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Counterfeit Management), End Use (Automotive, Energy & Power, Industrial, Pharmaceuticals), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to be worth USD 30.0 million by 2020 and USD 566.2 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 80.0% from 2020 to 2025. The key factors driving the growth of this market include blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) solutions for enterprises; simplifying business processes and affording transparency and immutability; significant increase in venture capital investments and initial coin offerings (ICO); increasing demand for real-time data analyses, enhanced visibility, and proactive maintenance; increased emphasis on energy efficiency and cost of production; convergence of operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT); AI, IoT, blockchain and the future of manufacturing industry; and increase in global blockchain-related patent filings. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg ) For more Insights on this report, Speak to Our Analyst: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=198218761 Logistics and supply chain management applications to grow at highest CAGR from 2020 to 2025 Logistics and supply chain management applications are expected to account for the largest market share as well as the highest CAGR during the forecast period. With blockchain, intermediaries can be taken out of the equation to streamline the flow of supply chain operations; it also allows all transaction data across networks to be synchronized, enabling participants validate each other's work. In 2017, IBM and Maersk tested the application of blockchain in logistics. In a proof-of-concept, the 2 companies demonstrated how blockchain can be used to track on-transit containers, and how supply chain stakeholders can benefit from accessing relevant actionable information. Energy & Power to account for largest share of blockchain in manufacturing market by 2020 Energy & power sector is expected to account for the largest share of the overall blockchain in manufacturing market during the forecast period. Increasing global energy demand encourages companies operating in the energy & power industry to adopt blockchain solutions that can help them enhance production with minimum maintenance and reduced downtime. LO3 Energy has developed Exergy, a permissioned data platform that creates localized energy marketplaces for transacting energy across existing grid infrastructure. Electron is a London-based start-up harnessing the blockchain technology to design more efficient, resilient, and flexible systems for the energy industry. The company designs platforms and services that empower the industry to address challenges and maximize the potential of new technologies such as distributed renewable generation and storage, smart grid, and connected devices. Browse in-depth TOC on "Blockchain in Manufacturing Market" 36 - Tables 43 - Figures 161 - Pages Request for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=198218761 North America is expected to hold largest share of blockchain in manufacturing market from 2020 to 2025 North America is expected to hold the largest share of the global blockchain in manufacturing market, wherein the US and Canada are expected to witness a significant adoption of blockchain in manufacturing services. These countries have sustainable and well-established economies, which allow them to strongly invest in R&D activities, thereby contributing to the development of new technologies. Due to the early adoption of trending technologies, such as IoT, big data, DevOps, and mobility, manufacturers are keen to integrate blockchain technologies into their processes. The startup culture in North America is growing at a faster pace as compared to other regions. The advent of SMEs and increasing digitalization in manufacturing have also aided the growth of the North American market. https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/blockchain-in-manufacturing-market-198218761.html A large number of blockchain solution providers including Storj Labs Inc. (US); Cloud Technology Partners, Inc. (US); NVIDIA Corporation (US); Chronicled (US); LO3 Energy (US); Filament (US); Shipchain (US); Microsoft Corporation (US); Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (US); International Business Machines Corporation (US); Intel Corporation (US); Oracle Corporation (US); Factom (US); Amazon.com, Inc. (US); and Blockchain Foundry Inc. (Canada)-are based in North America. This region is one of the largest contributors to the growth of the global blockchain in manufacturing market. 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Contact: Mr. Shelly Singh MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/blockchain-in-manufacturing-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com SOURCE MarketsandMarkets TORONTO, NEW YORK and LONDON, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - BMO Capital Markets today announced that its 2018 Equity Through Education trading day raised C$1.6 million toward educational scholarships for students in North America and Europe. Every year, BMO Capital Markets donates a day of institutional equity trading commissions from the U.S., Canada and Europe to charities that assist under-privileged students through scholarships, bursaries and other academic programs. Since the program's launch in 2005, more than C$20 million has been raised and 4,500 students have been provided with greater access to education. Since 1992, BMO has been a supporting donor to The Loran Scholars Foundation, granting 24 young Canadians with BMO Loran Awards. "Through its annual Equity Through Education program, BMO Capital Markets has contributed significantly to our mission to identify and nurture Canada's next generation of leaders," said Meghan Moore, CEO at the Loran Scholars Foundation. "We are so grateful to BMO for embracing our belief that the young people who are going to create positive change in our world are those who show strength of character, a deep commitment to service and an inner fire that draws others to their work. With BMO's support we can provide transformative experiences to help these students to realize their potential." "We could not be more proud of achieving the milestone of reaching the C$20 million donation mark since the inception of our Equity Through Education program," said Carl Kirst, Managing Director of Research, U.S. Equities, BMO Capital Markets. "As we continue into our 15th year, it only becomes more meaningful to see how dollars raised can help support charities built on the foundation of student academic success." The proceeds from this year's Equity Through Education trading day will go to the following eight charities: The Loran Scholars Foundation Indspire The Jackie Robinson Foundation Lime Connect The Financial Women's Association Say Yes to Education Imperial College Women in Capital Markets' Return to Bay Street Program About BMO Capital Markets BMO Capital Markets is a leading, full-service North American-based financial services provider offering corporate, institutional and government clients access to a complete range of products and services including equity and debt underwriting, corporate lending and project financing, mergers and acquisitions advisory services, securitization, treasury management, market risk management, debt and equity research and institutional sales and trading. With approximately 2,500 professionals in 30 locations around the world, including 16 offices in North America, BMO Capital Markets works proactively with clients to provide innovative and integrated financial solutions. BMO Capital Markets is a member of BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO) one of the largest diversified financial services providers in North America with $765 billion total assets as at July 31, 2018. SOURCE BMO Financial Group Related Links http://www.bmo.com BOSTON, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the successful integration of BNY Mellon Investment Management's U.S. multi-asset manager, the firm today announced it will be branded Mellon effective on January 2, 2019. The firm was formed in 2018 to combine the active equity strategies of The Boston Company; the active fixed income strategies of Standish Mellon; and the index, multi-asset and multi-factor strategies of Mellon Capital to create a next-generation multi-asset investment manager. "With its long heritage in the investment community and strong associations with wealth and prosperity, Mellon is a natural name for our business," said Chairman and CEO Des Mac Intyre. "The combined business represents a step beyond traditional investment management, delivering integrated multi-asset expertise from one firm." "Our clients' continued partnership affirms the benefits of bringing together the capabilities of these three firms," said Mac Intyre. "With our clients' feedback in mind, we identified a new brand that captures the essence of the past and the promise of our future. We believe today's announcement marks the next step in our journey together to deliver superior investment outcomes for clients." Mitchell Harris, CEO of BNY Mellon Investment Management, commented, "Your brand is an extension of your business, and it should reinforce the value you provide. Mellon is a common thread through all of the legacy brands and has a strong global reputation with investors. Our new U.S. investment manager Mellon will have its own unique identity and strengths, similar to our other investment specialists, reinforced by the world-class capabilities and scale of BNY Mellon Investment Management." With $549.8 billion in assets under management (as of June 30, 2018), the firm has more than 500 employees worldwide, with headquarters in Boston and a presence in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. About the Firm The merged entity of Standish Mellon, Mellon Capital, and The Boston Company, today operating under the name BNY Mellon Asset Management North America Corporation, will be rebranded Mellon and operate under the name Mellon Corporation effective January 2, 2019. The firm is a leading provider of high-quality single and multi-asset investment solutions using both active and passive strategies for investors globally. With $549.8 billion assets under management as of June 30, 2018, it serves a wide variety of institutional and intermediary clients in over 45 markets globally. The firm's active equity strategies leverage the capabilities developed by The Boston Company; its active fixed income strategies employ the deep fundamentals-based experience of Standish Mellon, and its index, multi-asset/multi-factor strategies incorporate Mellon Capital's advanced systematic processes. About BNY Mellon Investment Management BNY Mellon Investment Management is one of the world's leading investment management organizations and one of the top U.S. wealth managers, with $1.8 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2018. It encompasses BNY Mellon's affiliated investment management firms, wealth management services and global distribution companies. BNY Mellon Investment Management is a division of BNY Mellon, which has $33.6 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration as of June 30, 2018. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news. This information may contain forward-looking statements, which may be expressed in a variety of ways, include the use of future or present tense language. These statements and other forward-looking statements are based upon current beliefs and expectations and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond BNY Mellon's control). Factors that could cause BNY Mellon's outcomes to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the risk factors set forth in BNY Mellon's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017, the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2018, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements in this news release, speak only as of the date of publication and BNY Mellon undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Media Contacts: Andrew Conn ph: 212-635-7823 email: [email protected] Ben Tanner ph: 212-635-8676 email: [email protected] SOURCE BNY Mellon Related Links http://www.bnymellon.com CEDAR CITY, Utah, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CBC Mortgage Agency (CBCMA) is pleased to announce the sale of 1,500 Chenoa Fund second mortgage loans through its innovative CRA Note Exchange, a secondary market for public purpose entities to raise capital by selling paper to investors and banks striving to meet their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) goals. "By creating liquidity for down payment assistance loans, we are able to bring down costs to the borrower, both in terms of the first mortgage interest paid and overall monthly payments," said Richard Ferguson, President of CBCMA. "The web-based exchange has been overwhelmingly successful at facilitating the sale of second mortgage loans to depository institutions seeking to augment their CRA loan portfolio." CBCMA has launched the innovative CRA Note Exchange Program. The CRA Note Exchange is an online portal that allows finance agencies to list CRA-eligible mortgage loans that meet geographic and/or borrower qualifications for favorable CRA consideration. "We look forward to continuing to increase affordable, responsible and sustainable homeownership while offering new opportunities for banks in need of CRA credits," said Ferguson. ABOUT CBCMA CBCMA is owned by the Cedar Band of Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. As a HUD-approved Title II Government Lender, CBCMA operates the Chenoa Fund, a down payment assistance secondary financing program. CBCMA's mission is to increase affordable and sustainable homeownership, specifically for credit-worthy low and moderate-income individuals. Contact: Doug Elmets (916) 329-9180 SOURCE CBC Mortgage Agency CSE: CHOO OTCQB: CHOOF VANCOUVER, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Choom (CSE: CHOO) (OTCQB: CHOOF) ("Choom") an emerging, fully integrated cannabis company, is pleased to announce it has executed an agreement for cannabis distribution with ParcelPal Technology Inc. ("ParcelPal") (CSE: PKG) (FSE: PT0) (OTC: PTNYF). ParcelPal is a technology driven logistics company that connects consumers with local retailers to get their products delivered quickly and affordably. ParcelPal offers on-demand delivery of merchandise from leading retailers, restaurants, liquor stores and soon medical and recreational marijuana in major cities Canada-wide. Their technology handles the complete requirements of hyperlocal logistics by bringing the merchants and customers onto a single platform. President and CEO Chris Bogart from Choom states, "We recognize the importance of utilizing the existing technology of ParcelPal's mobile app in concert with their outstanding track record of home delivery execution. We believe this will provide an exceptional customer experience and we are excited to offer this to our valued customers upon the upcoming rollout of our retail strategy." The initiative will consist of: Distribution: ParcelPal and Choom will jointly develop the optimal roadmap for distribution of both mail order and same day delivery within various provinces for adult use cannabis. Accessibility: Using Choom's and ParcelPal's platform to enhance user experience and accessibility to products offered. Compliance: ParcelPal and Choom will ensure that all products will be delivered within the parameters established by all regulating bodies in Canada President and CEO Kelly Abbott from ParcelPal states, "We are extremely pleased and excited to have this opportunity with Choom for national cannabis distribution." Abbott continued "We are redefining the world of delivery by offering a socially responsible technology solution for the cannabis industry. Choom will be able to more effectively reach new customers, engage current customers, and have the competitive advantage of instant delivery." SAY HELLO TO CHOOMTM The Choom brand is inspired by Hawaii's "Choom Gang"- a group of buddies in Honolulu during the 1970's who loved to smoke weedor as the locals called it, choom. Evoking the spirit of the original Choom Gang, our brand is synonymous with cultivating good times with good friends. We are focused on delivering an elevated customer experience through our curated retail environments, high-grade handcrafted cannabis supply, and a diversity of brands for the Canadian recreational consumer. "Chris Bogart" President & CEO Cautionary Statement: NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Forward-looking information This news release contains forward-looking information relating to the Company's proposed activities and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking information relates to management's future outlook and anticipated events or results, and include statements or information regarding the future plans or prospects of the Company. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. These factors include risks and uncertainties associated with the results of diligence investigations, developments in the cannabis sector, delays resulting from or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, reliance on key personnel, regulatory risks and delays and other risks and uncertainties discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of the Company's interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings, including the Company's Listing Statement, made with the applicable Canadian securities regulators. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. SOURCE Choom Holdings Inc. The innovative healthcare platform benefits back-office personnel, providers and patients. It is scalable for domestic and international growth providing enhanced financial forecasting, revenue management and data integration, which allows for more effective and efficient decisions regarding supply procurement and inventory management. "Cleveland Clinic has both an opportunity and an obligation to shape the future of healthcare while fostering a culture and environment to provide care in an exceptional way," said William M. Peacock III, Cleveland Clinic Chief of Operations. "Our work with Oracle's cloud technologies is a testament to our commitment to evolving our IT and finance platform, positioning us to support anticipated growth both domestically and internationally. Moving to the cloud will be critical in meeting these goals." Healthcare is a key industry for Oracle and with Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud and Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) Cloud, Cleveland Clinic aims to transform its finance function by enabling increased productivity and lower costs. In addition, the health system will increase the efficiency of operations by taking advantage of real-time insights and automated supply and demand planning. "Our customers play an important role in shaping our products, inspiring innovative features and defining industry-specific best practices for Oracle Cloud Applications," said Steve Miranda, executive vice president, Applications Development, Oracle. "Cleveland Clinic is an innovative healthcare organization that recognizes the potential of the cloud to enhance productivity. Our collaboration will create a future-proof business platform for Cleveland Clinic's global organization." About Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Among Cleveland Clinic's 52,000 employees are more than 3,600 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 14,000 nurses, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic's health system includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 11 regional hospitals, more than 150 northern Ohio outpatient locations including 18 full-service family health centers and three health and wellness centers and locations in Weston, Fla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2017, there were 7.6 million outpatient visits, 229,000 hospital admissions and 207,000 surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinic's health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 185 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.com/ClevelandClinic. News and resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org. Editor's Note: Cleveland Clinic News Service is available to provide broadcast-quality interviews and B-roll upon request. About Oracle The Oracle Cloud offers complete SaaS application suites for ERP, HCM and CX, plus best-in-class database Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) from data centers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com. SOURCE Oracle Related Links http://www.oracle.com BEIJING, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudMinds Technology recently signed an agreement with the Government of Minhang District, Shanghai for the Pioneering Intelligence Industry Demonstration Base program with the aim of manufacturing its SCA intelligent flexible actuators in Shanghai. As strong demand accelerates the commercialization of the device, CloudMinds Technology signed on for one of the 20 innovative artificial intelligence (AI) projects in Shanghai. The backers of Shanghai's AI projects include Microsoft and Alibaba, among other leading global companies. The US and Japan have a strong presence in the global robotics market. The two countries dominate the market as they have access to key robot component technologies. US-based Boston Dynamics as well as Japan's Panasonic and Sony have been the leaders in the global robotics market for a long time, however, change is clearly in the air. Shanghai-based CloudMinds Technology achieved a technological breakthrough when they rolled out their SCA intelligent flexible actuator, filling a gap in the market and making the widespread adoption of flexible robots possible. At the technical level, the SCA intelligent flexible actuator integrates the motor, actuator and encoder. At one-tenth the size of a conventional micro servo, the actuator bears greater torque and delivers high dynamic performance output. At the same time, the actuator lays claim to a significantly higher level of security as well as adaptability to the environment and can automatically avoid obstacles and resume motion. In terms of the firm's operational model, CloudMinds' business philosophy is predicated on the company assuming the role of an enabler in the robotics industry. As the world's first firm to place the intelligence function in the cloud, CloudMinds provides a wide range of AI applications including interactive AI, machine vision and emotion perception with an architecture that integrates cloud computing, the mobile web and smart devices, significantly increasing the intelligence levels of robots. The roll out of the SCA intelligent flexible actuator has dramatically reduced the R&D costs associated with the creation of robots while reducing their size, making mass production possible. On the other hand, despite the robot's smaller size, the actuator allows for ultra-high precision motion while improving their adaptability and service ability in an ever-changing environment, paving the way for industrial applications. The Chinese robotics market is expected to see the launch of a large number of flexible robots in the foreseeable future, setting the stage for a transformation of the services sector. The new flexible robots are comparable to humans in terms of mobile capabilities as they are able to undertake actions that seem simple but are highly precise, including opening the door and handing someone a cup of water, while having the ability to correctly interpret the movement of the person or persons in front of them and accurately respond. The launch of flexible robots is also expected to completely alter the landscape of the global robotics market, one in which China is expected to become an important player and into which it will contribute numerous high-quality products. CloudMinds Technology, with its intelligent cloud infrastructure and SCA intelligent flexible actuator, is leading a new revolution in the industry as the strongest player in the Chinese robotics sector. SOURCE CloudMinds OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Resources, Inc. (NYSE: CLR) ("Continental" or the "Company") plans to announce third quarter 2018 results on Monday, October 29, 2018 following the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The Company plans to host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2018 results on Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. CT). Those wishing to listen to the conference call may do so via the Company's website at www.CLR.com or by phone: Time and date: 12 p.m. ET, Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Dial-in: 844-309-6572 Intl. dial-in: 484-747-6921 Conference ID: 3745129 A replay of the call will be available for 14 days on the Company's website or by dialing: Replay number: 855-859-2056 or 404-537-3406 Intl. replay: 800-585-8367 Conference ID: 3745129 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120327/DA76602LOGO Continental plans to publish a third quarter 2018 summary presentation to its website at www.CLR.com prior to the start of its conference call on October 30, 2018. About Continental Resources Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) is a top 10 independent oil producer in the U.S. Lower 48 and a leader in America's energy renaissance. Based in Oklahoma City, Continental is the largest leaseholder and the largest producer in the nation's premier oil field, the Bakken play of North Dakota and Montana. The Company also has leading positions in Oklahoma, including its SCOOP Woodford and SCOOP Springer discoveries and the STACK plays. With a focus on the exploration and production of oil, Continental has unlocked the technology and resources vital to American energy independence and our nation's leadership in the new world oil market. In 2018, the Company will celebrate 51 years of operations. For more information, please visit www.CLR.com. Investor Contacts: Media Contact: Rory Sabino Kristin Thomas Vice President, Investor Relations Senior Vice President, Public Relations 405-234-9620 405-234-9480 [email protected] [email protected] Lucy Guttenberger Senior Investor Relations Associate 405-774-5878 [email protected] SOURCE Continental Resources Related Links http://www.clr.com New Ingerbelle is expected to have total production of 768 million pounds of copper and 550,300 ounces of gold over its mine life, based on Measured and Indicated Resources only. The production plan assumes the use of Copper Mountain mine's existing mine equipment fleet and mill. Highlights from the New Ingerbelle PEA are summarized below. After-tax Net Present Value (NPV) (8%)(1) US$394M After-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 65% Average annual life of mine copper equivalent (CuEq) production (1) (years 1-5) 112 Mlbs Average annual copper production (years 1-5) 85 Mlbs Average annual gold production (years 1-5) 61 koz Mine life 12 years C1 cash cost (per lb. of copper produced)(1,2) US$1.52 (1) Assumes a long-term Canadian Dollar to U.S. Dollar exchange rate of 1.25:1 and bank consensus long-term metal prices of US$3.08 per lb of copper, US$1,310 per oz of gold and US$18.90 per oz of silver. CuEq is calculated using recoveries of 83% Cu, 65% Au and 65% Ag, which is based on historical Ingerbelle mill recoveries and metallurgical test work conducted on recent exploration drill core from the New Ingerbelle deposit. (2) Net of by-product credits. "New Ingerbelle represents a low capital, low risk, high quality development project in a world-class mining jurisdiction," said Gil Clausen, Copper Mountain's President and CEO. "Our next steps include evaluating various operational alternatives to test against this Base Case, which assumes supplanting Copper Mountain Mine production. We will study incorporating New Ingerbelle into the Copper Mountain mine plan using the existing mill and study expanding the mill at Copper Mountain to increase the combined annual production. New Ingerbelle should give us tremendous flexibility as we execute our low risk growth strategy. This PEA demonstrates just how much potential value this project holds." Mining and Processing The New Ingerbelle mine design uses a US$2.75 per pound copper price Whittle pit shell (Measured and Indicated Resources only) generated using actual costs from the adjacent Copper Mountain Mine as a basis. Metal recoveries are based on historical Ingerbelle mill recoveries and metallurgical test work conducted on recent exploration drill core from the New Ingerbelle deposit. The Whittle pit shell was used as the basis for an ultimate design pit, which has a final haul road and waste dump designs incorporated. This ultimate pit was sequenced to produce a life of mine (LOM) plan which includes three pushback phases that include haul roads. The study used the haulage profiles to determine mining equipment requirements. Capital and operating costs, along with copper and gold recoveries that were used, are outlined in the tables below. The PEA is based on the Mineral Resource which was previously published on September 21, 2018. The PEA assumes New Ingerbelle mill feed would be trucked to the Copper Mountain operation, using Copper Mountain's existing mine equipment fleet, the 40,000 tonnes per day (tpd) mill and tailings facility. Total mill feed mined is expected to be 175 million tonnes and total waste is expected to be 250 million tonnes for a low strip ratio of 1.43:1. The production plan for New Ingerbelle is based only on Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources. All 24.6 million tonnes of Inferred Resources mined were considered as waste in the pit optimization and LOM scheduling. A summary of mining and production parameters is provided below. A more detailed life of mine production schedule is available in Appendix B. Total mill feed mined (M&I only) (kt) 175,200 Total waste (Includes Inferred Resources) (kt) 250,500 Strip ratio (excluding initial capitalized pre-strip) 1.24 Total mill feed processed (kt) 175,200 Total copper production (klbs) 768,000 Total gold production (oz) 550,300 Total silver production (oz) 1,755,900 Average annual copper production (years 1-5) (klbs) 85,100 Average annual gold production (years 1-5) (oz) 61,400 Average annual silver production (years 1-5) (oz) 195,100 Average copper recovery 83% Average gold recovery 65% Average silver recovery 65% Average copper feed grade (years 1-5) 0.32% Average gold feed grade (years 1-5) 0.20 g/t Average silver feed grade (year 1-5) 0.64 g/t Mine life 12 years Capital and Operating Costs The total initial capital cost required to start operations at New Ingerbelle is estimated to be approximately US$130 million. The estimate is largely due to the cost to complete a three-kilometre access road from New Ingerbelle to the Copper Mountain mine, pre-stripping and miscellaneous infrastructure upgrades. Total life of mine sustaining capital is expected to be US$63 million, which is mainly for mining equipment replacement and tailings dam expansions. Average C1 cash costs, net of by product credits, are approximately US$1.52 per pound of copper. Total operating costs are estimated to be US$9.66 per tonne milled, which includes mining costs of US$3.06 per tonne milled and processing costs of US$5.32 per tonne milled. Mining costs on a per tonne moved basis are estimated to be US$1.46 per tonne mined. A unit cost breakdown is provided below. Cash operating cost (US$ per tonne milled) Mining US$3.06 Processing US$5.32 G&A US$0.38 Transportation US$0.91 Total cash operating cost (US$ per tonne milled) US$9.66 All capital and operating costs assume a long-term Canadian Dollar exchange rate to U.S. Dollar exchange rate of 1.25 to 1. Project Economics The after-tax NPV assuming an 8% discount rate is US$394 million and the after-tax IRR is 65%. The economics are based on a long-term Canadian Dollar to U.S. Dollar exchange rate of 1.25 to 1 and bank consensus long-term metal prices of US$3.08 per pound copper, US$1,310 per ounce of gold and US$18.90 per ounce of silver. A sensitivity analysis on varying long-term copper prices was completed on the after-tax NPV (8%) and the results are summarized below. Long Term Copper Price (US$ per lb) After-tax NPV (8%) $2.75 US$287 million $3.08 (long term consensus) US$394 million $3.50 US$531 million Mineral Resources A summary of New Ingerbelle's Mineral Resource as announced on September 21, 2018 is provided below. Cu% cut-off grade Tonnes ('000s) Copper (%) Silver (g/t) Gold (g/t) CuEq* (%) Copper (M lbs) Gold (M oz) Measured Resource 0.20% 33,987 0.34 0.68 0.21 0.48 256.6 0.234 0.16% 43,251 0.31 0.61 0.19 0.44 293.2 0.268 0.12% 54,396 0.27 0.55 0.17 0.39 327.6 0.300 Indicated Resource 0.20% 79,928 0.31 0.61 0.19 0.44 551.0 0.501 0.16% 108,027 0.28 0.55 0.18 0.40 662.2 0.604 0.12% 141,251 0.25 0.48 0.15 0.35 764.3 0.699 Total Measured and Indicated Resource 0.20% 113,912 0.32 0.63 0.20 0.46 807.6 0.735 0.16% 151,278 0.29 0.57 0.18 0.41 955.4 0.872 0.12% 195,648 0.25 0.50 0.16 0.36 1,092.0 1.001 Inferred Resource 0.20% 47,608 0.30 0.55 0.19 0.43 319.8 0.283 0.16% 69,035 0.27 0.49 0.16 0.38 404.5 0.361 0.12% 93,459 0.23 0.43 0.14 0.33 480.1 0.428 *CuEq% above is based on metal content only. Metal prices assumed in the calculation are US$2.75/lb Cu, US$1,250/oz Au, and US$16.50/oz Ag. The mineral resource used in the study has been constrained within a US$3.50 per pound Whittle pit shell. Numbers may not add due to rounding, contained metal calculated at 3 significant figures. The PEA is based on Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources that are included within a Whittle optimized pit shell generated using values based on copper, gold and silver metal prices of US$2.75, US$1,250 and US$16.50 and recoveries of 80%, 65% and 70%, respectively. Resources within Design Pit generated using a US$2.75 copper price Cu% cut-off grade Tonnes ('000s) Copper (%) Silver (g/t) Gold (g/t) CuEq** (%) Copper (M lbs) Gold (M oz) Measured Resource 0.16% 36,344 0.33 0.65 0.21 0.44 261.5 0.239 0.12% 57,300 0.26 0.52 0.16 0.35 327.1 0.299 Indicated Resource 0.16% 69,378 0.30 0.58 0.19 0.40 452.2 0.416 0.12% 118,101 0.23 0.46 0.15 0.31 604.0 0.553 Total Measured and Indicated Resource 0.16% 105,723 0.31 0.61 0.19 0.41 713.8 0.655 0.12% 175,401 0.24 0.48 0.15 0.33 931.2 0.851 Inferred Resource 0.16% 11,083 0.27 0.51 0.17 0.36 65.8 0.060 0.12% 24,554 0.20 0.40 0.12 0.27 107.5 0.096 ** Copper equivalent (CuEq) is calculated using copper, gold and silver metal prices of US$2.75, US$1,250 and US$16.50 and recoveries of 80%, 65% and 70%, respectively. Note: Pounds of copper and ounces of gold included in the table above are contained metal within the design pit. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. A preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. Technical Report A technical report for the New Ingerbelle Preliminary Economic Assessment will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of this news release in accordance with NI 43-101 regulations. Qualified Persons The Mineral Resource estimate for New Ingerbelle that forms the basis for the New Ingerbelle PEA was prepared by Mr. Peter Holbek, B.Sc(Hons), M.Sc. P. Geo, who is the Vice President, Exploration of Copper Mountain Mining Corporation. Mr. Holbek serves as the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Holbek consents to the inclusion of the mineral resource in this news release and has approved the mineral resource information included in this news release. Mr. Stuart Collins, P.E., serves as the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is the Qualified Person for information regarding the New Ingerbelle PEA. Mr. Collins is independent of the Company and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. About Copper Mountain Mining Corporation: Copper Mountain's flagship asset is the 75% owned Copper Mountain mine located in southern British Columbia near the town of Princeton. The Copper Mountain mine produces about 90 million pounds of copper equivalent per year with a large resource that remains open laterally and at depth. Copper Mountain also has the permitted, development stage Eva Copper Project in Queensland, Australia and an extensive 397,000 hectare highly prospective land package in the Mount Isa area. Copper Mountain trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "CMMC" and Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol "C6C". Additional information is available on the Company's web page at www.CuMtn.com. On behalf of the Board of COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION "Gil Clausen" Gil Clausen, P.Eng. Chief Executive Officer Website: www.CuMtn.com Note: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents, filed by the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, specifically the most recent reports which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to review or confirm analysts' expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statement. APPENDIX B: NEW INGERBELLE PRODUCTION PLAN Years 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Material Mined (kt) 43,794 43,458 43,674 43,636 43,801 43,800 43,800 43,800 15,783 725 - - Mill Feed Mined (kt) 23,107 23,942 14,291 25,944 24,178 9,059 7,599 24,771 9,913 416 - - Waste (kt) 20,687 19,517 29,383 17,692 19,622 34,741 36,201 19,029 5,870 309 - - Mill Feed Processed 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 14,664 13,885 Cu Feed Grade (%) 0.33% 0.35% 0.26% 0.33% 0.32% 0.21% 0.17% 0.29% 0.20% 0.15% 0.15% 0.11% Au Feed Grade (g/t) 0.21 0.23 0.16 0.20 0.20 0.14 0.10 0.18 0.13 0.09 0.09 0.07 Copper Production (klbs) 87,100 94,662 70,268 89,037 84,669 57,041 44,782 78,852 53,513 40,586 38,954 28,493 Gold Production (oz) 63,318 71,181 50,468 60,987 60,999 42,065 31,045 54,688 39,046 28,840 27,572 20,122 SOURCE Copper Mountain Mining Corporation Related Links http://www.CuMtn.com NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- International masterminds will gather at the 38th LocWorld conference in Seattle, Washington, next month. Among some of the world's most successful international companies, Day Translations is now on that list, granting attendees a rare opportunity to meet with a Day Translations representative face to face. The event will take place Oct. 18-19, with a special pre-conference on Oct. 17. During this three-day event, attendees will hear from the marketing and localization specialists of some of the world's leading companies, including Netflix, Google, Facebook, Starbucks, Microsoft, Pinterest, Subway and GoDaddy, to name a few. Previous conference attendees have been pleasantly surprised with the impact that LocWorld had on their bottom line. Sara Maria Hasbun, the managing director of Meridian Linguistics, reported, "New business inquiries started the Monday after the conference, and by Wednesday, we had landed our largest contract to date." "A well-designed user experience has become paramount. Customers ask for service information that is immediately understandable." LocWorld38 Seattle Roger Vasquez of Day Translations is attending LocWorld38 specifically to help businesses fine-tune their localization path outside of the large group setting. He is scheduling one-on-one appointments with organizations to help customize each business' leverage on technological advances. He plans to guide each business toward designing a user experience that gives their target audience the instant satisfaction they crave, no matter the language. Day Translations Inc. is a global human translation company, honored in the 2018 Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. They help individuals, small businesses and multinational corporations expand their global impact by bridging the language gap. Day Translations is passionate about language and grateful for the opportunities they've had to support humanitarian services, including providing interpreters during the Egyptian crisis of the Arab Spring and supporting Translators Without Borders. Related Links Day Translations Official Website Day Translations Official Blog Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC91FCP1bAg SOURCE Day Translations Inc. Energize Ventures invests in companies that provide digital solutions that drive affordability, reliability and security for energy and industry. Energize believes these companies play a central role in the revitalization of older industries, and help to speed the transition to cleaner energy. "We are thrilled to close on our first fund and have already seen a positive response to our thesis in the market. There is an incredible opportunity to turn data into business value, and high-growth startups are leading the charge," said Amy Francetic, Managing Director of Energize Ventures. "The expertise that exists on our team is a differentiating factor for us we are a diverse team of operators and industry experts, so we understand how to build lasting, impactful businesses." The Energize portfolio of five companies includes: DroneDeploy, Nozomi Networks, Volta Charging, Spark Cognition and Aquilon Energy. These companies span data analytics, cyber security, mobility, and distributed energy resources. "It has been a thrill to work with the Energize team. From board advice to industry connections, we can clearly point to the value they added in our journey," said Edgard Capdevielle, CEO of Nozomi Networks, a high-growth provider of industrial control system cyber security solutions. "I've dealt with many investors and venture funds. There are few whose help will meaningfully move a business forward. Energize is one of those firms. Their team is our first call to discuss the path forward for Volta," said Scott Mercer, CEO of Volta Charging, the largest free electric car charging network in the US. Energize Ventures began operating as the Invenergy Future Fund, and the name change reflects the breadth of partner base it successfully secured during fundraising. Energize Ventures has a diverse group of limited partners (LPs) including industrial companies such as Invenergy, General Electric Renewable Energy and General Electric Power, Schneider Electric, WEC Energy Group, and institutional investors, individuals and family offices. Many of these LPs provide the fund with access to market intelligence and potential commercial relationships for its portfolio companies. Invenergy, one of the world's leading developers and operators of wind, solar, natural gas and battery storage technologies, helped launch the fund and continues to be a key operating partner. "Now more than ever, digital solutions targeting infrastructure are providing outsized returns," said Michael Polsky, Founder & CEO of Invenergy. "The Energize team, combined with the broader Invenergy and LP network, has built an incredible platform for identifying and supporting the leading digital companies in our space." About Energize Ventures Energize Ventures is a pre-growth stage, female-led, venture fund located in Chicago. We partner with companies that create digital solutions that drive affordability, reliability and security for energy and other industries. Energize Ventures has thus far made five investments spanning cyber security, mobility, data analytics, operational efficiency, and distributed energy. For more information on Energize Ventures, please visit www.energize.vc. Contact Energize Ventures: Katie McClain, Director of Market Development 773-354-5693 or [email protected] SOURCE Energize Ventures Related Links http://energize.vc NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. and MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Engagement Labs Inc. (TSXV: EL) (OTCQB: ELBSF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce progress with its growth strategy with the signing of a key new client in a new industry. The Company has secured a multi-year contract with one of the leading global non-alcoholic beverage brands to utilize TotalSocial as its proprietary data and analytics platform for social intelligence. The new client chose Engagement Labs' TotalSocial platform to be a key tool in launch of major new brand this year. The total value of the contract is CAD $167,000 over the three years. From the launch of the TotalSocial platform in the fall of 2016, it has provided unique and valuable data and insights for leading brands across a diverse group of industries and sectors including: telecom, beauty/personal care, retail/apparel, media, sports, software, food, financial and agencies. With the addition of the new client in the beverage industry, the TotalSocial platform spans across 10 major industries and sectors. "We are very pleased and excited to add this prominent global beverage brand to our roster of clients," said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs. "We are confident that other beverage companies will also find our TotalSocial offering to be an important resource for strategic guidance." "We believe that this contract can grow in size as we build a stronger relationship with this brand," said Steven Brown, President & Chief Revenue Officer of Engagement Labs. To learn more how to improve your marketing ROI and increase sales through social intelligence, reach out at: [email protected]. About Engagement Labs Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) (OTCQB: ELBSF) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company's TotalSocial platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients. To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com. About TotalSocial TotalSocial is a premier data and analytics platform that provides brands with unique insights, improved marketing ROI and strategies to grow revenue. Fueled by actionable online and offline data, TotalSocial is the only platform that encompasses and listens to the entire social ecosystem. TotalSocial offers unique, proprietary data about brands, its industry and competitors. With cutting-edge diagnostics, patent-pending predictive analytics and machine learning, TotalSocial identifies business opportunities and provides recommendations and a roadmap to grow revenue and achieve business and marketing goals. Disclaimer in regard to Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Engagement Labs does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For media inquiries please contact: Vanessa Lontoc, Marketing Director / Ed Keller, CEO Engagement Labs 732-846-6800 [email protected] / [email protected] SOURCE Engagement Labs Related Links engagementlabs.com With the increasing adoption of electronic health records and digital care, caregivers must be more focused than ever on patient engagement and satisfaction. The CareFit product line is designed to remove barriers to the best patient care, allowing nurses and doctors to easily travel between patient rooms and crowded hallways while supporting their unique workflow and ergonomic footprint. Nurses and physicians spend long hours with patients during their greatest time of need, and with the CareFit line of products, Ergotron aims to help caregivers thrive with the right tools to stay comfortable and productive at the patient's bedside. "The nurses and doctors using this equipment were our inspiration for CareFit," said Bob Hill, healthcare manager at Ergotron. "Our new CareFit Slim Carts are designed to fit people, fit workflows and fit environments, without restrictions, giving caregivers direct access to their patients without sacrificing physician safety or hospital workflow." The Slim Laptop Cart and LCD Cart offer an expansive vertical range to easily adjust to the ergonomic needs of a broad range of users, whether sitting or standing. The compact frame makes it easy to move all-in-one computers and monitors around the healthcare facility, and the space-saving design allows the cart to sit flush against the wall when not in use. Multiple cart variations provide unique options to accommodate EMR technology with the same level of mobility and flexibility. The CareFit Slim Laptop Cart and LCD Cart are available via global distribution resellers. For more information about Ergotron's entire healthcare line, visit healthcare.ergotron.com or call 800.888.8458. About Ergotron Ergotron, Inc. is a global design and manufacturing leader of digital display mounting, furniture, and mobility products that have been improving the human interface with digital displays for 35 years. This history of innovation and passion for differentiation is evidenced in over 200 patents and a growing portfolio of award winning brandsWorkFit, LearnFit, StyleView, JUV, TeachWell, Neo-Flex, Anthro and OmniMountfor computer monitors, notebooks, tablets, flat panel displays and TVs. Ergotron's products incorporate patented CF lift and pivot motion technology to achieve less effort and more ergonomic motion for a healthier and more interactive user experience when viewing any digital display. Ergotron is headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, with a global sales presence in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Learn more about Ergotron's unique product lines for office, education and healthcare spaces at www.Ergotron.com . SOURCE Ergotron, Inc. Related Links http://www.ergotron.com SINGAPORE, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Voyager Digital Holdings Inc. ("Voyager"), a new and licensed crypto-asset broker, and Ethos.io PTE LTD ("Ethos"), a leading cryptocurrency services provider, today announced a strategic partnership to bring Crypto-to-Fiat and best execution trading to Ethos wallet users, while enhancing self-custody and wallet solutions on Voyager's retail and institutional platforms. Ethos.io PTE LTD The link-up adds optimal self-custody and wallet functionality to the Voyager platform to provide a single and secure hub for the storage and trading of crypto assets. Similarly, the partnership allows current Ethos wallet users to seamlessly convert, store and trade their digital assets all on one platform, simplifying a currently complex and cumbersome process. Voyager will be utilizing Ethos Bedrock as a self-custody option and integrating it, along with the Ethos Universal Wallet into its offerings -- which include the best execution, data and custody services. Voyager previously announced that its retail, mobile trading app will be launched in Q4, alongside Voyager Institutional, its standalone solution for the buy-side, brokerages, market makers and other professional investors. Voyager will give Ethos users the power to convert fiat currency into the Ethos Token and the token into fiat, all within their wallet, allowing a seamless mechanism to trade through Voyager's platform. Stephen Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager, said: "With this transformative partnership in place, we believe we are offering the first end-to-end, fully integrated solution in the crypto asset space. "We are always seeking out products and solutions that enhance the experience for crypto investors and these best-in-class solutions from Ethos are a perfect complement for us, further strengthening our offerings and goal of operating a unique, pure-play, open architecture platform." Shingo Lavine, CEO of Ethos, said: "Voyager gives our users the power of fast, commission free trading, using their smart order router and liquidity network. For Ethos Universal Wallet users, this means that a low-fee fiat gateway will be a future enhancement, first for our U.S. clients and then rolled out globally." Shingo Lavine will be joining the Voyager Advisory Board to oversee the execution of the integration of the partnership, as well as support Voyager's overall mission. "This partnership creates a true bridge between traditional and institutional finance within the crypto-asset market to create a dynamic and borderless financial ecosystem," Lavine added. About Voyager Digital Voyager Digital Holdings Inc. (Voyager) through its subsidiary, CryptoTrading Technologies, LLC is a crypto-asset broker that provides retail and institutional investors with a turnkey solution to trade crypto assets. Voyager offers investors best execution, data and custody services through its institutional-grade open architecture platform. Voyager was founded by established Wall Street and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who teamed to bring a better, more transparent and cost-efficient alternative for trading crypto-assets to the marketplace. Voyager is based in New York and is registered with FinCen. https://www.investvoyager.com About Ethos.io PTE LTD Ethos is a leading cryptocurrency services provider that is building a bridge between the blockchain and existing financial institutions and systems. The Ethos Universal Wallet enables anybody to simply and securely store, track, send and receive their crypto assets for free. The Universal Wallet is decentralized, with consumers creating and owning their own private SmartKeys that secure personal digital vaults. The Universal Wallet is built on Bedrock, a foundation platform that abstracts and makes blockchains more accessible, secure and compliant for both people and financial institutions. Ethos has built a blockchain dream team of financial and technology executives. Ethos is headquartered in Singapore with a global presence and community. Learn more at ethos.io Media Contact: Amateo - Executive Marketing Director of Ethos - [email protected] Related Links Ethos.io Ethos x Voyager Partnership FAQ SOURCE Ethos.io PTE LTD SAN DIEGO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ProGreen US, Inc. (ProGreen) (OTCQB:PGUS), provided an update today on the status of its agricultural project in Baja California, Mexico. Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ac/d5bhz To learn more about ProGreen, visit: https://www.progreenus.com/ Arenoso harvest in-progress on September 26, 2018 ProGreen funded the development of a pilot farming operation, ProGreen Farms Arenoso, in Baja California, Mexico, in 2017. The farm is a joint operation between ProGreen and Inmobiliaria Contel, the land owner. Starting from raw land and developed into what is now approximately 100 acres of jalapeno chili peppers at Rancho Arenoso near the town of El Rosario, the farm is now approaching the peak of its 2018 harvest. In December of 2017, ProGreen's wholly-owned U.S. distribution subsidiary, ProGreen Farms US, LLC (FarmsUS), executed an agreement with Huy Fong Foods, Inc. (Huy Fong), maker of the original Sriracha chili sauce, to supply a minimum of 2,500 tons of red chili peppers in 2018. As of yesterday, FarmsUS has delivered 47 truckloads of red jalapeno peppers to Huy Fong in Irwindale, California, representing about 900 tons (1.8 million pounds). "The yield is increasing, now about 10 trucks per week," said Jan Telander, Chairman and CEO of ProGreen, "and we are now expecting to harvest well over 2,500 tons this year. I am very happy with the results, especially with this being the first 'regular' season for the farm." About ProGreen US, Inc. ProGreen US, Inc. (ISIN: US74327M1027), headquartered in San Diego, California, is engaged primarily with agriculture and real estate land development projects in Baja California, Mexico. We are supplying chili peppers to Huy Fong Foods; and a totally green, 5,000 acre oceanfront resort-style vacation and retirement community is being planned, called Cielo Mar. Visit www.progreenus.com. Follow on Twitter: @ProGreenUS. This press release might contain information, which may constitute 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 'Forward-looking statements' are based upon expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated. Media Contact: John Rupert Media & Communications Coordinator [email protected] 619-884-8430 SOURCE ProGreen US, Inc. Related Links http://www.progreenus.com NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Five years into the passage of the "Companies Act, 2013" provision requiring a minimum corporate spending on social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, less than 40 percent of qualifying public companies in India are fully compliant. The time needed to search for and evaluate viable CSR projects, the phased rollout that many projects require, and the process for legal approval are among the reasons why many Indian businesses are still on a learning curve regarding the CSR Mandate. This is a key finding from a Director Notes India Series released today by The Directors' Collective, a partnership among The Conference Board, KPMG in India and Russell Reynolds Associates, in collaboration with St. Francis Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai. The study was conducted based on disclosure documents published by a sample of 100 randomly selected Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed companies, representing 18 different business sectors. Under the CSR Mandate, publicly traded companies with a net worth of at least INR 5 billion, a turnover of at least INR 10 billion, and a net profit of at least INR 50 million are expected to spend at least two percent of their average net profit on qualifying CSR initiatives. But what is truly mandated by the law is the disclosure of CSR expenditures, rather than the spending itself: If a company does not spend the prescribed amount, then it is required to explain the reasons for its non-compliance. As Indian corporations are clearly still grappling with the mandate, The Directors' Collective publication is intended as a resource to recognize the progress made and the obstacles encountered so far. Other key findings include: About 85 percent of companies spent at least part of their CSR expenditure on promoting healthcare servicesto reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, and to combat endemic diseases in India such as HIV and malaria. In fact, more than one-fourth (27 percent) of total CSR expenditures supported healthcare initiatives. such as HIV and malaria. In fact, more than one-fourth (27 percent) of total CSR expenditures supported healthcare initiatives. However, the category that received the highest median amount through the CSR mandate was education (INR 210 million). Companies also chose to fund initiatives on rural development, environmental sustainability, small entrepreneurship, and the promotion of gender equality. The majority of companies have been selecting and overseeing their CSR spending through an outsourced agency (in most cases, a vetted NGO with a definite social purpose). Only a few companies have established their own trust/foundation for CSR activities. Only a few companies have engaged their employees in their chosen CSR activities. While some companies attributed their CSR Mandate non-compliance to an operating loss incurred in one or more of their prior fiscal years, other loss-making companies still chose to honor their CSR commitment. They include Tata Motors, United Spirits, and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. "The analysis on CSR expenses can enable decision makers to better appreciate the context in which many of these social activities are undertaken and what it takes for corporations to fully comply," said Dr. G Ramesh, Professor and MMS Programme Head at St. Francis Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, and author of the report. "The research will definitely pave the way in defining the scope of CSR activities within organizations and have an impact on society," added Shilpa Peswani, Assistant Professor at St. Francis Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai and co-author of the publication. "One of the major commitments undertaken by The Conference Board through The Directors' Collective is to document and disseminate knowledge on emerging practices so that members of the business community can learn from the experience of their peers. In India and elsewhere, progress on sustainability and CSR is incremental, and so much has happened already. This issue of Director Notes recognizes what Indian companies have accomplished so far, and we hope it can be used by corporations to continue to build on today's practices," said Matteo Tonello, Vice President and Managing Director of Corporate Leadership at The Conference Board. According to Sanjay Kapoor, Managing Director at Russell Reynolds Associates, "The formal CSR commitment is still new to India and not enough research has been disseminated in this area. The unique perspective presented by these Director Notes will examine current CSR dynamics and also hopefully guide CSR Committees to maximize their impact on society." "These Director Notes provide a good perspective on where India is currently in its CSR journey, and importantly, what challenges need to be overcome by India Inc to achieve the full socioeconomic benefits of the mandate," concluded Pankaj Arora, Partner, Governance Risk and Compliance Services, KPMG in India. To download Director Notes India CSR Activities in India, click here. For an overview of The Directors' Collective, please click here. About The Conference Board The Conference Board delivers trusted insights for what's ahead. We connect senior executives across industries and geographies to share ideas, develop insights, and recommend policy to address key issues. Our mission is to help leaders anticipate what's ahead, improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. http://www.conference-board.org . About KPMG in India KPMG in India, a professional services firm, is the Indian member firm affiliated with KPMG International and was established in September 1993. Our professionals leverage the global network of firms, providing tax and advisory services, besides knowledge about markets and competition. KPMG has offices across India in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida, Pune and Vadodara. KPMG in India offers services to national and international clients in India across sectors. We strive to provide rapid, performance-based, industry-focused and technology-enabled services, which reflect a shared knowledge of global and local industries and our experience of the Indian business environment. About Russell Reynolds Associates Russell Reynolds Associates is a global search and leadership advisory firm. Our 425+ consultants in 46 offices work with public, private and nonprofit organizations across all industries and regions. We help our clients build teams of transformational leaders who can meet todays challenges and anticipate the digital, economic and political trends that are reshaping the global business environment. From helping boards with their structure, culture and effectiveness to identifying, assessing and defining the best leadership for organizations our teams bring their decades of expertise to help clients solve their most complex leadership issues. www.russellreynolds.com SOURCE The Conference Board Related Links http://www.conference-board.org PETALUMA, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A business has to utilize all sorts of strategies to attract customers, returning or otherwise. A tactic that has been receiving an upswing in popularity is email mailing lists. Mailing lists are great because customers usually agree to being on them and that's a foot in the door, so to speak. Brandon Frere, strategic business planner and CEO of Frere Enterprises, suggests utilizing email marketing for more effective, personalized interactions with customers and the betterment of a business. Newsletters, digital coupons, survey letters, any number of things can be sent in an email and customers can give personalized feedback or find links they're interested in clicking on. It allows customers to more readily decide on how they're interacted with and increases the likelihood that they will do business with a company. "There are always certain tricks to using something effectively, which is what separates those who think they're entrepreneurs from the real ones," said Frere. To achieve maximum productivity from email marketing, there are a few simple tricks to keep in mind first. Don't buy an email list and blindly send people emails that they have little to no interest in receiving. It may take time, but cultivating an email list of people who are actually interested in interacting with a business will prove to be much more beneficial. Don't send every mail subscriber the same generic email, either. One of the perks of sending stuff to people, specifically, is that their experience can be customized to them. Keeping in mind different categories of customers allows for better targeted marketing and fewer chances of someone unsubscribing. If utilizing email marketing seems overwhelming to start with, there's plenty of email marketing businesses out there to lay out the groundwork. Email marketing, like any marketing campaign, will take some planning and efforts before it's at its most effective, but the benefits of such targeted marketing are well worth it. "Strategic business planning means using all the available resources for the betterment of the company in the most effective ways possible. Email marketing allows for showing a customer information and potential deals from a business, with minimal effort on their part," said Frere. About Frere Enterprises Run by CEO Brandon Frere, Frere Enterprises is a California-based company with a global vision based around the usage of special financial technology, or SpecFinTech, with a current focus on financial wellness and productivity. He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers, alike. Frere's website, www.FrereEnterprises.com, is used as a means to communicate many of the lessons, fundamentals and information that he has learned throughout his extensive business and technological endeavors. Through Frere Enterprises, he aims to apply those lessons to other business opportunities. Frere Enterprises' mission is to acquire traditional businesses and digitally transform them to meet and exceed modern day demand. This mission seeks to transform such businesses by developing the newest and most evolved technologies to speed up the evolution of financial services in order to meet the demands of the modern consumer and exceed the potential of the modern era. FrereEnterprises.com Related Links Frere Enterprises SOURCE Frere Enterprises Related Links http://www.FrereEnterprises.com CSE: HUGE OTCQB: FSDDF FRA: 0K9 TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - FSD Pharma Inc. (CSE: HUGE) (OTCQB: FSDDF) (FRA: 0K9) ("FSD Pharma" or the "Company), which, through its wholly-owned subsidiary FV Pharma Inc. ("FV Pharma"), is a licensed producer pursuant to the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, today congratulates the Ontario government for introducing legislation that would open up recreational cannabis retail to the private sector. FSD Pharma intends to target all legal aspects of the cannabis industry, including cultivation, processing, manufacturing, extracts, research and development. "We are excited that the Ontario government has decided to open up the retail market for recreational cannabis to the private sector and recognize this as a great opportunity for the growth of our sector," said Thomas Fairfull, President and CEO of FSD Pharma. Ontario-based FV Pharma intends to operate one of the largest production facilities in North America, with plans to hire 1,500 employees over the next several years. The Company purchased the former Kraft plant in Cobourg in 2016 and expects to utilize the entire 3.8 million square foot facility for the production of various strains of cannabis, including many ancillary products. The company anticipates reaching full production capacity by 2021, with retail being a key element of the Company's growth. "Ensuring equal access to retail licenses is what is most important to our company as we plan our growth in Ontario. We look forward to working with this administration to ensure the licensing rules are fair and the true economic potential for the province can be realized," concluded Fairfull. For more information on FSD Pharma: http://fsdpharma.com/ About FSD Pharma (CSE: HUGE) (OTCQB: FSDDF) (FRA: 0K9) FSD Pharma through its wholly-owned subsidiary FV Pharma, is a licensed producer of marijuana under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) having received its cultivation license on October 13, 2017. Headquartered at the former Kraft plant in Cobourg, Ontario, approximately an hour's drive from Toronto, FV Pharma management's mission is to transform the facility into the largest hydroponic indoor cannabis facility in the world. FV Pharma intends to target all legal aspects of the cannabis industry, including cultivation, processing, manufacturing, extracts and research and development. Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Corporation's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the development of the Corporation's indoor cannabis facility and its business goals and objectives. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof, and the Corporation is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking-information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE FSD Pharma Inc. DUBLIN, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "PV Industry Directory 2018" directory has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This database is the most valuable database throughout the PV industry. The information is acquired through the following steps: As the world's most popular solar website, a large number of companies are attracted to submit themselves on the website. Solar industry news is reviewed each day to find mentions of new solar companies. Exhibitor lists of the key solar exhibitions are carefully checked to discover new companies. As database experts check manufacturer sites, they gather information on their distributors. Also as the experts then check the distributor sites they collect details on all new manufacturer brands that are discovered. Company lists are found through government organisations and general deep web searching techniques. Advanced scanning software automatically checks key companies for updates and flags up changes for experts to check. Further automated internet scans watch the whole database for signs that companies have ceased trading. Email addresses are checked through direct emails to all companies in the database. In order to filter out-dated information, database experts continuously recheck companies to ensure their information is still current. Updates and additions are quality checked by others in the team to ensure the highest quality levels. Reasons to Buy The report actively invests time in finding new companies. Many other website directories wait for companies to come to them and submit themselves, which means they rarely get more than 50% of companies in a particular category. This report checks the details of new companies who submit their details. A small trading company may decide that they get more sales leads by 'accidentally' submitting themselves as manufacturing many types of PV products. Spotting the discrepancy while other websites will simply automatically list the company as submitted. The report is rechecked and refreshes data on a regular basis. Companies regularly expand their activities or change their contact details, but they usually forget to update these details on 3rd party internet sites. Through manual rechecking of all companies in our database we keep our data much fresher than other sources. Key Topics Covered: Company Country Address Phone Fax Website Email Staff Number Parent Company Key Customers Distributors Detailed products information (panel technology, power range, production number) For more information about this directory visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/txmb5h/global?w=5 Did you know that we also offer Custom Research? Visit our Custom Research page to learn more and schedule a meeting with our Custom Research Manager. Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com LONDON, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Radiofrequency-based Devices Market for Lower Back Pain to Reach $444.4 Million by 2026, Reports BIS Research Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5478242 The global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain is a multi-million market, which is majorly controlled by some of the leading players of the medical device industry.Radiofrequency ablation is one of the prominent pain management procedures incorporated for lower back pain management. The procedure involves the use of radiofrequency alternating current to ablate the specific nerve responsible for transmitting pain signals to the brain. The rising prevalence of lower back pain and stringent regulations abiding the use of opioid are the pivotal factors propelling the growth of global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain. The lower back pain management procedure based on radiofrequency is known as Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) which is a minimally invasive procedure and provides an expeditious relief from pain associated with chronic diseases.The procedure has several benefits such as low risk of side effects, short recovery period, and reduced post-procedure complications, among others. Different instruments involved in radiofrequency ablation procedure include radiofrequency generator, electrodes, probes, needles, cannulae, and several other accessories such as ground pads, foot switch, and elongation cables, among others.The technological developments in interventional pain management procedures and breakthroughs in neural anatomy have resulted into the emergence of pain management procedures based on thermal ablation. The specificity and ability of radiofrequency alternating current to treat chronic pain with minimal or no tissue damage has resulted in the massive-scale adoption of pain management procedures based on radiofrequency. The purpose of this study is to gain a holistic view of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain in terms of various influencing factors, such as recent trends, regulatory requirements, and technological advancements of the market.The market has been segmented into 'product', 'end users', and 'region'. The report also evaluates the opportunities in the market for stakeholders and provides details of the competitive landscape for market leaders.Moreover, the report also includes the exhaustive information on the unmet needs, perception on the new products, consumer preferences, competitive landscape, restraints and opportunities, and other vital information with respect to radiofrequency-based devices for lower back pain. Further, the report also presents a detailed analysis of the market dynamics, consumers' perception, pricing trends, and the estimation of the market size over the forecast period 2018-2026. The report presents the reader with an opportunity to unlock comprehensive insights with respect to the market and helps in forming well-informed strategic decisions.The research uncovers some of the substantial parameters that must be taken into consideration before entering the market. This research report aims at answering various aspects of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain with the help of the key factors driving the market, restraints and challenges that can possibly inhibit the overall market growth, and the current growth opportunities that are going to shape the future trajectory of the market expansion.The report includes an in-depth examination of the key players and recent developments taking place in this market. Moreover, the report includes chapters on market dynamics (market drivers, opportunities, and challenges) and industry analysis as well. The answers to the following key questions can be derived from this report: How did radiofrequency ablation technology evolve, and what is its scope in future? What are the key developmental strategies that are being implemented by the key players to sustain in this market? What are the regulations abiding radiofrequency-based devices for lower back pain management in different regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)? What are the major market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain? What are the consumers' perceptions and their preference rates for radiofrequency-based pain management procedures in different regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)? What are the leading companies dominating the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain? What is the future scope for expansion by the key players of the market in different regions namely North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)? What is the scale of impact on market dynamics by the operations of key players of the market? What is the best value chain model adopted by the leading players in the market? What is the best supply chain model adopted by the leading players in the market? What was the market value of the leading segments and sub-segments of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain in 2017? How will each segment of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain grow during the forecast period, and what will be the revenue generated by each of the segments by the end of 2026? How will the industry evolve during the forecast period 2018-2026? Which geographical location will contribute to the highest sales of the radiofrequency-based devices for lower back pain management during the forecast period? What is the scope of expansion in the emerging economies of Asia-Pacific and Latin America? What are the consumers' perceptions for different offerings of key players of the market? The key players who have been contributing significantly to the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain include Bramsys Industria e Comercio Ltda, BVM Medical Limited, CONMED Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic PLC, Diros Technology Inc., Epimed International, Halyard Health, Inc., joimax GmbH, Merit Medical Systems, Inc., RF Medical Co., Ltd., sfm Medical devices GmbH, Smith & Nephew plc, Abbott Laboratories, and Stryker Corporation, among others. Executive Summary The annual societal costs for chronic pain in the European Union was valued $356.00 billion in 2013. Factors such as long hospital stays, increased number of rehospitalizations, high frequency of outpatient visits, and loss of work productivity due to high emotional distress, among others, are the leading contributors to the massive socioeconomic burden of chronic pain. According to World Health Organization (WHO), in 2013, four of the top ten leading causes of disability were chronic pain conditions namely, lower back pain, neck pain, migraine, and musculoskeletal disorders. Despite high economic burden, chronic pain also has several detrimental effects on the quality of patient lives and their respective families. Accompanied by the high risk of significant disability, chronic pain also leads to psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. More than 30% of chronic pain affected population reported difficulty in handling routine tasks such as driving, sleeping, cleaning, participating in fitness activities, bathing, and participating in social activities, among others. Lower back pain is one of the most predominant types of chronic pain.The global incidence of lower back pain was 539 million in 2015. The severity of the lower back pain and several other detrimental effects have significantly elevated the requirement of cost-effective pain management procedures with reduced risk of mortality, increased efficiency of treatment resulting in long-lasting effect, and reduced risk of pain recurrence.The technological breakthroughs in neural anatomy and interventional pain management technologies have resulted into emergence of pain management procedures based on radiofrequency alternating current. The specificity and ability of radiofrequency alternating current to treat chronic pain with minimal or no tissue damage has resulted in significant adoption of pain management procedures based on radiofrequency. The global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain has been witnessing a stable promising annual growth rate of approximately 6.24% from the past four years. Several key players have been making strenuous efforts to raise awareness for radiofrequency-based pain management devices and consequentially to boost the adoption rate. The purpose of the study is to gain a holistic view of the radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain in terms of various factors influencing it such as recent trends and technological advancements of the market.The scope of this report is centered upon conducting a detailed study of the devices allied with the radiofrequency-based pain management procedure, which includes generators, electrodes, probes, cannulae, and accessories. The global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain is segmented into three different parts namely by product, by end user and by region.The global market value was estimated using these three different approaches and was validated with one another. These segments are further divided into several sub- segments to ease the market estimation and to gain a holistic view of the market. The global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain is expected to reach $444.4 million by 2026. The growing prominence for the radiofrequency-based pain management procedures with improved efficiency and reduced risk of disease recurrence are bolstering the growth of the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain. The global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain by product is currently dominated by the generators. The contribution of generators is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 7.67%, during the forecast period 2018-2026. The significant demand for radiofrequency generators in the pharmaceutical and healthcare market aided by the increasing adoption rate of minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of chronic lower back pain, are the major factors contributing to the growth of the radiofrequency generators market. However, the market for cannulae is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR of 10.82% in the forecast period 2018-2026. By end-user, hospitals are the leading contributors to the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain in terms of revenue. The contribution of hospitals was valued $129.9 million in 2017. The global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle-East and North Africa, and Rest-of-the-World (RoW) regions. North America currently holds the largest market share in terms of revenue generation. However, the Europe radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain is anticipated to grow with the highest CAGR of 10.23% in the forecast period 2018-2026. The key players who have been contributing significantly to the global radiofrequency-based devices market for lower back pain include Bramsys Industria e Comercio Ltda, BVM Medical Limited, CONMED Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic PLC, Diros Technology Inc., Epimed International, Halyard Health, Inc., joimax GmbH, Merit Medical Systems, Inc., RF Medical Co., Ltd., sfm Medical devices GmbH, Smith & Nephew plc, Abbott Laboratories, and Stryker Corporation, among others. Countries Covered North America The U.S. Canada Europe Germany France The U.K. Italy Spain The Netherlands Switzerland Belgium Sweden Denmark Poland Rest-of-Europe Asia-Pacific Japan China South Korea Australia India Indonesia Malaysia Rest-of-Asia-Pacific Latin America Brazil Mexico Chile Rest-of-Latin America Middle East and North Africa Algeria Egypt Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A) United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) Israel Rest-of-Middle East and North Africa Rest-of-the-World Russia Rest-of-the-World (Excluding Russia) Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5478242 About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 (718) 213 4904 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com LONDON, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Global SLAM Technology Market Anticipated to Reach $8.23 Billion by 2027 The SLAM technology market is expected to witness a robust growth rate in the forecast period.The SLAM technology used across industries has experienced continuous technological advancement and the accuracy has significantly improved. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5429887 Their increased adoption across robots, UAVs, and augmented reality applications is expected to drive the market in the forecast period.The demand across platforms has experienced a significant rise in the recent years and the trend is anticipated to continue in the next few years, owing to their greater accuracy and minimal hardware requirement. The rising number of industries moving over to automation across emerging nations and UAVs application gaining traction is expected to open several new opportunities for the SLAM technology market in the years to come. The major platforms where SLAM technology is used include robots, UAVs, augmented reality, and autonomous vehicle. Major end-users where SLAM technology based platforms are used include commercial, household, manufacturing and logistics, and military. The following points provide a concrete description of the report content and the topics covered in the report: This report identifies the SLAM technology market in different segments such as platform, end-user, and geography. The study includes the market analysis and forecast of the global SLAM technology market from 2017 to 2027 in terms of value. The report also highlights the year-on-year growth of the market. The study talks about the prime supply side factors affecting the growth of the market along with the current and future trends in the SLAM technology market. The study also presents a detailed examination of the SLAM technology market along the lines of market drivers, restraints, growth opportunities, and challenges. The study provides detailed analysis of industry attractiveness through Porter's Five Forces analysis. The report also highlights the value chain of the overall SLAM technology industry. A detailed competitive analysis has been included in this report which focuses on the key market developments & strategies, followed by the key players in the market. Additionally, analysis of their position in the market is also provided. The report also provides a detailed study of the platforms in which SLAM technology is being used such as robots, UAVs, augmented reality, and autonomous vehicles, among others. In this report, various end-users of SLAM technology market have also been studied. The end-users include commercial, household, manufacturing and logistics, and military. The SLAM technology market has been analyzed for all the geographies including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World with further analysis with respect to several major countries. The key market players are analyzed and profiled in detail in the Company Profiles section of the report. This section covers the business financials, company snapshots, key products & services, major developments, and finally, the individual SWOT analysis. Executive Summary The advent of SLAM technology can be traced back to the 1980s when it was first mentioned in a research paper.Since then significant application based developments in SLAM technology have taken place, especially in the past two decades. The SLAM technology first came into limelight when self-driving cars, STANLEY and JUNIOR won the DARPA Grand Challenge and ranked second in the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2005.Both the cars used SLAM technology for localization and mapping of their environment. Since then, the technology has been used in plethora of applications including self-driving cars, AR/VR kits, and industrial robots, among others. Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is a technology that receives input in the form of visual data from physical world and converts the same in a form that can be understood by the machines and suitable output is produced thereafter.Before the invention of SLAM technology, the indoor machines faced the problem of localizing themselves in their surroundings and understanding map of the environment where they are operating. This problem was referred to as chicken and egg problem as for the localization, it was necessary to have the maps of surrounding, and for mapping of the surroundings, localization was needed.This chicken and egg problem is effectively addressed by SLAM technology which simultaneously solves the problem of localization and mapping. This made the technology extremely popular in the indoor platform applications. The demand for SLAM technology is swiftly increasing among different end-users across the globe. The market is driven by number of factors such as rise in the automation across various industries, growing penetration of mapping technologies in domestic robots, and increasing number of augmented reality applications, among others. The SLAM technology market accounted for a market value of $50.0 million in 2017 with robots platform holding the highest share. Robots platform in the SLAM technology market accounted for the maximum share in the overall revenue generated in the year 2017. The significant share of the robots platform is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for robots across various industries. The market of SLAM technology across autonomous vehicles segment is expected to grow at a faster pace as compared with other platforms North America is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period, closely followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World.The United States is the leading country in the SLAM technology market, globally and it is expected to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The country has the presence of several commercial and non-commercial drone camera manufacturers. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR with China dominating the market in this region. Some of the key players in the SLAM Technology market include: SLAMcore Limited, NavVis Gmbh, Inc., Wikitude GmbH., Dibotics, GESTALT Robotics GmbH, Parrot SA, Fetch Robotics Inc., Clearpath Robotics Inc., Aethon Inc., Apple Inc., Google LLC, and KUKA AG. Countries Covered North America U.S. Canada Europe U.K. France Germany Asia-Pacific China Japan India South Korea Rest of the World Latin America Middle East and Africa Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5429887 About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 (718) 213 4904 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com DUBLIN, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market by Product (Instrument, Service, Consumables (High-level Disinfectants, Disinfectant Wipes & Spray, Enzymatic Detergent)), Probe Type (Linear & Endocavity Transducer), End User (Hospitals)-Global Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global ultrasound probe disinfection market is projected to reach USD 819.1 million by 2023 from USD 314.1 million in 2018, at a CAGR of 21.1%. The growth of this market is driven by factors such as the increasing number of ultrasound imaging procedures, rising incidence of hospital-acquired infections due to the improper reprocessing of ultrasound probes, increasing adoption of high-level disinfection systems for critical and semi-critical ultrasound probes, and technological advancements in ultrasound probes. In this report, the ultrasound probe disinfection market is segmented based on product, process, type of probe, end user, and region. Based on product, the market is segmented into instruments, consumables, and services. The consumables segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market in 2018. The ultrasound probe disinfection market, by process, is segmented into high-level disinfection and intermediate/low-level disinfection. The high-level disinfection segment is expected to account for a larger share of the market in 2018. This can be attributed to the growing number of ultrasound imaging procedures in surgeries and the increasing demand for automated disinfection systems for the high-level disinfection of TEE and endocavitary transducers. Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market Geographically, the global ultrasound probe disinfection market is segmented into North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. North America is expected to account for the largest share of the market in 2018. Also, this regional market is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This can be attributed to the increasing number of transvaginal, transrectal, abdominal, and intraoperative ultrasound procedures; growing number of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and ultrasound-guided interventional procedures (biopsies and venous access); rising adoption of high-level disinfectants; and the presence of leading market players in this region. However, the high cost of automated probe reprocessors and the reluctance to shift from manual disinfection methods to automated probe reprocessors are restraining the growth of this market. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 Ultrasound Probe Disinfection: Market Overview 4.2 Asia Pacific: Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market, By End User & Country, 2017 4.3 Geographic Snapshot of the Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market 4.4 Geographic Mix: Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market 4.5 Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market: Developing vs Developed Markets 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics: Impact Analysis 5.3 Drivers 5.3.1 Increasing Number of Ultrasound Imaging Procedures 5.3.2 Rising Incidence of Hospital-Acquired Infections Due to Improper Reprocessing of Ultrasound Probes 5.3.3 Increasing Adoption of Automated High-Level Disinfection Systems for Critical and Semi-Critical Ultrasound Probes 5.3.4 Government Regulations and Guidelines in Developed Markets 5.3.5 Technological Advancements in Ultrasound Probes 5.4 Market Restraints 5.4.1 High Cost of Automated Probe Reprocessors 5.4.2 Reluctance to Shift From Manual Disinfection Methods to Automated Probe Reprocessors 5.5 Market Opportunities 5.5.1 Increasing Birth Rates/Number of Pregnancies 5.6 Market Challenges 5.6.1 Lack of Knowledge About Probe Reprocessing 5.6.2 Inadequate Cleaning and Disinfection of Probes 6 Industry Insights 6.1 Industry Trends 6.1.1 Increasing Number of Collaborations in the Market 6.2 Regulatory Analysis 6.2.1 North America 6.2.1.1 Us 6.2.1.2 Canada 6.2.2 Europe 6.2.3 APAC 6.2.3.1 Australia 6.2.3.2 Japan 6.2.3.3 China 6.2.3.4 India 6.3 Strategic Benchmarking 7 Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market, By Product 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Instruments 7.2.1 Automated Probe Reprocessors 7.2.2 UV-C Disinfectors 7.2.3 Manual Reprocessors/Soaking Stations 7.2.4 Ultrasound Transducer Storage Cabinets 7.3 Consumables 7.3.1 Disinfectants, By Formulation 7.3.1.1 Disinfectant Wipes 7.3.1.2 Disinfectant Liquids 7.3.1.3 Disinfectant Sprays 7.3.2 Disinfectants, By Type 7.3.2.1 High-Level Disinfectants 7.3.2.2 Intermediate/Low-Level Disinfectants 7.3.3 Detergents 7.3.3.1 Enzymatic Detergents 7.3.3.2 Non-Enzymatic Detergents 7.4 Services 8 Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market, By Process 8.1 Introduction 8.2 High-Level Disinfection 8.3 Intermediate/Low-Level Disinfection 9 Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market, By Type of Probe 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Linear Transducers 9.3 Convex Transducers 9.4 Phased Array Transducers 9.5 Endocavitary Transducers 9.6 Transesophageal Echocardiography Transducers 9.7 Other Probes 10 Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market, By End User 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Hospitals & Diagnostic Imaging Centers 10.3 Maternity Centers 10.4 Ambulatory Care Centers 10.5 Research & Academic Institutes 10.6 Other End Users 11 Ultrasound Probe Disinfection Market, By Region 12 Competitive Landscape 12.1 Overview 12.2 Product Portfolio Matrix 12.3 Market Share Analysis 12.4 Competitive Situations and Trends 12.4.1 Product Launches and Approvals 12.4.2 Collaborations and Partnerships 12.4.3 Acquisitions 13 Company Profiles 13.1 Nanosonics, Ltd. 13.2 Civco Medical Solutions 13.3 Tristel PLC 13.4 CS Medical LLC 13.5 Steris PLC 13.6 Ecolab, Inc. 13.7 Virox Technologies, Inc. 13.8 Germitec S.A. 13.9 Schlke & Mayr GmbH (A Part of Air Liquide) 13.10 Parker Laboratories, Inc. 13.11 Metrex Research LLC (A Part of Danaher Corporation) 13.12 Advanced Sterilization Products (A Johnson &Johnson Company) For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6h6vrc/global_ultrasound?w=5 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com From November 10-12, 2018, an A-List group of 400+ Billionaires, Sheikhs, Royal Families and Business Leaders from around the world will converge at the Four Seasons Resort Jumeirah Beach under the High Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum. The elite group of attendees, which represents more than $2 trillion in investor wealth, will hear presentations from 80+ renowned global speakers. "I am pleased that our Family Office Summits have earned a reputation as the "Davos of Family Offices." As the latest in the line-up of Ritossa Family Office's Global Family Office Summits, the Dubai Summit will feature the world's leading experts discussing and debating actionable strategies for generating returns in a low yield environment, timely world events, foundation of a lifelong legacy, and top tier investment opportunities. It is indeed an honour to bring such a prestigious group together in Dubai," said Anthony Ritossa, Chairman of Ritossa Family Office, a family business dating back six hundred years to the Venetian Empire in Europe. "I am delighted to attend the Summit in Dubai and look forward to participate with leading family offices of the world in this event and be part of conversations that will impact our environment in a positive way," said His Royal Highness Prince Michel de Yougoslavi, Grandson of King Umberto of Italy and Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, Monaco. "This is a truly international event that brings together a global network of family offices and continuously offers fresh ideas and perspectives," said Nabil Nazer, Chief Investment Officer of Al Sulaiman Group, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "Anthony Ritossa's recent Global Family Office Investment Summit in Dubai last year was a huge success gathering top notch individuals sharing ideas and expertise from blockchain, cryptocurrencies, healthcare and many other technologies. We look forward to the November 2018 event," said Faris M. Al Tahtamooni, Senior Manager - International Ventures, The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, UAE. "Chainstarter Ventures is proud to be a sponsor for our good friend and host Anthony Ritossa. His Summits are the best of the best in a perfect setting. During his most recent Summit in Monaco we achieved $360 million of investments commitments," said Nick Ayton, Founder & CEO, Chainstarter and Family Office Crypto Advisor, United Kingdom. The Summit is dedicated to private, invitation-only, peer-to-peer conversation, networking and cross-border thought leadership and will educate substantial, like-minded families on what to look out for and how they are investing. Session themes will include: Elite Investor Insights for 2018 & Beyond; Spotlight on the Middle East; The Eternal Flame Inside Families and the DNA of Success; Artificial Intelligence & Machine Based Learning; Solar Energy; Cryptocurrency & Blockchain; Co-Investment Opportunities; Philanthropy & Impact Investing; and more. For details on future events and the invitation-only 7th Global Family Office Investment Summit in Dubai, please email - [email protected] or visit www.RitossaSummits.com. To view a list of event participants, please visit - http://ritossasummits.com/agenda.pdf Media Contact: Charlotte Luer +1-239-404-6785 [email protected] SOURCE Ritossa Family Office Related Links http://www.RitossaSummits.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in response to House passage of H.Res. 1071, as well as spending legislation that did not contain border wall funding requested by President Trump. "House Resolution 1071, which recognizes that allowing illegal immigrants the right to vote devalues the franchise and diminishes the voting power of United States citizens, was approved today in the House by a 279-72 vote, with 69 members simply voting present. Recently, a handful of local jurisdictions including San Francisco, CAwhich is mentioned specifically in the resolutionhave begun to not only allow, but actively encourage, illegal aliens to vote in certain municipal elections. "Allowing illegal aliens to vote in elections at the local, state or federal level is a slap in the face to the American people because it diminishes their voices by elevating those of foreign nationals who are in the country illegally. Moreover, granting voting privileges to non-citizens before they've finished their naturalization process demeans citizenship and waters down the very thing which most immigrants seek and cherish. "Unfortunately, this vote only further demonstrates that many Democrats in Congress are more concerned with their open borders agenda than they are with their fellow citizens. "FAIR applauds the Representatives who supported this resolution, albeit a non-binding one. They clearly recognize that our American community has the right to define standards of membership, and that includes the preservation of citizen-only voting. Likewise, these Representatives must also recognize that is the right of our nation to secure our borders and their responsibility to do. By once again refusing to adequately fund the border wall, these lawmakers have abdicated that responsibility. It's long past time for consistency and more tangible commitments to fix our immigration crisis." Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 ABOUT FAIR Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 2 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced. SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) Related Links http://www.www.fairus.org "It's my sincere wish that DIGNITY will serve as a call-to-action in support of all Indigenous Peoples," said Gluckstein, shown here with three generations of San Bushmen women. Her DIGNITY advocacy campaign in association with Amnesty International created a tipping point for President Barack Obama to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2010. "We're thrilled to present compelling photographs by Dana Gluckstein as we introduce our newly renovated Steinberg Museum of Art," said Barbara Applegate, museum director. "We invite Long Islanders to be inspired by our unique visible storage suite that makes viewing our collection of 5,000 objects feel limitless." "DIGNITY: Tribes in Transition" opens October 18, 2018 and runs until March 3, 2019. Dana Gluckstein will speak on opening night and sign copies of her book. There will be a preview for members of the media at 11 a.m. and a VIP preview reception with the artist at 5:30 p.m. The show will open to the public at 7 p.m. For more information about Dana Gluckstein, go to www.danagluckstein.com The Steinberg Museum of Art is on the ground floor of the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library, 720 Northern Boulevard, Brookville, NY 11548. About Long Island University (LIU) LIU is a nationally recognized teaching and research university. Since 1926, LIU has provided high quality academic programs taught by world-class faculty. LIU offers hundreds of accredited programs to approximately 16,000 students, with a network of over 200,000 alumni, including leaders in industries across the globe. Visit liu.edu for more information. SOURCE Long Island University Related Links http://liu.edu For the 8th and final qualification trial held at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona, an Orion test capsule was dropped from a C-17 aircraft at an altitude of 35,000 feet to verify the spacecraft's re-entry system, a complex assembly of 11 parachutes, cannon-like mortars and pyrotechnic devices that work in sequence to slow the capsule's descent for a safe landing on Earth. "As NASA's largest services provider, we are honored to play a vital role in partnering with NASA to ensure the safe return of future astronauts from the moon, Mars, and beyond," said Jacobs Aerospace, Technology, Environmental and Nuclear Senior Vice President Steve Arnette. Among more than 4,000 Jacobs people who support NASA, a team of more than 50 engineers and technicians worked with the agency in Houston over a span of more than 12 years to provide design, development and test services for the mission-critical parachute system. To date, such tests have evaluated Orion's parachute performance for various circumstances, including normal landing sequences, several failure scenarios and a variety of potential aerodynamic conditions to ensure the safe return of astronauts from deep space missions. Jacobs is a provider and integrator of full lifecycle aerospace capability including design and construction; base, mission and launch operations; sustaining capital maintenance; and secure and intelligent asset management, development, modification, and testing processes for fixed assets supporting national government, military, defense and NASA, as well as commercial space companies. Jacobs leads the global professional services sector delivering solutions for a more connected, sustainable world. With $15 billion in fiscal 2017 revenue when combined with full-year CH2M revenues and a talent force of more than 77,000, Jacobs provides a full spectrum of services including scientific, technical, professional and construction- and program-management for business, industrial, commercial, government and infrastructure sectors. For more information, visit www.jacobs.com, and connect with Jacobs on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Statements made in this release that are not based on historical fact are forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on management's current estimates and expectations as well as currently available competitive, financial and economic data. Forward-looking statements, however, are inherently uncertain. There are a variety of factors that could cause business results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. For a description of some of the factors which may occur that could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements please refer to our Form 10-K for the year ended September 29, 2017, and in particular the discussions contained under Items 1 - Business, 1A - Risk Factors, 3 - Legal Proceedings, and 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements made herein. For press/media inquiries: Kerrie Sparks 214.583.8433 Brian Morandi 720.286.0719 SOURCE Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Related Links http://www.jacobs.com BURLINGTON, Mass. and PLANO, Texas, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Keurig Dr Pepper (NYSE: KDP) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CORE Nutrition LLC at a value of $525 million, or approximately $435 million net of anticipated tax benefits. Founded in 2015, the rapidly growing Core Nutrition portfolio includes CORE Hydration, a premium, nutrient-enhanced bottled water, and CORE Organic, USDA-certified organic enhanced fruit hydration, both currently distributed by KDP. The acquisition of CORE Nutrition will be funded with KDP common stock, net of KDP's current equity investment and certain other contractual adjustments. The Company expects the transaction to be neutral to KDP's adjusted diluted earnings per share in 2019 and accretive thereafter. CORE has been a KDP allied brand since 2016, with KDP currently managing approximately two-thirds of the brand's U.S. distribution. Net sales of all CORE beverages have grown at an average annualized rate of approximately 115% over the past three years, with current retail sales[1] across both measured and unmeasured channels estimated in excess of $200 million in the latest 52 weeks. Commenting on the announcement, KDP CEO Bob Gamgort stated, "CORE has been a valued and successful allied brand partner, and we are pleased that this on-trend beverage will become part of our owned KDP family of brands. Our sales and distribution capabilities have helped fuel significant growth for the CORE portfolio. Through this transaction we intend to realize the full growth potential for the business." Lance Collins, founder of CORE commented, "We created CORE to meet the increasing desires for innovative, enhanced water offerings with functional benefits for today's modern consumer. KDP has been an outstanding partner for CORE and I am certain that, under its ownership, CORE will continue to see tremendous long-term success. I am a strong supporter of the KDP strategy and business model and am looking forward to being a shareholder in the company." Following the closing of the acquisition, both CORE Hydration and CORE Organic will continue to be distributed primarily through KDP's company-owned direct store delivery network and independent distributor network, while certain select existing CORE Nutrition distribution partners are expected to maintain their channel coverage. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of 2018. Evercore acted as financial advisor to KDP and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal counsel. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal counsel for CORE Nutrition and Whipstitch Capital provided a fairness opinion. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, qualification or exemption under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. [1] Retail sales based on IRI All-Outlet + Convenience channels and Company estimates for unmeasured channels. Investor Contacts Maria Sceppaguercio Keurig Dr Pepper T: 781-418-8136 / [email protected] Steve Alexander Keurig Dr Pepper T: 972-673-6769 / [email protected] Media Contact Katie Gilroy Keurig Dr Pepper T: 781-418-3345 / [email protected] ABOUT KEURIG DR PEPPER Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is a leading coffee and beverage company in North America, with annual revenue in excess of $11 billion. KDP holds leadership positions in soft drinks, specialty coffee and tea, water, juice and juice drinks and mixers, and markets the #1 single serve coffee brewing system in the U.S. The Company maintains an unrivaled distribution system that enables its portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partner brands to be available nearly everywhere people shop and consume beverages. With a wide range of hot and cold beverages that meet virtually any consumer need, KDP key brands include Keurig, Dr Pepper, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Canada Dry, Snapple, Bai, Mott's and The Original Donut Shop. The Company employs more than 25,000 employees and operates more than 120 offices, manufacturing plants, warehouses and distribution centers across North America. For more information, visit www.keurigdrpepper.com. SOURCE Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. Related Links http://www.keurigdrpepper.com NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone announced today at the 73rd Session of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) a partnership that brings together leading technology nonprofit Kiva , the U.N. Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) for the launch of a bold, new initiative designed to give the country's seven million citizens, most of whom have no credit history or formal identity, access to financial services. The centerpiece of the partnership is the new Kiva Protocol , which will create and establish a national digital identification system using distributed ledger technology (DLT). The system will help ensure that every citizen in Sierra Leone has secure and complete ownership of their personal data and information. "Through this implementation, Sierra Leone is setting out to build one of the most advanced, secure credit bureaus. It could serve as a model for both developing and developed nations in the future and has the potential to radically change the landscape of financial inclusion," said Xavier Michon, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCDF. "The Government of Sierra Leone has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UNDP, UNCDF and Kiva on strengthening our National Digital Identification and Credit Reference Bureau process," said President Maada Bio. "Sierra Leone will now modernize its Credit Reference Bureau and radically transform its financial inclusion landscape." Globally, 1.7 billion adults are unbanked and unable to access the financial services they need to improve their lives and their families' futures. Two of the major barriers to accessing financial services are a lack of formal identification and a lack of verifiable credit history. The new Kiva Protocol is designed to address these barriers by issuing digital identification to all citizens and enabling formal and informal financial institutions to contribute to a person's verifiable credit history. Currently, unbanked people cannot leverage financial transactions from the 'informal economy,' such as credit with a local shopkeeper, to build their credit history. The Kiva Protocol will capture a wide range of financial transactionsfrom bank loans to credit with a local shopkeeperto help people access the financial services they need, including loans for businesses, education or basic medical services. Kiva, the international nonprofit that has crowdfunded more than $1.2 billion in loans for people in more than 80 countries, is building the system that will record these transactions using distributed ledger technology. For 13 years, Kiva has worked to provide financial access to the unbanked and underserved, becoming a trusted name with strong partnerships across the global microfinance industry. The organization identified that a systems-level change in identification and credit history has the potential to unlock massive amounts of capital for the populations they serve, so began the hunt for a solution. "With this partnership in Sierra Leone, we hope to carve a path to a system of global identity and federated credit history," said Kiva CEO Neville Crawley. "This can unlock capital for the populations who need it most, allowing lenders to massively increase services and the flow of funds to the world's unbanked." Rollout of the Sierra Leone project is planned for 2019, after continued ongoing implementation discussions. For more information, visit kiva.org/protocol About Kiva Kiva is a nonprofit focused on expanding financial access for underserved people around the world. Since 2005, Kiva's global community of 1.7 million lenders has crowdfunded more than $1.2 billion in micro-loans to 3 million borrowers in more than 80 countries. On Kiva's lending platform, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school and realize their potential. Kiva also works to address the systemic issues that keep communities from accessing the financial services they need. About the United Nations Capital Development Fund The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world's 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers "last mile" finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. About the United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP) partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. For more about Sierra Leone, visit https://statehouse.gov.sl/ Interviews Available on Request Media Contact: Omar Renta (212) 561-7475 [email protected] SOURCE Kiva Related Links http://www.kiva.org SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial security and homeownership are at the heart of the American Dream, but many Latinos feel the idea of the American Dream could be disappearing, according to the latest State of the American Family Study by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). The new study examines American family attitudes towards finances and financial planning, and found that one-third (38 percent) of Latinos believe the American Dream is disappearing. When asked about the definition of the American Dream, not living paycheck to paycheck is more likely to be part of the American Dream for Latinos. Latino households are more likely to have a broader definition of family that includes extended family, and one in four (24 percent) worry about being able to care for their parents as well as their own nuclear family. "With strong family and cultural values, Latino families are juggling multiple financial priorities, such as a future caregiver role for elderly parents," says David Hufnagel, Latino market director at MassMutual. "We want to empower families with resources to help them achieve their long-term financial goals and prepare them to protect their loved ones from unexpected events." Juggling Financial Priorities Latinos face some big challenges, including having the lowest household income of all segments surveyed and being among the least prepared for a financial emergency. With an average household income of $107,801 of those surveyed, it appears that Latinos have relatively lower accumulated wealth. Latinos have diverse financial priorities: Having an emergency fund (81 percent) Ensuring stable income for the family in case of an unexpected event (76 percent) Not becoming a financial burden for family (74 percent) Developing a comprehensive financial plan (65 percent) Paying for college education (61 percent) Interestingly, 75 percent of those who selected homeownership as part of their American Dream are confident that they will one day own a home if they do not already. However, although short-term needs such as building an emergency fund and ensuring stable family income if the unexpected happens are top priorities, they worry about meeting competing long-term goals as well as issues beyond their control. Paying Down Debt Paying for higher education and wanting to play an active role in preparing children for future success through financial education are especially important for Latinos. But as student debt levels continue to rise in the U.S., many families are worried about managing both day-to-day expenses and paying down debt. The majority of Latinos carry some type of debt in the form of mortgages, credit cards and student loans: 63% have a mortgage. The average mortgage debt is $181,292 . . 64% have credit card debt. The average credit card debt is $9,652 . . 27% have student loan debt. The average student loan debt is $32,650 . Preparing for Financial Emergencies Latinos are less prepared than other consumer populations surveyed for a financial emergency with 19 percent having less than a month of monthly expenses saved. 28% of Latinos have 1-3 months of expenses saved if there was an emergency. 23% of Latinos have 3-6 months of expenses saved if there was an emergency. 21% of Latinos have more than 6 months of their monthly expenses if there was an emergency. "We want to help mitigate worry and build confidence in attaining the American Dream," says Hufnagel. Our financial advisors, many whom are bilingual, are committed to providing practical action steps to help families in their local communities meet both short-term financial goals and long-term financial security." MassMutual offers the following three financial tips to help address top financial concerns of Latinos: Pay down debt: The key is to find the proper balance between debt, income, savings, and retirement as part of an overall financial strategy. Start to find that balance by viewing the elimination of your debt as a long-term financial goal one that is planned for, reviewed, and assessed regularly. Consider creating a debt management plan, or use MassMutual's 5- 10-15-20 calculator, which can help address your financial goals and concerns: income, savings, retirement and debt. Establish an emergency fund: An emergency fund is a reserve devoted to unplanned financial disasters such as sudden job loss, a house fire or a trip to the hospital. To play it safe, financial professionals recommend couples sock away between six to 12 months' worth of living expenses in a liquid, interest bearing account more if your job security is in question or you are self-employed. Save for college: Start saving as early as you can, even at birth for a child's education. Remember that time is on your side to have your money work for you through interest earned and compounded over the years. With a comprehensive savings strategy, you can help reduce or possibly eliminate your child's need for student loans. To help you figure out how much you need to save, visit the MassMutual college savings calculator . Other helpful financial tips and an overview of research findings from Latino families and other groups can be found at massmutual.com/familystudy To find a local financial advisor near you, visit www.MassMutual.com. Methodology The State of the American Family survey was conducted for MassMutual by Isobar between January 19 and February 7, 2018 via a 20-minute online questionnaire. The survey comprised 3,235 total interviews with Americans, including 562 Americans who identified themselves as Hispanic. The vast majority of these interviews (2,730) were conducted with men and women aged 25-64, with household incomes equal to or greater than $50,000 and with dependents under age 26 for whom they are financially responsible. Respondents had to contribute at least 40% to decisions regarding financial matters in their household to qualify. Results were weighted to the March 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey for age, income, gender, income, ethnicity, region, and weighted to the 2016 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample for same sex married/partnered couples, to be representative of American families in this age and income bracket. This study includes trending data for the previous survey wave conducted in 2013. The sampling margin of error for this study is +/- 1. 88 percentage points at the 95% confidence level when looking at the results for the 2,730 interviews at a total level. About MassMutual MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. MassMutual offers a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, annuities, retirement plans and other employee benefits. For more information, visit www.massmutual.com. Media Maria Fernanda Trochimezuk Phone: (310) 696-9585 Email: [email protected] CRN202008-235023 SOURCE MassMutual Related Links http://www.massmutual.com NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tiger Group is currently accepting offers for a sealed-bid offering of the iconic TV and film production equipment rental and sales house Birns & Sawyer following the retirement of the business' owner. All assets are being offered as a turnkey opportunity, with bids due by October 16th. Turnkey purchaser of Birns & Sawyer would get a wide selection of state-of-the-art cameras. Birns & Sawyer's assets also include an array of high-quality individual lenses and sets. Founded in 1954, Birns & Sawyer is Los Angeles' original motion picture camera rental house. The company rented equipment used on classic movies like Lawrence of Arabia, Easy Rider and Bullitt. In recent years, Birns & Sawyer emerged as a full-solution digital AV rental and sales house for any kind of production. In 1998, cinematographer/gaffer William Meurer acquired Birns & Sawyer and merged the legacy business with his existing lighting and grip company, Gunner Lighting, making Birns & Sawyer a full solution rental house for any production. "The seller, a 40-year veteran in the production industry, is ready to pass the baton to the next generation rental owner and enjoy his retirement," said Jonathan Holiday of Tiger's Commercial & Industrial Division. "This sale presents an extraordinary opportunity to acquire a Hollywood legend that historically generated $2.0 million in annual revenues with profit margins of 15% to 20%." Key inventory offered in the turnkey sale includes well-maintained cameras from Arri, Panasonic, and Sony; and lenses from manufacturers like Angenieux, Arri, Zeiss, Fujinon, Canon, Nikkor, and Cooke. Accessory equipment includes HD monitors, lens controls, data storage, matte boxes, filters, tripods, dollies, jobs, light kits, batteries, stands, overheads, chimeras, and generators. Intellectual property includes the company name, website, phone number, and customer list. Other assets include two production vans. Bids are due by 3:00 p.m. (PT) on Oct. 16. All interested parties should contact Jonathan Holiday of Tiger's Commercial & Industrial division: [email protected] to receive a bid package. The Birns & Sawyer offering represents the latest in a series of sales and auctions from Tiger for AV companies based in Southern California and other parts of the U.S. For further information, visit: www.soldtiger.com Media Contacts: At Tiger Commercial & Industrial Division, Jonathan Holiday (805) 497-4999, at Parness & Associates Public Relations, Bill Parness, [email protected], (732) 290-0121 or Mobile: 732-673-6852. SOURCE Tiger Group Related Links https://www.tigergroup.com BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Three Louisiana Healthcare Connections employees will be among the presenters at the Louisiana Primary Care Association (LPCA) 2018 Annual Conference, Oct. 9-12, in Shreveport. Chief Operating Officer Kendra Case, RN, MBA, will present, "A Hunger for Health: Lessons Learned from a Strategy to Address Social Determinants of Health," an overview of Louisiana Healthcare Connections' multi-tiered program to address food insecurity and hunger in Louisiana. With more than 20 percent of the state's population classified as food insecure, the Healthy Louisiana Medicaid health plan recognized that an integrated partnership with communities and healthcare providers was necessary to combat the negative effects of hunger on health. "Access to quality-driven, evidence-based care is critical to improving health outcomes, but families need more to achieve long-term improvements in their health," says Case. "We look forward to sharing what we've learned with LPCA's membership, and to identifying ways we can continue to partner with Louisiana's network of community health centers to reduce the impact of hunger in our state." Joining Case in Shreveport will be Louisiana Healthcare Connections' Vice President of Quality Improvement, Joseph Tidwell, PT, MHA, CPHQ, and Chelsea Graves, Community Relations Principal, who will co-present, "Quality Partnerships: Closing Care Gaps at the Community Level," with Stephenie Marshall, Executive Director of Daughters of Charity. They will present a quality-driven model that partners the health plan with Daughters of Charity in closing care gaps for one of the state's most vulnerable populations. "As our state transitions to a value-based healthcare system, we have been fortunate to have partners that share our commitment to eliminating the barriers that prevent vulnerable populations from accessing key preventive and primary healthcare services," Tidwell says. "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to share the successes achieved through this partnership with HCCN's membership." "The Louisiana Primary Care Association is a respected partner, and having our executives present at LPCA's annual conference is a tremendous honor," says Jamie Schlottman, Plan President & CEO. "Louisiana's network of community health centers serve over 385,000 residents each year, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share with, and learn from, them at this conference." Case's presentation is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2018. Tidwell, Graves and Marshall will present as part of a panel discussion during the LPCA's Health Center Control Network (HCCN) pre-conference workshop on Oct. 9, 2018. Schlottman will offer welcoming remarks to conference attendees at the Opening Plenary session at 8 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2018. The annual conference is LPCA's largest event of the year, providing attendees with access to evidence-based educational content. With the theme of, "Community Health Centers: Leading the Future of Value Based Care," the conference will mark its 35th year at the Shreveport Convention Center. About Louisiana Healthcare Connections Established to deliver quality healthcare through local, regional and community-based partners, Louisiana Healthcare Connections is a Healthy Louisiana Plan headquartered in Baton Rouge, La. Louisiana Healthcare Connections exists to improve the health of its members through focused, compassionate and coordinated care. Because Louisiana Healthcare Connections believes healthy is a way of life, its members benefit from programs and services designed for their personal well-being. For more information, www.LouisianaHealthConnect.com. SOURCE Louisiana Healthcare Connections Related Links https://www.louisianahealthconnect.com CHICAGO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- One year since launching to the public, ShoppingGives has been named a finalist for "Best Tech Startup" by Tech in Motion for the Fourth Annual Timmy Awards, recognizing top workplaces for tech professionals in the Chicago area. Designed to empower social impact with every purchase, ShoppingGives is built from a community of retailers and nonprofits that give back to one another through their customers and supporters. The community is created through two unique technologies: an intuitive online fundraising platform, and a new technology called Change Commerce. Through a fully-integrated digital solution, Change Commerce creates an exchange between retailers and nonprofits, driven by the consumer as the catalyst. This process builds customer loyalty and trust through personalized charitable giving; retailers are able to integrate Change Commerce directly into their checkout process, creating a giving moment with every purchase. "Through our combination of industry disrupting technology and strong team of innovative leaders, Change Commerce is ready to make an impact for retailers, nonprofits, and consumers -- and already has," says ShoppingGives Founder & CEO Ronny Sage. "Our program allows stores to easily measure their return on donation spend for their CSR and marketing strategies." Early adopters of Change Commerce include women's luxury apparel White + Warren and Kinly , and wearables company Motiv . For every dollar made, two dollars go back to the nonprofits chosen by the retailer partners' customers. Voting for Chicago's 2018 Timmy Awards is open through Wednesday, October 3. Winners will be chosen by a panel of expert judges and communal votes. The 2018 Timmy Awards will be held on Wednesday, October 24 at 1871 (222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1212) from 6 to 8 p.m. ABOUT SHOPPINGGIVES ShoppingGives exists to create social impact with every purchase, using its new-to-market technology to solve problems facing retailers today: loyalty and customer engagement, promoting corporate social responsibility. ShoppingGives has unveiled its innovative technology to offer a multi-layered solution called Change Commerce, which creates an exchange between retailers and nonprofits, driven by the consumer as the catalyst. As it continues to launch with additional national partners, already driving both increased response rate and conversion rate, Change Commerce is poised to disrupt the retailer giving industry in favor of strong new social impact. Visit https://shoppinggives.com . Press Contact: Emmy Carragher [email protected] SOURCE ShoppingGives A strong advocate for the commercialization of space and a trailblazer in his field, Gold guides Maxar through the regulatory and legal landscape affecting the space industry, enabling the company to deliver on its promise of unlocking space for both commercial and government organizations. Additionally, Gold continues to serve as the Chair of the Federal Aviation Administration's Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. "While technical development is important, it remains equally important for regulatory and policy to keep pace. There are numerous challenges ahead on this front, particularly as NASA seeks to develop and execute additional commercial activities on the International Space Station and transition to private sector space stations. Industry is accelerating innovation for the new space economy, and developing policies wherein NASA can effectively leverage and partner with the private sector is vital," Gold said. "This new committee will provide independent advice and perspectives to Agency leadership in support of NASA's ambitious plans for increasingly utilizing public-private partnerships and bolstering commercial initiatives. These efforts present great opportunities but also substantial legal and policy issues that need to be addressed." NASA Advisory Council members are appointed by the NASA Administrator and provide expertise and insight regarding the agency's strategic plans, programs, and policies. Committee members, who serve for two-year terms, come from diverse backgrounds in industry, academia, government, and other sectors. Gold has written three law review articles and one book chapter on the intersection of export controls and commercial space; testified before both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on space policy and ISS utilization; served as a private sector adviser to the U.S. Department of State for the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Subcommittee meetings; and supported the National Academies as a past member of the Space Technology Industry-Government-University Roundtable and the Committee on International Security and Arms Control as a space policy expert. Moreover, Gold is a recipient of the NASA Group Achievement Award for his role in the successful development and deployment of an experimental expandable space station module. Gold is admitted to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia, and he is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. About Maxar Technologies As a global leader of advanced space technology solutions, Maxar Technologies (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates) is at the nexus of the new space economy, developing and sustaining the infrastructure and delivering the information, services, systems that unlock the promise of space for commercial and government markets. As a trusted partner, Maxar Technologies provides vertically integrated capabilities and expertise including satellites, Earth imagery, robotics, geospatial data and analytics to help customers anticipate and address their most complex mission-critical challenges with confidence. With more than 6,500 employees in over 30 global locations, the Maxar Technologies portfolio of commercial space brands includes MDA, SSL, DigitalGlobe and Radiant Solutions. Every day, billions of people rely on Maxar to communicate, share information and data, and deliver insights that Build a Better World. Maxar trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange as MAXR. For more information, visit www.maxar.com. Investor Relations Contact Jason Gursky Maxar Technologies 1-303-684-2207 [email protected] Media Contact Turner Brinton Maxar Technologies 1-303-684-4545 [email protected] SOURCE Maxar Technologies Ltd. Related Links www.maxar.com "We want to bring people together around causes our customers care about. NBCF is great fit because so many families, including my own, have supported women they love during a battle with breast cancer. Now, our company aims to support these women too," said The Saxton Group's co-CEO, Adam Saxton. Limited edition pink sprinkle cookies will be sold from October 1 through October 31. For a list of The Saxton Group restaurants offering the cookies, visit: http://www.thesaxtongroup.com/locations. "NBCF is grateful for the partnership this October with The Saxton Group's McAlister's Deli's restaurants for their 'Cookies for a Cause' campaign to support our mission of Helping Women Now," said NBCF Founder & CEO, Janelle Hail. "Their donation will enable us to continue providing help and inspiring hope to women affected by breast cancer across the U.S." About McAlister's Deli Founded in 1989, McAlister's Deli is a fast casual restaurant chain known for its genuine hospitality, sandwiches, spuds, soups, salads, desserts and McAlister's Famous Sweet Tea. In addition to dine-in and take-out service, McAlister's also offers catering with a selection of sandwich trays, box lunches, desserts, a hot spud bar and more. With numerous industry accolades, the McAlister's brand has more than 420 restaurants in 28 states. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, visit www.mcalistersdeli.com. About The Saxton Group The Saxton Group is a Dallas based multi-unit restaurant franchisee with a 35-year history of exclusively franchising restaurant leading brands. The company is the largest McAlister's Deli franchisee in the country and is a Restaurant Franchise Monitor Top 100 Franchisee. The Saxton Group is family owned and operated with rich history of multi-unit development. Initially a small operation with a single restaurant, the group has evolved into industry veterans and leaders with over 80 locations in six states. They take pride in operating the McAlister's Deli brand at the very highest level and forming deep relationships within the communities where their restaurants are located. For more information, please visit www.thesaxtongroup.com. About National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. Recognized as one of the leading breast cancer organizations in the world, National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is Helping Women Now by providing early detection, education and support services to those affected by breast cancer. A recipient of Charity Navigator's highest 4-star rating for 13 years, NBCF provides support through their National Mammography Program, Beyond The Shock, breast health education, and research programs. For more information, please visit www.nbcf.org. SOURCE McAlisters Deli Related Links http://www.thesaxtongroup.com GREEN BAY, Wis., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TourGuide Solutions and the Manufacturing Institute, the social impact arm of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) are joining forces to educate the next generation on 21st-century, modern manufacturing opportunities and inspire and recruit them to become the next generation of manufacturers. As a Preferred Vendor sponsor of Manufacturing Day, TourGuide Solutions is providing substantial support for the nation's largest one-day celebration of manufacturing, which focuses on showing young people, parents and educators the opportunities a career in manufacturing offers. Manufacturing Day will take place on October 5, 2018. TourGuide Solutions is this year's tour guide system provider for Manufacturing Day tour hosts. Official Tour Headset Provider of Manufacturing Day. As a Preferred Vendor sponsor of Manufacturing Day, TourGuide Solutions is providing substantial support for the nation's largest one-day celebration of manufacturing, which focuses on showing young people, parents and educators the opportunities a career in manufacturing offers. "Manufacturers need the next generation to join the team. We thank our many generous sponsors, like TourGuide Solutions, who are working together to show young people the future they can create in modern manufacturing," said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons, who also serves as board chairman of The Manufacturing Institute. "Our industry is facing a workforce crisiswith far more jobs open than we have people to fill them. It's a challenge all manufacturers are tacklingbut it also presents promising opportunities for those looking for a meaningful, rewarding career." TourGuide Solutions is North America's leading provider of wireless audio headsets for tours, training and events. TourGuide Solutions can help to amplify brands and elevate tour experience. MFG Day Tour Hosts are eligible for a 20% discount when they rent a select tour guide systems product. Visit www.tourguidesolutions.com/mfgday to learn more. "TourGuide Solutions is honored to partner with Manufacturing Day," said Bridget Pedersen, marketing and business development manager at TourGuide Solutions. "Manufacturing Day is a great opportunity for manufacturers to show guests modern practices and attract future recruits. Our team works as an extension to manufacturers that want to stand out and not shout. TourGuide Solutions' wireless audio headsets allow tour hosts to deliver their message without complications, leaving their guests with a positive, lasting impression." "Our Manufacturing Day initiative provides so many great opportunities to show young people the endless possibilities of modern manufacturing, and thanks to TourGuide Solutions' leadership, I'm confident we'll be able to inspire even more to picture themselves in an exciting new manufacturing career. That has never been more important," said Manufacturing Institute Executive Director Carolyn Lee. "Manufacturing faces an industry workforce crisis with nearly half a million jobs going unfilled today and millions more projected to go unfilled in the years to come. That's why The Manufacturing Institute, in concert with good sponsors like TourGuide Solutions, works so hard every day to promote modern manufacturing and jumpstart new approaches to growing manufacturing talentespecially through important programs like this one." First held in 2012 and organized by its founderthe Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, InternationalManufacturing Day gives manufacturers the opportunity to address the skills gaps they face, connect with future generations, take charge of the public image of manufacturing and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the industry as a whole. Learn more about Manufacturing Day and the significant impact this event has across the nation here. Media Contact: Bridget Pedersen [email protected] 920-419-2094 SOURCE TourGuide Solutions CHICAGO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- America's libraries are home to countless volumes and voices of diverse writers. They also are trusted public spaces for people to connect, receive community information and grow as readers and writers. The Public Library Association (PLA) today announced a new national writing contest that aims to build on the rich legacy of these vital community institutions. The contest invites writers of all backgrounds to submit short stories on the theme of courage. Winners can receive up to $1,000 and have the opportunity to be published in Short Story DispensersATM-like kiosks that print short stories in a range of genresaround the world. The contest is hosted in collaboration with Short Edition, the creator of Short Story Dispensers, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. "Librarians know that literacy and reading are foundational for full civic participation. This partnership bolsters creative community expression and engagementinspiring those who write to read more, and those who read to write better," said PLA President Monique le Conge Ziesenhenne, PhD. "Our hope for this contest is to further connect our communities with literature, local libraries and each other." The contest is part of the Fostering Creative Community Connections project, an ongoing effort to promote reading and literary joy; community engagement; library programs and services; and creative expression from diverse writers. As part of the initiative, four public libraries in communities where Knight Foundation invests have deployed Short Story Dispensers in public spacesincluding at airports, hospitals and museumsto connect more people, wherever they may be, with more stories wherever they are. "Fiction often gives a voice to people who aren't given the chance to tell their own story," said Christophe Sibieude, co-founder of Short Edition. "It can serve as a space for writers to express themselves freely, to dive into worlds that perhaps are often ignored or to which people turn a blind eye, or to open up space for needed conversation about reality by reflecting it in a fictional world. To writeand to be read by othersis to have courage." Knight Foundation is funding the contest as part of its mission to foster informed and engaged communities, which it believes are essential for a healthy democracy. "Public libraries are a cornerstone of communityconnecting people with local stories, history and each other. In the digital age, it's critical for libraries to explore innovative ways to engage the public, so they can continue in this role," said Lilian Coral, Knight Foundation director for national strategy and technology innovation. Applicants can submit stories of fiction online at PLA.short-edition.com today through Oct. 30 at 11:59 p.m. CST. Readers can like and comment on submissions on the Short Edition website , where popular stories will be featured. A jury of qualified editors, librarians and authors will review and select winning entries to receive cash prizes and the opportunity to be published in the Short Story Dispensers. No purchase is necessary to participate. The contest is open to U.S. residents only. A complete list of contest guidelines can be found at PLA.short-edition.com . About the Public Library Association The Public Library Association (PLA) is the largest association dedicated to supporting the unique and evolving needs of public library professionals. Founded in 1944, PLA serves nearly 9,000 members in public libraries large and small in communities across the United States and Canada, with a growing presence around the world. PLA strives to help its members shape the essential institution of public libraries by serving as an indispensable ally for public library leaders. For more information about PLA, contact the PLA office at 1 (800) 545-2433, ext.5PLA, or [email protected] . About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org . About Short Edition The French publishing house, Short Edition, was created in 2011. Since then, it has fostered a robust community of international authors, generated more than 25 million readings and has more than 250,000 subscribers on its collaborative platform. Short Edition's aim is to adapt literature to the modern world by combining short fiction, community and technology. Their Short Story Dispensers, created in 2016, are elevating the role of story in everyday lives. SOURCE Public Library Association SEATTLE, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- To further provide customers with access to more convenient services in their neighborhood, Nordstrom, Inc. today announced Nordstrom Local Brentwood (214 26th Street) will open its doors on Sept. 28th and Nordstrom Local Downtown Los Angeles (The Bloc, 750 W. 7th Street, Suite S200) will open on Oct. 12. Both stores bring unique services and design aesthetics to reflect the needs of customers who live nearby. Nordstrom opened its first Nordstrom Local on Melrose in Los Angeles in October 2017. These neighborhood hubs offer customers the opportunity to shop and access Nordstrom services in a convenient, central location. The opening of the two additional locations are one piece of Nordstrom's overall local market strategy where the company is combining the scale of its national infrastructure with its local assets of people, product and place to help reimagine the shopping experience for customers. Additionally, Nordstrom is introducing a new feature called "Get It Fast" on Nordstrom.com and the mobile app for customers in eligible zip codes in Los Angeles. Get It Fast will provide customers with a real-time view of inventory available no later than next day. They can choose a convenient Nordstrom Local or Nordstrom location to pick up their purchase or opt for free next day shipping to their Los Angeles address. "Los Angeles is one of our most highly-engaged markets, with roughly four million active customers," said Jamie Nordstrom, president of stores. "Our customers have told us they want to shop where, how and when they choose. One of our goals with Nordstrom Local is to help provide them with a seamless and convenient experience, bringing services like in-store pick up of online orders, alterations, personal styling and more right to their neighborhood." Nordstrom Local Services offered at Brentwood and Downtown locations Like the location on Melrose, customers in Nordstrom Local Brentwood and Downtown hubs can enjoy consultations with personal stylists, Buy Online & Pick-up in Store, alterations, curbside pickup, fast and easy returns from Nordstrom.com and other online third-party retailers, Trunk Club services, refreshments and elevated gift wrapping in partnership with Paper Source. Both locations will be furnished by Anthropologie Home, who is collaborating with Nordstrom to outfit the stores with the latest in home goods and accessories. Each of the Nordstrom Locals will also offer dry cleaning services in partnership with a Los Angeles area dry cleaner. About Nordstrom Local Brentwood The design of the approximately 1,200-square-foot Brentwood store, will focus on styling and alterations. The ambiance is feminine with copper lighting pendants, curved furniture, soft lights, white walls and wood accents. In the daytime, the store welcomes lots of natural light. About Nordstrom Local Downtown Los Angeles The approximately 2,200-square-foot downtown Los Angeles store, will offer an on-site concierge and barber services in partnership with Baxter of California as well as shoe, handbag and luggage repair services in partnership with a local cobbler. Customers will also be able to purchase grab and go food at this location. The store's design will reflect the city's unique energy through an industrial decor complete with open ceilings, exposed ducts, deep saturated colors, woven wall art and hand-crafted wooden accented furniture. "Our customer feedback for our Melrose location, which opened in fall 2017, has been positive. Many of our Nordstrom Local customers typically live within two miles of the store and shop more regularly than other customers," said Shea Jensen, Nordstrom senior vice president of customer experience. "We are really excited to introduce two new Nordstrom Local stores to our customers and neighbors in Brentwood and downtown Los Angeles and look forward to seeing how they engage with these two new highly-customized locations." About Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion retailer based in the U.S. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 377 stores in 40 states, including 123 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 242 Nordstrom Rack stores; three Jeffrey boutiques; two clearance stores; six Trunk Club clubhouses; and its Nordstrom Local service concept. Additionally, customers are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com, HauteLook and TrunkClub.com. Nordstrom, Inc.'s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN. MEDIA CONTACT: Karin Muskopf Nordstrom, Inc. [email protected] 1-877-746-6228 SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc. Related Links http://www.nordstrom.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study from the National Art Education Association (NAEA) and the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) shows that facilitated classroom visits to an art museum had a measurable impact on key aspects of student learning. The comprehensive study, conducted over a four year period, involved more than 2,600 students in grades 4 through 6, and included facilitated experiences at six art museums across the United States: Columbus Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Orlando Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design Museum and Walters Art Museum. Titled the "Impact of Art Museum Programs on Students Research Study," the results demonstrate that there are a variety of educational benefits to classroom visits to art museums, across four areas: QUESTIONING As students observe works of art, they formulate questions and practice key critical thinking and communication skills. Inquiry-based approaches prompt student dialogue that activates collaborative learning and demonstrates how questions function as tools to surface meaning. MULTIPLE INTERPRETATIONS A facilitated, inquiry-based single-visit art museum program can encourage students to practice listening and respectful debate and discover different interpretations of art objects. PHYSICALITY OF ART Little compares to experiencing works of art in a museum. Seeing original works of art and participating in a facilitated, inquiry-based art museum program engages the senses, holds students' attention. and stimulates questions about artists' choices and creative processes. EMOTIVE RECALL The emotional impact of first-hand encounters with works of art in a museum setting can inspire greater recall and more detailed description, which can lead to more complex interpretations. A symposium, to be held at the Detroit Institute of Arts on Saturday, October 13, 2018, will be an opportunity to examine the study and its results in more detail. All study publications and final reports, in addition to a Study User Guide, will be made available at http://bit.ly/ArtImpactStudy "This study shows that facilitated engagement with original works of art in an art museum has a strong impact on students, inspiring them to question, understand, and investigate. Facilitated museum experiences inspire students to look closely, and as they do, they wonder, explore, share ideas, and discover personal connections. Facilitated single-visit art museum programs that use inquiry and discussion-based teaching practices also stimulate and foster students' creativity and curiosity," said Deborah B. Reeve, EdD, Executive Director of the National Art Education Association. "These findings are consistent with the work that art museums do with audiences of all ages and abilities, from young children with autism to aging Alzheimer's patients, to doctors and detectives who use artworks as study materials. Practicing skills such as observation across a variety of learning environments clearly has the potential to contribute to meaningful cognitive gains. We are grateful to the NAEA for collaborating with us on this study to explore this topic in such depth," said Christine Anagnos, Executive Director of the Association of Art Museum Directors. The four-year study was conducted by research partner Randi Korn & Associates (RK&A). Support was provided by a National Leadership Grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and The Samuel H. Kress Foundation. SOURCE National Art Education Association NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced VIVO Cannabis Inc. (TSX-V: ABCN;OTCQX: VVCIF), a Canadian licensed producer of medical cannabis, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market. VIVO Cannabis upgraded to OTCQX from the OTCQB Venture Market. VIVO Cannabis begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbol "VVCIF." U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. "Congratulations to VIVO Cannabis on upgrading to the OTCQX Best Market," said Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group. "VIVO Cannabis joins more than 28 companies this year that have utilized the OTCQB Venture Market to build visibility and graduate to the OTCQX Best Market. We look forward to continuing to support the company and its investors." "Our decision to move to the OTCQX Best Market reflects the building interest in our story and will allow us to increase our exposure to the investment community, both in Canada and internationally," stated Barry Fishman, CEO of VIVO. "We are excited to increase liquidity and transparency for our shareholders through an established and respected platform." VIVO Cannabis was sponsored for OTCQX by J.P. Galda & Co., a qualified third-party firm responsible for providing guidance on OTCQX requirements and recommending membership. About VIVO Cannabis Inc. VIVO, based in Napanee, Ontario, is recognized for trusted, high-quality products and services. It holds production and sales licenses from Health Canada and operates world-class indoor cultivation facilities with proprietary plant-growing technology. VIVO has a collection of premium brands targeting unique customer segments, including Beacon Medical, FIRESIDE, Canna Farms and Lumina. In August 2018, VIVO acquired Canna Farms Limited, a premium cannabis company based in Hope, British Columbia. Canna Farms was B.C.'s first Licensed Producer and has several years of craft cultivation experience and expertise, as well as a significant patient base and positive cash flow. The Company is significantly expanding its production capacity and pursuing partnership and product development opportunities domestically, as well as in select international markets, including Germany and Australia. VIVO also operates Harvest Medicine, a patient-centric and highly scalable network of specialty medical cannabis clinics as well as a new free telemedicine app providing best-in-class education and support to over 15,000 patients. VIVO has a healthy balance sheet with over $100 million in cash and is well-positioned to accelerate the growth of our business, in Canada and internationally. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC and SEC regulated ATS. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contact: OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PayNearMe, a service of Handle Financial , announced today the release of the industry's only complete mobile-first payment platform, enabling merchants to accept payments from their consumers at any time, anywhere, and any way they want to pay. The expanded system provides the ability to accept debit, credit and ACH payments in addition to cash; and features payment reminders and mobile wallet integration. The PayNearMe system was initially designed to accept cash from underserved consumers for online goods and services at more than 27,000 retail locations nationwide, including 7-Eleven, ACE Cash Express, Casey's General Stores and Family Dollar. PayNearMe greatly reduces the expense and operational challenges of accepting cash while providing consumers a fast, easy way to make payments. These benefits and ease of use are now being extended to include all forms of payment. With the launch of PayNearMe's debit, credit and ACH payment capabilities, merchants can now securely accept and manage all types of payments, driving more on-time payments. The mobile-first design offers a simple and intuitive user experience that makes paying faster and more convenient. Consumers can store their payment credentials in their mobile wallets for easy access, and receive timely text reminders when their payments are due. Competitive solutions require the use of third-party products at additional cost that also increase complexity for consumers and merchants. "PayNearMe has consistently delivered innovative yet simple payment solutions to address lenders' most pressing needs," said Danny Shader, CEO of Handle Financial and founder of PayNearMe. "Today, we are introducing the industry's first complete payment platform, putting cash, debit, credit and ACH all together in one single trusted platform, along with payment reminders and mobile wallet integration. It has never been easier for lenders to process all of their payments while delivering an outstanding mobile-first experience to their customers." PayNearMe's superior service provides merchants with best-in-class support, faster implementation and setup times; and three simple ways to integrate. PayNearMe's transparent fee structure eliminates the hidden or confusing fees charged by competitive offerings, and makes bills clear and easy to understand. "We are incredibly excited to gain the ability to process all forms of payment through our most trusted payment platform," said Mike Meltser, CEO of Capital Auto Financial. "The interface is very easy-to-use and gives us a number of ways to engage our customers to ensure on-time payments without additional charges or hidden fees." "PayNearMe's debit and cash payment options have worked extremely well for our members," said Marcus Berkowitz, Senior Director, Technology and Innovation at Microfinance organization, Grameen America. "Making payments by debit card has proven to be faster, more convenient, and hugely beneficial for them." To learn more about the expanded PayNearMe solution for billers or to experience a quick free demo, please visit www.paynearme.com/business or email [email protected] . About Handle Financial Handle Financial is a fintech platform company providing businesses, government agencies and financial institutions with technologies for money movement, bill presentment, and payment. Handle Financial's core offering, PayNearMe, processes electronic payments in the form of debit, credit and ACH. It also gives businesses and government agencies access to 27,000 retail stores through which they can accept cash payments from customers. To learn more, please visit http://handlefinancial.com/ and follow us on Twitter @ HandleFinancial . PayNearMe and Handle Financial are trademarks or registered trademarks of Handle Financial, Inc. About PayNearMe PayNearMe , a service of PayNearMe MT, Inc., has enabled government agencies and businesses to accept cash payments remotely since 2009. In 2018, PayNearMe expanded to include debit, credit or ACH payments, in addition to cash. To make a cash payment in their own neighborhood, consumers visit any of our 27,000 trusted locations in the U.S., which include 7-Eleven, Family Dollar, Casey's General Stores and ACE Cash Express stores. PayNearMe processes cash payments for the IRS, Comcast, Greyhound, Oportun and the California Department of Child Support Services, among others. PayNearMe is offered by PayNearMe MT, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Handle Financial, Inc. Follow PayNearMe on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook . Follow Handle Financial on Twitter @ HandleFinancial . 2018 Handle Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. Handle Financial and PayNearMe are trademarks or registered trademarks of Handle Financial. Media Contact: Krithika Rajaraman, IDPR for Handle Financial [email protected] 248.765.4834 SOURCE Handle Financial Related Links http://handlefinancial.com/ HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), the Department of Agriculture, and the Pennsylvania Winery Association (PWA) invite Pennsylvania wine lovers to celebrate October as Pennsylvania Wine Month and explore the wide range of products produced in the commonwealth. All Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection stores will feature Pennsylvania wines at their regularly scheduled in-store wine tastings the weekend of Oct. 5 through Oct. 7. Additionally, wine specialists at Premium Collection stores will add Pennsylvania wines to other regularly scheduled tastings throughout October. Select Fine Wine & Good Spirits wine specialists will offer their expertise by contributing blog posts, tips, and recommendations at pawinemonth.com. Topics will include how to select Pennsylvania wines and how to "buy local" at Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores. Wine specialists will also be featured in video interviews at pennsylvaniawine.com in coming weeks and months. In fiscal year 2017-18, Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores stocked 241 different Pennsylvania wines, generating nearly $8.7 million in sales, a 9 percent increase over the prior fiscal year. These figures do not account for Pennsylvania wine sold at local wineries, at festivals, or at restaurants and other licensees that buy directly from the wineries. The Pennsylvania Winery Association, a nonprofit trade association representing more than 130 wineries and advocating on behalf of the state's growing multi-billion-dollar wine industry, provided, at select Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, an updated touring guide featuring an extensive list of Pennsylvania wineries and a map. With some of the most fertile grape-growing land on the East Coast, Pennsylvania ranks fifth nationally in grape production, seventh in wine production, and seventh in the number of licensed wineries. Dozens of events celebrating Pennsylvania wines and wineries will be held at wineries across the commonwealth in October, including farm vineyard tours and celebrations of the fall harvest, as well as tasting and food pairing opportunities. PA Wine Month specials will also be happening at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia area restaurants. More information is available at pawinemonth.com. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture encourages, protects and promotes agriculture and related industries throughout Pennsylvania. The agency leads the PA Preferred program, partnering with thousands of food and beverage producers, stores and restaurants to expand markets, and promote Pennsylvania products. In 2013, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board launched the PA Preferred Wine Program to further support Pennsylvania wineries and give consumers more options to "buy local" in Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores. The Department of Agriculture also administers the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Program, which works with Pennsylvania's wine and grape industry to realize its vision as a premium East Coast wine region. The program promotes an increase in the quality, profitability, and consumer awareness of Pennsylvania wines through educational programs, research, and marketing. For more ways to get involved with Pennsylvania Wine Month, find Pennsylvania Wines on Facebook, follow @PAWines on Twitter and Instagram, visit pawinemonth.com. When seeking and sharing updates, follow and use the hashtag #PAWineMonth. The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates more than 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits totaling $16.5 billion since the agency's inception are returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania's schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit www.lcb.pa.gov. MEDIA CONTACT: Shawn M. Kelly, 717.783.8864 Department of Agriculture: Shannon Powers, 717.783.2628 PA Wines: Jennifer Eckinger, [email protected], 717.234.1844 SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Related Links https://www.lcb.pa.gov Plaza's two foundersKevin Parra and James Cutriare adding new titles of chairman and vice chairman, respectively. Mr. Parra will also continue to be president and chief executive officer. The titles reflect the more enterprise-focused roles that the two will be playing, while the day-to-day operations of Plaza's businesses and its financial management continue to be led by Michael Fontaine, Plaza's chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Jeff Leinan, senior vice president of national wholesale production, has been named executive vice president, and will now, in addition to wholesale, be responsible for Plaza's emerging reverse and renovation lending businesses. He will report to Mr. Parra. "The new structure and titles formalize a gradual transition that has been going on for some time at Plaza Home Mortgage," said Mr. Parra. "Going forward, James and I will be more focused on Plaza's strategic direction and evaluating investments to sustain our momentum in the current market environment and to assure Plaza's leadership in the coming digital era." "Over the past 10 years, Jeff has demonstrated his expertise in building our wholesale business significantly. Jeff will now be charged with driving our growth in an expanded capacity, and we are pleased to have him as an integral part of our executive leadership team." About Plaza Home Mortgage Founded in 2000, Plaza Home Mortgage, Inc. is a privately owned, full-service national correspondent and wholesale lender. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Plaza maintains a network of operations centers and employs mortgage associates nationwide. Plaza is dedicated to building quality, long-term relationships with its correspondent and mortgage broker clients by offering comprehensive programs and exceptional client experience. For more information, visit www.plazahomemortgage.com or call 866.260.2529. SOURCE Plaza Home Mortgage, Inc. Related Links http://www.plazahomemortgage.com WOOD DALE, Ill., Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- RMC Mechanical is moving its operations to 780 Aec Drive in Wood Dale, Illinois. Previously, RMC a Reedy Industries portfolio company occupied a building on James Street in Bensenville, just five miles from their new location. The move comes at a time of growth and expansion for RMC, an HVAC and mechanical services company that primarily works in large manufacturing and industrial plants as well as schools, hospitals, and government facilities. Exterior of RMC Mechanical's newly renovated facility at 780 Aec Drive, Wood Dale, IL. Photo credit: Ian Philpot "It's a terrific time within the company," says Jack Deichl, President of Reedy Industries' mechanical services companies, at RMC's first meeting in the newly renovated 19,000 square foot facility. "We've added a lot of people; we're doubling our space. I'm excited for these guys to have a chance to see this space." The building has been converted from a vacant warehouse to a mixed warehouse-office space. RMC now has more room for its 20-person office staff as well as storage and shop space for its 50 technicians. "We first did a walk-through on Thanksgiving of last year," says Zack Glover, General Manager of RMC. "This was what we were looking for." Zack Glover took over the General Manager role in November 2017, but he was no stranger to the organization. Zack started working for one of RMC's sister companies back in 1998. Zack worked his way from a service technician to overseeing RMC. "This is a fresh start for our office," continues Zack. "It's a fresh start for our guys in the field. And a year from now, we'll be better than ever." RMC Mechanical was founded as Refrigeration & Maintenance Company in 1930 by Thomas J. Reedy. Over the last 88 years, the business has restructured with Reedy Industries being the parent company. RMC and a group of other HVAC and mechanical companies constitute the company's primary business. Reedy Industries currently operates out of Glenview, Illinois and oversees companies in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Missouri. CEO Bill Reedy is the third generation of the Reedy family to helm the organization. "RMC's move is one of many expansions for our company this year," says Bill Reedy. "We've seen positive growth over the last several years, and it's all thanks to the quality men and women who work here. We have the best service technicians anyone could hope for, and they deserve the credit." Media Contact: Ian Philpot Phone: (847) 832-2323 Email: [email protected] Related Images exterior-rmc-mechanical-wood-dale.jpg Exterior RMC Mechanical, Wood Dale, IL Exterior of RMC Mechanical's newly renovated facility at 780 Aec Drive, Wood Dale, IL. Photo credit: Ian Philpot interior-rmc-mechanical-wood-dale.jpg Interior RMC Mechanical, Wood Dale, IL Interior of RMC Mechanical's newly renovated facility at 780 Aec Drive, Wood Dale, IL. Photo credit: Alecia Williams rmc-mechanical-new-building-meeting.jpg RMC Mechanical New Building Meeting RMC Mechanical General Manager Zack Glover (back left) and Reedy Industries President Jack Deichl (back right) address the 70+ employees of RMC Mechanical at their new facility in Wood Dale. Photo credit: Ian Philpot jack-deichl-president-of-reedy.jpg Jack Deichl, President of Reedy Industries, at RMC Mechanical Building Launch Reedy Industries President Jack Deichl celebrates the growth of RMC Mechanical that warranted moving to their new facility. Photo credit: Ian Philpot Related Links RMC Website Reedy Industries Website SOURCE Reedy Industries LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- RoboMarkets Ltd has been named as the 'Safest European Broker' and 'Best Crypto Broker in Europe' by Global Brands Magazine. RoboMarkets was honoured for their excellence in providing transparency, execution, trainings and convenient platforms to traders. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/709695/Global_Brands_Magazine_Logo.jpg ) The awards have become a benchmark for recital and consistency within the forex sector around the world and provide a precise indicator of the leading Brands in the Forex sector across the world. Global Brands Magazine (GBM) is a leading brand publication devoted to news and opinions on brands that are shaping the future of their industry. The UK-based magazine provides its readers with the latest news and information on 'best-in-class' brands across the globe. Each year, GBM develops a series of awards for companies that have stood out among their industry leaders, demonstrating exceptional service and unique vision. RoboMarkets Ltd (ex. RoboForex (CY) Ltd) has been focused on creating a favorable professional trading conditions for its clients since the moment it was established and has managed to create a reputation that is second to none Shiv, Director of Global Brands Magazine added," Crypto has been a trending topic for a while now and offers huge ROI for its clients. RoboMarkets has managed to outperform its competitor's whist offering a secure trading environment in the region. We congratulate RoboMarkets on reaching the pinnacle at such a short duration." Konstantin Rashap, Business Development Manager in Europe, RoboMarkets commented, "We are extremely happy to win two awards at a time, both as the most trusted broker and the best crypto broker. At RoboMarkets, our clients' needs and requirements are always the highest value, while our team makes every effort for the company's clients to enjoy comfortable, high quality, and secure trading experience. Currently, we offer trading around 11,000 instruments across 8 asset classes. We are steadily improving our products and services, while providing our clients with professional trading conditions throughout various EU countries. Over the last few months, we opened offices in Germany, Spain, and Czech Republic, and are going to expand to additional European markets in the nearest future. This allows us to actively promote our business in the local markets, create the most engaging offers, and always be close to our clients." About Global Brands Magazine Global Brands Magazine is the one of the world's best branding publication. The magazine provides the reader with up- to date news, reviews, polls on brands across the globe. The Magazine is head-quartered in England. For more information please visit http://www.globalbrandsmagazine.com About RoboMarkets RoboMarkets was founded in 2012 and received a European broker license in 2013. RoboMarkets is regulated by the CySEC with the license No. 191/13. The Company provides institutional and retail clients from Europe with quality trading services and competitive trading conditions. The company's clients get access to professional and reliable trading platforms and have an opportunity to use proprietary up-to-date technological solutions. RoboMarkets provides 24/7 online customer support in 11 different languages. More detailed information about RoboMarkets can be found on the official website at http://www.robomarkets.com. SOURCE Global Brands Publications Limited "The First Lady Valera is a powerful advocate for the rights of children and it's a privilege to join her Zero Discrimination movement," said Ambassador Ronald S. Lauder. "I look forward to many years of collaboration, particularly on the JCS International Young Creatives Award, which I am proud to sponsor." Lauder has served as President of the World Jewish Congress for over a decade. He is also a UN Women for Peace Association "Ambassador of Peace"; First Lady Valera was honored at UNWFPA's 2018 International Women's Day luncheon with the group's prestigious Leadership Award. Lauder joined the Zero Discrimination movement after learning about the First Lady's global work to guarantee human rights. The Zero Discrimination movement goes hand-in-hand with Panama's historic calling to promote dialogue, consensus, peace and human rights. During a private dinner in New York, Lauder learned about the efforts of the Laureados y Lideres Por Los Ninos organization to fully protect children's human rights. The event was also attended by the leadership of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, including Board Member and JCS International President Michal Grayevsky, who launched the JCS International Young Creatives Award with the International Academy. The award's 2018 theme is "Stand Up for Peace." Lauder expressed interest in the statement delivered to United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres, which called on the international community and the UN to double down on their efforts to preserve the rights of childrenparticularly those who are workers and childrenand safeguard their access to education, nutrition, protection and physical and mental health. For further inquiries, please contact: JCS International, [email protected]. SOURCE JCS International Robert Rubino, Santander Bank's co-president and head of Commercial Banking, said, "We continue to make significant investments to support our growing commercial business in the U.S. The appointments of Patrick and Brett complement our growth strategy as we strive to be a trusted advisor and life-cycle financial partner that consistently brings valuable ideas based on our international, industry, and corporate finance knowledge to more companies in the U.S. Pat and Brett are seasoned, effective and proven leaders who know these markets well and will help Santander Bank thrive and grow in the Midwest." This investment underscores Santander Bank's ongoing commitment to adding resources in markets that align with its unique and distinct value proposition in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. In 2018, Santander Bank expanded its Commercial Banking presence in the Midwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest United States. Patrick joins Santander from Bank of the West and previously worked at Citizens Bank where he led the mid-corporate Midwest team for more than 10 years. He began his banking career at First Chicago NBD, where he held positions in portfolio management, business development, and relationship management. Patrick brings extensive global banking experience gained from years working at the U.S. subsidiaries of ABN Amro, Royal Bank of Scotland, and BNP Paribas, where he regularly assisted his clients and prospects in leveraging the respective global networks of each institution. Brett Johnson comes to Santander Bank after serving as managing director for Citizens Capital Markets where he was responsible for corporate finance transactions for both privately and publicly owned companies in the Midwest. Previously, he served as managing director at FirstMerit Bank, where he started the bank's sponsor finance group, growing the business to over $600 million in commitments in its first three years. Brett also worked at Morgenthaler Private Equity and before that at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Brett received his MBA from Case Western Reserve University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois. Santander Bank, N.A . is one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks and an active provider of capital, treasury management, risk management and international solutions to thousands of corporate and institutional clients across a wide variety of industries and geographies in the United States. Offering specialty groups of experienced bankers in Asset Based Lending, Government Banking, Auto Finance, Commercial Real Estate Banking, Commercial Equipment & Vehicle Financing, Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT), Healthcare, Transportation & Logistics, Food & Beverage and Consumer Retail, along with experts in Middle Market and Corporate & Investment Banking, Santander earns the loyalty of its commercial banking clients by offering services that help them manage their operating needs, maximize their working capital and grow their business domestically and internationally. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) - one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. For more information, please visit www.santanderbank.com . Media Contact: Nancy Orlando 617-757-5765 [email protected] SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A. Related Links https://www.santanderbank.com NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Bloomberg Global Business Forum (GBF) came to a close today, more than 70 heads of state and delegation from six continents and over 200 CEOs came together to discuss shared issues and mutual opportunities including trade, globalization, innovation, and competition, supported by several new public-private partnerships, investment announcements, and global agreements. The record attendance by world leaders made the Forum this year's largest gathering of heads of state outside a formal government summit. Opening the day, Michael R. Bloomberg declared: "This forum is designed to give business leaders a seat at the table, including on an issue where the UN doesn't have a formal role: trade Trade has made the world more peaceful and stable by connecting our nations and aligning our interests. But the benefits of trade have not been distributed as widely as they should be and we must do more to address that." Bloomberg added, "This is a day full of potential. Our success won't be measured at the end of it; it will be measured in the months and years to come." In a keynote address, Theresa May, Prime Minister, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, said: "I have come here to this Bloomberg Forum because we will only succeed if we also work with you, some of the most pioneering business leaders in the world today... It's about listening to business and working in partnership with you. It's about understanding what you need and working together to help us make the U.K. one of the most attractive countries in the world for establishing and growing a business." During the morning plenary session, government and business leaders sat together to discuss partnerships and drivers of growth. James Hackett, President and CEO, Ford Motor Co., said: "In my 20 years as a CEO, I never thought about trade, and now it's top of mind. It needs to be updated. The key to trade negotiations is finding an equilibrium. Invest based on back and forth." Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, European Commission, said: "We must make sure that what we do as an authority leaves room for enterprisesIt's not about your flag, it's about the competitive spirit. You're supposed to compete for your business in Europe." Robin Li, CEO, Baidu, later added: "China is a big market, we are a lot of people. And we have tens of millions of users using our service every day. We have data and opportunities to innovate. That being said, we have constraints with tech privacy and how do we make sure the technology does not go out of control and do bad things to mankind. We have things to worry about, but I see more opportunities than threats." Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO, IBM, discussed the benefits of AI, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton moderated a panel on global trade relationships with Ivan Duque Marquez, President of Colombia, Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway, and Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa. Following the plenary, world leaders and CEOs met in small breakout sessions to discuss new ways to work together across government and business. The breakout sessions covered global finance and the future investment outlook; economic migration, changing demographics, and youth employment; technological issues and opportunities; and major economic issues in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Included in those conversations were Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand; Alain Berset, President of Switzerland; Federica Mogherini, Vice President of the European Commission; Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia; Enrique Pena Nieto, President of Mexico; Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, President of Spain; Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands; and Frans Timmermans, First Vice President of the European Commission; as well as Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO, J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management; Jim Coulter, Co-CEO and Founding Partner, TPG; Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock; Kenneth Griffin, Founder and CEO, Citadel; Bill McDermott, CEO, SAP; Heather Ridout, Chairwoman, Australian Super; Feike Sijbesma, Chairman and CEO, Royal DSM; David M. Solomon, President and COO, Goldman Sachs; and Tidjane Thiam, CEO, Credit Suisse. Closing the day, Michael Bloomberg said: "Multilateralism has brought the world unprecedented peace and prosperity and if we work together the future will be very bright." Several partnerships and initiatives were also announced at GBF, including: Enhancing the Gender Equality Index : Michael Bloomberg and The Right Honourable Penny Mordaunt, U.K. Minister for Women and Equalities, announced a new partnership between Bloomberg L.P. and the Government of the United Kingdom to improve reporting and transparency around gender equality in the workplace. : and The Right Honourable Penny Mordaunt, U.K. Minister for Women and Equalities, announced a new partnership between Bloomberg L.P. and the Government of the to improve reporting and transparency around gender equality in the workplace. Partnership on Shared Streets : Ford Motor Co., Uber, Lyft and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced an agreement to share data on a new platform that gives Mayors and mobility companies tools to manage congestion, cut greenhouse gases, and reduce crashes. : Ford Motor Co., Uber, Lyft and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced an agreement to share data on a new platform that gives Mayors and mobility companies tools to manage congestion, cut greenhouse gases, and reduce crashes. Support of Global Compact for Migration: The Presidents of Mexico and Switzerland issued an open letter to CEOs to support the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the first intergovernmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner. Seven major international companies pledged their support. Today also marked the conclusion of the second One Planet Summit (OPS). Focused on climate action, the Summit was co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim, and United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action Michael Bloomberg. The 2018 Summit reviewed progress made in implementing the 12 international commitments made at the inaugural One Planet event in December 2017. To see the full program and list of speakers, go to www.BloombergGBF.com . Photos from the event are on https://mikebloom.bg/2018GBFPHOTOS. Follow Mike Bloomberg on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram , and Bloomberg Philanthropies on Facebook , Instagram , Snapchat , and Twitter for other GBF news and highlights. For additional questions about the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, please email [email protected] . Following the Global Business Forum, Bloomberg's inaugural New Economy Forum will be held in Singapore on November 6-7, 2018. The forum will convene a first-ever gathering of 400 preeminent leaders from the public and private sectors to begin seeking private sector-led solutions in response to the risks and opportunities created by a world in transition, increasingly led by China and India, as well as rising powers in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The forum will produce solutions to important global issues, covering six themes: globalization and trade, technology, finance and capital markets, climate, urbanization and inclusion. "In November, we will continue the constructive dialogue we had today on trade, globalization, and innovation," said Michael R. Bloomberg. "The new emerging world order is creating emerging challenges - issues that the private sector can take steps to ensure global stability and growth, an urgent mission in the face of chronic inaction by governments." About Bloomberg Philanthropies Bloomberg Philanthropies works in 480 cities in more than 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg's charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $702 million. For more information, please visit www.bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook , Instagram , Snapchat , and Twitter . SOURCE Bloomberg Philanthropies Related Links http://www.bloomberg.org WESTPORT, Conn., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of SeriousFun Children's Network has voted to welcome Dr. Suzanne McDiarmid and Eric Feldstein to the Board effective immediately. SeriousFun Children's Network, founded by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, is a community of 30 camps and programs around the world that offer life-changing camp experiences to children with serious illnesses and their families, always free of charge. Dr. Suzanne McDiarmid serves as Division Chief for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. A physician at UCLA Medical center since 1993, Dr. McDiarmid has taken on a variety of roles within the hospital, culminating in her appointment as Division Chief, and currently serving as a Professor of Pediatrics and Surgery at UCLA. Dr. McDiarmid's professional life has centered on pediatric liver transplantation and advocating for access to transplantation for children nationwide. Born in Ashburton, New Zealand, Dr. McDiarmid attended medical school at the University of Otago, Dunedin, in New Zealand. Eric Feldstein serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), a large US healthcare insurance provider. HCSC is the parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield operations in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Montana, serving approximately 16 million members. Mr. Feldstein also currently serves as a Trustee on the Boards of the Columbia Acorn Trust and Wanger Advisors Trust, overseeing the operations of mutual funds that predominantly employ small and mid-cap equity strategies. Prior to his role at HCSC, Mr. Feldstein served for five years as Executive Vice President at American Express, with operating responsibility for a large global portfolio of businesses beyond the company's traditional charge and credit card products. Before joining American Express, Eric held several senior operating and finance positions, including CEO of GMAC Financial Services and Corporate Treasurer of General Motors Corporation. Mr. Feldstein earned his BA in economics from Columbia University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. "We're thrilled to have Dr. McDiarmid and Mr. Feldstein join the SeriousFun Board of Directors," said Don Gogel, Chairman of the Board, SeriousFun Children's Network. "The talents and expertise of each of these new members speak for themselves. We are excited for the fresh perspective and ideas they will bring to our organization as we work to better serve children serious illnesses and their families around the world." About SeriousFun Children's Network SeriousFun Children's Network is a global community of 30 camps and programs serving children with serious illnesses and their families, always free of charge. With the first camp founded by Paul Newman in 1988, SeriousFun camps and programs have now delivered more than one million life-changing camp experiences to children and family members from more than 50 countries. Each member camp is an independent, not-for-profit organization dependent upon private funding to serve all children at no cost to their families. To learn more about SeriousFun, visit www.seriousfunnetwork.org. Contact: Emily Walsh/Nina Kiersted Sunshine Sachs 212-691-2800 SOURCE SeriousFun Children's Network Related Links http://www.seriousfunnetwork.org NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE: LXU). If you are a shareholder of LSB Industries, Inc. and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at: http://pjlfirm.com/lsb-industries-inc/ You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation. Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. SOURCE Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP Related Links http://www.pjlfirm.com SAN DIEGO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- September is fleeting and, with it, so is the chance to save on registration for the Western Water Summit (WWS) . Those who register by Sunday, September 30 are eligible for a Super Early Bird discount . WWS is a special gathering of professionals and stakeholders involved with the many aspects of managing the world's most precious resource. It will take place on February 6 & 7, 2019 at the Paradise Point Resort on San Diego's Mission Bay. It's time to take a hard look at how water resources are managed. Many areas are at a turning point, as the need for water has collided with the realities of reduced water supply and increasingly threatened sources. Longstanding treatment, delivery, and management practices no longer produce the desired results. Costs are rising and both legal and regulatory framework is often out of alignment with current and future hydrologic and climatic conditions. Surface water quality professionals are already working hard and spending a fortune to address these issues. How can they collectively work smarter? Where will collaboration and cooperation across agencies, departments, and watersheds generate better results, increase efficiency, reduce water loss, and maximize productivity? WWS will seek to answer these questions and many others as it draws from the unique perspectives of stormwater, water efficiency, and erosion control professionals. Groundwater, surface water, wastewater, drinking water, irrigation, water law, reuse, conservation & efficiency, erosion & sedimentationit's all one water. WWS will bring together individuals from these interrelated fields to explore the interconnections and opportunities among the various elements of integrated water management throughout the west. Conference tracks will explore a number of topics concerning water management, law, conservation, efficiency, irrigation, policy, programs, and more. In addition to collaborative educational experiences, WWS will include significant networking opportunities, an exhibitor showcase, and an exclusive evening reception. Save nearly 15% with Super Early Bird pricing, and take advantage of WWS' excellent room rate and waived resort fee . REGISTER TODAY Facilitate the Conversation: The Western Water Summit Call for Speakers is now live. This is the chance to play an integral role in this critical conversation Submit Abstract For more information about the event, exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities, or assistance registering, visit the official WWS website westernwatersummit.com CONTACT: Brigette Burich, [email protected] SOURCE Forester Media, Inc. Related Links https://www.westernwatersummit.com At the heart of the collaboration is the extension of Building Information Modelling (BIM) beyond architectural design into Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) for Surbana Jurong's projects and other transformative areas. These include Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA), using artificial intelligence for design, and leveraging BIM and mobile technology on the jobsite to enable cloud-based collaboration and reporting. IDD is a key thrust under Singapore's Construction Industry Transformation Map (ITM). Enabled by BIM, IDD fully integrates processes and stakeholders along the value chain through advanced info-communications technology and smart technologies. "As a technologically driven leader in urban and infrastructure consulting, Surbana Jurong is committed to driving digital transformation across the built industry's value chain. This is why we value working with technology leaders like Autodesk who are as dedicated to innovating with their toolsets as we are on our projects," said Wong Heang Fine, Group Chief Executive Officer, Surbana Jurong. Together, Surbana Jurong and Autodesk will also explore the development of a Centre of Excellence and robust training and development programme built on Autodesk technology to ensure the former and its extensive partner ecosystem are future ready. "A growing middle class creates inevitable demand for more housing, transportation, and infrastructure worldwide. Automation presents an opportunity to do things better and is key to ensuring that industry can deliver on these needs while balancing the need to preserve our environment and natural resources," said Scott Herren, chief financial officer, Autodesk. "Surbana Jurong's leadership in these areas make it a standout force in the market, and we are excited about the next milestone in our continued collaboration." About Surbana Jurong Surbana Jurong is one of the largest Asia-based urban and infrastructure consulting firms. Leveraging technology and creativity, Surbana Jurong provides best-in-class consultancy solutions across the entire value chain of the urbanisation, industrialisation and infrastructure domains. Headquartered in Singapore, the Surbana Jurong Group has a global workforce of over 14,000 employees in more than 120 offices across over 40 countries in Asia, Australia, UK, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, and an annual turnover of around S$1.5 billion. Surbana Jurong has a track record of close to 70 years, and has built more than a million homes in Singapore, crafted master plans for more than 30 countries and developed over 100 industrial parks globally. Surbana Jurong's motto 'Building Cities, Shaping Lives' reflects its belief that development is more than just steel and concrete. Surbana Jurong creates spaces and designs infrastructure where people live, work and play, shaping cities into homes with sustainable jobs, where communities and businesses can flourish. About Autodesk Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything. To learn more about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com or follow @autodesk. Autodesk and the Autodesk logo are registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. 2018 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved SOURCE Autodesk Related Links http://www.autodesk.com OSLO, Norway, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Targovax ASA (OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing immune activators to target hard to treat solid tumors, today announces interim tumor response data from the first six patients treated with ONCOS-102 followed by the checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA) in patients with advanced melanoma whose disease has progressed after prior CPI treatment. Results show that one of the six patients had a complete response to the treatment. One of the main aims of the trial has been achieved, which is to demonstrate that ONCOS-102 has the potential to immune activate CPI refractory patients to respond to PD-1 blockade. Complete responses are rarely seen in this patient population. The patients received three ONCOS-102 injections prior to KEYTRUDA treatment, which may be insufficient in highly advanced disease. As such, Targovax and the investigators now intend to optimize the dosing schedule by increasing the number of ONCOS-102 injections and expand the trial with additional patients. Dr. Magnus Jaderberg, CMO of Targovax, said: "Given the limited number of patients who have completed the study to date, it is encouraging to already see a complete response to ONCOS-102 primed KEYTRUDA treatment in this CPI refractory patient population. This case is particularly interesting, as the patient became refractory to KEYTRUDA before entering our trial. At the same time, five patients progressed, which we believe may be partly due to an insufficient number of ONCOS-102 injections. Consequently, we have agreed with the investigators to expand the trial with additional patients, who will receive an increased number of ONCOS-102 injections. The complete response, combined with the optimized dosing regimen, makes us optimistic that we may demonstrate the full potential of ONCOS-102 in the checkpoint inhibitor refractory setting." The results will be presented at a KOL event hosted by Targovax in New York City on 11 October 2018, which will also be available by webcast. Invitation and full event details has been issued separately and is posted on www.targovax.com. Conference call At 14:00 CET (08:00 EST) today, Targovax will host a conference call to answer questions about the results. Call-in details can be found below.Call-in numbers: Norway Toll-Free Number: 80062196 Norway Toll Number: +47-23500243 UK Toll-Free Number: 08003589473 UK Toll Number: +44-3333000804 US Toll-Free Number: +1-855-85-70686 US Toll Number: +1-6319131422 Access code: 60258218# Please make sure to dial in at least 5-10 minutes ahead to complete your registration. See attached list for more dial-in numbers: http://events.arkadin.com/ev/docs/NE_W2_TF_Events_International_Access_List.pdf About the trial In this open label trial running in three centers in the USA, patients that have progressed on CPI treatment receive three intra-tumoral ONCOS-102 injections during the first week, followed by eight infusions of the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blocking CPI pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA). As reported in December 2017 and January 2018, the first planned safety review passed without any issues. Both local and systemic immune activation, which includes T-cell tumor infiltration and increased PD-1 expression on CD8+ T-cells, has been confirmed in all evaluated patients. For further information, please contact: Renate Birkeli, Investor Relations Phone: +47-922-61-624 Email: [email protected] Media and IR enquires: Andreas Tinglum - Corporate Communications (Norway) Phone: +47-9300-1773 Email: [email protected] Simon Conway/Stephanie Cuthbert - FTI Consulting (International) Phone: +44-20-3727-1000 Email: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/targovax/r/targovax-announces-interim-results-from-phase-i-trial-of-oncos-102-in-checkpoint-inhibitor-refractor,c2628964 SOURCE Targovax Related Links http://www.targovax.com NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad2Pro Group, which provides strategy, creative and content automation to global brands and media companies, has won Best CMS & Web Content Management Platform for its JDX technology in the 2018 Digiday Technology Awards, a premier industry competition for advertising-related technologies. JDX is a customizable, cloud-based workflow system that supports the creation and delivery of of digital content by brands, publishers and partners in a flexible scalable and cost-effective way. JDX also pushes creative content directly onto ad servers, thus supporting the entire life-cycle of digital content seamlessly on a single platform. The two operating divisions of Ad2pro - creative automation provider 2adpro Media Solutions, and brand commerce agency Madras, - leverage JDX to manage content development and delivery for such companies as Macy's, Gatehouse Media, and Lenovo. Together, 2adpro and Madras publish over two million pieces of advertising content annually. "This award recognizes JDX among the best, most innovative software platforms, in a hotly competitive sector," said Todd Brownrout, CEO of The Ad2pro Group. "In the process, it validates the power of our underlying systems and affirms the investment we continue to make in technology." "From the day we started Ad2pro we recognized that technology would make us stand out from the competition," added Gopal Krishnan, Executive Chairman of Ad2pro. "This award is further evidence that JDX and Ad2pro are truly best in class." In January, Ad2pro escalated its technology investment by hiring Silicon Valley technology veteran Shiva Kris as Chief Technology Officer. Kris' career includes key roles at 24/7 Media and Yahoo. Since joining in January, Kris has led a rapid expansion of Ad2Pro's development teams, which fuel the double-digit growth of Ad2Pro's businesses. Recently, Madras has added Patheon, Shark Ninja and Salt Financial to its customer portfolio, while 2adpro has expanded its global client base and significantly expanded its tech-enabled AdOperations practice. "Marketing, advertising and media technology are among the most competitive, most rapidly evolving industries out there," said Max Willens, platforms reporter at Digiday. "It's no accident that our awards list is filled with global behemoths as well as fast-growing startups." About The Ad2pro Group (www.thead2progroup.com) Established in 2006, The Ad2pro Group (ad2pro Media Solutions Pvt. Ltd.) is a leading global marketing services company that develops and delivers strategic creative, low-cost implementation and technology solutions to the world's leading brands and media companies. The Ad2Pro Group (www.thead2progroup.com) is comprised of 2Adpro Media Solutions (www.2adpro.com) and Madras Global (www.madrasglobal.com). 2Adpro serves prestigious media companies such as News Corp (AUS), Tegna Television Group (US), Gatehouse Media (US), Fairfax Publishing (AUS and NZ), and Newsquest Media (UK), with on-demand creative and technology automation services. Madras is a global brand commerce agency that works with global brands such as Macy's, Salt Financial, Patheon, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Shark/Ninja, HH Brown, Travel Tours, and American Outdoorsman. It is a full service creative agency specializing in strategy and planning, brand communications, websites, social and mobile campaigns, experiential and engagement, content fulfillment and execution. Ad2pro Group is powered by its integrated Ad Ops technology platform and proprietary workflow and automation solution, JDX. The Company has offices in India (Bangalore, Chennai) the US (New York, Los Angeles, Austin), the UK (London) and Australia (Melbourne). About the Digiday Technology Awards The Digiday Technology Awards recognize the technology bringing transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness to the media and marketing processes. For more information, visit digiday.com/awards. SOURCE The Ad2pro Group Related Links http://www.thead2progroup.com HILLSBORO, Ore., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Only two years after its formation, the Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium is increasing capacity of Thermo Scientific cryo-EM instruments. Researchers from member companies use Thermo Scientific Krios G3i Cryo Transmission Electron Microscope (Cryo-TEM) instruments to support drug discovery for various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, oncology and the central nervous system. The new microscope will be housed at the University of Cambridge, Department of Materials and Metallurgy, and will be used to explore innovative applications of cryo-electron microscopy in materials research. In 2016, Thermo Fisher Scientific partnered with five pharmaceutical companies (Astex Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, GSK, Heptares Therapeutics and UCB), the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB) and the University of Cambridge's Nanoscience Centre to form the Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium. "The installation of this microscope and a suite of state-of-the-art instruments creates a fantastic platform for researchers at the University and in the surrounding industrial sector," said Professor Mark Blamire, Head of Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy. "Access to the Krios microscope will enable us to develop novel cryo-EM methods to tackle a range of important and challenging materials systems." "Our cryo-EM instruments have been used to generate high resolution 3D reconstructions and are some of the most automated, easiest to use instruments on the market," said Mike Shafer, president, materials and structural analysis, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "We are excited that the Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium is using our technology to advance compelling research in the materials science space for industrial uses." The Krios G3i Cryo-TEM is an industry-leading cryo-EM designed specifically to provide the stability and automated operation needed to achieve near-atomic resolution in three dimensional (3D) models of proteins using single particle analysis (SPA) techniques and is transferable to materials science applications. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than $20 billion and approximately 70,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics, deliver medicines to market and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive services. For more information, please visit thermofisher.com. Media Contact Information: Kathy Gill Thermo Fisher Scientific +1 971-294-9262 [email protected] SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific Related Links http://www.thermofisher.com MONTAGUE, Mich., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tricia Carlson is recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in the field of Real Estate in recognition of her role as a Licensed Realtor with Greenridge Realty, Inc. Steadfast in their efforts to provide quality real estate services, Greenridge Realty, Inc. is real estate firm that has served the Michigan area for decades. With its inception in 1980, Greenridge Realty has over twenty-six locations and four hundred sales associates and is devoted to assisting buyers with their real estate needs in a timely manner. With integrity and excellence at the forefront of the company's values, Greenridge utilizes their realty resources in an effort to better serve their clients and provide exceptional service. Though she has only been in the real estate industry for two years, Carlson is extremely knowledgeable and well-versed in the business. Having lived in fourteen different locations in twenty-five years, Carlson is quite familiar with the buying, selling and moving process. Throughout her career, Carlson has attained expertise within the areas of residential real estate, buying and selling, buyer representation, working with first time buyers and more. In addition to her realty career, Tricia is the Office Manager for the business she owns with her husband, Quality Maintenance Contractors, Inc., which has been in business for over thirty years. In an effort to further advance her professional development, Carlson is a distinguished fellow of several elite organizations including the National Association of Professional Women. While pursuing her educational endeavors, Carlson graduated from Davenport University where she received her degree in Accounting and Business Management. Charitable to various organizations, Carlson is an active volunteer at her local church. Carlson was the Director of Lake Michigan Home School Connection and part of the Council for Educational Travel USA where she has hosted 6 exchange students. When she is not working, Carlson enjoys traveling. Carlson dedicates this recognition to her parents, Harvey and Jenella Kronmeyer. For more information, please visit http://www.greenridge.com/agents/41688-Tricia-Carlson Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634 [email protected] SOURCE Continental Who's Who Related Links http://www.continentalwhoswho.com WEST HAVEN, Conn., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of New Haven is breaking ground on a signature new academic building in the heart of its campus. A ceremonial groundbreaking for the Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation took place today on the University's main campus in West Haven. The three-floor, 44,000-square-foot building will feature cutting-edge engineering and science labs, collaborative classrooms, a 3D visualization technology suite, and state-of-the-art communication studios, bringing students together across fields of study. This innovative facility will be named for Sam and Lois Bergami, two longtime University benefactors who, in addition to supporting this new facility, have contributed to several other University buildings; they have also created academic programs and scholarships. "I see this as a building that will embody everything that we have stood for since the University's founding almost 100 years ago," said University of New Haven President Steven H. Kaplan. "It will be the heartbeat of this University as it moves boldly into the future, enriching our community in countless ways for the decades to come and serving as a physical environment that reflects the dreams and ambitions of our students." The Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation is the cornerstone of The Charger Challenge, the University's comprehensive $100 million fundraising campaign that will culminate with its Centennial in 2020. About the University of New Haven The University of New Haven, founded on the Yale campus in 1920, is a private, coeducational university situated on the coast of southern New England. It's a diverse and vibrant community of more than 7,000 students with campuses around the country and around the world. Within its colleges and schools, students immerse themselves in a transformative, career-focused education across the liberal arts and sciences, fine arts, business, engineering, public safety, and public service. More than 100 academic programs are offered, all grounded in a long-standing commitment to collaborative, interdisciplinary, project-based learning. At the University of New Haven, the experience of learning is both personal and pragmatic, guided by a distinguished faculty who care deeply about individual student success. As leaders in their fields, faculty provide the inspiration and recognition needed for students to fulfill their potential and succeed at whatever they choose to do. SOURCE University of New Haven Related Links http://www.newhaven.edu The CCTT M3 system integrates all facets of combat vehicle operations, immersing soldiers in real-world battle scenarios through computer-based simulations. Through CCTT M3, Abrams, Bradley and Reconfigurable Vehicle Simulator (RVS) upgrades ensure simulators remain concurrent with the vehicles in the field, with modernization and support in place for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle and other emerging Army ground vehicle platforms. Modernizing these systems improves sustainability and cybersecurity, preparing the system for future Army simulation architectures. "Lockheed Martin is honored to continue providing the U.S. Army with an affordable complement to live training through the CCTT M3 program," said Tom Gordon, vice president of Training and Simulation Solutions at Lockheed Martin. "We look forward to enabling soldier readiness through the program's design, production and fielding of concurrency and modernization upgrades." Lockheed Martin partners with two small businesses on this work AVT Simulation and Dignitas Technologies, both in Orlando, Florida. Together, the integrated team brings the most experienced system architecture and visual system experts together to accomplish the CCTT M3 development, production and fielding requirements for the U.S. Army. Since 1992, Lockheed Martin has developed and delivered nearly 500 CCTT systems. Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin was awarded a seven-year, $3.53 billion contract to globally sustain more than 300,000 fielded Training Aids, Devices, Simulators and Simulations (TADSS), which includes the CCTT M3 system. For additional information, visit www.lockheedmartin.com/training. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. This year the company received three Edison Awards for ground-breaking innovations in autonomy, satellite technology and directed energy. About AVT Simulation Orlando-based Applied Visual Technology (AVT) Simulation is a Small Minority Owned Disadvantaged modeling and simulation company that provides end-to-end systems integration and engineering services for the DoD. As a recognized top 100 simulation and training company, they are the Prime contractor for multiple US Army programs and develop reconfigurable rotary wing collective trainers and Apache Gunnery Trainers for US and international customers. About Dignitas Technologies Dignitas Technologies, LLC, a Certified Woman-Owned Small Business, founded in 2004, is providing system and software engineering services for the modeling and simulation community with a mission to shape the future of simulation with innovative technology. Dignitas leads several Small Business Innovation Research projects and supports a wide range of large and small programs spanning the Live, Virtual, and Constructive domains across a diverse customer set. Dignitas has extensive experience and successful past performance in the development of key simulation systems and provides expertise in management, research, engineering, and programming. SOURCE Lockheed Martin Related Links http://www.lockheedmartin.com CHICAGO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Valspar, the nation's most widely distributed paint brand from the Sherwin-Williams Consumer Brands Group, announces its 2019 Colors of the Year. This marks the 10th anniversary that the color experts have selected trending shades for the upcoming year, inspired by the landscape of lifestyle trends. Rather than limit inspiration to just one color, Valspar brand chooses to celebrate its offering of endless color by curating 12. The immersive purple invites us to step away from what is and open up to exciting and unexpected new realities. This breezy blue has healing qualities but doesnt take itself too seriously. Its weightless quality seems to push past the walls and welcome us into the controlled sanctuary we call home. This harmonious green-blue is perfectly balanced, neutral enough to inspire our growth in any direction. Anticipating uncharted territory ahead, this light, clean violet reflects the edge of artificial space, where light is both comforting and strangely familiar. This light-hearted yellow has a touch of active orange to help us rebalance our responsibilities and count on our new smart-device helpers. This optimistic green has a heart of linen to remind us that we become stronger when we are woven together. This true blue reflects honesty and clarity, without shading or apology. Wherever you use it, its a bold statement of your own truth. This rosy neutral injects an element of spirituality into everyday life, giving us a rosier view of reality. This quiet, thoughtful blue has a touch of purple to free our thinking and a hint of gray to ground us in our own, glorious but imperfect human nature. Flip the fearless switch to on and use this citrusy green to create surprise in a corner of your home with a dash of healthy luxury. This raw wood shade is the light, unencumbered backdrop for a minimalistic lifestyle that is full of life. The lightness has just a touch of comforting yellow. Orange is always an adventure, but the artificial intensity of this orange invites an open, experimental mindset that keeps us guessing. The Colors of the Year are mood-inspiring hues that encourage DIYers to embrace change and create a personalized home environment. From shades that evoke stability and strength to those that spark introspection and growth, each color represents an opportunity for people to feel empowered in the spaces where they live. "The Valspar Colors of the Year are bolder takes on basic colors to provide color-curious consumers the opportunity to create change within their homes in an easy, fun and attainable way. We believe changing your outlook can be as easy as changing the paint on your walls," says Sue Kim, Valspar Senior Color Designer at Sherwin-Williams Consumer Brands Group. "Orange Slice, for instance, evokes a sense of playfulness, while Twilight Mist brings an aura of mystery." The 2019 Valspar Colors of the Year All 12 colors are available at Lowe's, Ace Hardware and independent retailers nationwide. Please note, color names and shades vary slightly at each retailer. See below for the full list of colors and how they come to life in different rooms with a variety of techniques. Metropolis Lilac: The immersive purple invites us to step away from 'what is' and open up to exciting and unexpected new realities. The immersive purple invites us to step away from 'what is' and open up to exciting and unexpected new realities. Lowe's: 4001-6C Metropolis Lilac Ace: VR059A Dried Lilacs Independent retailers: V075-6 Dried Lilacs Angelic Blue : This breezy blue has healing qualities but doesn't take itself too seriously. Its weightless quality seems to push past the walls and welcome us into the controlled sanctuary we call home. This breezy blue has healing qualities but doesn't take itself too seriously. Its weightless quality seems to push past the walls and welcome us into the controlled sanctuary we call home. Lowe's: 5003- 9B Angelic Blue Ace: VR054D Soothing Blue Independent retailers: V068-2 Soothing Blue Green Water: This harmonious green-blue is perfectly balanced, neutral enough to inspire our growth in any direction. This harmonious green-blue is perfectly balanced, neutral enough to inspire our growth in any direction. Lowe's: 5003-4A Green Water Ace: VR077B Zinc Blue Independent retailers: V099-5 Zinc Blue Twilight Mist: Anticipating uncharted territory ahead, this light, clean violet reflects the edge of artificial space, where light is both comforting and strangely familiar. Anticipating uncharted territory ahead, this light, clean violet reflects the edge of artificial space, where light is both comforting and strangely familiar. Lowe's: 4004- 9B Twilight Mist Twilight Mist Ace: VR058D Carousel Purple Independent retailers: V074-2 Carousel Purple Spring Squash: This light-hearted yellow has a touch of active orange to help us rebalance our responsibilities and count on our new smart-device helpers. This light-hearted yellow has a touch of active orange to help us rebalance our responsibilities and count on our new smart-device helpers. Lowe's: 2008- 1B Spring Squash Spring Squash Ace: VR010B Pure Joy Independent retailers: V014-2 Just Ducky Martinique Dawn: This optimistic green has a heart of linen to remind us that we become stronger when we are woven together. This optimistic green has a heart of linen to remind us that we become stronger when we are woven together. Lowe's: 6003- 3B Martinique Dawn Martinique Dawn Ace: VR073E Asian Silk Independent retailers: V095-1 Asian Silk Wishing Well: This true blue reflects honesty and clarity, without shading or apology. Wherever you use it, it's a bold statement of your own truth. This true blue reflects honesty and clarity, without shading or apology. Wherever you use it, it's a bold statement of your own truth. Lowe's: 5002-10C Wishing Well Ace: VR025A Amazing Sky Independent retailers: V031-3 Blue to the Bone Blushing Bride: This rosy neutral injects an element of spirituality into everyday life, giving us a rosier view of reality. This rosy neutral injects an element of spirituality into everyday life, giving us a rosier view of reality. Lowe's: 2001- 10B Blushing Bride Blushing Bride Ace: VR092D Cathedral Morning Independent retailers: V128-3 Cathedral Morning Seattle Haze: This quiet, thoughtful blue has a touch of purple to free our thinking and a hint of gray to ground us in our own, glorious but imperfect human nature. This quiet, thoughtful blue has a touch of purple to free our thinking and a hint of gray to ground us in our own, glorious but imperfect human nature. Lowe's: 4003- 4B Seattle Haze Seattle Haze Ace: VR087B Twinkle, Twinkle Independent retailers: V111-5 Twinkle, Twinkle Lime Mousse: Flip the fearless switch to on and use this citrusy green to create surprise in a corner of your home with a dash of healthy luxury. Flip the fearless switch to on and use this citrusy green to create surprise in a corner of your home with a dash of healthy luxury. Lowe's: 6008- 9B Lime Mousse Lime Mousse Ace: VR015D Bright Cactus Independent retailers: V057-2 Celery Heart Homey Cream: This raw wood shade is the light, unencumbered backdrop for a minimalistic lifestyle that is full of life. The lightness has just a touch of comforting yellow. This raw wood shade is the light, unencumbered backdrop for a minimalistic lifestyle that is full of life. The lightness has just a touch of comforting yellow. Lowe's: 3007- 6B Homey Cream Homey Cream Ace: VR040E Glow Home Independent retailers: V051-1 Glow Home Orange Slice: Orange is always an adventure, but the artificial intensity of this orange invites an open, experimental mindset that keeps us guessing. Orange is always an adventure, but the artificial intensity of this orange invites an open, experimental mindset that keeps us guessing. Lowe's: 2002- 1B Orange Slice Orange Slice Ace: VR007B Fiery Sky Independent retailers: V009-3 Heirloom Tomato Free color tools available from Valspar For those looking to make noticeable change in their homes, Valspar offers a number of Color Discovery Tools to help consumers feel confident in their decisions. These tools, such as the Virtual Painter and Project Quiz, allow consumers to upload photographs of rooms and test paint colors on them. DIYers can also save a trip to the store by having paint chips sent straight to their home for free. For more information on Valspar, please visit: https://www.askval.com/ColorsOfTheYearLanding About Sherwin-Williams Consumer Brands Group Sherwin-Williams Consumer Brands Group offers innovative products to meet customers' paint and coating needs. The company manufactures products under well-known brands such as Valspar, HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams, Purdy, Krylon, Minwax, Thompson's Water Seal, Cabot and many more. Founded in 1866, The Sherwin-Williams Company is a global leader in the manufacture, development, distribution and sale of paints, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers. For more information, visit www.sherwin.com . SOURCE Valspar Related Links http://www.sherwin.com San Francisco, Sep 27 : American ride-sharing giant Uber will pay about $5.79 million to drivers and passengers in Washington state for failing to notify them of possible leak of their personal information, Washington Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson's office said on Wednesday. Ferguson said he will return more than 2.2 million dollars to the Uber drivers affected by a November 2016 data breach at Uber. The money is part of the $5.79 million package to be paid by Uber for "violating Washington state's data breach notification law and for failing to adequately safeguard the personal data of Uber drivers," the Washington AG Office said in a statement. "The breach affected more than 57 million drivers and passengers worldwide, including nearly 13,000 Uber drivers in Washington," it noted, adding that most Washingtonians who drove for Uber in 2013 and 2014 will each receive $170. Uber acknowledged the breach reported in November 2016 when an individual contacted the company, claiming he had illegally accessed its user information, including the names and driver license numbers of more than 7 million drivers for the company around the world, including nearly 13,000 in Washington state. The hacker also obtained the login, encrypted password, and some geolocation information for nearly 50 million riders worldwide. Washington was one of a few states that sued Uber over its conduct related to the data breach prior to the multistate resolution, the AG Office said. Washington received a larger share of the nationwide 148 million dollar settlement because Ferguson sued Uber in 2017 for the November 2016 data breach. Ferguson has asked Uber to tighten protection of the personal information of its riders and drivers and provide an independent assessment about its security measures to the AG Office every two years for the next decade. United Nations, Sep 27 : President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to impose sanctions that are "stronger than ever" on Iran, while his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, demanded a "long-term strategy" to deal with Iran's nuclear programme that not only focuses on economic restrictions. Trump - chairing the UN Security Council session - once again called the 2015 nuclear pact with Iran and other world powers a "horrible, one-sided deal (that) allowed Iran to continue its path toward a (nuclear) bomb and gave the regime a cash lifeline when they needed it the most." In August, the Trump administration re-imposed a number of economic sanctions on Iran and will impose new sanctions on Tehran's oil sales in November, and - the US leader said - "will pursue additional sanctions, tougher than ever before, to counter the entire range of Iran's malign conduct," Efe reported. "Any individual or entity who fails to comply with these sanctions will face severe consequences," he said. The US announced in May that it was withdrawing from the nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015, along with France, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Germany, and in August Washington once again imposed certain sanctions that had been lifted as per the pact. In November a new round of sanctions will enter into force penalizing various countries and companies that buy Iranian oil or negotiate with Tehran's central bank in what is anticipated to be a heavy blow to Iran's battered economy. Macron spoke after Trump at the Security Council session, saying that although the 2015 nuclear pact is not perfect, it constitutes a "decisive step," and he criticized the US sanctions. "We need to build together a long-term strategy to manage the crisis that cannot be reduced to a policy of sanctions and containment of Iran," said Macron. British Prime Minister Theresa May also expressed her commitment to preserving the nuclear deal, which she called "the best way" to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The session was focused on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, but Trump took advantage of the forum to denounce Iran and accuse it of exporting "violence, terror and turmoil" to the Middle East and elsewhere. He said that such a regime must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. Trump did thank Russia, Iran and Syria for following his advice - he claimed - and "substantially slowing down their attack on Idlib province," the last bastion of forces opposed to Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime, but he went on to say "Get the terrorists, but I hope the restraint continues. The world is watching." United Nations, Sep 27 : President Donald Trump accused China on Wednesday of attempting to meddle in the Nov. 6 congressional elections in the United States in retaliation for the tariffs his administration has imposed on Chinese goods. "Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November, against my administration," the US president told a United Nations' Security Council meeting centering on the issue of nuclear non-proliferation, Efe reported. "They do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade and we are winning on trade, we are winning at every level. We don't want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election," Trump said. China's foreign minister, who was present at the Security Council meeting, denounced Trump's accusation as being "unwarranted." "We do not and will not interfere in any country's domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China," Wang Yi said. Two weeks ago, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said that the US government had found signs of possible attempts by Russia and China to interfere in the November midterm elections. United States, Sep 27 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for efforts toward a world free of nuclear weapons. As the only weapons with potentially existential consequences, nuclear weapons pose a grave threat to international, national and human security. The only sure way to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons is to eliminate the weapons themselves, he said. However, the global security environment has deteriorated, making progress in nuclear disarmament more difficult yet also more important, he told a high-level plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Xinhua news agency reported. Guterres asked for leadership from states possessing nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia -- by far the largest possessors of nuclear weapons -- have made enormous progress in the reduction of their nuclear arsenals, he said. "I appeal to both governments to re-engage in the dialogue necessary to maintain their historic track record of bilateral arsenal reductions." As a first step, the two countries should move to extend the New START Treaty (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) by the five years allowed for in its articles and commence discussions that could lead to further agreements on reductions, he said. The two countries should also work together to overcome their dispute on the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, he said. In addition, it is equally important that all states possessing nuclear weapons reinforce the norm against nuclear use, said the UN chief. He asked those states to publicly recommit to the fact that a nuclear war cannot be won and therefore must never be fought; to refrain from developing new and destabilizing nuclear weapons; and to work immediately to fully implement all commitments undertaken on nuclear disarmament, especially under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. At the same time, all states have responsibilities in the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, he said. Non-proliferation is central to the maintenance of international peace and security, and also essential for preserving an environment that is conducive to disarmament. Disarmament remains essential for sustaining nonproliferation. They are two sides of the same coin. Backward movement on one will inevitably lead to backward movement on the other, said Guterres. All states should also work with nuclear-weapon states to bridge divides and seek a return to a common path toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, he said. The time has come to make tangible progress to rid our world of nuclear weapons, he said. Srinagar, Sep 27 : A civilian was killed on Thursday here in a firing during a cordon and search operation, police said. Following specific information about presence of militants, the search was launched earlier in the Qamarwari area here. There have been no exchange of gunfire between the militants and security forces though so far, reports from the area said. The deceased was identified as Saleem Malik, who died of a bullet injury, a police officer said. Authorities imposed curfew in the old city area and suspended mobile Internet services here in Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining Badgam district as a precautionary measure. New York, Sep 27 : Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde here, exchanging views on multilateralism and reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO). During the talks on Wednesday, Wang emphasized China's stance in upholding multilateralism, free trade and international rules and law, reports Xinhua news agency. Wang also called for increased international efforts to safeguard multilateralism. Echoing Wang's views, Lagarde said it was one of IMF's principles to advocate multilateralism and international trade. The international community should firmly protect multilateral trading system and abide by rules and regulations in international trade while addressing disputes through consultations, she said. When discussing issues on the reform of WTO, Wang proposed the reform should be transparent, open and inclusive, since it is related to interests of all its members. Opinions of all WTO members, especially the developing countries, should be considered, said Wang, noting that the global trade body plays a vital role in the development of international trade. Canberra, Sep 27 : An Australian man had to undergo plastic surgery after being attacked by a kangaroo he thought to be dead. Billy Willox had the ligaments and skin tissue around his eyes torn by an eastern grey kangaroo on the side of a road here after he stopped to check the animal's pouch on September 11 for a joey assuming the kangaroo had been struck by a car and killed, reports Xinhua news agency. "All of a sudden, it just got up," Willox told the media on Thursday. "Before I knew it, it had gone for my eyes. It was very, very quick. I just couldn't move away from it." Willox, a bus driver who was on his way to work at the time of the attack, kicked the marsupial away and managed to drive home despite blood pouring from his eyes. Willox's partner described the scene upon his return home as "gruesome". He was rushed to Canberra Hospital where he underwent plastic surgery. Washington, Sep 27 : US bombers flew from Guam and transited through the South China Sea, an area considered sensitive by the Chinese military. "That just goes on, if it was 20 years ago and had they not militarised those features there it would have been just another bomber on its way to Diego Garcia or wherever," Secretary of Defence James Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday when asked about the bomber flight. "There's nothing out of the ordinary about it," Mattis added. On Tuesday, the US B-52s also "participated in a regularly scheduled, combined operation in the vicinity of the East China Sea", Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn told CNN. A US defence official said that the bombers were escorted by Japanese fighter jets and flew in proximity to the Japanese controlled Senkaku Islands which China lays claim to. The bombers also flew into the Chinese military's unilaterally declared Air Defence Identification Zone which extends over the area. The two missions comes amid heightened tensions over a series of issues. In the last week, the Chinese government denied a US Navy warship permission to visit Hong Kong, the US sanctioned a Chinese defence entity over its purchase of Russian-made weapons, the State Department approved a military equipment sale to Taiwan and a high-ranking Chinese naval officer cancelled a meeting with his American counterpart. "We're sorting out obviously a period with some tension there, trade tension and all, so we'll get to the bottom of it but I don't think that we're seeing a fundamental shift in anything, we're just going through one of those periodic points where we got to learn to manage our differences," Mattis said on Wednesday when asked about the tensions. Beijing, Sep 27 : A long-lost warship has been discovered off the coast of China after an extensive hunt to track down relics from from a naval battle fought more than a century ago, the media reported. An archeological team had been searching for several years before it stumbled across a golden wooden name plaque bearing the name Jingyuan, said China's National Cultural Heritage Administration. Built at the famous Vulkan shipyard in Germany, the Jingyuan was incorporated into one of China's naval fleets in the late 1880s, reports CNN. It was lost at sea during the first Sino-Japanese war in September 1894 -- a conflict fought between the Qing Empire, which ruled China until 1912, and the Empire of Japan. The ship went down in the Yellow Sea alongside three other warships. After confirming the ship's identity, the team scanned the seabed to find its exact location 12 metres below the water. Sand clearing operations revealed it is resting upside down but allowed the excavation of its contents. The team said that there were more than 500 relics remaining in the ship -- including ceramics, leather goods and glass. Old weapons and revolver bullets were also discovered. Experts say the find will have significance for the study of world naval history. United Nations, Sep 27 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed US sanctions against Tehran amidst American President Donald Trump issuing dire warnings at the Security Council against violating the embargo. India and Iran "shared each others' position about where we stand at this point of time" on the sanctions, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar told reporters after the Ministers' meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here on Wednesday. At the Security Counci, Trump said that the sanctions against Iran will come into full force in November and warned "any individual who fail to comply with these sanctions will face full consequences". Kumar said that India was engaged with all the stakeholders dealing with the sanctions and, therefore, it discussed it with Iran also. Zarif told Sushma Swaraj about Iran's interaction with the European Union (EU) and other countries over the sanctions, according to Kumar. The spokesman said that Iran and India had "civilisational ties" going back in time and the discussions went beyond the sanctions issue. Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Iran signed with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the EU, to end sanctions in return for Teheran stopping nuclear weapons development. The EU and most countries back the nuclear deal and oppose US sanctions and Trump found himself isolated at the Security Council. Washington's allies, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, openly opposed Trump at the Security Council meeting and expressed their support for the agreement with Iran. Kumar declined to comment on foreign media reports that India was going to stop importing Iranian oil. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) London, Sep 27 : A Russian man accused of poisoning former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK, is a military officer who received an "honour" from President Vladimir Putin, an investigative website has revealed. Following the attempted poisoning in March, UK investigators identified one of the two suspects as Ruslan Boshirov, the BBC reported on Thursday. Putin had claimed Boshirov was a civilian, and on Russian TV, he himself said he visited Salisbury as a tourist. But according to the British website Bellingcat, Boshirov is actually an intelligence officer by the name of Colonel Anatoliy Chepiga. He has served in Chechnya and Ukraine was made a "Hero of the Russian Federation" in 2014. The 39-year-old trained at one of Russia's elite academies and served with a special forces unit under the command of the GRU - Russia's military intelligence service, the website said in a report. He earned more than 20 military awards for his service. He is believed to have transferred to Moscow around 2009, where he was given a false identity as Ruslan Boshirov and has been working undercover for the past nine years, the report added. In December 2014, he was made a Hero of the Russian Federation. The medal, awarded in a secret ceremony, is typically handed out by the Russian President, the BBC quoted the report as saying. However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the new claims, saying there was no evidence. Skripal, who sold secrets to British intelligence agency MI6, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok on March 4. Both Skripal and his daughter survived. Washington, Sep 27 : The US House of Representative passed a government spending package worth $854 billion in an effort to avoid a government shutdown next month. The package was passed on Wednesday by a margin of 361 to 61, reports CNBC News. Although President Donald Trump raised the possibility of vetoing the legislation in recent weeks, he said "we're going to keep the government open", hours before Wednesday's vote. The package funds the Defence Department and a few other pieces of the government, while allotting money for the remainder of the government in a short-term package. The Senate had already passed the spending legislation and funding lapses on Monday. Trump slammed the spending package because it did not include money for his proposed border wall. Republican congressional leaders have opposed a shutdown because it could hurt party candidates only six weeks before midterm elections. Last week, Trump called the bill "ridiculous" and urged Republicans to "get tough", CNBC News said. Earlier this month, Trump said he would consider shutting down the government "because I think it's a great political issue". New Delhi : The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has received much appreciation from various industries, but there are sectors that have been terribly impacted after the introduction of the new tax regime. Private security is among the worst hit. The industry, which ensures security to other sectors, is looking rather unsafe and unstable under the taxation pressure. Going by available estimates, around nine million people, both men and women, are employed in India's private security industry (PSI) and it has the potential to employ an additional 3.1 million people by 2022. The livelihood of this large chunk of people is at stake as the industry mainly comprises small and medium security agencies which work on very low margins and often struggle with cash-flow problems. For such SMEs, even distributing monthly salaries to their employees is itself a challenge and the burden of 18 per cent tax on their gross income will worsen their precarious economic condition. In fact, the 18 per cent GST has created cash-flow problems for a majority of private security agencies in the country. Instead, a five per cent GST on their gross income -- or 18 per cent GST only on their commission -- would be a more feasible rate for the industry and the people employed in it. Security companies are liable to pay GST on the 20th of every month, the usual trend in the industry is that their clients clear invoices after only 60-90 days. This imbalance causes a vicious cash crunch in the industry. Though PSI is the second-largest employer in the country after agriculture, many security organisations are compelled to retrench their employees to ward off business closure. The industry veterans have already expressed their concern before the Finance Ministry and the GST Commissioner. Several written requests have been made to Cabinet ministers and government officials, including Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal, but no concrete decision has been taken so far, except for words of sympathy. Unfortunately, sympathy cannot save the livelihoods of millions of people and the future of their dependents. The industry cannot sustain heavy losses for long and expects positive action from the government -- replacing the existing 18 per cent GST with a five per cent levy. According to a joint study of Ficci and management consulting firm BDO, the organised Indian PSI is growing annually at 20 per cent and its total worth is expected to reach Rs 1.5 lakh crore by 2022. Despite knowing its significance in supporting the government machinery in homeland security and realising the fact that PSI is creating jobs for those who have migrated from villages, and retired servicemen, the government seems a bit irrational in levying 18 per cent GST on the industry which safeguards the interests of the whole economy. Moreover, at a time when crime against women is rising in the workplace, the government should take adequate measures to boost the industry rather than adopting discouraging policies. The present tax rate on the industry needs to be revised as PSI is a labour-intensive industry where the biggest component of costs comes under the head of wages. Hence, either the GST rate should be reduced or the compliance obligation must be shifted from the service provider to the service user. These initiatives will definitely help more than 15,000 MSMEs, and millions of guards would be able to secure their jobs. (Vikram Singh is Chairman of CAPSI -- Central Association of Private Security Industry -- India. The views expressed are personal) Colombo, Sep 27 : Sri Lankan police have arrested three men who were among a group who took semi-nude photos of themselves at ancient Pidurangala Rock, considered sacred by the Buddhists. The young Sri Lankan men posted the images of themselves on their Facebook, the BBC reported. It prompted angry reaction from people who considered them a religious insult. Similar photos were also posted on Instagram by foreigners, who were not arrested. The viral photos taken by foreign travellers were posted on the Cheeky Exploits Instagram page, an account that encourages people to take pictures at famous locations around the world. The arrests came after a complaint by a Buddhist monk who claimed the photos, taken within the sight of the Sigiriya rock fortress, a Unesco World Heritage site, were a religious insult, the BBC report said. Pidurangala is a massive rock in Matale district in Sri Lanka on which Pidurangala Vihara temple was constructed. It is located a few kilometres north of the historical fort Sigiriya. Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also ordered an investigation into the incident, Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror newspaper reported. The reaction to the arrest have been mixed. "When our children are being raped and women being abused, Sri Lankan police do nothing. They only seem to act on nonsensical non-issues like this," a Facebook user said. Others questioned why police only took action against locals, not foreigners. "So law enforcement should only be limited to brown bums? Sri Lanka Police should send several teams around the world to identify the rest," wrote another Facebook user. This is not the first time nude pictures near sacred sites have drawn condemnation from local communities. In June 2015, a group of Western tourists climbing Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia caused massive outrage and a subsequent deadly earthquake was blamed on their disrespect towards the sacred mountain, the BBC said. It was only after court proceedings, a few days in prison and a financial penalty that the tourists were allowed to leave Malaysia. In 2017 a Playboy model took part in a nude shoot on New Zealand's Mount Taranaki, angering Maoris who consider the mountain to be the burial ground of their ancestor. Beijing, Sep 27 : China on Thursday executed a man who stabbed nine secondary school students to death and injured 11 others in April in Shaanxi province. Zhao Zewei was sentenced to death in July after a court found him guilty of murder following the April 27 stabbing attack at a high school in Mizhi county, reports Efe news. According to a statement from the Yulin City Intermediate Court, the man confessed that he carried out the massacre to "vent frustration and anger over his misfortunes in life and the bullying he was subjected to while attending the school". The Supreme Court then approved ZhaoAs death sentence because his motives were "despicable" and the methods used "especially cruel", according to the statement. The attack occurred when the students, aged between 12 and 15 years old, left their classes. Mumbai, Sep 27 : Actress Amyra Dastur, who has joined the cast of "Made In China", says she has to bring her best on the sets of the movie because she finds co-star Rajkummar Rao an extraordinary actor. "I'm really happy with the films I have managed to bag during this year. People are definitely going to see a different side of me in this film as well. All I can say about my look is that my fans and the audience will definitely take a moment or two to recognise me in this film," Amyra said in a statement. This will be the second time Amyra and Rajkummar will be working together. The two will also be seen in "Mental Hai Kya". "Working with Rajkummar again is wonderful and to dress up in our unusual avatars or characters is even better because it is so different from 'Mental Hai Kya'. I still need to bring my best on set because even though there's a comfort level, he's still an extraordinary actor and one has to keep up," she said. The film also stars Mouni Roy and Boman Irani. "I am super excited to work with Boman Irani sir. My family is definitely excited about this fact as well. My crazy Parsi family has always been Boman Irani fans, so when I told them, they were all hoping we would be shooting in Mumbai just so they could come and meet him," she said. Amyra, who has featured in films like "Mr. X", "Kung Fu Yoga", "Kaalakaandi" and "Rajma Chawal", is glad she is finally doing a film in the comedy space and one that carries a powerful social message. "There is a lot of improvisation that takes place while we do the scenes and my father is on speed dial because there are bits of Gujarati words/phrases in our dialogues, so my workshops/preparation for this film is being overseen by my family for once. They're only allowed to speak to me in Gujarati until I wrap for the film," Amyra said. "Made In China" is directed by Mikhil Musale. It is a hilarious take on a struggling Gujarati businessman and the bizarre journey he undertakes to become a successful entrepreneur. The film will hit the screens on Independence Day next year. It is being produced by Dinesh Vijan under the banner of Maddock Films. San Francisco, Sep 27 : Without giving out much details about Google's reported plan to launch a censored version of its search engine in China, a top company executive told lawmakers in the US that the company would follow its privacy and security controls in case it pursues any interest in China. Appearing before members of the US Congress at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Google's Chief Privacy Officer, Keith Enright, went so far as to confirm that the China search project does exist, The Wired reported. But Enright did not disclose much, leaving the lawmakers disappointed. "My understanding is we are not, in fact, close to launching a search product in China, and whether we would or could at some point in the future remains unclear," Enright was quoted as saying to Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire. The news about Google's plan to build a censored search engine in China broke in August when The Intercept reported that the search platform would blacklist "sensitive queries" about topics including politics, free speech, democracy, human rights and peaceful protest, triggering internal protests among some Google employees. According to a memo on the project, authored by a Google engineer, the search system would require users in China to log in to perform searches, and would share crucial data with a Chinese partner. In the hearing before the Congress, Enright declined to expound upon its purpose, insisting he was "not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of scope for that project." Representative of five other companies, besides Google, also appeared before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. These five companies were - Apple, AT&T, Amazon, Charter Communications and Twitter. Google was, however, not the only company at the hearing to face questions about China. Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, asked the Apple representative whether the company upholds its human rights and privacy standards there, The Wired report said. Mumbai, Sep 27 : The Reserve Bank of India will ease the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) norms from October to induce liquidity into the financial system, amid concerns of a credit crunch. SLR is a reserve requirement that commercial banks must maintain. According to the RBI, "the increase in 'Facility to Avail Liquidity for Liquidity Coverage Ratio' (FALLCR), announced today (Thursday) for effect from October 1, 2018, from the existing 11 per cent to 13 per cent will take the carve out from SLR available to banks to 15 per cent of their NDTLA(Net Demand and Time Liabilities)". The development comes days after the apex bank had assured that it will take steps to ensure adequate liquidity is available in the financial system. "This should supplement the ability of individual banks to avail of liquidity, if required, from the repo markets against high-quality collateral," the RBI said in a statement on Thursday. "This, in turn, will help improve the distribution of liquidity in the financial system as a whole." In addition, the apex bank said that it will use various available instruments to meet the durable liquidity requirements of the financial system. Dublin, Sep 27 : A passenger was arrested for trying to flag down an aircraft after reaching late at the Dublin Airport on Thursday. According to an airport spokesperson, the man and another woman arrived after the departure gate for a Ryanair flight for Amsterdam had been closed. The spokesperson said that as the two passengers spoke to Ryanair staff at the gate, the man became agitated and started to bang on the window looking out onto the flight, the Irish Mirror reported. He then broke through a door and went out onto the tarmac, shouting at the pilot of the departing plane to wait for him. The passenger made it to the taxiing Ryanair aircraft before being arrested by the police. He did not make it on board and the flight departed 21 minutes behind schedule, according to the BBC. New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Congress on Thursday alleged that the Narendra Modi government has shunted a senior official, who indicated the loss in the Rafale jet deal, and rewarded his boss who overruled him, saying there were "perks of pleasing" that covered "corruption tracks." Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has paid 300 per cent more for the defence deal that was negotiated to purchase 36 fighter jets from France as compared to an earlier price offered by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for 126 jets. "The Modi government shunted the whistle-blower Joint Secretary (Air) who questioned the loss to government treasury by paying 300 per cent extra for 36 Rafale. "Director General Smita Nagaraj, who overruled the joint secretary, was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Perks of pleasing Modi government cover corruption tracks," Surjewala said attaching an Indian Express report along with his tweet. The newspaper report stated that nearly a month before the deal was signed in September 2016 by then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his French counterpart in New Delhi, then Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), who had been part of the Contract Negotiations Committee (CNC), raised questions about the benchmark price and put his objections on record. The objections raised delayed the Cabinet note approving the deal and its signing, which only happened after his objections were "overruled" by another senior MoD official, Director General (Acquisition). The government-to-government deal for 36 Rafale aircrafts was announced by Modi during his visit to Paris in April 2015. The proposal for the earlier 126 Rafale jets during the UPA's regime was scrapped. Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston Beijing, Sep 27 : China will continue to press for pragmatic cooperation with Sri Lanka under the Belt and Road Initiative in order to bring more tangible benefits to the people of the two countries, a Chinese diplomat said. The remarks were made by Beijing's Ambassador to Colombo Cheng Xueyuan at an event here on Wednesday evening marking the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, reports Xinhua news agency. Addressing a gathering, the Ambassador said over the past year pragmatic cooperation between China and Sri Lanka had developed rapidly, especially with the ongoing construction of the Colombo Port City, Hambantota Port, Moragahakanda Reservoir Project and the Extension of the Southern Railway. He said tourism had also expanded between the two countries in recent years, with China now becoming Sri Lanka's second largest source of tourists. According to official figures, 260,000 Chinese tourists arrived in Sri Lanka in 2017 and this number was estimated to exceed 300,000 in 2018. More Sri Lankans were also travelling to China. Kabul, Sep 27 : Three rockets fired by Taliban militants hit Afghan's Ghazni city during President Ashraf Ghani's visit on Thursday but caused no loss of life, officials said. Ghani was visiting the city to review the security situation. According to officials, two of the rockets landed close to the provincial government compound, Khaama Press reported. "Three rockets fired by Taliban rebels slammed into Ghazni city today morning but fortunately caused no loss of life," said a government official. The President's spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said that Ghani continued the visit after the attack and met government and military officials as well as religious scholars. The Taliban briefly captured Ghazni city in August, inflicting countless loss of lives and huge property damages to private and public institutions. Ghani had earlier promised Ghazni residents to upgrade the war-torn province administration system and development projects. During his Thursday visit, the President ordered launching a few development projects in the city, including constructing a conference hall and a new hospital, the Presidential Palace said in a media release. Mumbai, Sep 27 : After all the hype and anticipation, the trailer of Vijay Krishna Acharya's "Thugs Of Hindostan" turns out to be much ado about nothing, except Aamir Khan. The trailer opens with an interesting interlude where the mighty (Amitabh) Bachchan baritone which resonates across a skyline clearly painted with the same colours as "The Pirates Of Caribbean". Bachchan is a pirate from the "Lagaan" era and among his rugged band of thugs is Fatima Sana Shaikh who looks determined to prove "Dangal" was no flash in the pan. But Katrina Kaif is happy with the status quo. She poses and preens as though she had walked into the "Chikni chameli" sets again. Clearly then, the girls have very little to do in this 'maara-maari-thon'. How can they? This is an Aamir Khan film. He takes over the trailer after 30 seconds. He is the ruffian mercenary whom the horrid British colonialists want to use to tame the mutinous Bachchan. The Khan-Bachchan confrontations may be interesting. But it all depends on how much punch the screen-printed hogging Khan packs in. Going by the trailer, "Thugs Of Hindostan" looks like a spectacle of sound and fury signifying a shift towards a powered periodicity that boasts of much appropriation. The background score sounds like "Dhoom" remixed -- and little 'Depp'. Panaji, Sep 27 : The Goa Public Works Department (PWD) and the Portuguese Environment Ministry will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on water management on Friday, a Minister announced here on Thursday. Addressing a press conference at the State Secretariat, Goa's PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said that representatives from both sides would meet every year to review the works carried out under the MoU. "On Friday, an MoU for proposed technical partnership for water supply, water management and sanitation will be signed by Portuguese Environment Minister Joao Pedro de Matos Fernandes," Dhavalikar said. "The main points are water supply operation and energy efficiency and resource valorisation, waste water and sewerage planning, management and technological solutions, asset management procedure and standards, energy management operational workflows, operational data and information management." Fernandes, who is on a two-day visit to Goa, is slated to visit water filtration facilities in the state. He will also meet Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Ports and Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation Uma Bharti. Amritsar, Sep 27 : Even as a case was registered against a woman who fell from a speeding Punjab Police vehicle's roof after she was allegedly forced to sit there, villagers in Amritsar district protested on Thursday against the police "high-handedness". The protesters from Shehzada and adjoining villages blocked a road near the village and demanded action against the erring police officials. Jaswinder Kaur, aged around 35, of Shehzada village was caught on CCTV while falling from the police jeep's roof on September 25. The matter came to light after the footage emerged on the social media. She received injuries on the head and wrist and was admitted to the Civil Hospital in Majitha town, nearly 245 km from here. She alleged that police drove her for a good three kilometers before she fell near Chawinda Devi area of Amritsar district. The police booked Kaur and 7-8 others from her family and village on charges of attacking a police team and damaging their vehicle. Police officials said that a case had also been registered against the Crime Branch team that went to Kaur's house to arrest her father-in-law Kulwant Singh. The police have also ordered an inquiry. The protesters alleged that Punjab Police was shielding its erring personnel and indulging in high-handedness by registering a case against the victim. While the woman accused police officials of forcibly putting her on the jeep bonnet and claimed she climbed on to the roof of the moving vehicle to save herself, police said she and other villagers had attacked the police team and even broken a windowpane of the vehicle. The police claimed that the police team tried to drive away but the woman climbed the jeep bonnet to prevent them from doing so and later fell from its roof. The woman alleged that she was forced on to the jeep roof by police as 'punishment' after she resisted an attempt to whisk away her husband. The police team had gone to her house to arrest her father-in-law in connection with a property dispute. But as he was not at home, they wanted to take away her husband, the woman said. Mumbai, Sep 27 : Actor Harshvardhan Rane is looking forward to perform in Colombo on Friday. The "Paltan" actor will enthrall the audience at a dance event, Blockbuster Bonanza. "It's my first dance performance in Sri Lanka. I'm quite excited and humbled to perform there," Harshvardhan said in a statement. He had performed at Colours of India festival in Russia recently and has been taking out time preparing for the new show. "Harshvardhan, who wants to create an impression with his dance act, has been rehearsing for the same taking time from his busy schedule. The actor will be performing on popular Bollywood songs including 'Kheench meri photo', 'Chogada Taara' and 'Hawa hawa'," said a source close to the actor. Mumbai, Sep 27 : Celebrity chef Kunal Kapur will travel across the country, meet historians, home chefs, artists and writers to trace the story of the curries of India with a new show "The Curries of India". "The show will resonate well with one and all. From breaking myths to finding secrets behind some of the best Indian curries, 'The Curries of India' has been a different, yet wonderful experience. This show will bring unexpected aspects of the regional cuisine from across India to the audience," Kapur said in a statement. The show aims to cover one curry with each episode that will ultimately seam in facts, folklore, the commercial evolution -- all culminating into Kapur's own version of that curry. It will air on LF, a travel, food and lifestyle channel. Amit Nair, Business Head at LF, said: "Through the show, we will bring forth stories that showcase the influence of different cultures on our curries....This show will seamlessly connect the myriad landscape of the ubiquitous Indian curry." The show will go on air on October 3. New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Supreme Court ruling that rejected a plea for referring the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute to a larger Constitution Bench is not a setback, a number of Muslim petitioners asserted on Thursday. By a majority 2-1 judgement, the Supreme Court rejected a plea for referring the case to a larger Constitution Bench and referred the case to a three-judge bench to be set up that will begin hearing from October 29. Advocate Zafaryab Jilani, the convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, said the verdict was no setback. "It is not at all a setback. It just means that the trial will start now. The court has clarified that the observations made by a Supreme Court bench in the Ismail Farooqi case of 1994 were made in a particular context and not related to this case. I think that serves the purpose," Jilani told the media. All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahali echoed him. "The positive aspect of today's decision is that the court has made it very clear that Ismail Farooqi case will have no impact on the Ayodhya case. As far as the masjid and namaaz and the religious aspects are concerned, it is an established fact that mosques are built to offer namaz and they are an integral part of our religion," he told the media. "Our main contention is that the whole land belongs to the Sunni Waqf Board and whatever the Allahabad High Court said, legally I think it cannot be said that you can divide the land between the three parties when you have not decided as to whom does it belong. So our main contention is that the whole land should be given to the Sunni Waqf Board," he added. BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy said the Modi government should acquire the land and hand it over to the representative bodies of the Hindus. "There is no need to talk about whose property is this, whether Ramjanmabhoomi nyas or others. What we have to understand is if the Hindus have a fundamental right to pray at the spot where the faith tells them that Lord Ram was born," Swamy told CNN-News18. "The government has s right to acquire properties including mosques. I would urge the Modi government to immediately acquire the entire land and hand it over to some representatives of the Hindua which include the various Akahras and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad," he added. Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. Bhubaneswar, Sep 27 : The Odisha government has allocated the land, earlier acquired for South Korean steel major Posco, to JSW Steel to set up its mega steel plant of 10 million tonne capacity in Paradip town. "We have allocated 2,900 acres land to JSW to set up a steel plant. The land was earlier allotted to Posco. The authorities of JSW have been directed to deposit money for the allotted land," Industries Minister Ananta Das told media here on Thursday. Official sources said JSW Steel is in the process of taking approvals from the Government of India for environment and forest clearance. The government received a proposal from JSW Steel in 2016 to set up a greenfield steel plant in Odisha with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore. The High-Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already approved the JSW steel project in 2017. The steel plant is expected to go on stream in four years and generate around 30,000 jobs. JSW has already expressed interest to have a long-term agreement with state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to secure iron ore supplies for its integrated steel project. Earlier, JSW had asked for 4,500 acres of land near Paradip town to set up the steel plant in phases. It had asked for the land that has already been acquired for the Posco project, said sources. Notably, the state government had acquired 2,700 acres of land for the now shelved $12 billion steel project of Posco at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district. However, it failed to start its work due to land acquisition hurdle, law and order problem and mining issue. Posco asked the state government to take back the acquired land in March 2017. Meanwhile, some betel vine cultivators, who had dismantled their vines and sold the land to Idco, the nodal land acquisition agency of the state, have re-erected their vines on the acquired land. Beijing, Sep 27 : China on Thursday accused the US of aggravating tension in the region after an American aircraft flew into the airspace over the disputed South China Sea. Blaming Washington for worsening military ties between the two countries, Beijing asked it to be "more mature" and warned of consequences of such actions, Efe news reported. "China opposes military incursions into its territory and will take all necessary actions to safeguard its rights and interests in the South China Sea," the Defence Ministry said. "We demand the US to take a reasonable and mature attitude with sincerity and take actions to improve bilateral relationship. We ask the US to work together with China," said Ministry spokesperson Ren Guoqiang at a press conference, adding that military cooperation could be a stabilizing factor for bilateral ties. Ties between China and the US have been severely strained over an ongoing trade war as well as spiralling military tensions. Apart from the airspace violation, Washington had also imposed sanctions on high-ranking Chinese military officials, and approved arms sales to Taiwan. Ren said the arms sale, valued at $330 million, violated the "One China" principle and was an "interference in China's domestic affairs". Wellington, Sep 27 : The New Zealand Parliament on Thursday approved a law to eject lawmakers who quit or are expelled from their party in a move to prevent members of the House from switching parties mid-term, a practice known locally as "waka-jumping". The Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill was approved with a 63-57 vote in favour, despite a heated debate and fierce opposition from the National Party and ATC New Zealand, Efe news reported. "The Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill is about enhancing public confidence in the integrity of our electoral system. The Bill ensures that it is the voters, not politicians or party leaders, who decide the proportionality of parties in Parliament," Justice Minister Andrew Little said in a press release. The bill was agreed upon between the Labour Party and New Zealand First during the negotiations to form the government last year. The Green Party is the third partner in the ruling alliance led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Five parties are represented in New Zealand's unicameral legislature, with the National Party being the biggest with 56 seats, followed by Labour (46), New Zealand First (9), the Greens (8) and ACT (1). New Delhi, Sep 27 : Activists and lawyers welcomed the Supreme Court's landmark verdict on decriminalising adultery, saying patriarchal control over a women's body was unacceptable. The Supreme Court on Thursday decriminalised adultery after striking down a British era law -- Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code -- terming it as unconstitutional, archaic and manifestly arbitrary. Supreme Court lawyer Shilpi Jain told IANS that the law was sexist. "Even 20 years ago, I have said the law should be struck down as it is sexist. It was, no doubt, an archaic law. In today's time, the law was irrelevant, especially when many marriages were broken and divorces take years to happen," she said. "It was much needed the law is struck down. We have even legitimised live-in relationships and after that is legitimised, how can you question adultery. "The verdict was the need of the hour and in the modern time, women need some breathing space and by doing away with this the law has given some breathing space to them," Jain added. Social activist Ranjana Kumari too welcomed the judgment, saying "patriarchal control over women's body unacceptable". "We welcome the judgement by the Supreme Court striking down the 158-year-old law based on Victorian values, in Section 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands and criminalises adultery. Patriarchal control over women's body unacceptable," she tweeted. Rekha Sharma, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women in a tweet said: "Women are not the property of their husbands. "I welcome the Supreme Court's verdict to strike down Section 497 and abolish the outdated adultery law as a criminal offence. Women are not the property of their husbands. This decision is not only for all the women but it is also a gender-neutral judgement." Senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan said it was "another fine judgement" by the apex court. "Another fine judgement striking down the antiquated law, which treats women as property of husbands and criminalises adultery (only of the man who sleeps with someone's wife). Adultery can be ground for divorce but not criminal," Bhushan said. Supreme Court Lawyer and Congress National Media Panellist Jaiveer Shergill also hailed the judgment. "Much needed judgment delivered by Supreme Court - the words 'Husband is not the master of the wife' should be 'etched in stone' in every marital household - gender equality wins over regressive archaic law," he tweeted. Mumbai, Sep 27 : Actor Nana Patekar on Thursday dismissed an accusation of sexual harassment by actress Tanushree Dutta, saying he may take legal action. In his first response since the allegation re-emerged this week a decade after Tanushree had spoken out about it, Nana told Mirror Now: "What can I do about what one says? You tell me. What does it mean by sexual harassment?" Tanushree, who had first raised the allegation against Nana in 2008, brought the spotlight once again on her unsavoury experience of working with the actor in the film "Horn 'Ok' Pleassss", through a recent interview. Nana told Mirror Now: "We were on the set and there were 200 people sitting in front of us. What I can say?" Asked if he will take any legal action, he said: "I will see what can be done legally. (When asked about any legal action) Let's see. It is also wrong/inappropriate to talk to you (media) since you publish anything." On the allegation that there's a different face to the National Award-winning actor, Nana said: "Let anyone say anything. I will continue to do in my life what I have been doing." Tanushree's allegation is being seen as one that is likely to kickstart Bollywood's own #MeToo movement. She has hit out at Nana and named choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Sami Siddiqui as accomplices in the harassment she faced. Back in 2008, at a press conference to address the "indecent behaviour" allegation by Tanushree, Nana had said he was highly surprised at the charges by the actress, who he said was "my daughter's age". On her part, the former beauty queen has said her voice was suppressed back then by Nana's powerful position. Image Source: IANS Tanushree Dutta Strong reactions from Bollywood are yet to emerge on the controversy. In fact, Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan on Thursday dodged a question about the news, steering clear from the row. At a film's trailer launch, a mediaperson asked the thespian and superstar Aamir Khan to share their views. Big B said: "Naa toh mera naam Tanushree hai, naa hee Nana Patekar. Kaise uttar dun aapko iss sawaal ka? (Neither is my name Tanushree, nor is it Nana Patekar. How do I answer this question?)" On the other hand, Aamir said: "Without knowing the veracity of something or the details of something, I don't think I can comment. It is not right for me. But I would like to say that whenever something like this does happen, it's really sad. Now if it has happened or not it is for people to investigate." Actress Shruti Seth hopes Tanushree's moment of stepping out and naming and shaming "is the beginning of the end of sexual harassment in Bollywood". "I hope more women find courage to call out their perpetrators. Bravo," she added. Tanushree hopes her story gives "girls a sense of confidence to come out with their story if they are suffering". "Back then, the mainstream media did not pursue the story as actively as it is happening in the present day. Now, it is the right time for all the victims to share their story," Tanushree said. While a string of Bollywood celebrities, including filmmakers and actors have called out casting couch and sexual harassment in the industry, naming and shaming is yet to become a reality, even as Hollywood counterparts have remained outspoken ever since mass allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein came to light. Comedian Bill Cosby has been sentenced upto 10 years in prison and has been branded a "sexually violent predator" by a US court for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004. Satna (Madhya Pradesh), Sep 27 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday once again targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, saying the country's "chowkidar" (watchman) has committed "chori" (theft). Addressing a public meeting in Chitrakoot in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi said: "Irregularities have taken place in the purchase of Rafale fighter jets from France. Modi took away Dassault contract for its India partner from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to favour his friend Anil Ambani's company to make it the offset partner." "While the cost of each fighter jet was fixed at Rs 526 crore in the deal between India and France during the Congress regime, now the same aircraft is being acquired for a whopping Rs 1,600 crore," said the Congress President. On a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi on Thursday arrived in Chitrakoot where he offered prayers at the famous Kamta Nath temple in this religious town associated with Lord Ram. He was accompanied by state Congress chief Kamal Nath and head of the campaign committee Jyotiraditya Scindia, among others. The Congress leader said: "The 'chowkidar' of the country is committing theft, that's why he is not able to have an eye-to-eye contact with the youth of the nation. While the government is not ready to disclose the price of Rafale jets citing a confidentiality clause in the deal, France says there's no harm in disclosing the price." Gandhi also raised questions over the issue of rising unemployment in the country. "At a time when the government is harping on 'Make in India' programme, the unemployment scenario is going from bad to worse. Today the situation is such that even the statue of Sardar Patel is coming from China. Chinese are making the statues of Patel while the youth of India is unemployed." He went on to add that if his party is voted to power in Madhya Pradesh, waiver of farmers' loans will be the first priority. "We will try to create employment opportunities for the youth and will replace 'Made in China' with 'Made in India' and 'Made in Chitrakoot'," he added. Shillong, Sep 27 : The Meghalaya Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution urging the Central government to include Khasi and Garo languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. Moving the resolution, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma described it as a "historic decision" for the state. The resolution was passed by voice vote. "It is a long pending demand. Every single citizen of our state has really wanted this particular resolution to go through so that Khasi and Garo languages are included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution," he said. Before passing the resolution, members of the opposition Congress besides associate member of the ruling United Democratic Party lauded the National People's Party-led coalition government for bringing the resolution. "We will go all out to demand from the Centre to ensure that the two languages are included in the Constitution," Himalaya Muktan Shangpliang of the Congress said. The resolution stated that according to the Census 2011, Garo has a language population of 936,496. Garo belongs to the Tibet-Burman group of languages. Khasi belongs to the Austro-Asiatic family in the Mon-Khmer group. It is widely spoken in Meghalaya and in parts of Assam and Bangladesh. The only language belonging to this family which has been included in the Eighth Schedule so far is Santali. The Khasi Authors' Society said that according to the 2011 Census, there are 14,31,344 people in India who spoke Khasi, which, as a written language, has completed 176 years. In 2005, the Meghalaya Assembly recognised Khasi and Garo as the state's associate official languages. But English continues to be an official language as no other language links the Khasi, Jaintia and the Garo communities. Mumbai, Sep 27 : Moscow has been the most searched destination among Indians in 2018, followed by Istanbul, according to a trend report which says offbeat destinations are on top of people's mind. According to travel search engine KAYAK, Moscow saw a huge jump in its ranking with a 115 per cent year-on-year increase in searches, read a statement. In 2017, Moscow was at number 70 and this year it has been holding the 46th position in overall popularity ranking of international destinations to visit for Indian travellers. Apart from Moscow and Istanbul, the other destinations which have made their place in the list are Raleigh-Durham, Prague, Munich, Vancouver, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai, Detroit and Seoul. The trend report also pointed out the Asian Pacific (APAC) regions which are in the bucket list of Indian travellers nowadays. Russia is at the top of the list of 'next 10 up and coming APAC destinations', with a 154 per cent year-on-year increase in searches, while Taiwan holds the second rank with a 104 per cent increase in searches. Places like Busan, Chiang Mai, Dubai and Gold Coast are a part of the list too. Abhijit Mishra, Director of India and Middle East, KAYAK, said: "Everyone enjoys visiting their favourite destinations often, but there are many other destinations around the world whose beauty is still unknown to most. Indian travellers have never shied away from exploring new and unconventional destinations. "From this year's results, an increasing number of Indians are willing to travel outside their usual favourites and discover places in Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic and Vietnam amongst others." New Delhi, Sep 27 : A majority of adults living away from their parents are worried most about the health of their parents. However, for parents, their social life and daily needs are the most challenging concerns, according to a survey. IVH SeniorCare in partnership with Wellness Health and You (Age Friendly India) conducted 'Jug Jug Jiyenge' survey to understand the perspective of elders and their children on the needs of elders living alone. The results of the survey highlighted the gap in expectation and delivery between elderly and children. According to the survey, only 10 per cent elders consider physical health to be a challenge whereas 66 per cent are worried about maintaining their social life and everyday needs, which questions the general understanding of the masses and children living away from parents that health is the most important concern for elders. For 67 per cent of children living away, the health of their parents is the primary concern and only 18 per cent are worried about their parent's social life and everyday needs. "The disparity in thinking of children living away from home and their elderly parents raises many red flags. While children are right to worry about the physical health of their elderly parents, the parents' key concerns about missing out on social life and difficulty in meeting their everyday needs highlight underlying mental health issues," G.S. Grewal, Elder Care Specialist and Consultant, Max Hospital and Chairman, Wellness Health & You, said in a statement. "Children fail to understand that health is not merely the physical health instead it is a state of physical and mental well-being. Living a socially secluded life in the absence of children often predispose elders to a feeling of loneliness, which can later transform into depression," Grewal added. The survey included a gender-mixed sample size of 1,000 each of senior citizens from Delhi NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka and their children who are living away from them for at least 5 years in all parts of the world. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews with elders living and alone and through email or telephonic interviews with their children. The results of the survey were obtained by comparative evaluation. Another finding was that adults who need to socialise or indulge in some recreational activity after 5 days of work to rejuvenate, could not imagine their parents socialising. Ninety-six per cent of children imagined their parents to be homebound. However, 79 per cent of senior citizens want to be out of home socialising with friends and relatives. "It is important that children engage in regular conversations with parents to have an insight of their needs rather than just relying on assumptions", said Swadeep Srivastava, Founder and Chief Belief Officer, IVH SeniorCare. Harare, Sep 27 : A wild elephant has killed a German tourist on a safari in Zimbabwe by trampling her while she was attempting to take photos of it, park authorities said on Thursday. Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said that the 49-year-old woman died of her injuries after the tragic encounter on Wednesday between the tourist group she was part of and a female pachyderm who split from her herd in Mana Pools National Park. "They were walking with a guide. When they entered the park they came across an elephant herd and started to take pictures. I think they wanted to get as close as possible to the elephants," Farawo told Efe news. He added that authorities did not know what had upset the animal and that they were still investigating the incident. "We are always asking people to stay away from wild animals. They should keep a safe distance," Farawo said. The tourist group had entered Zimbabwe from neighbouring Zambia. The woman, who was yet to be identified, received first aid after the attack, but succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital. Mana Pools, located on the banks of the river Zambezi in northern Zimbabwe, is famous for being the only park in the region where tourists are able to freely walk around without being accompanied by a guide or park ranger. Most elephants in the park are comfortable with the presence of humans and some even have been given names. Deadly attacks by elephants on people are relatively uncommon in Africa. They sometimes occur when the tuskers stray away from their habitats and wander into local farmlands. Agra, Sep 27 : A new tourist season beginning on World Tourism Day on Thursday has brought little cheer to the tourism sector in the Taj city. Tourism industry leaders say there was nothing much to look forward to as a number of their demands that could spurt growth had been rejected or put in cold storage. The travel trade laments the lack of air connectivity to Agra. "Smaller cities have regular flights but not India's tourist destination number one," says Anil Sharma, spearheading a movement for an international airport at Agra for the past three years. The hotel industry says it has been affected by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the falling graph of visitors staying overnight in Agra. The Supreme Court is seized of crucial issues like declaring Agra a heritage city and imposing restrictions on industrial development. "This has created uncertainty as hotels can neither expand nor open new units in the city because of the ad hoc moratorium on industries," says Agra Development Foundation Secretary K.C. Jain. Tourism organisations in Agra on Thursday organised the ritual welcome of tourists at railway station and at different hotels. But there was little else to commemorate the day. Agra is one of India's top tourist destinations. Yet, it lacks basic infrastructure and thus cannot take advantage of the interest generated in India and its tourist attractions, Sharma added. Leaders in the tourism and hospitality industry complain that there was a lack of vision and of will in the political leadership of Uttar Pradesh. "Even with three world heritage monuments, Agra has not been able to significantly increase the number of visitors. And those who visit often make brief trips. The Yamuna Expressway has made it easier for tourists to return the same day to Delhi," Rakesh Chauhan, President of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association, told IANS. "We need a comprehensive action plan for tourism development for the whole Braj region that includes Mathura, Vrindavan, Bateshwar and several important sites of religious importance," adds Sandeep Arora, a hotelier of Taj Ganj. Madrid, Sep 27 : The UEFA Executive Committee on Thursday agreed to use the video assistant referee system in the 2019/2020 Champions League starting from the qualifying rounds, as well as the 2019 European Super Cup. UEFA said it has plans to implement the VAR in the 2020 Euro finals, the 2020-2021 Europa League and the 2021 Nations League finals, reports Efe. "We are confident that introducing Video Assistant Referees in August 2019 will give us enough time to put in place a robust system and to train match officials to ensure an efficient and successful implementation of VAR in the UEFA Champions League, the world's flagship club competition," UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said. During the meeting held at its headquarters in the Swiss municipality of Nyon, UEFA also agreed on the procedure to be followed in the 2020 Euro qualifiers draw, to be conducted on December 2. A total of 10 groups of five or six teams will compete for 20 berths in the 2020 Euro finals, while the four remaining places are set to be decided through the Nations League and then the European Qualifiers play-offs. UEFA decided the northern Portuguese municipality of Gondomar is to host the finals of the inaugural UEFA Women's Futsal EURO 2019. During the meeting, UEFA is expected to choose either Germany or Turkey to host the EURO 2024. Mumbai, Sep 27 : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image has been unscathed in the ongoing Rafale fighter aircraft row, a statement the BJP heartily welcomed on Thursday. "There is no doubt in public minds about Modi's intentions in the Rafale deal, that's what I feel," Pawar said in an interview with a Marathi news channel New18-Lokmat, aired on Wednesday. However, concurring with the Congress-led opposition demands, Pawar made it clear that there should be a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Rafale deal in depth to unravel the truth before the public. "When the Bofors deal with signed, the BJP was in the opposition and vociferously demanded a JPC probe which the then ruling Congress conceded. The terms and conditions of secrecy and other aspects are common in both Bofors and the Rafale agreements. So a JPC must be appointed to clear the air on the Rafale issue," Pawar asserted. While the Congress on Thursday terming it Pawar's "personal views" on the sensitive matter, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah grabbed the opportunity by thanking Pawar for "placing national interests above party politics and speaking the truth". "Dear Rahul Gandhi, you would be wiser by believing your own ally and a leader of Pawar Saheb's stature," Shah said in a mocking tweet. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been calling Modi a "chor" (thief) on the Rafale deal. Attempting a damage control exercise, senior NCP leader and MP Majeed Memon said Pawar's statement was being atwisted out of context. "There is absolutely no question of giving 'a clean chit' to anyone as suggested in some sections of the media," he said. "I wish to make it clear on behalf of Pawar that the JPC should focus on two main issues - the financials of the deal and the pricing of the aircraft, and why Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd was suddenly edged out. The financials are very important and they cannot hide behind the secrecy clause since it's the taxpayer's money," Memon told IANS. Pawar further said that while the technical clause was confidential, there was nothing wrong in revealing the pricing of the deal. He pointed out that during the Bofors controversy, BJP leader and now External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had even wanted the technical aspects revealed. New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the municipal corporation authorities to pay over Rs 27 lakh as compensation to the parents of a 14-year-old boy electrocuted in a park here in 2014. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao ordered the East Delhi Municipal Corporation and the electricity distribution company concerned to pay Rs 27,38,607 along with interest of nine per cent per annum, observing that the accident had occurred due to the "negligence in maintenance of electrical installations" in the park. "We have no hesitation in holding that in the facts and circumstances of the case, both the respondents (MC and BSES) have failed to discharge their public duty in the manner expected of them in law... we find that the respondents have failed in their duty which resulted in the accident. There is no reason as to why compensation should be denied to the victims...," the court said. The court was hearing a plea by Rajeev Singhal for compensation due to the death of his son Akshat, who died of electric shock on July 5, 2014, at Sanjay Park in New Govind Puri. Chennai, Sep 27 : Police raided businessman Ranvir Shah's house here on Thursday and seized 89 artefacts including temple idols and pillars, police said. Speaking to reporters, Inspector General Pon Manickavel said the police had strong reasons to believe that the seized items were stolen from various Hindu temples and were more than 100 years old. Included in the seized items were 12 metal statues, 22 large pillars and 56 stone sculptures. A police official said their combined value would be over Rs 100 crore. Manickavel said the museum here had said it had no place to store the items, which will be produced before the court. Satna, Sep 27 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked the Modi government for insulting India's first Home Minister late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, saying that the statue being built for him in Gujarat is "Made in China". BJP President Amit Shah hit back at him and accused the Gandhi family of "humiliating" and unsuccessfully trying to erase the legacy of Sardar Patel. "Modiji had promised to build the world's largest statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. But later it was revealed that on the back of the statue it was written Made in China," Gandhi said while addressing a public meeting here. Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the Congress chief said, "Look how he insulted Sardar Patel. His statue was built, and behind it, it was written Made in China," he said. The Statue of Unity, which is 182 metres from the ground and 240 m from the river base of Narmada, has been completed. The inauguration of the statue will be done on Vallabhbhai Patel's 143rd birth anniversary on October 31 by Modi. Gandhi also said that the Prime Minister had "cheated" the people of the country by making false promises. "Modiji had promised to you that he shall provide employment to two crore youths every year. But what is the condition now?" he asked. Slamming the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state, the Congress leader said, "And this damage has been done in the last four years by Modiji and to people of Madhya Pradesh in last 15 years by (Chief Minister) Shivraj Singh Chouhan." "They made false promises. They lied to you. And your right of employment has been snatched," he claimed. Gandhi said that if his party forms the government in the state, then within five years the youth of the state would find Made in MAdhya Pradesh and Made in India written on the back of their phones. After Gandhi's charge, BJP President Amit Shah also hit back accusing his family of humiliating Sardar Patel and unsuccessfully trying to erase his legacy. "Dear Rahul Gandhi, your family humiliated Sardar Patel, unsuccessfully tried to erase his legacy from the people's hearts and minds. Your lies on the 'Statue of Unity' is another display of your visceral hatred towards Sardar Patel," Shah said in a series of tweets. "At a time when India is uniting to pay tributes to Sardar Patel by building a grand 'Statue of Unity' the Congress President is spreading canards to discredit the project. Shame," the BJP chief added. New Delhi, Sep 27 : Mounting a fresh attack over the Rafale deal, the Congress on Thursday alleged that the Modi government had shunted a senior official who had raised concerns over pricing and rewarded another official who had overruled him, saying there were "perks" for "pleasing" the government to cover its "corruption tracks." The party also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "betraying" the nation over the deal to purchase 36 fighter jets from France. Congress President Rahul Gandhi led the attack saying in a tweet that the government official who wanted to prevent "theft" was "fixed by the leader of thugs". Party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said the government had shunted a whistle-blower who raised issues concerning the price and paying "300 per cent more" in the deal. "The Modi government shunted the whistle-blower Joint Secretary (Air) who questioned the loss to government treasury by paying 300 per cent extra for 36 Rafale. "Director General Smita Nagaraj, who overruled the joint secretary, was made a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Perks of pleasing Modi government cover corruption tracks," Surjewala said attaching an Indian Express report along with his tweet. At the party's media briefing, its spokesperson Jaipal Reddy targeted the government stating that the "scam" was getting "thicker and thicker" and "curiouser and curiouser" with every passing day. He also referred to the newspaper report and said that before the deal was formally signed in September 2016, Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air) in Defence Ministry had raised his objections. Reddy said the first objection was on the benchmark price of the deal announced by Modi government for purchase of 36 Rafale jets, which had been pegged higher than the benchmark price for the deal negotiated by the UPA government. He said the official also pointed out that Eurofighter, the second aircraft that had qualified in IAF trials, had offered to supply it at 20 per cent price discount and wanted similar discount from Rafale. "What happened. The Joint Secretary Rajiv Verma had to go on leave. There comes a superior officer who overrules the Joint Secretary who went on leave," he said. He said the government should come out with a response contradicting or confirming the report. "Look at the manipulation. After all this, the process of ratification of the agreement was delayed by more than one year. It was ratified in September 2016 whereas the deal was announced in April 2015. It is an order of Rs. 60,000 crores. You are paying Rs. 41,000 crores more and took more than one year to ratify," he said. He claimed that the "scam" is unfolding and added that the Indian Air Force needed 126 aircraft but the government purchased only 36. " "What has happened to the remaining 90 aircraft? How will we be prepared if we are not equipped at the minimum level in respect of 'AF'," he said. Reddy said he was not aware of any major defence commercial pact being ratified after the deal was signed. "After the deal was announced by the head of the government, what option the subordinates were left with?" Targeting Modi, he said "the more you try to run away, the more you get drawn in the morass of this Rafale controversy." "Rafale scam has begun to stink and Modi has begun to sink into the sea of this scandal. There is no way he can get away from it. There is no way we will allow him to get away from it," he said, adding that people will not forgive the government for "betrayal of the nation". Reddy said Modi should answer questions raised by the party and the point raised by former President of France Francois Hollande. He also referred to remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron that he was not in charge when the agreement to buy the fighter jets was signed and said the French leader did not contradict the version of Hollande that the Indian government suggested a particular private firm as offset partner. "As a student of politics, I am not aware of a single example of Prime Minister of India being contradicted by the former President of any responsible major world power in the last 70 years," Reddy said. Dhaka, Sep 27 : European Union ambassadors in Bangladesh on Thursday expressed concern over the newly-enacted Digital Security Act in the country, which they fear could lead to a restriction of press freedom. In an unanimous vote last week, the Bangladesh Parliament approved the act, which kept the provision of life imprisonment for revealing state secrets and imposes prison terms for the distribution of anti-state propaganda. "We reiterate our concerns around several provisions of the Digital Security Act which unduly restrict the freedom of expression and the freedom of the media and undermine judicial procedural guarantees," the EU ambassadors said in a joint statement. "In its current form, the Act could be used to suppress and criminalise the legitimate exercise of these freedoms," according to the statement cited by bdnews24.com. The EU ambassador in Dhaka, Rensje Teerink, and the ambassadors from Italy, Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland signed the statement. The law also hands down punishments of up to 10 years in prison and a 10 million taka ($120,000) fine for "negative propaganda" against former President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, or against Bangladesh's Liberation War. According to the law, which will come into force after it is signed by President Abdul Hamid, publication of "false and distorted" information against the state or "spreading rumours" will be punishable by up to three years in jail. The EU ambassadors urged the Bangladesh government to continue deliberations on the law to ensure that it was in accordance with the universal declaration of human rights as well as the country's Constitution. Bangladeshi authorities have defended the law, saying that it was passed to control the abuse of freedom. Panaji, Sep 27 : Goa's ministers will work as "shock-absorbers" in Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's absence, a state Minister said on Thursday, after the state cabinet, minus Parrikar, met first time this week amid reports of differences between the ruling allies brewing for some time now. "Manohar Parrikar is a tall leader from Goa, who has reached Defence Minister's position. He is the CM of the state and he is now ailing and in hospital. Naturally this will have an impact on administration and everything," Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai told reporters at the state secretariat. "But, we as a team are shock-absorbers. The impact of his absence is lessened as much as possible, so that Goans get good governance as much as possible," Sardesai said. Sardesai's comments come at a time when there is a growing criticism of the BJP-led coalition government, both by the opposition as well as the civil society over issues related to mal-governance and lack of leadership, especially with CM Parrikar being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer at the All India Institute of Medical Science in New Delhi. Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and now Delhi for nearly seven months now and his absence has taken a toll on the administration, Sardesai conceded. He also said that the ministers would meet once a week henceforth to take steps to fulfil the assurances given by the government in the last budget speech by Parrikar. "Parrikar's advice is available to us. We are meeting regularly to shape up our short term and to have a view of our long-term clarity. We have passed the half financial year," he said. When asked if the cabinet meeting was called to make a public display of unity among the cabinet members, Sardesai said: "It is not only to show strength of unity but also to show that this government is not only stable with the ruling allies supporting us, but also that we have other friends (in Congress ranks) as well. Whenever required, we will show the strength and number." Commenting on a statement made by a state Congress leader, who claimed that a "political earthquake" was brewing in the coalition government, especially due to lack of leadership, Sardesai said: "All of us sitting here is very clearly a message to (Congressman Ramakant Khalap) Khalap that there is no earthquake this side. It is possible on his side." Panaji, Sep 27 : State PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Thursday said Goans and Portuguese were "brothers and sisters" and continue to be so. His statement comes a year after he demanded an apology from Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa for "atrocities and destruction" committed during colonial rule in the state. The Public Works Department (PWD) Minister also said that his only grievance with the Portuguese colonists was that they destroyed bridges and pipelines before their exit in 1961. "I have never said that we will never accept something from Portugal or give them something. After all we are brothers and sisters right from the beginning and we are still the same today," Dhavalikar told reporters. His statement comes after he announced that the PWD Ministry will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Portuguese Environment Ministry in water supply operation and other allied areas. The MoU will be signed later this week. Dhavalikar, during Costa's visit to the state in 2017, had said: "He should apologise to Goans for all the hardships and atrocities Portugal committed in Goa while they were ruling." "The amount of destruction they did while leaving Goa in 1961 by blowing up bridges and the mayhem they orchestrated is unforgivable," he had said. Goa was ruled by the Portuguese for 451 years until the state was liberated in 1961 by the Indian armed forces. Chandigarh, Sep 27 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce Rs 100 per quintal to farmers to manage paddy straw instead of burning it. "The compensation should be given only to farmers who refrain from burning paddy residue," Amarinder said in a communication to the Prime Minister. "The task of achieving zero stubble-burning in the state is not only a herculean one but also puts additional financial burden on the farmers," the Chief Minister pointed out, adding that despite strict steps, nearly 15 million tonnes of paddy straw/stubble was burnt in the agrarian state annually. The Chief Minister said Punjab farmers were given subsidised equipment for in-situ management of crop residue. "The use of new machines is putting an additional burden of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per acre on farmers, which they are unable to afford," he said. "In case these machines are to be optimally utilised for zero stubble-burning, additional cost on management and use of these machines is incurred which needed to be compensated," Amarinder Singh said. The Chief Minister said that despite repeated requests, the Centre had not yet taken any decision on the compensation to farmers for additional crop residue management. "The harmful effects of stubble-burning need not be reiterated. The state is serious about handling this problem and has started a campaign to educate and motivate farmers to plow stubble back into the soil rather than burning it. In order to achieve our aim, we need to redress the concerns of the farmers also," he added. Kolkata, Sep 27 : The Congress campaign against the Modi government on the Rafale deal will fall flat and the BJP will win more than 300 seats in the 2019 general elections, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said on Thursday. Accusing Congress President Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly making "baseless allegations" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the fighter jet deal with France, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment claimed that such campaigns will not reap much benefit for either Gandhi or his party as its seats tally in 2019 will not cross 70. "The Rafale issue is being blown out of proportion. Rahul Gandhi is making abusive statements about the Prime Minister. He has even called Modi ji a thief. But if he wants to have people and leaders of other parties by his side, he has to desist from making such baseless allegations," Athawale told reporters here. "The Congress can get close to 60-70 seats in 2019 but their tally will not cross 70. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which won 282 seats in 2014, will get more than 300 seats this time. The NDA alliance will form the government and Modi ji will become the Prime Minister again because the developmental work under this government has been unprecedented," the Republican Party of India (RPI) leader claimed. "The BJP will also win significant number seats in Bengal. The BJP is doing well in Bengal politics. We will continue our alliance with the BJP. My party has good infrastructure in 17 Bengal districts," he added. Beijing, Sep 27 : India and China on Thursday reviewed the situation along their disputed border as they discussed the issue at the 12th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs. The Indian side led by Pranay Verma, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the External Affairs Ministry, told the Chinese side that peace and tranquility on the India-China border areas was an important prerequisite for the smooth development of their bilateral relations. "They discussed ways to effectively manage border areas in accordance with the strategic guidance provided by the leaders of the two countries at the Wuhan Summit and explored various confidence-building measures with a view to further enhance mutual trust and understanding," the Indian Embassy in Beijing said in a late night statement. The Chinese side was represented by Yi Xianliang, Director General, Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was held at Chengdu in Sichuan, which falls in the People's Liberation Army's Western Theatre Command. The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs was set up in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for management of India-China border areas and to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between their border security personnel. The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting at a mutually convenient time. Kolkata, Sep 27 : The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) on Thursday said it will host its first international SME conclave here on January 10-11, 2019, to provide entities an opportunity to establish a business connect. The two-day conclave will be attended by over 2,500 delegates, 100 chief information officers, while over 200 companies will showcase their products and solutions, the association's SME Council Chairman Kamal Agarwala said. Small and medium enterprises constitute about 80 per cent of the association's membership and they contribute about 20 per cent of the total software exports of the country, according to industry sources. Bhubaneswar, Sep 27 : The Odisha government on Thursday said that the construction of the Subarnarekha port in Balasore will begin in October. Commerce and Transports Minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu said that the port will cost around Rs 4,000 crore and will be completed in 36 months. The state has already handed over 692.68 acres of land to the port developers. A total of 961.18 acres is required for the port, said informed sources. Since the site is close to the integrated test range of the Defence Ministry at Chandipur in Balasore, the Ministry gave approval for the project on the Subarnarekha river mouth in the Bay of Bengal in June. Chennai-based Creative Port Private Ltd (CPPL) proposes to build an all-weather deep-draft commercial port with an initial capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum. According to the revenue-sharing agreement with the state government in 2008, the port capacity will be raised to 40 MTPA over 10 years. Tata Steel has signed an agreement with CPPL for 51 per cent equity in the project. Jaipur, Sep 27 : Five people were killed and an equal number injured on Thursday in a fight over a land dispute in Dholpur in Rajasthan, police sources said. The sources said that Vikram Singh, the husband of the Sarpanch, was shot dead by the family members of ex-MLA Shivram Kushwaha in Miya-ke-Pura village. To avenge his death, his supporters armed with swords, rods, guns and axes attacked the family members of the ex-MLA, killing two people on the spot. Two others who were injured died on the way to a hospital. Two others who were seriously injured have been referred to a Jaipur hospital while three persons are undergoing treatment in Dholpur. Superintendent of Police D.D. Singh said a police force had been deputed in the area to avert further violence. Dhaka, Sep 27 : Two junior commanding officers of the Bangladesh Navy were killed in an accident during a test firing in the Bay of Bengal, the military announced on Thursday. Six other navy personnel, including two officers, were injured in the accident, reports Xinhua news agency. New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Supreme Court on Thursday said the credibility the Election Commission gained when it was headed by T.N. Seshan should be seen in the conduct of the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. "We want it (credibility) to remain here also (in providing the voters list)," a bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan said while deciding to hold a hearing on the plea seeking voters list to weed out bogus voters. Madhya Pradesh-based Jaya Thakur has moved the top court seeking directions to the Election Commission. Pointing to the acts of omission and inaction on the part of the Centre, the Election Commission and the State Election Commission in Madhya Pradesh, the petitioner contended that it would impede a free, fair and unbiased election set for later this year. The court on Thursday asked the Election Commission to dwell on what it meant by the text mode voters list backed with documents and authorities. Directing the listing of the matter on October 4, the court said that the credibility the Election Commission acquired during Seshan's time should continue. Panaji, Sep 27 : The Congress in Goa on Thursday said that there was no question of being sympathetic towards the disposition of ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as the ruling BJP was insisting that he was fit and able to run the administration. State Congress President Girish Chodankar also alleged that the party would lodge complaints vis-a-vis a series of scams against ministers in the ruling combine, including one involving granting renewal of 88 mining leases, which were subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court for irregularities. "In the last seven to eight months, since the CM was ill, the people of Goa as well as Congress leaders had shown a sense of sympathy. But we still did not get a full time Chief Minister," Chodankar said. "But now BJP leaders obstinately maintain that Parrikar is fit and runs the administration well. Now we have put the sympathy behind us," he added. Parrikar is currently admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi where he is being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer. He has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and now Delhi for the last seven months. Shillong, Sep 27 : Meghalaya's Congress legislator George Lyngdoh on Thursday demanded swift action against the illegal limestone mining in Nongtalang area near the India-Bangladesh border. However, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said action has been taken against as many as 11 illegal quarries. Moving a calling attention motion on illegal mining in West Jaintia Hills district, the Congress legislator said: "Illegal mining has to stop. If mining has to be done, it should be in a legal manner so that it ensures a planned approach with strong environmental safeguards. We need to ensure that our law abiding families do not lose faith in our democratic system." Alleging that a "handful of illegal miners" were carrying out their activities without caring for the law and environment, Lyngdoh said that there were other miners who have obtained major mineral licenses for limestone mining with statutory provisions to export limestone. Nongtalang village is about 98 km from Meghalaya's capital Shillong in West Jaintia Hills district. Promising to take action against all illegal mining activities, the Chief Minister said the government was looking at different technologies that could be adopted in order to ensure the system was tightened up. New Delhi, Sep 27 : A Delhi Police Sub-Inspector has been booked on the charge of stealing over 70 case files, certificates and dozens of complaint copies after transfer from one police station to another, an officer said on Thursday. According to the FIR, accused Abhishek Singh was booked under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with criminal breach of trust by public servant as he allegedly stole and kept with him government papers without authority. As per the police manual and bylaws, any Investigating Officer who is transferred from one police station to another, he/she should submit the case files in 'malkhana' of the police station concerned or hand over these to the officer replacing him, a police officer said. "After we came to know that Abhishek Singh had stolen case files, we sent several reminders and even tried to communicate with him through telephone calls and text messages to give back all 70 case files to the Govindpuri police station where he was posted till last month. However, he did not respond. We had no other option and decided to register an FIR against him," another officer connected to the probe told IANS on the condition of anonymity. "These 70 files and 24 certificates are related to cases of murders, attempt to murder, robbery and other crime. The verifications of individual cases are required for further probe. The accused officer was Investigating Officer in some of these cases," he said. "As he stole these case files from the police station locker, investigations in these 70 cases had come to a standstill. These files are also required for court proceedings," the officer said. "Top police officers, including Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal, had directed us to take legal action against him. An Additional SHO-ranked officer has been deputed to investigate this case," the officer added. Gandhinagar, Sep 27 : Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Thursday that Congress President Rahul Gandhi was "Made in Italy and has Italian blood in him", scoffing at the latter's remarks that the world's tallest statue of Sardar Patel being built in Gujarat was made in China. Nitin Patel told reporters that the Congress chief was making allegations just for the heck of it without knowing the facts that the complete Statue of Unity in honour of Sardar Patel "is made in India and in Gujarat". He said the government had invited global tenders to build the statue and the lowest bidder, L&T, which is an Indian company, was awarded the contract to build it. "Only 1,700 tonnes of bronze in it was imported from China. Besides this, there are 70,000 million tonnes of iron and 18,500 million tonnes of steel, all sourced from India," the Deputy Chief Minister said. "Hundreds of tonnes of iron waste collected from farmers across the country have been used in it," Patel added. Rahul Gandhi had insulted the sentiments of the people of India, especially of Gujarat, he said. "Rahul Gandhi was himself Made in Italy. He has Italian blood flowing in him," the Deputy Chief Minister asserted. "We have nothing to say here. It is up to the Congress whether they want a President with 100 per cent Indian blood or a mixed breed with Italian blood." The Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family had always tried to erase the legacy of Sardar Patel, he said. "They just cannot swallow any honour being done to Sardar Patel who was even the favourite of Mahatma Gandhi. In fact, they don't want anyone except the Nehru-Gandhi's family to be given credit for the country's independence," Nitin Patel said. He was reacting to Rahul Gandhi's remarks at a public meeting in Satna in Madhya Pradesh on the Sardar Patel statue. "Modiji had promised to build the world's largest statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat. But later it was revealed that on the back of the statue it was written Made in China," Gandhi said. The Statue of Unity, which is 182 metres from the ground and 240 metres from the river base of Narmada, has been completed. The inauguration of the statue will be done on October 31 by Modi. Bengaluru, Sep 27 : Citing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's lament that India had missed the industrial revolution, Karnataka IT and Biotech Minister K.G. George said on Thursday that the country should not miss the electronic revolution at least. "I remember Gandhi telling me that we (India) had missed the industrial revolution. Hence, we cannot afford to miss the electronic revolution at this point of time," said George at a preview of the 10th edition of Bengaluru Indian Nano event on December 5-7 here. Assuring the state government's support to the meet, George said that Indian scientists and engineers should catch up with disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, data analytics and nanotechnology, which was gaining recognition worldwide. "As India's IT and Biotech capital, Bengaluru is at the heart of innovation and emerging technologies. We are also witnessing a great deal of change in science over the last two years, with the city becoming a platform for academia, experts and entrepreneurs to build the eco-system," asserted George. Distinguished scientist and Bharat Ratna C.N.R. Rao urged his fraternity to make best use of nano-technology and nano-medicine which enable early detection of cancer. "Extraordinary things are taking place in science, which has become an interesting field to explore more. Advancement in nano-technology has also been tremendous," said Rao. Rao, however, cautioned the stakeholders against losing the excitement of pure science in the pursuit of its applications such as nano-technology and nano-science. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) professor A.K. Sood said about 700 national and international delegates, including 60 Speakers from the world over, would participate in the summit, whose theme is 'Nano for a Better World'. Organised by the Karnataka IT, BT, Science and Technology department along with the industry and academia, the annual event will be flagged in dozen cities across the country for its awareness and participation by other states and stakeholders. The expo will showcase advancements in nano-technology to improve the quality of life. Rome, Sep 27 : Current market conditions could drive crude oil prices up "even higher" with "negative" consequences for producers and consumers, said the chief executive of Italy's oil and gas giant Eni, Claudio Descalzi. "This would be negative for all but market conditions could push prices up even higher," Descalzi told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview. Oil prices eased on Wednesday but were still poised for a fifth consecutive quarter of gains. Crude price rises are being driven by the impending implementation of US sanctions to halt oil exports from Iran and a drop in exports from the major oil producer in the last three months of the year. Asked if crude oil prices could hit 100 dollars a barrel, Descalzi said: "I won't risk making a prediction. "Market instability will have a predictable impact on consumers. And on the environment, given that at those (price) levels, many would revert to coal," he said. New Delhi, Sep 27 : The CBI on Thursday said it has a registered a case against a Hyderabad-based telecom equipment manufacturing company VMC Systems and its directors over an alleged bank fraud case to the tune of Rs 1,700, on the complaint of Punjab National Bank (PNB). The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that it carried out searches at over three locations in Hyderabad at the residence and office premises of the directors. A senior CBI official said here that it has named Vuppalapati Hima Bindu, Vuppalapati Venkat Rama Rao and Bhagvatula Venkat Ramanna under various sections of the IPC for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery, based on the complaint of the bank. The PNB is already burdened with Rs 13,500-crore fraud committed by fugitive jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi of the Gitanjali Group. In its complaint to the CBI, the PNB alleged that the company had defaulted on repayment of loans worth Rs 1,700 crore to a consortium of banks. The bank alleged that about Rs 539 crore outstanding was due to it from the company, while over Rs 1,207 crore is pending towards the State Bank of India (SBI), Corporation Bank, Andhra Bank and the JM Financial Assets Reconstruction Company. According to the CBI, the VMC Systems -- manufacturer of telecom and power sector equipment -- had availed working capital credit facilities on August 12, 2009 to the tune of Rs 1,010.50 crore. The PNB further alleged that the VMC Systems diverted the funds given to it as loan by the consortium of banks. New Delhi, Sep 27 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the global community for conferring upon him the United Nations (UN)'s "Champions of the Earth" award and dedicated it to the countrymen and the country's tradition of coexisting with nature. "I would like to express my gratitude to the global community for conferring this honour upon me. This honour is not meant for an individual, but rather for the great Indian tradition, through which for centuries, we have been taught values like co-exisiting with nature," Modi said in a video message. He said he was delighted that "the human race has begun to accept the importance of nature". "This struggle with nature has brought destruction, both on humankind as well as on nature. In this changing situation, all of us are putting emphasis on protecting nature," he said. The Prime Minister's remarks came after the United Nations recognised him with its highest environmental honour in the Policy Leadership category. Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron were recognized in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022. Modi said: "Whether you call it global warming, or whether you call it environment, or whether you call it carbon emissions, whether you are referring to "developed countries" or "developing countries", no matter what phrase you use, ultimately we must all focus on climate justice." Asserting that the poor and the marginalised were the ultimate victims of the climate injustice, Modi said "we need to put the same emphasis on protecting nature as we do on other issues". He also said that in the pursuit of climate change, "India stands with the world, and is ready to march with you, shoulder to shoulder in order to achieve this goal". Modi also congratulated French President, saying that the honour is fitting recognition for his role towards creating a cleaner and greener tomorrow. Beside Modi and Macron, Kerala's Cochin International Airport was also honoured for its entrepreneurial vision, for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy. "Delighted that Cochin International Airport's remarkable usage of sustainable energy has been recognised and the Airport is a proud recipient of the UN 'Champions of the Earth' awards," Modi tweeted. "The Airport is an inspiration for several other airports in how we can leverage the power of solar energy for a better tomorrow," he added. The UN Champions of the Earth awards would be presented during the Champions of the Earth Gala in US' New York City, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly (UNGA). New Delhi, Sep 27 : Two days ahead of the second anniversary of the cross-LoC "surgical strikes" carried out on the militant launch pads, the Indian Army on Thursday released another video of the 2016 military operation, showing it destroying three terrorist launch pads and killing terrorists in an ambush. In the video captured by drone-mounted cameras, the images of the three terrorist launch pads are shown before the Indian commandos destroy them with bombardment and firing. A fourth attack captured shows the Indian commandos eliminating five terrorists moving in file. The government has decided to observe the attacks as "Parakram Parv", commemorating the valour and sacrifice of the armed forces, on the anniversary of 2016 cross-LoC military strikes. A three-day main event during September 28-30 will be organised at the India Gate lawns in the national capital besides similar events at 53 locations in 51 cities across the country to "highlight the valour of the Indian armed forces in general and special forces in particular". Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would inaugurate the event on September 28 at the India Gate lawns. The Indian Army conducted surgical strikes (on the intervening night of September 28-29, 2016) which had strategic ramifications and were aimed to "dissuade inimical adversary from adopting the path of violence and to ensure an environment of peace for the nation". The programme will start with a bugle call at 6.30 p.m on Friday. Movies and photographs depicting valour and courage of the armed forces will be shown. Huge canvas/ digital signing walls for sending messages to the soldiers will help citizens connect with them. Letters addressed to soldiers by school children will also be on display. New Delhi, Sep 27 : The revival plan for debt-laden national carrier Air India is going through the government's approval process, an official said on Thursday. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told this to reporters on the sidelines of an event here. Earlier, the government had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) on March 28 this year for disinvestment of Air India, including the national carrier's share-holding interest in the Air India Express Ltd and Air India SATS. But it received no response till May 31, the closing day. Currently, the airline is in a cash-strapped stage. It has also invited bids from banks for a Rs 500-crore government guarantee-backed "short term loans (STLs)". New Delhi, Sep 27 : The Centre on Thursday announced to enhance its contribution to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from 75 per cent to 90 per cent with effect from April 1 this year. With the declaration, the contribution of all states to the SDRF fund would be only 10 per cent, said a Home Ministry statement. The SDRF is a resource available to the states to meet the expenses of relief operations of immediate nature, for a range of specified disasters. The SDRF has been constituted in each state in which the Centre had been, so far, contributing 75 per cent for general category states and 90 per cent for special category states of hilly regions every year. "The additional contribution by Central government in SDRF on this account will be Rs 1,690.35 crore for the year 2018-19 and Rs 1,774.67 crore for the financial year 2019-20," said the statement. Under the Disaster Management Act 2005, a financial mechanism has been set up by way of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) at national level and SDRF at state level to meet the rescue and relief expenditure during any notified disaster. "At any point, a state government has fair amount of funds available under the SDRF. In case of any natural calamity beyond the coping capacity of a state, additional financial assistance, as per norms, is provided by the Central government from NDRF, in which 100 per cent funding is by the Central government," the statement said. Kolkata, Sep 28 : Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said atrocity against Dalits is "not a political but a social problem" and stressed on the importance of encouraging inter-caste marriages and stringent action against the offenders to end such incidents. Noting that Uttar Pradesh tops the chart in the country in terms of caste-related violence, followed by Rajasthan and Bihar, the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment said it is wrong to say that such incidents have increased under the BJP regime as the attacks on Dalits are continuing for many years irrespective of which party is in power. "There were 47,000 registered cases of such atrocities in India last year. It is not a political issue but a social issue. Taking initiatives like encouraging inter-caste marriage and higher conviction rate of the offenders can help. "The attacks on Dalits have been happening in this country for several years. As long as there is casteism, such attacks and atrocities would continue, no matter which party is in power at the Centre," the Dalit leader from Maharashtra told reporters here. It is not true that atrocities on the Dalits have increased in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime, Athawale said, adding that there were instances of attacks and violence on Dalits even during the Congress rule. "In Bengal, Dalits faced violence during the communist rule and it is going on in Mamata Banerjee's regime also," he said. Athawale urged the state governments to come up with initiatives like providing a grant of Rs 25 lakh to the district with highest number of inter-caste marriages and give such couples a priority in government jobs to encourage such practices. The Minister, however, pointed out that there have been 1,708 and 609 cases of attacks on the backward classes in Bengal in 2017 and 2018, respectively, which is significantly lower than many other states. He said the Bengal government should increase to Rs 1 lakh the grant of Rs 30,000 that it now gives to inter-caste couples after marriage. Referring to the petitions challenging the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act of 2018, which does away with the court-imposed requirements of undertaking preliminary inquiry and of procuring approval prior to making an arrest, he said there should be no changes to the new amendment. "99 per cent of cases of atrocities on Dalits are legitimate. The act comes into play when there are attacks on Dalits' lives and properties. However, the authorities need to be cautious that the law is not misused. Instead of seeking changes in the act, the people should change their mindset regarding how to behave with the Dalits," he said. The Minister, who held a meeting with the members of Matua Mahasangha, a religious reformation movement that originated from Bangladesh, said the Bengal government should pass a resolution in the state Assembly to grant citizenship rights to the community. "We demand that the 1971 citizenship act be amended so that those who were forced to take refuge in India in search of livelihood and security are be given Indian citizenship," the Republican Party of India leader said. "These people (Matuas) are neither terrorists nor do they have any intention to create unrest in India. They were forced to take refuge in India during the war between Pakistan and Bangladesh. So they should have the right to stay in India," he added. Moscow, Sep 28 : Russia and Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding on implementing a project to build an underwater gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan and India, the Russian Energy Ministry said in a statement Thursday. "The memorandum provides for the identification of authorized organisations through which the project will be supported, including during the development of a feasibility study, identification of the resource base, configuration and route of the gas pipeline," the statement said, Xinhua reported. Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky and Pakistan's Ministry of Energy Additional Secretary Sher Afgan Khan signed the document in Moscow. Now Russia will have to inform Iran and India about the signing, after which it expects to sign a similar document with India, Yanovsky said in the statement. The project was frozen in 2013 due to the imposition of sanctions against Iran, but its revival started in 2017. In November 2017, Russia and Iran signed a memorandum that envisaged Russian support for gas supplies from Iran to India. In March, a Russian-Iranian working group on the implementation of the project had its first meeting. According to Yanovsky, Russia and Pakistan were holding consultations on another project of building the 1,100 kilometer North-South Gas Pipeline (NSGP) between Pakistan's Karachi and Lahore to transport 12.3 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The implementation of an agreement signed in October last year between Russia and Pakistan on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies "can become a promising direction of cooperation," he said. The governments of the two countries were also considering signing an agreement on Russian oil products supplies to Pakistan, Yanovsky said. In addition, Russian electric power industry has shown interest in the Pakistani market, he said. United Nations, Sep 28 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly on Thursday that he has proof that Iran holds a "secret atomic warehouse" and urged international action against Tehran. During his vehement speech at the UN conference, Netanyahu presented what he said was an aerial photo of a previously unknown nuclear facility in Iran's capital Tehran, saying the 2015 nuclear deal enabled Iran to continue its attempts to build nuclear weapons, Xinhua reported. "The reason Iran did not destroy its atomic facility and warehouse is because it has not finished with them," Netanyahu noted. The Israeli prime minister also urged Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to check the suspected nuclear site. "Do the right thing. Go and inspect. Go and investigate," he said. Netanyahu also warned that Israel will attack Iran if the Islamic republic threatens the Jewish state. "We will act against you in Syria. We will act against you in Iran. We will act against you wherever and whenever," Netanyahu said. Notably, the hawkish Israeli leader admitted that the Iranian nuclear deal "brought Israel and many Arab states closer together than ever before." Israel "deeply values these new friendships" and hopes "the day will soon arrive when Israel will extend a formal peace, beyond Egypt and Jordan, to other Arab nations, including the Palestinians," he said. Washington, Sep 28 : Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat, on Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee defiantly, forcefully and emotionally denied the accusations of sexual assault levelled at him by Christine Blasey Ford, calling them "a national disgrace." "This confirmation process has become a national disgrace," he said in his opening statement before the committee, adding that "The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process, but you have replaced 'advice and consent' with 'search and destroy'", Efe reported. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which has a Republican majority - just like the overall Senate - is tasked with approving or not Kavanaugh's nomination. At times breaking down in tears and pausing in delivering his statement, Kavanaugh told the committee that "My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed by vicious and false additional allegations," but he vowed that he would never withdraw or quit. The statement by the judge, who came to the Capitol holding his wife's hand, came after Ford appeared before the committee earlier on Thursday, confirming for lawmakers that she was "100 per cent" certain that it was a drunken Kavanaugh who had sexually assaulted her at a house party in 1982 when they were both teens. He said that he was not questioning Ford's claim that she had been sexually assaulted by someone, but he declared that he did not do so. The Senate hearing - broadcast live by major television news networks - riveted many Americans and comes amid increasing pressure to postpone a confirmation vote on Kavanaugh's nomination. Earlier, before the committee, Ford had described taking and passing a polygraph test regarding her accusation. "I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me," Ford said in her opening statement at the hearing on her accusation. "I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school," she told lawmakers. Ford said that she had "agonized" for months since she learned about Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, but ultimately she said "I thought it was my civic duty to relay the information I had about Kavanaugh's conduct so that those considering his potential nomination would know about the assault." One of three women who have publicly accused the judge of sexual misconduct, Ford insisted that she is a "fiercely independent" person and nobody's "pawn," and asserted that she felt it was incumbent upon her to tell her story about what occurred at the house party in the summer of 1982, when both she and Kavanaugh were teenagers. The hearing scheduled for Thursday by the Republicans - who are in the majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee - was set to hear testimony from both Ford and Kavanaugh on her allegation, but the GOP members have not moved to allow calling more witnesses who might be able to corroborate or refute either of their stories, including Mark Judge, Kavanaugh's close high school friend who Ford says was present in the same room during the attack. Ramallah, Sep 28 : Dozens of Palestinians rallied on Thursday night around a large screen in the city centre of the West Bank's Ramallah to watch the speech of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly. Laila Ghannam, governor of Ramallah, said Abbas' speech has delivered a message that the Palestinians want peace, but not in the way the Americans and Israelis have defined. "The message is delivered: Jerusalem is ours and there cannot be a solution without the refugees," she said. The United States and Israel "always escape their obligations and impose what they want on our people," Ghannam added. In his speech, Abbas called on the US government to rescind its decision on Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees in order to salvage the prospects for peace. He also called on Israel to honour all the agreements signed with the Palestinians. "Otherwise, the Palestinians will not abide by them anymore," Abbas warned. The Palestinians has been boycotting the United States since December 6, 2018 when Trump declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, especially after May 14, the day the US embassy to Israel was moved to the disputed holy city. The Tudor-style Bonnington in Bellevue Hill sold at its onsite mid-week Ray White auction for $20.4 million, in a competitive atmosphere between three bidders. But the vendor, Sydney art collector John Schaeffer, accepted less than the $20.5 million paid last year. It was announced on the market by auctioneer James Keenan at $19.7 million. It was marketed through Ray White Double Bay agents Elliott Placks and Ashley Bierman. In between Schaeffer advised he had significantly refreshed and improved Bonnington, revealing he'd removed old carpet, restored timber floors and replaced electric switchboards and lighting during his very brief ownership. Given the $1,375,000 stamp duty fees and other costs, Schaeffer needed $22 million plus to make his money back on his fix and flip of Bonnington. There is plenty of equity held by Schaeffer based on the registered mortgages. The 1930s six bedroom home was designed by acclaimed architect F. Glynn Gilling. The home was in the Christie family for 56 years. It sits on over 2,200 square metres. Schaeffer once called the more impressive Rona at Bellevue Hill his home. The 1880s hilltop estate was sold 13 years ago to the property developer Terry Agnew and his estranged wife, Kyril, who are rumoured to have agreed terms for its sale. EXPERT OBSERVER Infrastructure has a great connection to demand and increased dwelling prices and this is particularly the case in Sydney and Melbourne. However, the allocation of significant funding to infrastructure upgrades in many urban and regional areas in the 2018 Federal Budget will also have a positive impact on dwelling supply. For example, you can build houses in the west of Sydney to increase supply, and therefore affordability, and still have great access to the CBD provided the infrastructure is good. Population growth, job creation, an improved economy and good infrastructure would draw more people to an area and therefore increase demand for property, but this then had to be backed up with an increase in dwelling supply. The Queensland Government was taking significant steps to grow its economy, with Brisbane in the midst of a $15 billion infrastructure boom over the next few years. And where there is an improved economy and major infrastructure projects and developments in the works, we will see significant long-term capital growth. As a result, the local property market in Queensland was likely to prosper and the state would continue to attract a high number of interstate migrants in search of affordable housing and employment. In regional NSW, the State Government has put in place a 20-year vision focusing on connectivity and water security to industry and community leaders in Bathurst and including the $4.2 billion Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund. The goal is to promote regional development and job creation, unlocking the potential in the region by providing the infrastructure, the services and the support it needs to thrive. It comes down to undersupply of suitable dwellings that force the prices up and makes them completely unaffordable. But that is not the case in regional NSW where house sizes and blocks are more than adequate for a growing family. There is also an increasing trend of 'mobile professionals' who were prepared to work from home to maximise lifestyle and avoid the daily city commute. Doron Peleg is the RiskWise Property Research CEO 2018 Miss Georgia, Annie Jorgensen We are excited to have Miss Georgia use her platform to bring awareness to manufacturing and the impact that it has on our state, said Jason Moss, CEO of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance. Annie Jorgensen, the 2018 Miss Georgia will be on hand to greet attendees at the Georgia Manufacturing Summit on October 10th. Ms. Jorgensen is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia and received a bachelors degree in journalism from the Grady School of Journalism. In her role as Miss Georgia, she helps promote the resources and products that are made in Georgia. Miss Georgias visit at the Summit is sponsored by Activ Technologies. We are excited to have Miss Georgia use her platform to bring awareness to manufacturing and the impact that it has on our state, said Jason Moss, CEO of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance. Not only will she assist in the presentation of the People of Manufacturing Awards at the Summit, but she will also be available for photos in the Activ Technologies booth during the show. Miss Jorgensen received a commendation from Governor Nathan Deal in honor of her community service. She is the creator and spokesperson for #IGotThis Campaign which promotes confidence in young women and has developed a National Patch Program for The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. She has also been the National Keynote Speaker for Generations Against Bullying and was recognized as the Childrens Hospital State Volunteer of the Year. The 2018 Georgia Manufacturing Summit, held October 10th at the Cobb Galleria, is expected to attract over 800 attendees from across the Southeast. The theme will be on the Aerospace Industry, the number one export for the state of Georgia. Mark Burns, President of Gulfstream, and Eric Rojek, V.P. of Sales & Marketing for Thrush Aircraft will be this years keynote speakers. This event is for all sectors of the manufacturing industry and allows attendees to make face-to-face connections with other manufacturers, see innovative products, and learn from industry experts. In addition to the keynote presentations, this event will have over 30 of the top industry leaders from Chart Industries, Cloud & Wire, Decartes, KIA, Kumho Tire, Nisshinbo, Pratt & Whitney, Siemens, Southwire, and more. They will provide educational workshops that focus on Manufacturing Success in Georgia in the key sectors of Disruptive Technologies, Financial Perspectives, International Manufacturing, Sales & Marketing, Supply Chain, and Workforce Development. To learn more, watch Miss Georgias video about the Summit: https://youtu.be/iKmjyW8ttBg REGISTRATION INFORMATION: http://www.GeorgiaManufacturingSummit.com Media contacts that that are interested in covering this event may call Marjorie Dykes at 770-338-0051 or email marjorie(at)georgiamanufacturing.com to request a complimentary PRESS PASS. We realize we are one of the few collision repair facilities to invest in training and equipment, but we are committed to safe, proper repairs, and keeping abreast of the latest industry trends. - Tina Small, shop owner Airpark Collision Center, a professional collision repair shop in Scottsdale, Arizona, has just completed advanced Ford and I-CAR aluminum repair programs. Their technicians completed role specific aluminum repair classes with hands-on aluminum welding training. Already a Ford Certified Collision Repair Shop, this allows them to offer expert repair services on aluminum found on Ford F150 trucks. Many newer vehicles are made partly of aluminum panels. In addition to Ford, Audi, Tesla, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Nissan are building with aluminum materials. Airparks training in aluminum repair gives them expertise in these makes as well. Investing in Aluminum Collision Repair Collision repair technicians traditionally have been trained to work with steel, not all have the skills or equipment to repair aluminum. Many body shops will refuse to work on a vehicle made with aluminum. Some facilities will try to work with this material even though they are not properly trained and end up with a poor repair or take longer than necessary to complete the job. Airpark Collision Center has recognized the demand for more body shops that offer repairs for aluminum and has invested their time and money in filling this need. In the auto body repair industry, I-CAR is the professional standard. Airpark Collision Center has continued to invest in training for their technicians to become one of the leading I-Car Gold Class industry certified collision repair providers in Scottsdale. "We realize we are one of the few collision repair facilities to invest in training and equipment, but we are committed to safe, proper repairs, and keeping abreast of the latest industry trends. shop owner Tina Small. Aluminum Auto Body Repair vs. Steel When working on vehicles in an auto shop that does repairs for steel and aluminum, it is important that the particulates or the two do not mix. For this reason, Airpark Collision Center has invested in a dedicated clean room for aluminum repair. Shop owner Tina Small explains how they return each vehicle to its pre-accident condition.Our facility is 10,000 square feet, and we have dedicated 20ft x 30ft for aluminum restoration. We are careful to dispatch each car to specific work areas in our facility depending on the damage and the type of metal. Repairing aluminum, the safe and correct way prompted us to create a clean room. This area is sectioned off with industrial curtains and contains various tools and equipment like a pneumatic vacuum to suction aluminum dust while sanding. The clean room is also equipped with a MIG welder featuring pulse technology. This special welder prevents burn through on aluminum panels. A self-piercing rivet gun and dent extraction system are also designed specifically for aluminum repair. Airpark Collision Center has the latest tools, equipment, and facilities that help their technicians restore aluminum and other materials used in vehicle construction. Their collision repair services go beyond aluminum work, but knowing how to treat this material is a critical piece of knowledge for the advancement of Airpark Collision Center in the future. About Airpark Collision Airpark Collision Center is a professional auto body paint repair shop and refinish facility. It is conveniently located in the Scottsdale Airpark to serve all of Scottsdale and the North Phoenix, Arizona areas. For more information, stop by Airpark Collision Center at 7333 East Butherus Drive Ste A-200 Scottsdale, AZ 85260, visit the website https://www.collisioncenternorthscottsdale.com/ or call 480-922-3006 for a quick, no-obligation estimate. AHN McCandless-Neighborhood Hospital AHN McCandless will provide more convenient access to high-quality emergency care and other important health services. Officials from Allegheny Health Network (AHN), Highmark Health and Emerus today held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Neighborhood Hospital the organizations are building at the corner of McKnight Road and Duncan Avenue in the McCandless Crossing Shopping Center. AHN President and CEO Cynthia Hundorfean said the planned hospital will further enhance the scope of services AHN offers in the growing northern suburbs of Allegheny County. AHN McCandless will provide more convenient access to high-quality emergency care and other important health services, said Hundorfean. Its another great example of our patient-centered care philosophy, and we look forward to the positive impact the facility will have on those who live and work in this community. Unlike standalone emergency departments or urgent care centers, AHN McCandless will be a fully licensed small-format hospital that is open 24/7. In addition to an emergency department and 10-bed inpatient unit, the hospital will provide diagnostic imaging, as well as laboratory and other complementary medical services. It will be staffed by board-certified physicians, nurses, and other experienced health care professionals, all of whom are aligned around a high-quality care model. AHN McCandless also will be a home to AHNs womens health services, including its infertility program. Area women and couples will have on-site access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and other therapies in reproductive medicine. AHN McCandless and other planned neighborhood hospitals are part of Highmark Health and AHNs $1 billion investment strategy to further improve access to affordable, high-quality health care services in the western Pennsylvania region. AHN is partnering with Texas-based Emerus, the nations leading developer and operator of neighborhood hospitals, to build and manage the new facilities. For five consecutive years, Emerus has received the prestigious Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award, which recognizes high-performing health care organizations that have consistently achieved the top 95th percentile or above for exceptional patient experience. Among numerous patient-friendly design elements, AHN McCandless will feature nursing stations uniquely configured to maximize sightlines and accessibility, allowing staff to easily monitor exam rooms and minimize response times. CT and X-ray procedure rooms will accommodate patients of any age, with adjacent observation rooms that keep families together during procedures. An onsite lab will expedite testing processes so patients dont have to wait long for results. AHN McCandless will be closely integrated with the networks other key facilities in the North Hills, including the Wexford Health + Wellness Pavilion, Pediatric Orthopaedic Institute, and the AHN McCandless medical office building just up McKnight Road. When more comprehensive care is needed, AHN McCandless will provide a smooth transition to full-service AHN hospitals. AHN also has plans to build neighborhood hospitals in Hempfield, Harmar, and Brentwood, with expected openings of the facilities in late 2019. About the Allegheny Health Network Allegheny Health Network (http://www.AHN.org), a Highmark Health company, is an integrated healthcare system serving the greater Western Pennsylvania region. The Network is composed of eight hospitals, including Allegheny General Hospital, its flagship academic medical center in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Canonsburg Hospital in Canonsburg, Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills, Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie, West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh and Westfield Memorial Hospital in Westfield, NY. The Network provides patients with access to a complete spectrum of advanced medical services, including nationally recognized programs for primary and emergency care, cardiovascular disease, cancer care, orthopedic surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, womens health, diabetes and more. It also is home to a comprehensive research institute; Health + Wellness Pavilions; an employed physician organization, home and community based health services and a group purchasing organization. The Network employs approximately 19,000 people, has more than 2,400 physicians on its medical staff and serves as a clinical campus for Drexel University College of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. About Emerus Emerus is the nations first and largest operator of neighborhood hospitals. Emerus partners with leading health systems to provide excellence, empathy and innovation in health care delivery through a network of efficient, value-based neighborhood hospitals and acute care facilities. The Emerus network brings high-quality, patent-centric acute episodic and ambulatory clinical services to communities across a given market. This helps patients by positioning best-in-class provider services in the communities where they work, live and play. Emerus distinctive level of care earned the Guardian of Excellence Award for Superior Patient Experience in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. More information is available at http://www.emerus.com. AppRev This is an exciting new chapter for AppRev. AppRev is a healthcare business intelligence company based in Temple, Texas, providing services and technology that allow providers to improve revenue cycle performance. The company aligns perfectly within OSG's matrix of integrated customer communications, offering solutions that are both comprehensive and configurable. This acquisition also extends OSGs market leadership and broadens OSGs reach to more than 500 providers, physician groups and revenue cycle management companies. This is an exciting new chapter for AppRev, states Seth A. Avery, who will continue in his role as President of AppRev. By joining forces, we now offer more data-driven, comprehensive solutions to our customers and significant opportunities to our employees and partners. Greenberg Advisors acted as financial advisor to AppRev on the transaction. "We are innovating the healthcare market with solutions that merge patient preference with provider necessity, states Scott W. Bernstein, OSGs Chairman and CEO. AppRevs pricing analytics and revenue cycle solutions add tremendous value to leading healthcare providers. Were excited to bring their capabilities to more of our healthcare customers as a means of improving their revenue cycle process and patient engagement. We look forward to working with the talented team at this company. About OSG For more than 25 years, OSG has been a leading outsourced provider of omnichannel billing and payment solutions, offering a full suite of integrated customer communications and engagement solutions that transform the way our clients reach their customers. From transactional documents to strategic marketing initiatives, OSG employs cutting-edge digital technology to expertly craft communications that enhance the customer experience. OSGs reputation for excellence is based upon award-winning communications solutions and long-term investment in clients success. About AppRev AppRev is a Healthcare Business Intelligence company based in Temple, Texas, providing services and technology to more than 120 hospitals throughout the United States and Bermuda. AppRev delivers results through services and technology that allow hospitals and clinics to improve revenue cycle performance. The companys solutions are provided via web delivered Service Supported Software and in Charge Accuracy, Charge Review, Denials Intelligence, Pricing Analytics, CDM and DSH services. All AppRev solutions employ ongoing measurement of revenue cycle improvements and can be tailored to meet customer-specific requirements. APS Advanced Instructor Pilot Mike "Slugg" Bugg "Safety must be the foundation for truly effective and comprehensive Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT), and highly qualified expert pilots are the cornerstone of that foundation..." Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) is proud to announce that Mike Slugg Bugg recently earned the Master Certificated Flight Instructor designation, with the additional Aerobatic distinction (MCFI-A) , accredited by Master Instructors LLC. The MCFI-A accreditation is just one component of the extensive training and experience required of APS advanced instructor pilots who teach fully comprehensive Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT). Mike Bugg joined Aviation Performance Solutions in July of 2017. Mr. Bugg is an Air Force veteran and graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He developed a passion for flying at a young age, and his dedication to aviation has provided a solid foundation for his service and success as an Air Force pilot and as an advanced flight instructor. More on Mikes background: apstraining.com/bugg/ The MCFI achievement is a national, FAA recognized accreditation earned through a rigorous process of continuing professional activity and peer review. The accreditation must be renewed biennially and signifies a true commitment to excellence and safety of flight operations. Master Instructors LLC relates, Simply put, the Master Instructor designation is a means by which to identify those outstanding aviation educators, those Teachers of Flight, who are demonstrating an ongoing commitment to excellence, professional growth, and service to the aviation community. Safety must be the foundation for truly effective and comprehensive Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT), and highly qualified expert pilots are the cornerstone of that foundation," says Paul BJ Ransbury, president of Aviation Performance Solutions. The achievement of MCFI-A status, along with extensive background experience and unmatched in-house UPRT-specific training, ensures our pilot training goes well above and beyond what is recommended by the FAA in multiple advisory circulars, and by ICAO in their Manual on Aeroplane UPRT, ICAO Doc 10011, which reiterates that a well-qualified instructor is the most essential component in the delivery of effective UPRT. ABOUT THE MASTER INSTRUCTOR DESIGNATION The Master Instructor designation is a national accreditation recognized by the FAA. Candidates must demonstrate an ongoing commitment to excellence, professional growth, and service to the aviation community, and must pass a rigorous evaluation by a peer Board of Review. The process parallels the continuing education regimen used by other professionals to enhance their knowledge base while increasing their professionalism. Designees are recognized as outstanding aviation educators for not only their excellence in teaching, but for their engagement in the continuous process of learning both their own, and their students. The designation must be renewed biennially and significantly surpasses the FAA requirements for renewal of the candidates flight instructor certificate. Learn why the Master Certified Flight Instructor program matters to APS. ABOUT AVIATION PERFORMANCE SOLUTIONS Aviation Performance Solutions LLC (APS), headquartered at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona, trains thousands of professional pilots and instructors in comprehensive Upset Prevention and Recovery Training skill development. APS provides integrated LOC-I solutions via industry-leading computer-based, on-aircraft (jet and piston), and full-flight simulator Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT). All training is in full compliance with the Airplane Upset Recovery Training Aid, FAA Advisory Circular 120-109A on Stall Training, ICAO Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training, IATA Guidance Material and Best Practices for the Implementation of Upset Prevention and Recovery Training, and the FAA Advisory Circular 120-111 on Upset Prevention and Recovery Training. APS is the only Part 141 Flight School certified in the delivery of complete upset prevention & recovery, stall/spin and instrument upset recovery training courses worldwide. With additional training locations in Texas (USA), The Netherlands (Europe), and military division in Alabama (USA), APS provides global access to the highest quality Upset Prevention and Recovery Training available. Please visit our website at: apstraining.com Christianus: a gripping and potent novel exploring the unwavering courage that led Jesuss disciples to persevere in their faith through deadly oppression, thereby changing no less than the course of humanity. Christianus is the creation of published author Michael E. Quist, a Doctor of Education, teacher, Bible trainer, and student of history. Michael shares, It has been twenty-seven years since Christ died, and the followers of the Christian faith have been scattered across the Roman world. A petulant, brutal Nero Augustus is on the throne in the capital city, and Christians are being hunted down and enslaved. Agrippina, mother of Caesar and mastermind behind the workings of the Roman Empire, has sworn to destroy the Christian cult once and for all. In Italy, the spread of Christianitydespite the persecutionhas led to the destruction of many important families, and the impact is being felt across the Roman world. Chief Investigator Christianus has hunted the helpless believers for years, but he is now beginning to understand the kind of people that are born of the Christian beliefs, and he finds himself doubting the wisdom and validity of his actions. With the apostle Paul at the center of the Christian believers in a hostile Roman world, martyrs are rising, their lives a powerful witness for the changes brought about by the belief in the crucified Nazarene. Romans across the globe are being impacted by the witness of the believers, as the Spirit changes lives. The Roman Empire is being reborn, and the world will never be the same. The course of history is being rewritten by a handful of scattered people. Christianus tells a story of faithful Christians, caught in the turmoil and danger of first-century Rome. It explores the spirit, the faithfulness, and the remarkable attitudes that launched Christian-based civilization as we know it today. In this story, leaders of Rome begin to see the power of Christian possibility, and the result is a new, revolutionized Rome. The torment and blood of the faithful become the bricks and mortar for societal change, as men and women realize the difference that Christ can make in their world. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Michael E. Quists new book is a powerful and evocative work bringing to life the courage and tragedy of early Christians in the early decades of the first century. View a synopsis of Christianus on YouTube. Readers can purchase Christianus at traditional brick and mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Christianus, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. In Lutz, 82 percent of residents own their homes, making the area a great choice for buying and selling homes. Lisa Pastorius has joined Barefoot Realty Group as a Realtor specializing in residential real estate in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties with an emphasis in the Tampa suburb of Lutz. According to niche.com, Lutz was named on its top 10 list for best suburbs in Tampa for families in 2018. Pastorius has watched the area grow from a quaint rural area to beautiful low density subdivisions where families enjoy quality living. "Lutz is only 15 miles from Tampa, so it's a great place to raise a family yet enjoy the perks that come with living in a major metropolitan area," says Pastorius. With a population of 21,000 people, 82 percent of residents own their homes, making the area a great choice for buying and selling homes. According to realtor.com, the median home price is $237,000. Pastorius, a former educator, uses her training to discover the wants and needs of her clients. "Clients love Lisa because she is smart with their time," Broker Marty Pozgay explains, "They want a real estate professional who appreciates their busy schedules." Pastorius is a member of the Pinellas Realtor Organization, Florida Realtors Association and National Association of Realtors. With three offices in Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Ft. Myers, Barefoot Realty Group is a boutique real estate company that specializes in exceptional client services. To learn more, call 877-360-7577 to talk to a real estate specialist. The future of farming lies in its DNA I like to compare Genedata's work with the structured organization of a library in which you can easily and quickly find the book you are looking for Genedata, a leading provider of advanced software solutions for life science research and development, and Bayer, today announced the extension of their long-term partnership. Genedata supports Bayers Crop Science division to digitalize R&D processes and this extended partnership now includes a license to the Genedata Selector platform to support Bayers global discovery process and data management efforts. Genedata will be supporting Bayer in the processing, storing, analysis and evaluation of genomic data for the development of new innovative fungicides against field fungi. For over a decade, Genedata and Bayer have held a long term professional relationship with Genedata supporting Bayers Crop Science division. NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing), microarray and other high throughput omics technologies have been used to overcome traditional low-throughput science in plant physiology and Genedata has been the leading enterprise software platform for the management of this information. The complexity of research for agrochemical companies is born from the number of species, genomes and related information needed for the discovery of new crop protection solutions. The use of Genedata Selector will enable Bayer Crop Science to provide global data access to its scientists as an entry point to collaborate, harmonize and streamline processes toward finding innovative solutions. "The intelligent organization of large data volume is central to successful research and development of new crop protection products," says Dr. Michael Edmund Beck, Principal Scientist & Head of Computational Life Science from R&D Small Molecules in the Bayer Crop Science Division in Monheim, Germany. "I like to compare Genedata's work with the structured organization of a library in which you can easily and quickly find the book you are looking for," Beck adds. "Our many years of experience in working together so far have been very positive." Genedata Selector has been addressing the key bioinformatics challenges for crop protection and smarter breeding for over 20 years. This scalable, integrated, and secure enterprise software solution is designed to handle today's and tomorrow's informatics challenges: Genome complexity: Crop-related genomes are large, complex, and highly variable across organisms. Genome sequences, assemblies and gene models can be incomplete or non-existent. Information diversity: The various types of information from plant breeding experiments, crop protection studies and chemical compound screenings need a centralized platform where all data can be stored and analyzed for linkages and easily accessible to all team members involved. Incorporation of new data: Everyday, new technologies, genome sequences, gene annotations, and genetic markers are being discovered. Now, more than ever, a centralized way to manage all of this data is crucial to the future of modern farming. Collaboration and communication: With locations (fields, farms, etc.) and labs all over the world, data harmonization and communication support of interdisciplinary teams is key success factor. We are excited that Bayer has extended its partnership with Genedata Selector to support the digitalization of its R&D processes, said Dr. Othmar Pfannes, CEO of Genedata. Genedata remains very committed to supporting innovative leaders in Agroscience, like Bayer, with its scalable and integrated bioinformatics platforms. About Genedata Genedata transforms data into intelligence with innovative software solutions and domain-specific consulting services that automate complex, large-scale experimental processes and enable organizations to maximize the ROI from their R&D. Founded in 1997, Genedata is headquartered in Switzerland and has offices in Germany, the UK, Japan, and the US. http://www.genedata.com Follow Us on LinkedIn About Bayer Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2017, the Group employed around 99,800 people and had sales of EUR 35.0 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.4 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.5 billion. For more information, go to http://www.bayer.com. Contacts Erin Thome Genedata Selector Phone: +41 61 511 8417 pr@genedata.com Disclaimer The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company's products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. After many years of working with attorneys and trying to understand what a good user experience is, we believe we have mastered this experience so attorneys and timekeepers can bill more time, comply with client guidelines and also adhere to firm policies Bellefield Systems, the providers of the fastest path to revenue through its time entry solutions, has released a new version of its flagship application, iTimeKeep. Through One Experience, this release will empower attorneys to take control of their time and revenue, engage with attorneys to increase timekeeping performance and enable attorneys to comply with Outside Counsel Guidelines and firm time entry policies. This version of iTimeKeep includes several new and innovative features aimed at creating One Experience for timekeepers to carry out their tasks effortlessly, regardless of device, OS, location, time, etc. Through One Experience, iTimeKeep is empowering and engaging with attorneys so that firm administrators can increase compliance and top line revenue. Bellefield, which has become known for redefining technology for law firms through several industry firsts, is proud to include several history-making capabilities in this release. With this version of iTimeKeep, timekeepers now have visibility into their timekeeping performance and how to improve through Timescore and the MyStats dashboard. With Timescore, Bellefield is pioneering the introduction of gamification into the time entry process. For attorneys, Timescore means they have visibility into their timekeeping habits and are encouraged to do the right thing, when it comes to following timekeeping best practices. Prior to Timescore, attorneys were often reprimanded on their timekeeping performance without having access to visibility into their habits and as to how they could improve. For firm managers, Timescore establishes a repeatable and fair way to measure an attorneys timekeeping health. This release also makes compliance with client billing guidelines and firm time entry policies at the point of time entry possible, for the first time in the history of the legal industry. We have put our hearts and souls into this September 2018 Release. This release is one of our most innovative versions since we went live for the first time in 2012 and arguably, in legal technology, said Gabriela Isturiz, Co-Founder and President of Bellefield Systems. After many years of working with attorneys and trying to understand what a good user experience is, we believe we have mastered this experience so attorneys and timekeepers can bill more time, comply with client guidelines and also adhere to firm policies, Isturiz continued. For more information and resources on this release, visit http://www.bellefield.com/new. Bellefield continues to deliver on its commitment to an aggressive release schedule designed to improve productivity and profitability for attorneys and their firms. About Bellefield Systems & iTimeKeep Bellefield provides the fastest path to revenue by removing barriers to time entry for attorneys and law firms. Through the iTimeKeep platform, Bellefield brings better timekeeping to any law firm or professional services firm by increasing attorney engagement, providing real-time compliance with outside counsel guidelines and enabling firms to manage their time entry policies. In an area that was long disregarded and accepted as a cost of doing business, Bellefields innovations are bringing about efficiencies that allow firms to achieve the best timecard inventory, leading to less rejections, increased compliance and maximum client satisfaction. Bellefield was founded with one simple (yet powerful) purpose: create better timekeepers. iTimeKeep ranks #1 as the most adopted Mobile (and anywhere) Time Entry solution for attorneys for five consecutive years. Bellefields founding members include the former founders of eBillingHub (now Thomson Reuters ), Gabriela Isturiz and Daniel Garcia and software veteran, John Kuntz. Bellefield Systems is an independent, privately held company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To learn more, visit http://www.bellefield.com. Best SEO Agencies 10 Best SEO recently announced the winners of its Best SEO Agency awards for September 2018, bestowing the top honor on Straight North. Search engine optimization, also called online marketing, is a critical service that companies need to have in place if they are going to achieve a good SERP. Finding one of the top SEO companies can be a challenge simply because there are so many of them. This is the reason why 10 Best SEO service has implemented a new monthly award for the best SEO agency. Companies can make use of this list in order to quickly find the right company for their SEO needs. In the leading position for the ten best SEO providers in the USA is Straight North, a top SEO agency with headquarters in Chicago. This experienced firm primarily assists clients in the Great Lakes and Midwestern states, but it is always willing to work with any client in the USA. The firm is medium-sized, and their expertise lies in all types of marketing services. The firm's staff is able to integrate SEO into their press releases, viral marketing, social media marketing and pay per click ad campaigns, resulting in an excellent value for their nationwide clients. In the second-ranking position in the list of the ten best SEO firms is Ignite Visibility. With its headquarters in San Diego, the firm works with many West Coast companies. The team is able to increase the client's SERP, which yields a boost in traffic. While search engines make regular updates to their algorithms, Ignite Visibility stays abreast of these changes and makes corresponding updates in order to maintain their clients' top positions on organic search results. Ignite Visibility is a small-sized firm with a slightly higher than average hourly rate for the industry. When taking a look at the top SEO agencies in the new awards category, Boostability is in the third-ranking position. This is a large firm with a staff of more than 250 people. The firm is adept at online marketing in all venues, including viral marketing, email campaigns, pay per click ads and SEO. The firm's staff is able to integrate SEO into the content of a site, the ads they run on social media and in the press releases they distribute on behalf of their clients. The firm is located in Lehi and has a lower than average hourly rate for the industry. To learn more about Septembers award-winning businesses, visit http://www.10bestseo.com. BETTER Mobile, a pioneer in predictive mobile cyber-security, today announced its participation in the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association, where members deeply integrate their solutions with Microsoft products to provide enterprises better protection to detect and respond to attacks more quickly. Announced at Microsoft Ignite, it reinforces the strong relationship between BETTER and Microsoft, especially as the two companies collaborate to streamline mobile threat defense (MTD) on iOS and Android devices to protect Microsoft 365 users and control mobile device access to corporate resources using conditional access. We are pleased to be part of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association, where we collaborate by bringing our threat data and machine learning/AI predictive models from BETTERs DeepThinker with additional layers of security data to make our customers more secure by predicting future cyberattacks and preventing them from ever happening, said Senai Ahderom, Founder & CEO of BETTER Mobile. We understand the need for organizations to protect mobile devices from network-based threats, malware, OS vulnerabilities, mobile phishing from various mobile communication channels and other targeted threats originating from both internal and external sources. Ryan McGee, Director, Microsoft Security Marketing at Microsoft Corp. said, "We are pleased to have BETTER Mobile join the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association. The integration and intelligence sharing from BETTER Mobile in the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association enables our mutual customers to quickly and accurately predict, detect, and respond to attacks on mobile devices. About BETTER Mobile BETTER is a leading mobile cyber-security company based in New York City. In an exclusive offer with Microsoft, BETTER Mobile is providing Microsoft Intune customers 50 mobile device licenses of their product. Learn more about this offer and the BETTER Mobile Security solution at https://better.mobi/intune. For more information, press only: PR Contact Name: Purna Bhat Phone number: 404-800-5630 Email: pr@better.mobi For more information on Product: Website: https://www.better.mobi/microsoft BigMike Straumietis BigMike Straumietis, founder and CEO of Advanced Nutrients the No. 1-selling cannabis brand in the world advises that potential investors thoroughly research Canadian cannabis stocks before bankrolling these companies. In the past few months alone, billions of dollars have poured into Canadas cannabis industry as the country prepares to legalize recreational cannabis this October. Canadas federal government also plans to legalize consumable forms of the plant in 2019. As a result, and with the possibility that the US and other countries will follow suit, many investors are now wholeheartedly buying into the industry. I would caution investors to do their due diligence before going in deep on a random cannabis startup, BigMike warns. Right now, were seeing some stupid money being thrown at these Canadian stocks. In a fledgling industry populated by new businesses, extreme spikes and drops in value are seen as par for the course. For instance, the value of one company, British Columbia-based Tilray, jumped tenfold since its initial public offering just two months ago. The company conducted $20 million in sales in 2017, but its now worth considerably more. Some will be around for the long haul, but a lot of these companies will die off quickly, BigMike continues. With the purchase of cannabis stocks, giant gains continue to rise for Canadian companies listed on US stock exchanges. However, some experts are concerned that the expected payoff will be underwhelming. Today, cannabis remains illegal in the US at the federal level. It is legal for recreational use in nine states and Washington, D.C. and for medical use in 31 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Although the temptation to invest in Canadian cannabis stocks is high right now, BigMike concludes with this warning: Investors need to do some serious homework before going all-in. $150,000 is the cutoff for one petition or two petitions. When California real property is owned by a person who has died and that property is in that persons name only, a court order is required for distribution to heirs. This Tip Sheet by Deed and Record provides an overview of how to obtain a court order. There are two options. The procedure to use depends on the fair market value of the real property on the date of death. Real property valued greater than $150,000 requires Administration of Estate of Decedent in the Superior Court of California. Administration requires the filing of two petitions. The first petition is for a court order for appointment of a personal representative of the decedent. After appointment, the personal representative settles all debts of the decedent and may sell the property. The second petition is for a court order to transfer the real property or distribute the sale proceeds to decedents heirs. The second option is a Court Order Determining Succession to Property. Succession requires only one petition to obtain an order. But Succession is only available for real property values less than $150,000. So, in real life, this procedure is available for real property located outside of major cities or for when a decedent was a part owner of real property located in a city. Title to a decedents real property transfers on the decedents death to the person to whom it is devised in the decedents last will or, in the absence of a will, to the decedents heirs as prescribed under California law. Transfer requires a court order. Real property with a market value greater than $150,000 as of date of death requires two petitions and two court orders under the probate laws of Administration of Estate of Decedent. Real property valued at less than $150,000 requires just one petition and one court order using the procedures provided under the probate laws of Succession to Property. This press release was provided by Mark W. Bidwell. Mr. Bidwells office is located at 4952 Warner Avenue, Suite 235, Huntington Beach, California 92660. Phone number is 714-846-2888. Website is http://www.deedandrecord.com. Clarke OReiley, an avid horsewoman and Nebraska native, has completed her book Take Care of My Memories: a gripping and potent story of one womans struggle to overcome a severe brain injury as well as even more devastating and deeply buried emotional scars. Clarke shares, Adelaide OLoughlin has not had an easy childhood: her parents are divorced and constantly fighting, while she holds on to a family secret. She relies on her stepbrother, Zeke, and her horses to help keep her from falling apart. The day after she graduates high school, Adelaide packs her car and leaves everything and everyone behind. Five years later, she has made a new life for herself. She has a good job, a new horse, and two supportive friends. But no one knows her secret. When she starts having horrific nightmares about her childhood, she struggles to hold her life together. Adelaides friends become worried about her, but she refuses to tell them of her old life. Then, after a near-fatal horse accident, Adelaide wakes up in the hospital with no memories from the past thirteen years. Adelaide is reunited with the family she doesnt remember leaving behind. She soon gets the feeling that they are hiding something from her. Adelaide begins to rely on Zeke to buffer her from the familys struggle to cope with her amnesia. Her family must make a difficult decision: tell her about the tragedies of her past, and risk it ruining her new life; or keep the secrets in order to hide the familys dark history. A story of overcoming demons, the real meaning of friendship, and the lengths family is willing to go to protect one another. Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Clarke OReileys book is a heart-wrenching story of abuse, a mothers betrayal, and the perilous journey to recovery for a woman with deep physical and emotional scars. Readers who wish to experience this compelling work can purchase Take Care of My Memories at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional New York-based, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not overwhelmed with logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of accomplished authors and publishing professionals allows writers to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. transparent school finance We are excited to partner with eSchoolView to help their clients more effectively engage with their citizens and drive community support through transparency. eSchoolView, an award-winning education website provider, announced today a strategic partnership with ClearGov, a leading municipal and school district transparency and benchmarking platform. The partnership will enable eSchoolView clients to integrate a financial transparency dashboard seamlessly within their districts website to offer citizens more accessible budgetary figures and student performance metrics. As part of the partnership agreement, eSchoolView customers will have access to a module for their financial transparency and student performance dashboard that can be embedded directly on their districts website. These dashboards will provide citizens with a clear picture of their districts budget and key performance metrics. ClearGov is the leader in local government transparency and benchmarking, remarked Michael Maloney, Vice President of Business Development for eSchoolView. We are excited to offer the ClearGov platform as an additional service for eSchoolView clients as we continually strive to bring state-of-the-art websites and promote communication within the communities our clients represent. ClearGov specializes in transforming government-sourced financial and demographic data into easy-to-understand infographic profiles. Hundreds of local government agencies and school districts across the U.S. leverage the ClearGov platform to increase transparency and gain financial insights through the companys sophisticated benchmarking tools. eSchoolView has established itself as a leading provider of custom websites for school districts that are easy to manage and update, said Bryan Burdick, President of ClearGov. We are excited to partner with eSchoolView to help their clients more effectively engage with their citizens and drive community support through transparency. To explore ClearGovs local government transparency and benchmarking platform visit http://www.cleargov.com. Visit eSchoolViews website to see all the options available to schools and educational organizations at https://www.eschoolview.com/ About eSchoolView Founded in 2008, eSchoolView offers award-winning, customized websites to educational organizations. Beyond the easy to use Content Managements System (CMS), eSchoolView offers a wide array of tools to enhance communications between schools and the communities they are in. As a company, eSchoolView has been ranked on the Inc. 5000th list the last four consecutive years, and has won numerous awards for educational websites. About ClearGov ClearGov is building a community of transparent, data-driven modern governments. ClearGov transforms municipal and school district financial statements into accessible, easy-to-understand infographics to help citizens better understand how their tax dollars are being put to use. School districts use ClearGov's SaaS solutions to reduce operational inefficiencies, manage their budget process and improve communication with citizens. Theile B. McVey This opportunity energizes me to do more for the people I can help... Im ready and eager to take on this task The South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ), the states leading legal association, has named its new top officials for this year. Among them is multi-awarded personal injury lawyer Theile B. McVey as President. McVey is a managing partner at the Columbia-based law firm Kassel McVey. Her work focuses on representing plaintiffs in cases related to vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, nursing home negligence, and product liability. Practicing law for almost two decades now, McVeys experienced representation has achieved highly favorable results for her clients. These include verdicts of $38 million and $14 million in separate mesothelioma cases. Most recently, she was one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs in the successful asbestos case against Emerson Electric subsidiaries. McVeys excellent record has earned her various accolades such as being named a South Carolina Super Lawyer every year since 2013 and receiving the USC Gold Compleat Lawyer Award. This year, McVey was additionally included among the Midlands Legal Elite in Personal Injury. She was also elected a member of the prestigious International Society of Barristers. McVey graduated with honors from Columbia College in 1997 and received her law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2000. She is also a member of the American Association for Justice and the Richland County Bar Association. Prior to her new role as President of the SCAJ, she served as the associations Secretary/Treasurer, Vice President, and President-Elect. This is a great honor for any South Carolina lawyer, McVey says of her recent selection. At the same time, its a significant responsibility in protecting the individual rights of South Carolinians and strengthening our civil justice system. McVey becomes only the 2nd woman to lead the organization. The SCAJ is active statewide with more than 1,200 members. Founded in 1957 by a small group of trial lawyers, it is now a leading advocacy organization of plaintiffs attorneys to promote justice in the state. Among the associations regular activities is pursuing legislative agenda to improve legal fairness and protect peoples rights. McVey says that the associations mission is aligned with her own. At the Kassel McVey, I have dedicated my work to represent only plaintiffs. Its important for me to serve individuals who have been disadvantaged and those who feel that they have little chance for justice even though they deserve it. Together with managing partner John D. Kassel, McVey intends to serve clients at the firm while fulfilling her responsibilities with the SCAJ. This opportunity energizes me to do more for the people I can help, she says. Im ready and eager to take on this task. Kassel McVey is a South Carolina personal injury firm serving individuals and families who have suffered from the negligence of others. The firm exclusively represents plaintiffs in such areas as motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, product liability, nursing home negligence, bad faith insurance claims, and medical malpractice. To learn more about the firm visit https://www.kasselmcvey.com or call (803) 256-4242. The main office is located at: 1330 Laurel Street Columbia, SC (803) 256-4242 We are thrilled to be back in Las Vegas for our 4th Annual event, which for the first time will incorporate Drone World Expo. Over 2000 commercial drone users will hear from over 110 presenters and panelists and see the latest technology on display and in action in more than 225 booths. Next week, commercial drone professionals from across the country and around the world will gather at the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas for the 4th annual Commercial UAV Expo Americas. This world-class event will bring together top professionals from seven vertical industries, more exhibitors than any other commercial drone event in North America, and unparalleled educational programming and speakers. The event will provide attendees with numerous special events including deep dive vertical industry sessions, Beyond the Cage drone demonstrations, and several networking events. Full event information can be found here. We are thrilled to be back in Las Vegas for our 4th Annual event, which for the first time will incorporate Drone World Expo. Over 2000 commercial drone users will hear from over 110 presenters and panelists and see the latest technology on display and in action in more than 225 booths, said Lisa Murray, Group Director of Diversified Communications, organizer of Commercial UAV Expo. We have a phenomenal line-up of sessions featuring amazing thought leaders who will be presenting the most up-to-date regulatory information, commercial applications and case studies. The 2018 Commercial UAV Expo will feature: Monday, October 1, 2018 Outdoor Flying Demonstrations - Commercial UAV Expo, in coordination with the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and Sundance Media Group, will host live outdoor drone demonstrations at Henderson Unmanned Vehicle Range (HUVR). Participating vendors are AeroVironment, Autel Robotics, C-Astral, Intel and Topcon. Session 1 takes place 7:00 am 10:15 am and Session 2 takes place 9:15 am - 1:00 pm. Register for the demonstrations during event registration. To add the demos to an existing registration, contact the registration center at 1-774-247-4002 and have the demos added. Vendor and Association Workshops - Airgon, Flyability, Microdrones, Pix4D, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and APSRS will host full and part day in-depth seminars and trainings. Product Previews (2:15 6:15 pm) Learn about the newest supplier advances and best practices for specifying, planning and executing projects presented by exhibiting companies. Welcome Happy Hour (6:30 7:30 pm) in the Exhibit Hall. Tuesday, October 2, 2018 Keynotes (9:00 - 10:30 am) Lisa Ellman of Commercial Drone Alliance and Hogan Lovells will sit down for an interview with Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President and the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer at the White House for the White House commercial UAS perspective. Afterwards, Gretchen West of Commercial Drone Alliance and Hogan Lovells will sit down for an interview with Earl Lawrence, Executive Director of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the FAA perspective. Gretchen will then engage a panel of top executives from BP, CNN, AES Corporation and Southern Company about recent progress in UAS and other key topics. Exhibit Floor Open (10:00 am 5:00 pm) featuring 200 booths of best-in-class UAS solutions from the worlds top vendors Vertical Deep Dive Sessions (1:30 4:30) These workshops will be led by subject matter experts who will provide insight in the following vertical industries: Drone Industry Visionaries; Precision Agriculture; DOTs & Infrastructure; Process & Power; and Surveying & Mapping. Plenary Sessions (5:00 5:45 pm) Focused on What the Sky will look like in the Future, and Powering Drones Poolside Connect & Happy Hour (6:00 8:00 pm Westgate Resort & Casino Pool) Sponsored by Trimble and Applanix. The fee for this event is $35; registration is required and may be added by calling the registration center at 1-774-247-4002. Wednesday, October 3, 2018 Plenary Session (9:00 10:00 am) on Regulatory, Policy & UTM Updates - Lisa Ellman of Hogan Lovells and Commercial Drone Alliance will sit down with executives from NEDO; A3 by Airbus; NASA; Federal Aviation Administration; and Airxos, A GE Venture who will discuss industry updates. Exhibit Floor Open (10:00 am 4:00 pm) featuring 200 booths of best-in-class UAS solutions from the worlds top vendors Plenary Sessions (10:30 am - 12:30 pm) Focused on Data, Hacking and Counter Drone Technology; and In-House Versus Outsourcing Your Drone Program. Vertical Deep Dive Sessions (2:00 5:00 pm) These workshops will be led by subject matter experts who will provide insight in the following vertical industries: Drone Industry Visionaries, Large Asset Installations: Wind Turbines, Cell Towers, Solar; Public Safety; Mining & Aggregates; and Construction. Thursday, October 4, 2018 ASPRS UAS Technical Symposium - The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) will be hosting their annual UAS Technical Symposium as a two-part, full-day program. About Commercial UAV Expo Americas Commercial UAV Expo Americas, presented by Commercial UAV News, is a conference and exhibition exclusively focused on the commercial drone market covering industries including Surveying & Mapping; Civil Infrastructure; Aggregates & Mining; Construction; Process, Power & Utilities; Precision Agriculture; Law Enforcement, Emergency Response and Search & Rescue (SAR). The fourth annual Americas event is taking place October 1-3, 2018 in Las Vegas. Commercial UAV Expo Europe launched in Brussels in June 2017 and will take place in Amsterdam 8-10 April 2019. For more information, visit http://www.expouav.com and http://www.expouav.com/europe or email info@expouav.com. The events are organized Diversified Communications, a leading organizer of conferences, trade shows and online media with 15 years in the geospatial arena, including Commercial UAV Expo Americas, Commercial UAV Europe, Commercial UAV News, SPAR 3D Expo & Conference, SPAR3D.com, AECNext Technology Expo & Conference, AEC Next News and International LiDAR Mapping Forum. http://www.divcom.com Daisy Intelligence ElevateR Pitch: AI Edition was a fantastic experience and a stellar showcase of Canadas technology startup community, and as a Toronto-based A.I. startup, its thrilling to be recognized as one of Canadas most promising A.I. companies, said Gary Saarenvirta, CEO of Daisy Intelligence. Daisy Intelligence Corporation, an artificial intelligence software-as-a-service platform, captured first place at the ElevateR Pitch: AI Edition event held in Toronto on Tuesday. The pitch competition was open to Canadian corporations working in AI or an adjacent industry with less than $10 million in revenue or funding. Selected from an overwhelming volume of submissions, 16 finalists pitched onstage to a panel of investors, celebrities, and media personalities for an opportunity to win $1,000,000 in funding from Espresso Capital. The stakes were raised considerably when it was announced that instead of the $1,000,000 funding, the winner would be receiving a $5 million investment from Espresso Capital. The winner of the funding was Daisy Intelligence. This event was a fantastic experience and a stellar showcase of Canadas technology startup community, and as a Toronto-based A.I. startup, its thrilling to be recognized as one of Canadas most promising A.I. companies, said Gary Saarenvirta, CEO of Daisy Intelligence. We look forward to putting the investment to work in achieving Daisys vision, which is to use math and science to better peoples lives and help companies make better business decisions. The funding will support talent acquisition and marketing efforts and fuel Daisy Intelligences already strong growth in the very active grocery segment and expansion into the wider retail category, as well as supporting the companys footprint in the insurance industry. The Daisy team are leveraging AI to provide truly unique and disruptive solutions, and their strong momentum demonstrates the tremendous and highly measurable value they are delivering to their customers, said Espresso Capital Managing Director Will Hutchins. This round of funding is designed to enable the company to further accelerate revenue, build scale and increase enterprise value without dilution. We are excited to be supporting the team at Daisy and look forward to this next chapter in the company's growth. ElevateR Pitch is created by Publicis.Sapient, the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe with community partner NextAI, a Toronto-based accelerator for early or idea stage AI-enabled startups. Daisy Intelligence was recently awarded Best AI Start-Up at the 2018 AIconics awards, and earlier this year the company was one of three vendors designated Cool Vendors in AI for Retail by Gartner, Inc. About Daisy Intelligence Daisy Intelligence is an artificial intelligence software-as-a-service company that analyzes very large quantities of clients transaction and operational data in order to make automated operational decision recommendations which clients can immediately action to improve their business. Using proprietary mathematical solutions and the Daisy AI-based simulation platform, Daisy Intelligence analyses 100% of the tradeoffs inherent in any complex business question and provides timely, specific recommendations to help clients grow total sales, improve margins, reduce fraud and delight customers. http://www.daisyintelligence.com About Espresso Capital Since 2009, Espresso Capital has provided over 230 early and growth stage technology companies with founder friendly capital. The company offers lines of credit and term loans to enable entrepreneurs to grow their businesses without dilution, board seats, or personal guarantees. Espressos mission is to keep founders in control with fast, fair, and flexible capital. http://www.espressocapital.com. About Elevate Elevate is a city-wide technology and innovation festival that takes place in Toronto, Canada. Its annual event brings together global tech leaders, investors, government officials and international media to raise the profile of the Canadian innovation ecosystem. Through a mix of inspirational speakers, experiential programming, and social networking opportunities, Elevate operates as a platform for the community at large to disrupt together, celebrate diversity and inclusiveness, and proudly showcase the best of Canadian innovation. Elevate is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2017. To learn more, visit http://www.elevatetechfest.com. Early birds who register for the full 3-days before September 30 pay only $880 as GRC members or $1080 if non-members. The deadline for early-bird rates for registration for the biggest annual geothermal energy event in the world is September 30. The GRC Annual Meeting & Expo will bring together geothermal companies, academics, financiers, policy leaders, students, and other individuals to attend or exhibit at the event, to be held from October 14 to 17 at the Peppermill Resort Spa & Casino, Reno, Nevada, USA. Early birds who register for the full 3-days before September 30 pay only $880 as GRC members or $1080 if non-members. The non-member registration includes GRC membership through 2019. Students with a current identification card from an accredited institution pay just $150 which also includes GRC membership through 2019. In addition, the cost of attending two special workshops before the meeting will increase by $100 ($50 for students) after September 30. Registration is available from the GRC website at http://www.geothermal.org. An Event Program complete with a Registration Form is available to view and download. However, the GRC recommends online registration through a secured connection. The link is also available on the front page of the GRC website at http://www.geothermal.org. The GRC Annual Meeting & Expo is the industrys largest annual gathering of leading geothermal energy scientists, producers, renewable energy industry stakeholders, regulators, utilities, and key associated business leaders. The four-day event will offer technical, policy, and market conference sessions, educational seminars, tours of local geothermal and renewable energy projects, a trade show and numerous networking opportunities. For more information about the GRC Annual Meeting & Expo at the Peppermill Resort Spa & Casino, Reno, Nevada, USA visit http://www.geothermal.org or call (530) 758-2360. For information on how to sponsor this event, contact Anh Lay, GRC at (530) 758-2360 X100 or alay@geothermal.org. About the Geothermal Resources Council: The Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) will be celebrating 50 years of service to the global geothermal energy community in 2021. The GRC is dedicated to advancing geothermal development around the world through education, research, and outreach. For more information, please visit http://www.geothermal.org. Get your daily geothermal news at Global Geothermal News. Become a fan on Facebook. Follow GRC on Twitter @GRC2001 and #GRCAM2018. Check out GRCs YouTube Channel. See geothermal photos on GRCs Flicker page. Visitors to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation this fall can see the iconic depictions of Franklin D. Roosevelts Four Freedoms by artist Norman Rockwell October 13, 2018 through January 13, 2019. Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms, an internationally touring exhibition organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum, illuminates both the historic context in which FDR articulated the Four Freedoms and the role Rockwells paintings played in bringing them to life for millions of people. The notion of the Four Freedoms has inspired dozens of national constitutions across the globe, yet President Roosevelts declaration that the United States was willing to fight for Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear, did not turn out to be the immediate triumph he had envisioned. It would take the continuous efforts of the White House, the Office of War Information, and scores of patriotic artists to give the Four Freedoms new life. Most prominent among those artists was Norman Rockwell, whose images became a national sensation in early 1943 when they were first published in The Saturday Evening Post. Roosevelts words and Rockwells pieces of art soon became inseparable in the public consciousness, with millions of reproductions bringing the Four Freedoms directly into American homes and workplaces. Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms provides a rare opportunity to see the famous paintings, as well as other works by Rockwell and his contemporaries, alongside interactive digital displays and virtual-reality technology. The exhibition is organized into five sections taking visitors on a journey of the Four Freedoms from President Roosevelts famous 1941 Annual Message to Congress to the artistic expressions by Rockwell, and his contemporaries to a fresh take on the Four Freedoms by artists of today. Members of The Henry Ford will have the chance to see the exhibition before it opens to the public on Friday, Oct.12 from 9:30 am to 5 p.m. Admission to Four Freedoms is free for members. Non-member ticket prices include admission to the museum and are $23 for adults (12-61), $17.25 for youth (5-11), $21 for seniors (62+) and children 4 and under are free. To purchase tickets, visit thehenryford.org. Leadership support for Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms is provided by Jay Alix, The Alix Foundation and the George Lucas Family Foundation. The national presenting sponsor is The Travelers Companies, Inc. Major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Helen Bing, Elephant Rock Foundation, Ford Foundation, Heritage Auctions, Annie and Ned Lamont, Ted Slavin, and an anonymous donor. Media sponsors include: Curtis Licensing, a division of The Saturday Evening Post, and the Norman Rockwell Family Agency. About The Henry Ford The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan is an internationally-recognized history destination that explores the American experience of innovation, resourcefulness and ingenuity that helped shape America. A national historic landmark with an unparalleled Archive of American Innovation, The Henry Ford is a force for sparking curiosity and inspiring tomorrows innovators. Nearly 1.8 million visitors annually experience its five attractions: Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Greenfield Village, The Ford Rouge Factory Tour, The Benson Ford Research Center and The Henry Ford Giant Screen Experience. A continually expanding array of content available online provides anytime, anywhere access. The Henry Ford is also home to Henry Ford Academy, a public charter high school that educates more than 500 students a year on the institutions campus. In 2014, The Henry Ford premiered its first-ever national television series, The Henry Fords Innovation Nation, showcasing present-day change-makers and The Henry Fords artifacts and unique visitor experiences. Hosted by news correspondent and humorist, Mo Rocca, this Emmy-winning weekly half-hour show airs Saturday mornings on CBS. For more information please visit our website thehenryford.org. About Norman Rockwell Museum The Norman Rockwell Museum is dedicated to education and art appreciation inspired by the legacy of Norman Rockwell. The Museum holds the worlds largest and most significant collection of art and archival materials relating to Rockwells life and work, while also preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting a growing collection of art by other American illustrators throughout history. The Museum engages diverse audiences through onsite and traveling exhibitions, as well as publications, arts and humanities programs, and comprehensive online resources. https://www.nrm.org/ ...in order for TB innovations to be scaled, we need to put the countries and people affected by TB front and center. This past weekend at the TB Innovation Summit in New York City, Everwell Health Solutions and SureAdhere Mobile Technology, Inc. announced they will formally merge companies and integrate their technologies to create a unified platform for medication monitoring in the battle against tuberculosis (TB) and other diseases. These two social enterprise corporations, both of which focus heavily on medication adherence support for TB, will be able to improve care and offer more choices to patients and providers by working together. Andrew Cross, CEO of Everwell said, Im thrilled about this partnership Everwell shares our core values with SureAdhere - open collaboration, empowering patients, and supporting personalized, patient-centric care. Bringing together our combined experiences, we can build solutions that are global in scale and appropriate for patients in individual contexts. Both Everwell (with their Everwell Hub that uniquely integrates 99DOTS with other digital adherence solutions) and SureAdhere (with their Video Observed Therapy [VOT] platform) have a strong history of working with key organizations in the public health space. Everwell has received significant support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and DFID; SureAdhere works closely with the StopTB Partnerships Accelerator for Impact (a4i). To date, Everwells efforts have focused on South Asia and Eastern Africa, including a deep partnership with the Government of Indias public and private sector TB program; SureAdhere has primarily been working in North America, Europe and Asia. Both companies were formed by researchers dedicated to making evidenced-based solutions accessible everywhere they are needed to support global TB elimination efforts. Everwells and SureAdheres solutions have been used to monitor treatment for over 185,000 TB patients in seven countries around the world. Kelly Collins, CEO of SureAdhere said, By joining forces with Everwell, we can significantly improve the impact were having on TB treatment adherence. This combined effort will allow us to focus on what really mattersgiving TB patients and practitioners options in the fight against the worlds deadliest infectious disease. SureAdhere will operate as a subsidiary of Everwell, and will maintain its current company leadership as the companies work together to integrate their technologies. With continued support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, a4i and others, the companies will partner with National TB Programs and NGOs across eight countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe in 2018 to implement scalable, patient-centered monitoring options without forcing programs to adopt multiple disconnected technologies. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership said, I commend Everwell and SureAdhere for being forward-thinking in terms of how innovators should collaborate and work together. We are excited to be working with both companies to show that in order for TB innovations to be scaled, we need to put the countries and people affected by TB front and center. About Everwell Everwell Health Solutions is a healthcare technology startup company based in Bangalore, India co-founded by Andrew Cross and Bill Thies. Everwells mission is to use digital technology to empower patients to self-administer their drug treatments while enabling healthcare professionals to identify in real-time which patients require additional outreach to support high adherence. The Everwell Hub is an integrated adherence and patient management platform that allows adherence aggregation from many digital monitors such as 99DOTS, Wisepills evriMED device, and going forward: VOT. For more information, visit http://everwell.org/ and/or https://www.99dots.org. About SureAdhere SureAdhere is a San Diego-based provider of a secure and affordable, mobile health platform that enables remote medication adherence monitoring through video technology for patients with TB and other diseases. Co-Founded by Dr. Richard Garfein and led by CEO Kelly Collins, SureAdheres primary focus is on assuring adherence globally to complex treatment regimens for TB. Originating from National Institutes of Health-funded research, SureAdheres platform is evidence-based and informed by years of stakeholder input. For more information, visit http://www.sureadhere.com. About the TB Innovation Summit In the lead-up to the UN High-Level Meeting on TB, the Stop TB Partnership, Johnson & Johnson, United Nations Foundation, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and the World Economic Forum co-hosted the TB Innovation Summit on Sunday, 23 September 2018 in New York City. The Summit brought together a unique blend of private- and public-sector leaders, as well as TB survivors, country decision-makers, academics, civil society and community leaders, donors, and technical agencies. For more information, visit http://www.stoptb.org/siif/events/tbis.asp. Karen brings more than 25 years of experience and a keen understanding of business operations and project management coupled with extensive knowledge of both the Federal and commercial markets. Most recently, as Executive Vice President of Operations for Siteworx, LLC, a digital experience agency, she oversaw day-to day operations of the company and the execution of its contract portfolio, driving service excellence by optimizing internal processes and team performance. Previously, Karen held a number of leadership positions including Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer at Secure Mission Solutions LLC (SMS), where she maintained purview over corporate shared services for the 600-person organization. Prior to joining SMS, at QinetiQ North America Karen served in a variety of key operational roles spanning Practice Manager, Director of Information Systems, and acting Deputy General Manager of the Homeland Security Solutions business unit. Earlier, she also held leadership positions in program management, operational planning and service/product management at entities including America Online and Bell Atlantic. Karen brings a wide array of experience and skills to Service Delivery. Her leadership talents will support the challenging work of our Management Consultants, said Greg Blaisdell, Managing Partner. Karen has the right touch to continue developing our culture of collegial competitiveness. Adding her to the executive team is part of our continuing plan to make Evoke a destination employer. Through these diverse experiences, Karen cultivated an extensive and broad skillset ranging from developing, deploying and managing complex technology-based products and services, building and leading high performing teams, and successfully executing critical strategic and tactical corporate initiatives, such as implementing repeatable and scalable client-focused processes, achieving ISO and CMMI quality certifications, and leading post-acquisition operational integration. I look forward to collaborating with the Evoke team to build upon and scale our existing operational foundation to enhance service delivery consistency and excellence while driving high client satisfaction, said Evokes Vice President of Service Delivery, Karen Forgy Hicks. Karen holds a Masters Certificate in Project Management from The George Washington University and a Bachelors of Science in Civil/Structural Engineering from Northwestern University. She has completed post-baccalaureate work in project management and business administration at Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, Berkeley. About Evoke Evoke Research and Consulting LLC is an Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business that provides professional services and technology support in management, organizational improvement, and technology and engineering services. Evoke is an ISO 9001:2008, ISO 20000, CMMIDEV/3SM and CMMISVC/3 SM Certified Management Consulting firm headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. evokeconsulting.com Finicity is the first data aggregation provider to sign on to use Fidelity Access, Fidelitys new data sharing API. Finicity, a leading provider of real-time financial data aggregation and insights, has agreed to use an application programming interface (API)-based method for sharing Fidelity Investments customer information, after the customer authorizes such sharing, with financial apps and services that Finicity supports. Finicity is the first data aggregation provider to sign on to use Fidelity Access(SM), Fidelitys new data sharing API. Fidelity Access will allow Fidelity customers to provide third parties access to customer data through a secure connection without providing log-in credentials. The log-in process is replaced with direct authorization by the customer through Fidelity and the use of tokens for authentication and access. As a leading financial data aggregator, were constantly looking for ways to provide consumers, like Fidelity customers, with more control of and better insights into their data, said Finicity CEO Steve Smith. This agreement will further empower Fidelity customers to use their financial data to manage and enhance their financial lives, while expanding security for when they choose to share this data. Consumer control is a key benefit of using APIs such as Fidelity Access. It enables consumers to provide explicit authorization to their financial services firm for the use of their data by third parties. Fidelity Access includes a control center on Fidelity.com and other Fidelity websites where customers can grant, monitor and revoke third-party data access at any time, meaning Fidelity customers can now securely permission the use of their data to assist with investing, retirement planning, college savings and more. We seek to make our customers financial decisions, from investing to retirement planning, easier and more transparent, said Stuart Rubinstein, President, Fidelity Wealth Technologies. When firms like Finicity use Fidelity Access, we are able to serve our customers better by allowing them to share and access their data in a more secure and simple manner. Finicity has established relationships with a variety of service and application providers that allow individuals and organizations to manage financial processes. This includes providing data aggregation for several of the most popular personal financial management (PFM) tools, as well as digital asset and income verification solutions. Once the API-based method of data sharing is in place, expected to go live in the next few months, Fidelity customers can authorize Fidelity to permit third parties to access their financial information for use through Finicitys data aggregation and insights platform. To learn more about Finicity data services and their commitment to fast, reliable and high-quality data, visit http://www.finicity.com. # # # About Finicity: Finicitys mission is to help individuals, families and organizations make smarter financial decisions through safe and secure access to fast, high-quality data. The company, which launched its first financial product in 2000 and has since grown to provide financial data APIs, credit decisioning tools and financial wellness solutions, partners with influential financial institutions and disruptive fintech providers alike to give consumers a leg up in a complicated financial world. Finicity was awarded API Worlds 2016 Finance API of the Year and is a 2018 HousingWire Tech100 winner. To learn more or test drive its API, visit http://www.finicity.com. About Fidelity Investments: Fidelitys mission is to inspire better futures and deliver better outcomes for the customers and businesses we serve. With assets under administration of $7.3 trillion, including managed assets of $2.6 trillion as of August 30, 2018, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 28 million people invest their own life savings, 23,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing more than 13,000 financial advisory firms with investment and technology solutions to invest their own clients money. Privately held for 70 years, Fidelity employs more than 40,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit http://www.fidelity.com/about. Norway-based Focus Engineering says Onshapes cloud CAD helps them better manage multiple international design projects in the oil and gas industry. We have more than 40 engineers around the world, working on 10 to 20 different projects at a time. Onshape gives us the confidence that we always have the correct information in one central place and that it is always updated. Focus Engineering CEO Tore Bjrkas Focus Engineering, which has current oil and gas design projects in Norway, Singapore and China, has chosen Onshape as one of its primary CAD systems. Based in Norway, the company designs modules and systems, optimizing structures for strength, durability and weight. We have more than 40 engineers around the world, working on 10 to 20 different projects at any one time, says Focus Engineering CEO Tore Bjrkas. Onshape gives us the confidence that we always have the correct information in one central place and that it is always updated. We never have version control problems. Weve strived to run as many of our business systems in the cloud as we can. Knowing that you have the latest version of a design is absolutely critical especially when you are running operations in Norway and China across time zones, he adds. Now, we dont have to wait for people to lock in and lock out files and we are confident that the assembly or the sub-assembly is the latest one. And our clients love that we can share the 3D model information with them in real time. Onshapes real-time data management eliminates the need for a PDM system to prevent colleagues from overwriting each others work. Whenever someone makes an edit or change to a CAD model, everyone else on the design and manufacturing team instantly sees it. Everyone who logs into an Onshape Document is always on the latest version. Weve long been hearing engineers talk about how old CAD and PDM technology slow them down, says Onshape CEO Jon Hirschtick. So were delighted to welcome Focus Engineering to the world of modern CAD. Their company was already hugely successful before adopting Onshape, but we look forward to helping them further build on their competitive edge for years to come. Bjrkas says he especially values the Onshape Enterprise dashboards that allow him to easily monitor up-to-the-minute progress of multiple projects and analyze real-time data such as modeling hours and how they are being allocated. Enterprise Reports detail all user activity within an organization, allowing executives or project managers to better identify bottlenecks and ensure deadlines are being met on time. Our core values are being Trustworthy, Transparent and Profitable, so were always striving to get smarter, leaner, faster and more efficient. says Bjrkas. To survive in this business, you have to get a little better each day. Upgrading to Onshape Enterprise has given us a better overview of our operations and this will help us make better decisions. The dashboards can tell me how we can best utilize our resources and when we can reuse what we already have, he adds. I hope it can also help us automate as many processes as possible. And for our clients, showing the dashboards and explaining how we evaluate their projects will ensure good communication and increase quality. ** About Focus Engineering Focus Engineering AS is a global engineering firm based in Norway. The company also has an office in Qingdao, China, where the engineering team visualizes clients technical solutions to comply with project and regulatory standards, public requirements, work environment and environmental requirements. Focus Engineering is run by engineers and is uniquely positioned to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of engineered solutions. Focus Engineering serves the oil & gas sector as well as the aquaculture and infrastructure industries. Clients include Wartsila Oil & Gas Systems AS,Techouse AS, Rapp Bomek, Kanfa Group, Aragon AS, Dana Petroleum, Euroskilt, TS Reels, Cosco Shipyard and Kongsberg Maritime. For more information, contact post@focus-engineering.no or visit https://www.focus-engineering.no/ ** About Onshape Onshape is a modern CAD system that eliminates design gridlock: the constant waiting, distractions, and hassles that prevent engineers from doing their best work. Onshape unites advanced modeling tools and design data management in a secure cloud workspace that is accessible on any device and never loses data. With no files to lose or corrupt, no license keys to manage, and no installed desktop software, Onshape helps engineering teams get out of the IT business so they can get back in the innovation business. Professional engineers at thousands of companies rely on Onshape to modernize and streamline their product design and manufacturing process. Onshape users in 170+ countries have logged over 5 million hours modeling advanced robotics, biomedical devices, industrial machinery, agriculture equipment, and consumer products. With 1 of 8 sessions occurring on mobile devices, Onshape is the worlds first anywhere, anytime CAD system. Founded in 2012, Onshape has raised $169 million from Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, North Bridge, and other leading investors. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Onshape leadership team includes the original creators of SOLIDWORKS and other proven leaders in cloud infrastructure, data security, and mobile. For more information, contact dgarnick@onshape.com or visit onshape.com/press-room. Frederick native Tobin Lehman is celebrating the ten year anniversary of his startup digital marketing firm, New North, with a grand opening and ribbon cutting on October 3rd. Born and raised in the city of Frederick, Tobin has been an active community member among entrepreneurs, business leaders, and religious organizations in the city for over twenty years. Proud parents of four kids, Tobin and his wife are active members of a local churcha philosophy and culture that Tobin applies to his business as well. New North was born after Tobin felt the need to make a difference in the world beyond his 9-to-5 cubicle job. With a background in web development and design, Tobin started the company in 2008 with a focus on building websites but wanted to leave room for expansion. Ten years later, the company now has seven employees, a brand-new office space, and is a leading expert in business to business digital marketing. Clutch.co ranked New North as the top content marketing firm in Maryland. New North recently moved from an 800 square foot space into a 4000 square foot space on South Carroll Street. While New North needed to expand, Tobin was adamant that headquarters remained in downtown Frederick. New North prides itself on its culture, much of which comes from its location. Over the summer, the agency takes weekly Thursday runs to the tune of Alive at Five and has morning bagel runs to local coffeeshop Beans and Bagels. Tobins strong Christian values impact New Norths cultural and business tenets. Each month the company donates a set amount per employee to Compassion International, a Christian organization that helps orphaned and impoverished children in third world countries. Staying true to Tobins original purpose in starting the company, all employees volunteer once-a-quarter at the Frederick Community Action Agency and with Habitat for Humanity. With the growth of his startup over the past ten years, Tobin continues to look toward the future both of New North and the Frederick community. The Frequent Traveler Awards ceremony at the Royal Air Force Museum in London, UK The spectacular RAF Museum in London was a fitting venue to celebrate a year of innovation by European and African loyalty programs. For the first time, an award program recognizes both the voice of frequent travelers and the opinion of titans of the loyalty industry. On Thursday, September 20th, Frequent Traveler Awards (https://ftawards.com) unveiled the winners of the Frequent Traveler Peoples Awards and Frequent Traveler Titan Awards in Europe and Africa. The Frequent Traveler Awards recognize the companies and teams that create, design, and manage inspiring loyalty programs. Frequent Traveler Awards is the only travel loyalty focused recognition event that provides regional recognition and ceremonies (Europe/Africa/Americas) and recognizes programs from 3 core travel divisions (airline, hotel, and rental car.) The Frequent Traveler Awards represent both the voices of frequent travelers and industry titans. The Peoples Awards are selected by consumers, who have voted online to choose the Best Program Innovation, Best Promotion, Best Elite Program, Best Redemption Ability, Best Loyalty Customer Service, Program of the Year, and Best Affinity Credit Card. In addition, a board of six previous notable loyalty leaders (https://ftawards.com/awards/titan-awards/) chose the winners of the Frequent Traveler Titan Awards. The winners for the awards are as follows (the list is also available at https://ftawards.com/awards/winners/): Best Airline Overall Promotion: Lufthansa Group Miles & More Best Airline Loyalty Customer Service: Lufthansa Group Miles & More Best Hotel Overall Promotion: Le Club AccorHotels Best Hotel Loyalty Customer Service: IHG Rewards Club Best Car Overall Promotion: Avis Preferred Best Car Rental Loyalty Customer Service: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Best Airline Elite Program: British Airways Executive Club Best Airline Program of the Year: Air France KLM Flying Blue Best Hotel Elite Program: Hilton Honors Best Hotel Program of the Year: Le Club AccorHotels Best Car Rental Elite Program: Sixt Cards Best Car Rental Program of the Year: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Best Airline Redemption Ability: Air France KLM Flying Blue Best Affinity Credit Card: Lufthansa Group Miles & More Credit Card Gold Best Hotel Redemption Ability: Le Club AccorHotels Best Program Innovation: Le Club AccorHotels Best Car Redemption Ability: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Frequent Traveler Titan Airline Award: Virgin Atlantic Flight Club Frequent Traveler Titan Hotel Award: Starwood Preferred Guest Frequent Traveler Car Rental Award: Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Presented by American Express and Engage People, the invite-only Awards Ceremony at the Royal Air Force Museum in North London featured chocolate tasting and welcome cocktails by Luxury British cocoa grower and chocolatier Hotel Chocolat, an elegant three-course dinner, a ceremony led by Americas #1 Travel Radio Show host, Rudy Maxa, and an opportunity to gaze at the RAF Museums world-class collection. Attendees of the Loyalty Summit, which was held on the same day at the Hyatt Regency - The Churchill, were treated to an invitation to the event along with over 120 representatives of Airline, Hotel, and Car Rental loyalty programs based in Europe. I am thrilled to celebrate the return of the Frequent Traveler Awards," said Tommy Danielsen, Founder of the Frequent Traveler Awards. The spectacular RAF Museum in London was a fitting venue to celebrate a year of innovation by European and African loyalty programs. For the first time, an award program recognizes both the voice of frequent travelers and the opinion of titans of the loyalty industry. Voting for the Americas is now ongoing at https://vote.ftawards.com. The results will be announced on November 1, 2018 in Long Beach, CA in partnership with Airline Informations Mega Event. About Frequent Traveler Events, LLC Frequent Traveler Events, LLC provides knowledge, recognition, and inspiring events to the loyalty industry. We create hubs of knowledge through our pools of frequent travelers, program connections, supplier relationships, and our own consultative approach to better connect our industry. The company offers Frequent Traveler Awards, Loyalty Summit, Frequent Traveler University, and Travel Rewards Expo. Frequent Traveler Awards and Loyalty Summit are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Frequent Traveler Events, LLC in the United States and/or other countries. Genetec Citigraf Genetec is working successfully with cities like Chicago to provide a powerful and accessible decision support system as the foundation of their SDSC strategies. At IACP 2018, on booth # 2701, Genetec Inc. (Genetec), a leading technology provider of security, law enforcement, and analytics solutions will showcase a comprehensive portfolio of products designed to enable communities and law enforcement agencies to foster greater collaboration through technology and to build-out Strategic Decision Support Centers (SDSC) uniquely designed to meet local neighborhood requirements. Genetec is working successfully with cities like Chicago to provide a powerful and accessible decision support system as the foundation of their SDSC strategies. Empowered by our technology it is now also for small metro areas to cost effectively deploy an SDSC to target unique neighborhood challenges and investigations, said Giovanni Gaccione, Law Enforcement Practice Lead at Genetec. This new approach to edge-based policing, public safety and community service has yielded excellent results. Our law enforcement customers are seeing crime statistics fall and public trust in their policing improve. SDSC strategies are being actively rolled out by law enforcement agencies in cities around the world. The goal is to empower police leadership in both small and large metro areas to better direct resources and be more responsive to specific community needs. These localized decision support centers allow for the creation of targeted crime reduction strategies and improved investigations through data analysis, human intelligence and community input. IACP visitors will also be able to get hands on demos of Genetec Citigraf, a public safety decision support system, Genetec Clearance, a digital evidence management system, and find out how Genetec Community Connect is helping cities build ties between local public and private sectors. Genetec Citigraf Genetec will demonstrate Genetec Citigraf, a public safety decision support system that unifies operations across city departments, disseminates timely information, and provides greater situational awareness. Citigraf is the foundation technology behind the SDSC approach to policing and features a powerful correlation and analytics engine that instantly detects and displays relevant information from disparate sources for officers and responders to act on; such as CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) systems, CCTV footage, ALPR data, and RMS (Record Management Systems). It enables a fast on-scene response with highly-accurate GIS location and visual information, ensuring officers and emergency responders can make safe and effective decisions for situations in progress. Genetec Clearance The amount of evidence available to investigators is increasing dramatically, supported by growth in surveillance systems, increased use of body-worn cameras and the omnipresence of smartphones. This helps public safety agencies solve crimes but presents new logistics and privacy challenges. To help address these challenges, Genetec has developed Genetec Clearance, a digital evidence management system that strengthens the cooperation between security departments, outside agencies, and the public. It speeds up investigations by allowing police officers, investigators and security managers to collect, manage, and share evidence from different sources. With Clearance, agencies can reach out to the general public and private businesses and involve them in crime-solving efforts. It provides a new, simplified sharing process, which will be showcased for the first time at IACP. Investigators can now instantly create a link for the public to share relevant video and photos from their cell phones and surveillance systems with law enforcement agencies. This link and custom QR code can be shared using social media, traditional media, the web or on the news. Anyone can then easily upload videos, photos, and other evidence directly from their phones or PCs into Clearance for police officers, investigators and security managers to review and use as part of their investigation. Community Connect At IACP, Genetec will also highlight Community Connect, an initiative designed to build safer communities through greater cooperation between public and private organizations. Community Connect connects law enforcement to privately owned cameras, connected to Stratocast or other third-party technology, from participating businesses and organizations throughout their city. This initiative helps cities create their own public-private partnership program with business owners, and work towards lowering crime, promoting economic growth and operating more efficiently, even with constrained budgets. Stratocast is a cloud-based video monitoring service from Genetec. Easy to deploy, it offers greater security through HD video surveillance and allows owners to keep an eye on their business from anywhere using their laptop, smartphone or tablet. As part of a citys Community Connect program, business owners can connect their cameras to the citys Genetec video surveillance network, expanding its reach and directly contributing to their neighborhoods safety. About Genetec Genetec Inc. is an innovative technology company with a broad solutions portfolio that encompasses security, intelligence, and operations. The companys flagship product, Security Center, is an open-architecture platform that unifies IP-based video surveillance, access control, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), communications, and analytics. Genetec also develops cloud-based solutions and services designed to improve security, and contribute new levels of operational intelligence for governments, enterprises, transport, and the communities in which we live. Founded in 1997, and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Genetec serves its global customers via an extensive network of resellers, integrators, certified channel partners, and consultants in over 80 countries. For more information about Genetec, visit: http://www.genetec.com Genetec Inc., 2018. Genetec and the Genetec logo are trademarks of Genetec Inc. and may be registered or pending registration in several jurisdictions. Other trademarks used in this document may be trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the respective product. Gengo is a global, people-powered translation platform optimized for developers of multilingual applications. That we delivered our billionth data point of complex language judgements speaks to the maturity of our tech platform and operational experience. Since the launch of Gengo.ai, the companys crowdsourcing platform for AI/ML training data, Tokyo-based Gengo has experienced a surge in demand for high volumes of well-annotated text and audio data. Today, Gengo announced that it has processed more than one billion words to date. Gengo.ai, which provides multilingual training data used for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications, has built a crowdsourced network of 25,000+ certified native speakers to deliver high-scale multilingual services in 37 languages. The billionth-word threshold was surpassed during a project with Basis Technology Corp., a software company that specializes in applying artificial intelligence techniques to understand documents and unstructured data written in different languages. The billionth word was , which translates to Asahi Newspaper, one of the five national newspapers in Japan. The Gengo.ai expert crowd has been undertaking some interesting projects recently, some of which depart from Gengos roots as a translation company. In this case, the billionth word was actually sourced from an entity annotation project. For this particular project, Gengo was given more than 1,700 files containing Japanese news articles. Basis Technology partnered with Gengo to obtain high-quality annotated data to train deep-learning models such as those required by entity extraction software. Counted on by companies like LexisNexis and Microsoft Bing, Basis Technologys Rosette Entity Extractor enables users to conduct unsupervised training on data to create personalized entity extraction models. For machine-learned models such as these, the accuracy and integrity of training data is paramount any flaws or noise in the data negatively impacts performance of the model and its output. Gengos team of Japanese speakers annotated content using the brat rapid annotation tool, highlighting and marking named entities, and labeling them appropriately (organization, person, location, title, or product). This unconventional multilingual content project speaks to the flexibility and growing capabilities of the Gengo.ai platform. The project was one of a series of trials that Basis Technology conducted with Gengo, which included: 1. Entity extraction in Japanese. 2. Sentiment analysis in Arabic. 3. Document categorization in English. To gauge the performance of Gengos services, Zachary Yocum, senior linguistic data engineer at Basis Technology, requested multiple trials to assess Gengos data annotation capabilities. He concluded that Gengos offering was indeed suitable for training and evaluating deep-learning models. For our projects, its incredibly important to maintain a high level of data quality, otherwise its garbage in garbage out, Yocum said. We used several internal tools to assess the quality of what Gengo provided, and the results were very good. We have confidence that we could potentially use the data for critical deep-learning projects. The fact that we delivered our billionth data point of complex language judgements speaks to the maturity of our tech platform and operational experience, said Charly Walther, VP of product & growth at Gengo. As we expand our range of services from crowdsourced translation to include services such as labeling mission-critical data for machine-learning models, we are grateful to have strong partners like Basis Technology, who complement our linguistic crowdsourcing expertise with their in-depth knowledge of data requirements for NLP applications. In recent weeks, in addition to the trials conducted for Basis Technology, Gengo.ai has provided other companies with an array of expert data services for machine learning, including: Data collection of handwritten Japanese characters by native speakers to train an OCR engine to read handwritten documents. Machine translation quality evaluation of Chinese to English sentences for retraining machine translation. For voice navigation software, the creation of an audio dataset consisting of hundreds of voice recordings of non-native Japanese speakers. About Basis Technology Verifying identity, understanding customers, anticipating world events, uncovering crime. Data is collected everywhere, all the time, in every language. For over 20 years, Basis Technology has provided the underlying analytical components to some of the largest and most difficult solutions that improve sales, reduce risk, and save lives. For more information, email info(at)basistech.com or visit http://www.basistech.com. About Gengo Gengo is a global, people-powered translation platform optimized for developers of multilingual applications. Founded in 2008, Gengo has delivered more than 1 billion words for 65,000+ customers. Gengos professional human-powered translation platform represents a huge leap in quality compared to machine translation, and offers the fastest turnaround in the industry. Gengo is a privately held corporation based in Tokyo with offices in San Mateo (California), London, and Manila. To date, Gengo has raised $26M in venture funding from investors that include Intel Capital and Atomico. To learn more, visit https://gengo.com or follow us at @GengoIt. Intrinsic ID "The highly secure root-of-trust solution from Intrinsic ID gives us the ability to drive mass market adoption with security robustness currently only available in niche or high-price verticals -- Loic Lietar, CEO, GreenWaves Technologies GreenWaves Technologies, a fabless semiconductor startup designing disruptive ultra-low-power embedded solutions for image, sound and vibration artificial intelligence processing in sensing devices, and Intrinsic ID, the worlds leading provider of digital authentication technology for Internet of Things security, today announced GreenWaves has licensed QuiddiKey for the next generation of its IoT application processors. Since our intelligent processors are positioned at the crossroads of the AI, IoT and MCU worlds, the highly secure root-of-trust solution from Intrinsic ID gives us the ability to drive mass market adoption with security robustness currently only available in niche or high-price verticals, said Loic Lietar, co-founder and chief executive officer of GreenWaves Technologies. GreenWaves pioneering RISC-V-based IoT application processors enable the cost-effective development, deployment and autonomous operation of intelligent, battery-operated sensing devices that capture, analyze, classify and act on the fusion of rich data sources such as images, sounds or vibrations at the very edge of the network. This allows industrial and consumer product manufacturers to integrate artificial intelligence and advanced classification into new classes of wireless sensing devices for IoT applications including image recognition, counting people and objects, machine health monitoring, home security, speech recognition, consumer robotics, wearables and smart toys. QuiddiKey is based on Intrinsic IDs SRAM Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) technology, and allows semiconductor and OEM manufacturers to deliver IoT security via a unique unclonable fingerprint identity without the need for separate security-dedicated silicon. A root key generated by QuiddiKey delivers a high bar of security since it is never stored and anchors to the device all other keys and security operations. Our solution is well aligned with GreenWaves products initiative into ultra-low-power edge computing profile. We are pleased to support this first design of our QuiddiKey solution into the rapidly growing RISC-V architecture movement. With our historic milestone announced in April and as the market evolves for alternate core processor architectures in the trillions of units expected in IoT, our approach of using standard SRAM to create a unique silicon fingerprint is gaining further market momentum, said Pim Tuyls, Intrinsic IDs chief executive officer, referring to Intrinsic IDs announcement in April that the companys security technology had been deployed in more than 100 million devices. About Intrinsic ID Intrinsic ID is the worlds leading digital authentication company, providing the Internet of Things with hardware-based root-of-trust security via unclonable identities for any IoT-connected device. Based on Intrinsic IDs patented SRAM PUF technology, the companys security solutions can be implemented in hardware or software. Intrinsic ID security, which can be deployed at any stage of a products lifecycle, is used to validate payment systems, secure connectivity, authenticate sensors, and protect sensitive government and military systems. Intrinsic ID technology has been deployed in more than 100 million devices. Award recognition includes the Frost & Sullivan Technology Leadership Award and the EU Innovation Radar Prize. Intrinsic ID security has been proven in millions of devices certified by Common Criteria, EMVCo, Visa and multiple governments. Intrinsic IDs mission: Authenticate Everything. Visit Intrinsic ID online at http://www.Intrinsic-ID.com. About GreenWaves Technologies GreenWaves Technologies is a fabless semiconductor startup designing disruptive ultra-low power embedded solutions for image, sound and vibration AI processing in sensing devices. GreenWaves was founded in 2014 with the mission of revolutionizing the market for intelligent sensors and devices with ultra-low energy and cost-efficient solutions. GreenWaves GAP8 is the industrys first ultra-low power processor enabling battery operated artificial intelligence (AI) in Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The company is headquartered just outside Grenoble, France. To learn more, visit http://www.greenwaves-technologies.com. Intrinsic ID, the Intrinsic ID logo, QuiddiKey and Authenticate Everything are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intrinsic ID, Inc., and are protected by trademark laws of the United States and other jurisdictions. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Media Contact for Intrinsic ID Milan G. Lazich +1 (408) 933-9980 press@intrinsic-id.com Intrinsic ID Newsroom Media Contact for GreenWaves Technologies Jon Diaz Racepoint Global for GreenWaves Technologies Phone: +1 (415) 694-6700 GreenWavesTechnologies@racepointglobal.com Hanley Wood, the premier information, media, event, and strategic marketing services company serving the residential, commercial design, and construction industries, is pleased to announce the winners of its 2018 Affordable Housing Finance Readers Choice Awards. The winners will be honored at a ceremony held during AHF LIVE: The Affordable Housing Developers Summit, November 12-14, in Chicago, IL. Each year, AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE magazine honors the nations best affordable housing developments. This year, 36 finalists selected by AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE editors vied for top honors in 10 categories, and then subscribers voted for each category winner plus an overall grand winner. West Turner Residences in Allentown, Pa., has been selected as this years overall winner as well as the best senior housing project. The project was developed by Pennrose Properties and Sacred Heart Hospital (now St. Lukes). The 61-unit development provides one- and two-bedroom homes for seniors earning no more than 20%, 50%, and 60% of the area median income. In addition, the first floor of the building has approximately 6,000 square feet of space, which the hospital will use for geriatric, physical therapy, and other senior-focused medical programs. These services will be available to both building residents and others in the community. The health center will allow seniors to receive medical attention without going to the hospital. However, if they need to visit St. Lukes, they can board a shuttle or take a new pedestrian path that the team built between West Turner Residences and the neighboring hospital. For the hospital, the housing development is an opportunity to serve more people in the community. It was also a meaningful way to revitalize a blighted block and improve the neighborhood. To build West Turner Residences, the team acquired close to 45 parcels from absentee landlords and others through private purchases and eminent domain, according to Mark Dambly, president of Pennrose. The other 2018 Readers Choice Award winners are: Family: Mercy Othello Plaza in Seattle by Mercy Housing Northwest Green: Hillcrest Residences in Pittsburgh by The Community Builders Historic Rehab: Bell Artspace Campus by Artspace Projects and Providence Community Housing Mixed-Income: Sibley Square in Rochester, N.Y., by WinnCompanies Public Housing Redevelopment: Renaissance Square in San Juan, Puerto Rico, by McCormack Baron Salazar Preservation: Portner Flats in Washington, D.C., by Jonathan Rose Cos. and Somerset Development Co. Rural: Proctors Landing in Lawrence County, Ohio, by PIRHL and Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization Special-Needs: Sheakley Center for Youth in Cincinnati by Model Group and Lighthouse Youth & Family Services Urban: Woodlawn Station in Chicago by Preservation of Affordable Housing Editors Choice: The Residences at Career Gateway in Columbus, Ohio, by The NRP Group and Community Development for All People For more information, visit housingfinance.com. About Affordable Housing Finance AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE is the nations leading source of news for developers, investors, financiers, and housing officials. It provides in-depth coverage of affordable housing development and financing. To learn more, visit housingfinance.com. ABOUT HANLEY WOOD Hanley Wood is the premier company serving the information, media, and marketing needs of the residential, commercial design and construction industry. Utilizing the largest analytics and editorially driven Construction Industry Database - powered by Metrostudy - the company provides business intelligence and data-driven services. The company produces award-winning media, high-profile executive events, and strategic marketing solutions. To learn more, visit hanleywood.com. Hayver Digital Health HAYVER provides a revolutionary, first-of-its-kind verification technology to monitor those suffering from drug addiction or alcoholism, to help ensure they are drug-free and alcohol-free. HAYVER provides its clients, recovery facilities and those addicted to drug or alcohol, a life-changing continuing care digital platform to tackle Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Through a partnership with Swiss Growth Forum (SGF), an exclusive crypto-conference that highlights growth companies seeking capital and/or greater exposure, HAYVER has embarked on a European tour including meetings in London, Lugano, Zurich, Geneva and Monaco. Our mission at HAYVER DIGITAL HEALTH is to save lives by helping people with chronic addiction stay clean and sober. We are excited with the vote of confidence shown by our first investor on this European Road Show providing a $300,000 investment. The HAYVER platform is currently used by recovery residences and treatment centers in multiple states and by the general public. Partnering with a proven and respected industry leader in helping growth funds, Andreea Porcelli, SGFs Founder, has already made a major impact for HAYVER, said HAYVER Co-Founder and CEO Barry Hayut. With the HAYVER Platform already helping people overcome Substance Use Disorder, SGF can help them scale the user base and add new channels like health plans, insurance companies, and employer benefits programs by facilitating the token sales activities through our long-term relationships with hundreds of family offices and institutional purchasers, Porcelli commented. Meetings are being held at the following locations in Europe: September 25: London -- The Langham @ 12 noon September 28: Lugano Hotel Splendide Royal @ 12:30 pm October 1: Zurich -- Zunfthaus zur Zimmerleuten @ 12 noon October 2: Geneva -- Grand Hotel Kempinski @ 6:30 pm October 3: Monaco Hotel Hermitage @ 6:00 pm HAYVERs platform is based on decades of a proven methodology; it is a simple-to-use drug and alcohol verification system that requires daily check-ins and random urine screens, while providing a real-time look into the recovery progress of those suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction. The mobile platform incorporates the blockchain technology by creating a flexible open architecture and cryptocurrency incentives. HAYVER is now poised to address the worldwide addiction problem at a deeper level. It is launching a cryptocurrency, the Duitcoin. The Duitcoin will be grounded in the shared values of the blockchain and recovery communities, including decentralization, privacy, peer empowerment and a commitment to making the world a better place for everyone. The Duitcoin will be used to incentivize and reward app users and others who engage in behaviors that promote addiction recovery. More than that, Hayver envisions that the Duitcoin will become the basis of a blended altruistic and commercial economy serving the special needs of addicted persons. HAYVERs modalities are based on data from new research that demonstrates the effective means by which an addicted persons brain begins the healing process through abstinence. This abstinence can be effectively achieved through well-tested and proven methods utilized by HAYVER that can ensure up to 78 percent of people remain substance-free even after five years. Further information about HAYVER can be found at hayver.io About 21 million Americans suffer from drug and alcohol addiction. To put this into perspective, about 15 million Americans currently suffer from all forms of cancer combined. Deaths in the U.S. resulting from alcohol and drug misuse total more than 135,000 each year, making it the number one killer of Americans under the age of 50. Like other chronic and fatal diseases, drug addiction and alcoholism can be managed, although relapse is common without a tool like HAYVER. HAYVERs strategy is centered around new research that demonstrates the detrimental effects of alcohol and drugs on the brain, and the brains subsequent repair following a period of drug and alcohol abstinence. The companys methods are based on well-tested and proven methods in professional programs for physicians and pilots that help about 78% of participants remain clean even after five years. ABOUT HAYVER HAYVER provides a revolutionary, first-of-its-kind verification technology to monitor those suffering from drug addiction or alcoholism, to help ensure they are drug-free and alcohol-free. With daily check-ins, a unique Circle of Support (an accountability group), and random urine screens, and, soon, cryptocurrency rewards to incentivize healthy behaviors by Hayver users, Hayver helps people stay clean and improve their long-term recovery success. Contact Info: Barry Hayut, Co-Founder, CEO BHayut(at)Hayver.com Phone number: 678-701-9122 John M. Copenhaver, MD, Co-Founder, Chief Medical Officer JCopenhaver(at)Hayver.com Phone number: 1-844-874-4226 ioTium, the first commercially deployed Software-Defined Converged Infrastructure company for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), will be at Emerson Exchange Americas in San Antonio October 1-5, 2018. Dhawal Tyagi, ioTium co-founder and chief product officer (CPO), will co-lead a workshop on The Definitive Guide to Networking Security for IIoT for Plantweb Optics and AMS Device View alongside Emerson senior reliability consultant solution architect Tinh Phan. In the session, Tyagi and Phan will cover how industrial organizations can securely connect the legacy brown-field world with the new cloud-enabled world, for preventative maintenance. The invitation-only Emerson Exchange conference was developed to provide end users with a valuable exchange of information among process manufacturers, end-users and Emerson experts. All participants are nominated and carefully vetted by Emerson. The event features workshops and short courses, product roadmap presentations, technology roundtables, meet the expert sessions and technology exhibits. In addition, the program will include keynote speakers from Emerson. WHO: ioTiums Co-founder and CPO, Dhawal Tyagi, will be attending the event and co-leading the workshop alongside Emersons Tinh Phan and Juan Campos-Ramos, technical assistant IV at the University of Texas JJ Pickle Separation Facility. Tyagi will also be available at the ioTium booth in the Emerson Exchange Exhibit Hall. WHAT: The joint ioTium and Emerson workshop, titled: The Definitive Guide to Networking Security for IIoT for Plantweb Optics and AMS Device View, will cover the use case of creating a data portal by transporting data from the industrial plant floor to business layer or into the Azure or Amazon Web Services Cloud. This workshop will address the security issues within the IoT network and allow participants to obtain a methodology that solves legacy, security and ease-of-deployment issues at their facilities. WHEN: Emerson Exchange will take place from Monday, October 1 to Friday, October 5, 2018. The workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 2 from 9:00-9:45 a.m. CT and Wednesday, October 3 from 1:30-2:15 p.m. CT. WHERE: Emerson Exchange Americas 2018 is taking place at Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, located at 900 E. Market St, San Antonio, TX 78205. About ioTium ioTium is the first commercially deployed Software-Defined Converged Infrastructure company for the IIoT. Headquartered in Silicon Valley and funded by GE Ventures, Honeywell Ventures, Juniper Ventures, JC2 Ventures, Hanna Ventures, March Capital Partners and the Fabric, ioTium is the company of choice for Fortune 500 organizations looking to enable secure, scalable IIoT deployment today. ioTium bridges the legacy brown-field world with the new cloud-enabled world. The companys offerings have been deployed in leading building automation, energy, oil and gas, and manufacturing organizations. ioTium solutions include the groundbreaking ioTium OT-Net; ioTium OT-Access; and the ioTium OT-Edge converged infrastructure solution. The companys solutions ensure that any machine, using any protocol, can be instantly, seamlessly and securely connected to any application residing in any cloud or data center through any network infrastructure and operator; while eliminating deployment complexity issues and minimizing network security risks. For more information, visit: http://www.iotium.io. Toyota of Irving has a service center for local Toyota owners. Toyota customers in the Irving area are encouraged to schedule their service at the Toyota of Irving dealership. The dealership offers a full-service center with corresponding coupons for certain jobs. Some of the services offered by the dealerships service department include front end alignment, brake adjustments, muffler or exhaust repair, vehicle checkup, filter replacement, oil changes, tire rotation and more. Scheduling service at the dealership is quick and easy. Customers are able to create an account on the Toyota of Irving service page that saves their vehicles information. This makes it easy to schedule service for a specific date and time, reoccurring maintenance and to let the service experts at the dealership remember your vehicle. Customers that are in a hurry and would just like the next available appointment can also do this easily by selecting the Im in a Hurry button and putting in their basic information. Toyota of Irving also offers coupons and specials for their services. These coupons can be found under the Service Specials link and can be easily sent to the customers phone or email. The Toyota of Irving dealership can be reached at 877-418-7242 and is located at 1999 W. Airport Freeway in Irving, Texas. The phone number for the service department at the dealership is 888-418-0535. The field of chemistry has transformed our lives, from advancing medicine and industry to creating new products such as steroid medicines, penicillin, plastics and more, said Steve Secreast, Kalamazoo ACS Local Section 2018 Chairperson. The American Chemical Society (ACS) has granted prestigious National Historic Chemical Landmark status to the steroid chemistry achievements of Kalamazoo scientists who worked at The Upjohn Company during the years 1950-1990. Each Landmark designation represents a pioneering achievement that has contributed to society and the chemical profession, said Alan Rocke, chair of the National Historic Chemical Landmarks (NHCL) Subcommittee. Upjohns research in steroid medicines is a prime example, because it enabled the firm to make low-cost, high-quality treatments for debilitating diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. The companys innovations also contributed to the launch of the biotech industry. The ACS established the NHCL program in 1992, to enhance public appreciation for the contribution of chemical sciences to modern life. Under the NHCL program, ACS grants Landmark status to seminal achievements in the history of the chemical sciences and provides a record of these contributions to chemistry and society. To date, 85 Landmark designations have been granted. The field of chemistry has transformed our lives, from advancing medicine and industry to creating new products such as steroid medicines, penicillin, plastics and more, said Steve Secreast, Kalamazoo ACS Local Section 2018 Chairperson. A public dedication event and other activities are being planned to commemorate the Landmark designation. Plans include a banquet May 16, 2019 honoring the steroid chemistry achievements, a chemistry symposium and a dedication ceremony on May 17, 2019 to place a commemorative bronze plaque on permanent display at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, Secreast said. These activities are a collaboration among the Kalamazoo ACS Local Section, the ACS NHCL Subcommittee, Apjohn Group LLC, Kalamazoo Valley Museum (KVM), Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC), Western Michigan University (WMU), Kalamazoo College (K-College), Pfizer, Inc., Zoetis, Inc., and local sponsors. Mention steroids today and many people think of performance-enhancement drugs. Mention steroids in 1949, however, and most people thought of the new major medical breakthrough that one class of steroids, the corticosteroids, could successfully treat debilitating inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. The discovery that steroid compounds like cortisone and hydrocortisone were safe and effective medicines was welcome news to millions of people suffering from inflammatory diseases. Unfortunately, in 1949, those medicines were only available from natural extracts or very lengthy manufacturing processes, making them scarce and prohibitively expensive. To make large volumes of the new corticosteroid medicines available at a reasonable cost, The Upjohn Company in Kalamazoo committed to an unprecedented expansion of an already established background in steroid chemistry work in the late 1940s, said Donald R. Parfet, retired Upjohn officer and great grandson of Upjohn Company founder, William E. Upjohn. In 1950 the company started what became an on-going program of steroid chemistry innovation. The commercial production of beneficial corticosteroids and later general steroid medicines was provided to the world through a continuous string of chemical and microbiological discoveries and inventions by Kalamazoo scientists, he said. The Upjohn Company was a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm founded in 1886 in Kalamazoo, Michigan by Dr. William E. Upjohn, an 1875 graduate of the University of Michigan medical school. The company was originally formed to make friable pills, which were specifically designed by Upjohn to be easily digested. These could be "reduced to a powder under the thumb," a strong marketing argument at the time. Upjohn developed a process for the large-scale production of cortisone. The oxygen atom at the 11 position in the molecular structure of this steroid is an absolute requirement for biological activity. However, there are no known natural sources for starting materials that contain that feature. The only method for preparing this drug prior to 1952 was a lengthy synthesis starting from cholic acid isolated from bile. In 1952 Upjohn scientists Durey Peterson and Herbert Murray announced that their development team was able to introduce this crucial oxygen atom by fermentation of the steroid progesterone with a common mold of the genus Rhizopus. Over the next several years, chemists headed by John Hogg adapted this microbiological oxidation into a process for preparing cortisone from the sterol stigmasterol. Another key step, the efficient extraction of the minor stigmasterol from a waste stream of processing soybeans into purified oil, was engineered by J.Ward Greiners team. Following on the successful syntheses of cortisone and hydrocortisone, the steroid chemistry work was further advanced to produce improved, later-generation medicines like prednisone and prednisolone. These advances, which also improved the general science of chemical synthesis, include the well-known Upjohn dihydroxylation by V. VanRheenen, R. C. Kelly and D. Y. Cha in 1976. The industrial synthesis of corticosteroids was changed forever by multiple inventions in 1982-1990 enabling the use of the major component of soy sterols (sitosterol). Once again, microbiological steps (M.G. Wovcha, F.J. Antosz, J.C. Knight, C.B. Biggs) were combined with chemical innovations such as the Silicon Nucleophile Annelation Process (SNAP, D.A. Livingston, B.A. Pearlman and S.E. Denmark). The resulting corticosteroid active ingredients were formulated and analyzed by other Upjohn scientists into steroid medicines, and even sold to other companies worldwide for use in other medicines. In 1995, Upjohn merged with Pharmacia AB, to form Pharmacia & Upjohn. In 2000, Pharmacia & Upjohn merged with Monsantos pharmaceutical operations creating Pharmacia, Inc., and spun-out the agricultural chemical business into a new public entity under the name Monsanto. In 2003, Pfizer acquired Pharmacia. Pfizer has maintained the large Kalamazoo manufacturing site, which is today the single largest integrated chemical and pharmaceutical site in its portfolio. The Upjohn Company history of innovative research and development is often referenced by the strong pharmaceutical brands it created throughout its more than 100-year history. Many patients and physicians today continue to benefit from steroid medicines such as Solu-Medrol, Depo-Medrol, Solu-Cortef, Depo-Provera, and Cortaid, as well as other brands like Xanax, Halcion, Motrin, Lincocin, Cleocin, Micronase, Zyvox, Rogaine, and Kaopectate. Today, society benefits from continuing innovations by Kalamazoo scientists not only at Pfizer but also at nearby companies, like Bridge Organics, Kalexsyn, Kalsec and many others, and local colleges such as K-College, KVCC and WMU. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is proud to be able to offer a permanent home for the ACS National Historic Chemical Landmark plaque, said KVM Director Bill McElhone. The museum, located in downtown Kalamazoo on Kalamazoo Valleys Arcadia Commons Campus, provides free general admission and is open to the public seven days a week. It houses more than 55,000 Kalamazoo-area artifacts. This historic designation, for one of Kalamazoos most famous institutions and the ground-breaking work of its scientists, is an important part of the regions history, he said. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College and is governed by its Board of Trustees. For more information about the American Chemical Society and the Landmark program, visit National Historic Chemical Landmark program, visit http://www.acs.org and http://www.acs.org/landmarks. For a schedule of local events associated with the May 2019 activities visit, http://www.kalamazooacs.org/events/. FOR MORE INFORMATION Linda Depta, Kalamazoo Valley Community College ldepta(at)kvcc.edu 269.488.4821 Our Content and Accreditation teams take pride in producing an extensive catalog of online CLE courses for Virginia attorneys. Lawline, the nations leading online Continuing Legal Education (CLE) provider, is thrilled to announce that it has been recognized as an Accredited Provider by the Virginia State Bar. For 2018s October 31 deadline, Virginia attorneys can look to Lawline for 20+ live webcasts, hundreds of On Demand courses, and unique tools (such as the groundbreaking Universal CLE Tracker and the exciting new blog) to be sure they have completed their requirements on time. We are honored by this recognition, said Director of Customer Experience Meredith Cohen. Our Content and Accreditation teams take pride in producing an extensive catalog of online CLE courses for Virginia attorneys. We are excited to join the roster of the Virginia State Bars Accredited Providers. Check out Lawline.com for all of the Virginia-accredited content you need this deadline season! About Lawline Lawline is the leading provider of online continuing legal education (CLE) with over 120,000 attorneys trusting Lawline with their CLE compliance. Offering legal education nationwide, Lawline strives to create timely and engaging content that supports attorneys throughout their career. The company is headquartered in downtown Manhattan and has received multiple awards recognizing its superior product, service, and company culture. Lawline's success has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, and Forbes.com. SDMs Kathy Shafer, Ken Holbert, Elizabeth Phelps; Sen. Bill Haine; Chancellor Randy Pembrook; Bruce Rotter, SDM dean; LIBERTYs Judy Bowlby, Kelly Pulliam; Greg Horta, Harmony community relations. We will continue to strive to provide the highest quality patient care possible, while educating the practitioners of the future. LIBERTY Dental Plan has recognized the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SIU SDM) with its Center of Excellence Award for the second consecutive year. Judy Bowlby, LIBERTY senior manager of government programs, presented the award on the SDMs Alton campus Tuesday, Sept. 25. During the past three years, LIBERTY has worked closely with community dentists, who consistently have demonstrated their commitment and dedication to quality care, and recognizes outstanding dental providers with its Center of Excellence Award. LIBERTY selects Centers of Excellence through a rigorous evaluation process that includes reviews of office safety and compliance, appropriate delivery of dental services compared to regional utilization patterns, high member satisfaction which leads to loyalty and continuity of care, access and availability of appointments, and low member grievances and complaints. The Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine is honored to be recognized by LIBERTY for the second consecutive year for our commitment to patient care, said SDM Dean Bruce Rotter, DMD, MS. The mission of the School of Dental Medicine is to educate dentists and improve the oral health of the region through patient care, research, scholarship and service. Recognition by LIBERTY Dental for our dedicated efforts to fulfill this mission encourages us along this path. We will continue to strive to provide the highest quality patient care possible, while educating the practitioners of the future. Joining Rotter in accepting the award were Senator William Haine (D-IL, 56th District); SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook; Kathy Shafer, SDM interim assistant dean for clinical affairs; Ken Holbert, SDM associate dean, executive director for administration, finance and operations; and Elizabeth Phelps, SDM manager of business affairs. I am proud to see the SIU School of Dental Medicine receive this distinguished award, said Sen. Haine. The school is highly deserving of this honor as it is certainly a Center of Excellence. The dental school has been one of my priorities as a senator, and the state investment has returned to the citizens many extraordinary benefits, including a first rate campus for a first rate faculty and student body. I am honored to represent such an outstanding school that trains future dentists who will go on to be at the top of their field. LIBERTY Dental Plan is a full-service dental benefits company that has been providing dental services to Medicaid beneficiaries across the U.S. since 2008 and in Illinois since 2014, when the State of Illinois authorized the Medicaid dental managed care program. LIBERTY administers dental benefits for its Illinois medical plan partners including Harmony and NextLevel Health Plans. LIBERTY is committed to providing quality dental benefits with a focus on total body care that will lead to happier and healthier lives for Illinois Medicaid members, said Dr. Amir Neshat, LIBERTYs founder. LIBERTY is only able to administer quality oral healthcare through our partnership with Illinois dental providers, Neshat stated. We recognize that the best patient care comes from a network of local dentists, who have proven their commitment to providing appropriate and timely care for the community they serve." On behalf of our LIBERTY team, I wish to congratulate the SIU School of Dental Medicine. We look forward to a long and quality relationship to improve oral health and the lives of Illinois most vulnerable Medicaid population. The SIU School of Dental Medicine students manage approximately 35,000 patient visits each year at its patient clinics in Alton, Edwardsville and East St. Louis. In addition, students offer oral health treatment, screenings and education to more than 10,000 people annually through a wide variety of off-campus community outreach events. These opportunities provide students the training they need to graduate and become highly skilled dentists. The School of Dental Medicine is a vital oral health care provider for residents of southern and central Illinois, and the St. Louis metropolitan region. -SIU SDM- Photo (L-R): Dr. Kathy Shafer, SIU SDM interim assistant dean for clinical affairs; Ken Holbert, SIU SDM associate dean and executive director for administration; Elizabeth Phelps, SIU SDM manager of business affairs; Sen. William Haine; SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook; Bruce Rotter, SIU SDM dean; Judy Bowlby, LIBERTY senior manager of government programs; Kelly Pulliam, LIBERTY director of provider relations; Greg Horta, Harmony community relations specialist. The board of directors of the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA), a nonprofit organization that supports the development of start-up and emerging-growth companies in Southern California, has elected Kimberly Kovacs to serve as its new president, effective immediately. Kovacs has led a distinguished career in executive leadership and finance, punctuated by the successful exit of several Southern California-based technology companies she has founded or co-founded, including OptionEase in 2012. Also joining Kovacs on the LAVA board with new appointments are Pasadena Angels President Chris Wadden as treasurer and Amiggi CEO Shuki Lehavi as secretary. We are so pleased to welcome Kim to helm our board during this critical time of expansion in Southern California, said Len Lanzi, executive director, LAVA. Her broad experience as an entrepreneur, keen business skills and passion for the entrepreneurial ecosystem will make her an incredible leader and resource for our organization. Kovacs is a serial entrepreneur and investor in software-as-a-service, technology, agriculture and health companies. She has personally raised more than $100 million dollars for ventures shes led, resulting in several successful exits. As an active angel investor, advisor and executive consultant for emerging companies, she is an avid proponent of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southern California. She currently serves as the managing director of Arroyo Ventures as well as the founder and CEO of MyJane, a startup online wellness community designed to empower women to feel better by normalizing the cannabis experience. "I am thrilled at the appointment of Kim in this key role at LAVA," said Bill Carpou, CEO, OCTANe, the convening organization for entrepreneurs in Orange County, Calif. Kim has been an OCTANe board member for five years, and during this time, has provided insight into how to grow our innovation ecosystem. The natural progression has been the formation of the Innovation Network of Southern California (INSoCal), where LAVA, OCTANe and SDVG will lead the next version of the SoCal ecosystem to include company formation, capital and job creation. LAVA was established in 1985 and provides a space and opportunity for startups and entrepreneurs to meet with and learn valuable insights from executives, investors, bankers, financial advisors and other professionals in the Los Angeles area. LAVA works with both OCTANe and INSoCal for the advancement and funding of startups in Southern California. INSoCal is a collaboration committed to accelerating innovation and promoting the expansion, formation and development of technology companies, entrepreneurship and export opportunities in Southern California. For more information on LAVA membership, events, programs and sponsorships, please contact Executive Director Leonard Lanzi at len@lava.org. 2-2-2 Los Angeles Venture Association Elects Kimberly Kovacs as President About Kimberly Kovacs: Kimberly Kovacs has had a distinguished career in executive leadership and finance. A serial entrepreneur and investor in software-as-a-service, technology, agriculture and health companies, Kovacs has personally raised more than $100 million dollars for ventures shes lead all resulting in successful exits. This active angel investor, advisor and executive consultant for emerging companies is passionate about the entrepreneurial ecosystem and provides mentorship to students and startups in Los Angeles and Orange County. She entered the cannabis space as an investor and entrepreneur to raise awareness and usage of cannabis to fight Americas opioid epidemic and give women greater decision-making in their health and wellness decisions. She serves currently as the managing director of Arroyo Ventures LLC and founder and CEO of MyJane Inc. She also is an active member of Financial Executives International (FEI) and Financial Executives Networking Group (FENG) and a former member of Women Presidents Organization (WPO) and AWT (Advancing Women in Technology). Other past board seats include the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) and the All-American Boys Chorus. About the Los Angeles Venture Association: Founded in 1985, the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA) is the most successful and longest running organization of its kind in Southern California dedicated to the development and growth of entrepreneurial ventures. Through its educational programs, strategic interest groups and annual conferences, LAVA provides a forum where entrepreneurs meet and learn from fellow executives, investors, bankers, financial advisors and other professional advisors. For more information, visit lava.org. My Houston Surgeons Real Men Wear Pink 2018 Donations have allowed the American Cancer Society to conduct innovative research and assist with patient services, as well as provide education about screenings and risk reduction. Their hope is to attack cancer from every anglefrom treatment to prevention, and Real Men Wear Pink is helping. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. My Houston Surgeons is marking the occasion by participating in the American Cancer Societys Real Men Wear Pink campaign. Though about 2,000 men get diagnosed with breast cancer every year, in the past, a large majority of fundraising efforts have been led by women. The Real Men Wear Pink campaign empowers men to take on a leadership role in the fight against breast cancer. The campaign raises money for the American Cancer Society and brings awareness for the disease as well. Each year, Real Men Wear Pink asks for candidate nominations. Anyone can visit their website (https://secure.acsevents.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=realmen_learn) and nominate a man they know who is committed to help the fight against this harrowing disease. As a Real Man," candidates commit to wearing pink throughout October, raising awareness for the cause through their social networks, and raising at least $2,500 to help the American Cancer Society. The Real Men Wear Pink campaign has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since its inception. Donations have allowed the American Cancer Society to conduct innovative research and assist with patient services, as well as provide education about screenings and risk reduction. Their hope is to attack cancer from every anglefrom treatment to prevention, and Real Men Wear Pink is helping. This year, three surgeons from My Houston Surgeons are participating in this exciting campaign. Dr. Sean Boutros, Dr. Arjuna Kuperan, and Dr. Scott Reis have each pledged to raise at least $2,500 and help foster awareness through the use of social media. For Dr. Boutros and Dr. Reis, who are both plastic and reconstructive surgeons, the campaign hits especially close to home. Both surgeons often work with breast cancer survivors, helping them reconstruct their breasts after a mastectomy. To learn more about Real Men Wear Pink, or how you can donate, visit myhoustonsurgeons.com/pink. About My Houston Surgeons At My Houston Surgeons, formerly Houston Plastic Craniofacial & Sinus Surgery, youll have the opportunity to work with true pioneers and experts in the field. Our award-winning board-certified physician team is led by Dr. Sean Boutros, and includes Dr. Samer Fakhri, Dr. Erika Sato, Dr. Rukmini Rednam, Dr. Arjuna Kuperan, Dr. Scott Reis, Dr. Regina Rodman, and Dr. Sanaz Harirchian. They are specialists with extensive training in the fields of cosmetic, reconstruction, and sinus surgery. ### The Hobsons team is extremely proud to share these product updates with the many high school and college admissions counselors at the 2018 NACAC Conference." Hobsons, the education technology leader and company behind Naviance, is pleased to announce a series of updates made to the SuperMatch feature within Naviance Student. Members of the Naviance team will highlight the recently added, highly requested features in a presentation tomorrow at the 2018 NACAC National Conference. SuperMatch, a college search feature within Naviance, was updated this August as part of the new student-facing platform, Naviance Student. Throughout the 2017-18 school year, Naviance students conducted 36 million searches in SuperMatch. Over 20 new search filters were added to the tool, enabling high school students to more easily find their best-fit education institutions. New search filters include application deadlines, minors offered, online learning opportunities, average class sizes, tuition costs, support offered for learning disabilities, LGBTQ+ inclusivity, and more. The new SuperMatch college search tool makes it even easier for students to explore their options and discover colleges that are a fit with what they are looking for in a college experience and a match with their academic profile. Institutions matched with a student are now given a fit score for students to better understand how that institution aligns with the entered search criteria. Academic match results are provided with each matched institution to help students gauge if that institution is a reach, match, or safety based on their GPA, SAT and ACT scores. Onboarding modules enable students to have a self-paced SuperMatch experience. Over 50 tool tips are now included throughout SuperMatch to help students understand common - and not so common - college terminology. The Hobsons team is extremely proud to share these product updates with the many high school and college admissions counselors at the 2018 NACAC Conference, said Monica Morrell, General Manager of Naviance by Hobsons. We spent the past year researching what students and counselors want in a college search tool and are incredibly excited to provide a new more engaging and intuitive SuperMatch experience. There are now more data points, search filters and features to help students compare colleges and make educated decisions regarding their best post-secondary fit. Naviance provides information and resources that enable school counselors, teachers, students, and parents to engage in meaningful conversations about how to assess a students options after high school. It also allows them to explore, apply to, and enroll in a postsecondary path that is a best fit for the student, based on education and career goals, learning style, and personal preferences regarding where and how they would like to continue their education. The platform arms students and their families with information on the true cost of a particular college, based on their own family income, and allows them to explore scholarship and financial aid opportunities. For more information on Naviance, visit http://www.naviance.com. About Hobsons A leader in education technology, Hobsons helps more than 15 million students to identify their strengths, explore careers, match to best-fit educational opportunities, create academic plans, and reach their education and life goals. More than 13,000 K-12 and higher education institutions partner with Hobsons and leverage our expertise and our solutions -- Naviance, Intersect, and Starfish -- to improve college and career readiness, college recruiting and admissions, and higher education student success to support millions of students. Our leading college and career readiness platform Naviance was named the 2017 and 2018 SIIA CODiE Award winner in the Best College and Career Readiness Solution category. Fully 74 percent of financial advisors have been the target of bad actors looking to get investors sensitive financial information. The reality is, when it comes to cybersecurity, we all are holding a handful of live wires in a storm that is only intensifying. Its a fact; fiduciary responsibility and reputational risk are NOT properly factored into the current retail wealth security equation. In today's hyperconnected, always-on marketplace, a breachno matter the sizecould be devastating to the firm, its leadership, advisors and (most importantly) its clients. In order to help firms tackle the very real (and increasing) problem of cyber-related crime, Beacon Strategies LLC., a leading provider of independent, unbiased research and insight, has released a groundbreaking whitepaper titled Dollars and Damage: The Terrifying True Cost of a Cybersecurity Slip. Through original interviews with various stakeholders, Beacon provides a detailed examination of the underpinnings of cybersecurity for retail wealth management executives and investment advisors to assist in proactive decision-making. Funded by a syndicate of solution partners Beacon has brought together, the research and Beacons process are completely independent and impartial. Included are simple explanations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), industry perceptions, customer fiduciary responsibilities, the lesser publicized risks associated with first being hacked, and subsequent reactive actions including cost models for individual practices, advisor shops, and correspondent broker-dealers. We live in a day and age where accessible software is the norm, Beacon Strategies founder Chip Kispert said. Our phones, tablets, computers, and even our doorbells and cameras are all cyber targets. Fully 74 percent of financial advisors have been the target of bad actors looking to get investors sensitive financial information. The reality is, when it comes to cybersecurity, we all are holding a handful of live wires in a storm that is only intensifying. About Beacon With access to hundreds of top financial decision-makers, executives at solutions vendors, and senior managers at clearing and custody firms, Beacon Strategies LLC. is a focal point for defining cutting-edge industry trends and best practices. Since its formation, the firm has expanded its staff and expertise in technology infrastructure planning, change implementation, and advisor-facing applications and reporting systems. Beacons clients for customized research and consulting include broker-dealers, technology solution providers and investment product manufacturers. All Beacon clients receive tangible, actionable advice and perspectives that combine qualitative strategic and environmental analysis with a quantitative market and product research. For more information, visit https://beaconstrategiesllc.com/whitepapers/cyber-security-retail-wealth-advisors/ "We are excited to be one of the only Skype for Business Certified recording partners to offer a solution to record client-based calls for Skype for Business," said Evan Kahan, COO of Numonix. Numonix, provider of RECITE, today announced the debut of its new RECITE Client-Side Recorder for Skype for Business at Microsoft Ignite. Visit Numonix at Booth 1743 at Microsoft Ignite, being held Sept. 2428, 2018, in Orlando. Available for on-premises, hybrid and Skype Online in Microsoft Office 365, the award-winning RECITE Client-Side Recorder enables organizations to securely control access to their Office 365 recorded interactions. Calls are recorded and stored centrally on a server in a location of the organizations choice. Recordings are digitally watermarked and tamper proofed and are inaccessible by unauthorized users. Sensitive customer information is protected with customizable security in profiles, permission and security measures. RECITE was recently named a 2018 Communications Solutions Product of the Year by TMC. We are excited to be one of the only Skype for Business Certified recording partners to offer a solution to record client-based calls for Skype for Business. Our Client-Side Recorder is a stepping stone in the migration story of premises-based and hybrid-to-cloud environments. Now, users have the ability to securely record and store interactions in the cloud or on premises while protecting sensitive information, said Evan Kahan, COO of Numonix. Numonixs new RECITE Client-Side Recorder is deployed as a quick application install on each computer the organization wants to record. All computers are synchronized to the main server on a real-time or scheduled basis. RECITE Client-Side Recorder is offered in addition to Numonixs multiple Certified Skype for Business server recording integrations. Benefits: Organization Control of Recordings Organizations can centrally store recordings on their own servers, in the data center or hosted in Microsoft Azure and other public cloud providers. Multiple Recording Options RECITE can be set up for automatic full-time recording with the option of not allowing users to turn off the recording function. It can also be set up to record on-demand and/or save on-demand. Secure Recordings Each recording features audit trails, security encryption and 100 playback permission profiles. Compliance Muting Pause/resume capabilities support PCI compliance. Quality Monitoring Supervisors can access quality monitoring scorecards and desktop widgets to assess and score agent performance. For more information, please visit: http://numonix.info/2H33ksK About Numonix Numonix offers the industrys most versatile interaction recording solution for unified communications and Microsoft Skype for Business users and service providers. Featuring more than 300 customization options, a Windows 10-like tile dashboard, and enhanced omni-channel playback, Numonixs RECITE interaction recording solution provides advanced features at no extra charge, giving users complete control over how they experience their recordings and agent/customer data. RECITE empowers organizations to maintain a competitive edge, help ensure regulatory compliance, resolve disputes and enhance the customer experience. At Numonix, we believe you should be able to record and listen to your calls the way you want to. Numonix is based in Boca Raton, Fla. Visit http://www.NumonixRecording.com cw4k canned water in aluminum cans and aluminum bottles Every time you buy & drink our premium water, you are making a difference Get to know cannedwater4kids.org (CW4K) and their drinking water packaged in aluminum bottles and cans. Whether you are looking to support corporate or personal sustainability goals, or believe in giving back, this product accomplishes both. CW4K canned water is the perfect replacement for the minimally recyclable plastic water bottles. Every time you buy & drink our premium water, you are making a difference, said Greg Stromberg, CW4K founder, and CEO. We call our water 'Drinking water - with a purpose.' That's because it keeps you hydrated, it tastes great, is infinitely recyclable and 95% of all money collected by CW4K from the sale of this water goes to help fund & deliver sustainable clean drinking water programs worldwide. Not only are aluminum cans the single-most recycled beverage package in the United States, but they are also infinitely recyclable returning as new cans on store shelves in as little as 60 days. No other container can say that. said Peter Gorman, CW4K Board Member and CMO. Companies like INX International, Valspar, Roeslein & Associates and Ball Corporation to name a few, have added the canned drinking water to their programs. Recently, Washington University, in St Louis, MO replaced their plastic water bottles with CW4K canned drinking water. It was a sustainable campus solution. Upscale hotels, like the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in California and Radisson Red in Minneapolis, MN. include CW4K water in rooms for their guests. CW4K drinking water in aluminum bottles and cans is also found when visiting Americas national parks like Yosemite, Denali and Mesa Verde. Available in 16oz aluminum bottles, and 12oz cans, CW4K premium drinking water is perfect for home, boardroom, office meetings, school, hospitality, or vending. To learn more about CW4K and how you can help, please visit http://www.cannedwater4kids.org/howtohelp About CannedWater4Kids CannedWater4Kids is a 501c3 charity based in Sussex, WI. The organizations purpose is to ensure all children have access to clean, safe drinking water. CW4K funds its initiatives with cash donations, grants and through the sale of their premium drinking water in aluminum cans and bottles. 95 cents of every dollar collected goes to support, fund and deliver clean water programs. Projects include assisting the University of Wisconsin Milwaukees Engineers Without Borders in bringing sustainable water purification solutions to the highlands of Guatemala, and support for well/water tank and Bio Sand Filter projects in Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania, Africa. Recent disaster and hurricane relief efforts include the sending of truckloads of canned drinking water to Michigan, Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. To learn more, visit http://www.cannedwater4kids.org. Military order of the Purple Heart recognizes Pocatello dealership for its support of military veterans. The Military Order of the Purple Heart recently named a local Pocatello business a Purple Heart business. Phil Meador Toyota was recognized thanks to its dedication and support of Americas combat wounded veterans. The honor was presented by the Patriot Members of Snake Plain Chapter 829. Recently Phil Meador Toyota held a Veterans Appreciation Week from September 21 through the 27. The event was to show appreciation for veterans, active duty military and first responders. For every car sold between those dates the dealership donated $100 to a local veterans home. The dealership also offers a $500 rebate to eligible U.S. military personnel towards any new Toyota purchased or leased. The rebate is available to U.S. military personnel, both active-duty and inactive reserve, household members of said U.S. military personnel, retirees if within one year of their retirement and veterans within one year of their discharge. Phil Meador Toyota has a wide range of new, used, and certified pre-owned vehicles available and financing services to help drivers out. Residents who want to contact Phil Meador Toyota can send them an e-mail or utilize their websites live chat function. Dealership contact is also available at 208-237-2700 and the Phil Meador Toyota dealership is located at 1855 Flandro Dr., Pocatello, Idaho. Students at Science Week 2016 in Pittsburgh Were excited to show teachers and students alike new experiments and methods they can bring into their classrooms. Science Week, a Pittcon sponsored annual 7-day event offering science education to students and teachers, will take place Oct. 20-26, 2018 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. This event is usually held in conjunction with Pittcon in March at the conference and expositions host city. However, after much success in Pittsburgh in 2016 organizers have decided to return. The 2016 event awarded $56,200 in science equipment grants to the 186 teachers who attended a total of 425 workshops. Additionally, approximately 500 students participated in the free elementary and intermediate school STEM-focused activities. After the success of 2016, were excited to bring this event back to Pittsburgh, commented Science Week Chairman Kerry Holzworth. Student workshops hit capacity within days and teacher workshops are filling fast! Were excited to show teachers and students alike new experiments and methods they can bring into their classrooms. The week begins with Teacher Workshops Oct. 20-21. Participating teachers will learn how to implement new experiments into their classrooms. Additionally, each school will be eligible for up to $2,000 in grant money for science equipment. Primary student workshops are Oct. 22-23 and intermediate students Oct. 24-26. Participants will learn the art of experimentation and scientific discovery in several hands-on workshops. Pittcon, together with its co-sponsoring technical societies The Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh and The Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh, donate more than one million dollars each year to provide financial and administrative support for various science outreach activities, including science equipment grants, research grants, scholarships and internships for students, awards to teachers and professors, and grants to public science center, libraries and museums. Science Week is one of these initiatives. About Pittcon Pittcon is a registered trademark of The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, a Pennsylvania non-profit organization. Co-sponsored by the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, Pittcon is the premier annual conference and exposition on laboratory science. Proceeds from Pittcon fund science education and outreach at all levels, kindergarten through adult. Pittcon donates more than a million dollars a year to provide financial and administrative support for various science outreach activities including science equipment grants, research grants, scholarships and internships for students, awards to teachers and professors, and grants to public science centers, libraries and museums. Visit http://www.pittcon.org for more information. Florida Funders, a firm providing early-stage capital to Florida technology companies. Were excited to support a project that unlike anything else in the market reduces the liability and infection risk for healthcare professionals and their patients, said Tom Wallace, Managing Partner for Florida Funders. Florida Funders, a firm providing early-stage capital to Florida technology companies, announces a $1.35 million dollar investment in RepScrubs, a Sanford, Florida-based vendor management solution for modern medical facilities. RepScrubs provides a dispensing system that distributes proprietary, time sensitive disposable scrubs for medical device representatives inside of hospitals to help improve the environment of care for patients in hospitals across the country. RepScrubs, the first and only in the industry, has grown to over 100 installations nationwide while reducing the cost to medical facilities, providing an unprecedented vendor management solution and preventing the transfer of infections due to contaminated apparel. Were excited to support a project that unlike anything else in the market reduces the liability and infection risk for healthcare professionals and their patients, said Tom Wallace, Managing Partner for Florida Funders. Recent studies have revealed that scrubs transport dangerous, oftentimes deadly, bacteria and we believe that RepScrubs has incredible potential to change that. Recognized as the only nationally-standardized vendor-attire platform, RepScrubs are a sealed package of a shirt, pants, two red bouffant caps and a pair of shoe covers. Manufactured from polypropylene, a plastic that can be recycled by municipal, on-site and third-party-recyclers RepScrubs fits into your hospital existing green initiative policies to help cut waste and environmental effects. A RepScrubs logo is printed in white on both the pants and the shirt for easy recognition while a time-sensitive badge is printed at the ScrubPort, including information on the medical professional for patient safety, and a chemical reaction occurs that begins a linear migration of ink that bleeds from the back to the front of the badge when the RepScrub needs to be replaced for a clean, unused set. We have already reached great success with RepScrubs, but the support of Florida Funders allows us to broaden our reach to more medical systems, said Jeff Feuer, President and Chief Executive Officer for RepScrubs. With three patents for our design and utility, we believe that RepScrubs has the potential to change the healthcare market by providing cost-effective management platforms which control and document vendor access to restricted patient care areas while ensuring adherence to safety protocols. RepScrubs is available to hospitals at no additional cost, generating immediate supply savings, while reducing liability and infection risk. Included in Florida Funders $1.35 million-dollar investment in RepScrubs is a $200k contribution from FAN Fund out of Orlando. With over 100 systems nationwide, RepScrubs will utilize the funding from Florida Funders to further expand the sales footprint across the country along with several R&D programs. Celebrating 35 Years of Robotic Integration Excellence Genesis will highlight our more than 35 years of industry experience developing robotic solutions to manufacture composites and advanced materials, including our custom and turnkey non-destruction inspection solutions. Genesis Systems Group, an RIA Certified Robot Integrator and globally recognized specialist in robot systems integration for factory automation will be exhibiting at CAMX 2018, an important industry event focused on composites and advanced materials. Celebrating 35 years of excellence, Genesis has been successfully developing custom and turnkey robotic solutions for aviation, space, defense, general industry, and transportation industry applications since 1983. Genesis will highlight our more than 35 years of industry experience developing robotic solutions to manufacture composites and advanced materials, including our custom and pre-engineered non-destructive inspection solutions, said Pat Pollack, President/CEO for Genesis. Our team of engineers has developed robotic applications and processes that overcome manufacturing and inspection challenges to deliver enhanced efficiencies and productivity while fulfilling strict industry requirements. Genesis Systems Group welcomes guests at Booth AA40 at CAMX 2018, Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, Dallas, TX, October 16-18 (Conference October 15-18), 2018. For information and to access link to CAMX registration, visit genesis-systems.com or call (563)-447-9332. About Genesis Systems Group Established in 1983, Genesis Systems Group is a globally recognized leader in robotic systems integration. An RIA Certified Robot Integrator, as well as AS9100D and ISO 9001:2008 Certified, Genesis specializes in factory automation with robots for integrated robotic arc, spot and laser welding/cutting, non-destructive inspection, including robotic ultrasonic inspection of carbon fiber composites, adhesive application, material removal and material handling. With the governing objective to help clients win the productivity race, in-house capabilities and expertise are centered on the design, manufacture and implementation of integrated robot workcells. In addition, Genesis specializes in process related services such as computer aided engineering, (CAE) process simulation, lean manufacturing and other variation reduction techniques. Genesis has designed, engineered, manufactured and supported integrated robotic solutions for diverse industries including automotive, aerospace, agricultural, construction & forestry, primary metals, furniture, defense, energy and other general industries. Visit https://www.genesis-systems.com. Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc., will sponsor the competition, which will involve 15-20 sixth grade students from the Troup County School System in Georgia. SAE International will hold a demonstration competition of its award-winning JetToy Challenge competition on Thursday, Oct. 4 from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m., at the Southern Automotive Conference, Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta, Ga. Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc., will sponsor the competition, which will involve 15-20 sixth grade students from the Troup County School System in Georgia. The competition will be held at SAE Internationals booth, which will be located in the Workforce Development section of the exhibit area. Credentialed media are invited to attend the competition for interviews, photos and video. Journalists interested in attending should email pr@sae.org or call 1-724-772-8522. The JetToy Challenge is part of SAE Internationals A World In Motion curriculum. AWIM is a teacher-administered, industry volunteer-assisted program that brings science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education to life in the classroom for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Benchmarked to national standards, the AWIM program incorporates integrated STEM learning experiences through hands-on activities that reinforce classroom STEM learning. Each AWIM activity incorporates a curriculum built around the "Engineering Design Experience," and requires students to work in teams to solve a challenge to design, build and test a product. In addition, an industry volunteer works in the classroom to assist teachers with AWIM content delivery and serve as a role model, community liaison and professional resource. SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting over 127,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including programs like A World in Motion and the Collegiate Design Series. http://www.sae.org Our law firm will be aggressively working to seek compensation not only for those who have been harmed, but those who may be harmed in the future as a result of Sterigenics pattern of conduct. Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C. has filed multiple lawsuits against Sterigenics International and its parent company, GTCR LLC, for allegations of civil battery, negligence and public nuisance (among other allegations) for knowingly emitting the cancer-causing chemical, ethylene oxide. The lawsuits, which were filed today in the Circuit Court of Cook County, were filed on behalf of plaintiffs who have suffered from lymphoma, breast cancer, and leukemia after living in close proximity to the Willowbrook medical sterilization plant for many years. The individual complaints (Case No.: 2018 L010479, 2018 L010477, 2018 L010475) each allege Sterigenics has been knowingly emitting ethylene oxide into the air since 1984. As a result, those who lived, worked, or went to school in the surrounding area in the past 34 years have unknowingly been inhaling the carcinogen. Further, the complaints allege Sterigenics never informed or warned the community that it systematically emits the dangerous chemical into the air. Sterigenics Operations Manager Bob Novak and Ethylene Oxide Validation Coordinator Daniel Gibala are also named as defendants in the suits. One of the plaintiffs, Susan Kamuda, a 33-year resident of Willowbrook who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, will be discussing her lawsuit against Sterigenics at a press conference TODAY at 3 p.m. the Law Offices of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C. (161 N. Clark Street, Suite 4700, Chicago, IL, 60601). Mrs. Kamuda does not have a family history of cancer and lives one fourth of a mile from the plant. Her family will also be present at the press conference to discuss how this issue has deeply affected their family and why they are taking legal action against the company. The companys Willowbrook facility is one of nine ethylene oxide sterilizers operated nationally by Sterigenics. Nearly 20,000 people live within one mile of the DuPage County facility, and four schools and one day care center are also located near the plant. These types of lawsuits are an important step in stopping wrongful conduct. Our law firm will be aggressively working to seek compensation not only for those who have been harmed, but those who may be harmed in the future as a result of Sterigenics pattern of conduct, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchards Managing Equity Partner, Patrick A. Salvi said. Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard has been retained by several other clients whose lawsuits against Sterigenics and GTCR, LLC are pending. The firms clients are represented by attorneys Patrick A. Salvi, Jeffrey J. Kroll, Andrew J. Burkavage, Heidi L. Wickstrom, and John A. Mennie. For more information, please contact Salvi, Schostok & Pritchards Director of Public Relations, Marcie Mangan, at (312) 372-1227 or mmangan(at)salvilaw.com. Rebecca Friedrichs, Prager University Host, lead plaintiff in U.S. Supreme Court case Friedrichs v California Teachers Association (which paved the way for the recent Janus win), and founder of For Kids and Country, is set to release a new expose this fall. Using real-life stories of over 40 teachers abused, used, and harassed by their unions, Rebeccas book, titled Standing Up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers Unions for the Heart and Soul of our Kids and Country marks Friedrichss first collaboration with publisher Post Hill Press, and will be distributed by Simon & Schuster. Standing Up to Goliath reveals harrowing stories that expose state and national teachers unions as the money and muscle behind the degradation of Americas schools and culture. In a book that is both accessible and enlightening, Friedrichs recounts her nearly thirty-year odyssey as an elementary school teacher, who comes face-to-face with the forces dividing and corrupting our schools state and national teachers unions. Told through dozens of powerful and personal accounts, this book is Friedrichss expose of bully unions. After Justice Scalias death led to a deadlocked decision in her U.S. Supreme Court case Friedrichs v California State Teachers Association, Rebecca stood with Mark Janus as his case picked up the SCOTUS fight, and she set to work writing Standing Up to Goliath and founding the organization For Kids and Country. Her goal? To support great teachers and launch a national movement of teachers, parents, students and faith leaders who will stand together to regain authority in Americas schools and restore dignity to the teaching profession. Standing Up to Goliath releases from Post Hill Press on November 20th, 2018 and is available now for pre-sale on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. About the Author Rebecca Friedrichs, a twenty-eight-year public school teacher, was forced to fund state and national teachers unions who bullied and isolated her when she asked for accountability and whose politics and divisive tactics degraded her profession, our schools, and our national character. Her lawsuit, Friedrichs v California Teachers Association, which sought to free teachers and all government employees from forced unionism, was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in January 2016. Poised to rule 5-4 in Rebeccas favor, the Court deadlocked after the death of Justice Scalia, but Rebeccas arguments were so strong, she opened the door for the recent Janus decision (which was decided on her birthday) and made the entire country Right to Work in the public sector. She says Janus is a monumental win, but if were going to stop state and national unions from destroying our schools and American values, were going to have to keep on fighting. Rebecca is a Prager University host, and founder of For Kids and Country, a national movement of parents, teachers, students, faith leaders, and citizens uniting to restore our schools and culture. About Post Hill Press Founded in 2013 by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs and book industry professionals, Post Hill Press has successfully published a wide spectrum of books, with a focus on the categories of pop culture, business, self-help, health & wellness, current events, Christian, and conservative political books. Our entrepreneurial spirit makes Post Hill Press a nimble publisher, willing and able to move quickly and take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace. Our books and authors have appeared on The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. A number of our authors have appeared on national media such as CNN, Fox News, The Doctors, and many others, as well as national radio and print outlets. There's so much historical ground to cover, and we want to make it possible to learn it all without sacrificing the chance to read the documents that paved the way. It's time to raise a glass and cheers to Samuel Adams' 296th birthday. Nope, not a beer glasstoday is all about the Founding Father, who was born on this day in 1722. Besides, Samuel Adams beer didn't even come around until 1984. Shmoop (https://www.shmoop.com), a digital publisher known for its award-winning test prep and certified online courses, has a lot more to offer on this historical day than random brewing company trivia facts. They've analyzed and summarized famous primary texts from the American Revolution to celebrate Adams' role in the founding of the United States. Since humans don't quite live to be nearly 300 years old (yet), what better way to get a glimpse into our forefathers' lives than to get up close and personal with the documents they left behind? Packed with history and Shmoop's signature wit, these guides cover everything you could ever want to know about each historical text: a summary that translates old-timey phrases that might trip readers up, an in-depth analysis of the historical context surrounding a text, and a section that explores how the perception of the document has changed over time. Do the Articles of Confederation sound as appealing today as they did in 1777? Yeah, not so much. How about the Declaration of Independence? Now that one aged pretty well. "Shmoop wants to revolutionize the way we learn," says David Siminoff, founder of Shmoop. "Traditional history textbooks can teach you a lot, but who wouldn't also want to read about the main point of a document in a pithy 'tl;dr' recap? There's so much historical ground to cover, and we want to make it possible to learn it all without sacrificing the chance to read the documents that paved the way." No birthday celebration would be complete without a few more essentials, though. Shmoop's guides also supply an analysis of key figures, themes, and quotes, and loads of other goodies. It's a winning combination for a very history-themed birthday party. Don't forget the colonial-era pinata. One thing this party definitely won't have, though? Tea. Everyone knows how Adams felt about that. Students and teachers looking for more structure to their U.S. history will find dozens of online courses in history available as well. Individuals can subscribe to Shmoop for a low monthly rate, while schools and districts can get bulk discounts by contacting sales(at)shmoop(dot)com. About Shmoop Shmoop offers hundreds of thousands of pages of original content. Their Online Courses, Test Prep, Teaching Guides, Learning Guides, and interactive Study Tools are written by teachers and experts and balance a teen-friendly, approachable style with academically rigorous concepts. Shmoop sees 16 million unique visitors a month across desktop and mobile. The company has won numerous awards from EdTech Digest, Tech & Learning, and the Association of Educational Publishers. Launched in 2008, Shmoop makes the magic happen from a labradoodle-patrolled office in Los Altos, California. Smiles for Everyone Foundation Board Members and Supporters We are huge believers in the model of doing good by doing what youre good at.'" Smile Brands Inc., one of the largest Dental Support Organizations in the U.S., was recently honored with NEA Powered by Vynes 2017 NEA Dental Humanitarian Award. In partnership with the Smiles for Everyone Foundation, Smile Brands Inc. and their affiliated team members have committed significant time and resources to giving back to their communities. Across the organization, team members volunteer their time and skills to provide free dental care to underserved individuals, and many more donate funds to help achieve the Foundations mission of delivering Smiles for Everyone. These efforts have helped the Smiles for Everyone Foundation deliver over 17,500 Smiles around the world since 2011. It is very fulfilling to be recognized by NEA for our philanthropy, stated Foundation Chairman and Smile Brands CEO Steve Bilt. We are huge believers in the model of doing good by doing what youre good at, and Im proud to lead a team that so freely volunteers their talents to serve others. For 10 years, NEA has recognized their clients, partners and payers for serving the dental community and promoting the use of electronic attachments. The Humanitarian Award recognizes a companys commitment to giving back to the communities they serve. Smile Brands is a valued partner of NEA and we appreciate that they encourage all of their teams to be part of their communities, according to Robert Patrick, president of dental for Vyne. We are pleased to celebrate that spirit of giving by honoring them with the 2017 Humanitarian Award. About Smile Brands Based in Irvine California, Smile Brands Inc. is one of the largest providers of support services to dental groups in the United States. Smile Brands Inc. provides comprehensive business support services through exclusive long term agreements with affiliate dental groups, so dentists can spend more time caring for their patients and less time on the administrative, marketing, and financial aspects of operating a dental practice. Smile Brands supports approximately 400 Bright Now! Dental, Monarch Dental, Castle Dental, A+ Dental Care, OneSmile Dental, Johnson Family Dental and P3 Dental Group offices in 16 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Smile Brands is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, a leading middle-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit http://www.smilebrands.com. About NEA Powered by Vyne NEA Powered by Vyne offers compliant solutions for exchanging electronic attachments to deliver greater operational efficiency, financial performance and compliance for dental providers across the US. NEA partners with over 750 dental plans and payers to help connect all parties for compliant data exchange. NEAs FastAttach, HITRUST CSF Certified, compliant electronic claim attachment solution leads the industry processing more electronic claim attachments in the US than any other vendor and currently serves more than 35 percent of all dental practices. Vyne is the industry leader in secure health information exchange and electronic healthcare communication management. Learn more at: http://www.nea-fast.com. Contacts: Smile Brands Inc. Jody Martin PR@smilebrands.com 714.427.1299 NEA Powered by Vyne Scott Rupp scottrupp@millerrupp.com 941-794-5137 In May 2017, as New Orleans Confederate monuments came down on Mitch Landrieu's ordersa powerful and courageous decision that earned him the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award Landrieu stepped forward to tell the people of his city why this decision had been made and delivered what has been called by many, The Speech. That moment sent Landrieu into the national spotlight at the center of the national conversation on race. The evening of October 11th will feature Landrieus remarks, along with Lakewood High Schools Jazz combo, a special VIP meet-and-greet opportunity with Landrieu, sponsored cocktail hour, and three-course dinner. The Suncoast Tiger Bay Club will also award the Thomas Paine Common Sense Award and the Benjamin Franklin Distinguished Leadership Award to retired 6th Circuit Judge Robert E. Beach and State Attorney Bernie McCabe, respectively. Suncoast Tiger Bay will share a recap of the past 40 years, and announce a media and branding partnership with the St. Petersburg Group, which manages its daily online business publication, the St. Pete Catalyst. Very few organizations stay relevant for 40 years, said Suncoast Tiger Bay Club President Kelly Kirschner. The need for a civic commons has never been more great, and as a nonpartisan political club we seek to bridge the partisan divide and bring the community together in conversation. General admission and VIP ticket options are available, visit TigerBay40.com for more information. About Suncoast Tiger Bay Club. The Suncoast Tiger Bay Club is a unique, non-partisan political club, founded in 1978 to foster a better understanding of public issues. The Club meets regularly for lunch to hear guest speakers on all types of political and public issues of interest. We seek to provide a civic commons, a place for respectful public discourse. About The St. Petersburg Group. The St. Petersburg Group (SPG) works for the civic and social advancement of St. Pete. It delivers a diverse mix of advisement to transform our city with informed perspective, fresh thinking and a unified energy. Visit StPete.co, StPeteCatalyst.com and listen to the St. Pete X podcast to learn more. For more information: Megan Holmes Co-Executive Director Suncoast Tiger Bay Club executivedirector(at)tigerbay.org (218) 838-3799 Recent graduates are eligible for a rebate at Toyota of Irving. Toyota of Irving has a College Graduate Program for qualifying customers. This program from the Toyota dealership allows customers to turn their degree into an award. Shoppers who qualify will receive a $750 rebate on select new untitled Toyota models when they finance or lease through a Toyota dealer and Toyota Financial Services. On select finance programs, there will be no monthly payments for the first 90 days. Along with the $750 rebate on untitled Toyota vehicles, there is also competitive APRs on Toyota Certified Used Vehicles and Scion Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles. In order to qualify for the College Graduate Program, customers must provide proof of graduating in the past two years or in the next six months, be employed or have proof of future employment and have a sufficient income to cover living expenses and vehicle payments. Toyota also offers other rebate programs such as the Military Rebate for U.S. military personnel, retirees and veterans. The Toyota of Irving dealership can be reached by phone at 877-418-7242 and can be located at 1999 W. Airport Freeway in Irving, Texas. Fins Attached acquired the research vessel Sharkwater to be able to support research and to provide a platform that facilitates the work of scientists and marine conservationists. Fins Attached is excited to announce a recent successful scientific expedition, two adult tiger sharks, four hammerhead sharks, one silky shark, one manta ray, and one whale shark were tagged with acoustic transmitters in Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica. The movements of animals tagged with acoustic tags are tracked by acoustic receivers, or listening stations, deployed around Cocos Island and surrounding seamounts. Click here for a video of the expedition. Fins Attached collaborated with the Costa Rican NGO Centro Rescate Especies Marinas Amenazadas (CREMA) and the University of Costa Ricas Center for Marine and Limnological Research (CIMAR) on the Sharkwater. Over 130 tissue samples were also collected from 23 different species, including sharks and rays, for stable isotope analysis. Tiger sharks were once-rare visitors to Cocos Island, but have become regularly sighted since 2009. We are using an array of methods to study their habitat preference and migratory behavior, from acoustic and satellite tracking to photo ID, explained Elpis Chaves, researcher with CREMA. The common presence of a previously scarce apex predator seems to have had ecosystem impacts that we are just beginning to understand with these studies. Since 2015, researchers are deploying acoustic receivers in Las Gemelas, a seamount located 40 miles southwest of Cocos Island at 180 meters of depth. We already have evidence of persistent movements of hammerhead sharks between Cocos and Las Gemelas, said an excited Randall Arauz, Marine Conservation Policy Advisor for Fins Attached. With more individuals of different highly migratory species tagged we hope to not only support the case for an expansion of the no-take area surrounding Cocos Island National Park, but also for the establishment of regional conservation policy in their migratory corridors. Working to save highly migratory marine endangered species demands efficient regional collaboration, to analyze our results and hammer out a regional conservation policy, stated Alex Antoniou, CEO of Fins Attached. Fins Attached acquired the research vessel Sharkwater to be able to support this type of work, to provide a platform that facilitates the work of researchers and marine conservationists of the region. This expedition was led by Randall Arauz and Mauricio Hoyos of Fins Attached, in collaboration with Elpis Chaves and Daniel Arauz of CREMA, Tatiana Araya of the University of Costa Rica, and the regional NGO Migramar. For more information on Fins Attached expeditions on Sharkwater, please reach out to Randall Arauz, at +506 8708 8253 or rarauz(at)finsattached.org or Elpis Chaves at echavk(at)gmail.com. To become a sponsor contact info(at)finsattached.org. To donate to support shark research, click here. About Fins Attached Fins Attached conducts research, promotes conservation and provides education for the protection of marine ecosystems. Fins Attached believes in the preservation of our world's precious resources and that through the protection of the ocean's apex predators marine ecosystem balance can be maintained for the benefit of all living things on earth. Fins Attached is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Visit http://www.finsattached.org, or email info(at)finsattached.org. http://www.studysharks.org. About Centro Rescate Especies Marinas Amenazadas CREMA (http://www.cremacr.org) is a Costa Rican NGO that works to conserve, manage and restore, populations of endangered marine wildlife. It is a member of Migramar.org, a coalition of scientists that work to foster research on highly migratory species in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and is an elected member of the official Cocos Island Conservation Area Regional Council. With the TO18 award, Y-Tech will gain a larger presence in the PMEL market. Our team has an outstanding history of performance while maintaining and developing methods to execute and grow this market. This is an exciting time for Y-Tech, and I look forward to future growth. Steve DiNome Y-Tech Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Yulista Holding, LLC, was awarded a Task Order under the firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) multiple-award contract for Air Force Enterprise Contracted (AFEC) Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratories (PMEL). Y-Tech will provide PMEL services at Malmstrom, Minot, Ellsworth, and FE Warren Air Force Bases. With this award, Y-Tech will expand its footprint into the Midwest. With the TO18 award, Y-Tech will gain a larger presence in the PMEL market. Our team has an outstanding history of performance while maintaining and developing methods to execute and grow this market. This is an exciting time for Y-Tech, and I look forward to future growth. Steve DiNome, General Manager Y-Tech will provide the following services: Calibration, maintenance, and repair support services to support major weapon systems and material during their life cycles Traceability of calibration and repair services Metrology services to include the development of standards and systems for absolute and relative measurements used for all Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE) to make qualitative/quantitative measurements on operational systems and equipment For more information about Yulista Holding, LLC, and its family of companies, visit http://www.yulista.com. News From Bulgaria The Ministry of Regional Development launched projects for nearly BGN 3 billion. Within the next months, public procurement will be announced for the construction of another 137 km of the Hemus Motorway. AUTHOR: publics.bg Regional Minister Petya Avramova met with the President of the European Construction Industry Association Ketyl Toning. The next year will be key to road construction in Bulgaria. The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works gave a green light to nearly BGN 3 billion of projects, said Regional Minister Petya Avramova at the Eighth Discussion Forum "Construction in 2019 - Prospects and Challenges". The high priority of the ministry remains the safety of road infrastructure. At present, Road Infrastructure Agency performs an inventory of highways, first-class, second-class and third-class roads in the country. On the basis of a summary report, an analysis and an estimate of the necessary funds will be made. For several months, the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works has been working to increase the guarantee periods for roads and highways. We will be uncompromising about the quality of implementation, Minister Avramova said. She also outlined the major infrastructure projects in 2019. Priority of the government remains the Hemus Motorway. Two new sections of the highway are currently being constructed and by the end of the year it is expected that the public procurement will be announced for two more segments - from the Boaza junction to the Pleven and Lovech districts with a length of 52 km and the remaining about 85 km to the road Rousse-Veliko Tarnovo. Thus, in the coming months, public procurement will be announced for the construction of another 137 km of Hemus Motorway. The year will be crucial for the construction of Struma Motorway. The Road Infrastructure Agency has already announced the public procurement for construction of the heaviest section - through the Kresna Gorge near Sofia. The work on the route from Kresna to Sandanski continues, which is expected to be ready by the end of the construction season, as well as the Blagoevgrad - Krupnik section. The work near Blagoevgrad is still in halt due to the discovery of the ancient settlement near the village of Pokrovnik. The Ministry expects the opinion of the Specialized Expert Council on the Protection of the Real Cultural Heritage and will comply with it, the minister said. In 2019 there will be further progress on four key projects: the Vidin-Botevgrad highway and the Rousse-Veliko Tarnovo motorway, which closely relate the project for a new bridge on the Danube River near Rousse and the tunnel under the Shipka peak . There is a political will for these projects, together with the Black Sea Motorway and the tunnel under Petrohan, to be realized through a public-private partnership. Their total estimated value is over BGN 3 billion, Minister Avramova said. New business opportunities are opened by the projects under the Operational Program "Regions for Growth" 2014-2020. In 2019 under the Operational Program over 400 infrastructure projects will be implemented, including the major projects of the municipalities of Stolichna, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Rousse, Stara Zagora and Pleven. They are for improving the urban environment, transport and road infrastructure. 53 schools, kindergartens and universities in Sofia will be renovated, 16 educational sites, including 2 universities in Plovdiv, 20 sites in Varna, 18 in Burgas, 12 in Rousse. In the municipality of Vratsa will be a modernization of schools and kindergartens, as well as the branch of the Medical University in Sofia - "Prof. Dr. Ivan Mitev ". There are big challenges in the water supply and sewerage sector, where funds of the Operational Program "Environment 2014-2020" will be used to build infrastructure with a value of over BGN 1 billion. The procedure for applications has already been opened, and the application forms have been prepared. Tendering procedures will be ready to launch in early 2019. Minister Avramova identified the upcoming projects as a major challenge for the construction industry at a meeting later today with the President of the European Construction Industry Association Ketyl Toning, the Chairman of the Managing Board of the Chamber of Builders in Bulgaria Eng. Ilian Terziev, Honorary President Eng. Simeon Peshov and Lyubomir Kachamakov - Member of the Board of the Chamber and Vice President of the European Association. In front of the guests, she highlighted the good partnership between the Ministry and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and pointed out that the Chamber is a member of the Advisory Board in the field of design, construction, investment process, housing policy, energy efficiency, regional development and strategic planning. The Society of Authors (SoA) and The Irish Writers' Union have released a joint statement warning of the impact of a no-deal Brexit on publishing and literature in the two countries. The statement, citing the fact that "the U.K. and Ireland enjoy a close trading relationship" notes how, currently, "books are able to flow freely from one country to the other." It goes on, then, to note that "the introduction of tariffs and border controls in the event of a 'no deal' exit would be disastrous for this close trading relationship, hitting the wider industry in both countries. The joint statement also points out that, should England leave the EU without a deal, it could "result in the U.K. adopting an 'international exhaustion' framework, meaning that books not intended for sale in the U.K. could enter the country at discounted rates, and publishers would be unable to set different rates for books bound for different countries. This would damage sales and trade, hitting authors and publishers in both countries." Calling the course of current of negotiations on Brexit "unacceptable," the organizations are urging negotiators "to develop a clear strategy that will preserve this essential part of our shared cultural heritage--and to ensure that the U.K. does not crash out of the EU without a deal." The statement emphasized the historically close relationship between the British and Irish literary communities, in particular, citing the fact that there is an "enduring popularity of Irish writers in the U.K. and vice versa," and the two industries are "inextricably aligned, sharing the same VAT rates, Nielsen consumer data, territorial rights and Legal Deposit scheme." The Irish Writers' Union is equivalent to the SoA, and is open to Irish writers and writers of Irish interest publications, wherever they are based. The Union was founded in 1986 by authors "wishing to resist censorship in Ireland and in general to provide a voice for the collective expression of writers on matters pertaining to their profession." A no-deal Brexit would also present unique problems for the BA, which represents booksellers across Britain and Ireland. A version of this story originally appeared in the U.K.-based publication, BookBrunch. Now they are no more selling waakye or engaging in galamsey but instead openly disregarding our laws. The latest slap to our faces is a video of a Chinese man openly emptying his bowls into a shrub. The man who recorded the incident is heard asking him if this is what he does in his country. But all the Chinese man could mutter repeatedly was sorry. Although the video may come off as a bit funny, there are serious issues undertone that needs to be addressed. For the past few years, the country has seen an influx of Chinese nationalities. This isnt such terrible news considering the partnership in several developmental projects between these two countries. But there seems to be heightened lawlessness on their part. As they continued to mistreat the indigenes and disregard our laws. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) on August 1, 2018, collapsed uniBank along with four other banks on grounds of insolvency. The BOGs in a letter to the Cheif Justice dated 26th September 2018 and its Lawyer Frank Davies raised concerns about the capacity of the General jurisdiction division of the high to hear the case which they claim must be heard by the commercial division. In response to their letter, lawyer for Dr. Duffuor, Tsatsu Tsikata raised objections to the request of the BOG. According to him, any challenge of the jurisdiction of the court must be done through the legal process rather than the administrative one chosen by the Central Bank. The suit said that Menzgold is demanding an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the first and second defendant it offices, servants and agents from interfering with the plaintif business activities or further acts of disobedience and non-compliance with law by publishing any such derogatory notices. The writ was issued on Thursday (September 27, 2018). The gold firm owned by Nana Appiah Mensah has been in the news lately for what the Bank of Ghana cautioned the general public not to deposit money at the firm. This caused a media war between the regulator and authorities of Menzgold. Menzgold responded that they were not taking deposits and called on the general public to disregard the news. READ ALSO: High court halts hearing of revocation of uniBank license The SEC later decided to investigate Menzgold and subsequently issued a statement for Menzgold to shut down with immediate effect in the trading of gold until further notice. In a letter dated September 7, 2018, which was signed by the Deputy Director General of SEC, Paul Ababio said that the SEC hereby directs Menzgold Company Ltd to shut down immediately the business of trading in gold collectibles with guaranteed returns to clients which constitutes, in essence, dealing in securities with neither the necessary license nor disclosure authorised by the SEC. Even though Menzgold accused the SEC of exercising bad faith, they shut down operations and promised to resume on September 28, 2018. However, Menzgold has sued the two regulators on September 27, 2018. President Akufo-Addo said this when he delivered his address to other world leaders at the 73rd UN General Assembly on Wednesday, 26 September 2018 in New York, United States of America. Mr Akufo-Addo called for an amicable solution to the trade war between the two countries because of the inter-dependence of countries across the globe. Madam President, ten years ago as the General Assembly was starting its proceedings, the world was plunged into a financial crisis. The first scenes of that crisis were played out on a street not far from where we are gathered, but the consequences were felt and are still being felt around the world, and in small countries like Ghana. Some say that upheaval lies at the heart of the change in politics and outlook around the world. Today, as we speak, a trade war is being stoked between the two largest economies of the world. The consequences will affect those who have had no say, including small countries like Ghana. These events provide proof, if some were needed, that ours is an inter-dependent world, he added. In his campaign, the U.S. President Donald Trump promised to fix China's "longtime abuse of the broken international system and unfair practices." Starting in January 2018, the U.S. imposed a tariff on solar panel imports, most of which are manufactured in China. READ ALSO: Menzgold blames SEC suspension for its inability to pay dividends On 6 July, the U.S. specifically targeted China by imposing 25% tariffs on $34 billion of imported Chinese goods as part of Trump's tariffs policy, which then led China to respond with similarly sized tariffs on U.S. products. A tariff on an additional $16 billion of Chinese imports was added in mid-August, with China responding proportionately. A further tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods is to go into effect on 24 September, to which China plans to respond with tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods. The two loudmouth MPs clashed when they met at the Parliamentary select committeee on Communications to debate the partnership with Chinese-owned StarTimes which will distribute 300 village satellite TVs nationwide. According to reports, there was a near brawl between Kennedy Agyapong and Sam George but it took the timely intervention of other members of the Committee who were at the meeting to separate. ece-auto-gen Kennedy Agyapong who doubles as the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Communications was said to have used some words, which Sam George felt was insulting and demanded that, the chairman should withdraw the words and apologise which generated in a heated argument which nearly got physical to the extent that some members at meeting had to restrain the two, to avoid any further clashes. Background Last week, the Ministry of Communications announced that it has a partnership with Chinese-owned StarTimes to distribute 300 village satellite TVs nationwide. The government said the partnership is geared towards bridging the digital divide between the rural and urban areas. The China-backed digital broadcaster in Africa, StarTimes was presented to the Ghana government as a condition for obtaining a loan from the Chinese Eximbank. However, the deal has been protested by a section of Ghanaians who believe China is only planning to take over Ghana's digital space. The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) said "if StarTimes is allowed to control both Ghanas only digital television infrastructure and the satellite space in the name of digital migration, Ghana would have virtually submitted its broadcast space to Chinese control and content." ece-auto-gen But the Communications Minister disagreed, insisting GIBA has no right to dictate to government on what it should do. The Nigerian workers under the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) are demanding an increase in the minimum wage to about $140 (N50,000). Ayuba Wabba, president of the union, said the industrial action is necessary after talks with the Nigerian government broke down. At a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Wabba mandated all workers and private sector at all levels across the country to comply by the directive. In 2017, Nigerian Workers' Union and the government agreed to work out a unified national minimum wage, setting up a Tripartite Committee. The labour leaders said the government was not sincere on its part in the committee, which resulted in the nationwide strike. Nigeria wants to repeal its National Minimum Wage Act of 2011 In 2011, the National Minimum Wage Act set workers' wage at N18,000 per month and to be revised every 5 years. Nigerian workers believed that the minimum is long overdue and needs to be revised in the face of an increase in the price of commodities. Peter Ozo-Eson, general secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), told Reuters that the union is going ahead with the planned action. Nigerian government to resume negotiation with labour leaders On the flip side, Nigeria government said it is committed to improving the welfare of the workers. The country's minister of labour and productivity, Chris Ngige told journalists after meeting with the labour leaders before the commencement of the strike that the government will resume negotiations next week, October 4. Ngige said all the processes for the review are in place, saying the government was still consulting with other stakeholders. Africa's largest economy will conduct its presidential election in 5 months. President Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking re-election at the next polls will have to fix the economy and tackle security challenges in the up north-east as economic growth remains fragile. The founder of the Living Faith church also known as Winners Chapel is marking his 64th year on earth. In honor of his birthday, he shared some prophetic declarations via his social media accounts. Bishop Oyedepo shares his birthday with his daughter, Joy, who took to Facebook to honor her father on their birthday. She wrote: "This is a special year for us, Papa. Another birthday but the best one yet. Father, Prophet, Teacher, Leader, Tutor, Friend & Birthday mate .. I love you, Daddy. Happy Birthday to us!!! God surely has done us so well." Twitter users show love to Bishop Oyedepo The Living Faith founder has also received a lot of birthday wishes from social media users. Here are some of them: The institutions are; the University of Ibadan, Covenant University and the University of Nigeria. The ranking was released on Wednesday at Times Higher Educations World Academic Summit at the National University of Singapore. Covenant University rated 636 in the ranking while the first university in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan, ranked 677 on the list. The University of Nigeria is the third Nigerian tertiary institution on the list in the bracket of 1000+ in the world. The latest ranking is, however, an improvement for Nigerian tertiary institutions as the University of Ibadan was the only Nigerian institution that featured in the ranking in 2018 edition. The premier university was ranked between 8011000. The two Nigerian Universities, (Covenant and UI) in the top 700 in the world also ranked fifth and sixth position in Africa. While the University of Nigeria occupies 23rd in the continent. Covenant University now the best in Nigeria Going by the latest ranking, Covenant University is now the best university in Nigeria, as it is rated above the University of Ibadan in the global universities ranking. Profiling the institution on its website, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings describes the school as one of the leading universities in Africa found on Christian Mission Ethos. The ranking platform also says Covenant University has had a rapid rise in reputation in the decade and a half it has been operating. The Nigerian Universities Commission named it the best private university in Nigeria in its 2018 rankings and the 6th best university overall. Nigerian lecturers under the umbrella of the Academic Union are members of the National Labour Union and ASUU has earlier threatened to join the strike once the NLC orders the strike to begin. However, according to Punch, ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi has on Wednesday, September 26, 2018, said that he could not ask lecturers to join the nationwide industrial action without an approval from the ASUU executives and trustees. ece-auto-gen ALSO READ: Covenant University is now among top 700 universities in the world He said, we are part of the NLC. We are an affiliate of the NLC. But we are waiting for the final decision and we are consulting. I am also consulting with the ASUU leadership. Meanwhile, lecturers in Imo state have reportedly announced their readiness to join the strike on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 during a press conference at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. Pulse also reports that the ASUU's chapter in Lagos at a press briefing at the University of Lagos reportedly r on Monday, September 24, 2018, to fund Nigerian Universities. The union at a press briefing at the University of Lagos, UNILAG on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, rejected the offer describing it as a blackmail. Ogunyemi also said the union will not back down in its efforts to sanitise the university system in the country, saying the government the should do the needful or the union goes on strike again. Bauchi Poly will not join the NLC strike However, the Chairman, of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) Abubakar Tatari-Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bala Mohammed has said that the polytechnic will not join the NLC strike because the labour union did not brief ASUP about the industrial action. Although, Adeyeye just finished serving his punishment for 'insulting' the authorities of the institution on social media, the student might be punished again as the university invites him to face another panel. In 2016, Adeyeye, a student of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and some students union leaders, were suspended for participating in a students protest of April 6 and 8, 2016. Their protests also led to the university being shut while the student union government was indefinitely suspended. Adeyeye was accused of insulting the then Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof Rahman Bello on his Facebook post after the protests, saying the VC was unfit to run the institution, and that the resources channelled into training him were a waste''. Adeyeye said in the Facebook article; "Vice Chancellor sir!, you remain a first-class Chemical engineering graduate from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. What has happened to the Great Ife in you!. Our power generation is deteriorating and you are alive. The Nations investment of knowledge on you to make you a scholar is a WASTE. Your first class honours degree is the true definition of a FIASCO,". However, after serving his four-semester suspension, the Universities authorities have reportedly summoned Adeyeye to face another panel. According to Premium Times, the student-activist in his letter of reinstatement has been warned by the school authorities to ''desist from such acts of misconduct'' for the rest of his studentship duration in UNILAG''. The letter reads; Having served out the four semesters (2nd semester 2015/2016, 1st and 2nd semesters 2016/2017 and 1st semester 2017/2018 sessions) of rustication imposed on you by the Students Disciplinary Board on social misconduct, you are now cleared for re-admission in to the university with effect from 2nd semester 2017/2018 session. You are therefore warned in your own interests to desist from such acts of misconduct for the rest of the duration of your studentship, Adeyeye to face another panel again Adeyeye has however in a separate letter September 24, 2018, been invited to appear before the students disciplinary board on October 9 over alleged acts of misconduct carried out during the period of the rustication, Premium Times Reports. According to the online news platform, UNILAG authorities alleges that On January 24, 2017, he gained entrance into the 2017 convocation ceremonies and disrupted proceedings in a bid to seize the mace. The model made her views known on her Instagram page on Wednesday, September 26, 2018. According to her, the fact that he is old and was on TV doesn't change the fact that he is a sex predator. "Mannn fuck the fact that hes old and fuck the fact that he was on TV He is a sexual predator! ( I hope they get their day as well) So yall are going to sit here and tell me that all of these women are lying? FOH!!! If Bill Cosby raped and drugged any of you Women/ Men that Ive been seeing on the Internet standing up for this RAPIST or your mamas you would be scared to say something too Because you would assume that no one would believe you. Shit, "I would actually be scared to say something because his entire life he has been put in such a positive light. Thats why he got away with it for so long! We should be praising these women for showing us exactly who he is. Justice is finally served! Shame the rapist , not the Survivors. Byeeee," she wrote. Errr...Bill Cosby might actually be guilty of committing those crimes leveled against and at the same time he might have been innocent but maybe Amber Rose is coming too hard on him. What do you all think? It would be recalled that Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in jail over sexual assault. ALSO READ: Bill Cosby found guilty of sexual assault in retrial Judge sends Bill Cosby to prison, denies him bail Judge Steven O'Neill of a Pennsylvania courtroom has sent 81-year-old Bill Cosby to prison after denying him bail over sexual assault. According to various reports, Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison by Judge O'Neil on Tuesday, September 25, 2018. It was further reported that the comedian and actor, who was once touted as 'America's Dad' was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs after his sentence. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of five to 10 years in prison for Cosby but his defense attorney asked for a sentence of house arrest, citing advanced age and blindness as reasons. Reasons for Bill Cosby's conviction Cosby was found guilty in April 2018 of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University athletics administrator, Andrea Constand, in 2004. According to the organisers, the event is billed to host on October 20, 2018 at the Intare Conference Arena in Kigali, Rwanda. Speaking to Pulse on the round table, Martins Gbados, disclosed that speakers at the event will include the Chief Executive Officer of AMAA, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe and Will Smith's younger brother and partner, Harry Smith. ALSO READ: See the complete list of AMAA 2018 nominees The cinema business round table, it was further disclosed, is being organised in conjunction with American film distribution company, Smith Global Media. With the keynote, Unlocking distribution the key to wealth for African distributors, several movie practitioners across Africa will be attending the event. ece-auto-gen Will Smith's brother partners AMAA for film distribution Will Smith's younger brother, Harry Smith has collaborated with the organisers of the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) ahead of the 2018 edition in Rwanda. The awards Chief Executive Officer, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe made this known in a recent chat with Pulse. Peace disclosed that Harry Smith has officially partnered with AMAA through his film distribution company, Smith Global Media. She said the partnership between Smith Global Media and AMAA will help African filmmakers chart a new course in film distribution across the continent. "This year, AMAA has collaborated with Smith Global Media, which is run by Will Smith's younger brother to discuss films distribution at the African Business Roundtable in Rwanda, Kigali, ahead of the 2018 edition of the awards ceremony," Peace said. According to TshisaLIVE, the 34-year-old actor died on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, to be ascertained cause. Her death has gotten a lot of South Africans talking and expressing their sadness over her demise. A representative at Clive Morris Productions who did not want to be named told TshisaLIVE they were saddened by Shoki's death and paid tribute to her professionalism. ece-auto-gen "She was such a professional and such an amazing performer. The scenes that are currently on The Docket were such a pleasure to shoot because she was also such a sweetheart. She was really talented and who knows what more she could have done and we are saddened by the news of her death." Shoki Mokgapa won a SAFTA award in 2017 for Best Actress in a Feature Film for her role in the drama film SINK. Udauk Akrah dies from complications after falling in bathroom ece-auto-gen A few months ago, Nigeria lost of its own talented actress, Uduak Akrah who died following complications after falling in a bathroom about two years ago. According to reports, she died on Saturday, August 25th, 2018 after years of battling the injuries sustained from the fall. Confirming her passing, filmmaker Charles Novia, said I just heard from someone close to her and her family in Abuja. She suffered complications in the past few months from a nasty fall in the bathroom. Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abeokuta. Akinbiyi said the accident, which occurred at about 1: 45pm, involved a Nissan Murano with registration number FST 764 HB coming from Lagos and inbound Abeokuta. The TRACE spokesman explained that the accident was caused by excessive speed which resulted in the jeep losing control and somersaulting. Six people were involved in the accident, two male adults, two kids and two female adults. We learnt the vehicle was inbound Abeokuta from Lagos when the accident happened around Awowo axis on the old Lagos -Abeokuta Expressway. Due to the speed, the driver lost control while approaching the bend along the axis and then somersaulted. The girl died on the spot, he said. Akinbiyi said that the injured victims were taken to a private hospital at Papalanto due to the ongoing strike at the General Hospital while the corpse was deposited at the morgue of Ifo General Hospital. Nigeria Investment Gateway (NIG) currently has a portfolio of over $1bn from her investing partners and is inviting Nigerian owned SMEs and Entrepreneurs to come to the first ever Sole Investment Exhibition in London designed to bring Senior Nigerian Government Officials and Successful Entrepreneurs together with Key Investors from across sectors and continents. With additional support from the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), there is no reason to miss this must-attend event in London. NBCC is the foremost bilateral Chamber in Nigeria with the objective to promote trade and Investment between Nigeria and Britain since its establishment in 1977. With affiliation to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), it gives her access to a network of 52 chambers of commerce across the UK and the commonwealth. Following the recent visits to Nigeria from the leaders of the global economy ranging from President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it reiterates the massive investment opportunities that exists within Nigeria and highlights the growing interest of the European countries to expand their trade network and engage with the Nigerian economy POST BREXIT. "I want to contribute in making the 4th Industrial Revolution, Nigeria's own revolution. Nigeria will be a hub for young, vibrant and energetic Skilled Workforce for the #4IR". Kanu Foundation bolsters philanthropy with business and insights As a Director and Ambassador for the Nigeria Investment Gateway Limited and Founder of Kanu Heart Foundation, I am keen to promote Nigeria and Nigerian businesses to investors as well as raise funds for worthwhile heart-related causes'. I will be at #BONIE2018 #BestofNigeria on the 3rd and 4th of October 2018 and would love to meet you there and share ideas on how we can drive investment into Nigeria. Register Your Place(s) Todaywww.bestofnigeria.org To gain more insight on Investment Opportunities and to understand why there is the sudden surge in interest by world leaders to invest in Nigeria you are invited to attend Best of Nigeria Investment Exhibition BONIE2018. Exhibitors and Sponsors will have access to our investors and Deal Rooms and so we advise that you book your exhibitor space(s) now! There will be plenty of advice on expanding businesses and a unique opportunity to meet genuine investors in an international environment. It is essential to come if you are looking for investment or funding for a project or business idea. For investors, it will be an impressive showcase of the virtually untapped opportunities available across many sectors. Nigeria is Africas largest nation, with vast mineral resources, agriculture produce, and fantastic tourist attractions, yet still has some amazing investment opportunities. NIGL look forward to welcoming you, along with many very high-profile invited guests, to The Best of Nigeria Investment Exhibition, BONIE, at the Excel, London on the 3rd and the 4th of October. Best of Nigeria Investment Expo to be held at Excel, London on 3rd & 4th Oct 2018 About The Organisers Best of Nigeria Investment Exhibition (BONIE2018)NIE is organised by Nigeria Investment Gateway (NIG)a company registered both in the United Kingdom and Nigeria with offices currently in London, Abuja and Lagos and CODUB Group of Companies. We also function as an important gateway platform for potential investment and business opportunities; thereby facilitating substantial increase in Foreign Direct Investments into the Nigerian Economy. NIG is established with the purpose of enabling socio-economic inclusion, business and community engagement and development amongst Nigerians in the diaspora through a range of economic activities, including a prestigious annual investment exhibition and a series of seminars showcasing why Nigeria is ripe and ready for foreign investments post-Brexit. The Co-Host, CODUB and our main supporter The British International Institute for Leadership and Management (BIILM) are experienced in organising large international events and have been hosting events since 2009 in the UK and Nigeria. About Our Sponsor And Strategic Partners Thanks to all our sponsors and supporters including El-Rehob Corporate Business Consultants, CDP Partnership Limited, Shamar Educational Foundation, RAPHBAMY Nigeria, NVIS, Vivacity PR, Kogi State, Bayelsa State, Delta State, World International Forum for Women, NIPC, NBCC, The Training Room Hire Company, London Chamber of Commerce, British Expertise International, AFFORD, Business Day, Financial Nigeria, Guardian Nigeria, Glam Africa, Nigeria Magazine, Africa Investor, The Voice Media UK, and many more Best Of Nigeria Investment Exhibition Date: Wednesday 3rd Thursday 4th October 2018 Venue: Platinum Suite, ExCel London, E16 1XL, UK www.bestofnigeria.org Register your media interest here>> http://www.bestofnigeria.org/contact-us/ Also follow us on Twitter and Instagram for event updates. For further information and press enquiries please email info@bestofnigeria.org or contact: Nigeria: Kemi Areola, Pubic Relations +234 8137603115| +234 90 95635227 UK: Dee Broni, Marketing and Business Development Director +44 203 086 8187 | +44 7538 848 855. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! An Instablog9ja post describes him as the leader of the Aiye cult group in the area. The deceased is believed to have died on the evening of Wednesday, September 26, 2018. More reports confirm that the cultist has been terrorizing an Ojo community with the help of members of his gang. His reign of terror soon ended following the intervention of the police. ece-auto-gen A police superintendent Amuda Abolaji reportedly led his men to the area to put an end to the bullying. Oloruntobi turned out dead following an intense gun battle with policemen. The pair reportedly met at a wedding party in Ibadan, Oyo State in December 2017. According to Punch News, they were able to keep up with communication through instant messages and phone calls which prompted a visit to the Lagos residence of the accused. ALSO READ: Neighbours overpower rapist and take turns to rape him too The post-graduate student who visited Orenowo at his uncle's house in Meiran claims her host had sex with her using force. The reason I visited him was to know him more after we met in December 2017. He told me that he was always busy at work and if I were free during the weekend, we could hook up. He sent me N3,000 for transport fare. That was the first time he would send money to me. When I got to his place, I slept there because I met his uncle and the uncles wife with some cousins, who welcomed me. Though I was still uncomfortable and was contemplating on going back home, his uncles wife said I was safe. Around 10pm, I went to sleep in the room provided for me, which was opposite his uncles room. Around 2.30am, I saw Orenowo beside me; he was touching and harassing me. "I suddenly stood up and went to the passage. Fortunately, his uncle came out to urinate and saw me reading the Bible with the torchlight of my phone. I went to sit in the sitting room. Orenowo came and suddenly dragged me from the sitting room through the passage into the room. While hitting my head on the wall, he held my neck. I called for help, but his uncle did not come out. He (Orenowo) almost strangled me, saying if I said anything, he would kill me and nobody would trace me. I received a lot of punches and slaps. He stripped me naked and threatened to tie me to the bed if I did not cooperate with him. He penetrated me through the anus and private parts," Punch gathered from the 24-year-old victim. Her host Adesoji Orenowo reportedly denied the allegation. Though he confirmed that he made moves on the accuser, his attempt to have sexual intercourse with his guest ended as soon as she expressed an objection. While I was touching her after we had retired to bed, she told me not to touch her that she was in a fasting and prayer programme. She took the Bible on my bed and left the room. When she later came back from the sitting room, we started romancing each other and she insisted that she did not want to have sex and I left her to sleep," claims Orenowo who has been arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates Court. Second off, you need to go and marry, altar is waiting for you Pause. By go and marry, we are only talking about the men, not the women, who have a right to marry AT ANYTIME. On September 26, 2018, Pulse did a breakdown of your favourite beer brands by location and geopolitical zones, to know which companies you are sowing your salaries to. As a follow-up, Pulse brings a throwback article to some of the favourite Nigerian beer brands, now forgotten. The starter pack for consumption usually includes a beer mug which Nigerians call, Tumbler and a saucer to contain whatever edible the beer is going to soundtrack or drunk-track whichever suits you. Some of these brands have gone out of business, while some have rebranded and are now looking to steal market shares. Without further bland jokes, enjoy the list; 1.) Tusk This brand, I first saw with my Grandfather and boy, was it consumed with incredible love in Ondo and Ekiti States, Nigeria? Currently, the brand is produced by Sona Breweries in Nigeria. The brand was a smooth blend, rich in lager and premium alcohol like Nigerians like. 2.) Wilfort From the stout family. Its not really known whether this brand ever had a dedicated following, but it was definitely rich in markets till the late 2000s. While it is still in production, also by Sona Breweries, it never really had a better following in one market that the other. It probably had a spread of following across Nigeria. 3.) Top Beer This brand enjoyed great following in Ekiti State, Nigeria. It was contained in a green bottle and had slightly sharper taste than the smooth and dull beer brands. The brand is now obsolete and the internet is not even filled with any history of it. What a way to treat a legendary beer. 4.) Harp A legendary beer produced by Guinness, it started production for the Nigerian market in 1974, in Guinness brewery, Benin Nigeria. Its first global production was however in 1960, England. The beer enjoyed its best Nigerian run in the 80s and 90s when brand diversity of beer first became an issue of Nigerian demand. Housed in a green bottle and emblazoned with the symbol of a trademarked harp, it is smooth and sometimes was an alternative to Star for Nigerian beer lovers. 5.) Kroneburg Beer It never was a mainstay with the Nigerian mekunu as it majorly resonated with the bourgeoisie and their bougie parties. It was too tush and classy for us. Ozwald Boateng has had a great year. From releasing his first womenswear collection to being an integral part of the Black Panther style story and now, it gets better with his latest opportunity. Boateng has been tipped to design the new uniforms for prestigious British flight carrier British Airways. According to WWD: The OBE-honored designer will have his work cut out for him shadowing British Airways employees to get a better understanding of the demands of their various jobs. Boateng will be figuring out just how the uniforms need to hold up and will have booking agents, pilots, in-flight crew and other employees wear test the uniforms before final designs are approved. The airlines new look is being ironed out in advance of the airlines centennial next year. Alex Cruz, British Airways Chairman and Chief Executive, said: Our uniforms have been an iconic symbol of our brand throughout our 100-year history and our partnership with Ozwald will take us forward to the next chapter in our journey. At a time when were investing for customers, new uniforms are a visual representation of investment in our people and we want them to feel proud when they wear the new uniform. Ozwald Boateng OBE, said: I am really excited about creating this new uniform for British Airways. It is important for me to create something that makes all of British Airways 32,000 uniform-wearing employees across the world excited, at the same time as enabling me to really demonstrate my skills as a designer. British Airways is investing 4.5 billion over the next five years and the uniform I design will form part of that, so Im looking forward to taking a uniform and refining it into a collection. Boateng, who launched his first womenswear collection this year, will be working closely with the airlines employees throughout the development process, from shadowing them to understand their roles and how the uniforms need to perform, to design, testing and final delivery. According to British Airways: British Airways has worked with a number of famous names throughout its history to design its uniforms. These include Paul Costelloe, Roland Klein, Baccart Weatherall, Hardy Amies and Julien MacDonald, the designer of the airlines current uniform. The central belief of voodoo is that everything is spirit, including humans. The celebrations of voodoo are often characterised by animal sacrifices, dances and initiation. In Benin Republic and Togo, the practise of voodoo and its rituals is still present till today. The very revered Temple of the Pythons alone organises an annual Voodoo festival that draws over 10,000 people from all over the world especially Haiti and Brazil to come pay homage to the fetish. ece-auto-gen The Ouidah Voodoo festival is celebrated every year on January 10, and operates almost like other religions with a "pope", priests and devotees. ece-auto-gen In Nigeria, the Zangbeto Voodoo festival was celebrated on September 22, drawing about 2,000 people in the coastal Ajido Kingdom in Lagos State. The festival is held every three years and its rituals strike fear into the hearts of the communities. Similiarities and significance Egun and Zangbeto are the most revered beings in Yoruba culture. Though most of Yoruba speakers are found in South-Western part of Nigeria, they can also be found in large numbers in Benin and Togo. This also accounts for the similarities in cultures and deities. The Ogu people inhabit coastal areas of Nigeria, Benin and Togo. ece-auto-gen The Zangbeto mask, dating as far back as the 17th century, is a tall masquerade covered with coloured straw. It represents wild non human spirits, the forces of nature and of the night that inhabited the Earth before human beings. The performance of the Zangbeto guarantees protection against bad spirits and malicious people. The spinning movement of the mask symbolizes the spiritual cleaning of the village. In Ajido Kingdom, the Zangbeto is seen as a symbol of authority and a means of security of entire communities. Sam Olukoya, a reporter for Associated Press attended the Zangbeto festival and recorded some responses from the villagers in an article for The Washington Post. ece-auto-gen Seton Idowu, a strong believer told the AP, As the traditional police and court of the people the Zangbeto handles such cases as theft. Everyone fears the Zangbeto and you can get into trouble if you go against the rules. Though many believe that the traditional worship is evil many still hold the belief that Zangbeto could act as a strong dispenser of justice as crime rate keeps rising in the area. These gods are seen as capable of judging cases fairly and dispensing instant justice by striking offenders with thunder and lightning. Baban-Inna allegedly received the sum of N2.5 billion from politicians and businessmen on behalf of Mrs Buhari but kept the money all to himself. The First Lady, however, said she never asked any of her staff to receive favours on her behalf. Mrs Buhari then asked Police boss, Ibrahim Idris, to investigate the matter. Not satisfied with Idris investigation, Mrs Buhari asked the DSS to take over the matter. Baban-Inna was then transferred to the DSS headquarters in Abuja. DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, said on Thursday, September 27, 2028, that Baban-Inna has been released. But, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ex-spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, have separately called for independent probe of the allegation. The chairman of the council, Mr Hashim Gital, who went round government owned offices, to ensure workers compliance with the strike directive, said we are happy with the level of compliance. He said that the council had earlier set up teams to ensure adequate sensitisation and monitoring of the strike for complete compliance by both private and public offices in the state. Gital, however, said that media organisations were granted permission to carry out skeletal services, to be able to inform the general public of happenings during the period of strike. Gital noted that though the compliance level was encouraging, he said, labour would not hesitate to mobilise traders and market women to join workers in show of solidarity. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the labour monitoring teams visited the Federal Inland Revenue Service office, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi state secretariat, primary and secondary schools as well as some media organisations. On Sept. 12, NLC issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to either agree with its demand for the tripartite committee deliberating on a new minimum wage to reconvene and complete its assignment. Some of the places NAN visited were Ado-Odo/Local Government headquarters, the courts, Post office, Ansarudeen Secondary School and Primary Schools. Some lawyers who came to the Magistrates Court and High Court in Sango-Ota to transact business could not gain access to the courts as the gates, while school teachers in schools visited were at the gates sending wards home. Some workers, who wished not to be identified, commended NLC and the organised labour for the strike aimed at ensuring that workers received decent pay. They said the current pay of workers was not enough to take care of workers. Also, in Adamawa, government workers joined the strike. The state Government Secretariat in Yola was locked as was the case in Yola North and Yola South local governments secretariats. The courts were also closed while some banks rendered skeletal services. But at Federal Medical Centre, Yola, the doctors and nurses attended to patients. Meanwhile, the Police Command in Adamawa has advised the public to remain calm and go about their normal businesses. The command in a statement by its spokesman, SP Othman Abubakar, said it had put adequate security measures to ensure that no one was harassed because of the strike. Adamawa State Police Command has put in place security measures to ensure that the good people of Adamawa State go about their normal businesses without harassment from any quarters, Abubakar said. But in Gombe State, bank customers expressed anger over the strike and said the labour unions were not sensitive to the plights of the people. They said the strike was uncalled for since government had not called off negotiations with the unions. Mr Ndubuisi Dibia, a businessman, said that NLC had not taken into consideration the implications of strike on the economy. NLC has not taken into consideration the strike implication on businesses. Businessmen like us have nothing to do with strike so why will the bank deny us services. I do not think they know the implications of their action on an economy that is recovering from recession, he said. Mrs Roseline Nworah, a trader in Gombe New Market said she was not happy with the action of the banks, adding that the strike was not necessary since negotiations were on-going. Abubakar Mohammed, a farmer, said NLC should be more concerned with implementations rather than fighting for a new minimum wage. Mohammed said: The last minimum wage of N18,000 is not being paid by most governors. What has NLC done to that? Now they are on strike to get the govt. to implement N65,000 as new minimum wage. Who is deceiving who? Let NLC force governors to pay the last minimum wage so that when we have a new one the workers can feel the impact. Meanwhile, government ministries and other government buildings and schools remained locked. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zenith Bank, UBA and Central Bank (CBN) on Minna, Bosso road were seen attending to customers, especially civil servants who have just been paid their September salaries. Some of the customers at the banks expressed delight that financial institutions did not join fully. They called on the Federal Government to resolve the impasse with labour in the interest of Nigerians. Similarly, private schools in Minna, including Himma International school, Tumber Secondary School, and Mawo Secondary school were busy teaching in the classes. Commercial and business activities were not affected by the strike as markets ad other business operators manned their activities smoothly. NAN, however, reports that both the federal and state secretariats were under lock and key. Gov. Abubakar Bello and his Deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Ketso, were all in their offices and inaugurated his campaign office in Minna. Abdullahi Musa, a federal civil servant, told NAN: I report to work this morning only to be told that civil servants are on strike. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC) had called for the warning strike over non-implementation of the national minimum wage. Their affiliates in the aviation sector, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) had shut down the agencies in compliance with the directive. The union members had at the early hours of Thursday barricaded the offices of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). Also shut down were the headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) at the Lagos airport. Commenting, Mr Frances Akinjole, the Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, told NAN that unions in the sector only carried out a light action. According to him, this is because we are currently engaging on another important assignment outside Lagos. It is a decision we collectively took that there will be a strike, but unfortunately one of our sister unions, NUATE, is having its national delegates conference in Asaba today. So, we decided to make the protest very light because leadership of the unions are in Asaba. We did not want it to look as if the aviation unions are not in solidarity with the national labour movement and that is why we only shut down the offices, Akinjole said. He, therefore, urged the Federal and State Governments as well as employers of labour to accede to the demand of the unions. The PPRO said that the story of the clash going round some media was false and therefore capable of breaching peace in the state. He said that the police at Ejigbo got information about the arrest of a suspected motorcycle thief and some persons attempted to secure his release from the police. The incident happened on Tuesday at Powerline Area, Ejigbo, at about 5 a.m. The local vigilante group in the area arrested the suspect and informed the police. Operatives from Ejigbo came to the scene to take away the suspect and some people started hauling stones against the police. The operatives refused to use their arms against the people to avoid casualties. The police succeeded in going away with the suspect, currently detained at Ejigbo police division. He said: All of them (looters) should return all the looted funds and join us in the fight against corruption because it is important. All of us have a responsibility in the fight against corruption, whether you are corrupt or not. But my take is that they should return all the stolen funds and we can see what we can do. The anti-corruption chief, however, warned that if looters decide to remain adamant, the law would catch up with them. We would prosecute them, we would get them, no matter how long it would take, we would get them; Im telling you. Corruption is an evil that affects all of us. So we should join hands to eradicate it, he said. He also said that there was hope that Africa would win the war against corruption if there was collaboration among the anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies through timely intelligence. Magu further said that the EFCC had been able to collaborate with sister agencies in African countries. According to him, EFCC mentors many countries in West Africa. Recently, we were able to get somebody in Ghana who was a wanted person in Nigeria. The collaboration between us and the Ghanaian authorities helped us to get him extradited to Nigeria and the man is going to face the music by going through court processes. EFCC has been able to extradite people to the United States of America in our collaboration with even non-African nations like the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations) and DOJ (Department of Justice), the UK, Switzerland, Netherlands and Dubai. So there are so many collaborations between us and other countries in Africa and around the world, he said. According to him, there is a significant reduction in criminal activities in Nigeria because of the zero tolerance for crime. In those days you can do things with impunity, but now you have to think twice. I think we have made a lot of progress as people are more cautious in going into crimes. Some of them enter into plea bargain arrangement with us and it is working. For some of them, we apply this issue of non-conviction-based forfeiture. If it is money or property that you have but you cannot explain, we take it to court and the court will now look at both sides and they will decide, he said. Magu, however, said he has personal reservations about plea bargain. You dont do it alone; you have to bring in the courts, the accused persons and the prosecutors. Kabir, made the call in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Zaria, Kaduna State. We are not sure as labour organisations whether the minister briefs President Muhammadu Buhari on the outcome of the meetings between government representatives and union leaders. Therefore, we are appealing to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari to remove the labour minister, Mr Chris Ngige, with immediate effect. We no longer have confidence in him as the minister at all; it seems he doesnt know his job. I also want to use this medium to appeal to government to give priority to workers welfare for the good of the nation, she said. On compliance of SSANU members to the nationwide strike, Hadiza, who is also a senior staff at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said their members had complied 100 per cent. In essence, the strike had recorded 100 per cent success. While commending the members for their total compliance, she encouraged them to stay at home until government heeded to the demands of labour. NAN reports that workers at federal institutions, banks and other private organisations in Zaria complied with the strike order. A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who monitored the strike in the area reports that all federal government institutions and financial institutions were under lock and key. Institutions visited included ABU, Federal College of Education (FCE), Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) and Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST). The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state APC chapter and 14 local government APC chapters in the state organised the grand rally in support of the aspirant. Yari lamented that some APC governorship aspirants were using insecurity to campaign against his government and his preferred aspirant. I want to tell those aspirants that the issue of insecurity is the responsibility of government at all levels including the Federal , State and Local Governments. We all know the efforts of the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari in addressing security challenges in the state. As at 2011, we only had 24 soldiers in this area, but after one heavy attack in Yar-galadima in 2014 village, the then federal government led by president Jonathan deployed 250 soldiers. But when President Muhammadu Buhari came into power between 2015 to date, he established a new Army Brigade with over 1000 soldiers deployed to all the nooks and crannies of the state to fight bandits and criminals. He said that Shehu-Idris was brought to contest the governorship race on the partys platform on account of his competence, adding that the party needed a candidate that would continue with ongoing projects and programmes. We will not deny any aspirant; we are ready for primaries, any aspirant that believes he is good, let him come out and try his luck. He urged people of the state to come out in large numbers to participate in the APC presidential and governorship primaries in the state. In his remarks, Shehu-Idris appreciated the support and cooperation of the APC supporters in the state and assured that if voted as governor, he would continue with the development projects started by the Yari administration. The state APC Chairman, Alhaji Lawal M-Liman, said the rally was organised by the party to show solidarity to the candidature of Shehu-Idris. Mohammed said this on Wednesday at a news conference in Bauchi. He added that the academic staff under ASUP would not take part in the strike because we were not briefed as a union or a body about the nationwide strike. NLC has directed workers to proceed on nationwide seven days warning strike with effect from Thursday, Sept. 26 sequel to delay in negotiations for new minimum wage by the Federal Government. However, the Abubakar Tatari-Ali Polytechnic ASUP chairman said after due consultation electronically across the country, we resolved not to join the strike as a registered trade union and we have right to take our decision. According to the chairman, lecturers of the polytechnic have no interest in the strike and will continue with their academic activities. He added that ASUP will not go on strike. As at today, no lecturer has told me that they want to go on strike. We are not participating in any national strike. We are, therefore, calling on our academic staff and students to come for lectures. We are doing this in the interest of education and our youths. The union chairman added that ASUP had no issues with the Bauchi State Government and if there was any, we would resolve it amicably. According to a statement by the ruling party, Shittu is yet to be cleared in his bid to participate in the governorship primaries holding on Saturday, September 29, 2018. TheCable reports that the party revealed Shittu's non-possession of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, certificate as the reason for his non-clearance. We are ready to fight for justice in Oyo APC , Shittu insists Adebayo Shittu, on Sunday, vowed that the aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State would not relent until justice prevailed. Shittu made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the APCConvention venue in Abuja. The minister, who has never hidden his intention to contest for the governorship seat in the state on the APC platform come 2019, has been having a running battle with Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State over who controls the partys structure in the state. Adebayo shittu skips NYSC, risks jail term Communications minister, Adebayo Shittu -- famous for distributing President Buharis re-election caps during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting -- did not present himself for the mandatory one-year NYSC scheme. Skipping the compulsory national service is an offence under the NYSC law, punishable with up to 12-month imprisonment. Months of discreet checks at the NYSC headquarters showed that the communications minister did not present himself for service after graduation and is yet to do so till date, the report said. According to the report, the minister who was born on March 23, 1953, studied law at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, graduating in 1978. He proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, qualifying as a lawyer in 1979. Over 100 personnel comprising Police officers and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were deployed to the unit, according to . Strategically positioned at the entrance and around the polling units, the thugs were intimidating voters and causing mayhem at the polling unit. The thugs who publicly professed to be working for APC were on ground to intimidate opposition and provide cover for voters. It was observed that the thugs confiscated but later released a phone belonging to a journalist with newspapers, Taiwo Adebulu. Police officers watched as they perpetrate these acts of screening voter. Tens of motorcycles belonging to opposition electorate were seeing lying around the bush at the polling unit. The Independent National Electoral Commission had fixed Thursday, September 27, 2028, as re-run election to determine the winner of last Saturday's Osun Governorship poll. Reacting to the loss of the PDP candidate in the governorship race, Senator Ademola Adeleke, Secondus alleged that the ruling APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the security agencies revealed how the 2019 general election will be rigged. ALSO READ: Osun Governorship Rerun Election: Adeleke rejects result Reacting to loss of PDP, Secondus said, Because they cannot face the nation, having failed woefully in governance and having exhausted their propaganda and lies, they resorted to dubious and mischievous strategies that could give them undeserved victory as is the case in Osun and Ekiti states. Democratic community all over the globe are watching and we would stop at nothing in highlighting them until the will of the people are allowed to prevail. The PDP national chairman also said the electoral body and security agencies allegedly implemented what played out as the re-run election of the Osun State. Read Secondus' take on Osun governorship election The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, Prince Uche Secondus has said that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and the security agencies have revealed their rigging template ahead of 2019 general election. Prince Secondus who was reacting to the roles of the three bodies in the Thursday's rerun election in Osun state said that what is unfolding is totally unacceptable to the PDP and all lovers of democracy. The National Chairman said through his media office in Abuja that reports reaching the party from Osun state shows that APC, INEC and security agencies merely came out to implement what they deviously rehearsed and called it election. He said that the picture of what is to come in 2019 is now clear and they underscore the fact already being highlighted by the the party that APC is not ready for the election. "Because they cannot face the nation, having failed woefully in governance and having exhausted their propaganda and lies, they resorted to dubious and mischievous strategies that could give them undeserved victory as is the case in Osun and Ekiti states. " Democratic community all over the globe are watching and we would stop at nothing in highlighting them until the will of the people are allowed to prevail. The PDP leader warned in particular security agencies to bear in mind that their allegiance and oath of office is to Nigeria state and her citizens not to any individual or ruling party. He drew the attention of leaders of both INEC and security agencies to the fact that history has never been kind with anybody or group who wittingly or unwittingly thwart the will of the people. The governorship election that originally took place on Saturday, September 22, 2018, was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, September 23. This was because the victory margin of 353 votes of first-placed candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke (254,698 votes) of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) over second-placed Gboyega Oyetola (254,345 votes) of the All Progressives' Congress (APC) was less than the 3498 votes cancelled in seven polling units. With Osun residents casting their votes in the affected polling units on Thursday, Atiku has taken to social media to raise alarm over reports of irregularities taking place in the conduct of the election. He tweeted, "Reports about voters & observers intimidation by security agents in Osun rerun election is unacceptable & must be stopped. The rerun is being widely monitored in Nigeria & beyond. "I hope that @inecnigeria will redeem its pledge of being an impartial umpire." Atiku's alarm comes just hours after PDP candidate, Senator Adeleke, described the rerun election as a coup against democracy. "What is happening in Osun State now is not an election. What we have is a coup. That is what we are witnessing now. "Our supporters are being harassed and are not allowed to vote at all. Let the whole world know that this is not democracy," he told The Punch. There have been several reliable reports that the polling units in Orolu LGA, considered to be the stronghold of the PDP, are scenes of widespread irregularities. Thugs are reported to scare, harass and physically assault voters suspected to be PDP members while security operatives do little to control the situation. Journalists and observers are also heavily monitored by security operatives while alleged thugs are reported to have taken over Orolu Ward 08 PU001 in Kajola village. Some voters in Orolu protested after their permanent voter's cards (PVC) were seized by gun-wielding thugs and they were sent away. Three members of the Nigerian Bar Association observer group were also arrested by policemen at Ifon on their way to monitor the rerun election in some of the polling units in Orolu LGA. They were later released. After INEC initially expressed frustration with reports of security operatives hindering observers and journalist, the commission later disclosed that all issues had been resolved. In a statement signed by the command's spokesperson, Folasade Odoro, she disclosed that they were arrested by security agents in Orolu local government area of the state where residents are voting in the Osun governorship rerun election. ece-auto-gen The arrested suspects were caught with membership cards of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) with one of them, Moshood Adejare, identified as an aspirant for the seat of Orolu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. Others are the party's Orolu LGA Secretary, Raimi Taofeeq, and members Oyelayo Dayo, Olaoye Asimi, Gbenga Olapade, Charles Amibiogoiu, Ayomide Ayansola, and Daramola Segun. Others are, Kayode Dada, Tunji Akinroyinmi, Kunle Adedeji, Habeeb Bahiru, Yisa Sodiq, Adeolu Bamijoko, Oladipo Samson and Adeolu Bamidele. The statement read, "Police team on stop and search duties at Orolu intercepted vehicles with sixteen persons on board in possession of customized INEC tags, face cap and jackets with the inscription of "INEC Osun 2018 Election Observer" and PDP membership cards. "The suspects are using the items to have easy access to restricted areas meant for personnel with due accreditation. "The Nigeria Police Force wishes to debunk report that some accredited INEC Observers were arrested or denied access to polling units. "Therefore, assuring the good people of Osun State and other critical stakeholders of its renewed commitment and resolve to ensure adequate security for a free and fair re-run election while investigation continues." Osun rerun The election that originally took place on Saturday, September 22, 2018, was declared inconclusive by INEC on Sunday, September 23. The election that originally took place on Saturday, September 22, 2018, was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, September 23. This was because the victory margin of 353 votes of first-placed Adeleke(254,698 votes) over second-placed Gboyega Oyetola (254,345 votes) of the All Progressives' Congress (APC) was less than the 3498 votes cancelled in seven polling units in Orolu local government area (3 polling units), Ife South LGA (2), Ife North LGA (1) and Osogbo LGA (1). While the rerun election in the affected polling units were taking place on Thursday, September 27, 2018, Adeleke cried out that the system has been rigged to favour the APC. He complained that PDP supporters were being denied access to ballot papers in the governorship rerun election. "What is happening in Osun State now is not an election. What we have is a coup. That is what we are witnessing now. "Our supporters are being harassed and are not allowed to vote at all. Let the whole world know that this is not democracy," he told The Punch. Omisore contested for Governor on SDPs platform in Osun state. According to reports, the SDP governorship candidate promised to help APC win the Osun governorship election scheduled for Thursday, September 27, 2018. Falae told Channels TV that he is not in support of Omisores pact with the APC. He said All I want to say is that, as the National Chairman, I was not consulted. Therefore, I am not a party to his (Omisores) decision. That is all I intend to say; not a word more. There have been reports that some unnamed presidential aspirants on the platform of the party have registered their objections to conducting the party's national convention in Port Harcourt, the state capital. While hosting a presidential aspirant and Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, September 26, 2018, Wike said there will be grave consequences for the party if it succumbs to pressure from the aspirants to move the venue from the state. He said the state will refuse to support the aspirants who are behind the objection, declaring that his people will no longer be used for political purposes and discarded after. The governor stressed that conducting the party's national convention in Rivers will boost the local economy, and expressed anger at why anyone would object to it as an appropriate venue. He said, "Let me warn the party, if you dare, Rivers State will teach the party a lesson. Those days have passed when they took Rivers State for granted. Nobody can use and dump Rivers State. "No presidential aspirant can use and dump Rivers State. We never lobbied for it, we never asked for it, but it will boost the economy of the state. People will make money. "Those who are against Rivers people from making money to improve their businesses, will not get our support. "I don't know why anyone who wants to be president, will be afraid of a venue. Then you are not prepared for the election. "Nobody should dare Rivers State any longer. Enough is enough. PDP should know that we are not a punching bag. We are not a people you can use and push. We are not harlots. Whenever you want, you come. When you finish, you push us aside. We will retaliate at the appropriate time. "When you go, tell your colleagues, the presidential aspirants; we were not interested, but having given it to us, you cannot insult us. "You come here to deceive us about restructuring. Just that Rivers State is a venue, you fight it. Then, when you are there, what will happen? You think we are fools where you preach restructuring, then when you get the position, you abandon restructuring." The governor further reiterated his earlier allegations that some of the party's aspirants are insiders planted by the ruling All Progressives' Congress (APC) to undermine the party's electoral process. He disclosed that he'll reveal their identities at the appropriate time. PDPs list of aspirants The PDP's long list of aspirants contesting for the party's presidential ticket includes Senate President, Bukola Saraki; former vice president, Atiku Abubakar; Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal; Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo; and former governors including Sule Lamido, Ahmed Makarfi, Attahiru Bafarawa, Jonah Jang and Rabiu Kwankwaso. Others are former Senate President, David Mark, former Senator, Baba Datti Ahmed, and former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Tanimu Turaki. The convoy had been heading from Baraboule in Soum province, where jihadists have carried out a string of attacks since 2015, to the town of Djibo. "The lead vehicle in the convoy hit the mine" as it was coming off a bridge, a security source told AFP. Kabore expressed his "deepest condolences to the defence and security forces, to the families and relatives of the victims." "These horrible and cowardly attacks will never sap our common resolve to defend our national territorial integrity, to restore peace and security for the happiness and prosperity of the Burkinabe people." One of the world's poorest countries, Burkina Faso started experiencing cross-border jihadist attacks in its northern region in 2015 -- an offensive that has now spread to the east of the country. On Sunday, three miners -- a Burkinabe national, an Indian and a South African -- were seized by armed men between Djibo and a local gold mine. Hours later, three police officers deployed to help search for the trio were killed in a clash with armed men at Tongomael, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) away. Abductions include that of Australian Kenneth Elliott and his wife Jocelyn, humanitarian workers in their eighties, who were kidnapped in Djibo in 2015. Jocelyn Elliott was released but her husband, who had been running a clinic for the poor for decades, is still being held. "The aim of the summons was to relay our deep unease over the content and terms of the letter sent by the speaker of the Flemish parliament as an institutional representative to Mrs. Forcadell, which was made public in social networks." A protest letter was also sent to the speaker himself, Jan Peumans. In his letter, Peumans, a separatist in the Flemish Region of Belgium, described police violence during a banned independence referendum on October 1, 2017 in Catalonia as an "outrageous expression of an undemocratic policy." "Keeping (Catalan) politicians under arrest for months is an even more insidious act, a proof that the central government in Spain is not able to meet the conditions to be part of a modern democratic European Union," he added. Peumans is part of the pro-independence Flemish nationalist party N-VA. His letter was handed to the former speaker of Catalonia's parliament, Carme Forcadell, on September 7 when 13 MEPs visited jailed separatist leaders. Forcadell is one of nine who have been placed in provisional detention on charges of rebellion as they await trial over their role in Catalonia's failed bid to break from Spain in October 2017. Their detention has sparked debate in Spain. Abramovich had applied for residency in Valais canton, which includes the luxury ski resort of Verbier, Jacques de Lavallaz, the head of the cantonal migration service, told AFP in an email. Valais gave Abramovich the green light, de Lavallaz said, but federal authorities have the final say on Swiss migration decisions. "The (federal) secretariat of migration was going to make a negative decision but Mr. Abramovich's representatives withdrew their client's application before a decision was issued," de Lavallaz said. The migration secretariat's decision was based on an analysis conducted by Swiss federal police, de Lavallaz explained, without discussing details of their conclusions. He stressed that the application was withdrawn before a final decision was rendered. According to the TdG, Abramovich applied to move to Verbier in 2016. The newspaper said that police argued he was linked to "alleged money laundering and alleged contacts to criminal organisations." Police claimed "that Abramovich's presence in the country would constitute a reputational risk for Switzerland ?- and possibly even a public security risk," the newspaper further reported. The newspaper also posted a statement from an individual identified as Abramovich's lawyer, criticising Swiss officials and the release of his personal information. "We have filed a request for correction of facts to the Swiss Federal Police and will be filing a criminal complaint against unknown persons responsible for dissemination of this confidential information," the lawyer, Daniel Glasl, said in the statement. "Any suggestion that Mr. Abramovich has been involved in money laundering or has contacts with criminal organisations is entirely false," he added. It also noted that Abramovich has no criminal record. The TdG said Swiss police raised concern over a commodities trading company that had been controlled by Abramovich called Runicom, which was the subject of a money laundering investigation by Geneva prosecutors in the 1990s. Glasl stressed that the company was "long-ago cleared of any wrongdoing." The TdG said that Switzerland's federal court gave it permission last week to publish the story, after a seven month legal battle with Abramovich's lawyers. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. More than 230 million invasive surgeries are performed worldwide each year and nearly all of those procedures create additional tissue damage from stitches and staples. Researchers at Purdue University are hoping to significantly decrease that damage with a new surgical adhesive technology. The Purdue team is working to solve one of the major challenges in the biomedical technology field most adhesives do not work well in moist environments because water interferes with the adhesion process. That means they cannot work inside the human body. Glue developed by the Purdue team uses a family of proteins and a modified amino acid to form a strong elastic bond between the soft tissues being joined. A YouTube video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgKseb6jiqU&feature=youtu.be. We are taking a giant leap in health care research by creating something totally new, said Julie Liu, an associate professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering at Purdue, who led the research team. There are currently no viable surgical glues that work inside the body. The Purdue researchers were inspired by natural glues that are created using the proteins produced by underwater organisms such as mussels and sandcastle worms. This research presented a whole new set of challenges for me, Liu said. Our team had to come up with ways to bond soft tissues within a wet environment that are non-toxic and biocompatible. The Purdue glue has several advantages over sutures and staples, including reduced patient discomfort, lower risk of infection and less damage to surrounding healthy tissue. The technology aligns with Purdue's "giant leaps" celebration of the universitys global advancements made in health, space, artificial intelligence and sustainability as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. Those are the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues. It is exciting to work on such innovative and impactful research as a student, said Sydney Hollingshead, a chemical engineering doctoral student, who assisted with the research. We are going to help a lot of people by turning our engineering discoveries into medical advances. Liu also said that commercial glues sold as liquid bandages for cuts and scrapes do not work for surgeries because the chemical makeup of those glues is toxic when used inside the body. Researchers are working with the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization to patent the technology. They are looking for partners to license it. About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org Source: Julie Liu, julieliu@ecn.purdue.edu WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Purdue University researchers are looking at a new way to alert walkers distracted while using their smartphones about oncoming vehicles as a method to lower pedestrian deaths, which have hit a three-decade high in the United States. The Governors Highway Safety Association reports that 5,984 pedestrians were killed in 2017, a 33-year high, while other kinds of traffic deaths have decreased. This is a growing problem in the United States with more pedestrians and drivers distracted by their phones, said He Wang, an assistant professor in the Purdue Department of Computer Science, who created the technology along with his Ph.D. student, Siyuan Cao. Now, we have created an innovative system to use those same phones to help save lives. The Purdue team developed a system called PHADE, which allows surveillance or other cameras in public to send an alert directly to a smartphone. The technology will be presented during the UbiComp conference in October in Singapore. A video explaining more about the camera technology is available at https://bit.ly/2JScSqO. Although traditional data transmission protocols need to first learn the destinations IP or MAC address, this system uses motion patterns as the address code for communication. The smartphones then locally make their own decisions on whether to accept a message. This system basically allows surveillance cameras to talk to the public through their individual phones, Cao said. The camera can send an almost instant alert to a pedestrian that a car is coming. The pedestrian would receive a message to their phone that reads: Danger! Oncoming vehicle. The PHADE system works using a server to receive video streams from cameras to track people. The camera builds a packet by linking a message to the address code and broadcasts the packet. Upon receiving the packet, a mobile device of each of the targets uses sensors to extract its owners behavior and follow the same transformation to derive a second address code. If the second address code matches with the address code in the message, the mobile device automatically delivers the message to its owner. Our technology serves as a bridge to connect cameras and people, Wang said. Surveillance cameras are widely deployed today and human and artificial intelligence systems can retrieve numerous bits of information from the video feeds of these cameras. Our innovation turns that information into life-saving applications. Cao said surveillance camera and security companies would also be able to integrate the technology into their products directly as a key feature. The technology also can be used in shopping malls, museums and other locations to send personalized messages to people without compromising their privacy. The technology aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration of the universitys global advancements made in health, space, artificial intelligence and sustainability as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. Those are the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues. Such solutions, including smart technology is a focus of Purdues Discovery Park District. The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization helped file patent applications for the technology and is seeking partners to license it. About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org Sources: He Wang, hw@purdue.edu Siyuan Cao, cao208@purdue.edu New Zealands murder rate is the lowest it has been in four decades, according to police. The latest figures have revealed that 658 people were killed between 2007 and 2017, including manslaughter. That makes an average of 74 homicides per year, with a reduced average from 2012 to 2016. Whilst we have a reduction, we dont get complacent around these stats, said Det Supt Tim Anderson. But while the murder rate has significantly dropped, it appears that disturbing number of those killed are children. Children under five made up 12 percent of homicide victims. Det Supt Anderson told RadioLIVE that the number is disturbing for detectives. Sixty-three people were killed by either their current or ex-partner between 2007 and 2011, dropping to 52 between 2012 and 2016. Around 75 percent of the victims were female. The report found approximately a third of all homicide victims were Maori and around 62 percent of all victims were male. Children under five made up 12 percent of homicide victims. The report shows the murder rate has hit its lowest since 1970. Listen to the full interview with Tim Anderson above. Drive with Ryan Bridge and Lisa Owen, 3pm - 6pm Weekdays and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone. RadioLIVE. A group of tourists kayaking off the Kaikoura coast have been left shocked after a seal slapped a member of the party with an octopus. Video of the encounter has gone viral online overnight. I got slapped in the face by an octopus, by a seal fighting the octopus its crazy, Kyle Mulinder, a Kiwi travel blogger told RadioLIVE. We set the internet on fire! Mr Mulinder says the group were out on the water shooting with the new GoPro Hero 7 camera when they saw the seal having a tussle with the octopus so they watched it for a while. We saw this giant male seal fighting an octopus and the octopus came up, it was quite a way away and then all of a sudden it just went down. Throughout time, storytelling has largely influenced how people behave and perceive each other across the world. It is this single factor instilled in individuals since childhood that has contributed to stereotyping and prejudice across societies and cultures. Stories have instigated wars and political mudslinging, racial segregation and gender discrimination, generational and cross-country hostility, and bitterness between low and high-income communities. Mimi Kalinda, CEO Africommunications Group. Influence Perceptions Even Africa is perceived in a certain way because of the stories being told about it. The role of traditional media and social media are key players in the way the world views Africa, and possibly contributes to putting the brakes on the continents development.How do the stories we disseminate shape how the rest of the world views Africa? How does it affect foreign investment? How does it influence markets and economic output? These are some of the questions we should be asking, along with how to change our one-sided approach.Even research indicates that attitudes and views have been shaped in a specific manner. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) , for example, explored the neurobiology of listening to stories and how attitudes and behaviours can change. It found that storytelling changes views about people for the better or worse and significantly influences societies.Narrative exerts a powerful influence on human thoughts and behaviour. They consolidate memory, shape emotions, cue heuristics and biases in judgment, influence in-group/out-group distinctions, and may affect the fundamental content of personal identity, it states.Meanwhile Octavia Utleys curriculum at the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute explored this tradition in Africa. She found that storytelling throughout history made it possible for African cultures to pass on knowledge, history and experiences from one generation to the next, manifesting itself in different ways and serving many purposes.It was used to interpret the universe, resolve natural and physical phenomena, teach morals, maintain culture values, pass on methods of survival and praise God, said Utley in her paper titled, Keeping the tradition of African storytelling alive.This data tells us that a story is not just a story. Narratives have shaped societies, and the world has been significantly affected by the stories we have told about each other. Collectively we have all in some way contributed to bias stories without due consideration of its consequences.So how do we change our views from what was instilled in us as children, and how do we ensure the next generation do not stereotype others?There are many layers to unravel and now is the time to review our attitudes and perceptions of others. We need to challenge our internal and exported narrative because this is where behaviour change begins. Parents, in particular, need to be mindful about the type of stories they tell their children, and be aware of books they are reading.Now is the time for the people of Africa to tell a new story. Tell the world about our unique heritage, majestic views, vibrant fashion and tasty foods. Tell them about our talented youth, our humanitarians, our innovations, and our uniquely African projects.Tell them about our beautiful conservation, our marine research and deep-sea exploration. Tell them about our braais and distinct kwaito music, about our doeks and our love for everything Afro. Because we are 54 strong, hard-working nations trying to build a better Africa for our children. We will ensure that we empower them through our new stories and help them grow into good people without prejudice. Sean Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, talks about the positive impact spending time in nature has on the mental health of Kiwis and how people can place their wellbeing front and centre. He says humans are hard-wired to be in nature and benefit from being in it. Youve most likely been served hoki at a local fish and chip shop, with the common species even used in McDonalds infamous Filet-O-Fish. But there is serious concern for the countrys biggest and most important fishery. A recent Newshub investigation revealed West Coast skippers fishing in the hoki ground are struggling to find and catch the fish. As a result, the industry has decided to voluntarily give up millions of dollars worth of quota. "What industry skippers are noticing is that in one area in the West Coast, the fish are not turning up in the numbers expected, Te Ohu Kaimoana (Maori Fisheries Trust) chief executive Dion Tuuta told Newshub. "This is a significant undertaking by the industry," says Mr Tuuta. "It's going to cost them millions." Northern has returned to service its first Class 158 DMU to be fully refurbished by Arriva Train Care in Crewe. Features include USB sockets at every seat and free wi-fi, with information screens and digital seat reservations to follow. Suppliers involved in the project include Panasonic (CCTV, media screen, USB ... The film, set to premiere at the BFIs London Film Festival in October, will stream on Netflix from 30 November. The cast also includes Amyra Dastur and, in his debut role, Aniruddh Tanwar.Rajma Chawal is set in the Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, and follows the relationship between a father attempting to reconnect with his estranged son through social media, a new world for him.The father-son dynamic is a universal human theme, and Netflix, with its global reach and ability to address a range of audiences with rich and resonant stories, was the ideal partner for us, the films director Leena Yadav said.Being on Netflix invites the whole world into the lives of a family in Chandni Chowk, and we are excited to bring the tumult, colour and vitality of both the family and the area to newer audiences, she added.Netflix director of international originals and acquisitions Swati Shetty said: Rajma Chawal takes the viewer along the highs and lows of family dynamics, and we hope members around the world will relate to the story and its multi-dimensional characters. Justin Milne has resigned as chairman of Australias public broadcaster ABC amid a firestorm that also claimed Michelle Guthries position as managing director earlier this week. Milne has denied accusations that he interfered in the broadcasters editorial independence. A series of leaked emails appeared to show Milne pressurising Guthrie to get rid of ABCs chief economicscorrespondent Emma Alberici.The ABC board released a statement saying it was grateful for [Mr Milnes] willingness to put the ABC first in coming to his decision to resign.Communications minister Mitch Fifield called Milnes resignation the right decision and said the Government would appoint an acting chairman and begin the search for his long-term replacement.The news comes shortly after Guthrie, ABCs first female managing director, was sacked less than mid-way through her five-year term, following a board decision announced on 24 September.Milne said then the boards decision was made in the long-term interests of our own people and the millions of Australians who engage with ABC content every week. He cited Guthries leadership style as the key reason for terminating her contract, adding her relationship with the Government could have been better.Australias opposition Labor party is calling for an independent, transparent Senate inquiry into alleged political interference at the ABC The publics trust and confidence in the ABC has taken a battering, said shadow communications minister Michelle Rowland.Prime minister Scott Morrison welcomed the resignation of Justin Milne. Time for the ABC to resume normal transmission , both independently and without bias. That is what Australias taxpayers pay for and deserve, he said in a tweet. The series, originally created and produced by Tedy Productions and Keshet Broadcasting, will air on ABCs HD channel Hiru TV.Rising Star has evolved the talent show genre across Asia, and we are delighted that Asia Broadcasting Corporation and Hiru TV will be bringing it to audiences in Sri Lanka for five full seasons, said Gary Pudney, general manager, Keshet International Asia.The success of formats like Rising Star, Prisoners of War and Girlfri3nds across the region has really helped us grow our presence here in Asia and we look forward to seeing many more Keshet International shows in the future.Rising Star will be the first ever live singing reality show in Sri Lanka, said ABC chairman Rayynor Silva, adding he was confident that the format will take singing reality to the next level.During each episode, home audiences decide who will advance in real-time via the shows free voting app, while judges vote simultaneously in the studio.The format has now been licensed in 35 territories worldwide including in India, where it is shown on Viacom18s Colors , Brazil (Globo), Indonesia (RCT1), China (CCTV), and Greece (Antenna). The shows audience has cast in excess of 200 million votes globally, according to Keshet. Democrats plan at Thursdays Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to use the high school yearbooks of embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, which they say imply he and his prep school pals regularly got drunk and boasted of sexual conquests, to discredit what they call his choir boy defense against sex-assault charges leveled by Christine Blasey Ford. But Ford, whose story suffers from significant gaps in her memory, wasnt exactly a choir girl. In fact, congressional sources say her own yearbooks, among other things, present a potential issue for her and her character, and Republicans are prepared to cite them in questioning her story through the female sex-crimes expert theyve hired. Brett Kavanaugh: accused. A committee staffer told RealClearInvestigations, We have her yearbooks, which had been mysteriously scrubbed from the Web prior to Ford coming out with her allegations. She will not make a good witness." The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that the annual class books feature a photo of an underage Ford attending at least one party, alongside a caption boasting of girls passing out from binge drinking. Her yearbooks also openly reference sexually promiscuous behavior by the girls, including targeting boys at Kavanaughs alma mater, Georgetown Prep, an all-boys school in the affluent Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Ford attended neighboring Holton-Arms School, an all-girls academy. While congressional sources say Ford's yearbooks could be an exhibit at the hearing, longtime Capitol Hill watchers caution that going after her reputation could backfire on Republicans. Thats a minefield, especially given the #MeToo movement, one said. A spokesman for Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassleys office declined to comment. Other evidence indicates Ford, a popular cheerleader at the time, was immersed in an alcohol-fueled party culture and no stranger to keg parties in the D.C. area or the "bar scene" along the Maryland and Delaware coast. In fact, Ford was known as a "party girl on the Delaware shore during summer breaks, another source with direct knowledge of the congressional investigation said. One report, moreover, recounts how Ford once got caught in "a romantic triangle" at Dewey Beach that ended with the two men getting into a fistfight over her. At Holton-Arms, the source added, she was known by classmates, and even some parents, by a sexually derogatory nickname playing off her maiden name Blasey, suggesting she was promiscuous. She was not the wholesome Catholic girl theyre trying to portray her as, the source said, making her claims of victimization at the hands of Kavanaugh "harder to believe." Ford and her attorney did not respond to requests for comment. But they have cast a much different narrative, suggesting Kavanaugh and other boys from Georgetown Prep aggressively targeted Ford and other reluctant girls from her school while plying them with alcohol. Specifically, Ford alleges Kavanaugh and another older boy took advantage of her at a house party somewhere in the Chevy Chase or Bethesda area of Maryland in the early 1980s. She says she has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from the alleged attack, which she says involved an inebriated Kavanaugh forcefully groping her on a bed over her clothes while clapping his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming for help. She added that she has had to seek therapy and other medical treatment to deal with panic attacks and anxiety from the incident, which she did not report to authorities. Ford cannot remember key details from that night, including the location of the house or the date of the party, while claiming to have consumed just one beer there. She says she told no one about the assault at the time, not even her close girlfriend, who she says was with her at the party, or her mother. Ford claims the reason she didnt tell her parents about almost being raped" is that she didnt want to get "in trouble" for drinking at a party. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys, she said. But classmates said the former cheerleader, who was known as Chrissy," was part of the underage drinking tradition that was no secret among Maryland prep schools in the early 1980s, when the drinking age was 18. Her own school yearbooks (in which parents took out paid ads) celebrated boys [and] beer and pictured beer bottles and beer cans and scenes of boys and girls drinking at parties. One published a photo of Ford and other girls at a Halloween party alongside a caption boasting of pass[ing] out after playing Quarters and other binge-drinking games. Her father, Ralph Blasey, was president of the local country club. Neither her parents nor her two siblings have come out to voice support for Ford, and they did not sign a family letter of support for her and her claims circulated by her husband. The Holton-Arms yearbooks in question, which cover her sophomore, junior and senior years, are titled "Scribe 82," "Scribe 83" and "Scribe 84." Among other things, the annual books objectified men and even talked about hiring male strippers, including one in a gold G-string," for sweet 16 parties. They also featured the young Holton coeds dressed as Playboy bunnies and posing seductively atop desks, school-uniform skirts hiked up. One section, While the Parents Were Out, talked about partying with boys at area house parties where kids got so drunk they ruined" their parents' heirloom Persian rugs with vomit. The tenth grade taught us how to party, the girls bragged in another section. And, Loss of consciousness is often an integral part of the party scene. A caption on another page talked about girls having their choice of men at the neighboring boys schools, including Georgetown Prep: No longer confining ourselves to the walls of Landon and Prep, we plunged into the waters of St. John and Gonzaga with much success." Jay Martin, who went to school in the area at the time, asserted that Holton-Arms girls back in the 1980s were hardly innocent victims" of Georgetown Prep boys. I am her age, he said of Ford. I went to high school next to Prep and knew lots of Holton-Arms girls. This is pure false memory syndrome. Added Martin: One of my best women friends had Kavanaugh ask her out [and] she said he was one of the nice ones. His mom was a judge. I mean, seriously? Theres no sugarcoating whats going on in Brazil. The worlds ninth-largest economy is in the throes of the worst political tumult since the country returned to democracy. With elections just weeks away, the man leading the polls, Jair Bolsonaro, is simply a nightmare. Openly yearning for the days of Brazils military dictatorship, former army captain Bolsonaro has built a brand around unrelenting attacks on women, racial and religious minorities, the LGBT community, human rights defenders, and Brazils marginalized poor. With an added sympathy vote from an assassination attempt last month, the long-discarded possibility that Bolsonaro might reach the presidency is becoming more real by the day. People are now forced to reckon with what Brazil might look like under his rule. The answer: not much worse than it is now. Certainly not better, but not much worse. If Bolsonaro does win in October, it could be Brazils hated political system that ends up constraining his worst tendencies. Brazils semi-parliamentary system of coalitional presidentialism requires political allies to agree on cabinets and by nature breeds some of the worlds most flagrant horse-trading. As a result, Brazils congress is corrupt and sclerotic; indeed, it is one of the biggest causes of Brazilians unprecedented dissatisfaction with their political class. But, cynical as it sounds, that very system is in some ways a safeguard against Bolsonaros worst tendencies. Brazilians have in two separate referendums rejected a switch to a parliamentary system. The truth is that in some ways they already live in one. With nearly 30 parties represented in Congress -- the largest of them holds just 12 percent of seats -- broad coalition-building is the only way to govern. This makes congressional support far more consequential than popular support. One need only look at incumbent Michel Temer, whose 2-3 percent approval ratings did not stop him from passing major reforms through a congress with which he adeptly courts favor. On the flip side, if Bolsonaro does indeed make it to the presidency, his far higher favorability among the public wont translate into an ability to govern with Brazils political elite. Brazils fragmented party landscape means that alliances are key. Were he elected today, Bolsonaros party alliances would grant him 2 percent of the lower houses support. By contrast, establishment favorite Geraldo Alckmin would enjoy the support of 53 percent. Bolsonaros supporters rebut such pessimism with a promise to sweep congressional elections next month, granting their candidate a reliable nucleus of support. But all signs point to a lack of a big shake-up in the configuration of Congress. In fact, a recent study puts the prospect for congressional change this year at its lowest ever. With nearly 80 percent of current incumbents running for re-election, and recent changes in electoral law greatly favoring incumbents, the percentage of congressional newcomers is expected to be the lowest since 1990. Bolsonaro will be boxed in by the corrupt reality of Brazils Congress. If he sticks to his campaign guns and doesnt play the give-and-take games Congress demands, reality will hit hard. Very hard. In this scenario, many expect his presidency to look much like his 27 years in Congress -- during which he managed to pass only two of his 171 proposed bills into law. The result of sticking with a contrarian, Trump-like governing style, predicts Brazilian political scientist Ricardo Sennes, would be impeachment within nine months. Remember that in Brazil, impeachment isnt what it is in the United States. It tends to function more like a vote of no confidence -- yet another example of the countrys flirtation with parliamentarism. Bolsonaros other option would be to swallow his pride and play along, and this is a likelier outcome. In this scenario, we would see one of the few silver linings to Brazils labyrinthine political system: its moderating factor. Forced to cobble together a coalition, Bolsonaro will see his radical tendencies tamed. His most extreme proposals will be wrung through committee after committee, getting watered down to the point of being unrecognizable. His promise to appoint military generals to a third of his ministries will be short-lived as he finds himself forced to offer posts to centrist party members in exchange for support. Bolsonaros victory is no forgone conclusion. He may well see defeat as Brazilians rally against him in the way the French did against Marine Le Pen. Yes, Brazil desperately needs deep structural reform in its politics. Any Brazilian, from your taxi driver to your political science professor, will tell you that. But until its lawmakers muster the will to fix the deep rot, we can at least take solace in knowing Brazils apocalyptic candidate wont bring an apocalyptic presidency. #NewCampaign: Giant Films' Ian Gabriel on the new Carling Black Label ad Giant Films recently completed an ad for Carling Black Label offering a fresh take on masculinity, in which protagonist Pallance Dladla questions what it means to be a man, challenging the meaning of what it means to be bold, brave and strong. I interviewed director Ian Gabriel to find out why the Carling brand decided to engage in this conversation and why he believes its important for the brand and society with belief-driven buying on the upsurge Masculinity is a topic that came up at Cannes this year. There has been much emphasis on women or feminism of late, yet alongside this there has also been much confusion regarding manhood and what it means to be a man in the 21st century. The ad points out that most men have learned what this means the wrong way, from their fathers or father-figures and peers, and seeks to redefine the true meaning of what it means to be bold, brave and strong. What is the brands opinion on the matter? Why is this important to the brand? Masculinity is a topic that came up at Cannes this year. There has been much emphasis on women or feminism of late, yet alongside this there has also been much confusion regarding manhood and what it means to be a man in the 21st century. The ad points out that most men have learned what this means the wrong way, from their fathers or father-figures and peers, and seeks to redefine the true meaning of what it means to be bold, brave and strong. What is the brands opinion on the matter? Why is this important to the brand? I interviewed director Ian Gabriel to find out why the Carling brand decided to engage in this conversation and why he believes its important for the brand and society with belief-driven buying on the upsurge What impact do you hope to have on society? What impact do you hope to have on society? Tell us more about the risk involved; why you believe the brand was well positioned to challenge this issue, and at such a time as this. Tell us more about the risk involved; why you believe the brand was well positioned to challenge this issue, and at such a time as this. What has the response been? What has the response been? How is this campaign different to previous Carling Black Label ads? How is this campaign different to previous Carling Black Label ads? What can we expect in the coming months? What can we expect in the coming months? Anything youd like to add? Anything youd like to add? In order for brands to succeed, I think they need to not only speak out with conviction, but to act on the convictions they express. Jessica Tennant's articles About Jessica Tennant Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. Jess is Senior Editor: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer. moc.ytinummoczib@swengnitekram I cant speak for the brand but I can speak for myself. As I understand it, the Carling brand is seeing the necessity to engage in this conversation, which is very much top of mind around the world at present. As consumers we all have the power to support brands that support good values and to boycott those whose values we oppose. We effectively fund what the brands we support say.According to research, belief-driven buying is on the upsurge worldwide, especially among Gen Z and millennials. I think this is a positive democratising effect that we should celebrate as a small way to improve our thinking and attitudes in the world.Any time you challenge prejudices in a society you take a risk, but not challenging these prejudices poses a bigger risk for society in the long run.When we discussed how we wanted to approach this film, we made it clear that our objective would be to deliver what is in fact a moral message in a non-moralistic nuanced way. You need to be sensitive and respectful of diverse views, but you can do that and still advance radical improved ways of being. We have to do this so that generations to come can reap the benefits of our thoughts and actions. Given how much negative effect has been passed on by previous generations and our own (global warming, shocking wealth disparity, etc.), where we can leave positive results we should do so. We probably cant change the world, but we can try make it a bit better when given the opportunity.There is greater risk in avoiding pressing subjects that we all care about. The objective was to be non-judgmental and inclusive, and non-exploitative of issues that everyone can see staring them in the face plenty of people have made and continue to make mistakes and judge others around matters of identity, sexuality, race, background, etc.The message of being who you are and believing in yourself is broader than the focused message that we applied in this commercial. We wanted people to feel like the thinking process in the commercial was unfolding with them. That was what really informed my direction of Pallance in the commercial. He needed to think his way with us observing what we saw and staying only slightly ahead of our thinking, rather than delivering a know it all, seen it all message which is often where walk-and-talk deliveries can land.Word of mouth and social media responses have all been very positive. Some people have questioned whether delivering a positive message should be the role of an alcohol brand. To that I can only point to how strong their message has been, and to point to US public relations agency Edelmans Global Trust Barometer 2017 report, which had these findings to share: consumers globally expressed a lack of trust in the social and political institutions that are meant to represent them.Theres a growing belief that brands can do more to solve social ills than government can. The more we can do to promote positive values in whatever work we do, the better for the world, the better for the brands. Why ever would we then not do that?I have worked on many Carling campaigns over the last 20 years they have always dealt with the idea of what it means to be a real man. So, in a way this campaign answers a question that is no different from those earlier campaigns. Its just the answer to the question that has shifted, thankfully, over the passage of time, and being cognisant of important new responses to old events and ideas.The emergence of the #metoo movement, the current supreme court debate in the USA, the continuing battle for gender rights, the growth of intersectionality around the gender and race debate, etc. all of these factors have helped to move the conversation in a better direction.I suspect Carling and its agency will continue along the path theyve already mapped out for themselves. I think thats where consumers will encourage them to go. I cant imagine that they would now deviate much from this path until the message is well and truly delivered and understood.We live in a very self-curated society. We try to present the most positive image of ourselves on social media, and brands have realised they must do the same. Weve lost a certain amount of privacy in the process, but we can control the positive effects and ensure that the trade-off works as a two-way exchange. Brands that promote better social values will earn the loyalty of consumers who will advocate for that brand because wed all like to be living in a better world. Europes leaders have a growing enthusiasm for border controls. During his State of the European Union address on Sept. 12, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker unveiled plans for a new round of reforms to Frontex. Although the organization only in 2016 became a fully fledged border and coastguard agency, Juncker proposed that Frontex recruit 8,400 more border guards by 2020, bringing the total number to 10,000. The plan is to provide Frontex with executive powers to identify, intercept, and repatriate migrants. The organization would also be able to launch joint operations in third countries and would help prevent the secondary movement of migrants within the European Union. Time and again, European leaders from across the political spectrum have blamed the migration crisis on smugglers who profit from human misery. They rightly condemn these smugglers for packing huge numbers of migrants into makeshift boats before setting them on the hazardous journey to Europe. But they have adopted the misleading narrative that to tackle the migration crisis one must first eradicate people smuggling. Using Frontex to reinforce maritime border controls therefore seems a rational response to people smuggling: It works to restore law and order. However, most academics and civil society groups oppose this approach. It ignores the way in which hardening borders merely redirects migration flows through other, often more perilous, channels. Moreover, accessing the asylum system in Europe almost always involves embarking on a dangerous journey and breaking the law. Since 2016, the number of migrants and refugees arriving in the European Union has dramatically decreased, due in no small part to improved cooperation between the European Union, its member states, and Libya. Around 70,000 have arrived so far this year, a return to pre-2014 levels. Yet the risks have increased, and the International Organization for Migration reports that a growing proportion of migrants are dying in their attempts to reach Europe. The mortality rate of migrants crossing the Mediterranean has risen for four consecutive years, and whereas 4 out of 1,000 migrants died en route in 2015, 24 out of 1,000 died in the first six months of 2018. This trend might be surprising given the growth in funding for Frontex and the inclusion of search-and-rescue operations in its mandate. Indeed, the agency is now tasked with saving lives at sea, and its budget has risen from 6 million in 2005 to 98 million in 2014 and 320 million in 2018. However, it is the protection of borders rather than the protection of lives that is the agencys raison detre. For instance, with the launch of the Operation Triton in 2014, the European Union limited Frontex patrols to within 30 miles of Italys coast, even though the majority of rescues take place much closer to Libya. Despite widespread talk of burden sharing, the European Unions migration policy centers not on solidarity and cooperation but rather on delegation. This leaves a small number of European countries, notably Italy and Greece, responsible for managing refugees and other migrants. This delegation of competences takes place inside the European Union particularly through the Dublin Regulation, which obliges asylum seekers to register in the first European country they enter. Junckers proposal to task Frontex with preventing secondary movements follows the regulations logic. Junckers plan also reflects the EU strategy of externalization, which places responsibility on non-European countries to contain refugees and other migrants. The strategy has led to an array of political agreements and technical initiatives, such as the 2016 EU-Turkey migration deal, training programs for Libyan border guards, and the deployment of Frontex to coordinate joint patrols along the central Mediterranean route. European leaders describe externalization as a way to show solidarity with countries beyond its borders, and as a means of providing humanitarian support. EU leaders emphasize how risky it is for migrants to cross the Mediterranean, arguing that they would be better off in their countries of birth or in neighbouring states. Most European countries justify their non-intervention in the migration crisis with references to the delegation of competencies. This conceals the way in which European leaders have designed a system that allows many of them to avoid dealing with the crisis altogether. In practice, the EUs delegation of responsibilities allows Frontex to transfer migrants to states with dubious human rights records, such as Turkey and Libya. Meanwhile, European leaders seem to implicitly explain migrant deaths as collateral damage arising from the enforcement of the law against illegal crossings. Thus, Junckers proposed reforms signal that the European Union has abandoned its aspiration to become a supranational guardian of human rights. Most European countries seem to have regressed to the cold logic of raison detat, which privileges the protection of state borders over the protection of peoples lives. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate , We're sorry, this article is not currently available Safta (South African Film and Television Awards) award-winning writer and actress Nkuli Sibeko shares a few thoughts with Daniel Dercken about her screenplay for film Table Manners; a refreshing look at contemporary life in South Africa and the true reality of current multi-cultural neighbourhoods and friendships - with the only divide being between the rich and the not-so-rich. No matter how good your table manners are, if you land up on the wrong side of the law, it will not help you much. Table Manners was inspired by your own love of cooking and your love for your family. Tell me more about this? Did your personal connection govern your writing of the screenplay or is the story purely fictional? Table Manners deals with a woman who loses her identity inside a marriage. What are your views on this? It also deals with two women whose friendship crosses a lot of cultural boundaries. The film also shows the important role food plays in our daily lives? It also deals with motherhood and how women deal with their children? Was it a difficult screenplay to write? How many years did it take from first inspiration to the first screening? How did it feel to watch your creation come to life on the big screen? Was it how you imagined it to be? Did you work with director Leli Maki Esq. on the screenplay? Does it make it easier to write such a character driven narrative by being an actress? Were you involved with the casting process and how do you feel about Diaan Lawrenson and Renate Stuurman bringing you characters to life? How do you see the current state of the South African film industry? How do you see the future for screenwriters in South Africa? Any advice for writers who would like to get their work out there? What do you think producers are looking for in South African stories? What do you hope audiences will get from watching Table Manners? Whats next for you? That is the harsh reality that Megan (Diaan Lawrenson) has to deal with when her fairytale life comes crashing down all thanks to her husband, Lloyd (Neels van Jaarsveld), who gets arrested for tax fraud, resulting in the family losing everything they own.As the storyline of the film unfolds after the rug is pulled out from under her, she has to try and rebuild herself and her life by rediscovering her love for cooking and the flavours of life that she has long since forgotten. With the help of her best friend, Lindiwe (Renate Stuurman), she learns that the path back home begins with realising that she is enough and that all she needs is her three courses of love family, friends, and food.I feel that cooking and eating is more than a biological need. I look at it as an emotional and sometimes (when I get things right) an artistic expression. Ive never met a recipe I havent altered or added something to. Made it my own, which is the beauty for people that love to cook. As a writer, I do the same thing, I understand the rules of a genre and then make them my own to tell a story in my own way. The same way I put my feeling into the food I feed my family and friends, is the same way I pour my emotions and feeling into my writing.The story is fiction but it was inspired by the end of my marriage. I used the writing process to deal with my feelings and experiences, I was finding a way to make my life and family work now that the marriage is over. Megans trial and error was a wonderful outlet and playground.This is a mistake. A huge mistake. One I made. I did this. I went into my marriage and sacrificed huge parts of myself to be a good wife, to be a good mother, and to be a good daughter-in-law. I gave up parts of my career, hobbies, and many friends to fit into some bizarre construct of what and who I was supposed to be now that I was a married woman. I even gave up my love for exploring and tinkering in the kitchen. That was the last straw.Friendship is universal. My friendships have saved my life. My friends are the family I have chosen for myself. I am lucky enough to live in South Africa where these people who I love and who love me are multicultural and dynamic. So portraying that in Table Manners was very important.We all have to eat. Its a human unifier. How we eat not only says a lot about where youre from but it also can say who you are and who youre becoming. For me, the adventure lies in these basic things. How a simple meal heals, creates joy, evokes memories. That is the power of food, family, and love.Motherhood is personal and individual. Every mother makes decisions for her kids and forms her family the way she wants it. The world tends to judge mothers too harshly for being human and has super human expectations towards them. I am lucky enough to have an amazing support system to catch my kids in case I cant. Lindiwe is that village and support system for Megan and a big part of this movie was showing other mothers out there that we all need a Lindiwe too.Yes. Balancing my emotions with those of the character was tough. I was using my feelings as a baseline which helped at the beginning but my feelings of anger hindered the story as I got further in the script. My co-producer and director Leli Maki helped me to balance the story out, letting fun moments breathe and be fun, digging deeper for the more emotional parts and letting those be ugly. I wanted to write a hero and I had to balance that out with her humanity and we ended up with a wonderful woman who stumbles but always gets up. Thats why we root for her.This process took three years from starting to put words on paper to the first screening.Thankfully I also produced so I was able to be part of the decision-making and the bringing to life of the words. I had to take a giant step back as a creative and let my director create his vision of the story. His vision is what we all watch when we see the film so once I handed over the script that was it, his word is final; tucking in my writers ego was, how do I put it, a daily exercise in personal growth!Leli Maki helped shape the narrative to keep it balanced and entertaining. Which was very important for days when I was writing from a very emotional place. He helped a create a distance between my feelings and Megans feelings for the benefit of the story.Yes, I start out writing characters I would like to play, characters that other actresses will have fun with. Basically the kind of women I think would be fun to bring to life. Then I have to take a mental step back and let them be themselves, for better or worse.Thorsten Wedekind is our casting director, he and Leli made most of the casting decisions and I come in on the final approval rounds. I loved their choices and still have my Vito votes tucked away! We lucked out because we got an amazing cast. I am so happy in how they brought the characters I wrote to life.I am hopeful about the industry. More and more people are able to tell their stories. And the audience is becoming more discerning forcing us to become better storytellers.We still have far to go. I worry about our lack of regulation, not just in cast and crew protections but in the protection and growth of the market as a whole. We are being flooded with foreign content and I worry that the film voices from outside are drowning our film voices out and not giving our movies chance.South African filmmakers need to do better. We need to find our own uniquely South African film style or voice and in order to do that we need to focus inwards, as filmmakers. We need to do better and push harder so we can find a true South African cinema that resonates with a paying cinema going audience.I think there are too few screenwriters in South Africa, I think it can only get better. Producers need to put the writers first because without them there are no stories to tell. Which is why I became I became a producer because I love myself, I love stories, and I love writers.Writers write because they have to. So write. Dont wait around for someone to give you money before you put the words on paper or on screen as the case may be. Every great screenwriter had the script first and then the money came after. Too many writers want to be paid up front. Sadly thats not how this business works. You create a beautiful script and then you sell it. Join a writers guild so you can learn how to protect your work, so you can network. But write. The more you write the better you become. Let people you trust read your work. Filmmaking is a collaborative process. Just read the credit list on your favourite film if you dont believe me.I dont know what other producers are looking for but as Jack & Jill Productions were looking for characters we want to get to know, characters we want to follow places, and go on adventures with. We want to explore places and points of view that are unpopular, genre-challenging stories that hopefully will get South Africans thinking and feeling.We as a company look for bold narratives that dont fit in the industry prescribed boxes. We are actively searching for our voice as writer, director, and producer.I hope the audience laughs and cries with Megan, and leaves feeling like whatever challenges they are going through, they have what it take to overcome them family, food, and love. Oh and, of course, leave hungry!Were producing Night Shift for SABC2, a 24-minute thriller series. And more movies! We are writing three projects at the moment. Heading into production on the first one in 2019, working titles areThe Horseman, Greengrass Summer Leaves, and The Crossing. National Drink Beer Day is Sept. 28 and luckily for Athens locals, there are many local breweries to choose from. Some may be thinking this is Chosen students in each of the two Clarke County High Schools now have the opportunity to participate in a three-year program preparing them f WINSTED Artistic accomplishment and social awareness are blended together in the nearly completed American Mural Project. We are all taking the same approach to learning. We are not directing students, we are helping them imagine what they would like to create, said Amy Wynn, the organizations first executive director. She is weeks into her new job, which was created specifically for someone with Wynns leadership skills in art administration. The projects executives recruited her for the position, she said. For 15 years, Wynn led the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council in the same role. She said the two positions have some similarities, but the mural project is planning far into the future. We want to create a good foundation for the institution that lasts long after we are gone, Wynn said. Im weaving together a team, as the administrator. We are thrilled to have Amy join us at this pivotal moment in our growth, Ellen Griesedieck, the founder of the project, wrote in a statement. With construction wrapping up in a few weeks, Amy will be overseeing all aspects of the organization as we begin to install the mural and prepare to open to the public. She launched the project in 2002 with the aim of creating the largest indoor collaborative artwork in the world a mural 120 feet long, 48 feet high, and up to 10 feet deep, the website states. As she began to plan the project, Griesedieck decided to invite students to help create the mural, according to the organization. To that end, more than 10,000 students from 17 states have participated in building the mammoth structure. From Connecticut to Colorado and Maine to Minnesota students have contributed to the mural, the website notes. With the completion of the decades-long project in sight, supporters are invited to gather 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday 9/29 for the Art of Work Gala. The event will be held in the former factory building at 100 Whiting St. in Winsted where the mural is being constructed. Help us celebrate the moment we have anticipated for almost two decades... in the giant new space that will be home to the American Mural Project, the invitation reads. The mural will be installed so it can be viewed from any level or angle, Wynn said. You can literally walk through the mural. Nothing describes what it looks like unless you go inside, said board member Joann Ryan, President & CEO Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce. Its extraordinary. Ryan noted that Griesedieck is a phenomenal artist. She did all of the labels for (Paul) Newmans products. To learn more, visit americanmurualproject.org. TORRINGTON Two new members were appointed to the Board of Education Wednesday night by a unanimous vote, to fill the seats of a Democrat and a Republican who resigned. Gary Eucalitto was nominated by the Democratic Town Committee, while the Republican Town Committee chose Cathleen M. Todor to represent its constituents. Eucallito was sworn into office as the first order of business. Todor was out of town and did not attend the meeting. Eucallito is an alumnus of Torrington High School and received an MBA from New York University. He changed party membership in June from the GOP to the Democratic party. Todor is a former principal of the Torringford School. The two new members join Jessica Richardson as the third board member to be nominated, rather than elected, to the vacant seat. Neither of the two newly appointed members could be reached for comment on Thursday. In other school board actions, Susan M. Lubomski, Interim Superintendent of Schools, announced that the district had received, for the first time, a $25,000 grant from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity program. The funding will help the school district and city provide internships for students ages16 to 21. Its a post-secondary model, Lubomski told the board. District grant writer Donna Labbe said the city is one of about 10 municipalities in the state to receive the funding. Those selected for the program will receive stipends, she said, to earn wages and work in local businesses. The grant will provide workplace opportunities for 41 students until December 2019, Labbe noted. We are very excited to offer students real world job experiences that will hopefully lead to more permanent employment, Lubomski wrote in a statement on Thursday. These internships will help the students better understand the skills they will need to be job ready as well as the types of opportunities they want to pursue in the future, Lubomski said. The agenda item that likely brought most of the audience members to the meeting was the recognition ceremony for the Teacher of the Year award. The recognitions are particularly important to the recipients because they are nominated by their peers. The District Teacher of the Year is Leanne Maguire from Torrington Middle School. The ParaEducator of the Year is Diane Pekrul of Torrington High School. Members of the custodial staff were also recognized by the superintendent for getting the schools ready in a timely way. Many buildings are not air conditioned and it was the most humid summer on record, Lubomski said. The next regular Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at Torrington High School, (CNN) A long-lost warship has been discovered off the coast of China after an extensive hunt to track down relics from from a naval battle fought more than a century ago. An archeological team had been searching for several years before it stumbled across a golden wooden name plaque bearing the name Jingyuan, says China's National Cultural Heritage Administration. Built at the famous Vulkan shipyard in Germany, the Jingyuan was incorporated into one of China's naval fleets in the late 1880s. It was lost at sea during the first Sino-Japanese war in September 1894 -- a conflict fought between the Qing Empire, which ruled China until 1912, and the Empire of Japan. The ship went down in the Yellow Sea alongside three other warships. After confirming the ship's identity, the archeology team scanned the seabed to find its exact location 12 meters (39 feet) below the water. Sand clearing operations revealed it is resting upside down but allowed the excavation of its contents. The team report that there are more than 500 relics remaining in the ship -- including ceramics, leather goods and glass. Old weapons and revolver bullets were also discovered. Experts say the find will have significance for the study of world naval history. This story was first published on CNN.com, "China-Japan war shipwreck discovered after 100 years." Incubeta is an international team of experts in marketing, technology, data, and creative. A court in Cambodia on Wednesday delivered suspended five-year sentences to four human rights activists and an official with the countrys National Election Committee (NEC) after convicting them of paying to silence a woman who allegedly had an affair with opposition chief Kem Sokha. Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Duch Sok Sarin announced the decision against Adhoc staffers Nay Vanda, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, and Lim Mony, and NEC deputy secretary-general Ny Chakrya, saying their jail term commenced on the day of their arrest in April 2016 and ended when they were released from pretrial detention on bail in June last year, and that the rest of their sentence is suspended. The five defendants were taken into custody in 2016 after being questioned by the countrys Anti-Corruption Unit amid accusations they had bribed Khom Chandaraty to deny that she had an affair with Kem Sokha, president of the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). RFAs Khmer Service was unable to reach the courts spokesman for comment on the case, which was decided in a one-day trial on Sept. 18. Adhoc spokesman Soeng Sen Karuna told RFA he believed the verdict to be unjust and said the rights group will speak with the five defendants to determine whether they want to appeal. The court didnt consider the defendants call to drop the case, he said, adding, We are very upset with our court system. Adhoc issued a joint statement on Wednesday along with 74 community organizations and unions, and 19 other rights groups, condemning the verdict in the trial during which Khom Chandaraty and four other witnesses were absent, and only two witness statements were read aloudpreventing cross-examination by the defense. Todays conviction is therefore clear retribution for their legitimate human rights work, the statement said. We call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally overturn these convictions, and to allow the four Adhoc staff members and NEC official to conduct their legitimate work to serve the Cambodian people unhindered, without threat or punishment. The statement called for the five to be afforded adequate remedy for the 427 days they spent in pre-trial detention and urged the government to ensure an enabling environment for the legitimate work of human rights defenders and civil society, in which fundamental freedoms can be fully enjoyed. International reaction International rights groups blasted Wednesdays decision as an example of Cambodias government using the courts to crack down on the work of civil society groups. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called in a statement on Wednesday for Cambodian authorities to immediately quash the politically motivated convictions of the five, with the groups Asia director Brad Adams saying the sentences show that Prime Minister Hun Sen intends to persecute human rights defenders even after cementing his power through Julys sham election. Kem Sokha was arrested in September last year on treason charges widely seen as politically motivated, and the Supreme Court dissolved his CNRP two months later for its part in an alleged plot to topple the government, banning its candidates from taking part in a July 29 general election that Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) steamrolled without any viable opponent. The political crackdown drew condemnation from Western governments who lamented Cambodias reversals on democracy, dismissed Julys ballot as unfree and unfair, and had demanded Kem Sokhas release and a reinstatement of the CNRP. Hun Sen, who secured another five-year term to add to his 33 years in office after official election results were announced on Aug. 15, has made a practice of heavy-handed crackdowns on his critics, followed by a relaxation of restrictions after facing international condemnation. Kem Sokha and several high-profile activists have been freed from detention in recent weeks. But Adams said that Wednesdays sentencing made it clear Hun Sens pardon of political prisoners after the election was just a public relations effort to regain international legitimacy. Foreign governments and donors should react strongly to these convictions or they can expect more and more cases, he said. The recent pardons followed international pressure, so now is the time to turn up the heat so that Hun Sen understands there will be significant costs if he doesnt reverse course. London-based Amnesty Internationals senior director of Global Operations Minar Pimple said in a statement that Wednesdays verdict and sentencing were a political outcome to a political case, adding that they must immediately and unconditionally be repealed. This is an obvious attempt to punish the activists for their peaceful human rights work, and deter them and others, he said. This case will cast a long shadow on Cambodias peaceful human rights activists, who have come under increasing assault by the authorities. This crackdown must end immediately. Amnesty noted that while Cambodia has released 20 people detained for rights work or expressing views critical of the government since the July election, most still have pending criminal charges or sentences that could be resumed at any time. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) chairperson Charles Santiago, a Malaysian member of parliament, called the sentences handed to the five defendants on Wednesday outrageous and a clear message that any form of dissentno matter how peacefulis unacceptable. Todays verdicts will have a chilling effect on civil society as a wholethese charges were politically motivated from the start and the convictions should be quashed immediately, he said in a statement. This also clearly shows that, despite the small concessions offered by Hun Sen in recent weeks, it is very much business as usual when it comes to human rights in Cambodia. The international community must continue to push for fundamental change, including the dropping of all charges against peaceful activists and government opponents. Defamation trial Also on Wednesday, Cambodias Supreme Court concluded hearings in Ny Chakryas appeal of his conviction on charges of defamation, malicious denunciation, and for comments intended to unlawfully coerce judicial authorities, issued by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sept. 22, 2016. The 2016 conviction, under Articles 305, 311, and 522 of Cambodias Criminal Code, followed a complaint by an investigating judge and a deputy prosecutor at the Siem Reap Provincial Court over comments Ny Chakrya allegedly made at two May 2015 press conferences for Adhocwhere he was a staffer at the timecalling for an investigation into legal irregularities related to a land dispute. Ny Chakryas lawyer Sam Sokong told RFA that he has requested that the Supreme Court judges drop his clients case. Ive asked the judge to drop all charges against him so he can have the full freedom necessary to fulfill his job as a deputy secretary-general for the NEC, he said. In a statement, rights group Licadho noted that the prosecution was absent from the proceedings on Wednesday, denying Ny Chakrya the right to confront his accusersas was the case at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court trial in 2016. Ny Chakryas right to prepare and conduct his defence for the initial court hearing and at the appeal court was also undermined as he was held in pre-trial detention at the time on charges of acting as an accomplice to bribery in a separate politically motivated case, the group added. The verdict in Ny Chakryas appeal trial is expected on Oct. 1. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. A court in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangxi has handed a suspended death sentence to an elderly man convicted of the killing of a local official during the forced demolition of homes in his village. Police from nearby Ganzhou city detained Ming Jingguo after he was accused of bludgeoning local Peoples Congress representative Zhuo Yu to death with a shovel on March 17, 2017 at a village in the city's Nankang district. The Ganzhou Intermediate People's court sentenced Ming to death, suspended for two years, after finding him guilty of the "intentional homicide" of Zhuo. The court found that Ming had reacted violently as his ancestral home was damaged by bulldozers brought in to demolish the house next door. However, Ming's family home was indeed demolished after the attack, his son told RFA on Thursday. "Ming rushed to the scene with a shovel, and battered the head of local official Zhuo several times, causing him to die," the judgment said. "The court held that Ming Jingguo deliberately deprived the victim of his life, and that his behavior constituted the crime of intentional homicide," it said, adding that the crime was cruel, malignant, and had very serious consequences. But Ming's confession that he had "mistakenly believed" the earth-digger to be starting to demolish his home, his truthful account of the facts of the crime, and his subsequent remorse led the court to suspend his death sentence for two years, it said. The case is a sensitive one in China, where petitioners have long complained of arbitrary detentions, beatings, and other forms of official retaliation after they lodge complaints, often about forced evictions, demolitions, and the loss of their farmland. 'Miscarriage of justice' Mings son Ming Bangwei told RFA that his father had said he disagreed with the sentence when asked for his response in court. "As soon as he heard the sentence, he immediately said that he wanted to appeal, and that this was a miscarriage of justice," Ming Bangwei said on Thursday. "The judgment was extremely biased in favor of the government, and the whole thing is very unjust." "Lawyer Liu Wenhua told me that he could get a lighter sentence, based on the details of the case," he said. "But in the end, they didn't do that. They just want to save face for the government by oppressing vulnerable groups like us." Ming Bangwei said his father took issue with the government's account that he misunderstood the situation. "It's those words, 'mistakenly believed,' that are the tricky ones," he said. "Our government doesn't like to admit to the lengths it will go to." "It is a fact clear as day that they demolished our home, so there was no mistake about it," Ming Bangwei said. Lawyer Liu Wenhua declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Thursday. "I can't give media interviews," Liu said, before hanging up. And Ming's former defense attorney, who pulled out of the case citing health issues, also declined to comment. A rights lawyer surnamed Wen said the authorities hadn't gone through the proper legal procedures before showing up at the Mings' village with a demolition team. "If they had, then Ming Jingguo's actions would indeed have been excessive, and he wouldn't have been given a suspended death sentence," Wen said. "But the court isn't going to admit that the local government broke the law." He said Ming's age meant it likely he would be able to apply for release on medical parole after a few years' good behavior. "The prisons don't like having to keep elderly people inside ... because they can't do labor and they get sick and have to be given medical treatment," Wei said. Intentional homicide In 2016, authorities in the northern city of Shijiazhuang executed Jia Jinglong, who fatally shot a local official with a nail gun in protest over the forced demolition of his home, in spite of a massive public campaign for a reprieve. Jias execution came after his death sentence was reviewed and approved by the Supreme People's Court in Beijing. In a case that became emblematic of widespread anger over social injustice in China, the highest court ruled that Jia's crime was "extremely serious," and merited the death penalty. Jia had pleaded guilty from the start to shooting his former village chief He Jianhua in the head with a nail gun, and to planning the attack, including his getaway vehicle. He was convicted of intentional homicide and sentenced to death, and also deprived of his political rights for life on Nov. 24, 2015, by the Shijiazhuang court, and his appeal to the provincial-level court was rejected last May. Lawyers said the Supreme Court's review of Jia Jinglongs case didn't take into consideration the allegations of illegal and corrupt dealings linked to village land sales and forced demolitions, and ran counter to current policies requiring caution when applying the death penalty. Reported by Yang Fan for RFAs Mandarin Service, and by Wong Siu-san and Wen Yuqing for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Taiwan on Thursday approved plans to raise fines for illegal funds flowing in from mainland China, as part of a package of new rules aimed at tightening national security in the face of growing tensions with Beijing. The democratic island's cabinet approved the plan to raise the maximum fine for unauthorized Chinese investments to more than U.S.$800,000, its Central News Agency reported. The security package targeting funding that may be political in origin, includes sanctions against companies that "evade, refuse, or try to block" government inspections of their situation, media reports said. The rules, part of legislation governing ties with mainland China, will now go before lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan, and will increase penalties for Chinese nationals, organizations, or institutions that invest in Taiwan by posing as a foreign investor from a third country. Premier William Lai said the changes had improved the "proportionality" of the current system, as well as introducing more flexible implementation measures. He called for further debate among lawmakers, officials, and the judiciary on the proposed changes. Earlier this month, education authorities in Taiwan called on institutions to be wary of giving a political platform to visiting scholars and educators from mainland China. Academia Sinica researcher Lin Thung-Hong said the island's officials want hosting institutions to beware of changing circumstances under the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping. "There is a strong trend towards political censorship, to the extent that all PhD and Master's holders must have come through the mainland Chinese censorship system," Lin told RFA in a recent interview. "I have seen thesis rejection slips, with the comments that they are 'anti-party' or 'anti-socialism'," he said. And Cheng Chi-peng, associate professor at Taiwan's Tsinghua University, said China had recently offered to boost the amount of scholarship funding available for Taiwan students studying in China, but only if they signed up to the "One China" principle, which claims Taiwan as a renegade province and part of China's territory. Meanwhile, experts say that unmarked Chinese money is already flowing into Taiwan, much of it in the guise of funding from a third country or third party. Yeh Kai-ping, who heads the economic affairs department of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), said the rules had been changed to stem illegal flows of capital from mainland China into Taiwan's stock market. "Some mainland Chinese enterprises have evaded inspection by the authorities, so that has also been listed as a punishable offense," Yeh said. "However, some funds coming to Taiwan from mainland China are pretty small amounts, so it is up to the relevant authorities to issue punishments according the gravity of the circumstances, in a proportional manner." Much is concealed MAC deputy chairwoman Lee Li-chen said much incoming investment from China remains invisible to the authorities. "A lot of mainland investments are concealed, and are even made through impersonation or borrowed [identities]," Lee said. "We are currently seeing some cases of that happening." New Power Party lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang agreed, citing the example of a mainland Chinese investment company that has been speculating on shares in Taiwan-based conglomerate Tatung. "Currently, our capital markets in Taiwan lack rigor and discipline," Huang told RFA. "The criminal profits of these illegal activities in our capital market must be confiscated under our legal framework, and investors compensated for loss and damage resulted from [their activities]." Meanwhile, further legislation is in the pipeline to ban former military, intelligence, and high-ranking public servants with high-level security clearance from attending political activities hosted by senior Chinese officials, honoring the flag or other symbols of the People's Republic of China, or behaving in ways that "damage Taiwans dignity," for 15 years after their retirement. Violators could face the loss of their pension. Retired top military officials will also be banned from traveling to China for three to six years after retirement, depending on their situation. Shrine demolished The moves come as authorities in Taiwan's Changhua county this week began demolishing a shrine to the Chinese Communist Party on the site of a former Buddhist temple, sending in hundreds of police and security guards to "maintain order" at the site. The Changhua county government and police dispatched 14 heavy bulldozers to raze the temple on Wednesday, much of which was illegally built by retired military officer Wei Ming-jen as a "base for patriotic education and socialist thought." Wei has previously claimed that Beijing supports his activities, which included blaring the Chinese national anthem across the valley during daily ceremonies at the temple to raise the flag of the People's Republic of China. Portraits of late supreme Chinese leader Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai had replaced Buddhist art on the walls, while Wei had announced his determination to "speed up the reunification" of Taiwan with the People's Republic of China. The demolition comes amid public concerns that Wei may be an agent of the Chinese state, or at least supported by Beijing's United Front Work Department, and amid criticism of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for not doing enough to prevent the temple from taking shape in the first place. China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is gradually preparing for a possible invasion of Taiwan, according to a military analysis published by the Pentagon in Washington earlier this year. Armed forces under the Chinese Communist Party "continued to develop and deploy increasingly advanced military capabilities intended to coerce Taiwan, signal Chinese resolve, and gradually improve capabilities for an invasion," the U.S. Department of Defense said in an annual report on China's military capabilities. Support for self-rule Taiwan was ruled as a Japanese colony in the 50 years prior to the end of World War II, but was handed back to the Republic of China under the nationalist Kuomintang government as part of Tokyo's post-war reparation deal. When the regime fled to Taiwan in 1947 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communist troops, the Republic of China government ceased to control most of China, though it continues to be the official name of the Taiwan government. The island began a transition to democracy following the death of Chiang's son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, in January 1988, starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996. Recent opinion polls indicate that there is broad political support for self-rule in Taiwan, where the majority of voters identify as Taiwanese rather than Chinese. But Beijing regards the island as part of China, and has threatened to invade if Taiwan seeks formal independence. Beijing has meanwhile succeeded in isolating Taiwan diplomatically by insisting that its diplomatic partners break off ties with Taipei under the "One China" policy. Reported by Chung Kuang-cheng for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Hsia Hsiao-hwa for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Liu Xia, widow of late Nobel peace laureate and prisoner of conscience Liu Xiaobo, has made her first trip to the United States since beginning a new life in Germany following eight years under house arrest. Liu appeared on Wednesday evening at an award ceremony and panel discussion in New York, where Germany-based Chinese writer and close friend Liao Yiwu received an award from the Vaclav Havel Foundation. She received immediate applause from the audience on entering the venue, but said little about her situation, or her experiences under house arrest, other than to thank her supporters. "I would like to thank the Vaclav Havel Foundation for inviting me to come here on this trip, and everyone here," she told the audience. Liu shared a brief anecdote from the period she spent with her husband shortly before his death in July 2017. "I got a message from the Kafka office in Prague," she told the panel, who has described her years under house arrest as "more absurd than anything Kafka could have written." "One of the questions they asked was whether one day he would return to the public eye, and whether he had the power to rally the public ... and I told Xiaobo that I can't see how that could happen," she said, adding: "Liu Xiaobo smiled after hearing that." Liu Xia added: "Thank you, too, to all of the friends who have worked so hard on my behalf in the past few years." But Liu also told the audience she wouldn't "say much more" about her life or that of her late husband. Nervous and under pressure U.S.-based legal scholar and rights activist Teng Biao said she appeared nervous and under pressure during her first public appearance since her exile. "This was the first time Liu Xia has spoken in public, but overall it seems as if she is still under a huge amount of pressure," Teng told RFA. "Perhaps it's that she feels uncomfortable discussing her relationship with Liu Xiaobo in front of everyone." "But it could also be that she is worried that her family members back home in China could be affected [by anything she says overseas]," he said. Teng said Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia and Liao Yiwu were all perfect examples of the theme of the panel discussion, "The Power of the Powerless," which examined the effects of totalitarian suppression on dissidents. "They are extremely good examples of the power of the powerless, and the impact that speaking the truth can have," he said. "[Also of how] the power of [individual] conscience will always emerge ... these are deeply political forces of resistance." Life in exile Liu Xia, a 57-year-old poet and artist, arrived to begin a life in exile in Germany last July, after months of uncertainty over her fate. She had been held by China's state security police under house arrest from the time her then-jailed husband's Nobel Prize was announced in October 2010, and was only seen briefly in public at Liu Xiaobo's funeral in July 2017. Liu Xiaobo died on July 13, 2017 of late-stage liver cancer, while serving an 11-year jail term for subversion, and the authorities denied requests for him and Liu Xia to travel overseas to seek medical treatment. He was detained in 2008 after co-authoring a call for sweeping political change in China, titled Charter 08 and sentenced a year later, on Christmas Day, 2009. Eyewitnesses say he played a crucial role in negotiating a truce between student protesters and People's Liberation Army troops sent in to end the protests at Beijings Tiananmen Square on the night of June 3-4, 1989, enabling hundreds to leave safely. Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Shi Shan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Myanmars largest non-state army has recently detained almost 100 Christian pastors and conscripted bible students into its ranks as fighters in self-declared autonomous areas bordering China and Thailand in Shan state, local sources said Thursday. The move by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a 30,000-strong ethnic armed group comprising the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), comes amid a campaign to suppress Christianity in the areas under its control. Rev. Lazarua spokesman for the regions ethnic Lahu Baptist communitytold RFAs Myanmar Service that 92 pastors are now being held by the armed group, citing witnesses who have fled UWSA control. The UWSA has also forcibly recruited 41 male and female students who were taking bible studies classes in various churches, and 52 churches in the Mongpauk area have been shut down, and three have been destroyed, he said. Because the areas under UWSA control are now cut off, we cannot go there, and so we will hold a prayer ceremony on Oct. 7, Lazaru said. We have about 400 followers, and well pray for the quick release of our brethren who have been taken away. On Sept. 6, the UWSA issued a six-point statement that has since been circulating on Facebook, sources told RFA in earlier reports. The statement says that all churches, missionaries, school teachers, and clergy members must be investigated and that a list of all churches in Wa-controlled areas must be drawn up. Churches built after 1989except for one built in 1992 with the governments permissionmust be destroyed, and new ones cannot be built, in a measure to prevent people from converting to Christianity. The statement also prohibits ethnic Wa organizations or committees from becoming involved in support groups at churches and bans the teaching of religious lessons or beliefs at government schools. It also requires all religious leaders to be local residents of the Wa region and to conduct their work activities only with the permission of the Wa government under the rules and regulations of UWSA headquarters. Reported by Kyaw Htun Naing for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Richard Finney. Nebi Hajim and Nur Muhammet are Uyghurs from northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) who have conducted business in Russias capital Moscow for many years. Uyghurs working overseas have regularly experienced problems renewing their travel documents and have often been forced to return home since April 2017, when Chinese authorities began jailing or detaining members of the ethnic group accused of harboring strong religious views and politically incorrect ideas in political re-education camps throughout the XUAR. In many cases, those who travel back to the region are taken into custody within minutes of their arrival. Hajim and Muhammet recently spoke to RFA about how their situation in Moscow has changed amid Chinas policy of mass arrests in the XUAR and the dangers of working abroad as a Uyghur with a Chinese passport. RFA: What kind of difficulties are Uyghur businessmen facing in Russia these days? Hajim: Currently we are unable to renew our passports, and the [Uyghur businessmen] in Central Asia are also facing the same situation. Many peoples passports have expired because the Chinese Embassy refused to renew them. [Chinese authorities] are asking people to return to the country. But if we choose to return home, we will be locked up in a prison straightaway and left to rot there. RFA: We have heard that there used to be a significant number of Uyghurs involved in business in Moscowmany from Atush (in Chinese, Atushi) city [in the XUARs Kizilsu Kirghiz (Kezileisu Keerkezi) Autonomous Prefecture]but the number has dwindled. Do you know what happened to those who returned home? Hajim: All those who returned were arrested on arrival and taken to re-education camps or prison. There was a man named Memet Hajim who went back and was arrested at the airport on arrival. He also had a young cousin, his brothers son, who was 19 or 20 years old. He went back in January this year and was also taken away straight from the airport on landing This is a common scenario at the moment. RFA: So if your passport has expired, will it be difficult for you to travel and do business? Hajim: Yes, that is correct. We cant travel anywhere We are in an extremely difficult situation, as we Uyghurs now have no home to return to, no one to rely on, and we are left wandering in fear in a foreign land. Those whose passports have expired must hide them and tell the police lies when being approached and checkedit is impossible to travel because of the risk. That is how we manage each day. We Uyghurs are in a very vulnerable situation. RFA: How many [Uyghur] businessmen are currently in Moscow? Hajim: I think there may be around 10. There used to be 30 or 40 of us, and also quite a lot of students. But now not many are left. [The Chinese authorities] have created such an environment of fear everywhere. People are either being taken away or disappeared. RFA: Why are people returning home? Hajim: Memet Hajims brother said he had people who would protect his son when he returned, but despite arriving at the airport with a Uyghur policeman, his son was arrested on landing and taken away. Memet Hajim said that as his family was never involved in inappropriate matters, they should be fine, but he was also arrested and taken away. There are many people who have been arrested upon landing at the airport after arriving from [Kyrgyzstans capital] Bishkek and [Kazakhstans largest metropolis] Almaty. RFA: Do you know any cases in which the family members, parents, and siblings have been taken hostage by the authorities as a way of pressuring and forcing people living abroad to return to China? Hajim: There are plenty of such casesmost of our family members are locked up. Many households have no one left. Many houses are padlocked from the outside. RFA: This must have badly affected your business. Hajim: Yes, every aspect of our lives has been ruined. Our family, children, financeseverything! I dont know if this is a test from Allah, but we are being bullied and terribly mistreated. We miscalculated RFA: We have heard that there are many Uyghur businessmen who have been arrested on their return to the XUAR. Do you know any of their names? Muhammet: There was a man called Muhemmetjan who was interned. As far as I know, there are at least three businessmen who were arrested at the airport on arrival after flying from Moscow. RFA: What are their names? Muhammet: Muhemet Ablet, Ismetulla Ablimit, who is 24 or 25, and Yusupjan, who is 19 years old. RFA: They were all arrested at the airport? Muhammet: Yes. Having learned that Muhemet Ablet and Yusupjan were arrested on arrival at the Urumqi airport, Ismetulla Ablimit took a flight from Moscow to Beijing, as we thought that might be the safest option for him. However, he was also arrested on arrival at the Beijing airport. RFA: What about the 19-year-old man? Muhammet: He is Muhemet Ablets nephew. We tried to stop him from going back, as we knew from previous cases that he was at risk of being incarcerated, but his father insisted that if he didnt return it would cause serious consequences for his other children, who are attending school. RFA: Did he fly to Urumqi? Muhammet: Yes, and he was arrested on landing. His father was also arrested and was taken to Atush. RFA: Do you know any other people who were arrested after returning home? Muhammet: I heard there have been many similar cases [of people returning from] elsewhere, but I only know the names of those who returned from Moscow. There arent many Uyghur businessmen here now Almost everybodys passports have expired, but when they go to the Chinese Embassy for an extension, they are refused and told they must return to China to sort things out. In other words, we must return so they can incarcerate us. These are very complicated matters[the Chinese governments] policies towards our people have always been treacherous. However, we miscalculated in thinking that we [businessmen] wouldnt be their target. Now they have exposed their true intentions, and they are arresting people indiscriminately, whether they are loyal agents [of the ruling Communist Party] or traitors. Reported by Eset Sulaiman for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by RFAs Uyghur Service. The Russian government and media are casting doubt on a new report claiming to reveal the true identity of a Russian man Britain accuses of the nerve-agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in southern England. The September 26 report by the investigative website Bellingcat and its Russian partner, The Insider, claims to have conclusively demonstrated that the poisoning suspect known publicly as "Ruslan Boshirov" is, in fact, a decorated colonel in the Russian military whose real name is Anatoly Chepiga. Russia has repeatedly denied and mocked British allegations that it is responsible for the March poisoning of Skripal and his daughter with the Soviet-developed toxin Novichok in the city of Salisbury. Earlier this month, Britain announced charges against the man known as Boshirov and his associate, known as "Aleksandr Petrov." Both men publicly acknowledged being in Salisbury at the time of the poisoning but said they had arrived as tourists -- a claim that British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman called "an insult to the public's intelligence." British officials have not publicly confirmed the details in the September 26 report by Bellingcat and The Insider, though Reuters cited two unidentified "European security sources" familiar with the investigation into the Skripal poisoning as saying that they were accurate. British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson, meanwhile, said on Twitter following the report that the "true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects has been revealed to be a Russian colonel" but subsequently deleted the tweet without explanation. Here's a look at how Moscow has dismissed the alleged revelation of the poisoning suspect's true identity -- and how Russian media outlets have cast doubt on the new report. 'Diverting Attention' Asked about the Bellingcat report on a regular conference call with reporters on September 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Many people look alike, but I cannot tell you who this citizen who was pointed out in this investigation is." Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said the two men shown in British surveillance footage near Skripal's home in the English city of Salisbury were civilians on a tourist trip. Asked to comment on Putin's words after the new Bellingcat report, Peskov said: "The president said that these people were civilians. Thus, he voiced the information that he had received.... You and I know nothing about these people's past, it is outside our [job] function." He said Russian officials would look into the information brought to light by the report. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, suggested in a Facebook post late on September 26 that the release of the report was deliberately timed to coincide with May's address at the UN Security Council "during which she again aired accusations against Russia." During the address, May said Russia "recklessly deployed a nerve agent on our streets" and accused Moscow of seeking "to obfuscate through desperate fabrication" in connection with the poisoning. "There is no proof, so an information campaign is continuing with the primary goal of diverting attention to the main question: WHAT HAPPENED IN SALISBURY?" Zakharova wrote. She did not provide any substantive rebuttal of details reported by Bellingcat and The Insider. 'Typical Conspiracy Theory' A senior Russian lawmaker laughed off the report with a reference to Major Pronin, a fictional Soviet-era secret agent who successfully battled spies and generated scores of popular jokes revolving around the character's incredible counterespionage abilities. "It's a typical conspiracy theory," Frants Klintsevich of the defense committee in Russia's upper house of parliament, told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. "You could just as easily say Ruslan Boshirov is named Major Pronin, if one recalls such a character from Soviet-era jokes." Klintsevich added: "What we warned about is continuing." "More and more details will accumulate so that the plot doesn't get dull," he was quoted as saying. "Interestingly, one gets the impression that the British media are working hand in glove with authorities. And that's completely depressing." 'Complete Nonsense' A Russian news outlet owned by Klintsevich's fellow lawmaker, Vitaly Bogdanov, published interviews with a retired major-general in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) who claimed documents used in the investigation by Bellingcat and The Insider could not have made their way into the public domain. If they carried out this task as has been told and described, then they acted completely unprofessionally: roaming around the city, being filmed by video cameras." Dutch authorities say seven men were arrested on September 27 in the Netherlands on suspicion of plotting a large-scale extremist attack. The national prosecutor's office said in a statement that heavily armed police arrested the men in the towns of Arnhem, about 100 kilometers south of Amsterdam, and Weert in the southern Netherlands, close to the borders of Germany and Belgium. The statement said the probe was triggered by intelligence suggesting the alleged ring leader, a 34-year-old man of Iraqi heritage, wanted to carry out an attack at the venue of a large event and cause multiple casualties. The suspects allegedly wanted to use suicide vests and automatic rifles and planned to detonate a car bomb at another location, prosecutors said. An investigation of potential targets is continuing. Prosecutors said the suspects were aged from 21 to 34. Three of them, including the 34-year-old Iraqi, were previously convicted of attempting to travel overseas to join extremist groups. The men were to be brought before an investigating judge on September 28 at a behind-closed-door hearing. Based on reporting by AP and Reuters AQTAU, Kazakhstan -- French journalist Vincent Prado has been detained in Kazakhstan while investigating the 2011 deadly protests in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen. Prado's interpreter, Danara Ismetova, told RFE/RL by phone that police on September 27 detained her and Prado in Aqtau, the capital of the Manghystau region, and took them to a local police station. A representative of the Kazakh migration police, Zhandos Qalmyrzaev, confirmed to RFE/RL that Prado and Ismetova were in custody but declined to give any details as to why they had been detained. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the Kazakh authorities to immediately release Prado, saying that "his detention constitutes an unjustified obstruction of press freedom." According to the RSF, Prado has Kazakh press accreditation. Kazakh police shot dead at least 16 people during a crackdown on an oil workers' protest in Zhanaozen in December 2011. International and domestic human rights groups condemned the repression against the protesters, who were demanding payment of overdue salaries. Dozens of activists, several police, and local officials were sentenced to prison terms afterward. Most of Kazakhstan's leading independent and opposition media outlets were banned following the crackdown. Kazakhstan is ranked 158th out of 180 countries in RSFs 2018 World Press Freedom Index. It was supposed to honor Iranians killed during the devastating Iran-Iraq war, but a billboard in the central Iranian city of Shiraz instead provoked mockery and was removed after it emerged that it featured not Iranian but Israeli soldiers. The mistake prompted the head of the city council in Shiraz to order an investigation into how images of the soldiers of Israel -- Iran's long-declared enemy -- made it onto the billboard. The billboard featured an altered image showing the backs of three male soldiers standing on a ridge looking out at the clouds. It was erected last week to mark the 38th anniversary of the start of the 1980-88 war that killed an estimated 500,000 Iranian and Iraqi soldiers, in addition to a similar number of civilians. Soon after it was erected, locals noticed that the soldiers on the billboard were wearing Israel military uniforms, prompting a wave of criticism and mockery on social media. It also emerged that a female soldier seen in the original was cut out of the altered image: One Twitter user, @bahmanazadi124, wrote on September 27: In a revolutionary move to commemorate Martyrs Week, officials in Shiraz have erected a large photo of three soldiers from the Israeli army! The user employed a pun on revolutionary, which refers to Irans clerical establishment that came to power after the Islamic Revolution in 1979: Even the official Persian Twitter account of Israels Foreign Ministry mocked the billboard: A parody account, @TheMossadIL, named after Israels intelligence agency, Mossad, tweeted on September 26: Mission Completed: Shiraz, Iran. A tribute to the martyrs. Pictured: IDF [Israeli defense Force] Soldiers. The tweet ended with a thank you in Persian: The controversial billboard was taken down on September 26, with Iranians taking photos of its removal: Sayyed Ahmadreza Dastgheyb, the head of Shiraz City Council, on September 27 called for an investigation into why the image of what he described as "soldiers from the usurper Zionist regime was used" and said that it would be necessary to "deal seriously" with those responsible, the semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted him as saying. "It is necessary to review the issue urgently," he said. President Gjorge Ivanov has called for voters to boycott an upcoming referendum on Macedonia's name change, saying the country was being asked to commit "historical suicide." "Voting in a referendum is a right, not an obligation," Ivanov said on September 27 in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Macedonians are due to go to the polls on September 30 to vote on an agreement its new Socialist government led by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev reached with Greece this year to change the countrys name to North Macedonia. The name dispute between Skopje and Athens dates back to 1991, when Macedonia peacefully broke away from Yugoslavia, declaring its independence under the name Republic of Macedonia. Greece has objected to the name Macedonia, saying it implies territorial claims on the northern Greek region with the same name. Greece, a NATO and European Union member, has cited the dispute to veto Macedonia's bid to join the two organizations. If the deal goes ahead, Greece will lift objections to Macedonia joining NATO and the EU. "On September 30, I will not go out and vote and I know that you, my fellow citizens, will make a similarly wise decision," Ivanov told the UN General Assembly. Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy with an executive government where the power rests in the hands of the prime minister, while the president has a mostly ceremonial role. Pro-Europe Zaev faces opposition to the name change, mainly from nationalists among the countrys 2.1 million people. Ivanov, a close ally of the conservative opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, has been a staunch opponent of the deal and called the name change a "noose" and a "flagrant violation of sovereignty." He has also criticized U.S. and EU officials who have visited Macedonia in recent weeks for suggesting that the name change offers Macedonia's only hope of ever joining NATO and the European Union. U.S. and European officials have accused Russia of interfering against the name change, while a pro-democracy group said it had uncovered an extensive online effort to suppress voter turnout for the referendum. The Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, whose members span the political spectrum and include such luminaries as former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, said the voter suppression effort appears aimed at defeating the September 30 plebiscite. Recent polls suggest that the online vote suppression effort could have an effect on the referendum's outcome, with over 70 percent of voters currently supporting the name change, but just under 58 percent of voters saying they intend to vote. There is clearly a concerted effort to thwart the democratic rights of Macedonians and delegitimize the referendum vote, the commission said in a statement. Macedonians alone must decide what future they want for their country. We urge them to make their voice heard this Sunday. The local authorities, together with the international community, must take all necessary measures to ensure the integrity of Sundays vote, and that no malign action will go unpunished. The commission said it has been unable as yet to locate the origin of the apparent campaign to interfere in the Macedonian vote. It said its social media monitoring tool has detected an increase in automated bots posting messages on Twitter over the past 50 days and an increase in activity of new and existing automated accounts over the past week. The bots involved in the campaign are sharing posts that support a boycott of the referendum, it said. The commission said the level of political activity seen on Twitter over the Macedonian referendum surpasses what it observed in other recent elections where allegations of outside interference occurred, including the recent Mexican and Italian elections. The commission said it has also found evidence of a covert financial campaign from individuals in Greece and Macedonia to support anti-referendum groups. With reporting by AP and AFP Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on other countries to help stop Russian aggression in his country, saying that combating such "expansionism" is part of the United Nations' mission. Poroshenko used much of his speech before the UN General Assembly on September 26 to lambaste Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and since then has backed a separatist war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,300 people. Poroshenko said nothing will stop what he called Russia's "aggressive expansionist policies" unless world nations come together to confront Moscow's leaders. "It's up to us to make them care. Otherwise, what's the idea of us being here?" he asked. Russia did not have an immediate response to Poroshenko's speech. The Kremlin has denied any direct involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In a separate forum at the UN, the Russian news agency Interfax reported that Poroshenko repeated his call for a UN peacekeeping operation in Ukraine, saying that it would help restore Ukraine's "sovereignty and territorial integrity." "I am confident that a multilateral peacekeeping force with a mandate from the UN with the clear goal of restoring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine could be the key factor in stopping the suffering of the Ukrainian people. We believe there is no better way than to start such an operation under the UN aegis," Poroshenko was quoted as saying at an Action for Peacekeeping meeting. Poroshenko at the forum thanked Germany, France, and the United States for "mobilizing international support for this initiative," though the UN has never approved his request for peacekeepers. Russia, which has veto power on the UN Security Council, has opposed Kyiv's request for a broad peacekeeping mission, though it has called for a narrower UN mission to provide protection for European war monitors in Ukraine. Based on reporting by AP and Interfax A pro-democracy group says it has uncovered an extensive online effort to suppress voter turnout for a critical referendum in Macedonia on changing its name to accelerate its bid to join NATO and the European Union. The Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, whose members span the political spectrum and include such luminaries as former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, said the voter-suppression effort appeared aimed at defeating the referendum on September 30, which requires a 50 percent turnout to be valid. The ballot will ask Macedonians to vote on an agreement its new Socialist government reached with Greece this year to change the country's name to North Macedonia. If voters agree to the name change, the referendum would eventually pave the way for Macedonia to join the EU and NATO. Recent polls suggest that the online vote-suppression effort could have an effect on the referendum's outcome, with over 70 percent of voters currently supporting the name change, but just under 58 percent of voters saying they intend to vote. "There is clearly a concerted effort to thwart the democratic rights of Macedonians and delegitimize the referendum vote," the commission said in a statement. "Macedonians alone must decide what future they want for their country. We urge them to make their voice heard this Sunday. The local authorities, together with the international community, must take all necessary measures to ensure the integrity of Sunday's vote, and that no malign action will go unpunished." The commission said it had been unable as yet to locate the origin of the apparent campaign to interfere in the Macedonian vote. It said its social-media-monitoring tool had detected an increase in automated bots posting messages on Twitter over the past 50 days, and an increase in activity of new and existing automated accounts over the past week. The bots involved in the campaign are sharing posts that support a boycott of the referendum sponsored by opposition parties and politicians in Macedonia, it said. The commission said the level of political activity seen on Twitter over the Macedonian referendum surpassed what it observed in other recent elections where allegations of outside interference occurred, including the recent Mexican and Italian elections. The commission said it had also found evidence of a covert financial campaign from individuals in Greece and Macedonia to support antireferendum groups. TASHKENT -- A prominent Uzbek human rights activist and outspoken critic of late President Islam Karimov has returned to Uzbekistan after spending more than a decade in exile in France. Tolib Yoqubov was greeted by his relatives, friends, and fellow rights activists at the Tashkent airport on September 26. Fearing for his safety, the founder of the Uzbek Human Rights Society fled the country in 2007 and the authorities withdrew his citizenship in 2014. Yoqubov told RFE/RL that officials at the Uzbek Embassy in Paris contacted him in mid-August to inform him that he could come to Uzbekistan with one-year visa. The 78-year-old activist is the holder of a French passport. It was not immediately clear whether his Uzbek citizenship will be reinstated. Yoqubov was allowed to return to Uzbekistan ahead of President Shavkat Mirziyoevs expected visit to France next month. Mirziyoev has been vowing to improve Uzbekistan's dismal human rights record and shaking up government structures -- in particular the powerful security service and Interior Ministry -- since he came to power following the death of long-ruling Karimov in 2016. In July, Uzbek authorities allowed journalist Muhammad Bekjon to leave the country more than a year after his release from prison. The 64-year-old journalist had spent almost 18 years behind bars. MOSCOW -- On the morning of September 25, 34-year-old Nadezhda Zagordan, a member of the municipal council of Moscow's Izmailovo district, opened her apartment door to find a bloody, severed pig's head on her doorstep with a knife sticking out of its skull. The previous morning, the same surprise was waiting outside the apartment door of Zagordan's mother. Police, so far, have not opened a criminal investigation. "They left not one pig's head, but two," Zagordan, who was elected as an independent candidate, told RFE/RLs Russian Service. "And not only outside my apartment, but outside the apartment where my parents live. This happened practically at once. Of course, I see this as a threat of physical violence." WATCH: Zagordan speaks to RFE/RL's Russian Service about the incident Zagordan is one member of a unique class of local officials in Moscow who came to office during the surprising elections of September 2017. At that time, truly independent and opposition-minded figures won about 20 percent of the 1,502 local council seats up for grabs in the capital, compared to 77 percent for the ruling United Russia party. Those modest results were hailed as a small but significant signal that the Kremlin was ready to tolerate genuine political pluralism for the first time since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000 -- hopes that the Kremlin itself helped to fan. "This is excellent," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time. "They will take part in the life of the city and demonstrate their effectiveness. This is pluralism. This is political competition." "I always thought the region had to have independent representatives," Zagordan said when asked why she ran for office in 2017, "in order to inform people about upcoming changes, dangerous situations, and budget decisions. Because of all this, I decided to become a deputy and won in 2017 with a majority of voter support." Former Duma Deputy and opposition figure Dmitry Gudkov said at the time that the 2017 vote sent "a very important signal." One year later, the political signals in Moscow are coming in the form of severed pig heads and vandalized cars. "I have had other threats as well," Zagordan said. "In June, my car was vandalized, and they threw acid into it. I had to sell the car for parts. And that wasn't the first such case. Other deputies have also been threatened." In June, fellow Izmailovo district council member Anastasia Muralova, 29, was attacked on the street by someone who poured motor oil on her. That attack came shortly after Muralova successfully halted street repairs in the district that were being carried out illegally without a contract. On September 11, Vitaly Tretyukhin, a council member from the Pechatniki district, found the rear window of his car smashed with a brick. A severed pig's head had been left in the vehicle. In Tretyukhin's case, his supporters believe the incident was connected with the council member's work to halt illegal trash dumping at Moscow Oblast landfills, although they also suspect it could be over his exposure of corruption in local revitalization projects. Zagordan is also convinced the threats against her are politically motivated. "I have been involved in rather a lot of matters," she said. "And each matter has participants who are not interested in certain things becoming public or attracting the attention of the police. Absolutely any case could lead to actions like this. But I can't concretely point to any specific one." Over the last year, the new opposition council members, many of whom are associated with the liberal Yabloko party or ran as independents with the support of unregistered movements, have made their presence known even though they remain in the minority everywhere. A significant development in Moscow regional politics over the last year has been a wave of vocal and angry protests against illegal trash dumping and the expansion of landfills. The independent council members have played important roles in these actions, which have brushed up against the interests of companies controlled by the son of Russian Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika. The once optimistic independent local council deputies are on the cutting edge of Russia's shifting political climate. In the spring, Putin ran for and secured a fourth term as president without allowing opposition leader Aleksei Navalny or any other significant opposition figure to run against him. In the summer, the government sparked a national wave of anger with a plan to raise retirement ages that United Russia is now pushing through the legislature. Meanwhile, the newly created National Guard and the Interior Ministry's Antiextremism Center have stepped up efforts to contain political activism and dissent. Hundreds of cases have been opened against citizens for liking or posting political items on social media, while youths who have participated in demonstrations or unsanctioned campaigns have been interrogated and harassed. The United Russia-dominated status quo is mounting a defense, Zagordan believes. "The controlling organs, in my experience, don't properly respond to our complaints about illegal budget expenditures, illegal construction projects, illegally confiscated property, or the illegal transfer of property from one purpose to another," she told RFE/RL. "Unfortunately, I cannot say that I ever saw an appropriate reaction -- in general, we just get rejections. And I think this is due to the fact that the government organs are intertwined with the control agencies and law enforcement." Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson, based on reporting by RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Lyubov Chizhova Police in Slovakia have detained suspects in connection with the killings of an investigative journalist and his fiancee seven months ago, local media report. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini on September 27 said on Facebook that he was happy to receive news that "police arrested the suspects in the murder of two innocent young people," adding that the investigation was "a priority" for his government. Jan Kuciak was found shot dead along with Martina Kusnirova at their home near the capital, Bratislava, in February. They were both 27. The authorities have said they believed it was a contract killing linked to Kuciak's work. Citing police sources, news portal Dennik N reported that a total of eight suspects were detained, including the suspected killer and alleged accomplices. A lawyer for Kuciak's family said the arrests were made early in the day. Police said they detained persons suspected of violent crime, without mentioning the Kuciak case. The journalist was investigating political corruption at the time of the slayings, which triggered the biggest street protests in Slovakia since the fall of communism in 1989 and a political crisis that led to the fall of former Prime Minister Robert Fico's government in March. However, Fico's three-party government coalition remained in power under Pellegrini, who comes from the ruling Smer party, which the ex-prime minister still leads. Based on reporting by dpa, AP, and Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump, who earlier this year demanded that North Korea swiftly give up its nuclear weapons, has said that it could take years to achieve those results in negotiations. "I think we're really going to do something that's going to be very important, but we're not playing the time game," Trump told a news conference in New York. "If it takes two years, three years, or five months -- doesn't matter." Trump's comments came as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was making plans to visit Pyongyang again next month to prepare for a second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump held an unprecedented first summit with Kim in Singapore on June 12 that yielded a broad pledge by Kim to "work toward" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Trump said afterward he expected results within months. Since then, however, Kim's actions have fallen far short of Washington's demands, which range from providing a complete inventory of North Korea's nuclear weapons to taking irreversible steps to give up its nuclear arsenal. Despite the lack of progress, Trump has boasted repeatedly of having "a wonderful relationship" with Kim and said he expects the two to eventually clinch a deal. Based on reporting by Reuters and AP U.S. President Donald Trump, citing denials from his deputy attorney general that he once sought Trump's removal from office, has said he is leaning toward keeping Rod Rosenstein in his job overseeing an investigation into Russian election activities. "I'd much prefer keeping Rod Rosenstein," Trump said at a news conference in New York late on September 26, adding that he may postpone a meeting he originally planned with Rosenstein for September 27. "I may call Rod tonight or tomorrow and ask for a little bit of a delay to the meeting," Trump said. Doubts over how long Rosenstein could keep his job have been swirling since The New York Times and other media reported last week that he once suggested secretly recording Trump to collect evidence for removing him from office under the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which specifies procedures for ousting presidents deemed unfit to remain in office. But Trump said Rosenstein denied the reports when they talked recently and offered assurances of his high regard for the president. "We've had a good talk. He said he never said it. He said he does not believe that. He said he has a lot of respect for me. And he was very nice. And we'll see," Trump said. "My preference would be to keep him and to let him finish up" his work overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Russia and Trump's 2016 election campaign. Trump's statement came after days of speculation that he would fire Rosenstein over the news reports. Shortly after the Times report about Rosenstein came out on September 21, Trump decried what he called "a lingering stench" at the Justice Department and told supporters that "were going to get rid of that, too." Trump's conciliatory remarks toward Rosenstein also contrast with his repeated blasts against him and Mueller on Twitter over the last year as they pursued an inquiry that Trump maintains is unjustified and amounts to a "witch hunt." Despite Trump's frequent verbal attacks on the Russia investigation, Rosenstein has told Congress he does not intend to fire Mueller or otherwise interfere with the investigation, which has led to the indictment and conviction of several top former Trump advisers. Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have warned Trump against firing Rosenstein, and White House aides have been quoted anonymously as saying that they advised Trump against taking any "extreme actions" on the Russian investigation ahead of congressional elections in November that will determine whether his Republican Party retains control of Congress. With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia-Herzegovina has rejected "appalling accusations" that Washington has sought to interfere in the country's elections next month, and blasted "irresponsible actors" who are dragging the United States into "conspiracy theories, unfounded accusations, and lies." In a statement posted on its website on September 27, the embassy says the United States does not back any candidate or party, and refuses to be part of a preelection "manipulation." During campaigns ahead of the national elections set for October 7, the public discourse has been "entirely dominated by fear-based rhetoric" that has created a "very poisonous atmosphere," the statement says. It criticizes "self-centered politicians" who try to turn the United States and other countries into "adversaries," instead of addressing the country's "real enemies" -- corruption, unemployment, and poor public services. The statement did not name any politician or political party, but Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has accused the United States and Britain of supporting his opponents and seeking to influence the outcome of the upcoming elections. Dodik, who is running for the Serbs' seat in Bosnia's tripartite presidency in the elections, said on September 27 that Washington and London have secured millions of euros to finance various opposition groups in the country's predominantly Serbian entity, Republika Srpska. The pro-Russian president of Republika Srpska last month accused the United States of using its development agency to interfere in Bosnia's internal affairs and election process, a charge dismissed by Washington. Western leaders have also accused Moscow of interfering in the internal affairs of Bosnia and other former Yugoslav republics. During a visit to Banja Luka, the administrative center of Republika Srpska, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on September 21 that Moscow respected Bosnia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and was not interfering in the country's elections. Bosnia is split into two entities: the ethnic Serb-dominated Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosniaks and Croats. The two entities are linked by joint state-level institutions, including a tripartite presidency. With reporting by AP European lawmakers have praised Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike in a Russian prison for more than four months, as a defender of the supremacy of law and values over brute force and deception. The center-right European People's Party (EPP), the biggest political group in the European Parliament, nominated Sentsov for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Presenting the nominee to the parliaments committees on foreign affairs and development, parliamentarian Eduard Kukan on September 27 said Sentsov was a prisoner of conscience who decided to go on hunger strike in hope that his voice is heard and the world understands the values of honor, truth, freedom, and democracy. Sentsov, a Crimean native who opposed Russia's 2014 takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula, is serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted of terrorism in a trial that he, human rights groups, and Western governments contend was politically motivated. Imprisoned in Russias Far North Yamalo-Nenets region, Sentsov started a hunger strike on May 14, demanding that Russia release 64 fellow Ukrainians he considers political prisoners. Earlier this month, citing a lawyer for Sentsov, Human Rights Watch said that he agreed to begin taking an oral nutritional supplement at some point in the past two months, after suffering his first health crisis. "By supporting Oleh Sentsov, we stay true to our own convictions of universal principles of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and freedom of thought," Kukan said. The parliamentarian from Slovakia added that if awarded the Sakharov Prize, the filmmaker would be the first European laureate since Russia's Memorial Human Rights Center in 2009 and the first ever laureate from Ukraine. The parliaments committees on foreign affairs and development will now shortlist three of the chambers eight nominees, who also include Syrian photographer Caesar and Seyran Ates, a German lawyer of Turkish origin who is fighting against extremism. The laureate is to be announced on October 25 and the prize will be presented to the winner at a ceremony on December 12. The annual Sakharov Prize was established in 1988 by the EU's parliament to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. The prize, named in honor of the Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, is worth 50,000 euros ($58,000). Previous laureates include South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai, a girl who has championed the rights of Pakistani girls to receive schooling. Energy Secretary Rick Perry says the U.S. government isn't considering releasing oil from its massive crude reserves to prevent prices from spiking when sanctions on Iran go into effect in November. Releasing oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is the world's largest government stockpile of oil, would have only "a fairly minor and short-term impact" on prices, Perry told reporters in Washington on September 26. Oil analysts have speculated for months that the administration of President Donald Trump might tap the reserves in an effort to tame rising prices, especially with congressional elections looming on November 6 that will determine whether Trump's Republican Party retains control of Congress. Oil prices soared after Trump announced in May that he was abandoning Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reinstating economic sanctions on Iran. Brent premium crude prices rose as high as $82.55 in London trading this week, the highest since November 2014, in part over worries about the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran. The higher oil prices have posed a political risk for Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress as they face U.S. voters, some of whom are angry about their higher costs of transportation. The U.S. reserves currently hold about 660 million barrels of oil in underground caverns in the states of Texas and Louisiana. The reserves are primarily kept for economic emergencies, but under U.S. law, the government can sell up to 30 million barrels of oil -- or about the amount of petroleum the United States uses in 36 hours -- from the reserves over a number of weeks in nonemergency situations. Perry said that while short-term price spikes are possible when sanctions against Iran's oil sector go into effect on November 5, "I'm comfortable that the world supply can absorb the sanctions that are coming." "We got some opportunities to fill the void as sanctions go into place," he said, adding that in some ways, "the market has already adjusted." One country that could make up some of the shortfall from stifled Iranian exports is Iraq, Perry said. He estimated that an additional 300,000 barrels per day of oil could reach markets if Baghdad allows it to flow through a pipeline from Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region in the north. He said an additional 300,000 barrels a day could come to market soon from an oil field in the Neutral Zone that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait share, if they agree to tap the oil. Oil producers from Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries met over the weekend but ruled out any immediate increase in output, in a move that rebuffed Trump's repeated calls for an increase from oil producers. As Washington moves to reimpose sanctions on Iran's oil sector that were lifted for more than two years under the nuclear deal in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear activities, the White House has warned Iran's clients that they must reduce their purchases to zero or face U.S. penalties. But Perry suggested that Washington might accept a more gradual reduction in oil purchases by some countries, saying he thought the sanctions could be carried out on a "graduated" basis with limits on purchases increasing over time. He did not offer further details. With reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg Former Veracruz governor gets nine years after pleading guilty Mexico City, Mexico The former governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte de Ochoa, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for money laundering and criminal association. Javier Duarte de Ochoa was sentenced by federal judge Marco Antonio Fuerte Tapia Wednesday night to serve nine years in prison and pay a fine of 58,890 peso after pleading guilty to money laundering and criminal association. Duarte de Ochoa plead guilty to diverting resources from the Veracruz government through front companies. The light sentence comes after defense requested an abbreviated process for which the former governor of Veracruz pleads guilty in exchange for a minimum sentence. The Attorney Generals Office requested that, along with the prison sentence, 41 properties be confiscated from the former governor. He will serve his nine years beginning April 15 of 2017 when he was taken into custody and remain in prison until 2026. State of Quintana Roo has new public security leader Chetumal, Q.R. The governor of Quintana Roo has made an adjustment to his cabinet with the replacement of the Secretary of Public Security for the state. Governor Carlos Joaquin has announced the new head of public security, Jesus Alberto Capella Ibarra, after the resignation of Rodolfo del Angel Campos, who served in the position for two years. In the change of command, Carlos Joaquin thanked del Angel Campos for his professionalism, loyalty and commitment during his time. The new leader, Jesus Alberto Capella Ibarra, is a law school graduate with a specialty in security. He will take over the new position immediately, becoming the Secretary of Public Security of the State of Quintana Roo. Carlos Joaquin says in 2014, Capella Ibarra assumed command of the state police in Morelos as Commissioner of Public Safety and worked under the Single Command strategy. He also headed the Municipal Public Security Secretariat in Tijuana, Baja California and is considered an expert in the reduction of criminal incidence, particularly high-impact crimes, homicide, kidnapping and extortion. The presentation of the new secretary of public security was made at the Cuna del Mestizaje Hall of the Government Palace. Two of the three bodies found in Cancun are of marine officers Cancun, Q.R. The State Prosecutors Office says that two of the three bodies found in Cancun earlier this week are those of marine officers. The office reports that at least two of the three men are marines who had recently returned from Mexico City after participating in the civic military parade for Independence Day on the 16th and were on days off when they were murdered. While the third body has not yet been identified, the two that have are said to have been from the Fifth Naval Region of the Secretariat of the Navy based in Isla Mujeres. According to the Office of the Prosecutor, personnel of the Secretariat of the Navy made the identification of the bodies through photographs. Two of the deceased have been identified as Luis Miguel N, 36 and Cristian Jovany N, 24. On Monday, the bodies of two people were found in SM 65 and one in SM 75 of Cancun, all of whom have been reported as stabbed to death. The third body remains unidentified. The seventh generation of Toyota Camry entry D-segment sedan has been in existence since the last six years in India and it is a about time for a new gen Camry. Its to be noted that there are two visually different versions of Toyotas immensely popular sedan one for the US and one for the European markets. The one in India is derived from the European model and looks a bit understated compared to its sportier looking American counterpart. Interestingly, a fully camouflaged prototype of the pre-facelift US-spec Camry has been spotted testing in India. A closer observation of the front fascia reveals the headlamps and grille are narrower than the model that is currently on sale in India, and are very consistent with the American Camry. The bumper with horizontal slats further confirm the prototypes identity. The greenhouse, the rear taillight detailing, shape of license plate enclosure, and shape of the reflectors mounted on the lower part of the bumper are all also identical to the US-spec 2018 Camry. The sedan recently received a 2019 model year update in the US market that sees slight modification to the front and rear fascias but we are certain that the prototype spotted in India has none of those changes. Both US-spec and India-spec versions of the Toyota Camry are powered by the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol motor which is supported by a permanent magnet synchronous motor. While the individual power outputs of the IC engine and electric motor are different between the US and Indian models, the combined outputs of the the hybrid systems are nearly identical (US car is good for 208 PS while Indian model offers 205 PS). The US-spec car is categorized as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) in the local market and thats probably the reason why Toyota is testing the vehicle in Indian conditions to understand how the hybrid system performs in our environmental conditions and fuel quality. After all, India is gearing up to upgrade to BS-VI emission norms by 2020 which is going to be much stricter than the current BS-IV norms. India will get the new generation Toyota Camry ASEAN spec variant. Built on the GA-K version of the TNGA platform, that it shares with the Lexus ES300h, the new Camry will be longer and wider. Entry level variant will get a retuned 2.5 liter petrol engine generating 176 hp and 221 Nm, while the top of the line hybrid variant will get new petrol engine, in combination with electric motor combined output stands at 208 hp. Launch will take place next year, with an approximate starting price of Rs 32 lakhs. In India, it will rival the likes of Skoda Superb. Take a look at the new Camrys photos below. Royal Enfield has twin offerings in the form of the Continental GT 650 and Interceptor 650 poised for launch this festive season in India. But ahead of that, the two motorcycles have been launched in the USA today. Of the two, it is the Interceptor 650 which is cheaper, priced at USD 5,799, which is about Rs 4.2 lakhs as per todays currency conversion rates. The more expensive Continental GT650 is priced from USD 5,999 (Rs 4.36 lakhs). There are two more variants on offer. Int 650 Custom is priced at USD 5,999 (Rs 4,36 lakhs) while the Conti 650 Custom is priced at USD 6,429 (Rs 4.67 lakhs). INT 650 Chrome is priced at USD 6499 (Rs 4.72 lakhs) while the Conti 650 Chrome is priced at USD 6,749 (Rs 4.9 lakhs). Point to be noted here is that the motorcycles are manufactured at company plant in India and are exported to the USA. So the prices are inclusive of import duty. In India, these will not be levied, as such they are expected to be launched from Rs 2.99 lakhs, ex-showroom. Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 can be noted for their identical mechanics and engine specifications; however, the two bikes cater to completely different segments of buyers. Interceptor 650 is pure street oriented bike while the Continental GT 650 is a cafe racer. Both models will be built on dual cradle tubular steel chassis, get 41mm telescopic front forks and 110mm twin shock absorbers at the rear. They will ride on Pirelli Phantom Sportcomp 100/90 R18 front and 130/70 R18 rear tyres which have been specially designed for Royal Enfield while taking its chassis and suspension into account. The Interceptor 650 also gets 320mm front and 240mm rear discs with Bosch dual channel ABS offered as standard providing for efficient stopping power. Interceptor 650, inspired by the 60 Royal Enfield Interceptor gets a 1400mm wheelbase, 804mm seat height and 174mm of ground clearance. It receives 37.5 degrees of steering allowing for low speed maneuverability in city traffic. Handlebars are wide positioned while ride position allows for greater visibility of the road ahead yet at the same time offering more comfort to the rider. Royal Enfield Interceptor, like the Continental GT 650 get their power via a 648cc, fuel injected, air and oil cooled, parallel twin engine offering 47 hp power at 7,100 rpm and 52 Nm torque at 4,000 rpm mated to a 6 speed, fuel injection, digital spark ignition. Mileage claimed is about 25 kmpl, while top speed of the bike is 160+ kmph. Production at the Royal Enfield and Yamaha India plants has come to a standstill at Oragadam, Chennai. The strike commenced on Monday morning with members of Royal Enfield Employees union demanding a settlement of their charter of demands which also includes a wage increase. R Sampat, Vice President, Working People Trade Union Council and of the Royal Enfield Employees Union has stated that all production has been stopped since Monday morning and both permanent and contractual workers are participating in the strike. The company had taken action against 120 employees who were on probation. They were banned from entering the plant while the company has also not addressed the issue of wage hike demanded by the Union. Though a strike notice was issued to the company on August 13 and a meeting called by the Labor Department, company officials failed to attend the meeting, not once, but on three occasions leaving the employees with no other recourse than to go on strike. Now another conciliation meeting has been called on 26th September and it is yet to be seen if the management attends this meeting or not. Yamaha Motors factory has around 2,500 contractual workers and apprentices while Dongsan Automotive India has 117 workers who are also protesting against nonpayment of wages for over 7 months. 140 workers of Myoung Shin Automotive are also on strike for recognition of their union while 3,000 workers of Eicher Motors Limited have been on strike from Monday onwards. Sampat stated that the management was against the formation of a union which was formed last year. There has been no wage revision while bonuses were also not paid to the employees for the past three years. Yamaha India has moved to court and gotten police protection as the strike intensifies. In its petition filed in the court, Yamaha India said, ingress and aggress of vehicles and people from in and out of the factory premises and to further vacate the trespassing workmen by ensuring that no striking workers assemble illegally in any form within the radius of 200 metres from the petitioners (Yamahas) factory. Mercedes Benz GLC SUV, currently in high demand across the globe, is produced from Mercedes Benz plants in four continents among which is also the Pune plant. Mercedes Benz, now working on a refresh of its best selling GLC compact crossover, has plans of importing the vehicle from India into US, as against the earlier imports from its Bremen plant in Germany. The import from India into US markets comes at a time when the trade war has seen US impose new tariffs on Chinese made goods which also includes auto parts along with the threat by the Trump administration to impose 25 tariffs on European made cars. India is fast gaining as the car manufacturing hub for US-spec cars. Ford has also started importing the EcoSport into US markets from its plant in Chennai, India, while the country is already an export hub for GM, Hyundai and Renault-Nissan. First batch of India-made Mercedes GLC SUV will start arriving into USA from next month, reveals Mercedes-Benz USA spokesman Rob Moran. The Mercedes GLC has seen immense demand. It is the companys most popular model and the largest selling compact crossover in US. Though shipping costs from Pune would be higher, these are offset by lower wages of Indian employees along with other reduced costs as compared to the model produced in Bremen. Introduced in 2016, the Mercedes GLC is a replacement to the GLK. Sales across the US increased 57.7% in August to 44,517 units. The GLC now gears up for a mid cycle refresh and has been spied on test along with the GLC Coupe. Changes include a new exterior design with refreshed head and tail lamps, new LED lights with daytime running lights in the front and updated graphics at the rear. It also receives a new grill as is seen on the CLS Class and AMG GT models while engine specifications will also be carried over from the current generation. Mercedes Benz also plans on a turbocharged four cylinder for the GLC300 and GLC350e hybrid along with a twin turbo V6 for the AMG GLC43 and twin turbo V8 for the AMG GLC63. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 26) ACTS OFW Representative John Bertiz said he had no intention to "offend or degrade" anyone during the Tuesday mass oath-taking ceremonies for the new agricultural and biosystems engineers. A viral Facebook clip showed Bertiz, who took the place of Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Bong Go as keynote speaker, addressing the new engineers. Speaking to the oath takers, he asked, "Kilala niyo ba kung sino yung sinasabi ko (Bong Go)?" [Translation: Do you know who I'm talking about (Bong Go)?] When someone from the crowd replied with "hindi (no)," Bertiz suggested to not push through with the ceremonies. "Wag na nating ituloy to. Yung mga hindi nakakakilala kay Secretary Bong Go, walang PRC license mamaya," the party-list representative said. [Translation: Let's not push through with this. Those who do not know Secretary Bong Go will not get their PRC (Professional Regulation Commission) license later.] Bertiz later on apologized for what transpired during the event. "I was asked to represent SAP Bong Go in that event. Him being the special guest and keynote speaker, I assumed that the audience knows him, especially that his name was largely printed on the tarpaulin in front of the stage," Bertiz said in a statement Wednesday. "When someone shouted, 'hindi,' that is when I cracked the joke, 'Ang hindi nakakakilala sa kanya, hindi bibigyan ng lisensya' It was more of like, 'Ang hindi pumalakpak, mamamatay" kind of joke in stand-up comedies,'" he said. [Translation: When someone shouted "No", that is when I cracked the joke, "Those who do not know him will not be given a license." It was more of like, "Those who do not clap, will die" kind of joke in stand-up comedies.] He noted he will take full responsibility for what he said, and reiterated that Go had nothing to do with his actions. Netizens have slammed Bertiz' jest, saying that it was an inappropriate joke for people who "study and attend review session just to pass the licensure exams." What if improving academic performance in some of the nation's most disadvantaged and lowest-achieving schools was as easy as planting trees in the schoolyard? It's not that simple, of course, but a new study from the University of Illinois suggests school greening could be part of the solution. The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology and led by Ming Kuo from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at U of I, investigated the link between greenness and academic achievement in 318 of Chicago's public elementary schools. The district serves a predominantly low-income minority population, with 87 percent of third-graders qualifying for free lunch during the study year (2009-2010). Previous studies have documented a positive relationship between greenness and academic achievement, but, until now, no one had examined the relationship in high-poverty schools. "The goal was to see if the greenness-academic achievement relationship holds for poor, urban schools because that's where it matters. That's where educators and policy makers are desperately trying to find ways to help kids reach their potential," Kuo says. The research team used high-resolution aerial imagery to quantify tree and grass cover in each schoolyard and its surrounding neighborhood, an improvement over previous studies that relied on coarse-grain vegetation imagery. "The older technology could basically tell us whether a 30-meter square was blacktop or green space, but the technology we're using can tell us there's a tree here, and a foot over, there's grass," Kuo explains. The first step was to use a simple correlation analysis to identify relationships between tree and grass cover and academic performance, based on standardized test scores for math and reading. Schoolyard tree cover predicted academic performance, both for reading and math: the more trees, the better the performance. The same pattern showed up for trees in the adjacent neighborhood, but to a lesser extent. Grass, it turns out, does nothing for learning. advertisement "There are consistent hints throughout the history of studying the effects of greenness on people that trees matter more than grass," Kuo says. "So this finding was not a big surprise." The simple correlation tests helped the researchers evaluate the importance of other factors that could be related to academic performance: number of students in a classroom, student/teacher and gender ratios, and the percent of students that were bilingual. None of these showed strong ties to academic performance. But one other factor -- disadvantage -- did. The researchers knew that race and socioeconomic status are strongly tied to academic achievement, and that they are strongly correlated with one another. Using innovative statistical techniques to simultaneously account for both factors, the team combined them into one they called disadvantage. After discovering that disadvantage strongly predicted low academic achievement in the correlation tests, the researchers included the factor in a more sophisticated analysis that accounted for disparities related to geography within the city. That test confirmed that schoolyard trees positively predicted math scores. Reading scores tended to be better with more schoolyard trees, but the effect fell just short of statistical significance. At almost 90 percent free-lunch eligible and only 10 percent white, schools in the Chicago Public School system are, on the whole, disadvantaged. But there were differences: The most disadvantaged schools in the sample had roughly half the number of trees as the least disadvantaged schools. advertisement While Kuo is quick to point out that the study is purely correlational -- it wasn't designed to show cause-and-effect -- she is optimistic about the results. "Early math skills are one of the best predictors of later success, not just in math, but in school in general. So what we have here is a very exciting clue that maybe simply greening -- planting trees in school yards -- could potentially have a significant impact in math achievement and school success down the line for these kids. And you don't have to plaster the schoolyard with trees -- just bringing schools up to average looks like it could have a substantial effect." Kuo has spent her career quantifying the effects of nature on human health and behavior, but she understands people have a hard time accepting just how necessary nature is to the human experience. "What I really want to do is figure out what helps for these schools. If trees didn't work, then I would not want people spending money on trees. I want the money to be spent where it will make a difference. The outcome matters to me. "As a society, we have not bothered to green our poorest, low-income minority schools. It might just seem like, well, that's too bad, it would be nice for poor kids to have nice schools, but we can't afford it," she says. "The larger body of research is suggesting that, in fact, some of the reason for the disparities we see in low-income schools versus more affluent schools may actually be due, in part, to the physical facilities we're providing. It's not a surprise to anyone that if you don't provide air conditioning or heating in a school then maybe the kids aren't going to do as well. But this is the first time we've begun to suspect that the lack of landscaping, such as trees, may help explain, in part, their poorer test scores." A multi-disciplinary research team is bridging the gap between psychology and gamification that could significantly impact learning efforts in user experience design, healthcare, and government. The research, conducted by researchers at the University of Waterloo and the University of Minnesota, has integrated models from psychology with human-computer interaction, which allows for a more deliberate, interactive connection between the two disciplines in the understanding of gameful experiences. Gamification is the use of game elements in applications that are not games. For example, a user experience designer can borrow elements from games, such as quests, stories, and badges, to motivate users to interact with a product, system, or service. Gameful experience is the state a person is in when interacting with a gameful system, now defined as an interactive state. Gameful experience occurs when a person is engaged in meaningful, fun, and achievable goals that motivate them for learning and working. "Clarifying and defining this term will provide a unifying foundation for any future work on gamification and help psychologists, user experience designers, and game developers better understand each other," said Lennart Nacke, professor in Communication Arts and director of the Human-Computer Interaction in Games research group at Waterloo. "Gamefulness is often loosely defined, relying on researchers applying their own intuitive understanding of games." "The historical, inconsistent use of the term gamefulness by people working in the field has caused confusion and hindered progress in this important area." Vital to their unifying approach is the understanding that a gameful experience is a state resulting from the interaction of three psychological characteristics: perceiving presented goals to be non-trivial and achievable, being motivated to pursue those goals under arbitrary externally-imposed rules and believing that one's actions within these constraints are voluntary. The researchers examined literature and practices -- from design to player experience to psychological states -- to come up with the key characteristics that define gameful experiences. With a unifying concept, researchers, designers, and developers of gameful systems will work more effectively. "Clarifying the terminology will help us create more gameful systems which will help people use this kind of technology to learn more effectively," said Gustavo F. Tondello, co-author and a PhD candidate in Computer Science at Waterloo. Your chances of forming online friendships depend mainly on the number of groups and organizations you join, not their types, according to an analysis of six online social networks by Rice University data scientists. "If a person is looking for friends, they should basically be active in as many communities as possible," said Anshumali Shrivastava, assistant professor of computer science at Rice and co-author of a peer-reviewed study presented last month at the 2018 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining in Barcelona, Spain. "And if they want to become friends with a specific person, they should try to be a part of all the groups that person is a part of." The finding is based on an analysis of six online social networks with millions of members, and Shrivastava said its simplicity may come as a surprise to those who study friendship formation and the role communities play in bringing about friendships. "There's an old saying that 'birds of a feather flock together,'" Shrivastava said. "And that idea -- that people who are more similar are more likely to become friends -- is embodied in a principal called homophily, which is a widely studied concept in friendship formation." One school of thought holds that because of homophily, the odds that people will become friends increase in some groups. To account for this in computational models of friendship networks, researchers often assign each group an "affinity" score; the more alike group members are, the higher their affinity and the greater their chances of forming friendships. Prior to social media, there were few detailed records about friendships between individuals in large organizations. That changed with the advent of social networks that have millions of individual members who are often affiliated with many communities and subcommunities within the network. advertisement "A community, for our purposes, is any affiliated group of people within the network," Shrivastava said. "Communities can be very large, like everyone who identifies with a particular country or state, and they can be very small, like a handful of old friends who meet once a year." Finding meaningful affinity scores for hundreds of thousands of communities in online social networks has been a challenge for analysts and modelers. Calculating the odds of friendship formation is further complicated by the overlap between communities and subcommittees. For instance, if the old friends in the above example live in three different states, their small subcommunity overlaps with the large communities of people from those states. Because many individuals in social networks belong to dozens of communities and subcommunities, overlapping connections can become dense. In 2016, Shrivastava and study co-author Chen Luo, a graduate student in his research group, realized that some well-known analyses of online friendship formation failed to account for any factors arising out of overlap. "Let's say Adam, Bob and Charlie are members of the same four communities, but in addition, Adam is a member of 16 other communities," Shrivastava said. "The existing affiliation model says the likelihood of Adam and Charlie being friends only depends on the affinity measures of the four communities they have in common. It doesn't matter that each of them are friends with Bob or that Adam's being pulled in 16 other directions." That seemed like a glaring oversight to Luo and Shrivastava, but they had an idea of how to account for it based on an analogy they saw between the overlapping subcommunities and the overlapping similarities between webpages that must be taken into account by internet search engines. One of the most popular measures for internet search is the Jaccard overlap, which was pioneered by Google scientists and others in the late 1990s. advertisement "We used this to measure overlap between communities and then checked to see if there was a relationship between overlap and friendship probability, or friendship affiliation, on six well-studied social networks," Shrivastava said. "We found that on all six, the relationship more or less looked like a straight line." "That implies that friendship formation can be explained merely by looking at overlap between communities," Luo said. "In other words, you don't need to account for affinity measures for specific communities. All that extra work is unnecessary." Once Luo and Shrivastava saw the linear relationship between Jaccard overlap of communities and friendship formation, they also saw an opportunity to use a data-indexing method called "hashing," which is used to organize web documents for efficient search. Shrivastava and his colleagues have applied hashing to solve computational problems as diverse as indoor location detection, the training of deep learning networks and accurately estimating the number of identified victims killed in the Syrian civil war. Shrivastava said he and Luo developed a model for friendship formation that "mimicked the way the mathematics behind the hashing work." The model offers a simple explanation of how friendships form. "Communities are having events and activities all the time, but some of these are a bigger draw, and the preference for attending these is higher," Shrivastava said. "Based on this preference, individuals become active in the most preferred communities to which they belong. If two people are active in the same community at the same time, they have a constant, usually small, probability of forming a friendship. That's it. This mathematically recovers our observed empirical model." He said the findings could be useful to anyone who wants to bring communities together and enhance the process of friendship formation. "It seems that the most effective way is to encourage people to form more subcommunities," Shrivastava said. "The more subcommunities you have, the more they overlap, and the more likely it is that individual members will have more close friendships throughout the organization. People have long thought that this would be one factor, but what we've shown is this is probably the only one you have to pay attention to." The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research. In 2014, the first child to have been gestated in a donated uterus was born. Although research into uterus transplantation is still in an early phase, many see the donations as a success. Researchers at universities including Linkoping University have studied ethical aspects of uterus transplantation. The results show that uterus transplantation with living donors is ethically just as problematic as altruistic surrogacy. A number of research projects on uterus transplantation are under way around the world. Thus far, trials have resulted in the birth of ten children who were gestated in a transplanted uterus; eight of these were in Sweden. Being able to transfer a uterus from one woman to another, so that an infant is born, can be seen as a success in a medical sense. However in Sweden there has been little in the way of ethical discussion. "If uterus transplantation is to take the step from trials to becoming a reality in the Swedish healthcare system, there must first be an ethical debate on the procedure. Our study doesn't arrive at an opinion as to whether uterus transplants should be carried out. But it shows that people must be aware of the parallels with altruistic surrogacy," says Lisa Guntram, researcher at Linkoping University. Women can be pressured In 2016 a Swedish white paper on matters including altruistic surrogacy was published. It stated that altruistic surrogacy should not be permitted in Sweden. With this white paper as a starting point, Lisa Guntram analysed the assumption that introducing uterus transplantation would be less problematic than altruistic surrogacy. The research was conducted together with Nicola Jane Williams from Lancaster University in the UK, and the results of the study have been produced in the journal Bioethics. Guntram's and Williams' research shows that many of the arguments against altruistic surrogacy can be applied to uterus transplantation as a treatment for involuntary childlessness. Some of these include: 1.That the intervention can threaten the autonomy of the donor, and subject her to pressure. advertisement The question here is whether the surrogate mother is actually participating of her own free will, and not as a result of pressure. In the Swedish trials, the donated uteruses come from a relative, in most cases the mother of the woman who is involuntarily childless. Consequently, some close relatives of involuntarily childless people can feel forced to donate, or be actively subject to external pressure. 2.That the intervention can lead to exploitation of women's bodies. The surrogacy discussion has identified risks such as the exploitation of women's bodies, and that there may be secret compensation agreements. Similarly, there is a risk that with time, uteruses can become yet another organ, such as kidneys, on the black market. 3.That the research on the physical and psychological risks facing the child is inadequate. As in surrogacy contexts, little is known of the consequences of uterus transplantation for the child, because so few children have been born as a result of such a transplantation. The conclusion of Guntram's and Williams' study is thus that uterus transplantation is not necessarily less ethically complicated than altruistic surrogacy. "If the arguments presented in the study are to apply to altruistic surrogacy, decision-makers should seriously consider whether they shouldn't also apply to uterus transplantation. If they feel that treatments should be assessed differently, they should express their reasoning very clearly," says Lisa Guntram at Linkoping University. One of the major sources of uncertainty about the future climate is whether ecosystems will continue to take up carbon dioxide or release it to the atmosphere. University of Montana researchers and co-authors confronted this problem using atmospheric measurements and satellite observations to test model simulations in a recent study published on Sept. 5 in Nature Communications. W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation Research Scientist Zhihua Liu and colleagues compared atmospheric measurements and satellite observations to climate change model simulations to help better predict terrestrial carbon dynamics across the contiguous United States. Ecosystems either soak up carbon through photosynthesis -- a negative feedback that could reduce future warming -- or release it through respiration -- a positive feedback that could enhance future warming. Understanding how climate change might impact ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration is critical for predicting future carbon dynamics. Liu's team discovered that whether ecosystems across the U.S. uptake carbon or release it is dependent on water availability. The primary control switches from production to respiration at an annual precipitation threshold between 30 and 35 inches in the contiguous United States. The carbon balance of ecosystems in the dry West is very sensitive to photosynthesis. In contrast, the carbon balance of more mesic Eastern U.S. ecosystems is more sensitive to carbon lost through respiration. However, climate models do not reflect this precipitation threshold. Liu and his co-authors determined that these models are far too sensitive to photosynthesis and not sensitive enough to respiration, suggesting the Earth's ecosystems may lose more carbon to the atmosphere in the future as surface temperatures continue to warm. "In different regions, the interannual variation of net carbon uptake is primarily impacted by different processes -- respiration or photosynthesis," Liu said. "To me, the most important part of this study is that the models need improvement on respiration." Co-author and UM bioclimatology Associate Professor Ashely Ballantyne adds, "This study suggests we know more about the negative feedback loop and less about the positive one." There's a surprising upside to the fact that many people edit their selfies on Instagram and other social media sites to enhance their appearance. A new study found that when women believed that selfies of thin and sexualized women had been edited, viewing these images had less negative impact on one aspect of their mental health. Many studies have found that viewing thin and sexualized images of models or others can lead women to put more value on being slender themselves -- a line of thinking called thin ideal internalization, said Megan Vendemia, lead author of the study and doctoral candidate in communication at The Ohio State University. This internalization can in turn lead to eating disorders or other psychological problems. But this study found that women were less likely to internalize the thin ideal if they believed the pictures they viewed were edited. "Women see the edited photos as less authentic and it reduces the negative effect these images can have on them," Vendemia said. advertisement "They know that the online images might not reflect an offline reality." The study also found that participants judged women negatively for sharing edited pictures of themselves online. Furthermore, participants evaluated the women who shared the thin, sexualized images more negatively when they believed the women were peers instead of models. Vendemia conducted the study with David DeAndrea, associate professor of communication at Ohio State. It appears online in the journal Body Image and will be published in a future print edition. The research involved 360 female college students from one university who were told the study was designed to determine how people evaluate images that appear on popular social media sites like Instagram. They all viewed the same 45 selfies, taken from public Instagram accounts, of thin women in revealing clothing. Some of the photos had icons, placed by the researchers, that indicated the image was edited in Photoshop and/or included an Instagram filter. advertisement Half of the women were told that the images were of other students at their college, while the others were told the images depicted New York City models. And half of each of these groups saw collections in which nearly all the photos were marked as being edited. The others saw collections containing only a few photos labeled as edited. All participants then completed a variety of measures, including one on thin ideal internalization. This asked how much they agreed with statements like "Thin women are more attractive than other women." Results showed that the more that participants perceived that the photos were edited, the less they internalized the thin ideal. As expected, participants were more likely to believe the photos labeled as edited had been modified. But they also thought many of the non-labeled photos were edited. "The photos are less influential if women see them as being edited," Vendemia said. "So cues that images have been altered could potentially reduce the negative effects of thin ideal images." The more that the viewers thought the selfies were modified, the more they thought the women took their photos just to show off, to make others jealous and to brag, results showed. Participants also rated the women with edited photos as less intelligent and less honest. And participants gave harsher evaluations to their peers than they did for models. "Participants tended to be more forgiving of professional models than their own peers on social media sites for the exact same behavior," she said. "They thought models were sharing selfies for more altruistic reasons, such as to motivate others or promote health." The results suggest that women should be cautious about what selfies they share of themselves on social media. "You may not get the same positive reaction from your friends as would a model who posted a very similar picture," Vendemia said. But the good news of this study is that as social media users become more sophisticated in how they view photos, they may be able to avoid some pitfalls. "Just being aware of the amount of photo editing that goes on diminishes women's endorsement of the thin ideal when they view pictures of slender people," she said. People like the late Stephen Hawking can think about what they want to say, but are unable to speak because their muscles are paralyzed. In order to communicate, they can use devices that sense a person's eye or cheek movements to spell out words one letter at a time. However, this process is slow and unnatural. Scientists want to help these completely paralyzed, or "locked-in," individuals communicate more intuitively by developing a brain machine interface to decode the commands the brain is sending to the tongue, palate, lips and larynx (articulators.) The person would simply try to say words and the brain machine interface (BMI) would translate into speech. New research from Northwestern Medicine and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences has moved science closer to creating speech-brain machine interfaces by unlocking new information about how the brain encodes speech. Scientists have discovered the brain controls speech production in a similar manner to how it controls the production of arm and hand movements. To do this, researchers recorded signals from two parts of the brain and decoded what these signals represented. Scientists found the brain represents both the goals of what we are trying to say (speech sounds like "pa" and "ba") and the individual movements that we use to achieve those goals (how we move our lips, palate, tongue and larynx). The different representations occur in two different parts of the brain. "This can help us build better speech decoders for BMIs, which will move us closer to our goal of helping people that are locked-in speak again," said lead author Dr. Marc Slutzky, associate professor of neurology and of physiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine neurologist. advertisement The study will be published Sept. 26 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The discovery could also potentially help people with other speech disorders, such as apraxia of speech, which is seen in children as well as after stroke in adults. In speech apraxia, an individual has difficulty translating speech messages from the brain into spoken language. How words are translated from your brain into speech Speech is composed of individual sounds, called phonemes, that are produced by coordinated movements of the lips, tongue, palate and larynx. However, scientists didn't know exactly how these movements, called articulatory gestures, are planned by the brain. In particular, it was not fully understood how the cerebral cortex controls speech production, and no evidence of gesture representation in the brain had been shown. "We hypothesized speech motor areas of the brain would have a similar organization to arm motor areas of the brain," Slutzky said. "The precentral cortex would represent movements (gestures) of the lips, tongue, palate and larynx, and the higher level cortical areas would represent the phonemes to a greater extent." That's exactly what they found. advertisement "We studied two parts of the brain that help to produce speech," Slutzky said. "The precentral cortex represented gestures to a greater extent than phonemes. The inferior frontal cortex, which is a higher level speech area, represented both phonemes and gestures." Chatting up patients in brain surgery to decode their brain signals Northwestern scientists recorded brain signals from the cortical surface using electrodes placed in patients undergoing brain surgery to remove brain tumors. The patients had to be awake during their surgery, so researchers asked them to read words from a screen. After the surgery, scientists marked the times when the patients produced phonemes and gestures. Then they used the recorded brain signals from each cortical area to decode which phonemes and gestures had been produced, and measured the decoding accuracy. The brain signals in the precentral cortex were more accurate at decoding gestures than phonemes, while those in the inferior frontal cortex were equally good at decoding both phonemes and gestures. This information helped support linguistic models of speech production. It will also help guide engineers in designing brain machine interfaces to decode speech from these brain areas. The next step for the research is to develop an algorithm for brain machine interfaces that would not only decode gestures but also combine those decoded gestures to form words. This was an interdisciplinary, cross-campus investigation; authors included a neurosurgeon, a neurologist, a computer scientist, a linguist, and biomedical engineers. In addition to Slutzky, Northwestern authors are Emily M. Mugler, Matthew C. Tate (neurological surgery), Jessica W. Templer (neurology) and Matthew A. Goldrick (linguistics). The paper is titled "Differential Representation of Articulatory Gestures and Phonemes in Precentral and Inferior Frontal Gyri." This work was supported in part by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Northwestern Memorial Foundation Dixon Translational Research Award (including partial funding from National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, UL1TR000150 and UL1TR001422), NIH grants F32DC015708 and R01NS094748 and National Science Foundation 1321015. AFRICA Central African Republic Expected Council Action In October, Special Representative and head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, is expected to brief on the latest developments in the country and the most recent MINUSCA report, due on 15 October. MINUSCAs mandate expires on 15 November 2018. The Chair of the 2127 Central African Republic (CAR) Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Kacou Houadja Leon Adom (Cote dIvoire), is scheduled to undertake a visiting mission to the country from 2 to 5 October. Key Recent Developments The security situation in the CAR is dire. Self-proclaimed self-defence groups, loosely connected to some members of the anti-Balaka movement, have continued to operate in south-eastern CAR, targeting Muslims. Ex-Seleka factions, which are largely Muslim, continue to establish illegal parallel administration and taxation structures in areas under their control, preying on the population. The government, led by President Faustin-Archange Touadera, has minimal control outside Bangui. The African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in the CAR, led by the AU, convened a meeting of the government and representatives of the 14 armed groups that signed on to this process at the end of August. On 30 August, the armed groups signed a document of demands to form the basis for continued negotiations. Media reports indicate that a previous demand for blanket amnesty for all rebels, rejected by the government, was eventually not included in the document. In parallel, Russia brokered a meeting in Khartoum between the anti-Balaka militia led by Maxime Mokom and the ex-Seleka led by Noureddine Adam. On 29 August, the two groups issued a declaration of commitment towards peace in the CAR through the establishment of the Central African Forum as a framework for communication. The CAR government, which did not participate in this meeting, took note of the declaration. Russia has also been training and arming the CAR security forces and has notified the CAR Sanctions Committee, as required by resolution 2399. In addition to national reconciliation efforts, MINUSCA is supporting government-led local peace and reconciliation initiatives, inclusive of armed groups and civil society, which have been assisting in reducing violence, building trust between communities, facilitating the return of internally displaced people (IDPs), and local disarmament processes in some areas. Despite these developments, violence persists. MINUSCA announced that it is investigating reports that nine people were taken from the countrys largest IDP camp, PK3, in Bria on 6 September and killed during violent clashes between anti-Balaka and an ex-Seleka faction, the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the CAR (FPRC). MINUSCA also called for calm after IDPs threw two grenades in the camp while protesting the violence. After eight people were killed in May in fighting between MINUSCA and another ex-Seleka faction, the Union for Peace (UPC), the security situation in Bambarilocated in the centre of the country, where MINUSCA has a significant presencehas been relatively calm. Armed groups remain in control of parts of the city, however, and violent crime remains rampant. Armed groups continue to target humanitarian workers and MINUSCA peacekeepers. On 23 August, a Burundian peacekeeper was killed in an attack on a MINUSCA convoy in Basse-Kotto prefecture. Council members issued a press statement condemning the attack the following day. Additionally, OCHA reported that between January and August, 274 incidents affecting humanitarian organisations were recorded across the country, endangering staff and hindering humanitarian assistance. More than half of the population2.5 million peopleis in need of humanitarian assistance, and according to UNHCR there were 687,398 IDPs and over 582,000 refugees in neighbouring countries as of 17 May. In accordance with resolution 2387, the Secretary-General submitted recommendations to the Council on 16 May regarding possible support for the redeployment of the CAR security forces. He recommended that the Council authorise MINUSCA to provide limited operational and logistical support to the CAR security forces trained by the EU Military Training Mission for a period of 12 months, under certain conditions, including that the security forces were vetted and would uphold the principles of accountability and the rule of law. The Secretary-General stressed that without this support, the ability of the CAR to restore peace and establish state authority would be undermined. In a 13 July presidential statement, the Council expressed its intent to review the Secretary-Generals recommendations. The statement also expressed its concern over the continuing violence perpetrated by armed groups in the CAR and reaffirmed its support for the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in the CAR. Sanctions-Related Developments The 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee met on 20 July to discuss the midterm report of the Panel of Experts assisting the committee. The report noted that the ongoing redeployment of the CAR military and the joint operations of MINUSCA and the national security forcesmainly the failed attempt on 7-8 April to dismantle armed elements in PK5, a Muslim enclave in Banguihave contributed to the hardening of the positions of ex-Seleka elements, in particular the FPRC. Its leaders continued their attempts to reunify the Seleka and consolidate parallel administrations in areas under their control. The committee met with the representatives of neighbouring countries on 7 September to discuss the implementation of sanctions. Human Rights-Related Developments During its 39th session, the Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue on 27 September with the independent expert on human rights in the CAR, Marie-Therese Keita Bocoum, and considered her report covering July 2017 to June (A/HRC/39/70). The reporting period, during which Bocoum made two visits to the CAR, was marked by constant human rights violations and abuses linked to continuing attacks by various armed groups in the south-west of the country in 2017, and in Bangui and the centre of the country in 2018, the report said. Most of the abuses were attributable to anti-Balaka and ex-Seleka armed factions and criminal gangs which continued to target civilians, humanitarian workers and UN peacekeepers, but also homes, public buildings, hospitals and places of worship, worsening the humanitarian situation and restricting access to economic and social rights, as detailed in the report. Issues and Options The continued fighting between rebels, attacks against civilians along sectarian lines, and the targeting of MINUSCA personnel and other UN and humanitarian personnel is of serious concern to the Council. In addition, slow reconciliation efforts have yet to change the situation on the ground or assist in expanding state authority beyond Bangui. In an effort to curb violence, the Council could consider acting through the 2127 CAR Sanctions Committee, listing those with links to recent attacks on civilians, including individuals who have incited ethnic or religious violence. A credible threat of sanctions might also be an effective incentive for armed groups to commit to reconciliation. As signalled in the 13 July presidential statement, as part of its efforts, the Council could mandate MINUSCA to provide limited operational and logistical support to the CAR security forces, as recommended by the Secretary-General in his May report. Council and Wider Dynamics The deteriorating security situation, with its intercommunal undertones, slow reconciliation efforts, and the governments inability to project law outside of Bangui and Bambari, has been a continuing matter of concern for the Council. The issue of support for the CAR security forces has been a sticking-point for Council members, as security sector reform, including the vetting of personnel, has gone slowly. In light of this, Council members disagreed during negotiations over resolution 2387 about whether MINUSCA should be assisting the authorities by working with personnel who have been linked to human rights violations while faced with the reality that MINUSCA is unable to be present in large parts of the CAR without the deployment of these forces. In addition, while the US is pushing for austerity and efficiency in peacekeeping, some Council members question MINUSCAs ability to expand its tasks when it is already overstretched and experiencing difficulties in fulfilling its mandate. These differences of approach also surfaced during the negotiations over the 13 July presidential statement. France is the penholder on the CAR. UN DOCUMENTS ON THE CAR As customers walked into Gaslamp Cafe in San Francisco early Thursday, whether for a routine coffee run or for the mornings special event, their eyes immediately went to the television screen. Christine Blasey Ford was testifying that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while both were teenagers, and in the cafe and all over the city and the country, people particularly women stopped what they were doing to absorb the moment. Commuters tuned in on their radios. BART and Muni riders watched live-streams while listening on headphones. People were glued to TVs in homes and offices. And in the Gaslamp, as the hearing progressed, two women held each other and cried as Ford began testifying in a shaky voice. The trauma of American women is on full display and they have hit a nerve, said Amy Everitt, 48, the California state director for NARAL Pro-Choice California, which organized the cafe event to watch the testimony and support Ford. Many of those watching, including the NARAL group, were interested to see what Ford would be asked and how she would hold up to questioning. I cant imagine what shes going through, said one woman as Ford responded to questions by Rachel Mitchell, who was brought in by Senate Republicans to stand in their place during questioning. Another woman said of Ford and Mitchell: They both look like theyre thinking, Why are we here and how did we get here? Republicans, including President Trump, have called the accusations against Kavanaugh a smear campaign, especially those of Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, whose allegations of Kavanaughs sexual misconduct in high school and college have appeared in the media in the last several days. For many women, however, the events have also sparked discussion about the history of treatment of American women who report sexual harassment and assault, both to those who lived through Anita Hills testimony during Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991 and to those who had only seen clips of it on YouTube. Both groups seemed intent on seeing how this hearing, which has parallels, would compare. I was outraged at the Anita Hill hearings, Everitt said. But I was too young to actually understand the raw nerve it was hitting. Melanie Hurley, 47, listened to Fords testimony during her commute from Orinda to Berkeley before pulling in to work at 9 a.m. I found her to be just credible, said Hurley, a communications manager and mother of two. She sounded scared and she sounded nervous, and that seemed like the normal reaction to have when youre testifying in a situation like this. Hurley said she was upset by what she had seen on the news and in social media. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. It really felt like she was being prosecuted for something, Hurley said. As if women are just dying to come out of the woodwork just to be part of this smear campaign. It would be incredibly traumatic to be dissected this way in front of a panel of people who are judging you. Cynthia Wales Tuthill, 60, who is retired, was listening to the hearing from her home in St. Helena. She felt like the Republican senators were rushing through the process, since they had already announced that the committee would vote on Kavanaughs nomination Friday. It sure seems ridiculous that really theyre in a big hurry to vote, said Tuthill, who said that Fords words resonated with her. Its shocking to me how can this be happening. I feel like Im in the Twilight Zone. Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan Roads throughout the Bay Area are slowly improving, according to a new report, and officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission are crediting an infusion of SB1 gas tax dollars for the gradual upward trend. The pothole report released Wednesday by the MTC effectively became a piece of political literature, urging voters not to pass Proposition 6, an initiative to undo the newly enacted 12 cent-per-gallon gas tax hikes in November. The report showed the 43,000 lane miles of road throughout the region had an average score of 67 out of 100 on the pavement condition index. Thats roughly the same as last year, though it shows a four-point climb over the past 15 years. Now Playing: The five worst commutes in the Bay Area (in reverse order) as derived from Caltrans traffic data and estimates of the number of hours annually that drivers spend creeping along at speeds below 35 mph. Video: Martin do Nascimento Despite that improvement, scores in most cities hover just above the 60-point threshold where streets and roadways start to deteriorate rapidly. Blacktop throughout the Bay Area is at a crucial point where maintenance work would prevent rapid deterioration and the need for expensive repairs, the report said. But the repaving efforts of cities and counties could end abruptly if voters approve Prop. 6. The typical Bay Area street is still pretty worn and likely to soon need some serious work, said Metropolitan Transportation Commission Chair Jake Mackenzie. I hope voters will keep streets and roads in mind when they consider Proposition 6 on the November ballot. He said the commission aims to bring all Bay Area roads into a state of good repair, which translates into a score of 85 or higher a steep, but not insurmountable challenge if SB1 survives. Money to repave roadways also trickles in from county sales taxes, city and county general funds, bond measures and traffic impact fees, the report said, but those pots were dwindling before the state raised the gas tax last year, generating an additional $5.2 billion annually. If Prop. 6 passes, it wipes out those funds, said Steve Heminger, the commissions executive director, presenting slides at a board meeting Wednesday that showed two alternative futures for the Bay Area in 2027. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. One slide showed a map of the region awash in orange and red, designating areas that would be riddled with potholes and crumbling pavement if Proposition 6 passes. The other slide showed a half-green, half-red map, showing an even division of healthy and disintegrating roads. Supporters of the repeal accuse the state of wasteful spending and say that pothole and street repairs could be made without increasing taxes. Prop. 6s chair, Carl DeMaio, called the pothole report a political PR stunt. Only a fraction of the existing gas tax goes to any road projects currently, with the rest stolen and wasted by politicians, he told The Chronicle. Pavement conditions varied throughout the Bay Area, according to the report, which rated cities on a three-year average. Dublin has the best roads, with an average score of 85, and the worst pavement spreads through the Marin County city of Larkspur, which had a score of 42. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan The Bay Areas Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted Wednesday to spend $10 million on an environmental study for a new rail line to ferry commuters from the San Joaquin Valley to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station, which supporters see as a solution to soul-grinding car trips that clog freeways. But the commissioners also directed their staff to draft a policy that would set criteria for funding projects outside the nine-county region of the Bay Area. Though everyone approved the environmental review, several commissioners raised questions about the cost and merits of the Valley Link train service, which would open for business by 2027. Valley Link has support from some politicians and businesses whose employees travel from such cities as Stockton, Tracy and Lathrop, yet its drawn criticism from observers who say it could increase sprawl, add to congestion and duplicate an existing rail system. Some transportation officials ask whether motorists in the nine-county Bay Area whose bridge tolls will pay for the environmental study should be on the hook for a transit line that only serves the commuters in the valley. Going forward, this is going to be a $1.8 billion project, said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who is also a commissioner. He noted that the Valley Link tracks will run virtually parallel to the Altamont Corridor Express, a commuter rail that connects Stockton to San Jose. State Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco was equally skeptical. There are good ways of getting the Central Valley to the Bay Area, but there are also problematic ways, he told The Chronicle, citing fears that the new BART-like transit system would have low ridership, that it wouldnt produce dense housing and that the inner Bay Area would have to pay for everything. But super-commuters who drive from San Joaquin County to the greater Bay Area each day said they would welcome another option. Im all in, bring the rail, said Tim Smith, who slogs from his home in Fresno, along the I-5, over the Altamont Pass and on I-580 each day to a sales job in Newark a trip that swells to two and a half hours if he leaves after 4:30 a.m. The proposed rail link spurred a lively debate before the commission unanimously approved the environmental study, with some board members seeming reluctant to invest in a new transportation system that would likely require a new agency to run it, rather than building better connections between BART and the existing rail. Their reticence didnt faze Vice Chair Scott Haggerty, Valley Links main booster. He considers it an alternative to last years failed proposal to extend BART to Livermore. The BART board shot that idea down in a 5-4 vote, saying it would rather focus on modernizing the existing system before it builds more extensions. This was Plan B, Haggerty said, pitching the rail line as a tool to ease traffic on Interstate 580, making the cross-county trip a lot quicker for motorists and for truckers heading to Interstate 5. This is about freeing up capacity, he said. If we dont support that, we wont be able to move our commerce. Even so, Commissioner Jeannie Bruins of Santa Clara County pointed out that no one has done an official study to find out how the Valley Link would impact I-580. And no one has figured out how much it will cost to operate the new transit system, or who will pay for it, she noted. The argument among board members illustrated a larger philosophical debate about how to connect transit services throughout the Bay Area mega region, at a time when people are moving farther away from their jobs, to areas where home prices are cheaper. Some of those people have drastically long journeys to get to work each day. A person riding mass transit from Stockton to San Francisco might take several hours each way, catching the Altamont Corridor Express Train out of Stockton, arriving in Pleasanton more than an hour later, then taking a bus shuttle to BART to ride for an additional hour. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The experience for riders today is a fragmented system, said Egon Terplan, regional planning director at the urban think tank SPUR. He said the organization envisions a transit system where schedules are coordinated and riders dont have to wait which isnt what we have now. Whether Valley Link will help with that goal is unclear. A bigger worry for some urban planners is that it could lure more people out to the Central Valley, causing sprawl if the transit system isnt coupled with land use policies that encourage dense development. It could even have the adverse effect of adding more traffic to freeways. Backers of Valley Link arent swayed by those arguments, and many transportation officials say the current network of BART, shuttles and trains isnt working for people who live in the rural outskirts. Commissioner Amy Worth, who represents Contra Costa, pointed to a galling statistic that the commissions executive director, Steve Heminger, presented at the beginning of the meeting. Since the end of the recession in 2010, the Bay Area has created 700,000 jobs. But its only built 100,000 housing units. So most of those people are coming from far away, Worth noted. And, she said, Bay Area transportation officials have an obligation to help them. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan A years-long disagreement between cattle ranchers and conservation groups over which grazing animals should get precedence on the grasslands covering Point Reyes National Seashore dairy cows or native Tule elk took a step toward being settled on Tuesday, when the House of Representatives passed a bill in favor of the ranchers. H.R. 6687 would give a 20-year extension to existing agricultural leases in the national park, and allow Tule elk to be removed from working ranches. H.R. 6687 is narrowly tailored to help ensure that sustainable ranches and dairies continue as part of the fabric of our spectacular Point Reyes National Seashore for generations to come, said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), in a statement; he coauthored the the bill with Rob Bishop (R-Utah). Im proud that this bill has been a refreshing bipartisan effort here in Congress. Ranchers have held leases on the western end of Point Reyes National Seashore since 1962, when the federal government purchased their properties to create the park, some that had been in ranching families for generations. Controversy over extending their leases arose recently when ranchers claimed the Tule elk were overgrazing drought-ravaged pasture and called for their removal. In 2016, a coalition of environmental groups sued, calling for the Park Service to create an environmental review of the ranches impact on native wildlife particularly the Tule elk population, which was brought back from the brink of disappearing in 1971 before extending their leases. A settlement was reached last year that gave ranchers a 5-year extension in return for taking part in an environmental review process. But according to Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity, a national nonprofit conservation organization that took part in the 2016 lawsuit, because the bill proposes extending the leases for 20 more years, it makes a mockery of that environmental review. This kind of legislation to remove or kill native wildlife for the leaseholder sets a terrible precedent for our national park, and its really an insult to all the work thats going into restoring Tule elk, said Miller. Miller said that there have been over 2,500 public comments in favor of keeping elk in the park. The bill would protect ranches from elk intrusions. It reads: In areas of agricultural property where Tule elk present conflicts with working ranches or dairies, the Secretary (of the Interior) shall manage the Tule elk for separation from the working ranches or dairies. The bill also opens up the option for American Indian tribes to hunt the elk, even though hunting is otherwise not permitted in the park. Ranchers counter that the working ranches are a vital part of Marin county agriculture and they can play a sustainable role in managing pasture land. The Point Reyes National Seashore ranches make up almost one-fifth of the countys agricultural land, according to the nonprofit Marin Agricultural Land Trust. Without those long-term leases its extremely hard to do business, said Jamison Watts, executive director of Marin Agricultural Land Trust. This legislation would clarify Congresss long-standing intention of keeping agriculture on Point Reyes National Seashore. Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan The Most Extensive and Reliable Source of Information Related to the Mexican Drugs Cartels. You will not find this level of coverage anywhere else, join us! Send information, pictures or videos, you remain 100% anonymous. Envia fotos, videos, notas, enlaces o informacion todo 100% Anonimo. Want to be a contributor or citizen reporter for Borderland Beat? We love to have you in our team, send Sol Prendido or HEARST an email! WARNING: Posts may contain strong violent material, discretion is advised. COMMENTS: We do not publish all comments, and we do not publish comments immediately. What a week and its a long way from over! Here we go: The Senate Judiciary Committee seems to be charging ahead toward a vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court even before hearing the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford (not to mention the serious accusations of two other women). Its outrageous that senators would not allow the FBI to check out the allegations, as we state in our editorial. President Trump called the accusations a Democratic con job even as he tried to claim unconvincingly that he would wait for Fords testimony to decide whether she is telling the truth. But the vote is set for 9:30 a.m. Friday. Will he stay or will he go? On Monday, it looked as if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was about to be fired after the New York Times reported last week that he had spoke about wearing a wire for his interactions with the president, and even raised the specter of invoking the 25th Amendment to oust Trump. That immediately raised concerns, including from our editorial board, about the implications for the Mueller investigation. At his Wednesday news conference, Trump indicated Rosenstein was safe at least for the moment. Americas Senator: If social media is any measure, it seems that Californians are more consumed with that Texas Senate race between incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Beto ORourke than the Senate campaign in their own state. Facebook timelines and Twitter feeds were filled with video clips of ORourkes eloquent closing statement in the debate and his post-debate air-drumming of The Whos Baba ORiley in his car. Extra points that he was in the drivers seat himself. Perhaps my favorite ORourke move of the week was his classy response to the classless ambush of protesters of Cruz and his wife at a Washington restaurant. Meanwhile, closer to home: Californians will just have to settle between Democrats Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Kevin de Leon on their Nov. 6 ballots. The big question: Will they debate? De Leon, way back in the polls, is obviously eager to debate anytime and anywhere. Feinstein, who had pledged to our editorial board that she would debate her general election opponent, continues to hedge. Its Transit Week! BTW, has the Bay Area lost its ability to build to last? The steel cracks at the new Transbay Terminal are just the latest in a series of construction debacles, as our editorial points out. Theyre not laughing with you, Mr. President: This was the week the president of the United States drew laughter when bragging about his accomplishments in a United Nations speech. Its not quite the response he might expect at a #MAGA rally in Johnson City, Tenn. Lesson: Know your audience. Town Bidness: I stopped by the Oakland mayoral debate at the gorgeous First Baptist Church on Wednesday night. A couple of quick impressions. It sure was a lot more civil than most mayoral forums in San Francisco. Oh sure, incumbent Libby Schaaf did take a few darts especially from Pamela Price and Cat Brooks, who are running to her left but the crowd of several hundred was respectful and attentive. Perhaps the setting had something to do with it. It would be a bit unseemly to cheer or boo too loudly when a hymnal in your lap. Homelessness, crime, police accountability, gentrification and affordability were the top topics. Line of the night goes to political newcomer Marchon Tatmon: Everythings doubled in the last four years besides wages. John Diaz What were saying We rolled out the last of our endorsements on state measures: Prop. 4, a bond measure for childrens hospitals. Our view is there is a principled argument to oppose ... and a very practical reason to support. We went with the practical. Yes on 4. Im still waiting to see what Gov. Jerry Brown does with SB1437, a bill that would reform Californias felony murder rule to make it more difficult to prosecute accomplices in killings. As I wrote in my Sunday column, it is based on a just concept too many people are serving long terms when they had no reason to know that they were being drawn into a lethal crime but there are unintended consequences. My Sunday column highlighted one such instance, in which the alleged instigator of a robbery that turned fatal may be relieved of culpability if the governor signs SB1437 into law. Who were seeing Sign up for the newsletter Want to get the latest San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board opinions in your inbox? Subscribe to Opinion Central. See More Collapse Endorsements, endorsements and more endorsements: Our meeting schedule was packed again this week with candidates and advocates on state and local ballot measures. The largest group, by far, came Wednesday with 14 of the 18 candidates for the San Francisco Board of Education showing up for a 90-minute session with the editorial board. It was inspiring to see so many San Franciscans so dedicated to education. The big issues, not surprisingly, included raising teacher pay, closing the achievement gap and proposing (and in a few cases defending) the school assignment system. The most unorthodox idea goes to Paul Kangas, who suggested the way to raise education funding was to put 1,000 solar panels on schools and charge PG&E for the surplus energy. He said we need to punish them for burning down Northern California. Where to follow us We have a new Twitter channel, Opinion Central (@sfc_opinions). Please add it to your stream. Youll catch our editorials and opinion pieces, as well as our drive-by comments on assorted subjects in the news. Also, please add our Opinion Central podcast to wherever you receive yours. This is the place for backstories and commentary with our opinion writers and special guests. Like our Opinion Central newsletter? Share it with your friends. Heres the link to sign up! It comes out every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Letter of the Week Wise advice from Richard Hewetson of Mountain View about an excellent piece by Margaret Sullivan on our op-ed page: Regarding A primer on how to navigate the news (Sept. 25): Thank you for publishing Margaret Sullivans column. So often I hear people discussing current events as if they only read the headline. She also stresses the importance of reading what people with whom we are likely to disagree write. I have often discovered that people with differing views from my own have important things to say. Join the public discussion: We welcome your feedback and insights: You can send us a letter for publication via this form. Just a reminder The Chronicles editorials represent the collective judgment of our Editorial Board, which includes the publisher as well as the writers and editors from the opinion team. Our editors and reporters on the news side are not involved in those decisions (including election endorsements). They and are charged with reporting fairly and objectively without regard to our editorial positions. It is one of the core values here at Fifth and Mission streets. Opinion Central is a thrice-weekly newsletter from John Diaz, The Chronicles editorial page editor, and the rest of the Editorial Board. Follow along on Twitter: @sfc_opinions The facts of Brett Kavanaughs Supreme Court nomination are straining against Republican senators remarkable determination to ignore them. The Senate Judiciary Committees approach to Christine Blasey Fords allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school, which has minimized every opportunity for further investigation, looks even more absurd in light of subsequent charges from two additional women. Like Ford, who has provided the committee with sworn declarations that she told her husband and three friends about the assault before Kavanaugh was nominated, the other women have stories that point to multiple potential witnesses and means of corroborating or refuting the charges. Deborah Ramirez told the New Yorker that a drunken Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party during their freshman year at Yale. A sworn declaration attributed to Julie Swetnick, disclosed by the omnipresent lawyer and Trump nemesis Michael Avenatti, says she saw Kavanaugh drinking excessively and engaging in physically aggressive behavior toward girls who were targeted and serially raped at parties during his high school years. Kavanaugh has disputed all the charges, and President Trump and Republican senators have questioned the timing, motivation and truth of the accusations. That would seem to support the case for further examination and testimony, which all three women have welcomed. And yet the senators expressing such confidence that the charges are false have avoided making any attempt to debunk them, refusing to seek an FBI investigation and limiting Thursdays testimony to Ford and Kavanaugh. Worse, they have scheduled a committee vote to confirm the conservative appellate judge the next day. This is the culmination of a process that has trampled regular order and due diligence in an effort to elevate Kavanaugh before the midterm elections. Proceeding in this manner will irrevocably tarnish the Senate and the court alike. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. As she appears before a U.S. Senate committee to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of trying to rape her 36 years ago, Christine Blasey Ford says she is frightened and psychologically scarred. One thing she is not, Ford says, is a Democratic operative out to derail Kavanaughs nomination. For his part, the 53-year-old Kavanaugh admits to teenage behavior that now makes him cringe. But that behavior never included sexual assault, the appeals court judge says in denying Fords allegations. Both Ford and Kavanaugh released texts Wednesday of the opening statements that they plan to deliver at Thursdays Judiciary Committee hearing, which starts at 7 a.m. PDT. I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me, Ford, a 51-year-old psychology professor at Palo Alto University, said in her statement. I am a fiercely independent person and I am no ones pawn, Ford said. My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaughs actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision. She described herself as terrified in coming forward, and said that after first disclosing the incident during therapy in 2012, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety. Fords statement adds a few new details but is consistent with her recent accounts to congressional representatives and the Washington Post of a drunken Kavanaugh locking her in a bedroom and trying to rape her during a party in Maryland in the summer of 1982, when he was 17 and she was 15. Her accusations, followed by those of two other women, have raised 11th-hour doubts about the confirmation of President Trumps nomination of Kavanaugh to a crucial seat on the high court, succeeding the retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh has adamantly rejected the allegations and renewed the denials in his opening statement to the committee. I never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind with Dr. Ford, the nominee said. He said he sometimes drank too many beers as a teenager, and said and did things in high school that make me cringe now, but I have never sexually assaulted anyone. He added, This effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. After their opening statements, both Ford and Kavanaugh will be questioned by Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona sex-crimes prosecutor hired by the committees majority Republicans, and by Democratic senators. Republican leaders have refused to call other witnesses and have scheduled a committee vote on the nomination for Friday. Ford attended an all-girls school in Bethesda, Md., in 1982 while Kavanaugh attended a nearby all-boys school, Georgetown Prep. She said in her statement that she met him at parties through a mutual friend, and while they didnt know each other well, I knew him and he knew me. At a small, spur-of-the-moment social gathering that summer in Bethesda, she had one beer, Ford said. Kavanaugh and a friend of his, Mark Judge, were visibly drunk, she said. When she went upstairs to use the bathroom, she said, she was pushed from behind into a bedroom. Kavanaugh and Judge entered and locked the door, and after one of them pushed her onto the bed, Kavanaugh climbed on top of her, she said. He ground his body against her, groped her, tried to take off her clothes and put his hand over her mouth when she tried to call for help, Ford said. Judge has both denied that the incident occurred and said he had no memory of it. Ford said she escaped when Judge jumped on the bed and sent them all toppling over. She ran into a bathroom and locked the door, while hearing Brett and Mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairs, pin-balling off the walls on the way down, she said. Bretts assault on me drastically altered my life, Ford said, recalling that she was too afraid and ashamed to mention it for many years. Before she married Russell Ford in 2002, she said, she told him she had been sexually assaulted, but did not give any details until a couples therapy session 10 years later. It came out, she said, as she explained to her husband why she insisted on including a second front door during a remodeling of their house. Fords husband and three friends have submitted sworn statements to the Judiciary Committee saying she described the incident to them between 2012 and 2016, before Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court. I am here today not because I want to be, Ford said in her statement. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me. She did not criticize the committee for its limitations on the hearing or ask members to vote against Kavanaugh. In his statement, Kavanaugh did not criticize Ford but suggested she had either fabricated the incident or confused him with someone else. I am not questioning that Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time, he said. But I have never done that to her or to anyone. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelko . Democrat Andrew Janz is confident hes well on the way to defeating eight-term Central Valley Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, a favorite of President Trump. Now he has to convince Democratic Party leaders. Janz, a Fresno County deputy district attorney, has had plenty of success raising money from Democrats across the country. But he says hes been almost invisible to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which makes the decisions when it comes to doling out party money to House candidates. Janz, who was in San Franciscos Dogpatch neighborhood recently for a fundraiser, said he is more concerned than angry. Im worried about their lack of interest in a most compelling contest against an opponent who is universally hated in Democratic circles, Janz said. The 44-year-old Nunes, R-Tulare, has drawn the scorn of Democrats as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a perch from which hes led the effort to quash Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Party leaders decide which campaigns are likely to succeed and make funding decisions accordingly. Janz fears that Democratic officials have put his race in the too-big-a-reach category. Democrats are looking at a huge midterm battlefield of more than 100 competitive seats, and all their funding decisions are aimed at flipping the 23 GOP-held seats needed to retake control of the House. Party officials say the right things about Janz and his campaign. The DCCC trusts candidates to run campaigns that work best for their individual districts, which is exactly what Andrew Janz is doing, said Amanda Sherman, a spokeswoman for the committee. Andrew Janz has built a strong, independent, Central Valley-focused campaign that will make this race competitive. The partys actions, however, havent matched those words. When former President Barack Obama visited Orange County this month for a congressional campaign event, Janz wasnt one of the seven party hopefuls invited. Hes also not one of the eight Californians on the partys Red to Blue list of top-tier candidates slated to receive organizational and fundraising support. There are plenty of reasons for Democratic officials to conclude that the 34-year-old Janz, making his first run for public office, is an unlikely candidate to unseat Nunes, who has been invincible at the ballot box since he was first elected in 2002. Todd Trumbull The 22nd Congressional District, which includes much of Fresno and Tulare counties, tilts strongly right, with registered Republicans outnumbering Democrats, 42 to 32 percent. In 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton there, 52 to 43 percent, and Nunes was re-elected with 68 percent of the vote. The June primary didnt indicate much had changed. Nunes topped Janz easily, 58 to 32 percent. Of the major political rating services, only one, Sabatos Crystal Ball, lists the Central Valley race as competitive. And even it figures the contest as likely Republican. The $6.1 million that Nunes had in the bank on June 30 also boosts his chances. But Janz hasnt backed down, arguing that he will pay more attention to the districts concerns than Nunes, who has devoted much of his time to his high-profile job in Washington. Janz had $1.1 million in his campaign account at the end of June and has been one of the Democrats strongest online fundraisers, pulling in more than $1 million in August alone. In the heavily agricultural district, water is the main concern, whether its clean water for drinking, dams for storage or canals to get farmers the irrigation they need. Trumps tariffs raised the possibility that growers of such local crops as almonds, grapes, raisins and pistachios could lose overseas sales. And immigration reform is on everyones list, Janz said, because Central Valley farmers want a reliable source of labor and are tired of (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids. Ive been talking to everyone, he said. Democrats have a special dislike for Nunes for his close ties to Trump, Janz said, and Republicans are frustrated about Devin Nunes inability to get anything done for the district. Thats not the way Nunes and his supporters see it. He touts his connections to Trump as a plus for his district. While campaigning for other Republicans, he has warned that a GOP-led House could be the only way to ensure the presidents programs are passed. In a video spot, Nunes said its Janz who ignores his districts interests by allying with Hollywood and San Francisco Democrats, the very people who want to cut off the valleys water supply. The district supports Trump, Nunes says, but Janzs main backing comes from far-left resistance activists. An ad on Nunes Facebook page talks about how his office helped a family in the Fresno suburb of Clovis with a Veterans Affairs problem. His history as a part of a longtime local farming family also plays well. Democratic officials have no reason to dismiss his chances, Janz says. He points to a survey taken for his campaign this month by Strategies 360 that found Nunes with just a six-point lead, 50 to 44 percent. I started out 36 points down, and now the polling shows a continuing trend toward victory, Janz said. Janz has also been much more visible in the district than Nunes, who has spent much of the year in Washington. Weve had 130 stops in coffee shops and backyards and 10 town halls, said Heather Greven, Janzs campaign manager. Were putting boots on the ground, with 250 people in someones backyard six nights a week. Enthusiasm doesnt always translate into votes, however, especially in an area where the GOP and Nunes have held control for so many years. Were under no illusions, Greven said. This is a tough district. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth SACRAMENTO Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have allowed co-workers and school personnel to petition a court to temporarily remove guns from someone they believe poses an immediate danger. AB2888 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would have expanded the list of people who can ask a court for a gun violence restraining order under a 2016 law, a little-known process under which a judge can bar a person from possessing a gun for as long as a year. The law can now be used only by immediate family members, roommates and law enforcement. Under Tings bill, teachers, principals, co-workers and employers would have been able to ask for a gun restraining order for people they feared were a threat to themselves or others. All of the persons named in this bill can seek a gun violence restraining order today under existing law by simply working through law enforcement or the immediate family of the concerning individual, Brown said in his veto message. I think law enforcement professionals and those closest to a family member are best situated to make these especially consequential decisions. Currently, if a judge grants a restraining order, the gun owner is required to surrender his or her firearms for 21 days while awaiting a hearing on whether the order will be extended for a year. During that time, the person is barred from buying firearms or ammunition. During 2016 and 2017, 189 petitions for gun violence restraining orders were granted in California, state Justice Department figures show. The vast majority of them were requested by law enforcement officers, while 12 were at the urging of family members. In the Bay Area, 29 orders were issued, all at the request of police. The orders are opposed by gun rights advocates, who complain that the 2016 law allows judges to remove weapons first and ask questions later. They said expanding the law was likely to lead to abuses. Brown did, however, sign another gun-related bill that sets a minimum training standard for people applying for a concealed weapons permit. AB2103 by Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, requires applicants to complete at least eight hours of training and a live-fire shooting exercise before they can receive a concealed-carry permit. Those requirements go into effect Jan. 1. This bill has always been about common sense, Gloria said. This makes our communities safer. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez SACRAMENTO Gov. Jerry Brown has until Sunday to decide the fate of 350 bills on his desk, including legislation that would create net neutrality regulations in California, expand access to abortion pills at public universities and increase public access to police misconduct records. Brown can either sign or veto bills or let them become law without his signature. Bills go into effect Jan. 1, unless another date is specifically listed in the legislation. Brown has yet to weigh in on SB822 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, which would create the strongest net neutrality protections in the country. Those regulations would bar internet service companies from slowing rival websites or those that dont pay for faster service. The bill has faced intense opposition from the telecommunications industry, which argued that it is a federal issue and that state-by-state regulations are impractical. Three other bills by Wiener are also on Browns desk. SB905 would allow San Francisco, Oakland and seven other California cities to keep their bars open until 4 a.m. SB1045 would create a five-year pilot program in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego counties, under which officials would have more control over who can be involuntarily held for mental-health treatment. The bill would ease conservatorship laws so that severely mentally ill people with drug and alcohol addiction could be forced off the streets and into treatment. SB221would bar gun shows at the state-owned Cow Palace exhibition hall in Daly City, beginning in 2020. Another bill awaiting Browns decision: SB320 by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), to require health centers at University of California and California State University campuses to offer abortion pills. That bill would take effect in 2022. Leyva also authored a bill that is on Browns desk to require all rape kits to be tested promptly in California. SB1449 would require rape kits evidence collected after a sexual assault to be sent to a lab within 20 days, and for labs to complete their analysis within 120 days. A companion bill, AB3118 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, is also awaiting Browns decision. It would create the first statewide count of untested rape kits by requiring law enforcement agencies to report how many they have to the state Justice Department by July 1. Prosecutors and criminal justice reform groups are closely watching Browns verdict on SB1437 by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, which would change the states felony murder rule that holds an accomplice in an offense such as robbery liable for a homicide that happens during the crime, regardless of whether the defendant was involved in the killing. More than two-thirds of Californias top county prosecutors sent a letter to Brown asking that he veto the bill. Skinner has another pending public safety bill, SB1421, which would make police misconduct records public when an officer commits sexual assault, lies on the job by planting evidence or falsifying reports. Corporations in California are monitoring a bill that would require publicly traded companies in the state to have at least one woman on their boards of directors by the end of 2019. SB826 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, would then require by 2021 that companies have two women for five-member boards and three women for boards of six or more members. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez Latest from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing into allegations by Christine Blasey Ford, a Palo Alto University psychology professor, that Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh tried to rape her at a party when they were both teenagers in the early 1980s. 3:45 p.m.: Under questioning from Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Kavanaugh said he hadnt watched Fords testimony on Thursday. But I plan to, he added. Harris asked whether Kavanaugh has taken a professionally administered polygraph, as Ford did. Ill do what the committee wants, he said. But he noted that polygraph information is unreliable and cant be used in federal court. Wrapping up the hearing, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Kavanaugh if Fords accusations are true. They arent as to me, Kavanaugh answered. Now Playing: Christine Blasey Ford says she came before the Senate Judiciary Committee not because she wanted to, but because she believed it's her civic duty. (Sept. 27) Video: Associated Press Swear to God? Kennedy asked. Swear to God, Kavanaugh answered. 3:32 p.m.: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she didnt release Fords letter to her about Kavanaughs alleged attack and kept it confidential because she had promised Ford thats what she would do. She also denied that her staff had leaked it. I was asked to keep it confidential and Im being criticized for that, too, Feinstein said. Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that if Feinstein had given him the letter, he would have kept it confidential with a bipartisan investigation that wouldnt have brought up Fords name. Feinstein said Ford had told friends about the letter, and said thats probably how it leaked. 3:25 p.m.: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said both Kavanaugh and Ford are victims who have had their names dragged through the mud. Ford was treated with respect, Cruz told Kavanaugh, but I dont believe Democrats have treated you with respect. 3:19 p.m.: Sen Cory Booker, D-N.J., told Kavanaugh that because hes calling the allegations a political hit job, that would make Ford a political operative. Kavanaugh replied that he has no ill will toward Ford. Do you wish she didnt come forward? Booker asked. All allegations should be taken seriously, Kavanaugh said. Ford wanted confidentiality, but then it was blown by someone on the committee, Kavanaugh added. 3:14 p.m.: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked committee Democrats, What are you really after? You arent after the truth. Addressing Kavanaugh, he said, Youre the first target of a new strategy by Democrats. This is the way were going to run the committee in the future? 3:07 p.m.: Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Republicans are trying to distract people from Fords testimony that she was 100 percent certain Kavanaugh attacked her. 2:50 p.m.: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said that if Kavanaugh was untruthful in anything, he could be considered to be lying about everything. He argued that comments in his high-school yearbook entry about a female classmate were sexual in nature, which Kavanaugh denied. Youre just dragging her through the mud, Kavanaugh told Blumenthal. Blumenthal also asked about a trip Kavanaugh organized for his Yale law school classmate where there was reportedly plenty of drinking. Afterward, Blumenthal said, Kavanaugh had to piece things together to determine what happened on the trip. Kavanaugh did not directly address how much drinking he had done on that trip. 2:43 p.m.: Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Kavanaugh has no way to call for an FBI investigation, and complained that Democrats staff have declined to participate in the committee investigation. He suggested that the Democrats are anxious to delay a vote on the nomination until after the Nov. 6 election. This could have been addressed in a way that provided more dignity for you and Dr. Ford, Lee said. 2:35 p.m.: Sen. Chris Coons, R-R.I., said hes trying to determine Kavanaughs credibility, asking whether hes ever become aggressive after drinking. The answer is no, Kavanaugh said. Then he asked her about a Yale classmate who said Kavanaugh drank more than most people and that he shouldnt say he never blacked out or couldnt remember what he did while drinking. Another classmate said Kavanaugh was regularly drunk, Coons said Kavanaugh said that wasnt fair, saying he had conflicts with his roommate and that other supposed witnesses to his drinking never saw him black out. Coons also called for Kavanaugh to ask for a one-week pause in the confirmation process, to allow for more investigation to question the various people I believe are critical to this. When you ask for a week delay, do you know how long the last 11 days have been? Kavanaugh said. 2:28 p.m.: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said senators had treated Ford fairly and that Kavanaugh deserves the same consideration. It remains to see how that works, he added. Serious allegations have been raised and if Judge Kavanaugh committed sexual assault, he shouldnt be on the Supreme Court, Hatch said. But this is a national disgrace. The search for truth has to involve more than bare assertions, Hatch said. I understand the desire of my colleagues to tear down this man at any cost, but there has to be some fairness, he added. Kavanaugh said he first learned of Fords charges when he read a story in the Washington Post. Sen. Dianne Feinstein became aware of Fords allegations when she received a letter from her in July, but Kavanaugh said the California Democrat had never mentioned it in her pre-hearings discussions with him. I think its a disgrace, Hatch said. 2:05 p.m.: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Kavanaugh why he doesnt request that President Trump reopen the investigation into his background. You could actually get this open so that committee and FBI could talk to other people involved, she said. We would like to get the FBI involved. Kavanaugh again said hes there to answer questions and that its up to committee to make decisions about how the hearing should be handled. Klobuchar asked Kavanaugh about his drinking, and whether he drank so much he didnt remember what happened the night before. Kavanaugh struggled with the answer, before saying he didnt. He also asked Klobuchar whether she had ever blacked out while drinking. I dont have a drinking problem, Klobuchar answered. Kavanaugh replied, Neither do I. 1:50 p.m.: Senate Republicans appeared to dispense with having Arizona sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell ask their questions. Following South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Grahams angry outburst at Democrats, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked if Kavanaugh is aware hes been accused of multiple crimes. Im painfully aware of that, Kavanaugh said. Ill never get my reputation back. To vote against the nomination, people would have to say that Kavanaugh is a serial liar, Cornyn said. Its outrageous and youre right to be angry, Cornyn said. The burden isnt on you. In our system, the burden is on the person making the accusation. 1:55 p.m.: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked about a high school yearbook that called Kavanaugh a member of the Ralph club, referring to vomiting. Ive always had a weak stomach, Kavanaugh said, although not saying whether it was because of alcohol. 1:52 p.m.: GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina attacked committee Democrats saying, You want to destroy this guys life and hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020. He called it the most unethical thing hes seen since hes been in Congress I hope American people can see through this sham, Graham said. He argued that Democrats never cared about Dr. Ford, saying they used her for political purposes. I intend to vote for you and hope everyone whos fair minded will, Graham said. 1:39: p.m.: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Ford didnt flinch from being investigated by the FBI and that lying to the FBI is a crime. If Kavanaugh welcomes any sort of investigation, Durbin said, he should ask the White House to suspend the hearing until an FBI investigation is completed. It would put the questions to rest if they were false and prove them if they were true, he said. An FBI investigation is the only way to lay this to rest. Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, angrily interrupted. Stop the clock. This committee is running the hearing, not the White House or anyone else, he said. Kavanaugh again said hell do whatever the committee wants, but Durbin told Kavanaugh he had to make the call, unless he was afraid of what an investigation would bring. Im innocent, Kavanaugh said. Ill do whatever the committee wants to do. 1:34 p.m.: Mitchell asks more questions about his calendars, asking if he documented house parties. I documented everything that summer, he said. Theres nothing that could even remotely fit Fords allegations, Kavanaugh said. Theres no statute of limitations that would prevent you from being charged in Maryland, Mitchell said, asking whether Kavanaugh has ever spoken with police about the incident. No, maam, he said, adding that hes never had anyone suggest, even privately, that he has engaged in unwanted sexual behavior. 1:27 p.m.: Leahy asks about Mark Judge and says that unfortunately the FBI hasnt interviewed him because Republicans have refused to allow it. Kavanaugh talks back to Leahy, says the charges were dropped on him and that Judge has provided sworn testimony. Leahy asks about Judges book about drinking as a high school student and whether Kavanaugh was named in the book. As part of his efforts at sobriety, he wrote a fictional book, using names of friends from high schools. As to whether its Kavanaugh in the book, Youd have to ask him, he said. He talks over Leahy, telling the senator that he has to give him time to answer, Let me finish, he said. Does yearbook reflect his attitude toward sex and women, Leahy asked. If we want to take a yearbook page as the reason for a Supreme Court nomination, weve reached a new level of absurdity, he said. Leahy accused Kavanaugh of a filibuster without a single answer.1:52 p.m.: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., attacked committee Democrats, angrily telling them, You want to destroy this guys life and hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020. He called it the most unethical thing hes seen since hes been in Congress I hope American people can see through this sham, Graham said, arguing that the Democrats never cared about Dr. Ford, saying they used her for political purposes. I intend to vote for you and hope everyone whos fair-minded will, Graham said. 1:39: p.m.: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Ford didnt flinch from being investigated by the FBI and that lying to the FBI is a crime. If Kavanaugh welcomes any sort of investigation, Durbin said, he should ask the White House to suspend the hearing until an FBI investigation is completed. It would put the questions to rest if they were false and prove them if they were true, Durbin said. An FBI investigation is the only way to lay this to rest. Kavanaugh said hell do whatever the committee wants, but Durbin told Kavanaugh he had to make the call, unless he was afraid of what an investigation would bring. Im innocent, Kavanaugh said. Ill do whatever the committee wants to do. 1:27 p.m.: Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked Kavanaugh about his friend Mark Judge, who Ford said was present when Kavanaugh allegedly tried to rape her. Leahy said that unfortunately, the FBI hasnt interviewed him because Republicans have refused to allow it. Kavanaugh talked back to Leahy, saying the charges were dropped on him and that Judge has provided sworn testimony. Leahy asked about Judges book about drinking as a high school student and whether Kavanaugh was named in the book. As part of his efforts at sobriety, he wrote a fictional book, using names of friends from high schools. As to whether its Kavanaugh in the book, Youd have to ask him, he said. He talked over Leahy, telling the senator that he has to give him time to answer. Let me finish, he said. Does the yearbook reflect his attitude toward sex and women? Leahy asked. If the Senate wants to take a yearbook page as the reason for a Supreme Court nomination, weve reached a new level of absurdity, Kavanaugh replied. 1:13 p.m.: Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex-crimes prosecutor handling the questioning for Republicans, asked Kavanaugh if he drank as a teenager. We drank beer, he said. I liked beer. He added that while he has gone to sleep after drinking, he never blacked out. He denied ever not remembering what happened during a drinking bout. Kavanaugh said he had never been alone in a room with Ford, nor had he ever attacked her. Earlier, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Kavanaugh why he hadnt called for an FBI investigation into Fords charges. Ill do whatever the committee wants, he said. I wanted a hearing the next day. My family has been destroyed by this, destroyed. He added, Its an outrage I wasnt able to come here and deny what happened. I wanted to be here right away. Feinstein asked him whether Fords allegations were wrong. Thats emphatically what Im saying, he replied. 1:05 p.m.: Kavanaugh opened his testimony with an angry, 45-minute statement that he said he wrote by himself. It differed dramatically from the far shorter and much more measured opening statement that had been released Wednesday afternoon by the committee. Kavanaugh choked up several times as he spoke. He denied Fords accusations immediately, unequivocally and categorically. He added that one of Fords friends already has denied being at the party at which she said he tried to rape her. The nomination process has become a national disgrace, Kavanaugh said. Advise and consent has become search and destroy. He harshly attacked Democrats, saying they ghad called him evil and accusing them of wanting to blow me up and take me down. The behavior of some Democrats at his nomination hearing earlier this month was disgraceful, Kavanaugh said. He accused Democrats of holding back Fords letter accusing him of the attack so they could go after him at the last minute if they couldnt block his nomination any other way. This has destroyed my family and my good name, he said. The current effort by Democrats is a calculated and orchestrated political hit, Kavanaugh said. He said he had been hit with a grotesque series of political attacks that will keep other qualified people from wanting to move into public service. I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process, he said. Your coordinated effort ... will not drive me out. You may defeat me in the final vote, but you wont convince me to quit. Ever. There has never been a whiff of scandal about him in 26 years of public service, Kavananaugh said, until he was just about to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. He choked up several times, including when he related how his 10-year-old daughter told him Wednesday night, We should pray for the woman. Thats a lot of wisdom for a 10-year-old. In six FBI background investigations over more than 20 years, nothing has been found to disqualify him from the court or other government service, Kavanaugh said. Ive been opposition researched when he was part of Kenneth Starrs Whitewater investigation into then-President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and nothing was found, he said. Until last week no one ever accused me of any type of sexual misconduct, Kavanaugh said. In years of serving in the government, there was never a hint of this. Thats because this never happened. He doesnt recall ever meeting Ford and that everyone Ford said was at that gathering now says they werent there. Dr. Fords accusation isnt just uncorroborated but refuted by people she said were there, Kavanaugh said. Kavanaugh paused many times to compose himself, including when he talked about how his father kept calendars as journals and he began doing the same in the ninth grade. Ive been keeping them for 36 years ... with some goofy parts and some embarrassing parts, Kavanaugh said. The calendar, which he provided to the committee, shows that he was out of town most weekends in the summer of 1982, with only a couple exceptions, which are noted in that calendar, he said. He talked about training and preparing for the football and basketball season before his senior year. Kavanaugh said he listed who he was with at parties and none of them included Ford. Fords accusation is radically inconsistent with his history from high school and beyond, Kavanaugh said. I drank beers with my friends, he said. Sometimes I drank too many although he noted, theres a bright line between drinking beer ... and sexual assault. As to sex, this was a subject I never imagined would come up in a nomination hearing, he said, adding that he never had sex or anything close to it in high school, which was a matter of faith ... and caution. He talked about the support hes received from friend and families. Ive felt that love more in the past two weeks than ever before in my life. All four of the law clerks he has contingently hired in case he moved to the Supreme Court are women, he said. I love teaching law, but thanks to what some of you on this side of the hearing have unleashed, I may never be able to teach again, Kavanaugh said, pointing toward the Democrats. He and his wife knew this would be challenging, but never believed it would devolved into this. Explaining what is happening to his daughters has been one of the worst things he has ever had to do, Kavanaugh added. I ask you to judge me to the standard you would want applied to your father, your brother or your son, he said. He ended his statement by saying, I am innocent of this charge. 12:02 p.m.: While Ford said she was terrified about being interviewed by the senators on the Senate Judicial Committee, it turned out she had little to worry about. She didnt face a harsh word or a pointed question during the more than four hours she spent before the panel. It was no surprise that the Democrats would be supportive, since they were unanimously opposed to Kavanaughs nomination even before Fords accusations became public. The 10 Democratic senators spent most of their five-minute segments praising Ford for going public and apologizing for the pain it has caused her. A number of Democrats told Ford up front that I believe you, and raised almost no questions about any part of her statement about what happened between her and Kavanaugh that night in 1982. But Republicans also handled Ford with kid gloves, wary of doing anything that might be seen as intimidating or even questioning a woman who said she had been sexually assaulted by a future Supreme Court nominee. From the start, the committee Republicans backed away from the idea that the GOP members all men would directly question Ford. Instead, they hired Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, to come to Washington and interrogate Ford. Even Mitchell, though, was unwilling to push hard at Ford. She asked few questions about the assault, touching only briefly and politely on what Ford admitted were holes in her recollections of the incident. Ford, for example, doesnt remember how she got home after being attacked and was unable to say why a longtime female friend who she said was at that gathering, Leland Ingham, denied ever having met Kavanaugh or attending the party with Ford. Mitchell and by proxy, the Republicans never attacked Fords credibility, concentrating instead of questions of who is paying for her attorneys and security (the lawyers are working for free and theres a GoFundMe page to pay for some other expenses). Mitchell also spent a lot of time on why Ford or her lawyers refused to allow a private interview by committee staff in her Bay Area home and decided instead to make her case in the nationally televised hearing. That low-key approach is unlikely to continue when Kavanaugh is interviewed this afternoon. The federal court judge has denied the sexual assault on Ford or anyone else, both in interviews with the committee staff and on Fox News. 11:08 a.m.: Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said the fact that Ford went to her congresswoman first with her allegations against Kavanaugh showed how credible she is. I believe you, she said. Trauma, shame and the fear of consequences cause many victims to delay reporting, if they report their attacks at all, Harris said. Kavanaugh hasnt taken a polygraph test or called for an FBI investigation, something Ford has done, Harris said. You have bravely come forward, Harris told Ford. You are a true patriot ... a true profile in courage. Afterward, Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex-crimes prosecutor handling questioning for Republican senators, asked Ford about whether anyone else at the party would have known about the attack. Ford replied that except for Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge, who Ford says was present during the attack, its likely that no one else remembers anything because it was otherwise an unremarkable gathering. Ford is now done testifying. Kavanaugh will testify when the panel returns around noon PDT. 10:55 a.m.: Mitchell asks who referred her to lawyers. It was friends and family who suggested names, but Feinsteins staff also suggested some attorneys she could hire, Ford said. I would be happy to submit to an interview by the FBI or investigators from the committee, Ford said. Who is paying, Mitchell asked? Both attorneys are working pro bono, with no expectation of getting paid, one of the lawyers said. Ford refused to identify a friend of hers who originally linked her to Kavanaugh in high school, only saying it was someone she went out with for a time and say at the local country club. What other social interactions did she have with Kavanaugh, Mitchell asked. There were four or five parties, most during her sophomore year, when she socialized with Kavanaugh, Ford said, adding that there was no inappropriate behavior by Kavanaugh at those events. 10:49 a.m.: Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., cited the incredible challenges Ford has had to endure to come before the committee. She has faced assaults on her dignity and humanity, Booker said. By coming forward, he added, Ford is affecting the culture of the nation. Youre opening up to open air the pain of people across the country, Booker said. You are speaking truth this country needs to understand. Booker renewed Democrats attacks on Republican senators for not ordering up further investigations into Kavanaugh. I wish I could be more helpful ... in a way to get out more information, Ford replied. Earlier, Arizona sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, handling the questioning for GOP senators, asked again who paid for the polygraph that Ford underwent after making her allegations recently against Kavanaugh. Her lawyers said they did. Who will pay the costs of the lawyers? Mitchell asked. There are several GoFundMe sites, Ford said, but she hasnt figured out how to access them yet. She said they will pay mostly for security costs. 10:27 a.m.: The lunch break comes with only 30 minutes left for questions to Ford, half from the three remaining Democratic senators and the rest from Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes prosecutor who is questioning Ford for the Republican committee members. All the Democrats who have questioned Ford so far have pointed to her courage in coming forward, arguing that she had nothing to gain by putting herself through what she described as an unwanted ordeal. They also got Ford on record as saying there was no chance she was mistaken in identifying Kavanaugh as her attaker, and continually attacked the Republican majority for refusing to delay the hearing so the FBI could conduct an investigation into all the allegations against the Supreme Court nominee. On the Republican side, Mitchell has been cautious and meticulous in her questioning of Ford, asking low-key questions about what the professor has said about the reported attack and whom she said it to. Its been a slow process, with nothing so far resembling the type of gotcha moment that could give anyone including the senators who will vote on Kavanaughs nomination cause to doubt Fords sincerity in making her charges against the judge. The committee process, with the hearing broken into five-minute segments that alternate between Republicans and Democrats, has also worked against Mitchell. The repeated starts and stops have made it virtually impossible for her to put together the sort of smooth-flowing, interconnected argument, unconstrained by tight time limits, that prosecutors typically make during a trial. Unless something changes, Mitchell and the Republicans seem likely to run out of time long before they run out of questions. The Democrats arent likely to be nearly so polite and constrained when it comes to questioning Kavanaugh later in the day. 9:37 a.m.: Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes prosecutor handling questioning for Republican senators, asked Ford why she agreed to a take a polygraph about her recollections of the attack. I was happy to agree to undergo the polygraph test, although it was extremely stressful, Ford said. She didnt choose the polygraph examiner, Ford said. The polygraph was taken in a Maryland hotel conference room soon after her grandmothers funeral. I was scared of the test itself, but the test would reveal what it would reveal, Ford said. She said she didnt pay for the polygraph test and doesnt know who did. During the test, I remember crying a lot, Ford said. She also said she didnt know if she was being recorded or videotaped during the test. The committee then broke for a half-hour lunch. 9:31 a.m.: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-N.J., says he found Fords statement powerful and inspirational. I believe you, he said. Its been a proud public service, regardless of the result of the hearing. He believes her because Ford has been very honest about what you cant remember. Someone composing a story can make it all come together in a public way, he said. Senators on the other side of the aisle have been silent, Blumenthal said. Ford teared up as Blumenthal talked about the courage she showed in coming in with her story about Kavanaughs attack and sitting though the hearing. The presidents refusal to call for an FBI investigation is tantamount to a coverup. 9:24 a.m.: Mitchell asks if Ford ever spoke to any Republican member of Congress. She said she didnt. Ford also said she wasnt clear that the Judiciary Committee was willing to sent someone to California to interview her. She asked Feinstein in July 30 letter to keep the information confidential and said she was on the East Coast until Aug. 7 and was available to speak to the senator. No one helped her write the letter, Ford said. Ford said she spoke to Feinstein once and that the senator asked about the incident in a brief telephone conversation. Ford also said she doesnt think she ever gave the senator permission to release the letter. When she was staying with her parents in July and August, did you talk to your parents about the letter detailing the assault, Mitchell asked. Definitely not, Ford said .9:19 a.m.: Ford said the attack has affected her at various stages of her life, and that she has had long-term problems with relationships. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, asked about when Ford reached out to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, with her allegations against Kavanaugh in early July, noting that it was before President Trump had nominated Kavanaugh to the court. I thought it was very important to get the information to you because Kavanaughs name had been included in media accounts about possible nominees, Ford said. 9:14 a.m.: Mitchell switches gears and moves to more recent events. Asked if she contacted president or committee before July 6, Ford said she didnt. She contacted Washington Post on July 6 because she was getting nervous about the deadline for Kavanaughs nomination. She had been getting advice from people on the beach while she was on vacation, telling her to hire an attorney and send an anonymous note to the Post or the New York Times. Beach friends advised her how to get to people and respond to texts, Ford said. My preference was to talk to my congressperson, she said, although she later talked with Post reporter via encrypted emails, Ford said. Meeting with Rep. Anna Eshoo in a private meeting, Ford said she talked about the incident and assured her it could be kept confidential. 9:07 a.m.: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Ford about why she took a polygraph test in August about her allegations. I was interviewing various attorneys and they asked if I was willing to take it and I said, Absolutely, Ford said. Klobuchar asked to put the polygraph results in the record. Fords attorney said they had wanted to bring in the polygraph examiner to testify before the committee, but Republicans rejected that. Earlier, Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes investigator asking questions for Republican senators, asked Ford about her post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, and how the alleged assault contributed to them. Were there other things that contributed? she asked. I cant rule out that I have some biological predisposition to be an anxious person, Ford said. 8:58 a.m.: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said Ford has vivid recollections of the alleged attack consistent with known facts, and he noted that she took a lie detector test. While Ford has done everything a prosecutor could want, there has been no attempt to have the FBI investigate, he said. I could be more helpful in providing details if there was an investigation, Ford said. Whitehouse took on Republicans, saying it was wildly unusual and out of character for the GOP not to call for an investigation when new information came up. The responsibility for this belongs with 13 men, the president, Director (Christopher) Wray of the FBI and the 11 (Republicans) on this panel, Whitehouse said. Youve been denied a full and proper investigation. Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassey, R-Iowa, pushed back, saying he had asked for a quicker hearing, with committee investigators interviewing potential witnesses, including Kavanaughs high school friend Mark Judge. Ford said Judge was present when Kavanaugh tried to rape her. 8:47 a.m.: After the break, Mitchell resumes with looking at maps, showing where Fords house was, where the country club where she was on the day of the alleged assault and trying to pin down where the incident took place. Mitchell points out again that Ford cant say where that house was. She also asks why the time frame for the assault has changed, with Ford becoming more specific as time has gone on. Mitchell asks about her couples therapy notes, with Ford saying that the notes were wrong, since it said she was assaulted by four boys, not two. 8:37 a.m.: Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., asked Ford about her strongest memory of the attack that she says Kavanaugh and a friend, Mark Judge, committed during a party. The uproarious laughter of the two and their having fun at my expense, she said. I was underneath one of them as the two laughed. Two friends having a really good time with each other. The exchange was followed by questions from Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who is quizzing Ford on behalf of GOP senators. Ford told her that after the alleged attack, she knew she would have to walk past Kavanaugh and Judge to get out of the house. Ford added that she did not remember how she got home, but knew she didnt drive. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois then took over, asking Ford again if she was certain it was Kavanaugh who attacked her. One hundred percent, Ford replied Ford also said she ran into Judge six weeks later at the Safeway where he worked. His face was white and very uncomfortable when he said hello back, Ford said. I wouldnt characterize him as not friendly, just uncomfortable. 8:06 a.m.: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., asked Ford what effect the alleged attack has had on her. Ford answered that they have included post-traumatic stress disorder and claustrophobia. Most of the effects were in the four years after the alleged attack, Ford said. She said she struggled academically, particularly during her time at the University of North Carolina, and in establishing relationships with boys. She said that when Kavanaugh was nominated, she looked at the risks and benefits about going public and was worried about whether she would be stepping in front of an unstoppable train. The mounting pressure from reporters and others convinced her she had no choice but to testify, Ford said. How are you so sure it was Kavanaugh? Feinstein asked. The same way I know Im talking to you, she said. Asked if it could be a case of mistaken identity, Ford replied, Absolutely not. 8:00 a.m.: Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona sex crime prosecutor retained by Senate Republicans to question Ford, began by telling Ford about the ground rules. Im not going to ask you to guess, she told Ford. I know it was a long time ago. Mitchell started with a look at the messages she sent to the Washington Post about Kavanaughs alleged attempt to rape her in the early 1980s, asking if they were accurate. Ford said she would change a bit of the wording, but agreed it was fine. Then Mitchell brought up the letter Ford wrote July 30 to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, about the alleged attack. Ford said she wrote it and it was accurate. However, the time Ford took to reread the letter and texts, and make small revisions, took up most of the five minutes of questioning that committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had allotted for this round. 7:51 a.m.: Ford read her opening statement in a voice that often quavered and occasionally broke. She said that she and others from her all-girls school outside Washington, D.C., associated with Kavanaugh and his friends for a brief period when she was 14 and 15. I dont remember as much as I would like to about the night of the alleged assault by Kavanaugh, Ford said, but the details about that night that bring me here are ones I will never forget. She described how a stumbling drunk Kavanaugh and a friend, Mark Judge, pushed her into a bedroom during a small house party. Kavanaugh dragged her to a bed, got on top of her and groped her as he tried to remove her clothes, Ford said. I believe he was going to rape me, she said. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They both seemed to be having a good time. She escaped and locked herself into a bathroom, Ford said. Bretts assaullt on me drastically altered my life, she said. I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. She said she talked about the assault in both couples and individual therapy sessions, but until July 2018, I had never named Mr. Kavanaugh as my attacker outside of therapy. When she heard that Kavanaugh was on the short list for the nomination to the Supreme Court, I thought it wasw my civic duty to relay the information I had about Mr. Kavanaughs conduct. She told her story in a letter that was sent to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in late July. While Feinstein kept her name confidential, I believed if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful interests, Ford said. I resigned myself to remaining quiet. That changed when her name leaked out and reporters and other pushed her to come forward. She said since told her story to the press, my greatest fears have been realized and the reality has been far worse than what I expected. Apart from the assault itself, the last couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. 7:33 a.m.: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she had declined for weeks to release Fords letter accusing Kavanaugh of attempted rape because she had promised to keep it confidential. She introduced Ford and told her, I am very grateful to you for your strength and bravery in coming forward. Feinstein then talked about the number of sexual assaults in the country and how victims often refuse to say anything about them, sometimes for years. Its important to remember that in listening to Fords testimony, she said, arguing that women are often revictimized when they are interviewed in court. She also referred to the Anita Hill hearing in 1991, saying Hill had been treated badly during Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearing after she accused him of sexually harassing her. Feinstein also complained that the Republican majority on the Judiciary Committee has refused to delay the hearing or allow Democrats to call any other witnesses, including Mark Judge, a high school friend of Kavanaugh who Ford said was in the room when she was assaulted. The hearing is about a real question of character for a man looking for a lifetime appointment, Feinstein said. She described Republicans position as a rush to judgment. Republicans are working to push the nomination through, with a possible committee vote Friday and a vote by the entire Senate soon after, Feinstein said. Feinstein then brought up two other allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh and said all three should be investigated by the FBI. Yet Republicans continue to blindly push forward, she said. Were here for one purpose. ... This is not a trial for Christine Ford, it is a job interview for Judge Kavanaugh, Feinstein said. 7:18 a.m.: The hearing began with Ford sitting at a table in a Senate hearing room much smaller than the one where the committee held Kavanaughs nomination hearing earlier this month. GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the committee, thanked them both for appearing and apologized for the way they have treated. He asked that the hearing be both safe and dignified for Ford and Kavanaugh. Grassley, a backer of Kavanaughs nomination, said the nominee has faced six FBI background investigations, with not a whiff of any allegations of sexual impropriety. He also complained that California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking committee Democrat who received a letter from Ford about her attempted-rape allegations against Kavanaugh, never raised the issues during the original hearing. The hearing is taking place in the midst of a media circus, Grassley said, arguing that Democrats have refused to participate in many of the committee investigations, including a private interview of Kavanaugh. The other people Ford named as being present at the party where she said she was assaulted by Kavanaugh as a teenager have all denied any knowledge of the attack, Grassley said. Democrats have tried to block or delay the nomination by any means possible, he added. I look forward to a fair and respectful hearing. Thats what we promised Dr. Ford, he said. He also added that the committee has tried to get information about other sexual misconduct charges made against Kavanaugh, but there has been no cooperation from the attorneys for those making the other charges. 7:06 a.m.: Thursdays hearing is scheduled to include only two witnesses: Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University, and Kavanaugh, a federal court judge and President Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court. Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a summertime house party when they were both teenagers, will be interviewed first, with Kavanaugh closing out the day. The 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the panel will each have five minutes to interview Ford and Kavanaugh, alternating by party. Republicans are expected to cede their time to Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor they have hired to ask questions of Ford and Kavanaugh. In an opening statement released Wednesday, Ford said she was appearing at the hearing not because I want to be. I am terrified. Instead, she said, she believes its her civic duty to talk about what happened between her and Kavanaugh in 1982, when she was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17. In his opening statement, Kavanaugh said he had done things as a teenager that now make him cringe. But those never included sexual assault, the appeals court judge says in denying Fords allegations. Although both witnesses are testifying under oath, the hearing is not a court proceeding. John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @jfwildermuth She said. He said. To different audiences. In different tones. With different goals. What Christine Blasey Ford said she remembers most vividly is the uproarious laughter of two teenage boys when they shoved her into a bedroom at a party 36 years ago and one tried to rape her. Her voice quavered Thursday, she was deferential to senators, but she was 100 percent certain her would-be rapist was Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was angry and he was loud when he insisted to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Ford was mistaken and that Democrats were engaged in a calculated and orchestrated political hit. In a remarkable warning from a prospective Supreme Court justice, he said, What goes around comes around. Fords certainty, and that wrenching detail about the incident, is likely to reverberate for years with sexual-assault survivors and many women. But Kavanaugh was playing to a much smaller audience in the near term the 51 Republican senators whose votes he will need to be confirmed, and President Trump. Now Playing: Christine Blasey Ford says her strongest memory of the time she alleges Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens is the laughter. (Sept. 27) Video: Associated Press The emotions at the hearing reflected the high stakes: If the 53-year-old Kavanaugh is confirmed, he could tilt the court to the right for a generation. He came across very angry, and she came across very shaken by the events, said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics and a political science professor at Rutgers University. He could easily have been shaken, too, but it came across as anger. It reminds us that an expression of anger and sense of Ive been wronged is much more permitted in men than women, Dittmar said. Kavanaughs anger appeared to be just as genuine as Fords nervousness the Palo Alto University psychology professor told members of the committee that she was terrified. But Kavanaughs tone was also calculated on Wednesday, he had released a text of his opening statement that contained none of the fury that he unleashed on Democrats over 45 minutes on Thursday. He wrote the new version himself, he said. It was by turns defiant, angry and melancholy, as the nominee lashed out at the committees 10 Democrats for a confirmation process that has become a national disgrace. In earlier confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh portrayed himself as someone who would be a neutral arbiter on the Supreme Court, immune to political pressure. That persona vanished Thursday as he blamed a conspiracy of the left, including those who sought revenge on behalf of the Clintons for his involvement in the brutally partisan Kenneth Starr investigation into President Bill Clintons extramarital affairs two decades ago. Your coordinated and well-funded effort to try to destroy my family will not drive me out, Kavanaugh said. You may defeat me in the final vote, but youll never get me to quit. Never. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina picked up the angry tone in the seventh hour of the hearing, after the all-male GOP majority had given the job of questioning Ford to a female sex-crimes prosecutor who stuck mostly to plodding, procedural matters. This is not a job interview. This is hell, Graham said. Pointing to the Democrats on the panel, he roared, What you want to do is destroy this guys life, hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020. Kavanaugh might have been more emotional and more aggressive because of criticism among conservatives that he was too passive during a Fox News interview this week, said Lorraine Bayard de Volo, a professor of women and gender studies at the University of Colorado. Perhaps he was responding to that criticism by acting that way to the audience of 51 people he was addressing. Trump who has the power to yank Kavanaughs nomination loved the combative tone. He tweeted moments after the hearing ended that Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote! Kavanaughs testimony was a jarring shift from the first half of the hearing, when Ford softly told senators about the decades of trauma she has endured. Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, Ford said when she was asked what she remembered most about the attack she says was perpetrated by Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge. The uproarious laughter between the two. And the fun that they were having at my expense. That trauma contributed to long-term problems, she testified. Ford recounted her disastrous first few years of college, where she had a hard time focusing on her studies. She talked about the anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder that she suffered for years afterward. She talked about insisting that she and her husband build a second front door on their Palo Alto home. It was a nod to the claustrophobia she says has afflicted her, a remnant of the memory of Kavanaugh allegedly putting his hand over her mouth as she tried to scream for help. It resonates with women and survivors everywhere, said Rachel Carmona, chief operating officer of the Womens March. That includes Carmona, who says she was assaulted when she was 8 years old but didnt tell anyone until she was 15. That was half my life, Carmona said. The fact that she came forward decades later to fulfill her duty to protect democracy thats a very powerful thing. Speaking with a voice filled with emotion, Ford told the committee that I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and me were in high school. It echoed what Anita Hill told the same committee 27 years ago when she testified about being sexually harassed by high court nominee Clarence Thomas when they both worked at a federal agency. It is only after a great deal of agonizing consideration and sleepless nights that I am able to talk of these unpleasant matters to anyone but my close friends, Hill told the committee. The backlash to how senators on the then-all-male panel dismissed Hills testimony led to the 1992 Year of the Woman, when a record number of women were elected to higher office. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who was swept into office during that wave and is now the ranking Democrat on the committee, said Thursday that there has been a great deal of public discussion about the #MeToo movement today versus the Year of the Woman almost 27 years ago. ... But while young women are standing up and saying No more, our institutions have not progressed in how they treat women who come forward. If Hills hearing opened Americas eyes to sexual harassment, some hoped that Fords testimony could help others understand why sexual-assault survivors often carry their trauma with them for years. Christine Blasey Ford has done a huge consciousness-raising service said de Volo, the Colorado professor. Thats my generation, and we kind of tucked those kinds of incidents away. At that time, many of us wouldnt be naming it sexual assault. Wed say, Oh, thats Brett. Hes crazy. Dont get around him when he drinks. But were living in a different moment now. But Brett says that wasnt him. Unlike Ford, the quiet approach wasnt working for him. If he wins confirmation, it will be because he chose sides in Washingtons partisan war. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli The most important audience for the Senate hearing into Palo Alto University Professor Christine Blasey Fords allegations of attempted rape against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh wont be in the Judiciary Committees meeting room Thursday. Most of the senators on the committee appear to have made up their minds on Kavanaugh along partisan lines. They wont be hearing from either of the two women who have emerged since Ford accused Kavanaugh of trying to rape her while they were in high school Deborah Ramirez, who told the New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while they were at Yale University, and another former acquaintance, Julie Swetnick, who says Kavanaugh engaged in lewd behavior at high school parties and spiked drinks with the intent of enabling gang rapes of girls. But the televised hearing, scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. PDT, will resonate with a much wider audience voters who will decide in less than six weeks who controls the House next year. How the hearing plays out will determine how big an issue the Kavanaugh case will be in November. Here are some of the factors to watch for, during the hearing and beyond: Do the Republicans get nasty? Republicans are trying to avoid a repeat of the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas. Then, women recoiled at how aggressively GOP senators questioned Anita Hill, who alleged that Thomas had sexually harassed her when she worked with him at a federal agency. As was the case then, all the GOP senators on the Judiciary Committee are men. Republicans were so worried about the optics that they hired a veteran sexual assault prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called her a female assistant who would ask these questions in a respectful and professional way. But theres no guarantee the Republicans wont hit Ford with questions of their own. Former San Francisco prosecutor Jim Hammer said that no matter who is asking the questions, they need to tread lightly. In an ordinary case, with a jury, I think it would be legal suicide to full on attack someone who claims to be a victim of sexual assault, Hammer said. The danger that it would turn against you is very, very high. John Malcolm, a legal expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, agreed that its important that Mitchell and the Republicans not try to hector her or browbeat her or think youre going to get her to sweat and tell you shes lying. However, he said, they should respectfully poke holes in the inconsistencies in her story. You dont have to convince everyone that shes lying. You just have to say that theres a person (Kavanaugh) who has been through six background checks and dozens of women who have attested to his character and that her story is pretty thin. Do the Democrats get nasty? Democrats run a slightly different risk in how they question Kavanaugh. They need to avoid grandstanding. The toughest questions may come from the former prosecutors Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a former San Francisco district attorney and state attorney general, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. However, both of them are possible 2020 presidential contenders, as is a third committee Democrat, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. If theyre seen as putting Kavanaugh under the hot lights just to score a viral video moment, it could come off as naked campaigning and backfire. They need to play it straight, said Janet Napolitano, who represented Hill during the 1991 hearings and is now the University of California president. They need to stick to asking the questions they need to have the answers to. They should demonstrate that they have an open mind. The greatest guard against grandstanding: Senators will have only 5 minutes apiece to question Kavanaugh and Ford. What will Sen. Dianne Feinstein say? Feinstein has taken heat on several fronts for her conduct as the ranking Democrat on the committee. Both Republicans and her election opponent, Democratic state Sen. Kevin de Leon, blasted her for delaying the release of Fords letter accusing Kavanaugh of attempted rape. She prizes collegiality in the Senate, and dont look for her to change Thursday. Dianne Feinstein is authentically the way she is, said her former Senate colleague from California, Barbara Boxer. Her style is very calm. Its to get as many facts out as she can. Malcolm, however, said Feinstein has a lot of explaining to do for how she handled Fords letter and expects her to take time for that Thursday. Does the president get personal? For a few days after Ford went public, President Trump was unusually quiet. Lately, however, hes been far less restrained, questioning why Ford didnt go to authorities at the time if the attack was as bad as she says and saying Ramirez has nothing and that her allegations were part of a Democratic con game. More digs like that could hurt GOP candidates, if they have to explain before Nov. 6 why the partys leader appears insensitive to female victims of sexual assaults. Napolitano said Trumps remarks show a lack of appreciation of how difficult it is for young women to really go to anyone and describe what happened. However, Trumps attitude toward the nomination process also resonates with your typical rank-and-file Republican voter, who thinks this process looks incredibly unfair, said former California Republican Party chair Ron Nehring. The absurdity of talking about what happened in high school shows that the Democrats could find no substantial reason to justify their opinion that Judge Kavanaugh should not be on the court, Nehring said. Whats the potential fallout? For Democrats, the hearings could energize female voters in suburban swing House districts in Orange County and elsewhere if they feel that Ford isnt being heard, said Democratic strategist Katie Merrill. The issue has been resonating with women sharing their stories of why they didnt report sexual assaults, under the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport. There has been a culture of boys will be boys about inappropriate sexual behavior that has been excused for decades, Merrill said. It was excused because, he was an athlete. Or, because you were drinking. The one piece of good news in this hearing may be that people will be openly talking about this now. Republicans are watching closely, too. If Kavanaughs confirmation gets derailed, that will remind voters that Congress and Trump arent working well together. If Republicans abandon someone who the base believes is a good nominee, that will frustrate people, Nehring said. And frustrated people dont walk precincts. After the hearing, all eyes will turn first to an audience of four Republican senators who have hinted that they remain open to opposing Kavanaugh: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee. The GOP cant afford to lose more than one of them, as the party holds just a 51-49 edge in the Senate. The Judiciary Committee could vote on Kavanaughs nomination Friday morning, with the full Senate deciding as soon as Tuesday. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli This story originally appeared on Hoodline. Fans of San Francisco's dive bars may have a new sorrow to drown: after almost 25 years in operation, Lucky 13 is set to be demolished and replaced with new housing. According to the Planning Department, developers are seeking to demolish the bar and its patio to build a 28-unit, five-story apartment building with 2,900 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Previous plans called for adding underground parking, but current blueprints specify only a basement space. SFGATE editor's note: As SFist points out, the Planning Department notice posted on the bar does not mean closure is imminent, and a public effort to save the establishment is likely. Teresa Hammerl/Hoodline When we last reported about the proposed demolition almost two years ago, bar manager Martin Kraenkel said the wheels were in motion, but due to the building's historical significance, it would be "a year and a half before any decisions were made." At the time, Kreankel said Lucky 13 is considered to be an historical resource, since it was one of 18 clubhouses built for Woodmen of the World, a fraternal society for woodworkers. An inscription on the bar's facade, 'W.O.W 1906,' indicates the year the building was built and its former association. More for you Why do SF's new real estate developments look so similar? The space also ties deeply into the city's LGBT history; in the 1970s, it was a popular dance club that went through several name changes, including Alfie's, The Mind Shaft, The Prism, 2140 Market, High Chaparral, The Corral, and The Industrial Dance Company. Supervisor Harvey Milk held meetings at the club, and part of his funeral was held there, said Kreankel. The permit estimates that demolition and construction for 2140 Market St. will cost $3.9 million; there's no word yet on how long the work will take or which company will oversee the project. Brian Spiers who owns Lucky 13, but not the property it sits on is also the owner and developer for the former Home restaurant site a few doors east at 2100 Market St., where his company is building a 60-unit residential unit building with two ground-floor retail spaces. We've reached out to architect Warner Schmulz of Ankrom Moisan Architects as well as Spiers for a statement, but have not heard back. We will provide updates when we have them. WASHINGTON Google executives, after months of mostly avoiding the harsh spotlight put on their internet peers, are being grilled in Washington this week by lawmakers questioning if the Mountain View company is living up to its promise to be a neutral arbiter of online information. On Friday, CEO Sundar Pichai will meet with Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield the Republican House majority leader and a Google critic and more than two dozen Republicans to discuss complaints the company is trying to silence conservative voices. Google has a lot of questions to answer about reports of bias in its search results, violations of user privacy, anticompetitive behavior, and business dealings with repressive regimes like China, McCarthy said in a statement. The meeting will cap a week of tech-related sessions in Washington in which Google in the crosshairs of Silicon Valleys conservative critics since late summer has played a starring role. At a gathering of the heads of the Justice Department and a dozen state attorneys general on Tuesday, Google was mentioned more than any other company when it came to concerns about antitrust enforcement and privacy practices, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity. At a Senate hearing discussing online privacy on Wednesday, Googles chief privacy officer, Keith Enright, received the toughest and broadest array of questions from lawmakers who wanted to know about the companys consideration of introducing search services in China. Google says it is not close to starting such a service. In a letter to the Senate committee holding the hearing, a former employee, Jack Poulson, said Googles building a search engine that would be acceptable to the government of China was a catastrophic failure of the internal privacy review process. He said this was part of a broad pattern of unaccountable decision making. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also questioned Enright about claims of bias against conservatives in search results. I can tell you that millions of Texans believe Google is actively censoring the speech of conservatives, Cruz said. On Thursday, Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer and Republican Party official, testified in the House about anti-conservative bias in tech. Dhillon represents several former employees in a lawsuit filed last year against Google that claims the company discriminated against them based on their political beliefs. Googles week in Washington comes three weeks after executives from Twitter and Facebook testified in a Senate hearing dedicated to Russian disinformation on social media. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also spoke at a House hearing about claims of anti-conservative bias at Twitter. Google executives did not attend the Senate hearing, though they were invited. The company offered to send Kent Walker, a senior vice president for global policy, who is also the companys top lawyer. But urged on by Facebook officials, according to two people familiar with the matter, senators insisted on a more powerful executive. Google refused. It was the worst business decision of 2018, said Scott Galloway, a founder of the business research firm Gartner L2 and a professor of marketing at New York University Stern School of Business. It feels like the tide has turned substantially, Galloway said. Theyve sort of poked the bear. A Google spokeswoman said officials from the company had testified before Congress 22 times since 2008. Were happy to continue explaining our products and practices, Becca Rutkoff, the Google spokeswoman, said in a statement. For longtime Google critics and even some of its Silicon Valley peers, it is surprising that Google has avoided the spotlight for so long. It has 90 percent of the global search market a share so high that it has for years had to sidestep concerns that it is a dominant monopoly that needs to be regulated. Competitors have long claimed that Google is using its search dominance to advantage its own services and should be controlled by antitrust laws. Googles YouTube video service is also dominant, and has for several years faced questions about videos that show terrorist violence and disinformation, similar to issues that Facebook and Twitter have had to address in congressional hearings. And Google has faced several claims of bias. A video of a staff meeting held shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, leaked two weeks ago, showed several senior Google executives, including Pichai, expressing their alarm. Emails leaked last week showed lower-level Google employees discussing whether they could alter search results to counter the presidents travel ban on people from predominantly Muslim countries. Google is adamant that no one in a position to make such a change seriously considered it. Employees are bracing for more embarrassing leaks. The company has long encouraged workers to speak their minds on internal message boards. That includes politics. The conservative pressure on Google started to escalate in late summer. On Aug. 28, Trump, in a series of Twitter posts, attacked Google for what he claimed was an effort to suppress conservative media that was favorable to his administration. The next day, the president posted a video that seemed to show that Google did not promote his State of the Union address on its home page as it had in the past for President Barack Obama. He used the hashtag #StopTheBias. The video was incorrect. Google said that it didnt promote Obamas inaugural address, a joint statement to Congress but not technically a State of the Union address, in 2009 either. Shortly after, other Republicans were calling for regulations and greater scrutiny. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called for antitrust regulators to reopen an investigation into Google. Some Google officials wonder if competitors are organizing a campaign to prompt regulatory scrutiny. At the Senate hearing Google did not attend, lawmakers mentioned a report that had come out a day before from the Campaign for Accountability, a nonprofit watchdog that often publishes research critical of Google. The group posed as Russian trolls to buy what it called politically divisive ads on Googles systems, which failed to stop them. Google called the report a stunt by its rivals and blamed the software maker Oracle for its release. Ken Glueck, a senior vice president at Oracle, said it had made a one-time financial contribution in 2016 to the Campaign for Accountability but denied that the company had any involvement in the report. Google has many business opponents in Washington, including telecommunication giants like AT&T and Comcast. Oracle and News Corp. have put significant resources into funding third-party coalitions and public relations firms to place ads and to lobby lawmakers on Googles dominance in search and on allegations it uses its power to unfairly harm publishers and other tech rivals. But few companies have been as tenacious as Yelp, a midsize internet outfit with far fewer resources. It has waged a seven-year battle to get regulatory agencies around the world to investigate Google. Until recently, its calls have been largely ignored in the United States. The company claims Google prioritized its own reviews over others, making it much harder for competing reviews sites like Yelp to be discovered. Early in September, a White House official received an email with an attachment from Luther Lowe, senior vice president for policy for Yelp. Check out the attachment, Lowe wrote in an email. Tell me what you think. The attachment was a document called, Executive Draft Order to Protect American Competition and Small Businesses From Bias in Online Platforms. It was a draft presidential order instructing antitrust officials to recommend ways to protect competition and clamp down on content bias on internet search and social media sites. Lowe said in an email that he did not know the origins of the document and that it had been forwarded to him. While there is no evidence that administration officials are seriously considering such a move, the documents existence made clear that Googles problems could get worse. Although the White House is concerned about the conduct of online platforms and their impact on society, this document is not the result of an official White House policymaking process, said Lindsay Walters, the deputy White House press secretary. Daisuke Wakabayashi and Cecilia Kang are New York Times writers. A headless body found decomposing inside a fish tank last month in a home in San Franciscos South of Market neighborhood was identified Thursday as missing 65-year-old city resident Brian Egg. The San Francisco medical examiner confirmed Eggs identity by using DNA from his relatives. The official identification confirmed what friends and family members had long feared since police made the grisly discovery. Forensic pathologists are still trying to determine a cause and manner of death to figure out whether Egg was killed before his body was dismembered. Two suspects were arrested shortly after his body was discovered Aug. 17 in a slurry of water and household chemicals inside his home at 228 Clara St. Eggs hands were also removed and missing, authorities said. The suspects, Lance Silva, 39, and Robert MacCaffrey, 52, were not immediately charged, pending the medical examiners report. MacCaffrey was released and Silva was transferred to Alameda County where his probation for a separate grand theft case was revoked. He is currently in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Police found Eggs body after a missing person report was filed by a family member who had not heard from him in weeks. Neighbors called police numerous times in the weeks before the body was discovered, reporting that Egg was nowhere to be seen and suspicious people were coming and going from his residence. Police visited the home on three separate occasions in late July and early August, but no one answered the door so officers left. On Aug. 14, a hazardous materials cleanup crew showed up at the home, prompting neighbors to call 911. Police arrived and obtained a search warrant and found the body in the early morning hours of Aug. 17. Police arrested MacCaffrey at the home. Investigators took Silva into custody Aug. 16 at a motel on Sixth Street in San Francisco, where they recovered Eggs debit card. Alameda County prosecutors said Silva used the debit card to purchase a 2007 BMW 750 in Newark on June 1 for $5,500. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky This Is Not Your Fest (TINYfest) is a music festival, but it's more than that. It promises to be a resource financially and emotionally for survivors of sexual assault, harassment and violence. The four-day music festival will take place around the East Bay and debuts tonight with a pre-fest drag show at the Ivy Room in Albany. More than 30 bands from all genres pop-punk, ska, cover bands, experimental will perform at the Elbo Room in Oakland, Eli's Mile High Club, 924 Gilman, and Granny's. All proceeds will go toward to Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR), a nonprofit based in Oakland. Crisis counselors from BAWAR will be offering services during the performances at Saturday, Sept. 29 at Eli's Mile High Club. 94The idea to merge therapeutic resources, community action, and music built over the last year, after two of TINYfest's co-founders, Danielle Silva and Marie Angel, heard about a series of alleged sexual assaults perpetrated by a prominent show promoter from Oakland, they said. Their declarations calling out the perpetrator incited a major backlash against them, they said. The two found themselves "exiled" from the pop-punk scene, a community they'd been a part of for nearly five years. But they found some clarity and allies in the chaos. The idea in its nascent stage was to put on a one-day show at Eli's Mile High Club, but, with support from the venue's veteran bartender and a legion of other community organizations it grew into far more. TINYfest's third co-founder, Estebo Aguilar, has experience booking shows, which is in part why it's been able to grow to such a scale over only a year of planning and fundraising. But Silva and Angel had hardly any experience, and had full-time jobs outside of the festival they had to tend to. Silva is a tattoo artist for Diving Swallow in Oakland; Angel is a curatorial assistant at the California Academy of Sciences. "This is something that we have done out of a labor of love and to do something really positive for our community, but it has been a lot of work," Angel said. "A lot of time, energy and emotional labor to do something like this. We would just like to get through the first one and then reconvene and see about doing it again next year." The co-founders said they'd like to put together a "how-to" zine as a resource for organizers in other towns to put on similar festivals. For more information, visit the fest's Facebook page. A list of the weekend's events is below. Thursday, Sept. 27: Ivy Room, Albany Pre-fest drag show, featuring performances by Pity Party and Soft Tug, Phoebe Cakes, Mocha Fapalatte, Lisa Frankenstein, Scarlett Letters, Jay Mercury, Miss Monstrocity, and Echo Narcissus Pho. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $10 at door.doors at 7pm, show at 8pm, $10 at do Friday, Sept. 28: Elbo Room, Jack London Square, Oakland Performances by Shark Punch, Vantana Row, Protected Left, Oinga Boinga, Under 15 Seconds. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. $10 at door. Friday, Sept. 28: Granny's in Oakland (message TINYfest for address) Performances by Horrible/Adorable, Sarchasm, Lazy Hwwk, Difficult Objects, SOAP. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m., $10 at door. Saturday, Sept. 29: Eli's Mile High Club, Oakland Performances by The Love Songs, The Love Dimension, The Y Axes, Defend, Dercarcerated, Black Water Birth. Doors at 4:30 p.m.., show at 5:45 p.m. $10 at door. Sunday, Sept. 30: 924 Gilman, Berkeley Performances by awakebutstillinbed, Year of the Fist, GNARBOOTS, United. Defiance, Day Labor, MoonFox, Noble Bones, Lavender Scared, Dying for It. Doors at 2 p.m., show at 2:30 p.m. $10 at door. Read Annie Vainshtein's latest stories here. Email her at avainshtein@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @annievain Jonathan Raheem Hosseini, the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) who was tipped to be the next chief executive, has been fired Botswana Guardian can reveal. Hosseini was dismissed controversially on 28th August 2018. However, it appears there is more than meets the eye in the way Hosseini has been fired as he was originally cleared from all the six charges he faced by an independent Disciplinary Panel composed of professionals and constituted by the BPC Board. Indications are that the matter may be settled in a court of law to determine whether the way the Board wants to separate with Hosseini is legal. The matter between the two has been dragging since early 2018. At some stage BPC suspended Hosseini pending investigation and hired Deloitte to do a forensic audit. Deloitte completed its assignment and handed over its findings to the Board. Second investigation Based on the Deloitte findings, the Board allegedly started another procedure under which sources and HR experts say the board allegedly colluded with the CEO Dr. Stefan Schwarzfischer and acted outside the bounds of BPC Policy, Procedure and Botswana law to unlawfully and unfairly dismiss Hosseini. It all started on 4th July 2018 when a disciplinary hearing under Section G of the BPC Human Resource Policy and Procedure commenced against Hosseini. It is said the complainant was CEO Schwarzfischer. It is alleged that based on the seniority of the persons involved, BPC empanelled a body independent of its structures to preside over the disciplinary proceedings, and this resulted in the formation of a disciplinary hearing panel of highly respected legal, human resource, and business professionals. The disciplinary hearing panel was chaired by a highly respected attorney (name withheld) selected by BPC. It is said that the Panel conducted the hearing explicitly in terms of BPC Disciplinary Policy and Procedure at every step of the proceedings, with the disciplinary hearing taking place between 4th - 20th July 2018. Close sources say the final written submissions from both Schwarzfischer as the complainant and Hosseini as the defendant were submitted on 30th July 2018. Not guilty Botswana Guardian investigation shows that on 2nd August 2018, the disciplinary hearing was concluded and closed, in terms of BPC Disciplinary Policy and Procedure Section G Clause 4, specifically Clause 4.6.15 and Clause 4.6.16. The disciplinary hearing panel found Hosseini not guilty on all sic (6) charges levelled against him. The panel stated that no mitigation was required since Hosseini was not guilty. Sources say the BPC Management and, or Board misdirected themselves or deliberately failed to adhere to BPC Policy and Procedure and Botswana law during the period between 2nd August 29th August 2018.Sources say in so doing the CEO completely failed to comply with his obligations under clause 4.6.19 of the Disciplinary Procedure and failed to respect clause 7.1.1 of the Disciplinary Policy. The final blow BG News has it in good authority that on 28th August 2018 Hosseini was asked to appear before the BPC main Board within a two hour notice. The Board allegedly informed him that they disagreed with the decision of the disciplinary hearing panel and without any further hearing, the Board told him that they choose to find him guilty, and now having been found guilty he was being asked to present mitigation. It is alleged in that meeting Hosseini and his representative told the Board that they were operating outside of BPC Policy, Procedure and the laws of Botswana and that accepting to present a mitigation to their unlawful pronouncement of guilt would begin to validate their unlawful action, and further that in law mitigation is not presented to those who have not heard a matter themselves. It is said that Board went ahead allowing Schwarzfischer to present before it. Subsequently the Board ruled contrary to BPC Disciplinary Policy, Procedure and the Laws of Botswana that having been found guilty by them of four charges Hosseini was dismissed with immediate effect. Botswana Guardian investigation found that the letter of Termination of Contract of Employment dated 29th August 2018 makes reference to termination following the disciplinary panels findings. This according to the sources is dishonest and disingenuous as the disciplinary hearing panel appointed by the Board, after a month long hearing process, explicitly in a signed written judgement found Hosseini not guilty of all six charges and fully exonerated him. Hosseini confirmed that he has been fired and reluctantly said, as the process takes its course, I will be vindicated and, remain loyal and dedicated to BPC and the government and its objectives and most importantly to the nation that I dedicated my life to serving and look forward to get back to work at BPC soon in order to complete the work that I started. At the time of going to press, both BPC spokesperson, Dineo Seleke and CEO, Schwarzfischer were not available for comment as their mobile lines rang unattended. Mark Wilson / Getty Images WASHINGTON With their House majority hanging in the balance, Republicans have tried time and time again to tie Democratic candidates to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, hoping that her general unpopularity will drag the candidates down, too. It doesnt seem to be working. A spate of recent polls have found that voters dont care much about candidates views on the California Democrat. More voters care about what they think of President Trump, these polls have found, supporting historical patterns in which midterm elections often become a referendum on the occupant of the White House. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's teary testimony drew mixed reactions from social media on Thursday. Some called the emotion evidence of the judge's "victimhood" after he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women ahead of his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, while others considered it a carefully orchestrated act designed to garner pity. Kavanaugh opened his statement with loud, impassioned invocations of his victimhood, sternly rebuking the Democrats and referring to the confirmation process as "a national disgrace" intended to "search and destroy." "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," he said. " ... You'll never get me to quit. Never." ALSO: Voice shaking, Ford accuses Kavanaugh of assaulting her Kavanaugh went on to say the allegations were fueled by "pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election" and referred to them as "revenge on behalf of the Clintons." Many on social media honed in on his partisan-tinged language, citing it as evidence that he is unfit for the Supreme Court.hom "There goes the idea of the Supreme Court being neutral .. Kavanaugh showing his true political operative colors by attacking the Dems," tweeted Olga Lautman. Others found the blatant assaults on Democrats entirely founded. "They do not care about families. They do not care about democracy. They do not care about truth," wrote Charlie Kirk. "They care about power." Twitter commentators especially homed into Kavanaugh's emotional presentation. The judge spent the better half of his testimony choked by tears, occasionally pausing to collect himself. "If Brett Kavanaugh were a woman, they'd be calling this performance 'hysterical,'" tweeted @goldengateblond. Some said the teary testimony seemed contrived. "Clearly Kavanaugh has taken the note from the GOP to be less wooden and more passionate," tweeted comedian and CNN host W. Kamau Bell. Trump supporter tells MSNBC reporter: 'Groping is no big deal' Bell warned that Kavanaugh was "doing something many men do. He is mistaking anger for passion." "Anger," he continued, "is not a good look here." Hordes of tweeters, nonetheless, were moved by the emotional outbursts, as were some members of the hearing audience, who visibly wiped away tears as Kavanaugh spoke. Click here for updating coverage of the Kavanaugh hearing. Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com. Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news. Charlie Arrowood does not identify as male or female. So in January, when a new New York City law takes effect, they plan to modify the sex recorded on their birth certificate to one that fits: X, a gender-neutral option. Arrowood, who is transgender, changed both their name and sex on the certificate last year. But putting male instead of female on the document did not feel quite right either. (Charlie Arrowood uses the pronoun they and the courtesy title Mx., a gender-neutral alternative to Ms. and Mr.) Addressing the issue with an X on the birth certificate, however, creates another snag. The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles offers only the options M and F. So do the federal agencies that administer passports and Social Security. Yes, this can be very confusing. It doesnt make sense, Arrowood, a lawyer for the transgender advocacy nonprofit Transcend Legal, said last week. You cant keep accurate records if you dont have an accurate representation of someone. As Americans views on gender shift, laws are changing across the country to give people more power to define themselves on the official documents that tell the world who and what they are but only in some places, in some cases. New York City whose Council passed a law Sept. 12 creating a designation on birth certificates to indicate a sex that is not exclusively male or female joins California, Oregon and Washington state, which began offering none-of-the-above birth certificates in January. Washington has had 26 such change requests so far, California, 16, officials in those states said last week. A similar New Jersey law takes effect next year. New York City officials do not know how many people might seek the change, but 330 people requested birth certificate changes to male or female last year. If the citys experience is like that of Washington state, where 11 percent of the changes requested this year have been for X, there could be dozens per year here. Other jurisdictions, like Maine and Washington, D.C., allow a third gender on drivers licenses but not birth certificates. Still others, like Kansas, forbid any gender change on birth certificates. Andy Newman is a New York Times writer. NEW YORK As many as 40,000 workers at the three big airports that serve New York City are on a path to earn at least $19 an hour, the highest targeted minimum wage set by any public agency in the country and a major development in the battle over boosting income for those at the lower end of the pay scale. The pay increase, which was approved on Thursday by the commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will raise the wages of tens of thousands of workers over the next five years. It would go well beyond the $15 minimum hourly wage that several cities around the country have enacted and will take effect for many workers in New York state at the end of the year. WASHINGTON White House officials said Thursday that President Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will meet next week to discuss Rosensteins future at the Justice Department. The New York Times reported Friday that Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Trump to document the chaos of the White House in 2017 and had raised the issue of removing the president from office. That prompted Rosenstein to tell senior White House advisers over the weekend that he was willing to resign. On Wednesday, Trump said that was not his preferred outcome and that Rosenstein had denied the reports. Im talking to him. Weve had a good talk, Trump said. He said he never said it. He said he doesnt believe it. He said he has a lot of respect for me, and he was very nice, and well see. Initially, Trump had said that a face-to-face meeting would take place Thursday, after he returned to the White House from three days in New York for meetings at the U.N. General Assembly. But later, he told reporters that he did not want a meeting to distract from a Capitol Hill hearing on allegations from a woman who accuses Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Trumps Supreme Court nominee, of sexually assaulting her while they were in high school. In a statement, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said: The president spoke with Rod Rosenstein a few minutes ago and they plan to meet next week. They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing. Rosenstein arrived at the White House on Thursday morning for a previously scheduled national security meeting. But even as he arrived, an aide to Trump hinted that the meeting could be rescheduled for another day. He will come back here, and theres a lot on his docket, including the meeting with the deputy attorney general, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, told Fox & Friends on Thursday morning, a few hours before the Senate Judiciary Committee began hearing testimony from Kavanaughs accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, with Kavanaugh to follow. If it needs to get pushed a few hours or to the next day, maybe it will, Conway said of the meeting between Trump and Rosenstein. But they are both committed to speaking with each other and resolving this once and for all. Trump said Wednesday that he was eager to hear what Ford had to say during her testimony. He also said he would consider delaying his meeting with Rosenstein to focus on Kavanaughs proceedings. I want to watch. I want to see. I hope I can watch, Trump said Wednesday. Im meeting with a lot of countries tomorrow, but I will certainly, in some form, be able to watch. Michael D. Shear and Katie Benner are New York Times writers. WASHINGTON Congress is taking the first steps toward setting national rules governing how companies use consumers data although one of its goals might be to prevent states from enacting stronger privacy protections of their own. The approach being pondered by policymakers and pushed by the internet industry leans toward a relatively light government touch. Thats in contrast to stricter European rules that took effect in May and a California law that takes effect in 2020. Other states are also considering more aggressive protections. However it works out, any regulatory push will find it challenging to reconcile the concerns of privacy advocates who want people to have more control over the use of their personal data where theyve been, what they view, who their friends are and the powerful companies who mine that information for profit. During a Senate hearing Wednesday, several Democratic senators warned that a national law could simply be used to override state efforts. Calling that pre-emption the Holy Grail for the industry, Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said it wont get the bipartisan support it needs if the goal is merely to replace Californias law with a weaker, non-progressive federal statute. Senior executives from AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter and Charter Communications all told senators that they support a federal proposal that could negate inconsistent state privacy laws. Facebook, which faced a major congressional grilling over privacy back in April, was not present at the hearing. Apple, which doesnt rely on advertising for revenue, was the most vocal in support of a stronger federal law. Bud Tribble, Apples vice president of software technology, said the bar would have to be high enough in the federal legislation to provide meaningful consumer protections. The Senate Commerce Committee hearing comes amid increasing anxiety over safeguarding consumers data online and recent scandals that have stoked outrage among users and politicians. The committees chairman, Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, said both Republicans and Democrats now want to reach consensus on a national privacy law that will help consumers, promote innovation, reward organizations with little to hide and force shady practitioners to clean up their act. An early move in President Trumps tenure set the tone on data privacy. He signed a bill into law in April 2017 that allows internet providers to sell information about their customers browsing habits. The legislation scrapped Obama-era online privacy rules aimed at giving consumers more control over how broadband companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon share that information. Marcy Gordon and Matt OBrien are Associated Press writers. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 27) An indigenous and environmental rights activist, who was once named part of the government's 'terror list', took home the United Nation's highest environmental honor on Wednesday. Joan Carling made it to the list of this year's outstanding environmental changemakers as she bagged the Champions of the Earth Award. The environmental defender is best known for her work in protecting land rights of indigenous people, ensuring sustainable development, and upholding the human rights of marginalized people. The UN, in a press release, said it recognized the Filipina for being "at the forefront of the conflict for land and environment" for more than 20 years. "Her tireless and selfless fight for the environment has made her a champion to peoples and communities all over the globe," the statement read. Carling was among the more than 600 names enumerated in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) controversial list of people with terror links. The DOJ in February filed a petition asking the Metro Manila Regional Trial Court to issue an order declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army as terrorist organizations. READ: Palace defends 'terrorist' list: No witch-hunt on UN rapporteurs The Champions of the Earth Award is given to outstanding organizations and individuals "whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment." Carling got the title along with other international changemakers such as food companies Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat (Science and Innovation), French President Emmanuel Macron (Policy Leadership), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Policy Leadership), China's Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Programme (Inspiration and Action), and the Cochin International Airport (Entrepreneurial Vision). Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies arrested two men on suspicion of stealing two cars and thousands of dollars in supplies from a San Jose church last week. Deputies first made contact with the men, Austin Hudson, 28, and Andrew Miller, 35, on the afternoon of Sept. 18 after a traffic stop near Valley Transportation Authority property in Downtown San Jose. The car was pulled over because it allegedly had an expired registration sticker. Deputies searched the car and found burglary tools, two sets of car keys labeled "Toyota" and "Honda," musical instruments, an amplifier and drug paraphernalia, according to the sheriff's office. Miller was also allegedly found with controlled substances, according to sheriff's officials, and he was arrested on suspicion of drug violations, possessing burglary tools and for violating felony probation. He was booked into the county jail with no bail on Sept. 19. Deputies said they confiscated the other car keys and instruments after neither man claimed ownership of the musical items. After examining the instruments, deputies said they found a pamphlet belonging to the Chinese for Christ Church in San Jose. According to sheriff's officials, the church confirmed it had been burglarized a couple days before and said a Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna used to transport handicapped churchgoers had also been stolen. Deputies allegedly found both vehicles on Sept. 20 a short distance away from Hudson's residence and obtained a search warrant for his house the next day. Deputies said they found additional items missing from the church after serving the warrant. Hudson was arrested at his workplace on suspicion of burglary on Sept. 24 and booked into the county jail with bail set at $21,000. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Seven people have been arrested in Oakland in connection with robberies around the state, including recent thefts at Apple stores, an Alameda County sheriff's spokesman said. Sgt. Ray Kelly said the seven people have been booked at the county jail in connection with the robberies. The Oakland Police Department said in an email message that on Tuesday it "assisted another law enforcement agency by arresting multiple individuals wanted on criminal warrants." Oakland police said, "These arrests are in connection to large-scale crimes that were committed throughout the state of California." More for you Local Apple stores blitzed 9 times in 1 month. Can it be stopped? The department said it is working with multiple law enforcement agencies in various jurisdictions and their respective district attorneys' offices for review and charging. Oakland police said the California Department of Justice will provide additional information on Thursday about the arrests and associated offenses. They said they won't provide any additional information on the matter. Seventeen people have been arrested and charged for a robbery scheme targeting Apple retail stores across the state that resulted in the loss of more than $1 million, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced today. The defendants are charged with entering Apple retail stores in large groups while wearing hoodies and snatching products on display in a matter of seconds, Becerra said. He said the alleged crimes took place in 19 counties. Seven adults were arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Alameda County Jail and another suspect is currently in custody in Sonoma County, according to Becerra. Arrest warrants have been issued for nine other suspects and the investigation is ongoing, Becerra said. "Organized retail thefts cost California business owners millions and expose them to copycat criminals. Ultimately, consumers pay the cost of this merchandise hijacking," the attorney general said in a statement. "We will continue our work with local law enforcement authorities to extinguish this mob mentality and prosecute these criminals to hold them accountable," he said. Oakland police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said, "The successful collaborative efforts of law enforcement have resulted in dismantling a large criminal ring." Becerra said the arrests are the result of an investigation conducted by Oakland and San Luis Obispo police, with the assistance of the California Department of Justice's eCrime Unit. He said San Luis Obispo police initiated the investigation following a series of thefts from Apple stores. Local law enforcement agencies from seven Bay Area counties were among agencies in 19 counties that assisted in the investigation: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties. Becerra said he has filed charges for conspiracy to commit grand theft against the defendants in Fresno, Santa Clara, and Alameda counties. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. BERKELEY (BCN) The Berkeley City Council has voted by a narrow 5-3 margin to approve a resolution that orders the city's Police Department not to post photos of people arrested at protests unless they pose an immediate threat to the public's safety. Councilwomen Cheryl Davila and Kate Harrison proposed changing the Police Department's photo policy after the department released mugshots of anti-fascist counter-protesters who were arrested at an anti-Marxism rally in Berkeley on Aug. 5. Davila and Harrison wrote in a letter to the council that conservative news outlets publicized the names of the people who were arrested at that rally "to foment attacks against those who speak out against racism and fascism." Davila and Harrison alleged that by issuing the mugshots and names and addresses of those who were arrested the Police Department "contributed to 'doxing' people -- publishing personal information to be used to harass and threaten people at their homes and places of work." Davila and Harrison also said Berkeley should resist Public Records Act (PRA) requests for arrest photos and identifying information on people who have been arrested when doing so poses a risk to their safety as a result of threats against them. Their proposal did nothing to limit the restrictive policy to protest events. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin joined Davila and Harrison in expressing concern about the department's policy but at Tuesday night's meeting he offered a revised resolution limiting the new policy to arrests during First Amendment events, such as protests. Arreguin said in a letter to the council that he doesn't want the city to resist PRA requests because "the city currently has the power to withhold this information if there is a concern that its release will endanger a person." After a lengthy debate the City Council approved a motion by Councilwoman Sophie Hahn that was similar to Arreguin's proposal in limiting the policy to barring photos from arrests at First Amendment events. Hahn, Arreguin, Linda Maio, Lori Droste and Susan Wengraf voted for that proposal and Harrison, Davila and Ben Bartlett voted against it. Kriss Worthington was absent. Arreguin's spokeswoman Karina Ioffee said today that the mayor didn't support the original proposal by Harrison and Davila because it was "too broad" and might have completely barred the Police Department from releasing photographs of suspects. But Harrison noted today that the original proposal would have allowed police to release photos of people who pose an immediate threat to the public safety of the community, such as being wanted for serial rape, homicide or felony assault. Harrison said she voted against the revised policy because it was "a significant change" from the original proposal. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN JOSE (BCN) A Daly City man has been sentenced in federal court in San Jose to one year and eight months in prison for smuggling guns to the Philippines without a license in 2015. Elmer Cuares pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in June to one count of smuggling goods from the United States. Koh sentenced him on Wednesday. According to prosecution filings, Cuares included the guns in a shipment in which he was sending two trucks he had bought from a San Jose company to the Philippines. Cuares asked the shipping company whether he could add some personal items to the shipment, including a television, a motorcycle and some boxes. After the shipment arrived, Philippine authorities searched the boxes and found three handguns and one assault rifle, which had been disassembled. Koh also ordered Cuares to serve one year on supervised release after completing his prison term. He is due to surrender to begin serving his sentence on Nov. 28. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) An 82-year-old woman fatally stabbed early Wednesday morning by a male relative in San Francisco has been identified by the city's medical examiner as Chii-Chyu Horng of San Francisco. The homicide was reported at about 12:25 a.m. in the 800 block of Howard Street, police said. Officers did a welfare check on a man and woman and, when they arrived, discovered Horng. She was pronounced dead at the scene. According to police, the suspect, a 30-year-old man, is a member of the victim's family. He was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation. Police have not released the suspect's name or any other details about the crime. Police are asking anyone with information to call the Police Department's tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text them at TIP411 with "SFPD" at the beginning of the message. Anyone making a call or text can remain anonymous. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. MARTINEZ (BCN) A former teacher at a Walnut Creek middle school pleaded guilty today to molesting multiple children under the age of 13, Contra Costa County prosecutors said. Michael Bartel, 34, of Martinez, entered the guilty plea to four counts of child molestation and Judge Patricia Scanlon sentenced him to 25 years to life in prison. Bartel, a former science teacher at Walnut Creek Intermediate School at 2425 Walnut Blvd., admitted to engaging in lewd and lascivious conduct with children between May 14, 2016, and Nov. 3, 2017, according to the district attorney's office. The case came to the attention of authorities in late October 2017 when someone from the East Coast called Martinez police to report someone believed to be Bartel had said in an online forum that he engaged in hands-on sexual activity with minors, prosecutors said. An undercover police officer eventually contacted Bartel on the same online forum, and Bartel agreed to meet the officer in anticipation of going somewhere in the county to have sex with a minor, prosecutors said. On Nov. 3, Bartel arrived at the agreed-upon location and was arrested. Investigators found child pornography on his cellphone and that he had distributed the images. Authorities determined the victims were not any of Bartel's current or former students. Prosecutors did not indicate who the victims were or what their connection was to Bartel. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A San Francisco man has been sentenced in federal court to nine years and six months in prison for having been an ex-felon in possession of a gun. The sentencing of Valentino Johnson, 44, by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria on Tuesday was the second time Johnson was sentenced for his 2015 conviction. Johnson was originally sentenced in 2016 by the trial judge in the case, now-retired U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, to eight years in prison. But last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a resentencing, saying that Henderson should have considered Johnson's previous robbery conviction a violent crime. The designation of a previous violent crime increased the potential sentence under advisory federal sentencing guidelines for repeat offenders. Chhabria was assigned to the case after Henderson retired last year. Johnson had six previous felony convictions in state court and was on parole from a robbery sentence when he was arrested in a house in the Bayview district on the gun possession offense. According to prosecution filings, an ex-girlfriend called police and said Johnson was suicidal and was holding a gun to his head. When police arrived at the house, which was the home of Johnson's new girlfriend, they found Johnson unharmed and concluded the call was a false alarm. But they found the gun in the bedroom closet of the woman's daughter. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk today for allegedly sending false and misleading tweets about a potential plan to take Palo Alto-based electric car company private. The civil lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York City. It asks for an injunction prohibiting violations of securities laws, forfeiture of any "ill-gotten gains," civil penalties and a court order barring Musk from serving as a director or officer of any publicly traded company. Tesla is a publicly traded company. Musk, 47, of Los Angeles, co-founded it in 2003, has been its board chair since then and became the CEO in 2008. The allegedly false and misleading statements began with a now-famous tweet Musk sent to his 22 million followers on Aug. 7, saying, "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." In fact, the lawsuit alleges, Musk had not discussed specific deal terms with any potential financing partners and knew the possible transaction was uncertain. That tweet and subsequent tweets and comments "caused significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock and resulting harm to investors," the lawsuit says. Musk said in a statement released by Tesla, "This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. "Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way," Musk said. Steven Peiken, the co-director of the SEC's Enforcement Division in Washington, D.C., stated, "Corporate officers hold positions of trust in our markets and have important responsibilities to shareholders. "An officer's celebrity status or reputation as a technological innovator does not give license to take those responsibilities lightly," Peiken said. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. PITTSBURG (BCN) Rider safety will be the focus of a special BART Board of Directors meeting in Pittsburg on Thursday evening. BART directors and the general public will have a chance at the meeting to discuss General Manager Grace Crunican's recently-announced safety and security plan. Crunican announced the plan on Aug. 6 in the wake of three homicides and other violent crimes that have occurred at BART stations in recent months, including the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur Station in Oakland on July 22. "The special time and location of this board meeting will give more members of the public the chance to share their thoughts about public safety directly with board members," BART Board President Robert Raburn said in statement. Raburn said, "We need their input as we take action to make BART safer." BART officials said the special meeting will include an update on the transit system's proof-of-payment strategy. They said there will be a presentation with citation data as well as a hearing on a request to hire more community service officers to expand the program, which was launched in January. In addition, the board will get an update on efforts to modify station infrastructure to deter fare evasion. BART officials said the update is likely to include a discussion on whether to replace the system's fare gates. BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas is scheduled to present a report by the University of North Texas on the agency's Police Department that includes recommendations for adequate police staffing at the agency. BART officials said the meeting also will have an update on their efforts to increase parking around the new BART-to-Antioch line. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Pittsburg City Council Chambers on the third floor of 65 Civic Ave. BART officials said the council chambers are a short walk from the Pittsburg Center Station on the new BART-to-Antioch line. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. A draft plan aimed to help Sonoma County recover from last year's devastating wildfires and prepare for future disasters is ready for public comment. The Draft Recovery and Resiliency Framework, submitted Tuesday to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, provides a blueprint to help rebuild after the October 2017 fires. "The Framework is far more than a document -- it's a vision for recovery and resiliency," said James Gore, Board of Supervisors chairman. The document is the result of feedback and input from community members and stakeholders. From July to September, the county hosted seven community meetings and collected almost 1,500 comments from more than 300 residents who attended. The draft framework can be found online at https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Office-of-Recovery-and-Resiliency/. It focuses on five areas: community preparedness and infrastructure, housing, economy, safety net services and natural resources. The Board of Supervisors created the Office of Recovery and Resiliency in December 2017, two months after the series of wildfires that claimed 24 lives, destroyed 5,300 homes and burned about 110,000 acres. The public may submit feedback on the draft framework for 30 days, until Oct. 26. Public input can be submitted by email to recoveryinfo@sonoma-county.org. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Seventeen people have been arrested and charged for a robbery scheme targeting Apple retail stores across the state that resulted in the loss of more than $1 million, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced today. The defendants are charged with entering Apple retail stores in large groups while wearing hoodies and snatching products on display in a matter of seconds, Becerra said. He said the alleged crimes took place in 19 counties. Seven adults were arrested on Tuesday and booked into the Alameda County Jail and another suspect is currently in custody in Sonoma County, according to Becerra. Arrest warrants have been issued for nine other suspects and the investigation is ongoing, Becerra said. He said San Luis Obispo police initiated the investigation following a series of thefts from Apple stores. Local law enforcement agencies from seven Bay Area counties were among agencies in 19 counties that assisted in the investigation: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties. Becerra said he has filed charges for conspiracy to commit grand theft against the defendants in Fresno, Santa Clara, and Alameda counties. A man was fatally shot in East Oakland on Wednesday evening, police said today. Officers who responded to the 1300 block of 83rd Avenue at 7:23 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a report of gunshots found a man from Oakland suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. The man's name is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin. No motive has been determined for the shooting and no one has been arrested. Oakland police said anyone who has information about the fatal shooting is asked to contact their homicide section at (510) 238-3821 or their tip line at (510) 238-7950. Oakland police have responded to the area of Harrison and 29th streets this morning for a barricaded suspect. Police said shortly before 10 a.m. that the suspect is wanted for a robbery, pistol-whipping and attempted carjacking that occurred earlier this morning. More details about the suspect were not immediately available. Vehicle and pedestrian traffic is affected by road closures as the result of the barricaded suspect, police said. The search for a suspect near state Highway 24 in Orinda this morning briefly caused delays for motorists on the highway, according to the California Highway Patrol and Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office. The search with multiple police vehicles was ongoing as of shortly before 8 a.m. and CHP officials said it was causing delays on westbound Highway 24. Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said by email shortly after 9 a.m. that the suspect is now in custody. No other details were immediately available. Three suspects were arrested after a robbery at a business in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood on Wednesday evening, police said. The robbery was reported at 7:10 p.m. at a business in the 5000 block of Telegraph Avenue. Officers responded and located the trio and took them into custody. The names of the suspects, two men and a boy, were not immediately available. Police said officers recovered "electrical devices" that were taken in the robbery. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact the Police Department's criminal investigation division at (510) 238-3326. An ex-convict was sentenced today to 55 years to life in state prison for the fatal shooting of an Oakland City Hall security guard in the city's Fruitvale district in 2016. Lee Jackson IV, 29, of Fairfield, was convicted in May of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Tony Smith, 66, while Smith was with a prostitute in his car near the corner of 35th Avenue and International Boulevard at 4:28 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2016. Jackson also was convicted of shooting at an inhabited car and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, since he has a prior conviction for an assault weapon or machine gun and shooting at an inhabited dwelling in Solano County in July 2008. Alameda County prosecutor Patrick Moriarty told jurors during Jackson's trial that ballistic evidence, a witness statement and cellphone records were sufficient reason to find him guilty of murder. Moriarty said Jackson is a pimp and he and his prostitute, Leah Farr, had "a terrible plan to rob a customer and it went terribly wrong" with the fatal shooting of Smith, who had five children. Farr told Oakland police when she was arrested in November 2016 that Jackson was the person who shot Smith. But at Jackson's preliminary hearing last year and again at Jackson's trial this year, Farr said she lied when she made that statement and said the shooter actually was a man named "Prince" who was her former pimp. Jackson's lawyer Darryl Stallworth told jurors that Farr's inconsistent statements were a problem for the prosecution because he doesn't think she is credible or trustworthy. Petaluma police said a male suspect driving a black SUV with tinted windows tried to get a 13-year-old boy into his vehicle Wednesday evening. The boy was walking in the area of Ely Boulevard South and Casa Grande Road near Casa Grande High School around 6:30 p.m. when the mid-sized black SUV pulled alongside him, police said. The male driver told the boy through the open passenger window to get in the car, then repeated the demand and threatened the boy with bodily harm when the boy refused, police said. The boy ran and lost sight of the suspect's vehicle. The suspect was described as a male wearing a black hoodie that concealed his face, police said. Anyone with information about the suspect or who has also experienced a similar incident is encouraged to call school resource officer John Antonio at (707) 781-1204. All Petaluma schools were notified of the incident, police said. Petaluma police are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect who allegedly annoyed a child in Petaluma on Tuesday. Police said a 12-year-old girl was walking in the area of Sonoma Mountain Parkway and Riesling Road when a sliver Honda or Toyota vehicle pulled up to her along the curb and allegedly told her "hey, you are pretty, like beautiful." According to police, the girl said "thank you, bye" but the driver then offered her a ride, which she declined and ran away. Police said the girl heard the man say "get in the car" as she ran away. The suspect is described as a white man in his 40s or 50s with red hair and a red beard. Anyone with any information on the case is asked to call Officer John Antonio at (707) 781-1204. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. San Francisco's newly opened Salesforce Transit Center will remain closed through next week as engineers continue to inspect a crack found Tuesday in a steel beam, as well as a newly discovered crack on a parallel beam. The announcement was made Wednesday. Workers installing ceiling panels discovered the first crack Tuesday morning on the third-level bus deck above Fremont Street. Officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority then promptly closed the $2.2 billion facility and a portion of Fremont Street between Howard and Mission streets was closed too. The first crack that was discovered is 2 feet 6 inches long. The second is smaller and was discovered while engineers inspected the first. The larger of the two cracks is located on a beam that extends east and west, across Fremont Street, and supports the third-level roof and bus deck as well as the fourth-story park above. "At this point in time, we don't know what the cause of the crack is," TJPA Executive Director Mark Zabaneh said Wednesday. Seven people have been arrested in Oakland in connection with robberies around the state, including recent thefts at Apple stores, an Alameda County sheriff's spokesman said. Sheriff's officials announced the arrests Wednesday. Sgt. Ray Kelly said the seven people have been booked at the county jail in connection with the robberies. The Oakland Police Department said in an email message that on Tuesday it "assisted another law enforcement agency by arresting multiple individuals wanted on criminal warrants." Oakland police said, "These arrests are in connection to large-scale crimes that were committed throughout the state of California." California State Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon to announce a $148 million settlement with Uber over allegations that the company tried to cover up a 2016 data breach. The prosecutors made the announcement Wednesday. During a news conference in San Francisco Wednesday morning, Becerra said the ride-hailing service company violated several state and federal laws when it tried to cover up the breach and then paid hackers $100,000 for their silence. Uber is accused of exposing 57 million customers and drivers to risk by failing to inform them about the data breach and then also failing to report it to authorities. An independent investigation into Uber's conduct found that the company allegedly failed to inform 174,000 California drivers of the breach, which exposed their personal information and their driver's license numbers, Becerra's office said. A man driving an Uber was stabbed after a road rage incident on state Highway 87 in San Jose, the California Highway Patrol reported. The violence occurred Wednesday morning. The 24-year-old victim was driving a passenger north on Highway 87 just south of Capitol Expressway at about 8:45 a.m. when he became involved in the road rage incident with a woman, according to the CHP. The woman, who was driving a white-colored sedan, eventually left the area without contacting the Uber driver, according to the CHP. CHP officials said a man then appeared in the area "in a matter of minutes" and pulled up next to the victim's vehicle, asking that he pull over to the side of the highway. The victim pulled over and the man stopped directly behind his vehicle. When the man and the victim emerged from their vehicles and met in the middle, the CHP said the man pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim in the stomach. The Berkeley City Council has voted by a narrow 5-3 margin to approve a resolution that orders the city's Police Department not to post photos of people arrested at protests unless they pose an immediate threat to the public's safety. The vote was taken Tuesday night. Councilwomen Cheryl Davila and Kate Harrison proposed changing the Police Department's photo policy after the department released mugshots of anti-fascist counter-protesters who were arrested at an anti-Marxism rally in Berkeley on Aug. 5. Davila and Harrison wrote in a letter to the council that conservative news outlets publicized the names of the people who were arrested at that rally "to foment attacks against those who speak out against racism and fascism." Davila and Harrison alleged that by issuing the mugshots and names and addresses of those who were arrested the Police Department "contributed to 'doxing' people -- publishing personal information to be used to harass and threaten people at their homes and places of work." PG&E has announced it has installed its 100th new weather station since January to capture meteorological data to better predict where extreme wildfires may occur. PG&E officials made the announcement earlier this week. Of the new weather stations, four of them are in Sonoma County. By the end of the year, there will be 200 new stations in high fire-threat areas in 16 California counties, including six in the Bay Area, according to PG&E. The expansion of the weather stations is part of the additional safety precautions that PG&E is taking in its Community Wildfire Safety Program after the deadly 2017 wildfires in the North Bay and elsewhere. Data from the weather stations are streamed in real time and is available to state and local agencies and the public through online sources that include the National Weather Service. The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art will install "LOVE", a post-wildfire sculpture in front of City Hall this morning ahead of the opening of its "From Fire, Love Rises" exhibition that opens Saturday. The internally lit steel letters of 'LOVE' by Laura Kimpton with Jeff Schomberg embody "the love in the air is thicker than the smoke" spirit witnessed during the 2017 wildfires. The sculpture pays tribute to the resiliency and strength of Sonoma County residents as the one-year anniversary of the deadly fires approaches. "From Fire, Love Rises: Stories Shared from the Artist Community," and "20 Sonoma Collectors: Celebrating SVMA's 20th Year" will be on view at the museum starting Saturday and close Jan. 6. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCSICO (BCN) San Francisco's newly opened Salesforce Transit Center will remain closed through next week as engineers continue to inspect a crack found Tuesday in a steel beam, as well as a newly discovered crack on a parallel beam. Workers installing ceiling panels discovered the first crack Tuesday morning on the third-level bus deck above Fremont Street. Officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority then promptly closed the $2.2 billion facility and a portion of Fremont Street between Howard and Mission streets was closed too. The first crack that was discovered is 2 feet 6 inches long. The second is smaller and was discovered while engineers inspected the first. The larger of the two cracks is located on a beam that extends east and west, across Fremont Street, and supports the third-level roof and bus deck as well as the fourth-story park above. "At this point in time, we don't know what the cause of the crack is," TJPA Executive Director Mark Zabaneh said today. The beam was installed during construction in 2016 and has not been inspected since, which Zabaneh said, is standard protocol. TJPA officials are working with contractor Webcor/Obayashi and structural engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti to inspect the cracks. Zabaneh said they're looking into whether the cracks are related to the beams' fabrication, their installation or the center's design. According to Dennis Turchon, the TJPA's senior construction manager, the steel beams used to construct the center were supplied by at least seven different manufacturers, all located in the U.S. Zabaneh said contactors and engineers have inspected other areas of the transit center where the beams are configured similarly and haven't found any other problems. "I'm very sorry for the inconvenience to the public. We're working hard to rectify the situation," he said. "We're very disappointed with what happened." Zabaneh said, "We will not reopen the transit center or Fremont Street until we're 100 percent sure that the issue is rectified, correct and that the building is safe." With the center's closure, all transit operators, including the San Francisco Municipal Railway and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, will now resume service at the formerly closed Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Main streets, according to TJPA officials. Both drivers and transit riders should expect delays in the city's downtown area. The four-story Salesforce Transit Center opened in August. Stretching four city blocks, it boasts a 5.4-acre rooftop public park and space for pop-up retail shops, art displays and restaurants. Zabaneh said the cracks are not related to the problems at the nearby sinking Millennium Tower, the 58-story luxury high-rise at 301 Mission St., which has sunk 16 inches. Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) California State Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon today to announce a $148 million settlement with Uber over allegations that the company tried to cover up a 2016 data breach. During a news conference in San Francisco this morning, Becerra said the ride-hailing service company violated several state and federal laws when it tried to cover up the breach and then paid hackers $100,000 for their silence. "In San Francisco, where innovation and building new technologies is a given, it transforms our economy and transforms our lives. The innovators, those people who make it possible, must remember that protecting privacy is not just the right thing to do, in California it's the law," Becerra said. Uber is accused of exposing 57 million customers and drivers to risk by failing to inform them about the data breach and then also failing to report it to authorities. An independent investigation into Uber's conduct found that the company allegedly failed to inform 174,000 California drivers of the breach, which exposed their personal information and their driver's license numbers, Becerra's office said. The hackers allegedly were located in the U.S. and in Canada. The breach was allegedly never reported to authorities until it was uncovered in November 2017 during an internal review by Uber's Board of Directors. According to Becerra, of the $148 million settlement, California will receive $26 million. That amount will be divided between Gascon's office and the California Department of Justice. The settlement also includes a historic set of terms for Uber. "For the first time in history, an AG's office has required a company to implement privacy by design into its products. That means that Uber must integrate privacy considerations and protections into every phase of their products' development and design," Becerra said. Other terms include that Uber maintain a hotline or method for employees to report misconduct and ethical concerns such as a violation of Uber's code of conduct. Additionally, Uber will be required to develop a comprehensive information security program, including the appointment of an executive officer to report directly to Uber's Board. Uber must also report any data security incidents to the state on a quarterly basis for the next two years. According to Gascon, his office first began investigating Uber in 2013, based on allegations that it was misleading customers and drivers about security precautions. "This was clearly a violation of the law, a violation of people's privacy and we want to make sure that Uber is held accountable," he said. "But we also want to send a message to the industry: We will work with you, we will support you, we want you to do well, but we will never support any activity that is going to compromise the safety of our community and that's going to compromise the privacy rights, not only of the consumer, but in this case, that of the driver as well." Gascon said that although his office is currently in litigation with Uber, he has seen a difference in the company's leadership. Earlier this month, Gascon's office partnered with Uber and Lyft for a citywide campaign about safety when using ride-hailing services. "We have seen a marked difference in the leadership in Uber. Unfortunately we worked with a prior leadership and it was not pleasant. It was very aggressive and a very unethical leadership," he said. "We have seen a shift.... We're hoping that this is real and there will be real resolutions to the pending matters." Copyright 2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP >> After listening to more than four hours of public comment, the board of supervisors on Wednesday night voted to deny Provco its request for preliminary/final land development approval for a new Wawa convenience store and gas station in Holland. The vote brought immediate applause from Holland residents who have been fighting the project for months and who... An MSNBC reporter in Bozeman, Mont., asked a Trump-supporting mother of three about Palo Alto professor Christine Blasey Ford's accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. "It's not a big deal," responded Val O'Connell. "It doesn't take away from his character and his job and what he needs to do because he's a Supreme Court nominee." NEW DELHI The chief justice of Indias Supreme Court has presided over a string of verdicts in recent weeks that grant more rights to women, gay couples and religious minorities, challenging deeply conservative Indian society as he prepares to retire from the bench next month. In the latest decision Thursday, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the rest of the five-member court struck down a 158-year-old law that treated adultery in certain cases as a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison. The court called the law, which did not allow wives to prosecute adulterous husbands, unconstitutional and noted that a husband is not the master of woman. Adultery can still be grounds for divorce in India, the verdict said, but a criminal penalty violated womens protection to equal rights under the law. Excellent decision, tweeted Sushmita Dev, a lawmaker and president of the opposition Congress partys womens wing. She said a law that does not give women the right to sue her adulterer husband ... is unequal treatment and militates against her status as an individual. The rights group Amnesty International India said the decision was a progressive judgment and the old law was a remnant of a time when a woman was considered to be the property of her husband. The scrapped law allowed men to file charges against other men who had affairs with their wives. Women having affairs could not be prosecuted, but they also couldnt file a complaint against cheating husbands. Earlier this month, the Misra-led court also struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The 1861 law, a relic of Victorian England that hung on long after the end of British colonialism, was a breach of the rights of privacy and dignity, the court ruled. It added that history owes an apology to the members of this community and their families, for the delay in providing redressal for the ignominy and ostracism that they have suffered through the centuries. The courts recent pace of decisions speaks to another feature of Misras tenure: expediting cases in a country where they routinely take decades to resolve. There are 33 million court cases pending in India, government figures show. Ashok Sharma is an Associated Press writer. Page Content Federal law doesn't pre-empt a California test that is used to determine whether workers are employees or independent contractors under state law, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in California Trucking Association v. Su. Thus, the California labor commissioner could apply a state-law standard to truck drivers who claimed that they were misclassified as independent contractors. The labor commissioner used an older test to evaluate the potential employment relationship, rather than California's new ABC test, but the court said that was allowed. Different tests may be used depending on the nature of a claim. The Trucking Case Members of the California Trucking Association are motor-carrier companies that transport items throughout the state and engage in interstate commerce. To haul freight, members use either company drivers (who are classified as employees) or owner-operators (who are classified as independent contractors). Owner-operators use their own trucks, pay their own expenses and have control over how to perform the job. Nevertheless, they claimed that they were misclassified as independent contractors and were improperly denied benefits that are afforded to employees under state law. [SHRM members-only resource: California Labor and Employment Law Overview] The labor commissioner analyzed the case under the standard developed in S. G. Borello & Sons, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations (Cal. 1989), which primarily looks at who controls the work. The test also evaluates multiple secondary factors, such as whether workers supply their own tools, how long services are performed and whether the hiring business supervises the work. The factors are evaluated in their entirety with no one factor being determinative. The trucking association argued that the Borello test was pre-empted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, which regulates motor carriage and expressly pre-empts some state regulations related to "rates, routes or services." But the 9th Circuit said that the Borello test is a labor standard that generally applies across industries in an area of law that is typically governed by the states and that the drivers' claim is not really related to motor-carrier prices, routes or services. Thus, the court found that the labor commissioner could review the drivers' claim under the Borello standard. Multiple Tests Employers may be confused by the ruling because it doesn't involve the stringent new ABC test that the state high court adopted this year in Dynamex Operations West v. Superior Court. Rather, the labor commissioner used the Borello test, which has been replaced in some circumstances. The 9th Circuit noted that the ABC test doesn't apply to all claims. "Dynamex did not purport to replace the Borello standard in every instance where a worker must be classified as either an independent contractor or an employee for purposes of enforcing California's labor protections," the court said. The state high court adopted the new ABC test for the limited purpose of interpreting California's wage-order rules, explained Stacey Chiu, an attorney with Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck in San Francisco. This includes claims for missed meal and rest breaks and unpaid overtime wages. The Borello test still can apply for other purposes, such as workers' compensation claims, tort claims for wrongful termination in violation of public policy and California Labor Code violations. In the future, however, California employers can expect to be confronted with the Dynamex test far more often than the Borello test, said Jason Barsanti, an attorney with Cozen O'Connor in San Diego. The drivers in the trucking case didn't invoke the wage orders, he noted, but it is likely that, going forward, plaintiffs' attorneys will assert wage-order violations for which the more stringent ABC test will be applied. The New ABC Test In Dynamex, delivery drivers asserted classwide claims that they were misclassified as independent contractors and, as a result, the company violated provisions of the California Industrial Welfare Commission's wage order No. 9, which governs the transportation industry. In that case, the California Supreme Court adopted a three-factor test to determine whether workers are employees or independent contractors under the state's wage orders. Under the new analysis, all three of the following factors must be met for a worker to be properly classified as an independent contractor: The worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact. The worker performs tasks that are outside the usual course of the hiring entity's business. The worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as the work performed for the hiring entity. Employers should be aware that individuals, including those compensated as independent contractors, are presumed to be employees of the hiring entity under California's wage orders, Chiu said. The burden is now on employers to show that all three of the ABC test conditions can be met. "This is a high burden," she noted. However, other federal and state law tests are still applicable outside the context of California's wage orders. For example, different tests are used to determine employment status under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. "The main takeaway is that worker classification is not black and white," Chiu said. The bottom line for businesses that have workers perform services for the company's benefit in California is that they need to carefully evaluate the relationship if it's not a standard employer-employee arrangement, Barsanti said. The potential penalties for failing to properly classify a worker can be very costly, he added. "This is another case in California where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and it makes sense to seek counsel to review independent-contractor-related policies and practices." The two-day event Codec Asia 2018, a conclave dedicated to the consumer durables industry, which ended on a high-note was attended by prominent personalities of the industry like Mansoor Ali, Director of Codec Asia 2018, Girish Rao, Consulting Adviser Consumers Durables EFF Times, Taran Adarsh, Leading Bollywood Film Critic & Biz Analyst, and Kailash Singh, MD of Teflas. These industry experts also gave in-depth insights into the consumer durables and electronics industry. Codec Asia 2018, held on 24th and 25th September at Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel, Mumbai, also held a glitzy award ceremony to felicitate people and companies for their achievements. The awardees included: Kent RO Systems for Best Brand Marketing Company, IFB for Best Trend-Setting Company, Godrej Appliance for Best Home Grown Brand, LG Electronics for Best GLOCAL Brand, Samsung for Innovative Brand, Panasonic for Dynamic Brand, Miele for Aspirational Brand, Haier for Best Home Maker, NVY for Best Debutant Brand. The event attended by more than 400 delegates brought together brands, policymakers, industry leaders, trade partners, government representatives and other stakeholders like Finance and Technology. This conclave showed evidence of the huge potential for this fast growing 12.5 billion dollar industry. Along with exhibition space for demonstrating latest products, there were immense networking opportunities among different manufacturers, retailers and other support system players. Others who were also awarded for their contribution to the industry included Gulu Mirchandani, K S Raman, Mirc Electronics; Nanu Gupta, Vijay Sales; Ramesh Shah, Sony Mony; Vishal Mewani, Kohinoor Electronics; Kannaiya, Snehnajali; Dev Sharma, Arcc Electronices; Gilbert Baptist, Malaika; Ashsih Bajaj, Jumbo; and Manshuk Jain, Manshukh Distributors. Mansoor Ali, Director of CODEC Asia 2018 said, It was extremely overwhelming to see the response that Codec Asia 2018 received. Codec Asia has grown from a platform for consumer durables industry and has become a conduit for bringing together brands, trader partners and key stakeholders in policy-making and government departments. I am extremely grateful and want to say a big thank you to all the dignitaries who participated in the conclave. The event also witnessed the launch of a consumer electronic company brand by Global Heads from Daewoo Hawng and Shashi Dhar. CODEC, a brainchild of EFF Times and teflas, was created to give a platform and acknowledge the consumer electronics industry experts, bringing together the brands, people and policy makers from India, Middle East and Africa. EFF Times is the first of its kind digital media platform dedicated to the Consumer Durables Industry and acts as a fulcrum among key stakeholders of the industry. tefla's is one of Indias leading event organizers, which owns many global properties like GLOBOIL among others. Read more news: Indian start-up SigTuple awarded at Google's Demo Day Asia This column is written by the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com collegiate correspondent. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Most children don't have a problem learning to speak when they are infants. This is not the case for children with apraxia of speech. Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) prevents children from accurately producing sounds, syllables and words. One of these childhood apraxia fighters is 14-year-old Annadale resident Sofia Guido. Sue Guido, Sofia's mother, remembers how quiet Sofia was when she was a baby: "Not a lot of babble, no speech -- silent." Sofia was diagnosed with CAS at the age of 2. She was then approved for early intervention due to CAS, along with other physical and neurological disorders such as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Today, Sofia is almost 14. She has very severe Apraxia of Speech and understands language much better than she can express it. However, due to alternative ways of communication, she has a voice. According to Apraxia-Kids.org, weak muscles are not the problem with CAS. The difficulty lies in planning rapid and finely coordinated movements of the speech structures such as the lips, tongue, palate and jaw. For children with apraxia, their ideas are often misunderstood or not understood at all. The only proven treatment for this rare speech sound disorder is intensive speech therapy. Sofia is currently receiving intensive speech therapy and uses a speech device and basic sign language to communicate. After seeing how many people underestimate how much Sofia understands, the mission of Sofia's mother became finding her daughter's voice. "Not all will understand her struggle, nor her way of communicating, but I work hard to spread awareness, understanding & acceptance. When people say 'ugh, I wish my kids would just be quiet...' Don't. Cherish every sound & every question asked," emphasized Sue Guido. When a speech device was recommended to Sue Guido, Sofia's mother, it was a hard decision. People questioned if she was "giving up" not realizing that she was actually giving Sofia hope. Sue believes that this device gives Sofia a chance to speak, a way to communicate with others. "It's the gift of a voice...but a little different from everyone else's. It cut down on frustrations, it allowed learning, and we never gave up hope. She has a voice. She hears you. Being able to communicate basic needs, how her day went at school or how she feels was a miracle to us. She could express herself even if it is through a device. She is no longer silent," shared Sue Guido. From then on, Sue vowed to make her daugher "fierce and proud" and promised to help other families realize that there is always hope. This inspired Sue to become a part of the Staten Island Apraxia Kids Walk from its inception. Three years ago, Sue became a co-coordinator of it along with Lisa Rose, whose seven-year old daughter Rosie was diagnosed with Apraxia also at the age of two. "Lisa and I met at the walk, bonded over our dedication to the Apraxia Kids cause, and now are lifelong friends. Our journey's may be different but our missions are the same... every child can find their voice, but each way and voice maybe different. Giving children with Apraxia of Speech the means to communicate is what is so important and the Apraxia Kids organizations mission," explained Sue Guido. Every year, there is an Apraxia Kids Walk on Staten Island to benefit all children with CAS that deserve a voice. This year's walk will be held at Clove Lakes Park on Saturday, Oct. 13, with a 9 a.m. registration time and a 10 a.m. start. There will be music, face painting, characters, a magician and more. Every dollar raised helps children find their voices through education, research, support networks, financial aid, & awareness. "I believe in the work Apraxia Kids does to strengthen the support systems in the lives of children with apraxia so that each child is afforded their best opportunity to develop to their full potential. We walk but we also celebrate our children with Apraxia of Speech. They are our stars and it's their day to shine," said Sue Guido. If you are interested in donating, volunteering your services, or being a part of this year's walk, contact Sue Guido and Lisa Rose at statenislandapraxiawalk@gmail.com for more information. To make a quick online donation, visit casana.apraxia-kids.org/StatenIsl&Walk. S.I. native Charista Mroczek is a freshman at Barnard College of Columbia University. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Mariners Harbor man accused of shooting a victim in the leg during a violent post-Christmas mugging last year, won't be in circulation for a while. Kemahni Smalls, 26, will serve a seven-year prison sentence after pleading guilty on Thursday to attempted first-degree assault, stemming from a Dec. 26 incident in his community. According to a criminal complaint, the episode occurred around 12:20 a.m. Smalls and Sterling Tyler, 37, of Mariners Harbor, accosted the victim outside 27 Holland Ave., Mariners Harbor, the complaint said. Tyler threw the man to the ground, rifled through his pants pockets and snatched his wallet, said the complaint. "Shoot him," the complaint quotes Tyler as telling Smalls. Smalls shot the man once in the leg, wounding him, said the complaint. Tyler was arrested the next day; Smalls was busted on Dec. 28. The defendants were later indicted on robbery, assault and weapon-possession charges. Tyler pleaded guilty Tuesday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to attempted first-degree robbery to resolve all charges against him. In exchange, he'll be sentenced on Nov. 15 to 42 months in prison and five years' post-release supervision. Besides prison time, Smalls will be sentenced Oct. 11 in state Supreme Court to five years' post-release supervision. Smalls and Tyler each have criminal records. Smalls was convicted of misdemeanor weapon possession in 2014; Tyler was convicted of petit larceny in 2016, said the complaint. "The plea that Mr. Smalls took today was very fair, said Louis Gelormino, Smalls lawyer. Hopefully, hell take advantage of any programs the correctional system has to offer and come back and be an upstanding member of the community. Assistant District Attorney Brooke Baranoski is prosecuting the case. By NICOLE GALLINA | NGallina@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Ashley Marie Davis, current Miss Excelsior, continues her advocacy for the Alzheimer's community by serving as Event Chair for this weekend's 2018 Walk to End Alzheimer's. The program starts at 9:45 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, at the College of Staten Island, 2800 Victory Blvd. in Willowbrook. The walk steps off at 10:15 a.m. Davis is former Miss Richmond Country and won her first title at 16 years old, with her pageant platform being "Memories Matter: Alzheimer's Disease Awareness and Support." Both of Davis' great grandparents passed away from Alzheimer's. Ashley and her mother, Jessica Davis, have stayed very active in the Alzheimer's community. Her mother serves as the Alzheimer's Impact Movement (AIM), advocacy chair. She recently attended the 2018 Alzheimer's Nationals Forum this past June in Washington D.C. "It was truly inspiring hearing the different stories throughout the entire weekend. Knowing that you're not alone in a situation like that," she said. Although Davis and her mother are no longer caregivers, they're both concerned about possibly inheriting the disease. "That's something I worry about with my mom, about early onset Alzheimer's," she said. ABOUT 2018'S WALK: Serving as the Staten Island Event Chair, Davis is there to make sure everything their committee put in place runs smoothly. A new table for caregivers and their loved ones this year is being introduced this year, "in case they don't want to walk or feel they aren't up to it, they can sit there," she said. The table will have arts and crafts as well as memory games and a few other therapeutic activities. The ACT Care Group is another local organization that will be present at the walk this year. "They have planning support groups there, even a day program for someone that you may have living with you that has Alzheimer's," she said. Saturday's route length is approximately two miles, starting on the Great Lawn at the College of Staten Island. Vinnie Medugno, local Staten Island DJ and dance music artist, will be emceeing this year's event. If you are not able to attend this year's walk, you will still be able to donate via participant's walk pages until late December. ASHLEY'S FUTURE PLANS: His goals do not end with this walk. She aims to continue engaging with people of all ages in our community. "The majority of caregivers are 18 or younger, unfortunately," Davis said. "This is something that more of our young adults should be aware of." Through the Alzheimer's Association, Ashley will continue to give presentations at local schools in order to help inform students about Alzheimer's. She also is a teacher at a local dance studio, Fierce Dance Company, and will be competing for the title of Miss Staten Island on Nov. 18. Her goal is to become Miss New York and one day Miss America, because these competitions "invite women to achieve a higher education and bring forth a platform such as Alzheimer's." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Amazon opened a new store -- which sells only top-rated products -- in New York City Thursday. The store -- known as Amazon 4-star -- offers only those items the online retail giant considers to be top-rated. Classifications in the store -- based on Amazon.com -- include: items rated 4 stars and above; top-sellers; new & trending. "We started with some of the most popular categories on Amazon.com including devices, consumer electronics, kitchen, home, toys, books, and games, and chose only the products that customers have rated 4 stars and above, or are top sellers, or are new and trending," Amazon wrote in a blog post. To learn more about the store, what the video below. Digital tags near each product offer various pieces of information, including the Prime price and list price and the average star rating. Prime members pay the Amazon.com price in store, according to the retailer. Visitors to the store will find products like the Echo Spot (4.5 stars), the card game Codenames (4.8 stars) and a Lodge cast iron skillet (4.4 stars). In addition, customers can try various Amazon devices, according to the blog post. The store is located at 72 Spring St., in SoHo. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.- - A 12-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted in upstate New York could be headed to New York City, authorities said. An Amber Alert was issued Thursday for Malaya M. Johnson after she was abducted near Oak Street in Hudson Falls at around 3 p.m. Wednesday. The vehicle is a red two-door Ford Mustang with an unknown license plate. The car was last seen on Oak Street in Hudson Falls and is believed to be heading to New York City. Johnson is black and has long brown hair and eyes, officials said. She was last seen wearing light red jeans, a white tank top and a light-colored backpack with a design. Authorities said two unknown Hispanic males may have been in the car, and the child is in imminent danger. Anyone with any information on this abduction is asked to call the Washington County Sheriffs Office at (866)NYS-AMBER or dial 911 to provide information on a report or sighting. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After immigrating to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2003, Ricardo Manzanillo worked several odd jobs before finding his true passion. I saw so much opportunity in this country; you can do whatever you love, he said, noting he had visited family living in the U.S. for many years before moving here on his own. I saw this country as a place that gives people a chance. I saw that hard works pays off, added Manzanillo. But once he moved here and became a citizen, finding a job he loved wasnt so easy. I worked at a construction company as an electrician. But it wasnt for me. I didnt want to spend so much time traveling, and I wanted something that I loved doing and to be close to my family, he said. So Manzanillo decided to learn how to be a barber. He honed his skills for 13 years at Dominican Barber Shop in Concord. Last year, he decided to risk it all and launch his own barbershop with his cousin, Felizmil Tiburcio. Last year, Ricardo Manzanillo, right, decided to risk it all and launch his own barbershop with his cousin, Felizmil Tiburcio, left. IDEAL LOCATION But Manzanillo waited until he found the ideal location. I was going to every train station on the Island to see if there was a storefront available [nearby], he said. I wanted to take advantage of the traffic and the people going to work. The result: MT Clippers Barbershop on Clove Road in Grasmere, which is located in a strip mall across the street from a Staten Island Railway station. There, patrons can take advantage of a myriad of services from hair fades and designs, to hot shaves. When you love what you do, you feel like youre not working, he said. Manzanillo wanted to make sure to put a personal stamp on his shop. MT Clippers is decorated with license plates from all over the country, from Montana to Pennsylvania. We have clients who come in from out of state. Many of them used to live here, so when they come in I want them to have something familiar, he said. Wherever I go, I buy license plates. FUTURE COLLABORATION These trips are often to barber shows and conventions around the country. Manzanillo said he does this with hopes of forming a local barber professional organization. Other professions have professional groups. My idea is to have this grow and get everyone connected, he said. Its about collaboration, not competition. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Manzanillo and Tiburcio believe in giving back to the community. As a result, the two give free haircuts and donate school supplies to children in need. We ask all the barbers to give back 10 hours per year of their time. Right now, we do it for kids and go to schools, but Id like to go to nursing homes to give free haircuts, and also give haircuts to the homeless, said Manzanillo. MT CLIPPERS AT A GLANCE Address: 2071 Clove Rd., Grasmere. Contact: (718)448-7529 Social Media: Instagram: @mtclippersbarbershop Facebook: MTClippers Barbershop New Businesses in Focus is a weekly column that relates the stories of new Staten Island business owners. If you have a new business on Staten Island, e-mail porpora@siadvance.com. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An alleged bank robber in Great Kills who donned a straw hat and surgical mask apparently forgot one thing: Gloves. Federal authorities have charged 51-year-old Greg Cantoni in connection with the Sept. 6 incident, inside M & T Bank on the 4000 block of Hylan Boulevard. Cantoni-- a Staten Island resident who formerly lived in Brooklyn and Queens -- allegedly entered the bank at about 1:35 p.m., and passed a note to a teller. The note read: "I WANT $100 BILLS AND $50 BILLS. NO GAMES. NO DYE! NO GPS, I AM ARMED!" He then told the teller, "this is not a joke," before fleeing on foot with about $2,000. Surveillance footage of the suspect's escape shows a masked man glance behind him before turning the corner onto Wiman Avenue. Investigators pulled a fingerprint from the note that led them to Cantoni, who has an extensive criminal record, according to a law enforcement source. U.S. Eastern District Court Judge Robert Levy ruled Sept. 21 that Cantoni be held without bail, pending a grand jury's decision on whether to indict him. At this time, Cantoni is only charged in that incident, but a law enforcement source said the Staten Island bank robbery is one of three throughout New York City considered to be a pattern. The other two were reported in Brooklyn and Queens. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are asking for the public's help identifying a man sought for questioning in connection to the use of a cloned debit card. The 35-year-old victim from Willowbrook was notified by his bank that his debit card had been used without his knowledge or permission to withdraw more than $3,000 from various ATMs between Aug. 27 and Sept. 4, police said. The victim was in possession of his card the entire time, so police determined the withdrawals had been made using a cloned debit card, according to an NYPD spokesman. Police provided surveillance footage of the individual sought for questioning, but did not provide a description of the individual. Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. All calls are kept strictly confidential. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- The Staten Island lady who scaled Lady Liberty wants a group of her peers to decide her fate -- not a judge -- when her case heads for trial this fall. Therese Patricia Okoumou, 44, is asking for a jury trial, even though she does not have a legal right to one considering the "petty offenses" she is facing, according to court papers filed in Manhattan federal court. The St. George resident faces charges of trespassing, interfering with agency functions and disorderly conduct after climbing to the base of the landmark and refusing to get down, officials said. She pleaded not guilty. The trial is set for Nov. 5. "The legality or illegality of actions taken in conscience -- taken because of a higher moral calling -- can and should be judged by a jury of one's peers," said defense lawyers Ronald L. Kuby and Rhidaya Trivedi, in a court filing. They also concede that their client has no right to the jury trial, but the judge has the discretion to grant one. Further, the attorneys argue that Okoumou's actions in the name of social justice should be judged by the community. Federal prosecutors argue not. They contend the "petty offenses," by law, should be tried without a jury. "...The defendant argues that because, in her view, a jury trial is not prohibited by statute, the Court in its discretion may exercise inherent powers to order a jury trial," prosecutors said. "If the Court were to determine that it has such authority, the Court should exercise its discretion not to order a jury trial." After her arraignment in July, Okoumou said her act was intended as a protest against the administration's "draconian, zero-tolerance policy on immigration." According to prosecutors, Okoumou refused to get down after propping herself by the bottom of the statue, and they described it as a dangerous stunt that resulted in the evacuation of Liberty Island. Okoumou believed her message was sent, and borrowed from the words of former First Lady Michelle Obama. "When they go low, we go high; and I went as high as I could," she said, drawing loud applause and cheers from fellow Rise and Resist members. During a court appearance last month, Okoumou trolled First Lady Melania Trump with an outlandish outfit. She wore a green dress that read, "I really care, why won't u? Be Best." She was referencing the infamous green jacket Trump wore to an immigration detention center that said, "I really don't care, do you?" The judge could rule on the jury trial by Oct. 15. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police said a 56-year-old woman asked for drill back from a man she knew, but instead of returning the tool, the man allegedly gave her a powerful slap across the face and robbed her. A 35-year-old man is in custody following the incident that unfolded on Corson Avenue near Daniel Low Terrace in New Brighton at about 10:55 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The woman told police that she was walking on Corson when she recognized the man who allegedly owed her a power drill due to a prior agreement, according to police. She asked for the drill and that's when the 35-year-old man allegedly slapped her in the face, causing minor cuts but substantial pain, according to police. He used force to take $15 from her hand, then fled, police said. Police canvassing the neighborhood, arrested him at the corner of Jersey and Pauw streets at about 11:18 p.m. Wednesday. The woman identified the suspect as her assailant. More information about the suspect will be posted when it becomes available from authorities. BY GUY PETERSEN, SR. / PORT RICHMOND This past Sunday our family celebrated an early Thanksgiving. This is what families with military members do. We have a son and a daughter in the United States Air Force, Guy and Lauren Petersen. By the end of October, both will be stationed overseas and will be away from their families for about six months. Needless to say we as parents are extremely proud but we also know we will endure sleepless nights while they are deployed. Lauren is currently stationed in Italy, and unfortunately cannot get home before her deployment. Little Guy, a New York City Firefighter, was previously deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 while on active duty, and this time hes being deployed as a member of the Air Force Reserves. Hes going to be away for Christmas, New Years, his 30th birthday and his favorite, Thanksgiving. So September 23 we tried to give him all the holidays hell miss while deployed. Grandma ran the show and cooked three turkeys so we would have enough stuffing and homemade gravy, plus all the sides, and shell do it again in November. Lauren video-chatted, but it wasnt the same without her there. She is missed every day we dont see her and Little Guy will be missed when hes away. This is what families with military members do. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! A representative from Rio Tinto had been due to attend the signing ceremony but a placeholder set for the Rio representative was removed minutes before the ceremony started, and the company did not attend the event. Indonesian Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan, Freeport-McMoRan chief executive Richard Adkerson and PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) boss Budi Gunadi Sadikin met in Jakarta for the much-anticipated signing ceremony on Thursday evening. But Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, in line for a $US3.5 billion ($4.8 billion) payout in exchange for its stake in Grasberg under the three-way deal, is yet to sign off - though an agreement is expected soon. Jakarta : A $US3.85 billion ($5.3 billion) deal will see US miner Freeport-McMoRan hand Indonesia a majority stake in the giant Grasberg copper mine. The Rio end of the deal was yet to be finalised at the time of writing but an agreement is expected soon. Freeport-McMoRan will collect the remaining $US350 million of the $US3.85 billion payment under the agreement. Mr Adkerson confirmed the company, currently the majority shareholder in the gold and copper mine, would "sell an interest in PTFI [Freeport Indonesia] to the government [of Indonesia], 9.36 per cent of Freeports interest". "Rio Tinto has entered into this agreement to sell its joint venture interest to Inalum [the state-owned mining company]," he told Fairfax Media. "We have an agreement that open closing, when we close, the Rio Tinto interest will be converted to shares of PTFI and at closing, when all the steps are taken, PTFI will be owned 51 per cent by Inalum and 49 per by Freeport MacMoRan. At that point, Rio Tinto will have no interest going forward." Canberra entrepreneur Matt Bullock's ambitions for his latest startup, Spinify, are even bigger than for eWay - the online transaction business he sold to the US for $US50 million in 2016. "I want to be in every country," he says. Matt Bullock sold eWay for $US50 million. Credit:Rohan Thomson And eventually, just like with eWay, Bullock will sell if the price is right. "I'm sure I will do another deal like that again in what I am doing now," he says. Neel Khokhani could fly planes before he could drive. Being in possession of an audacious career goal or two is an admirable trait. In fact, many might say that the only way to reach them is to have them. It certainly worked for Neel Khokhani. Since he was 16 years old he wanted to start his own airline, and quickly decided that becoming a pilot was the way to get there. I had my pilots licence at age 16: I was flying before I could drive a car, he says. Life stayed busy for years, and by his 30th birthday the pace was taking a toll. Caruana was working 12-hour days for his job running a team at Groupon, logging three-hour commutes back and forth between the office and his home in western Sydney. The founder and chief executive of Christian Paul watch brand dropped out of school just two weeks into year nine, got married at 21 and had his first child at 23. A second child was born just 14months later. If all successful entrepreneurs need an inspiring back story, theres no doubt that Timothy Caruanas is up there with the best. My quality of life was deteriorating, physically and mentally, says Caruana. He decided to quit and take 12months off to regroup. Im all in or all out, so after two months my wife said, You have to do something for a couple of hours a day, youre going bat crazy, he says, laughing. As Caruana started to think about what he enjoyed he cast his mind back to his father and grandfathers extensive watch collections. Perhaps there was a business in making watches? Before long, Caruana was spending every spare hour at his dining room table working on his idea for a new business. It was 2014, and within a year he was ready to launch. He gave away 300 watches to online influencers (still a new-ish strategy in 2014) so that by the time his online store opened at midnight on July 1, 2015, there was some hype around the product: Selena Gomez was just one of the celebrities photographed wearing the product. What came next is the stuff of an entrepreneurs dream. Canberra Hospital pharmacy is at "crisis point" from understaffing, leading to mistakes and tensions at the hospital, the union representing public pharmacists says. Professionals Australia ACT director Dale Beasley said hospital pharmacists were under immense pressure - with the department currently running on 50 per cent of the staff needed - due to poor pay and conditions. The union representing pharmacists at Canberra Hospital says the department is at "crisis point" Credit:Jessica Shapiro The union wrote to Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris earlier this month saying that industrial action was on the table, warning it was only a matter of time before serious mistakes were made. Mr Beasley said about half a dozen pharmacists were also looking to leave the hospital within the next few weeks. Axe-murderer Marcus Rappel will spend an extra three months in jail for bashing two brothers in the Alexander Maconochie Centre, a judge ruled Thursday. Rappel, who is serving a 32 year jail sentence for killing his former partner Tara Costigan with an axe, had first pleaded not guilty to the bashing before switching his plea mid-trial. Marcus Rappel, far left, and Daniel Grech, throwing a punch, were sentenced for the Alexander Maconochie Centre assault. The court on Monday heard the two brothers had been bashed in their cells at the Alexander Maconochie Centre on August 7 last year. The federal government has warned that billions of dollars will stop flowing to Australian schools next year unless states sign up to its education deal by early December, as tensions escalate over school funding. In a strongly-worded letter sent to every Australian education minister, federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said states would have to foot the bill for a massive shortfall in private school funding if an agreement wasn't reached by December 7. Minister for Education Dan Tehan sent a strongly worded letter to his state and territory counterparts. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "Should a bilateral agreement not be in place by this date, the Commonwealth will be unable to make the first 2019 payment to the relevant state or territory, including with respect to non-government schools," Mr Tehan said in a letter sent to NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes on Wednesday. "In these circumstances, I would seek your assurance that the [NSW] government would make up any shortfall experienced by the non-government sector to ensure that schools do not face undue financial stress." Two teenagers have been charged with attempted murder and a police officer is fighting for life after he was hit by an allegedly stolen car in Ipswich. Constable Peter McAulay from Goodna Police Station. Credit:Queensland Police Service Constable Peter McAulay, 24, was rushed to Princess Alexandra Hospital, where he underwent surgery for serious head injuries and remained in a critical condition in an induced coma on Thursday afternoon. Brisbane Road in Booval, where Constable McAulay was hit, reopened about 10 hours after the incident, having been cordoned off and declared a crime scene. Police said officers spotted a stolen Volvo sedan turning into Brisbane Road about 5am. It will be alleged Constable McAulay had rolled out stingers across the road to stop the sedan, when the car swerved to avoid the spikes and hit him. Getting historical facts mixed up is not an unusual human trait, and it would be entirely forgivable if it were not that some of those doing it are opportunistically making political capital out of a vexed subject. Truth is, people of my generation got by perfectly well, barely registering the existence of an Australia Day until 1988 (the Bicentennial). There wasnt even a national holiday to celebrate it until 1994, though it makes a perfect end to the summer break. So perhaps its time we thought a bit about this much contested day, which Morrison of Cronulla seems intent on elevating to the status of a new cultural war. The ships Morrisons referring to, those of the First Fleet, crammed with convicts, turned up on January 18, 19 and 20, 1788, depending on which of the 11 tubs you were unfortunate enough to find yourself cast away upon. Morrison probably knows that. His electorate of Cook embraces a large part of the shore of Botany Bay, where Captain Arthur Phillip led his fleet to anchor in the week before January 26, and where he and his men first came ashore in Australia, busily handing around beads, mirrors and ribbon to the indigenous inhabitants. Why, one of Phillip's gorgeously attired marines - red coat, white trousers, black gaiters and a bicorn hat - was prevailed upon to unbutton his flies to prove to the locals that he was a man, at which the Indigenous gathering let out a great shout of admiration, according to Lieutenant Philip Gidley King. Perhaps this is a date that deserves to be declared Australia Day. It was not until January 26 that Captain Phillip got around to sailing his fleet north, through the heads and into the glory of Sydney Harbour, where he was rowed ashore, hoisted the Union flag and declared he was taking possession in the name of King George III, despite Cook having already claimed the entire coast. It wasnt a particularly splendid transfer of the fleet from Botany Bay to Sydney Harbour. The French explorer Jean-Francoise de La Perouses two ships, La Boussole and LAstrolabe, had arrived off Botany Bay a day after the First Fleet, meaning youd be reading this in French if theyd got there 24 hours earlier. In their haste to beat La Perouse to the new prize of the harbour, the commanders of the British convict ships made a fine mess of things. The brig Friendship rammed the Prince of Wales, losing a boom. The Charlotte, trying to avoid running on to rocks, crashed into the Friendship, and the Lady Penrhyn narrowly avoided ramming her. A statue of Cook is defaced in Sydney's Hyde Park last year. Credit:Cole Bennetts When living quarters and tents had finally been erected and the landing crew had got the female convicts to shore on Sydney Cove, convict men set about raping the women, according to Robert Hughes in his magisterial The Fatal Shore. Soon after, soldiers were given a ration of rum and joined the carnal pursuit. It is beyond my abilities to give a just description of the scene of debauchery and riot that ensued during the night, wrote Arthur Bowes Smyth, ships surgeon from the Lady Penrhyn. Well, Australia Day. Why wouldnt a prime minister defend it? It was, however, when Morrison responded directly to the continuing rejection of the day among Indigenous people, who consider Australia Day the commemoration of an invasion and the beginning of their colonial oppression, that the Prime Ministers grasp on history really bottomed out. You don't pretend your birthday was on a different day, he said. What you do is you look at your whole life's experience. Your achievements and a few scars from some mistakes and things that you could have done better. Noel Pearson signs a canvas on which the Uluru Statement from the Heart was later painted in May 2017. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen David Ipp, the NSW appeals court judge and former ICAC commissioner who led investigations into corrupt former politicians Eddie Obeid and Ian MacDonald has called on the Liberal Party to support the creation of a federal integrity commission with similar powers to the NSW anti-corruption watchdog. Speaking ahead of the launch of a model of such a body, designed by a committee of senior judicial figures brought together by the Australia Institute, Mr Ipp said he found it odd that a major political party would not support such an institution. He said the institute had recently written to the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, asking for his support for such an institution, but had not yet received a response. An earlier letter to the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, was greeted with a lukewarm response, said Mr Ipp. Corrupt former politicians Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald, seen in a composite image. Credit:Daniel Munoz It has also written to candidates in the Wentworth byelection asking for their support. A recent Australian National Audit Office report shines a welcome spotlight on the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity. ACLEI is a low-profile but important regulatory agency that lies at the centre of a contested issue of government policy: how to combat corruption in government? As the prospect of a federal anti-corruption commission becomes ever more likely, thanks to the Greens-led strategy of blaming every instance of impropriety by a federal politician or public servant on the absence of such a commission, ACLEI's role will come into sharper focus. As an existing federal anti-corruption commission, albeit highly circumscribed in its jurisdiction, how will it fit into a new anti-corruption regime? Does its performance carry any lessons for how a federal ICAC should be designed and resourced? The law-enforcement watchdog is taking on more investigations but finishing fewer. Credit:AFP Media Much will depend on a judgment of how effectively ACLEI has performed so far. On this question, the ANAO report avoids direct comment, ruling out assessment of the commission's operational effectiveness as well as comment on the adequacy of its funding. Instead, in line with its usual methodology, the ANAO confines itself to matters of operational efficiency, not effectiveness, concentrating on identifying issues such as identification of relevant inputs and outputs, the appropriateness of performance measures, the prioritisation and allocation of resources, and the use of benchmarks to assess relative efficiencies. Within these limits, however, the ANAO brings together useful information about ACLEI that can help assess its overall effectiveness. ACLEI has existed for just over a decade. It was established in 2006 to detect, investivate and prevent corruption in law-enforcement, concentrating on serious and systemic corruption. Its original jurisdiction included the Australian Federal Police and the then Australian Crime Commission. Customs and Border Protection was added in 2011 (since incorporated into the Australian Border Force and now the Department of Home Affairs), with further additions in 2013, including AUSTRAC (the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre), the (eventual) Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and certain quarantine-related functions from the Agriculture Department. Of these agencies, Home Affairs (including the Border Force) and the AFP (including ACT Policing) are by far the largest and occupy the bulk of the agency's attention. Cairo: Islamic States most senior Australian alleged member Neil Prakash has been denied bail and eventual release by a judge in a local Turkish court near the Syrian border. The active online recruiter and former mechanic-turned-militant, who appeared in IS propaganda, escaped across the border from Syria nearly two years. He has been held in custody in a maximum-security prison in the southern city of Gaziantep. In a shock ruling by Judge Ismail Deniz in July, Australia lost its bid to extradite the Melbourne-born man. He has remained in prison on domestic charges of terrorism, specifically that he was a member of a terror group. No further details have been given about how long he might stay in custody, according to News Corp. Australia has no dog in the fight over who fills the vacancy on the US Supreme Court but the public discussion of sexual assault triggered by the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh is healthy and normal. In yet another demonstration of America's unique capacity to turn its political life into confronting reality television, Mr Kavanaugh will appear at a Senate hearing on Friday (Sydney time) with Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who accuses him of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers in 1982. For the US the case will determine whether President Donald Trump can appoint a conservative Republican to a court which has the power to set the country's direction on abortion, same sex marriage and other social policy. In Australia, where judges are appointed in discreet conversations between attorneys general and the legal fraternity, this sort of public inquisition is unknown. Defamation laws make it much harder for these allegations to come out in the press. The culture is much less open. Look at how the Nationals handled complaints of harassment against former leader Barnaby Joyce. ~ Extended hours for cruise ships.~ PHILIPSBURG:---The Honorable Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, and Telecommunication Stuart Johnson is advocating for large cruise vessels to remain in port during the evening hours, while on a working visit in Lisbon, Portugal last week. Minister Johnson, TEATT cabinet staffers, and representatives of the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau (STB) along with Port St. Maarten Officials received a tour of the cruise facilities of Lisbon when they attended the SeaTrade Med Cruise Conference in Portugal last week. Following that meeting, Johnson said, The need for travel was evident as it was to solidify further our country being ready for business post-Hurricane Irma and our ability to home-port smaller cruise vessels. According to Minister Johnson, The delegation was able to see first-hand the check-in facilities, baggage handling, VIP room, retail area, and observation deck of the Port of Lisbon. The Port of Lisbon accommodates home-porting with bridges connecting passengers directly to the cruise vessels. Regarding the extended stay of Cruise Ships, Johnson said It is time we allow the larger cruise vessels to remain in port in the evening hours which would require a change to our existing legislation. Imagine if passengers stay in the evening hours they will likely dine in our restaurants, take an evening island tour or even embrace our nightlife." "This will generate additional economic activity for the business community, Johnson added. Meanwhile, Johnson noted with great satisfaction that Seaborne will commence home-porting in St. Maarten starting at the end of November with a 450-passenger vessel. "I look forward to the support of key stakeholders to fully realize these initiatives incuslive of homeporting, extended hours for cruise vessels and others yet to come," Johnson concluded. PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- On September 24th, Carol Voges in her capacity as President of the Executive Committee of the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA), presented the associations position on the proposed framework for the future European Union (EU) EU-OCT relationship, also known as the Overseas Association Decision (OAD) which will come into effect as of 2020 to the Development Committee of the European Parliament. In her presentation, Voges reinforced OCTAs support of the European Commissions approach to retain the structure and acquis of the current (OAD) but highlighted a number of recommendations to further improve the Commissions proposal. Voges urged the Commission to seize this opportunity to ensure a more in-depth renewal of its vision and strategic direction regarding the EU-OCT partnership and emphasized that the last review took place in 2009. Moreover, Voges noted during her presentation, that although the Commission had proposed to increase investment in EU external actions by up to 26%, the territorial allocations to the OCTs under the proposed OCT financial instrument for the period 2020-2027, would only increase by 3.2%. Voges stated that it was OCTAs belief that the recognition of the OCTs contribution to the global dimension of the EU and their strong added value in the implementation of the partnerships of the EU with the regions to which they geographically belong should have led the Commission to further strengthen the commitments of the EU towards the OCTs and should be translated into maintaining the current level of funding for all OCTs to at least the current level of 582,3 million euros. Furthermore, clarifications were sought with respect to future funding for reconstruction efforts in OCTs post natural disasters, as this seemed to have been decreased in the proposed OCT financial instrument. Voges recalled the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, as well as the tsunami that struck Greenland and underlined the need to strengthen EU support to the OCTs for reconstruction efforts post natural disasters. In closing, Voges thanked the Commission on behalf of OCTA for answering the call of the OCTs to create innovative financial devices to facilitate regional projects between OCTs, Outermost regions of the European Union, ACP states and Non-ACP states. However, Voges requested further clarifications on the implementation of this approach and also requested that the Commission take into account the limited administrative capacities and human capital of the OCTs and encouraged them to provide for specific, simplified rules for OCTs, in all future programming matters. The presentation was well received by the Development Committee of the European Parliament and will contribute to the upcoming debates on the future of the EU-OCT relationship post-2020. PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on Thursday, September 27, 2018. The Central Committee meeting is scheduled for 10.00 hrs in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Ombudsman will be present. The agenda points are: 1. Year report 2017 Ombudsman (IS/761/2017-2018 dated July 3, 2018) 2. Discussion on final report systemic investigation disaster risk reduction & preparedness (IS/012/2018-2019 dated September 13, 2018) Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.com and Parliaments Facebook page: Parliament of Sint Maarten. PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a plenary public meeting on Thursday, September 27, 2018. The plenary public meeting is scheduled for 14.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sport will be present. The agenda points are: 1. Nomination chairperson and members of the Monument Council (IS/745/2017-2018 dated June 28, 2018) 2. Ontwerp van Landsverordening houdende regels voor het verlenen van studiefinanciering (Landsverordening studiefinanciering) (Draft National Ordinance containing rules for granting study financing (National Ordinance Student Finance)) Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg. The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 115, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, SXMGOV Radio 107.9 FM, video live stream via the internet www.pearlfmradio.sx, www.sxmparliament.org and also Parliament FB page: Parliament of Sint Maarten. PHILIPSBURG:--- Thursday, September 27 marks World Tourism Day (WTD) and World Maritime Day (WMD). Port St. Maarten Management would like to wish all those working in the tourism/hospitality field and maritime sector a happy WTD and WMD Day. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), digital advances are transforming how we connect and inform ourselves, transforming our behavior, and encouraging innovation and sustainable, responsible growth strategies. The theme for World Tourism Day is Tourism and the Digital Transformation. UNWTO adds that a digitally advanced tourism sector can improve entrepreneurship, inclusion, local community empowerment, and efficient resource management, amongst other important development objectives. This years WTD helps the tourism sector to further explore the opportunities provided to tourism by technological advances including big data, artificial intelligence and digital platforms. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) celebrates 70 years since the Convention establishing the Organization was adopted. The theme for World Maritime Day is IMO 70: Our Heritage Better Shipping for a Better Future. IMO says the 2018 theme provides an opportunity to take stock and look back, but also to look forward, addressing current and future challenges for maritime transport to maintain a continued and strengthened contribution towards sustainable growth for all. The IMO was established to improve safety at sea by developing international regulations that are followed by all shipping nations and from the mid-19th century onwards a number of such treaties were adopted. The IMO as a United Nations specialized agency is to promote safe, secure, environmentally sound, efficient and sustainable shipping through cooperation. This will be accomplished by adopting the highest practicable standards of maritime safety and security, efficiency of navigation and prevention and control of pollution from ships, as well as through consideration of the related legal matters and effective implementation of IMOs instruments with a view to their universal and uniform application, the IMO mission statement states. Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, and Telecommunications Stuart Johnson, extends congratulations to the tourism and maritime sectors of the country on the eve of WTD and WMD. Information technology is transcending the way business is done around the world. The tourism and maritime sectors have to keep pace with trends and developments taking place and implement some of the technologies in order to continue to move economies forward. Our country is no different, and steps are being taken on different avenues by incorporating the benefits at our ports of entry and via our tourist bureau to utilize more technological innovations in the marketing of the destination. Port St. Maarten has embraced technology and will be rolling out within short its Port Community System. I would like to say happy World Tourism Day and Happy World Maritime Day to all those working in both areas. We appreciate the hard work that is carried out on a daily basis which keeps the engine of our country moving forward. Despite the challenges by past hurricanes, we are a resilient nation and have a positive economic future ahead. We can look forward with confidence as we continue to overcome and build back better, Minister Johnson said on the eve of WTD and WMD. Port St. Maarten is also part of the digital transformation process that is taking place across the globe in order to create better shipping for a better future. Port St. Maarten Management and Board have strategically embarked upon technology and innovation that will be sustainable, continuous and inclusive in growth and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. The Port St. Maarten Port Community System (PCS) will be implemented within short and involves data-sharing among stakeholders and third parties covering cargo and cruise operations at the countrys sea-port of entry. PCS is an extension of Port St. Maartens Terminal Operating System that would further enhance the ports operational excellence platform linking for example cargo/container manifest to an incoming/outgoing vessel to warehouse/storage handling and receiver pick-up. PCS will create a single window platform for big data centralization that would further increase overall efficiency in port operations. The PCS will allow all key parties such as agents to be connected to a secure cloud-based approach system which will enhance information sharing with the primary focus being on sustainable business development for the St. Maarten port community along with information data centric sharing with Customs, Coast Guard, Maritime Affairs, Immigration & Border Protection, Public Health and possibly other Government entities. The overall objective is to have a complete information technology system in place at the port that allows stakeholders to access real-time information about container movements as well as contents. This initiative is also in line with border security and compliance with international rules and regulations. The PCS is tied to the strategic approach initiative of the port to ensure long-term sustainability of operations that would lead to further growth in overall operations. Port St. Maartens priority is security first, ensuring safe and secure use of the Port Community System. | BY Ricki Green | Today marks the launch of BIG Ws brand new Summer campaign via M&C Saatchi, Sydney. Ahead of the warmer climates, BIG Ws latest TVC captures the excitement that the summer season brings, as Aussie families prepare to celebrate the sunshine. Says Kristen Linders, general manager, marketing, BIG W: We love helping our customers make the most of summer and supporting them with a huge range of quality products at great value. Our campaign creative,Get Summer Ready, celebrate the turn of the new season and the fantastic family moments ahead. The creative taps into unbridled family fun with the backyard taking centrestage. Set to resonate with kids and parents alike, the spot captures the timeless pool game of Marco Polo and heroes the bold and vibrant colours we all associate with summer with BIG Ws fantastic range of pool inflatables, swimwear and beach towels. The ad also features outdoor dining products, cool kids swimwear and relaxed fashion styles. BIG Ws Get Summer Ready campaign forms part of a wider integrated marketing across TV, radio, online, social, OOH, SEM, PR and social media. The ATL campaign will also be supported by a content partnership with Nine Honey. The range was also launched to media today at a showcase event in Sydney. Creative Agency: M&C Saatchi Media Agency: Woolworths@DAN PR Agency: Magnum & Co BIG W brand team: Kristen Linders General Manager, Marketing Teresa Rendo General Manager, Commercial Carly Bowra Head of Brand & Category Marketing Heather Dick Marketing Manager Fiona Harrop Head of Media Buying, Social Media and Public Relations By Fabian A. Badejo. PHILIPSBURG:--- Books, books and more books! That's what libraries are made of. The Philipsburg Jubilee Library (PJL) housed over 60,000 volumes before Irma. Books in English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamento. Books for preschoolers to research fellows. The bookshelves are mostly empty now, with the vast majority of the publications sealed off in cartons where they obviously don't belong. The cartons also contain a sizeable collection of DVDs (feature films for all ages, documentaries, etc.) One of the most valuable collections in the library are newspapers that go back to the 1970s, in order words, to the beginning of modern print media on the island. Thank God the collection is, at least, partly digitized. The Windward Islands Opinion of pioneer Jose Lake Sr., the Newsday of his son, Junior, the New Age of Mervin Scot, the Chronicle, The Guardian, The Caribbean Herald, and Today that became a casualty of Irma, are among the newspapers that have ceased to exist but whose pages contain invaluable information about the St. Martin they were writing about. Can we afford to lose this treasure trove of historical information? I think not. How then do we ensure the continued existence of the Philipsburg Jubilee Library in a sustainable, structural and efficient manner? Let me state that in my humble view, the present misfortune of the library offers a golden opportunity to address the foregoing question boldly, creatively and with a clear vision. What do we want the library to be, especially in this age of internet and Google? The answer to this question should lead us to consider whether the Philipsburg Jubilee Library should be turned into a real public library or even a national library. What is the difference, you ask? Well, in its current form, PJL is a private library, in the sense that it is owned and run by a private foundation even if it is subsidized by government. As a public library, government would have to fund it while the librarians and other staff would become civil servants. As a national library it would have to be the principal repository of information about St. Martin, including acting as an archive for rare, valuable and important manuscripts, and establishing a national bibliographic record. I recall that former Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Dr. Rhoda Arrindell had begun discussions in this direction when she was in office, however, there is no evidence that this continued after she left. Libraries are everymans free university, stated American writer, John Jakes. If that is true, then, like free universities, libraries should be funded by the taxpayer. And if we see the library, as novelist Doris Lessing does, as the most democratic thing in the world (because) what can be found there has undone dictators and tyrants, then we can no longer continue to ignore the dismal state in which the Philipsburg Jubilee Library finds itself. Action is needed, not tomorrow, but right now, because as best-selling author, Sidney Sheldon said, libraries... open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better. Managing Board of SMA Solar Technology AG Lowers Guidance for the Current Fiscal Year Posted by Publisher Internet The Managing Board of SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA/FWB: S92) is adjusting its sales and earnings guidance for the current fiscal year. The SMA Managing Board expects sales of between ?800 million and ?850 million for 2018 (previously: ?900 million to ?1,000 million). The background for this is a further sharp fall in prices and project postponements as a result of the market downturn in China. The Managing Board is announcing structural adjustments to SMA. Corresponding measures are to be established by the end of the year. These will incur one-off costs that will negatively affect SMA?s earnings. The Managing Board is therefore expecting break-even to slightly negative EBITDA (after one-off effects from restructuring) for 2018 (previously: EBITDA of ?90 million to ?110 million). The SMA Managing Board is anticipating sales growth and positive EBITDA for 2019. ?The massive and unexpected reduction of the PV expansion targets by the Chinese government has led to enormous excess capacity in module and inverter production in China. As a result, Chinese manufacturers are putting increasing pressure on international markets,? explained SMA CEO Pierre-Pascal Urbon. ?This has once again exacerbated the already steep decline in prices in all markets and segments. In recent weeks, we have seen that project developers and investors are increasingly delaying the implementation of PV projects in the coming year in anticipation of even lower prices. Against this backdrop, SMA is currently recording incoming orders below our expectations.? In order to quickly return SMA to profitability under the changed conditions, the Managing Board has decided to adjust the company?s structures. ?We will be introducing product innovations in the major photovoltaic markets in the coming months and into 2019 that will allow us to counter the increasing price pressure in the components business. Our expertise in the field of energy management and the integration of battery storage systems is making a decisive contribution in penetrating the higher-margin systems and services business in the long term. In the medium term, we will also be making structural adjustments to be able to react even more flexibly to market-specific changes,? said Pierre-Pascal Urbon. ?The planned measures are to be adopted by the end of the year. They concern issues such as the reduction of complexity in the areas of operations and technology, the outsourcing of activities and the global adjustment of administrative areas. Due to the strength of its balance sheet and its experience in the consistent implementation of restructuring measures, SMA is well equipped to benefit from the expected market consolidation and to quickly return to profitability.? Disclaimer: This press release serves only as information and does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for, acquire, hold or sell any securities of SMA Solar Technology AG (the ?Company?) or any present or future subsidiary of the Company (together with the Company, the ?SMA Group?) nor should it form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract to purchase or subscribe for any securities in the Company or any member of the SMA Group or commitment whatsoever. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States of America absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This press release can contain future-oriented statements. Future-oriented statements are statements which do not describe facts of the past. They also include statements about our assumptions and expectations. These statements are based on plans, estimations and forecasts which the Managing Board of SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA or company) has available at this time. Future-oriented statements are therefore only valid on the day on which they are made. Future-oriented statements by nature contain risks and elements of uncertainty. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors can lead to considerable differences between the actual results, the financial position, the development or the performance of the corporation and the estimates given here. These factors include those which SMA has discussed in published reports. These reports are available on the SMA website at www.SMA.de. The company accepts no obligation whatsoever to update these future-oriented statements or to adjust them to future events or developments. The SMA Group with sales of around ?900 million in 2017 is a global leader for solar inverters, a key component of all PV plants. SMA offers a wide range of products and solutions that allow for high energy yields for residential and commercial PV systems and large-scale PV power plants. To increase PV self-consumption efficiently, SMA system technology can easily be combined with different battery technologies. Intelligent energy management and digital energy solutions, comprehensive services and operational management of PV power plants round off SMA\-\-s range. The company is headquartered in Niestetal, near Kassel, Germany, is represented in 19 countries and has more than 3,000 employees worldwide, including 500 working in Development. SMA\-\-s multi-award-winning technology is protected by more than 1,100 patents and utility models. Since 2008, the Group\-\-s parent company, SMA Solar Technology AG, has been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (S92) and is listed in the SDAX index. An old rice field on the North Santee River was photographed circa 1938. The most serious of rice pests was the rice bird, which is actually a bobolink. Early planters timed the planting of their crops so as to minimize the impact of these migratory rice feeders. Earth's moon and cislunar space are new destinations for multiple nations. To what extent will activities in this area demand or promote a military presence? Leading military space strategy experts are pondering the role of cislunar space in the context of President Donald Trump's plan to establish a U.S. Space Force. Just how valuable is that stretch of space between Earth and the moon's orbit? Might this celestial real estate become hot property as an extension of military arenas in low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, and geosynchronous orbit? Given forecasts of 21st-century activity on and around the moon by both private and government entities, could this be an economic area of development that needs protection in sthe years and decades to come? [In Photos: President Donald Trump and NASA] Commercially important commons "Historically, as the commons become commercially important, it is not the military that pushes for presence there, it is the vested interests desiring protection that pull it in," said Everett Dolman, a professor of comparative military studies at the U.S. Air Force's School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at the Air University, headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. This includes protection from hostile forces, including pirates and other raiders, but also from natural threats such as extreme weather, which can affect search, rescue and recovery efforts, he said. Just as the British and U.S. navies have made commerce on the open seas safer, and therefore more profitable, the U.S. Air Force provides a similar value for international air space and outer space, Dolman told Space.com. Hostile spacecraft For the space commons, Dolman said, the current military value derives from space monitoring; orbital de-confliction; space weather prediction; and threat awareness, assessment and mitigation through the globally provided space situational network. As commercial development accelerates, simple monitoring won't be enough, he added. "Where we are in space today, we just monitor hence the need for a space force," Dolman said. "A U.S. Space Force will not only conduct all of the monitoring operations it currently does fairly well, it will have to include rescue and recovery, pirate mitigation right now mostly from hackers, but in the future from hostile spacecraft." NASA aims to build a small moon-orbiting space station called the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway in the 2020s, to help et spur government and private-sector activities on the lunar surface. (Image credit: Lockheed Martin) Rogue state/non-state actors A space-forward military agenda in the future will include planetary defense against incoming asteroids and comets "and, most importantly, in my view, defense of the commons from rogue state and non-state actors who would find an asymmetric advantage against their terrestrial opponents by denying space-based capabilities," Dolman said. NASA's planned moon-orbiting Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, which the agency hopes to build in the 2020s, and China's proposed lunar base will include at least some human occupation. "That does not mean a human military presence will be needed in cislunar space," Dolman said. "It is simply too expensive to keep a human alive in space to make a peacekeeping or peacemaking military space force anything other than a remotely piloted vehicle or drone capability similar to the Remote Pilot Vehicle forces already available in the air." [21 Most Marvelous Moon Missions of All Time] Law enforcement Indeed, military space activities have always been remotely conducted, and for the foreseeable future the United States will need just a small fleet of potentially manned spacecraft that would not routinely be on orbit or stationed in space, Dolman said. "NASA could likely maintain its cislunar human activities with a single law-enforcement agent, should it become necessary as commercial growth expands," he said. "Military presence in space will be demanded simply from the growth of value that is generated there," Dolman said. "This value must be protected, and in areas where states do not have sovereignty, the military is the only legitimate force that can operate there. And this is a good thing for future growth. Space is our future." Heartland Talk of cislunar military operations depends on the time frame and one's risk aversion, said John Pike, director of Virginia-based GlobalSecurity.org. "In the near term, within five years, and absent extreme risk aversion, a cislunar gateway has no military significance," Pike said. "It does not contribute to terrestrial force application nor to influencing those space assets that do contribute to terrestrial force application. And for some time to come, it would seem to be no more than a distraction, or a topic for people with too much time on their hands who are frustrated science-fiction writers." However, the far term is far more difficult to assess, he said. Looking to 2050, "I could imagine that large-scale helium-3 extraction might be the key to terrestrial electrical production, and some actor might seek to monopolize lunar access to monopolize electricity. Possibly a 'lunar gateway' would be critical to control of the lunar surface, and by extension, terrestrial electrical power generation, and thus the world economy." Pike underscored the work of Halford John Mackinder, an English geographer and a founding father of geopolitics and geostrategy. Mackinder argued that whoever controlled the heartland would dominate the world, and the history of the 20th century was largely a commentary on this theory. "Possibly, cislunar space is the heartland of the 21st century or maybe not. Thirty years is a long time by Moore's law standards, and this time frame is a bit too speculative," he said. (Moore's law states that the number of transistors packed into an integrated circuit doubles every two years.) [Living on the Moon: What It Would Be Like (Infographic)] President Donald Trump holds up Space Policy Directive-1 in December 2017. The directive instructs NASA to return astronauts to the moon, and to send people on to Mars after that. (Image credit: Aubrey Gemignani/NASA) Silly analogies For years, "space-power" theorists have written about certain orbits, Lagrange points and celestial bodies as being of "strategic" importance, said Mark Gubrud, a physicist and technology analyst. He is an adjunct professor in the Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "But territorial claims in space have no validity under international law, and are not militarily defensible, either. Any war in space would be disastrous for space operations, and since it would be a war between nuclear-armed states, it would be disastrous on Earth as well," Gubrud said. "We need to get past thinking based on silly analogies to the military and naval strategies of the past," he added. "The choice in space is between arms control and creating an explosive confrontation that endangers all of us.". Space cadets "What you are asking is the long-term dream of the Air Force space cadets, one that they have kept from achieving," said Roger Handberg, a professor of political science that specializes in space policy at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. "The irony is that the Space Force, in whatever form it takes, will be the vehicle for getting to orbit, although not necessarily with humans initially." Practically speaking, Handberg said, the military is probably focused on near-Earth space from geosynchronous orbit inward because that is where all critical space assets currently reside. "What they will argue is that they should resurrect the old expeditionary model of the military leading exploration teams, a la Lewis and Clark in 1803 or so, to the moon and outward," Handberg said, "but that would be a long-term goal." Trump has now opened the door for a robust military presence in space, but the goal of that presence remains an open question, Handberg said. Perhaps the Space Force will end up being more of a Space Guard, roughly equivalent to the terrestrial Coast Guard, as more civilians, tourists and workers enter orbit, he said. "The military, historically, has big elbows willing to push itself forward," Handberg said. A newly developed extraction technique for the moon, thermal mining, makes use of mirrors to exploit permanently shadowed polar craters whose floors are rich in water ice. Mining on the moon may stimulate the creation of fuel depots in cislunar space for a wide number of uses. The moon could also support helium-3 production for an energy-hungry Earth. (Image credit: School of Mines/Dreyer, Williams, Sowers) Trade routes For the time being, there is very little military utility to being in cislunar space, said Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Cislunar space is not particularly useful for current military missions like Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; communications; Positioning, Navigation and Timing; missile warning; and so forth, Harrison said. The military uses space, he said, to help protect the nation and U.S. national interests here on Earth. "Until the United States has substantial security interests in cislunar space, I don't see a good reason for the military to be there," Harrison said. "If, one day in the distant future, the United States has significant economic activity transiting through cislunar space, then the military would need to look at protecting those trade routes." He likened that scenario to the military protecting key trade routes here on Earth such as the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. "But that day is still a long way off," Harrison concluded. Leonard David is author of "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet," published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series "Mars." A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. This version of the story published on Space.com. There's a magnet in a secure room in central Tokyo. It's an electromagnet, the kind that generates a magnetic field when electrical current flows through it. The last time the scientists who operate it switched it on, it blew open the heavy doors designed to keep it contained. Already, it has created one of the most intense magnetic fields ever generated on Earth. And it keeps getting more powerful. The magnetic field, which recently reached a strength of 1,200 teslas a unit of magnetic intensity was described in a paper published Sept. 17 in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments. Twelve hundred teslas is an enormous measurement. The most powerful magnet most people have any chance of encountering in their lifetime is inside an MRI machine and the most advanced, powerful, sometimes dangerous MRIs in the world clock in at just 3 teslas. In 2004, Popular Mechanics magazine described a machine billed as "the world's most powerful magnet" meaning the most powerful magnet that doesn't tear itself to bits whenever it's turned on and it emitted just 45 teslas. That's less than 4 percent of the power emitted by the magnet created by lead author Shojiro Takeyama and his colleagues. And crossing the 1,000-tesla mark is a major milestone in an engineering effort that Takeyama said dated back to the 1970s, and which he has led for the last two decades. To achieve that intensity, Takeyama and his team pump megajoules of energy into a small, precisely engineered electromagnetic coil, the inner lining of which then collapses on itself at Mach 15 that's more than 3 miles per second (5 kilometers per second). As it collapses, the magnetic field inside gets squeezed into a tighter and tighter space, until its force peaks at a tesla reading unimaginable in conventional magnets. Fragments of a second later, the coil collapses entirely, destroying itself. [Mad Geniuses: 10 Odd Tales About Famous Scientists] The 1,200-tesla experiment required 3.2 megajoules of energy. But Takeyama, a physicist at the University of Tokyo, told Live Science that he believes his device can reach 1,800 teslas if he and his team apply 5 megajoules to it. (They're taking their time getting to that point, he said, partly due to safety concerns.) "The most similar magnetic-field generation is by chemical explosives," Takeyama said, referring to experiments beginning in the 1960s and continuing until 2001, in which Russian and American researchers detonated explosives around electromagnets in order to squish them, briefly creating very powerful magnetic fields up to 2,800 teslas. "They cannot conduct these experiments in indoor laboratories, so they usually conduct everything in the outdoors, like Siberia in a field or somewhere in a very wide place at Los Alamos [New Mexico]," he said. "And they try to make a scientific measurement, but because of these conditions it's very hard to make precise measurements." Other forms of superstrong magnetic fields require lasers, but Takeyama said that the laser-generated fields are tiny and supershort-lived, even by physics standards, making them similarly problematic for the sorts of experiments in which he and his laboratory colleagues at the University of Tokyo are interested. The point of building a magnet in the 1,000-plus tesla range, Takeyama said, is to study hidden physical properties of electrons that are invisible under normal circumstances. He and his team will put different materials inside their magnet to study how their electrons behave. Under those extreme conditions, he said, conventional models of electrons break down. Takeyama doesn't know exactly what happens to electrons in such extreme situations, but said that studying them in the moments before the coil's self-destruction should reveal properties of electrons normally invisible to science. Extremely powerful magnetic fields also have possible applications in fusion engineering, to keep the hot plasmas of a fusion reaction contained and far from their container walls. The problem with building magnetic fields that powerful is that, as in the case of Takeyama's magnet, they almost, by definition, destroy themselves within moments of their creation. The field and the process of creating it inevitably exerts so much energy on the device generating it that at least some element of the device burns out or collapses on itself. Takeyama said that the advantage of his magnetic field is that it's relatively robust compared with fields generated by lasers or explosive devices. It's large enough to contain a substantial amount of material, requires no explosives and has a life span of a few dozen microseconds (millionths of a second). That's short in human terms, but it lasts several times longer than those laser-generated fields. [Top 10 Greatest Explosions Ever] Also, while the coil itself is destroyed, the surrounding machine survives the process largely intact. Here's what happened when it was powered up to 3.2 megajoules for the experiment that produced the 1,200-tesla field: The device is contained and nondestructive compared with those explosive experiments in Siberia and Los Alamos. But still, every time the magnet is used, Takeyama and his team must enter the room and begin the long, laborious process of cleanup and repairs, he said. His research team must fabricate a new magnetic coil to exquisitely precise dimensions for each use. The typical wait time between experiments, he said, is about two to five months. Outside researchers interested in elusive fusion-power generators have expressed interest in Takeyama's research as possibly useful for their large, magnetic plasma containment systems, he said. However, he said he's not certain how useful his fields might be in that context, nor is that his primary goal. Down the road, he said, he expects to amp up the power on his machine, eventually maxing it out at the 5-megajoule, 1,800-tesla mark. But he's in no rush to get to that point, he said. First, he and his team want to explore as much as possible what they can learn at the 3.2-megajoule, 1,200-tesla range. And there remains the problem of safety as the energies involved increase. For now, he said, his team has added some stronger doors to his lab. Originally published on Live Science. NASA plans to start building a moon-orbiting space station called the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway in 2022. This outpost will be a waypoint for future missions to the lunar surface and more-distant destinations, such as Mars, agency officials say. The moon has not superseded Mars as a human-spaceflight target, despite NASA's current focus on getting astronauts to Earth's nearest neighbor, agency officials stressed. The Red Planet remains the ultimate destination, and the moon will serve as a stepping stone along the way, Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, and Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, said during congressional hearings yesterday (Sept. 26). "The moon is the proving ground, and Mars is the goal," Bridenstine said during testimony before the Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, part of the U.S. Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. [How Will a Human Mars Base Work? NASA's Vision in Images] "The glory of the moon is that it's only a three-day journey home," Bridenstine added. "So, we can prove all of the technologies, we can reduce all of the risks, we can try all of the different maturations that are necessary to live and work on another world. And we can do it all at the moon, where, if there is a problem, if there is an emergency, we know that we can get people home." He cited NASA's Apollo 13 mission in 1970, which famously managed to make it safely back to Earth despite experiencing a serious problem on the way to the moon. Far from delaying a crewed Mars mission, which NASA aims to execute in the 2030s, the current and near-future moon work should "accelerate our path to get to Mars," Bridenstine said. This reassurance is in keeping with the language of Space Policy Directive 1 (SPD 1), which has spurred much of the moon work. SPD 1, which President Donald Trump signed in December of 2017, instructs NASA to return astronauts to the moon as part of a sustainable exploration program that will eventually bring more-distant destinations, such as Mars, within reach. And about the current moon work: NASA plans to begin building a small space station in lunar orbit in 2022. This outpost, called the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, could be ready to accommodate astronauts by 2026, NASA officials have said. These crewmembers will stay aboard the Gateway for 30- to 90-day stretches, conducting a variety of science and exploration work. Some of these astronauts will head from the Gateway down to the lunar surface; the first such sorties could occur before the end of the 2020s, according to NASA officials. Gateway visits, both human and robotic, won't all be NASA endeavors if everything goes according to plan. The U.S. space agency aims to make the outpost "interoperable" and open to use by private companies and other nations. Like Bridenstine, Gerstenmaier stressed that Mars remains firmly fixed in NASA's human-spaceflight sights. "Mars is not [taking] a back seat to the moon. What we see is, we need to do the activities around the moon to really prepare us to go to Mars," Gerstenmaier said in his appearance before the Subcommittee on Space, which is part of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space and Technology. "I don't think we're ready to go to Mars directly today," he added. "I see the moon as an enabler for Mars." Gerstenmaier touched on the enabling nature of Gateway technology, singling out one piece of complex hardware as an illustrative example. "So, this Gateway spacecraft we talk about around the moon it can be moved to different locations around the moon. It could also be the basis for a Mars spacecraft," he told the subcommittee members. "We're going to try to size that ascent vehicle that comes off the moon it takes the crews from the surface of the moon to Gateway that vehicle will be sized toward a Mars-class lander." Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 27) Pro-Duterte blogger Drew Olivar was lambasted once again, this time it's for his vlog urging student activists from the University of the Philippines to commit suicide. The video made the rounds on Thursday. [Trigger warning] Olivar, the co-host of Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson in her videos, said student activists should opt to hang themselves in the university's Oblation statue than hold protests. "Mag-suicide kayo diyan sa school ninyo para mas okay, para mabawasan. Mag-(Oblation) kayo diyan, 'yung statue ninyo. Magbigti kayo lahat doon para matapos na talaga," he said in a Facebook Live video taken in February. It was also in the same month when President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to kick out UP students for protesting. Mental health advocates slammed Olivar for his irresponsible comments about suicide and self harm. "Various groups have been working so hard to fight the stigma and promote responsible means of reporting mental health. Here you have the Pepederalismo dancer, bomb scare instigator, and PWD trivializer Drew Olivar rambling mindlessly about suicide/self-harm," Youth for Mental Health Coalition, Inc. Chairman RJ Naguit tweeted on Tuesday. Several netizens commented on Naguit's post. "No one has the right to encourage anyone to commit suicide even if it is uttered as a joke. Suicide is NO joking matter. Mental health advocates work so hard to eradicate the stigma surrounding it. In line with this, I believe being uneducated about mental health issues must be without considering the repercussions especially when you are in the eyes of the public," one netizen tweeted. The public knew of Olivar in August because of his crude federalism video with Uson. Olivar was singing a jingle, playing with the word federalism using racy terms and gesturing towards female private parts all to Uson's cheering. This month, he was in hot water yet again after a viral Facebook clip showed him along with Uson mocking the sign language and the deaf community. On Tuesday, the Metro Manila police filed a criminal case against Olivar for spreading false bomb threat information in one of the rallies during the 46th anniversary of the martial law declaration. | BY Martin Trevaskis | Laura Geagea, Managing Director and Executive Producer of China, Asia & MENA at Sweetshop (pictured) reports for Campaign Brief Asia from Spikes Asia 2018 in Singapore. DAY 1: Spikes Asia has finally arrived! With this years Festival of Creativity theme being Where Inspiration meets Innovation were definitely in for a treat. Creativity is always a big topic and its all around us. Weve become very aware of the impact it has on our work and also on our businesses. Its at festivals and meet ups like Spikes that we have an even stronger realization that we are all trying to boost creativity in the best way we can, to utilize it not only to make great work, but to increase profitability, impact and of course quality in our campaigns. A packed three days started early on Wednesday at the quite amazing Suntec Convention Hall. Delegates, Press, Jurors and all attendees have three stages to choose from, the Inspiration stage, the Spotlight stage and the In Focus stage. Most of us waiting to see who will be lucky enough to take home a Spikes Awards (or two) by Friday evening! I made my first stop of the day at the In Focus stage to listen to Lisa Ronson, CMO of Tourism Australia & Chris Coller, Global Strategy Director at UM. A quick overview of UM & Tourism Australia: Brand Australia is Trojan Advertising the Future? I went on to the Inspiration stage where Brazilian born Aline Santos, EVP Global Marketing and Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Unilever was talking about stereotypes. Definitely one of the big topics in our industry and the world today. Her talk titled, Unilever: #Unstereotype Figthing Stereotypes to Unleash Creativity, covered a tool that Unilever created to help you unleash your creativity. Santos blame laziness for not changing stereotypes that already exist and that are harmful in advertising. She calls for a change to a more authentic, progressive advertising that will actually represent the world we live in today. Sharing personal stories about growing up in Brazil and having her two life path options as be a teacher or be a housewife, Santos never knew there was more. She went on to question why people arent represented properly in advertising (and media). The issue, she says very confidently, is our laziness. And so, we come back to the #unstereotype tool which is something that Unilever started two years ago. Everyone was instantly excited about it and wanted to take part in it. The initial idea was to want to shake the stereotypes we work with. Make sure our insights are rooted in real truth and not just because of gender ideas. But that also we are portraying the responsibilities of someone rather than their personalities and aspirations in our stories. #Unstereotype calls for a more diverse, less critical portrayal of people. And ideally something with more authenticity to it, not only to create an authentic society, but an inclusive society. The traction this movement got was amazing. Santos can say very confidently that doing un-stereotyped advertising isnt only good for society, it also brings tangible results. And thats where it gets more interesting for businesses. Every time you show something that people are not expecting, you get more impact and more traction. The numbers go something like this: ~ 25% more impactful with consumers. ~ Drives purchase intent by 18% ~ Improves credibility of your brand by 21% Its pretty obvious that this is a win win situation. Good for brands, good for society! Santos truly believes in the #unstereotype movement. We need to unleash creativity and the potential of our brains. Leave stereotypes aside and unleash humanity. Next up on the In Focus Stage was Simon Cook, VP Creative Excellence, from Cannes Lions. Cook walked us through the new arenas that leaders in technology and marketing are forging for themselves and get the attention of consumers and customers, cheaper, faster and better than before. This is a shift that the Cannes Lions team, as well as the industry, is trying to adapt to and slowly getting used to. But Cooks message is quite clear: We want to keep it about creativity. At Cannes Lions we want to position ourselves as campaigners for creativity. For change and for good in the world. The idea is to make something that people keep at the forefront of their minds. Brands have subsequently realized that they can elevate their sales numbers and profitability if they elevate their creativity and the output of their work. Again, it sounds like a win win situation. Outputting better work profits your brand but also touches a larger public and potentially, if youre lucky, puts you in the running for a Cannes Lion! Rob Reilly, Global Chief Creative Chairman from McCann Worldgroup took the Inspiration Stage. His talk is titled, Creativity is the only way to survive. Wearing a Stay Crazy T-shirt, Reilly really feels like Asia is the last place where we can really experiment. Running us through a few Asian campaigns with a couple from Thailand who has been doing particularly well this year in the industry, Reilly also makes his way back to the fantastic Fearless Girl Campaign on Wall Street. He gave the audience insights into how the campaign came about and the decision to place a little girl with her hands on her hips and it all stemmed from it being relatable. McCann wanted to make sure girls, and anyone else who wanted to, could mimic it on social media. Not only to give the campaign traction, but also to give the public this idea that you have a champion that you can identify to. The impact that Fearless Girl has had on the world is obviously something weve been talking about in the industry for a little while now and not only has it won quite a few awards, but the business results are very important as well. You want media to write about your campaigns, this is part of what allows us to do more work like this because its successful. Its not about the awards ONLY, its about doing good work that moves business. Thats how you create more creative currency, says Reilly. Dentsu Singapores four steps to creating purposeful content and why it matters, was later held by Udara Withana, Head of Strategy and Jatinder Sandhu, Creative Director. They walked us through the four key elements of bringing purposeful work to life. How collaboration versus isolation can help you create more purposeful content and how that should be the one of the main aspirations, albeit also one of the main challenges when doing new work. A pretty awesome first day! Everyones getting ready to go off to the infamous Gem Bar for Campaign Brief Asias Legendary Party! Tomorrow mornings start will no wonder be a bit slower than today. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and late-night television host Stephen Colbert took one of NASA's Mars rovers out for a joyride in the streets of Manhattan last week, and you can watch their out-of-this-world adventure in this video clip. NASA's Mars rover concept vehicle, which looks like a beefed-up version of the Batmobile, made a special appearance on an episode of the CBS series "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" that aired on Friday (Sept. 22). [We Explored NASA's Concept Mars Rover, and It Was Out of This World] Designed and built by the Florida-based company Parker Brothers Concepts, the six-wheeled, tank-like rover was made as a prototype off-roading vehicle for the first humans on the Red Planet. "Before they send it to Mars, they want to see if it can stand up to New York's inhospitable atmosphere of urine-based humidity," Colbert said before hopping in with his buddy Neil. The duo cruised down 53rd Street at a "lugubrious" speed of about 3 mph (5 km/h), getting honked at only a handful of times as they took the wrong way onto 8th Avenue before turning the cumbersome vehicle around. During their adventure, the two made a pit stop at a Duane Reade convenience store to pick up supplies for their make-believe trip to Mars. Items in Colbert's shopping basket included adult diapers to wear under their spacesuits, eyebrow pencils just in case "our eyebrows burn off" during atmospheric entry in a Mars landing, and a dozen eggs to run over with the Mars rover (just for fun). See more While Colbert was pretty gung-ho about going to Mars, Tyson conveyed no desire to travel to the Red Planet himself. "Who's gonna want to do that?" Tyson asked. "I don't see people lined up to colonize Antarctica, and Antarctica is balmier and wetter than any place on Mars." To that, Colbert replied, "Matt Damon proved that on Mars you can grow potatoes in your poop. You can't do that in Antarctica." In the 2015 film "The Martian," Damon's character survived on potatoes. Colbert and Tyson's adventure came to an end when they pulled the Mars up in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater, parking illegally on the side of the road. "If it gets booted, that's NASA's problem," Colbert said. This episode of "The Late Show" wasn't the first time Colbert had fun with NASA equipment. In 2009, when he was still on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," he convinced NASA to name its zero-gravity treadmill after him. To this day, astronauts at the International Space Station use the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (or COLBERT) to get their exercise in space. Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Namira Salim, Founder of Space Trust, and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta, presents the Space Peace Prize to UNOOSA and Simonetta Di Pippo, Director UN Office for Outer Space Affairs on Sept. 26, 2018 at "Space2030: Space as a Driver for Peace." UNITED NATIONS Experts in the space sector, diplomats, political leaders and more gathered last night (Sept. 26) at the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters for "Space2030: Space as a Driver for Peace," a side event of the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly. At "Space2030," an inflatable orb called the "Black Marble Earth," which shows what the planet would look like from space at night, served as a stunning backdrop for high-level conversations about the future of human activity in space. The event was arranged by convening partners United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) and Space Trust. At the event, speakers and guests discussed challenges with accessibility and collaboration in space and what our future in the cosmos might look like. The attendees included Simonetta Di Pippo, an astrophysicist and director of UNOOSA; Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, president of Malta; Robert Skinner, executive director of UNOP; and private astronaut and video game developer Richard Garriott. [The International Space Station: Inside and Out (Infographic)] Manlio Di Stephano, Under-Secretary of State of Italy (left); Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta (center-left); Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (center-right); and Namira Salim, Founder and Executive Chairperson of Space Trust (right) stand next to the Black Marble Earth at "Space2030: Space as a Driver for Peace." (Image credit: Courtesy of Namira Salim) After the guests mingled, Namira Salim, founder and executive president of Space Trust, gathered everyone together as Skinner introduced Di Pippo to the stage. Di Pippo detailed the many ways in which UNOOSA is working hard to ensure peace in space and equal access for all countries. However, "What remains to be seen," Di Pippo said, "is how we can work collectively to organize our efforts to deliver the full potential of space for sustainable development. The path to realizing this ambition is captured by the "Space2030" agenda, which member states will negotiate over the next two years." For many, it might be difficult to even see why we would need to discuss peace in space, since only a select few astronauts live there, and only temporarily. But access to space-based technologies as well as data from this tech, the ability to send scientific experiments, collaboration between the private and public space sectors, the speakers said peaceful and equal collaboration and access in space is essential to progress. Di Pippo cited the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals to further emphasize the importance of space: "Out of the 169 targets [in the Sustainable Development Goals] underpinning the goals, no less than 40 percent are reliant on access to space. When policy-makers need to make well informed policy decisions, they're turning to space." Next, leaders such as President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca of Malta and a representative from Cyprus discussed how space has always been fascinating to us as humans: "Space has captured the imaginations of countless musicians, artists and poets," she said. She continued, stressing the importance of the "Space2030" agenda, and how we must :rediscover our love for the earth." Helena Mina, the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, echoed the importance of space and "Space2030", and she expressed Cyprus' interest and dedication to peace in space, stating that "even small nations like Cyprus and Malta can be catalytic drivers for space diplomacy." Later in the night, Salim, alongside President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, presented Space Trust's Space Peace Prize to UNOOSA and Di Pippo. Discussions like "Space2030" are major steps toward organizing collaborative efforts to support peaceful human activity in and access to space, the speakers said. Di Pippo made sure to emphasize not only the importance of the event but also the importance of space to policy and our future. "Let me be very clear," Di Pippo said. "Space is fundamental to effective policymaking in the 21st century. The challenge, therefore, is how to keep space as a peaceful environment in which science and technology can continue to deliver the information and data that is helping to make effective policy decisions around the world." The industry partner for "Space2030" was the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the event's media partner was Space.com. Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. For nearly 30 years, the Delta II rocket system was a reliable workhorse that launched numerous spacecraft away from Earth, with a success rate of 98.7 percent. The Delta family of rockets has a long history, with roots in the United States' earliest efforts to reach space. Born from the Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile, Delta rockets kept growing in power and capability. Today, the Delta rockets are built by United Launch Alliance (ULA), which formed as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing. The last launch of the Delta II carried NASA's ICESat-2 satellite into space on Sept. 15, 2018. The Delta IV rocket an expendable launch vehicle designed by McDonnel-Douglas, which later became part of Boeing began carrying the U.S. Air Force's largest and most important military satellites into space in 2002 and continues to do so today. "It's been a very, very prominent part of space history," said Scott Messer, program manager for NASA programs at ULA, told the press just prior to the final launch. A family history McDonnell Douglas Corporation, an aerospace manufacturing company, designed and manufactured the Delta II rocket in the early 1980s, before United Launch Alliance took over production in 2006. The U.S. Air Force was the first to commission Delta II rockets, when, in January 1987, the branch awarded a contract to McDonnell Douglas for the construction of 18 Delta II rockets to launch the Navstar GPS satellites. The first of these launched on Feb. 14, 1989, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. For more than 20 years, Cape Canaveral was the primary launch site for the Delta II. The dual towers supporting Delta II launches were demolished in July 2018. Since then, Delta II flights have taken off from Space Launch Complex 2 in Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Unlike the more modern, computerized methods used with other rockets, Delta II's launch sequence requires an operator to physically click a mouse button. When the launch system was designed, NASA preferred having a person in control rather than a completely computerized system, according to The Planetary Society. Notable launches After the Delta II's initial launch, in 1989, the rocket continued carrying GPS satellites into space for the Air Force until 2008, when the contract expired. The rocket played a significant role in launching NASA missions. Between 1998 and 2010, the rocket delivered nearly 60 percent of the agency's scientific satellites into space. Several missions to Mars have launched thanks to the Delta II, including the Mars Pathfinder (in 1996), the Spirit and Opportunity rovers (in 2003), and the Phoenix Mars Lander (in 2007). Delta II rockets also launched the Deep Space I mission (1998), the Stardust mission (in 1999, to return a sample from a comet), the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (a space observatory to study the high-energy wavelengths of the universe, in 2008), the Kepler planet-hunting space telescope (in 2009) and the twin GRAIL spacecraft to the moon (in 2011). "Both commercial and government markets recognize [that] the Delta II is a very reliable launch vehicle. But there are other competitors coming on the market," Hieu Lam, Boeing Launch Services' Delta commercial program manager, told Space.com in 2010. The rocket's final blastoff on Sept. 15, 2018, carried NASA's ICESat-2 spacecraft into orbit, where the satellite will use a laser altimeter to map Earth's ice sheets. That launch was the 155th flight of a Delta II rocket since the rocket's debut in 1989 and marked the 100th consecutively successful Delta II launch. "Being the last Delta II mission, ICESat-2 is extra special; the sense of pride in working on the last mission has permeated the whole team," Bill Cullen, director of launch operations for United Launch Alliance, told The Planetary Society. "While it is always a little sad to end an era, the team's learning, teamwork, processes and mission focus live on in the enterprise." Delta II rocket specifications First stage The Delta II relies on the RS-27A as its main engine a single-start, fixed-thrust liquid-bipropellant gas generator with two vernier rocket engines. The vernier engines help provide vehicle roll control during flight, and each contributes more than 1,000 lbs. of thrust (4.45 kilonewtons) to the main engine. Nominal thrust (sea level): 200,000 lbs. (890 kilonewtons) Specific impulse (sea level): 255 seconds Length: 149 inches (378 centimeters), or 12.4 feet (3.8 meters) Weight: 2,528 lbs. (1,147 kilograms) Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEMs) The Orbital ATK Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM), the standard solid rocket motor for the Delta II, comes in two options. For the 792X model, six of the 40-inch (100 cm) core diameter GEM-40 motors are ignited at liftoff, while three more are ignited in flight after the first six burn out. The 732X and 742X models include three or four GEMs respectively, all of which are ignited at liftoff. A heavier GEM-46 is made available for Delta II Heavy (a larger variant of the Delta II) liftoffs. GEM-46 has a 46-inch core diameter and burns 14 seconds longer than the standard GEM. GEM-40 Peak vacuum thrust: 145,000 pounds of force (645 kilonewtons) Length: 510 inches (1,295 cm), or 42.5 feet (12.9 m) Maximum diameter: 40 inches (100 cm) Weight: 28,600 lbs. (12,970 kg) Burn time: 62 seconds GEM-46 Peak vacuum thrust: 199,000 pounds of force (885 kilonewtons) Length: 577 inches (1,466 cm), or 48.1 feet (14.7 m) Maximum diameter: 46 inches (117 cm), or 3.8 feet (1.2 m) Weight: 42,200 lbs. (19,100 kg) Burn time: 76 seconds Second stage The second stage is powered by an Aerojet AJ10-118K engine, a pressure-fed engine in which a separate gas supply pressurizes the propellant tanks to force fuel and oxidizer together into a combustion chamber. The AJ10-118K has played a role in rocket history for over half a century and can restart or affect the direction of flight. While in the air, the second-stage hydraulic system controls how the rocket rotates on its side-to-side and vertical axis (pitch and yaw). A redundant attitude control system (RACS) uses nitrogen gas to provide roll control, the rotation from front to back, as well as pitch, yaw and control during unpowered flight. Nominal thrust: 9,753 lbs. (43 kilonewtons) Specific impulse: 320.5 seconds Fuel/oxidizer: Aerozine 50/N204 Length: 105.6 inches (268.2 cm), or 8.8 feet (2.7 m) Diameter (nozzle extension): 60.33 inches (153.2 cm) Weight: 275 lbs. (125 kg) Third stage Depending on the payload, the Delta II offers an optional third stage, but it can fly with only two stages. The additional spin-stabilized, third-stage motor, the Star 48B motor, is produced by Alliant Techsystems. The design incorporates high-energy propellant and a high-strength titanium case, and boasts multiple tabs for attaching external hardware. Peak vacuum thrust: 17,490 pound-force (77.8 kilonewtons) Total vacuum impulse: 1.3 pound-force (5.8 newtons) per second Length: 80 inches (203 cm) Diameter (maximum): 49 inches (125 cm), or 4.1 feet (1.2 m) Weight: 4,721 lbs. (2,141 kg) Burn time: 84.1 seconds Additional resources: Delta II Medium-Launch Vehicle (Air Force Space Command) ULA's Delta II Page Follow Nola Taylor Redd at @NolaTRedd, Facebook or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Algiers, Sept 26, 2018 (SPS) - The Ambassador of the Saharawi Republic in Algeria, Mr. Abdelkader Taleb Omar has reviewed with Ms. Asha Ramgubin, human rights activist and head of the Human Rights Organization for Development in South Africa, the human rights situation in the occupied areas of Western Sahara Sahrawi Diplomat revealed to his interlocutor on the violations of human rights and repressive policies against Sahrawi citizens by the Moroccan occupation authorities. Abdelkader Taleb Omar also asserted the importance of protecting human rights in Western Sahara in accordance with UN resolutions, as one of the guarantees of stability and peace in the region. Ms. Asha Ramgubin spoke about the role played by the Human Rights Organization for Development in the defense of human rights and its work in the African Union in this direction and other themes related to human rights. SPS 125/090/TRA New York, Sept 26, 2018 (SPS) the president of the the Republic of Namibia, Mr. Hage g. Geingob has called for the implementation of the UN resolutions and decisions, which will lead to a positive, peaceful and permanent solution that meets the aspirations and will of the people of Western Sahara in his speech at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York Namibia is a child of international solidarity, midwifed by the UN. We relied on the solidarity of the nations of the world to call on South AMca to give us our right to self-determination. Equally, we call on the implementation of the UN resolutions and decisions, which will lead to a positive, peaceful and permanent solution that meets the aspirations and will of the people of Western Sahara. Hage g. Geingob said in his address The annual General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly is the occasion for world leaders to gather at UN Headquarters to discuss global issues, such as peace, stability, security and development in the world. SPS 125/090/TRA Berlin (Germany), 26 SEP 2018 (SPS) - Human rights activist Claude Mangin Asfari has begun a awarenee visit to Germany on the human rights situation in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara The activist of the Saharawi cause participated in the 16th edition of the African Film Festival in Cologne. She was one of the guests of honor where the film Dis-Leur I Exist and 4 short films Three Stolen Cameras, Cast in Sand, Barber Shop Skeikima and elsewhere were screened. In the Municipality of Bremen, Claude Mangin Asfari, was received at the seat of the Land Parliament by the Deputy, Vice President of the Foreign Affairs Committee Mrs Grotheer and by Hermann Kleen, the Chief of Staff of Christian Weber the President of the Parliament. It was a question of how to continue the already active support of Bremen to the Parliament in Berlin. In this context, the human rights activist met with the municipality of Gottingen, the director of the Association of Endangered Peoples, Ulrich Delius where he promised to continue to redouble the efforts especially to organize concerts with the other German associations to obtain support of the Saharawi cause from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to be a spokesman of the Saharawi cause in (OHCHR), The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva thanks to its ECOSOC status. In this context, Claude Mangin Asfari has held several meetings and talks with Germany official from the Municipality of Bremen and Gottingen , she has also interviewed by four regional and national newspapers and recorded three radio programs on the human rights situation in Occupied Western Sahara, in order to sensitize civil society, the media and the institutions around Germany of the situation of Saharawi political prisoners expressing their "deep concern" at the "critical" situation in which the Saharawi political prisoners of the "Gdeim Izik" group are. She is a wife of Saharawi activist Naama Asfari, a Saharawi political prisoner, who has been detained since November 2010 and sentenced to 30 years in prison for defending the self-determination of the Saharawi people. Claude was prevented by the Moroccan authorities from visiting her husband and expelled for the fourth time SPS 125/090/TRA 3 1 of 3 Stamford police / Contributed Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Stamford police / Contributed Show More Show Less 3 of 3 STAMFORD A New York man has been accused of trying to sell a loaded large-caliber gun in Springdale. Capt. Richard Conkin said officers in the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad heard a New York man was going to be driving a black Volkswagen Jetta trying to sell a gun on Knickerbocker Avenue on Tuesday night. In a music industry where streaming is king, one tried-and-true format is making a resounding and timely comeback. According to the Record Industry Association of America's mid-year report, vinyl record revenue has grown 12.6% from the first half of 2017, while CD's have drastically fallen by 41.5%. Records are quickly taking over its CD predecessor as the primary format that people are using to consume physical music, despite the technology being more than three decades older. This popularity is evident in Connecticut, with the number of "mom-and-pop" record stores eclipsing 15 just in our small state. Shops like Redscroll Records in Wallingford, which specializes in metal and indie music, have noticed that business is booming despite the popularity of music streaming apps such as Spotify and Apple Music. "It will never be as satisfying to play a file as it is to grab a physical item and put the music on in that way, whether it be tape, CD or record," said Rick Sinkiewicz, co-owner of Redscroll Records. "As much as big box stores might try and have a physical media selection, they'll never be as in touch with their surrounding community as smaller brick and mortar shops are because by their nature, they aren't run by people in that community." Mary Snyder, co-owner of Replay Records in Hamden, looks forward to a new generation of music consumers discovering the perks of vinyl. "Vinyl never went out of style at Replay, as we've been true to that since we opened in 1989. While digital music is convenient and portable, we sell more vinyl by far every year and will continue to do so," said Snyder. "The next generation of music lovers fill our store frequently and that's fine." Connecticut-based musician, Pete Francis, member of Dispatch and founder of the Dragon Crest Collective, is no stranger to vinyl, being both a creator of vinyl for his music while also collecting the music that defines him. He believes that vinyl can bridge the divide between the musician and the consumer in a way digital can't. "People that love music and love the artwork get the chance to look at the artwork very large and get to read the lyrics, and who played on the record," said Francis. For Francis, the catalyst for his vinyl obsession came at the age of 7 when he was introduced to Cat Stevens' "Tea for the Tillerman," which spoke profoundly to him then, and still does now. "On a philosophical basis, maybe I was right when I was younger, thinking about this songwriter who's searching in his life," said Francis, who looks to songs like "Father and Son" and "Hard Headed Woman" as pillars of songwriting. Now, Francis sees record collecting as a kind of sport to both play and watch as vinyl has been reinvented in the methods of extremely limited pressings and exclusive, colored records. Older records, especially such as jazz from Blue Note and older soul pressings, are the kings and queens of his collection. "I think listening to vinyl on a nice stereo is a visceral experience and also very peaceful. Like you put the record on, you put the needle on, and you just assume that record's spin," contemplated Francis. Despite all the headlines around trade wars and protectionist tariffs, the globalization of business is a genie that cannot be put back in the bottle. The future of business is global. Like never before, companies are able to enter markets overseas nearly barrier-free. Even accepting payments from international consumers has become more seamless than ever before. Just this year, PayPal led a $50 million investment in PPRO, a full-service e-payment provider that enables businesses to accept more than 140 alternative payments from around the world. For an online retailer, offering more than credit card options to visitors can mean higher conversion rates in countries where bank transfers, for instance, are the preferred payment method. Related: Cross-Border Payments Made Easy; Payoneer To Enter Indian Marketplace As technology continues to improve and it becomes easier for buyers to connect to sellers, businesses that devise a strategy to sell goods abroad will inevitably take the lead and reap all the benefits of a global marketplace. For one, you grow your customer base. Two-thirds of consumers have already made cross-border purchases, and 32 percent do so monthly, according to a study by Pitney Bowes. And DHL has found that cross-border retail volumes will reach $900 billion by 2020. If youve yet to dip a toe in international waters, you can trust that a competitor has. You can also discover new business opportunities. An estimated 10 percent of small companies in the U.S. buy and sell internationally. And Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, expects many U.S. companies to export goods to China in the coming years, thus creating a more equitable and active cross-border relationship between two of the world's biggest economies. Related: If You're a Startup Looking to Capitalize on U.S.-China Border Investments, Here's How This isnt to say that starting a cross-border business is easy, but the following can improve your odds of success: 1. Don't miss out on huge (previously unknown) selling opportunities. Every culture has its own high-volume shopping seasons that businesses outside that region might not understand. For instance, people across the globe know that Christmas is a busy shopping season in the U.S., but they might not know about slightly smaller shopping rushes, such as back-to-school season or the time around Mother's Day. Similarly, most American consumers arent aware of the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. Originally a non-commercial holiday created by single male college students to celebrate bachelorhood, its now one of the largest online shopping days in the world, with sales totaling $25.3 billion in 2017. But if you're truly prioritizing going across borders, you need to know when these periods happen and what's popular during those times -- no matter where your business is located. Study the culture. Bring team members from that region on board if you can. Put the time in now to know when the busy shopping seasons are so you can reap the rewards when the time comes. Besides, knowing one another's calendars means youll know when the work slows down. Many countries in Europe slow down considerably in late summer, and much of China spends about a month away from work during Chinese New Year. Prepping for downtime is as vital as mapping out cultural shopping spikes. 2. Master the logistics. Thanks to Amazon, two-day shipping is now the status quo in the U.S. But how do you make this possible when selling goods across borders, or how do you educate consumers about why this timeframe is not always possible? After all, youll be working with multiple carriers to transport goods, which lengthens the supply chain and opens you up to risk. In fact, KPMG found that 40 percent of global manufacturers lack visibility across their supply chain. If you cant track your goods, you increase the chances of delays and disruptions to your shipments, which could impact your bottom line. Consider the disruptions Toyota and Sony experienced when multiple earthquakes hit Japan. A disaster such as this could lead a small cross-border business to shutter its doors if it lacked supply chain visibility or an airtight logistical strategy to respond and mitigate risk. 3. Get in your global customers' heads. Borders come with more than language barriers. How people interact with one another in business varies greatly from country to country. The same can be said for the speed at which business gets done; some countries just move faster (or much slower) than others. But one of the most important cross-border differences to recognize is consumer behavior. This, too, will vary by region. What advertising, for example, will be successful in other countries? What messaging and social media platforms are important? In the U.S., social shopping has failed to catch on. But its an entirely different story overseas with the growing popularity of platforms such as Pinduoduo, an app that allows users to lock in low prices by way of group discounts when they and a legion of friends purchase the same item. Where Pinduoduo gets social is its functionality. The app integrates with WeChat, a popular chat app that allows users to open other apps within its own platform. Users can send product links to friends and coordinate purchases to secure a discount of up to 90 percent, all while on WeChat. Consider conducting surveys or focus groups or bringing on a team member who can help you better understand the different interests and priorities these other cultures have. Related: How to Take Your Company Global While building a cross-border business might seem daunting, its now an essential component to a brands longevity. But if you plan accordingly, understand the logistics of fulfilling customer needs and comprehend the cultural and behavioral differences between countries, you can ensure nothing gets lost in translation. Related: Cross-Border Business Is Becoming a Non-Negotiable. Are You Ready? Why There Aren't Many International Food Brands From India The Cannabis Industry Is Going Global Without Waiting for America to Legalize Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved | BY Ricki Green | Tourism New Zealand and Christchurch Airports SOUTH collective, have partnered with GoPro to launch the brand-new HERO7 Black camera and showcase New Zealands South Island. The innovative initiative will run in parallel to Tourism New Zealands South Island Journeys campaign via TBWA Sydney, which promotes five #nzmustdo South Island road trips all starting in Christchurch the gateway to the South Island. To mark the global launch, a contingent of 22 Australian and New Zealand lifestyle media, GoPro athletes and content creators travelled throughout the South Island to capture their experiences using the world-first technology. Some of Australias best social media influencers including Jarrad Seng, Brinkley Davies, Matty J, and Brook Macdonald joined the epic New Zealand road trip, filming their favorite #nzmustdo moments along the way. Tourism New Zealands general manager Australia Andrew Waddel, said the partnership and social media first is the ultimate storytelling equation. Says Waddel: Were thrilled to instigate a partnership that is social by design given Instagram is the new travel guide. The GoPro activity marries cutting-edge technology with the most unique playground and visually diverse location New Zealand. We know from research Australians love to road trip without the stress and hassle of long distances. More than 70% of Australians self-drive during their stay to New Zealand and enjoy visiting different regions. Earning the attention of our Australian audience, tapping into brand strengths and telling the right stories to the right people is key to positioning New Zealand as a visit now destination. Australia is our largest international holiday market. Aussie visitors tend to stay an average of 10 days, which is the perfect length of time to experience a South Island holiday particularly in autumn. GoPros vice president, product management Pablo Lema said New Zealand is a content creators dream location. Says Lema: New Zealands South Island offers a diversity of experiences, totally different from your everyday. This was the perfect place for us to shoot. The new GoPro HERO7 Black boasts gimbal like video thats insanely smooth and smart capture superpowers for the best, most brilliant photos automatically. Battle tested and waterproof without a housing, it the most advanced GoPro ever. The trip was designed to immerse the group in New Zealands ecosystem while educating them on GoPros newest product. We shot so much epic regional content during activities including hiking, off track mountain biking, kayaking with seals, scenic flights over whales, ski plane glacier landings, V8 trike tours, private cruises through Marlborough and Milford Sound and wildlife encounters. For the next six weeks, Australians will be presented with inspiring images of New Zealands iconic South Island as part of the annual campaign. In conjunction with Christchurch Airport and SOUTH (a membership-based collaboration of 14 South Island Regional Tourism Organisations) the campaign promotes travel into Christchurch Airport. Christchurch Airports chief aeronautical and commercial officer Justin Watson says previous campaigns have seen more than twice the growth of visitor arrivals into New Zealand. Says Watson: Christchurch is the international gateway to the South Island, with direct flights from Australias main centers including Perth. Australians will really enjoy the itineraries, exploring the South Islands regions and road tripping between the wide variety of experiences. The South Island Journeys campaign runs until 4 November 2018 with travel packages available between March and May 2019. Melania Trump plans to visit Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, and Egypt when she travels to Africa next week on her first major solo international trip as first lady. The one-week trip, which begins Monday, will take her to a part of the world that has a tense relationship with her husband's administration. "Whether it is education, drug addiction, hunger, online safety or bullying, poverty or disease, it is too often children who are hit first, and hardest, across the globe," Trump said at a reception at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she announced her travel plans. "Each of us hails from a country with its own unique challenges, but I know in my heart we are united by our commitment to raising the next generation to be happy, healthy and morally responsible adults." The audience included the first ladies of several of the countries she will visit, along with Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, and Susan Pompeo, the wife of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump said she chose those four countries because they "have worked alongside USAID and our partners to make great progress in overcoming some of their biggest challenges." The continent is a place that every modern first lady has visited. Laura Bush made programs promoting health in Africa a major part of her tenure, particularly in her husband's second term, when she made seven trips to countries there. Michelle Obama visited twice without her husband, in 2011 to South Africa and Botswana, and in 2016 to Morocco and Liberia, bringing her daughters along for both trips. As first lady Hillary Clinton also made two trips accompanied by her teenage daughter with stops in Senegal, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Eritrea, Morocco and Tunisia. But Trump's visit is more fraught than those of her predecessors. During a meeting with lawmakers in January, President Donald Trump referred to Haiti and some African nations as "shithole countries" during a discussion of a proposed bipartisan immigration deal, according to officials who were there. He later denied using such language. Reports had previously circulated that he had questioned why Nigerians in the United States on visas would ever want to return to their "huts." The Trump administration further alienated African nations in March when the president fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when the nation's top diplomat was only a few days into what was supposed to be a week-long apology trip to the continent. Tillerson missed a day of planned meetings, citing ill health, and ultimately cut the trip short. And the most recent perceived insult came earlier this month when Spain's foreign minister said that Trump had suggested to him building a wall across the Sahara as a way of dealing with Europe's migration crisis. Those comments were taken to mean that Africans should be contained, said Judd Devermont, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Trump administration has yet to articulate a comprehensive policy toward Africa, he said, and in the absence of such substance, Trump's disparaging offhand remarks and tweets have filled the void. President Trump, in formal remarks to the General Assembly on Tuesday, did not mention Africa, though on Wednesday morning, he addressed his wife's upcoming trip. "We love Africa," he told reporters outside the U.N. headquarters, and called the continent "beautiful - the most beautiful part of the world in many ways." Against the backdrop of such accumulated slights, the trip could put Melania Trump in an awkward spot. "People will be looking to her to understand the Trump Africa policy, and the burden is on her to counter the narrative," Devermont said. "That's a difficult position to be in." Melania Trump, though, may be well positioned smooth things over, said Anita McBride, who was Laura Bush's chief of staff in the East Wing. At the reception Wednesday, the first lady said that at each stop on the African continent, she would focus on programs overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Hinting at her agenda during the trip, Trump mentioned the agency's work in Ghana to improve health care and nutrition. In Malawi, she noted that USAID has promoted education as a means of combating poverty, and in Kenya it has projects on early education, wildlife conservation and HIV prevention. "Her presence could help soften hard feelings," McBride said. "Generally, first ladies can represent the American people in a gentler way than a president can, because of the tougher things presidents have to do." Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a former assistant secretary of state who is now a senior counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, says she thinks African people, particularly the leaders of the countries the first lady visits, are eager to hear from her. "It will offer her an opportunity to establish her own interests and activities - and her own message that hopefully will play differently from the message that Africans have heard so far from the president," she said. "I think she will be greeted with respect." The trip could be a significant moment for Melania Trump, who has taken a lower profile than many other first ladies, and whose Be Best initiative has been relatively modest. On her visits to Africa, Michelle Obama highlighted her Let Girls Learn initiative at visits to schools and events with young women leaders. Laura Bush focused on efforts to combat AIDS, in line with her husband's brand of "compassionate conservatism" and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program her husband helped establish in 2002. A first lady's presence abroad is never just about policy, though, McBride notes. "It's not like a secretary of state going in, where there are bilateral meetings and treaty signings and that sort of thing," she said. "That's where a first-lady trip is so valuable. It's a sign of respect that invariably includes substantive work - shining light on programs - but it also offers the chance to absorb the culture of the country and meet people outside of the official bubble, and that is an important diplomatic move." Also arguing for her success? Melania Trump is better liked than her polarizing husband: The first lady had a 51 percent approval rating vs. President Trump's 40 percent in a June CNN poll - and 26 percent of those who didn't approve of the president still had a favorable impression of her. Devermont agreed that a first lady bringing attention to programs and initiatives that uplift Africans could help affirm the U.S. commitment to the continent - but he said such soft diplomacy has its limits. "There is an opportunity to change the narrative, but it's a particularly deep hole that's been dug, and that's why it's unfair to rest all of that job on her shoulders." F orget Brexit; business folks are getting more worried these days about the Marxist policies emerging from the Labour party leadership. Theyre right to be concerned. While youd have thought voters would be shocked by Corbyn & Cos retro passion for nationalising utilities and dragging the country back to the grim 1970s, its actually rather popular. People even like the Venezuela-lite plan to confiscate 10% stakes in Britains big companies and hand them over to the state. Polls suggest 54% of the population approve including 34% of Tory voters. You cant blame the public for falling for it. Living standards have been going nowhere for years and theres a feeling afoot of any-change-must-be-better-than-this. Dangerous, radical ideas find fertile ground. In more normal times, moderate political voices would debunk such extremism, explaining it would cause investors to flee, send jobs abroad and damage everyones pensions. But theyre nowhere to be heard. Instead, the dysfunctional Conservatives just transmit endless squabbling over Brexit which bores voters to tears. The centre Left hide, hoping their time will come when Corbyn goes. The Lib-Dems, with their lame-duck leadership, are viewed as irrelevant. If the Government collapses and we get a General Election, theres a fair chance Corbyns hardcore socialists will hoodwink their way to power. Little wonder the leaders of private enterprise, who generate the wealth in our country, are worried. Buyout barons gain from City overhaul The dismal Mifid II rules have claimed many unintended victims. The idea was to improve transparency of banks charges for fund managers by making them charge separately for research, rather than bundling the cost up with other fees. The result is that scores of analysts have been fired and research on stock market companies has fallen dramatically. Thats not such a problem for the FTSE-100 giants; theyre still widely covered and are big enough to attract investors attention anyway. But smaller firms are suffering. Without independent research on them, they find it hard to attract investors. Even well-run firms such as STV are affected. The Scottish broadcaster creates hit shows for ITV and the BBC and amply covers its dividend. Yet, with few analysts covering it, shares are down from 515p in 2016 to 370p. That has attracted value investor Crystal Amber, which has built a 19% stake, presumably spotting that takeover potential is high. The likes of media veteran David Montgomery are said to be sniffing about. The idea of bids from Liberty and even ITV arent entirely ridiculous, but private equity seems more likely. T heres a joke that neatly illustrates the type of person who goes far on The Apprentice. One candidate gets down on one knee to propose to another (its possible, this years intake look more like theyve packed for Love Island than a job flogging Lord Sugars latest concept). He pops the question: Will yourself marry myself? The 14th series of Britains toughest job interview begins next Wednesday and we should steel ourselves for an outbreak of grammatical errors from enterprising young people so keen to work for Lord Sugar that they confuse overcomplicated analogies with being desirable employees. It makes for entertaining TV. But that is where it should stay. Unfortunately, Apprentice-style behaviour is creeping into real life. Ive interviewed people for jobs who come out with lines in the vein of Lord Sugar-pleasing classics: Everything I touch turns to sold. Instead of telling me they can meet deadlines, I have to infer what they are like from rambling anecdotes about swimming with sharks. I dont blame them. As a teenager, all I knew about work came from TV. My friends wanted to be lawyers because of Ally McBeal. We did have a careers adviser at school but all she did was give us a quiz that was meant to tell us what job was right for us. I got cloakroom attendant. There was also a tour of City banks where stress balls were handed out to entice us. It wasnt appealing. Only one person from my year went into the City and shes since left to study art. Put off by how unlikeable the wannabe Apprentices were, I left school thinking the route to gainful employment was to make people want to be my friend. I made self-depreciating jokes at interviews, which got laughs but no one thought I was capable of doing a proper job. So, learn from my mistakes, and dont draw lessons from the band who want to work for Lord Sugar. The Apprentice 2018 1 /19 The Apprentice 2018 Lord Sugar in front of the new candidates for this year's BBC1 contest, The Apprentice, (Back row left to right) Kayode Damali, Sian Gabbidon, Sabrina Stocker, Daniel Elahi, Sarah Byrne, David Alden, (Middle row left to right) Camilla Ainsworth, Frank Brooks, Kurran Pooni, Sarah Ann Magson, Khadija Kalifa, (Front row (seated) left to right) Tom Bunday, Jackie Fast, Alex Finn, Jasmine Kundra and Rick Monk PA The Apprentice, (back row left to right) Kayode Damali, Sabrina Stocker, Rick Monk, Alex Finn, Sarah Byrne, Daniel Elahi, (Middle row left to right) Camilla Ainsworth, Frank Brooks, Kurran Pooni, Sian Gabbidon, David Alden, Khadija Kalifa, (Front row (seated) left to right) Tom Bunday, Jackie Fast, Sarah Ann Magson and Jasmine Kundra PA Karren Brady, Lord Sugar and Claude Littner PA Sarah Byrne Eliminated week one PA Camilla Ainsworth PA Sarah Ann Magson PA Jasmine Kundra PA Sian Gabbidon BBC Jackie Fast PA Sabrina Stocker PA Daniel Elahi PA Khadija Kalifa PA Tom Bunday PA David Alden PA Rick Monk PA Alex Finn PA Kurran Pooni PA Kayode Damali PA Frank Brooks PA Toeing the line at extension viewings If you want to see the colour drain from the face of a grown man or woman, ask them to take off their shoes. This happened repeatedly at Open House London last weekend, while I toured the citys latest architect-designed extensions. My friend nearly didnt go and see a roof conversion because he felt ambushed. If hed known he would have to remove his boots he would have worn matching socks, without holes in. Then theres the fear that a stranger might make off with your shoes. I played the situation to my advantage. When one neer-do-well stole my umbrella, the houses owner gave me her spare. It was an upgrade. A new platform for Kylies vocal career To counteract the headache caused by the Piccadilly line strike, some pleasant travel news: Kylie Minogue has recorded a series of railway announcements. Playing the locomotion and getting the wheels spinning around sounds like a more effective way to get people moving down inside the carriage than repeating it in the exasperated primary-school teacher way of so many announcers. Kylie Minogue (Reuters ) / Reuters Its certainly more appealing than when shepherding commuters becomes an opportunity for announcers to try out stand-up comedy routines. Just because passengers are a captive audience it doesnt mean the Northern line platform is an appropriate place for new material. Travelling in rush hour is bad enough without having to listen to comments about hump day. Typical quips include: If you move down inside the carriage you might make new friends. Why would I want to be friends with someone whose rucksack is colonising the carriage? What TfL needs is more Kylie if anyone can get the train out of the shed it is her. My Palestinian mother and Corbyn A pparently its Take Your Baby To Work week at the UN headquarters and no, that isnt a Trump gag. Rather, the famous baby in question is three-month-old Neve Ardern Gayford, daughter of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern , who made history by accompanying her mother to the UN General Assembly in New York. Its the first time in the 73 years of the United Nations that a world leader has attended with a baby in tow, and likely not the last. Female politicians often find themselves blazing a trail for other professions. Since 2015, videos of MPs breastfeeding while at work in the parliaments of Spain, Argentina, Iceland and Australia have all gone viral. In June, Canadian MP Karina Gould responded to the praise heaped on her with a social media shrug, tweeting: Babys gotta eat & I had votes. Gould and Ardern combine world-leading with child-rearing so gracefully that it makes you wonder why other, lower-profile workplaces cant be as accommodating. Is the future office one in which meetings are enlivened by adorable gurgling, buggies and Bugattis sitting side-by-side in the executive parking lot and every kitchenette is equipped with a bottle steriliser? Is it a future we should all hope for? Not me. Some say good parenting is about staying connected to the child you once were. I try, instead, to stay connected to the happily self-involved singleton I was before having children. This gives me the necessary empathy to turn down tempting party invitations, even when the host blithely says, Bring the kids!. Child-free Ellen knows the presence of cherubic little faces can put a dampener on the debauchery. Mother-of-two Ellen knows that past 7pm most children are overtired and miserable anyway. Conversely, while child-free Ellen always enjoyed the excuse to ditch work and coo over any random baby, these days I fully appreciate the joy of concentrating on a work task without interruption. Its true that the unequal burden of childcare is one reason why working women still fall behind in salary and status. Still, it doesnt necessarily follow that turning offices into creches is a viable solution. Even a superwoman such as Ardern has to depend on good-quality childcare to make it work. You may have assumed, in defiance of third-wave feminist wisdom, that she was having it all and at the same time. "Even a superwoman such as Ardern has to depend on good-quality childcare to make it work" But look again at those pictures of mother and child in the UN chamber and youll notice Clarke Gayford, Arderns partner, in the corner of the frame, acting as Neves main carer. Behind every great woman is a great childminder. Parents shouldnt feel they have to apologise for the presence of children in public spaces as Ardern apparently did, to fellow passengers before boarding the plane for the long flight from New Zealand. But nor is it always incumbent on adults to make children welcome. There are some places where children just dont belong for their sake, for everyone elses sake, but especially for the sake of their parents. Have a quick history lesson before you put off having the flu jab A hundred years ago London was recovering from the first wave of a flu pandemic which would eventually kill nearly three times the number of people who died worldwide in the First World War. Meanwhile, on the New Jersey coast, US military transport ships prepared to set sail for Europe carrying a still-deadlier second wave of the virus which would reach London in time for Armistice. This was life before a flu jab was readily available for just 12 from your local high street chemist. Yet falling take-up of the MMR vaccines for the fourth year running suggests that it isnt just passionate anti-vaxxers who now miss out on recommended inoculations but ordinary people too. Let documentary The Flu That Killed 50 Million on BBC2 this week be our reminder to make time. Aside from the distracting presence of Kurt from Hollyoaks playing an overworked 1918 doctor, it transmits its message with the precision of a hypodermic needle. The flu jab is awesome you should definitely get one. *Its the TV equivalent of arriving at a party just as your ex is putting on a jacket to leave: this Sunday, on BBC1, the 9pm slot vacated by The Bodyguard will be filled by The Cry , a drama starring Jenna Coleman. Thats the same Jenna who played Clara Oswald in Doctor Who, the title role in ITVs Victoria and who dated the Bodyguard himself, actor Richard Madden , from 2011 to 2015. Jenna Coleman / Synchronicity Films Ltd/Lachlan Moore I t all started with a statue. In late April 2007 the government in Estonia proposed to remove a controversial Soviet war memorial from the capital city Tallinn. Vladimir Putin wasnt happy about this it was yet more proof that the tiny country was turning away from Russia and towards the West. What happened next marked a new era in international relations. On April 27 Estonia was hit by a powerful cyber-attack the first example of such state-sponsored aggression in history. Its come to be known as Web War 1 and the impact was devastating. Cash machines stopped working, banks were paralysed, government IT systems shut down and media websites were frozen for weeks. As Estonias defence minister Jaak Aaviksoo later said: The attacks were aimed at the essential electronic infrastructure of the Republic of Estonia. All major commercial banks, telephone companies, media outlets, and name servers the phonebooks of the internet felt the impact, and this affected the majority of the Estonian population. The onslaught continued for a fortnight and was quickly traced back to Russia. Rohan Silva The reason Estonias government and economy was paralysed so quickly by this cyber-strike is that the country has long been one of the most digitally connected in the world, with virtually all government services available online and incredibly high levels of digital literacy and engagement. Today, 11 years on from the attack, many other countries are similarly dependent on online technologies, including in the UK. This means were increasingly vulnerable to cyber- attacks, in the way Estonia was. And of course, since 2007 weve seen other examples of state-sponsored cyber-attacks. To list just a few: Irans nuclear programme was hit by the so-called Stuxnet virus created by the United States and its partners. North Korea is believed to have been responsible for a high-profile hack on Sony in 2014, in retaliation for a film about the communist state. And Russia has been blamed for attacks on Ukraines power system in 2015, as well as hitting the US elections in 2016 . Whats terrifying is that there are no international laws governing the use of cyber-weapons which means that states face no legal punishment for launching attacks. As one cyber-policy expert at the Centre for International Governance Innovation puts it, the absence of global rules governing cyber-attacks is creating a new de facto norm anything goes and this is dangerous because it increases the risks to international peace, security and stability. And while Russia and the US are expanding their offensive cyber capabilities, other nations are quickly following suit, leading to a rapid cyber-arms race. In the words of Carl Bildt, the former prime minister of Sweden and chair of the Global Commission on Internet Governance: I think theres too much loose talk in too many countries about acquiring offensive cyber-capabilities. Its dangerous territory. So what can be done about it? First, we need international laws to govern the use and spread of cyber- weapons. Its always the case that regulations lag behind technological change because innovation happens so fast. But its an indictment of the sclerotic state of international affairs that we still dont have any binding global treaties preventing cyber-war from breaking out. "Cities such as New York are taking action establishing a cyber-command centre to protect the city from attacks" Nows the time for action and its a tremendous opportunity for Britain to show leadership and bring the international community together. When Estonia was attacked in 2007, it wasnt clear whether any international laws had been broken or whether Article 5 of Natos founding treaty should be triggered it requires members to step in and defend an ally under attack. This kind of ambiguity needs to be cleared up and fast. Second, we need to beef up the UKs own cyber-defences to minimise the damage to our economy and critical infrastructure if we ever come under attack ourselves. Its clear that much more work is needed here. The Global Cyber-Security Index ranks countries according to their readiness and ability to deal with cyber-attacks. Singapore and the US top the chart and Estonia leads the way in Europe, having invested millions since 2007. The UK lags some way behind ranked 14 in the world, a long way behind places like Oman and Malaysia. This isnt good enough especially when you consider how wired our economy has become. Finally, theres a big role to play for local government. In recent weeks weve seen a high-profile cyber-attack hit Atlanta which made it impossible for the citys administration to function for days. In Dallas, hackers managed to break into the citys civil defence system and set off tornado sirens in the middle of the night. And in New York a hospital was debilitated by a cyber attack after its managers refused to pay a $30,000 ransom demand. These arent isolated incidents according to one recent study 44 per cent of US local governments say they regularly face cyber-attacks either hourly or daily. Cities such as New York are taking firm action establishing a cyber- command centre to protect the city from attacks and developing tools that residents can use to defend themselves and their businesses. London needs to follow suit the cost of an attack on our globally connected city could be vast. It often comes to pass that the mood of an entire fashion show can be surmised with the first look out on the catwalk. Certainly that was true of Dries Van Noten yesterday, who announced the arrival of Spring/Summer 2019 with a pristine white work coat and matching cargo pants, teamed with a shimmering yellow paillette evening top and neon striped stilettos. It was fresh, functional and, crucially, representative of the sort of dressed-down take on dressing up which has come to define a modern womans wardrobe. What is more beautiful than workwear, said the designer, speaking backstage after the show in Paris, citing a boilersuit half tied around the waist to reveal a sparkling sequin vest underneath among his favourite looks. Hooded parka jackets decorated with cascading crystal capes and plain white t-shirts wrapped with giant taffeta bows were also key in translating Van Notens vision which he described as elegant and informal and utilitarian to sumptuous. Dries Van Noten Spring/Summer 2019 collection / Dries Van Noten The house, which has remained an independent business for 32 years since it was founded, sold a majority stake to Spanish group Puig in June. For Van Noten, who retains the title of chief creative officer and chairman of the board, this was his first womenswear outing since the announcement and fans of his masterful approach to accessible couture will be relieved that little has changed from a creative point of view. Dries Van Noten Spring/Summer 2019 collection / Dries Van Noten Accordingly, this was a collection which demanded close inspection to be fully appreciated. Paperweight silk-nylon anoraks, for example, were photo-printed and then hand-painted. Sandals were sculpted with sustainably-sourced feathers. And overspill sack bags were clutched by models hands glittering with multiple cocktail rings. | BY Lynchy | At a recently held ceremony in London Mazuin Zin, MD Edelman Malaysia was applauded for her body of work as a champion of women in business. She was named in the FT HERoes prestigious list of 100 Female executives from across industries whove been inspiring women leaders within their organizations and area of influence. A recognition that earns Zin (pictured) the distinction of perhaps being the first Malaysian business leader from the communications business to make it to this prestigious list. Zin shared, It truly is an extremely humbling experience. And representing Malaysia at such a prestigious global stage makes it all worth. This is truly a win for all of us who believe in the power of individuals, and look at the real potential of people beyond gender. And I only have all the wonderful mentors and teachers Ive been lucky to have by my side throughout the entire professional journey for this recognition. She added, This global recognition will continue to propel the momentum weve been building for the past 12 months as Edelman Malaysia continues to transition into a Strategy led Communication Marketing Company partnering Clients Act with Certainity in challenging times. FT HERoes is a global initiative now in its second year that celebrates inspirational Role Models on a global scale with its elite rankings of industry leaders under the 100 Female Executives, 50 Male Executives and 50 Female Future Leaders. A rt fair season is upon us, and London is in the mood for art. With Frieze kicking off in week one, and galleries coming back in style from their summer sojourns, October is positively packed with arts events across the capital. With art everywhere you look this month, where do you start? From glowing pumpkins to insect-filled installations, take a look at our pick of art exhibitions you need to see this October. Yayoi Kusama: The Moving Moment When I Went Into The Universe The weird and wonderful world of Yayoi Kusama will be whipping up a likely Instagrammable frenzy at Victoria Miro this month. The most expensive living female artist on the planet will be taking over the Wharf Road galleries until late December. Last time Kusama exhibited at the gallery, she brought with her an immersive pumpkin-filled Mirror Room installation that took London's Instagram feeds by storm. Expect another Mirror Room, more pumpkins and for things to get more than a little surreal. Victoria Miro, October 3 - December 21, victoria-miro.com Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde, Barbican A. Rodchenko and V. Stepanova descending from the airplane. (for the film The General Line by Sergei Eisenstein), 1926 (Courtesy Rodchenko and Stepanova Archives, Moscow ) / Courtesy Rodchenko and Stepanova Archives, Moscow Music may be the food of love for some, but for these guys, its art. The Barbican is looking at the relationships that made modern art, examining the lives and work of artists who worked, lived and loved together through periods of social and artistic upheaval. Couples under the spotlight in this exhibition include Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Dora Maar and Pablo Picasso, as well as Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca, who were rumoured to be clandestine lovers. October 10 - January 27 2019, barbican.org.uk Mantegna & Bellini, National Gallery Andrea Mantegna, The Death of the Virgin, about 14604 / Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid/Photographic Archive Museo Nacional del Prado When it comes to early Renaissance painting, names dont come much bigger than the composition king Mantegna and colour master Bellini. Fun fact: the two were actually brothers-in-law, and this exhibition seeks to tell the intertwined story of the two greats. Therell be more than a bit of family rivalry in this world first, as well as loans of rare paintings and drawings from around the world. October 1 - January 27 2019, nationalgallery.org.uk Pierre Huyghe, Serpentine Gallery (Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Serpentine Galleries; Kamitani Lab / Kyoto University and ATR) / Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Serpentine Galleries; Kamitani Lab / Kyoto University and ATR Strange things are happening at the Serpentine this autumn, and its all down to French artist Pierre Huyghe. Huyghe, who is known for creating whole ecosystems in his work, will be exploring biological processes and human cognition through large LED screens, paint fragments from previous exhibitions and thousands of flies. The installation will also evolve in response to things like light, humidity and visitors gaze. And yes, we definitely said flies. October 3 - February 10 2019, serpentinegalleries.org The Sun: Living With Our Star, Science Museum Coronal mass ejection from the Sun / Image courtesy of NASASDO and the AIA, EVE and HMI science teams. The heatwave may have waned since August, but the Science Museum is bringing the sunshine back into our lives with its new exhibition. In the biggest ever exhibition dedicated to our closest star, the museum will explore its power and how humans have harnessed and reacted to it for thousands of years. Look out for a 2000-year-old Chinese fire-lighting device, interactive exhibits and even a project in conjunction with NASA. October 6 - May 6 2019, sciencemuseum.org.uk Hyundai Commission: Tania Bruguera, Tate Modern Tania Bruguera, Tatlins Whisper #5 at Tate Modern, 2016 / Tate Photography One of the best loved London art events is returning this month, with the magnificent Turbine Hall once again hosting a large scale installation. While details of Tania Brugueras work is still under wraps, you can expect the Cuban artists strong political voice to come through, continuing in the vein of what she calls arte util, or useful art. Last time she was at Tate, she brought a couple of horse-mounted policemen with her. October 2 - February 24 2019, tate.org.uk Night and Day: 1930s Fashion and Photographs American Viscos Corporation, Crown Tested Rayon Fabrics advert. December, 1939 / Private collection If you fashion fanatics are already missing London Fashion Week, then allow the Fashion and Textile Museum to soothe your sartorial yearning with an exhibition dedicated to the silhouettes, styles and sirens of 1930s high fashion. Following on from last years Roaring Twenties show, photographs and garments will explore the influence of a streamlined Art Deco chic, the rise of Hollywood and the Surrealist artists making waves around the world. A t Frieze art fair next week, among thousands of artworks, it will be difficult for any one artist to stand out. But the sensual beauty and formal rigour of the works of Rana Begum, the British-Bangladeshi artist, should be a balm for the eyes and the soul amid the visual cacophony. Begum is showing in the Frieze Sculpture exhibition in Regents Park and inside the fair on the stands of The Third Line gallery from Dubai and of the London-based gallerist Kate MacGarry. The works on MacGarrys stand are numbered rather than titled, but Begum has shorthand names for the different strands in her practice. Best known are her bars: hollow cuboid aluminium batons attached to the wall in a vertical rhythm, painted one colour, often white, on their facing side, and brighter colours on their inner and outer surfaces. At first they appear austerely minimalist, if beautiful. But as you move, the colours shift. At times its as if geometric mists hover between you and the work. When I produce an artwork, I dont want it to be one static image, she says when we meet in her North London studio. I want you to discover something each time, whether youre walking past it or youre sitting and staring at it and you see it change in front of you because of the way the lights changing. Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures 1 /8 Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures A passer-by looks at No 814 by Rama Begum PA Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures Three year old Layla studies Barry Flanagan's Large Nijinski on Anvil Point PA Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures Richard Woods outside his holiday home PA Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures Kimsooja stands inside her work A Needle Woman: Galaxy was a Memory, Earth is a Souvenir PA Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures The Third Line By, Rana Begum NIGEL HOWARD Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures Penguin 2018 by John Baldessari PA Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures Everything is Lost by Tim Etchells PA Frieze Sculpture 2018 opens in Regent's Park - In pictures A passer-by looks at Senzenina by Haroon Gunn-Salie PA Begum, 41, was born in Sylhet, Bangladesh, but grew up from the age of eight in St Albans; she now lives in Stoke Newington, wheres shes creating a new studio and home. Her reputations growing here: a first big London show at Parasol Unit in 2016 was followed this year by one in Norwich, which has travelled to Nottingham. She did a residency and show at Tate St Ives this spring. But Frieze is a big deal. With top international museum directors, artists, curators and collectors in town, and MacGarry among Londons most respected dealers, Begums work may be seen by more influential art-world figures on Friezes VIP day than in the 16 years since she completed her MA at the Slade School. Begum has developed her practice methodically. She was immediately drawn to US Minimalism and Russian Constructivism but admits she couldnt initially understand why. With English as her second language, she felt she couldnt go down the theory route. It was through working with materials and doing the research in a practical way that I was able to get it. Fascinated by geometric form, light and colour, shes taken time to explore each quality fastidiously. Her fluency with colour, which appears so effortless, was hard won: years of research enabled her to become fluent in the language that the colours had and what they did to each other, she explains. Rays of Sunshine Artist Auction - Rana Begum But her love of colour and light is also innate. She has vivid memories of her childhood in Bangladesh, transfixed by water, straying into a bathing area reserved for men, because the low trees meant that you were getting sunlight coming in. She would spend ages just sitting and staring at the play of light and recalls her mum screaming at her for doing so. She remembers going on boats on the flooded rice fields and then watching them dry up: It was just incredibly beautiful. Also influential was the daily ritual of reading the Koran. I used to pray five times a day, and you know how elaborate the Koran is and how beautifully its decorated, she says. She adds that she craves this calmness that I used to have as a child. Early on in her career she was reticent to talk about Islamic influences for fear of being pigeon-holed. But she now feels confident enough to do so, she says, because it doesnt take away from the work. I ask if the Islamophobia in populist politics and media has also partly prompted the shift. No 814 (2018), Begums minimalist piece in coloured glass It really frustrates me, I dont like politically whats happening, she replies. I get asked: Do you believe in Islam, do you still pray? I dont pray five times a day. I dont have the time to pray five times a day, but I still believe Im a Muslim, Im bringing my children up as Muslims, I want them to be aware. Shes also proud that her two children are mixed race, with a half-Jewish and half-Christian English father. She says that Londons multicultural environment also prompted great pride. And then came Brexit, which brought back less cherished childhood memories, of growing up with a lot of racism in a St Albans street alongside other Bengali families. Thats why, for me, Brexit was just heartbreaking I felt like I was reliving all those years growing up in that street, where we had our windows broken, spat at, things chucked at, [we were] sworn at, she says. Discussing the Islamic influences on her work wasnt a direct attempt to counterbalance negative representations of Muslim culture and people, she says, but she feels it can be a positive force. As artists, were not always in a position to make any kind of difference, she explains. And if you are, and you believe in it strongly, its important to do that. Begum rightly believes in the power of her work. Before I leave, she gives me a studio tour and ends by showing me the bar piece that The Third Line will show at Frieze. Charmingly, its clear shes still beguiled by its effects. Im really excited, I feel Im still not over these works yet, she says. Theres still a lot more to discover. Rana Begums work is at Frieze, Regents Park, NW1, Oct 4-7 (frieze.com) The Evening Standard is an official media partner of Frieze London S winging Sixties icons The Kinks will be celebrating 50 years of their most celebrated album with an exhibition in London opening next week. In collaboration with Proud Galleries, the band are marking the milestone anniversary of their sixth studio album, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, with an exhibition of photography and memorabilia. Fans will get to see images from the album artwork photoshoot by Barry Wentzell, which sees the band pictured on Hampstead Heath with a backdrop of Kenwood House, as well as images of the band at recording sessions and performing on Top of the Pops. The exhibition will also include original artworks by Dave Davies, a piece by Morgan Howell, and a sculptural reinterpretation of bonus track WONDERBOY with a patina mimicking the wear and tear collected an old vinyl sleeve. All of the pieces in the exhibition will also be signed by all surviving band members Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory and all will go on sale to the public too. While not commercially successful on its release, the album has become a cult classic, praised for its witty observations of English country life and trend-defying sound. Ray Davies recently announced that he will be reuniting with brother Dave and bandmate Mick Avory to make "a new Kinks album" after a 20 year hiatus. O h my Dumbledore! Hogwarts in the Snow is coming back to the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tour and Potter fans are all invited provided you've got enough galleons, of course. Taking place from Saturday November 17 until Sunday January 27, fans of the now iconic wizarding series will be able to walk through and 'gram everything from a snow-drenched Hogwarts castle to a crimbo-themed Gryffindor common room. If you've never been before, expect sets covered in shimmering silver, dripping icicles, snow-covered magical Christmas trees and an orchestra of spellbinding instruments painted by the fabulous prop making department who worked on all the movies. Not convinced? There'll also be cauldrons on fire and you'll get to touch some of the original props used in the fantasy epic-drama. In other words, expect an epic throwback to the Yule Ball. That's not all. On December 10, 11 and 12, hardcore fans of JK Rowling's fantasy world can also feast on a slap up two-course meal (think butter roasted turkey stuffed with pork, and vegan butternut squash souffle with put lentils and root veg), and devour dessert on Platform 9 with the original train from the films in the background. There's also the chance to tour the studio exclusively after hours. Harry Potter film locations in London - In pictures 1 /11 Harry Potter film locations in London - In pictures Leadenhall Market Wizarding retail haven Diagon Alley is reimagined in the Philosophers Stone under the beams of Leadenhall Market, a Victorian covered market in the heart of the City. The Leaky Cauldron, the pub that serves as the entrance to Diagon Alley, is now an opticians in Bulls Head Passage. Oli Scarff/Getty Images King's Cross Station The barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at Kings Cross station has become possibly the most famous Potter pit stop in London. For all those attempting to magic their way onto Platform 9 and to board the Hogwarts Express, you can take a picture with the disappearing luggage trolley that has been installed by the station largely to stop fans ramming their own trolleys into the wall. Getty Images St Pancras International Station When Harry and Ron get locked out of Platform 9 and and decide, sensibly, to drive their flying Ford Anglia to school instead. As they take off on their (faintly illegal) journey, St Pancras sits in the background of their parking spot. PA Archive/PA Images Millennium Bridge The opening scene of the Half Blood Prince sees London under attack from a pack of Death Eaters. Their target is the Millennium Bridge nicknamed the Wobbly Bridge on opening due to a now-rectified structural quirk which links the St Pauls area to the north of the river to site of Tate Modern in the South. Getty Images Reptile House at London Zoo On a trip to zoo in the Philosophers Stone, Harry encounters a Burmese python and finds he can speak to it. In the films, this meeting takes place in the Reptile House of London Zoo. The enclosure featured in the film is currently home to a black mamba snake, so you can try out your parseltongue in the same spot. Australia House The opulent interior of Gringotts Wizarding Bank was filmed in Australia House, a Grade II listed building which was opened on the Strand by King George V in 1918. The building is home to the Australia High Commission in the UK, but is not averse to cultural exploits, having also hosted a 2015 fashion show by label Sass & Bide and featured in 2017 film Wonder Woman. PA Archive/PA Images Lambeth Bridge In the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Knight Bus offers nocturnal public transport to wizarding folk, including a runaway Harry. The purple, triple decker vehicle is seen in the film squeezing through an impossible gap between two standard red buses, a scene which takes place on Lambeth Bridge. As the next bridge after Westminster, Lambeth Bridge offers views of the Houses of Parliament. AFP/Getty Images St Paul's Cathedral As students ascend to Professor Trelawneys Divination class in the Prisoner of Azkaban, they journey up a spectacular spiral staircase. In the real world, this staircase has a home that is almost as grand as Hogwarts: St Pauls Cathedral. The Deans Staircase in the Christopher Wren building served as the filming location for this corner of the school. Getty Images Westminster Station In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry is called to a hearing at the Ministry of Magic in London but how does he get there? By tube of course! Harry Potter and Arthur Weasley are seen navigating the tube barriers at Westminster Station with a host of Muggle commuters, in a scene that caused the station to shut for an entire day. AFP/Getty Images Piccadilly Circus In Deathly Hallows Part I, this is where Harry, Ron and Hermione are seen to have fled here after Death Eaters attack Bills wedding. Harry Potter super fans will know that in the books, they actually ended up in Tottenham Court Road. PA Archive/PA Images HMS Belfast & Tower Bridge As Harry and members of the Order of the Phoenix journey from Privet Drive to 12 Grimmauld Place, the family home of Sirius Black, they do so by broomstick along the Thames. On that journey they pass HMS Belfast a Second World War navy warship which is moored next to Tower Bridge, another iconic London landmark featured in the scene. PA Archive/PA Images For those that fancy going to Hogwarts in the Snow, tickets start from 41 per person and can be booked here. The Dinner, however, will set you back 240, with tickets available here. We've only got one thing to say: Accio Hogwarts. From ancient religious orders to an 800 year old meat market, Clerkenwell and Farringdon have a whole lot of history. In more recent years the area has served as hub for designers, architects, jewellers and, of course, foodies. As an area populated by London culture vultures and the experts of Smithfield meat market, EC1 isnt short of people who are shrewd with their food. Still, if you want to eat well but are on a budget, the area has plenty of options. From burritos to brownies, these are the best dishes under 10 youll find there. Eccles cake and Lancashire cheese at St John This place's reputation goes considerably further than Chancery Lane. Widely credited with promoting traditional British cooking to an international audience, St John has seen itself named among some of the best restaurants in the world. The menu changes twice a day, but youll always find chef Fergus Hendersons famed currant-stuffed eccles cakes with lancashire cheese on the menu for afters. If you can push your budget to 10.50, you should tuck into the legendary bone marrow dish served with sourdough and parsley salad it's an icon of London eating. 26 St John Street, EC1M 4AY, stjohnrestaurant.com Carnitas Daddy D burrito at Daddy Donkey - 6.50 Its all about lunchtime on Leather Lane, where a procession of street food stalls make plentiful pickings. A graduate who has gone from stall to shop on the very same street is Daddy Donkey, a burrito doyenne whose kick-ass Mexican wraps often court queues out the door. Go for the black bean-filled Daddy D burrito with hand pulled carnitas, that have been slow-cooked in coca cola and guajillo chilli. Guac is extra, but still within your budget. 50b Leather Lane, EC1N 7TP, daddydonkey.co.uk Margherita at Pizza Pilgrims - 6.85 London favourite: Pizza Pilgrims If you dont eat your crusts, youre sorely missing out at Pizza Pilgrims. The edges of your pizza pie here are chewy but yielding, charred and slightly salty, and might just be the best bit. In the middle, show them off with a simple but satisfying margherita topping, featuring fior di latte mozzarella and proper chunks of basil. Find your slice on Exmouth Market, a go-to for Clerkenwell foodies. 15 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QD, pizzapilgrims.co.uk Jamon and smoked San Simon croquettes at Caravan - 6.50 Caravan do it all: great coffee, fabulous cocktails and an awful lot of lovely snacks to go in between. At the original Exmouth Market site of the now five-strong outfit, start your small plate haul off with a basket of Spanish-style croquettes, filled with creamy smoked San Simon cheese and punchy jamon, served with a dollop of saffron mayonnaise. 11-13 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QD, caravanrestaurants.co.uk Coconut and cassava waffles at The Modern Pantry - 9.50 Having celebrated its tenth birthday this summer, Anna Hansens The Modern Pantry is knocking on the door of institution status in Clerkenwell. And rightly so, as Hansens innovative cooking continues to excite. Heading in for breakfast, youll have the chance to dig into waffles made with coconut and cassava flour, drenched in maple syrup, with bacon as an optional extra. If you can spare the extra 50p, a 10.50 portion of sugar cured prawn omelette is a signature dish of the restaurant and a real treat. 47-48 St John's Square, EC1V 4JJ, themodernpantry.co.uk Berber & Q Shawarma Bar - Lamb shawarma pita - 9.50 Lets get one thing straight: Berber & Q knows its way around a hunk of lamb. This Middle Eastern-inspired barbeque joint opened an Exmouth Market location dedicated to shawarma (kebabs, basically) last year, wrapping well-fired filling in grilled pita. The lamb version comes with harissa and sumac onions, while vegetarians are extremely well catered for with the cauliflower shawarma, which comes with tahini and pomegranate seeds. 46 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE, shawarmabar.co.uk Confit potatoes at The Quality Chop House - 5.50 First things first, this is definitely a side dish. It is not a meal by any stretch, but its so good we had to keep it in. The Quality Chop Houses dedication to the meatier things in life is well-documented, but you also need to know about their confit potatoes. Super thin slices of potato end up buttery soft inside their well-fried coating, angularly shaped for maximum crunch. Do not forget these off your order or swing by at a rare quiet moment and ask for these with a glass of red wine. You'll be in and out in no time, but it'll be heavenly. 88-94 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3EA, thequalitychophouse.com Chicarrones at Morito - 7.50 It may be the little sister of Exmouth Market legend Moro, but Morito can hold its own with the big kids. Cretan chef Marianna Leivaditaki is at the helm, creating beautiful dishes packed with aromatic herbs and perfectly pitched spices for her mezze menu. Almost all dishes here come in under 10, but you might need a couple. Find a particular favourite in the succulent chicarrones, a dish of slow roasted pork belly with lemon and cumin. 32 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE, morito.co.uk Pad thai at KIN - From 9 Youre sure to be well fed at this family run restaurant, where Asian street food comes big in flavour and in portion. Pick up a pad thai here for 9 with tofu, or 9.50 with prawns or chicken, and tuck into a seriously satisfying mound of rice noodles with all the trimmings. The pad thai is picante, but spice maniacs should head straight for the pad kee mao, a drunken noodles-style dish served with aubergines, mushroom and an eye-watering amount of chilli. Both of these can be made both vegetarian and vegan. 88 Leather Lane, EC1N 7TT, kinstreetfood.com Curly Whirly brownies at Konditor & Cook - 2.75 If youve got a sugar craving to satiate, bakery Konditor & Cook is on hand. Some of the best of the bunch are the brownies, which are sold in an array of mouth-watering varieties, including the fabulous Curly Whirly. Cheesecake mixture is swirled among the rich chocolate cake its so good they do a whole occasion cake dedicated to the same combination. You can grab one for 2.75 or four for 10. A mbience 3/5 Food 4/5 Londons collective awakening to the intricacies of Thai cuisine broadly described as a shift from stodgy plates of pub pad Thai to the robust regionality popularised by the likes of Som Saa and Smoking Goat is an inarguable mark of progress. But desire is a strange thing. And sometimes you dont necessarily want to have your mind blown by black pepper lamb sweetbreads or deep-fried whole sea bass. Occasionally, your belly cries out for the same green curry that you always order, some sticky rice teased from a cling film-lined bamboo pot and maybe some crisp, MSG-laced spring rolls, dunked in store-bought sweet chilli sauce. On the face of it Kin + Deum, a new Thai place on the edge of Bermondsey Street near London Bridge, plants a flag in the territory between these poles. Formerly known as the more traditional Suchard, it has been taken over by previous owner-operator Suchard Inngerns three kids: Bank, Roselyn and Shakris. They have given it that new name (eat and drink in Thai), simplified the interior and pared back the novella-length menu with the aim of presenting in a contemporary way the Thai food they grew up eating. Kin + Deum's foodie offering: Flair, care and unexpected flourish And this guiding principle of subtly modernised homeliness tallies with what I found on meeting my old mate Charlie there for a Friday lunch. Beyond a dark green exterior theres a converted front room vibe to a bright space with a little bar, benches hung with pretty circular pillows and a decorative sprinkle of cook books, Buddha statues and painted food tins. It was nicely busy with a certain stripe of office worker (noisily excited, refilling wine glasses in a manner that suggests a forgiving afternoon workload) emerging as the dominant tribe. Armed with drinks (a Singha for me, a zingy gin cocktail for Charlie) we eased in with gnarly, succulent chicken skewers served with a rough-hewn, chilli-rich peanut dip. Shiitake mushroom spring rolls were hot and delicate. Spicy Thai tacos (which, as well as sounding like a Jamie Oliver-prompted diplomatic incident waiting to happen, seemed an obvious innovation from the younger Inngerns) were not available but Siams aubergine, a crispy half of chopped, softly steamed veg in a fiery breadcrumb, meant we didnt miss them. Running an eye over the equally approachable mains I went for Bangkoks gra pow with tofu and vegetables. It offered a well-drilled dance of forceful heat and necessary sweetness, improved endlessly by the fact that, on our attentive waitresss suggestion, I chose to top my side order of jasmine rice with a gooey-centred golden crown of a flash-fried egg. I insist you do this. Charlie had Banks massaman curry with beef named after head chef Bank, smiley and very visible on our visit and it was even more of a knockout; a powerfully fragrant, patiently cooked bowl thick with cashew nuts, buttery clouds of simmered potato and tender meat. Gathering our plates, Roselyn recommended we come back for the dinner-only crispy tamarind eggs, on the menu simply because she eats them with everything at home. Puddings of squidgy warm coconut brownie and a simple gathering of grilled banana and crushed cashews with honey cream were not up to much. Presentation throughout (mounds of rice bearing the outline of an upended bowl, retro leaf-shaped plates, coffee served in glass tankards) was the sort of thing unlikely to set Instagram aflame. But, of course, none of this mattered. Here is an independent place with a warm-glow backstory and a menu that, while playing the hits, does so with flair, care and the odd unexpected flourish. It soothes and it heartens, even as it educates. The middle ground has never looked so appetising. The best restaurants in London Bridge and Borough Market 1 /9 The best restaurants in London Bridge and Borough Market Lobos Paul Winch-Furness / Photographer Wright Brothers Borough Market Shucks away: Wright Brothers Borough Market Native Horst Friedrichs Padella El Pastor Helen Cathcart Roast Hawksmoor Borough O ver Story Restaurant Kin + Deum 2 Singha beer 9 1 East London Liquor gin 6 1 Siams aubergine 5.90 1 Grilled chicken skewers 6.50 1 Shiitake spring rolls 5.90 1 Bangkoks gra pow 8.50 1 Fried egg 2 1 Banks massaman curry 11.50 1 Coconut brownie 6 1 Banana cashew nuts 5.50 1 Boran Thai coffee 3.50 1 Cappuccino 2.50 Total 72.80 T here is, alas, no way that any review of this book can live up to the blurb on the back from Hilary Mantel: This is the biography we have been awaiting for 400 years. And this meticulous work of scholarship will almost certainly be seen as the book of the telly series that is to say, the history to flesh out Mantels Booker-winning Wolf Hall novels and their spin-offs, from which so many of the middle classes derive their Tudor history. Yet this biography is so at ease with the sources, so effortlessly scholarly, it deserves more than to be seen as Wolf Hall: the history. It is a feat. Diarmaid MacCulloch (whom I know and like) recalls the great Sir Geoffrey Elton saying of Thomas Cromwell, He is not biographable. Well it turns out he is, though there remains all manner of aspects of his life that are stubbornly unknowable. This is not a book for the general reader. It will, or should be, cited as a book of the year, but most readers will find themselves bogged down by the wealth of necessary detail, by the intricacies of the web of Tudor connections on which he is brilliant: back then the personal was political. If MacCulloch has sense, hell follow this with a slim popular paperback. This isnt to say its not terrifically readable, because it is. Its witty there are acerbic asides at every turn but this is the work of a scholar. Mr Fix-it: Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell in the TV adaptation of Wolf Hall / BBC/Company Productions Ltd The author himself, writing about the book, says that he didnt find in Cromwell a pantomime villain. Well no, he wouldnt, but what we still get here is Cromwell the complete bastard. That is, a man who was the greatest fixer of his age, who combined ideological commitment to Protestantism and the interests of his capricious master with an unholy zeal while enriching himself and his family (son Gregory got the plum priory site at Lewes) from the spoils of the monasteries. The list of his victims is too long to cite (by way of balance, they included Anabaptists, the Islamic State of the age, as well as Catholics) but in the name of king and Reformation he pursued young and old, elderly monks and friars as well as young women: killed horribly, most of them. In the case of the London Carthusians, his line is that the Carthusians were victims of the Kings savagery, rather than Cromwells. Yet MacCulloch says nothing about Cromwells deliberate and sadistic prolonging of their agony on the scaffold, and he glosses over the starvation and chaining of the others (in their own excrement), which he must have authorised. In the case of the most prominent victims, Thomas More and John Fisher whose executions shocked Europe the most he can say is Cromwell kept them in decent food and drink in the Tower. He was, mind you, a family man; the reason he never remarried after his wife died was, says the author, almost certainly because he couldnt bear to. He did have an illegitimate daughter, Jane, but that was no big deal. It was his promotion of his son whom he married to the sister of Jane Seymour that expedited his downfall. It seems his commitment to the Protestant project really was a motive force, and started early. Thus, hatred of Cromwell and his works (iconoclasm, dissolution of the monasteries) was a clear element in the Pilgrimage of Grace popular uprising, and he duly reacted with efficient savagery and treachery. T he history of Israel lies at the heart of Alba Arikhas thoughtful new novel, Where to Find Me, which in its opening moves from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1943 to the desert-lands of British Palestine in the months prior to Israels foundation in 1948. The Sorbonne-educated Flora Baum, 25, is one of many Jews newly arrived from post-Hitler Europe. Having witnessed the drip-drip of elimination back home in Jew-baiting Vichy France, Flora is seeking redemption and a restorative beauty in Palestine (The resinous scent of pine. The cyan blue of the sea). In spite of the lively intellectual ferment and disputation in the bars and cafes of Jerusalem, life is tough for Flora, with threats of militant Zionist bomb attacks. She falls in love with a Prague-born Jew, Ezra Radok, who may or may not be involved in paramilitary Jewish plots to oust the British. In a novel of startling twists and revelations, Where to Find Me leaps forwards from the 1940s to the early 1980s. Flora Dobbs (as she is now known) had married a world famous Israeli concert pianist, Henry, who died young. Subsequently she gives up their son Maurice for adoption before settling in London, in Notting Hill. Living opposite her is young Hannah Karalis, a bookish St Pauls schoolgirl, her parents and their intermittently violent teenage son Ben. To Hannah the elegant, discreetly-dressed elderly neighbour Flora radiates a magnetic allure. Who is she? The women become friends but their friendship terminates one day when, unaccountably, Flora vanishes. Two decades later, Hannah is astonished to find that Flora has bequeathed her a personal black notebook which chronicles her past in wartime France and in Israel. Prompted by the notebook, a search gets under way to locate Floras adopted son Maurice, with clamorous results for Hannah and her brother Ben. Y ou think London is a city drowning in the milk of human kindness? Think again. Were a bunch of arrogant tossers - at least, according to a YouGov survey of people who dont live here. The city itself, meanwhile, has been branded expensive, crowded and chaotic. Harsh but fair, non-Londoners. Harsh but fair. We didnt really need a survey to tell us this: we already have regional house guests for that. I fondly like to call them The Nahs. No sooner are they off the train than the moaning starts. Art exhibition? Nah, the admission fees too steep. Lunch at the farmers market? Nah, lets just make sandwiches. Pub? Nah, theyll just get some cans from Nisa. By 7pm, they have a headache its the pollution and spend the rest of the weekend sitting at your kitchen table, bitching about someone you both went to school with in the Nineties. Whos more insular: the person who moved to London, or the person who built a life 15 miles down the road from their childhood home? Alamy Stock Photo That not everyone who lives here was born here is one of Londons biggest strengths. No one arriving from Europe, Africa, Asia or, in my case, Edinburgh, can afford to be arrogant: apart from anything else, its not the most ideal attitude to adopt if you want to put down roots and make new friends. We came here to escape insularity, not to promote it. As Riccardo Tisci, an Italian helming one of Britains most storied brands, said after his debut at last weeks Burberry show: I came to England when I was 17, and very shy. This is where I cracked out of my egg. When you live here, its easy to forget how affluent London is when compared with the most impoverished parts of Britain, and why the price of every comestible and leisure activity feels so extreme. I get why non-Londoners feel that were the yolk, and theyre the egg white. But arrogant? Insular? Nah. Were all potential omelettes, bravely coming out of our shells and trying to make the best of things. fashion is killing it London is currently divided into two sorts of people: those who still havent watched Killing Eve, and those who cant stop talking about it, and are boring the pants off everyone else. Me, I think Phoebe Waller-Bridge should just write everything, including the State of the Union address and the Queens Christmas speech. While everyone is quite rightly raving about the acting prowess of Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, Im just as obsessed with the shows costume designer, Phoebe de Gaye. Not since Sex and the City has high fashion been such an integral part of a TV series, and how ace it is to see Comers character, Villanelle, rocking a pink Molly Goddard dress, Balenciaga boots, a Miu Miu bomber jacket and a brocade Dries Van Noten suit. Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase if looks could kill. More proper fashion on TV, please, everyone. Thx. Sid Gentle Films/Robert Viglasky Bowled over This weeks WTF? moment comes courtesy of Kylie Jenner, as so many WTF? moments do. Last night I had cereal with milk for the first time. Life changing, she tweeted. The internet couldnt deal with the idea that someone could have lived to the age of 21 without ever having eaten such a basic combo, and immediately set out to expose her. Within minutes, someone had found evidence of a post from 2013 showing a bowl of bran flakes, berries and milk. But wait. Maybe it wasnt milk. Maybe it was yoghurt. But then, surely the bowls sides were too clean to contain yoghurt. And so it went on. Ill tell you what that bowl contained: the dead white atoms of a million wasted brain cells spent caring about Kylie Jenners breakfast. That said, anyone who eats cereal with yoghurt is a psychopath. A re you looking for some new clothes for your Autumn/Winter wardrobe? A new fragrance perhaps? Or maybe it's a new timepiece you've been thinking about investing in? Whichever it is, look no further. We have searched high and low for the best of what's on offer now. Discover what we found, below. Label lust For those of you who havent invested in a bit of Norse Projects, try it. The Copenhagen-based brand has been a go-to for those who want to keep up with the latest trends without falling victim to them. Menswear shops such as Liberty and Oi Polloi in Soho both carry its brilliant Fair Isle knits, best worn with jeans or chinos. And the tech-y rainwear is some of the best on the market. Mac, 200; jumper, 200; trousers, 135; hat, 80 Fleur de Peau Every so often a new fragrance comes on to the market that gets folk talking. This season, its this: the latest from French fragrance house Diptyque, a mix of musk, orange and bergamot. Give something new a chance and pop into Selfridges this weekend. Spray it, let it settle and wait. When you think you cant smell it any more... guaranteed somebody will come up and ask, What are you wearing? Thats a wrap At seven feet long, it could be the biggest scarf youll ever buy, but folded along the length once and wrapped around your neck a good three times, this 100 per cent wool checked beauty is the cool choice as the weather changes. Smart enough for work, or out for a pint with a knackered denim jacket and wide camel chinos. ACNE scarf, 180 (acnestudios.com) The new hi-lo Mix up your watch look with this natty new timepiece trend. Teaming a seriously Eighties-looking Swatch with a high-end, high-spend Cartier is now a thing among trendy types. Trust us. SWATCH watch, 38 (shop.swatch.com) The theory goes that by pairing an affordable, bright watch with something classic and expensive, you see each individual watch more. That, young man, is what we call watch-style science. S hona Vertue is the woman credited for introducing David Beckham to the wonders of yoga. Her signature yoga practice incorporates lots of lunge and squat-like movements - as well as variations of glute bridges - but she says if you take anything away from her practice, there are two simple yet underrated postures you should pay particular attention to. If performed daily, they will help you to develop a stronger and more supple physique. "Theyre not very sexy positions and not very interesting on Instagram, but actually a lot of them are super beneficial for the body," she says. "See it as an investment. It takes two minutes to just wake up and do a few things." The 'ragdoll' pose First up, is the 'ragdoll' pose. Allow your head to drop down heavily in front of you, with your feet hip distance apart and knees slightly bent. Then, while loosely holding each elbow, rock from side to side. It releases tension in your neck and shoulders, while stretching out and lengthening your lower back and hamstrings. Balancing on one leg The other pose is 'utthita hasta padangustasana', which involves balancing on one leg. Begin by slightly bending both knees before lifting one knee up towards your chest. With the standing leg kept slightly bent, hold the other foot with both hands and gradually begin to stretch this leg out in front of you. This move is particularly useful for runners, Vertue says, and helps with hip mobility, strength and stability. "I try to drill it into the 20-year-olds I see, to just try these subtle movements that don't feel like they're doing much, but they are," she says. "And when I see my older clients in their 50s, 60s and 70s, they're like 'why didn't I just do this earlier?'" The fittest 60-year-olds she sees are those who religiously get up in the morning and do 20 sit-ups and a range of twists and reaches, she adds. And yoga has other benefits too... Vertue believes the discipline goes beyond delivering just suppleness and flexibility; it helps to support digestive health as well. "We dont often think about it so much in the West, so much of it is sold to us from an aesthetic perspective, but yoga is so much deeper than that," she says. "With a lot of the postures, there's a direct correlation to massaging and stimulating those digestive organs." She references the aptly named "wind relieving pose" or "pavanmuktasana" in which, while lying on the floor, you place both hands around one knee and draw it back up towards your armpit and release the opposite leg down so that it is flat against the floor as an example of this. "When youre in a deep squat position you are massaging those [digestive] organs. The problem is, we have such a seated culture these days: we sit on the toilet, we sit when we travel and eat. Our digestive system heavily relies upon (and evolved at) a time when we spent a lot of time in a deep squat." 10 minutes a day beats one class per week So, how often does Vertue think people should exercise? "For me, maybe its a little controversial, but I do say people should exercise every day. The reason why is that, these days, most people have desk jobs. Even if youre in hospitality, you might be on your feet all day, but youre not really moving your body. "If you think about your day in hours, you might spend six or seven hours sleeping, and another nine at a desk, then you might sit on the couch for another four so much of your day is just sitting or lying down. If you train for 45 minutes, or even 20, each day, it's not really that much. I always say if you can only do 10 minutes every day it'll be more beneficial than one class per week because its going to infiltrate your whole day." Her own training regime is spread across yoga, weight training and gymnastics, and Vertue recommends her clients fit in two to three sessions of resistance training per week, in addition to regular yoga. "Generally speaking I do encourage women to look towards hypertrophy thats building muscle tissue because we tend to lose a lot of muscle tissue later on. It can also stimulate bone mineral density which can help with that," she says. "I have lots of clients who are osteoporosis sufferers in their 30s and that just never used to happen." A lonely Metropolitan police detective stalked a colleague by loitering outside her home and waiting for her at the bus stop as she travelled to work, a court was told. Jose Lagares, 48, went to Svetlana Puzovics home about 10 times in a year. He was spotted hiding in a stairwell opposite the property in south London and she came across him repeatedly as she took the bus to work and went to the gym. Wimbledon magistrates court was told that Ms Puzovic had confided in him about problems with her ex-boyfriend, who was being investigated for allegedly harassing and threatening her. As a result, Lagares, a father of two who works in Scotland Yards Central North Command Unit covering the boroughs of Camden and Islington, tried to get involved in the police inquiry. Lagares pleaded guilty to stalking between September 2017 and August this year, blaming his behaviour on extreme loneliness. Julie Idowu, prosecuting, said: They are both serving police officers and the defendant has attended the complainants home approximately 10 times. Ms Idowu said Lagares approached Ms Puzovic at the bus stop on New Years Day, and he was outside her home one day in April. The defendant would be seen hiding in the stairwell in the building opposite her home, she said. Another time he was waiting at her regular bus stop and got on the bus after speaking to her. The court was told the two detectives had been friends for about 15 years and Ms Puzovic had confided in him about her ex-boyfriend. She told the defendant about it and he researched her ex-partner and found his address in the USA and information about him, including his date of birth and photos, Ms Idowu said. She told him to stop and let the police investigation take its course, but he continued to investigate this matter and asked the officer in the case to send all correspondence to him. A survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire has told a court how the actions of a fraudster who stole 62,000 from the victims' fund are "beyond contempt." Jenny McDonagh, 39, used her position as finance manager at the council to take 62,000 of money meant for victims of the fire in which 72 people died. She is to be sentenced tomorrow after admitting fraud charges. More than 50,000 of that money passed through an account under the name of Edward Daffarn, the vice chairman of survivor campaign group Grenfell United. She "used the trust placed in her for personal gain" and is "truly beyond contempt", he told Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday. "It is like pouring salt on the wounds of bereaved residents," he said. McDonagh, from Abbey Wood, south-east London, had previously pleaded guilty to two offences of fraud, one of theft and another of concealing criminal property on August 30. McDonagh took the pre-paid credit card that was loaded with money meant to be used by Mr Daffarn and subsequently topped it up 17 times. She spent the money, taken over a 10-month period, on luxury holidays to Dubai and Los Angeles, expensive restaurants and a gambling spree. Some 32,000 was spent gambling, losing around 16,000. Trips to Paris and Iceland were also paid for using the cards, as well as purchases in high street shops. Prosecutor Benjamin Holt said the money was spent on "frivolous items, for example 48 at Ann Summers". Her spending was "heavy and frequent", he added, and she had used "sophisticated" techniques. McDonagh was hired by the council in October 2017 to assist with the distribution of funds to survivors to help them pay for accommodation and other essentials. When she appeared at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday she was also charged with fraud of abuse of position in relation to 35,000 she stole from the Medway NHS Foundation Trust, which is based in Kent, whilst working in their finance department. She did this by setting up a "bogus company" in her name and paying into it, Mr Holt added. McDonagh, who appeared in court dressed in a grey blouse and looked unmoved throughout the hearing, pleaded guilty to the additional charge. Defence barrister Neil Ross said the case had destroyed McDonagh's marriage and she is now on anti-depressants and seeking counselling. A young man appeared in court today after he allegedly chased a missed flight at Dublin Airport and was pinned to the ground by police. Patrick Kehoe, 23, was detained on Thursday morning after shouting and running after a Ryanair flight as it taxied to the runway, the court heard. An airport spokesman said a male passenger was late for a flight to Amsterdam and became agitated when told he could not board the plane. Dublin's Criminal Courts of Justice heard that Kehoe, from Raheenaskeagh, Oulart, Co Wexford, broke through a magnetic door lock at Gate 106. He then started to run towards the plane, a court was told. Kehoe faces a charge of criminal damage. A man was arrested at Dublin Airport after allegedly chasing a missed flight / ashwinimadhekar89/Instagram Kehoe was released on bail following a brief appearance on Thursday and is to appear again on November 8 for direction on the criminal damage charge. After leaving court, he covered his face with a folder and shouted abuse and insults at waiting journalists. He swung his suitcase a number of times at the small crowd and made several attempts to run at them. As he walked through Dublin's historic Phoenix Park, he lowered his trousers and exposed his backside. Patrick Kehoe leaves the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin after being charged with criminal damage / PA Wire/PA Images Ahead of the hearing, a Dublin Airport spokeswoman said Kehoe had become agitated after being told he could not board his flight at around 7am. After trying to flag the aircraft down, one witness suggests he was then tackled and "pinned to the ground" by staff at the airport. The airport spokeswoman said: He was banging on the window to try and get the aircraft to wait and then broke through a door and made his way on to the apron, trying to flag the aircraft down. He was initially restrained by Ryanair staff on the apron, and airport police, who had already been contacted, arrived on the scene almost immediately and arrested him. He was taken to the airport police station and handed over to the Gardai. Speaking to the BBC, Ryanair said "Police at Dublin Airport detained an individual who breached security at the boarding gate, which had already closed. This is now a matter for local police." A contempt of court case against far-right activist Tommy Robinson was today adjourned by a judge as hundreds of rival protesters gathered outside the Old Bailey. The former English Defence League (EDL) leader, 35, was greeted by cheers from around 300 people who had earlier chanted his name. Protesters from a smaller counter-demonstration carried placards saying oppose Tommy Robinson. Robinson was ushered into court amid a large police presence as photographers and cameramen jostled for position. Tommy Robinson arrives at the Old Bailey where he is accused of contempt of court / PA The Recorder of London Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC adjourned the case, saying he would receive written submissions before making a ruling on whether there will be a substantive hearing at a later date. Tommy Robinson at the Old Bailey today / AFP/Getty Images Robinson, wearing jeans, black trainers, and a grey checked jacket sat behind his barrister Richard Furlong in court. Tommy Robinson supporters outside the Old Bailey / PA He was referred to by his real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, throughout the brief hearing. Robinson could face up to two years in jail / AFP/Getty Images T ommy Robinson attended a fresh hearing at the Old Bailey today accused of committing contempt of court as hundreds of his supporters gathered outside. The former leader of the English Defence League, 35, appeared in court from 10.30am after winning his appeal against the original finding last month . Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, faces a rehearing for allegedly committing contempt of court by filming people in a criminal trial and broadcasting footage on social media. The hearing was adjourned until October 23 after his defence asked for more time to make written submissions and Robinson now remains on bail. He was granted conditional bail from his 13-month jail sentence after three leading judges quashed the original finding made at Leeds Crown Court in May. M ulti-millionaire businessman Dinesh Dhamija has officially thrown his hat into the ring to be the next Mayor of London as a Liberal Democrat. His announcement comes after the party closed its nominations list on Monday, leaving it with five potential candidates. They include former civil servant Siobhan Benita, who ran as an independent last time around, and Lucy Salek, who fought Lewisham East in the last general election. The other two are yet to be confirmed. The candidate will be picked by the end of November. The son of an Indian diplomat, Mr Dhamija founded holiday website Ebookers, starting in 1980 with a kiosk inside Earls Court Tube station, where he sold flights to Australians who wanted to go home. In 2005 he sold it for 209 million. Mr Dhamija, who is deputy treasurer of the Liberal Democrats, said that Mayor Sadiq Khan has failed on crime, housing and transport. He told the Standard: His decision to freeze fares on Tubes and buses has created a TfL deficit. Housing, he promised 90,000 houses a year, hes delivered 6,000 so hes failed there. Crime is even worse than in New York. Transport hes failed, housing hes failed, crime hes failed. He has vowed that should he become Mayor he would spend money to pay for 2,000 to 3,000 more police officers. He believes the only way to stop knife and moped crime is by recruiting from within Londons troubled communities. Police need to be recruited from inside the community. If there are three brothers then you want one of the brothers to be in the police. Mr Dhamija is now chief executive of Copper Beech Group, a company that manages investments in sustainable projects in Romania and India. He didnt move into politics until 2014, and in 2016 he was asked by former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron to be an enterprise business adviser. The Knightsbridge residents other major passion is how the capital can better integrate immigrants. He believes all immigrants should be made to learn and speak English. He said: The top end is more or less integrated with us, but the bottom end isnt, and we need is to go deeper in and get them all to integrate. Were losing out on a lot of talent. By learning English and speaking it in the right way, it makes you much more accepted and you feel like youre part of the rest of the people. Sometimes 50 per cent of communities are isolated from the rest of the capital, especially the women Id say that for every community. A lot of women have to do the housework, and have to stay at home. A n NHS worker who was the first person to catch monkeypox in the UK has claimed excessively small gloves failed to prevent the virus from spreading. The 40-year-old, who reportedly complained about the gloves supplied by the NHS, is thought to have been infected with monkeypox while changing bedding at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. It was also thought her husband may have caught the potentially fatal virus after his face broke out in spots, The Sun reports. The newspaper quotes the hospital worker as saying: The gloves were too short to cover my arms and left my skin exposed while changing the bed. I think thats how I got infected. She also claims staff were told they were not at risk, something she dismissed as nonsense, and told a friend the gloves were "pathetically small", according to The Sun. An early case of monkeypox from Liberia. / CDCP Reports suggest the health worker developed monkeypox symptoms while working at the hospital which diagnosed one of the two earlier victims, both who caught the virus in Nigeria. The symptoms of monkeypox, an infectious virus, include developing a fever, swollen glands and extensive blistering on the skin, as well as muscle aches, headaches and exhaustion. Most people recover within a few weeks, but some can have much more severe reactions. The infection can be spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person, but there is a very low risk of transmission to the general population, Public Health England (PHE) said. Dr Nick Phin, deputy director of the National Infection Service at PHE, said the healthcare worker cared for the infected patient before a diagnosis of monkeypox was made. He added: We have been actively monitoring contacts for 21 days after exposure to detect anyone presenting with an illness so that they can be assessed quickly. It is therefore not wholly unexpected that a case has been identified. This person has been isolated and we are taking a highly precautionary approach to ensure that all contacts are traced. A n urgent 9 million order for 112 new ambulances has been placed by health chiefs amid fears none will be available after Brexit, the Evening Standard can reveal. The emergency vehicles, built by Mercedes in Germany and finished off in Ireland, are desperately needed by London Ambulance Service to help hit 999 response times over winter. Concern at the highest levels of LAS over a no-deal Brexit has seen the order rushed through to ensure they arrive before Britain leaves the EU on March 29 next year. Thirty of the vehicles, which take months to build, will enter service by March, with 82 being stockpiled in case Brexit results in supplies drying up. LAS chiefs also fear vehicle prices will soar if there is a collapse in the pound. The ambulances are completed in Ireland, where the rear box compartment in which patients are treated is fitted to the Mercedes chassis. Concerns about goods getting stuck on the wrong side of the Channel or Irish Sea, and the need for a frictionless border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, have dominated Brexit talks and remain unresolved. A report to the LAS board states: By enabling the trust to take possession of a greater number of (EU manufactured) chassis prior to March 2019, this approach also provides additional security of supply in the event of a no-deal Brexit. More than half of LASs ambulances, are six or more years old and some entered service 13 years ago. National changes to 999 response protocols mean LAS must dispatch a conventional double-crewed ambulance to more calls within seven minutes. Previously, a solo paramedic in a fast car or on a motorbike would be sent to stop the clock and await support. LAS also needs to comply with Mayor Sadiq Khans new rules on toxic air, which come into force on April 8. M ore than 20 men were found living inside a three-bed property in slum-like conditions following a raid at a house in north west London. A total of 26 beds or mattresses were found squeezed inside the semi-detached residence in Kingsbury, in Brent. Every room except for the bedroom and bathroom in the house contained a sleeping space in the 'beds in sheds' house. Mattresses were jammed so close up against the doors it made it difficult for enforcement officers from Brent Council to enter the rooms of the semi-detached house. Two men living inside the property sat on two of the mattresses / Brent Council The men living inside, some of whom were living in a crammed and windowless loft, were paying between 30 and 50 each per week in rent. Authorities were altered to the property when residents nearby complained about the number of men coming and going. One of the rooms inside the crammed property / Brent Council Councillor Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, said: "We have a zero tolerance policy against landlords who exploit tenants by housing them in slum-like conditions. No tenant in Brent should believe that they are powerless against a landlord who takes their money in exchange for squalor. We are here to help tenants fight back against rogue landlords by taking them to court." Brent Council As well as the living space being crowded, the house also had faulty smoke alarms, poor ventilation and insanitary conditions. A university professor who was brutally attacked at home called today for The Bills fictional police station Sun Hill to be brought into service as a new Met borough HQ. Law lecturer Paul Kohler said a new headquarters for Merton could be based on the industrial estate where much of the ITV series was filmed if plans to close Wimbledon police station go ahead. Sun Hill, in a converted wine warehouse on the industrial estate in Morden, featured in 2,425 episodes until The Bill was dropped by ITV in 2010. Mr Kohler, 59, says the location would be perfect for the boroughs police HQ as it sits between Mitcham, Morden and Wimbledon. Theres space at the industrial estate, and it is cheap space, said Mr Kohler, a Lib-Dem councillor in Wimbledon. This is a funding crisis and we need imaginative solutions. This is one of a number that should be looked at. Mr Kohlers proposal follows his legal challenge to Sadiq Khans plans to close more than half of Londons police station front counters. High Court judges ruled in July that plans to shut Wimbledon police station should be reconsidered, but allowed the Mayor to push ahead with the closure of at least 36 others. Paul Kohler says the Sun Hill site could be Mertons new HQ / Roland Hoskins Mr Kohler fears the Wimbledon site could yet have to shut as City Hall tries to raise 165 million from property sales and save 8 million a year through closures. Theres a danger we will lose it and everything will move to Mitcham, he said. The professor believes he only survived a gang attack at his home in 2014 because officers could get there from Wimbledon police station within eight minutes. He said if they had come from Mitcham it would have taken at least twice as long and by then I might well have been dead. Fictional police station Sun Hill (ES local feed ) / ES local feed T he family of a trainee speech therapist killed when she was hit by a bus in south London paid tribute to her today, saying: She just wanted to help people. Julia Luxmoore Peto, 27, was struck by the single-decker 225 bus as she crossed a road while out shopping in Deptford. She was treated by London Air Ambulance medics before being taken to hospital with critical injuries but died the following day. Her parents Nick Luxmoore, 62, and Kathy Peto, 63, today told of their devastation at losing their loving and kind daughter, who was halfway through a two-year speech and language therapy course at City University. Ms Peto was hit by the bus and killed while out shopping in Deptford / NIGEL HOWARD Ms Luxmoore Peto, who has an older sister Frances, 30, grew up in Oxford and lived in Hither Green, two miles from where she was knocked down. She had previously worked as a teaching assistant at Childeric Primary School in New Cross after graduating from Goldsmiths with a degree in International Relations. Her father, a psychotherapist and the author of a number of books, said his daughter believed in supporting people who were less fortunate than herself. He told the Standard: She loved her friends, the children she worked with, and her family. She had lots of friends and they were very important to her. She wanted to work with people and help people. She had travelled to lots of different parts of the world, including working at an orphanage in Mongolia during her gap year. Mr Luxmoore added: She believed in social justice and she was a feminist, and she believed in supporting people who were less fortunate than herself. She would have made a cracking speech and language therapist. Tributes to Ms Luxmoore Peto were made on social media after her death. One friend wrote on Facebook: This is absolutely devastating news. Julia had such a beautiful soul we were born on the same ward, a day apart. Witnesses said Ms Luxmoore Peto suffered serious head injuries when she was knocked down shortly before 5pm on September 16. The bus driver was not arrested. Claire Mann, TfLs Director of Bus Operations, said: Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of Ms Luxmoore-Peto who sadly died after a collision involving a route 225 bus in Deptford on 16 September. "We are working with the operator Go-Ahead in the investigation into this incident. S enior Conservatives today warned of a substantial Commons revolt if Cabinet ministers force the Prime Minister into a Brexit plan based on a Canada-style trade agreement. Leading backbenchers believe around 40 Tory MPs would refuse to back an arrangement they said would torpedo exports and create a crisis over the Irish border. Former attorney general Dominic Grieve said: There are a substantial number of Conservative MPs who see a Canada-style deal as unacceptable. It leaves us without frictionless trade with our closest partners and with the Irish border unsolved. It threatens the break up of our country and serious economic damage. TODO: define component type brightcove A member of the shadow cabinet has suggested that Labour may be prepared to bend its red lines if necessary to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Barry Gardiner, shadow international trade secretary, told ITVs Peston show compromise was in the national interest to prevent Britain going off the edge of that cliff. Senior Labour sources downplayed the remarks. With Theresa Mays Brexit proposals being opposed by Brussels, several senior Cabinet ministers, including Sajid Javid, said they would prefer a free trade agreement like the one struck after a seven-year negotiation between the EU and Canada. Jeremy Corbyn makes dramatic offer to Theresa May on Brexit deal Former education secretary Nicky Morgan backed Amber Rudd, the former home secretary, who estimated that the number of Tory rebels might exceed 40. The Canada free trade option does nothing to solve the Irish border issue and will cause significant harm to our economy, said Ms Morgan, who chairs the Treasury Select Committee. On that basis I think Amber is right. A Canada-style deal is also opposed by business groups because it would mean higher trade barriers than currently exist in the EUs own bloc. CBI chief Carolyn Fairbairn recently said that it would be the first free trade deal in history that actually increased barriers to trade. M ulti-millionaire businessman Dinesh Dhamija has officially thrown his hat into the ring to be the next Mayor of London as a Liberal Democrat. His announcement comes after the party closed its nominations list on Monday, leaving it with five potential candidates. They include former civil servant Siobhan Benita, who ran as an independent last time around, and Lucy Salek, who fought Lewisham East in the last general election. The other two are yet to be confirmed. The candidate will be picked by the end of November. The son of an Indian diplomat, Mr Dhamija founded holiday website Ebookers, starting in 1980 with a kiosk inside Earls Court Tube station, where he sold flights to Australians who wanted to go home. In 2005 he sold it for 209 million. Mr Dhamija, who is deputy treasurer of the Liberal Democrats, said that Mayor Sadiq Khan has failed on crime, housing and transport. He told the Standard: His decision to freeze fares on Tubes and buses has created a TfL deficit. Housing, he promised 90,000 houses a year, hes delivered 6,000 so hes failed there. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan ( Stefan Rousseau/PA) / Stefan Rousseau/PA He has vowed that should he become Mayor he would spend money to pay for 2,000 to 3,000 more police officers. He believes the only way to stop knife and moped crime is by recruiting from within Londons troubled communities. Police need to be recruited from inside the community. If there are three brothers then you want one of the brothers to be in the police. Mr Dhamija is now chief executive of Copper Beech Group, a company that manages investments in sustainable projects in Romania and India. He didnt move into politics until 2014, and in 2016 he was asked by former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron to be an enterprise business adviser. The Knightsbridge residents other major passion is how the capital can better integrate immigrants. He believes all immigrants should be made to learn and speak English. He said: The top end is more or less integrated with us, but the bottom end isnt, and what we need is to go deeper in and get them all to integrate. Were losing out on a lot of talent. By learning English and speaking it in the right way, it makes you much more accepted and you feel like youre part of the rest of the people. Sometimes 50 per cent of communities are isolated from the rest of the capital, especially the women Id say that for every community. A lot of women have to do the housework, and have to stay at home. J eremy Corbyns offer to back the Prime Ministers Brexit deal in return for a customs union is rejected by the Conservative chairman today. Brandon Lewis said tying Britain to the European Unions trading bloc rules would not respect the referendum result of 2016. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Mr Lewis said the onus was on Mr Corbyn to support the Government if Theresa May came back with an agreement that protected jobs. Look, I would hope the Labour Party and all parliamentarians would back the Prime Ministers deal, he said. Corbyn offered Theresa May a deal on Brexit / AFP/Getty Images The problem with what Labour outlined is that would not allow us to do global trade deals and therefore doesnt respect the referendum. If the scenery falls apart at next weeks Tory conference, Mr Lewis is the man who will be holding his head in his hands. The 47-year-old Conservative Party chairman is the safe pair of hands entrusted not only with preventing a repeat of the mishaps that befell Mrs May 12 months ago, but also for preventing civil war breaking out at a conference overshadowed by Brexit and by ministers jostling for the Tory leadership. In his opening address on Sunday, he will boast that the number of under-25s attending this years conference is double last years tally, countering the grim reality that the Conservative membership is increasingly elderly. As part of overhauling the oldest and most successful political party in the world he will unveil the first interactive conference app, which will let the rank and file provide feedback during Cabinet ministers speeches. Tory Party Chairman Brandon Lewis / Getty Images Mid-term conferences are tricky, he admitted, but claimed: I think they [the members] are much more united than we are given credit for. Ultimately the party will always come together and do what is right for the country. One headache is the inevitable beauty parade of ministers and backbenchers setting out their stalls as future leaders amid speculation that Mrs May could be forced from office. One of the great pleasures in serving in this particular Cabinet is we have such a wealth of talent, observed Mr Lewis, deadpan. We are very blessed with having so many brilliant people. But there was sincere admiration in his voice as he recalled how the PM reacted to a security breach during her keynote address last year when a prankster got within touching distance and handed her a fake P45. It was slightly surreal. But I thought the way the Prime Minister dealt with it really did show why she is so good. The calmness she didnt flinch but also the humour she showed. What lessons have been learnt from that debacle, which climaxed in letters falling off the stage backdrop? There are no magnets, no felt, he replied. He said someone setting up early that morning had brushed against the stage and the letters, which were pinned up, were knocked down. The culprit pressed them back into place, but they were loose. The foot-stomping and cheering in the hall during the speech caused vibrations that dislodged the loosest letters. It would be unfair on the people involved [to name them] but it wasnt any of our staff, Mr Lewis said. One major challenge he faces next week is to stop Boris Johnson from hijacking the conference with his campaign against the PMs Chequers proposals for Brexit. Mr Lewis claimed he was relaxed, saying it was all part of the excitement of conference. But hovering over the two men is the official party inquiry into whether Mr Johnson broke conduct rules by writing a column that said women who wear the burka resemble letter boxes and bank robbers. As the row developed, Mr Lewis tweeted that the former foreign secretary should apologise for the remarks. The chairman would not comment on the investigation, which is not expected to conclude before the party conference. But he did not regret his call for an apology. He backed Johnsons argument that Britain was a liberal country that should not ban burkas. But, he went on, all of us as politicians have to be aware of the language we use. On the issue of Brexit, the party chairman claimed that opposition to the Chequers plan among party activists and branch officers was exaggerated. Our membership is pretty pragmatic. When you talk to them about the detail in the White Paper, actually they are quite supportive of it. Did he think Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, was right to warn that a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the economy? I dont work in hypotheticals, he swerved. I think there will be a deal. Mr Lewis, whose father left school with no qualifications and rose from delivery driver to owning a confectionery company, said he absorbed his fathers values. I think the reason I am a Conservative is that work ethos and entrepreneurial spirit of my dad, he said. He did not follow his father into business, however, becoming a barrister because the law just fascinated me. He joined the Conservatives aged 26 in 1997, just as most young people were fleeing a party routed by Tony Blair. He made his name on Brentwood council, leading the Tory group to victory, and became an MP by snatching Great Yarmouth from Labour. Tomorrow he will fire the starting gun of the campaign to unseat Mayor Sadiq Khan from City Hall by announcing the result of the ballot to choose the next Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, from a shortlist of Shaun Bailey, Andrew Boff and Joy Morrissey. He stressed that the winner will make a positive pitch about what they will do for London, implying no repeat of Zac Goldsmiths 2016 campaign, which was criticised for negativity. H einz has backtracked on renaming Salad Cream to Sandwich Cream after a backlash from customers. A plan to rename the familiar sauce sparked outrage from fans of the sauce after it was announced in June. The company said it felt the name did not "fairly represent" how people used the condiment, as only 14 per cent of customers claimed they actually used it on salads. In a "very important sauce-related announcement" video yesterday, Heinz's chief of feedback, "Jenny Lettuce", admitted the company was wrong and implied that its name does not have any bearing on what it is for. The comedic clip shows her rubbing the sauce into her face and claiming it is an "essential part of my skincare routine". She said: "When we suggested Sandwich Cream you spoke up immediately. "Far be it from us to dictate your eating habits, we welcome and embrace all uses." Reading tweets from customers, she quotes one as saying: "A product name is in not a direction of how to use it. You don't call vinegar "shaky chip juice". Heinz has bowed to the "will of the people" and says it doesn't need it's name to reflect how people should use Salad Cream - even if they fancy using it as a face cream. / Heinz "We can't ignore the will of the people after all," she added. "Salad Cream is here to stay," she said, before staking a bite out of a sandwich. The marketing move succeeded in generating a lot of chatter on social media, as people discussed the sauce en masse and pitched it against their other favourites. Others claimed the brand has been forgotten about for a reason. Salad Cream has been a staple in British kitchens for over a century. It was the first Heinz product developed exclusively for the UK market, and appeared on the shelves in 1914. it became hugely popular during the Second World War as housewives used it to brighten up bland food during rationing. Bosses had previously said they were considering other names, including "Chip Sauce" and "Sandwich Cream" to appeal to younger shoppers, who tend more to use it as an alternative to mayonnaise. But 87 per cent said they wanted to keep the old name. In 1999, it was revealed that Heinz was about to axe the sauce from its "57 varieties" - there have never really been 57 - but there were major protests from shoppers who wanted it saved. The company's latest creation in the US is an amalgamation of Mayonnaise and ketchup - Mayochup. The protest actually helped sales of salad cream, the company said, resulting in revitalised branding and even a hike in the price. Joel Hughes, senior brand manager at Heinz said in a statement: "We have been truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love given to Heinz Salad Cream over the summer. What is the difference between Salad Cream and Mayonnaise? Mayonnaise is much thicker than salad cream - it contains a higher proportion of oil and egg yoke, so also has more fat content. Salad Cream is a smooth and thick stable emulsion consisting vegetable oil, water, egg or egg yolks, vinegar and an acidifying agent - and also has a much "zingier" flavour than its more traditional cousin. "Thousands of people shared their thoughts and suggested new ideas, all of which were considered, but it became clear that consumers anted to keep Heinz Salad Cream, and any other name just wouldn't do. "As a market leading business, Kraft Heinz continues to audit its portfolio in order to meet the needs of consumers. B rett Kavanaugh said his reputation had been totally and permanently destroyed as he defended himself against allegations of sexual misconduct on Thursday. The Supreme Court nominee, who was put forward for a vacant position by Donald Trump, spoke to the senate judiciary committee after his accuser Christine Blasey Ford. He said he had "never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind" with Dr Ford and the process of his confirmation had become a national disgrace. In addition to this, he said that he is not questioning whether Dr Ford was sexually assaulted but that he did not do that to her. Mr Kavanaugh called himself a victim of "grotesque and obvious character assassination" and said he "unequivocally and categorically" denied Ford's allegation. Dr Ford has alleged that a drunken Mr Kavanaugh attacked her and tried to remove her clothing at a gathering of teenagers in Maryland, stating she was "100 per cent" sure it was him. Brett Kavanaugh is speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee / Getty Images This was when he was 17 years old and she was 15 in 1982. As well as denying this Mr Kavanaugh labelled other accusations of sexual misconduct also from the 1980s made by two additional women "vicious and false". "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," Mr Kavanaugh said. "I have never done this to her or to anyone. "You may defeat me in the final vote, but you'll never get me to quit, never." The judge said he never imagined the topic of sex would come up in a confirmation hearing and told lawmakers he never had sexual intercourse during high school or for many years after that. As well as this, he said the committee has a letter from 65 women who knew him in high school. In this, he stated they said he always treated them with dignity and respect. He said that letter came together in one night 35 years after graduation and those who wrote in it knew they would be vilified if they defended him. Martha Kavanaugh listens to her son, Brett Kavanaugh testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee / Getty Images His wife, Ashley, and mother, Martha, watched Mr Kavanaugh testify. The latter had tears in her eyes. Mr Kavanaugh himself was close to tears when he mentioned his mother and daughter and, later, his father. He also told the panel that he feels part of the reason for the allegations is anger by some about Mr Trump and the 2016 US presidential election. He also feels they could have been made out of revenge on "behalf of the Clintons" US Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in before testifying / AFP/Getty Images In the 1990s, Mr Kavanaugh, was a member of the team that investigated President Bill Clinton as part of special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation. The report led to Mr Clinton's impeachment process, though he was not removed from office. Continuing on political talk, he took aim at the Democrats and blamed them for the fraught environment stemming from the allegations of sexual misconduct made. A Republican senator said Democrats wanted to "destroy" Brett Kavanaugh's life as he questioned the Supreme Court nominee. In the tirade he described the Democrats treatment of the judge as the most despicable thing I have ever seen in politics. Lindsey Graham went on the staunch defence of Mr Kavanaugh whilst questioning him in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he is a member of. Speaking to Mr Kavanaugh, who is testifying in regards to sexual misconduct allegations against him, he said: If you wanted a fair process, you came to the wrong town, at the wrong time my friend. Senator Graham said that Democrats sat on allegations against Mr Kavanaugh and sprung them on the nominee at the last minute. He described Mr Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford as victims in regards to the way he believes the situation was used politically. He said this was a desperate attempt to prevent his confirmation and described it as an unethical sham. The South Carolina senator says Democrats want to "destroy" Mr Kavanaugh's life. Brett Kavanaugh denies all allegations against him / Getty Images By doing so, he believes they wish to hold the seat open in the hope of winning the White House in 2020. The senator said a vote against Mr Kavanaugh would "legitimise the most despicable thing I have ever seen in politics." Dr Ford accuses Mr Kavanaugh of attacking her and trying to remove her clothing at a gathering of teenagers in Maryland in 1982, when she was 15 and he 17, She stated she was "100 per cent" sure it was him. A woman who claims Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her was today giving evidence through tears in a crucial Senate hearing in the US. Academic Christine Blasey Ford told the hearing that she shared her experience with a counsellor and close friends at the time but chose to keep the identity of her alleged attacker a secret. However, she said she decided to name him in July 2018 after reading reports that he was nominated for the Supreme Court as she believed it was her civic duty. Ms Ford has said she "agonised daily" over the decision on whether to come forward to speak about sexual assault allegations against US Supreme Court nominee. Ms Ford's voice cracked as she spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling Mr Kavanaugh, who denies the allegations, "the boy who sexually assaulted me". She said the alleged assault has been seared into her memory and has haunted her. Christine Blasey Ford has said she "agonised daily" over the decision on whether to come forward to speak about sexual assault allegations / Getty Images In testimony released beforehand, she said she was frankly "terrified" at the prospect of providing evidence and has been the target of vile harassment and even death threats. Committee chairman Chuck Grassley started the hearing with an apology to Mr Kavanaugh and his accuser their treatment, saying they and their families have received "vile threats". The Republican promised a "safe, comfortable and dignified" atmosphere as his committee hears from both. The momentous hearing could determine whether the Supreme Court nominee will be confirmed to the lifetime job. "It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court," Ms Fords testimony said. "My responsibility is to tell the truth." Mr Kavanaugh and Ms Ford are the only witnesses invited to give evidence before the panel of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. But the conservative jurist is facing allegations of sexual misconduct from other women as well, forcing Republican leaders to struggle to keep support for him from eroding. Protesters rally before the hearing on Thursday / REUTERS Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, said in her opening statement that sexual violence is a serious problem in the United States "and one that goes largely unseen." The committee's top Democrat told Ms Ford: "I am very grateful to you for your strength and your bravery for coming forward. I know it's hard." She criticised Republicans who have rejected Democratic demands to slow Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation process and let the FBI investigate all the allegations. D onald Trump today said that he is respected in China due to his "very, very large brain". The US president said in a briefing to reporters that the Chinese supposedly respect his intellect. Mr Trump's boast came after a speech to the UN General Assembly on his accomplishments. He was criticised for saying in the speech that his administration has "accomplished more than any other administration in history". During the press briefing, he addressed wide-ranging issues including trade, North Korea and mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanuagh. President Donald Trump held a press conference yesterday after days of meetings at the UN General Assembly in New York. / Getty Images He also doubled down on his accusations that China was meddling in the US congressional elections - following his earlier attacks that the country "floods the US with products, subsidised industries and steals intellectual property". He declined to provide any evidence to back the claims but said China would like to see him lose an election because "they've never been challenged like this." He said: "We have evidence. It'll come out, yeah, I can't tell you now, but it came it didn't come out of nowhere, that I can tell you. Now they've actually admitted that they're going after farmers, I mean, I think most of you can cover that." The US and China are locked in a trade war over tariffs after Mr Trump stuck a 10 per cent levy on $200bn of Chinese goods, set to rise again to 25 per cent. Responding to question on relations with the country, he said: "From what I hear, if you look at Mr. Pillsbury, the leading authority on China ... he was saying that China has total respect for Donald Trump and for Donald Trump's very, very large.. a'brain. He said, 'Donald Trump, they don't know what to do'." Michael Pillsbury is the director for Chinese strategy at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank. He had told Fox News in August that Beijing viewed Trump as a "superior" president, and "so smart" - whereas China typically "looks down on us as not being very bright." Beijing called the President's actions "the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy", as they also hiked up taxes on US imports. Mr Trump also claimed at the press conference that world leaders "weren't laughing at me, they were laughing with me", after the UN delegates audibly laughed during his opening remarks. D utch police have arrested seven men suspected of planning a major terror attack at a busy event with suicide vests and assault rifles. Heavily armed police arrested the men in the towns of Arnhem, about 62 miles south of Amsterdam, and Weert in the southern Netherlands, close to the borders of Germany and Belgium. The national prosecutor's office said the men were arrested on Thursday following a months-long investigation. The alleged ring leader, a 34-year-old man of Iraqi heritage, is believed to have wanted to carry out an attack at the site of a large event and cause multiple casualties, a statement said. The suspects also allegedly planned to detonate a car bomb at another location. Prosecutors said they ranged in age from 21 to 34. Three of them, including the 34-year-old Iraqi, were previously convicted of attempting to travel overseas to join extremist networks. The men were attempting to obtain AK-47 assault rifles, handguns, bomb vests, grenades and raw materials for bombs and were looking for opportunities to train with such weapons, according to the statement. Prosecutors said that the investigation sped up this month because of the suspects' "advanced preparations". Minister for Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus told Dutch national broadcaster NOS that police acted in time to prevent an attack. "In a sense it is serious, but luckily it's also good news - a terrorist cell that was plotting an attack has been taken down," Mr Grapperhaus said. E cuadors president says that he is trying to work with Britain on providing a legal solution that would see Julian Assange leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, President Lenin Moreno said his country will work for the WikiLeaks founders safety and the preservation of his human rights. Mr Assange has resided in the embassy for over six years. He faces an arrest warrant in the UK for not making a bail payment and fears he could be extradited to the US where high-level officials have spoken about prosecuting him for stealing classified information. He faced sexual assault allegations in Sweden but the case was dropped. Mr Assange has resided inside the embassy for over six years / EPA Earlier this year, Ecuador removed extra security from its embassy after it reportedly put 3.7 million into a secret intelligence budget that protected Mr Assange, according to the Guardian. In March, Ecuador's government cut off the WikiLeaks founder's internet connection after he wrote a post on social media decrying the arrest of a Catalan separatist politician. Ecaudors government has said that Mr Assanges activities such as publishing thousands of Hilary Clintons emails have compromised its relations with other countries. Mr Moreno said: I dont agree with what he does. To see someone violating peoples right to communicate privately makes me feel uncomfortable. Mr Assange is no longer editor-in-chief of Wikileaks after a decade in the role. WikiLeaks has named one-time spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson as the new editor-in-chief. T wo critically endangered tortoises that were stolen from a zoo in Australia seven years ago have finally been recovered. Police officers discovered one of the rare Madagascan radiated tortoises at a house in the northern suburbs of Perth while searching it following reports of a burglary. They suspected both tortoises, which were stolen from Perth Zoo in 2011 before being sold on, had been at the property together until the recent burglary. A hunt was launched and the second reptile has now also been found almost three weeks later. The two tortoises were taken from Perth zoo in separate cases in 2011 / EPA A 35-year-old woman has been charged with stealing and trespassing in relation to the second tortoise, which was found at a home in the suburb of Greenwood. It comes as the zoo is under pressure to review its security measures, after a baby meerkat was stolen and subsequently recovered last week. Radiated tortoises are almost extinct in their native Madagascar after years of poaching, with their wild population having halved in just five years. Vets said it was remarkable both tortoises had survived seven years without expert care / EPA Perth Zoo veterinarian Simone Vitali told Australian media that staff had given up hope of seeing the tortoises again. "We try really hard as a zoo to use these animals as ambassadors for conservation and ambassadors for critical endangerment," she said. "To have them treated as a commodity is just really soul destroying." T wo gay penguins at a Danish zoo "kidnapped" a chick from its straight parents after they neglected it, according to a zookeeper. The couple were brooding and wanted a child of their own. They saw the chick had been left alone and hid it out of sight from its parents, the zookeeper from Odense Zoo claimed. Keeper Sandie Hedgegard Munck said the gay penguin couple wanted to be parents and "thought the chicks mom and dad were being neglectful." The gay couple are seen hiding around a corner form the chick's real parents as they look for it. They are seen to huddle around it, hiding the baby between their feet. A pair of penguins search for their chick after a gay couple hid the young bird as their strong paternal instincts drove them to kidnapping. / Odense Zoo "The parents disappeared, and the kid was simply kidnapped," Ms Munck said. "I know that the female is very caring for the kid, and she is also very aggressive to us animal lovers if we get too close to the chick," Ms Munck explained. "I think the female had been out to get her bath, and then it had been the male's turn to care for the kid. He may have then left, and then the couple had thought, "It's a pity, we'll take it.'" The two males hid the chick from its parents, but when they used their unique call it responded, so the zoo-keepers intervened and returned him to his mum and dad. / Odense Zoo The zoo said there were going to let the gay penguins adopt the baby if the parents did not come back looking for it, but when its real parents realised it was missing the following day, they eventually confronted the gay couple. Zookeepers intervened and returned the chick to its biological parents. The story captured people's attention around the world - and some were reminded of the series Parks and Recreation, when civil servant Leslie Knope gives a wedding reception to two gay penguins - and then kidnaps them so they can be together in the face of hostile prejudice. Head keeper Nina Christensen told the Standard: "The keepers could hear them calling the chick and the chicks have a special sound for their parents, so it was worried, and it was calling to them." After the situation was resolved, the gay couple were later allowed to adopt an egg of their own. "Penguins steal eggs from one another because their nature is telling them they need to care for their young, and this time it was a chick they took. "But we gave them an egg from a single mother, because it's better for two to incubate together." "The other mother would understand," she added. "They are perfect now, and looking after their egg, and the single mum is fine too." Penguins go through reproductive cycles each year, and not necessarily with the same mate - but their instincts for parenting are incredibly strong, Ms Christensen added. Male penguins engage in mating rituals when they couple up with each other, including entwining their necks and sharing mating calls. "We call this couple homosexuals, and that's because they have paired up together this year," Ms Christensen said. A city hall chief has been stabbed to death in broad daylight in southern France. Pascal Filoe was killed near the city hall in Rodez, where he was in charge of local policing. French newspaper Le Figaro reported he was stabbed three times. A man was chased from the scene by a city hall employee, it was reported. The suspect has been arrested and was in custody as police appealed for witnesses. Police at the scene where Pascal Filoe was stabbed to death in Rodez / Jose Torres/AFP/Getty Images Officers said the suspect was known to police. Local media reported he acted out of vengeance days after his unregistered attack dog was confiscated. Police at the scene where Pascal Filoe was stabbed to death in Rodez / Jose Torres/AFP/Getty Images Mr Filoe was reportedly a father of three. P rime Minister Theresa May posed for pictures with New York police officers after they rescued her aides stranded on a motorway. An image shows Mrs May and the three NYPD officers stood outside her RAF Voyager plane. Mrs May and her aides were travelling back from the UN General Assembly in New York when a vehicle in her motorcade broke down. Her senior aides became stranded in the vehicle after its gearbox went. Officers rushed the team through heavy traffic to ensure that they made their flight back to London. The Prime Minister and her staff reportedly cheered the officials as they finally boarded the plane 45 minutes after their original departure time. A Downing Street source said: "New York's finest rescued the PM's team from the side of the freeway and got us to the runway for the flight home. "Just another way to deepen the special relationship, and we're very grateful for their help." I ncredible images from space show powerful Typhoon Trami making its way towards Japan. The typhoon is expected to make landfall on Japans Ryuku islands on Sunday packing winds of around 115 to 125 miles per hour. The islands have been told to prepare for powerful winds, flash flooding and power outages. Astronaut Alexander Gerst took the images of the storm from the International Space Station on September 25. Images from the International Space Station show the sheer size of the storm / REUTERS He said: As if somebody pulled the planet's gigantic plug. Staring down the eye of yet another fierce storm. Category 5 Super Typhoon Trami is unstoppable and heading for Japan and Taiwan. Be safe down there! Since he posted, Trami has been downgraded to a category 3 storm. Japan Airlines has warned customers that there may be disruptions to flights in the coming days. Typhoon Trami is expected to hit the popular island resort of Okinawa. Japan Airlines have warned of possible disruptions over the coming days / REUTERS An election for the island's governor is taking place on Sunday, the same day the typhoon is projected to hit, with residents urged to vote in advance. Japan is already feeling the force of the typhoon with tropical moisture causing rain which will continue until the storm hits directly. According to CNN, the possibility of the typhoon making landfall in Taiwan is now less likely. However northern Taiwan including Taipei is expected to be affected by gusty winds and downpours Typhoon Mangkhut Aftermath 1 /40 Typhoon Mangkhut Aftermath A woman runs in the rainstorm REUTERS A fisherman tries to salvage his damaged boat in the aftermath AFP/Getty Images A pedestrian wades through waist-high floodwaters on a street amid heavy rainfall Reuters Rescuers search for people trapped at a landslide caused at the height of Typhoon Mangkhut Reuters Traffic commutes on a road covered in debris at Deep Water Bay AFP/Getty Images A general view shows debris at Deep Water Bay AFP/Getty Images A general view shows a fallen tree at Repulse Bay beach AFP/Getty Images A woman carries a child through fallen trees at Repulse Bay beach AFP/Getty Images Large waves hit Repulse Bay beach Men use a basin to cross a flooded street AFP Rescuers use a search dog to look for victims AP Waves caused by Typhoon Mangkhut is seen in Hong Kong Reuters A tree rests on a damaged taxi AFP/Getty Images Rescuers work on the site where victims were believed to have been buried by a landslide AP A view of debris and destroyed houses at the site of a landslide Reuters An underground carpark is flooded after Typhoon Mangkhut hit Hong Kong Reuters People walk past an uprooted tree Reuters People walk past an uprooted tree Reuters People prepare to rescue a man (not pictured) trapped in raging flood waters Reuters A man trapped in raging flood waters caused by Typhoon Mangkhut Reuters A man trapped in raging flood waters Reuters Damage caused by Typhoon Reuters A taxi is left abandoned after breaking down in floodwaters AFP/Getty Images A Hong Kong hotel lobby is flooded during Super Typhoon Mangkhut A Hong Kong hotel lobby is flooded during Super Typhoon Mangkhut Rescuers search for people trapped in a landslide caused by Typhoon Mangkhut at a small-scale mining camp in Itogon Reuters Rescue volunteers carry the body of a landslide victim caused by Typhoon Mangkhut EPA People rest during rescue and retrieval operation for landslide victims caused by Typhoon Mangkhut EPA Rescuers search for people trapped in a landslide caused by Typhoon Mangkhut Reuters People continue to work during rescue and retrieval operation for landslide victims EPA People continue to work during rescue and retrieval operation for landslide victims caused by Typhoon Mangkhut in Ucab village, Itogon town, Benguet Province, Philippines EPA Workers clear scaffolding that was brought down by strong winds AFP/Getty Images A man stands in front of scaffolding that was brought down by strong winds AFP/Getty Images A women looks on as a worker (top L) removes scaffolding that was brought down by strong winds AFP/Getty Images A woman walks over mud from flooding caused by a storm surge on the floor of a restaurant AFP/Getty Images A shop owner scoops out floodwater from his shop AFP/Getty Images Rescuers continue to search for victims buried by a landslide AP Rescuers carry a body recovered from a landslide caused by Typhoon Mangkhut AP A general view shows small boats and debris washed up on a beach at Deep Water Bay in the aftermath AFP/Getty Images People wait for public transport amongst fallen tree branches AFP/Getty Images It comes just two weeks after Typhoon Mangkut battered the Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China. M acaulay Culkin is officially on the hunt for a jobfrom JK Rowling. The Home Alone superstar took to social media to send his CV to the prolific author in a bid to land a role in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the latest instalment in the Harry Potter universe. In a bid to secure his role, 38-year-old Culkin also teamed with Rowling over the racism controversy which stemmed from Claudia Kim being cast as Nagini in the upcoming film. The South Korean actress plays Lord Voldemorts pet snake Nagini in The Crimes of Grindelwald a character who is later beheaded by Neville Longbottom in The Deathly Hallows. The revelation unsettled some fans who branded the casting racially insensitive as Nagini is a cursed woman who is submissive to a man. Taking to Twitter in her defence, Culkin said: Hey @jk_rowling I'm with you! Nagini can be whatever she wants to be! She's a strong woman/snake. Also, can you write me into the next movie? I'm Macaulay Culkin (From Home Alone: The Movie) and I was also a Pagemaster (experienced with magic). The hilarious tweet comes after Rowling hit back at critics. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald - Trailer Responding to a tweet accusing her of using representation as an afterthought, she explained: The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name Nagini. "They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day. W ho wore it better, you or Jan van Scorels Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman? This is the gist of the art selfie service on Googles Art & Culture app, which launched in the UK earlier this month. Its already been downloaded five million times through the Google Play app store, and is one of the most popular downloads in the education category (the app has been available since 2016 in the US, with the selfie add-on launched in January there). The free iOS and Android app offers the service and uses computer vision technology to compare the modern self-portrait youve snapped to thousands of paintings from 1,200 galleries worldwide. My own curated selfies deliver a terrific mixed bag; like Tinder, you can swipe right to further matches (and the percentage degree to which the app thinks your face is a likeness of the portrait its dug up). My matches are largely ginger, and all bearded; a good start, as I am ginger, and largely bearded. A rosy, smiling selfie gives me a 49 per cent match with Laughing Boy with Flute, a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, so Im told, part of his series on the five senses, illustrating the well-known connection of wine and music. Does the app know Ive had a glass and whacked on Michael Jacksons Man in the Mirror to perform this vital research? Meanwhile, a stony-faced selfie brings up a 59 per cent match with a self-portrait by the French artist Henri-Fantin Latour, who I learn, through the app, is noted for conservative, floral still lives and his portraits of contemporary Parisian celebrities. Cest moi, nest-ce pas? Speaking of celebrities, luminary narcissists have been gazing down the barrel of their smartphone camera for the app too. Kate Hudson took to Instagram to share her match with Pierpont Limners Portrait of a Boy (its definitely in the pout); Amanda Seyfried to Clewin Harcourts One Summer Afternoon; and Josh Groban fancies himself as a stern 19th-century matriarch painted by the Argentinian Prilidiano Pueyrredon, in a portrait titled, Retrato de Cecilia R. de Peralta Ramos y su hijo (ooft). Google has also taken steps to compensate for the far larger pool that men, and particularly white men, have to draw from in Western portraiture, pulling from galleries across the planet. Still, Kristen Bells match with the German composer August Manns, by the Scottish painter John Pettie, is an uncanny doppelganger. Come for the selfies, but stay for the art and culture. The free app also offers an exhaustive library of art, essays, virtual gallery tours and listicles, from six now-closed exhibitions you can still see on Google Street View to a virtual tour of Berlins Pergamon Museum. Indeed, the aim of the app is to democratise the art world by providing access to thousands of top exhibits around the world through the lens of your smartphone. T he day before we meet, Andre Haddad CEO of peer-to-peer vehicle-sharing app Turo woke up at 3.30am. This is not evidence of some faddy Silicon Valley-approved way to hack daily productivity with an early start. No, its because (while simultaneously acclimatising to UK time) he was disturbed by someone requesting use of one of the five personal supercars he offers up for public use on the service. I was still a bit jet-lagged and then, ping, I got a notification telling me that somebody had booked my Tesla, says the Lebanon-born, San Francisco-based tech entrepreneur with a smile, his hands buried in the pockets of his Turo-branded black fleece. If Haddad has his way, plenty of people across London may be waking up to similar notifications very soon. Having grown rapidly in the US and Canada in the recent years, this week Turo (a public car rental marketplace snappily summarised as Airbnb for cars) finally cruises into the UK. When we meet at the Shoreditch WeWork complex that houses Turos London HQ, Haddad is confident about his companys chances in the capital. London was our most searched destination outside of North America, he says. So there are a lot of signs that this is a community where were going to thrive. There are 31 million cars in the UK and theres a lot of waste going on, with a lot of them sitting in parking garages and on the streets. This reference to inefficient vehicle use is significant. Turos stated aim which is in step with Ubers recently announced desire to minimise private car ownership in cities is to make better use of the worlds one billion cars and upend the way we think about getting around. Mobility 1.0 was a world where most people ended up owning cars and most miles were driven by personally owned vehicles, says Haddad. Thats going to be replaced by Mobility 2.0 where, instead of owning a vehicle, you have complimentary apps that replace it. Ride-hailing for city trips, bike and scooter-sharing for short distances and car-sharing for trips over 15 miles. In a practical sense, this also means Turo hosts offering their cars to the guests swiping through a Tinder-ish user interface, can make a car pay for itself and then some. Turo gets its profits from a 25 per cent commission but it estimates that, on average, if someone rented their car for five days a month theyd earn 7,800 a year. Insurance is covered on both sides by Turos Allianz-backed commercial policy, while liability coverage goes up to 20 million. This winning formula has earned the company more than 155 million in investment and seen it amass more than 300,000 cars in North America. But since it launched under the original name RelayRides in 2010, there have been more than a few legal potholes to negotiate. As with Ubers ongoing war with taxi groups, car rental giants such as Enterprise have not taken kindly to a company that cannily classifies itself as a digital middleman rather than a vehicle hire firm. They hate us and have been very active in lobbying against us, says Haddad. In just this past year Enterprise has unsuccessfully tried to pass laws that would make our lives very difficult in 17 states. Raised in Beirut during the civil war, Haddad emigrated to Paris alone as a 17-year-old. His love of DJing and vinyl-buying led to the creation of his first company, iBazar, an online auction market eventually acquired by eBay. Adversity when building a company can feel insurmountable, he says, softly. But then I just have to remember Beirut, and I just think: Oh! Piece of cake. It builds a sense of resilience. So what does he do with his wealth? Personally, Im a car enthusiast so I indulge in more cars, he says, with a chuckle. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe Ambassador of Germany in Bucharest Cord Meier-Klodt on Wednesday affirmed in western Cluj County, that he wishes to demonstrate to his country that Romania assumes its part in the management of the European problems and that next year, during the Presidency of the Council of European Union, Romania will be able to demonstrate it even more. Present in Cluj-Napoca to attend the Clujotronic festival, the most important electronic art event in Romania, organised by the German Cultural Centre in partnership with the French Institute, Ambassador Meier-Klodt spoke in a press conference about the part Romania can play in Europe in the perspective of taking over the EU Council's Presidency as of 1 January 2019. 'First of all, to maintain Europe's cohesion and solidarity, each and every one must contribute and play one's part as set. France and Germany, as important partners and promoters of Europe, know and assume this part. But, as they say a boat needs all of its men on deck. And Romania can play a very important part in the months to come. I imagine Romania firstly as an intermediary among those forces manifesting themselves on the one hand in Western Europe and the ones at play in Eastern Europe,' the German diplomat asserted.He gave the example of the recent Three Seas Initiative Summit where Romania 'made use' of the presidency it held in this event to make the meeting a very useful, with concrete results. The ambassador added that he used this invitation to demonstrate to the federal German gov't that Romania assumes its part it in fact has in managing the European problems and specified that a lot of other issues exist wherein Romania could play a part similar to the one at the Three Seas Initiative Summit, and that next year, during its mandate at the Presidency of the Council of the EU it could show exactly these things.In her turn, the French Ambassador to Romania, Michele Ramis, also present in the news conference, emphasized the particular importance of this moment of Romania's taking over the Presidency of the Council of the EU.'What we are telling our Romanian partners is that they have a responsibility, because they are to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. And Romania wishes to make this presidency a success, and we want it too, because it is in Europe's best interest. We believe that it is an important moment in the EU and its history, with significant stakes and hope that Romania be aware of this,' the ambassador of France to Romania said.Michele Ramis and Cord Meier-Klodt paid a visit to Cluj-Napoca on Wednesday, in a new diplomatic French-German initiative. The two diplomats have inaugurated together a French-German plant worth 13 million euro in the commune of Apahida. Deputy Prime Minister Ana Birchall, currently visiting the United States of America, has discussed with Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono about deepening political-diplomatic exchanges between the two countries and expanding economic cooperation. The meeting of the two officials took place in New York on Wednesday on the sidelines of the work visit Ana Birchall is paying to the US, reads a press release posted on the website of the Romanian Deputy Prime Minister. According to the cited source, the agenda of the discussions included relevant topics from the perspective of the strategic relationship between Romania and Japan, such as the deepening of the political-diplomatic exchanges, the expansion of the economic cooperation, including the encouragement of the Japanese investments in Romania, and the continuation of the dialogue on security issues."We have emphasized that the strategic relationship between Romania and Japan is particularly important, especially from the perspective of the economic dimension, especially since Japan is the largest Asian investor in Romania, the interest of the Japanese companies in our country still being on an upward trend. We count on the substantial development of the Romanian-Japanese relations also in the years to come," Ana Bichall said.At the same time, the Romanian Deputy Prime Minister stressed that, in the context of Brexit, a number of economic opportunities can be capitalized on, which can translate into an increase in Japan's investments in our country."We were honored to receive Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Romania in January, and we are determined to carry out the agreed projects in the framework of the Bucharest political dialogue," Ana Birchall said at a meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister.She also stressed that "Romania is interested in continuing the dialogue with Japan on the security and defense dimensions, as well as good cooperation, both in bilateral and multilateral format, within international organizations." Romania is one of the few allied states that observes the equitable responsibility-sharing principle within the North-Atlantic Alliance and meets all three cash, capability and contribution-related requirements, Defence Minister Mihai Fifor wrote on Thursday on Facebook, after the meeting with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis. The Romanian official discussed with Mattis about cooperation within NATO, and according to Fifor they had "an exchange of opinions on the important role Romania is ready to assume on the Eastern Flank of the North-Atlantic Alliance and in the complicated Black Sea region." "On this occasion, I reiterated that our country is a stable and credible ally that fulfills all of its commitments and responsibilities that ensue from the quality of NATO member state. In this context, the US counterpart highlighted Romania's important role in the Black Sea region. I specified that Romania is one of the few allied states that observes the equitable responsibility-sharing principle within the Alliance and meets all three cash, capability and contribution-related requirements. Firstly, the allocation of 2 percent of the GDP to Defence, for the second consecutive year, in 2018, remains a major national objective. Secondly, the development of the capabilities necessary to counteract the threats to allied security is achieved through the Romanian Army's ambitious strategy of acquisitions and endowment programmes. Thirdly, the solidity of the national commitments is confirmed by Romania's substantial contributions to the international efforts of projecting security and stability, among which the most important are the participations with servicemen in the theatres of operations within the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, the NATO missions in Iraq, recently launched at the Brussels Summit, as well as Romania's contribution to the anti-ISIL coalition, in the fight against terrorism," Fifor wrote.He underscored that given Romania's holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union as of January 2019, "our country and the Dancila Government give special attention to the transatlantic relationship," the Romanian Defence minister pointed out.The Pentagon meeting between Mihai Fifor and James Mattis "was aimed at continuing the excellent dialogue with the American counterpart, which began one year ago on the occasion of the former's first visit to Washington, and intensified in Brussels in the context of various meetings of the defence ministers of NATO member states."According to the Facebook post, the discussion agenda included priority themes of the Romanian-US Defence cooperation, focusing on security developments in the Black Sea and Western Balkans region, the implementation of the NATO Summit decisions in July, participation in the fight against terrorism, bilateral cooperation and the presence of the United States on the territory of Romania, as well as issues related to cooperation in the defence industry and major programs of endowment carried out with the US partner."During the discussions, the dynamic momentum of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States was highlighted, as well as the prospects for intensifying the defence cooperation as essential elements for the security and stability of our country and the region Romania is part of. In context, the full growth of Romania's cooperation with the strategic partner was appreciated both bilaterally and within the Alliance," Fifor said. The head of the Romanian diplomacy, Teodor Melescanu, took part on Wednesday, in context of attending the UN General Assembly in New York, in the Bulgaria-Croatia-Greece-Romania informal quadrilateral ministerial reunion organized by the Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Marija Pejcinic Buric, the MAE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) informs, in a press release sent to AGERPRES. According to the quoted source, with this occasion, aspects were discussed about the regional evolutions, as well as ways through which the states in the region can significantly contribute to promoting projects and initiatives of the EU, in order to encourage and facilitate positive evolutions. "The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated our country's support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans, one of the priorities of the future half-year Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Romania will hold as of January 1st 2019. He also underlined the importance of a tight coordination at a quadrilateral level in order to support the states in the region in implementing the necessary reforms," the MAE release specifies.According to MAE, the meeting of Minister Teodor Melescanu with his counterpart from the Republic of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, offered the framework for evoking the solid grounding of the Romanian-Armenian relations."Between the Romanian people and the Armenian people there is a long tradition of cooperation and good understanding, which contributed to numerous realizations in the plan of culture and spirituality. The two ministers reconfirmed with this occasion the desire to develop bilateral relations on all dimensions in the following period, evoking the symbolic coincidence of the two historical centennials celebrated this year, in Romania and Armenia. Also, Romania's support was reaffirmed for intensifying cooperation between the EU and Armenia," the quoted source specifies.Melescanu congratulated hisArmenian counterpart for the organization efforts of the Le Sommet de La Francophonie in Yerevan, during the period of October 7 - October 12, highlighting that the La Francophonie is still a solid argument which brings Romania and Armenia closer in our region. Furthermore, minister Teodor Melescanu addressed his counterpart from Armenia an invitation to pay an official visit to our country.Also, according to MAE, during the meeting with Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al Zayani, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (CCG), the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated Romania's interest for exploring possibilities of formalization of a cooperation between our country and the CCG, through convening bilateral documents.The meeting offered a rich exchange of opinions on some regional and international files of interest for both sides, with emphasis on combating terrorism, the security situation in Syria and Yemen, MAE mentions. In context, the head of the Romanian diplomacy underlined that Romania, as a state, will take on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and will continue to promote the necessity of a political situation for the differences in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Minister Teodor Melescanu also reiterated the support towards reconciling the states of the CCG, an organization which is extremely important for the regional security architecture, it is shown in the MAE press release.Also in context of the visit to the United States, Teodor Melescanu had a meeting with the chairman of the African Union Commission, during which he reaffirmed Romania's interest in consolidating the good traditional relations of our country with the African countries. Minister of Interior Carmen Dan stated on Wednesday evening that President Klaus Iohannis tried to induce the idea that the people who provoked the acts of violence at the 10 August rally would have supposedly been sent from the Gendarmerie, a fact which she rules out. "From the mouth of the president I understand that he is trying to induce the idea that those people were sent from the Gendarmerie, which is out of the question. I have absolutely no information in that sense and I cannot believe that someone, in a structure with very clear duties in ensuring public order in such situations, a structure that has been doing that for a year and eight months and it does it well, could conceive such a diabolic plan without telling anyone and put it into practice. It is out of the question," Carmen Dan told private TV broadcaster Antena 3. She specified the president could have requested information on the people among the protesters who initiated the acts of violence at the protest in Victoriei Square, but didn't."He passed on judgment beforehand and subsequently he had no interest in requesting information, because he has the right to do so, so that he can get some perspective. On the one hand he affirms the competent institutions must do their job but goes public on the very evening of 10 and passes judgment regarding the Gendarmerie's action. More than that, he calls on the General Prosecutor to take note ex-officio, general prosecutor who does not report to the president and who, what do you know, does it with bells and whistles," Carmen Dan further said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 27) The human rights group whose research was cited in the Senate President's proposed bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13, denounced the Senator's proposal. "We reject in the strongest terms this proposal, which will serve only to criminalise more children and will do nothing to address the underlying reasons that children become involved in crime," the Child Rights International Network (CRIN) said Thursday. Sotto filed Senate Bill 2026 on Monday which seeks to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 13 or "above twelve years of age at the time of the commission of the crime." This means children from nine years old up to 12 years of age who committed a crime would be exempt from criminal liability. There would also be an appropriate intervention program prepared for them. In his bill, the Senator referred to CRIN's research that enumerated the average minimum age of criminal responsibility in several regions in the world such as Africa and Asia, to support his proposal. "According to the study conducted by the Child Rights International Network (CRIN), the average minimum age of criminal responsibility in the African region is 11, as well as in the Asian region; while for the American and European regions, it is 13," the bill stated. CRIN strongly denounced Sotto's bill, saying it would elicit the opposite effect of curbing criminality in the country. "This is a reform that can only serve to draw more children into the criminal justice system," CRIN's statement said. The rights group urged the Senate to reject Sotto's proposal. "We urge it to reject these regressive measures that will do nothing to reduce crime committed by children," it said. The bill, if enacted into law, would amend Republic Act 9344 which dictates that the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 16. The discussion about the breaching the rule of law in Romania is "a false topic, eminently political," Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated on Thursday in the beginning of the Government sitting, adding that she brought arguments in Brussels regarding this matter, according to Agerpres. "I participated in Brussels in the meeting of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats of the European Parliament, where I had the opportunity to talk about the measures adopted at governmental level for promoting reforms at economic and social level, for increasing the living standard and stimulating investments. I underscored that all these measures were aimed at Romania's economic revival, the achievement of social justice, the defense of citizens' rights and freedoms and the balancing of the state powers," Dancila stated. Furthermore, the Executive head mentioned that the amendments brought to the justice area were made with the observance of the European values."The discussion about breaching the rule of law in Romania is a false topic, eminently political, and I brought arguments in this regard. In respect to the amendments brought to the justice area, I highlighted that they were made with the observance of the European values, in agreement with the European directives, the Constitutional Court decisions, the ECHR [the European Court of Human Rights] jurisprudence and the recommendations of the Venice Commission," Dancila stated.In relation to the protest that took place in Bucharest on 10 August, Dancila state that, although the legal framework has been breached, the guilty ones will be made accountable for their action."I showed that there is currently an investigation going and, in front of the law, we all should be equal. If breaches of the legal framework occurred on either side, the guilty ones will be made accountable according to the law in force, but only a correct investigation can determine this thing. I have all the confidence that reason will manage to overcome all these manipulations or rumors intended to induce a wrong perception about the manner in which Romania implements the rule of law principles and the European values and principles," Dancila also said.The PM also pointed out other results of her working visit, which she paid on Tuesday and Wednesday to Brussels, where she met with several representatives of the political groups of the European Parliament."The discussions were cordial, constructive and as open as possible. The message I conveyed to everyone I discussed with was that Romania is ready to responsibly manage European files in our first mandate of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the first semester of next year. In view of this mandate, I considered such dialogue to be necessary with all the political groups of the European Union's elected forum, as a first, at the member states level. We want a successful mandate, but we are equally interested in contributing to the consolidation of the European project, and this requires a consensus of all political forces, solidarity between member states and not new cleavages within the European Union," Dancila revealed.Moreover, the head of the Executive mentioned that she conveyed to the partners in Brussels "her full availability for an open dialogue with representatives of the European institutions" and "reconfirmed Romania's Government commitment to the Democratic principles and values.""Taking into account the debate scheduled in the beginning of October, in the European Parliament, I showed that, beyond the political disputes, Romania is one of the most pro-European states and always has observed its commitments to the European Union," Dancila mentioned. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila had a meeting in Brussels with Guy Verhofstadt, the chairman of the ALDE Group (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) in the European Parliament, context in which the Romanian Prime Minister reiterated the Government's commitment to respecting the European values and democratic principles. According to a press release sent by the Government, during the discussions the same topics were tackled with the leaders of the main groups in the European Parliament: Romania's political situation and the European agenda. "Concerning Romania's internal situation, the message sent was in line with the statements made at the previous meetings. The Prime Minister reiterated the Government's commitment to respecting European values and democratic principles. Furthermore, she highlighted that the reforms introduced by the Romanian Government are exclusively in the interest of the citizens and were implemented in compliance with the current regulations and after ample inter-institutional consultations and with the European partners," reads the press release.The talks ended with a presentation of the stage of preparations for Romania's taking on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union next year, the quoted source specifies. President Klaus Iohannis expressed hope on Wednesday night that Romania's evolution within the UN will convince the world leaders to support our country's candidacy for a mandate of non-permanent member in the Security Council for 2020-2021. 'Romania runs for a non-permanent member in the Security Council for 2020-2021. Through this candidacy, we assume our part of responsibility in the effort to increase the Council's efficiency. We hope that our entire evolution so far within the UN will convince you once again that Romania is determined to support the United Nations Organisation in its activities of promoting peace and development for all of its members. Peace, development and justice are the paramount rocks of our multilateral strategy. We respect our partners and we count on dialogue. We rely on your extremely priceless support for our candidacy. Romania will make a responsible partner in promoting the UN common agenda,' Klaus Iohannis stated within the general debates of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Defense Minister Mihai Fifor discussed with members of the American Congress on the military cooperation between Romania and the United States, informs a press release issued on Wednesday by the Ministry of National Defense (MApN). According to the quoted source, the Romanian official, who is on an official US visit, had a number of meetings with US Senators Lindsey Graham - member of the Budget Committee and Armed Services Committee, Joni Ernst - Chairman of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, and with James Inhofe - Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. "On the agenda of discussions with US officials there were subjects of common interest, such as the projects within the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI), the defense-related bilateral cooperation between Romania and the US, defense planning and procurement, resources allocated to the defense sector; the major programs of endowment carried out with the American partner and the status of "dependable undertaking." During the discussions, the dynamic pace of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the US was highlighted, as well as the constant support provided by the US to Romania, especially in terms of strengthening the security on the Eastern Flank of the Alliance," the MApN release reads.Minister Mihai Fifor also invited the US senators to visit Romania in the immediate future to continue the meetings with Romanian officials and to see firsthand concrete aspects of the practical cooperation between Romania and the United States in the joint projects in the military bases of Mihail Kogalniceanu, Campia Turzii or Deveselu. In this context, Senator Lindsey Graham has already informed that a number of visits to Europe are scheduled in October, including to Romania. The President of the Senate, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, declared on Wednesday evening, that the leader of the European People's Party in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, does not know the situation in Romania, after saying that he is "extremely worried about the situation in Romania". "It's regrettable that we have people who are hurting Romania very much, promoting and spreading a series of fake news. I saw Mr. Weber's statement, a statement that, from my experience, I can say was not a spontaneous one, but rather it was read off a prompter. Someone, who does not know the situation in Romania, prepared it for him. He was just reading a statement, with some phrases that I have been hearing, spread by some and that have no real basis about the situation in Romania," Tariceanu told private TV broadcaster Antena 3. He maintains that there can't be any talks about sanctioning Romania, in the sense of the application of Article 7."I was in Brussels yesterday and nobody even dared to raise this issue, not in the sense that they did not dare because it would have been an impolite gesture towards me, but rather because this topic does not exist. Certainly, on October 3 there will be a debate in the European Parliament, where the Prime Minister of Romania is invited. It is not a singular case, we mustn't make a drama out of this matter. I think that it is very good that the Prime Minister is invited to speak, to present a point of view on certain concerns that exist at the level of the European Parliament," Tariceanu added.The leader of the European People's Party in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber said on Tuesday that he "is extremely worried about the situation in Romania", after a meeting he had in Brussels with Prime Minister Viorica Dancila. Ilan Laufer, a former minister for business, commerce and entrepreneurship, has been appointed vice-president for relations with the US of the National Coalition for Romania's Modernisation think tank (CNMR), according to a CNMR statement. "The National Coalition for Romania's Modernisation continues to consolidate its external representation and announces the appointment of Mr Ilan Laufer as CNMR deputy chairman for relations with the US. (...) The US is the partner with whom the CNMR has had privileged relations at academic, political, civic and economic level. The nomination of Mr Ilan Laufer, a former minister for business, commerce and entrepreneurship, is designed to support the Romanian government's efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership with the US, with particular attention to be attached to multiplying economic opportunities between Romania and the USA." According to CNMR, CNMR pays special attention to the strategic partnerships between Romania and countries that are its main trade or security partners."Thus, CNMR, as a representative organisation of the Romanian society in all sectors of social life, will nominate a heavy-weight personality for its relationships with each partner country," says CNMR.CNMR Chairman Alexandru Cumpanasu said that Ilan Laufer, as Smart Start Coordinator USA coordinator, is already identified as "a man with real and concrete solutions and support" in the Romanian business community."CNMR supports the 500-million-USD Smart Start USA programme and we encourage the entire Romanian business community to take advantage of this opportunity created by Ilan and the project partners. I am all confident that Ilan will succeed in boosting Romania's relationship with the US and he can count on my full support. Smart Start USA is living proof that things are possible when there is a will and a man determined to build," added Cumpanasu. The Minister of National Education, Valentin Popa, confirmed on Thursday, for AGERPRES, that he decided to resign from his position. Western interference in all things Bosnian is hardly news. Not today, not yesterday, not 26 years ago, when the then-US ambassador to Yugoslavia, Warren Zimmerman, encouraged Bosnian Muslim fundamentalist leader Alija Izetbegovic to reject a peace plan accepted, incidentally, by the very same Bosnian Serb leaders soon to be demonized by the unipolar West as aggressors on their own land that had a good chance of preventing the outbreak of a bloody, three-and-a-half-year civil war that produced about 100,000 dead and many more wounded and homeless people in this former federal republic of ex-Yugoslavia. But it is news when such a charge comes out of the mouth of Serbias president, Aleksandar Vucic, who, although eager to keep and develop good relations with Russia and China, has over the years remade himself into an essentially pro-Western politician, whose main ambition is to integrate his country and the rest of the Balkans into the EU, torpedoes be damned. Thus, Vucics announcement that, as soon as the October 7 general elections in Bosnia were over, he would present "astonishing evidence of the most brutal interference of certain Western powers in the elections in Republika Srpska (one of two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a majority Orthodox Serb population, taking up 49% of the country, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dominated by Muslims and Catholic Croats), is a fairly reliable sign that the West has truly outdone itself, even by its own standards of democracy export, going so far, in Vucics words, that certain Western ambassadors were calling opposition candidates and threatening them not to switch allegiances, otherwise they would answer both for real and imagined crimes. The first accusations of US meddling in the upcoming Bosnian general elections could already be heard back in May, when the Bosnian Serb government presented evidence to the UN Secretary-General regarding US State Department and USAID media financing designed to influence the elections, to the tune of more than $12 million. Then in June, President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik similarly accused the British government, referring to its decision to send 40 intelligence specialists to, as British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (he of the go away and shut up Russia fame) put it, counter malign external influence as meddling in internal affairs and an act that borders on intrusion into this country. In August, Dodik once again pointed his fingers at the Americans, charging that they were interfering in the upcoming elections by funneling anti-corruption funds to local, anti-government NGOs. And then in the first days of September, Dodik reproached the outgoing US ambassador to B-H, Maureen Cormack for you guessed it flagrantly meddling in political processes and elections in Bosnia, having lobbied for US sanctions against the vice-president of Dodiks party, Nikola Spiric and his family, for alleged corruption during the 2014 (!) election campaign. In Spirics own words, Cormack made a desperate move 28 days before the general election in order to help her puppets from Sarajevo the Alliance for Change. Dodik went even further, opining that Cormack was, in fact, the ambassador of George Soros, and that the real reason behind the sanctions against Spiric was his refusal to support the anti-Serbian agenda of the B-H Intelligence-Security Agency and participate in a commission that was supposed to legalize eavesdropping of him, current Republika Srpska Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic, Serbian President Vucic and other officials of Serbia and Republika Srpska. Earlier in the month, before the sanctions against Spiric had been announced, Zeljka Cvijanovic had already publicly accused the B-H agency of illegally eavesdropping on around 70 officials from Serbia and Republika Srpska. So the stage is set for, to say the least, eventful elections in the (former) unipolar worlds model democratic and multi-ethnic protectorate, Bosnia and Herzegovina, still supervised by a de facto viceroy in the form of a High Representative, with a constitutional court in which three of the nine judges are foreigners, and unwieldy and paralyzed institutions that are producing a fatalistic cynicism amongst its populace. That is, if regular elections even take place. For, there are increasing fears that there is a (naturally) Western scenario for preventing or voiding the elections in Republika Srpska in order to block the victory of Dodik and his ruling coalition. According to sources cited by Serbian Sputnik, two scenarios are in play: according to the first, the elections would be sabotaged in advance if it was judged that Dodik is too strong, while, according to the second, the election results would not be recognized should Dodiks party gain the majority of the vote. Mass demonstrations would be incited in either case, with the lead role being played by the British, due to the weakening of Americas Balkan policy under Donald Trump. The mass demonstration scenario is not unrealistic. Demonstrators in varying numbers have been occupying the main square of Banja Luka, the Republika Srpska capital, for months, accusing the government of complicity in the death of 21-year old David Dragicevic, even though they have yet to produce concrete evidence (doesnt that sound familiar) for their claims. The victims father has even threatened that there would be no election in Republika Srpska until the murder of David and other children is solved. The demonstrations are obviously well financed, and are supported and occasionally attended by members of the pro-Western opposition. And, considering that, on the eve of the elections, Dodik is slated to visit Russia and meet its president, Vladimir Putin (Russia has consistently upheld the integrity of B-H, as provided for by the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995, and the absolute equality of its three constituent peoples, which was reiterated during Sergey Lavrovs recent visit to the country) it will indeed be exceedingly difficult for the end-of-history West to refrain from trying to teach the Balkan deplorables at least one more lesson in democracy. Because all the previous ones there and elsewhere Syria, Libya, Iraq instantly come to mind have produced such wonderful results Perhaps it is Donald Trumps business background that leads him to believe that if you inflict enough economic pain on someone they will ultimately surrender and agree to do whatever you want. Though that approach might well work in New York real estate, it is not a certain path to success in international relations since countries are not as vulnerable to pressure as are individual investors or developers. Washingtons latest foray into the world of sanctions, directed against China, is astonishing even when considering the low bar that has been set by previous presidents going back to Bill Clinton. Beijing has already been pushing back over US sanctions imposed last week on its government-run Equipment Development Department of the Chinese Central Military Commission and its director Li Shangfu for engaging in significant transactions with a Russian weapons manufacturer that is on a list of US sanctioned companies. The transactions included purchases of Russian Su-35 combat aircraft as well as equipment related to the advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile system. The sanctions include a ban on the director entering the United States and blocks all of his property or bank accounts within the US as well as freezing all local assets of the Equipment Development Department. More important, the sanctions also forbid conducting any transactions that go through the US financial system. It is the most powerful weapon Washington has at its disposal, but it is being challenged as numerous countries are working to find ways around it. Currently however, as most international transactions are conducted in dollars and pass through American banks that means that it will be impossible for the Chinese government to make weapons purchases from many foreign sources. If foreign banks attempt to collaborate with China to evade the restrictions, they too will be sanctioned. So in summary, Beijing bought weapons from Moscow and is being sanctioned by the United States for doing so because Washington does not approve of the Russian government. The sanctions on China are referred to as secondary sanctions in that they are derivative from the primary sanction on the foreign company or individual that is actually being punished. Secondary sanctions can be extended ad infinitum as transgressors linked sequentially to the initial transaction multiply the number of potential targets. Not surprisingly, the US Ambassador has been summoned and Beijing has canceled several bilateral meetings with American defense department officials. The Chinese government has expressed outrage and has demanded the US cancel the measure. According to media reports, the Chinese Department purchased the weapons from Rosoboronexport, Russias principal arms exporter. This violated a 2017 law passed by Congress named, characteristically, the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which sought to punish the Russian government and its various agencies for interfering in in the 2016 US election as well as its alleged involvement in Ukraine, Syria and its development of cyberwar capabilities. Iran and North Korea were also targeted in the legislation. Explaining the new sanctions, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert issued a statement elaborating that the initial sanctions on Russia were enacted to further impose costs on the Russian government in response to its malign activities. She added that the US will urge all countries to curtail relationships with Russias defense and intelligence sectors, both of which are linked to malign activities worldwide. As engaging in malign activities is a charge that should quite plausibly be leveled against Washington and its allies in the Middle East, it is not clear if anyone but the French and British poodles actually believes the rationalizations coming out of Washington to defend the indefensible. An act to Counter Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions is, even as the title implies, ridiculous. Washington is on a sanctions spree. Russia has been sanctioned repeatedly since the passage of the fraudulent Magnitsky Act, with no regard for Moscows legitimate protests that interfering in other countries internal politics is unacceptable. China is currently arguing reasonably enough that arms sales between countries is perfect legal and in line with international law. Iran has been sanctioned even through it complied with an international agreement on its nuclear program and new sanctions were even piled on top of the old sanctions. And in about five weeks the US will be sanctioning ANYONE who buys oil from Iran, reportedly with no exceptions allowed. Venezuela is under US sanctions to punish its government, NATO member Turkey because it bought weapons from Russia and the Western Hemisphere perennial bad boy Cuba has had various embargoes in place since 1960. It should be noted that sanctions earn a lot of ill-will and generally accomplish nothing. Cuba would likely be a fairly normal country but for the US restrictions and other pressure that gave its government the excuse to maintain a firm grip on power. The same might even apply to North Korea. And sanctions are even bad for the United States. Someday, when the US begins to lose its grip on the world economy all of those places being sanctioned will line up to get their revenge and it wont be pretty. As police continue to investigate the murder of a Papamoa man, they says New Zealands murder rate is the lowest it has been in 40 years. A 22-year-old man is facing one count of murder following a fatal stabbing in Papamoa on Sunday. The accused appeared in Tauranga District Court on Monday, where he was granted name suppression and remanded in custody, without plea, until his next court appearance. Official figures released by the New Zealand Police today show the number of homicides in New Zealand is declining. A new report details official homicide victims statistics between 2007 and 2016, plus provisional figures for 2017. It covers the homicide of 686 people over the 10 year period, including murder and manslaughter offences. On average, there were 74 homicides a year between 2007 and 2011, dropping to 63 between 2012 and 2016. The lowest number was 58 in 2016, with the provisional number for 2017 even lower at 48. The report shows the murder rate is currently at its lowest since the early 1970s, and is less than half that of the late 1980s and early 1990s. National manager of criminal investigations Detective Superintendent Tim Anderson says although the number of homicides is declining, it doesnt change the fact that every one of these numbers represents a grieving family. Victims are at the heart of everything police does and we are committed to bringing a sense of closure to their families by holding those responsible to account. Its this commitment and dedication which saw police resolve more than 96 per cent of homicide cases. Sixty-three people were killed by their current or ex-partner between 2007 and 2011, dropping to 52 between 2012 and 2016. Around 75 per cent of these victims were female. We know that family harm is a serious issue that affects people of all ages and across all parts of society. Disturbingly, children under the age of five made up 12 per cent of homicide victims. These children represent the most vulnerable members of society, who are too often killed by the people whose job it is to keep them safe. Police are working hard alongside our partner agencies to help at-risk families and individuals get the support they need to improve their lives. I hope to see homicide numbers continue to fall, and police will continue working hard every day to make this happen. The report is available here The Whakatohea Pre Settlement Claims Trust has welcomed a vote on whether to continue the current Settlement process, re-mandate, or hold a Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry. The vote will commence on October 1 and will run until October 26. The vote was recommended by the Waitangi Tribunal following its inquiry into the Trusts mandate to negotiate a Treaty settlement on behalf of Whakatohea. The Tribunal found that the Crown had breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by recognising the mandate and recommended that settlement negotiations be paused while Whakatohea vote on how to proceed. In doing so, the Tribunal recognised the package in the Agreement in Principle was worth preserving. Whanau who affiliate to Whakatohea will be asked to vote on whether they support the Whakatohea Pre Settlement Claims Trusts to continue negotiations, or whether they want Treaty negotiations stopped for a re-mandating process, or a full Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into the historical grievances of Whakatohea. Trust Chairman Graeme Riesterer says the Trust is pleased that Whakatohea has an opportunity to come together as an iwi to decide its shared future. Our iwi is a collective of strong Whakatohea hapu with a shared connection to our whenua, our moana and our tangata, he says. The Trust works on behalf of all Whakatohea, including those of us here now, as well as those of us to come. We are proud of the progress weve made towards establishing an enduring settlement for our people. We believe the upcoming vote provides an important opportunity to test the pulse of the Whakatohea nation and for whanau and hapu to decide on what happens next in our shared settlement journey. Graeme says that while no settlement will ever be enough to fully compensate Whakatohea for the wrongs it has endured, the Agreement in Principle the Trust has negotiated with the Crown provides the tools for the iwi to be able to drive its own future. Our settlement recognises Whakatohea mana whenua, mana moana and mana tangata, he says. It acknowledges our collective mamae and ensures our ahi ka will be supported to help our marae, our tikanga and our kawa thrive. More broadly, we believe it provides a platform for our rangatahi, our future leaders, to make their dreams and aspirations come to life. The Agreement in Principle includes an apology to Whakatohea from the Crown, the transfer of more than 6,692 hectares of land to Whakatohea, $100 million, including funding support for cultural and reo revitalisation. The Trust is encouraging all Whakatohea whanau to vote, as they did two years ago, in support of the mandate. In 2016, 91.6 per cent of those who participated in the vote, voted in favour of the mandate. If the direct negotiations process is reconfirmed, the Trust will complete deed negotiations and the iwi of Whakatohea will be asked to confirm by vote before signing the Deed, if it wishes to proceed. If you whakapapa to Whakatohea, then its your birth right to have a say on our shared future we want all whanau to have that opportunity to vote, says Graeme. The Trust believes we owe it to our elders to finish the work they started. We look forward to having our direction reconfirmed so we can achieve a settlement that will give our tamariki and mokopuna opportunities that our parents never had. The voting process is being managed by Electionz as the Independent Returning Officer. Further information about the vote and the proposed Whakatohea settlement can be found at www.electionz.com/whakatohea. Semifinal hopes are hanging by a thread for the Bay of Plenty Steamers after their fifth Mitre 10 Cup loss on the bounce last night in Rotorua. A late rally as a yellow card reduced the visiting Manawatu side to 14 men gave them the chance of stealing the win, and had Kaleb Trask been able to send his optimistic last ditch penalty attempt another five metres they would have, but time ran out with them still 17-15 down and they had another dispiriting defeat on their hands. The Steamers will be wondering how that one got away from them as they did more than enough hard work to win the match comfortably, but once again the problem of throwing away promising positions with handling errors and penalties cost them dear. Manawatu were forced to doing a lot of defending, but on the rare occasions they got the opportunity to attack they grabbed them with greater pace and penetration. The result was just two first half tries, including one inside the first minute, but as it turned out they, along with a second half penalty, were enough. For all their dominance, including a clear edge in the scrums, the Steamers weren't able to cross the line until the second half was 27 minutes old. Replacement lock Aaron Carroll barrelled his way over for their first try, and then Luke Campbell, on as a midfield back substitute, set up a tense finish with the second from the team's best passing movement of the match with two minutes remaining. Kaleb Trask, doing the kicking job after first five Jason Robertson went off injured in the first half, hit the post with the first conversion attempt but nailed the second with a hurried drop kick. Then came his chance to win the game with the last minute penalty attempt, which fell agonisingly short. In hindsight they may regret the decision to hand the ball to him to go for the posts, which always looked a bit optimistic from the halfway line. Kicking for the corner and setting up a lineout drive may have been the better option. The Steamers leave Rotorua with just a single bonus point, taking them to 10 on the Championship division table. They remain in fifth place, five points behind Otago, whom they play in Dunedin on Wednesday night. Bay of Plenty You will be driving the Roller and also required to help out the team hands on. You will be working around Tauranga, for... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Click the image above to watch the video In today's forecast we are expecting a fine day with southwest breezes. It's a three-clothing and one-windproof layer day today with a high of 17 and an overnight low of 6 degrees. Humidity is 85 per cent. Low tide is at 3pm and high tide is at 9pm (Tay Street times). There's a sea swell of 0.3m with a sea temperature of 15 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 6.12pm. If you're going fishing the next best fish bite time is between 6pm and 9pm. On this day in NZ history in 1899 New Zealand answered the empire's call to arms. Premier Richard King Dick Seddon asked Parliament to approve an offer to the British government of a contingent of mounted riflemen to serve in South Africa. Amid emotional scenes, the members overwhelmingly endorsed the motion only five voted against it. In world history on this day in 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, soon to be known as William the Conqueror invaded England. In 1904 a woman was placed under arrest for smoking a cigarette on New Yorks Fifth Avenue. In 1924 three U.S. Army aircraft arrived in Seattle, Washington after completing a 175-day round-the-world flight. In 1928 Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when he noticed a bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory; it remained for Howard Florey and Ernst Chain to isolate the active ingredient, allowing the miracle drug to be developed in the 1940's. In 1959 Explorer VI, the U.S. satellite, took the first video pictures of Earth. In 2008 SpaceX launched the first private spacecraft, Falcon 1. Today is the birthday of Al Capp, the cartoonist who created the Lil Abner comic strip. Born in 1909 he once said "Success is following the pattern of life one enjoys most." To get involved in activities and events please check out our What's on page. Have a great day! A newly formed Tauranga-based biosecurity group today welcomed a campaign that aims to protect New Zealand from invasive pests and diseases. The national Ko Tatou This Is Us campaign, unveiled last night, focusses on the personal and cultural impacts of a biosecurity breach and asks all New Zealanders to help create a biosecurity team of 4.7 million. Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital (TMBC) is already working locally to counter biosecurity threats through community collaboration. The new initiative brings together community groups, iwi, industry and business, councils, central government, science and education representatives for the first time, to lead and take action towards biosecurity excellence. We are right behind the new national campaign, which is going to help us show people that we have so much to lose and it is essential that we work together to protect what is precious to us, says TMBC co-chair Carlton Bidois. He says keeping invasive unwanted organisms at bay matters to anyone who enjoys harvesting kaimoana from the sea or interacting with the regions iconic mountains and native forests. It also affects everyone earning a living and operating a business in the Bay of Plenty, where our economy is dependent on the natural environment. A single organism like the brown marmorated stink bug or fruit flly could bankrupt the horticultural sector and its families overnight. Kauri dieback and myrtle rust could see the potential annhialation of our iconic kauri and other indigenous tree species, severing the inherent cultural genealogy and traditions Maori have with the natural world. Biosecurity Minister Damien OConnor will launch the new Tauranga Moana Biosecurity Capital initiative at a biosecurity excellence symposium in Tauranga on October 16. The group is also co-ordinating a week-long series of related events around the region. Carlton says TMBC is already attracting interest from other communities, in the Waikato and Taranaki. There is nothing like it anywhere else in New Zealand and we think we can really lead the way here in Tauranga Moana. Cabela's LLC has lodged a complaint against two groups of former employees alleging unfair competition and misappropriation of confidential information, according to court records. A case filed by Cabela's on Aug. 16, lists Ryan Wellman, Trent Santero, Mike Riddle, Jeremy Nesbitt and NexGen Outfitters, LLC as plaintiffs in the case. A similar case, filed August 8, is against Matt and Molly Highby and Highby Outdoors. Both cases were filed in Delaware courts because jurisdiction of the companies involved are in that state, and agreements involved specify Delaware law holds jurisdiction. Cab... Jackson Feddersen of Sidney went on trial in Cheyenne County District Court Wednesday, charged with robbery and burglary. Four additional felony charges, stemming from an Aug. 31, 2017 incident, were dismissed by Judge Derek Weimer Monday. Nine women and three men on the jury, plus two alternates, heard opening arguments from attorneys, followed by testimony from witnesses and law enforcement officers assigned to the case. Among those testifying was the alleged victim of the crime, Ryan Stettner, who said two or three individuals entered his home in the early morning hours of Aug. 31. Stet... Farmers and Non-Farmers Alike Should Be Aware of Dangers On And Off Farm Watch for large and slow moving equipment on roadways when driving, and trucks entering from the road from fields. LINCOLN As combines pop up in fields across the Midwest, the Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Corn Growers Association encourage farmers, as well as local residents and visitors, to take a second for safety in rural areas this harvest season. To help promote farm safety, "National Farm Safety and Health Week" kicked off September 16 and ran through September 22. This week-long farm safety promotion has taken place every year since 1944 and occurs during the third week of each September. The theme for this year's farm safety promotion is "cultivating the seeds of safety." According to th... Vitalix Inc. is moving its Alliance office and production to Sidney. They plan on starting production this weekend. Pictured from left are: Sean Clymer, Jason Mashek, Johnny Hajek, Tony Dykes, Dylan Kaiser, Gary Hecht, Dennis Latka, Phil Olson and Gary Olson. In June, the Vitalix facility in Alliance was destroyed in a fire. The company was soon in a dire situation trying to keep up with customer demand, even with other facilities capable of producing their product. Since then, the company has moved to Sidney and expects production to begin this weekend. "I think they fought the fire for about eight hours," said owner Greg Olson. According to the company website, the Vitalix products are formulated to be used as self-feeding supplements with all types of roughages, to increase feed efficiency and overall herd health. Their product is a molasses... We know that all things aren't always what they seem, and such is the case with Ron Balduzzi's 1948 F1 Ford pickup, an old rat-rod looking truck that's anything but. His truck is all Ford, but not what you think. Instead of a Flathead, 100-horsepower V-8, the old truck is sporting a 4.6-liter 300 horsepower V-8 taken from a Lincoln, and in place of a barely-there interior that you might expect, the F1 has leather inside. The exterior is just what Ron wanted, rough and rugged but in good condition. What do we mean by that, after all, there's probably not more than two ounces of paint on the truck. The original color is obliterated, but judging from the firewall it may have been the Glade Green that Ford offered that year. The thing is, the body is granite solid with some surface rust here-and-there, old primer in a couple of spots, and lots of bare metal. All-in-all, rap your knuckles on a fender and you will quickly see what these trucks were made of. Before you disparage such a truck, understand that the rat-rod, or ol' skool' crowd, as they like to be known, sees things differently than people who want shiny metal and bright colors. Neither is wrong, it's just that the ol' skool' gang gets its road kicks for less money than the other guys. Ron, a Ford aficionado for many years, said he wanted to take a new route in terms of a fun car. "I've had Fords forever, but I wanted something different," he said. His last Ford was a '77 Bronco. You remember them, Ford's legendary, utilitarian, reliable, go anywhere SUV-type vehicle. As he's done many times, Ron bought the Bronco, had fun with it for a while, then sold it for someone else to enjoy. "I decided I wanted an old truck like this one. I looked everywhere. I wanted the interior to be nice but the outside to be rough," he said. Ron got what he wanted on eBay, in Fresno, CA. So, you're thinking, what the heck, how did he know what it would be when he got it? Well, he already knew the body was original and well used, and from photos, he knew the interior was retro with leather seats and a fine array of gauges on the instrument panel. In any event, it was light years ahead of what else he saw closer to home and in person. "I looked at probably five or six trucks, but most of them were really rough. I wanted a nice interior and modern drivetrain, but the old body with the fat-fender look," he said. One truck he looked at was north of Tupper Lake, another was in New Jersey, but those two, and a couple more he saw, didn't strike his fancy. He said they were terrible. The California truck, seen only online and in photos, captured his imagination. The California ride came with pluses Ron coveted; it has an independent rear suspension to smooth the ride and handling, the body was chopped and channeled, but the exterior is what it is, slightly rusty and showing hard use after 70 years. Ron said what he likes about the truck is he doesn't have to worry about how he uses it or where he parks it. "You can't hurt it." Somewhere along the line the truck's taillights were reshaped to accept taillights from a 1951 Ford, and there's a nice subtle pinstripe design on the nose of the hood, odd things you might say for such a truck, but that's the brilliance of people who drive rat rods; they find subtle ways to express themselves with their cars and trucks. The truck also has power steering and power brakes, and a cigarette lighter that Ron uses to plug in his SiriusXM radio. The leather interior gives the casual observer a hint that this isn't just another beat up farm implement. The original flat instrument panel is still in place but is refinished and outfitted with retro gauges. What it didn't have when it arrived in Lakeland was a floor in the box. "I knew that, the owner told me," Ron said. So, Ron got some lumber from a friend who was remodeling his liquor store in Lakeland using old barn wood on the interior. When he was done there were a few boards left over that Ron took to build the bed floor. A friend suggested that he put hinges on the floor so it could be lifted to expose the air ride suspension and exhaust system, another nice touch that's not an everyday thing on any truck. All-in-all, Ron's truck is singular in style and presentation; it's old, but newer, well used, but seasoned, ol' school, but oh so cool! 1948 Ford F1 pickup SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Dr. David R. Smith's pay padding was even more brazen and extensive than previously known, according to a criminal complaint filed this week against the former SUNY Upstate Medical University president. Smith and Steven Brady, a former Upstate senior vice president, both filled out paperwork on Sept. 1, 2007 giving themselves unauthorized pay raises from the SUNY Research Foundation. Smith's annual pay hike was $28,450 and Brady's, $10,000. Smith, 64, who now lives in North Carolina, pleaded guilty Monday in Syracuse City Court to three counts of official misconduct, a misdemeanor. As part of a plea bargain, Smith agreed to pay $247,419 in restitution, $189,412 of which will go to the foundation. That represents the total amount he pocketed between 2007 and 2013 from the unauthorized raise. He will be sentenced Dec. 10. State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott called Smith's pay padding "an extraordinary theft." She said Smith " ... shamelessly corrupted his position of trust and exploited the university's lax oversight." Smith's conviction is the latest chapter in a series of controversies that have rocked Upstate, Syracuse largest employer, over the last five years. Smith is the second former high ranking Upstate official convicted in the pay padding scandal. Meanwhile, two law enforcement agencies and a top state watchdog agency are currently investigating unrelated matters at Upstate. Scott's office and state Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood's Office jointly investigated the pay padding scheme. The AG's office is prosecuting the case. The case was originally investigated by the FBI and federal prosecutors, who dropped the probe after concluding there was not enough evidence to bring charges. In the complaint, the AG's office says Smith knew he was not allowed to unilaterally give himself pay raises or tell others to do so without permission from SUNY's chancellor. Brady, 70, of Chittenango, pleaded guilty in May to falsifying business records and agreed to cooperate with investigators. He has already paid back $60,000 he received as a result of the unauthorized Research Foundation raise. Smith was Upstate's president from 2006 until he resigned in 2013. While he was president Smith's annual salary was $363,000. He also got $250,000 a year from the Research Foundation, which supplements the pay of many top SUNY officials. In addition he got an annual housing allowance of $60,000 and the use of a car for state business. The criminal complaint says Smith used various methods to illegally add to his compensation. One way was giving himself the unauthorized Research Foundation pay raise. Smith also got Upstate to reimburse him for housing expenses over and above his housing allowance. A 2015 SUNY audit found Smith was improperly reimbursed $80,036 for housing expenses such as plowing, landscaping, house cleaning and other services. Smith subsequently repaid the $80,036 as part of a $104,000 payment to SUNY. But the investigation by the offices of the Attorney General and Inspector General found Smith's unauthorized housing expenses exceeded the amount found in the SUNY audit by $58,007.95. He has to repay that as part of the restitution. The people at Upstate who processed the reimbursements for housing expenses believed they were appropriate because Smith had signed off on them, the complaint says. David Buske, an investigator for the AG's office, said in a statement unidentified witnesses told him Upstate stopped reimbursing Smith's housing expenses in 2012 after it was determined the payments could have tax consequences. To make up for the loss of those payments, Smith, a pediatrician, more than doubled the supplemental pay he received from Upstate's Pediatric Services Group from $42,000 to $89,747, according to the complaint. That group is a partnership of pediatricians who teach at Upstate and care for children in the Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital. That extra pay was used to cover expenses that exceeded Smith's housing allowance, the complaint says. In 2009 Smith directed Brady to set up an unauthorized deferred compensation plan to benefit Smith and other Upstate executives, according to the complaint. A 2015 SUNY audit found Smith authorized $1.4 million in payments from a medical school fund to set up deferred compensation plans for himself, Brady and Wanda Thompson, a former Upstate senior vice president. Smith was supposed to get $320,000. The money was taken from Upstate's chief administrative officer fund controlled by Smith, Brady and other top Upstate executives. The $1.4 million was transferred to MedBest Medical Management Inc., a nonprofit affiliate of Upstate used to set up the deferred compensation plan. MedBest, which is controlled by Upstate and its doctors, provides medical billing and staffing services. Brady was MedBest's executive director. The SUNY audit showed MedBest set up the deferred compensation plans without the required approval of its board which never discussed the plans. Resolutions approving the adoption of the plans were signed only by Brady, according to the audit. Brady admitted in court he falsified business records to set up the compensation plans. The complaint says the "majority" of the $1.4 million, including the $320,000 earmarked for Smith, was returned to Upstate's chief administrative officer fund after Smith resigned. William Dreyer, Smith's attorney, said he had no comment on Smith's guilty plea. Smith could not be reached for comment. Smith said in a 2015 interview with syracuse.com he never asked to have his housing expenses reimbursed out of Upstate's chief administrative officer fund. He said it was Brady's idea. He also said the deferred compensation plan was created legally. Smith's criminal conviction could prompt state regulators to take disciplinary action against his medical license. His New York medical license has lapsed, but his medical license in North Carolina is active. The 2015 SUNY audit faulted Upstate for failing to routinely audit its chief administrative officer fund to prevent abuse and make sure officials were not dipping into it inappropriately. SUNY announced a series of reforms in 2015 requiring Upstate to more carefully account for the money in the fund by following written guidelines and opening the fund's books to regular audits. SUNY also reaffirmed its policy that says the chancellor is responsible for authorizing pay and benefits for the president. On the same day Smith pleaded guilty, Joanie Mahoney announced she is resigning as Onondaga County Executive to become chief operating officer of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and serve as a special advisor to Upstate. Mahoney said her role will be to help right the ships at the two SUNY schools. Upstate has been embroiled in controversy in recent months over a $660,500 severance agreement with its former hospital CEO and the departure of a senior vice president who quit after news stories revealed he lied about his past during a speech on campus last year. Upstate paid $660,500 to Dr. John McCabe, its former hospital CEO, for a 14-month off-campus assignment that involved no work, according to documents obtained by syracuse.com. Sergio Garcia was Upstate's chief of staff and senior vice president. He resigned from his $340,000-a-year job in May after an Albany Times-Union story debunked several assertions he made in a 2017 speech, including a claim he narrowly escaped a car bombing in Afghanistan. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick recently said his office and the state Inspector General's office are jointly investigating Upstate. The state Comptroller's Office also is investigating. It is examining Upstate employment contract and human resources issues in the wake of Syracuse.com's revelations about Upstate's payment to McCabe. Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245 Syracuse, N.Y. -- About half of the leaves in the Adirondacks are changing colors, New York's tourism agency reported today in its weekly report. "Gorgeous fall colors at the midpoint of change have arrived in some areas of the Adirondacks region," the Empire State Development Division of Tourism said. "Projected colors throughout the rest of the state are expected to remain at the early stages of change through the weekend." The Adirondacks is always the first region in the state to see fall colors, thanks to it northern location and higher elevations. This year's colors could be pushed a little earlier by very dry conditions; much of the Adirondacks have received just half or less of the normal rainfall in the past two months. Here's a look at this weekend's expected color change, as provided to the tourism agency by spotters around the state. Adirondacks Saranac and Tupper lakes, about 45 percent color change Old Forge, 35 percent Lake Placid, Lake Pleasant and Ticonderoga, 10 to 15 percent Capital Region Saratoga Springs, Gloversville, 15 to 20 percent Rensselaer County, 10 to 20 percent Catskills Belleayre Mountain in Highmount, Ulster County, 25 percent Central New York Mohawk, 30 percent Schoharie County, 25 percent Utica, Binghamton and Chittenango, 15 to 25 percent Cooperstown and Norwich, 10 to 15 percent Onondaga County, 10 percent Finger Lakes Seneca, Chemung and Steuben counties, 25 to 30 percent Cayuga, Monroe counties, 15 percent Other areas of the state are at 10 percent color change or less. Contact Glenn Coin: Email | Twitter | Google + | (315) 470-3251 About 35 people gathered in front of the federal building in downtown Syracuse on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 to rally against Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation and to voice their support for victims of sexual violence. The voices of protest against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh were loud in Syracuse Thursday afternoon. Chants of "Say it once, say it again, no excuses for violent men!" filled the area in front of Syracuse University's Hendricks Chapel as nearly 100 students and community members voiced support for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. In downtown Syracuse, about 35 people gathered in front of the federal building to rally against Kavanaugh's confirmation and to affirm their support for victims of sexual violence. Protesters chanted "Kava- No!" and "We Believe Survivors!" In his testimony before the Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh angrily denied any wrongdoing. Speakers at the Syracuse ralley urged students to support sexual assault survivors and to hold their legislators accountable by voting for candidates that support women's rights in the upcoming midterm election. After the speakers were finished, the crowd joined together in a circle, where each was invited to place red tape on their mouths, reflecting sexual assault victims without a voice of their own, and paused for a moment of silence for victims. Syracuse, N.Y. -- It is Dr. Sunny Aslam's day off. And he'd dressed like it is. He wears baggy denim shorts, sneakers and has a shadow of stubble on his face. But he's still headed to work. For free. Aslam is a psychiatrist. His day job is at Upstate Medical University's Psychiatry department where he teaches and works at the Upstate Addiction and Pain Management Clinic. He does something rare for a busy doctor: "I give people my cell phone number and say, 'Give me a call. I'll come out and do whatever you need,'" Aslam says. He makes unofficial rounds on Friday morning, his day off, to the homeless shelters and to the streets if someone asks. This day, he has a medical student along in his small electric car. Aslam's business cards are in a box on the floor. He always apologizes for having left them there. He only carries a pen and a folded piece of paper. He jots notes on the back while he walks doctor-fast. Aslam is treading through the center of a quiet, hidden crisis. National data shows that at least a third of people who are homeless are suffering from mental illness. And roughly the same number are addicted to drugs or alcohol. They are also among the hardest to help because they have no permanent address, often no phone number and usually more than one problem. On any given night, more than 400 people in Syracuse sleep in shelters. Dozens more sleep outside and hundreds live on the margins of homelessness, surfing from one couch to another. **** "Sunny!" Kenneth Robinson says as he catches sight of Aslam. Robinson is in a wheelchair. He's been staying at the Rescue Mission. He's a 62-year-old recovering crack addict. Robinson says it's been more than two years since he's used. He was Aslam's patient a few years back, when Aslam worked at Hutchings Psychiatric Center. Robinson, who was brutally abused by his father when he was a child, hasn't forgotten the doctor. Aslam hugs Robinson. Then asks if he can say something uncomfortable. Sure, Robinson says. Robinson has arthritis and is severely overweight. So much so that he is wheelchair bound. "Your weight is killing you," Aslam says. He asks if Robinson would like help. Then he tells him they can help him with food addiction at the addiction clinic where Aslam works. He writes the number down for Robinson, who goes to the phone bank almost immediately and places a call. Then Aslam meets with Angela Lefler, a caseworker at the Rescue Mission. They talk in a glass office. Outside it, a man lies on the floor and more wait on couches and in chairs for lunchtime to come. Aslam's list here and at the other shelters is not patients or appointments. There will be no billable hours. Often, it is an introduction. A second try to get someone who needs help to take it. In this business of helping the hardest to help, it may take a dozen tries. This day's list between two shelters included a man so mentally ill he had stopped talking. If he is there when Aslam stops by, he always tries. Maybe this time will be the time, the caseworker says hopefully. It was not. At Catholic Charities, there was a heroin addict the shelter manager had hoped would be there when Aslam stopped by. But the man had already left, searching for his next high. She worries it will be his last. You can call if he comes back, Aslam says, making sure she has his cell number. He can get the man into detox if he wants; the clinic has an outpatient detox program. Back at the Rescue Mission, Aslam goes upstairs to an empty suite of medical offices. It had been used by a program that provided some onsite psychiatric services in the shelter. But the space has been vacant since the program ended last year. This day, Aslam meets with a man who says he injects anything anyone tells him will get him a high. Through a closed door, his story is still loud enough to hear: he went on a binge for days and days, shooting up a drug called "Molly." He became covered in abscesses. He does not want Aslam's help this day. Aslam doesn't arm twist. What are your goals? Can I help you? Often, the answer is: no. He doesn't get frustrated. He doesn't waste time when someone turns down his help. He simply comes back, again and again. **** Aslam's father was a vascular surgeon in rural Maine. He often took patients who couldn't pay. Instead, they brought vegetables or mowed the lawn for Aslam's family. His father didn't ask. People simply did what they could to repay him. "They would say, 'Your dad saved my life, so I'm going to mow the lawn," Aslam says. Aslam wants his rounds at the shelters and on the streets to be more than charity. He has been shopping a proposal for a program that sets up psychiatric care and addiction treatment aimed specifically at the homeless. It would be part of Upstate's medical school, teaching students while providing service. It would be similar to the House calls to the Homeless program Dr. David Lehmann operates out of Upstate. Aslam is trying to get funding for it. He's also trying to figure out exactly what services already exist for the homeless who are mentally ill and drug addicted. There are a variety of places that offer some services, including a 24-hour rapid response mental health team funded through a state grant. New services come and go. And there are big cracks to fall into. So people keep calling Aslam's cell. John Tumino is one of them. Tumino, of the homeless street outreach In My Father's Kitchen, takes Aslam with him to visit the hardcore homeless who rarely come in to shelters. "The challenge for us is our people are living outside and won't go to a shelter. They can't get to a doctor," Tumino says one Friday. Aslam goes to them. "These people are falling through the cracks. He's trying to provide a service so they don't fall through the cracks anymore," Tumino says. On one of Aslam's recent days off, he went with Tumino to visit a man who lives in a camp outside. That day, the man didn't want to talk. But he did a few days later. A psychiatric nurse practitioner who began volunteering with Aslam met the man and provided the diagnosis he needed to get into a supportive housing program. **** Back at the Rescue Mission, Aslam uses the empty medical office to speak with Gary Dean. Dean is 46, but he looks older. He lists for Aslam the medications he takes for his schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. Dean is a recovering heroin addict who has been clean for two years. He has hepatitis C. He had struggled with anger in the past, getting into some trouble at CPEP, the region's psychiatric emergency room. Dean was arrested and banned after getting into an altercation with a doctor there. But this day, he is happy to speak with Aslam. Aslam listens more than he talks. He reviews the drugs Dean is taking. He thinks there are some that might work better. And Aslam wonders, out loud, if some of Dean's trouble is behind him now that he's been clean for so long. Would you like to come to the clinic next Wednesday, Aslam asks Dean. Dean barely pauses. This day, he would like help. Yes, he says. I'll call and make an appointment. Aslam takes a scrap of paper and writes down the number for Dean. Dean takes it, puts it in a manila envelope of important papers that he keeps folded in his sweatshirt pocket. He promises to call. "I just want to live a decent life," Dean says. Marnie Eisenstadt is an enterprise reporter who writes about people, life and culture in Central New York. Have an idea or question? Contact her anytime: email | twitter | Facebook | 315-470-2246 Neighbors of Onondaga Nation organized petition to rename holiday To the Editor: I'd like to thank you for your Sept. 20, 2018, article, by Chris Baker. This is an important issue and one I am pleased to see that is being explored in the context of dialogue and open discussion. However, the author stated, "Last fall, members of the Onondaga Nation rallied in front of the statue and created a petition requesting Columbus Day be renamed Indigenous Peoples Day." That is inaccurate. That event and the one planned for this year on Oct. 8 was and is being organized by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation. Recognizing Indigenous People's Day has been an interest of our organization for several years. We have participated in its commemoration at Syracuse University. We have followed the progress of other colleges and cities adopting it as a holiday with great interest and appreciation. I hope that Syracuse will join this movement in the years to come and applaud Walsh for moving the discussion forward in this way. Sue Eiholzer Jamesville The writer is a member of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON). Article showed bias, ignored monument's respect for Native culture To the Editor: Reading Chris Baker's article on the coming dialogues regarding Columbus Day and the monument in downtown Syracuse, and the opposing stances that reflect some in our community, left me concerned. Since I support the federal holiday for Columbus and the statue and monument at Columbus Circle in Syracuse, I saw the jaded slant that Baker's article had. When Baker wrote about Mayor Ben Walsh and his request to InterFaith Works for setting up dialogues, he wrote factually with no slant. When it came to any description of Columbus and the monument, it became slanted with apparent negativity on the part of the writer . I sadly became aware of what the writer thinks. Columbus's so-called "exploits" were actually explorations. The negative bias is on the word "exploits" is evident. The example of Columbus "enslaving indigenous people and punishing the indigenous who were disobedient with violence and death" is not conclusive. History books have not settled that question at all. The word "discovery" in the context of exploration is the correct choice of a word. Look it up. But notice there is nothing in Baker's article about Columbus being the foremost explorer of his day. He was also a man of morals and faith and was adamant about expanding Christianity as he was about trade. He never initiated the African slave trade. That is in the history books, also. One of the tableaux on the monument is the presentation of the Native Americans to the Court of Queen Isabella. There you can see them dressed in their finery presented to the queen in a very honorable and respectful manner. No mention of the past 85 years and Italian-Americans having wreath ceremonies there. Italian-Americans' fierce pride in their heritage that Columbus represents and their fierce love of this country are being represented in the ceremonies. President Franklin Roosevelt made it a federal holiday in 1938. Nothing mentioned. If you do any reading of the history of the very first ceremony, you will read about how the Farewell Speech was presented by an Onondaga Indian and how the Italian sculptor, Renzo Baldi, was made an Honorary Tribal Brother. You will read why the turtles are there at the statue -- an Iroquois symbol representing the Native American belief of North America rising from the oceans on the backs of turtles. The four Native American heads there were meant to acknowledge and respect the Native Americans, not to belittle, as Baker implies. Revising history from 500 years ago is a charade, a false notion, a devastating belief that America and this hemisphere were founded in evil and continue to be evil. Negative people must foster negative notions to justify their existence. I am negative; therefore I am. Bob Gardino Syracuse The writer is a retired teacher in the Syracuse City School District. Columbus, like astronauts, sailed bravely into the unknown To the Editor: Columbus Day is upon us. Some of us will celebrate while others will advocate to drop this day and replace it . We are at a time when all things past are seen through the lens of the present, so therefore our vision and judgment are narrowed . Why keep this day and why honor Columbus? "Out into the unknown, out in search of peoples and places unknown, a global odyssey." This is not a line from "Star Trek," but instead words that might have been said of Columbus in 1492 in Palos, Spain, as he left on his journey of exploration. No, not conquest, but exploration. Much like our astronauts Shepherd, Glenn and others, Columbus went out into the unknown in search of new worlds, to discover, to confront and to bring together the known and unknown. Columbus, like our space explorers, was brave and curious. Upon leaving Palos, there was little hope of return. Bravery was paramount , as to be able to return to Spain against the prevailing winds would have required several months of arduous sailing with little food and water. Much like our astronauts of today, he knew little of what he would encounter. So hail Columbus, hail his crew , hail the bravery, the skill and the risk-taking. Because of them the other side of this world was found and the two worlds became one. There were some losses and some gains by both, but in the end we are one, and that is what we should celebrate. Josephine Thomas Syracuse The writer is a member of the Sons and Daughters of Italy , Progresso Lodge 1047, and the American Italian Heritage Group. UNITED NATIONS - President Donald Trump hopes to release his Middle East peace plan within two to four months and conclude a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, if one can be made, during his first term in office, he said Wednesday. Sitting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he prefers an outcome that would give Palestinians a separate state. That is the most specific he has been about what he wants to help negotiate. "I like two-state solution," Trump said. "That's what I think works best." A separate Palestinian state alongside Israel has been the stated goal of U.S. peacemaking efforts for two decades, but the Trump administration had until now declined to endorse it. Trump had said previously that he would support a two-state outcome if that was what both sides wanted. "I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done before the end of my first term," Trump said before he and Netanyahu met on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly. At a news conference later Wednesday, Trump expanded on his preference for two states, observing that "in one way it's more difficult, because it's a real estate deal," but "in another way it works better because you have people governing themselves." He called himself "a facilitator" who would help the two sides reach the deal they both prefer. "I think probably two-state is more likely, but you know what? If they do a single, if they do a double, I'm okay with it if they're both happy," he said. During their meeting, Trump put the Israeli leader on the spot by saying that his decision last year to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem must be reciprocated by Israeli concessions to the Palestinians. "Israel will have to do something that will be good for the other side," Trump said in response to questions from reporters. Netanyahu did not respond. He has endorsed the goal of two states in the past, but members of his right-wing coalition oppose the idea. Naftali Bennett, Israel's right-wing education minister, immediately tweeted that his Jewish Home Party "is part of Israel's Government, there will not be a Palestinian state which would be a disaster for Israel." Trump called the Jerusalem embassy move "probably the biggest chip" on the negotiating table. By removing it, Trump said, he had cleared the way for talks without one of the major obstacles that have sunk past peace efforts. He did not say how he wants Jerusalem's status to be resolved, and he did not mention the Palestinian demand that a future state have its capital in East Jerusalem. Trump said the plan will probably be released in "two, three, four months." That timeline - beginning after the November midterm election - is also more specific than Trump's advisers have been about the next steps for a package deal that has been largely complete for months. The plan, headed by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser, is expected to address all the major issues in the seven-decade-old conflict. Trump said it will contain ideas that have not been tried before. Trump predicted that the Palestinians will "100 percent" come to the bargaining table and said both sides want a deal. Palestinian leaders have boycotted the Trump administration since December, when the president announced that the United States would now consider Jerusalem the capital of Israel. The Trump administration said the announcement does not prejudge Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem or address the status of holy sites, but Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the move proved that Trump cannot be trusted to broker a fair deal. Trump said he would like the agreement to be "solid, understood by both sides - really, semi-agreed to by both sides," before formal negotiations begin. Netanyahu thanked Trump for the embassy move, saying, "You changed history and you touched our hearts." The U.S. Embassy had been in Tel Aviv, about an hour's drive away, so as not to show favoritism to either side. "The Palestinians can have powers to govern themselves but they can't have the powers to threaten Israel," Netanyahu said in a news briefing with Israeli media outlets Wednesday. "Peace means that all hostilities cease, not giving the Palestinians means to escalate the conflict." Netanyahu's goals for the meeting with Trump were more focused on Iran and new tensions with Russia over a downed Russian jet in Syria and the transfer of Russian S300 missiles to the Syrian army that could challenge Israel's military advantage over its neighbors. He did not make any public commitments to Trump about the peace plan or possible negotiations. Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, who led failed negotiations in President George W. Bush's second term, met Tuesday night with Abbas in New York and urged him to reopen diplomatic channels with the United States. "I welcome Trump's words and the two things he said about the future of Israel - the steadfastness of the United States alongside Israel's security and its support for the two-state solution. Both are important for our future," Livni said. FULL RANKING: The 24 best NY public universities, ranked for 2019 New York state has some of the best colleges in the country. With 64 campuses, the State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the U.S. Also, the Excelsior Scholarship helps families earning $125,000 per year to attend college tuition-free at all CUNY and SUNY colleges. According to the 2019 ranking from Niche, two schools in Central New York are among the best 24 public universities in the state. The ranking is based on reviews from students and alumni, plus analysis of academic, admissions, financial, and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education. Here are the top SUNY schools in CNY: #20 SUNY Oswego Enrollment: 6,868 Acceptance rate: 55 percent Graduation rate: 66 percent Tuition: $8,191 (in-state) or $17,841 (out-of-state) #2 SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry Enrollment: 1,711 Acceptance rate: 54 percent Graduation rate: 75 percent Tuition: $8,543 (in-state) or $18,193 (out-of-state) Check out how the University at Albany, Binghamton University or SUNY Geneseo ranked below. NEW YORK (AP) -- Dozens of the 400,000 residents of the nation's largest public housing system emotionally told a judge Wednesday what it's like to live with rats and cockroaches and mold in buildings where elevators, heat and running water are unreliable. "We cannot live safety and healthily in these terrible conditions," said Monica Underwood, one of the residents. The voices were added to 700 others who described their lives in letters before U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III heard comment on a proposed $2 billion settlement of lawsuits aimed at holding the New York City Housing Authority, known as NYCHA, responsible for decades of neglect. Lawyers for the city, the federal government and NYCHA urged Pauley, a Manhattan jurist, to approve the deal, which includes the appointment of a monitor. An organization representing tenants urged its rejection, saying more money and expertise should be part of the settlement. The judge did not immediately rule whether the deal was fair, reasonable and adequate, though he cautioned that "problems of this magnitude cannot be fixed overnight." According to a consent decree, the city agreed to pay $1 billion over four years and an additional $200 million annually for the following six years. The litigation came after investigators learned that widespread mismanagement at NYCHA had failed to respond properly to thousands of annual complaints by residents about lead paint, broken elevators and locks, insufficient heat, mold and an infestation of rats, cockroaches and bedbugs. Various speakers Wednesday recalled deceptive practices within the housing authority that prevented inspectors from finding dangerous or unsanitary conditions and enabled NYCHA employees to dodge ensuring that problems were fixed. Nicole Gueron, a lawyer for At-Risk Community Services Inc., urged Pauley to reject the settlement, saying it would leave in place managers and employees who'd lied to authorities before. "The consent decree is just not enough," she said. "It is doomed to fail." Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Yalen said scrapping the deal would create uncertainty and possibly litigation with no settlement. "We believe this is the best deal we could have negotiated," he said. Even the judge suggested at one point that placing NYCHA in receivership might be a possibility. Yalen said the federal government believed that was not the right course. "This is ultimately an institution that has to stand on its own two feet," he said. Attorney Debo Adegbile, speaking for NYCHA, said creating a receivership would be like having the federal government "taking over a city and running the whole city." "There is no easy path, only difficult paths," he said. At the outset of the hearing, Pauley seemed to acknowledge as much, citing "decades-long failures at all levels of government to provide safe, sanitary and decent housing." "Problems of this magnitude cannot be fixed overnight," he said. A new report says sex offenders in New York State are being legally placed in group homes for people with developmental disabilities. WKBW reports The Jonathan Carey Foundation has identified at least 40 registered sex offenders who were placed in those homes because they have diagnosed developmental disabilities. The advocacy group's founder, Michael Carey, says it's a concern because friends and family of people living in those group homes are not alerted when a sex offender moves in. "New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood must legally direct Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Commissioners of DOCCS and OPWDD as well as the Executive Director of the Justice Center to immediately cease from placing convicted sex offenders from prison into state and private group homes for people with disabilities," Carey said. "The Attorney General must also ensure that all sex offenders placed within the system statewide are swiftly removed to protect our most vulnerable from preventable sexual assaults or rape. Anyone involved in committing these felonies must be held accountable to the full extent of the law." According to CNY Central, a law was recently proposed to make it illegal for sex offenders with developmental disabilities to be in community residences. The bill was passed by the State Senate this year, but stalled in the Assembly. Carey says it should still be a felony because a state law (NYS Penal Law 260.25) states, "a person is guilty of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person in the first degree when he knowingly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a person who is unable to care for himself or herself because of physical disability, mental disease or defect." Carey, who started the foundation after his son Jonathan died at a state facility, says he found 33 sex offenders in group homes for people with developmental disabilities in the Albany area. Another two were located near Buffalo and five were found near Rochester. "These are our most vulnerable citizens, and they are defenseless," Carey told WHAM-TV. "They need help, and their families need help." The Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) told WKBW that staff at group homes take certain precautions for every resident, which can include enhanced supervision and restricted phone or internet access. "Under State law and decades long practice, people with developmental disabilities who have sex offender designations can be and have been legally and appropriately served in group homes," a statement said. OPWDD only provides services for people with a diagnosed developmental disability as defined by state law, and OPWDD is further obligated by law to provide needed services to those who qualify regardless of a person's clinical or forensic history. This practice has been followed for decades to assure that these individuals with developmental disabilities receive appropriate services and supports while ensuring the safety of others." President Donald Trump has delayed until next week a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to determine whether he'll keep his job after reports he'd suggested secretly recording Trump. "The president spoke with Rod Rosenstein a few minutes ago and they plan to meet next week," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday in a statement. "They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing" related to sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Rosenstein, whose role includes overseeing Robert Mueller's Russia probe, was scheduled to meet with Trump on Thursday, but the president had suggested in a new conference on Wednesday that he might delay the session to avoid conflicting with the Kavanaugh hearing. "My preference would be to keep him and let him finish up," Trump said of Rosenstein. The veteran prosecutor's future was thrown into doubt on Friday with a report in the New York Times that he had suggested to colleagues last year that he could secretly record conversations with the president and also discussed invoking the 25th Amendment that allows for removing a president who's unfit. Trump said Rosenstein assured him in a phone conversation that "he never said it. We'll see." The president would have reason to keep him in the job, as Trump's top political advisers are underscoring the political risks if Rosenstein is fired before November's congressional elections, a White House aide said. Over the weekend, Rosenstein resigned verbally to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who accepted the offer, but after the phone call with Trump on Monday, Rosenstein decided to stay on, people familiar with the matter have said. He's now inclined to remain in the position. The Justice Department declined to comment on the Trump-Rosenstein meeting. White House advisers worry that Democrats could be further energized if it appeared Trump was forcing out Rosenstein in an effort to obstruct Mueller's continuing investigation into Russia's election interference, the aide said. A successor to Rosenstein could end or limit Mueller's inquiry. It wasn't clear whether Trump will place any demands on Rosenstein at their meeting, such as asking him to recuse himself from overseeing Mueller's probe, a person familiar with the matter said. Rosenstein isn't likely to agree to such a demand, increasing the risk that he'd resign, the person said. The reports on Rosenstein's discussion with colleagues last year about covertly taping the president set off a firestorm in Washington, but the details remain in dispute. A person present at that meeting said Rosenstein was joking, but the New York Times, which first reported the incident on Friday, cited secondhand accounts indicating he was serious. Rosenstein disputed the account. "I never pursued or authorized recording the president and any suggestion that I have ever advocated for the removal of the president is absolutely false," Rosenstein said in a statement on Friday. Trump said Wednesday that he spoke with Rosenstein about the reports. "He said he did not say it, he said he does not believe, and nobody in this room believes it," he told reporters. Trump's allies also have warned on Twitter and cable news that dismissing Rosenstein could interfere in the already tumultuous effort to win Kavanaugh's confirmation. Fox News host Sean Hannity delivered a "message to the president" on his show Friday that firing Rosenstein would play into Democratic hands. He framed the reports about Rosenstein as a "set-up." Since the beginning of the Russia investigation, Trump's legal advisers have privately raised questions about Rosenstein's oversight of the probe, suggesting he had a conflict because he was involved in Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey. Mueller has been investigating whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey, as well as through other actions. If Rosenstein stays on, he would likely face new scrutiny from House Republicans, who have accused him of withholding documents related to the Russia probe that they've sought. Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who chairs the Oversight subcommittee on government reform, said he wants Congress to bring Rosenstein in for testimony again. "He needs to come in the next week, or resign," Meadows said. If neither happens, Meadows said, he has "plenty of tools in my toolbox." What just happened? The Australian teenager who hacked into Apples internal systems over a period of two years and downloaded 90GB of sensitive data has avoided conviction despite pleading guilty to his crimes. As the now 19-year-old student is having his case heard in an Australian Childrens Court, he cant be named under a local law that protects the identity of juveniles. He had earlier pleaded guilty to breaching Apples systems between two periods, between June 2015 and November 2016, and in April 2017. The boy copied 90GB of system data and authentication keys and was even able to access customer records. When Apple discovered what had happened, it contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who handed the case over to the Australian Federal Police. After a warrant was executed on the boys family home, the stolen information was discovered on a hard drive in a folder called Hacky hack hack. They also discovered devices with IPs matching those that broke into Apples systems. Your offending is serious, the magistrate told the teenager. It was sustained, sophisticated, and a successful attack on the security of a major multinational corporation. The boys lawyer said he had a fascination with Apple and a love of information technology, adding that he dreamed of working for the Cupertino firm one day. The teen pleaded guilty to two charges back in August. No conviction was recorded, and he received an eight-month probation order. The court could have handed out jail terms of two years for one charge and 12 months for the other, writes Bloomberg. Why it matters: Microsoft wasn't very happy when Consumer Reports pulled the Surface's "recommended" status last year over predicted reliability concerns. The recent re-appointment couldn't come at a better time as Microsoft is gearing up to unveil a new batch of Surface hardware earlier next month. Microsofts Surface PCs are once again in Consumer Reports good graces after falling out of favor with the publication more than a year ago due to reliability concerns. On Thursday, the consumer advocate said Microsofts Surface laptops are now eligible for its recommended status, adding that its new reliability ratings prompted the change. Specifically, the Surface Pro, the Surface Laptop and the Surface Book 2 now score high enough to be recommended. This is the first year that brand reliability is being factored into the Overall Scores for many products rated by Consumer Reports. Owner satisfaction, which is based on the same survey of our members, is also being incorporated into the Overall Score. Consumer Reports also tested both versions of the Surface Go one with 64GB of storage and 4GB of memory and the other with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM but neither earned its recommended status due to lackluster performance in lab testing (and not based on member survey data). Maria Rerecich, who oversees all electronics testing for Consumer Reports, said they weigh processing power heavily when evaluating laptops, adding that a computer that doesnt do well in performance testing isnt likely to get recommended. Its not uncommon for 10- and 11-inch laptops to struggle in Consumer Reports testing due their use of lower-end processors (fitting a power-hungry processor into a small chassis usually isnt a recipe for success when it comes to effective heat dissipation and battery life). Only two devices out of 10 in that category, the Acer Spin 1 SP111-31-C2W3 and Samsung Galaxy Book 10.6, have earned the publications recommended rating. Consumer Reports points out that based on feedback from Microsoft, it is testing and rating Surface devices as laptops. Last year, some Surface devices were considered laptops and others were deemed tablets. Microsoft is expected to unveil new Surface hardware at a media event scheduled for October 2 in New York City. In brief: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been kept within the Ecuadorian embassy without outside communication since March of this year. Since this affects his ability to act as WikiLeaks editor-in-chief, he has appointed someone to replace him, although he will remain publisher. WikiLeaks has replaced Julian Assange as editor-in-chief. Assange has not been able to perform his duties since the Ecuadorian embassy cut off his communication. With no way to execute his obligations, Assange appointed Kristinn Hrafnsson, an Icelandic investigative journalist and legal project manager for WikiLeaks. He will still remain with the company with the title publisher, although he will not be actively participating in running the outlet. Hrafnsson is honored to take the reins but rebuked the embassys actions in a statement. I condemn the treatment of Julian Assange that leads to my new role, but I welcome the responsibility to secure the continuation of the important work based on WikiLeaks ideals. The new leadership will not likely change the day-to-day operations. Assange has been incommunicado since March. The appointment of Hrafnsson is more of a formality, and he intends to keep the company on an even keel. That is not to say that the new EIC will not have his work cut out for him. WikiLeaks is currently facing a lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee alleging that it worked with Russia in releasing supposedly hacked information from DNC servers during the 2016 presidential election. The US Department of Justice has also issued indictments of at least 12 Russian intelligence officials who allegedly had contact with WikiLeaks. It is unclear if Assange will return to his former role when and if he leaves the embassy. Judge Steven T. O'Neill sentenced Bill Cosby with three to 10 years in prison after he was charged guilty of sexual assault. The decision was made on Sept. 25. at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Furthermore, the stand-up comedian and actor faced a $35,000 fine. Cosby was convicted with accounts of aggravated indecent assault after he drugged and assaulted Andrea Constand in his Philadelphia home 14 years ago. Cosby's Sexual Assault Case According to the statement of the victim, the entertainer took her beautiful and healthy youthful spirit and crushed it. "It is time for justice. Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The time has come," said the judge. Cosby did not speak before the judge decided his sentence. Additionally, his wife, Camille, was not present in the courtroom. He was also seen chatting and laughing with his team. After the judge announced the sentence, Constand was seen beaming with happiness and was hugged by others who were present in the courtroom. Janice Dickinson, a famous supermodel in the '80s, is among the 60 women who came forward with sexual allegations against Cosby over the past five decades. According to reports, Cosby drugged and violated them. "There is solace, absolutely. It is his fame and his fortune and his phony philanthropy that has allowed him to get away with impunity," said Lili Bernard, another Cosby victim. She added that she hopes his sentence will echo a message to other influential perpetrators that justice will be served, and they too will be punished. Rise Of The #MeToo Movement The 81-year-old is just one of the many celebrities who was charged with sexual assault during the rise of the #MeToo era. Additionally, the president of the National Organization for Women of New York said that the women who accused Cosby immensely aided in paving the way for the movement. She also stated that his arrest is a message to powerful predators that it does not matter where they come from. Whether it be the Supreme Court, Wall Street, or Hollywood, they will not be safeguarded at the expense of the ones they assaulted. Notably, another stand-up comedian, Hannibal Buress, previously urged people to know more about the case against Cosby. "He gets on TV, 'Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the '80s! I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom!' Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches," he stated, adding that people should educate themselves on the assault Cosby committed. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Paul John Vasquez, who starred in Sons of Anarchy, died due to a suspected heart attack in his father's house in San Jose, California. According to reports, Vasquez's father found him unconscious on Monday night and paramedics failed to revive him. Currently, his cause of death is still undetermined. "This news has come as a surprise to us. Our hearts are heavy. He was a kind, creative and loving man. He will be missed," stated Vasquez's representative to Fox News. Vasquez's Career Vasquez appeared in two SoA episodes in 2011 namely Kiss and Booster. He portrayed Angel Ganz. The show has notably amassed a number of Emmys. His IMDB profile also indicated that he wrote a short film that is currently in production titled Thug Alley. The said short film describes as a story that focuses of two criminal lovers who only has a day to settle a debt with a merciless gangster from Las Vegas. The actor also appeared in ER, CSI:NY, Justified, How I Met Your Mother, Somewhere, and Foreign Land. He also starred with Nicolas Cage in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. He began his career in several 80s TV series, including Simon & Simon, a show inspired by A Nightmare on Elm Street's villain, Freddy's Nightmares, and 21 Jump Street. Furthermore, Vasquez's career was not limited to acting. He also ventured in directing, producing, and writing. In fact, All in the Song, a documentary that he produced, was screened at multiple film festivals. He is the second star from the hit show to pass away in the last months. Last June, Alan O'Neill was found dead by his girlfriend. The late actor played ex-IRA Hugh in the sixth and seventh seasons of the show, starring Charlie Hunnam. He also appeared in Fair City, an Irish soap, and a number of U.S. films. Advocacies Of Vasquez Vasquez also served as an advocate for Mexican and Spanish culture representation in the community and wished to convey more diverse people on screen. Additionally, the actor was also involved in several charitable organizations, which aided underprivileged kids to get to know the arts, and encouraged them to follow their dreams. According to sources, Vasquez got his inspiration to pursue his passion for arts from his parents. His father was a musician, and his mother was a chef. Actors that inspired him includes Charles Bronson, Anthony Quinn, and Robert De Niro. To date, no cast of SoA has commented on his passing. A spin-off of the show, Mayans MC, which highlights a rival motorcycle gang, is currently airing on FX. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission The East Baton Rouge Metro Council on Wednesday upheld the property assessment for ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge facilities, despite an appeal from the city-parish parks department claiming the properties were not correctly assessed and would cost local agencies nearly $5 million in lost tax revenue. The Metro Council's decision played out with little discussion. "We normally uphold assessments of the assessor," Pro Tem Scott Wilson said during the item's introduction before charging forward with Wednesday's agenda without an opposition from the rest of the council. Earlier in the day, ExxonMobil won another battle, this one involving its effort to get a property tax break for a potential expansion of its polyolefins plant. The sheriff's office on Wednesday gave its approval for the conglomerate's Industrial Tax Exemption Program request. The Metro Council will consider the tax break on that project which is separate from BREC's appeal in October. On the assessment issue, BREC's appeal requested that roughly $338 million be added to the collective fair market value of Exxon's refinery, chemical plant, plastics plant and polyolefins plant or that the parish's assessor's office further clarify how it arrived at the Baton Rouge facility's 2018 property assessment. In an emailed response following Wednesday's decision to uphold the assessment, BREC Superintendent Carolyn McKnight said, "We respect their decision and are considering all of our options." BREC can appeal the Metro Council's decision to the Louisiana Tax Commission and then to the court system after that, which Councilman Matt Watson said are the proper channels to challenge the assessments. "We did exactly what the council was supposed to do," Watson said during an interview after the meeting. In its nine-page appeal filed with the Metro Council last week, BREC said if the property assessment is left as is, East Baton Rouge taxing authorities stand to lose nearly $5 million next year. Parish Tax Assessor Brian Wilson, who is the brother of Metro Councilman Scott Wilson, said previously he's "not sure whether those numbers are correct," but added he would continue to look at the assessments. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The community organizing group Together Baton Rouge and a coalition of educators first raised questions about the assessed value of ExxonMobil's properties earlier this month. The group wrote in a letter to the assessor that ExxonMobil made several hundred million dollars worth of capital additions last year, and should have seen increased property value from expiring exemptions granted 11 years ago. +12 Louisiana's costliest incentive program allowed manufacturing companies to cut jobs while saving billions in taxes Over the past 20 years, Exxon Mobil has been exempted from paying almost $700 million in property taxes that would have otherwise helped pay f But Brian Wilson's assessment saw ExxonMobil's property value drop from $1.45 billion in 2017 to $1.39 billion in 2018 for its four Baton Rouge facilities. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil is also seeking a new Industrial Tax Exemption on a potential expansion of its polyolefins plant, a project the oil and gas giant said is worth north of half a billion dollars. On Wednesday, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux gave his approval for the tax break, citing an expected $3.6 million his office will receive over 20 years with the ITEP in place. He also said the new jobs ExxonMobil says it will create mean more potential homebuyers and an even wider property tax base. "The approval of the Exxon ITEP exemption will benefit the entire community," Gautreaux's office said in a statement. Gautreaux joins the East Baton Rouge School Board, which voted last week to approve the tax break. Local officials now have a vote on whether to approve or reject ITEP applications from manufacturers following an executive order in 2016 from Gov. John Bel Edwards that reined in the program. New rules added this year made the ITEP a 10-year program that offers an 80 percent tax break on new capital additions. BREC spokeswoman Cheryl Michelet in email before Wednesday night's meeting stressed the agency's appeal of ExxonMobil's tax assessment is separate from the ITEP application for ExxonMobil's polyolefins expansion. She also pushed back against criticism of the department's actions. "As our objective is to simply receive further clarification on the development of the property tax rolls by the tax assessor to ensure we are collecting the proper tax revenue, we are a bit shocked at the response we have received for exercising the appeal right provided by law," Michelet said. "If the rolls are accurate, we would like to see how they are calculated and will move on knowing that we are receiving the proper tax revenue," she wrote. "If the rolls need to be revised resulting in additional tax revenue for BREC and other local taxing agencies, then we will look forward to receiving the additional revenue to help us better serve the citizens of the parish with amenities such as a Reimagined Greenwood Park and Baton Rouge Zoo." CONVENT Defense attorneys for top St. James Parish official Blaise Gravois have been denied access to the transcript of the 2016 grand jury proceedings in a long-running malfeasance case that has ensnared him and Parish President Timmy Roussel. In court papers, Gravois' defense attorneys argue that a transcript of the grand jury recording has evidence that might exonerate the St. James' director of operations and that prosecutors already had a pattern of withholding evidence from them. The grand jury indicted Gravois and Roussel on Sept. 28, 2016, on multiple counts of malfeasance in office over allegations they directed public workers and resources for illegal improvements on private property. The men have been charged over essentially the same facts and pleaded not guilty. In the dispute, Judge Tess Stromberg, of the 23rd Judicial District, was being asked to balance the importance of grand jury secrecy against the need to ensure that Gravois isnt being denied critical evidence. The landmark 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland affirmed prosecutors continuing duty to turn over evidence that might point to the innocence of a defendant. The term Brady has become shorthand for exculpatory evidence in prosecutors possession and was thrown around liberally during a hearing this week before Stromberg. +4 Prosecutors accuse judge of bias, want her recused from St. James malfeasance case CONVENT Prosecutors in St. James Parish are accusing a state district judge of bias in a malfeasance case against parish government's No. 2 Among several points, the defense attorneys argued that a past appellate court decision in the case implied a need to review the grand jury transcripts for evidence of prosecutorial misconduct by the 23rd Judicial District Attorneys Office. The appellate court had upheld a misconduct finding from the lower court. But the defense also pointed to a recent motion from the state Attorney General's Office that asked a different judge to conduct an in-chambers review of the grant jury transcript in Roussel's companion case. Judge Jason Verdigets is handling Roussels case. The basis for the motion from Assistant Attorney General Matt Derbes was filed under seal on Aug. 22, but Gravois' attorneys alleged in court papers that the Attorney General's Office prosecutors believed the recordings of the grand jury process had exculpatory evidence. The Attorney General's Office, which is assisting the District Attorneys Office in the Gravois case, is prosecuting Roussel alone after the District Attorney's Office was recused from his case. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Ruth Wisher, a spokeswoman for Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, declined to comment Tuesday on Derbes motion, citing the ongoing prosecution. Gravois defense attorneys also submitted a sealed affidavit from former Parish Councilman Wilson Malbrough Jr. about his grand jury testimony in support of their cause. Its not clear what he said. I dont know that Ive ever been a part of a case where there has been a more compelling need to provide grand jury transcripts, defense attorney Matthew Chester said. +2 Second judge in St. James Parish malfeasance case steps aside amid claims of bias from prosecutors CONVENT For a second time in about a month, a state judge facing accusations of bias has recused him or herself from the corruption case aga But prosecutors, who also made a filing under seal, argued there is no exculpatory evidence in the transcript, disputing that Gravois had a need for the transcript that outweighed the need for continued secrecy. Hes not entitled to grand jury transcripts because he wants them, Assistant District Attorney Robin OBannon told Judge Stromberg. In her ruling Monday, Stromberg said she personally reviewed the entire transcript and found no Brady evidence. Stromberg, who is the third judge to handle Gravois case after two others recused themselves at prosecutors urging, rejected defense attorneys other arguments for all or part of the transcript, including the information in Malbroughs affidavit. She also emphasized her belief that the secrecy of the grand jury is sacrosanct. CONVENT A St. James Parish jury has convicted a Lutcher man in a sexual battery case after he withdrew his July 2017 guilty plea to a reduced charge over the same allegations, prosecutors said Thursday. Gene Franklin, 33, faces up to 15 years in prison after the unanimous six-person jury convicted Franklin of second-degree sexual battery Wednesday. Prosecutors said they intend to bill him as a habitual offender, which could add more prison time. Tyler Cavalier, spokesman for the 23rd Judicial District Attorney Ricky Babin, said Franklin did not take the stand in his own defense but did represent himself Wednesday after jury selection was completed Tuesday. St. James Parish man accepts plea deal in sexual battery case A 32-year-old St. James Parish resident has pleaded guilty to sexual battery after he attacked a woman when she rebuffed his advances, the 23r Judge Tess Stromberg allowed Franklin to dismiss his defense attorneys Wednesday and make arguments and cross-examine prosecution witnesses, Cavalier said. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Franklin was arrested in late 2016 after a female victim accused him of inserting an object in her "private area," causing damage to her body. She had refused to have sex with him, prosecutors said in a statement. The victim told St. James Parish sheriff's detectives that the Oct. 29, 2016, incident was not the first time Franklin had abused her after she refused to have sex. Franklin had pleaded guilty to a reduced count of sexual battery over the 2016 allegations on July 25, 2017, but was allowed to withdraw the plea later before sentencing, prosecutors said. Franklin awaits sentencing in parish jail, pending a pre-sentence investigation. WASHINGTON As Americans across the country tuned in to hear sexual assault accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and the judges angry denouncement, Louisiana GOP Sen. John Kennedy sat largely silent, listening. As the Senate committee heard from Christine Blasey Ford a California university professor who alleges Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, muzzled her mouth and tried to take off her clothes at a high school gathering in the 1980s Kennedy and fellow Republicans let Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona prosecutor, handle their questions. But Kennedy ended up with the last word in Thursdays high-stakes hearing, asking Kavanaugh right here, in front of God and country to look me in the eye and answer whether Fords assault allegations against him and the separate allegations from two other women are true. Kavanaugh, 53, denied there was one scintilla of truth to any of them. And thus ended the hearing, during which many saw Kavanaughs nomination and the treatment of sexual assault survivors hanging in the balance. Kennedy declined to comment afterward about the hearing or say whose testimony he believes. Kennedy, an oft-quotable and usually talkative first-term senator, acknowledged to reporters that his reserve is uncharacteristic. Kennedys fellow Louisiana Republican, Sen. Bill Cassidy, was far less reticent. Although Cassidy told The Advocate he didnt watch Fords testimony because he was at another Senate hearing, and only followed the hearing from afar, the senator blasted the allegations as a Democratic smear and posted a tweet within minutes of the hearings end calling for Kavanaughs swift confirmation. Cassidy questioned what he alleged were discrepancies in Fords testimony and denounced what he called a lack of corroboration for Fords account. Everyone she mentions, including her best friend, said the incident didnt occur, Cassidy said. At some point that has to matter. In a tweet Thursday evening, Cassidy called the allegations a shameful smear campaign by Democrats. Though the senator stopped short in an interview earlier Thursday of alleging Ford was lying and declined to address her potential motivations Cassidy charged Democrats with exploiting Ford to take down Kavanaugh and weaponizing the #MeToo movement of women speaking out against sexual assault and harassment. Democrats want to stop President Trumps Supreme Court nominee and theyre willing to do anything, including destroy a life thats been lived with great character, to achieve their goal, and that is a horrible thing, Cassidy said. That is a horrible thing. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up It remained unclear Thursday night, as Republicans huddled on Capitol Hill, whether Kavanaugh remained on track for confirmation. Vocal support from Cassidy and other Republican senators buoyed Kavanaughs chances. But a narrow 51 to 49 Republican majority means opposition from just two GOP senators could sink the nomination. Watch a live feed of the testimony below. Can't see the video? Click here. Can't see tweet below? Click here. Sen. Kennedy: Are Dr. Ford's allegations true? Judge Kavanaugh: "They are not accurate as to me." Kennedy: Are Deborah Ramirez's allegations about you true? Kavanaugh: "It's not true." Kennedy: Are Julie Swetnick's allegations about you true? Kavanaugh: "Those are not true." pic.twitter.com/DT8LGtT0gv NBC News (@NBCNews) September 27, 2018 Louisiana senators Kennedy, Cassidy awaiting testimony from Kavanaugh accuser WASHINGTON Both of Louisianas Republican U.S. senators, who endorsed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh earlier this month, said a heari Can't see video below? Click here. Sherry Harper LeBlanc tried to convince her son to stay home. But Coltin LeBlanc, 23, wasn't listening. He gave her a hug and told her to stop worrying about him, that he would be alright he'd be back in 20 minutes. Then he drove away... WASHINGTON An overhaul of federal disaster policies, including provisions directly affecting homeowners and local governments hit by the 2016 Louisiana floods, easily cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The changes were included in a largely unrelated bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration and other federal transportation programs. House members passed the package 398-23. Among the provisions are changes to federal law that would allow flooded homeowners who took out Small Business Administration loans to also receive federally funded recovery grants. The law would also ease penalties on public school districts that didnt carry flood insurance on all their buildings, create an independent arbitration process for local governments to dispute FEMA funding and provide clearer rules for when FEMA pays for damage to submerged local roads. Leaders from both parties struck a deal on the sprawling legislative package during the weekend. The bill is expected to clear the U.S. Senate. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Exactly when senators will vote on the package, however, was thrown into uncertainty this week. The FAA's authorization expires at midnight on Sunday and lawmakers had previously anticipated President Donald Trump signing the bill into law before then. +2 Gov. Edwards tells Restore Louisiana to reopen flood disaster applications The state wasted little time reopening a disaster assistance program on Monday after a congressional compromise over the weekend lifted the d But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has put a vote on hold amid controversy over the Senate confirmation process for Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who faces contested allegations of sexual assault. Senators are instead considering passing a short-term extension of the FAA on in order to buy the chamber time until Oct. 7, when a vote on the full package could come. Despite the delay, lawmakers remained confident that the overhaul package has enough support to clear the Senate once it comes up for a vote. Senate sources told The Advocate that a final vote is now expected in the next two weeks. Baton Rouge Police Dept. Chief Murphy Paul, right, and others pray during a stop for murder victim James Young, at the first-ever 'Prayer Patrol' by Baton Rouge clergy, community members and BRPD representatives, Saturday, August 11, 2018. A U.S. Army Medivac helicopter rescuer, left, extracts the third of three persons from the trees around swift water under I-10 at Rose City, Texas, after their boat was either disabled or swamped, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, during flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey. What I remember about October 11, 1991 was that the world stopped. Mine did, anyway. I was in graduate school, and our whole class maybe 100 of us had a Friday afternoon class with one of the deans. At lunchtime, we all crammed into the student lounge to watch history unfold, as the Senate Judiciary Committee delved into Anita Hills allegations of sexual harassment by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. If one person had made a move to leave once class time rolled around, I suspect we all would have reluctantly followed. Nobody did. Eventually the dean wandered down the hall, stuck his head in the door and announced that class was canceled. Kay Gervais: #WhyIDidntReport, but why I have told my story of sexual assault Ive been reading the Twitter #WhyIDidntReport thread a response to the presidents tweet: "I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford The hearings went on through the weekend. Danny Heitman, The Advocates editorial page editor, remembers the quiet on the streets that Sunday, when he ducked away to run a quick errand. It was like a bomb had gone off, he told me this week Many of us who are old enough to have watched it live had distinct take-aways. One of the most powerful for me was the utter inability of all those men on the committee and yes, they were all men, and all white to comprehend what its like to be on the weak end of a power equation. Id spent four years in the work force before returning to school. Id sure seen it, and experienced it, by then. After grad school I got a job in Philadelphia, and one of my first thoughts was that Id get to vote against Arlen Specter, the moderate Republican who subjected Hill to some of the least respectful questioning. Thats how angry I still was a full year later. Alas, I got there too late to register. Today, when Christine Blasey Ford tells the same committee that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her when they were both in high school which he adamantly denies the world may not stop, if only because we now have so many ways to follow the news on the go. But just like in 1991, people across the country will be listening. They will evaluate Fords credibility, including her explanation for why she didnt come forward at the time, which has spawned a tidal wave of stories by women whove made the same choice. Theyll also evaluate Kavanaughs denial and his demeanor. Even more, I suspect, theyll be keeping an eye on how the senators on the committee and beyond behave. Like last time, there could be hell to pay for getting it wrong. A proposal to bar New Orleans and the contractors it hires from asking whether job applicants have criminal records received unanimous support from a City Council committee on Thursday. Commonly referred to as ban the box, a reference to the check boxes on job applications asking whether a potential employee has a criminal record, the ordinance has been pushed by advocacy groups focused on labor issues, racial equality and the rights of the formerly incarcerated. Dozens of people, many of whom said they have had difficulty finding employment because of their criminal records, spoke in support of the measure and argued that more needs to be done to help people get back on their feet after they get out of jail. Yall got to give us a chance, said Reginald Anderson, who works for city contractor Richards Disposal and said hes had trouble finding a better job because he served time for a bag of weed. The five council members who attended the hearing voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance, which was sponsored by Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer, suggesting it will have easy passage when it comes before the full council. The ordinance bars the city and its contractors from requesting information on job applicants criminal history on initial employment applications and requires that criminal background checks be conducted only after an applicant has been given an initial interview. Advocates argue that such a delay gives people with a criminal history a chance to make the case for a job before their record comes into play. Moving this screening further into the process allows applicants to show the best version of themselves at the outset, Palmer said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The ordinance codifies a policy covering city departments that was put in place in 2014, and extends those requirements to firms or organizations that get contracts or grants from the city. City officials would be barred from entering into agreements with outside entities if they do not follow the citys policy or provide written reasons why they do not. The rules would not affect private companies that are not doing business with the city. Supporters of the measure and some council members argued that weeding out applicants based on their criminal history puts more of a burden on black residents. There are pillars of the American criminal justice system that are based on racism and preserving racism, Councilman Jason Williams said, decrying the idea that someone who has paid a debt to society now has to walk around with a scarlet letter on their chest and their family home. Many of the people who spoke to the committee Thursday said they had personally encountered problems getting a job after getting out of prison. Earl Hunt, who said he was released several months ago after serving five years in prison, said that having to put down his criminal history on job applications was a huge load to not be able to go somewhere and apply and get a job somewhere based on my merits, my character and my ability. Jefferson Parish was a dog with "inordinately large ears" and an even bigger survival story. The dog, called JP for short, died this week more than 13 years after Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway rescued him during Hurricane Katrina recovery work. The sheriff's office posted on Monday that JP had died and recalled the story of how Conway and deputies rescued him as "just a slip of a puppy wandering around hungry and alone in the dark." READ THE FULL POST HERE Levee breaches and the subsequent flooding created a tragic and deadly scene in New Orleans, where JP was found. The pair formed a special bond, the sheriff's office wrote, and that the dog "represented hope in the midst of unimaginable death and destruction" in the aftermath of the storm that was credited with more than 1,000 deaths across Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states. "JP was a bright light during those dark days. He brought everyone joy amidst the sorrow. Its hard to say who truly rescued whom that day," the post continues. Louisiana State Police on Thursday arrested five former deputies with the Washington Parish Sheriffs Office and 16 inmates at the parish jail in connection with allegations of a rape and a beating at the jail. The incidents occurred between July 26 and Sept. 5, according to State Police. The investigation began when Washington Parish Sheriff Randy Country Seal heard about the assaults and contacted the FBI and State Police, according to a news release from State Police. The five deputies arrested in the incident Frank Smith, 22, of Ponchatoula; Elliot Smith, 21, of Mandeville; Austin Rogers, 19, of Franklinton; Pam Willis, 48, of Tylertown, Mississippi; and John Donaldson, 29, of Franklinton have all been fired. All were booked on malfeasance in office. Frank Smith faces additional counts of aggravated second-degree battery and second-degree battery. Elliot Smith faces an additional count of aggravated second-degree battery and Rogers faces a count of being a principal to aggravated second-degree battery. Two inmates Samuel White, 19, and Toby Walker, 38, both of Bogalusa were booked on counts of first-degree rape and simple battery. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up While officials have revealed few details about the jail rape, the allegations released Thursday appear to match those described in a recent WVUE-TV report. The station quoted the mother of a man being held in the Washington Parish jail on a charge of identity theft, who said her son had been raped by more than one inmate as guards looked on and "laughed and cheered." The station did not identify the victim or his mother, but it said that Seal had called the mother and apologized for what had happened. Another 14 inmates will be booked with simple battery, authorities said. In a statement, Seal thanked the FBI and State Police for their thorough investigative work. State Police asked that anyone with additional information about the incidents call detectives at (985) 542-4182. A man who says he was beaten by Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office narcotics agents last year has filed a lawsuit demanding damages from members of the agency, including two deputies involved in the investigation into a recent police killing. Joseph Little alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Sheriffs Office deputies hit him with their car during a sting operation in June of 2017. The deputies then began kicking him while he was on the ground, he said. Crime camera footage obtained by The Advocate appears to show Little being rammed by an unmarked Sheriffs Office vehicle. Multiple deputies then stood over him, and then at least one appears to kick or stomp him while he is on the ground. Can't see video below? Click here. Littles attorney, Gary Bizal, filed the lawsuit in New Orleans federal courthouse just ahead of the lapse of a one-year statute of limitations in the case. Defendants include agents Gary Bordelon and William Whittington, both of whom were involved in another recent investigation into actions by deputies. Bordelon is one of four deputies temporarily taken out of the field following the unrelated, in-custody death of Keeven Robinson in May. Whittington prepared a warrant to search Robinsons home in New Orleans without mentioning he had been killed, court records in that case show. The lawsuit brought by Little, now 32, marks the latest instance in which a unit that is the pride of the Sheriffs Office is accused of using unnecessary force. At least one other federal suit filed in April accused other Sheriffs Office narcotics deputies of unjustifiably shooting a man during a drug sting targeting the plaintiffs friend, and Little mentions other legal disputes in which the deputies named in his case faced allegations of brutality. Sheriff Joe Lopinto has repeatedly defended the work of his narcotics division, crediting them as one of the reasons for the all-time lows in crime that Jefferson Parish has registered in recent years. Attorney Danny Martiny, who represents the Sheriff's Office in civil lawsuits, said in an email seeking comment Thursday that the agency prefers to do its "talking in court." "I would suggest that you check the criminal records of (Jefferson Parish's 24th Judicial District Court), which seem to contradict Mr. Little's version of events," Martiny said. According to court documents, Little drew scrutiny from the Sheriffs Office when Whittington received a tip from an informant that Little was dealing cocaine and heroin throughout Jefferson Parish and the city of New Orleans. Whittington later started following Little who had prior drug-related convictions and watched as he carried out what were allegedly hand-to-hand narcotics deals. Eventually, Whittington and his colleagues tracked Little to an apartment in the 1000 block of Lake Avenue in Metairie. As Little left the apartment, he noticed three agents in a maroon pickup truck. He started running away and tossed something over his right shoulder when the plainclothes agents in ballistics vests got out of their truck and started chasing him in an attempt to make an arrest. Little had gone several steps when a vehicle going in the opposite direction plowed into him, knocking him down in plain view of a street surveillance camera. At least two agents appeared to kick him while he was down, with one doing so multiple times before retreating to recover the object Little had tossed. +2 Warrant in Keeven Robinson case reveals new details about JPSO sting that led to his death An informant who claimed to have bought drugs from Keeven Robinson led Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office detectives to the 22-year-old man who Deputies said it was a struggle to handcuff Little. They said he had more than $940 in cash on him, and the bag he discarded contained 42 rocks of cocaine. A search of the apartment then revealed marijuana, prescription painkillers and weight scales commonly used by people who sell drugs illicitly, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputies jailed Little on a raft of felony drug counts and an allegation of resisting arrest after he received treatment from paramedics. But after evaluating the case, Jefferson Parish prosecutors charged Little only on the drug counts, to which he eventually pleaded guilty in exchange for a five-year prison sentence. Littles federal lawsuit argues that he did not resist any deputies commands after one of them, Scott Zemlik, used his car to hit him. Nonetheless, Little alleges, at least some of the deputies kicked him and beat him enough that he required medical attention. The rest did nothing to stop the beating, and they all agreed they would claim Little had resisted even as he was battered, Little and Bizal contend. Video showing the incident shows Little eventually being brought to his feet after his handcuffing. The lawsuit singles out Zemlik, Bordelon, Whittington, Dominick Sciortino, Leon James, Thorin Guidry, Randall Kuhn and Richard Berger as defendants accused of violating Littles civil rights. Lopinto is also named, with Little and Bizal arguing that the sheriff had been indifferent to prior allegations of excessive force against Zemlik, Bordelon and Whittington. A 2013 federal lawsuit accused Zemlik, then working for Gretna police, of unjustifiably using his car to strike a fleeing marijuana possession suspect and badly beating him. It does not appear that the lawsuit has been resolved. A 2015 federal lawsuit accused Whittington and two colleagues of pulling a man out of his car during a traffic stop and beating him without justification. The Sheriff's Office eventually triumphed in that case. A federal lawsuit the following year accused Whittington and Bordelon of using excessive force to arrest a man whose hand was injured during his arrest. It resulted in an undisclosed settlement. Two pending federal lawsuits from this year accuse Bordelon of excessive force while arresting a man and a woman in separate cases. Bizal also represented plaintiffs on some of those other recent lawsuits. A pickup truck similar to the one seen in the video of Littles arrest also appeared on footage depicting portions of the car and foot chase that resulted in the May 10 death of Robinson. He was also the target of a drug sting. Robinson fought with deputies as they handcuffed him in the back yard of a home in the Shrewsbury neighborhood off Jefferson Highway. Officials have said he died after someone either squeezed, grabbed or leaned on his neck during that struggle. +4 No body-cam footage in Keeven Robinson's death; here's why Jefferson Parish doesn't use cameras The death of a 22-year-old drug suspect who had just been arrested by Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies has again raised questions ab In addition to Bordelon, the Sheriff's office also placed Jason Spadoni, Justin Brister and David Lowe on desk duty while an investigation was conducted into whether the deputies used excessive force in their encounter with Robinson. The Sheriffs Office has not said whether that investigation has been completed. But Capt. Jason Rivarde said Bordelon, Spadoni, Brister and Lowe all remained on desk duty. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office on Thursday said they were still reviewing the circumstances of Robinson's death. Joseph Giacolone, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has previously questioned the decision by Whittington to omit mention of Robinsons death when he successfully applied for a warrant to search the slain mans home in New Orleans. The professor said an omission of this type could hurt the agencys standing if it needs to return to Cantrell or his colleagues for future warrants. Qantas could be making serious money from training pilots within just a few years, according to its boss Alan Joyce, who has pointed to the super-size earnings universities make from foreign students as a guide for the potential financial boon in meeting global demand for skilled aviators. The airline on Thursday announced that Toowoomba, in Queenslands Darling Downs region, would be home to the first site of its new pilot training school, beating out a shortlist of regional contenders. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with two student pilots, Baha'a Fayoumi and Inez Leggett at Toowoomba in Queensland on Thursday. The airline will announce a second site later this year, with each site to eventually train 250 students a year. We will not need 500 pilots a year, so a significant amount of them will be for other airlines and overseas training, and we know that Australia does well in academia in that space, Mr Joyce said on the tarmac in Toowoomba, about 125 kilometres west of Brisbane. Auctioneer Ian Sharp has been selling Australian agricultural products to the highest bidder since 1968, and he's never seen demand like this before. Earlier this year, the benchmark price for fine Australian merino wool gained a foothold above the once mythic $20/kg price, as one of Australia's worst-ever droughts leaves farmers struggling to keep flocks fed. The price surge, up 20 per cent in a year, has confounded buyers who have waited in vain for prices to fall, as they have done previously. Credit:Joe Armao The surge, up 20 per cent in a year, has confounded buyers who have waited in vain for prices to fall, as they have done previously. "This is very exciting for an old auctioneer like me in the fact that we are selling at these prices and we are clearing a lot of wool," Sharp told Reuters, shortly before an auction at one of the country's biggest wool-selling sites, in Sydney's western suburb of Yennora. Telemarketing firm Lead My Way has paid a record $285,600 infringment notice for calling numbers on the nation's 'Do Not Call' register, with citizen complaints leading the watchdog to investigate. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigated the business, which calls itself a "360 marketing solution" after citizens made complaints to the organisation after receiving calls from Lead My Way promoting energy deals. The Do Not Call register stops marketers from calling any phone numbers on the national list. Credit:Sean Davey. The company makes calls on behalf of its clients to test consumers' interest in products or services like energy policies. It then sells these details to these businesses as leads. ACMA was tipped off to the company after complaints from members of the public who had received calls despite their numbers being listed on the 'Do Not Call' register. We should thank the earthly powers that there are still some countries in which such a film is possible. We once made films as good and relevant in Australia, and they were seen on TV and in cinemas but you'd have to be a senior to remember them. In Britain, and to a greater extent France and Belgium, it is still possible to make socially relevant and committed films, largely because of the influence of one man, Ken Loach. I can hear the queue forming around the block. French? Subtitles? Domestic violence? Who needs it? Well, of course, we are fine in Australia only one person killed a week in domestic violence, and about 10 hospitalised a day, 80 per cent of them women. France is worse: about one dead every three days. But wait, they have two or three times our population, so Like the old song says, it ain't what ya do, it's the way that you do it. Custody is about a French family in full-scale meltdown. It's about the violence in one man's soul as he is denied all that he feels is his, particularly access to his kids; and it's about the fear that a boy and his mother feel in the face of that violence. He's much more admired across the Channel than in his own country, where the Tories would like to see him flogged in the Tower for his socialism. In France and Belgium, he's the godfather of a movement, a cinema politique that tries to tell stories from ground level. It might be a long bow but I think it goes back much further in France, to crusading writers such as Victor Hugo. But I digress. Custody takes place in a non-descript city in the north. The first scene is a court hearing: a female judge listens to arguments over custody. The man, Antoine (Denis Menochet), is physically imposing and angrier than a chained dog. His ex-wife, Miriam (Lea Drucker), is thin, blonde, drawn tight as a drum, having to sit beside him facing the judge. The judge reads the results of a separate inquiry into the wishes of their 11-year-old son, Julien (Thomas Gioria), who says very clearly that he does not want to see his father, let alone spend every second weekend with him. The court is not concerned about the older daughter, Josephine (Mathilde Auneveux). She is 18 and can make up her own mind. Allegations of violence and cruelty arise, but Miriam has no proof of the abuse. The judge reserves her decision. This scene lasts maybe 10 minutes and builds to an uncomfortable level of tension. From there it gets worse. The film is completely gripping, because we see that Antoine could explode at any moment. Menochet's performance carries much more than menace: there is hurt pride, bewilderment and just a hint of the gentle father he thinks he would be, if that bitch of an ex-wife would take him back or just let him see his son. The self-delusion and coiled violence make him chilling but familiar. Once the film sets up this great reservoir of threat, we concentrate on the small blond boy, trembling in the corner. Thomas Gioria's performance is equally implacable: an opposing force dominated by fear, courage and just a hint of defiance. Writer director Xavier Legrand, himself an actor, does not concern himself too much with dialogue. Most of the film is observational, with a series of shots repeated in the same locations, in which the accompanying sound levels are very high, so as to jangle the nerves. In the many scenes of father and son driving in Antoine's modest little "Bongo" van the French equivalent of the tradies' ute but without the dog even the sound of the engine is threatening. Come down and stick your greenie nose in our area and see what happens I shoot what I want! Including stinking eagles. Bet your Toorak tracktor has not gone past the local shops. We watch foxes, wild dogs and eagles take young baby lambs at a rate over the last ten yrs, you wouldnt even know. Nobody in Dans Labour party gives a fk. Fine us farmers - good luck! What would a Labour voting greenie from Hurstbridge living in a McMansion know about us 5th generation farmers in Gippsland, the handwritten note read. The letter to Steven after dozens of dead eagles were found in East Gippsland. The Melburnian, who grew up in rural Tasmania, had written of his upset and anger on hearing that 136 wedge-tailed eagles had been found dead on a property in far-east Victoria. He was not expecting this feedback. On a yellowing piece of paper was a message in neat, black capital letters, under a copy of a letter to the editor that Steven had written to a local newspaper. On a cool July morning this year, Steven opened the mail at his home in Melbournes north-east. Yet farmers organisations, while also condemning the practice, say the issue is not clear-cut. Eagle experts say that, while the most recent incident is shocking, the practice itself is neither new nor limited to Victoria. They worry it could have national consequences for the species if action isnt taken. But the discovery of the eagles has had ramifications far beyond Tubbut. The department has stressed that the investigation is ongoing and more legal proceedings could be on the horizon. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail and fined $2500 with a conviction. It was the first ever custodial sentence for destruction of protected wildlife in Victoria. This week in the Sale Magistrates Court, Murray James Silvester, 59, pleaded and was found guilty of causing the death of 420 wedge-tailed eagles through the use of bait impregnated with poison between October 2016 and April this year. It was short, sharp and characteristic of a debate that has resurfaced since June, when the Environment Department discovered scores of wedge-tailed eagle carcasses on a remote property in Tubbut, a tiny rural community in East Gippsland near the Snowy River National Park. But around Tubbut, there were many who werent surprised. We understand people are outraged by this crime Be assured we are taking all steps we can to investigate this thoroughly, said Mr Bruce. Investigators believe the number killed was significantly higher than seized, said Ian Bruce from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning after they found 136 birds in May. The carcasses were hidden in bush and scrub, scattered across the vast property and concealed under vegetation, making it almost impossible to estimate exactly how many eagles were killed. It took three days, dozens of officers from the Environment Department, two motorbikes and several four-wheel-drives to thoroughly search the 2000-hectare Tubbut property to find the dead birds. A police officer holds the remains of one of the birds after 136 carcasses were found. Credit:Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning We need them to be there. They are working for us all the time. All the top-order predators, sharks in the oceans, they are really important for the jobs that they do, which we don't always appreciate, but we would certainly notice if they weren't there. They are really important to the ecosystem, says Healesville Sanctuary keeper James Goodridge, citing the eagles' ability to clean up dead and dying animals as vital to a healthy environment. Successive studies have since found that, while eagles are capable of killing lambs, its rare for them to do so. They mainly feed on rabbits and carrion, as well as lizards, possums, foxes and feral cats. Pictures from that time show the birds which can weigh up to five kilograms strung on fences and hung from trees, killed by farmers convinced that the native predators were taking their livestock. Though the wedge-tailed eagle is now protected by state legislation, some researchers estimate that more than 300,000 were killed Australia-wide in the decades before the late-1960s when some states offered bounties for carcasses. Eagles are special to me because, I suppose, I look at it through an old falconry point of view, says Goodridge. They can also carry prey weighing up to five kilograms through the air, attacking with a fast swooping motion that often kills their target instantly. When hunting in groups, they can kill a kangaroo. Their eyesight is eight times sharper than humans. With a wingspan that can reach up to 2.5 metres, wedge-tailed eagles are able to soar, particularly on warm winds, as high as two kilometres from the ground, and for up to 90 minutes in one flight. A thousand years ago, kings and royals would have birds like this and it was a way of remaining really humble in yourself you have the majestic animals which are so much better than we are they can fly, see things so much further away. "It makes me feel quite humble to be in the presence of an animal like this. The birds have special significance for the Indigenous Kulin people of central Victoria, with Bunjil, a wedge-tailed eagle, one of the creator ancestors of the land. Despite studies finding that the overall threat eagles pose to farming communities is negligible, environmental advocates say the belief has barely shifted in some farming communities. University of New England professor and leading raptor expert Steve Debus grew up in farming communities in the NSW Riverina, and remembers seeing eagles strung from fences. They have been accused of killing lambs. Theyd be capable of killing them, but a lot of the time they are seen scavenging on a dead one and farmers jump to conclusions, he said. There is the drought and all sorts of other things that cause lamb deaths. Its a combination of things. With farmers under stress - and maybe the economics have changed - theres clearly a need for current research on the problem, and on eagle populations. John Hermans, president of the Gippsland Environmental Group, says the killing of eagles is fairly widespread. Traditionally, farmers have done that sort of thing in their ignorance and they dont realise the eagles arent all that much of a problem to them. Its dogs and foxes. They are not just knocking out the eagles in one locality, they are sucking them out of a much broader landscape. Because eagles fly so far and travel so widely, to kill over 100 would be to reduce the number of eagles across a broad range of Australia. I live in Bairnsdale, and Id be lucky to see a wedge-tail once a month. They have significantly reduced. Dead wedge-tailed eagles in a picture which appeared in The Age Literary Review on May 28, 1966. Roger Bilney was at the start of his career when he joined the environment department in Victoria in 1973. He spent two decades working for the organisation before becoming the chief ranger in Queensland with responsibility for wildlife protection for more than two and a half years and then returning to Gippsland. He has been researching eagles for four years, looking at sea eagles on the Gippsland Lakes, and is a founding member of the Australian Raptors Association. And while he recognises the recent headline-grabbing incidents in Victoria have dominated discussion, he says the problem extends far beyond Tubbut. Its going on everywhere, he said. I was an officer in the area for 20 years. Tubbut is not on its own. Its not all necessarily one-sided because eagles are very capable of killing ... even significant-sized sheep. Even sea eagles are causing problems in some areas. I dont know if it's a lack of prey, he said. Bilney also says the resurgence of the wool industry means the practice will continue and probably get worse unless something is done. The biggest worry is that sheep are on the increase and there is a significant return for wool and lambs, so they see eagles in the paddock and see they might be about to lose $2000 a month and take action. Youve still got the old school who will shoot because they can when there is a drought on, the sheep have low energy and lambs are dying due to a lack of energy and that will be exacerbating the problem. Four properties in Tubbut and Orbost in East Gippsland were raided by DELWP in June, uncovering more remains. Credit:DELWP Environment Department officials say that since 2007 there have been 20 to 30 reports of alleged poisoning, trapping and destruction of wedge-tailed eagles in Victoria. The department was unable to pinpoint eagle-specific cases, but say in the last decade they have successfully sanctioned 100 people for unlawful destruction of wildlife. They say there does not appear to be a rise in reports of wedge-tailed eagle deaths in the state. But Bilney is worried that if something isnt done urgently - and nationally - the result could be disastrous for the species. If youre having hundreds of birds taken out every year on the eastern seaboard, and WA, and SA, then yes youre having an enormous effect, he said. We are not talking hundreds, we are talking thousands each year. Can the population withstand it? I say it cant, but we dont know. A wedge-tail in profile. Credit:Shutterstock The official farming body for Victoria has condemned the mass killing in East Gippsland, as well as the practice generally. But theyve also called on both sides of the conversation to listen to lived experience rather than dismiss it. First of all, we dont want to see anyone breaking the law, Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke says. Secondly, with the numbers we saw at Tubbut and the huge impact on the population, it does open the discussion about if you are impacted by an introduced or native species. How do we manage that as a community? Are people compensated if they are losing lambs? How do we have a coexistence? A possibility touted by the federation is to compensate farmers who lose lambs to eagles. There are also permits in Victoria that allow for farmers to kill birds of prey if they are threatening livestock but it is rare for the department to issue them and none have been issued in the past nine years. It's understood that two permits were issued in 2009 in the Hume region, near Yea north-east of Melbourne, for a total of five eagles, and in 2015 a scare only permit was issued in Swan Hill. We need a more mature discussion rather than everyone going to corners and saying 'you cant do that', Jochinke says. We need to look at solutions. He said there needed to be a better understanding of how the birds operate, urging increased research for a solution which doesnt affect the total population. I understand it can be polarising and I do empathise ... As farmers, I like to think we are good stewards. We do need to have a broader discussion about how we do it with this issue. If we dont look after the environment, it doesnt look after us. The time is right to have mature people around to have that discussion. An eagle dead on a property in Tubbut, East Gippsland. Credit:Facebook At the 2016 census, Tubbut registered a population of 11. People know their neighbours. Recent events have seen many in the community fall silent, as anxiety ripples through the area. As one local put it: Entire families, friendships and communities could be torn apart over it. In a statement to The Age, an Environment Department spokesperson said it could not comment while investigations were still ongoing, but underscored the illegality of killing the birds. Wedge-tailed eagles are protected under the Wildlife Act 1975 and anyone living or working in the proximity of these birds should be aware that it is categorically unacceptable to destroy them without the appropriate authorisation, a spokesman said. With potential jail time and thousands of dollars in fines in play, recent events have highlighted a need for change. The state and federal government should step in and look at significant research, says Bilney. The research we are quoting goes back to the '60s and early '70s. A lot has changed. We need to look more at a national level rather than state level. That's where I think farmers have to accept what may really be going on, and bird lovers have to accept more might be at play than disgruntled farmers. It was considered the most persecuted bird in the world at the time it was protected in the early '70s. Even people who dont like them still look up and admire them. It would be a shame if we lost that. Reports of any suspected illegal activity regarding wedge-tailed eagles can be made to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning contact centre on 136 186 or to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is not pregnant, according to The Sun. The UK tabloid reported on Sunday that the former Suits star will not be trying for a child until April 2019. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is not pregnant, according to The Sun. Credit:AP How do they know? Have they interviewed one of her estranged family members? Had an "expert" analyse her stomach region in over 100 paparazzi images? Contracted a fortune teller to map out the exact contents of Meghan's womb until early 2020? No, they've just looked at her travel itinerary for the next few months. Two in five young drinkers are mixing alcohol and energy drinks, putting themselves at risk of a range of health problems. According to new figures from not-for-profit research group the Sax Institute, published on Thursday, a large number of people are consuming both substances at once, to the concern of health experts who believe there is a lack of awareness of the way energy drinks can affect the body. Red Bull is a popular mixer in nightclubs. Credit:Shutterstock The research comes from two surveys. The first surveyed a group of close to 3000 people over 16 with a median age of 23 living in NSW, finding roughly 40 per cent of this group had consumed alcohol mixed with energy drinks in the past 12 months. In a second survey, which spoke to people with a median age of 21 years out in entertainment districts in Sydney, Newcastle and Orange, researchers found 15 per cent of people had consumed alcohol mixed with energy drinks in the previous 12 hours. Good morning, Canberra. Happy Friday and welcome to the long weekend. In case you're wondering, my tips for the big games this weekend are Collingwood over West Coast and the Storm over the Roosters. We're heading for a glorious top of 23 today, followed by a chilly weekend - 16 degrees is the top on Saturday and 19 on Sunday. Not great for any footy barbecues you have planned. Now let's look at what's making news today. Canberra hospital pharmacy at crisis point A couple from south-west Sydney have been arrested after they allegedly used stolen credit card information to open 15 companies and numerous bank accounts, while laundering more than $300,000 into offshore cryptocurrency accounts. The 32-year-old man and 29-year-old woman received an unexpected wake-up call at 6.30am on Thursday, when detectives from the NSW Cybercrime Squad knocked on their door in Wiley Park, accompanied by the Public Order and Riot Squad, before taking them to Campsie police station. The man arrested on Thursday morning. Credit:NSW Police It is understood both were from Lebanon and living in Australia on bridging visas. The arrests came as part of an ongoing investigation by Strike Force Breakbank, which was launched in March this year, to investigate online purchases being made using stolen and fraudulently obtained credit card information. Detectives are investigating a shooting incident at a New Farm unit complex after a woman was shot in the leg. The 39-year-old was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Officers were called to Bailey Street about 6.50pm where the woman was found at the unit on Thursday. A crime scene was declared at the premises. Police are appealing for any witnesses of suspicious behaviour in the area or any motorists who may have captured dash cam footage in the vicinity around the time of the incident to come forward. It is, in short, precisely the sort of development well suited to Melbournes growing and ageing population. But people with limited stake in the situation including the local council, a few former ABC employees and locals defending their own amenity want a fresh burst of government interference in the independent ABC. The ABC has, as part of its long-planned consolidation in the CBD, placed on the market almost 12,000 square metres in Elsternwick, valued at more than $40 million, less than 10kilometres from the city centre and close to abundant public transport, parks, schools, the bay and social and health services. It is a site with huge potential to provide much-needed social housing, community space and medium-density private residences. The furore surrounding the future of the massively valuable, abandoned ABC site in Elsternwick fast follows one of the most crushing catastrophes imaginable for such an institution the implosion of its leadership after chairman Justin Milne was obliged to resign, having lost the backing of the staff, the board and the federal government with which he had sought to curry favour. Just when one might have wagered things could not get any worse for the ABC, a politically charged controversy over a prime chunk of inner-Melbourne land is deepening the national public broadcasters drama. The core argument for freezing the sale and re-use of this land on which the ABCs first Melbourne studios were constructed at the dawn of television in the 1950s is that The Dream Factory, as it is affectionately known to aficionados, is a place of great cultural heritage. It certainly is. But the cultural legacy of the studios is what was made there, not the unremarkable building sitting behind a tall hedge and surrounded by a car park. There would be far greater community value in a well-designed mixed development of the space, rather than preserving it as some sort of museum to the ABC. Auntys heritage is the archive of decades of creativity across music, news and current affairs, drama, comedy, documentary and much more. A small part of the space could be used as a visitors site, but the most accessible and valuable way to preserve this particular heritage is digitally, not in bricks and mortar. The local mayor seems to have leapt upon a bandwagon, and says he wants other tiers of government to step in and do something, anything, to prevent the sale and redevelopment. He neglects to mention that would be at taxpayers expense and would not lead to the best community outcome. The best outcome is for collaboration between private developers and the authorities to create lots of homes, a significant number of them for social housing, as has been the case in comparable projects including Channel Nines former studios in Richmond, as well as open space for locals. The ABCs contribution to Australia is rightly feted. The broadcasters integrity has been threatened by the misjudgment and editorial interference, to say the least, at the upper levels. The last thing Aunty needs is to be harangued by its former neighbours to assume responsibilities that have never been part of its charter. A Melbourne woman is in custody after she allegedly poured boiling water over a man as he slept. Maria Doris Axiak, 55, has been charged with five offences including intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence after the alleged incident at Burnside on Saturday night. The man was taken to hospital with burns to his face and arm. Axiak, dressed in a pink T-shirt and with cropped brunette hair, appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday for a filing hearing. The court was told she suffered depression, anxiety and diabetes, among other health issues. The man charged with reviewing government spending at the ABC says the public broadcasters leadership turmoil will give him more scope to explore savings, as board members cling to their positions amid demands for mass resignations. The ABC is now without a managing director and chairman after Justin Milne resigned from the board on Thursday just 72 hours after presiding over the disastrous sacking of former boss Michelle Guthrie. Justin Milne leaving the ABC studios in Sydney after his resignation on Thursday. Credit:AAP The entire ABC board could now also be forced out as angry staff, former directors and a chorus of federal MPs demand answers over this weeks unprecedented turmoil. Mr Milne was forced to quit after Fairfax Media revealed he asked Ms Guthrie to fire high-profile reporters the Coalition government did not like. Mr Milne on Thursday night defended linking staff matters to concerns over funding, saying you cant go around irritating the person who's going to give you funding". On his way out the door, Justin Milne used just two words to describe the crisis that engulfed the ABC: "A firestorm." Milne was the chief arsonist, but Michelle Guthrie also had her fingers badly burnt. In the space of just 72 hours, both are now gone, and a complacent board that turned a blind eye to infighting and interference could soon follow the chairman and managing director. The carnage leaves the national broadcaster at an unprecedented turning point, and what happens next will have implications for years to come. Former ABC chairman Justin Milne returns to his home in Sydney on Thursday. Credit:AAP The Morrison government now has a series of pressing decisions to make. It must quickly strike a settlement with Guthrie, who is viewed as a dangerous presence while ever she remains aggrieved by her very public sacking on Monday. It will also need to quickly determine whether the ABC board should be cleaned out given there is irrefutable evidence all seven directors knew of Milne's fatal demand to sack at two journalists in the face of political pressure. And it will need to appoint a chair who can secure the trust of staff and play a pivotal role in selecting a new managing director to run the organisation. The Coalition would be foolish to replace Milne with an ideologue, or stack a revamped board with Liberal Party figures. Why? Labor strategists believe the opposition has a potent threefold political edge over the Coalition on this issue: a broken election pledge by Tony Abbott to not cut funding, a vote by NSW Liberals in June to privatise the broadcaster, and now numerous accounts of senior ministers flexing their influence while complaining about unfavourable coverage. The most famous recent example of old tweets and blog posts coming back to bite someone is James Gunn, who lost his job directing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after a far-right activist found some old edgy tweets making light of paedophilia almost a decade ago. Many fans were horrified that such poor attempts at finding his voice in comedy could be used against someone who had clearly changed and grown in that time. Then the photos and blog posts about the paedophilia-themed parties he attended emerged, and suddenly the complaints died down. This caused other comedians, celebrities, and people with only 5 followers and a strong belief in themselves to go back and batch delete old tweets using Cardigan (free, and only from your last 3200 tweets) or Tweet Eraser (paid, but with more control and better options). Aside from embarrassment, another reason to delete old, unused social media accounts is security. Until recently, anyone could take over an old MySpace account simply by knowing the full name, user name and date of birth of the account holder. This was because the site suffered a massive data breach where all the passwords were stolen, so its management decided the best way to fix that was to remove all passwords and make people claim their accounts. It was ineffective, as far as safety tools go. Once you aged out of being an angsty teen, you likely found your solace in being involved in fandom or other discussions on LiveJournal, like famed author and all-round weirdo George RR Martin. If you had an account there, you almost certainly wrote at least one awful poem, and a minimum of one awkward post about a former romantic partner. New York: US President Donald Trump is standing by his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after an extraordinarily emotional and bitter day of Senate hearings examining whether he committed sexual assault as a high school student. The hearings laid bare the deep partisan and gender divides in contemporary America, with Democrat senators lauding Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, as a "profile in courage" while Republicans said Trump's nominee had been the victim of a disgraceful smear campaign. Just a little over a month before midterm elections that could upend control of Congress, the stakes for Kavanaugh's confirmation could not be higher. If appointed to the court, he will lock in a 5-4 conservative majority for decades that progressives fear will lead to a rollback of access to abortion, union rights and progress on healthcare. The day began with Ford, a California research scientist, saying she was "100 per cent" certain that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, and testifying to the ongoing trauma she has suffered since the event. Ford, Uber, and Lyft to Share Data Through New Platform AGREEMENT TO SHARE DATA THROUGH NEW PLATFORM THAT GIVES CITIES AND MOBILITY COMPANIES NEW TOOLS TO MANAGE CONGESTION, CUT GREENHOUSE GASES AND REDUCE CRASHES Ford president and CEO Jim Hackett today announced Fords commitment to Shared Streets, a new data platform designed to make it easier for the private sector to work with cities around the world and leverage data to improve urban mobility. Fords commitment includes developing a universal data standard for real-time curb demand and availability. For more information, see below. An expanding network of companies commits to use SharedStreets to share data and collaborate with cities to ensure that the digital transportation revolution supports sustainable, inclusive mobility NEW YORK - September 27, 2018: Ford Motor Company, Uber, and Lyft announced an unprecedented commitment to SharedStreets, a new data platform designed to make it easier for the private sector to work with cities around the world andleverage data to improve urban mobility. The data sets pledged by the companies will provide the public and private sectors with new tools to manage curb space in order to reduce congestion and emissions that cause climate change; improve the efficiency of city streets by making it easier for everyone to get around; and save lives by preventing traffic crashes. The groundbreaking public-private partnership is the result of a collaboration with the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), the Open Transport Partnership and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the consortium behind the innovative SharedStreets data platform. This collaborative effort to build 21st-century streets was announced by Jim Hackett, CEO of Ford Motor Company, Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, and John Zimmer, Co-founder and President of Lyft at the second annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York City. They were joined by Janette Sadik-Khan, principal at Bloomberg Associates and chair of NACTO, on behalf of Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Mayor of New York City, 2002-2013. The partnership gives mayors unparalleled access to road traffic data, allowing them to make better planning and investmentdecisions as shared and autonomous mobility arrive in their cities. The agreement also fills a long-missing link for mobility companies, providing a common standard for sharing data across all cities, where local requirements currently vary widely. Launched earlier this year with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, SharedStreets is a universal data language for sharing information about city streets and a launching pad for public-private collaboration to manage streets, reduce traffic deaths, and prepare cities for the unprecedented technological advancement emerging in cities. Already operating in over 30 cities around the world, the SharedStreets platform and this new partnership will provide city leaders with far-reaching new instruments for managing transportation networks. The agreement includes: In partnership with Ford, developing a universal data standard for real-time curb demand and availability. With this tool, cities will be able to responsibly price and manage curb space in real-time, for the first time. It will provide a down payment on a global, comprehensive roadway pricing mechanism that cities and companies can use to encourage sustainable transportation choices, reallocate road space, and reduce carbon emissions. With this tool, cities will be able to responsibly price and manage curb space in real-time, for the first time. It will provide a down payment on a global, comprehensive roadway pricing mechanism that cities and companies can use to encourage sustainable transportation choices, reallocate road space, and reduce carbon emissions. In partnership with Uber, producing the first-ever freely available global data set of vehicle driving speeds. Building on one of the first features developed by SharedStreets, Uber will release vehicle speed data from cities around the world. With this critical data, cities can identify where exactly on their streets people are speeding or otherwise driving dangerously, so that they can redesign streets and save lives. Uber will include this speed in an update of its open-source Kepler.gl tool, providing cities everywhere with innovative new tools for data visualization and information sharing. Lyft will follow with a release their own city speed data set. Building on one of the first features developed by SharedStreets, Uber will release vehicle speed data from cities around the world. With this critical data, cities can identify where exactly on their streets people are speeding or otherwise driving dangerously, so that they can redesign streets and save lives. Uber will include this speed in an update of its open-source Kepler.gl tool, providing cities everywhere with innovative new tools for data visualization and information sharing. Lyft will follow with a release their own city speed data set. Lyft will join SharedStreets and Uber to produce a universal framework for sharing curbside pick-up/drop-off counts. Building on an early SharedStreetsfeature first announced with Uber, Lyft will also collaborate on a model for providing anonymized, aggregated curb usage data to leading cities everywhere. With this model, city leaders can understand where for-hire vehicle trips are in the greatest demand, so that they can reduce congestion, make our curbsides more innovative and efficient and better serve everyone on foot, on a bike or behind the wheel. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for business and government to work together to rethink transportation, said Jim Hackett, president and CEO, Ford Motor Company. Collaborating through initiatives such as Shared Streets will enable us to use vehicles, road systems and data together to create a new roadmap for mobility. We are working toward a future where all cities are smart and curb space is actively managed, increasing efficiency and safety, while reducing driver stress and pollution. The private and public sectors need to come together and collaborate on ways to create smarter, safer and more efficient transportation systems, said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber. Its the responsibility of companies like ours to step up and support cities in every way we canwhether thats through data sharing, urban planning research, funding for nonprofits, or even through the introduction of new and more efficient forms of transportation like electric bicycles. Lyft is in a unique position to drive positive change within our cities, and we take that responsibility seriously" said John Zimmer, President and Co-Founder of Lyft. We are committed to partnering with cities and data-driven decision making to design streets that provide safe and accessible transportation for everyone. We look forward to collaborating with regulators to expand affordable mobility options, taking cars off the road and reducing congestion, and ultimately reshaping cities around people - not cars. Ride-share and auto companies have been gathering an enormous amount of data on transportation and traffic. Now, cities will be able use it to find new ways to manage congestion, reduce carbon emissions, prevent traffic crashes, and prepare for the arrival of autonomous vehicles, said Michael R. Bloomberg. Its a great example of how governments and businesses can work together to solve tough problems and build a better world - and I want to thank all the companies that are taking part. Code is the new concrete for 21st century cities and we need a digital infrastructure to share data and create safer and more sustainable streets, said Janette Sadik-Khan. The SharedStreets platform offers cities and private sector players a powerful new data sharing tool to make that future possible. In addition to launching the new tools and partnerships, NACTO, representing 74 cities and transit agencies across North America, and global cities from Paris to Melbourne formally endorsed the data sharing policies of SharedStreets, committing to working collaboratively with the private sector. They join the six cities that have participated in pilots to develop new data standards and features or that have been formally trained on the platforms new tools and capabilities, together reaching more than millions city residents around the globe. About SharedStreets First funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and developed by NACTO and the Open Transport Partnership, the SharedStreetssuite is a neutral, anonymized clearinghouse for data collected by transportation providers, private companies and government agencies, as well as a hub for industry-leading data analysis, traffic planning, street design and development of new technologies. The platform overcomes long-standing legal, regulatory and technological barriers between the public and private sectors by converting todays ad hoc, disparate transportation data sources into a mutually readable, shared, global standard for the first time. It introduces a universal language for digitally describing every aspect of city streets, opening new markets to private sector innovators and eliminating the need to manually clean, collate and transfer data sources, saving crucial public funds. Visit the SharedStreetsproject online at SharedStreets.io. What Did You Do This Summer? Toyota Helped Paleontologists Discover A Treasure Trove Of Dinosaur Bones In Wyoming INDIANAPOLIS - September 27, 2018: Two of the biggest blockbusters of the summer movie season revolved around prehistoric creatures making a comeback in the modern age. In the wilds of the American West, Toyota supported a paleontology team from the Childrens Museum of Indianapolis, as they embarked on an exciting journey through a long-lost world of dinosaurs. Led by the museums Scientists-in-Residence, world-renowned paleontologists Dr. Phil Manning and Dr. Victoria Egerton, a team from the museum surveyed an undisclosed site in northern Wyoming. The expedition was supported by Toyota, through usage of a pair of Tundra pickups and a Land Cruiser. The trio of vehicles was pivotal in hauling scientific gear, camp equipment and fossilized/fragile dinosaur bones all while navigating several miles of the most rugged, craggy, unforgiving terrain in the western United States. Its an off-road adventure through a rough and tumble world that existed millions of years ago, at a time when there was a salt water sea covering the area were presently exploring, Manning said. What the sea left behind was rugged terrain and steep slopes that are extremely hard and sometimes dangerous to traverse. Some of the bones we are discovering weigh hundreds of pounds and are brittle and very fragile. So, its imperative we excavate and transport them safely in vehicles that can smoothly handle the rough landscape. We are very grateful Toyota is helping us preserve a very important slice of history. The venerable Land Cruiser has the distinction of being the primary vehicle in Michael Crichtons best-selling 1990 novel Jurassic Park. That fact wasnt lost on our team, Manning said. We experienced firsthand why Crichton selected the Land Cruiser for his book. The expedition has proven fruitful so far. The museum team has uncovered several ancient animals, some dating back several millions of years. The paleontologists are hot on the trail of multiple dinosaurs, and they aim to tell a tale of exploration when the full story of the sites discovery is ultimately revealed to the world. The dinosaur bones will make their 2,500-mile journey back to the Childrens Museum of Indianapolis, after they are extracted from the ground and prepped for travel. The 500,000-square-foot museum, which attracts around 1.2 million visitors annually, is home to Dinosphere, one of the finest immersive dinosaur exhibits in the U.S. In appreciation of Toyotas involvement in the dinosaur dig, the museum purchased a 2018 Highlander Hybrid for personnel usage. The Highlander is manufactured in the Hoosier state at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, in nearby Princeton. About Children's Museum of Indianapolis The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is a nonprofit institution committed to creating extraordinary learning experiences across the arts, sciences, and humanities that have the power to transform the lives of children and families. For more information about The Children's Museum, visit www.childrensmuseum.org. Fuel Cell of the Future Developed by Volkswagen and Stanford University LEARN MORE: Hydrogen Fuel Cell News Archive New triple-power fuel cell catalyst to bring cost reduction and increase in performance WOLFSBURG, Germany - September 27, 2018: Fuel cell technology is regarded as a serious alternative to battery-electric technology, but it has always come with a comparatively high cost. A partnership between Volkswagen and Stanford University has significantly reduced this disadvantage thanks to a newly-developed process. One of the biggest cost drivers for fuel cells is the use of the platinum, which is required as a catalyst to operate the fuel cell. In the catalytic process, platinum is distributed as particles on carbon powder. However, since the process only takes place on the surface of the platinum particles, large quantities of the costly material are wasted. In a new process developed by Volkswagen and Stanford University, platinum atoms are precisely placed on a carbon surface in order to produce extremely thin particles. The benefits of the new process are threefoldit reduces the amount of platinum required, increases the efficiency of the catalyst by a factor of three compared to current technology, and increases the catalysts durability. This technology opens up enormous possibilities for cost reduction, as the amount of precious metal used is minimized. At the same time, service life and catalyst performance are increased, says Professor Friedrich Prinz of Stanford University. In addition to the fuel cell, atomic layer deposition also offers a whole range of other applications requiring high-performance materials, such as next-generation lithium-ion batteries. The fuel cell has great potential in emission-free mobility. The advantages over battery-electric vehicles are significantcars with fuel cells are comparable to conventional combustion engines in terms of efficiency, range, and refueling times. Plus, the vehicle only gives off water and heat as emissions. Due to the comparatively high production costs, the fuel cell is currently still a niche product. With the help of the new catalyst technology, there is potential for greater economic efficiency that could make the fuel cell a real alternative to battery-powered drives and the classic combustion engine. The task of the researchers is now to transfer the results obtained in the laboratory to industrial-scale production. Helping You Enjoy The Drive: AUTO LAB RADIO LIVE Saturday September 29, 2018 7-9 AM Auto Lab Talk Radio on New York City's WNYM Radio AM 970 and Streamed Worldwide On TheAutoChannel.Com This Weeks Show: Broadcast Date: September 29, 2018 Car Question or Concern? Automotive Career Opportunity, Call Toll Free 888-692-7234 To Speak With An Expert Auto Lab is a 28 year old interactive automotive-focused New York City radio call-in show hosted by Professor Harold Wolchok. Featuring an in-studio panel of experienced hands-on automotive experts sharing accurate, honest, practical and street-smart car repair, automotive career opportunities and vehicle and repair buying advice. Auto Lab is also about the automotive industry, its history, and its culture, presenting the ideas and advice of leading college faculty, authors, and automotive practitioners in a relaxed, conversational interactive format. Listeners can find the past 20 years of archived Auto Lab shows as simulcast on The Auto Channel. Auto Lab Page includes Audio-on-Demand Archives, Auto Programs at Community College Database, Guests Pictures This Weeks Show: September 29, 2018 IN STUDIO PANEL: Real World Auto Experts, Educators, Technicians, Shop Owners, Insurance Experts, Lawyers Will Answer Your Automotive Questions: Repairs, Second Opinions, Regular Maintenance, How To's, Safety, Used and New Car Buying, Insurance, Ombudsmen Suggestions Harold Bendell - Major Auto Ivan Anderson - Brookdale Community College Fred Bordoff - Bronx Community College's Automotive Technology Department-CUNY Tim Cacace - Master Mechanix David Goldsmith - Urban Classics Jerry Pastore - D & J Diagnostics Johanna Pastore - D & J Diagnostics Michael Porcelli - Automobile Services Nicholas Prague - MTA Auto Lab Interviews: Featuring Auto Safety News, New Car Reviews, Technology and Latest Auto World Information That Will Effect You! Jeremy P. Goddard, Director THE SOCIETY FOR AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS DETROIT Robert Sinclair AAA Northeast "DRIVERS RELY TOO HEAVILY ON NEW VEHICLE SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES John Russell Senior Correspondents BUICK ENVISION Michael Porcelli THE SOCIETY OF AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS Russ Rader,Senior Vice President Insurance Institute for Highway Safety REDESIGNED HYUNDAI SANTA FE IS A TOP SAFETY PICK A dairy farmer from Grunthal says he couldnt have predicted his role with a federal advocacy group would one day land him near the epicentre of high-profile negotiations that will determine the future of free trade in North America. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/9/2018 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A dairy farmer from Grunthal says he couldnt have predicted his role with a federal advocacy group would one day land him near the epicentre of high-profile negotiations that will determine the future of free trade in North America. "It does feel surreal at times," David Wiens told The Carillon Monday. "I consider myself a small town prairie boy, and when I started all of this, I would not have had the remotest idea that it would somehow unfold this way." When he isnt serving as vice-president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, Wiens oversees 230 dairy cows at Skyline Dairy with his brother, Charles. But lately, NAFTA renegotiations instigated by the United States government have consumed much of his time, requiring 10 trips to Washington, D.C. over the past 13 months. Wiens said he learned to embrace the high-stakes environment as a chance to defend Canadas "family-oriented" dairy industry, and likes to remind himself of the "human toll" trade negotiations have on a producers livelihood. "This is some attention we were certainly not looking for, but were in it, and we have to make the most of it." A typical day in Washington sees Wiens brief elected officials or meet with agriculture industry partners, but his most important task is lobbying negotiators to ensure Canadian dairy industry interests remain at the forefront of their minds. "They kind of give us a high-level update on the negotiations, although they never get into any specifics," he said, due to a pact between Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and her U.S. counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, to avoid negotiating in public. Wiens also attends receptions and other official functions surrounding the negotiations. Preserving Canadas supply managed dairy industry is chief among his concerns. Wiens said the production model, which imposes controls on imports and pricing in an effort to standardize quality, avoid shortages and surpluses, and protect farmers, is of the utmost importance to Dairy Farmers of Canada. "Canadian standards reflect the values of Canadians, and Canadian consumers," he said. "People want to know, where did their milk come from?" But the system has been harshly criticized by U.S. officials, who favour a free market model that would allow their dairy farmers to gain more access to Canadian supermarket shelves. Wiens said he disagrees with those who argue supply management results in higher prices for dairy products in Canada. "When we compare to other markets around the world, were in a lot of cases a little bit lower price, and in a few cases just slightly higher, but its all fairly close." American consumers pay twice for milk, Wiens asserted, through store purchases and government subsidies paid to dairy farmers who must dump out their perishable surpluses. Wiens also worried about economic fallout if Canadian negotiators relented to American demands. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Dairy Farmers of Canada estimates 221,000 jobs and a $19 billion slice of the GDP stem from the Canadian dairy industry, Wiens said. Contrary to Larry Kudlow, a top economic advisor to U.S. president Donald Trump who said "m-i-l-k" stands in the way of a trade deal, Wiens said his interactions in Washington lead him to believe "there is much more within the negotiation that is not near settlement." While deadlines for reaching a trade deal have come and gone, Wiens declined to speculate on when the negotiations might realistically conclude. For now, he said he hopes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau follows through on his stated support for supply management. Recent Canadian trade deals with European Union and Pacific Rim countries ceded a small amount of international access to the Canadian dairy market, but Wiens estimated the industry could stand to lose $250 million in revenue annually as a result. He hopes similar concessions wont be made in the NAFTA talks. "Were to the point where enough is enough. To constantly give out little bits and pieces of the dairy industry weakens us," he said. "This cant continue." Brett Kavanaugh. Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein/Bloomberg via Getty Images Christine Blasey Ford will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both teens in Maryland. On Wednesday evening the night before the hearing her written testimony, which she plans to read in front of the committee, was released. What Blasey Ford has to say is incredibly heartbreaking; she not only provides new information about what occurred during the alleged assault, but also speaks of how the attack drastically altered her life. Ford states in her testimony that, during her freshman and sophomore years of high school, her group of friends at the Holton-Arms all-girls school intersected with Kavanaughs group from the Georgetown Prep all-boys school. During the summer of 1982, she says, she spent most of her days swimming at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland. One evening after a day of swimming, she attended a small gathering at a house, with Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth and one other boy present, as well as her one of her friends. Her testimony reads, in part: I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark were visibly drunk. Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldnt see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. She says that Kavanaugh groped her, grinded his hips into her and tried to take off her clothes. I believed he was going to rape me, Ford writes. She tried to call for help, but says Kavanaugh then put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Ford states, It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. She also said that Judge alternated between egging Kavanaugh on and telling him to stop, and that a couple of times she made eye contact with Judge. She eventually was able to escape out the door and hide in a bathroom. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack, her testimony reads. They both seemed to be having a good time. Ford goes on to say that she kept the details of the assault and the identity of her attacker private until a therapy session in 2012, during which she had to explain to her husband why she needed a second front door installed during a home renovation. After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety, she said. She reveals that she also told a few friends. She also states in her testimony that she never wanted to go public with her allegations, but only shared the details confidentially out of a sense of civic duty. Then, after the details were leaked to the press, she felt compelled to go public with her story. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth, she writes. Read the full testimony here. Photo: Google Maps In the fall of 1983, three weeks into his freshman year at Yale, Kit Winter switched dorm rooms. He had been sharing a room on the fourth floor of Lawrance Hall, entryway D, with a kid from Rhode Island named James Garman. But Garman was studious and Winter liked to stay up late, and they had heard about an unoccupied single in the basement. So they cooked up a scheme to tell the dean that they werent getting along, and Winter moved down to LD01, a three-man suite, where two rooms opened up onto a large living area. Winter took over the empty single. The double was already occupied. James Roche, who has publicly supported Deborah Ramirez in her account of being sexually threatened by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, lived there. And so did Kavanaugh himself. Winter immediately noted the cold, alienated dynamic in LD01; the place was profoundly inhospitable even by 1980s college standards. It was a dungeon space, recollects Garman, now an organic farmer. It was dark and it was cellar-like, and it was thoroughly creepy. And while on the first floor of entryway C, a group of guys had gotten together some furniture and a big-screen TV, creating a gathering place for people who liked to watch sports, the living room down in LD01 remained entirely unfurnished except for an old keg and I think there was also a broken floor lamp much of the time, Winter recalls. And as you might expect in a sizable empty room, there were a lot of dust balls and Solo cups and trash on the floor. It was not an inviting space. It was pretty grim. The environment was disturbing enough that Winter mentioned it to his high school friend Itamar Kubovy, who also ultimately went to Yale. I remember Kit saying how uncomfortable it was, how creepy it was, Kubovy recalls. [Editors note: Winter, Kubovy, and I went to high school together in New Haven, and Winters family and mine were friends.] Especially disgusting was the shared bathroom, which was always covered in vomit. Kavanaugh and his crowd, whom Winter characterizes as loud, obnoxious frat boy-like drunks were the hardest drinkers on campus even back then, when hard drinking did not hold the stigma it does today. In a statement earlier this week, Roche recalled Kavanaugh frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk, and Winter corroborates that recollection. There was a lot of vomit in the bathroom. No one ever cleaned it up. It was disgusting. It wasnt incidental. It wasnt, Oh, this weekend someone puked in the bathroom. People were constantly puking in the bathroom. Constantly. Lori Adams, a retired psychiatrist in Underhill, Vermont, was a friend of Winters at Yale. I remember, she says, that you couldnt use the bathroom because his roommates vomited all over the floor and didnt clean it up. (Winter clarifies that Roche wasnt much of a drinker and that although he himself drank a fair amount during freshman year, he very rarely drank to the point of throwing up.) The social dynamic within the triple was nonexistent to the point that Winter felt uncomfortable. From the start, Winter and Kavanaugh barely acknowledged one anothers existence. He remembers no conversation between them. Kubovy, still in high school at the time, sometimes visited Winters dorm room. Its weird never saying hello to one of your two roommates, he says, in retrospect. (Several years later, Dana How lived next door to Kavanaugh, and his recollection is similar. Kavanaugh and his roommates didnt talk to anybody, How remembers. They were completely antisocial. The door was closed. These guys were completely disconnected.) In LDO1, Kavanaugh and Roche were also very nearly strangers, according to Roches statement; Brett and I did not socialize beyond the first few days of freshman year. (Roche moved out in December of that year.) Once in a while Winter and Roche would talk late at night, sitting on the floor in the double, leaning with our backs against the beds, Winter remembers. For the last 35 years, if anybody had said, Tell me about Jamie Roche, I would have said, Jamie Roche is the most stand-up guy you would ever hope to meet. Jamie stood out as centered, mature more of a gentleman than the frat boys. He had nice manners. Many of the residents of Lawrance Hall that year describe the social life on campus as extremely tribal and isolating, with the elites and legacies hanging with each other, dominating and creating ripples of inarticulate fear, while the outsiders the nerds and the scholarship kids and the people of color circled the outskirts seeking friendly alliances. The fraternity brothers at Delta Kappa Epsilon to which Kavanaugh pledged could be heard in the streets at night chanting. There was always more than a strong whiff of sexual violence hanging over the Dekes all the time, says Garman. Dana How recalls consciously deciding to stay away from one of Kavanaughs frat brothers he cant now remember the reason why. Another person, who arrived at Yale from a working-class background, remembers encountering the upper levels of the social hierarchy for the first time and understanding them as dangerous. I remember thinking, Oh, youve got to be really careful around these people. I saw it through a class lens. I dont want to be somebodys little mouse. I dont want to be somebody who gets eaten. Looking back, I perceived things as dangers rather than, Oh, fuck. This is crazy. Back then, it was sort of a game where there had to be some way to play it where you werent a victim. All of which may go some way to explaining why the atmosphere in LD01 was so silent and charged. Kit Winter is gay. He had come out to his parents the same year he entered Yale, and lived on his own on and off for months, including during the summer before college in New York City on the Lower East Side. He had multiple piercings in his ears and wore a motorcycle jacket and his hair in a punkish pouf. People remember him as visible and strong he wore his soul on his sleeve, says someone who dated him at the time. So it is perhaps not too surprising that he and Kavanaugh, the jock from Georgetown Prep, failed to connect. Jocks were often the anathema of gay people at Yale at the time, says Adams. They didnt treat them well. I had gay friends who were stalked, followed home, their doors beaten in, things like that. Winter adds that at that moment in his life, he was inclined toward isolation. He would eventually become a student leader at Yale and, during the early years of the AIDS crisis, a visible gay activist. But as an 18-year-old freshman, he was still working things out, and disdainful of the sheltered, privileged people who dominated his environment. I was out, but I was still a little alienated. I was not really a joiner, I dont think. Yale was not a particularly gay-friendly environment, but I was also not a particularly friendly person. I looked alienated. I felt alienated. I drank a lot. What is surprising, however, especially in light of todays priority on hearing and empowering the voices of societys underclasses, is the extent to which Winter and all the alienated kids who arrived on Yales Old Campus (where all the freshmen live) in the fall of 1983 regarded the social structures and their places in it as normal and expected. Winter felt that his own discomfort, the essential weirdness of his living situation, was barely worth mentioning. At the time, my response to most stuff was to listen to more punk rock music and to have a scotch. I felt very abandoned. You could have thrown rocks at me and I would have kept my head down and kept walking. Winter did tell his friends about his living situation. I remember that Kit was really unhappy with his roommates, says Lori Adams. They were jocks and Kit was an out gay man with peroxide blond hair. He was uncomfortable there. And he didnt spend much time there. But he didnt tell anyone with any authority to change things. Winter had already cashed a chit to move to the desired single, and he didnt want to irritate the dean with complaints. Which is why Winter didnt say anything when he came home one day that fall to find a dead pigeon nailed to his door not on the front door of the suite, but on his own bedroom door. It wasnt rotten or anything. I assumed that someone found a dead bird on the ground, he says. I interpreted it as an act of social hostility slash terrorism. I thought it was a very clear message. We dont like you, and we dont want you here. I didnt know who it was who didnt want me here. I didnt know who had done it. Again, Winter didnt tell authorities or administrators and he didnt call the police. He didnt try to figure out who had done it though as someone who lived in Lawrance that year points out, it was done by someone with serious intent: The doors were really dense wood. It would take some real hammering to get a pigeon nailed to that door. Winter threw the bird away, and told a few friends, and the story circulated, as stories do. I think my general response was, screw you. Im not going anywhere, he says. But whats remarkable now is how little a dent it made in the memories of Winters friends or the other people in his dorm, as if such targeted attacks were just part of the everyday. I remember this moment of hostility around the bird, says Kubovy, but its all part of the blur. By email, Roche confirms that he also vaguely remembers the pigeon. But the incident, and that whole tense and silent year, have forced Winter to think a lot about the nature of memory, especially during a time of intense emotional development and heavy drinking. I have thought a lot about Kavanaughs statement on Fox, that he never drank so much that he didnt remember what he had done the next morning. And having witnessed the level of drunkenness of Brett and his crew in that dorm, and the vomitous aftermath in the bathroom, I find that very hard to believe. I was not a blackout drinker, but theres tons of stuff I dont remember because I was drinking a lot, frequently. Anybody who drank a lot in college and can stand up 35 years later and say, I am sure that did not happen inherently lacks credibility to me. Rose McGowan. Photo: NBC/Nathan Congleton/NBC Ten days after Asia Argento threatened to sue Rose McGowan over false statements she made regarding the sexual-assault allegations against Argento, McGowan has released an apologetic statement claiming that she regrets spreading a number of facts that were not correct. An hour later, Argento tweeted that she appreciated McGowans apology, but that it was too little too late. On August 19, the New York Times reported that Argento had made a deal to pay off Jimmy Bennett, a former co-star who accused her of sexually assaulting him when he was a minor an allegation that Argento swiftly denied, which was in turn contradicted by a number of incriminating leaked text messages that TMZ published. Then, less than a week later, McGowan released a statement revealing that the leaked texts came from the person she had been seeing, Rain Dove; she also alleged that Asia told Rain that shed been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12. More than two weeks later, Argento gave McGowan 24 hours to retract and apologise for the horrendous lies made against [her], which McGowan did not meet. (The next day, Argento tweeted that she had instructed a law firm to file a lawsuit against McGowan and Dove.) But on Thursday, long after she had missed the deadline, McGowan released a statement on Twitter, writing that she misunderstood texts that Argento and Dove exchanged. On 27 August I released a statement about Asia Argento, which I now realized contained a number of facts that were not correct, she wrote. The most serious of these was that I said that the unsolicited nude text messages Asia received from Jimmy Bennett had been since Jimmy was 12 years old. In fact, I had misunderstood the messages that Asia exchanged with my partner Rain Dove, which made clear that Jimmy had sent Asia inappropriate text messages only after they met up again when he was 17 (still legally a minor in California, but notably different from a 12 year old). She concluded the statement by expressing her regret for not correcting her statement sooner an apology that Argento appreciated, but that came days too late, as the actress claims that McGowans allegations against her subjected her to harassment and led to the loss of a job. Although I am grateful to @rosemcgowan for her full apology following her groundless allegations about me, if she had issued it earlier, I may have kept my job on X-Factor and avoided the constant accusations of paedophilia which I have been subjected to in real-life and online, she tweeted. Although I am grateful to @rosemcgowan for her full apology following her groundless allegations about me, if she had issued it earlier, I may have kept my job on X-Factor and avoided the constant accusations of paedophilia which I have been subjected to in real-life and online. https://t.co/ZwH0poL0nR Asia Argento (@AsiaArgento) September 27, 2018 One minute later, she replied to her own tweet, Now go on, live your life and stop hurting other people, will you Rose? Best wishes. Opal Dig!! Photo: Contributed - Opal Resources Canada Inc. The finished product Photo: Contributed - Opal Resources Canada Inc. The finished product Photo: Contributed - Opal Resources Canada Inc. The finished product Photo: Contributed - Opal Resources Canada Inc. The winning rock Photo: Contributed - Opal Resources Canada Inc. Previous Digs Photo: Contributed - Opal Resources Canada Inc. Previous Digs 1 2 3 4 5 6 A tourist visiting the Okanagan on her annual vacation took a dig to remember at the local opal mine. Donna Nelson was visiting from Saskatchewan and decided to go on a weekend opal dig, figuring it would be a fun afternoon adventure. Little did she know the adventure was going to cash out. We took a nice tour on those four-by-four roads and I had been up there maybe an hour and half when I sat down to take a picture of the whole field and when I went to put my camera away, there it was! explains Nelson. It was that simple! At first she thought there was maybe $100 worth of stones on the rock, but then the owner came over and he was excited too. He was pretty flabbergasted and that's when it started dawning on me that this thing was worth a lot more than I thought it was, laughed Nelson. The rock that caught her eye had one big opal on the outside, but when they broke it open they discovered a pocket full of several other opals on the inside. As it turns out, Nelson had discovered an amazing rock containing over 19 opals, and worth nearly $3,000. We puttered around for the day and got lucky. It was just as easy as sitting down to take a picture and seeing 'ooh sparkly'! she laughs. Nelson and her husband discovered the opal when they chose to go on the tourist digging adventure with Okanagan Opal. She hit the jackpot, shared a smiling manager, Mike Yorke-Hardy. People can dig their own holes and keep what they find. We can turn it into jewellery if you find something that is of quality, which she did for sure. Photo: Contributed - Opal Resources Canada Inc. The opal mine, which you may not have even known existed in the Okanagan, was found by Robert Yorke-Hardy in 1991. The mine is located about a quarter of the way down Westside Road from Vernon, and then up into the mountains. The mine is now a family operation with son Mike Yorke-Hardy manning the office, retails and operations, while brother Chris Yorke-Hardy cuts the stones and creates the jewellery. My dad found the mine in 1991 and it is the only one in Canada that has ever been found. It is pretty unique, explains Mike. The mine is in quite a remote location. You are up to 5,000 feet which is the same height roughly as Big White and Silver Star, just on the other side of the lake. This year over 60 tonnes of rock was mined by the company. BCIT mining students were brought up for the summer and employed at the mine to help with the work. Now the team will go through all the rock, see what they can find, cut the stones and make the jewellery. Yorke-Hardy says the business is optimistic about their future and is only now really finding their marketplace. This summer they were able to mine more, create more and had more digging tour trips than ever before. He adds that the digs are not for everyone, but the nature enthusiasts and those who love the outdoors would enjoy the experience. It's a full day trip up to the mine and those interested are guided by the company. They must bring their own vehicle, their own tools, food and water and for $50 they can spend the day digging in the mine and keep what they find (up to five pounds). Some people don't find anything but some people find really great stuff, like Donna who found the best that has been found in a few years, says Yorke-Hardy. Nelson is getting all the stones made into jewellery and says she can't wait to try the experience again. I am looking forward to trying it again. I doubt I will get that lucky again because that sort of stuff doesnt happen to me, but I guess I am going to have to stop saying that though, eh? she giggled. Nelson says she and her husband come to BC every year and love it so much they are going to make their visits permanent. Our farm is up for sale and we are moving there, says Nelson. We are moving to the Okanagan Valley, where else? It is beautiful out there and we are going to retire there. Opal Digs for this year have wrapped up but will start again next Spring. They typically run twice a week from approximately June 15 Sept 15. Click here for all the dig details. Fun Fact: The Opal is also the birthstone for the month of October! Argument Erupts at Dennys in Texas, Shooting Ensues A fight escalated to a shooting at a Dennys in Far East Dallas on Sept. 26, resulting in three people and the shooter suffering wounds, Dallas News reported. After the argument between two groups was taken outside the restaurant at around 2:15 a.m., the police were notified of the conflict. The police said that someone drew their gun and wounded three people. Fortunately, none of the customers inside the restaurant were harmed. Two victims were transported to Baylor University Medical Center and the third victim escaped the area on a bicycle and ended up in the hospital afterwards. Following the violence, the two groups fled, including the shooter who authorities said was still perceived to be dangerous. The restaurant was closed for police investigations and the authorities are still looking for the suspect who is possibly armed. Bill Cosby Reportedly Getting Fed Jell-O in Prison Bill Cosby on Sept. 25 spent his first night in prison in Pennsylvania as Inmate No. NN7687, and he will reportedly be fed a cup of Jell-O. Cosby for decades was a pitchman for Jell-O in its commercials. Lisa Durand, spokesperson for the SCI Phoenix prison, told CNN that his first meal was meatballs and rice, green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy, adding that Jell-O is also served as a dessert. Cosby will be assessed by prison medical staff, psychologists, and other staff. He will be allowed phone calls, visitation, and exercise. The disgraced comedian will also be able to purchase his own television, radio and tablet so that he will be able to receive email, music and books, Press Secretary for Corrections Amy Worden told Fox News. She added: These are possessions that inmates are allowed to have. In a press release from SCI Phoenix, located in suburban Philadelphia, the 81-year-old is being housed in a single cell in a unit adjacent to the infirmary. We are taking all of the necessary precautions to ensure Mr. Cosbys safety and general welfare in our institution, said Corrections Secretary John Wetzel in a statement. The long term goal is for him to be placed in the general population to receive the programming required during his incarceration. Details of Sentencing Cosby received three to 10 years in prison for the 2004 assault of Andrea Constand. Bill Cosby took my beautiful, healthy young spirit and crushed it. He robbed me of my health and vitality, my open nature and my trust in myself and others, she wrote in an impact statement. Now, almost 15 years later, Im a middle-aged woman whos been stuck in a holding pattern for most of her adult life, unable to heal fully or to move forward, she said, adding of Cosby: We may never know the full extent of his double life as a sexual predator, but his decades-long reign of terror as a serial rapist is over, The Associated Press reported. More than a dozen women have accused Cosby of sexual assault or harassment over a several-decade period. Supermodel Janice Dickinson also accused him of assault. It is time for justice. Mr. Cosby, this has all circled back to you. The time has come, Montgomery County Judge Steven ONeill said, according to The Associated Press. Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt claimed, however, that his client was subjected to the most racist and sexist trial in the history of the United States. Wyatt said all three of the psychologists who testified against Cosby were white women who make money off of accusing black men of being sexual predators, AP reported. Cosby will have to serve a minimum of three years in prison before he can be eligible for parole. For decades, the defendant has been able to hide his true self and hide his crimes using his fame and fortune. Hes hidden behind a character he created, Dr. Cliff Huxtable, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, adding that now, finally, Bill Cosby has been unmasked, and we have seen the real man as he is headed off to prison, according to AP. After the sentencing, Cosby was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs before he was taken to prison. Ken Christopher, the executive vice president of Christopher Ranch , the largest garlic grower in the United States, in Gilroy, Calif. on Sept. 26, 2018. (Nancy Han/NTD) California Garlic Grower Supports Trumps Tariffs on China GILROY, Calif.The United States largest garlic grower is backing Trumps trade policy on China, and says the move to impose tariffs will save the U.S. garlic industry. We are very grateful to the U.S. trade representative for enacting tariffs on Chinese garlic, said Ken Christopher, the executive vice president of Christopher Ranch, who identified himself as a third-generation garlic farmer. Christopher Ranch farms on 5,700 acres throughout California and provides distribution nationwide, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Christopher said that while it might cost his ranch $30 to produce a box of garlic, which is then sold for $35, the Chinese are flooding the U.S. market at a $10 price point. They are doing that to drive out the American farmers, Christopher told The Epoch Times. The latest round of U.S. tariffs is a 10 percent levy on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, including garlic. The tariff is set to rise to 25 percent by the end of the year. Thats in addition to the $50 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods that went into effect in August. Christopher expects to see a significant slowdown of garlic dumping from China beginning early next year, once the tariff rises to 25 percent. What is really special for these tariffs is that they are paid upfront, Christopher said, although he said some Chinese garlic exporters have been using some loopholes to avoid what they are supposed to pay Since 1993, hundreds of millions of pounds of Chinese garlic have been dumped into the U.S. market, which has artificially distorted the marketplace. Tariffs are expected to help level the playing field. We are going to be able to get more of our garlic to American consumers nationwide, Christopher said, with equal parts of pride and relief in his voice. Christopher Ranch expects to harvest 100 million pounds of American-grown garlic this year, while Chinese exporters have been dumping over 150 million pounds of garlic every year, he said. He said the tariffs give his company a chance to compete while remaining true to its values. The ranch pays one of the highest corporate minimum wages in the country, starting at $15 an hour, and offers onsite care and health insurance to its employees. We try to be a good steward of our community, Christopher said. This year, the garlic industry is expecting a harvest with quality among the best of what we have ever seen and about a 10 percent total increase in production, he said. Were excited that more consumers than ever are going to get California-grown garlic, he said. Weve been in operation for 62 years, and we are looking forward to another 62. Nancy Han contributed to this report. Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale rises during question period in the House of Commons on Sept. 24, 2018. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang) Canada in Brief, Sept. 27-Oct. 3 Goodale tours Ottawa area destroyed by tornado Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale toured Dunrobin, west of Ottawa, on Sept. 25 where locals are still reeling after a powerful tornado ripped through the town. He said some of the modern homes hit hardest in the area looked like they had gone through a grinder. Environment Canada says six tornadoes swept across the Ottawa area and through the neighbouring Quebec region on Sept. 21, levelling homes and knocking out power grids along the way. Goodale said the federal government has not provided financial assistance because the first portion of response and recovery costs are covered by the provinces. But Ottawa will step up if the price tag reaches a certain level, he said. Ontario to halt minimum wage hike set to kick in next year The Ontario government said it will halt a planned increase to minimum wage that was scheduled to kick in next year, following up on a promise made during the spring election campaign. Labour Minister Laurie Scott said Sept. 25 the minimum wage will remain at $14 an hour rather than rising to $15 as planned by the previous government. Ontarios minimum wage increased from $11.60 to $14 an hour on Jan. 1, drawing complaints from businesses and prompting some to raise prices and cut staff hours and employee benefits. Kenney says no confusion sowed on India trip Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney says he didnt sow confusion on his recent trade trip to India, and says the contacts he renewed there can only help the province. Kenney and two United Conservative MLAs toured India last week, meeting with senior government and oil and gas officials. He said he went as Albertas official Opposition leader and used the trip to renew and strengthen relations with Indian officials established previously while working as a federal cabinet minister. On Sept. 24, Premier Rachel Notley dismissed Kenney for playing minister of make believe abroad. Kenney said for him, partisan politics stops when he goes abroad. When I leave the borders of Canada, Im on Team Alberta, he said. NB party leader says hes open to minority government A potential New Brunswick king-maker says hes willing to work with any party to make a minority government work after the deadlocked election results on Sept. 24. Peoples Alliance Leader Chris Austin says its unfortunate that Liberal Premier Brian Gallant has stated the Liberals would not form a coalition with his party, which won three seats. The Liberals won 21 seatsone fewer than the Progressive Conservativesbut Gallant remains premier as he tries to get support from other parties to maintain the legislatures confidence. Austin says party leaders need to put aside egos and agendas to make a minority government work. With files from The Canadian Press The offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers in St. Helier, Jersey, U.K., on April 12, 2017. That month, China-based hackers attacked PwC through its IT service providers. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) China Launching More Sophisticated Cyber Attacks and Plans to Persist, Report Says China doesnt plan to cease conducting commercial espionage that benefits the central government, even as the U.S. is rolling out new, proactive cyber strategies to counter threats from Beijing, a new report by an Australian think tank says. Furthermore, Chinas hacking capabilities have gotten more sophisticated, with the intention of making the hacking harder to detect, according to a new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. The report analyzed Chinese espionage in three countriesthe United States, Australia, and Germanyand found that the Chinese regime often breached cyber agreements it had signed. With the United States, for example, former President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed an agreement in September 2015 promising that both parties wont conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information for commercial advantage. Washington sought to have China acknowledge the difference between legitimate espionage for political and military purposes, versus illegitimate IP theft for the purpose of economic gains. Initially, Chinese hacking activity post-agreement seemed to decrease in absolute numbers. But the report said: A decline in the number of attacks doesnt necessarily mean a decrease in their impact on US economic interests, as Chinese operators have significantly improved their tradecraft. Instead, attacks became more targeted and calculated after the Chinese military was reorganized, and industrial espionage attacks were transferred to another organ of the Chinese regime, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), according to the report. The MSS is an intelligence agency. Beginning in 2017, hackers re-emerged, targeting high-technology and advanced manufacturing companies. One unidentified security researcher cited in the report said: Beijing never intended to stop commercial espionage. They just intended to stop getting caught. James Mulvenon, a U.S. security researcher, concluded that Beijing never truly accepted the distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate hacking. Other Countries Australia and China also signed an agreement in April 2017. While Australian intelligence reports indicate that economic espionage is occurring, government and businesses have been reluctant to provide details on whats been stolen and who carried out the theft. While not publicly named, China is regarded as Australias primary cyber adversary, including in the area of IP theft. The fact that it remains unnamed in public statements from the government is perhaps the start of the explanation of why Australias policy response so far has been ineffective, the report said, noting that China is making more of an effort to disguise and focus its cyber spying for commercial purposes. The report recommends that Australia identify opportunities to publicly identify its adversaries. Meanwhile, in Germany, there is no formal bilateral agreement with China on cyber commercial espionage. China has been identified in a government report as a main cyber adversary. A July 2017 report by Bitkom, Germanys digital industry association, found that German companies lose roughly $64 billion annually from cyber espionage. The recent Australia report identified a trend of fewer China cyber attacks, coinciding with an uptick in Chinese foreign direct investment in Germanys high-tech and advanced manufacturing industries. As Hans-Georg Maassen, head of BfV, Germanys domestic intelligence agency, said at an April cyber conference: Industrial espionage is no longer necessary if one can simply take advantage of liberal economic regulations to buy companies and then disembowel or cannibalize them to gain access to their know-how. The Australia report concluded that, ultimately, Western nations need to take more aggressive action: Unless the targeted states ramp up pressure and potential costs, China is likely to continue its current approach. The U.S. White House and Department of Defense recently unveiled new cyber strategies that will take a more proactive approach to countering Chinese cyber attacks, for commercial purposes or otherwise. China Marks 40th Anniversary of Economic Changes With Increased State Interference in Businesses Deng Xiaoping, the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader, is synonymous with Chinas economic reform policies that were rolled out in 1978, which opened up the country to foreign businesses and investment. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the policies introduction, with Chinese state-run media boasting that the reforms have led to a prosperous China. However, the reality is that the Chinese economy may now be headed in the opposite direction and further away from Western economic models. Recently, the name Xiaoping has become associated with the idea of shoring up the economy by having private companies merge with state-owned enterprises. More Central Planning? Internet murmurs about Beijing pushing toward a more state-planned economy first emerged in early September, when Wu Xiaoping, a self-identified senior financial expert, penned an online article stating that the private sector has already fulfilled its historical mission of helping the public sector to grow by leaps and bounds. The next phase wasnt about the private sector blindly expanding their businesses, Wu wrote, but rather a new form [of the economy] with greater centralization and cooperation would be ushered in, one based on a scaled-up mixed economic system, where private and public sectors would be merged into one. Wus article was widely circulated on both Chinese social media and mainstream Chinese media outlets. It drew a lot of speculation about the future of private firms, given that many of Chinas biggest corporations have been felled by the Chinese regime in recent months, including Anbang Insurance Group, one of Chinas largest insurers, after former Chairman Wu Xiaohui was sentenced to 18 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement in May. Jitters among Chinas private sector were heightened when another person with the name of Xiaoping made headlines. On Sept. 13, Chinas Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security posted on its website comments made by Deputy Minister Qiu Xiaoping, at a meeting about ways to deepen democratic management in the private sector. At the meeting in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province, Qiu stated that, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, employees working at private companies should jointly participate in business management, and enjoy the fruits of their companys development and that both managers and employees should shoulder the risks of the company together. This runs counter to conventional Western management structures that typically hold executivesand not employeesaccountable for a companys financial loss. Worries about the private sector becoming more vulnerable to Party influence arent unfounded. According to statistics compiled by Chinese financial media outlet Caixin, more 20 private companies in China received investment from state-owned enterprises this year. Beijing has encouraged that, since the Chinese regime called for more state-controlled assets to invest in the private sector as part of its 13th Five Year Plan unveiled in 2016. One such private company was Kingee Culture, a Beijing-based company in the gold, silver, and jewelry business. In July, one of the companys majority stockholders, Bikong Longxiang, a Beijing-based asset management company, sold 73.32 percent of Kingees shares for a total of 1 yuan (15 cents) to HKJ Group, according to Chinas state-run Yancheng Evening News. HKJ Group is a financial-services company controlled by a local branch of the state-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). The SASAC is a government agency that oversees Chinas state-owned firms. On Sept. 25, Dafu PeiTian Investment, based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, saw 29.99 percent of its stock (about 230 million shares) sold by one of its major shareholders to Xing Gang Investment, a state-run company owned by the managing committee of the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone located in the eponymous city, the capital of Henan Province, according to Chinas state-run financial newspaper Securities Daily. The transaction was valued at 280 million yuan (about $40.7 million). At the Expense of Private Sector There are already opposing voices within China against any move toward a mixed economic system. According to Chinese news portal Sina, Yao Yang, head of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, during a Beijing seminar organized by Chinas State Council on Sept. 16 and 17, said state-owned enterprises shouldnt take advantage of distressed private companies, as that would be a serious blow to confidence in the private sector. Beijing in recent years has rolled out policies that favor state-owned assets. For example, the Chinese regime has enacted financial deleveraging to reduce its massive debts, especially debts incurred by state-owned firms and local governments. That effort to reduce debt has instead put private companies at a disadvantage because they arent able to obtain bank loans due to Beijings tightened lending policies. At the same time, Beijing also imposed a $300 billion taxation and social security plan, for the purpose of generating funds for deficit-ridden local governmentsalso at the expense of the private sector. In June, Chinas Chengxin International Credit Rating Company, reported that 13 companies defaulted on about 20 bonds, totaling 14.8 billion yuan (about $2.15 billion), in the first five months of this year, according to Sina. For seven of these companies, it was their first-ever bond defaultssix of them were private companies. On Sept. 6, the Party mouthpiece Peoples Daily reported that over 27 million private companies possessed combined registered assets of over 165 trillion yuan (about $24 trillion) in China as of the end of 2017. They contributed to roughly 60 percent of Chinas gross domestic product. While the private sector that has contributed more to the Chinese economy, it remains to be seen if more state-owned companies will invest in or take over private companies before the end of this year. A refugee girl from Iraq kisses her brother while pouring water at the Moria refugee camp on May 20, 2018 in Mytilene, Greece. (Adam Berry/Getty Images) EU Anti-Fraud Agency Probes Claims of Refugee Funds Misuse in Greece BRUSSELSEuropes anti-fraud watchdog is investigating the possible misuse of EU funds earmarked to provide food for refugees stranded in Greece, after allegations of financial mismanagement were reported by officials. Investigators at the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) were called in by the European Commission after alleged irregularities were highlighted in information submitted to officials in Brussels last year. On Sept. 25, it emerged that three Greek journalists had been detained by police over an article that alleged EU funds that were meant to improve the conditions of a migrant camp in the country had been misused. The trio, from Greek daily Fileleftheros, spent Saturday night in the cells at an Athens police station after the countrys Defense Minister Panos Kammenos brought a defamation action against them over the story. The article alleged some of the recipients of the EU funding, to provide food at a refugee hotspot near the village of Moria on the island of Lesbos, were businessmen linked to Kammenos. It claimed that some of those businesses had overcharged for contracts providing catering services and had often not taken part in competitive tenders to secure the work. Reporters Without Borders named the three journalists detained as publisher Thanassis Mavridis, editor Panayiotis Lampsias, and political reporter Katerina Galanou. On Sept. 26, both the European Commission and OLAF confirmed that an investigation into possible misuse of funds is ongoing but declined to comment on specifics or directly link it to the newspaper article. European Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said officials decided to refer the case for investigation following allegations of misconduct that were not made by us, but that we were made aware of. She added: We cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. The EU has very clear rules about how our funds are managed and a very strict monitoring system to ensure and verify that all funds have been correctly spent. Bertaud said the Commission representatives have visited the project on two occasions to verify the project is proceeding as planned, and didnt find any evidence of misuse of funds. However, she said that the Commissions visits only determined the project in question existed and that food was being provided. We are not competent to investigate any allegations of illegitimate profits by catering companies, she said, noting that OLAF is the only EU body that can investigate fraud related to EU funds. In a statement, OLAF said it was conducting an investigation into alleged irregularities concerning the provision of EU-funded food for refugees in Greece. The statement added: As the investigation is on-going, OLAF cannot issue any further comment at this stage. The fact that OLAF is examining the matter does not mean that any persons or entities involved have committed an irregularity or fraud. The three Greek journalists were detained after voluntarily presenting themselves to police. Greek law regards defamation as a flagrant crime, meaning anyone who is accused of it is immediately arrested. However, the decision to lock up the trio for the night drew sharp criticism both at home and abroad with press freedom campaigners urging Greece to change its retrograde law on libel. We condemn the disproportionate arrest of journalists for daring to criticize a government minister, said Pauline Ades-Mevel, head of the Reporters Without Borders EU-Balkans desk. The Greek authorities must repeal such retrograde provisions as use of the category of flagrant crime to detain journalists in connection with their reporting. Domestic opponents also heavily criticized the move, with the conservative opposition party New Democracy accusing the defense minister of thuggery over the defamation action. Filipino Food, Explored Through the Stories of Its Shapers, Makers, and Innovators An ever-changing tapestry, the cuisine tells of the pastand builds a new future In a spread of Filipino food, among platters of fried fish and braised meats and their bold layers of acid and salt and funk, lies the history of a people. It tells a story in parts. An abundance of sun-loving produce and seafoodfatty fried bangus (milkfish), plump prawns afloat in mouth-puckering sinigang (a sour soup), punches of unapologetically pungent bagoong (a fermented shrimp or fish paste)tells of the natural resourcefulness of the inhabitants of the tropical, archipelago nation of over 7,000 islands. The omnipresent sting of vinegar, to braise beloved adobo or cure ceviche-like kinilaw, is a reminder of their solution to pre-refrigeration food preservation in a sweltering climate. Then, there are fiesta dishes bright with tomatoes and peppers and rust-red annatto seedsimports from the New World, introduced when the Spanish colonized the Philippines in the 16th century. There are endless variations of pancit and lumpia, Filipino cousins of noodles and spring rolls, reflecting the influence of waves of Chinese traders and migrants. (The now popular addition of soy sauce to adobo, joining the indigenous recipe of mainly vinegar and salt, was also a Chinese import.) And then theres spam. Slapped in sandwiches or fried up and served with garlic rice and eggsa modern Filipino breakfast of spamsilogthe canned meat is a remnant of the nations era of American colonization in the first half of the 20th century, and U.S. soldier occupation during and after World War II. Filipino is the original East-meets-West fusion food. A multi-layered cuisine shaped first by its motherland, and then by the successive foreign hands that found their way to it, Filipino food is diverse, dynamic, and adaptive; it has a knack for borrowing things from others but making them its own. Its no surprise, then, that its still changing. A Living Cuisine Filipino food is ineffable, Jacqueline Chio-Lauri writes in The New Filipino Kitchen, her newly released anthology and cookbook. Trying to define it in a few sentences will always fall short in capturing its essence. Theres the layered history, for one, and also the geographic variationwith 7,641 islands and 144 ethnolinguistic groups, many with their own microclimates, native ingredients, and specialty dishes, the nationand its cuisineis hardly homogenous. That diversity continues to blossom as millions of Filipinos have left home and built new ones abroad, taking their familiar foods and flavors with them and adapting them to new environments. Chio-Lauri is one of them. Born in Manila and raised in the Philippines culinary capital of Pampanga, she grew up watching her lola (grandmother) cooking in the kitchen from before dawn, grinding umami-rich shrimp heads with a mortar and pestle to add to tortas or sinigang. She left the country in her early twenties. Since then, shes lived in six others, many with little Filipino food presences, including her current home in the UK. She longed for her food to be more accessible globally. The best means to her goal, she decided, was storytelling. To make sense of Filipino food, it has to be experienced, with all the emotions and sensations that are associated with it, she writes. She had her own story to tell, but she knew it wasnt enough to capture a cuisine. And so she called upon a community. Leveraging her social media influence and her Filipino food website, My Food Beginnings, Chio-Lauri reached out to Filipino voices around the world; 30 of their stories, narrowed down from about 70 submissions, are compiled in her book. The voices are varied: some first-generation immigrants and others third; one raised in the slums of Manila and another in a mansion in Ilocos; one a college dropout turned food truck owner and another the White House executive chef. They frame ingredients and recipes with childhood memories and new epiphanies. For one contributor, a Filipina who moves miles away from family and friends to rural Arkansas, thoughts of habichuelas, her heirloom family dish of white bean stew taught to her by her mother, offer comfort. Another contributor is on her own in the kitchenwith a lola who was fiercely protective of the realm of cooking, she had to piece together her own version of her lolas chicken adobo with the help of her fathers memory. Sometimes continuing tradition takes more effort. The books photographer, Rowena Dumlao-Giardina, spent years hunting down and painstakingly nurturing rare seeds of the tropical plants of the Philippines in her adopted home of Italy, to have ingredients like banana leaves to wrap her favorite inihaw na isda, stuffed fish grilled in the leaves, reminiscent of family get-togethers back home. Their recipes, though all rooted in tradition and a shared homeland, are as varied as their stories. Even though the dishes are common in the Philippines, every contributor put his or her own stamp on it, Chio-Lauri said. From rustic to refined, austere to extravagant, traditional to modern this showcases the unlimited scope and resilience of the cuisine. Chef Christian Andre Pettersen, son of a Norwegian father and a Filipino mother, reinvented crispy pata, a traditional feast dish of boiled and deep-fried pork leg remembered from his first visit to the Philippines, into an elaborate, 11-component creation complete with cabbage-truffle foie gras and lingonberry powder. (The recipe he provides is more home cook-friendly.) It helped him win 2018 Nordic Chef of the Year. On the other hand, in her own recipe, a traditional seafood sinigang inspired by her lola, Chio-Lauri simplifies the processopting to boil shrimp heads to extract their flavor, rather than take to the mortar and pestle, for instanceto better suit her lifestyle without sacrificing authentic flavoror Lolas wisdom. The soup is finished with a gremolata inspired by her Italian husband, but with roasted garlic, the preference of the Filipino palate, instead of raw. Filipino food culture, in many ways, has always been fundamentally adaptable and inclusive yet also individualized, Chio-Lauri explained. For evidence beyond the recipes, look to the meals. Filipino meals are generally sit-down, family-style affairs, and dishes are shared, whether eaten kamayan (by hand) traditionally from a banana leaf-lined communal table, or with spoons and forks (not chopsticks, thanks to European influences). Furthermore, dishes are typically served with sawsawan, a variety of spicy, savory, sour, and sweet dipping sauces that encourage diners to personalize their food. Dont worry: Concoct and take any sawsawan as you please, Chio-Lauri writes. It wont be taken as an insult to the cook. The Next Big Thing In the United States, Filipino food is making strides into the mainstream. A cuisine once largely unknown and unexplored by non-Filipinosor limited to a sort of food that you would only eat on a dare, on Fear Factor, Chio-Lauri said, a gross misunderstandingis increasingly piquing the interest of curious minds and palates. But as with any hot cuisine, Filipinos have been eating this way for centuries. So why is it becoming popular now? For one, Chio-Lauri thanks greater media attention and representation. Food authorities like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern have been predicting the mainstream rise of Filipino food for yearsZimmern famously prophesied it to be the the next big thing in America back in 2012and now, Filipino chefs and restaurants across the country are getting their turn in the spotlight. She points to Bad Saint in Washington, for instance, which serves up traditional dishes like sizzling sisig and a variety of adobos. The restaurant was named Bon Appetits second-best restaurant in America in 2016 and earned a Bib Gourmand distinction in this years Michelin guide to the capital. Behind the change, she identifies a generational shift. Previous generations of Filipino immigrants were largely necessity-driven, focused on assimilation and building new homes for themselves. But now, second- and third-generation Filipinos with established foundations are stepping up and out. They want to explore their identity, they want to connect to their roots and they want to express themselves through the food and culture, Chio-Lauri said. Its the sort of evolution and resiliencefactors that enable, not work against, each otherthats embedded in their history and cultural DNA. Filipino foods have persisted, Chio-Lauri believes, because they and the people who create them are able to adapt to new environments and new times, while staying true to themselves. RECIPE: Inihaw na Isda at Ensaladang Talong: Stuffed Fish Grilled in Banana Leaves and Eggplant Salad With Toasted Pancetta RECIPE: Spaghetti Sauce Chicken Afritada RECIPE: Avocado Mousse With Raspberry Sauce and Lychee Granita Fitness Tracker Burns Prompt Recall of 30,000 Wristbands Reports of burns to the wrist due to overheating have prompted the recall of 30,000 fitness trackers in the United States. Provata Health voluntarily issued the recall after a few consumers reported that wristbands, designed to track heart rate and step rate, were overheating. The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall notice saying that the Chinese manufactured devices posed a burn hazard, advising consumers to immediately stop wearing or charging them. The wristbands were given to consumers as a promotional giveaway and feature a digital display, a charging terminal, a heart rate and step detector with Bluetooth technology. The firm has received 13 reports of the activity tracker overheating during use or while charging, including three reports of burns to the wrist. Provata has offered to replace the devices which were distributed for free from August 2017 through July 2018 in mailings nationwide and in-person during employer wellness events in Oregon, North Carolina, and Arizona. The devices were distributed in three colors: black, blue or mint green. The packaging displays the word Provata and Activity Tracker [color] printed on the front cover, said the CPSC in a statement. The companys senior director of corporate communication, Melissa Gilkerson, said the company has contacted users of the wristband and has been working closely with the CPSC, reported CNN. Photo: Third Space Life Charity Third Space Life Charity is hosting its month-long Gratitude Project in October to say thanks to the community's RCMP officers. On Sept. 29, the second annual Family Fun Day will kick off the 30-day event, providing Kelowna residents a chance to connect with RCMP officers and their families. Family Fun Day will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kelowna RCMP detachment. The family event will include face painting, crafts, a photo booth, carnival games, RCMP squad cars and more. Third Space Life Charity has partnered with the Child Advocacy Centre of Kelowna for this year's Gratitude Project. The CAC works closely with the Kelowna RCMP to ensure that children and youth in need can grow and live in a safe, friendly environment, said Allie Grey with Third Space. The CAC acts as personal and family advocates to children and youth affected by abuse, changing the long-term outcomes and building a stronger community through support and education. Former Google Employee Suing Company for Sexual Harassment, Wrongful Termination A Google employee who was fired after complaining of sexual harassment has filed a lawsuit. Britt Storkson, 63, worked at a Google data center in The Dalles, Oregon. He said he was subject to an environment of sexual harassment, and wants $400,000 in damages. Storkson said he has been in the workforce for over 40 years. Ive never seen this happen, he said, about his experiences at Google. Storkson was fired in June, after Google completed an investigation into his sexual harassment claims. He says that human resources personnel told him that his claims were false because the man he alleges sexually harassed him is not gay. We went in to the meeting room. He turned toward me, unzipped his pants and I registered a shocked look. He put himself back together and went on with the meeting, said Storkson, of his former supervisor. Storkson, 63, worked at the data center for four years. He said the supervisors actions were a way of gauging sexual interest. Storkson also said colleagues pulled out a sex toy at work, and some regularly had sexually explicit conversations at work. He didnt report it at first, out of fear. I felt I was going to be fired the moment I reported such an incident and I thought it was better to take whatever was happening and keep my job as opposed to report it. Storkson began to panic after his supervisor started giving him low work performance reviews while continuing to sexually harass him. Storkson had an attorney draft a complaint letter requesting an investigation, sent to Google in April. The investigation took two months. Less than 24 hours after the internal investigation was over, I was terminated, said Storkson. Storkson and his lawyer arent adamant about a monetary award. Wed drop the complaint, honestly, and I would waive my attorneys fees if Google would just give him his job back and implement policies so this doesnt happen again, said Attorney Michael Fuller. Storkson said he filed the lawsuit to help others who may be going through the same thing. The data center employs about 100 people, and is located near Portland, Oregon. Maybe all this harassment is happening to other people, not just to me. You never know because people are afraid to report it for fear of being disciplined or worse, Storkson said, via USA Today. Id like my job back. I liked what I did and where I worked. Storkson said the issue is embedded in the organization. I believe its just a culture that tolerates that sort of thing. More Trouble at Google Google is also facing two lawsuits from female employees, according to The Guardian. One of the lawsuits alleges Google gives lower pay to female workers, another alleges that Googles company culture made possible the daily sexual harassment a particular female employee faced. Both lawsuits were accepted in California courts. In the second case, Loretta Lee, who worked at Google from 2008 to 2016 as a software engineer, alleges she experienced lewd comments, pranks and even physical violence daily. The lawsuit also claims she was wrongfully fired. From NTD.tv Czechoslovakians carry their national flag past a burning tank in Prague during the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. (Central Intelligence Agency/Public Domain) From Repression to Freedom: Czech-Canadians Recall Fleeing 1968 Communist Invasion After the Prague Spring movement prompted a Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, Canada resettled thousands of refugees Josef Jurkovics memories of the night 50 years ago when military tanks rolled into his hometown are as clear as the Bohemian crystal for which his native countryCzechoslovakia at the time but now the Czech Republicis world-famous. Now 69 and a proud Canadian living in Ottawa, Jurkovics face betrays no emotion as he recalls the details of events on Aug. 21, 1968, when tanks and soldiers from the Warsaw Pact countries entered Hradec Kralov, about 80 km north of Prague. Events unfolded swiftly. TV stations were shut down and the main national radio station broadcast dire warnings of imminent arrests of the 20 signatories of the Two Thousand Words manifesto, a document calling on all citizens to participate in the liberalization movement that was underway in the communist country. Jurkovics father was a signatory to the document, along with such leading intellectuals as author Milan Kundera. The elder Jurkovic was arrested but released after two days. The family soon decided to leave the country. We left just 10 days after the invasion, Jurkovic said. Because of my fathers prominent position (as head of the Military Medical School and chief of staff at a hospital), we felt we didnt have a future in Czechoslovakia. The invasion came about because Lenonid Brezhnev, then-General Secretary of the Communist Party and Leader of the Soviet Union, had been carefully watching unfolding reformsknown as the Prague Springin Czechoslovakia, one of the satellite states of the Soviet empire. After Alexander Dubcek became the First Secretary of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia that January, he began implementing reforms to soften the harsh edge of communism. He wrote in Two Thousand Words that the country reached a point where its spiritual health and character were both ruined. Brezhnev was enraged that the long communist winter that had held the people of Czechoslovakia in its icy grip since 1945 was beginning to thaw, so he gave marching orders to troops from Russia, Poland, Hungary, and East Germany to crush the Prague Spring movement. Approximately 170,000 soldiers and 4,600 tanks took part in the invasion. The short-lived glimmer of freedom that Czechoslovakians enjoyed for a few months that year, and the hopes they engendered, were swiftly extinguished. That summer, little Martina Stvan, 3 years old, was at her grandmothers home in the country, while her parents worked at their jobs in Prague. Little did she know that her life, too, was about to change forever. Champagne welcome to Canada The invasion was followed by a wave of emigration to various European countries, which was stopped soon after. The Jurkovic and Stvan families were among the 12,000 Czech refugees who arrived in Canada between 1968 and 1969 under a special program introduced by then-Minister of Manpower and Immigration Alan MacEachern. Many, like the Stvan family, with Martina clutching her beloved teddy bear Mischa, boarded specially chartered flights from Vienna, where Canadian bureaucrats worked around the clock to process their visas, arrange transportation, and make all the necessary preparations for the refugees flight to freedom. One of these was Mike Molloy, retired now but then an awestruck intern working with his superiors in the Vienna office of Manpower and Immigration where he helped process thousands of visas. Molloy recalled flying home to Ottawa on one of the refugee charter planes. Before takeoff, the crew served champagne to all the passengers and it seemed to me that this was the right way to greet people coming to start a new life in Canada, he wrote in a special bulletin of the Canadian Immigration Historical Society, of which he is the current president. Canada: Open doors and open hearts Even if every single refugee fleeing the communist invasion of Czechoslovakia wasnt greeted with champagne on board their flights, all were welcomed to Canada with warmth and generosity. Except for Canadas political refugee program, I wouldnt be here. We were treated with respect and kindness, says Jurkovic, who runs his own communications company in Ottawa. We were escaping a very rigid system where freedom did not exist. No freedom of speech, no freedom of expression. I was even arrested for running a student newspaper when I was a teenager, he says of life under the yoke of communism in Czechoslovakia. Stvan says her family was grateful for everything the Canadian government provided, including their apartment and first set of dishes in their new home in Windsor, Ontario. But leaving wasnt an easy decision for her parents, both of whom had good jobs; they knew there was no turning back. It was like plunging into an abyss and it took a lot of guts, she says. They had to burn their bridges because they had no hopes of ever going back. In fact, my mother never saw her parents again after they moved to Canada. She was 27 at the time. Communism is known for targeting intellectuals, and the upshot of this refugee movement was that Czechoslovakia lost a whole generation of intellectuals and professionals. But Canada gained from the skills and talents of the Czech refugees, wrote Joe Bissett, another immigration official at the time. They adapted quickly and soon began to contribute positively to Canadian society. For Stvan, life has come full circle. She is now director in the international network of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canadathe same government department, since re-named, that brought her family to Canada. In late 1989, the Velvet Revolution led to the end of communist rule in Czechoslovakia and in June 1990, the country held its first democratic elections since 1946. Susan Korah is a freelance journalist based in Ottawa. She has a Master of Journalism degree from Carleton University and writes on Canadian and international politics as well as travel and culture. Judge Brett Kavanaugh sits next to his wife Ashley Kavanaugh, and daughter Liza, before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the first day of his confirmation hearing to serve as Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 4, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Has America Lost Its Identity, or Its Mind, or Both? Commentary We are living in a brave new world of uncertainty where previous norms of cultural and institutional behavior are being erased. In September, we watched the ugliest politics imaginable, used by the left to prevent the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. This is the same political left that uses Saul Alinskys Rules for Radicals as its playbook. While those on the left are masters of the book, Republican leaders have not studied or understood the text well enough to know how to avoid the traps and pitfalls placed in their path. Some probably dont even know who Alinsky was. In an environment of uncertainty with shifting goals and rules, the victor is often the person who refuses to blink. Although President Donald Trump is not one to blink, this cannot be said for other members of the GOP. Trump, a former Democrat, understands the rules better than his skittish advisers. Rules for Radicals is about overthrowing the existing political and socioeconomic system and replacing it with something more palatable to the political left. Alinsky was a master of deception and so are his disciples. His strategies include deception, infiltration, and manipulation. These are the tactics the political left has used to take over Americas colleges and universities. If Republicans are going to govern true to the high principles found in their party platform, it is critical for them to become experts at recognizing and deflecting Alinskys tactics. Listed below are the 13 tactics that Republicans need to recognize and deflect: Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have. Power is derived from two main sources: money and people. Have-nots must build power from flesh and blood. (Since have-nots have limited resources, they must use their numbers as a source of strength.) Never go outside the expertise of your people. It results in confusion, fear, and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone. Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety, and uncertainty. Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. Ridicule is mans most potent weapon. There is no defense. Its irrational. Its infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Trump is a master of this one.) A good tactic is one your people enjoy. Theyll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. Theyre doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Dont become old news. Keep the pressure on. Never let up. Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself. Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign. If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive. Violence from the other side can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Never let the enemy score points because youre caught without a solution to the problem. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. Rules for Radicals has become a bible for the true believers who would like to remake America by jettisoning its traditions. By jettisoning principles in favor of end goals, Democrats have perfected the art of playing blacks against whites, whites against blacks, women against men, and older people against younger people. Alinskyites are masters of a craft that requires them to exploit other peoples pain and suffering to achieve selfish political goals cloaked in self-righteousness. We no longer have a viable two-party system committed to the betterment of America. By word, deed, and pattern of behavior, the Democratic Party has allowed itself to be taken over by radicals who now control their party leaders. Once-respected Democrats no longer speak as the responsible individuals who once worked with Republicans to achieve bipartisan outcomes benefiting the nation. During the Kavanaugh hearings, we heard Democrat lawyers and senators argue that Kavanaugh was not entitled to the presumption of innocence. Lawmakers demanded that unverified and unsubstantiated accusations of women with ties to anti-Kavanaugh activist groups be taken as truth solely on the basis of their allegations. It is a repeat of the tactic that worked against Judge Roy Moore in Alabama. It was so successful that some Republicans joined the bandwagon against Moore, demanding he leave the race while failing to question the tactics utilized against him. Since it was so successful before, why not repeat it? There is a problem here. These tactics can turn around and bite the other side. Democrat men need to beware. What happened to Moore and Kavanaugh could just as easily happen to any one of them at any time. The #MeToo movement is slowly evolving into something akin to the Salem witch trials. We are watching desperate people engage in desperate measures to retain political power. The tactics intensify as dreams of a swift impeachment of Trump evaporate. The economy is booming. Trumps approval rating among blacks is rising, and the nation is looking more favorably at the Republican Party. These are scary times for the left. Those of us who love America and its people must fight harder than ever for our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We must be like the noble signers of the Declaration of Independence who were willing to risk their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to found a nation. As we approach the 2018 midterm elections, we must motivate others by reminding them that America is worth fighting for. Carol M. Swain is a former professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University and a James Madison scholar at Princeton University. Her most recent book is Debating Immigration: Second Edition (2018). You may contact her through her website, CarolMSwain.com. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. A woman looks at her mobile phone in the MTR's Light Rail as another woman waits at the platform in Tuen Mun district in Hong Kong on August 20, 2018. (PHILIP FONG/AFP/Getty Images) Hong Kongs Phoenix New Media Receives Third Suspension From Chinese Regime Pro-Beijing site blocked for unspecified 'illegal and bad' content Phoenix New Media, a U.S.-listed company, was shut down on Sept. 26 by Chinese regime censors, marking the third time in a year the Hong Kong-based firm has been blocked in mainland China because of illegal content. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) charged Phoenixs Ifeng.com with spreading illegal and bad information, [running] distorted and misrepresented headlines, and forwarding news information in violation of regulations and ordered the news portal to subject itself to thorough and in-depth rectification. The CAC didnt provide any details about the violation. Founded in 1996, Phoenix TV has a broadly pro-Beijing stance, while presenting itself as an independent voice by occasionally reporting on sensitive topics, such as food- and drug-safety scandals. Its founder, Liu Changle, was a former propaganda officer in the Peoples Liberation Army; hes also held a position at a Communist Party-controlled radio station. As part of the rectification, Phoenixs general news, financial news, information channels, mobile website, and app will be suspended for two weeks, effective Sept. 26; Phoenixs tech channel will go dark for one month. This most recent suspension was announced one week after Zhuang Rongwen, the CACs new director, began a drive to further strengthen Party control over the internet. While media organizations in Hong Kong generally enjoy broad latitude from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) censors, the station is regarded as a de-facto mouthpiece for Beijing. China expert Sarah Cook, of the Freedom House human-rights group, said in 2017 U.S. congressional testimony that Phoenix TV is an example of a Chinese propaganda outlet not directly owned by the Beijing government. At the time of Cooks statements, the Chinese state broadcaster, CCTV, had a 10-percent stake in Phoenix. In particular, Phoenix TV is aligned with the political clique of former CCP boss Jiang Zemin, who exercised significant influence over the Party, even after stepping down from his post in 2002. Liu, the stations founder, is a close friend of former CCP official Bo Xilai, an associate and ally of Jiang whose dramatic fall from his post in 2012 prefaced the ascension of current Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Bo is now serving a life sentence for corruption and other crimes, and thousands of officials connected to Jiang have been purged in Xis anti-corruption campaign. Its the third time in the past year that Phoenixs media network has been ordered by the CCP to carry out rectification. On Dec. 29, 2017, the State Internet Information Office of the CCP directed the Beijing Internet Information Office to order Phoenix to suspend and rectify because of improper headlines, pornographic and obscene messages present on the Phoenix News mobile client portal, and online news that was deemed to have violated state regulations. On April 9, the Phoenix News app was again ordered to rectify and its operations were suspended for two weeks. Body Believed to Be Missing Autistic Boy Maddox Ritch Found, FBI Says A body that is believed to be of missing 6-year-old Maddox Ritch, who went missing days ago and sparked a widespread search and rescue effort, was found on Sept. 27. The FBI said that the boys body was discovered in Gastonia, North Carolina. With heavy hearts we announce a body believed to be 6-year-old Maddox Ritch was found at approximately 1 p.m. off of Marietta Street/Old Dallas Highway in Gastonia. Maddoxs parents have been notified of the discovery. The investigation is ongoing, the FBI Charlotte office said on Twitter. Maddox Scott Ritch, age 6, was last seen at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia, NC, on September 22, 2018, wearing an orange t-shirt with writing "I am the man" on it and black shorts with a white stripe. Help the #FBI and @FBICharlotte find him: https://t.co/iVr3JA4b70 pic.twitter.com/77YoRMQTop FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) September 24, 2018 The FBI had announced a $10,000 reward for any information leading to a break in the case. His mother, Carrie, said that Maddox is autistic and cannot speak. She said the boy is my whole world and my reason for living. Hes mommas boy. She continued: Maddox loves the park. He loves Bouncy Balls and he loves his teddy bear. Describing her son, she said, his smile is so contagious and his laughter is so precious, CNN reported. Details of the Case His father, Ian Ritch, told People magazine that the past few days have been hell for me. Every time it gets dark at night I burst into tears because Im thinking, My little boy is out there alone. The longer [the search is] going the harder it gets because Im so worried. He hasnt had anything to eat or drink, he said, according to the publication. Maddox was last seen with his father in the park. According to Fox46, he took the boy to Rankin Lake Park near Gastonia. The report said that Maddox took off running after a jogger in the park and his father lost sight of him. An AMBER Alert was not issued for the boy. In reports on Sept. 27, before the body was found, a 911 caller, Rick Foxx, who works at Rankin Lake Park, said that he doesnt think the boy was ever at the park. It didnt look as though, they were that concerned, Foxx said of the boys father, CBS News reported. Ive worked there almost three years and we see everybody come in and out of that park pretty much. I didnt see that kid one time. However, Foxx told WSOC that Maddoxs dad approached me and said he lost his kid. He then told the station: I said, When is the last time you seen him? He said that the kids, they were coming around the track, and the kid got away from him. He also said that Ian Ritch appeared out of breath and tired. The mother was really frantic. She was hysterical, Foxx added. She got out of the car, and one of the sheriffs deputies had to calm her. I pray and hope they find that kid alive, I really do. I really hope so, Foxx told the outlet. The FBI said that it had evidence that Maddox was at the park when he disappeared on Sept. 22. Ritch also told CBS News that he took several polygraph tests, but the FBI did not reveal what the results were. Mom Says United Flight Attendant Scolded Her for Crying Baby A mother is accusing a United Airlines flight attendant of scolding her and her crying baby on a flight from Sydney to San Francisco. Krupa Patel Bala, her husband, and 8-month-old baby son started their lengthy flight earlier this week, KTVU reported on Sept. 26. They had business class seats as well as a bassinet for the child. Not long after the flight began, Bala said her boy was crying for about five minutes when the flight attendant yelled at her husband, saying it was absolutely unacceptable for the infant to cry, according to the report. The attendant said the crying was stressing out the crew. Bala said she bought flight WiFi for $28.99 so she could air her frustration on Facebook. Hes going to cry again and I dont have any control over that, wrote Bala on the social media website. I was told its part of the rule book that the babies are not allowed to cry for more than 5 minutes, Bala also said. Im really looking forward to landing and seeing the rule book. Posted by Krupa Patel Bala on Monday, September 24, 2018 She said that she tried to soothe the child. She later wrote to United: Good news: The captain just came over with Linda so she could apologize to us. But the bad news is that the flight attendant, who she identified as Linda, lied about the crew complaining about the child. Bala said that the attendant claimed the service was disturbed and apparently thats the same thing ok Linda, whatever you say. She added: The pilot apologized for her and while I appreciate that, its not his apology Im interested in. United Airlines issued a statement to KTVU. Weve been in touch with our customer via social media and United representatives met the family upon arrival to apologize, offer a refund and make clear that the experience she relayed doesnt reflect our commitment to serving our customers, including our youngest customers. Young families are welcome on our flights, including in business class. We are continuing to review the incident internally and the flight attendant is being held out of service pending the investigation, the statement reads. But Bala said that she would not fly with United again. She wrote on Facebook: Over the last day, we have spoken with numerous representatives from United. Like the captain and rest of the cabin crew, they are all lovely, kind, wonderful humans. (The flight attendant) is the exception and not the norm and for what its worth, she remains unapologetic. From what I understand, United is handling the situation and ensuring that no one else ever has an experience like ours where a flight attendant makes up her own rules. I wish you all a great day and future flights with babies that cry for no more than five minutes. A similar incident occurred on a Southwest Airlines flight earlier this year after a family was from a flight from Chicago to Atlanta after a toddler threw a tantrum, WGN reported. Sen. Cruz Grills Google Over China Censorship Plans, Political Bias Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) closely questioned a Google representative regarding the companys Dragonfly project to allegedly develop a censored internet search engine for China. Cruz also asked about Googles alleged bias against conservatives. Chief Privacy Officer Keith Enright confirmed Dragonflys existence, but denied knowledge of what the project entailed during his testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Sept. 26. He said a search product for China isnt close to release. Enright also initially categorically denied political bias in Google products, but upon Cruzs probing further, acknowledged he wasnt aware of any efforts by Google to check for bias. Red Dragonfly Project Dragonfly was first publicized by The Intercept on Sept. 14, based on unnamed sources. A week later, The Intercept learned from its sources that Google required its employees to delete a memo detailing the project. The memo was authored by an engineer who was asked to work on Dragonfly. The project developed an app, for phones using iOS and Android operating systems, that required users to log in with their phone numbers. It also tracked user search histories and locations and censored terms such as democracy, human rights, and peaceful protest, according to the sources. The Chinese communist regime runs the worlds most sophisticated system of internet censorship and requires foreign companies to censor topics it deems sensitive, such as democracy, human rights, and the ongoing persecution in China of Tibetans, Falun Gong practitioners, human rights activists, and others. Companies are also forced to share with the regime any data stored in China. Some 1,400 Google employees sent a letter to the company leadership, saying Dragonfly broke the companys ethics rules for artificial intelligence development. They also demanded transparency and oversight, saying the secretive development of Dragonfly denied them information to make ethically-informed decisions about our work, our projects, and our employment. The text of the letter was published by Gizmodo. Some employees have quit because of Dragonfly, according to former senior Google researcher Jack Poulson, who was one of them. In a Sept. 24 letter, Poulson urged senators to question Enright on concerns regarding Dragonfly during the hearing. Cruz Digs Taking his turn at the end of the Senate hearing, Cruz asked Enright whether reports about Dragonfly were accurate. My understanding is that we are not close to launching a search product in China. And whether we eventually could or would remains unclear, Enright said in an answer similar to those given to Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) earlier in the hearing. Cruz kept digging, however, and asked whether project Dragonfly exists and what it is. Enright said Google has an array of internal projects and that it wouldnt be necessarily appropriate in a conversation about privacy to speculate as to what we might be looking at in terms of a product launch in some part of the world. Youre not answering my question then on Project Dragonfly? Cruz asked. There is a project Dragonfly, Enright said. Cruz continued: And its focused on a search engine in China. Is that accurate? We are not close to launching a search product, Enright said, apparently attempting to repeat his previous answer, but Cruz stopped him and rephrased his question. I didnt ask timing of launch. I asked what it is. I am not clear on the contours of what is in scope or out of scope for that project, Enright said. But I can say that if we were close to launching a search product in China, myself and my team would be very actively engaged to ensure that it was going through the appropriate privacy review process and that it was consistent with our privacy values and the commitments that weve made to our users. The trouble is, the internal privacy review process of Dragonfly was a catastrophic failure which one of the reviewers characterized as actively subverted, according to Poulsons letter. Ben Gomes, Googles head of search, told the BBC this week that Google has only done some exploratory work in China. Right now all weve done is some exploration, he said. But since we dont have any plans to launch something theres nothing much I can say about it. Do Google search results, as a systemic manner, tend to favor one political party over another? Cruz asked Enright. No sir, he replied. We build products for everyone. And in my experience, I see no evidence of bias in the way that our products or services operate. Enright acknowledged, however, that his view didnt go beyond personal experience. I have not reviewed data, he said. Cruz further asked, Are you aware of efforts to actually empirically assess and determine it? As chief privacy officer of Google, I am not aware of such efforts, Enright said. Google didnt respond to a request for further information on the issue. The White House has reportedly drafted an executive order that has tasked federal agencies with examining online platforms for bias and antitrust issues. During the 2016 presidential election, Google search results showed a significant bias toward then-candidate Hillary Clinton, according to Robert Epstein, a Harvard-trained psychologist and former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today. The search results could have influenced millions of voters in Clintons favor, Epstein estimated, though he stopped short of accusing the company of producing the bias deliberately, which Google denied. Silicon Valley is known for having a mostly left-leaning workforce and management. Google co-founder Sergey Brin said to a large audience of employees he was deeply offended by the election of President Trump and that most people here are pretty upset as shown in a video of a post-election Google meeting leaked to Breitbart. Trump criticized Google for bias against conservatives in Aug. 28 tweets, three days after PJ Media reported that among the top 100 search results for Trump on Google News, 96 percent of them were from left-leaning media. The Epoch Times has repeated the experiment on two dates and obtained similar results. No results from popular right-leaning media like The Daily Caller, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Breitbart, The Blaze, The Daily Wire, or Townhall appeared in the first 10 pages of Google News search results. The only three right-leaning sources that regularly showed up were Fox News, Fox Business, and The Wall Street Journal. Correction: A previous version of the article incorrectly attributed a quote to Sen. Ted Cruz, while the statement was actually made by Google Chief Privacy Officer Keith Enright. The Epoch Times regrets the error. Candles are seen in front of the Government of the Slovak Republic's building during march in honour of murdered Slovak investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova in Bratislava, Slovakia, on March 2, 2018. (Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters) Slovak Police Detain Suspects Over Journalist Murder: Media, Lawyer BRATISLAVASlovak police have detained people suspected of the murder of investigative reporter Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Slovak media outlets reported on Sept. 27, citing police sources. The news was confirmed by a lawyer for the family of Kuciak, whose killing seven months ago rocked the central European country, stoking anger over public corruption and sparking the biggest street protests since the fall of communism in 1989. In the early morning hours today police detained suspects in the premeditated murder of Jan Kuciak and (his fiancee) Martina Kusnirova, lawyer Daniel Lipsic said on Facebook. He told Reuters by text message that he had been briefed by prosecutors. Lipsic later told the website of daily newspaper SME that he was convinced there was enough evidence to justify keeping the suspects in custody. Local media reported that eight people were being held. Reuters could not immediately verify that number. The police said earlier on its Facebook page it had detained persons suspected of a violent crime and was carrying out home searches but did not say in which case. A spokesman declined to comment further. Media, including SME and Aktuality.sk, where Kuciak had worked, reported police were carrying out home searches in the south of the country. Kuciak had, among other things, investigated fraud cases involving businessmen with Slovak political ties. He had also looked into suspected mafia links between Italy and businesses in Slovakia. Kuciak was found shot dead along with Kusnirova at their home outside Bratislava in February. They were both 27. In his final story, published posthumously, he reported on an Italian living in Slovakia with past business links to two Slovaks who later worked in then-prime minister Robert Ficos office. Both of the Slovaks resigned but deny connections to the murder. Their Italian former business partner has also denied having connections with the mafia and the murder but was detained on a European drug trafficking warrant in March and extradited to Italy in May. Progress Welcomed Weeks of public protests in March eventually forced the departure of long-serving leader Fico and his interior minister Robert Kalinak, as well as police chief Tibor Gaspar. However, Ficos three-party government coalition has remained in power under Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who comes from the ruling Smer party which Fico still leads. Pellegrini welcomed news of the detentions in a social media post on Sept. 27. A spokeswoman said the prime minister had no official information on the police action. The investigation and punishment of those guilty of this murder are one of the priorities of my government, Pellegrini wrote. The investigation is the biggest in the countrys history. Interior Minister Denisa Sakova said on Sept. 27, investigators had interviewed more than 200 people. A prosecutor said in March the murder was likely to have been a contract killing related to Kuciaks work. Police released this month a sketch of a possible witness and said they had narrowed down possible motives to two. While demonstrations are no longer being held regularly in the country of 5.4 million, organizers of the protests that numbered in the tens of thousands in March and April have vowed to keep up pressure on the government and to ensure a thorough investigation. They said on Sept. 27, that while they welcomed progress in the case, they would still hold an anti-government rally in Bratislava on Sept. 28. By Tatiana Jancarikova Spear-Fisher Undaunted After Shark Attack Leaves Tooth in Hand Despite a shark attack that left a tooth lodged into her hand, an American spear-fisher says she wont be put off heading back into the water. Maggie Ewing, 31, was airlifted to a Florida hospital on Sept. 24, after she was attacked by a shark during a spear-fishing trip at a favorite spot the Bahamas. She doesnt blame the shark for her injuries, saying that it was just going for the fish, not her. I think anyone who dives or spearfishes knows theres an inherent risk is definitely a risk. Its definitely a risk that I would take again, she told Fox. Ewing was at a spot she had been to hundreds of times in the Treasure Cay area of Abaco Island in the Bahamas. She had speared a fish in a small cove, where it became partially stuck. She freed her spear, but as she was scanning the ocean around her for sharks, she suddenly felt a pain in her left hand. A shark had swung in over her left shoulder and latched its teeth into her hand. The shark released her fairly quickly, but not before inflicting significant injury. She was flown by air ambulance to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale. A surgeon described how multiple rows of teeth had cut into the top of her hand. An X-ray shows a sharks tooth lodged in one of her fingers. But doctors believe she will regain full use of her hand, according to Fox. According to local reports, it was the first shark attack in the Treasure Cay area this year. Stoneman Douglas Gunman Nikolas Cruz Appears in Court Parkland mass murder suspect Nikolas Cruz made an appearance in a Florida court on Sept. 26, as his defense team pushed to interview hundreds of secondary witnesses, part of an effort to spare him the death penalty. Cruz, who turned 20 on Monday, is charged with charged with killing 17 people and wounding 17 others in the Valentines Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. His lawyers have said he is willing to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison, but prosecutors reject that and insist he should be executed. Attorneys acting on behalf of Cruz told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer on Wednesday, they want to interview potentially hundreds of witnesses to the massacre that prosecutors have thus far placed off-limits, according to Fox WZAW. Cruz lawyers said they do not want to rely on written statements or other documents from prosecutors, but want the opportunity to speak to the 450 or so secondary witnesses. We dont know what this person did. We wont know until we talk to them, said Assistant Public Defender David Frankel. Were letting them (prosecutors) control what is pertinent and what is not. Court documents show these secondary witnesses appear to have minimal involvement in the case. They are not entitled for a fishing expedition, said Prosecutor Jeffrey Marcus, arguing that a prolonged interview process would yield little. There is no need for it, Marcus said. They have no direct knowledge. Scherer rejected defense requests to interview seven of the eight so-called C witnesses and ordered Cruz lawyers to begin interviewing witnesses with direct involvement, as well as law enforcement reactions to the shooting. We have to start, the judge said. Otherwise, this case is going to be pending for three years. Nobody wants that. Defense lawyers also claimed either prosecutors or the Broward Sheriffs Office may have violated Cruzs rights by improperly releasing his mental health records, the OrlandoSentinel reported. Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill asked the judge to hold either or both the state attorneys office and sheriffs office in contempt for the records release to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission earlier this year. Any time the State Attorneys Office or the Broward Sheriffs Office wants to release records to a third party, those records need to come before the court so that they are authorized for proper release, McNeill said, according to the OrlandoSentinel. Scherer had previously ordered the defendants medical records released only to investigators and attorneys with direct involvement in the proceedings. These are records that are private, federally protected, mental health records. The commission is in possession of records they should not be in possession of, McNeill said. Prosecutor Steven Klinger denied culpability on the part of government officials for the records release. The state and sheriffs office are well aware of this courts orders and we will follow this courts orders, Klinger said. Scherer did not rule on the issue, promising to take it under advisement for a later decision, OrlandoSentinel reported. She set another hearing for Nov. 15. Cruz has been charged with committing 17 first-degree murders, and 17 counts of attempted murder. No trial date has been set yet. Photo: Contributed A new potentially devastating pest to the wine and fruit industry has arrived in Kelowna and BC Ministry of Agriculture officials are very concerned. Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), a native pest of Asia, was first identified in North America in Pennsylvania in 2001. It has since spread throughout most of the United States. "It is a very serious pest that feeds on more than 100 different plant species. In 2010, an estimated loss of $37 million due to brown marmorated stink bug feeding was reported by the apple industry in the Mid-Atlantic States," said Entomologist Susanna Acheampong The stink bug is an excellent hitchhiker and can be moved in shipping containers, wood, packing material, cargo, and vehicles. It is also a nuisance to homeowners as the adults aggregate on and in buildings while seeking warm overwintering sites. Brown marmorated stink bug was first detected in British Columbia in 2015 and is present at low levels in urban areas of Fraser Valley and Vancouver, Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley, as of October 2017. High numbers are present in the downtown Kelowna area. "The concern is that they will spread to orchards, we found a few at monitoring stations in two orchards located close to the city," added Acheampong. Countermeasures included insecticides, barrier sprays, pheromone traps, and entomologists are looking to see if a tiny wasp called the samurai wasp can be found in Canada, as they are a natural disruptor of the brown marmorated stink bug. "We have set up more than 200 traps across the Okanagan Valley so we know the extent of the spread," said Acheampong Growers and homeowners are asked to send pictures or samples of suspect brown marmorated stink bug to the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture offices for contact information click here. Stranger Saves Woman Dying From Ant Bites A woman in North Carolina was driving along a route she didnt usually take on Sept. 22 when she then saw another woman lying out in their yard. Donna Kearns had been applying weed killer to the tall grass in her yard outside her Archdale home when she hit a mound of fire ants. The fire ants exploded from the mound and crawled all over her. When the weed eater hit them, they just exploded in on me, Kearns told Fox 8. The biting started instantly and you could tell because its like pins going through you. As she attempted to wash the ants off with water, Kearns started to feel sick and collapsed. Her husband was inside the house at the time and she thought of calling for his help. It went through my mind, my husband is hard of hearing as well, and I knew he had the TV on real loud, so I was thinking, How am I going to get to him to let him know that I am out here?' she said. It was at this time that the woman who was driving by arrived to assist her. The Stranger Arrives The woman, who chose to remain unidentified, was driving with her husband as they made their way to visit her mother-in-law. The woman told Fox 8 that they usually took a different route, but that day, they decided to go on Weant Road instead. The woman explained that Kearns has a sign in her yard that advertises fresh eggs, which always gets her attention when she drives past. This time, the woman saw that Kearns needed help and immediately went to the front door and told Kearnss husband that his wife was collapsed on the floor, WSOCTV reported. The woman also called emergency service officials who arrived just in time. They immediately recognized the allergic reaction when they saw all the bites on Kearnss feet. Although Kearns was unresponsive, she later told everyone that she could hear everything that was said but had been unable to respond. Kearns was urgently transported to the hospital soon after the emergency officials arrived. You cant really imagine what could have happened, but it definitely would have happened if she wouldnt have stopped, Kearns said. Life is All About the Little Things After spending two days in hospital, Kearns told Fox 8 that she was leaving her hospital bed with a wiser outlook on life. She said that the incident made her appreciate that life is all about the little things, whether its something as small as an ant or a single momentary glance from a stranger at the right time in the right direction. It was meant to be, I guess it wasnt my time to go. She was in the right place at the right time, Kearns said. And thank God she stopped and I love her to death. The stranger didnt take credit for her act and refused to appear on camera. She did not want to be identified because she said that God put her in the right place at the right time. Fire Ant Allergies According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, fire ant stings may require emergency treatment to be sought as they can result in anaphylaxis. The stings can also cause a wide variety of other symptom; swelling of the throat or tongue, hives, difficulty breathing, dizziness, stomach cramps, nausea, or diarrhea. In an extreme case, blood pressure can rapidly fall causing a loss of consciousness. Anyone with a severe allergy to fire ant stings should always carry an autoinjectable epinephrine device, learn how to use it, and replace the device before it expires. Watch Next: How a Traditional Spiritual Practice Changed the Lives of These People The practice has attracted tens of millions across the world and at its core are just three simple principles: truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. A thin piece of metal seen among a punnet of strawberries in Gladstone, on Sept. 14, 2018. (Queensland Police/AAP/Reuters) Strawberries Spook Australia Into Raising Jail Terms for Food Tampering SYDNEYOn Sept. 27, Australia increased the jail term to 15 years for anyone convicted of contaminating foodstuffs as a scare over needles found in strawberries and other fruits gripped the country. Police are investigating more than 100 reports of sewing needles found in strawberries, which have forced farmers to dump fruit as demand plummets, and cast a shadow over an industry worth A$160 million ($116 million). Australias parliament passed legislation on Sept. 27, to increase the maximum prison term to 15 years from 10 years for anyone convicted of tampering with food, in line with offences such as financing terrorism. It also criminalized hoax claims, making them punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Thats how seriously I take this, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Royalla, a rural town 35 km (21 miles) south of the capital Canberra. The legislation was rushed through in less than a day as lawmakers try to repair public trust in the strawberry industry. Politicians across the political divide spent much of the day promoting the industry, with Morrison promising to eat a dessert made with strawberries. Strawberry farmers have welcomed the action, saying they faced financial ruin if demand did not recover quickly. Consumers remained wary, forcing retailers in Australia and New Zealand to pull strawberries from store shelves. Australia supermarket giant Woolworths said on Sept. 27, it had also withdrawn sewing needles from its shelves nationally. Weve taken the precautionary step of temporarily removing sewing needles from sale in our stores. The safety of our customers is our top priority, a Woolworths spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. By Colin Packham Swedish Spelling Alphabet Not Inclusive Enough, Activists Say STOCKHOLMSwedish activists have found a new target for reform: the alphabet. More specifically, its the Swedish phonetic alphabet that has come under fire. Unlike the United States, which uses the NATO phonetic alphabet for spelling out letters over radio traffic and such (Alpha for A, Bravo for B, Charlie for C, etc.), Swedish authorities have their own Swedish version. It was implemented in 1891 and consists entirely of male first names with an ethnically Swedish flavor, like Adam and Bertil. In an opinion piece in Swedens major daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, representatives of Rattviseformedlingen (an NGO dedicated to diversity) and Fredrika Bremer-forbundet (one of Swedens oldest womens organizations) argue that the current phonetic alphabet is discriminatory against women and people with foreign names. Its particularly strange for those of us with names that arent traditionally Swedish, who always have to spell out our names in different situations, they write. The fact that we only have access to male, Swedish names becomes a kind of symbolic eliminationwe dont even have access to a language that includes us. Not even when we have to explain our own names. The authors invoke the #MeToo movement, which has been particularly prominent in Sweden, and criticize the Swedish government for not working vigorously enough for equality and inclusion. The current alphabet is used by the police and the military, and using only traditional, male names reproduces the image of who can, and should, work in these professions, they argue. The new suggested list of names has been developed over a long time and reviewed by linguistic experts at the universities of Stockholm and Lund, to assure that they work just as well as the old one for the purpose of transmitting letters over a crackling radio connection, the authors claim. The new names include Pippi for P and Xena for X, but also the decidedly non-Swedish Khaled for K. Journalist Paulina Neuding pointed out on Twitter that this Arabic name is not in fact pronounced with a K sound, but with a fricative ach-laut. But hey, at least its foreign, she added. Elsewhere on social media, the move was mostly met with disbelief and ridicule. Author and politician Ann Heberlein commented, The war on Swedish men continues, and suggested instead that if a change really is required, Sweden should start using the NATO alphabet, since it would at least bring them in line with the rest of the world. But the authors of the article believe that this is not a symbolic act, but a concrete possibility for change every day. It is only natural that even minor adjustments may feel like a cultural quantum leap for some people, as it often feels safe and comfortable to keep doing things the way we always have, they write. But norms are broken and standards are replaced, and there is nothing more progressive than that. It remains to be seen if Swedish authorities choose to adapt the new alphabet. Texas Teen Arrested After Asking For Own Reward Money on Crime Stoppers A teenager in Texas wanted on a felony charge was arrested after asking Crime Stoppers whether he was eligible to receive his own reward money. Palmview Crime Stoppers posted a wanted poster of 19-year-old Brandon Diaz on its Facebook page, after which Diaz himself commented on the post, asking if he could get his own reward money. Ayy can I get my own reward, Diaz posted. The Hidalgo County Sheriffs Office even weighed in, saying We will see you very soon. Officers arrested Diaz nearly a week after his helpful post. He faces a single count of theft, a felony punishable by jail in the state of Texas, according to KGBT-TV. After the arrest, Palmview Crime Stoppers once again took to their Facebook page on Wednesday, Sept. 26, and posted a picture of Diaz in the back of a police unit. Arrested, Thank You Citizens of Hidalgo County, Palmview Crime Stoppers captioned the image, which shows a handcuffed and frowning Diaz, who appears to have the word LOCO tattooed above his knee. Brandon Diaz has officially checked in to the Hidalgo County Sherrifs office Jail!!!! Posted by Palmview Crime Stoppers on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Talk about humiliation, commented Facebook user Evan Claudi Kendon. Netizen self-identified as Veronica Fuentes asked why Palmview Crime Stoppers were thanking the public since it appeared that Diaz himself was the one who made his arrest possible. Why are you all thanking the citizens when he basically turned himself in ? asked Fuentes. The person running the Palmview Crime Stoppers social media account replied that Diaz did not turn himself in, and that his arrest was possible only thanks to the assistance of the public. He didnt turn himself in, with the help of the citizens we were able to get to him, Crime Stoppers replied. So he didnt go on your post and comment and ask for a reward? What Im saying is hes a moron not that he literally turned himself in, Fuentes retorted. A Facebook user self-identified as Cipi Arevalo Sycl asked about the status of the reward. So the question is, are guys gonna give him the reward money Diaz is accused of stealing about $3,000 worth of jewelry from a family member, according to KGBT-TV, citing a criminal complaint. The suspected thief was booked into the Hidalgo County jail on Tuesday, Sept. 25, on a $40,000 bond, the station reported. U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton (L), followed by National Director of Intelligence Dan Coats, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Commander of the US Cyber Command Gen. Paul Nakasone, arrive for the press briefing at the White House in Washington on Aug. 2, 2018. On Sept. 20, Bolton announced a new U.S. national cyber strategy. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Trump Administration Unveils Offensive and Deterrent National Cyber Strategy The Trump Administration released its long-awaited national cyber strategy last week. The 26-page document outlined a decentralized strategy across government departments and agencies, and emphasized offensive and deterrent security measures and partnership with the private sector in its execution. In a press briefing last Thursday, National Security Adviser Ambassador John Bolton explained the strategy in terms of the administrations overall National Security Strategy. He also announced that the position of Cybersecurity Coordinator on the National Security Council staff had been eliminated, having been replaced by two senior directors. He saw this as necessary because [cyber] is such a broad area, with so many agencies involved, that each should proceed in its particular area of expertise. Throughout the briefing, Bolton stressed the need for the United States to deter potential adversaries employing cyber, observing that were going to do a lot of things offensively, and I think our adversaries need to know that. Reiterating that a President Obama-era presidential directive on offensive cyber operations, PPD-20, had been rescinded, Bolton stressed that the new cyber strategy marks a more assertive posture by the federal government, and particularly the Department of Defense, in confronting cyber threats. PPD-20 had required inter-agency coordination among State, Commerce and other federal agencies, as well as Defense, before the military could prosecute cyber operations. Were not just on defense, as we have been primarilyfor a period of time, he said. However, the strategy does not provide specifics regarding offensive or deterrent operations. Bolton declined to provide details, citing their classified nature, other than to say that the strategy reinforces, in many respects, the rescinding of the Obama administration directive on offensive cyber operations. The strategy also calls on private industry for partnership and support. It relies on information sharing, including in innovations in artificial intelligence and quantum computing to counter emerging threats, and working with state and local governments to improve systems. One industry expert, Gary S. Miliefsky, CEO of Cyber Defense Media, who has worked with the Presidents Critical Infrastructure Protection Board (PCIPB) in past administrations, was impressed with the new strategy: There are four key pillars of this strategy which create a focus on funding and support for securing federal networks, hardening critical infrastructure, combatting cybercrime, improving incident reporting, helping protect intellectual property, fostering a growing cybersecurity workforce, improving internet stability, and better defining acceptable and unacceptable nation-state cyberwarfare behavior, all while promoting an open and secure internet. The part I personally love the most, is the growing effort by this administration to protect first amendment rights in a cyberspace thats become highly privatized through search engine and social media giants controlling most of internet email, file sharing, chat and web interfaces. This is a very bold effort, the plan is well written and Im looking forward to seeing well documented and measurable execution on all of the four pillars of this great plan. In focusing on the private sector in its strategy, the Administration seeks to promote internet openness, and commits to preserve and secure cyberspace. Bolton indicated specific global efforts to promote these objectives, while supporting market growth for infrastructure and emerging technologies, and building cyber capacity internationally (though he did not name the specific efforts). Among its numerous priority actions, the strategy asserts the United States will continue to actively participate in global efforts to ensure that the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance prevails against attempts to create state-centric frameworks that would undermine openness and freedom, hinder innovation, and jeopardize the functionality of the Internet. Taken with Boltons statement, the strategy seeks to engage like-minded countries, industry, academia, and civil society while countering authoritarian states that view the open Internet as a political threat. Bolton also observed that with the rescinding of PPD-20, this administrations hands are not tied in confronting attacks or hacking of the upcoming mid-term elections. While the strategy document itself did not single out any other nations, Bolton named China as a perpetrator of previous hostile cyber operations and attacks (he specifically highlighted the breach of the US Office of Personnel Management data in 2015). In reference to Chinas cyber posture toward Taiwan, he offered: there will be consultations there have been already with our friends and allies, because many of us are vulnerable to the same hostile actions. And I think its very important that we work through our alliance structures, where we can do that. And I think thats part of the deterrent effect that our adversaries ought to think about, that we do have a robust structure of international alliances, and we intend to keep them strong in cyberspace. Trump Rebukes China for Election Interference Expert says Chinas ultimate goal is world domination and permanent control NEW YORKPresident Donald Trump accused the Chinese regime of attempting to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections during his address at the U.N. Security Council meeting Sept. 26. They do not want me, or us, to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade, Trump said. And we are winning on trade. We are winning at every level. We dont want them to meddle or interfere in our upcoming election. Not long after the Security Council meeting, Trump posted photos on Twitter of a top newspaper in Iowa that had published a four-page editorial insert by Chinas state-run media China Dailyan attempt to influence public opinion over the trade dispute with China. China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news, Trump wrote on Twitter. Thats because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over! Trump provided more detail during comments to reporters prior to his meeting with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. You have statements made that theyre going to hit our farmers, who are my voters, Trump said of the insert. China is going and attacking the farm belt, our farmers. It looks like theyre editorials and theyre not. Theyre made up by China, because they dont want me to get elected, because this has never happened to them. Trump said the current $250 billion package of tariffs levied against China-made goods is hurting China. China has retaliated in part by targeting Americas soybean industry, which provides 40 percent of Chinas soybeans. Soybean prices have slid at least 12 points since the beginning of the trade dispute in early April, hurting U.S. farmers. I dont like it when they attack our farmers, and I dont like it when they put out false messages, Trump said. But beside that, we learned that they are trying to meddle in our elections. And were not going to let that happen, just as were not going to let that happen with Russia. The Art of War Cyber expert and CEO of Black Ops Partners Casey Fleming said China is taking a leaf out of Russias playbook to hack and infiltrate the U.S. elections; to manipulate them, to create havoc, and to create contention among the left and the right; to create instability in the United States. Fleming said China has upped the ante on everything short of war in direct response to Trumps tariffs. Aside from using cyber warfare, China is doubling down on its propaganda and information warfare to create fake news and skew whats really going on. Theyre talking about how Trumps the bad man now and hes got the knife at our throat, Fleming said. Fleming said Chinas strategyto employ everything short of conventional warfareis very stealth. Chinas entire operation is to be stealth and to cloak it underneath standard business practices, he said. And when they get caught, they use plausible deniability, saying, Oh we didnt know that guy, or He doesnt work for us, or You must be mistaken. And they gaslight us: Youre confused, its all you. During the Security Council meeting, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded to Trumps accusation by denying any interference. China has, all along, followed the principle of non-interference in other countries domestic affairs. This is a tradition of Chinese foreign policy, Wang said. We did not and will not interfere in any countrys domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China. Fleming said Wangs response is absolute deception, which is a fundamental element of asymmetrical warfare [and] its managed by plausible deniability. Preventing War A senior White House official said in a call with reporters on Sept. 26 that the Chinese regimes interference has reached an unacceptable level. The official said the Chinese Communist Party uses a whole-of-government approach in its United Front work, which is the partys soft power and propaganda arm. China punishes or rewards businessmen, think tanks, movie studios, journalists, religious leaders, and even political candidatesdepending on whether they criticize or support Chinas policies, the official said. He said more information regarding Chinas activities will be declassified in the near future and Vice President Mike Pence plans to speak about it in more detail next week. Fleming said Trump is doing what he canwithin legal and political limitsto protect the U.S. economy and national security. At the same time I think he is preventing, or at least holding off, a near-term war with Chinaactual conventional war with China, Fleming said. And hes using his method short of war which is the trade imbalance, to hit China economically, to take the wind out of their sails and their extreme aggression against dominating the United States. Restraining China The Trump administration has made moves to curb Chinas influence, including a recent requirement that Chinese state-run media organizations that are operating in the United States register as foreign agents. The senior administration official said state-run Chinese news organizations have long pretended to be legitimate, normal news organizations. Trump also signed a new National Cyber Strategy on Sept. 20 that called out China for engaging in cyber-enabled economic espionage and trillions of dollars of intellectual property theft. According to data by the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (also known as the IP Commission), theft of trade secrets costs the U.S. economy $180 billion to $540 billion annually. In a July report by Chinese regime mouthpiece Xinhua, a spokeswoman for Chinas foreign affairs, Hua Chunying said, Innovation and intellectual property should serve the progress and well-being of humanity, and not be reduced to being a tool for the U.S. to suppress other countries development and protect/defend its personal gains. Fleming said its time businesses and the general public realized the extent and the seriousness of Chinas true intentions: to rule the world. It is about world domination and its about permanent control, he said. Watch Next: Communist Chinas Secret Blueprint to Destroy America Communist China is quietly waging a war against the United States UK Salisbury Nerve-Agent Suspect Is Identified as Russian Colonel LONDONOne of the men wanted for the nerve attack on a former Russian spy in the British city of Salisbury has been unmasked by investigative journalists as a decorated Russian colonel. The man identified by British intelligence as Ruslan Boshirovwho has been charged with attempted murder along with Alexander Petrovis actually Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, 39, according to the website Bellingcat. British prosecutors confirmed that they know the mens real identities, Reuters reported, citing two European security sources familiar with the Skripal investigation. The prosecutors declined to comment on Bellingcats findings. Chepiga has served in wars in Chechnya and Ukraine and was awarded the highest military honorHero of the Russian Federationby President Vladimir Putin in 2014. He is said to have served in the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade, one of the elite units under the GRU, or Russian military intelligence, and is listed as receiving over 20 military awards. In about 2009, he is said to have moved to Moscow, where he was given a new identity as Ruslan Boshirov, subsequently working undercover. Bellingcat linked Chepiga to Boshirov by searching for his name in databases provided to them by two sources. This revealed a passport file dated from around 2003 with a photograph of a man who resembles the passport photo of Boshirov released by British police. From that, they concluded with certainty Ruslan Boshirov is in fact Colonel Anatoliy Vladimirovich Chepiga, Bellingcat reported. Boshirov flew into London Gatwick Airport with Petrov from Moscow on March 2, and the two traveled to Salisbury for two days up to March 4, the day the Skripals were poisoned. Russia denies their involvement in the poisoning and claims the two men were just tourists who visited Salisbury to see its cathedral. Differing Reports Despite the Metropolitan Police and the UK Foreign Office both declining to comment, defense secretary Gavin Williamson appeared to confirm the veracity of the report in a since-deleted tweet. The true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects has been revealed to be a Russian Colonel. I want to thank all the people who are working so tirelessly on this case, Williamson tweeted. One of the pictures uncovered by Bellingcat shows a group of men in military fatigues standing in Chechnya, with one man to the right bearing some resemblance to Boshirov. Bellingcat emphasized that they did not claim that the person on the right is Chepiga. However, The Times of London presented the photo, identifying him without reservation as Chepiga. Former UK Ambassador Craig Murray, who has written extensively about the Skripal poisoning and has questioned the official narrative presented by authorities, was skeptical of Bellingcats report. The problem is with Bellingcats methodology, Murray wrote. They did not start with any prior intelligence that Chepiga is Boshirov. They rather allegedly searched databases of GRU operatives of about the right age, then trawled photos in yearbooks of them until they found one that looked a bit like Boshirov. And guess what? It looks a bit like Boshirov, if you ignore the substantially different skull shape and nose. Prime Minister Theresa May didnt address the reports directly in a speech to the United Nations in New York on Sept. 27, but spoke of the reckless use of chemical weapons on the streets of Britain by agents of the Russian GRU [military intelligence]. The Kremlin has previously denied that either suspect has anything to do with Putin. A Bellingcat journalist told the BBC that they would shortly reveal the identity of the second suspect. We believe based on the information we have gathered so far that he [Petrov] is a junior rank relative to Chepiga, he told the BBC. We think he is someone who is at the captain level or a senior lieutenant level. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) meets with US President Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Sept. 26, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) US, Japan Agree to Start Negotiations on Bilateral Free-Trade Pact President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sept. 26 agreed to begin negotiations for a bilateral free-trade agreement, stressing the need for a strong, stable, and mutually beneficial trade and economic relationship. Weve agreed today to start trade negotiations between the United States and Japan, Trump said at a summit with Abe in New York, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session. This was something that, for various reasons over the years, Japan was unwilling to do, and now they are willing to do so. Abe had resisted bilateral talks, preferring a multilateral trade relationship with the United States under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). However, Tokyo is now said to be willing to depart from its earlier stance and make concessions to the United States in hopes of avoiding additional U.S. tariffs. Japanese officials have been worried about Trumps threat to impose steep import tariffs on autos and auto parts on national-security grounds. Trump earlier raised concerns about the trade deficit with Japan and demanded a bilateral agreement to address the situation. The U.S. trade deficit in goods with Japan was almost $69 billion last year, with about two-thirds of that from the automotive sector. Tokyo is willing to enter negotiations on a bilateral deal if the Trump administration promises to exempt Japanese carmakers from additional tariffs, according to the Kyodo news agency, which cited unidentified people close to the matter. It isnt clear whether Japan will be exempt from potential tariffs, but in a joint statement, the two countries said they will make efforts for the early solution of other tariff-related issues. We will probably come to a conclusion. I think itll be something very exciting, Trump said during the meeting. Trade relations with Japan regressed last year after Trump pulled the United States out of TPP, a multilateral trade pact that involves 11 Pacific Rim countries. In addition, Trump directed the U.S. commerce secretary in May to launch a Section 232 investigation into whether imports of automobiles and auto parts threaten to harm national security. The investigation may result in tariffs as high as 25 percent on auto imports, which would hurt foreign carmakers, including Japans. According to the joint statement, the United States and Japan will respect the positions of the other government, drawing lines on the U.S. automotive sector and Japans agriculture market. For the United States, market-access outcomes in the motor vehicle sector will be designed to increase production and jobs in the United States in the motor vehicle industries, the statement said. For Japan, with regard to agricultural, forestry, and fishery products, outcomes related to market access as reflected in Japans previous economic partnership agreements constitute the maximum level, it stated, referring to the TPP. Trade experts speculate that Tokyo could make concessions to the United States by offering greater access to American exporters on agricultural goods to avoid tariffs on cars. European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom (C), US trade representative Robert Lighthizer (L) and Japan's Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko arrive for a meeting for talks at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, on March 10, 2018. (STEPHANIE LECOCQ/AFP/Getty Images) US, Japan, Europe Agree to Take on China and Reform WTO The partners agree to push for new rules to tackle nations that undermine the global trade system WASHINGTONTrade chiefs of the United States, Japan, and the European Union agreed to work together to tackle Chinas unfair trade practices, a key reason behind President Donald Trumps tariff war with Beijing. On Sept. 25, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his counterparts Hiroshige Seko of Japan and Cecilia Malmstrom of the EU met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The Ministers reiterated their concern with and confirmed their shared objective to address non-market-oriented policies and practices of third countries, said the joint statement. The trilateral partners agreed to push for new rules and enforcement tools to tackle nations that undermine the global trade system. They also have expressed the need to reform World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that are not effective. The joint statement did not target China specifically, though the partners have expressed their concerns in the past about Beijings economic aggression and unfair trade policies that distort international trade setup. The trade chiefs said these unfair practices lead to severe overcapacity, create unfair competitive conditions for their workers and businesses, hinder the development and use of innovative technologies, and undermine the proper functioning of international trade. The trilateral meeting focused on setting new rules to combat industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises, key tools that China has been using for decades. The Ministers highlighted the importance of securing a level playing field given the challenges posed by third parties developing State Owned Enterprises into national champions and setting them loose in global marketsresulting in distortions that negatively affect farmers, industrial producers, and workers in the Ministers home countries, said the statement. Chinese state-owned enterprises control strategic sectors like defense, energy, telecommunications, and aviation. The regime spends hundreds of billions of dollars to support these monopolies, according to experts. A recent report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative claims that China continues to protect its industries with excessive domestic subsidies, stockpiling of commodities, and discriminatory taxes. All these measures violate WTO rules, states the report. In the last decade, China has managed to create its own national champions in key industries, helping them expand their market share and overtake foreign rivals. To promote a more level playing field for their workers and businesses, the United States, EU, and Japan decided to set effective rules to address the market-distorting behavior of state enterprises. Forced Technology Transfer Another area of focus in the trilateral meeting was forced technology transfer policies and practices. The officials condemned countries that force technology transfer from foreign companies to domestic companies, through various means including the use of joint venture requirements, limitations on foreign equity, and review and licensing processes. The Ministers found such practices to be deplorable, said the statement. In addition, they condemned government actions that support the unauthorized intrusion into, and theft from, the computer networks of foreign companies to access their sensitive commercial information and trade secrets and use that information for commercial gain. The Chinese regime unveiled its 2025 blueprint three years ago, announcing the goal of achieving dominance by 2025 in 10 high-tech industries, including advanced information technology, robotics, and automated machine tools, and aircraft. To realize its economic ambitions, the regime has been resorting to various tactics including industrial espionage, cyber theft, and forced joint ventures in exchange for market access. This year, the Trump administration has taken a tougher stance on Chinas decades-long protectionist and trade-distorting policies and started a tariff campaign against Chinese goods. In the trilateral meeting, the ministers stated their commitment to stopping harmful forced technology transfer practices and deepening discussions to address these problems. In an effort to isolate bad players like China, the officials said they would reach out to and build consensus with other like-minded partners. The ministers also agreed on the necessity of WTO reform. The Trump administration has been frustrated by the organization, calling its rules outdated. In 2000, President Bill Clinton permanently granted most favored nation status to China, which became a member of the organization a year later. Chinas economic growth has accelerated dramatically since then. Chinese manufacturing output surpassed U.S. output beginning in 20092010, and the gap has widened further in later years, resulting in millions of lost U.S. manufacturing jobs. Rep. William Hurd (R-Texas), chairman of subcommittee on Information Technology, speaks at the congressional hearing on Countering China on Capitol Hill in Washingont on Sept. 26, 2018. (Jennifer Zeng/The Epoch Times) US Needs More Tools to Counter China on IP Transfers, Congress Told WASHINGTONThe United States needs more tools to counter Chinas aggressive efforts to acquire American intellectual property through legal and illegal means, experts told a congressional hearing For more than 40 years, the U.S. has encouraged China to develop its own economy, and to take its place alongside with the U. S. as a central and responsible player on the world stage, Rep. William Hurd (R-Texas), chairman of the subcommittee on Information Technology, said in his opening remarks on the topic of Countering China on Sept. 26, 2018. But China doesnt want to join us. They want to replace us. More importantly, China has not been playing fair. Hurd said that China coerces American companies into entering into joint ventures with Chinese companies, and that has meant huge losses for U.S. firms. The U.S. trade representative, who led a seven-month investigation into Chinas intellectual property (IP) theft, recently found that the cost of Chinese theft of American IP is $225 billion to $600 billion annually, Hurd said. Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, who testified during the hearing, said that the world has never before seen a country like China. Its not a country constrained by global norms of acceptable economic and trade behavior, Atikinson said. Its a country where the government is concerned with one, and only one, economic goal: winning in advanced technology industries by any means possible. Atkinson recommended that the Congress should enact a system whereby if Chinese entities seek licenses in the United States, then the Chinese enterprise must obtain a license on the same terms by which foreigners are required to license into China. He also suggested tightening the process of issuing student visas to students coming from China and strengthening FBI-university partnerships to limit inappropriate IP transfer. Sarah Cook, senior research analyst of Freedom House, said that Chinas purpose for becoming a cyber superpower is to increase internet controls to ensure authoritarian longevity. Its also expanding information controls beyond Chinas borders, she said. The direct and indirect costs of internet controls are huge; ironically, the companies that help the Chinese regime to control the internet, are also victims of the regimes repressive measures, according to Cook. Cook said that the United States should be proactive in developing its own capabilities and upholding international free speech and privacy standards, developing a comprehensive national strategy on artificial intelligence, and dedicating diplomatic resources to upholding internet freedom. The United States should also fund counter-censorship efforts specific to China, support groups that develop and disseminate tools to enable Chinese users on a large scale to access blocked websites, and expand funding for applications that enhance access to uncensored information and digital security on mobile devices, Cook said. Furthermore, the United States should create an emergency fund that can be activated quickly during moments of crisis or political turmoil to rapidly enhance the server capacity of circumvention tools facing increased demand from China, she said. The China Media Bulletin project of Freedom House has been working with partners who run circumvention tools such GreatFires FreeBrowser or overseas Chinese outlets who gain traffic via tools like FreeGate and Ultrasurf, Cook said. These channels garner millions of visits each month and bring tens of thousands of readers from inside China, and have proven to be very effective. Photo: Contributed The District of Lake Country is expected to begin accepting applications for cannabis retailers once it becomes legal in Canada on Oct. 17. The municipality has passed a series of rezoning amendments which will allow the establishment of cannabis storefront within the Town Centre Commercial and Turtle Bay Crossing zones only. Retail stores cannot be located within 400 metres of a school or daycare, however, there is no restriction as to proximity to one another. Community development manager Jamie McEwan says retailers will be able to make application for a business license once cannabis is legalized. However, he says they won't be able to begin selling until they have received a provincial license, and council approval, which includes a public hearing. A business license will cost $500 as opposed to the normal $100 yearly fee because of the additional background work involved. McEwan doesn't expect the first storefront to open for business until early 2019. In Kelowna, rezoning application fees are set at about $10,500, while West Kelowna is proposing a $5,000 application fee. Peachland has yet to determine whether cannabis storefront will be allowed in their community. Lake Country has also voted to allow production facilities within I1 (General Industrial), I3 (Heavy Industrial) and A1 (Agriculture) zones. Members of the faithful attend a mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a government-sanctioned Catholic church in Beijing on Sept. 22, 2018. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) Vatican Agreement With China Draws Concerns Amid Crackdown BEIJINGThe Vaticans breakthrough agreement to give China some say over bishop appointments has critics accusing the church of caving in to the ruling Communist Party just as it is waging a sweeping crackdown on religion. The agreement is a step toward addressing the long-cherished hope of bringing together Chinas 12 million Catholics who are divided between those worshipping in state-sanctioned churches and the underground priests and parishioners loyal to the pope, who are frequently detained and harassed. The specifics of the deal announced over the weekend are unknown. Pope Francis said this week that the agreement allows for a discussion with China on the naming of bishops but that ultimately the pope will decide. The thing is done in dialogue, he said. But Rome names. The pope names. This is clear. Even though the Vatican will retain the power to put forward candidates, Beijing will likely be given the right to refuse them, said Anthony Lam, an expert on the Chinese church at the Holy Spirit Study Center in Hong Kong. I myself believe that in the process, the Holy See will agree to give the right of veto to the Beijing government, Lam said, adding that the Vatican had little choice but to accept Chinas terms. The agreement calls for the Vatican to recognize seven bishops who had been appointed by Beijing without papal consent while also arranging for two legitimate bishops who remain loyal to Rome to step aside. Such moves are seen as a concession on the Vaticans part in the face of Beijings assertion that it would not allow foreign forces to govern the countrys faith groups. The Vatican has made the unusual compromises in order to reach this agreement, while China has given not an inch, almost nothing, up to this moment, said Fenggang Yang, director of the Center on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University. Already, militant atheists posting online are likening the Vaticans move to Japans surrender at the end of the World War II for which the Communist Party takes credit, he said. Still, with that, the Vatican said all bishops in China are now in communion with Rome. The Vatican said the agreement was provisional, suggesting it could be revisited periodically. In a letter to the Chinese faithful on Sept. 26, the pope urged Chinese Catholics to trust him. It appeared aimed at acknowledging the deep reservations of some underground faithful, for whom the deal represents a sell-out to the Communist government and betrayal of their decades of loyalty to the pope. Francis acknowledged these Chinese sense themselves somehow abandoned and expressed his sincere admiration for their fidelity over the years. The aim of the deal, he said, is to begin a process for the first time that we hope will help to heal the wounds of the past, restore full communion among all Chinese Catholics, and lead to a phase of greater fraternal cooperation. Whether the agreement holds depends on a multitude of factors, including the governments level of suspicion and how willing the underground church is to cooperate. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, among the fiercest critics of the Vaticans rapprochement with Beijing, has already denounced the agreement as a betrayal of underground clergy and their congregants who were often persecuted for their defiance of the state. China has been tightening controls on all religions, especially Christianity and Islam that are viewed as foreign imports and potential challengers to Communist authority. Authorities have removed or demolished crosses from even officially sanctioned churches, shuttered churches, and at least in one township, replaced posters of Jesus Christ with portraits of Chinese leader Xi Jinping in what is being called the harshest anti-religion campaign since the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. The Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, whose AsiaNews agency closely covered negotiations between the Vatican and China, said the partys departments responsible for religious affairs are all unwilling to lose absolute power over the church and may attempt to wreck the agreement, as they have with past understandings. The sides may have rushed the agreement so they have something to show for three years of dialogue, Cervellera said. Its not clear what will happen to the roughly 30 underground bishops who will now be expected to heed the government and join the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, something many are reluctant to do. Shanghai Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin was whisked away into house arrest shortly after renouncing his membership in the association. Six years later, he has yet to appear in public again. China also maintains its longstanding demand that the Holy See cut ties with Taiwan before it can normalize diplomatic relations with Beijing that were severed nearly 70 years ago. By Christopher Bodeen A new kind of fashion is coming to the region and the designer hopes it turns the industry on its head. Parsons School of Design graduate student Jacob Olmedo will open a studio at 101 Peaceable St. in the home of Redding resident Jane Philbrick. Seeking to change what he calls the unsustainability of todays textile and fashion industry, Olmedos clothes are made from biodegradable fabrics and produced locally. Growing or living garments, from which wheatgrass or microgreens sprout, will be a focus of his work in the Redding studio. He also has a line designed to attract attention to the plight of honey bees and other pollinators. I think the future of fashion is a whole new textile something we havent experienced yet, he said. I think people should be ready for it. Its definitely a leap from where we are now, but if people come to the studio and try them and wear them they will be more open to it. Jacob Olmedo Studio will launch on Saturday and will be open to the public, Philbrick said. Olmedo lives in Brooklyn as he does graduate work at Parsons. He received his bachelor of fine arts degree from Parsons in 2017. The Redding space will be his first studio and he will be there Wednesdays and Saturdays. He is hoping to find a few local volunteers to help with stitching and pattern making, as well as encourage community production. Clothing and fashion, he said, is an unsustainable industry due to its ecological and social abuses. The transportation alone involved with the industry is not sustainable, he said, as the textiles are usually made in one country, shipped to another country to be made into clothing and then shipped around the world to consumers. We keep having the conversation about sustainability, but no one is doing anything about it. Lets start now thats what Im saying. What are we going to do next that is better than the old way? he said. As someone who is young, its something we have to ask: How can we do this better? Right now, the fashion industry is so toxic we have to do something better. Philbrick hopes Jacob Olmedo Studio is a stepping stone to something much larger in Redding. She envisions the long-vacant Gilbert & Bennett wire mill site as an arts dwelling of sorts whereby different generations of artists and designers will come together in live/work studios. She said that purpose meshes with Reddings pioneering history and culture. Philbrick is a member of TILLgeorgetown, a group that focuses on community-based brownfield remediation. Philbrick discovered Olmedo while she walked through the Parsons School of Design graduate exhibits last year. She liked the social purpose and ecologically progression of his pieces. While she admits the growing garments will appear odd to many people, she said bold steps are what drives change. Thats what innovation looks like. Innovation is strange, she said. Then people start to see the meaning. It informs. (Olmedas work) is a cultural platform to bring attention to the impact of the industry and having the ability to do something about it. Olmedos fashions are made from 100 percent biodegradable materials, such as cotton twill treated with beeswax, wood pulp and other textiles bound by tree sap. His growing garments include a variety of jackets. He is working on expanding the concept to shirts and pants. Olmedos fashions may be seen at www.jacobolmedo.com. The growing pieces are not washable, but may be returned to Olmedo for a new lining. When the vegetation turns brown, Olmedo said, it may be pulled out and the jacket reseeded. He describes the line as experimental fashion and combines his knowledge of clothing and hydroponics. Olmeda said he has worn growing pieces throughout New York City. People took a second glance, but they are curious and want to know more, he said. Its thinking about things in a different way. The writer may be reached at cbosak@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3338 Your Duck Is My Duck By Deborah Eisenberg Ecco. 240 pp. $26.99 --- Reading Deborah Eisenberg's short fiction is like waking up with jet lag in a new place: Everything is familiar, but also off-kilter in some jagged, inexplicable way. Her seventh book, "Your Duck Is My Duck," showcases her inimitable voice and captures our current national mood with eerie precision. It feels like an oversimplification to call the MacArthur award-winning writer political, because her stories rarely mention a particular war or president, and indeed seem to happen in some liminal, invented space and time zone all her own. Yet Eisenberg has always been engaged with the question of how Americans parse their identities, as titles of past collections ("Transactions in a Foreign Country," "Under the 82nd Airborne") make clear. Her characters tend to despair as they watch from the sidelines of history, like the New Yorker in her story "Twilight of the Superheroes," who witnesses the horrors of 9/11 from his penthouse sublet. In the title story, which won an O. Henry Award, an artist with painter's block is invited to stay at a rich couple's ritzy vacation compound, in an unnamed, impoverished country. The unfaithful husband's adventure in gentleman farming has caused a cascade of environmental disasters that have blighted the landscape and threatened the denizens' survival. Eisenberg thrusts the reader right into her characters' fraught, layered relationships. Amid all the fisticuffs, the narrator frets about her future with her maybe-ex-boyfriend in Barcelona. "Barcelona hasn't really worked out," he emails her, "so it's time to move on, I guess. Europe is really expensive. ... But Africa is mostly in turmoil, and so is Latin America. Australia? What would be the point?" Home addresses and relationships are often temporary, or on hiatus, while the characters sort through their fog of ambivalence. As one character muses, "People always say, 'Oh, things might not be great here, but it's stable, the problems are ordinary.' You know. And the next thing you know, laws are gutted, the economy comes crashing down, people are in the streets, it's all the fault of the ones with beards or the ones without beards, or whoever.'" The six stories in this collection run quite long and feature big casts of caustic, urbane characters, often replaying their pasts with regret and puzzlement. Eisenberg likes to plunge the unmoored reader right into their dizzying dialogue. In "Taj Mahal," actors meet in a New York restaurant to bemoan a recently published tell-all memoir about the famous director, now dead, with whom they all worked. Like "Your Duck Is My Duck," the story is as much about how we talk about our lives as the actual events - how we construct the stories we tell about our awful childhoods, our neglectful parents. In Eisenberg stories, people rarely see each other as they are. As one woman says about her estranged husband, "I fiercely wanted him to come by, but only if he was going to be a slightly different person, a person with whom I would be a different person - a pleasant, benign, even-tempered person." More than in some past work, Eisenberg focuses here on the indignities of aging. In "Recalculating," at the London funeral of an uncle whom he barely knew, a young man meets the deceased famous architect's friends and lovers, and tries to make sense of their byzantine entanglements. In "Cross Off and Move On," it's a famous violinist who has died. His cousin, the narrator, was always fascinated by his family's close bond - no wonder, given that her own nasty mother can be snide and dismissive even about Holocaust survivors. Eisenberg's signature concerns collide precisely in the haunting "Merge." A recent college graduate, cut off from his allowance when his rich father catches him forging a check, now works as a "personal assistant" for an old woman, while his girlfriend is off in Slovakia, doing humanitarian work. The old woman seems to be entering some stage of dementia as she obsesses about her late husband, who, not coincidentally, studied the origins of human language. Language itself is also a concern in "The Third Tower," in which a young orphan is sent away to get help with her mysterious, malfunctioning "word-stabilization reflex" - say the word "tree" to her in an association test, and she's likely to shoot back "piano." The same sense of from-left-field surprise animates all of the stories in "Your Duck Is My Duck." You never quite know where Eisenberg is going, or how she's going to get there. The destination is less the pleasure than the dead-on observations along the way. Here's a typical Eisenbergian sentence, about tourists in a New York restaurant: "All around them people are knocking back various brunch-type cocktails with a tentative, hopeful abandon, as if emulating native ritual." Practically every line in this superb collection is that accurate, disarming and quotable. --- Zeidner's most recent novel is "Love Bomb." She is a professor in the MFA Program at Rutgers University-Camden. MANSFIELD Unaffiliated candidate Oz Griebel finally got his chance to change the conversation around the governors race. In a debate Wednesday at the University of Connecticut, Griebel, who was barred from the first two debates between Republican Bob Stefanowski and Democrat Ned Lamont because of low polling numbers, shared a stage with the two major party candidates in front of an audience made up, primarily, of millennials. But adding a third candidate to the mix changed the dynamic only slightly Lamont often addressed Griebel, quoting him on certain issues and even calling him a Republican at one point. This is sort of a unique opportunity for me. Ive only run against Democrats before. Oz is a traditional Republican and Bob is more of a Trump Republican., Lamont said, referencing his 2006 primary run against U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and his 2010 challenge to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, and drawing the first out-of-order applause of the night more than half-way through the debate. Griebel, who was previously registered as a Republican but is now running as an unaffiliated candidate, clarified: Lets be clear, I am an independent. He later offered a second clarification: He is not a member of the Independent Party, which, he pointed out, endorsed Stefanowski with only 40 votes out of its 25,000 members. Many of them dont even know theyre registered with a party, Griebel said. Stefanowski, on the other hand, seemed to forget Griebel was there, instead sticking to his script on the economy, declining to answer questions unrelated to taxes, and only taking shots at Lamont and Malloy. In his first two minutes, Stefanowski mentioned both by name, but offered little in terms of specifics. The spending in this state is out of control, Stefanowski said. Im going to rein it in ... The status quo has to end. Its time to make some tough decisions. Its time to make government smaller. Its time to put money back in the pockets of the people of Connecticut. The best way to do that is by lowering taxes. A rapid-fire round put Stefanowski on his heels on any question unrelated to the economy. On whether or not federal Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, should be confirmed, Stefanowski declined to answer. He also declined to grade Donald Trump on his presidency so far though he does think the president should Tweet less. Griebel and Lamont gave the president a D+ and F, respectively. After the debate, Stefanowski said he deferred on the Kavanaugh question because he felt it was too serious for the rapid-fire round. Ive got three daughters, he said. Any allegation of sexual abuse needs to be taken very seriously. I think its something that needs to be looked at and I trust that is whats happening in Washington." He grew frustrated when reporters continued to ask him about it. "Im running for governor, Im not running for Senate." Lamont said, no, Kavanaugh should not be confirmed, and Griebel said a full investigation should take place before a vote is considered. After the debate, Lamont criticized Stefanowskis non-answer. "As governor, you also are moral leader of the state, Lamont said. That was what that question was about. That was what the question about Sandy Hook was I think you know where I stand whether its Brett Kavanaugh and listening to the survivors and giving them their fair day... if nothing changes, he doesnt deserve to be in a lifetime appointment. You know where I stand. Where does Bob stand?" Asked to explain in detail what they would do in their first 100 days in office to address a projected $4.6 billion budget deficit, Griebel was the only candidate to offer suggestions. Weve talked about taking the max amount out of rainy day fund, weve talked about potentially not contributing to state employee retirement fund for two years ... but the personal income tax has to stay in place to make sure we do minimal damage as we go forward, Griebel said, addressing Stefanowskis primary campaign promise to eliminate the states personal income tax. Lamont offered little in terms of details as to what he would do in the first 100 days. Ill give you some specifics, Lamont said. Number one, Id be the first governor in generations whos started a business and actually created jobs. Working hand-in-glove with the business community. Making sure we train people for the jobs we already have out there. Not more taxes but more taxpayers. Thats how you get the state going again. Stefanowski repeated that he would declare a fiscal state of emergency, though did not specify what that would look like or how he would do it. Declaring a state of emergency is usually reserved for when a natural disaster has occurred or may be eminent that is severe enough it may require state aid to supplement local resources. Transportation was one of the big topics of the night as candidates addressed tolls Griebel supports them, Lamont wants them on tractor-trailors like Rhode Island and Stefanowski is whole-heartedly against anything that smells like a tax private partnerships to improve the states roads and bridges, and the concept of a transportation lockbox. The candidates wont appear on a debate stage again until Oct. 18. Reporter Emilie Munson contributed to this report. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt Colombia's new president, Ivan Duque, 42, won office in June largely by opposing the peace deal his predecessor made with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerillas, who had waged a decades-long war against the government. This past week, Duque met with President Donald Trump and other heads of state at the U.N. General Assembly gathering, where he criticized the agreement and spoke about the crisis in neighboring Venezuela. Duque met with The Washington Post's Lally Weymouth to chat about these and other challenges. Edited excerpts follow: Q: As a candidate, you told the people of Colombia that you would alter former president Juan Manuel Santos's peace deal. How? A: What I always said is that we don't want to destroy the agreement, but there are some parts that are not going well. The growth of illegal crops is one thing. We cannot talk about peace if we have an exponential growth of illegal crops. Some [former rebels] - not all of them - took advantage of a cutback in the aerial spraying program. Q: What changes would you like to make to the peace treaty? A: People who have not turned in assets nor weapons will be brought to justice. People who have committed crimes like kidnapping and narco-trafficking will no longer see those crimes viewed as political crimes, so they won't be granted amnesty. [Former rebels] who have been tried and condemned for crimes against humanity and are now in Congress will have to leave Congress. But their political party can put in another person [instead] who doesn't have any debts to justice. Q: Wasn't the transitional justice process set up so that you could go before court and say, "I'm really sorry I committed a war crime?" A: If you told the truth, you would not go to jail. But what we're trying to introduce is that if you were tried by transitional justice and found guilty of crimes against humanity and you're a congressman or a senator, you have to leave Congress. You have to comply with your punishment. Now we have people in Congress who have committed those crimes. Q: That's a pretty big change. A: I don't think it's that big. Q: The population didn't like that part of the peace deal, right? A: They didn't. That's why we won the [referendum against the agreement] in 2016. Q: I read that 2,700 FARC have already gone back to fighting. A: No one knows the number. But definitely there are people that have gone back to criminal activities. We will prosecute them. Q: How many FARC are there? A: When they signed the agreement, there were 14,000 members - 7,000 were called combatants, another 7,000 were called militias. [These were separate from the FARC structure.] Maybe there were around 2,000 who were not actually participating in illegal armed groups. I have been very clear that If you want to enter into a process of demobilization and reincorporation and you are truly committed, we will help you achieve that goal. Q: The Colombian press says that you're just letting the accord fall apart. A: I'm doing the opposite. Actually, the ones who might be letting this fall apart are the FARC kingpins, who have not given up all their weapons or assets and are simply returning to criminal activities. Q: How did your meeting with President Trump go? A: It was a great meeting. We are going to strengthen our relationship with the U.S. - not only the military cooperation, but also trade and development assistance. We also talked about Venezuela and got the president's strong support for the refugee situation we're facing due to the [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro regime. We have the biggest migration crisis in Latin America. Q: You have 48 million Colombians and a million Venezuelans in your country? A: A little bit less than 1 million. It generates fiscal and social stress. But we definitely want to keep our arms open and help the refugees while they run from the dictatorship. At the same time, we have to denounce the dictatorship. Q: Why is President Maduro coming to New York today? A: That's the kind of thing he does regularly to provoke the world. But today, the governments of Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Paraguay, Chile and Canada signed a letter to the International Criminal Court denouncing the Maduro regime and its crimes against humanity [with the hope] that the court tries him for all the abuses he has committed. Q: Is the government of Venezuela in essence a narco-trafficking state? A: It is a narco-trafficking state. It is a human rights violator. They have been sponsoring and helping and providing safe haven to Colombian terrorists in their territory. Q: You're speaking of both the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the FARC? A: Now most of the ELN kingpins are in Venezuela. Q: Does the ELN have a strong connection with the Maduro government? A: They do. Inside the Venezuelan government, there is huge narco-trafficking cartel called Cartel de los Soles. They have linkages with cartels in Colombia. They produce cocaine in the border zones of Colombia so they can export it to Venezuela and then sell it overseas. Q: The proceeds finance the Venezuelan government? A: I don't know about the government. They finance many people inside the government - people who are connected with the military and Maduro's inner circle. Q: For instance? A: There is a lot of speculation whether Tareck El Aissami, one of the closest members of Maduro's regime, is connected to those cartels. . . . Something has to be done. When I came to office, I realized that in the last five years, we jumped from having 50,000 hectares of coca crops to more than 200,000. So since Day One of my administration, I have begun finding those illegal crops and dismantling cartels, and bringing people to jail and prosecuting them. We have seized and frozen assets and narcotics, and captured more than 300 members of illegal armed groups. I have extradited to the United States more than 40 people. I am very strong in the fight against narco-trafficking. . . . But at the same time, we all need to cut down consumption. Q: Here in the U.S.? A: And in the world. In Colombia, we also see consumption growing. We have more than 800,000 consumers in our country. Q: The Lima Group, a regional group composed of 16 Latin American countries plus Canada, met recently and issued a statement that all military options regarding Venezuela are off the table. But Colombia remained silent. A: We have not remained silent. I don't think that a military solution is the solution, because that's what Maduro wants. Maduro wants to create a demon so that he can exacerbate patriotism and remain in office. Q: President Trump has said that no options are off the table. A: I respect the U.S. position, and we will continue to denounce the regime and will participate in any coalition that diplomatically and economically imposes sanctions on the dictator and his inner circle. Q: Do you think sanctions can really work? A: They're going to [exert] pressure. The denouncement against Maduro at the International Criminal Court is going to have an impact. Q: But do you think that's enough? A: The word "enough" is difficult to say. But I think they're going to be effective. Q: You think that the Maduro government will go? A: The Venezuelan people are very angry and discouraged, and I think they will find a better solution for the dictator to step out and the country to transition to democracy and the people to regain their liberty. Q: Does your government have contacts with the Venezuelan opposition? A: I have met people from the opposition in the past. I admire that they have been fighters for freedom. The whole world should praise their efforts. Q: Has the Trump administration talked to you about the 2011trade treaty your predecessor signed with President Obama? A: The U.S. has a surplus with Colombia, and we also have very high levels of U.S. investment in Colombia. The U.S. is our number one trade partner. Q: People say you were basically brought up by former president Alvaro Uribe and that he calls the shots. A: When I started campaigning, I always knew that my opponents were going to say that. I won with the biggest turnout in our history. I think I've proven . . . I won with my ideas, with my program and the support of my party. Q: What do you think of the charges about Uribe's influence? A: I don't pay attention to that. I have a good relationship with him. But I govern for all Colombians. Q: You have a tough situation in Congress since you have a small majority? A: You know, that regularly happens. I have something close to 50 percent of the votes in Congress. I have to work hard, and I like that. I'm not planning to govern with just one side of the aisle. One reason I don't have a bigger majority is that I changed the way that politics works. I cut back the practice of getting votes in exchange for government contracts. I made this my crusade. Q: What's your biggest problem? A: We have a good level of economic growth, but I want to bring it above 4 percent. I want to reduce the informal sector in Colombia. Q: What percent of the economy is in the informal sector? A: Maybe 50 percent. NORWALK While undergoing dialysis Thursday, Norwalk Police Officer Phil Roselle received a text message from his wife saying the city had partially reinstated his workers compensation benefits. For Roselle, a diabetic and 30-year veteran of the Norwalk Police Department, the decision marks a step in the right direction after he was accidentally shot by a fellow officer on the departments gun range in September 2017. At the same time, Roselle, his wife and their attorney indicated their fight isnt over. Its still a battle, Roselle said. Its nice that they finally, after denying me back in May, came to some conclusion that with a bullet in my chest and right hand I cant work. Its job-related, no matter how you look at it. Ray Burney, Norwalks director of personnel and labor relations, said the decision to reinstate Roselles workers compensation was based upon new information received from Roselles attorney. Its a doctors note that supports the claim that Roselles inability to work is related to his on-the-job injury, Burney said. So for now were going to reinstate Roselles workers comp status as of the date of the note, which is Aug. 8. Any accrued paid leave that he spent since Aug. 8 will be reinstated. Burney said Roselles case before the Connecticut Workers Compensation Commission will continue. Roselle, 51, had twice been denied workers compensation. The commission reasoned that an underlying health problem, Type 1 diabetes, was keeping him out of work. The family has argued he was healthy until the shooting began his downward slide. Complications from the shooting have led to blood clots, a partial blockage of his heart and permanent nerve damage in his right hand. Recently, doctors told Roselle that he will also need a kidney transplant to survive also the reason for the thrice weekly dialysis sessions. Roselles attorney, Matthew Paradisi of the Hartford-based firm Cicchiello & Cicchiello, plans to go before the Connecticut Workers Compensation Commission in Stamford on Monday. There are still benefits, including medical treatment and other rights under the workers compensation statutes that we believe hes entitled and were going to be actively pursuing those in court, Paradisi said. But were certainly happy with the recent development. Paradisi said it remains difficult to say if Roselles family will be fully compensated for his injuries. Debbie Roselle, wife of the injured police officer, said it looked as if justice was being served with the partial reinstatement of his workers compensation, but she added her husband still has a long way to go. He was cut off from workers comp benefits in May and they reinstated him from Aug. 8, but nothing for May, June and July, and thats why our lawyer has a hearing Monday, Debbie Roselle said. I think theyre trying to say his PTSD and kidney (problems) have nothing to do with (being shot), which is false. Includes prior reporting by staff writer Pat Tomlinson. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 27) Senator Antonio Trillanes IV may face another libel case if he doesn't retract his claim that Solicitor General Jose Calida stole his amnesty records. "The putschist Mr. Trillanes ranted to the media yesterday that I "stole" his amnesty application document. In effect, Mr. Trillanes maliciously branded me as a thief, which I'm not," Calida said in a statement on Thursday. He added, "Unless Mr. Trillanes expresses his sincere apology for calling me a thief, I shall be constrained to file a criminal case for libel plus damages against him. Trillanes said Calida knows how involved he is in the voidance of his amnesty. He added, he welcomes the threat of a libel complaint. "He's in no position to demand anything. He knows the truth. Kung magfa-file siya, gawin niya. I expect the worst out of it," he said in a media briefing. The senator on Wednesday said Calida called Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, asking for his amnesty records. He said Calida took his records, which was the reason used by the government in voiding his amnesty. "Nananawagan ako sa leadership ng AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) at ng DND (Department of Defense) particularly yung J1 ng AFP. Alam nila na nag-aaply ako. Alam nila na meron akong dokumento bakit hinayaan nilang kuhanin ito at iwala ni Mr. Calida?" he said in a media briefing. Calida defended himself, saying records custodian Thea Joan Andrade from Judge Advocate General Service attested there was no copy of Trillanes' amnesty application. He added he has never entered the premises where they keep the records. "I have never entered the offices of the J1 or the Personnel Division of the AFP at Camp Aguinaldo so how could I 'steal' documents kept there?" he said. Trillanes previously vowed to go after Calida and other government officials who are helping President Rodrigo Duterte hatch his plan to have him arrested. The senator said Calida won't be protected because Duterte will not be in power for a long time. A Makati Regional Trial Court issued a warrant of arrest for Trillanes on Tuesday, and he has since posted bail. But the senator still faces another pending case in a separate court, this time for the non-bailable offense of staging a coup d'etat, which was dismissed in 2011. Duterte on August 31 signed Proclamation Order No. 572, saying the amnesty given to Trillanes in 2011 was void from the very beginning. This is because he failed to personally apply for amnesty and there are no records to prove he did. It also says Trillanes never admitted his guilt in trying to topple the government, a requirement for him to receive amnesty. Trillanes is facing several libel cases. Presidential son and former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte filed two libel complaints against him for linking him to drugs and for saying he was part of a Chinese drug triad. Photo: Alberta Burial and Cremation Robert Kiessling At the beginning of January, a 40-year-old Kelowna man entered a downtown Kelowna post office with a white padded envelope, destined for Ohio. Unbeknownst to him, four undercover officers had been tailing him, and the package, containing 10.6 grams of suspected fentanyl, had been ordered by an undercover American postal inspector. The subsequent arrest of Robert Kiessling, known on the dark web as DougFish44 or DF44, was the culmination of months of investigation by American authorities and the RCMP. A recently unsealed American affidavit outlines the investigation into the Kelowna man, who the U.S. Attorney's Office described as the third-largest fentanyl vendor in North America. While the court documents were initially sealed, Kiessling was found dead of an apparent suicide shortly after his arrest and release on bail, and his charges have since been dismissed. On Sept. 28, 2017, RCMP notified the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service about a package Kiessling had mailed to an address in Ohio, using the Dream Market an online market accessed through the dark web. Kiessling's online alias had more than 500 sales listed on the AlphaBay Market and 100 sales on Dream Market. The package was intercepted by American authorities on Oct. 4, and .09 grams of furanylfentanyl, a fentanyl analogue, was found inside. A week later, American authorities contacted DougFish44 through Dream Market and purchased one gram of fentanyl for a fraction of a Bitcoin, worth just over $350 CAD at the time. Several packages with fentanyl or fentanyl analogues sent by DougFish44 were seized over the next few months, some ordered by the undercover postal inspector and others by dark web customers. Finally, on Jan. 8, the postal inspector purchased 10 grams of fentanyl from DougFish44 for close to $3,000 CAD. The following day, Kiessling was arrested at the Towne Centre Postal Outlet & Card Shop as he allegedly attempted to make the shipment. His home on Stellar Drive in the Upper Mission, which he shared with his wife and her two teenage daughters, was raided by police the same day. Officers found bags of suspected fentanyl in his locked basement office, along with red plastic cups filled with suspected codeine syrup, which he allegedly sold online as Lean. A preliminary investigation revealed that DF44 has imported and distributed fentanyl to numerous other individuals across the United States, the affidavit reads. In an August press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Kiessling was the third-largest fentanyl vendor in North America as of early this year, based on number of sales. Following his arrest, Keissling was released on bail. The U.S. Attorney's Office says he committed suicide shortly after, on Jan. 17. Keissling was a part-time continuing studies instructor at Okanagan College. A 2012 Okanagan College course list shows he taught a currency trading for investors course and a Tax Free Savings Account workshop. His wasn't the first major international fentanyl bust in Kelowna. An 11-month investigation led to the arrest of 35-year-old James Nelson and 29-year-old Cassie Bonthoux in August of 2017, and police said more than 120 grams of fentanyl and the more powerful carfentanil were seized from their Black Mountain home, along with three kilograms of unknown powders. At the time, police called the bust one of the most significant fentanyl trafficking operations uncovered in Canada. The couple faces 14 charges of trafficking and weapons offences. A home constructed of shipping containers is unlike anything the Phoenix housing market has seen. The structure, consisting of four shipping containers, is a fascinating riff on the regions shipping container craze, which includes The Churchill, a small-business incubator downtown built from containers. The homeowner, who's also an engineer, built this three-bedroom, four-bath passion project at the urging of his two children and lived in it briefly. It's now listed with Shara Terry of Berkshire Hathaway for $610,000. He wants to take this concept and see where it can go, perhaps build more, says Terry. Exterior realtor.com Kitchen realtor.com Dining room realtor.com Bath realtor.com Bedroom realtor.com For those leery about waking up in what might feel like a steel cage, listen up: When youre inside the home, its seamless, especially upstairs, Terry says. Its a hybrid. Youve got two shipping containers on the east and two on the west, with traditional framing in the center. Taking a year to build, the 3,000-square-foot property has a dazzling interior that bears little resemblance to the cold metal of a container. Catering to eco-minded buyers, the four-car garage features a car charger and is wired for a workshop. Aluminum radiant barrier material aims to combat Arizonas harsh sun from heating up the homes interior. South Mountain, where the home is located, is a booming area of Phoenix and named for the nearby mountain. Every window you look out of captures [a view], says Terry. If youre washing the dishes, for example, you can see the East Valley. Balcony realtor.com Side of home realtor.com And the neighborhood is on the rise, and appealing to a savvy investor looking for a different type of dwelling. South Mountain has rewoken up, says Terry. It was quite the craze back in the day, until everything kind of halted when the market crashed. In 2020, the Loop 202 (South Mountain Freeway)a 22-mile extension of the 202 freewaywill be complete, connecting with Interstate 10 and the West Valley. And the new Valley Metro Baseline light-rail line is a mile north. Because this area is close to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Terry thinks a new owner might use it as a crash pad for airline pilots and flight attendants. It could also be used for a corporations social events, given its eye-catching design. Whatever the use, we're sure it's a place that will always remain cool in the desert. The post Desert Dazzler! Phoenix Shipping Container Home Is Hot, Hot, Hot appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Photo: Castanet Staff Jukka Laurio Federal Crown prosecutors have approved charges against Penticton mayoral candidate Jukka Laurio related the police raid on his now-closed dispensary in Okanagan Falls in May. Laurio appeared in court briefly Wednesday for a first appearance on one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking, according to court documents. Police executed the search warrant on Laurios Herbal Greens in Okanagan Falls on Main Street, seizing 100 pounds of cannabis and extracts. Prior to moving his pot shop to OK Falls, Laurio agreed to pay the City of Penticton $15,000 in fines related to when he operated a dispensary on Westminster Ave. West. In addition to a previous conviction for trafficking marijuana in 2004, Laurio was convicted of sexual assault in 1997 for which he served four years in prison. That charge came to light during a previous mayoral run. He is back in court on his most recent charge on Oct. 17 to consult legal counsel, three days before voting day. Of the three recent police raids on South Okanagan pot shops, Laurio is so far the only to actually be charged. Voting rights advocates critical of how Illinois has rolled out automatic voter registration say theyre considering a lawsuit because the implementation of the law is behind schedule, but Secretary of State Jesse White said he wont be intimidated by threats. The automatic voter registration bill was signed into law last year. Its supposed to automatically register eligible voters to vote, or update voter information for eligible voters, anytime eligible voters interact with a state agency such as the Department of Motor Vehicles. Those who dont want to automatically register are compelled to opt out. So far, Whites office has put in place an opt-in system for eligible voters, but critics say thats not enough. They also say Whites office failed to meet the laws July 1 deadline for implementation. Abe Scarr with the Illinois Public Interest Research Group advocated for the law. He said automatic voter registration must be implemented properly and on time. The plan put forward by Secretary of State Jesse White and his office is neither of those things, Scarr said. It is late and, whatever it is, it is not automatic voter registration. My No. 1 priority in implementing the Automatic Voter Registration program is to ensure the integrity of the election process, White said in a statement. The system we have designed and implemented does this. Since July 2, average monthly registration figures have increased from 31,500 to 145,300, White said. Scarr said that may be good, but its still not true automatic voter registration. Were very pleased that the streamlined opt-in process was implemented on time and is working well, but we cant confuse the issue, Scarr said. The heart of automatic voter registration is the opt-out process. As it is now, you still have to sign on to register to vote anytime you interact with a state agency. Whites press secretary, Henry Haupt, said the office spent $293,250 to buy 850 signature pads exclusively for automatic voter registration. He said the same computer programmers and other staff who work on Automatic Voter Registration are working on many other programs simultaneously. Despite traditional avenues of voter registration still made available at local elections offices, state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, said she worries that, if automatic voter registration is not implemented, people wont get registered to vote in time before municipal elections in February. The system is completely automated and the information provided to the Secretary of States office is being sent electronically to the Illinois State Board of Elections each night, White said. Anyone who wishes to register to vote may do so. Scarr said thats great, but people still have to opt-in. Whites office said the opt-out part of the law which Scarr said is crucial to automatic voter registration wont be in place until summer. Scarr was among a group of critics who say theyre evaluating legal options, including litigation. After a news conference held by Scarr and others, White said he will not be intimidated by threats as his office continues to move forward to complete implementation by summer. White is seeking a sixth term as secretary of state. Photo: The Canadian Press Terri-Lynne McClintic is escorted into court in Kitchener, Ont., on Sept. 12. The father of a raped and murdered eight-year-old girl said on Wednesday the transfer of one of her killers to a prison "healing lodge" has sparked widespread anger and needs to be reversed, while the federal government said it would review the decision. In an interview from his home in Woodstock, Ont., Rodney Stafford denounced the transfer of Terri-Lynne McClintic as "completely wrong." "She should be serving her sentence in a maximum security prison," Stafford said of his daughter's killer. "Like I'm sitting here living day to day, going to work, having to struggle to get by because my life has been altered so bad I'm still on this huge emotional roller-coaster and like frickin' she's out living it up...in this healing lodge." McClintic pleaded guilty in 2010 to the first-degree murder of Victoria (Tori) Stafford, who was last seen in April 2008 being led away by the hand after school. McClintic, then 18, had promised to show the trusting girl a puppy. Waiting nearby was McClintic's boyfriend, Michael Rafferty, who drove his victim to a remote field where he raped her repeatedly. Court would later hear how McClintic, who confessed a month later, had ignored Tori's pleas for help. Ultimately, the girl would die from hammer blows to her head. In 2014, McClintic was classified as a medium security inmate at the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, Ont. In December, two days after the transfer, victims services wrote the family to inform them of McClintic's move to the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge on the Nekaneet First Nation near Maple Creek, Sask. While it's not clear whether McClintic identifies as Indigenous, Correctional Service Canada, which refuses to discuss the transfer for privacy reasons, says the 60-bed lodge is a multi-level standalone open campus facility with a focus on healing for incarcerated Aboriginal women. "She's basically living it up better than the majority of the people living on the streets or are low income families," Stafford, 43, said. "She's being handed all these free passes and luxuries. It's not fair." Word of the transfer prompted plans for a protest rally in Ottawa in November and both federal and provincial politicians jumped on the issue. Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford called Stafford to offer his support, while Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale announced the review of the transfer decision and said ministers by law do not get involved in inmate security classifications. Conservative justice critic Tony Clement accused the Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being soft on crime and called the transfer a miscarriage of justice that has revictimized the families. "This is not the kind of justice that Canadians expect (and) I'm demanding redress," Clement said. "When people lose faith in our justice system, they take matters into their own hands." In the House of Commons, Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer called on Trudeau to have the decision reversed, saying McClintic was guilty of "horrific crimes" and had bragged about stomping on the face of a fellow inmate at Grand Valley. Trudeau pointed out that McClintic's security status hasn't changed since 2014 and that officials make such decisions independently. He also noted that Goodale had asked the commissioner of correctional services for a review. An exasperated Scheer emerged from question period Wednesday demanding that Trudeau act. "I will tell you one thing I know about this facility: it is not the right place for McClintic," he said. "She deserves to be behind bars ... this is completely inappropriate." GLEN CARBON Local taxing bodies are about to see an increase in revenue. At the last regular meeting of the full Glen Carbon Village Board, trustees voted unanimously to dissolve Tax Increment Financing District 1. Glen Carbon Director of Finance Scott Borror said taxing bodies such as Glen Carbon, District 7, The Glen Carbon Fire Protection District and the Glen Carbon Library District will soon receive tax revenue based on a higher estimated equalized assessed value (EAV) of the property which is the Walmart development. When the TIF district was established many years ago the base value on the district was $3.1 million. Last years evaluation placed the EAV of that development at $17 million, Borror said. So that difference of $13.9 million has been unavailable in recent years and now it will be available to the taxing bodies. Borror said the increase in the EAV will be available to the taxing bodies in time for the 2018 tax levy. In addition to the increase in EAV, Borror said the village will also be distributing surplus funds over the next year to the taxing bodies. We are still working on completing two infrastructure projects in the area. One will be completed in this calendar year and one will be completed in 2019, Borror said. We anticipate a $1.2 million surplus that will be distributed to the taxing bodies which will be based on the amount of EAV each taxing district has. Mayor Rob Jackstadt thanked current and past trustees for the work done to create the TIF. I have to take this opportunity to thank Trustee (Ben) Maliszewski. He was here at the beginning and he is here at the end, Jackstadt said. The Village Board created this TIF district with the hope that it would increase the EAV and after 20 years it has increased by almost $14 million and this is a classic example of a TIF working. Jackstadt added that the board, both past and present, should be commended for not giving into the temptation of amending and extending the life of the TIF. This area and the development is doing well on its own and it is appropriate to terminate the TIF at this time, he said. Now the fire protection district, the school district and the library district will be able to enjoy that incremental increase of nearly $14 million in EAV as early as next year when they get tax receipts. Maliszewski said the TIF helped Walmart to stay in the area and attracted new businesses to the area. The project had a contentious start and the EAV actually dropped the year after the TIF was created, he said. We have to thank Walmart for staying there and they did help attract more businesses to the area. At the time of its creation, this TIF district was considered one of the best in the state of Illinois. Morgan County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Bert O. Welker, 60, of 509 E. Douglas Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 2:31 a.m. Wednesday on charges of driving while license is revoked or suspended, leaving the scene of an accident with vehicle damage and title/registration possession offenses. Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Donna K. Milsap, 56, of 623 N. East St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:20 p.m. Tuesday on charges of driving while license is revoked or suspended, having an expired registration and title/registration possession offenses. Robert L. Wright, 49, of 1010 N. Clay Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 10:29 p.m. Tuesday on a charge of violating an order of protection. Jeffery W. Clark, 32, of 953 E. College Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 7:40 a.m. Wednesday on charges of violating an order of protection and resisting a peace officer. A 16-year-old girl was arrested about 12:05 a.m. Wednesday on charges of aggravated assault and battery. She is accused of threatening another person, taking a knife and making a stabbing motion toward the person and spitting on the person numerous times. South Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Terry L. Fernandes, 43, of 193 W. Michigan Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on charges of assault and disorderly conduct. Compiled by Greg Olson Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), and its charitable arm, the Green Infrastructure Foundation (GIF) have named Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as a Living Architecture Regional Center of Excellence (LARCE). SIUE is one of four higher education institutions in the nation to receive the honorable designation. We are pleased with this designation and how it positions SIUE as a national leader in this exciting research area, said SIUEs Bill Retzlaff, PhD. Sustainable environmental practice underscores SIUEs value of citizenship. True to the Universitys mission, we are professionals, scholars and leaders who will indeed shape a changing world. Our research efforts in green roof and green wall technologies strongly support that worthy endeavor. Three SIUE faculty members who were instrumental in receiving the LARCE designation, attended the award presentation held during the CitiesAlive 16th Annual Green Infrastructure Conference on Wednesday, Sept. 26 in Brooklyn. They include: Bill Retzlaff, PhD, distinguished research professor of biological sciences and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, who specializes in evaluation of green roof and green wall technologies, sustainable green infrastructure, and sustainable use of residual waste products Susan Morgan, PhD, professor of civil engineering and associate dean in the SIUE Graduate School, who is an expert in environmental engineering and has specific interest in the use of green infrastructure for storm water management and improved sustainability of communities Serdar Celik, PhD, 2018 Paul Simon Outstanding Teacher-Scholar and associate professor in the School of Engineerings Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, whose research focuses on quantifying thermal benefits of green roof and green wall systems both experimentally and theoretically SIUE has a diverse faculty cohort and numerous industry partners conducting cutting-edge green infrastructure research, Celik said. SIUE is committed to sustainability, has invested in many sustainable practices, and is the proud home of six LEED for New Construction Certified/Certifiable buildings, including two completed LEED for Existing Building projects. A signed agreement between the GRHC, GIF and SIUE will strengthen living architecture and green infrastructure knowledge and engagement through collaborative professional education, research and policy advocacy. The Universitys proximity to the St. Louis Metropolitan area, and Lebanon, Kan., the geographic center of the U.S., as well as its impactful 600-mile radius reach to many major population centers make it a prime location for this national designation. We are pleased with the high level of cooperation between industry and academia, and look forward to working with our partners to advance the green roof and wall industry and contribute to the resiliency of our buildings and communities, said Steven W. Peck, GRP, founder and chair of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. LARCE will advance the work of G.R.E.E.N. (Green Roof Environmental Evaluation Network), the St. Louis metropolitan area research collaboration between SIUE and regional and local industries. G.R.E.E.N. is co-directed by Retzlaff and Morgan. Our goal is to evaluate the performance of green roofs and walls, and to make the results available to users for the further development and establishment of green systems in the urban/suburban environment, Morgan explained. The Center designation will aid us and our colleagues in these efforts and in providing additional opportunities for students through coursework, as well as sponsored projects. SIUE teacher-scholars have produced a significant body of work evaluating living architecture systems in areas such as volume and quality of storm water runoff, plant performance, maintenance issues, biodiversity, thermal characteristics, weight loads, wind uplift and new green roof technologies. Newly established areas of emphasis include evaluating rooftop vegetable production and food access in urban deserts, native plant performance in green roof systems for storm water runoff, thermal performance of green roof systems, and the use of robotics for maintenance of living architecture systems. The Regional Center at SIUe has initial plans to develop a center website and is working with the other regional centers to plan for training events and regional research conferences in 2019. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) is a member supported industry association with a mission to develop the green roof and wall industry throughout North America. GRHC provides online and in-person training programs, manages the Green Roof Professional accreditation, publishes the Living Architecture Monitor, organizes events to support market development and advocates for supportive policy. The Green Infrastructure Foundation is a charity that partners with communities to shape healthy, resilient, and sustainable places using living green infrastructure. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi Rivers rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 13,000. CHICAGO A new Money Match program automatically will return lost money to Illinois residents without the usual need to gather paperwork or file a claim, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said this week. The Money Match program uses existing technology and state records to match unclaimed cash with qualifying Illinois taxpayers. The property must be $2,000 or less in cash with only one owner. The goal is to return more money, more quickly, and without the need of paper, to Illinois taxpayers. An estimated 63,000 Money Match notification letters will be mailed in September. Checks will be issued after the address is confirmed to be correct. The program expects to return $12 million statewide in the coming weeks. The treasurers office has over $2 billion in lost money and unclaimed property, Frerichs said. This new matching process makes it even easier for us to return money to people here in Illinois so they can use it as they see fit. A record-breaking $180 million in forgotten cash and stock was returned to individuals, employers and non-profits this past fiscal year, July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. More than 116,000 claims were fulfilled 49,000 of which were paperless with an average value of $1,552. In each of these claims, the individual had to initiate the process. The new Money Match will be the exact opposite the treasurers office will initiate the claim. No action is required by the owner. In 2017, the General Assembly authorized the treasurers office to identify properties that meet the oneowner, $2,000 cash criteria beginning in 2018. Once identified, the treasurers office works with the Illinois Department of Revenues tax data to determine if an up-to-date mailing address exists. If a mailing address is identified and confirmed, the person will receive a letter announcing the amount and source of the money and encouraging the recipient to look for a check in the mail. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the Rhode Island State Treasurer recently instituted similar programs with great success. More than 830,000 Illinois unclaimed property files were evaluated to identify the 63,000 Money Match recipients. The data set includes all unclaimed property eligible for the Money Match program. A person with more than one piece of unclaimed property will receive more than one letter. Not included in the data matching effort is cash owned by multiple parties, including a joint holding of a parent and minor child, as well as shares of stock and bonds, bank safe deposit box contents and escrow accounts. Interestingly, most fraud attempts to wrongfully collect unclaimed property involve a family member. In Illinois, the state treasurer is tasked with safeguarding unclaimed property, such as unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts and unused rebate cards. Illinois holds more than $2 billion in unclaimed property. The state treasurer is legally required to get the property to the rightful owners no matter how long it takes for them to come forward. Individuals can search the state treasurers database for their name or the name of their business or nonprofit at www.illinoistreasurer.gov/ICASH. Because the treasurers office accepts unclaimed property twice each year, Frerichs encourages individuals to search the database twice each year. Frerichs office never charges money to search the database or return unclaimed property. EDWARDSVILLE A second pair of solar farms was approved by the Madison County Zoning Board of Appeals Tuesday. This follows the approval of another solar farm by the full Madison County Board last week. The action was among seven requests acted on by the board. Another request was pulled from consideration after numerous objections, and is expected to be amended and refiled. Edwardsville Solar LLC and property owner Sharon Wentz Evans had requested special use permits to allow two separate 2-megawatt solar farms on land at 5729 New Poag Road, Edwardsville. At last weeks County Board meeting, a special use permit was approved for SolarStone Illinois LLC, and property owners James Mannhard and Kathleen Trees, to allow the development of a solar farm on Walnut Road near St. Jacob was approved. Both developments were split into two separate 2-megawatt plants because of state regulations. The Poag Road location would take up about 35 acres. Each 2-megawatt facility would produce enough electricity to power about 300 homes. The request now goes to the Planning & Development Committee, then to the full Madison County Board. A request by Brian Forbes to rezone 1.2 acres from residential to business was withdrawn because of objections by neighbors. The property, located at 4700 Nameoki Road and 2104 Harrison, in Granite City, was zoned residential but through a court case from the 1970s a special use permit for a professional office was allowed. Forbes said he wants the property rezoned to allow him to market it for professional office space. Board Member Art Asadorian spoke against the request, and a resident presented a petition opposing the rezoning signed by 77 neighbors. Much of the concern was that if the property was rezoned to B-1 Limited Business District it would allow more than 70 potential uses, including retail. After some discussion, Forbes withdrew his request, with plans to resubmit it as a B-5 business district, which would limit the property to use as a professional office building. The ZBA also approved denying a request by Stephen Edwards and property owner A&H Mechanical Contracting Inc. for a special use permit to allow a drive-up window for a restaurant proposed at 9070 Illinois Route 162 in Troy. The ZBA tabled action on the issue in January so the developers and owners could bring a detailed floor and site plan, but that has never materialized. Four requests were approved, including: A request by Victor Olvera-Ramirez for a special use permit to continue to place a manufactured home at 3113 Amherst Ave., Collinsville. A request by Iona Bertels for variances to create a tract with a 30-foot property width and setback, and a private sewage system on less than one acre for property at 4610 Okke St., Dorsey. Bertels wants to split a residential property from agricultural land to allow the sale of the residence. A request by John and Deborah Miller for a 37-foot front yard setback and a 57-foot rear yard setback to replace a demolished residence with a modular home on Illinois Route 162 in Glen Carbon. A request by Chad Wernle for a variance to place a detached garage at 13300 Fawn Creek Road, Highland, that is 2.5 feet from the property line, rather than the required 15 feet. Photo: Contributed Dave Hesketh has had his name taken off the ballot in the upcoming municipal election. The late council candidate passed away last week. "Today we received ministerial confirmation that Mr. Heskeths name can be removed from the ballot," explained Nick Nilsen City of Vernon communications officer. "The Ministry required the death certificate, which they have, and the Minister was required to sign off on the final decision, which has now happened." Mr. Hesketh, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, was running to advocate for a multi-purpose cultural facility. On Oct. 20, voters in the Greater Vernon area will be asked through a referendum to decide whether they support borrowing up to $25 million for the purpose of constructing a new cultural centre in downtown Vernon. Up until his passing, Mr. Hesketh was a vocal supporter of a 'yes' vote in the upcoming referendum. To find a complete list of City of Vernon candidates, click here. Photo: The Canadian Press Some Canadian police forces are hesitant to use a federally approved roadside marijuana test, raising questions about the Liberal government's decision to give the devices the green light. Vancouver's police department is among those that won't use the Drager DrugTest 5000 when pot is legalized next month because it says the device doesn't work in sub-zero temperatures, is bulky and takes too long to produce a sample. "We're just not comfortable moving forward with this machine and we're looking at other options," said Sgt. Jason Robillard. Police in Delta, B.C., say their officers won't use the device this year but the department hasn't made a decision about 2019, while Edmonton police and B.C.'s provincial RCMP say no decisions have been made yet. National RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Marie Damian said the force will have a strategic, limited rollout of the device in consultation with provincial and municipal partners. Standardized field sobriety tests and drug recognition experts will continue to be the primary enforcement tools, she said. The RCMP has taken the lead on training Canadian police officers on the devices and has ordered 20 units for that purpose. The training will be available "on or prior to" Oct. 17, when marijuana will be legal, she said. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould defended the approval of the device in the Senate on Tuesday. The Canadian Society of Forensic Science examined the machine and the public had an opportunity to give feedback, she said. "It is not the only tool that law enforcement officers have. It's an additional tool," she said. "There is a potential that in the future I will certify additional devices." Sen. Claude Carignan said police forces are being left with a false sense of security from the federal government when they are not actually equipped enough for cannabis legalization. "She's disconnected with the reality of what the police forces have in their toolbox," he said, referring to the justice minister. For its part, Halifax police said the department is not panicking about needing to use the screening device, noting the availability of other existing policing tools. There are expected to be more instruments approved in the future, added Const. John MacLeod. "Rather than jumping at the first instrument, we are collecting all the information that we can to determine what would be the best tool to use," he said. Ottawa police are also holding off on using the Drager test. "It is not no forever, it is just no for now," said Const. Amy Gagnon. "The one big concern is we have such a fluctuation in weather and the instrument specifications for temperature would be ... an issue for us." Rob Clark, managing director of Drager Canada, disputed criticisms of the device. It operates best between temperatures of 4 C and 40 C. But the main part of the machine which does the analysis remains in the police vehicle where it's protected from the cold, he said. It's only the oral swab that collects the saliva sample that is exposed to extreme temperatures. But Clark said the sample can be heated up when plugged into the machine in the car. He said it typically takes about 30 seconds to a minute to collect a saliva sample and 4 1/2 minutes to get the test result. Clark stressed the devices are merely a screening tool, like a breathalyzer for alcohol, and the result does not provide the evidence to convict a driver. A blood test would be relied on in court, he said. Photo: File photo The BC Court of Appeal has reduced the sentence of a Kelowna man convicted of trafficking cocaine. Almost five years after pleading guilty to selling cocaine to an undercover officer in Kelowna, a Chinese man has avoided deportation. Wing Wha Wong, 54, was arrested in Kelowna in February 2012 when he sold an undercover officer $60 worth of cocaine, after the officer had called what was believed to be a dial-a-dope operation. Wong, who moved to Canada from China in 1990 and has since become a permanent Canadian resident, pleaded guilty almost two years after his arrest and was sentenced to nine months in jail. As part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, a permanent resident can be deported, with no chance for appeal, if he or she is sentenced to more than six months incarceration. Neither Wong, his lawyer, nor the sentencing judge were aware of the possible deportation repercussions. Wong, who has a Canadian-born child with his wife, appealed the decision in 2016, arguing he should be able to withdraw his guilty plea because he wasn't aware of the possible consequences. His appeal went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada earlier this year, but the court did not find in Wong's favour, ruling that he had not articulated what he would have done differently had he known about the possible deportation. Despite the ruling, Wong successfully appealed the length of his sentence, allowing him to remain in the country. A ruling by the BC Court of Appeal in Vancouver last week reduced Wong's sentence to six months less a day, eliminating the deportation option. Despite having already served the nine-month sentence, the court said that when taking into account Wong's collateral consequences, a sentence that won't result in deportation is appropriate. Photo: Okanagan College It's only been open for a month, but a new building at Vernon's Okanagan College campus is already recognized as an innovative addition. The Trades Training Centre won the Institutional Award at the 10th Annual Thompson Okanagan Kootenay Commercial Building Awards held earlier this month in Kelowna, presented by MNP LLP, RE/MAX Commercial and the Southern Interior Construction Association (SICA). This years event saw a record-tying 37 finalists competing for honours in a host of categories including industrial, institutional, hospitality, retail, multi-family, mixed use and other types of buildings. We had three goals in mind when we set out to construct our new Trades facility in Vernon, said Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton. We knew we wanted to provide students with the highest-quality learning environment possible, to build a facility that will help meet the demand for skilled trades people in the North Okanagan and beyond, and, finally, to continue to raise the bar for ourselves in sustainability. The $6.2-million, 1,250 square-metre facility can accommodate approximately 150 students per year and features a dedicated welding shop and multi-use spaces in which the college can deliver training in carpentry, electrical and plumbing and pipefitting. The first class of students in the shop were a group of 18 Plumbing and Pipefitting Foundation students who helped to officially open the building on Aug. 7. The centre also houses the Colleges Women in Trades training program and the first class of students from that program to access the new building began this week. The facility was constructed to meet the minimum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard, building on the colleges commitment to delivering sustainable facilities. Of the $6.21-million total project cost, the Province of B.C. provided $2.88 million and the Government of Canada provided $2.66 million. Federal funding was made available through the Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund. The project was also buoyed by significant community support. The Okanagan College Foundation raised more than $1 million toward the Colleges $673,000 capital construction commitment, as well as provide support for students and programming. Photo: Colin Dacre A young Keremeos father has been sentenced to 18 months probation for spanking his three-year-old son hard enough to leave bruising. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, appeared in Penticton court Wednesday after pleading guilty to one count assault related to the Aug. 24, 2017 incident. The court heard that the father had spanked his son after getting frustrated while putting his son to bed. The childs mother told police she overheard the spanking, and when the father exited the bedroom he complained that he hates having to spank [child] and that his hand hurt from the spanking, said Crown prosecutor Ann Lerchs. The next day the parents discovered the bruising, leading the mother to report the incident and have the father arrested. Court heard that the dad had previously been warned by the Ministry of Children and Family Development about the use of physical discipline with his kids. The father told police a mild spanking seemed to have no effect on the child, so he used more force, admitting things got a little out of hand. The mother, meanwhile, said the spankings had become a regular occurrence over the previous two months. Since the incident, the mother has left the accused and has full custody of the kids, with a no-contact order remaining in place. The court heard that the dad has shown great remorse and has sought counselling for his temper. Judge Gregory Koturbash rejected the defense request for a conditional discharge, which would have spared the father a criminal record after two years of probation. It should not hurt to be a child sir, Koturbash told the father. Parents need to understand that as trying as things get, if you let your emotions take charge and strike a child to the point of leaving marks that you will not be treated lightly by the courts. The judge said the fact that child abuse typically happens behind closed doors necessitates the need for a punishment that deters other potentially abusive parents. Photo: Contributed An unusual event occurred in the House of Commons, this week. On Tuesday, the Conservative Official Opposition tabled a motion: That, given the Prime Minister has told veterans that they are asking for more than we are able to give, the House call on the Minister of Veterans Affairs to revoke the Veterans Affairs Canada benefits that have been extended to Chris Garnier, who is not a veteran, is incarcerated for second-degree murder and for interfering with the dead body of police officer Catherine Campbell, and is currently receiving benefits for a disability he sustained while committing his heinous crimes. The unusual event? After the debate on this motion, all opposition parties the Conservatives, the NDP, the Bloc and the Green Party voted unanimously in support of stopping veterans benefits being provided to this convicted killer of a police officer. The Trudeau Liberals used their majority to defeat this motion. It is unusual for all opposition parties to vote together, however this issue crossed all partisan party lines. I have heard outrage from a significant number of people and in particular from members of our law enforcement community. The Liberals, in support of their move to defeat the motion, have argued that because the convicted murderers father is a veteran, there is justification to provide these benefits to his son. There is some positive news related to this motion. On the day this motion was being debated in the House of Commons, CBC reported that that Veterans Affairs Canada will no longer pay for benefits for incarcerated relatives of veterans in the wake of the Christopher Garnier case. This revised policy is one that I am already hearing strong support for, from many citizens in our region. Despite this new policy, the Trudeau Liberals have decided it will not be applied retroactively, meaning that this convicted killer will continue to receive treatment for PTSD that he admitted was caused by events that occurred during his brutal act of violence against an off duty-police officer. My question this week: Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to play down Canada's bid for a UN Security Council seat, saying Wednesday that winning would not be not an end in itself. Securing a temporary seat on one of the world's most influential groups would be an opportunity for Canada to stand up for human rights on the world stage, Trudeau said before departing New York after two days at the annual gathering of General Assembly leaders. Trudeau cited numerous meetings in New York that were focused on advancing his agenda to level economic playing fields across the globe, including getting more girls to school in developing countries. But his explanation for why Canada belongs on the powerful UN body struck some as a deliberate attempt to tamp down expectations because of the country's low foreign aid spending compared to its competitors. "I think people need to remember that attaining a seat on the Security Council for Canada is not an end in itself, it's a means to an end," Trudeau said. "It's a means to ensure that Canadian voices are part of the highest level discussions in advancing democracy, and defending the rule of law, and in defending human rights." The remark comes shortly after Canada received a negative assessment of its foreign aid spending by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Spending on foreign aid is widely seen as one way to win the necessary two-thirds of support from the 190-plus countries in the United Nations General Assembly to win one of the rotating two-year terms on the council. Canada is running for one of two seats against Ireland and Norway in 2020 for a term that would begin the following year. Both countries have higher per capita spending on international development than Canada. "Trudeau's comments are indeed an attempt to temper expectations," said Bessma Momani, an international affairs professor at the University of Waterloo and Balsillie School of International Affairs. "There are high hopes that we'll resume our place at the UN Security Council, but we're up against stiff competition like Norway and expect to ride on our positive global reputation without having spent a lot of money on campaigning." Inked Machine Tattoo Thursday 27 September 2018, 11:18AM Good morning to all of you. Today I present the " Machine Tattoo. This tattoo shop and located in Patong. When you are at the roundabout of Patong beach, take a right and walk the beach. Made 300 meters, you will find the inked machine tattoo on your right at the entrance of the self 'mor watthana' ( Watthana Clinic Soi' )You will be very welcome and enjoy the cleanliness of the place (everything is new), but above all the quality of the tattoos that are made Traditional Bamboo or machine (Demographer) all your tattoos ideas will be satisfied. A team of several professional tattoo artists are waiting for you The atmosphere is very nice and you will have a good time by getting tattooed while listening to music. On Site you can buy teeshirt and other products in the image of the shop. The prices are very correct so do not hesitate to visit the site to make a beautiful tattoo during your stay on the island of Phuket. For more information and details, I invite you to contact them and they will answer all your questions. I sincerely recommend it. Facebook : @InkedMachine.PhuketTattooStudio Instagram : Inked_Machine_Tattoo Phuket expat sets house on fire, attempts to climb wind turbine in suicide bid PHUKET: A foreign man is being held by authorities after he allegedly set his house on fire in Rawai this morning (Sept 27) then tried to climb the wind turbine near Phromthep Cape in an apparent bid to jump from the top of the structure. police By Chutharat Plerin Thursday 27 September 2018, 12:35PM The men is believed to have set is own house on fire. Photo: Rawai Municipality The men is believed to have set is own house on fire. Photo: Rawai Municipality The men is believed to have set is own house on fire. Photo: Rawai Municipality The men is believed to have set is own house on fire. Photo: Rawai Municipality The men is believed to have set is own house on fire. Photo: Rawai Municipality The men is believed to have set is own house on fire. Photo: Rawai Municipality The men is believed to have set is own house on fire. Photo: Rawai Municipality Rawai Mayor Aroon Solos reported that firefighters and rescue teams were called to Moo 7 Rawai at about 10am to attend to a house that had caught fire. After the fire had been extinguished, the rescue teams were informed that a man was being held at the wind turbine. The man apparently tried to climb the wind turbine with the intention of jumping from the top, but was stopped by security guards at the site. The foreigner lives in the house with his Thai wife, Mayor Aroon reported. Rawai Municipality rescue workers administered the man basic first aid at the scene before he was taken to Chalong Police Station. Warning issued after 30 tourists stung by jellyfish at Patong Beach PHUKET: Lifeguards stationed at Patong Beach have today (Sept 27) issued a warning for tourists to be aware of jellyfish at the beach after more than 30 tourists have reported being stung by jellyfish this month. accidentsanimalshealthSafetytourismpatong By Tanyaluk Sakoot Thursday 27 September 2018, 11:24AM Some 30 tourists have been stung by jellyfish at Patong Beach this month.Photos: Phuket Lifeguard Service Chief lifeguard of the Phuket Lifeguard Service (PLS) Somprasong Saengchat, who serves as chief lifeguard at Patong Beach, told The Phuket News, Yes, there have been more than 30 tourists stung by jellyfish in September. Many jellyfish have washed ashore along at least two kilometres of the beach. If you are stung by a jellyfish, use sea water or vinegar to treat the stings. The sting of these jellyfish is not too serious, he added. Governor Kristi Noem announces re-election campaign for 2022 Gov. Kristi Noem announced her campaign for re-election on Friday afternoon. Photo: The Canadian Press A Toronto-based law firm has launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against Ticketmaster, alleging the ticket-selling giant has been taking "double-dip commissions" on the resale market for years. Sotos Class Actions accuses Ticketmaster of allowing professional resellers to buy "massive volumes" of tickets to concerts and other events, then resell them on the secondary market "at significant markups." In a statement of claim filed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Wednesday, Sotos says the company turned a blind eye to resellers' use of so-called "bot" software to gobble up tickets. It says this allowed Ticketmaster to increase its profits by taking commissions on both the original sale and the resale. None of the allegations contained in the statement of claim have been proven in court and Ticketmaster has not filed a statement of defence. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit seeks $250 million in damages. Buyers in a recently cancelled Vaughan condo development are alleging that their builder failed to tell them it had no right to construct homes on the property when it sold the giant project in February 2017. Gupta Group sent purchasers deposit refunds and letters last week citing financial reasons beyond the companys control for the cancellation of the three-tower development that was to have included 1,650 condos, a hotel and convention centre. The buyers have written Ontarios home warranty corporation Tarion asking it to investigate whether the project was actually cancelled because the developer wasnt legally allowed to build homes on the site near Highway 7 and Edgeley Blvd. at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The property was subject to restrictive covenants, legal conditions tied to the 2005 purchase of the land by Guptas Icona Hospitality from a numbered company. In July, an Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed Iconas application to delete those covenants even though the area is in an area that has been slated for high density development. According to court documents, the restrictions, which had a 40-year term, state that the property, currently the site of a Hilton hotel, could only be used for a hotel, meeting and banquet facilities. It also gave the seller of the land, a company called 274 Canada, the right to approve how the site was developed. The restrictive covenants would have been crucial to buyers when they were deciding whether to purchase an Icona condo, says their letter to Tarion on Wednesday. Read more: More homebuyer protections needed, says Ontario government Condo buyers call for better protections as second major Vaughan condo project killed Vaughan condo buyers take developer to court over cancelled project It argues that Tarion rules dont allow builders to terminate projects because of restrictive covenants. The project was not cancelled due to circumstances beyond their control that made their project unfinanceable, as their cancellation letter states, wrote the buyers. Tarions early termination conditions do not include any provision whereby a vendor can cancel because the land is subject to a restrictive covenant, says the letter sent by a group of four Icona buyers. They are the organizers behind a Facebook page called Cancelled Icona Condo which has 420 subscribers. They have also registered about 100 buyers for a meeting on Monday to explore legal avenues. Buyers have to register for that meeting by emailing Iconacancellation@gmail.com. A spokesperson for Tarion confirmed that it had received the letter and had already requested information from Icona so we can review the circumstances surrounding the termination of the purchase agreements to determine whether Icona is in compliance with its obligations as a registered vendor/builder. The Gupta Group, which also operates Eastons Group of Hotels, has not responded to requests for interviews. When Icona Hospitality purchased the land in Vaughan, it was part of a large parcel of which 28 hectares is still held by 274 Canada, according to the July court decision. Development of the land was done through mutual agreements that treated the areas parking and servicing holistically, the court heard. In an affidavit, a representative for 274 Lands said it was concerned that the Icona project could negatively impact future plans for mixed-used development in the area. Restrictive covenants are not uncommon in large land sales, said lawyer Bob Aaron, who writes a legal column on home ownership in the Toronto Star. They are more commonly seen in cases where a retailer sells a piece of land with a restrictive covenant to prevent a competitor from building nearby. Icona is the second major condo cancellation at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. In April Liberty Development cancelled about 1,000 units in the Cosmos condo development on the same stretch of Highway 7. It also cited financial reasons for the cancellation. A group of 451 buyers in that project are asking a court to cancel their purchase agreements so they can sue Liberty for damages. Although pre-construction condo buyers get their deposits back if the developer cancels, many say that money isnt enough to allow them to buy a similar property months or years later in a rapidly appreciating real estate market like the Toronto area. Read more about: South Korean prosecutors indicted the board chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., on charges of illegally cracking down on a labour union, delivering another legal blow to the worlds largest chipmaker. Prosecutors in Seoul said Thursday they have charged Lee Sang-hoon with leading an operation to sabotage a newly formed labour union at Samsungs customer-service unit in 2013 when he was chief financial officer. This is meaningful in that Samsungs long-disputed policy of not tolerating labour unions has mostly turned out to be true, prosecution official Kim Soo-hyun said at a televised briefing, adding that 27 other people from Samsung and its partnering firms have also been indicted on similar charges. Samsung declined to comment. The indictment adds to legal troubles at the top of South Koreas biggest company with vice chairman Jay Y. Lee this year receiving a suspended prison sentence for corruption in relation to former president Park Geun-hye. The Seoul Central District Court earlier this month rejected a request from prosecutors to detain Lee Sang-hoon for questioning. Lee Sang-hoon, who isnt related to Jay Y. or the founding family, became chairman in March this year in a shakeup of leadership that strengthened the oversight of the company by the board. Jay Y., grandson of the companys founder, is a member of the board and his conviction is being appealed in the Supreme Court. Read more about: TOKYOThe next LNG investment cycle may be primed for a liftoff. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners are set to announce a final investment decision on their $40 billion ($31 billion US) liquefied natural gas terminal in western Canada as early as next week, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. This would be the first FID for a greenfield, onshore export project since Russias Yamal LNG in December 2013, according to Fauziah Marzuki, an analyst at Bloomberg NEF. Read more: LNG in Europe Prompts Opportunities for U.S., Challenges for Russia Battered oilsands servicers pin hopes on Shells LNG project Eastern Canadian LNG project wins buyers in shadow of western rival We think 2019 could be the biggest year of LNG FIDs ever, Nicholas Browne, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie Ltd., said by email. The decision may be the start of a wave of investments for major gas export projects after a supply glut and a price collapse forced the nearly five-year hiatus. Booming demand growth means that 11 projects, including LNG Canada, are likely to receive FID by the end of 2019, according to BNEF. The sanctioning of LNG Canada would mark a potential turning point in the LNG market, signalling the industrys appetite to invest has returned, Saul Kavonic, Credit Suisse Group AGs director of Asia energy research, said by email. Even new large scale greenfield projects are back on the agenda, after a dearth of project FIDs over the last few years. LNG Canadas decision was put off twice in 2016, but the outlook for LNG has brightened. Demand is expected to grow rapidly due to an uptick in consumption from Asian nations, led by China. The market, which had been oversupplied for the last few years, is seen flipping to a deficit as soon as 2022 absent new projects, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. The LNG Canada investors Shell, Mitsubishi Corp., Malaysias Petroliam Nasional Bhd., PetroChina Co. and Korea Gas Corp. are set to make a final decision soon, and preparations are underway for an Oct. 5 announcement and event in Kitimat, B.C., the site of the proposed project, said people with direct knowledge of the activities, who asked not to be identified. The situation is fluid and timing could change, the people said. With the capacity to eventually export as much as 26 million tons per year, primarily to Asia, it would also be one of the worlds largest LNG terminals. The progress in Canada contrasts with potential speed bumps in the U.S., as a burgeoning trade war with China is seen potentially choking off investments from the Asian nation, the worlds fastest-growing gas consumer. Beijing earlier this month slapped a 10 per cent tariff on American LNG imports, which is seen shifting Chinese investments to projects in other countries including Canada, Australia, Qatar and Russia. While the project hasnt signed any major offtake agreements yet which is uncommon for a plant nearing FID isnt seen impeding investment. As LNG heavyweights like Shell and Petronas are spearheading the project, funding is unlikely to be a major concern, said BNEFs Marzuki. The project investors are well established LNG players. It is likely they will be the primary offtakers for the volume. Each of the five partners already produce gas in Canada and will take LNG cargoes in proportion with their ownership stake in the projects, which they can earmark for short-term, long-term or spot contracts as they see fit, Andy Calitz, chief executive officer of LNG Canada, said in an interview earlier this month. Its arranged in the global crop of energy projects in quite a unique way, Calitz said. You wont find another like it. Thats what makes this the Dream Team of joint ventures. What in the world is Vic Fedeli thinking? In case you dont recognize the name and most people wont hes the still-wet-behind-the-ears Finance Minister of Ontario. He hasnt even been in office three months and is presumably still trying to catch up on all his files. But he thinks he knows enough to shoot down six years of work by Canadas securities regulators while at the same time making a mockery of his partys For The People slogan. Let me back up a little here. When it comes to regulating our securities industry, Canada is a patchwork quilt of jurisdictions. Each province and territory has its own securities commission or the equivalent, with different priorities and dynamics. The federal government has been trying for years to combine them into a coherent national securities regulator, with zero success. No one wants to relinquish their fiefdom. But they all get together under an umbrella organization called the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) in an effort to harmonize the countrys rules relating to capital markets to the extent possible. One of the issues the CSA has been working on in recent years is updating our hidebound mutual fund industry and reducing the costs to investors. Those costs are among the highest in the world. Finally, after six years of debates, consultations and arguments, the CSA seemed to have arrived at some solutions that would significantly benefit investors. Then, out of nowhere, Fedeli shoots it all down. On Sept. 13, the CSA put forward a plan for public comment that would end what it terms the conflict of interest in deferred sales changes (DSC) on mutual funds and terminate the practice of forcing investors to pay fat fees for advice that they never receive. Almost immediately, Fedeli issued a statement dumping cold water on the whole idea. He claimed that, if implemented, it will discontinue a payment option for purchasing mutual funds that has enabled Ontario families and investors to save towards retirement and other financial goals. Really? This rationale is so twisted, and so out of line with Premier Doug Fords populist agenda, that you have to wonder what vested interests have been whispering in Fedelis ear. There are all kinds of cheaper investment options out there, ranging from no-load mutual funds to ETFs. Deferred sales changes seem attractive at first glance. You pay nothing up front to buy mutual fund units. However, if you sell within a certain period of time usually five to seven years depending on the company youre hit with a sales commission, which can be as high as 6 per cent. If youre a financial adviser, you love selling DSC funds. You get an upfront commission on the sale of as much as 5 per cent, plus you earn annual trailer fees of 0.25 per cent to 1.5 per cent for as long as the client owns the fund. Those trailer fees are effectively deducted from any profit an investor earns. Even more frustrating, you still have to pay them even if the fund loses money. If a security is performing badly, most people will consider selling. But in the case of DSC funds, theres a major disincentive to bailing out the sales charge such action would trigger. When you boil it down, the only people who are guaranteed to make money in this scenario are the advisor and the fund company. Another abuse the CSA wanted to address was the payment of trailer fees to discount brokerage firms. Discount brokers are not allowed to offer advice to clients they cant suggest you buy or sell any specific stock or fund. Trailer fees are supposedly paid to compensate an advisor for advice offered. If there is no advice, therefore, the investor is paying for nothing. Questrade is the only discount broker that rebates all trailer fees (less a $29.95 monthly processing fee) to their clients, having implemented the practice in 2009. The rest keep the money, and the client is the poorer for it. Opposition to Fedelis position is starting to build. CARP, which represents Canadas 50-plus community and has 300,000 members, released a letter expressing grave concerns with the governments action and urging the minister to change course. Without these needed CSA reforms, people, markets and the government will all lose, the letter said. Ontarians will not be able to save, invest or fund their retirements effectively. Financial markets will continue to be skewed at a time when efficiency and effectiveness have never been more important. Why the Ford government would take this position is a mystery. It flies in the face of everything the Premier claims he stands for. Unless it changes course, the CSA plan is dead since the Ontario Securities Commission is by far the most powerful member of the group. Fedeli should pay attention to the growing concerns and reconsider his ill-advised opposition to the CSA proposals. Unfortunately, based on the inflexibility we have seen from the Ford government to date, that probably wont happen. Correction Sept. 29, 2018: This article has been corrected from a previous version that misspelled the name of Finance Minister Vic Fedeli. Gordon Pape is editor and publisher of the internet Wealth Builder and Income Investor newsletters. Read more about: CALGARYThe opioid crisis is hitting hard in Medicine Hat with local police reporting an uptick in overdoses 13 in the last month alone, two of which were fatal. Medicine Hat Police Service Insp. Brent Secondiak told media this week that between Aug. 24 and Sept. 25, a total of 13 overdoses were reported. Since the beginning of the year, Medicine Hat police said theyve responded to 103 overdose calls, six of which resulted in deaths. In all of 2017, 86 overdoses were reported, five of which were fatal. Secondiak says this increase coincides with Medicine Hat police noticing more fentanyl and heroin in the community. As of three or four years ago, we had had very few fentanyl or heroin seizures, and the amount of heroin weve seized has gone up dramatically in the past few years, Secondiak said. This increase is consistent with troubling fentanyl overdose statistics across the province. According to Alberta Health Services, there were 589 overdose deaths due to fentanyl in the province in 2017, a 69 per cent increase from the 349 deaths reported in 2016. As of June 30, 330 deaths had been reported in Alberta this year. Just 247 were reported in the same time period in 2017. Secondiak said that enforcement is only part of the solution to the drug problem in his community. Were not going to arrest our way out of it, not by any stretch of the imagination. Its really a community response. This isnt just a policing problem, its a community problem, in all communities and in Medicine Hat, Secondiak said. The big thing is I think a lot of what were seeing upon interview with a lot of people who use opiates or heroin is theyre dealing with some type of unresolved trauma. Most of them have been abused at some point in their youth or childhood. The Medicine Hat Recovery Centre, an addiction treatment facility, has seen an increase in demand for its services since opening in 2016. The centre uses a patient-focused harm-reduction approach to provide a range of services to work with clients on an individual basis. Debbie Vass, the centres adult mental health and addiction manager, said the increase in demand for its services may be due to a rise in awareness about opioid usage in Canada. Were well aware of the crisis in our province, so people are becoming much more knowledgeable, Vass said. Theres more acceptance, theres much more conversation in our community. So its bringing more attention to the actual issue. Maybe that is contributing to the increase of people coming forward for help. Two Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) workers operate within the Medicine Hat police office, with a memorandum of understanding and shared files so these workers can reach out to people who officers deal with frequently. Cori Fischer, executive director for the CMHA in Albertas southeast region, echoed Secondiaks statement that its a problem faced by communities across the province. Theres not a region thats not seeing this right now, Fischer said. Were looking for a solution. But we dont have one yet. I wish we did. But our current methods arent doing enough. Fischer said larger cities like Calgary and Edmonton have more resources in place to respond to the problem, while smaller communities like Medicine Hat have had to be more creative. She said this has materialized in partnerships between the CMHA, police, Alberta Health Services, and HIV Community Link. But what Fischer said would make a huge difference in the community is a safe injection site, which has been supported politically and by police in Medicine Hat, but has faced opposition from the community. Nobody wants it in their neighbourhood. Every time an area is looked at, people who live there go to city council to try and stop it. People worry it will increase crime, increase the number of needles in the community, even though research shows that this isnt the case, Fischer said. Were moving into a new time with addictions and we need to get creative. HALIFAXDoctors in Nova Scotia are calling on the province to immediately implement six changes they say will help retain and recruit physicians in a health-care system barely being held together. We are at a critical juncture and the decisions we make in the next six months with our health care system are going to be critical to the long-term outlook for Nova Scotia, Doctors Nova Scotia president Dr. Tim Holland said in an interview. On Wednesday, Doctors Nova Scotia, Maritime Resident Doctors and the Dalhousie Medical Students Society released a joint position paper, Road Map to a Stable Physician Workforce. The paper outlines six key recommendations they believe will improve physician retention and recruitment in the province. Many health-care services are not sustainable in Nova Scotia. They are being held together in many cases, just barely by the passion and commitment of health-care providers, the report begins. In its Sept. 1 Need A Family Practice Registry report the Nova Scotia Health Authority noted 56,630 Nova Scotians on its waiting list are still without a family doctor. That number doesnt include those without a family doctor who havent put their names on the list. We really want the public to know what these issues are and what these recommendations are so that if they agree with them they can also push government to make movement on these six issues so we can retain a healthy and effective physician workforce, Holland said. The recommendations outlined in the position paper include a call for physicians to be paid more competitively. Doctors Nova Scotia said the provinces physicians are among the lowest paid in the country and are often the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada. A Canadian Institute for Health Information summary report titled Physicians in Canada, 2016 notes that the average gross clinical payment per physician ranged from $262,000 in Nova Scotia to $380,000 in Alberta. Doctors in the province are also requesting the introduction of a new blended payment model for family medicine and investing in succession planning for all specialties. A succession planning model would pair new physicians with retiring doctors who overlap in the same practice. Theyd work together for a set period of time to facilitate a smoother transition for the physician taking over. Physicians are also asking for the creation of a red tape reduction task force to help reduce their administrative burden and free them up to spend more time with patients. They also want a change in the focus of billing audits. Holland said those audits contribute to low morale and have given the province a national reputation as an unattractive place to practice medicine. He said Nova Scotia physicians are left with the sense the audits are focused on punishing them, whereas in other provinces theyre used as an education tool and to guide appropriate billing. The other recommendation is improved physician engagement on the part of the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the Department of Health and Wellness. Physicians across the province feel completely disengaged from the health care system. Theyre seeing decisions made around them that impact their physicians and their communities without anybody asking them, Holland said. A classic example is the Cape Breton health-care closures whereby they announced closing two hospitals without talking to the two physicians that ran those two hospitals. Those sorts of things just demoralize the physicians and make them feel completely disempowered to be able to make the differences they want to make for their patients. Holland described that lack of proper consultation as probably the biggest factor leading to low morale among physicians across the province. If you look at the sort of tipping point, that has probably been one of the most important factors in impacting physician morale and then by proxy our ability to retain and recruit physicians, he said. Holland acknowledged that movement on many of the reports recommendations has occurred over the past year. But he added the momentum needs to increase significantly over the next six months to a year to ensure effective change. Despite these challenges faced across Nova Scotia, physicians are really coming forward to continue to hold the health care system together, Holland said. But theyre working untenable work hours, untenable call schedules, with ever rising patient demands. And while theyre doing an amazing job working these 80-hour work weeks and sleepless nights, its only going to be able to sustain for so long and so we need to take action now. In an emailed statement, Janet Knox, president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said they were encouraged by the work done on the physicians position paper released on Wednesday. This work represents the voices of three very important groups with crucial roles within the health system. We echo the praise for the physicians who are working and providing additional support to keep our facilities running through shortages and in this time of organizational change, Knox said. Its important for us to listen and consider this feedback in our planning at all levels of the organization and we will continue to do that. Knox said the NSHA agrees many partners within the system must work together to improve issues and share not only priorities of recruitment and retention of physicians, but to create a healthy and rewarding practice environment. She added the NSHA is working to ensure all of those voices are included. NSHA is also working on better embedding physician engagement across the province and we acknowledge that there is improvement required. Engagement starts with organization structure and our organization has implemented a co-leadership model with more than 200 physician leaders across the province, Knox said. We support physician leadership development in partnership with Doctors Nova Scotia. We want to better empower leaders to represent all physician voices at decision-making tables. Knox said the work takes significant time and resources, adding theyre building teams to ensure they can effect change. We are committed to working together with our health care system partners on improving these issues together, she said. Yvette dEntremont is a Halifax-based reporter focusing on health and environment. Follow her on Twitter: @ydentremont Read more about: FREDERICTONThe high-stakes political manoeuvring continues in New Brunswick, with Liberal Premier Brian Gallant seeking a formal alliance with the Greens and another potential kingmaker saying hell work with any party. Flanked by his new caucus members Wednesday, Gallant said they had decided to reach out to the Green party. I think it would then be important to have a discussion on exactly what this would look like, what mechanism would be used, what we could agree on, what we would put aside from each of our platforms and exactly how we could have some kind of relationship in the legislature, Gallant said. He said the Liberals had not yet made an overture to the small party, and the Greens themselves were noncommittal about how they might proceed after Mondays deadlocked election results. The Liberals won 21 seats one fewer than Blaine Higgs Progressive Conservatives but Gallant remains premier as he tries to get support from other parties to maintain the legislatures confidence. He said he will call the house back before Christmas. Both the left-of-centre Greens and right-of-centre Peoples Alliance won three seats each, making them both potentially very powerful in a minority legislature. Peoples Alliance Leader Kris Austin said Wednesday hes willing with any party to make a minority government work and said its unfortunate that Gallant has said the Liberals would not form a coalition with his party. We understand that the people of New Brunswick have given all of us a mandate to work together, Austin said. That requires negotiation. That requires give and take. Im willing to do that, and I think if the other parties are not willing to do that, I think New Brunswickers will see that for what it is as well. Green Leader David Coon has been meeting with his new MLAs to discuss their next steps. On Wednesday, he said the legislature session will be a real test, especially for the mainline parties. The others keep talking about doing politics differently but they never do. So I see that we as a Green caucus have a real opportunity here to help make that happen where we create a legislative assembly that actually starts to co-operate on behalf of the people of this province, he said. Coon said there are similarities in all the parties platforms, and hes sure they can all find issues to support. Take the Peoples Alliance even. They have a clear policy against spraying glyphosate over the forests. We agree with them. Thats a particular issue we could co-operate with them on. The Tories seem to be leaning in that direction too, so thats interesting, Coon said. But Coon made it clear the Green party is not willing to compromise on linguistic rights. The Peoples Alliance has called for efficiency in the delivery of services and not just what is known as duality, particularly in health and education. Austin said party leaders need to put aside egos and agendas to make a minority legislature work. I think thats why Mr. Gallant is having such a tough time because theyre used to running New Brunswick with an iron fist and now they dont have that option, Austin said. Robert Gauvin, a francophone who won the Tories only northern seat, has said hes opposed to the positions of the Peoples Alliance, but Higgs says Gauvin is fully onside. Higgs was also asked about some kind of alignment with the Peoples Alliance. Alignment is a strong word, he said Tuesday. My goal is to go down through the platforms of each party and to say OK, where do we have common ground? Where do we have issues that we just arent going to change anything on our behalf this is what we believe in and this will stay solid, and I think certainly linguistic rights are a clear example of that, Higgs said. We have aims and principles in our party that are foundational and we are not going to be changing that. Austin said some people are fear-mongering, accusing his party of being anti-French. But he said it fully supports both linguistic groups, and is willing to sit down to discuss that with anyone. Weve been saying for many years we respect the rights of both francophone and anglophone citizens to receive government services in their language of choice, he said. What we want to do is make sure that it works in the best interest for all New Brunswickers so that we have more paramedics, more doctors, more teachers. The money were spending on duality can be invested in front-line services while still maintaining the rights of both linguistic communities, Austin said. On election night, Gallant ruled out the possibility of a coalition government with the Peoples Alliance. There are some fundamental values that I need to share with any party that we would be working with, and thats not the case there. With that said, if we put something forward and they vote for it, thats going to be their prerogative, said Gallant. I think that the alternative is Blaine Higgs and the Conservatives will try to form an alliance with the Peoples Alliance. I obviously dont think thats whats right for our province. I think that would bring some of the policies a lot more right than people wanted. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asked whether it was Gallant or Higgs who controlled New Brunswick, said simply Wednesday: We have a strong Constitution and parliamentary precedent that will help them work this out. Photo: CTV Charges have been laid in the shooting death of a Salt Spring Island teen last year. Alistair Hayne, 17, was killed Sept. 24, 2017, in what was initially deemed an accidental shooting. Police arrived to find six youths at the scene. Hayne was airlifted to hospital in Vancouver, but later died. Police announced charges this week against a man who can't be identified because he was a youth at the time of the death. He appeared in court Wednesday, charged with manslaughter. with files from CTV Vancouver Island OTTAWAThe House of Commons unanimously adopted the motion to revoke the honorary Canadian citizenship granted to Burmas Aung San Suu Kyi, the one-time champion of democracy who is now seen as a disgraced bystander in the ethnic cleansing of her countrys Rohingya population. The historic motion was unexpected but foreseeable, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this week that the honour Parliament had bestowed upon Suu Kyi could be reconsidered. Bloc Quebecois MP Gabriel Ste-Marie said that opening prompted him Thursday to ask a question to test the governments resolve and then to rise immediately after question period to ask the Speaker to canvas if there was unanimous consent to immediately revoke the honour, which was granted in 2007. Back then, Suu Kyi was seen as the courageous leader of her countrys opposition forces, and had spent most of two decades under some form of house arrest. Although her party won elections after Burma made democratic reforms, Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the top leadership post because her children were born in the U.K. In 2016, she became state counsellor, the countrys minister of foreign affairs. She is widely viewed as having failed to use her moral power and democratic mandate to rein in the actions of the countrys military, which has attacked ethnic Rohingya in villages near the countrys border with Bangladesh. Ste-Marie said his motion gave voice to his constituents feeling that it was not logical for Suu Kyi to retain Canadian citizenship in light of what the United Nations is calling an unfolding genocide in her country. A UN report called this week for the prosecution of the generals responsible for crimes under international law, including murder, rape, torture, sexual slavery, persecution and enslavement. Ste-Marie had given a heads-up to other party officials but hadnt decided for sure if hed present the motion. He said he was really surprised at its passage, and was clearly elated at the result. No one spoke up to oppose it, including the prime minister, who was present in the Commons. MPs of all parties burst into cheers and applause when the motion passed. I think its a great symbol, said Ste-Marie. He said it presents a good image at the international level to say, No, if you are accomplice of a genocide you wont have the honorary citizenship here. This is a nonsense. Ste-Maries success was all the more surprising as the BQ is no longer recognized as an official party in the Commons. We have to be inventive to participate in the debate, he said. Other MPs were pleased at the result as well. Liberal caucus whip Mark Holland said he has held many town halls where its been raised as a concern. Its a situation thats followed very closely, maybe more so than people might realize. I think that overall the message thats being sent is that were deeply concerned about the plight of the Rohingya people and the situation that unfolded in (Burma) and on the border of Bangladesh, and that the Commons has chosen to make a statement to reflect its disapproval of how events have unfolded and the concern with the humanitarian crisis that was there. Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree, the parliamentary secretary for heritage, said there is a general consensus that Aung San Suu Kyi has never met her responsibility for whats going on with the genocide of the Rohingya people. And I think this is a sign that citizenship that she received, the honorary citizenship, is not in line with what shes done in that country. Liberal MP Salma Zahid tweeted Her unwillingness to take any moral leadership for the genocide of the Rohingya in her country is inexcusable, and deeply disappointing. At the Embassy of Myanmar in Ottawa, there was no immediate response to the Stars request for comment. The motion goes farther than Trudeaus envoy, Bob Rae, had called for in a report released earlier this year. Rae warned the world not to place sole blame for the atrocities on Suu Kyi, although he did not exclude her from responsibility for the tragedy. However he said there are effectively two governments in Burma, one military and one civilian, with the military having control over internal affairs. Suu Kyi does not control the military, he said. MP Andrew Leslie, parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, said now that Parliament has spoken, the details about the revocation will have to be resolved by the technical experts. OTTAWA The United States ambassador to Canada says Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is highly respected by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his NAFTA negotiating team, in sharp contrast to remarks made by President Donald Trump. Kelly Craft said Freeland has been personally very helpful to her since she arrived last October as Trumps envoy to Canada, and that Freeland has earned the respect of the U.S. team for her conduct in the negotiations. Crafts defence of Freeland, who she described as someone who had become a friend, came less than two hours after Trump appeared to blame Freeland personally for the impasse in negotiations to rewrite the North American free trade pact. Trump told a news conference Wednesday evening that he rejected a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau because he doesnt like Canadas approach to renegotiating NAFTA, doesnt like its stance on dairy tariffs, and doesnt like Canadas representative in the trade talks. Freeland was hand-picked by Trudeau to act as the political lead for Canadas negotiating team and is the direct counterpart to Lighthizer. We are very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We dont like their representative very much, Trump said. Read more: Forget about it: Donald Trump says he turned down meeting with Justin Trudeau Opinion | Tim Harper: Donald Trumps trash talk only helps the Liberals Opinion | Thomas Walkom: Its time to end the charade and walk away from NAFTA Craft responded to the Stars questions about Trumps remarks later Wednesday evening, during a reception she hosted at her official embassy residence. While the ambassador said she had not seen the full news conference, she was quick to express admiration and friendship for Freeland. Craft said that she respected her, as did Lighthizer and the U.S. team. She said Freeland was generous with her time when Craft was first posted here, and has explained the complexities of Canadas supply management system to her. However, Craft also said that Lighthizer and Trump are completely in agreement on the substance of NAFTA talks. There is no daylight between President Trump and Bob Lighthizer at the NAFTA table, she said, adding that Trump is a businessman who cares about working people and American farmers. He deeply understands the complex issues like dairy which are in play, and suggested it would be a mistake for anyone to believe otherwise. The Canadian government had no immediate reaction to Trumps attack on Freeland Wednesday night, other than to say it has not requested a meeting between Trump and Trudeau while both were in New York for United Nations meetings. But on Thursday, Trudeau left little doubt he has full confidence in his minister. I think that she is ensuring that Canadians are well-defended in our interests and she will continue to be, he said. If our negotiators are doing their jobs, they are doing a good job to make sure that we're standing up for Canadian values and interests. Crafts praise for Freeland was echoed by her predecessor as U.S. ambassador to Canada. I can say as the US Ambassador I had the privilege to work w/ her & she is a consummate professional and good friend, Bruce Heyman tweeted Wednesday evening. Freeland remained in New York Thursday where she attended events on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly meetings. There have been reports that the White House was angered by Freelands speech in Washington when she accepted a Diplomat of the Year award from the Foreign Policy forum. In that speech, she urged the U.S. to reject the idea that might made right. You may feel today that your size allows you to go mano-a-mano with your traditional adversaries and be guaranteed to win, said Freeland on June 13. But if history tells us one thing, it is that no one nations pre-eminence is eternal. Trumps apparent antipathy toward Freeland may have been fuelled by critical coverage in the right-wing publication The Daily Caller, which Trump is known to read, that highlighted Freelands recent participation in a public forum in Toronto entitled Taking on the Tyrant. Trump, who appeared to give Trudeau a brush-off with a brief handshake and declining to stand to greet him at a New York luncheon on Tuesday, told reporters he rejected meeting the Canadian prime minister because his tariffs are too high and he doesnt seem to want to move and Ive told him forget about it. And frankly were thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada. Thats the motherlode. Thats the big one. Mexico has already signed a bilateral deal, and the U.S. has upped the pressure for Canada to join by Sept. 30, but Lighthizer told a conference this week that talks with Canada would likely continue after that date if no deal is reached by then. Read more about: OTTAWASaudi Arabias foreign minister says Canadas demand for the immediate release of social activists is akin to the Middle Eastern kingdom demanding the federal government immediately allow Quebec to separate. Adel al-Jubeir made the comments in an interview Wednesday with the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City almost two months after diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Canada were suspended after Canadian officials urged the Saudi government in a series of tweets to release female political activists. Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador, cancelled future financial investments in Canada, stopped direct flights between the two countries, and are looking for new options for thousands of Saudi students studying at Canadian schools. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland whose tweet was among the ones the Saudis objected to say the issue is about human rights. Al-Jubeir says it is an issue of national security and that Canadas tweets provoked extremists who use foreign funding to try and undermine Saudi Arabian reform efforts. He says the only way to fix the stalemate is for Canada to admit it made a mistake and apologize. Read more about: FREDERICTONNew Brunswicks Progressive Conservative leader says Premier Brian Gallant should resign or immediately recall the provincial legislature. Blaine Higgs issued the demand minutes after meeting with the provinces lieutenant-governor on Thursday, saying Jocelyne Roy Vienneau told him that if Gallants Liberals are unable to secure the confidence of the legislature, she will immediately call on the Tories to form a minority government. I am calling on Brian Gallant to do the honourable thing and recognize that he lost the election, Higgs said outside the lieutenant-governors residence in downtown Fredericton. He does not have a mandate to govern and he is prolonging the inevitable, and its unfortunate that thats the case. If he refuses to resign, he should do what is right for New Brunswick and immediately call the legislature back, so the province has a stable and functioning government. The province has been in a political deadlock since Monday, when a provincial election resulted in a virtual dead heat between the Liberals and Conservatives. The Tories won 22 seats in the 49-seat house, one more than the Liberals. The Green party and the Peoples Alliance party won three seats each. Higgs accused the Liberals of offering incentives to Tory caucus members to have them cross the floor to sit as Liberals. (Gallants) hoping that he can buy somebody from my side of the house, Higgs said, adding that he was with one of his caucus members Wednesday night when a call came from the other party. The reception got real bad when I answered the phone. Higgs said he had no plans to form a coalition government with the third parties. As well, the Tory leader said he would not be cutting deals with members of other parties to join his caucus. If people join our party, thats fine, he said. But Im not going to buy their support. Under parliamentary tradition, when results are inconclusive the incumbent premier is typically given the first opportunity by the lieutenant-governor to determine if his or her party can secure the confidence of the legislature. That process usually starts with a speech from the throne. Gallant has said he will call the house back before Christmas, and he has confirmed he will seek a formal alliance with the Greens. The premier said Wednesday the Liberals had not yet made an overture to the Greens, who said they were non-committal about how they might proceed after Mondays deadlocked election results. Read more: New Brunswick premier seeks formal alliance with Greens in bid to stay in power Here is everything you need to know about the New Brunswick election deadlock Gallant plans to continue as New Brunswicks premier after Liberals, Tories in dead heat election Read more about: Some Canadian police forces are hesitant to use a federally approved roadside marijuana test, raising questions about the Liberal governments decision to give the devices the green light. Vancouvers police department is among those that wont use the Drager DrugTest 5000 when pot is legalized next month because it says the device doesnt work in sub-zero temperatures, is bulky and takes too long to produce a sample. Were just not comfortable moving forward with this machine and were looking at other options, said Sgt. Jason Robillard. Police in Delta, B.C., say their officers wont use the device this year but the department hasnt made a decision about 2019, while Edmonton police and B.C.s provincial RCMP say no decisions have been made yet. National RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Marie Damian said the force will have a strategic, limited rollout of the device in consultation with provincial and municipal partners. Standardized field sobriety tests and drug recognition experts will continue to be the primary enforcement tools, she said. The RCMP has taken the lead on training Canadian police officers on the devices and has ordered 20 units for that purpose. The training will be available on or prior to Oct. 17, when marijuana will be legal, she said. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould defended the approval of the device in the Senate on Tuesday. The Canadian Society of Forensic Science examined the machine and the public had an opportunity to give feedback, she said. It is not the only tool that law enforcement officers have. Its an additional tool, she said. There is a potential that in the future I will certify additional devices. Sen. Claude Carignan said police forces are being left with a false sense of security from the federal government when they are not actually equipped enough for cannabis legalization. Shes disconnected with the reality of what the police forces have in their tool box, he said, referring to the justice minister. For its part, Halifax police said the department is not panicking about needing to use the screening device, noting the availability of other existing policing tools. There are expected to be more instruments approved in the future, added Const. John MacLeod. Rather than jumping at the first instrument, we are collecting all the information that we can to determine what would be the best tool to use, he said. Ottawa police are also holding off on using the Drager test. It is not no forever, it is just no for now, said Const. Amy Gagnon. The one big concern is we have such a fluctuation in weather and the instrument specifications for temperature would be ... an issue for us. Rob Clark, managing director of Drager Canada, disputed criticisms of the device. It operates best between temperatures of 4 C and 40 C. But the main part of the machine which does the analysis remains in the police vehicle where its protected from the cold, he said. Its only the oral swab that collects the saliva sample that is exposed to extreme temperatures. But Clark said the sample can be heated up when plugged into the machine in the car. He said it typically takes about 30 seconds to a minute to collect a saliva sample and four and a half minutes to get the test result. Clark stressed the devices are merely a screening tool, like a breathalyzer for alcohol, and the result does not provide the evidence to convict a driver. A blood test would be relied on in court, he said. Kyla Lee, a criminal defence lawyer in Vancouver, said she intends to file a constitutional challenge of the devices as soon as police use one on a driver who wants to challenge it. She said she bought a Drager DrugTest 5000 and tried it on herself. It took two and a half minutes to collect a saliva sample and eight to 10 minutes to get a result, she said. Canadians have a legal right to a lawyer immediately upon arrest or detention. But during roadside testing that right is suspended as long as the testing is done immediately, she said. There have been tons of cases at all levels of court that have found delays of even five minutes in doing roadside sobriety testing to be offensive to charter standards, she said. Einat Velichover, business development manager for Drager Canada, said its not possible for Lee to have the Canadian version of the test because only 20 of the devices have been produced for the RCMP. She said a different version of the test takes longer to produce results because it tests for more drugs at lower volumes. Lee said her device has police settings and is not set to zero tolerance. The device produces very high rates of false positives, she asserted. A study published this year in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology examining the use of the device in Norway said it produced fairly large proportions of false-positive or false-negative results compared to drug concentrations in blood. The study found the proportion of false positives was 14.5 per cent for cannabis. However, the authors noted the Norwegian police say the test is still a valuable tool and has more than doubled the number of arrests. Clark, with Drager Canada, said the study did not prove the test produces the number of false positives claimed by the authors. He said Norwegian police allowed up to four hours before a blood test was taken. The drivers were likely no longer intoxicated by that time, he said. The Canadian Society of Forensic Science ran over 200 tests and found the device was 98.7 per cent accurate for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, he said. The society referred a request for comment to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond. VANCOUVERWith just weeks to go before legalization, the Vancouver Police Board approved on Wednesday a set of regulations for officers use of cannabis. As per recommendations laid out in an August report by the Vancouver Police Department, the board rejected a 24-hour pre-shift period of abstinence in favour of a standard that simply states officers must arrive to work fit for duty. Implementing a 24-hour abstinence period is less than ideal, the August report states, because cannabis affects different individuals to varying degrees, and there is no medical consensus on how long cannabinoids like THC the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis take to clear the system. Specifying a time frame can create an implicit approval that this period of abstinence is all thats required to ensure fitness for duty, the report says. This can lead to unnecessary labour conflicts where employees are fit for duty but have consumed cannabis within this time frame, or where employees are not fit for duty but mistakenly believe they are as they consumed outside this time frame. VPD officers will, however, be prohibited from consuming cannabis prior to the start their shift, as is the case with alcohol. They will be allowed to possess controlled drugs while working or on break, so long as the substance is stored for the purposes of transportation in its original, sealed and unopened package. The VPDs approach is less prohibitive than other police departments in Western Canada. The Calgary Police Service, for instance, has implemented a wholesale ban on recreational cannabis use by its officers, even while off-duty. Read more: Calgary police to ban recreational cannabis use for officers even off-duty U.S. congressmans bid to lift lifetime bans on Canadian cannabis workers hinges on mid-terms, say policy experts From pot to privacy: What we know and dont know about crossing the Canada-U.S. border VPD employees will all be trained on the potential impacts of cannabis, including its known risks and effects on the body, so they can make informed decisions surrounding the recreational use of this substance. The impacts of cannabis use, the report notes, depend on things like the way in which its consumed, what type or strain is consumed, how frequently its consumed and in what quantities as well as ones tolerance to the drug. Testing for impairment, according to the regulations, will only occur if an employee is suspected of being impaired. This aligns with current VPD regulations, which state that employees are only subject to random testing if it is conducted as a part of a substance-use treatment program. Read more about: The skys the limit for private pot shops in Ontario, and recreational tokers will be able to fire up wherever its legal to puff on cigarettes under new legislation being introduced by Doug Fords Progressive Conservative government. There will be no ceiling on the number of stores allowed to get provincial licences if their applications make the grade, Attorney General Caroline Mulroney and Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said Wednesday. The bill will give municipalities until Jan. 22 to decide if they want to bar weed shops within their boundaries, and will align pot smoking with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which prohibits indoor smoking in public places. If youre able to smoke in your home, youll be able to smoke cannabis as well, Mulroney said as she outlined the bill, which creates a new framework for the sale of recreational cannabis when it becomes legal across the country on Oct. 17. While consultations are continuing with municipalities and other interest groups, right now were not proposing a cap on the number of brick-and-mortar stores to be allowed starting April 1, she added. However, the government reserves the right to set concentration limits on the number of individual store licences that larger retailers will be allowed to collect, limiting their market share. Read more: Waterloo Region faces decision on pot shops Canadians will prefer buying well-priced legal pot over black market, study says As cannabis legalization looms, we answer your burning questions about weed In other changes, licensed marijuana producers will be eligible for licences to sell from their high-security greenhouses, much like craft breweries sell take-home bottles of beer. The legislation also allows the government to set regulations on buffer zones between pot shops and schools. Mulroney said the hundreds of marijuana stores now operating illegally in Ontario will not necessarily be barred from getting licences, but must close before recreational marijuana becomes legal across the country Oct. 17 under federal law to pass strict due diligence testing. If you are operating an illegal cannabis store after Oct. 17 you will not be able to get a licence, Fedeli added. Liberal MPP Nathalies Des Rosiers (Ottawa-Vanier), a lawyer, said she was surprised and concerned to learn there will be no cap on the number of stores, despite government promises the industry will be tightly regulated. Other provinces have put a cap ... I hope they are ready to have a robust monitoring way of dealing with all these stores, she said. If youre opening the market to all these new licences you know its not going to be a carefully planned approach. The market will dictate. The NDP declined to comment, saying it is waiting to read the legislation when it is tabled in the Legislature on Thursday. Green Leader Mike Schreiner and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business applauded any moves to limit market share for retailers to, as Fedeli said, open up the marketplace to as many businesses as possible. The cannabis market should not be a windfall for large corporate players with inside access to the premiers office, Schreiner said in a statement, pledging to fight for small Ontario businesses and Indigenous communities seeking a piece of the marijuana pie. Under changes from the previous Liberal governments plan to sell weed only through a small number of government-owned Ontario Cannabis Stores and online, the provinces Alcohol and Gaming Commission will be the agency authorized to grant licences to private retail stores. Retailers will have to apply for an overall operators licence and then apply separately for individual store locations. The AGCO will post application details locally for 15 days of input from the public. The agency already has a deep understanding of compliance and enforcement in dealing with a controlled substance, and is best suited to the job with cannabis, Mulroney said. As previously announced, the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store will be the sole legal source of recreational marijuana starting in three weeks, and its products will be available online only. Fedeli said enthusiasts will not be able to pre-order for delivery on Oct. 17. The legislation also changes the governance structure for the sale of weed, with an Ontario Cannabis Retail Corp. reporting directly to Fedeli as finance minister, meaning the Ontario Cannabis Store the wholesaler of marijuana and online retailer would no longer be a subsidiary of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Ontario is one of six provinces planning to allow private stores to sell marijuana products. The others are British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Newfoundland. The staffing crunch in long-term care could be addressed through the hiring of more registered practical nurses, the Wettlaufer inquiry has been told. It is far better to have a qualified RPN, especially overnight, than to be scraping the bottom of the barrel for mediocre (registered) nurses, as Ms. Wettlaufer was described, said Tom Friedland, a lawyer representing the Ontario Long Term Care Association. There is a shortage of RNs in long-term care, but there is no such shortage of RPNs, he testified on Wednesday, the last day of public hearings at the inquiry. Serial killer Elizabeth Wettlaufer was an RN. RNs have more education and a broader scope of practice than RPNs. They hold more senior roles and have greater responsibilities. They also get paid more. Long-term care homes have a difficult time recruiting and retaining RNs, especially when compared to hospitals which pay more and have better benefits. The workload in long-term care continues to grow because residents have more complex health needs. Friedland said that long-term care homes are desperate for RNs, especially in rural areas where the shortage is most acute. It was because of this desperation that homes overlooked Wettlaufers many shortcomings, the inquiry has heard. The inquiry is probing the circumstances that allowed Wettlaufer to go undetected as she killed eight patients in southwestern Ontario nursing homes over the course of almost a decade. Wettlaufer checked herself into a mental health hospital in 2016 and confessed to carrying out the crimes. She subsequently pleaded guilty to injecting patients with overdoses of insulin. The OLTCA wants the province to scrap or amend legislation that requires every home to have at least one RN on duty at all times. At the very least, the organization wants RPNs to be added to the requirement. RNs are often overqualified for the work they do in long-term care, Friedland said in his final submissions. Much of this work could just as effectively be performed by RPNs, especially in homes that overall have less acute residents, he said. Friedland recommended that RNs be available remotely for video consultations. The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, which also has standing at the inquiry, argued against the elimination of the rule requiring homes to have at least one RN on duty at all times. RNAO lawyer Christine Mainville said that given the growing needs of residents, the requirement isnt even enough. What is critical in our submission is that we not reduce the qualifications of staff in favour of simply having more staff. It is essential that long-term care homes have not only enough staff, but also staff with the appropriate knowledge, competencies and skills to meet residents increasingly complex needs, she said. Mainville said homes need a mix of RNs, RPNs, nurse practitioners and unregulated employees, for example, personal support workers. An inappropriate skill mix puts residents at risk and undermines their care. An appropriate skill mix is designed to match residents needs with the competencies of the providers..., to react appropriately and quickly to emerging complications and emergencies and to assess the residents accurately, she said. The public inquiry will next week enter a new phase. Commissioner Eileen Gillese will engage in policy consultations with various affected groups. She will report on her findings next year. Gillese said her report will contain recommendations that will restore public trust in the long-term care sector and home-care services. Read more about: A United Church minister in west-end Toronto is pitted against a Christian business owner over an outdoor signboard used to spread the word of God. In a rare complaint filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission on Wednesday, Rev. Alexa Gilmour, minister of Windermere United Church, alleges Archer Mobile Signs refused to post a message encouraging people to wish your Muslim neighbours a Ramadan Mubarak (Happy Ramadan) and another that promoted the celebration of diversity during Pride Week. Interfaith dialogue and action is a central part of my faith and ministry, Gilmour told the Star. If Windermere United cannot post the messages we choose, then we cannot do the ministry we feel called by God to do. According to the human rights complaint, the church had rented a mobile sign from Archer Mobile Signs since 2012 and its owner, Steven Thompson, was responsible for updating the text on the sign every week. One side of the sign generally displayed announcements about church life and events, while the other displayed a message of faith, entitled This Weeks Spiritual Exercise, that was authored by Gilmour as an expression of my faith and an act of Christian ministry. Gilmour or her staff would dictate the weekly text to Thompson by phone or email. In the past, there had been disagreements over some of the messages on the signs, but Gilmour said the two instances flagged in the human rights complaint were the first in which he clearly defined his reasons for objecting to the ministers choice of words. In May, Gilmour claimed, church administrator Michelle Maldonado wrote to Thompson and requested the Ramadan message. However, Thompson only updated the announcement on the board and refused to put up the Muslim greeting. In an email from Thompson dated May 16 that was included in Gilmours human rights submission, he said he found himself confused by Gilmours spiritual message. I am all for befriending Muslims in order to reach them for Christ ... There is a sense in which your spiritual exercise goes beyond wishing Muslims well, to actually encouraging them in their ideology. I have no problem with wishing them well, but I would violate my own conscience before God to encourage them in their pursuit of Allah, according Thompsons email. Because I do not see any support in the scriptures to encourage anyone in a false ideology, Islam or otherwise, I must refrain from posting your spiritual exercise. For me, this would be a sin. Thompson did not respond to several requests from the Star for comment and waved off a reporter who approached him in person. The churchs allegations have not been proven. As part of the human rights process, Thompson has 35 days to respond to the complaint. He has not yet filed a response. Gilmour said she respects Thompsons right to his opinions and did not ask him to give up his beliefs and embrace hers, but she said he has no right to censor her religious values. People may say its just a sign, said Gilmour, but I use the sign to post my messages of welcome and inclusion. Gilmour pointed out to Thompson that he had not objected to prior interfaith messages to the Jewish community (Happy Chanukah) or people of African heritage (Happy Kwanzaa). In his email reply, Thompson explained he had concerns about his signs being vandalized and that he has the right to refuse to let customers say what they want and to limit messaging on an Archer Sign where a threat is deemed possible. According to Gilmour, Thompson proposed alternatives to her message such as Wish your Muslim neighbour well, befriend a Muslim or Invite a Muslim over for dinner to avoid the trigger word Ramadan. But Gilmour refused the suggestion because we wish to acknowledge this holy time in the Islamic calendar and believe that treating the faith traditions differently is prejudicial and possibly racist. Thompson then reportedly said the continued sign rental was contingent on the church accepting his companys discretion to control its messaging, and mentioned that the placement of the mobile signs at Windermere violated city bylaw. The minister also asked Thompson if he would post the message Celebrate Gods diverse LGBTQ2S community with Pride in June. According to the complaint, Thompson responded: I think you have an idea as to my view of scripture. In mid-June, Thompson emailed the church to say he was removing the sign on the front lawn of the church, at Windermere Ave. and Bloor St. W., in order to comply with municipal code. City rules on mobile signs specify they cannot be on the public right of way, such as sidewalks or boulevards. Gilmour said she believed the sign was in compliance with the bylaw. The United Church of Canada is known for championing interfaith relations and gay rights, values that Gilmour said she always stands by. Its not acceptable for a service provider to limit the way I express my Christian ministry, she said. Im taking this step only because many attempts to resolve this issue through dialogue or mediation have failed. On a Friday afternoon Brock University student Leena Ali found herself walking into the wake of a deceased person she had never met. How did she end up there? It all started when Ali received an accidental text from Dawn Burke, a Niagara Falls resident who thought she was texting her nephew Quentin, inviting him to a celebration for her dead aunts life. Burke initially had no idea that shed got the wrong number. But you cant blame her; when she asked Hey is this Quentin? in her text on Sept. 17, Ali replied Yea, whos this? Ali kept up the act until Burke dropped the address for the wake. Then she confessed, letting Burke know that she wasnt her nephew. Ali made a request, even though the celebration was not for a family member of hers, she wanted to attend the wake for the late Debbie Celar. She promised to bring something. Culturally, thats what we do, said Ali, who is of Sudanese descent. If someone invites you somewhere or brings you somewhere, you should bring something. So, on Sept. 21, after attending her communication in popular culture and film class, Ali grabbed her childhood friend Yasmin and they drove 30 minutes to Celars wake in Niagara. When Ali walked in, she was greeted by a sea of confused faces; she had never met Celar or any of her family. Dawn herself was confused when Ali finally approached her. Then I showed her the fruit bowl, said Ali. And she freaked out and got all excited. Ali said she had walked into what seemed like a hall, with roughly 400 people celebrating Celars life. Dawns nephew Quentin, who she orignially thought she was texting when she ended up sending it to Ali by mistake, was also there. Celar was part of a big family; she left behind 13 grandchildren and 50 immediate family member. She was well-known in her neighbourhood and around Niagara Falls, said Burke, who added that her aunt would have invited anybody into her home. When I found out that it wasnt Quentin (I texted), I just thought Ive gotta go with this, because my aunt Debbie would. Aunt Deb would invite these people, whoever they are, into her home. Thats just who she was, said Burke. The celebration included food and a slide show featuring pictures of Aunt Debbie with family and friends. Ali said she was moved to go partly because she had never heard of people celebrating a life after death. I never knew this was a thing, she said. I thought it was just funerals. She spent the afternoon learning about Debbie, talking to family members and even to Celars husband. They all told Ali how much she reminded them of their aunt; some even cried tears of happiness, she said. Ali tweeted the text-message exchange between her and Burke and it has since gone viral, garnering more than 5,000 likes and more than 1,000 retweets. Ali hesitated to tweet about the event in the first place because she didnt think anything of it. This is something I would have done any day of any week, she said. Even my friends know Im just a person who does this, they were shocked that it got so much attention because they are so used to it. While she got some reactions calling her crazy for attending a strangers wake, Ali said she found some of reactions hilarious. Some people were talking about how their friends wont even come to their own birthday parties. For Burke, Alis appearance at the event was an entirely positive thing: My family hasnt stopped talking about it, said Burke. Things happen for a reason and at such a sad time in our life (Alis visit) made it the brightest. Photo: The Canadian Press Patrick Kehoe leaves the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin. An Irish man who missed his flight at Dublin Airport was arrested Thursday for running after the plane on the tarmac in a bid to flag it down. Witnesses said a man in his 20s broke through an airport door and ran toward the Ryanair plane, which was about to take off for Amsterdam, about 7 a.m. Declan Harvey, who was at the airport, said he could hear a man shouting "Wait!" at the plane before he was tackled to the ground by airport workers. The airport said that a man became "agitated" after he and a woman arrived at the gate too late for their flight. It said the man "broke through a door and made his way onto the apron, trying to flag the aircraft down." He was briefly restrained by Ryanair staff until airport police arrived. He was handed over to Irish police and taken to a Dublin police station. Patrick Kehoe, 23, later appeared in a Dublin court charged with criminal damage to a door lock. He was granted bail until a court appearance in November. Se he left court, Kehoe shouted abuse and insults at journalists and swung at them with his suitcase, before lowering his trousers and mooning bystanders. About 200 residents displaced by a fire at a downtown highrise will be moving from temporary shelter at a community centre in nearby Regent Park, the city says. The move, announced by the city in a Wednesday news release, comes more than a month after fire emptied the apartment building at 650 Parliament St., in Torontos St. James Town neighbourhood. The change allows the city to reopen the Regent Park Community Centre for recreational programming a step several community members called for on Wednesday, a day after the shooting death of 15-year-old Mackai Jackson about a block from the centre. The ongoing responsibility for housing the families displaced by the fire, the city said, rests with the buildings owner and its property manager, Wellesley Parliament Square Property Management. Residents at the community centre were informed verbally and in writing on Wednesday evening that they would be moved into hotels starting Thursday. The buildings property management has secured rooms at Kimpton Saint George Hotel, Doubletree and Holiday Inn. The community centre had been housing about 200 of 1500 residents displaced by the fire. Residents put up in hotels by the city and Red Cross shortly after the fire were encouraged to find other accommodations when hotels started getting booked up. Wellesley Parliament Square Property Management has been searching for accommodation since the fire happened, spokesperson Rhoda Eisenstadt said. She said that building management was having a difficult time securing spaces because of events like TIFF and the citys low vacancy rate. The owners of the property management company and many consultants have been sourcing options for ... a number of weeks. You dont just show up with a bunch of hotel rooms overnight, Eisenstadt said. In the news release, the city said regular recreation programs will resume at the community centre on Oct. 1. The City of Toronto would like to thank the agencies, residents, organizations and businesses who stepped forward with offers of financial aid, clothing and other donated goods and housing accommodations, the statement said. The ongoing generosity was warmly received and appreciated by hundreds of 650 Parliament St. residents. Community leaders had for weeks expressed their frustration that the centre was closed for regular programming while it housed displaced families. Jackson was shot in a Toronto Community Housing apartment building about a block north of the community centre shortly after school hours on Tuesday. Community members said Jackson, who loved basketball, may have been alive today were the centre open for public use and programming. Stephanie Beattie of the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association said Jackson may have been playing basketball at the centre at the time he was killed, if it was open. After the fire on Aug. 21, the city and Red Cross Canada opened up 24-hour emergency shelters and found hotel accommodations for residents. With files from Gilbert Ngabo. Health Minister Christine Elliott says it is not the provinces job to catch pharmacists who deal drugs, including powerful opioids that are contributing to an epidemic of fatal overdoses. Elliott made the claim despite the fact that every dose of opioids dispensed by a pharmacy in Ontario is tracked by a government monitoring system that could but doesnt flag suspicious activity. Interviewed outside of the legislative chamber Thursday, Elliott deflected responsibility for identifying drug-dealing pharmacists, pointing instead to the federal government and the professional regulator. They, in turn, pointed back. The system we have set up in Ontario was never meant to deal with the use and distribution ... of medications. Thats a federal responsibility, said Elliott. The Ontario College of Pharmacists is also responsible for dealing with pharmacists who are dealing inappropriately in narcotics. That response, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, is an unbelievable dereliction of provincial duty. Read more: Drug-dealing pharmacists are feeding Ontarios opioid crisis We know that there are systems in place that should have been catching these ... pharmacists. To have a minister say, Thats not my job, its unbelievable, frankly. It is exactly her job. And its the job of the government to deal with this, Horwath said. Its irresponsible to not step up to the plate when you know that by not doing so youre letting criminal activity to continue on your watch. A Toronto Star/Global News investigation published this week revealed that only 15 pharmacists have been caught dealing drugs in Ontario in the last five years. During that same period, more than 2.6 million doses of opioids were reported missing from pharmacy shelves, suggesting more pharmacists could be diverting potent medications like fentanyl onto the street. Not one of the 15 pharmacists caught dealing drugs was flagged by Ontarios Narcotics Monitoring System (NMS). The Narcotics Monitoring system handbook states that the collected data will be reviewed and analyzed by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for a variety of purposes including ... reporting possible criminal conduct to law enforcement agencies. Data from the NMS, obtained by the Star and Global News via a freedom of information request, shows that a handful of pharmacists across the province are dispensing massive quantities of powerful opioids. Last year, just 17 pharmacists dispensed a total of more than 10,000 maximum strength oxycodone pills; five pharmacists dispensed over 4,000 hydromorphone tablets. One pharmacist in Simcoe-Muskoka doled out more than 12,000 fentanyl patches last year. A pharmacist in Thunder Bay dispensed more than 5,700. A single patch treats a patient with extreme pain and a high opioid tolerance for three days. For someone who hasnt built up a tolerance for opioids, a single patch could be fatal. Theres no indication the province investigated these large quantities of opioids. Whats the point of having a registry if youre not going to keep an eye on it? Whats the point of tracking these drugs if nobody is going to actually look at the data to determine if theres a problem, said Horwath. We have the data, and its just been sitting on the shelf gathering dust. These numbers show that theres a problem and theres a lack of serious attention being paid to that problem. The sad thing is that weve lost so many lives in the meantime, she said. The Ontario College of Pharmacists, which sanctioned each of the 15 pharmacists caught dealing drugs, investigates pharmacists for wrongdoing following complaints. The College relies on information reported to us from law enforcement, other regulatory agencies such as Health Canada, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, health professionals and members of the public, the statement read. In a written statement Thursday, Health Canada said, Mitigating the diversion of opioids and other narcotics is the shared responsibility of many stakeholders including Health Canada, provinces and territories, provincial pharmacy colleges and law enforcement. Health Canada inspectors visit pharmacies across the country to assess record-keeping and security measures related to the handling of controlled substances. In 2016/2017, only three per cent of pharmacies in Ontario were inspected. A Health Canada spokesperson previously said that it received only 17 suspicious activity reports about pharmacies from 2013-2017. Six of the pharmacies were inspected and none were referred to law enforcement for criminal charges. Steve Bannons crusade to unify right-wing forces in the European Union before the blocs parliamentary elections next year may have hit a speed-bump after a populist firebrand disagreed with his views on trade. The mastermind of Donald Trumps 2016 election victory met Czech President Milos Zeman, an early fan of the U.S. leader, this week in Prague. Zeman also welcomed Petr Bystron, a lawmaker for the euroskeptic, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party that is part of Bannons push to bring together anti-establishment groups to challenge the EUs liberal order. Facing blowback from politicians and media at home for the meeting, Zeman told the Parlamenti Listy website Thursday that Bannons take on protectionism could lead to a global economic crisis that would damage the Czech Republic, a small, open economy dependent on exports. He asked for an audience, got 30 minutes, and after 30 minutes I told him that I absolutely disagree with his views and I ended the audience, said Zeman, an economist and former prime minister whos also a leading supporter in the EU of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The reason why I disagree with his views is because he was defending American trade restrictions. After leaving Trumps White House last year, Bannon has embarked on a European road show from Rome to Budapest to galvanize populist leaders and parties into a loose alliance and help gain a bigger foothold for their policies in the European Parliament. Zeman, who won a second term in January after waging an anti-refugee campaign, has triggered outrage among some mainstream Czech political parties for endorsing an anti-Muslim party. He didnt comment to the newspaper on any other parts of his discussion with Bannon or on his plans to mobilize support for nationalists before the May EU Parliament ballot. Read more about: WASHINGTONThe White House hinted Thursday that a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein could be delayed a few hours or rescheduled for another day, as the president and his aides would be monitoring the testimony of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her while they were in high school. Trump is scheduled to return to the White House around noon Thursday from New York, where he was attending the UN General Assembly. The White House has not said what time the president and Rosenstein were to meet Thursday. After The New York Times reported Friday that Rosenstein had suggested secretly recording Trump to document the chaos of the White House in 2017 and had raised the issue of removing the president from office, it was not immediately clear how long Rosenstein would remain in his job. Trump announced that the two men would meet Thursday when he got back from New York. He will come back here, and theres a lot on his docket including the meeting with the deputy attorney general, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, told Fox & Friends on Thursday morning, a few hours before the Senate Judiciary Committee where Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, were to testify. If it needs to get pushed a few hours or to the next day maybe it will, Conway said of the meeting between Trump and Rosenstein. But they are both committed to speaking with each other and resolving this once and for all. Trump on Wednesday said he was eager to hear what Blasey had to say during her testimony. I want to watch. I want to see. I hope I can watch, Trump said Wednesday. Im meeting with a lot of countries tomorrow, but I will certainly, in some form, be able to watch. Read more about: The backlash to Premier Doug Fords rushed first act in government cancelling the Liberals climate change program is building. And rightly so. In a one-two punch, he first received a damning report from the provinces environmental commissioner for cancelling the Wynne governments cap-and-trade program. Dismantling a climate change law that was working is bad for our environment, bad for our health and bad for business, Dianne Saxe, an independent officer of the legislature, said in her report. When pollution is free, we can expect more of it. Then former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, delivering a speech in Toronto on the environmental perils of the Trump administration, noted that Ontario was facing its own political headwinds on that front. Its not too late for the Ford government to see sense. But that would require putting some sort of price on carbon emissions something the Ford government is foolishly resisting in the face of all scientific and economic evidence to the contrary. As Environment Minister Rod Phillips reiterated on Tuesday, Ontarios Progressive Conservative government tossed the provincial cap-and-trade program because they didnt think it was effective. And theyre happy to spend $30 million to fight Ottawa in court to keep the federal carbon tax from being imposed on Ontario in its place. Why? That, too, is not effective. So what does the premier and his environment minister think will be effective? So far, thats a mystery. While Ford and his ministers never miss a chance to rail about how Ontario had it wrong under the Liberals, and Ottawa still has it wrong, they have no plan of their own to reduce pollution. This did not stop Phillips from taking credit in the legislature on Wednesday for the fact Ontarios greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 20 per cent since 2000. The provinces cleaner air is mostly due to the celebrated coal phase-out, completed under the previous government, as the federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has noted, referring to the former Liberal premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. If the Ford government thinks it can protect the environment and protect the economy, as Phillips keeps insisting, without putting a price on carbon emissions, it is wrong. As much as the Ford government likes to deny it, a carbon fee will ultimately save money and lives. Indeed, taxpayers might well wonder if saving 10 cents a litre on gas the Ford promise for ditching the Liberals carbon-pricing program is worth it. That $260 a year it claims the average family will save, comes at the cost of the millions in energy savings Saxe says businesses and individuals would have enjoyed under the cap-and-trade program. And all this, of course, pales in comparison to the ultimate cost to Ontarians health and the economy if pollution isnt reduced. As Gore warns, we cannot go on using the sky as an open sewer. Hopefully, the Ford government starts listening. Since it has opposed all the existing climate change programs, its time it proposes a carbon-pricing plan of its own that will boost the economy, save taxpayers money and protect their health and the environment. Read more about: How do you solve a problem like Donald? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you find the word that means Donald? A flibbertigibbet! A will-o-the wisp! A clown! With deep apologies to the nuns who sang one of the most famous songs in the 1965 hit musical film, The Sound of Music by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein about Maria, the unpredictable novice nun played by Julie Andrews, the sentiments felt by the older nuns about Maria must be exactly how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadas trade negotiators feel these days about U.S. President Donald Trump. In a news conference Wednesday that some U.S. commentators described as insane, Trump displayed his continuing ignorance about Canadian trade policies, claimed he rejected a request by Trudeau to meet with him and attacked Chrystia Freeland, our top NAFTA negotiator. Like the nuns in The Sound of Music who dont know how to deal with Maria, its likely no one in Ottawa or anywhere else in the world knows how to deal with Trump when he acts like that. Trumps comments about Canada came as Canadian and American trade negotiators are trying to hammer out a new NAFTA deal before a deadline of this Sunday set by the U.S. to send a new free-trade agreement to the U.S. Congress. American negotiators say the deal would include only the U.S. and Mexico if Canada doesnt sign by then. In his news conference, Trump appears to have lied when he said he turned down a meeting with Trudeau. Officials in Trudeaus office immediately denied there was any request for a meeting. Next Trump attacked Freeland, saying: We are very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We dont like their representative. He didnt mention Freeland by name, but there was no doubt about who he meant. And then in another bizarre comment, Trump said he wants to rename any three-nation deal as USMC for the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Such talk about putting the U.S. name first in any deal rather than leaving it as the North American free trade agreement shows the level of pettiness of Trump, who would put Canadas name last. Fortunately Trump may not get his way on naming the trade deal. He seems to have forgotten, or maybe no one told him, that USMC also refers to the United States Marine Corps. Sadly, since becoming president, Trump has displayed an amazing lack of knowledge about Canada. He lies and distorts Canadian policies and practices on everything from trade to climate control. Worse, he doesnt seem to be willing to learn anything about this country. We know how the nuns felt about the unpredictable Maria, and how Trudeau must feel about Trump: Unpredictable as weather, he's as flighty as a feather, He'd out pester any pest, drive a hornet from its nest, He could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl, He is gentle! He is wild! He's a riddle! He's a child! By the end of The Sound of Music Maria was a hero and an international inspiration to millions around the world who saw the film. Given his track record so far, Canadians should assume Trump wont become a hero or an inspiration. Instead, we will have to deal with him as if he will always be a child. Read more about: VANCOUVERNatsumi Kogawa was happy, calm, peaceful, nice, and genuine, her friend Derek Manhas told the court during the trial of the man accused of her murder on Wednesday. The 30-year-old Japanese students body was found nearly two years ago at the Gabriola mansion in Vancouvers West End neighbourhood. She had been missing for more than two weeks. Earlier this week, the accused, William Schneider, 51, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and committing indignity to a human body. Crown counsel Geordi Proulx told StarMetro the prosecution believes Kogawa died from asphyxiation. Schneider was present in court Wednesday, wearing a blue-collared shirt, black pants, and white sneakers. None of the charges against him have been proven in court. He and the rest of the court heard from witness testimony from several of Kogawas friends, including her boyfriend, about their interactions with her leading up to her disappearance in September 2018. First to testify was Manhas, who had been helping Kogawa find a job in Vancouver. The court learned Burnaby resident Manhas had met Kogawa in the summer of 2016 through mutual friends. They had arranged to meet on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016 in order to pick up a job application at Miku, a Japanese restaurant in downtown Vancouver where one of Manhas other friends worked as a manager. When Kogawa failed to respond to Manhas texts, he went to her house in Burnaby. He did not find her there. He told the court he walked back and forth between nearby Holdom SkyTrain station and her house, hoping to bump into her. When he did not see her, he texted, emailed, and called her but he never heard back. There were alarm bells going off at this point, he told the court, adding it was unusual for her to not respond to his messages. It didnt feel right. It felt weird. He called Burnaby RCMP to report Kogawa missing the following Monday. Natsumis boyfriend at the time, Jay Vergara, described her as a dedicated student working hard to improve her English. She often stayed at his place in East Vancouver, he told the court. The last time he saw her was the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 when he dropped her off at the SkyTrain station. Twenty-one days later, Vancouver police found her body in a suitcase in the West End. A forensic investigator told the court Wednesday the suitcase where her body was found was stained with a dark brown matter inside and that it smelled of body decay. Schneiders brother is expected to testify later this week. Read more about: VANCOUVERAn internal report from the Vancouver Police Department recommends an overhaul of the use of random street checks, even though the review finds no statistical basis to conclude officers use the checks to discriminate against certain races. The reports six recommendations include calls to formalize existing street check standards, make street check data public and continue training sessions to ensure officers stay within their legal authority when conducting the checks. Police Chief Adam Palmer commissioned the study following complaints earlier this year from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs about the checks, also referred to as carding. During a check, a person is stopped and officers obtain and record their identification and other personal information, even though no particular offence has occurred. Advocacy groups wanted B.C.s police complaint commissioner to investigate an apparent racial disparity linked to carding, pointing to data showing Indigenous people make up 15 per cent of street checks, yet form just two per cent of the population. Palmers decision to proceed with an internal review was called problematic by the civil liberties association but a spokesman said Wednesday that the reports recommendations show the department has acknowledged problems with carding. This is a start, said Josh Paterson, the associations executive director. (The police) recognize theres an issue, they recognize its important to better understand the perception of the communities they serve in relation to their work. So they are essentially saying there is more work that needs to be done, he said in an interview. We agree. What they propose here is not enough to get to the answers that are required. The findings of the internal report will be considered by the Vancouver Police Board at its meeting Wednesday. The report says the analysis does not contain anything to suggest people are checked because of their ethnicity. However, there is a lot to suggest that people are checked as a result of their actions, it says. Street checks are used infrequently, says the report, and it calls carding a valuable proactive policing tool for ensuring public safety. Police report well-being checks may account for the apparently high rate of carding of Indigenous women, which the civil liberties group said made up 21 per cent of all checks of women in 2016, although Indigenous women only account for two per cent of Vancouvers female population. Among the initiative proposed in the report for the carding process is a call to find a new way to record a well-being check, removing it from the tally of street checks, potentially allowing for better oversight of checks on vulnerable citizens. The report also seeks expansion of the Indigenous Liaison role, creating a dedicated resource for Indigenous people or those with questions about street checks, and it calls for development of a new public education initiative. The education component would offer details about what street checks are, and why and how they are used by police, the report says. Read more about: Photo: The Canadian Press Bed Bath & Beyond's stock plunged to its lowest price in 18 years after the home goods store chain posted weak results in the second quarter and cut its forecasts for the rest of the year. The company's profit fell by almost 50 per cent compared to a year ago. Its stock sank 21.2 per cent to $14.81 in very heavy trading. It's down about 33 per cent in 2018. The company now expects to report earnings of about $2 a share for the current fiscal year. Three months ago it forecast earnings in the "low-to-mid $2 range," and analysts surveyed by FactSet were projecting net income of $2.28 per share on average. Bed Bath & Beyond also cut its revenue forecasts. Bed Bath & Beyond, which traded above $75 in early 2015, fell to its lowest level since early 2000. KeyBanc analyst Bradley Thomas said competition for Bed Bath & Beyond from both online and physical retailers is getting worse. Thomas said the company's profitability has fallen for 26 quarters in a row, a streak stretching back six and a half years. He expects that to continue because Bed Bath & Beyond needs to keep investing in its business. WOOD RIVER The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs for Madison County is hosting a license-stamping event on Monday, Oct. 24 in Wood River for military veterans. The event will be held at the VFW Post 2859 from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The department will also be in Collinsville at the American Legion Post 365 from 1 until 4 p.m. JERSEYVILLE Gold Star Mothers and families who have lost sons and daughters in the U.S. Armed Forces during military activities, will be honored Sunday at a 2 p.m. ceremony at the Jersey County War Memorial. The local Marine Corp League Robert Windle Detachment #1031 will host the ceremony, which will be held at the Jersey County Court House. The Gold Star Mothers ceremony is to respect the families of those who died in battle or in support of other military actions. ROXANA An open house will be held Sunday, Sept. 30 to celebrate Catherine Shafer Loschs 95th birthday. Catherine and her late husband were well-known farmers in the area for 50 years, beginning in 1953, starting with cantaloupe and watermelons in the front yard of their home. As year passed, it turned into a produce shed that Catherine (affectionately known as Kay), alongside her husband, sometimes worked 15-plus hours a day. She was active in many organizations, clubs and the community, which she is still a part of. Their three children, Charles Gene (Carolyn), Barbara Lynn (Felix) Floyd, and the late Fred William (Debra), all worked on the farm growing up. Catherine has seven grandchildren: John, Craig, Mark, Brandy, Talley, Jarrod and Wendy. The grandchildren, along with their spouses, gave Catherine 15 great-grandchildren. Her family would like to extend an invitation to join her at a reception held at the Wanda Heritage House in the Wanda Methodist Church Grove from 1 to 3 p.m. No gifts please. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin (65) has admitted to the Apollo hospital in Chennai on late Wednesday night. Reportedly, DMK chief has been admitted for the treatment of his kidney infection. He was rushed to the hospital after having discomfort in his Alwarpet house in midnight. However, there is nothing to worry about Stalins health. He has been in continuously touched with all the party works. The problem occurred because he didnt go for the medical check-ups for the past two months, said HT reports. Doctors have examined MK Stalin and advised him to take rest for one or two days. There are the reports that Apollo hospital likely to release the medical bulletin on Stalins health condition on 27th September. As per the reports, Stalin might undergo a minor surgery. MK Stalin took the charge of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) as a President after the death of his father and DMK supremo Karunanidhi on 7th August. EDWARDSVILLE The Poynter Institute has selected Southern Illinois University Edwardsville student newspaper The Alestle as one of nine student media organizations nationwide for the second year of its College Media Project. The year-long initiative provides participants with free custom in-newsroom training, online seminars and support for a campus project. We are witnessing a decline in our ability to have reasonable public dialogue around provocative ideas across the country, including on college campuses, said Poynter Senior Vice President Kelly McBride. Journalism, when done well, is a conduit for public dialogue. The collegiate press is particularly beleaguered, and Im grateful that we can expand our ability to help them make a difference in their campus communities. Poynter is partnering with the Associated Collegiate Press to work with the nine student media outlets in the initiatives second year. The Poynter College Media Project combines in-person training, online teaching and support for a campus project geared toward achieving two goals: improving student journalism and modeling civil dialogue through news coverage and related events. There are so many things The Alestle staff wants to do to make a difference at SIUE more indepth and investigative reporting, as well as projects that open real dialogue in the SIUE community, Student Publications Program Director Tammy Merrett said. More guidance and financial support will help that along immensely. The fact that The Alestle staff was selected by Poynter is a huge honor in the journalism community and a great opportunity. I am proud of the staffs work and am excited to see what they will do using their Poynter training this year. As a program participant, The Alestle will receive: Budget to spend on a reporting project or event that advances civil discourse on campus Two half-day, on-campus workshops about reporting, editing and storytelling for the staff Exclusive admission to four online training events throughout the academic year, during which theyll hear from professionals and other campuses about their projects Training on the best techniques for watchdog reporting that holds the powerful accountable and establishes campus media as a fair and trusted advocate for students Insights into the tools of dialogue that model the search for mutual understanding and tolerance through reporting projects and real-life events Poynter tripled the number of participating organizations since the 2017-18 pilot program. In addition to expanding the program, Poynter will increase the initiatives reach by offering a series of webinars through its e-learning division, News University. These webinars will teach accountability journalism skills and will be available tuition-free to all student media outlets. Sixty-three student media organizations vied for the nine available slots. Applications were screened for potential, need, commitment, diversity in student population, school size and type. Joining The Alestle are: Bowdoin College: The Bowdoin Orient North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University: The A&T Register San Diego State University: The Daily Aztec St. Johns University: The Torch Texas A&M: The Battalion University of Florida: The Independent Florida Alligator University of Michigan: The Michigan Daily University of Utah: The Daily Utah Chronicle Three campuses participated in 2017-18: Iowa State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Howard University. The Poynter College Media Project will be led by Poynter adjunct faculty Elissa Yancey, MSEd. Yancey is a longtime and award-winning journalism educator who has worked extensively at the University of Cincinnati. ROXANA A Roxana High School teacher was recently chosen from 328 teachers from across the United States to be part of a select group participating in a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for Teachers, Social Movements and Reform in Industrializing America: The Lowell Experience. The University of Massachusetts Lowells Tsongas Industrial History Center (a partnership of Lowell National Historical Park and the UMass Lowell College of Education selected Amber Robins from Roxana High School to participate in the institute. Robins was selected from an applicant group of 328 teachers from around the United States. ALTON OSF HealthCare Saint Anthonys Health Center is hosting a free prostate screening on Saturday, Oct. 6, beginning at 10 a.m. Held in conjunction with The 100 Black Men of Alton/Madison County, the screening will be held at the Radiation Oncology Department at OSF HealthCare Saint Clares Hospital, located at 915 E. 5th St., Alton. Designed for men age 50 and older who have not been previously screened for prostate cancer, the screening includes a PSA blood test at no cost, as well as a digital rectal exam by Eminajulo Adekoya, M.D., Urology. Men at high risk for prostate cancer, including African-American men or men who have a first-degree relative (father or brother) diagnosed with prostate cancer at an early age, should begin testing at the age of 45. About 1 man in 9 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. African-American men are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer as white men. Registration is required. To register for the screening, or to learn more about Dr. Adekoya, visit osfsaintanthonys.org. For the ninth-consecutive year, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is in Washington Monthlys Top 100 for masters universities in the nation. SIUE is fourth among 27 masters institutions in Illinois on the national magazines list. Unlike conventional college rankings, Washington Monthly evaluates an institutions contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility educating low-income students; research producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs; and service encouraging students to give something back to their communities. The data is based on the three most recent fiscal years. Washington Monthlys annual rankings are significant as SIUE follows through on its mission to shape a changing world, said SIUE Chancellor Dr. Randy Pembrook. It is impressive for this emerging University to be included among the top 15 percent of masters institutions nationally. Washington Monthly ranked SIUE 99th nationally in the masters universities category, which includes 695 public and private institutions. View the entire list here. For the third consecutive year, SIUE is also included in the Best Bang for the Buck among Midwest institutions. SIUE ranked 11th nationally in expenditures for research, having invested an average of nearly $19 million in research expenditures during the past three fiscal years. This investment allows a significant number of SIUE undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to participate in research projects in their fields of study. Under the service sub-category, SIUE was ranked 39th in the percent of federal work-study funds dedicated to students employed in community service programs. SIUE students have many opportunities to work on service projects throughout the year through the Universitys Kimmel Student Involvement Center. Those initiatives include service-learning through coursework, volunteer projects, the SIUE Experience, scholarship requirements, the AmeriCorps America Reads program and student organizations that track their service hours. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi Rivers rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 13,000. I really missed our Alton library this week, as I tried to find some books in both the local library and the university library and failed on both counts. We have a treasure there. Its Banned Book Week. Ive never quite grasped censorship. It seems to make forbidden fruit all the more desirable. Im more of a First Amendment absolutist than I am about most things, including Biblical interpretation.Some religious groups around here are considering moving against some book for ninth-graders both here and the library. The long-standing work of libraries to provide materials is stated well: Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary citizen, by exercising critical judgment, will accept the good and reject the bad. The censors, public and private, assume that they should determine what is good and what is bad for their fellow citizens. The Freedom to Read Statement I support free exercise of religion. I chafe at the idea that ones religious opinions should be able to dictate to others what they can and cannot read. While I firmly disagree with those who assert that Genesis 1 is historical and scientific fact, I support their exercise of belief. I oppose an attempt to impose that religious belief on those who do not share it. While the right wing is usually at the forefront of censorship, political correctness does take in the left in a variety of ways, especially on grounds of feeding prejudice. For instance, two great American novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn have been banned due to their use of objectionable words in our new context of racial civility. Both books shine deep ethical light on racism in our country for the periods they cover. Years ago, Justice Brennan wrote of a right to send and receive information as the basis for communication. The Constitution will endure as a vital charter of human liberty as long as there are those with the courage to defend it, the vision to interpret it, and the fidelity to live by it. I do grasp that the intentions are trying to protect people, especially young people. I am unconvinced that reading can create an idea. Often, some attempted book bans deal with teen sexuality on the grounds that books may incite sexual ideas. I was a teenager in the Dark Ages, and I did not require reading to elicit sexual thoughts. That was especially so, as puberty coincided with mini skirts when young. At a more serious level, suicide materials are feared. I see little evidence that reading about suicide can create ideas for it. I do know that suicide is a killer of the young. If it is given permission to be discussed, perhaps a young person will seek help. The notorious Texas State Board of Education uses some ideological litmus tests for school books in that enormous market. Recently they have created a list of essential figures in history. Some on the panel voted against George Washington as an essential figure. Quite simply, the First Amendment implies a freedom to read. If we grant citizens the power to vote , then it seems we owe each other access to information. We honor citizens by assuming that they are capable of selecting good from bad. Conscience may help dictate what we choose to encounter in the marketplace of thought. Entry into that arena should be Almost anyone reading this is old enough to be aware of the dull gray intellectual prison of the old Soviet system, full and free. If freedom means anything, it permits us to think for ourselves. That seems to require exposure to points of view other than ones own. David Crowley is former pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Alton. In 1998, Google began humbly, formally incorporated in a Menlo Park garage, providing search results from a server housed in Lego bricks. It had a straightforward goal: make the poorly indexed World Wide Web accessible to humans. Its success was based on an algorithm that analyzed the linking structure of the internet itself to evaluate what web pages are most reputable and useful. But founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page had a much more ambitious goal: They wanted to organize the worlds information. Twenty years later, they have built a company going far beyond even that lofty goal, providing individuals and businesses alike with email, file sharing, web hosting, home automation, smartphones and countless other services. The playful startup that began as a surveyor of the web has become an architect of reality, creating and defining what its billions of users find, see, know or are even aware of. Google controls more than 90 percent of the global search market, driving users and companies alike to design websites that appeal to the companys algorithms. If Google cant find a piece of information, that knowledge simply doesnt exist for Google users. If its not on Google, does it really exist at all? The intimacy machine Despite its billions of answered search queries, Google is not just an answer machine. Google monitors what responses people click on, assuming those are more relevant and of higher value, and returning them more prominently in future searches on that topic. The company also monitors user activities on its email, business applications, music and mobile operating systems, using that data as part of a feedback loop to give users more of what they like. All the data it collects is the real source of Googles dominance, making the companys services ever better at providing users what they want. Through autocomplete and the personalized filtering of search results, Google tries to anticipate your needs, sometimes before you even have them. As Googles former executive chairman Eric Schmidt once put it, I actually think most people dont want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next. Twenty years from now, with two more decades of progress, Google will be even more accomplished, perhaps approaching a vision Brin expressed years ago: The perfect search engine would be like the mind of God. People are coming to rely on these tools, with their advanced artificial intelligence-based algorithms, not just to know things but to help them think. The search bar has already become a place people ask personal questions, a kind of confessional or stream of consciousness that is deeply revealing about who users are, what they believe and what they want. In the future, Google will know you even more intimately, combining search results, browsing history and location tracking with biophysical health data from wearables and other sources that could offer powerful insights into your state of mind. A new kind of vulnerability It is not far-fetched to imagine that, in the future, Google might know if an individual is depressed, or has cancer, before that user realizes it for herself. But even beyond that, Google may have the crucial role in an ever-tightening alignment between what you think your needs are, and what Google tells you they are. Beyond its effects on individual people, Google is amassing power to influence society perhaps invisibly. Fiction has a warning about what that might look like: In the movie Ex Machina, an entrepreneurial genius reveals how he assembled the raw material of billions of search queries into an artificial mind that is highly effective at manipulating humans based on what it learns about peoples behaviors and biases. But this situation isnt really fiction. As long ago as 2014, researchers at Facebook infamously demonstrated how easy it is to manipulate users with positive or negative posts in their news feeds. As people hand algorithms more power over their daily lives, will they notice how the machines are steering them? Surviving the glorious future Whether Google ultimately exercises this power depends on its human leaders and on the digital society Google is so central to building. The company is investing heavily in machine intelligence, committing itself to a highly automated future where the mechanics and, perhaps, the true insights of the quest for knowledge become difficult or impossible for humans to understand. Google is gradually becoming an extension of individual and collective thought. It will get harder to recognize where people end and Google begins. People will become both empowered by and dependent on the technology which will be easy for anyone to access but hard for people to control. Humans will need to find ways to collaborate with and direct the activities of increasingly sophisticated machine intelligence, rather than merely becoming users who blindly follow the leads of black boxes they no longer understand or control. Based on our studies of the complex relationships between people and technologies, a critical key to this new understanding of algorithms will be storytelling. The human brain is bad at understanding and processing data which is, of course, a machines core strength. To work together, a new human-machine relationship will have to depend on a uniquely human strength storytelling. People will work best with systems that can work through stories and explain their actions in ways humans can understand and modify. The more that people entrust computer-based systems with organizing culture and society, the more they should demand those systems function according to rules humans can comprehend. The day we stop being the primary authors of the story of humankind is the day it stops being a story about us. Ed Finn, Associate Professor of Arts, Media and Engineering; Associate Professor of English; Director, Center for Science and the Imagination, Arizona State University and Andrew Maynard, Director, Risk Innovation Lab, Arizona State University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Popular writer J.K. Rowling found herself at the business end of a social media backlash after her decision to cast a Korean actor for the role of Nagini. On Wednesday, Harry Potter fans were stunned to learn that Nagini, who makes several appearances as Voldemorts pet, is no ordinary snake. She is revealed to be a Maledictusa woman who carries a blood curse from birth that would turn her into a beast. According to Rowling, Maledictuses are not necessarily evil and can take the form of other creatures as well. The Naga are snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, hence the name Nagini. They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi. Have a lovely day J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 26, 2018 One Twitter user questioned Rowling on the lack of representation when she first wrote the books. Suddenly making Nagini into a Korean woman is garbage, she wrote, adding that representation as an afterthought for more woke points is not good representation. Rowling replied via a tweet that the Naga were snake-like mythical creatures of Indonesian mythology, and hence named Nagini. They are sometimes depicted as winged, sometimes as half-human, half-snake. Indonesia comprises a few hundred ethnic groups, including Javanese, Chinese and Betawi, she wrote. That brings us to a very significant point. Will retroactively changing the character backstories of the franchise, which, on numerous occasions, had come under fire for lack of representation of coloured communities, make any sort of difference? Earlier, Rowling had made a big reveal that Dumbledore was gay, and that further storylines would explore the angle. She had supported the casting of Noma Dumezweni, a black actor, for the role of Hermione Granger in the theatre production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. She had tweeted in 2015: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione. Contrast that to her bestselling works, where except for recurring characters like Cho Chang and Patil sisters, most characters are white. On Wednesday, Rowling replied to one of the many queries on Twitter that she had been carrying the secret about Nagini "only for around twenty years". She clarified that there is a "big difference" between a Maledictus and an Animagus. Rowling reiterated that Nagini was not the boa constrictor that Harry Potter set free in the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and it remains "an incorrect, but very persistent" fan theory. However, she was rebuked by users who said that Naag was a Sanskrit word that originated in India. Wrote popular Indian mythology author Amish Tripathy: Actually @jk_rowling the Naga mythology emerged from India. It travelled to Indonesia with the Indic/Hindu empires that emerged there in the early Common Era, with the influence of Indian traders and Rishis/Rishikas who travelled there. Nagin is a Sanskrit language word. Actually @jk_rowling the Naga mythology emerged from India. It travelled to Indonesia with the Indic/Hindu empires that emerged there in the early Common Era, with the influence of Indian traders and Rishis/Rishikas who travelled there. Nagin is a Sanskrit language word. https://t.co/cXHSlDD7Kc Amish Tripathi (@authoramish) September 26, 2018 In addition, the Asian character in the very homogenous pantheon of characters, Nagini is shown to be a circus performer in the movie turned a servile, evil snake. The adage that failures can teach many lessons seems quite... Retired Calcutta High Court judge Justice C.S. Karnan has lodged a complaint with the West Bengal DGP against retired chief justice of Calcutta High Court, Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharjya, requesting initiation of criminal proceedings against him under SC/ST Atrocities Act. A few days before his retirement, Justice Bhattacharya issued an administrative order, asking Justice Karnan to vacate his flat in Kolkatagiven to him when he was the judge in the high courtif he wants to avail his pension and other pending financial dues after his retirement last year Justice Karnan had earlier written to Calcutta High Court's registrar general, asking why his pension was not cleared although it was cleared by the law ministry after the approval from the President of India. The registrar general quoted the administrative order of the chief justice of Calcutta High Court to clarify why the dues were not cleared. In his complaint to the DGP, dated on September 21, Justice Karnan also included the registrar general as the 'former party'. He mentioned Justice Bhattacharya as prime accused. "The accused (retired chief justice) wantonly and deliberately withheld my pension benefits," said Justice Karnan in his complaint. He also accused the retired judge of taking the decision to withhold his pension benefits at the behest of some judge in the Supreme Court who accused Justice Karnan of being corrupt. The retired judge called the decision to withhold his pension caste discrimination and asked the police to register a criminal case against the accused. "I humbly request you to register a criminal case against the above mentioned main accused under the SC/ST Atrocities Act and proceed with the same in accordance with the law and oblige," Justice Karnan said in the complaint. The office of the director general of police said they are yet to receive any complaint regarding this. When contacted, Justice Karnan said he decided to file a criminal complaint as he had been harassed by the former chief justice of Calcutta High Court for no reason. "The mater about vacating my old house is between me and the landlord. Neither West Bengal government nor Calcutta High Court owns the property which I use in Kolkata's Rajarhat. I would like to settle the mater with the Rosedale authorities and the court has no business regarding that. I am ready to purchase or pay rent for the flat I stay during my visit in Kolkata," Karnan told THE WEEK. Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharjee, who retired on last Monday, was not available for comment. Justice Karnan was sentenced to six months jail last year following his attacks on the judges of Madras High Court and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdicts on two key issues on Thursday. While one will decide the course of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, the other verdict will determine the constitutional validity of the penal law on adultery. The Ayodhya case up for verdict on Thursday is on a batch of pleas by Muslim groups on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute seeking reconsideration by a larger bench, the observations made by it in a 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer, which had reserved it on July 20, will pronounce the verdict. M. Siddiq, one of the original litigants of the Ayodhya case who has died and is being represented through his legal heir, had assailed certain findings of the 1994 verdict in the case of M. Ismail Faruqui holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers of Islam. It was argued by the Muslim groups before a special bench of CJI Misra and Justices Bhushan and Nazeer that the "sweeping" observation of the apex court in the verdict needed to be reconsidered by a five-judge bench as "it had and will have a bearing" on the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case. Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for legal representative of Siddiq, had said that the observation that mosques were not essential for practising Islam were made by the apex court without any enquiry or considering the religious texts. The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier told the top court that some Muslim groups were trying to delay the hearing in the "long-pending" Ayodhya temple-mosque land dispute case by seeking reconsideration of the observation in the 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam. Adultery case The verdict on the adultery case will be delivered by a five-judge constitution bench headed by CJI Misra that had on August 8 reserved its verdict after Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, concluded her arguments. The hearing in the case by the bench, which also comprised justices R.F. Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, went on for six days and had commenced on August 1. The Centre had favoured retention of penal law on adultery, saying that it is a public wrong which causes mental and physical injury to the spouse, children and the family. "It is an action willingly and knowingly done with the knowledge that it would hurt the spouse, the children and the family. Such intentional action which impinges on the sanctity of marriage and sexual fidelity encompassed in marriage, which forms the backbone of the Indian society, has been classified and defined by the Indian State as a criminal offence in exercise of its Constitution powers," the Centre had said. Section 497 of the 158-year-old Indian Penal Code says: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery." On January 5, the apex court had referred to a five-judge Constitution bench the plea challenging the validity of the penal law on adultery. The court had taken a prima facie view that though the criminal law proceeded on "gender neutrality", the concept was absent in Section 497. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of trying to interfere in the US congressional elections to be held in November. He claimed that Beijing was interfering because it did not want his Republican Party to do well. China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election, coming up in November. Against my administration, Trump told a UN Security Council meeting. The subject of the meeting was non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. When he was asked for proof, the president cited a Chinese-funded newspaper advertisement in Iowa. The advertisement was funded by the Chinese government and lobbied against his trade policies. Meanwhile, Trump's administration was taken by surprise by the statement and were left scampering for more evidence to support his claims. They instead pointed towards Chinese government's suppression of domestic dissent. "China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. That's because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over!" the US President said on his official Twitter. The Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi rejected what he described as unwarranted accusations against Beijing. China has all along followed the principle of non-interference, Wang said. We did not and will not interfere in any countrys domestic affairs. We refuse to accept any unwarranted accusations against China. China is actually placing propaganda ads in the Des Moines Register and other papers, made to look like news. Thats because we are beating them on Trade, opening markets, and the farmers will make a fortune when this is over! pic.twitter.com/ppdvTX7oz1 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018 Chinas state-controlled media was more direct, saying if the country had been successful in influencing elections, the US would not have slapped billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods, The Guardian reported. If their presidential seat can be determined by outside forces, then other countries wouldnt have to deal with US suppression or sanctions, said an editorial in the Global Times, a tabloid affiliated with the Communist party mouthpiece Peoples Daily. Judging from the recent hardline reactions toward China, it is unlikely that congressional leaders and the president have been turned into puppets by international hackers or businessmen. New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) Railways has formed joint venture companies with 12 states with equity participation of 49:51 respectively for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects in the country, a senior official of the ministry said Thursday. The first such project under this model was approved by the Cabinet on September 26 in Chhattisgarh where a new broad gauge electrified line of 294.53 route km from Katghora to Dongargarh will provide rail connectivity to unserved areas of the state. "We have started this model with share of 51 per cent for the state and 49 per cent for us. We have formed such companies with 12 states. In this we make the JV and then we tell the states to choose the line. After we are convinced, we decide to go ahead. "If the line is profitable, we take a loan through a special purpose vehicle. Railways will spend only Rs 350 crore out of the total Rs 5950.47 crore. The state will pay Rs 365 crore. There are coal companies which will get benefited that are also part of this. So over all 25 per cent of the cost is through equity and 75 per cent is through loans. We will repay the loan in 20 years," said Mahesh Gupta, Member, Engineering, Railway Board. While the line in Chhattisgarh is primarily for goods trains, two pairs of passenger trains are being envisaged for the state as well. The JVs for other states could be for both passenger or goods trains depending on the needs of the state government. "In this model, the onus is on the state government to determine which line will be beneficial for them in terms of profit. If they propose a profitable line, we are happy to work with them. "This is the model which would mean that the state governments and railways will together share the profits and bear the losses, if any," said Gupta. While Maharashtra is likely to be the second state to get the nod for a proposed line, the other states with JVs are Assam, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha. PTI ASG RT Guwahati, Sept 27 (PTI) Director Rima Das, whose film "Village Rockstars" is India's official entry to 2019 Academy Awards, Thursday said will she seek help from the government to promote her movie for the international competition. The filmmaker, who hails from Assam, said the team needs "at least Rs 3 crore" to campaign for the Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars. "The jury has selected my film for the Oscars and I hope they will come forward to help us with necessary fund to campaign for the film at the competitive level. There was a need of at least Rs 3 crore to campaign at the Oscars and to ensure that it makes it to the final nomination for the award," Das told reporters here. "The government and the film fraternity are aware about the journey of the film and also that it is independently made with me as the producer... We will be grateful if we get the final nomination, though the competition is tough. I have realistic dreams and the journey of the film so far has been stupendous," she added. Das thanked Assam government for contributing Rs 50 lakh for the promotion, but said the amount was "not enough". She hopes other government agencies would support the movie, which won 2018's National Film Award for Best Feature Film. On September 22, when the Film Federation of India (FFI) named "Village Rockstars" as the country's official entry to the Oscars, many from the film fraternity offered their support, the filmmaker said. "I am overwhelmed by the response and for me, this is equivalent to receiving the Oscar," she added. Set in Das' village Chayagaon, the film, starring Bhanita Das in the lead role, had its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has toured more than 70 prestigious international and national film festivals. The coming-of-age film also had scored wins in Best Child Artist, Best Location Sound Recordist and Best Editing categories at the 65th National Film Awards. PTI DG RG RDS RDS New York, Sep 27 (PTI) The US and India have formed an alliance comprising leading experts in public and private sectors to combat the menace of tuberculosis, an American official said. US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator Mark Green announced the formation of 'USAID-India End TB Alliance' at an event in New York in presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda. Green said the experts in the alliance will offer innovative approaches to combat tuberculosis in India. Alliance members include industry and civil society leaders, academics, scientists, innovators, investors, and members of the diaspora. Two alliance members - Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of the World Health Organisation, and Blessina Kumar from the Global Coalition of TB Activists - were present during the announcement. India accounts for 27 per cent of the world's TB cases, with 421,000 deaths per year, Green said. That's one person dying every minute, he added. Referring to his visit to India in November, he said he met with a group of TB survivors and their families and learnt about the barriers to testing and treatment they face. "I was especially moved by those who were initially deterred from seeking treatment because of stigma but persevered, and now those same people, mostly women, are working as patient advocates, supporting others who are also struggling with stigma," Green said. "A major reason for hope in India is that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has made an ambitious, but determined commitment to achieve a TB-free India by 2025," he said. USAID is making an initial USD 30 million commitment, subject to the approval of the US Congress, Green said. PTI LKJ ABH ABH New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) Following are the top foreign stories at 2000 hours: FGN10 INDIA-PAK-LD OIC Pak raising Kashmir issue at OIC 'unwarranted': India New York: India has raised objections over Pakistan raking up the Kashmir issue at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, saying it is completely "unwarranted" for the grouping as well as its member countries to discuss matters related to India's internal affairs in any multilateral set up. By Yoshita Singh FGN20 MALDIVES-MODI-LD INVITATION Maldives' president-elect Solih invites Modi in swearing-in ceremony Male: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of the Maldives' President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in November, according to a Maldives media report Thursday. FGN6 UN-PM-CLIMATE-AWARD PM Modi, French Prez Macron get UN's highest environmental honour United Nations:Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have been jointly awarded the UNs highest environmental honour for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of cooperation on environmental action.By Yoshita Singh. FGN12 PAK-BUFFALOES-AUCTION Cash-starved Imran govt auctions 8 buffaloes kept by Sharif at PM House Islamabad:The cash-strapped government of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday garnered Rs 23 lakh when it auctioned eight buffaloes kept by his predecessor Nawaz Sharif at the PM House for his "gastronomic requirements". FGN18 CHINA-NEPAL-ARMY Counter terrorism, focus of military drills with Nepal army: Chinese military Beijing: The Chinese military said Thursday that the focus of its 12-day military drill with the Nepali Army is to jointly combat international terrorism.By K J M Varma FGN15 UNGA-TB-NADDA Need to forge new partnerships to eliminate tuberculosis: Nadda New York: Chronic under-funding of tuberculosis research is one of the key reasons why the disease still remains a challenge, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said Thursday while stressing the need to forge new partnerships to eliminate the disease. FGN2 SWARAJ-ANTIGUA-CHOKSI Antigua assures full cooperation in Choksi's extradition New York: The Antigua government has assured India of its full cooperation in the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, allegedly involved in the USD 2 billion scam in the Punjab National Bank, and conveyed its commitment to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, a senior official said Thursday. FGN14 KAVANAUGH-NEW ACCUSER Kavanaugh case: Fourth accuser comes forward, says has 4 people to corroborate sexual assault claims Washington: Hours before Christine Blasey Ford is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school, a fourth woman has come forward to the panel, according to a media report. FGN7 KAVANAUGH-ACCUSER-TESTIMONY Sharing incident of assault by man being considered for SC judge my 'civic duty': Kavanaugh accuser Washington: The woman who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault said the incident drastically altered her life and she felt it was her "civic duty" to share her story about what happened to her 36 years ago at the hands of the man nominated by President Donald Trump as the Supreme Court judge.By Lalit K Jha FGN5 SWARAJ-UN-CLIMATE India willing to take lead in combating climate change: Sushma Swaraj United Nations: India is willing to take the lead in combating climate change as it poses significant developmental challenges, especially for developing countries, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has told a high-level UN meeting on the issue.By Yoshita Singh FGN3 SWARAJ-IRAN Swaraj meets her Iranian counterpart, discusses US sanctions New York: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held talks with her Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif and discussed bilateral issues, including the US' sanctions against the major crude exporter which are set to be implemented in November. By Yoshita Singh FGN1 US-H4 VISA 2 US senators seek preservation of employment authorisation for immigrant women on H-4 visas Washington: Two powerful Democratic women senators have urged the Trump administration not to go ahead with its decision to revoke authorisation to immigrants on H-4 visas, a majority of who are Indian-Americans, as doing so would impact about 100,000 women. By Lalit K Jha FGN17 US-TRUMP-LD LAUGHTER World leaders laughing at me during UNGA address 'fake news': Trump New York: Dismissing as "fake news" the reports that world leaders were laughing at him during his speech to a session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), US President Donald Trump asserted that the delegates were not laughing at him but "laughing with me".By Yoshita Singh RUP RUP Kolkata, Sep 27 (PTI) Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said his party will urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring a bill in Parliament for reservation in promotions for SCs and STs. His remarks come a day after the Supreme Court paved the way for grant of quota for promotions in government jobs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, holding that the states were not required to "collect quantifiable data" reflecting the backwardness among these communities. "..as the leader of Republican Party of India (Athawale) I will ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce a bill in Parliament to enact a law for reservation in promotions," Athawale told PTI. "There can be no alternative to reservation in promotions..The state governments alone should not decide on the issue and the government of India must pass a bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," he said. He blamed the evil of casteism for atrocities against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. "Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest number of atrocities against Dalits followed by Rajasthan and Bihar. But it is not a question of which government is at the helm in a particular state. Atrocities will end when there will be no casteism, when there will be no division among communities and when the mindset of people will change," the minister of state for social justice and empowerment said. The three states are strictly enforcing the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, to check crimes against the weaker sections, he added. Athawale said the atrocities against Dalits were low in West Bengal. Asked about incidents of lynching of Muslims and other backward communities in the country in the past few years, he said, "I acknowledge there have been incidents of lynching of members of minority communities and that is not a good thing. But you must note that in each and every incident, a strong decision was taken and the attackers have been arrested". He also urged Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ensure that members of the Matua sect, a backward community of migrant Hindus from Bangladesh, with bonafide documents be granted citizenship. The minister interacted with members of the Matua sect in North 24 Parganas district earlier on Thursday. Asked about the demand for an exercise in West Bengal on the lines of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC), he said people who were forced to flee from Bangladesh should not be victimised. "As far as my knowledge goes, the NRC exercise has been carried out in Assam and the situation may not be the same in West Bengal. I think common backward caste people, who were forced to flee from Bangladesh in 1971 or earlier, should not be victimised," Athawale said. He also said the three per cent reservation for the differently-abled people should be increased to four per cent and that they should be granted five per cent reservation in the education sector. PTI SUS SNS DIV DIV New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) A guarded Congress on Thursday stressed that all sides should abide by the Supreme Court judgement on the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid issue, as the apex court paved the way for hearing the main title suit after setting aside a plea to set up a larger bench to relook a 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam". The opposition party also hit out at the BJP, accusing it of conspiring to mislead and befool the people of the country on the Ram temple issue. Congress leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said while the BJP garners votes in the name of Ram Temple, it sends Lord Ram to exile the moment it comes to power. She questioned the BJP for not doing anything on the Ram Temple issue despite being in power and continuing to garner votes in the name of Lord Ram. The Congress leader also accused the BJP of trying to mislead people on Rahul Gandhi's spiritual quest while undertaking the Mansarovar yatra earlier and now Chitrakoot yatra in Madhya Pradesh. "The Congress has always said that whatever the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of Ram Temple-Babri Masjid, all sides should abide by it and the government should implement it. "Unfortunately, for the last 30 years after 1992, the BJP has been conspiring to mislead and befool the people of the country on the Ram Temple issue. BJP is a party which is double-faced on Ram and has "Nathuram" in their hearts," she said, referring to the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi . Chaturvedi said after 1999, the BJP governments have ruled for over nine years. "In every election, to garner votes they remember Lord Ram and after coming to power they send him to exile. This double-speak of the BJP is its real face," she alleged. The Congress leader accused the BJP of questioning the devotion that one has for Lord Shiva, saying it raised objections on Rahul Gandhi's Kedarnath yatra. They have also raised a hue and cry on Gandhi's Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. "Now when Rahul Gandhi is undertaking the Chitrakoot yatra, BJP people are worried and tense. They should understand that if they create hurdles in the devotion of God, they will be committing a sin as per ancient saying. I can only pray that may Lord grant you good sense," she said. The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to set up a larger bench for a relook of its 1994 verdict which held a "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam" paving the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit from October 29. Ruling that the earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition" during the hearing of the Ayodhya case, the top court in a 2-1 verdict made it clear it was not relevant for deciding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, whose outcome will be eagerly awaited ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. PTI SKC RT Chandigarh, Sep 27 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan Thursday hit out at the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, saying the civic body had "acted in haste" and was "ill-prepared" when taking over waste collection duties from private players in the city. In a letter addressed to Punjab governor and Chandigarh's Administrator V P Singh Badnore, the former union minister said, "Fifteen days ago, the municipal corporation in haste and without preparation decided to take over the responsibility of door-to-door garbage collection. Following this decision, about 3,000 door-to-door garbage collectors have gone on an indefinite strike. Heaps of garbage are lying on the side of roads and in greenbelts. There is a stink all around. The corporation has miserably failed to lift garbage from the various sectors in Chandigarh." In the last two weeks, garbage collection has been hit in Chandigarh. The waste collectors' indefinite protest reportedly started when the municipal corporation decided to take over garbage collection duties from private players. Complains have been pouring in to government offices from different parts of the city regarding corporation vehicles not collecting waste from the houses. It may be noted that BJP has majority in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. In his letter, Dhawan requested the administrator to intervene and end the "stalemate" between the corporation and the door-to-door garbage collectors. He recalled that about 16 months ago on June 5, 2017, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher "distributed waste paper baskets without lids as garbage bins under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. No one used these bins which was a total waste." "At that time the administration had said wet and dry garbage will be segregated, recycled and brought to use. The municipal corporation since then did not take any concrete steps to make the public aware and educate them about the segregation of waste," he claimed. Dhawan alleged that the municipal corporation has failed on all fronts and "even the high court has many a times reprimanded the officials for their negligence to control the menace of stray dogs, parking, cleaning of public toilets, etc." "Sir, I request you to intervene to end this stalemate so that the door-to-door garbage collectors are back to their normal work and the residents are relived of the difficulties they are facing," he concluded in the letter. PTI SUN PTI IND New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Friday its verdict on a clutch of pleas challenging the ban on entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had reserved its judgement on August 1 after hearing the matter for eight days. The bench, which also comprised Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, had earlier said that the constitutional scheme prohibiting exclusion has "some value" in a "vibrant democracy". The top court's verdict would deal with the petitions filed by petitioners Indian Young Lawyers Association and others. The Kerala government, which has been changing its stand on the contentious issue of women of the menstrual age group entering the Sabarimala temple, had on July 18 told the Supreme Court that it now favoured their entry. The apex court had on October 13 last year referred the issue to a constitution bench after framing five "significant" questions including whether the practice of banning entry of women into the temple amounted to discrimination and violated their fundamental rights under the Constitution. PTI PKS ABA MNL SJK RKS ARC It is for clergy to decide on essential feature of religion: Owaisi Hyderabad, Sept 27 (PTI) AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi Thursday said it would have been better had the Supreme Court referred the issue of whether mosque was an integral part of Islam to a Constitution bench. Responding to questions from reporters on the apex court's verdict on the Ayodhya land case, he, however, said the judiciary cannot and should not decide what is an essential feature of a religion and it is for the clergy of the religion to decide. The apex court Thursday declined to refer to a larger bench the "questionable observation" in its 1994 verdict that "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam". In a majority verdict of 2:1, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the civil suit has to be decided on the basis of evidence, adding that the previous verdict has no relevance to this issue. Owaisi said it was a matter of national importance. "The fact is that Masjid is an essential feature of Islam. As a Muslim I am telling Masjid is an essential feature of Islam. It is mentioned in Quran... What surprises me is that when it came to 'triple talaq' the Quarnic verses were mentioned but now when the matter of Masjid came those Quranic verses are being completely forgotten, he said. The Hyderabad MP also sought to know if Masjid was not an essential feature of Islam, what about other religious places. "Are they essential feature? Because I am of the opinion that judiciary cannot decide what is essential feature of a religion.I submit respectfully that it is for religious clergy to decide what is an essential feature of a religion. Unfortunately the judiciary has decided this and I respectfully submitted my opinion," he said Reacting to another query, Owaisi said the Supreme Court itself has said that its decision would not have an impact on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute. The court has rightfully said and reminded that it is a title suit, he said. Owaisi further said the 2019 Parliament elections have a definite connection with high petrol and diesel prices, unemployment of youth and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failure to provide jobs. He also alleged "RSS and BJP they don't want people of India especially youth to decide who to vote for but (want to) bring back emotive issues so that polarisation can happen. PTI VVK VS VS Chandigarh, Sep 27 (PTI) Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has demanded the state government give a special package to farmers whose crops were damaged due to heavy rains in the last few days. Hooda said paddy, bajra and cotton crop were damaged due to heavy rains which lashed the state between September 22 and 24. "Ordering special 'girdwari' (revenue survey to assess crop damage) alone will not help. The government must give special package to the farmers who have suffered crop damage and compensate them with at least Rs 20,000 per acre," Hooda, who visited the affected areas in Hisar and Fatehabad districts, told reporters here on Thursday. He said that the condition that farmers must submit their claims under the crop insurance scheme within 48 hours should be relaxed and more time be given to them. "Farmers have said that they have to submit their claims within 48 hours under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna. Time constraint of two or three days should not be there. A farmer who has suffered extensive damage to his crops cannot be expected to file claims immediately," he said. He said there are reports that thousands of farmers have to spend several hours in queues to submit their claims for compensation under the crop insurance scheme. Hooda also said that the government must clear outstanding dues of sugarcane farmers. Hitting out at the BJP government in the state, he said employees of various departments are forced to protest on roads over their demands, but the government was not bothered to listen to them. On rising fuel prices, Hooda said if the state government wants to give some relief to the people then it must lower VAT rate on petrol and diesel prices. On Rafale deal issue, Hooda said "if the central government has nothing to hide, then why is it hesitating from forming a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the issue". PTI SUN DPB New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal Thursday directed Delhi Police not to place barriers on the city's roads without staff manning them. The lieutenant governor also directed that reflective tapes should be placed on barriers to avoid freak accidents. It came months after a 21-year-old man riding a motorcycle had died in a freak accident after his neck got stuck between a chain used to tie two police barricades in northwest Delhi's Subhash Place. The directions were issued at a meeting on law and order issue, which was attended by Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Parida, Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and other senior officers. "Lt. Governor directed that barriers should not be placed on roads without staff manning them and also reflective tapes should be placed on barriers," the L-G's office said in a statement. It stated that the L-G also asked police for monitoring of private security agencies. He urged that performance audit of these security agencies should be undertaken on priority basis. PTI BUN SMN Sayonara: Shepherd has ended its contract with Japanese beer Asahi BEER CHEER Britains oldest pub company Shepherd Neame unveiled a profit boost after ending a contract with Japanese beer Asahi. Profits jumped 5.4 per cent to 11.8million in the year to June 30 as revenues came in flat at 156.6million. MERGER TALK Ailing German lender Deutsche Bank has reportedly mulled a merger with Swiss rival UBS, and a deal with domestic competitor Commerzbank. RETAIL SETBACK Fashion chain River Island has suffered a downturn in sales and profits as shoppers shun high streets for online spending. Sales at the retailer declined 2.3 per cent to 901.9million last year. Profits slumped almost a third to 74.6million. HEAVY LOSSES Supermarket Whole Foods lost 8.6million in the UK last year after Silicon Valley giant Amazon bought it for more than 10billion. Heavy losses at the UK division from September 26 to December 31 were in contrast to a 1.2million profit a year earlier. British sales shot up 26.6 per cent to 148.5million. ROGUE WAITS Rogue trader Kweku Adoboli must remain in custody, awaiting the outcome of a bid to block deportation to Ghana. The former UBS banker, 38, was jailed for seven years after losing 1.8billion on illicit trades. He was last week granted a judicial review of the decision to deport him to the country he left at the age of four. FUEL FUTURE Renewable fuels business Velocys, developing plans to turn waste into jet fuel for British Airways, said it has made excellent progress with plans including developing refineries in the US to produce fuels from biomass. HURRICANE DAMAGE Chemicals business Elementis has had to stop production at a plant in North Carolina, US, due to flooding caused by Hurricane Florence. SALES BOOM Travel food retailer SSP Group, which runs food and drink outlets in airports and train stations, said sales are likely to grow between 2 per cent and 3 per cent this year. AIR ROLE ITV Studios international boss Maria Kyriacou has been appointed to the Wizz Air board. TURNOVER BOOST Argentina-focused oil and gas business President Energy says half-year turnover almost quadrupled to 16million. LONDON CALLING Stockbroker TP Icap is opening a new HQ in Bishopsgate in the City of London. Lloyds allegedly ignored a request by investigators to speak to a staff member Lloyds blocked police efforts to interview a whistleblower over a massive bank fraud, it is claimed. The lender allegedly ignored a request by investigators to speak to Lloyds staff member Sally Masterton, author of a bombshell report about criminal bankers who were later sent to prison. Masterton, who had assisted the police in 2013, was instead forced out of the bank and it is not thought further interviews went ahead. It is the latest twist in a scandal over the Reading branch of HBOS, which was bought by Lloyds during the financial crisis. A gang of corrupt staff there deliberately wrecked small businesses to seize their assets, and spent the proceeds on prostitutes, holidays and luxury goods. Masterton wrote a detailed study of what had happened, alleging there had been a cover-up. In an email from July 2013, Detective Inspector Tim Hurley asked the bank for access to Masterton. But she is not thought to have had any meetings with the police after the email was sent, and eventually left Lloyds after signing a gagging agreement. Lloyds said a copy of Masterton's report had been provided to the police in 2014. It has commissioned retired High Court judge Dame Linda Dobbs to get to the bottom of what happened. A spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group said: 'The Board received updates on issues related to HBOS Reading throughout the FCA and TVP investigations which commenced in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Following the conclusion of the criminal trial in 2017 the Board appointed Dame Linda Dobbs, a retired High Court judge, to consider whether these issues were investigated and appropriately reported to the authorities at the time by Lloyds Banking Group, following its acquisition of HBOS in 2009. We continue to deeply regret and apologise for the distress caused to approximately 70 HBOS business customers affected by the criminal actions by two former employees at the HBOS Reading Impaired Assets office. We have now made offers to more than 90% of these customers, with more than 85% of these offers accepted. The 'Turnbull Report', which was provided to the FCA and the police in 2014 to support their investigations, has also been provided to Dame Linda Dobbs. Dame Linda will consider the report as part of her wider, independent review. Dame Linda's review is the appropriate forum for considering matters in relation to the Turnbull Report together with any investigation or enquiry by the FCA.' The sacked former boss of the AA has launched an extraordinary attack on the current management after 100million was wiped off the companys value following a profit slump. Bob Mackenzie, 65, who was kicked out last year for gross misconduct after allegedly punching a colleague, is suing his ex-employer for 225million. He, and the AAs previous private equity owners were blamed by new chief Simon Breakwell, left, for the poor performance. AA profits fell 65 per cent in the first half compared with a year earlier, dropping to 28m from 80m, while breakdowns rose 8 per cent But ousted Mackenzie, right, blasted back: The AA results announced today are truly dreadful. The company appears to be in chaos, reflecting a management team who seem to have no plan for fixing the core business. The AA said profits had taken a hit because it ploughed money into new IT systems, call-centre staff and breakdown patrols needed to help manage higher levels of calls. Its profits fell 65 per cent in the first half compared with a year earlier, dropping to 28million from 80million, while breakdowns rose 8 per cent. AA shares yesterday fell 13.7 per cent, or 16.35p, to 103.15p. Asked why more patrols and other investment had not been sorted out sooner, Breakwell, 53, said: Unfortunately the previous chief executive [Mackenzie] isnt here to answer that. Blame game: Former AA boss Bob Mackenzie, left, and AA's previous private equity owners were blamed by new chief Simon Breakwell, right, for the firm's poor performance Under the old regime, he said, there had been too much focus put on short-term profitability and not enough on investing and delivering top class service. The AA was owned by CVC, Permira and Charterhouse before floating on the London Stock Exchange in 2014. The breakdown and insurance company said the profits dip was also due to an extra-cold winter and boiling hot summer, which created a pothole epidemic on Britains roads. The AA has so far spent 1million fighting a legal claim from Mackenzie who wants up to 225million, the potential value of share awards he amassed before his sacking. No cash has been set aside to cover costs as the firm expects to win the case, as well as recover its 1million outlay. Mackenzie has blamed stress and exhaustion for an outburst in which he punched insurance chief Mike Lloyd, 38, in the wood-panelled bar of the five-star Pennyhill Park Hotel, Surrey, after a day of strategy meetings last summer. He alleges there was no proper investigation and claims the AA dismissed and belittled his mental health to justify his dismissal. He told the Daily Mail last year: I still feel deeply embarrassed and ashamed by the incident. Its been devastating, not only for me, but for my wife Jane, who is mortified, and the whole family. I have very little recollection of what happened. Despite the fall in half-year profits, the AA said it is on track to meet profit guidance for the year. Investors have 30 days left to vote on a controversial plan from Unilever that would mean the consumer goods giant leaves the FTSE 100 index. Battle lines are being drawn in the knife-edge poll due on October 26 on its proposals to axe its legal headquarters in London and base itself solely in the Netherlands. Many investors are furious because the plans would see Unilever, whose brands include Marmite, Dove and PG Tips, kicked out of the FTSE 100. This would force some big City investors to sell their holdings. UN jolly: Polman, left, with Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria boss Bola Adesola, former Shell chairman Sir Mark Moody-Stuart and Lise Kingo, chief exec of United Nations Global Impact Smaller shareholders are being urged to act as, unusually, they have as much weight in the vote as big City institutional funds. Cliff Weight of lobby group Sharesoc, criticised top management for failing to defuse the row. He said: 'Investors expect boards to anticipate these issues. Riding roughshod over UK shareholders is unacceptable. It is unacceptable and poor corporate governance.' Big City funds such as Aviva, Lindsell Train and Columbia Threadneedle have spoken out against the plans. Others, including Legal and General and Blackrock, have not declared a view. Private investors can scupper Unilever's plan to shift its HQ to Rotterdam because it needs a majority of voting shareholders to approve, regardless of how large or small their holding. This means a single investor with a handful of shares has as much power as a large institution. The plans also require the backing of investors holding 75 per cent of Unilever shares voting for the change to pass. Unilever's finance boss Graeme Pitkethly took to national radio to defend the plan on Tuesday and chairman Marijn Dekkers wrote a newspaper article. The company this week took out full-page adverts in newspapers, including the Daily Mail, to ask shareholders for support, with the message: 'The proposal is all about positioning shareholders for continued growth.' Meanwhile, chief executive Paul Polman, who drew up the plans, has been in New York this week attending a United Nations summit on social responsibility for businesses. While he was there, the UN Global Compact tweeted a picture of him next to Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria chief executive Bola Adesola, former Shell chairman Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, and Lise Kingo, the chief executive of UN Global Compact. It is understood the policy advisory board to FTSE Russell, which runs the FTSE 100, assembled yesterday for a regular quarterly meeting. Unilever has said it has engaged extensively with FTSE Russell over being delisted from the index. Cartier Resources Inc. engages in the acquisition and exploration of mining properties in Canada. The company explores for gold deposits. Its flagship project is the Chimo mine property located to the east of Val-d'Or, Quebec. The company also holds interest in Benoist, Fenton, Wilson, Cadillac Extension, Dollier, and MacCormack metal deposit projects, which are located in Quebec. Cartier Resources Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Val-d'Or, Canada. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.: 2235158 Alberta Limited, A.J. 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Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial. Saga plc provides general insurance, package and cruise holidays, and personal finance products and services in the United Kingdom. The company operates in three segments: Insurance, Travel, and Other Businesses and Central Costs. It offers car, home, health, travel, landlord, boat, motorhome, caravan, pet, and personal accident, breakdown cover, building, content, renter, holiday, and holiday home insurance. The company also operates and delivers package tours and cruise holiday products; and provides equity release and care funding advice, savings accounts, credit cards, and wealth management services, as well as shares ISA and share dealing services. In addition, it offers mailing house services; retirement benefit schemes; and publishes Saga Magazine, as well as repairs automotive vehicles. The company was formerly known as Saga Limited and changed its name to Saga plc in May 2014. Saga plc was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Folkestone, the United Kingdom. Read More (CNN) U.S. President Donald Trump was "ranting and venting on trade" to French President Emmanuel Macron during their bilateral meeting Monday evening, according to a senior diplomatic source. Trump lambasted the European Union for its trade policies, saying it was worse than China -- a complaint that the U.S. president made to his French counterpart in an April meeting at the White House. The source described Trump as "going off" on EU trade during his meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Trump said that the EU had to open up on agriculture -- a continued point of contention in trade negotiations between the two entities. Macron was respectful to Trump and pushed back some on the topic but moved the conversation forward, the source said. There was "some rapport" between the two, "but it's not what it (once) was," the source said. Trump and Macron also talked about Iran and North Korea, during which Trump expressed his views in what the source described as "very predictable terms." The next day, Macron delivered a pointed rebuke to Trump in his speech at the UN General Assembly, both directly and implicitly criticizing the administration for its policies on Iran, climate change, the UN, migration and Mideast peace. On trade, Macron declared, "bilateral agreements, new protectionisms, will not work." It was not the first time that Trump had tussled on trade during a meeting with a European counterpart. In discussions in April, Trump accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of being "so protectionist" in her trade policies, and again raised the issue of German automobiles flooding into the United States. This story was first published on CNN.com, 'Trump 'went off' on French president during face-to-face meeting." On Sunday, a Santa Rosa Apple store was robbed for the second time in less than one month. That same day, a group of thieves made off with more than $50,000 in merchandise at a Palo Alto Apple store. The store was also robbed of $57,000 in iPhones, computers and other electronics the day before. UPDATE: 17 arrested, charged in $1 million Apple store robbery ring, CA officials say These mob-style robberies have occurred at least nine times at six Bay Area Apple stores over the span of a month, from late August to late September. In that time, thieves have pilfered at least $281,000 worth of iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices. Few arrests have been made. Though the tactics are similar, police have yet to conclude that the same suspects are responsible for the recent string of thefts. The operation usually goes something like this: A handful of hooded individuals storm an Apple store. They unplug and gather as much merchandise as they can in a few seconds, then run to a getaway vehicle idling out front as customers and security guards look on. Since mid-May there have been at least 21 run-and-grab thefts at Apple stores in California, with losses exceeding $850,000 since the start of the year, KGO reported. The bright open floor plan and wide entryways of Apple stores, which are designed to entice potential customers, may tempt thieves to steal with the promise of few obstacles. Likewise, many offenders seem to be aware of the "hands-off" policy for store security. Apple has remained mum on the subject of store thefts in recent months. A representative of the company declined to provide comment for this article. Nonetheless, experts have long speculated about the company's store security plan. Matthew Green, an associate professor of information security at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, told The Chronicle earlier this month that Apple likely makes it difficult to use stolen demo products. The company controls the activation process required to make the products work, he said, and could ostensibly track down stolen gear. The blog 9to5Mac said devices contain a software "kill switch" that disables the demo gadgets as soon as they leave the range of the store wi-fi. Apple has not confirmed these rumors. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Even if the phones are disabled, they could be dismantled for their parts or used without cellular service, Neil Broom, the owner of Technical Resource Center, a computer forensics firm in Huntington Beach, told The Chronicle. The display phones, Broom said, are only demonstrations of the devices' capabilities. A possible deterrent to thieves may be the presence of uniformed officers, San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tony Montoya told KGO. Though Apple stores have been targeted from the North Bay to the South Bay, San Francisco stores, which have uniformed officers onsite, have not been recently hit. Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com. Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news. Ulta Beauty, a beauty chain similar to Sephora, is coming to North Greenbush. The store, which carries cosmetics and skincare brands, men's and women's fragrances and haircare products, according to their website, is coming to Van Rensselaer Square in North Greenbush later this year. Each store is also equipped with a salon. Like an Old World court composer and poet laureate, Max Lifchitz and Leonard Slade have recently completed new artistic works in honor of the institution that has long given them employ. The occasion is the 25th anniversary of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University at Albany. Lifchitz's new composition and Slade's new poems will be part of a celebratory concert taking place on Friday afternoon at the Performing Arts Center on the uptown campus. The composer and poet worked independently and yet the result of their respective efforts will be presented together as an integration of words and music honoring the traditions of education and the arts. How it came together is that Slade offered a set of four poems, two of them newly written for the occasion. Lifchitz, in turn, took inspiration from the verses to fashion a new piano trio "Song of Ourselves," borrowing the title from one of Slade's poems. The piece of music will be performed by the Capital Trio with Slade reading his poems in the breaks between the five movements. "In talking about the celebration, I thought it might be nice to collaborate with someone from another department," says Lifchitz. The Capital Trio is led by pianist Duncan Cumming, another UAlbany faculty member. He will be heard as soloist in Lifchitz's opening movement, which the composer describes as a brief kind of fanfare to get things rolling. That's followed by "The Educator," a movement for the full complement of violin-cello-piano that utilizes one of the oldest melodies in Western music. Known as the Skeikilos epitaph, it was found engraved on a tombstone and transcribed with the Greek alphabet rather than modern music notation. Besides being a pleasant tune, it makes for a nice allusion to the earliest forebears in the field of teaching. "I tell my students we should start with Plato and the Greek republic, where every citizen was a good musician and able to sing," says Lifchitz. The next movement also has a musical quotation, the tune of "In the Sweet Bye and Bye." Lifchitz believes it's the first time he's quoted a spiritual, though he's never been shy about borrowing good material now and then. "Ever since the '60s and '70s, the use of quotation has been quite popular," he says. "In this piece because of the poems, I gravitated toward something religious." After an Elegy for solo cello, the trio concludes with a summing up of the themes and ideas from the preceding sections. That finale includes a sly presentation of the UAlbany alma mater. It's a traditional sounding alma mater if ever there was one (a singable march-like melody in 4/4 time) and according to Lifchitz it dates back to the institution's earliest days as a teachers college. As is common practice, Lifchitz wrote up a program note that explains the circumstances and structure of his new piece. In this brief bit of prose he acknowledges the use of the ancient Greek tune and the spiritual, but he doesn't mention the alma mater. Perhaps he's wearing his teacher's hat here, leaving the tune unidentified as a test of the audience's attentiveness and awareness of university lore. This isn't the first time that Lifchitz has composed something for a special occasion at the university, where he's been a faculty member since 1986. He wrote a fanfare for brass and percussion for the 1996 inauguration of Karen Hitchcock as president Over the years, installations of some top officials have also prompted Slade to put pen to paper. A faculty member since 1988, Slade wrote odes honoring three university presidents Hitchcock, George M. Philip, and H. Patrick Swygert. "I enjoy writing poems celebrating individuals I admire," says Slade. "I did it for pleasure and that's what poems are supposed to do, add to our pleasures in life and aid our understanding of the deep experiences we're having." The four poems that Slade will read on Friday depict the ideals of education and the integrity of teachers ("The Educator"); the daily practices of a good life ("If Addendum"); and the contribution of those gone before ("Elegy"). Finally, there's a more specific tribute to the School of Arts and Sciences in the poem titled "Song of Ourselves." The last title plays on Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself." "Whitman said I celebrate myself and so we celebrate ourselves," says Slade. "I was trying to preserve in some simple form the spirit and impressions I've observed being here for 30 years." There will be much more on Friday's program in addition to the Lifchitz/Slade collaboration. Kyra Gaunt will sing "The Silver Aria" from Douglas Moore's opera "The Ballad of Baby Doe," which is about one man's struggle to put the U.S. on the silver standard rather than gold a clever choice for a silver anniversary program. Cumming will be joined by actor Kim Stauffer in Satie's charming "Sports et Divertissements." Also, John Cimino offers some of Dvorak's "Biblical Songs" and the Department of Drama gives selections from its new production of "Godspell," which opens Oct. 17. While we're on the topic of celebrations, round-numbered birthdays are always a big deal for composers and Lifchitz is turning 70 on Nov. 11. That night at Christ and St. Stephen's Church in Manhattan, his ensemble North South Consonance will perform a program of his music for string orchestra, with three pieces dating from just the last few years. Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy. From the West Coast to the Northeast and, beyond, in Europe, fall is a season to savor the transformation of leaves from shades of green to hues of red, gold, amber and yellow. While leaf peeping is undoubtedly a tried and true tourist activity, it doesn't have to be an expensive one: plenty of hotels around the United States and abroad have attractively-priced packages for travelers who want to experience the spectacular fall foliage. Package deals in the Shenandoah Valley Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, home to the Shenandoah National Park and about a 2-hour drive from Washington, is a prime mid-Atlantic destination for fall foliage. Two hotels in the town of Staunton, situated in the heart of the valley, are offering packages for visitors to the area. The recently renovated Stonewall Jackson Hotel, originally built in 1924, has a "Sweater Weather" promotion for October where guests receive a 30 percent discount off usual nightly rates. Bookings start at $149 a night. Blackburn Inn, which opened in May, is offering a "Our First Fall" promotion, which includes 15 percent off starting rates when booked 14 days in advance and a $15 daily food and beverage credit. Available from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30. Bookings start at $169 a night. Mountain views in New Hampshire Up north, in North Conway, New Hampshire, The White Mountain Hotel & Resort, in the heart of Mount Washington Valley and with views of mountain scenery that shows of the stunning New England foliage, has a "Fall Foliage Escape." The offer includes two nights of accommodations, breakfast and one dinner at the property's elegant Ledges Restaurant. Bookings from $148 a person. Coastal beauty in Maine Even further up the seaboard, Cliff House Maine, a coastal resort in Southern Maine, has a "Fall in Love with Fall in Maine" package. It includes accommodations, a map of the area's best fall foliage spots, a $200 credit to the on-site spa, two tickets for a local food tour, a bag of locally made maple candy and a blanket. Bookings start at $519 a night, and the promotion is valid from Sept. 22 to Nov. 30. Zip line through the leaves in Georgia A zip line ride through autumnal leaves? It's possible in the North Georgia mountains. Amicalola Falls State Park & Lodge has an "Elevate Your View" package that gives guests the chance to get an up close sight of the changing of the leaves by ziplining past them in Aerial Adventure Park. The package includes accommodations and a zip line tour in the park. Bookings start from $99 a person. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Food, wine and foliage in Michigan The prime season for Mackinac Island, in Michigan, may be summer, but visitors who come in the fall will get a feast of foliage as they hike on miles of trails as well as go on horseback and bike rides. Mission Point, an 18-acre lakefront property, has a two-night "Fall Foliage, Food & Wine" package that includes accommodations, a welcome amenity of a glass of wine per adult, breakfast, one dinner with a bottle of wine, a half- day rental of two bikes with a boxed lunch and a private horse and carriage ride. Bookings from $380 a night. Embracing "Gold Season" in Colorado Telluride, Colorado, might be known as a skiers getaway, but its so-called gold season in the fall is an ideal time to see the mountains transform into shades of deep gold and red. Travelers can experience the colors by riding the free gondola, going on a hike or booking a four-wheel drive tour. There are several options for accommodations in the area. Bookings at the Mountainside Inn, in the town of Telluride, for one, start at $119 a night. VisitTelluride.com has a range of additional options in the area. Cruise through the colors in Vancouver In the Pacific Northwest, American Queen Steamboat Co. has several five-day round-trip "Autumn in the Pacific Northwest" cruises from Vancouver, Wash., on the Columbia River. Onboard the American Empress, shore excursions include Astoria, Ore., where travelers can go on a scenic six-mile walk along the river and Dalles, Oregon, where the explorers Lewis and Clark camped at Rock Fort during their famous expedition. Tickets start from $599 a person, inclusive of shore tours in all ports, meals and wine and beer with dinner. Enjoy the fall foliage on the Emerald Isle Leaf peeping is an Irish tradition, too: Lough Eske Castle, in County Donegal in northwest Ireland, has a "Autumn Eskape Offer," which gives guests the opportunity to take in the abundance of fall hues in the surrounding countryside. The deal includes accommodations, an Irish breakfast, a 20-euro ($23) food credit per person, one alcoholic drink per adult and 30 percent off spa treatments. Bookings start from 179 euros a night. Conference focuses on Dutch colonial period ALBANY Those attending the New Netherland Institute's annual conference on Saturday viewed two film clips with colonial themes. A concept trailer produced by Christopher Conto of state Office of General Services Media Services is for the proposed film "Trouble at the North Gate," about the 1690 Schenectady massacre. The other film was on Penelope, a woman shipwrecked in New Netherland, directed by filmmaker Brian Clopp from California. The 41st annual conference at the State Museum had the theme "Conflict and Collaboration in the New World" and saw presentations on the digitization of New Netherland's documents by the State Archives and the Nationaal Archief, the national archives of the Netherlands. More than 110 people attended. Speakers were Jason Sellers of the University of Mary Washington, Shaun Sayres of Clark University, Amy Ransford of Indiana University, Danny Noorlander of SUNY Oneonta, Timo McGregor of New York University, Artyom Anikin of the University of Amsterdam, and Wim Klooster of Clark University. Topics ranged from Dutch-Native interactions to the gunpowder trade and the role of banishment in the colony. Ian Stewart of New Netherland Timber Framing and Preservation talked about common "Dutch" building practices in the Hudson Valley. Klooster received the Annual Hendricks Award for the best book or book-length manuscript relating to an aspect of New Netherland and the Dutch colonial experience in North America up to 1776. League of Women Voters book club meets Oct. 11 SARATOGA SPRINGS The League of Women Voters of Saratoga Non-Fiction Book Club will meet at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, at the Saratoga Springs Library. The book to be discussed is "Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America," by James Fallows and Deborah Fallows. Members of the public are invited to attend. Whitney Young honors health care advocates Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. TROY Whitney Young Health hosted its annual fundraiser Sept. 20 at Revolution Hall. The event celebrates health care changemakers in the community: people who help advance the center's mission of providing quality affordable care to medically underserved residents of the Capital Region. This year's Living the Legacy Award recipient was Virinchi R. Bala, M.D., whose dedication to serving his community and caring for his patients brought him to Whitney Young Health after years of practicing medicine around the world. Watervliet School Superintendent Dr. Lori Caplan received the Community Partner Award. Staff reports ALBANY Republican state comptroller candidate Jonathan Trichter, who is challenging Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli in November's election, said the incumbent has mishandled a contract for a new information technology system that has ballooned to more than $200 million. The project, initially bid at $132 million, funded by the state pension, is a "boondoggle," Trichter said, that has been plagued with missed deadlines and unnecessary cost overruns. The ongoing project is intended to be used to upgrade software and computer programming for the New York State and Local Pension System. "You can launch a satellite into space for less money than that," Trichter said, adding that the contract is not publicly available for review the way other state contracts are. "The reason is because this is off the state's balance sheet, it's off the budget," he said. "It's being funded entirely by the New York state pension fund itself, which has allowed the comptroller to obfuscate and hide the contract." A spokeswoman for DiNapoli's office referred comment to his campaign spokesman, Doug Forand. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. "Overhauling a 30-year-old technology system to better serve over a million members of the retirement system, divided into 335 separate pension plans over 6 tiers, is a complex process with shifting challenges," Forand said. "In the time since the project was first bid, cyber-security threats, among other issues, have become exponentially greater, demanding an expanded scope and a longer time frame. ... The project was competitively bid, the contract was amended to reflect the changes to the scope, and the project is on target with other similar projects of this size." Trichter said that "sources" within DiNapoli's office tipped him to the alleged problems and cost overruns associated with the project. He said the contractor, Accenture, has employees embedded in the state agency to assist with the project, which has dragged on for years. "I'm also calling for the comptroller to be more open about the contract, what it's flaws are, and (to) bring in an outside arbiter, perhaps an auditor or professional to come in and figure out whether or not the system is salvageable, "Trichter said. ALBANY The embattled president of SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse announced Thursday that she will step down at the end of the semester. "I have endeavored to lead this university with integrity, professionalism and innovation," university President Danielle Laraque-Arena said in a one-page statement that was issued to the university staff but did not include a reason for her abrupt departure. Laraque-Arena, who was appointed head of the school in September 2015, has been dogged by low staff morale and unrest among high-ranking members of the university's college and hospital services, who have privately raised questions about her qualifications. The departure comes after the Onondaga County District Attorney's office recently confirmed they had launched a broad grand jury investigation of Upstate Medical including hiring decisions, severance packages and construction projects. The office of state Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott is involved in the probe that's examining the inner workings of the sprawling university, which has been mired in scandal. In May, a top official at the university, Sergio A. Garcia, resigned in the wake of a Times Union report revealing apparent fabrications in his professional biography. "Leading SUNY Upstate Medical University has been my distinct honor, with the goal of achieving our mission as One University dedicated to the highest standard in academia and patient care, focusing on improving health disparities, placing the highest value on excellence and inclusion," Laraque-Arena's statement said. "I am most proud of the revival of the heart and vascular program, our progress and expansion of many services especially our renown cancer center, our deep commitment to excellence and quality, our efforts in violence prevention, and the creation of a new academic department of geriatrics." The grand jury investigation is examining a severance package that was awarded to former SUNY Upstate Medical University Hospital CEO Dr. John McCabe. The Syracuse Post-Standard reported in June that McCabe had been paid $660,500 for a 14-month "off-campus assignment." A source briefed on the grand jury investigation said the office of Onondaga District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick is scrutinizing that deal, which was authorized by Laraque-Arena, because it may have provided payment of public dollars without consideration of work. Also, McCabe was being paid even though he allegedly had been banned from attending events at the campus. The Times Union's story on Garcia, who had been the school's chief of staff, revealed that a number of claims he made in a videotaped speech last fall did not stand up to scrutiny. Among them were Garcia's account of being present at what he said was a 2011 bombing in Afghanistan that took the life of a young diplomat. Garcia also made statements asserting that he had been interviewed for a State Department post by then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, and he claimed that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice remains his close friend and mentor. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter. Powell and Rice both refuted Garcia's claims. Separately, multiple high-ranking members of the university's staff have recently told the Times Union that Laraque-Arena's tenure has, in their opinion, been disastrous for the institution, which is one of upstate New York's largest employers. "There is a sense of lost hope and despair," said a physician who requested anonymity. "The level of incompetence in communication skills, the level of a culture of fear by firing people ... and she has surrounded herself with people who are borderline incompetent." Laraque-Arena's tenure as president will end when the fall semester concludes in December. A spokeswoman for SUNY said she will continue to be employed by SUNY but will be on "study leave" for the spring semester in 2019, before returning to a position as a faculty member with a primary appointment within the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Laraque-Arena came to SUNY as a world-renowned pediatrician and researcher, and I am pleased that she will remain at Upstate Medical to inspire the next generation of doctors, said SUNY Chairman H. Carl McCall, who sources said had pushed for her appointment as president. My thanks to Dr. Laraque-Arena for her service as president to Upstate Medical, and her commitment to a seamless transition for the campus. SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson gave her "best wishes" to Laraque-Arena and noted her reputation for advocating "for children, and those from low-income households deeply impacted by poverty." Soon enough in dresses, ties, bandanas, ribbons pinned onto lapels and hats, colors of posters advertising charity runs pink will run amok through the fall reds, oranges and yellows. The color pops up in the fall namely October for breast cancer awareness, reminders that women and men should be checking for their own cancer risks, lest it run rampant, too. Breast cancer, its detection and treatment will carry the conversation of the next HealthyLife Seminar presented by Albany Medical Center on Oct. 24. HealthyLife Seminar When: Doors open 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 24 Where: Hearst Media Center, 645 Albany Shaker Road, Colonie How much: Free, with preregistration encouraged More info: healthylifeseminar.eventbrite.com Terms to Know Benign: A benign tumor is noncancerous and will not spread to other parts of the body Malignant: A malignant tumor contains cancer cells that can divide and spread through the body Mastectomy: A mastectomy is a breast cancer treatment that removes the breast. Lumpectomy: A lumpectomy conserves the breast and removes as much of the growth as possible. Recontruction: If a mastectomy is done, reconstruction can help bring shape back to the breast. It can happen on the day of the original surgery or later after the mastectomy has healed. See More Collapse Dr. Christa Abraham, an Albany Med surgeon with one of her concentrations in breast cancer and a presenter for the HealthyLife talk, said that while awareness and events through organizations like the American Cancer Society celebrate survivors and raise awareness, there is still work to do to be done. "We still need to raise awareness to medically underserved areas. Encouraging patients to get their mammograms and have an annual breast exam are ways we can fight breast cancer and promote early detection," she said. Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in American women. The American Cancer Society estimates nearly 64,000 women will be diagnosed with a non-invasive, early form of breast cancer this year, while more than 265,000 cases of invasive breast cancer will be detected. The number of women dying from breast cancer has decreased through the decades 39 percent from 1989 to 2015, according to the cancer society and part of that is due to screenings. Abraham said services are available, even in areas with less access to medical care. "There are resources for women's health that are made possible through New York State funding to obtain care and imaging for breast cancer screening for women who are uninsured. This needs to be advertised so we can reach underserved patients and provide breast cancer screening for them." Men are also susceptible to breast growths and cancer, though less so. Abraham cited an American Cancer Society statistic that, in 2018, 480 men will die from breast cancer; the lifetime risk of men getting breast cancer is 1 in 833, she said. When it's discovered in male patients, Abraham said the disease has already spread to lymph nodes. "Some men do not think they can get breast cancer and may ignore a breast lump. Some men are embarrassed when they find a breast mass and may choose not to talk about it," she said. "The best chance for successful treatment for men who palpate a breast mass is early medical attention." Advances have been made in detecting how breast cancer may affect each person. The American Joint Committee released a new staging system which rates the biology of tumors, combined with a risk assessment. This can help determine whether surgery or other treatment is needed, based on the "individual tumor biology," she said. "This is an exciting transition we are witnessing," Abraham said, of breast cancer treatment and the tools to do so. When it comes to treatment and detection of breast cancer, Abraham says this: "Earlier is better." "Regular mammograms can help find breast cancers before a mass is palpated and overall help us detect early breast cancers" she said. Research and development services exports supported some 888 jobs in the Capital Region in 2017, up 7.4 percent from the previous year, according to the 2018 Export Monitor released in April by the Brookings Institution. Overall, exports from the Capital Region increased in 2017 by 2.6 percent, the Brookings Institution said. The innovation-driven economy contributed to most of that gain, according to the Center for Economic Growth. During the past 20 years, the region, with the support of the state of New York, has spent billions of dollars building a world-class R & D infrastructure, CEG President and CEO Andrew Kennedy said. "Now there is strong demand from foreign and domestic tech companies for the type of innovation that researchers here can achieve," he said. Investments at the State University of New York, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Union College and other institutions, as well as the R & D assets at General Electric Global Research, GlobalFoundries and Regeneron, have developed a strong industry based in R & D and commercialization that now rivals the leading export engine and power equipment, Kennedy said. "As GE's innovation engine, we see our technologies having impact all over the world through our major industrial businesses," Todd Alhart, external communications leader at GE Global Research, said. "We're also opening the Lab to unleash our innovation capabilities to strategic partners and companies outside GE, which will help us dramatically expand our technology services in even bigger ways." Investments by New York state and at SUNY "have driven the creation of a robust high-tech R & D ecosystem in the Capital Region and across New York State in areas that include semiconductors, photonics, and power electronics, for example," said Dr. Doug Grose, president of Fuller Road Management Corporation and Fort Schuyler Management Corporation. Grose also leads NY CREATES (New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering and Science), a new nonprofit to lead industry-oriented R & D and economic development projects to grow the state's high-tech economy. Investments in R & D has also led to the creation of jobs at places like Danfoss Silicon Power in Utica, which is packaging power electronics on the SUNY Poly campus, Grose said. Meanwhile, a strong industry base at the Albany NanoTech Complex, including globally recognized partners such as IBM and Tokyo Electron Ltd., as well as others and a network of suppliers has put this area and New York state on the map, he said. "In fact, we are proud to be part of a number of long-term collaborations. Most recently, we celebrated Tokyo Electron's 15th anniversary of operations at this site," Grose said. In 2017, exports from the eight-county Capital Region totaled $6 billion, up $153.3 million from the previous year. Most of that growth was attributed to the region's R & D services and tech-related royalties from the use of U.S. patents, trademarks and copyrights, according to the Brookings Institution. The northern end of Route 28 has long been one of my favorite ways to access the Adirondacks. It follows the upper stretch of the Hudson River, passing such communities as North Creek, Indian Lake and Blue Mountain Lake. High peaks are visible in the distance, while the Hudson's white water rapids surge nearby. This part of Route 28 begins just north of Warrensburg, forking to the west from U.S. Route 9. Up the road, turnoffs to the right will take you to Friends Lake, while on your left, the Hudson soon becomes visible. Here you cross not only the Hudson but also the tracks of the former Delaware & Hudson Railway line to North Creek. While Route 28 bypasses the center of North Creek, the former highway still makes its way through town. There, the historic North Creek station has been restored, and now houses a delightful museum as well as the starting point for Revolution Rail, a new business offering "rail bikes" that participants pedal to the northern portion of the railroad line. The station museum, staffed by volunteers, offers a model railway-scale layout of North Creek and its lines. There's also plenty of information about the night Vice President Theodore Roosevelt rushed to the station after President William McKinley died from wounds suffered at the hands of an assassin several days earlier in Buffalo. A waiting train rushed Roosevelt to Buffalo, where he was sworn in as president. North Creek has a walkable main street lined with restaurants, a wine bar and small shops offering everything from sporting goods and clothing to furniture and gift items. Peak season here is winter, with the state-operated Gore Mountain Ski Area on the edge of town. The Saratoga and North Creek Rail Road, alas, has stopped operating. For several years, it ran scenic trains between Saratoga and North Creek, as well as snow trains intended to ferry skiers to Gore. In the summer and fall, Gore offers hiking, mountain biking, and chairlift rides. Farther north, the Barton garnet mines offer tours, gem-cutting demonstrations and other activities. The mines, established 140 years ago, are in North River, a short distance above North Creek. Tours run through early October. White water rafting is also popular, and several local businesses offer guided tours. The Hudson here is narrower, shallower, and the exposed rocks can make for an exciting/terrifying journey, depending on your point of view. A popular destination for cross-country skiers is the Garnet Hill Lodge, offering overnight accommodations and meals in a rustic inn with a welcoming fireplace. But the year-round resort also offers hiking, mountain biking and other activities in the warmer months. Farther north lies the town of Indian Lake, with plenty of camping opportunities and hiking trails off both sides of the highway. The town also has some shops, such as Pine's Country Store, which a friend describes as "old school" with a range of items for outdoor activities. He needed a backpack and found just the right one there, and he's still using it almost a decade later. This is the point where Route 30 joins 28. As you head through town, you'll see Lake Abenaki held back by a dam as the road dips beneath the surface level of the lake. Several more trailheads line the route to Blue Mountain Lake, our final stop. To the left is Lake Durant, named for financier and railroad builder Thomas C. Durant, a Lee, Mass., native who was educated at Albany Medical College. Durant is better known for helping to build the transcontinental railroad and heading the Union Pacific Railroad. He later founded the Adirondack Railroad, which laid the tracks that run from Saratoga to North Creek. Durant also is remembered for his role in the Credit Mobilier, which got him fired from the Union Pacific. He retired to North Creek and died there in 1885. In Blue Mountain Lake, we turned off Route 28, following Route 30 and signs to the Adirondack Experience, formerly the Adirondack Museum. Here, the region's history is told in a number of buildings and exhibits, including preserved boats, a railroad locomotive and an intact Pullman car. Interactive exhibits and views of Blue Mountain Lake and the surrounding mountains are worth the trip. Unfortunately, thunderstorms cut our visit short. But we plan to return, perhaps later this autumn. The scenery should be beautiful. Preparations are in full swing for Cashel Lions Club annual fashion show. This very colourful and exciting event will take place in Bru Boru on Friday, October 12th and the Lions are convinced they will have an even better event than the very successful shows they have hosted over the past number of years. It is a Ladies and Gents fashion show and while the glamour and buzz surrounds what the ladies wear, the men will be getting a look in as well. In all, fourteen fashion houses are involved and dedicated followers of fashion will recognise the quality and style that will be on view from the following list of shops: Jeutonic Bridal Wear, Kilkenny, Vivienne OConnor Irish Designer Dublin, Daverns of Cashel, Lady Lorna Designer Emporium Kilkenny, Siobhan Daly Millener Kilkenny, Uptown Girl Cashel, Tesco Cashel, Fran and Jane Clonmel, Humming Bird Thurles, Mister Mister Cashel, Klassy Lady Cahir, Lar na Pairce Thurles, Michelle Treacy Millener Kilkenny, In the Wardrobe Clonmel. It gets even better! In addition to a number of local volunteer models, the organising committee is also proud to feature on the catwalk three current Miss Ireland contestants, Miss Tipperary, Robyn Barlow, Miss Wexford, Lucy Butler, and Miss Kilkenny, Eimear Fennelly. The fashion show is a major fundraiser for the Cashel Lions Club. It has been wonderfully supported in the past by the people of Cashel and further afield. It has established a name for being outstanding of its kind. It gives a great return to its patrons. There will be a cheese and wine reception on arrival at 7pm, a show of outstanding fashion, a compere unequalled in Don Andrews, a night of glitz and glamour in which the patrons vie with one another to win the best dresses prizes, a great raffle, numerous prizes and, above all, a night to remember. Tickets at 20 are available from any Lions member, from Bru Boru and from Uptown Girl September 25, 2018 SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. This, in simple terms, is the name given to the program that improves search engine results. With Google (News - Alert) , when something is searched, it will rank the results in order of relevance and authority. Authority is imputed if the website has a lot of websites linked to it. This will ensure its rank at the top. Keyword research, on the other hand, is the act of using specific keywords to find exactly what people are typing when using various search engines. Top tips to help you with starting out your SEO Here is a guide for beginners to execute a keyword search effectively. Start off with seed words Seed words are at the core of your keyword research. If you have an online business already, then you should go ahead and make a list of the important elements. Seed words will help you create a niche for yourself, and help you identify the competition. Coming up with seed words is very easy. All you have to do is create generic buckets. It may be that you need to create ten different buckets depending on your line of work. From this, you can choose the rich seed words which go hand in hand with a Pacific generic bucket. Remember, you need to take a look at increasing your organic traffic over time, and should choose the keywords accordingly. Generate Keywords ideas After generic buckets, it is time to come up with keyword ideas. It is very easy to generate keyword ideas, and it will also give you the chance to figure out the competition. Here are a few strategies by which one may generate keyword ideas. Understand which keyword position your website has been ranked, on Google See which position your competitors have been ranked (They might give you the right seed ideas for your website) Use efficient keyword search tools Search your area of expertise to discover which keywords you need to target Research and understand keyword metrics Understanding keyword metrics can be very difficult. From them, you may receive good ideas, but identifying which is the best for your website can be a hassle. The following are a few ways to understand how keyword metrics works. Search volume. This will help you understand how many times a specific keyword has been used. Most of the frequently used keywords are pulled down by Google Adwords. Clicks The frequency of how many clicks on a specific keyword you can expect if you rank #1 can help in your research. Cost per click. The use of a keyword changes almost monthly. But you can often tell the words that give the most customers by looking at how much other companies are willing to pay per click. Keyword difficulty. Every keyword tool has its own way of calculating keyword difficulty so be sure and read up on which tool you use so you will be able to determine . So then, what people must you have to create a good marketing team? The answer to this varies from time to time, campaign to campaign, and company profile to company profile. However, there are three core types of people you are required to have in a cloud marketing team (as distinct from a marketing team) an SEO Specialist, a Web Developer, and a Marketing Technologist. For you, what website is used the most? Undoubtedly, it is a search engine. And so is it with most people. What an SEO specialist does is make sure your company website or your campaign comes out as the one at the top of all the search results. This is very important, because unless you are a world known giant, whose website people will open directly, most of your traffic comes from search engines and different forms of advertisements. So an SEO Specialist will make sure that, if a user searches how to choose between Android (News - Alert) and iPhone, your companys blog post shows up as one of the top posts. A web developer, on the other hand, has a wider ambit with his job. Whatever the creative team comes up with, the Web Developer will translate to the website. Apart from this, if the company needs any online work to be done, say, maintaining the company website, or making an employee database, it is done by the web developer. Finally, the marketing technologist a relatively newer position. Earlier, marketing did not have much to do with IT. Now, they are inseparable. The Marketing Technologist is a person having expertise in both things marketing and IT. He or she will generate a message suitable for the campaign and then use online tools to make it a success. The duties thereof will vary greatly, often from campaign to campaign. [September 26, 2018] Medicrea Hosts First-Ever Spine Artificial Intelligence Focused Meeting in Lyon, France The Medicrea Group (Euronext Growth Paris: FR0004178572 - ALMED), pioneering the transformation of spinal surgeries through Artificial Intelligence, predictive modeling and patient specific implants with its UNiD ASI (Adaptive Spine Intelligence) proprietary software platform, services and technologies, announced today that it hosted the first-ever Spine Artificial Intelligence Focused Meeting in Lyon, France, from Aug 30 - Sept 1, 2018. MAIA (Medicrea Artificial Intelligence and Analytics) is the first industry-meeting of its kind focused on discussing the role of artificial intelligence in the treatment of complex spinal deformities. The company also demonstrated its proprietary UNiD ASI (Adaptive Spine Intelligence) technology. With 20 international surgeons hand-picked by the chairmen as thought leaders in the field, MAIA's first annual edition was a success. "Medicrea just concluded a highly successful and educational meeting in Lyon", stated Dr Chris Ames, MD, Director of spinal tumor and spinal deformity surgery at UCSF Medical Center, CA (News - Alert) . "Participants heard thought leading presentations and took part in stimulating round-tables focused on the spine market A.I.-led revolution." MAIA was chaired by renowned surgeons in spine surgery, including Dr Chris Ames, MD, Director of spinal tumor and spinal deformity surgery at UCSF Medical Center, CA; Dr Vedat Deviren, MD, Professor of Orthoepedic Surgery at the UCSF Spine Center, CA; and co-chaired by Dr Evalina Burger, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of Orthopedics at the University of Colorado, CO and Dr Christopher Kleck, MD, Assistant Professor, Associate Program Director, Co-Director Spine Fellowship at UC Denver, CO. The faculty also featured 4 additional leaders, including Dr Justin Smith, MD, Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery and Co-Director of the Spine Fellowship program and Co-Director of the UVA Spine Center, VA; Dr Rajiv Sethi, MD, Spinal Surgeon, Neuroscience Institute, and Medical Director, Neuroscience Institute at Virginia Mason, WA; Dr Jean-Charles Le Huec, MD, PhD, Chief of Spine Unit and chairman of Department of Orthopaedic and Traumatology at the Bordeaux University Hospital, France and Dr Ferran Pellise, MD, PhD, Director of the Vertebral Column Institute of the Hospital Quironsalud of Barcelona, Spain. For its first annual MAIA meeting, Medicrea managed to assemble an incredible team of thought leaders. The topics discussed, and the technology presented got attendees excited about the future of spine care. With its proprietary UNiD ASI technology, Medicrea started revolutionizing the spine world by developing a model taking into consideration compensatory mechanisms toindividually predict each patient's outcomes. Dr Khaled Kebaish, MD, Division Chief, Orthopaedic Spine Surgery and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, MD said "I was really impressed by how far Medicrea has already come regarding application of artificial intelligence to spine. They've developed an A.I. platform called the UNiD Hub. The Hub digests scientific data to generate intelligent surgical planning through machine learning while simultaneously allowing you to perform detailed, custom analyses of your cases and manage the entire workflow from start to finish. Not only does it change the clinical workflow, it makes it more efficient and increase productivity." During this course, Medicrea also shared some early, and very promising, data regarding rod breakage incidence. By simulating surgical strategies using proprietary data and algorithms taking into consideration patients' optimal sagittal alignment and compensatory mechanisms, Medicrea produces a patient-specific rod mechanically bent. This process preserves the rod's full integrity, and limits stress points that could lead to rod fracture once implanted into the patient. "Medicrea is the first spine company to make custom rods for precise correction of spinal deformity. In the future, one will be able to plan and efficiently correct a specific spinal deformity safely" added Dr Munish Gupta, MD, Mildred B. Simon Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Professor of Neurological Surgery and Co-director of Pediatric and Adult Spinal Deformity Service at Washington University Hospital, MO. "Medicrea is proud to have welcomed some of the world's top spine surgeons to its first annual MAIA." Said Denys Sournac, Chief Executive Officer of Medicrea. He also added "Artificial Intelligence is prone to become a key component of our everyday life, and we are excited to work with this amazing group of surgeons to bring our spine A.I- based solutions to the rest of the world". About Medicrea (www.medicrea.com) Through the lens of predictive medicine, Medicrea leverages its proprietary software analysis tools with big data and machine learning technologies supported by an expansive collection of clinical and scientific data. The Company is well-placed to streamline the efficiency of spinal care, reduce procedural complications and limit time spent in the operating room. Operating in a $10 billion marketplace, Medicrea is a Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME) with 210 employees worldwide, which includes 50 who are based in the U.S. The Company has an ultra-modern manufacturing facility in Lyon, France housing the development and production of 3D- printed titanium patient-specific implants. For further information, please visit: Medicrea.com. Connect with Medicrea FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE Medicrea is listed on EURONEXT Growth Paris ISIN: FR 0004178572 Ticker: ALMED LEI: 969500BR1CPTYMTJBA37 Medicrea is traded on OTCQX Best Market Tickers: MNRTY & MRNTF View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926006117/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation on Behalf of PPDAI Group Inc. Investors (PPDF) Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of PPDAI Group Inc. ("PPDAI" or the "Company") (NYSE: PPDF) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. The Company conducted its initial public offering of 17 million American depositary shares in November 2017 at $13 per share. Shortly after the IPO, however, Chinese regulators banned the issuance of new online peer-to-peer licenses, citing illegal practices by companies such as PPDAI. On this news, PPDAI's share price fell $2.62 per share, or more than 24%, to close at $8.18 per shar on November 22, 2017, thereby injuring investors. Then, on December 1, 2017, Chinese regulators issued an order outlining specific guidelines meant to correct improper practices among online lenders such as PPDAI. On this news, PPDAI's share price fell $2.44, or more than 25%, over several trading days, to close at $7.16 per share on December 7, 2017, thereby further injuring investors. If you purchased PPDAI securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180926006118/en/ [September 26, 2018] MediaAMP partners with Linius to deliver Cognitive Video Search to US education market Strategic partnership provides clear route-to-market for one of Linius' four target markets MediaAMP is a leading provider of video solutions to the US higher education market There are 4,724 universities and colleges in the US alone[1] MELBOURNE, Australia and SEATTLE, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Linius Technologies Limited (ASX: LNU) -- the only cloud platform that transforms static video into interactive intelligent content -- has entered into a strategic partnership with US-based higher education cloud services provider, MediaAMP, Inc. Under the agreement, MediaAMP will integrate Linius' patented Video Virtualization Engine (VVE) with its video-first digital media asset management platform. MediaAMP will provide Linius' video virtualization technology to its current and future education clients throughout the US. MediaAMP's customers include the University of Washington, the University of California and Arizona State University. Watch the Linius -- MediaAMP partnership overview video HERE: https://www.linius.com/mediaamp-partners-with-linius-to-deliver-cognitive-video-search-to-us-education-market/ The partnership comes after a successful Proof of Concept (POC) conducted in March this year. The POC validated the unique power of Linius Cognitive Video Search -- paired with leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) services -- to enable users to search for any object or action within a digital video catalogue and instantly play the desired clips. "By integrating Linius' Search and Assembly solution, MediaAMP can empower universities and colleges across the US to enable authorized people to programmatically search, playback and share any digital video content," said MediaAMP CEO, Laurens Banker. "For example, a nursing student or faculty member could search for, and immediately stitch together, instances where the phrase 'required dosage' appears across years of recorded lectures. No manual scouring or editing of video footage required. "Only Linius' video virtualization capabilities allow individual scenes within video files to be indexed, searched and immediately compiled for playback. With Linius, the possibilities are enormous." Linius Executive Vice President, Ken Ruck, said that Linius was proud to help MediaAMP continue innovating in digital media asset management for the US education sector. "MediaAMP deliver a fantastic built-for-purpose platform for cataloguing, archiving and securely sharing digital media throughout education institutions," said Ruck. "Students and staff alike want to search, assemble and share specific video content without the undue cost and delay associated with manual video manipulation. Linius is helping MediaAMP meet that demand, while furthering its mission to break-down information silos in large and complex education organizations." Linius transforms traditional video files into actionable insights by exposing and virtualizing the data within the video file. That data can then be indexed, tagged, analyzed and leveraged by applying AI or programmatically inserting business rules. Linius provides the missing link to the monetization of AI. Higher education institutions across the US, and around the world, keep massive archives of digital video content across a multitude of faculties, business groups and other bodies -- from academic videos, to sports, alumni and promotional content. "Considering the enormous effort to manually review and explore video files at scale, combined with the fact that there are 4,724 universities and colleges throughout the US, the need for Linius and MediaAMP's integrated product offering is clear," said Ruck. In accordance with Linius' Partner Program, MediaAMP will purchase Linius video virtualization and video search solutions for resale to its education clients throughout the US. Revenue to be earned under the agreement will depend on the level of resales and take-up of the integrated product offering. [1] National Center for Education Statistics, Degree-granting post-secondary institutions: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_317.10.asp About Linius Technologies Limited: Linius Technologies Limited (ASX: LNU) has invented and patented the Video Virtualization Engine (VVE), which is available on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud. Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are investing billions in virtualizing video services (technologies) and Artificial Intelligence in the cloud. It is arguably the biggest battle on the internet, given that video accounts for nearly 80 percent of internet traffic. Only Linius can expose the data that makes up the video file, making cumbersome video as flexible as all other forms of data. Accessing the data within the video file is the missing link for video cloud service providers, creating unparalleled value across the internet video industry. Linius has the potential to transform many multi-billion-dollar markets, and is initially focused on: Anti-Piracy: Applying proven data protection methods to video to solve piracy Applying proven data protection methods to video to solve piracy Search: Search within videos and compiling new videos on-the-fly Search within videos and compiling new videos on-the-fly Security and Defense: Intelligent search and immediate distribution of security footage Intelligent search and immediate distribution of security footage Personalized Advertising: Hyper-personalized to individuals, time slots and content For more on Linius Technologies, visit www.linius.com For regular news and updates, follow Linius Technologies on Twitter (@linius_tech), LinkedIn (Linius Technologies Ltd), Vimeo (Linius Technologies) and Facebook (@linius). About MediaAMP: MediaAMP is the digital foundation for online and e-learning in the 21st century, unleashing the power of digital media by providing a robust and proven cloud management hub that unlocks organizational silos. MediaAMP provides a secure and scalable AI-driven cloud platform, offering unique services and solutions for the management, storage, distribution and protection of digital assets, artifacts, and media. Flexible Content Delivery -- Offers complete control over the distribution and consumption of digital assets. Extensible Workflow Engine -- Ability to automate complex workflows within existing creative processes. Protected Cloud Storage -- Content is accessible anywhere and built-in protection ensures availability. Application/System Integration -- Available plugins & adapters for integration with a rich ecosystem of 3rd-party learning/education applications. Federated Management -- Hub and spoke model allows central administrators to define global policies and federate management of content to creators/users. For more on MediaAMP, Inc., visit www.mediaamp.io For regular news and updates, follow MediaAMP on Twitter (@mediaampcloud), LinkedIn (MediaAMP, Inc.), and Facebook (@MediaAMPcloud). For further information or interview requests, please contact: Linius Technologies: Lachlan James, Director of Marketing and Communications, +61 (0)431 835 658, ljames@linius.com MediaAMP: Trevor MacLachlan, VP Sales & Marketing, USA based 206.641.6550, trevor@mediaamp.io Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180905/2228523-1LOGO SOURCE Linius Technologies [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] depa-HUBBA kicks off "Startup Battleground Hackathon" BANGKOK, Thailand, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa), HUBBA Thailand and Techstars jointly announce the grand opening of the 'Startup Battleground' Hackathon in Digital Thailand Big Bang 2018 and boast that over 500 startups have submitted the applications to make a play for the rewards worth more than 1.5 million baht. Eat'em all, a new green tech startup, won the first prize after 5-day long competition. Mr. Chatchai Khunpitiluck, Senior Executive Vice President of Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) said that the Startup Battleground Hackathon is one of the highlights in Digital Thailand Big Bang 2018, which is co-hosted by the government's agency (depa), the Thai private sector (HUBBA Thailand) and the world's leading accelerator (Techstars). The objectives of this hackathon is to gather the ideas to create new innovations to support the government's ten targeed industries and to give a chance to new startups to gain experiences with experts in the workshop and the pitching. "We received a good response from startups as over 500 startups in seed stage paraded to submit their applications to join the hackathon which has award worth 1.5 million baht in total. We are confident that this will be one of the greatest hackathons for the startups, of which the pitched ideas will be further developed in the targeted industries," said Mr. Chatchai The ten topics for the pitching comprise 1. Travel Tech 2. Food Tech 3. Agri Tech 4. Software as a Service (SaaS) 5. Living Tech 6. EdTech 7. Green Tech 8. HR Tech 9. e-Commerce and 10. Health Tech. The top three that have the most applicants are Living Tech, EdTech and e-Commerce, reflecting that there are still a plenty of ideas and pain points to be solved in these three industries. Mr. Archawat Chareonsilp, Chief Strategy Officer of HUBBA Thailand said apart from the number of participants and the value of the awards, the Startup Battleground Hackathon has invited the experts in both Thai and global startup industries to share their knowledge and experiences to the participants, for example, Mr. Patai Padungtin, CEO and Evangelist of BUILK ONE Group, a construction management platform which has served contractors in five countries, Mr. Chris Chang, Program Manager for Techstars Adelaide Accelerator who has incubated startups across the APAC-region and Mr. Aldrich Huang, CEO and Co-Founder of UX Testing. "Hackathon is generally known as a design sprint-like platform to fuel the potential of new startups. We believe that the sharing from Thai and global experts will grow over 500 participants, strengthen Thai startup ecosystem and be a significant factor to drive the creation of innovation for the country's development," said Mr. Archawat. After 5-day long competition, Eat'em all, a new green tech startup, won the first prize and received 600,000 baht in cash. The team has developed a discount leftovers purchasing platform to help reduce the leftovers in restaurants. Eat'em all is now planning to improve their platform to become an application, increase their amount of active users, and add or develop a delivery system after winning the rewards. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180925/2247574-1-a SOURCE depa, Thailand [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Verticroft Introduces New Ways of Sustainable Agriculture DUBAI, UAE, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Agriculture is by far the largest consumer of the Earth's available freshwater: 70% of "blue water" withdrawals from watercourses and groundwater are for agricultural usage, three times more than 50 years ago. By 2050, the global water demand of agriculture is estimated to increase by a further 19% due to irrigation needs. Alfa hay is the most water intensive forage crop on the planet, using an estimated 135,000 Gallons of water in traditional agriculture to produce One MT of Alfa Hay, according to the Oldham County Water district is the United States of America. Currently, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), an astonishing 60 percent of the water diverted or pumped for irrigation is wasted- via runoff into waterwas or evapotranspiration. One-third of the global population (2 billion people) live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least one month of the year. Half a billion people in the world face severe water scarcity all year round Our technology, uses 900 Ltrs of water to produce a tonne of Alfa-hay, in a controlled, Pesticide free environment. We reduce water usage in alfa hay production by 99% we recycle and re-use all water that isn't absorbed by the root matt of the Alfa-hay ensuring we are an environmentally intelligent operation Said Adrian Mason CEO It was reported by the New York Times that, "Alfa hay growers are now exporting some 100 billion gallons of water a year from this drought-ridden region to the other side of the world in the form of alfalfa." Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates Verticroft is the world's largest producer of sustainable Alfa hay using VCC (vertical crop culture) with an annual production capacity of 150,000 MT per annum. For Media enquiries please contact: PR@verticroft.com http://www.verticroft.com 1004 The Prism Tower Business Bay, Dubai United Arab Emirates PO BOX 124328 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] National THL Biobank Partners with BC Platforms' Global Network of Biobanks ZURICH and BOSTON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerates sharing of genomic and health data from more than 150,000 subjects BC Platforms, a world leader in secure genomic data management and analytics, announces the addition of the THL Biobank, hosted by the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), to its Global Network of Biobanks. THL Biobank brings to the Global network their extensive datasets from approximately 150,000 donors, that include multiomic cohorts necessary for accelerating drug development, diagnostics, biomarker validation, identification of disease risk factors, and stratification of patients. BC Platforms provides its BCRQUEST.com platform, a streamlined solution for secure data sharing, analytics and governance, enabling greater collaboration for scientific innovation. This new partnership will link and integrate THL Biobank data sources to one bioanalytics platform in order to facilitate and support scientific research in the public interest. With over 20 years of experience in securely managing genomic and phenotypic data, BC Platforms has developed unique technology capable of providing researchers with tools to browse and analyze summary level information from data providers, such as biobanks, who have subscribed to the service. Sirpa Soini, THL Biobank Director comments that, "We are delighted to partner with a leader in this space who can safely and securely provide our rich data sets to a broader researcher network. The service will provide academia and industry a window to the existing data and communication tools to preare research proposals, coordinate collaboration, and request data and samples for research projects." Tero Silvola, CEO of BC Platforms, commented, "We are pleased that THL Biobank, a highly respected Finnish research biobank, has agreed to provide their diverse and high quality data sets to our global network of biobanks. Using our BCRQUEST.com platform, biobanks can select which data from their collections to showcase in a secure and compliant manner to the world's largest pharmaceutical R&D teams and establish future research projects. The life science industry benefits from this global pool of harmonized biobank data to gain scientific insights with the goal of reducing drug development timelines and bringing benefits to the patients worldwide." About BC Platforms BC Platforms is a world leader in providing powerful genomic data management and analysis solutions. Our high performing genomic data management platform enables flexible data integration, secure analysis and interpretation of molecular and clinical information. The company has launched and opened a global network of biobanks, known as BCRQUEST.com, to provide genomic and clinical cohort data for pharmaceutical and medical research and development. BC Platforms' vision is to build the world's leading analytics platform for healthcare and industry by 2020, providing access to diverse genomic and clinical data and samples from more than 5 million subjects consolidated from a global network of biobanks. Founded in 1997 from an MIT Whitehead project spinoff, the Company has a strong scientific heritage underpinned by 20 years of working in close collaboration with a network of leading researchers, developers, manufacturers and vendors. BC Platforms has global operations with its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, research and development in Espoo, Finland, and sales and marketing in London, Boston, and Vancouver. For more information, please visit www.bcplatforms.com or follow us on Twitter @BCPlatforms. About THL THL (National Institute for Health and Welfare Terveyden ja Hyyvinvoinnin Laitos) is a Finnish Research and Development institute that aims to address applications of healthcare and scientific research data to help develop solutions to diseases and public health crises. Their overall mission is to promote better population health and help apply scientific knowledge to accomplish this goal.www.thl.fi/biobank Contact information: BC Platforms AG Brett Villagrand Brett.villagrand@bcplatforms.com Katja Stout Scius Communications katja@sciuscommunications.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] ASTRI demonstrates its latest technologies at PT EXPO China 2018 in Beijing HONG KONG, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is showcasing its latest technologies that deliver 'Intelligence', 'Connected' and 'Trusted' solutions at the PT EXPO China 2018 in Beijing. At its exhibition booth no. 4-4355, ASTRI is displaying technologies that facilitate the deployment of competitive services and innovative solutions across Hong Kong, the Great Bay Area and international markets. Among the solutions being showcased at the Expo, some selected technologies are listed below. 1. 5G Core and Edge The advent of 5G will proliferate the markets with an infinite number of smart city and smart manufacturing applications including smart mobility, smart living, Industrial Internet-of-Things (IoT), and many more. 5G Core Network forms its critical part, with Service-based Architecture (SBA) and scalability to enable feature-rich new applications. ASTRI's 5G Core Solution addresses: Connectivity: Virtual 5G Core Network Software complying with 3GPP Release 15 standards, while delivering market leading core network throughput Edge Computing: Enabling delay-sensitive packets and data processing at edge cloud to support applications that require low latency, such as connected vehicles Automation: 5G Network Orchestrator to provisionnetwork services and applications with simple, graphical user interfaces 2. 5G C-RAN base station Utilising Centralised-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture, ASTRI's 5G base station solutions are software-based and very flexible. It is highly customisable for different requirements and evolving 5G standards. At the Expo, ASTRI and HeBei FarEast Communication (HBFEC) are jointly demonstrating the latest 3GPP Release 15-compliant 5G C-RAN base station and user equipment emulator based on off-the-shelve computer servers. The solution avoids the development cost for dedicated hardware platforms and allows centralised radio networks management through cloud-based processing. The demonstration showcases live 8K (7,680 x 4,320 pixels) Ultra-high Definition (UHD) video streaming via wideband 5G wireless data links. 3. Next Generation Broadband Trunking Communication (B-TrunC) base station for Critical Communications LTE B-TrunC systems provide the next generation trunking air interface for bandwidth-efficient high throughput point-to-multipoint communications. This allows high throughput broadcasting services, such as video surveillance, data sharing and group video calls. This demonstration showcased HeBei FarEast Communication's (HBFEC) commercial B-TrunC base stations powered by ASTRI's awarding winning B-TrunC technologies which won a Gold Medal in the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2018. The demonstration showcases live wideband trunking service including group video calls to reveal the B-TrunC capabilities and applications. 4. 4G small cell technology for commercialisation Small cell base station technologies provide simple and cost-efficient indoor coverage for public and private networks deployment. Sunnada's commercial LTE small cell powered by ASTRI's LTE physical layer solution was ranked no. 1 in the China Mobile 2015 small cell tendering. ASTRI's LTE base station solutions also support LTE macro cells and C-RAN feature with different hardware platforms. This demonstration showcases a series of LTE base stations products commercialised by Sunnada. 5. AI-enabled Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) road safety and traffic management ASTRI is at the forefront of enabling technologies for connected cars. At the recent World IoT Expo 2018, ASTRI registered a great milestone with live demonstrations of C-V2X road safety applications on the open roads in Wuxi. ASTRI has a complete C-V2X networking system which addresses perspectives of 'car', 'road' and 'network' -- enabling connected cars and ensuring better road safety. It also allows transport operators or City Governments to operate the roads and highways with enhanced traffic efficiency and safety considerations. PT EXPO is hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China and organised by the China National Postal and Telecommunications Appliances Corporation. The Expo is being held at the China National Convention Centre from 26 to 29 September 2018. About ASTRI Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research. ASTRI's core R&D competencies in various areas are organised under seven Technology Divisions, namely Communications Technologies, Electronics Components, Mixed Signal Systems IC, Advanced Digital Systems, Optoelectronics, Security and Data Sciences, and Intelligent Software and Systems. Five areas of applications including financial technologies, intelligent manufacturing, next generation network, health technologies, and smart city are identified for major pursuit. For further information about ASTRI, please visit www.astri.org. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180927/2250327-1-a Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180927/2250327-1-b SOURCE Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] KT SAT to Host First Satellite Conference in South Korea - Korea Sat Conference 2018 Will Be Held on October 11 in Seoul - - Officials of SpaceX, Blue Origin, Arianespace, Thales to Attend - SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- KT SAT Ltd. Co., the satellite business subsidiary of KT Corp. (KRX: 030200; NYSE: KT), will hold the first global satellite conference in South Korea on October 11, bringing together industry leaders from around the world. Jointly hosted by the Korea Association for Space Technology Promotion (KASP), the Korea Sat Conference 2018 will focus on the future of the satellite industry and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It will be held at Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotels & Residences, KT Corp.'s first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered hotel. "The Korea Sat Conference is the first international satellite event organized by a private satellite services provider in South Korea," KT SAT CEO Hahn Won-Sic said. "I hope it will be a great milestone for the country's space industry to advance through the exchange of information and expertise." The key presentations include the "Development Diection of the Domestic Space Industry and Global Issues," "The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Expanding Role of the Satellite Industry" and "The Shifting Paradigm of the Space Industry." The main presenters will be from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI). Overseas participants will include representatives from SpaceX, a U.S. aerospace manufacturer and space transport service company, founded by Elon Musk; Blue Origin, a U.S. aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Arianespace, France's pioneering space transportation company; and Thales Alenia Space, a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer. MEDIA CONTACTS For inquiries, please contact our Foreign Media Relations Team at kt.fmrt@gmail.com ABOUT KT CORP. (KRX: 030200; NYSE: KT) KT Corporation, Korea's largest telecommunications service provider reestablished in 1981 under the Telecommunications Business Act, is leading the era of innovations in the world's most connected country. The company leads the 4th industrial revolution with high speed wire/wireless network and innovative ICT technology. After installing 4.5 million fixed lines for 20 million users in just 12 years, KT was the first telecom provider to introduce 5G broad-scale trial service in 2018. It is another step in KT's continuous efforts to deliver essential products and services as it seeks to be the No.1 ICT Company and People's Company. For more information, please visit our English website at https://corp.kt.com/eng/ View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kt-sat-to-host-first-satellite-conference-in-south-korea-300720027.html SOURCE KT Corp. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Cloud Security Alliance Establishes New European Headquarters, GDPR Center of Excellence in Berlin BERLIN, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world's leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today announced that in response to rapid membership growth throughout the region, it will be opening a new CSA Europe headquarters and with it, creating a new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Center of Excellence for cloud computing in Berlin, Germany, later this year. "We have seen strong growth in our enterprise members throughout Europe, most notably in the financial services sector. We also are collaborating closely with several national governments on critical, national cloud-security standards. In addition, CSA's research in developing a GDPR Code of Conduct and related best practices has put us in the forefront of the industry in assisting both customers and cloud providers in addressing this critical regulation. In order to meet CSA's continued growth in this region, we are expanding our presence in Europe and will use this base for coordination of all of our events, chapters and enterprise outreach throughout the continent," said Jim Reavis, CEO, Cloud Security Alliance. CSA has been active in the European market since its founding in 2009 and has 14 national chapters in Europe. Further, it has participated in or led several research projects funded by the European Commission under the FP7 and H2020 programs, as well as developed a close collaboration with the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA). CSA Europe and the GDPR Center of Excellence are being supported by founding companies from within CSA's corporate membership rosters. These companies provide critical resources and expertise, and will participate in an advisory board dedicated to CSA's strategy in Europ and the roadmap of CSA's GDPR capabilities. Initial founders include Google Cloud, Netskope, OneTrust, Qualys, and Zscaler. "The GDPR is a critical step forward in the battle to effectively legislate our digital, always-on world, and Netskope is honored to partner with the CSA as a founding member of the GDPR Center of Excellence" said Neil Thacker, CISO, EMEA and Data Protection Officer, Netskope. "As enterprises grapple with the web of legislation governing the post-GDPR digital world, the center of excellence will serve as an important resource for the industry." "OneTrust is proud to support CSA as a founding member of the CSA GDPR Center of Excellence. As the largest and most widely used dedicated privacy management technology platform, our customers find it critical for OneTrust to partner with organizations like CSA who help scale the privacy and security ecosystem through standards," said Kabir Barday, OneTrust CEO and Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP). "Our adoption of the CSA CAIQ Vendor assessment questionnaire into our market leading vendor privacy and security risk management platform has proved to be highly valuable for our customers. Additionally, the CSA GDPR Code of Conduct and CSA Common Controls Matrix built-in to the OneTrust platform provide an easy and standardized foundation to build on. Congratulations to CSA on the opening of the GDPR Center of Excellence, and we look forward to continuing to build on our partnership to further simplify privacy and security compliance." "As a founding member of CSA, I am excited about the opening of CSA EMEA and the creation of the GDPR Center of Excellence in Berlin," said Jay Chaudhry, CEO, president and founder of Zscaler. "The cloud and mobility are creating a megashift that is disrupting the traditional network and security models, and organizations around the world have looked to the CSA for guidance as they transform to a cloud-first strategy. With the opening of its European headquarters, CSA EMEA will provide further leadership in the principles and practices of secure cloud transformation." The GDPR Center of Excellence will serve as the focal point from which CSA will coordinate its GDPR activities globally. CSA's landmark GDPR Code of Conduct, which was released to the public in November of 2017, is already adopted as a critical foundation for alignment with the regulation by numerous organizations. The Center of Excellence will drive future development of this guidance, privacy education and the integration of GDPR with CSA's Security, Trust and Assurance Registry (STAR), the world's leading trust mark for cloud providers worldwide. "I look forward to working with our Founders, supervisory authorities from Member States, and other GDPR thought leaders to help the industry harmonize security and privacy and better protect the personal information of citizens in the EU and beyond," said Daniele Catteddu, Cloud Security Alliance CTO and leader of CSA's GDPR initiatives. More information can be obtained online. About Cloud Security Alliance The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world's leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, training, certification, events, and products. CSA's activities, knowledge, and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud from providers and customers to governments, entrepreneurs, and the assurance industry and provide a forum through which different parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa . Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/245944/cloud_security_alliance_logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Bluecore Opens London Office to Address Growing European Demand Bluecore, the retail marketing technology company that more than 400 retailers rely on to launch highly personalized campaigns at scale, today announced the expansion of its International business with headquarters in London. The company's International operations will be led by newly-appointed Vice President and General Manager, International, Mike Harris, who, in 2012, launched Monetate Europe and drove significant year-over-year growth for the subsequent five years. The London office brings Bluecore closer to its existing International customers -including the two Perry Ellis International brands, Original Penguin and Farah-and other extensions of existing global retail brands. Bluecore's international expansion is driven by demand for a solution that will help European and global retail brands increase revenue growth without the use of third-party consumer data or cookies. For brands that advertise and sell directly to European consumers, there is continued urgency to activate first-party customer data, enhance engagement with customers and build new audience targeting models. Bluecore offers these retailers the ability to deploy personalized campaigns based on opt-in email identities, a deep understanding of how product and customer interactions predict shopper actions and shoppers' onsite behaviors. Bluecore has demonstrted its command over first-party user data across its U.S. customer base, for which it currently manages more than 500 million unique customer IDs and a cumulative product set larger than Walmart and rivaled only by Amazon. "Over the last four years, the Bluecore Retail Marketing Platform has provided value for global marketers in 65 countries," said Rob Holland, COO of Bluecore. "Mike brings extensive EMEA experience to Bluecore. This will be invaluable to our rapid expansion outside of North America and will give us a strong foundation upon which to further support our existing European customers." "UK retailers have historically led the way in Europe when it comes to adopting innovative marketing and personalization technologies," said Harris, who will report directly to Holland. "I'm very excited to be leading Bluecore's launch in the UK, a market that understands the importance of using first-party data to drive personalized experiences". "Perry Ellis International has worked with Bluecore since 2014 across 6 of our lifestyle apparel brands. This partnership has significantly evolved our customers' experience and enhanced our interaction with each individual shopper that comes to our brands' e-commerce sites", said Justin Roisman, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing of Perry Ellis International. "We look to Bluecore for more than technology; we consider them partners on campaign strategy. It will be valuable to have their team on the ground in the UK so we can further strengthen our relationship with our UK and EU consumers." News of Bluecore's global expansion is yet another milestone for the company, who not even a month ago was listed #241 on the Inc. 500 and has grown 2002% in the last three years alone. ABOUT BLUECORE Bluecore is a retail marketing company that empowers marketers to launch any personalized campaign in 60 seconds through a single platform that connects real-time product and customer data. More than 400 retail brands, including Staples (News - Alert) , Tommy Hilfiger, Perry Ellis, Teleflora and Best Buy Canada, use Bluecore to deploy triggered communications across email, social media, search and display. Bluecore's AI-driven decisioning engine determines the timing and content for the next-best communication based on insight into individual shoppers' onsite behaviors and how specific product shifts influence their actions. All of this drives relevance for shoppers and increased revenue with less effort for brands. Learn more at www.bluecore.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005259/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] MyRealGames.com Announce Their Fresh New Games for Fall LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MyRealGames.com have launched some new games to provide plenty of choice to fill the darker, cooler days for gamers. The Fall drop includes lots of fresh challenges for players who want to download free games to PC or free car games, providing a wide variety of options to see them right through to Spring. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/589258/My_Real_Games_Logo.jpg ) (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/748629/MyRealGames_Fall_Releases.jpg ) "October and November are some of our busiest months of the year, as the warmer weather disappears and our thoughts naurally turn to hunkering down indoors and getting cozy," says MyRealGames.com's Nikolai Veselov. "With that in mind we've gone all out to collate a top notch parade of new games for our visitors to enjoy whatever the weather." Consistently one of the most popular genres, Hidden Object fans are sure to appreciate Farmington Tales 2: Winter Crop. Set to a snowy backdrop on the picturesque Dahlia Farms, the farming / hidden object hybrid fittingly challengers players to keep the crops thriving and farm flourishing as colder weather sets in. The shooting and time management game, Conflict Craft is also new this season. Set in an alternate reality, players will need to think carefully to outwit the enemy, defend their own units and protect resources from the opposing armies of terrorists. Also new is Crazycle, one of several new car racing games and perfect for all members of the family to enjoy. Gamers simply select their ride and take to the tracks to complete their missions. Finally, with no less than 40 levels, two brand new worlds and a merciless enemy to overcome, Iron Sea Frontier Defenders demands a steady hand and strategic mind. Players must defend the forts and build canons to achieve victory. To find out more and to play, visit the website: http://www.myrealgames.com. No registration is required to play any of the free games online, via mobile or PC download. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Voysis Announces Embedded WaveNet for Mobile Devices and IoT Voysis, the complete Voice AI platform company, today announced that it has developed ViEW - Voysis Embedded WaveNet. ViEW represents the next evolution of DeepMind's WaveNet technology making it available for use on any mobile device without needing cloud connectivity. Designed to process the raw audio signal directly, thus allowing the neural network to learn without the constraints of traditional signal processing, WaveNet technology represents the core of the next generation of Voice AI and significantly outperforms all existing techniques in speech synthesis, sounding almost indistinguishable from human speech. Commenting on the significance of WaveNets, Prof. Simon King, Director of the Centre of Speech Technology Research at the University of Edinburgh, and widely acknowledged as a global expert in speech synthesis said, "Directly processing raw audio with neural networks is a game-changer...it provides more natural-sounding speech than all previous technologies. It is likely to become the de facto approach used in commercial applications very soon." ViEW addresses the primary concern of many companies shipping voice powered interfaces - rapidly increasing consumer usage is resulting in a dramatic increase in data center requirements. ViEW models are designed to be small and fast, where it's possibe to run them natively on-device; removing the need for the data center entirely. "ViEW, Voysis Embedded WaveNet, is the beginning of the next evolution of voice and conversational capability. This technology opens the door to having intelligent conversations with any and all devices. As consumer data is processed locally on-device, consumer privacy concerns are addressed; and business concerns around data center costs, uptime, and maintenance are also addressed", said Dr. Peter Cahill, Co-founder of Voysis. Ian Hodson, an industry veteran and former head of Google's (News - Alert) global text-to-speech team, and now Distinguished Architect at Voysis said that, "WaveNet took the industry by surprise and is significantly superior to what many thought was possible. In the space of less than 24 months, WaveNets have gone from being far too power hungry to run in the cloud even for a single user, to now, with ViEW, Voysis Embedded WaveNet, being ready for global scale across all devices, for example, cell phones, wearables, smart home appliances, and in-vehicle". About Voysis Voysis is the Complete Voice AI Platform. The platform was built from the ground up by a team of scientists, engineers, and linguists with expertise in speech technologies as well as the application of end-to-end modeling approaches in cognitive computing and neural networks. Voysis utilizes speech recognition, natural language processing and understanding, deep learning, and text to speech capabilities, all of which were developed in-house. The company was founded by CEO Peter Cahill, a Ph.D. who has dedicated 15 years to speech technology and neural network research. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with offices in Edinburgh, Scotland and Boston, MA. For more information, please visit: www.voysis.com. Copyright 2018 Voysis. All Rights Reserved. Google and DeepMind are trademarks of Google LLC and its parent Alphabet Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005318/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Square and the Specialty Coffee Association Release Coffee Data Report in Honor of National Coffee Day Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) and the Specialty Coffee Association released a Coffee Data Report today, in honor of National Coffee Day, on September 29 and International Coffee Day on October 1. Coffee shop menus across the country confirm that caffeine-obsessed (including lactose-averse) Americans have more choices than ever before. Receipts tell a similar tale: we are drinking more than 67 million lattes per year, replacing iced coffee with cold brew, and switching from almond to oat milk. The report digs into the current state of coffee consumption across the U.S. and sheds light on emerging trends disrupting the coffee industry. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005031/en/ Square Coffee Report 2018 (Graphic: Business Wire) "The independent coffee shop is an integral part of so many neighborhoods. It's a space where communities come together," said Peter Giuliano, Chief Research Officer at the Specialty Coffee Association. "But with that independence comes the unique challenges of running a small business, while seeking to make coffee more sustainable from the farer to the barista. In order to achieve both, information is critical. That's why we are thrilled to share these insights, ultimately helping independent shops make their businesses more sustainable, allowing them to focus on the quality and community they provide each day." Key findings from the report: Though new to the coffee scene as of 2016, oat milk sales have increased 425% since June 2017, projecting that oat milk may soon surpass almond as the fan-favorite. Almond milk remains the most popular alternative milk at coffee shops across the U.S., with consistent sales in the past year. Flat Whites, an Australian coffee classic, are new to the U.S. coffee scene but gaining traction fast. Flat White sales have increased 41% in the past year. Alaska is home to the highest-tipping coffee drinkers in the country, giving their baristas on average, a 17.5% tip, six percent higher than the national average. A standard latte doesn't cut it anymore. The average American requests two add-ons to their customized coffee order. Please find the complete Coffee Report at www.squareup.com/townsquare/coffee-day-2018. To celebrate independent coffee shops across the U.S., Square and the Specialty Coffee Association are hosting an interactive coffee exhibit in NYC, Now Serving: Coffee, that brings coffee data to life, featuring Brooklyn-based Toby's Estate Coffee, who will provide free hands-on coffee workshops, discounted coffee drinks, and beans for sale. The exhibit is open to the public from 11 AM to 7 PM on Friday, September 28 through Saturday, September 29. For more information and to RSVP, please visit: www.squarenationalcoffeeday.splashthat.com. For coffee connoisseurs not able to attend the event, you can celebrate National Coffee Day with Cash App and save a $1 every time you swipe your Cash Card at coffee shops across the US. Simply select the Coffee Shop Boost in app to get an instant $1 discount every time you use your Cash Card at local spots, national chains, and your favorite cafes across the country (some restrictions apply, see app for details). * Source (News - Alert) : Specialty Coffee Association Retail Sentiment Index, 2018. Data is based off of millions of anonymized transactions from thousands of coffee shops across the U.S. Data set includes transactions from June 2017 to June 2018. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005031/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Identillect and New Jersey State Bar Association combine efforts to educate Bar Members on Cyber-Security IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Identillect Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "Identillect") (TSX-V: ID, OTCQB: IDTLF, Frankfurt: 8ID), announces today the New Jersey State Bar Association (the New Jersey State Bar) has partnered with Identillect to educate and create awareness at all levels of technical understanding. This educational series will train attorneys on how to prevent cyber-attacks. The first two dates of the educational series are on October 25th, 2018, as an introductory course on understanding the basics of cyber-security and protection. Next on December 11th, 2018, the series will educate on advanced understanding of overcoming cyber-crime and using preventative measures. Identillect has seen growth over the past several years with many law firms and bar associations as the legal community has become more aware of the need for cyber-security across the United States. New Jersey State Bar is one of the largest voluntary Bar Associations in the United States, proudly serving over 18,000 members . As the voice of New Jersey attorneys, they support their extensive member base by fostering professionalism, advancing personal development and encouraging participation. Recognizing the need to inform and protect New Jersey attorneys against a constantly evolving stream of cybersecurity issues, the New Jersey State Bar has created a Cybersecurity Task Force . Dr. Robert Spangler, Associate Executive Director, Operations and Information Technology at the New Jersey Bar Association comments, At the New Jersey Bar we are proud to continually bring innovative programs to our bar members, secure email communication has an increasingly important role when attorneys engage in digital communication. Lisa W. Spiegel., Esq. Senior Managing Drector of CLE programs at the New Jersey Bar states, As the New Jersey Bar Association provides one of the most comprehensive CLE (Continuing Learning Education) programs available to its members, cyber-security is a prominent area of concern and we will frequently educate our members on this subject matter. According to LogicForces Law Firm Cyber Security Scorecard, 40% of surveyed law firms were not aware they were breached in 2016 ( cyber-attacks-espionage/hackers-are-aggressively-targeting-law-firms ). This highlights a true need for not only tools to combat cyber threats, but also increased awareness and education surrounding digital communication channels. Identillect CEO Todd Sexton states, The legal community has become a target for cyber criminals in recent years. The best way to combat being a target is to educate and deploy security protocols which will minimize the number of attorneys experiencing data breaches. Identillect is proud to be part of the New Jersey State Bars efforts to expand the knowledge of their members to prevent cybercrime. Identillect continues to maintain its commitment to the legal community and various State Bar Associations, providing education and the simplest security tools available. About Identillect Identillect Technologies is the leading provider of email encryption service Delivery Trust, empowering enterprises of all sizes to protect their business and their clients critical information against cyber security attacks. Delivery Trust is an award-winning, multi-platform plug-in, which gives users complete control of their emails, for one low price. One simple integration complies with all regulations and most importantly provides peace of mind. For more information, or your free trial, please visit www.identillect.com On Behalf of the Board of Directors of: IDENTILLECT TECHNOLOGIES CORP. Todd Sexton Chief Executive Officer Tel: (949) 468-7878 Email: todd.sexton@identillect.com About The New Jersey State Bar Association As the voice of New Jersey attorneys, they support more than 18,000 members by fostering professionalism, advancing personal development and encouraging participation. The New Jersey State Bar Association is a voluntary membership that can keep its members current, expand their network, influence legislative and provide exclusive discounts and benefits. They have also recognized the need to inform and protect New Jersey attorneys against a constantly evolving stream of cybersecurity issues, the New Jersey State Bar Association has created a Cybersecurity Task Force to advance the security efforts the Bar Association. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] KnowBe4 Introduces Domain Doppelganger to Help Brands Identify Malicious, Fake Web Domains Tampa Bay, FL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KnowBe4, the provider of the worlds largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, today announced that it has introduced a new tool, Domain Doppelganger, which searches for fake web domains. According to Farsight Security, for every top global brand registered today, bad guys have created nearly 20 fake web domains. Of these spoofed sites, more than ninety percent offer some kind of legitimate looking web page with the intent to damage or deceive users. Domain Doppelganger is a new web-based, free tool that allows IT professionals to search for these evil twin, potentially harmful domains. The no-charge tool combines th search, discovery, reporting, risk indicator identification, end-user assessment and training in a single, easy interface. Domain Doppelganger issues reports with aggregated results that include risk indicators, and based on these results, generates an online domain safety assessment quiz for an organizations end users. Imitation domains are a risk to organizations because they can prompt phishing scams or can contain malware, said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO, KnowBe4. Instead of using multiple methods to search for at-risk domains, IT professionals can utilize KnowBe4sDomain Doppelganger tool as a one-stop shop to identify, aggregate, analyze and assess these domains. By learning the look-alike domains that might impact your brand, you can better protect your organization from cybercrime. According to research by Farsight Security, fake internet domain names being used to trick consumers into giving up personal information is more widespread than experts originally thought. Between Oct. 17, 2017 and Jan. 10, 2018, the company observed more than 116,000 look-alike domains of real sites like Facebook, Twitter, Gucci, Wells Fargo and others. To download the new Domain Doppelganger tool, please visit https://www.knowbe4.com/domain-doppelganger/. About KnowBe4 KnowBe4, the provider of the worlds largest integrated security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 20,000 organizations worldwide. Founded by data and IT security expert Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness of ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to security awareness training. Kevin Mitnick, internationally recognized computer security expert and KnowBe4s Chief Hacking Officer, helped design KnowBe4s training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations worldwide trust KnowBe4 to mobilize their employees as their last line of defense. Number 96 on the 2018 Inc. 500 list, #70 on 2017 Deloittes Technology Fast 500 and #2 in Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity 500. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida with European offices in England, the Netherlands, Germany and offices in South Africa and Singapore. Amanda Tarantino KnowBe4 7277484221 amandat@knowbe4.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Digital Element Announces Industry's First IP-to-Point-of-Interest Database for Reaching On-the-Go Consumers Digital Element, the global geolocation data and services provider, today announced its new NetAcuity Point of Interest (POI) Database, a first-of-its-kind IP-to-POI dataset that helps to identify consumers in the immediate vicinity of nearby points of interest. Leveraging its unique Mobility Index, which indicates whether an IP address is fixed or mobile, and the company's machine-learning methodologies, Digital Element has made the missing connection between stationary IPs, their locations, and the points of interest around on-the-go users connecting via static IPs. This gives marketers a list of POIs within 100 meters of a consumer, and includes businesses in such categories as retail stores, restaurants, gas stations, hospitals, churches, etc. Digital Element's proprietary algorithms and data scientists leverage multiple inputs that will return either a one-to-one relationship for an IP address, or will provide a list of the closest POIs. By ingesting device-derived data and partner-derived POI data, the company's unique dataset allows marketers to target consumers in real time and to attribute historical IP traffic to potential real-world foot traffic in and around brick-and-mortar locations, adding context and insights to consumer behavior from online IP traffic. The POI database values include Instance (i.e. name of the POI such as "Starbucks" or "Red Lobster"); Category (i.e. the category for the given POI such as "Restaurants"); and ID (i.e. the NAICS numeric value for the category). For example, should a marketer want to target a category such as "Restaurants," and a specific business within that category-such as "Bob's National Burger Chain"-there is the option to target on a national scale, as well as geographical regions, DMAs, city-level and more, allowing even greater segmentation and measurement control. Digital Element's NetAcuity Solution Suite delivers the most accurate data in the industry. The solution's global accuracy is more than 99.9 percent at the country level and is up to 97+ percent accurate at a city level. As for coverage, NetAcuity provides coverage for 99.9999 percent of the Internet and collects more than one million points-of-view daily. This type of accuracy and coverage is unmatched in the geolocation space. The NetAcuity POI Database is immediately available in the United States and Canada, with plans for international availability in early 2019. About Digital Element Since 1999, Digital Element has been providing global geolocation data and services that bring anytime, anywhere relevance and context to online initiatives-from desktops to mobile devices. The company's patented technology has been certified and accredited to deliver real-time access to accurate and reliable location intelligence without invading Internet users' privacy. For nearly two decades, many of the world's largest websites, brands, security companies, ad networks, social media platforms and mobile publishers have trusted Digital Element's technology to target advertising, localize content, enhance analytics, and manage content rights as well as detect and prevent fraud. Visit www.digitalelement.com for more information on how to bring the power of location to the online world. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter (News - Alert) @DigitalElement then like us on Facebook. Headquartered in Atlanta and London, Digital Element is a division of Digital Envoy Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005011/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] CRA Consultants Named Top IP Professionals in IAM 2018 Guides CRA International, Inc., a worldwide leader in providing economic, financial, and management consulting services, today announced that several CRA consultants were recognized as leading patent and IP strategy professionals by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM). Gregory Bell, Christopher Bokhart, James Donohue, Daniel McGavock, Raymond Sims, and Michael Tate were named in the latest edition of IAM Patent 1000, which identifies and profiles the best-in-class patent prosecution, licensing, and litigation practitioners on a global basis, as well as expert witnesses in the United States. Robert Goldman, Daniel McGavock, and Richard Razgaitis were named in the latest edition of IAM Strategy 300, an annual listing recognizing outstanding IP strategists. "CRA is proud to have consultants who are consistently recognized by their peers," said CRA's President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Maleh. "Their expertise and profound vision for patent matters and leadership in IP strategy greatly enhance our firm's exceptional service offerings to our clients." Group Vice President and Life Sciences Practice Leader Gregory K. Bell frequently testifies as an expert witness on damages in IP, finance, and antitrust litigation in courts and arbitration proceedings in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has considerable experience regarding lost profits, price erosion, and reasonable royalty issues in IP disputes. Vice President Christopher Bokhart has extensive experience in preparing claims for economic loss in patent and trademark cases, including calculation of lost profits, reasonable royalty prejudgment interest, and cost of capital. Mr. Bokhart has also provided expert testimony on the subjects of lost profits, reasonable royalty, the value of client lists and other trade secrets, the value of trademarks, and the breach of license agreements. Vice President James Donohue has served as a financial consultant for more than 25 years in a wide range of areas, including damages, valuation, and forensic accounting. He has extensive experience in IP valuation, transactions, and litigation. He has provided expert damages testimony in federal, state, and bankruptcy courts, as well as in various arbitration venues. Vice President Robert Goldman assists clients in developing and implementing strategies to manage and realize value from their IP portfolios. He specializes in evaluating and valuing intellectual property, particularly large patent portfolios, for a variety of purposes, including mergers and acquisitions, licensing and sale transactions, bankruptcy proceedings, and determination of damages. Vice President, Intellectual Property Practice Leader Daniel McGavock has specialized in the valuation and strategic management of intellectual property for more than 30 years. He has provided expert testimony in over 75 IP matters and has experience in a variety of forums. Mr. McGavock has addressed all areas of potential economic recovery in IP disputes, including lost profits, price erosion, reasonable royalty, fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory licensing terms, profit disgorgement, and unjust enrichment. Senior Advisor Richard Razgaitis has 40 years of experience working with the development, commercialization, strategic management, and licensing of technology. He has valued and negotiated numerous licenses in a wide range of technologies. He has authored four books and four book chapters on technology and IP valuation, negotiation, and deal making. Vice President Raymond Sims frequently advises companies and their counsel regarding economic issues in commercial litigation and has testified as an expert witness in a wide range of litigation, including patent, copyright and trademark infringement, theft of trade secrets, and commercial contract disputes. Vice President Michael Tate has served as a consultant and expert on IP matters for over 30 years. He has served as an expert witness or consultant in a wide range of litigation matters, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret infringement litigation. Read more about IAM Patent 1000 - The World's Leading Patent Professionals and IAM Strategy 300 - The World's Leading IP Strategists here. About Charles River Associates (CRA) Charles River Associates is a global consulting firm specializing in economic, financial, and management consulting services. CRA advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings, and guides corporations through critical business strategy and performance-related issues. Since 1965, clients have engaged CRA for its unique combination of functional expertise and industry knowledge, and for its objective solutions to complex problems. Headquartered in Boston, CRA has offices throughout the world. Detailed information about Charles River Associates, a registered trade name of CRA International, Inc. is available at http://www.crai.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005456/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Firstly Mobile Brings Frictionless Content to Telecom Companies ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mobile Posse , the technology innovator that turns telecom companies into mobile media leaders, today announced the release of Firstly Mobile. Firstly Mobile, the companys latest next-gen content discovery platform, creates a smarter smartphone experience for consumers, a safer brand experience for advertisers and a bigger revenue opportunity for carriers and OEMs. Firstly Mobile consists of the Firstly Mobile Platform for carriers and OEMs and Firstly Mobile Media, a collection of premium properties for media buyers. The Firstly Mobile platform creates native device experiences that make the smartphone better. Now, your phone conveniently brings you the content you love when transitioning between mobile activities -- such as when you open a new browser tab to start a new search, swipe to find recent apps or at times when you ulock your phone to fill idle moments. The Firstly Mobile Platform drives greater consumer engagement and boosts advertising revenues for carriers and OEMs through three solutions: firstAPP A time-saving unlock agent that decides when to change the first app a user sees after unlocking their phone into a personalized content experience A time-saving unlock agent that decides when to change the first app a user sees after unlocking their phone into a personalized content experience firstPLACE A Minus One destination thats the first place to look to find something interesting A Minus One destination thats the first place to look to find something interesting firstPAGE A personalized web portal experience that adds curated stories to the first page seen when launching the browser Firstly Mobile Media offers a trusted and proven source for effective media buys for advertisers through premium mobile websites and apps, which are operated in partnership with major U.S. mobile carriers, creating a brand-safe environment for consumers, advertisers and publishers alike. Recent movements by major telecom players prove the future is now for carriers and OEMs to make a real entry into the mobile content and advertising game, said Mobile Posse CEO Jon Jackson. Firstly Mobile is our next-gen content discovery solution for better smartphone experiences. It demonstrates our commitment to helping carriers and OEMs move fast, delight subscribers and change the mobile content game. Consumers want quality content delivered easily. Mobile Posse is creating a better smartphone with more meaningful experiences for consumers, publishers and advertisers ensuring carriers and OEMs can use their device clout to deliver these better mobile experiences. Mobile Posse was recently named one of the fastest-growing private companies in America by Inc. 5000 on the heels of accomplishing several notable milestones: Launching its third new telecom partner this year Topping six million daily active users (DAU) and 40 million monthly active users (MAU) Topping three billion monthly page views The company also tripled the size of its office space when it moved into its new headquarters earlier this summer. About Mobile Posse Mobile Posse turns telecom companies into mobile media leaders through its Firstly Mobile content discovery platform. The Firstly Mobile Platform creates a better smartphone experience by presenting engaging curated content--without having to open...load...search...or wait. With billions of frictionless mobile content experiences delivered each month, Firstly Mobile drives greater consumer engagement and boosts advertising revenues for carriers and OEMs. And it presents a proven and brand-safe mobile media opportunity for advertisers. Mobile Posse, the pioneer of frictionless mobile media solutions, is based in Arlington, VA. The companys posse of trailblazers is passionate about making the smartphone even smarter. Every day. For more information, visit www.mobileposse.com . Media Contact Brook Terran 805-570-3309 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Industrial Cybersecurity Leader Nozomi Networks Raises $30 Million SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nozomi Networks Inc. , the leader in industrial cybersecurity and operational visibility announced today it has raised $30 million in Series C financing. The companys first institutional investor, Giovanni Canetta Roeder, led the efforts of Planven Investments SA, GGV Capital, Lux Capital, Energize Ventures (formerly Invenergy Future Fund) and THI Investments, bringing Nozomi Networks total funding to date to $53.8 million. This latest round quickly follows a $15 million round in January 2018. Funding will be used to fortify Nozomi Networks market lead by further broadening its global presence and continuing expansion of research and development. The company is solidly positioned to address an ICS cybersecurity market that continues an upward trajectory. The backing of all our existing investors so quickly after our previous round is tremendous validation that the time for Nozomi Networks is now, said Edgard Capdevielle, President and CEO of Nozomi Networks. While 2018 has been a year of great attention on industrial vulnerabilities, 2019 will be the year the industry takes greater action to secure the worlds critical infrastructure. 2017 was a breakout year in which Nozomi Networks significantly beat its revenue goals and expanded its customer footprint across five continents, culminating in its series B funding round in January. 2018 continues Nozomi Networks explosive growth, as the company entered into global strategic partnerships with IBM, Atos and Cisco, and opened offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Click to Tweet : Nozomi Networks Raises $30 Million Extents ICS Cybersecurity Leadership https://ctt.ac/n42h9+ #thosewhoknowpicknozomi Since our initial investment in the company, weve only grown more excited about this market and in Nozomi Networks management teams ability to build a global enterprise software company. Nozomi Networks is a customer-focused and reliable organization and it is uniquely positioned to address its clients most advanced ICS cybersecurity threats, said Giovanni Canetta Roeder, CEO, Planven Investments SA. Now is the right time to double dwn on our investment in Nozomi Networks. Nozomi Networks built its platform specifically for the most challenging industrial environments, with the scale needed for large global installations. Substantive new deployments and expanding engagements with existing customers is proof positive that Nozomi Networks has the right solution to deliver the ICS security and operational visibility customers need to be resilient. Midway through the year, Nozomi Networks had exceeded its annual revenue goals and now has more than 1000 installations, monitoring and protecting over 300,000 industrial devices spanning utilities, oil and gas, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, mining and other critical infrastructure sectors. That includes 500+ hydro generation facilities, 400+ gas distribution substations, 300+ electrical substations and dozens of refineries and global manufacturing sites. The significant customer traction drove investors to quickly fund Nozomi Networks again to further accelerate the companys growth. Supporting Quotes: Nozomi Networks dedication to building a secure future for the worlds critical infrastructure is paying off, said Glenn Solomon, Managing Partner, GGV Capital. Given the incredible reaction of Nozomis customers and partners to the companys steady stream of innovative new products, its resoundingly clear that the Nozomi team has emerged as the industry leader, with a track record of success, proven expertise and advanced technology needed to meet the ICS cybersecurity requirements of the industrial infrastructure that runs the world. As cyber attacks against energy, oil and gas and other critical infrastructure continue to grow in frequency and sophistication, Nozomi Networks has emerged as the trusted provider in this space, said John Tough, Partner, Energize Ventures. With virtually every industrial organization looking for a solution, there couldnt be a better time to fuel Nozomi Networks leadership in this space. Nozomi Networks impressive revenue and customer growth has been augmented by the rapid expansion of the companys global partner network, said Bilal Zuberi, Partner, Lux Capital. Nozomi Networks partners now include an expansive list of global leaders in IT and OT networking and security. In a market where ICS Cybersecurity is now a C-level priority, it is a perfect opportunity for Lux to double down on our investment in Nozomi Networks. Additional Information: Read the related blog : $30 Million Funding Fuels Nozomi Networks ICS Security Leadership See the infographic: Nozomi Networks Accelerates Leadership in ICS Cyber Security About Nozomi Networks Nozomi Networks is the leader of industrial cyber security, delivering the best solution for real-time visibility to manage cyber risk and improve resilience for industrial operations. With one solution, customers gain advanced cyber security, improved operational reliability and easy IT/OT integration. Innovating the use of artificial intelligence, the company helps the largest industrial facilities around the world See and Secure their critical industrial control networks. Today Nozomi Networks supports over a quarter of a million devices in sectors such as critical infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, mining, transportation and utilities, making it possible to tackle escalating cyber risks to operational networks (OT). www.nozominetworks.com Press Contacts: Jil Backstrom jil.backstrom@nozominetworks.com - 303.913.1650 Follow the Nozomi Networks Blog Follow @nozominetworks on Twitter Visit and follow the Nozomi Networks Corporate Page on LinkedIn [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Bank of America Introduces My Rewards Today, Bank of America announces the launch of My Rewards - a single, convenient dashboard that allows clients to see and manage all of their rewards across multiple Bank of America rewards programs. Clients will begin to see My Rewards in online banking within the next week, and the rollout for the Bank of America mobile app will continue in October. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005213/en/ My Rewards page (Photo: Business Wire) My Rewards offers clients an easy-to-use tool that tracks the rewards they earn across Preferred Rewards, credit cards and BankAmeriDeals, all organized in a centralized dashboard. The dashboard summary page displays the total value of their rewards earnings, with details about what they have earned from each program. It also shows clients how to maximize the value of rewards they have earned and redeem them, and provides recommendations for new rewards clients can access. There are three tiers in Preferred Rewards, and each tier provides clients a wide array of benefits across everyday banking products. As a client's qualifying Bank of America banking and Merrill Lynchor Merrill Edge investment balances grow, so does the level of their rewards and benefits. With BankAmeriDeals, clients earn cash back on deals they choose when they pay with their eligible Bank of America debit or credit card. "My Rewards is a game-changer that enhances our industry-leading rewards programs. It provides clients a new level of visibility into rewards they have earned to date and how they can earn even more as their relationship with us grows," said David Tyrie, Consumer Products executive. "My Rewards will change the way our clients think about their rewards, offering greater transparency across programs to earn and redeem rewards in a simpler way." My Rewards has a new user-friendly interface that allows clients to easily view their total rewards earnings and further details on each program. For example, clients enrolled in Preferred Rewards can see their credit card rewards bonuses, discounts on banking services, Merrill Edge $0 online stock and ETF trades, and loan discount benefits. Clients can also view and redeem credit card rewards and learn more about opportunities to shop and earn with BankAmeriDeals. "Our 36 million digital clients continue to drive our innovation in mobile, and My Rewards is a great example of that," said Michelle Moore, head of Consumer Advanced Solutions and Digital Banking. "Clients told us they wanted more visibility into how their rewards stack up, and this new feature provides them one convenient place to see and manage their rewards." This announcement comes on the heels of a major milestone for the Preferred Rewards program, which recently surpassed 5 million clients enrolled. Bank of America's Digital Banking Leadership Bank of America's digital banking platform is an evolving source of increased client engagement and satisfaction serving more than 36 million digital clients, including 25 million active mobile users. Its award-winning mobile app was the first to receive J.D. Power's certification for "An Outstanding Mobile Banking Customer Experience." During the second quarter of 2018, mobile banking clients logged into their accounts 1.4 billion times, made 139 million bill payments and deposited 34 million checks via mobile. Bank of America Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,400 retail financial centers, including more than 1,700 lending centers, more than 1,900 Merrill Edge investment centers and more than 1,300 business centers; approximately 16,100 ATMs; and award-winning digital banking with more than 36 million active users, including 25 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom. Click here to register for news email alerts. www.bankofamerica.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005213/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Cooper Tire to Reach 10,000 Students at Manufacturing Day Events in October Marking its fourth year as a member of the National Association of Manufacturers' (NAM) and Manufacturing Institute's (MI) Dream It. Do It. program, Cooper Tire will connect with more than 10,000 students-primarily eighth graders-for Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) events throughout October. Cooper will focus on the communities where the company has major facilities-Findlay, Ohio; Texarkana, Ark.; and Tupelo, Miss. In addition to participating in some community-wide efforts, the company will host its own "Cooper Manufacturing Experience" events. These highly interactive, hands-on events have been planned by the company's Dream Team, a group of approximately 40 early-career employees from across the company who work with students year-round to educate and improve the image of careers in manufacturing with the goal of strengthening the future workforce pipeline. "If we want students to consider careers in manufacturing, we need to show them firsthand how exciting and technology-driven today's manufacturing environment is," said John Bollman, Cooper's Chief Human Resources Officer. "To effectively reach students, nothing beats Cooper's Manufacturing Experience, which gives them an opportunity to see, touch and try equipment and talk directly with people who are part of the everyday working world here at Cooper. Every year, we witness the perceptions of students change right before our eyes once they see and understand what we do and envision themselves a part of it someday. That's powerful." Matt Petr, Product Design Engineer for Cooper's North America Technical Center, said, "I joined the Cooper Dream Team because I want to be a part of something that has a positive impact on the future of our community and our company. I enjoy helping students understand how interesting and complex manufacturing is, and that careers in our field can also be creative and fun. My goal is to help students get excited about the infinite career opportunities available in manufacturing and get them to begin thinking about what they need to do now to prepare for their future." Patrice Fitte, Manager, Distribution and Operations Planning, Cooper Texarkana, added, "I love helping to educate young people on the fascinating careers available in manufacturing. I want to show the students, as well as the parents and teachers, that manufacturing offers rewarding careers and the opportunity to work in exciting and innovative environments. My goal is to have the students leave Manufacturing Day truly inspired to pursue a career in manufacturing." While National MFG Day is officially Oct. 5 this year, the Cooper Manufacturing Experience will be offered to students throughout the month of October in Cooper communities. Findlay, Ohio, Oct. 2-5 In Findlay, where Cooper's global headquarters, technical facilities and a tire manufacturing/distribution facility are located, approximately 1,000 eighth grade students from 11 schools will come to an outdoor event at company headquarters Oct. 2 to 5 to experience 16 different interactive stations. The stations, which range from tire design, mold design, mixing, the millroom, tire assembly, curing, finishing and tire testing, engage students in understanding the manufacturing process. They will also learn about careers in research and development, engineering, marketing, human resources, procurement and more. For example, students will have the opportunity to see 3D printing in action and learn how 3D prototypes are used in tire production. They will also see robotics equipment working and help hand-inspect tires to see how Cooper ensures quality. United Steelworkers (USW) Local 207L will host an interactive trivia contest where students can show off what they have learned. New activities in Findlay this year include the opportunity for students to use radio frequency identification (RFID) scanners to understand how Cooper deploys them in its operations and they will race each other to assemble LEGO vehicles using lean manufacturing techniques. In addition, Oct. 3 to 5, Ohio State University will showcase its award-winning EcoCAR2 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, which bested 14 other universities in the Advanced Vehicle Technology competition, sponsored by the Department of Energy and General Motors (News - Alert) , with support also from Cooper. Texarkana, Ark., Oct. 9-11 In Texarkana, where Cooper has a tire manufacturing/distribution facility, approximately 2,000 students from 14 middle and junior high schools will come to the Texarkana Convention Center Oct. 9 through 11 to experience many of the same interactive stations that will be featured as part of the Findlay event. In addition, Cooper employees who are alumni of the participating schools are scheduled to speak to students about their personal career paths and what led them from being a student to working in manufacturing at Cooper. Tupelo, Miss., Oct. 2-4 and Oct. 19 and 22 In Tupelo, where Cooper has a tire production/distribution facility, the company will participate in the local Imagine the Possibilities Career Expo Oct. 2 to 4 at the BancorpSouth arena. More than 7,000 eighth grade students will attend the Expo, which is an annual local event that will feature dozens of area businesses, giving students a glimpse into many different career options, including manufacturing and Cooper. In addition, the Cooper Dream Team will host the Cooper Manufacturing Experience on site at Tupelo High School on Oct. 19 and 22, when some 1,200 students will experience many of the same exciting and interactive stations that Findlay and Texarkana will offer. Schedule of events by location: Findlay, Ohio (Cooper Tire Headquarters) October 2 - 5 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time Texarkana, Arkansas (Texarkana Convention Center) October 9 - 10 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. local time October 11 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. local time Tupelo, Mississippi Imagine The Possibilities (BancorpSouth Arena) October 2 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. local time October 3 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. local time October 3 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time October 4 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. local time Tupelo, Mississippi High School October 19 and 22 7:50 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. local time Students who attend the Cooper Manufacturing Experience in all three communities will be encouraged to share their experiences through social media using #CooperCareers and #MFGDay18, which will expand awareness of manufacturing to family and friends across the U.S. About Dream It. Do It. Today's manufacturing is about advanced technologies, state-of-the-art facilities and fast-paced work environments. But most of all, manufacturing is about those people who like to see the product of a hard day's work. However, this is not the impression of manufacturing that is held by many Americans today. Only 35 percent of parents say they would encourage their children to pursue careers in manufacturing, despite the advanced skills and high pay that are characteristic of work in today's advanced manufacturing industry. This is due to a perception of manufacturing that existed a generation ago but does not represent the current reality of the industry. To put an end to this misperception, the Manufacturing Institute launched the Dream It. Do It. network in 2005. Dream It. Do It. works to change the perception of the industry and inspire next-generation workers to pursue manufacturing careers. Members of the Dream It. Do It. program gain access to national support and resources to aid their pro-manufacturing efforts and join a network of industry leaders that implement activities to meet local, regional and statewide workforce needs. The initiative offers local manufacturers, schools, community-based organizations and other stakeholders the opportunity to partner with a respected national platform to promote manufacturing as a top tier career choice in the United States. Dream It. Do It. promotes manufacturing to three distinct audiences: students, parents and educators. About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) is the parent company of a global family of companies that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car and light truck tires. Cooper and its subsidiaries also sell medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper's headquarters is in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations within its family of companies located in more than one dozen countries around the world. For more information on Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com, www.facebook.com/coopertire or www.twitter.com/coopertire. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005025/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] ECi Software Solutions Granted Preliminary Injunction Against Prosperity Computer Solutions ECi Software Solutions, a leader in cloud-based business management solutions, today announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, has granted an agreed preliminary injunction prohibiting Prosperity Computer Solutions from accessing, using, modifying, copying or tampering with ECi's Advantage software and prohibiting two former Advantage customers from using the Advantage software. The agreed injunction is the latest development in an ongoing lawsuit by ECi against Prosperity. ECi filed suit against Prosperity and the two former customers in August 2018 alleging, among other things, that Prosperity had violated the terms of a 2016 settlement agreement, that it had misappropriated ECi trade secrets and that it had conspired with two former customers to violate ECi's intellectual property rights in the Advantage software. "As a software company, our intellectual property is critical to our differentiation in the market and our long-term success as a business," said John Maiuri, President, LBMH Division of ECi Software Solutions. "It is prudent that we take any means necessary to protect it. We view the preliminary injunction as an important first step in our case against Prosperity and the two customers. According to the terms of the preliminary injunction, Prosperity is "enjoined from directly or indirectly accessing, using, modifying, copying, or tampering with the Advantage software for any purposes whatsoever and regardless of where located," and is also prohibited from "assisting, encouraging, or facilitating ECi's current or former customers or third parties in modifying, tampering with, or copying the Advantage software for any purposes." Similar limitations were put on specific, executable commands found within Advantage software that set the expiration date for authorized licenses. The agreed findings in the order state that "Prosperity used the [commands] without ECi's express or implied consent to change the license expiration dates in the versions of the Advantage software utilized by [two customers] after [those customers] had ceased making monthly payments to ECi." "Enforcement of our intellectual property rights is of paramount importance to ECi," said Gordon P. Kushner, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of ECi Software Solutions. "When we were presented with the evidence involving Prosperity and two former customers, we moved swiftly to protect those rights through the courts. And we would do so again in the future if necessary to protect our intellectual property." ECi Advantage software equips lumber and hardware retailers with business management software to grow their businesses. It is part of ECi's suite of business software solutions for the lumber, building materials and hardlines sector, which provide complete back-office-to-inventory-to-POS systems that bring all business functions together in one cloud-based software to improve efficiency and increase profitability. About ECi ECi Software Solutions provides end-to-end business management software and services, focusing on cloud-based technologies. For more than two decades, ECi has served small to medium-sized manufacturing, wholesale/retail distribution, building and construction, and field service organizations. Privately held, ECi is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, with offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, England, the Netherlands, and Australia. For information, email info@ecisolutions.com, visit www.ECiSolutions.com or call (800) 959-3367. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005532/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] LLamasoft and Meijer to Present at CSCMP Edge 2018 LLamasoft, the global leader in supply chain optimization software and solutions, will present a joint session with Meijer, a regional grocery supercenter chain, at CSCMP Edge 2018 titled, "Meijer Delivers Advanced Transportation Analytics to the Field in Tailor-Made Apps to Make Route Optimization a Snap" on Monday, October 1. In fast-paced, competitive industries where demand can sometimes be unpredictable, companies need to stay flexible and make decisions based on the latest data to stay agile and one step ahead of the competition. For example, multi-stop deliveries are the norm in the frozen foods network, but with unpredictable daily volume by destination, static route combinations leave dollars on the table. Planning the delivery routes through daily optimization can enable a company to capture cost savings not possible through current manual processes. Allison Fowler, LLamasoft's senior director of plannig and design, and Chuck Carnes, manager of supply chain network planning at Meijer, will discuss how Meijer used LLamasoft's supply chain planning and design solutions to optimize their transportation routes and delivery schedules by creating an app underlaid with advanced analytics and transportation optimization engines to enable end-users at their distribution centers to create better routes using the most current data. The joint session will take place on Monday, October 1 from 3:45-5:00 p.m. CDT (News - Alert) in Bayou Room E at the Gaylord Opryland, Nashville, Tenn. The full agenda can be found here. LLamasoft will also exhibit at the show in booth 333. For further information or to set up a press meeting onsite, email LLamasoft@v2comms.com. About LLamasoft, Inc. LLamasoft supply chain design software helps organizations worldwide design and improve their supply chain operations. LLamasoft solutions enable companies across a wide range of industries to model, optimize and simulate their supply chain network, leading to major improvements in cost, service, sustainability and risk mitigation. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, LLamasoft is a leader in supply chain excellence and innovation, advancing technology focused on continuous improvement of enterprise supply chains for the world's largest organizations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005545/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Siyata Mobile Signs Master Supply Agreement with Canadian Leading Tier 1 Cellular Operator for Uniden UV350 MONTREAL, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Siyata Mobile Inc. (the "Company" or "Siyata") (TSX-V:SIM | OTCQX:SYATF), a leading global developer and provider of cellular communications systems, is pleased to announce the completion of a Master Supply Agreement (MSA) with a leading Tier 1 cellular operator in Canada. This agreement is a prerequisite to launching the Uniden UV350 with this operator in Canada and covers all the terms and conditions related to the distribution, pricing, logistics, warranty, legal terms and more. We have been working closely with this leading Tier 1 operator for over a year in order to expand our reach throughout Canada and are pleased to finalize this critical agreement, stated Marc Seelenfreund, CEO and Chairman of Siyata Mobile. The market size in Canada is several times larger than any of our existing sales channels and we anticipate high impact revenue growth as a result. We are very excited for our upcoming launch with this highly respected, cellular operator and are confident, that our perseverance towards this initiative will bring tremendous value for our shareholders. The Company will announce the official launch date of the Uniden UV350 shortly. The Uniden UV350 4G/LTE is the worlds first and only in-vehicle connected cellular device with Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) that is compatible on Band 14. The Uniden UV350 is an all-in-one, purpose built in-vehicle Internet of Things (IoT) device to upgrade antiquated two-way radio technology as a smarter, more advanced solution to communicate, navigate and create in-vehicle efficiencies never seen before in the commercial fleet and vehicle market. Android-based applications and other features available for download on the Unien UV350 help improve driver/worker safety and create efficiencies not offered by single purpose hardware which clutter the inside of a vehicle cabin which can be distracting for drivers. About Siyata A TSX Venture Top 50 Company, Siyata Mobile Inc. is a leading global developer and provider of cellular communications systems for enterprise customers, specializing in connected vehicle products for professional fleets, marketed under the Uniden Cellular brand. Since developing the worlds first 3G connected vehicle device, Siyata has been a pioneer in the industry, launching the worlds first 4G LTE all-in-one fleet communications device in 2017. Incorporating voice, push-to-talk over cellular, data, and fleet management solutions into a single device, the company aims to become the connected vehicle communications device of choice for commercial vehicles and fleets around the world. Siyata also offers rugged phones for industrial users and signal boosters for homes, buildings, and fleets with poor cell coverage. Siyatas customers include cellular operators, commercial vehicle technology distributors, and fleets of all sizes in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. Visit www.siyatamobile.com and http://www.unidencellular.com/ to learn more. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of: SIYATA MOBILE INC. Marc Seelenfreund CEO and Chairman Investor Relations: Arlen Hansen Kin Communications 1-866-684-6730 SIM@kincommunications.com Sales Department: Glenn Kennedy, VP Sales Siyata Mobile Inc. 416-892-1823 glenn_kennedy@siyatamobile.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Free CX Webinar: Choosing and Implementing the Right CX Metrics for Your Business Cloud-based customer experience (CX) intelligence leader InMoment, in partnership with CX Network, hosted a thought leadership webinar titled, "CX Metrics: Choosing and Implementing the Right Ones for Your Business." CX Network is the leading online resource for senior customer experience, service, insight, digital and marketing decision makers. Human beings like to measure. Whether it's knowing our weight, age and height, or calibrating our intellect, wealth or social status, we all like to know how we rank. CX has taken measurement and metrics to an entirely new level. From NPS, OSAT and Customer Effort Score, to Net Retention and First Call Resolution - the ways to understand whether or not you're headed in the right direction are nearly endless, which is part of the problem, the right metrics, however, thoughtfully calibrated and communicated properly, can make all the difference in CX pursuits. In this webinar, Brennan Wilkie, a 15+ year veteran of customer experience who has worked with hundreds of top brands to implement and evolve successful CX initiatives, shares best practices, some fresh ideas to consider, and common pitfalls. Highlights include: How to avoid confusing a metric with a goal, ad instead setting up the right framework to measure progress toward an outcome The key questions to ask when choosing the best metrics for your objectives Real-world lessons on what works, what to avoid, and how to recover here. About Brennan Wilkie Brennan Wilkie, Senior Vice President, Customer Experience Strategy, InMoment, is responsible for the strategic direction counsel for InMoment's top-tier clients, prospects, and partners. His more than 15 years of leadership in customer experience strategy includes the vision and content creation for world-class programs, unique consumer insights, and competitive differentiation. About InMoment InMoment, the leading cloud-based customer experience (CX) intelligence platform, arms brands with compelling customer insights to drive high-value business decisions and relationships with both customers and employees. The company's industry-leading, data science-infused Customer Feedback Management platform, the CX Intelligence Cloud powers a full suite of Voice of Customer (VoC), Voice of Employee (VoE), and Employee Engagement solutions. InMoment provides innovative solutions and strategic support services to more than 425 leading brands across 95 countries. For more information, visit http://www.inmoment.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005583/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] The 10th Annual 'Silicon Valley Reinvents the Wheel' Automotive Technology Conference returns to Mountain View's Computer History Museum on Monday, October 1 MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Register now for this critical automotive technology gathering in the heart of Silicon Valley at www.waj.org. A full day of panel presentations, exhibits and state-of-the-art new car displays along with 40 emerging companies from The Autotech Council. Here are a few highlights: Stanford Professor and technology pro Sven Bieker will bring an overview of progress and challenges in autonomous and connected driving. Peter Rawlinson, CTO of Lucid Motors will present the challenges of building a new automobile company from the ground up. Powell Kinney, CPO of Toyota Connected will discuss the automaker's efforts with the connected car. Toyota Connected is reinventig the way people think about mobility through the use of advanced technology and predictive intelligence. John Tintinalli, Global Product Executive of SAE International, presents his mission to expand SAE International's delivery of knowledge based solutions to further the evolution of mobility. His initiatives include automated/autonomous vehicles and V2X connectivity, testing & simulation, vehicle electronics, AI & computing, advanced powertrain, accident reconstruction & crash research, advanced manufacturing, vehicle cybersecurity, and material light-weighting. Marcus Hays, Chairman, CEO & Co-founder of Orbis Wheels is literally reinventing the wheel with their Ring-Drive electric motor wheel system. He will present Orbis's advances in this exciting technology. NVIDA's Danny Shapiro will delve into NVIDA's development of competent simulation. NVIDA's GPU platforms have established themselves as an important part in the development of autonomous mobility. Comma Ai's George Hotz is back and will reveal an all new comma.ai product. George and comma.ai are well known for the pushing the boundaries of autonomous development in the spirit of Silicon Valley entrepreneur individualism. Ford Silicon Valley Lab's Dragos Maciuca, whose portfolio includes autonomous vehicles, connectivity, mobility, UX and data analytics, will give a glimpse into Ford's future project. Speaking on sensor perception, James Doty, MD, of A/Eye is a clinical professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. He works with scientists examining the neural bases for compassion and altruism. He holds multiple patents and is the former CEO of Accuray. Snacks and beverages, gourmet food trucks and a network gathering are part of personal connectivity. Registration is a breeze at www.waj.org/. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-10th-annual-silicon-valley-reinvents-the-wheel-automotive-technology-conference-returns-to-mountain-views-computer-history-museum-on-monday-october-1-300720114.html SOURCE Western Automotive Journalists [September 27, 2018] Combating Climate Change Can Produce Economic Gain BOSTON, Sept. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Countries that take ambitious action against climate change can benefit macroeconomicallyif they prioritize the most economically efficient measures for mitigating emissions. The Economic Case for Combating Climate Change, a report released today by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the BCG Henderson Institute, shows that most countries can achieve 75% to 90% of their individual 2050 2C Paris Agreement targets using proven and generally accepted technologies. If they prioritize the most efficient emissions reduction measures, mitigation activities actually accelerate, rather than slow, GDP growth for many of themeven if countries move unilaterally. Consensus thinking holds that the world will have a hard time reaching the headline goal of the Paris Agreement, says Philipp Gerbert, a BCG senior partner and report coauthor. While that may be true, substantial progress is within most countries reach. If managed appropriately, even unilateral emission reduction efforts do not need to trigger first-mover disadvantages. BCG examined climate change mitigation strategies in seven countries that collectively account for close to 60% of current global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: the US, China, India, Brazil, Russia, Germany, and South Africa. The work is modeled on previous BCG research commissioned by the German Industry Association, Climate Paths for Germany, one of the most comprehensive studies of national emissions reduction potentials to date. In an unprecedented position paper, German industry united behind the core findings of the study and called for more systematic and economically guided climate action by the German government. Under current policies, all of the seven countries studied will fail to meet their individual 2C Paris targets. BCG estimates that for all countries globally to move to a 2C path would require total investment of up to $75 trillion until 2050. But almost half of this is accrued in the last mile between what can be done under current technologies and the full 2C target, and much of it creates payback through efficiency gains or savings in fossil fuels. For many countries, a significant share of investments before this last ile can thus create macroeconomic gain. The report corrects several common misconceptions: We hardly require new technologiesmore R&D remains critical, but current technologies can go a long way. Power systems with high shares of wind and solar do not need to produce much excess powerflexibility to balance power is cheaper than storage. The world will not go all-electricliquid and gaseous fuel use will need to decline, but they remain an important pillar. We are not (yet) moving to a hydrogen economybroader hydrogen application still requires a breakthrough in cost digression. Global emissions trading is no one-stop solutionwhile it would help, among many countries there is no economic case for trading. Many subsidies for heating buildings with biomass or converting it into fuels are misguidedwhere biomass is scarce, it should go to industry. Policymakers have a clear case for more decisive unilateral action to reduce national emissions. To motivate this, they need to help companies and individuals overcome the investment hurdles, as many measures accrue benefits in other parts of the economy but are uneconomic for decision makers. To avoid escalating costs, they need to stick to economic optimization as a guiding principle. Finally, they need to ensure critical infrastructure like power grids and e-mobility charging and take steps to prevent carbon leakage if they move unilaterally. Many companies have started to focus on a low-emission world, and industry will contribute more going forward. In power generation, for example, companies are driving down the costs of renewables, with China a hot spot for solar and Germany a leader in wind. In transportation, a particularly important factor in the US, R&D investments in e-cars and batteries have surged. Investments in energy efficiency, a key lever in less developed economies, continue to be strong. Newer ways to isolate buildings and provide low-emission heating and cooling are being developed all over the world. Companies need to make the global action against climate change a key element of their long-term strategy, said Jens Burchardt, a BCG principal and report coauthor. They should also enter into active dialogue with their respective governments to encourage systemically optimized action. The transition will likely be faster than expected. Early movers stand to benefit; others will miss opportunities or risk stranded assets. A copy of the report can be downloaded here. To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or gregoire.eric@bcg.com. About The Boston Consulting Group The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the worlds leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with offices in more than 90 cities in 50 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com. About The BCG Henderson Institute The BCG Henderson Institute is The Boston Consulting Groups strategy think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration from the Institute, please visit https://www.bcg.com/bcg-henderson-institute/thought-leadership-ideas.aspx. The Boston Consulting Group Eric Gregoire Global Media Relations Manager Tel +1 617 850 3783 Fax +1 617 850 3701 gregoire.eric@bcg.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announces Proposed Settlement in the Joy Global Securities Litigation The following statement is being issued by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP regarding the Joy Global Securities Litigation: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE DIVISION STEVEN DUNCAN, et al., Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs, Civil No. 2:16-cv-01229-PP vs. CLASS ACTION JOY GLOBAL INC., et al., Defendants. SUMMARY NOTICE TO: ALL PERSONS WHO PURCHASED, SOLD OR HELD JOY GLOBAL INC. ("JOY GLOBAL") COMMON STOCK DURING THE PERIOD FROM AND INCLUDING SEPTEMBER 1, 2016, THE RECORD DATE FOR JOY GLOBAL'S SPECIAL STOCKHOLDER MEETING REGARDING THE ACQUISITION OF JOY GLOBAL BY KOMATSU LTD. AND CERTAIN OF ITS SUBSIDIARIES (THE "ACQUISITION"), THROUGH AND INCLUDING APRIL 5, 2017, THE DATE THE ACQUISITION CLOSED YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to an Order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division, that a hearing will be held on December 20, 2018, at 2:00 p.m., before the Honorable Pamela Pepper at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division, United States Federal Building and Courthouse, 517 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202, for the purpose of determining: (1) whether the proposed Settlement of the Litigation for $20 million should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (2) whether a Final Judgment and Order of Dismissal with Prejudice should be entered by the Court dismissing the Litigation with prejudice and releasing the Released Claims; (3) whether the Plan of Allocation for the Net Settlement Fund is fair, reasonable, and adequate and should be approved; and (4) whether the application of Lead Counsel for the payment of attorneys' fees and any award to Lead Plaintiffs pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 78u-4(a)(4) should be approved. IF YOU PURCHASED, SOLD OR HELD JOY GLOBAL COMMON STOCK DURING THE PERIOD FROM AND INCLUDING SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 THROUGH AND INCLUDING APRIL 5, 2017 (THE "CLASS PERIOD"), YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY THE SETTLEMENT OF THIS LITIGATION, INCLUDING THE RELEASE AND EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS YOU MAY POSSESS RELATING TO YOUR HOLDINGS OF JOY GLOBAL COMMON STOCK DURING THE CLASS PERIOD. If you have not received a detailed Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action ("Notice") and a copy of the Proof of Claim and Release form, you may obtain copies by writing to Joy Global Securities Litigation, Claims Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box (News - Alert) 404067, Louisville, KY 40233-4067, or on the Internet at www.JoyGlobalSecuritiesLitigation.com. If you are a Class Member, in order to share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, you must submit a Proof of Claim and Release by mail postmarked no later than January 14, 2019, or online at www.JoyGlobalSecuritiesLitigation.com no later than January 14, 2019, establishing that you are entitled to recovery. If you purchased, sold or held Joy Global common stock during the Class Period and you desire to be excluded from the Class, you must submit a request for exclusion so that it is received no later than November 29, 2018, in the manner and form explained in the detailed Notice referred to above. All Members of the Class who do not timely and validly request exclusion from the Class will be bound by any judgment entered in the Litigation pursuant to the Stipulation of Settlement. Any objection to the Settlement, the Plan of Allocation, Lead Counsel's request for attorneys' fees, and Lead Plaintiffs' request for time and expenses must be received by each of the following recipients no later than November 29, 2018: Court: CLERK OF THE COURT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE DIVISION United States Federal Building and Courthouse 517 E. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53202 Lead Counsel: ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP David A. Knotts 655 West Broadway, Suite 1900 San Diego, CA (News - Alert) 92101 Counsel for Defendants: ARNOLD & PORTER KAYE SCHOLER LLP Vincent A. Sama 250 West 55th Street New York, NY 10019 FOLEY & LARDNER LLP Bryan B. House 777 East Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53202 WACHTELL, LIPTON, ROSEN & KATZ Peter C. Hein 51 West 52nd Street New York, NY 10019 PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK'S OFFICE REGARDING THIS NOTICE. If you have any questions about the Settlement, you may contact Lead Counsel at the address listed above. DATED: September 14, 2018 BY ORDER OF THE COURT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE DIVISION View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005003/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Attorney Alexander Borell's New Tampa Office Offers Immigration Expertise to Underrepresented Area Attorney Alexander Borell has opened a new office in Tampa. Borell Law offers people in Tampa immigration, family law, and foreclosure assistance. When Borell first opened his firm's doors to the public, he operated as a real estate law firm that primarily handled foreclosures, loan modifications, tenant protection cases and real estate closings. Over time, Borell Law has expanded into the areas of immigration and family law. Borell Law, which strives to hire the most knowledgeable and talented attorneys and paralegals, has offices in Coral Gables, Miami Lakes, West Palm Beach, Orlando and now Tampa. "My strategy for success has always been hiring the right people," said Borell. And, with a new office opening up in Tampa, it seems that the right people have found the right place. From what Borell and hi staff have seen so far, Tampa has a large and vibrant immigration community. Borell Law's immigration services, which focus primarily on family petitions, will now bring their expertise to the underrepresented Tampa area. Families in need of help with adjustment of statuses, asylum cases, Cuban adjustments, defense in Immigration Court and waivers will be able to consult with a dependable law firm. Although immigration law may be the most requested legal service right now, Borell Law has specialists available for many areas of law. Whether somebody is going through a contested divorce, is seeking child support or custody, or is stuck in foreclosure and needs a loan modification, Borell Law has experienced attorneys available throughout Florida. Borell's Tampa office is located at 550 N Reo Street Suite 300 Tampa, FL 33609. Attorney Alexander Borell received his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law and passed the Florida Bar in 1989. He opened his first firm in 1994 and currently has offices in Coral Gables, Miami Lakes, West Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa. Mr. Borell has been in good standing with the Florida Bar since becoming an attorney in 1989. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005677/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Wolters Kluwer Partners with Law School Toolbox to Enhance its Legal Education Online Resources NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. today announced its exclusive partnership with Law School Toolbox to launch LawBoosta personalized, expert tutoring service for law students. The service is available on-demand through CasebookConnect.com, Wolters Kluwer's expert learning solution that is transforming legal education. The LawBoost service gives law students three hours of consultation with an expert, highly trained law school tutor at an affordable price. Law School Toolbox tutors are attorneys with extensive experience in law school tutoring and teaching. Each expert is available remotely via phone, email or video chat to address students' specific concerns, provide targeted career advice and produce effective results. Students can opt to share their CasebookConnect Study Center work with the tutors to improve ramp-up time and focus specifically on the student's most critical needs. "Students in law school need resources that are tailored to their needs, academic goals and their schedules," said Vikram Savkar, Vice President of Legal Education at Wolters Kluwer Legal and Regulatory U.S. "We are thrilled to make LawBoost available through CasebookConnect.com in partnership with Law School Toolbox to provide law students with access to a full suite of digital education tools and help them achieve success." CasebookConnect.com provides law students with a suite of online content and learning tools designed to maximize their success in the highly competitive law school environment. CasebookConnect.com access includes a full digital version of the textbook with a obust search function, multi-color highlights and note-taking capabilities; a Study Center with practice questions from popular study aids; and learning tools for outlining and briefing cases to help students prepare more efficiently for class and exams. "Even local students find virtual tutoring more efficient than coordinating in-person meetings with a busy law student's schedule," said Alison Monahan, co-founder of Law School Toolbox. "Our expert tutors are there to work with students on their specific needs and goals, ensuring they have the best possible shot at achieving their desired results," said Lee Burgess, co-founder of Law School Toolbox. Notable features that LawBoost brings to CasebookConnect.com include: Access to expert tutors who understand what makes law students successful; Ability to schedule private tutor sessions within 24 hours of sign-up; Personalized service based on students' CasebookConnect.com study center results. For more information, visit http://www.wklegaledu.com/programs/lawboost. About Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. is part of Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL), a global leader in information, software solutions and services for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2017 annual revenues of 4.4 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. For more information about Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., visit www.WoltersKluwerLR.com , follow us on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn . Media Linda Gharib Director, Communications Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. Tel: +1 (646) 887-7962 Email: lrusmedia@wolterskluwer.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wolters-kluwer-partners-with-law-school-toolbox-to-enhance-its-legal-education-online-resources-300720439.html SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP Announces Investigation on Behalf of PPDAI Group Inc. Investors (PPDF) Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP ("GPM") announces an investigation on behalf of PPDAI Group Inc. ("PPDAI" or the "Company") (NYSE: PPDF) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. The Company conducted its initial public offering of 17 million American depositary shares in November 2017 at $13 per share. Shortly after the IPO, however, Chinese regulators baned the issuance of new online peer-to-peer licenses, citing illegal practices by companies such as PPDAI. On this news, PPDAI's share price fell $2.62 per share, or more than 24%, to close at $8.18 per share on November 22, 2017, thereby injuring investors. Then, on December 1, 2017, Chinese regulators issued an order outlining specific guidelines meant to correct improper practices among online lenders such as PPDAI. On this news, PPDAI's share price fell $2.44, or more than 25%, over several trading days, to close at $7.16 per share on December 7, 2017, thereby further injuring investors. Follow us for updates on Twitter (News - Alert) : twitter.com/GPM_LLP. If you purchased PPDAI, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Lesley Portnoy, Esquire, of GPM, 1925 Century Park East, Suite 2100, Los Angeles, California 90067 at 310-201-9150, Toll-Free at 888-773-9224, by email to shareholders@glancylaw.com, or visit our website at www.glancylaw.com. If you inquire by email please include your mailing address, telephone number and number of shares purchased. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005198/en/ [September 27, 2018] Yowie Donates to the Wildlife Conservation Society and Educates Children on the Importance of Conservation, One Piece of Chocolate at a Time In introducing its fourth Surprise series - the "Wildlife Conservation Series" - which will support the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Yowie puts a spotlight on endangered species such as the Siberian tiger and the snow leopard. Yowie strives to bring attention to the plight of wild animals while connecting kids to that mission through a Premium Milk Chocolate treat. With a focus on conservation, inside each Yowie chocolate is a limited-edition collectible animal figurine and a leaflet that profiles the animal, its habitat, food sources and threats to the animal and its environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005750/en/ Yowie's fourth Surprise series, the Wildlife Conservation Series, supports the Wildlife Conservation Society and puts a spotlight on endangered species. (Photo: Business Wire) One of the animals in Yowie's "Wildlife Conservation Series" is none other than the largest living feline, the Siberian tiger. The majestic tiger, once the top predator of nearly all of Asia's vast tropical and temperate forests, today is faced with a number of threats to its future and its environment. Not only are tigers killed in huge numbers for their skins, bones, and canines, but they are combating deforestation and a lack of food supply as humans are overhunting their prey. This has led tigers to becomehighly threatened, making them an endangered species. Yowie's Siberian tiger micro collectible is one of 26 animals or characters that can be found hidden inside each capsule. WCS has been working to protect wild tigers around the world since the 1960s. Since 2004, WCS has collaborated closely with the government in Thailand for tiger conservation. As a result of the incredible work by the Thai government in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, and with WCS's support, the park's population of wild tigers has substantially increased and the government has increased its commitment to managing the sanctuary. Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary now serves as a model for tiger recovery in Thailand and beyond, and similar conservation efforts are being replicated in neighboring protected areas. Another at-risk animal is the Sumatran orangutan. Considered the "person of the forest" for their human-like behaviors, Sumatran orangutans are a critically endangered species. These animals are essential to their wildlife habitats, as they play a vital role in the dispersal of seeds over a huge area. If they were to disappear, so would several tree species. The leading threat affecting Sumatran orangutan survival is deforestation. Sumatran orangutan habitat is being lost at a high rate, mainly due to conversion of forests to oil palm plantations, which often uses fire for clearance. Not only do fires destroy vast areas of orangutan habitat, but these slow-moving apes are often unable to escape the flames. Ensuring a future for these apes requires expanding the protected area network and strengthening protection of all reserves, especially through forest ranger patrols. WCS is working to implement these conservation measures across the Sumatran orangutan's remaining range. Other endangered animals in the series include the mandrill, Burmese star tortoise, the humpback whale, the Kipunji monkey, okapi, southern elephant seal, the blue shark, guanacos, the silky sifaka, the fossa, the irrawaddy dolphin, the Andean bear, the cheetah, the snow leopard, Madagascar day gecko, Kihansi spray toad, and the Sumatran ground cuckoo. Yowie fans can collect all 26 animals or characters and build their own virtual library on Yowie Scope, the augmented reality app that launched earlier this year. "The Wildlife Conservation Society is a perfect partner for Yowie," said Cove Overley, Global Chief Marketing Officer. "As we look at the future of wildlife we need to align our mission and spirit to organizations that not only educate the public but activate in the field. Children learn more about each animal they collect every time they pick a Yowie off the shelf," said Cove Overley, "it is our mission to expand this awareness across the globe." For every Yowie chocolate sold from the "Wildlife Conservation Series" between June 2018 and July 2019, WCS will receive a portion of the net proceeds to support its mission to save wildlife and wild places worldwide. To learn more details about this donation, please visit yowieworld.com/wcs. WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations and in all the world's oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: www.wcs.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005750/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Bank Central Asia Spearheads Indonesia's Digital Transformation With iGTB's Cash Management Platform LONDON, September 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- One of Indonesia's largest banks has gone live with iGTB's Digital Transaction Banking platform, digitalising its Cash Management and Liquidity Management offering for large corporate clients & SMEs and progressing the country's 2020 'Go Digital' Vision Intellect Global Transaction Banking (iGTB), the transaction banking and technology specialist from Intellect Design Arena Limited, the fastest growing Fintech product company with the CAGR of more than 21% for past three years, has seen its Digital Transaction Banking (DTB) platform go live at PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BCA). The implementation of DTB enables BCA to offer a comprehensive, Digital Transaction Banking solution to its local market for the first time. And as improved connectivity, higher internet penetration and a young, growing and affluent population drive traction for digitalisation in Indonesia - digital banking penetration is set to hit 60% by 2020 - this implementation sees BCA spearhead the digital transformation of a corporate banking sector that is hastening to follow suit. Jayaprawirya Diah, Head of Digital Innovation Solution at BCA says: "This implementation gives us a one-stop solution to answer our corporate clients' or customers'needs - meaning they no longer need to worry about switching between different portals, or aggregating data from several sources. iGTB's DTB suite is flexible enough to accommodate user demands of all kinds, and we are sure our customers will be delighted by the benefits in terms of efficiency and user experience." Manish Maakan, CEO of iGTB, says: "W're delighted to support Bank Central Asia as it contributes to Indonesia's 2020 Go Digital vision, which is expected to realise over USD 130bn e-commerce transactions by 2020. Improving cash management services for Indonesian banks and their corporate clients is only possible using technology that is secure, convenient and efficient - and DTB is all these things. This platform will play a key role in helping Indonesian SMEs and corporates contribute towards the goal of transforming the economy and set the benchmark for modernisation in the country." The second phase that went live recently brings an additional 40 customer journeys into operation. The platform now handles over USD 1bn transactions per month, benefitting over 275 corporate clients in just 12 months - with an unparalleled level of straight-through processing. Transaction value has grown 300% in just three quarters. Key features of the implementation include bulk uploads, e-bookkeeping, credit facility summaries covering all products across multiple systems, and electronic invoice discounts for early payments. This translates into dramatically improved cash-flow management for BCA's large corporate clients and their extended supply chains, with market-specific offerings such as tax payments, virtual account payments and bulk supply chain finance processing, with multiple outlets & corporate-specific invoice and purchase order templates. Maakan adds: "Our longstanding experience with Asian banks & financial institutions and our sophisticated suite of digital transaction banking solutions enable BCA to set the standard for its industry peers with a best-in-class cash management offering that will boost the growth and profitability of their clients. It's fantastic to play a role in BCA's digital leadership, and we are excited to continue playing a central role in their transformation." For information on the solutions for global transaction banking, please visit https://www.igtb.com . For more information, please contact: Intellect Design Arena For Media related info, APAC, India and the ME: Nachu Nagappan Intellect Design Arena Ltd Mob: +91-89396-19676 Email: nachu.nagappan@intellectdesign.com For Media related info, Americas and Europe: Zoe Fowke Intellect Design Arena Limited Mob: +44(0)207-5169461 Email: zoe.fowke@intellectdesign.com PT BANK CENTRAL ASIA TBK Corporate Secretariat Division Corporate Communication Sub Division Public Relations Bureau Address : Jl. MH Thamrin No. 1 Menara BCA Grand Indonesia Lt. 20 Jakarta Pusat 10310 Telephone: +62-21-2358-8000 Fax : +62-21-2358-8300 E-mail : humas@bca.co.id [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Visionary Educator Paul Cummins Shares How to Teach Poetry to the Next Generation with New Book, Voice & Verse Dr. Paul Cummins is making a powerful case for the relevance of poetry (and how to teach it) with his latest book. In Voice & Verse: Joys and How-To's of Teaching, Reading and Writing Poetry, Cummins lovingly shares practical and accessible advice and perspective on how best to share the art of reading and creating poetry with students, including explorations of the tremendous benefits poetry brings and how teachers, parents and poets of all ages can impart the joys of the art with the next generation. Cummins believes that poetry is an art form worth fighting for, and the best way to keep it alive is by teaching it in meaningful and lasting ways to a new generation. Practicing what he preaches, Cummins' Collected Poems, an assortment of his own finest and most beautiful poems, will be published by Griffith Moon early next year, demonstrating that Cummins is not only a supporter and educator of verse, but also a genuine, inspiring poet himself. Cummins received his bachelor of arts from Stanford, his MAT from Harvard, and his doctorate from the USC. In 1971, he co-founded Crossroads School in Santa Monica and buil it into one of Los Angeles's most successful educational institutions and a national model for innovative, independent schools. In 1995, Cummins stepped down as Headmaster of Crossroads and formed New Visions Foundation (now Coalition for Engaged Education) to offer opportunities for Engaged Education to all youth. The first venture was New Roads School, a diverse, K-12 independent school in Santa Monica that has a deep commitment to social justice. Since 2016, Cummins has helped co-create two new progressive schools: Pine Ridge Girls School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota; and Tree Academy in Los Angeles. Both schools serve grades 6-12 and are diverse, providing substantial financial aid. Cummins has published several books on education, including Proceed With Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education (2004), Two Americas, Two Educations: Funding Quality Schools for all Students (2007) and Confessions of a Headmaster: My Pursuit of Joy and Justice in Education (2015). His book of essays, Why Poetry? Reflections on Poetry, Writing and Culture, was published in 2009, in addition to two volumes of his own poetry and two children's books. His latest book, Voice & Verse: Joys and How-To's of Teaching, Reading and Writing Poetry is now available via Amazon.com, and The Collected Poems of Paul F. Cummins will be published in early 2019. Media: For review copies of Voice & Verse or to arrange interviews with Dr. Cummins, please contact Paul Williams, paul@MediaLineCommunications.com, 310/569-0023. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005760/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] NASA TV to Air Live Coverage of International Space Station Crew Landing WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, including two NASA astronauts, are scheduled to return to Earth on Thursday, Oct. 4. NASA Television and the agency's website will provide complete coverage of their departure from the station and landing back on Earth. Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel and Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold of NASA, along with Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will close the hatch to their Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft and undock from the station's Poisk module, heading for a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan a little more than three hours later. The crew is completing a 197-day mission spanning 3,152 orbits of Earth and a journey of 83.4 million miles. During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew of Expedition 56 carried out science experiments ranging from physics to biological studies and conducted tests to expand navigation capabilities in prepration for future travel far from Earth. They also participated in NASA's Year of Education on Station, which links students on Earth directly to astronauts aboard the space station. After landing, the crew will return by helicopter to the recovery staging city in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where they will go their separate ways. Feustel and Arnold will board a NASA plane and fly back to Houston, while Artemyev will return to his home in Star City, Russia. Coverage of the Expedition 56 departure and landing activities is as follows (all times EDT): Wednesday, Oct. 3 10:10 a.m. Change of command ceremony, during which Feustel will hand over station command to crewmate Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) Thursday, Oct. 4 12:30 a.m. Farewell and hatch closure coverage (hatch closure at 12:55 a.m. ) Farewell and hatch closure coverage (hatch closure at ) 3:30 a.m. Undocking coverage (undocking scheduled for 3:57 a.m. ) Undocking coverage (undocking scheduled for ) 6:30 a.m. Deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn at 6:51 a.m. and landing at 7:45 a.m. ) At the time of undocking, Expedition 57 will formally begin aboard the station, with Gerst, NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor, and Roscosmos' Sergey Prokopyev comprising a three-person crew for one week until the launch of the next group of residents on Oct. 11, when Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos and Nick Hague of NASA will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft, to join Expedition 57 after a six-hour journey to the station. Get breaking news, images and features from the space station on social media at: https://instagram.com/iss and https://www.twitter.com/Space_Station View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-tv-to-air-live-coverage-of-international-space-station-crew-landing-300720485.html SOURCE NASA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] V5 Systems' Acoustic Gunshot Detection Technology Recognized by Security Sales & Integration FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A string of random shootings targeting commuters; a resourceful police force looking for a way to locate the roaming shooter before he attacks again. These were the circumstances that led to V5 Systems winning the prestigious SSI Security Solutions Award in recognition of its V5 Acoustic Gunshot Sensor with Video (V5 GSL), the company's rapidly deployable outdoor security solution. Sponsored by trusted industry publication Security Sales & Integration, the award recognizes security solutions that have been proven in the field to meet the needs of security integrators and end users alike. Winners are chosen by a panel of industry professionals who look beyond technical merits to assess whether the product reliably helps security integrators adapt to changing project needs while meeting regulatory compliance. The 2018 SSI Security Solutions Award for Security Monitoring marks V5 Systems' 17th industry award to date. Each V5 Systems' self-powered security units can be deployed and moved in under 30 minutes. As a result, the technology can be used to secure outdoor areas without the extensive delays and costs involved for permitting and trenching. "We're very proud to receive this honor from SSI," said V5 Systems' CEO, Steve Yung. "It's especially meaningful in that, this award recognizes security products that have proven their value through hands-on use in real-world conditions. In addition to cutting-edge technology and advanced machine learning, we want every self-powered outdoor security product we design to be reliable and easy to deploy. Something that security integrators can count on to be flexible enough to meet changing poject requirements or budgets." In the real-world incident mentioned above, a city's residents were in the grip of fear. Even after 10 drivers had been shot at, the investigation was still coming up empty. Because the shooter's area of attack encompassed ten miles of freeway away from security cameras or witnesses the city needed a self-powered gunshot detection solution that could be easily relocated and monitored 24/7. Enter the V5 Acoustic Gunshot Detection with Video Sensor. Wireless and self-powered, V5 GSL units employ numerous advantages to quickly localize any source of gunfire: Acoustic sensor with HD video gives police "eyes and ears" without risky and expensive stakeouts. Information is relayed in real time directly to officers with up to 90 percent accuracy. Each wireless V5 GSL unit weighs just 25 pounds, allowing for quick repositioning to create a virtual dragnet, something that's impossible with traditional gunshot-detection systems that are hard-wired to the city's infrastructure. By moving the location of the units 12 times within one month to tighten the net on the shooter, police officers captured the sound of shots fired, along with an HD image of a suspicious vehicle with a V5 GSL unit. The Patrol Division chased down the suspect, and the community breathed a collective sigh of relief as he was taken into custody on ten counts of attempted murder. Read the full case study. Because V5 Systems' turnkey video surveillance and gunshot detection can be deployed in under 30 minutes per unit and begin relaying information in real time via a smartphone app, they've become a go-to solution for municipalities, campus police and private enterprise in need of a practical and cost-effective outdoor security solution. "Our innovative technology has provided law enforcement and security personnel an invaluable resource that is just as mobile as the crimes and criminals they are pursuing," said Mazin Bedwan, president of V5 Systems. "As security threats trend from one location to another, our portable security systems can be quickly redeployed in any outdoor environment as needed. This award is an acknowledgment that our products are fulfilling a genuine need for our security partners." About V5 Systems V5 Systems is a California-based technology company that provides cutting-edge portable, wireless, self-powered security solutions for Industrial IoT applications. They deliver turnkey video surveillance and gunshot detection solutions that can be deployed in under 30 minutes per unit, while the computing platform itself can act as a host for 3rd party hardware and software integration. These solutions utilize a proprietary power management system which eliminates the need for fixed power and hard-wired communications. V5 Systems develops and optimizes all software and AI analytics to run at the edge, which is instrumental to delivering real-time information to its users. Working with state and local government, education and private enterprises, V5 Systems delivers a next-generation security platform for the Industrial IoT. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/v5-systems-acoustic-gunshot-detection-technology-recognized-by-security-sales--integration-300720123.html SOURCE V5 Systems [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Worldwide IoT Sensor Market Opportunity, Innovation, Demand and Segmentation (2018-2025): A $65 Billion Opportunity - ResearchAndMarkets.com The "Worldwide IoT Sensor Market Opportunity, Innovation, Demand and Segmentation 2018 to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This research predicts that the market will grow to become a US$ 65 billion industry in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 24% during 2018-2025. The combined growth of novel IoT products as well as innovative IoT solutions to make old products smart is likely to fuel the demand of IoT sensors. However, universal IoT wouldn't be possible without smart' and capable sensors. Intelligence is a challenge for IoT and our research shows that a lot of advantages can be achieved on hardware level and sensors are definitely one of those components. However, there remain challenges for IoT sensors being used in IoT devices. High accuracy, low cost and size, and low power consumptions are highly desired characteristics for IoT sensors by project managers. Features of sensors also need to be customised as per the use case vertical. Good news is that researchers and comanies are working in that direction. Researchers at University of California at San Diego are working on bio-sensors. In particular, three key use cases that researchers are pursuing: small, long-lasting combination sensors for premature babies, continuous bio-sensors for the aged, and sensors that pharmaceuticals companies would place on people in their clinical trials. This has opened the door to innovation and added a new dimension to the global competition among sensor manufacturers. The strong market potential has forced companies like ADI, Rohm, and TDK to quickly fill out their product portfolios by acquiring smaller sensor vendors. Key Topics Covered 1 Introduction 2 Executive Summary 3 IoT Sensor Market Structure, Ecosystem, and Value Chain Analysis 4 IoT Sensor Manufacturing: Key Requirements and Cost Analysis 5 IoT Sensor Vendor Profiles 6 IoT Sensor Market Forecast 2018-2025 7 Conclusions, Recommendations, and Strategic Analysis Companies Profiled ADI Analog Devices Arm Holdings Broadcom Limited (Avago) Infineon Technologies AG (News - Alert) Invensense Konux NXP Semiconductors N.V. Omron Corporation Robert Bosch GmbH Rohm Sensirion AG Smartthings Inc. Stmicroelectronics N.V. TDK Te Connectivity Ltd. Texas Instruments (News - Alert) Incorporated For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cfdvxs/worldwide_iot?w=4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005937/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Getnick & Getnick and Labaton Sucharow Secure Major False Claims Act Settlement in Philip Falcone Hedge Fund Tax Case Getnick & Getnick LLP and co-counsel Labaton Sucharow LLP have secured a major settlement in the second stage of the largest ever tax whistleblower recovery in New York state history. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced the $30 million settlement today. It follows a related $40 million settlement in April 2017, bringing the total recovery to $70 million. The Relator, whose identity remains protected, will receive 22 percent of today's settlement ($6.6 million). In the matter announced today, Getnick and Labaton represent the Relator in a tax evasion case brought against Harbinger Capital Partners (News - Alert) Offshore Manager LLC, the investment manager for New York-based hedge funds run by Philip Falcone from 2002 to 2009. The case alleges that the defendants evaded New York State and City taxes by shifting income derived from Harbinger from New York to Alabama to avoid New York's higher tax rates. The previous settlement announced in April 2017 was with Harbert Management Corporation, an Alabama-based investment company that had an investment and business relationship with Harbinger Capital Partners Offshore Manager. Today's announcement includes a superseding complaint brought by the Attorney General's office that reveals the details of the allegations. The complaint states, "Because it carried on its business in New York, Offshore Manager had a clear obligation under New York State Tax Law to apportion and allocate income as taxable in New York State, but instead apportioned 100 percent of its income to the state of Alabama, which had lower tax rates than New York." The complaint also states,"Offshore Manager systematically camouflaged its New York presence" In addition, the complaint states, "Offshore Manager made profits remarkable even by Wall Street standards but faled to pay what should have been paid to the city and state where it made these profits and misled tax authorities to ensure that it would not have to pay its fair share." The Attorney General's Office has announced that its investigation into the conduct at issue in this matter continues. "Today's settlement adds substantially to the recovery for the state and reveals the extent of the potential liability for hedge funds with multi-state operations and the vigor of the state's tax enforcement efforts," said Neil Getnick, managing partner of Getnick & Getnick. "The Attorney General's Office did an extraordinary job working with us and our client to bring the second stage of this complex case to conclusion, again illustrating the value of the public-private partnership established by the New York False Claims Act and the New York AG's particularly innovative approach to its implementation," said Jordan Thomas, Chair of Labaton's Whistleblower Representation practice. The case was filed under the New York False Claims Act, which was amended to cover tax claims in 2010. Today's press release from the New York Attorney General is here. Getnick & Getnick is a Manhattan-based law firm dedicated to fighting fraud and promoting business integrity. The firm works with whistleblowers, government agencies and companies, guided by the principle that anti-fraud is not anti-business. The firm's whistleblower cases have recovered more than $1 billion for taxpayers, and clients have received record awards, including the largest ever award for a single whistleblower. Labaton Sucharow LLP for more than 50 years has been one of the country's premier law firms representing businesses, institutional investors, and consumers in complex securities and business litigation. The firm established the first national practice exclusively focused on SEC (News - Alert) whistleblowers under the leadership of a principal architect of the SEC's whistleblower program. Consistently ranked among the top plaintiff litigation firms, more information about the firm is available at www.secwhistlebloweradvocate.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005939/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] Fishbowl Announces Enhancements to Integrated E-Marketing Module ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Fishbowl, Inc., an industry leader in data, marketing and analytics solutions, announces two major product enhancements to its E-Marketing module: A new Enterprise Email Editor and Local Store Marketing functionality to SMS (short message service). Enhanced E-Marketing Module The new Enterprise Email Editor integrates all of Fishbowl's industry-leading capabilities including Promotions Manager in a state-of-the-art drag and drop format that will be available in the next month. The upgrade seamlessly integrates Fishbowl's Enterprise Email into a singular, easy to use email creation tool to create layouts, drop in images and text, add social media sharing and Promotions Manager codes, and save your favorite email designs as new templates or use any of the included template designs. Tailored to lean marketing teams, the new feature gives clients greater accuracy, efficiency, and offers the flexibility starting with an existing template, creating a new template from an email, or quickly buiding an email for a one-off use. Local Store Marketing (LSM) functionality in SMS Fishbowl is also launching its industry-leading Local Store Marketing (LSM) functionality within its SMS platform, giving specific stores and franchisees the ability to customize their SMS campaigns at the local level. This enhancement also allows corporate marketing departments to customize what store-level users can access in SMS, including campaign types, audience types, and more. "There is a tremendous amount of functionality and flexibility with this new upgrade," said Daniel Dreymann, Chief Product & Strategy Officer at Fishbowl. "These two new features allow Fishbowl to give our clients greater accuracy and flexibility. Functionality has been beneficial for all clients for more than a decade, and now it has been extended into our SMS product," said Dreymann. Fishbowl 's most recent product upgrades have ranged from new promotions protocol, added customer loyalty information, and short message system (SMS) reporting, to revised data on expired coupons, and more. About Fishbowl Fishbowl, Inc. empowers restaurants to succeed in a changing digital, data and device environment by delivering unique solutions developed specifically for the food-service industry. Our solution combines a powerful platform suite, expert analytic consulting, and industry leading agency services -- using insights gained across our thousands of restaurant clients. Through these solutions, Fishbowl enables restaurants to make enlightened decisions, engage guests, increase brand loyalty and accelerate same-store sales. Relied on by more than 70,000 restaurant locations to effectively engage guests, Fishbowl is headquartered in Alexandria, VA, with offices in Silicon Valley, Dallas, U.K., and India. For more information, please visit our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Media Contact: Kim Miller 305-631-2283, ext. 1004 Kmiller@inklinkmarketing.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fishbowl-announces-enhancements-to-integrated-e-marketing-module-300720663.html SOURCE Fishbowl, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab Convenes Top Researchers and Thought Leaders for Inaugural AI Research Week CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab is hosting its inaugural AI Research Week , October 1-5, in Cambridge, MA. The MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab is a joint research effort to drive fundamental advances in artificial intelligence. The lab opened one year ago as part of a 10-year, $240 million investment by IBM (NYSE: IBM). Today, the lab is spearheading 48 AI-related research projects. WHAT: AI Research Week is a technical gathering of AI researchers from around the world. It kicks off on Monday, Oct. 1, with a poster and networking session where researchers from the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab and IBM's AI Horizons Network of university collaborators will showcase projects underway that are shaping the future of AI. These projects are focused on advancing AI capabilities and applications of AI to address a range of issues, from the prevention of food spoilage, to detection and defense against malware, to the fight against the opioid epidemic. On Tuesday, Oct. 2, Ananthan Chandrakasan, Dean of MIT's School of Engineering, and Dario Gil, COO of IBM Research and VP, AI and Quantum will kick off the AI Horizons Colloquium with a Welcome Address, followed by a full day of talks and discussion featuring AI experts from academia and industry. Othe Colloquium speakers include: Megan Smith , CEO of shift7 and the third Chief Technology Officer of the United States , will deliver a keynote on the theme of AI for shared prosperity, entitled "7 Billion Colleagues." , CEO of shift7 and the third Chief Technology Officer of , will deliver a keynote on the theme of AI for shared prosperity, entitled "7 Billion Colleagues." Joi Ito , Director of the MIT Media Lab, will chair a panel examining fairness in machine learning, which includes Francesca Rossi , Distinguished Research Staff Member and AI Ethics Global Leader at IBM Research. , Director of the MIT Media Lab, will chair a panel examining fairness in machine learning, which includes , Distinguished Research Staff Member and AI Ethics Global Leader at IBM Research. Josh Tenenbaum , professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT , will discuss building machines that learn and think like people. , professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at , will discuss building machines that learn and think like people. Yoshua Bengio , full professor and head of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA), University of Montreal , will present research on learning to understand language. Bengio will also join Peter Shor , Morss Professor of Applied Mathematics at MIT , in a panel discussion on research directions at the intersection of AI and Quantum Computing. The Colloquium will be livestreamed here. On Thursday, Oct. 4, Women in Machine Learning (WiML) and IBM Research AI will launch a Boston-area community for women in machine learning and artificial intelligence, with the inaugural meetup at IBM's Cambridge Office, located at 75 Binney St, Cambridge. The quarterly meetups to follow will also feature technical seminars and workshops, along with career mentoring and networking discussions. Rounding out the week will be a series of AI research workshops and networking opportunities. The full AI Research Week agenda and list of speakers can be found here . WHO: AI Research Week will bring together top AI researchers from IBM; MIT; the University of California, San Diego; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; the University of Michigan; the University of Montreal; and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, along with students and researchers from across the Cambridge and Boston community. WHEN: October 1 5, 2018 WHERE: AI Research Week events will be held at MIT and IBM in Cambridge, MA. For specific locations and addresses, please check the schedule. RSVP: Media interested in attending the Poster Session, AI Horizons Colloquium and Women in Machine Learning meetup can RSVP by contacting: Linda Chung, IBM 917-226-8550 Linda.Chung1@IBM.com Kim Martineau, MIT kimmarti@mit.edu View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mit-ibm-watson-ai-lab-convenes-top-researchers-and-thought-leaders-for-inaugural-ai-research-week-300720680.html SOURCE IBM [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [September 27, 2018] EQUITY ALERT: Rosen Law Firm Announces Investigation of Securities Claims Against MGT Capital Investments, Inc. - MGTI Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces it is investigating potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTC: MGTI) resulting from allegations that MGT Capital may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. On September 7, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC (News - Alert) ") filed a lawsuit against a former officer of MGT Capital as well as other individuals and corporations, alleging violations of the federal securities laws. The SEC complaint alleges that defendants were participants in "highly profitable 'pump-and-dump' schemes . . . from 2013 through 2018" in the stock of three public companies, including MGT Capital, that, "while enriching Defendants by millions of dollars, left retail investors holding virtually worthless shares." On this news, MGT Capital's share price fell $0.15 or over 25% to close at $0.44 per share on September 7, 2018. Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action lawsuit to recover losses suffered by MGT Capital investors. If you purchased shares of MGT Capital, please visit the firm's website at https://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-956.html to join the class action. You may also contact Phillip Kim or Zachary Halper of Rosen Law Firm toll free at 866-767-3653 or via email at pkim@rosenlegal.com or zhalper@rosenlegal.com. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn (News - Alert) : https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm or on Twitter (News - Alert) : https://twitter.com/rosen_firm. Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 3 each year since 2013. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180927005993/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Kansas City Community Outreach Season Politico Court Date Former Shawnee councilman, Olathe teacher accused of sex crime gets bond reduced GARDNER, Kansas -- Former Shawnee City Councilman Justin Adrian on Wednesday made his first court appearance after his arrest for alleged sexual relations with a student at the Olathe school where he teaches. Adrian, 33, appeared before a judge via video conference from the detention center in Gardner. Golden Ghetto Dude Recaptured Man arrested, charged after escaping from Johnson County correctional facility JOHNSON COUNTY, KS (KCTV) - A man who escaped from a county correctional facility has been captured and now faces new charges. Jayzion Jones, 21, was arrested in April and sentenced to 19-month jail sentence for felony arson after starting a fire at the Roadway Inn and Suites in Olathe. Midtown Kansas City Crime Update 2 Westport businesses frustrated after thieves break in, steal registers and cash KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two Westport Road businesses have some recovery ahead of them after overnight burglaries. Someone burglarized a hair salon and a video store. Kansas City police say they have a person of interest in custody. The burglaries brought fear and disappointment for the businesses. Local Gunfire Postscript Second man charged in connection to murder of Independence woman KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- A 20-year-old Blue Springs man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection to a fatal shooting in Independence. Michael A. Lora, 20, was also charged with two counts of armed criminal action. Mary Schmitz was shot and killed in the 1100 block of Quail Creek drive on Sept. Local Mexican Meth Connection Man guilty in Overland Park, Mexican cartel heroin ring | The Kansas City Star A man involved in a large-scale heroin distribution network that allegedly connected an Overland Park couple to Mexican drug cartels pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges. Julian Felix-Aguirre was one of 24 people indicted in the drug ring, which federal prosecutors said distributed at least 30 pounds of heroin and large amounts of methamphetamine in the Kansas City area. Show-Me Moment Of Doubt Protests respond to AG investigation into Missouri Catholic churches JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Victims of sexual abuse by catholic priests say they are skeptical of the current investigation into Missouri churches. They held a protest Wednesday in Jefferson City. Survivors have been very critical of the current plan to review allegations against priests and church leaders who covered things up. Our latest collection of crime reports from throughout the Kansas City metro . . .Developing . . . Why They Didn't Report: Kansas City Sexual Assault Survivors Share Their Stories Updated at 8:55 a.m. Sept. 27 - Since Christine Blasey Ford went public with her allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school in the 1980s, survivors in the Kansas City area joined thousands across the U.S. on social media by recounting their own experiences under the hashtag #whyididntreport. Public radio offers insight into today's debate over the antics of elite upper-class party life and how that dictates the future of the Constitutions and the popular culture . . . Checkit: Advocates want Gov. Mike Parson to give Hawley subpoena power in Catholic clergy probe JEFFERSON CITY * Advocates for survivors of Catholic clergy sex abuse gathered outside the state Capitol on Wednesday urging Gov. Mike Parson to give Attorney General Josh Hawley subpoena power in his ongoing investigation of possible sex crimes within the Catholic Church. More deets on the demands of activists crusading against clerics accused of abuse. Take a look: Climate change, economic inequality, systemic bias among issues underlined by world leaders as General Assembly continues debate From trade to climate change to development and fighting diseases, world leaders mounted the podium of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday to deliver a ringing endorsement of multilateralism, singling out a strengthened UN as the prime tool for improving humanitys lot. Across the political spectrum, from economies large and small, representing all continents, Heads of State and Government crossed the lines of political and ideological division to join in their advocacy of a multilateral world order. In a global context that is increasingly fragmented, multipolar, and in constant evolution, we are convinced, in fact, that the international community needs more effective multilateralism and a United Nations that is strengthened in its role as a pillar of an international system based on peace, justice and equity, said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on the second day of the Assembly annual general debate. In many respects the leaders speeches were like state of the nation reports in which they laid out a balance sheet of challenges faced and achievement attained by their individual countries, but many soon returned to the theme of the essential need for multilateralism. The world has slowly drifted ever more worryingly towards unilateral action, Namibian President Hage Geingob said, stressing that this goes against the fundamental tenets of democracy upon which the UN is built and which are necessary for sustained inclusive development. It is for this reason that multilateralism must be embraced with greater urgency. Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo underscored the importance of multilateralism in trade. Today, as we speak, a trade war is being stoked between the two largest economies of the world (US and China), he said. The consequences will affect those who have had no say, including small countries like Ghana. These events provide proof, if some were needed, that ours is an interdependent world. Selected African statements pdf HAGE G. GEINGOB, President of Namibia (664 KB) , said that, since the end of the cold war, the world has slowly drifted ever more worryingly towards unilateral action. This development goes against one of the fundamental tenets of democracy upon which the United Nations is built. Democracy might have its flaws, he noted, but it is by far the best system, enabling the key values of the United Nations necessary for sustained inclusive development. It is for this reason that multilateralism must be embraced with greater urgency. Namibia is founded upon the principles of democracy, the rule of law and justice, he continued. The fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in its Constitution include virtually all the rights and freedoms recognized in international human rights instruments. However, these instruments in themselves are not sufficient to bring about sustainable development. There are emerging threats and challenges that continue to frustrate individual and collective efforts to achieve greater socio-economic progress. As a dry and arid country, Namibia has stepped up its efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals in critical areas, such as energy, water and terrestrial ecosystems, he said. In July 2018, it presented its Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the Goals, its first opportunity on the world stage, to show progress made in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and complementing Agenda 2063 of the African Union, in pursuance of the Africa We Want. However, communicable diseases threaten to jeopardize the attainment of the 2030 Agenda, he underscored. For this reason, he endorsed the call to end the tuberculosis endemic and reaffirmed his countrys commitment to unite with the world in achieving this goal. His Government has demonstrated its commitment to address tuberculosis by including related targets in its fifth National Development Plan, as well as by ensuring that 70 per cent of available funding for tuberculosis comes from domestic resources. However, inadequate human and financial resources, high levels of poverty, and lack of public health services in rural areas remain a concern. He emphasized that excluding women from certain spheres of life is to waste skills and expertise that can contribute to sustainable development. He applauded the United Nations Secretary-General for exercising leadership and reaching gender parity among senior management and resident coordinators. Namibia is also fully committed to implementing gender equality, as evident in the important role that women play in the countrys politics where they are equally represented in the Executive and Legislature. He also noted that during the darkest days of his countrys fight for independence, the Government and people of Cuba came to its aid. It is in the spirit of profound kinship Namibia shares with that country that he renewed the call for the lifting of the decades old, outdated, ineffective and counterproductive economic and financial embargo of Cuba. pdf NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO, President of Ghana (551 KB) , said that Kofi Annans passionate and profound belief in the United Nations and his certainty that a better organized and stronger Organization would make the world a better place is an ideal that should not be allowed to die. The international community continues to be faced with the stark reality that resolutions, norms and any number of votes in the Security Council and General Assembly mean nothing without the political will to enforce them. When nations gathered in San Francisco 73 years ago and signed the landmark document that created the United Nations, it was a very different world than that which exists today, he continued. Ten years ago, as the General Assembly was starting its proceedings, the world was plunged into a financial crisis. The consequences were felt around the world, including in small countries like Ghana. Those events provide proof that the world is an interdependent world. He noted that 55 per cent of the work of the Security Council in 2017 had to do with Africa. Unfortunately this invariably meant peacekeeping and povertyrelated issues. Africa no longer wants to be the place that requires peacekeepers and poverty-fighting non-governmental organizations, no matter how noble their motives. Regional bodies like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union are making systematic efforts to bring peace and stability to the entire continent. Ghana, like many countries in Africa, is forging relations with China to address part of the infrastructure deficit. This is not a uniquely Ghanaian or African phenomenon, he pointed out. Developed, rich and well-established countries have been paying regular visits to China, seeking to open new economic ties and improve upon existing ones. A lot of anxiety is being expressed about the possibility of a recolonization of the African continent by a new power. However, at the turn of the twentieth century, Chinas first railroads were built by western companies and financed by western loans to a nearly bankrupt Qing Dynasty. It was under those circumstances that the port of Hong Kong was leased for 99 years. The rest is history. That former victim of western railway imperialism is lending billions to countries throughout Asia, Africa and Europe to construct railroads, highways, ports, power plants and other infrastructure. Ghana must build roads, bridges, railways, ports, schools and hospitals and must create jobs to keep young people engaged, he said. It is obvious that the development trajectory Africa is on is not working. A different one is being tried and he called upon the international community to help stem the huge flows of illicit funds from the continent. It is in everyones interest that Africa make a rapid transformation from poverty to prosperity. pdf JOAO MANUEL GONCALVES LOURENCO, President of Angola (342 KB) , said that the role of the United Nations was decisive for the achievement of a longlasting peace in Angola through the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) and United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) peace missions, and also commended the work undertaken by United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). Angolas experience in peacebuilding and reconciliation between the warring forces has been a positive example for the United Nations, in the sense that it has allowed for the drawing of useful conclusions on how to approach peace processes in other regions of the world. It is at the United Nations where the best solutions can be found to the current, serious problems and conflicts that may hinder the survival of humanity itself, and are discussed and resolved, he continued. Those include hunger and misery that affect millions of citizens around the world, as well as global warming and its consequences, mass migrations, trafficking in narcotics, human trafficking, religious intolerance and extremism, and the uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear weapons, among other issues. The United Nations is still far from achieving the goals enshrined in its Charter. He underscored that, while it is true that, after the establishment of the United Nations, the bipolarization of the planet into two antagonistic political and economic systems did not contribute to the easy enforcement of principles that work in favour of international peace and security. However, it would be unfair to deny that the United Nations has played an important role in bringing colonialism to an end, promoting human rights, boosting international development and cooperation, and the management and control of the hotspots of instability worldwide. With the end of the socalled cold war, there was a momentary emergence of a new political paradigm oriented towards multilateralism, he said. Today, in a time of everincreasing globalization, there is no justification for the continued proliferation of conflicts apparently without a solution, with entire populations suffering from their tragic consequences. There have been many voices demanding profound reforms inside the United Nations, including the enlargement and reform of the Security Council. Such changes would ensure better representation of the different geopolitical regions of the planet. pdf GEORGE MANNEH WEAH, President of Liberia (466 KB) , hailed Ms. Espinosas successful election, noting that she is one of four women to hold the Presidency of the General Assembly. Paying tribute to the late Kofi Annan, he said Africa lost one of its most illustrious sons and the world one of its most outstanding diplomats. On his countrys newly democratically elected Government, he stressed that Liberians voted for a Change for Hope and a paradigm shift towards youthful leadership, change and transformation as a first in 73 years. Adopting the Pro-Poor Agenda for Development and Prosperity, he pointed out that this will benefit not just the poor, but all Liberians. It is a policy framework for alleviating poverty and reducing the marginalization of the most vulnerable while being conducive for the middle and upper-income Liberians to grow and prosper. Intending to build a harmonious society, he called on friends, partners and private investors to support the efforts of the Pro-Poor Agenda in giving power to the people, promoting economic diversification, protecting sustainable peace and encouraging good governance. He deplored the vulnerability of the youth in his country who lack access to high quality education and employment opportunities, adding that he plans to make them productive citizens by providing adequate educational facilities at high school and college levels. He also recalled the Technical Vocational Education and Training programmes for the youth left behind due to the disastrous civil crisis. To connect cities and towns and to power Liberias economy, he highlighted much needed investments in roads, energy and ports and called therefore for funding and technical expertise. Because agriculture is another key priority in alleviating poverty, focus is now on improving self-sufficiency in food production and self-employment, he continued. Liberia also intends to attract labour-intensive light manufacturing by implementing a new Special Economic Zone law. He noted that due to the results of the 2014 Ebola Epidemic costing thousands of Liberians and health workers lives, he plans to better organize the healthcare delivery system to improve the wellbeing of his people. pdf MSWATI III, Head of State of Eswatini (565 KB) , expressed support for Assembly resolutions aimed at repositioning the United Nations development system to better support countries in their efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals under stronger national leadership and international cooperation. Citing the existence of pockets of tensions across the globe which require that all Member States speak in one voice when providing peaceful solutions, he warned that a fragmented approach will render peaceful solutions elusive. Appealing to countries embroiled in conflict to come up with homegrown solutions to address their differences, he urged them to avoid the use of force and employ dialogue. Where there is no loss of blood, unity prevails, whereas violence begets instability, he said. Outlining another major concern, he said the imbalance between rich and poor people continues to widen despite attempts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. Such imbalances contribute to terrorism and social strife, he warned, voicing support for Agenda 2063 and its goal of improving lives and realizing a welldeveloped Africa by that date. Expressing support for such programmes, he said the slow progress of development adds to many countries burdens and prevents them from meeting the needs of their people. We need to find ways and solutions to speed up the process of developing sustainable economies [] by removing the stumbling blocks to development, he said. Emphasizing that no country deserves to go for a whole year without investment, he warned against leaving developing countries behind. The African continent, in particular, still faces challenges including such diseases as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and will continue to do so without funding. All citizens must have access to basic services such as clean water, health care and free primary education. Commending countries that have succeeded in providing those, he spotlighted the need to reduce unemployment and care for older persons as additional important global challenges. Calling for international cooperation as well as alternative means of funding, he noted that Africa continues to absorb more peacekeeping missions than any other United Nations regional grouping. This qualifies Africa [for] proper representation in areas of peace and security, he stressed, emphasizing that the continents voice must be heard and featured prominently and permanently at the United Nations. As talks on Security Council reform progress, he stressed the need to consider the common African position namely, calls for the allocation of no fewer than two permanent Council seats with all the prerogatives and privileges of permanent membership, including the veto power, and five nonpermanent seats. He went on to outline national progress made in mainstreaming the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 into Eswatinis development framework. Among other things, the country has made strides in localizing and integrating the Goals into its planning processes; finalized the review of its National Development Strategy (19972022); and will soon launch a revised National Strategy, he said, adding that the latters theme will be sustainable development and inclusive growth. Among other things, he also spotlighted achievements in innovation and research as well as the countrys successful holding of free, fair elections earlier in September. pdf UHURU KENYATTA, President of Kenya (559 KB) , expressed strong support for the General Assemblys intention to better enable the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to fulfil their global mandates. However, he said there was a need for broader reforms. In almost every part of the world, there is a growing trust gap between citizens and their governing institutions, due to growing awareness of the scourge of corruption and wastage of public resources. Pointing beyond individual corruption, he said major corporations are misrepresenting earnings to deny Governments revenues needed for investment in public goods. The corrupt dealings of cartels and oligopolies pillaging Africas resources have over several decades been clothed in the garments of legality, leading to popular theorizing of Africas resource curse, he said. Continuing, he said that citizens all over the world are more aware that a globalized financial and legal system enables the illegal conduct of corrupt individuals, with Africa probably enduring the most suffering. Saying evidence increasingly marked Africa as a net exporter of capital through illicit outflows, he cited conservative estimates that the outflow ranged between $1.2 and $1.4 trillion between 1980 and 2009, roughly equal to the continents current gross domestic product (GDP) and surpassing by far the money it received from outside over the same period. Illicit capital powers a global corrupt network used by drug cartels and even terrorist organizations, driving a loss of trust in national, regional and global governing institutions, and thus enabling populists and extremists who thrive in chronic instability. Globally, he said multilateralism is under severe strain, threatening the system of trade and security established after the Second World War under the aegis of the United Nations. Calling for bold solutions, he said the global community must fight impunity and corruption, fraud and abuse of public trust. Kenya has reached out to partners in Switzerland and the United Kingdom to counter transfers of illegal proceeds to their banking and financial systems, but bilateral agreements must come with determined reforms. Saying that one such reform must occur in the Security Council, he called for two permanent seats for Africa to counter the historical injustice of its under-representation in the non-permanent Member category. Global decision-making needs more of Africa, if the world is to respond wisely to the demographic and economic shifts under way, he said. pdf EMMERSON DAMBUDZO MNANGAGWA, President of Zimbabwe (934 KB) , said that his country has made substantial progress in the implementation of some of the Sustainable Development Goals. In a bid to improve nutrition and broaden income opportunities, Zimbabwe has extended support to the livestock, fisheries and wildlife sectors. We are confident that these multi-pronged programmes will accelerate Zimbabwes re-entry into the global economy, he added. Recalling the many developmental and economic challenges caused by the continued illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, he called for their immediate removal. Peace, security, stability, democracy and good governance are essential ingredients for sustainable development, he said, noting Zimbabwes recent general elections. Election campaigning, voting and counting processes were conducted freely, peacefully and transparently. International observers and global media were also invited to observe the elections. The exceptionally peaceful pre- and post-electoral environment represented the maturing and entrenchment of democracy in Zimbabwe, he said. Expressing gratitude to the United Nations and other Member States for sending election observer missions and for providing technical assistance, he said the recommendations received will be considered. The isolated incident of the post-election violence which occurred on 1 August is regrettable and unacceptable, he said. The Commission of Inquiry, comprising of eminent persons of national, regional and international repute, has now begun its work. Their report will help bring closure to the matter and will assist in the improvement of Zimbabwes institutional governance. Now that elections are over, Zimbabwe is focusing on economic development. The Land Reform Programme is behind us and is irreversible, he added. It is time to look forward to Agenda 2063 and focus on increasing investments, decent jobs and empowerment and realizing a society free from poverty and corruption, he said. Zimbabwe is open for business, he emphasized, outlining steps taken to modernize the countrys roads, airports and other infrastructure. He also urged the need to address the root causes of conflict, which include poverty, inequality and disputes over land and resources. The United Nations, like all global organizations, must be democratic, he said, calling for the review and reform of the Bretton Woods institutions and other international financial organizations. Trade remains an engine for growth if it is conducted fairly. He further called for negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) which foster inclusive and shared economic growth. He also urged the international community not to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Palestinian people. It is disheartening that the people of the Western Sahara have yet to exercise their inalienable rights to self-determination. The Security Council in cooperation with the African Union must find a just solution to the issue of Western Sahara. Opportunities for investment in Africa often outweigh the obstacles, according to leading African companies included in the African Development Banks first Africa-to-Africa (A2A) Investment Report. The report unearths the realities African companies face when investing in the continent, the emerging trends in A2A investment and the steps African policymakers can take to accelerate intra-African investment. Africa-to-Africa Investment Report: A first look, finds that more African companies are investing in Africa. These companies have confidence in the continents long-term growth potential; they are at the cutting edge of their industries, and are capitalizing on their knowledge of local markets to generate higher returns and impact. In line with the Banks High 5s for transforming Africa and the African Unions Agenda 2063, the A2A Report aims to take the conversation on investing in the continent a step further. It shows what African multinationals are doing to drive investments in Africa, d how they are expanding their African footprint, and gives insights into how to scale-up investments more widely. As global foreign direct investment to Africa falls, intra-African investments are picking up pace, said Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group. Africas big companies are increasingly on the move and expanding their African footprint. It is through more investments that the continent can build inclusive, sustainable growth and development. We have made this our collective commitment in the High 5s. The A2A Report features eight publicly-listed and privately-owned African companies operating in consumer services, finance, industry, media and diversified portfolios and investment, with home bases in North Africa (Morocco), West Africa (Nigeria, Togo), East and Central Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya) and Southern Africa (Mauritius, South Africa). Highlights from the Reports intra-African investment stories include the importance of having a clear long-term vision, getting up-to-date investment facts, building local partnerships to deliver on the ground and tapping into talent in the local labour force. The business case for A2A investment is strongly connected to the continents integration, growth and prosperity. Although challenges remain, the A2A Report is the start of a broader discussion to fast-track investments, move beyond the wish list and make deals happen. The continents policymakers can inspire a greater level of confidence and promote A2A investments by highlighting their role as dependable business partners for African investors. The Report is part of the Bank Groups continued championing of investment across Africa, along with the first Africa Investment Forum (AIF), scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from 7-9 November 2018. How to promote economic growth in North Carolinas rural areas, such as Transylvania County, is one of the focuses of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC). During Mondays Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Mike Hawkins, an EDPNC board member, talked about the organization and particularly about the entitys latest focus on rural North Carolina. The EDPNC was formed in 2014 by Gov. Pat McCrory and is the lead economic development agency in the state, working with the N.C. Department of Commerce to grow the states economy. Its a private... The Lux Group to launch Vietnams first boutique cruise in the Gulf of Tonkin and on the Red River, Vietnam. (TRAVPR.COM) VIETNAM - September 27th, 2018 - Already operating in Vietnams Nha Trang Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay, under the five-star Emperor Cruises brand name, Heritage Cruises, a member of the Lux Group, will launch its first boutique cruise in the Cat Ba Archipelago in the Tonkin Gulf under the brand name of Heritage Cruises. The company announces the launching of its website and first cruise photos at www.heritagecruises.com. Heritage Cruises introduces the first Vietnamese heritage and boutique cruise on the Red River and on the Gulf of Tonkin. Launching in May 2019, Heritage Cruises will offer authentic experiences for 40 guests aboard an architecturally designed boutique river and ocean cruise ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. Amenities include a luxury spa, movie under stars, two restaurants, indoor and outdoor lounges, pool bar and swimming pool and 20 suites with picture windows offering river and ocean views. Heritage Cruises derives the inspiration for its boutique concept and design from the heritage ships of the patriotic entrepreneur Bach Thai Buoi, who transformed transportation on the waterways of Tonkin in the north of Vietnam in the early 20th century. Being a heritage-inspired designer cruise ship, but still with a boutique concept, Heritage Cruises care about the guest experience, offering them an upscale lifestyle with an artistic twist, together with concierge services. Our boutique cruise categorizes its ships not with stars but by "character, quality, style and the overall unique experience of staying there". As Heritage Cruises first boutique cruise, which is positioned as four-star rating for the whole experience, we want to raise the bar for the art of cruising in the Halong Bay region. We ensure we give our clients the "ultimate in luxury and sophistication" and "out of the ordinary on- board facilities". said Pham Ha, CEO of Heritage Cruises. On the three-deck Heritage Cruises ship, 20 suites range from 33m2 to 79m2, while food and beverage options include Le Tonkin and LIndochine restaurants for Vietnamese gourmet cuisine. The ship also features an outdoor deck, complete with Vietnams first infinity swimming pool on a cruise ship, pool bar, and private cabanas, the Bach Thai Buoi Library for reading and relaxation, the White Lotus Spa offering massages and essential oil treatments, a dry sauna, fitness center, movies under the stars, and games room as well as its art gallery and auction center. Travel is all about places, experiences, and memories. We will first sail this brand through the karst seascape of the Cat Ba Archipelago, linking to Van Don, then we will cruise upstream and downstream from the highlands to the capital, Hanoi, and the Gulf of Tonkin over 8 days, following the old river trading waterway, Hanoi-Pho Hien-Van Don. My goal is to gradually build maritime connections from north to south, staying two or three nights in each destination, as part of a 10-14-day expedition. said Pham Ha. This authentic experience offers the chance to cruise the Gulf of Tonkin (Lan Ha Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay, and Halong Bay) in an authentic and unique style, complemented by personalized service and on-request limousine transfers, which Heritage Cruises offers, taking the 5B highway from Hanoi to cut the journey down to just 1.5 hours. ### The Well Standard has all the buzz these days, but are we taking our eyes off the ball? It's now pretty much official; wellness is the new green. Tony Whitehead of WSP tells us that the wellness industry was worth US$ 3.7 trillion in 2015, including "'wellness lifestyle real estate' worth US$118.6bn, and a US$43.3bn workplace wellness market." Wellness looks very much like the next big thing in building design the new green... For decades, environmental considerations have been to the fore in architectural and engineering thinking, the aim being to create highly efficient buildings that used as little energy and water as possible. Now, however, there is a growing concern that a focus on efficiency might have caused designers to lose the plot somewhat. Certainly efficient buildings save money and are better for the planet, but what about the people in them? There are a lot of architects I know who would argue that point about "losing the plot", and who always put the health of the occupants first. When I first asked "Is wellness the new green?" architect and author Lance Hosey reminded me in a series of tweets that green building was always about healthy building. And I also have been saying for years that, in green building, you cant separate energy from health, and wrote: We should be focusing on people, not buildings; that the real role of a building is to keep us healthy, happy, safe and comfortable. Energy is just an input, a variable; the fact that a comfortable building will use a lot less of it is a happy coincidence. But the fact is, sustainability has always been a hard sell. Many people don't care about it, governments in the US actually tried to ban LEED, energy is cheap, and the President of the United States says climate change is a hoax. But nobody is against health and wellness. Well Standard categories That's why the Well Standard has been so successful. TreeHugger has followed the phenomenal growth in the Well Certification system, which was pretty silly when it started but has become less Gwyneth Paltrow and more Rick Fedrizzi, who jumped from running the USGBC and LEED to the much trendier Well. Whitehead writes: As so often, the momentum for change seems to have sprung from a timely confluence of several trends, as WSP technical director and wellness specialist Meike Borchers explains: First, there is a bottom-up driver. These days, occupants employees understand how the environment affects them far better"....Increasing gym use, wrist gadgets, even the popularity of organic food all testify to our growing preoccupation with health: So naturally we are also taking more interest in our working environment. Well Standard Whitehead asks if there is real science behind all this, and even Borchers admits that "the research ranges from the robust to the frankly somewhat flaky." Take lighting; for decades, everyone worked under fluorescent lights of one color temperature and spiky spectra. Then the importance of circadian rhythms were confirmed, and architects are now "using light to promote wellness". WSP lighting expert Jay Wratten says, Our bodies dont react in the same way for a 12-hour period, so why should the building? Yes, but on TreeHugger I have always argued that natural light from windows gives you this, along with a view. Wratten apparently concurs: Personally, I feel nervous about dosing people with prescribed amounts of certain light. Its advisable, where possible, to use natural light to reinforce an awareness of the day outside." In concluding, Whitehead raises some important reservations and concerns about how all this information might be misused. Health and productivity, while correlated, are not necessarily the same, Borchers points out: Employers monitoring their staffs every move and health level through wearable technology and keeping the blue light on until midnight to keep their workforce working hard there is line between caring and exploitation that should not be crossed. Whitehead notes that "it will be fascinating to see how the wellness megatrend pans out." That is an understatement. I have spent a lot of time with my nose in the Well Standard, working with my students at Ryerson School of Interior Design to develop a comparable standard for homes, and have found that some of it is indeed flaky, some contradictory, and some I believe to be wrong. It is also expensive; Whitehead estimates $40K for a 100,000 square foot building. But most importantly, it ignores the critical issues of sustainability, of carbon, of energy efficiency. Many architects and builders will also go LEED, but that is even more expensive. It is all very well to have a healthy building interior but it would be nicer if there was still something healthy outside. Well certification is all well and good, but not if it stands alone. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 26 Less than two months after the Indian Air Force expressed safety and other concerns regarding the Chandigarh international airport, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered interim ban on further construction in a 100-metre area from the boundary wall of the landing field. A Division Bench of the High Court also made it clear the to Greater Mohali Area Development Authority to carry on with the activity of demolishing illegal structures falling in the area under its jurisdiction. Taking note of GMADAs assurance that it would issue orders in this regard by Monday, the Bench directed the state of Punjab to provide adequate police force. The Bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli also made the Zirakpur Municipal Corporation a party to the ongoing public interest litigation on making the airport fully operational. It was also directed to initiate action against illegal constructions in accordance with law. The Bench also called for a detailed report on the issue. Appearing before the Bench, Assistant Solicitor General of India Chetan Mittal said the issue of illegal constructions was being raised since long. He added that the worst affected was Phabat village in Zirakpur, where multi-storeyed buildings were coming up overnight. Elaborating, Mittal said the height of the airport boundary wall was 11 ft and any structure higher than that was dangerous. Quoting an example, he said a joint survey was carried out after a high-level meeting of all stakeholders was convened by the amicus curiae or the friend of the court, senior advocate ML Sarin. However, the Zirakpur EO did not participate in the process. Besides, the construction of a building was brought to the Mohali Additional Deputy Commissioners notice again and again, initially when it started, again when the first floor was constructed and then when the second floor came up. Taking a serious view of the matter, the Bench verbally asked the EO to seek voluntary retirement. The Chandigarh Administration, in the meantime, undertook to acquire and pay for 0.6 acre essential for providing the CAT-III facility to enable landing during poor visibility. The Bench, during the course of the hearing, was informed that major deadlines for pending works had been fixed following the meeting convened by senior advocate Sarin. The Bench was told that the work on resurfacing and extension of the airport would be completed by March 31 next year. The work on completing lighting and installation of the CAT-II facility, too, would be over by that date. Tata Power SED, the company involved in the installation of the CAT-II system, has also been made a party for furnishing the requisite undertaking regarding the completion of work. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Bhartesh Singh Thakur Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 27 Panjab University (PU) has fined the contractor of the multipurpose auditorium in Sector 25, Chandigarh, over Rs 80 lakh for a delay in completing the project. The construction of the project started in 2012, but it still incomplete. Now, a tender has to be floated again and the university will have to go through all formalities once again. The project will now be delayed further. The project cost was over Rs 30 crore in 2009 and has now escalated to over Rs 72 crore. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone in 2009. Confirming the development, Finance and Development Officer Vikram Nayyar said the contractor had been delaying the work. We had fined him earlier too. We will now float a tender again for the project as we have removed him, he said. The Registrar, Col GS Chadha (retd), also confirmed the development. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 72.67 crore. The seating capacity is 2,500. Facilities that will come up It will have a main auditorium with three small seminar halls having a capacity of 130 to 600. The total covered area will be 1.4 lakh sq ft. The basement will be 20,971 sq ft and will house DG sets and AC plants. The auditorium will include dining area, parking area, approach roads, substation, power back-up, AC plant, elevators, fire-fighting system and CCTV cameras. It will have a VIP workshop, green rooms and rehearsal rooms. At present, the RCC structure of the main auditorium and the front portion has been completed. How funds were allocated It has already been allocated Rs 13.16 crore out of collections from students of the PU campus as well as affiliated colleges and interest thereon. About Rs 20 crore has been allocated from university funds, while Rs 12 crore was given from grants sanctioned by the UGC. The Board of Finance released the remaining Rs 23.28 crore in November 2017. vinaymishra188@gmail.com Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 27 Less than a week after the services of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Director, Prof Raghuram Rao Akkinepally, were placed under suspension, he has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Taking up the petition filed through counsel Arun Gupta and argued by senior advocate Puneet Bali, Justice Shekher Dhawan of the High Court put the Board of Governors on notice. The Bench, at the same time, refused to stay the operation of the impugned suspension order. Justice Dhawan also fixed November 13 as the next date of hearing in the matter. The challenge to the suspension order was mounted primarily on three grounds. Appearing before the Bench, Bali and Gupta submitted that the President of India was the visitor and had the powers to place the services under suspension. The Board of Governors had no such power. Referring to the provisions of law, the counsel asserted that the powers to appoint were vested with the President. The role of the Board of Governors was restricted to recommending two names for the post. But the final appointment orders were passed by the President. The Board of Governors and even the Chairman had no jurisdiction to act against the Director, unless approved by the visitor, the President. The Bench was also told that a petition filed by NIPER before the High Court was dismissed. The Board of Governors, subsequently, convened a meeting, where the orders of suspension were passed. The Director was not part of the meeting. It was against the principles of natural justice as opportunity of hearing was not provided to the Director, who was sent out of the meeting. This clearly shows the bias of the Chairman against the petitioner, it was added. The Bench was also told that the impugned order was illegal and liable to be set aside as it was suffering from lack of jurisdiction and opportunity of hearing was not offered to the Director by the board. editorial@tribune.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 26 Door-to-door garbage collectors have intensified their protest with the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation failing to end the deadlock on the 16th day of the strike. While the MC has increased the number of tractors-trailers for lifting garbage, residents are not happy with the arrangement. A majority of the residents complained that no trailer reached their house. DS Sandhu, a former nominated councillor, said for the past 10 days, no garbage was lifted from his house in Sector 35. He said all houses in his vicinity faced the same problem. Anil Kapoor, a resident of Sector 45, said the arrangement made by the MC had failed as no one came to lift garbage from his house. He said they did not have information about the timing of garbage lifting. The trailers came when they were in office. Meanwhile, the police used water cannons on the agitating garbage collectors when they tried to burn an effigy of the Mayor. A scuffle took place between the protesters and the police when the later prevented them from blocking a road. The Chandigarh Congress extended support to the protesting collectors at a meeting held today at Congress Bhawan. Former Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and city Congress chief Pardeep Chhbara were among those present at the meeting. Over 2,000 people have registered themselves for garbage collection at the desk set up by the MC. amansharma@tribunemail.com Sumedha Sharma Tribune News Service Gurugram, September 27 While their act left entire nation cringing with horror, the two key accused in the Rewari gangrape - Army man Pankaj and his friend Manish - thought they had a usual "adventurous night" and went home to sleep after the gruesome deed on September 12. Not only this, Pankaj, who insisted he was a true soldier, went to attend cremation of a martyr in a nearby village and it was only after two days that when according to them, the matter started "being blown up" did they flee on a bike to Rajasthan. The revelations were made by the two during police interrogation where they claimed that they managed to evade arrest for 12 days by disguising as beggars in local fairs. "It's a season of religious fairs in Rajasthan. We came to know from TV news that we were being trailed and were also running out of money so we decided to beg in these fairs. It not only helped us to hide ourselves but also made easy for us to make arrangements for food and place to sleep. We buried our mobile phones in ground to ensure we could not be tracked by any means," the duo reportedly told police. Interestingly while police were looking around for them, the accused made a short trip back to Rewari from Satnaali in Rajasthan in train and after analysing the situation returned without anybody even getting a whiff of their movment. The duo who were produced in a court today were sent to judicial custody till October 5. The police, meanwhile, also nabbed two relatives of Pankaj in Rajasthan for harbouring the criminals. They were were bailed out later. Victim discharged from hospital, still in shock The victim who was discharged from hospital today reached home to a flurry of visitors, forcing police to step in. Her family issued an appeal to be left alone for sometime saying she was still in trauma and depression. "For last two years she was toiling for Central job exams which she couldn't appear for and that has hit her badly. She needs to be alone and to ensure that we plan to send her off to relatives for sometime. I request all, including media, to leave her alone and not scar her any further," her father said. monicakchauhan@gmail.com Dipender Manta Tribune News Service Mandi, September 27 Ten women tourists with three children were spotted stranded in a remote shelter near Chhota Dara on way to popular destination Chandrataal towards Kunzum Pass. IAF helicopter Mi-17V5 was brought to hover over snow near the shelter and the 13 tourists were rescued. A few male tourists still at location were provided with food packets and relief material and medicines. The rescued women and children were brought safely to helipad at Kullu. A few tourists are reportedly sick and medical attention is being provided. The daring rescue wad led by Squadron Leader Vipul Goyal.